between September, 1777, and September, 1781, the College was not open for regular work more than half the usual time; and, indeed, President Stiles tells us that the Commencement at which Chancellor Kent's class was graduated, September 12, 1781, was the first public Commencement in his Presidency and the first public Commencement during a period of seven years.1 Chancellor Kent thus describes the condition of the College: The country was so unsettled and disturbed from 1776 to 1781, and the means of subsistence were so difficult that the College was not open and in regular exercise more than half the usual time. But even the collegiate terms broken and interrupted as they were, proved sufficient to give the students a taste for classical learning and philosophical science, and to teach them how to cultivate their own resources in the various pursuits and duties of life. President Stiles' zeal for civil and religious liberty was kindled at the altar of the English and New England Puritans and it was animating and vivid. A more constant and devoted friend to the Revolution and independence of this country never existed. He had anticipated it as early as the year 1760 and his whole soul was enlisted in favor of every measure which led on gradually to the formation and establishment of the American Union. The frequent appeals which he was accustomed to make to the heads and hearts of his pupils, concerning the slippery paths of youth, the grave duties of life, the responsibilities of man, and the perils and hopes and honors and destiny of our country, will never be forgotten by those who heard them; and especially when he came to touch, as he often did, with "a master's hand and prophet's fire" on the bright vision of the future prosperity and splendor of the United States." In this respect, also, Judge Simeon Baldwin, in his letter to the Hon. William Kent, to which we shall presently refer again, said: It will be remembered we were in college during part of the Revolutionary War, and all the classes were for a time convened for safety in separate country towns, in the center of the State. James Kent and myself joined the class in Glastonbury, under the care of Professor Strong as tutor, and continued together until the January vacation; were then dismissed and not called together again until June of the next year. We then met at New Haven and Dr. Stiles was inaugurated President." Yes, we can gather that President Stiles made frequent appeals to the students concerning "the slippery paths of youth" and "the grave duties of life" from an inspection of his own diary. Thus, under date of February 24, 1781, we find the following entry: I gave three theological discourses this day as usual on Saturdays. At II o'clock I explained Vincent on Catechism to the Senior Class. In the afternoon a lecture to a select number of serious scholars, about 20, in 1. Stiles' Diary, Vol. II, p. 554. the library from all the classes. At evening prayers I expounded a Chapter in the Confession of Faith, publickly, in the Chapel. The good Lord accompany with a blessing my Endeavours to impregnate the Minds of my pupils with doctrinal and experimental Knowledge in Divine and Heavenly things. And under date of February 17, we find the following: This Aft. a Chamber theol. Lecture-Subject Whether there are any Promises to the Doings of the Unregenerate.' President Stiles also gives us a roster of the students by classes for the year 1779-1780, and here he gives us the location of their rooms. By this time the Chancellor's class had become Juniors and their numbers had been reduced to twenty-six from the number of twenty-nine which they possessed when "Recentes." We find that the Chancellor occupied room 14-E. This was in the only dormitory building then existing, which was then known as Connecticut Hall, afterwards known and hallowed to the memory of myriads of Yale Sophomores as old "South Middle." President Stiles tells us that 14-E meant room No. 14 on the east front of the building3 and Chancellor Kent, in later years, confirms the fact by many visits he paid to this same room. In 1831, the year when the Chancellor returned and delivered the Phi Beta Kappa oration, there was published in New Haven an illustrated duodecimo volume upon the history and antiquities of that town. Chancellor Kent purchased a copy, and, following his delightful custom, so valuable to posterity, he copiously annotated it. This copy, replete with the most interesting notes and comments by its distinguished owner, is now in the possession of his great-grandson and biographer, Mr. William Kent, of Tuxedo Park, and to his generosity am I deeply indebted for being able to illustrate these pages with a few of the pictures from this book, rendered more interesting and illuminating by the autograph notes of the Chancellor. The facsimile, here given from Barber's New Haven, together with the Chancellor's note in relation to it, gives, it will be seen, a clear and vivid idea of the buildings as they existed, not only in 1831, but in 1777-1781, and it will be noted that here Chancellor Kent marks his room, No. 14-E., as being the one on the northeast corner of the top floor of Connecticut Hall. As is well 1. Stiles' Diary, Vol. II, p. 512. 2. Stiles' Diary, Vol. II, p. 428. 3. Idem. 4. History/and/Antiquities/of New Haven. (Conn.) from its earliest settlement to the present time./Collected and compiled/from the most authentic sources/by J. W. Barber./Illustrated with engravings./New Haven/1831/. When I lived at Yale College from hely 1778 to September 1981 The only Building فيه مما now Handing the Chapel & Connectical trall being the two Building embraced within my black. Cines. He star ball Spice of the Chapel has frice boon taken don, & a faster dessen habebitis. So the bustory of Connectica. Hail was then with gamble windows in the noch. During ties Last Gears Residence may I lived in the 4: Stry, feat Side No Room, marke's this Facsimile of Chancellor Kent's note in Barber's New Haven* referring to the College Buildings shown on the opposite page Original in the possession of Mr. William Kent of Tuxedo Park, New York See note, page 320 |