ed by faithfulness to the best interests of the Uni-
versity, but that it is expedient to wave all opinion
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 303
on the validity of the act of 1812; reflecting, at the CHAPTER
same time, that the subject involves the rights and ___ ^1_
interests of the University and of other persons, who
may claim to be Overseers of Harvard College, as
well as the rights and duties of the members of this
board, they further report that some measures should
be devised and adopted for procuring, agreeably to
the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the opinion
of the Supreme Judicial Court on the validity of the
act of 1812." During these proceedings the political
relations of Massachusetts were changed, and the gov-
ernment of the State was again placed under the
same leading influences as had obtained the act of
March, 1810. The board of Overseers organized un-
der that act,, and the board organized by the act of board of
1812, met in different chambers, on the 3d of June, under each
1812. By the former a vote was passed, that "this
board, having taken into consideration the act, entitled
' An act to repeal an act to alter and amend the con-
stitution of the Board of Overseers of Harvard Col-
lege, and to regulate certain meetings of that board,'
are of opinion, that the same is not obligatory on this
board without their express assent, and that it is not
competent to the legislature to make any laws affect-
ing the visitatorial powers of the Corporation, or chang-
ing its government, unless such consent be obtain-
ed. But as, under present circumstances, the board
is not disposed to bring its rights to the test of ju-
dicial decision, therefore voted, that the Secretary vote and
be directed to carrv the records and proceedings of ings of the
J & board or-
the College, as specified in the said act, before gained
under the
the new board, being to be held this day in the act of mo.
Senate chamber, reserving to themselves and to each
of them all the rights of contesting the validity of
304 HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER said act, in such mode as they may hereafter deem
\"5T*5TI V
expedient." The Secretary immediately carried the
records and proceedings of the College to the board
then organized and in session under the act of 1812,
which continued to exercise its functions under the
authority of this act, until February, 1814, when an
The act of act was passed by the legislature of Massachusetts,
1812 re-
pealed, and to restore the board of Overseers of Harvard Col-
thatoflSlO
revived lege and to make an addition thereto." By the act of
with an ad-
dition. 1814, the act passed in 1812, repealing that of 1810,
was itself repealed, and " the Senate of the Common-
wealth was added to the board of Overseers consti-
tuted by the act of March, 1810 ;" and it was declar-
ed that " the Senate shall, together with the persons
mentioned in the said last-mentioned act, hereafter
constitute the board of Overseers of Harvard College."
By the terms of this act its validity was to depend
upon its being accepted by the Overseers and by the
President and Fellows of Harvard College. In March
and April, 1814, the provisions of the act were suc-
cessively accepted by these .boards. The Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor, Council, Senate, and Speaker
of the House of Representatives of the Common-
wealth, and the President of Harvard College for the
time being, with fifteen ministers of Congregational
Existing churches and fifteen laymen, elected and qualified as
tionofthe specified in the said act of March, 1810, were thus
board of . . '
Overseers, constituted, and have ever since continued to be, the
board of Overseers of Harvard College.
Levi Hedge Early in* the administration of President Kirkland,
Professor. Levi Hedge, who had for many years sustained the
relation of Permanent Tutor, was appointed Professor
of Logic, Ethics, and Metaphysics, with a salary of
fifteen hundred dollars, being subject to his former
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 305
duties, and to such others as the boards constituting CHAPTER
the government of the College might assign. A per- L
manent tutorship has not since existed in the semi-
nary, except in connexion with the office of Professor.
The relations of the medical professorships to the
University had remained as they were originally estab-
lished until the year 1808. In 1800, Ward Nicholas
Boylston, Esq., had laid the foundation of " the Boyl- Boyiston
ston Medical Library," by the donation of a well-se- Library,
lected collection of approved works, consisting of more
than eleven hundred volumes. At the same time he
secured to the College an annuity, which, in 1803, he
changed into a permanent stock of five hundred dol-
lars, the interest of which was to be applied to the
purchase of such books on medical, anatomical, physi-
ological, and chemical subjects as should be thought
most useful by the professors of those branches, and
for printing such dissertations, as might have a prize
awarded to them under a provision made by his deed
in that year. By this deed he secured an annuity of and rhe-
one hundred dollars for ever; and by subsequent modi- prize dis-
* ... sertations
fications he directed the income to be divided into two established.
prizes of fifty dollars each, to be annually given to
the authors of the two best dissertations on medical,
anatomical, physiological, or chemical subjects, which
a committee appointed by the Corporation of the Col-
lege should propose ; the same committee also award-
ing the prizes. To the Medical Library, and to the
Anatomical Museum connected with it, he made in the
course of his after life many valuable additions.
In 1808, John Collins Warren, M. D., and in 1809, johnCoi-
John Gorham, M. D., were appointed Adjunct Pro- ren.
fessors, the former of Anatomy and Surgery, the
VOL. n. 39
306 HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER latter of Chemistry and Materia Medica. In 1810,
XXXIV
the annual medical lectures for those who intended
to make medicine and surgery a profession were trans-
ferred to Boston, and the medical Professors were
required to deliver an annual course at Cambridge,
adapted to resident graduates and the senior class of
undergraduates. A professorship of Clinical Medi-
james cine was also established, and James Jackson, M. D.,
appointed appointed Professor ; his remuneration to be derived
of the The- wholly from fees. Hitherto the Professors of the Med-
ory and
Practice of J C al School had received no other compensation from
Physic, and
of clinical the College for their annual lectures, than the incomes
Medicine.
of the several foundations of their professorships. In
1811, their services were thought to require higher re-
muneration, and the Corporation voted to the Profes-
sors of the Theory and Practice of Physic, and of
Anatomy and Surgery, an annual salary of five hundred
dollars each, and to the Professor of Chemistry and
Materia Medica, seven hundred dollars. In 1812, Dr.
Jackson was appointed to the first of these professor-
ships, " he continuing to perform the duties of Clinical
Professor, until another should be chosen." In 1-814,
the medical Professors memorialized the Corporation
on the subject of the necessity of a permanent estab-
lishment in Boston, and the loss and inconvenience
they sustained for the want of a suitable building for
the delivery of their lectures, and for the preservation
of their preparations and collections, praying that the
Corporation would apply to the legislature for an
appropriation adequate to effect this great public ob-
ject. The Corporation accordingly presented a me-
morial to the General Court, stating the usefulness of
the medical institution and the necessity of an appro-
priate edifice, urging the example of other States in
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 307
giving efficient patronage to medical schools, and CHAPTER
adding the necessity of another College Hall, the .
great repairs required for those already erected, and
the insufficiency of their unappropriated funds. The
Trustees of Bowdoin and Williams College having
also petitioned for pecuniary aid, the friends of each
united with those of Harvard College ; and, in Febru-
ary, 1814, an act was passed "for the encouragement
of literature, piety, morality, and the useful arts and
sciences," by which a bank tax was appropriated for Bank tax
i T -i J i ^ 1 1 granted by
ten years, to be divided among those Colleges in cer- the legisia-
. . . ture -
tain specified proportions. This proved, as it respect-
ed Harvard College, to be a donation amounting to
ten thousand dollars annually for ten years ; but by
the terms of the act one fourth part of this annual sum
was appropriated " towards the partial or total reduc-
tion of the tuition fees of such students, not exceeding
one half the whole number of any class, who may apply
therefor, according to the judgment of the Corpora-
tion." Of the sum thus obtained, more than twenty-
one thousand four hundred dollars were applied to the
erection of an edifice in Boston, for the use of the
Medical School. In the same year Holden Chapel
was newly arranged for the medical lectures at Cam-
bridge, and costly wax preparations were purchased
to supersede the necessity of dissecting human sub-
jects at the lectures appointed for undergraduates.
In April, 1815, John Warren, who had been Pro- Death of
f J o f , John War '
fessor or Anatomy and Surgery lor more than thirty ren.
years, died, and the Corporation passed votes express-
ing their " sympathy with the family of the deceased,
with his professional brethren and the community, in
the loss of one so greatly beloved and honored for his
signal ability, assiduity, and usefulness." Dr. Warren
308 HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER has just claims to be ranked among the distinguished
XXXI V
! - men of our country for his spirit as a patriot, his virtues
as a man, and his preeminent surgical skill. The
qualities of his heart, as well as of his mind, endeared
him to his contemporaries. They justly appreciated
his moral worth and professional talents, and truly
recorded in the classic inscription, engraven on his
monument,
"Nullus illi defuit honos,
Vit& peracta non deest omnium luctus."*
John Col- In the succeeding May, John Collins Warren,
lins War- J
ren. M. D., was elected Hersey Professor of Anatomy
and Surgery; and, a distinct lectureship on Materia
Medica, and another on Obstetrics, being added to
Jacob Bige- the Medical School, Jacob Bigelow, M. D., and Wai-
low.
Waiter ter Charming, M. D., were respectively appointed
lecturers. In 1818, both were authorized by the Cor-
poration to assume the title of Professor, their rights
and duties being regulated by the statutes of the
medical institution, but their remuneration depending
upon fees. They also authorized the Professor of
Obstetrics to give lectures on Medical Jurisprudence.
Aaron pex- In October, 1816, Aaron Dexter, who had held the
ler resigns
hisprofes- Erving Professorship of Chemistry in the University
thirty-three years, resigned the office, and received
from the Corporation a vote expressive of their sense
of " his good service's to the cause of science, and of
his zealous attachment to the interests of the Univer-
JohnGor- sity." John Gorham, M. D., was immediately elected
his successor. In November, 1819, the Medical Fac-
* See Thacher's Medical Biography," Vol. II. p. .271 ; also Dr. Jack-
eon's Eulogy, and Rees' " Encyclopaedia."
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 309
ulty presented to the President and Fellows of Har- CHAPTER
vard College " the Library of the Massachusetts Medi- XXXIV '
cal College," which had been collected chiefly from
their own resources for the benefit of their pupils.
The Medical Faculty assumed the whole care and Library of
management of this library as one of their College caicoiiege.
duties ; and, although the inspection and control were
vested in the President and Fellows, they were ex-
onerated from any expense upon the subject.
In December, 1820, a professorship of Mineralogy Professor-
and Geology was established, with a salary obtained Mineralogy
/. i f a "d Geol-
by a voluntary subscription made by friends of the ogy-
College for this object;* and to him was also assigned
the duty of preserving, enlarging, and arranging the
mineralogical cabinet. Joseph Green Cogswell, A. M., Joseph
' . Green
was appointed Professor, and retained the office until Cogswell.
1823. In 1824, John White Webster, A. M., was John
appointed Lecturer in Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Webster.
Geology; in 1826, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry
and Materia Medica ; and, in 1827, on the resignation
of Dr. Gorham, Erving Professor of Chemistry and
Mineralogy. By the terms of his appointment he was
required to reside in Cambridge, to deliver lectures
in the Medical College in Boston ; and to give all
the prescribed instruction in Chemistry, Mineralogy,
and Geology, to undergraduates.
Until 1812, the College government and students
had united in public worship with the inhabitants of
the first parish in Cambridge ; but in that year the
Overseers expressed their opinion, that it would be
for the advantage of the students, should religious in-
* See Appendix, No. XXXIV.
310 HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER struction on the Sabbath be given within the walls of
L the University, and recommended it to the Corporation
to take measures for that purpose. In 1814, a chapel
having been completed in University Hall, a satisfac-
tory arrangement was made between the Corporation
and the church and congregation of the First Parish
in Cambridge, and a separation effected with great
A church harmony. A distinct church being organized, public
within the worship has since been conducted within the College
College
waih. Chapel by the Faculty of the Theological School.
By the will of Samuel Dexter, the management
of his funds was intrusted to the President and Fel-
lows of Harvard College and five associates, to be
elected by them, of whom " three were to be cler-
gymen, and two not of that order." In May, 1811,
these associates,* were chosen ; in July a meeting
of the Trustees of the Dexter fund was held and a
book of records opened, and, in August, the Rev.
Joseph Joseph Stevens Buckminster was chosen Lecturer on
Stevens
Biblical Criticism. In July, 1812, " the office being
made vacant by the lamented death of Mr. Buck-
minster," the Trustees elected the Rev. William El-
channing. lery C banning his successor, with a salary of three
hundred dollars. On the resignation of Mr. Chan-
Andrews ning, in 1813, Mr. Andrews Norton was appointed
his successor and entered upon the duties of the office.
After August, 1812, there are no entries in the Record
Book of the Trustees, but minutes purporting to be
their records are blended with those of the Corpora-
tion.
No addition was made to the funds of the theo-
logical department of the College after the donation
* They were the Hon. Samuel Dexter, Hon. Artemas Ward, Rev.
John Bradford, Rev. Dr. Freeman, and Rev. William Ellery Channing.
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 311
of Samuel Dexter, until February, 1813, when Sam- CHAPTER
XXXIV
uel Parkman, Esq., of Boston, a merchant of wealth, -
liberality, and public spirit, proffered, and in the year
following conveyed, a township of land, in the Dis-
trict of Maine, " for the support of a Professor in
Theology." Although the benefits of this gift were
great in prospect, it brought no immediate aid to the
department ; and no efficient measures were taken to
enlarge its means of usefulness until 1815, when the
Corporation addressed a circular letter to the sons and
friends of the University, representing the necessity of
raising a fund for increasing the means of theological
education in the institution. The sum of $27,300
was thus raised, and a " Society for promoting Theo- society for
logical Education in Harvard University" was formed Theoiogi-
\ . cal Educa-
by the subscribers ; but the funds of this society were tion -
for several years chiefly employed, in cooperation with
those of the Corporation, in extending pecuniary aid
to theological students, and their instruction continued
to be exclusively given by the Professors of the Col-
lege. In 1819, the Theological School received a more Theologi-
cal School.
formal organization. The Hollis Professor of Divinity,
the Hancock Professor of Hebrew, and the Alford
Professor of Natural Religion and Moral Philosophy,
were authorized, and undertook, to assist in the in-
struction of the school ; and Andrews Norton, A. M., Andrews
' Norton,
who for several years had given lectures on the Dex- P exter Pr -
fessor.
ter foundation, was appointed in 1819, Dexter Pro-
fessor of Sacred Literature, and associated with them.
It soon, however, became apparent, that a more effi-
cient organization was desirable, and that Directors
should be appointed, who could give more undivided
attention to the Divinity School, and to the enlarge-
ment of ^its funds, than the Corporation could extend.
312 HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER In 1824, by the combined efforts of the Corporation
XXXIV.
and of the " Society for promoting Theological Ed-
ucation," a new constitution was therefore formed,
and a new board of Directors constituted, under the
name of " The Society for the Promotion of Theo-
logical Education in Harvard University." To these
Directors the principal management of the affairs of
the school was intrusted, subject, like those of the
Medical Faculty and Medical School, to the control
of the Corporation and Overseers of the University.
This society in February, 1826, obtained an act of
incorporation comprehending the principles of its origi-
nal constitution ; and under its auspices an edifice for
the accommodation of theological students was erect-
ed, which, on its dedication in the following August,
received the name of " Divinity Hall." *
In April, 1814, John Lowell, Esq., informed the
sorshipof .
the Greek Corporation, that a gentleman whose name he was
Language . .
iur d ^b lera " not at "" ert y to mention, had appropriated twenty
ed - thousand dollars to found in the University a profes-
sorship of the Greek Language and Literature ; and
that the desire of the donor was, not to be known or
named as its founder. Votes were immediately pass-
ed, declaring " the sensibility with which the Corpora-
tion viewed this act of distinguished munificence, as
an expression of enlightened regard to the cause of
learning, virtue, and religion, and a grateful instance
of attachment to our University;" " their regret at not
being allowed to know or publish the name of the
donor;" and their prayer "to Him with whom is the
issue of all human counsels and efforts, to bless this
design to impart a benefit to successive generations."
* See Appendix, No. XXXV.
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 313
In February. 1815, rules and statutes having been CHAPTER
. XXXIV.
adopted for the professorship, the Rev. Edward Ev- -
erett was elected Professor on this foundation. He Everett
elected
was inaugurated in April, and by a vote of the Cor- Professor.
poration was permitted to travel for the term of two
years (afterwards extended to three) for the benefit
of his health, arid to prepare himself for the duties
of his station, with an annual salary of twelve hun-
dred dollars.
In 1820, after the death of Samuel Eliot, Esq., of Samuel
' Eliot the
Boston, he was announced as the founder of this pro- founder of
r the Profes-
fessorship ; and the Corporation appointed a committee rsl V p L f
to express to his family " their sense of the value and erature -
importance of his benefaction, the obligations of the
University to the author of this act of munificence,
and their condolence at the loss they had sustained."
The Corporation also voted, that the foundation should
be styled " the Eliot Professorship of Greek Litera-
ture " ; and " that they are apprized of Mr. Eliot's sin-
cere reluctance at the idea of receiving a posthumous
distinction of this nature, in consequence of his benefi-
cence to the University ; but that they are also sat-
isfied, that he would submit his private wishes in
this particular to public considerations, and are con-
vinced that this mode of perpetuating his enlarged and
generous views is not merely a proper indication of
gratitude to a distinguished benefactor, but essentially
conducive to all those interests of the University,
which he had so much at heart; and therefore they
feel authorized to adopt this measure."
The name of Eliot deservedly ranks high among Rev. An-
the friends and patrons of Harvard College. The
Rev. Andrew Eliot, D. D., the paternal uncle of the
founder of this professorship, was a member of the
VOL. n. 40
314 HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
CHAITER Corporation from May, 1765, to September, 1778,
and was distinguished by zeal, activity, and labori-
ous endeavours to promote the prosperity of the Col-
lege. After the death of Dr. Mayhevv, he was select-
ed by Thomas Hollis as his particular correspondent,
and was assiduous in cultivating in the mind of that
benefactor those favorable impressions, which eventu-
ated in so many acts of liberal and judicious patron-
age of the institution. In 1773, he formed the first
book of " Grants, Donations, and Bequests to Harvard
College from the foundation of the Society." The
loss of many ancient records consumed with Harvard
Hall by fire, in 1764, rendered this volume a work
of great labor and research, and its author is de-
servedly noticed as " a very eminent and useful mem-
ber of the Corporation."
Rev. John The zeal and affection manifested for the College
Eliot.
by Dr. Eliot was inherited by his son, the Rev. John
Eliot, D. D., of Boston, who was an active and in-
fluential member of the Corporation from 1804 until
his death, in 1813. On that event the Corporation
passed votes expressive of the sorrow " extensively
felt at the loss of a man so amiable and excellent
in all the relations of private life ; a learned, pious,
and catholic divine ; an exemplary and affectionate
pastor of a church ; a man of letters, especially
versed in the literature and history of New England ;
a fellow of the Corporation, who secured the high
esteem and attachment of his colleagues, by his agree-
able and useful conversation, his benevolent and con-
ciliatory disposition and manners, joined to acknowl-
edged consistency and sincerity of character ; and by
his enlightened and disinterested zeal in the service
of the University."
HISTORY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 315
The donation bestowed by Samuel Eliot, in the CHAPTER
foundation of the Greek Professorship, was the largest - ^-
sum ever bestowed on the College by any benefactor in origin of
t i-r i i e i -i this gift.
his lifetime, and the interest received before his death
was equivalent to an addition of eight thousand dol-
lars to the original gift. The bounty of no individual
flowed from a higher or purer source. It was unso-
licited and unavowed. It had its origin in the recesses
of his powerful mind, excited, perhaps, by strong pa-
ternal affection. In September, 1813, his eldest son,
Charles Eliot, fell a victim to consumption, in the Charles
, - . . , . , Eliot
twenty-second year or his age ; a youth intellectual
and studious, for whom the expectation of wealth
had no corrupting allurements, and who was abun-
dant in every promise, which could gratify, or fill with
hope, a parent's heart. He was graduated at Harvard
College, in 1809, among the high scholars of his class,
leaving the track of his undergraduate course bright
with his ardor in pursuit of knowledge, and his exem-
plary fulfilment of duty. On quitting the University,
he consecrated his life to literature and religion ; and,
having pursued his theological studies with zeal and
success under the auspices of Harvard College, he
had just entered on the service of the altar, when
"he was called to higher and purer services."*
Under the pressure of this affliction, and actuated
by that strong religious faith, which was the guide of
his life, there is reason to believe, that Mr. Eliot
resolved on this dedication of his wealth as an ac-
knowledgment to Heaven for the blessing, though
transient, of such a son, and of gratitude to the
See the Miscellaneous Works of Charles Eliot, printed in 1814,