XXVIL vard Hall, made donations towards replacing the phi- CHAPTER losophical apparatus, and bequeathed to it, at his death, an additional legacy of three hundred pounds, lawful money; the income to be disposed of by the Corporation, according to their discretion, for the encouragement of learning. quired of urer. John Han cock chos en Treas urer. On the 27th of July, 1773, the Corporation voted, Bonds rethat, “previous to the delivery of the College estate, the Treas and the books and writings relative thereunto, into the hands of another Treasurer, security should be given to the satisfaction of the President and Fellows, for the faithful discharge of the trust reposed in him;" and on the 30th of July they unanimously elected John Hancock to that office. In this selection they consulted their patriotism more than their prudence; for, notwithstanding the wealth and popularity of Hancock, the records of the seminary show, that his peculiar temperament and relations to society rendered this connexion troublesome and vexatious. The amount of the College funds in bonds and notes paid over by the executor of Treasurer Hubbard to Mr. Hancock, his successor, was upwards of fifteen thousand four hundred pounds. memory Mode of perpetuat memory of benefactors. In November, 1773, the report of a committee of the Corporation, of which Professor Winthrop was ing the chairman, on the subject of perpetuating the of benefactors, was accepted. The measures proposed were, 1st. To enter fairly in a book, the names of the principal benefactors, and the particulars of their donations. 2d. To write their names in letters of gold, and place them over the windows and on the walls of the Chapel. 3d. On public Commencements, an oration to be delivered in commemoration of them, and particular notice of any considerable benefactions of CHAPTER the preceding year. 4th. The following distich to be placed over the Hall door and windows; XXVII. Resigna tion of Locke. "Sint Mæcenates, non deerunt, Flacce, Marones; The first and third only of these proposals were carried into effect. In December, 1773, the Rev. Samuel Locke rePresident signed the President's chair; and the Corporation appointed a committee to receive from him all books and papers belonging to the College, and the keys of the President's house. The presidency of Mr. Locke was disturbed by political turmoils. He had some reputation for scholarship, and his manners in the pulpit were dignified; but a Convention sermon, preached in 1772, is the only existing evidence of his talents and attainments. History has preserved, concerning his life and character, little that is worthy of reminiscence, and tradition less. His official relations are marked on the records of the seminary by no act indicating his influence or special agency; and for his resignation, which was sudden and voluntary, they assign no motive, and express no regret. * Martial, Lib. VIII. 56. CHAPTER XXVIII. Difficulties in electing a President. -Rev. Samuel Langdon chosen. Patriotic Spirit of the Students. - Harvard College occupied by the American Army. -Library and Philosophical Apparatus removed to Andover. College removed to Concord. Inquiry into the Political Principles of the Governors of the College. - Degree of Doctor of Laws conferred on General Washington. — Measures taken to repair the Public Buildings. College removed back to Cambridge. — A Student rejected on account of his Political Opinions. — Attempt to quarter the Officers of Burgoyne's Army in the College Buildings.- Objections of the Corporation.- General Heath orders the Removal of the Students, and they are dismissed. - Controversies between the Corporation and Overseers on the Choice of a Steward. Rights and Privileges of Harvard College, how respected and secured by the Framers of the Constitution of Massachu·Dr. Langdon resigns the Presidency of the College. setts. XXVIII. Difficulties a president. THE agitated condition of public affairs, which pre- CHAPTER ceded the revolutionary war, delayed the appointment of a successor to Mr. Locke. It was difficult, at a in choosing period of such alarm and uncertainty, to find any individual, qualified for the office of President of Harvard College, willing to undertake its duties and responsibilities. In 1774, Professor Winthrop, the Rev. Samuel Cooper, and the Rev. Andrew Eliot, all members of the Corporation, were successively chosen President, and declined the appointment. On the 18th of July, at a meeting "holden at Colonel Hancock's house," the Corporation proceeded to elect the Rev. Samuel Langdon of Portsmouth, and on the same day this chosen. Rev. Samu el Langdon XXVIII. CHAPTER appointment received the sanction of the Overseers. Mr. Langdon accepted it, and on the 14th of October entered on the duties of the presidency. On account of the commotions of the period, the governing boards of the seminary judged the ceremonies of a public inauguration to be inexpedient, and they were omitted. ments of administra tion. The statement of Hutchinson, concerning the influence of politics on the affairs of the College, is corroborated by the election of Langdon. He had rendered himself highly acceptable to Hancock and the other patriots of Massachusetts, by his open and bold opposition to the measures of the British government, and unquestionably owed his elevation as much to this circumstance, as to his learning, or general character. Embarrass- The administration of Langdon was a perpetual Langdon's struggle with difficulties and embarrassments, amid the dangers of civil war and the excitement of a political Revolution. The rents and incomes of the College were reduced or withheld, and its remaining resources were precarious. The patronage of the legislature had been extended to the College, in 1772, by the grant of a lottery; one of the approved methods of the period for raising money, but in its nature uncertain, troublesome, and exceptionable. In this instance the scheme had been so unsuccessful, that the managers, in 1775, gave the Corporation notice, that, "unless the College would take off a number of the tickets, which were unsold, they would resign their trust." Upon which the Corporation, "considering that the lottery was designed by the General Court for a purpose of great importance to the College, and judging it their duty to do every thing in their power to prevent the failure of so good a design, voted, that the College take to their own account two thousand tickets, CHAPTER if so many remain unsold at the time of drawing." XXVIII. spirit of the The undergraduates early exhibited their sympathy Patriotic with the prevailing spirit of the period. In 1768, students. when the patronage of American manufactures was the test of patriotism, the students of the Senior Class unanimously voted, " to take their degrees in the manufactures of this country." This resolution was publicly lauded in the journals of the day,* as reflecting the highest honor on the College; and, at the ensuing Commencement, in July, the class came dressed, accordingly, in American manufactures, and were permitted by the governors of the College to appear in them on the stage, when they took their degrees. A letter from the Rev. Andrew Eliot to Thomas Hollis, gives the following account of the effects of the political excitements of the times on the students. "The removal of the General Court to Cambridge hinders the scholars in their studies. The young gentlemen are already taken up with politics. They have caught the spirit of the times. Their declamations and forensic disputes breathe the spirit of liberty. This has always been encouraged, but they have sometimes been wrought up to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that it has been difficult for their Tutors to keep them within due bounds; but their Tutors are fearful of giving too great a check to a disposition, which may, hereafter, fill the country with patriots; and choose to leave it to age and experience to check their ardor." Unanimity of opinion, however, was no more to be expected in the College than in the world. Early in * See Massachusetts Gazette, 7 January, 1768. |