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1st ADVERTISEMENT OF THE BEGINNING OF
TUITION May 31, 1754. To such parents as have now (or expect to have) children prepared to be educated in the College of New York: I. As the gentlemen who are appointed by the assembly, to be trustees of the intended Seminary or College of New York, have thought fit to appoint me to take charge of it, and have concluded to set up a course of tuition in the learned languages, and in the liberal arts and sciences; they have judged it advisable, that I should publish this advertisement, to inform such as have children ready for a college education, that it is proposed to begin tuition upon the first day of July next, at the vestry room in the new school house, adjoining to Trinity Church in New York, which the gentlemen of the vestry are so good as to favor them with the use of in the interim, till a convenient place may be built. II. The lowest qualifications they have judged requisite, in order to admission into the said college, are as follows, viz., that they be able to read well, and write a good legible hand; and that they be well versed in the five first rules in arithmetic; i. e., as far as division and reduction; and as to Latin and Greek, that they have a good knowledge in the grammars, and be able to make grammatical Latin, and both in construing and parsing, to give a good account of two or three of the first select Orations of Tully, and of the first books of Virgil's Aeneid, and some of the first chapters of the Gospel of St. John, in Greek. In these books there- fore they may expect to be examined, but higher qualifications must hereafter be expected; and if there be any of the higher classes in any college, or under private instruction, that incline to come hither, they may expect admission to proportionably higher classes here. III. And that people may be the better satisfied in sending their children for education to this college, it is to be understood, that as to religion, there is no intention to impose on the scholars, the peculiar tenets of any particular sect of Christians; but to inculcate upon their tender minds, the great principles of Christianity and morality in which true Christians of each denomination are generally agreed. And as to the daily worship in the college morning and evening, it is proposed that it should ordinarily consist of such a collection of lessons, prayers, and praises of the liturgy of the Church, as are, for the most part, taken out of the Holy Scriptures, and such as are agreed on by the trustees, to be in the best manner expressive of our common Christianity; and, as to any peculiar tenets, every one is left to judge fully for himself, and to be required only to attend constantly at such places of worship, on the Lord's Day, as their parents or guardians shall think fit to order or permit. IV. The chief thing that is aimed at in this college is to teach and engage the children to know God in Jesus Christ, and to love and serve Him in all sobriety, godliness, and righteousness of life, with a perfect heart, and a willing mind; and to train them up in all virtuous habits and all such useful knowledge as may render them creditable to their families and friends, ornaments to their country, and useful to the public weal in their generations. To which good purposes it is earnestly desired, that their parents, guardians, and masters, would train them up from their cradles, under strict government, and in all seriousness, virtue and industry, that they may be qualified to make orderly and tractable members of this society; and, above all that in order hereunto, they be very careful themselves, to set them good examples of true piety and virtue in their own conduct. For as examples have a very powerful influence over young minds, and especially those of their parents, in vain are they solicitous for a good education for their children if they themselves set before them examples of impiety, and profaneness, or of any sort of vice whatsoever. V. And, lastly, a serious, virtuous, and industrious course of life being first provided for, it is further the design of this college to instruct and perfect youth in the learned languages, and in the arts of reasoning exactly, of writing correctly, and speaking eloquently; and in the arts of numbering and measuring, of surveying and navigation, of geography and history, of husbandry, commerce and government, and in the knowledge of all nature in the heavens above us, and in the air, water and earth around us, and the various kinds of meteors, stones, mines, and minerals, plants and animals, and of everything useful for the comfort, the convenience and elegance of life, in the chief manufactures relating to any of these things; and finally, to lead them from the study of nature to the knowledge of themselves, and of the God of nature, and their duty to Him, themselves, and one another, and everything that can contribute to their true happiness, both here and hereafter. Thus much, Gentlemen, it was thought proper to advertise you of, concerning the nature and design of this college. And I pray God, it may be attended with all the success you can wish, for the best good of the rising generations; to which (while I continue here) I shall willingly contribute my endeavors to the utmost of my power, N. B. The charge of the tuition is established by the trustees to be only 25s for each quarter. Source: The New-York Gazette, or Weekly Post-Boy,, June 3, 1754, as in Herbert and Carol Schneider, eds., Samuel Johnson: His Career and Works, IV (New York: Columbia University Press, 1929), pp. 222-224. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From The New-York Gazette, or Weekly
Post-Boy, This is to acquaint whom it may concern that I shall attend at the vestry room in the school house, near the English Church, on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, between the hours of nine and twelve, to examine such as offer themselves to be admitted into the college. Samuel Johnson. Source: Herbert and Carol Schneider, eds., Samuel Johnson: His Career and Works, IV (New York: Columbia University Press, 1929), pp. 224. |