President Leverett did not long survive this very troublesome affair. He died suddenly, May 3d, 1724, at the age of 62 years, and in the seventeenth year of his presidency.1 The sensation, excited by this event, may be imagined from expressions and passages in the discourses preached upon the occasion by some of the first divines of the day. They speak of it, as a "dark and awful Providence," a "heavy judgment of God," a "token of his anger," a "sore frown upon the College." "The Lord," says Dr. Appleton, “has made a mighty breach upon you; and I may address you in the words of the Prophet: What thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee? that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion; for thy breach is great like the sea. Who can heal thee! Verily, the breach made upon you is so wide, that none but an all-sufficient God (with whom is the residue of the spirit) can repair or heal it." ?

1 The following particulars of the death and funeral of President Leverett are extracted from the MS. Journals of Chief Justice Sewall and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall.

66

1724, May 3, Lord's Day. After the morning exercise I was surprised with the account of President Leverett's very sudden death. He went to bed seemingly pretty well, wak'd early and complain'd of pain. He seemed to goe to sleep again; was found dead in his bed betw. 6 and 7 A. M.” — Journal of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall.

“Midweek, May 6, 1724. The President is buried. Bearers, His Honor the Lt. Govr'., Col. Tailer, Sewall, Dr. Mather, Wadsworth, Colman. Gloves, Rings, Scutcheons. The corps was first carried into the Hall, the whole funeral solemnities moving thither. There it was set down; and Mr. Welsteed made a funeral oration in Latin; w'ch was performed well, considering the greatness of the occasion, and short warning. Then the cavalcade proceeded again, and by reason of the length of it, the Fellows and Students going before, and the mourners and others following after, were fain to proceed near as far as Hastings' before they returned. Was laid in a brick grave." - Diary of Chief Justice Sewall.

Sermon, pp. 35, 36.

"How little," says Dr. Colman,1 "did we know or think what the Lord was doing or had done unto us, the last Lord's day but one, when in the morning he was found dead and gone from us in a soft and gentle slumber, without any notice to himself or us! O the surprising stroke of Heaven on us! Our master gone, and not accompanied with one parting prayer and cry to Heaven for ourselves and him! Gone, and not one of all his learned, pious sons about his dying bed, to see him expire great and good (by the will of God) as he had lived, and to have had a blessing from his dying lips! O awful Providence! which loudly bids us hold our peace, and be dumb in silence." 2

Mr. Leverett was the grandson of Governor Leverett. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1680; and his name stands second in the Catalogue in a class of five; Richard Martyn, of whom nothing is now known, being, from the rank of his family in society, placed at the head. Mr. Leverett at first studied theology, and preached occasionally for several years. He and his classmate, Mr. Brattle, were the Tutors, who, as has been already related, so ably conducted the College during the four years President Mather was abroad.

Determining at length to go into the civil order, he studied law and practised in the Courts. He was afterwards employed in several important offices, all of which he filled with great ability and to the satisfaction of the public. He was several years Speaker of the House of Representatives, a member of his Majesty's Council, a judge of Probate, a justice of the Supreme Court, one of the three Commissioners with the power

1 These persons are styled Dr., though this degree was not conferred upon them till afterwards.

2 Colman's Sermon.

of controlling the army sent against Port Royal; and, finally, President of Harvard College.

1

The great things, which were done for this institution, during the time he had charge of it, have been particularly related; and in reference to them he might justly have said

"Quorum pars magna fui."

His qualifications for the office were not only eminent in degree but singularly various. It is seldom that a man can be found at any time, who unites in his person so many of the talents and qualities, which are desirable in the head of a University, as were possessed by President Leverett. He had a “great and generous soul." His natural abilities were of a very high order. His attainments were profound and extensive. He was well acquainted with the learned languages, with the arts and sciences, with history, philosophy, law, divinity, politics; and such was his reputation for knowledge of men and things, that, "in almost every doubtful and difficult case," he was resorted to, for information and advice.

To his wisdom and knowledge he added great firmness, resolution, and energy of character. His great abilities being consecrated to the service of God and of his generation, he was never deterred by difficulties or dangers from any undertaking, which Providence seemed to impose upon him. He prosecuted his plans with invincible constancy, diligence, and cheerfulness.

1

1 In the MS. Diary of Chief Justice Sewall there is the following entry : "Dec. 6, [1707]. Some desire, that it may be put into the Bill of Mr. Leverett - Lay down all his civil offices, as Judge of Probate and Judge of the Superior Court.' And entirely to attend that service' was inserted, and Mr. Secretary carried it in to the Deputies and took their consent."

The accomplishment of them was frequently the reward of this untiring perseverance; but if at any time. his efforts were not attended with success, his strength of mind was equally conspicuous under the disappointment. It was in truth not his own will, but the will of God, that was his rule of life; this will he discerned in the failure, as well as in the sucess of his undertakings; and whatever was the result of them, he enjoyed at least the satisfaction arising from earnest, zealous, and faithful endeavours to perform his duty.

In common with others, who have rendered important services to mankind, and made themselves truly great, he early acquired, and retained through life, the invaluable habit of industry.

He possessed also those attractions, which are conferred by the graces; being, from the sphere in which he has always moved, a gentleman, as well as a scholar and a man of business.

All his endowments, natural and acquired, all the operations of his mind and heart, were subjected to the control of religious and moral principle. He was a pious and good, as well as a great man. As might have been expected from one so enlightened, he was liberal and catholic in his sentiments and feelings; and though, among the various institutions of the commonwealth, he had the preservation of its religious establishments greatly at heart, "he did not place religion so much in particular forms and modes of worship, or discipline, as in those substantial and weighty matters of the Gospel, righteousness, faith, and charity” 1

With so many solid and brilliant recommendations,

1 Appleton's Sermon on the Death of President Leverett, p. 3.

and with the experience, which his former connexion with the College (as Tutor) had happily given him, he brought to the station, in which he was to pass the residue of his days, a spirit of government, which was never probably manifested in greater perfection. Such was the weight of his character; such his reputation for talents, learning, and virtue; such the "majesty and marks of greatness in his speech, his behaviour, and his very countenance"; and so admirably did he temper severity with mildness; that the students were inspired with reverence and affection for him at the same time. The result, it is almost unnecessary to say, was obedience and order.

Those princely qualities distinguished him indeed, when a young man, and a Tutor in the College. "For forty years together," says Dr. Colman, "he has shone in this place and in the eyes of this society, in near a meridian lustre. For his morning, which we do but just remember, was so bright that it seemed to us even then the noon of life; and the College and country greatly rejoiced in his early and uncommon light. Near forty years past we saw the College flourishing under his wise instruction and government, his faithful watch, his diligent and authoritative inspection. We then beheld him esteemed highly in love and honored greatly by those that were his fathers in age; and as for us we reverenced, feared, and loved him as our father, and as if he had been then gray in the President's chair. The young men saw him and hid themselves, and the aged arose and stood up. Then men

gave ear to him, and waited and kept silence at his counsel. His glory was then fresh in him and his speech dropped upon us.” 1

1 Sermon on the Death of President Leverett, p. 24.