The History of Dartmouth College Part 21

His wife was Mary, daughter of Pres. Eleazar Wheelock.

CHAPTER XXI.

PROF. JOHN HUBBARD.--PROF. ROSWELL SHURTLEFF.

Prof. John Hubbard succeeded Professor Woodward. We quote from a published eulogy by Rev. Elijah Parish, D.D., his college cla.s.smate.

"The Hon. John Hubbard, the son of John and Hannah (Johnson) Hubbard, late Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in this university, was born in Townsend, Ma.s.s., August 8, 1759. Dark and dismal was the dawn of that life, which has been so fair and luminous.

Five months before his birth his father died, and this, in his last moments, when his children stood weeping round his dying bed, he made use of as an argument of consolation to them, entreating them not to weep, for G.o.d had taken care of him when a fatherless infant. During his minority most of his time was employed in the labors of agriculture. At the age of twenty-one he commenced his studies, and the next year became a member of this inst.i.tution. In the second year of his residence at college, when many were awakened to a religious sense of divine things, our friend was one of the happy number. His subsequent life and death have proved that his conversion was not imaginary. While this increases our loss, it is the best reason for consolation.

"In his college life Mr. Hubbard was a youthful cedar of Lebanon. He gave visible tokens of his approaching eminence. So tenacious was his memory, that his progress in the languages was remarkably rapid. While he lived, the Greek and Roman writers were his amus.e.m.e.nt; and with a taste refined, he was charmed with their cla.s.sic beauties; his memory was stored with numerous favorite pa.s.sages.

"On leaving college, his love of study, his delight in religious inquiries, his devout regard for the best interests of man, led him to the study of theology. Becoming a preacher of the gospel, his voice, naturally small and feeble, was found to be ill adapted to such an employment. After a fair experiment his good sense forbade him to persevere. The transition was easy to his 'delightful task to teach the young idea how to shoot,' and form the minds of youth to science and virtue. Of the academy in New Ipswich he was elected preceptor.

Under his able instruction that seminary rose to distinction, and became a favorite of the public. Some who were his pupils are already eminent in the walks of literature.

"After several years, quitting this situation, he was appointed Judge of Probate for the County of Cheshire. This office was peculiarly adapted to that gentle and tender philanthropy for which he was remarkable. It was luxury to him to comfort the widow and the fatherless. The blended resolution and exquisite sensibilities of his heart qualified him, in a singular manner, impartially to weigh the claims of justice and compa.s.sion. But this situation was not congenial with his love of study, and his delight in the instruction of youth, which was so pleasant, that he declared he would make it the business of his life. Accordingly he accepted the invitation of Deerfield Academy, Ma.s.sachusetts, where for several years he continued with great reputation. After the death of Professor Woodward, who had, from its origin, been an able instructor in this university, he was elected his successor in the Professorship of Mathematics and Philosophy. So high was his reputation, that a successor of common attainments could not have satisfied the raised expectations of the public. To supply the place of such a man was the arduous task a.s.signed to Mr. Hubbard.

His success equaled the fond hopes of his friends. Here you rejoiced in his light; here he spent his last and his best days; here he had full scope for the various, the versatile powers of his vigorous mind.

His amiable virtues, his profound learning, you cheerfully acknowledged.

"He had a happy facility in ill.u.s.trating the practical advantages of every science. He not only explained its principles, but traced its relation to other branches of knowledge. Not satisfied by merely ascertaining facts, he explored the cause, the means, the ultimate design of their existence.

"Though he has been my intimate friend from cheerful youth, yet neither inspired by his genius, nor enriched with his attainments, it is not possible I should do justice to his merits. His person, muscular and vigorous, indicated the energy of his mind. Every feature of his face expressed the mildness of his spirit; never did I witness in him the appearance of anger. Without that undescribable configuration which const.i.tutes beauty, his countenance was pleasing and commanded respect. Without formality or art, his manners were refined and delicate; his address was conciliatory and winning. By his social and compliant temper he was calculated for general society.

Though instructed 'in the learning of Egypt,' and the civilized world, he was too discreet and benevolent to humble others by his superior l.u.s.tre. His light was mild and clear, like that of the setting sun. He had no ambition to shine, or to court applause. More disposed to make others pleased with themselves than to excite their admiration, it is not strange that he was universally beloved. His heart was impressed with an exquisite sense of moral obligations. In every pa.s.sing event, in every work of nature, the formation of a lake, a river, a cataract, a mountain, he saw G.o.d. When as a philosopher, surrounded with the apparatus of science, extending his researches to the phenomena of the universe, amazed at the minuteness of some objects, astonished at the magnitude and magnificence of others, his mind was transported; when he explored the heavens, and saw worlds balancing worlds, and other suns enlightening other systems, his senses were ravished with the wisdom, the power, the goodness of the Almighty Architect. On these subjects he often declaimed, with the learning of an astronomer, the simplicity of an apostle, the eloquence of a prophet. He ill.u.s.trated the moral and religious improvement of the sciences; the views of his students were enlarged; the sciences became brilliant stars to irradiate the hemisphere of Christianity. The perfect agreement between sound learning and true religion was a favorite theme of his heart. This remark is confirmed by his conversation, his letters, his lectures.

"In theology his researches were not those of a polemic divine, but of a Christian, concerned for his own salvation and the salvation of others."

Professor Hubbard published several works, one of them being ent.i.tled "Rudiments of Geography." He died at Hanover, August 14, 1810.

His wife was Rebecca, daughter of Dr. John Preston, of New Ipswich.

Mr. Roswell Shurtleff was elected the second professor of Divinity in the college. We give some of the more important points in a published "Discourse," by Professor Long:

"Roswell Shurtleff, the son of William and Hannah (Cady) Shurtleff, was born at Ellington, then East Windsor, Ct., August 29, 1773. He was the youngest of nine children, two of whom died before he was born.

From his earliest years he was fond of reading, and at school he was called a good scholar. His religious training was carefully attended to, and to this, and the Christian example which accompanied it, he ascribed his conversion, and the views he subsequently embraced of the Christian doctrines.

"When he was seven or eight years old he had many serious thoughts of G.o.d and duty. The requirement that he should give up all for G.o.d, as he understood it, filled him with gloom.

"During several of the subsequent years, the subject of religion dwelt on his mind, and he was occasionally deeply impressed. One of the difficult things was to comprehend the notion of faith. The promise was: 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' He believed, as he supposed, and he had been baptized, but he could not feel that he was safe. Must he believe that he, personally, should be saved? But what if he mistook his own character, and believed what was false; would his opinion of his safety _make_ him safe. He was ashamed to be known as a religious inquirer, and, therefore, remained longer in darkness. Finding that he had been observed by his father to have become a more diligent student of the Scriptures, he left the practice of reading them before the family. Sometimes, a.s.suming a false appearance of indifference, he carried his difficulties to his mother, who was able to furnish a satisfactory solution. She seems to have been a person of unusual intelligence as well as goodness. Her memory was ever cherished by him with the most grateful affection, as it regarded his own spiritual progress. He believed that he suffered unspeakable loss from the concealment of his early feelings on the subject of religion, and did not doubt that many failed of conversion from this foolish reserve. It was not till a number of years after this that his religious life commenced.

"The only school which young Shurtleff had the opportunity of attending, before his eighteenth or nineteenth year, was the common school of the district. He made good proficiency, but nothing worthy of note occurred in relation to his studies till he was about fifteen years of age. He then began to think, as he says. Before that time, he had repeated by rote whatever he had been taught. The first impulse to reflection was a new discovery. He had been taught from childhood that accent is a stress of voice laid on some syllable or letter of a word.

But this definition had not been ill.u.s.trated by an example, and the cla.s.sification of words by their accent, in the spelling-book, he had never understood. The definition had been to him an unmeaning collection of words. He now discovered what it meant. This was in itself a trifling event, but it led to the further discovery that other things, which he had been accustomed, parrot-like, to repeat _memoriter_, had a meaning; that the meaning of things was that which the student should be set to learn, and that his own education had, in this view, been greatly neglected. He says that a new world seemed to be opened to his view; that nothing now appeared so important as an opportunity to reflect on what he had learned, and that he was greatly displeased with the instructors by whom he had been so badly cheated.

He resolved that, if ever he should be a teacher, he would propose it to himself, as his leading object, to make his pupils understand whatever they should study. This resolution he afterward had the opportunity of carrying into effect in five or six winter schools; and his attempt was attended with gratifying success.

"It was the opinion of Dr. Shurtleff, grounded on his own experience as learner and teacher, that too much importance is attached to the books used in schools; that the end to be reached is too generally regarded as the learning of the book rather than the mastery of the subject, and that books are too often prepared mainly with a view to abridge the labor of the teacher. He believed that, while the pupil might, through the text-book, possess himself of the knowledge of others, he was in danger of acquiring little which could be called his own.

"In consequence of using his eyes too soon, after his recovery from the measles, when he was about seventeen years old, Shurtleff was almost wholly cut off from the reading of books for two years, and he never afterward perfectly recovered from the injury resulting from this imprudence. He made some proficiency, however, by listening to the reading of others. About two years after this affliction he entered the academy at Chesterfield, N. H., whither his father's family had removed a few years before. He attended first to English studies. The weakness of his eyes continued, and he was considerably embarra.s.sed for a time from the necessity of using the eyes of his friends. At length he commenced the study of Latin, going through Ross' Grammar, the only one then in use, in just two weeks, and then beginning to construe and pa.r.s.e in Corderius.

"He met, at the academy, one who had been his school-fellow and playmate, and with whom he was intimately a.s.sociated from that time till the end of his college course,--the late Hon. Levi Jackson, who died at Chesterfield in 1821. They got out their lessons together, taking turns in looking out new words; and afterward, at college, where they were cla.s.smates and room-mates, continued the practice. Dr.

Shurtleff felt under great obligations to this friend and helper, and said that 'few friendships among men had been more ardent, confiding and permanent.'

"Shurtleff had supposed, at first, that the Greek language was beyond his reach, on account of his infirmity of sight. But some improvement having taken place, he ventured to commence the study. He went through the Westminster Greek Grammar, the book then in use, in one week, and began to read the Gospel of John. Having completed the New Testament, and read several books of Homer's Iliad, he was reputed in the school as tolerably versed in Greek. He and Jackson studied from the love of study, and did not think of college till a year before they applied for admission, at Commencement, in 1797, and entered the Junior cla.s.s in this inst.i.tution.

"The round of college duties presents few marked events. Time has left no record of most of the occurrences which diversified and enlivened the period from 1797 to 1799. How the two friends studied, and read, and discussed, and recreated together, has been lost, just as the facts of our daily life will be lost sixty years hence. They made constant and good progress. They were about equally good scholars, neither of them being a dead weight upon the other. Each was happy in the other's proficiency. The amount of learning requisite for a degree was less then than now. Sciences have been introduced into the course which were then in their infancy. But it may be doubted whether the students of our day have the advantage over those of an earlier period, in respect to thoroughness as well as extent of attainment.

They read fewer books, in the first years of the college, but they thought the more. They were as well disciplined and able, and as competent to handle a difficult subject, I imagine, as our students, if they were not as well informed. We know from the esteem in which Shurtleff was held by the Trustees and Faculty, as it appeared not long after his graduation, that he was one of the best scholars of his time.

"Peculiar interest attaches to the religious experience of Shurtleff during his college course.

"He had performed some of the duties of a Christian before he supposed himself to possess the Christian character. The first school he taught he opened daily with prayer, persevering in the practice as a conscientious duty, in spite of many misgivings and much timidity. And this he did in every school he afterward taught. He kept up the habit of secret prayer, at the same time, asking more earnestly than for anything else, that his weak eyes might be cured, and that he might have the means of intellectual improvement.

"He seems to have supposed that during his senior winter vacation he became a true Christian.

"Soon after his return to college, he intimated a desire to a cla.s.smate, who, as he supposed, was the only professor of religion in the cla.s.s, to join with others in a private meeting for religious conference and prayer. He had never attended, or even heard of such a meeting. After a little delay he was surprised to learn from his friend that such a meeting as he had proposed had been held for years, and that he was desired to attend. On the Sat.u.r.day evening following, he and five or six other persons a.s.sembled, and by the free interchange of thought and feeling, and the apparently humble prayers that were offered, he felt himself greatly refreshed and quickened. On leaving college he regretted the loss of nothing more than of these Sat.u.r.day evening conference meetings.

"The time had now come for choosing a profession. His success in teaching led him to seek for a situation in an academy; but no opening of this kind presented itself, and he believed himself thus providentially called to preach the gospel. There were at the time no theological seminaries; the students of the distinguished clergymen who gave instruction in theology were supposed to represent the views of their teacher; and that he might not be thought to go forth as the advocate of some exceptionable _ism_, Mr. Shurtleff chose to study theology by himself. Having pursued this course one year, he was appointed a tutor in the college, and at the same time was licensed to preach. The pressure of a considerable debt hastened the period of obtaining license, but we may be certain, from the opportunities subsequently enjoyed, and from the character of the man, that any deficiency he may have felt at first, from hasty preparation, was abundantly supplied.

"Mr. Shurtleff continued in the tutorship from 1800 to 1804, and was also engaged, for the greater part of the time, in preaching in vacant parishes.

"After the close of the four years' tutorship, Mr. Shurtleff was appointed a professor of Divinity in the college. It was a part of his duty to preach to the students and the people of the village. The church was at that time Presbyterian. The predecessor of Professor Shurtleff--Professor Sylva.n.u.s Ripley--had been the pastor of this church. Since his death, in 1787, Dr. John Smith, professor of Languages, previously a.s.sociate pastor with Professor Ripley, had been the sole pastor of the church. Dr. Backus, of Conn., Dr. Worcester, of Salem, and Dr. Alexander, of Princeton, had been appointed at different times to the vacant professorship, but all had declined, in consequence, as it was supposed, of the influence of Dr. John Wheelock, the second president of the college. Professor Shurtleff accepted the office, expecting that the same causes which had kept it so long vacant would render it an uncomfortable post. The difficulties which he feared, he was called to encounter. The president wished him to become the colleague of Professor Smith in the pastoral office, but he refused,--agreeing in his decision with the views of the largest part of the church and of the village. In consequence of this disagreement, a controversy ensued which lasted several years, and ended in the law-suit between the college and the State, in 1816-17.

In July, 1805, twenty-two persons, professors of religion, were const.i.tuted 'The Congregational Church at Dartmouth College.' To this church, and the religious society of which it was a part, Professor Shurtleff was invited to preach, performing pastoral labors so far as his other duties would permit. Professor Smith was, meanwhile, the pastor of the Presbyterian church till the time of his death, in April, 1809. Professor Shurtleff was ordained as an evangelist, at Lyme, N. H., in 1810. He continued in this relation until the year 1827.

"The literary labors of his office would have been quite sufficient to occupy all his time. In addition to these, an amount of work nearly equal to that of any pastor of a church was imposed on him--fully equal, perhaps, we shall say, if we consider the character of the congregation to whom he ministered. He was faithful and a.s.siduous, both as a preacher and a pastor. But he performed the many duties of his station with acceptance and success. And he had the satisfaction of seeing that his efforts were crowned with the special blessing of G.o.d. In 1805 G.o.d displayed his saving power among the students and people of the village. As many as forty persons became Christians during the revival. But the most extensive and powerful work of grace, probably, which the church ever enjoyed was that of 1815. The revival began in the hearts of G.o.d's people. Some of the pious students resolved that they would every day talk with some unconverted person respecting the interests of his soul. The effect of this soon appeared in a general religious awakening. In one week forty persons expressed hope in Christ, and in four weeks as many as one hundred and twenty persons were supposed to be converted. There were also revivals in 1819, 1821, and 1826,--that of 1821 being the most extensive, and embracing among the converts a greater number of citizens than of students. Public religious meetings were less numerous during the revivals than in most of those of a later period. It was before the day of protracted meetings. Perhaps there was less reliance then on means, and more on the Spirit of G.o.d. It was not thought necessary that business should be suspended, and every day converted into a Sabbath. But such means as the state of feeling seemed to require were faithfully used. Professor Shurtleff was never happier than when engaged in conversation with inquirers, or in conducting meetings for conference and prayer. The informality and freedom of these meetings made them attractive. They were probably quite as useful as the more regular ministrations of the pulpit. The speaker can say that he never visited a more solemn place than the old district school-house--which stood where the brick school-house now stands--often was, on a Sunday evening during the progress of a conference meeting. A distinguished professor of a neighboring college, who was here in 1815, says that 'The evidence of an increasing seriousness among the students at large, in that revival, was first shown, so far as I can recollect, by the more crowded attendance at these meetings.' Not that the more formal services of the Sabbath were not also impressive and profitable. The same gentleman says of the preaching of Professor Shurtleff at this time: 'The general impression made on me by several of his sermons I remember to the present day. I liked to hear him preach, even before I took any especial interest in religion as a personal concern. His sermon on the text, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended," etc., produced a deep effect at the time of its delivery which was not soon forgotten. I remember the stillness and solemnity of the audience. This sermon must have been delivered some little time before the revival.' The same gentleman further states, that 'During the whole of this revival, and the gathering in of the fruits of it into the church, Professor Shurtleff was the leading instrument of the work, so far as human agency was concerned. He went into it with his whole heart. I have seen him and his excellent wife almost overpowered with joy when told of a new case of conversion among the students. He did a great deal--all that one man could do, as it seemed to me--to promote the good work by his own personal efforts.' It is in the power of the speaker to give similar testimony respecting the revival of 1821.

"When Professor Shurtleff entered upon the duties of his professorship, and for many years afterward, he met with much opposition. But his position was constantly growing stronger, both as it respects the sympathy of his Christian brethren and the clergy, and his popularity as an instructor. I have not been able to learn that there was a whisper of discontent with his instructions during the whole of the period from 1804 to 1827. The testimony of one of the best students of the Cla.s.s of 1816 is, that 'As an instructor, particularly in Moral Philosophy, he was much thought of; and we were careful never to miss one of his recitations on this subject. His way of putting questions, and answering such as were proposed to himself, showed great judgment and shrewdness.' Quite a number of persons in the cla.s.ses for seven or eight years following the time here referred to, were preeminent as scholars and as men. May not the fact be partly accounted for by the impulse and guidance of the mind of this instructor? He const.i.tuted a large portion of the faculty from 1815 to 1819, there being at that time only two professors,--Professor Adams and Professor Shurtleff. The graduates of the college who had been his pupils were never backward in acknowledging their obligations to him.

"In 1810, Professor Shurtleff was united in marriage with Miss Anna Pope, only daughter of Rev. Joseph Pope of Spencer, Ma.s.s. Of her he said, 'She was truly an helpmeet--one who did me good and not evil all the days of her life.' By her vivacity and cheerfulness she was eminently fitted to comfort him in his hours of suffering and depression. But it pleased G.o.d to take her from him in March, 1826, after having enjoyed with her, during sixteen years, a degree of domestic happiness which rarely falls to the lot of man. He also lost two children, sons, in 1820, after a brief illness. Respecting the oldest, he had already begun to indulge very pleasing antic.i.p.ations, although he was less than five years old at the time of his decease.

Little did the speaker then know, when helping to carry to the grave the remains of these children, who, if they had survived, would now have been men of mature age, what hopes he was a.s.sisting to bury! But who knows the future? It was better they should die, than that they should live to dishonor him and themselves. The husband and father mourned incessantly, though not without resignation, for these bereavements, till the time of his own death.

"In 1825, Professor Shurtleff was in very feeble health, from the spring till Commencement. The Trustees adjourned at that time to rea.s.semble in November, supposing it might be necessary then to appoint another professor of Divinity. But by the blessing of G.o.d on medical advice and careful nursing, he was able to resume instruction before the meeting of the Trustees.

"In January, 1827, Professor Shurtleff was transferred from the professorship of Divinity to one newly established, of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy, which he filled till the year 1838, when, by his own resignation, his active labors in the college ceased.

It was understood, when this appointment was made, that Professor Shurtleff should instruct in all the Senior cla.s.ses, and should also hear the recitations of other cla.s.ses in particular branches. During the last half of this period, he preached in vacant neighboring parishes. No particular account of the literary labors of these years can be required. Any one of them may be regarded as a fair sample of the rest. A member of the cla.s.s of 1828 can testify that that cla.s.s greatly enjoyed his instructions. We never heard the summons to the recitation-room without pleasure. We were always interested and excited, always profited. The questions were put by the professor in the plainest Saxon. They were well adapted to develop the knowledge or the ignorance of the student, as the case might be, but not to give him undue a.s.sistance. If there was anything in the text-book which was obscure, the questions made it plain. A clearly wrong opinion advanced by an author was briefly, yet thoroughly, exposed. His own opinions were lucidly stated and sustained, and for the time being, at least, we seldom saw reason to differ from him. The recitation was enlivened with anecdote, ill.u.s.tration, and wit, and never dragged heavily. If our objections were sometimes curtly silenced, it was so effectually and handsomely done that we bore it with perfect good-nature. He ever lent a willing ear to our real difficulties, and a.s.sisted in their removal. Together with unusual freedom in the mode of conducting the recitations, there was good order and earnest attention to the subject in hand. He knew how to control us, while he had with us all the sympathy of a young man and an equal. I think it was the opinion of the cla.s.s that Professor Shurtleff, in his ripe manhood, had few equals as an instructor.

"At the time of his retirement, in 1838, Dr. Shurtleff had been in the service of the college thirty-eight years. After what manner he has lived among us since that time, most of this audience know. He has not been noticeably active in the affairs of the village, but when you have met him in private intercourse, you have known that he retained the fine social qualities--the love of story-telling, and the keen, yet harmless wit--for which he was always remarkable. Those whose memory goes back thirty years, must have noticed, I think, that he became more uniformly serene and cheerful in the latter part of his life. The old graduates of the college who revisited the place know how cordially he received them, and with what hearty zest he recalled with them the scenes of their college days. He continued to be deeply interested in the prosperity of the college, and he was the means of eliciting in its behalf the interest and the benevolence of his friends. He continued the habit, commenced at an early period, of a.s.sisting students who were in needy circ.u.mstances. These were objects of benevolence toward which he was naturally drawn. In his feelings he never grew old, but carried forward the vivacity of youth into old age; and always enjoyed the society of the young. He loved to have young men about him; and he has thus, by his un.o.btrusive charities and counsels, and his interesting and instructive conversation, been a benefactor to a large number of students. The spiritual welfare of the college was near his heart. He had pa.s.sed through many revivals of religion, and he longed for the return of such seasons. He devoutly observed the days set apart for prayer for colleges, and, as you remember, often urged the students, a.s.sembled on those occasions, to give their hearts to G.o.d.

"When he left his post as an instructor he was sixty-five years old.

After this he had more than twenty-two years of leisure, during which he retained, in a remarkable degree, the vigor of his intellectual powers. But he had good and sufficient reasons, as he judged, for his resignation; and no new and suitable field of labor presenting itself to a man who wanted but a few years of threescore and ten, he could enjoy the offered leisure with a good conscience, occupying it with such pursuits as his taste suggested. Even at the time when his labors were the most multiplied, and the church and the college were successively engaged in bitter controversy, he had but little to do with administrative and practical matters. Even then a life of reflection appeared to be more attractive than a life of action. And when his public duties were ended, he naturally chose such a life. He was still intellectually active. He could not let his faculties sink into sluggish repose if he would. His temperament would not suffer it.

If he was not a hard student, he was, what he had always been, a thinking man to the last."

In a published notice of Professor Shurtleff, by Professor (now President) Brown, we find the following language:

"The life of Dr. Shurtleff extended over the largest and most important part of that of the inst.i.tution itself. For nearly twenty years he was college preacher, and at the same time pastor of the church on Hanover Plain,--during which period more than two hundred persons connected themselves with the church, a large proportion of them by original profession. In the contest of the college with the State, he and the late venerable Professor Adams, with the president, const.i.tuted the permanent Faculty for instruction and government. Upon the issues then presented he exerted a full measure of influence, though it was comparatively quiet and private.

"As a professor, Dr. Shurtleff had some remarkable qualities. He possessed a mind of extraordinary subtleness and acuteness, ever alert, active and ingenious. Whatever he saw, he saw distinctly, and was able, with equal clearness, to express to another. If a student were really perplexed, he knew how to relieve him by a pertinent example or ill.u.s.tration, but it was generally done by a question or a suggestion which demanded the activity of the student's own mind, and disciplined while it, helped him. If a pupil, on the other hand, were captious, or conceited, he was apt to find himself, before he suspected it, inextricably entangled in a web of contradictions, where he was sometimes left till he came to a sense of his weakness, or till he was dismissed with the benign declaration that 'he might sit.'