Yale College (1701) was founded by ten Congregational ministers as the Collegiate School at Killingworth, Milford and Saybrook, Connecticut. In 1716, it was moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and in 1718, it was renamed Yale College, after the benefactor Elihu Yale (1649-1721). An American-born English merchant, Elihu Yale amassed a considerable fortune as governor of the East India Company. He donated books and goods to the college from his estate in the amount of $2,800.
The act authorizing the new college, passed by the General Court, declared it to be an institution in which:
<Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences who through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church and Civil State.> 1701YC001
On November 11, 1701, the purpose of Yale College was recorded in the proceedings of the Trustees:
<To plant, and under ye Divine blessing to propagate in this Wilderness, the blessed Reformed, Protestant Religion, in ye purity of its Order, and Worship.> 1701YC002
The rules of Yale College, set by the founders, stated:
<Whereunto the Liberal, and Religious Education of Suitable youth is under ye blessing of God, a chief, & most probable expedient...we agree to...these Rules:
1. The said rector shall take Especial Care as of the moral Behaviour of the Students at all Times so with industry to Instruct and Ground Them well in Theoretical divinity...and [not to] allow them to be Instructed and Grounded in any other Systems or Synopses....To recite the Assemblies Catechism in Latin...[and] such Explanations as may be (through the Blessing of God) most Conducive to their Establishment in the Principles of the Christian protestant Religion.
2. That the said Rector shall Cause the Scriptures Daily...morning and evening to be read by the Students at the times of prayer in the School...Expound practical Theology...Repeat Sermons...studiously Indeavor[ing] in the Education of said students to promote the power and the Purity of Religion and Best Edification and peace of these New England Churches.> 1701YC003
The founders of Yale College stated:
<Every student shall consider the main end of his study to wit to know God in Jesus Christ and answerably to lead a Godly, sober life.> 1701YC004
In 1720, the students of Yale College were instructed:
<Seeing God is the giver of all wisdom, every scholar, besides private or secret prayer, where all we are bound to ask wisdom, shall be present morning and evening at public prayer in the hall at the accustomed hour.> 1701YC005
In 1745, Yale College stated it:
<Has received the favourable benefactions of many liberal and piously disposed persons, and under the blessing of Almighty God has trained up many worthy persons for the service of God in the state as well as in the church.> 1701YC006
In 1755, students of Yale College were instructed:
<Above all have an eye to the great end of all your studies, which is to obtain the clearest conceptions of Divine things and to lead you to a saving knowledge of God in his Son Jesus Christ.> 1701YC007
In 1787, the requirements of Yale College stated:
<All scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to the rules of God's Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, that fountain of truth, and constantly attending all the duties of religion, both in public and secret....
All the scholars are obliged to attend Divine worship in the College Chapel on the Lord's Day and on Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving appointed by public Authority.> 1701YC008
Benjamin Silliman, a noted American science educator and editor, served on the faculty of Yale College during the tenure of President Timothy Dwight, 1795-1817. He recorded his observations of the campus:
<It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students.> 1701YC009
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1701YC001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, 1701, founded by ten Congregational ministers. Noah Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education (New Haven: Howe & Spalding, 1823), p. 237.
1701YC002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, 1701, in an act by the General Court. David A. Lockmiller, Scholars on Parade: Colleges, Universities, Costumes and Degrees (New York: MacMillan, 1969), p. 70. Pat Robertson, America's Dates With Destiny (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), p. 46. Yale College was renamed Yale University in 1887. The New American Desk Encyclopedia (New York, NY: Signet, The Penguin Group, 1989), p. 1360.
1701YC003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College November 11, 1701, Proceedings of the Trustees. Franklin B. Dexter, editor, Documentary History of Yale University (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1916), p. 27. Peter G. Mode, Sourcebook and Bibliographical Guide for American Church History (Menasha, WI: George Banta Publishing Co., 1920, 1921), p. 109. John Elliot, New England First Fruits, 1643. Pat Robertson, America's Dates With Destiny (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), p. 45.
1701YC004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, November 11, 1701, Proceedings of the Trustees. Franklin B. Dexter, editor, Documentary History of Yale University (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1916; NY: Amo Press & The New York Times, 1969), p. 32. Peter G. Mode, ed., Sourcebook and Bibliographical Guide for American Church History (Menasha, WI: G. Banta Publishing Company, 1920, pp. 109-110. Pat Robertson, America's Dates With Destiny (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), pp. 45-46. William C. Ringenberg, The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984), p. 38. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 42.
1701YC005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College. 1720. Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States (New York: Hunt and Eaton, 1890), p. 245. Stephen K. McDowell and Mark A. Beliles, America's Providential History (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Press, 1988), p. 92.
1701YC006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, 1745, in the Yale Charter. Richard Hofstader and Wilson Smith, eds., American Higher Education: A Documentary History (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1961), 1:49. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), pp. 43-44.
1701YC007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, 1755, instructions to students, given previously in 1743. The Catalogue of the Library of Yale College in New Haven (New London: T. Green, 1743), prefatory remarks. The Catalogue of the Library of Yale College in New Haven (New Haven: James Parker, 1755), prefatory remarks.
1701YC008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, 1787, the requirements of Yale College. The Laws of Yale College in New Haven in Connecticut (New Haven: Josiah Meigs, 1787), pp. 5-6, Chapter II, Article 1, 4. Richard Hofstader and Wilson Smith, eds., American Higher Education: A Documentary History (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1961), 1:49. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 43.
1701YC009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Yale College, in a writing of Yale faculty member Benjamin Silliman. Henry M. Morris, Men of Science-men of God (El Cajon, CA: Master Books, Creation Life Publishers, Inc., 1990), p. 39.