made by the feet of his dusky leaders. He carried the germ and potency of Hamilton College. If the institution ever drifts from its Christian moorings how unworthy it will be of its early history." No small part of the load which Kirkland and his guides carried in their knapsacks through the wilderness consisted of choice treatises on Biblical learning.

His work was among the Six Nations, the Romans of America." He built with his own hands a log house in an Oneida Indian village. To this house he brought his bride, a niece of President Wheelock, of Dartmouth. They journeyed by boat up the Mohawk River and on horseback through the woods to Oneida, his wife on a pillion behind her husband. In this Indian village his two sons were born. One of them, John Thornton Kirkland, afterwards became distinguished as president of Harvard College. During the Revolutionary war Kirkland was for a time chaplain in the American army. It also fell to him to endeavor to keep the Six Nations in a state of neutrality-to" astutely hold back those bloodhounds of war when they were eager to league with the forces of England to exterminate our infant settlements in central and western New York." The State of New York and the Oneida Indians made him a grant of valuable land in Oneida County in recognition of his faithful services. The eastern boundary of this plot has been marked by a granite shaft, erected on College Hill by the class of `87.

It was probably in 1791 that Kirkland built the small frame house which has been moved to the college campus and is known as Kirkland Cottage, "the cradle of Hamilton College." The cottage contains one family room, with ample fireplace, and three sleeping rooms. It was the "first sample of clapboard architecture" on the Kirkland patent. In this cottage door he sat, nearly a century ago, on Sabbath evenings in the presence of his swarthy, unconverted Bible class, some of whom had walked 30 miles to hear him. Here he received distinguished visitors. Indian chiefs and orators came to confer with him. Governor Clinton and Baron Steuben were his guests, as were also Timothy Dwight and Jeremiah Day when they were in central New York on a long vacation ride on horseback from Yale College.

When Kirkland was maturing his plans, he visited Philadelphia and conferred with the public men there, among whom was Washington, who became deeply interested in the proposed academy. Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Postmaster-General Pickering furnished substantial aid. Hamilton was one of the trustees named in the petition for incorporation. In honor of him it was named Hamilton-Oneida Academy. A charter was granted January 31, 1793. Kirkland labored earnestly to secure funds for the building. In the college memorial hall is the original subscription paper, at the head of which is the following: "Samuel Kirkland, £10 0 0, and fifteen days' work; also 300 acres of land for the use and benefit of the academy, to be leased, and the product applied towards the support of an able instructor."

On July 1, 1794, the corner stone was laid by General Steuben, "the brave old warrior, who had come in our country's hour of trial to discipline her rude soldiery."

Among those present in 1794, when the corner stone was laid, was Schenandoa, the venerable Oneida chief. 66 'His hair was white with unmelting snows." Kirkland lived long enough to see the institution he had founded enter upon its mission of wide usefulness. Those trained within its walls were going forth "to walk conspicuous in the world's light." The devoted missionary died in 1808, lamented by every friend of education and Christianity. Schenandoa sank into the sleep of death on the 11th of May, 1816, aged about 110 years. In the twilight of his life he said: "I am an aged hemlock. The winds of a hundred winters have whistled through my branches. I am dead at the top." He requested that his grave might be made near Kirkland's. "Bury me beside my white father, so that I may cling to the skirts of his garments and go up with him at the great resurrection."

FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGE.

In 1805 application was made to the regents for a collegiate charter, which was, however, denied on the claim that the academy possessed inadequate means.

Another unsuccessful petition was presented to the regents in 1811, in which the statement was made that a fund of $15,000 might easily be procured.

At the same session, and at about the same time, Kingston Academy renewed the application made by it long before for incorporation as a college, and both applications were referred to the same committee. They reported that in their opinion no college ought to be started with a fund less than $50,000 in amount, which neither of the applicants possessed. But aside from this, and upon the theory that this sum could be raised, there were questions of expediency and the general welfare of literature that should be duly considered. Perhaps another college might properly be founded in the western district at no distant day, and when this should be done every question having reference to location should be carefully considered. With respect to the middle district, the want was not so apparent, but if decided upon, Kingston would be the preferable place. Upon the 11th day of March, 1811, both petitions were denied and the friends of HamiltonOneida Academy were delayed for the time, but not without hopes of better success at no distant day.'

In January, 1812, printed petitions were circulated, addressed to the regents, and of the following form:

The Memorial and Petition of

Respectfully Sheweth:

That if, to accommodate the citizens of the Eastern and Southern districts, a College has been founded and organized in each of these great divisions of the State, no good reason can be assigned why the western district, which exceeds them in population and extent, should not be invested with a similar privilege.

That the time has arrived when, in the opinion of your petitioners, the interests of the public require the incorporation of a College in the County of Oneida. In support of this opinion your petitioners beg leave to state that by examining the relative position and circumstances of the several counties in the Western district, and by adverting to the course of trade and the route of communication between the remote parts of this State, it would appear that no county westward of Albany and equally central combines the advantages of extensive business, of concentrated population and of expeditious communication with the extreme sections of the district in an equal degree with the county of Oneida.

Your petitioners further represent to your Honorable Board that in regard to the actual site of the contemplated College, Hamilton-Oneida Academy in the village of Clinton presents, in their opinion, stronger claims for an act of incorporation than can be offered by any other situation in the country, because should it be proposed to establish a College elsewhere, a violent competition would inevi

1 The academic report of 1811, the last one they had occasion to make, showed an attendance of 150, of whom 5 were in reading and writing, 76 in English grammar, 30 in mathematics, 30 in the dead languages, 25 in logic, rhetoric, and composition, and 2 in moral philosophy. Value of lot and building, $11,525; of other real estate, $2,357; of personal estate, $850, and of apparatus and library, $447; tuition, $740, being from $8 to $12 per annum to each student. Principal Seth Norton, with salary of $650, and Eli Eddy, A. B., as assistant, with $240. Library, about 200 volumes, etc.

tably arise between the several villages whose situation might be thought adapted to the conveniences and wants of such an institution, because that Academy is the oldest Seminary of learning in the Western District, and because in it, both Classical and Mathematical literature have been as extensively cultivated as in any similar institution in the State.

Your petitioners, therefore. respectfully pray the Regents of the University to invest Hamilton Oneida Academy with collegiate powers and privileges, and from the great liberality of the inhabitants living in its vicinity, and from the strong interest extensively created in its behalf, no apprehension can reasonably be indulged that the institution will be suffered to languish for want of adequate support. If the proximity of Union College be adjudged as an objection to the prayer of your petitioners, they respectfully reply that a complete refutation of the objection may be found in the fact that several of the American Colleges have a still greater proximity to each other, and are nevertheless in flourishing circumstances.

Some opposition arose to this measure by those interested in the advancement of Fairfield Academy to a college, and Oneida Castle was mentioned by others as a preferable site. Efforts were at the same time being renewed at Kingston, but these did not prevent favorable action upon the application from Hamilton Oneida Academy. Resolutions to this effect were passed on the 10th of March, 1812, upon condition that funds should be raised which should, with those on hand, amount to $50,000.

This condition being met by valid subscription, the draft of a charter prepared by Chief Justice Kent was reported May 26, and ordered to be issued. Its yearly income was limited to $13,333. The persons proposed in the foregoing memorial were appointed first trustees, with power to fill vacancies that might occur in their number, and the powers, privileges, and duties of the board were defined in detail. The president of the college was to hold his office during good behavior, but all other officers at the will of the trustees. The college might confer such degrees as were usually granted by any college or university in Europe.

The financial agent employed in getting subscriptions was the Rev. Caleb Alexander, long the successful principal of Fairfield Academy, and the benefactors of the college were widely scattered throughout the then settled part of the State. Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany, gave $1,000, the largest item, and Governor Tompkins gave $500.

There appears to have been an intention of making this a seat of medical as well as classical education, for in the recommendations of the first committee on college officers, besides a professor of chemistry and mineralogy, there was proposed to be one of surgery and anatomy, one of the institutes of medicine, and one of obstetrics.

PRESIDENTS OF HAMILTON COLLEGE.

[Quoted from the Public Service of New York (1882), Vol. III.]

Hamilton College has had eight presidents, all men of various learning, of intellectual strength and Christian integrity, and all ordained ministers of the Gospel

by Presbyterian or Congregational bodies. Five of them were graduates from Yale College, one from Glasgow University, one from Dartmouth, and one from Amherst.

The first president of the college, Rev. Dr. Azel Backus (Yale, 1788), had won high distinction as a preacher and classical teacher in Bethlehem, Conn. He loved his pupils, and treated them with paternal tenderness. In the class room he was independent of the text-book and used the resources of his own mind. His greatest power, however, was revealed in the pulpit. His address at the funeral of the Sachem Shenandoa, in the old white meetinghouse of Clinton, was full of genuine pathos. Dr. Backus died suddenly in December, 1816, aged 52. A volume of his sermons, with a brief sketch of his life, was published in 1824. Twentyfive graduates, in three classes, received diplomas signed by President Backus. Fourteen graduates of the class of 1817 received diplomas signed by Prof. Seth Norton.

In 1817 Rev. Dr. Henry Davis (Yale, 1796), then president of Middlebury College, was elected to succeed President Backus. At the same time he received and declined an election to the presidency of Yale College, to succeed Dr. Timothy Dwight. Dr. Davis was inaugurated as the second president in the fall of 1817. This administration covered a period of sixteen years. They were years of mingled sunshine and disaster, closing with full classes in 1833. Two hundred and fifty-five graduates received diplomas with his signature. He died in 1852, aged 82, having lived nineteen years in retirement and constant ill-health.

The third president, Rev. Dr. Sereno Edwards Dwight (Yale, 1803), was elected in the fall of 1833 and resigned in 1835, after giving diplomas to 33 graduates in two classes. Like his preeminent father, Timothy Dwight. the third president was a finished scholar and a brilliant preacher. Perhaps the most important question he was called to deal with was that of removing the college to Utica. He enlisted with the advocates of removal, and the final decision that the college must remain where its founder had placed it may have had something to do with his early resignation. President Dwight died in 1850, aged 67, after many years of bodily suffering.

The fourth president, Rev. Dr. Joseph Penney (Glasgow, 1813), was elected in 1835. He had been remarkably successful as a teacher at Flushing, Long Island, and as a pastor at Rochester, N. Y., and at Northampton, Mass. His large knowledge in every branch of science and literature made him a pleasant companion and a valuable instructor. He resigned in the winter of 1839, after giving diplomas to 44 graduates in three classes. His last years were spent in Rochester, where he died in 1860.

The fifth president, Dr. Simeon North (Yale, 1825), was promoted from the chair of ancient languages, which he had filled for ten years. During his long administration of eighteen years decided advances were made in all that contributes to the substantial worth, vitality, and usefulness of a college. President North resigned in 1857 after conferring diplomas upon 556 graduates in nineteen classes.

The sixth president, Rev. Samuel Ware Fisher (Yale, 1835), took charge of the institution in 1858. With restless energy and enthusiasm President Fisher devoted himself to bringing the college into closer sympathy with the community, and thus increasing its patronage and means of usefulness. He introduced the study of the Bible as a part of its regular curriculum.

His addresses before religious bodies were frequent and impressive. After conferring degrees upon 226 graduates, in eight classes. President Fisher resigned his office in July, 1866, to accept a call to the pastorate of Westminister Church, in Utica. He resigned his pastorate in January, 1871, and died in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 18, 1874.

The seventh president, Rev. Dr. Samuel Gilman Brown (Dartmouth, 1831), was called in 1866 from Dartmouth College, which he had faithfully served for twentyseven years, first, in the chair of oratory and belles-lettres, and next in that of metaphysics and political economy. He entered upon the president's duties in the spring of 1867. As a teacher President Brown held the highest rank. His sermons were models of vigorous and polished thinking and writing. His Life of Rufus Choate was favorably received on both sides of the Atlantic. He resigned in 1881 and was succeeded by Rev. Henry Darling, D. D., LL. D.

President Darling made earnest efforts during his administration to increase the endowment of the college and to broaden the scope of its work in harmony with the general educational tendency of the time. The efforts to increase the property of the college met with considerable

success.

In 1892, Dr. Darling was succeeded by the Rev. Melancthon Woolsey Stryker, D.D., then pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, of Chicago. Upon his inauguration in January, 1893, a special resolution was passed by the trustees commending Prof. Edward North, L. H. D., for his services as acting president, from April 21, 1891, after President Darling's death, to the beginning of Dr. Stryker's presidency in November, 1892.

During the presidency of Dr. Stryker the curriculum has been somewhat further developed and reorganized. The present condition of the college will appear in the following description of the courses of instruction, scientific collections, grounds and buildings, library, etc.

COURSES OF INSTRUCTION.

These are two, the classical and the Latin-scientific, each occupying four years and ordinarily requiring an attendance upon not less than three recitations daily. It is intended that the two courses shall be equivalents in work demanded. Each of them, by the ample electives of the later two years, can be so modified as to satisfy widely varying individual preferences.

Their prime object is to form habits of alert and accurate thinking and to cultivate the arts of critical and effective expression. This vigorous and extended discipline of the mental and moral powers is sought through introduction to the leading facts and principles in literature and language, and in historical, philosophical, and physical science. The elements of Biblical and Christian knowledge are diligently taught.

University specialization is not attempted in any department, but thorough general introduction is given and a solid foundation is laid for graduate work.

In both courses term essays are required, as follows: For the first term, freshman and sophomore, these are in the department of English literature, and for the second term, freshman and sophomore, in the department of rhetoric; but in these second terms a prize essay upon one of the assigned subjects will be accepted in place of the term essay.