Perhaps it will be safe to make a slight abatement from the somewhat sweeping statement which closes this quotation.
In his "Narrative" for the period between September, 1772, and September, 1773, President Wheelock says: "My crops were considerably shortened the last year, by an uncommon rain at the beginning of harvest, and by an untimely frost, yet the benefit of that which is saved is very sensible. I have this year cut about double the quantity of hay which I cut last year, namely, about thirty tons. I have reaped about twenty acres of English grain, which crop appeared to be very heavy before harvest, and proved too much so, as a considerable part of it fell down of its own weight before maturity; however, though it be much less than the prospect was, it is a very considerable relief. I have about twenty acres of Indian corn on the ground, which, considering the newness and imperfect tillage of the land, promises a considerable crop.
"I have cleared sufficient for pasturing, i.e. have cut and girdled all the growth upon five hundred acres, and a part of it have sowed with hay-seed; the rest I expect will be ready to receive the seed as soon as it shall be dry enough to burn the trash upon it in the spring. The soil is generally good, and I hope the school will experience the benefit of it in due time. I have inclosed with a fence about two thousand acres of this wilderness, that I might be able to restrain oxen, cows, horses, etc., from rambling beyond my reach.
"I have seven yoke of oxen and about twenty cows, all the property and employed in the service of the school. The number of my laborers for six months past has generally been from thirty to forty, besides those employed at the mills, in the kitchen, wash-house, etc. The number of my students, dependent and independent, the last year was about eighty. A little more than three years ago there was nothing to be seen here but a horrid wilderness; now there are eleven comfortable dwelling-houses (beside the large one I built for my students), built by tradesmen and such as have settled in some connection with, and have been admitted for the benefit of, this school, and all within sixty rods of the college. By this means the necessities of this school have been relieved in part as to room for my students. Yet the present necessity of another and larger building appears to be such that the growth of this seminary must necessarily be stinted without it.
"When I think of the great weight of present expense for the support of sixteen or seventeen Indian boys, which has been my number all the last year, and as many English youth on charity, eight in the wilderness who depend upon their support wholly from this quarter, which has been the case a considerable part of this year, such a number of laborers, and under necessity to build a house for myself (as the house I have lived in was planned for a store-house, and must be used for that purpose) and expense for three and sometimes four tutors, which has been the least number that would suffice for well instructing my students, I have sometimes found faintness of heart. But I have always made it my practice not to exceed what my own private interest [property] will pay, in case I should be brought to that necessity to do my creditors justice."
In his "Narrative" for the period between September, 1773, and February, 1775, President Wheelock says: "The number of Indians in this school since my last 'Narrative,' has been from sixteen to twenty-one, and the whole number of charity or dependent scholars about thirty." The whole number of students was now about one hundred.
"The progress of husbandry on this farm, the last year, has not been equal in every respect to my hope, the season proving so wet as not to favor some branches of it. However, the progress of it and the benefit by it, have been very considerable. I have raised and reaped upon the school land, the last year, about three hundred bushels of choice wheat, but the crop of Indian corn fell much short of my expectations, being but about two hundred and fifty bushels. I have cut sixty tons of hay the last season, and have a prospect of a very considerable addition to that quantity the next, if Providence shall favor it.
"I have begun to prepare and have a prospect that I shall be able to fit about sixty acres of new land to sow with wheat the next season. I have improved about twelve or fourteen oxen, and about twenty cows, the property of the school, and have a prospect of plenty for their support for summer and winter, and I find already the great benefit of having wherewith to do it this winter without the fatigue and expense of going forty miles for it, as I have been forced to do till this year."
He also refers to important agricultural operations, and the erection of buildings at Landaff—Governor Wentworth's first choice as a location for the college—and preparations for a new college edifice.
To Messrs. Savage and Keen, he writes, October 24, 1775: "The progress of the great design under my hand has been as rapid since resources from your side the water have been suspended as ever. Every day turns out some new wonder of Divine favor towards it. I have this day been out to see my laborers who have near finished sowing one hundred and ten acres of wheat and rye, but mostly of wheat, one hundred acres of it on new land. No providences, however calamitous to others, not even our present public distresses, but seem as though they were calculated to favor this design. God gives me all I ask for, and He is a prayer-hearing God."
We are indebted to the present librarian of the college[30] for the following interesting facts relating to this period:
[30] Professor C. W. Scott.
"The library of Dartmouth College may be considered as older than the college itself, as it had its origin in the 'Indian Charity School,' and existed as a handful of books before the granting of the college Charter. These books are found principally among the theological works, in folio volumes, with Latin texts or notes, and uninviting type. Received as they were more than a hundred years ago, they were then publications of the preceding century; and they would hardly find their way into the library to-day, if admitted upon the demand of readers, yet in their bindings and worn leaves they show that by some one they were thoroughly used. A copy of 'Lightfoot's Harmony of the New Testament,' under date of June, 1764, has written across a leaf: 'Received from the Rev. Dr. Gifford, of London, sundry second-hand books given by poor persons to the Indian Charity School in Lebanon, of which this is one.' Marks on other volumes show that Dr. Gifford was a contributor as well as a collector. Edinburgh, too [through Dr. Erskine], sent its offering of books, and as the struggling school came to be better known in England, through the commissioners sent to solicit aid, and through other sources, such gifts probably became not infrequent. The early history and intentions of the college were such as to particularly interest clergymen, and in proportion to their means they were doubtless the most generous givers of books. Their names written across fly-leaves show that many volumes, in different parts of New England, did service in their studies before finding a place in the college library. One of the most noteworthy of such benefactors was Rev. Diodate Johnson, of Millington, Conn., who, besides other gifts, in 1773 bestowed his entire library."
Nearly at the same period with Mr. Johnson's donation, Hon. John Phillips, of Exeter, made a handsome donation, for a philosophical apparatus. The subsequent appropriation of the money, for another purpose, compelled the college to dispense with this useful furniture for a considerable period.
The commencement of the Revolutionary struggle soon proved a serious embarrassment to President Wheelock: "The din of war drowned the feeble voice of science; men turned away from this 'school of the prophets' to hear tidings from the camp." But the heroic founder stood manfully at his post, faithfully performing his duty, with only brief interruptions, until, in the midst of that great conflict which made us a nation, he was called to his reward. He died, after a lingering illness, at Hanover, on the 24th of April, 1779. His first wife, Mrs. Sarah (Davenport) Maltby Wheelock, of the distinguished John Davenport family, died in Connecticut. His second wife, Mrs. Mary (Brinsmead) Wheelock, was spared to minister to the last earthly wants of her revered companion.
President Wheelock lived to see his earnest efforts to promote sound learning crowned with a good measure of success.
The graduates of this period attained such eminence, in nearly all the paths of professional usefulness, as to indicate most plainly that they had laid good foundations in college. They were honored as teachers, as divines, and as legislators. The condition