Through inadvertence the name of Hon. Garnett B. Adrain
and of his father Professor Adrain, has been printed Adrian.








THE
RUTGERS COLLEGE,
JUNE 21, 1870.
WITH AN
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED BY
HON. JOSEPH P. BRADLEY,
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT, U. S.
AND OTHER
iztrrot  antf Vrovcrtino.
ALBANY, N. Y.:
JOEL MUNSELL.
1870.








THE
Qenrnfauial o-f Rutger t               ollege.
PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS.
The Board of Trustees of Rutgers College began,
at an early day, to take action preparatory to celebrating in some fitting way the one hundredth year of
the existence of the College. The result of their deliberations was laid by the President, Rev. Wm. H.
Campbell, D.D., before the meeting of the Alumni
held in the Chapel in June, 1869; and was subsequently given to other graduates and friends in the
form of a circular, as follows:
RUTGERS COLLEGE, New Brunswick, N. J.
March 19th, 1870.
Dear,tr:
The Centennial of Rutgers College is to be celebrated at New
Brunswick, Tuesday, June 21, 1870. By this celebration it is
designed to gain two ends:
1. To recount the goodness of God in His care of the College,
and to return thanks for the same.
2. To further in some marked way and degree, the interests
of the College.
In considering how the second end might be best gained the
Trustees have unanimously concluded, that if the following




4
objects could be accomplished, the College would be placed in
a condition highly favorable for its future welfare:
1. The full endowment of the Collegiate Church Professorship
of Rhetoric.  For this object the sum of $20,000 is required.
2. The endowment of the Professorship of Mining and Metallurgy by the gift of $30,000 or more.
3. The erection of a Chapel to seat about five hundred persons.
4. The erection of a Geological Hall.
There are other objects of very great importance which it is
desired to accomplish, but inasmuch as they have not been
formally acted on by the Board of Trustees, they are not here
named.
The Committee believe that the accomplishment of these
objects is an imperative necessity of the College, and having
shown, by their personal subscriptions, their own faith in the
good cause, they hereby make an appeal to the friends of Education, Religion, and our Free Institutions, to aid them in this
most important work. And they believe that by thus making
the Centennial celebration a marked day in the history of the
College, their gratitude to God for His goodness to the Institution, will be best shown.
JAMES SUYDAM,          ROBERT H. PRUYN,
PETER S. DURYEE,       JAMES A. WILLIAMSON,
BENJAMIN C. TAYLOR, GARRET C. SCHANCK,
WM. H. CAMPBELL.
The Alumni entered unanimously and enthusiastically into the spirit of the measures thus proposed; and
appointed Edward S. Vail, Esq., and Mr. J. W. Schermerhorn, as their committee to cooperate with Rev. B.
C. Taylor, Peter S. Duryee, Esq., and President Campbell, the executive committee on the part of the Trustees, in the endeavor to carry the same into effect.




5
At the dinner, which took place as usual upon the
conclusion of the Commencement 1869, and which
was largely attended by the Trustees, Alumni, distinguished visitors and friends, the consideration of the
general subject of the centennial was resumed.
Hon. Robert H. Pruyn, of Albany, was the very
efficient presiding officer. Senator Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of Newark, briefly reviewed the history of
the Institution, alluding to the sacrifices and prayers
of its founders, and pointing out the demands laid by
modern civilization upon colleges for a more complete
curriculum, and a higher degree of intellectual and
moral training.
Joseph P. Bradley, Esq., of Newark, dwelt with much
emphasis upon the fact that money given to the great
cause of Christian education was productive of larger
and higher, more lasting and satisfactory results than
when expended in any other direction. In illustration
of this he showed how the comparatively small sum of
five thousand dollars, bestowed by Col. Henry Rutgers
upon this institution, had been far more fruitful than
all his other wealth, otherwise employed, in accomplishing good for others and winning an imperishable
fame for himself.
After various remarks had been made by others,
Mr. Abram Voorhees, of New Brunswick, arose and
said: Mr. President, I appreciate the benefits which a
college showers upon the community in which. it is
located. I have observed the good done by Rutgers
College to the citizens and families of this city and




state.  My heartiest sympathies are with Dr. Campbell in his great work.  And now acting as a good
citizen of New Brunswick, and a friend of education,
I purpose to give a house and lot, valued at ten thousand dollars, which I own on Livingston Avenue,
toward starting the centennial endowment. I will
have the deed of this property made out immediately
and placed in the hands of the Trustees.
To this noble speech, the president of the college
replied, thanking Mr. Voorhees for his generous gift,
and expressing his faith that the plan of endowment
so auspiciously begun would be crowned ultimately
with complete success.
The following circulars, which will explain themselves, were sent to many friends as well as to all the
former students of the College whose residences could
be ascertained:
New Brunswick, N. J.
Dear Sir:                         May 16, 1870.
At a meeting of the Alumni and Friends of Rutgers College,
residents of the city of New York and its vicinity, held May
12th, the undersigned were appointed a committee to communicate with the Alumni, and to present the following requests in
respect to the approaching centennial:
1. That every Alumnus embrace this opportunity of giving
as large a thank-offering as he can to his Alma Mater.
2. That he cooperate with his class to have the whole amount
given by the class as large as possible.
3. That he solicit subscriptions from the liberal and the
friends of education and religion in behalf of this object.
4. Inasmuch as each class is to hold a class meeting at New
Brunswick on Monday evening, June 20th, the day before the




centennial celebration, that he attend his class meeting on that
occasion, and report his gifts and collections.
5. That every Alumnus and friend of Rutgers College attend
the centennial exercises, on the morning and afternoon of Tuesday, June 21st, and the Commencement on Wednesday 22d.
We are authorized to say that the citizens of New Brunswick
expect to entertain the Alumni, and friends of the College who
may attend the exercises.
W. H. CAMPBELL,
J. L. SEE,
T. S. DOOLITTLE,
Committee.
Dear Sir:
The centennial anniversary of Rutgers College will be celebrated at New Brunswick during Commencement week. Your
presence and participation are respectfully solicited. The programme of exercises is as follows:
June 20. Monday evening, the classes graduated in the several
years will hold meetings for mutual conference. Places for
holding these meetings will be provided.
June 21. Tuesday, 10 o'clock in the College chapel, the
Alumni association will hold its regular annual meeting for
electing officers and other business.
Tuesday, 12 o'clock in the First Reformed church, the commemorative services will be as follows:
1. The Governor of the state will preside.
2. Invocation by Rev. Gabriel Ludlow, D.D.
3. Singing Psalm, 90 pt. 2d.
4. Prayer by Rev. Thomas DeWitt, D.D.
5. Historical Discourse by Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, LL.D.,
class of 1836.
6. Prayer by Rev. B. C. Taylor, D.D.
7. Doxology.
8. Benediction by Rev. Gustavus Abeel, D.D.




8
Tuesday, 2 o'clock in the First Reformed church, a general
Alumni meeting will be held, Hon. Robert H. Pruyn, LL.D.,
of the class of 1833, president of the Alumni association, presiding; at which the exercises shall be:
1. A report by President Campbell in regard to the progress
of the endowment.
2. Responses from the classes in the order of their graduation.
3. Responses from invited friends.
4. Music under the direction of R. W. Weston, Esq.
Entertainment.  It is the purpose of the citizens of New
Brunswick to provide entertainment for all the graduates and
friends of the College who may be present on this occasion.
You are therefore specially requested to notify the secretary
of the local committee, as soon as convenient, of your intention
to be present, so that a place may be provided for you.
In order that time may be saved for the Alumni meeting on
Tuesday afternoon, it is requested that the dinners in the homes
where guests are entertained, be postponed till 5.30 P.M. A
lunch will be provided in a place near the church which will be
open to all graduates and guests from the close of Judge Bradley's oration during the afternoon.
On arriving you are requested to report yourself for registration at the president's room in the College building.
B. C. TAYLOR,          EDWARD S. VAIL,
PETER S. DURYEE,    J. W. SOCERMERHORN,
WM. H. CAMPBELL,            On part of Alumni.
On part of Trustees.
Ex. Com. of Arrangements.
RUTGERS COLLEGE, New Brunswick,
May 23d, 1870.
LOCAL COMMITTEE.
Hon. Garnet B. Adrian, Chairman; William Reiley, Jr., Secretary; William Van Deursen, M.D., Hon. James Bishop, Hon.
Amos Robins, Hon. L. D. Jarrard, Geo. J. Janeway, M.D.,




9
John Clark, John B. Hill, Jacob S. Carpender, Wm. H. Leupp,
John C. Elmendorf, Rush Van Dyke, M.D., Isaac Voorhees,
Henry R. Baldwin, M.D., Geo. C. Ludlow, Augustus T. Stout,
Lewis Applegate, John Wells, Theodore Neilson, Henry K.
How, Woodbridge Strong, Charles T. Cowenhoven, Andrew K.
Cogswell, James Neilson, T. R. Warren, Nich. Williamson, J.
J. Janeway, Ab'm Voorhees, Wm. Rust, Lucius P. Porter,
Wm. R. Janeway, Admiral C. H. Bell, John Terhune, Martin
A. Howell, Henry Weston, McRae Swift, Chris. Meyer, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Abram V. Schenck, Capt. S. Van Wickle,
S. B. Driggs, Chas. M. Herbert, Chas. P. Dayton, A. D. Newell,
Lyle Van Nuis, Warren IIardenberg, P. Vanderbilt Spader,
Robert H. Neilson, J. Elmer Stout, Chas. P. Strong, Winm. H.
Acken, John F. Babcock, A. G. Ogilby, R. W. Weston, J. K.
Hoyt, Robert M. Boggs.
SUB-COMMITTEES.
1. On Entertainment.  Chairman - Abram Voorhees; Hon.
James Bishop, Rush Van Dyke, M.D., Isaac Voorhees, Augustus T. Stout, Lewis Appelgate, Nicholas Williamson, Col. J. J.
Janeway, S. B. Driggs, A. G. Ogilby, Robert M. Boggs.
2. On Refreshments.  Chairman - Henry K. How; Henry
M. Baldwin, M.D., Chas. T. Cowenhoven, Esq., Capt. S. Van
Wickle, William H. Acken.
3. On Press.  Chairman - Major Chas. M. Herbert; editor,
John F. Babcock, editor, J. K. Hoyt.
4. On Music. Chairman- R. W. Weston, A. K. Coggswell, Esq., James Neilson.
In reply to these circulars, letters of regret, in consequence of not being able to attend, were received
from Schuyler Colfax, Vice President, U. S.; Theodore Woolsey, President of Yale College; Professors
Trail Green of Easton, and J. S. Schanck of Princeton;
2




10
Hon. John A. Lott, of Flatbush, L. I.; Hon. Horace
Capron, Commissioner of Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C.; William H. Crosby, of
Poughkeepsie, and Rev. William Irvin of Troy,
formerly professors in Rutgers College; and many
others.
Rev. Dr. Isaac Ferris, Chancellor of New York
University, wrote thus: "I rejoice with you my
Rutgers friends in the near approach of your one
hundredth Anniversary, and in the signally prosperous
state of the College. I find that it will be out of my
power to be present and participate in the solemnization, *  *  *  *  This is to me a severe denial, for
I love you all."
Rev. Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, President of Columbia
College, New York city, wrote: *  *  *  I "Will you
have the goodness to present to the Trustees, the
Faculty, and the Alumni, my hearty congratulations
upon the encouraging circumstances under which your
institution completes the first century of its usefulness,
and my sincere hope that the future may bring to it
increasing prosperity."
Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby of New York city, wrote:
"I have regarded with deepest interest the remarkable progress of the College under your (Dr. Campbell's)
wise and vigorous presidency, and I pray God, you
may be long spared to continue the important work.
To use a Dutch simile, every Christian college is a dyke
to preserve our land from the sea of falsehood in
morals and politics; and you have been a faithful




11
workman in strengthening one valuable dyke that was
ready to give way."
Hon. A. Oakey Hall, Mayor of the City of New
York hoped: "That the Centennial would be a success and that no last pupil's straw would break the
Campbell's back."




CENTE NN1IAL EXERCISES.
On Tuesday, June 21, 1870, at 12 o'clock, a vast
audience gathered in and about the venerable and
spacious First Reformed church.  The walls were
adorned with portraits,' borrowed from the Chapel, of
many eminent men who had been connected, in past
days, with the College in various relations.
Of the former presidents there were the following
pictures: Rev. Drs. John H. Livingston, Philip Milledoler, Hon. Abraham  Bruyn Hasbrouck, and Hon.
Theodore Frelinghuysen. Of the Vice Presidents: Rev.
Drs. Ira Condict, Jacob J. Janeway.  Of Professors:
Rev. Dr. John DeWitt, Robert Adrian, LL.D., Rev.
Dr. James S. Cannon, Theodore Strong, LL.D., Rev.
Dr. Alexander McClelland, Lewis C. Beck, M.D.,
Rev. Dr. John D. Ogilby, Rev. Dr. John Proudfit, Rev.
Dr. Samuel Van Vranken, and Rev. Dr. John Ludlow.
Of Trustees: Cornelius L. Hardenbergh, LL.D., Abram
Van Nest, Esq., Rev. Dr. Samuel B. How, Col. Henry
Rutgers, and also of the distinguished missionary,
David Abeel, and of Simeon DeWitt, who was for
many years surveyor-general for the State of New'For this collection of fine portraits the college is mainly indebted
to Edward S. Vail, Esq., of New Brunswick, who has been, for several years, the indefatigable and successful chairman of the committee
appointed by the Alumni for this purpose.




13
York, after being what we should now call topographical engineer for the United States. He was a graduate of the College, the only one of 1776.
His Excellency, Theodore F. Randolph, governor of
the State of New Jersey, presided. He was supported
on the right by Hon. A. Bruyn Hasbrouck, formerly
President of Rutgers College; on the left by Rev. Dr.
James McCosh, president of the college of New Jersey at Princeton. Among the distinguished persons
on the stage, and elsewhere present were Ex-Governors
Newell, Ward and Price; Generals Simpson, Runyon,
Perrine, Appleby, Plume, and DeHart; Admiral Bell;
Adjutant-Generals Stockton, and Stryker; InspectorGeneral Fay; Chancellor Halstead, O. S. Halstead;
Professors McGill, D.D., of Princeton, and Geo. W.
Coakley, LL.D., of New York University; Rev. Dr.
Forsyth; Judge R. L. Larremore, late president of
Board of Education, New York city; Hon. W. D.
McDonald, Comptroller; Hon. H. C. Kelsey, Secretary
of State; Hon. W. R. McMichael, State Treasurer; S.
C. Brown, Private Secretary of the Governor; Cols.
Murphy, Hamilton, eldest son of Col. Alex. Hamilton, and Du Mont; Hon. Amos Robins, Dr. Varick,
E. A. Apgar, Superintendent of public schools in New
Jersey.
Gov. Randolph upon taking the chair, said: " Ladies
and Gentlemen; Friends of Rutgers: That duty is
best performed, most persons will agree, which being
accomplished does not require us to linger over it in
contemplation.




14
So remorselessly do events press upon each other in
these days, that no matter how this one or that other
may be individualized to our minds, or made sacred to
our memories, Time refuses to give more than one of
its moments, to the commemoration of even such rarely
occurring events as that which to-day we celebrate.
However gratifying it would be to link one's memories and words with the record of this day, whatever
temptations the occasion of " once in a hundred years "
offers to one whose greatest pride has ever been that
he was born upon New Jersey soil, and within the
sound of yonder College bell, justice to you forbids
trespass upon your time. And the duty most agreeable and honorable, which falls to me now, is to call to
order at once this imposing concourse of people. The
institution, of which you are the friends and supporters,
links to-day, in your persons and memories, the old
with the new; and turns its centennial year loved and
respected, as it ever has been, by men, and peculiarly
protected and blessed by the favor of Almighty God.
The invocation was then made by Rev. Dr. Gabriel
Ludlow, of Neshannock; the 90th Psalm was sung;
and a prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Thomas DeWitt,
the venerable senior pastor of the Collegiate church
in New York. Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, associate
justice of the United States Supreme Court, then
came forward and delivered the Historical Oration.




tHISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
BY
ASSO. USTIEOFh T. SRadEtMO,
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT, U. Si




NEW BRUNSWICK, June 24, 1870.
Hon. JOSEPH P. BRADLEY,
Dear Sir: It is the earnest wish of the Trustees and Alumni of Rutgers College
that your Historical Discourse, delivered at the Centennial, should be printed and
thus made more widely and permanently useful.
The undersigned have been appointed to request of you the copy, and to have it
published. It will give them great pleasure to receive from you the discourse; and
to have it printed in a manner befitting its excellence.
With great respect,
Your obedient servants,
ROBERT H. PRUYN,
JOACHIM ELMENDORF,
WM. H. CAMPBELL,
Committee of Trustees.
JA]MES W. SCHElr.MERHORN,
ALEXANDER BROWN,
RUSH VAN DYKE,
ERNEST J. MILLER,
ROBERT C. PRUYN,
RICHARD L. LARREMORE,
Committee of Alumni.
NEWARIK, July 27, 1870.
GENTLEMEN:
In accordance with the request of the Trustees and Alumni of Rutgers College,
communicated by you, that the Historical Discourse delivered by me at the Centennial Commencement, should be published, I send you a copy for that purpose.
I am sorry it is not more worthy of preservation. Circumstances prevented me
from commencing its preparation until a very few days before its delivery. The
great haste with which it was necessarily prepared will undoubtedly render it obnoxious to just criticism. I have added some notes and additional matter which
may aid in securing for it a more general interest.
Yours very truly,
JOSEPH P. BRADLEY.
Messrs. R. H. Pruyn, J. Elmendorf, W. H. Campbell,
J. W. Schermerhorn, and others.




HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
Friends, Patrons and Alumni of Rutgers College:
A generation of men has passed away since the
Class of 1836, of which I was a humble member,
received its parting benediction from our Alma Mater.
Youth has changed to manhood, and manhood to
middle age; family groups have sprung up around us;
the business and cares of life have absorbed our minds;
various fortune has attended our steps; but we have
not ceased to turn with interest, pleasure and attachment to these places consecrated by so many happy
recollections of the past.  This interest and these
attachments have, in many instances, been perpetuated
by reproduction in the persons of our own sons, or of
others in whom we have taken a friendly interest.
And what is true of the Class of 1836 is true of all
the other classes which have graduated at these halls,
until the number is to be counted by many hundreds -
nay, thousands —of those and the descendants and
families of those who regard Rutgers College with a
friendly and filial attachment; whilst, reciprocally,
from the institution as a centre, to every one of its
graduates and friends, run out lines of influence in
thought, in opinion, in action, which affect their conduct in life, and, through them, society around them.
3




18
And thus the College goes on, year after year and
generation after generation, notwithstanding the death
of individuals; its strength ever increasing, and its
influence ever becoming more far-reaching and comprehensive.
All institutions endowed with corporate life and
vested with perpetual succession are instruments of
power in human affairs. When their objects are
elevated, tend to good and minister to the benefit of
society, they are a blessing to mankind; but when
they are sinister, and tend to support the cause of
error, superstition or immorality, they are as great a
curse. It is difficult to assign their origin. Organized
association, perpetual continuity, and independence of
individual constituents for the time being, are the
essential characteristics of all corporations aggregate.
It is said that corporations have no souls, but it is a
mistake. They are all soul. Their being consists of
the centralizing principle which they are founded to
represent and perpetuate -be it learning, be it religion, be it art, be it gain - or whatsoever it be. Their
breath of life consists of the ideas they are intended
to preserve and disseminate, or the objects they are
intended to accomplish. And how grand and potent,
oftentimes, is their existence. They come down to us
from the former ages, hoary with time, invested with
historical associations, and wielding a power and influence combined of all the separate streams of influence
which have emanated from their members of every
generation.  Such is Oxford; such Cambridge.  Such




19
are the Universities and Colleges whose fame fills the
civilized world. Such are also those institutions which
have for their obj ect the propagation of particular creeds
and systems-as the Propaganda, the Bible Societysuch, those that have only for object the pursuit of
wealth or trade, as the Bank of England, the East
India Company. What man cannot do alone, he can
do by association. What he cannot do as a mob of
individuals, he can do when organized into a society.
What he cannot do by temporary organization, he can
often effect by being incorporated into a perpetual
community.
We are each of us only a drop in the ocean. But
the College of which we have composed, and still form,
a part, is an ever-living organization, destined to live
on after we and our children and children's children
have returned to dust; still bestowing and sending
forth its vivifying and purifying influences, blessing
the world and aiding to make its civilization eternal.
Such organizations concentrate the good forces of
society into efficient activity.  Whatever of good
society contains is thus enabled to perpetuate and multiply itself. They may well be supported by the donations - if donation is the proper word - of those who
have the good of society at heart.  The efforts of
individuals towards effecting the same ends which
these institutions effect, are like the blind and ineffectual efforts of Briareus, gigantic indeed in size, and
able to spread abroad a hundred brawny hands, but
blind and without skill to use them.




20
An instance of the wonderful power of organized
association is that of the Christian Church, which is
thus enabled to live through ages of persecution, irrespective and independent of the fate of its individual
members. Perhaps, the church gave to the world the
earliest hint of this instrument of social power.
Civil society itself, when properly understood, and as
it is understood in modern timles, is but a corporate body,
it is true; but of so multiform and complex a character, and so dependent on fortuitous and often violent
circumstances for its form, that it could hardly have
furnished the hint which gave rise to the institution of
corporate bodies for promoting special social objects.
But, whatever their origin or cause, it cannot be
denied that, as the steam  engine in the world of
material industry supplies the lack of many thousand
men, and gives man a greatly enlarged power over the
forces of nature, so the corporate institution, whether
for learning, religion, benevolence, or gain, produces
a combined and perpetual energy and power which no
other form of human agency can achieve.
The character, purpose and tendency of every such
institution become, therefore, a matter of deep interest
to the community.
It will be mny object in this address to exhibit, by its
history and a reference to some of its results, the
character, purpose and tendency of Rutgers College.
The actual annals of the College have been so fully
and so well treated by several competent hands that




21
nothing is desired under this head. It leaves nothing
for me but to take a cursory review of its origin and
a brief notice of some of its patrons and alumni, and
of the vicissitudes which it has experienced.
It is familiar to you all that the original name of the
institution was Queen's College. The Presbyterians
of this region had obtained a charter in 1746 for a
college called the College of New Jersey (now located
at Princeton), and the Episcopalians, in 1754, had received a charter of King's College in New York (since
changed to Columbia), so that, when the people of the
Reformed Dutch Connection, in 1770, applied for a
charter, the College received the loyal designation of
Queen's College. This charter is dated March 20,
1770. It was procured by that branch of the Reformed
Dutch churches in this province and New York, which
was called the Ccetus.  The Dutch churches had for
more than thirty years been divided into two parties,
called the Ccetus and the Conferentie.  And the
division arose in this wise: When the Hollanders
settled New York and:New Jersey, in the 17th century,
they brought their religion with them, of course; and
received all their pastors or ministers from the mother
country, and specially from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction known as the Classis of Amsterdam. Just as New
York and New Jersey received all their Episcopal
ministers from the Diocese of London. The Dutch
churches of America were under the care of the Classis
of Amsterdam, which supplied them with duly ordained ministers as they were needed. Theological




22
learning had for a long time been sedulously cultivated
in Holland, and probably no more learned preachers
were sent forth from the old Protestant world than
those sent from Holland. Many people on this side,
of conservative turn, thought a man could not preach
the gospel properly unless he came with the imprimatur
of the Classis of Amsterdam. If any young men of
ability rose up in the American church, they were
necessarily excluded from the clerical profession, unless
they could afford the expense of going over to Holland
and studying divinity in one of its learned universities.
In process of time this began to be felt as a great
burden, and many of the people desired to have an
ecclesiastical organization on this side the Atlantic,
which should have the power to ordain young ministers. And at length this desire became so vehement
and pressing that it formed itself into act, and thus
arose the party of the Ccetus, which was the party of
progress and insisted on the right to ordain ministers
in this country. But they constantly met with the
serious obstacle arising from the want of a literary
institution in which their candidates could acquire
that proficiency in the learning of the day, which the
Low Dutch always looked upon as necessary in their
domines. For one of the fruits of the Reformation in
Holland had been a sincere reverence for learning and
learned men, and a national conviction of the necessity
of learning to qualify ministers for their sacred calling.
The result was that Holland became the seat of two of
the most renowned universities in the Protestant world




23
and of modern times, Utrecht and Leyden. Her preeminence in this respect may have since declined; but
in the seventeenth century, Grotius and Selden may
well be put forward as the representatives no less than
the champions of the learning of the two countries to
which they belonged. No wonder, therefore, that the
party of the Caetus, with such traditions, felt it necessary to their position to provide for the establishment
of a school of learning in this country, so that their
candidates for the ministry might not be deficient in
the very essentials of Dutch ecclesiasticism, which
meant Hebrew and Greek, not Habits and Gowns!
The Charter was granted by Gov. William Franklin.
Following the petition for its issue, it recites the fact
that the adherents of the Dutch Church, attached to
the discipline of the Synod of Dort, were very numerous in New Jersey and the neighboring provinces;
that the ministers and elders had taken into serious
consideration the manner in which the churches might
be supplied with an able, learned and well qualified
ministry; that they deemed it necessary for this purpose that a College should be erected in New Jersey,
in which the learned languages and other branches of
useful knowledge might be taught, and degrees conferred; and, especially that young men of suitable
abilities might be instructed in divinity, preparing
them for the ministry, and supplying the necessity of
the churches; that the inconveniences were manifold
and the expenses heavy, in either being supplied with
ministers of the gospel from foreign parts, or sending




24
young men abroad for education, and that the preservation of a fund for the necessary uses of instruction
very much depended upon a charter. In view of these
very sound considerdations, presented by the petition,
and also, as further stated, to promote learning for the
benefit of the community, and advancement of the
Protestant religion of all denominations, the Charter
proceeded in the usual formal terms, to establish a
college, to be called Queen's College; and to be erected
in the Province of New Jersey, for the education of
youth in the learned languages, liberal and useful arts
and sciences, and especially in divinity; and proceeded
to incorporate a board of trustees thereof, with perpetual succession forever, to be called, " the trustees
of Queen's College in New Jersey;" and gave said
trustees power to appoint a President of the College
"being a member of the Dutch Reformed Church;"
also a Professor in Divinity, and such other professors
and tutors as they should think necessary; one of
whom to be well versed in English; and power to
confer degrees, elect new members of the board, &c.
The charter named the persons to be first trustees,
about forty in number. This list, if we except the
official members, consisting of the Governor, President of Council, Chief Justice and Attorney General
of the province, and, except also Sir William Johnson,
of New York, whose name was probably inserted by
way of compliment, was composed mostly of ministers
and prominent laymen of the Ccetus party in New
Jersey and New York, or distinguished members of




25
the Dutch connection, who had not taken sides in the
controversy.
Of ministers in New Jersey are named Johannes
iHenricus Goetschius, of Hackensack; Johannes Leydt,
of New Brunswick; David Marinus, of Acquackanonk;
Martinus Van Harlingen, of Millstone; Jacob R. iardenbergh, of Raritan; and William Jackson, Bergen; in New York, Verbryk, Vrooman, Maurice
Goetschius, Westerlo and Schuneman; and Wyberg
and Dubois, of Pennsylvania. Of laymen we have,
first and foremost, Hendrick Fisher, and then Peter
Zabriskie, P. Hasenclever, Peter Schenck, Tunis Dey,
Philip French, John Covenhoven and ienricus Kuypers. These were of New Jersey. From New York
we have Simon Johnson, Philip Livingston, Johannes
iHardenbergh, Abraham Hasbrouck, Theodorus Van
Wyck, Abraham Lott, Robert Livingston, and several
others; all leading men of their day.
Some of these persons are deserving of honorable
mention, as well from their intrinsic worth and public
usefulness as for the part they took in laying the
foundation of this institution.
The individual most active in obtaining the Charter
was the Rev. Dr. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, who
afterwards became the first President of the College.
He resided in 1770 in Somerville, New Jersey, and
was minister of the Dutch congregations of Raritan,
North Branch and Bedminster. He was a native of
Ulster county, New York (which has always been one
of the strongest holds of attachment and support to
4




26
the College), and was born in Rosendale in 1738, his
father being the proprietor of the Hardenbergh patent.
He had pursued classical studies in the Academy of
Kingston, and had then come to New Jersey to study
theology under the Rev. John Frelinghuysen, grandfather of the late President Frelinghuysen. He was
licensed to preach by the Ccetus in 1757, in his twentieth year, and succeeded his instructor as minister at
Somerville in 1758, whose widow he also married.
This lady, long known as Juffrouw Hardenbergh, was
a woman of remarkable talent, spirit and piety. She
was the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Amsterdam, and had married her first husband, John Frelinghuysen, for two reasons; first, because she had fallen
in love with him, and secondly, because she considered
it to be her duty to assist him as a Christian helpmate
in his ministerial duties in the Western land. So,
with the determination often characteristic of her sex,
with him she came. She was indeed a helpmeet calculated to inspire any man to good and noble deeds.
She was the mother of Gen. Frederick Frelinghuysen,
of Revolutionary memory, the first tutor and one of
the early trustees and supporters of the College; and
the grandmother of Theodore Frelinghuysen, its subsequent President.  No doubt, her keen intellect,
strong will and deep and fervent piety had much to
do in forming the character, directing the aims and
rousing the ambition of her second husband, young
Hardenbergh; and, in truth, she may be regarded as
standing in close and intimate connection with the




27
foundation of this institution. But Dr. H., was naturally a man of strong mind, and, by diligent application,
became a learned and able divine.  Being a strong
adherent of the Coetus party, and having himself
experienced the want of that thorough preliminary
training which a university or college alone can give,
he took a leading part in the application for the Charter of Queen's College, and may be preeminently
regarded as its founder. This is virtually assumed in
the letter from the Trustees, inviting him to the-Presidency in 1785. A copy of which with his answer
thereto is preserved in the archives of the College.
He left Raritan and removed to Rosendale, his native
place, in 1781, and served in the ministry over a neighboring charge. In 1785 he received a double call,
from the church at New Brunswick as pastor, and
from the Trustees of the College as President, and
removed hither in April, 1786. Here he remained
until his death, October 30th, 1790. The accumulated
labors required of him as pastor of the church, which
then included a large surrounding country, and as
President and principal professor of the College, broke
down his slender frame at the premature age of fiftytwo years. But he had performed a good life work.
What is life but its work. By that it is measured.
By that it is judged.
Domine Joannes Leydt, minister of the Dutch church
at New Brunswick and its vicinity, from 1748 to 1783,
was another of the ardent and efficient founders and
supporters of the College.  It is said that he, in




28
company with Dr. Hardenbergh, by personal applications from door to door, procured the original funds,
such as they were, for its endowment.
But perhaps the most noted man next to Dr. Hardenbergh, and in some respects more prominent than he,
who aided to lay the foundations of this institution,
was HENDRICK FISHER, whose residence was near Bound
Brook, about five miles from this city. Hie was a
noted man in the province for many years. Indeed,
in all civil matters, he was the leading man of the
middle counties. He was born in 1697, became a
member of the Dutch church in New Brunswick under
the elder Frelinghuysen's ministry in 1721; was a man
of great intelligence and energy, always on the patriotic
side in every controversy, and of an irreproachable
character. His name appears constantly in the legislative annals of the Province for many years prior to the
Revolution; and during that struggle for National
independence he was one of the most firm and reliable
supporters of the cause. He was a delegate to and
President of the first Provincial Congress of New
Jersey, in 1775, was Chairman of the Committee of
Safety, and was invariably relied upon by Governor
Livingston and his associates for his wise counsel and
energetic assistance. He was the most eminent man
of and from the people of New Jersey, properly so
called, for half a century, and his name ought to be
handed down to posterity in company with those of
Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman, of
Connecticut, and John Dickinson, of Delaware.




29
Of course he belonged to the party of the Ccetus, and
was one of its most zealous and influential adherents.
But he was also one of the first to welcome Dr. Livingston's proposition for the union of the churches which
took place in the formation of the General Synod in 1771.
The part taken by him in the foundation of the
College, like all the other acts of his life, was of no
doubtful or hesitating character. He lived to the age
of eighty-two, and died on the 16th of August, 1779.
There are other names in that catalogue to which
greater justice ought to be done. But in this cursory
review of the past, we can but note the most prominent persons and features.
One remarkable fact it is proper to mention, which
is true with regard to all the individuals before referred to, and, so far as known, to the entire board
mentioned in the charter, and in great measure the
entire membership of the Dutch churches. They were
all in favor of the popular cause during the Revolutionary struggle. Dr. Hardenbergh was eminently
distinguished on that side, and from the vigorous and
decided position which he took, he was the object of
much annoyance from his Tory neighbors and the
adherents of the Royal party.
Perhaps one reason why the Dutch churches and
their ministers generally were distinguished for taking
the patriotic side of the struggle was that they were
impatient of the dictation of English rule and the
encouragement which by means of government patronage was given to the English churches.




30
We believe the same thing was generally true also
of the Presbyterian churches and their clergy. They
were almost invariably on the side of independence:
whilst it is well known that the Episcopal clergy in
New York and New Jersey, were inclined to support
the Royal prerogative.
These facts should be remembered amongst those
circumstances which tended to form the character, influence and teaching of this institution in its entire
history.
The Charter having been obtained the trustees proceeded to organize under it and to take measures for
setting the institution in motion. The first point to
determine was, where it should be located. The amount
of the subscriptions made in favor of the College by
different localities was entitled to consideration in
deciding the question; and it finally settled down
between New Brunswick and Hackensack. By the
untiring activity of Dr. Hardenbergh and Mr. Fisher,
New Brunswick had largely the ascendancy in this
particular. A meeting was finally held at Hackensack
on the 7th of May, 1771, for the purpose of settling the
question.  The Chief Justice of the colony, Hon.
Frederick Smyth, was present, and was by the charter
an ex officio member of the board. He I presided on
this occasion, and was strenuous in his efforts to procure the location of the College at Hackensack; and
observed in the course of the argument that as those
in favor of Hackensack were gentlemen of probity and
honor, it might be taken for granted that if it was




31
carried in favor of Hackensack, they would make their
subscriptions to a par with the subscription of New
Brunswick; but he and his friends were outvoted, and
the question was decided in favor of New Brunswick by
a vote of ten to seven. Why the Chief Justice, who
resided at Amboy, should have taken such an interest
in Hackensack, I have been unable to discover.
Those voting in the affirmative were Domines Leydt,
Dubois, Hardenbergh, and Van Harlingen, and Messrs.
John Hardenbergh, Hendrick Kuypers, Philip French,
Peter Schenck, Henry Fisher and Abraham  Van Nest;
of the laymen thus voting, IKuypers, Schenck, Fisher,
and Van Nest were members of the first Provincial
Congress, or Convention, of New Jersey, in 1775, which
inaugurated resistance to the oppressions of Great
Britain. Kuypers resided in Harsimus, Schenck in
Millstone, Fisher near New Brunswick, and Van Nest
in Raritan.'
After the College had become legally organized,
and its location fixed, but how soon afterwards we'Philip French, another voter on that occasion, was, I presume
a brother-in-law of Governor Livingston. He resided in New Brunswick, where Gov. Livingston's father-in-law, (whose name was also
Philip French) owned a large tract of land in the middle and early
part of last century. Philip Livingston, an elder brother of the governor, and afterwards a signer of the Declaration of Independence,
was one of the original trustees. He resided in New York, married
Catherine Ten Broek, a Dutch lady, and was probably an attendant
of the Dutch church. The governor himself, who resided in New
York till 1772, and then removed to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, was
always connected with the Presbyterian church.
For a more detailed sketch of the circumstances which led to the
foundation of Queen's College, see note at the end.




32
have no means of positively knowing (though it must
have been prior to 1775, and probably as early as 1772),
measures were taken by the trustees to provide competent teachers and commence a course of academic
and collegiate instruction.l The Academy has always
stood alongside of the College from its foundation. A
committee of the board were constituted the faculty,
being appointed for the purpose of quarterly examinations of the students, and of recommending proper
candidates for the degrees of Bachelor and Master of
Arts. The actual instruction and management of the
institution were for many years performed by tutors
of the College, and teachers of the grammar school,
the latter sometimes acting as assistant tutors in teaching the collegiate classes. The first tutor of the College, as we learn from  an advertisement published
some years afterwards, was FREDERICK FRELINGHUYSEN,
a son of Juffrouw Hardenbergh, and of course, a stepson of Rev. Dr. Hardenbergh.2 He was born in 1753,
was graduated at Princeton in 1770, and was now'The first book of minutes of the trustees of Queen's College,
extending from 1770 to 1782 has been lost. This accounts for the
meagre state of our knowledge with regard to the early history of
the College.
2 See Kollock's New York Gazetteer for October, 1784. The advertisement is dated at New Brunswick and signed by James Schureman,
as clerk of the board, and gives notice that the vacation of the College
and grammar school will end November 8th; that Mr. Andrew Kirkpatrick, who formerly taught the grammar school with great reputation has again' undertaken its charge; and that Mr. Frelinghuysen,
formerly the first tutor in the College, had engaged to take the superintendence of the education of the classes in College, &c.




33
(1772) only nineteen years of age. But, though young,
he is said to have been a thorough scholar in all the
learning of the day, having been intended for the
ministry, and, amongst other things, instructed in the
Hebrew language by his step-father, Dr. IHardenbergh.
He afterwards left theology and betook himself to the
law; and was, for many years, one of the leading
lawyers of the state. During the Revolutionary war
he was prominent in New Jersey both in civil and
military affairs. He was a member of the first Provincial congress in May and June, 1775; and was elected
a delegate to the Continental congress in 1778, and
1782. In 1793 he was elected Senator of the United
States, being the youngest member of that body; and
resigned his seat, from domestic afflictions, in 1796.
During the war he was attached to the New Jersey
Militia, being captain of an Artillery company at the
the battle of Trenton, and afterwards colonel of a
regiment; and constantly entrusted with the most
delicate and important commissions in reference to the
patriotic cause in Somerset and adjoining counties.
These arduous duties rendered it necessary for him to
resign his place in congress in 1779; it being regarded
of the utmost importance, that the substantial people
of New Jersey in the middle counties should be kept
true to the popular cause. On the permanent organization of the state militia in 1793, he was appointed one
of the four major generals; and having, with a volunteer force of cavalry, and the special acceptance of
President Washington, joined the army collected to
5




34
suppress the whiskey insurrection in Western Pennsylvania in 1794, he was entrusted with an important
command in that expedition. He appears to have
inherited much of his mother's energy of character,
and to have been distinguished for great frankness,
determination and bravery, qualities which secured him
the unlimited confidence of the people of New Jersey.
He was also undoubtedly held in much estimation by
General Washington, Governor Livingston and other
leaders in the war of independence.
How long Mr. Frelinghuysen remained tutor of
the College, at its first organization, we are unable to
state. He was for many years a member of the
faculty, and as one of the Trustees took the deepest
interest in its welfare. In Oct., 1784, when the Board
were disappointed in obtaining the services of a President, Mr. F. consented to take temporary charge of
the institution in connection with Mr. Kirkpatrick as
teacher of the Grammar School. He resided in New
Brunswick at that period, but subsequently removed
to Millstone, then called Hillsborough, the county seat
of Somerset county, where he died in 1804.
Another of the early tutors of the college, probably
the successor of Mr. Frelinghuysen, was COL. JOHN
TAYLOR, who continued in the institution with the exception of one or two intervals, down to 1795. He
appears to have been a man of much energy of character as well as learning; and, like his predecessor,
became a distinguished partisan on the patriotic side,
during the Revolutionary war. He was an intimate




35
correspondent with  Gov. Livingston, and  with  the
other leading men of that period. In a letter to the
governor, dated December 25, 1779, he speaks of the
necessity of his attending the examination at Queen's
College, and of his being associated with Col. Frelinghuysen in certain military arrangements. His attention seems to have been divided between his duties as
colonel of the New Jersey State Regiment, called from
time to time, as the needs of the province required,
into active military operation, and his duties as professor and principal teacher in Queen's College.  After
leaving Queen's, he became a professor in Union
College, at Schenectady, at its inception in 1796, and
is said to be recollected there as professor of almost
every thing, and died in 1801 greatly beloved.''During the war the professor and students were sometimes compelled by the presence of the enemy, or the disorder and confusion
incident to the presence of our own troops, to pursue their academical labors at a distance from New Brunswick. The New Jersey
Gazette, published at Trenton, contains a number of notices which
evince this fact. Thus: May 5, 1778, notice of a meeting of the
Trustees at the house of John Bennett, near Somerset Court House
[Millstone], signed, J. R. Hardenbergh, Clerk. To this notice is
appended a further note, that the business of Queen's College in New
Jersey formerly carried on in New Brunswick, is begun at North
Branch of Raritan in the county of Somerset, in a pleasant and retired neighborhood; lodging and board to be had in decent families
at ~30 per annum: Apply to JOHN TAILOR, A. M., tutor at the place
aforesaid.
May 17, 1778. The public are informed that a Grammar school
is open at Raritan, Somerset county [now Somerville], where decent
accommodations for young gentlemen can be had at the moderate price
of ~30 per annum. The Faculty of Queen's College having the care
and direction of the school, will make it their particular part to attend




36
Several efforts had, in the meantime, been made to
procure a president of the  institution, who  should
either be the professor of theology for the whole
church, or should occupy some other prominent position that might give him a prestige before the public,
and contribute to his support.  In May 1772, it was
to the education and conduct of the youth. Apply to JOHN BOGERT
at Raritan.
Sept. 2,1778. The commencement of Queen's College is to be held
at New Brunswick, 15th September. The Trustees are requested to
meet at the same time and place, as some necessary business and
some important matters respecting alterations and amendments of
the charter will be submitted to the consideration of the Board.
Signed, J. R. Hardenbergh, clerk.
The following note is added. The advertisers of the Grammar
school at Raritan beg leave to inform the public that the price of
board therein mentioned was regulated according to the regulation
act of the state. But as that act has since been suspended, they consider themselves no further responsible for that part of the advertisement.
Raritan, January 24, 1779. The Faculty of Queen's College take
this method to inform the public, that the business of the said college
is still carried on at the North Branch of Raritan in the county of
Somerset, where good accommodations for young gentlemen may be
had, in respectable families, at as moderate prices as in any part of
the state. This neighborhood is so far distant from Head Quarters,
that not any of the troops are stationed here, neither does the army
in the least interfere with the business of the College. The Faculty
also take the liberty to remind the public that the representatives
of this state have enacted a law by which students at College are
exempted from military duty.
Hillsborough, May 25th, 1780. The vacation of Queen's College
at Hillsborough in the county of Somerset, and of the Grammar
school in the city of New Brunswick, is expired; and the business
of each is again commenced. Good lodgings may be procured in
both places at as low a rate as in any part of the state. By order of
the Faculty.                             JOHN TAYLOR,
Clerk, pro term.




37
proposed, in the board of trustees, to elect the Rev.
Dr. John H. Livingston president of the College and
professor of theology; but as the views of the General
Convention of the Dutch church had not been fully
ascertained with regard to the location of their professorship of theology, which it was in every way
desirable to have connected with the College, the
matter was postponed until a more definite understanding could be had on the subject.
The Trustees also addressed letters to the Classis of
Amsterdam, and the Theological Faculty of lUtrecht,
in Holland, requesting those bodies to recommend a
person qualified to be called as President of the College, and able to instruct youth in sacred theology.
In October, 1773, the Convention of the Dutch
Reformed churches, which in later years crystalized
into the General Synod, met at Kingston, and the
Trustees of the College made a representation to this
venerable body, informing it of what had been done,
and of the desire of the Trustees to have the professorship of divinity of the churches, connected with
the College at New Brunswick, and commended the
College to the kind regards of the body.
The Convention resolved that New Brunswick was
the most suitable place of residence for the professor
of divinity on account of its relation to Queen's College, there situated, as well as to the students in regard
to livelihood and other circumstances. They approved
the caution of the Trustees with regard to the selection of a person as professor of theology, who also




38
should be the President of the College. They also
promised to use their endeavors to increase the funds
which the Trustees of the College had collected,
amounting in that time to ~4,000, so as to make the
same a sufficient call. They also resolved to consult
the Classis of Amsterdam with regard to a proper
candidate for the professorship. Thus commenced the
long correspondence between the Church and the
College in reference to the establishment of the theological institution at New Brunswick. The answer
from the Classis of Amsterdam and the University of
Utrecht, who recommended Dr. Livingston as professor
of theology, was delayed by various causes until
January, 1775, and was not laid before the Convention
until May in that year, a few days after the battle of
Lexington. The state of public feeling at this time
was such that the members hastily terminated their
session, and the business of the professorship was postponed. Hostilities with the mother country still continuing, nothing further was done in the matter until
after the war.
In December, 1783, the Trustees, after the death of
Mr. Leydt, proposed to the consistories of New Brunswick and Six Mile Run, to call Dr. lHardenbergh as
President of the College if they would tender him a
call as pastor, it being impossible from the state of the
College funds to give the president an independent
support. The consistories preferred Rev. Dirk Romeyn
of Hackensack; the Trustees yielded and a call was
made accordingly, which was declined by Mr. Romeyn.




39
In 1784 the General Synod appointed Rev. Dr. Livingston professor of theology, and in May, 1785, returning to the hope that the Synod would locate their
professorship of theology at New Brunswick, the
trustees made a call on Dr. Livingston as professor of
divinity and President of the College, which, however,
was also declined.
In June of the same year another effort was made,
in consequence of which the congregations of New
Brunswick and Millstone agreed with the Trustees of
the College, to make a joint call on Dr. Hlardenbergh,
who was unanimously chosen president, and who, on
the following January, accepted the office as previously
mentioned. Thus Dr. Hardenbergh became the first
President of the College, and continued to be president
and professor of moral philosophy from that time
until his death, in 1790.
It thus appears that the founders and early promoters
of this College, were sturdy patriots, as well as
lovers of learning; that they were intensely American,
and opposed to all foreign interference and influence;
that they were men of high character and undoubted
courage; and that whilst they made every effort which
the condition of the times permitted to place the
institution on a basis of usefulness, they commenced
in an unpropitious time, and under unfavorable
circumstances. The church from which they should
have received support was divided by factions; and,
before they had fairly commenced operations, the
country became involved in an exhausting war, which




40
continued for eight years. Nevertheless, under all
these adverse influences a considerable body of students was collected, and instruction was continued
in the College until 1795, when, from the want of
funds and patronage, the institution was closed.
This forms the first period in the history of the
College, extending from 1770 to 1795.
During this period more than sixty young men
received their degree of A.B., some of whom in after
years became prominent in the church and in civil
life.
Among these in one of the earlier years was graduated the Hon. James Schureman, afterwards senator
from New Jersey in congress, and a very eminent
citizen of the state.
In 1776 was graduated the Hon. Simeon De Witt,
though in consequence of the approach of the British
army he did not formally receive his degrees until two
years later. He followed the military example of his
teachers, as did many of the students. His home was
in Ulster county, where he joined a battalion organized
to meet the incursion of Gen. Burgoyne. He received
the appointment of adjutant, but on arriving at the
seat of war the men were incorporated into a regiment
already existing, and Mr. De Witt went into the ranks
as a private, and in this capacity was present in the
battle which decided the fate of Burgoyne, and at his
subsequent surrender.
In the meantime he was pursuing his studies and
giving attention to the practical business of survey



41
ing. He was a nephew of Gen. James Clinton, the
father of De Witt Clinton. G en. Washington having
inquired of that gentleman for a person qualified to
act as geographer (or topographical engineer) of the
army, he recommended his nephew, Mr. De Witt, as
a proper person for the situation. He was accordingly
appointed, in 1778, assistant to Col. Robert Erskine,
then geographer-in-chief, on whose death, in 1780, he
was appointed head of the department.
This office required his continued attachment to the
main army, and in the march to Yorktown he and his
assistants were constantly employed in surveying the
country, and he was present during the siege and surrender of that place, having had the signal good
fortune, as he afterwards said, to witness the surrender
of the two royal armies of Burgoyne and Cornwallis.
In May, 1784, he was appointed surveyor-general
of New York, and held that office during his whole
life, which was terminated in 1835.
In this capacity, it became his duty not only to assist
the Pennsylvania commissioners, Rittenhouse and Ellicott, to locate the line between Pennsylvania and New
York, which service was completed in 1787; but to lay
out large quantities of the state lands in order to prepare them for sale to settlers.
In the performance of the latter duty Mr. DeWitt
adopted a system which was also applied by him to
the survey of the Rensselaer manor. This was the
division of the public lands into squares of half a mile
each, bounded by lines and arranged in ranks, cor6




42
responding with the cardinal points of the compass.
This division of lands formed lots of one hundred and
sixty acres each, or what is now known as a quarter
section, a quantity of land commensurate to the purposes of an ordinary farm.
The farms of Albany and Rensselaer counties in New
York, those portions of them which were settled after
this period, are located according to this arrangement,
and the farms of Western New York were arranged in
the same manner. The system thus adopted is not
only characterized by great beauty and order, but is
well calculated to prevent disputes between adjoining
owners in reference to the location of boundary lines,
and has a tendency to produce quiet and security with
regard to the legal titles of lands.
The same system was afterwards adopted in the government surveys throughout the extended West, and
no country in the world has ever exhibited such an
orderly and beautiful arrangement of its public land
surveys as that of the United States. Principal meridians and parallels are first established at proper distances from  each other. From  these base lines of
operation subordinate meridians and parallels are run
in such a manner as to divide up the public territory
into checkered plots of half a mile square, duly numbered and registered, so that the emigrant, before
leaving his home in Germany, may purchase his farm,
and after crossing the Atlantic, be directed to its location with unerring certainty, and find its exterior
boundaries duly located and marked.




This entire system of surveys has been attributed,
and no doubt with truth, to Surveyor-General DeWitt.
If he was really the originator, he has stamped the impress of his genius upon the land system of this whole
country. WVhere he obtained the hint which led him
to its adoption, we are not directly informed, but it is
perhaps not too much to say that the principles of instruction which prevailed in this institution wei'e the
means of bringing it to his mind. This College was
founded by men who derived their origin and traditions
from Holland, a country governed by the principles of
the civil law. The mode of dividing lands adopted by
the Roman Agrimensores, or land surveyors, was precisely that which Mr. DeWitt adopted in his practice.
All the public lands of the republic or empire, when
distributed amongst the veterans of the army, or
others, were divided by a series of meridian lines located
at certain distances apart and intersected by other lines
running in an easterly direction, which divided the
lands into equal squares. A learned description of this
system of land surveying amongst the Romans, may
be found in the appendix to the second volume of Niebuhr's History of Rome, and Smith's Dictionary of Greek
and Roman Antiquities, article Ager. But until recently
this branch of Roman learning was known to very few,
and lay concealed in recondite and rare treatises, which
seldom met the eye of the ordinary scholar.l'Mr. De Witt's claim as originator of the system adopted for the
government surveys is corroborated by the fact that this system was




44
Mr. De Witt was a worthy Alumnus of the College.
He was a man of irreproachable character; so fastidious, indeed, in reference to every thing that might
raise a suspicion of his integrity, that it is said he
first distinctly suggested and marked out in an ordinance reported
by a committee of the old congress, of which Mr. Jefferson was chairman, on the 7th of May, 1784 (see Journals of Continental Congress,
vol. Ix, pages 205, 242). The ordinance was entitled " an ordinance
for ascertaining the mode of locating and disposing of lands in the
western territory," and was not finally passed until May 20th, 1785
(Journals, vol. x, p. 167). In its original form, however, it contained
all the substantial elements of the system as finally adopted; and, at
the time the subject was before the committee, and when they made
their report, Mlr. De Witt was the geographer-in-chief of the Continental army, appointed by the congress; and was, at that very time
soliciting the aid of congress to assist him in the publication of his
maps made during the progress of the war. Of all men in existence,
at that time, he was the one whom the committee would first consult
on this subj ect. And the exact coincidence between the plan indicated
in their report and the plan pursued by Mr. De Witt in his practice is
strong evidence that it was his plan. We also know that the subject
of the government surveys of the western territory was one which had
a strong interest for him. Within three months prior to the report
made by the committee, he wrote as follows: " If a new state is to be
laid off adjoining Pennsylvania and Virginia, as has been expected, I
have hopes thatfrom the parity of ofice Inow hold, and that of surveyor-gene 
ral to suclh a state, congress will be inclined to transfer me to that department." And undoubtedly he would have received the appointment
under the ordinance had not its passage been delayed for more than
a year. Meantime on the 13th of May, 1784, less than a week after
the committee made their report, he received the appointment of
surveyor-general of New York, and was deeply engaged in his duties
under that appointment long before the congressional plan became
a law. His eminent fitness for the position of government surveyor,
however, was not forgotten. In 1796, when the land laws were
revised by congress, President Washington, without his knowledge,
nominated him to the senate as surveyor-general of the United States,
and the nomination was promptly confirmed. But he felt impelled
to decline the appointment.




45
never purchased a foot of land in the public domains,
although rare opportunities for profitable speculation
frequently presented themselves, in the course of his
long experience as public surveyor. He was devotedly
attached to scientific pursuits. Let his name be held
in lasting remembrance and let him  be held up as a
noble example to his fellow Alumni.
It may not be generally known that during the
period which we are now considering, the Hon. Andrew
Kirkpatrick, so long distinguished as the able chief
justice of this state, was engaged as a teacher of the
grammar school of this institution for several years.
The advertisement cited in the note to a former page
shows that he was employed for the year commencing
October, 1784, and had been employed in previous
years. The minutes show that he was also employed
for the following years. This school has been continued
at all times whether the College was in operation or
not, and has been as it is now a most valuable adjunct
to the institution. Under its present management it
has attained a high degree of prosperity and usefulness.1
Rev. Mr. Lindsley succeeded Mr. Kirkpatrick in 1786; then came
Mr. Ogilvie; and, after him, Mr. Stevenson, who was in charge for
several years. After Mr. Stevenson, Rev. John Croes (subsequently
bishop of the Episcopal church of New Jersey), conducted the
grammar school in the College building from 1801 to 1808, at the
same time performing his duties as rector of Christ church. During
this period the exercises of the College were suspended. Mr. Croes,
being a warm personal friend of Dr. Condclit, rendered valuable assistance to the latter in 1807-1809, in his efforts to forward the new
building and to get the College again into operation.




46
It had now (1795), become evident that the time
was not ripe for the College to be self-sustaining. But
the trustees did not abandon the undertaking. With
the funds which they had collected, they had procured
a lot, and in 1787-1789, had constructed a building,
which stood near the present location of the Second
Presbyterian Church in New Brunswick; and their
hope now was, that the lapse of time, the troubles of
the war, and the changes which a quarter of a century
brings about, had allayed the feelings of jealousy and
opposition with which one party in the church had
regarded the College; and that another effort to connect with it the Theological school of the church
might be attended with success.
It will be remembered that the trustees of the College, in 1772, wrote to the classis of Amsterdam and
to the University of Utrecht for advice as to a proper
person to become president of the College, and that
the general convention of 1773 wrote to the classis in.
the same manner for advice as to a proper professor
of theology. These bodies, in the beginning of 1775,
recommended Dr. Livingston as a proper professor.
But the war prevented any further action on the subject. In October 1784, the General Synod, as before
stated, appointed Dr. Livingston professor of theology
at New York. In May, 1786, he delivered his inaugural address. This was the first Theological school,
purely such, ever established in this country. It was
continued from that time, with various fortune, to the
present. In 1796, the professor established himself at




47
Bedford, near Brooklyn, Long Island, in order to meet
the popular demand for a cheap location for the students. In 1797, the synod in a capricious moment,
withdrew all efforts to furnish a support for the Theological Professorate, and Dr. Livingston returned to
New York, where his pastoral relation with the Collegiate church had always been maintained; still continuing, however, to teach such students as chose
to attend his lectures. The synod at the same time
appointed Dr. T. Romeyn, of Schenectady, and Rev.
Solomon Froeligh, of Schralenburg, additional professors of theology. In 1804, the synod again declared
that Dr. Livingston was the regular professor of theoogy, and the others only occasional professors, but continued them in their offices for life. Resolutions,
however, were adopted for the employment of vigorous
measures to raise a fund for the support of the regular
professorship.
Thus matters stood until 1807, when, under the special inspiration of Rev. Dr. Condit, of New Brunswick,
measures were inaugurated for resuscitating the College. The trustees now proposed to erect a new edifice
of a more substantial and spacious character, at an
expense of twelve thousand dollars. To enable them
to raise so large an amount, (which seemed then so
large, they applied to the Particular Synod of New
York for their patronage and permission to canvass
the churches in order to raise the donations requisite
for accomplishing the desired object. This was all
they asked. The synod conceded their permission,




48
and recommended the project to the churches, on condition, however, that all the money raised outside of
New Jersey should be a fund exclusively appropriated
to the education of young men for the ministry and
the establishment of a Theological school upon such
conditions and stipulations as should be proposed by
the General Synod and agreed between them and the
trustees. Subject to this condition, the synod not
only granted its permission to canvass the churches, as
desired, but expressly enjoined upon all their ministers to aid the agents of the College in raising the funds
which they needed. This proposition looked very
decidedly towards a union of the two institutions and
the establishment of the Theological school in New
Brunswick. The trustees were taken by surprise, but
on reflection, concluded that the arrangement promised greater things than they had at first contemplated. They finally, on June 25, 1807, accepted the
proposition in terms, and resolved immediately to
solicit subscriptions within the bounds of New Jersey
for the erection of the contemplated building; and
efficient committees were at once appointed for this
purpose. Dr. Condit and Rev. J. S. Vredenburg, of
Somerville, were appointed a committee to complete
the negotiations with the General Synod which was
soon to meet. The committee proposed to General
Synod: " That in case the General Synod agree to
unite the professorate with the College, the trustees
will call no professor of Theology, but such as shall
be nominated and chosen for the purpose by the Gene



49
ral Synod, agreeably to such arrangements and conditions as shall now be made by the General Synod, and
which if mutually accepted shall serve as the basis of a
covenant between the synod and the trustees."
The General Synod joyfully accepted the proposition,
approved of the action of the Synod of New York,
and appointed a committee, consisting of Rev. Dr.
John N. Abeel, Jeremiah Romeyn and J. M. Bradford,
with several lay elders, to confer with the committee
of the trustees on the subject. The result was the
covenant between the General Synod and the trustees
of the College, known as the Covenant of 1807, the
principal stipulations of which were, besides the conditions above stated and agreed on, that all funds
raised for the College in New York should be exclusively appropriated to the support of a theological
professorship in the College, and the assistance of
young men desirous of entering into the ministry;
that the trustees should appoint no professor of theology but such as should be nominated by the synod;
that the permanent professorship of theology of the
synod should be located at New Brunswick; that the
trustees should call the professor appointed by the
synod as soon as they obtained a fund sufficient for
his support, which call synod requested that he should
forthwith accept; that a board of superintendents of
the Theological institution in Queens College should
be appointed by synod to examine theological candidates, etc., and that synod should provide money to
purchase a theological library, and for erecting a
7




50
theological hall, or contribute their proportion toward
erecting a building for -their joint accommodation.
This was the covenant. Superintendents of the Theological institution were at once appointed, and Dr.
Abeel, and Rev. Jer. Romeyn were appointed a committee to attend the next meeting of the trustees to
perfect any further details which the arrangements
might require.
And here it is proper to say that the Rev. Dr. John
N. Abeel, then one of the ministers of the Collegiate
churches of New York, deserves high and honorable
mention for the zeal and ability with which he entered
into the plans for reviving the College. He was four
years the junior of Dr. Condit; both being now in the
prime of life, Dr. Condit in his forty-fourth, and Dr.
Abeel in his fortieth year. He was born in New York,
educated partly at Morristown, N. J., and graduated
at Princeton, in 1787. He studied law for a short
period under Hon. William Paterson in New Brunswick; but after about a year spent in that pursuit he
resolved to devote himself to the ministry, and become
a student of theology under Dr. Livingston.
He was licensed to preach in 1793, and became a
colleague of Dr. Ashbel Green in the Second Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. In 1795 he received a
call from the Collegiate Dutch church in New York,
where he remained, universally esteemed and beloved,
in the exercise of a wide and powerful influence, until
his death, which occurred in January, 1812, but a few
months after that of his friend and co-laborer Dr. Con



dit. He was the author of the able address to the
churches which was issued in behalf of the College, by
order of synod immediately after its adjournment in
1807, and in which is contained a summary and masterly review of the previous efforts made by the church
to establish a theological school, of the origin and
objects of the College, and the advantages which its
reorganization under the present arrangement promised to effect. It concludes with an earnest appeal
to the benevolence of the churches. "I The plan now
submitted," say the committee, "forms the church's
last hope, and the committee are happy in having it
in their power to state that this hope has been greatly
encouraged by the generous contributions of one portion of her members (referring to the contributions
already made in New Jersey), its consummation rests
with those to whom the application is yet to be made.
If these contribute in any due proportion to their
means, the poor and pious youth, who glows with zeal
to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, will find
support while he is obtaining competent furniture for
his work; the congregations which have been long
mourning their silent sabbaths will be supplied; and
future generations feel the benefit of a faithful aud
able ministry.
This document is appended to the minutes of 1807,
and will ever remain a valuable contribution to the
history, not only of the College, but the church. It
had a decided and powerful effect. In the city of New
York alone, subscriptions to the professoral fund to




552
the amount of over $10,000 were obtained in a few
days.
The arrangement thus made between the synod and
the College greatly encouraged the trustees, and stimulated the subscriptions, in which so much success was
made that the trustees immediately resolved to open
the College, as well as to prosecute with vigor the
measures for erecting the new building.
Dr. Condit was requested to take immediate charge
of the highest class, which entered junior, and his son,
Daniel Harrison Condit, in Nov. 1809, was appointed
a tutor to assist in teaching the other classes. In
December, 1809, Mr. Robert Adrian, who had proved
himself a successful teacher in Reading, Pa., was
appointed a professor of mathematics. And so the
College was again put in operation. Dr. Livingston
was elected professor of theology, and accepted, but
remained in New York until 1810. He was also
elected President of the College, but at first declined.
Dr. Condit was then elected to the presidency: but
he deemed the office incompatible with the duties he
owed to his church, which he continued to perform in
their fullest extent. The amount of strain on the
mind and body of this eminent and faithful man must
at this period, have been immense. He had the pastoral care of one of the largest churches in the
denomination.  He taught the College classes, the
junior class, in 1807-8, and the junior and senior
classes in 1808-9 and 1809-10. IHe also, as a leading
member of the board of trustees, was actively engaged




53
in all the concerns of the College, especially in the
efforts to collect funds for erecting the new building,
and causing the work duly to progress. He procured
by his own exertions subscriptions in the city of New
Brunswick and its vicinity, to the amount of $6,370,
during the year 1807, and continued his efforts in
that direction during the time the College was building. Such an accumulation of labors and responsibilities was more than human nature could bear.
Like his predecessor, Dr. Hardenberg, he was destined
to spend and be spent in the cause of the College. No
wonder that his face, as it looks down upon us from
yonder frame, has a sad and wearied look. NTo wonder that the cord of life snapped under the tension,
when he was yet in the very prime of his years and
usefulness. Which of us has done what he did before
reaching his forty-eighth year. Here again we see
exemplified the great truth that " life is measured by
its work."
In connection with the reminiscences of Dr. Condit, we have brought again before us glimpses of that
noble Christian matron, Juffrow Hardenbergh, truly
a mother in Israel. She survived until 1807, the year
which witnessed the revival of the College. And many
a time, Dr. Condit on entering his church, bending
beneath the burden of his cares, and weighed down
with a too habitual despondency, would stop at the
pew of this eminent servant of Christ, and receive
from her vivacious and intrepid spirit draughts of
courage and consolation which his weary soul required.




5O4
But Dr. Condit's special work was accomplished.
The corner stone of the present College was laid on
the 27th April, 1809.  In a report to synod, made in
June 1809, Dr. Condit as president of the board of
trustees, says: " The trustees have revived the exercises of the College with flattering prospects of success.
They have a small number in each of the classes, the
whole amounting to about thirty students.  They have
also a very respectable and flourishing grammar school,
in which the languages are taught, we believe, with
as great accuracy and to as great perfection as in any
school within the circle of our acquaintance. The
trustees have likewise commenced the building of the
College and Theological hall, and hope to enclose the
whole this season."  The building was so far advanced
as to be covered in the fall of 1810.1
Meantime, Dr. Livingston accepted the renewed
call to the presidency of the institution in May, 1810,
and removed to New Brunswick that year; thus consummating the union between the two institutions.'The ground on which the College is erected was a donation from
the devisees of the elder James Parker, of Perth-Aimboy, through
the late Hon. James Parker, of that place. The donation consisted
of five acres. The trustees afterwards purchased of Mr. Parker,
another parcel which was included in the same deed. The trustees
who took the most active interest in the building, and in the reestablishment of the College, were, besides Dr. Condit, Chief Justice
Kirkpatrick, James Shureman, Esq., Rev. Dr. John Shureman, Col.
John Neilson, Jacob R. Hardenbergh, Abraham Blauvelt, Staats
Van Deursen, Col. Van Dyke, Rev. John S. Vredenburgh, Dr. Charles
Smith, William P. Deare, Dr. Cannon, Dr. Dunham, and Rev. H.
Polhelnus. The building committee were, Messrs. Blauvelt, Shureman and Van Deursen.




55
His inaugural address was delivered September 25,
and was replete with historical interest.
The care of the building and of the general affairs
of the College still pressed heavily on Dr. Condit, who
survived but a few months after Dr. Livingston's
inauguration.
His death was sudden. It occurred the 1st of June,
1810, and was the result of an attack of pneumonia;
but it was characterized by a remarkable intrepidity
and self-possession which left a deep and lasting impression on those who witnessed it. Dr. Thomas DeWitt,
then a student of theology and an inmate of his family,
has given us a vivid picture of the closing scene.
"When to all appearance he was near his end, to our
wonder and satisfaction he arose in his bed, observed
the great necessity of prayer, and that finding the hour
of death a solemn one, requested those who were present to join with him. He then made a most powerful
solemn, and connected prayer of about four minutes.
What appeared surprising was, that in his feeble condition he was enabled to speak so long without interruption. It appeared as if the Lord had given him
special strength." So he died. His only son, Daniel
Harrison Condit, a young man of great promise,
who had for some time assisted his father as tutor in
the College, followed him to the grave in less than three
short months, and left the widow and daughters to the
protection of an all-merciful Providence, who never
yet has deserted those who have thus been cast upon
his care. From his aged relict, before her departure,




56
it has often been my happiness to hear stories of this
departed time, which gave a silver lining to the dark
cloud of oblivion which so soon envelopes the past.
I cannot relate in detail the subsequent events in
the history of the College. It still continued to suffer,
as before under the stress of inadequate funds. The
connection with the theological school did not produce
that relief which was anticipated. Dr. Livingston,
though nominally president, did little more in the literary institution than to preside at public exercises and
sign diplomas. The actual instruction was performed
by others. Dr. Adrian, as professor of mathematics
and natural philosophy, and his successor Professor
Henry Vethake, fulfilled their duties with great sufficiency and satisfaction. Rev. Dr. John Schureman,
the successor of Dr. Condit in the Dutch church at
New Brunswick, was appointed vice-president of the
College, and professor of moral philosophy, and belles
lettres, and Rev. Cornelius C. Vermeule, for a short
period acted as professor of languages. But the College did not prosper in resources and patronage. In
1816, the literary department was again suspended,
and during the whole period of nine years in which it
was in operation, the number of graduates amounted
to only a little over forty. Some of these, it is true,
became an honor to their alma mater. In the class of
1809, we have the names of Cornelius L. Hardenbergh
William Van Deursen, and Rynear Veghte; also in
that of 1812, we recognize the familiar name of Dr.
Isaac N. Wyckoff.




57
This closes the second period of the collegiate history.
It is unnecessary that I should attempt any notice
of the venerable Dr. Livingston, whose name is known
in all the churches. His profound learning, his extensive influence, his zeal for the welfare of the Reformed
church, and his success in securing the affection and
exciting the energies of the young men who resorted
to him for theological instruction, are as familiar as
household words. Few men have so extensively impressed their characters upon the generation in which
they lived. He finished his course in this city on the
20th of January, 1825, in the 79th year of his age.
His biography belongs more appropriately to the theological than to the literary institution, and is, besides,
so well known that it would be affectation to enlarge
upon it on this occasion.
He was succeeded in the theological chair by Rev.
Dr. Milledoler, of New York. A renewed effort was
now made to revive the exercises of the College.
The theological seminary had lately been strengthened by the endowment of a second professorship.
Dr. John Schureman, besides being pastor of the
church, and vice-president and professor of the College,
was professor of pastoral theology and ecclesiastical
historyin the theological seminary from 1815 until 1818,
the time of his death. He was succeeded by Rev.
John Ludlow in the church and seminary from 1819
to 1823. The exercises of the College being then suspended, Dr. Ludlow did not officiate in it. He was
succeeded in the seminary by Dr. John DeWitt, in
8




58
1823, as professor of biblical literature and ecclesiastical history.
Dr. Milledoler, on his accession to the chair of theology, deemed it highly important to the interests of
the theological seminary that the College should be
revived; and he believed that it might be successfully
accomplished, says Dr. Polhemus, in his Alumni
address of 1852, by raising forthwith the amount
necessary for a third theological professorship, and
obtaining gratuitously the services of the theological
professors in the literary institution. This plan he
proposed to his colleague, Dr. DeWitt, who entered
heartily into the scheme, which was at once approved
by the trustees, and gave rise to a new covenant
between the trustees and General Synod, called the
covenant of 1825.
The College edifice and lot had been transferred to
the synod in the same year in consideration of the
latter advancing the sum of $4,000 to pay off a debt
which the trustees had incurred.
The terms of the new covenant were, in substance, that the College building should be used for
both institutions; that the theological professors
should assist in the literary instruction of the College;
that the trustees should appoint a professor of languages, and a professor of mathematics and natural
philosophy, and such additional professors as the
parties should agree upon; that one of the theological professors should be appointed president of the
College, etc.




69
This plan proved eminently successful. The funds
for the third theological professorship were secured,
the clergy themselves subscribing $10,000 of the
amount. The College was resuscitated. In addition
to the theological professors, who had various literary
professorships, Dr. Adrian was reappointed professor
of mathematics, and Dr. Brownlee, professor of languages; and Dr. Milledoler was elected president of
the College. Dr. Joseph Nelson succeeded Dr. Brownlee in 1826, and Professor Theodore Strong, succeeded
Dr. Adrian in 1827, and the College has proceeded on
its career of usefulness from  that day to this. Its
name was changed to Rutgers College in 1825, in consequence of the munificent aid rendered to it by Col.
Henry Rutgers, of New York.
During the third and last period of the history,
several changes have occurred in the relations between
the College on one side, and the church and seminary
on the other.
In 1839, the covenant was modified by the synod
surrendering to the trustees, the free appointment of
the president, it being provided that no theological
professor should thereafter be appointed president; and
in the year 1840, the synod by resolution referred the
whole administration of the College to the trustees,
without supervision or restriction, requesting the theological professors, however, to continue such services
to the College as they had previously given, or such
as they could render without interfering with their
other duties.




60
The College was becoming more and more able to
sustain itself, and the duties of the theological professors in the seminary were becoming more and more
absorbing. The result was that the connection between
the two institutions became more feeble every year,
until, finally, in 1864, the College property was reconveyed by the synod to the trustees for the consideration
of twelve thousand dollars, and the theological professors ceased to have any further connection with the
College.'
The two institutions are now standing, each by itself,
in generous rivalry.  Both, daughters of the church;
one retains its connection wholly therewith, being a
purely ecclesiastical institution; the other has only a
moral connection. It draws from the bosom of the
church its principal support; it educates her sons; it
supplies the theological seminary with worthy recruits
and renders rich returns to the church and to society,
in the high culture, the sound learning, and the solid
principles of its graduates. The present object of the
trustees and faculty is to place the College in a position
equal to that of any other in the land, as a seminary
where these primary objects of collegiate instruction
can be attained.
In my haste to get over the ground which I had
marked out, I have omitted to mention some of the
1 The deed of conveyance contains the following conditions: " that
the property so conveyed shall be used and occupied by the College
for the purpose of collegiate education, and the usual and proper
incidents thereto; and that the president of the College, and threefourths of the members of its board of trustees shall always be




61
cherished names which are indelibly connected with
the history of this institution. There is the less necessity for much of the omitted portions on account of
the recency and freshness of the events.
All the graduates of my time will remember with
sincere regard President Milledoler and his associates,
Drs. Cannon, and Janeway, and Professors Strong,
Ogilby and Beck.  Dr. Milledoler was noted for the
kindness and parental regard with which he treated
the students.  His introductory lectures to Paley, and
his recitations on that author in moral and political
philosophy, will ever be remembered by the classes
from 1825 to 1840.  His teachings were pervaded by
a deep Christian feeling, and it seemed to be ever his
desire to impress us with the deep importance to ourselves and to society, of the truths which we learned
in his room.  Dr. Cannon, who excelled in rich and
accurate learning, and whose dignity of deportment
and gentlemanly treatment of the students, seemed to
inspire them with new self-respect, excited their deepest reverence and affection for himself personally.
With my class, whatever may have been the case with
others, a new-born desire to learn and a new pride in
learning, especially in learning to think, seemed to
pervade all except the merest triflers, the moment we
commenced recitations in his room.  And who can formembers in full communion of the Reformed Protestant Dutch
church of North America, and that on breach of either of these
conditions, the deed of conveyance shall be void, and the title to the
property revert to the synod." —Minutes of Synod, vol. x, p. 472.




62
get the kind and beneficent Janeway, (a Christian
indeed, if ever there was one)? the profound and
indulgent Strong? the accurate, keen and critical
Ogilby? the modest, learned and gentlemanly Beck?
If the range of our studies at that period, was not so
great as more celebrated institutions could boast, and
as Rutgers herself can now boast, we must, nevertheless, acknowledge deep obligations to our Alma Mater,
for the correct and earnest habits of thought which
we acquired in her revered halls, and for the impress
of generous and liberal culture, and gentlemanly feeling which we received.
I feel that this word of remembrance is due to these
intellectual guides of my youth, who have all now
gone to the silent land. Fond memory often brings
back their revered forms, and listens again to their
words of instruction. The good influences that have
been shed from these venerable men and their successors upon those who have come up here for instruction
in the rapid procession of the years, will never end.
In 1840, Dr. Milledoler having resigned the presidency of the College, the HON. A. BRUYN HASBRoucK,
another worthy son of old Ulster, was appointed his
successor, and for ten years devoted himself to the
responsible duties of the office. Being himself a lawyer by profession, and distinguished in civil life, he
gave a new impetus to the pulses of intellectual
improvement by the introduction of lectures on constitutional and international law. How he won the
attachment and the high respect of all his pupils, and




63
how he is still remembered by them with grateful and
loving hearts, is better understood and felt by many
who now hear me than can be publicly described. He
resigned the presidency in 1850, and the College will
ever owe him a debt of gratitude for the sacrifices
made in its behalf.
The next president was the ION. THEODORE FRELINGUnYSEN, who at the bar of New Jersey and in the
national senate, won the highest distinction for eloquence, purity and lofty integrity of purpose. He
had been chancellor of the University of New York
since 1839, and was welcomed back to his native state,
and to the scenes which had been consecrated, in early
days, by the piety and Christian zeal of his ancestors.
It is not too much to say that no person was ever more
universally respected and beloved. His influence on
this institution and on the young men who resorted to
it for instruction was of the most genial and beneficent kind. And he occupied just that position in the
church and in society which was needed to reconcile
all interests, and to produce a united, friendly feeling
toward the College. In 1862, this great and good man
died, as he had lived, the Christian gentleman.
To him succeeded the REv. I). WM. IW. CAMPBELL,
who still presides over the College, and of whom it is
enough to say that he came to his position with ripe
learning and with large and varied experience in the art
of teaching, and that he had a special workto do, and has
so far been diligent in the doing of it. Dr. Campbell
and the worthy band of associates by whom he was




64
surrounded, conceived the idea that Rutgers College
had an important mission to fulfill; that it ought not
to be second in point of excellence to any college in
the country; and that one of the means of effecting
this object was its liberal endowment with funds and
with all the apparatus and appliances of learning.
This was his work. Itis yet but partially accomplished.
The college in later years has grown in size and
importance. It has really become a University. It
consists of three distinct institutions, the college, the
agricultural college, and the grammar school,- for
-this is really an integral part of the establishment.
The classes succeed each other in regular gradation,
from the lowest form in the grammar school to the
senior class in College. And what is more important still, the members of the school actually regard
themselves as in regular order of succession for the
final degree.
The Agricultural College is under the care of the
state, and was established in 1865, under an act of the
legislature of New Jersey, passed April 4, 1864. This
act was passed for the purpose of carrying into effect
the provisions of the act of congress, granting to the
several states a certain quantity of the public lands to
enable them to establish colleges for the promotion of
agriculture and mechanical and scientific pursuits.
The College, though distinct, is intimately connected
with the literary institution. It enables students who
desire it to pursue a strictly scientific course of mechanics, natural philosophy, chemistry, engineering, etc.




It is calculated to be one of the noblest and most useful institutions of the state.
Thus organized, the College is now furnished with
ten professorships, all ably and efficiently filled, and
has the additional assistance of three tutors,- all this
besides.the instruction given in the grammar school.
We have a chair of moral philosophy and Christianity; of Greek language and literature; of Latin
language and literature; of rhetoric, logic and mental
philosophy; of history, political economy and constitutional law; of mathematics, natural philosophy and
astronomy; of natural history and agriculture; of
analytical chemistry; of civil engineering; of mining
and metallurgy.
We have an astronomical observatory, well supplied
with proper instruments; we have a very fair philosophical apparatus;- but, we have not a good library; we
have not the requisite room; we have not yet a sufficient endowment of funds to make us feel secure in
our position. We need books; we need buildings; we'need funds.
But judging from what has been done in the past,
when our Alumni were few in numbers and when our
resources were much inferior to those which we may
now safely rely on, there is every ground for hope and
encouragement to expect the. consummation which our
worthy president has aimed to accomplish.
And here is the proper place to advert for one
moment to the long list of noble deeds and noble
natures which the college and its wants have called
9




66
forth under the many vicissitudes of its origin and
growth. I cannot enumerate them all.
ELIAS VAN BENSCHOTEN is a name which might have
been forgotten had he been a man of ordinary aims
and purposes. His talents were not distinguished, his
learning was not conspicuous. But the Lord put it
into his heart to devise liberal things, and he has thereby
created for himself a monumental memorial which will
carry his name to remote generations. In 1814, he
made a donation to the College, of some fourteen thousand dollars, then considered a much larger sum than at
present, and which has since accumulated to over twenty
thousand dollars, the income of which he' directed
should be applied to the support and education of
pious youth who hope they have a call of God to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. How many servants of God
and lights of the church have been prepared for their
work by the aid of this munificent donation!
In 1825, COL. HENRY RUTGERS, with a liberal hand
sustained the feeble energies of the institution and
enabled it to resume once more a place among the
educational seminaries of the country.
GEN. STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, of Albany, is also
deserving of lasting remembrance for the liberal donations bestowed by him from time to time.
ABRAHAM VAN NEST, of New York, is another of the
honorable names that have become indelibly impressed
upon the institutions here located.
DANIEL SCHENCK has also registered his name high
up on the roll of honor which has been' opened for




67
those who desire to be remembered for something else
than that they lived and accumulated houses and lands
and died.
ABRAHAM VOORHEES iS another, there are two of
them: ABRAHAM VOORHEES, of SIX MILE RUN, and
ABRAHAM VOORHEES, of NEW BRUNSWIcK, who have
not been contented simply to live and then to be forgotten and unknown.
And then there is a long roll of honorable donors
who have from time to time helped to fill the exhausted
treasury of the College, and to endow its funds. Their
names shall not be forgotten. If the College had done
nothing else but call forth these manifestations of
noble munificence and liberality, these indications of
an appreciation of those higher things which belong
to the true dignity of man, it would have subserved a
useful purpose.
My brethren, Alumni of Rutgers College! This
work must not stop here. We have duties to perform
as well as those who have gone before us. In their
day of small things they have done what they could.
Let us do what we can, and let us bequeath the same
spirit to our successors; let the sacred torch be handed
on from one class to another - from one generation to
the next - and I have no hesitation in venturing to prophesy that another half century will not pass away
before our beloved College shall stand among the foremost of those bulwarks of learning, and faith, and
loyalty which constitute the landmarks of civilization
and Christianity.




68
There are some reflections which a review of the
century forcibly impresses upon the mind.
One of deep import arises from the great and
rapid changes which have taken place in systems of
learning and education since 1770, and the progress
which has been made in all sciences and in almost
every branch of learning during that period.
In the natural sciences, more especially, wonderful
departures have been made. Even the mathematics
of that day would be wholly inadequate to the investigations of the present. And in the sciences of natural
philosophy, of chemistry and of natural history, new
fields in every direction have been opened up, explored,
subdued, cultivated.
The whole system of modern chemistry has grown
up since 1770. Only a few of the elementary substances were then known. The method in which
known substances could' be' analyzed, the laws by
which their elements are combined, the forces which
nature employs to combine them, the facts and principles of electricity, magnetism and galvanism, were
entirely unknown at that day. The nature of light,
with its modifications under certain conditions; the
discoveries which it is capable of disclosing, by means
of various hues and refractions, with regard to the
composition- of distant bodies in the heavens and
unanalyzed bodies on earth, were entirely unknown.
Geology as a science had' not been born; mineralogy
was but slightly understood; even natural history, as
since developed and understood, was then its infancy,




69
and if we turn to the human sciences, the science of
mind itself and of the higher metaphysics, we shall
find that the discoveries and investigations which have
been made since the year 1770, have opened up a new
world to the curious inquirer.
The science of language, maugre all the attention
which had been given to the study of the ancient
classical and oriental authors, had scarcely begun to
be understood.  The connection between the various
languages of the earth, the Indian, German, Greek
and Latin, was entirely unknown. The ancient and
sacred Sanscrit had not been explored by European
scholars, and the key which that primeval tongue furnishes for unlocking the secrets imbedded in the languages of different races had not been discovered.
The curriculum of studies presented to the eager
students of that day would furnish but a very meagre and inadequate course for the student of the
present.
Certainly in many things mankind have made great
progress; and what another century may bring forth
it is vain for us to conjecture.
The world rolls on with unceasing change, and such
infinite combinations of invention and discovery take
place that it would be worse than presumptuous for
us to attempt to look forward into futurity, and to
draw a picture of coming times.
In every department, whether of science or philoso-.
phy, or art or literature, or politics or law, or even
religion (which ought to be the most stable of all),




70
everything is subject to the universal law of progress
and development and change.
But certainly, if not in religion, at least in everything beside, we find that the science, the philosophy
and the learning of the day are far different, far more
advanced, and far better adapted to the purposes of
producing human happiness than the science, the philosophy and the learning of a century ago.
And now we launch our beloved institution upon
that unknown sea, the century to come. We stand
upon the shore and look forward with wondering
gaze. But the future is inscrutable to our vision.
May the influence of our Alma Mater be as it hath
heretofore been, conservative, elevating, purifying,
exalting. May her future sons be prepared to fight
bravely the battle of life, and to aid in the development
of those improved forms and phases of advancing civilization, which we confidently hope will bless our
favored land.
The wheels of progress will roll on, and we must
march onward with them  or we shall be crushed
beneath their majestic advance. There is still a work
to do in every age and in every generation. Let the
Guardians and Alumni of Rutgers College be ever
watchful and active; let them keep abreast with the
times, and suffer no sluggishness or indolence to consign them to the shades of oblivion, where all institutions and all persons are consigned who keep not pace'
with the advance of mankind in knowledge, freedom
and enterprise.




71
The word. is addressed to us, brethren Alumni, today. Rest not on the glories of the past, for they
have served their end.  Wait not for the developments
of the future, they will be needed in their time.  But
gird yourselves to the demands of the present, which
always confers the only true badge of nobleness, which
is stamped with the inscription, blazoned in letters of
light, "FIDELITY TO TRUST."
ADDITIONAL NOTE.
oNbtice of some of the early Events which led to the
Establishment of Queens College.
Governor WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, though a Presbyterian,
and never a trustee of Queens College, except in his official
capacity as governor of New Jersey, had an indirect, but important agency in the chain of events which terminated in its
establishment.
The people of the Northern colonies were seldom free from
the apprehension of the establishment of episcopacy as the state
religion, with all its train of tithes, and other impositions which
were felt so severely in England. The members of the colonial government, from the governor down to justices of the
peace, generally owed their appointments, directly or indirectly,
to the crown, and naturally favored'the Episcopal church. By
their influence this sect constantly received liberal favors in
donations of land and special privileges not accorded to other
denominations.  Episcopalians vaunted themselves on their
preeminent loyalty, and naturally took sides with the government in all political controversies.




In 1751, the legislature of the colony of New York, after
~3,443 had been raised by lottery for the purpose of founding
a college in that colony, passed an act vesting the fund thus
raised in ten trustees, seven of whom were Episcopalians, two
Reformed Dutch, and one (Mr. Livingston himself), a Presbyterian.  This act naturally created a suspicion that the college
would be placed under Episcopalian management, and be subservient to Episcopalian ascendancy.  The government patronage and influence had constantly been exerted in favor of that
denomination, much to the indignation of both Dutch Reformed
and Presbyterians, the latter of whom had even been refused a
charter for holding property.  Gov. Livingston, then a rising
and influential young lawyer, was not to be appeased by having
his name included among the trustees of the college fund. In
1752 and 1753, he published, in weekly numbers, The Independent Rejfector, containing a series of scathing articles, in
which, amongst other things, he exposed the project of an
Episcopal college, to be endowed with the fund which all sects
had contributed to raise. This was followed in 1755 and 1756
by a series of articles entitled " The Watch Tower." He did
not succeed, however, in preventing the erection of an Episcopal institution. Lieut. Gov. Delancy granted the charter of
Kings College in October, 1754, with trustees or governors,
mostly of the Episcopalian denomination, and with a condition
inserted, that the president should always be a member of the
church of England, as by law established, and that morning
and evening service in the college should be the liturgy of said
church, or prayers selected therefrom. Mr. Livingston * * *
did succeed, however, in arousing such an opposition to the
scheme in the legislature, that an act was passed directing the
trustees cf the fund to give. only one-half of it to the college,
and the other half to the city for the purpose of erecting a jail
and pest-house.  An attempt was made by the government
party to conciliate the Dutch by making their senior minister
one of the trustees of the college; and even Mr. Livingston
himself was named in the charter, but he refused to meet with




73
the' board.  A still further effort to divert the Dutch from any.
opposition to the college, and to gain their support, was made
in June, 1755, by granting, on the suggestion of Domine Ritzema, a supplementary charter, making provision for the establishment of a professorship of divinity, in the college, according
to the doctrine, discipline, and worship, established by the
National Synod of Dort. (See Moore's History of Columnbia:
2ollege, pp. 25, 26). The Conferentie party of the Reformed
Dutch church long clung to this professorship in Kings College, as all that was desired by the church for educational
purposes in this country. But the Coetus were not to be,
cajoled into any such connection, which- in their view would
have finally resulted in entire coalescence with the Episcopal
denomination.
The controversy to which the establishment of Kings College gave rise, had much to do with fanning the flame of opposition to governmental proceedings in the colony of New York,
and was indeed one of the links in the chain of events which led to
the revolution of 1776.  (See Sedgwick's -Life of Livingston).
The Ccetus party in the Reformed Church, as we have seen,
were never satisfied with Kings College; nor were they content
to rely on the college at Princeton for the education of their
sons. Several attempts were made to bring the Dutch churches
into an' established connection with the latter institution; but
they always failed of success.
I have before me a tract, written in 1755, by Domine David
Jlfarinus of Acquackanonk (one of the trustees in the charter of
Queens College), in which he expresses these views very clearly.
It is entitled A Remark on the Disputes and Contentions of
this Province, meaning New York.'; If any man in his right
senses," says he, "'who will not be duped, considers what hath
happened among us, will he then any longer be at a loss to ascribe our strifes, quarrels and contentions to their real causes?
Was there not a sum of money raised by our Assembly, in order.
to erect a college or seminary of learning for the education of
youth? And did not a certain party petition for and obtain a




74
charter in which the president is appointed forever to be a
member in communion with the church of England?" &c.' Will not our youth, by this constitution, be under the sole
government of that party (as yet not numerous in this province,
and thereby be imbued with their principles; so that High
Church will be brought in a likely way to triumph over us?"
*'  *  Will not the youth be tinctured with the principles of
those who teach them? And will this not soon model church
and state? When these things are duly considered (which
surely are very obvious to every thinking person) I hope they
who belong to the Reformed Church, as constituted by the
Synod of Dordrecht, will no longer suffer themselves to be so
much imposed upon, as they have been for some time of late.
For my part, I am not more amazed, though I am much so, at
the astonishing imposition of the encroaching party, that would
monopolize our intended college, than I am at our own infatuation, stupidity and lethargy." He then refers, with approbation, to the Independent Reflector and Watch Tower on this
point, and inveighs against a pretended friend to the Dutch
church, who had published an article in the New York Mercury, in favor of Kings College, and adverse to the establishment of a separate classis in this country.  " But he seems,"
says Domine Marinus, " to be under a terrible apprehension,
when this [an independent classis] is effected, the Jersey College [then located at Newark under Rev. Aaron Burr] will be
encouraged, and ours [Kings] at the same time neglected. I
hope we will wish the Jersey College well, because their aim at
grasping after all our churches, hath not hitherto been so glaring as that of the High Church College [Kings] in this province. And I believe the religious principles inculcated in the
former agree better with Holy Scripture, and with the Confession of our Church, nay, even with the doctrinal part of the
articles of the Church of England, than I expect will be taught,
in the latter. Moreover, those who erected it, have not as yet
endeavored to impose the charge of keeping it upon us. But
if our friend had not been hasty, and had waited but a little




75
while longer, he would perhaps have been informed, that cwe
don't choose to have too near a connection with either; b6ut intend, please God, an Academy of our own, for the free education of our youth."  *  *  "And though this our resolution
be but just and equitable in itself, and no more than what is
manifestly our indispensable duty, we may notwithstanding, in
a great measure, thank our kind sister Churches for it, who by
the whole of their late conduct towards us, even by their dreams
and prophecies, have shown us the necessity thereof, unless we
resolve ignominiously to surrender and give up our Churches
to them." He finally exhorts his brethren of the Reformed
Church to be aroused from their lethargy, to awake to the
craft and artifice used to despoil them. He doubts not that his
gracious majesty, King George, will be pleased "to grant us
a charter too, for the education of our youth, as well as any
other religious denomination whatsoever." And he adds: "' We
have no business with their colleges; they may erect as many
as they please, and must expect to maintain them too, themselves. Let every one provide for his own house." [The above
pamphlet is bound up in vol. v, Miscellaneous Pam phlets, New
Jersey Historical Society.]
From this period (1755) until the grant of the charter of
Queens College in 1770, the project of an independent college
was never lost sight of by the Coetus party in the Dutch Church.
Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen of Albany undertook to found
such an institution, and actually went to Holland under a commission from the Coetus to obtain the requisite funds; but he
died on his return from his mission. (See an account of his
efforts in Corwin's Manual of the Reformed Church in America,
pp. 333, 353). This effort is strongly animadverted upon by
the Conferentie, in their sessions, September, 1755, and some
curious reasons are urged against it. (See Acts and Proceedings of ASynod, vol. I, pp. xciv, xcv, xcvi). It will be seen by
these minutes that Dom. Ritzema and his-followers were all in
favor of Kings College, and against any new institution, as well
as any new and independent classis.




76
There is a curious passage, germane to the subject, on page
xcvi of the minutes. " Dom. Frelinghuysen should remember
the censure placed on his father thirty years ago, of which the
after pains are a whole brood, who are still without the public
exercise of the ministry, although a part of them were brought
forward by the Ccetus."  "Thirty years ago" would be about
1726.  To what is reference here made?  Did the first Frelinghuysen establish an academy?  Does the "whole brood" refer
to his helpers?  The minutes of the Conferentie from  1755
down to the Union in 1771, furnish amusing evidence of the
absolute torment which the young party of progress in the
church constantly inflicted upon the staid adherents of Amsterdam and ecclesiastical order. It is a perfect book of lamentations.
Our friend Hardenbergh is referred to as "' one Hardenbergh,"
"'a certain Hardenbergh," "' the so-called student Hardenbergh,"
etc., etc. In their letter to the classis of Amsterdam, Oct. 12,
1758, they speak of Kings College thus: " Our academy established at New York prospers remarkably, and we, Low Dutch
Reformed, have the liberty to call a professor of theology, according to the constitution of our Netherlandish church order,
established in the Synod of Dort, and this privilege shall be
used at the first opportunity" (p. civ).  Domine Ritzema desired
to be this professor (Gunn's Memoirs of Dr. Livinzqston, p. 191).
A further evidence, however, that the Ccetus were still stirring
the question of a new college, may be found in the minutes of
Conferentie, or their letter to Amsterdam under date of February 25, 1762 (Acts, &c., vol. I, p. cxi). Speaking of difficulties
at Tappan, where Dom. Verbryk (an original trustee of Queens)
was settled as pastor, the Conferentie say: "The minister without direction from the congregation or consistory, had engaged,
with other ministers of the so-called Coetus, to obtain from the
governor of New Jersey a charter for the erection of an Academy
in that province. Thirty-eight heads of families took this so ill,
that they refused to pay the Domine's salary.  *  *  The minister still adhering obstinately to his purpose, used all means to
accomplish it; and when refused by one governor, sought itfrom




77
his successors.)"  Could the enemies of the Ccetus have written a
stronger eulogy if they had tried? But if Dom. Verbryk's
congregation stopped his salary, he got even with- them, by
putting them all under censure and excluding them from the
communion! (p. cxiii). A race of brave men was that which
founded the College! But the letter from the Conferentie'to the
classis in June, 1764, is still more interesting.  Dom. Verbryk,
it seems, being obliged by his call, to preach on the church
days, did so in his own fashion. On Paas (Easter) he took for
subject the Crucifixion! "Besides, he, along'with other ministers, desired a charter for an academy from the governor of
New Jersey, although he lives under the government of New
York!"  *  *  " And since this matter of an academy is that
which is so sadly disputed in the congregations of New Jersey,
and those adjoining, we cannot omit mentioning that, notwithstanding two governors have refused their request, they mean
to try it with the third!![ " (Acts, vol. I, p. cxvi). And in the
very last letter from the Conferentie to the classis, as printed
in the Acts (dated Oct. 7th, 1767) they say: "'Satisfied ourselves with the plan of getting a professor [of theology] in our
academy [i. e. Kings College,] we perceive, nevertheless, that
there is another scheme laid, in regard to a new academy to be
erected in New Jersey, by which a student is to be sent hence
to the University of Utrecht, where, through the favor of a
certain professor of theology, and some others, he is to be received and study four years, and then come back as professor
of theology."  (Vol. i, p. cxxxi).
That part of the plan here alluded to, of sending a student to
Holland to prepare himself for the professorship of theology, is
mentioned in the Miemoirs of Dr. John H. Livingston, page 193.
Dr. Livingston had gone to Holland in 1766, to study theology.
In 1768, while he was at Utrecht, Dr. Witherspoon, having
accepted the presidency of the college at Princeton, visited
Holland preparatory to entering upon his duties, and requested
an interview with him.  Livingston, though a young man, and
then only a student of theology, belonged to one of the most




78
powerful families in New York and in the Reformed Church of
America. The result of the interview was the adoption of a
scheme by which the Reformed Dutch Churches should patronize Princeton College so far as academical education was concerned; but should establish a theological professorship of their
own. This plan, as may be supposed, did not at all meet the
views of the Ccetus party in America. They had long matured
their charter for an independent college, and, as we have seen,
had several times applied to the governors of New Jersey for
its passage under the great seal, but as yet without success.
Hence they would be likely to receive the plan of Dr. Witherspoon with coldness, although propounded as part of a more
general plan of Dr. Livingston's for bringing the Dutch Reformed Churches into harmonious union- a consummation
which was certainly very desirable. Mr. ABRAHAM LOTT, of
New York, one of the original trustees of Queens College, writes
to Dr. Livingston under date of March 28th, 1769: " As far as
I can find, the whole Ccetus, with all their heart, as well as all
the leading members of our church, will cheerfully agree to the
plan, except to that part which relates to the local union with
Princeton College; as it is apprehended that much mischief
would arise to our cause, from a union with that or any other
college at this present time." Again, in June, 1769: " The
principal objection against the proposed plan, is the local junction with Nassau Hall, in Princeton, almost everybody judging
it best that we neither join that college, nor the one in this city.
This is the opinion of our congregation."  (Memoirs of Livingston, 195, 196).
That the association for the foundation of Queens College
had already assumed definite shape and form, may be inferred
from a passage in another letter of Mr. Lott to Dr. Livingston,
dated in September,' 1767, in which he speaks of the Coetus
party as having adopted measures for the erection of an
"Academy" in New Jersey, in which pious youth might be
educated for the ministry, and (as Dr. Gunn understands it),
had already obtained a charter for the same, containing nothing




79
of Ccetus or Conferentie in it, being founded on the constitution of the church of Holland, as established in the national
Synod of Dort. (Memoirs, p. 187). Dr. Gunn unquestionably
misunderstood the letter so far as he inferred its meaning to be
that a charter was already granted; but it had, undoubtedly,
been reduced to form, and a board of trustees had been selected.
In the New York Mercury of May, 1769, nearly a year before
the charter passed the great seal, is a notice of a meeting of the
trustees of Queens College, to be held at Hendrik Kuyper's
house at Harsimus.  The charter was not actually sealed until
March 20th, 1770.
This review shows, that the party of progress in the Reformed
Dutch Church, from the time of the elder Frelinghuysen down
to 1770, never lost sight of their purpose to have a college in
America, where their young men could obtain a finished education, both in classical, scientific and professional learning,
without going to Holland therefor, or to the institutions of
neighboring churches, where they would be exposed to proselytism or to a depreciation of their own church. No doubt many
names have been omitted, which ought to occupy a prominent
place in this note. Mr. Corwin, the painstaking author of the
Manual, calls my special attention to Rev. REINHARDT ERICKSON, the first president of the Coetus. But it is impossible in this
hasty sketch to write a full history.  This has been much better
done by Mr. Corwin himself, in the appendix to his useful
work above referred to.
It ought to be added in this connection that the very year
(1770) in which the charter for the college received the governmental sanction, Dr. Livingston returned from Holland, bearing
the olive branch of peace, in a scheme, approved by the Church
of Holland, for the union of all the Dutch Reformed Churches
in North America. This union was effected by certain articles
agreed upon in a General Convention in 1771. But such was
the distrust of the new college on the part of the Conferentie,
that the Ccetus were obliged to give up their long cherished
desire of having the theological professorate identified with it.




80
Theological professors were provided for; but it was stipulated
that they should have no connection with any English academies,
but should deliver lectures on theology in their own houses to
such students as could, by suitable testimonials, make it appear
that they had carefully exercised themselves in the preparatory
branches for two or three years, at a college or academy under:the supervision of competent teachers in the languages, philosophy, etc. Perhaps one motive in this stipulation was, to
prevent any connection with Kings College or Princeton; but
no doubt.Queens College, which was organized under the sole
influence of the Coetus, was principally intended in the prohibition.
The fact is, that no theological professor was appointed by the
General Synod until after the revolutionary war in 1784, when
Dr. Livingston received the appointment. But the necessities,
both of the church and the college, finally brought the two institutions together, as is shown in the text.
The morning exercises were concluded with a prayer
offered by Rev. Dr. B. C. Taylor of Bergen; the singing of the Doxology, and the pronouncing of the
Benediction by Rev. Dr. Gustavus Abeel of Newark.




GEhNERAL ALUMNI DMEETING.
After allowing time for refreshment, which hundreds found at the free and ample collation provided
near at hand, the trustees, faculty, graduates, students,
and friends thronged into the church again.
Robert H. Pruyn, LL.D., ex-minister to Japan, and
president of the Alumni association, took the chair,
and said:
It is not my purpose, gentlemen, to make any
formal or protracted remarks. Judge Bradley has
given us the history of the laying of the corner stone of
the College, and of its progressive development up to
the present time. It is now proposed to add a few
more stones which ought not to be inferior in quality
and durability to any already laid. What is done here
to-day will be remembered in history. And if every
man give according to his means, and will use the
full measure of his influence, the result will be
noble and far reaching. The College, like a century
plant, opens its fair blossoms for us this hour; but we
must so tend and nourish it that it shall bear even
richer and more beautiful flowers one hundred years
hence than now.
He then introduced Ex-President Hasbrouck, who
spoke as follows:
10




82
Mr. President,
It seems to me, after the address we have been
favored with to-day by Judge Bradley, that there is
but little left for us to say, and that action alone is
required. In compliance, however, with the call of the
President of the College, I will submit a few remarks
bearing in mind the important business still to be
transacted by the meeting at this late hour in the
afternoon.
It is riot my fortune to be an Alumnus of Rutgers
College. My loyalty in that relation is due to Yale.
But from the regard I have ever had for that institution, I can easily conceive the feeling which pervades
this meeting, and more readily sympathize heartily
with all its purposes.  But, sir, though not an
Alumnus, I have other relations to this College quite
as near and influential. In the first place, if I may be
allowed to refer to a matter so merely personal, I am
a descendant from one of the corporators named in
the original charter of the College, one of the few from
the state of New York, who represented the interests
of the religious denomination there, which wisely
founded it. I may ildeed claim no great merit in
this circumstance, and it may be justly regarded perhaps, as but the "accident of an accident," still I
confess it has had an influence with me during my
whole life. But, sir, I have a nearer and more direct
connection with the College than that: I stand here
to-day by a kind Providence, the sole survivor of all




83
the Presidents of the College, who preceded me, and
of one honored one, who followed me Omnes Coelicolce,
who have occupied the position now worthily held by
President Campbell. Surely, sir, it would be strange
indeed if with such relations to the College, I should
be indifferent to any movements calculated to promote
its interests, or to enlarge itsinfluence. And, sir, when
I remember what befell me here, during a presidency
commenced now thirty years ago, and ending with the
decade that followed; when I think of the abounding
confidence of the Board of Trustees, sometimes painful in the consciousness of inexperience in the duties
I had ventured to assume; of my cordial reception by
the faculty already appointed to my hand, which for
every social quality and accomplishment as well as for
eminent fitness for their stations, I could not have
improved if I could have had the opportunity of selection from all the learned professors of the land; when
I remember the cheerful obedience and almost filial
regard of the young men who passed through their
collegiate course during my presidency, many of whom
are now here in the maturity of manhood to offer
their congratulations fresh with the dews of their youth,
and not least of all the open-hearted hospitality of the
people of this city towards me and mine —I confess,
sir, I should feel myself a marvel of ingratitude, if
my heart did not warm for the College, with all its
interests and connections. You will believe me then
when I say that though an Alumnus of Yale, while I
do not honor her less, I love Rutgers more.




84
The address with which we were favored a few hours
ago by Judge Bradley, furnishes a lesson of fidelity
and constancy to the interests of the College, which it
would be well for us to heed. It would be well I
think while we are called upon to press forward to the
mark set before us by President Campbell not to forget the things that are behind. We should remember
how this institution was founded in the comparative
poverty and destitution of colonial times; how it
struggled through many a despondent year afterwards,
pawing like Milton's lion to free itself from its embarrassments; how it stood year after year a suppliant at
the bolted door of the state treasury to receive in the
end only the poor boon of a lottery to endow a professorship, and yet how its early friends bated not a jot of
hope in its ultimate success, but went on laboring in
the cause of the College, and many of them dying in the
full faith of the promised land. Sir, we should do
well to copy the faith and perseverance of those
devoted friends of the College. We are living in
better times and under happier auspices, in a condition
of national prosperity and progress, such as history
has not yet recorded, rivaling almost the golden age
of poets, at a time when the hearts of men are opened
in a remarkable manner to the endowment and support of literary institutions, when matters of vital
importance to the Protestant faith, are daily pressing
upon the consideration of thoughtful men in the midst
of a warfare with error, when colleges, such as we
propose to build, are the surest base of supply, and if




85
we should be forgetful of the example set before us,
or loiter in duty, it seems to me it would almost raise
the old dead from their graves. But, sir, I am thankful to know from this day's demonstration, that no
such spectral exhibition awaits us.
Let us look for a moment at what the College has
done for the country under difficulties and hindrances
now happily in a great measure removed. The light
which was kindled here a century ago, though shining
dimly through many a gloomy day, and sometimes
even flickering in its socket, has yet by the vestal
care of its early friends, never been suffered to go out.
By it, from its earliest existence, has been lit many a
taper to be carried by the sons of the College in nobler
than classic games, to shine with no feeble splendor in
many a pulpit of the land; to be borne on the wings
of the wind, to far distant pagan lands; to be honorably exhibited at the bar, on the bench, in the legislative
and executive departments of more than one state of
the Union; in the legislative chambers, too, of the Capitol atWashington; to guide you, sir, through diplomatic
duties in the service of your country; and but lately,
by a wise exercise of the appointing power has been
invoked to shed its pure conservative and Christian
light upon the bench of the supreme court of the
United States, which department of our government,
more than the fabled Palladium of old, is the grand
conservator of our political system. It has been said,
no matter what may be the laws of a state, a learned,
independent, honest judiciary will remedy all defects.




Sir! when we have such men as Jay, and Ellsworth,
and Marshall, and our honored Alumnus, upon the
bench, I am inclined to give credence to what might
seem a startling proposition, and confess to a sense of
safety, under an occasional undue exercise of legislative power.
When I recall this and much more that the College
has done, I cannot but think that it has repaid to the
country fourfold all that its friends have contributed
to its support. And when it has done thus much in
times past, under embarrassments to which I have
alluded, what may it not be expected to do, what will
it not do, when you send it forth under its present
efficient head and organization, fully endowed, in panoply complete, to take its stand among the foremost
institutions in the country, ready to meet every call,
which a Christian and patriotic people can make upon
it? I trust, sir, it will not be thought that I make
an irreverent use of words when I say, that the President may plant, the Board of Trustees and the friends
of the College may water, but it is for the Alumni to
give the increase. I close, sir, with the wish that the
blessing of heaven may rest upon their labors.
President Campbell was called upon to make his
report in regard to the progress of the endowment.
He said:
It is a happy day to me, as no doubt it is to you all,
to see Ex-President Hasbrouck here on this joyous
occasion. He comes at a great sacrifice, on account
of infirm health and gathering years; but he gives




87
proof thereby of his strong and abiding interest in the
institution over which he once presided. It is to be
hoped that we may yet have many opportunities of
repeating the cordial welcome extended to him to-day.
We are, my friends, to engage this afternoon in the
task of starting Rutgers College upon her second century of usefulness. What we want then is practical
work, and not long speeches. Since the 12th of March,
the time appointed for me to enter upon the duty of
begging for a thank-ofiering, I have been steadily at
work. The work in reality began last year at the
Alumni dinner; when Mr. Abraham Voorhees, of this
city, presented a property worth ten thousand dollars
to the College. That gift was the first-fruits, and for
all time Mr. Voorhees has the honor of being the first
subscriber to the centennial fund. I have received
twelve subscriptions of five thousand dollars each;
one of twenty-five hundred dollars; and twenty of
one thousand dollars each. Several churches have
founded permanent scholarships by contributing one
thousand dollars each. The Middle Reformed church
in Albany, has given thirteen hundred and ten dollars;
the North Reformed church in the same place, one
thousand dollars; and the Reformed church of Hudson,
one thousand dollars. R. C. Pruyn, who was graduated
last year, and C. L. Pruyn who is yet an undergraduate,
have united in a gift of one thousand dollars. Foutrteen
persons have subscribed, each five hundred dollars,
and five others, each one hundred dollars, making in
all, one hundred and five thousand dollars.




88
In 1840, a committee was appointed to raise the
salary of the President for one year, and it reported
itself unable to do it. But six years ago a fund of
$137,900 was raised, which added to the centennial
makes, as the contribution of seven years, $242,900.
Moreover an esprit du corps is observable this year
beyond any preceding one.
And here let me render a tribute of just praise to
our Alumni. They are not like the graduates of a
large and powerful college whose president regretfully
confessed that he could expect little of them, since they
never had done anything, to speak of, for their Alma
Mater. Our Alumni, on the contrary, enter with a
zealous and self-sacrificing spirit into every movement
for enlarging the instruction, and extending the power
of the College. They have needed no urging, but
have given freely according to their ability, an evidence
of which is the cheering fact, that of the sum mentioned above, they alone have subscribed this year,
thirty-five thousand dollars. It is safe to commit the
interests of Rutgers into such loyal and helpful hands.
And now, gentlemen, I look to you to carry into glorious completion the work you have so well begun.
The song, AlI.ma JIater 0, was rendered by a choir of
male voices accompanied by Grafulla's band, to the air
of Wearing the Green. The entire audience joined in
the chorus.
Informal reports from the classes, many of which
had met in delightful reunion on the previous evening,
were now received.




89
Class of'59. Prof. Doolittle said: That he formerly
thought it a blessed fact that nineteen of the thirty in
his class were ministers, but this turned out to be a
most unfortunate fact now when money was to be
raised. Hie was able, however, to report two thousand
dollars as subscribed by his class. And he afterwards
announced that as six hundred of this appears on the
President's book, he would pledge that amount in
addition.
Class of'36. Rev. J. G. Johnson, of Upper Red
Hook, N. Y., happily alluded to the circumstance that
his class had contributed the orator of the day, and had
also subscribed six thousand dollars, but were not yet
by any means exhausted.
Class of'44. Rev. Dr. John H. Manning, of Brooklyn, reported eleven thousand dollars as the contribution of his class, but remarked that this amount was
included in the sum read from Dr. Campbell's book.
Rev. Harvey D. Ganse of New York city, made, by
request a few remarks. Though not an Alumnus, he
expressed an earnest sympathy for both the College
and the Theological Seminary, and hoped both institutions would be thoroughly furnished for new and
larger careers of usefulness.
The chairman remarked that the text of his own
funeral sermon had been announced, by his pastor in
Albany, as follows.:' And the beggar died."  He had
however, just been seized with a liberal turn, and
would bequeath this text with all its appurtenances to
President Campbell. And yet he hoped it would be




90
very many years before the sermon might be preached
from it.
Class of'42. Rev. Dr. David Cole, of Yonkers, did
not, he said, like to be out of harmony with the proceedings, or with any movement proposed by our
worthy president; but he had not the slightest suspicion that reports, of the kind they had heard, were
to be called for now. His class, of whom seven are
present, had had a splendid meeting, and collected facts
for a history. Twenty-one of their twenty-eight members were clergymen, and hence too poor to give many
dollars; but they give their hearts' best affection, and
will add what money they can.
The choir then led the audience in singing Integer Vite.
Sheriff Peter A. Voorhees, professed to be nothing
but a plain countryman, a farmer; but thought every
patriotic citizen and Christian ought to be interested
in building up schools of learning, where youth were
to be prepared for positions of influence in the church
and the world. Rutgers deserved to be sustained by
the congregations to which she had given so many
pastors; and therefore he would venture to pledge the
church at Six Mile Run for one thousand dollars.
Peter S. D-uryee, Esq., of Newark, a trustee, commended the above example as noble and worthy of imitation. Every church in the denomination should have,
at least, one one-thousand dollar scholarship in order
that it might keep one student free of tuition charges
continually in the College. IIe pledged the North
Reformed church of Newark, for a scholarship.




91
Laturiger Floractius was suug.
Class of'47. Gen. Geo. H. Sharpe, formerly of
Kingston, now United States marshal, in the city of
New York, said: That circumstances had prevented
his class from having a full meeting. As a consequence
he could make but a partial report to-day, but would
present a complete one at the next commencement.
Only three or four members were here, but they united
with him in promising four hundred dollars.
The chairman assured all, who wanted more time,
that the centennial would not end until next commencement, when full reports would be expected.
Class of'57. Major Charles M. Herbert, of New
Brunswick, was happy to say that one gentleman of
his class had already given five thousand dollars, which
sum, however, was on Dr. Campbell's book. He
pledged his class to raise the amount to ten thousand
dollars.
Class of'63. James H. Elmendorf, M.D., of Brooklyn, said: That the class numbered eighteen, of whom
eleven were clergymen. Six members had met last
night, and subscribed seven hundred dollars. The
others will make it one thousand dollars.
Class of'62. Rev. William B. Merritt, of Flatbush,
Ulster Co., N. Y., reported himself unable as yet to
get all the members of his class together, but he would
pledge for them as much as would be given by the
class of'63; and moreover they would present a portrait of Rev. Dr. Gosman, who was well known as
a devoted and efficient trustee.




92
Class of'45. Rev. Dr. Peter Stryker, of Philadelphia, said: That thirteen of the sixteen members constituting his class remained, and of these, six are
ministers.  They had given ten thousand dollars
toward the last endowment, and some had subscribed
to the present thank-offering. They would add all
they could without specifying the exact amount.
Class of'53, was represented by Rev. Robert S.
Manning, of Trenton, who announced the number
graduated in his class as twenty-two, of whom eight
were now dead. The sum already subscribed was
two thousand dollars, and to this the three or four
members present, had agreed to add one thousand
dollars.
Class of'52. Charles H. Winfield, Esq., of Jersey
city, stated that the endeavor to have a class-meeting
last night was not successful, but to-day four or five
had assembled, and they would raise one thousand
dollars.
Class of'54. Rev. James Le Fevre, of Raritan, said:
The class had resolved to raise one thousand dollars.
Class of'68. Mr. Van Rensselaer Weston, of New
Brunswick, remarked that his class had had a grand
meeting, the number of attendants was large, the
speeches fine, the enthusiasm and liberality unbounded.
They had raised two hundred dollars and forty-nine
cents exactly.
The chairman inquired whether they could not, by
making another tremendous exertion, possibly run the
amount up to two hundred dollars and fifty cents.




Rev. Dr. Stryker wished to hear something more
from the President in regard to a course of lectures
which had been alluded to in the Baccalaureate sermon.
Dr. Campbell replied by giving a brief historical
account of the foundation of a course of lectures,
in the University of Oxford, by Rev. John Bampton,
in 1780. And he most earnestly desired that provision might be made for the establishment of a similar
course in this institution. It would comprehend discussions, by the ablest thinkers in the church, of the
relations of Christianity to the rising questions in
science and philosophy; and would afford new proofs
of the truth and the power, and the manifold blessings
of God's word. And the expectation of being possibly called upon to prepare such lectures would stimulate our theological Alumni to larger and profounder
studies, and thus help forward the transcendently
important cause of sacred learning. This object was
especially dear to him, and he longed to see it accomplished.
Rev. Dr. James McCosh, president of the College
of New Jersey at Princeton, was introduced, and
expressed himself as exceedingly interested in the
proceedings throughout. Rutgers, though one hundred
years old, showed no signs of decay, but like the oak
grew continually stronger. He rejoiced at this, and
paid a high compliment to her scholarship and discipline. He did not think we should attempt to put
new colleges in the east, but should labor to build up
the old. It would b.e disastrous to the cause of tho



94
rough education, to have many small and starving
colleges. Such institutions were a curse rather than a
blessing. It was understood that there was very considerable wealth in the Reformed church, and how
could its possessors better show their gratitude to God
than by endowing new chairs in Rutgers, and thus
enabling it to fulfill all the purposes of its founders.
HIe suggested that Rutgers and Princeton should
combine to secure the establishment of more and
better grammar and preparatory schools in New Jersey. The great want of all our colleges is competent
grammar schools. Had each college a good one, it
could double the number of students in a few years.
In other countries there are in every town, high
schools endowed by the state. The secret of Harvard's
success lay in the fact that every town of a certain
size in Massachusetts is required to have such a school.
The state ought thus to give every clever, smart boy a
chance of getting an education, and of becoming great.
He wished that New Brunswick and Princeton would
unite in asking the legislature of New Jersey to found
one or more fellowship to be competed for, by the
students in both places. What a noble and generous
field of rivalry would in this way be opened between
these two sister institutions; and, before leaving, he
would like to pledge the Rutgers Alumni to engage
in this.
The President was most happy to announce at this
point that Hon. Robert HI. Pruyn had just promised
to add four thousand dollars to the. six thousand already




95
subscribed by himself and sons, making a gift of ten
thousand dollars, for the foundation of either a fellowship or the lecture-course, mentioned above, according
as he (Dr. Campbell), might elect. But the President,
while expressing his high gratification both at Mr.
Pruyn's liberality and willingness to allow him to indicate its direction, concluded to choose the fellowship,
as he believed that had been the first intention of Mr.
Pruyn. IHe, however, urged the Alumni to establish
the lecture course at some future time, if it should
happen not to be done to-day.
Alexander Brown, Esq., of Philadelphia, offered a
resolution of thanks to Hon. Jos. P. Bradley for his
able and appropriate address, and ordering 3,000 copies
to be printed. It was passed unanimously.
Class of'50, Rev. John L. McNair, of New York
city, said: That fifteen out of the sixteen graduated
in the class became gospel preachers. They were not
yet prepared to report, but would do their best and
give the result at next commencement.
Class of'43 was pledged by Rev. Dr. Paul D. Van
Cleef, of Jersey City, to the work of getting subscriptions preparatory to a full report one year from to-day.
The chairman gave notice that complete reports of the
labors of all the classes, in securing a worthy centennial thank-offering, would be made at the next commencement; and he hoped no offering, however small,
would be withheld. Ten dollars given and invested
now, at compound interest, would at the end of one
hundred years yield a very large amount; but that




96
sum invested in education would give — who can say
how much!
Class of'45. Rev. Dr. John A. Todd, of Tarrytown,
in the course of some humorous remarks, reported his
class as having already raised one thousand dollars,
and full of the determination to increase this sum.
Mr. Abraham Voorhees, of New Brunswick, was the
last speaker. lie made an earnest appeal to the liberality of wealthy men present, and expressed his faith
that one among them would be found who would lay
down the ten thousand dollars for the establishment
of the course of lectures so much desired by Dr.
Campbell.
The exercises throughout seemed to be the spontaneous offspring of a spirit as thoroughly earnest as it
was jubilant. They were frequently interspersed with
irrepressible demonstrations of applause; and greatly
enlivened by College songs, which, under the skillful
leadership of R. W. Weston, Esq., were redolent of
the very atmosphere of the free and joyous life peculiar to student days. Seldom, if ever, has there been
held, by the Alumni and friends of any institution in
the land a meeting so happy in feeling; and so productive of immediate and substantial results as this
great centennial gathering - which will make June
21, 1870, an ever memorable date in the history of
Old Rutgers.
On Wednesday morning President Campbell seized
a fitting opportunity to thank the Alumni, assembled
in the chapel, for their aid and sympathy. He felt




97
constrained, he observed, to express his profound gratitude for what they had done on the day previous, and
also for the manner in which they had done it. By
the action of the classes the numiber of people interested in the endowment had been largely increased.
Anid this feature, while somewhat exceptional, was a
source of high satisfaction. Many institutions had
been endowed by large gifts from three or four men
of liberal means, or even one man, and then they were
in a state of bondage to the few, or to the one who
controlled it simply by means of wealth. Thlere was
no greater despotism than this. The-word of one person thus became law-, it overrode all other influences,
and might, if his affections were turned in another
channel, sweep the institution out of existence.
But the endowment of Rutgers College was not due
to any one man. It was the united work of men,
women, and children.  Five thousand people stand
behind this ancient seat of learning as its supporters;
and so it is linked to the active affections and proud
of the loyalty of the many, instead of being subject
to the slavish dictation of a few. While the rich have
bestowed liberal contributions, those of small means
have made the real sacrifices.
On Tuesday the ministers had disparaged their own
order by denying their ability, or rather by apologizing for their lack of ability. They had indeed been
the first and foremost in starting the present movement. On the earliest occasion when the execution of
the plan of endowment was to be actually attempted,
11




one, two, three clergymen, said: "I will give a thousand dollars;" while the several laymen present,
men of means, did not at that time, subscribe one dollar. These laymen contributed afterwards in noble
sums, but the ministers of their limited means had
done, and would yet do their share, even more than
their share.
He concluded by explaining that the whole secret of
begging consists in putting one's own name down first
on the list, and by reminding all that the centenary
celebration would not end until noon of Wednesday,
June 21, 1871.
The final meeting, to be held at that time, will be
presided over by Gen. Geo. H. Sharpe of New York
city, the president for the year 1870-1, of the Alumni
association. The well known energy, tact and fertility of resource, characteristic of this gentleman,
awaken the high expectation that the capital then to
be placed, by the children of Rutgers upon the monument of grateful remembrance, will be every way
worthy of the broad base and enduring shaft already
erected.