to accommodate the feelings of the other; each was unwilling to interfere with the other; each was ready to do what the other declined. Mr. William Lawrence was older in years, but he was later in commercial experience. He was firmer in health, and had less occasion, in the experience of bodily pain and dangerous illness than his brother, to lay to heart the injunction, " make unto yourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." But though he began later, in respect to the amount bestowed upon this school, he was not behind his brother. On the contrary, he was before him. He gave more; and more of what he gave remains to this day in a productive form. Out of more than forty-five thousand dollars provided for the academy by Mr. William Lawrence, forty thousand will remain in the hands of the Trustees, for purposes of instruction; while out of all that was given by Mr. Amos Lawrence, not one single cent was designed to be or now remains among the cash funds of the academy."

acter.

To William Lawrence then, belongs the credit of the endowment of the Lawrence Academy at Groton, with a cash fund of forty thousand dollars, guarded by wise provisions, which secure thirty thousand in perpetuity, while in the distribution of the income, they leave a large liberty of choice and discrimination to the Trustees. The wisdom and benevolence of his conduct in this noble benefaction to the cause of education, indicate the two simple elements of his charHe was a man of sound judgment, of strong practical common sense, and of a large and kindly heart; and one source of his wise and sound judgment was his pure heart. He had no selfish or sinister ends to accomplish, the desire to accomplish which so often darkens the conscience, bewilders and misleads the judgment. Undoubtedly he had that desire of success and accumulation, which naturally accompanies every man in the enterprises of trade and commerce, but this success was to be accomplished by an open, manly, straight-forward honesty. "There were no disguises, concealments, subterfuges, pretences, or pretensions about him; all was plain, simple, frank, open as the day to all the world." Not eaten up with an intense personal anxiety, accustomed to look at all matters in the light of their broad relations to the interests of the whole community, his mind was clear to discern that which was wise, right, best, and his heart free to love and pursue it. The profound declaration of Scripture, "out of the heart are the issues of life," found its fulfillment and illustration in him. A good heart, kind, tender, sympathizing, benevolent, strong in its affections, generous in its impulses, devout in its emotions, quickened and sanctified by a deep sentiment

of religious faith, reverence, and responsibleness, this was the inspiring and controlling element of his character. A good heart gave him a clear head, a sound judgment, a wise discrimination. A good heart, deeply conscious of its responsibleness to its maker, filled with a love of God that unfolded itself in love and good will to man, this made him pure as well as wise, his career honorable as well as successful, his life useful, his death peaceful, his memory to be revered and honored,—that "memory of the just which is blessed."

It is as a simple act of justice to that memory that we put upon the pages of the American Journal of Education, this notice of one, who in his just appreciation of the importance of our New England academies, and in his wise and munificent endowment of one of these primary institutions of learning, has a strong claim to our grateful remembrance, as a. faithful and efficient friend of the great cause of education, which we seek to promote. "Go thou and do likewise," is the voice of instruction with which his example speaks to many a wealthy son of New England.

GROTON, MASS.

BY REV. CHARLES HAMMOND.

LAWRENCE ACADEMY was incorporated by the Legislature of Massachusetts, with the title of "GROTON ACADEMY," in an act which was passed September 25th, 1793. Its present name was conferred by the Legislature of 1846, in accordance with the wishes of the Trustees, in honor of two of its greatest benefactors, WILLIAM and AMOS LAWRENCE, who were natives of the town of Groton.

This Academy is one of the oldest schools bearing that name, in the state of Massachusetts. Prior to the war of the Revolution, it is not known that there were more than two academies in the state;— Dummer Academy, at Byfield, and Phillips Academy, at Andover. Leicester Academy was founded just after the war in 1784.

The motives which led to the founding of Groton Academy, were well set forth in the following extract from a speech made by the late Hon. Abbott Lawrence at the Jubilee Festival of Lawrence Academy, in 1854.

"About the year 1792, a want of education of a higher character, than could be obtained at the common district schools, was sensibly felt. The men who achieved our Independence were not unmindful of the education of their children. They were poor in purse, but rich in public spirit, justly believing that civil liberty could not be maintained without education, religion, and law. These veterans set themselves to work to lay the foundation of an Academy, which was accomplished after much trial and tribulation."

In furnishing a brief sketch of the history of this academy, it is proper at the outset to indicate the sources from whence we have derived the facts of our narrative. These are chiefly the history of Groton, by Caleb Butler, and the historical address of Rev. James Means, delivered at the festival to which we have already alluded.

Both these gentlemen were instructors in the academy for a longer time than any other head master; the former for nearly twelve years; the latter for a term of nearly seven years. Mr. Butler was Principal in the early part of the century, and was personally acquainted with nearly all the founders of the academy.

Mr. Means became connected with the school at the period of its No. 5.-[VOL. II, No. 1.]-4.

enlargement, and was intimately familiar with the plans and motives of-its generous benefactors. Mr. Butler was long' a Trustee after he resigned the Principalship, and was always a near resident to the academy till his death. He was, for these reasons, in a situation to be conversant with every event worthy of notice. We shall attempt to do but little more than to express briefly in our own words the facts gathered from these abundant and perfectly reliable sources.

It seems to have been well understood at the time when the founding of academies, was a part of the state policy of education, that no enterprise of the kind in any place, should receive the sanction of the Legislature by an act of incorporation, much less a state endowment, unless the inhabitants of such a locality, should first provide buildings suitable for the proposed seminary. When a sum sufficient to provide the requisite buildings was raised, then a charter was granted; and if the prospects of the infant seminary were encouraging, the patronage of the state was in due time bestowed.

The inhabitants of Groton raised by subscription the sum of three hundred and twenty-five pounds, for the erection of an academy structure. In aid of this project, a few shares were subscribed in Pepperell, an ancient precinct or parish of Groton.

With this sum, hardly $1,100, the academy was built in 1793, and opened for school purposes in 1794. In order to aid this enterprise, the town of Groton voted that the town Treasurer should give his note for two hundred pounds, the interest of which should be annually paid, with the understanding that the principal should never be called for. This was a limited income on which to rest the foundations of an important institution of learning; and yet Harvard and Yale sprang into being from beginnings even less inconsiderable.

The charter was granted in 1793, but it was not till four years had passed away, that the aid of the state was received in the grant of a half township of Maine land. This township consisted of eleven thousand five hundred and twenty acres, and sold for fifty cents an The price of tuition previous to 1795, was one shilling a week. It was raised in that year to twenty cents a week, and in 1810 to twenty five cents, at which rate it continued till a recent period.

acre.

Though the academy had no other endowment at first, except the meagre appropriation of $40 per annum from the town treasury, yet the determination was from the outset, to have a school of a high grade. It was the wise policy of the state not to entrust the entire management of the affairs of academies to the towns where they were located; not so much because the finances of such schools

*The town voted to withhold the appropriation after a few years.

would not be well managed, as because the danger was great, lest the local standard of education would be too low.

For this reason, undoubtedly, the charter required that a majority of the board of trust should be non-residents, and this too, at a time, when there were a large number of distinguished men, residents of Groton, most of which were deeply interested in the welfare of the rising seminary. This policy was the general policy of the state, at that time, and tended to place the academies as well as the colleges largely under the Trusteeship of the clergy, who had great influence over the people in all matters pertaining to education. They served as agents in securing patronage, for the school of which they were Trustees, and they were the best qualified to direct in regard to the best courses of instruction to be adopted in the new grade of schools founded by the Commonwealth. The history of every New England College and academy will verify the remark once made by President Day, of Yale, that "if ministers do not take care of the best interests of our higher seminaries of learning, then they will not be cared for."

If funds are wanting when the foundations of a new college or academy are laid, still the institution will thrive for a time, if it has a rich endowment in the high character of its earliest guardians and instructors. The abundant success which crowned the efforts of Trustees and teachers during the first twenty years of its history, is á priori evidence that able men guided the counsels and administration of Groton Academy during that period. This conclusion is confirmed at once, by a brief notice of the most distinguished of the clergymen and civilians, who served as Trustees prior to the beginning of the present century.

The following is a list of Trustees for that period, the first fifteen of which were the original corporators named in the charter :