Samuel Andrew of Millford, Mr. Timothy Woodbridge of Hartford, Mr. James Pierpont of New Haven, Mr. Noadiah Russel of Middletown, Mr. Joseph Webb of Fairfield, being Revrd Ministers of the Gospel & inhabitants within ye sd Colony, proposed to stand as Trustees, Partners or Undertakers for the sd School, to them and their successors, To ERECT, form, direct, order, establish, improve and att all times in all suitable wayes for the future to encourage the sd School in such convenient place or Places, & in such form & manner & under such order & Rules as to them shall seem meet & most conducive to the aforesd end thereof, so as such Rules or Orders be not Repugnant to the Laws of the Civil Governmt, as also to imploy the moneys or any other estate which shall be Granted by this Court or otherwise Contributed to that use according to their discretion for the benefit of the sa Collegiate School from time to time & att all times henceforward.

And be it further ENACTED by the Authority aforesd that the before named Trustees, Partners or Undertakers together with such others as they shall associate to themselves (not exceeding the number of Eleven, or att any time being less than Seven, Provided also that Persons nominated or associated from time to time to fill up sd number be ministers of the gospel inhabiting within this Colony & above the Age of forty years) or the major Part of them, the sd Mr. James Noyes, [etc.] undertakers, & of such Persons so chosen & associated as abovesd att any time hereafter, HAVE and shall have henceforward the oversight, full & compleat Right, Liberty, power & Priveledge to furnish, direct, manage, order, improve & encourage from time to time & in all times hereafter the sd Collegiate School so Erected & formed by them in such ways, orders & manner & by such Persons, Rector or Master and officers appointed by them, as shall according to their best discretion be most conducible to attaine the aforesd mentioned end thereof.

And Moreover it is Enacted & ordered by the Governor, Council & Representatives of ye Colony aforesd met in General Assembly

That the sd Mr. James Noyes, [etc.] Undertakers, Trustees or Partners, & ye sd Persons taken from time to time into Partnership, or associated as aforesd with themselves, shall HAVE & receive & it is hereby GIVEN & GRANTED unto them, the full &

just sum of one hundred & twenty pounds in Country Pay to be paid Annually & att all times hereafter until this Court order otherwise, to them & to such Person or Persons only as they shall appoint & impower to Receiv the same, to be faithfully disposed of by ye sd Trustees, Partners or Undertakers for the end aforesd according to their discretion, which sd sum shall be raised & Paid in such ways & manners & att such a value as ye Country Rates of sd Colony are & have been usually raised & Paid.

It is also further Enacted by the Authority afores that the sd Undertakers & Partners & their successors be & hereby are further impowered to have, accept, acquire, purchase or otherwise lawfully enter upon Any Lands, Tenements & Hereditam t to the use of the sd School, not exceeding the value of five hundred Pounds pг Anñ, & any Goods, Chattels, Sum or Sums of money whatsoever as have heretofore already been Granted, bestowed, bequeathed or given, or as from time to time shall be freely given, bequeathed, devised or settled by any Person or Persons whatsoever upon & to & for the use of ye sd School towards the founding, erecting or endowing the same, & to sue for, Recover & receiv all such Gifts, Legacies, bequests, annuities, Rents, issues & profits arising therefrom & to imploy the same accordingly, & out of ye estate, Revenues, Rents, profits, incoms accrueing & belonging to sd School to support & pay as the sd Undertakers shall agree & see cause, the sd Rector or Master, Tutors, Ushers or other officers their Respective annual Salaries or Allowances. As also for the encouragem of the Students to grant degrees or Licences as they or those deputed by them shall see cause to order & appoint.

It may be noticed that the charter minimizes the importance of the undertaking, by adopting the designation (recommended by the Boston gentlemen) of a "Collegiate School," and by introducing in an almost incidental manner the power of granting degrees; this was doubtless due to the delicate relations of the Colony government to the mother country, and to anxiety to avoid

emphasizing any action which might be construed as an invasion of the rights of the crown. That the framers of the instrument comprehended the true scope of their institution is inferrible from the absence of all restrictions on the course of study, not even the religious instruction (which they certainly viewed as essential) being prescribed.

It is also noteworthy that the charter seems to avoid claiming to found the School,-as if conceding that the founding was already accomplished by the Undertakers, and in this light also the Act of the Assembly was of slight importance.

The Collegiate School at Saybrook, 1702–16

ORGANIZATION under the charter took

place in November, 1701, when seven trustees met in Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, and voted to fix the School there, under the Rev. Mr. PIERSON as RECTOR. At the same time a course of theological instruction was sketched out, for the Rector's guidance, while in all respects not specially provided for, in the curriculum and the general administration of the School, the rules of Harvard College were to be followed. In March, 1702, the first student, JACOB HEMINWAY, of New Haven, offered himself, and on September 16 the first Commencement was held, at the house of the Rev. Thomas Buckingham, on Saybrook Point, in the present town of Old Saybrook. At this Commencement the degree of Master of Arts was conferred on four young Harvard Bachelors, and also on NATHANIEL CHAUNCEY, of Stratford, who had been privately educated (presumably by his uncle, one of the Trustees), and whose name thus leads the roll of academical graduates of Yale University.

In this same month of September, more students entered, and a tutor was appointed to assist in instruction. The enterprise depended mainly on the tuition fees from the few students, and the annual grant of £120 in "country pay" (equal to £80 in money) from the Colony Legislature, as promised in the charter; but these revenues would

hardly justify the Rector in resigning his parochial charge, so that he was authorized to continue temporarily in Killingworth,-nine miles from Saybrook, where the School was nominally located; and this arrangement continued till his death. Meantime, a small house and lot of land on Saybrook Point were offered (in 1702) by Mr. Nathaniel Lynde for the School's use; and the annual Commencements were always attended in the same locality.

RECTOR PIERSON died, after a brief illness, March 5, 1707, at the age of 61, leaving a reputation for good scholarship and for practical wisdom as an administrator. A manuscript text-book on Natural Philosophy which he drew up was used by the students for a quarter of a century. An oak arm-chair which is believed to have belonged to him is now in the Library of the University.

After Mr. Pierson's death the Rev. SAMUEL ANDREW, of Milford, one of the original Trustees, was put in nominal charge as Rector, but without the expectation that he should remove to Saybrook, where the instruction and discipline of the classes were entrusted to two young tutors. Under this unsatisfactory arrangement the institution languished visibly for six or seven years; but about 1713 efforts were begun for gifts to the School, especially by JEREMIAH DUMMER, the agent for Connecticut at London. As a direct result, nearly 1,000 volumes of great value were sent from England to the Library in 1714-15, many of which can still be identified; among