The History of Dartmouth College Part 30

He had the same clear-cut features that marked Professor Peabody, though of a different pattern,--the latter with outward, the former with inward, gaze."

"In 1853," President Lord continues, "he was transferred to the position which he held in this college till his death, leaving the honorable office which he had so lately a.s.sumed, at Auburn, partly out of his great love for his Alma Mater, and partly, to minister to his revered parents in their advanced years.

"In all these relations the qualities which I have suggested laid the foundation of his acknowledged excellence. In all the departments which he successively occupied he was regarded, as among the most learned, able, and effective teachers and preachers of the country. He was competent to every service required of him, and gave to every position dignity and honor. He was distinctively Christian in them all, and made them subservient to no school or party, but to the gospel through which he had been saved.

"Wherein Professor Long was like other men, he was above the generality, and, though he aspired not to lead, was fitted to precede them. Wherein he was unlike them, the difference was more conspicuous.

His peculiarities were striking, and in them we perceive his most observable traits, whether of the intellect or the heart.

"I know not whether it were most of nature, or habit, that our friend was so distinguished for acuteness, directness, and singleness of the mind,--a mind not especially intuitive and rapid, not noticeably free in its conceptions, wide in its survey, or comprehensive in its generalizations, moving rather on an extended line than an enlarged area, but subtle and clear as light; sharp, piercing and discriminating as electricity; pointed, direct, and exact as the magnet; conclusive, positive, and decisive as the bolt of heaven. His processes were simple, natural, easy, and continuous, not stiffly regulated by scholastic laws, but strictly conformable, and his results inevitable. Give him his definitions and his postulates which, though not given, he would, like other resolved reasoners after his method, sometimes take, at his own risk, and he would go round or through the circle, or make his traverses in darkness and storm, and never lose his meridian, or be confused in his reckoning; and he would come back precisely to his starting-point laden with success, his points all proved. It was well said of him by a curious and critical observer of scholars, that, as a logician, he was not exceeded in the country.

"Our professor had made large attainments in the science to which he was especially devoted,--the Metaphysics. He read whatever was worth the reading, of which, however, he chose to be an independent judge, but he thought more, so that his attainments were emphatically his own. He was not like what so many now become in this department of study,--a mere follower, imitator, panegyrist,--but a searching critic and judicious commentator. He had a higher range of speculative inquiry than most of the more ambitious men who have exceeded him in popular effect, and he corrected his inquiries by a better logic, and a more simple faith. But I have sometimes thought him too much of a recluse for his greatest profiting in this respect. He loved best the retirement of his own study, and was rarely seen outside of it, except when required by his official duties. He abjured the artificial forms and fashions of social life, the bustling confusions of trade and commerce, and the whirl and finesse of political agitations. He never would stand on a platform, nor be seen at an anniversary, nor harangue a popular a.s.sembly. He was happiest in solitude where, undisturbed, he could solve the abstruse problems of ethics, or be a delighted critic of metaphysical theories, or seek to penetrate the mysteries of theology. He was consequently in danger of contemplating his subjects, like so many others of his time, both in Church and State, too much in their refined essence, and too little in their comprehensive practical relations; rather as things, in his judgment, ought to be, than as they are; too much in the light of a fict.i.tious principle, and too little in that of experience, history, and a.n.a.logy; rather according to G.o.d's original const.i.tution than the actual necessities of a fallen state; too much as they may be in the ultimate development of G.o.d's moral providence, and too little as they are in its administrative course. Hence, but for the greatest care which, in the main, he exercised, he would have been likely to crowd into his definitions and postulates more than they naturally admitted, or to make them less than they naturally required; to mistake, for the basis of his fulcrum, a speculative subtlety instead of a practical reality; and, consequently, to make his inexorable logic draw too much, or to little, for legitimate practical effect. If, occasionally tempted by the excitement of our present types of speculative and conjectural science, he seemed to overstep the limits which G.o.d has prescribed to us in our present probationary state, and to make the human a measure of the Divine, it was done not presumptuously, from a spirit of conceited and ambitious intermeddling with things forbidden, but unconsciously, from an honest desire for knowledge. When he perceived, as he was not slow to perceive, that many of the objects which now so much allure the learned men of the world, who are falsely so called, were not real, but ideal and conceptional only, not actual knowledge verifiable by a day-light test, but shadows and chimeras chasing one another over the moonlit sky, then he retreated. He chose to stop, reverentially, as taught by Scripture, when he must, rather than to be driven back by the cherubim and the flaming sword. Not even Kant, or Coleridge, or any of their living imitators, however congenial their respective tastes for speculative subtleties, could tempt him so to disregard the boundary between reason and faith as to lose sight of Calvary, or mistake an _ignis fatuus_ for the Sun of Righteousness.

His college experience, and, I have sometimes thought the _genius collegii_, with a father's and mother's teachings and prayers, all favored by the Spirit who only searcheth the deep things of G.o.d, kept him near and true to the everlasting Word.

"But we forgot all his speculative trials and temptations, we forgot almost that he was not perfect but in part, when, in his sacred character, and in this sacred place, he laid aside his weapons of intellectual warfare, and, with his peculiar meekness of wisdom, simplicity of statement, power of argument, and cogency of appeal, testified to us the great things of the kingdom of G.o.d, so far as he had learned them out of the Holy Scripture. Very instructive and affecting it was, when, as sometimes, the aspiring philosopher, the uncompromising logician, the astute economist, the grave and learned dogmatist, renounced these and all other accomplishments of nature, or rather made them subservient to the greater accomplishments of grace.

Then we admired, even to tears of thankfulness, how the wise man, in becoming a fool, becomes truly wise; how he who could be great among his fellows on Mars Hill,--great after the fashion of the Areopagus,--could be greater, after a higher fashion, in declaring the G.o.d there Unknown; in repeating simply the lessons of that heavenly wisdom which none of the princes of this world knew; and, with a child-like sincerity and earnestness, from his own sense of the sufficiency of redeeming mercy, inviting us to 'The Lamb of G.o.d who taketh away the sin of the world.'

"It might seem that one so abstract and speculative, so contemplative and reserved, would naturally be wanting in those sensibilities and affections which are justly reckoned indispensable to the highest excellence of character, and to the happiness, or the relief, of our present state. But appearances do not necessarily represent, but more frequently conceal, realities. I have been permitted to read some of his most familiar letters, which reveal a sunny and cheery side of his character which I had not learned from personal observation. That he had a susceptible and generous heart no man ever doubted. But one must know what he has written to his friends, out of its unperceived fullness, to appreciate those hidden sympathies of his nature which brought him into harmony as well with the outer as the inner world.

Few would have a better relish for innocent festivities, or the pleasures of travel, or the grander and finer works of nature or art.

Few would be more excited by the sparkle or roar of ocean, the magnificent scenery of Centre Harbor, the sublime panorama of the White Mountains, or the quiet beauties of the Connecticut valley.

True, such objects engaged him but for a time. They were not his chief good. He wanted the higher satisfactions of enlarged knowledge, of speculative insight, of reasoning activity, of professional engagement. They were not his work, but his pastime. Yet, when he played, it was with as great enjoyment as any man can have who plays alone, and far greater than they have, or can have, who do naught but play in company, who care for little but sights and sounds, at length sickened and enfeebled by their very tastes, incapable of grave and dignified pursuits, disgusted by their own vanities, remorseful at their own intemperate hilarities, saying, at last, of laughter, 'It is mad, and of mirth, what doth it?' Stoical he may have been, for that belongs, almost of course, to natural magnanimity, and familiarity with large and elevated themes; but ascetic and cynical he was not, and could not have been, with his appreciation of Christian truth, and experience of a Saviour's love.

"The scholar, teacher, preacher, learned, profound, effective, venerable in all relations, has pa.s.sed away; the good man, regenerate by the grace of G.o.d, trusting in the righteousness of Christ, and hoping for salvation only through redeeming blood; the righteous man, stern and inflexible in his integrity, who never dissembled, never professed what he did not feel, never hated, never spoke evil of his neighbor, and could and did say that he was never angry at his brother; the faithful man, who was true to his engagements, kept his post, and, in weariness and painfulness, performed his appointed work till he was struck with death; the husband, father, friend, of whom, in these relations, it were impertinent to speak particularly, while wounded spirits are already telling, too much, how great his value, and how great their loss. He has pa.s.sed away, dying as he had lived, and taught, and preached,--in faith; peaceful as a little child, and hopeful of that better state where that which is perfect will come, and that which is in part shall be done away."

Professor Long published a sermon before the W. R. Synod in 1847, a discourse on "The Literary Merits of Immoral Books," in the same year, "Inaugural Address at Auburn," in 1858, a sermon in Dartmouth College Church, "Jesus Exalted yet Divine," in 1859, and a memorial sermon on Professor Roswell Shurtleff, in 1861. In 1836, with Professor Gregg, he a.s.sumed the editorship of the "Ohio Observer" published at Hudson.

In their first address to their readers is this pa.s.sage: "In relation to the subject of slavery we shall take the high ground that man is man and cannot therefore be treated and used as property without sin, that immediate emanc.i.p.ation is a duty, and that it is therefore the duty of every man to pray and strive in every virtuous way for the abolition of slavery." The last date of an editorial is June, 1837.

Professor Long married Rhoda Ensign, daughter of Alpha Rockwell, of Winsted, Connecticut. He died at Hanover, October 14, 1861.

Propriety forbids more than the briefest reference to a large number of the worthy living, who have been, or who still are numbered among Dartmouth's professors, in the Academical department. Otherwise we might dwell, with profit, upon the name of the able theologian, George Howe; of the eminent linguist, Calvin E. Stowe; of that strong and graceful master of the English, the Latin, and the Greek, Edwin D.

Sanborn, who is now just pa.s.sing the threshold of the "three score and ten," and completing nearly a half century of various and valuable connection with his Alma Mater; of Oliver P. Hubbard, who is still patiently and skillfully unfolding the secrets of science in halls which have echoed his voice for more than forty years; of Samuel G.

Brown, the music of whose chaste and charming lectures on Rhetoric still lingers in the ears of a long line of pupils; of Daniel J.

Noyes, whose fidelity, courtesy, and kindness in the chairs of Theology and Philosophy have given him a warm place in the hearts of nearly thirty cla.s.ses; of James W. Patterson, whose pupils have watched the turning of the thoughts of an admired and honored teacher from Natural to Political Science, with unceasing interest, and followed him through the vicissitudes of public service, with undiminished affection; of Charles A. Aiken, the critical and accomplished linguist, whose loss by the college was deemed almost irreparable; of William A. Packard, who, in a kindred department gave early promise of his later success; of Charles A. Young, whose scientific researches have added to the fame of his family, his college, and his country. Nor should the service rendered to the cause of science by Henry Fairbanks and John R. Varney, while professors at Dartmouth, escape our notice.

A proper estimate of the value of the services of those who are now manfully and successfully bearing "the burden and heat of the day,"

and bidding fair to do so for years to come, in this important field, with its slender pecuniary rewards, of Samuel C. Bartlett, Henry E.

Parker, Elihu T. Quimby, Charles H. Hitchc.o.c.k, John C. Proctor, Charles F. Emerson, and John K. Lord, must be left to a future historian.

The tutor's chair at Dartmouth has been filled by many men of high promise, some going to premature graves, others to what they deemed more inviting fields. Among them we find such names as Calvin Crane, Moses Fiske, Asa McFarland, John Noyes, the value of whose instruction was gratefully acknowledged by Dartmouth's most ill.u.s.trious son a quarter of a century after his graduation, Thomas A. Merrill, Frederick Hall, Josiah Noyes, Andrew Mack, John Brown, Henry Bond, William White, Rufus W. Bailey, James Marsh, Nathan Welby Fiske, Rufus Choate, Oramel S. Hinckley, John D. Willard, Henry Wood, Ebenezer C.

Tracy, Ira Perley, Silas Aiken, Evarts Worcester, Jarvis Gregg, and Samuel H. Taylor. We cannot dwell upon individual merit, nor give even the names of all who have rendered valuable service in this sphere.

The "Indian Charity School," also has had many teachers of distinguished worth. Among them we find such names as Benjamin Trumbull, the historian, to whom we have referred heretofore; Ralph Wheelock, the favorite son of the honored founder, who would doubtless have left to him his official mantle, but for the early failure of his health; James Dean, whose name is indelibly engraven upon the earlier periods of our national history, Jacob Fowler, who well ill.u.s.trated the value of Christian civilization to the Indian; Caleb Bingham and Elisha Ticknor, whose names are closely interwoven with the educational history of New England's metropolis, Josiah Dunham, Judah Dana, Caleb Butler, William A. Hayes, the intimate and honored friend of Francis Brown, Joseph Perry, John S. Emerson, and Osgood Johnson.

CHAPTER XXVII.

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.--PROFESSORS NATHAN SMITH, REUBEN D. MUSSEY, DIXI CROSBY, EDMUND R. PEASLEE, ALBERT SMITH, AND ALPHEUS B. CROSBY.--OTHER TEACHERS.

In "A Contribution to the Medical History of New Hampshire," by Prof.

A. B. Crosby, we find a condensed history of the Medical Department of the College.

"Soon after its formation, the impression became general that the State Society, excellent as it was both in design and execution, did not fully answer the medical wants of New Hampshire. There were those who felt that the young men of the State should have systematic, didactic instruction, and that this could be accomplished only by the foundation of a regularly chartered medical college. This plan was eventually reduced to a demonstration through the energy and talents of one man. It is with profound veneration that I write the name of Nathan Smith. Himself a member of the society, I know not but he here gained inspiration and encouragement for the enterprise from his a.s.sociates. At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College, in August, 1796, being then a Bachelor of Medicine, not having received the degree of M.D., he made an application to the Board, asking their encouragement and approbation of a plan he had devised to establish a professorship of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in connection with Dartmouth College. After considerable discussion, the Board voted to postpone their final action upon the proposition for a year, but in the meantime a resolution was pa.s.sed complimentary to the character and energy of Mr. Smith, and promising such encouragement and a.s.sistance in the future as the plan might merit and the circ.u.mstances of the college admit.

"The records of the college are extremely barren of details respecting the preliminary steps towards a medical establishment, and there are no means of knowing what the action of the Board was the following year. It is evident, however, that some measures must have been taken in relation to the future welfare of the school, for in the year 1798 we find that 'the fee for conferring the degree of Bachelor of Medicine _pro meritis_ be twenty dollars.' The honorary degree of Master of Arts was the same year conferred on Mr. Smith, while it remained for a subsequent Board to discover that his professional attainments merited the rank and t.i.tle of Doctor.

"Later in the same session it was voted 'That a professor be appointed, whose duty it shall be to deliver public lectures upon Anatomy, Surgery, Chemistry, Materia Medica, and the Theory and Practice of Physic, and that said professor be ent.i.tled to receive payment for instruction in those branches, as hereafter mentioned, as compensation for his services in that office.' Mr. Smith was at once chosen to fulfill the laborious, and to us almost incredible duties of this professorship, while the compensation alluded to was for a long time held in abeyance. We also find that in this year the Board adopted the following code of Medical Statutes:

"1. Lectures shall begin the first of October, annually, and continue ten weeks, during which the professor shall deliver three lectures daily, Sat.u.r.day and Sunday excepted.

"2. In the lectures on the Theory and Practice of Physic, shall be explained the nature of diseases and method of cure.

"3. The lectures on Chemistry and Materia Medica shall be accompanied by actual experiments, tending to explain and demonstrate the principles of Chemistry, and an exhibition shall be made of the princ.i.p.al medicines used in curing disease, with an explanation of their medicinal qualities, and effect on the human body.

"4. In the lectures on Anatomy and Surgery, shall be demonstrated the parts of the human body by dissecting a recent subject, _if such subject can be legally obtained_; otherwise, by exhibiting anatomical preparations, which shall be attended by the performance of the princ.i.p.al capital operations in surgery. [The lower animals were used to some extent.]

"5. The medical professor shall be ent.i.tled to the use of the college library and apparatus gratis.

"6. The medical students shall be ent.i.tled to the use of the college library under the discretionary restrictions of the president.

"7. Medical students shall be subject to the same rules of morality and decorum as Bachelors in Art residing at the college.

"8. No graduate of any college shall be admitted to an examination for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, unless he shall have studied two full years with some respectable physician, or surgeon, and attended two full courses of lectures at some university.

"9. No person _not_ a graduate shall be admitted to such an examination unless he shall have studied _three_ full years, as above, attended two full courses of lectures, and shall, upon a preparatory examination before the president and professors, be able to pa.r.s.e the English and Latin languages, to construe Virgil and Cicero's orations, and possess a good knowledge of common Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, and Natural and Moral Philosophy.

"10. Examinations shall be holden in public before the executive authority of the college by the medical professor, and candidates shall read and defend a dissertation, etc.

"11. Every person receiving a degree in Medicine shall cause his thesis to be printed, and sixteen copies thereof to be delivered to the president, for the use of the college and Trustees.

"12. The fee for attending a full course of lectures shall be fifty dollars; that is, for Anatomy and Surgery, twenty-five dollars; for Chemistry and Materia Medica, fifteen dollars, and for Theory and Practice, ten dollars.

"13. The members of the two senior cla.s.ses in college may attend the medical lectures by paying twenty dollars for the full course.

"Besides these statutes, the Trustees voted that Mr. Smith might employ a.s.sistance in any of his departments, at _his own expense_, and that one half part of the fees for conferring the degree of Bachelor of Medicine be his perquisite, and the other half a perquisite to the president of the college.

"The first course of lectures was delivered in the fall of 1797, although Mr. Smith was not elected to his professorship until after his return from Europe, the following year. In the year 1798, two young men were graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Medicine. The next year the Trustees voted to appropriate a room in the northeast corner of Dartmouth Hall to the use of Professor Smith, and it was repaired and furnished for that purpose. The room was a small one, scarcely as large as a common parlor, but still it served for a lecture hall, dissecting-room, chemical laboratory and library, for several years, when another room adjoining was appropriated to the same purpose.

"In 1801, the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon Mr.

Smith, and a committee was appointed to confer with him in relation to a salary. A grant of fifty dollars per annum was voted him, upon which he was to allow a debt he owed the college for money loaned. I presume that this latter was furnished him in order to enable him to visit Europe.

"The Trustees about this time made a change in the term of study required for a degree. The new statute fixed the period of three years for academical graduates, and five years for non-graduates."

In 1803 the New Hampshire Legislature granted $600 to Dr. Smith for the purchase of apparatus, and in 1809 $3,450 for "a building of brick or stone for a medical school, sixty-five feet in length, thirty-two feet in width, and two stories in height," Dr. Smith furnishing land for the purpose. He furnished one acre, on which a brick building seventy-five feet in length, two stories in the middle, with wings of three stories, was erected, at a cost of over $4,600, Dr. Smith becoming responsible for the balance. By the terms of the above grants the building and anatomical and chemical apparatus became the property of the State upon the removal of Dr. Smith from the inst.i.tution, which is with propriety styled the "New Hampshire Medical College."

In 1810 Dr. Cyrus Perkins (created a Doctor upon that occasion) was elected professor of Anatomy. Some trouble having occurred about this time between the college officers and the Medical students, the following articles were added to the laws.