WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE.

The design to establish a College in Virginia was almost coeval with the first settlement of the colony; and various attempts were made, at different times, by King James, by the London Company, and by the General Assembly, to carry it into execution;-but without effect. At length, however, in 1691, at the instance of the Rev. James Blair, Commissary of the Bishop of London, and in pursuance of a liberal subscription which he had set on foot for the purpose, an act was passed to establish and endow a College at Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg,) which was destined to attain the object. By this act, the following gentlemen, viz: Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant Governor of the Colony, William Cole, Ralph Wormley, William Byrd, and John Leare, Esquires; James Blair, John Farnifold, Stephen Fauce, and Samuel, Gray, Clerks; Thomas Milner, Christopher Robinson, Charles Scarborough, John Smith, Benjamin Harrison, Miles Cary, Henry Hartwell, William Randolph, and Matthew page, Gentlemen, were nominated to compose the corporation; and the Rev. James Blair was sent over to England to solicit their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary, to grant a charter for it. The Commissary was graciously received at court, and on the 8th of February 1692, had the royal charter put into his hand in due form. By this instrument the gentlemen already named were constituted Trustees to establish the College, which was to bear the name of William & Mary, after their Majesties, with power to hold lands to the value of Two Thousand pounds per annum. At the same time, the King gave them £1985 in money, to be applied towards building the College, and one penny per pound on all the tobacco exported from Maryland and Virginia, for the sup

port of the institution, with one half the surveyors fees, and Twenty Thousand acres of land "to be held by them and their successors for ever, paying to their Majesties and their successors, two copies of Latin verses yearly;" and nothing more.

In December 1693, the Trustees purchased of Thomas Ballard, three hundred and thirty acres of land in the county of James City, and commenced preparations for building the College. In the mean time, a school was opened in a house on the premises, by President Blair, until the College should be ready for the reception of the masters and scholars.

The edifice which was now being erected, though not yet finished, was occupied by the House of Burgesses in December 1700, and their sessions were subsequently held therein until October 1705, when the building and library were unfortunately destroyed by fire. At this time, the funds of the corporation were exhausted, but by the bounty of Queen Anne, and donations from the House of Burgesses, the main building, and the North wing, were at length completed, and occupied in the year 1720. The Chapel was afterwards built in 1727. The house called Brafferton, built out of the fund bequeathed to the College by Sir Robert Boyle, for the education of Indians, was erected at the same time. This building was distinct from the College, and was kept as a school for Indian boys exclusively, who together with their master occupied the house, and were supported out of the Boyle fund. The foundation of the President's house was afterwards laid on the 31st of July, 1732, when the first five bricks were solemnly set down by President Blair, Professors Dawson, Fry, and Stith, and Mr. Fox, master of the Indian School. In 1729, all the original trustees being dead, except President Blair, and the Rev. Stephen Fauce, Sir John

Randolph was sent to England to obtain a transfer of the College, and all the estate held for its use, to the following gentlemen, as trustees; viz. James Blair, Rector, the Hon. William Gooch, Governor of the Colony, Alexander Spotswood, late Lieut. Governor of the said Colony, Robert Carter, of Lancaster county, William Byrd, of Charles City county, Mann Page of Gloucester county, Col. Digges, of York county, Peter Beverley, of Gloucester county, John Robinson, of Spotsylvania county, John Carter, of Charles City, John Grymes, of Middlesex, William Randolph, of Henrico, (son of the first W. R.) members of his Majesty's Council; Emanuel Jones, of the parish of Petworth, in the county of Gloucester, Bartholomew Yates, of the parish of Christ Church, in the county of Middlesex, and John Staife, of the parish of Stratton Major, in the county of King and Queen, Clerks; John Claton, John Randolph, (brother of William,) William Robertson, Esq., of Williamsburg, and William Cole, Esq., of the county of Warwick. Sir John returned with the transfer, and delivered it in the College, on the 15th day of August 1729, to James Blair, Rector, and President of the College, in the presence of Francis Fontaine, William Dawson, and Alexander Irvine, Professors, and Joshua Fry, Master of the Grammar School. The establishment was now complete again, and at the meeting in November following, it appears that the Faculty present were the Rev. James Blair, President, the Rev. Bartholomew Yates, Professor of Divinity, the Rev. Wm. Dawson, Professor of Philosophy, the Rev. Francis Fontaine, Professor of Oriental Languages, Mr. Alexander Irvine, Professor of Mathematics, Mr. Joshua Fry, Master of the Grammar School, and Mr. John Fox, Master of the Indian School.

From this time the College went on enlarging itself by degrees, and extending its influence, from year to year,

with some success. President Blair, under whose auspices it had been founded, died in 1743, and was succeeded by the Rev. William Dawson, both as President of the College and Commissary of the Bishop of London. Mr. Dawson died in 1752, and was succeeded by the Rev. William Stith, (the Historian,) as President only. Mr. Stith died in 1755, and was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Dawson. Mr. Dawson died in 1761, and was succeeded by the Rev. Wm. Yates. Mr. Yates died in 1764, and was succeeded by the Rev. James Horrocks. Mr. Horrocks died in 1771, and was succeeded by the Rev. John Camm. Mr. Camm died in 1777, and was succeeded by the Rev. James Madison, afterwards Bishop of Virginia.

The revolutionary war was ruinous to the College. The estates in England called Brafferton, and Doxhill, given by Sir Robert Boyle, were lost, and the school supported by them put down. The duty on tobacco, distilled spirits, and furs, and a moiety of surveyors fees given by the King were taken by the State of Virginia, and the rents of the College lands, heretofore applied to the education of a certain number of young men, were now used to aid in sustaining the institution which seemed about to expire. Three of the masters, Professors Innes, McClurg and Andrews, entered the army, and most of the students followed their example. Among these last were James Monroe, Joseph Egglestone, John, Robert, and William Nelson, Thomas Evans, Nathaniel Burwell, Granville Smith, William and Charles Cocke, John Francis Mercer, Langhorne Dade, Edmund, Robert, Richard, Peyton, and David Meade Randolph, Otway Byrd, Charles and George Carter, John Nicholas, Robert Nicholson, Edward Digges, Robert Bolling, Carter and Robert Page, Robert Saunders, James Lyons, Dandridge Claiborne, and Carter B. Harrison who entered the service of Virginia and the United States. From this

time to the close of the war, the College buildings were occasionally occupied as military barracks, and it was dif ficult to preserve the Library and Chemical Apparatus from ruin. In fact, as Williamsburg was alternately occupied by portions of the American and British armies, the exercises of the College were merely nominal; and the students were "few and far between," so that at the termination of the course in August, 1783, Ludwell Lee and Paul Carrington were the only orators on the occasion.

From the alumni of the College who were zealous and distinguished advocates for the cause of their country, we may select the names of Peyton Randolph, George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, John Page of Rosewell, Edmund Pendleton, Archibald Cary, Mann Page, Edmund Randolph, Beverley Randolph, and Benjamin Harrison, of Berkeley, as worthy of special honor.

R. R.

COMMODORE SAMUEL BARRON.

Commodore Samuel Barron of the U. S. N. was born in the town of Hampton, in this State, on the 25th of September, 1765. His father was Commodore James Barron, of the Virginia Navy, during the revolutionary war, and his mother was Miss Jane Cowper, afterwards Mrs. Jane Bowling, the wife and subsequently the widow of Capt. Bowling who was lost at sea.

Young Samuel Barron, very early in life, discovered a strong fondness for letters, and made as good progress in learning as the circumstances of our country at that time, almost destitute of schools, would allow. At 14 years of age, he was sent to Petersburg, to a grammar school which was kept there by a very respectable teacher named Emo