Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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Page 1.1, 1925 Liber Brunensis il' 1' ' rug IEIEIIEI Ellmlilslm s il W, ps ni in till El I-I s Ull li L , amusing nm f A a n 9 lil 1 ca bin And then came the Revolution, scarcely six years after the embryo college had graduated its first class of seven men 5 and the plain, noble University Hall that stood so isolated on the top of an unsettled pasture-land had to suspend its eager efforts towards enlightenment for the more grim needs of War. It became a barracks and hospital for American and French troops and not until May, 1782, were its educational functions restored. The onward struggle of the college was renewed with great vigor and courage. When President Manning died in 1791 the foundation of a permanent, liberal institution of learning had been laid - with what spiritual and practical suffering it is not diflicult to imagine. Rhode Island College then had a graduate roll of one hundred and forty-nine, and the faculty had become enlarged to the president, four professors, and two tutors. The faint spark kindled by James Manning and his colleagues had grown to a warm, vigorous fire that was very materially scorching the all too prevalent dry weeds of ignorance. A short time after the death of Manning, the Corporation selected Jonathan Maxcy, a man of but twenty-four years, as his successor. A poetic master of oratory, a deep and liberal thinker, an inspiring teacher -- in spite of these superb qualities it still seems that President Maxcy was not the man to live a public life. It is conceivable that in solitude and isolation he would have found himself more in his element, and that more lasting creations would have come from him. V His administration C1792 - 18025 was marked by a student rebellion that holds a rather pertinent interest for the modern undergraduate. The steward had raised his weekly board rate from 51.7 5 to 851.92 -- an unbelievable amount. The fluctuation of prices resulted in 1798 in the students refusing to attend classes. At this time the president signed a treaty 5 but again, two years later, the students declined to bother about any college duties until the steward should be discharged. Even the earnest pleading of President Maxcy in chapel one morning could not prevail against the hot-headedness of the undergraduates. They walked out of the chapel, quite unaffected by even the impassioned oratory of Jonathan Maxcy,

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Book I. The Story of Brown Page 13 HE: Sronv o B R OMTN l T IS a long journey from the struggling days of James Manning to the pros- Perous, broadened administration of William Herbert Perry Faunce, from the customs and thoughts and simplicity of that time to the complicated life of today- The faithful progressiveness of many high-minded men and the incessant Fhange of an ever-advancing world have swept the tiny infant of a college that was born is 17B4 to its present matured state of intellectual attainment and material expansion. he Journey was one of suffering and gradual achievementg and, to those of us who now form a part of that endless stream flowing through the historic halls of Brown, the 53:1 EZ that journey may bring the power of a great tradition and the sense of an infinite l BY the middle of the eighteenth centiu'y practically all the dominant religious sects ln the. American colonies had become sufiiciently well-moulded to vent their intellectual Lgearnings in the establishment of universities. The Congregationalists had conceived Clarvard and Yale 5 the Presbyterians, the College of New Jerseyg the Reformed Dutch C urch. Rutgers Collegeg and the Episcopalians, the University of Pennsylvania, Olumbla, and William and Mary College. The Baptists were proud of their tradition frnd creed and 8'I'0wing strength: they too must have a college -- for manifold reasons. hwentlf Years of faint murmuring broke forth into an urgent cry and, at last, in 1763, t 9 Phlladelbhla Baptist Association sent James Manning to establish a Baptist college 'WWW' in Rhode Island. the ghe Association had made an admirable choiceg in 1764 ' ,we -1 5 whicheneral .Assembly granted the new college a charter B 44 - Corporal? still in. force and soon. after, at the second dent Rfnd meeting, James Manning was chosen presi- at Wan, 0 eRIsland College, as it was then called, existed Universitenfl-I I-, during five years. By that time, built Y al and a house for the president had been . at 3 9081: Of 510,000, and the institution moved to 1tS present site in Providence. -X ---- -lllll-lla

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,, Book I. The College Page 15 Luckily, however, this sore wound in the life of i i ' the college soon healed over. To be sure, there were ix other things that did not please the student mind, 1, among them being the ruling that students must not jj leave the college yard during study hours. Many of ill, 4 the two hundred and thirty men who graduated under M - President Maxcy scarcely knew the city of Provi- X dence until the end of their college course, only once Or twice a week were they permitted to Walk through , the streets of the city. And, too, doubtless another law caused not a few grumblings - a law which stated that the Steward shall not be permitted on so -A: 1 i any pretence to sell any Spirituous Liquors to the Students except Cyder ! Asa Messer, professor of languages, mathematics, and natural philosophy, became the third president of Rhode Island College upon the resignation of Jonathan Maxcy. He served in that capacity until 1826, his incumbency being marked not only by lfhysical expansion but by an easing of the financial difliculties that had been so haras- Sm! a check on progress hitherto. The generous gifts of Nicholas Brown were the happy cause of this, in all, his philanthropy expressed itself to the sum of nearly S200,000 3 hllge amount for that period of American prosperity, and in 1804 the Corporation showed its heartfelt gratitude by changing the name of the college to Brown University. Later, in 1822, Mr. Brown erected the splendid Colonial building, Hope College, at a Personal expense of about 325,000 .The administration was a successful one in every Way. The faculty had expanded 130 nine professors and two tutors, a medical school, which lasted from 1811 to 1828, sent out eighty-seven graduates, and the graduating class of 1825 numbered forty-eight men, ln addition to the medical students. .Reverend Francis Wayland, the fourth president, ushered in an era of progress lasting from 1827 to 1855. By the plans of the new elective system which he Sponsored, a bachelor's degree required a three-year course of study, while the master's degree could be obtained with four year's work. Graduate work was encouraged, the sciences were probed more deeply and thoroughly, many new subjects were introduced into the curriculum. In addition, President Wayland instituted a system of prizes and scholarships. But the University prospered financially as well as intellectually. In 1834 Nicholas Brown erected Manning Hall, an authentic replica, twice the size, of a temple in Eleusis, the cost amounting to 318,500 , six years later the people of Providence built Rhode Island Hall by a 330,000 subscription, and, in this ,,,9-,- ,:.- same year, the president's house, a wooden structure, was constructed on the land now occupied by the f th , I John Hay Library. Moreover, the permanent funds 0 9 University leaped to a new high figure, S200,000, a large sum for this time. ol-AQHA . lr