In 1753 Stiles resigned from the his position as a tutor to pursue a career in law and practice at New Haven. After reading law, Stiles qualified for the New Haven bar by November 13, 1753. After two years, he returned to his service as a Congregationalist minister. Life in Newport (1755-1776) The Ezra Stiles House in Newport, Rhode Island A 1756 portrait of Stiles In 1752, Stiles traveled to Newport, Rhode Island for his health; the city, three or four times larger than New Haven, was the largest city Stiles had ever seen. During his trip, the city's Trinity Church—the largest Anglican congregation in New England—sought Stiles to serve as its minister, offering him a salary of £200 sterling. Stiles rejected the offer and departed from the city, writing "that all his Art and Address and fine offers were ineffectual." Foundation of Brown University During his residence in Newport, Stiles played a major role in the establishment of Brown University  .  In 1761, Stiles, along with William Ellery, Jr. and Josias Lyndon, drafted a petition to the Rhode Island General Assembly to establish a "literary institution." The editor of Stiles's papers observes, "This draft of a petition connects itself with other evidence of Dr. Stiles's project for a Collegiate Institution in Rhode Island, before the charter of what became Brown University."Dexter (1916), p. 25. Stiles agreed to write the Charter for the college, submitting a first draft to the General Assembly in August 1763. A revised version of the Charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted by the Rhode Island General Assembly on March 3, 1764 in East Greenwich. In drafting the document, Stiles combined broad-minded public statements defining Rhode Island College as a "liberal and catholic institution" in which "shall never be admitted a religious test" with private partisanship: his draft charter packed the board of trustees and the fellows of the college with his fellow Congregationalists , but  the Rhode Island Assembly caught on to his plan, and changed his numbers to increase the number of Baptists, Episcopalians, and Quakers, reflecting the more ecumenical character of the state .Hoeveler, David J., Creating the American Mind: Intellect and Politics in the Colonial Colleges, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, p. 191  Semitic scholarship Stiles struck up a close friendship with Haim Isaac Carigal during the  Rabbi's 1773 residence in Newport. Stiles' records note 28 meetings to discuss a wide variety of topics from Kabbalah to the politics of the Holy Land. Stiles improved his rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew, to the point where he and Carigal corresponded by mail in the language. Stiles' knowledge of Hebrew also enabled him to translate large portions of the Hebrew Old Testament into English. Stiles believed, as did many Christian scholars of the time, that facility with the text in its original language was advantageous for proper interpretation. American Revolution Stiles left Newport in 1776 prior to the arrival of British troops their subsequent occupation of the city. In 1776 and 1777, Stiles served briefly as minister of theDighton Community Church in Dighton, Massachusetts.
In 1753 Stiles resigned from the his position as a tutor to pursue a career in law and practice at New Haven. Stiles qualified for the New Haven bar by November 13, 1753 after reading law. After two years, he returned to his service as a Congregationalist minister. Newport (1755-1776) The Ezra Stiles House in Newport, Rhode Island A 1756 portrait of Stiles In 1752, Stiles traveled to Newport, Rhode Island for his health; the city, three or four times larger than New Haven, was the largest city Stiles had ever seen. During his trip, the city's Trinity Church—the largest Anglican congregation in New England—sought Stiles to serve as its minister, offering him a salary of £200 sterling. Stiles rejected the offer and departed from the city, writing "that all his Art and Address and fine offers were ineffectual." Foundation of Brown University During his residence in Newport, Stiles played a major role in the establishment of Brown University (then Rhode Island College) . According to Edmund Morgan, in Rhode Island's religious diversity Stiles "saw an opportunity to join with Christians of other denominations in a project which would exemplify their common faith in free inquiry.... a college in which the major religious groups of the colony should unite in the pursuit of knowledge." In 1761, Stiles, along with William Ellery, Jr. and Josias Lyndon, drafted a petition to the Rhode Island General Assembly to establish a "literary institution." The editor of Stiles's papers observes, "This draft of a petition connects itself with other evidence of Dr. Stiles's project for a Collegiate Institution in Rhode Island, before the charter of what became Brown University."Dexter (1916), p. 25. Stiles agreed to write the Charter for the college, submitting a first draft to the General Assembly in August 1763. A revised version of the Charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted by the Rhode Island General Assembly on March 3, 1764 in East Greenwich. In drafting the document, Stiles combined broad-minded public statements defining Rhode Island College as a "liberal and catholic institution" in which "shall never be admitted a religious test" with private partisanship: his draft charter packed the board of trustees and the fellows of the college with his fellow Congregationalists . Baptist members of the Rhode Island General Assembly, to Stiles' dismay, amended the charter to allow Baptists control of both branches of the College's Corporation .Hoeveler, David J., Creating the American Mind: Intellect and Politics in the Colonial Colleges, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, p. 191 Stiles' declined a seat on the College's Corporation, writing that Baptists had seize "the whole Power and Government of the College and thus by the Immutability of the numbers establishing it a Party College." Stiles continued to work towards his vision of a non-sectarian institution after the establishment of Rhode Island College, presenting in 1770 a petition for the establishment of another college in Newport. Semitic scholarship Stiles struck up a close friendship with Haim Isaac Carigal during the Palestinian Rabbi's 1773 residence in Newport. Stiles' records note 28 meetings to discuss a wide variety of topics from Kabbalah to the politics of the Holy Land. Stiles improved his rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew, to the point where he and Carigal corresponded by mail in the language. Stiles' knowledge of Hebrew also enabled him to translate large portions of the Hebrew Old Testament into English. Stiles believed, as did many Christian scholars of the time, that facility with the text in its original language was advantageous for proper interpretation. American Revolution Stiles left Newport in 1776 prior to the arrival of British troops their subsequent occupation of the city. In 1776 and 1777, Stiles served briefly as minister of the Dighton Community Church in Dighton, Massachusetts.
D
After reading law,
R
1753.
1753 after reading law.
D
Life in
A
(then Rhode Island College)
A
According to Edmund Morgan, in Rhode Island's religious diversity Stiles "saw an opportunity to join with Christians of other denominations in a project which would exemplify their common faith in free inquiry.... a college in which the major religious groups of the colony should unite in the pursuit of knowledge."
R
, but
.
A
Baptist members of
R
Assembly caught on to his plan, and changed his numbers to increase the number of Baptists, Episcopalians, and Quakers, reflecting the more ecumenical character of the state
General Assembly, to Stiles' dismay, amended the charter to allow Baptists control of both branches of the College's Corporation
A
Stiles' declined a seat on the College's Corporation, writing that Baptists had seize "the whole Power and Government of the College and thus by the Immutability of the numbers establishing it a Party College." Stiles continued to work towards his vision of a non-sectarian institution after the establishment of Rhode Island College, presenting in 1770 a petition for the establishment of another college in Newport.
A
Palestinian
R
theDighton
the Dighton