The college had rejected the old Calvinistic creed of New England and substituted in its stead the strict Unitarianism of Dr.Ware and Andrews Norton,--a creed in its substance hardly more tolerant or liberal than that which it had supplanted.

There was also some instruction in modern languages,--German, French and Italian,--all of very slight value.

But the substance of the instruction consisted in learning to translate rather easy Latin and Greek, writing Latin, and courses in algebra and geometry not very far advanced.
The conditions of admission were quite easy.

They were such as a boy of fourteen of good capacity, who could read and write the English language and had gone through some simple book of arithmetic, could easily master in two years.

There were three or four schools were the boys were pretty well fitted, so that they could translate Cicero and Virgil, Nepos and Sallust and Caesar and Xenophon and Homer.