Skip to main content Like his predecessor, Charles Chauncy
(1592-1672) got into trouble for his religious beliefs.
Chauncy’s troubles, however, preceded his arrival in the New
World and, in fact, probably contributed to his decision to
emigrate in 1638. Prone to quibble over small points, Chauncy
had even served a brief prison sentence imposed because of “his
tender conscience in the matter of ceremonies.” (Samuel Eliot
Morison) Despite such episodes of nonconformity, President
Chauncy continued along the path laid out by Henry Dunster.
Chauncy’s outlook embraced both religious orthodoxy and
scientific curiosity. On the one hand, he demanded that students
adhere to a rigorous program of religious devotions. (As Morison
observes, “It is a safe guess that no generation of Harvard
students listened to so many sermons as the pupils of President
Chauncy.”) On the other, he supported Galileo’s modern
astronomical perspective, and the College received its first
telescope shortly before he died in office. Many regard