the constitution which they had adopted in 1777, fourteen years before, while the question whether there should ever be a State of Vermont was still an open one, having little ground of assurance except the invincible determination of her people, a clause providing for public education, including a State university, had been inserted.

But the council of censors issued an address in February, 1786, to the freemen of the State of Vermont in which two things are now to be noted: First, that in the new constitution which they recommended to the people they had stricken out the clause that "one university in this State ought to be established by direction of the general assembly;" and, second, that in the address to the freemen of the State not the slightest allusion was made to this important change.

Dr. Williams, the historian of Vermont, in 1794 says:

From the first assumption of the powers of government, the assembly had in contemplation the establishment of a university in the State, and with this view reserved one right of land, about 320 acres, in all the townships which they had granted for the use of such a seminary.

And yet the fact remains that that clause of the constitution recommending one university was stricken out in 1786, and the act incorporating the university in 1791 was not passed by reason of any constitutional requirement.

There does not seem to be in any narrative of the founding of the university, of which several have been written, any explanation of this fact or, indeed, any mention of the fact itself.

If we had the detailed report of the proceedings of that council of censors and of the convention which acted on their recommendations, we might be able to find what were the exact reasons which induced the striking out of that clause from the constitution. Perhaps no such detailed records were kept. In their absence we are left to conjecture on this point, and it has occurred to me that this change might have been due to influences from the direction of Dartmouth College.

It will be remembered by those who are familiar with the early history of Vermont that in the course of the long contest between Vermont and New York there was not only a strong sympathy among the towns on the east side of the Connecticut River with their brethren of the New Hampshire grants on the west side of the river, but a strong inclination among them to cast their own lot in with the new State which had been there set up. Furthermore, that, as a matter of fact, they did on two separate occasions, in June, 1778, and in April, 1781, form a union with the new State of Vermont, only to have this relation in a few months dissolved.

It is, of course, easy to see that the occurrences connected with these unions had made close relations between the men of Vermont and those of the towns on the east side of the river. Hanover had, on both occasions, been one of the towns united with Vermont; and John

Wheelock, who became president of Dartmouth College in 1779, has the reputation of having been the first one to propose the union of western New Hampshire with Vermont; and that Dartmouth College, as a body, took a very active part in those transactions is proved by a petition, which is extant, from certain citizens of the neighboring township of Liandaff to the governor of New Hampshire in October, 1781, praying "for aid and protection against the insults and abuses of Vermont, and especially the emeserries of the Coledg."

While these unions lasted, i. e., for eighteen months in all, Dartmouth College was within the boundaries of Vermont. It was quite natural and proper that she should look out for her own interests in her new relations, and natural that she should receive friendly consideration from the men to whom she had given such assistance. And so it is no matter of surprise that four days after the adoption of the union of 1778 the general assembly of Vermont should have passed a vote to take the incorporated University of Dartmouth under the patronage of Vermont;" or that in June, 1785, on the personal presence and request of President Wheelock, it should have granted 23,000 acres of land for the benefit of Dartmouth College and Moor's charity school in Hanover.1

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In return for these unexpected concessions the college promised to educate students from Vermont without charge for tuition, not only in the college, but in the academies which it was proposed to set up and maintain in the several counties in the State. A hint was also given of a "branch college" in Vermont, "if the legislature should ever think it necessary." It was suggested, further, that if Vermont. should establish a college it should be "joined in one bond of union” with Dartmouth.

But the union between Vermont and the towns on the east side of the river had been finally dissolved. If the proposal to change the constitution had been due to influences favorable to Dartmouth, those influences were fading before the rising feelings of pride and affection for their own State in the hearts of Vermonters. The request of Dartmouth was not granted; the vote taking Dartmouth under the patronage of the State was allowed to lapse into oblivion, and the attention of the men of Vermont was turned toward the establishment of their own university. A proposition which had been made by Elijah Paine in 1785 to give £2,000 toward the incorporation of a college, provided it was settled in Williamstown, was renewed in 1787, and in 1789 came the offer of Ira Allen to give £4,000 for that object, provided the college was located "within 2 miles of Burlington Bay," which offer was supplemented by other subscriptions for the same pur

1 For further reference to this subject see "Centennial Address," delivered in Burlington at Commencement of 1891, by Hon. R. D. Benedict, of New York, from whose paper this introductory is mostly taken.

pose to the amount of £1,643 12s., £300 of which was the subscription of the governor, Thomas Chittenden, the founder of the town of Williston.

Of the £4,000, £1,000 was to be paid partly "in a proper square of lands sufficient to erect all the public buildings on, to form a handsome green and convenient gardens for the officers of the college," and partly "in provisions, materials, and labor in erecting the public buildings." The remaining £3,000 was to be paid "in new lands that will rent in produce—that is, wheat, beef, pork, butter, or cheese-for the annual interest at 6 per cent of £3,000." In consequence of this memorial a committee was appointed "to draft a plan for a constitution and government of a college to be established in this State."

And two years later, in November, 1791, the act was passed which incorporated the university and placed it on this spot.

The legislature in granting the charter gave it the lands which had been reserved in the various township grants for the use and benefit of a college, which amounted to a little more than had been granted to Dartmouth. But these grants were of little avail for the expenses of beginning. The trustees determined to lease them rather than to sell them, the wisdom of which action is much commended by Ira Allen in his History of Vermont. It is much to be regretted that the necessities of early times compelled the sale of a part of the 50 acres which were originally set off for the site of the college as lands which formed part of Ira Allen's subscription. By reason of that unfortunate necessity the university has been much cramped for the room made necessary by its growth. It is a source of congratulation that by reason of its recent purchase of 72 acres east of the college buildings it can look forward to the requirements of the coming century with less. uneasiness.

The university was therefore put in motion with funds contributed by individual citizens, and the subscription of Ira Allen may well be considered its corner stone.

Colleges were not as numerous then as now. There are now about 400; but up to that time only 12 had been chartered in all America, and of these only 4 were within the bounds of New England. Harvard had been founded in 1636, one hundred and fifty-five years before; Yale had been founded in 1701, ninety years before; Brown University had been founded in 1764, twenty-seven years before, and Dartmouth in 1771, twenty years before. The will of General Williams had founded the Williams free school six years before, and the thought of making a college there was probably already working in the minds of its friends, for the charter of Williams College was obtained only two years later.

With Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth in full existence, and Williams on the eve of coming into life, what region was there left so favorable

Wheelock, who became president of Dartmouth College in 1779, has the reputation of having been the first one to propose the union of western New Hampshire with Vermont; and that Dartmouth College, as a body, took a very active part in those transactions is proved by a petition, which is extant, from certain citizens of the neighboring township of Liandaff to the governor of New Hampshire in October, 1781, praying "for aid and protection against the insults and abuses of Vermont, and especially the emeserries of the Coledg."

While these unions lasted, i. e., for eighteen months in all, Dartmouth College was within the boundaries of Vermont. It was quite natural and proper that she should look out for her own interests in her new relations, and natural that she should receive friendly consideration from the men to whom she had given such assistance. And so it is no matter of surprise that four days after the adoption of the union of 1778 the general assembly of Vermont should have passed a vote to take "the incorporated University of Dartmouth under the patronage of Vermont;" or that in June, 1785, on the personal presence and request of President Wheelock, it should have granted 23,000 acres of land for the benefit of Dartmouth College and Moor's charity school in Hanover.1

In return for these unexpected concessions the college promised to educate students from Vermont without charge for tuition, not only in the college, but in the academies which it was proposed to set up and maintain in the several counties in the State. A hint was also given of a "branch college" in Vermont, "if the legislature should ever think it necessary." It was suggested, further, that if Vermont should establish a college it should be "joined in one bond of union" with Dartmouth.

But the union between Vermont and the towns on the east side of the river had been finally dissolved. If the proposal to change the constitution had been due to influences favorable to Dartmouth, those influences were fading before the rising feelings of pride and affection for their own State in the hearts of Vermonters. The request of Dartmouth was not granted; the vote taking Dartmouth under the patronage of the State was allowed to lapse into oblivion, and the attention of the men of Vermont was turned toward the establishment of their own university. A proposition which had been made by Elijah Paine in 1785 to give £2,000 toward the incorporation of a college, provided it was settled in Williamstown, was renewed in 1787, and in 1789 came the offer of Ira Allen to give £4,000 for that object, provided the college was located "within 2 miles of Burlington Bay,” which offer was supplemented by other subscriptions for the same pur

1 For further reference to this subject see 'Centennial Address," delivered in Burlington at Commencement of 1891, by Hon. R. D. Benedict, of New York, from whose paper this introductory is mostly taken.