A COLLEGE CHARTER.

The long-protracted efforts of Mr. Wheelock,[21] to provide legal safeguards for donations in aid of his great work, now demand careful attention.

The deed of Mr. Joshua More, conveying two acres of land with buildings attached, was dated July 17, 1755, a short time previous to his death. Mr. Wheelock now placed himself in confidential relations with two eminent lawyers in New York, William Smith, and his son William Smith, Jr., the latter of whom, perhaps, may be said to have left his impress upon the Constitution of the United States, through his distinguished pupil, Gouverneur Morris. The correspondence, at first, seems to have been chiefly with Mr. Smith, Senior. August 6, 1755, he writes to Mr. Wheelock: "The means for the accomplishment of so charitable a design seem at present very imperfect." He suggests, that there is "no incorporation" of Mr. Wheelock and the other gentlemen to whom Mr. More conveyed the property; that the deed contains "no consideration;" and that the estate is at most only "for life." He advises Mr. Wheelock, at least, to procure a better deed, which was afterwards executed by Mrs. More. The death of Mr. Wheelock's most influential and valuable associate trustee, ex-President Williams, only a few days after the conveyance by Mr. More, was a severe loss, and a temporary embarrassment to his associates. But Mr. Wheelock determined to proceed in his efforts for an incorporation, relying mainly upon the dictates of his own judgment for direction. After the lapse of some five years, in February, 1760, he gives the results to Mr. Smith, in language of which the following is the substance: "We sent home some years ago for the royal favor of a Charter. Lord Halifax approved the design, but [to save expense] advised, instead of a Charter, the establishment of the school by a law of Connecticut Colony, and promised that when sent there it should be ratified in Council, which he supposed would be as sufficient as any act there. Hereupon I attended our Assembly, in May, 1758, with a memorial, the prayer of which was granted by the House of Representatives; the Governor and Council negatived it, upon the ground that their action would not be valid, if ratified in England, beyond this Colony, and that a corporation within a corporation might be troublesome, as Yale College had sometimes been. I am since informed that the Earl of Dartmouth has promised, if the matter shall be put into a proper channel, to undertake and go through with it at his own expense."

Thus it appears that Lord Dartmouth was desirous of aiding Mr. Wheelock by his influence, and otherwise, long before being asked by him for pecuniary aid. In explanation of the governor's objections, it should be stated, that Mr. Wheelock desired such an incorporation as would enable him to locate his school in any of the American Colonies, and that there was just at that period an earnest contest between the corporation of Yale College, led by President Clap, and the Colonial government, in regard to the control of that institution.

Nothing having been accomplished in the meantime, Mr. Wheelock writes in July, 1763, to his friend, Dr. Erskine, as follows: "Governor Fitch privately proposes my removing my prayer for an incorporation from this government [Connecticut]. It is likely we shall delay, it till we see the success of our suit for the Royal favor." In September following, he writes to his friend, Mr. De Berdt, in London, that he has sent to him "materials, by General Lyman[22] and Colonel Dyer,"[23] to enable him to "make application for an incorporation." Unsuccessful as before in England, for reasons which will become more apparent hereafter, in May, 1764, we find Mr. Wheelock petitioning the Connecticut Assembly "to incorporate" six gentlemen of the Colony, including George Wyllis, of Hartford, and himself, as legal guardians of his school. But he did not procure the long-desired incorporation.

In 1765, being about to send solicitors of charity on a larger scale to England, Mr. Wheelock decided to make yet one more effort there for an act of incorporation. A letter from Mr. Smith, written evidently about this time, no date being attached, contains advice to Mr. Wheelock in which we trace one of the most prominent features of the Charter. He proposes, in substance: "an application to the King for a short Charter incorporating. First, A sett of gentlemen in the Colonies near Mr. Wheelock, who shall have all the power of a corporation, as to managing estates, supplying vacancies, etc. Second, Another sett in England and elsewhere in Europe, who, shall be correspondents of the first sett, and only have the general power of securing donations to be transferred to them."

Lord Dartmouth and the other gentlemen in England who were constituted, by Mr. Wheelock, a Board of Trust for the moneys collected in that country, by Messrs. Occom and Whitaker, seem to have thought this private incorporation amply sufficient for the security of these funds. In writing to Mr. Keen, in November, 1767, Mr. (now Dr.) Wheelock alludes to the fact that this gentleman had expressed an opinion that his successor should be "in all respects accountable to the present Trust." Although dissenting from this opinion, Dr. Wheelock seems to have been prudent and conciliatory in his intercourse with his worthy benefactors, wisely deeming it an object of primary importance to raise the requisite funds for his operations.

Messrs. Occom and Whitaker having fulfilled their mission abroad, and generous promises of aid having been made by Governor Wentworth, we find Dr. Wheelock, in October, 1768, writing to him as follows: "As soon as the place to fix the school shall have been determined to be in your Province, I will appoint your Excellency, or the Governor for the time being, to be a Trustee on this side the water till a legal incorporation may be obtained." This shows that Dr. Wheelock was not averse to a judicious admixture of the clerical and lay elements in the Board of Trust, although the Trustees named in his will, the germ of the charter, were clergymen.

The suggestion seems to have been most kindly received by Governor Wentworth. Dr. Wheelock now determined to avail himself of the aid of his firm and valuable friend, Rev. Dr. Langdon, of Portsmouth. A letter from him to this gentleman is as follows:

"Colonel Wyllis and Esquire Ledyard," of Hartford, were among Dr. Wheelock's legal advisers in 1768, and probably at this period.

June 7, 1769, we find Dr. Wheelock addressing Governor Wentworth as follows:

"I have been making some attempt to form a Charter, in which some proper respect may be shown to those generous benefactors in England who have condescended to patronize this school, and I want to be informed whether you think it consistent to make the Trust in England a distinct corporation, with power to hold real estate, etc., for the uses and purposes of this school."

But the impress of Governor Wentworth does not appear till a somewhat later period. August 22, 1769, Dr. Wheelock informs him that he is about to present him a "rough draught" of a Charter, for an "Academy," adding this somewhat significant postscript: "Sir, if you think proper to use the word College instead of Academy in the Charter, I shall be well pleased with it."

Dr. Wheelock's son-in-law, Mr. Alexander Phelps, and Rev. Dr. Whitaker seem to have been the principal agents to confer with Governor Wentworth in regard to the Charter.

October 18, 1769, he gives his views at length, in a letter to Dr. Wheelock, advising some amendments. Proposing some additions to the Board of Trust, he says: "The nomination of the Provincial officers I strongly recommend, though I do not insist upon. It was indeed resolved on my side that the Governor should be one" of the Board. "That I did not mention any other than the Governor can by no means be preclusive. Neither did I so intend it. The three Provincial officers will be a natural defense, honor and security to the institution."

The following letter indicates that Governor Wentworth had eminent legal counsel:

Six Connecticut clergymen, selected by Dr. Wheelock, with one member of the Connecticut Colonial government, Governor Wentworth, with three of his Council, and the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, were constituted the first Board of Trust. This arrangement, the result of friendly negotiation, appears to have been satisfactory to both parties.

October 25, 1769, Dr. Wheelock writes to Governor Wentworth, expressing much satisfaction with his "catholic views," and warm friendship, as indicated by his letter of the 18th, and says: "If your Excellency shall see fit in your wisdom and goodness to complete the Charter desired, and it will be the least satisfaction to you to christen the House to be built after your own name, it will be exceedingly grateful to me, and I believe to all concerned." He deems it important that the public should understand, "that the benevolent charities are not designed to be applied merely and exclusively to the advancement of sectaries, with a fixed view to discourage the Established Church of England." It should here be remarked that three of the original Trustees of the College were nominally Episcopalians, and the remaining nine were, most or all, nominally Congregationalists, although some had Presbyterian tendencies.

In writing to Lord Dartmouth, March 12, 1770, after referring to the "enclosed copy of incorporation," which was dated December 13, 1769, President Wheelock says: "Governor Wentworth thought best to reject that clause in my draught of the Charter which gave the Honorable Trust in England equal power with the Trustees here to nominate and appoint the president, from time to time, apprehending it would make the body too unwieldy, but he cheerfully consented that I should express my gratitude and duty to your Lordship, by christening after your name; and as there seemed to be danger of many embarrassments, in many ways, in the present ruffled and distempered state of the kingdom, I thought prudent to embrace the first opportunity to accomplish it." The letter indicates that Dr. Wheelock determined what should be the name of the institution without conferring with his distinguished benefactor on that point.

That the English Trustees were somewhat dissatisfied, temporarily, with the measure of responsibility assumed by Dr. Wheelock, there is no doubt. But nearly perfect harmony was restored, by the prudence of that excellent diplomatist. In writing to these gentlemen, June 20, 1771; he says: "I am confident that, had you been upon the spot, you would have approved every step I have taken, unless it was my attempt to effect so great an affair as settling in this wilderness in so short a time, which the event has fully justified, although my trials have been very great." He also expresses the opinion, that, if they will compare his plan proposed in his former letters with his procedure since, they will find that he has "invariably kept the same object in view." Later records indicate that President Wheelock still numbered Lord Dartmouth and others of the English Board among his faithful friends. Although not officially connected with the college, they evidently cherished an abiding interest in its welfare.

The Charter, so remarkable in its history, is a valuable and an enduring monument to the genius, skill, and learning of its distinguished framers.[24] Like the Charters of Harvard and Yale, it indicates that the clergy were regarded, generally, as the best depositaries of educational trusts. In the former case, the "teaching elders" of the "six next adjoining towns" were ex-officio, "Overseers;" in the latter, the original Trustees were all clergymen. It may safely be asserted that, of the large number of eminent gentlemen, who, as Trustees, have administered the affairs of Dartmouth College, none have been more eminent for their wisdom or fidelity than the reverend clergy.