Book Description

Excerpt from A Narrative of the Embarrassments and Decline of Hamilton College The following Narrative was printed some time since, as may be seen from its date. The reasons which prevented its immediate publication, as was intended, and which have still prevented it until the present time, may be found in the Appendix. (See pp. 121-124.) I must request the reader to bear in mind that all that is contained in the Narrative, pertains to the proceedings of the Board of Trustees and to the state of the College previous to February, 1829, when the Narrative was printed. It is obvious that some of the reasons mentioned in the Introduction, as having at that time induced me to believe it my duty to lay the history of the difficulties under which Hamilton College has labored, with their origin, before the public, no longer exist. The Institution, it is well known, has at length regained its health, - it is restored to public confidence, - and it does not now seem necessary, as formerly, to appeal to an impartial and discerning community for the vindication of my official character, or that of my associates, against the multiplied and wide-spread aspersions of which we have been the subjects. For if it is still believed that the incompetency, or unfaithfulness of the faculty, was in any measure a cause of the downfall of the College, it must also be believed, by every candid and well-informed man, - considering its rapid recovery and present state, - that without the agency of other and more efficient causes, that catastrophe could not have been produced. No man loves peace more than I do; and it must be natural to any one, in retiring from a public station of such cares and responsibilities as the presidency of a college, - and especially at my period of life, threescore years and two, - ardently to wish that the repose of retirement may not be disturbed by controversy. But notwithstanding these considerations, I am not persuaded, after long and carefully viewing the subject in all its relations, that it is my duty to remain silent. The undeserved odium heaped upon the faculty by a majority of the Board of Trustees, and others who cherished a similar spirit, has not ceased to be felt. Some there are both here and abroad, as I am fully assured, who have not yet desisted from charging the misfortunes of the College to their incompetency; nor can it now be expected that they will desist from it willingly, so long as they have hopes of doing it with success. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.