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MEMOIR 
 
 REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
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 fA 
 
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 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF SOME OF HIS PUPILS. 
 
 By WILLIAM G. GODDARD, M. A, 
 
 Professor of Belles Lettres in Brown University. 
 
 Originally published io the American Gluarterly Register. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PRINTED BY PERKINS & MARVIN. 
 
 1839. 
 

 (^ 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 A CENTURY has elapsed since the birth of Dr. Manning, and nearly 
 half that portion of time since his death. Few, very few, of his contem- 
 poraries are now among the living upon earth. Not one of those liberal 
 and enlightened friends of piety and learning, who helped to lay the foun- 
 dations of Rhode Island College, and not one of the original members of 
 its Corporation, forty-eight in number, are now alive to lend the aid of their 
 recollections to this endeavor to place on record a few memorials of the 
 life and character of James Manning. Of the Professors associated with 
 him, the venerable Dr. Waterhouse,T of Cambridge, Ms., is the only sur- 
 vivor ; and of the Tutors, all e.xcept the Hon. Asher Robbins,J of Nevv- 
 
 * This institution was incnrporaleci as " Tlie College or University in tlie English Colony of Rlinile 
 Island;" and was, in common parlance, denominated Rhode Island College, till the yoar 1804, when, in 
 consequence of a liberal donation from the Hon. Nicholas Brown, of Providence, the Corporation deter- 
 mined that it should "be called, in all future time, by the name of Brown University." 
 
 f This gentleman, distinguished in the medical history of our country, as "the American Jenner," was 
 born in Newport, R. I. llis father, originally a Presbyterian, embraced the religious opinions of the 
 Society of Friends, after he had reached mature life ; and to those opinions he remained sincerely attached, 
 till his death, at an advanced age. His son, to borrow his own language, " was born and educated in the 
 principles of liberal Quakerism." He has, however, it is believed, never adopted the peculiarities of that 
 quiet and useful sect, nor has he, for many years, been accustomed to unite with them in their religious 
 worship. Or. Waterhousc never received a collegiate education; but few of ouj- countrymen have been 
 more .''requently honored by distinctions from literary and scientific bodies, at home and abroad. 'J'liat 
 his early academical training was not neglected, is evident from his various publications, ."oine of which 
 evince a familiarity with the learned languages. He was a pupil of the celebrated Dr. Fothergill, of I>on- 
 don, and he subsequently jiursued his medical studies at the famous schools of Edinburgh and Leyden. 
 From the Loyden school, he received the degree of Doctor in Medicine. In 1783, he was appointed I'ro- 
 fessor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in Harvard University, and he continued to perform the 
 duties of that Chair, for the period of nearly thirty years. This was among the earliest medical schools 
 established in our country ; and of the original I'rofessors, Dr. Waterhouse alone survives From 1782 to 
 1795, Dr. Watei house was a member of the Boani of Fellows of Rhode Island College, and, in lliat capacity, 
 he seldom failed to attend its annual Ccminiencements. In 1784, he was elected Professor of Natural His- 
 tory in the same institution, and, while occupying this chair, he delivered, in the State-house in Provi- 
 dence, the first course of lectures upon that science ever delivered in Ihe United States. The benevolent 
 and intrepid agency of Dr. Waterh use in introducing vaccination into this country, is too fresh in the pub- 
 lic recollection, to need more than this passing allusion. Among the works which he has pu!)llshed, may 
 be noted, more particularly, an elahoiate and ingenious essay, in one octavo volume, which is intended to 
 show that Lord Chatham was the author of the celebrated Letters of .Junius. — Dr. Waterhouse, we are 
 pleased to add, is still living ; and, though he Is far advanced in the vale of life, his spirits are cheerful, 
 and his mind is gratefully occupied in those intellectual pursuits to which, in the more active seasons of 
 life, he was devoted. 
 
 J This early friend and official associate of Dr. Manning was horn in Connecticut, and was graduated at 
 Yale (.'ollege in 17S2 Soon after he had completed his collegiate education, he was elected a Tutor in 
 Rhode Island College. While, for the term of seven years, he was fhus occupied in quickening the dili- 
 gence of his pupils, and in imbuing their minds with a genuine relish for the varied forms of classical 
 beauty, he sought every opportunity to cultivate his own taste for the classics, and, indeed, for e"ery 
 species of elegant learning. After resigning his Tutorship, he studied law under the late Hon. William 
 
4 MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 port, R. I., lire departed. These impressive facts are here stated, not so 
 much to inculcate a lesson of moral wisdom, as to anticipate objections to 
 which this sketch of Dr. Manning may be liable, from its deficiency in 
 minute information, and in discriminating estimate of character. In con- 
 nection with these facts, it should, for the same reason, be added, that Dr. 
 Manning never published any of the productions of his mind, except a 
 Baccalaureate Address, and that, with the exception of one or two familiar 
 letters, he left nothing in manuscript. From scattered and unavoidably 
 imperfect sources must, therefore, be collected all the particulars which 
 can now be obtained respecting this remarkable man, and (in reference 
 to Rhode Island) this eminent pioneer in the cause of science and letters. 
 
 Dr. Jamks Manning was born in Elizabethtown, N. J., October 22, 
 1738. Concerning his remote ancestors, it is now too late to obtain 
 authentic information. His parents are said to have been substantial and 
 pious people ; and, from the skill in husbandry which their son exhibited, 
 it is inferred that they were proprietors and cultivators of the soil. To 
 them and to the village school, was young Manning indebted for his first 
 lessons in the elementary branches of learning. To parental counsel and 
 example was he also indebted for those principles of right conduct, and 
 those cultivated moral sensibilities, which saved his youth from frivolity 
 and vice, and which, ere he had ripened into manhood, God was pleased, 
 througli the influence of his Spirit, to crown with the beauty of Christian 
 holiness. At what age he became the subject of peculiar religious impres- 
 sions, is not known ; but it is known tiiat, before he had attained his 
 majority, he solemnly consecrated himself to the service of God. 
 
 In tlie year 175G, the Rev. Isaac Eaton, opened an Academy at Hope- 
 well, N. J. " for the education of youth for the ministry." To Mr. Eaton 
 belongs the high honor of being the first American Baptist to establish a 
 seminary for the literary and theological education of those young men 
 who embraced the doctrines of his sect, and designed, ultimately, to preach 
 them. In this seminary, young Manning pursued those branches of mathe- 
 matical and classical learning which, at that time, were required for admis- 
 sion into our American colleges. 
 
 At the age of about twenty, he entered Princeton College, then, as now, 
 one of the most distinguished literary institutions in the country. Of his 
 collegiate life few memorials have reached the present day. It passed on, 
 probably without striking incident, from its commencement to its close, in 
 the pursuit of high intellectual aims, and in the cultivation of a well-formed 
 moral character. He graduated in 1702, with, it is said, the highest 
 honors of his class. This class consisted of twenty, and was somewhat 
 eminent for its scholarship. The distinction conferred upon young Manning 
 
 Channing, of Newport, niicl, at that time, the Attorney-Genpral of Rhode Islajid. Mr. Robbins established 
 himself at Newport in the practice of the law, and lliere he has ever since resided. In his profession, he 
 soon uttairHHl a high rank, as a well-read lawyer, and as an advocate gifted, in no humble measure, with 
 powers of luminous, iiciito and logical ar-rnmentalion. For the last fourteen year.s, he has represented, 
 with acknowledged ability, the Slate of Rhode Island in the Senate of the United States. In the debates 
 of that body he has not often participated ; but on no occasion has he addressed the Senate, without leav- 
 ing upon the minds of all who heard him a decided impression of his high intellectual powers and accom- 
 plishments — of his ability as a statesman and his acquisitions as a scholar. To the ancient classics, the 
 Greek more especially, he is still ardently attached; and, during the intervals of relaxation from public 
 toil, it is his selectest pleasuie to commune with those immortal minds who liave heiiucathed to the world 
 the richest treasures of thought and the most e.xquisitc models of style. While politicians of coarser 
 mould busy themselves in fomenting the rude strifes of party, Mr. Robliins. from the impulse of a puriT 
 taste, when public duty does not forbid the indulgence, addresses himself to the gorgeous fictions of Homer 
 or to the unsurpassed orations of Demosthenes. In the year ISS.'i, the Fellows of Brown University mani- 
 fested their sense of Mr. Kobhins's talents, as a civilian, by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of 
 Laws. We lament that such a man, so fitted to temper the violence of political controversy, is about to 
 retire to private life. May the declining years of this veteran scholar be cheered by the best consolations ; 
 and may his sun, now verging towards its setting, linger, yet longer, above the horizon. 
 
MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 5 
 
 provoked some discontent among his ambitious compeers, who could not, 
 however, have been the most impartial judges of his merit or their own.* 
 
 Soon after he had completed his collegiate course, he was settled as the 
 pastor of a Baptist church in Morristown, N. J. At that time, theological 
 seminaries, richly endowed, and furnished with valuable libraries and a 
 corps of learned Professors, were quite unknown in our country. Young 
 men were then prepared for the duties of the ministry, chiefly under the 
 superintendence of clergymen who had made themselves known by their 
 attainments in theological science, or who were celebrated for their eloquent 
 exhibitions of truth from the pulpit. The sentiment, so beautifully ex- 
 pressed by Dr. South — that "the Spirit always guides and instructs before 
 he saves; and as he brings to happiness, only by the ways o? holiness, so he 
 never leads to true holiness but by the paths of knowledge," — then com- 
 manded an assent by no means universal. The Baptists have since 
 adopted an elevated standard for the education of Christian ministers ; but, 
 in the days of Dr. Manning, they had made but slender provision for the 
 professional training of their clergy. That excellent man, it is, therefore, 
 not unfair to presume, engaged in his pastoral duties, with no prtitensions 
 to theological erudition or to polemical skill ; but he was endowed with 
 what is far better — with the spirit of Christian gentleness and Christian 
 wisdom. In powers of severe analysis and comprehensive generalization, 
 he may have been deficient ; but he was rich in cultivated tastes, sympa- 
 thies, and affections. He had learned from the Bible and from the expe- 
 rience of his own heart, how to touch the moral sensibilities of his hearers, 
 and he addressed himself to the work, with apostolical simplicity and 
 fervor. Even in the first stages of his ministry, he was, as a preacher, 
 highly acceptable. He was invited to become the pastor of the Baptist 
 church in his native town, but this invitation, though a pressing one, he 
 felt it his duty to decline. Soon afterwards, he travelled through several 
 of the colonies, to ascertain the actual state of religion, and to prepare 
 himself for more extended usefulness, by a larger acquaintance with men 
 and manners. No record is left to indicate the extent, or to exhibit the 
 incidents of his journey. 
 
 On the 23d of March, 1763, Dr. Manning was united in marriage to 
 Miss Margaret Stites, daughter of John Stites, Esq. of Elizabethtown. 
 With this excellent woman, he lived, most happily, till his death. She 
 survived him many years, and, after a long and solitary widowhood, never 
 having known the pleasures of maternity, she died in Providence, R. I., 
 November 9, 1815, aged seventy-five years. 
 
 His connection with the church at Morristown was of short duration ; 
 for, it would seem that, towards the close of the year 1703, he accepted an 
 invitation from the Baptist church in Warren, R. I., to become their pas- 
 tor. Soon after his ordination, he opened a Latin school in that town. 
 Respecting his course of life, when he thus discharged the duties of a 
 classical teacher and a village pastor, we have no information to impart. 
 The praise of laborious diligence and of accurate knowledge in the busi- 
 ness of instruction may, without hazard, be claimed for him ; and the 
 reluctance with which he parted from his beloved people — a reluctance 
 which even the prospect of more enlarged usefulness and a more conspicu- 
 ous station could not overcome — is no equivocal evidence of his affec- 
 tionate, faithful, and disinterested ministrations. The compensation, 
 which he received for his various labors at Warren, was barely sufficient 
 
 * The degree of Doctor in Divinity was conferred upon Mr. Manning, by the University of Pennsylvania, 
 but in what year we ave, in vain, endeavored to ascertain. 
 
6 MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 for his support. While, however, his outward man was thus a stranger to 
 the hixurious accommodations of life, his inner man was sustained by the 
 ennobling consciousness that he lived not in vain ; — that he was treading, 
 with cheerful alacrity, the path of appointed trial ; and that, through his 
 agency, multitudes were becoming wiser and better, for time and for eternity. 
 On this passage in the life of Dr. Manning, it is delightful to dwell. It 
 is delightful to turn aside from scenes of political ambition and ecclesias- 
 tical turbulence which now mar our peace, and to repose, for a while, 
 upon a by-gone example of unaffected humility, of quiet duty, and con- 
 fiding prayer. He had been elected President of Rhode Island College ; 
 and the future prosperity of that institution was thought to depend on its 
 removal to Providence. So affectionately desirous, however, was Dr. 
 Manning of the people of his care, many of whom had, through his instru- 
 mentality, experienced the transforming eilicacy of the religion of Christ, 
 that he could not find it in his heart to leave them. To avoid a separation 
 so painful to his sensibilities, he even proposed to resign the elevated 
 station to which he had just been appointed. To this proposition his 
 influential friends would not listen, and they persuaded him to abandon all 
 thought of resigning the Presidentship. While we are compelled to think 
 that his final decision was a wise one, we lienor the feelings which well 
 nigh betrayed his judgment. Under similar circumstances, how few men 
 would have fdtcred ; how few would have sought to renounce the pathway 
 to literary and social distinction, for the unambitious career of a village 
 pastor ! 
 
 We have already alluded to Dr. Manning as the President of Rhode 
 Island College. It now remains to trace his history, in connection with 
 that of the institution of which he may be considered as the founder, and 
 over which he so long, and with such signal ability, presided. 
 
 Although, according to Morgan Edwards, the College was projected in 
 1762, by the Philadelphia Baptist Association ; yet we have no reason for 
 believing that this or any other ecclesiastical body is entitled to the praise 
 of being considered its founder. The original conception may have come 
 from the Philadelphia Association, but the credit of moulding this concep- 
 tion into a plan, and of carrying into execution tliat plan, would seem to 
 belong to Dr. Manning. In an obituary notice written by the lion. David 
 Howell, his contemporary and ofliicial associate,* and published in the 
 Providence Gazette, a few days after the death of Dr. Manning, he is, 
 without qualification, designated " as the founder of the College." The 
 
 * The Hon. David Moucll, LL. 0., was born in New Jersey, January 1, 1747 (O. S ) and graduated at 
 Princeton, in the year )76ii. He subsequently removed to Providence, R. I. where lie continued to reside 
 till his death, in 1824, at the ago of seventy-seven years. During a large portion of his protracted life, he 
 was connected with the College in Rhode Island. For three years, he was a Tutor, and the first ever ap- 
 pointed in that institution ; for nine years, Professor of Natural Philosophy ; for thirty-four years. Profes- 
 sor of Law ; for fifty-two years, a member of the Board of Follows : and, for many years, Secretary of the 
 Corporation. Except, however, as a Tutor, we have never lieard that he participated" in the ordinary duties 
 of academical instruction. Though abundantly competent to the task, ho never delivered, as we have 
 reason to know, any lectures while he filled the chair of Professor of I.avv. After President Manning'.s 
 decease, Judge Howell, at the reijuest of the Corporation, pn.'sicled at two of the Commencements of the 
 College. On both occasions, he delivered to the grailuating class. Baccalaureate Addresses, which, as 
 Bpeciniens of undefiled English and excellsnt counsel, were deservedly admired. He practised law in 
 Providence for many years, and was among the most eminent members of the Rhode Island Bar. Under 
 the Confederation, he was a mendier of Congress from that State, and he subsequently filled, with great 
 ability, several high offices, civil and judicial. In 1812, he was appointed Uniteil Sta'tes Judge for the 
 District (if Rhode Island, and this office he sustained till his death. Judge Howell was endowed with 
 extraordinary talents, and he superadded to his endowments e.xtensive and accurate learning. As an able 
 jurist, he estahlishiul for himself a solid reputation. He was, however, yet more distinguished as a keen 
 and brilliant wit, and as a scholar extensively acquainted not only with the ancient, but v;ith several of 
 the modern langiia^'cs. As a pungent and effective political writer, he was almost unrivalled ; and, in 
 conversalion, whatever chanced to be the theme, whetlier politics or law— literature or theidngy— gram- 
 iriiir or criticism— a Greek tragedy, or a rlifl[icult problem in .Mathematics, Judge Howell was never found 
 wanting. Upon all occasions which made any demands upon him, he gave the most convincing evidence 
 of the vigor of his powers, and of the variety and extent of his erudition. 
 
MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 7 
 
 opinion of the Hon. Asher Robbins is in accordance with the statement of 
 Judge Howell. In a letter to the author, Mr. Robbins remarks : " The 
 College, I believe, was the project of Dr. Manning, and his motive was to 
 give to the Baptist churches a learned clergy. And this, I have no doubt, 
 was the motive to the liberal patronage of the opulent men in Providence, 
 of that persuasion." Morgan Edwards, in his manuscript History of 
 Rhode Island, states that, in the year 1763, Dr. Manning recommended to 
 several influential Baptist gentlemen, assembled at Newport, the project of 
 establishing " a seminary of polite literature, subject to the government of 
 the Baptists." The project was favorably received, and Dr. Manning was 
 requested to present a plan of the proposed institution. With this request 
 he complied, and the plan which he had prepared was approved. After 
 some delay, the causes of which are left for the future historian of the 
 College to relate, a charter for the institution was, in the year 1764, 
 obtained from the legislature of the colony of Rhode Island. The original 
 corporators, of whom Dr. Manning was one, were prominent and influential 
 men. Among the laymen, (and they composed a large majority,) were the 
 Hon. Stephen Hopkins, and the Hon. William Ellery, illustrious as signers 
 of the Declaration of American Independence ; — the former, distinguished 
 for his vigorous powers and his extensive information, especially in political 
 science ; the latter, distinguished, not only for his endowments, but for his 
 philosophical spirit and the graces of elegant scholarship. The influence 
 of these men and of their coadjutors, was successfully put forth in behalf of 
 the charter, which, after a long and earnest debate, was granted by a large 
 majority. 
 
 Although the charter secures to the Baptists the control of the College, 
 yet it recognizes, repeatedly, and in the most unequivocal terms, the grand 
 principles of religious toleration for which Rhode Island, through every 
 stage in her social progress, has resolutely contended. Again and again, 
 is the College denominated in the charter as " a liberal and catholic insti- 
 tution ; " and, were this the proper place, it would be easy to show that 
 the claim to this noble distinction has never been forfeited. 
 
 For several years after the charter was granted, the College, for obvious 
 reasons, advanced but slowly towards the station which it was destined to 
 attain. In September, 1765, Dr. Manning was appointed " President, and 
 Professor of Languages, and other branches of learning, with full power to 
 act in those capacities, at Warren or elsewhere." This is the language of 
 the record, which, though not obnoxious to the charge of legal precision, 
 seems to imply, on the part of the Corporation, no want of conhdence in 
 the variety of the President's attainments. 
 
 In the year 1766, President Manning commenced his course of colle- 
 giate instruction at Warren, where it was at first proposed that the College 
 should be established. The first Commencement was held in that town, 
 September, 1769, at which time a class of only seven was graduated. To 
 this class belonged the Rev. Dr. William Rogers, a Baptist clergyman of 
 some celebrity in his day, and the Hon. James Mitchell Varnum, an advo- 
 cate of almost unrivalled powers of eloquence. 
 
 An important question soon arose, as to the most eligible place for erect- 
 ing an edifice for the purposes of the new institution. Although this ques- 
 tion divided the exertions of the friends of the College, yet it did not, 
 perhaps, in the end, retard its growth. The original plan of establishing 
 the College at Warren was adopted, we presume, mainly in reference to 
 the convenience of Dr. Manning, who was connected with that town by 
 interesting personal and official ties. The counties of Newport, Providence 
 
S MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 and Kent, zoalously interposed their claims to the advantage of which the 
 county of Bristol had become the recipient; and it was not without a 
 pati(uit and Ibnnal hearing of all tlie arguments advanced in behalf of each 
 of the competitors, that the Corporation, in the early part of the year 177U, 
 decided " that the said edifice be built in the town of Providence, and 
 there be continued forever." The Corporation, at the same time, appointed 
 a committee to assure President Manning of their cordial ajiprobation of 
 his administration of the affairs of the College, to request him to continue 
 in ollice, and to transfer his residence to Providence, on the removal of the 
 institution to that town. The same conuiiittee were also authorized to 
 endeavor to procure of Mr. Manning's church and congregation their con- 
 sent to his removal. The cautious delicacy with which the Corporation 
 interfered with his existing relations presents a somewhat grateful contrast 
 to the unceremonious and otherwise questionable modes of procedure which, 
 under similar circumstances, are now sometimes adopted. 
 
 The result of all these proceedings may be anticipated. In the course 
 of the year 1770, the fust college edifice, now University Hall, was erected 
 in the town of Providence ; and at the expense, it is understood, exclu- 
 sively of citizens belonging to the town and county of Providence. The 
 edifice was not at once completed ; but, in May, 1770, President Manning 
 removed thither, together with his ofiicial associjites, and the under- 
 graduates of the College. The first Commencement at Providence was 
 held on the first Wednesday of September, 1770, when a class of only four 
 was graduated. Of this number was the late Hon. Theodore Foster, 
 senator in Congress from llliode Island for the period of thirteen years, 
 and familiarly known for his spirit of antiquarian research, and for the zeal 
 with which he collected materials for a history of that State. 
 
 Dr. Manning now entered upon a theatre of enlarged and responsible 
 action. The College was in its infancy, and demanded his parental super- 
 vision. Its fiinils were scanty, and needed to be recruited. Its actual 
 system of discipline and instruction was imperfect, and required not only 
 to be improved, but to be adapted to the new circumstances under which 
 it was hereafter to be administered. To these important objects Dr. Man- 
 ning devoted himself, with patience and energy, and with that spirit of 
 self-denial which is essential to the success of great enterprises, and which 
 great enterprises are apt to inspire. In the beneficent work of establishing, 
 wittiin the little colony of Rhode Island, " a public seminary for the 
 education of youth in the vernacular and learned languages, and in the 
 liberal arts and sciences," he was aided by the efficient cooperation of the 
 Rev. Morgan Edwards, the Rev. Ilezekiah Smith, and otheis of his cleri- 
 cal brethren. It is, however, perhaps not too much to say, that, but for 
 the enlightened zeal and substantial liberality of a few eminent Baptist 
 laymen, citizens of Providence, the College would have been slow in win- 
 ning its way to general repute. These public-spirited men, though stran- 
 gers themselves to the discipline of schools of learning, knew how to prize 
 the benefits of high intellectual culture. Though self-educated, they were 
 without a particle of hostility to the distinctions of learning or of that 
 affected contempt for learned men with which the uncultivated sometimes 
 seek to console their deficienccs. Moved by a generous ardor, they deter- 
 mined that their children and the children of their contemporaries should 
 enjoy, to the remotest generations, opportunities for intellectual improve- 
 ment denied to themselves. Well have they been repaid for their efforts in 
 this good cause. Their activity and enterprise in the accumulation of 
 
MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 9 
 
 wealth are now well nigh forgotten ; but still fresh is the memory of all 
 their deeds in behalf of science, and letters, and religion. 
 
 The permanent establishment of the College in Providence inspired its 
 friends with renewed confidence in its ultimate success, and stimulated 
 them to fresh endeavors to increase its funds, and to enlarge its means of 
 instruction. In all these endeavors, as it would seem from the records of 
 the College, the President was conspicuous. He recommended to the Cor- 
 poration measures for the advancement of the College, and, in the labori- 
 ous execution of those measures, he actively participated. As one among 
 the many proofs of his desire to promote the interests of the institution 
 over which he presided, and of the sacrifices which he was ready to make 
 in that cause, we here record a fact communicated by the Hon. Asher 
 Robbins : 
 
 " The President received a letter from England, soon after the peace 
 in 1783, in which the writer gave it as his opinion, that if a person were 
 sent out there, for that purpose, he might obtain donations to enlarge the 
 funds of the College, and thereby extend its usefulness. This letter was 
 communicated to the Corporation ; and the only objection to the plan was 
 the uncertainty of success, while the expense would be considerable. 
 Whereupon, the President volunteered to go on this mission, asking only 
 indemnity for his actual expenses, and offering to trust to the contributions 
 for that indemnity. This project was, however, unhappily defeated." 
 
 Dr. Manning discharged the duties of his responsible office, with 
 unwearied assiduity and with gratifying success, till the year 1776, when 
 the college edifice became first a barrack for the militia, and afterwards a 
 hospital for the French army commanded by Count Rochambeau. He 
 was then compelled to suspend his collegiate occupations, till the close of 
 the Revolutionary war in 1783. From 1776 to 1786, no degrees were con- 
 ferred. This interval of relaxation from collegiate duty. Dr. Manning dili- 
 gently employed in the labors of the ministry, and in various acts of social 
 benevolence which the perils and distresses of that period in our national 
 history prompted him to perform. The following instance of his humane 
 disposition is related by the venerable John Howland, President of the 
 Rhode Island Historical Society, in a short Memoir of Dr. Manning, pub- 
 lished in the year 1815 : 
 
 " He enjoyed the confidence of the general commanding in this depart- 
 ment, and in one instance in particular had all the benevolent feelings of 
 his heart gratified, even at the last moment, after earnest entreaty, by 
 obtaining from general Sullivan an order of reprieve for three men of the 
 regular army who were sentenced to death by that inexorable tribunal, 
 a court martial. The moment he obtained the order revoking the sentence, 
 he mounted his horse at the general's door, and, by pushing him to his 
 utmost speed, arrived at the place of execution at the instant the last act 
 had begun which was to precipitate them into eternity. With a voice 
 which none could disobey, he commanded the execution to stay, and deliv- 
 ered the general's order to the officer of the guard. The joy of the attend- 
 ing crowd seemed greater than that of the subjects of mercy ; they were 
 called so suddenly to life from the last verge of death, they did not for a 
 moment feel that it was a reality." 
 
 Dr. Manning is now to be exhibited in a new character, and in new 
 relations. Hitherto we have seen him ministering at the altar, or dispens- 
 ing the oracles of wisdom amid the shades of the academy. We are now 
 to note his career as a patriot statesman. In the follov/ing paragraph, Mr. 
 
10 MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 llowland relates the history of an important civil function which was con- 
 fiikul to Dr. Mamiinfi, and by liiin lno^t skilfully discharged : 
 
 •' The repeated calls of the nnlitia, while the enemy remained in this 
 State, (Khoile l.-<land,) operated with peculiar severity; in some districts 
 the jfrouiul could not he planted, and in others, the harvest was not reaped 
 ill season ; the u.sual abundance of the eartli fell short, and lie who had 
 the best means of supply frequently had to divide his store with a sutiering 
 nr-iahbor : In additiiui to this, laws existed in several States, prohibiting 
 the transport of provisions beyond the Stale boundary. The plea for these 
 restrictions was tiiat there was danger of the enemy being supplied; but 
 the real cause was to retain the provisions for the purpose of furnishing 
 their Slate's quota of troops, as the war was generally carried on by the 
 energy of the governuuMits of the individual States. These restrictions 
 came with double weight on the citizens of Rhode Island, as a great part 
 of the State was in the pos.-^ession of the enemy, and the remainder was 
 tilled with those who had lied from the islands and the coasts for safety. 
 These restrictions and prohibitions were variously moditied, but under all 
 their variations, which referred chietly to the mode of executing the law, 
 the grievance was the same. The governor and council of war of Rhode 
 Island, wishing to give their language of remonstrance, a power of impres- 
 si(>n which paper couhl not bo made to convey, commissioned Doctor Man- 
 ning lo repair to Connecticut, and represent, personally, to the government 
 of that State our peculiar situation, and to confer with, and propose to 
 them a ditlorent mode of procedure. The Doctor in this embassy obtained 
 all that he desired ; the restrictions were removed, and, in addition to this, 
 on his representation of the circumstances of the refugees from the islands, 
 coutrilmtions, in money or provisions, were made in nearly all the parishes 
 in the imerior of Couuectiout, and torwarded for their relief 
 
 The Articles of Confederation adopted by the United States in 17SI, 
 proved, as is well known, utterly inadequate to the purposes of govern- 
 ment. Commercial embarrassments multiplied ; the public credit was 
 impaired ; anil the great interests of the nation, nay, even the whole politi- 
 cal tabric was threatened with destruction. At this crisis of depression 
 and alarm. Dr. Manning was, by an unanimous resolution of the General 
 Assend>ly, appointed, in 17j^l>, to represent the State of Rhode Island in 
 the Congress of the United States. The story of this interesting event in 
 the life of Dr. Manning is well told by Mr. Robbins, in the following 
 extract tVom one of his letters to the author of this Memoir. It may not be 
 amiss here to add, that these letters were written with no view to publica- 
 tion : but that we have been kindly permitted, by tlie distinguished writer, 
 to use them tor the purpose of iliustratinn the character of his departed 
 friend : 
 
 '■ Though he had other merits and ample for this appointment of dele- 
 gate, 1 have no doubt the dignity and grace for which he was so remarka- 
 ble, smoothed the way to it. It took place in this wise. There was a 
 vacancy in the delegation, and the General Assembly, who were to fill it, 
 were sitting in Providence. No one in particular had been projwsed or 
 talked of: One atternoon. Dr. Manning went to the State-house, to lotik 
 in upon the Assembly, and see what was doing. His motive was curiosity 
 merely. On his appearance there, he was introduced on the floor, and 
 accommodated with a seat. Shortly after, Commodore Hopkins, who was 
 then a member, rose and nominated President Manning as a delegate to 
 Congress, and. thereujxm. he was appointed, and. according to my recollec- 
 tion, unanimously. I recollect to have heard Commodore Hopkins say (it 
 
MEMOIR OP REV. JAMES MANNTNO, 1). l>. 11 
 
 was at the house of his brother, governor llopkiiis where I shortly after met 
 with him,) that the idea never entered his liead till lie saw the President 
 enter and take his seat on the lloor of the Assembly ; and that the thoiij^lit 
 immediately struck him, that he woidd make a very iit memb(!r lor that 
 august body, the continental Congress. 
 
 " Congress under the old ConfcikM-ation sat, as you know, in conclave ; 
 no report of their debates was publisiiLMJ ; how far Mr. iVlanning mingled 
 in them, therelbre, 1 cannot say. 1 r(!coIlect ills speaking of one in which 
 he participated (the subject I have lorgotten) on account of a personal 
 controversy to which it gave rise between him and a tiery young man, a 
 delegate from Georgia, by the name, as I think, of Houston. This yoinig 
 man in his speech had rellected U|)on New England a,ml luir |)(!opU;. Mr, 
 Manning repelled the attack, and by way of olfset, drew a picture of 
 Georgia and her pco|)le. This so nettled the young man that in his pas- 
 sion he threatened personal violence. The next day he appeared in Con- 
 gress with a sword by his side. This produced, at once, a sensation in 
 that Body the symptoms of which were so alarming, that he thought ])roper 
 to withdraw, take off his sword, and send it home by his servant. In the 
 course of the day he took an opportunity to meet with Mr. Manning, and 
 to make him an apology. 
 
 " lie must have given himself much to business then, as he seemed to 
 be master of all the important questions which had been debated, and 
 could give the arguments, pro and con, odered by the dillerent speakers. 
 
 " The famous Dr. Johnson of Connecticut was a merrd)er at the same 
 time, with whom Mr. Manning became intimate, and of whom he always 
 spoke with admiration. The ])octor once paid him the compliment of 
 holding the pen of a ready writer, which Mr. Manning very highly valued 
 as coming from such a man. It was upon an occasion of drawing up a 
 report for a committee of which both were members, and which rc[)ort the 
 Doctor professed to be much pleased with." 
 
 On receiving the appointment of Delegate to Congress, Dr. Manning 
 asked and obtained of the Corporation leave of absence from his collegiate 
 duties, from March till September. During this interval, the Rev. Perez 
 Fobes, at that time a Congregational clergyman of llaynham, Ms., and 
 soon afterwards a Professor in the College, was appointed as Vice Presi- 
 dent, Dr. Manning returned at the time designated, and quietly resumed 
 his clerical and collegiate duties. 
 
 Dr. Manning was an enligliLened friend of social order and of all those 
 paramount interests which it is the design of government to (osier and pro- 
 tect. He saw how inefficient the Confederation had become ; and he 
 feared that, unless a system of government, endowed with more energy, 
 and founded on a popular basis, were established, the blessings of union 
 and independence could not long be preserved. Hence, he was an earnest 
 advocate for the adoption of our i)resent national constitution. As evidence 
 of the profound interest which he felt in the momentous question which, 
 in the year 1788, agitated the country, we take pleasure in quoting from 
 Mr. Howland's Memoir, the subsequent passage : 
 
 "Dr. Manning was extremely solicitous for ratification. He viewed the 
 situation of the country with all the light of a statesman and a philosopher; 
 and, as a prudent and well informed citizen, he took his measures accord- 
 ingly. He had saved the college funds through the fluctuations and storms 
 of one revolution, and he now saw them dissipated and lost forever, unless 
 the new form of government should be established. He knew that several 
 clergymen with whom he was connected in the bonds of religious union 
 
12 MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 were members of the convention, and that they were generally opposed to 
 tlie ratification. He therefore repaired to Boston, and attended the debates 
 and proceedings of the convention. Ilis most valued and intimate friend, 
 the Rev. Doctor Stillman, was one of the twelve representatives of the town 
 of Boston in the convention, and zealous for the adoption; and in their 
 frequent intercourse with tlieir friends, who were members, they endeavored 
 to remove the objections of such as were in the opposition ; in this they 
 were assisted by tiie Rev. Doctor Smith, of Haverhill, who was also a Fel- 
 low of Rhode Island College, and ardently attached to its interests ; with 
 the Rev. Isaac Backus, who was a Delegate from the town of Middleborough, 
 and considered one of the most powerful men of the anti-federal party ; 
 they were not able to succeed. 'I'he question of ratification was finally 
 carried by a majority of nineteen, after a full and able discussion. The 
 writer of these sketches well recollects the cordial congratulations with 
 which Doctor Manning greeted his friends on the decision of this conven- 
 tion, after his return from Boston." 
 
 In connection with the facts stated by Mr. Ilowland, we cannot forbear 
 to add an incident mentioned in an interesting communication from Dr. 
 Waterhouse to the Rev. Prof Elton, of Brown University. On the last 
 day of the session of the Massachusetts Convention, and before the final 
 question was taken, governor Hancock, the President, invited Dr. Man- 
 ning to " close the solemn convocation with thanksgiving and prayer." 
 Dr. Manning, though, as Dr. Waterhouse thinks, taken by surprise, imme- 
 diately dropped on his knees, and poured out his heart in a strain of 
 exalted patriotism and fervid devotion, which awakened in the assembly a 
 mingled sentiment of admiration and awe. The impression which he 
 made must have been extraordinary ; for, says Dr. Waterhouse, who 
 dined in a large company, after the adjournment, "the praise of Rev. Dr. 
 Manning was in every mouth! Nothing," adds Dr. Waterhouse, "but 
 the popularity of Dr. Stillman prevented the rich men of Boston from 
 building a church for Dr. Manning's acceptance." 
 
 After his return from Congress, Dr. Manning sustained no political 
 office, and, with the exception of his patriotic mission to Boston, we do not 
 learn that, during the remainder of his life, he engaged conspicuously in 
 the politics of the times. For politics, however, he had a decided taste, 
 imbibed, it is presumed, amid the exciting controversies of the American 
 Revolution. With governor Hopkins, whom Mr. Robbins denominates, 
 " a living library of political knowledge," Dr. Manning maintained a 
 familiar and confidential intercourse. This association probably quickened 
 the generous interest which he felt in the public affiiirs of his country — an 
 interest entirely without acrimony or a feverish thirst for personal distinc- 
 tion, and which, it is believed, he retained to the last. 
 
 The connection of Dr. Manning with the First Baptist church in Provi- 
 dence, as their pastor, was an important event in his life. Unwilling to 
 break the continuity of the prece;Jing narrative, we have refrained, thus 
 far, from noticing, particularly, this event which opened to Dr. Manning a 
 new province of labor and usefulness. 
 
 The First Baptist church in Providence was planted, according to gov- 
 ernor Winthrop, in the year 1639 ; and it is the oldest Baptist church in 
 America. With its history prior to the year 1770, we have, here, no con- 
 cern. At that time, the Rev. Samuel Winsor was its pastor. Residing at 
 a distance from the meeting-house, and finding the duties of his office too 
 arduous for him, he made known to his people his earnest desire to be 
 released from services which he could no longer perform, without infringing 
 
MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D, 13 
 
 his paramount obligations to his family. Dr. Manning, having recently 
 become a resident in Providence, was formally invited to preach in Mr. 
 Winsor's meeting-house. He accepted the invitation, and preached a 
 sermon on a Sabbath which happened to be the day for the administration 
 of the holy communion. Dr. Manning was invited by Mr. Winsor to 
 partake this sacred and affecting ordinance. Several of the members of 
 the church were, however, dissatisfied, that " the privilege of transient 
 communion " should have been allowed to Dr. Manning. This dissatisfac- 
 tion led to a series of church meetings, in which the majority, however, 
 was, in every instance, found to be on the side of Dr. Manning. The 
 ostensible objection urged by Mr. Winsor and his followers against Dr. 
 Manning was " that he did not make imposition of hands a bar to com- 
 munion, though he himself received it, and administered it to those who 
 desired it." As the well-informed believed, the true cause of opposition 
 to him was " his holding to singing in public worship, which was highly 
 disgustful to Mr. Winsor!" It being found impossible to reconcile con- 
 flicting opinions in this matter, Mr. Winsor, and those who thought like 
 him, withdrew from the church. Dr. Manning was then, in due form, 
 appointed the pastor, ^ro tempore, or, to use his own language, " until there 
 may be a more full disquisition of this matter, or time to seek other help ; 
 at least until time may prove whether it will be consistent with my other 
 engagements, and for the general interest of religion." 
 
 These ecclesiastical dissensions are now all but forgotten ; and, if 
 remembered at all, they are remembered only as impressive admonitions to 
 the fuller exercise of that charity which " beareth all things." 
 
 Under the pastoral care of Dr. Manning, the First Baptist church in 
 Providence increased in numbers, efficiency, and evangelical zeal. The 
 congregation requiring the accommodations of a larger house of worship, 
 the spacious and beautiful edifice, which is now among the chief architec- 
 tural ornaments of the city of Providence, was erected ; and, in May, 1775, 
 was opened for public worship. On that occasion. Dr. Manning preached 
 a sermon from the following text — " This is none other but the house of 
 (xod — and this is the gate of Heaven." He continued his ministry for 
 many years ; but, finding that his accumulating duties, as President of the 
 College, would not permit him to do justice to his people, he repeatedly 
 and earnestly requested them to seek for a proper person to succeed him. 
 " At length, in a most honorable way, he resigned his pastoral office." On 
 the last Sabbath in April, 1791, a few months only before his death, he 
 preached to his people, his farewell sermon. It affected them to tears. 
 Little did they dream, however, that the voice which now melted them into 
 sadness, was now uttering, indeed, its last farewell ; and that they were so 
 soon to water with the tears of a lasting sorrow, the grave of their coun- 
 sellor and friend. 
 
 We now approach the close of Dr. Manning's valuable life. At the 
 annual Commencement in 1790, as if in prophetic anticipation of his 
 approaching death, he requested the Corporation to direct their attention 
 towards some suitable person as his successor. This unwelcome duty, 
 was, however, suddenly forced upon them. On the Sabbath morning of 
 July 24, 1791, while uttering the voice of prayer around the domestic 
 altar, he was seized with a fit of apoplexy, in which he remained, but with 
 imperfect consciousness, till the ensuing Friday, when he expired, aged 
 fifty-three years. 
 
 The sudden death of a man who had filled, for so many years, such vari- 
 ous and commanding stations, produced, throughout the community, sen- 
 
14 MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 sations of no common sorrow. AH felt that a wise and good man had 
 departed in the midst of his strength, and usefuhiess, and honors. His 
 fellow-citizens sorrowed, as if for a public beneftvctor. The people to 
 whom he had so long and so faithfully preached the words of eternal life, 
 mourned that they should see his face no more. His pupils looked in awe 
 upon him, as he lay in the deep and unalterable repose of death, and they 
 sighed to think, that never again should they hang upon the accents of 
 their " guide, pliilosopher and friend." 
 
 The Corporation immediately assembled, and the death of the President 
 was announced by the Chancellor. Among other demonstrations of respect 
 and affection for the deceased, a Committee was appointed to superintend 
 the funeral, and was authorized to defray the expenses from the funds of 
 the College. 
 
 On the day next after his death, the remains of Dr. Manning were con- 
 veyed from his mansion-house to the College Hall, where the funeral 
 solemnities were performed by the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, at that time the 
 pastor of a Congregational church in Providence, and one of the Fellows of 
 the College. The funeral, though a public one, was no empty pageant. 
 Multitudes flocked to the College to look, for the last time, upon a face 
 which had so often beamed upon them in kindness ; and multitudes fol- 
 lowed him to the grave which was so soon to hide him forever from their 
 sight. 
 
 On the ensuing Sabbath, eloquent and appropriate funeral discourses 
 were delivered, in the First Baptist meeting-house, by the Rev. Jonathan 
 Maxcy and the Rev. Perez Fobes, both of whom were associated with 
 Dr. Manning in the government and instruction of the College. 
 
 Over the grave of Dr. Manning, the Corporation lost no time in erecting 
 a monument, on which is inscribed a fiiithful record of his worth as a 
 statesman, scholar, gentleman and Christian. 
 
 Before we dismiss our task, it remains for us to add a few particulars 
 relating to the personal appearance, habits, and manners of Dr. Manning, 
 and then, without attempting an analysis of his character, to invite atten- 
 tion to the ability and success with which he discharged his various duties. 
 
 The advantages of a most attractive and impressive exterior,* Dr. Man- 
 ning possessed in no common measure. His person was graceful and 
 commanding, and his countenance was " remarkably expressive of sensi- 
 bility, dignity and cheerfulness." In his youth, he was noted for bodily 
 strength and activity. These qualities he was accustomed to display in 
 the athletic exercises common among the young men of his day, and, in 
 his mature years, in some of the severer labors of husbandry. Unpoetical 
 as the occupation may seem, he sometimes made his own stone wall ; and 
 in the use of the scythe, he acknowledged no superior among the best 
 trained laborers in the meadow. To his habits of vigorous muscular exer- 
 cise may be attributed, in part, his excellent constitution, and the sound 
 health, which, till within a few years of his death, he uninterruptedly 
 enjoyed. 
 
 The voice of Dr. Manning was not among the least of his attractions. 
 To its extraordinary compass and harmony may, in no small degree, be 
 ascribed the vivid impression which he made upon other minds. How 
 
 * The likeness of Dr. Manning, accompanying this memoir, was engraved from a portrait, vvliich has 
 long boon in the possession of Brown University. AVhen tliis portrait was painted, or Iiy wlioni, wn are 
 unable to state with confiilence. Tlinse, liosvever, wlio remember Or. Manning insist that it conveys but 
 a very imperfect idea of liis remarkably prepossessing countenance. 
 
MEMOIR OF KEV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 15 
 
 potent is the fascination of a musical and expressive voice ! Hovi^ sad to 
 think, that, in these days of almost universal accomplishment, this mighty 
 instrument for touching the heart of man should be comparatively neglected! 
 When, in connection with a more careful culture of our moral being, the 
 voice shall be trained to a more perfect manifestation of its powers, a 
 charm, hitherto unfelt, will be lent to the graceful pleasures of life, and an 
 influence of almost untried efficacy to its serious occasions. 
 
 The manners of Dr. Manning were not less prepossessing than his per- 
 sonal appearance. They seemed to be the expression of that dignity and 
 grace for which he was so remarkable, and of which he appeared to be 
 entirely unconscious — a dignity and grace, not artificial or studied in the 
 least, but the gift of pure nature. He was easy without negligence, and 
 polite without aflfectation. Unlike many of the distinguished men in our 
 country, he was too well bred to adopt an air of patronage and condescen- 
 sion towards his inferiors either in talent or in station. As a Christian, 
 also, he felt the importance of cultivated manners, and he acknowledged 
 no necessary connection between the sternest fidelity to principle and the 
 precision and austerity with which it is sometimes found associated. Like 
 the venerable Wheelock, the founder of Dartmouth College, he abhorred 
 all religious profession " which was not marked with good manners." * 
 
 In the intercourse of social and domestic life, his amiable disposition 
 and versatile colloquial powers, rendered him an engaging and instructive 
 companion. " He was," says Mr. Robbins, " of the most happy disposi- 
 tion and temperament — always cheerful — much inclined to society and 
 conversation ; in conversation more disposed to pleasantry than serious- 
 ness ; fond of anecdote, especially if illustrative of character, of which he 
 had a store." Indeed, so far as personal appearance, address, manners, 
 and voice may be considered, it is given to kw men to leave behind them 
 so strong and so grateful an impression. 
 
 In the discipline and instruction of the College, Dr. Manning was emi- 
 nently successful. He secured the obedience of his pupils, rather by the 
 gentleness of parental persuasion than by the sternness of official authority. 
 His instructions, which were always oral, never failed to command their 
 attention, and to leave upon their minds a distinct impression. Classical 
 learning was his forte, and to the classics and their cognate branches, he 
 principally confined himself. Relative to this topic, Mr. Robbins furnishes 
 an apt reminiscence. " I well recollect to have heard the students of the 
 classes whom he chose to take through Longinus particularly, often speak 
 with admiration of his comments upon that author, and of the happy and 
 copious illustrations he gave of the principles from which Longinus deduces 
 the sublime. I could readily believe the admiration was merited ; for I 
 know he had paid great attention to the general principles of oratory, and 
 particularly to those of elocution, of which he was an admirable pre- 
 ceptor." 
 
 It must not be understood, however, that Dr. Manning was unacquainted 
 with the severer sciences. This was not the case. As, however, they 
 were less agreeable to his taste than the belleslettres, he naturally devoted 
 his attention mainly to the cultivation of the latter. That he was a pro- 
 found original thinker, or that he was a man of recondite and critical 
 learning, is not pretended. His reading was somewhat extensive, but it 
 was rather desultory than systematic. Indeed, between the care of the 
 
 * See Memoir of Eov. Dr. Wheelock, by Dr. Allen, published iii American auarterly Register for 
 August, 1837. 
 
16 MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D. 
 
 college, the care of his church, and the care of his family,* he had not 
 much leisure for acquisition. He was fond of conversing with those who 
 were enabled to devote more time to study, and he sought to profit from 
 their communications. With the late Mr. Joseph Brown, of Providence, 
 who, says Mr. Robbins, " was- profound in mechanical philosophy and in 
 electricity," he cultivated a familiar intercourse. 
 
 The wisdom and success with which Dr. Manning directed, for the term 
 of twenty-six years, the affairs of the College, may be inferred from the 
 preceding narrative. Amidst many discouragements, he raised it from a 
 very humble beginning at Warren, to a station of acknowledged respecta- 
 bility and usefulness. His pupils loved and revered him. Most of them 
 are no more ; but the few, who remain, still speak of him with an enthu- 
 siasm which time has mellowed — not destroyed. Of this love and rever- 
 ence, an interesting proof was given, a few years since, by the Hon. 
 Nicholas Brown, of Providence. At his own expense, he built for the 
 University which bears his name, a beautiful edifice, and to perpetuate the 
 remembrance of his early instructor and friend, he gave to it the name of 
 Manning Hall. 
 
 The dignity and grace with which Dr. Manning was accustomed to pre- 
 side at the annual Commencements is happily illustrated by the following 
 anecdote derived from Mr. Robbins : " I recollect that at one of our 
 Commencements, a French gentleman of distinction, (I think he bore some 
 title of nobility,) was present. He sat by Dr. Waterhouse, and was, I 
 think, introduced and presented by him. They conversed together in 
 Latin, either, as being learned men, they chose to converse in a learned 
 language, or as the Frenchman being less perfect in English and the Doc- 
 tor in French, they found it more easy to converse in Latin. Struck with 
 this natural dignity and grace, the Frenchman whispered to the Doctor — 
 Natalis prassidere (born to preside.) I heard this from Doctor Waterhouse 
 himself, the next day." 
 
 For the times in which he lived. Dr. Manning may he considered as an 
 eminent divine, and an effective preacher. He was a Calvinistic Baptist, 
 but without a particle of sectarian bigotry. Indeed, he was singularly 
 exempt from any of that narrowness and rigidity which professional pur- 
 suits are apt to produce, more or less, in most men. He preached the 
 truths of the Gospel, with simplicity and fervor — with a fidelity which 
 alarmed the presumptuous, and with a gentleness which attracted the 
 humble. He spared not the vyhited sepulchre, but it was his delight to 
 heal the bruised reed. To Mr. "Robbins, we here leave the task of com- 
 pleting our exhibition of Dr. Manning as a preacher and divine. 
 
 " Dr. Manning was the acknowledged head of the Baptist clergy of his 
 time. He was so considered iii England as well as in this country. He 
 corresponded with all the most eminent of his denomination in England. 
 I have seen some of their letters to him. I recollect that om informed him 
 
 * The nnmlier and variety of Dr I\Ianning?s cares may be inferred from the following amazing extract 
 from a recent letter, written by Dr. AVaterhoiiso to a gentleman in Providence: "I never shall forget 
 what Dr. Manning, in great good humor, told me were among his trying ' experiences ' He told me that 
 his salary was only £80 per annum, and that, for this i)ittance, he performed all the duties of President of 
 the College; heard two classes recite, every day ; listened to complaints, foreign and domestic, from under- 
 graduates and their parents of both sexes, and answered them, now and then, by letter; waited, gen- 
 erally, on all transient visiters into college, &c. &c. Nor was this all. ' I made,' said Dr. Manning, 
 'my own garden and took care of it ; repaired my dilapidated walls ; went nearly every day to market ; 
 preached twice a week, and somatimes oftener ; attended, by solicitation, the funeral of every haby that 
 dieil in Providence ; visited the sick of my own Society, and, not unfrequently, the sick of other Societies ; 
 made numerous parochial visits, the poorest people exacting the longest, and, in case of any seeming 
 neglect, finding fault the most.' " Amid all these perplexing cares, which allowed him hut scanty time for 
 premeditating his sermons, we have the leatiinony of Dr. Waterhouse for adding that "the honorable and 
 worthy man never complained." 
 
MEMOIR OF REV. JAMES MANNING, D. D, 17 
 
 that his communication upon the state of the Baptist churches in this 
 country, and their prospects, had been published in England and exten- 
 sively circulated there. It was at the time when they were contending in 
 some of the States for independence of the State religious establishment, 
 and for exemption from contribution to that establishment. 
 
 " At that time, certain polemics of England made war upon the distin- 
 guishing doctrine of the Baptists. This called forth defensive publications 
 on their part. These were sent to Dr. Manning. I recollect that some of 
 these were written with great animation, and, according to the fashion of 
 the polemics of that day, with not a little vituperation. The Doctor of 
 course thought the argument on his side complete and triumphant. 
 
 " He was well versed in all the learning in the controversy about their 
 distinguishing tenet — as to the subject and mode of baptism. I believe he 
 had read all the books extant upon that subject ; but the learned Dr. Gill 
 was his favorite author. His writings he considered a treasure of Biblical 
 learning. 
 
 " His pulpit discourses were all e% tempore, because he believed this 
 mode, though written compositions were more interesting to scholars, to be 
 more interesting and more efficacious to a mixed congregation made up of 
 all classes of society. His manner was earnest, but never vehement. He 
 made no effort at oratory, or at display of learning. It is true, he occa- 
 sionally touched and dwelt^ upon some doctrinal point ; but it was inci- 
 dentally, as it were, and subordinate to some practical view, the scope of 
 his discourse." 
 
 What has already been said supersedes the necessity of additional 
 remark respecting Dr. Manning's capacity as a statesman. He was formed 
 rather for the theatre of action than for the shades of academic seclusion ; 
 and, had he devoted himself exclusively to politics, he would unquestion- 
 ably have stood foremost among the public men of his times. 
 
 On the Christian character of Dr. "Manning his life is the best eulogy. 
 His religion was wrought into the texture of his moral being. It exerted 
 a pervading and habitual control, regulating his principles, tastes, habits 
 and opinions. It exhibited no disproportions, it delighted in no bustle ; 
 it was reflected in no strong lights. In life it was his informing spirit — in 
 death his sustaining hope. 
 
 Our task is finished. We cannot, however, quit it, without commending 
 to the young men of our country the example of James Manning. How 
 diligently and cheerfully did he labor for the good of others ! Thus labor- 
 ing, what valuable results did he accomplish ! And all this, too, without 
 the aids of abstruse learning, without ample leisure for self-cultivation, with 
 powers distracted by care, and spirits perhaps saddened by economical 
 solicitude. He labored, be it remembered, not for himself, but for others, 
 and, in language breathing a holier inspiration than that of poetry, may be 
 conveyed the Grand Moral of his Life — 
 
 " Love thyself last, 
 Let all the ends thou aim'st at, be thy country's. 
 Thy God's, and truth's " 
 
18 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICKS OF 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF EARLY GRADUATES AT BROWN 
 
 UNIVERSITY. 
 
 AmoiNG the pupils of President Planning, of Brown University, were many 
 gifted young men. Several of them arrived at eminence in life, and when a 
 history of Rhode Island shall be given to the world, their names will be re- 
 corded as among the most distinguished of her sons. We have not the means, 
 and this is not the place, to do lull justice to these men, bnt we subjoin a few 
 brief notices of some of tliem, by way of appendix to the life of their venerated 
 Preceptor. 
 
 'jAxMES M. VARNUM. 
 
 General .Ta.'\tf.s 3Iitchell Varnitm, was born in Dracut, Ms., 1740, and he 
 graduated at Rhode Islantl College, in 17G9. While an undergra<luate, he 
 indicated a remarkable capacity for learning, and although somewhat dissipated 
 in his habits, he made handsome acquisitions. After completing his profes- 
 sional studies, he established himself as a legal practitioner in the town of 
 East Greenwich, R. I. He rose rapidly to distinction at the bar ; and, as an 
 advocate, stood without a rival. The Hon. Asher Robbins shall describe his 
 powcMS of eloquence : " I have heard him speak in our courts and in our 
 legislature. He spoke without etlbrt, and without gesture, in one steady stream 
 of utterance, bnt with tones well modulated. He was very nnequal ; at times, 
 i-areless and incorrect in language, and connnon-place in thought, and, at 
 times, extremely eloquent, abounding in happy turns of thought, and striking 
 beauties of expression. His eloquence appeared to me to be the gift of nature, 
 not at all prei>ared ; and to come upon him by lits, as it were, by inspiration." 
 In 1777, he was appointed a Brigadier General in the revolutionary army ; but 
 after some service, he in 1779 resigned his commission. In 178G, he was a 
 dt^legate to Congress from his adopted State, and in 1787, he was ap))ointed a 
 .ludge of the Northwestern Territory. He died at Marietta, Oiiio, in the year 
 1790, at the early age of forty. In closing this sketch of a very uncommon 
 man, a remark made several years since by the celebrated Tliomas Paine to 
 the Hon. Nathan F. Dixon of Rhode Island, maj^ not inappropriately be quoted. 
 Meeting Mr. Dixon, casually, at a public house in Stonington, Ct., Paine made 
 in(piiries respecting Gen. Varnnni, with whose powers, as an advocate, he was 
 not unacquainted, adding, " I have heard the most distinguished orators in the 
 British Parliament and in the French Convention, but I have never heard one 
 superior in powers of eloquence to Gen. Varnuni." Paine, though a man of 
 most abandoned principles and profligate life, was, in this matter, no incom- 
 petent critic. 
 
 SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 Colonel S.\:NrrF.L Ward, of the revolutionarj- army, was born in Westerly, 
 R. I., in the year 175ti. He was prejiared for college under the innnediate 
 care of his accomplished father, the late Gov. Ward, of Rhode Island. In the 
 year 1771 he graduated at the early age of lifteen. Soon afterwards, the 
 country was agitated by its mighty struggle for independence. With youthful 
 enthusiasm he eml)arked in the perilous contest. At the early age of eighteen 
 we lind him in conmiand of a company, and soon afterwards he accompanied 
 Arnohl and his gallant associates, in their march through the nnexplored 
 wilderness to Quebec. In this march, they encountered almost insiq)portable 
 fatiirues, p.ml suff-red dreadful privations. To apjicase the torments of hunger, 
 til -y aetu:i!iy s I'asisted on dogs aiul reptiles, and, what is more affecting still, 
 they devoured even their shoes, and the leather of their cartridge boxes ! At 
 
EARLY GRADUATES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY. 19 
 
 the attack on Quebec, captain Ward was made prisoner, but was exchanged 
 the followiug year. It does not comport whh the plan of these Notes, to trace 
 his eventful and brilliant military career, with the particularity of the historian. 
 It should, however, be added, that he commanded a regiment in the celebrated 
 retreat from Rhode Island, although he was not commissioned as a Lieutenant 
 Colonel until the next year. At the termination of the war. Col. Ward retired 
 from the army, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He established himself in 
 the city of New York, and for a time, his high mercantile probity and intel- 
 ligence were rewarded with ample success. He ultimately, however, expe- 
 rienced the vicissitudes incident to commerce, and a season of disaster forced 
 him to make a voyage to Europe, for the purpose of accommodating his afiairs. 
 He happened to be in Paris when Louis XVI. was beheaded by those ferocious 
 actors in the drama of the French Revolution, who perpetrated the woi-st 
 crimes under the sacred name of liberty. On his return to his native land, 
 Col. Ward retired from business to a farm in East Greenwich, R. I., whei-e he 
 resided till about the year 1817, when, desiring to be nearer to his sons, several 
 of whom had embarked in business in New York, he was induced to remov^e 
 to a farm in the vicinity of that metropolis. Here he lived, for several years, 
 in the enjoyment of some of the best blessings of life — a serene conscience, 
 filial love, and the spontaneous homage of all who had the pleasure to know 
 him. Upon the death of his wife, a daughter of the late Gov. Greene of 
 Rhode Island, he removed to the city of New York, where, after a residence 
 of a few years, he closed his useful and honorable life, in the year 1832, aged 
 seventy-five years. Col. Ward, though amply quahfied for the most respon- 
 sible duties of civil life, could seldom be induced to emerge from his modest 
 seclusion. In 1786, he was one of the Commissioners from Rhode Island to 
 the Convention which assembled at Annapolis, Md., for the purpose of con- 
 sidering the state of trade, and the propriety of a vmiform system of com- 
 mercial relations. Col. Ward was on his way to Annapolis, when, hearing that 
 the Convention had adjourned, he returned to his home. There is also another 
 passage in the life of Col. Ward, which, however it may suit the passions and 
 the prejudices of the times to misrepresent it, will, in the judgment of posterity, 
 impair, in no degree, his titles to the respect and the confidence of his coun- 
 trymen. Together with George Cabot, Harrison Gray Otis, Nathan Dane, 
 Roger Minot Sherman, and other able and patriotic men, he was a member of 
 the Hartford Convention. This is a topic, however, which, although we have 
 no desire to shun it, may be thought to belong more properly to politics than 
 to literary history. We cannot close this imperfect sketch of Col. Ward, 
 without adding that he was a ripe classical scholar, a gentleman of most 
 winning urbanity of manners, and a man of sterling intellect, and unblemished 
 honor. 
 
 SOLOMON DROWN. 
 
 SoiiOMON Drown, M. D., was born in Providence, in the year 1753. He 
 graduated at the age of twenty, and soon after engaged in the study of med- 
 icine. After obtaining his medical degree, he visited Europe, for the purpose of 
 completing his professional education. On his return to Providence, he prac- 
 tised medicine in that town till he, shortly afterwards, removed to Ohio. He 
 did not remain there long, but again returned to Providence, where he remained 
 till 1792, when ill health compelled him once more to migrate. After residing 
 in West Pennsylvania nine years, he returned in 1801, to Rhode Island, and 
 settled in the town of Foster, where he passed the remainder of his days, in 
 professional and agricultural pursuits, and in the cultivation of his taste for 
 botany and for elegant letters. In 1811, he was appointed Professor of Materia 
 Medica and Botany in Brown University, and for two or three seasons he 
 delivered lectures to a class of medical pupils. He also lectured on botany to 
 the undergraduates of Brown University, and to a private class of citizens. 
 He died in 1834, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Botany was his 
 favorite pursuit, and he directed his attention, not more to tiie philosophy of 
 the science, than to its practical uses in agriculture and medicine. He was a 
 
20 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OP 
 
 member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an lionoraiy 
 moiuber of several other learned bodies. His occasional addresses which have 
 been ))nblished, are creditable to him as a man of taste and varied acquisitions. 
 In ]825, he published the " Farmer's Guide," a work of great practical value 
 to the agriculturist. Dr. Drown, after all, was not well fitted for the active 
 ])ursuits of life. He had a mind prone to contemjilation, and had he been the 
 incumbent of a scholarship in an English University, it is not too much to say, 
 that his genius, under circumstances thus congenial to the exercise of its 
 powers, Avould have exhibited itself in some work which " the world would 
 not willingly let die." 
 
 BARNABAS BINNEY. 
 
 Barnabas Binney, M. D. This gentleman was among the earliest pupils 
 of Dr. Maiming. He died ere he had reached the prime of manhood ; but he 
 lived long enough to leave upon the hearts of those who best knew and most 
 loved him, an enduring record of his worth. Resj)onding to our solicitations, 
 a lady, one of Dr. Binney's immediate descendants, has kindly favored us with 
 the following sketch of his life and character, which it gives us great pleasure 
 to present to the public. It is the offering of affection, but without exagger- 
 ation ; a discriminating and eloquent tribute to virtues upon which hath long 
 been placed, the seal of immortal life. 
 
 " The early death of Dr. Binney, during the infancy of his children, and 
 the death of their mother which succeeded it, have left his descendants but 
 few particulars of his youthful days. His short career, however, is still re- 
 garded by surviving friends, with the most animated respect and affectionate 
 admiration ; and if they fail to collect and combine the minute circumstances 
 which aided in the formation of his distinguished excellence ; if they cannot 
 refer to all the methods of culture which contributed to his future worth and 
 accomplishments, they know enough to perceive in general, that the discipline 
 of such a character as his must have commenced under enlightened judgment, 
 and exemplary regularity ; while they would be ready to admit, that he pos- 
 sessed a natural vigor, which, had he not commanded advantages, would soon 
 have surmounted the want of them. 
 
 " Barnabas, son of Barnabas and Avis Binney, was born in Boston, in the 
 year 1751. His father, a man of active and energetic temper, was extensively 
 engaged in commerce, to which, it is supposed he would have bred his son. 
 His mother, of the family name of Ings, was a lady of uncommon cultivation 
 and piety ; and to her early and perhaps imperceptible influence, we may 
 ascribe the decided bias of her son's mind to liberal studies. As a child, he 
 exhibited an acute sensibility to the beauties of English literature, and soon 
 desired to pursue the stream up to its ancient and inexhaustible fountains. 
 
 " From associations of friendship, probably, Mr. Binney was entered a 
 student of Rhode Island College, instead of the older institution near his 
 paternal home. In that honored seat of learning, he devoted himself to all 
 that was then taught, and attracted the esteem of the amiable President 
 Manning, who often spoke of him as a youth of the finest abilities, and most 
 persevering diligence. In 1774, he received the highest distinction of his 
 class, and wrote and delivered an English oration, which wis immediately 
 published, and long considered, near his native soil, with the most favorable 
 estimate of its merit. At the close of liis collegiate life, he appears to have 
 directed his views to the study of medicine, to which, indeed, a residence of 
 some months with an eminent physician in London, had, while yet a youth, 
 confirmed his preference. To this end, he assithiously attended tlie lectures 
 of the Philadelphia school, and in due time, received from it a degree. The 
 death of his father in Demarara, recalled him to Boston, where his care of the 
 family mansion and effects, then, and long aftemvards, indicative of liberality 
 and comfort, detained him for some time. In 1777, he returned to Philadel- 
 phia, and intermarried with the eldest daughter of Mr. Henry Woodrow, 
 originally of Monmouth County, New Jersey. To this event, he ever believed 
 
EARLY GRADUATES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY. 21 
 
 himself to be largely a debtor for all the important benefits of a well-assorted and 
 most happy connection. The state of the times, and the prospect of professional 
 advancement, induced him to accept the post of senior surgeon of one of the hos- 
 spitals for the American ai-my. In this station, he remained for more than thi'ee 
 years, and acquired both experience and reputation. At tlie conclusion of the 
 peace, he established himself in Philadelphia, and commenced his walk of 
 city practice. His success was less dilatory than usual ; and few young phy- 
 sicians have conciliated a more thorough confidence and esteem, or, in a few 
 years, laid a better foundation for both distinction and emolument. His health, 
 however, declined, and in the course of 1786, he relinquished his professional 
 duties, and arranged his private affairs with the utmost precision and order. 
 In the hope of restoration, mox-e with his friends than with himself, he sat out, 
 accompanied by his wife, for the Berkeley Spi-ings of Virginia. There, after 
 a few desponding weeks, his strength failed, and he determined to return and 
 die at home. He lived only to reach the house of a friend on the way ; and 
 after a few hours, passed in the utterance of deep tenderness to his wife and 
 children, and of piety and resignation to the will of God, on the 21st of June, 
 1787, he closed his mortal existence. 
 
 " Here, the scant notices of his life are expended, and the few points, no 
 way remarkable, perhaps, on which affection or kindred could linger, are lost 
 by the indistinctness of distance. But the memory of Dr. Binney, deserves a 
 tribute beyond the mere entries of time and place. His attainments, and his 
 embellishments, were much above the general state of improvement. His 
 fine intellectual powers — his various and elegant knowledge — his refined and 
 polished manners, would alone have given him elevation ; while strength of 
 principle — decision and energy of action — sensibility and tendei-ness, made a 
 combination of qualities engaging to all, and wholly influential and commanding 
 in the circle of domestic friends. If a fault could be suspected in a character 
 so finely constituted, and so richly adorned, it arose from what David Hume 
 has happily discussed in one of his essays, and called " A Delicacy of Passion," 
 which rendered him intensely susceptible of pain, or of enjoyment — of honor, 
 or of dishonoi- — of the very threatenings of moral disorder — almost, of external 
 negligence. He indeed, " felt a stain like a wound," and aware of his sensitive 
 and vivid perceptions, habitually put forth his vigilance to control them, and 
 to defend the passes to uneasiness, which his better judgment pronounced to 
 be dangerous. 
 
 " Dr. Binney possessed an ardent love of letters, which neither business nor 
 illness could long estrange. He wrote with ease and elegance, and cherished 
 both the taste and the talent for poetical composition. He was intimately 
 connected in friendship with some of the first men of his time, and allied by 
 the warmest personal attachment to the lamented young Gen. Warren of 
 Boston, of whom, it is said, to his closing days, he fondly spoke, as of a model 
 of worth. He celebrated his generous self-saci-ifice and untimely fall, in some 
 beautiful stanzas, alike illustrative of his own devotion to the cause of civil 
 liberty, and of his friendship and veneration for the accomplished soldier." 
 
 To the above interesting sketch we have nothing to add, except the remark, 
 that academical distinctions seem to be a sort of Jieir loom in the family of the 
 Binneys. Dr. Binney graduated at Rhode Island College, in 1774 ; his son, the 
 Hon. Horace Binney, graduated at Harvard, in 1797 ; his grandson, Horace 
 Binney, Jr., Esq., graduated at Yale, in 1828. Each received the highest 
 honors of his class. 
 
 SAMUEL EDDY. 
 
 Hon. Samuel Eddy, LL. D., was born in Johnston, R. I. He graduated in 
 1787, and was a classmate and friend of Dr. Maxcy, afterwards President of 
 the College. He read law, but never practised it. In 1798, he was elected by 
 the people. Secretary of the State of Rhode Island, and was re-elected to that 
 office without opposition, for twenty-one years in succession. Resigning the 
 Secretaryship, he was elected, for three terms, a Representative in Congress 
 from his native State. He subsequently sustained the ofiice of Chief Justice of 
 
22 niOGRAPIIICAL NOTICES OF 
 
 the Siipi-pmc Court of Rhode Island, for ciglit years, and till sickness compelled 
 him to resign it. Judge Ediiy is still living,* and is justly respected for his 
 uprightness and ii\telligence, and for the extent and variety of his attainments. 
 He is no debater, but lie writes with unconunon purity, accuracy and force. 
 To several branches of natural science he has devoted much of his leisure, 
 and he has made valuable collections of specimens to illustrate them. The 
 Transactions of the IMassachusetts Historical Society are enriched with several 
 contributions from his pen. 
 
 JONATHAN MAXCY. 
 
 Rev. Jo>'ATHAN Maxcy, D. D., was born in Attleborough, Ms., in 17G8. He 
 graduateil in 1787, and was, the same year, appointed one of the College 
 Tutors. In 1791, he was appointed Professor of Divinity ; and, in September, 
 1792, he was elected Presitlent of the College, in the jtlace of Dr. Planning. 
 He was about the same tiuie ordained as the pastor of the First Baptist Church 
 in Providence. In 1802, he resigned the Presidentship of Rhode Island 
 College, having been elected President of Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y. 
 Here he remained till 1804, when he removed to Columlna, S. C, having been 
 chosen the first President of the South Carolina College. Over tliis institution 
 he continued to preside till his death, in 1820, aged fifly-two years. In 1801, 
 Harvard University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. 
 Several of his Orations, Sermons, and Baccalaureate Addresses have been ])ub- 
 lished. In justice to his fame, they ought to be collected and preserved in 
 some enduring form. Dr. Maxcy was a highly gifted man, an accomplished 
 instructor, and a most eloquent pz-eacher. May it not be long, ere some of his 
 friends shall seek to rescue from oblivion the last perishing memorials of his 
 brilliant and conunanding intellect ! 
 
 JAMES BURRILL. 
 
 Hon. James Burrill, LL. D., was born in Providence, in 1772. He was 
 
 prepared for college by William Wilkinson, Esq., then an eminent classical 
 and mathematical teaclier in that town. He graduated at the early age of 
 sixteen, and after compleliiig his professional studies, he conunenced, at the age 
 of nineteen, the practice of the law in his native town. So rapid was his rise 
 at the bar tliat, at the age of twenty-live, he was elected, by the people, to the 
 resiionsible otHce of Attorney-General, and this otiice he continued to hold, 
 amid the vicissitudes and competitions of party, for about sixteen years, until 
 boilily infirmity compelled liiiu to retire t'roni the bar. In 181(5, he was elected 
 Chief Justice "of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island; and, a i'cw months 
 afterwards, a Senator in Congress. He attended only four sessions of that 
 body, his valuable life having" been prematurely terminated by a pulmonary 
 disease, Dec. 2.i, 1820, in the 49th year of his age. During his short career in 
 Congress, Mr. l>urrill won for himself a very high rank. To the Senate of the 
 United States there jterliaps never had belonged a more uset'ul legislator or a 
 more ]iractical statesman. All who knew 3lr. Burrill marvelled at the opu- 
 lence of his nsources, and at his jxiwer to comiiKUul them at pleasure. In the 
 operations of his mind there was no imlication of excess, of feebleness, or of 
 confusion. On the contrary, he was always judicious, luminous, and forcible — 
 master of an infinite variety of facts and principles, and ever rciuly in apj)lying 
 theui. He seldom wrote, although he was capable of writing well ; and it is 
 sad to think that his fame, as a lawyer and as a statesman, must soon become 
 only a matter of dim, traditionary recollection. 
 
 JAMES FENNER. 
 
 Hon. James Fexner, LL. D., the son of the late Governor Arthur Fenner, of 
 Rhode Island, was born in Providence, in the year 1771. He graduated in 
 1789, with the highest honors of his class. He early formed a taste for politics, 
 and to that taste his reading ami habits of life have been conformed. In 1804, 
 
 * Jiiil^o Kilily ilo|iurl(;J lUis lil'o, oiillio oU ol I'lbiuary, J6U9, scvciul wctUs aflut llic-o -Noiiccswere seut 
 tu tlio PulilishiT. 
 
EARLY GRADUATES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY. 23 
 
 he was elected, by the legislature of his native State, a Senator in Congress. 
 In 1807, he resigned this higli office, and was elected by his fellow-citizens 
 Governor of Rhode Island, for four successive years. After several years passed 
 in retirement, he was again elected Governor in the year 1824; and he 
 remained in office for seven years. Governor Fenner is still living, in the 
 enjoyment of an ample patrimony, and in the full possession of all his powers. 
 Though a private citizen, he still interests himself warmly in public affiiirs ; 
 and he continues to exert an influence which vigorous talent, strong impulses, 
 and direct purposes never fail to command. 
 
 ASA MESSER. 
 
 Rev. Asa Messer, D. D., LL. D., was born in Methuen, Ms., in the year 
 1769. He graduated in 1790, and soon afterwards joined the First Baptist church 
 in Providence, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Maxcy. In 1792, 
 he was licensed by this church to preach, and, in 1801, he received ordination. 
 He was elected a Tutor in 1791, and remained in that office till he was elected, 
 in 1796, Professor of the learned languages. In 1799, he was appointed Pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics and Natui-al Philosophy ; and this station he continued 
 to hold till the resignation of Dr. Maxcy, in 1802, when he was chosen Presi- 
 dent of the College. For twenty-four years, he presided over its affiiirs ; dili- 
 gently and efficiently participating in the duties of instruction and supervising, 
 with no common practical sagacity, its disordered finances. During his 
 administration, the College continued to flourish. An increased number of 
 pupils resorted thither, and, at no antecedent or subsequent period in its history, 
 have the classes ever been so large. After having been connected with the 
 College, either as a pupil or an officer, for the term of nearly forty yeai-s. Dr. 
 Messer, in the year 1826, resigned the office of President. Possessing a hand- 
 some competence, the fruit in part of his habitual frugality, he was enabled to 
 pass the remainder of his life in the enjoyment of independent leisure. After 
 his retirement from collegiate toils, his fellow-citizens of Providence elected 
 him, for several years, to responsible municipal trusts ; and these trusts he dis- 
 charged with his charactei'istic punctuality and uprightness. Dr. Messer died, 
 after a short illness, and to the inexpressible regret of his family, in the year 
 1836, aged sixty-five years. His religious opinions, especially for the last 
 twenty years of his life, corresponded nearly to those of the General Baptists 
 of England. He was a strenuous advocate for the supremacy of the Scriptures, 
 and for their entire sufficiency in matters of faith and practice. As a preachei*, 
 he wanted the attractive graces of elocution ; but he never failed to addi-ess to 
 the understanding and the conscience the most clear and cogent exhibitions of 
 the great practical truths of the Bible. For what is termed polite literature he 
 had no particular fondness, but he was a good classical scholar, and was well 
 versed in the Mathematics, and the several branches of Natural Philosophy. In 
 moral science, also, we have known few better reasoners or moi'e successful 
 teachers. In fine. Dr. Messer was remarkable, rather for the vigor than the 
 versatility of his powers ; rather, for solid acquirement, than for captivating 
 embellishments ; rather for wisdom than for wit ; rather for grave processes of 
 ratiocination, than for the aiiy frolics of fancy. In 1824, he received from 
 Hai'vai'd University the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, having pre- 
 viously received the same degree from his Mma Mater, and that of Doctor of 
 Laws from the University of Vermont. 
 
 JONATHAN RUSSELL. 
 
 Hon. Jonathan Russell, LL. D., was born in Providence in 1771. He 
 graduated, in 1791, with the highest honors of a class distinguished for talents 
 and scholarship. While an undergraduate, he cultivated with ardor that talent 
 for writing, which, in after life, won for him such merited distinction. His 
 genius and taste were eminently favorable to elegance and eloquence in com- 
 position. He eagerly received all instruction upon the subject of his favorite 
 study, and to these instructions he added the discipline of practice and a familiar 
 intercourse with the best models, ancient and modern. Mr. Russell was bred 
 
24 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, 
 
 to the law, but he never engaged in the practice. He subsequently embarked 
 in the pursuits of commerce, and visited Europe on some conunercial enter- 
 prise. His predominant taste, however, was always for politics, and, in political 
 science he was well versed. He occupied, in the service of his country, si;veral 
 liigh and responsible diplomatic stations, and he performed their duties with 
 acknowledged ability. For several years, he represented the government of 
 his country as Minister Plenipotentiary at Stockholm ; and was one of the five 
 commissioners who negotiated the treaty of peace with England, at Ghent, in 
 the year 1814. On his return to his native country, he settled at Mendon, Ms., 
 and was soon afterwards elected a Representative in Congress from the district 
 in which he resided. For several of the last years of his life, his health declined, 
 and, in 1832, he died at Milton, Ms., aged sixty-one years. Mr. Russell had no 
 skill as a forensic or parliamentary speaker ; but, as a writer, he possessed ver- 
 satile and eminent gifts. He wrote, not only with facility, but with uncommon 
 elegance and force — and, when the subject permitted, with a caustic severity 
 not often surpassed. Exce])ting the Fourth of July Oration, which he deliv- 
 ered in Providence, in 1800, (and which has passed through many editions,) 
 and his diplomatic correspondence while in Paris, Loudon and Stockholm, 
 Mr. Russell has left scarcely any pci-manent I'ecord of the various intellectual 
 gifts and accomplishments for which he was distinguished. 
 
 WILLIAM HUNTER. 
 
 Hon. Wii.LiAM Hunter, LL. D., was born in Newport, R. I. He graduated 
 in 1791, and shared, with Mr. Russell, the highest honors of his class. Soon 
 afterwards, lie went to England, and read law in the Temple, and attended the 
 courts in Westminster Hall. On his retiu'n, he was admitted to the bar, and 
 immediately commenced the practice of law. He soon rose to eminence in his 
 profession, and, till his election to the Senate of tlie United States, in 1811, he 
 was one of the most successful and elotpient advocates at the Rhode Island 
 bar. While a member of the Senate it was a matter of regret that he seldom 
 engaged in debate ; but, on one or two occasions, he delivered elaborate 
 speeches which obtained for lum a very high rank as a statesman and as a 
 parliamentary orator. In 1821, Mr. Hunter's term of office as Senator having 
 expired, he resumed the practice of his profession, and continued it, till the 
 government of his country, in the year 1834, appoiuted him Charge d'Aftairs at 
 the court of Brazil. Since that time, he has resided at Rio Janeiro, faithfully 
 and ably discharging the high di[)loniatic functions which have been intrusted 
 to him. Perhaps no man in Rhode Island has enjoyed the advantages of a 
 more accomplished education than has Mr. Hunter ; and that little common- 
 wealth can ])robably boast no mind more rich and elegant — none more various 
 in its tastes, or more capable of extractuig from art and from letters their nobler 
 inspirations. 
 
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