UCSB LIBRARY 
 
 
 A NARRATIVE 
 
 EMBARRASSMENTS AND DECLINE 
 
 HAMILTON COLLEGE. 
 
 By HENRY DAVIS, D.D., PRESIDENT.

 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE following Narrative was printed some time since, as may 
 be seen from its date. The reasons which prevented its imme- 
 diate publication, as was intended, and which have still prevented 
 it until the present time, may be found in the Appendix. (See pp. 
 121-124.) I must request the reader to'bear in mind that all that is 
 contained in the Narrative, pertains to the proceedings of the Board 
 of Trustees and to the state of the College previous to February, 
 1829, when the Narrative was printed. It is obvious that some of 
 the reasons mentioned in the Introduction, as having at that time 
 induced me to believe it my duty to lay the history of the diffi- 
 culties under which Hamilton College has labored, with their 
 origin, before the public, no longer exist. The Institution, it is 
 well known, has at length regained its health, it is restored to 
 public confidence, and it does not now seem necessary, as for- 
 merly, to appeal to an impartial and discerning community for 
 the vindication of my official character, or that of my associates, 
 against the multiplied and wide-spread aspersions of which we 
 have been the subjects. For if it is still believed that the incom- 
 petency, or unfaithfulness of the faculty, was in any measure a 
 cause of the downfall of the College, it must also be believed, 
 by every candid and well-informed man, considering its rapid 
 recovery and present state, that without the agency of other 
 and more efficient causes, that catastrophe could not have been 
 produced. 
 
 No man loves peace more than I do ; and it must be natural 
 to any one, in retiring from a public station of such cares and 
 responsibilities as the presidency of a college, and especially 
 at my period of life, threescore years and two, ardently to 
 wish that the repose of retirement may not be disturbed by con- 
 troversy. 
 
 But notwithstanding these considerations, I am not persuaded, 
 after long and carefully viewing the subject in all its relations, 
 that it is my duty to remain silent. 
 
 The undeserved odium heaped upon the faculty by a majority 
 of the Board of Trustees, and others who cherished a similar 
 spirit, has not ceased to be felt. Some there are both here and 
 abroad, as I am fully assured, who have not yet desisted from 
 charging the misfortunes of the College to their incompetency ; 
 nor can it now be expected that they will desist from it willingly, 
 so long as they have hopes of doing it with success. 
 
 A knowledge of the proceedings of the Trustees of this Col- 
 lege may prove of use to men, it is confidently believed, in times
 
 IV 
 
 like these, who shall be called to preside over the interests of 
 our public seminaries of learning. It may induce them to pause, 
 and to learn the views of their guardians, before they shall con- 
 sent to take upon themselves such weighty responsibilities. But 
 independent of all private regards, the lessons of experience 
 furnished by the history of Hamilton College, and which have 
 been purchased at so dear a rate, ought not to be lost. The 
 new measures, which had their commencement, and which have 
 extensively prevailed in the West, have been intimately connected 
 with its difficulties, though not the origin of them. Many of the 
 facts detailed in the following Narrative cannot but be important to 
 our churches, provided of which it is thought there can be no doubt 
 they afford a clear illustration of the practical tendency of these 
 measures. And should it even be believed that other Institutions 
 of learning will derive no benefit from these lessons in this age 
 of experiment, yet I am more and more convinced, by almost every 
 day's occurrences, that its own vital interests loudly call for a 
 full and public exposure of the causes of its recent embarrass- 
 ments and prostration. Such a measure, to superficial observers, 
 I am aware, may now appear unnecessary ; and by such, per- 
 haps, it will be asked, cui bono ? since all seems quiet, and going 
 on prosperously. 
 
 But while Hamilton College, as to its advantages in many 
 respects, is unrivalled by any college in our country, and may be 
 rendered, under proper direction, a distinguished instrument of 
 good, yet it has its peculiar dangers, as well as advantages. It 
 is situated in a region of no common character ; distinguished by 
 its activity, its rapid increase in numbers, and its prosperity ; but 
 not less distinguished by a spirit of restlessness and rashness of 
 enterprise, and of daring and reckless innovation. And unless 
 the story of its late trials and decline is presented to the public, 
 and especially to its guardians, as a solemn and enduring warning 
 of the evils to which it is exposed, there are, in my view, strong 
 grounds for apprehension, that this Institution will again be the 
 subject of vicissitudes, at no distant period, not less disastrous 
 than those already experienced. But let those who shall be 
 charged with its future destinies be faithful to their trust, let 
 them avail themselves, as they ought, of the knowledge of its 
 past misfortunes, and of the causes of them, and there will be 
 nothing to fear. Its eourse will be steadily onward, and the hopes 
 of its warmest friends cannot fail to be fulfilled. 
 
 HENRY DAVIS. 
 Clinton, 18th April, 1833.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Preliminary remarks, and reasons for publishing. 
 
 2. Confession / the Sophomore class. Certain of the Trustees dissatisfied 
 with the measure. 
 
 5. Dismission of a young gentleman on probation. Dissatisfaction of some 
 of the Board with the President, notwithstanding he was sustained in the 
 measure by their resolution. 
 
 7. Conspiracy against the professor of the Latin language. The scholars 
 encouraged in the measure by some of the most influential of the Trus- 
 tees (note 17.) 
 
 14. Firing and bursting of the cannon. The measures of the Board and of 
 the faculty in relation to it. 
 
 32. Meeting of the Trustees-, May, 1827. Committee appointed, on motion 
 of Mr. Ford, to inquire into the state of the College in general; and, in 
 particular, in relation to suggestions that might have been made by one 
 officer unfavorable to another, &c. Professor M.'s letter to Mr. Smith 
 (note 31.) 
 
 38. Report of the above committee. Passing br the chief object alluded to by 
 Mr. Ford, they recommend to the Board to farm out the College. 
 
 .39. Commencement, Jlug. 1827. Proceedings of the Board in relation to the 
 report. Free conversation respecting the faculty ; or rather secret trial 
 of the faculty, the President being absent by request. Letter of the 
 Senior class to the President, and his appointments in several Colleges 
 (note 38. ) 
 
 47. Adjourned meeting of the Board, Sept. 1827. Remarks of the President 
 on certain measures of the Board. Injurious tendency of suggestions 
 and observations of individuals of the Board, when out of it (note 45.) 
 The offer of the President to appropriate a part of his salary towards the 
 support of a professor of Divinity. Reduction of the salaries of the Pre- 
 sident and Greek professor (note 48.) Appointment of a committee 
 to give the Institution a new modification. 
 
 5?. Special meeting of the Board in Nov. 1827, to appoint a professor of 
 Mathematics. Memorial of the scholars their approbation and com- 
 mendation of the faculty, and disapprobation of the proceedings of the 
 Corporation (note 51.) 
 
 60. Adjourned meeting of the Board, Jan. 1828. Report of the committee, 
 recommending to appoint a President, and to put the College -wholly in- 
 to his hands to place it entirely on his responsibility. The offer of 
 the President to resign his office, and the manoeuvres of the Board in re- 
 lation to it. The appointment of a professor of Divinity, of Mathemat- 
 ics, of Languages, and of English Literature. The appointments all re- 
 scinded, and also the resolutions passed at the last meeting reducing the 
 salaries of the President and Greek professor.
 
 IV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 73. Meeting of the Board in May, 1828. Extraordinary minute respecting 
 the President. The President declines to resign his office. Instantly 
 moved and secinded to adjourn. Resolution of Mr. Smith, that the Col- 
 lege could not flourish under Dr. Davis, because he had determined not 
 to resign the Presidency. Motion of Mr. Williams, to fill the Professor- 
 ship of Mathematics. Opposed by most of the reformers. Mr. Lathrop 
 elected to the office . Professorships of the Greek and Latin languages 
 abolished, and a professorship of the Languages substituted. 
 
 77. Meeting of the Board, Commencement , Jiug. 1828. Resolutions of Mr. 
 Smith, to dismiss the faculty and close the doors of the College. Reso- 
 lution of Mr. Williams to fill the vacancies in the faculty : opposed bv 
 Messrs. Dwight, Smith, Coe, Frost, Lansing and Aikin. Grounds of op- 
 position to the President from some of his brethren in the Board (note 
 70.) Mr. A xtell appointed professor of Languages. Mr. Lathrop de- 
 clines the professorship of Mathematics. Proposal of certain gentlemen 
 to indemnify the treasury for five years, provided the members of the 
 Board who were opposed to sustaining the College with the faculty 
 would resign their seats. 
 
 S7. Adjourned meeting of the Board, Sept. 17, 1828. Proposition to indem- 
 nify the treasury for five years fails, in consequence of the refusal of Mr. 
 Gridley,one of the gentlemen concerned in it, now to unite with the others 
 in giving the pledge. Gen. Kirkland proposes to co-operate in support- 
 ing any measures adopted by the majority, and advises all to resign their 
 seats who could not do it. Alarm excited by citizens of the county call- 
 ing a meeting to take into consideration the state of the College. ' Seve- 
 ral members declare that they must now act in good faith. Mr. Lathrop 
 again appointed professor of Mathematics. Messrs. Gold, Aikin, Coe & 
 Frost unwilling to lend their exertions to support the College with Dr. 
 "Davis at its head. Committee appointed to draft an address to the pub- 
 lic : the address not accepted. The President suggests the expediency 
 of Messrs. Gold, Aikin, Frost and Coe retiring from the Board in accor- 
 dance with the advice of Gen. Kirkland. President accused of dictating 
 to the Board. Motion made, and the votes taken on the question, to re- 
 move the President from his office. Committee appointed to enquire 
 whether the Board have power to remove him. 
 
 99. Adjourned meeting of the Board, Sept. 24, 1828. The committee of in- 
 quiry inform the Corporation, that they deem it inexpedient to make a re- 
 port. Messrs. Maynard, Bronson and Gold resign their seats. Apolo- 
 gy for these gentlemen, in adopting and pursuing the course which they 
 bad done (note 81.) The course pursued by Mr. Smith, and apology 
 for his conduct (notes 68, 9.) Apparent willingness of the reformers, 
 after all that had taken place, to sustain the College. Measures adopted 
 seemingly for this purpose. 
 
 104. Special meeting of the Board, March, 1829. Citizens of the county peti- 
 tion the Regents to inquire after the causes of the decline of the College 
 (note 85.) The Regents call on the Trustees for a statement of the 
 causes. The Trustees refuse to give it. Gen. Kirkland declares that 
 the captain and crew are divided (note 86 ;) that it is impossible to save 
 the ship ; that whenever the President of a College becomes unpopular, 
 no matter -whatlhe cause, he ought to resign [notes 87, 88.] 
 
 109. Meetings of the Board, May and Aug. 1829. Introduction of several 
 new members into the Board. A strong majority, in consequence of it, 
 
 ... in favor of the College. Ham. Coll. not less flourishing, prior to the at- 
 tempt to reform it, than other Colleges of the same age. Progress of the 
 Institution, as shewn from printed documents, during the writer's Presi- 
 dency. Its relative importance, as an instrument of good, to the cause 
 of religion. Concluding remarks. Present members of U>e Board.
 
 CHABTESKD seminaries of learning are the property of the public. They 
 are founded and endowed by the authority of the state. The Trustees, who 
 alone possess the right of supervision, and the direction and control of their 
 concerns, are by the same authority invested with their powers ; and it is the 
 interest of the public to inquire, and they have a right to know, whether 
 those powers are exercised in accordance with the purposes for which they 
 were granted. 
 
 The Trustees are primarily and chiefly responsible ; and every instance of 
 failure is to be attributed principally to their want either of wisdom or fidelity. 
 Do they urge as an excuse that they have been unfortunate in their instruct- 
 ers ? that their officers have been unfaithful or incompetent to their duties ? 
 But who elected them to their offices ? To whose want of wisdom is this 
 mistake to be charged ? When found unfaithful, why were they not called to 
 an account ' When found incompetent, whose duty was it, by an honorable 
 arrangement, to induce them to retire, and to call others to their places who 
 were competent ? But their treasury, perhaps, has been exhausted their 
 funds misapplied. Shall this fact be their apology ? Who are the constitu- 
 ted guardians of the treasury ? Whose is the duty to watch over their finan- 
 ces with the wakefulness of an Argus, and to take care that every cent be ju 
 diciously appropriated ? Who alone are to be held accountable for the appli- 
 cation of their funds ? In case of failure, then, to attempt to shift the respon- 
 sibility and blame from themselves to others, and to seek shelter from public 
 reprehension under subterfuges like these, savours neither of honor nor of 
 honesty. Especially is this the fact, when the Trustees themselves cannot 
 but know that the failure is the necessary consequence, in no small degree, 
 of their own neglect and mismanagement. 
 
 Hamilton College has, for some time past, been a subject of deep surprise 
 and solicitude. Daily and hourly has the question been asked, Why have the 
 prospects of this seminary been so suddenly blighted ? What malignant agency 
 has dried up this fountain which -was sending far and -wide its pleasant -waters ? 
 Situated in one of the most healthful, delightful and fertile parts of our coun- 
 try ; surrounded by a numerous, increasing, virtuous and enterprising popula 
 tion ; with an endowment of $106,000 from the state, and $50,000 from pri- 
 vate munificence, Hamilton College was destined soon to rank, it was confi- 
 dently believed, among our most respectable and useful seminaries of learning. 
 
 This Institution has, fer years, labored under peculiar embarrassments. Its 
 prospects, it is well known, have been recently overcast with thick darkness ; 
 and the writer, painful as the undertaking is, believes it imperiously de- 
 manded of him, by his duty to the Institution and to the public, and by a re- 
 gard to his own character and to that of his associatesj to lay before the world 
 plainly and faithfully the origin and nature of those embarrrassments, and the 
 causes of its recent depression-
 
 VI 
 
 To the tribunal of an enlightened and impartial community we appeal with 
 entire confidence in their justice. Let them possess the facts, and then let 
 them judge. By their verdict let us stand or fall. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be asked, Why has this appeal, if necessary, been so long 
 delayed? and 'since the Board of Trustees have lately assured the public, 
 that they are resolved on sparing no reasonable exertions to resuscitate the 
 College, and the public confidence seems, from the recent increase of its stu- 
 dents, to be in a good degree restored, why is it now necessary ? These 
 questions, should they be asked, admit of a satisfactory answer. 
 
 1. The principal reason which induced me to retain my office, in spite of a 
 determined and powerful opposition in the Board of Trustees, (a firm convic- 
 tion, considering their discordant and conflicting views, that in case I left them 
 the College would bo completely prostrated by a struggle among themselves,) 
 has also induced me not to appeal to the public at an earlier period. 
 
 It is evident, had an appeal been made previous to a change in the Board, 
 that the prospects of the Institution, without professors, without scholars, and 
 with an exhausted treasury and a Corporation distracted in their feelings and 
 counsels, whose claim on the good will and patronage of the community, in 
 their official capacity, would have been essentially impaired by a full disclo- 
 sure of the facts in the case, must have been rendered absolutely desperate. 
 
 2. Whenever an Institution, founded for the benefit and at the expense of 
 the community, fails of its object, the general. good requires that the commu- 
 nity should fully understand the causes of its failure. The high standing of 
 its Trustees furn ; shes no plea for their indemnity. In all cases, the greater 
 the confidence reposed, and the higher the trust abused, the louder the call 
 for a full disclosure of the abuse of that trust. And justice always requires 
 that those who are in fault, not the innocent, should be held responsible ; 
 and that they alone should bear the reproach of it. 
 
 3. Without a public statement of facts, the causes of the previous embarrass- 
 ments of the College, and of its late unexampled declension, never can be 
 thoroughly and correctly understood abroad : and it is a fact not to be doubt- 
 ed, as is evident from enquiries and suggestions daily made, that such have 
 been the representations in its vicinity, and so industriously have they been 
 made, that a majority of the inhabitants even in this county are still greatly de- 
 ceived as to the causes, or are in much doubt and perplexity respecting them. 
 
 4. Notwithstanding the prospects of the Institution appear to be brighten, 
 jug, yet is it possible that it should rise to that high standing which, consider- 
 ing its local advantages, is naturally expected, unless the present Corporation, 
 as a body, possess the strong and unwavering confidence of the public, to 
 which, in the opinion of those who know them -welly they are justly entitled ? 
 " The fall of your Institution," says the President of one of our first Colleges 
 to me, "is one of the wonders of the age." And will the public repose such 
 confidence in the present Board will they be expected to succeed better 
 than their predecessors, unless this -wonder is explained ? unless it is clearly 
 understood, that the Institution has been embarrassed, its prospects blighted 
 and the expectations of its friends disappointed by management and measures 
 30 extraordinary that there is no danger of their -repetition ? 
 
 5. If the President has been injured in his official character by the proceed- 
 ings of the Bonrdj it is essential to his standing and influence, as the head o>
 
 Vll 
 
 the College, (aside from all private considerations,) that the public should be 
 made acquainted with the nature of those proceedings, and with the motives 
 of them. 
 
 6. Certain members who were active in the measures (some one or more- 
 of them movers of the same,) which brought the College to the borders of 
 desolation, still hold their seats in the Board. It is not to be expected, after 
 what they have said and done, that they can be willing to see the Institution 
 rise to its former standing under its present government. Some of them, it is 
 kno-wn, are still throwing out their unfriendly insinuations, viz. that the College, 
 cannot rise without a new President that it is in vain to attempt to raise it, &c. 
 It seems morally certain, judging from the present and the past, that they 
 will continue their efforts secretly, if not openly, to impede the exertions of' 
 the majority' of the Board and the faculty. 
 
 The good of the Institution requires, that such exertions should be render 
 ed powerless, that the public should be fully apprized of the former conduct 
 of these gentlemen, in order correctly to estimate the motives of their contin- 
 ued opposition. 
 
 7. It is believed, that a full and public exposure of the causes of the c;r 
 barrassments, and of the late rapid declension of Hamilton College, will provf- 
 a salutary warning to its future guardians ; and that it may furnish a seasonable- 
 caution, in this age of innovation, to the guardians of other Colleges. 
 
 In the expose which I am about to make, it is with reluctance that I am 
 obliged to speak with so much freedom not only of the measures of the Board 
 of Trustees and of ihe faculty, but of the conduct of certain individuals of 
 those bodies ; and most deeply do I regret to be constrained to speak so ot 
 ten and so freely of myself. But ought motives of delicacy and personal con- 
 siderations to restrain from the use of the only means which seem to be lefi 
 of redeeming from a state bordering on desolation, and of saving from final 
 ruin, an Institution which has justly inspired the well-wishers of the commu- 
 nity with the most sanguine hopes, and which, without doubt, yet may be, un- 
 der judicious auspices, an honor and a blessing to our country ? 
 
 And when the reputation of a man who has spent thirty years as an instruc- 
 tor in public seminaries of learning, and passed through every grade of aca- 
 demic office, without his ability or his faithfulness, so far as he knows, ever 
 having been called in question, is wantonly and unfeelingly assailed, (no mat- 
 ter from what motives or in what manner,) when it is not merely insinuated, 
 but openly and boldly asserted, that he is not fit for his office, and never -was 
 fit for it, shall he not speak of himself with freedom ? Would silence, from 
 motives of delicacy, become him in circumstances like these ? "Would it not 
 prove him wanting in independence and in duty to himself ? Shall he not 
 parry the thrust by all lawful means, when he sees the dagger drawn to assas- 
 sinate his reputation ? 
 
 The writer urges no claims to infallibility for himself or his associates. In 
 many things, no doubt, we have all come short of our duty. As to my owi. 
 course of conduct, as the head of the Institution, it has been far from being- 
 free from imperfections and errors. But I see no cause, however, to accuse 
 myself of remissness or want of fidelity, generally. I am not conscious that 
 my labors have not been in proportion to my strength, nor equal to the 
 labors usually performed by men ialjke stations, As to my associates, if I
 
 Vlll 
 
 may speak from long and diversified experience, they have not been less able 
 nor devoted as instructors, than are the officers of other Colleges. 
 
 In such a narrative, it is difficult to enumerate, very specifically, the causes 
 of evil to the Institution, or to arrange them under distinct and appropriate 
 heads : they are to be learned incidentally and occasionally, from the general 
 history. If I am not greatly mistaken in my own reasonings and conclusions, 
 the following facts will be satisfactorily elicited : if so, there will remain no 
 room for surprise that the College has not been more flourishing, nor that it 
 has been recently brought to the verge of ruin, viz. 
 
 1. That certain leading men in the Board of Trustees have pertinaciously 
 followed their own views, without proper regard to the experience and judg- 
 ment or feelings of the faculty, and have been disposed to control the mea- 
 sures of the Board, and to hold the destinies of the Institution* in their own 
 hands. 
 
 2. That they have suffered themselves to be influenced by the prejudices 
 of the scholars ; have listened to their complaints against the faculty, or a por- 
 tion of them thus inviting the scholars to complain ; and have countenanced 
 and encouraged them in their disaffection and in conspiracy. 
 
 3. That they have made an improvident use of the funds of the Institution. 
 
 4. That they have been in the practice of speaking of the College, and es- 
 pecially of its faculty, in a manner tending seriously to its injury. 
 
 5 . That they have endeavored to escape the odium of their own ill-advised 
 measures by attempting to induce the faculty to resign, and thus tacitly to ac- 
 knowledge to the public that they were the cause of the failure of the Institu- 
 tion. 
 
 6. That they have endeavored to model and organize the Institution anew 
 for the same purpose, and some of them from further motives of a more pri- 
 vate and personal character. 
 
 7. That recently they and other members of the Board have been determin- 
 ed, provided their own measures should not prevail, that the College should 
 be prostrated. 
 
 8. That their associates generally have yielded to their views and measures 
 without opposition. 
 
 9. That certain members of the Board have been resolved on removing the 
 President at all hazards. 
 
 I wish it to be understood, and- remembered, that whatever may be my 
 opinion of the official conduct of the Corporation, I have entertained great re- 
 spect for them as men of general intelligence. I have often remarked that,in 
 this respect, I have been acquainted with the Trustees of no College, who, in 
 my judgment, were their superiors.* ^ 
 
 It is not, perhaps, surprising, that those members of the Board who have 
 arrogated the province of ruling, should feel and act as they are believed to 
 have done. They were among the early settlers of the county ; they were 
 prominent in moulding and stamping its political character, and giving it influ- 
 
 * It is but justice to remark, in regard to those members of the Corporation, 
 who have unwisely, as I conceive, controlled its measures, that the treatment 
 which I have received from them, independent of our official relation, haa 
 been uniformly courteous and respectful. "
 
 It 
 
 tnce in the councils of the state : and it is not strange, when it is recollected 
 what human nature is, that they should continue to feel that all must yield to 
 to their wishes and bidding. 
 
 But to these remarks there are honorable exceptions. Among those early- 
 connected with the institution, some there were one of whom left us just 
 at the commencement of our difficulties who were above all private views 
 and regards ; whose predominant object was the good of the College ; and 
 whose salutary influence, when with us, was always felt. And there was an- 
 other of this number, whose opinions were rarely opposed ; and whose pre- 
 sence at our deliberations might be regarded as a pledge that every thing 
 which was done, would be well done. But the presence of these men, long 
 since, ceased to influence our councils : and unfortunately for the Institution, 
 such were their a\ocations, while members of the Corporation, that they rarely 
 attended its meetings. 
 
 As circumstances were, since the removal of these gentlemen from us, 
 the authors of the measures which so suddenly drdve from the institution its 
 officers and scholars, expected, it is thought, but an unavailing opposition. A 
 considerable portion of the members had recently been called to their seats. 
 Most of them, as was no doubt anticipated, were brought implicitly under their 
 guidance. But others, contrary to what was expected, and several who had 
 been longer associated with them, have made strenuous opposition to mea. 
 sures, for the consequences of which they entertained the most fearful appre- 
 hensions- 
 
 In regard to those members who have been in the habit of silently acqui- 
 escing in the views of the master spirits of the Board, I presume not to say 
 that they have not acted conscientiously. It has been repeatedly remarked, 
 (in substance,) " we must be united in our proceedings; we must let these 
 men (i. e. the leaders) have their way ; their influence is such, it will not do 
 to oppose them." It is always unpleasant to counteract those who have long 
 been in the habit of ruling, and whg are determined still to rule, and feel as if 
 they had a right to do it.

 
 A NARRATIVE, & c . 
 
 PREVIOUS to my acceptance of the Presidency of this Col- 
 lege, Ql] I had been encouraged, by the most unequivocal assu- 
 rances from the then President of the Board, the Honorable M. 
 S. Miller, and their committee, to expect the cordial co-opera- 
 tion, not of that body only, but of the friends of science and re- 
 ligion in this country generally. [2] How far the expectations 
 which such encouragement from such men would naturally excite 
 have been answered, facts must decide. 
 
 When I came to this College, it had been organized five years. 
 Of the management of its concerns during that period I have lit- 
 tle to say. I shall dwell chiefly on what I myself know, and in, 
 which I have been personally interested. At the commencement 
 of my services here, my highly respected friend and predecessor 
 had been " resting from his labors" about ten months. I found 
 here three Professors, all in the vigor of manhood, who, in their 
 respective departments, had probably no superiors in any College 
 of our country,[3] But the discipline of a College so long left 
 
 [1] I was elected President of Hamilton College 21st Jan. 1817, as suc- 
 cessor of the Rev. Dr. Backus ; and President of Yale College llth of Feb. 
 ensuing, as successor of the Rev. Dr. Dwight. Both of these offices, after 
 mature deliberation, I conceived it my duty to decline, out of regard to the 
 peculiar circumstances of Middlebury College, with which I was then con- 
 nected. But in the course of the following spring and summer, believing it 
 well-nigh certain, from the languishing and rapidly declining state of tbe Uni- 
 versity of Vermont, and from conversation had with some of its warmest and 
 principal friends, that, provided the President of the University could be re- 
 ceived at Middlebury,' th e two institutions might be united, I considered It 
 my duty to proffer my services to the Corporation of Hamilton College. I 
 was re-elected to the Presidency 21st July, and entered upon its duties the 
 last of October, 1817. The Corporation of Middlebury College, however, 
 were not disposed, in the issue, to follow my views upon the subject. 
 
 [2] The late Hon. Morris S. Miller remarks, in a letter dated Feb. 1817 
 " As to the Board of Trustees, I am persuaded you may rely on them for 
 every possible exertion in favor of the Institution, and for the most undoubted 
 good will towards yourself. We have no doubt but that our funds will, be- 
 fore long, be placed on a very respectable footing." .In a communication 
 from a committee of the Board, viz. Hon. M. S. Miller, Hon. Jonas Platt, and 
 the Rev. Dr. Norton, dated July, 1817, the gentlemen say "Permit us to as- 
 sure you of the earnest and unanimous wish of the friends of religion and 
 Jearning in this quarter, that you would come and help us." Judge Miller 
 remarks, in an unofficial communication of a few days later date " The 
 vote," (alluding to the appointment,) "as well as the resolutions thereon 
 were all unanimous, which has never before been the case with us on any 
 similar occasion." 
 
 [3] Professors Noyes, Norton and Strong. Professor Norton was taken 
 from us Dec. 1818. In the death of this indefatigable and excellent scholar, 
 and devoted and zealous officer, the Institution experienced a loss which it 
 has never since ceased to feel.
 
 without a head, lynvever able its Professors, would not be likely 
 to be maintained as it ought. [4] From actual observation, I was 
 soon convinced that the question was to be settled, Whether our 
 young gentlemen were to govern or be governed. This convic- 
 tion I expressed to rny associates within a week after my arri- 
 val ; and I remarked- to them "You must all stand at your 
 posts : let us proceed kindly, deliberately, but firmly, and we 
 shall soon restore order and harmony. Then we shall have good 
 times, and not til 1 then. " No transgression of a specific and strong- 
 ly marked character occurred till several weeks had elapsed. [5^ 
 
 CONFESSION OF TfiE SOPHOMORE CLASS. 
 
 At the morning recitations on Christmas, the several classes 
 were informed that the faculty had agreed that the usual exercises 
 after 11 o'clock should be dispensed with till the evening exercises 
 of the chapel. The Sophomore class immediately resolved, or 
 came to an understanding among themselves, that they would not 
 attend the recitation at 11 o'clock. This class was considered 
 by the faculty the most correct class, as to their deportment, then 
 in College ; and embraced a much greater proportion of pious 
 young men than any other. Their mstructer, who soon became 
 acquainted with the fact, remonstrated with one of the most re- 
 spectable of the class against their purpose, and advised him to 
 dissuade them from it. His reply was ** I presume the class will 
 not find it convenient to attend recitation." At tlw ringing of the 
 bell, their instructer found the door of the recitation room locked 
 against him. After breaking it open, it is believed that one or 
 two of the young gentlemen made their appearance. The other 
 classes attended their exercises as usual. On the evening of the 
 
 [4] Judge Miller, in a letter dated 17th Feb. 1817, remarks--" We have 
 been without a President since December, and of course subject to all the 
 embarrassments incident to such a state of things. The faculty being de- 
 prived of their head are not so harmonious as could be wished ; and the dif- 
 ficulty to be apprehended from this source may be in proportion to the time 
 we must be compelled to be without a President." The College had then 
 been deprived of its head about two months ; and since it remained without 
 one more than ten, it is rational to conclude that the difficulty alluded to was 
 Hot diminished. 
 
 [5] At a meeting of the faculty on an evening or two before Christmas, I 
 asked what relaxation from their studies had usually been granted to the scho- 
 lars on that occasion, and whether there was an Episcopal church in the 
 neighborhood which we could conveniently attend. And I remarked that, at 
 Colleges in the vicinity of such a church, it was customary, so far as I was ac- 
 quainted with their usages, to dispense with all the exercises after the morn- 
 ing recitations till evening prayers. Some of the faculty thought that the af- 
 ternoon recitations had usually been omitted ; others that the recitations at 11 
 o'clock also had sometimes, at least, been dispensed with ; and I was inform- 
 ed that there was no Episcopal church nearer than Utica,-- ten miles distant. 
 The faculty finally agreed unanimously that the recitations of the afternoon 
 be omitted ; and that those young gentlemen belonging to Episcopal fami- 
 lies, and others who might apply for permission to attend church in Utica, 
 should be excused from the 11 o'clock recitation also. It was remarked, that 
 it might be advisable to let them have likewise, for the purpose of recreation, 
 one half of the approaching New- Year's day.
 
 3 
 
 same or the following day, I sent for four or five who were among 
 the oldest and most pious and respectable members of the class, 
 as I supposed, and expressed to them my deep regret at the exist- 
 ence of such a spirit of insubordination in the Institution, and sur- 
 prise and alarm on finding those professing themselves Christians 
 the subjects of it. I remarked to them " I trust you, young 
 gentlemen, are praying with other Christians for the blessing of 
 God upon the Institution ; but so long as this spirit exists among 
 us we have no reason to expect his blessing." After conversing 
 with them for some time affectionately, but decidedly, they left 
 me, with the view of consulting their companions, as I supposed, 
 on the subject of a confession. At a late hour of the evening a 
 confession from the class was brought me by one of the members, 
 who remarked that the class were not willing, or could not be 
 persuaded, to make it in public. But the faculty, considering, 
 the nature of the offence, and the state of the College, were agreed 
 in the opinion that nothing could be accepted of them short of a 
 public confession. It was then resolved unanimously that, provi- 
 ded they should refuse to make such a confession, it would be 
 our duty to suspend them from the privileges of the Institution till 
 they should be willing to make it. All the members of the class 
 concerned in the transaction were severally called before us, and 
 when informed of our decision, without making any objection, 
 they subscribed a confession which was to be read before the 
 scholars and faculty. Shortly after making their confession they 
 all called on me, and wished to know whether they could have 
 honorable dismissions from the College. My answer was " As 
 you have made ample reparation, young gentlemen, for your of- 
 fence, I know nothing to the contrary, provided you obtain per- 
 mission from your parents or guardians, and produce vouchers 
 from the treasurer of the payment of your college dues." Forth- 
 with they were active in their exertions for the attainment of their 
 end ; and we had for several days a scene of much confusion. 
 The inhabitants of the town, who must have well understood the 
 circumstances of the case, and the previous condition of the Col- 
 lege, approved universally and cordially, so far as we ever knew, 
 of the measure of the faculty. About the fourth day subsequent 
 to the confession one of the young gentlemen called on me and 
 said " I have come, sir, barely to say to you, that on a calm re- 
 view of what has lately taken place, I do not see that the faculty 
 could have done less. I am perfectly satisfied : I shall stay, and 
 do all I can to induce my class-mates to stay. Had I only slept 
 upon it, I never should have asked for a dismission. I hope you 
 will forgive me for doing it." Several others called soon after, 
 and expressed themselves in language of similar import. The 
 scene was now changed j the College became tranquil ; its gov- 
 ernment was established ; and no class, I am confident, since my 
 residence here, has ever left us with feelings of higher respect for 
 their instructers, nor with stronger attachment to the Institution. 
 Experience proved clearly, so far as my knowledge extends, 
 that a more salutary act of discipline was never exercised ia 
 4ay College, The faculty had no apprehension that any reasona*
 
 ble person, acquainted with the circumstances, could complain of 
 it ; and were not a little surprised and alarmed on learning, a 
 few days subsequent, that there was strong dissatisfaction in the 
 Board ; but it was never understood that any considerable por- 
 tion of the members expressed their dissatisfaction openly, or that 
 they were dissatisfied at all.6J Within ten days after the event 
 took place, one of the most influential members of the Corpora- 
 tion argued for some time, in the presence of the father of one of 
 the young gentlemen concerned, to convince me that the measure 
 was severe and improper. But the father himself expressed not 
 the least dissatisfaction, after understanding the circumstances ; 
 and he left me, I was persuaded, without an unkind feeling to- 
 wards the faculty, notwithstanding the arguments of the Honora- 
 ble member. [7] 
 
 About two years subsequent to the above affair, a certain mem- 
 ber remarked to me in the presence of the Board "It is neces- 
 sary that you treat your scholars in a manner kind and concilia- 
 tory. Had not some of the Trustees taken great pains to soothe the 
 feelin&s of the young men themselves, and to satisfy their parents 
 and other friends, that confession required of the Sophomore class, 
 soon after you came here, would have proved a very serious evil 
 to the College." My reply was " I cordially assent, Mr. Pres- 
 ident, to the remark of the gentleman, as to the manner in which 
 we should treat our scholars : it is the manner in which we al- 
 ways endeavor to treat them. Your faculty expect the support 
 of the Corporation : we can do nothing without it. But I was 
 not a little alarmed, Sir, on finding that, in relation to the diffi- 
 culty alluded to, we had not the cordial support of all the mem- 
 bers of this Board. When on a journey to the West, not long 
 after it took place, a clergyman remarked to me ' A member of 
 your Corporation was here recently : he gave me an account of 
 your treatment of the Sophomore class. He talked much about 
 it, and complained of the measure as severe. But,' said the cler- 
 gyman, ' I could not see, from the gentleman's own statement, 
 that you could have done less.' " The member remained silent : 
 well might he be silent, for he hivnself was the man. [8] 
 
 [6] Subsequently, I occasionally met many of the parents and other 
 friends of the young gentlemen implicated in the matter ; and, with the ex- 
 ception of the mother of one of the young men, not an individual among them 
 all appeared inclined to censure the faculty in any degree. 
 
 [7] The following communication is from an unquestionable 'source. 
 The facts were first communicated to me in conversation about three weeks 
 after the difficulty occurred in the College. The member of the Board allu- 
 ded to, was one of the oldest and most respected of that body. " As near as 
 
 I can state words, Mr. 's statement, made to me at , in Jan. 1818, 
 
 was the following : 'The faculty have treated the Sophomore class with too 
 jnuch severity, and we (i. e. the Trustees) shall not allow it. They are in 
 our hands ; and ice -will let Dr. Davis know that our young men are not to be 
 governed like the students in the New-England Colleges' " 
 
 [8] By some, perhaps, this disposition of certain members of the Board 
 to cavil and to find fault with the measures of the faculty, may be regarded 
 of little consequence ; and so minute a detail of circumstances, as entirely use- 
 less. But in the yiew of those who know much of human nature, and are at
 
 DISMISSION OF A YOUNO GENTLEMAN ON PROBATION. 
 
 From the time of the aforesaid disturbance till the spring of 
 1819, the College was tranquil. At least, we had no serious 
 troubles. The scholars were diligent in their studies, and punc- 
 tual in their attendance on its exercises ; and it seemed to be the 
 prevailing opinion that the authority of its government was well 
 established and its reputation increasing. At this period an 
 event occurred which proved very unpleasant in its consequen- 
 ces. In the autumn of 1817, previous to my arrival here, a 
 young gentleman, who had been in a distant College, was exam- 
 ined for admittance to our junior class. His examination was 
 sustained ; but as he had no certificate of his dismission from the 
 College of which he had been a member, he was informed that he 
 could be admitted to the exercises of the Institution, but not to 
 actual membership, till such a certificate should be procured. 
 He encouraged the officers who examined him: to believe that he 
 would meet with no difficulty in procuring one. 
 
 Some months after this, a communication was received from 
 his former President. He remarked that the young gentleman 
 left them in such circumstances that no dismission could be gran- 
 ted him j but as it was understood his conduct since leaving them 
 had encouraged hopes of his amendment, it would be no ground 
 of complaint with them, but rather a matter of gratification, 
 should we receive him into our College and make farther trial of 
 him. According to a then existing by-law, no young man who 
 had been publicly censured at another College, could be admit- 
 ted into this, without the approbation of the prudential commit- 
 tee, of which the President of the College was a member. The 
 communication was laid before the faculty and also before this 
 committee ; but as the young gentleman had already proved him- 
 self an unwholesome inmate, and had repeatedly received our pri- 
 vate admonitory advice and counsel, it was thought advisable 
 that he be kept some time longer on probation $ and I was author- 
 
 all conversant with the difficulties of College discipline, the subject will pre- 
 sent a very different aspect. The Trustees are supposed to know the facts 
 to be competent judges. They profess and are believed to be friends of the 
 College. When they complain, therefore, it is taken for granted that they 
 do it not without cause. Let then a few individuals of such a body, or indeed 
 only one or two of them whose opinions are respected, be in the habit of cav- 
 illing at the-measures of the faculty, and who need be at a loss as to the influ- 
 ence on the College ? For it is not to be doubted, that a few individuals who 
 are disposed to find fault, will say more against a measure than ten times their 
 number, who cordially approve of it, will say in its favor as it is a known law 
 of our fallen nature, that the man who has marked his victim will usually make 
 ten times the effort for his destruction that his friend will make to save hitn 
 from ruin. And an enemy under the garb of friendship will effect an hundred 
 fold greater amount of injury by the same efforts than one who is in name as 
 well as in reality an enemy. Not that I would insinuate that the cavils and 
 complaints alluded to were originated by a spirit of hostility either to the Col- 
 lege or its faculty. Far different is my opinion. A propensity to find fault 
 is the constitutional infirmity of some men. Besides, to condemn measures in 
 which they have had no agency, or about which they were not consulted, would 
 seem to be regarded by them ag a sure way of appearing wiser than others,
 
 ized by the prudential committee, without further consulting 
 them on the subject, to receive him into College as a member, or 
 to suspend him finally from its privileges, whenever circumstan- 
 ces in. my view should render either course proper. The young 
 gentleman was informed of his situation, and he assured me that 
 we should have no more reason to complain of hint. But not- 
 withstanding his assurance, he was, as was soon ascertained, still 
 prone to mischief. His example was repeatedly spoken of by se- 
 veral of the faculty as injurious to his fellow-students. He was 
 a youth of promise, as to talents, and we were very desirous to 
 save him. But our counsels and warnings continuing to prove 
 unavailing, I became convinced at last that we ought no longer to 
 bear with him, I expressed my conviction to the faculty. Most 
 of them agreed with me in opinion. But as some of them were 
 apprehensive it might produce dissatisfaction should we then send 
 him off, as we had proved against him no specific transgressions 
 of an aggravated character, I thought it expedient to delay a lit- 
 tle. About two weeks subsequently, the railing of the seats iti 
 the chapel was broken. Soon after it was repaired, a fresh attack 
 was commenced upon it. The young gentlemen were then in- 
 formed publicly, that in case the mischief was repeated and the 
 authors o( it detected, (as it was presumed they would be,) they 
 must not expect to < scape with impunity. Within a few days 
 the railing was again broken, and badly broken. Of about twen- 
 ty young gentlemen whom I interrogated privately, some said 
 they knew not who did it : the greater part suspected it was done 
 by a certain individual whom the)- all named ; but two of them 
 (and as respectable young men as there were in the College,) re- 
 marked that they had no doubts on the subject ; that they saw a 
 certain person do it with their own eyes. This was the same 
 person who was suspected by ethers. I then informed the young 
 gentleman that his probation was at an end, and that he could 
 no longer remain with us. He declared himself innocent, and 
 said the persons who had done the mischief would come forward 
 and acknowledge it, rather than he should suffer for their act. 
 He remarked that .he had influence in College, and could, 
 were he disposed to do it, make the faculty much trouble. A 
 young gentleman soon called on me and assured me positively 
 that he did the mischief. He afterwards frankly acknowledged 
 that he had asserted what he knew to be false ; and that he had 
 been induced to do it presuming he could bear the censure better 
 than his friei d. 
 
 This affair, trifling as it was in itself, produced great commo- 
 tion in the College. Very unfortunately, one or two of the pro- 
 fessors, in some way or other, received the impression that I was 
 deceived as to- the testimony. [9] A considerable part of the Se- 
 
 [9] As to the names of the witnesses, I felt myself sacredly bound not to 
 disclose them to any one. But I was at liberty to state that no two young 
 gerttlemen in the seminary were more respected ; that they gave me positive 
 assurance that they were eye-witnesses of the fact, and expressed deep solici- 
 tude for the individual concerned ; and that one of them remarked "I wish,
 
 raor and Junior classes presented a petiiion io the President, 
 praying that the sentence might be reversed. The subject neces- 
 sarily came before the prudential committee. After a thorough 
 investigation, all the circumstances of the case were submitted to 
 the Board, arid the conduct of the President of the College re- 
 ceived their approbation. But before the Corporation had all left 
 the ground, a member of the first respectability remarked to me 
 "Now the Board have sustained your authority plumply ; and if 
 you don't call back that young man, or place him in sueh a situa- 
 tion as will enable them to give him a degree, they will be dissat- 
 isfied with you. "[103 From the standing of this gentleman, I 
 had no reason to doubt that he expressed the views of the most in- 
 fluential men in the Board, and that he was requested by them to 
 speak to me on the subject. A gentleman in a neighboring town 
 informed me, about two weeks subsequent to the meeting, that 
 one of the Trustees had remarked to him ** We sustained the 
 President : we could not do less." 'But from his insinuations,' 
 said the gentleman, 'I took it for granted they were not satisfied.' 
 From this period, my mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. 
 I expressed, confidentially, strong apprehensions to some of my 
 friends^ that Hamilton College would never rise to that degree of 
 usefulness and respectability which was naturally expected, unless 
 under different auspices. I regret to say that these apprehen- 
 sions have never been removed, but repeatedly deepened by the 
 occurrence of succeeding events. 
 
 CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE PROFESSOR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Subsequent to the preceding affair, nothing occurred of a deep- 
 ly alarming character till March, 1821. At this period, when 
 the College, as the faculty believed, was in its usually tranquil 
 state, I Was not a little surprised at receiving information, late in 
 the evening, that the Junior and Sophomore classes were secretly 
 conspiring against the Latin professor, and that memorials, with 
 the signatures of much the greater part of these classes, and ad- 
 
 if it be possible, that he may be spared." Previous to this affair, there ne- 
 ver was the least personal difficulty or misunderstanding between myself and 
 any professor ; nor has there been since, with the exception of an individual 
 whose conduct will appear in the sequel. Nor has there been a want of har- 
 mony among us in our deliberations and results, saving what has been occa- 
 stoned by the same individual. Nor, so far as I am able to recollect, has any 
 one of us besides, excepting in a single instance, and that an unimportant one, 
 ever appeared dissatisfied for a moment with a majority of hisassociates.be 
 cause he could not persuade them to adopt his views and measure^. 
 
 [10] Logic, such as this, is totally beyond my comprehension, viz. You 
 have done right ; but if you don't retrace your steps, and undo -what you have 
 
 done, you -will do -wrong. For, unless I had do'ne right, how, as honest men, 
 
 could they sustain my authority ? and, unless I should do wrong, how could 
 they be dissatisfied with me ? But by what magic influence, by what super- 
 natural agency of the Board, was the authority of the President to be sustain- 
 ed, provided he revoked his decision called back the young man and yield- 
 ed to the feelings and prejudices of the scholars ? Be it remembered that the 
 young gentleman was not actually a member of College, and had been Buf- 
 fered to remain a long time only on probation.
 
 dressed to each member of the Board, praying for the removal of 
 this officer, were already in the post-office, or were to be sent 
 there before the departure of the mail on the ensuing morning. 
 No time was to be lost : I sent immediately for four or five of the 
 young gentlemen who, I was informed, had been chiefly concerned 
 in the conspiracy. They frankly acknowledged the fact ; and 
 had been induced to the measure, they said, solely from their con- 
 viction of the want of ability in the officer for his own department. 
 They all remarked, one only excepted, that, as a gentleman, 
 and as a preacher, they highly respected him. But one young gen- 
 tleman thought the professor had not used him well. [11] "Grant- 
 ing," said I, "your objection against your instructer well found- 
 ed, which, however, 1 am by no means prepared to grant, -his 
 deficiency is an evil, and a serious evil : but the course you have 
 taken is not the way to remedy it ; and it is necessary that you 
 stay your proceedings immediately," But the matter, as was to 
 be expected, soon became public. Shortly after, about the third 
 or fourth day, I believe, two of the members of the Board, from 
 Utica, called on me, and remarked, that it was understood there 
 was great disturbance in the College j that the Trustees in that 
 village had been together, and it was thought advisable that a 
 couple of them should come out and see whether the faculty need- 
 
 [11] This gentleman was called to the office of tutor in the College, Nov. 
 1817, with reference to his officiating also as chaplain on the Sabbath. He 
 arrived here a stranger to every one but myself. He soon became highly ac- 
 ceptable to the professors, and, for ought ' I knew, to the scholars also. Be- 
 fore he had be.en with us two months, each of the professors expressed to me 
 an earnest desire that he might become a permanent member of the faculty. 
 The expression of their desire was entirely gratuitous ; and each one I pre- 
 sumed had formed his opinion for himself. At the semi-annual meeting of 
 the Board in May, 1818, he was elected professor of the Latin language ; but 
 was to be considered as professor elect merely, and to officiate as tutor till the 
 number of scholars in the Institution should increase to eighty. On this occa- 
 sion I expressed my opinion of the qualifications of the candidate without re- 
 serve. I informed the Board that I knew him personally when an under-grad- 
 uate ; that he was considered by the faculty of the College at which he was 
 educated as the best linguist in his class ; that in consequence of the reputa- 
 tion which he had since sustained as an instructer, the professorship of lan- 
 guages in a southern university had been privately proffered him, the ap- 
 pointment to which, however, he deemed it inexpedient to encourage, by 
 reason of certain embarrassments of the institution. I likewise remarked, 
 that at the time of his graduation, his President, from a conviction that his tal- 
 ents and manners were peculiarly adapted to academic life, advised him not 
 to think of devoting his labors exclusively nor principally to the gospel min- 
 istry. ; and that on leaving the seminary at which he received his theological 
 education, one of the professors, I had been informed, gave him the same ad- 
 vice. A letter received from Doctors Alexander and Miller, of Princeton, 
 was read to the Board, in which they expressed a very favorable opinion of 
 his qualifications for the office for which he was a candidate.* I further re- 
 marked^ that while I thought him capable of filling ably and successfully the 
 chair of an instructer, I believed him calculated to be peculiarly useful in ft 
 College, in consequence of his talent at government, 
 
 * I regret that this letter is not to be found.
 
 ed help.l2] ii replied "The 'College was never more tran- 
 quil ; and 1 am very sorry the Trustees in Utica should give 
 themselves such unnecessary trouble." Immediately after, or 
 within a few dav;-, the professor wrote to the president of the 
 Board, informing him that he should resign his office, or that it 
 was his intention to resign it, at the ensuing meeting in May.l3]j 
 Unpleasant as this subject was, I felt no solicitude for the re- 
 sult. In my owu view, the course of duty was so perfectly ob- 
 vious, I could not apprehend the Board could mistake it. I took 
 no pains to consult the me nbers : with one of them, however, 
 whem I incidentally met, I conversed with freedom, whose views, 
 I had no doubt, accorded exactly with my own. "The young 
 rogues," he remarked, " must not be countenanced in such. 
 
 [12] Is it not remarkable that the gentlemen in Utica, who so well un- 
 derstood the etiquette of business, did not perceive that in this measure they 
 were assuming the original powers of the Board itself, which had been dele- 
 gated to the faculty, and usurping the appropriate duty of the prudential 
 committee ? This committee was composed of five members, all of whom 
 (one excepted,) lived within about a mile from the College : and one of theii- 
 principal and specific duties is, as the terms import, to give counsel and ad- 
 yice to the faculty, when called on for that purpose, in cases of emergency. 
 
 [IS"! The professor, so far as I knew, had adopted the measure without 
 consulting any one. After he had formed his purpose to resign, as it seemed, 
 he called at my door with two letters in his hand, and remarked "I have 
 written two letters to the President of the Board : in one I inform him I shall 
 resign my office (or it is my intention to resign it) in May ; in the other, that 
 I shall do it at commencement ; which of them had I better send ?" " If you 
 think it best," I replied, " to send either, (or if you have made up your mind 
 that it is expedient to resign,) perhaps it would be as well to send the first." 
 But the abstract question Do you advise me to resign my office ? was never 
 put to me, nor a word uttered by me touching that subject. I make these 
 remarks, because a principal member of the Board, as I have been assured 
 by another member, has accused me of inconsistency, viz. in advising the pro- 
 fessor to resign, and then opposing the acceptance of his resignation ; and be- 
 cause another Trustee has remarked, in the presence of myself and several 
 other gentlemen, that a member of the Board, of great influence, had com- 
 plained of my management and finesse When asked what facts he instanced 
 as the ground of his complaint, he replied that none were specified, except- 
 ing my conduct in the affair of professor , in advising him to send in his 
 
 resignation, and afterwards opposing the acceptance of it before the Board. 
 How many other Trustees have made the same complaint against me I know 
 not. The instances mentioned came to my knowlege in a manner ptirely 
 incidentul. * 
 
 * The following is an extract from a communication received from the pro- 
 fessor since the above was written : " As to my resignation, I know that I 
 neither consulted you nor any other man ; but made up my mind to throw 
 myself upon the honor of the Trustees. If they did the thing they ought, I 
 knew the difficulty would soon be over. If they did not, I wished to have no 
 more to do with them. I wrote two letters, and merely asked you which of 
 the two I should send as one contained a resignation at Commencement, the 
 other at the end of the spring term. " It is now known that it was extensively 
 reported by some of the Trustees, that the professor acted in accordance with. 
 my advice, in sending in his resignation, notwithstanding my strenuous oppo- 
 sition to accepting it. Such are the means which some of the Trustees of 
 Hamilton College have been in the habit of using to give reputation to its 
 officers. 
 
 B
 
 10 
 
 things." When the Board hail met, and the resignation \vas pre- 
 sented, I asked the gentleman alluded to, to make a motion that 
 the resignation be returned to the professor, with a request that 
 he would re-consider his resolution. He replied "1 have got 
 another member to make a motion ;" but when the motion was 
 made it was, to my utter surprise, that the resignation be accept- 
 ed. The debate on the question was continued for some time, 
 and with not a little interest. The advocates fer accepting con- 
 tended that, as the memorials had not come to the Board, and 
 they were ignorant of their contents, they could have no influence 
 on the question, and the Board had nothing to do but to accept 
 the resignation : that, had the young men been permitted to send 
 their memorials to the members, the'case would have been mate- 
 rially different. It was remarked, that some of the scholars were 
 threatening to leave the College, should the professor remain, and 
 would no doubt do it. On the other hand, it was argued that, as 
 to the effect on the Institution, and on the feelings and reputation 
 of the officer, it could make no possible difference, provided the 
 resignation was accepted, whether it was accepted with or with- 
 out the memorials coming to the Hoard : that they would prove 
 the cause of the removal of the professor., which was the only end 
 \vished to be effected by them : that this issue, whether with or 
 without the presentment of the memorials, would have the same 
 paralysing influence upon the government of the College : that, as 
 to the scholars threatening to leave the Institution, such things 
 were not to be regarded by the Board, if they intended to support 
 their College, and render it an honor to themselves and a public 
 benefit : that if their threat was to be regarded at all, it was to 
 be viewed as a reason against accepting the .resignation rather 
 than in favor of it. In regard to the argument founded on their 
 ignorance of the contents of the memorials, I informed the Board 
 that 1 had that morning obtained them of the young gentlemen 
 that they were then in my possession, and ready to be presented to 
 them, if they wished it : that the prayer of the young gentlemen 
 for the removal of the professor rested solely on their opinion of 
 his ability as an instructer. It was not contended, I remarked, 
 that the gentleman had been free from errors in his instruction. 
 lie had necessarily been much occupied in his preparations for the 
 chapel j and had not always had the opportunity which was desi- 
 rable in preparing for the exercises of his class. It was further 
 remarked, that almost any one in such circumstances would be li- 
 able to mistakes : that any young man would suffer in compari- 
 son with professor Norton, who was an unusually correct and 
 critical scholar in his department ; and that our scholars since his 
 death had seemed, by some means or other, to regard this gentle- 
 man a& his successor. "But with respect to the ability of the 
 professor," said I, *' that is not the question to be now settled by 
 YOU : it is a question of a very different nature : it is whether this 
 hoard or your scholars are the judges of the qualifications of your 
 officer*. By accepting this resignation, you will virtually say to 
 the young me.n Any instructer shall be hereafter removed, who, 
 you shall tell us, is not qualified for his office. You will establish
 
 a precedent which will put it within the power of your scholars ta 
 drive every instructor from the Seminary whose faithfulness shall 
 become irksome to them. The gentleman who is the subject of 
 the memorials has been the most vigilant and active in government 
 of all your subordinate officers ; and it. is firmly believed both by 
 jour President and professors that, but for his vigilance and acti- 
 vity, the memorials would never have been thought of. "[14] I 
 added " When I was on my way to your College, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, it was remarked to me by a gentleman well acquainted with 
 its circumstances 'You are going to war.' And if I may be 
 permitted to keep up the figure, I found soon after my arrival that 
 we had a battle to fight. Your faculty. Sir, have. fought the bat- 
 tle ; and we thought we had won the victory. But, accept this 
 resignation, and you throw us back four years. The battle is 
 again to be fought ; but whether we again win the victory is 
 doubtful. Renaetriber what I this day tell you : provided this re- 
 signation is accepted, you will rarely find a subordinate officer 
 who will dare do his duty. As to my own duty, I shall endeavor 
 to do it. If your College falls, I will be buried under its ruins." 
 When the votes were taken on the question, it appeared that the 
 resignation was accepted unanimously, [lo] 
 
 [14] A few days after the Junior class which were engaged in the con- 
 spiracy were graduated, I remarked to one of the members of it " I never 
 conversed with you, Sir, in relation to your treatment of the professor. Your 
 associates in that affair, with whom I had conversation on the subject, all said 
 to me, with the exception of one of them, that they had nothing against him 
 excepting his want of ability as a teacher. Now tell me, like an honest man, 
 how it was." The young gentleman replied" Why, to tell the truth, if he 
 had let us alone we should have let him alone." Another of them remarked 
 *o me, in allusion to it "It was a wicked thing." I have heard many of the 
 young gentlemen concerned speak of the matter ; and almost if not quite all 
 of them expressed themselves in terms of disapprobation and regret. 
 
 [15] In the debate on the question, most of the principal members took 
 an active and decided part in favor of accepting the resignation ; but not an 
 individual, excepting the President of the College, came out in opposition to 
 it. From the arguments of the supporters of the motion from the equivocal 
 and indecisive manner of a few others who spoke and from the silence of the 
 rest, I thought I saw no reason to hope that the sentiments of a single member 
 coincided with my own. Indeed, I took it for granted, that all were opposed 
 to me. In these circumstances I was embarrassed and perplexed beyond 
 measure as to the course of duty. I was greatly disappointed and distressed 
 at the manner in which the resignation was received and treated by the 
 Board. I was grieved at the injustice and injury which would be done the 
 professor by accepting it ; and was alarmed for its consequences to the Col- 
 lege. But my solitary vote could avail nothing. If I voted alone, I saw no 
 good to be effected by it, but thought I saw much evil. I knew it would be 
 industriously reported, that the President was on one side of the question, and 
 the Corporation all on the other. And since the Board were taking part in 
 opposition to the professor with a large proportion of the students, who were 
 much excited on the subject, it was not to be questioned that my influence 
 and usefulness, as the head of the College, would be seriously impaired by 
 such a report. The result was wholly unlocked for by me. I had not time 
 for reflection. But from the momentary view which I could take of the sub- 
 ject, it appeared that my duty to the Institution required that I should not 
 givemy vote alone on the question. But no sooner had we adjourned thau 
 :.t appeared that I had greatly misapprehended the views of some of the gen-
 
 The aspect of this conspiracy against the professor, frora its 
 commencement, was peculiarly alarming. Their firmness of pur- 
 pose, their coolness and deliberation, and their confidence in the 
 success of their effort, evinced by the young men the moment the 
 affair became public, (so different from what I hud ever before 
 witnessed, and in my view so perfectly mysterious, without tke 
 supposition of some extraneous agency,) and the visible gratifica~ 
 tion of certain members of the Board, as soon as it was rumored 
 that the scholars had been conspiring for the removal of that gen- 
 tleman, awakened in my breast painful suspicions that some of 
 the Trustees themselves had so far forgotten their duty and their 
 honor as to countenance if not actually to advise them in the mea- 
 sure. 16] Circumstances were developed in the course of the 
 two next succeeding years, by which thee suspicions were deep- 
 
 tlemen. A certain member says tome, "This is a most extraordinary pro- 
 ceeding. We have passed a resolution with perfect unanimity, as it seemed, 
 when a great proportion (or a major ty) of the Board are opposed to it." 
 " Is that possible !" I replied- ' ' Why then did not some of you rise and sup- 
 port me ? Why did you leave me to stand alone on the floor ?" He answer- 
 ed " We were only waiting for you to vote : then we should have followed 
 3 r ou." Another gentleman, who oh that day had for the first time taken his 
 seat in the Board, remarked, in my presence, to the president of the Board, 
 before we had left the room "You [i. e. the Corporation,] have ruined your 
 College, Sir : neither you nor I have a friend in New- York who would send a 
 son here, if he knew what we have been doing this day." It was soon evi- 
 dent from observation that the apprehensions expressed before the Board 
 were likely to be fully realized. There was something in the appearance of 
 the young men not to be misunderstood. It was evident they considered 
 themselves as having achieved a complete triumph. But a few weeks subse- 
 quent to the occurrence, I was informed by a gentleman living in the vicini- 
 ty of the College, that some of the friends of order in the Institution had re- 
 marked to him, ihat the faculty, it was very obvious, dare not do their duty ; 
 that they were afraid to put the laws hi execution. As to those officers who 
 still -were not afraid, it was evidently the settled determination of many strenu- 
 ously to resist their efforts. One of the professors, in visiting the rooms of the 
 young gentlemen, was repeatedly treated with manifest disrespect, and in se- 
 veral instances to his face. He was told that it ions none of kis business to vi- 
 J)it their rooms : it -was the President's duty. More than once were some of 
 the faculty actually stoned, in the evening, on the College premises, while 
 engaged in the performance of their official duty. The effects on the Insti- 
 tution of accepting the resignation of the professor, as would easily be fore- 
 seen by any man experienced in College discipline, or who had been a care* 
 ful observer of the natural ardor and buoyancy of youth, and their love of ex- 
 emption from restraint, were deep and lasting. Our young men have ever 
 since felt that it has been in their power, to use their own language, to get 
 rid of an unpopular officer -whenever they pleased. It was stated by a member, 
 in the presence of the Board, soon after the work of reform had commenced 
 in 1827, that some of our most correct and meritorious scholars, who were 
 graduated several years after the resignation of the professor, and were not 
 here at the time, had assured him that such were the feeling and conviction 
 in College while they were members of it. 
 
 [16] By some of the Trustees it was actually regarded, as I thought, a 
 matter of congratulation. Before the professor had intimated to any one his 
 intention of resigning, one of them, in reference to the vacancy which he 
 seemed to take for granted we should soon have to fill, remarked to me "In 
 future I will judge for myself. I will vote for none but men of talents." I 
 replied" It is indispensable, Sir, that your officers be men of Merits ; H;'-.
 
 cued to a degree which amounted well-nigh to a conviction that 
 such was the fact. But at last this mystery of iniquity was re- 
 vealed as in broad daylight ; and room was no longer left tut 
 doubt that my apprehensions had been well founded. [17] 
 
 other qualifications are also necessary. Their usefulness depends much upon 
 their moral characters, their habits and principles, their manners and cV - 
 tions. It is important that they be men of harmonious views and feehngs, 
 who can cordially co-operate in their labors." The gentleman answered me, 
 as I perfectly recollect, in the following words, but with an a ; r of authority 
 and self-confidence which would baffle description : " I will have none but 
 men of talents in the fuculty , and if they can't agree, -ve (i. e. the Corpora- 
 tion,) -will make them agree"* 
 
 * Herein is a grand secret as to the difficulties of Hamilton College. Th's 
 propensity of the Board has been a prolific source of those evils which have 
 chiefly embarrassed and cramped the Institution from its beginning, and re- 
 tarded its progress and usefulness. The Trustees have regardc-d it much in 
 the same light as a banking or manufacturing company regard the'r estab- 
 lishment ; 1 mean that their faculty, considered merely as a faculty, have 
 been viewed by them little better than dependants, who were to submit im- 
 plicitly to their will and dictation. I say not this of the Trustees general/if. 
 The views of the major part of them, I fully believe, have been widely differ- 
 ent. I speak of the master minds of the Board, who have felt as if all power 
 was theirs, and whose influence has been such that their associates in office 
 did not think it expedient to oppose them. It was once remarked to me by 
 one of this class, that three members of the Board, whom he named, could carr]> 
 any measure -n-hic/i thei/ pleased This class of members have seemed to 
 be confident that their wisdom alone was competent to devise all proper 
 measures, and their own power to accomplish them. Hence little regard has 
 been paid to the experience and judgment of their faculty in many of their 
 most important proceedings, or even to their character or feelings. My ven- 
 erated predecessor was spared long enough to witness and to feel this pro- 
 pensity of the Board. During his last two years, he often expressed, as one 
 of his professors has informed me, great anxiety for the College, on account 
 of the strange proceedings of the Trustees, as he considered them. He re- 
 marked to the professor a little previous to his death, that he believed God 
 would soon remove him, and he hoped to a better world ; but he trembled fur 
 ihe College. Immediately subsequent to the last meeting of the Board which 
 he ever attended, (Sept. 10th, 1816) he remarked to the same gentleman, with 
 indications of deep emotion, "that the corporation had taken out of his hand;- 
 some of his appropriate duties." "They virtually told me," said he, "by 
 their acts, that I am not fit for my place." He alluded more particularly to "o 
 resolution which they had just passed, (which appears in their minutes,) ma- 
 king it the duty of one of the professors to review and correct the compositions 
 of the Senior class, which had ever been considered one of his own proper 
 duties, and which, prior to this period, he had performed. This resolution, il 
 would seem, the Trustees must have passed, without even having consulted 
 their President , at any rate without his approbation. 
 
 No matter who the Corporation of a College may be, or who are their facul- 
 ty : only let the Corporation feel and act in this manner, and no one needs 
 the gift of prophecy to divine the consequences. 
 
 [17] In the following communications, A., B. , C., D., E., are substituted 
 for names of young gentlemen concerned in the conspiracy, all highly respect- 
 able scholars, one of whom is now a clergyman of honorable standing in the 
 church, and the others of the same standing in civil society. M., N., O., P.. 
 for names of other members of the College, who had interviews with certain 
 Fmstees, and brought back their opinion and advice to then- associates in the 
 ^nterprize. X., Y., Z., R., V., for names of members of the Corporation. 
 
 A. states as follows ; viz. " I recollect it was told among the students, that
 
 14 
 
 FIRING AND BURSTING OF THE CANNON. 
 
 la November, 1823, an occurrence took place without a paral- 
 lel, it is believed, in the history of our American Colleges, as to 
 
 some one of the Trustees, in conversation with one of the students, (perhaps 
 
 Mr. , I don't precisely recollect,) told him that the proper method to be 
 
 taken to remove Mr. , (the professor,) or have him removed, would be to 
 
 present a complaint to the Trustees. It was the belief, I venture to say, of all 
 the members of both the two classes, that the Trustees generally in Utica and 
 Whitesboro', and some ebewhere, would not be displeased, if they should pre- 
 sent them with the memorials they did, (rather designed to present,) and were 
 probably encouraged to do so, by some observations made to them respecting 
 
 Mr. , the professor, by different individuals of the Board. I have since that 
 
 time heard the matter adopted and carried into effect by the students, approved 
 of by two different members of the Board."* B. informs me, " When the 
 matter was under discussion, and it was boldly proposed to effect the separa- 
 tion of Mr. ' , from the institution, certain individuals in the class, and 
 
 in my own, evinced an ardour of zeal, and firmness of resolution, and above 
 all, an indifference as to consequences, which could not well be accounted for. 
 Even now, as well as then, I should be at a loss to account for the conduct of 
 those individuals, in accomplishing such an object by such means, (their pecu- 
 liar situation considered,) without supposing them to have acted under assuran- 
 ces of entire indemnity from some of the Board, and to have been urged to the 
 prosecution of the purpose by being advised that their proceedings should be 
 sanctioned by the Corporation. There were some, however, who questioned 
 the propriety of the course which was pursued. It became necessary to in- 
 spire confidence, to confirm the wavering, and if possible, to place all engaged 
 in the transaction out of the reach of all fear, as to the ultimate effect upon 
 ourselves, as members of the institution. At this stage of the procedure, the 
 rumor first reached my ears that we should be sustained by the Board. I can- 
 not say where the report originated. I cannot designate the individual or indi- 
 viduals who made use of it to urge on the business. But that many, if not all 
 of us acted under a full persuasion, that some members of the Corporation were 
 conniving at the proceeding, and would see us safely through, I have no doubt. 
 
 I entirely concur with , in the belief that we had the countenance and 
 
 support of the Board. At the time, I scarcely knew one and was on terms, 
 of intimacy with none of the Corporation." In allusion to this matter, the wri- 
 ter adds, although not professedly a pious man, "It is not so very lately that 
 I have been made to feel the bitterness of regret I might say, the stings of 
 remorse. Years did not elapse, before I became sensible of the odious share 
 I bore in that transaction. If none of those engaged in it acted with a purer 
 motive and with more honest views than 1 can claim then have they with me 
 much to repent of." 
 
 C. remarks in reference to the effort to remove the professor, " The recol- 
 lection of many circumstances connected with the event, has entirely passed 
 from me. I may state, however, that during the excitement which preceded 
 
 and attended the dismission of Mr. , I often heard that some member, or 
 
 members, of the Board, residing either at Utica or in the vicinity, were dispo 
 sed to lend -A favorable ear to the complaints of the students. I remember to 
 have heard my classmate M. often say of some one, (~of X. if I am not very 
 much mistaken } that when the views of the students respecting professor 
 were given him, he would reply that " something must be done ; the case must 
 be investigated, Sic. &c." I cannot, however, positively say that it was X. 
 who made these replies. That this, however, was the substance of them, and 
 that they were given by some very influential individual residing at or near 
 Utica, and that M. reported them, is pefectly in my recollection. Farther 
 than this, I cannot be positive." 
 
 - Thos^j individual* are designated $ viz. B. and V.
 
 its character j and by reason of the measures adopted by the 
 Board ia relation to it, not less extraordinary as to its effects. 
 
 D., in allusion to the same affair, says, "I do know something of the ori- 
 gin of the transaction, and can freely and without hesitation say, that we did 
 receive encouragement, and what we considered assurances of support, from 
 certain members of the Board. I do not believe that the subject would ever 
 have been presented to the Corporation, or even that the petitions would have 
 been signed, had not such encouragement been given. I distinctly recollect 
 that we considered Z.* and Y., and I believe X., as pledged to shield us from 
 all harm. I cannot speak with as much confidence about X., as about Z. and 
 Y. The report of their opinions was brought out from UticabyN. and O., 
 who were then members of the College. X.'s views on the subject were re- 
 ported, if I am not greatly mistaken, by M. We received no written pledges, 
 and the expressions which were used, I cannot now recollect. I know that 
 the impression was strong on my mind, and I believe the same is true of the 
 others engaged in the affair, that the course we pursued was approved of by 
 the gentlemen mentioned above, and that they would go all lengths in carrying 
 into execution what we had undertaken. Ever since I have reflected calmly 
 and deliberately on the subject, I have condemned the course we pursued 
 but at the same" time, I have considered certain members of the Board as much 
 more to blame than we were : and this opinion 1 have repeatedly expressed." 
 
 B., C., and D., subsequent to the preceding separate communications, fur- 
 nished me with the following joint communication. " We have just concluded 
 a conference in reference to the subjects; (i.e. the conspiracy against the 
 professor, and the agency of the Trustees in that matter.) The following 
 facts we are able to state definitely and positively, in addition to those which 
 we have already communicated ; namely : 1. That P. went to Utica during 
 
 the excitement which preceded the dismission of Mr. , and on his return 
 
 reported in the hearing of us severally, that Z. had expressed to him his ap- 
 probation of our enterprise. 2. That P., who had previously to this, been dif- 
 fident and timid, became now an active and decided friend of our measures 
 3. That we ourselves and our coadjutors generally, felt that a new impulse had 
 been imparted by this information to our courage, resolutions and hopes. These 
 things have, in the course of our conversation, been brought distinctly to our 
 recollection. 
 
 E. advises me, in relation to the efforts of his class, ('"not the class of which 
 B., C., and.D. were members,^ to remove the professor " The first serious 
 charge which came to my knowledge, was his apparent desire to exercise 
 more authority and power than we deemed in him vested. But this allegation 
 not being sufficiently prominent to warrant any active proceedings on the part 
 of the students, we were not long in discovering other and more serious grounds 
 of complaint. Each day, during the recitation of Latin or Greek, a number oK 
 us were in the practice of writing clown the errors of his syntax, prosody and 
 translations. But previous to proceeding to active measures for his removal, 
 we conceived it advisable to secure assistance, and that too, from a source 
 that might be relied upon. For this purpose, a delegation was appointed tq 
 wait upon some of the Curators ('TrusteesJ in whom we could safely trust. 
 This was done both before and after the petition was drawn up and signed by 
 the class, and the desired assistance promised. A communication was made to 
 the class by other of its members, that we might rely with confidence upon the 
 assistance of a portion of the Board of Trustees, whose influence was considered 
 equal to the accomplishment of our purposes. The professor was most egre- 
 giously injured ,- the charges alleged against him were trivial, compared with 
 the magnitude and extent of suffering and loss to him. He was a gentleman, 
 a good scholar, and a useful officer." 
 
 The following is an extract of a communication from a gentleman of respect- 
 
 * Z. is the gentleman who remarked to me, "I will have nne but men of 
 talents in the faculty, and if they can't agree, we C i. e. the Corporation J will 
 make them agree. " See note 16.
 
 16 
 
 \ OiMinon, heavily loaded and plugged, was fired and burst, at 2 
 fl'clock in the morning, on the fourth floor of one of our dormito- 
 ries. It was placed in the hall, by the side uf a room occupied 
 by a tutor, \vlio, at the time, was asleep in an adjoining bedroom. 
 It was never supposed by any one, that those concerned in the 
 act had any design on the life of that officer. But a moment's 
 reflection mus-t have convinced them that in doing what they were 
 contemplating, his life would be put in great jeopardy. His pre- 
 servation was regarded by all acquainted with the circumstances 
 as little less than miraculous. Had the cannon varied ia position 
 but a few feet only in a certain direction, his destruction would 
 have been inevitable. His coat, which was hanging on his chair, 
 
 uble standing, who is not an alumnus of the College. "X. has interfered with 
 the students of Hamilton College, in relation to the government, particularly in 
 
 the case of , ('the professor, J and has confessed it to . He told 
 
 that he had sent for some of them and conversed with them,' &c. What he. 
 said, I know not ; but from the fact that he acknowledged it to be an interfe- 
 rence, as I understood, conclude that it was something to the purpose." 
 
 S. E. 
 
 Now compare the preceding statements with the following resolution, 
 standing on the minutes of the Board, and which it seemed at the time, was 
 passed unanimously ; viz. "Resolved, That the resignation of Mr. professor 
 
 he accepted at the same time the Trustees of Hamilton College cannot 
 
 forbear to express their sentiments of Mr as a gentleman of high literary 
 
 attainments, and of unblemished reputation, and the Trustees deeply regret the 
 occasion of his separation from the Institution, and that the Secretary furnish 
 
 Mr. with a copy of this resolution." *"* 
 
 Here I beg the liberty of putting a few interrogatories. 1 . How is the con- 
 duct of the gentlemen Trustees, implicated in the foregoing statements, to 
 be reconciled with the sentiments expressed of the professor in their resolu- 
 tion ? While they could not forbear to express their sentiments of him as a 
 gentleman of high literary attainments, and of unblemished reputation, how 
 could they countenance and abet the scholars in their efforts to remove him 
 from his office, solely, as the scholars declared in their memorial, because they 
 believed he was wanting in qualifications for his office ? How, as men of 
 honor and of truth, could they say they deeply regretted the occasion of his 
 separation from the College, after they, themselves, had been concerned in 
 creating that occasion ? 2. If those gentlemen really believed, after all, the 
 professor did not possess the necessary qualifications for his office, and that 
 his removal was desirable, {"which it seems they could not have believed, if 
 honest in their resolution, J was there no way of effecting it more manly and 
 upright ? more generous, humane, and just, as it respected the feelings, repu- 
 tation, and future usefelness of the professor ! 3. Can it be the duty of the 
 Trustees of a College, in any circumstances, to encourage and make use of 
 their scholars in a dark and covert manner, as instruments in effecting the re- 
 moval of an officer ? 4. Is such a procedure kind, or wise, as it respects the 
 young gentlemen themselves ? 5. Have not parents just reason to com- 
 plain, when those under whose auspices they have placed their sons, with im- 
 plicit confidence, and for the best of purposes, condescend to become them- 
 selves the means, by their advice and example, of training them to the base 
 and corrupting work of intrigue and management ? 6. How can the govern- 
 ment of any College be supported as it ought to be, while some of its Corpo- 
 rationand its principal members too are encouraging the complaints and 
 prejudices of the scholars, and secretly countenancing and supporting them in 
 conspiracy against their officers ? Such means some of the Board of Trustees 
 of Hamilton College, those honored guardians of the interests of science ajicl 
 morality, have deigned to uia.ke use of for their advancemenj.
 
 IT 
 
 at the foot of his bed, was so rent in pieces as to be useless. The 
 side of his chamber adjoining the hall was entirely carried away, 
 and the door found standing erect against the opposite wall. Ma- 
 ny of the doors in the same section of the building were burst 
 open, and some torn from their hinges. In several windows 
 scarce a pane of glass was remaining ; and even the sashes in 
 some instances were wholly burst away. The fragments of the 
 cannon were thrown in every direction some through the roof, 
 and some through every obstacle quite into the cellar. [18] A 
 transaction liable in its consequences to so tragical an issue, 
 could not but produce deep sensations. Such was the tone of 
 feeling on the subject, as soon as the facts were understood, that 
 a lawyer of great respectability in a neighboring town declared 
 that College punishments were inadequate to the offence ; and a 
 gentleman in Utica, and of honorable standing at the bar, re- 
 marked that he would give fifty dollars to carry on a prosecution 
 rather than that the offenders should escape with impunity. The 
 young gentlemen were greatly alarmed at the effects of their rash- 
 ness ; and instead of stepping forward and frankly acknowledg- 
 ing they had no anticipations of the consequences, and magnani- 
 mously palliating the offence by expressing their regret for their 
 temerity, they at once resolved to endeavor to avoid detection by 
 every means in their power. After a patient and scrutinizing in- 
 vestigation for several days, the faculty had obtained satisfactory 
 evidence of the guilt of two of the offenders only, and those, 
 it was believed, not the principals. Apprehending, from reports, 
 that the transgressors had rendered themselves liable to a crimi- 
 nal prosecution, about fifty members of the College bound them- 
 selves, by a written covenant, not to take the oath if called before 
 a court of justice. With the transgression, as it respected the 
 laws and interests of the civil community, the faculty of the Col- 
 lege had officially no concern. Convinced, however, granting such. 
 a prosecution proper, that it ought not to be undertaken by any 
 gentlemen in the vicinity of the College, we thought it desirable 
 to learn more correctly, the views of some of our principal citizens 
 abroad. I had an interview with three or four gentlemen in Utica, 
 all of them of the first standing, and connected with the College. 
 I related to them the circumstances ; I expressed no opinion on 
 the subject, further than to say, that provided a prosecution should 
 be deemed expedient, it was clear, in my view, that the gentlemen, 
 in Clinton should have no part in it. [19] After some couversa- 
 
 [18] In addressing the scholars on the subject, a short time subsequent, the 
 chairman of the committee of the Board remarked to them, that the same act, 
 could it be so often repeated, would probably prove fatal to some of theta 
 nineteen times out of twenty. 
 
 [19] In regard to the prosecution, I had fearful doubts of the expediency 
 of the measure. Some of the gentlemen in Clinton were talking of underta- 
 king it. Whether the interests of civil society required it rather than the 
 young men should escape with entire impunity, as had become evident that 
 they otherwise in all probability would, there were those more competent to 
 judge than myself; and I thought it my duty in a case like this, to acquiesce 
 silently in their judgment, 
 
 C
 
 18 
 
 tion on the subject, the gentlemen remarked, at least one of them, 
 we will advise with some other gentlemen, and then acquaint you 
 of our opinion. A few days subsequently, one of the gentlemen 
 informed me that the Trustees in Utica, thought it expedient to 
 have an informal meeting of the Board in that village, without de- 
 lay. This meeting was not called in accordance with the provi- 
 sions of the charter. It was not considered, therefore, as a con- 
 stitutional meeting, and the gentlemen viewed themselves as act- 
 ing not in their official capacity as trustees of the College, ftut 
 merely as members of civil society. Indeed, the charter, in no 
 circumstances, invests the Board with powers of civil or criminal 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 The meeting was well attended. There were present, I believe, 
 seventeen members. A correct detail of the circumstances of the 
 case was given, and the nature and particulars of the evidence 
 against A. and B., whom the faculty had detected. I expressed 
 no opinion as to the course which was proper to be adopted. I 
 remarked to the Board as I have ever since had perfect recollec- 
 tion, "I think the case, gentlemen, can rarely exist, in which it 
 is proper to appeal to the courts of law in support of College disci- 
 pline : but whether the case now before you is such an outrage 
 against the peace and order of society as to render a measure of 
 this kind wise, rather than that the perpetrators should escape 
 conviction and punishment, you, gentlemen, arethejudges, not I." 
 And I added, "It is a question which lies without the province 
 of my experience." After much discussion, it was agreed unani- 
 mously, (at least no one spoke or voted against it,) to commence 
 a criminal prosecution j and three of the members were appointed 
 a committee for the purpose. It was afterwards suggested that it 
 would be expedient for the committee first to visit the College, 
 as it. was probable that, on an investigation, the facts might be 
 disclosed. A member of high distinction as a lawyer, remarked, 
 "When the young men see the committee on the ground, and 
 that such a body of men as this Board have taken up the thing in 
 earnest, they will be induced to come forward and deliver them- 
 selves up." To this suggestion I remarked to the Chair, '* Had 
 the gentleman been acquainted with the views and dispositions of 
 scholars so long as I have, no such expectation would be entertained 
 by him. And rely upon it, not a single fact will be brought to 
 light by your investigations." But the suggestion prevailed. The 
 committee were finally instructed to repair to the College, and to 
 institute an inquiry ; and to adopt any other measures which might 
 iy them be deemed proper. They soon entered upon the labors 
 assigned them. The faculty, at the request of the committee, 
 took seats with them. The young gentlemen were studiously and 
 uniformly treated by the committee, with great courtesy and re- 
 "spect. 
 
 But after a diligent examination of two half days and an evening, 
 not the least light was thrown on the subject.[20] The scholars 
 
 [20]^ After nearly thirty years personal experience in the government and 
 discipline of five Colleges, this measure was entirely new to me. Motives of
 
 19 
 
 then were all called into the chapel, and addressed by the chair- 
 man of the committe with great ability and firmness, but with 
 
 delicacy alone prevented me, when it was proposed before the Board, from an 
 open and decided resistance to it. I then viewed it, as I ever since have, as a 
 direct and dangerous encroachment upon the appropriate and exclusive prov- 
 ince of the faculty ; and as tending, in no small degree, to impair their author- 
 ity and influence with their pupils. It was too apparent from the appearance 
 of the young gentlemen before the committee, not to be perceived that they 
 had a similar view of it. For there was something in their ever)' look, and 
 word, and gesture, which insinuated beyond the power of misapprehension 
 You are off your ground; this is the business of the faculty, not yours. Never, 
 in any case, have 1 known the faculty of a College treated with such marked 
 disrespect by scholars, as were the committee on this occasion. Some of the 
 officers, if not all, spoke of it among themselves as a matter of surprise, that 
 gentlemen of their standing should be treated, by our young men, with such 
 a palpable want of deference. It was remarked by one of the committee, soon 
 after the commencement of their investigation, "I am astonished at this inso- 
 lence ; this spirit must be broken down." And it was subsequently remark- 
 ed by them, " We must go through with this thing, or the College is ruined." 
 
 Several of the young gentlemen, since they were graduated, have mention- 
 ed to me, as a palliation of their conduct, that the general feeling and senti- 
 ment among them was, that the Corporation were meddling with that, with, 
 which, properly, they had no immediate concern : And they have also remark- 
 ed, that the proceeding tended much, in the estimation of the thinking part of 
 the students, to weaken and degrade the government of the faculty. Neither 
 the Corporation, nor their committee, it is presumed, intended any such thing. 
 But how could the effect be otheiwise ? That such must be the necessary and 
 inevitable tendency of such a measure cannot, it appears to me, but be per- 
 fectly obvious to every man of only common knowledge of human nature, who 
 will for a moment consider the subject. For let the Trustees of a College 
 only suggest to the scholars (I care not in what way) that the officers, in the 
 opinion of the Board, are not able to govern them ; that the aid of the Board 
 is deemed necessary in enforcing those regulations, and in securing the perfor- 
 mance of those duties which are prescribed in the by-laws for the faculty, and 
 although their influence tind authority provided they are discreet men may 
 mot be at an end, yet they are directly and essentially impaired. The father 
 of a family may, with equal wisdom, call in his neighbors, or the civil magis- 
 trate to his aid, in the government of his children. Let this be done, and what 
 becomes of the cordial respect and obedience which are naturally due to eve- 
 ry parent ? What becomes of his authority ? 
 
 All the powers expressly granted by the charter, or which are embraced in 
 it by implication, as essential to the ends of the Institution, belong originally 
 to the Corporation ; and to them alone. Some of these powers they have no 
 right to delegate to any man, or set of men, viz : the power of organizing the 
 Institution, of appointing the Instructers, of assigning them their respective 
 departments and duties, of calling them to account if unfaithful, and of remov* 
 ing them if incompetent ; the power of controling and protecting its financial 
 interests, and of making appropriations ; of conferring academical honors, and 
 other powers that might be named. But as to the powers which the Board, in 
 their by-laws, have expressly delegated to the faculty, in accordance with their 
 Charter, and which the framers of it intended should be delegated to them, 
 viz : the power of the inatruction and of the immediate inspection and govern- 
 ment of the students ; the power of investigating all transgressions of the rules 
 and regulations of the Institution, and of enforcing the laws and inflicting the 
 penalties prescribed : Powers and rights like these, once delegated, belong 
 to the faculty, and to the faculty exclusively. The Board of Trustees say im- 
 plicitly, if not expressly, to the officers of their College, when they put their 
 by-laws into their hands, These are your Chart ; these your Directory, and 
 the rights and duties here specified arid enumerated, are immediately and ex- 
 clusively yours. This done, and the Trustees have no authority to interfere^
 
 20 
 
 equal affection and mildnesa. He closed his address in the fol- 
 lowing words, viz. "Unless the facts, gentlemen, shall be dis- 
 closed, previous to Wednesday next, a criminal prosecution will 
 then be commenced." It was now about 1 o'clock on Friday. 
 After the usual exercises at 11 o'clock on the ensuing day, I ad- 
 dressed the senior class on the subject, and as kindly and affec- 
 tionately as in my power. Among other things, I remarked to 
 them, "they could not but be persuaded that the committee would 
 persevere, and that detection was inevitable. I advised them as 
 their own friend and as their parents' friend provided any of 
 them were guilty that they voluntarily come forward and own 
 the fact. And granting they were all innocent, that they recom- 
 mend that those who were guilty, do it. Not long subsequent to 
 the close of the recitation, three of them called on me, as a com- 
 mittee, I supposed, and wished to know " whether, provided the 
 persons engaged in firing and bursting the cannon would come 
 forward themselves and acknowledge the fact, the prosecution 
 would be abandoned, and they punished only as the laws of the 
 College prescribed." I replied, that the prosecution, in that event, 
 would undoubtedly be abandoned. It was evident from the lan- 
 guage of their chairman, that the committee wish no more, 
 and I presume the Corporation wish no n>ore. My answer 
 did not satisfy them. "Can you assure us, Sir, (said they,) 
 there would be no prosecution r" That, young gentlemen, 
 1 answered, I am not able to do. I have not power to pledge the 
 committee I have not power to pledge the corporation I have not 
 power to pledge the community. Any member of society has a 
 right to complain to the proper authority, and to commence pro- 
 secution ; and I am unable to prevent it. But if the young gen- 
 tlemen concerned will take the course suggested, I will pledge 
 myself, as a member of the Board, should any persons be still dis- 
 posed to prosecute, to do all I can to prevent it ; and I presume 
 there would be no prosecution. [211 
 
 On the following evening, more than twenty of the scholars 
 fled from the college. Their parents or guardians were immedi- 
 ately apprized of the fact, and the circumstances which led to it. 
 
 and they cannot interfere directly in the exercise of those rights and in the per- 
 formance of those duties, without putting- in jeopardy the vital wellbeing, if 
 not the existence of the College. It could scarcely be less absurd, or less ru- 
 inous to the state, were the Legislative to interfere with the appropriate rights 
 and duties of the Judicial, or of the Executive department. But let this be 
 done, and without opposition, and where are otir peace and tranquility ? where 
 our liberties and lives ? Prae magnis illustrentur parva. 
 
 [21] It was soon stated and believed, that many of the young gentlemen re- 
 ported thro* the country, wherever they went, that a committee of the schol- 
 ars had waited on the President and informed him that, on condition the pros- 
 ecution should be stayed, the persons concerned stood ready to give them- 
 selves up, and to submit to such penalties as the laws of the Institution requir- 
 ed ; but that the President promptly and unfeelingly rejected the proposition, 
 and declared that nothing would answer short of prosecution and punishment 
 by civil authority. They further reported, as it was understood, that the 
 chairman of the committee of the Board had addressed the scholars in a 
 violent and angry manner, and threatened them not with prosecution only, but 
 with imprisonment.
 
 21 
 
 By the flight of the young men, the purpose of the committee was 
 defeated. The members of the Board in Utica, Mm immediately 
 inserted in the papers a call for a meeting of the Corporation at 
 the College, as soon as practicable by the charter, viz. -in three 
 weeks from the date. 
 
 In less than a week many of the young gentlemen, as we had no 
 doubt would be the case/ were sent back by their parents.[22] 
 In the view of the faculty, the path of duty was now clearly marked 
 out to us. Had the matter been under our control, we should 
 barely have said to them, as they returned, that we had no terras 
 to state on which any of them could be restored to the privileges 
 of the College, till "the facts were disclosed, and until that was 
 done, they must all retire from the College premises, and were at 
 liberty to go where they pleased. But the subject was not under 
 our control, I called on some of the committee, and made known 
 to them the opinion of the faculty. But the measure proposed by 
 us was not deemed advisable. It was thought best by them, that 
 the young men be admitted to the exercises of the College, as 
 usual, till the meeting of the Board. I was now alarmed, and 
 expressed to the treasurer of the College, my firm conviction that 
 the Institution would be left by the Corporation in a worse state 
 than that in which they found it. His reply was, "You may rely 
 upon it, that committee will not flinch they will go through with 
 it." I answered him, " You may rely upon it, Sir, they will 
 flinch and remember what I say." 
 
 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, DeC. 22, 1823. 
 
 \Vhen the Board assembled agreeably to the call, the young 
 gentlemen who had fletJ had all returned, with the exception of 
 two or three. The committee appointed at the informal meeting 
 at Utica, made a report of their proceedings, which, it stems from 
 their minutes, were "unanimously approved as judicious, mild, and 
 proper in all respects." It was then resolved, that three other 
 gentlemen be added to the committee, for the purpose of further 
 investigation, and that they report the result to the board. [23] 
 
 [22] I shall ever remember with peculiar feelings and sentiments of respect 
 the magnanimous and public spirited conduct of the fathers of most of these 
 young 1 men, in circumstances so trying' and painful to parental fortitude and 
 affection. As soon as they were acquainted with the facts they ordered their 
 sons to return. One gentleman remarks, " I send back my son to you with 
 full confidence that justice will be done him. I am afraid he is guilty ; but I 
 see no other path of duty for me." Others expressed themselves in a similar 
 manner. Should this narrative ever meet the eye of those few parents who 
 adopted a widely different course, I cannot but believe they will be led to 
 doubt whether the President was so greatly wanting in paternal feeling and 
 tenderness in this matter, as they once suspected. 
 
 [23] It will appear somewhat remarkable, I presume, to those conversant 
 with the administration of Colleges, that the President was not put upon this 
 committee, nor even consulted by them during their deliberations since he ; 
 undoubtedly, possessed the most accurate knowledge of the circumstances, 
 and was most deeply interested and since he is held by the Board in so high 
 a degree responsible for the success of their measures, and the prosperity of 
 the College.
 
 But no further investigation was made by the committee j not a 
 scholar nor any other individual was called before them. After 
 some time spent on the subject, their report was, that, as to the 
 two young gentlemen whom the faculty had detected as having 
 participated in the outrage, A. should be expelled, and B make 
 a public confession j and that C. also should make a public con- 
 fession for his contumacious deportment while under examination 
 before the committee. As to those who had covenanted not to 
 take the oath before the civil magistrate, the committee made no 
 report. When they were asked, what was to be required of those 
 concerned in the combination ? the chairman replied, that the 
 committee wished the President's opinion on the subject. I re- 
 marked, there was a great difference as to the character of the 
 young men engaged in that transaction ; that in regard to many 
 of them, it was the first transgression, it was believed, with which 
 they had ever been chargeable ; and as we could not well make a 
 discrimination, 1 should be satisfied with their subscribing a con- 
 fession in the presence of the faculty, that nothing less would, in 
 my opinion be consistent with the interests of the College. Mild 
 as this measure was, it was strenuously opposed. A member of 
 the committee, and I believe one or two other members of the 
 Board, expressed fearful apprehensions that the young gentlemen 
 would think it severe. But after considerable debate the measure 
 was adopted. The Board adjourned about sunset ; and within 
 twenty minutes after, when the scholars came out of the dining 
 hall, from supper, there was a great rush, and shouting huzza! 
 huzza! huzza.' we are all saved but #./ (i. e. the young gentle- 
 man to be expelled.) It is a fact, as has ever been believed, that 
 before the Trustees had left the building in which they held their 
 sitting, one or more of that honorable body had an interview with 
 some of the young men, and informed them of all that was done. 
 [243 Durir.g the whole session, not a word was uttered, to my 
 knowledge, respecting the prosecution threatened by the commit- 
 tee. No reason was given by them, or even alluded to before the 
 Board, for abandoning it. I had now no doubt that the committee, 
 and probably other members of the Board, had become alarmed at 
 their own measures, and were disposed to throw back the whole 
 subject, with all its embarrassments, upon the faculty. 
 
 In regard to the prosecution, I entertained doubts from the be- 
 ginning, as already suggested, of its expediency. As circumstan- 
 ces now were, 1 regarded it not as inexpedient merely, but unne- 
 cessary. It is fully believed, had the young gentlemen who fled 
 been called before the committee, or the Board, that the facts would 
 have been immediately disclosed. [25] But supposing the facts 
 
 [24] This was not a novel case. The measures of the Board, even in cir- 
 cumstances of the most delicate nature, as respected the faculty of the Col- 
 lege, and of which the scholars should have had no knowledge, have (till 
 within a few years) seldom been concealed from them. 
 
 [25] In a conversation with one of the young gentlemen, after it was made 
 evident that he was an accomplice in the act, I understood clearly from his in- 
 sinuations that he had been directed, when, sit home, to return to College and
 
 had uot been disclosed by them was not the course which the 
 interests of the College indispensably demanded, perfectly obvi- 
 ous ? Since the young gentlemen had most exactly marked them- 
 selves by their flight, what satisfactory apology could the Board 
 possibly give for not saying to them, that they were all suspended 
 from the privileges of the College till those facts were disclosed r 
 The Board had unanimously pronounced the proceedings of then- 
 committee in the first instance, as judicious, mild, and proper in 
 ALL respects. If this opinion was correct, where, in the whole 
 range of our vocabulary, are appellations to be found sufficiently 
 expressive of timidity and inconsistency to characterize the mea- 
 sures recommended by them in the latter instance, and adopted 
 by the Board or rather to characterize their conduct in not re- 
 commending further measures ? Had the detection and punish- 
 ment of the young men, in the view of the committee or the Board, 
 become less desirable, as the matter respected either the College 
 or the community ? What had occurred to justify such a reverse 
 in their opinion ? They will not say, surely, the cuuise adopted 
 l>y the faculty was the cause of it ? Some of the Trustees, per- 
 haps all of them, have a distinct recollection that the chairman of 
 the committee, in their last report, remarked to the Board, that 
 notwithstanding the embarrassing circumstances in which the 
 President of the College had been placed, that nothing had occur- 
 red to impair their confidence at all, in his wisdom and discretion, 
 From what cause, then, as wise and firm men, who understood, 
 and durst do their duty, could they totally abandon the strong 
 ground they had taken ? How could they think, with a proper 
 regard for the College, of casting this subject, difficult as it was 
 in itself, with all the additional perplexities and responsibilities 
 which their own measures had given it, from themselves upon their 
 faculty ? 
 
 The effect of such proceedings of the Board on the feelings of 
 the government of the Institution may in some measure be concei- 
 ved. I shall not attempt to describe it. It was proposed by 
 some of the professors that we resign our offices en masse. But 
 we all came to the conclusion, on a little reflection, that personal 
 considerations, as critical and as trying as our situation was, 
 would not justify us in a course which could not but at once pros- 
 trate the institution, and that our duty required of us one more 
 effort to save it from ruin. Considering the peculiar circumstan- 
 ces of the case, it was thought inexpedient to create fresh excite- 
 ment among the students by an investigation before the faculty. 
 Whatever we had to do by way of discovery, was to be done se- 
 cretly. That the institution had reached an alarming crisis, was 
 not to be doubted. Many of the friends of order in the seminary 
 were greatly dissatisfied, and some were determined, unless some- 
 thing was done, that they would not long remain with us. A 
 
 acknowledge his guilt. I doubt not but others had been directed to do it. 
 And the opinion prevailed pretty generally among the scholars, that several 
 of them, at least, would have done it, provided they had been called before 
 the cominitl;ee:
 
 gentleman of respectability in the county, who had a son in the. 
 Institution, (an accomplice in the matter, as was soon made to 
 appear,) declared that, unless the offenders were detected and 
 punished, he would remove him to another College. 
 
 The opinion prevailed to a considerable extent, not only in the 
 College but out of it, that the Board, or a majority of them, wished 
 no farther discoveries, because, from fear or same other cause, 
 they were unwilling the young men should be punished. And it 
 was soon rumored abroad", that all the difficulties at the College 
 were settled by the Corporation, and finally settled ; and that 
 the faculty had no longer any concern with them. To thi? ru- 
 mor we gave no credit. That the Board could harbor a design, 
 in our opinion, characteristic of almost any thing rather than of 
 wisdom or of fidelity to the Institution, we were unable for a mo- 
 ment to suspect. 
 
 Within a week from the adjournment of the Board we were 
 providentially in possession of satisfactory evidence as to all the 
 important facts pertaining to the outrage. Of the nine individuals 
 who had part in the matter, one had already been expelled, and 
 another had read a confession publicly in obedience to the resolu- 
 tions of the Board, and another had taken a dismission from the 
 College. As to the six other individuals, the faculty were inclin- 
 ed to exercise towards them the utmost lenity which the nature 
 of the offence and the good of the Institution would admit 5 and 
 it was unanimously agreed that one of them, who had prior to this 
 transgression made a public confession for misconduct and had 
 also been rusticated, should be dismissed another rusticated 
 and that from the rest, as it was believed to be their first overt 
 transgression, we would accept an ingenuous public confes- 
 sion. [26] 
 
 Knowing from experience that as soon as it was understood in 
 Utica that the young gentlemen were detected and punished, 
 there would be a great uproar there, it was deemed advisable pre- 
 viously to visit that village, aud to apprize some of the Board liv- 
 ing in that place of the disclosure made, and of the nature of the 
 
 [26] At this stage of our proceedings the report reached us, that the opin- 
 ion prevailed among the scholars also, by some means or other, that the Corpo- 
 ration, by their measures, had put a finishing hand to the business, and had 
 left the government so situated that we should make no further efforts at dis- 
 covery. That such must have been their opinion seems probable from the 
 fact, that those concerned in the act remained with us after the adjournment 
 of the Board. How, otherwise, could they have been willing, for a day, to 
 trust themselves in our hands. It was known to them that one of their asso- 
 ciates had received a dismission from the College, and that they also, of 
 course, could receive one on applying for it. We did not yet believe, nor 
 were we willing to suspect that any encouragement of indemnity had been 
 received by them from the committee, nor from any member of the Board.* 
 But suspicions were soon excited that such encouragement might have been 
 given them. Subsequently to the adjournment, about ten days, a member of 
 the Board remarked to me, that he strongly suspected, when the committee 
 made their report that it was their intention to put the thing at rest ; and thal^ 
 on his way home, be remarked to another that he was ashamed of their pro- 
 ceedings.
 
 25 
 
 testimony, that they might be prepared rightly to estimate and to 
 correct the exaggerated representations vvluch were likely to be 
 made. 
 
 During an interview with the then president of the Board, 
 who was absent from our recent meeting by reason of tiie state of 
 his health, he remarked to me, "In one thing I think you mis- 
 sed it, when a committee of the scholars came and informed you 
 en what terms the offenders would deliver themselves up." I re- 
 plied, "I was not informed, Sir, that they would deliver them- 
 selve up on any terms. I wiil state to you the circumstances, and 
 then you may judge." Having heard my statement, he replied, 
 " Your statement does not agree with that of the boys." " So I 
 presume, Sir," said I. " But who is to be believed, the President 
 of your College' or a company of rash young men, who are fleeing 
 from punishment." He answered, "The President, Sir, to be 
 sure." I then remarked to the gentleman, " If the people in 
 Utica would only suspend forming their opinions, and refrain from, 
 giving currency to the strange reports they hear of us, till they 
 have received the facts from ourselves, the faculty would be saved 
 from much groundless censure, and the Institution itself from a 
 threatening evil. "[37] When this gentleman understood from 
 me that the authors of the mischief were discovered, and that the 
 faculty felt constrained to punish them, he remarked, " Well, I 
 will support you." I replied, " Our path of duty is perfectly 
 plain. I have not called to ask either advice or support. We 
 shall receive your support, I have no fears, provided we deserve it.'* 
 
 In conversation with one of the late committee of the Board, 
 be remarked, that so far as he had learned, the recent measures 
 of the Corporation were very acceptable to the public ; and wished 
 to know how they were considered in the vicinity of the College, 
 and by the faculty. ' The people in Clinton," I replied, "re- 
 gard your measures as most extraordinary ; and as to the faculty, 
 we consider our government very much paralyzed by them." I 
 then informed him, that the young men concerned in the late act 
 of violence were at last all detected, and that the well-being of 
 the Institution demanded their punishment. " If you thi-nk so," 
 the gentleman remarked, "you must punish them." " We must 
 punish them," I replied. " If the Corporation support us, well 
 if not, your College is gone." 
 
 As soon as it was known in Utica, that the young gentlemen 
 
 [27] I am far from insinuating that the inhabitants of Utica generally are 
 unfriendly to the College. A great proportion of them, I have no doubt, are 
 among its sincere friends. But let a few men of any influence in such a vil- 
 lage be prone to complain of a College in its vicinity, especially if some of its 
 Trustees residing there are in the habit of speaking light of it, and it is per- 
 fectly natural that circumstances, in themselves trivial^ and when well under- 
 stood no way censurable, should become the occasion of strong and general 
 excitement, and of severe animadversion. 
 
 A Trustee of the College, living at the time some miles east of that village, 
 once remarked before the Board, as soon as there is any difficulty at Hamilton 
 College the clamours raised in Utica against the faculty rush down the valley of 
 ike Mohawk like a torrent, 
 
 IX
 
 20 
 
 iaci been detected and punished, there was a great clamor against 
 as there, as had been anticipated. The young gentleman dismiss- 1 
 cd by the faculty, belonged to that village, and his connexions 
 \verc numerous and of respectable standing, Shortly after his 
 return home, a letter was received from his father, in which he 
 complained of us for not giving his son, as he understood from 
 him, any reason for this step; and stated, that he was- unable to 
 learn from him, that he was justly chargeable with any unexpialed 
 oft'euce. The communication was brought by a gentleman, by 
 profession a lawyer, who remonstrated in strong terms against our 
 procedure. He contended that "the young men had been tried 
 and acquitted by the Corporation that the faculty were an infe- 
 rior court ; and had, therefore, no right to try them subsequently, 
 and to convict and punish them that it was a vital and long es- 
 tablished principle of civil jurisprudence, that no man be tried 
 twice for the same offence," 
 
 [28] I have been not a little surprised at the sentiments, often advanced by 
 men of information, and men too in other matters judicious, on the subject of 
 College discipline. Notwithstanding the assurance with which their opinions 
 are held and expressed, they seem not to have considered the matter ; or, if 
 they have considered it at all, to have done it but superficially. It seems nev- 
 er to have occurred to them, that the government of a Seminary of learning 
 must, from its nature and design, be in a high degree parental differing not 
 essentially from the government of a family. The officers of a College have 
 no power to inflict corporeal punishment on the youth of their charge. Pa- 
 rents grant them no such -power ; as it would be unwise for themselves to in- 
 flict such punishment on their sons who have arrived to the age of students in 
 a public Seminary of learning. If the faculty are invested with authority to 
 impose pecuniary penalties, (a measure always questionable, unless,, perhaps, 
 in case of damages) yet this authority is never exercised to any considerable 
 extent. It is their business not merely to instruct their pupils in the branches 
 of learning which tend to discipline, invigorate and enlarge the intellectual 
 powers, and to supply the mind with useful knowledge, but to implant and 
 nourish in them wholesome moral and religious principles, to form them to 
 correct habits : and in order to attain these ends, kindly and faithfully to ad- 
 vise', counsel, admonish, and reprimand them if necessary ; and when their 
 efforts have proved unavailing, when a pupil continues to disregard their coun- 
 sels and admonitions, to set at nought the salutary laws and regulations of the 
 Institution, and his example has become injurious to his fellow students, noth- 
 ing is left for his instructer to do, painful as the duty is, but to exclude him 
 from their society. The government of a College, in their investigations, can 
 employ no force, use no coercive measures, extort no evidence from a student 
 against his fellows by imposing on him the fearful sacredness of an oath, and 
 exposing him, in case of falsehood, to the dark and indelible stigma of perjury. 
 True, if he refuses to give testimony, when, by his own acknowledgment, or 
 by other means it is known to be in his power, they are authorised by the by- 
 laws, in most Colleges, to preclude him from their privileges. 
 
 What power over their pupils, then, have the government of a College, 
 which a parent has not over his children ? And if a parent, in his enquiry, fails 
 of obtaining evidence against a suspectedly mischievous and vicious child, may 
 he not call that child before him the second, third or fourth time, for the purpose 
 of interrogating him ? And may he not as often call before liim and interrogate 
 his other children with the view of obtaining evidence of his innocence or 
 guilt, and with the hope of restraining him in his career of wickedness, if found 
 guilty, by reasonable reproof and admonition ; and also of saving them from 
 the contagion of evil example ? And should he, after all, remain contumacious 
 and. incorrigible^ may not a wise and faithful parent exclude him from his fanv
 
 ar 
 
 At a subsequent interview with the father of the young gentle- 
 man, he remarked, in substance, *' There is blame somewhere, 
 and I have reason to consider myself injured. After the meeting 
 of the Board, my son was desirous to go to another College. But 
 I had received assurances from some of the Board that the diffi- 
 
 ily, for the purpose of freeing the rest of his household from an example 
 which may ruin them ? 
 
 In what consists the danger of doing this ? And what would be the conse- 
 quences of establishing it as a principle, that a parent must never enquire 
 but once respecting the same offence ? Let such a principle be once settled 
 
 and acted upon, and who that has common sense does not see that all family 
 government would be essentially weakened, if not wholly destroyed ? 
 
 Were the same course adopted and pursued in a College, <what is there to 
 prevent the same results ? It seems, as if no man, who has any regard to the 
 estimation in which he is held by others for judgment and discretion, would 
 think of contending- for an analogy, in this respect, between the government 
 of a College and a Court of justice. Granting the Corporation of a College 
 to interfere themselves, or by their committee, in a case of discipline, they 
 can exercise no power (unless rendered peculiarly theirs by the charter) but 
 what they had delegated to the faculty. Supposing the Board of Trustee?, 
 
 then, or a committee of the same, to have held one trial, or in more appropri 
 ate language, to have made one investigation xinsuccessfully, have they nc 
 power, no right, to make a second when circumstances encourage the belief, 
 that it will be made with success ? And are the faculty, when the Board have 
 investigated but in vain divested of the power, by reason of it, to make 
 further investigations ? Are young men, in such circumstances, because not 
 detected on the first enquiry, to be exempt from all future investigation, and 
 even be invested with impunity, although they should avow their transgress- 
 ions and make a boast of them ? Certainly so, if the principle assumed be ad- 
 mitted ; for the conclusion is inevitable. 
 
 If the faculty of Hamilton College, in the matter under consideration, were 
 justly complained of, it is not to be denied that, the Corporation themselves 
 were, at least, equally censurable. The faculty, if they may be viewed as a 
 court, must, it is true, be regarded in relation to the Board, as an inferior 
 court. But by whom is this inferior court constituted ; and under whose au- 
 thority do they act ? Supposing, then, the principle advocated correct, by 
 what right did the Corporation, after a court of their own organizing, and in- 
 vested with all the powers of jurisdiction which they themselves could exer- 
 cise in the cause at issue, had tried and acquitted the young men by what 
 right, it is asked, did they arraign them before their committee and try and 
 acquit them the second time ? For they were as much tried by the faculty as 
 by the committee ; and acquitted by one as much as by the other. There in 
 no conceivable difference in the cases. But the committee did not consider 
 the young men as tried, in the technical sense of the term : If so, would they., 
 after their trial, have threatened them with prosecution ? Now, if the Corpo- 
 ration, as was declared to be the fact, can be said to have tried the young gen- 
 tlemen, after the business was taken out of the hands of the faculty, it wan 
 done only by their committee ; for not an individual of them was ever called 
 up and interrogated before the Board itself. But the faculty were their court,, 
 in every respect possible, as much as their committee. Granting, then, th<s 
 principle assumed and advocated by several members of the Board, and a mul- 
 titude of others, the inference is irresistible, that the Corporation themselves 
 were guilty of the high-handed and arbitrary procedure of twice trying the 
 same individuals for the same offence. 
 
 The maxim, beyond all debate, is a vital principle of the body politic. For 
 if a citizen of the state might be tried twice for the same offence ; if he might, 
 on the same charge, be arraigned again and again at the bar of a judicial tri- 
 bunal, where is the man who could not be persecuted, and worried down and 
 destroyed, by malice or ambitiqn. * But however important the^principle, jp.
 
 eulties were finally settled ; that the young men were safe ; and 
 I did not yield to the wishes of my son, because I thought it my 
 duty to patronize our own rather than another College. After 
 such assurances, I was surprised on learning from my son that he 
 was publicly dismissed by the faculty.^ I immediately called on, 
 Mr. ", (a member of the Board, but not of the committee.) who 
 remarked to me, that the faculty had gone contrary to the decision 
 (or views,) of the Board, and that they had no right to punish the 
 young men." 
 
 The truth was now presented in the clearest light, I do not 
 know, nor can I believe, that every member of the committee, or 
 that the Board generally, wished for no further developement of 
 the facts ; nor do I know that it was suggested before the com- 
 mittee, that it was expedient to adopt such measures as would re- 
 strain the faculty from all further proceedings, and save the young 
 men, not yet discovered, from conviction ami punishment. But 
 that it was the wish, the understanding, the design, of certain 
 membersjof the committee, and of some other influential members of 
 the Board, that nothing further should be done by the faculty, 
 there could be no doubt, and the committee filled us with distres- 
 sing apprehensions for the College. That a portion of the com- 
 mittee, or that some'of the most intelligent and prominent mem- 
 bers of the Board, should covertly attempt to bind their faculty 
 hand arid foot in such circumstances, and that the scholars or their 
 parents should be informed by them, (whether owing to their igno- 
 rance of their official duties, or to some other cause, it makes no 
 difference,) that the faculty were actually thus bound, is a proce- 
 dure, to which I boldly challenge its likeness to be found in all 
 the annals of our Colleges. Had I entertained the slightest sus- 
 
 Well might this gentleman think there was blame somewhere, after having 1 
 received such asssiirances from some of the Board. But with whom did the 
 blame lie ? 
 
 its application to civil society, it can have no place in a system of College gov- 
 ernment.* 
 
 Here I appeal to the judgment of the reader. Did we, as a faculty, trans, 
 cend the limits of our rightful authority ? Had we, in such circumstances, done 
 less, should we have fulfilled our duty to the Institution and to the public ? If 
 a parent, would you trust your son in a Seminary where such crimes were 
 connived at by its Trustees, and could be committed with impunity ? 
 
 And how can a body of men, to whose care is committed so sacred and res- 
 ponsible a trust as a public Institution of learning ; with whose kind, uniform 
 and strict discipline are essentially connected its purity, its morals, its sound 
 and wholesome scjence, and of consequence all the benefits which it is de- 
 signed to confer on the church and on the state how can the whole body, or 
 any individual of that body, plead even the semblance of an apology for such 
 proceedings ? ' ^.^^ 
 > 
 
 *1 shall be excused, I make no doubt, where the circumstances are known, 
 for saying so much to shew the want of adaptedness in the principle to the 
 case in hand. The truth is, the faculty in this proceeding were accused, of 
 an unwarrantable assumption of authority. Their conduct was a subject of 
 severe reprehension. Complaints, on this ground, were spread through the 
 1>untry, and proved a prolific source of deep-roated prejudices.
 
 picion, when the report was made, that such an intention washar 
 bored by the committee, and my remonstrance had proved una- 
 vailing, I do not hesitate to say that there was not a member of 
 the faculty, who had not too much respect for his own character, 
 and too sacred a regard for his duty, to hold his office a single day. 
 
 The friends of the young gentleman dismissed, were now. desi- 
 rous for his admission to some other College. It was ascertained 
 that their object could be attained, provided the President of Ham- 
 ilton College would request it. My ager-cy, of course, was soli- 
 cited; and I was consulted by two members of the Board. My 
 answer was, that if the faculty of any other College were willing 
 to receive the young gentleman, we should make no objection, 
 and should not, I believe it was added, consider it a ground of 
 oftence ; but that we could request the government of no College 
 to do an act for us, which we could not, consistently with out- 
 views of duty to our own, do for them ; that by doing the act re- 
 quested, we should implicitly pledge our agency, if requested, in 
 assisting every young man whom we should send away, to an in- 
 troduction to another College ; that by this means, what was de- 
 signed as punishment would cease to be such our laws rendered 
 nugatory, the restraints of mischief removed, and the arm of gov- 
 ernment paralyzed. 
 
 At the ensuing commencement, a motion was made, and ear- 
 nestly advocated by several members of the corporation, to confer 
 on the young gentleman the honours of the College, with his class. 
 It was acknowledged by one member that he was placed in very 
 delicate and embarrassing circumstances ; and he remarked that 
 some other gentlemen of the Board were in the same circumstan- 
 ces (i. e. that the father of the young man, as was clearly implied 
 and others no doubt, had been given to understand from them 
 that the young men were safe): and he argued that the Trustees, 
 if for no other reason, ought to give the young gentleman a de- 
 gree, in order to relieve them under their embarrassments. After 
 a discussion of some length, it was voted by a majority of the 
 Board to grant him a dismission, in accordance with a request of 
 his father previously made of the faculty; but saying nothing of his 
 conduct and standing as a scholar. Thus terminated the delib- 
 erations and measures, in relation to the discharging and bursting 
 of the cannon. 29] 
 
 [29] It is a law of human nature to press upon the boundaries prescribed to 
 it, and to resist all encroachments upon our liberties, and especially upon that 
 liberty which is the fruit of our own exertions. In no class of men probably 
 is this propensity stronger than in that portion of the youth of every College 
 who are governed more by the impulse of feeling and their inherent love of 
 independence than by sober reason and reflection. 
 
 After it was known by the young gentlemen that the prosecution with which 
 they had been threatened by the committee was given up that the whole af- 
 fair was passed over in silence, and no further measures likely to be taken by 
 the Board for their detection it was natural for them to conceive they had 
 gained a complete triumph over both the Corporation and the faculty. Any 
 one who had viewed the prejudices of men and the stirrings of the human 
 passions with an attentive eye, would naturally have expected that in such chv
 
 so 
 
 God who gathereth the wind in his fists, and calmeth the raging 
 of the tempest, Deemed to appear at last for the deliverance ofthe 
 College. During the winter 1824 5, the Institution experienced 
 a time ^f refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the most pow- 
 eritil and genuine, to human view, that I ever witnessed in any 
 College. There was a stillness, a solemnity, within its walls, as 
 the stillness and solemnity of the house of mourning. Every 
 countenance seemed tosav (where but twelve months before was 
 little else than a scene of lawlessness and disorder,) How awful 
 
 cumstances they would feel mors than their ordinary impatience under the 
 most salutary restraints; and that any measures adopted by the faculty to bring 
 them to the usual state of order and subjection, would be evaded by the most 
 wakeful vigilance, and resisted with a settled and unyielding determination. 
 
 The spirit of opposition to the government subsequently was manifested in 
 a degree which, to myself, was totally unexampled, in cutting and otherwise 
 marring the seats and railing of the chapel; in breaking the windows, doors 
 and stairs of the colleges ; in writing on the walls, and disfiguring them with, 
 indecent characters and images. In consequence of this occurrence, nearly 
 twenty scholars were dismissed from the Institution, and many of them in 
 compliance with advice privately given to their parents. But their removal 
 was but a partial remedy of the evil. Some who remained still cherished the 
 same feelings. The esprit du corps is no where, perhaps, more felt than in a 
 College. Its inmates, occupied in the same pursuits, having in some mea- 
 sure a common interest, -ardent and generous in their feelings, deeply par- 
 ticipating in each other's fortunes, are strongly and tenderly allied by some 
 of the best principles of our nature ; and an excitement once created among 
 them is transmitted from breast to breast, and from class to class, and with the 
 rapidity of lightning pervades and animates the whole community. 
 
 Nor is a spirit of disorder and resistance to authority, when once engender- 
 ed, felt by those only who are the immediate subjects of it. Long after they 
 are gone it is liable to be imbibed and nourished by their successors. So 
 true is this, that the firing and bursting of the cannon has ever been regarded 
 by a portion of the students as an era in the history of the College ; and the 
 night of the year on which it occurred has never passed in a single instance 
 (excepting the last and present year,) without some unusual disorders as . 
 commemoration of the event. That the spirit of licentiousness and misrule 
 introduced and encouraged by the proceedings-consequent on that transaction 
 has, in a measure, ever since existed among us, is abundantly evident front 
 the appearance of the doors, walls and other interior parts of the buildings. 
 From that time till recently the achievement of a scheme of mischief, wheti 
 once conceived by them, seems to have been resolved on at all hazards. An- 
 imated by the example and success of their predecessors, and actuated by t 
 vain and silly ambition of shewing themselves able to do what others have 
 done before them, some have been known to declare that they would not, 
 and cottld not be defeated in their plans ; and there has been a small number 
 in almost every class whom, neither the vigilance and exertions of the faculty, 
 nor the precautionary means of the inspector, have proved sufficient to re- 
 strain from the. accomplishment of their designs. 
 
 Let it be remembered, however, that the proportion of our young men who 
 have inherited and exhibited this spirit has been small, very small but large 
 enough to affect seriously the tranquillity and reputation of the College. I as- 
 sert with confidence, and I take great pleasure in doing it, that the greater 
 part, and much the greater part of them, have been actuated by a widely dif- 
 ferent spirit : that in regard to industry and success in their studies, and to 
 their moral and intellectual worth, they would not suffer in comparisoiV with 
 the youth of any College with which I have been connected ; and that the 
 conduct of their rash and inconsiderate inmates, has been to them a source of 
 H.cen mortification and regret.
 
 as this place ! More than twenty of our young men, in the judg- 
 ment of charity, were made partakers of the ^race of life. Stmie 
 of this nnmbet had shewn in a high degree a spirit of yestlessness 
 and turbulence, and an unyielding opposition to the government. 
 
 The fruits of such a visitation of the special mercy of Got! are 
 not liable to be misapprehended. Schemes of mischief were aban- 
 doned. The resorts of thoughtlessness and mirth were relinquish- 
 ed for the religious conference and prayer meeting. The Ap- 
 prehensions long felt by many of the Institution's friends \veu % in 
 a measure dissipated. Christians thanked God and took courage: 
 they again believed that Hamilton College wa destined yet to be- 
 come, what they had long been praying it might be, a Iruitful 
 nursery of sound learning not only, but of evangelical truth and 
 vital godliness, and a distinguished instrument of good to the 
 church and to the world. 
 
 From this time till the summer of 1826, the College was in an 
 unusually tranquil, and it was generally believed, prosperous state. 
 At a meetingof the association of the alumni, at the commence- 
 ment, in August of this year, one of the young gentlemen who, 
 but a few hours previous, had beeu admitted to the honors of the 
 College, rose and remarked, " that there was an obstacle to the 
 prosperity of the Institution ; that 3ome of his cla^3 had held 
 frequent conversations on the subject, and that while it remained 
 as it then was, he could advise no young man to-become a member 
 of it." He was called upon by the presiding officer to explain 
 himself. A classmate of his replied, "that the evil alluded to 
 might perhaps be remedied, by the appointment of a professor o 
 Moral Philosophy, or of Divinity. 
 
 The obstacle alluded to by the young gentleman was not sus- 
 pected generally by the alutnni who \\ere present. But those who 
 were acquainted with the peculiar religious state of the College 
 and vicinity, for a few months. preceding, had no doubt as to his 
 intention. Soon after the commencement, reports were found to 
 be in circulation in some places, seriously implicating the ability 
 of the President : viz. that he teas superanuated, and that the 
 scholars were dissatisfied with his instruction. It was evident, 
 beyond doubt, that some persons were actively engaged in giving 
 currency to these reports. [50] 
 
 [30] As to the origin of these reports, we are not left to conjecture. It is 
 .veil known that a few individuals of the class, who were graduated at com- 
 mencement, complained openly of the President a few days subsequently, in 
 the neighborhood of the College ; and that rumors seriously affecting his offi- 
 cial character, soon prevailed wherever they went, and no where else, so far 
 as we have been able to learn, till nine or ten months afterwards. It has never 
 been suspected that the class, with the exception of~a very small number, had 
 any agency in these rumors ; nor that they were not, in general, as well satis- 
 fied with their President as any preceding class had been. Indeed the disaf- 
 fection towards him, was owing principally, as has since been said by several 
 of the first young men then in College, to the exertions of a single individual 
 the same young man who remarked before the alumni that some of his class 
 had held frequent conversations on the state of the College. In a letter ad- 
 dressed to the President by this young gentleman, December following, al- 
 thoagh he expresses great affection and respect for him, yet he objects to the
 
 SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING OF THE TRUSTEES May 8//J, 1827. 
 
 Present Rev. Drs. Norton and Brcnvn, Simeon Ford, Wm. Floyd, G. Bristol!, 
 J. K. Lothrop, H. McNeil, G. Smith, and S. Hopkins, Esqrs. and Kev. J. 
 Eells, J. Frost, N. Coe, and H. Davis. 
 
 During the meeting, Mr. Ford rose and remarked, "that the 
 College was in an alarming state ; that reports, it was said, were 
 
 use made of text books in the recitations of the senior class, prescribes to him 
 the method of instruction which he ought to pursue, tells him "the subjects 
 of the lesson should be given out, and the class left to get and give such ideas 
 as they pleased, and from any source ;" and says, " that for two or three years 
 past, the disaffection in the senior class has been quite general on this sub- 
 ject.*" He also prescribes to him the measures proper to be adopted, that he 
 may avoid "the unpleasant, or rather unharmonious consequences, which 
 (he says) there is reason to fear he may sooner or later meet with, considering 
 what kind of men sit in the Board of Trustees. At any rate, such things (he 
 adds), have been anticipated by several of my class." It was not known to 
 myself, perhaps to 720 one of the faculty, till several months after the young 
 man was graduated, that some of his class, during the remarkable religious 
 excitement which prevailed in its vicinity, the last summer they were in Col- 
 lege, had prayed for their President, as an old grei/-headed sinner, leading his 
 scholars doivn to hell.' But the reports which were circulated, would, of 
 themselves, have produced a lasting evil to the College. It is firmly believed 
 they would soon have subsided, and that scarce a single young man, in conse- 
 quence of them, would have been prevented from entering the Institution. 
 
 * I have yet to learn that any young gentlemen, excepting the above indi- 
 vidual and a few of his classmates, have ever expressed any serious dissatisfac- 
 tion as to my instruction. During the season of darkness which the Insti- 
 tution has experienced, a great number, lately my pupils, have voluntarily as- 
 sured me, that it is not true that the scholars were dissatisfied with me as an 
 instructer, as had been reported that the complaint was, so far as any exist- 
 ed, that I had so much to do that there was not an additional professor to re- 
 lieve me of a part of my burden, and who could also give them a course of 
 lectures on Rhetoric during their last year. Some have further remarked, 
 " We all knew that the government of the College rested very much on you, 
 and no one had reason to c omplain that you did not attempt to do more , the 
 complaint was against the Corporation for not furnishing you with more assis- 
 tance, not against you." Indeed, one or two of those, who, it is believed, 
 were concerned in the conversations alluded to, have expressed themselves to 
 me in a similar manner. Even the young gentleman in his letter, speaks of 
 the importance of a professor of Divinity, on the same account. He remarks, 
 in relation to my duties in the government, &c. "They bring a large burden 
 of care upon the President a burden quite sufficient for one man to bear, 
 without the additional task of hearing the semi daily recitations of a class in the 
 Institution." He further remarks, " I feel extremely anxious to see Hamilton 
 College rise, and if the Trustees would exert themselves faithfully, it might 
 rise, and that too, in harmony. I expected to have had a conversation with 
 you respecting the College, before 1 left Clinton , but your early departure 
 for New-England, deprived me of the opportunity. The principal subject on 
 which I wished to converse was, the appointment of a professor of Divinity. 
 I thought I could give some reasons which would increase your exertions to 
 procure the endowment of the professorship. The subject has borne with 
 such' weight upon my mind, that I have concluded to write a few lines, &c. 
 The greatest danger would be in fixing upon the right man (viz. for a profes- 
 sor). One below middle age would do much better than one above." Now 
 this young man, be it remembered, had but just left the College, as -wise as he 
 seems to be, in his own conceit.
 
 33 
 
 circulated by some young men, who had recently gone from the 
 Institution, injurious to the reputation of its President, and, if 
 what I have heard,' said the gentleman, 'of one of our professors 
 is true, I am prepared to cut him off this day.' [31] He then in- 
 
 [31] As to the object of Mr. Ford, no one doubted.* What he had heard, 
 previous to the meeting, of the professor alluded to, I knew not : but he 
 came to the meeting, as I am assured, with a determination to move for the 
 appointment of such a committee. Soon after his arrival, and before busi- 
 ness was commenced, it was whispered among the members present that the 
 professor alluded to had stated in a letter addressed to Mr. STmith, but a few 
 days previous, that the scholars were leaving the College, and the Institu- 
 tion rapidly declining, owing to their dissatisfaction with the President. 
 
 A few weeks after the meeting, I requested Mr. S. to send me the letter; 
 assuring him the professor himself should first see it, and no one else with- 
 out his permission. Under these restrictions, my request was granted. The 
 professor gave me permission to show his letter to the other members of the 
 faculty, and to any one else if I desired it. He remarked, 'he was willing 
 it should be published if it would do good ; and his only wish respecting it, 
 was, that it might be returned, at commencement, to the gentleman to whom 
 it was addressed.' In consequence of these remarks, I felt myself at liberty 
 to take an exact copy of it ; and I now deem it my duty, believing in view 
 of all that has taken place that it will do good, to present it to the public. 
 
 " HAM. COLL. 23d April, 18*27. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, I am very happy to address you, as a guardian of the Institu- 
 tion in which I am labouring. Its interests, I trust, are dear to you, not merely 
 from any partiality which you may have cherished in its favor, but chiefly 
 because it may be made an eminent blessing to our country and to mankind. 
 Apprehensive that you might not be fully acquainted with its present condi- 
 tion, before the meeting of the Board, I felt it my duty to premise to you 
 some things, which no doubt will then be a subject of discussion. With re- 
 gard to the state of the College, it is somewhat singular. Since my connex- 
 ion with it, we have had no more pleasant year than what has elapsed of the 
 present. The faculty have been perfectly harmonious, and the students, al- 
 most without exception, orderly and industrious. Yet within a week five of 
 our best young men have taken dismissions, and are going to Union. As you 
 may well suppose, I have been careful to inquire after the cause, and I have 
 no doubt ascertained it. One cause which immediately operates, is the rigi- 
 dity with which we pursue pure mathematics, of which only a few individu- 
 als in a class can be fully master and maintain a good standing. They think 
 that so much of the mathematics is not necessary, nor practical ; and accord- 
 ing to the present course and method of instruction, they feel as if they could 
 not hold their expected standing. But there is another objection, which can- 
 not be so easily removed. They say that for three years in this College, the 
 instruction is equal to any in the U. States ; but that during the fourth year 
 it is greatly deficient. It has been with great pain that I have heard this ob- 
 jection made by the senior classes, for the two years past. For I am per- 
 suaded that the venerable and amiable gentleman on whom that year's in- 
 struction entirely depends, is as faithful and diligent as his health will per- 
 mit. But it is my thorough conviction, that unless some remedy is speedily 
 applied, the usefulness of the College will soon be at an end. And why 
 should this be 1 I doubt whether there is another seminary in the U. States, 
 which possesses more advantages for being, with proper management, ex- 
 
 * Hitherto, I have not named the members of the Board who have borne 
 prominent parts in the transactions related. They are not all among the 
 living; and I am unwilling to disturb the sanctuary of the dead. If any 
 gentleman should request, in a proper manner, to know of me whether he is 
 among the number implicated and if so, to what extent his request shall 
 be complied with, so far as he is concerned. 
 
 E
 
 34 
 
 troduced the following resolution, viz : " That a committee be 
 appointed to inquire into the state of the College in general, and 
 
 tensively useful. But the state of the times requires that our course of in- 
 struction should be more practical, and the method of communicating instruc- 
 tion might be somewhat improved. 
 
 My time does not permit me to visit you, but if it were convenient, I should 
 be glad to see you previous to the meeting of the Board. I know of no way 
 in which satisfaction can be given to our youth and to the public, with regard 
 to our course of instruction, than by the appointment of another professor ; 
 a capable man who shall give lectures on rhetoric. This I suppose to be con- 
 templated in the project of a Divinity professor. But how shall this project 
 be accomplished 7 Unless it is accomplished soon, I am persuaded, the 
 College will be reduced so low that it will require more vigorous effort, and 
 greater expense to raise it to its proper standing. [But how was this project 
 of a Rhetorical professorship to be accomplished 7 Was he afraid, as many 
 believe, that a professorship of Divinity would prove an obstacle to the success 
 of his wishes ?] 
 
 A circumstance very injurious to our reputation, I suppose, is the fact of 
 a valuable College building, entirely unoccupied. To obviate this evil, and 
 to gain some other advantages, it has been proposed to have the Medical Col- 
 lege removed from Fairfield here ; or at all events to establish one here. It 
 is believed that this measure would be generally highly approved by the med- 
 ical profession in the western part of the state, as well as by those in this 
 county. 
 
 With high respect and affection, Yours, <fec. 
 
 JOHN MONTEITH. 
 
 GBRRIT SMITH, ESQ." 
 
 Having coaversed with the professor privately, in relation to his letter, and 
 receiving no concessions from him, I introduced the subject in presence of 
 the faculty. The following is the substance, if not the identical language, 
 of my remarks and interrogatories, and of his replies and vindication, se liar 
 as he attempted any ; as the faculty bear me witness. 
 
 You remark in your letter, " the faculty, during the part of the year that 
 has elapsed, have been perfectly harmonious." This, it appears to me, is sin- 
 gular information for you to communicate to a member of the Board. The 
 faculty ought, and are expected to be aheays harmonious. And there has 
 certainly been no want of harmony among us, since you have b'een here, 
 excepting what you yourself have been the cause of. Have you not com- 
 plained repeatedly to the faculty of the Sophomore class, since the com- 
 mencement of the present year 7 Have you not often informed us that you 
 had admonished and fined several of them, again and again that you could 
 not induce them to attend the exercises that you knew not what to do with 
 them? Did you not remember that other members of the faculty had made 
 similar complaints of certain members of this and of other classes, though 
 not, by any means to the same extent 7 It is a fact that no officer, since my 
 connexion with the Institution, has made such frequent complaints of any 
 class, for the want of industry and punctuality, as you did of the Sophomore 
 class, during the last two terms, at the close of which your letter was writ- 
 ten. How, then, in such circumstances could you say, as an honest man, 
 that " the students through the whole year, thus far, had been orderly and 
 industrious almost without exception 7" 
 
 [I was surprised and grieved at this remark of the professor. For in con- 
 sequence of his complaints chiefly, I had called several of the young men to 
 my study, and privately counselled and admonished them ; and some of them 
 repeatedly.}
 
 35 
 
 particularly in relation to the government and course of instruction 
 therein, and the conduct and demeanor of the several officers thereof, 
 
 You knew that Dr. Noyes, through the second term, delivers five lectures 
 a week to the Senior Class, in his department, and Professor Strong a course 
 of lectures in his department, during the last term. On what grounds, then, 
 could you assert positively that the instruction of the Senior year depends 
 entirely on the President! Did you not say to me, not a week before your 
 letter was written I am confident, you was fully persuaded from inquiries you 
 had made, ' the sole reason of the young gentlemen's leaving us was, that 
 they were averse to the study of so much Mathematics T How, then, at this 
 very time, could you insinuate to Mr. Smith, in a manner not to be misunder- 
 stood, "that the principal reason of their going to another College was, the 
 deficiency in our instruction during the Senior year!" 
 
 The professor made no direct reply to either of these questions. 
 
 You say, " It has been with great pain that I have heard this objection 
 made (i. e. the deficiency of the instruction in the fourth year) by the Senior 
 classes for the two or three years past." (Mark the correspondence between 
 the professor's phraseology, " this objection made by the Senior class for the 
 two or three years past," and that of the young man in his letter, " for two 
 or three years past thedissaffection," &c. (See note 30.) It is evident from 
 your language, that you are in the habit of conversing with the scholars re- 
 specting the competency of their instructers. You, yourself, you say, "have 
 heard this objection made by the Senior classes." He declared that he had 
 not ; and that he had conversed with but one young gentleman only (then a 
 member of the Junior class) ; and for the purpose of ascertaining why his 
 class-mates had taken dismissions. How, then, (I asked) did you obtain 
 your information 1 He replied, I got it from the people in my kitchen, who 
 received it in the village. Do you, then, (said I,) converse with the people 
 in your kitchen respecting the concerns of the college ? Do you rely upon 
 complaints received from them, and which they had received from their asso- 
 ciates in the village, against your companions in office, and communicate 
 them to the Trustees of the College as matters of fact] Did you never con- 
 verse about me with 1 (the young man who threw out his insinuations 
 
 before the alumni, at commencement 1826, and whose letter to me has just 
 been alluded to.) He answered, that he 'believed he had once ; but whether 
 before or after he was graduated, he was not confident.' Has he never 
 written to you on the subject since he left college ? The professor acknow- 
 ledged that he had said something about it in a letter, written pnncipally, 
 however, on a different subject. The gentleman to whom your letter was 
 addressed, remarked to me, before I saw it, that you spoke very respectfully 
 of the President. And what did yon say in his favor? merely that he is 
 venerable and amiable, and as faithful and diligent as his health will permit. 
 You represent the prospects of the College, Sir, in most respects, as highly 
 propitious : the faculty perfectly harmonious the scholars orderly and indus- 
 trious almost without exception the instruction for three years, in the opin- 
 ion of the scholars, equal to any in the United States ; [did the professor 
 learn this the same way in which he learned the deficiency as to the instruc- 
 tion the fourth year ?] and yet, owing solely to the deficiency in the Presi- 
 dent's department, the Institution is on the eve of dissolution. And what is 
 the remedy prescribed by you for this alarming deficiency ? Verily, nothing 
 but a course of lectures from some capable man, on Rhetoric. This was to 
 satisfy our scholars and the public, and save the Institution from the ruin 
 which threatened it. 
 
 ' Had you said to Mr. S. that such a course of lectures would be highly 
 important to the Seminary, we should all have subscribed cordially to the 
 justness of the opinion. But where is the justice of attributing this deficiency 
 exclusively to the President ? of insinuating unequivocally, that the Institu-
 
 38 
 
 and in particular, in relation to any suggestions which may have 
 been made by one officer, unfavorable to another, and derogatory to 
 
 tion, in consequence of his deficiency alone, will soon be at an end ? The 
 President is no more professor of Rhetoric than you are it is no more his 
 duty to give lectures on this subject than yours. Let any man read your let- 
 ter, who is acquainted with the circumstances in which we were for the last 
 twelve months preceding the date of it, and he would be persuaded, at the 
 first view, that your object in writing it was to degrade the president in the 
 estimation of the gentleman addressed.' 
 
 The professor was much embarrassed, and said but little during the whole 
 interview. He disavowed all intention of injuring the President. He re- 
 marked ' I see my situation : I had no expectation the gentleman would 
 show my letter to any one ; had I expected it, I should have written with 
 more caution.' 
 
 Dr. Brown, on his way to commencement, called on the clergyman of Mr. 
 Smith's village. Mr. S. himself was absent. The clergyman informed Dr. 
 B. of the letter, recently received by Mr. S. from Professor M., and of the 
 character of it : that Mr. S. immediately brought it to him, and expressed 
 great alarm for the fate of the College that he was surprised to learn that 
 the scholars were dissatisfied with the President. Mr. S. and the clergyman 
 both took it for granted, from the letter, that the young men had left the In- 
 stitution solely on account of the supposed incompetency of the President, 
 and that for the same reason, it was rapidly running down. Such was the 
 impression of Dr. B. till his arrival at the College. 
 
 I would gladly have avoided introducing this subject. But it is confidently 
 believed by many well acquainted with the circumstances, that the conduct 
 of this officer tended, in no inconsiderable degree, to produce a state of things 
 which furnished certain members of the Board with the semblance of an 
 apology for the introduction of those measures which emptied the College of 
 its occupants. I do not say, nor do I know, that the professor intentionally 
 countenanced the conversations of some of the class who were graduated in 
 1826, or that they were designedly encouraged by him in their treatment of 
 some of the faculty, before or after they had left the Institution. But that 
 they were greatly influenced by his feelings and example, there is little reason 
 to doubt. It is a fact, that some of the class were indulged by him in the 
 most familiar intercourse, and that in all his unofficial interviews with them 
 they were treated by him as his equals and companions. Both he and they 
 were subjects of a remarkable degree of excitement. His conduct was mat- 
 ter of surprise and regret to other members of the faculty, and a subject of 
 frequent conversation among them. 
 
 It was these same members of the class, without question, who were con- 
 cerned in the conversations, who prayed for the President (one or more of 
 them) in the manner before stated, and who circulated the unfavorable reports 
 of him after they were graduated. In the former revivals in this College 
 during my presidency, and in the revivals at Middlebury during my presi- 
 dency there, no such prayers were made, Nor has such language as was 
 used by professor Monteith publicly in the chapel, on the Sabbath, been 
 used by any other professor, viz. ' Thou knowest, Lord, that the faculty of 
 Hamilton College have sinned in high places ; and we pray thec, Lord, if 
 they are obstacles to thy work, that thou wouldst remove them out of thy way.' 
 When asked by me ' Do you verily believe the Holy Ghost constrained you 
 to pray and preach in such a manner]' he replied instantly ' I do.' Lan- 
 guage the same in import was frequently used by him in prayer ; and his 
 preaching, for a time, was of a similar character. Nowhere else have I wit- 
 nessed the appearance of such a spirit, or had such an opposition to encounter 
 from any of my brethren, as has been manifested by some of them here both 
 in the Board of Trustees and out of it.
 
 37 
 
 his character, in any manner, and that they report thereon, at the 
 next meeting of the Board." The resolution was adopted, and a 
 committee appointed, consisting of Gen. McNiel, Mr. Lothrop, 
 Gen. Kirkland, Mr. Bronson, Dr. Brown, Dr. Hopkins^nd Mr. 
 Coe. But Dr. Brown was not able to meet the committee, and 
 had no agency in their report. Previous to the adjournment of 
 the Board, Mr. Ford resigned his seat, as he was about to remove 
 to a remote part of the state. 
 
 From the appointment of this committee till the ensuing com- 
 mencement, the county of Oneida was filled with fresh rumours 
 respecting the College. It seemed to be everywhere reported that 
 the Institution was 011 the verge of ruin : it was said that the Corpo- 
 ration were about to adopt efficient measures to save it from desola- 
 tion; that the President would resign at commencement; that 
 the faculty would be dismissed ; that the scholars were dissatis- 
 fied, <fec. Certain members of the Board were reiterating, (to my 
 certain knowledge) ' Something must be done.'' I asked Dr. 
 Hopkins, who lives less than a mile from the College, what evi- 
 dence he had that the scholars were dissatisfied. His only reply 
 was ' They (i. e. the Trustees in Utica) say so? Mr. Lothrop, 
 another member of the committee, remarked to me- ' We are 
 going to make a complete change? but did not tell me what the 
 change was. Gen. Kirkland wrote to Dr. Brown, as the gene- 
 ral himself informed me, that the College could not be worse ojf, 
 and that it was perfectly safe to make an experiment. See note 
 32. In Utica, especially, the College seemed to have become an 
 object of deep concern. Great pains appeared to be taken by 
 some individuals in that village to convince the public that the 
 Institution was in desperate circumstances. 
 
 The necessary effects of such rumors and observations were 
 soon experienced. It was ascertained at commencement that ten 
 or twelve young gentlemen of one school, who had determined on 
 entering this college, were induced, by the reports whieh had 
 recently reached them, respecting measures contemplated by the 
 Board of Trustees, and changes that were to be introduced, to 
 change their purpose and go elsewhere. And it was reported and 
 
 With regard to the new measures, r? they have been called, which have 
 been introduced into many of our churches, I had, from the beginning, with 
 a great majority of my brethren throughout this country, fearful apprehen- 
 sions for their consequences. Embracing the views of President Edwards, 
 on the subject of revivals, as according substantially with the Scriptures, we 
 could not conscientiously co-operate in the use of the new measures with 
 our brethren who approved them. But by the advocates of these measures 
 even the silence of some of us was regarded as opposition, and as sure evi- 
 dence of our being enemies to all revivals. The present distracted state of 
 many of our churches furnishes proof painful and irresistible, that our appre- 
 hensions were not groundless. 
 
 Repeatedly has it been said, (and by some of the new school too) that the 
 opposition to me from some of my brethren in the Board, and the fall of 
 Hamilton College, are owing to the fact, ' that the College was not regarded 
 as favorable to the Oneida revival.' I have anxiously sought for a cause of 
 their opposition to me less wounding to my feelings, but, with the exception 
 of a single individual, (Mr. D wight) I have sought it in vain.
 
 38 
 
 believed, that some young men, who were on their way to com- 
 mencement, with the view of entering the College, were advised 
 for the same reasons to return home. 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 In the latter part of the week preceding commencement, the 
 report of the committee was brought to me by Gen. McNiel, their 
 chairman, and Gen. Kirkland, President of the Board of Trus- 
 tees. The substance of which was, that they had inquired 
 respecting the conduct of the professor alluded to by the member 
 who moved for the appointment of the committee ; that nothing 
 improper, of a specific character, appeared in his conduct ; that 
 it was found, on examining the state of the treasury, that their 
 productive fund amounted to but $15,000, which yielded from 
 $800 to $1,000 annually; that, in the opinion of the committee, 
 the faculty of every College ought to be supported by the income 
 from tuition ; that the tuition of 100 scholars would amount to 
 $2,550 ; that it appeared, however, from the treasurer's books, 
 that he had collected, during the last two years, but from $1,600 
 to $1,700 annually; that the income from the permanent fund 
 was about sufficient to pay the salaries of the treasurer and secre- 
 tary, and all the incidental expenses of the Institution ; and that 
 the room rent should be reserved for extraordinary repairs. 
 
 In these circumstances, the committee recommended to the 
 Board to offer the faculty the fees of tuition in lieu of their sala- 
 ries, which it was stated amounted to nearly $5000 and pro- 
 vided this offer should not be accepted by the faculty, that the 
 Board proceed to elect a new faculty, who should rely, as far as 
 practicable, for support on the number of scholars. The commit- 
 tee recommended, also, some changes as to the studies, and pro- 
 posed specific directions as to the mode in which instruction should 
 be given that the professor who should be employed principally 
 in giving instruction in the languages, should be able to teach the 
 French and Spanish also, without, perhaps, the pronunciation 
 
 that number of rooms be fitted up to enable the scholars to 
 
 spend the hours of study with their instructers that the services 
 of tutors should be dispensed with that there should be three 
 professors only in the Seminary, and but two vacations during the 
 year, of three weeks each. [32] 
 
 : : 
 
 [32] It is worthy of remark, that notwithstanding no individual of the 
 committee, with the exception of Dr. Brown, who did not act with them, 
 had ever had the least experience in the instruction and discipline of a Col- 
 lege ; yet the faculty, several of whom, from their youth, had been constantly 
 occupied in this business, were in no instance consulted, nor the opinion of 
 any one of them asked, in relation to a single measure they were about 
 recommending, or to a single alteration as to the course of discipline and 
 studies. Why this total neglect of the faculty 1 True it is, the report of 
 the committee, when completed, was shown to the President, three or four 
 days before it was presented to the Board. But for what purpose was it 
 shown him at this hour 1 
 
 It seemed, from the nature of the report, that the exhausted state of the 
 treasury had recently been discovered by the committee ; whereas a similar
 
 39 
 
 MEETING OF THE BOARD AT COMMENCEMENT Aug. 2lst. 1827. 
 
 The board assembled at 10 o'clock on Monday, and continued 
 its session till 10 o'clock Tuesday evening. Present seventeen 
 
 statement, but not so appalling, had been repeatedly made before by the trea- 
 surer. I was convinced that the committee were careful to present, as far 
 as could be done without manifest design, the most alarming account of the 
 treasury, with the hope of inducing the faculty to resign, and of persuading 
 the Board to accept their report and to farm out the Institution. This con- 
 viction I often expressed. 
 
 In August, 1829, our present treasurer, Mr. Williams, who had recently 
 been called to his office, and had investigated the state of the funds with 
 much care, reported that, after satisfying all demands against the Corpora- 
 tion, and making all due allowance for bad debts, there would be remaining 
 a permanent fund of $25,000, about one half of which was productive. The 
 expense of sustaining the College in operation the two preceding years, in 
 consequence of the loss of tuition, by driving off the scholars, (as will here- 
 after appear,) was $4,000 at least more than its income. So that the per- 
 manent fund, at the time of the report, must have been $29,000 ; and the 
 productive part of it was probably about $3,000 greater than was stated by 
 the committee. Why was nothing said of 3,000 acres of land belonging to 
 the College ? one lot of which, of 200 acres, the treasurer had long before 
 remarked, could bo sold for $1,200 in cash, at any time. Why so partial 
 and incorrect a statement of the actual funds of the Institution 1 The inves- 
 tigation of this subject was neither expressed nor contemplated in the reso- 
 lution for the appointment of the committee. Their service in this particular 
 was entirely gratuitous. Is it not natural to believe that, thus acting, they 
 would have felt themselves under peculiar obligations to give the Board a 
 full and exact exhibition of the state of their finances! Can such a report as 
 was made be ascribed to a want of accuracy or of attention in men long 
 accustomed to the business of banks and attorneys' offices ! 
 
 During my interview with these gentlemen, I expressed strong fears as 
 to the consequences of dispensing with the services of tutors. Gen. Kirk- 
 land remarked in reply, ' that he thought some one of the most judicious of 
 the Senior class might be placed in every section of the College, and invested 
 with some sort of watch or authority over his associates ; and that the Col- 
 lege, by this means, would not suffer for want of tutors, so fat as its govern- 
 ment was concerned.' He also remarked, 'that he would raise the fees of 
 tuition : that he would have no paupers in the College.' (It was presumed he 
 alluded to beneficiaries of Education Societies. But he explained himself on 
 a future occasion before the Board, and said it was his intention to comprehend 
 in his remark all young men who are destitute of property.) Nothing, at this 
 time, was suggested by these members of the committee, implying a want 
 of confidence in the ability or faithfulness of the faculty. Indeed, it was 
 remarked by General Kirkland ' We don't wish to get rid of you but our 
 money is gone : we will farm out the College to you ; we will keep every 
 thing in repair ; we will attend commencements ; but the fees of tuition is 
 all we can give you : you can't have a cent more : if you can collect it, well 
 if not, you must be the losers.' I asked the gentlemen, ' What is the com- 
 plaint against the College 1 Have we not the reputation of making good 
 scholars ?' ' Yes,' replied Gen. K. ' you make as good scholars, I don't doubt, 
 as they do at Yale, and, in some respects better but, somehow or other, the 
 College don't prosper. I wrote to Dr. Brown that the College could not be- 
 worse off, and therefore it was perfectly safe to make an experiment.' The 
 following is extracted from the report of the Regents on the state of the 
 College, 1925 : 
 
 " The condition of Hamilton College," says the report, " equals the most
 
 
 40 
 
 members, viz: Messrs. Kirkland, Lothrop, Norton, Kendrick, 
 Brown/ Lansing, McNiel, Gold, Hopkins, Keep, Smith, Eells, 
 
 
 
 sanguine expectations entertained for its prosperity. The faculty consists 
 of the President, three professors, and the requisite number of tutors. The 
 number of pupils in the different classes the present year, is 105. Thi 
 Institution has increased in reputation, and now affords its natrons very 
 flattering prospects of continued usefulness, in the promotion of science, 
 and diffusion of literary knowledge." This report of the Regents was made 
 to the legislature about one year and six months prior to the general's com- 
 munication to Dr. Brown ; and was founded on facts derived principally, it 
 is presumed, from a committee of the Corporation. The Institution had 
 experienced in the mean time, as appears from its catalogues, a diminution 
 of fifteen scholars. If the General's opinion was correct, what a wonderful 
 change in the prospects of the College, considering the nature of the cause ! 
 I leave the General, should these facts meet his eye, to his own reflections, 
 and my other readers to their own conclusions. 
 
 Those members of the committee who, it is believed, were principally, if 
 not alone concerned in devising this experiment, had all been Trustees of the 
 Institution from its organization. Is it not remarkable that they should have 
 discovered at this late period, after having exhausted their treasury to support 
 the Institution, (and in vain, if their own declaration may be relied on,) that 
 the faculty of every College ought to be supported by the fees of tuition alone ? 
 
 In proof of the soundness of this opinion, Amherst College was adduced 
 by the gentlemen, I believe, on this occasion : it certainly was adduced sub- 
 sequently before the Board. The faculty of this Institution, it was said, 
 were thus supported. It appears, from the annual catalogue of that Insti- 
 tution, that the number of scholars then [1827,] was 170. In the summer 
 of 1828 the number was 210. The tuition of this number, as I was informed 
 by the President at that period, was sufficient, with the room rent, [probably 
 nearly $2,000] to pay the salaries of their officers. 
 
 But grant the information which had been received, correct where was 
 the ground for comparison, in the circumstances of the Institutions 1 What 
 are the facts in regard to Amherst ? Considerations of a religious nature, it 
 is well known, had operated powerfully in its favor. Its Board of Trustees, 
 and a multitude of others, with perfect harmony of sentiment, of feeling, and 
 of action, had made unwearied exertions for its establishment and advance- 
 ment. It had received, it is true, no endowment from the state ; but the 
 foundation on which it rested was far better the attachment and zeal of the 
 enlightened and Christian public. The pecuniary aid which it had received 
 from benevolent individuals, was without a parallel, considering its age, in 
 the history of our Colleges. By these means, with the blessing of God upon 
 them, it had in a few years become a highly flourishing Institution, and was 
 equalled, as to numbers, by two Colleges only in the United States. 
 
 Look now at Hamilton. It was founded, it was thought, in highly pro- 
 pitious circumstances. It received at, and soon after its foundation, a very 
 liberal endowment. The public sentiment was strong in its favor. From 
 these circumstances, and from its local advantages, it must soon, it was 
 presumed, become a great Institution. But in what state do we find it, after 
 a fifteen years' experiment 1 According to the report of the committee, its 
 treasury almost empty the current of public opinion setting forcibly against 
 it and the Institution, as asserted by them, and extensively reported, fast 
 sinking to ruin. 
 
 Now if the Board of Trustees, with all the facilities in their power, and with 
 all their wisdom and enterprise, had not been able to sustain the Institution, 
 if it was now, as many of them avowed, and as it seemed they wished others to 
 believe, on the brink of ruin ; could the committee possibly imagine that the 
 faculty would see any inducement to accept their proposition 1 If for two 
 years, during the former of which there were 100 scholars, and the latter 90>
 
 41 
 
 Coe, Aikin, Frost, Davis, Dwight. The report of the committee 
 having been heard, it was proposed that it be presented to the 
 faculty ; for the purpose of ascertaining, no doubt, whether they 
 would accept the fees of tuition. But the proffer was promptly 
 rejected by the faculty. 
 
 I was soon after requested before the Board to state my views 
 of the College, and the measures which, in my opinion, ought to 
 be adopted. My remarks, in compliance with the request, were 
 in substance as follows : It is not to be denied, Mr. President, that 
 the prospects of the Institution are somewhat alarming ; but I see 
 no reason to think them so appalling as has been represented. As 
 to the number of scholars, we have experienced no greater dimi- 
 nution than most other Colleges. We have admitted, during the 
 last five or six years, from thirty to thirty-six annually. No com- 
 plaint, to our knowledge, is made of the scholarship of our young 
 men. It has been understood from the professors in our Theolo- 
 gical Seminaries, who have the best opportunity of judging, that 
 they do not suffer in comparison with the graduates of other Col- 
 leges. I know of no course for us but the one which has been 
 adopted by other Institutions, in similar circumstances, and adopted 
 successfully. (Here I enumerated several instances.) Instead 
 of diminishing, we ought to increase our means of instruction. 
 Let a general application for pecuniary aid be made to enlight- 
 ened and benevolent individuals, and there can be no doubt as to 
 its success. It is well known that many have long thought that 
 a professor of Divinity is greatly needed in the Institution. With 
 but a partial effort in this region $4000 have recently been sub- 
 scribed towards a permanent fund for the support of such an 
 officer. If proper exertions were made a sum sufficient for this 
 purpose, there is no reason to doubt, might be obtained within a 
 moderate period. Provided this office were endowed and filled 
 by an able man, our course of studies somewhat altered and 
 increased, and the method of instruction in some departments ren- 
 dered a little more practical, nothing else, it is firmly believed, 
 would be necessary to place the Institution on a more respectable 
 footing, but the united and vigorous exertions of the Trustees and 
 the faculty. [33] 
 
 the treasurer had collected but from $1600 to 1700 annually, was it better than 
 an insult to the judgment of the faculty to believe that, when the College was 
 in such circumstances, (as bad off in the General's opinion as it could be,) they 
 would accept the fees of tuition ? And is it less an insult to the understanding 
 of the committee to suppose they believed the faculty would do it, unless it is 
 supposed they also believed that the faculty were indeed all in their dotage ? 
 
 And can it be believed possible, (judging from the nature of the resolution,) 
 that the gentleman who introduced it had any intention of giving the commit- 
 tee the powers which they exercised ? Did the letter or spirit of the resolution 
 warrant the exercise of those powers 1 Could the committee, as judicious 
 men, have conceived, as the circumstances of the case were, and acting under 
 such a resolution, of making such a report, unless confident that, by the 
 weight of their personal influence, they could induce the Board to adopt any 
 measures which they should recommend ? 
 
 [33] The reasons alleged by the committee, in their preamble, for the ex- 
 pediency of the course recommended,- were, the languishing condition of the 
 
 F
 
 42 
 
 The measure next adopted was a free conversation, as it was 
 called, on the state of the College : and it was said to me by Mr. 
 Dwight, and I believe by one or two others of the reformers, that 
 as some things of a personal nature, which it would be unpleasant 
 for me to hear, would be brought into view, it might be expedient 
 for me to retire. [34] It was now early in the evening ; and not- 
 withstanding the session was continued through that evening, and 
 
 College, and the exhausted state of the treasury. But if the Board had ex- 
 hausted a well replenished treasury in vain, was it the part of wise men to ex- 
 pect that public confidence was to be regained by the adoption of a new plan 
 to be carried on still under their direction, and, without funds'? 
 
 But the chief argument was the state of the treasury. But could this con- 
 sideration, viewing all the circumstances of the College, justify such a mea- 
 sure 1 With a fund, according to their own statement, producing about 
 $1,000 annually ; with buildings (besides an elegant chapel,) already com- 
 pleted, furnishing ample and inviting accommodations for 130 scholars ; with 
 a respectable apparatus for the chemical and philosophical departments ; with 
 libraries containing more than 4000 volumes ; with about twenty acres of cul- 
 tivated and highly productive land, attached to the steward's establishment, 
 in which 150 boarders might be conveniently accommodated ; with 90 schol- 
 ars on their catalogue, 34 of whom had been received during the current 
 year ; with 84,000 already obtained for the endowment of a theological pro- 
 fessorship, and with a fair prospect of procuring the whole sum necessary 
 for the endowment within a moderate period ; and in the midst of an able, 
 increasing, and public-spirited people, becoming more and more convinced 
 of the value of education ; I ask, how could the guardians of a public semi- 
 nary of learning, in such circumstances, conceive of such an experiment, with 
 io object in view but the public good ] Could wise and public-spirited men 
 attempt it, after seeing College after College rise in our country to high re- 
 spectability and usefulness, whose Trustees had had nothing to rely upon but 
 their own enterprise and exertions, and the patronage and liberality of indi- 
 viduals 1 But it was said The public feel little or no interest in Hamilton Col- 
 lege, and mil do nothing for it. This remark I know, from my own observa- 
 tion and experience, to be a gross calumny on the inhabitants of this region. 
 Multitudes feel a deep and lively interest in the College, and would contri- 
 bute liberally for its support, if they saw encouragement to do it. That the 
 public generally do not manifest the same degree of interest in it which is 
 manifested in Colleges of other sections of our country, is not to be denied. 
 How is this difference to be accounted for 1 Would you trust a man with 
 your money for a public use, who, by his own acknowledgment, is not fit to 
 be trusted? Is it known that any of these Colleges, after being richly en- 
 dowed, have ever been impoverished by the mismanagement of their guardians'! 
 Have some of the most influential of their Boards of Trust been throwing 
 out their insinuations against them for years, saying, ' that they should be 
 glad to be relieved of their burden (as Trustees ;) that they were no benefit 
 to the region around them ; that other portions of the country might have 
 them, and welcome, if they would pay for the buildings ; that they must 
 go down unless something was done V Have they been proclaiming in the 
 streets, ' that they were injured by the beneficiaries of Education Societies ; 
 that their government was under sectarian influence ]' and have they secretly 
 countenanced their scholars in conspiracy against their instructors 1 
 
 See, particularly, notes 7, 8, 17, 45, and 50, in connexion with the text. 
 
 [34] Let it be remembered, that I do not use the term reformers, by way of 
 reproach ; but merely for the purpose of discrimination. For the same pur- 
 pose, I apply the phrase friends of the College, to those who were for sustain- 
 ing the faculty and Institution, without a material change. I would by no 
 means insinuate that those who were opposed to them were enemies of the 
 Institution.
 
 43 
 
 the ensuing day and evening, and the Board was called together 
 on the following day, for a season, after the public exercises were 
 over, yet the President of the College was not invited to resume 
 his seat. 
 
 The object of this free conversation could not be misappre- 
 hended. It was the trial of the faculty, in order to prepare the way 
 for the adoption of the report. Each member of the Board was 
 called upon, unless I am grossly misinformed, to state expressly 
 and particularly what was the reputation of the College, and what 
 the standing of the President and of the other officers in the estima- 
 tion of the public, so far as he possessed the means of judging. 
 After this inquiry the reformers were prepared to take up the 
 report in earnest. It was strenously argued by them, that public 
 opinion is omnipotent that it cannot be resisted that nothing 
 short of the removal of the faculty could save the Institution from 
 desolation. The report, after all, was not adopted ; and it is 
 believed, that on account of the strength of the opposition to it, the 
 votes of the members were not called for on the question. [35] 
 
 [35] There are few men it is imagined, that have been long in public life, 
 especially public teachers of youth many of whom are the subjects of ground- 
 less prejudices towards their instructers, are restless under the most reason- 
 able restraints, and liable to complain of the most salutary discipline who 
 could endure, without harm, an ordeal like this. Take any individual who 
 had been thus occupied nearly twenty years then collect sixteen men, most 
 of them resident in the principal villages and towns of a county which, for 
 the four months immediately preceding, had been filled with rumors touching 
 the case in hand, and many of those men, no doubt, not uniting merely, but 
 desirous that those rumors should be thought true let each of them be 
 called upon to state all he had heard against this individual ; and would it be 
 surprising, should reports, opinions, suggestions, and surmises be related, 
 which were unfavorable to him ] What man, who has been for any consid- 
 erable time before the public, in almost any occupation, could not be seriously 
 injured in this way especially if tried without being heard in his own 
 defence ; as was the faqt in the present instance 1 
 
 May it not be asked, and with emphasis too, whether such a procedure is 
 not too dark and inquisitorial for the purposes of exact justice 1 ? Whether 
 it comports with what ought to be the conduct of a grave and dignified body 
 of Christian men, entrusted with the high interests of a public seminary of 
 learning 1 
 
 My trials are greatly alleviated by the assurance that many of the gentle- 
 men present had too sacred a regard to justice, to be willing that the reputa- 
 tion of their President should be surrendered a victim to the cry of vague and 
 popular rumor. Dr. Kendrick, in particular, I have been informed, entered 
 minutely into the history of my public life, and defended my character with 
 great plainness and boldness. The Dr. remarked that ' he had long been 
 personally acquainted with the President ; that he knew well his standing 
 in the estimation oT the people of New England, and of other parts of the 
 country ; and if public opinion is now against him,' said the Dr., ' and is 
 omnipotent, it is not immutable.' The Dr. declared, on this and on a sub- 
 sequent occasion also, that ' he had heard nothing of my being unpopular till 
 he came into the board ; and that his information was first received from 
 some of the members themselves.' 
 
 While I was at Middlebury College, Vt., Dr. K. was a resident in the vil- 
 lage of Middlebury, with the exception of a few months. But a short time 
 before I came to this place, he removed to the county of Madison, where he 
 has lived, eighteen or twenty miles from the College, until the present mo-
 
 44 
 
 Some other expedient now became necessary. It might be 
 taken for granted, provided the President could be induced to 
 resign his office, that the professors would follow the example. 
 But should they not, there was no constitutional obstacle to their 
 removal. The Charter says, "The President shall hold his office 
 for and during his good behaviour ; the rest of the faculty during 
 the pleasure of the Board." 
 
 On the last evening of the session, a committee of the Trustees 
 presented me the following resolution, viz : 
 
 "Resolved, That in the opinion of this Board, the principal 
 reason why Hamilton College is not more flourishing, is, that the 
 public do not take more interest in some of its officers." 
 
 A measure, this, admirably adapted ad captandum. It might 
 be easily foreseen that most of the Board could readily unite in 
 the resolution some in regard to one officer, and some to another. 
 I should presume, indeed, that every member might vote for it. 
 For provided the Corporation of any College pursue a course 
 tending, in the view of the public, to prevent its growth and use- 
 fulness, is it to be expected that the public will take much interest 
 in its officers, as officers ? 
 
 I inquired of the committee whether they wished to see the pro- 
 fessors and myself together ? They answered, We can call on 
 the professors afterwards. I remarked to them, As we all profess 
 to be Christians, I wish we may converse freely as becomes Chris- 
 tians. I requested them to state what were the objections against 
 the faculty, so far as I was concerned. Mr. Smith, who appeared 
 to be their chairman, replied It does not appear that you can be 
 said to be unpopular; but, somehow or other, you don't seem to 
 be known. Had you preached more abroad, it would probably 
 have been better for the College. [36] But I was not called here, 
 
 jnent. He has been the senior professor in the Baptist Theological Seminary 
 at Hamilton, from its organization about ten years ; and also a Trustee of 
 the Academy in that village, at which more young men, for the last six years, 
 have been prepared for Hamilton College, than at any other in the western 
 district. Since his residence in this vicinity, the Dr. has almost uniformly 
 spent his winter vacations of ten weeks, and his shorter vacations in the 
 summer, in visiting the various parts of this and of the New England states, 
 in soliciting benefactions for the Seminary. It is evident that no other 
 member of the Board had travelled so much in the northern states, for several 
 years, and had possessed the means in a higher degree, of knowing the repu- 
 tation of the College and of its officers^ 
 
 [36] Mr. Smith, who lives only twenty miles from the College, and was 
 graduated at this Institution since I have been at the head of it, remarked to 
 me in May, 1827, three months previous to this meeting, 'that he had never 
 learned from the students, nor from any other source, that they were not sat- 
 isfied with my instruction, till he learned it from the professor's letter of the 
 23d April immediately preceding.' To the suggestion, made to him during 
 ^his interview in May, that-I thought it probable I should wish to retire from 
 my office before many years, he replied ' I hope you will hold on these ten 
 years.' He came to the meeting in August without, I presume, any idea of 
 my leaving the College, and without any anticipation of the measures which 
 were introduced. Yet, after Ihefree conversation, he found the public senti- 
 ment so much against me of which, it seems, he had heard nothing three 
 months before, favorable as his situation had been for learning the truth 'that
 
 45 
 
 gentlemen, said I, for the purpose of preaching. The Corpora- 
 tion knew, some of them at least, when I was invited to your Col- 
 lege, that owing to the state of my health, preaching was seldom 
 in my power. And will they complain of me for not performing 
 a service, which, by contract, I am under no obligation to perform, 
 and, for want of health, have been unable to perform ? [37] 
 
 I have preached, however, more frequently in this vicinity 
 than I did in the vicinity of Middlebury College while there. If 
 my services have been less useful to Hamilton College than they 
 were to that Institution, the fact is not to be attributed to my in- 
 ability to preach, but to a widely different cause ; to a cause 
 entirely beyond my control. * There, the faculty were permitted to 
 manage the internal affairs of the College according to their own 
 discretion. IVot a single measure of the faculty, for the period of 
 
 he deemed it impossible the College should succeed under my auspices. No 
 one on the floor, however strange it may seem, contended more strenuously, 
 it is said, for the omnipotency of public opinion. 
 
 But some of the Board have assured me that, after all, nothing of a serious 
 character appeared against me, during the free conversation. The burden of 
 the complaint was, asT was informed by Dr. Brown and others, that I was not 
 known, viz. so much as I Should have been, (the Doctor remarked,) had I 
 prached in every town and village in the western country. And he added 
 ' Some of the Board have a high opinion of preaching, as a means of build- 
 ing up a College.' 
 
 Does it not appear somewhat paradoxical, that while the popular sentiment 
 was so strong against me that, in the opinion of Mr. S. the interests of the Col- 
 lege required I should be sacrificed to it, at all hazards, yet I could not be said 
 to be unpopular, and, somehow or other, did not seem to be known ? And is it 
 less paradoxical, that I should have been sufficiently known in this country, 
 although a stranger here, to induce the Board, without the agency of personal 
 friends here or abroad, to invite me to the presidency of their College, 
 and yet, somehow or other, should not seem to be known, after having been at 
 the head of it ten years 1 The gentleman then President of the Board, once 
 said to me ' When you was proposed as a candidate for the Presidency, it 
 was remarked before the Board (or their committee,) This man has no 
 recommendations.' 
 
 During this session a resolution was brought forward to sweep away all 
 the faculty at a single stroke. It was thought the easiest way of getting rid 
 of those they wished to remove. If all were cut off, no one, it was said, could 
 complain ; and the Board could re-elect those whom it was desirable to re- 
 tain. Similar, without doubt, were the designs of the committee. They in- 
 tended to effect, by their report, the resignation of all the faculty, and then 
 re-elect a part of them. 
 
 Honest reader, what dost thou think of such measures 1 
 
 [37] Extract of a letter from a committee of the Corporation, announcing 
 my election to the Presidency of the College, dated 
 
 UTICA, 22d Jan. 1817. 
 
 "It is not unknown to you, that at present we have no professor of Divinity. 
 Our late President, for some time previous to his death, was in the habit, 
 of performing divine service e'very Sunday morning in the chapel. This had 
 not been required of him as a duty : he had, however, adopted it on much re- 
 flection. Our Board are impressed with the importance of this regulation ; 
 and, although they do by no means consider it an indispensable condition, 
 yet they think a service of this sort would be very desirable. 
 
 JOSEPH KIRKLAND, 
 (Signed) ' HENRY DWIGHT, 
 
 MORRIS S. MILLER."
 
 46 
 
 eight years, was ever called up before the Board, or ever alluded 
 to as improper. Not an individual of that body, to my knowledge, 
 ever complained of the faculty abroad^or of any their measures. 
 But how has it been here ? 
 
 I then asked the committee Do the Board say that I am su- 
 perannuated, as has been reported ? The answer was No ; no 
 such thing has been said. Do they say that I have been less vigi- 
 lant and faithful in the discharge of my official duties the last 
 year than I have previously been 1 They replied Nothing of the 
 kind has been suggested. I remarked, one of the two conclusions, 
 then, is irresistible, viz. that the reports in circulation respecting 
 my superannuation and inability are*sheer fabrications, invented 
 for some sinister purpose ; or that the public, in some way or 
 other, have been deceived as to my qualifications, notwithstanding I 
 have grown gray within the walls of Colleges, and have passed 
 through every grade of academic office. Of these conclusions, 
 you may make your own election. 
 
 The meeting was adjourned till the 3d Wednesday in Septem- 
 ber. [38] 
 
 [38] I have made no boast of my talents as an instructer. I never in- 
 quired, previous to the persecution I have lately experienced, for the purpose 
 of learning my estimation in the view of my pupils. It has been my unvary- 
 ing practice to endeavor to perform, as far as able, what appeared to be my 
 duty, and, without solicitude, to leave the issue with God. It is probable 
 that many of my pupils have been dissatisfied with my instructions. It 
 would be a novel case if they have not. But not an instance, however, of 
 dissatisfaction on this account had ever come to my knowledge, antecedent to 
 our commencement, August, 1826. From the offices of instruction to which 
 I had been called, in several respectable Colleges, I had been encouraged to 
 hope that reasonable young men, at least, would have no very substantial 
 grounds for dissatisfaction. 
 
 In 1796, I was graduated at Yale College, and at the same time appointed 
 tutor at Williams. 
 
 1798, 1 was called to the same office at Yale, which I occupied five years. 
 
 1801, I was elected to the professorship of Divinity in Yale ; but my 
 health having failed me before I considered myself prepared to enter upon its 
 duties, I finally declined it. 
 c 1806, I was invited to the professorship of the Greek language in Union. 
 
 1809, I was called from Union to the Presidency of Middlebury. 
 
 1814, 1 was re-invited to the professorship of the Greek language in 
 Union ; which invitation I declined. 
 
 1817, I was invited, in January, as already stated, to the Presidency of 
 Hamilton, as successor of Dr. Backus ; and in February ensuing, to that of 
 Yale, as successor of Dr. Dwight. 
 
 In July of the same year, I was re-invited to Hamilton. 
 
 The following communication'from the last class which I have had the 
 honor, and have been permitted to instruct, I shall be excused for inserting, 
 notwithstanding it has appeared in several publications. 
 
 " To DR. DAVIS, President of Hamilton College : 
 
 SIR The Senior Class of Hamilton College cannot persuade them- 
 selves to resign the situation which they have hitherto occupied under your 
 guardianship, without expressing their grateful sense of the manner in which 
 the duties of your office have been fulfilled. 
 
 We have formerly had occasion to exhibit such a testimony as members 
 of a College : circumstances, as we believe, now render a repetition of tha 
 same sentiments incumbent upon us as members of a class.
 
 47 
 
 ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE BOARD Sept. 19th, 1827. 
 
 Present Seventeen members, viz. Messrs. Kirkland, Norton, 
 McNiel, Lothrop, Brown, Dwight, Eells, Williams, May- 
 nard, Bronson, Coe, Smith, Gridley, Hopkins, Frost, Ai- 
 kin, Davis. 
 
 Immediately after the members were called to order, the Presi- 
 dent, Gen. Kirkland, remarked, to me before the Board that a* 
 some subjects of a personal nature, which it would not be pleasant 
 for me to hear, were to be brought before them, he should think it 
 proper for me to retire. 
 
 I replied to him, I claim the privilege of expressing my senti- 
 ments, previously, on some of your proceedings at the last meet- 
 ing, and I have a right to claim it. 
 
 The following are virtually, and in a high degree verbally, my 
 remarks on the occasion : 
 
 The report, Sir, presented by your committee, at the late meet- 
 ing, furnishes prima facie evidence that the object of the framers 
 of it was to induce your faculty to resign. I attribute no such 
 motive to the members of the Board generally. The member who 
 moved for the committee had, I am confident, no such object in 
 view ; and were he still a member, and present with us, he would 
 frown with indignation upon such a procedure. [39] 
 
 Disturbed by difficulties, as a part of our College life bas been for the 
 circumstances which must still endear it to our future recollection, and for 
 the advantages which have, notwithstanding, been presented for our im- 
 provement, we feel in a great measure indebted to the dignified and impartial 
 manner in which the functions of your responsible station have been per- 
 formed. 
 
 Discharging the duties of an office in its nature, at any time, not a little 
 arduous, and from existing circumstances from whatever oource arising at 
 the present time peculiarly trying, we bear a willing testimony to the prompt 
 exertions, the indefatigable energy, with which you have encountered every 
 difficulty. 
 
 Not to have entertained a grateful remembrance of the uniform affability 
 and parental kindness which have characterized your deportment towards us, 
 would have proved us unworthy of them. Such has been our uniform feel- 
 ing ; such, so near the moment of our regretted, but final separation, is our 
 sincere expression. 
 
 Passing, as we are, into an opening world, we are happy in the opportu- 
 nity to present to you this just tribute of warm affection, with our sincere 
 wishes that happiness and prosperity may crown the remainder of your days. 
 
 T. B. HURLBERT, 
 DANIEL D. WHEDON, 
 JOHN J. ULLMAN. 
 
 Hamilton College, August 26th, 1828." Committee of the Class. 
 
 [39] The President and Secretary of the Board were members of the com- 
 mittee, and had almost the entire agency in planning and drafting the report. 
 The former of these gentlemen will not deny (nor would the latter, were he 
 still with us) that they saw Mr. Ford a few weeks previous to the meeting in 
 May, at which he moved for the appointment of the committee, and expressed 
 to him their views of the conduct and character of the professor, and of the 
 
 fropriety and necessity, it is believed, of removing him from his office. And 
 speak advisedly when I say, not r, word was spoken by them to Mr. Ford 
 respecting the removal of the President, or any other officer ; nor any
 
 48 
 
 I know full well, Sir, the heads that contrived and the hands 
 that brought that thing forward. Had they entertained a desire 
 
 dissatisfaction manifested towards the faculty generally : Mr. Lothrop has ac- 
 knowledged to me, that Mr. Ford's sole motive, in his motion for the commit- 
 tee, was the removal of this officer ; and Mr. Kirkland remarked, as I am as- 
 sured, some months before the meeting of the Board in May, (1827), " that he 
 tlwught the Corporation ought to take the professor in hand." Now after all 
 this (and after the appearance of the letter, too, which was not written till 
 after their interview with Mr. Ford, and of which the committee will not 
 plead ignorance), how could they say to the Board, in their report, that they 
 had " been able to find nothing improper in the conduct of the professor of a 
 specific character 1" That the knowledge of facts pertaining to his conduct, 
 which they deemed reprehensible, was then in their possession or that re- 
 ports of such facts had reached them, surely they will not deny. And grant- 
 ing they had doubts as to the truth of them, it is firmly believed they made 
 no inquiries to remove those doubts or if they inquired at all, that they 
 were careful to inquire of those whom they supposed could not, or would not 
 give them information. And why did Gen. Kirkland, when I offered, about 
 three weeks before their report was made to the Board, to show him a copy of 
 the professor's letter, reply to me, ' If the committee wish it," they can call 
 for it F And why was it that the committee did not call for it ] And how 
 could ' one of the committee' (Gen. Kirkland, I believe) remark to Dr. Nor- 
 ton, a few weeks prior to July, 1829, as the Dr. infonned me about the first 
 of that month, ' that he now regretted the committee did not recommend to 
 the Board to remove the professor ?' And yet they had found in his conduct 
 nothing improper, as they stated in their report, of a specific character ! ! 
 
 To reconcile a procedure like this with the views and principles which 
 must ever govern the conduct of fair and honorable men, is a work for others 
 to perform. But the committee acted not without motives. The principal 
 and most active members of it many do not doubt had an object of their 
 own in view ; and it is believed confidently 
 
 1. That the professor was not regarded by them as the only obstacle to 
 the attainment of their object. 
 
 2. That they apprehended certain clergymen of the Board would resist 
 the removal of the professor alone to the last extremity, but would readily 
 assent to any measure which would be likely to issue in the resignation or 
 removal of the President. 
 
 3. That they were fully sensible there existed, in the Board, strong pre- 
 judices against the President, on account of the particular Christian commu- 
 nion of which he is a member, and because he had ever been an active friend 
 and patron of the Western Education Society. 
 
 4. That they were equally sensible there was also in the Board an avowed 
 spirit of hostility to all Colleges ; and, consequently, an opposition to the 
 faculty, as friends and advocates of Colleges. 
 
 5. That they presumed there were some members of the Corporation of 
 perfectly upright intentions, who could be easily made to yield to their guid- 
 ance. 
 
 6. That they had strong expectations that the alarming reports then in 
 circulation, respecting the prospects of the College and some of its officers, 
 (aided by the influence of the preceding considerations), would induce the 
 Board quietly to acquiesce in any measure which might probably eventuate 
 in the voluntary resignation of the faculty. 
 
 7. That they were sanguine in their hopes that the report would be 
 followed immediately by the resignation of the faculty ; and, this object be- 
 ing obtained without excitement of feelings and conflicting sentiments in the 
 Board, that then they would be easily persuaded to model the Institution 
 anew, in such a manner as would enable them [these members of the com- 
 mittee] to compass their purpose. (See note 64.) 
 
 8. That they were encouraged to expect the Board itself, in this way,
 
 49 
 
 to retain the faculty, would the fees of tuition, and nothing else, 
 have been offered us in their report ? Would the President of 
 the Board, in company with the Chairman of the committee, have 
 said, in their conference with me, our money is all gone the fees 
 of tuition are all you can have you can't Jiave a cent more if you 
 can collect it, well if not, you must be the losers ? [40] 
 
 And whence the distinction between your present and future 
 faculty, if you had no desire for our removal? We could have 
 nothing but the fees of tuition, whether we could collect it or not ; 
 but they were to rely for support, as far as practicable, on the 
 number of scholars. They, it seems, might have something more 
 than the fees of tuition. [41] It was stated in your report, that 
 all your contingent expenses might be defrayed by the revenue of 
 your permanent fund. To what purposes, then, was your room- 
 rent, &c. to be applied? Granting there were 100 scholars, the 
 charges, as they customarily have been made to them for sweeping, 
 
 would be relieved from the embarrassment which was experienced by reason 
 of the exhausted state of their treasury, saved from public reprehension, and 
 that the inquiry would cease to be made, What has become of the $150,000 
 which the Corporation of Hamilton College has received, and for which they 
 have nothing to show, according to their own statement, but their establish- 
 ment and a fund of $15,000 1 
 
 These anticipations were fully realized, so far as practicable, without the 
 resignation of the faculty. What is believed to have been a primary object 
 of certain individuals of the committee, and perhaps a few other members of 
 the Board, was not immediately perceived by the Board generally, nor, as is- 
 believed, by all the committee. But soon, no doubt could remain that their 
 object was, First, to effect the resignation of the faculty ; and, that end at- 
 tained, Secondly, to farm out the Institution to some enterprising young men, 
 on such terms, and under such a modification, as would render it a source of 
 gain to them, and free the Corporation from their embarrassments and appre- 
 hensions. Otherwise, when asked, Who will you get for your faculty, if 
 your present officers leave you? why did Gen. Kirkland, Mr. Dwight, and 
 others answer again and again, ' We can find men enough who will be willing 
 to take the College "?' Wh was it repeatedly said by them, ' There will be 
 no difficulty as to scholars ; we might soon have three hundred here V 
 Why was the Round Hill school at Northampton adduced in proof of what 
 could be done ] Why was it remarked that the instructers of that school had 
 been at great expense for buildings, but were, notwithstanding, dividing very 
 handsome profits'? And why was a certain clergyman of New-England 
 written to as he himself declares and asked whether he would take the Col- 
 lege on his own responsibility 1 
 
 [40J Would a gentleman, if he wished to retain us, have addressed me in 
 language so repulsive 1 Yet the General remarked to me in May, 1828, ' You 
 misapprehended my views I never thought, till the meeting of the Board in 
 January (the same year), it was best that you should leave the College ; my 
 plan was, to retain you and professor S., and get rid of all the rest of the 
 faculty.' But why get rid of the professor of the Greek language? [See 
 note 39.] 
 
 [41] Here the President of the Board attempted to acquit himself and his 
 associates of partiality. He labored to show that the proffer to the present, 
 was the same as the offer recommended to be made to the future faculty. 
 That practically, there was no difference. That is, as he contended, since re- 
 lying on the fees of tuition for support, and relying on the number of scholars, 
 are not the same thing, there was no injustice manifested in the report towards 
 the present faculty. But, of necessity, the General failed of his object. For 
 it is perfectly obvious that they are precisely the same thing, when the rate of 
 tuition is fixed ; notwithstanding they are expressed in different words. 
 
 G
 
 50 
 
 ringing the bell, and ordinary repairs, would amount to $300 ; 
 room rent to $900 ; diplomas to $125 ; commencement dinner to 
 $50 the annual income then from all these sources would be 
 
 $1375. 
 
 The President of the Board said, in reply, ' Our late treasurer 
 spent in extra repairs, one year, $1400 ; and this income should 
 be reserved for such purposes/ It is acknowledged, I remarked, 
 this sum was spent during a certain year, in altering and making 
 anew the roof, and plastering the interior of Hamilton Hall, and 
 in repairs of the steward's establishment. But this expense has oc- 
 curred but once since the foundation of the College a period of 
 fifteen years, and will not, it is hoped, occur again during the next 
 succeeding equal period. 
 
 With 100 scholars, then, you would make an annual appropria- 
 tion to meet an expense, which would not probably occur more 
 than once in fifteen years. 
 
 A part of this income, the Gen. then remarked, he supposed 
 could be applied to make up deficiencies that might occasionally 
 happen in the fees of tuition. 
 
 I replied, if any such thing was intended, why was it not 
 expressed in their report by the committee, as a ground of ^eocour- 
 agement to your faculty ? And why assured by you in such strong 
 and unequivocal language, that not a cent was to be expected by 
 us, beyond the fees of tuition, whether we could collect it or not ? 
 I then called for the resolution introduced and passed at the 
 last session, viz. " That in the opinion of the Board, the princi- 
 pal reason why Hamilton College is not more flourishing is, 
 that the public do not take more interest in some of its officers." 
 But the resolution was not to be found. Dr. Lansing, it was 
 remarked, who introduced it, and was not now present, had proba- 
 bly taken it away with him. I inquired of the committee whether 
 I had stated it correctly ? It was answered that I had. 
 
 I have learned, Mr. President, since this resolution was brought 
 to me, that it was shown to no one of your officers besides. I 
 take it for granted, therefore, that your President was the princi- 
 pal object of it. The design of it could not be misunderstood. 
 If it was not intended to effect the resignation of your faculty, 
 what possible object could be designed to be answered by it ? But 
 your President being found not disposed to yield, I presume it was 
 deemed useless to present it afterward, to use the language of 
 the committee to your professors. [42] 
 
 [42] Professor Strong was told by Mr. Smith, that if he would resign with 
 the rest of the faculty, the Board would undoubtedly re-elect him. But this 
 gentleman treated the proposition as every honorable man could not but 
 treat it. Professor Monteith actually proposed to some of the faculty that 
 they should all resign their offices. He had been assured by Mr. Coe, as I 
 was informed, that there was no difficulty with any one but the President ; or 
 that the corporation had no objection to any other member of the faculty : and 
 he had probably been led to expect, by some of his clerical friends, that if he 
 would have the magnanimity to assist them, in this way, to get the Presi- 
 dent out of office, that his o%vn office would be restored to him as hopeless 
 as his case would have been.
 
 51 
 
 Why this vague and indefinite language in your resolution! If, 
 in the opinion of this Board, some of your officers are obstacles to 
 the prosperity of your College, why not tell us \vho those officers 
 are ? Why do you not go to them, and tell them that they, and 
 they only, are the objects of your complaint ; and state to them 
 explicitly the grounds of your dissatisfaction, instead of pursuing 
 this crooked, this dark, this underhanded policy? Do measures 
 like these comport with the dignity of this honorable Board ? Per- 
 mit me to ask, is it kind, is it just, is it magnanimous, is it wise, 
 to endeavor to worry down your faculty by your resolutions, your 
 reports, and your committees ? [43] " 
 
 Supposing your object attained, what would be the consequence 
 of such measures to your College ? Would you not establish a 
 precedent which would be fatal to its prospects ? For where is 
 the man who, in such circumstances, would trust himself in your 
 hands? Where is the man fit to be President of your College, 
 who would subject himself to the cruel necessity of having his 
 reputation blasted, and the support of his family wrested from him, 
 as soon as a report should be circulated that he is unpopular ; that 
 he is a heretic ; or that he is intemperate, as has already been 
 asked of me ? For this public opinion, it seems, must be yielded 
 to, however created. It has been asserted on this- floor, that it is 
 omnipotent that it cannot be resisted. Who, that should be desi- 
 rous for the removal of an .officer, with a view of providing a 
 place for himself, or a friend, or from some other sinister motive, 
 could not, by false rumors and intrigue, create such a necessity? 
 Let the principle be once established, and where will you find the 
 man, however innocent and meritorious, who might not, by such 
 means, be sacrificed at the shrine of your mighty Moloch ? 
 
 You attribute, Sir,, more than is just to your faculty. It is 
 owing, in my opinion, principally to the maladministration of the 
 Trustees, that the College is not more flourishing. Its concerns 
 have been controlled by the strong men of the Board, as they 
 have been called. [44] Measures deeply affecting the vital inter- 
 
 [43] After I had closed my remarks, the Secretary whispered to me, ' We 
 did not mean you in the resolution ; we meant Monteith.' I replied, Why 
 did you not say so, then and why did you send it to me? 
 
 [44] Here Mr. Dwight courteously interrupted me. 'We have come 
 together,' said he, ' to consult for the good of the Institution, and to endeavor 
 to promote its interests ; and I see no benefit to be derived from this proceed- 
 ing.' I replied to the chair, ' I have a right, Sir, to vindicate my character ; 
 I demand that right; and are this Board prepared to deprive me of it?' I 
 was permitted to proceed. 
 
 I now remarked to the Board, by way of explanation, that they would 
 doubtless recollect a gentleman (whom I named), President of an eastern 
 College, (than whom, perhaps, a more profound and accurate observer of 
 men is not to be found), was at our commencement in 1822 ; that he said to 
 me, ' You have a noble Board here ; they are a very intelligent set of men ; 
 but your danger is in your strength ;' and that I replied to him, ' I have long 
 been sensible of that, Sir.' The same gentleman remarked to me in Feb. 
 1828, ' I have trembled for you ever since I was at your commencement : I 
 knew that your Corporation would never suffer their faculty to manage the 
 College.' And he has subsequently remarked, 'Nothing on earth would
 
 53 
 
 ests of the Institution* have, through their influence, been carried 
 with great apparent unanimity, when a large proportion of the 
 members were, in judgment, opposed to them, and when it was 
 known that the faculty totally disapproved of them. (Several of 
 their measures were here enumerated, some of which have already 
 been mentioned in this narrative.) But not only the measures 
 which have been adopted on this floor have been injurious to the 
 College : the surmises and complaints against the faculty and 
 Institution, that have been made by some of the members else- 
 where, have not, as I believe, been less injurious. 
 
 induce me to take charge of a College with such a Board of Trustees as you 
 have.' 
 
 [45] Immediately after, the President of the Board, during a short recess, 
 remarked to me, in the presence of several of the members, I think you ought 
 to specify : I presume you meant Mr. Hart for one.' I replied, ' I did mean 
 Mr. Hart.' He added, ' I did not know but you meant me also.' I answered, 
 *I did mean you also.' (But why did the Gen. suspect that I meant him?) 
 He wished to know what he had said against the College ? I answered him, 
 'after saying in my house last winter (January or February, 1827), in the 
 presence of a number of persons, that our treasury was exhausted, our 
 money gone, that our College must go down ; that you had written to your 
 son in Europe, that he must not think of coming here when he should have 
 returned, as we had already more officers than we could support : you further 
 remarked, that you said to Mr. Whiting the other day. in Albany, they 
 might have our College, professors and all, and welcome, if they would only 
 pay us for the buildings.' The General replied to me, ' I was only in jest ; 
 and I am surprised that any man of common sense should suppose I was in 
 earnest.'* 
 
 The General wished to know what else he had said. I answered that our 
 
 * Mr. Kirkland, son of the President of the Board, was several years tutor 
 in the College. In-1824 he was elected professor of the Latin language, 
 with an understanding that he should enter upon the duties of the office in 
 two years from that time or sooner, provided the number of scholars 
 increased to one hundred and twenty. He remained in his tutorship one 
 year subsequent to his election as professor. In the autumn of 1827, he 
 returned from Europe, after two years absence. He had never entered upon 
 the labors of his professorship no salary had ever been voted him ; his, 
 father insisted on his relying upon his own resources for support, during 
 his absence, that he might be at liberty, on his return, as he remarked to me, 
 to take himself to the best market : but it was decided by the Board, subse- 
 quently to his return, that Mr. K. was actually a professor in the College ; 
 and when it was thought expedient by the Board to dispense with the services 
 of the Greek or Latin professor, for a season, their claims, in these circum- 
 stances, were adjudged to be precisely the same, notwithstanding the Greek 
 professor had been in office more than six-years. 
 
 Mr. Whiting is a highly respectable inhabitant of Geneva, and one of the 
 most efficient Trustees of the College there. Could Mr. W., or even myself, 
 as the General seemed to think, be so void of common sense as to believe him 
 in earnest in his offer to Mr. W. 1 I have never supposed that the General 
 could presume, whatever might be his opinion of his influence in the Board, 
 that he actually had a right to sell the College, officers and all. But could 
 Mr. W. think the General in earnest, as a Trustee, to build up the College 1 
 Could a friend of the College be expected to talk so ? and especially, could 
 a Trustee, if a wise man, talk so, who had any regard to its prosperity 1 A 
 person who was present and heard the General's observation, and the offer 
 which he said he made to Mr. W., remarked, ' that conversing in such a 
 manner was the direct way for Trustees to pull down a College.' The 
 General replied, ' Such is our situation, and the facts are not to be concealed.' 
 Yet, forsooth, he was only in jest.
 
 53 
 
 I remarked, subsequently, that I was still willing, as I had ever 
 been, to do all in my power for the College that we greatly needed 
 
 former treasurer had told me he had repeatedly heard him talk against the 
 College ; and he was not the only gentleman in Utica from whom I had 
 received such information. 
 
 The General, to my certain knowledge, has long since remarked, 'that the 
 College was of little consequence to the county that he had spent his time 
 and money in its service that he would give -100 to be freed from his bur- 
 den (i. e. as Trustee) that, for his part, he was very willing the people of 
 the west should have it, if they wanted it.' He has complained of the Presi- 
 dent, that ' he is not known ; he is not enough before the public he ought, 
 in vacations, to be preaching in all our principal villages he ought to do 
 more in the College.' 
 
 As to my preaching, it is true that I have preached in a great proportion 
 of the principal villages in the western region of this state ; and in regard to 
 my labors in the College, I have usually heard the same number of recitations 
 as the professors, viz. two in a day ; besides correcting and criticising, daily, 
 Jwo compositions of the Senior class, and correcting their own written decla- 
 mations for the chapel an exercise not in use here, till after my arrival. I 
 cannot learn from their by-laws, that the Board ever required of my predeces- 
 sor, or that he ever attended more than six classical exercises weekly ; and 
 as to the labor of correcting and criticising the compositions, he was, as has 
 already been seen, kindly relieved of it by their own resolution. [See note 16.] 
 During the whole of his administration, there were two, and most of the time 
 three professors, and one or more tutors to assist in the government ; all of 
 whom studied and lodged in the same buildings with the scholars. Since I 
 have been here, there have been ordinarily nearly twice the number of young 
 men to govern, yet but a very snail portion of the time has there been, either 
 day or night, within the walls of the College, any officer to aid in the govern- 
 ment, excepting two tutors. My predecessor was in the habit of preaching 
 once on the Sabbath in the College ; but this was a voluntary service, not 
 required or expected of him, it is believed, by the Board, as a duty. He 
 had long been the pastor of a church. He was favored with a vigorous 
 constitution, and with uniformly excellent health. His sermons were all 
 prepared at his hand ; and such a service, no doubt, he regarded, as would 
 every godly minister in his circumstances, not as a labor, but as a privilege 
 and a delight. 
 
 The substance of the following communication, dated January, 1828, was 
 made known to me nearly twelve months before. " Some time previous (I 
 believe about six months) to the introduction of the measures in 1827, to 
 effect a revolution in Hamilton College, I distinctly recollect to havejieard 
 
 Mr. J D . . . (of Utica) remark, that he had frequently been pained 
 
 to hear General Kirkland speak of the College in the manner he had done, 
 before all sorts of people. D. P." 
 
 In the winter or spring of 1834, if I mistake not, an article appeared in a 
 Buffalo Gazette, informing the public that the Corporation of Hamilton Col- 
 lege had spent $10,000 of their funds, in educating a class of young men 
 under the care of a certain company or association, called, the writer believed, 
 the Western Education Society : that owing to their embarrassment, on this 
 account, the Corporation had been obliged to petition the Legislature for re- 
 lief ; and as it was probable they would renew their petition, it was import- 
 ant the public should know the facts. Mr. Frost, who visited Buffalo not 
 long after, replied, or caused a reply to be inserted in the same paper, that 
 the writer was misinformed as to the facts ; that it was true, about $10,000 
 was due to the Corporation, for tuition and board, from young men educated 
 here, but that a part of it only was due from the class of youth alluded to. 
 To this the writer rejoined, that he could not be under a mistake, as he had 
 received his information from a member of the faculty. Mr. F., after hi re- 
 turn from Buffalo, informed me that this communication, aa he there learned,
 
 54 
 
 the services of an able professor of Divinity, that it had for some 
 time been my intention, whenever the Board would appoint such an 
 officer, to say to them, if the means for his support should not have 
 been already obtained, that in lieu of the $400 which I had sub- 
 
 was in consequence of complaints made against the College in that village, a 
 short time previous, by Mr. Hart, of Utica ; and that the writer was deceived 
 as to the character of his informant, by confounding Mr. Hart, who was a 
 member of the Corporation, with the faculty. 
 
 On the conduct of this member it is unnecessary to dwell. His habit of 
 talking against the Institution is notorious, as the people of Utica can tes- 
 tify. I have heard him declare in the streets of that village, 'that the Col- 
 lege was under sectarian influence that he had no faith in it that the 
 charity scholars were Kiining it that he should resign his seat.' 
 
 Now it was ascertained, by recurring to the treasurer's books, that the 
 beneficiaries of the Western and other Education Societies owed the Board 
 much less than half the amount specified ; that they had actually paid into 
 the treasury for tuition cash to the amount of nearly $3000 ; while the Cor- 
 poration had been at no expense for their, board, and had not paid a single 
 cent more for the support of instructers than would have been paid had those 
 young men had no connexion with the College. 
 
 The substance of the following was communicated to me long since in 
 conversation. " In December (as the writer believes), 1824 or '25, during 
 
 the session of the Oneida Common Pleas at Rome, the Honorable , then 
 
 a Trustee of Hamilton College, inquired of me what the difficulty was at the 
 College 1 and on my replying that as he was a Trustee, he ought to know, he 
 remarked to me, that he feared the President had not sufficient energy : and 
 after some little conversation about change of the officers of the College, 
 
 asked me if I was acquainted with his *** ** ***, Mr. 1 and on my 
 
 saying that I was, he remarked that Mr. was getting along well that 
 
 he managed the affairs of his church and society with a good deal of energy. 
 
 And Mr. , the Trustee, spoke of introducing new members into the 
 
 Board, as I then understood, and still believe, from personal views. 
 
 " November 28th, 1829. S. D." 
 
 But as high an opinion as the gentleman ahove alluded to seems to have 
 entertained of energy, he was the member of the committee who, in Decem- 
 ber, 1823, strenuously opposed the proposition to require of the young gen- 
 tlemen, who had bound themselves by a written covenant not to take the 
 oath before a civil magistrate, to sign a confession in the presence of the 
 faculty. He was afraid they would think it severe. [See page 22.] And it 
 is proved beyond controversy, that this same member of the Corporation, 
 about three years previous, threw out hints and complaints against the Presi- 
 dent of Hamilton College, in the presence of several persons, as being too 
 fond of exercising authority as having too much energy. It has been ascer- 
 tained that his observations were made to S. D., shortly after the explosion 
 of the cannon. [See page 24.] Alas for any College, when such is the con- 
 duct of some of its principal guardians, and when their motives are personal! 
 
 The following Was put into my hands August, 1828. " In conversation 
 with Mr. Bronson, of Utica (himself at the time, be it remembered, a mem- 
 ber of the Board), respecting the President and Trustees of Hamilton College, 
 Mr. B. observed that it was no matter how well the President was qualified : 
 he could not get along no man could succeed as President while there were 
 such, or some persons, meaning, as I understood from previous remarks, some 
 of the Trustees, going up and down the streets, repeatedly affirming that the 
 President was not a proper man for his office. The above is the impression 
 made on my mind at the time, which was about the first of May, 1828, 
 although the words may not have been the same, nor precisely in the same 
 order. N. J." 
 
 Many other facts of a similar character might be enumerated, were it ne- 
 cessary. And as to those which are above stated, or mentioned in other parta
 
 55 
 
 scribed for a permanent fund, I would give $300 annually towards 
 his support, so long as I was President of their College. This offer, 
 said I, I now make, provided you will elect such a man. I will 
 do more than this. I will give up, for his use, your house which 
 I now occupy. [46] 
 
 As we were called to dinner, I said to the President of the 
 Board, I will now retire ; and when you have finished your busi- 
 ness of a personal nature, please to let me know it, and I will 
 return. 
 
 The session was continued till sunset of the next day. And, 
 strange as the fact may appear, I was not requested by him to 
 take my seat with them till within fifteen minutes of their adjourn- 
 ment and then, at the instance of another member, as I was 
 informed. [47] 
 
 of the narrative [see, in particular, notes 7, 8, 32, 63, especially 70], my 
 knowledge is purely incidental. 'True, in some instances, I have inquired to 
 ascertain the truth of rumors which had casually reached me. 
 
 [46] I informed the Board on this occasion, that since commencement I 
 had visited New-York, and that, at the suggestion of one or two benevolent 
 individuals in that city, a number of gentlemen assembled (I believe fourteen) 
 for the purpose of deliberating on the expediency of making an effort there, 
 at some future time, in favor of the College. After learning from me its cir- 
 cumstances and prospects in general, and my views, in particular, of the im- 
 portance of a professorship of Divinity to the Institution, and what had 
 already been done at the west towards its endowment ; they resolved una- 
 nimously r that they regarded such an establishment as highly important 
 to the interests of the College : and provided the amount-sufficient for its en- 
 dowment should not be procured in the interior of the State, they would 
 cheerfully encourage an effort in that city, to raise the sum which might still 
 be wanting. I further remarked to the Board, that some of the gentlemen 
 expressed to me -privately a readiness to give liberally to the object, and 
 doubted not but something handsome" might be obtained. 
 
 Such information, it might naturally be expected, would be not a little 
 encouraging to the friends of the Institution, and to its guardians especially. 
 But this consideration, with the offer made by the President, had no influ- 
 ence with the majority. The work of reform was begun, and it appears 
 they were determined it should be accomplished. A resolution was intro- 
 duced by Mr. Williams, during my absence, to appoint a professor of Divinity. 
 It was strenuously opposed by the reformers. Mr. Dwight remarked, as 
 Dr. Norton informed me, ' that such a measure would be no better than 
 patchwork ; that such a man would only be in their way? Strange that a 
 good man should be striving to accomplish an object in* a public seminary of 
 learning-, to which such an officer could be in the way ! 
 
 It was also remarked by this reverend gentleman, on the same or another 
 occasion, as the Doctor further informed me, ' that he wished to see every 
 thing swept from the hill but just the buildings'or what was in substance 
 tantamount to it. 
 
 [47] This is the second time, be it remembered, that I was advised to leave 
 the Board, because things of a personal nature were to be brought into view, 
 And the General at a subsequent meeting again thought it best for me to 
 retire, and for the same reason : but his wishes were not complied with. Is it 
 not remarkable, that discussion of a personal nature, as the President merely 
 w as concerned, should occupy so much of the sessions of the Board ] Is it
 
 56 
 
 It appeared that the Board had been discussing a question of 
 primary interest to both the faculty and the College, on which 
 some of the members, at least, if the President of the Board did 
 not, wished my opinion : for immediately after I had resumed 
 my seat, he inquired of me whether I thought all the scholars, 
 with the exception of the Senior class, could be taught by three 
 professors without the aid of tutors. My answer was, I think 
 they might be, though the labours of the professors would be ardu- 
 ous. But such an arrangement, I am confident, in the judg- 
 ment of every man experienced in the interior management of a 
 College, would be unwise. The night is the season of disorder 
 in a College ; and without officers who could remain within its 
 walls through the night, as well as the day, I should have fearful 
 apprehensions for the consequences. I cannot, however, predict 
 with certainty as to the effect ; for the experiment has never, to 
 my knowledge, been made and I presume the Corporation of no 
 College before ever thought of making it. 
 
 Gen. Kirkland replied, Should such an arrangement takeplacc t 
 ONE of the professors would probably be without a family for a 
 season, and could lodge in the College. Nothing more, I believe, 
 was said on the subject. 
 
 The following resolutions were then introduced and carried, 
 viz. " That the services of the professor of the Latin language 
 be dispensed with till the next meeting of the Board." That the 
 salary of the professor of the Greek language be reduced to $650." 
 
 The Secretary was called upon to read the minutes of their 
 proceedings, which, with the resolutions just passed, were as fol- 
 lows, viz : 
 
 " Resolved, That the pecuniary circumstances of the College 
 make it necessary to reduce the salaries of the officers." 
 
 " Resolved, That the salary of the President be reduced to 
 $1,200." [48] 
 
 not possible that subjects of deep personal interest to some other member 
 were in contemplation, and that, on this account, a portion of the Board 
 thought the President's absence desirable 1 
 
 [48] After resolving that the state of their treasury rendered the reduction 
 of the salaries of the officers necessary, why not reduce the salaries of the 
 other officers immediately, as well as the President's! Why delay the reduction 
 of the Greek professor's salary twenty-four hours 1 Was it thought expedient 
 by some of the reformers (by whose opinion and wishes those of the others 
 seem to have been very much governed), to ascertain previously whether 
 the Greek or Latin professor be retained 1 Had the Greek professor'* services- 
 been dispensed with, is it likely that a salary less than $800 would have 
 been voted the Latin professor? And why was it, when the reduction of the 
 salary of the professor of mathematics was proposed, soon after the Presi- 
 dent's was reduced, that the reformers, as I am assured, instantly startled at ill 
 The fact is, the salary of this officer but a short time previous, in consequence 
 of their fears of losing him, had been increased from $800 to $1000 and that, 
 too, when the Board were fully apprized of the state of their treasury. The 
 reduction of this gentleman's salary, therefore, for the reason stated in the 
 resolution, would have savored too much of inconsistency. Why, then, thia
 
 57 
 
 " Resolved, That Messrs. Lothrop, M aynard, Frost, Dwight, 
 and Smith, be a committee to report to the Board, as soon as 
 
 sweeping resolution : " The pecuniary circumstances of the College make it 
 necessary to reduce the salaries of the officers ?" And why take $150 from 
 a professor whose salary was but $800, and leave the salaries of two profes- 
 sors entirely untouched, when one of them, too, was $1000 1 
 
 In regard to my own salary, I had previously offered, as has been seen, to 
 give $300 of it to aid the College, and the use of my house too estimated 
 by the Board at $200. This offer was spontaneous ; made at the advice or 
 suggestion of no one ; and at a time, when it had never been conceived, as 
 I knew, that the Board had power to take a cent from the President's salary, 
 without his consent. 
 
 Could such a body of men, as the Corporation of a College ought to be, 
 after their President had made a voluntary offer of $500 annually for its ser- 
 vice, reduce his salary, by a solemn resolution, $600, on account of the pecu- 
 niary circumstances of the Institution ; and without even a single suggestion 
 to him previously on the subject 1 
 
 Could they deliberately pass a resolution, tending deeply to wound the 
 feelings and reputation of any man, for the sake of $100 7 Could they do it 
 from the hope that the President, conceiving himself insulted by it, would be 
 induced, under the influence of high feelings of resentment and indignation, 
 to resign his office ] Is it possible that liberal and high-minded men could 
 suffer themselves to be governed by such motives 1 What, then, could have 
 been their motive ] Who can but admire ingenuousness and magnanimity, 
 in those professing to be honorable men ! 
 
 The truth is, had the committee, instead of the course adopted by them, 
 treated the faculty as gentlemen have, a right, and expect to be treated by 
 gentlemen, (in a courteous, open and undisguised manner;) had they come 
 and informed us they had resolved on recommending to the Board a united 
 and vigorous effort to raise the character of the College, and respectfully 
 asked whether we could not, for the sake of encouraging them in the effort, 
 relinquish a portion of our salaries ; there was not, (I say it with confidence) 
 a permanent member of the faculty who would not have done it, for a sea- 
 son at least, and with pleasure. But as it was perfectly obvious, from the re- 
 port itself, as well as from the remarks of the President of the Board when 
 the report was presented to me, that the object of the committee was to in- 
 duce the faculty to resign, (whatever may have been their professions to the 
 contrary,) and that they were reckoning on our want of firmness and moral 
 courage, we at once resolved although ready to aid the Institution to the 
 utmost of our power that, whatever we could give, we would give in our 
 own way, and on our own conditions. Who, that has the spirit of a man in 
 him, could crouch before such an artifice 1 And does the Gospel require it T 
 
 My reverend brother, Mr. Frost, proposed that the Board should take 
 $800 from my salary. But Mr. F. has assured me, ' it was not his opinion 
 till the January meeting four months afterward, that it was best I should 
 leave the College.' How is his proposition, then, to be reconciled with the 
 character of a wise man, which Mr. F. is as ambitious to sustain as any other 
 man 1 Let Mr. F. make the case his own, suppose the Presbyterian society 
 in Whitesboro' were to reduce his salary, or to attempt to reduce it, nearly 
 one half, without even giving him any previous intimation on the subject ; 
 and should tell him, notwithstanding, it was not their opinion, at the time, it 
 was best for him to leave them 7 Could Mr. F., while they manifested such 
 a total disregard for his feelings, his reputation, and his usefulness, believe 
 them] But Mr. Coe remarked (see note 70), several weeks prior to the 
 meeting in January, that Mr. F. was in favor of trying to place Mr. B**** at 
 the head of the College. 
 
 I remarked to Mr. Dwight, in January, that I knew not how to account for 
 his conduct as a Christian, in deliberately voting, and (without even consult- 
 ing me too) to reduce my salary $600, when I had just before voluntarily 
 
 H
 
 58 
 
 practicable, a proper course of studies, exercises, and discipline to 
 be pursued in the Institution, and the treasurer pay all the neces- 
 sary expenses of the committee in the execution of this duty." 
 The meeting was then adjourned tuTthe 9th of January. [49] 
 
 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE^OARD, Nov. 14th, 1827. 
 
 Present, ten members, viz. Messrs. Norton, Hopkins, McNiel, 
 Kirkland, Eells, Smith, Williams, Gridley, Coe, Davis. 
 
 Early in October, Mr. Strong, our professor of Mathematics 
 and Natural Philosophy, received an appointment from Rutgers 
 College, which was promptly accepted. Mr. S. repeatedly and 
 openly declared, that he was induced to leave Hamilton College 
 by the extraordinary proceedings of the Trustees that they were 
 the sole cause of his doing it that he saw no security for him- 
 self provided he should stay. 
 
 As the Collegial year had just commenced, several of the Junior 
 class, which was under his instruction principally, apprehending, 
 from the late movements of the Board, as they stated, that the 
 vacancy occasioned by his resignation would not be filled soon, 
 left us and united with other Colleges. Many of their classmates 
 were making arrangements to follow them. With the view of 
 checking this evil, some members of the Board deemed it vitally 
 important to call a special meeting of the body, in the manner pre- 
 scribed by the charter, and to fill the office as soon as possible. [50] 
 
 offered to appropriate $500 annually to the use of the College. He replied, I 
 did what I thought to be my duty. That is not the point, Sir, I answered. I 
 wish to know how you could think it your duty, when you could not but 
 know it was no better than assassination, as it respected my character. How 
 could you justify such conduct towards a brother, on the principles of that re- 
 ligion by which you and I profess to be governed 1 Mr. D. made no reply. 
 
 [49] Soon after the adjournment of the Board, Mr. Frost, a member of the 
 committee, started as an agent for New- England, for the sole purpose, it 
 seemed, of visiting High Schools, Round Hill Schools, Military Academies, 
 &c., and of learning, it is presumed, in what manner the College could be 
 best modelled anew, and modern improvements ingrafted upon it. He spent 
 nearly three months in this important agency ; yet it cost the Corporation 
 only $60. But he returned with his head wonderfully confused, as was evi- 
 dent from his concessions at the meeting of the Board in January, by reason 
 of the doubts, apprehensions, conflicting opinions, and reasonings, which he 
 found prevailing in the East. 
 
 [50] Gen. Kirkland was opposed to the measure. He remarked to me, 
 that he thought best to wait and see what the report of the committee would 
 be. My reply was ' I presume the committee will not make a report which 
 will preclude the necessity of a professor of Mathematics.' ' I don't know 
 about Mathematics,' replied the general ; ' I think it much more important 
 that a young man should write a fair hand and spell well.' This is the gen- 
 tleman, it will be recollected, who thought the condition of the College such, 
 , (while he acknowledged, ' we made as good scholars, he did not doubt, as 
 they did at Yale, and in some respects better,') ' that it could not be worse 
 off, and it would be perfectly safe to make an experiment.' (See note 32.) 
 Would an experiment of the general's devising be likely to add much to its 
 reputation for science ?
 
 59 
 
 Before the day on wjiich the meeting was to be holden arrived, 
 a rumor was abroad that there would not be a quorum pre- 
 sent; and that nothing would be done. The rumor, it was believed, 
 was sent out from Utica. Such, it was said, would be the fact, 
 by a son of the President of the Board, when in Clinton on 
 a visit a few days previous to the meeting. And so, indeed, it 
 turned out. Ten members only were present. Six members 
 one fourth of the whole number resided in Utica. Gen. Kirk- 
 land was the only member present from that village ; and he 
 made his appearance about four hours subsequent to the appointed 
 hour of the meeting. The apology for the non-attendance of 
 members was, the state of the roads. But, bad as the travelling 
 was, one member came a distance twice as great as that of Utica 
 from the College ; and accompanied, too, by a lady. As the pre- 
 sence of thirteen members is made necessary by the Charter to 
 render their acts valid, nothing could be dohe. [5jl] , 
 
 [51] In the course of our desultory conversation, I wished the President 
 of the Board to inform me, supposing the College, as he had stated, was as 
 badly off as it could be ; supposing it had no reputation, how he would 
 account for the fact, that thirty-two young gentlemen had already been ad- 
 mitted at and since commencement as great a number as had usually been 
 admitted so early in the yearl He made no reply. The General remarked, 
 when speaking of the state of the treasury ' Our faculty have eat up 
 $40,000 of our funds for us.' ' Why (I asked) did you put your money into 
 the mouths of your greedy faculty 1 it was your own voluntary act.' This 
 complaint, in substance, and I am confident in the same words, I had heard 
 from the gentleman before ; and it seemed to be made for the purpose of 
 censuring the faculty. 
 
 If true, as the General asserted, that the Corporation of Hamilton College 
 had spent $40,000 of their permanent funds (besides their revenue from 
 tuition and room-rent), merely in supporting their faculty for fifteen years, 
 no wonder their treasury was empty ! If they have done this, they have, 
 beyond doubt, done what the Board of Trustees of no College in our country 
 ever did before them. 
 
 It was deeply lamented by most of the gentlemen present, that we were 
 defeated as to the object of the meeting as there were strong apprehensions 
 that all the young gentlemen of the Junior class, still remaining, and most 
 of the Sophomore class, would leave the Institution soon, if left destitute of 
 a .professor of Mathematics. The General replied, in substance, that 'he 
 felt no concern on that ground ; that our scholars might all go and welcome ; 
 that he had no fears as to scholars ; that they would soon have two or three 
 hundred here, if the Corporation would only adopt the proper measures.' 
 
 At this meeting the following memorial was presented : 
 
 "At an adjourned meeting of the students of Hamilton College, on Nov. 
 14th, 1827, a committee, chosen for the purpose, presented the following 
 preamble and resolutions, which, after some discussion, were adopted, viz. 
 
 " The students of Hamilton College, aware of the low state of the Institu- 
 tion, fully convinced that its best interests are identified with their own, that 
 the fondest wishes and justest expectations of the friends, of the patrons of 
 this College, and of the community, in regard to its present condition and 
 prospects, are not realized, and feeling a deep solicitude for its welfare, and 
 believing that it is expedient no longer tamely to witness measures which, in 
 their opinion, are detrimental to their own interests and to those of the Insti- 
 tution of which they are members, would suggest, that, 
 
 " 1. Whereas the decline of this Institution has been wrongfully attributed 
 to the maladministration of the faculty 
 
 " 2. Whereas certain measures, adopted by the Trustees, have, in their in-
 
 ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE BOARD, Jan 9th, 1828. 
 
 Twenty members were present, a greater number than at any 
 preceding meeting (one excepted) since my connexion with the 
 Seminary ; viz. Messrs. Kirkland, Norton, Brown, Lansing, 
 TnfeNiel, Williams, Keep, Ee'lls, D wight, Hopkins, Hart, Lothrop, 
 Coe, Frost, Aikin, Maynard, Smith, Bronson, Gridley, Davis. 
 
 It appeared that the expectations of the public, by some means 
 or other, were highly raised. It was rumored, that we should 
 have an able report from the committee, and. that decisive and effi- 
 cient measures would be adopted by the Board. Mr. Smith had 
 no concern in the report, as he had not been with the committee. 
 
 The following are the essenlial principles of the PLAN reported, 
 viz : 
 
 The President shall be appointed by the Board, under an agree- 
 ment that he shall tender his resignation at the expiration of 
 
 years. 
 
 He must have the utmost extent of authority that the Charter 
 will allow. 
 
 He shall nominate all the officers of the Institution to the Board, 
 who shall accept or reject them ; but shall not appoint any with- 
 out his nomination, or remove any without his concurrence. 
 
 He shall fix the salaries of his officers, and be responsible for 
 their payment. But the Board will be responsible fdr the salary 
 of the professor of Divinity ; whose salary shall be paid, and duties 
 prescribed by the Board, with the assent of the President. 
 
 The President shall prescribe and change the duties of the 
 officers, at his pleasure, in any manner not inconsistent with the 
 established regulations of the Institution. 
 
 fluence upon our justly revered President, and the professor of the languages, 
 seriously affected'the reputation of the Institution and 
 
 " 3. Whereas, in consequence of these measures, our very eminent in- 
 structer, the late professor of Mathematics, has left this Institution and 
 
 "4. Whereas, on which account many students who have been induced 
 by bis high reputation as an instructor, to become members of this College, 
 not only feel themselves deeply injured, but are unwilling, without ample 
 satisfaction, longer to remain ; we do unanimously adopt, as expressive of 
 our sentiments on this subject, the following resolutions, viz. 
 
 " Resolved, That, so far from considering the faculty as having contributed 
 to the decline, we believe that their unremitted exertions have been to ad- 
 vance the best interests of the Institution. . 
 
 " Resolved, That the treatment of our respected Principal, and the pro- 
 fessor of the languages, so deleterious in its consequences, should, and 
 hereby does receive our decided disapprobation. 
 
 " Resolved, That the immediate appointment of an able professor of 
 Mathematics is indispensably necessary. 
 
 " Resolved, That, unless such measures as we have shown to be necessary 
 be pursued by the Trustees of the Institution, we shall feel ourselves under 
 no obligation to continue its members." 
 
 'It was also resolved, that the above be signed by the chairman and secre- 
 tary, and presented to the Trustees. 
 
 The memorial was presented to the Board and read ; but a quorum not 
 being present, it was again presented at the meeting in January ; and being 
 read, was suffered to pass in silence ! ! !
 
 61 
 
 He shall have the use of the buildings and College grounds, but 
 keep them in repair at his own expense. As a compensation for 
 his services, he shall receive the room-rent, tuition, and board. 
 
 Every student, at entering, shall deliver all his money to the 
 President, who shall put it to his credit, and ppy for whatever he 
 shall deem necessary. 
 
 No student shall leave the College ground, unless in company 
 with an officer, without a written permission from the President. 
 
 Every student shall retire to bed at 10 o'clock, after which his 
 room shall be visited by an officer. 
 
 All the classes shall, spend the hours of study in the presence 
 of their instructers. 
 
 The whole time, from the hour of rising to rest, shall be em- 
 ployed in study, exercise, and refreshment, in a manner according 
 to a divison of time to be prescribed by the President. 
 
 Daily exercise, at stated times, and in presence of one or more 
 of the officers, to be made universal and indispensable. 
 
 The committee say the great objects of an enlightened educa- 
 tion are, 
 
 1. To soften and refine the manners. 
 
 2. To give health and vigor to the body. 
 
 3. To strengthen, enrich and improve the mind. 
 
 4. To cultivate the virtuous affections of the heart, and to pro- 
 duce the highest possible degree of moral excellence. 
 
 The committee recommend that the intercourse between the 
 members of the faculty* and the students be free, kind, familiar, 
 and social ; calculated to give the officers a paternal care, feeling, 
 and authority, and to produce in the students affection, confidence, 
 and respect : and that there be frequent visits, by invitation, at 
 the houses of the officers. 
 
 The committee further recommended that, to improve the man- 
 ners of the students, a lady of refinement and intelligence, with a 
 member of the faculty, should preside at the table, and exercise 
 a maternal superintendence over the students. [52] 
 
 [52] Neither this report, nor the report made at commencement, 1827, is 
 to be found. Inquiry has repeatedly been made for them of the secretary and 
 other members, and twice of the \fhole Board when in session : but no satis- 
 factory answer could be given no one could tell what had betided them ; 
 somehow or other, it has been remarked by the President of the Board, they 
 have been mislaid. The former I heard read four or five times, with strict 
 attention. The original draft of the latter I found in the hands of the chair- 
 man of the committee ; who assured me that the copy presented to the Board 
 was almost entirely the same. I have given above all the features of it, as I 
 found them, with some slight variations in language, merely for the sake of 
 brevity. 
 
 By a resolution of the Board, it was made the duty of the secretary to pre- 
 serve on file all the reports of their committees. But of these reports 
 even the secretary could give no account. 
 
 Should they, after this mysterious abduction, be drawn forth to light, (and 
 who dare presume to say, judging from the past, what will not happen among 
 us,) without having suffered mutilation, it will be found, I have no fears, that I 
 have not only stated the substance of them, but preserved their phraseology 
 with much correctness. A strange affair this, truly ! But I will not attempt 
 to aid the reader in his conjectures.
 
 62 
 
 The comjnittee refrained from prescribing the course of studies 
 or the mode of instruction. They thought, perhaps, this would 
 not comport with the high powers with which their President was 
 to be invested. [53] 
 
 [53] This plan, verily, is a modern experiment. For in what College, pro- 
 perly so called, has an experiment like this ever been attempted ? Provided 
 doubts could have existed as to the designs of the reformers, previous to the 
 report, there were now no longer reasons for doubt. For what man of ordinary 
 experience only, coukl/xpect a College to prosper under such an organiza- 
 tion, without the aid of some hitherto undiscovered laws of our nature. I say 
 nothing of the plan being a violation ^jf the charter, nor of that feature of it 
 pertaining to the appointment and power of the officers ; however objectionable 
 it may be thought in these respects. 
 
 Whatever might be the result of such an experiment, among a people whose 
 habits of thinking &nd acting have been formed under the servile and 
 degrading influence of arbitrary domination, certain is it, that under a 
 government like ours, all whose institutions tend directly and powerfully to fos- 
 ter a spirit of liberty 1 and independence, such a College never could command 
 scholars. The youth of our country, of the age of those found in Colleges, 
 never would enter the walls of an Institution thus organized for an education. 
 They never would subject themselves to the continual supervision and watch- 
 ing of their instructers to be treated as mere school-boys, and to be kept in 
 leading-strings through their four years pupilage. 
 
 But, this objection aside, what would be the effect upon the youth them- 
 selves 1 Young men will continue to feel and to act like children, so long as 
 you treat them as such. The unceasing watching, and the familiar and unre- 
 strained intercourse recommended by the committee, between instructers and 
 their pupils,, are undoubtedly highly proper between parents and their chil- 
 dren, while their children are young : and the same intercourse, also, at a 
 later age, when parents are what they ought to be ; and both equally so, in all 
 circumstances where mere children are concerned. 
 
 No man thinks less favourably than I do, of treating young gentlemen in 
 College with austerity and reserve ; and of requiring from them a sort of 
 official and involuntary deference towards their instructers. Let them be 
 treated with kindness, affection, and courtesy ; let them be treated as gentle- 
 men, -and with confidence also, so long as they are deserving of it. But such 
 an intercourse between the officers and students of a College as is prescribed 
 in the report, once introduced, would destroy the government of any College. 
 One instructer in fifty, perhaps, might hold such an intercourse with his pupils 
 without entire sacrifice of his dignity and ^authority. Every teacher, long 
 conversant with collegial government, is fully sensible that, to inspire the young 
 gentlemen committed to his care with feelings of respect "and confidence 
 towards himself, and to gain a salutary influence ovfer them, his treatment of 
 them must be marked with respect and confidence. Let suspicions, in any 
 way, be once awakened in their breasts, that they are regarded by him with 
 mistrust, that they do not possess his esteem, and from that moment his counsel 
 and advice cease to have their proper influence. Every discerning and judicious 
 parent is aware of this principle of the human constitution : and acts with 
 reference to it, in the treatment of his children, when arrived at the age of 
 discretion. Does he attempt to form them to the habits and character which 
 he wishes them to acquire, by keeping them constantly under his eye, and 
 permitting them never to go beyond the reach of his voice 1 It is by setting 
 before them an example which shall command their respect, and is worthy of 
 their imitation ; it is by wholesome advice and instruction, and by bringing 
 them to feel the influence of moral principles and motives, rather than by 
 continual vigilance and inspection, that he strives to fortify them against the 
 dangers, and prepare them to resist the enticements of the world, when they 
 shall go forth, as one day they must, to become the formers and directors of 
 their own fortunes.
 
 63 
 
 It was instantly asked by Gen. McNiel, after the report was 
 read, how the plan proposed, if adopted, would affect the then 
 President of {he College? A member of the committee, Mr. M. 
 replied, that the President had not been consulted the com- 
 mittee could not say what views he would entertain on the subject 
 it was thought probable, however, he would not be inclined to 
 engage in such an undertaking. I rose at once and remarked 
 It is evident, Mr. Chairman, that I am entirely out of the ques- 
 tion. I would as soon think of becoming the admiral of a navy, 
 or the general of an army, as of engaging in such an enterprise. 
 And depend upon it you will find no man to engage in it, who is 
 worthy of being President of a College. No mart will do it, 
 unless he loves money more than every thing else. [54] 
 
 After a long and animated debate, first on the constitutionality, 
 and secondly on the expediency of the PLAN, the following question 
 was put, viz : 
 
 Shall. this report be rejected ? The vote was taken by ayes and 
 noes. Ayes Drs.- Norton and Brown, Rev. James Eells, Rev. 
 
 By the constitution of our being, it is essential to our future comfort and 
 usefulness, that we acquire, in childhood and youth, the habit of taking care 
 of ourselves. To the proper formation of this habit, it is immensely import- 
 ant that it be early commenced. It can hardly be commenced too early. 
 
 There are moral as well as physical stamina indispensable to energy and 
 stability of character, to be derived only from exercise and experience ; and 
 from such exercise and experience as youth are necessarily strangers to, so 
 long as under the unceasing watching and restraint of their instructers. 
 Does wisdom permit us to regard the constitution of nature less in the moral 
 and intellectual, than in the physical- world? Who would think of rearing 
 the lofty elm in the shade, or the sturdy oak in the green-house ] 
 
 This committee, and others of the Board who actid with them, are not to 
 be suspected of ignorance of the laws of our nature. 
 
 In the view of the premises, then, who can possibly doubt that their inten- 
 tion was to convert the Institution into a Seminary for the education of boys 
 merely, and that as a College, it should no longer exist ? Certainly, gentle- 
 men who regard their own characters as fair, upright, and honorable men, will 
 not avow that their report was only a manoeuvre a sheer trick to effect the 
 removal of their faculty. 
 
 [54] It was intuitively obvious, in my view of the subject, as well from 
 their prefatory remarks, as from the whole tenor of the report itself, that the 
 committee anticipated, with moral certainty, the resignation of the President. 
 Otherwise, why so much sympathy expressed for the faculty 7 Why did the 
 committee recommend the appointment of a President, and on conditions 
 entirely new! Why did they recommend the appointment of a President at 
 all? Why was the appointment of such an officer the first article in their 
 report 1 the sine qua non of their scheme ? the very bone, and sinew, and 
 muscle of their moaster? 
 
 True, Mr. Frost has remarked to me, [see note 48,] as has General Kirk- 
 land, that he never thought, till the January meeting, it was best that I should 
 leave the College. But was not Mr. Frost a member of the committee 1 Had 
 he not been abroad, as their agent, to obtain information ] Had he no con- 
 cern in the plan of the report 1 Was he ignorant of its character till it was 
 read at the meeting ? Had he not discernment enough to foresee intuitively, 
 that I never would and never could take the College on my shoulders on such 
 conditions ? How, then, could Mr. Frost say he never thought, till tht 
 January meeting, it waa best I should leave the College ?
 
 64 
 
 John Keep, Othniel Williams, Orrin Gridley, and Gerrit Smith, 
 Esqrs., and the President of the College 8. 
 
 Noes Hon. Ephraim Hart, Henry McNiel, John H. Lothrop, 
 Wm.H. Maynard, Greene C. Bronsou, and Sewal Hopkins, Esqrs., 
 Rev. Henry Dwight, NoahCoe, John Frost, and Samuel C. Aikin 
 10. 
 
 The President of the Board, no doubt, was in opinion with the 
 majority. Dr. Lansing, who had recently taken his seat, was 
 excused from voting. Dr. Kendrick and William Floyd, Esq. 
 were absent. Had they been present, it was presumed they 
 would have voted with the minority. 
 
 The remark had previously been made by the chairman of the 
 committee that, as their plan was an experiment, and, as they 
 acknowledged, a doubtful one, they should not deem it expedient 
 to attempt to carry it into effect, should there be found a respect- 
 able number of the Board in opposition to it. 
 
 The next expedient was the appointment of a committee, osten- 
 sibly for devising a plan in which the. Board might be better 
 1 agreed. The President- of the Board was pleased at last, and 
 for reasons perfectly obvioustAoput me on a committee ; but, for 
 reasons equally obvious, I declined serving. At the request of 
 the committee, however, I took a seat with them for a time. 
 
 As to the plan which had been reported, had it received trfe 
 unanimous approbation of the Board, and they had been ever so 
 urgent that I should remain on the conditions proposed, I never 
 could have consented to it : fo/r I regarded the plan as perfectly 
 Chimerical. 
 
 After a few remarks I was asked by some one of the committee 
 whether I was willing, considering our situation, to resign my 
 office (for the purffese, 'as it was understood, of making way for 
 the Board to carry into effect their plans.) My reply was I 
 have said to some of the friends of the College, that I would 
 not resign so long as there was any possibility of saving it, should 
 the Corporation reduce my salary to $500. But I see our 
 situation, and so do you. There are now no hopes of saving it. 
 It is evident a majority of the Board are bent on giving it a modi- 
 fication materially different from a. College, and are determined 
 that nothing shall be done as long as I am connected with it. I 
 am unwilling to be in the way of the prosperity of the Institution. 
 Could the Board do any thing should I resign ? Is there any 
 plan in which you could unite ? The answer was / hope there 
 is : at any rate, it would be in our power to make a trial. 
 
 In these circumstances, although it was clearly foreseen that 
 my reputation would be deeply affected by leaving the Institution 
 in this manner, and thus indirectly acknowledging that all 
 reported of me was true, yet it appeared to me to be my duty, 
 notwithstanding, to do it. After much conversation, I finally 
 remarked to the committee, that I had seriously considered the 
 subject, (for I had for months been convinced that the spirit of 
 opposition to me was inveterate and unyielding,) and would resign 
 my office at commencement, on condition the Board would 
 give me a certain sum, as a consideration for resigning. I then
 
 G5 
 
 left them. The committee made a report of some sort to the 
 Board. But what the report was I know not. [55] 
 
 On the ensuing morning, I received from the Board by a com- 
 mittee the following communication, viz. 
 
 " Resolved, as it is understood that President Davis has signi- 
 fied his intention of resigning his office at commencement, that 
 
 this Board give him dollars in consideration of his useful 
 
 and faithful services." After much conversation, I consented that 
 the blank should be filled with $4400. [56] 
 ' Few hours had elapsed before another communication was 
 received, viz. 
 
 " Whereas this Board have raised $2500, by a subscription 
 
 [55] Although not disposed, I trust, to shrinlf from the contest, if mani- 
 festly my duty to persevere in it, yet I clearly foresaw it would be long and 
 painful, and that the issue, after all, must be doubtful. And while I believed 
 that, in consequence of retiring from my office, the Institution would be at 
 an end, as a College, and its respectability and usefulness materially lessened 
 in comparison with what they might be ; still I then thought there was ground 
 to hope, that the sober sense and sound discretion of the Board would finally 
 so far prevail, as to modify it in such a manner as to render it, in a good 
 degree, respectable and useful : and there were strong reasons for fear, I 
 believed, that an unyielding perseverance in the struggle might terminate in 
 the complete annihilation of the Institution. 
 
 [56] It has been frequently said provided I thought it expedient to resign 
 my office, that I ought to have resigned it unconditionally, and to have cast 
 myself on the generosity and magnanimity of the Board. Cast myself on 
 the generosity and magnanimity of the Board, after such treatment from 
 them ! ! Others have asserted that I have no claims on the Board, beyond the 
 period of my services. But it is evident from their proceedings, that the Board 
 themselves had, at the time, a very different'view of the matter. In all the 
 conferences of individuals, and of their committees with me, on the subject, 
 no doubt as to my claim was suggested. Will not Mr. Dwight recollect, when 
 he called on me in the evening (within an hour or two after I had left the 
 committee, as before stated,) solely to converse on the subject, that in answer 
 to my remark, that I thought the Board ought to grant me $5000 for resign- 
 ing, he replied, ' I do not think the terms unreasonable ; and, if able, we ought 
 to give it ?' Has General Kirkland forgotten that, to my certain knowledge, 
 he blamed, several years since, the President of a New-England College, for 
 throwing himself on the generosity of the Board, although they had granted 
 him from their treasury after resigning, $2300 or $2400 ; and that he remarked 
 to me of this gentleman, ' He has spent his best days in the service of the 
 public ; he had nowhere to look but to that Board, and should not have 
 resigned till they had made him a liberal consideration 1' 
 
 How stands the matter in foro humano 1 What says the charter 1 The 
 President shall hold his office fen- and during his good behavior. And if he 
 holds his office on this condition, does he not hold his salary also on the 
 same ? Otherwise, of what avail is this prbvision of the charter? His office, 
 and the salary attached to it, are a matter of contract, resting on the same 
 foundation as all other contracts the supreme law of the land, authorizing 
 and sanctioning contracts. The Charter of the College is as much an 
 expression of the will of the Legislature as any other statute ; and the con- 
 tract made agreeably to its provisions is as inviolable as any other contract. 
 The only limitation as to the right of salary, as well as office (touching the 
 case in question,) is the provision of the charter, viz. good behavior. The 
 Corporation, as such, have no powers but what are derived from this instru- 
 ment ; and they can be exercised only in accordance with it. 
 
 The President accepts his office agreeably to the provisions of the charter ;
 
 66 
 
 among themselves, resolved that this sum be paid to Dr. Davis, at 
 commencement, or secured to him, on condition that he then re- 
 
 and so long as he performs its duties according to the conditions of the con- 
 tract, or provisions of the charter, he ha the same right to his office and 
 salary as the husbandman has to his farm, which he holds according to the 
 laws of the land. He can forfeit them only by misbehavior ; and if he has 
 behaved amiss, the Corporation have power to show it, and they are bound 
 to show it. 
 
 The Presidency of a College is a station of high responsibilities, anxious 
 cares, arduous labors, of great personal trials and sacrifices, and of great 
 .expense. The Regents, the framers of the Charter, had correct and compre- 
 hensive views on this subject ; as might be expe'cted of wise and honorable 
 men. They never intended that the man who should consent to assume such 
 responsibilities such cares and expenses, should be liable, at any moment) 
 to become a victim to the caprice of the Corporation. Nor did they intend, 
 after he had spent the vigor of his days, faithfully, in their service, that he 
 should be left without claim upon them for future support. 
 
 It appears from the following resolutions of the Trustees of Hamilton Col- 
 lege, passed at its organization, that they, also, then thought the compensa- 
 tion due to those who served them faithfully was not to be estimated solely 
 by the period of service. 
 
 "MEETING OF THE BOARD, July 22<Z, 1812. 
 
 " On motion of Mr. Kirkland, Resolved, That the Board proceed to the 
 election of a President of the College : which was done accordingly : and on 
 counting the votes, it appeared that the Rev. Caleb Alexander was unani- 
 mously elected President of said College. 
 
 "A committee was then appointed to inform Mr. Alexander of hi election. 
 Said committee then reported that said information had been communicated 
 to him, and in reply to which, the Rev. Mr. Alexander presented to them 
 the following letter of resignation, which was ordered to be read ; viz. 
 
 " ' Paris, July 22d, 1812. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN Having received, by your committee, your resolution of 
 this date, informing me that you have unanimously appointed me President 
 of Hamilton College, I do hereby express to you my sincere thanks for the 
 honor bestowed on me. 
 
 "After maturely considering the subject, and reflecting on my own situa- 
 tion, as also that of my family, I believe it my duty, under existing circum- 
 stances, to decline accepting the appointment. Allow me to say, that I am 
 your affectionate friend, and humble servant, C. ALEXANDER. 
 
 "To the TRUSTEES OF HAMILTON COLLEGE. 
 
 " On motion of Mr. Gold, Resolved, That whereas the Rev. Caleb Alex- 
 ander was this day appointed President of Hamilton College, and did there- 
 upon decline accepting the said office, and this Board considering themselves 
 justly indebted to said Alexander, for his great and zealous exertions in pro- 
 curing the Charter and funds of the College ; to the end, therefore, that due 
 compensation may be made to him in the premises : Resolved, that the trea- 
 surer of the Board be directed to pay to the said Caleb Alexander the sum 
 of $1500, as soon as the same shall be received into the treasury, and within 
 the period of six months, with interest from this date ; and the further sum 
 of $5000, in five equal annual instalments, to be computed from this day, 
 with annual interest on the same ; and that the Senior Trustee and Clerk, 
 on behalf of this Board, execute to the said Caleb Alexander a bond or obli- 
 gation accordingly, under the seal of the Corporation." 
 
 Now I do not say that the exertions of Mr. Alexander, for which the Cor- 
 poration of Hamilton College granted him $6500, were not^rea; and zealous ; 
 nor do I say they were not useful, also. But let them have been ever so 
 great and zealous, the Corporation will not deny that they were all made in
 
 67 
 
 sign his office as President of Hamilton College." This offer 
 was rejected. [57] 
 
 less than five months from about the 12th of January, 1812, when Mr. 
 Alexander espoused their cause, till the 26th of May, on which day their 
 Charter was granted. 
 
 If it was reasonable and equitable then, for the Board to grant from their 
 treasury to their President elect, on declining the office, $6500 the salary 
 of almost four years, in consideration of his great and zealmt-s exertions, 
 for a period less than five months, could it be less so in 1828 to grant their 
 President $4400 less than the salary of two and a half years, in consid- 
 eration of his faithful and useful services, as they denominated them (see 
 resolution, p. 65,) on resigning his office after serving them more than ten 
 years ; and resigning it too, at a period of life too late to engage in a new 
 field of enterprise 1 Will the Board say they were rich then, and poor now 1 
 But were they actually richer then, without their establishment, and with 
 donations and a grant from the state amounting to $90,000, and about twenty 
 scholars, than they were now, with their establishment and appurtenances, 
 worth at least $75,000, with $15,000 in their treasury, and $5000 in land, and 
 with recently one hundred scholars ? But grant they were richer then <3oes 
 this consideration affect the nature of right and wrong 1 does it alter what in 
 itself is just, where the ability to do justice is not wanting 1 Is it the duty 
 of those intrusted with public money, to give more than is equitable because 
 they feel rich, or less than is equitable because they feel poor? The Board, 
 surely, will not acknowledge themselves guilty of prodigality in the former 
 case ; nor will they deny that they were able to grant the sum asked in the 
 latter. But it will soon appear that the Board now seemed to think it wrong 
 to take $1900 only out of their treasury, even to save the Institution from 
 certain ruin ; which, as the reformers asserted, awaited it. 
 
 And will the Corporation say that Mr. Alexander cast himself upon their 
 generosity ? that there was not at least an understanding if direct assur- 
 ances were not given before his election that he should receive $6500 on 
 condition he would decline the office 1 Did not Mr. A. understand that on this 
 condition he was to be elected, and that he could be elected on no other? 
 Such has ever been my understanding of the facts ; and my information was 
 from the best authority. 
 
 [57] It appears that after the conditions on which I would retire had been 
 received, the Board agreed to make an effort to raise $2500 among them- 
 selves, and to proffer it to me. Since it had been often declared by the mas- 
 ter spirits of the conspiracy against me, that ' the funds still remaining must 
 be preserved in all events ; that not a cent of them ought be taken to support 
 their faculty ; that should their treasury be entirely exhausted, they would 
 have nothing to rely upon ; and the Institution would be for ever prostrate :' 
 after such declarations, the money still left could but be regarded, of course, 
 as sacred treasure under all changes and emergencies not to be touched, let 
 what would come. After so much solicitude and concern expressed for the 
 treasury, to invade it for such a purpose would have appeared not less than 
 sacrilege. Much more consistent and honorable, to appear willing to contrib- 
 ute liberally from their own purses for the object. Some time after the act 
 of subscribing had commenced, and was going on rather tardily, Dr. Brown 
 suggested to Mr. Dwight, who sat by him, that I ought to be apprized of the 
 proceeding. Mr. D. requested him to inform me. Dr. B. assures me, that 
 when he returned to the Board he was greatly surprised to find that the busi- 
 ness of subscribing had been suspended during his absence, and to be called 
 upon for a report. The Doctor, of course, repeated to the Board my remark 
 to him, viz. ' that it would be in vain for them to raise less (or offer me less) 
 than $4400.' The effect was instantaneous ; fresh vigor was given to their 
 hopes and exertions. Some of the gentlemen were now ready to subscribe, 
 and others, unless I am greatly mistaken, increased their subscriptions pre-
 
 68 
 
 Early in the evening of the same day, a request was received 
 from the President of the Board, that I would take my seat with 
 them. A scene ensued which I deeply regret the necessity of 
 describing. The design of the contrivers, as was readily per- 
 ceived, was merely to produce a stage effect, expecting by this ma- 
 noeuvre, without doubt, an easy conquest. The following account 
 of it is substantially, and in a high degree verbally, correct. 
 
 The President of the Board asks, as soon as I had taken my 
 seat, ' Well, gentlemen, what is now to be done .<" A motion was 
 instantly made to appoint a professor of Divinity. Gen. Kirk- 
 land immediately remarked, ' Gentlemen, I have said that I never 
 would consent to take another cent out of the treasury, to support 
 our faculty. But I have entirely changed my views on this sub- 
 ject. I am now prepared for a bold experiment. We can't get 
 rid of our President he will come to no terms with us ; I will 
 now go all lengths with him I will give him all the help he wants 
 I will appoint every officer he shall nominate I will throw all 
 the responsibility upon him. I don't believe he will succeed, but 
 give him a chance let him try I will go on till we have spent 
 every cent in the treasury. When our money is all gone, we can 
 send off our professors, but we can't get rid of him he can hold 
 on, and claim his salary and house, and we can't help ourselves. 
 And when our money is all gone, he can take one piece of land 
 and sell that; and then another, and sell that: and when the 
 land is all gone, he can take our stones (i. e. the buildings,) and 
 sell them. Now I am for a bold experiment.' [58] 
 
 I arose and replied, Have you a right, Sir, to take this course ? 
 Is it consistent with your duty ? For what purpose was the In- 
 stitution committed to the care of this Board? Why was it 
 placed in your hands ? Was it not because you were deemed 
 wise men ? And is it a characteristic of wisdom, for men to 
 resign themselves entirely to the judgment of another to throw 
 all responsibility from themselves 1 
 
 viously made. Gen. Kirkland remarked ' I know Dr.Davis : it is an insult 
 to offer him less than he has named : he will not accept it. I would as lief 
 subscribe $400 as $100.' There was now no difficulty in obtaining the 
 amount proposed. The General, I believe, subscribed $200. How then, as 
 honorable men, could the General and his associates subscribe at all 1 They 
 did not intend to raise the amount proposed, $4400. What could show 
 more clearly the hollow-heartedness of the whole transaction. 
 
 [58] A bold experiment indeed ! and a very foolish one too, I should say, 
 had I proposed it, with his belief as to the result. But would the President 
 come to no terms with the Board ? Had he not offered to retire from his 
 office for $4400 1 And had not the Board raised this sum among them- 
 selves, save $1900? Could the General, then, recommend an experiment 
 which he did not believe would be successful, suffer their money to be en- 
 tirely spent in carrying it on, their lands and buildings to be sold, and the 
 College to be for ever prostrated, rather than take $1900 out of the treasury 
 to ensure its existence and usefulness 1 How far the General's conduct in 
 this instance comports with fidelity to his public trust, as a guardian of the 
 College, and with the character which he would sustain as a man of humane, 
 generous, and honorable feelings, I leave it with him to decide.
 
 69 
 
 Some of the friends of the College, especially Mr. Keep, 
 expressed surprise and astonishment at such a procedure. Two 
 or three of the reformers said they would not throw all the respon- 
 sibility on the President. 
 
 Dr. Spring was appointed professor of Divinity, with a salary 
 of $1500, and a house. 
 
 Mr. John H. Lathrop was appointed professor of Mathematics 
 and Natural Philosophy, with a salary of $800. 
 
 A professorship of English Literature was established, and Mr. 
 Daniel C. Axtell elected to the office, with the same salary. [59] 
 
 The professorships of the Greek and Latin languages were 
 again abolished, and a professorship of Ancient and Modern Lan- 
 guages instituted in their stead. To this professorship Mr. Wil- 
 liam Kirkland, son of the President of the Board, was elceted. 
 But, through neglect or some other cause, I believe no salary was 
 voted him. [60] 
 
 A short time having elapsed, I was asked (by Gen. K., I 
 believe,) ' Do you now think the College can be raised ?' I an- 
 swered, Should the gentlemen now elected be obtained, I have 
 no doubt, with their assistance, and with the united and efficient 
 co-operation of this Board, of our being able to raise it. But there 
 is no reason to expect such a co-operation. Your hearts, it is 
 evident, are not in this thing. After the election of these gentlemen 
 is known, it will be said to you, ' Now your College will rise 
 you have made a valuable accession to your faculty.' What will 
 be the reply ? ' O, no ; we could not get rid of our President he 
 would come to no terms with us ; there was nothing else that we 
 could do but we have no faith in it.' Why, gentlemen, I should 
 as soon expect to create a world, as to raise your College in such 
 circumstiinces. [61] 
 
 [59] The friends of the College, no doubt, who took any part in these ap- 
 pointments, acted from the same principle as if they had believed the reform- 
 ers in earnest. To this measure some objected. Not that they considered 
 such a professorship unimportant but because their resources did not war- 
 rant it, and it was not expected of them. It was remarked, that it could not 
 be wise, because our treasury was almost exhausted, to exhaust it entirely a* 
 soon as possible. 
 
 [60] For this office there were two candidates ; and it is probable, from 
 this circumstance, that more votes were given in this instance than in any 
 other. But fourteen votes, however, were given for both. This fact show* 
 clearly that several of the members had no agency in the appointments. 
 
 [61 ] My conduct in this step has been grossly misrepresented. It has been 
 reported that, when the Board had agreed, with great unanimity, to place the 
 College altogether into my hands, and had appointed all the officers I wished, 
 that I unexpectedly arose and addressed them in such an offensive manner &* 
 entirely frustrated their proceedings. (See certificate of S. C. respecting Mr. 
 Aikin, note 70.) Rumor has said the Board acted in good faith in these ap- 
 pointments. Dr. Hopkins has thus declared privately in my presence, 
 and to my surprise ; and others have declared before the Board, that the 
 members had all acted sincerely, they did not doubt, in all they had done. 
 But will Mr. Dwight (who declared in an audible voice once, certainly, and I 
 believe twice, during the progress of these appointments, ' I entirely despair 
 of the College') say that he thinks they were acting sincerely T Will Mr.
 
 70 
 
 A motion was instantly made and seconded by some of the 
 reformers, that the appointments be all rescinded. But the ques- 
 tion was lost. The members immediately left their seats. Pro- 
 miscuous conversation ensued. Some of them were affected even 
 to tears : and, indeed, some of the reformers seemed to be affected. 
 [62] Several of my friends said to me, Can't you yield can't 
 you accept the $2500 ? I replied, it would do no good. Were 
 1 to leave you, this Board could do nothing. The answer was, 
 "We don't know perhaps we could. Mr. Smith, who now acted 
 with the friends of the College, remarked to me aside, I advise 
 you to yield ; I never witnessed such a spirit as is manifested by 
 some of your brethren towards you ; they are determined to dig 
 your grave ; I can't see why they should feel so. They not 
 only say, you are not now fit for your office, but are whispering 
 that you never was fit for it. If you stay here, they will make 
 you miserable. [63] I replied to this gentleman, I have a fair claim 
 on the Board for the sum named, as a consideration for resigning 
 my office. But I would not be an obstacle to the usefulness 
 of the College, for the sake of $1900. If I knew they would 
 unite in some measures by which the College would be saved, I 
 should not hesitate. I was now more apprehensive than ever, 
 that without a great change in the Board, the Institution never 
 could prosper ; and it appeared to me to be my duty to stand, at 
 least, till a change was effected. [64] But my friends had man- 
 
 Frost (who also remarked, in a manner to be heard by all the members, ' I 
 have no faith in these measures') say that he believes they were acting sin- 
 cerely 1 And will the Honorable E. Hart say, that the reformers were acting 
 sincerely 7 notwithstanding he remarked to an officer of the College, soon 
 after, in relation to this same proceeding, ' We (i. e. the reformers) had two 
 plans ; the one was to strip the ship and lay her up the other, to spread all 
 sail upon her, and crowd her under as soon as possible.' The reader will 
 judge how far a proceeding like this is becoming the character of men trusted 
 with such high interests. 
 
 [62] I remarked to Mr. Keep, who had been recently elected a member of 
 tthe Board, and had met with us but once before, ' This is not the way in 
 which the Trustees of our New-England Colleges manage their concerns, and 
 fcring down the blessing of God upon them.' ' O no,' he replied, with deep 
 emotion. ' Do you wonder,' said I to him, ' that this College has not 
 been more flourishing V He answered, ' O no, there is no secret in it now.', 
 
 {63] A highly respectable clergyman from abroad, who was here at the 
 time, told me that Mr. Keep had remarked to him on the preceding day, 
 * that some of the President's brethren in the Board appeared determined on 
 digging his grave.' This gentleman further said to me, ' I have been ac- 
 quainted with many of your scholars I have been well situated to know the 
 reputation of the Institution, and of its officers. As I had a young man under 
 my care who was to receive a public education, I had a personal interest in 
 taking pains to inform myself respecting different Colleges : and I finally con- 
 cluded that yours was the best place for him : and I never heard any thing 
 against you till last summer, (1827,) and then my information was from some 
 of your Trustees in Utica.' 
 
 [64] The following shows that one of the reformers, at least, agreed with 
 me in opinion, as to the necessity of a change in the Board : 
 
 "In a conversation held in our presence, on or about the 1st inst. the 
 President of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College (Gen. Kirkland)
 
 71 
 
 fully supported the cause of the College and its President. I fell 
 myself under great obligations to them. At length, in accordance 
 with the earnest solicitations of several of them, and with their 
 judgment rather than with my own, I went before the Board and 
 offered to resign my office at commencement, provided they were 
 disposed again to proffer me the $2500. I then retired. But 
 the effort to get the sum subscribed anew was in vain. [65] Be- 
 fore they adjourned, they rescinded all the appointments which 
 they had made, and left the College still, marvellous as it seems, 
 without a Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. [66] 
 
 remarked, in substance, that, in his opinion, the failure of the Trustees to de- 
 vise such plans and make such efforts, last fall, as were necessary to secure 
 the prosperity of the College, was owing to the diversity of sentiment and 
 feeling existing among the Trustees themselves, and also between them as 
 a body, and the faculty ; that, as soon as he observed this diversity among 
 the Trustees, he despaired of raising the College : and that it could not be 
 raised till there should be a change in that body, as well as in the faculty. 
 
 "Au<r. 9th, 1828. M. D. 
 
 H. L. 
 
 [65] This step I have ever regretted as unwise : but my peculiarly per- 
 plexed and trying situation will, I trust, in the judgment of the impartial 
 reader, be regarded as some extenuation of my conduct. 
 
 Here the question naturally suggests itself with peculiar emphasis, Why, 
 provided those who subscribed in the first instance acted sincerely, did they 
 not renew their subscriptions ? Why could $800 only now be raised, as 
 stated by Mr. Aikin (see certificate of C. S. note 70) instead of the $2500 T 
 Was it because it was now ascertained that the money, if subscribed, must be 
 paid ? Had any thing occurred to render the resignation of the President, in 
 the judgment of the reformers, less desirable ? Was not the object for 
 which they had been earnestly striving, as of vital interest to the Institution, 
 completely in their power and on their own conditions, too 1 What apology 
 will these gentlemen offer for their conduct 1 Will they say they were of- 
 fended with the President ; and that, for this reason, as Mr. Aikin remarked 
 (see the same note,) they would not renew their subscriptions? Let the 
 reader judge, whether they or the President had the stronger reason for 
 offence. But granting they did well (o be offended, and that the President only 
 was in the wrong will they say that, on this account, they deemed it less de- 
 sirable he should leave the College 1 that they were now more ready to sup- 
 port him 1 It would seem as if they could not say this. What, then, will 
 they say 1 Will they avow that, in discharging the duties of their high trust, 
 they could suffer personal feelings and prejudices to govern them? that 
 gentlemen of their standing could be so far influenced by resentment or 
 anger, as to disregard what was due to their own character, to the interests 
 of the College, and to the public? 
 
 Mr. Dwight, unless I am misinformed, subscribed $600 in both instances, 
 and exerted himself to induce others to renew their subscriptions. If I may 
 apply the language to Mr. D. which I have heard him apply to himself, lie 
 had become a complete radical ; he had lost all confidence in Colleges (see note 
 70, p. 80,) and he was sincere, no doubt, in his offer to give liberally to dry 
 up one of these fountains of corruption. 
 
 [66] What justifiable reasons will the reformers give for annulling, on any 
 principle, the appointment of the professor of Mathematics and Natural Phi- 
 losophy ? Were they not aware that a great part of the Junior class had 
 already left the College because the professorship of Mathematics was vacant 1 
 that the remainder of the class had been waiting with great impatience 
 for the result of the present meeting? and that they, with most of the 
 Sophomore class, would probably leave the Institution immediately, unless 
 the office was then filled 1 Had not all the classes told them in the memo-
 
 72 
 
 They also appointed a new committee, consisting of Messrs. 
 Bronson, Aikin, Lansing, Williams, and Coe, "to take into 
 consideration the state and condition of the College, with power 
 to devise such measures as they might deem proper for its inter- 
 ests, and to report the same to the Board at their next meet- 
 ing." [67] 
 
 rial, in November, that they considered the immediate appointment of a pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics indispensably necessary ; that unless such an appoint- 
 ment should be made by the Trustees of the Institution, they should feel 
 themselves under no obligation to continue members of it? (See note 51.) 
 Will the chief plotters and actors of this strange tragi-comedy acknowledge, 
 as Dr. Hopkins has done to me, that the appointments were all rescinded 
 
 because Mr. was not elected professor? or, rather, as the simple fact 
 
 was, because there was opposition to his election ? Could these gentlemen 
 be willing to empty the Institution of its scholars, and to lay it prostrate at 
 once, because all would not yield silently to their private wishes? Could 
 they sacrifice a public seminary of learning to personal considerations ? 
 
 I was now no longer perplexed as to the path of duty. Although thick 
 set with thorns and briers as it was, yet it lay straight before me. Were I 
 to retire from my office, there could be no ground to hope, I was firmly per- 
 suaded, that the Institution could ever prosper in the hands of a Board with 
 such distracted views and feelings. And if, by their insinuations, and 
 rumors, and official proceedings, they had impaired the standing of their 
 President, it was certain their want of fairness and ingenuousness, and their 
 ill-advised measures, could not, when known, less impair their own, and 
 would leave them no claim, as a body, to the respect and patronage of the 
 public. 
 
 I resolved that henceforth I would stand erect, and meet the consequences ; 
 that I would at all times hold myself in readiness heartily to unite my efforts 
 with those of the majority, should the reformers be induced to abandon their 
 revolutionary and persecuting schemes (which there were no rational grounds 
 to expect), and lend their exertions to sustain and promote the College ; and 
 that on no conditions would I leave my place, God sparing my life, and 
 giving me strength, till I should see the Institution under the control of 
 men of other views and feelings, and worthy of the public confidence. 
 
 I have been accused of abusing the Board at this meeting, especially Gen. 
 Kirkland. I asked Gen. M'Niel if this was so ? He replied, No, you have 
 not abused him more than he has you ; and I had no idea you had half so 
 much firmness. That is the very difficulty with you, said I ; had you not 
 believed that I should cower before you at once, you never would have un- 
 dertaken to crush me. 
 
 [67] All the committees of the Board are appointed by the President alone ; 
 and, be it known, that on no committee appointed since May, 1827 "to take 
 into consideration the state and condition of the College, with power to devise 
 such measures as they may deem proper for its interests, &c. &c., and to re- 
 port the same to the Board at their next meeting," had he placed more than a 
 single friend of the College ; notwithstanding each of these committees had 
 consisted of five members, and the friends of the College and the reformers 
 had, at all times, been nearly equal as to numbers. How is this fact to be ac- 
 counted for ? And if sincere in his declaration (see note 40,) ' that he never 
 thought, till the January meeting, it was best the President should leave the 
 College,' how happens it the President's name does not appear not even on 
 the committee which was appointed in September, and was to report in Janu- 
 ary ; when the express duty of this committee, as designated in the resolution 
 of the Board, was " to report a proper course of studies, exercises, and disci- 
 pline to be pursued in the Institution ?" Or, in other words, as was proved 
 by their report, to give the College a totally new organization ? Will the 
 General say that a single member of his committee (or of the Corporation,. 
 Dr. Brown excepted,) had been an officer in any College a single day ? Will 
 he say the President of the College had not had more experience in the stu-
 
 73 
 
 Among the minutes of the acts of this session is found the fol- 
 lowing resolution ; viz. : " Resolved, That the resolutions of this 
 Board, passed at the last meeting, reducing the salaries of the 
 President of the College and the professor of the Greek language, 
 be rescinded." 
 
 But they had recently resolved that the pecuniary circum- 
 stances of the College made their resolution necessary. Why, 
 then, rescind them? Had the treasury been replenished? 
 
 Such were the proceedings and results of a session of the 
 Honorable and Reverend Corporation of Hamilton College, com- 
 mencing at 10 o'clock on Wednesday, and closing at 4 o'clock on 
 Saturday morning ! ! 
 
 SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, May 13, 1828. 
 
 Present, fifteen members, viz. : Messrs. Kirkland, Norton, Keep, 
 Bronson, McNiel, Hart, Hopkins, Lothrop, Maynard, Gold, 
 Williams, Gridley, Smith, Eells, Davis. 
 
 The Board having been called to order, the minutes of the last 
 meeting were read. At the close of the minutes was found the 
 following record ; viz. : " The sum of $2500 having been raised 
 by individual donations among the members of this Board, Re- 
 solved, That Messrs. Hart, McNiel, and Gridley be a committee to 
 inform President Davis that this sum, thus raised, will be paid to 
 him at the expiration of the present Collegiate year, in the event 
 of his resigning at that time the office of President of the College. 
 The said committee reported, verbally, that President Davis re- 
 fused to accept the oft'er ; after further proceedings of the Board, 
 President Davis declared, verbally, to the Board, that he had 
 changed his mind, and agreed to accept the said sum of $2500 
 on the conditions mentioned." 
 
 I rose instantly, and requested of the President of the Board to 
 be informed, whether this minute was made by the direction of 
 the Board, and with what intent ? Mr. Lothrop, the Secretary, 
 replied, that some of the members thought a minute of the pro- 
 ceeding desirable, and that it was made at their request. Mr. M. 
 remarked that he was one that suggested to the Secretary that 
 a minute of the proceeding was proper and important ; as the 
 Board might raise the sum before the next meeting. But grant- 
 ing the money to have been raised previous to the next meeting of 
 
 dies and discipline of a literary Institution than all the committee together 1 
 indeed, than all the Board besides 1 and that he is not vastly more interested, 
 personally, in the results of their measures, or that he is not considered by 
 the Board itself as vastly more responsible for them than any other member T 
 If the President of the Board is a wise man, and faithful in his station, how 
 is it possible to conceive all this the effect of inattention, or accident T If 
 wise, and also honest in his declaration, how could it be the result of design ? 
 And whence was it that the President of the College was in no instance ever 
 consulted in relation to their reports, before they were formed 7 I will thank 
 the General to show me a counterpart of this in the proceedings of any other 
 College. 
 
 K
 
 74 
 
 the Board what possible bearing, said I, could your minute have 
 on the subject ? Could it impose on me an obligation to accept it 1 
 Unless the amount was subscribed anew, and offered me at the 
 time, was I bound by my proposition to accept the money at any 
 future period, provided it were subsequently raised ? Had you a 
 right to consider me thus bound ? Certainly not. What, then, 
 means your minute ? The President of the Board made a remark 
 or two, from which it seemed he was disposed to express a similar 
 view of the subject. It had been the uniform practice of the 
 Board to make no minutes in the records, of their resolutions and 
 proceedings which had proved unavailing. I remarked, If any 
 thing, Sir, in relation to this proceeding is placed on your records, 
 why does this isolated fact stand there ? Why is it not accom- 
 panied with the resolutions which preceded and gave rise to it, 
 and the facts and circumstances connected with it ; which would 
 present, in some measure, a history of the transaction ? For what 
 end was this fact, and this fact alone, placed there ? I appeal to 
 the justice, to the generosity, to the magnanimity of this honorable 
 Board, will you suffer a minute to stand on your records, which 
 can answer no possible purpose but to blast the reputation of 
 your President, in the view of the men who may occupy our 
 seats, of all the generations which shall come after us ? Several 
 of the reformers declared that they had no intention of wounding 
 the feelings or character of the President. (No intention of 
 wounding the President's feelings or character ! ! What else 
 could have been their intention ? And what a compliment to their 
 own discernment ! What could they suppose his feelings and 
 character made of?) The Secretary, by a vote of the Board, was 
 directed to expunge it. This measure, surely, stands in no need 
 of comment. 
 
 One of the reformers, Mr. Hart, I believe, immediately wished 
 to know of me, whether I had any terms to offer in relation to 
 resigning ? My answer was, I have no terms to offer : and I wish 
 it to be distinctly understood, that I shall not resign my office on 
 any terms. A committee of this Board acknowledged to me last 
 commencement, that the Board had suggested nothing implying 
 that you thought me less capable of performing the labors of my 
 office than I had ever been ; or that I had been less vigilant and 
 faithful in performing them, during the preceding year r than for- 
 merly. 
 
 It was instantly moved and seconded by the reformers that the 
 Board adjourn. Gen. McNiel, who appeared to begin to question 
 the motives of the reformers, was opposed to the motion. He re- 
 marked, ' I think such a step would be unwise the public would 
 not justify us in it it is our duty to make further efforts in favor 
 of the College.' 
 
 I was asked whether I had any plan or measure to propose in 
 relation to the Institution ? I answered, ' I have none. Commit- 
 tee after committee has been appointed for devising plans and 
 measures, and your President not put upon one of them. Those 
 committees have formed their reports, and presented them to the 
 Bvard, without even consulting a single member of your faculty.
 
 75 
 
 As the Board, therefore, have undertaken to manage the College 
 entirely (or exclusively) themselves, I shall look to them for plans 
 and measures. I am the President of your College ; and adopt 
 what plan you please, I am ready to serve you to the utmost of 
 my ability. But remember that your plan must be the plan of a 
 College. You have no right to impose upon me the services of 
 an instructer in an Academy, or a High School. I was invited 
 here, Sir, as the President of your College ; and the appropriate 
 services of a President, and none else, have you a right to require 
 of me ; and none else will I perform.' 
 
 The following resolution, a short time subsequent, was intro- 
 duced by Mr. Smith, viz. " Whereas President Davis has this 
 day expressed his determination not to resign his office, on any 
 terms whatever : Resolved, therefore, that in the opinion of this 
 Board, Ham. Coll. cannot prosper under the Presidency of Dr. 
 Davis." 
 
 Mr. Williams rose and remarked, that he saw no end to be 
 gained by this measure. The President has unequivocally 
 declared to us, said the gentleman, that he shall resign his office 
 on no terms. The substance of this resolution has twice been 
 before us on former occasions. (On those occasions I was absent. ) 
 In one instance it was expressed, as the opinion of this Board, that 
 the College could prosper with Dr. Davis at its head. And why 
 is this subject brought forward again ? Dr. Brown remarked, 
 that he could not, in conscience, vote for the resolution. And he 
 added, What does it imply ? Were I to see an act like this 
 passed, in relation to their President, by the Corporation of one 
 of our eastern Colleges, I should take it for granted that he was 
 deeply depraved that the man was rotten to the core. And 
 what bearing, added the Doctor, would such an act have upon the 
 character of this Board ? What would the public say of us 1 
 
 The resolution was withdrawn without a vote. I was silent 
 during the discussion. I felt no objection to the resolution's pass- 
 ing. [68] 
 
 . [68] Mr. Smith says in writing, " I was prepared to vote for the foregoing 
 resolution, because I believed the President could not sustain the College, 
 and render it prosperous, without enjoying the cordial co-operation of a de- 
 cided majority of the Board ; and the proceedings of the January meeting of 
 the Board persuaded me that a decided majority of the Board did not and 
 would not grant the President their cordial co-operation." Why, then, was 
 Mr. S. prepared to declare by a solemn vote, that Hamilton College, in his 
 opinion, could not prosper under the Presidency of Dr. Davis ? Merely, to 
 be sure, because a decided majority of the Board had determined that it should 
 not. But why should not this decided majority grant the President their 
 co-operation 1 Can it be a maxim with Mr. Smith, that the majority must 
 be yielded to because decided, be their principles and motives what they may ? 
 Had Mr. S. forgotten what he said to me at a private interview, but a few 
 weeks before the January meeting, 1828 1 ' I have been carried too far by 
 the feelings of a young man : I am now convinced you ought not to resign 
 your office, as it respects either the College or yourself; and on no condi- 
 tions will I consent to it.' Had he forgotten what he said in January (only 
 four months previous to the above declaration in writing,) in relation to some 
 of my opposers T " They are determined to dig your grave I don't see
 
 76 
 
 Not long after, a motion was made by Mr. Williams to proceed 
 to the appointment of a professor of Mathematics and Natural 
 Philosophy. It was opposed and voted against by the reformers ; 
 but the motion was carried, and Mr. John H. Lathrop was the 
 second time elected to the office. 
 
 Subsequent to this appointment, Mr. Williams remarked, that 
 much had been said by individuals of the Board, of the Presi- 
 dent's want of popularity ; but that he had no doubt of his being 
 as well qualified for his office as the Presidents of other Colleges. 
 What man, asked the gentleman, would be popular in the circum- 
 stances in which he has been placed ? What President of a 
 College could be popular, be his talents what they may, when his 
 scholars were praying for him, as an old gray-headed sinner, 
 leading them, down to hell, and one of his professors writing letters 
 against him ? 
 
 Some of the reformers really affected surprise at these remarks, 
 as though the subjects were new to them. Mr. Hart asked, Why 
 has not this thing, if known, been attended to ? The answer was, 
 It was known : a member of this Board, Mr. Ford, moved for 
 the appointment of a committee, just twelve months since, in 
 relation to this very subject, as the Board well knew, and remarked, 
 at the time, If what I have heard of one of our professors is true, 
 I am prepared to cut him off this day. (See page 33.) If you was 
 acquainted with the fact, said Mr. Hart to me, why did you not 
 inform the committee ? It was not my duty, I replied, to go to 
 the committee with a complaint against an officer : it was their 
 duty to seek information : but the committee themselves were 
 acquainted with the fact. I did, however, say to Gen. Kirkland, 
 about three weeks previous to their report, that I had in my 
 pocket a copy of the professor's letter, and could show it to him. 
 He barely replied, If the committee wish it, they can call for it. 
 But the committee never did call for it. (See note 39.) And 
 what was their report to the Board ? " Your committee have 
 inquired respecting the officer alluded to by the members who 
 moved for the committee, and have found nothing improper in his 
 conduct of a specific character." (See page 38.) 
 
 To these remarks, neither Gen. Kirkland, the secretary, nor 
 another member of the committee, who was present, and who 
 were the members principally (if not the only members) concerned 
 in forming the report, made any reply. No wonder that they 
 were silent. 
 
 A resolution was now introduced and passed for abolishing the 
 professorships of the Greek and Roman languages, and for insti- 
 tuting a professorship of the languages in their stead. This was 
 the third time, it will be remembered, that these professorships 
 were abolished. 
 
 why they should feel so" (see p. 70.) And is it possible that Mr. S., as a 
 man of honor or a Christian, could persuade himself, because they were per- 
 sisting in their work, and were determined to persist in it till accomplished, 
 that it had become his duty to seize a spade and help them ? Sure I am, 
 that Mr. Smith's resolution, and his readiness to vote for it, could not have 
 been the result of sober reflection.
 
 77 
 
 The Board finally adjourned, remarkable as it may seem, judg- 
 ing from their former conduct without appointing, as formerly, 
 a Committee, " to take into consideration the state and condition 
 of the College, with power to devise such measures as they might 
 deem proper for its interests, and to report the same to the Board 
 at their next meeting." And, what may appear still more 
 remarkable, they adjourned without even rescinding their resolu- 
 tions, appointing a professor of Mathematics and Natural Phi- 
 losophy, and abolishing the professorships of the Greek and Latin 
 languages. But there is, in fact, no reason for surprise ; for some 
 of the reformers, it is presumed, began now to perceive they had 
 been deluded, and voted with the friends of the College. At the 
 close of the meeting, Gen. McNeil resigned his seat. 
 
 SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, Commencement, Aug. 26, 
 
 1828. 
 
 Present, seventeen members, viz. Messrs. Kirkland, Norton, 
 Lothrop, Lansing, Brown, Dwight, Smith, Frost, Coe, Aikin, 
 Bristoll, Gridley, Knox, Hopkins, Williams, Hart, Davis. 
 
 The meeting being opened, the following memorial was pre- 
 sented, signed by about 200 of the most respectable inhabitants 
 of the neighboring towns. It has been remarked, that five or six 
 hundred signatures might have been procured, with very little 
 pains, had it been thought important. 
 
 " At a meeting of the inhabitants of the village of Clinton and 
 its vicinity, held on the 15th day of August inst. for the purpose 
 of taking into consideration the present state of Hamilton College, 
 
 " Resolved, that the following memorial be presented to the 
 Board of Trustees of said Institution, at their next meeting. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN We, whose names are undersigned, believing 
 the prosperity of the Institution under your care is of vital impor- 
 tance to the welfare of community, and in consideration of your 
 being the constituted guardians of its interests and its funds, we 
 take the liberty to say to you, that we deeply deplore its present 
 unhappy and depressed condition. As many of the inhabitants of 
 this vicinity have contributed liberally (and in some instances, to 
 themselves injuriously,) to the funds of this once flourishing 
 Institution, we trust you will not deem it disrespectful to your- 
 selves, if we inquire what causes have brought it to its now 
 degraded state. With every possible advantage of location, and 
 having for several years diffused its blessings to our own and our 
 sister States, we have confidently anticipated the continuance of 
 these blessings to future generations. Judge, then, of our surprise, 
 grief, and mortification, in witnessing its depression. Having 
 understood, gentlemen, that the College funds were nearly ex- 
 hausted, we would respectfully inquire whether such is the fact. 
 Feeling a deep interest and solicitude for the prosperity and con- 
 tinuance of this seminary, we would respectfully request you to 
 disclose to us your determination relative to its future destiny. 
 Dated Clinton, Aug. 15th, 1828." 
 
 The above memorial was read, but no further notice taken of
 
 78 
 
 it. Mr. Hart remarked, ' It is the same question that we are 
 asking. 1 Gen. K. observed, ' / did not know before that the people 
 in the vicinity knew that there was a college here.' 
 
 Soon after, the following resolutions were introduced by Mr. 
 Smith, viz. Resolved, 
 
 " 1. That the officers of the College all be dismissed, with the 
 exception of the President. 
 
 " 2. That the doors of the College be closed, for a time, imme- 
 diately after commencement. 
 
 " 3. That one year's salary be voted the President, and that it be 
 urged upon him, as his duty, to resign his office." 
 
 ' It is presumed, added Mr. Smith, the President will not think 
 of remaining, since he will have no services to perform.' 
 
 I immediately remarked, As the previous resolutions are con- 
 nected with the last, I wish the Board to understand, that I shall 
 not resign my office at present, on any conditions. I repeated 
 the reasons for this course, if I mistake not, which were given 
 before the Board in May ; and added, that my resignation, in such 
 circumstances, would be virtually an acknowledgment to the 
 world, that the reports in circulation were true, and that the pros- 
 trate condition of the College was to be attributed principally to 
 myself. [69] 
 
 [69] To the above remarks, Mr. Smith replied, 'I have ever entertained 
 high respect for our President ; but it seems, when the gentleman has once 
 formed his purpose, he can never change. I would address him in the words 
 of another ; the man who never changes never corrects an error.' These 
 expressions of Mr. S. were accompanied with a look, and tone, and emphasis, 
 and gesture which indicated clearly (I am sorry to say) the intention of this 
 young man to bear me down on the spot, with all my gray hairs. I replied 
 to the chair, ' I trust, Sir, I shall ever be willing to change, when I see rea- 
 sons for it ; but I hope and pray I may never see reasons tp do it, so often as 
 that gentleman has ; and I know not by what landmarks, as a Christian, his 
 conduct is guided.* 
 
 I deeply regret that the course of Mr. Smith has not been more uniform 
 and consistent with itself. At the interview previously alluded to (a little 
 
 * It has been reported by some of the members, I have understood, that I 
 have been angry before the Board : but in no instance, excepting the above, 
 have I failed to possess perfect command over my feelings, or been betrayed 
 by them into expressions which I see cause to regret. That my feelings have 
 often been excited, and strongly excited, I frankly acknowledge ; nor do I 
 blush to acknowledge it. I was placed in a peculiar and most trying situa- 
 tion. I was acting on the defensive. Men, skilled in all the chicanery of 
 the bar, and some, I have reason to fear, in a different kind of chicanery, 
 were carefully watching to ensnare me ; and no pains seem to have been 
 spared to insult and provoke me. Who, I would ask, that is made of flesh 
 and blood, could, in such circumstances, help feeling strongly 1 But in no 
 instance, if I know myself, has the sun gone down upon my wrath. At this 
 meeting, Mr. Dwight wished, in presence of the Board, to know whether, 
 ' provided all the members were to say they thought it my duty to resign, I 
 should be disposed to do it ?' My reply was, ' I am under no obligation to 
 answer your question.' He added, ' I presume it is not the opinion of all 
 the members ; but I should be glad to know what you would do, if you knew 
 it was their opinion.' I answered in substance, ' It will be in season, Sir, 
 for me to tell you, when I know that such is their opinion.' The bird saw 
 the snare, and the fowler failed of his prey.
 
 70 
 
 Mr. Williams argued that the Corporation had no right to close 
 the doors of the College ; that such an act, in his view, would be 
 a forfeiture of their charter, and would prove the final dissolution 
 of the Institution ; that to close the doors of the College, with such 
 an establishment in their hands, and a fund of $20,000, would be 
 totally unjustifiable. Sentiments, substantially the same, were 
 advanced by other friends of the College. The resolutions, after 
 much discussion, were at last withdrawn without a vote. 
 
 A short time subsequently, a resolution was offered by Mr. 
 Williams, in the following words, viz. 
 
 " The Rev. Henry Davis having signified to this Board that he 
 shall not at present resign the office of President of this Institu- 
 tion on any terms : Resolved, That it becomes the duty of the 
 Board to fill up the vacancies existing in the College faculty, and 
 to make a united and vigorous effort to sustain and continue the 
 College in operation." 
 
 By some of the reformers this resolution was earnestly opposed : 
 they objected to calling for a vote on the question. Mr. Dwight 
 remarked, Should we (the reformers,) vote against it, the blame 
 of stopping the College would fall entirely upon us. The follow- 
 ing was then offered by Mr. Williams as a substitute, viz. " Re- 
 
 before the January meeting) he remarked, in speaking of a certain gentle- 
 man, in relation to the College, ' I know he was always unpopular, and he 
 always will be : but if all the rest of your faculty are popular, I should think 
 you might get along with one unpopular officer.' I acknowledge that at the 
 January meeting, Mr. Smith, in the main, supported me manfully. But he 
 nominated, notwithstanding, and warmly advocated the election of this 
 ever-to-be unpopular gentleman ; and that too, when some of the chiefs of 
 the reformers had declared they would place the College entirely into the 
 hands of the President, and throw all the responsibility upon him. Why 
 should Mr. Smith be so desirous to impose an unpopular officer upon the 
 College? Could it be from pure regard for the Institution] or because 
 the gentleman's connexions, as he remarked before the Board, were highly 
 respectable 1 
 
 Not long subsequent to the meeting in January, I was asked by Mr. S., 
 in the following words, precisely, ' Can you tell me why it is that you are 
 so unpopular V Mr. S. had again changed his opinion. It seems, however, 
 from the nature of his question, that the fact was a matter of surprise to 
 him ; that he was ignorant of the cause. Is it not possible that some of the 
 members, whom he regarded as highly respectable, had assured him it must 
 be so, because they had resolved that so it should be 1 See also, notes 36, 42, 
 68, 63, and 72, in connexion with the text. 
 
 It is due to Mr. Smith, to say, that I have ever regarded, and do still 
 regard him with affection and esteem. I would remark, if the term might be 
 allowed, that I have been proud of him as my. pupil. That he is my per- 
 sonal enemy, I have never believed. Not even for a moment have I suspected 
 that absolutely, he wished me any harm. I ascribe his changefulness and 
 discrepancies of conduct to that ardency of temperament, and versatility of 
 feeling, which may be found in hearts and minds of the purest mould. When 
 a few more years shall have gone over his head, and he shall have been a 
 little sobered by reflection, and chastened by the buffetings of the world, it is 
 to be hoped he will manifest a steadfastness of purpose, and a consistency of 
 action, which, with his talents, his wealth, and his Christian philanthropy, 
 will render him a blessing and an honor to his generation.
 
 80 
 
 solved, That the Board now proceed to fill the vacancies in the 
 faculty of the College." 
 
 The votes, being called for by ayes and noes, stood as follows, 
 viz. Ayes Drs. Norton and Brown, Rev. J. Eells, Messrs. Wil- 
 liams, Gridley, Hopkins, Hart, Knox, Bristoll, and the President 
 of the College 10. Noes Mr. Smith, Rev. Messrs. Lansing, 
 Dwight, Coe, Frost and Aikin 6. Gen. Kirkland, as his vote 
 could not affect the decision, declined voting. Mr. Dwight and 
 his five associates were, it seems, after all, willing, by taking a 
 bold and inflexible stand, to prostrate the College at once, and to 
 assume the responsibility. [70] Mr. Daniel C. Axtell was ap- 
 
 [70] As to these, my brethren, Messrs. Dwight, Lansing, Aikin, Frost, and 
 Coe, I have had great reason to regard them as my warm, steadfast, personal 
 friends. We had co-operated with the utmost harmony, and as I ever 
 believed, with ardent and undoubting mutual affection and confidence, for 
 the promotion of the best of causes. Often had we " taken sweet counsel 
 together, arid walked unto the house of God in company." 
 
 At the time of the difficulties consequent on the firing and bursting of the 
 cannon, Mr. Frost justified and defended, before the Board, the measures 
 adopted by the faculty with great firmness. He remarked, as I distinctly 
 recollect, ' We are under immense obligations to our faculty ; they have saved 
 our College for us ; they have had courage and firmness to do for us what, 
 we undertook to do, but shrunk from it.' 
 
 Painful indeed, then, is the conviction which is irresistible from the pro- 
 ceedings of the Board, and from other facts already related, that, for some 
 cause or other, these brethren, for the last two years or more, have been 
 obstinately and virulently opposed to me and the friends of the College, in 
 our efforts in favor of it ; and they appear, as has often been remarked, to 
 have given themselves up to the guidance of men, for whose opinions on 
 some subjects at least, and of vital interest too it has been thought they 
 had but little deference : and to be heartily uniting with them in their exer- 
 tions to prostrate the President of the College' and, if it could not be done 
 without, to lay prostrate the Institution along with him. 
 
 In regard to Mr. Dwight's opposition, there can be no doubt as to the 
 cause. He remarked to me in May, 1827, ' I have become a complete 
 radical ; I am opposed to all Colleges ; there is not one in the United States 
 to which I would send a son ; but I would as soon send a son to Hamilton 
 as to any other.' Is it not evident from this remark, that Mr. Dwight then 
 thought as favorably of Hamilton College as of any other 1 Why, then, at 
 commencement, only three months subsequent, did he strenuously oppose 
 conferring honorary degrees ; and because, as he declared before the Board, 
 the College was so low in reputation that no gentleman would deem it an 
 honor to be presented with a degree from it 1 Whence this great and sudden 
 change in the opinion of this gentleman 1 But he had twice been in Utica 
 during the summer. Some of the Board in that village, as I know, conversed 
 much with him while there, respecting the College. Is it not possible that 
 he there learned the College could not be worse -off? In relation to ques- 
 tions put to him at the same time, he said, ' I wish an institution so organized 
 and governed, that if my son is in it, I can feel just as certain, when I retire 
 to rest at night, that he is out of danger, as if under my own roof. I would 
 banish for ever the Greek and Roman classics, and substitute, perhaps, 
 extracts from the Fathers.' 
 
 After the revolution had been agreed upon, perhaps commenced, Mr. 
 Dwight remarked to Gen. Kirkland, as Mr. Smith tells me he was informed 
 by the General, that there could be no doubt as to the President's qualifica- 
 tions ; but he was an old-fashioned man and would not do for them. See his
 
 81 
 
 pointed professor of Languages. Mr. J. H. Lathrop, professor 
 elect of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, not having given 
 his answer, and being in the vicinity, the Board adjourned till 9 
 o'clock the ensuing morning, for the purpose of receiving it. Mr. 
 
 remark (note 46,) that he wished to see every thing swept from the hill but 
 just the buildings. Mr. D. has not been actuated, I am fully convinced, by 
 religious considerations of a personal nature. (But is a man, solely because 
 he is so unfortunate as to have become an old-fashioned man, to he crushed! 
 Is he to be swept awav as " the thistle before the whirlwind ]" Let Mr. 
 Dwight conceive himself to have become an old-fashioned man would he 
 think such treatment kind from a new-fashioned man, a younger brother?) 
 
 At the meeting of the Board in January, 1828, 1 asked Dr. Lansing, in the 
 presence of Dr. Norton, the following question, viz. : 'Have you ever heard, 
 Brother Lansing, that I am intemperate?' He replied, 'I never have.' 'Are 
 you confident,' said I, ' that you never have 1 I have been led to suspect, 
 from a circumstance which has come to my knowledge, that you had heard 
 something of the kind at the west.' He instantly answered, ' I am confident 
 I never have ;' and seemed surprised at the question. ' How, then,' I asked, 
 ' could you go to Dr. H., of Clinton, at commencement, and inquire of him, 
 Is it true that the President of the Qollege is intemperate !' He answered, 
 ' Does Dr. H. say I asked him the question ]' ' Yes,' I replied, ' he tells me 
 so.' Dr. Lansing remarked, ' I have no recollection of it.' ' It is very sur- 
 prising,' said I. 'Had I heard any suggestion of the kind of. you, and had 
 asked a gentleman in Auburn, Is it true that my brother Dr. Lansing is in- 
 temperate] why, I should never have forgotten it ; I should have remembered 
 it to my dying day.' He again replied, ' I have no recollection of it, but will 
 think of it.' A short time after, he came to me and said, ' I have been think- 
 ing of that subject : a very good friend of yours in the Board suggested to 
 me last summer, that he thought you indicated some symptoms of intellectual 
 decay. I did inquire of Dr. H. whether there were grounds for such an 
 opinion. It then occurred to me, that a young man who left your College 
 five or six years ago, in rather unpleasant circumstances, did say something 
 of your being intemperate ; but I thought little of it at the time ; and I believe 
 I inquired of Dr. H. in regard to that also. But I supposed Dr. H. one of 
 your best friends, and I had no expectation of his mentioning it to any one.' 
 (Question for the casuist How far does the absence of expectation in Dr. 
 L. extenuate the matter] See the apology of the professor for his letter, at 
 the close of note 31. Are not these gentlemen of the same school of ethics ] 
 To how many persons need such a letter be written, without expectation of 
 its being shown to any one or of how many of a man's best friends the ques- 
 tion of Dr. L. asked, in order essentially to impair public confidence in him] 
 What admirable expedients to render a man unfit for his place .') He remarked 
 to me at this interview, ' The Corporation have abused you : had I been 
 present at the last meeting, I should have opposed their measures' (alluding 
 particularly, as I supposed, to their reducing my salary.) And he added, '/ 
 am in none of their plans ; I know none of their secrets.' Yet Dr. Lansing 
 had his own plan. For he remarked to Dr. H. at the same interview, in allu- 
 sion to the President, ' You know, Dr., when the head is decaying, you must cut 
 it off." 1 (K'new measure this for saving life !) A gentleman worthy of all 
 confidence assured me, within a week after Commencement, that he received 
 this fact from Dr. H. himself. During the session, subsequently, Dr. L. ap- 
 peared on the side of the College. Some of my friends know I afterward 
 thought we might expect his co-operation. He remarked to a gentleman 
 in Utica, a day or two after the adjournment, 'that he was surprised to 
 find so much radicalism in the Board, but had a clear conscience in all he 
 had done.' (Did Dr. L. now feel that his embarrassment rendered it expe- 
 dient to seem to be in favor of the President]) 
 
 As mysterious as this matter was, on the supposition that Dr. Lansing was 
 still my friend, and ever willing, as he professes, to treat others as he wishes 
 himself to be treated, I endeavored to persuade myself he was actuated by 
 no unkind feelings towards me, and that, in some way or other, under the 
 
 L
 
 82 
 
 Lathrop's answer was in the negative. The only reason suggested 
 by him for declining the office was a want of harmony in the 
 Board of Trustees. 
 The reformers, in general, had uniformly and strenuously re- 
 
 iiifluence of that strong but momentary excitement to which some men are 
 constitutionally subject, he had suddenly and inconsiderately made the inquiry, 
 and almost as suddenly forgotten it. Dr. P. I presume, who was at my 
 house at this time, will recollect, that in a conversation on this subject, we 
 both expressed the opinion that Dr. L. was an honest man ; that I then was 
 unwilling to believe he had any intention of injuring me. But my mind, 
 from necessity, was intensely occupied with the momentous crisis of the 
 College and my own painful situation. I had neither time nor ability for 
 calm reflection and a careful comparison of the circumstances of Dr. L's. 
 statement. But after mature reflection, I could not feel satisfied. I ad- 
 dressed him on the subject. It appeared my duty to give him an opportunity 
 to relieve my feelings. But my letter was not answered. At my first sub- 
 sequent interview with Dr. L. I remarked to him, that, from the known laws 
 of our nature, I could see no possible way of accounting for his not being 
 able, at once, to recollect his question to Dr. H. put but a few months before, 
 on a subject so deeply interesting and impressive to his own mind [since it 
 solemnly and vitally affected the character of a friend and brother,] when he 
 could recollect so easily, as it seemed, the previous suggestion of my friend 
 respecting intellectual decay ; and, also, after five or six years had elapsed, 
 what was said by the young man, of which, too, as he had acknowledged to 
 me, he thought little at the time. 
 
 His only reply was, So it w.' But a day is coming which will reveal 
 every man's work, of what sort it is and to that day we must leave it. What 
 is equally surprising, Dr. Lansing declared to me in Nov. 1829, ' I have 
 ever been on your side : I have done all I could to support you.' 
 
 A gentleman, whose veracity Mr. Coe has no disposition to call in question, 
 gives me the following assurance, viz. 
 
 "During the month of Dec. last, [1827,] in a conversation with the Rev. 
 Noah Coe, respecting Hamilton College, he remarked, that they should have 
 a warm time of it at the next meeting, and that something must be done, or 
 the College must go down. (That is, the meeting then approaching, in 
 January. Thrs communication was made to me by the gentleman about two 
 weeks before the January meeting, and about two weeks after his interview 
 with Mr. Coe.) I then asked him what the difficulty was. He observed, 
 that the President was unpopular, and not known even in Utica, excepting 
 by a few families.* I then asked him what they calculated to do in this 
 case. He replied, that they thought of trying to get Mr. B ; and, pro- 
 vided they obtained him, the College would rise again ; that he [Mr. B ] 
 
 was a popular preacher ; that President Davis was not known as a preacher ; 
 and that it was necessary the President of the College should be a popular 
 
 preacher. I then asked if the Corporation would be in favor of Mr. B . 
 
 His answer was, Mr. Frost, Mr. Aikin, Mr. Lansing, and a number of others 
 were in favor of him ; and added, that he had no doubt, if President Davis 
 was out of the way, that the College would rise again. He remarked, that 
 
 * Mr. Coe's light on this subject was reflected, I have no doubt, from his 
 pole-star in Utica. Verily, according to the reiterated declarations of some 
 of the Board, the President of their College must be a strange man a very 
 strange man altogether sui generis. Notwithstanding he had preached in 
 Utica had attended repeatedly the sessions of the Presbytery and other 
 public occasions in that village was personally acquainted, he believes, with 
 most of the lawyers and merchants of distinction, and many other gentlemen 
 there, notwithstanding the loud and long clamours which had been raised 
 there, again and again, against him and the College yet, strange to tell, 
 he was not known even in that place, excepting by a few families ; and, 
 although he was unknown, he was unpopular. What a phenomenon ! !
 
 83 
 
 slsted every measure proposed for sustaining the College with its 
 President. It had repeatedly been asserted by them, before the 
 Board and elsewhere, that, somehow or other, he was so unpopular, 
 that all efforts under him would be in vain that they would 
 
 Gen. Kirkland was opposed to the President ; and from the conversation of 
 Mr. Coe it was evident they were relying very much on Gen. Kirkland's in- 
 fluence to get the President away. Some of iny children, who were present, 
 recollect distinctly the circumstances. L. L." 
 
 This gentleman remarked ' After Mr. Coe had left my house, my chil- 
 dren expressed surprise and grief.' And he added, ' Mr. C. talked of little 
 but the President and College the whole afternoon and evening.' 
 
 But what said the General to me in May, 1828 1 (See note 40.) You 
 have misapprehended my views. I never thought, till the January meeting, 
 [the same year,] it was best that you should leave the College.' How was it 
 possible, then, that Mr. Coe should know four weeks at least antecedent to 
 the January meeting, that Gen. Kirkland was opposed to the President, when 
 the general himself, it seems, was not conscious of it 1 How, at this time, 
 considering the General's views of the subject, could Mr. Coe and others be 
 calculating on Ms influence in their efforts to remove the President 7 
 
 Mr. Coe will not deny that be spoke before his own son, then a member 
 of Hamilton College (in Nov. or Dec. 1827,) in such a manner of the Presi- 
 dent, as to excite deep regret in the minds of some of his church who were 
 present. Could a wise parent do so 1 And would it be strange if his son 
 were injured by it 1 
 
 Mr. Coe will not deny, when a gentleman remarked to him, in Whites- 
 boro', at the examination of Oneida Academy, in the summer of 1828, ' If the 
 members of the Corporation who are opposed to the President would resign 
 their seats, and suffer them to be filled by other men, [or expressed himself 
 in language substantially the same,] the College would rise again,' that he 
 replied, I never will resign ; and I will do all I can to prevent others from re 
 signing' and when the same gentleman further remarked to him, ' You, the 
 Corporation, have made the President unpopular, by proclaiming that he is 
 so,' that he (Mr. Coe,) made no reply. 
 
 Mr. Coe will not deny, when I asked him in Feb. 1828, (two months after 
 
 his remark, 'that they thought of trying to get Mr, B ,') in the presence 
 
 of a gentleman in Utica, the following question, viz. Supposing I should 
 leave the College (or resign my office,) who could you, or who would you 
 (i. e. the Corporation,) get in my place 1 that he (Mr. Coe) answered ' I 
 don't know ; I have not thought of any one.' 
 
 Mr. Coe will not deny, that he declared before the Board, and in my pres- 
 ence, at their meeting in Aug. 1828, ' We ought to speak our sentiments 
 plainly Dr. Davis is not the man for us it is utterly in vain for us to think 
 of raising the College with him at the head of it.' 
 
 Mr. Coe will not deny, that he declared (in the presence of several per- 
 sons, it is believed,) as late as Jan. 1830, that Hamilton College, in his opin- 
 ion, could never rise under the Presidency of Dr. Davis ; and that, when 
 asked for the reasons of his opinion, by a member of the College who was 
 present, he gave none, excepting that he was unpopular, and did not appear 
 often enough before the public as an author. 
 
 I say Mr. Coe will not deny these things, for they are susceptible of per- 
 fectly satisfactory proof. 
 
 Mr. Frost will not deny, that he remarked, in my house, at the January 
 meeting, 1828 'We have already too many Colleges : some of them must 
 go down and Hamilton College may as well go down as any other.' Mr. 
 Frost will not deny, when asked on the same occasion, ' Where can you 
 find a man who will take the Presidency of the College, according to the ar- 
 rangement proposed by the committee 1 that he replied, ' I know of no one I
 
 84 
 
 necessarily be the means of exhausting the treasury, and leaving 
 the College entirely without pecuniary resources. After the an- 
 
 have thought of no one for the place (or in particular.) But I don't doubt 
 but a man might soon lay up $5000 a year.' 
 
 Mr. Frost will not deny, that he has spoken unfavorably, within the last 
 two years, of the President of Hamilton College, in Albany has said there 
 was much dissatisfaction with him^and intimated, in a manner too plain to 
 be misunderstood, to one gentleman of great respectability there, that the 
 Institution never could rise till the President was out of the way. 
 jss Mr. Frost will not deny that he said to a gentleman in Oneida county of 
 whom he was soliciting aid for the Oneida academy ' Our Colleges in my' 
 opinion will all go down ; and as for Hamilton College, it must go down.' 1 
 (Why then did not Mr. F. resign his seat in the Board] Would he remain 
 to help pull the College down 1 ?) 
 
 Mr. Frost will recollect that these things were said before substantial eye 
 and ear witnesses. 
 
 Within that portion of the state of N. York, to almost the whole of which 
 Hamilton College is more accessible than any other (with the exception of 
 the infant seminary at Geneva, under the exclusive care of a particular Chris- 
 tian communion,) there are three synods, viz. Genessee, Geneva, and Utica, 
 embracing 360 churches, more than one sixth part of all the (2970) Pres- 
 byterian churches within the United States, besides a great number of 
 churches of other denominations. The greater part of this region, with a 
 population of more than 800,000, naturally looks to Hamilton College as the 
 place for the education of its sons. Granting that we have too many Col- 
 leges, how can Mr. Frost, as a wise man, think that Hamilton College can be 
 well spared 1 Mr. F. thinks widely different from a vast majority of his 
 brethren. It is their opinion, as I well know, that it is immemsely important 
 this College should be sustained, and sustained vigorously. Mr. F. is no en- 
 emy to education ; he surely cannot think it desirable that our young men 
 should go abroad for their education. Some believe that Mr. Frost thinks 
 that institutions, on a different plan from Colleges, may be raised up, which 
 would better subserve the purposes of education (at least so far as the edu- 
 cation of ministers of the gospel is concerned ;) and that he and the other 
 members of the Board who are of the new school, have been hoping that 
 Oneida Academy would be benefited by the prostration of Hamilton College. 
 But Mr. Aikin remarked to Dr. Brown, long since, as I am assured by the 
 Doctor, ' that they (i. e. he and the other Trustees who are of the new school,) 
 were not acting with reference to Oneida Academy, as had been reported ; % 
 that if such was their object, they should wish President Davis to remain in 
 the College for his remaining there would be worth $50,000 to the Acade- 
 my.' It has for some time been well understood by the public, that' President 
 D. remains, and, for aught they know, he is likely to remain, but is 
 there any evidence that the treasury of Oneida Academy has, inconsequence 
 of it, yet been greatly benefited?. 
 
 But if Mr. Frost, at the January meeting, could say, in relation to the 
 Presidency, ' I know of no one I have thought of no one for the place (or in 
 particular) :' if Dr. Lansing could say, at the same time, ' I am in none of 
 their plans I know none of their secrets :' and if Mr. Coe could say, three 
 weeks subsequent to the same meeting, ' I have not thought of any man for 
 his place' (viz. the President's :) how, then, was it possible for Mr. Coe to 
 know, four weeks before this self-sam<neeting, ' that they [i. e. the Corpo- 
 ration,] thought of trying to get Mr. B for the place?' and 'that Mr. 
 
 Frost, Mr. Aikin, Dr. Lansing, (himself too, unquestionably,) and a number 
 
 of others were in favor of Mr. B ?' With what a wonderful faculty must 
 
 this good man tee gifted !
 
 83 
 
 swer of Mr. Lathrop was received, Dr. Brown rose and remarked 
 ' That in the present distracted state of the Board nothing could 
 be done ; that remaining as they then were, the destruction of the 
 Institution was inevitable ; that every man who should be elected 
 to an office in it would reason and decide as Mr. Lathrop had 
 done : that it was idle to think of inviting any gentleman to the 
 College so long as the Corporation were at variance.' Dr. B. 
 added, ' In these circumstances, I am authorized to say (as the 
 great objection to every plan for supporting the College with its 
 present faculty, is, that its funds would soon be exhausted,) that 
 there are several gentlemen, perfectly responsible, some in the 
 
 In March, 1828, a gentleman, whose uprightness and purity of intention no 
 one knowing him will question, remarked to me, that he had for some weeks 
 thought it his duty to converse with me on a subject of great delicacy, but had 
 not felt courage or resolution enough to call before. I requested him to lay 
 aside all formality, and to express himself with entire freedom. He then re- 
 marked, " The subject alluded to is your conduct before the Trustees of the 
 College, at their late meeting in January, an account of which I have received 
 from Mr. Aikin, of Utica, with great pain." 
 
 After giving me the account received from Mr. Aikin, and hearing from me 
 a statement of all the proceedings of the Board, and of the whole of my own 
 conduct on the occasion, he expressed great surprise that Mr. A. should give 
 him so partial and incorrect an account. He acknowledged that the impres- 
 sion made upon his mind (granting, no doubt, my statement to be correct,) was 
 wide from the truth, and wished me to call on Mr. A., and converse with him. 
 
 At my request, he promised to commit the account which he had from Mr. 
 A. to writing ; and on the day following I received from him the following 
 communication, viz. 
 
 " In the course of a conversation in Utica, in January, 1828, respecting 
 Hamilton College, the following were the impressions which I received, viz. 
 " That, at the late meeting of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Davis had been 
 recommended to resign, and had been requested to state the terms on which 
 he would do it. 
 
 " That Dr. Davis had assented to receive $4400 as an equitable compensa- 
 tion for his resigning. 
 
 " That the Board, not deeming it dutiful to appropriate money for this pur- 
 pose from the public funds, resorted to a private subscription among them- 
 selves ; and raising $2500, offered them to Dr. Davis, in lieu of the $4400 
 which he had stipulated. 
 
 " That Dr. Davis refused this offer. 
 
 " That the Board then, with great unanimity, consented to put the College 
 altogether into the hands of Dr. Davis, and, throwing all the responsibility upon 
 him, to make whatever appointments for that purpose ,he should wish. 
 
 " That Dr. Davis, in consequence, made several (I think three) nomina- 
 tions, which were immediately assented to by the Board.* 
 
 " That Dr. Davis then rose quite unexpectedly, and declared, that under such 
 
 * What ! put the College altogether into the hands of the President throw 
 all the responsibility upon him, and yet not suffer him to select his own aids 1 
 Is this consistency 1 is it justice 1 
 
 Will Mr. Aikin say openly that I made more than two nominations 1 Will he 
 say that any man whom I nominated was elected, with the exception of Dr. 
 Spring "? Will he tell me that the other gentleman whom I nominated was 
 elected 1 
 
 Is it possible that Mr. A. is so void of discernment as not to have perceived 
 the insincerity of the reformers ] Why, then, by his partial statements, would 
 he induce others to think them sincere 1
 
 86 
 
 Board and some out of it, who stand ready to give their pledge 
 provided those members, who are opposed to an effort to sustain 
 the Institution with its present faculty, will retire from their seats 
 and suffer them to be filled with men who can cordially unite with 
 the rest of the Board and the faculty that the funds of the College 
 shall be in as good a state at the close of five years, as they now 
 are.' 
 
 As this proposition was new, and as some of the reformers had 
 
 a Board nothing could be done ; that he had no confidence in them, and that 
 it would be quite useless to attempt any thing in favor of the College while 
 they presided ; and that he accompanied these declarations by now consent- 
 ing to accept the $2500. 
 
 " That the freedom of Dr. Davis excited much tumult of feeling in the 
 members of the Board, and gave great offence ; that many of them who had 
 subscribed liberally refused to renew their subscriptions ; that only $800 could 
 now be raised, and this being inadequate, the Board had broken up in despair, 
 and left every thing undecided. March 14th, 1828. S. C." 
 
 But a few weeks subsequent to the receipt of the above communication, I 
 inquired of S. C. whether he was confident his information respecting the 
 proceedings of the Board in January was received from Mr. Aikin 1 ' Such 
 certainly, he replied, is my impression ; I think I cannot have received it from 
 any one else.' But Mr. Aikin, said I, declares to me positively that he gave 
 you no such information. He says you anxiously inquired of him about the 
 proceedings of the meeting ; that he cautiously avoided giving you any 
 account of them, and advised you to call on me for information. 
 
 The gentleman expressed great surprise at these remarks. He inquired 
 whether Mr. Frost or G. were members of the Board 1 I replied that Mr. 
 Frost was a member. After much conversation and not a little embarrassment 
 on his part, he remarked, ' My impression still is that Mr. Aikin gave me the 
 information ; but Mr. Aikin is a good man, and if he denies it, I must think, 
 that, somehow or other, I am deceived.' Now carefully compare the state- 
 ment in the above certificate with the facts as presented in the narrative. 
 Whether such a misrepresentation, with all the circumstances, as it would 
 seem, necessarily fresh in the memory, (two or three weeks only having 
 elapsed since the occurrence,) is to be ascribed to a mind strangely prone to 
 forget, or too much influenced by prejudice to state facts as they were, or too 
 inaccurate, or too regardless of consequences to state them correctly, an 
 impartial public must judge. 
 
 Be it remembered, that the ai>ove certificate was given only two months 
 subsequent to the meeting ; that the information, of course, had been received 
 within that time ; and that it had been a burden to the gentleman's mind. 
 Now can it be believed that, in such circumstances, his recollection could fail 
 him, either as to the facts, or as to his informant 1 
 
 But admitting it possible, in this age and region of wonders, (credat Judceus 
 apella,) that S. C. did not receive his information from Mr. A. still it must 
 have been derived from the reformers, and shows the character of the means 
 they have used to gain their end. For surely no one would create such a story ; 
 and even the good man himself, I trust, will not ascribe his impressions to 
 inspiration. But so it was, that another gentleman, whose word no one can 
 distrust, has assured me that Mr. Aikin, about the same time, gave him an 
 account of my conduct and the proceedings of the Board in January, similar 
 to what is contained in the certificate of Mr. S. C. He also expressed much 
 surprise at Mr. A.'s statement, when made acquainted with all the facts. 
 Yet his confidence in his senses remained wholly unshaken. 
 
 The following assurance is from an unquestionable source : 
 
 "In a conversation respecting Hamilton College, during the month of May
 
 87 
 
 already retired, the President of the Board suggested that we 
 should hold an adjourned meeting. The Board adjourned to meet 
 in three weeks from Commencement. 
 
 ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE BOARD, Sept. 17 th, 1828. 
 
 Present, eighteen members, viz. : Messrs. Kirkland, Kendrick, 
 Brown, Norton, Williams, Keep, Eells, Coe, Frost, Lothrop, 
 Bristoll, Gridley, Maynard, Gold, Bronson, Aikin, Hopkins, 
 Davis. 
 
 The security r as to the funds, tendered at the last meeting, be- 
 ing called for, Mr. Gridley said, that he felt it incumbent on him 
 to remark, that he was one of the number concerned in the offer 
 which was made ; and I then stood ready, said he, to give the 
 pledge : but as three weeks have since elapsed, in consequence 
 
 last, if I am not mistaken, with Mr. B. [a member of Mr. Aikin's church] in 
 Utica, he informed me that the Rev. Mr. Aikin, one of the Board of Trus- 
 tees, in answer to the question, asked in his [Mr. B.'s] presence, What is 
 the difficulty with the College 1 replied, ' Nothing but the President is in the 
 way.' 
 
 " Understanding that Mr. Aikin denied having said this, I informed Mr. 
 B. of it. His reply was, ' I don't care if Mr. Aikin does deny it : I did hear 
 him say it, and two or three others likewise.' Aug. 1828. N. J." 
 
 Having inquired of Mr. Aikin whether he ever had made such a remark of 
 me as the above, and received from him an unequivocal declaration that he 
 had not, I then called on Mr. B. myself, and stated to him precisely what I 
 had heard. He assured me that my information respecting the question and 
 Mr. Aikin's reply was correct ; and insinuated that he had heard from other 
 Trustees, in Utica, what was tantamount to it ; but did not disclose their 
 names. ' I ought, perhaps, to have added,' said Mr. B. to me, ' that Mr. 
 Aikin remarked at the same time, President Davis was once the most popular 
 President in the United States (or in New-England,) but in some way or 
 other, public sentiment is now so much against him, he can do nothing.' 
 
 When this subject was introduced before the Board in Sept. 1828, Mr. 
 Aikin then remarked, ' I do not recollect it.' Supposing Mr. A. should say 
 hereafter that he does recollect it, who could be surprised 1 And must we 
 believe the observation so often made, that occasional forgetfulness is a char- 
 acteristic of the leading men of a certain class of the present day? 
 
 The following is from a highly respectable clergyman, and the remarks of 
 Mr. A. were made to him in Dec. 1828, and were communicated to me soon 
 after. 
 
 "Though he (Mr. Aikin) expressed an affection and respect for President 
 Davis, as his former instructer, and admitted his high distinction and useful- 
 ness in Middlebury College, yet he intimated his belief that the College over 
 which he now presides could not rise while he retained his present office. 
 Asa reason for this, he observed that Mr. Davis had preached but little in 
 this region, and therefore was not personally and generally known ; but that 
 in Vermont he preached often, and on many public occasions, such as dedi- 
 cations and ordinations. S. D." 
 
 Now it is a fact that I never preached at a dedication in Vermont, and at 
 but two ordinations. And notwithstanding all that has been recently said 
 of my not preaching more in this region, as a cause of the languishing con- 
 dition of the College, it is also a fact, that during my residence at Middlebury 
 College I preached twenty times only in the county of Aduison, in which 
 the College is situated ; and that after I had been President of Hamilton 
 College the same period (eight years,) I had preached twenty-nine times in 
 the county of Oneida,
 
 88 
 
 of which we shall not have as many scholars this year as we should 
 have had, granting the proposition had then been accepted, (viz. 
 it was now so late in the season, that young men who were going 
 to College had probably settled the question as to the College 
 which they would enter, if they had not already entered,) and as 
 I have taken pains to converse with many gentlemen on the sub- 
 ject, and found the experiment thought very doubtful, I feel myself 
 compelled to say that I do not deem it my duty to unite in giving 
 the security. Mr. Gridley had hoped the other gentlemen would 
 do it without him : but they would not. 
 
 The President of the Board appeared deeply to lament, as did 
 some others of the reformers, that this measure had failed. The 
 General remarked, ' We have reached a solemn crisis. I am 
 now prepared to adopt any measures in which the majority shall 
 be agreed. If I cannot cordially unite with them, I shall deem it 
 my duty to resign my seat ; and I think it Ihe duty of every mem- 
 ber who cannot co-operate with them to do the same.' And he 
 added here, or remarked subsequently, ' It is well for the Board 
 to understand, that the inhabitants of the vicinity have taken the 
 matter up and called a county meeting. We are undoubtedly ac- 
 countable somewhere I have ever supposed that there is some 
 power above a Trustee.' (But why was the honorable gentleman 
 afraid of being called to an account ?) 
 
 The Board then elected unanimously Mr. J. H. Lathrop pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy ; and for the THIRD 
 TIME. It was proposed to elect a professor of Divinity also. But 
 after some conversation on the subject, it was deemed expedient 
 to defer the appointment till the professorship should be endowed. 
 It was remarked, ' that it was indispensable to the accomplish- 
 
 It is generally, if not universally conceded, that our Colleges depend more 
 on the patronage of the clergy than on any other class of men. Indeed, it 
 is often remarked, that a College in the northern states cannot flourish with- 
 out their patronage. 
 
 The fact is not to be controverted, that when I had resided at Hamilton 
 College three years, I was more extensively known, personally, to the clergy- 
 men in the county of Oneida, and in the Synod of Geneva (then embracing 
 all the Presbyterian churches west of the Presbytery of Oneida quite to 
 Buffalo,) than I was to the clergy of Vermont the day on which I left it. 
 During my residence at Middlebury, I attended once only the General Con- 
 vention of the Congregational clergymen of that State. The winter after I 
 came to this place, the Synod of Geneva commenced the enterprise of rais- 
 ing up a Theological Seminary within their borders. At the suggestion of 
 the chairman of a numerous committee of said Synod, and in accordance 
 with the wishes of my friends in this vicinity, I attended a meeting of the 
 committee in June, which met for deliberation on the subject at Canandaigua. 
 A few weeks subsequent, I met the Synod at Auburn. During the ensuing 
 winter I met the same body at Geneva ; and in the summer following I 
 again met the Synod, or a large representation of them, at Auburn. Sub- 
 sequent to that time I have repeatedly met the Boards of Commissioners, 
 and of the Trustees, and many clergymen and other gentlemen, at the anni- 
 versaries of the seminary ; and have also attended two special and numerous 
 conventions at Auburn. 
 
 Yet Mr. Aikin thinks, it seems, (and doubtless many others are saying,) that 
 the College cannot rise under me because I am not personally known. If my 
 being unknown is the difficulty, why has the College ever risen under me !
 
 89 
 
 ment of this object that the members of the Board subscribe lib- 
 erally themselves.' Gen. Kirkland expressed it as his opinion, 
 
 Is it not remarkable that this complaint against me should be confined almost 
 entirely to the county of Oneida ? that my brethren who have been con- 
 cerned in raising the cry that I am not known, &c., and striving to effect my 
 removal, are most of them members with me of the same Presbytery 1 How 
 satisfactory Mr. Aikin's manner of accounting for the decline of Hamilton 
 College, and for its not being able to rise under'its present head ! Can a 
 good cause require suck measures for its support ! 
 
 Mr. Gerrit Smith, in May, 1828, endeavored to convince me, in the pres- 
 ence of Mr. Keep, that it was my duty to resign my office, because a major- 
 ity of the Board were determined not to support me ; and he remarked, 
 ' Messrs. Dwight, Frost and Coe have declared to me, they never will lift a 
 hand to raise the College, so long as you are President of it.' I requested 
 Mr. Smith to furnish me with a certificate of their declarations. He replied, 
 ' I will not do that those gentlemen will not deny it.' But Messrs. Frost 
 and Coe declared before the Board, in September following, that they never 
 taid so. In January, 1828, 1 asked Mr. Frost whether he had ever heard any 
 complaint of me, as an instructer, previous to commencement, 1826 1 He in- 
 stantly replied, ' I never did you stood high.' A few weeks after, Mr. Aikin 
 answered to the same question, ' No I am confident I never did.' 
 
 To reconcile the contradictions and discrepancies of Messrs. Lansing, 
 Aikin, Frost, and Coe, in themselves, and among themselves, is a task for 
 their own logic. 
 
 Dr. Norton and Mr. Eells, whose names are attached to the following certi- 
 ficate, have been members of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College ever 
 since my connexion with it, as has Mr. Frost also. Mr. Coe, during the 
 whole of this period, has lived in New-Hartford, only six miles from the Col- 
 lege. Dr. Weeks, during the same period, has resided about two years in 
 the village of Clinton, and eight in Paris, five miles from it, and has prepared 
 many young men for the College. And Mr. Monteith had been a professor 
 in the Institution nearly seven years. Dr. Norton, and Messrs. Eells and 
 Frost had been a standing committee of the Board, to attend the public ex- 
 aminations in the College, if I mistake not, from the time I came here, and 
 at the date of the certificate the gentlemen were all Directors of the Western 
 Education Society. 
 
 " We certify that Dr. Davis has this day asked Messrs. Frost, Coe and our- 
 selves, whether we, or any of us, had heard from the students of College, any 
 complaint of his method of instruction, or any dissatisfaction with it, previous 
 to the commencement, 1826; or whether we had ever heard from any other 
 quarter that the students were dissatisfied ; and they and we all answered, 
 that we had no recollection that we ever had. 
 
 A. S. NORTON, 
 WM. R. WEEKS, 
 JAMES EELLS, 
 
 Clinton, April 9/A, 1828." JOHN MONTEITH. 
 
 Messrs. Frost and Coe had retired before the certificate was written. Mr. 
 Coe first answered that he had heard one of the scholars complain, who was 
 graduated previous to that commencement. But it was soon ascertained that 
 he was graduated at that time, and was the same young man who threw out 
 his insinuations before the alumni. (See note 30.) 
 
 A few weeks subsequent to the above date, I requested Mr. Aikin, as he 
 had already answered the question in the same manner, to put his signature 
 to the certificate. He declined doing it, but was willing, he remarked, to 
 unite with the Corporation in giving me such a certificate. 
 
 Since these gentlemen, all so favorably situated to know the estimation of 
 the President in the judgment of his pupils, (some of them, as they remarked, 
 
 M
 
 90 
 
 that unless we did well in the county of Oneida, we could expect 
 to get nothing out of it. 
 
 having been in habits of intimacy with many of the scholars,) had not heard 
 from any quarter even an individual of them, so far as they could recollect, 
 of the young gentlemen in College being dissatisfied with the President's in- 
 struction, previous to commencement, August, 1826, is it not strange indeed, 
 that the county of Oneida should be filled with rumors of their dissatisfaction 
 in the summer of 1827 1 and that the institution should be believed, on his ac- 
 count, to be on the borders of ruin ? What had the President done, or what 
 had he left undone, to produce this change 1 ? Had he become less faithful 7 
 had he neglected his official duties? Does the professor in his letter to Mr. 
 Smith, dated April, 1827 (see note 31,) suggest any thing of the kind, as the 
 ground of his ' thorough conviction, that without a speedy remedy, the use- 
 fulness of the College must soon be at an end?' Mark the inconsistency of 
 the professor. He says in the certificate above, that he did not recollect to 
 have heard from any quarter, that the scholars were dissatisfied with the Presi- 
 dent's instruction, previous to August, 1826. (In May of this year, Mr. F. 
 commenced his labors in the church in Clinton, and remained several weeks.) 
 But what said he to Mr. S. in April, 1827, only eight months subsequent to 
 commencement, August, 1826? 'The scholars say the instruction in the 
 College the fourth year is greatly deficient. It has been with great pain I 
 have heard this objection made by the senior classes for the two or three years 
 past. 11 Objection to what ! Why to the instruction the fourth year, which 
 he said depended entirely on the President. Is it possible he could say to 
 Mr. S. that he had heard complaints of this deficiency made by class after 
 class, year after year, and yet certify that he had heard of no'dissatisfaction, 
 till within eight months prior to his writing to Mr. S.? Could the scholars 
 be so long complaining of great deficiency in the President's instruction, and 
 yet express no dissatisfaction with it ? 
 
 Mr. Frost acknowledged the President stood high, commencement, August, 
 1826. Mr. Aikin was confident he had heard of no dissatisfaction with his in- 
 struction prior to that period. Of what great neglect of duty had he been 
 guilty what crime had he committed since that time, which drove from the 
 College its officers and scholars ; and by which he had thrust himself so low 
 that, in the judgment of Mr. Frost, Aikin, and others, the Institution never 
 could flourish till he was removed from his office !? What are we to think of 
 all this ? What does it mean ? I ask again, what does it mean 1 
 
 In view of the preceding facts (and many others of a similar kind are 
 found in other parts of the narrative,) I see no way of avoiding the conclu- 
 sion, painful as it is, that some of my brethren in the Board (and some who 
 were out of it) had marked me for their prey, and were determined on hunt- 
 ing me down, with a zeal and pertinacity which would become the best of 
 causes. Be it remembered, that during all these efforts and measures, both 
 in the Board and out of it, not a single charge has been brought forward, no 
 complaint presented, or even suggested, to my knowledge, against my moral 
 character, (except the inquiry of Dr. Lansing, see note p. 81,) or of my want 
 of faithfulness in the service, or of devotedness to the interests of the Insti- 
 tution. 
 
 True it is, that some seem to think they have lately discovered that I am 
 not fit for my office, and never was fit for it ; and have been saying, that / 
 am superannuated. Be it so, that I am not fit for my office, and never was fit 
 for it can it be the duty of the Trustees of a College, because they have 
 misjudged in their choice of a man to serve them, to break him down and 
 destroy his character by management and misrepresentation ? Be it so, 
 that I am superannuated is a man to be condemned because unable to resist 
 the ravages of time; the immutable laws of God's providence'? Is he, on 
 this account, entitled to no sympathy, no compassion] Is he to be train-pled 
 upon as nothing-worth, whatever may have been his labors and services!
 
 91 
 
 It was said in substance, by the President of the Board and 
 several of the reformers, We must now be in earnest ; we must 
 
 But the un/itness alluded to, it has been suggested by some, is of a local 
 character. It is remarked, that no man educated in New-England can suc- 
 ceed as a public man in this state, unless he comes here immediately after 
 his education is completed : that the habits, manners, and modes of thinking 
 in New- York are so different from what they are in New-England, that a 
 man from the east cannot accommodate himself to the existing state of things 
 here, and acquire popularity and influence, without undergoing a sort of 
 transformation ; which is impracticable, it is believed, after his habits and 
 character are formed and settled. Gen. Kirkland has remarked, as I have 
 been informed, that Dr. Davis, he did not doubt, would have done well at 
 Yale. But we need a different kind of man, he thinks, for a President, from 
 what they need in New-England. 'We must have a man of display, who 
 will show himself abroad, and be making speeches and addresses on all pub- 
 lic occasions. Our President (I have heard him say) ought to print three or 
 four ordination sermons every year.' 
 
 But how was it as to the Johnsons at Columbia, and Edwards at Union? 
 And had they not reached their meridian before they were called to those 
 Colleges ? During the first eight years of my presiding here, while Hamilton 
 was steadily increasing in numbers and respectability, was any thing heard 
 of the impracticability of my succeeding, because in education and manners 
 an eastern man ! And when was this profound discovery made, that a man 
 from New-England, unless he leaves the land of his fathers soon after he has 
 arrived at manhood, cannot succeed at the head of a College in this state? 
 For it is a very remarkable fact that, since the establishment of Hamilton 
 College in 1812, four New-England clergymen (excepting Dr. Spring, who 
 came to New York in his youth), have been invited to its Presidency. 
 What a surprising oversight ! What a want of wisdom in the Board of 
 Trustees, some of its present members being judges ! 
 
 Does it not appear from the certificate of the Directors of the Education 
 Society, and the concessions of Messrs. Frost and Aikin, that my want of 
 transformation is quite a recent discovery ? But unfortunately for those who 
 would account for the decline of Hamilton College from such a cause, twenty- 
 one years of my life, subsequent to the age of sixteen, have been spent in the 
 state of New-York ; and a great proportion of those years, at a period when 
 a man's character is chiefly formed. 
 
 Gen. Kirkland, Messrs. Dwight, Frost, Aikin, and Coe, were all born in 
 New-England, were educated there, and all came into the state of New-York 
 when young men. Permit me to ask, then, (and I would do it with all due 
 respect,) whether the conduct of these gentlemen, as Trustees of Hamilton 
 College, famishes an example of that sort of transformation which is neces- 
 sary to an eastern man, before he can so accommodate himself to the existing' 
 state of things here, as to become popular and respected ? 
 
 Although not so by birth, I would glory, were it proper, in being a New- 
 England man in education and principles ; but I have yet. too good an opinion 
 of my native state to believe that such a transformation of the habits and prin- 
 ciples of a man, whosfe character has been formed in the land of the pilgrims, 
 must be undergone, before he can possess the respect and confidence of the 
 virtuous part of her citizens. 
 
 Give a College in this state in this part of it at least a New-England 
 Corporation, (I mean, not of transformed New-England men, but of men, no 
 matter where born or educated, entertaining New-England views and princi- 
 ples on the subject of education,) and the same government, essentially, may 
 be maintained here, I have no doubt. I speak from experience. The prin- 
 cipal difficulties which we have had to encounter on this subject, have not 
 arisen from our young men or their parents ; but from the Trustees them- 
 selves. (See notes 7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 67, et passim.) And 
 notwithstanding the hue and cry which has been raised against the College
 
 92 
 
 now act in good faith. It was proposed that Mr. Lathrop should 
 be expressly informed that they were now determined to support 
 the College; that they were serious in their measures. 
 
 Mr. Maynard remarked, in reply, that the fact of Mr. Lathrop's 
 being elected was sufficient evidence that the Board were in earn- 
 est ; that he never gave his vote but in good faith. But it was 
 argued, that ' Mr. Lathrop had been twice elected before ; that 
 they had been acting children's play long enough ; and it was 
 necessary Mr. L. should be assured by the Board that they were 
 in earnest.' [71] 
 
 I requested to know of the Board, whether it was to be under- 
 stood from their professions of willingness to support the College, 
 that they were willing to support the President also ? And it was 
 presumed, I remarked, after all that had taken place, my request 
 would not be thought unreasonable. [72] 
 
 It was then " Resolved, that the chair put to the several mem- 
 bers of the Board the following question, and to request their 
 answer, viz. : Are you willing to use your best exertions to support 
 the College, Dr. Davis being President ?" Mr. Frost, who was 
 first interrogated, answered ' I am not willing. I would not say 
 so, if he was the greatest man (or first man) in the U. States. I 
 understand he has written a pamphlet against me, with Dr. Brown's 
 name to it. And if he should publish against me, I should still 
 be obliged to support him.' Mr. Aikin, next interrogated, replied, 
 * I answer as Mr. Frost has, (a matter of course,) I am not willing.' 
 Mr. Gold, brother-in-law of Mr. Frost, answered, ' I am not willing V 
 Mr. Coe answered, ' I am willing to support the College ; I have 
 always thought it my duty to support it.' [73] All the other mem- 
 bers present, viz. : Messrs. Norton, Brown, Kendrick, Lathrop, 
 Eells, Maynard, Williams, Keep, Gridley, Hopkins, Bristoll, 
 Bronson, and the President of the Board answered, ' I am willing.' 
 
 by a majority of the Board, since the efforts for reform commenced in 1827, 
 yet no one of them has complained, to my knowledge, that the Institution has 
 declined for want of discipline, or that .our discipline has been too strict. 
 
 [71] What is the import of such declarations and concessions ] Does the 
 man who is conscious that his word and actions have been uniformly charac- 
 terized by truth and probity, feel such assurances necessary, to entitle him to 
 credit 1 Whence, then, the origin of their fears 1 What an exposition of 
 their motives and conduct ! 
 
 (72] It had repeatedly, on former occasions, been asserted by some of the 
 reformers, ' that every member of the Board, in all that he had said and done, 
 had acted, no doubt, with regard to the best interests of the Institution.' 
 And I had no evidence, notwithstanding their declarations ' that they must 
 now act in good faith that they must now support the College,' that the 
 reformers would not think it their duty to endeavor to support it in the same 
 manner they had long done, viz. by striving in every way possible to remove 
 me from my office. 
 
 [73] Reserving to himself the right, as was much more evident from his 
 looks and smiles than from his language, of still supporting the College, as 
 he all along had endeavored to do, by exerting himself to the utmost to effect 
 my removal
 
 93 
 
 Mr. Aikin, finding himself in a small minority, rose instantly and 
 remarked in substance, and I believe verbatim, as follows, viz. : 
 Dr. Davis was my President I have always had great respect for 
 him / am willing to support him.'* What independence and 
 consistency ! Query How much more was Mr. A. to be trusted 
 for support now than before ? 
 
 A committee was appointed to prepare an address to the pub- 
 lic, setting forth the arrangement made by the Trustees, and their 
 determination to support the Institution. It was remarked, We 
 must let the public know that the College is not given up, as 
 reported ; and that the Board are adopting vigorous measures for 
 sustaining it, &c. It was now late in the evening. In the morn- 
 ing, an able report was presented by the committee. They spoke 
 highly, in the introduction of their report, of the local advantages 
 of the Institution, and of the accommodations of the establish- 
 ment ; and they remarked that, ' Notwithstanding its present 
 languishing condition, it has been an instrument of great good, and 
 has flourished (or has been flourishing} for several years? The 
 precise language is not important : it was clearly implied that 
 the Institution had flourished recently, or during my presidency. 
 
 It was moved to strike out the words " has flourished" or " has 
 been flourishing," and to substitute the following, viz. "was flour- 
 ishing" clearly purporting, as was remarked by several of the 
 friends of the College, that it flourished soon after its establish- 
 ment, but had not flourished during the administration of its present 
 head. Two or three gentlemen, who had exerted themselves for a 
 reform, contended earnestly for the amendment notwithstanding, 
 when the question was put to them, the preceding evening, Are 
 you willing to use your best exertions to support the College, Dr. 
 Davis being its President \ each of them answered unequivocally, 
 / am willing. [74] 
 
 After much debate on the question of the amendment, Mr. Bron- 
 son declared, 'It is in vain for this Board to attempt to agree in 
 any thing. Were we to stay here three weeks, a report could 
 not be drafted in which we should be united.' Mr. Keep, the 
 chairman of the committee, requested leave to withdraw their 
 report, and remarked, that he deeply regretted the Board had not 
 perceived before that they could agree in nothing. He expressed 
 not a little surprise that a committee should be appointed for 
 
 [74] When I entered on the duties of my office there were but a few more 
 than fifty scholars here. Subsequent to the fourth year from that time there 
 was no period, during a succession of five years, at which there were less 
 than 100 ; and at one period they amounted to 1 10. (See the tables, p. 1 12.) 
 Yet these gentlemen, while they professed a willingness to use their best ex- 
 ertions to support the College with its President, were evidently unwilling it 
 should be even insinuated to the public that it had flourished under his ad- 
 ministration. The questions came home with great force to my mind, What 
 does this mean 1 Is it not evidence of want of consistency in these gentlemen? 
 I apprehended, after all, they would still be found in opposition to me. Had 
 I not reason to apprehend it
 
 94 
 
 such a service, and after being kept up till 2 o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, by the duty assigned them, that they should be told, when 
 the report was presented, it was impossible to draft a report in 
 which the Board could agree. 
 
 It was then proposed, provided we could say no more, that we 
 should inform the public officially that Messrs. Lathrop and Axtell 
 were appointed professors in the College, and that we had re- 
 solved to make forthwith a vigorous effort for the endowment of 
 the Theological Professorship. The gentleman who made this 
 proposition added, ' Could we also inform the public that we our- 
 selves had subscribed liberally for this purpose, it would tend 
 more to create confidence in our proceedings than any thing else 
 which could be done by us.' Much had been said on the import- 
 ance of the members themselves giving liberally towards this 
 object ; yet no one had said what he would give, or that he would 
 give at all. [75] 
 
 Judging from all the circumstances before me, it was not to be 
 doubted, as I thought, that some of the reformers were less sin- 
 cere in their professions than they were desirous to appear to be. 
 It seemed evident they had become alarmed at their past mea- 
 sures. It was not uncharitable to believe that their design now 
 was to make a show of uniting with the friends of the College, 
 and yet covertly to oppose them hoping that, by this means, 
 
 [75] Let it not be forgotten that the measures which all the members of 
 the Board present, with the exception of four, professed themselves willing to 
 adopt (I say four, because the evasive answer of Mr. Coe, and the vacillancy 
 of Mr. Aikin, left no room for confidence in them,) were the very measures, 
 in all respects, for which I earnestly contended at commencement, August, 
 1827 (at the time the committee proposed in their report to farm out the 
 College to the officers,) when it was furnished with three professors when 
 we had 90 scholars on . our catalogue when $4000 dollars, without much 
 effort, had recently been obtained towards the endowment of the Divinity 
 Professorship, and no reasonable doubt remained of soon obtaining the 
 amount proposed. If, in such circumstances, the reformers were sincere in 
 saying, as some of them did, ' that the College could not be worse off; that 
 a degree from it was not worth accepting ; that measures (such as now pro- 
 posed) were no better than patchwork' I say, if they were honest in such 
 declarations then, with how much zeal and with what hopes of success could 
 they be expected to unite with the friends of the College in these measures 
 now, when all the professors had been driven from the College when less 
 than a dozen students were remaining and when loud clamors were raised 
 and reiterated, not against the faculty only, but against the Trustees also, 
 on every side 1 I ask again, if they were honest in their declarations and 
 measures then, were there not strong reasons to doubt their cordiality now 1 
 Who could expect from them a hearty, a vigorous co-operation ? Would 
 Gen. Kirkland say that the College was better off now than it was then ? 
 
 I had hoped, however, from the remarks which had fallen from the Gen- 
 eral, expressing apprehensions on account of the movements of the inhabit- 
 ants in the vicinity, and from certain other circumstances, that some of the 
 reformers would lend us a heartless co-operation that at least they would 
 not counteract our efforts and that they were willing, at last, to see the In- 
 stitution r i se by the exertions of others, rather than risk the consequences 
 of a public exposure of their measures.
 
 95 
 
 the excitement against them, which their measures had created, 
 would subside ; that the President would be debarred from an 
 appeal- to the public ; that the Institution would continue to lan- 
 guish and eventually expire in his hands, and that the blame of 
 ruining it would rest, at last, where they had long been laboring 
 to have it. From remarks and insinuations which had fallen from 
 the members present, as well as from their former conduct, and 
 from the previous course of others that were absent, viz. Messrs. 
 Hart, Dwight and Lansing, I saw strong reason for apprehension 
 that at least nine members, more than one third of the Board, 
 would still remain in secret, should they not be found in open, op- 
 position to our efforts. And the best that could be reasonably 
 hoped from several others was a silent indifference. Under this 
 view of the subject, I felt myself called upon by an imperious 
 sense of duty to speak my sentiments with freedom. Who could 
 consent, in silence, to be placed in such circumstances ? Who, 
 that is not lost to all feelings of self-respect, would not choose to 
 take his stand and meet his fate ? 
 
 My remarks, in substance, were as follows : Much has been 
 said, Sir, in my presence, before this Board, of public sentiment 
 being against your President ; and I trust you will give me the 
 credit of bearing it with a good degree of patience. But my own 
 want of popularity is not the only obstacle to the success of our 
 efforts. I know something of public sentiment in relation to this 
 Board ; and I presume, situated as I am, I shall be indulged in 
 speaking of it with freedom. I have received many letters of 
 condolence from friends abroad, some of them Presidents of our 
 Eastern Colleges. Several of these friends remark, in substance, 
 * So far as I know the opinion of the public in regard to your dif- 
 ficulties, it is altogether against the Board.' Two gentlemen of 
 great respectability, living within 20 miles of the College, said to 
 me a few days after our meeting in January, and previous to re- 
 ceiving any information from me respecting our proceedings on 
 that occasion, 'Let your Corporation now do what they will, they 
 cannot succeed : they have forfeited the public confidence, and 
 they never can regain it.' (I might. have added, that the same 
 opinion had been frequently expressed by respectable gentlemen 
 in the county of Oneida.) But. I believe, said I, notwithstanding, 
 the state of the College is not desperate. 
 
 Provided the members of this Board will, with unanimity, hear- 
 tily aid the faculty, and will subscribe, in proportion to their abil- 
 ity, liberally for the endowment of the Divinity Professorship, I 
 firmly believe, gloomy as its prospects are, the Institution may 
 yet be raised, and placed gn a respectable footing. But while a 
 considerable number of the Board are opposed to the faculty, and 
 are determined not to lend them their co-operation, I see no 
 ground for confidence in our efforts. For it will always be in the 
 power of a few members of the Board, by repeatedly insinuating 
 that the faculty arc unpopular* and that the College must run 
 down in their hands, to convince the public that such actually are 
 its prospects, and, in this way, greatly to impede if not to defeat 
 our exertions.
 
 96 
 
 I am ready to serve you to the extent of my capacity. I can 
 perform the appropriate duties of my office, teaching and govern- 
 ing, with as much vigilance and faithfulness, I believe, as ever. 
 But as my services cannot, at present, be greatly needed in the 
 College since we can expect but few scholars, and no senior 
 class who will call for my instruction, it will undoubtedly be 
 thought my duty to spend much of my time abroad in soliciting 
 aid for the Institution. I should be everywhere interrogated re- 
 specting our difficulties. I should wish to be able barely to say 
 that our difficulties are all over, and that the Board have resolved 
 unanimously, to act in harmony and with vigor. Unless I could 
 say this, and this only, I should have no hopes of success. For 
 if I had not confidence, myself, in our exertions, I could not ex- 
 pect to inspire others with confidence in them, nor could I at- 
 tempt it ; and nothing would be done. 
 
 I highly approve, Sir, the course recommended by the chair 
 yesterday morning, as wise and proper. Were I a member of 
 the Board only, and not the President of your College also, I 
 should deem it indispensably my duty to resign my seat, provided 
 I could not heartily unite with the majority in their measures. If 
 those gentlemen, who have declared that they are not willing to 
 use their exertions to support the College with its present faculty, 
 should consider it their duty to follow the advice of the President 
 of the Board, and to suffer their seats to be occupied by others, 
 who can cordially co-operate with us in our efforts, I should still 
 have hopes of success. I remarked, subsequently, that provided 
 those gentlemen would only assure us they would not do nor say 
 any thing to obstruct our efforts, there would be ground for en- 
 couragement. But they made no reply. [76] The feelings of 
 the reformers were apparently instantly changed. It seemed as 
 if they were determined to pour a storm of vengeance upon me, 
 from which, they presumed, I could make no retreat. 
 
 I was accused, in the strongest terms, by some of them, of 
 dictating to the Board of arrogating the right of saying to them 
 who should hold seats with me and who not of insulting the ma- 
 jority by insinuating that they could not sustain the College with 
 its President because a few of the members were opposed to him. 
 Gen. Kirkland remarked, ' This looks more like a ground of im- 
 peachment than any thing else I have seen.' [77] At the request 
 of Mr. Gold the following question was put to each member of 
 
 [76] Mr. Gold remarked to me privately, ' You had no right to ask it of 
 men of such standing as Mr. Frost and Mr. Aikin.' But what is a man's 
 standing aside from his conduct ] and what was there in the conduct of 
 those gentlemen, judging from their uniform course for the last fifteen 
 months, which furnished the least ground to hope that they would do no- 
 thing to impede our exertions ? 
 
 [77] I replied, that I claimed no right to say to them who should sit in the 
 Board ; that nothing but the extraordinary circumstances of the case would 
 justify the suggestion which I had made. But when all the Board beside* 
 had in plain terms expressed a willingness to use their best exertions to sus- 
 tain the College, and those gentlemen had declared they were not willing to 

 
 97 
 
 the Board, viz. " Do you think it the duty of Messrs. Aikin, 
 Frost, Coe, and Gold to resign their seats in this Board ?" Each 
 of them answered no. 
 
 On a motion of Mr. Gridley, a committee was appointed to con- 
 fer with the President, for the purpose of ascertaining whether he 
 would resign his office if so, on what terms. I saw the trap, as 
 I believed not so designed, I presume, by Mr. G. ; but by some 
 one else, who requested him to set it for me. To be able to report 
 that the President had refused to resign his office, when the Board 
 were unanimous (although it could not be so said in relation to a 
 question having any connexion with the main subject,) would have 
 a bearing upon him which was perfectly obvious. 
 
 In much haste I gave the committee the following answer in 
 writing, viz. 
 
 " Gentlemen I will resign my office, as President of Hamilton 
 College, on the conditions following, viz. 
 
 1. That the Board will inform the public that they have adopted 
 certain measures (meaning not merely the resolutions which had 
 been adopted by the votes of a majority of the Board, but other 
 resolutions introduced, and proceedings already mentioned) which 
 they are convinced were injurious to my character ; and that they 
 now deeply regret they were adopted. 
 
 2. That the Board will give me, in consideration of resigning 
 my office, $4400." 
 
 My offer to resign, on these conditions, was dictated by_ pru- 
 dence. It was foreseen, with moral certainty, that they would 
 not be accepted. The first was unanimously rejected ; and no 
 vote, of course, taken on the second. My friends had done me 
 no injury, and had nothing to acknowledge. And as to the 
 reformers, although more than one or two of them had owned to 
 me in private that the Board had injured me, yet it could not be 
 expected of them that they would have the magnanimity to ac- 
 knowledge it publicly. 
 
 It seems, the time had come, it was thought, for another bold 
 experiment. It was declared ' Nothing short of some strong mea- 
 sure can now save the College. The President tells us he has 
 no confidence in this Board, &c.' [78] A resolution was then 
 
 do it, why should they still wish to retain their seats, to the exclusion of other* 
 who could unite with us ; unless from the hope of baffling or retarding our 
 efforts 1 Could the good of the Institution have been their motive ? Were 
 they apprehensive, if they left the Board, that all its wisdom would depart 
 with them 1 Was there any thing in this act of mine unreasonable, or, indeed 
 (all the circumstances considered,) disrespectful, as it respected either the 
 gentlemen themselves or the Board 1 Could a man of Gen. Kirkland's 
 discrimination believe that I had rendered myself liable to impeachment, 
 by suggesting the expediency of those gentlemen acting in accordance with 
 his advice 1 Is it criminal to wish to be freed from the enemies of one's own 
 household ? 
 
 [78] I replied that I was misapprehended ; that I had not said I had 
 no confidence in the Board : I acknowledged I had confidence in a great 
 
 N
 
 98 
 
 brought forward for the appointment of a committee to inquire 
 whether the Board had power to remove the Rev. Henry Davis from 
 his office. This measure was intended to be the chef-d'ceuvre of 
 their generalship. Their object, it was obvious, was the same as 
 in many previous measures, viz. to unman the President at once, 
 and crush him on the spot. 
 
 After some conversation, a substitute was proposed and adopted, 
 viz. That the Board proceed to remove President Davis from his 
 office. The votes on the question being taken, four or five of the 
 reformers voted for his removal. Mr. Williams remarked that 
 the Board, he was fully satisfied, were not invested with power 
 to remove the President of the College. Mr. Bronson expressed 
 doubts. Gen. Kirkland acknowledged that he had not examined 
 the question. [79] 
 
 The previous resolution was, at last, adopted. Dr. Brown 
 was the only member who voted against it. Most of my friends 
 voted for it, because, as Mr. Williams and others remarked, so 
 
 portion of them ; believed they were acting in good faith ; and had barely 
 said that I had no confidence in our efforts, so long as a considerable number 
 would not unite with us, and could by their suggestions and insinuations 
 paralyze all our measures. But granting that I had said I had no confidence 
 in the Board, after the treatment which I had received from a majority of them 
 after resolution upon resolution had been brought forward that the College 
 could not flourish in my hands after it had been declared on the floor, in my 
 presence, that I was not the man for them after being again and again 
 pointedly insulted, by being requested to retire, and suffered day after day 
 to be absent from their deliberations after reducing my salary by a deliberate 
 vote of the majority, in its effect on my official character, where the real 
 motives and circumstances were not known, no better than assassination 
 and after Mr. Bronson (now Attorney Gen. of the State,) had declared, ' It 
 is in vain for this Board to think of agreeing in any thing ;' grant, that with 
 all these facts (and many others already related) before me, I had said I had 
 noVonfidence in the Board ; what would have been my crime 1 Will any man 
 say that I should have been wanting in charity or respect for them as a body ? 
 
 Why then did Gen. K. and others pounce upon me with the ferocity of the 
 tiger 1 Why did they exult, as if confident I should be constrained at last 
 to yield myself up as their prey 1 What stronger evidence could they have 
 given of want of sincerity in assenting to the measure which had been pro- 
 posed ? and that their embarrassed condition had imposed upon them a 
 necessity of seeming to assent to it in good faith 1 
 
 [79] Is it not strange that the General, so eminent as he had long been as a 
 jurist, should be ignorant on such a point 1 that he should have been sixteen 
 years a member of the Corporation, without ascertaining, from the Charter or 
 other means, his rights and powers (and even duties, it would seem) as such 7 
 That while he had been for so long a time striving with others to effect 
 the resignation of the President, as in his view essential (if honest in his 
 declarations) to the prosperity, indeed to the existence of the Institution, he 
 had not even taken the pains to inquire whether the Board were invested with, 
 power to remove him from his office ? 
 
 Mark the General's declaration, Jan. 1828 (see Nar. p. 68) ' We can't 
 get rid of our President when our money is gone, we can send off our pro- 
 fessors ; but he can claim his house and salary, and we can't help ourselves,' &c. 
 &c. Does it not seem that the General must even then have been 
 convinced by examination, or otherwise, that it was not in the power of the 
 Board to remove the President 1
 
 99 
 
 much had been said on the question they wished to have it finally 
 settled. Messrs. Maynard, Williams, Bronson, and Kirkland were 
 appointed a committee of inquiry ; and the Board agreed to hold 
 an adjourned meeting in one week, for the purpose of receiving 
 their report. 
 
 ADJOURNED MEETING, September 24, 1828. 
 
 Present, sixteen members, viz. Messrs. Kirkland, Lothrop, May- 
 nard, Bronson, Gold, Norton, Kendrick, Williams, Bristol!, 
 Aikin, Eells, Frost, Coe, Dwight, Hopkins, Davis. 
 
 The report of the committee being called for, the chairman re- 
 marked, that in the opinion of the committee, it was inexpedient 
 to make a report. Soon after I arose (in consequence of being 
 asked what I thought ought to be done in the existing circum- 
 stances,) and addressed the Board precisely, or nearly, in the 
 words following, viz. I was induced, Mr. President, to express 
 myself, at your last meeting, in the unexpected manner in which 
 I did, by reason of certain occurrences totally unlooked for by 
 me, and by which I was deeply affected. (The amendment of 
 the report, proposed and advocated by some of the reformers, and 
 the remark of Mr. Bronson, that it was impossible for the Board 
 to agree in any thing.) What those occurrences were, I deem it 
 unwise now to state. [80] I had intended to make a few remarks, 
 prior to our adjournment, touching my peculiar situation, and 
 what I hoped might be expected from the Board. My remarks, 
 however, would have been of a different character, but for the 
 occurrences alluded to : and I regret that I did not remain silent 
 till the Board had had an opportunity of proving the sincerity of 
 their profession by subscribing for the endowment of the Pro- 
 fessorship of Divinity. 
 
 But the Institution, Sir, may yet be saved by the united and 
 spirited exertions of the Trustees and faculty. If we cannot con- 
 sent to adopt this course, your College must be brought to deso- 
 lation. The consequence is inevitable. And shall we suffer it 
 to expire in our hands ? Why can we not unite in an effort for its 
 salvation ? What has taken place that should prevent it ? 
 
 I am an imperfect man you, Sir, are an imperfect man we 
 are all imperfect men. Whatever you may have said or done, 
 which I regard as unkind and unjust towards me, I can cheerfully 
 forgive you, if I know my own heart : I am no Christian, if I can- 
 
 [80] I had said nothing at the former meeting in allusion to the gentlemen 
 who proposed and advocated the amendment of the report of the Committee : 
 nor to Mr. Bronson's declaration as to the want of harmony in the Board. 
 No other members had manifested a more inveterate spirit of opposition to 
 me than Messrs. Frost, Aikin and Coe ; and Mr. Gold, by his answer, had 
 placed himself exactly in a class with these gentlemen. 
 
 It was obvious, if they resigned their seats, that all who had been in the 
 opposition would constitute but a minority ; that the vacancies could be
 
 100 
 
 not. And if you cannot forgive me, wherein you may think I 
 have injured you, you are not Christians. Are you prepared for 
 the consequences of persisting in this course of opposition ? Are 
 you willing that all our proceedings should be laid bare before the 
 public ? If you persist in this course, there will be no alternative. 
 Such an exposure would be a reproach to this Board a reproach 
 to the cause of Christ. If we are wise, we shall overlook the 
 things that are past, and look only at those that are before. [81] 
 
 Mr. Coe arose, and made an allusion to some of our past pro- 
 ceedings. The President of the Board replied to him, that he 
 thought it better to follow the suggestion of the President of the 
 College. [82] 
 
 Nothing occurred subsequently to produce excitement. No 
 one objected to pursuing the course prescribed. The secretary 
 was directed to inform Mr. Lathrop that the Board were deter- 
 mined to sustain the College, and that he might rely on their cor- 
 
 filled with men who were friendly to the College, and that its supporters 
 would be found a decided and strong majority. 
 
 f [81] Messrs. Maynard, Bronson, and Gold now threw their resignations 
 on the table and retired. Mr. Smith resigned immediately after com- 
 mencement ; and Mr. Gridley a few weeks subsequent to the present 
 meeting. 
 
 Messrs. Maynard and Bronson took their seats in the Board (soon after 
 the introduction of the measures for a reform) at the adjourned meeting in 
 Sept. 1827 ; and Mr. Gold at the meeting in May, 1828. 
 
 Had these gentlemen been called to the aid of the College with full and 
 correct knowledge of its actual situation, and of the causes of its embarrassment, 
 I think too highly of their judgment and integrity not to believe they would 
 have acted a part widely different. But Utica, the place of their 'residence, 
 had for some time previous resounded with complaints against the College 
 and its officers, and with predictions of its speedy downfall, without the 
 immediate application of some wonder-working remedy. It was natural, 
 situated as they were, that they should enter into the views of the members 
 in Utica. As soon as admitted to our councils, they found the Board dis- 
 tracted in their opinions as to measures, and a want of harmony and con- 
 fidence between a portion of the Board and the faculty : and they undoubtedly 
 thought, as Mr. Bronson has since acknowledged to me, that the removal 
 of the faculty was the first and an essential step towards delivering the Insti- 
 tution from its embarrassments. Neither of these gentlemen, I am persuaded, 
 entertained towards the President, as a man, the least hostility. Their 
 interests and his had never interfered. That they should be his personal 
 enemies seems morally impossible. Certain I am that he never was theirs. 
 But when they were convinced that all further opposition to him and to the 
 minority would tend but to sink the Institution in inextricable ruin, they 
 voluntarily retired from their seats, as was their duty, and were willing to give 
 it up to the management of those who could not be brought to adopt con- 
 scientiously their views and measures. Mr. Bronson has recently expressed 
 to me much satisfaction in the prospect of the College rising again. And I 
 doubt not Messrs. Maynard and Gold feel the same satisfaction in it. 
 
 [82] The PresideTTt of the Board had remarked to me in conversation, at 
 the preceding meeting, soon after my suggestions which produced so much 
 excitement (and his remarks were accompanied by a profusion of tears,) ' that 
 he deeply regretted the course I bad taken ; that he had begun to hope our 
 difficulties were almost over ; and that he had drawn up a subscription for the 
 Professorship of Divinity, with an intention of putting his own name to it.' 
 
 He remarked to Dr. Norton, as the Dr. himself informed me, that he had
 
 101 
 
 dial co-operation ; and the President of the College was requested 
 to write to Mr. Axtell. A committee was appointed to circulate 
 a subscription for the Divinity Professorship. Gen. Kirkland 
 produced a paper, at the request of one of the members, drawn up 
 by himself for this purpose, previous to or at the last meeting of 
 the Board, and which he had said it was his intention to subscribe. 
 
 The expediency of the members of the Board subscribing pre- 
 vious to their adjournment was suggested ; but the General replied, 
 We had better think of it a little. The Board then adjourned sine 
 die. [83] 
 
 I soon saw strong reasons for apprehension that some, at least, 
 of the principal reformers were not so much in earnest as their 
 assenting to the course recommended might warrant one in ex- 
 pecting. And I ascertained that many of the friends of the Col- 
 lege in the Board believed the reformers had seemed to approve 
 and countenance the measure proposed with the hope of calming 
 the public mind, and of preventing an application to the Regents. 
 
 The Gen. remarked, a few days subsequent to the adjournment, 
 that he would give $200 towards the endowment of the Divinity 
 Professorship. But when the paper drawn up by the committee 
 was presented to him, more than six weeks after (a sufficient time, 
 
 intended to make a subscription which would have been considered liberal 
 for a man in his circumstances. It was currently reported that he would 
 have subscribed $1000, and that other reformers intended to subscribe liber- 
 ally. It was this information which led me to regret that I had deprived them 
 of an opportunity of testing their sincerity by evidence more substantial than 
 words. And the same consideration had a powerful influence in inducing 
 me to propose the above-mentioned course. If the reformers had really in- 
 tended, as it was said they had declared, to subscribe liberally for the pro- 
 fessorship, the Institution, I believed, might yet be saved : if not sincere in 
 their declaration, I wished to place their insincerity beyond all doubt. But 
 if then willing to contribute to the object out of a sincere regard to the good 
 of the College, was it not reasonable to suppose they were still willing to do 
 it ? If, after all the insult and abuse they had heaped upon me, I had the 
 magnanimity to forgive them, must they not have regarded it as dishonorable 
 to them as Christians, or as gentlemen, even to have been suspected of not 
 having magnanimity enough to forgive me 7 
 
 [83] For what reason did the General * wish to think of it a little 1' Had he 
 not already thought of it 1 Had he not drawn up conditions for subscription 
 himself, and formed his purpose, previous to the last meeting of the Board, 
 as he had remarked, to subscribe liberally 1 Had any thing taken place to 
 render the object less desirable 1 Had the salvation of the College become 
 less important ] If ready to subscribe before, as he said, and to subscribe 
 liberally, why, it may be asked, was he not as ready to subscribe now, and 
 with the same liberality 1 His wish for delay could not but give rise to un- 
 pleasant suspicions. 
 
 The following article appeared in a Utica Gazette, immediately after the 
 adjournment of the Board. 
 
 " The public are informed that the Trustees of Hamilton College, at a late 
 meeting, have filled the vacancies in the Professorships of Mathematics and 
 Nat. Philosophy, and of the Languages, by the appointment of gentlemen 
 whose talents and qualifications entitle them to their entire cofidence, and 
 that they have made provision for the immediate instruction of the students 
 of the College at the commencement of the collegiate year in October, and 
 until the professors elect shall enter upon their official duties. They have
 
 102 
 
 it was supposed, for him to think of it a little) he subscribed $150 
 only ; $50 less, he said, than he had intended to subscribe, because 
 the amount to be raised $15,000, as was settled by the committee 
 was not large enough, in his view, to answer the purpose. 
 
 The secretary of the Board, who had formed his purpose, as he 
 informed me to give $100, subscribed but $50; and because Gen. 
 Kirkland had reduced his sum. Another gentleman in Utica, re- 
 cently elected a member of the Board, subscribed $50 also. No 
 other subscriptions had yet been obtained. The subject had been 
 presented to several respectable gentlemen in the county not 
 connected with the Board, but feeling a deep interest in the Col- 
 lege, who declared to me that they would give nothing to the In- 
 stitution till the Trustees themselves had convinced them by their 
 own liberal subscriptions they were in earnest : that they should 
 then be ready to give, and to give liberally. Similar views and 
 feelings were expressed by gentlemen out of the county of Oneida. 
 
 With a subscription headed with sums like these, in such cir- 
 cumstances, the committee saw little encouragement to persevere. 
 It was thought advisable to request a meeting of some of the most 
 respectable gentlemen of Clinton, for the purpose of counsel on 
 the subject. Fifteen gentlemen assembled. Deep interest was 
 manifested, and I doubt not felt, for the Institution ; and a will- 
 ingness to contribute towards its support, provided there was a 
 prospect of success. 
 
 According to the request of the committee, they expressed their 
 views and feelings without reserve. It was the general opinion of 
 the gentlemen present, that, provided the Corporation would unite 
 cordially with the faculty, the Institution might soon be built up, 
 and raised to its former respectable standing ; but it was fully be- 
 lieved by those gentlemen that there was no ground to hope for 
 their thus uniting with the faculty. 
 
 also taken measures, which they trust will be zealously pursued, for the en- 
 dowment of the lately established Professorship of Divinity. 
 
 " By order of the Board, 
 "Sept. 24th, 1828." "J. H. LOTHROP, Clerk. 
 
 " Now what encouragement could the public take, in such circumstances, 
 from an official communication like the above 1 Who could believe that the 
 Board even wished that the measures, which it was trusted would be zealously 
 pursued, might be successfully pursued also? 
 
 Mr. Lothrop read me an article, subsequently, which he had written for 
 publication ; according, as he remarked, more fully with the wishes expressed 
 by several members at the meeting ; viz. ' That the Board were determined 
 to do all in their power to place the College on a respectable footing ; that 
 they were adopting vigorous measures for this purpose, &c. &c.' But some 
 of the members in Utica, to whom it was shown, objected to it, as he in- 
 formed me, and thought it best to publish nothing but the appointments. 
 But why object to informing the public (especially as many of the Board 
 desired it) that they were adopting vigorous measures, if willing to adopt 
 them, and to save the College, as they had professed to be 1 Why object to 
 disclosing the names of the gentlemen elected 1 contrary to all usage. Were 
 they afraid, if their names were disclosed to the public, that more confidence 
 would be reposed in these gentlemen by the public than they (the reformers) 
 wished ?
 
 103 
 
 Most of the oldest and most respectable of them believed that 
 nothing could be done till there was a change in the Corporation. 
 Three of them (all new measure men, and the only men of that 
 character present) expressed it as their opinion, that the Institu- 
 tion could not rise without a change in the faculty. Had the 
 gentlemen present been convinced that it was the settled purpose 
 of the Board to use their united and vigorous exertions in aiding 
 the faculty, $2000, I have no doubt, would have been obtained on 
 the spot. Two gentlemen, I know, would have given $500 
 each. The conditions of the subscription were read, and an in- 
 vitation given to put their names to it ; but such were the circum- 
 stances that not a cent was subscribed. [84] 
 
 I now came to the conclusion that all further effort respecting 
 this object was useless ; and was more firmly convinced, if possi- 
 ble, than ever, that the Institution never could be restored to the 
 
 [84] One of the new measure men, recently a member of the Board, re- 
 marked, ' that he considered the Corporation altogether in the wrong ; that 
 the blame of prostrating the College belonged chiefly to them. But the 
 President's situation,' he said, ' was his misfortune : it could not be helped, 
 and it was his duty to resign.' Another, to prove the correctness of his 
 opinion, remarked, 'that a gentleman who had just returned from the 'north 
 reported, that the scholars would not come to this College from two Acade 
 mies in that region, which were specified, because President Davis was here.' 
 But a few weeks previous, however, I had received a letter from the Princi- 
 pal of one of them, in which he says, " Be assured, Sir, that I have felt a 
 deep sympathy during your period of unnatural darkness. I remember 
 Ham. Coll. with much affection : I regard that Institution as my Alma 
 Mater ; and permit me to say that I have long had a full and unshaken con- 
 fidence in your qualifications to take proper care of her. It would have given 
 me great pleasure to send two good students from this Academy to your 
 College. Common report said H. C. is down. If, next autumn, we have 
 any fit candidates for College, we shall not, Sir, forget you." 
 
 The Principal of the other Academy, having heard of the report in circu- 
 lation, kindly furnished me with the following communication, viz. " It is 
 not true, to my knowledge, that the pupils of my Academy will not go to 
 Ham. Coll. because Dr. Davis is there. The objection that they or other 
 young men have made to going to this Institution is, want of harmony in 
 the Corporation. Alas, too often are our enemies of our own household." 
 Both of these gentlemen are alumni of this College, and have fitted a great 
 number of young men for entering it. 
 
 The third gentleman who believed the College could not flourish without 
 a change in the faculty, informed the meeting that he heard Mr. Maynard 
 (late a member of the Board) declare, in the presence of several gentlemen, 
 a few days previous, in a certain office in Utica, that ' the College was flour- 
 ishing when Dr. Davis came here ; that it had run down in his hands, and 
 never could rise while he was connected with it.' Now it is a very remark- 
 able fact, as can be proved by two as credible witnesses as there are in the 
 county of Oneida, that'Mr. Maynard remarked, within two weeks from that 
 time, that the College had been talked down.* The above facts are introduced 
 (and a multitude of a similar character might be mentioned) to show how 
 desirous a certain class of the community are to crush the President of Ham- 
 ilton College, and that they are not over-scrupulous as to the means. 
 
 * Who can doubt the correctness of this remark ; or that some of th 
 Trustees have been the principal talkers? (See especially notes 8, 45, 700 
 Show me the College, if you can, which could not be ruined by such means.
 
 104 
 
 confidence and patronage of the public, without, a radical change 
 in the Board itself. It was evident that otherwise it must con- 
 tinue to languish, and would finally expire. 
 
 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, March 18, 1829. 
 
 Present, seventeen members, viz. Gen. Kirkland, Drs. Norton, 
 Kendrick, Yates, and Lansing ; Rev. Messrs. Eells, Frost, 
 Coe, Keep and Aikin ; J. H. Lothrop, J. J. Knox, O. Williams, 
 E. Goodrich, G. Bristoll, S. Hopkins, Esqrs., and the Presi- 
 dent. Dr. Yates and Mr. Goodrich took their seats for the 
 first time. 
 
 The meeting was constitutionally called, in consequence of a 
 communication from the Regents, which was as follows, viz. 
 
 " At a meeting of the Regents of the University, held pursuant to 
 adjournment in the senate chamber, Feb. 3d, 1829 
 
 " A communication [85] from John Lay, Jesse Curtis, Josiah 
 
 [85] The following is the communication alluded to, viz. 
 
 To the Hon. the Regents of the University of the State of New- York : 
 
 " The petition of the undersigned, a committee appointed by the citizen* 
 of the county of Oneida, at a meeting held in Clinton, on the 12th day of 
 September last, pursuant to public notice, respectfully showeth 
 
 " That Hamilton College, in the county of Oneida, was incorporated in 
 the year 1812. That this act of incorporation was granted on condition that 
 the inhabitants who were interested in having an Institution of this charac- 
 ter located in this county should furnish funds to the amount of $50,000. 
 By great exertions, funds to this amount were obtained. Funds also, to a 
 considerable amount, have been received from the state. The College edi- 
 fices have been located in Clinton, in the heart of one of the most fertile and 
 healthy places in the western section of this state, and it is thought that a 
 more delightful and suitable site could not have been selected in the state of 
 New-York for a literary Institution. A competent faculty were appointed, 
 and it soon became a very popular and highly convenient and useful 
 Institution. 
 
 " There was yearly an increase of students, and the Trustees added build- 
 ings for their accommodation, equal to its increasing popularity and pros- 
 perity. 
 
 " Dr. Henry Davis, the President, a gentleman of high literary attain- 
 ments, and acknowledged abilities in College government and discipline, 
 assumed the duties of his responsible office under the most favorable auspices. 
 And the College under his administration, for several years, succeeded be- 
 yond the expectation of its most sanguine friends. 
 
 " While your petitioners take into consideration that this Institution once 
 flourished, that the number of its students exceeded one hundred, that the 
 expectation of its friends was fully realized, and that every indication in rela- 
 tion to it was calculated to produce a conviction that it would increase in 
 importance with the increase of wealth and population of the surrounding 
 country, it gives them deep and sincere regret to say, that they are obliged, 
 from a sense of duty, to represent to your Hon. Body, that their expectations 
 in regard to the future prosperity of the College have been suddenly disap- 
 pointed, and their anticipations with respect to its subsequent usefulness, in 
 their apprehension, cannot be realized, inasmuch as the students are now 
 Induced to nine ; leaving no probability that there will soon be many addi- 
 tions to this number. 
 
 " Nearly $150,000 have been expended in the erection of buildings, and in
 
 105 
 
 Bacon and others, representing themselves to be a committee ap- 
 pointed by citizens of the county of Oneida, setting forth the pre- 
 sent declining state and condition of Hamilton College, and re- 
 questing the Regents to ascertain the causes which have produced 
 the decline, and to adopt such measures to restore the Cullege to 
 ita former state as to them should appear suitable and proper, was 
 read, and after some time spent thereon, it was orde.ed, that in 
 as much as the Trustees of said College did not make any report 
 to the Regents at their last annual session, the secretary be direc- 
 ted to inform them of their default, and to call on them for a re- 
 port of the present state and condition ot their College, and of the 
 causes, if any, which have produced a decline in its affairs. 
 A true copy from the minutes of the Regents. 
 
 GIDEON HAWLEY, Secretary." 
 
 To the above call from the Regents the Board of Trustees re- 
 turned the following answer, viz: 
 
 '* The usual annual report of the state and condition of the Col- 
 lege having been made by the Chairman and Clerk of the Board, 
 on the 23d day of Feb. last 
 
 ** Resolved, without expressing an opinion upon the powers of 
 the Boaid of Regents to require ot the Trustees to report the cau- 
 ses of the decline of the affairs of the College, that in their opin- 
 ion it would be inexpedient to aitempt to state the causes of such 
 decline and would lead to no practical good, but that the Trustees 
 will be happy to receive a visit from the Board of Regents, or a 
 committee of the same, whenever it shall suit their convenience or 
 pleasure." 
 
 Gen. Kirkland, soon after the above resolution was adopted, left 
 the chair and addressed the Board for some time. He spoke of 
 the disagreement, and of its consequences, between the captain 
 
 improvements in connexion with the College. Should it be suffered to de- 
 cline until it sinks into oblivion, the loss of property not only must be immense, 
 but the loss to this community in other respects, will be paramount to any pe- 
 cuniary considerations. 
 
 "With these preliminary remarks, your petitioners humbly request of the 
 Regents to ascertain the causes which have produced this unfortunate state of 
 things, and adopt such measures to resuscitate this Institution, as in your wis- 
 dom may seem judicious. As in duty bound they will ever pray. 
 ? Clinton, Oneida County, 13th January, 1829. 
 
 JOHN LAY, 
 JESSE CURTISS, 
 JOSIAH BACON. 
 GOULD BENEDICT, 
 THOMAS DEAN, 
 WINTHROP H. CHANDLER, 
 JOSHUA RANDALL, 
 LEM. LEE CHESTER, 
 RICHARD W. SANGER, 
 ISAAC MILLER, 
 REUBEN TOWER." 
 
 N
 
 and the crew, as he was pleased to call us j[863 of there being, in 
 his view, no prospect, situated as we weie, of saving the ship ; 
 fthen dropping his figure) of the importance of the President of a 
 College being popular ; of the Institution depending chiefly upon 
 his reputation ; of parents enquiring, when about to send their 
 sons to a College, not who the Corporation are, but who are the 
 faculty : of the Board having had meeting after meeting, in quick 
 succession, for the last eighteen months j of their having appoint- 
 ed profeesors and made great exertions, without experiencing any 
 increase of the number of scholars. [873 ^ ur President, said the- 
 General, is complaining of the Board, that we have made ourselves 
 unpopular by our measures, that the public have lost their confi- 
 dence in us, (or in a part of us) and some of the Board are also 
 complaining of him. Whenever the President of a College, added 
 the General, has become unpopular, no matter from what cause, 
 let it be what it may, it makes no difference, he ought to resign 
 his o$?ce.[88] But since our President will not do it, I deem it 
 
 [86] Supposing the General had said, the crew itself were at variance : that 
 part were for supporting the captain, and endeavoring to keep the ship under 
 Way 5 and part following the champion of the crew, in striving to heave her 
 to, for the purpose of getting the captain overboard would he not have hit 
 the case more exactly ? 
 
 [87] But not a word dropped from the Hon. gentleman, as to their driving 
 off the professors by their reports and resolutions, and their leaving the Insti- 
 tution, term after term, without proper officers nothisg respecting gentle- 
 men, when appointed, 'declining their appointments, in consequence of the 
 distracted state of the Board nothing respecting the scholars having, almost 
 to a man, left us, by reason of their extraordinary proceedings nothing re- 
 specting the opinion which the reformers had freely expressed and circulated, 
 and which some of them, at least, were, with much pains, circulating still, 
 that the College never could prosper without a change as to its President. 
 
 The. General wished the President to mention those measures and proceed- 
 ings of the Board which he thought had been injurious to the College. His 
 object was instantly perceived. I replied, ' those measures and proceedings 
 fiave already been specified on this floor, and I see no good end to be answer- 
 ed by a repetition of them.' 
 
 [88] May not the President of a College, as well as ofher men, become un- 
 popular in consequence of a conscientious and faithful performance of his of- 
 ficial duties ? and must he offer up his good name a victim on the altar of 
 his own fidelity ? 
 
 Prom prejudice, or malice, or from motives of selfishness, or personal pro- 
 motion, (and men enough there are in this wicked world, not above such mo- 
 tives/) may not individuals, or an individual, of address and management, 
 spread report* far and wide, deeply affecting his reputation as a scholar, or 
 his moral and Christian character, without danger of detection ? 
 
 And even among the Corporation of a College, is it not possible that men 
 may sometimes be found, who may feel sufficiently the power of impure mo- 
 tives to attempt by unfair means tcf break down their President ? Is it not of 
 the things possible, that there may be evidence of their attempting this, from 
 ambition, prejudice, or from mercenary views ? And shall be yield to their 
 attempts, without resistance > Does his duty to himself or to the public de- 
 mand it of him ? Must he voluntarily retire from his place, and acknowledge 
 their calumnies true ? Must he, by his own hand, stamp his character with 
 the seal of infamy ? Surely he must, the Gen. being judge. Establish the 
 General's maxim, then, and who would be safe in such an office, be his tal- 
 ents and worth what they may ? Who would trust his reputation in the hand?
 
 107 
 
 my duty to resign my seat in this Board ; and I think several o 
 thers, perhaps six or eight, had better do the same. Should our 
 places be filled with men, in whose judgment he will have confi- 
 dence, it may be that he will be induced to leave the College. 
 The situation of the President is different from ours ; his reputa^ 
 tion as a scholar, &c. is at stake j but we can resign our seats 
 without much sacrifice. The General then threw his resignation 
 on the table. Dr. Norton believed that a part of the Board had 
 lost the confidence of the public, in a good degree ; and he appro- 
 ved of the course recommended by Mr. Kirkland. 
 
 Dr. Lansing appeared greatly surprised at the expression of such 
 an opinion. He remarked that ' he had heard of no complaint a- 
 gainst the Board, & had never understood before that their meas- 
 ures had not met with the entire approbation of the public. 893 ^ 
 
 of the Trustees of a College, who should feel themselves under no obligation, 
 in any circumstances, to protect and defend it ; but should even claim the 
 right of sacrificing it ? For, no matter, in the view of the General, what the 
 circumstances no matter who his calumniators what their motives what 
 their intrigue^r-what their misrepresentation ; if they have only rendered him 
 unpopular, it is enough. Be the effect upon his reputation and usefulness 
 what it may be the effect upon the present or future condition of the Col- 
 lege what it may be ilk talents and past services what they may ; these 
 things, in the opinion of the General, make no difference. He must resign : 
 there is no alternative for him.* How the General's maxim is to be defended, 
 on, the principles of morality, or on the ground of sound discretion, or even of 
 expediency, I know not. But this I know, that no College, only let i b6 
 known that its Trustees had adopted it, could long exist. 
 
 [89] Had Dr. L. forgotten thjat he said to me at the January meeting, 1828, 
 1 The Board have abused you : had I been present I should have opposed 
 them'? (alluding in particular, as J supposed, to their reducing my salary in 
 September ;) and that he remarked to a gentleman in Utica, on the day fol- 
 lowing the meeting in January, 5 1 am surprised to find so much radicalism in 
 the Board'? Does Dr. Jj. regard his own opinions as nothing ? And has he 
 forgotten, that in a conversation with me, at Whitesboro', so recently as Nov. 
 last, he denied that he had ever voted against filling the vacant professor- 
 ships ' (see vote on resolution, page 80 ;) and that he declared, at the same 
 interview, 'I have always been on your side : I have done all I could to sup- 
 port you'? Whence, then, his surprise at, learning that any of the measures 
 of the Board, (i. e. of the majority, my opposers,) which, if his declaration 
 be true, he himself must have disapproved and opposed, were unpopular ? 
 I leave the subject, hoping it will be less painful to the reader than it is to 
 Tnyself. 
 
 * If any thing were still wanted, to expose the design of the measures of 
 the reformers, should we not find it here ? Is it not placed beyond doubt, 
 by the General's own maxim, that he and his followers expected with certain- 
 ty the resignation of the President, as soon as it should be believed that pub 
 lie opinion was against him, (in consequence of it being rumored it was so,) 
 although no specific facts-should be stated as the ground of it <" (See remark 
 of Mr. Aikin, note 70 'But, in some -way or other, public sentiment is so 
 much .against him he can do nothing.') Is it not evident they expected thai, 
 in this way, the removal of .he President would be effected, while the au 
 thors of it would be screened from censure, and he alone be the sufferer ? 
 Hence their perseverance in the work. Disappointed in their first effort, 
 they were induced to make the second* &c. till they were so far committed 
 that they could not retreat with honor , and it was thought necessary, in order 
 to save themselves, to hew down the President^ at all hazards to the College.
 
 108 
 
 cannot in conscience, he added, resign my seat in this Board ; 
 God in his providence has called me here, and I know not wheth- 
 er my place would be occupied by a worse or better man than my- 
 self.FQO] It belongs to us to discharge the duties committed to us, 
 and I hope no man will desert the post assigned him. This Institu- 
 tion is of immense importance to the interests of the Church. We 
 are looking at it from the West with deep solicitude. (Dr. L. at 
 this time was a resident in Auburn.) Let us do our duty, and 
 God, in the overturnings of his providence, will soon appear for 
 our relief. Let us lie-to under bare poles, and we shall by and 
 by have a smooth sea and gentle breezes, and be safely wafted in- 
 to a snug port. '[91] 
 
 Dr. Norton wished to know in what way the gentleman expec- 
 ted relief: bat he made no veply. 
 
 The President of the College asked, Does Dr. Lansing suppose 
 that God is going to work miracles for us ? that the ship will be 
 carried into port without exertions on our part ? Is it his object 
 to lie-to under bare poles till the captain, or crew, shall be swept 
 overboard ? Dr. L. was still silent. 
 
 General Kiikland remarked, after much had been said, that if 
 there was any prospect of doing good he was willing to retain his 
 seat ; and took back his resignation. 
 
 Dr. Kendrick. in reference to the observations which had fallen 
 from Gen. Kirkland, acknowledged that the reputation of a Col- 
 lege depends much on the character of the President ; but thought, 
 when there was a change in the public sentiment unfavorable to 
 him, it was the duty of the Trustees to search for the causes of 
 it : they might possibly be found near home. He had long been 
 acquainted, he remarked, with the President of Hamilton College; 
 had been favorably situated to know his standing in the public es- 
 timation, (see note 35) and in the view of many young men edu- 
 cated here, and -of some educated partly at this, and partly at o- 
 ther Colleges j'and was greatly surprised soon after he came into 
 the Board [92] to find some of the members complaining of his 
 want of popularity ; of his not being known j and he added, that 
 he never understood till he learned it from the Trustees them- 
 selves, that his standing in the opinion of the public was not as 
 good as it ever had been. 
 
 The character of the President of a College, said the Dr. is ve- 
 ry much in the hands of the Corporation. The opinion of the pub- 
 lic respecting him is formed in a great degree from theirs. Why 
 
 [90] Has Dr. L. always acted on this principle ? Has he never resigned a 
 place to which he believed he had been called in the providence of God, with- 
 out previously ascertaining that it would be occupied by a better man than 
 himself? 
 
 [91] A ship lying to, under bare poles / How admirably adapted the fig- 
 tire to express the condition in which this skilful navigator would have placed 
 the College ! But what said Dr. L. to me in Nov. 1829 ? (see note 70,)' / 
 have done all I could to support you'.' 
 
 [92] Dr. K. had never met with the Board but once previous to commence- 
 ment, 1827, at which time the report was presented, in which it was propo- 
 sed to farm out the College to the faculty.
 
 109 
 
 is it, he asked, that we, and multitudes of others entertain high 
 respect for many men in our country, whom we and they never 
 saw ? Is it not because those who know ti em, and in whose judg-* 
 roent we confide, are in the habit of speaking well of them ? The 
 Trustees of a College, it is well understood, are acquainted with 
 their faculty, and are supposed to be competent and impartial judg- 
 es. Let them, then, suggest doubts as to the qualifications of 
 their President j let them, when interrogated on the subject, re- 
 ply that they don't know ; let them say that the College, from 
 some cause or other, does not flourish, or only remain silent and 
 who does not foresee the effect upon bis reputation ? 
 
 It is my opinion, added the Dr. that the character of our Presi- 
 dent has been much injured by the conduct of some of the mem- 
 bers of this Board. 
 
 The Dr. had remarked, at an adjourned meeting in Sept. 188, 
 that it was not to be denied that the tide of public opinion, from 
 some cause or other, was setting against the President in the 
 county of Oneida ; but that out of the county, he was persuaded, 
 it was as much in his favor as it had ever been. 
 
 SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, May, 1829. 
 
 Present, thirteen members, viz. Gen. Kirkland, Drs. Norton. 
 Yates and Kendrick, O. Williams, E. Goodrich, J. J. Knox, 
 S. Hopkins and G. Bristol!, Esqrs. Rev. J. Eells, N. Coe, 
 J. Frost, and the President. 
 
 Hon. John B, Yates, Nicholas P. Randall, James 0. Morse, 
 Josiali Bacon, Esqrs. and the Rev. John Smith, were appointed 
 members of the Board t.f Trustees ; and Mr. Simeon North, a tu- 
 tor in Yale College, was appointed professor of the Languages. 
 
 Dr. Brown having removed to Boston, a communication was 
 received from him, announcing the resignation of his seat as a 
 Trustee of the College ; and, previous to the adjournment, Mr. 
 Eells also presented his resignation. [93] 
 
 [93] When the Board convened, at the hour appointed, 10 o'clock, but 
 twelve members were present. One was still wanted to constitute a quorum 
 for business. It was known previously, that several members were abroad, 
 and not to be expected ; and that there were five vacant seats in the Board. 
 It would se-m, therefore, (considering the peculiar state of the College,) that 
 the members who were in its vicinity must have considered it incumbent on 
 them to make extraordinary exertions to attend. About 12 o'clock, it was 
 suggested by Dr. Yates as expedient to send for Mr. Aikin, since nothing 
 could be done without another member. Mr. Coe replied to the suggestion, 
 'that Mr. Aikin remarked to him a few days before, that he thought he should 
 not attend the meeting.'* Gen. Kirkland was the only member present from 
 Utica, excepting Mr. Goodrich ; who, although laboring under the ague and 
 fever, and was expected by no one, felt the urgency of the occasion such, that 
 he attended notwithstanding. 
 
 * The object of Mr. Coe's remark was, no doubt, to make it appear useless 
 to send for Mr. A. It was obviously the secret wish of the reformers to send 
 for no one; but they durst not directly oppose it.
 
 110 
 
 SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, Com. 3vg. 1829. 
 
 The gentlemen elected members of the Board in May, viz. 
 Hon. J. B. Yates, N. P. Randall, J. O. Morse, J. Bacon, Esqrs, 
 and Rev. J, Smith, all took their seats. Present, also, Drs. Nor- 
 ton, Yates, Kendnck, Lansing, E. Goodrich, J. J. Knox, O. 
 Williams, G. Bristoll, S. Hopkins, Esqrs., Rev. N. Coe, J. 
 Keep, S. C. Aikin, and the President in the whole, eighteen 
 members. 
 
 Gen. John Ledyard and the Rev. John F. Schermerhorn were 
 elected to seats recently vacated by the decease of John H. Lo- 
 throp, Esq. and the resignation of Rev. Henry D wight. A pro- 
 fessorship of Rhetoric and Belleslettres was established, and a 
 committee appointed^ to make enquiries for a man of suitable 
 qualifications for the office. A degree of harmony and good feel- 
 ing prevailed in our deliberations and results, which had long since 
 ceased to be witnessed, and was regarded -.is a sure harbinger of 
 better times to the Institution. 
 
 After some conversation, the Presideut of the Board remarked, that he 
 thought it best for him to write to Messrs. Aikin and Hart. It was known 
 that they were both in Utica. A messenger was accordingly despatched with 
 letters to these gentlemen. But neither of them appeared, and no answer was 
 received from them. 
 
 About one hour after the departure of the express, Gen. Knox unexpected- 
 ly arrived from New York, where he had been on business. The effect of 
 his arrival on the feelings of the reformers could not be concealed. As there 
 was now a quorum present, and a strong majority friends of the College, we 
 were able to fill all the vacancies with men of our own choice. Chagrin and 
 despair (some have said anger also) were depicted in the countenances of the 
 reformers, as they saw the power departing from them, without a possibilky 
 of preventing it. 
 
 As only five of the reformers were present, and as there would not have 
 been a quorum, hadasiqglefriendof the College in the Board been absent, we 
 had no doubt from these facts, in connexion with the above circumstances, and 
 the previous conduct of the reformers, that it was concerted, by some of them a f . 
 least, that there should not be a sufficient number at the meeting to do busi- 
 ness : that their object was, as Dr. Lansing would say, to lie to, under bare 
 poles, and wait for the overtumiogs of God's providence.' If such -was their 
 object, and who can doubt it, they were literally taken in their own craftiness. 
 
 During the session, on motion of Dr. Yates, the following question was put 
 by the chair, to every member of the Board, viz.: * Are you determined to 
 use your exertions to support Hamilton College ?' It was remarked by the 
 Dr., or some other friend of the College, that it implied a determination to 
 support the Institution with its present faculty. Gen. Kirkland thought 
 otherwise ; it implied no more, in his view, than a determination to do for the 
 College, what each one should deem best for it, according to his own judg- 
 ment ; and he presumed every member would readily answer the question. 
 Mr. Frost thought it an insult to the members to put such a question to them. 
 Every member answered in the affirmative. Mr. Coe added, as on a former 
 occasion, that it had always been his determination (or that it had ever been 
 his object) to do all he could to promote the interests of the College : and his 
 remark was accompanied with the same significant looks as before. (See 
 note 73.)
 
 1U 
 
 Notwithstanding the peculiar embarrassments under which 
 Hamilton College has long been laboring, the rumors of its lan- 
 guishing condition, which, for some time, have been so widely cir- 
 culated, and the fearful apprehensions of its approaching ruin, 
 which, it would scewi, must for years have been felt, and which 
 have, it is known, been freely expressed by some who were tho't 
 to be, and ought to have been, among its most devoted friends and 
 Supporters ; yet it is found, from a comparison of its annual cat- 
 alogues with those of other Institutions, that few of the younger 
 Colleges in the Northern States, if the number of scholars may 
 be assumed as a criterion, were more flourishing for the last 
 eight years immediately preceding the introduction of the^revolu- 
 tionary measures of the Board in 182f ; and that much the great- 
 er part of our long established and most respectable Colleges ex- 
 perienced, during the same period, a greater decrease as to their 
 numbers. 
 
 Since the class of Colleges first alluded to, had all of them, iu 
 187, been about twice, and some of them more than three times 
 as long in operation as Hamilton had all, at former periods, 
 many more scholars than this College ever had and daring 
 the eight years above mentioned, had usually fallen considerably 
 below it as to numbers ; why have reports hever been abroad, 
 (with a single exception,) to alarm the public mind with respect 
 to them also ? Why have not the questions been repeatedly ask- 
 ed, What is the matter ? Why are they not more flourishing? * 
 "Why have not some of their Trustees too been reiterating, Some- 
 thing must be done ?-~Other& may have our College and welcome^ 
 if they will only pay us for our buildings ? &c. &c. 
 
 It was anticipated, and repeatedly remarked before our Board, 
 that the establishment of the College at Geneva would necessari- 
 ly retard the growth of Hamilton ; and it is believed, from the 
 local situation of the latter, that no other College in the United 
 States has been more deeply affected by the literary institutions of 
 a novel and popular character, which have recently sprung up in 
 various parts of our country. But not even in a single instance, 
 since the uwrk of reform was commenced in this seminary, have 
 those engaged in it alluded to Geneva College as a cause of its 
 decline. 
 
 The following facts, derived from the printed catalogued of the 
 Institution, clearly evince its progress since the writer's connex- 
 ion with it. 
 
 No catalogue was printed during the autumn to tthich I enter- 
 ed upon my office, viz.
 
 'n 1817 No. of scholars then less than 60 Graduated at Cora, ensuing, 10 
 
 1818 19 actual No. as per catalogue 73 13 
 
 181920 .... 89 14 
 
 182021 . . . : 93 18 
 
 182122 .... 100 15 
 
 182223 .... 107 33 
 
 182324 .... 110 17 
 
 182425 .... 105 23 
 
 182526 .... 100 28 
 
 1826 27 [94] .... 90 ...... < 
 
 182728 commenced with 80 17 
 
 182829 total, 9 
 
 1829 do. 33 to be graduated, 
 
 [94] It will be remembered, that in the summer of this year, Gen. Kirkland 
 and his coadjutors, with abundant professions of good will towards the Col- 
 lege, commenced the enterprise of saving it from ruin. Now mark the facts 
 exhibited in the above printed documents. Is it not evident that there were 
 then ninety scholars on our catalogue ; only twenty less than at the most flour- 
 ishing period of the Institution ? Did not Gen. K. acknowledge, at this time, 
 (see note 32, ) that we made as good scholars, he did not doubt, as they did at 
 Tale, and m some respects better ? How, then, in accordance with these 
 facts, &nd his own concessions, could the General, with no motive but a pure 
 regard for the College, be saying, that ' it could not be worse off; and there- 
 fore it was perfectly safe to make an experiment ?> 
 
 It appears from the above schedule, that our greatest number of scholars, 
 was in 1823 4 (the year in which the cannon was exploded). During the 
 same year, fifty-four young gentlemen were received into the Institution ; ten 
 more than in any other year. 
 
 In consequence of the bursting of the cannon, and the extraordinary mea- 
 sures of the Board ensuing, and the not less extraordinary conduct of some of 
 fhe members out of the Board in relation to it, there was a decrease of num- 
 bers for several years, as is shown by the annual catalogues : and how could 
 it be otherwise ? 
 
 It is also evident, from facts not to be controverted, that the institution was 
 just recovering from this shock, when the work of rescuing it from ruin was 
 undertaken. For, after all the rumors circulated, and the alarm excited by 
 them, in the summer of 1827, we received into College at commencement, 
 and soon after, thirty-two young gentlemen ; quite as great a number as usual 
 so early in the year : and it was ascertained that we should have received 
 fifty at least, had the work of reformation never been attempted- One in- 
 structer assured me that as many as ten or eleven of his pupils were prevented 
 from entering the College solely by the reports which reached them a few 
 weeks before commencement. 
 
 In November, six weeks after the opening of the first term of study, the 
 four classes amounted to eighty.* But so rapid was the march of reform, that 
 at the opening of the second term in February, they were reduced to forty, 
 five, at the opening of the third term in June, to thirty, and at the close of 
 this term, at commencement in August, all that remained, with the exception 
 of the Senior class, then graduated, were three Sophomores and six Frethmen. 
 At the commencement of the first term of study, in October of the succeed- 
 ing year, 1828 9, four only of the eighty who were members of College in 
 
 * What strong evidence do these facts furnish, that the College could not be 
 worse off ; and that its reputat.on, as was industriously reported during the 
 summer, was such thfit few young men, if any, would think of entering it the 
 ensuing year ?
 
 Ho 
 
 There is one point of view in which the languishing condition 
 of Hamilton College cannot fail to be a cause of deep and pecul- 
 iar regret to the friends of religion. Under all the embarrass- 
 ments with which this Institution has had to struggle, God, in one 
 respect especially* has not withheld his smiles from it. During 
 the last ten years, it has been favored with three special visita- 
 tions of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 A comparison of the first twelve classes graduated at Hamilton 
 College with the first twelve classes graduated at other Colleges, 
 (as exhibited in their triennial catalogues,) furnishes conclusive 
 evidence that Hamilton College, as an instrument of good to the 
 church, holds a high relative standing. 
 
 November preceding 1 , were still connected with it (see note 87) ; and but six 
 were admitted during the year. And what better was to be expected, when 
 it was known that the Corporation were at variance some striving to revolu- 
 tionize the College, and some to sustain it ; that the Institution was stripped 
 of all its professors ; and that a majority of the board were loud in their com- 
 plaints against the President, and making every exertion in their power for 
 his removal.* 
 
 * Yet the faculty, say the reformers, have been the principal cause of the 
 decline of the College. The President, say some of them, is the only obstacle 
 to its rising. But if the President's want of popularity has been so fatal to 
 the institution, why did the Senior class, who were chiefly and along under 
 his instruction, remain, while the Junior and almost aH of the other classes 
 left it ? How is this strange fact to be accounted for ? How is their letter to 
 the President (see note 38) to be accounted for ? Is it in any mannerlnsinu- 
 ated to the Board, in the memorial of the neighboring citizens, (see meeting of 
 the Board, August, 1828,) or to the Regents, in the petition of the county 
 committee, (see note 85,) that the President has been the cause of all this la- 
 mented calamity ? And what evidence is there in the joint memorial of all 
 the classes to the Board, November, 1827, (see note 51,) that the languishing 
 state of the College was owing to the want of ability or faithfulness in the fa- 
 culty, or to the want of attachment and respect in their pupils for them ? Is 
 it not indeed surprising, when the officers of a Seminary are held in honorable 
 estimation by those thus situated, that the public sentiment should be so much 
 against them, that its salvation should call for their removal. 
 
 In ordinary times, in the natural course of tilings, how is public opinion of 
 the faculty of a College chie/ly formed, but from the scholarship and standing 
 of their pupils, and from the opinions they entertain and express of them ? 
 
 And granting the President's standing such, in the estimation of the public, 
 that the College could not be sustained with him at its head ; (as boklly as- 
 serted by the reformers,) is it not somewhat remarkable, considering also, all 
 that the majority of the Board have said and done, tending to injure his official 
 character, since their effort to remove him was undertaken, that nearly thirty 
 young men have entered the College (besides others who have applied for ad- 
 mission but could not be received) at and since commencement and that we 
 are strongly encouraged to expect as great an accession of students during the 
 current year, as was usual in its most prosperous condition ? How are these 
 facts to be reconciled with the declarations of some of the Corporation, and 
 the rumors which have been extensively circulated ? Do they furnish evi- 
 dence that the President's want of popularity was fatal to the institution ? that 
 he had so far lost the public confidence, that young gentlemen would not re- 
 pair to it while he retained his office ? 
 
 O
 
 114 
 
 Ministers of the gospel, and candidates for 
 the ministry, educated in the first 12 classes'at Ham. Coll. 64 
 Do. " . do. Yale 35 
 
 Do. do. Harvard 34 
 
 Do. do. Princeton 67 
 
 Do. do. Dartmouth 47 
 
 Do. . do. Union 32 
 
 Do. do. Williams 63 
 
 Do. . do. Middlebury 67 
 
 Facts not to be questioned, shew conclusively that Hamilton 
 College has not been without reputation abroad, and that it has 
 not suffered, relatively, by young gentlemen going from the terri- 
 tory properly its own to other Colleges for education. 
 
 From an examination of the annual catalogues of 1826 7, prin- 
 ted just before our work of revolution was commenced, and from, 
 information otherwise obtained, it appears that there were then in. 
 Union and the Colleges of New England twenty-three young gen- 
 tlemen from that portion of the State of New York denominated 
 the Western District. At the same time there were in Hamilton 
 CoHege (leaving out those from the other Districts of this State,) 
 eighteen from New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Mi- 
 chigan. 
 
 What is the inference to be derived from facts like these r 
 Does it appear, after all, that the faculty of Hamilton College 
 can have been greatly deficient in ability and faithfulness r 
 Leaving out of sight all other causes of injury t the Institution, 
 besides those enumerated, (and others, beyond debate, there have 
 been,) is it a matter of surprise that it has not been more flourish- 
 ing ? Indeed, would it have been surprising, had it ceased, years 
 since, to have even a name to live, 
 
 In the view of all the facts presented, which is the greater won- 
 der, that it has finally languished under all its embarrassments, 01 
 that it was, for many years, in so good a degree prosperous ? 
 
 In the preceding narrative, it has constantly been my object, 
 unless I am greatly deceived, to state what I conceived to be the 
 truth, plainly and fully : and nothing but the truth. If I have 
 erred from my object, I have done it unconsciously. 
 
 As to the testimony introduced, from persons not connected 
 with the Board, it is perfectly satisfactory : so far, at least, as their 
 characters are concerned. Notwithstanding many of them have 
 voluntarily expressed a willingness it should be used in whatever 
 manner I might deem desirable, yet I have felt a reluctance to 
 exposing their names, unnecessarily, to the public. 
 
 As to the correctness of my reasonings and deductions from 
 the data before me, others must judge. Most of the important 
 facts in the history of our difficulties, were made subjects of re- 
 cord soon after their occurrence. In relation to the statement of 
 conversations between individuals of the Board, and myself, and 
 their remarks and observations privately made to me, I am persua- 
 ded there is no material mistake, either as to the matter or man- 
 lier. If, however, it can be made satisfactorily to appear that I 
 jiave been led into an error, a to any of these particulars, most
 
 115 
 
 readily shall I acknowledge it : for I am not conscious of bearing 
 any ill will towards the persons concerned of any. desire to do 
 them injustice. Unless I am greatly deceived, their own con- 
 duct, and nothing else, has imposed upon me the necessity of 
 speaking of them with freedom. That the struggle has been pain- 
 ful, and my trials great, will easily be perceived. 
 
 Had personal motives only influenced me, I should have appeal- 
 ed to the public, long since, in vindication of my official charac- 
 ter. I have been actuated, I trust, by higher motives. The fu- 
 ture interests of the College, I have endeavored to keep constant- 
 ly in view ; and it was the opinion of several gentlemen, whose 
 judgment I feel bound to regard with the highest respect, that an, 
 expose of the measures and proceedings of the Board would com- 
 pletely alienate public confidence from them as a body, and issue 
 in the immediate and total prostration of the Institution ; if not ia 
 its final ruin. A calamity so much to be deprecated, was to be 
 avoided, even at the expense of much personal suffering and self- 
 denial. In the judgment of others, as well asin my own, it was 
 my duty to remain inflexible ; to commit the concern to HIM who 
 orders all things wisely, and, for a season at least, to endure, ia 
 silence, the invectives and aspersions of my opposers, and the 
 surmises and censures of the misguided public ; with the hope 
 that God, in his righteous providence, would appear for its de- 
 liverance, and place the Institution under the auspices of a Cor- 
 poration who should be worthy of the trust, and whose character 
 would give them an undoubted claim to the respect and patron- 
 age of the public. 
 
 The ultimate views of the reformers were, beyond all question* 
 * totally diverse and discordant. But in their immediate object- 
 the removal of the 1'resident they were all agreed. However 
 various and clashing their ulterior objects, here they had a com- 
 mon object. However different the directions in which they 
 must march, to reach their respective ends, the President was 
 alike an obstacle to all ; and not a step could be taken by any, 
 while this obstacle was in the way. No wonder, then, that men 
 whose sentiments differ so widely on religion, politics, and liter- 
 ature, could all agree, and co operate with the greatest cordiality 
 here. 
 
 But supposing this object attained j what would have been the 
 consequences ? While some were avowing; their opposition to all 
 Colleges, and would make it a matter of conscience to pull it 
 down some declaring we had already too many Colleges, and 
 Hamilton might as well be given up as any other some that sec- 
 tarianism and beneficiaries of Education Societies had ruined it, 
 and wishing, it is believed, to place it on a foundation which would 
 preclude every thing tending to promote the interests ef evangel- 
 ical truth and vital godliness some that the Institution must be 
 modernized, and striving, (part of them at least, as many do not 
 doubt,) from private motives, to make it generically different from 
 a College ; I repeat the question, had I retired from my office, 
 what must have been the consequences ? How could the Trus- 
 tees of a College, while a decided majority, m their ultimate
 
 116 
 
 views, differed, totally from each other and from the minority, have 
 united efficiently in any plan which would promote its true inter- 
 ests ? Must not a struggle have ensued, which would have proved 
 fatal to the Institution ? Such I know was the firm conviction 
 of many friends of the College in the Board, and numbers out of 
 it. -Let, then, the friends of sound learning and evangelical re- 
 ligion, judge whether, in such circumstances, I did right in taking 
 my stand, and breasting the. storm which was beating upon me. 
 
 "But the storm has spent its rage. A brighter day has dawned 
 upon the College. Since this labor of reforming the Institution 
 was commenced, ten members of the Board, who were zealously 
 engaged in it, have retired from their seats. Two or three of this 
 number were originally in the minority; but previous to leaving 
 the Board, they were brought completely into the view? of the re- 
 formers, and united with them heartily in their efforts. 
 
 The seats of all these gentlemen are now occupied by men who 
 are i:esolved on making all reasonable exertions to sustain the In- 
 stituition and its faculty, and to raise it to that rank of respecta- 
 bility among kindred Seminaries, which its local advantages claim 
 for it 
 
 Six members, however, (and only six,) whose opposition has 
 be'Mi unyielding from the beginning, still retain their seats. But 
 why do they retain them ? Have not the ears of many been wea- 
 ry of their declaration, It is impossible for the College to pros- 
 pcjr with Dr. Davis at its head ? so strong is public opinion against 
 hirtn, it cannot be resisted 5 it is in vain to attempt it ? Do not 
 tlieir measures also, (if honest men) prove that such must have 
 been their conviction ? . 
 
 I ask again, then, for what purpose do they retain their seats ? 
 Can they hope to control the present majority, powerful as it is ? 
 This they have not the presumption to hope. Can they, then, 
 honestly unite with them in a hopeless effort ? Can they waste 
 their strength to effect an impossibility ? Or will they say they 
 are willing to see the College restored while under President Da- 
 vis, to its former flourishing condition ? Will they say they can 
 cordially lend their efforts to effect this, after having so long con- 
 fidently prophesied its ruin as inevitable, unless he was removed 
 from it ? If they can say and do this with sincerity, for the honor 
 of human nature, tell the world their magnanimity ! 
 
 Surely, men standing in the estimation of the community as do 
 Gen. Kirkland and Mr. Hart, and the Rev. Messrs. Lansing, 
 Frost, Aikin, and Coe, will not tell us that they remain in the 
 Board because they believe they can do more there to thwart the 
 efforts of the majority, than when out of it that they wish to pre- 
 clude men from their seats, who would rigorously support the 
 President. 
 
 Propriutn humani ingenii est, odisse quern Ixseris, saith the 
 Roman historian. These gentlemen, certainly, will not own 
 themselves willing to verify this maxim of heathen philosophy : 
 they will not avow that they are governed by this propensity of 
 our nature that they have done so much to injure the President ', 
 that they can neverforgiye him, 

 
 117 
 
 i ask, then, once more, and finally, by \vhat views and feelings 
 can these gentlemen be prompted ? Will they relieve us from 
 our doubts ? will they tell us what are their motives in retaining 
 their seats ? and what good end, public or private, they hope to 
 attain by it ?[95] 
 
 I now leave the whole subject with an intelligent and impartial 
 public. It is for them to decide on whom rests the responsibility 
 of the decline of Hamilton College. Whether this calamity, so 
 deeply to be deplored, in which so many precious interests sym- 
 pathize, and which has been so extensively a cause of surprise 
 and regret, has, by a majority of the Corporation, been justly as- 
 cribed to the faculty. And it also belongs to the same public to 
 determine, whether an Institution which once experienced their 
 favors, and gave fair promise of becoming a prolific and perma- 
 nent source of rich blessings to our state and to our nation, shall 
 be suffered to sink into ruin, and its walls, emptied and forsaken, 
 to stand as a beacon merely, to other Colleges, to warn them of the 
 causes of its desolation. For, although there is now a numerous 
 and strong majority of the Board of Trustees, who are in heart 
 and hand united, whose measures will all be devised, adopted, 
 and faithfully pursued, with a sincere regard to the high interests 
 of the Institution, and whose constant object will be to raise it to 
 a conspicuous rank among its sister Seminaries ; yet, however 
 wise, well directed, and vigorous may be these measures, they 
 must fail of their desired effect, unless encouraged by an enlight- 
 ened and public spirited community. 
 
 HE\RY DAVIS. 
 
 Hamilton College, Feb. 1830. 
 
 [95] Mr. Bronson remarked to me, in July or August, 1829, ' When I left 
 the Board, I confidently expected that every member in the opposition would 
 do the same. And I know not on what principle the gentlemen who stiHre- 
 tain their seats can justify themselves.' 
 

 

 
 The following gentlemen compose the present Board of Trustees'; 
 
 RET. ASAHEL S. NORTON, D. D. Clinton, 
 ANDREW YATES, D. O. Sullivan, 
 NATHANIEL KENDRICK, D. D. Hamilton, 
 Kox. JOHN B. YATES, Sullivan, 
 
 NICHOLAS P. RANDALL, ESQ.. Manlius, 
 OTHNIEL WILLIAMS, ESQ.. Clinton, 
 GEORGE BRISTOL, ESQ.. Clinton, 
 JOHN LEDYARD, ESQ.. Cazenovia, 
 JAMES O. MORSE, Es, Cherry Valley, 
 ELIZUR GOODRICH, ESQ.. Utica, 
 JOSIAH BACON, ESQ.. Sangerfield, 
 JOHN J. KNOX, ESQ.. Augusta, 
 SEWALL HOPKINS, M. D. Clinton, 
 Riv. JOHN SMITH, Cooperstown, 
 JOHN KEEP, Homer, 
 JOHN F. SCHERMERHORN, Utica, 
 HENRY DAVIS, Clinton, 
 
 HON. JOSEPH KIRKLAND, Utica, 
 
 EPHRAIM HART, Utica, 
 REV. DIRCK C. LANSING, D. D. Utica. 
 
 SAMUEL C. AIKIN, Utic% 
 
 JOHN FROST, Wliitesboro', 
 
 NOAH COE, New Hartford, 
 One seat vacant.
 
 4.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Just as the foregoing Narrative was printed and about to be 
 published, the Trustees were called together in consequence of a 
 second, but unexpected, communication from the Regents. As it 
 was possible that something might take place at the meeting of 
 the Board which would render an appendix desirable, it was 
 thought expedient to withhold the Narrative from the public till 
 after that period. 
 
 SPECIAL MEETING, March 17 th, 1830. 
 
 Present, sixteen members, viz. Rev. Drs. Norton, Yates, Kendrick 
 and Lansing, J. B. Yates, J. O. Morse, N. P. Randall, J. 
 Bacon, J. J. Knox, O. Williams, S. Hopkins, and G. Bris- 
 toll, Esqrs., Rev. J. Smith, J. F. Schemerhorn, S. C. Aikin, 
 N. Coe, and J. Frost. 
 
 The following is the communication from the Regents : 
 " At a meeting of the Regents of the University held pursuant 
 to adjournment in the Senate Chamber, Jan. 26th, 1830. A cer- 
 tified copy of a resolution of the Honorable the Assembly of the 
 15th of Jan. instant, requesting from the Regents certain informa- 
 tion in relation to Ham. Coll. was received and read ; it was 
 therefore ordered that the Secretary transmit a copy thereof to 
 the Trustees of said Coll., and request them to communicate to 
 the Regents the information required by the said resolution. 
 A true extract from the minutes of the Regents. 
 
 GIDEON HAWLEY, Secretary. 
 
 In pursuance of the foregoing proceedings, I herewith transmit 
 to the Trustees of Ham. Coll. a certified copy of the resolution 
 therein referred to, and make the request thereby required to be 
 made by me. 
 
 STATE or NEW YORK. 
 
 In Assembly \5th Jan. 1830. 
 
 Resolved, That the Regents of the University be required to 
 lay before this house, in their annual report or otherwise, a detailed 
 statement of the affairs of Ham. Coll., showing among other things 
 the grounds of the difficulties under which that Institution is said 
 to have been suffering the number of students therein during the 
 year past the number of graduates at the last commencement 
 the salaries paid each of the officers of the College during the 
 last year, and the general prospects of the Institution. 
 By order, 
 
 F. SEGER, Clerk." [1] 
 
 [1 J The foregoing communication was received by me shortly after its date. 
 But as the Pres. of the Board of Trustees is the official organ of communi- 
 
 Q
 
 122 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Trustees replied as follows, viz. " The Trustees of Ham. 
 Coll. acknowledge the receipt of a communication from the Re- 
 gents of the University of the State of N. Y., with a copy of a 
 resolution of the House of Assembly, requesting a detailed state- 
 ment of the affairs of the Institution, &c. 
 
 The Trustees, without reference to or denying the right of the 
 Regents or the Legislature to make this call upon them, most 
 cheerfully proceed to the task of answering the resolution. The 
 statement of the Treasurer herewith transmitted will give a 
 general view of the financial condition of the College ; and if 
 more particular information is desired, it will not be withheld. 
 
 As to the grounds of the difficulties in relation to the Institution, 
 the Trustees do not deem it discreet to attempt an enumeration of 
 them all ; but among the most prominent, the Trustees would 
 mention the facts, that the office of Professor of Mathematics and 
 Nat. Philosophy was vacant from Nov. 1827 to May 1829; and 
 the office of Professor of Languages was vacant from May 1828 
 to August 1829. -In consequence of these vacancies many of the 
 students then in the Coll. left it and resorted to other Institutions. 
 Others who would probably have joined the College were pre- 
 vented from entering it. (But how came the professorships to 
 
 cation to that body, after taking a copy of it, I sent it to Gen. Kirkland. 
 I mentioned the fact to a member of the Board from Utica, about two weeks 
 subsequently. The subject was new to him. He was not a little surprised 
 that the Gen. had made no mention of the matter to the members of the 
 Board in that village ; and it was presumed, from his silence, that he intended 
 nothing should be done. But measures were taken forthwith to effect a 
 meeting of the Board without the General's aid. 
 
 The following copy of the General's reply to the Secy, of the Regents, 
 leaves no doubt as to his wishes on the subject. 
 
 "UTICA, Feb. IGth, 1830. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Under cover I send you the annual Report of the Trustees of 
 Hamilton College. By the resolution of the Legislature transmitted to the 
 President of the College, it is required that the grounds of the difficulties 
 under which the College is said to have been suffering should be stated. 
 This cannot be done till the Board meets, which will not take place till 
 May. The duties of the Secretary and Chairman of the Board extend only 
 to the usual annual return, and we do not consider ourselves authorized to 
 go beyond what is mentioned in the Report. A Board of Trustees cannot 
 be convened without great inconvenience to the members, who live many of 
 them at a great distance from the College. 
 
 G. HAWLEY, ESQ., Yours respectfully, 
 
 Secy, of the Regents. J. KIRKLAND, Chairman, <frc." 
 
 The Gen. acted in this matter, it seems, entirely on his own responsibility. 
 It is certain, at least, that he consulted no friend of the College, in the Board, 
 living in Utica and, as far as I know, no one living elsewhere. Perhaps he 
 advised with the reformers. But was there greater inconvenience to the 
 Board, in meeting for such a purpose in 1830, than in 1829 ? Were the 
 members further from the College 1 Must it not have occurred to the Gen. 
 that the Legislature would have adjourned before the semi-annual meeting 
 of the Board in May, and that, by deferring an answer till that time, both 
 the Legislature and Regents would be completely foiled as to their object ? 
 But the records of the Board show that the Gen. and his coadjutors in the 
 work of reform had no objections to frequent extra meetings of the Board 
 notwithstanding the inconvenience so long as the power was in their hands, 
 and they were animated with the hopes of success. See App. note 8.
 
 APPENDIX. 123 
 
 be vacant ; and to remain so long vacant ? See Nar. pp. 53, 
 74, note 66, and pp. 76, 81, 82). 
 
 An important difference of opinion among the Trustees as to 
 the most advantageous method of conducting the affairs of the 
 College, and between a part of the Board of Trustees and the 
 Faculty of the College, had probably a tendency further to check 
 the prosperity of the Institution. 
 
 The Trustees further report that, so far as respects the num- 
 ber of students and graduates "the last year ; the present number 
 of students ; the officers of the College and their salaries ; the 
 amount of the funds of the College, and the number and condition 
 of the buildings, they refer to their annual report made in Feb. 
 last. 
 
 The Trustees have the satisfaction further to report that, since 
 August last, the officers appointed as Professors of Mathematics 
 and Nat. Philosophy ; of the Languages ; and also of Chymistry, 
 have been and are now severally engaged in the active discharge 
 of their official duties ; and that the Institution appears to be 
 rapidly rising from the depressed state into which it had fallen. 
 
 From the low state of its funds, however, the Trustees do not 
 feel themselves warranted in employing the number of Professors 
 they might otherwise think desirable ; yet they think that the 
 great experience of the President, Dr. Davis, his high reputation 
 as an instrncter, assisted as he is by the other able men associated 
 with him in the faculty, warrant them in the belief that the Insti- 
 tution cannot fail of affording opportunities for acquiring a classical 
 education highly advantageous to the student and satisfactory to 
 the public and notwithstanding the cloud that has lately ob- 
 scured its prospects, it cannot fail under the fostering care of its 
 present officers to obtain the confidence of the community and a 
 high standing among the literary Institutions of our country. 
 
 Hamilton College, March 17th, 1830." 
 
 When the Trustees came together, I was sick in bed with the 
 influenza. I apprized three of them from abroad who called on 
 me just before the meeting, of the existence of the Narrative ; of 
 the circumstances which, in my view, called for its publication; 
 why it had been delayed ; and of my determination to send it out 
 as soon as practicable after the meeting. I further observed that as 
 I was fully aware it would be said, as soon as it should be pub- 
 lished, that my friends in the Board had advised me to the mea- 
 sure ; I had deemed it my duty to consult none of them on the 
 subject, but to assume the whole responsibility myself. They 
 appeared entirely satisfied with what I had done, and expressed 
 no fears as to the consequences of publication. One of them said, 
 Let it go ; and another not merely expressed his cordial appro- 
 bation of my design, but appeared much gratified with it. I 
 requested the gentlemen to regard the information as strictly con- 
 fidential, and not to communicate it to any of our friends in the 
 Board but under the same restriction. 
 
 Soon after the adjournment, I was visited by two of the gentle- 
 men alluded to above, with three other members.
 
 124 APPENDIX. 
 
 They observed that the business of the meeting had been trans- 
 acted with great harmony. The foregoing Report, which was to 
 be made to the Regents, was read to me ; which, it was said, was 
 adopted unanimously. [2] And I was asked whether it was not 
 wise, as circumstances then were, to avoid all occasion of fresh 
 excitement. We have hoporably sustained the faculty, said the 
 gentlemen, in our report to the Regents. The sending abroad 
 your pamphlet, we apprehend, would create prejudices against us, 
 and tend to impede our exertions ; as the public would not dis- 
 criminate between the present and former Board, but regard us as 
 responsible for all that has been done. The time will undoubt- 
 edly come, it was added, when it will be very proper for you to 
 publish. 
 
 My reply was, that, as they were unacquainted with the char- 
 acter of the Narrative, they could not well judge of its tendency 
 that I feared the excitement of no such prejudices against the 
 present Board, in general, as they apprehended that I had drawn 
 a broad line of distinction between my supporters and my oppo- 
 sers ; between those who had laboured to sustain, and those who 
 had endeavoured to prostrate the College that it was my object 
 to apprize the public of the part which every member had acted, 
 and to render powerless the efforts of those who were still striving 
 to defeat our exertions. 
 
 After a little time spent in conversation, I assured the gentlemen 
 that I would withhold the Narrative from the public till the meet- 
 ing of the Board in May ; and I promised to send each of them a 
 copy as soon as it could be obtained, that they might be enabled 
 to form a judgment for themselves. 
 
 Having procured the Report, and given it a deliberate consid- 
 eration, as soon as the state of my health permitted, I at once 
 came to the conclusion that it would be inexpedient then to send 
 abroad the Narrative ; and that it would probably be best not to 
 do it during my connexion with the College. In view of the 
 measure which the Board had taken, it seemed desirable to avoid 
 creating fresh excitement as far as practicable. For it was evi- 
 dent that our prospects, by the Report to the Regents, would be 
 materially changed that both the faculty and College would be 
 presented before the public in an unexpected and encouraging 
 aspect and that the reformers who still retained their seats 
 would feel constrained by this measure, both in the Board and 
 out of it, to cease from all direct and open opposition to our 
 efforts ; should those who had resigned them not be checked by it. 
 The Report to the Regents was published by that body, and the 
 substance of it extensively circulated through newspapers in dif- 
 ferent parts of the state. 
 
 It is needless to give in detail the proceedings of the Trustees 
 
 [2] In saying that the Report was adopted unanimously, they could have 
 meant no more than that no one voted against it. For I was subsequently 
 informed by several members, that Messrs. Frost and Coe made strenuous 
 opposition to adopting it.
 
 APPENDIX. 125 
 
 subsequent to that period. As soon as it was known that the 
 reformers had ceased to be a majority in the Board, and had lost 
 the power of control, the friends of the Institution took courage, 
 and the gloom of despondency which had settled upon the public 
 mind began to be dispelled. From that time to the present, the 
 College has been steadily regaining the confidence of the public, 
 till it has risen in numbers and reputation, beyond the expectations 
 of its most sanguine friends. 
 
 REPORTS OF COMMITTEES, Aug. 1827, and Jan. 1828. 
 
 The reader has already been advised that neither of these Re- 
 ports was to be found. The Secretary repeatedly said to me that 
 he could give no account of them. And to my inquiry he once 
 answered, / presume some one must have stolen them from the 
 table; viz., from the table of the Board during our meetings. 
 (See Nar. note 5?, p. 61.) 
 
 After the death of the Secretary, the last of these Reports and 
 a part of the first were discovered by his successor, Mr. Williams, 
 not on file where they ought to have been, according to usage and 
 in obedience to the resolution of the Board, but among a quantity 
 of loose papers which fell into his hands. I find that I have 
 given, in the Narrative, the substance of these papers with accu- 
 racy without a single error or omission that has an important 
 bearing on any material point. But as they are highly important 
 documents in the history of the origin and progress of our reform, 
 and as I have been obliged to use a good deal of freedom in my 
 remarks upon them in the Narrative, I am glad of an opportunity 
 to let them speak for themselves. 
 
 REPORT (IN PART) OF THE COMMITTEE, Zlst August, 1827. 
 
 The committee appointed at the meeting of the Board, to take 
 into consideration the state of the College generally, connected 
 with the other objects embraced in the resolution, and to report 
 thereon, respectfully 
 
 Report, in part, 
 
 That on the subject of a personal nature mentioned in the re- 
 solution, no specific statement or change has been made, and no 
 proof offered ; and your committee are not personally acquainted 
 with any facts which can in their opinion render it necessary to 
 make any further inquiry at the present time upon this branch of 
 the resolution. [3] 
 
 [3] Could the committee expect persons to come to them voluntarily and 
 make specific statements and charges against the professor, and offer proof to 
 substantiate them 1 Did not the resolution make it their duty to inquire for 
 facts and proof] Will Gen. Kirkland deny that he refused proof when offered 
 to him by the President of the College 1 Or will the committee deny that 
 Mr. Ford, on whose motion they were appointed, had been previously in- 
 duced to believe that some of them were personally acquainted with rumors, 
 at least, which then, in their opinion, made inquiry necessary ? See resolu- 
 tion, narrative p. 32, and also note 39, p. 47.
 
 126 APPENDIX. 
 
 In relation to the state and condition of the College in general, 
 your committee find that after the debts of the Institution are dis- 
 charged, there will remain of productive funds, consisting of bonds, 
 mortgages, notes and accounts which are good, only about $ 1 5,000 : 
 that the incidental and current annual expenses of the College 
 (exclusive of instruction) consisting of the Treasurer's and Clerk's 
 salaries, Chaplain's compensation, sweeping, ringing of the bell, 
 expenses of the Trustees, including those of commencement, re- 
 pairs of the buildings, printing, postage, &c. have amounted to 
 about $800 : and that to this sum may be added something more 
 for the repairs and care of the additional buildings and grounds, 
 and repairs of the apparatus in the philosophical and chymical 
 departments ; which' in the belief of your committee will amount 
 to nearly $1000 per annum : that there is now annually paid to 
 the instructers in the College $4935 ; that the whole sum 
 charged for tuition, exclusive of room rent and contingencies 
 (estimating the number of scholars at 100) will amount to $2550 ; 
 and that for two years past there has been actually paid 
 for instruction imparted during this period an amount of only 
 $1750 per annum ; leaving a balance of $3185 due for instruc- 
 tion, which has been provided for out of the other funds of the 
 College. [4] In addition to the above sums there is charged to 
 each student $9 per annum for room rent, which is paid at the 
 time of the tuition bills. This sum may be considered as 
 a fund partly to be appropriated to defray the expenses of in- 
 struction and repairs ; its more appropriate object is to supply the 
 fund which is to meet the ordinary and extraordinary repairs of 
 the College buildings : and although the Institution might con- 
 tinue a little longer in its present state, yet the period would very 
 shortly arrive when its funds would be entirely exhausted, and 
 there would be nothing left for the payment of the incidental and 
 current expenses. 
 
 Such being the condition of the College, your committee are 
 of opinion, as guardians of the Institution, and having high and 
 important trusts to discharge, and regarding the interests and 
 character of the present faculty of the College, that imperious 
 necessity demands the application of some remedy against the 
 entire destruction of the funds, and a total prostration of the In- 
 stitution, both which consequences must inevitably follow, if the 
 College is suffered to continue in its present state. 
 
 [4] But did the committee mean to insinuate that what was charged for 
 tuition, but not punctually paid, was of no value 1 was absolutely lost 1 
 Their language implies unequivocally that the balance, $3185, was actually 
 paid to the instructers and paid too, it seems, out of the permanent funds 
 of the College. That such was not the fact, the Treasurer and my former 
 associates can bear witness. Instead of receiving the amount of my own 
 salary $1800 annually during these two years, I received from August, 
 1825, to August, 1826, $650 only, and from August, 1826, to August, 1827, 
 but $1304. I make these remarks in order to show, as stated in the Narra- 
 tive (note 34, p. 39), that it was the design of the committee, as was be- 
 lieved, to present the most alarming statement possible respecting the con- 
 dition of the finances, that the Board might be induced to adopt their report 
 and farm out the College.
 
 APPENDIX. 127 
 
 Your committee have been much embarrassed and greatly per- 
 plexed to arrive at any definite and satisfactory conclusion as to 
 the course, under existing circumstances, proper to be pursued ; 
 and in their reflections on the subject, many and almost insuper- 
 able difficulties have presented themselves, since any measures 
 which shonld materially change the present state and organiza- 
 tion of the Institution might in some degree affect the character 
 and interests of the faculty. 
 
 Your committee are of the opinion, that hereafter such a plan 
 of instruction might be adopted, and such a course of studies 
 pursued as will render the money received for tuition adequate to 
 the payment of the instructers, and that the character, reputation, 
 and in fact the continuance of the College, must depend almost 
 entirely on the talents, the learning, the character, the popularity 
 and exertions of the teachers, connected with a course of studies 
 more conformable to modern times, and judiciously adapted to 
 the present wants and feelings of the public. 
 
 From the present condition of the state and the temper and 
 disposition manifested by the Legislature for some sessions past 
 towards literary institutions, your committee cannot indulge a 
 hope that any aid will be received from that quarter, and from 
 past experience they have as little expectation that any thing will 
 be given by wealthy and benevolent individuals, as they believe 
 nothing of any considerable value has been received from indi- 
 vidual donation since the first organization of the College. [5] 
 
 [5] Were the committee ignorant of the fact, that till within the last four 
 months antecedent to their Report, no aid, since the organization of the 
 College, had been asked of individuals ; and that within this period, and 
 with little effort, $4000 had been subscribed towards the endowment of the 
 Divinity Professorship! (See Narrative p. 41.) 
 
 Subsequent facts show conclusively that the committee erred in judgment 
 on this subject. 
 
 At commencement, August 1831, a resolution was passed by the Board 
 of Trustees, that an effort be made to raise by subscription, within two 
 years, $40,000 for the permanent endowment of three professorships. The 
 agent appointed by the executive committee soon entered on the work. As 
 the inhabitants of the county of Oneida have a personal interest in the Col- 
 lege not felt in other parts of the state, it was thought expedient to complete 
 the effort in this county before aid should be solicited abroad ; and all that was 
 then hoped for from the county, was one-third of the sum to be raised. After 
 obtaining, in a few months, $9000, exclusive of Utica, Rome, Verona, Vernon, 
 and some other towns in the county of considerable wealth, the agent visited 
 the city of Utica. At a numerous mepting of the citizens holden on the 8th 
 of December, after passing several resolutions expressing their views of the 
 high importance of the Institution to this central part of the state, and of 
 their duty and interest in co-operating to sustain it, they further resolved 
 unanimously to make an effort to raise in that place alone a sum sufficient 
 for the endowment of one professorship. A committee of twenty-five gen- 
 tlemen was appointed to solicit subscriptions from their fellow-citizens and 
 the agent, of course, as his services were not wished for, retired from the 
 place. Many of the principal men in the city were confident of success. 
 But very unfortunately, the committee delayed their effort till about the 1st 
 of August ; and soon after it was commenced, and a few liberal subscrip- 
 tions made, the city was visited by the epidemic cholera, and all business 
 suspended. Had the committee entered on the work assigned them imme-
 
 128 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Institution, therefore, in its present state, must look to the 
 tuition money for the payment of its instructors. Your commk- 
 tee believe, if a suitable plan of study is adopted, and efficient in- 
 structers continued, the College may yet flourish, and gain an 
 interest in the feelings of the community, and become highly re- 
 putable and useful without farther pecuniary aid. [6] 
 
 Few literary Institutions are more favorably placed than ours, 
 situated as it is nearly one hundred miles from any similar Insti- 
 tution, in a populous, growing, rich, and healthy country, pro- 
 vided with ample, spacious, and commodious buildings of every 
 kind for the accommodation of students ; and furnished with a 
 library, and philosophical and chymical apparatus sufficient to 
 afford the ordinary facilities of instruction. 
 
 Your committee are further strengthened in the opinion above 
 advanced, when they consider that the school at Round Hill, in 
 North Hampton, and the College at Amherst, have lately been 
 established without funds, without buildings, without libraries, 
 without a philosophical and chymical apparatus, and that the 
 
 diately after the meeting took place as they should have dpne, and as. they 
 would have done, had the advice of the agent been regarded and prose- 
 cuted it with vigor, it is the opinion of gentlemen of high standing there, 
 that $10,000 would have been raised within a week : and it is fully believed 
 that the amount of the subscriptions, instead of being but about $11,000 at 
 our late commencement (one year from the beginning of the effort) would 
 have fallen little short of f 40,000. The effect of the delay in Utica fully 
 verified the apprehensions of the agent, and which he early and repeatedly 
 expressed to some -of the committee. The resolutions passed at the meeting 
 in that place were published and extensively circulated. It was conceived 
 thaft the citizens of Utica had virtually pledged themselves to the College 
 and to the public for the endowment of a professorship. The substance of 
 the reply given to the agent, with almost one voice, by gentlemen to 
 whom he applied subsequently, both in the county of Oneida, and out of 
 it, was, 'What have the people in Utica done 1 I wish to know whether 
 they will redeem their pledge. I choose to wait, and see what the men of 
 wealth in that place give, before I do any thing for the College.' The agent, 
 as he had anticipated, soon found himself so paralyzed in .his exertions by 
 the delay in Utica, that he was obliged to suspend his labours altogether, till 
 an example should be set in that place. 
 
 While it affords matter for deep regret that our efforts have been 
 thus obstructed, I take pleasure in stating the above facts ; as they com- 
 pletely repel the aspersion which has often been cast upon the people of this 
 vicinity, by some of the former members of the Board ; viz. That they felt 
 little interest in Hamilton College and would do nothing for it and as they 
 prove conclusively that the principal ostensible reason of 'the reformers, for 
 modelling the Institution anew and farming it out to the faculty, had no 
 foundation. (See Narrative, note p. 42.) 
 
 The inhabitants of this region, it is believed, will give further proof of 
 their attachment to Hamilton College. But should the enterprise ultimately 
 fail, the city of Utica must be responsible for it. 
 
 [6] Procured was first written in the above sentence in the place of continued,. 
 The former term was afterwards jmrtially erased (as is perfectly obvious) 
 and the latter substituted. It seems that the committee, after mature con- 
 sideration, did not deem it expedient to insinuate to the Board, that, in their 
 opinion, the instructers then in office were not efficient. But how docs the 
 import of this sentence, as it now stands, accord with the subsequent acts 
 of the committee and their associates in their efforts for a reform ?
 
 APPlMDIX. 129 
 
 money received for tuition in those Institutions more than pays 
 the. cost for instruction, and that they are both at this time in a 
 flourishing and prosperous condition, and increasing in numbers. 
 (See Nar. note 32, p. 38.) [7] Your committee consider it a 
 duty they owe, as well to the College as the faculty, to give im- 
 mediate information to the latter of the condition of the funds of 
 the Institution, and to inform them that the only means which the 
 Trustees possess of rendering them compensation for their ser- 
 vices are the moneys which may be received from tuition. 
 
 Considering that the present faculty have been invited to the 
 College, and that in accepting they may have relinquished other 
 and more advantageous situations, your committee have thought 
 it no more than an act of justice to make them the offer of con- 
 tinuing in the Institution, provided they should be willing to afford 
 efficient instruction under such regulations and modifications as 
 the Trustees may deem for the best interests of the College, look- 
 ing for their compensation alone to the money which may be re- 
 ceived for tuition : the Trustees giving to the faculty the use of 
 the College buildings and grounds, together with the library, phi- 
 losophical and chymical apparatus, under such regulations as 
 may be necessary for the safety and preservation of the property. 
 
 And your committee recommend the appointment of a commit- 
 tee at the present meeting of the Board to confer with the faculty 
 upon the state and condition of the College, and to ascertain if 
 l hey will afford the instruction and continue in the government of 
 the Institution upon the above terms. (See Nar. notes 32, 33, 
 p. 38, &c.) 
 
 Should the faculty decline continuing in the College, your com- 
 mittee recommend that a new organization be immediately made, 
 having regard to the present state of the funds, making the com- 
 pensation of the instructers depend AS FAR AS PRACTICABLE upon 
 tlie number of pupils. (See Nar. p. 47, 48, 49.) 
 
 Your committee are fully sensible of the inconveniences and 
 embarrassments that may attend a new organization of the Col- 
 lege, and that the Institution may suffer a temporary injury. Yet 
 thry believe the sooner the remedy is applied the better ; that 
 longer delay would only increase the evil ; and they indulge a 
 hope that the College, under a new modification, should it be ne- 
 cessary, may yet flourish and fulfil the just expectation of its 
 friends, and disappoint the anticipations of its enemies. 
 
 Your committee have not been unmindful of the very delicate 
 relation that exists between the Trustees and present faculty of 
 the College, that no steps can be taken which go materially to 
 change the government and instruction of the Institution, or which 
 teml to lessen or essentially alter the amount and certainty of 
 theii compensation, without bearing directly upon them : and it 
 
 [7 ] It is not long since the public were apprized that this College was 
 about $40,000 in debt, and without any means of paying even the interest 
 of it end that unless $-50,000 could be raised for the Institution, and raised 
 oon, its very existence would be in danger. 
 
 R
 
 130 APPBMDIX- 
 
 would have given great pleasure to your committee to have fallen 
 upon any other method which would have enabled the Board to 
 continue the faculty with the amount and certainty of compensa- 
 tion which they have hitherto enjoyed. [How is this declaration 
 to be reconciled with the subsequent proceedings of the members 
 of this committee and their coadjutors ?] For the Trustees to 
 suffer the Institution to remain in its present condition would, in 
 the opinion of the committee, be a violation of the duty which as 
 guardians of the College they owe to the public, and to the cause 
 of literature and science. Your committee feel fully sensible 
 that the condition of the College required earlier attention, and 
 that its interests have materially suffered in consequence of there 
 having been no meeting of the Board of Trustees for the period 
 of two years previous to the last meeting. [8] They believe that 
 it will require the active and persevering exertions of the whole 
 Board to continue the College in such a manner and under such 
 auspices as to render it reputable in public estimation, and to give 
 it that character and standing, compared with its sister Institu- 
 tions, which will enable it to compete successfully with them for 
 students. 
 
 The committee contemplate submitting hereafter a supplemen- 
 tary report, bearing more immediately upon the two other branches 
 of the resolution under which they were appointed, viz. the gov- 
 ernment and instruction of the College. In adopting this course 
 they were of the opinion that the Board would be able to act 
 more readily and with less embarrassment, by having the difficult 
 branches of the report disconnected. [9] 
 
 [8] That is, no meeting with a quorum, or majority. They might have 
 stated that there had been six such meetings since May 1st, 1822. And 
 there was one such as we have already seen in November, 1827. Yet 
 about two-thirds of the Board were living ;ill this time within nine miles of 
 Clinton. At all such meetings, however, business was transacted informally. 
 Even the honors of the College were conferred, in the same manner as in a 
 full board, and ratified and confirmed subsequently when a quorum was 
 present. It is difficult to conceive, then, how the interests of the College 
 could have materially suffered. But the fact itself is not to be overlooked. 
 It evinces an apathy in the Board of Trustees, and a neglect of the duties of 
 their high trust, which admit of no apology. I defy these gentlemen to 
 show me the same want of fidelity in the Trustees of any other College. 
 
 But the Trustees of Hamilton College are riot chargeable with neglect of 
 duty, in this rcspccl, from May, 1827, down to May, 1829. During this 
 period, which comprises the long and painful agony all the sacrifices made, 
 and all the efforts so strenuously put forth by the reformers for the salvation 
 of the Institution there were no less than eleven meetings of the Trustees ; 
 at all which, excepting two, as appears from their minutes, there was a large 
 majority. The reasons were obvious. (See Nar. pp. 58, 59, 109.) Now the 
 above fact alone is enough to account for the downfall of this Institution, in 
 the view of any man experienced in the discipline of a College. Eleven 
 meetings of the Board of Trustees in two years ! ! Why even Harvard or 
 Yale could not but wither and languish under such loving-kindness of their 
 nursing" fathers. 
 
 [9] IS'o doubt their first object being attained, viz. the resignation of the 
 faculty, their second object, which was the new organization of the College 
 and the introduction of men into office who were to rely, as far as practi- 
 cable, for compensation, on the number of pupils, could have been effected 
 more r-eadily and icith less embarrassment.
 
 APPENDIX. 13 i 
 
 111 submitting this branch of the report, your committee- do it 
 with diffidence, as they are by no means confident that they have 
 met the views of the Board, or answered the objects intended by 
 their appointment. [10] And they will feel much gratified and 
 greatly relieved if the Board should be able under the present 
 circumstances of the College, to adopt some other and better 
 plan for the continuance of the Institution, and the preservation 
 of its funds. 
 
 August 20 1 h, 1827." [11] 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE, Jan. 9th, 1828. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College 
 
 The committee appointed to report to the Board of Trustees on 
 the subjects mentioned in the resolution of this Board of Sept. 
 19th, 1827, beg leave respectfully to report 
 
 That they view the subject referred to them as immensely im- 
 portant, involving all that is valuable in a system of education, 
 and all that is interesting to the prosperity and reputation of this 
 Institution. 
 
 Your committee are impressed with the conviction of the im- 
 possibility of carrying any system of education into successful 
 operation without the cordial co-operation of the faculty. In the 
 opinion of your committee, the system of government and instruc- 
 tion in a College should be the system of the faculty, and not 
 merely that of the Trustees. 
 
 All innovations upon, or alterations in an old system especially 
 should proceed from the faculty, and be submitted to and approved 
 of by the Trustees. [12] Your committee confidently believe 
 
 [10] No wonder that they should submit such a report with diffidence 
 but how was it possible for them to doubt whether they had met the views of 
 the Board, or answered the objects intended by Mr. Ford in their appointment ? 
 They could not but be confident that they had cautiously avoided the prin- 
 cipal, if not the sole object of that 'gentleman in his motion for a committee. 
 (See Nar. p. 32, &c., p. 38, and note 39, p. 47.) Some of the committee, at 
 least, must have known that Mr. Ford had been previously led to believe 
 that they also had the same object in view. A man of Mr. Ford's sense of 
 honor could not but look upon such duplicity with unutterable detestation. 
 When informed that the President of the College said before the Board in 
 relation to this report, ' Were the gentleman who moved for the appointment 
 of the committee present, he would frown with indignation on such a 
 procedure,' he replied, / icould have done it. (See Nar. p. 47.) And he 
 added, I remarked to (blank) that it was the most disgraceful proceeding lever 
 heard of on the part of honorable men. 
 
 [11] I greatly regret that the second branch of the report made by this 
 committee has not come to light ; as it clearly showed the ultimate object of 
 the reformers and in some of them, as there was no room for doubt, per- 
 sonal designs. But such was thought to be its character, it appears, that it 
 was not deemed safe to allow it a resting-place even among the unsorted 
 papers of the secretary. 
 
 [12] But will the committee say that a single member of their faculty was 
 consulted in relation to the innovations or alterations recommended in this 
 report, or in the report made in August^ That these plans were not ex-
 
 ] 32 APPENDIX. 
 
 that it would be utterly useless to attempt to prescribe to a 
 faculty a system either of instruction or government which they 
 do not fully approve. To direct what shall be done is one thing, 
 to cause it to be done well and effectually is another and totally 
 different thing. Every man can carry into effect his own system 
 better than the system of another. And it may be true that a 
 system somewhat defective, well and thoroughly executed, is more 
 useful than a more perfect system imperfectly executed. 
 
 The success of any system, in the opinion of your committee, 
 depends almost entirely upon those who are to carry it into 
 effect. [13] Your committee are also fully of opinion that it 
 would be unwise and injudicious in the Board to prescribe any 
 system essentially new, unless they can be nearly or quite unani- 
 mous in its adoption. Your committee therefore feel much em- 
 barrassment in recommending any system, because they do not 
 know that it will meet the views of their fellow-members or those 
 who are to carry it into effect. Indeed, there is an intrinsic diffi- 
 culty in prescribing any system of instruction or government suf- 
 ficiently minute to meet every exigency. After all that can be 
 done in this way, very much must depend upon the qualifications 
 and dispositions of the officers of an Institution. 
 
 Entertaining these views, your committee can merely suggest 
 such things as they think would be successful if cordially em- 
 braced and carried into full effect. 
 
 The great objects of an enlightened education are, 
 
 1. To soften and refine the manners. 
 
 2. To give health and vigor to the body. 
 
 3. To strengthen, enrich, and invigorate the mind. 
 
 4. To cultivate the virtuous affections of the heart, and pro- 
 duce the highest possible degree of moral excellence. As aeon- 
 sequence of all, to give to an Institution an extensive wholesome 
 literary and moral influence in the community. Your committee 
 have intended to make these principles the foundation of their 
 recommendation. In framing a system experience is the best 
 guide, and your committee feeling their own want of it, have 
 
 , availed themselves, as extensively as their limited opportunities 
 would allow, of the experience of others. (But they wished no 
 aid from the experience of their faculty. See Narrative, note 
 49, p. 58.) 
 
 Your committee are of opinion that in this age of experiment, 
 as well as of improvement, there may be danger of attempting 
 innovations which wisdom did not devise, and experience has not 
 sanctioned ; and there may also be danger of resisting improve- 
 
 clusively plans of the Trustees ? How then does the practice of the com- 
 mittee correspond with their principles 1 How does the treatment repeat- 
 edly experienced by the faculty from the Trustees and their committees cor- 
 respond with them 1 
 
 [13] Had such opinions always been entertained and practically regarded 
 by the Trustees of Hamilton College, immense evil would have been 
 avoided.
 
 APPENDIX. 133 
 
 ments because they are innovations, from the disinclination of the 
 human mind to incur responsibility, especially in cases where 
 the effects are to be felt by others, and, before they are experi- 
 enced, the changes that are to produce them mnst be subjected 
 to the scrutiny of a judging world. Your committee are of opin- 
 ion that no system is to be abandoned simply because it is old, 
 and no theory adopted because it is new. We are to examine 
 old usages in education with candor, and fearlessly reject such 
 as appear destitute of excellence, or to have outlived their useful- 
 ness ; and to adopt with caution, but with courage, such changes 
 as promise to be real improvements, or as are conformable to the 
 condition, or demanded by the wants of society. In performing 
 the duty assigned us, your committee have endeavored to regard 
 the present situation of our country and the character of the age, 
 but have been essentially controlled by a view of the acknow- 
 ledged situation of this Institution. That situation they conceive 
 to be one that imperiously requires a vigorous effort to avert its 
 downward course, and an essential change to prevent its utter 
 ruin. 
 
 Oppressed with this embarrassing consideration, your committee 
 are induced, as the best result of their reflections, to submit to 
 this Board the following plan. 
 
 The President shall be appointed by the Board, under an agree- 
 ment that he shall tender his resignation at the expiration of 
 (blank) years. 
 
 He shall nominate to the Board all the officers of the Institu- 
 tion, who shall reject or accept them, but shall not appoint any 
 without his nomination. [14] 
 
 He shall fix their salaries and be responsible for the payment ; 
 and the Board shall have no responsibility except as to the salary 
 of the Professor of Divinity, whose salary shall be paid and duties 
 prescribed by the Board, with the assent of the President. 
 
 No officer shall be removed by the President without the con- 
 currence of the Board, but he may prescribe and change their 
 duties at his pleasure in any manner not inconsistent with the es- 
 tablished regulations of the Institution. 
 
 He shall receive all that may be derived from tuition, room 
 rent and board, and shall have no other compensation except such 
 sum as this Board shall agree to pay. 
 
 He shall have the use of the College buildings and grounds, the 
 philosophical and chymical apparatus and library, free of rent ; 
 he making all ordinary repairs, and being responsible for their 
 preservation, and return them in as good condition as when re- 
 ceived, except ordinary decay. 
 
 To enable the President to render the Institution useful, he 
 must have the utmost extent of authority which the charter will 
 allow. 
 
 [14] But the charter says, the President shall hold his office for and dur- 
 ing good behaviour. And suppose the plan recommended by the committee 
 adopted, and the President should turn infidel ; or become a bigoted Chris- 
 tian sectarian, and would nominate none but those of his own communion ?
 
 134 APPENDIX. 
 
 Therefore your committee recommend that he have authority 
 to prescribe the course of studies, subject to the approbation of 
 the Trustees. Your committee refrain, therefore, from any spe- 
 cification on this subject. Their views, however, would be 
 
 1. That no less be required for admission than at present. 
 
 2. That the present course be not essentially diminished. 
 
 3. That Political Economy, the study of the American Consti- 
 tution and History be introduced. 
 
 4. That provision be made for the study of Modern Languages, 
 Civil Engineering, Book-keeping, in addition to, not in lieu of any 
 other studies, by those who may choose, and in the opinion of the 
 faculty can do it with profit. [ 1 5] 
 
 For encouragement to exertion your committee would recom- 
 mend 
 
 1. Examinations thorough in the presence of literary gentlemen. 
 
 2. Prizes for composition and elocution. 
 
 3. Frequent graduation according to merit. 
 
 4. Accounts rendered to parents at the close of each term. 
 
 5. The names of the first third of each class to be published 
 annually after examination, according to merit. [16] 
 
 The object of all would be to offer to young minds the most 
 stimulating incentives to attain the highest degree of intellectual 
 excellence. To superadd the purer and higher motives arising 
 from the sense of duty, to improve their faculties in order to be 
 useful in proportion to their capacities, and to induce them to seek 
 for excellence from Christian principles, must be the work of con- 
 stant inculcation and daily instruction. 
 
 For the preservation and improvement of morals, your com- 
 mittee recommend 
 
 1. That no student be received or suffered to remain, who does 
 not sustain a good moral character. 
 
 2. All students, except Beneficiaries, shall board in the Com- 
 mons. 
 
 3. No student shall be permitted to leave the College grounds, 
 except in company with an officer, without a written permission 
 from the President. 
 
 4. Every student to deliver all his money to the President, 
 who shall put it to his credit, and pay for what he shall deem 
 necessary. 
 
 5. No student to receive any company from out of the College, 
 without immediately informing a member of the faculty. 
 
 8. The whole time to be employed, from the hour of rising to 
 rest, in study, exercise, or refreshment, in a manner and accord- 
 ing to a division of time to be prescribed by the President. 
 
 [15] But the committee would have known, had they done their duty as 
 Trustees, that several of the above studies had long before been introduced. 
 [16] And must we believe it was the design of the committee to insinuate 
 that hitherto we had had no such examinations as they recommended no 
 prizes for declamation no graduations according to merit no accounts ren- 
 dered to parents at the close of the term'?
 
 AFPBNDIX. 1 35 
 
 7. All the *tudents to retire to bed at 10 o'clock, after which 
 the rooms shall be visited by the officers. 
 
 8. All the classes to study in the presence of an officer. 
 
 9. The intercourse between the members of the faculty and 
 the students, to be free, kind, familiar and social, calculated to 
 give to the officers a parental care, feeling, and authority, and to 
 produce in the students affection, confidence, and respect. 
 
 The business of instruction to be not merely literary, stated 
 and formal, but to embrace every thing appertaining to advance- 
 ment in science, to moral and religious instruction, and social 
 duty. 
 
 Your committee believe that the usefulness of literary institu- 
 tions depends vastly more upon their moral purity than upon any 
 course of studies that can be prescribed, and that without its 
 preservation, high attainments in science or excellence of charac- 
 ter, in any respect, will be very rare. 
 
 For the preservation of health and vigor of body, your com- 
 mittee recommend that daily exercise, at stated times and in the 
 presence of one or more officers, be made universal and indis- 
 pensable. For this purpose gymnastic exercises to a limited 
 extent, requiring small expense, may be introduced, and other 
 exercises may be left to the choice of the student, provided they 
 are all athletic and manly, and approved of by the faculty. 
 
 For want of exercise in due time, and of sufficient quantity, 
 many a youth of rare promise has gone to a premature grave ; 
 and many more have endured a more protracted, but painful, in- 
 efficient, and comparatively useless existence. 
 
 The labours of literary and professional men require as much 
 strength and firmness of constitution, as the toils of husbandmen. 
 Experience proves that most men of sedentary pursuits will not 
 take measures to preserve their constitutions till they find them 
 impaired. It is then the work of restoration, not of preservation, 
 far more doubtful in its results, retarding the course of exertion 
 and usefulness, and consuming time that might otherwise be val- 
 uable. General and earnest recommendations to exercise prove 
 ineffectual. Youth cannot realize t'he experience of others, and 
 will not profit by it. Exercise must therefore be deemed a part 
 of the system of education, made compulsory, and performed 
 under the direction of the faculty. 
 
 To improve the manners of the pupils, a lady of refinement and 
 intelligence, with a member of the faculty, should preside at table, 
 and exercise a maternal superintendence over the students. Secondly, 
 Cleanliness of person and of room, decencies of dress and of 
 manners, should be subjects of official regulation and enforcement 
 and to promote these objects, as well as to preserve health, 
 there should be an absolute prohibition of the use of tobacco in 
 every form, unless prescribed as medicine by a physician. 
 
 Your committee would also recommend frequent visits of the 
 students by invitation at the houses of the officers. Your com- 
 mittee believe that constant and free intercourse between the offi- 
 cers and students, in addition to much mental improvement, not
 
 1 36 APPENDIX. 
 
 to be otherwise acquired, would insure, in a great degree, preser- 
 vation of morals and ease of government. 
 
 With the proposed regulation for ample exercise, your com- 
 mittee believe that only two vacations of three weeks each, the 
 one in the spring and the other in the autumn, are all that would 
 be necessary, and that economy and utility would be promoted by 
 having no more. 
 
 Your committee are sensible that to give effect and success to 
 a system, the outlines of which we present you, will require a 
 corps of intelligent and efficient men men capable of exertion 
 and willing to make it. The plan presents the highest induce- 
 ment of profit and reputation. It makes the President what we 
 think he should be, the source of all measures, and responsible 
 for the success of them. If he succeeds he will be sure of reward 
 and reputation, and certain of enjoying the consolation arising from 
 the conviction of eminent usefulness. If he fails, there can be no 
 shifting of responsibility or shrinking from it. 
 
 It will require from the Board of trust constant encouragement 
 and vigorous co-operation. The trial of a new experiment, affect- 
 ing in its results our own reputation, will stimulate us to exertion. 
 While we shall have less responsibility in the result of particular 
 measures, we shall feel more anxiety for the success of the gene- 
 ral plan, because it is our own, and because it is unusual. 
 
 If the plan shall be deemed bold, we trust it will be believed 
 that we have not been unaware that from many habituated to con- 
 template long established usages it would receive that character. 
 But we believe it is founded upon principles that generally govern 
 human action. If the plan proposed should be deprecated, on 
 account of the consequences it may produce to the present Faculty 
 of this Institution, we are confident it will not be thought that we 
 have been free from those feelings \vhich it produces in the breasts 
 of others. But we deem the preservation and future usefulness 
 of an important Institution at stake upon the measures we have 
 been charged to devise, and the influence of sympathy would ill 
 accord with the manly performance of a momentous public trust. 
 
 If a plan can be devised which shall promise to secure the great 
 object in view and be free from all unpleasant consequences, we 
 shall cheerfully award to the author the merit of superior inven- 
 tion, judgment, and discretion. (See Nar. pp. 62, 63, and notes 
 53, 54.) Jan. 9th, 1828. 
 
 PROPOSITION OF GERRIT SMITH, ESQ. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board, March 1829, they were 
 informed by Mr. Keep, that Mr. Smith had recently suggested 
 to him a PLAN by which he (Mr. S.) thought the College might 
 be raised ; and was willing, should it meet the approbation of the 
 Board, to undertake its accomplishment. Mr. K. stated a few of 
 its outlines, but did not feel himself at liberty to make such a 
 development of it, as to enable them to form a judgment of its 
 expediency. By reason of the suggestion of Mr. K. a committee 
 was appointed, consisting of Messrs. A. Yates, Goodrich, Wil- 
 liams, Knox, and Davis, to confer with Mr. Smith. A time and
 
 APPENDIX. 137 
 
 place were designated by them for the meeting, and Dr. Yates 
 was requested to advise Mr. S. of the arrangement. But Mr. S., 
 instead of meeting the committee, presented to them, through the 
 hands of the Dr.. iia proposition in writing. Had not Mr. S. been 
 a member of the Board, 1 should not consider myself at liberty to 
 lay his communication before the public. But as he had borne a 
 prominent, part, at times at least, among the majority in their 
 efforts and manoeuvres for a reform; and as it furnishes a practi- 
 cal commentary on the measures of my opposers, and additional 
 evidence of the spirit by which they have been actuated, and cor- 
 roboration of many of the remarks and statements in the preceding 
 Narrative, no apology, I am confident, will be deemed necessary. 
 
 Pctcrboro\ March 23<2, 1829. 
 REV. DR. YATES, 
 
 My Dear Sir, The subject of your conversation with me last 
 Saturday has been much in my mind ever since. The concerns 
 of a College may be brought under the general distinction of its 
 internal and external interests. The h'rst being the charge of the 
 Faculty, and the other of the Corporation. On the last branch I 
 will make a few remarks. 
 
 Formerly no serious inconveniences were felt from the great 
 defect in the kind of government exercised by the Corporation of 
 a College. That defect consists in the government being so very 
 general, and distant, and inconstant. A College at the present 
 time, that is highly prosperous, may succeed in spite of this 
 defect and the principal reason why all our Colleges may not 
 succeed as well now, as they formerly did under a government 
 sitting thus loosely about them, is the rapid multiplication within 
 a few years of similar Institutions in our country. 
 
 The competition among these schools has, of course, been 
 sharpening as their number increased; and inducing a closer, 
 more active, and particular government of them. This competi- 
 tion and these consequences of it have been the greater, because 
 many of these schools are individual property, and are conducted 
 under the vigilant eyes and by the. stimulated hands of self-interest. 
 It is already with our superior schools as with our manufactories. 
 A few years ago, and our manufacturing -establishments succeeded 
 pretty well, even under the. very general and negligent charge of 
 the incorporated companies that conducted them. Now, private 
 enterprise,.]!! the same channels, has either driven those establish- 
 ments ashore, or necessitated them to come under a more efficient 
 direction. A similar competition among our schools of a higher 
 grade is loudly demanding a similar change in the government of 
 them and perhaps there is not one of them under such vital need 
 of this change as Hamilton College. [17] For if the government 
 
 [17] It is evident that Mr. S. entertainsthe same views of a College as have 
 been attributed to some of his predecessors in office ; viz. that they regarded 
 their trust much as a manufacturing company regard their establishment. 
 God forbid that such views should be found hereditary in the Board. (See 
 Nar. note 16, p. 13.) 
 
 S
 
 138 APPENDIX. 
 
 usually exercised by a Board of Trustees over a College is not 
 adequate to sustain the Institution against its multiplying com- 
 petitors, how totally insufficient must such a government be to 
 revive and invigorate a dead College. What remedy is within the 
 reach of your Board 1 I think of nothing that promises so well 
 to raise the College as the enlistment of individual responsibility 
 in the undertaking. That responsibility I never felt to any great 
 extent while I was a member of the Board, and probably it was 
 so with my fellow-members. To make that responsibility the 
 most effectual, let it be made to extend to the property, as well 
 as to the character of the person you load with it. [18] Where 
 will you find the right man to come under that heavy responsi- 
 bility ? 
 
 In a conversation with Mr. Keep the other evening, I was vain 
 enough to volunteer myself for it. I am conscious of having three 
 qualifications for the service. The first is, a strong attachment to 
 my alma mater. The second is, that I am in such circumstances 
 as would probably justify me in incurring the hazard of so much 
 of my property. And the third is, my solicitude -quite as ambi- 
 tious as any man should be to preserve, in all my pursuits, a 
 good and respectable name. But these qualifications, important 
 as they are, do not comprise all that are needed for this service. 
 It is. desirable that the person embarking in it be able to add to 
 these qualifications an extended reputation for integrity, wisdom, 
 and learning such a reputation, in short, as would inspire a very 
 general and strong confidence in the success of the undertaking to 
 which he puts his hand. 
 
 I most earnestly wish that the Board might find a man of such 
 eminent fitness willing to pledge his faithful and persevering en- 
 deavors -his purse and his character to the revival of an Institu- 
 tion, in whose fall so many precious public interests sympathize 
 and deeply suffer. I know not where you can find such a man. 
 Probably, Henry Dwight, of Geneva, is as nearly so as any man 
 in this part of the country : but he has such an aversion to a Col- 
 lege, lhat he would make a conscience of pulling down rather than 
 building up one. (Poorly qualified indeed, then, for such a work, 
 must be all other men in this part of our country. See Nar. note 
 70, p. 80.) Should the Board be pleased with such a scheme 
 as was barely hinted to them by Mr. Keep ; and should they, 
 after failing to find a suitable man for it, think proper to charge 
 me with the high trust that the scheme contemplates rposing in 
 some individual, you are at liberty to say I will gratefully accept 
 of it on the following terms. 
 
 [18] But if a man loaded with the responsibility of a Trustee of a College 
 cannot feel lhat responsibility to any great extent without such motives, viz. 
 unless his properly as well as personal character is put at stake, in what situ- 
 ation can he be expected to feel his responsibility to any great extent, without 
 them 1 
 
 But does the Christian missionary, statesman, or philanthropist, I would 
 ask Mr. Smith, stand in need of such motives to enable him to feel his re- 
 sponsibility to any great extent 1 Mr. S., I trust, is n stranger to higher 
 motives than his concession seems to imply he had been conscious of.
 
 APPENDIX. 139 
 
 1. Term of the trust to be six years. 
 
 2. I am to have the use of all the College grounds, buildings, 
 and their contents. 
 
 3. The Board to repair and improve, from time to time, in 
 such manner as they may think proper, the said grounds and 
 buildings, and also the apparatus and library. 
 
 4. The Board to complete the north edifice, if the increase of 
 students within the six years should require it. Looking no far- 
 ther than the interest of the treasury, they would of course be 
 pleased to have this expenditure become necessary. 
 
 5. Commencement dinner to be provided by the Board. 
 
 6. The Board to be at no expense for sweeping rooms, halls, 
 &c. ; nor in providing fuel, nor in ringing the bell. 
 
 7. I am to defray the whole expense of providing teachers 
 and this item of expense is not to fall below 25 to $30,000 in 
 the six years ; will perhaps exceed this estimate. 
 
 8. I am to receive all charges for tuition and diplomas ; and 
 also any rents that may be derivable from any portion of the 
 premises. 
 
 9. I am to draw on the treasurer of the Board for $10,000 
 This sum is $1000 more than I spoke of to Mr. Keep. But I 
 must necessarily be at considerable expense, aside from paying 
 the salaries of the members of the faculty. And in making up 
 the $9000, I looked at the subject of the salaries only. The 
 $10,000 I am to draw for in the following manner: 1st year 
 $3000, 2d year $2000, 3d year $1500, 4th year $1500, 5th 
 year $1000, 6th year $1000. My drafts in each year to be 
 quarterly and equal. In the annual report which I shall be 
 bound to make to the Board of the particular condition of the 
 College, I am to render an exact account of my receipts and dis- 
 bursements in the premises. At the end of the six years, or at 
 the end of any previous year, when the Trustees shall request 
 me to relinquish this trust, or when I may choose to relinquish it; 
 I am to pay to the treasurer of the Board whatever surplus of in- 
 come over expenditures may be remaining in my hands at the 
 time. Should there be a deficiency instead of a surplus, that 
 deficiency to be my loss. There is to be no interest account be- 
 tween the treasurer and myself. 
 
 10. As the Corporation have no right to put into other hands 
 unconditionally and beyond their power of resumption at anytime 
 the government of the College, so, of course, they are aiot to 
 suffer myself or" others to introduce any essential or important 
 changes in the studies, government, or general regulations of the 
 College without their consent, nor are they to suffer myself or 
 others to appoint or have the exclusive nomination of any member 
 of the faculty of the College. I need but add, that the Corpora- 
 tion will readily perceive the suitableness and importance of 
 gratifying my wishes on these subjects during the continuance of 
 my trust, as far as may possibly consist with their sense of pro- 
 priety. 
 
 11. I could not be induced to receive this trust without the 
 privilege of having an entirely new faculty ; and therefore, if
 
 140 APPENDIX. 
 
 President Davis should persist in holding his place, the negotia- 
 tion between the Board and myself is at an end. 1 have not 
 come hastily to this conclusion ; nor have I lightly esteemed 
 your last Saturday's arguments against it. I am President Davis's 
 friend. I have been his pupil, and his kindness and faithfulness 
 to me while standing in that interesting and endearing relation to 
 him, can never be forgotten by me. Such are my feelings towards 
 that venerable man and his excellent family, that his. continuance 
 in the Presidency of the College would be to me a most agreeable 
 feature in my contemplated connexion with it, -were it not that, in 
 my judgment, higher considerations, and before which all per- 
 sonal gratifications must give way, are decidedly 'opposed to it. 
 
 Dr. Davis came into his present office furnished with the most 
 ample and flattering testimonials for his fitness for it. (If Mr. S. 
 means by testimonials written credentials, I had none. See Nar- 
 rative, note 36, p. 45.) I cannot believe that he has lost any 
 of his intrinsic fitness for it. I know him well, and cheerfully 
 disavow all suspicion of his being in his dotage. Still, Hamilton 
 College cannot rise under President Davis. Hamilton College 
 must present a new aspect, a new state of things, before it can 
 gain public confidence. And can it have that aspect, that ap- 
 parently new state of things, as long as President Davis continues 
 at the head of it? Produce a change in its condition, as exten- 
 sive as you please, and yet forbear to change this most essential 
 feature, and Hamilton College, in spite of all you have done, will 
 continue to be, in the superficial view of the public mind, the 
 same old thing of which it has become so sick and weary. [19] 
 
 My friend, Dr. Kendrick, in his remarks on this subject before 
 the Board (August, 1827,) admitted that public opinion is omnipo- 
 tent, but he added very happily, that it is not immutable. The 
 Dr.'s general proposition is certainly full of truth but Hamilton 
 College has lamentably proved an exception to it for the years 
 that have passed avcay since the Dr. stated it, have but too con- 
 clusively proved, that public opinion, in this instance, possesses 
 the attribute of immutability as well as of omnipotence. [20] 
 
 I say not by what means Hamilton College has fallen. A 
 share of the blame may belong to the President, a still larger 
 to the Board. I insist upon this only that time has abundantly 
 proved it can never rise, but under the auspices and application 
 of other hands. 
 
 [19] See Mr. S.'s observation to me only about fourteen months before 
 (Kar. p. 75, note 68,) / am now convinced you ought not to resign your office, 
 as it respects either the College or yourself; and on no conditions will I consent 
 to it. How very soon, it seems, his own mind, too, had become sick and 
 weary. 
 
 [20] Could Mr. S. say that years had passed away (a very long period, 
 as his language implies) from the time of the Dr.'s remark, August, 1827, 
 to the date of his communication, March, 1829 1 And would Mr. S. regard 
 it as conclusively proved that public opinion is immutable as well as om- 
 nipotent, because not changed within such a period (eighteen months only) 
 and in snch circumstances loo 1 Verily, Mr. S.'s logic, as well as memory, 
 must have been strangely aflected.
 
 APPENDIX. 141 
 
 I used to say, that if the Board would but exercise confidence 
 in the President, and cordially co-operate with him in advancing 
 the interests of the College, their work would not be in vain. 
 But I would not say so now. Things have come to such a pass 
 that the . public would obstinately refuse to take any hope from 
 such an attempted co-operalion. They would look for no bene- 
 ficial fruits from it. It was given out last September that a re- 
 conciliation had taken place between the President and the Board 
 [21] and the public had large promises made to them of the 
 cordial co-operation of the two in their future efforts to revive the 
 College but the fact that you have scarcely students enough to 
 disturb the silence of your empty buildings, pronounces the futility 
 of your conjoint endeavors to win public favor to the College. In 
 vain has proved your appointment, at that time, of a very able 
 man for your Professor of Mathematics ; and of another, perhaps 
 equally able, for your Professor of Languages. (But why were 
 these appointments in vain ? Could Mr. S. have been ignorant 
 that Mr. Lathrop had but four weeks before declined an appoint- 
 ment to the same office, and that Mr. Axtell subsequently declined 
 his appointment ? And that the principal, if not sole reason, 
 given by these gentlemen for declining was want of harmony in 
 the Board ?) In vain has it proved that your secretary then an- 
 nounced to the public the new-manning and new-rigging of the 
 vessel. But how was it announced? (See note 83, p. 101.) It 
 was in vain to attempt to awaken hopes of her making a success- 
 ful voyage so long as she continued under the old commander, 
 [22] 
 
 But before we talk of regaining the public confidence by means 
 of a cordial union of the President and Board, let us, in view of 
 what has passed, frankly acknowledge the strong impracticability 
 of a union ever taking place. A few such facts as the following 
 show that it cannot. 
 
 1. The Board have unanimously resolved that the interests of 
 the College demand the resignation of the President. [23] 
 
 [21] It would seem there was no want of harmony in the Board itself 
 they were all opposed to the President. Such a report was with great pains 
 circulated on every side. 
 
 [22] What does Mr. S. mean by the large promises of the cordial co-opera- 
 tion of the Board and President in their future efforts 1 How, and when, 
 and where, and by whom were these large promises made to the public ? 
 And what does he mean by his new-manning and new-rigging of the vessel ! 
 Will he say a single inch of rope or yard of canvass was added to her rigging! 
 or a single officer or hand put on board to aid in managing the vessel ? 
 Would it not be matter of wonder, had a SUCCESSFUL voyage been made in 
 such circumstances under any commander? (See meetings of the Board in 
 September, pp. 87, 88, 99.) Now, to lay aside his figure, how could Mr. S., 
 or any man, in his sober senses, regard it less than miraculous, had there 
 been any considerable accession to the College within six months after such 
 extraordinary and unexampled proceedings of the Board of Trustees'? Mr. 
 S. mast indeed have been laboring under the influence of some singular 
 hallucination. 
 
 [23] No such resolution was ever passed unanimously by the Board, sava 
 in the creative imagination of Mr. Smith.
 
 142 APPENDIX. 
 
 2. Members of the Board have told Dr. Davis, in my hearing, 
 that he is in their judgment unfit for his place, and that while he 
 persists in holding it, they can do nothing they have no en- 
 couragement to do any thing to revive the College. [24] 
 
 3. For several years, the President has been spending no little 
 breath in charging the downfall of the College on the Board and 
 in all this time, the Board or at least many members of the Board, 
 have as freely charged it on him. [25] 
 
 I might, if it were necessary, enumerate many more facts to 
 show that the Board and the Pres. have, in their official capacity, 
 long since parted for ever. 
 
 It is but the form of their first connection that now remains. 
 Should I enter upon the proposed trust, it would be with the pur- 
 pose of uniting my own spirited and persevering endeavors with 
 such endeavors on the part of the Board to raise our beloved 
 Hamilton into the very first rank of American Colleges. 
 
 But how could I flatter myself with the expectation of such 
 indispensable aid from the Board, so long as we were not rid of 
 what, in their repeated judgment, is a fatal objection to the pros- 
 perity of the College ? 
 
 It is surely not enough for me to know that the Board is friendly 
 to the College. I am already persuaded that every member of it 
 is so. 
 
 But before I come under this heavy responsibility I must see 
 that there are no obstacles in the way of the prosperity of the 
 College, which the Board will regard as insuperable, and which 
 will, of course, deter them from putting forth such efforts in behalf 
 of the College as will correspond with the friendship they feel 
 for it. Let Dr. Davis continue to be the Pres. of the College, and 
 I would place no reliance on the aid of the Board ; for they could 
 not give me their aid against all their convictions of the useless- 
 ness of my efforts under this incumbrance. 
 
 From views of his duty, which, sincere as no doubt they are, 
 I must still think to be mistaken, Dr. Davis will probably refuse 
 to retire from office. He remains there, as he says, for self-vin- 
 dication. There, where he has become unpopular, does he choose 
 to remain to conquer public opinion. [26] 
 
 If I may be permitted to speak so freely of a man for whom 
 I am bound to feel the greatest respect, I would say that Pres. 
 Davis's mind labours under two sreat errors in this matter. 1st. 
 He has no right as a man much less as a Christian to weigh 
 
 [24] With the exception of Mr. Coe, no member has shown such a want 
 of the gentleman (not to say of the Christian) as to tell me so to my face, or 
 to say so in my presence. See Nar. note 70, p. 83. 
 
 [25] Now Mr. S., I am confident, will not say that I ever charged the 
 downfall of the College to the Board, previously to the bursting of the storm 
 of persecution upon me, Aug. 1827; nineteen months only prior to his 
 assertion. And had several years elapsed in all this time 1 A long period 
 again- as it seemed to Mr. Smith. 
 
 [26] Strange that Mr. S. did not recollect, that I uniformly declared before 
 the Board that I remained for the salvation of the College, as well as for 
 self-vindication.
 
 APPENDIX. 143 
 
 himself, his private grievances and private interests against the 
 College and all those great public? objects which suffer so deeply 
 for the revival of the College, and which must continue to suffer 
 until he makes room for its revival. 2d. If public opinion is made 
 up of individual opinions similar to my own, then Pres. Davis 
 surely will not improve in it by refusing to give up his office, but 
 he will continue to sink lower and lower in it, and to exhibit 
 stronger and stronger proofs of his selfish recklessness of the pub- 
 lic good [27] 
 
 No doubt, we all agree, that Pres. Davis, in the very act of 
 voluntarily retiring to private life, will do much towards awaken- 
 ing in the public rnind a tender interest towards him and there 
 too he would have leisure, if so disposed to employ it, to collect 
 his testimony and frame his argument for convincing the world, 
 that the downfall of Hamilton College is chargeable on the Cor- 
 poration and not on himself. [28] 
 
 I add no more yourself and the other gentlemen composing 
 the committee can, no doubt, readily determine, whether it is worth 
 while to assemble the Board to consider this communication. 
 I scarcely need say to one of such characteristic promptitude as 
 yourself, that no time should be lost in getting to the close of this 
 business. 
 
 With great respect and sincere friendship, yours, 
 
 GERRIT SMITH. 
 
 The above communication from Mr. S. was presented by the 
 committee to the Board, at their semi-annual meeting in May. 
 And without any observations touching its character, or the ex- 
 pediency or inexpediency of accepting the proposition, it was 
 instantly and unanimously rejected. 
 
 As to the wisdom of Mr. Smith's plan, I shall say nothing: 
 but I must say that I not a little regret for his sake if I may 
 borrow his own language that he has exhibited in the course of 
 his statements so many, and as he proceeds, stronger and stronger 
 proofs of his utter recklessness of facts. Yet I will not say it was 
 selfish recklessness. But of whatever of unkindness or harshness 
 his communication may appear to savour, I can most cheerfully 
 forgive him, confident, as I am, had he been fully apprized of 
 the views and motives of my opposers, of the circumstances and 
 dangers of the College, and of my own views and purposes, that 
 his feelings and language, in some respects at least, would have 
 been different. If I know my own heart, I am still the friend of 
 
 [27] Is it possible that Mr. S. could conceive himself bound to feel the 
 greatest respect for one who was sinking lower and lower in public opinion, and 
 exhibiting stronger and stronger proofs of his selfish recklessness of the public 
 good 1 and must not Mr. S. as a man, much more as a Christian, take pleasure 
 in finding that public opinion was not altogether made up of individual opin- 
 ions similar to his own 7 
 
 [28] I thank Mr. S. for his suggestion. But I have found leisure to follow 
 it, without relinquishing the cares of my office, which he so kindly recom- 
 mended.
 
 144 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mr. Smith. I still claim him as my friend and I acknowledge 
 with pleasure that I have recently received from him substantial 
 proof of his friendship for the College. 
 
 As circumstances now are, I cannot refrain from adverting 
 once more, for a few moments, to the treatment received from the 
 reformers. Several years have passed away since the Narra- 
 tive was printed ; but I see no reason, from any thing that has 
 taken place during all this time, to change the opinion then en- 
 tertained of their motives and conduct ; nor of the course which 
 I had myself pursued. I am informed and in a manner not to 
 be doubted that some of them have since acknowledged that 
 ' they had done wrong ; though they thought they were doing 
 right r But no such acknowledgment has been made to me. 
 
 In all the painful circumstances of my unprecedented trial 
 there is nothing besides, as I have repeatedly remarked from its 
 commencement, which has so deeply affected me, as the manner 
 in which I have been treated by some of my brethren in the min- 
 istry. Hard indeed is it to be so treated by those whom we have 
 loved and respected ; who with us have professed to embrace the 
 same system of religious faith ; to be governed by the same prin- 
 ciples of action, and to be willing to treat others as they them- 
 selves would be treated. With no common solicitude have I in- 
 quired for a cause of their conduct towards me, more honourable 
 to their characters, and less wounding to my feelings, than the 
 cause suggested in the Narrative. It is with grief I say, that after 
 all I have seen and heard, I find myself constrained still to be- 
 lieve, that their unwearied efforts to remove me from my office 
 can be ascribed to no other cause. (See Narrative, note 31, p. 
 31.) Never, I am persuaded, had I regarded the new measures as 
 they did, should I have experienced their opposition ; nor would the 
 friends of Hamilton College have endured the pain of seeing their 
 beloved Institution precipitated, as in a moment, to the verge of ruin. 
 
 It is evident from facts disclosed in the Narrative, that the em- 
 barrassments under which the Institution had been suffering, an- 
 tecedent to the introduction of the new measures into the region 
 around it (1826,) are not to be laid to the change of these brethren ; 
 and that they were not the authors, nor the leaders of the enter- 
 prise to drive away its faculty and to give it a new organization. 
 But it is equally evident that, had not their hearty co-operation 
 been expected, with undoubting assurance, the enterprise never 
 would have been undertaken ; and it is morally certain that without 
 them a majority of the Board of Trustees would not have been 
 found against me. These brethren, if they have conceived they 
 have injured me, have all had opportunity to acknowledge the 
 wrong they have done. But with the exception of Mr. Coe, no 
 one has done so much as to acknowledge that 'perhaps he had 
 acted imprudently.' They cannot complain of a want of frank- 
 ness and candor on my part ; that the reasons by which I was 
 prevented from going with them into the use of the new measures 
 have been withheld from them. Had they avowed in a manner
 
 APPENDIX. 145 
 
 equally explicit what I cannot but believe was the main ground 
 of their opposition to me, the feelings experienced in the review 
 of this subject, painful as they still must have been, would have 
 been much alleviated. 
 
 About the last of April, 1827, I accidentally fell in company 
 with a number of the members of the Presbytery of Oneida ; 
 among whom were Messrs. Frost, Aikin and Coe. They had 
 but just come together, as I understood. Soon after I had entered 
 the room where they were, Mr. Frost remarked, 'It is very provi- 
 dential that so many brethren have happened here at this time. 
 1 have received a letter from Brother F., and I want your advice 
 in relation to it.' (Mr. F. was then in New-Lebanon.) Mr. F. 
 observed in his letter that the power and grace of God were won- 
 derfully displayed in that place under his preaching that the 
 inhabitants from the neighbouring towns were flocking to his 
 meetings, and were urging him to visit the places of their residence; 
 but that their ministers did not come near him, and that, unless 
 invited by them, he could not visit their churches that the letters 
 of Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton were circulated all around him, 
 and creating such prejudices that he found himself completely 
 hedged in, and knew not what to do. In view of these embarrass- 
 ments, Mr. F. requested Mr. Frost to call some of his brethren 
 together, and to pray over the matter, and take counsel together; 
 and, he added, should they deem it advisable to print those letters 
 with strictures upon them, that the people of Troy, he presumed, 
 would be willing to be at the expense. Such was the substance 
 of the letter, if not expressed in precisely the same words. 
 
 As I was the only man present not in favor of the new measures, 
 I thought it prudent to remain silent, till my opinion should be re- 
 quested. 
 
 After much had been said, some expressing doubts and fears 
 as to the measure suggested, others giving it as decidedly their 
 opinion that the measure was imperiously called for, and that it 
 was their duty ' to crush at once the opposition to the great work 
 which God was carrying on, by exposing to the world the origin of 
 that opposition, and the means used to strengthen it, Mr. Frost 
 turned to me and said, ' Dr. D., what do you think of the matter?' 
 , I replied, I am willing, Brethren, to give you my opinion ; but I 
 wish to make a few preliminary remarks. I then observed that 
 they were all aware of the ground on which I stood, in relation to 
 the Oneida Revival, as it had been called, that in the course of 
 my life I had, in the providence of God, been favored with the 
 privilege of witnessing many precious seasons of refreshing from 
 the Holy Spirit in our churches, but more of such seasons in col- 
 leges with which I had been connected ; and that, if I was not 
 deceived, I had taken pleasure in those seasons, and rejoiced in 
 the displays of the riches of God's grace. But never before, said 
 1, have I had such a trial, Brethren, as I have recently experienced, 
 or found myself, as to the path of duty, in such doubt and per- 
 plexity. 
 
 I remarked, that I doubted not that God, in very deed, was in the 
 midst of us ; nor that souls were connected unto Him ; but that I 
 
 T
 
 146 APPENDIX. 
 
 saw, as I thought, a spirit awakened among us, which savoured 
 not of Christ, that many professing to be Christians, and be- 
 lieving, as I did not question, they were doing God service, filled 
 me, by their conduct, with painful apprehensions that " they knew 
 not what manner of spirit they were of." I observed that there 
 were prominent features of the Oneida Revival which deeply 
 alarmed me from its beginning, that they (some one or more of 
 those brethren, as could not be doubted) were saying in the West- 
 ern Recorder, and endeavoring to convince the public, that it was 
 just suck a work as was experienced in New-England about the 
 middle of the last century, that, judging from information received 
 from eye and ear witnesses, and derived from the Narrative of 
 President Edwards, I must acknowledge that I was unable to see 
 that it was not such a work : [28] that with this opinion, deliber- 
 ately formed from a knowledge of the past, and deeply settled in 
 my mind, I could not but believe, since man, both as to his physi- 
 cal and moral nature, is the same in all ages ; has the same 
 passions, affections, and infirmities, and is governed by the same 
 laws and propensities, that the consequences of this revival must 
 be much the same as those of the revival of the last century. 
 
 It was not to be doubted, I observed, that the power of the 
 Holy Spirit was, in a signal -manner, shed abroad in the land at 
 that period ; nor that souls, in great numbers, were born of God ; 
 notwithstanding all the wildfire, and disorders, and distractions 
 which prevailed, but that 1 must believe had they (my brethren 
 present) been as well acquainted with that work, in all its bear- 
 ings on the interests of Zion, as I was, or had as carefully ad- 
 verted to them, that the course they had recently pursued (and 
 which, in fact, they were still pursuing) would have been /differ- 
 ent ; and that many things which they had encouraged would 
 have given them alarm. 
 
 I spoke of the dissensions, the distractions, and the censorious- 
 ness witnessed at that time ; of the convulsions of the churches ; 
 and stated as should be known and remembered by all that 
 great numbers who could not walk with their brethren because 
 backsliders or hypocrites, or cold and stupid, and dead as they 
 were denominated, separated from their communion, organized 
 churches of their own, and placed over them, by lay-ordination, 
 pastors, with blazing and burning zeal it is true, but without 
 knowledge, that God did not own those churches, and that long- 
 since they were in desolation. I added, that New-England was 
 accursed with a moral dearth after that period for nearly half a 
 century, that the Spirit of God seems to have taken his flight 
 from her, as if grieved with the men of that generation, and 
 
 [28] I was born in the age bordering oh that of Davenport, and in Suf- 
 folk county on L. I., where he was settled in the ministry, and where his 
 career of wildness was commenced and thoroughly known. Often in my 
 childhood and youth have I listened to narrations from my parents and 
 others of the extravagances and excesses 'of which they had been wit- 
 nesses ; and heard the tearful regrets and lamentations of fathers and moth- 
 ers in Israel at the recollection of the wildfire and convulsions of those 
 times.
 
 APPENDIX. 147 
 
 that nothing like a general revival of religion was experienced 
 by the churches, in that since highly-favored region, till they 
 were sleeping in their graves. With these facts deeply engraven 
 on my memory, and with such an opinion entertained of the char- 
 acter of the Oneida Revival, and with such fears as to its conse- 
 quences, can you think it strange, Brethren, said I, that I have 
 not been able to feel, and think, and talk, and pray as you 
 have? 
 
 Now, as to the question about printing those letters with stric- 
 tures, I advise you by no means to do it. Rely upon it, the 
 authors of them would reply ; they are not men to be intimi- 
 dated, to shrink back from the field of controversy, if deemed 
 their duty to take it. 
 
 And the controversy once begun, God only can tell when it 
 would end ; and the enemies of religion would all be rejoicing 
 at the strife between the good men of the East and the good men 
 of the West. And it would not be surprising should men be sent 
 into this region, to procure affidavits in proof of what those gen- 
 tlemen have said. And you know as well as I do, and the 
 truth is not to be concealed, that there is not a single excess or 
 act of disorder, which those brethren apprehend we have run into, 
 which cannot be fully proved to have existed somewhere among 
 us. I do not say that Mr. F. or you have been guilty of them ; 
 nor that he or you would approve of them. But certain it is that 
 illiterate, overheated, and rash young men (and some old ones 
 too, it might have been added,) who have attempted to make him 
 their model, have been guilty of them. 
 
 I must say to you, Brethren, that printing those letters with 
 strictures upon them, is, in my judgment, the last thing you ought 
 4o think of doing. 
 
 Not one of the gentlemen present, remarkable as it may seem, 
 judging from their preceding and subsequent course, called in 
 question the statements made, nor expressed the slightest doubt as 
 to the correctness of my opinion relating to the character and ten- 
 dency of the Oneida Revival, nor as to the grounds of my alarm. 
 
 Such, at its commencement, were my fears as to the results of 
 this revival, and the reasons which prevented me from uniting with 
 these brethren in adopting the new measures. And for not uniting 
 with them, as I believe, such has been the irrepressible desire, 
 such, as related in the Narrative, the constant efforts of these 
 same brethren, to impair what little of character or of influence 
 I may have acquired, during a laborious life, in a public service, 
 by removing me from my office, in circumstances which, they 
 well knew, must impress the community with the belief that the 
 rapid decline and well-nigh desolate state of Hamilton College 
 were owing mainly, if not solely, to the incompetency or super- 
 annuation of its President. 
 
 These gentlemen continue still to declare (I say it not without 
 pain) that they have never wished to detach me from the College 
 on account of my not being in favour of the new measures, but 
 because, in some way or other, I had become so unpopular that 
 it could not be sustained under me.
 
 148 APPENDIX. 
 
 But was such the fact, if these gentlemen's own concessions 
 may be believed, when the new measures were introduced into 
 Clinton, in the summer of 1826 ? Does not Mr. Frost acknow- 
 ledge, that antecedent to commencement, August, 1826, T stood 
 high. ? Does not Mr. Aikin say, that, previous to that time, he 
 was confident he had heard nothing against me? (See Nar. note 
 p. 89, 90.) Whence, then, so soon after this time, their un- 
 ceasing solicitude for my removal, as a sine qua non to the sal- 
 vation of the College ? Can a man, standing as they acknow- 
 ledge I then stood, sink so suddenly, and so very low, without the 
 commission of some heinous crime ? Granting that I had, 
 almost in an instant, as it would seem, become so very unpopu- 
 lar. Then I would ask, who made me so ? and by what means t 
 and for what end ? As to the question, Who said I was so ? the 
 Narrative may answer it. If the conduct of these gentlemen is 
 not to be ascribed to the motive to which I have ascribed it, for 
 one I must declare, that I see no possible way of accounting for 
 it ; supposing them to be governed by the common known laws 
 of our nature. 
 
 Now, 1 ask not the Christian reader, whether these gentlemen, 
 or myself, have conducted, in this matter, most in accordance 
 with the spirit and precepts of the Gospel, which we profess to 
 have embraced as our guide ; but how far the difficulties of 
 Hamilton College, since 1826, should be laid to their charge or 
 to mine, I would ask every reader of common sense to deter- 
 .mine for himself. 
 
 THE PROGRESS of the College, since the commencement of its 
 revival (August 1829) with the closing remarks. During the dark- 
 est period of its struggle as already stated viz. 
 
 1828-29, there were admitted 6,whole number, 9, graduated, 
 
 1829-30 ---32 --38-- 
 
 1830-31 49 - - 77 9 
 
 1831-32 43 - - 93 - - 11 
 
 1832-33 up to April 18th, 37 - - 93, to be graduated 23 
 
 The greatest number ever admitted during any year previous 
 to its decline (one year excepted) was 44 ; and the greatest 
 number on its annual catalogue previous to that time was 110; 
 lut 17 only greater than its present number. (See Nar. p. 
 112.) From facts stated, it is evident that the design of reform- 
 ing the College was conceived in Oneida county that here it was 
 brought forth to light that here steps were first taken to carry it 
 into effect that here were first heard the rumors of the dotage of 
 the President, the dissatisfaction of the scholars, the necessity of a 
 change of officers, &c., that here, the reformers in the Board of 
 Trustees, and their coadjutors out of it were the most clamorous 
 and invective, (see Nar. note 27, p. 25) and that here, of course, 
 the tide of public sentiment and feeling against the faculty was the 
 deepest and strongest, and the most difficult to be counteracted. 
 What the state of this sentiment and feeling is at present, in this
 
 APPENDIX. 149 
 
 county, may be understood from die following facts. Previous to 
 1827, as our printed documents show, there never were in the 
 College, at any time, more than 29 young gentlemen from this 
 county ; nor more than 6 from Utica. There are now on our docket 
 48 from Oneida county, and 14 from the city of Utica. These facts 
 call for no comment. 
 
 The revival of Ham. Coll. was as unlooked for by the pub- 
 lic no one will deny as was its decline. And here I would 
 ask, if such was its situation in Aug. 1827, when, comparatively, 
 there was little prejudice against it in the public mind when 
 $4000 had recently been subscribed for the Divinity Professorship, 
 and there was no reason to doubt that the amount necessary for the 
 purpose might soon be obtained when there were 90 scholars 
 on its catalogue and a President, three professors, and two tutors 
 in office, if such in fact was the situation of the College at that 
 time, that it could not be sustained, as the reformers earnestly con- 
 tended before the Board, and that it could not be worse off, as some 
 of them published abroad, now' I ask these gentlemen to tell me 
 by what means provided their declarations were true the friends 
 of the College in the Board, who obtained their ascendency in 
 May, 1829, have been able to arrest its downward progress, and 
 to raise it, so soon, from a state then bordering on absolute deso- 
 lation, to its present standing? At that period (May, 1829) in 
 consequence of the measures of the reformers, as already seen, 
 there were but nine solitary young men within its walls, with a 
 President and one tutor. The reformers during the two preceding 
 years had been loudly proclaiming everywhere, and were still so 
 proclaiming, that the Institution never could rise without an entire 
 change in the faculty without a new President and that it would 
 be utterly in vain, without such a change, to attempt to raise it. 
 The well-wishers to the College were disheartened : a deep and 
 sullen despondency had settled upon the public mind : such was 
 the disaffection, by reason of the unlooked for and mysterious 
 state of the Institution, that multitudes who had been its zealous 
 patrons seemed not to care (and many of them declared to me 
 that they did not care) whether it became extinct or not. " Fa- 
 
 cilis decensus sed revocare gradum," &c. By what means 
 
 will the reformers say this great and sudden change has been 
 effected ? a change in such circumstances too according to their 
 often and openly reiterated declaration utterly impossible. If these 
 gentlemen, as the College was in 1827, could not sustain it with 
 the vigorous co-operation of all the Board of Trustees, how will 
 they account for its resurrection from its appalling condition in 
 1829? to which their measures had reduced it, a resurrection 
 effected too, not only without their co-operation, but as'they can- 
 not deny with their open and determined opposition. 
 
 Will they say its resurrection is owing to the fact that their 
 measures had made the President more known to the public that 
 they had rendered him more popular ? Or to the superior talents 
 and experience of the present, in comparison with the former 
 faculty ? Highly respectable as the present professors are justly 
 acknowledged to be, this, I trust, the reformers will not presume
 
 150 APPENDIX. 
 
 to say. Will they then have the frankness and magnanimity to 
 own that the resuscitation and present condition of this Institution 
 are to be ascribed to the judicious measures and vigorous and 
 united efforts of the friends of the College the majority of the 
 present Board of Trustees ? To measures which they had not 
 wisdom to conceive, public spirit to adopt, nor energy to execute ? 
 
 If they will not acknowledge this, to what cause will they per- 
 mit us to ascribe its present state and prospects ? 
 
 The facts are before the reader, I leave him to judge for him- 
 self, who ought to be held responsible by the public for the down- 
 fall of Hamilton College : and whether the previous measures 
 of the Board, and the steps commenced by the reformers in 1827, 
 to save it, as was declared, from the ruin then said by them to 
 await it, and pursued with such self-denying and untiring zeal till 
 1829 (and subsequently by those of them still remaining in the 
 Board) are reconcileable with the duties which they owed to the 
 community ; and with the characters of wise and faithful public 
 guardians of the interests of learning. 
 
 Of this long-agitated and trying subject, which has been a 
 source of surprise and regret to thousands, as well as of unex- 
 ampled perplexities and solicitude to myself, I now take my final 
 leave. My public labors in the service of literature and science 
 are closed. Yesterday witnessed the performance of my last 
 duties as the head of Hamilton College. My age and infirm- 
 ities have not recently induced me, for the first time, to wish for 
 the repose and tranquillity of private life. Whether I should 
 have yielded to this inducement, or not, at an earlier period, it is 
 for others to judge. But if I have erred, I retire with the con- 
 sciousness of having retained my office no longer than my duty ap- 
 peared to me imperiously to demand : and with the hope also 
 that I have not labored to sustain the College in vain, nor re- 
 sisted the efforts, nor endured the revilings of my opposers for 
 naught. [29] 
 
 [29] In the opinion of those not apprized of my trials, it would argue a 
 want of delicacy of feeling in being willing to lay before the public the fol- 
 lowing communications, and probably much other matter found on these 
 pages. 
 
 But by the impartial and unprejudiced, who have full knowledge of the 
 peculiar and trying situation in which I have been placed, no such opinion, I 
 trust, will be entertained. In their view, the circumstances of the case, I 
 am led to believe, will be regarded as a sufficient apology. It had long been 
 my purpose, as many of my friends know, to resign my office at the age of 
 sixty, if spared till that time. (See Nar. note 36, p. 44.) This purpose is 
 alluded to in the following report of the committee as a principle maturely 
 formed. Had I been permitted, in the providence of God, to arrive at this 
 period unmolested, I should some time since, I trust, have been reposing in 
 the shade of retirement. 
 
 " To the Trustees of Hamilton College. 
 GENTLEMBN, 
 
 I hereby resign into the hands of your honorable body the office which I 
 have long held under you, as the President of Hamilton College. Be 
 pleased to accept the assurances of my unfeigned respect, and my grateful
 
 APPENDIX. 151 
 
 The welfare of an Institution over which I have long presided, 
 and for which, in the righteous but inscrutable providence of God, 
 I have been called to no ordinary sacrifices and sufferings, I shall 
 ever regard with deep and peculiar interest : and most devoutly, 
 and with no common emotions, do I commend it to the protection 
 of Almighty God, to the fervent prayers of his people, and to 
 the generous regard and patronage of all who feel a concern for 
 he cause of sound religion and science. 
 
 I cannot forbear saying to my friends, in conclusion, that while 
 memory lasts, I shall never cease to cherish, with the warmest 
 feelings of gratitude, the recollection of the many expressions of 
 kindness and sympathy experienced from them during the gloomy 
 season of my trials, nor of their cordial and efficient aid, in the 
 efforts to raise this afflicted Seminary from its depression, and to 
 win back the confidence and favor of the public. 
 
 HENRY DAVIS. 
 
 Clinton, 18th April, 1833. 
 
 acknowledgment of the many expressions of regard received from you, and of 
 your cordial and vigorous co-operation in our exertions to sustain and 
 advance the interests of this Seminary. H. DAVIS. 
 
 Hamilton College, Aug. 22, 1832." 
 
 " To the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College. 
 
 The Committee appointed on the communication of the President respect- 
 fully report 
 
 That they consider the subject before them deeply interesting, not only to 
 the Institution committed to our trust, but to the cause of literature in gene- 
 ral. The separation of an able and experienced character from the Presi- 
 dency of a College leaves a vacancy not easly supplied ; and though our 
 respected President has repeatedly communicated to the different members of 
 this Board his opinion which led to this result, the difficulty of supplying 
 his place is not diminished. Seeing his resignation is founded on a principle 
 maturely formed in his own mind, it is the duty of the Board to accept it. 
 
 The committee would therefore recommend the following resolution to 
 the Board : 
 
 Resolved, That while the Board feel a grateful recollection of the faithful 
 and successful labors of President Davis in this College, and would hereby 
 devoutly acknowledge the kindness of Almighty God in providing it with 
 such a head, and building up the Institution by his vigilance and care, we 
 accept his resignation but request him to continue his relation to the Col- 
 lege until the induction of his successor into office and we affectionately 
 tender him our respect and esteem, and fervently pray that his usefulness 
 and comfort may be protracted, and that his decline of life may be happy as 
 its vigor has been efficient and useful. 
 
 [Signed] ANDREW YATES, Chairman. 
 Hamilton College, Aug. 22, 1832.
 
 U'CSl IIBRKPT 
 
 A 000602038 
 
 Page 5, Introduction, line 30, for " pleasant," read " salutarj." 
 " 38, Narrative, " 20, for " committee," read " conviction." 
 " 32, " " 22, for " lasting evil," read " no lasting evil." 
 
 " 89, " " 13, note, for "declarations," read "declaration." 
 
 " 116, " " 45, text, for " rigorously," read " vigorously."