A donation of books was a great quickener of the return to the Church of England, when Bishop Berkeley sent his library to Yale College, New Haven. A story is told of one of these volumes which illustrates the temper of the period. When Bishop Jarvis was a student at Yale he saw a fellow classman taking out of the library one of Bishop Berkeley's books. "Look out," he said, "that book will make a Churchman of you." "Will it?" said the student, and hastily put it back on the shelf.
Bishop Berkeley lived in Rhode Island, but his work there was only general in its results on the Church. The particular way in which he gave the greatest substantial help to the Church and also to the colonies at large, came through his acquaintance with Dr. Samuel Johnson, one of the most prominent of the American clergy. Dr. Johnson, who had been tutor at Yale College and a Congregational minister, became convinced of the truth of the Church's doctrine and discipline and was now a faithful missionary in Connecticut. He knew of Dean Berkeley, through his writings, long before the Dean came to Rhode Island, and he had a warm admiration for his talents and learning. Naturally Dr. Johnson was among the first to welcome the noted Berkeley to America. A strong friendship sprang up between these two great and pious men. Dean Berkeley strengthened Dr. Johnson's faith and through him influenced hundreds. As Dr. Johnson was deeply interested in Yale College, Dean Berkeley gave his attention to the then struggling institution. He had a rather large library, which showed, in its selection, his fine tastes, his genius, and also his deep piety. The College needed books, as all schools do. Just before he returned to England, the Dean distributed part of his books among his friends, but gave the bulk of them to Yale. As soon as he reached home, he collected, by private gifts, nearly a thousand volumes which he also sent over to the College. President Clap says it was "the finest collection of books which had then ever been brought, at one time, to America."
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At the same time he gave the College his farm at Newport, whose income was to be given as prizes to the best Greek and Latin students who should live at Yale nine months each year. Here in this centre of Congregationalism, George Berkeley, Priest and Bishop, has had a gracious influence.
Another gift which Dean Berkeley sent from England was an organ. He gave it to the town of Berkeley, Mass., which was named after him. But this seemed a dangerous gift to the worthy selectmen, who decided, by a vote, not to receive it, for, as they said in their resolutions, "an organ is an instrument of the Devil, for the entrapping of men's souls." The organ then went to Trinity Church, Newport.
The Bishop's name is still borne in America by the Berkeley Scholars of Yale University, by the Berkeley Divinity School at Middletown, Conn., and by the town of Berkeley, the seat of the University of California.