and regulations. These are stated in detail by the donor; two scholarships are to be created-the first to take effect in the class that shall be graduated in 1848, the second in 1849-the boon to be conferred on the best scholar, as ascertained by examination, or by lot in cases of equal merit, among those who apply; each successful candidate to enjoy the income of two thousand dollars for two years, upon condition of pursuing a prescribed course of study, and to reside in New Haven nine months in each year,-upon failure of candidates, the income is to be appropriated in premiums for the encouragement of English composition, or other branches of learning among the undergraduates of the college. The donor, very wisely, adds a dispensing clause, 'that the Corporation of the College, in whom he reposes special confidence, may, from time to time, make such change in the foregoing regulations as they shall judge best calculated to promote the main purpose for which the donation has been made.' Upon these conditions, the donation was accepted by the corporation, and will of course, when the prescribed term is completed, be carried into effect. Mr. Clark, from his acquaintance with the officers of the College, took a particular interest in that painful catastrophe-the wreck of the Liverpool packet-ship Albion, at Kinsale, in Ireland, in April, 1822, which deprived the college and the country of a man who, for his early years, left no superior behind him. With the lamented Fisher was lost the large telescope of the college, which he was taking with him to London, to have it put in the best order, for his observations on his return. Mr. Clark, on being informed of this loss, conceived the idea of replacing this valuable instrument with one still better. It was not for him, like a capitalist in a great emporium, simply to will, and then to draw a check for the amount. His contributions (since he did not, in making them, diminish his patrimonial estate derived from his grandfather) were drawn from the results of his own industry and economy, often rendered in small sums as he could obtain payment for his commodities, or collect the dues on outstanding notes.* Of this donation, nineteen guineas were, by order of the donor, employed in the purchase of a pair of large globes by Carey, Payments by Sheldon Clark to the Treasurer of Yale College for a Telescope. (twenty-one inches in diameter,) one celestial and the other terres trial, elegantly mounted and covered. The telescope was ordered of Dollond. Captain Basil Hall happened to be at the college at the time, and kindly volunteered to give his personal attention, with the maker, to the execution and arrangement of the instrument. Mr. Clark limited a period of two years, within which it was to be done or the money given by him was to be returned. It arrived in November, 1829, and was pronounced by Dollond to be 'perfect, and such an instrument as he was pleased to send as a specimen of his powers.' In a letter of September 3, 1835, Prof. Olmsted announces to Mr. Clark the discovery by his telescope of Halley's comet-the first observation of this comet that had been been made in this country, although astronomers in various parts of the United States had been on the lookout, without success; this discovery was justly regarded, as proof that the instrument was a fine one for observations of this sort.' Will of Sheldon Clark. The Will of Sheldon Clark was made and executed in March, 1823, two months before his proposition to found a professorship in Oxford College was announced to the Corporation. Knowing the uncertainty of life-thinking that we must always be prepared to die-feeling that it is our duty to do all the good in our power, and believing that part of my property will do more good if given to encourage literature than it would to descend according to law, I Sheldon Clark, of Oxford, am voluntarily, and of my own accord, disposed to make the following will: I wish to be buried in a decent manner, and to have decent grave-stones at the discretion of my executors. It is my will, that my just debts and my funeral expenses be paid out of my movable estate. I give and bequeath to the Corporation of Yale College in New Haven, all my homestead farm where I now live, with its buildings and appurtenances-also, all the land that was given to me by my grandfather, Thomas Clark, Esq., on the east side of the road that runs north and south of Mr. Samuel Tucker, with its buildings and appurtenances-also, all my land that lies north of the road that runs by where George Drake now lives-also, my meadow that lies a few rods west of Rimmon school-house, and also, all my Red Oak farm, &c. Funds being so liable to be lost by bad security, it is my will, that the lands I have given to said Corporation shall never be sold, but that they shall be let or rented, in such way and manner, as the President and Fellows of said Yale College and their successors, forever, shall judge to be for the best interest of said institution. It is my will, that the annual income of said lands shall be annually appropriated for the advancement of literature in said Yale College, in such a mauner as its President and Fellows, and their successors forever, shall deem the best and most beneficial for said institution; but no part of said dʊnation or income shall ever be appropriated to erect or repair buildings. I also give and bequeath to the Corporation of Yale College in New Haven, all the money I shall have on hand and all the notes I shall have due me at the time of my decease, (except three hundred and thirty-four dollars for Chestnuttree Hill school district,) to be appropriated for the benefit of said Yale College, as its President and Fellows, and their successors forever, shall think shall be for its best good, and the most conducive to its prosperity and houor. Prof. Silliman adds: This will he brought to my house early in the spring of 1823, when he read it to me, and requested me to keep it sacred and secure. The lady of the house was also intrusted with this confidence, that the will might be found, if I were gone; by his direction I sealed it, in his presence, and wrote upon the envelope, the last Will of Sheldon Clark, to be delivered to no one but himself in person, or in the case of his death, to be opened by the President of Yale College.' His last visit at my house was in the evening of October 8, 1839, and when he was on the door-step taking his leave, I reminded him of the important document, which, sixteen years before, he had confided to me, and offered to surrender it to him, provided his purpose was changed. He replied, 'No, I do not wish to make any alteration,' and these (with a warm shake of the hand) were to me his words of farewell. I never saw him more, until I beheld him in his coffin on the 11th of April, 1840. A neat marble slab records his name as 'a distinguished benefactor of Yale College.' Such indeed he was. His benefactions to the institution, including the funded interest that had accumulated to the time of his death, amounted to full thirty thousand dollars -three times as much as any other individual ever gave.* He kept his money always at work-loaned all the cash he did not need, (and his personal wants were few)-required his interest and payments at the day-but was exactly just in his dealingsprompt to give his advice when desired, and kind in his treatment of all. His hoarding was not for himself; wife and children he had none, and he laid by his thousands-the results not of traffic or speculation, but of laborious thrifty industry-to furnish the means of a superior education to the children of others, and to generations yet unborn. In a letter to a committee of the Senior Class of Yale, thanking him for the opportunity enjoyed by that class from the first time of observing the heavens through the Clark Telescope, he expresses his views as follows: OXFORD, Nov. 29th, 1832. RESPECTED FRIENDS-Man is a child of circumstances. While some are born to ease and plenty, seldom meet with disappointments, are surrounded by benev olent friends, always ready to assist, to comfort, and to afford them the most ample means of enjoying the highest degree of mental culture; others are born to poverty and servitude, unassisted, even by their nearest relatives, and denied the privilege of obtaining a good common school education, and are often dispirited by disappointments. * Only one individual, the late Dr. Alfred Perkins of Norwich, gave $10,000 as a library fund, and there are a few living men who have given from $5,000 to $8,000 each. It was my destiny to belong to the latter class. Early in life I had a tender father, who was in possession of a large amount of property. He intended, and often promised, that I should have a liberal education-but, alas, before I was old enough to prepare to enter College, he died, and the estate proved to be insolvent. Thus all my fond hopes of having a liberal education were frustrated, and I was left fatherless and penniless in a hard, unfeeling, selfish world, to provide, by my own industry, to satisfy those positive wants congenial to poor human nature. It fell to my lot to live, till I was of age, with my grandfather, a hard working, parsimonious farmer, but I was allowed the privilege of reading ocea sionally, on Sundays, stormy days, and in the long nights of winter. From these opportunities of reading, I was soon convinced that the power, the honor, and glory of nations, consisted in, and depended upon, their great men. What has Greece, or Rome, or any nation of antiquity transmitted to posterity, worthy of esteem and admiration, but the achievements of their heroes, and the productions of their artists, poets, and philosophers? And what else can we transmit to succeeding ages, to distinguish us from the unlettered savages that roamed at large in the uncultivated wilds of America when discovered by our fathers? Full of this idea, and animated with an ardent desire to promote the honor and happiness of my own native country, I felt determined to do all I could to patronize and encourage literature and science, to provide the means of affording our literary and scientific genius a finished education. Oft when toiling with ceaseless assiduity to accomplish that object, I have been pointed at, by my fellow-citizens, with the finger of scorn, and taunted by the tongue of ridicule. But for all this I felt a reward in the anticipation of promoting the honor, and glory, and happiness of my beloved country. I never dreamed of personally receiving the grateful acknowledgments of one of the most respectable collegiate classes in the world. This, I assure you, my dear friends, is a full, a rich compensation for all the labor, the hardships and privations I have suffered. As honor, and glory, and happiness, are the only objects worthy of the attention of wise and intelligent beings, I have no doubt that they will be the chief objects of your pursuit. From the sentiments expressed in your kind and interesting letter, I presume that some of you are highly gratified with the study of the sublime science.' In the year 1846, in anticipation of the accumulation of Mr. Clark's original gifts of $5,000 to the sum of $20,000, which would take place in 1847, the corporation constituted the Clark Professorship of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics, and elected as the first professor, Rev. Noah Porter,-elected in 1871, president. He entered upon his duties Jan. 1st, 1847, and has discharged them till the present time. This was the first fully endowed professorship which was established in the college, and for this reason, as on account of the history of the founder, this endowment is a memorable event in its history. It is interesting to trace its beginnings to the singular liberality and forecast of this imperfectly educated farmer, in 1823. This Professorship fund is $20,000. The amount of the Clark Scholarship fund is $4,000. The first scholars upon this foundation were designated in 1848, according to the suggestions accompanying the gift. The failure of candidates to present themselves for examination, or of elected scholars to comply with the conditions of residence and study, has furnished the college from time to time with funds to distribute as premiums for excellence in literary composition or in scientific research. The real estate bequeathed by Mr. Clark to the college was valued at $14,477.12, the income of which was restricted to no particular use. By the will, the corporation was forbidden to sell the land, but was required to let or rent them according to their discretion. These farms and tenements were of such a character that this restriction has proved to be very unfortunate for the interest of the college, and the income has been scanty and uncertain. CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPAL DECEASED BENEFACTORS TO THE ACADEMICAL DEPARTMENT OF YALE COLLEGE. In this list the names of donors whose gifts are less than $1000 are not mentioned, excepting a few of the earliest. We omit also the names of donors to the Theological and Medical Departments; likewise the names of benefactors still living, several of whom are unwilling that their gifts should be publicly announced. We pass by also the large donations to the Scientific School, nearly all of which are due to the characteristic munificence of a gentleman of New Haven. The various donations by the Colony and State of Connecticut, amounting in the aggregate to about $70,000, scattered over a period of 160 years, are not recited here, because they have been fully enumerated in our number for September, 1858. Date. 1700. The ten clergymen who founded the College by a gift of 40 volumes of books, valued at £30 sterling. 1701. Major James Fitch, of Norwich, Conn., 637 acres of land in Killingly; besides, glass and nails for a college house. 1714. Jeremy Dummer, agent at London for the Colony of Connec ticut, who rendered important service by collecting a library of 600 volumes in London, besides his own gift of 120 volumes. 1716. Elihu Yale, of London, 300 volumes of books, worth. Goods, in the years 1718 and 1721, valued 1733. Rev. Dr. George Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, 96 acres of land, near Newport, R. I., for founding three Graduate Scholarships; rented now at $140 per annum. 1000 volumes of books, valued at Dollars. . £100 sterl. £400 1787. Rev. Richard Salter, D. D., of Mansfield, Conn., about 200 acres . £400 แ 1,666 67 1,666 67 1813. Isaac Beers, New Haven, by will, 1,900 acres of land in Holland, Vt. 1807. Hon. Oliver Wolcott, afterwards Governor of Connecticut, a fund for the increase of the Library, 1,122 33 2,000 00 8,000 00 5,000 00 5,000 00 1,000 00 1,200 00 14,332 00 . 10,000 00 3,500 00 1817. Noah Linsly, Wheeling, Va., legacy, 1823. David C. DeForest, New Haven, to found Scholarships, Sheldon Clark, Oxford, to found a Professorship of Moral Phi- Also in 1824, to found two Scholarships, Do. 1828-9, to purchase telescope and globes, 1825. Citizens of New Haven, to aid in purchasing the Gibbs Mineral Citizens of New York, for the same object,. Alumni of the College, residing in South Carolina, Thomas Day, Hartford, to found Scholarships, on certain condi- 1832. A fund of $100,000, in sums varying from $10 to $5,000, was |