i ' ^ -:^- f't' 4 y^ # f\-^\ 1^ ^ a ■ . >• '"'■'*'..^.^./». .f.wi"-"""" EZR.A. STILES S.T.D. LLD. cu^^ Cot _^rc<^^\WV\*« HE Kiftory of man is one of the moft inftruarling, Efquire, died at Woodbridge, m the vicinity of New-Haven, Nov. 30, 1789, ^tat. 70, He was not more diftinguiflied for the flrength of his intellectual powers, than for modefty, candour, charity, and the ftricteft integrity. In private life, from which the juftefl eftimate of life is drawn, he was moll refped- able and amiable. In public life he filled various offices with equal dignity and fidelity. His abilities fhone tQ advantage, as a ilatefman and a judge. — Having fludi- oufly attended to the evidences of Chrfilianity, he was fully perfuaded of its truth and importance, and adorn- ed hia profefSon of it by an exejrplary life. 12 THE LIFE OF his education ; but, from fome caufe now unknown, he did not receive all the avails till 1747. Hence his fituation, while at college, v*'as rendered dependent, in a degree, on the patronage of friends. A youth of a fine genius, of amiable manners, and of a promifmg character, eafily found thofe who had a difpofition, as well as ability, to patronife him. Prefident Clap, among others, was his friend and benefad:or ; and, by various adts of friendfliip, lefTened the expences of his education. With what improvement to himfelf, and advantage to the world, he employed his time at the univerfity, will appear in the fequel. Natu- rally inquifitive ; fond of books, perhaps to an extreme ; patient of application ; and de- lighted always with literary fociety ; the aca- demic life muft have been peculiarly con- genial to his juvenile mind. It was by thor- oughly availing himfelf of this happy pe- riod, and of thefe propitious advantages, that he laid the foundation of his future ufefulnefs and diftin£lion. The vefciges of his progrefs, while at col- lege, are not now eafiiy traced. His favour- ite refearches, however, are difcernible in his obfervations PRESIDENT STILES. 13 obfervations on a comet, which appeared in the beginning of his Sophimore year ; in an account taken at the fame time, of the num- ber, periods, diftances, velocity, and other properties of the comets ; in numerous geometrical menfurations ; in the calcula- tions of eclipfes ; and in a copious chrono- logical compendium of the hiftory of the Old and New Teftaments. Having finilhed his academic courfe, by the appointment of the Prefident, he delivered the cliofophic* oration, in the College Hall, at the public examination of his clafs for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. This appoint- ment was a very honourable one ; and, alone, affords prefumptive evidence of his general fcholarfhip ; for it was required of the ora- tor, who had this part affigned him, to ex- hibit a view of the cyclopedia of literature, which had been the fubjedl of clalBcal ftud- ies, in the feveral ftagcs of education at the univerfity. At the fubfequent Commence- ment, September 3d, 1746, at the age of nineteen, he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On this occafion, he had as dif- tinguifhed * A collegiate term, applied to an Oration on the Arts and Sciences, delivered annually at an examination in July. 14 THE LIFE OF tinguiflied a part, as a fyllogiflic exercife would admit j and, at that period, the can- didates for the firft degree had no higher exercife at Commencement, except a faluta- tory oration. He was refpondent in defence of the following thefts^ which was afterward fan^lioned by his maturer judgment, and defended by his abler pen : JUS regum iion eji jure divlno hareditarmm, ^* The hereditaiy right of kings is not of divine authority. *' While art undergraduate, he flood, if not the firft, yet among the firft of his contem^ poraries j and when he proceeded Bachelor of Arts, he was efteem^ed one of the moft perfect fcholars that had ever received the honours of this feminaiy."* . Apprehending his religious principles to h,Q fettled, and imprelFed with a fenfe of the duty and importance of making a Chriftian prpfeffion, he did ijpt, like many ftuderits in theology, delay it, till an entrance into the deik ftiould render it neceflary ; but, thus early, confeiTed Chrift before men, and pub^ licly eonfecrated himfelf to God. On the 23d * Profeflbr Meigs* Funeral Oration on Prefident Stiles, at tlic Commencement after his death. PRESIDENT STILES. I5 a 3d of November, after his graduation, he was admitted, by his father, a member of the church in North-Haven. Allured by the inviting circumftances of the library, and literary fociety, at Nev ceeds to remark, " have been tranfmitted down to our times, fufficiently pure and un- corrupted. No waitings of antiquity have come down to the times of printing, with fb much evidence of their genuinenefs, as the Scriptures. The various readings are trifling, and of no moment in the general evidence. For notwithftanding, by fuper- ftitious criticifm on a multitude of copies, and various tranflations of the New Teftament in particular, and the voluminous fathers of five centuries, they have been augmented to a great number, moft of which confifl of dif- ferent orthography and pun(3:uation only ; yet the fenfe, at leafl the important fenfe, is entire in any of the copies, efpecially in the more correct ones. From the few copies of Terence, which is faid to be in the beft ftate of any of the claffic writers, with a lefs fcru- pulous exad:nefs, have been collated 20,000 various readings : nor is it to be doubted if the fame number of copies could be collated for hifti, that have been for the New Tefta- ment, double that number might be found for that little volume, when yet the fenfe of each fcene and ad remains entire. The like obfervation PRESIDENT STILES. 57 obfervation might, no doubt, be made for the more ancient prophane writings, as thofe of Homer, Thucydides, and others. No one acquainted with Jewifh antiquity will doubt but that the Hebrew Scriptures were in being, in their prefent form, about the time of the captivity, and in the time of our Saviour ; fince which the mutual jeal- oufy of Jews and Chriflians over the holy booksj has continued their abfolute fe- curity and defence againft material interpola- tion. The multitude of copies, in dis- tant churcheSj fynagogues, and ages, the famenefs of the Hebrew copies among Jews and Chriftians, and the general correfpond- ence of all, even in the oriental tranflations 5 and, laftly, the agreement of the LXX. and New Teftament copies of later ages with the Alexandrian manufcript- evidently of the fourth century, confpire in fecuring to us the genuine writings of facred antiquity, with a united evidence fuperior to what can be ad- duced for the authenticity of any other an- cient writings. We have much clearer evi- dence that the facred oracles are tranfmitted to us entire, than we have for the works of Hippocrates, Herodotus, Plato, or Philo, in H the ^8 THE LIFE OF the prefent copies of which laft, however, we do not doubt ourfelves to have the genu- ine writings of thofe authors." In the laft place, he recommends, that the honeft refearches of the Scriptures be accompanied with humble fupplication to the Father of lights for inftruRESIDENT STILES, 6^ 1 mean right ; I would gladly be informed of the genuine intentions of the great Creator concerning man. Heaven preferve me from miftakes, and lead me to a juft, rational, and thorough underflanding of Chriftian truth." J.D. M,DCC,LVI TO M,DCC,LIX.— iExAT. XXIX TO XXXII. THOUGH now difconneded from col- lege, he gave various proofs of the fmcerity and ardour of his collegiate attachments, and of his love of fcience^ In February, 1756, he addrefTed a letter to the fenior clafs, at Yale College, formerly under his tutorial care, iri •which, together with a grateful acknowledg- ment of the generous teilimonials of their friendihip, and ufeful hints with regard to their various fiudies, he invites their atten- tion to his favourite fcience, Aftronomy, Nor does he forget to inculcate on them the fuperior importance of a practical regard to the duties of morality and religion. " You are now eritered on the ftudy of Ethics. With your fpeculative knowledge, let me recommend it to you to join devotion and I virtue. 66 THE LIFE OF virtue. If valuable fcience has not a propef influence on our characters, it v^ill but in* volve us in ignominy and contempt ; while genuine goodnefs, and well-formed virtue, will fecure the tranquillity of life, and prepare us for the triumphs of intelledtual merit, when we fhall pafs in review before other parts of the moral world."* To his quondam fellow-tutor, Mr. Hill- houfe,f he writes, concerning the expected comet : * He uniformly confidered Virtue as the ultimate ob- jeft of fcience. " Praxis philofophica eft finis fcientiarum : huic omnes difciplinae Hberales quodammodo inferviant." Valedid. Orat. " Praxis philofophica, probe ut vivemus, placide moriamur, inde immortales fieri atque beati, eft omnis Do(5h:ln2e fumma atque finis." Half-century Orat. t The Hoflourable James Abi^am Hillhoufe, between •R-hom and Mr. Stiles a very intimate friendfhip fubfifted, died in 1775, -'^tat. 46. He was educated at Yale Col- lege, where he graduated in 1 749. He was foon after ehofen to the office of a tutor in that feminary, which he executed, with unremitting diligence, for fix years, with high approbation and efteem. He next appeared at the bar, where his powers of reafoning and of eloquence ex- cited general admiration. In 1 772 he was eleded a mem- ber of the council of the State of Connefticut ; and, in this department, was eminent for his abilities and integri- ty. Anxious for the liberties of his country, he firmly op- pofed, in the fpirit of true patriotifm, minifterial tyranny on the one hand, and lawlefs anarchy on the other. His Chriftian life and converfation were truly exemplary, and he was adorned with th« graces of mecknefs> charity, and humility. PRESIDENT STILES. 67 eomet : '' I had not ventured the imputation of aftronomical enthufiafm — feeing when nothing is to be feen — did I not think it beft for ail to be eagle-eyed, efpecially when oh- ferving the motion of thefe rare phenomena is attended wdth peculiar aftronomical pleaf- iire. The comet, in 1744, was feen a,t Harlem about November 2p ; but not at Cambridge, in England, till December 23# One had better be fanciful, and feel the mor- tification of finding himfelf miftaken two or three times, than mifs the pleafure of feeing a comet a month. Comets, when they firll ap- pear, do not leave us room not to doubt, or fufped we may miftake." The Europeans, it feems, expe£ted the comet this year ; he concludes, it was on the fuppofitipn of the diminution of its pe- riod. He was " not certain, however, but that the fame caufe which contracTced the laft, might be fo circumftanced as to protra£l the prefent revolution ; if the variation of its periods is to be afcribed to the attraction, or difturbing force, of diftant celeftial bodies •*— a thing which Sir Ifaac Newton fuppofes incident to comets in the diftant regions of their traje<$iories." Profeflbr Winthrop, to whom he wrote, about the fame time, on the fubjed d'8 THE LIFE OF fubje£l of this comet, obferves, in his an- fwer : " Its periods have been unequal, be- ing of 75 and 76 years alternately. You have very happily conje<£lured, at what will probably turn out to be the truth, that the fame caufe 'which €ontra5ted the lajl^ will pro- 'hng the prefent period^ viz. the attraSfion of 'ether celejiial bodies^ This comet did not appear till 1759, when Mr. Stiles obferved Its progrefs with accurate attention, and pre- ferved his own obfervations, together with -thofe of other aftronomers, which came to his knowledge. In this -manner did he continue, in con- junction with his theological ftudies, to cher- afh a love of aftronomical and philofophlcal -fcience, and, indeed, of univerfal literature, to the purfuit of which he v*ras ardently devoted. The Redwood library,* at Newport, con- fifting of about 1500 volumes, at th€ time of 'his fettlement there, and augmented after- ward by books imported from Europe, en- trufted * About the ys-r 1748, Abrahain Redwood, Efq. of Newport, gave ;^3'oo rterling, with which the principal puj-chafe_ for this library. . was made., It being founded , for th? ufg^ of all denominations, indifcriminately, the Legiilature of Rhode -Ifland granted' to a company a clxartfr of incorporation. I PRESIDENT STILES. 69 trufted to his ieledion, was liighiy propitious to his wifhes, and to his literary improve-. ment. To the accomplifhment of an end. Providence always furnilhes adequate means. This library, the benefit of which Mr. Stiles enjoyed above tvvrenty years, and to which, being librarian, he could always have acceis, was eminently fubfervient to his preparation for the prefidential chair, to which he was, in due time, to be called. On the loth of Febraar)% 1757, he was married to Elizabeth Plubbard, the eldeft daughter of Colonel John Hubbard, of New- Haven ; a woman of excellent accomplifh- ments, intellectual, moral, and religious ; and who, therefore, defen^ediy pofTeiTed hi? tendereft affecStion. By her prudence, and exclufive care of every thing pertaining to domeftic economy, fhe left him in poffeiTion of his v/hole time for hterary purfuits, and pafloral duties. A. D. M,DCC,LIX~iiTAT. XXXIL AFTER his fettlement in the miniflr)^ he improved, every favourable oppoitunity fcj opening coiTcfp'ondencies with rnen of eml-= nence 70 THE LIFE OF' nence in foreign couutYies, as well as m his own ; and his letters will greatly contribute to the elucidation of his charader : for, it hath been juftly obferved, the genuine refem- blances of illuftrious men may be leen in their epiftles, as in a mirror.* From early life he cherifhed the focial af* fedtions ; and the future intercourfe of great and virtuous fouls, was always, with him, a favourite fentiment. Even at the age of twenty-fix, he wrote to Mr. Kalmar, of London : " I am defirous, and I think the ambition not illaudable, of cultivating a very free, as well as friendly, correfpondence with gentlemen of letters, in various parts of the world, to whom I would be glad of the honour of being introduced ; for, with Mr. Pope, the utmofl point of my defires, in my prefent ftate, terminates in the fociety and good will of worthy men ; which I look up- on to be no ill earneft of the fociety and al- liance of happy fouls hereafter." In * Amavi, fatecr, ab Ineunte fere setate, vironim dodo. rum epiftolas : cum propter multarum rerum non facile alibi occurrentium notitiam, turn ob genuinas claro- EUM VIRORUM EFFIGIES, QUAS IN EPISTOLIS, TANQiJAM IN spEcuLo, CERNERE t5T.-^— ColoiBefu Prsefat. ad Epiftolas G. J. Voffu. *^ PRESIDENT STILES. 71 In a letter to ProfefTor Winthrop, April 2, the principal objedls of which are aftronom- ical enquiries and difcuffions, having noticed, with fympathy, the ficknefs of the Profeflbr's family, and its confiftency with the divine goodnefs, he adds : " We fhall be able to form a more juft idea of the ftate of man a thoufand years hence, when, having left thefe regions of incarnate fpirits, and entered into the intelled:ual world, or abodes of unem- bodied minds, we fhall not only renew our acquaintance with departed friends, but per*/ fonally converfe with Mofes, Ifaiah, Paul, Plato, Cicero, Newton, Locke ; and contract tiew acquaintance with exalted minds, at» fembled from all parts of the dominions of Jehovah." Soon aftef, he wrote a learned letter, In Latin, to the Principal of the Jefuits* College, in Mexico. This letter he inclofed in another to an Englifh merchant, in New-Spain, in which he dates the reafons of his communi- cation to the learned Jefuit : " I have a cu- riofity to know the difcoveries made on this American continent beyond California. The Jefuits have, beyond any order of men, been the moll indefatigable, for above a century, in 7^ THE LIFE OF ill inveftigating diilant countries, but imper-i fe(£l:iy known to the Europeans. I find, by thcii: letters about 50 years ago, (and I have feen none of later date) that they had entered on the fearch of California, and the parts ddjafeent. They muil, doubtlefs, have made very confiderable difcoveries, and tranfmitted them to Europe, In the " Travels of the Jefuits," publiflied in France fome years ago, I fee the intelligence from the north-weft ern miffions, pafTes through the hands of the Superior of the College of Jefuits, at Mexico, I am a Proteftant, and defire to have no con- nexion with the Catholics, in point of re- ligion* Their valuable difcoveries, however, both in natural hiftoiy, and in the circum- ftances of countries unexplored by others, I would willingly partake in 5 nor do I regard through what hands I receive ufeful and en- tertaining knowledge, be it fo that I receive it. Befides, difference of nations and re- ligions ought by no means to obftrudt phi- lofophical enquiries." While in the tutorfhip, he became ac- quainted with the Reverend Dr. AlifoHj Vice-Prefident of the College, and Re6lor of the Academy, at Philadelphia, who was in- troduced PRESIDENT STILES. 73 troduced to him, by a letter from Dr. Franks lin, as a " perfon of great ingenuity and learning, a catholic divine, and, wliat is more," added the Dodor, *'• an honeft man ; for, as Pope fays, An honeft man's the nohleji work of God. By entertaining, then, this gentleman, with your accuftomed hofpitality and benevo- lence, you will entertain one of the nobility : I mean, one of GoD*s nobility, for as to the kitig's^ there are many of them not worthy your notice." Mr. Stiles foon after com- menced a correfpondence with this learned and worthy man, which was maintained with a pleafure and improvement, apparently mu- tual, for many years. In a letter to him, July ^, the following remarks exprefs his fentiments on the advan- tages of an extenfive union amorlg the re- formed churches. " It is of great importance, that the Pref- byterian and Congregational interefts be ftrongly united. Plans of union and har- mony are greatly to be defired, and promot- ed. In this view, I am highly pleafed with the union of your fynods of Philadelphia and New- York ; and I wifh fome compre- K bending 74 THE LIFE OF hending meafures were adopted, which migtt explicitly join to that umon the confederacy of the New-England churches ; and the whole be conne6ted with Scotland, and the' Congregational DifTenters in England and Ireland. Such a jundion of lefs and greater' parts would give the whole (perhaps the greater half of the Britilh empire), a much more refpedable figure, than either holds, alone and disjointed. It muft be pleafing to fee our own caufe profperous, and fortified by thefe alliances ; but, what is more, it vrould greatly fubferve the intereft of truth and pure Chriftianity. As we are the moil reformed, it would be unhappy if we fhould relapfe, and refume the ancient corruptions. This combination would bring on and fup- port thofe enquiries and difquifitions,- which would triumph in complete reformation. Your Synods doubtlefs have, and I wifh our AfTociations alfo had,, an annual correfpond- cnce, in their public capacity, with the Gen- eral AfTembly of Scotland ; and, if it were peaceable, the publication of the accounts among the people might animate and corrob- orate the caufe. And if fuch an intercourfe were alfo eftablifhed with the churches of Holland, PRESIDENT STILES. 75 Jlolland, Geneva, and the French Proteft- ants, it would circulate much ufeful intelli- gence, that might ferve to keep up and enli- ven \hQ efpirit du corps ^ as Voltaire exprefles it." Among numerous proofs of the extenfive- nefs of his literary enquiries, at this early pe- riod, and of the unwearied pains which he took to acquire knowledge, one appears in a letter to Mr. Grant in London, dated Septem- ber I o, in which he writes : " I find by the Magazines there is lately publifhed a Hiftory of California, in two volumes. I want much to fee how far the Europeans have purfued their travels and difcoveries on the north- weft part of this continent. I find, alfo, that laft year was publifhed at Peterfburg a map of the Ruffian Empire in which it is extend- <3d beyond Kamfchatka, conne£ling the two continents of Afia and America. If you have feen them, pray give me in your next, a brief account of what is to be depended on, efpecially with refped to the junction of the two continents. If it jfhould be in your pow- er, and you fhould be fo good as to introduce me to a correfpondence with fome gentlemen pf your acquaintance in Peterfburg, or Co- penhagen, 76 THE LIFE OF penhagen, or any where up the Baltic, you would greatly increafe my obligations." To the Lift article of thefe enquiries he, at length, found a fatisfadlor^ anfwer ; " It is now known that Afia is feparated from America by water, as certainly appears from the Baron Dulfeldt's voyage round the north of Europe into the Pacific Ocean, A. D. 1769."* A uniform zeal for equal liberty is ftriking- iy vifible in all his writings, from the earlieft to the lateft period of his life. In a letter to the Reverend Dr. Gumming, of Edinburgh, July 26, he v/rites : " V/e are fettled, not in toleration, but equal, Proteftant liberty. For us, in Nevv^-England, to be harafTed with even the moft moderate Epifcopacy, at leaft to have it impofed on us, whofe fathers fled hither for afylum, is perfedtly cruel. Free en- quiry has made fuch progrefs as muft inev- itably pull down all ecclefiaftical polities, not founded in the facred Scriptures. And I ap- prehend, the defence of Epifcopacy from this quarter, is veiy much reiinquiihed by the fenfible clergy, fince Bifhop Hoadly has put the matter on quite a different footing, How ^ Stiles' Election Sermon^ PRESIDENT STILES. 77 How lamentable, that any unnecefTary em- barraffments fhould be laid on men of public fpirit, loyalty, and love of liberty, whatever their religious fentiments ! It would be more agreeable to this country, if Prelbyterians and DifTenters were not precluded from offices and employments in the gift of the crown. All the provincial governors, cuflom-houfe ojfficers, and, in general, all who enjoy lucra- tive offices, not in the bellowment of the Provincial Aflemblies, from Nova-Scotia to Georgia, and in the Weft-India Iflands, are appointed from among one fedt, to the neg- Jed of all others- — ^which can yet furnifh as fenfible men, compofe a far more numer- ous body here, and are as loyal, at leaft, and faithful to his Majefty, This, indeed, is agreeable to Levant policy: but, I judge, Egypt would be more eafily governed by Bafhaws, appointed from among its inhab- itants, than by thofe fent from Conftantino- pie." While engaged in the defence of rational liberty, and Chriftian truth, how noble and generous are his fentiments concerning the proper treatment of perfons of different relig- ious denominations j and yet how prudently guarded 7l THE LIFE OF guarded againft the danger of a tranfition from cathoiicifm to indifference about relig^ ious principles, and from fuch indifference to apoflacy ! " As we hope for fettlers from Scotland, as well as England and foreign Proteftant States, fo I fhould be glad that your miniflers would flrongly inculcate and rec- ommend to their parifhioners coming to America, a fteady adherence to the prefbyteri- an principles, fmce many leave them behind, when they crofs the Atlantic. Not that I would have them made bigots ; for, in my opinion, an attachment to the Prefbyterian and Congregational principles, fo far as it im^ plies an oppofition to unfcriptural prelacy, is confjflent with the greatefl generofity of foul, with Chriflian charity to thofe who differ from us. It is one glory of a Prefby- terian to be catholic and benevolent ; it is another glory to fland fafl in the faith. Ma- ny do not flop at the diftindtion between be- ing charitable to another fe6b, and joining it, I may have charity for, and a good opinion of, a Lutheran ; I may have a better for a Cal- vin ifl, and yet be, ftridtly, neither. I may have a good opinion of, and Chrifiian affec- tion for, all Proteftant churches ; I may have a very PRESIDENT STILES. 79= k very good opinion of thofe of Geneva and Holland ; but, perhaps, beft of all for that of Scotland, or for thofe of New-England.'' A gentleman in Newport had, through his hands, prefented to Yale College a coUedion of books, (fome of which were deiftical) " on condition of their being depofited in the pub- lic library for the ufe of the Undents." It appears, however, that the books were not admitted by the Prefident. On this occafion, in a letter to the Prefident, he refpedfuliy vindicates that free enquiry, " for which Proteftants have made fo noble a fland." " It is true," faith he, " with this liberty, er- rors may be introduced ; but, turn the ta- bles, the propagation of truth may be pre- vented. Deifm has gained fuch head, in this age of licentious liberty, that it would be in vain to try to fupprefs it by hiding the de- iftical writings : the only way is, to come forth into the open field, and difpute the mat- ter on even footing. The evidences of Rev- elation are, in my opinion, nearly as demons ftrative as Newton's Principia, and thefe are the weapons to be ufed. Truth, and this only, being in fadt our aim ; open, frank, and generous, we fhall avoid the very appear- ance of evil." About 8o THE LIFE OF About this time he received a prefent of fome books from Mr. Bennett, of Edin- burgh. The letter, which returned his ac- knowledgments, (September 14) is fraught with fentiments of candour charadteriftic of the writer. " This friendly notice, and on my part unfolicited, from a gentleman in a diflant country, to whom I am unknown, but by the, perhaps, too kind mention of Mr. Heatly, gives me a very fenfible pleafure ; the more fo, as the books you fent me, particu- larly Lord Kaimes' Effays, Mr. Anderfon's Anfwer, and the Reply, are curiofities in this country. I have not yet had time to finifh the perufal of them ; but, from the little I have read, I think candour, and a good-na- tured benevolence, might admit an innocent conftrudtion to even the more exceptionable pafTages in thefe effays, which appear to be the refult of thought, ingenuity, and good fenfe. I fuppofe his lordlhip does not pre- tend to infalHbility ; and, if fome exprefTions are not fo well guarded, are liable to excep- tionable confequences, or even if he may have fometimes eiTed ; yet the intricacy and fub- limity of thofe fubjed:s, which have hitherto proved too great for human comprehenfion, and PRESIDENT STILES. 8i and intelligible difquifition, entitle fo inge- nious a performance, and its author, to differ- ent treatment from what Mr. Anderfon feems to recommend. Free enquiry, and candid difquifition of moral fubjeds, have obtained fuch footing in the Proteftant world, that they cannot be extinguilheH, but muil pre- vail. Some have abufed this liberty, and filled their writings with impudence, licen- tioufnefs, and blafphemy. But when a book is written with modefty and good fenfe, even on the fide of error, I read it with pleafure. Befides, what great men fometimes call fun- damental error is not always fuch. Michael Servetus was condemned by the great men of his age, and burnt for herefy, when yet he believed not only in the being of a God, but in his Revelation by Jefus Chrift.— — To me it ap^pears, that all the danger of his lordfhip*s notions is with refpe61: to virtue. To neceffitate the conduct of Intelligencies to fuch a degree, as to deftroy their accounta- blenefs, is to place them in the clafs of brutes, and overlook the diftinguifliing principles of their nature. I do not know what is his lordfliip's opinion of Revelation ; however, I am by no means certain, but that men may L entertain Bi THE LIFE OF entertain his fpeculations refpeding liberty and neceffity, and yet be firm believers of Revelation j I think I may add, that I am acquainted with fuch." Another w^riter, then of recent celebrity, and, to this day, confidered as the champion of infidelity, was not, in his view, entitled to equal indulgence. " The Mr. Hume, whom Dr. Leland confutes, diredtly oppofes a fupernatural Revelation, and flrongly de- nies the poffibility t)f miracles, or of their evidence. I think he treats the fubje^t, and feveral other llibjeds he has written upon, with caprice and infolence. Self-confident, full of his own difcernment, he enjoys the complacency of believing himfelf poflefled of the fecret, imparted only to the happy few, that the bafis, or one main foundation of Chriftianity, is an abfolute impoffibility. And truly it is a new difcovery, even to imagine, That it is beyond the reach of Omnipotence, to fufpend, alter, or counter- aft, the general laws, which itfelf hath eftab- iifhed in the creation." Having Ihewn the abfurdity of this bold and impious hypothefis, and proved, that miracles are capable of as credible an attefta-« tion PRESIDENT STILES. 83 tion as any other fa6ts, that, when credibly attefted, they prove a divine miflion, and that the refurred:ion of Jefus is lupported by fuch teftimony, he adds : *' The only queftion is, queJiofaBi^ [a queftion of fa6t] particularly the re-appearance of Jefus, after he was un- doubtedly crucified, and dead. This faO:, once admitted, all the Scripture miracles are credible, whether extended to infpiration, or confined to operations on the material world. Yet, the love of novelty ; the habit of fcep- ticifm ; ambition to divulge hypothefes and new fuppofed difcoveries ; an unbounded paflion for thinking generoufly and freely ; deep acquaintance with the hiftory of fuper- ftitions, judged parallel to and refembling the Chriftian inftitution ; the oriental pre- tended incarnation in the perfon of Fo ; conviction that a great part of the mythol- ogy which biafles nations, the learned and unlearned, is without foundation j a deep fufpicion that all the moral fyftems in the world, and among the reft the Chriftian, as well as the Mahometan, have origin in hu- man invention and policy ; and, above ail^ polluted morals, have a prodigious influence in ftupifying the moral fenfe, or perceptivity of evidence, in the given cafe of tlie Chrir^ tiau 84 THE LIFE OF tian Revelation, and raife fuch a mift oi fcepticifm, as even demonftration cannot dif^ pel. So that, particularly with regard to the refurredtion of Jefus, the mind is callous, and cannot feel the weight, or even the poflibil- ity, of evidence. So the Newtonian phi- lofophy, though founded on demonftration, is yet difbelieved in fome foreign univerfi- ties. Men of lefs fpeculation, of lefs fcience, and lefs prepoffeffion, will apprehend, and rationally believe, what fublimer minds, of great learning, in vain attempt to compre- hend. There is a moral jaundice, brought on by fome peculiar refinements in fpecula- tion, which tinges all objects from a certain quarter. The removal of this is the firft ftep toward difcerning the truth, efpecially the truth as it is in Jefusr " Lord Bolingbroke appears to be better acquainted with political, than with theologi-, cal, learning. He that perfeGily underftands the nature and connexions of the feveral kingdoms and polities in Europe, is very ig» norant of the adminiftration of God, and of the yroKiTttci [the government] of the univerfe. It was as much out of charader for him to turn divine, as for Chancellor K to turn civilian j PRESIDENT STILES. Ss civilian ; and he has iiicceeded accordingly, Dr. Leland deferves highly of the Chriftian world. Men of fenfe, of what-, ever rehgion, ought to be treated, as he has treated them, with candour and po- litenefs.*' While it is inflrudlive, to have the vari- ous fources of infidelity thus opened to our view, and to be prefented with the reafonings of one who had '•' gone through all the con- flid:s that it is poffible for the human mind to be perplexed with,"* it is plealing to trace his progrefs from the incertitude of fcepticifm to the {lability of the Chriftian faith. We have feen him, like the humble reed, tremuloufly bending beneath the blaft ; we now behold him, as the majeftic oak, firmly rooted by the agitation of the winds, and able to refift the fury of the fevereft temp eft. By a learned Jew, from Saphat, in Gali- lee, he addrefled a letter, in Latin, to fome Greek prieft, or bifhop, living in the Holy Land, or in Syria. Its defign was to obtain an exa£t defcription of the Holy Land, and of Syria ; a map of the lake of Galilee; of the lake of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the * Manufcrlpt. 86 THE LIFE OF the rife and courfe of the river Jordan ; information concerning the inhabitants of the various nations on that territory ; the num- ber of Chriftian priefts in each epifcopate ; and efpecially the number of bifhops, and their clergy, under the patriarchs of Antioch or Damafcus, and of Jerufalem, as, alfo, of thofe under the patriarch of Gonflantinople ; an account of the religion of the Gentiles beyond the Cafpian Sea j and whether any nations pracStife circumcifion, who anciently obferv^ed that rite, without a derivation from Jews or Mahometans ;* a geographical de^ fcription of the river Oxus, of the city Sa- marcand, and of the neighbouring regions, where * Tlie defign of this enquiry was, to difcover, if poffi- ble, the Ten Tribes of Ifrael, a favourite fubjeft of his refcarches : — Quippe inde, forfan, edifcerimus quoddam de Ifraelitis Captivitatis primae, five Aflyrianae. Perfia et India jam multis facculis tarn adeo perfufa fuerit turn Judaels turn Mahometanis, quemadmodum perdificile fit circumcifiq^iem ab lis perlatain diflinguere ah ilia anti- quiore circumcifione peradta a X Trib. et eoruni pofteritate. Arabes Mahometani Baflriam et regiones Bucharias hodiemas pervagarunt circa A. D. looo. No- tum fieri cuplo an e Scriptis Arabicis, vcl aliis circa id feculum editis, pateat quod inter gentes Bucharias vel diftantiores ad regioncm Tibet, circumcifio inventa fuitj uti dim Herodotus obfervavit ad urbem Colchis. PRESIDENT STILtS. 87 where Ulugh Beg formerly reigned ;* a map of the courfe of the river Euphrates, from its fource to the bay of Ormuz ; a map, alfo, of Arabia, that is, the region betv/een the Red Sea and Ormuz, and an account of the prin- cipal cities, and of the nations which inhabit that region ; alfo, a map of the eouritry be- yond the Cafpian Sea, (whence the Turks originated) and the names of the princes- who reign there at this day* Addrefled to a minifter of the Greek church, the letter farther enquires. What are the peculiar cer- emonies and tenets of that church ? It alfo afks an account of the Samaritans, who inhabit Mount Gerizim, at Sichem ; the number of families, of priefts ; the fize of their temple, or fan^luary ; an account of their religious rites, and of their Pentateuch, whether written in Samaritan characters, or in Greek ; wherein it principally differs from the Hebrew Pentateuch, efpecially in ancient chronology, both in the patriarchal and anti- deluvian ages ; and whether they received the Pentateuch, which they now have, in the time * This he fuppofes may be procured from the Armenian Chriftians : Forfan Chriftiani Armeuiani ampliffime fup- peditare pofient. 88 T H E L I F E O F time of Rehobbam, or not till after the I'e-* turn of Judah from the Babylonian captivity^ or whether in the times of Sanballat, A D. M,DCC,LX.— ^TAT. XXXIIL ON the 23d of April, he delivered, before the convention of the Congregational minify ters of Rhode-Ifland, affembled at Brillol, *'A Difcourfe on the Chriftian Union,"* which was printed. In this Difcourfe he enu- tnerates fome of thofe fundamental principles 6f Chriftianity, and ecclefiaftical polity, in which our churches are generally agreed ; notices fome points on which we differ in opinion, or are fuppofed to differ ; fhews that this difference need not obftrudb the gen- eral harmony and union, and that the aliena- tions, occafioned by this diverfity, might be greatly lelTened by benevolent and honoura- ble conceiTions ; and fubjoins fome reafons, taken from the importance of the common caufe, and the prefent (late of our churches, to * Text, PhiHppians iii. 16 — Neverthehfs, 'whereto «iu for the reft, let us endeavour to hope, and think, and fpeak, the beft of one another, in all our differences, putting on forbearance, charity, and a condefcending benevolence.'* How highly does he eftimate, and with what glowing zeal does he commend, the val- ue of freedom ! — " PofTeffed of the precious jewel of religious liberty, a jewel of ineftim- able wprth, let us prize it»highly, and efteem it too dear to be parted with on any terms j left we be again entangled with that yoke of bondage * which our forefathers could not, would not, and God grant we may never, fubmit to bear.'* In arguing for union " from the prefent Hate of our churches," he obferves : " Thera is no body of Chriftians on earth in fuch a rapid increafe, and in fo flourlihing a ftate, as the Congregationalifts of New-England. The prefent ftate of our denomination as to numbers, for the year 1 760, is nearly this : In Maffachufetts are above 300 Congrega- tional * Star-Chamber and High Commission-, PRESIDENT STILES. 93 tional churches ; in Connedicut 170 ; in New-Hampfliire 43 ; which, with thofe in this Colony, form a body of about 53Q churches. In 1650 there were about 36. churches already founded, feveral of which were fmall beginnings, requiring many years to fill up. In 16.96 there were but 130. Congregational churches in all New-England. And being, A. D. 1760, increafed to 530, the proportion of doubling is once in 30 years. A. IX 1643 there had arrived in 298 tranfports, about 4,200 planters with their families, making about 21,200 people for all New-England. Since that time more have gone from us to Europe, than have arrived from thence hither. The prefent inhabit- ants, therefore, of New-England are juftly to be eftimated a natural increafe by the blef- fmg of Heaven on the firft 21,000 that ar- rived by the year 1643." How engagingly does he inculcate the ftudy of union, from a regard to its aufpicious in- fluence on the perfonal, paftoral, domeftic, and Chriftian characters ! " The public love and harmony will enable us, with ferenity and more facred fatisfadion, to celebrate the offices of piety and devotion. Our religious addreffes 94 THE LIFE OF addrefles and joyful homage, undifturbed, unpolluted with difcordant feelings, fhall af~ cend, as incenfe, holy and acceptable, to the Moft High. And, in common life, inftead of broken friendfhips, and family alienations, we fhould become united brethren in the Iiigheft fenfe, harmonioufly travelling along together, and fweetening the trials of life with the animating complacency of focial virtue. Religious contefts are apt to £bur the temper, which is greatly unhappy in a fiiate preparatory to the communion of an- gels and glorious beings above." Such were the benevolent the divine principles, which he inculcated on others; and fuch were the principles, on which he uniformly a^ted, and which at once procured him general efteem, and rendered him a fignal ornament to Chriftianity. It might naturally be fuppofed, that the friends of liberty and peace would be pleaf- cd with this Difcourfe. Teftimonials of the approbation of fuch are not wanting from very refpedable characters in America and Europe. " I am exceedingly pleafed," writes Doctor Alifon, " with your ingenious per- formance relating to theNew-Englifh church- es. I^RESIDENT STILES. 95 cs. It fhews great induftry, great candour, and good judgment, and has been greatly admired by fome of the beft judges of fuch matters in this place. Two copies I fent home to Ireland, to give fome importance to my own correfpondence by furnifhing my friends with what I know they will greatly admire ; and though the a ^^ ^^^^ elecfled Vice Provoft of the College in that city, where he was alfo an affiiliant minifter in the firft Prefbyterian church- He was an excellent claffical fcholar ; and, in ethics, hiftory, and general reading, a great literary character. He died in 1779, ^tat. 74. Lit. Diary. t September 8, 1760, joe* THE LIFE OF for liberty, but which he lived to fee ful- filled. In confidering the advantages of America, compared with Europe, having obferved, that " we are planting an empire of better laws and religion ;" he adds : " It is probable, that, in time, there will be form- ed a Provincial Confederacy, and a Common Council, Handing on free provincial fuffrage : And this may, in time, terminate in an imperial diet,* when the imperial do-» minion will fubfift, as it ought ^ in Elec-^ TION." A. D, M,DCC,LXI.-~^TAT. XXXIV. ON the 20th of Januaiy he preached a Difcourfe, on the occafion of the death of King George II,'|' and the acccffion of George III. After giving a review of the adminif- tration * Alluding, probably, to the government of German}', compofed, (though 7iot by election,) of the heads of ihe fcveral States belonging to that Empire, and forming one great confederacy. Imperial did is but another name for Continental Congress. f Who died October 25, 1760. George Til. was pro- claimed at Newport, and through Rhodc-Ifland Colony, January 19, i-;6if PRESIDENT STILES. ici tratlon of the late king, paying the refpect of a dutiful fubjed to his memory, and noticing the aufpicious circumftances attending the accelTion of his fuccefTor, he adds : " What remains, but that we rehgioufly implore the divine fuperintendance and bleHing on his future reign ? Since much will de-^ pend, Hill, on xhQJiifl exercife of the prerog- ative, with which, by the Britifh conftitution, and univerfal explicit fuffrage of our em- pire, he is now veiled ; it will not be un-, grateful to him to know, that he is, every Lord's day, accompanied to the throne of grace, with *the fervent addreifes of half a million of loyal Chrillians, in Nevz-Eng- land, for that fupernal influence on his royal mind from the Supreme King of the uni-r verle, by whom fubordinate kings reign, and princes decree juftice. This will be the more necefTary for us to continue, on our part, not only from the efficacy of joint and ardent fupplication, but from the possi- ble EXIGENCIES of New-England, WHICH MAY FALL WITHIN THE PERIOD OF HIS Majesty's reign. As there are men, who have a mighty opinion of retrenching the Ubeities of thefe colonies, cr throwing a net of 102 THE LIFE OF of policy over them, which may amount to a deprivation : fo, if thefe, with their pro- jeiStions, fhould gain accefs to his Majefty'3 ears, mistaken representations may INDUCE HIS Majesty to accede to MEASURES OF UNHAPPY CONSEQUENCE TO THE Liberty of America." An hiftorian records a fimikr inftance of his political difcernment.* This year he commenced a courfe of chymical experiments, which he continued for feveral fucceeding years. He alfo began thofe enquiries, refpedting the number of Indians in North-America, their national cuftoms, and religious rites, which he long profecuted with ardent curiofity, and unwea* ried diligence. A. D. M,DCC,LXIIL— iETAT. XXXVL Dr. FRANKLIN having lately prefented him with Fahrenheit's thermometer, on the firft of January he began a feries of ther- mometrical and meteorological obfervations, which * Gordon's Hiftory of the American War, vol. I, A. D. 1761. RESIDENT STILES. loj which he continued, with very little inter- ruption, with his own hand, till within two days of his death. Thefe obfervations were made with frequency in the courfe of the day, and efpecially when there was any re- markable variation in the temperature of heat or cold, or any phenomenon relating to meteorology. They compofe a rich treaf- ure in this article of fcience ; and are con- tained in fix quaito volumes. This year he wrote a letter to the Rev- erend Dr. Lardner, of London, and folicited his " Credibility of the Gofpel Hiftory," for the Redwood library. That worthy man, and very learned author, obligingly complied with his requeft, and maintained a corres- pondence with him till nearly the time of his death. He now commenced experiments for the raifmg of filk worms, and for the culture of filk ; and wrote letters abroad to obtain in- formation on the fubjedt from the filk man- ufadories. He kept a journal, in which he interfperfed remarks feledted from various authors on the filk culture, particularly after the Italian and Chinefe manner ; and as he continued to make experiments, and, with great 164 ^^E LIFE OF great aflidulty, to invite the attention of the community to the fubjecl:, for a feries of years, his journal, colledtively, conftitutes a quarto volume. The ufe of the Redwood library, being:, by the adt of incorporation, confined to Newport ; for the benefit of the minifters in the parts adjacent, Mr. Stiles propofed that they fhould unite in making a collec- tion of theological writings, and particularly to purchafe the Fathers, and eeclefiaftical hiftories. In conjunction with his learned friend, the Reverend Dr. Weft, of Dart- mouth, he this year began this collection by the name of an " Eeclefiaftical Library ;" they unitedly contributing, for its founda- tion, Juftin Martyr, Origen, Eufebius, and other authors* It was his opinion, that the early Chriftian writers were too much neglected by divines at the prefent day. The moft valuable of them, he obferved, might be read with a fmall expence of time, and with great profit. Without a formal defence, may I not alk, Whether the modern charge of credulity is not too vague for their entire condemnation ? And if fome of them argued inconclufively, or PRESIDENT STILES. 105 t)r gave forced conllrudlons of the Scrip- tures, were they not competent witnefles of hiftorical fa — Prof- perity attend them !"* A. D. M,DCC,LXV.— ^TAT. XXXVIIT. LEARNING by the foreign gazettes, that certain perfons, who had been fent to Egypt and Arabia by the Danifh King, had lately brought 500 very ancient Hebrew and Ara- bic manufcripts from the Eaft, and depofited them in the univerfity at Copenhagen ; he addreffed a letter, in Latin, to the Prefed: of this Univerfity, to enquire the degree of their antiquity, and the fubjeds on which they * Monthly Revie-w for 17P8. PRESIDENT STILES. 109 they treated. He prefumed that the Vedas; were among thofe manufcripts, and expreff- ed a wifh to know the age of the world, according to thefe writings.— The Vedasy written in Sanfcrit, are the ancient and facred books of the Hindus, in four volumes, three of which Sir William Jones firmly believed, from internal and external evidence, to be more than three thoitfand years old. On the 2 8th of March, the Univerfity of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of Dodlor in Divinity. It was through the in- fluence of Dr. Franklin, who, in a letter to Dr. Robertfon, the celebrated hiftorian, then Principal of that Univerfity, recommended his friend as fuftaining " an excellent charac- ter," and as " greatly efteemed by his breth- ren the clergy, even of other denominations, for his extenfive iea];"ning, and the ca- tholicifm of his temper ;*' and fplicited for him this honour. Mr. Stiles received the diploma in November. *' To be enrolled hi the higheft order of literature"— he writes, on this occafion, to Dr. Franklin—" and in that clafs in this order, which implies Piety as well as Erudition, would have been, could I have merited it, the fummit of my ambi- tion.^ ^ no THE LIFE OF tlon. I am not conlcious of a merit equal to fuch an honour : yet am happy in receiv- ing it from an Univerfity of the firft emi^. nence for Religion and Literature ; and in having been introduced to it by a gentleman y?hofe recommendation carries weight with it throughout the Republic of letters. It would give me the higheft fatisfadion, could my character do the leaft honour to you. Sir, and to that illuftrious Seat of learning." —In grateful acknowledgment of the honour thus unexpectedly fhewn him, he addrefled a letter, in Latin, to Dr. Robertfon, and to the Senatus Academicus, in that claflicaL ftyle, and courtly manner, for which his writings are diftinguifhed. " It is fome- thing," obferved one of his friends, " to ob- tain fuch an honour ; but it is more to de- ferve it. I truft you will wear the laurel not only unenvied, but with the approbation of the beft judges." How little he eftimated diplomatic hon^ ours, in comparifon with the divine appro- bation, and celeftial glories, appears by a letter written to his friend the Reverend Dr. Dana :-— " I beg leave to congratulate you on the honpur lately done you by the Uni- verfity PRESIDENT STILES. iii verfity of Edinburgh, in conferring on you the Dodtorate in Divinity. It is a pleafure, whenever the literaiy titles defcend and reft on genius, erudition, and real merit. But, dear Sir, what is this elevation, what the higheft academical honour, compared to that of a humble difciple, a faithful minifter, of the blefled Jefus ? What the honour of being enrolled in the fupreme order of lite- rary merit, and regiftered in the archives of Edinburgh and Cambridge, to that of having our names written i?i the LaniFs book of life? May we feel the incentives of the celeftial retributions, and fo a£t our parts here, hrf turning many to righteoufnefs^ as hereafter, to Jhine as the hrightnefs of the frmament, ana as thtfiars forever and ever." An adherence to the caufe of truth, a:nd[ to the practice of piety, is thus recom- mended, in a letter to Mr. Jennings, of London, November 29 : ** The Diflenting intereft, through the Britiih empire, I have much at heart, I wifh the ftability and perfevering firmnefs of our brethren in that glorious caufe of apoftolic truth, which muft finally prevail on earth. May we all be animated in the Chriftian life and profefTien by M ni THE LIFE OF by the higher glories of immortality. Let us of the rifmg generation liv.e the purity of religion, and walk in the fteps of our pious anceftors." J, D. M,DCC,LXVL— JilTAT. XXXlX. TO J. Z; Holwell, Efquircj author of " Hiftorical events relative to the Empire of Hinduflan" — who had refided thirty years in Bengal— he wrote a letter, Feb. 27, to acquire information in oriental hil^ toty ; and particularly to afcertain, whether the Jews, at Cochin and at Patna, were in J)ojfreffion of a Hebrew Pentateuch : an en* quiry, v/hich continued to intereft his cu- riofity till he found his congenial mind in the late Sir William Jones, to whom he addrefled himfelf on this fubjedl, and on fome others, which {hall be noticed in the fequel. In this letter, he aiks to what antiquity the Shaftah* extends its chronology ; at what period it was written ; whether it was compofed by one author, or by a number, in * Sacred books of the Centoos, PRESIDENT STILES. 113 In a iticceflion of years ; whether it contains any thing analogous to the cofmogony of Mofes ; whether it has any allufions to events in the Affyrian empire, and fynchro- nizes with any of the princes from Ninus to Sardanapalus ; whether it mentions the princes or governors of Perfia, Media, and Baftria, during their infancy, and while members of the Affyrian empire, and before Zoroafter ; or alludes to the Lama fyftem at Potola, or to the hillory of China ; what are its religious dodrines ; what the num- ber of people from Indus to the Ganges ; whether the Shaftah is received in Siam, and in other kins;doms eaft of Benoral ; whether the Brahmans are generally learned and virtuous, and have feminaries of liter- ature ; whether the difciples of Fo, or the de la Lama, at Potola, have any fyftem, or collection, of capital writings diftinguifhed by a like univerfal reverence as the Shaftah of Hindoftan, and what their antiquity ; in what part of India was the feat of empire, at the time of waiting the Shaftah ; what the remoteft notices, in the Indian hiftories, of any public tranfadtions, or political com- munications between the ancient empire of P India, 114 THE LIFE OF India, and that of China ; whether there ar^ any traces of an ancient colonization from India into the north-eaft region, where, it is faid, there has been, for ages, a large body of people under the Lama of Potola 5 at what time was fuch emigration from the parent ftate ? It is faid, (he remarks) that not only on the Malabar coaft, at Cochin, but at Patna up the Ganges, there are large bodies of Jews, (or Hebrews ;) and the lat- ter are faid to account themfelves of the half-tribe of Manafleh. Do all the Jews of the eaft appear to be of the laft difperfion ? or, do thofe of Patna, in particular, difcover any evidence of their having defcended from the Ten Tribes ? If fo, have they the Pen- tateuch, or any other Hebrew writings be- yond the age of Salmanefer ? In the regions north of the Mogul empire, are there found any clufters of people that circumcife, and retain traditions of a derivation from the Ten Tribes ? Prefident Clap purpofmg to refign his prefidency at Yale College, the attention of the Corporation appears to have been im- mediately dircdled to Dr. Stiles. In July he received from a confidential friend, a let- ter, PRESIDENT STILES. 115 ter, which exprefles the defire of one of the Corporation, that he fhould enquire at the Doctor's own mouth, whether he would accept a prefidency at Yale College, if it {hould be offered to him, ** You afk," he replies, " a delicate queftion. I well know the difficulties of that important office, and my inability to difcharge it with advantage and honour. The title of a Prefident, though eminent and honourable, is a laurel inter^ woven with thorns. If there are many flat' tering and agreeable things in fuch an em- ployment, they are more than balanced by the difficulties attending it, as, indeed, is the cafe of all public offices whatever, of any confiderahle eminence.— I am not calculated for great i^fefulnefs ; there are principles in my nature, chiefly my paffions, which would defeat fuch an aim. To become a little ufeful, to be difciplined into a feraphic pu- rity of foul, and to become fmcerely pious., is all the glory of my life : but my choice is a retirement and obfcurity, even beyond what I have hitherto been able to attain ; in which, however, I purpofe, by the leave of Providence, to be more and more inveL oped : efpecially as I judge the lefs we have to Ii6 THE LIFE OF to do with the world, and public life, the more we may perfe(St ourfeives in the divine life, the life hid with Chriji in God^ which I have long determined Ihall be my chief aim. 1 conceive it infinitely difficult for the governor of a province, or the prefix dent of a college, to be converfant with, and prudently to adjuft himfelf to, a great variety of contrary views, difpofitions, tempers, pur* fuits, and chara6:ers, many of them very im- portant, and not endanger the firmnefs of the moral principle. 1 know fo little of my- felf, indeed, that I may, perhaps, be unable previoufly to pronounce the part I might take, on a contingency which, in my ap- prehenfion, is im.poffible ; though I am at no lofs what would be a wife condudt." So reluctant was he to be called forth to a fcene of more public fervice, than that of the miniftry, to which he was now devoted ; fo jealous was he of the temptations, to which his virtue might be expofed ; fo little influence had the allurements of literary fame, in comparifon with the attractions of retirement, and of an occupation favourable to improvement in piety ! If, when put to the teft at a fubfequent period, he may be fuppofed PRESIDENT STILES. 117 fuppofed to vary his judgment, on this fucn ject, to abandon his prefent refolutions, and to enter with pleafure into the lifts of fame 3 evidence will not be wanted to prove, that his fentiments and inclinations remained un- altered, and that he rather fubmitted to the tafk, than afpired to the honour, of the pref- idency. Having previoully been nominated to the office of a Fellow of Rhode-Illand College, which office he had declined, and being now adually elected into that office, and folicited by repeated deputations from the Corpora* tion to accept it ; he writes to the Chancel* lor and Truftees : " I was too fmcere a friend to literature, not to have taken part in the inftitution at firft, upon my nomination in the Charter, had I not been prevented by reafons, wliich a fubfequent immediate elec- tion could not remove." Whatever the reafons were, they ftill influenced him to decline the office to which he was invited, with fuitable acknowledgments, of the po- lite nefs and refpe£l, with which he was treat- ed, on this occafion ; concluding his letter with the catholic and pious wifh, that " the Father of Lights, from whom comes down every iiS THE LIFE OF every good and perfect gift, may excite the public munilicence, and raife up benefa(Slors, tlirough whofe liberalities this Inftitution fhali be completed with an ample endowment." In a letter to the Reverend Dr. Welles, he writes : " I am ftationed in a very difficult part of the Lord's vineyard, though, I thank God, with great tranquillity and happinefs in my flock. A prince has not any thing to beftow, which I fhould efteem of equal val- ue with the prayers of my brethren ; with your prayers, that I may be enabled to ful- fil the minillry I have received, to the ac- ceptance of Him, whom I efteem it my fu-* preme glory to ferve.'* A letter, December 8, to the aged and ven-* erable Dr. Lardner, has this intereiling con- clufion : " I aik your prayers for me, an unworthy labourer in the church. May the divine prefence and wifdom accompany you through the refidue of your life ! I fliall not fee you in this world ; but I hope, through grace, you will be among the firft fpirits I fliall have the happinefs of meeting in the celeftial realms." Dr. Lardner's laft letter to Dr. Stiles is dated " Hoxton-Square in London, April 6, 1768." The Dodor died July 24, in the iPRESIDENT STILES. 119 the fame year, Mta.t. 85. He was of a mid- dling flature ; rather thin than corpulent 5 of a healthful eonftitution, cheerful difpofi- tion, and polite manners. He was never married; His many learned publications in fupport of Chriftianity, of which he was a real ornament, are w-ell known. His "Cred- ibility of the Gofpel Hiftory" is a very elab- orate work, which, by a copious flatement of authentic fa6^s, demonftrably eftablifhes the authenticity of the Chriflian religion. This valuable work being voluminous, it may be of ufe to add here a remark of the Author, in a letter to Dr. Stiles : " The three volumes of the Supplement do contain a kind of Summary of all the volumes of the Second Fart. 1 could wifh the Supplement (the expence of which is not very great) might be in the hands of many ftudents of divinity, and young minifters." This year he copied, for the firft time, the curious Infcription on a rock in Dighton, which has baffled the attempts of the Anti- quarians of America, and of Europe, to decy- pher to entire fatisfa£tion. It was his opinion, that the character is Punic. ProfefTor Sewall tranfmitted a copy of this Infcription to M. Gebelin, U6 THE LIFE OF Gebelin, of the Parifian Academy of Sciences, who, comparing it with the Punic paleogra- phy, interpreted it as denoting, that the an- cient Carthaginians once vifited thefe diftant regions.* Others fuppofe it rather an hiero- glyphic infcription, than an alphabetical charad;er, and that, therefore, it may be the work of the Chinefe, or Japanefe ; while fome feem inclined to conceive of it as noth- ing more than the rude fcrawls of fome of the Indian tribes, commemorating their mill- itary atchievements, or hunting parties, f J. Z>. M,DCC,LXVIL— -SEtat. XL. HIS fentiments on the moft ufeful method of preaching, and of defending Revelation, appear in the following extract from a letter, January 20, to Mr. Jennings, of London : — ^^ I pray God to uphold your caufe and intereft, and carry it triumphantly through all its difcouragements. I fully join in your fentiments, and could wifh the good old Puritan dodrines^ and evangelical principles were * Prefident Stiles' Elei5lion Sermon. t See Monthly Review for May 1784, p. 424. PRESIDENT STILES. 121 were revived, and more generally inculcated in the preaching of the Diffenters. They ave the wifdom of God, and the power of God. " The difqulfitions of Deifm, and the de- fences of Revelation, during the laft hun- dred years, may have infenfibly introduced a manner of preaching, which confifts more in labouring the moral explications of the ration- ality of the Chriftian fyftem, than an enforce- ment and weighty addrefs of the important truths themfelves, from confiderations drawn from the authority of the Moft High, and the momentous confequences of eternity, as well as the innate reafonablenefs and excel- lency of evangelical truth : The latter, I ap- prehend, has engrofTed the modern preach- ing ; the former may have been too little attended to : both fhould go together. *' Revelation is to be fupported and de- fended by arguments taken from the harmo- ny, dignity, credibility, and reafonablenefs of its fyftem ; from the fulfilment of proph- ecy ; and from miracles, efpecially that cap- ital one of the refurredion of Jefus. But, being eftablifhed, its dodrines and precepts are to be alfedged and urged home upon Q_ the m THE LIFE OF the Confciences of mankind, with a Thus faith the Lord ! All his dicSlates are founded in unerring wifdom, and confummate rea- fon* If I know his will, be it enough, whether I can^ enter into the rationality of it, or not : not to obferve, that the greater part of Revelation fo far approves itfelf to t)ur reafon, at firft view, as to force acknowl- edgment even from deifts, that it compofes a far fublimer fyftem, than that of Confu- cius^ Zoroafter, Plato, or even Shaftefbury, confidered as a code of laws for human con- dudt, or as defcribing a part of the moral economy of the univerfe. In a word, there are no objections againft the rationality of th^ Scripture fcheme, but. what inftantly "i^anifh from a mind convinced, that it is de- rived from the Father of Lights. " After all, the deifts are not the meUy whom we are to expedt to influence by that truth, which is alike within the apprehen- fion of the peafant, and of inen of the fub- limeft genius and refinements Not many noble are called : not that they fhould be ne- gleded ; but to operate both on them and the reft of a fmful world, the opening and illuftrating, not fo much the moral reafon, as PRESIDENT STILES, 123 as the nature, aad exhibiting plain defcrip- tions, of eyangeHcal truth, and enforcing it as founded in the authority of 4 Being of perfedion, may perhaps be attended with the moll: happy effe(Sl and fuccefs." In correfpondence with thefe fentiments, he wrote, foon after, to the Reverend Mr. Wright, of Briftol, in England ; " I am appre-^ henfive, that, for half a century, the evangeli-f cal dod:rine3 of human nature in ruins, and its reparation, commencing radically in a change of heart, the propitiation and atonement of the Redeemer, and juftification through his vicarious facrifice, and the dodtrines con- nected with thefe grand principles of the Chriflian fyftem, may have a little too much given place to what is called a more ration- al and polite manner of preaching. An4 yet I would by no means feem to fay any thing againft rational fermons, fmce, in my opinion. Revelation has proceeded from the moft perfect and confummate Reafon. I could wifh the Independents would adopt the learning and charity of the Frefbyteri- ans ; and that the latter would a little more refume thofe evangelical do6lrines, for which their anceftors were very eminent, «If 124 THE LIFE OF " If we confider Revelation as only a re-, publication of the light of Nature, and the laws of Virtue, its principal glory efcapes us. An inftitution for the redrefs of a polluted world muft, in its own nature, be different from an inftitution calculated for a perfedb Vvorld, a fyftem of finlefs intelligencies. — Accordingly, we find the great atonement making a principal figure in the gofpel, as being the only bafis of the recovery and re- conciliation of this world to the favour of Jehovah, and of its reunion with the in- numerable myriads of moral fyftems, which compofe the univerfe. *' I have thought that the Deiftical con- troverfy has infenfibly led the Chriftian paf- tors, and even fome of the beft friends of the Redeemer, into a conceflion, that nothing is to be admitted in religion, whofe internal reafon is not confpicuous and evincible. But, as Bifhop Butler has fhewn, a religion de- rived from above muft be fuppofed to in- volve intricacies too deep for human folution. Should any man, or fet of men, call in quef- tion the perfection of the works of Nature ; I fhould think the philofopher adventured too far, in joining iffue, and undertaking to ihew PRESIDENT STILES. 125 fhew the univerfal beauty, in ail given in- ftances, the final caufes, and real perfedtion of every phenomenon in view. We may fee enough, to be convinced that all is per- fed:, and that fuperior minds may fee perfec- tion in every part j w^hiie it will become our wifdom to confider the limitation of human capacities. — -—Let it be proved, that a reli- gion comes from the fountain of infallibility, and its reafonablenefs is demonftrated. It may then be addrefled to mankind with the double force of divine authority, and of in- ternal fitnefs and excellency." By " giving up every thing, which we cannot explain," he judged that " fome of our moft fenfible modern writers had level- led the gofpel to the religion of nature," and given up its elTential dodtrines.*' If this fentiment is well founded, does it not merit the ferious attention of Chriftian minifters ? *' If the public defenders of the gofpel ftudi- ouily accommodate its principles to the boaft- ed but perverted reafon and liberality of an unbelieving and licentious age ; will they not hold up the Chriftian revelation to the view of infidels as a very uncertain and un- important * Scxjnon at tlie Oifdlnation c£ Mr. Channing. la^ THE LIFE OF important fyftem, and give them room t^ fufped: that even its learned and profeffional advocates are fecretly afhamed of fome gf its evident and diftinguilhing features ?"* A letter to the Reverend Mr. K-irkland, November 4, defigned to make enquiry con- cerning Indian antiquities, clofes in the fpirit- of primitive Chriftianity : " You are, dear Sir, employed in a great and good work. May the prefer^ce and blefling of the Light of the Gentiles attend you, and accorripany your labours in the kingdom and patience of our divine ImmanueL The fame of the un- wearied afiiduity and truly apoftolic labours of the late Reverend David Brainerd is fpread through Europe ; I lately faw an extract of his journal in the publication of a German divine, the Reverend Dr. Frifenius. The Reverend Mr. Sergeant's character, alfo, was treated with great honour in Europe. You are enterprizing a work, which will commend your name to pofterity. But thefe are tri- fling confiderations, in comparifon with the true motives, which ought to animate a min- ifter of the blelTed Jefus. Can we do enough for him, who loved us to the death ? Have we tafled * PrcfefTor Tappau's Convention Sermon, 1797. PRESIDENT STILES. 227 tafted the grace of the Redeemer ; let us be touched with the tender wifh, that all rtitti may partake of the fame common falvation. What nobler work can we be employed in on earth, than in diffufmg the good news to a perifhing world, and pcrfuading men to be reconciled to God ? Shall not pity and com- paffion to a world of perifhing fmners, fhall not the approbation of Jefus, Ihall not & name written in the Lamb's book of life, be incentives to our affiduity infininitely tran- icending all wordly motives ?" Nor does he forbear to point the attention of the great to the fublime triiths of religion.- After making his acknowledgments to GoV'*' ernor Hutchinfon, for the compliment of hisi hillory, he adds i " Permit me, Sir, to wifb you every bleffing— -not the glorious inde- pendence of a Britifh nobleman, dangerous to virtue, but a final participation in the ex- alted, though dependent, honours of im- mortality, in the fplendours of which all fublunary glory vanifhes and is loft." On this anniverfary of his nativity, he wrote a Birth-day Refledion, and continued the practice annually, with but one or two intermilTions, to the time of his death. Ex- ttads 12^ THE LIFE OF trads from this manufcrlpt, peculiarly illuf* trative of his piety, fhali occafionally enrich the following pages* A,B. M,DCC,LXVIII.— iExAT. XLL THOUGH the Hebrew language was taught at Yale College, when Dr. Stiles was a ftudent ; yet, not then expecting to enter the miniftr)^ to which profeflion only this language was thought to be of ufe, he greatly negle£led it. After his fettlement at New- port, when he was curious to inveftigate the fenfe of fome capital Hebrew words, he ufed to find, in Montanus' Hebrew Bible, firft the Latin word, then the Hebrew over it ; then he compared the fame word in different texts, and guelTed the fenfe. This, with the help of Foil Synopfis^ gave him what trifling affiftance he could obtain from the Hebrew* Some light, indeed, he derived from the Jews at Newport, particularly from their Huzzans, or teachers, by allying them the import of thofe Hebrew words, which ftood for partic- ular paffages in the Bible. Eroceeding in the dudy of the Scriptures, and of divinity, he IPHESIDENT STILES. 129 he felt the neceflity of the knowledge of the Hebrew. His frequent attendance at the Jews' fynagogue increafed his wifh to poflefs at leaft fo much of it, as to fee a little into their books and fervice. On receiving a diploma from Edinburgh, his " ambition was touched, or rather a fenfe of fhame excited, that a Dodior of Divinity fhould not under- ftand a language," fo important, and fo eafily acquired. But the delight of other ftudies, and the drudgery of learning a dead language, confpired to the continuance of his neglect. At length, however, in P4ay, 1767, though advanced into the fortieth year of his age, he concluded to attempt at leaft to read the lan- guage. At this time he knew but ten of the Hebrew letters. Having walked a few timea on the parade with the Huzzan, who gave him the true power of the letters and vow- els, he began to fpell and read the Pfaiter. In the five firft days, he read to the 19th Pfalm. Encouraged by his fuccefs, he foon found himfelf able to read about ten pages every morning after breakfaf!:. Not long af- ter, the Huzzan wrote for him the alphabet, with the vov/els j gave him the founds, and heard him fpell moft of the firfi Pfalm. He R alfg $30 THE LIFE OF alfo gave him the Rabbinical letters. Thi5 was his chief afiiftance; When he had read the Pfalter, he began to tranflate it into Latin, and finilhed it in one month. After tranf- lating a number of Pfalms into EngUfh, he began to read and tranflate Genefis. Dur- ing this period, he examined many pafla- ges, and critical, important words, by com- paring them as ufed in different places of feripturej " with great profit and fatisfac- tion.'* He alfo examined other writings in Chaldee, and Rabbinical Hebrew ; and the Samaritan character, in which the fcripture Hebrew was originally written ; " the pres- ent Hebrew Bible being in Hebrew lan- guage, indeed) but in the Chaldaic letter, in which Ezra tranfcribed it.'* Having read part of Genefis, all Exodus, and the book of Ezra for the fake of the Chaldee in it, and much of the Chaldee in Daniel ; on the laft of January^ 1768, he began the tranflation of Genefis, and finifhed that book, and Ex- odus, by the 1 2th of May. Thus, almofl entirely unaided, within one year he " un- expectedly accomplifhed the tranflation of the Pfalms, Genefis, and Exodus.'* p This year he alfo read confiderable in Ara- bic J and learned the Syriac ; and remarked : « I doubt PRESIDENT STILES. iji " I doubt not it is eafier to acquire all the oriental languages, efpecially the dialeds of the Hebrew, than any one modern European language. I could learn Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, with lefs pains than the Latin only." Such a teftimony, from an accomplifhed claffical fcholar, united with his example, fhould encourage the ftudy of the oriental languages, efpecially of the Hebrew, a language of fmgular importance to every theologian, but too generally neglected at the prefent day.-^-^'^If we ftudy the Hebrew, only with a view to the Bible^ it will repay us. It is a glorious language, and throws more light on the old teftamenl,^ than all the commentators."* He was, this year, eleded a member of the American Philofophical Society. J. D, M,DCC,LXIX.— jEtat. XLIL ON the I ft day of January he commenced a Literary Diary, in which he recorded what appeared to him moft worthy of prefervation, in his converfations with perfons of lit- erature, ♦ Dr. Stiles' Difcourfe at Mr. Hopkins' Inflalmcnt„ 131 THE LIFE OF erature, or in his various and extenfive read-^ ing. It records much curious and ufeful information on hiftory, philofophy, relig- ion, politics, war, and on every fubje6t in- terefling to man. This valuable treafure is contained in fifteen quarto volumes, each confifling of above 300 pages. The Dodor. feldom permitted a day to pafs without fomc addition to its value ; and the date of the laft entry is fix days only before his death. Having, for feveral years, been affiduoufly colledling materials, he now began to write an Ecclefiaftical Hiftory of New-England, and of Britifh America, It is greatly to be la- mented that he did not altogether complete a work, for which, in the acknowledgment of the beft judges, he was fmgularly well qualified. . The confufions of the war, which cccafioned his exile from Newport, caufed the firft interruptions of this favourite under- taking ; and the complex cares and bufinefs of the prefidency, at a fubfequent period, might not allow him to refume it. This valuable manufcript, however, is carefully prcferved in his cabinet, and, at fome future time, may be prepared for the prefs. It is v/ith reference to this work, that Governor Hutchinfon, in a letter to Dr. Stiles, having mentioned ^ PRESIDENT STILES, 133 mentioned his defign of publilliing the Hif- tory of MalTachufetts Bay, obferves, " How far it will interfere with your defign, you will be able to judge. If I had known that a gentleman of your talents was engaged in a work of this nature, I fhould not have thought there would be occafion of employ- ing myfelf in the fame way. My materials would have been better improved in your hands, than in my own." He made it an invariable pradbice this year, to read one chapter, or more, in courfe, in the Hebrew Bible, and a portion of Arabic every morning, except on the Lord's day. The primitive Fathers, and ecclefiaftical writers of every defcription, he continued to examine with critical care and indefatigable induftry. He had already copied " Eutychii Origines Ecclefi^ Alexandrinse," in the Arabic letter, and tranflated it from the orig- inal.* This copy, in the Arabic letter, beau- tifully written, and the tranflation, are pre- ferved in a manufcrlpt volume, devoted to Hebrew and Arabic. He now " learned fomewhat of the Syriac, and dipt into Perfic, Coptic, and the other oriental languages." On * See s valuable extract from this tranflation, in his Ele(JHon Sermon, p. 112, 2d edit. 134 THE LIFE OF On the 3d of June, he was affidnouOy em- ployed in obferving the tranfit of Venus, which would " not happen again in above an hundred years at either node ; and at this defcending node, not in two hundred and thirty-fix years, or before A. D. 2004.'* This rare and interefling aftronomical phe- nomenon furnifhed him a rich entertain- ment, and, as he afterwards apprehended, engroffed too much of his time. His own obfervations on this tranfit, and on that of Mercury, together with the obfervations of other aftronomers, in Europe and America, he colle£ted and preferved with patient dili- gence and philofophical exa£lnefs. Thefe obfervations, together with the calculations made on them, compofe a quarto volume. In September he obfen^ed a comet, which then made its appearance, and, as ufual, pre-^ ferved his obfervations. Having read a Review of Dow's Hiftory of Hinduflan, he judged that this author might furnifh him with a fatisfadtory ac- count of the religion of that country, and of other fubjeds of enquiry, which his own in- quifitive mind fuggefted ; and accordingly wrote him a letter, December 27, foliciting fuch iPRESIDENT STILES. z^i fuch information. Among his enquiries are ihe following : Whether the whole of th^ Veda has been tranflated into Englilh ?* Whether the Sanfcrit is the language, in which the four Vedas %vere originally writ- ten ; and whether it is generally underftood bv the Brahmans of the prefent age ? Whether there is any fimilitude between this and the Hebrew ? Whether both Shafters are in the fame language and character I Which Shafter contains the fublimeft doc* trines, and pureft morals ; that of Neaderfen, or Vedang ? Are the inflitutes \)f idolatry exhibited in the Vedang only ; or, alfo, in the Neaderfen, and four Vedas ? Or, does it appear in thefe oriental writings, when the departure from the pure primeval worfhip commenced ? Whether, in thefe writings, any mention is made of the deluge ?f If fo, at * It was not tranflated in 1794. In Sir John Shore's Oration before the Aliatic Society, that year, a tranJQa- tion of the Veda is mentioned among the dtfiderata of Sir William Jones. Colonel Poller, a member of the Afiatic Society, pofTsffes a complete copy of the four Vedas, in the original Sanfcrit, in eleven large volumes. t Though the tranflatoi of the Gentoo Laws (in his Preface, page 38) afierts, that the flood is never once mentioned in the Gentoo Shafters, Sir Willir.in Jones fiicws th« it ii. 13^ THiE LlVt 0? at what antiquity is that event placed ? What the mofl ancient cycles for the vulgar fup- putation of time ; and from what eras do they commence ? How many years to a Yhug — in the four Yhugs^ — and what Yhug, whether fecond, third, or fourth, is now cur- rent ? * Whether the learned among the Brahmans have an extenfive knowledge of the fciences, antiquities, and hiftories, of other nations ? An eftimate of the total of the in- habitants in India, Within the Indus and Ganges, and fouthward to Ceylon : and the proportions of the two grand fe! people in the la-.v ; and hence the fynagrgue was tailed »*na ri'2, The houfe of F.x- pofition." Fref. Stilti MSS. PRESIDENT STILES. 153 are Newton's Principia, Plato, Watts, Dod- dridge, Cudworth's Intellectual Syftem, and the New-England divines, Hooker, Cliaiin- cy, Davenport,* Mather, Cotton, At his right hand ftands a pillar. On the fhaft is a circle, and one trajectory around a folar point, as an emblem of the Newtonian^ or Pythagorean, fyftem of the fun, planets, and comets. At the top of the vifible part of the pillar, and on the fide of the wall, is an emblem of the Intelle which beholds, and eternally beheld, what would be the holieft, beft, and happieft con- dud 1^6 THE LIFE OT 4u£t for every fpirit ; and for the uninter- faring harmony of all the countlefs hofls, and innumerable myriads of holy beings, in the common participation of the perfedt re^ti-^ tude, holinefs, and glory, of the great Jeho-* vah. It is my earneft and humble defire, that I may be kept through faith unto falva- tion ; carried through this dark and fmful wildernefs, under the guidance of that dU vine light, which fhines in this darknefs, til! my expanding foul fhall at laft open into eternal day.'* J,D. M,DCC,LXXII.— -^TAT. XLV, HE continued to read daily a portion of Hebrew, both in the Chaldaic and Rabbinical letters ; fcmetimes the Bible ; fometimes the Jews' Prayer-book ; and occafionally exam.- ined paflages in the Targums. Having difcontinued the compilation of his Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, for nearly three years ; and, in this interval of time, having been much employed in tranfcribing me- moirs, and collecting materials, he now re- fumed the work, defigning its completion, u if PRESIDENT STILES. 1$^ " if it fhould pleafe God to give him health, and time to accompliih it." Toward the latter part of his life, I afked him if he did not pui*pofe to finifh this hiftory. He faid he did not expe6t it, and added : " I am fo prone to leave things unfinifhed, that I fometimes fear I fhall leave the great bvifi- rjefs of life undone," Such v*rere his views of political and of Chriftian liberty, that he confidered all hu- man beings, of whatever colour, tribe, fe6t, or nation, as brethren of one common fam- ily ; and all Chriftians as fellow-difciples of the fame divine Mailer. In Newport there were many African flaves. Of 80 commu- nicants in his church there were, at this time, 7 negroes. Thefe occafionally met, by his dire6tion, in his ftudy, where he dif- courfed to them on the great things of the divine life, and eternal falvation ; counfel- iing and encouraging them, and earneftly preffing them to make their calling and elec- tion fure, and to w^alk worthily of their holy profeffion. Then, falling on their knees together, he poured out fervent fupplications at the throne of grace, imploring the divine blefling upon thern, and commending hlm- felf 158 THE LIFE OF felf and them to the Moft High. If the learned and eminent apoftle of the Gentiles appears in the moft engaging attitude, while interceding with Philemon, in behalf of his Chriftian Have ; what can exhibit a more in- terefting fpedtacle, than this Chriftian paftor, on his knees, furrounded by thefe Africans, and interceding for them with the God of heaven ? In Auguft, he wrote a letter, in Latin^ addrefled to the Reverend Dr. Bufch, a Mo- ravian minifter in Aftracan, near the Cafpiaa Sea ; or to any of the United Brethren trav- elling about Sarepta, on the banks of the Wolga. The objed: of his letter was, to make enquiries concerning the Ten Tribes of the Jews. Convinced by the prophecies, that thefe tribes would yet be reftored to the holy land, he believed that they muft be fomewhere exifting diftind:ly among fome nations of the earth, at the prefent day. Under this perfuafion, he had thoroughly examined the hiftories and travels of the whole world, for the difcovery of thefe long loft reliques of the IlVaelites ; but had found nothing fatisfa6tory. Modern voyages and travels, he obferves, have laid open almoft all PRESIDENT STILES. 159 all countries, and their inhabitants, except the interior and moft remote regions of Alia, which lie between the river Wolga, and the Sinenfian empire, or from the Cas- pian Sea toward the eaft, and from India toward the notth. That trad he moft ar- dently wifhed might be thoroughly explor- ed ; for there, he judged, thefe tribes had hitherto lain concealed, and would hereafter be found.* Apprehending * Ille tra(5lus ut accuratlus perlullraretur aviJi^IiTfie cupio ; quippe ibi celatas hafce Ifraelitarum phalanges degiffe adhuc, foreque Inveniendas arbitror. Recent re- fearches of the Aiiatic Society, have already, iii part, confirmed his judgment ; and we wait, with eager cm-i- ofity, its more perfect confirmationi. In that very region, here defcribed, a nation has been difcovered, which, there feems much reafon to believe, is a remnant of the Ten Tribes. A book, called " The Secrets of the Afghan}^'* written in the Puflito language, was. found by Henry Vanfittart, Efqulre, and tranflated in 1784. It gives fuch an account of the origin and hiftory of that natron, as, after deduAions for much Intermingled fable, leaves a ftrong prefumption, that its defcent is from the Jews. To this trauflation. Sir "William Jones afSied the fol- lowing Note : " This account of the Afghatis may lead to a very \rt- terefting difcovery. We learn from Esdras, tliat the Ten Tribes, after a wandering journey, came to a coun- try, called Arfareth ; where, we may fuppofe, they fet- tled. Now, the Afghans are fiid, by the beft Perjian hiftorians, 5^0 THE LIFE OF Apprehending that they might be found among fome of the hordes of Tartars, he fo- licits enquiries about the colour of the bair and beard of thefe people ; whether they ob- ferve the rite of circumcifion ; whether they abflain from fwine's flelh ; whether they retain a feventh-day Sabbath ; whether any nations or hordes ufe the Hebrew language, or any Hebrew dialed: ; W^hether the names of their heroes, cities, tribes, are Hebrew ; whether there are any traditions of their de- fcent from the Kraelitifb ftock ; whether they Kave books of the Pentateuch, or of other Scriptures ; if any, in what language and charad:er they are written ; whether they obferve feftal and anniverfary days, as, for example, a jubilee j whether their facred prayers and hymns are fo fnnilar to the prayers tiftoriaris, to be defcended from the Jenui ; tliey have traditions among themfelves of fuch a defcent ; and it is even afTerted, that their families are diftingui(hed by the names of jfe'wiJJj Tribes, although, iince their converfion to the IJlum, they ftudiouily conceal tlieir origin. The Pujloio language, of which I have feen a div5tionary, has a manifeft refemblance to the Chaldak ; and a confidcrable diftri(5l, under their dominion, is called Hazarek, or Haz- aret, which might eafily have been changed into the word ufed by Esdras. I ftrongly recommend aa enquiry into the literature and hillory of the Afghans.''^ PRESIDENT STILES. i6i jyrayers and hymns in the Jewifh liturgy, as apparently to be derived from the fame foun- tain ; whether any prophecies are circulated, of the revolutions of kingdoms, of a return to the Holy Land^ or Canaan, of Meffiah, or of any future and more glorious ftate of their republic ; what their ceremonies about marriages, divorces, new moons, clean and unclean animals ; whether the different tribes intermarry ; whether any veftiges remain of the idolatry inftituted by Jeroboam, or of the calf, or Molech ; whether they are averfe to idols and images, or whether they wor- fliip them, and with what oblations they worfhip the Deity, or images ; from what fountain their modern mythology, v/hat- ever it is, is apparently derived ; and whether all the hordes obferve the fame facred ritual ? Such are the outlines of this literary epif- tle, which, in the original, ccnfifts of ten quarto pages. It elofes with the pious wifli, " May God Almighty profper, may the be- loved Nazarene' profper, the indefatigable labours of the brethren, efpecially your's, in preaching the Gofpel to the Gentiles, in re- calling the miferable fniners of the heathenj W let i62 THE LIFE OF let me add, the loft fheep of the hoiife of Ifrael, to the fheepfold of the divine Jefus."^ In a letter to Mrs. Macanley, he gives proof at once of his glowing patriotifm, and of his profound difcernment of the tenden- cy of the political meafures of the Britifh miniftry. *' The fpirit of liberty naturally burns with great fervour in American breafts; But infinite pains are taken, by the v/hole connexion of crown-ofEcers of every de- partment along the continent, to extinguifb the facred flame. Moft travellers fall into* this track, and are led deluiively to think that American liberty is afleep, except in a: few Gazette ebullitions. Few mingle with the common people, Or with perfons uncor- fupted with minifterial connexions, whence they might fee that mighty tvave of liberty moving with great force in the collective body ; though the era is yet at a diftance, tvhen thofe events fhall arife, which wilt affuredly draw forth a burft of the public fpirit .* Annuat Deus OPT. MAX. annuat Nazarenus amandus, labores Fratrum indcfciros, tuos prxfertim, Gentilibus evangelizandis, vel ad extremos fines terrs Jnifcrrimos Ethnicorum peccatores, adde licet oves domus Ifraelis amiflas, ad ovile JESU divini revocand(S« Fva- ter revcvcndc, Vale. PRESIDENT STILES. 163 fpirit into achievements and revolutions^ aftonifhing to the world itfelf. Qn princir pie, this fpirit is now reined in, upon a diffufed convi<3:ion that this is not the age of its maturity ; and further, that the mother- country may have full opportunity to recover her wifdom. Every ftep fhe has taken, for fome years paft, at lead the general fyftem of colonial adminillration, has had as direct a tendency to accekrate events, which fhe would keep at a diflance, as if projedted witH the deep laid policy of the conclave. It is moft firmly believed here, that Providence intends a glorious empire in America. ^^• A people grov^ing up with this fervid love of liberty, and with thefe indelible expcdtar tions, will become a phenomenon in the political world, worthy of a very curious attention." His views of the arduous nature, and folemn weight, of the minifterial office, and his deep humiliation in the review of his paftoral miniftrations, again appear in the following refleaions : " This day, (Oaol^er 22) 17 years fince, I was ordained to the work of the evangelical miniftry, and have, by the grace cf God, been carried thus far through i64 THE LIFE OF through my work ; but with fo much im- perfedion, that I cannot think of it but with more diilrefs than pleafure. The good Lord pardon me hitherto, and ftrengthen me to greater fidehty. In the feventeen years of my miniftry, I have had under my paftoral care about a thoufand fouls, a third of which are now in eternity — without doubt many of them are in mifery. I have reafon to fear that fome have perifhed through my negledt. And yet I would humbly hope that I have warned all — taught them the evil and danger of fm ; and prefented the way of falvation by a bleeding Saviour : though I might have inculcated thefe things with greater frequency, zeal, and affiduity. Oh ! how great the work, how folemn and awful the account for the blood of fouls ! Onus humeris angelicis form'idandumr [A work formidable to angelic ftrength.] — If a paftor of his fidelity found caufe for fuch penitential excrcifes, what reafon have moft of us, who are entrufted with the care of fouls, to lament our unfaithfulnefs ! And how ought his example to teach us the im- portant leiTon of humility ! After him, we need not blufh to acknowledge, that we are unprofitable PRESIDENT STILES. 165 unprofitable fervants. The recolle<5tion of pall neglects, while it awakened emotions of forrow, infpired him with new ardour in the fervice of Chrift, and incited him to higher degrees of acSliivity in his facred work. May a retrofpe£tive view of our miniftrations, influence us to go and do likewi/e ! BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION, *^ MY whole life is filled up with, the ex- perience of the divine care and beneficence. The year paft has been a feries of inutility and fm on my part, and of grace and mercy on the part of God. I am more and more convinced of the vanity of this troublefome world, and of the glorious all-fufi[iciency of God. This year has been filled with a fucceffion of anxiety and diftrefs, divine de- liverance and prefervations.* I commend myfelf to the grace of God. May my heart, my life, my eternity, be dedicated to Him !'* J. D, * Alluciing to a dangerous ficknefs and recovery of his wife ; to the reitoration of his cliildren from the mea- fies ; to the prefervation of his family from the fmall- pox, which prevailed in town ; and to a ferious and aifecl- jng paRoral trial, the occafion of which will appear in the next Birth-day Reflexion. i66 THE LIFE OF J. D, M,DGC,LXXIII.— iExAT. XLVL THOUGH a loyal fubjed to the Britilh king, he confidered allegiance and protection reciprocally binding ; and at the very point where oppreffion began, he deemed refift- ance juftifiable. The enterprizing citizens of Providence having burned the Gafpee, a Britilh armed fchooner, the CommifTioners, appointed by the Crown, commenced the trial at Newport, January 5th, and on the 2 2d adjourned till May. In a letter to the Reverend Mr. Spencer, of Trenton, in New- Jerfey, who had written to the Do6tor, and folicited an account of the tranfadtions of thefe commiffioners, he replies, he is " glad to find that the Sons of Liberty, in the other Colonies, felt the attack upon us, which is equally a ilroke at univerfal American lib- erty." Having given an accurate detail of every occurrence relating to the fubjeQ, he adds : " I am a friend to American liberty ; of the final prevalence of which I have not the leaft doubt, though by what means, ^nd in what ways, God only knows. But I have perfect confidence, that the future mil- lions of America will emancipate themfelves from PRESIDENT STILES. i6i FroTti foreign opprefiion; I am a feeling fpedtator, indeed, of events, but mean not too deeply to enter into politics. We have another department, being called to a v/ork, which may be fuccefsfully purliied^ (for it has been purfued) under every fpecies of civil tyranny, or liberty. We cannot be- come the dupes of politicians, without alli- ances^ conceffions, and connexions^ danger- ous to evangelical truth, and fpiritual free- dom.'* He remarks, on the Commlffion for the trial of the affair of the Gafpee, that, " not-^ withftanding all palliations," it was " arbi-* trary, juftly obnoxious, and planning ; as it not only meditated, but diredlly provided for feizing and fending home perfons to London, Nothing looks like bringing the trial before our Superior Court j it was to have been in England, The Commiffion gave a;n exten- five alarm to all the AfTemblies on the Conti- nent, and occafioned the Refolutions and Meafures, propofed by the Virginia Aflem- bly, in March laft, which are now circulat- ing, and will undoubtedly become univerfal, namely, forming Affembly Committees of Correfpondence, and enjoining a particular enquiry 168 THE LIFE OF enquiry into the powers of this Court of Commiffionersj at Rhode-Illand." He adds, in the true fpirit of political prophecy, as the event afterwards ftiewed : " These As- sembly Committees will finally terminate in a general congress, than which nothing can be more alarming to the miniftry." It was probably about this time, that lie wrote the letter, referred to in the following paragraph of a letter to him, from Dr. Price,- written after the clofe of the war : " You favoured me with a letter juft at the begin- ning of the late war ; and, I believe, I an- fwered it ; but probably my anfwer never came to your hands. This letter I have thought very remarkable. You have pre- dicted in it the very events in which the war has ifTued ; particularly the converfion of the colonies into fo many diftindl and independent States united under Congrefs." He now commenced an acquaintance with Haijm Ifaac Carigal, a Jew Rabbi, who had lately come to Newport. Having travelled Very extenfively in the eaftern world, and being a man of obfervation, learning, and intelligence ; his converfation was highly entertaining PRESIDENT STILES. 169 entertaining and inflrudive. He was born at Hebron, and educated there and at Jeru- falem.* He had travelled all over the Holy Land, and had vifited Damafcus, Aleppo, Grand Cairo, Bagdat, Ifpahan, Smyrna, Conftantinople, Salonica, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Paris, London. The Dodtor was greatly delight- ed with his fociety, and had frequent inter- views with him, for the purpofe of acquir- ing the pronunciation of the Hebrew ; of afcertaining the meaning of ambiguous ex- preflions, in the original of the Old Tefta- ment ; of learning the ufages of the mod- ern Jews ; of converfmg on pafl events re- lating to this extraordinary nation, as re- corded in facred hiftory ; and of tracing its future deftiny, by the light of prophecy. They cultivated a mutual friendfhip, while together, and correfponded in Hebrew, when apart. One of the Doctor's Hebrew letters, X ' on * Luzzatl, an Italian Rabbi, Informs us, that the Jews, by large contributions, maintain Academies at Jerufalem : " In terra fanta, et in particolare Hierufalcm vi capita annualmente non folamente numero sfrande d' Hebrei di tutte le Nationi del mondo ; ma ancora grofiifflma quan- tita de rcnditi anr.uall, che li vien offerto, per raautener pov«ri, e foftentare Academic." ijo THE LIFE OF on the divinity of the Meffiah, and the glory of his kingdom, confifted of 2 2 quarto pages. The Rahbi, not long after his arrival, at- tended his worfhip, by agreement, and heard him difcourfe, in an affectionate manner, on the paft difpenfations of God's providence toward his chofen people ; on his promifed defign of rendering them an exalted nation, in the latter day glory of the Mefliah's kingdom ; and on the duty of Chriftians, and of all nations, to defire a participation in their future glorious ftate.* The Rabbi had never heard a Chriftian preach a fermon be- fore^ Though he had attended church at St. Peter's, in Rome ; at St. Paul's, in Lon- don ; at Venice, and various other places \ and had been at the Chriftian churches in Jerufalem, he never heard any fervice, ex- cepting prayers. So catholic was the intercourfe between this learned Jew,^ and learned Chriftian ! They often fpent hours together in conver- fation ; and the information, which the ex- tenfive travels of the Jew enabled him to give, efpecially concerning the Holy Land, was a rich entertainment to his Chriftian friend. * Text, Pfalm cvi. 4, 5. * PRESIDENT STILES. 171 friend. The civilities of the Rabbi were more than repaid. The Dodor very fre- quently attended the worfhip of the fyna- gogue, at Newport, not only while Rabbi Carigal officiated, but at the ordinary fervice, before his arrival, and after his departure. With fix other Rabbles, of lefs eminence, he became acquainted, and fhewed them ev^ ery civility ; while he maintained a friendly communication with the Jews in general, at Newport. Such rare and unexpected atten^ tions, from a Chriflian minifter of diftinc- tion, could not but afford peculiar gratifi- cation to a people, confcious of being a *' proverb and a by-word among all nations," To him they, accordingly, paid every atten-^- tion, in return ; and exprelfed a peculiar pleafure, in admitting him into their fami- lies, and into their fynagogue. His civilities and catholicifm, toward the Jews, are worthy of imitation. It is to be feared, that Chriftians do not, what ought to be done, toward the converfion of this devoted people. While admitted into moft countries in Chriftendom, for the purpofes of trade and commerce, inflead of being treated with that humanity and tendernefsj whici^ 172 THE LIFE OF which Chriftianity Ihould infpire, they are often perfecuted, or contemned as unworthy of notice or regard. Such treatment tends to prejudice them againft our holy religion, and to eftabhfh them in their infidelity. Befides this " the ftudy of the Hebrew lan- guage hath been too much laid afide, and we have, by that means, been lefs able to convince the Jews. It is certain that this ftudy hath not only been neglected, but ridiculed ; whereas nothing could be of greater u'fe to us than a great fkill, not only in the Biblical Hebrew, but the Rabbinical and Talmudical alfo, to enable us to con- vince the Jews. By fuch a ikill we might be enabled to ufe their own weapons againfl them ; and to difpute againft them from the avowed principles of their ancient wife men, for whom they are prone to exprefs a pro-- found regard."* Such was the ufe which the Dos in « , where I think the caufe labours* There will be great wifdom at the Congrefs ; great, indeed^ if it fhall have the prefence of the fupreme Monarch of the univerfe* Let the eyes of all the millions of America be direiSted to Him,, from whom alone cometh our help. The vwum'ing amotig the jfe'ws, and fajling, and weepings and *waili?igt fifiii 771 any lay infackcloih and ajhes> PRESIDENT STILES. 179 The whole of the prefent fyftem of Parlia- mentary domination, ftands on the fingle queftion of Taxation ivithout Keprefentation^ This is too great a queftion for the future millions of America ever to fuffer to be finally determined in the affirmative." In a letter, July 30, to Mrs. Macauley, he obferves, with deep political difcernment : "The laft and recent ftroke of the Parlia- ment at our liberties, has aftonifhed America into a real and efficacious union, which it is beyond the power of Europe to diflblvc. We know that the affiimed parliamentary right of taxing and governing unreprefented millions, and the whole fyftem of domination founded on that claim, are repugnant to all the principles of the Jus Civile^ and law of nature, and nations, and that Saxon genius of liberty and law, which Englifh America inherits from the Parent State, and muft and will, fooner or later, be given up. Not a politician in Europe, not even a fmgle man in America, believes that the increafmg miU lions of this continent will always fubmit to defpotifm. There are many means of re^ drefs. We fhall not be difcouraged, if ali prove unfuccefsful, till we come to the laft, the? i8o THE LIFE OF the fuccefs of which is indubitable. We ihall continue our (at prefent,) ufelefs and xepulfed fupplications to our King ; re-r membering that the hearts of princes are in the hand of the Moft High, and that He turneth them 'whitherfoever He will. But if oppreiTion proceeds, defpotifm may force an annual Congrefs ; and a public fpirit of cnterprize may originate an American Mag?ia Chartay and Bill of Rights, fupported with fuch intrepid and perfevering importunity, as even fovereignty may, hereafter^ judge it not wife to withftand. There will be ^ RuNEMEDE in Anierica." He now employed much of his time in reading the Targum of Onkelos and Jona- than, in Chaldee ; the Syriac New Tefia* ment ; and the Zohar ; and judged that he gained great lights in divinity by thefe helps. This Chaldee Targum, he found, by com-^ parifon, was tranflated from the Hebrew copy of the Bible, afterwards adopted by the JVIaforets, and not from that which the LX}^ ufed : " Becaufe," fays he, " I find that the patriarchal ages are exactly the fame in the Targum, as in the Hebrew, but different lA the LXX." *' After PRESIDENT STILES. i8i *' After the return from Babylon, the Tar- gums, or Tranflations, were, as far as I can learn, extemporaneous for two centuries, at lead while the Chaldee dialect remained. The tranflation into the Chaldee Targura continued after the dialect became Syriac. Being difficult to be made by every Huzzan, or reader, Jonathan and Onkelos^ two learn- ed Rabbles, about the coming of Chrift, com- mitted the Chaldee Targum to writing, which has continued with the Jews ever fmce."* BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. "HAVING obtained help of God, I con- tinue to this day. The year paft I have had clearer views of the wonderful condefcenfion of the Lamb of God, in his incarnation, and in the aflumption of a human foul, our holy- brother, into union with the uncreated, eter- nal Word, the fecond perfon of the adorable Trinity, A moft venerable my fiery ! The ftate of my flock is more compofed and CGimfortable. — 1 have entered my fon Ezra into Yale College. May the bleffing of God be upon him, and upon all my chil- dren ! * Prefident Stiles' MS. 582 THE LIFE OF drcn ! I perceive fome promifing and amla.^ ble things, bleffed be God, in them all. May they follow on, to feek and know the Lord ! — - — ■ — It is a gloomy day, as to Ameri- can liberty. The blocking up of the port of Bofton ; the abolition of the Maffachu- fetts charter ; and the Quebec a£t, are alarm- ing. The Congrefs, and the fpirit of liberty in the body of the people, are encouraging. I rely on Jefus only, for the protedlion of his caufe, and of me, his moft unworthy difciple. " I have, this day, been revjewiug the feries of the divine goodnefs to me, ever fmce my birth. How gracioufly hath my heavenly Father dealt with me ! Blefs the Lord, O my foul ! and forget not all his benefits. God hath fo ordered, that I have fpent my life, from my earlieft youth, among books ; but the moft valuable knowledge which I have obtained, is not the mathematical and philofophical fciences ; not the ancient learn- ed languages ; not ecclefiaftical hiftory, and the hiftory of nations and empires ; not the knowledge of law, and the political conftitu- tions of Europe : — but that, in which I have found the greateft entertainment and fatisfac- tion. PRESIDENT STILES. 1S3 tion, is, the knowledge of Jesus ChrisTj and the redemption of the crofs. The facred oracles open the moft wonderful difcoveries, . and enlarged views, of the auguft councils of infinite Wifdom and Grace. Through the blood of the crofs, Jefus has laid the founda- tion of our reconciliation, and union alio, to the Divinity. Gloriotfs falvation this ! God manifeil in the flefh, feen of angels, taken up to glory. Of the blefled Jefus I am an un- worthy minifler. O that I could ferve him equal to his defer-ts from man ! But, alas ! what little fervour have I, in the fei*vice of fo glorious a Mafter ! When I review my miniftry, it has been fo poor and mean, fo felfifh, fo unfaithful, fo little animated with the fpirit and great caufe of Chrift, fo filled with negkdt, ill condudt, and iniperfed:ion, that I blulh to think of a reward from a Mafter, tp whom I owe my all ; and can think of nothing but of going to receive (if I can efcape rebuke) mercy and forgivenefs only, if poflible, for doing his work fo poor- ly. The good Lord pardon me for Jefu& fake ; and lay not iniquit)' to my charge. O that r may be quickened by his grace, and enlivened in fo glorious a work, as teftifying the i84 THE LIFE OF the grace of God to a finful world, the re- maining moments of my Ufe I I rejoice that God fo ordered it in his proridencCj that I was pul into the minlftry : I delight in the fervice — biit fliudder at the thoughts of the reckoning. This accounting for the blood of fouls, laid to the charge of ah un- gracious, an unfaithful miniftry, is awful and tremendous. In the view of this, O Jefus ! I fly to thy holy facrifice, thy all- atoning blood. May I be refolved, more and fnore, to ftaild in the lot affigned, not in my own weaknefs, but in the ftrength of thy grace, without* Which I am, and fhall bcj tiothingi Direct my miniftrations, and give efficacy to them 5 that, teftifying repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jefus Chrift, I may perfuade at leaft fome few of this world of millions of rebels to be recon-- ciled to God." A.D. M,DCC,LXXV.— ^TAT. XLVIIL HAVING perufed the Britifli king's fpeech, at the opening of parliament, No- vember 30, 1774, in which he expreffes his "firm PRESIDENT STILES. 185 *' firm and ftedfaft refolution to withftand every attempt to weaken or impair the fu- preme authority of the legiflature over all the dominions of his crown ;" the Doctor remarks : " Upon this, the fpirit of the peo- ple, inftead of being damped, rifes into de- terminate refolution for refiftance and the laft appeal" Events foon proved the truth of his prediction. " The Britifh rriiniftry," he foon after ob- ferved, " do not choofe to confider the Con-; grefs as legal, and v^ould afFe6t to have it, that none of the parliamentary tranfaClions, in the prefent grand confiiCl, fhpuld be influ- enced by the meafures and applieaticns of the Continental Congrefs, which ftands upoa an origination from the people, which cour- tiers and tories would declare illegal and re- bellious.- — - — —^ — But the king muft know, the Britifh parliament muft know, for the world will know, that the American Conti- nental Congrefs, of September laft, was a regular, legal, patriotic body, w^lierein two millions were as juftly and truly reprefented, as ever any body of mankind were before ; and that the mode of their eleClion, by a patriotic, fpontaneous origination from the Z people, xS6 THE LIFE OF people, is defenfible on the firft principles of fociety, and the Engllfh Conftitutlon ; and juftifiable, and glorious, on the principles of the law of nature and nations, and the fined reafonings of the Jus Civile, It is, moreo- ver, exemplary. It holds up> light to Eng- land, to Europe, to the world ; to fhew to all the enflaved empires around the globe, HOW they may put their lives in their hands, and, from orderly and regular congrefles for petitions to tyrants, the higher powers, rife into a fyftem of irrefiftible vindication and liberty*" On the 1 7th of March, Governor Wanton; teceived a letter from Lord Dartmouth, Sec- retary of State, dated January 4, addrefled ta himfelf and the Rhode-Ifland Colony, in which he calls the Continental Congrefs an illegal aflembly ; and, by the king's order, enjoins it on the Governor, to prevent tha Affembly from electing delegates to the next CongrefSy and to prevent their attendance, if eled:ed. " Hereby," the IDodlor obferves, *' the King difgufls above two million fub- jedls, who will, as one body, pay no regard to any fuch prohibition." By PRESIDENT STILES. 1S7 By a memoir, May 1 8, it appears, that his daily manner was, firft, in the morning, to offei" fecret prayer to God ; then, calling his family together, to read a chapter of the Bi- ble, in courfe, and perform family prayer ; then to read by himfelf, one to three or four chapters in conrfe, with frequent references to the original Hebrew and Greek, and to the commentators, ancient and modern ; that, lately, he had made much ufe of the Zohar, in which, with the Syriac, he now daily read a portion. At ten, or eleven, he walked abroad, and vifited his flock. After dinner, he read an hour or two, and then vifited again. In the evening, he read one or two hours. Between nine and ten, he attended prayer in his family. About eleven, he re- tired to bed, and committed himfelf and all his concerns to God, in fecret prayer, ' From the public commotions, which agi- tated his patriotic bofom, his attention was now ferioufly arrefted by domeftic trials. For feveral months, Mrs, Stiles had been very ill with a pulmonary complaint. On the 26th of May, he writes : " My pious and good wife has been, this day, fetting her houfe in order, and giving her children her dying i8S THE LIFE OF dying counfel. God grant it may make a deep and lafting impreflion on their tender minds ! May they never forget her affec- tionate concern, efpecialiy for their fpiritual and eternal welfare ! Her diforder fo far prevails, as to leave no profpedt of her con- tinuance in this vale of tears, The good Lord grant her his divine prefence ; give her a humble fubmifljon to his holy will j increafe and ftrengthen her faith and truft in the divine righteoufnefs of the glorious Im- manuel ! May God prepare us all for the difpenfations of his holy providence, quicken us to duty, to live to his glory, and prepare for a bleffed and glorious immortality !'* His foreboding fears were foon realized. Early in the morning of the 29th of May, Mrs. Stiles departed this life, leaving the ten* dereft of hufbands overwhelmed with unut^ terable fprrow. While Mrs. Stiles' private virtues had endeared her, in the higheft de-* gree, to her hufband, children, and domef- tics ; her beneficence and diftufive charities had fecured the efteem qf the Society, who joined with the family in paying an afTecfkion* ate tribute to her memory. " My kind peo- ple," the Dodtor gratefully notices, " cloath.« ?d PRESIDENT STILES. 189 . M,DCC,LXXVII.— jEtat. L, ON the firft day of January, he begaft the Bible again, in his private reading, keeping before hiril the Hebrev/, and the Clialdee Targurrt, of the Old Teftament, vtdth the commentaries of Aben Ezra, Solomon Ifhaki, and others. Continuing to read Jtlfo a daily portioti of the New Teftament, he proceed- ed in courfe with the Syriac Verfion. In his clofet, on Lord's day, January 19, he took a review of all the religions of ev- ery age, and nation, in the world ; and ex- amined the grounds of his preference of the Chriftian religion. Having traced the rife and progrefs of the oriental idolatry ; the K^ligious fyftem of Zoroafter 5 the intro- dudtion PRESIDENT STILES. 203 du£lion and eftablifl^meiit of the inftitution of the Lama, from Ganges to China ; and the impofture of Mahomet ; he followed the iine of the true and uncorrupt^d religion, in every fuccefTive age, While he judged the falfe religion, which ;has prevailed iri the various ages of the world, and which ftill prevails among many nati(?ns, to be clearly difcernibie, he believed that the true religion now fubfiifs, in a good degree of apofr- tolic purity, in the churches of Hun-gary, and of that connexion, in the ^hm'ches of Holland, and of New-England, There i§ ftill much true religion among th^ Luther- ans — " But," adds he, " all the churches in Chriftendom, American, Holland, Hun-» garian, Greek, Armenian, Moravian, have fo much imperfection, and, above all, fo little of the holy life, that I am, fometimes, at a lofs where to look for the true church of Jefus, Thanks to God, in every denom-^ ination, in the church univerfa), I can read of particular perfons, and particular churches, and fome clufters of churches^ eminent for piet^'-, as well as foundnefs in the faith, With all thefe mv foul unites and harmo« nizes,'* On ep4 THE LIFE OF On a review of the controvferfies in tlie Chriftian church, he found, that by far the greateft part of them Utigated human inven- tions, and improvements in Chriftianity. — : It excited his indignation, to fee fo ht- tie charity among the various Chriftian de- nominations ; and fuch zeal to build up fe6:s, rather than make Chrifttans. — He fat out in life w^ith an extenfive charity to all Proteftants, fuppofmg their differences founded in confcientious judgment ; and wiihing all to live in forbearance, mutual love, and harmony, and to join in their fev- eral w^ays in promoting righteoufnefs and virtue. But he found the reverfe. Having given a fummary view of the principal fecSls of Proteftantifm, " All thefe," he obferves, ** except the Prefbyterians, refufe commu- nion to each other. — Durseus, in the laft centur)'-, fpent 30 years, in travelling through Europe, for the purpofe of unit- ing all ProteQiant churches, efpecially the Lutherans and Calvinifts. It was Sify- phean labour. Perhaps the great Head of the church fees it beft that ChriftendK:)m fhould be broken into different commu- nions, left human wifdom fhould improve a 2;cneral PRESIDENT STILES. 2g| a general union to a fecular ufe, and world- ly grandeur. It is enough, if we can find a good number of believers of our own fen- timents, to join in fellowfhip of word and ordinances. The purer fuch a particular fellowihip, as to theological dodrines, and freedom from human decorations, the bet- ter. In all communions, if there be the true faith in Jefus, there is falvation : the fuperfluities in do£trine and worfhip will be found nullities at the great day ; but the true love of Jefus will abide the fire." Opportunities for taking a part in feveral refpedtable ecclefiaftical connexions, were de- fignedly neglected. " Forefeeing," fays he, *' the lengths their fyftems would carry me, I flopped, and am, perhaps, more than any man, of my extenfive acquaintance, and con'efpondence, alone in the world ; while I have the pure and daily pleafure of a con- fcious and cordial union with all the good — with thofe who love and thofe vv^ho hate me — with the numerous millions who know me not — with ^he whole colledtion of char- acters in all nations, of every kind and degree of excellence, literary or moral : above all, my foul unites moft fincerely with the 2o6 THE LIFE OF the whole body of the myftical church— « with all, that in every nation fear God, and love our Lord Jefiis Chrifl. Thefe, ftript of all the peculiarities, which ei^ternally fepa- late them from one another, and frona me, I embrace with a true fpirit of univerfal love^ But, to lov-e a whole characj:er, or a whole church, or any whole fraternity, whether literary, religious, or political, I do not find within me. Entering into whatever fcene^ I m,eet with many incongruities, and am dif^. gufted too much for acquiefcence in any here below. I never fhall cordially and ex- ternally unite with mankind, in any of their affairs, enterprizes, and revolutions. There is a preference of fyftems, but no perfect one on earth. I expert no great fellowfhip ^nd open communication with mankind, but intend to become more and more the reclufe ; waiting for the Reft of Paradife, where, I forefee, my foul will unite with perfections and acquiefce in eternal univerfal harmony." While at Dighton, w^here he generally performed divine fervice on the Lord's day, though occafionally to the remnant of his flock at Newport, he received an invitation from the lirft church at Portfmouth, lately the PRESIDENT STILES, 10^ the charge of Prefident Langdon, to come and labour among them in the miniftry. In a letter to the Reverend Dr. Haven of Portf- mouth, who had United with Prefident Lang- don^ and the fociety, in importuning his acceptance of this invitation, he writes, That he had long ago given himfelf to the fervice of the divine Jefus, and defired always to be at the difpofal of the great Head of th^ ehurch, in whatever part of the vineyard he might command his labours ; that it had pleafed him, in his holy providence, to break up and fcatter his dear flock^ but that his paftoral relation is not diflblved ; and, that during this difperfion, he is ready to ferve any vacant church ; that, if the congregation looked for immediate fettlem.ent, he fhould mifs the fatisfadtion ; but, that if it fliould be agreeable to them, that he fhould mrniftef there in the word and ordinances, for a; year» or more, or till the end of the war, if it ftiould pleafe God he fhould live to that; time, leaving the confideration of fettlement, to the future openings and orderings of Divine Providence, he fhould be willing to devote his labours to their fervice. This was the purport of the anfwer which he^ fent 2o8 THE LIFE OF fent to the church at Poitfmoath. A com- mittee of that church foon after invited him to preach there, oii the conditions which he had propofed. The Reverend Dr. Chaiincy wrote to him about the fame time, recommending it to him to come to Bofton, and vohmta- rily offering him one half of what wasr weekly contributed for his own fupport, if he would affift him in carrying on the minif- terial work. At the fame time he informed him that there were two vacancies in Bofton, and one in Roiibury,- where the congrcga-* tions w^ould be glad of his afTiftance, for what time he fhould pleafe. With what gratitude to his friend, and with what pious acknowl- edgments to the good providence of God, he received this expreffion of Chriftian friendfhip, appears from his reply to Dr. Chauney : " I cannot be fufficiently thankful, for the very great kindnefs you have fliew- cd me, in my exiled ftate, by inviting my poor labours with you, and for offering me a participation of your fupport. May the great Head of the church, the fountain of all good, requite this affedlionate beneficence, and alfo your kind offices, in opening a way PRESIDENT STILES. 209 way for my employment in the other con- gregations^ which you mention. I thank my heavenly Father for thefe openings of his gracious providence*" With what hu- miliating refle<^ions does he proceed to no- tice the divine difpenfations towards him and his church ! " The dealings of the Moft High, towards me and my flock, have been truly afFe£ting, humbling, and inftruc- tive. They have led me very ferioully to think, whether divine Wifdom has not feeii fit to ejedt me from the vineyard, for my own imperfections, unfaithfulnefs, and un- fruitfulnefs, in his fervice, in the work of the miniftry, for which I never thought my- felf fuitably qualified. I have, therefore, wifhed for a more retired and lefs confpicu- ous fituation, than either Bofton, or Portf- mouth, until it might pleafe God, either to difmifs me to another world, or return me to my former flock, if He {hould be pleafed to have any further fervice for me among them. How I may be difpofed of, is with God, who hath been my guide all my life long, hitherto, and to whofe gracious influ- ence, and merciful wifdom, I defire to com- mit rayfelf, the fhort remnant of my days or^. ' # Cc earth"' 2ia THE LIFE OF earth." In the apoftolical ftyle, he adds : " I muft go to Illyricum ; but I {hall call at Antioch in my way thither.'* On the 14th of March, he records the di- vine goodnefs tov/ard him and his family, iince their removal from Newport. *' This day, my family has been a year at Dighton. A gracious Providence has fo fupplied us, that I am not in debt for fubfiftence the year paft ; and, bleffed be God, there is fome meal in the barrel, and fome oil in the cruife. Belide my paftoral employment among this people, I have two invitations to preach elfe- where. Thus, while it has pleafed God ta frown upon me, in the difperfion of my Congregation, at Nev^ort, yet his loving- kindnefs he hath not utterly taken from me. O that I may never diftmft his care, nor faint under his rebukes 5 but humbly com* mit myfelf, my family, and flock, to his holy protection ; and feel a willirignefs, both in profperity and adverfity, to be entirely at the difpofal of divine Providence !'* From the moment that America was con- ftrained to appeal to ai-ms, in defence of her liberties, his judgment concerning the proper conditions of reconciliation to Great-Britain never PRESIDENT STILES. 211 never varied A report being circulated, at this time, that Britifh commiffioners had re- new^dly offered to Congrefs honourable terms of negociation, he remarks : " Timeo Danao5, et dona ferentes.*^ *' This is an artful ftratagem. It is to^ be hoped, the Congrefs will be firm. No pro-? pofal for interviews and negociation fliould be attended to, without this preliminary, An adt of pai'liament, renouncing the dominion of thefe States, and acknowledging their In- dependence and Sovereignty ; 4t the fame time withdrawing their armies ; then, we may liften to propofitions of alliance," Early in April he went to Portfmouth ; and on the 21 ft, the firft Church and Socie-^ ty in that town, gave him a unanimous in- vitation to remove and fettle one year with them, in the work of the miniftry. He could ^ act but confider the acceptablenefs of his poor labours ; an of>ening for fbme little ufefulnefs ; and liberal pro-jdrion for his family, in this time of public calamity, wonderfully providential. It demands my gratitude to Heaven. This is a fea-port, and expofed to the enemy ; but dangers and troubles! 512 THE LIFE OF troubles await us every where. In God's holy protedion only is there fecurity. I have taken the matter into coniideration ; for, though the cafe appears comfortably clear, at firft view, yet our beft profpe6ts are fo eafily difadjufted and difappointed, that I de- lire firft to afk counfel of Heaven. If God hath a work for me any wher^, he will man- ifeft it, If God's prcfence is not to go with me, I would not be carried up hence by the moft flattering profpedts. Having found, by fufficient experience, that, without the divine guidance and blefling, we are noth- ing, I defire to refer this, and all my con- cerns, to God," A plot of the Britifh minlftry being dif- /ered, at this time, he remarks : *' We arc •fo furrounded with all kinds of enemies, and with fo many fpecies of danger, that we are ncceffitated to fee that God alone can fave us, However it may pieafe Him to deal with particular churches, and families, which may be involved in ruin in this momentous confiid; ; yet I have an entire confidence, that the great American caufe, both as to Liberty and Protestantism, will be carried through, with eventual fuccefs, vic> tory, PRESIDENT STILES. 213 tory, and triumph. Though the Tree of Liberty is defpoiled of feme of its beautiful leaves and branches, in the defolating tem- peft, which has blown with violence along the Continent ; yet, God be thanked, it ftill ftands firm ; and I doubt not, Heaven in- tends it fhall maintain itfelf with triumphant fteadinefs, and eventual firmnefs." On the 23d of April, he gave his anfwer of acceptance to the Church and Society at Portfmouth. Deeply affected with their gen- erofity, they having " kindly voted, that if what they had granted be inadequate, they would, befides, pay the expences of his re- moval," he remarks : " Certainly, God hath put it into their hearts thus to provide for an exiles — ^praifed be his name !" Two days af- ter, he fet out for Dighton, for the removal of his family. About this time, one of his flock v^rote to him, and folicited his religious counfel. In his reply, he gives a renewed proof of his tender love to his church, and of his deep humiliation in the review of his miniftry : " My dear flock, alas ! is broken up, and difperfed to the four winds. They are daily on my mind at the throne of grace. Did the 214 THE LIFE OF the candle burn dim, that the holy Jefus came forth in anger, and removed both that an4 the candleftick out qf their place ? The good Lord forgive one, who v^dfhed to approve himfelf faithful j but, alas ! in all refpe£ts, came ihort. May this humbling difpenfa- tion and chaftifement be fanclified to us all, quicken us to fidelity, and teach us to prize the Word, fellowfhip, and ordinances. 1 have great, though humble, faith, that God will re-gather, and fettle us in our former ftate. Let us live fo, that, living or dyings we may be the Lord's." Having preached a farewell fermon to the Congregation at Dighton, he, with his fam- ily, left that place on the 2 2d of May. On his arrival at Portfmouth, thefe are his pious reflediions : " The angel of the Lord's pref- ence has feemed to accompany us hitherto. The good Lord furround us with his loving- kindnefs, and have us always in his holy keepmg. May the great Head of the church be with me, and make me faithful, now he hath opened the way for my labours in this part of his vineyard. Whether the enemy w^ill allow us to reft in peace, is known only to God. But, if we muft make another flight PRESIDENT STILES. ii^- flight this fummer, may God give us a pil- grim's heart. To Him I commit myfeh\ my dear Rhode-Ifland exiled flock, my fam- ily, the flock I am now to minirter to, my country, and the church iiniverfal." -He gratefully acknowledges the very obliging and hofpitable attentions of the people of Portfmauth, who " furnifhed a good houfe for the reception of his family, and re- ceived him with all the kindnefs he Gould wi£h." Happily fituated as he now was, even to the completion of his wiihes, till he might be reftored to his own flock ; divine Provi- dence was opening the way for bis introduc- tion into a more extenlive fphefe of public ufefulnefs. The Reverend Dr. Daggett had recently refigned the prefidency of Yale Col- lege. In July, at a conference of the Cor-, poration with a Committee of the General AflTembly of Connecticut, chofen from each county, the fubje6l: of the choice of a Prefi- dent being introduced, that Committee men- tioned Dr. Stiles " as the moll proper perfon ; as one who would be the moft acceptable to all ranks, fo far as they had had opportunity to know the public opinion, in differant parts of i6 THE LIFE OF of the State ; and ftrongly recommended him to the Corporation."* On the 1 9th of September, he received a letter from his friend the Reverend Mr. Whittelfey, of New-Haven, informing him of his ele-dion to this office. Biit, delightful as it was to him to acquire and communicate knowledge ; and led, as he repeatedly had been^ by his friends, to confider as probable his appointment to this office ; far from calling a wifhful eye to the prefidential chair, he appears to have judged it not deftined for him, nor eligible, if it were offered. " My election to the prefi- dency of Yale College j" he writes, on this occafion, " is an unexpected and wonder- ful ordering of divine Providence : not but that it has been talked of for years paft ; but I knew fuch reafons as made it, in my view, morally impolTible that I fhould be elected. When, therefore, any of my par- tial friends w^ere plealed to compliment me with the expectation of fuch an event, thefe infuperable obftacles occurred to my mind, and rendered the mention of it difguftfuL So that I have no more revolved in my mind, * Letter of the Reverend Dr. Dana. PRESIDENT STILES. 217 mind, whether I am qualified for fuch an office, than for that of a prime minifter or a fultan j or whether I fhould, on the whole, be defirous of it. At beft, the dia- dem of a Prefident is a crown of thorns."* On the 27th of September, he received official notice of his eledtion, by the Rev. Mr. Johnfon, one of the Fellows of Yale College, who waited on him at Portfmouth, in perfon, with a letter from the Corpora- tion, which informed him of their choice, and folicited his acceptance. By Mr. Johnfon he wrote the following anfwer : " Gentlemen, Your ele creafmg inclination for an unnoticed retire- ment, as far as would be confiftent with ftill teftifying the grace of the Gofpel. For the reft, I fhould wifh to live out of the world, that I might live more to God. And yet,, God is calling me to more extended labours. . — 1 am defirous of viewing this matter, not in a fecular, but in a religious light. Aa ta PRESIDENT STILES. 237 to intereft, either office furnilhes, at beft, only a decent fubfiftence. To one, who has been crowned with the academic honours to fatie- ty, the fuperadded one of the prelidency will appear more than balanced, by its inceflant labours, and weighty cares. On what principles, then, {hall I form my judgment ? There is none left but duty, and the will of Heaven, not, in this cafe, at all indicated by fecular intereft. The furprifmg con- currence of the public voice, and, I hope, an influence from above, incline and even con- ftrain me to view your invitation as the will of God, and the ordering of Heaven. And, accordingly, with humble reliance on the grace of God, I do now hereby fignify to the reverend Corporation, my acceptance of the prefidency of Yale College." Before we follow the Dodlor to the prefi- dential office, it may be inftru6tive to collect into one view, thofe traits of his paftoral character, which have been fcattered through thefe memoirs ; and to delineate others, which, in a narrative of fadks, could not be exhibited. His early difcourfes were philo- fophical and moral ; and, at firft, " he was not fo much admired as a preacher, as he was. 238 THE LIFE OF was, as a friend, gentleman, and fcholan*'* But, gradually becoming kfs a Newtonian, and more a Chrijiian^ ''he became a feri- ous, zealous, and powerful preacher of the momentous truths of the gofpel. It has been faid, that he did not excel in prayer, and had Uttle of that holy freedom, for which he was afterwards fo diftinguifhed/'f. Nor were his religious principles fo well fettled in early life, as he had imagined. Hence, after he commenced preaching, he was, for a time, perplexed with the compli- cated fubtilties of fcepticifra. Solicitous to build his religious faith on a firm foundation, he fufpended his theological fer\"ices, and ap- plied himfelf diligently and prayerfully to the ftudy of the Scriptures. No fooner were his perplexities removed, than he entered again, with enlightened zeal, into the fervice of the Gofpel. We believe^ and therefore fpeak^ was an apoftolical principle ; and he followed the excellent example. However unimportant it may appear to fome, that a minifter of religion Ihould firmly believe the do<^ines which he teaches, and be perfon- ally * Reverend Dr. Trumbull's Letter to the Compiler t Ibid. PRESIDENT STILES. 259 ally impreffed by them ; it cannot be denied, that fuch a belief and impreflion are gene- rally of high importance to a fuccefsful min- iftry. ' He who is convinced that the religion of the Gofpel is true, and who has experi- mentally found it to be the power of God to his own falvat'ioriy will explain its doctrines, with a perfpicuity, and inculcate its precepts^ with an energy, not eafily imitated, and never equalled, by one, Vv^ho has no fuch convi(f^ion of the truth, and who is a ftranger to its fany&-, cui fi pareamus ni- hil agamus in vita.'* PRESIDENT STILES, 243 purpofes, he ufed great plainnefs of fpeech, in his public difcourfes, and difpenfed with thofe ornaments of language, which are better calculated to entertain the hearer, than to render him wife to falvation, To the carelefs and profane he was a fon of thun- der ; to the thoughtful and ferious, a fon of confolation. The one he perfuaded by the terrors of the Law ; the other, by the grace of the Gofpel. He " preached with a com- manding eloquence and fervour ;"* — with " that energy which arifes from the fenfation^ of the heart ; more attentive to fentiment, than to the beauties of compofition."*}* Hence his fermons were inflructive and pathetic. While to the learned they were acceptable and improving ; to the ignorant they were intelligible, and pradlically ufefuL Such was the attention of the iower clafTes of community to his difcourfes, and fuch the fuccefs of his labours among them, that he judged his talents better adapted to promote their improvement, than that of the wife s^id great. He delighted, therefore, in preaching * Reverend Dr. Trumbull's Sermon, occafioned by Prefident Stiles* death. t V^lediftory Addrefs. 244 THE LIFE OF preaching the Gofpel to the poor. It was accordingly obfervable, that, during his prefidency, he always preferred obfcure vil- lages, as the fcene of his occafional miniftra«. tions, to polite and opulent towns. This preference, while it proves the fmcerity of his zeal for the promotion of Chriftianity, furniflies evidence of his humility. Inftead of human applaufe, he appears to have fought the approbation of God, and of his own confcience. To every clafs of peoplg, compofmg his. paftoral charge, he was always acceffible. Having no greater joy, than to witnefs their exemplary converfation ; he was never hap- pier than while employed in aiding their progrels in yirtue and piety. Pofleffing the happy talent of introducing religious fubje and educated at this college, where he gradu- ated in 1732. In 173S, he was induced into the VrcfzC- forfhip, the duties of which he fulfilled^ with great ability and reputation, till his death. " He exhibited," fays Prefident Stiles, ** a noble literary charadler, during the forty years of his profefforlhip. He wa^ a fl:ar of the firft magnitude. He was not only excellent in his ov/n pro* fefllon, but he was a univerfal fchclar." ^6o THE LIFE OF can fufta'in us. But the light thrown on this matter by the glorious Gofpel, with me, amounts to a demonftratlon. The hope that is fet before us in the New Teftament, is the only thing which will fupport a man in his dying hour. If any man build on any other foundation, in my apprehenfion, his founda- tion will fail." To eyery Chriftian believer It muft give pleafure, to find fuch names as Grotius, Pafchal, Bacon, Locke, Boyle, Newton, Winthrop, Bowdoin, Jones, and many oth-i ers of the firfl eminence, among tlie laity, advocates for Chriftianity. Examples of men, of fuch fuperior intellectual powers, be- lieving and profelling the religion of Chrlft, after a deliberate and thorough examination of its evidences, and without the influence of fecular motives, ought to render Infidels more modeft than they ufually arc. In their afiaults on Revelation. The number of fuch examples is fufficient to demonflrate the fal- fity of two pofitions, which the champions of infidelity would fondly fupport : one, That the men of the grcateft underftanding are on their fide ; the other, That Chriftian- ity is fupported by prieftcraft. A new PRESIDENT STILES. 261 A new fceiie of confufion and diftrefs was now to fiicceed that, through which the Prefident and his family had paifed at New- port. Early in the morning of the 5th of July, a Britifh fleet, of about forty fail, an- chored off Weft-Haven. Alarm guns were fired. Although the deftination of the ene- my was unknown, there was ferious caufe to apprehend that its object was, the plun- der, or conflagration, of New-Haven. It was a favourable circumftance to the inhabit- ants, and to the interefts of fcience, that there was fufiicient time for the removal of defencelefs families, and of articles of pecu- liar value. The Prefident fent his family out of town, and, together with them, the college records and papers, and his own manufcripts. At fun-rife, a detachment of a thoufand troops, under the command of Brigadier-General Garth, landed at Weft- Haven. There being, at this time, no foldiers fta- tioned at New-Haven, the defence of the town depended folely, under Providence, on the valour of its citizens. On fo fudden an alarm, it was impoflible to raife a fufiicient number of troops, to make effedual refift- ance s62 THE LIFE OF ance to fo formidable an army. It was, how- ever, ill the power of fuch little bands of militia, and of volunteers, as were raifed on the fpot, to harafs and annoy the troops on their march tov/ard the town. Captain James Hillhoufe, with a fmall band of brave young men, fome of wliom were (Indents at college, advanced very near to the troops, while on parade, near Weil-Haven church ; and, as they Gommenced their march, fired on the advanced guards, and drove them back to the main body. In this manner, the patriotic citizens checked the progrefs of the €nemy, and gained farther time for the in- habitants to fecure their perfons and effecSts. Proceeding along in force, the enemy entered the town about one in the afternoon. From this time till eight in the evening, the town was given up to ravage and plunder, from which a few houfes only were protected. While thefe tranfaRESIDENT STILES. 265 Fairfield harbour. Others were found by the Prefident, at Eaft-Haven, three weeks after the evacuation. But he exprefles his regret, that moft of Prefident Clap's manu- fcripts are " now lamentably and irrecovera-* bly loft." The national calamities again prevented the public celebration of the commencement. In the fucceeding vacation, the Prefident took a journey to Rhode-Ifland ; and vifit- ed his Newport congregation, in its difper- Hons, at Providence, at Taunton, and at va-*, rious other places* A. Z>, M,DCC,LXXX.— iETAT. LIIL IN the fpring vacation, he vifited New-t {)ort, which was now evacuated by the ene- my. Being there on the memorable dark day. May 19, he attentively obferved that phenomenon ; and his account of it was pub- liflied in the next day's gazette. A fcientific knowledge of the general laws of nature, and an extenfive acquaintance witji hiftory, ena* bled him to view, with philofophic and re-< ligious calmnefs, what ilruck many others Kk with / i66 THE LIFE 01^ with confternation. Having related the commencement, progrefs, and all the circum- ftances, of this darknefs, he adds : " Such appearances have been obferved in other parts of the world, as on the coaft of Africa, and in Em-ope, and particularly in London, A. D, 1679. But fuch a phenom.enon has, per- haps, never happened here, fmce the Englifh fettlement of this country. " This darknefs may, undoubtedly, be ac-^ counted for, by the laws of nature, without having recourfe to any thing miraculous, or ominous. It could not, however, be afcrib- ed to a folar eclipfe ; becaufe the moon was then nearty in oppofition, as a lunar eclipfe fell the preceding day. It may be confider- ed as a very extenfive fheet of very denfe cloud, ftationary, and fufp^nded in the atmof- ^here over this and the adjacent places, there heing no current of air fufEcient to carry it forward. This, penetrated by the meridiati iblar rays, produced the yellow duikifhnefs, which overfhadowed us, transfufmg a yellow huQ over all vifible. nature."* Having * See a particular account of this darknefs, by Profenbr •Williams, in the ift. Vol. of Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. PRESIDENT STILES. ^6^ Having viewed this phenomenon as a phiiolbpher, he improves it as a Chriftianp *' There is nothing terrible in it, more than in the corrufcations of the Aurora Borealis, However, the unufual as well as conimon appearances, in the natural w^orld, ought to lead our thoughts up to the Author of na- ture, and to the energies of his irrefiftible power ; that we may be filled with a rever- ential awe of the divine Majefly." Two days after, on the Lord's Day, he preached, in the ruins of his church, to his Newport congregation, two thirds of which, he judged, had now returned. This temr- pie, a decent edifice, when abandoned by the Society, experienced, like many others, a facrilegious violation. The enemy had put up a chimney in the middle of it, and demoL- ifhed all the pews and feats below, and in ^ the galleries, but had left the pulpit Handing. *' My little zealous flock," fays the Prefident, *' took down the chimney, and cleanfed the meeting-houfe, and then procured fome benches, made for the king's troops' enter- tainment, and left behind : fo that we attend- ed divine fervice very conveniently, though with a pleafure intermixed with tender grief." ^^^^ ^68 THE LIFE OF The next day, the Church and Society held a Parifh meeting. Unwilling to relin- quifh their minifter, and to have his paftoral relation diiTolved ; they would gladly con-, lent to his abfence, during the war, but would confider him yet, as their paftor. It is obfervable, that, in their votes, pafled at this time, they mention him as their " prefent paftor ;" although, " from the prefent fitua- tion of the town, and his appointment to the prefidency of Yale College, they could not expert his return, the enfuing fummer." Agreeably to thefe views, they provided a temporary fupply only, for the pulpit. So tenacious were they of one, long endeared to them by paftoral fidelity, and by a thoufand offices of benevolence and of friendfhip ! • — Their partial attachment, however, •was not indulged at the expence of candour. Dr. Stiles having reprefented to them the reafons of his acceptance of the prefidency, they obferve, that, " having taken the fame into confideration, they do approve of his condud: therein.*' It is to the honour of any community, to confider, calmly and impartially, fuch provi- dential calls to fuperior ufefulnefs ; and, either partially. PRESIDENT STILES. 269 partially, or totally, to refign its claims, as the cai'e requires. The ccndui^ of too many Societies, on occafions limilar to this, argues luch a deficiency of candour and generolity, as, however fand:ioned by the felfifh paflions, mull be acknowledged repugnant to the be- nevolent and difinterefted maxims of Chrif- tianity. The pious paflor improved this opportu- nity, in vifiting the beloved people of his charge, and in miniftering to thein counfel, encouragement, and comfort, Having preached to them again, on the enfuing Sab- bath, and adminiftered the Lord's Supper, he bade them " a melancholy farev/ell." ■ About three hundred dwelling-houfes, he judged, had been deftroyed in Newport. *' The town," he obfer\^ed, " is in ruins. But, with Nehemiah, I could prefer the very duft of Zion to the gardens of Perfia, and the broken walls of Jerufalem to the palaces of Shufhan." The commencement, in September, was not publicly celebrated, on account of the war. In the autumnal vacation, the Prefident again vifited Newport, where be fpent three Sabbaths. While i 270 THE LIFE OF While at Newport, he was introduced to Count de Rochambeau, commander in chief of the allied army, to Marquis de Chaftellux,, to the principal French officers, and to the minifter of France, Chevalier de la Luzerne^ The generals treated him with that polite- nefs, for which their nation has been charac- terized. Each invited him to a fplendid dinner, and was emulous of fhewing him refped:. This favourable opportunity of adding to the ftock of his military, poUtical, and fcientific information, was not neglected. The Corporation of Dartmouth College, at the commencement in September, conferred on him the degree of Dodtor in Divinity. ProfelFor Daggett, after a very fhort ill- nefs, died on the 25th of November.* The bufinefs of the Profeflbrfhip of Divinity nov\r devolved on the Prefident ; and, befide his Ecclefiaflical Ledbure, he weekly gave one or two difiertations on fome philofophical or aftronomical fubjedt 5 and a private ledure on theology, every Saturday afternoon, to a fele. M,DCC,LXXXI1I.— JilTAT. LVL TO order and piety, he alv^rays gave his unrefetved fandtion* The refidence of 30 or 40 fcholars in town, during the winter vacation, induced him to attend prayers with them, occafionally, at the chapeL Encour- aged by his counfel and example, they con- ftantly maintained morning and evening prayers by themfelves ; though not in the chapel, unlefs accompanied by one of the officers of college. Mm By 282 THE LIFE OF By the appointment of his Excellency Governor Trumbull,* the Prefident pfreached the Eledion Sermon, on the 8th of May,' A ceiTation of hoftilities, on the part of Great-Britain, having already taken place, 6y ordiv of the Bxitifh king ; and a Treaty of Peace, the prelirninaiy articles Of which tvere figried in January, promifmg foon to terminate a war, which, for eight years, had fpread wide devaftation through the States of America j a very interefting fubjedt was pre- fented, * 'I'his year the Governor reilgned his offices with a dignity becoming a patriotic and Chriftian niagiftrate. He was born at Lebanon, in 1710, and educated at Har- vard College, where he graduated in 1727. He died in 1785, jEtat. 75. PoiTefling an afTemblage of ufeful tal- ents', he affiduouOy devoted them to the fervice of the State, and of his country. In the latter years of hi* life, he Was an intimate friend of Prefident Stiles, at ^hofe houfe he lodged, during the annual feffion of the Aflembly at New-Haven. The Prefident efteemed him ihe 3?Hore highly, for his uniting an accurate knowledge of the Hebrew language, and theology, with his political abilities ; and efpecially, for the union of piety with hi* patriotifm, . ■ d t novr appears, (May r6, 1798) tliat his Excellency Jonathan Trumbull, a fori of this venera- ble man, v/as, the laft week, eleded Governor of Con- necticut. His talents and patriotifm are well known f and the State, over which he prefides, may juftly antici- pate an adminiftration worthy of a name, recorded in its aunals with peculiar honour. PRESIDENT STILES. 983 fented, as thetheme of difcourfe, for this auf- picious occafion, " The United States ele- vated to Glory artd Honour," is the title of this Sermon,* the defign of which is to fhew, What reafon there is to exped: that, by the bleffing of God, thefe States will attain that elevation ; and, That opr fyflem of domin^ ion, and civil polity, would be imperfeil without the true Religion j or, that from the diffufion of virtue among the people of any community, vrould rife their greateft fecular happinefs, which will terminate in this con- clufion, That holinefs ought to be the en^ of all civil government. Under the firft head, he points out the pbjedts eflential to the true political v^elfare of a community— ^a free teiiure of lands — a numerous population — sl happy form of government — a juft fyftem. of laws and ju- rifprudence — -revenue — -comnierce indui- try — ^rem,oval of caufes of civil diflention — a well regulated militia — -vigilance againfl corruption in ekdiions— and, the cultiva- tion of literature ; and fhews, that thefe caufes of national profperity have a(5tua! operation, or will, probably, hereafter op-* crate, in the United States. T^nde * Test, Deuteronomy sxvi. 19. 284 THE LIFE OF Under the fecond head, he fhews the im^ portance of the true religion to the national profperity ; and, by inftituting a compari- fon between three clafles of religions, that of idolatry, that of deifm, and that of Chriflian- ity, proves the advantages of the laft, for producing the higheft benefit to mankind, confidered as united in civil fociety, or as deftined for immortality. Convinced, frorn the commencement of hoflilities, that America would ultimately tri- umph, and having now lived to fee the Brit- ifh king and miniftry acknowledging the Independence of the United States ; a full fcope was here given, for the difplay of his oratory, and of his patriotifm. He accord- ingly fpake, out of the abundance of his heart, with a pathos and energy, which fo jiuguft an occafion could not fail to infpire. To exarnine this Difcourfe, or, indeed, ^ny one of his compofitions, by the rigid laws of Criticifm, would be to do it an in- juftice. Unfettered by rule, his manner was entirely his own. Abforbed by his fubjeft, he never paufed to feled his words, or to balance his periods. From the plenitude of his mind, enriched with a vaft variety of knowledge, PRESIDENT STILfiS, 285 knowledge, he " pours out a negligent pro- fufion, certain of the weight, but carelefs of the ftamp."* Longinus compares Demollhenes to light- ning, which, by fudden and irrefiftible flafh- es, bears down all before it -, and Cicero, to a conflagration, which, by a fure, though gradual, progrefs, confumes its objedt. Pref- ident Stiles may be compared to a deep, yet rapid, flream, flowing along in an irregular courfe, often breaking over its banks, and enriching, while it inundates, all the adjacent fields. " His ftyle," fays his panegyrift, *' was polite and copious, though, perhaps, in fome inftances, rather too diffufe. Either in fpeaking or writing on interefling fub- jeds, the ardent fire of his genius, and flrength of his conceptions, fometimes lifted him above thofe rules of art, in compliance with which, others may be very learnedly, critically, and exactly, dull and infipid."f Let his Eledlion Sermon be read with an equitable regard to the peculiarity of the ge- nius and talents of its author, and it will not fail to intereft the politician, the fcliolar, and the * Johnfon. f ProfefTcr Meigs' Funeral Oration. 286 THE LIFE OF the Chriftian ; for it contains a fund of po-* iitical» fcientific, and theological truth. In the courfe of this fummer, confiderable additions were made to the college church. It had never been fo large, fince its founda-^ tion, as \t was rendered by thefe acceffions. The Prefiderit, and the ProfeiTor of Divinity, had previoufly entertained great folicitude for this little flock, which ^vas almoft entirely compofed of members of the Senior clafs, who were foon to take leave of the Univer* fity. The admiffion of eighteen new meni-». bers from the other claffes, within one month, was juftly viewed as a very interelling and joyful event If the importance of Re- ligion, in a feminary of learning, is duly con- fidered, either as it refpeds the ftudents themfelves, or the community, in which they are becoming formed to a(3: an influential part ; what has now been recorded will not be judged too inconfiderable for prefervation. The writer, at leaft, muft charge himfelf with impiety, fhould he forget an event, of which he was an eye-witnefs, and which, he is certain, caiifed maJiy thanhfgivings to God. ^In a late interview with a w^orthy min- iflefj who, at the time here referred to, wa£ a fludent PRESIDENT STILES. 2~^ a ftudent at college, and who knows the fubfequent hiftory of his fellow-fludents^ whd then joined thfe college church ; on a par- ticular enquiry of him, concerning their charaders, it appeared that, without any known exception, they have fteadily adher- ed to their early profeffion. By their fruits^ faid the Saviour, ye Jlmll know them. Will any, after all, call this enthttfiafm ? Would to God, there were fnore of it in the world ! This is an event, which, to ufe the language of the excellent t)r. Doddridge, in a fimilar Cafcj ** I behold with equal wonder aiid de- light ; and which j if a nation fhould join in deriding it, I would adore as the finger of God."* The Prefident and Fellows having confer- red the degree of Dodor of Laws on the Reverend Dr. Price* ; in a letter to the Prefi- dent, September 29, h^ acknowledges the honour, with the politenefs and modefty which characterized that eminent man : " I hope Yale College, over which you prefide, |b will accept my warmeft thanks, for this tef- timony of their approbation. I fhould be one of the happiefl of mankind, could I think * Life of Colonel Gardiner. ^88 THE LIFE OF think that the account given of me fo haftd-* fomely, in the diploma, did not go beyond any merit that I can juftly claim. The eircumftance, m:entioned in your letter, that the honour done me by the College, was granted me at the lame time with General Washington, has made a greater impreC« fion upon me, than can be eafily conceived^ It is a eircumftance, that makes the honour diftinguifliing, beyond all that my ambition could reach to. General Walhington's name' muft always Ihine among the firft, in the an* nals of the world. It will go down to all future generations, univerfally applauded and admired. Mine, perhaps, may follow ; but it will be but a little way, and at a vaft diftance." On Lord*s day, November 23, the Prefi- dent makes the following foliloquy : " This is the dominical anniverfary of my folemn public dedication to the blefled Jefus, in the profeflion of his holy religion. This day, thirty-feven years ago, I entered the vine- yard. Oh how unfruitful ! I do not re- trad my vows j but would, this day, renew and re-feal my covenant engagements to be the Lord's.'* PRESIDENT STILES. 2^ BIRTH-DAY REFLECTIoi^. *' I HAVE, this day, completed the 56th, and entered upon the 57th year of my age. And now that I am advancing in years, 1 have to recollect the great variety of the deahngs of divine Providence towards one, who is le/s than the leaji of all faints. An infinitely wife and holy God has called me to pafs through a great variety of good and evil. May all be fandiiied to me. I iiiid great defedts to bemoan. " I am in great dOubt, as to rny fpiritual ftate, through the prevalence of paffion and corruption. Whether I fhall ever get to heaven* a:nd, through many tribulations, enter into reft, God only knows. This I knoW^ that I am one of the moft unworthy of all the works of God. O that I could be more fmcere and perfe£t, before the Lord ! " The College yet flourifhes, confifting of 270 under-graduates^ My family has had ficknefs and health. The College church has had a w^onderful work of grace in it, the fummer paft. I commit myfelf, the College, my Newport church, and all my concerns, to God." N N A. D. 290 THE LIFE OF J, D, M,DCC,LXXXIV.— ^TAT. LVII. THE Prefident's eldeft fon, Ezra, died on the 2 2d of Auguft, near Edenton, in North-Carolina. He was a young man of genius and talents, and qualified to make a diftinguifhed figure in his profeffion at the bar. His afflicted father paid to his mem- ory the tribute of affedion and forrow, in an epitaph, which he compofed, and caufed to be infcribed on a ftone erected over his grave. In September, he attended the commence- ment at Naflau-Hall, in New-Jerfey ; on which OGcafion, the Corporation of that college conferred on him the degree of Doc- tor in Divinity, and the degree of Doctor in civil and canon Laws. On this journey, ac- companied by Profeflbr Wales, he vifited Long-Illand, New- York, Philadelphia, and the Moravian Fraternity, at Bethlehem ; keeping memoranda, after his ufual man- ner, of w^hatever occurred worthy of pref- ervation. Age feemed, in no degree, to diminifh his avidity for improvement. A proof of this, and of the facility with which he ftiii acquired PRESIDENT STILES. 291 acquired knowledge, appears in his ready acqulfition of the French language. Hav- ing attended to it, at his leifure hours, from the middle of July, under the diredlion of a French teacher ; in November, he read through the firft volume of Robertfon's Hif- tory of America, in French, in five days ; and, foon after, Telemachus, in fix weeks. He learned this language very opportunely j for, about that time, Mr. Jefferfon, then Ambaflador at Paris, with whom he corref- ponded, fent him feveral volumes of French books: and, in 1787, M. Le Marquis de Chaftellux fent him his Voyages dans L* Amerique Septentrionale. BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. *' THE year paft has been a year of va- rious experience, in divine providence — forrow and mercy. My moral ftate much as for feveral years paft ; — great mixtures of fm and imperfection, with fome enjoyment of God, and the maintenance of a general courfe of the duties of the religious life. I have been very happy in college affairs ; and the Univerfity has been nearly in as good 292 THE LI IE OF good a ftate, as to literature, religion, peace, and good order, as could be reafonably ex- peded. It pleafed God, that I fhould be called to mourn the death of my eldeft fon, \vho jiied in Auguft, leaving a wife and two children. I have felt a moft pungent and tender diftrefs, on this event. May it be fandtified to me, and the furviving chil- flren, which God hath gracioufly continued to me. " God hath given me much opportunity for occaiional preaching, and ferving at the altar, which is ftill my great delight, I love the pulpit, and the table of the Lord, On the 2d inftant, I married my daughter Kezia to Mr. Sturges, m.uch to my fatisfac- tion. I commit myfelf, my family, the College, and my yet deftitute Newport flock, to his holy keeping and prote(fl:ion/* -'XEZtpBEj^iSBSa&iM J. D, M,DCC,LXXXV.— .Etat. LVIIL THE Congregation at Newport, having repaired their church, defired^the Prefident to preach the firft fermon. He, accordingly, vifited Newport in the fpring vacation, and preached PRESIDENT STILES. 293 preached a fermon,* on the 15th of May, adapted to the joyful occafion. He proceeded to Briftol, where he met a number of minifters, who renewed the Rhode-Ifland Convention of Congregational paftors ; and, as the fcribe of that Conven- tion, he dehvered up the records. He was voted a permanent member. On this occa- fion, he preached the Convention Sermon. His foHcitude for the deflitute churches, in the Southern States, having prompted him, in 1784, to fend an advifory letter to the wri- ter of thefe memoirs, then in South-Carolina, counfeliing him to begin to preach the Gof- pel : he now offered every aid, relative to his confecration to the work of the miniftry. By his advice, application was made to the Corporation of Yale College, which formed an Ecclefiaftical Council, and ordained him, on the morning after commencement, in the College chapel, the Prefident making the or- daining prayer. Gratitude conftrains me to this acknowl- (cdgment of the early and unvarying patron- age * Text, Haggai ii. 9. The glory of this latter hoiife Jhall he greater than of the former, faith the Lord of hojis : and in this pleifs ivill J give ^eace, faith the Lord of hojis. 294 THE LIFE OF age of this philanthropic man : and it fur- niihes an injflance, among many, of the ac- tivity and extent of his fervdces for the pro- motion of Chriftianity. BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. " THROUGH the wonderful patience of Heaven, another year is added to the years of my wearifome pilgrimage on earth. The college has been in a very tranquil ftate. I have an extenfive and laborious correfpon- dence in the church of God, and in the learn- ed v^'-orld. My w^hole li^'is fuch an incef- fant labour, that I have fcarcely time to be religious. I hope I am (landing in my lot, and fulfilling my day, as an hireling. While operated upon by many motives, from with- in, and from without, I hope the grace and glory of God are fom.etimes found among them. But, O the imperfedtions, the wick- ednefs of heart and life ! Enter not into judgment with me, O God ! for, unlefs fprinkled with the blood of the Lamb, the merit of my all-glorious and "holy Redeem- er, I cannot ftand in judgment before thee. To this all-atoning blood would I fly, and take PRESIDENT STILES. 295 take refuge in the wounds of a bleeding Im- manuel. My fins damp my joys and hopes ; yet, at times, and this frequently, I am bleff- ed with views and apprehenfions of the great Jehovah, and the hohncfs and benevo-- lence of his government, which I would not part with for all worlds. Quicken me, O Lord, in thy ftatutes." On the 29th of December, he was called to the trial of lofmg his fecond daughter, Mrs. Sturges^ J,D, M,DCCJ.XXXVL— ^TAT. LIX, HE commenced this year " in forrow and deep mourning," on account of his recent bereavement. " This holy Sabbath is filled with variety of duties, calling for our whole attention. It is a new year's day ; it is a facramxcnt day ; it is a day for me and my mournful family to prefent ourfetves in the houfe of God, with humiliation, and ac- knowledgments of filent fubmiiTion to God's holy hand ; and to feek of him a fandified improvement of this providence, fo fpeaking to me, my bereaved fon-in-Iaw, and my fur- Tiving family." p^^^^jj.^^ ^g6 THE LIFE OF Profeflbr Wales' ill health requiring him to take a voyage to Europe, an additional weight of cares and labours devolved on the Prefident, v^ho was always vigilantly atten- tive to the theological department. The Church and Congregation, at New- port, finding it expedient, at length, to relin- quifh their claim to their beloved paftor, took' meafures for a re-fettlement. Having invited Mr. William Patten to the paftoral office, and he having fignified his acceptance j the Pref- ident, by their united defire, attended his or- dination, on the 24th of May. His own paftoral relation being not yet diflblved ; at a meeting of the Church, previoully to the ordination, the brethren voted to accept his reiignation of the miniflry ; and this relation was now declared to be diiTolved by mutual confent. In the fucceeding folemnity, he affifted in the laying on of the hands of the prefbytery ; and gave the charge. In the autumnal vacation, he took a tour into the States of New- York and Vermont. In this journey, he met with a young man, who had formerly been his pupil at college ; and who, as an orphan-child, and a youth of a fine genius, had fliared, among many oth- ers. PRESIDENT STILES. 297 ers, the benefits of his patronage. Delight- ed with the fociety of his Prefident and pat- ton, he accompanied him in the northern part of his tour, and became acquainted with his manner of travelling, of which, in a letter^ he gives this charaderiftic (ketch : " This morning, I had fcarcely opened my eyes on the dawn, when my landlord informed me that the Preildent was in town. I ftarted up, mounted a horfe, and found him eating his breakfaft in a paltry inn, with as much good humour and contentment, as he could have done in a palace. — 1 fhall make no apology for fending ycu a little hiftory of my ride to Bennington, whither my dear Preceptor allowed me to efcort hira. As this vras a moll delightful tour, I dare fay that he has furnlfhed you vrith many curious particulars ; but fome, which demonilrate the peculiar goodnefs of his heart, I am fuf- picicus his modefty has concealed. Thefe, like his other virtues, muil be celebrated by his friends. 1 fliall not tire your pa- tience by a defcription of the bad roads. In ail probability, we had reached C without a fmgle adventure ; but lo I when we leaft expected, Nature prefented a curi* O o outy. §9^ THE LIFE OF ofity. The remains of a mighty tree, lairf low in duft, tru€ emblem of fallen greatnefs^ called our attentionv We alighted in a mo- ment ; found it, upon menfuration, to be upwards of four feet in diameter ; and next counting the grains, were delighted to dif- eover that 240 years had been the years of its^^ pilgrimage. "— We arrived at C about funfet ; and, as neither the Prefident nor I make corporeal fuppers, we fat down to a very elegant Hterary rep aft, Heliogabulus,. that imperial epicure, who is faid to have expended half a million on a meal^ never had any thing to equal this. " We determined to take in our route the place where Count Baum, of the HeflianSy was defeated, in 1777. Here occurred an inftance of the Prelident's humanity. At one of the houfes, where we called to en- quire concerning the battle, a gentleman Ihewed us feveral human bones, which had been picked up in the fields. The tear of pity ftole into the eye of my venerable com- panion : ' Thefe, Sir,' faid he to the perfon who fhewed them, ' are the remains of fome unhappy mortal. The defire of glory, or, perhaps, the commands of a tyrant, led / hiia PRESIDENT STILES- 299 him here. He is now no more. Let us forgive the enemy, and refpe^t the man. Perhaps he has left a mother, a fifter, or even a tenderer connexion, who, at this moment^ is lamenting his lofs. How exqui^te mud their feelings be, did they know, that his bones lie thus neglected, mid unburied ! For the honour of humanity, Sir, I will give your fervant a reafonable compenfation, if you will let him bury them in the earth.' The man, to whom this pathetic requeft was addreiTed, feemed to feel but little, though he was very clever and obliging. I have, however, the fatisfacSlion to affure you, that, on my return from Bennington, I enforced this requeft, and faw thofe mor- tifying remains -of mortality interred in the parent duft. That unfortunate foldier, whofe bones, for nine long y^ars, lay bleach- ing on the heights of Woolomfcoe, has now as foft a bed, as the Alexanders, the Pom- peys, or the Cxfars. — While I am among the tombs, let me tell you, we paid a vifit to the grave of the Count de Baum. He lies buried hard by the river's brink 5 and a little rifmg of the turf, alone, diflin* guilhes his grave. We were dlfappoint- ed 300 THE LIFE OF ed to fee the grave of this great commander fo wretchedly negledted ; and, firft, thought of opening a fubfcription, for the purpofe of ered Charles Chauncy, D.D. was ordained to the paftoral care of tlie firft church in Bofton, in 1727, and died in 1787, ^tat. 83. Memoirs of his charafler^ by the eminent author of the American Biogra- PHV, may, in due time, be expe-fted by the public, which muft learn with pleafure, his " intention to in- troduce," into that extenfive and important work, *' a Hiftory and Biography of Harvard College." The firft church in Bofton has fuftained a great lofs, in the late death of their refpedtable and much efteemed paftor, the Reverend Dr. Clarke, who was fettled a colleague with Dr. Chauncy, on the day of Dr. Stiles' indudtion •nto the prefidency. 304 THE LIFE OF tefped to gentle meiij who are eminent for their attachment to the rights of men in gen- eral, and particularly to thofe \vho efpoufe the caufe of t^e enflaved Africans," admit- ted Dr. Stiles as an honourary member. At the commencement, in September, the Corporation of Yale College conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws on the enlighten- ed and patriotic ftatefman, John Adams, now Prefident of the United States. In his letter of acknowledgment to Prefident Stiles, he pays a handfome tribute to the Univer- fity, and to the State of Connedicut : ** If this honourary degree is, as you inform me, to be confidered as a token of afFedion and ejfteem, I {hall certainly hold it among the moft precious of things ; fince nothing can be more pleafmg to me, or more fatisfadory to my higheft ambition, than the approbation of an Univerfity, which has diftinguifhed it- felf in literature, among the foremoft in America, and which is the light of a Com- monwealth that I efteem the pureft portion of mankind.** BIRTH- PRESIDENT STILES, 305 BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. " WHEN I review my life, from my earliefl: years to this day, I find it filled with the care, protection, and goodnefs of Heaven— filled with infirmities of body and mind — filled with imperfection and fin. My fins are fo numerous, fo conftant, fo pre- vailing, and fo uncontrollable, that I am covered with remorfe and confufion. I know that the atonement and merits of my Redeemer are all-fufiicient ; and fo they are for all the miferable in hell. But, the im- perfections, follies, and iniquities of ,my life, and of my very heart, excite in me great doubts and fears, left I (hall prove a caft- away. I keep up, indeed, a conftant, daily, and unremitted courfe of prayer, reading of the Scriptures, meditation, and mental devo- tion ; and am habitually feeking God's grace, and energetic influence, to enlighten and fanCtify me. But, alas ! how little prog- refs do I make in religion ! " Every year is filled with experience of the care, of Providence. My health has been not worfe, but rather better, the year paft, than the year preceding. All my chil- P p dren THE LIFE OF dren are at home with me. I am full of concern for their virtue, in this critical period of their lives : May God mercifully preferve them.— — I have been favoured with a com- J)etency of the good things of this life. The College is, and has been, in a good ftate. I am bleffed with friends ; and hope I have tiot difobliged an extenfive and numerous acquaintance. — - — I contemplate the public affairs, and the flate of the churches, with very confiderable complacency ; afid yet there are in both, afpedts that mingle pain with pleafure. New divinity exceffes, on the one hand, and Socinian errors, on the other, chequer the ftate of the churches. I leave all with Jefus, in whom are my only hope and truft. Oh that I may approve myfelf a humble, fincere, and faithful fer- vant of fo divine a Mafter \ to whom I renewediy confccratc myfelf* A,D. M,DCC,LXXXIX.—iiTAT. LXII. CONVINCED, by obfervation and ex- periments, that the culture of filk might be carried on with fuccefs and profit, in New- Englaad, PRESIDENT STILES. 3*07 England, he, this year, took great pahis for the extenfive diftribution of mulberry feedj as the firft ftep towards this manufacture. He fent an eftimated quantity of feed to eighty miniilers, in Conneccicut, with a printed circular letter, defiring them, by themfelves, or by fuch perfons as they might employ in their parlfhes, to fow, each, a nurfery of 4000 trees in a parifh, on this- condition. That, at the end of three years, three quarters of the trees, then living, be- long to the planters, and one quarter to be diftributed gratis^ in the refpective parifhes, About midnight, June 10, his houfe was ftruck with lightning. A rafter, in the garret, was torn out the whole length, from the chimney to the eves ; and one of tha floors was fplintered. The lightning ran down the chimney in two of its funnels, and down the fide of the houfe £0 the ground. No perfon received any injury. *' It pleafed God," faith he, " to preferve me and my family : Through his gracious prov- idence, we efcaped inflant death, although all of us were furrounded wHth fuch a pro-? fufion of the ele<2;rical fluid, that it was next * tc 3o8 THE LIFE OF to a miracle that we were preferved." With this great prefervation he was fenfibly affect- ed ; and to his expreflions of gratitude, he adds the pious petition : " May we devote our fpared lives to the glory of God, and confider this as a merciful admonition of Heaven to be prepared for fudden death !" In the autumnal vacation, he vifited New- York, where he derived much pleafure from an interview with the Prefident of the United States, and an attendance on the Congrefs, then in feflion. Prefident Wafhington being at New-Ha-. ven, October 17, on his tour through the Eaftern States, Prefident Stiles compofed a refped:ful addrefs ; and, accompanied by the Congregational miniflers of New-Haven, prefented it to him, in their name. BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. *' THE year paft, I have been the fubje the Reverend Mr. Holmes, and parted with them both, for the diftant and dangerous climate of Georgia. I commend them to the grace of God ; as I do alfo my abfent fon, now on a voyage to Great-Britain. 1 have had more fatisfac- tion and comfort, as to religion, for the year paft, than formerly. Three of my daughters 312 THE LIFE OF daughters have made profeflion of re- ligion, and joined the church. Amidft many troubles, I have, through God*s good providence, enjoyed many blefTmgs. May I live devoted to that God, who is the length of my days, and the foundation of all my hopes." A, D. M,DCC,XCI.— ^TAT. LXIV. ON the day after the public commence- ment, September 15, the Prefident attended at the College chapel, as a delegate, at a con- vention of delegates of the General AfTembly of the Prefbyterian church in the United States, and of the General Aflbciation of the State of Conne£ticut. The object of this convention, was, the eftablifhment of an ex- plicit union and intercourfe between thefe two ecclefiaftical bodies, and the churches with which they were connedted. Among other articles, in the refult of this convention, it was recommended, That effectual meafures be mutually taken, to prevent injuries to the refpedlive churches, from irregular and unau- thorized preachers ; and, to promote this end. PRESIDENT STILES. 313 end, that every preacher, travelling from the limits of one of thefe churches, into thofe of the other, be furnifhed with recent teftimo- nials of his regular Handing, and good char- acter, as a preacher. It was alfo agreed, Th^t each body fhould, from time to time, appoint a committee of three members, who Ihali have a right to fit in the others' general meeting, and make fuch communications as Ihall be directed by their refpeCtive conftitu- ents, and deliberate on fuch matters as fhall come before the body ; but fhall have no right to vote. " We wilhed,'* fays the Prefident, "to have comprehended the re- fpedable Synod of the Dutch churches, per- haps 80 or 100, in this union : but, though we have a cordial and fraternal love and refpedt for them, this is not yet effected. I could wifh, alfo, the fraternal comprehenlioii of the German churches, both Lutheran and Calviniftic. Perhaps it may, in time, take place. When will the happy time come, when all who love our Lord Jefus Chrift ia fincerity and truth, will alfo love one another, and live together as brethren, indulging one another our religious peculiarities, when we find that we are grounded and united in Q^Q^ thcfe ^X4 THE LIFE OF thofe few great principles of our holy relig- ion, which will carry us all up to the realms of harmony and peace, to that blefled worlds where our trifling differences will be all ab- forbed in higher light, and univerfal love 1 "* Thefe remarks evince, that he continued,' through life, to cherifll thofe divine princi- ples of Chriftian liberality and benevolence,- which he had very early imbibed, and which uniformly gave a luftre to his relig- ious chara^er.f On the anniverfary 6f his public profef- fion of religion, he has the following reflec- tions : " May I never forget the folemnity of my dedication to God j never forget, that the vows of Jefus are upon me ! Now, ; that I have been in the vineyard forty-five years, I would not be difunited from the bleflTed Saviour, nor retraft my vows and covenant obligations, for all worlds. Oh that * Letter to Profeflbr Ebeling, Mzrch 20, 1795- f This year died Mrs. Catharine Macaulay Graham, whofe charaifter, as an authorefs, and an advocate for lib- erty, is well known to the world. She folicited a cor- refpondence with Prefident Stiles, which was maintained for feveral years ; and cxprefTed great regret, that, in &er tour through the United States, after the revolution- ary war, flie mi/Ted of an Interview with her congenial correfpoadent. PRESIDENT STILES. 315 that I had lived better ! — The good Lord pardon, purify, have mercy on a finning and repenting, a repenting and finning, a reforming and relapfmg, a variable and worthlefs profeflbr ; who yet, if he knows his own heart, in his calm moments, wifhes to be the Lord's, wifhes to be pm-ified from all iniquity, and to live a holy life." BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. *' THE year paft, I have been lefs weigh-* cd down with infirmities, than the precede ing year. I have experienced many mer- cies granted to me and my family. My daughter returned from Midway, in Geor- gia, My fon in law, Mr. H , having refigned his miniflry in Georgia, on account of the climate, has an immediate call to fet- tle in the pafloral office, in the church of Cambridge, near Bofton, which he has ac- cepted. Thus gracioufly hath God order-^ ed with refpect to thefe my children. My fon Ifaac returned from fea ; and, lail week, I had all my children about me at my table. God hath enabled me to purcliafe a houfe^ to leave to a bereaved family, when God 3i6 THE LIFE OF God fhall take me to hlmfelf. — I have beea comfortable in College adminiftrations. — I have, blefled be God, had fome fmgular fpirltual comforts, and more fatisfa6tion as to my fpiritual ftate. May God confirm me in grace and holinefs, and in a good hope, an undeceiving hope, of a happy immor-^ tality. " Through the lengthened patience of a holy God, my life has been protracted to old age. May God not forfake me, now that I am old and grey-headed. The near- er I approach to that awful, and oh that it may be a glorious, eternity, before me, the more may I be abflra6ted from this world, the more heavenly minded may I become, and the more, by divine grace, fitted for the world of holinefs, reft, and peace. May the folemnities of eternity come with a daily increafmg weight upon my foul, and urge me to more vigilance and vigour in the di- vine life. To the moft high God, and to his grace, I commit myfelf, my family, the College, the church of God, my all. May I be entirely devoted to the divine Jefus. Amen." PRESIDENT STILES. 317 J,D, M,DCC,XCII.— ^TAT. LXV. THE travels of the learned Bruce fur- nifhed the Prefident a rich and copious re- paft. He read them with great avidity, and copied the mod valuable parts, particu- larly the maps, into his Literary Diary. In April, he addrelTed a letter to Mr. Bruce, to folicit more explicit information on fome points of AbyfTian geography and hiftory. He enquires, whether there are any bifh- ops in Abyffinia, befides the Abuna ; and whether the priefts ever ordain, or join with the Abuna, in the admiffion either of pref- byters, or deacons ? — What is the number of the clergy, colledively, through all parts of the empire ; the number of the two or- ders of monks, St. Euftatius, and Dibra Li- banos ; the number of inhabitants for the whole collective body of kingdoms and provinces, fubjecSt to and acknowledging the fovereignty of the king of Abyffinia ? — What proportion there is of Chriftians, and what of Pagans ; and whether the Negro Pagans and Arab Pagans have the fame Sa- bean religion ? — What proportion the Galla and Shangalla together may make ; the fame 3i8 THE LIFE OF fame for the Arabs, as diflingulfKed from, the Abyffinians F'^^Have the Jews, of Sa- men, any fynagogues, or places of wor- ihip ? Have they the aniverfary feafts, as well as Sabbaths ? Have they a liturgy, and priefts, and facrifices ? He then gives a learned difcuffion re- fpe6ting the field of Matthew's apoftolical labours ; and, Bruce having fhewn that it could not be AbyfTmia, he judges it muft have been Meroe. He, accordingly, afks the learned traveller, if he has any recollec- tion, whether the Shaws of Abyflinia have any notices of Matthew, as labouring at Meroe ? Whether it may not be received by them, that he converted that part of Africa, though not their country? Whether there may not be found fome relids of oppreffed Africans of St. Matthew, in lower Ethiopia ? And, whether he found any account, in Abyflinia, of the extirpation of Homerites from Arabia ? The General Aflembly of Conne£ticut, In May, pafled an A£t " for enlarging the Powers, and increafmg the funds of Yale College." This AO: granted to that Semi- nary a very generous donation, on condi- tion 1>RESIDENT STILES. 319 tion that the Governor, Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, and fix fenior Counfellors, be affo- clated with the Corporation, in the Colle- giate government. The Prefident, who had not expected fuch propofals from the Legif- lature, as would meet the views of the Cor- poration, or coincide with their judgment of the original intention of the charter, was agreeably impreffed with the firft view of this A(5t. He eonfidered it ** a grand and liberal donation, and a noble candefcenfion." " It will do, faid he, and will be finally ac- cepted. It may be mutually beneficial, by preferving a religious Magiftracy, and a more catholic Clergy, It will unite Mofes and Aaron. It will extinguifh the jealoufy of the civilians towards the clergy ; and promote a firiendly difpofitlon towards the College throughout the State."* The event confirmed the exadtnefs of his judgment. The General Aflbciation of the State of Connedicut chofe Prefident Stiles one of a committee of four to the General AfTembly, to folicit its faniStion of a general contribu- tion throughout the State, for the purpofe of * Literary Diary. See a particular aceount of this Revolution, in the Hiftory of Yale College, fubjoiaed in the Appendir. 320 THE LIFE OF of fupporting miffionaries to the new fettle- ments, in the northern and wellern parts of the United States. The petition was grant- ed. An A6t was pafled, authorifmg contri- butions for three years : confiderable fums were raifed : and the Frefident a6ted as one of the ftated committee of the General Af- fociation, for the purpofes of receiving the contributions, dired:ing the miffions, and fetthng accounts with the miffionaries. He improved with pleafure this favourable op- portunity of exerting his influence for the diffufion of religious knowledge, and for the early eftablifhment of Chriftian churches. In 0 and the other fifter tongues." 336 THE LIFE OF mains ; and the very GleaJiifigs of the grapes of Ejphraim may hejbetter than the vintage of Abie^er. Although Du Halde and the Jef- uits have given us much valuable informa- tion of China^ and Koemfer of Japan, yet much remains to be difcovered, both of their policies and learning. I have great hopes from the Aftrondmers, who, laft year, ac- companied the AmbafTador from the King of England to the Emperor of China ; ef- pecially as I underftand he is gone forth on a literary, as well as commercial and politi- cal, embafly. I hope foon to fee the fur- ther publications of the Calcutta Society. I long ardently for a further acquaintance with the writings of Vyafa, the Plato of India, and of Buddha, and of the Siamefe.'' This literary epiftle, confifting of more than 70 pages in quarto, was fent to Calcut- ta, foon after it was written, directed to the care of the Honourable Suetonius Heatly, Efquire^ chief judge of appeals at Decca, Bengal, a gentleman with whom, in early life, the Prefident was acquainted. But, before it reached India, Mr. Heatly, and the PRESIDENT STILES. 337 the great Sir William Jones, were no more. * The letter, however, was not negleded. Anthony Lambert, Efquire, the adminiftrator of Mr. Heatly's eftate, and a member of the Afiatic Society, took particular care to for- ward it to the Prefident of the Society, who caufed it to be read at the firft meeting after Its receipt. Mr. Lambert wrote a very po- lite letter to Prefident Stiles, which reached New- * Sir William Jones died April 27, f 794» at the pre- mature age of 48. " Endowed by nature with a mind of extraordinary vigour, he, by unwearied induftry, aided hj fuperior genius, fuccefsfally explored the hidden fources of Oriental fcience and literature ; and his attainments in this interefting branch of learning were fuch as to place him far beyond all competition, the moft eminent Orien- tal fcholar in this, or perhaps any other age. 'Un- like many other literary charadters of the age. Sir Wil- liam was a hncere and pious Chriftian ; inftead of labour- ing, by his writings, to propagate the dodrines of infi- delity, as has been a favourite pradice with fome modem philofophers of reputation, he was defirous to lend the fcriptures his utmofl ftipport ; and, in one of his lateft annual difcourfes to the Afiatic Society, he has done more to give validity to the Mofaic hiftory of the creation than the refearches of any contemporary writer." Tx 533 THE LIFE OF New-Havea a few months after his de- ceafe.* Profeflbr Wales, having, for two years paft, been afBided with an epilepfy, to fuch a degree as to incapacitate him for the duties of his office, clofed the fcene of his fufFer- ings, and of his Ufe, on the 1 8th of February. This event was tenderly afFeding to the Prefident, who had feen the meridian glory of this eminent man ; and v^^ho had equally admired his talents, and prized his friend- ihijp. He £* Extract.]! C^alcuttat Dec. 4, 179^. As Admmiftrator to the eftate of my much lamented friend, the late Mr. Heatly, I had the honour to receive and forward to the Prefident of the Afiatic Society, your learned Addrefs to the late Sir William Jones, re- fpeding the Jews of India, and the probability of their polTeffing an original Hebrew copy of the Pentateuch. Your letter was read at the firft meeting of the Society, after its receipt, and will be anfwered b-y Sir John Shore, (who is at prefent the Prefident) as foon as he receives replies to the enquiries he has direded to be made at Cochin and Cranganore, refpedling the points which your laudable zeal wifhes to have afcertained. — As it may be fome time before you can receive the defired information, I thought it might be fatisfaftory to you, to know, that your addrefs had been depofited amongfl; the Refearches of the Society ; and that every attention had been paid thereto.''-—— PRESIDENT STILES. 339 He was an excellent preacher ; and, by his diftinguiflied abilities, in union with ex- emplary piety, he added luftre and dignity to the theological chair. His difcourfes were the refult of clofe thought, and labo- rious ftudy. Methodical, without ftifFnefs ; clothed in language chafte and nervous ; and pronounced with a imgular folemnity and energy ; they were admirably adapted to the purpofes of inftrudion and perfua- fion.-^-Thofe ftudents w^ho fat at the feet of the ProfefTor, w^ith the prefent writer, will, with him, drop a tear to the memory of this venerable teacher, to whom they are indebt- ed for iriftrud;ions, than which, whether ad- dreffed to them as ftudents in theology, or as immortal beings, none could be more worthy of a perpetual remembrance. At the Pro fe (Tor's funeral, the Reverend Dr. Dana preached a Sermon, and the Prefi- dent pronounced a Latin oration. One of the ftudents* having fuddenly fallen a victim to a malignant diforder, which had now become epidemical, and mortal, among the * A youth of promiiing hopes, the only child of my much refpe(fled friend, the Reverend Mr. Backus, of Somers. Frlendfliip weeps at the recollection of the ex- quifite parental forrows, excited by this premature death* 340 THE LIFE OF the inhabitants of New-Haven, and excited a general alarm ; the Prefident, April 2d, difmifled the ftudents, informing them, that fuch as Ihould remain might receive the ufual inftru£tions ; and difcontinued the regular exercifes of college till the end of the ap- proaching vacation. This event gave an opportunity for a new proof of the affectionate attachment of his diftant friends. Alarmed at the impending danger, they wrote to him, foliciting his immediate attention to himfelf and his fami- ly ; and cordially prefenting them an afylum. Newport, embofoming a flock, which could never forget a beloved pallor, and Saybrook, the refidence of a refpeO:able and much efteemed kinfman,* were foremoft in this benevolent office. " How wonderful the provifion and care of Providence for me and my family," writes the Prefident, "in ex- citing this kind attention of my former friends !" His family, however, remained in town, till the prevalence of another epidemic difor- der J * The Reverend Mr. Devotion, who held a regular and afFedionate correfpondence with Dr. Stiles, for many ■years. PRESIDENT STILES. 341 der ; which, in Auguft, fucceeded the for- mer, and, Hke that, made great devaftation among the inhabitants. The ftudents were again difmilied ; and the Prefident's family found a ready reception among their friends. The difeafe was fo far abated in September, that the commencement was publicly cel- ebrated. Among the falutary effects of the revolu- tion at Yale College, was an enlargement of the fund for the ProfefTorlhip of Mathe- matics and Natural Philofophy. To the great relief and fatisfa£lion of the Prefident, this important office, the principal labours of which had long devolved on him, now be- came filled. Jofiah Meigs, Efquire, who had given ample proof of his talents in this department of fcience, while in the tutorfliip, and by a feries of philofophical lectures, de- livered afterward in the College chapel, was elected to the ProfefTorial chair. On the 4th of December, the Prefident, in a Latin ora- tion, indu6led him into office ; and delivered him the keys of the philofophy chamber, and of the apparatus, BIRTH- 342 THE LIFE OF BIRTH-DAY REFLECTION. "YESTERDAY I entered on the 68th year of my earthly pilgrimage, with, I hope, ferious, as certainly with affecting thought- fulnels ; though avocations prevented this anniverfary memoir till to day. Every year is filled with abundant experience of the protecting goodnefs of the Almighty. The iait year, He hath been pleafed to favour me with rather more health than in feveral of the ktter preceding years. I have been, preferved, and all my family, through the dangerous contagious licknefs of the yellow fever, which raged in this city, efpecially in Auguft, September, and October, and pro- duced 6 7, deaths out of i6o patients. In the Spring, the fcarlet fever raged, and was very mortal. The mortality here, the year paft, has exceeded any thing in memory. Above the twentieth part of the citizens have died this year. And yet God hath preferved me and my family. My daughter Mary is flill living, though in a lingering debilitated life ; yet, I have reafon to hope, with a fan£tified improvement of her long pro- tracted infirmities. My Betfey has made public PRESIDENT STILES. 343 public profefTion of religion, and joined the church. My fon Ifaac has been abfent at fea above a twelve-month, and is now in Europe.— —I have, at times, had clear views of divine things, and more comfort in religion, in feme refpedls, this year than ever in life. I commend myfelf, my family, the College, &c. to God's protedion and bleiling. Oh may I be fandlilied for eternity I** A, D. M,DCC,XCV.— -iExAT. LXVIII. THE learned Mr. Ebeling, Profeflbr of Hiftory, and of the Greek language, in the Great College in Hamburgh, prefented him with his Geography and Hiflory of Amer- ica, accompanied \vith a letter foliciting in- formation concerning the State of Connec- ticut.* The Prefident replied to it, in March, giving him as much of the hif- tory of that State, " as his avocations, and inceflant labours of office, would admit." Some judgment of his diligence, and of the facility * No authentic hiftory of Conne j44 "^HE LII^'E OF facility with which he wrote on literary fut-^f je(fts, may be formed from this compolitiorij which confided of eighty-fix quarto pages/ and was written in fuch fragments of time^ as he redeemed, in four weeks, under the prefllire of his multiplied profeffional duties. ProfefTor Ebeling, in his letters t o one of his American correfponderits, (Re\'^rend Mn Bentley) fpeaks of " the greateft obligations to Dr. Stiles, his late worthy and uncom- monly obliging correfpondent." On the I ft of May, he commenced the femi-annual examination of the Students, and, on the 5th, announced the adjudica- tion. On the 6th, he examined the candi- dates for Dean Berkeley's premium.* The ProfefTor and Tutors dined at his houfe, ort this occafion, and remarked no diminution of his accuftomed vivacity and energy. The vacation, which began the fame day, gave him leifure for reading and ftudy ; and in his Literary Diary feveral pages are written, after this date, containing verbal information T from a traveller, who had vifited Egypt, Joppa, the Holy Land, and other parts of the Eaft ; an account of the exports of the United '■^ See Hiftory of Yale College, In the Appendix. * ^ * PRESIDENT STILES. 345 United States, for the year 1794 ; and ex- trads from Millar on the EngUlh gov- ernment. But all earthly purfuits have their limits ; and we have now reached the boundary af- figned to the literary career of this eminent man. Refearches into the nature and extent of civil liberty are now to be exchanged, for the contemplation and enjoyment of the glorious liberty of the fotis of God, Human languages w^ill no longer be acquired by la- borious ftudy ; for they fhall give place to the tongues of angels, Philofophy and Af- tronomy will no longer require a Newton's illuftrations ; for their profound recefles fhall be intuitively explored. Theology will no longer be covered with a veil, impenetrable to finite vifion*; for GoD, the great objedt of this divine fcience, (hall be feeji and con-^ templated eveti as He isi The darkncfs of human knowledge will be difpelled by the fplendour of heavenly light. Imperfe^lion itfelf mud ceafe, when the faint fhall be en- rolled among the fpirits of jujl men made perfedi. On Friday, the 8th of May, the Prefi- dent, having, at eleven o'clock, walked out U u igr 2.9. j46 THE LIFE OF as ufual, on his return complained of a lethargic tendency, and of univerfal indif- pofition. Not feeming, however, to appre- hend a fettled illnefs, he declined a propofal of the family to fend for a phyfician. But, the fymptoms afTuming a more threatning afpe£t, a phyfician was fent for, in the after- noon ; and, from this time, the moft aflid- uous attentions were paid to his diforder. It was a bilious fever, of fo putrid a tendency, as to baffle every medical attempt to check Its progrefs. He foon became fenfible that it muft terminate his life ; and religioufly compofed himfelf for the folemn event- In the fir ft ftage of his illnefs, he exprefled an awful apprehenfion of the divine trif bunal. ** I do not doubt," faid he, " the fufficiency of the Redeemer, or the mercy of God ; but the want of purity makes me afraid to appear before a God of infinite purity." This fearful apprehenfion, how- ever, was of fliort duration ; nor did he ex- perience that diftrefs, which he had been accuftomed to anticipate in the profpeft of his diflblution. He continued to exprefs ardent defires of purity, as a qualification for admittance into the prefence of a holy God, and PRESIDENT STILES. 347 and for the enjoyment of the heavenly fe- licity ; but his hopes of heaven brightened, as he approached the valley of the (hadow of death. He told his family, that his mind was tranquil, and that his hopes prevailed. His extreme debility, though it did not ap- parently enervate his mind, incapacitated him for much converfation. On Tuefday, the 1 2th, at eleven, A. M. his attentive and affectionate friend, the Reverend Dr, Da- na, prayed with him. At four, in the af- ternoon, he took an affecting leave of each of his family that was prefent, and gave mef- fages of dying counfel for his abfent chil- dren ; inculcating it on all, to love God, and Jefus Chrift, and to read their Bibles. Two ftudents of the Univerfity being pref- ent, he called them to his bed, expreffed his wifh, that they might be good and happy, and told them, that they had laid the foun- dation of a good education, and he hoped they would improve their advantages. " But, above all," faid he, " feek religion ; read the Bible ; and follow the example of Chrifl. What I now fay to you, I fay to all College. Tell the fcholars, what I tell you, that I wilh them happy, and hope they will have a bet- ter 348 THE LIFE OF ter Prefident than I have been." — ^Thus did he " devote his lateft breath to the fcrvice of the Inftitution, v^hofe interefls had engrofled the laborious attention of many of the beft and moft important years of his ufeful Hfe."* The filver cord was now loofed, and gave to the foul that freedom, to which it had long and ardently afpired. With a fublime calmnefs in death, becoming the exalted pi- ety of his life, he clofed his eyes, and ex- pired at half an hour after eight in the evening. The inhabitants of New-Haven paid hini the moft refpe£tful and affectionate atten* tions, during his illnefs. They were conftantly refqrting to the houfe, to make enquiries concerning his fituation j to tender their kind offices ; or to obtain a view of the departing faint. Who, indeed, would not wi£h the privilege, to " fee in what peace a Chriftian can die ?" j* His * Profeflbr Meigs' Funeral Oration. •f Among the numerous exprtilions of grief, which this event excited, there was one as affeding as it was fingular. An elderly and ferious woman, of the Prefident's native place, (and of his particular acquaintance, though un^ known to the family) hearing of his death, rode imme- diatcly PRESIDENT STILES. 349 His funeral was attended, in the academic form, on the following Thurfday, when the Reverend Dr. Dana preached an excellent Sermon,* adapted to the mournful and very afFedling occafion. President Stiles was a man of low and fmall ftature ; of a very delicate ftruc« tare ; and of a well proportioned form. His eyes were of a dark grey colour ; and, in the moment of contemplation, fmgularly pene- trating. His voice was clear and energetic. His countenance, efpecially in converfation, was expreflive of mildnefs and benignity ; but, if occafion required, it became the in- dex of majefty and authority. The delicacy of his fram© requiring a fpecial care of his health, he was prudently attentive, amidft his multiplied fludies and labours, to its prefervation. Always temper- ate, he found it eafy, when neceffary, to be abflemious. Having carefully ftudied his own diately into New-Haven, rufhcd precipitately into the room where the body was laid, and poured a flood of tears over the beloved relics, with pathetic lamentations for the lofs of fo excellent and pious a friend. * Text, John xiv. 2. In my Father'' 5 louy ars J7ia7ty jnanjtcr.s. This Sermon was printed. 350 THE LIFE OF own conftitution, he was generally his own phyfician. By regulating his diet, exercif- ing daily in the open air, and ufing occarion- ally a few fimple medicines, he was, by the divine blefling, enabled, with but very fmall interruptions, to apply himfelf affiduoufly to ftudy, and to difcharge the various duties of public and of domeilic life. To his prudent care, under Providence, we are mi^ch indebt- ed for the prolongation of his fuccefsful ftudies, and of his ufeful life.* During a great * He repeatedly cautioned mz againfl: late nodturnal ftudies, which, in early life, proved prejudicial to himfelf, and which he afterward avoided. Antelucane ftudies (for fo he termed thofe which commenced before light in the morning) he judged ftill more prejudicial than thofe. Converfmg, once, on the fubjedt of literary induftry, I mentioned the fmgular diligence of Dr. Doddridge, and his ftriking remark on the redemption of time : " He might probably," replied he, " have lived many years longer, had he been more temperate in his ftudies." By attention and care, many men, of great genius, but of feeble conftitutions, have attained to longevity, and made furprifmg acquifttions in knowledge. The great Eras- mus, among others, furnifhes a wonderful and an exem- plary inftance : — " Infirmum illud et valetudinarium corpufcalum fmgulari quadam et exquifita curatione indi- gebat. Accedebat fenedus Ipfx per fe morbus habitus. Accedebant infuper quotidianae vigilise et no biJJwpSy to difcriminate Dr. Sea- bury." f What fenfe the Corporation of Yale College enter- tained of the importance of his fervices in the prefiden- cy, appears from the following eitrav5l of an official vote, pafled foon after his death, and prefeatcd to Mrs. Stiles ' ' and PRESIDENT STILES. 371^ the arduous office of Prefident of this Col- lege with more dignity, and with a greater fliare of the afied:ion and regard of the Stu- dents. They univerfally treated him with lingular refpe£t and veneration. For this he was, in a great meafure, indebted to that fm- gular pohtenefs of manners, and that human^ Ity, with which he conciHated the affections of all whom he addrelTed."* His philanthropic offices, in the prefiden- cy, muft be retained in deep remembrance by his pupils ; and their unfQlicited teftimo- ny forms his higheft eulogium. Oae fucli teftimonial, contained in a letter from a wor- thy minifterf to one of the Prefident's chiU dreUy and the family: *' Whereas, in the righteous difpenfation cf Divine Providence, the Reverend Dr. Stiles, late Pref- ident of tliis Univeriity, is removed by death ; we feel ourfeives impelled, en the prefent occafion, to drop a tear to his meniory« And while, with lively emotions of grat- itude, we are led to reflect on the divine goodnefs, in rail- ing him up, and continuing him. to an advanced pariod. of life, a diilinguiihed blefiing and ornament to ibciety, to the churches, to tl:ie republic of letters, aild efpecially ta this Univerfity, over which he has fa long preiided ; we are conftrained to exprefs the painful fenfations we experi-\ ence, in view of the iofs, which the public has fuitained^ by the melancholy event of his death.'* * Profeffor Meigs* Funeral Oration. f Reverend Mr. Taylor, of Deerfield? ,^ , .;t 372 THE LIFE OF dfen, foon after his death, is too interefling to be fuppreffed :— " I fhould be ungrateful, indeed, in forgetting the family of my ivorthy patron. All my public ufefulnefs, and all my profperity in life, are derived originally from the frlendjhip and patronage- of that amiable man. When I was left an orphan, and was furrounded with the moft gioomy circumftances, with refpe£b to the attainment of an education, and had given, up the pleafnig idea ; by his advice and en* couragement, I was influenced to purfue the object, and obtained it.—. « — As an in- dividual among your many friends, I would obferve, that my doors are open to you, and to your fillers, at all times : and I wifh you to confider my houfe, as an occafional or a fteady home, in which you, or they, may feel ;fourfelves as members of my family, and as having a right to all its blelTings. I fay, a right ; for by whole inflrumentalityj under God, am I what I am ? even by his^ to whofe children my houfe is open, and to whofe comfort and happinefs I Ihould rejoice to minifter." But thefe are local inftances of his benefi- cence. His general benevolence was wit- nefled by his diffufive charities, Pofleirmg a foul PRESIDENT STILES. 373^ a foul glowing with philanthropy, he exerted his own ability, and ufed his influence with others, to leflen the fum of human mifer}% He was a father to the poor ; and to the children of forrow, a fympathetic and con- foling friend, His fympathy, however, was not obtrufive ; his charities were not often- tatious. Aware of the delicate fenfibilities of Poverty, he was careful never to excite the blufh of confcious obligation. In many inftances he entrufted his bounties confiden- tially to others, to be beflowed at their difcretion. The Reverend Dr. Trumbull, fucceflbr to the Prefident*s father, at North Haven, informed me of one inftance of a depofit, entrufted to him, by the Frefident, for the poor widov\7S of that church ; together with the donation of a filver baptifraal bafon, of above ^11 value, for the ufe of that Society. Abforbed in literary purfuits, or adlively engaged in profeffional duties, it is not eafily. conceived how he could attend to the fapply of thofe refources, which his liberal charities, and the maintenance of a large family, muft, apparently, have exhaufted. But there is that fcatterethy and yet ificreafeth ; and Heav- ea feemed remarkably to blefs the faithful fteward 574 THE LIFE OF fleward of its own bounties.— —Had thc^ family been lef): ia indigence, the breads thu$ caji on the waters^ would unqueftionably have hccnfoiwd. In the relations of life he was not lefe eftimable, than he was eminent in his public character. As a hufband, his tender atten- tions greatly endeared him to the friend of his bofom. Fondly affe(5lionate, as a parent^ he carefully and afliduoully attended to the intellectual and religious improvement of his children. While he furnifhed them with the beft of preceptors, he himfelf inftrudted them in various branches of ufeful knowledge, in addition to the accuftomed courfe of female education, he taught his daughters the ufe of the globes, with the improving and enter- taining fciences of geography and aftronomy» With a pious example, he united frequent and tender counfels of piety. Nothing did he inculcate on all his children, with more frequency and ferioufnefs, than the reading of the Scriptures : and, as an encouragement to other parents, it ought to be recorded, that the perufal of this facred book was a daily exercife, which the family, in general, allowed nothing but neceffity to interrupt. To his abfent children, he wrote letters re- plete PRESIDEKT STILES; 37$ plete with afFsdionate and pious counfeL Thofe written to his two daughters, ill at Cambridge, during the laft year of his life, are interefting monuments of his paternal afFedion^ and of his Chriftiani care to aid their preparation for the heavenly world. One ftriking pafTage, though it may feem prophetical of a very near event, only ex- prefTes that regard to death, and a future ftate, which, for many years, had been habit- ual to his contemplative and pioUs mind : " I am foon to go the way of all the earth ; and it is my moft ardent defire, and daily prayer, that I and my children may meet in a better world, and be prepared for the folemnities of eternity,"* In * Letter, dated April 2, 1795. His wife, an J five of his children, furvived him. His children (aU (£ whom were by his firft wife) were : Eiizahethy who died at Cambridge,- November 16, lyp^^ Ezra, who^ied in North-Carolina, Auguil 22, i784.' Kezia Taylor^ (wife of Lewis Burr Sturges, Efqnire,| •who died at New-Haven, December 29, 17S5. Emilia t who married Jonathan Leavit, Efquire, in 1795. Ifaacy who was abfent on a voyage, at the time of his father's death, and has- not fmce been beard of. Ruth, ftill living — at Cambridge. Mary, (wife of Reverend Abiel Hplmes) wh^ diet^ Auguft 29, 1795. -■ iS«jr«^, "Who died in infancy, in 1769. ^y6 THE LIFE OF In the performance of family religion, hd was regular, ferious, and devout. He read the Scriptures with frequency, and with a ftudious attention. The Hebrew or the Englifh Bible was generally in his hand an hour or two in the morning. At breakfaft^ he placed it by his chair; looked into it repeat- edly while at table 5 and afterwards refumed it. In his prayers on Saturday evenings^ and on Lord's daySj he took very particular notice of the fpecial mercies, or affli(0:ionsi with which his family had,in times paft, been vilited 5 and affectionately commended his abfent children^ and his beloved flock at Newport, with its prefent paftor, to the blef- fing of God. At evening prayers, on the Lord's day, after reading the Scriptures, he fung a pfalm, or hymn, in which he was joined by his family ; and it was a facred exercifc with which, in public or private, he was uncommonly delighted. The prayers of others he highly valued ; and, befide his accuftomed devotion, he ftatedly retired, for feveral years, every fab- bath day at fun-fet, to pray for a felc6t num- ber of Chriftian friends, vdth whom he pri- vately agreed to obferve this feafon, for a mutual PRESIDENT STILES. 377 mutual exercife of interceffion at the throne of grace. His religious chara£ler appears in nume- rous pages of thefe Memoirs, and, particu- larly, in his Birth-day Reflections. Piety, like a golden chain, has ferved, at once, to give a connexion and an ornament to the work, which the aflemblage of genius, learn- ing, and the moft refined morality, could never have furnifhed. Were any one of his Chriftian graces to be difcriminated, it ihould, perhaps, be his humility ; a virtue feldom attached to great intelleClual talents^ and to high ftations ; but which confers the trueft dignity on both. His deep contempt of human pride, whether it betrayed itfelf in others, or was found lurking in his own bofom, is defcernible in a pafiage, prefixed to his Birth-day Refledlions : " How abfo- lutely contemptible is a man, glorying in fome little eminency among his fellow v;orms ; while, in comparifon with the im- menfity of the univerfe, and in the view of fuperior fpirits, and, above all, in the contem- plation of God, he mufl appear nothing, lefs than nothing, and vanity !" As he was learned without pedantry, he was re- Z z ligioud 378 THE LIFE OF, ^r, ligious without fuperftitlon. A Chriftian believer on unlliaken principles, he gloried in nothing fo much as in the crofs of Chrift ; and next to his own immortal intereft, his Zeal and his talents were unitedly employ- ed, to bring others to the faving knowledge of divine truth. If he highly eflimated human Learning, he placed a higher eftimate on Religion* Living daily under the influence of its pre- cepts ;. fupported through life by its prom- ifes ; having that Jjope in deaths which it is calculated to infpire ; he nobly finiihed his courfe, and, with Chriftian triumph, re- ceived the fummons to his heavenly man- fion.*— * Grief fhuns the public view, and pours forth her tears in retirement. Decency, too, forbids that perfonal forrows be obtruded on llrangers. The Compiler has endeavoured to let the Son be loft in the Biographer.— ~ Here, however, he afks indulgence to add, in the words of Erafmus, deploring the death of his great Patron^ Warham : — " Haec fcripfi gemens ac mcerens. Me- am deploro vicem, non illius. Praeclarum ille fidus fuit ecclefijE, nunc prjeclarius acceflit coslo : utinam mihi contingat veluti minutam ftellulam adjungere foli meo." APPENDIX. APPENDIX. No. I. IFidepageg.^ John stiles, the Prefident's grancjfather, (fon of John Stiles, who was brought an infant froin Milbroke in England) maiTled Ruth Bancroft, by whom he had fourteen children, two of whom, Ifaac and Abel, were minifters of the gofpel. The Reverend Ifaac Stiles, the Prefident's father, was born at Windfor, in Connecti- cut, in 1697, and educated at Yale College, where he graduated in 1722. After the lofs of his firft wife, Ruth Wyllys, he married Efther Hooker, of Farmington, by whom he had ten children. His Epitaph gives a fummary view of his hiftory and icharafler ; This Monument is eredted To the memory of The Reverend ISAAC STILES, A. M. Who was bom in Windfor, July 30, 1697 ; Received a liberal education At Yale College ; Ordained to the paftoral office In the Church of North-Haves, November 11, 1724, WTiere he ferved in tlie miniftry 36 yean:. And died May 14, 1760, -(Etat. 63. Having a mind ennobled With fublime and venerable conceptions Of the glories of the MOST HIGH, And the perfe(fl order and happinefs of the unlverfe ; Illuminated with divine views Of the ceconomy of that part of it Under the Mediatorial Dominion Of JESUS CHRIST ; Alfo, 38o APPENDIX. Alfo, Being intimately acquainted with the Sacred Oracles j And having a Natural Gift of Elocution, He preached the Gofpel with Fervour and Fidelity : A Friend to pure and undefiled Religion, With a charitable benevolence To ALL Mankind, Mors mihi vita ejl. The B-everend Abel Stiles was educated at Yale CoU lege, where he graduated in 1733 '■> ^^^ •'^ which feminary he was afterward a Tutor. He was fettled in the miniflry at Woodllcck (North Society) in Connedicut, where he died July 25, 1 783* in the 75th year of his age, and 46th, of his miniftry. His charader was thus drawn, at his death ; " In him uncommon ftrength of genius and fuperi- or capacity were refined and brightened by a learned edu- cation ;— by application his claffic knowledge became ex- tenfive, his acqiiirements in natural and moral philofophy ccnfiderable, in divinity eminent. Diligent and critical in his rcfearches into the Holy Scriptures, he was hereby fumifhed for dodrine, for reproof, for corredion, for Inftruc- ticn in righteaufnefs, and fmgularly for prayer, in which he became wifer than all his teachers. As a preacher, his defcriptions were clear, his admonitions weighty, his exhort- ations folcmn ; and both his prayers and difeourfcs ftriking- ly adapted to unexpctfted and incidental occafions. He proved himfelf the fcrlbe v.'ell inftruftcd unto the kingdom — ;ipt to teach — Inftruftive in converfation — the fmcere^ fteady friend, parent and hufbanJ ; and although hafty in his nat- ural temper, yet fenfible of this conftitutional defect, and frequently reflecting on himfelf with penitence and prayer, he fhcwcd the tender, conipaffionatc, benevolent, good man." In a letter to Sir Francis H. E. Styles, Baronet, Lon- don, written in 1764, Dr. Stiles obfervcs, that his great- grandfather, John Stiles, was married about i6ij5o, and addi : APPENDIX. 3?J adds : " In the firll century from his marriage there have been, among his offspring, 397 births, 107 deaths, 83. marriages ; and 290 are living at the end of the century. The offspring accrued one third in the firft 75 years ; and two thirds in the laft 25 years. Of 32 births 20 live to marry j not above one quarter die rn infancy. I judge there have fprung from the four brothers, [meaning Henry, John, Francis, and Thomas, who came to New-England in 1634] nearly 4000 fouls, in 130 years, fmco their ac^ cefllon to America." The Reverend Edivard Taylor was born at the village of Sketelby, near Hinkley, a market-town in Leicefter- fhire, in England. He was defigned for the miniflry ; but the troubles that followed the ejedtion of 2000 minifters, in 1662, became fuch heavy difcouragements to the Puritan or Diflenting intereft in England, as determined Mr. Tay- lor to a voluntary exile from his native country, to enjoy liberty of confcience in Anierica. He accordingly came to America in i658, and finifhed his theological ftudies at Harvard College, where he graduated in 167 1. He began to preach at Weftfield, in MafTachufetts, in Decem- ber, 1 67 1, where he continued in the miniftry 57 years, till his death. In 1674, he married Elizabeth Fitch, daughter of the Reverend Mr. Fitch, of Norwich, by whorn he had 8 children. In 1692, he married Mifs Wyllys, his fecond wife, the grandmother of Prefident Stiles 5 and died, June 24, 1729, aged about 83 years. The family of Wyllys may be traced back to the reign of Edward IV, more than three centuries. Omitting the intermediate defcents between Sir Adam de Knapton, preferved in the records of the family, the following pedi- gree may gratify inquifitive minds : I. Richard Wyllys, of Napton, in the county of War- wick 2. Thomas Wyllys 3. Richard Wyllys 4. William Wyllys 5. Ambrofe Wyllys 6. Richard Wyllys 382 APPENDIX, Wyllys 7. George Wyllys* 8. Samuel Wyllys — — »» 9. Hekekiah Wyllys 10. George Wyllys, late Secre- tary of the State of Conneflicut. No. * This gentleman came to New-England, about the year 1635, kaving an eftate of £500 fterling per annum, at Fenny Compton, in the county of Warwick ; and, with his family and dependents, af- fifled in the fettlement of the town of Hartford, in Connedticut, where he died in 1644. The Honourable Samuel Wyllys, the great-grandfather of Prefi- dent Stiles, married Ruth Haynes, daughter of John Haynes, Efquire, of Copford Hall, in Eflex, the iirft Governor of Connecflicut. He was educated at Harvard College, in Cambridge, where he gradu* ated in 1653. Dr. Trumbull has given a fketch of his charadler, in page 150 of his Hiftory of Connedlicut. The laft of the name, in the abore pedigree, the Honourable George Wyllys, between whom and Prefident Stiles an intimate friendfhip fubfifted, was, in every refpedt, worthy of his anceflry. He was born, Qdlober 6, 17 10, and died, April 23, 1796, in the 86th year of his age. " I never knew," fays the Reverend Mr. Strong, " a more firm believer of the ChrlftiJm Revelation, or a greater admirer of the Gofpel of Jefu5, in its dodtrincs of grace and holinefs. He had a great acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, and proved his love of them by a mod exemplary pradlice. He was a fteady friend of all religious Inftitutions ; and, by his influ- ence in Society, a rich blefling to the church of God. He fucceeded his father, as Secretary of the State of ConneAicut, in October, 1730, and, without interruption, filled the office nearly 64 years ; an inftacce of long continuance in oflSce, that is; perhaps un- equalled. This circumftance is full evidence of a firm conflitution, of a temperate life, and of a tyife and difcerning mind ; for it muft be fuch a mind which could, h long, and through fo many political florms, retain the confidence of the people, in a popular govern- ment, and obtain an annual eledlion by their voices, livithout 9 rival. He had a fingnlar wifdom, which taught him when to fpealc, and when to be filent ; and obtained an influence by moderation and integrity, to which fadlion vainly afpires."f — He is fucceeded in office by his worthy and refpedlabie fon, the Honourable Samuel Wyllys. f Strmcn at tie f antral of the Steretary, APPENDIX. 383 No. 11. A Sketch cf the History / YALE COLLEGE. THE defign of founding a College, in Connefticut, wai concerted by feveral refpeftable and pious minifters, of that Colony, with a primary view to the education of youth for the miniftry- When the fubje<5l had been under their con- templation, and, through their influence, under that of the public, for about two years, " ten of the principal minif- ters were nominated, and agreed upon, by a general con- fent both of the minifters and people, to ftand as Truftees, or Undertakers, to found, erect, and govern a College."* The minifters, thus nominated, met at New-Haven, in the year 1700, and agreed to accept the truft, and to found the propofed Seminary. The Inftitufion was, accordingly, eftablifhed, foon after, by this formal aifl : " Each mem- ber brought a number of books, and prefented them to the body ; and, laying them on the table, faid, / give thefe hoiks fir the fiunding of a College in this Cohny.^''\ The Truftees foon received feveral donations of books, and money, which laid a good foundation for the Inftitution.- Doubts ariflng, however, whether they were fully vefted with a legal capacity to hold lands, and whether private donations and contributions would yield a fufficiency to car- ry on fo great a defign ; it was propofed to make applica- tion to the General A/Tembly of the Colony, for affiftance ; and to afk for a Charter. A petition was prefented, and the Affembly, very ready to encourage fuch a laudable and pious defign,gave the Charter in 1 701, and made a grant of money for the encouragement of this infant Seminary. Soon * Prefi 40 feet wide, and 3 ftories high, befides the garrets,* and » cellar * The rooms in the 4th frory were well Snlflicd, and occupied by the Students. But they are now more convenient fince that ftory ITM aud« €rc from this time, conftituted one united board in the government of the Univerfity, 1 1 793*3 The beneficial eSefts of this revolution were foon viiible. On the augmentation of the funds, a fuffi- cient fum was applied to the eredlon of another edifice, which had long been wanted. In April, 1793, ^^ Prefi- dent, in prefence of the Mayor and Aldermen of the city, of the officers and Undents of th^ College, and of a large C c c colki^ion 40i APPENDIX.' coUedion of citizens, laid the corner-ftone of this builds ing, with the following infcription : EZ RA STILES Coll. Yal. Pr«s. primum lapidem posviy acad' comp. 93. APR. 15, 179,^. Mounting this ftone, when it had been duly depofited, he pronounced a fpeech adapted to the aufpicious occa- fion, in v/hich he gratefully acknowledged the liberality and munificence of the General Alfemhly'; gave an hif- torical fketch of the rife and progrefs of this literary infti- tution ; and religioufly commended the edifice, of which this ftone was the foundationj with all the interefls of this. Univerfity, to the fmiles and bleflxng of the Mod High* - ■' - — —This building, which is 104 feet long, and 3(v feet wide, was completed on the x 7ih of July, 1 794. Another pare of the augmented funds was applied to the ProfefTorlhip of Mai.litiixo.t'w'c ^nH Natural Phtlofophys and that office, which had been vacant fince the refigna- tion of ProfefTor Strong, in 1781, was now fupplied. Jo- fiah Meigs, Efquire, being chofen ProfefTor for that depart- ment, was inducted into the ProfeiTorfliip on the 4th of December, 1794. Prefident Stiles died, May'12, 1795, iEtat. 68 ; and was fucceeded by the Reverend Timothy Dwight, S. T. D, who prefided at the enfuing Commencement. From the foundation of Yale college to the year 1 795, 2372 received their education at this Seminary, of which number 6i 8 were, educated under the prefidency of Dr. Stiles. No. APPENDIX. 403 No. Ill, THE Corporation of Yale College has been pleafed to make provifion for th6 ereiflion of a monument to the memory of Prefident Stiles. A new burying ground hav- ing been opened in New-Haven, the lail autumn, a certain part of which was prefented to Yale College by the pro- prietors ; the friends of the Prefident vrere defirous that *♦ his aflies Ihould he depofited in tlie firft and moft hon- ourable place in it." With the concurrence of the family, the body was accordingly removed, " in that decent and, Jelpeflful manner, which was due to a charaiJter, fo univer" faUy beloved and refpefted."* • Letter from the Konourable James Killhoufe, Senator in Con- grefs, to -whom the Prefldent's bereaved children feel under the higheft obligation for his Unremitted and dllinterefled attentions to £h£m, JA thdr otfhzo ftatr, and to the xxiexaory of their deceafe^ pveotr r I N J Sr I N D E X, President Stlks* birth and extraaion, page 9 and 379 — Enters College, n — Tatorfliip, 18 — Scepticifm, 3i„^3 — Review of authors, 43 — Ordination, 63 — Mar- rlagc, 69 — Opens foreign correfpondencies, ib. — Dif- c6urfe on Chriftian Union, 88 — Created Dodlor of Di- vmftyi 109— Learns the Hebrew and Oriental languages, 128 — Portrait taken, 151 — Acquaintance -with R; Carigal, 168 — Death of Mrs. Stiles, i85 — Removes to Dighton, 197— To Portfmouth, 211— Ele