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 s K h; T C H 
 
 
 
 OF THB 
 
 
 
 HISTORY AND THE PEESENT OEGANIZATION 
 
 
 
 OF 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 
 
 FUBLISHED BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. 
 
 
 
 PROVIDENCE: 
 
 KNOWLES, ANTHONY & CO., PRINTER."?. 
 
 1861. 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
a^FW 
 
SKETCH 
 
 HISTORY AND THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION 
 
 BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. 
 
 PROVIDENCE: 
 
 KNOWLES, ANTHONY & CO., PRINTERS. 
 
 1861. 
 
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a) 
 
 BROW^N UNIVERSITY. 
 
 This Institution, which was founded in 1764, owes its 
 origin to the desire of the Baptists in the American 
 Colonies to secure for members of their denomination 
 a liberal education, without subjection to any sectarian 
 tests. At the suggestion of the Rev. Morgan Edwards, 
 the Pastor of the First Baptist church in PhiladeliDhia, 
 the Philadelphia Baptist Association, in the year 1762, 
 resolved to establish a College in the Colony of Rhode 
 Island and Providence Plantations, where Roger Wil- 
 liams had first recognized the principle, and enjoyed 
 the blessings of" soul liberty;" and where, "because the 
 legislature was chiefly in the hands of the Baptists, was 
 therefore the likeliest place to have a Baptist College 
 established by law." The Rev. James Manning, a grad- 
 uate of the College of New Jersey, was commissioned 
 by them to travel through the Northern Colonies, for 
 the purpose of furthering this project. 
 
 In the year 1763, Mr. Manning visited Newport, then 
 the most flourishing commercial town of the Colony of 
 Rhode Island. He was very cordially received by 
 Gardner, the Deputy Governor, and several prominent 
 
citizens. The subject he had come to present was 
 not altogether a new one to their minds ; for the spirit 
 of rehgious toleration, and the large and hberal views 
 which had characterized the Colony from its beginning, 
 had already awakened in them the desire for a seminary 
 of learning, which should be conducted on the principles 
 Mr. Manning proposed. His visit served to strengthen 
 this desire, and to give definiteness to their purposes 
 and plans. 
 
 In 1764, a charter for the College was obtained from 
 the Legislature of the Colony. Its chief provisions 
 were : the exclusion of all religious tests for applicants 
 for admission, and of all sectarian teachings in the Col- 
 lege course ; equality of privileges for all Protestant 
 denominations ; the choice of Professors without regard 
 to denominational views ; and government by a Presi- 
 dent of Baptist sentiments, and by a Board of Fellows 
 and a Board of Trustees, in which, though the Baptists 
 were to have the predominance, other denominations 
 in the colony were to be fairly represented. Of the 
 twelve Fellows, eight, including the President, were to 
 be Baptists ; and of the thirty-six Trustees, twenty-two 
 were to be Baptists ; five, Friends ; four, Congregation- 
 alists ; and five. Episcopalians. The corporate name 
 of the Institution was to be, " The College or University 
 in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations in New England, in America," until it 
 should be honored with that of some eminent benefac- 
 tor — an anticipation in due time happily fulfilled. 
 
 In 1765, Mr. Manning, who had in the mean time 
 become the Pastor of a church in Warren, a town on 
 the eastern side of Narragansett Bay, and had opened a 
 Latin school there, was elected President of the College, 
 
Being empowered to act " at Warren or elsewhere," he 
 at once began the work of instruction at his place of 
 residence. In the following year, Mr. David Howell, a 
 graduate of the College of New Jersey, who was after- 
 wards honored with high political and judicial trusts in 
 the State of his adoption, became Mr. Manning's as- 
 sistant. 
 
 As funds were needed, both for the support of the In- 
 structors, and for the ultimate erection of a suitable 
 College building, Mr. Edwards, in 1767, visited England 
 and Ireland, for the purpose of soliciting aid. His sub- 
 scription joaper, bearing the honored names of Benjamin 
 Franklin and Benjamin West, may still be seen in the 
 College archives. Collections for the same purpose 
 were made in South Carolina and Georgia, and in the 
 Philadelphia churches. The first Commencement was 
 celebrated at Warren, in 1769, when seven young men 
 were graduated. A contemporary account preserves 
 the interesting facts, that both the President and the 
 candidates were dressed in clothing of American manu- 
 facture, and that the audience, composed of many of 
 the first ladies and gentlemen of the Colou}^, behaved 
 with great decorum. 
 
 The four principal towns of the Colony, Newport, 
 Providence, Warren and East Greenwich, now appeared 
 as rival claimants for the honor of becoming the site 
 of the building which it was proposed to erect for the 
 College. It was promised to the largest contributor to 
 the building fund, and was secured by Providence. The 
 subsequent history of the Institution has given its 
 friends reason to congratulate themselves on this result. 
 In 1770, the foundation of" University Hall," the oldest 
 of the four buildings of the College, was laid. The spot 
 
6 
 
 selected for it was the crest of a hill which then com- 
 manded a view of the bay, the river, with the town on 
 its banks, and a broad reach of country on all sides. 
 Now that the buildings of the city have crept up the 
 hill, and, gathering round the College grounds, have 
 stretched out far beyond them, thus shutting out the 
 nearer prospect, the eye can still take in, from the top 
 of " University Hall," the same varied and beautiful 
 landscape which once constituted one of the chief at- 
 tractions of the site. 
 
 During a portion of the revolutionary period, from 
 1777 to 1782, the College was disbanded, and a gap 
 occurs in its history. Some of the students entered the 
 army ; others completed their studies elsewhere. The 
 dormitories and recitation-rooms were surrendered to 
 the use of the State militia, and to the sick and wounded 
 of our French allies. In 1786, President Manning, 
 whose graceful deportment, elegant scholarship, and 
 wise and Christian character had commended him to all 
 his fellow-citizens, was appointed to represent the State 
 of Rhode Island in the Congress of the United States. 
 In 1791, he died, lamented by all classes, and b}^ none 
 more than by the graduates of the College, of which he 
 was the real founder, and which owed to him its guid- 
 ance and its prosperity. 
 
 President Manning was succeeded by the Eev. Jona- 
 than Maxcy, who, during the previous year, had held 
 the temporary appointment of Professor of Divinity, in 
 anticipation of succeeding to the Presidency. For ten 
 uneventful years. Dr. Maxcy was at the head of the 
 College. In 1802, he became President of Union Col- 
 lege, and in 1804, President of the College of South 
 Carolina. 
 
The Rev. Asa Messer succeeded Dr. M<axcy in the 
 Presidency of Rhode Island College, and held this office 
 until 1826. It was in the early part of his administra- 
 tion, that the College received its present name of 
 " Brown University." In 1804, Mr. Nicholas Brown, a 
 member of a family already celebrated in the annals of 
 the State for its public spirit and its mercantile integrity 
 and enterprise, and a graduate of the College under the 
 Presidency of Dr. Manning, having already given to the 
 Library a valuable collection of Law books, presented 
 to the Corporation the sum of $5,000, as the foundation 
 of a Professorship of Oratory and Belles Lettres. It was 
 thereupon voted, that the College be thenceforward 
 styled Brown University, in honor of its most distin- 
 guished benefactor. This was, however, but the begin- 
 ning of Mr. Brown's benefactions to the University 
 which bears his honored name. In 1821-2, a second 
 building, for the accommodation of the increasing num- 
 ber of students, was erected at his sole expense, and 
 at his suggestion named " Hope College," after his only 
 sister, Mrs. Hope Ives. 
 
 In 1826-7, Dr. Messer was succeeded by the Rev. 
 Francis Wayland, D. D. The period of Dr. Wayland's 
 Presidency was marked by greater changes and more 
 numerous improvements in the condition of the College, 
 than had been effected by either of his predecessors. 
 In its earlier years, the course of study was enlarged ; 
 the standard of scholarship was raised ; the number of 
 Professorships was increased ; the discipline became 
 more rigid ; and sharing in the President's high aspira- 
 tions and earnest enthusiasm for sound learning and 
 thorough study, the Professors and the students labored 
 with a spirit worthy of their leader. For more than a 
 
8 
 
 quarter of a century^ Dr. Wayland was identified with 
 the interests of the College. He stamped it with the 
 impress of his own lofty character. His pupils partook 
 of his intense moral earnestness and high and severe 
 sense of moral obligation, and went forth into life with 
 the exalted aims and studious habits, which he both 
 encouraged and illustrated. 
 
 Under Dr. Wayland's auspices, the Library — now one 
 of the chief boasts of the College — may be said to have 
 been first established on a permanent basis. The rudi- 
 ments of a Library had indeed been secured through the 
 endeavors of Mr. Edwards, the early friend and agent of 
 the University. To these had been added books pur- 
 chased by subscriptions, in which the Brown family had 
 been largely represented, donations from the Bristol 
 Education Society of England, and legacies from emi- 
 nent friends of the Institution. Of the latter, the most 
 interesting and valuable was the Library of the Rev. 
 William Richards, LL. D., of Lynn, England. It is rich 
 in Welsh books, and in rare pamphlets and larger works 
 relating to the history and antiquities of England and 
 Wales. In 1831, began the subscription to what is 
 known as the Library fund. It amounted to $19,437, 
 of which $10,000 were from the same munificent hand 
 to which the College had been so largely indebted. 
 This sum was invested, and since 1839, when its accu- 
 mulated interest had raised it to $25,000, it has fur- 
 nished an annual dividend for the steady increase of the 
 Library, and the purchase of Philosophical apparatus. 
 
 The room in, "University Hall" in which the books 
 were kept, was already too strait for them. To provide 
 a suitable place for their deposit, the Hon. Nicholas 
 i^rown, at his own expense, in 1834, erected a beautiful 
 
9 
 
 building for a Library and a Chapel, to which he gave 
 the name of " Manning Hall," in honor of his Instructor, 
 the first President of the University. The Library has, 
 since then, received large and frequent accessions from 
 Mr. John Carter Brown, (the surviving son of the Hon. 
 Nicholas Brown, who, in this respect, follows in the foot- 
 steps of his father ;) from the late Moses B. Ives, Esq., and 
 from numerous other graduates ; among whom is chiefly 
 to be mentioned the Hon. Theron Metcalf, of the Su- 
 preme Court of Massachusetts, whose unique collection 
 of Pamphlet Sermons and Addresses furnishes to the 
 student of the ecclesiastical history of New England an 
 invaluable stock of materials. 
 
 In 1840, " Khode Island Hall," built by the subscrip- 
 tions of Rhode Island men and Rhode Island women, 
 for the Geological Cabinet and for the lectures in 
 Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, was added to the 
 other College edifices. At the same time, the " Presi- 
 dent's House " was removed from the College enclosure ; 
 the grounds were laid out and planted with elms, and 
 a new house for the President was erected opposite 
 their main entrance. 
 
 But favored as Brown University was by the mu- 
 nificence of its friends and patrons ; strict as was its 
 discipline ; and thorough as was the instruction its 
 Professors gave, it did not realize the ideal formed by 
 the earnest and practical mind of its President. The 
 number of its students did not increase ; and with its 
 enlarged expenditure, it was not self-supporting. De- 
 spairing of improvement so long as the existing system 
 was perpetuated. Dr. Wayland, in 1849, resigned the 
 Presidency. He, however, consented to reconsider his 
 purpose. His views of the needs of the College, and of 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 the times were presented to the Corporation, and 
 adopted by them ; and it was resolved to attempt to 
 raise a fund for the purpose of reahzing his theory of 
 education. One hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 dollars were cheerfully subscribed ; and what is called 
 "the New System" commenced. Its main features were, 
 the provision of such new courses of study in science 
 as the practical spirit of the age demanded ; the aban- 
 donment of a fixed term of four years of study for 
 students, and in place of it the pursuit of any selected 
 cjDurse for such a length of time as the student's cir- 
 cumstances required; the privilege of selecting such 
 studies as the student desired, and of pursuing such, 
 and as many studies, as, under the guidance of his 
 guardians, he might wish ; the adjustment of the Bach- 
 elor's and the Master's Degree, so as to represent a dif- 
 erence of attainment, such Degrees being conferred on 
 candidates producing certificates of proficiency in cer- 
 tain prescribed and sometimes interchangeable studies, 
 and passing a special examination on some additional 
 study ; and the guaranty of a fixed salary to each Profes- 
 sor, to which should be added such sums as resulted 
 from the sale of tickets to his lectures, the relative 
 amount being thus determined somewhat by the attrac- 
 tiveness of his department. From 1850 to 1855, the 
 College was carried on under this system, with but 
 slight modifications. The Degree of A. B. was con- 
 ferred on students who had pursued prescribed studies, 
 which represented a course of three years. The Degree 
 of A. M. was conferred, not in course, but on those 
 whose prescribed studies represented a four years 
 course. The Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy was 
 given to proficients in certain appointed scientific 
 
11 
 
 studies. Instruction was given in practical sciences. 
 The number of students greatly increased. A new im- 
 pulse was given to the College. 
 
 In 1855, Dr. Wayland, wearied with the cares of a 
 long and honored Presidency, having inaugurated his 
 cherished plan of Collegiate instruction, resigned his 
 office of President. 
 
 The Rev. Barnas Sears, D. D., a graduate of the Col- 
 lege, was elected his successor. Dr. Sears had been 
 long known as an Educator. He had for many years 
 been a Professor in a Theological Institution in Newton, 
 Mass. At the time of his election, he was the Secretary 
 of the Board of Education of the State of Massachusetts, 
 in which office he presided over the admirable public 
 school system of that Commonwealth. He brought to 
 his new office the fruits of his studies in this country 
 and in Europe, and a long and varied experience in the 
 work of education and of academic government. 
 
 Under his administration, the system introduced by 
 his predecessor has been considerably modified. The 
 increased opportunities for practical education are still 
 offered. But inasmuch as it was found that, while the 
 whole number of students in the partial course increased, 
 those who pursued a full course diminished, — 361 stu- 
 dents having entered in the years 1850-54, while only 
 108 were graduated in the full course in the years 
 1854-8, — it was thought expedient to abandon the three 
 years course for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, and to 
 diminish the prominence of the partial course. The 
 course of study for academic degrees has therefore re- 
 turned to its former order and limits. The Bachelor's 
 Degree in arts is given at the end of four years of pre- 
 scribed study ; the Master's Degree is conferred in 
 
12 
 
 course ; the Baccalaureate in Philosophy is retained as 
 originally prescribed, 
 
 A plan has been adopted and is in a course of suc- 
 cessful execution for the encouragement and relief of 
 meritorious students who may need pecuniary aid. A 
 fund derived from a bequest made to the University by 
 the Hon. Nicholas Brown, has been applied by the Cor- 
 poration to the founding of eleven scholarships, pa3n.ng 
 sixty dollars a year each, called the Nicholas Brown 
 Scholarships. This number has been more than doubled 
 through the agency of the Rev. Horace T. Love. His 
 efforts in this behalf are still to be continued. An " Aid 
 Fund" of $5,000, for the benefit of students who may 
 need help in smaller sums, has been recently established, 
 through the munificence of a lady in a neighboring 
 town. Arrangements for reducing the price of board 
 have been made, in order that students of limited pecu- 
 niary resources, who wish to enter this College, may not 
 be repelled by the expense of living in a city. 
 
 The University at present has, besides the mansion 
 house for the President, four College buildings or halls, 
 viz : University Hall, built in 1770, of brick, four stories 
 high, 150 feet long and 46 feet wide, containing 58 
 rooms for officers and students ; Hope College, built in 
 1822, of brick, four stories high, 120 feet long and 40 
 wide, containing 48 rooms ; Manning Hall, built in 
 1834, of stone covered with cement, 90 feet in length 
 by 42 in width, two stories high, containing the Library 
 room and the Chapel ; and Rhode Island Hall, built in 
 1840, of stone covered with cement, 70 feet long by 42 
 wide, containing two lecture-rooms with apparatus, an 
 ample hall for the cabinet of mineralogy, geology, &c., 
 and, in the basement, a chemical laboratory. 
 
13 
 
 Subscriptions for a new fire-proof Library building, 
 and for a large Laboratory, are in progress and have 
 advanced far towards their completion ; one of the sub- 
 scriptions for the former and a kindred object amount- 
 ing to $25,000. 
 
 Besides the regular undergraduate course, there is 
 provision for thorough and extended instruction in ana- 
 lytical and practical chemistry, and also a course in 
 Civil Engineering. In addition to the department of 
 general chemistry, with its Professor, who gives instruc- 
 tions by lecture during half the year, there is a separate 
 laboratory for analytical chemistry, with a Professor and 
 'an assistant. 
 
 The course of instruction, in this department, is not 
 limited in its aim or scope, but is intended to meet the 
 wants of agriculturists, manufacturers, physicians, phar- 
 maceutists, metallurgists and all students of material 
 nature. 
 
 Any person who can pursue the study with advan- 
 tage, and conforms to the rules of the department, may 
 be admitted as a special student. Undergraduates may, 
 by permission, pursue a course of study in the Labora- 
 tory, with certain limitations and restrictions. 
 
 The great progress which the science of chemistry 
 has made within the past few years, and the important 
 and intimate relations which it now sustains to the 
 other natural sciences, to the arts and manufactures and 
 to nearly all the operations of practical life, demand 
 enlarged advantages for students in that department. 
 It is moreover believed that the city of Providence, 
 surrounded by so many flourishing manufactories, offers 
 remarkable facilities for building up a school of practi- 
 cal chemistry. 
 
14 
 
 It is for the better accommodation of this department 
 that a new and more spacious Laboratory is to be 
 erected, in which provision will be made for any ex- 
 pansion that may be called for. 
 
 The College grounds, including, in all, more than 
 fourteen acres, are, in the vicinity of the buildings, 
 graded and adorned with trees, (the greater part of 
 which are omitted in the accompanying engraving.) 
 The invested Funds of the College, including the Library 
 Fund, amounted, before the recent subscriptions, to 
 about |208,000. 
 
 The College Library contains 30,000 carefully selected 
 volumes, including a very rich collection of rare pam- 
 phlets. The society libraries present, in addition, an 
 aggregate of 6,000 volumes. The last Triennial Cata- 
 logue, published in 1860, gives the entire number of 
 graduates as 2,043, of whom 1,256 are now living. Of 
 this number of graduates, 537 have been ordained as 
 ministers, of whom 342 are now living. 
 
 The present number of undergraduates, according to 
 the -annual catalogue for 1860-1, is 232. Of these, 45 
 are pursuing a partial course, the remainder being can- 
 didates for the regular degree of Bachelor of Arts. The 
 academic year is divided into two terms, the first be- 
 ginning on the first Wednesday in September, and con- 
 tinuing twenty weeks ; the second beginning three 
 weeks after the close of the first, (about the middle of 
 February,) and continuing twenty weeks, — to about the 
 second week in July. A recess of one week occurs in 
 the middle of each term. The annual Commencement 
 is on the first Wednesday of September. 
 
 In the order and the course of study. Brown Univer- 
 sity does not now differ essentially from her sister Col- 
 
15 
 
 leges of the United States. Her Faculty consists of a 
 President, who is also Professor of Intellectual and 
 Moral Philosophy, and nine Professors. A Librarian 
 and a Registrar complete her list of officers. Retaining 
 all that the tunes called for, and all that she found 
 worthy in her " New System," she proceeds, as of old, 
 on the well-tried basis of a sound and thorough Chris- 
 tian, Classical and Scientific culture ; and offers and gives 
 to her pupils an education in keeping with the spirit in 
 which she was founded, and wdth the intentions of those 
 who have enriched her with their munificence, and 
 cherished her with their love. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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