which the said President has generously given for the service of the College; and the said President hath also, of his own proper estate, purchased a lot for the Professor of Divinity, which cost 521. lawful money, and given it to the College, for the said use for ever: this Corporation think themselves bound, and do accordingly render their hearty and sincere thanks to the Rev. President Clap, for these extraordinary instances of his generosity; and as a standing testimony thereof, Voted, that this be entered upon the records." Upon application of the tutors, and many of the students, a church was gathered at the same time in the college, who enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, all the ordinan ces of the gospel. All this high prosperity of the college, alarmed the jealousy, and excited the bitterness of many of the reverend clergy, and a paper war against the corporation was opened, 1758. In 1763, nine of the disaffected gentlemen, carried their complaints before the General Assembly, by way of memorial, praying the Assembly to become the guardians of the college, and appoint a select number of visiters to inspect, and regulate the affairs of the college, or report to the next Assembly. This controversy had now become serious. The memorialists employed the most able counsel in the colony, to support their memorial before the General Assembly; and President Clap, entered the lists alone, in defence of the college: the learned and luminous display of talents exhibited by the president in his defence, together with the justice of his cause, set aside the prayer of the memorial, and established the rights of the college upon a firm and lasting basis. Pending this controversy, a donation of seven pounds ten shillings was given by the Rev. Jared Elliot, of Killingworth, the interest of which was to be applied to the use of the library. The library had also become so large, as to require a more convenient accommodation; and the number of students had increased so as to render the old college hall inconvenient for public worship; a new chapel became absolutely necessary, which might afford a room for the library, and another for the philosophical apparatus. To accomplish this object, another subscription was opened, and with such success, that in 1761, the present chapel of 50 feet by 40, was erected; and in 1763, it was dedicated to its sacred use; and in 1764, the steeple was erected, and the building completed. One hundred pounds were given by Richard Jackson, Esquire, to forward the work, and the citizens of New-Haven were very liberal in their subscriptions to finish the steeple.* All this was effected in the midst of the most distressing war the country had ever witnessed; a war known by the name of the seven years' war in Europe, and the old French war, in America. Such was the virtue, patriotism, and religious zeal, as well as literary spirit of the founders of this college, and the fathers of Connecticutand such the characters of those men, who deserve the tribute of perpetual remembrance, and the unfeigned gratitude of posterity to the latest generation. £183 was raised by subscription, 286,10, were paid out of the College Treasury, and £615,03,9. CHAPTER XXXIII. CAUSES THAT LED TO THE SEVEN YEARS WAR IN EUROPE, AND OPENED THE OLD FRENCH WAR IN AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1754-5. We have witnessed in the last war, the unsuccessful attempts of England, to seize on the most valuable islands. of Spain, as well as her most valuable possessions in America; we have also witnessed the unsuccessful efforts of France, to seize on the British Colonies in America and India, and the return of things in statu quo, by the restoration of all conquests, at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748. We are now about to witness a renewal of the same plans, and for the same ends, which commenced their operations with the war of 1754-5. We have noticed the extensive views of France in the war of 1745, to possess herself of all the British Colonies in North America; these views were no less extensive in India. The peace of Aix-laChapelle, which restored again the conquests of Britain in America, and the conquests of France in India, lulled the the two nations into that state of peace, which was employed by France through a labyrinth of intrigues, to carry her ambitious plans into effect upon a more extended scale, if possible, both in India, and America, and to unite Spain in her views by a family compact. Although a state of dissipation sprang up in the two nations of France and England, in the midst of these intrigues, that threatened a subversion of their governments, by civil wars; yet even this gave no check to the plans of the parties. Spain rejected at this time, the overtures of France for a family compact, as being repugnant to the great principles of the true balance of power in Europe, and therefore the cause of general war. This gave no check to the ambition of Lewis XV. The governor of France in India, Monsieur Dupleix, had never lost sight of his first plan of extending the power of France on the Peninsula of Hindostan; and now he had conceived of the vast plan of making himself master of the whole Peninsula, and giving law to India Proper. England at this time, had established valuable settlements at Calcutta, Madras, &c. and France held a valuable settlement at Pondicherry; but the whole interior of this extensive country belonged to the Mogul's Empire, as descendants of Tamerlain, until the conquest of Kouli Khan, the Persian, (in 1738,) who had broken the power of the Mogul Tartars, and left the country under the dominion of numerous petty princes, Nabobs or Soubahs, who now became the subjects of the intrigues of France, under Dupleix, governor of Pondicherry. Dupleix attempt. ed to carry his vast plans into effect, by exciting dissensions, and civil wars amongst the Nabobs, and thus, by putting down some, and raising up others, and even becoming a Nabob himself, to seize on the whole of Hindostan. This civil war in India, involved the English in the quarrel, in defence of their own rights, and they became parties in the war in the east, 1757. In the midst of these scenes appeared a Captain Clive, who from the office of accountant to the English East-India Company, and commissary in their army, was raised up to become the deliverer of India, in the character of the famous Colonel Clive. Dupleix had opened a scene of distress, which laid waste some of the finest provinces, and drenched India with blood, down to the year 1754; when Dupleix was recalled to France, and a cessation of arms ensued, under the preliminaries of a peace between the contending powers in India; but this peace was never confirmed. Pending these intrigues and distresses in India, France was, by her intrigues, maturing the other parts of her great plan, and sowing the seeds of war in America. By the treaty of Utrecht, it will be remembered, France had ceVOL. I. 39 ded to England, the whole country of Novascotia, in America; but the boundaries of this country had never been defined; the inhabitants were mostly French, and at the peace had sworn allegiance to Great Britain, and now bore the name of neutrals. These neutrals had often violated their neutrality, in the war of 1745 to '48, and excited a jealousy, that rendered it necessary to strengthen Novascotia by English settlements; accordingly the English built the town of Halifax, in a commanding position, and sent out a colony of about 3000 families; this step kindled the fire about boundaries. France had conceived a plan no less bold and extensive in America, than in India, and now contemplated the subversion of the power of Britain in the West, as well as in the east, and rising upon her ruins to universal empire. To effect this vast plan in America, she had connected her settlements in Canada, with her settlements in Louisiana, by an extensive line of military posts, extending through the interior, from Quebec to New-Orleans; with these she expected to awe the savages into alliance, and thus use them as instruments of accomplishing her great object. Both parties covered their preparations for the war, by spinning out the conferences of their commissioners. appointed to settle the boundaries of Novascotia, now Le 'Acadia. As the preparations of the parties progressed, in America, collisions ensued, until the French neutrals, together with the Indians in Novascotia, rose in arms, and began their ravages; and an armed force from Canada, at the same time surprised a fortress on the Ohio, erected by Virginia for the protection of trade, and thus opened the war in America, by murdering the inhabitants, and carrying off the plunder: they next reduced another British post, at the forks of the Monongahela. When tidings of these events were sent out to England; they were met |