By the Rev. Josiah Lafayette Seward, A.M.
The valuable histories of Harvard University, by Quincy, Peirce, and
Eliot, and the wonderfully full and accurate sketches of the early
graduates, by John Langdon Sibley, the venerable librarian emeritus, are
treasuries of interesting information in regard to the early customs and
the first presidents and pupils of that institution. From these various
works we have gathered the following items of interest, which we will
give, without stopping at every step to indicate the authorities. Mr.
Sibley has preserved the ancient spelling, which is so quaint, that we
shall attempt to reproduce it.
October 28, 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts "agreed to give 400
(pounds) toward a schoale or colledge, whearof 200 (pounds) to be paid
the next yeare, & 200 when the worke is finished, & the next Court to
appoint wheare & what building." On November 15, 1637, the "Colledg is
ordered to be at Newtowne." On November 20, 1637, occurs the following
record of the General Court: "The Governor Mr. Winthrope, the Deputy Mr.
Dudley, the Treasurer Mr. Bellingham, Mr. Humfrey, Mr. Herlakenden, Mr.
Staughton, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Damport, Mr. Wells, Mr. Sheopard,
& Mr. Peters, these, or the greater part of them, whereof Mr. Winthrope,
Mr. Dudley, or Mr. Bellingham, to bee alway one, to take order for a
colledge at Newtowne."
May 2, 1638, the General Court changed the name of Newtowne to
Cambridge, and, on March 13, 1639, "It is ordered that the Colledge
agreed upon formerly to be built at Cambridge shall bee called Harvard
Colledge." It appears that before this time there had been a school; but
the name of college was not assumed until the above date. The teacher of
this school was Mr. Nathaniel Eaton, who has left an unenviable
reputation, and made an inauspicious beginning of that institution which
was to attain to such distinction. He finally got into serious trouble,
in consequence of his brutal conduct and for one act in particular,
which led to his leaving the school and town. Governor Winthrop, in his
History of New England has given a graphic description of the event,
which Mr. Sibley has also reproduced, in a note, and which will interest
more readers than would ever have the privilege of reading either work.
I will therefore give the extract in full. Speaking of Eaton and the
pupil whom he punished, Winthrop says: "The occasion was this: He was a
schoolmaster and had many scholars, the sons of gentlemen and others of
best note in the country, and had entertained one Nathaniel Briscoe, a
gentleman born, to be his usher, and to do some other things for him,
which might not be unfit for a scholar. He had not been with him above
three days but he fell out with him for a very small occasion, and, with
reproachful terms, discharged him, and turned him out of his doors; but,
it being then about eight of the clock after the Sabbath, he told him he
should stay till next morning, and, some words growing between them, he
struck him and pulled him into his house. Briscoe defended himself and
closed with him, and, being parted, he came in and went up to his
chamber to lodge there. Mr. Eaton sent for the constable, who advised
him first to admonish him, etc., and if he could not, by the power of a
master, reform him, then he should complain to the magistrate. But he
caused his man to fetch him a cudgel, which was a walnut tree plant, big
enough to have killed a horse, and a yard in length, and, taking his two
men with him, he went up to Briscoe, and caused his men to hold him till
he had given him two hundred stripes about the head and shoulders, etc.,
and so kept him under blows (with some two or three short intermissions)
about the space of two hours, about which time Mr. Shepherd (the
clergyman) and some others of the town came in at the outcry, and so he
gave over. In this distress Briscoe gate out his knife and struck at the
man that held him, but hurt him not. He also fell to prayer, (supposing
he should have been murdered), and then Mr. Eaton beat him for taking
the name of God in Vain."
He was charged in open court with these cruelties to Briscoe, and it was
there proved that he had been unusually cruel on other occasions, often
punishing pupils with from twenty to thirty stripes, and never leaving
them until they had confessed what he required. He was also charged with
furnishing a scant diet to his pupil boarders, keeping them on porridge
and pudding, though their parents were paying for better fare. He
appears to have admitted the evil, butt threw the blame upon his wife.
The court found him guilty. At first he denied his guilt. He was put in
care of a marshal for safe keeping, and, on the following day, the court
was informed that he had repented in tears. In the open court "he made a
very solid, wise, eloquent, and serious (seeming) confession." The court
was so much moved and pleased by this act of contrition that they only
censured him and fined him twenty pounds and ordered the same amount to
be paid to Briscoe. The church intended to "deal with him," but he fled
to the Piscataqua settlements. He was apprehended, and promised to
return to Cambridge, but finally escaped and fled, on a boat, to
Virginia.
The college was named for the Reverend John Harvard, who came to this
country from England in 1637, settled In Charlestown, and died the
following year. He left a legacy, including his library, to the new
institution of learning, which was a princely benefaction for the time.
As a suitable recognition for this first large donation, the institution
was called Harvard College. The exact place of Mr. Harvard's burial is
unknown. It was somewhere "about the foot of Town Hill." It was in the
old burial-ground near the old prison in Charlestown, in all
probability, and the monument to his memory, if not over his grave, is
likely very near it. The inscriptions on this monument explain the time
and cause of its erection. On the eastern side of the shaft, looking
toward the land of his birth and education, we read:--
"On the twenty-sixth day of September, A.D. 1828, this Stone was erected
by Graduates of the University of Cambridge in honor of its founder, who
died at Charlestown, on the twenty-sixth day of September, A.D. 1638."
This is in his mother-tongue. On the side looking toward the seat of
learning which bears his name is the following inscription, in classic
Latin:
"In piam et perpetuam memoriam Johannis Harvardii, annis fere ducentis
post obitum ejus peractis, Academiae quae est Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum
alumni, ne diutius vir de literis nostris optime meritus sine monumento
quanivis humili jaceret, hunc lapidem ponendum curaverunt." The
following is a literal translation:--
"In pious and perpetual remembrance of John Harvard, nearly two hundred
years after his death, the alumni of the University at Cambridge, in New
England, have erected this stone, that one who deserves the highest
honors from our literary men may be no longer without a monument,
however humble."
Edward Everett delivered the address at the dedication of the monument.
The closing passage of his oration is as follows:--
"While the College which he founded shall continue to the latest
posterity, a monument not unworthy of the most honored name, we trust
that this plain memorial also will endure; and, while it guides the
dutiful votary to the spot where his ashes are deposited, will teach to
those who survey it the supremacy of intellectual and 'moral desert, and
encourage them, too, by a like munificence, to aspire to a name as
bright as that which stands engraven on its shaft,--
'Clarum et venerabile nomen
Gentibus, et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi.'"
The citizens of New England entered most heartily into the idea of
establishing this college and contributed whatever they could; utensils
from their homes, stock from their farms, their goods, merchandise,
anything, in fine, which they had to give, so anxious were they to
educate their youth, and especially to provide for an educated ministry.
Peirce, in his History of the college, says:--
"When we read of a number of sheep bequeathed by one man, of a quantity
of cotton cloth worth nine shillings presented by another, of a pewter
flagon worth ten shillings by a third, of a fruit-dish, a sugar-spoon,
a silver-tipped jug, one great salt, and one small trencher salt,
by others; and of presents or legacies, amounting severally to five
shillings, one pound, two pounds, &c., all faithfully recorded with the
names of the donors, we are at first tempted to smile; but a little
reflection will soon change this, disposition into a feeling of respect
and even of admiration."
"How just," says President Quincy, "is the remark of this historian!
How forcible and full of noble example is the picture exhibited by
these records? The poor emigrant, struggling for subsistence, almost
houseless, in a manner defenceless, is seen selecting from the few
remnants of his former prosperity, plucked by him out of the flames
of persecution, and rescued from the perils of the Atlantic, the
valued pride of his table, or the precious delight of his domestic
hearth;--'his heart stirred and his spirit willing' to give according
to his means, toward establishing for learning a resting-place, and
for science a fixed habitation, on the borders of the wilderness!"
Mr. Sibley gives an extract from New England's First Fruits, a work
printed in London, not long after the first class was graduated. It
gives us the feelings of the emigrants about their new institution.
It says:--
"After God had carried us safe to New England, and wee had builded our
houses, provided necessaries for our liveli-hood, rear'd convenient
places for God's worship, and settled the Civil Government; One of the
next things we longed for, and looked after, was to advance LEARNING and
to perpetuate it to Posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry
to the Churches, when our present Ministers shall lie in the dust. And
as wee were thinking and consulting how to effect this great Work, it
pleased God to stir up the heart of one Mr. HARVARD (a godly Gentleman,
and a lover of learning, there living amongst us) to give the one halfe
of his Estate (it being in all about 1700 pounds) toward the erecting of
a Colledge, and all his Library." The edifice is described as "faire and
comely within and without, having in it a spacious Hall, where they
daily meet at Commons, Lectures, Exercises, and a large Library, with
some books to it."
The rules and regulations of Harvard in early times are interesting to
us of later generations. The following are specimens:--
"When any scholar is able to read Tully, or such like classical Latin
author EXTEMPORE, and make and speak true Latin in verse and prose suo
(ut aiunt) Marte, and decline perfectly the paradigms of nouns and verbs
in the Greek tongue, then may he be admitted into the College, nor shall
any claim admission before such qualifications."
"Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies, to know
God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life."
"Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a
day, that they be ready to give an account of their proficiency therein,
both in theoretical observations of language and logic, and in practical
and spiritual truths, as their Tutor shall require."
"They shall honor as their parents, magistrates, elders, tutors, and
aged persons, by being silent in their presence (except they be called
on to answer)."
"None shall pragmatically intrude or inter meddle in other men's
affairs."
"No scholar shall buy, sell, or exchange any thing, to the value of
sixpence, without the allowance of his parents, guardians or tutors."
"The scholars shall never use their mother tongue, except that in public
exercise of oratory, or such like, they be called to make them in
English."
"Every scholar, that on proof is found able to read the original of the
Old and New Testament into the Latin tongue, and to resolve them
logically, withal being of honest life and conversation, and at any
public act hath the approbation of the Overseers and Master of the
College, may be invested with his first degree."
"No scholar whatever, without the fore-acquaintance and leave of the
President and his Tutor, or, in the absence of either of them, two of
the Fellows shall be present at or in any of the public civil meetings,
or concourse of people, as courts of justice, elections, fairs, or at
military exercise, in the time or hours of the College exercise, public
or private. Neither shall any scholar exercise himself in any military
band, unless of known gravity, and of approved sober and virtuous
conversation, and that with the leave of the President and his Tutor."
"No scholar shall take tobacco, unless permitted by the President, with
the consent of their parents or guardians, and on good reason first
given by a physician, and then in a sober and private mariner."
"No Freshman shall wear his hat in the College yard, unless it rains,
hails, or snows, provided he be on foot and have not both hands full."
"Freshmen are to consider all the other classes as their Seniors."
"No Freshman shall speak to a Senior with his hat on; or have it on in a
Senior's chamber, or in his own if a Senior be there."
"All Freshmen shall be obliged to go on any errand, for any of his
Seniors, Graduates or Undergraduates, at any time, except in studying
hours, or after nine o'clock in the evening."
The faculty, if they were knowing to it, could stop the performance of
an improper errand. They would have been likely to know little about
them.
Pages might be quoted of these curious and interesting rules and
customs. But these must suffice. Enough has been given to show the
immense progress which has been made from the time of the cruel Eaton to
that of the dignified, able, and judicious President Eliot, under whose
fortunate administration, the University has wonderfully increased,
materially and in every way.
The first President was Henry Dunster, a man of learning and
cultivation. He entered upon his office, August 27, 1640, and left it,
October 24, 1654. It was during his administration that most of those
unique rules were established which I have quoted. We can see in them
the evident origin or occasion of hazing the Freshmen, which would
naturally follow such rules. At the present day, be it known, the custom
has entirely ceased. The Freshmen of to-day are treated like gentlemen
by all classes. All the students are placed on their honor, in every
way, save only in some necessary particulars. Hazing has passed into
history as a barbarous custom of the past, and the deportment of the
students to-day is that of gentlemen, with very rare exceptions, such as
might be expected among so large a number. In the great Memorial Hall,
where they eat, the best of deportment is always to be seen, and
everywhere there is now a pride, in all departments of the University,
in observing the proprieties of good conduct. Indeed this has always
been the rule. The hazing has never been so extensively practised as
many have supposed; and no body of men can anywhere be found, in
Congress, legislatures, schools, academies, or colleges, whose
deportment excels in excellence that of the students of Harvard
University. This observation is demanded from the fact that many
parents, some of whom are known the writer, have decided to send sons
to other institutions, on the very ground of the influence of college
customs and habits.
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