APRIL MEETING, 1898.
A Stated Meeting of the Society was held in the Hall of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on “Wednesday, 20 April, 1898, at three o’clock in the afternoon, President Wheelwright in the Chair.
The President appointed the following Committees, in anticipation of the Annual Meeting:—
To nominate candidates for the several offices,—the Hon. John E. Sanford, and Messrs. Samuel Johnson and S. Lothrop Thorndike.
To examine the Treasurer’s Accounts,—Messrs. Moses Williams and George Wigglesworth.
The Corresponding Secretary reported that since the last Stated Meeting he had received letters from Simon Newcomb, F. R. S., accepting Honorary Membership, and from the Hon. Joseph Williamson, Litt.D., the Hon. Simeon Eben Baldwin, LL.D., John Franklin Jameson, Ph. D., and Edward Singleton Holden, LL.D., accepting Corresponding Membership.
Professor Newcomb’s letter is as follows:—
Washington, D. C., March 22, 1898.
To the Corresponding Secretary,
The Colonial Society of Massachusetts.
Dear Sir,—I have much pleasure in acknowledging receipt of your communication of the 16th inst. apprising me of my election as Honorary Member of your Society. I highly appreciate so distinguishing an honour from so eminent a Society; and I beg that you will convey to the Society my thanks, coupled with the assurance that the honour it has done me is very gratifying to me and my family.
Yours most respectfully,
Simon Newcomb.
Voted, That the Amendments to the By-Laws proposed by the Council at this meeting are hereby adopted, so that Article 5 of Chapter II., Article 3 of Chapter III., Article 2 of Chapter V., Article 3 of Chapter VI., Article 1 of Chapter VII., Articles 1, 3, and 4 of Chapter VIII., Article 2 of Chapter IX., Articles 1 and 2 of Chapter X., and Article 5 of Chapter XI., will read as follows:—
[Instead of noting here, in detail, the many slight changes made by the foregoing Vote, the whole Code, as amended, is printed below.]
CHAPTER I.
THE CORPORATE SEAL.
Art. 1.—The Corporate Seal shall be: On an Escutcheon the arms of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay impaling the Colony of Plymouth; above the dexter 1630 and the sinister 1620; surrounded by a circle bearing, The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1692, 1892.
Art. 2.—The Recording Secretary shall have the custody of the Seal.
CHAPTER II.
MEMBERS AND DUES.
Art. 1.—The number of Resident Members of the Society never shall exceed One Hundred. They shall be elected from among the citizens of Massachusetts, and shall cease to be members whenever they cease to be residents thereof. The number of Corresponding Members never shall exceed Fifty; and the number of Honorary Members never shall exceed Twenty. They shall be elected from among non-residents of Massachusetts, and shall cease to be members if at any time they become both citizens and permanent residents thereof.
No person shall be eligible to membership who cannot prove, by documentary evidence satisfactory to the Council, his lineal descent from an ancestor who was a resident of the Colonies of Plymouth or the Massachusetts Bay.
Resident Members only shall be eligible to office or be entitled to vote or to take part in the business of the Society.
Art. 2.—A book shall be kept by the Recording Secretary, in which any member may enter the name of any person whom he may regard as suitable to be nominated as a Resident, Corresponding, or Honoraiy Member,—it being understood that each member is bound in honor not to make known abroad the name of any person proposed or nominated; but no nomination shall be made except by a report of the Council at a Stated Meeting of the Society. No nomination shall be acted upon at the same meeting to which it is reported; nor shall more than one candidate for Honorary Membership be reported at any meeting.
Art. 3.—Proposals of candidates and nominations shall be accompanied by a brief statement of the place of residence and qualifications of the person proposed or nominated.
Art. 4.—All members shall be elected by ballot at a Stated Meeting’, the affirmative votes of three-fourths of all the members present being requisite to an election.
Art. 5.—Each Resident Member shall pay Ten Dollars at the time of his admission, and Ten Dollars each Twenty-first of November afterward, into the treasury for the general purposes of the Society; but any member shall be exempt from the annual payment if, at any time after his admission, he shall pay into the treasury One Hundred Dollars in addition to his previous payments; and all Commutations shall be and remain permanently funded, the interest only to be used for current expenses.
Art. 6.—If any person elected a Resident Member shall neglect, for one month after being notified of his election, to accept his membership in writing and to pay his Admission Fee, his election shall be void; and if any Resident Member shall neglect to pay his Annual Assessment for six months after it shall have become due, and his attention shall have been called to this article of the By-Laws, he shall cease to be a member; but it shall be competent for the Council to suspend the provisions of this Article for a reasonable time.
Art. 7.—Diplomas signed by the President and countersigned by the two Secretaries shall be issued to all the members.
Art. 8.—Any member may be expelled for cause, at any Stated Meeting of the Society, upon the unanimous recommendation of the members of the Council present at any meeting thereof.
CHAPTER III.
MEETINGS, QUORUM, AND AMENDMENTS.
Art. 1.—There shall be Stated Meetings of the Society on the Twenty-first day of November, and on the third Wednesdays of December, January, February, March, and April, at such time and place as the Council shall appoint; provided, however, that the Council shall have authority to postpone any, except the November, Stated Meeting, or to dispense with it altogether whenever, for any cause, they may deem it desirable or expedient. Special Meetings shall be called by either of the Secretaries at the request of the President; or, in case of his death, absence, or inability, of one of the Vice-Presidents, or of the Council.
The Stated Meeting in November shall be the Annual Meeting of the Corporation.
Art. 2.—Upon the request of the presiding officer, any motion or resolution, offered at any meeting, shall be submitted in writing.
Art. 3.—Ten members shall constitute a quorum for all purposes except for amendment of the By-Laws, which shall be made only on recommendation of the Council at a Stated Meeting (in the notification of which mention has been made of a purpose to amend the By-Laws) at which not less than Twenty members are present, by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of all the members present at the meeting.
CHAPTER IV.
OFFICERS.
Art. 1.—The officers of the Society shall be a President, who shall be Chairman of the Council; two Vice-Presidents; a Recording Secretary, who shall be Secretary of the Council; a Corresponding Secretary; a Treasurer; and a Registrar,—all of whom shall be chosen by ballot at the Annual Meeting, and shall hold their respective offices for one year, or until others are duly chosen and installed. At the first meeting three members shall be elected, who, with the officers previously named, shall constitute the Council of the Society. One of the said three members shall be elected to serve for the first year, one for two years, and one for three years; and thereafter one member shall be elected annually for the term of three years.
Each member of the Council shall have a vote.
Art. 2.—Elections to fill vacancies which may occur in the Council shall be for the unexpired term or terms; and such vacancies may be filled by it at its discretion.
Art. 3.—At the Stated Meeting in April, a Nominating Committee, consisting of three persons, shall be appointed by the presiding officer, and shall report to the Annual Meeting a list of members for the places to be filled.
Art. 4.—No officer of the Society shall receive any pecuniary compensation for his services.
CHAPTER V.
THE PRESIDENT.
Art. 1.—The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Society; and, with the advice of the Council, shall superintend and conduct its prudential affairs.
Art. 2.—The President, and in his absence one of the Vice-Presidents, shall preside in all meetings of the Society. In the absence of all these officers, a President pro tempore shall be chosen.
Art. 3.—Unless otherwise ordered, all Committees shall be appointed by the presiding officer.
CHAPTER VI.
THE RECORDING SECRETARY.
Art. 1.—The Recording Secretary, or in case of his death, absence, or inability, the Corresponding Secretary, shall warn all meetings of the Society and of the Council, in such manner as the Council shall direct.
Art. 2.—In the absence of the President and of the Vice-Presidents, he shall, if present, call the meeting to order, and preside until a President pro tempore is chosen.
Art. 3.—He shall attend all meetings of the Society and of the Council, and shall keep an exact record of the same, with the names of the members present,—entering in full all accepted Reports of committees unless otherwise specially directed, or unless the same are to be included in the printed Transactions.
Art. 4.—He shall enter the names of all members systematically in books kept for the purpose.
Art. 5.—All books and papers in his official custody shall be the property of the Society.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Art. 1.—The Corresponding Secretary shall notify all persons who may be elected members; send to each a copy of the By-Laws, calling attention to Articles 5 and 6 of Chapter II.; and on their acceptance issue the proper diploma.
Art. 2.—He shall conduct the correspondence of the Society not otherwise provided for, and keep all original letters received and copies of all letters sent in regular files, which shall be the property of the Society.
Art. 3.—At every Stated Meeting he shall read such official communications as he may have received since the last Stated Meeting.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE TREASURER.
Art. 1.—The Treasurer shall collect all money due to the Society, and shall keep, in books belonging to it, regular and faithful accounts of all the receipts, expenditures, and Funds, which accounts shall be open always to the inspection of the Council.
At the Annual Meeting he shall make a written or printed Report of all his official doings for the year preceding, of the amount and condition of all the property of the Society intrusted to him, and of the character of the investments.
Art. 2.—He shall invest and manage the Funds of the Society with the consent and approval of the Council.
Art. 3.—He shall pay no money except on draft of the Council, or of its duly authorized committee.
Art. 4.—He shall give bonds to the satisfaction of the Council for the faithful performance of the duties of his office.
[This Article was adopted to satisfy the requirements of Section 26 of Chapter 106 of the Public Statutes of the Commonwealth.]
CHAPTER IX.
APPROPRIATIONS, AND TREASURER’S ACCOUNTS.
Art. 1.—No person or committee shall incur any debt or liability in the name of the Society, unless in accordance with a previous vote and appropriation therefor by the Society or the Council.
Art. 2.—At the Stated Meeting in April, an Auditing Committee, consisting of two persons not members of the Council, shall be appointed by the presiding officer to examine the accounts of the Treasurer for the current year, and, at the Annual Meeting, to report thereon, and on the state of any property of the Society in his hands.
CHAPTER X.
THE REGISTRAR.
Art. 1.—The Registrar shall report to the Council upon the eligibility to membership of all candidates before their names are reported to the Society.
Art. 2.—He shall have the custody of all documents filed by members in proof of their eligibility.
CHAPTER XI.
THE COUNCIL.
Art. 1.—The Council shall determine its own quorum; establish rules and regulations for the transaction of its business, for the government of the Society, and for the admission of members; arrange for securing historical and other appropriate papers and communications; authorize all expenditures of money, drawing upon the Treasurer, from time to time, for such sums as may be required; provide all engraved or printed blanks and books of record; and see that the By-Laws are complied with.
Art. 2.—It shall appoint all necessary agents and subordinates (who shall hold their respective positions during the pleasure of the Council), prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation.
Art. 3.—It may appoint, for terms not exceeding one year, and prescribe the functions of, such committees of its number, or of the members of the Society, as it may deem expedient, to facilitate the administration of the Society’s affairs.
Art. 4.—It shall report, at its discretion, nominations for Resident, Corresponding, and Honorary Members, and act upon all resignations and forfeitures of membership.
Art. 5.—After the death of a Resident Member it shall appoint a member of the Society to prepare a Memoir of the deceased.
Art. 6.—It shall report at every meeting of the Society such business as it may deem advisable to present. At the Annual Meeting it shall make an Annual Report which shall include a detailed statement of the doings of the Society during the preceding year.
Gentlemen of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts:—
It is my pleasing duty, as Chairman of the Committee appointed to consider the subject of increasing the Permanent Funds of the Society, to present the Report of that Committee, which is as follows:—
To the Members of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts:—
The Committee appointed at the Stated Meeting in February, 1897, to consider the subject of increasing the Permanent Funds of the Society has attended to that duty and begs leave to report that it secured subscriptions amounting to Ten Thousand Dollars to a Fund named, in honor of the late President of the Society, The Gould Memorial Fund; that this amount was pledged by seventy-three persons, in sums ranging from $5 to $1,250; and that, with the exception of $200, the money has been actually paid into the Society’s treasury.
Respectfully submitted,
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Edward Wheelwright, Samuel Johnson, D. R. Whitney, Charles F. Choate, Robert N. Toppan, Nathl. C. Nash, Henry H. Edes, |
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Boston, 20 April, 1898.
The Report is short but satisfactory. The Gould Memorial Fund of Ten Thousand Dollars is fully subscribed and, virtually, paid in. We have thus erected a substantial and permanent monument in honor of our first President, and have also created a nucleus around which will gather in the not distant future, as I confidently believe, other Funds which will place our Society on the stable financial footing which it ought to have in order to fulfill the patriotic designs of its Founders.
The most immediately urgent need of such permanent Funds is to provide for the publication of our Transactions and Collections. The Society has taken a just pride in the only volume of its Publications which has yet appeared. Both for its subject-matter and for its typographical attractiveness it is entitled, by common consent, to take high rank among similar works in this country; but, as appears by the published Reports of the Treasurer for the years 1893 and 1894, it was only possible to attain this very satisfactory result through the voluntary contributions, amounting in the aggregate to several hundred dollars, of a few public-spirited members. The income of the Gould Memorial Fund will, in great measure, do away with the necessity for such voluntary contributions in the future; but even with the addition of the income of the small General Fund and of the still smaller Publication Fund previously existing, it will fall far short of what is required for this purpose.
We really need two Publication Funds of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars each, one to defray the cost of printing our Transactions, the other for publishing our volumes of Collections, for which abundant material is already at hand, while more is constantly being discovered. If we had adequate means, several volumes might be in progress at the same time.
We have now in our several Funds the considerable sum of $12,500, which it is fair to assume will, in the course of time, be augmented by gifts and bequests drawn to it by that law of natural attraction, “To him that hath shall be given.”
It may be long before our comparatively young Society attains to the splendid financial position of our honored elder sister, the Massachusetts Historical Society. Her sixteen Permanent Funds now amount, according to the recently printed Report of the Treasurer, to more than $150,000, exclusive of Real Estate which has recently been sold for $200,000. We may not, perhaps, receive at once a single donation so munificent as that made to the Historical Society by the late George Peabody, and known as the Peabody Fund,—not the least admirable of the public benefactions of that eminent philanthropist and patriotic citizen,—but, as we have already, in our five years of existence, shown ourselves competent to do good and useful work, and have, moreover, exhibited a willingness and an ability to help ourselves, we may be permitted to hope that we shall eventually receive, either from within our own ranks or from those, not members, who sympathize with our aims and aspirations, such accessions to our permanent endowment as will enable us to provide, not only for the continuance and enlargement of our Publications, but also for those other urgent needs,—a Permanent Home for the Society, a Library, and a Cabinet.
In conclusion, let me quote the old Latin proverb—
“Bis dat qui cito dat.”
Voted, That the Report be accepted, and the Committee be discharged with the thanks of the Society for its labors in prosecuting to a successful issue the work of laying the foundation of a substantial endowment of the Corporation.
The following is a List of the Subscribers to the Fund:—
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Our associate the Rev. Dr. Joseph Henry Allen died at his residence in Cambridge on the twentieth of March.
I had not the advantage of an intimate personal acquaintance with Dr. Allen,—in fact I only knew him as a member of this Society, to which he was elected on the twentieth of December, 1893. He was a frequent and interested attendant at our meetings, and on several occasions contributed valuable remarks to our discussions, while at the Stated Meeting in February, 1895, he spoke at length upon the Religious Situation in the American Colonies before the Revolution.1 He also wrote for our Transactions a Memoir of William Gordon Weld.2
I shall leave it to others, who knew him better, to speak of Dr. Allen’s many virtues and accomplishments, taking this occasion, however, to announce that the Rev. Professor Charles Carroll Everett has been appointed by the Council to write the Memoir of Dr. Allen for our Publications.
At the conclusion of the President’s remarks Mr. Archibald M. Howe said:—
Joseph Henry Allen was the son of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Allen, who was the minister of the First Parish in Northborough from 1816 until his death, in 1873. “His mother was a daughter of the elder Ware,—that Henry, whose appointment as Hollis Professor of Divinity in Harvard College, in 1805, . . . furnished the Andover Theological Seminary with its reason to exist . . . Through his mother, Dr. Allen was descended from a line of six Congregational ministers, among them a John Hancock and the famous Jonas Clark of Lexington.”3
Mr. Allen graduated at Harvard in 1840, high in rank. After three years in the Divinity School, he began the work of his ministry at Jamaica Plain. Four years later, he became pastor of the Unitarian Church in Washington, and while there was put to a severe test both morally and intellectually. It was the period of the Mexican war, and it was no easy task for a man under thirty-years of age to minister to such men as John Quincy Adams, John P. Hale, Levi Woodbury, Albion K. Parris, William Cranch, William G. Eliot, John Fairfield, and other political leaders of varied views; but it was Mr. Allen’s nature to speak frankly and freely upon all occasions. On the twenty-seventh of February, 1848, he preached A Discourse,4 occasioned by the death of John Quincy Adams5 from the text—
“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.”
In his exordium he said:—
“The season, always greeted with the glad and loyal welcome of every patriotic heart, as the commemoration of the birth of our country’s greatest man, has been rendered doubly memorable now, by the announcement which has made the Nation’s heart return in part from its fever-dream of war6 to the purer hope and glad anticipation of peace, and by the quiet and gentle departure from life of the most venerable and distinguished of our public men.”
After three years of active work in Washington, Mr. Allen, in 1850, succeeded the Rev. Dr. Frederick H. Hedge as pastor of the Unitarian Church in Bangor, Maine. He was soon a leader in protesting against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The admonition which he received from a parishioner was followed by his strong Lectures against Slavery, and then—after the assault on Sumner—by the so-called “political preaching” which caused his departure from Bangor. His printed sermons had done much to create the Republican party in Maine, in 1856: and Hannibal Hamlin, a member of his parish, began his political career as a Republican at that time.
Then followed years of teaching, preaching, and editing The Christian Examiner and The Unitarian Review.
For several years Mr. Allen lived at Jamaica Plain; after 1867, and until his death, his place of residence was Cambridge, where he was engaged in private teaching, and in editing Allen and Greenough’s series of Latin text-books. For four years (1878–1882) he was Lecturer on Ecclesiastical History in the Harvard Divinity School. In some intervals,—each of a year or more,—he nobly bore the burdens of struggling churches in Michigan, New York, and California, leaving home-life when far advanced in years, and giving not only personal service, but money, often not easily spared.
Mr. Allen never suffered himself to be misled by a desire for popularity. He knew “the ignominy of the popular preacher,” and anything unreal or insincere in expression was utterly foreign to his nature. Sometimes he was obliged to assert himself when he thought the country needed his personal views upon controversial questions; but he took no part in discussions about the smaller matters of doctrine. Although a loyal Unitarian, his catholicity was most inspiring.
In 1881, Mr. Allen visited Hungary as the delegate of American and British Unitarians to the Consistory of Unitarian Churches in Transylvania. His intimate acquaintance with the country, his linguistic knowledge, and his ease in approaching all men made him a very valuable representative.
Harvard University tardily recognized Mr. Allen’s character and scholarship by conferring upon him, in 1891, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Dr. Allen was one of the last of our Massachusetts teachers of the old school. Of a vigorous and independent mind, he was habitually calm and self-possessed, teaching with a humility of spirit which compelled others to listen. His influence as an instructor of ministers was very great, but ministers were not his only pupils. He taught even more by example than by precept, and the most casual acquaintance could not fail to come under the influence of his gentle and noble nature. From his earliest boyhood he had served his fellow-men. I well remember his telling how his father’s family was accustomed to receive the town paupers at Thanksgiving dinner, and how the children, on hearing that one of the guests, who had lost a forefinger, was a Roman Catholic, decided that all Roman Catholics must have only one forefinger.
Nothing was more delightful than Dr. Allen’s conversation. His personal and literary acquaintance was large. He was in frequent correspondence with Dr. Martineau, Francis William Newman, and many other illustrious scholars, while his genuine love of all men, his gentleness, and his deep experience made it possible for him to get something from men and women of every station.
As a neighbor who had the privilege of witnessing the course of Dr. Allen’s daily life, I wish I could adequately express its effect upon those around him. It made his household beautiful, and rendered his unceasing activity a power that cannot be measured by worldly standards. His was the life of the spirit, which, guided by a noble mind, made contentment sure for him, despite the many burdens that he carried for others and for himself. He exemplified the words of Martineau,—
“That a soul occupied with great ideas best performs small duties; that the divinest views of life penetrate most clearly into the meanest emergencies; that so far from petty principles being best proportioned to petty trials, a heavenly spirit taking up its abode with us can alone sustain well the daily toils, and tranquilly pass the humiliations of our condition.”7
But the end was to come. Dr. Allen could not easily lay aside his work, and his last efforts to be physically active when his strength was almost spent were characteristic of his courage and determination. Failing health compelled him to cease from his labors, and death followed a few weeks later, relieving him from the feeling that he was a burden to others who would willingly have supported him indefinitely in his sweet reposefulness.
As the result of his work as a lecturer and as a profound scholar, Dr. Allen left much less in quantity than some other writers because of his many and varied daily services to his fellow-men; but what he did leave is so clear and so sympathetic that the reader cannot fail to see how far removed he was from dogmatism. He did much revision and translation of Renan’s works, finishing The Apostles but a short time before his death. He was also very active as an editor and as an educational writer. His most important original works are Fragments of Christian History to the Founding of the Holy Roman Empire, and Christian History in its Three Great Periods,—two singularly attractive books which should do much to give the lay reader a clear and impartial view of the building of the Christian foundations.
Mr. Henry H. Edes paid this tribute to the memory of Dr. Allen:—
“They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, forever and ever.”
Mr. President, could there be found a more fitting text for a discourse upon the life of our associate who has left us since our last meeting than these words of the prophet Daniel? I merely wish, however, to give expression to the sorrow that is in my heart because of the passing of Dr. Allen. I had known him for twenty years and in that time the admiration which I felt for him when our acquaintance began had ripened into a deep affection.
Teacher, seer, theologian, historian, philosopher, sage, Christian gentleman,—these were some of the offices he filled during nearly fourscore well spent years; and yet there was no trace of pedantry in the relations of this classical scholar to his fellow-men, for he loved to hold converse not only with the recondite man of letters but with the plain, untutored yeoman and mechanic. Modesty and simplicity were distinguishing traits in Dr. Allen’s strong and well-poised character, in which unselfishness and catholicity of spirit held a high place. He was too profound to be a popular preacher, but he never lacked an attentive hearing among scholars; indeed, in his own doctrinal brotherhood he was long regarded as its intellectual leader. His fine and vigorous and richly-stored mind was actively employed to the very end of his beautiful and useful life, and he may be said to have “died in harness” as he would have wished.
Few, indeed, are they whose likeness can be recognized in Chaucer’s portrait of the good Priest in the Canterbury Tales, but who shall say that these lines might not have been written of our venerable friend:—
“Riche he was of holy thoght and werk.
He was also a lerned man, a clerk.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Benigne he was, and wonder diligent,
And in adversitee ful pacient:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wyd was his parisshe. . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf,
That first he wroghte, and afterward he taughte,
Out of the gospel he tho wordes caughte,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
He was a shepherde, and no mercenarie.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
To drawen folk to heven by fairnesse,
By good ensample, this was his besinesse.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A better preest I trowe that nowher non is.
He waited after no pompe and reverence,
Ne maked him a spiced concience,
But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve,
He taughte, but first he folwed it himselve.”
Mr. Davis presented the following memoranda concerning the Land Bank:—
the articles of the land bank and of the silver bank.
In the Calendar of the papers and records relating to the Land Bank of 1740, in the Massachusetts Archives and Suffolk Court Files, which is now being printed by this Society, the second entry reads as follows:—
“2—102: 28. 10 March, 1739–40.
Broadside. The Printed Scheme of the Land Bank. Announcing that the Committee will receive subscriptions.”8
The third entry in the Calendar refers to the same volume in the Archives (102), pages 49–55, and the date is entered conjecturally “[March, 1739–40].” The description reads,—
“Part of Articles of Silver Scheme and List of Subscribers, headed by Edward Hutchinson. Total Subscriptions £124,400 proposed to be reduced to £120,000.”
Entry No. 2 describes the preliminary call for subscriptions by those interested in the formation of the Land Bank. In the communication to the Society on the subject of this Bank, which was submitted in January, 1895, it was shown that the form of the proposed note described in this Broadside was materially modified before the notes were put into circulation by the Land Bank.9 It was evident that after the preliminary steps were taken under the above mentioned Broadside, there must have been some intermediate appeal to the public for support before the final steps in launching the Bank were taken. The Broadside described in entry No. 2 of the Calendar is the only preliminary document of this sort, connected with this enterprise, to be found in the Archives. It seems, however, that the Directors, after the consummation of their plans, did print and distribute their perfected Scheme, for public information and as an appeal for support. A copy of this document is to be found in the Library of Congress. It is in folio, four pages in length, the size of the pages being 14½ by 9¾ inches.
With regard to the details of the organization of the Silver Bank, we are in one respect better off, namely, that we have in the document described in entry No. 3 of the Calendar a fragment of the actual Articles of Association. This fragment, however, is practically all the information that the Archives furnish on this point, so that, after all, we are not quite so well off as in the case of the Land Bank, since the Broadside, if it does not represent the organization after adoption, does, at any rate, indicate the intentions of the subscribers.
I am able now to supply these gaps in the Archives. In 1741, Franklin entered upon one of his ventures as a publisher to which we are indebted for the information which enables me to accomplish this. The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all the British Plantations in America had only a brief existence, but it was long enough to preserve the Articles of these two Schemes. The Lenox Library is the fortunate possessor of a complete file of this Magazine for the six months during which it survived, from which the copies were made which I now offer to the Society.10 The Articles of the Silver Scheme are not dated. The date of the proposed note, 1 August, 1740, would, therefore, control. The Articles of the Land Bank were adopted 8 September, and the acknowledgment is dated 4 December, 1740.
In January, 1895, I submitted a communication to this Society, entitled Provincial Banks: Land and Silver, in which the following statement was made:—
“In Essex County, a bank was organized and a petition in its behalf was presented to the General Court. This bank actually prepared for circulation notes of small denominations. They were dated at Ipswich, 1 May, 1741, and were payable to the order of James Eveleth, one third at the end of every fifth year, in produce or manufactures.”11
During a recent visit to the Lenox Library, I was shown, by Mr. Wilberforce Eames, a volume containing mounted specimens of Colonial currency. Among them I found a note of the Essex County Land Bank. It is neatly engraved and reads as follows:—
Two Shillings (520
JOINTLY and SEVERALLY,
for our Selves and Partners, promise
to take this Bill as Two Shillings, lawful
Silver Money, at Six Shillings, and Eight Pence
ᵱr Ounce, in all Payments Trade and Business, &
for Stock in our Treasury at any Time, &
to pay the same at that Estimate on Demand, to
Mr James Eveleth or Order, in the Produce
or Manufactures enumerated in our Scheme; as
recorded in the County of Essex’s Records, for Value
recḍ Dated at Ipswich, the First Day of May,
1741
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2s |
2s |
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[Signed] |
Jonathan Hale. Robert Choate. John Brown. Ebeñ Stevens. |
It will be observed that the promise on the face of this Note is to take the bill at any time, and to pay it on demand, no reference being made to the proposed distribution of the redemptions over fifteen years,—one third at the end of each five years.
The President then said:—
Through the courtesy of a lady of this city I am permitted to offer for the inspection of the Society a manuscript sermon in the handwriting of Cotton Mather. The manuscript covers twelve closely written pages, six and a half by three and a half inches in size, stitched together with white thread, probably contemporaneous with the sermon. The writing is exceedingly minute and not easy to read. I have been able to make out that the text is taken from the First Epistle of John, fifth chapter, ninth verse:—
“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.”
At the end of the sermon is the date, “Boston, May 24, 1718,” and the note, “preached, Boston, May 29, 1718.” As Cotton Mather was born on the twelfth of March, 1662–63, this sermon was written and preached when he was about fifty-five years of age. It does not appear to have been printed.
Mr. Davis communicated the following intelligence concerning two local Historical Societies:—
the haverhill historical society.
This Society was incorporated 14 January, 1898. Its purposes are—
“To stimulate interest and aid research in the history of Haverhill and neighboring communities by the collection and preservation in some suitable place in the City of Haverhill, of such manuscripts, documents mementoes and relics as shall serve to explain and illustrate events and the manner of life in successive generations by aiding in the preservation of buildings, monuments and other objects of historic interest and by such other means as shall be deemed fitting.”
An organization with this title was incorporated, 26 January, 1898, “For the collection and preservation of Historical Data and antiquities Illustrative of the manner of life of the early settlers of the town.”
Mr. Charles Sedgwick Rackemann made the following communication:—
Mr. President,—I have brought with me this afternoon two documents which I believe will interest the members. The first paper is the Commission of Brigadier-General Joseph Dwight, as Judge Advocate during the Siege of Louisburg. The original was lent to me by my kinsman, Alfred D. Foster, son of the late Judge Dwight Foster; Mr. Foster, like myself, being a lineal descendant of Joseph Dwight. My own line of descent is through Judge Theodore Sedgwick, who married General Dwight’s daughter Pamela.
The name of Joseph Dwight is so well known in the history of Massachusetts that it is unnecessary to do more than mention it in order to attract attention to this Commission. He was a descendant of John Dwight, of Dedham, one of the earliest settlers of that town. General Dwight was born in Brookfield, and became one of the first lawyers in Worcester County, not only in point of time but as regards professional standing. Later, he moved to Berkshire County, where he lived the remainder of his life, and where many of his family, among them our associate, Henry Dwight Sedgwick, still reside. He was a Judge of several courts at different times.
The intermediate history of this Commission is unknown. Mr. Foster obtained it recently in New York City. It bears the signatures of Sir Peter Warren and Sir William Pepperrell, before whom General Dwight took the oath of office, as appears by the jurat on the reverse side. Unfortunately the seal has been torn off.
I have procured, and shall leave with the Society, an excellent photograph of the document. I am sure that the members will like to see also a photograph of the portrait of General Dwight, painted, about 1765, by Blackburn. This picture is now in my house in Milton, and, as the photograph plainly shows, is in a fine state of preservation. The coloring is particularly interesting.
The text of the Commission is as follows:—
Peter Warren Esqṛ̣ Commander in Chief of all his Majesty’s Ships and Vessels employed, and to be employed in North America, to the Northward of Carolina: &c
and
William Pepperrell Esqṛ̣ Lieuṭ̣ General, and Commander in Chief of his majesty’s Troops, raised in New England, for an Expedition against the French Settlements on the Island of Cape Breton: &c.
To Joseph Dwight Esqṛ̣ Greeting
Whereas by the late happy Success of his Majesty’s Arms, the Acquisition of the City, Fortresses, and Port of Louisbourg, with the Territories and Ports adjacent, is made to his Majesty’s Dominions: and Whereas there are several Prizes now in this Harbour, taken from his Majesty’s Enemies, which have Necessaries on board, suitable for the Support of his Majesty’s Subjects here; and Others may be dayly expected.
We do, therefore, judging it for his Majesty’s Service, and the good of his Subjects, in the present Exigency, to appoint proper Officers, for the legal Tryal, and Condemnation of said Prizes; Constitute & appoint you, (in Confidence of your Loyalty, Integrity, and good Ability) Judge of the Court of Admiralty, for the port of Louisbourg, and Ports adjacent: Hereby willing and requiring You to take Cognizance of all Prizes that are or shall be brought into said Ports; and cause Judgment relating to same to be made, and Execution thereon done according to Law, and Justice: and generally to do and transact all such Matters as to your said Office do appertain. For which This shall be your sufficient Warrant. Given under our Hands and Seals, at Louisbourg, the twentyeth Day of June, in the Nineteenth Year, of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the Second of Great Brittain, France and Ireland, King &c. Annoq; Domini 1745.
P Warren,
Wm Pepperrell.
By Command of their Honours.
B: Green Secry
[Endorsed]
Louisbourg June 21ṣ̣t 1745. The Honblẹ̣ Joseph Dwight Esqṛ appeared and took the Oaths appointed by Act of parliament & Oath of Office and subscribed the Test of Declaration
Before us
P Warren.
& Wm Pepperrell.
The other paper is a copy of a letter written by Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu to Mrs. Mercy Warren, wife of General James Warren. Mrs. Montagu was an English authoress of repute, whose Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakspear had called forth some commendatory verses by Mrs. Warren,12 and in her gratitude for the appreciation of her book, thus exhibited, she wrote this letter. The handwriting of this paper is not known to me. The indorsement states that the copy was made for Judge Sedgwick. It came to me from among the papers of his youngest son, Charles Sedgwick, having been found in the Berkshire County Court House after his death.
The letter is doubly interesting: it reveals a clear appreciation on the part of the writer of American life and character as they were developed by the Revolution; it also contains a very happy and glowing tribute to the personal character of Washington.
Portman Square, London, Apr. 9th 1795.
Dear Madam,—Though conscious of inability to express the gratitude I feel for the honour and favour you did me in sending me your Works, and the admiration and delight with which I read them, yet I have continually regretted that I could not find any opportunity of returning my thanks lest you should ascribe my silence to stupid insensibility. I am now happy that I can convey my acknowledgments, so highly and so long due, through hands which will give them value by passing through them; Mr. Jay, who, to our infinite regret, is going back to America, promises to get my letter and my Essay on Shakespear delivered to you; the partiality you have expressed for this little work, and the dignity your praise has given to it, could only have encouraged me to the presumption of offering it to you.
When I am about to speak of your compositions, which, on every subject, display the almost perfection and strength of genius, it is difficult to determine with which to begin. Personal interest, indeed, must make my apology if I advert to your Verses on the Essay on Shakespear; and, indeed, there cannot be a greater proof of the energy of talents than when it raises insignificancy into consequence and snatches from oblivion what would otherwise have sunk into it; all—all these obligations does my Essay owe to you.
Melpomene’s noblest purpose,—to raise the Genius and to mend the heart,—you have happily effected in your Dramas; and every poem of yours, on every subject, has that tendency and improves the heart while it delights the imagination, and the taste. How happy should I be if any opportunity happened which would introduce me to the conversation of her whose Writings I so much admire! But of this I have little hope; you will not leave your happy country and I am too old to visit you. If my age did not prohibit, I should be strongly tempted to indulge myself with the most pleasing of all contemplations,—seeing human Virtue, human talents and human happiness in a very high and still improving state. In all these circumstances, Europe seems to decline, and America to rise; in your Country, the higher classes have all the qualities and accomplishments of the most polished society, and are not enervated nor corrupted by luxury, or rendered frivolous by habits of idle dissipation; with you patriotick sentiments animate and direct the energies of ambition; industry and sobriety lead the lower orders of the people to the enjoyment of plenty and peace. My wishes to visit so happy a country are still increased by my acquaintance with Mr. Jay, whose conversation is the most instructive and delightful, and whose manners the most amiable that it is possible to conceive. If his country cannot spare him, at least indulge us with a visit from his charming son, sometimes.
I am afraid I have already trespassed too long on your time and patience, so I will only repeat my thanks to you for all your favors, and assure you of my sincere good wishes for your health and happiness, and the prosperity of America, its glory successfully established by that first of Heroes and best of Men, Mr. Washington. With the most perfect respect and esteem, I am, dear Madam,
Your most obliged, Obedient and
grateful Humble Servant,
Eliz’a Montagu.
Madam Mercy Warren,
Plymouth, Ms.
United States of America.
Mr. Henry H. Edes exhibited an original paper purporting to be a List of the Theses of the Commencers at Harvard College in 1663, and spoke as follows:—
Mr. President,—At the Stated Meeting of the Society in March, 1897, I communicated an original unpublished letter written in 1653 by Henry Dunster, the first President of Harvard College. To-day I present for your consideration another original unpublished paper, dated August, 1663, pertaining to the College during the incumbency of Charles Chauncy, its second President. The document, as you will observe, is worn and faded, and in places almost illegible, but, with great difficulty, it has been completely deciphered and put in type. It has been in my possession for more than thirty years.
The paper now before us, which is written wholly in Latin and Greek, purports to be a list of the Theses of the Commencers at the Commencement of 1663, and is believed to be unique, no other copy having as yet been discovered. The only known lists of Theses bearing an earlier date are those of 1642 and 1643, both of which have been printed by Sibley in his Harvard Graduates. The earliest in the printed series in Gore Hall is the list of 1687. There is, however, a copy of the Theses of 1670, a broadside, in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Such of the lists of Theses of the candidates for the Master’s degree prior to 1690 as have been preserved, will also be found in Mr. Sibley’s pages.13
Cotton Mather thus describes the proceedings at Commencement in the seventeenth century:—
“When the Commencement arrived, which was formerly the Second Tueſday in Auguſt, but ſince, the Firſt Wedneſday in July; they that were to proceed Bachelors, held their Act publickly in Cambridge; whither the Magiſtrates and Miniſters, and other Gentlemen then came, to put Reſpect upon their Exerciſes: And theſe Exerciſes were beſides an Oration uſually made by the Preſident, Orations both Salutatory and Valedictory, made by ſome or other of the Commencers, wherein all Perſons and Orders of any faſhion than preſent, were Addreſſed with proper Complements, and Reflections were made on the moſt Remarkable Occurrents of the præceeding Year; and theſe Orations were made not only in Latin, but ſometimes in Greek and in Hebrew alſo; and ſome of them were in Verſe, and even in Greek Verſe, as well as others in Proſe. But the main Exerciſes were Diſputations upon Queſtions, wherein the Reſpondents firſt made their Theſes: . . . In the Cloſe of the Day, the Præeſident, with the Formality of Delivering a Book into their Hands, gave them their Firſt Degree.”14
Mather also says:—
“At the Commencement, it has been the Annual Cuſtom for the Batchelors to publiſh a Sheet of Theſes, pro virili Defendendæ, upon all or moſt of the Liberal Arts; among which they do, with a particular Character, diſtinguiſh thoſe that are to be the Subjects of the Publick Diſputations then before them; and thoſe Theſes they dedicate as hand-ſomely as they can, to the Perſons of Quality, but eſpecially the Governour of the Province, whoſe Patronage the Colledge would be recommended unto. The Maſters do, in an half ſheet, without any Dedication, publiſh only the Quæftiones pro Modulo diſcutiendæ, which they purpoſe either Affirmatively or Negatively to maintain as Reſpondents, in the Diſputations, which are by them to be managed.”15
It is evident, from what we find in the Magnalia and in Sibley’s Harvard Graduates, that the List we are considering is not a list of Theses of the candidates for the Master’s degree. The precise character of our List, however, is yet to be determined. Of its genuineness there can be no question, hut whether it is a sober performance and records the order of exercises at Commencement, or a travesty, composed by one or more members of the Class of 1663 or by undergraduates of another Class, is a point upon which I find a difference of opinion among the scholars to whom I have shown the Latin and Greek text and the English version of it, which are now in your hands. The “particular character” by which Mather tells us it was customary to distinguish those propositions which were “to be the subjects of the publick disputations,” is presumably found in our manuscript in the cross placed there by another hand, and written in a different ink. It is indicated in the following pages by an ×.
The Broadside containing the Bachelors’ Theses of 1670, already referred to, is the first I have seen in which a “particular character,” such as Mather mentions, is found. It is a printed hand placed at the left of the three theses to be disputed: two in Physics and one in Ethics, which are printed in large italics, the other theses being printed in italics of a smaller size.
In the Broadside of 1678, one thesis in Technology and three theses in Physics are similarly designated.
In 1708, thirteen theses are marked for disputation: one in Technology, one in Logic, and eleven in Physics. The List is printed in Roman type of ordinary size, with the exception of these thirteen theses, ten of which are printed in italics of the same size, and three in very large Roman capitals. Two “particular characters” are used in this List: a dagger, with its point towards the thesis, preceding the ten theses printed in italics, and a hand, performing similar service in the cases of the three theses (in Physics) which stand forth in Roman capitals.16
I have not succeeded in my endeavor to identify either the handwriting or the authorship of this document, which was long in possession of the Woodbridges of Connecticut. If the paper is a travesty, it is not unlikely that undergraduates of the Class of 1664—then members of the Junior Class—had a hand in its composition. Among the members of that Class were the Reverend John Woodbridge,17 of Killingworth (now Clinton) and Wethersfield, Connecticut, and the Reverend Josiah Flynt, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, the father of Tutor Flynt. Woodbridge was a grandson of Governor Thomas Dudley, and cousin-german, through the Dudleys, of the Reverend Simon Bradstreet (H. C. 1660), of New London, Connecticut, who took his Master’s degree in 1663, the date of the paper we are considering, both of whom may have contributed to this performance. Woodbridge was also brother-in-law to Bradstreet, who married his sister Lucy, 2 October, 1667.18 Of the members of the Class of 1663, Samuel Corbet, afterward the schoolmaster of Bristol, Massachusetts, and the Reverend Benjamin Blakeman, of Stratford, Connecticut, and other places, are the persons most likely to have been concerned in this undertaking.
Of all these alumni, however, the one who seems to have been the best qualified for the authorship of the Theses, or of many of them, is the Reverend Josiah Flynt, notwithstanding the fact that the manuscript bears little or no resemblance to those specimens of his handwriting with which I have compared it, and, doubtless, was written by another hand. He was a nephew of President Hoar, whose sister Margery had married the Reverend Henry Flynt, of Braintree, Massachusetts, the father of Josiah Flynt. While in England, Dr. Hoar wrote to his nephew a pretty severe letter concerning his studies at Cambridge and the manner in which they should be pursued, which bears date 27 March, 1661. If the young man profited by his uncle’s advice, he was remarkably well equipped to undertake the composition of such a paper as the one now before us. Here are some extracts from Dr. Hoar’s letter:—
“Your account of the course of your studies, as now ordered, under the worthy Mr. Chauncy, is far short of my desire; for its only of what you were then about; whereas it should have been a delineation of your whole method and authors, from your matriculation till commencement. Therefore I can still touch but upon a few generals for your direction. The first is this, that you would not content yourself with doing that only, which you are tasked to; nor to do that merely as much as needs must, and is expected of you; but daily something more than your task: and that task, also, something better than ordinary. Thus, when the classes study only logick or nature, you may spend some one or two spare hours in languages, rhetorick, history, or mathematics, or the like. And when they recite only the text of an author, read you some other of the same subject, or some commentator upon it, at the same time. Also, in your accustomed disputations, do not satisfy yourself only to thieve an argument, but study the question beforehand, and, if possible, draw, in a book on purpose, a summary of the arguments and answer on all hands; unto which you may briefly subjoin any thing choice and accurate, which you have heard in the hall, upon the debate of it in public.
“Nextly. As you must read much, that your head may be stored with notion, so you must be free and much in all kinds of discourse of what you read, that your tongue may be apt to a good expression of what you do understand. And further; of most things you must write too; whereby you may render yourself exact in judging of what you hear or read; and faithful in remembering of what you once have known.
. . . . .
“Fourthly—As to the authors you should distil into your paper books in general; let them not be such as are already methodical, concise, and pithy as possible; for it would be but to transcribe them, which is very tedious and uncouth: rather keep such books by you, for immediate perusal. But let them be such as are voluminous, intricate, and more jejune; or else those tractabuli, that touch only on some smaller tendrils of any science; especially, if they be books that you do only borrow, or hire, to read.
. . . . .
“Seventhly—One more quire you may take, and rule each leaf into four columns, and therein note, also alphabetically, all those curious criticisms, etymologies, and derivations, that you shall meet withal in the English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues. I still mean, by the by, while you are seeking other matters; not which you may gather out of vocabularies and critics, that have purposely written on such subjects, for that were but actum agere.
“Eighthly—Be forward and frequent in the use of all those things which you have read, and which you have collected; judiciously moulding them up with others of your own fancy and memory, according to the proposed occasions; whether it be in the penning of epistles, orations, theses or antitheses, or determinations upon a question, analysis of any part of an author, or imitations of him, per modum geneseos. For so much only have you profited in your studies, as you are able to do these. And all the contemplations and collections, in the world, will but only fit you for these.—It is practice, and only your own practice, that will be able to perfect you. My charge of your choice of company, I need not inculcate; nor I hope that for your constant use of the Latin tongue in all your converse together, and that in the purest phrase of Terence and Erasmus.”19
Whatever the character of this performance shall prove, in the end, to be, it is the first preserved effort of the Commencers to entertain and amuse as well as to display their acquirements in the arts, and thus marks an epoch. It reveals intelligence, wit, acuteness, brilliancy and maturity of mind in its author or authors, and is creditable alike to the students of Chauncy’s time and to their instructors.
The text of this paper is as follows:—
[Theses of 1663.]
Viris terq; quaterq; Conclamatissimis omni Laudis Gradu majoribus. Quocunq; honoris ffastigio
ornandis, onerandis, honorandis, probitatisq; omnigenæ
celebritate clarescentibus.
Ipsi Cæsareæ majestatis vicario
D. Iohanni Endicotto celeberrimæ Massathusettensis Coloniæ Satrapæ
megalæo, non vulgariter venerabili
unius cujusq: item feliciter conjunctarũ N-Angliæ Coloniarũ Prætoribus, plùs
plurimo celebrandis. Earundemq; Synarchis nullo nō honoris gradu cumulandis, cumulatis.
multũq: Reverendis Ecclesiarũ Angelis haud nequicquã observandis.
Rerũ Academicarũ Spectatoribus spectatissimis quorũ memoriā
alet posteritas Intuebitur æternitas:
omni etiam literarũ foventi, literatorũ faventi:
Theses hasce (quarũ Numine secundante sub Præside Carolo Chauncæo.
S. S. Theol: Bac: in Col: Harv:
pro tenuibus viriũ fibris ut veritatẽ propugnent Labores exantlabunt)
Iuvenes in Artibus velites d d d Q20
Theses technologiæ.
Logicæ.
Grammaticæ.
|
Theses Rhetoricæ.
Mathematicæ:
Ethicæ.
Physicæ.
|
To the men most celebrated, exalted above all praise; worthy to be adorned, laden and distinguished with every height of honor; and illustrious through their reputation for every kind of virtue, [namely,]
To the representative of Imperial Majesty, Mr. John Endicott, the august and most venerable Potentate of the most famous Colony of Massachusetts,
To the Governors also of each one of the happily United Colonies of New England, to whom the highest tribute of respect is due, and
To the Assistants thereof, who should be and are loaded with every degree of honor,
To the very Reverend Ministers of the Churches, always to be dutifully observed,
To the most distinguished Overseers of the University whose memory posterity shall cherish and eternity preserve, and, finally,
To every friend of Literature and patron of men of letters,
These Theses (the truth of which, with the Help of the Deity, under the presidency of Charles Chauncy, S. S. Theol: Bac: in Col: Harv:, they will, according to their poor abilities, labor to the utmost to maintain)
The youthful Skirmishers in the Arts present, devote and dedicate.
Theses Technological.
Logical.
Grammatical.
|
Theses Rhetorical.
Mathematical.
Ethical.
Physical.
|
Cambridge in New England:
The Fifth of the Ides of August in the year of the Great Jubilee, 1663.
NOTE.
The use at Harvard of letters at the end of the Dedication of the Commencement Programme down to the year 1781 was far from uniform.
In 1642, no letters were used, the Dedication of that first Programme ending with the words “dicant conſecrantque in artibus liberalibus initiati Adoleſcentes.”
In 1643, we find “D. D. D. in artibus liberalibus initiandi Adoleſcentes”
The unique broadside for 1647 is imperfect, lacking the upper half, including the Dedication.
In 1670 and 1678, the letters D. D. DQ.—the same that are found in our text—were used, but no period is placed after the third D which is close to the Q.
In 1687, the form is extended to L. M. D. D. D. Q.
In 1708, the letters M. D. C. Q. appear.
In 1711, only three letters were used,—D. D. D.
In 1717, 1719–1723, 1725–1727, and 1730, the use of six letters was resumed, and we find L. M. D. D. C. Q.
In 1731, the form was contracted to D. D. C. Q.
In 1732–1735, 1737–1742, there was a return to the form L. M. D. D. C. Q.
In 1743–1751, 1753–1756, 1758–1773, 1776–1780, seven letters were employed,—L. M. D. D. C. C. Q.
In 1781, letters were discarded and Humillime Dedicant appears in their stead. This form was used down to 1866, when the use of an entirely new formula begins in which the distinguishing verb is Invitant.
Mr. William Garrott Brown, of the Harvard College Library, remarks upon the various unsuccessful attempts which have been made to interpret the letters found in the Programmes before 1781. Our associate Mr. William Cross Williamson (H. C. 1852), has suggested the following interpretation of the mysterious letters, which is both excellent and reasonable, and must stand until a better rendering is offered for the consideration of scholars:—
|
1643 |
Donant dicant dedicant. |
|
1670 |
Donant dicant dedicantque. |
|
1687 |
Libentes merito donant dicant dedicantque. |
|
1708 |
Merito dicant consecrantque. |
|
1711 |
Donant dicant dedicant. |
|
1717 |
Libentes merito donant dicant consecrantque. |
|
1731 |
Donant dicant consecrantque. |
|
1732 |
Libentes merito donant dicant consecrantque. |
|
1743 |
Libentes merito donant dicant curant consecrantque. |
As no complete set of the Harvard College Theses is known to exist, the following lists of these broadsides, dated before the Revolution, may be of interest and value:—
Harvard College Library has copies for the years 1687, 1720, 1727, 1730, 1732–1735, 1737–1742, 1744, 1745, 1747–1751, 1753–1756, 1758–1760, 1762, 1763, 1765–1773. The Library also has a complete set from 1776 to the present time.
The American Antiquarian Society has copies for the years 1720, 1722, 1723, 1725–1727, 1730–1732, 1737–1751, 1753–1756, 1758–1763, 1765–1773.
The Massachusetts Historical Society has copies for the years 1643, 1647, 1670, 1678, 1708, 1711, 1717, 1719–1721, 1741, 1759, 1762, 1767, 1769, 1773.
Yale University Library has copies for the years 1754, 1758, and 1769 only. The Library does not own the broadsides once in the possession of President Stiles, namely, those for the years 1670, 1713, 1719, 1745, 1756, 1760, 1763, 1765, 1768, 1769, 177+, 1777–1779, 1781, 1782, notwithstanding the following entry in his Diary:—“I have found it very difficult to recover the printed Theses, & Catalogues. However, I have succeeded in collecting these which I have deposited with the College Archives” (Stiles’s Diary, ii. 344, 388; iii. 39, 40).
The Essex Institute has none earlier than that for 1780.
A curious mistake occurred in printing the Theses of 1761. In some, if not all, of the impressions the date is printed MDCCXLI, while the list of names is that of the Class of 1761, and the Dedication is to Governor Bernard. One such impression is owned by the American Antiquarian Society, and another by the Boston Athenaeum, which owns no other original broadside containing any of the Harvard Theses prior to the Revolution.
I am indebted to the Librarians of the above-named institutions for these lists or for the opportunity to make them, especially to Mr. Lane and Mr. Barton who have been untiring in their helpfulness.
Mr. John Noble spoke as follows:—
There seems to be no reason to doubt that this is a genuine, original manuscript of the date which it bears; but is it an authentic set of Theses for a Harvard Commencement, duly drawn up and approved, or is it a burlesque or travesty of such a programme, skilfully got up by some ingenious, scholarly, fun-loving students,—a successful, even brilliant satire? The latter conclusion seems almost irresistible upon the only evidence we have,—internal evidence. In form and general features, the document satisfies either condition; in tone and effect, only one. Taken as a whole, a rollicking, exaggerated, startling, original, unlicensed air runs through the paper, every device being resorted to and every art employed to secure the effect apparently desired. There is a running fire of puns, antitheses, alliterations, curious collocations of words, ingenious similarities of sound and form, strange juxtapositions of expressions and ideas, suggestive analogies, unexpected turns and applications, odd contrasts, paradoxes, and conceits, from beginning to end. It is all a blaze of literary and scholastic pyrotechnics.
Whatever may be said of the Latin of the old Puritan worthies, it was usually good according to their light and to the scholarship of a time before the days of German philology,—sober, quaint perhaps, stilted, but more or less severe, and with a sort of theological or ecclesiastical flavor. Here everything is exuberant, fresh, untrammelled, frolicsome. A Greek strain is in it all; words are ingeniously adopted, combined, and coined,—Latinized Greeks some of them may be called,—and both languages are drawn upon successively and conjointly, while brains as well as lexicons are ransacked for effective material.
The Dedication has the usual form and external features, but by no means the usual character and air. There is a strain of mockery, a piling up of strange adjectives, a tone sarcastic and ironical rather than decorous and deferential. The nouns and terms are out of the common course and a latent humor or satire is evident in the selection of them. Satrapes appears in place of Gubernator,—the title from 1642 down to the time of the better scholarship of our late honored associate Professor Lane. Its use seems to have been rather a daring reflection upon their Governor, his character and ways, in its Oriental suggestions,—not lessened by the description, non vulgariter venerabili, in which, with its double sense, seems to lurk a covert sarcasm, not brought out, or even wholly lost, in the rendering of the translation, however correct that might be if the whole thing were sober. Even then, a question might arise on vulgariter. Prætoribus is a deviation from common usage, and Spectatoribus, evidently selected for the sake of spectatissimis, which follows it, takes the place of the time-honored Inspectoribus. Synarchis is a literal and neat rendering of Assistants, but the term Magistratus is that ordinarily used in the formal title, in court records and legislative phrase. Angelis, as applied to the Reverend Clergy, in view of some prevalent notions as to their temper, suggests a possible slur. Familiarity with the Apocalypse,31 however, may have led to its use in place of the Venerandis Ecclesiarum Pastoribus found in some Dedications; and this without regard to the controverted question as to the use of the term. Numine seems a word not likely to be applied to the Lord by a Puritan, even if he shrank from the Deo volente of the Liturgy. It is found, however, in a later programme (1730) qualified by a saving adjective,—Divino. Cæsareæ Majestatis has something in it of an audacious slap at the reigning monarch, and the Governor does not escape in the vicario. The Honorable and Reverend Overseers have a promise of more than earthly fame and immortality, which can hardly escape the suspicion of irony. Velites takes the place of the invariable Adolescentes,—a most felicitous, suggestive, and witty substitution.
As a few instances of the verbal devices and artifices before mentioned, may be taken: ornandis, onerandis, honorandis; celebritate clarescentibus; megalæo; cumulandis, cumulatis; literarū foventi, literatorū faventi; exantlabunt; and, in the Theses following, originis potitur . . . actionē . . . patitur; ἀειφανεῖς in re ἀφανεῖς; eliditur et elicitur; virtus, & vice versâ; Rex Lex & Grrex. Many others occur, too obvious to need enumeration.
Strong as is the evidence afforded by the Dedication, that to be found in the structure and subjects of the Theses themselves seems even more convincing. Here are the same general characteristics already described. In addition, there are many new features. There is a much wider field for literary and scholarly gymnastics, and it is fully occupied. There is greater opportunity afforded for the display of curious scholarship, out-of-the-way learning, far-fetched fancies, wit, humor, laborious research, skilful contrivance, and intellectual ingenuity, and it is fully embraced. There is a masterly array of definitions in some of the subjects proposed for discussion, and most of the propositions are exceedingly felicitous in conception and expression. Queer analogies, original illustrations, ingenious and surprising suggestions, strangely-contorted uses of words and ideas, quips, jokes, sarcasms, conceits,—all run through it from start to finish. The entire List is a work of art of very considerable brilliancy, quite unlike the conventional, authentic programme, although there occasionally comes in some commonplace proposition for discussion to give the whole an air of verisimilitude. Each subject well justifies discussion, and demands a paragraph to itself; each is full of suggestions and bristles with distinctive points; each, on varying and independent grounds, supplies an argument. To undertake, however, to give specific points, or to name peculiarly striking passages, would, of necessity, end in the repetition of almost the entire List, which can well enough be left to speak for itself.
The translation furnished by Mr. Edes is most excellent; indeed, it is so good that it seems, sometimes, to veil absurdities, and occasionally to lose a point that possibly lurks in the original.
The date at the conclusion furnishes an additional argument for my contention, and one of no little force. The text fixes a different day from that on which the Commencement took place; and, above all, it makes it Sunday,—just the sort of device likely to be found in a travesty,—a deliberate intent and not a mistake. Such an explanation seems more probable than the supposition that there would occur in a paper so carefully and laboriously and learnedly constructed a blunder of forgetfulness or of ignorance.
One circumstance, apparently, militates against the conclusion I have reached,—the character of the subjects indicated by the cross as those to be the subjects for public discussion; but even this may be one of the devices resorted to as a part of the scheme.
If this manuscript is the authentic programme for the College Commencement of 1663, its value and interest are obvious; if it be the travesty of it, both are even greater, because it is unique. Its importance, however, does not lie in this circumstance, but in other and many directions: it throws light on the condition of the College, and the standard of the education and training then given; and it gives some indication of the extent and character of classical attainments among the students at the time, of their practical ability and facility in handling the two languages, and of what their studies were in various directions. It shows also some interest and progress in metaphysical speculation. It also has value as indicating the subjects in which students were interested, their turn of thought, and the direction and extent of their researches. It brings out, too, what was then one of the boyish notions of fun and humor; it reveals their capacity of design and execution; and affords some insight into the student human nature of the seventeenth century. It has a certain interest again as bringing out likenesses to and contrasts with similar attempts of later days, and may perhaps remind a Harvard man of the old Mock Parts and of some of the distinctive literature of college and club magazines and papers. It has something of the familiar smell of the lamp and the gridiron. Taken all in all, the document, whatever it be, is certainly curious and ingenious, and of great interest and value.
In this discussion of the manuscript which Mr. Edes has brought to our attention, no attempt has been made to take up all the many points which might have been considered, opening up, in their number and variety, in an almost confusing and discouraging array, but only to touch upon a few, here and there, as illustrative, in different ways, of the character of the paper and as leading to the conclusion at which I have arrived.
The paper was further discussed by many of the members.
Mr. Abner C. Goodell expressed the opinion that it was a travesty or burlesque written by some of the Commencers or undergraduates.
Mr. Henry Williams inclined to the view that the paper was a serious performance and remarked upon its excellence and epigrammatic style.
Mr. George Lyman Kittredge said he had not seen the Latin text before reaching the Hall, but that, while he reserved his opinion upon the precise character of the paper until he should have had time to study it, the document recalled vividly to his mind Milton’s Comic Oration at the English Cambridge,—a performance which Milton deemed worthy of preservation in his printed works. He further remarked that it would be interesting to know if a practice similar to that which was common at the English universities in Milton’s time obtained at Harvard College, and if these Theses of 1663 afforded evidence of it.
Mr. James Bradley Thayer, who was unable to be present, sent for the inspection of the members a printed copy of the Theses of 1810.
Mr. Edes exhibited a perfect copy of Israel Chauncy’s Almanac for 1663, which gives the date of Commencement at Harvard College that year as Tuesday, 11 August. This pamphlet, long in Mr. Edes’s possession, was regarded by the late John Langdon Sibley as unique. It is peculiarly interesting from the fact that it bears upon the title-page the autograph “Jonathan Mitchell ex dono Authoris ffebr 23.”32
Mr. Edes also exhibited the original Third Writ of Quo Warranto against the Connecticut Charter and the original Search Warrant for the apprehension in Connecticut of the Kegicides Goffe and Whalley.33
Mr. Robert N. Toppan commented upon these documents and upon the First and Second Writs, drawing attention to certain discrepancies in the dates.34
Herbert Baxter Adams, LL.D., of Johns Hopkins University, the Hon. Horace Davis, LL.D., of San Francisco, California, Wilberforce Eames, A.M., of the Lenox Library, and the Rev. William Jewett Tucker, LL.D., President of Dartmouth College, were elected Corresponding Members.
