When Johnson Spoke, Others Listened

RUDOLPH ELLENBOGEN

I olumbia College's first president, William Samuel Johnson,
was recalled by a contemporary as "the tout ensemble of a
'perfect man, in face, form, and proportion; his stature was
above the middle height, say above five feet ten, his eye was dark,
and beaming with intelligence, his features regular, and the whole
expression of his face, that of benevolence and dignity; his com¬
plexion was clear; the hue healthful, not delicate, not robust, but
between both; his hair was black with some intermixture of grey,
and inclined to curl; his dress of black cut silk velvet...'.' To this
flattering description must be added that he was one of America's
outstanding orators of his time. He also played a role in events,
bicentennials of which we are celebrating this year: he was a
member of the Constitutional Convention, affixing his signature
to that document on September 17, 1787; and he was installed on
November 12, 1787, to the presidency ofthe oldest institution of
higher learning in New York.

Johnson was a great man in a time of great men, and he was
recognized by his peers. 'William Pierce, the delegate to the Consti¬
tutional Convention from Georgia, who wrote character sketches
of all the delegates, noted that "Dr. Johnson is a character much
celebrated for his legal knowledge; he is said to be one ofthe first
classics [classicists] in America, and certainly possesses a very strong
and enlightened understanding.... He was once employed as an
Agent for the State of Connecticut to state her claims to certain
landed territory before the British House of Commons; this Office
he discharged with so much dignity, and made such an ingenious
display of his powers, that he laid the foundation of a reputation
which will probably last much longer than his own life." James
Madison, who was on the Committee of Style which drafted
the final version ofthe Constitution (and of which Johnson was the