The History of Dartmouth College Part 16

"Whereupon your Committee propose, that a system of scholarships and prizes, as such systems have usually obtained, cannot be introduced into college mechanism, or be carried on, consistently with righteous principle, and favorably to virtue in young men, or to true knowledge and wisdom, so far as these presuppose virtue, and depend upon it."

In regard to the views here set forth, it is proper to remark, that reasoning which had much force, a score of years since, would possibly have less at the present time.

In regard to this period the librarian says:

"In 1830, the three libraries must have numbered in volumes between 12,000 and 13,000, with slight difference in numbers, the college library being the largest, and the United Fraternity's the smallest.

The first library catalogue of the latter society was printed previous to 1840, and contained the t.i.tles of 4,900 volumes.

"In 1840, the libraries obtained better accommodations by the erection of Reed Hall, which was so far completed that the books were shelved just before the Commencement. They were given the second floor of the building, an amount of s.p.a.ce which then seemed to give ample room for additions, as the three libraries together numbered only 15,000 volumes. The college library occupied the east half of the floor, while the west side was divided between the two society libraries. The books were first shelved against the wall, then alcoves and cases were added as long as s.p.a.ce remained, while for several years previous to the present time the least valuable books have been removed to make s.p.a.ce for additions.

"In the college library, borrowers have generally been excluded from the rooms in which books are kept, while the reverse has been true in the society libraries.

"In June, 1841, the professors of the college with the a.s.sistance of some of the gentlemen of the vicinity formed a society since known as the 'Northern Academy.' This society, which was afterwards chartered and has been continued in different forms until the present time, early began the formation of a library. While many old books have been collected, its princ.i.p.al value lies in pamphlets and files of newspapers, some of which covering a number of years extend back beyond the Revolution. This collection, now swelled to several thousand, has always been in connection with the college library, although for several years a want of shelf room and a greater want of funds to place it in usable condition, have made it of little practical value. In 1850, the three libraries having changed little comparatively, numbered 19,000 volumes. The 'Northern Academy,'

exclusive of the unbound, had over 1,000 volumes, thus making fully 20,000 volumes accessible. A distinction must be made between the figures given under the different dates (which indicate the number that were actually in the libraries), and the number according to catalogues. The latter were made by adding to former lists the books received during different years, when in fact the additions during some of these years did not more than make good the losses. It frequently happened that ten percent of the catalogued number could not be accounted for. While the society libraries have continued with nearly the same annual additions--an average actual yearly increase of over a hundred volumes,--the great growth of the college library has taken place since 1850. Since that year have been received the donations of books for the different departments of instruction and the funds upon which the constant growth of the library depends. Of these funds the first had its origin in 1846, when Edmund Parker of Nashua, Isaac Parker of Boston, and Joel Parker of Keene, gave $1,000.

This was subsequently increased by the latter to $7,000, and in his will (which founded the Law School), provisions were made, that will, when available, place this fund at $20,000. In 1852, Dr. George C.

Shattuck, whose name is a.s.sociated with the Observatory, gave $1,000 for the department of Mathematics as applied to Mechanics and Astronomy. To this during the same year he added $200 for Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, and $800 for the Latin language and Literature. At the same time Dr. Roswell Shurtleff, Emeritus Professor, gave $1,000 for better providing with books the departments of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy. These three donations were intended princ.i.p.ally for the use of instructors, and were accompanied with restrictions from general circulation. In 1859, by the will of Dr. Henry Bond of Philadelphia, several hundred volumes were received, and provisions were made for a library fund which when available will be about $11,000. The late Hon. Samuel Appleton established in 1845, a fund which was increased in 1854, and is known as the Appleton Fund. The income of this has been partially applied to the purchase of books relating to Natural Philosophy."

"The Press" in Hanover is worthy of notice in this connection. We quote from a published address by Professor Sanborn:

"No man lives in Hanover to-day, who can tell when any newspaper was first printed in the town, or when it ceased to be printed. Even the papers themselves have perished. Here and there, a stray number, or possibly a bound volume, may be found among the useless lumber of an attic. There was a press in Hanover, before the close of the last century. It is reported that a newspaper was published there prior to the year 1799. I have been unable to find a copy of it. In 1799, Mr.

Webster delivered a Fourth-of-July oration before the citizens of Hanover, which was published in that town. A eulogy, by the same orator, on a deceased cla.s.smate, was also published the next year.

Moses Davis, a citizen of the place, began the publication of the 'Dartmouth Gazette,' August 27, 1799. How long he continued to edit and publish the paper, I cannot certainly ascertain. A paper bearing that name was published for at least twenty years. I have a number of the 'Dartmouth Gazette' dated June 23, 1819, being No. XLIII., vol.

19. The whole number to this date of the paper, in this form, is 1025.

It was then printed and published by Charles Spear. It would seem, therefore, that the paper which originated with Moses Davis, lived for more than twenty years. It was a valuable paper, containing a careful summary of foreign news, sometimes long orations of English statesmen, and an accurate record of local events. The original pieces were quite numerous, written by occasional contributors, many of them students of the college. The editorials were brief; in fact, a majority of the early numbers contain no words which appear as editorial. The political articles were decidedly favorable to the Federal party, but moderate in tone. During the first three years of the existence of this paper, Daniel Webster, then a student, was a frequent contributor; he wrote both prose and poetry, more frequently the latter. The topics were trite, but the thoughts were always serious and elevated. In the issue of December 9, 1799, Mr. Webster published a poem on winter; he was then a Junior in college. The European wars commanded his attention and saddened his reflections.

"Mr. Webster continued to write for the paper after leaving college.

In his published correspondence, there is a letter from the editor importuning him to write the 'Newsboy's Message' for January, 1803. He says: 'I want a genuinely Federal address, and you are the very person to write it. And this solicitation, sir, is not from me alone--some of our most respectable characters join in the request.'

"The 'Dartmouth Gazette' was the champion of the college during the entire period of its controversy with the State. Many of the ablest articles written in defence of the college, appeared in its columns. I regret that I cannot give the entire history of this useful paper; it did a good work in its day, and we may now say literally, 'peace to its ashes.'

"During a portion of the existence of the 'Dartmouth Gazette,' while it was edited by Charles Spear, another paper was printed by Moses Davis, called 'The Literary Tablet,' purporting to be edited by Nicholas Orlando. Whether this is a _nomme de plume_ or a real name, I cannot determine. Three volumes are known to have been published. It lived for three years at least. The third volume dates from August, 1805, to August, 1806. It was a folio of four pages, three columns to a page, of about fourteen inches by twelve in size. It was printed every other Wednesday for the editor.

"A new paper appeared in Hanover, June, 1820. The prospectus was as follows:

"'A new weekly paper in Hanover, N. H., to be ent.i.tled the "Dartmouth Herald." The "Dartmouth Gazette" having been discontinued, the subscribers, at the solicitation of a number of literary gentlemen, propose to publish a paper under the above t.i.tle. Besides advertis.e.m.e.nts, the "Herald" will embrace accounts of our National and State Legislatures, and the most interesting articles of news, foreign and domestic; notices of improvements in the arts and sciences, especially agriculture and the mechanical arts most practiced in our own country; and essays, original and selected, upon the mechanical and liberal Arts, Literature, Politics, Morals and Religion.

"'The original articles will be furnished by a society of gentlemen; and it is confidently expected will not be unworthy of the interesting subjects, to which a considerable s.p.a.ce will be allotted in this paper.

"'Bannister & Thurston.

"'Hanover, April 7, 1820.'

"It was a small folio of four pages, twenty by twelve inches in size.

It was well filled with news and original contributions. Its life was brief. Unfortunately, no record was made either on the printed page or the faithful memory, of the date of its decease, so far as I can learn.

"For several years no periodical was published in Hanover. 'The Magnet,' an octavo of sixteen pages, edited by students and published by Thomas Mann, appeared in 1835. The first number bears date October 21, 1835. There seems to have been a rival paper contemporary with this, called 'The Independent Chronicle.' In the November number of the 'Magnet,' we find this allusion to it: 'The second number of the "Independent Chronicle" is below criticism.' In the December number, the 'Magnet' chronicles the demise of its despised rival, with evident satisfaction. In 1837, another student's periodical appeared, called 'The Sc.r.a.p Book.' I am unable to write its history; it was probably of brief duration. In 1839, the students of Dartmouth College originated a literary periodical called 'The Dartmouth.' It was published, I think, for five years. The editors were chosen from the undergraduates by the Senior cla.s.s. Among the editors of 1840-41, were J. E. Hood and James O. Adams, both of whom have since gained honorable distinction in a wider field of editorial labor. A few months ago, I received as a present from B. P. Shillaber, the witty and genial author of the 'Life and Sayings of Mrs. Partington,' and other humorous works, a volume of 'The Dartmouth,' which he received from Mr. Hood. It was handsomely bound, and labelled 'Brains' on the back. Mr. Shillaber says of it in a letter, dated July 4, 1872, 'I find, that the volume comprises but a half year ending with Hood's editorship and graduation. It nevertheless will prove interesting; and it gives me pleasure to present it, with a delightful memory of Dartmouth to commend the trifle. I thought it might gratify you personally, as several of your effusions are contained in it. Poor Hood has crossed the dark stream: he died in Colorado last winter. He held you in enduring regard. The t.i.tle is a boyish suggestion; but there is more evidence of "_brains_"

in it than is to be found in many far more pretentious publications.'

"These remarks will apply with equal justice to the entire ten volumes of 'The Dartmouth.' It was highly creditable to the students who originated and sustained it. 'The Dartmouth' was printed by Mr. E. A.

Allen, who during the continuance of this periodical made several other ventures in the newspaper line. Sometime during the year 1840 or 1841, he started a paper called 'The Experiment,' which was edited by James O. Adams, then a student in college. This paper was subsequently issued in quarto form and called 'The Amulet.'

"In 1841, a periodical called the 'Iris and Record' was issued in Hanover. It was published monthly, in numbers of thirty-two royal octavo pages, making two volumes each year. It was edited by 'an a.s.sociation of gentlemen,' and filled with well selected and original literary articles. It must have had a considerable circulation, if we may credit the a.s.sertion of the editor of No. II., vol. 3, who says: 'We doubt not there are hundreds of persons, whose names are on our subscription list, who might every month contribute a short article upon some interesting subject.' The 'Iris' was also printed by E. A.

Allen.

"During the same year an anti-slavery paper was published in Hanover, called 'The People's Advocate,' by St. Clair and Briggs. In July, 1843, J. E. Hood became its editor, and continued to publish it for more than a year, when it was removed to Concord. 'The Advocate' was a spirited paper; and the editor, then a youth, showed himself an able, fearless, and uncompromising foe of slavery, at a time when it required great moral courage and liberal sacrifices of time, talent, and labor, to advocate the principles of the Free Soil Party. In February, 1844, Mr. Hood established a paper in Hanover, called the 'Family Visitor,' in which he advocated the various reforms of the day; and published a variety of original and selected articles in prose and poetry, for the profit and amus.e.m.e.nt of his patrons. On looking over some of the back numbers, I find the contents as lively, piquant, and interesting, as the best journals of to-day. Mr. Hood was born an editor, and to the day of his death he performed well his part; and when his Master bade him 'go up higher,' he left few peers behind him in his chosen vocation."

Rev. H. A. Hazen, a reliable authority on any historical point, states that there was a printing-press at Dresden, (which included the "College District," in Hanover, and a part of Lebanon), as early as 1777. Mr. Abel Curtis' Grammar was printed there by J. P. and A.

Spooner, in 1779. Other works, still extant, were printed by them at about the same period.[35]

[35] "The Dartmouth" having been revived in 1867, is now issued as a Weekly Magazine.

In tracing the progress of the college during President Lord's administration, we cannot more fitly conclude, than by adopting the language of Mr. William H. Duncan, who in a valuable tribute to his worth and his memory, says:

"It was the proud boast of Augustus, that he found Rome of brick and left it of marble. Might not President Lord, at the time of his resignation, have said without a shadow of boasting, I found the college, what its great counsel called it in that most touching and pathetic close of his great argument in the College Case before the Supreme Court at Washington: I found it truly 'a small college'; it was in an humble condition; its cla.s.ses were small; its finances embarra.s.sed; its buildings in a dilapidated and ruinous condition. I left it one of the leading inst.i.tutions of the land!"

Fuller details on these points will be gathered from subsequent chapters.

CHAPTER XVII.

CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT LORD.

The period of President Tyler's resignation was a most critical one in the history of the college.

Its eminent founder pa.s.sed away in the midst of the Revolutionary struggle, leaving the frail bark, in which were centered fond and long-cherished hopes, tossing upon uncertain and dangerous waters. A fearful storm was raging when his immediate successor put off the robes of office, and a little later went "to give account of his stewardship." Thirteen years had scarcely been sufficient fully to restore to a healthy condition the discipline of the college, which had been materially weakened by the lack of harmony between the second president and his a.s.sociates in office.

Material aid was needed also to provide better accommodations for the students.

In common with other colleges, Dartmouth needed most of all, in those trying times, a president "rooted and grounded" in the truth.

The multiplication of colleges rendered it especially desirable, at this period, that this college should have a man at its head well fitted and furnished for his work. In the little more than half a century of its existence, the number of New England colleges, founded upon the same religious faith, had increased from three to eight, rendering the best leadership necessary to meet the compet.i.tion.

A more judicious selection could not have been made for the sixth president of the college.

Rev. Nathan Lord, the son of John and Mehitable (Perkins) Lord, was born at Berwick, Maine, November 28, 1792, and belonged to a highly respectable family. At the early age of sixteen, he graduated at Bowdoin College, in the cla.s.s of 1809. Very rarely has a student at college the opportunity to sit under the instruction of two such men as Joseph McKeen and Jesse Appleton, each of whom filled the president's chair two years, while young Lord was a student.

After valuable experience as a teacher in the Exeter Academy, he pursued a theological course at the Andover Seminary, graduating in 1815. He had been twelve years pastor of the Congregational Church at Amherst when called to the presidency of Dartmouth, having been for some time a Trustee. In the intellectual strength and literary attainments of its people, this had been for a long period one of the leading towns in southern New Hampshire. Being the county seat, it was visited periodically by gentlemen eminent in the law, with whom professional men resident in the place would most naturally have frequent intercourse. At a period when the whole community was profoundly agitated, by the most earnest and important theological controversy in the history of New England, we can readily understand that the youthful preacher would have abundant opportunity to measure swords with skilled warriors, in the field of religious debate. That he wielded his weapons, in the discussions of that period, with a force indicating that he was a man of no ordinary mould, is a matter of history. When he entered upon his great work at Dartmouth, those who, as its guardians, had called him to it, cherished confident hope of his success. Seldom has there been so full a realization of such hope in the history of American colleges.

President Lord brought to the accomplishment of his task a fine physique; a countenance serene, yet impressive; a voice rare both for its richness and its power; a pleasing, almost magnetic, dignity of mien; a mind most capacious and discriminating by nature, richly stored by severe application, and thoroughly disciplined by varied professional labor; and a heart always tender, yet always true to the profoundest convictions of duty. A deep, rich, and thorough religious experience well fitted the graceful and earnest man to be a graceful and earnest Christian teacher. The question of fitness for the position as an executive was soon settled beyond the possibility of a doubt. It required but a brief acquaintance with President Lord to teach any one, that he fully believed in the most literal acceptation of the doctrine, that "the powers that be are ordained of G.o.d."

A recognition of this fundamental law guided and governed him daily and hourly through all his public life. When early in his administration, he discovered marked symptoms of a spirit of insubordination in the college, he gave all concerned to understand most fully, that it would be his duty to maintain the supremacy of the law. There was never any deviation from this loyalty to duty in administering the discipline of the college. No undue regard for his own dignity, or comfort, or safety, deterred him from visiting, at any hour of day or night, the scene of disorder. When he had been more than forty years an officer of the college he reaffirmed his adherence to this principle, in a most emphatic manner, when those to whom he did not deem himself responsible sought to point out to him the path of duty.

As a teacher it was President Lord's province, chiefly to unfold the various relations and obligations of man to his Maker. In the performance of this duty he gave remarkable prominence to the Divine Revelation. Jealous for the honor of his great Master and Teacher, he was very suspicious, possibly too suspicious, of any intermixture of "man's wisdom." This habit may have induced occasionally, measurable disparagement of worthy and eminent men. But the genial manner and chastened tone invariably extracted the point from the severest word, and left upon the pupil's mind a profound conviction that his teacher had been "taught of G.o.d." It may well be doubted whether, of the large numbers who graduated during President Lord's administration, any who were brought in close contact with him, and listened with a "willing mind" to his instructions, failed to receive measurably, yet consciously, the impress of their honored teacher.

The following extracts from the official records of the Trustees, are deemed worthy of insertion in this connection in order to a full understanding of the circ.u.mstances attending President Lord's resignation.