Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

The 4^th Speech.

Though it is very firmly resolved, that the Muses preserving their Native modesty, shall
not trouble the honourable audience, with any representations of wants and greivances,
Far less shall turn beggars for Supplyes and benevolences, Yet it was thought no
way unsuitable with this resolution, if we made a publick honourable mention
of our cheif Benefactors, and presented them with the praises and good wishes
of our whole society. This being the task assigned me in this dayes exercises,
I am very sensible, that both my conceptions and expressions will fall infinitely
short of the merit of those worthies, and therefore shall not so much as pretend
to equal their noble actions with suitable Elogies, only begin to discharge
a small part of that debt which must remain to be further paid by all
the best Spirits of this University, while there remains one brick upon another
in the building, or one Master or Scholar upon the foundation. That I
may give no offence I shall take them as they ly in the order of the
History.

To begin then, as the fountains of some noble Rivers are unknown, So it
must be confessed that the first original of this Project, consisting in private
talk and discourse of the great want of education in this Country, and the
necessity of a free School for that purpose is in agreat measure unknown.
The first publick consultation about it, was at a meeting of some private
Gentlemen at James City in the moneth of february 1690. The person
that had the cheif honour to be the first mover in procureing such a
meeting was the Hon:^ble Colonell Page; to whom and his family this great
work has been exceedingly beholding. I shall spare the naming the
particular Gentlemen that assisted at this meeting, that I may not trespass
upon the modesty of several of them whom I see here present, who were
then, and who have continued ever since zealous and worthy assertors of
this cause. It was this happy meeting which went in so cordially into this
work, and agreed so unanimously in the whole Scheme and contrivance of it,
and [deleted] took so true and just measures for the prosecution and preserva-
tion of it, that I must needs say the foundation was here Laid of all
that was afterwards done, and the methods then taken, after they have
been often canvassed since with the strictest scrutiny, have been
found to be solid and good, otherwise this great work would never have
endured the fiery tryal it has since underwent. Nothing was wanting
to so good a beginning but only the bringing in a greater number of wise &
good men to joyn in the undertakeing which was also the contrivance
of this first meeting: For finding themselves too few to prosecute what
they had Laid the Plan of, They by their Letters procured a much
fuller number of Gentlemen well affected to the design to meet at James-
City the April following, where all the former proceedings were again
very fully considered and approved of, and at Last solemnly presented to
some noble friends of this design, President Bacon, Secretary Cole, & the
Council of State then in being, and by them received with great Applause, &:
promised to be recommended by them to the next General Assembly.
In this State was the affair of the Colledge, when by Gods providence
a Lieutennant Governour was sent in to the Countrey, that espoused
this good cause with so much courage and resolution, and so far outdid
the other wellwishers, that his merits in this affairs have totally eclipsed
those of any other Benefactors that had gone before him. He had not
been but a few moneths in the Countrey when he issued out his Brieffs
for Subscriptions to this good work and these Briefs being recommended
with his own generous example brought in about 2000 pounds subscrip-
tions towards it, and so great a Life did authority joyned with a good
cause put into this affair, that at that time the Colledge was the Darling
of the Country, and there was scarce a man to be found of any Note
that was not forward to have a hand in so good a work.

This great
applause and encouragement from the people, meeting with an
Assembly of as honest and able men as ever was in Virginia, an Assembly
that all following ages will have reason to bless & mention with honour, I
mean the Assembly of the year 1691. That Assembly did further recommend
this matter to their Maty's King William and Queen Mary in a solemn
Address which they made for that purpose, wherein they requested their
Maty's charter for founding and erecting of this Colledge by the name of the
Colledge of King William and Queen Mary, together with the assistance of
their Royal bounty to help towards the said erection. and that this Address migh
might not like some others be flung by, without being further minded or regard-
ed, they thought it worth their while to send home an agent on purpose to
sollicite it at the Court of England. Here it was that by means of a generous
Prince, whom God long preserve, and a most pious Queen of glorious and—
blessed Memory and by the particular assistance of Archbishop Tillotson
a person so eminent for wisdom, Learning, and zeal to do good, and of Several
other worthy Prelates most zealous in this cause, particularly our own good
Bishop the Bishop of London, besides diverse Laicks that Signalized
themselves upon this occasion, whose memory ought for ever to be precious
in our Records; how it was, I say, that notwithstanding the violent opposition
of some great men (who had a mind to keep this Countrey in perpetual dark-
ness, and could not endure that the publick moneys which they had an eye to,
should be diverted to such pious uses) Yet not only an ample Charter was—
granted, but so considerable Donations both for building and maintenance
of the said Colledge that his Maty is by much the cheif Benefactor, haveing
contributed more than all the other Benefactors put together: and therefore
most deservedly the honour of the foundation is his, and wee are proud of such
a Patron; A patron that has preserved this Church from Popery, all Europe
from Slavery, and America from ignorance & Barbarity. But his praises
are a subject too vast for my mean Talent in Oratory, and therefore I shall not
attempt them.

This being only design'd for athankfull commemoration
of our Benefactors, I do willingly pass by the six years of S^r Edmund
Andros's Government, in which great care was taken to poison the Countrey
with prejudices against this good work. Only it has likewise had some good
effect in that it has given us an oppurtunity to discover our true friends,
We saw who they were that stood by us in the day of adversity,

and par-
ticularly we have reason to put into the Catalogue of our Benefactors
the General Assembly of the year 1693, who in complyance with a recommenda-
tion from the Court of England gave us a Duty on skins and furrs, which
was a considerable addition to the Revenue of the Colledge. Nor let us
forget the generosity of M^r Perry and some other Benefactors in England,
expecially the honourable M^r Boyle, whose noble foundation intrusted to
the mannagement of this Colledge, ye heard of before. And here I must not ommitt
the generosity of the ^two famous Bishops of ^{London &} Sarum, who has broke the Ice to the
other Bishops, in makeing a noble present of well chosen bookes to our Library,
intending hereby to take care that our Youth be well seasoned with the best principles
of Religion and Learning that can be taught by the most sound & Orthodox Divines.
and this example will be quickly followed by the present Lord Primate of England,
a worthy Successor to D^r Tillotson, who continues to water this Nursery w^ch
his predecessor took such care to plant,

and who had the cheif hand in removeing
us of our Enemies, and putting in our friends ⁱⁿ to the Government; For after all, like
an Infant that has falne into the hands of an unnatural Stepfather, this
Colledge had been ruined, if our great Patron King William (whom God
bless and preserve) following so good councel, had not restored unto us our
kindly nurseing father, our good Governour again, under whom, tho in a
Lower Sphere, this work went on so prosperously, and we have all reason
to hope that now when he has more power, he will be better able to Support
us against all our Enemies. We have in the worst of times stood by him, & he
by us, and as his Majesty by bestowing the Government on his Excellency, has
sufficiently showed his intentions of promoteing the friends and slighting the enemies
of the Colledge; So we doubt not his Excellency will imitate his Majesty's example,
and will give such a Turn to the Scales that whereas in the Late times, it
recommended a man to the then Governours favour to be a notorious Enemy of the
College, it will now as much recommend a man to the now Governours friendship
to be a freind unto it.