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Educational Problems at Yale College in the Eighteenth Century, by ALEXANDER COWIE

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Educational Problems at Yale College in the Eighteenth Century, by ALEXANDER COWIE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT COMMITTEE O N HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS LV Educational Problems at Tale College in the Eighteenth Century ALEXANDER COWIE PUBLISHED FOR THE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS r 974 . 6 1936 TER, LV c . 2 icticut State Library y o -rvice Center South Main Street Middletown, Connecticut 06457 the Printing-Office of the Yale University Press TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS LV Educational Problems at Tale College in the Eighteenth Century ALEXANDER COWIE I COLLEGE education in Connecticut during the mid-eighteenth century meant, of course, education at Yale College. The founding of Yale is ordinarily referred to the year 1701 (some authorities say 1700), when ten ministers repre- senting the principal towns of Connecticut came together for this purpose at Branford. Each minister bore a gift of books, which he deposited on a table, repeating the formula, "I give these books for the founding of a College in this Colony." Although the Collegiate School, as it was at first called, was thus born under the blessed auspices of religion, the years of its minority were pre- carious ones during which its very life was threatened by an ignoble controversy between Saybrook, Wethersfield, and New Haven as to where it should have its permanent home. In 1717 custody of the college was finally given to New Haven by a decree of the general assembly, which subsequently ordered "that a State house should be built at Hartford to compensate for the college at New Haven; that £25 sterling should be given to Say- brook to compensate for the removal of the college." Even after the decision to award the college to New Haven, dispute and experiment kept its affairs in a state bordering on chaos until 1726 when, upon the installation of Rector Elisha Williams, the "regular life of the college may be said to have begun." Thomas Clap succeeded Elisha Williams in 1739. The era of good feeling inaugu- rated by his predecessor continued for some years during Clap's administration; but domestic difficulties gradually recurred which ultimately became so serious that they were solved only when President Clap resigned his office after scenes of violence, in 1766. This crisis was reached largely because of the personal unpopularity of President Clap, an able but headstrong man. It served, however, to emphasize the need for reform of archaic methods which vitiated college education at Yale and elsewhere in the colonies during the eighteenth century. During the in- cumbency of Acting President Daggett, who was more amenable to suggestion, the harshness of the adminis- tration was temporarily relaxed and some revision of the curriculum was secured. Yet the immediate gains were small. Consequently, the slender progress made at Yale in the period just before the Revolution serves to reveal the vast gulf between the educational ideals of that day and this. The later years of the century, however, brought the beginnings of better days not only for the nation but also for the college, which enjoyed progres- sive leadership under Presidents Ezra Stiles and Timothy D wight. 2 II AMID the profusion of buildings which now flourish on the campus at New Haven it is difficult to call up the day of Yale's modest beginnings. Until 1752 there was only one building, known at first as Yale College and later as Old College. This was a three-story frame struc- ture of doubtful beauty built in 1717-1718 near what is now the corner of College and Chapel Streets. An "elon- gated and pinched-together edifice," it contained cham- bers for about sixty students, besides a hall, a library, and a kitchen. A British traveler who saw it in 1750 reported it as "very much decayed." At that time it could no longer accommodate all the students, who numbered more than one hundred and fifty. Connecticut Hall, which may still be seen, somewhat altered, on the Yale campus, was built in 1750-1752, partly with funds derived from a lottery sanctioned by the general assem- bly. It had three stories and a cellar, and it was used chiefly as a dormitory. The college was growing so fast at this time, however, that in less than a decade a new building was ordered, New Hall or Chapel, begun in 1761 and first occupied in 1763. The library was given new quarters in the floor above the chapel. In the early days, despite the reasonable generosity of the general assembly, sufficient funds were hard to secure, so that the interiors of both Connecticut Hall and New Hall remained un- finished long after the buildings were occupied. The faculty was correspondingly small. At first, of course, it was made up largely of Harvard graduates, but by the middle of the century the college had begun the practice of filling vacancies mainly from among its own alumni. Until 1755 the teaching staff consisted of the president and two or three tutors. In 1755 Naphtali 3 Daggett, later acting president, was installed as professor of divinity. Lectures were given by the president and the professor, and recitations were heard by the tutors. The president normally gave special attention to the senior class, and each of the tutors was assigned to one of the other classes. As will be seen, the professor of divinity was an exceedingly busy person, for education in Puritan America was firmly coordinated with religion. As the sign of their office the tutors wore black silk gowns with arm bands; the professor and the president were distinguished by robes and wigs. Theoretically the students showed every mark of respect for the staff: the college Laws (Statuta) required that they should. Due formality doubtless obtained in times of peace; but there came a day when to be on the staff was to be exposed not only to indignity but to actual hazard. Prospective students of the college generally prepared by going into residence with a minister for an indeter- minate length of time. Perhaps partly on account of the informality of this arrangement and partly on account of the lack of equipment for some kinds of instruction in the minister's home, the preparatory period was fre- quently short; and it is certain that boys often entered college at a considerably earlier age than they now do. When the minister felt that his charge was adequately prepared, he dispatched him to an examination before the president and staff. According to the Laws of 1755 a candidate for admission was expected to show that he could read at sight and construe Cicero, Virgil, and the Greek Testament; had learned thoroughly the common rules of prosody and arithmetic; could write "true" Latin prose; and could give satisfactory evidence of his blameless life and good moral character. These require- ments do not look excessively light; but later criticism 4 of the college dictates the inference that the candidates were not held to a very rigid interpretation of the Laws. At least one person, John Trumbull, the author of M'Fingal, passed the entrance examination (in 1757) at the age of seven—though, needless to say, he did not enter college immediately. Even allowing for the excep- tional precocity of Trumbull, it does not seem likely that the examination was a very searching one. To have made it so would have been to reject many candidates, among them the more affluent young men. Of those students who did not intend to capitalize their education by going into the ministry, a majority were "gentlemen's" sons with no desire to know the "long fatigue of turning books." That the Corporation took cognizance of social rank is clear from the fact that prior to 1767 the official list of students was kept, not alphabetically, but in order of social prominence. After the candidate for admission had passed the entrance examination, his father or guardian gave the steward a bond sufficient to cover the quarterly bills— a wise if not always effective precaution, as the turbulent 'sixties proved. The average expenses, though variable, seem not to have been great. In 1760, for example, tuition was six shillings and six pence a quarter. Moreover there were some attempts to assist the poorer boys, especially if they happened to be good students, by means of scholarships and waiterships. Having arranged for the payment of his bills, the candidate was obliged to pur- chase a copy of the college Laws, a grim handbook in Latin, which when signed by the president and one or more of the tutors, was the evidence of his matriculation. He was then assigned to a chamber, which he scrutinized carefully for signs of damage chargeable to the preceding occupant. Thereafter he was financially responsible for 5 all damage to the room except that which occurred Providentia Dei inevitabili. Thus thoroughly impressed by his responsibilities, the young man became a member of the college community. The academic year began late in October and ran, with short vacations in January and May, until the following September. Commencement was held on the second Wednesday in September. Thereupon ensued the long vacation, a period of several weeks, before the new year began. ILL THE daily regimen at college seems to have been defi- nitely planned so as to reduce to a minimum the time during which the devil might find employment for idle hands. The day began with the ringing of the bell by the butler "between six o'clock and the rising of the sun." After prayers conducted by the president, the students repaired to commons, where a tutor or a senior asked a blessing over and returned thanks for a meal that seldom inspired gratitude in the undergraduate heart.
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