lurking place. To espouse her cause was now as unpopular, as before it had been to profess a belief in Christianity. Unable to endure the exposure of argument, she fled from the retreats of learning ashamed and disgraced.

His system of dicipline was peculiarly his own; and has, from its success, commanded universal approbation. The College Laws in force when he entered on the Presidency were the same which were generally in being before his admission to College as a student. They were compiled by President Clap from the statutes of the English Universities; were made for other times, and for a very different state of society. Without proposing in the outset any serious alterations in the written code of laws, he effectually changed the whole system of administration. The government of College became as really new, as if every statute had been altered. A single clause at the end of the Chapter on " Crimes and Misdemeanors," furnished him and his companions with authority to introduce and to justify this change, and became in a sense the only written law in force. The purport of this clause was, that, as the Laws of the College were few and general, the Faculty might proceed, in all cases not expressly provided for, according to their best discretion. The intercourse between the officers and students was placed on a new footing. The latter were addressed and treated as young gentlemen; and no other marks of respect were demanded of them, than those which gentlemen of course render to each other. The distinctions between the classes, so far as they were unnecessary and odious, were prevented. That degrading servility, to which, under the authority of long established usage, the freshman class

had been subjected, was abolished. The practice of inflicting fines for infraction of the laws was abrogated; and it is not known that resort was ever had to that species of punishment for absence from prayers or recitation, or for any other offence of a character not more heinous. Instead of pursuing a course which seemed only calculated to inflict a penalty on the parent, he wished to adopt one which should prevent the necessity of every kind of penalty by preventing offences. In the room of pecuniary exactions for neglect of study, and other violations of duty, he substituted private remonstrance. Appeals were made to the conscience of the delinquent, as well as to his hopes and fears: appeals founded on the guilt of his conduct, on his love of reputation, the happiness of his parents, and his prospects in life. These appeals were almost always successful. When they failed, early notice of this fact was given to the parent. If their united remonstrances were unavailing, the offender was privately informed, that his connection with the College had ceased. This course was principally pursued during the freshman year; at the close of which, the class was regularly relieved of those who had manifested a settled disposition to be idle and vicious. It was his sincere endeavour to save the character of the young offender. If an offence was private, its punishment, if possible, was private; and this, whether the delinquent was permitted to remain a member of College or not. Many of his pupils can remember how kindly and honourably he conducted himself towards them when he had discovered their misconduct.

The system of matriculation, which he introduced, has proved highly efficacious and salutary. According to this system, those, who are found upon examination to possess the requisite literary attainments, do

To be

not at once become members of College. members in full standing, their names must be entered in the "matriculation Book;" and this cannot be done until they have established a fair character for correct moral deportment and application to study. Before this takes place, they are liable to be sent home at any moment. An important favour also was conferred on parents living at a distance, by requiring their children to have guardians to regulate their expenses.

He encouraged the students, especially those of the senior class, in all their difficulties and troubles to come to him for advice and assistance. In every such case, the instructor was forgotten in the friend and the father. He entered into their interests and feelings just as if they were his own; and while he yielded the necessary relief, he endeared himself to them permanently by his kindness. The members of the senior class, who wished to engage for a season after leaving College in the business of instruction, applied to him regularly to procure them eligible situations. So lively was the interest, which he took in their welfare, and so willing and active his exertions in their behalf, that few such applications failed of being successful. He remembered the feelings of a young man, just leaving College, without a profession, without property, and with no means of support but the blessing of God and his own exertions. Nothing gave him higher pleasure than to encourage the heart of every youth so situated, to save him from despondence, and to open to him the road to property, to usefulness, and to honour. The number of his students, whom he thus essentially befriended, if stated, would almost exceed belief. With others, who were in more affluent circumstances, he would enter into a free and confidential

conversation on their plan of life; explain to them their peculiar dangers; and lead them to aim at eminence in their professions, and to form for themselves a high standard of moral excellence. The respect and affection manifested towards him by his pupils after leaving College, whenever they visited New Haven, as well as when they met him abroad, was a sufficient reward for all his efforts to serve them; if he had not found a still higher reward in doing good. We will only add, that his pupils familiarly spoke of him, with reference to this subject, by the most honourable appellation, "THE YOUNG MAN'S FRIEND."

There can be no higher evidence of his qualifications for the important place which he filled, than is furnished by the effects of his Presidency. Yale College was founded by a number of pious clergymen, without property, who had little to bestow upon it but a few books on Theology. It has always struggled forward through great difficulties and embarassments for the want of those funds, which are indispensably necessary to its highest prosperity.. Those at a distance, who know nothing of the Institution but its extensive reputation, would indeed be astonished, were they told how small is the amount of benefactions which it has received. The men of wealth in the State where it is situated have not sufficiently realised its importance to bestow upon it their bounty. The State, also, though at times she has assisted it, has not yet rivalled the munificence of her neighbours on the North and West towards their seminaries of learning. In her public funds, she is, in proportion to her population, the richest state in the Union; yet the College, emphatically her ornament and her glory, has but too sparingly enjoyed her patronage. We have already seen its

situation, when Dr. Dwight was inducted into the Presidency. Under all these disadvantages, in his hands, and by his unwearied assiduity and exertions, and those of his companions in office, it assumed a new appearance. Its numbers increased, its discipline was revived and invigorated, its morals were purified, and its relative character greatly elevated.

The period during which he presided over the College was attended with peculiar difficulties. A general sentiment of insubordination, growing out of the political situation of the civilized world, had seized the minds of the young as well as the old. High notions of freedom and personal independence prevailed among all ages. And the first impulse, to which, in many instances, the minds of youth, as well as of men, were disposed to yield, was resistance to authority. Many of our higher seminaries of learning have witnessed its effects in scenes of riot and insurrection; which have, for the time, subverted their authority and destroyed their usefulness. Yale College wholly escaped these evils. No general combination of the students to resist its government ever occured during his Presidency. This fact is to be ascribed to the wisdom and firmness of the President and his associates in office. He well knew, that the tranquillity of such an institution must depend on the respect and affection of the students, and the steady watchfulness of its officers. Deeply read in the human character, and emphatically so in the character of young men, he foresaw the approaches of the storm, which so extensively prevailed, and provided in season the means of defence and security. On every occasion of this kind, he derived the utmost benefit from one trait of his character, his energy; a trait which no man ever possessed in a more eminent degree. His decision and inflexibility to his purpose cannot be surpassed