which was announced in the
first statement published by the trustees, that students would be
allowed to enter in partial courses without becoming candidates for a
degree, was a new feature in collegiate education, and a considerable
number of young men were found who were glad to avail themselves of it.
It is believed, also, that practical instruction in the natural sciences
was given here to a larger extent than in most other colleges.

[Illustration: JAMES WILLIAMS,
Forty Years Janitor of Trinity College; died 1878.]

[Illustration: BISHOP SEABURY'S MITRE, IN THE LIBRARY.]

In 1826 there were fifty undergraduates. A library had been obtained
which, in connection with Dr. Jarvis's, was called second in magnitude
and first in value of all in the country. The professor of mineralogy
had collected a good cabinet. There was a greenhouse and an arboretum;
and, besides gifts from friends at home, the Rev. Dr. Wheaton had been
successful in securing books and apparatus in England for the use of the
college.

[Illustration: CHAIR OF GOV. WANTON, OF RHODE ISLAND, IN THE LIBRARY.]

A doctor's degree was conferred in 1826 upon Bishop Jolly ("Saint Jolly"
he was called), of Scotland, but the first commencement was held in
1827, when ten young men were graduated. Of these, three died in early
life, and but one, the Rev. Oliver Hopson, survives. To a member of this
class, the Hon. Isaac E. Crary, the first president of the alumni, is
due no small share of the credit of organizing the educational system of
Michigan, which he represented both as a territory and as a State in the
Federal Congress. The Athenaeum Literary Society was organized in 1825,
and the Parthenon, the first president of which was the poet Park
Benjamin, in 1827. The Missionary Society, still in successful
operation, was founded in 1831, its first president being George Benton,
afterwards missionary to Greece and Crete, and from it, primarily
through the efforts of Augustus F. Lyde, of the class of 1830, came the
establishment of the foreign missions of the Episcopal Church of this
country.

[Illustration: TRINITY COLLEGE IN 1885.]

When Bishop Brownell retired from the presidency of the college in 1831,
in order to devote all his time to the work of the diocese, he was
succeeded by the Rev. Dr. N. S. Wheaton, an early, steadfast, and
liberal friend of the institution. He secured the endowment of two
professorships, and among the many good things which he