Francis Alison (1705-November 28, 1779) was an educator in colonial America. He was described by Yale President Ezra Stiles as:
<The greatest classical scholar in America, especially in Greek.> 1705FA001
On May 27, 1759, in a letter to Ezra Stiles, the future president of Yale, Francis Alison gave his support to a proposal written by Yale's then current president, Thomas Clap, recommending a uniform plan of education for the colonial colleges. He stated:
<Euclid's elements and algebra...should be taught the classes statedly and carefully, and moral philosophy should be a business of greater care and closer application than is now the common practice; without this branch of knowledge, we shall be ill able to defend our holy Christian religion; to understand the rights of mankind; or to explain and enforce the duties which we owe to God, our neighbors and ourselves.> 1705FA002
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1705FA001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Francis Alison, as described by Ezra Stiles. Allen Johnson, editor, Dictionary of American Biography XI vols. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1927), Vol. 1, p. 181.
1705FA002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Francis Alison, May 27, 1759, in a letter to Ezra Stiles. Franklin Bowditch Dexter, ed., Extracts from the Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Ezra Stiles, etc. (New Haven: 1916), p. 424. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968), Vol. 2, p. 47.