xvi Centennial Ariniversary 



A sedulous desire to avoid any marked connection witli the Col- 

 lege is shown in this scheme of organization. The arts were even 

 excluded from the corporate name. It fared, however, no better 

 than its predecessor ; one cause perhaps, being that it provided 

 that the proposed building should be free of taxation. The pub- 

 lic mind, also, w^as full of other things. The era of the revolution 

 had closed, but that of reconstruction, with all its possibilities, was 

 now opening. 



Three years later, in despair of obtaining the legislation desired, 

 a voluntary association* was formed at Hartford during the ses- 

 sion of the General Assembly there, by the name of the Connecti- 

 cut Society of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Stiles and Dr. Strong w^ere 

 among its active promoters, the number of whom was limited to 

 sixty, and soon rose to over forty, the Lieutenant-Governor of the 

 State being the first President. It was to have two semi-annual 

 sessions, alternately at Hartford and I^ew Haven, during the ses- 

 sion of the legislature at each place. 



No prophet was needed to predict the practical failure of this 

 scheme. It was an appendage to the General Assembly, but 

 without its countenance. It had no fixed center nor place of 

 abode. 



A learned academy must be the outgrowth, or at least must 

 have the cordial support, either of a university or of a capital. It 

 must draw its life from an exchange of the fruits of scholarship, 

 or an exchange of news of scientific discovery. Nor can it be 

 migratory. It must have a irov a-ro), if it would exert a continuous 

 and lasting influence. 



But one paper was ever published by the Connecticut Society 

 of Arts and Sciences — a dissertation on the Language of the 

 Muhhekaneew Indians, by Eev. Dr. Jonathan Ed^yards, the 

 younger. It is one of acknowledged merit, and was communi- 

 cated to the Society in October, 1787. 



The times were then growing more and more unfavorable to 

 the cultivation of any science but that of politics. 



The one great subject of thought was the formation of a better 

 government for the United States. The Convention w^hich 



* stiles' Diary, Vol. 10, p. 150. A search through the Journal of the May 

 Session, 1786, confirms the accuracy of Dr. Stiles' entry as to its not being incor- 

 porated. 



