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Page 14
October 28, 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts "agreed to give 400
(pounds) toward a schoale or colledge, whearof 200 (pounds) to be paid
the next yeare, & 200 when the worke is finished, & the next Court to
appoint wheare & what building." On November 15, 1637, the "Colledg is
ordered to be at Newtowne." On November 20, 1637, occurs the following
record of the General Court: "The Governor Mr. Winthrope, the Deputy Mr.
Dudley, the Treasurer Mr. Bellingham, Mr. Humfrey, Mr. Herlakenden, Mr.
Staughton, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Damport, Mr. Wells, Mr. Sheopard,
& Mr. Peters, these, or the greater part of them, whereof Mr. Winthrope,
Mr. Dudley, or Mr. Bellingham, to bee alway one, to take order for a
colledge at Newtowne."
May 2, 1638, the General Court changed the name of Newtowne to
Cambridge, and, on March 13, 1639, "It is ordered that the Colledge
agreed upon formerly to be built at Cambridge shall bee called Harvard
Colledge." It appears that before this time there had been a school; but
the name of college was not assumed until the above date. The teacher of
this school was Mr. Nathaniel Eaton, who has left an unenviable
reputation, and made an inauspicious beginning of that institution which
was to attain to such distinction. He finally got into serious trouble,
in consequence of his brutal conduct and for one act in particular,
which led to his leaving the school and town. Governor Winthrop, in his
History of New England has given a graphic description of the event,
which Mr. Sibley has also reproduced, in a note, and which will interest
more readers than would ever have the privilege of reading either work.
I will therefore give the extract in full. Speaking of Eaton and the
pupil whom he punished, Winthrop says: "The occasion was this: He was a
schoolmaster and had many scholars, the sons of gentlemen and others of
best note in the country, and had entertained one Nathaniel Briscoe, a
gentleman born, to be his usher, and to do some other things for him,
which might not be unfit for a scholar. He had not been with him above
three days but he fell out with him for a very small occasion, and, with
reproachful terms, discharged him, and turned him out of his doors; but,
it being then about eight of the clock after the Sabbath, he told him he
should stay till next morning, and, some words growing between them, he
struck him and pulled him into his house. Briscoe defended himself and
closed with him, and, being parted, he came in and went up to his
chamber to lodge there. Mr. Eaton sent for the constable, who advised
him first to admonish him, etc., and if he could not, by the power of a
master, reform him, then he should complain to the magistrate. But he
caused his man to fetch him a cudgel, which was a walnut tree plant, big
enough to have killed a horse, and a yard in length, and, taking his two
men with him, he went up to Briscoe, and caused his men to hold him till
he had given him two hundred stripes about the head and shoulders, etc.,
and so kept him under blows (with some two or three short intermissions)
about the space of two hours, about which time Mr. Shepherd (the
clergyman) and some others of the town came in at the outcry, and so he
gave over. In this distress Briscoe gate out his knife and struck at the
man that held him, but hurt him not. He also fell to prayer, (supposing
he should have been murdered), and then Mr. Eaton beat him for taking
the name of God in Vain."
He was charged in open court with these cruelties to Briscoe, and it was
there proved that he had been unusually cruel on other occasions, often
punishing pupils with from twenty to thirty stripes, and never leaving
them until they had confessed what he required. He was also charged with
furnishing a scant diet to his pupil boarders, keeping them on porridge
and pudding, though their parents were paying for better fare. He
appears to have admitted the evil, butt threw the blame upon his wife.
The court found him guilty. At first he denied his guilt. He was put in
care of a marshal for safe keeping, and, on the following day, the court
was informed that he had repented in tears. In the open court "he made a
very solid, wise, eloquent, and serious (seeming) confession." The court
was so much moved and pleased by this act of contrition that they only
censured him and fined him twenty pounds and ordered the same amount to
be paid to Briscoe. The church intended to "deal with him," but he fled
to the Piscataqua settlements. He was apprehended, and promised to
return to Cambridge, but finally escaped and fled, on a boat, to
Virginia.
The college was named for the Reverend John Harvard, who came to this
country from England in 1637, settled In Charlestown, and died the
following year. He left a legacy, including his library, to the new
institution of learning, which was a princely benefaction for the time.
As a suitable recognition for this first large donation, the institution
was called Harvard College. The exact place of Mr. Harvard's burial is
unknown. It was somewhere "about the foot of Town Hill." It was in the
old burial-ground near the old prison in Charlestown, in all
probability, and the monument to his memory, if not over his grave, is
likely very near it. The inscriptions on this monument explain the time
and cause of its erection. On the eastern side of the shaft, looking
toward the land of his birth and education, we read:--
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