Chapter III: Preface (3)

LANDON C. GARLAND, A. M., Professor of Mathematics, and Acting
President.
EDWARD D. SIMS, A. M., Professor of English Literature and Oriental
Language.
DAVID DUNCAN, A. M., Professor of Ancient Languages.
JAMES W. HARDY, A. B., Professor of Experimental Sciences.
EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, A. B., Tutor.
SOLOMON LEA, A. M., Principal of Preparatory School.

This college year was marked by the first serious rupture between the Faculty and the students. The occasion was a requirement made on the Senior Class to attend a recitation on the "Evidences of Christianity" on Monday morning before breakfast. The result was the leaving of a number of students involved in the contest.

At the close of the year, June, 1839, the annual report of the Faculty made to the Board gave the following item: "The affairs of the College for the session have proceeded with tolerable prosperity and quietness." The following were recommended for the degree of A. B., June, 1839, and the same received it:

AMOS W. JONES, . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
CHARLES W. BURNLEY,. . . . . . . Virginia.
JOSIAH F. ASKEW, . . . . . . . . Georgia.
THOMAS H. GARNETT, . . . . . . . Virginia.
JAMES F. SMITH,. . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
WILLIAM H. BATTE,. . . . . . . . Virginia.

The resignation of President Stephen Olin, tendered in 1836, was accepted at the meeting of the Board, all hope of his returning to the College having been abandoned. Prof. Landon C. Garland was then elected by unanimous vote President, and he accepted the office. Prof. David Duncan was elected rector of the Preparatory School, and Amos W. Jones, A. B., principal. William L. Harris was elected a tutor of the lower classes in languages.

On motion of Rev. John Early, the following resolution was adopted: "That, as soon as practicable, the trustees of Randolph-Macon College will establish a Normal School as a department in the College, in which a good and liberal education can be obtained, and which, in its organization, shall be especially fitted to educate students for common-school teachers, and that the Professor of English Literature be the rector of said school."

This action of the Board, showing such remarkable foresight and wisdom, ought to be emphasized. So far as the State of Virginia is concerned, it is believed to have been the first move in the establishment of a normal department for fitting teachers for their special work. Many years afterward (1884) the State established such a school. The first established in the United States was in the year 1839. This important move was never fully and specifically carried into operation, for the same reason which forbade other projects of the Board--that is, want of means.

Another important step taken at this meeting was the action in regard to the issue of scholarships. At the previous annual meeting a resolution was adopted providing that any person paying $600 into the treasury of Randolph-Macon College shall be entitled to send one student free of tuition fees so long as he shall live or have a son to educate; and any minister who shall collect and pay into the treasury a like sum shall be entitled to the like privilege. At the meeting in 1839 this action was rescinded, and the following was enacted:

On motion of John Early,

"_Resolved_, That any person who shall pay into the hands of the treasurer five hundred dollars, or any minister who shall collect and pay into the hands of the treasurer five hundred dollars, shall be entitled to a scholarship in Randolph-Macon College in perpetuity, and all persons who have agreed to take scholarships at $600 shall be entitled to the benefit of this resolution.

"_Resolved_, That any person who shall secure by bond or otherwise five hundred dollars, the principal of which shall be paid within five years, and who shall pay the interest semi-annually, shall be entitled to a scholarship in perpetuity, but the certificate of scholarship shall not be issued until the principal is paid."

This was an unfortunate move, because it never brought into the treasury the amount it was expected to bring--not exceeding eight thousand dollars. The evident intention that such scholarship should be considered as an "heir-loom" in the family was in the years after the war, never before, violated, and parties bought them on speculation, getting money-rent for them, when such a course was never contemplated. When they were issued, fees were $33 per session. Since the war fees have been $75.

My readers will pardon me for here giving some personal recollections, inasmuch as it was in 1839 I matriculated as a student of the College.

Mounted on my black filly, I, with several from my native county, Nottoway, made the journey of forty miles to Boydton, where we were guests of Col. George Rodgers, who then kept the Boydton Hotel. He was then, and for years afterwards, a great friend and liberal benefactor to the College.

The next morning I saw the belfry of the College in the distance for the first time. The same day I took up my abode in "Texas," a portion of the western building, so-called. To a boy not quite fourteen, the experiences of matriculation, examination for entrance, and for the first time coming into contact with young men from distant States, can never be forgotten. "Hazing" was then unknown, though it was not uncommon for some of the "green ones" to have a little fun poked at them.

We had four classes: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. To the "Fresh," the "Seniors" looked very dignified, and the latter usually felt their dignity, but generally bore it gracefully. The Seniors and Juniors generally did most of the debating in the Society Halls, and generally dealt most in "Calico."

The student body at this time was composed very largely of men from States south of Virginia, the Senior class of that year having been wholly from South Carolina and Georgia.

At this session Professor Landon C. Garland was inaugurated a full President, after having acted as such since Dr. Olin left for Europe. We looked up to him with marked reverence, though he was not quite thirty years old. It was his dignity of character which caused us to do this. Few men ever possessed more than he. No man ever trifled in President Garland's lecture-room. The rules of discipline were felt rather than seen. His familiar designation was "Old Landon."

President Sims was much like President Garland in his official character and conduct. He was a high man in person and every way. Thoroughly imbued with the love of his native English, he threw his heart and mind into his teaching. Unable to get text-books in Anglo-Saxon, he wrote the elementary exercises on the blackboard. Some of these are remembered to this day. We did not realize nor appreciate the fact that our classes were the first in a course which is now magnified in all the colleges and universities in the land.

Professor Duncan was the genial, humor-loving Irishman. His shillalah was ever ready for any exposed head, but he had no murderous intent, and did not mind when the subject hit back, but rather enjoyed a repartee. A broad smile always foretold his sally of wit, and sometimes it was so slow coming that the victim would have time to "cut." Dear, dear "Old Pad," as we called him, it was hard to say whether he enjoyed most his fun with the boys or his ancient languages, with the love of which he seemed to be fully saturated. A kinder heart never beat in human frame.

"Old Jim" (Hardy) presided in the Laboratory on the third story. He was a third-story man every way. Though a young man, and the first alumnus of the College made a full professor, his manner was austere, and hence he had but little popularity with the students. Some excuse for his so appearing was due to the fact that he had to study hard to keep up with the expectations of his classes.

"Old Zeke" (Blanch) our tutor in mathematics, was a fine instructor and bright every way. He, too, was fond of humor when out of his lecture-room, but very strict while in it.

Oh! for a Dickens to picture Tutor Harris. Pardon me for taking up more room with him than is given all the rest. But such a character is not often found, and deserves the space he takes.

My first classical instructor was one of the tutors. He was the first Virginia University man ever elected to fill a chair at the old College. Deeply imbued with a love for his subjects, he looked upon the ancient languages as having, potatoe-like, the best parts at the root. The "particle" was his especial delight. So much absorbed was he in discoursing on it, that he was not particular whether his pupils listened or not. They might go to sleep or do anything, so they did not break the thread of his lecture. It was amazing to see how many learned authorities in the shape of books he would daily lug to the room. Doubtless this digging at the root was very deep and thorough--too much so for the average "fresh." Some of the most scholarly appreciated the exercise, or pretended to do so. To the latter the tutor mainly directed his attention.

Not only did the tutor pursue this absorbing search indoors, but it seemed to monopolize all his thoughts, even while going to his meals and returning. It made him oblivious to all else for the time being. He would, while thus absorbed in thought, kick a chip before him for a mile, and would not recognize the best friend he might meet in the way. All he asked then was the full "right of way."

His abstraction or absent-mindedness was exhibited in many ways. Some mischief-lover barred up his door one morning and thus made him tardy at recitation hour, which gave occasion to the boys to "cut"--that is, leave and miss recitation. He went to the President and said, "Sir! is there any way to have a young man up, when you don't know who he is?" The President was a great mathematician, but he could not solve that problem.

"Sheep-ear" collars were in fashion in those days, just the reverse of those now or lately fashionable--I mean those with turned-down points and rising high at the back of the neck, making one look like he had on a mustard-plaster. The "sheep-ear" collars had points with acutest angles, which came up to the corners of a man's mouth. When starched and stiffened they looked as if great danger would be incurred by a sudden turn of the head. Now just picture to yourself a sober-looking man coming into a parlor in the morning with these "sheep-ears" pointing to the back of the neck instead of to the front, and you will realize how very peculiar the tutor looked one morning when he came down. This I was eye-witness of, and if I laughed I hope no one will accuse me of want of due respect. It could not be helped, certainly by one who has been known to enjoy a hearty spell at times.

The tutor was by no means a _pharisee_ in spirit, for he was one of the "meek of the earth." But his inveterate habit made him liable to be pronounced as pharisaic. When officiating at public prayers in the chapel he would sometimes forget that after prayer came recitation or lecture and then breakfast, and his prayer would seem to be interminable. Knowing his absence of mind, one morning while thus engaged some good-intentioned or irreverent fellow prompted him by a hearty _amen!_ This brought the prayer to a speedy conclusion, but the tutor was highly displeased--so much so that he sent for the most mischievous one of the auditors, whom he naturally charged with the offence, and said to him, "Mr. Blaze, I have sent for you, sir! to say to you that _you shan't say amen_ to my prayers."

The tutor was very economical--some would say, penurious. Not so. He was generous and warm-hearted--as much so as an old bachelor could be. A true Christian, he felt it to be his duty to save every dime he could, that he might have the more to meet the demands of charity. This conviction caused him to discard pins as extravagant. In his room would be seen what Adam and Eve used when their first garments were donned, to furnish which conveniently he kept a thorn bush hung up behind his door. This he kept up until he was convinced that the damage thus caused to one's collar exceeded the cost of pins.

Candles being expensive, he thought the twilight sufficient to enable him to make up his morning toilet. This economy, combined with his other besetting habit, got him into a most ludicrous scrape. It happened thus: In writing out his voluminous notes he used many quill pens, which from time to time accumulated on his table. He took these--quite a number--one night, just before retiring, and washed them in his bowl, leaving the water in the bowl very much the color of the _blue_ ink he was wont to use. The next morning in the dimness of twilight he failed to observe this discolored fluid when he went to perform his ablutions; when he finished he was blue--yes, very blue. Not taking time to look into his glass, he went to the chapel and took his place on the rostrum ready to officiate at the appointed hour, wholly unconscious of the very remarkable visage he wore, and thus unprepared for the scene which was to follow.

As the boys dropped in each one would stop, and look, and wonder, and then break out into most uproarious laughter, as perfectly uncontrollable as a storm in its fury. There was no use to attempt to be devout that morning. How the tutor got through with the reading and the prayer I can't say, but I fear he was not in a very devotional mood himself. How could he be when every one was laughing, while he could not see what was making them laugh. He was utterly disgusted with such rudeness and irreverence.

But he did get through. When some one informed him of his cadaverous appearance, he suddenly recollected the blue pens he had washed in his bowl. Then it was his turn to laugh, and laugh he did with a vim.

But lest I weary you, I will here conclude this reminiscence of the olden times by saying that with all the oddities of this old tutor I still cherish the highest respect for his character as a good and deeply pious man. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." I doubt not that he will be of that number in the great day when the jewels are counted.

These made the Faculty of 1839-1842. In the latter year Rev. David S. Doggett succeeded Professor Sims in the English course. He was an eloquent preacher, in the prime of life, a diligent student, and dignified in his deportment. The pulpit was his place of power, and he did not remain long away from it. He was afterwards a Bishop in the church, after having served the church as editor of the _Methodist Review_ for a number of years.

So much for the professors and tutors. What of the students under them? Taking the men who received degrees during the five years 1840-1844, it is pleasant, though it may seem invidious, to mention a part where it is not possible to name all.

The first name in the roll of his class (1840), and the first in honor, David Clopton, of Georgia, made his mark at College, and his after life was what his college life predicted.

He represented the Montgomery (Alabama) District in the United States Congress prior to the war, and the same district in the Confederate States Congress. Afterwards he served for many years as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. He was also very prominent in the church.

James F. Dowdell, of Georgia, was a member of the United States Congress from Alabama prior to the war, and was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Tennent Lomax, of South Carolina, also moved to Alabama. He was editor, soldier in the Mexican war, and was prominent in politics. He was killed while leading his regiment into battle at Seven Pines, Virginia, May, 1862, just after having received a commission as brigadier-general.

James L. Pierce was an eloquent speaker, a Doctor of Divinity, and President of Lagrange (Georgia) Female College.

In this connection it might be interesting to mention that Clopton's roommate was Robert Lanier, of Macon, Ga., a member of the Sophomore Class. He and Burwell Harrison, also of Georgia, married Virginia ladies, whose acquaintance they formed while they were at College. Lanier's son, Sidney, has been called the "poet laureate of the South."

Coming to the next class (1841), George B. Jones, first-honor man, was a fine scholar, but turned from teaching to business life. He was killed at Petersburg in 1864, while defending his city in Kautz's attack on it.

Thomas H. Campbell was a distinguished lawyer, served in both houses of the General Assembly of Virginia, and was president of the Southside Railroad Company.

Edward Wadsworth was a prominent minister in Virginia and Alabama, a Doctor of Divinity, and President of the Southern University, Greensboro, Ala.

In the class of 1842, Thomas C. Johnson, of Virginia, first-honor man, became a prominent lawyer in St. Louis, Mo., and a member of the Legislature of that State. After the war he served two years as President of Randolph-Macon College (1866-'67, 1867-'68).

William G. Connor, D. D., of South Carolina, was for many years a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Texas.

Ira I. Crenshaw, of Virginia, was tutor in Randolph-Macon College several years, and professor at the Female Institute, Buckingham, Va., and a minister of the Virginia Conference.

Dr. Samuel D. Saunders was professor at the Southwestern University. Georgetown, Texas, for a number of years.

Of the class of 1843, George W. Benagh, of Virginia, first-honor man, was a professor at the University of Alabama, succeeding Dr. Landon C. Garland, his old preceptor. He died young by accidental drowning.

Edward S. Brown, of Virginia, an eminent lawyer and member of the Virginia Legislature, is still an active, vigorous man (1897).

William H. Lawton was a faithful itinerant in the South Carolina Conference for nearly fifty years.

Richard H. Powell was a prominent man in church and state for many years in his State (Alabama).

A number of the members of this class died in early manhood.

Coming down to my own class (1844). This class in the Freshman year numbered thirty-three. Of these only nine took degrees. Four others came in after the opening year, making total graduates thirteen.

John Lyon, of Petersburg, was the first-honor man of this class. He entered the class in the junior year, when he was in his sixteenth year. Before his entrance there were several candidates for the first honor. It was not long before their hopes began to fail. He was precocious, but his precocity was not short-lived, as it so frequently is. Mathematics, the great rock on which so many aspiring men were wrecked, was apparently a pastime with him. President Garland, a natural-born mathematician, had no mercy on men not like gifted with himself. His course was beyond the power of nine out of ten. John Lyon was the one of ten, and was head and shoulders above all the others in the class in this course, while not equal to others in other courses, but high in all. His brilliancy made him in after life a successful lawyer. He died in Washington, November, 1897, aged seventy.

The second-honor man was William C. Doub, of North Carolina. He was an untiring student, gifted especially in the acquisition of language. He was a teacher all his life, having spent the most of it as professor in Trinity College, North Carolina, and Greensboro Female College. He was very prominent in the Methodist Church. He died in the high noon of life.

The third-honor man, William M. Cabell, of Virginia, was a man of clear-cut intellect, and he had the power of concentration in a high degree. This power was shown in his early life, and afterwards made him distinguished and feared at the bar and in the Virginia Legislature. He is still living (1897).

The fourth-honor man was Holland Nimmons McTyeire. Brought by his old preceptor, James R. Thomas, to Randolph-Macon, when otherwise he might have gone to a state school, he entered the Sophomore Class in 1841. College life was no pastime for him. His ambition would make it a stepping-stone to high position--as at first desired and designed--in the State. Like Dr. Olin, no place lower than the highest would satisfy his ambition. To attain to this, all the power of an iron will moving the enginery of a somewhat slow but giant mind was bent and made subject. Had not a change come to divert him from his original intention, he would doubtless have become as notable in the councils and courts of the State as he became in the church. When he first came to College he appeared indifferent in church matters, though it was known he was a member. Whether this was the result of a lapsed religious life, or was the result of a struggle to still the promptings of conscience, is not known. But the call to a higher life, heard, doubtless, before, but a while unheeded, was emphasized in one of those sweeping revivals which Dr. Olin valued more than laws of discipline, and which he pronounced as indispensable in college work. Worldly ambition ceased to be the mainspring of his action, and he began to seek to "have the mind which was in Christ." But it was no easy work to bend such a will in a new direction. It was like turning the mighty steamship on a different course. The passion to rule men around him, the gift of so doing (and it is the greatest gift with which man is endowed), was constantly asserting itself. It probably was "strong in death," but it was tempered and sanctified to other than selfish ends by that good Spirit which subdued a Luther, a St. Paul, and a John Knox. What Randolph-Macon did for McTyeire in strengthening his mental powers for what he was to become as editor and bishop and builder of a great university, in sobering and elevating his ambition and aspirations, and fitting him for the work he was called to do in and for the church, cannot be computed. He has made his mark as high as any son of his alma mater, possibly higher than any other.

Space will not allow me to dwell upon the names of Thomas H. Rogers, of Virginia, for a while a tutor in the College, afterwards M. D.; of Richard S. Parham, of Virginia, a clever student and lawyer, who died in the prime of life, in his adopted State, Tennessee; of "Judge" Fanning, of Georgia, the frequent butt of Prof. Duncan's wit, who was said (poor fellow) to have chewed his brains out along with his teeth; of B. F. Simmons, a prominent young lawyer, who died prematurely, and of Willie M. Person, a M. D., who also died young.

John Howard has been since early youth a prominent lawyer in Richmond, ranking very high in his profession. He was noted when at College for his love for, and proficiency in, English literature and composition. He is still living (1897).

Of my most intimate friend in the class, Archibald Clark, I quote what Bishop McTyeire wrote of him: "The most useful local preacher in Southern Georgia, is what his presiding elder said of him."

Among those who were students with me at the College, but left without taking degrees, the following were the most notable: William T. Howard, of Virginia, who became a distinguished physician and professor in the University of Maryland; Lucius I. Gartrell, of Georgia, who became one of the foremost lawyers of his State, and a general in the Confederate army; Chas. E. Hooker, of South Carolina, Attorney-General of the State of Mississippi, colonel in the Confederate army, and for many years a member of Congress; Colonel Joel B. Leftwich, of Virginia, for a number of years a member of the General Assembly of Virginia; Smith W. Moore, of North Carolina, a Doctor of Divinity in the Memphis Conference, author of several books, and poet. He was associated with Bishop McTyeire on the Board of Trust during the early years of the Vanderbilt University. James N. Ramsey, of Georgia, colonel in the Confederate army; Robert Ridgway, of Virginia, the brilliant editor of the _Richmond Whig_, and member of Congress from Virginia; Walter L. Steele, of North Carolina, a member of Congress, and prominent in business and state, matters; W. L. Blanton, a minister of the Virginia Conference, eloquent and zealous, who died in early manhood; James D. Crawley, a most estimable man, and a local minister for many years; W. K. Blake, of North Carolina, a prominent merchant in Spartanburg, S. C., and trustee of Wofford College; John Wesley Williams, a member of the Virginia Conference, whose useful life was early cut short by consumption.

Nearly all of my college-mates sleep in the dust of the earth. Many of them were "wise, and shall shine as the brightness of the firmament," and some "turned many to righteousness," and shall "shine as the stars, forever and ever."

We go back now and take up the record regularly. At the close of the session of 1839-'40 the report of the Faculty notes the year as successful, and makes mention of the introduction of Anglo-Saxon into the course as the basis of the proper study of English. The Bible was also recommended as a part of the course of study. At this meeting the first legacy to the College, made by Rev. Robert C. Jones, of $3,000, was reported.

The following degrees were conferred June, 1840:

A. B.

DAVID CLOPTON, of Georgia.
JAMES F. DOWDELL, of Georgia.
BURWELL K. HARRISON, of Ga.
JAMES L. PIERCE, of Georgia.
TENNENT LOMAX, of S. C.
WOODSON L. LIGON, of S. C.

A. M.

JOHN C. BLACKWELL, of Va.
R. E. G. ADAMS, of Virginia.
J. W. HARDY, of Georgia.
F. N. MULLEN, of N. C.
JOHN TILLET, of North Carolina.
JUNIUS L. CLEMONS, of N. C.
WARREN DU PRE, of S. C.

The "Centennial of Methodism" occurred in 1839, and was celebrated by the church. Considerable collections were taken up during the year to increase the endowment of the College. This year a name, _clarum et nobile_, appeared for the first time on the records of the Board, D'Arcy Paul, of Petersburg. In the good providence of God, he was permitted to act as trustee for many years, and to exert a great influence in saving the College from financial wreck. At the time of his election he was a leading Methodist in his city, and probably the most prominent layman in the State. As a merchant, he had been very successful, and enjoyed the unbounded confidence of the business world. His liberality towards all church and benevolent enterprises was such as probably had never before been witnessed in Virginia. He was by birth a native of Ireland, but his whole life, except his early boyhood, had been spent in Virginia, and no son "to the manner born" was more enthusiastic in pushing forward all interests that enured to its welfare. When he accepted the place of trustee his heart and hand and credit were put at the service of the College. Taking the helm of the ship as Financial and Investing Agent, he held it for nearly thirty years, and it is not going too far to say that to him, more than to any other man, the College owes its continuation to the day when age and feebleness forced him to turn over to other hands the trust he had so long and faithfully borne on his shoulders. If it had the means, it should erect a monument to perpetuate his memory. Happy am I here to pay this feeble tribute to his worth, and to give the portrait, faint representation, though it be, of one who is worthy of all the honors that could be bestowed on him. His form was so erect that age could not bend it. His character, which beamed forth in a face of more than usual manly beauty, was still more true to the line of truth and righteousness.

The report of the Faculty for the year ending June, 1840-'41, makes favorable mention of the work of the session and of the conduct and scholarship of the students. The financial condition of the College was found to be such as to call for an address asking of the patronizing Conferences needed relief.

The degrees conferred at the close of the year were:

A. B.

GEORGE B. JONES, Virginia.
THOMAS B. GORDON, Georgia.
ROBERT C. GILLIAM, S. C.
WILLIAM H. DENTON, S. C.
WILLIAM H. BASS, Virginia.
MARCELLUS STANLEY, Georgia.
THOS. S. ARTHUR, S. Carolina.
THOS. H. CAMPBELL, Virginia.
THOMAS H. JONES, Virginia.
WM. W. HEREFORD, Mississippi
SAMUEL B. SCOTT, Virginia.
EDWARD WADSWORTH, N. C.
OLIVER P. WILLIAMS, S. C.

A. M.

CHARLES W. BAIRD, Virginia.
THEOPHILUS STEWART, Georgia.
JOHN T. BRAME, N. Carolina.
EDWARD H. MYERS, Florida.
JAMES M. FITTS, N. Carolina.
HENRY E. LOCKETT, Virginia.
JAMES R. THOMAS, Georgia.
EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, Virginia.
GEORGE W. BLAIN, Virginia.

YEAR 1841-'42.

At a called meeting of the Board held April, 1842, Prof. E. D. Sims tendered his resignation. The law of Virginia at that time prohibited a person from marrying the sister of his deceased wife. The Professor was about to marry Miss Andrews, the sister of his former wife, daughter of Prof. Andrews, author of Latin Grammar, and therefore was compelled to leave the State to marry her.

The loss of a Professor so capable and eminent as Professor Sims was much regretted by the trustees and the friends of the College. Under the circumstances, it could not be remedied, for there was no one to take his place in the special English course. He had been elected to take the chair of English in the University of Alabama, which he accepted. At this institution he formulated a course of instruction in English based on Anglo-Saxon, similar to the one he had taught at Randolph-Macon. Here he proceeded with the work on the Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Dictionary. This work he was not long permitted to prosecute. He died in 1845. Forty years after his death the manuscripts of his Anglo-Saxon works came to Randolph-Macon in an unexpected way. Rev. Mr. Stephan, of Missouri, found them at a second-hand bookstore in St. Louis, and noticing the name of Professor Sims on the title-page, he purchased the lot, embracing other papers, and sent them to the writer. Prof. Sims labored faithfully, but "others have entered into his labors."

Rev. Dr. Capers, of South Carolina, was elected to fill the vacancy, and also president of the College, President Garland having tendered his resignation.

In the annual report in June, 1842, the Faculty say: "Our pecuniary embarrassments are becoming serious, and unless effectually relieved, it will be impossible to keep up the operations of the institution much longer. The trustees cannot give this matter too much patient reflection; and if it be practicable to sustain the institution in this respect, we have no fears for its success in all others."

The reorganization of the Faculty was recommended, also some modifications in the course of study; also, the establishment of a "School of Law." This school was established, and Edward R. Chambers, an eminent lawyer of Boydton, elected Professor.

The degrees conferred June, 1842, were:

A. B.

THOMAS C. JOHNSON, Virginia.
JOSEPH SUTTON, Virginia.
ALEX. B. PIERCE, N. Carolina.
BENJAMIN Z. HERNDON, S. C.
WILLIAM G. CONNOR, S. C.
SAMUEL D. SANDERS, S. C.
IRA I. CRENSHAW, Virginia.
THOMAS R. EPES, Virginia.
JOSEPH T. REESE, Georgia.
LUCIEN H. LOMAX, S. Carolina.
GEO. E. WYCHE, N. Carolina.

A. M.

ISAAC C. CROFT, S. Carolina.
WILLIAM H. BATTE, Virginia.
JOSIAH F. ASKEW, Georgia.
CHARLES F. BURNLEY, Virginia
AMOS W. JONES, N. Carolina.
JAMES W. WIGHTMAN, S. C.
JAMES R. WASHINGTON, Ga.
Rev. DAVID S. DOGGETT, Virginia (honorary).

Rev. David S. Doggett was elected to the chair vacated by the resignation of Professor Sims.

1842-1843.

This year the second decade of the College commenced. The year was marked by great financial pressure, which was partially relieved by the sale of some of the funds of the College. A part of the proceeds of the sale was used to pay off a debt on building account and the rest for current expenses. At the low rates of college fees, the current receipts failed to meet salaries and other expenses.

In the annual report of the Faculty mention is made of a decrease in patronage, caused by the financial condition of the country and the establishment of colleges in other Southern Conferences; so that it was again necessary to ask the Board to do something to increase the income of the College.

This year a French course was introduced for the first time, and E. A. Blanch was elected tutor of French.

At the annual meeting, June, 1843, a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Chambers, Rogers, Alexander, Leigh, and Early, to recommend a plan for the relief of the College from financial embarrassment. This committee reported as follows:

1. That it is absolutely necessary to raise a permanent fund of $20,000 to sustain the institution, and if we fail in doing so, _it must and will go down_.

2. That the Agent be instructed to endeavor to obtain one hundred subscribers of $500 in money or in bonds, the interest to be paid annually at the sessions of the Virginia and North Carolina Conferences, and the principal within a period not to exceed ten years, no subscription to be binding until $10,000 shall have been subscribed, the principal to be kept as a permanent fund.

The Faculty of the College showed their spirit of liberality and self-denial by the following communication:

"The Faculty, with a view to contribute all in their power toward the establishment of the College, propose to give to the Board of Trustees the sum of five thousand dollars, the same to be paid in five years by a relinquishment annually of $1,000 on their salaries upon the following conditions, viz.:

"1. That the balance of their salaries be paid promptly.

"2. That the donation shall cease before the expiration of the five years, unless the exigencies of the institution shall require it."

It being necessary to raise funds to pay the professors, Messrs. H. G. Leigh, D'Arcy Paul, Dr. Archibald A. Campbell, George Rogers, and Edward R. Chambers offered to loan the College $500 each, and Messrs. H. B. Cowles and Landon C. Garland $250 each, on the 25th of December next; and Rev. W. B. Rowzie, Agent of the College, offered, that if the amount of his collections should fall under $500, to make up the deficiency in a loan.

The above record is given to show the great financial strait of the College and to bring to mind the liberality of the members of the Board and the Faculty. But for this liberal action the College would have ceased its work, as so many others were forced to do.

Some steps were taken at this meeting to establish a Medical Department in the College.

The following degrees were conferred, June, 1843:

A. B.

GEORGE W. BENAGH, Virginia.
EDWARD S. BROWN, Virginia.
HAMPDEN S. SMITH, N. C.
THOMAS E. MASSIE, Virginia.
WILLIAM H. LAWTON, S. C.
FELIX H. G. TAYLOR, Miss.
RICHARD H. POWELL, Alabama.
THOMAS W. BLAKE, N. C.
HENRY B. ELDRIDGE, Virginia.
WALLER MASSIE, Virginia.
JOHN F. RIVES, Mississippi.
NATHANIEL R. WADDILL, Va.
JOHN C. WALKER, Virginia.

A. M.

JAMES F. SMITH, South Carolina.

D. D.

Rev. ROBT. NEWTON, England.
WILLIAM WINANS, Mississippi.
LOVICK PIERCE, Georgia.
WILLIAM A. SMITH, Virginia.

1843-1844.

The dark cloud resting on the prospects of the College in June, 1843, still hung over it the succeeding year, notwithstanding the efforts made to relieve the embarrassment. Patronage continued to decrease. The session opened with sixty matriculates in the College and thirty in the Preparatory School, the smallest number in the history of the College up to this year.

The President, in the annual report, alludes to the depression of Faculty and patrons, neither of whom "could feel proper interest in an institution _which might close its doors at any time_." This feeling of despondency seemed to have pervaded also the members of the Board, for a bare quorum were in attendance at the opening session. The president, in his report, said: "We shall regard it as a calamity if you leave this place without making some definite arrangement by which our future may be relieved from all embarrassment."

That grand layman, D'Arcy Paul, in this dark hour, came to the relief of the College by guaranteeing the salaries of the professors to the amount of $5,000 on certain conditions. Thus, in the good providence of God, the life of the College was prolonged.

The following received degrees June, 1844:

A. B.

JOHN LYON, Virginia.
WILLIAM C. DOUB, N. C.
WILLIAM M. CABELL, Virginia.
HOLLAND N. MCTYEIRE, Ala.
ARCHIBALD CLARK, Virginia.
THOMAS H. RODGERS, Virginia.
JAMES G. FANNING, Georgia.
JOHN HOWARD, Virginia.
RICHARD IRBY, Virginia.
RICHARD S. PARHAM, Virginia.
WILLIE M. PERSON, N. C.
BENJAMIN F. SIMMONS, N. C.
J. L. GILLESPIE, Virginia.

A. M.

THOMAS B. GORDON, Georgia.
GEORGE B. JONES, Virginia.
Rev. EDWARD WADSWORTH, Va.
FRANCIS A. CONNOR, S. C.
Rev. THOS. H. JONES, Virginia.
WILLIAM H. BASS, Virginia.
HENRY F. JONES, N. C.

Rev. Henry B. Cowles having declined to accept the office of Agent, to which he had been previously elected, was again elected.

Warren DuPre resigned the tutorship, and Holland N. McTyeire was elected to fill the place.

It would be an omission if, in describing and relating other matters, the description of an old-time Annual Commencement should be left out. These occasions were notable events in the first two decades of the College. In those days preparations were begun four weeks before the Commencement day by releasing the Seniors from regular daily exercises so as to give them time to prepare their orations, which each one had to write and commit to memory and rehearse before the Professor of English, who was authorized to make corrections in matter, style, and also in manner of delivery. The Commencement generally was held the third Wednesday and Thursday of June. The Sunday previous a sermon was preached by some eminent minister appropriate to the occasion. Selecting one occasion that the writer witnessed as a specimen, that of 1842, the following description is faithful: The visitors, in the main, began to fill up the boarding-houses around the College and the hotels of Boydton on Tuesday. The Board of Trustees assembled on Tuesday at an early hour, holding their meeting, strictly private, during the day. Friends of the graduates from Virginia and the Carolinas were largely in attendance on Wednesday in time for the opening of the exercises in the chapel. On this occasion the far-famed evangelist, Rev. John Newland Maffett, had been selected to deliver the annual oration before the literary societies. He arrived on Tuesday by private carriage, having travelled over seventy miles. The Alumni Society orator had also arrived.

The exercises of Wednesday opened at 11 A. M. The band had been discoursing musical selections for hours previous on the campus, and continued in the gallery of the chapel, to which they and the crowd had repaired. The chaplain invoked the blessing of God on the College and the young men. The president introduced the alumni orator, who delivered his address to the Society and the audience. The applause of the auditors would have been prolonged but for their anxiety to hear the silver-tongued orator, whose fame was as wide as the country. He was in the prime of life. His dress was faultless; his black locks were unruffled, as when he left the hair-dresser's shop an hour before, for it was said he held his hat in his hand all the way from Boydton as he rode in the carriage to the chapel. Be that as it may, every lock was in perfect order. He was a native of the Emerald Isle, but was thoroughly naturalized. His manner was well-nigh perfect, possibly a little too dramatic; his voice musical, his enunciation rolling and faultless.

What was the theme memory cannot recall. All that is remembered is his action, voice, and the general effect on the auditors. The house was packed; the crowd outside was as great as that inside. The oration over, all breathed naturally again; the boys applauded, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs and fans, and the band struck up enlivening notes, and all said, as the morning exercises closed, "We have heard an orator to-day."

In the afternoon the representatives of the Washington and Franklin Societies--George Benagh and Felix Taylor of the former, and Marcellus Stanley and Rives Waddill, of the latter--did their societies great honor as their representatives by delivering in the chapel eloquent orations.

At night the Societies held their annual meetings, at which the presidents-elect, distinguished honorary members, presided and made addresses. In the debates following the honorary members were expected to take part. The Society medals and honors were delivered to graduate members. These meetings were held in the halls, and were not open to the public.

At night the parlors of private houses and the hotels were radiant with the wealth of beauty gathered mainly from the Old Dominion and the old North State. If there were ever fairer and more lovely women since the days of Helen this deponent never saw them.

The next day the graduating class made their last bows to a College audience, having, according to custom, appeared three times before in the last year of their course. It would be hard to decide which did best, if the verdict had to be given by the fair auditors who heard them.

The "Latin Salutatory" came first, delivered by the second-honor man. This was followed by the orations of others, without regard to grade. The closing "Valedictory" was delivered by the first-honor man, who in a manner represented the whole class. Then each graduate received his "sheep-skin," delivered by the President, who, in Latin, said, "_Accepe hoc diploma_," as he handed the diploma.

The graduating class was complimented by a "party" given in their honor by the students at the Steward's Hall, which was largely attended. This closed the Commencement.

So great was the interest in the Annual Commencements that parties came for long distances, even as far as South Carolina. Some of them came in coaches drawn by four horses with out-riders.

COLLEGE YEAR 1844-'45.

The tendency in patronage this year was still downward. The number of students was smaller than ever before.

A movement was made to carry out the project to raise $20,000 for endowment. The salaries of the Faculty were reduced, so that the President only got $1,250; the professors, $1,000; Tutor, $600; Principal of the Preparatory School, $600. This was done in the face of the fact that the dues to the Faculty at this time amounted to $7,000. This unfortunate condition of affairs was brought about and aggravated by several causes. The poorly paid officers worked without hope of remuneration. Students failed to attend because the impression was becoming prevalent that the College would be forced to close its doors. Besides, the farming community were receiving low prices for their crops. In 1845 the severest drought prevailed in Virginia ever known since 1816.

At the Commencement, June, 1845, a case of smallpox was reported on the morning of the first day. This threatened the total suspension of the exercises, and many visitors did return home. The exercises were held at Boydton, and the address of Rev. Dr. William S. Plumer, one of the greatest men of his day, served to put all in good humor and restore quiet. The next day the services were held in the chapel.

Degrees were conferred as follows:

A. B.

CHARLES B. STUART, Va.
JOHN G. BOYD, Va.
THOMAS T. BOSWELL, Va.
JAMES T. WRIGHT, Va.
WILLIAM F. BLACKWELL, Va.
JOHN W. SHELTON, N. C.
TURNER M. JONES, N. C.

A. M.

JOSEPH T. REESE, Ga.
GEORGE E. WYCHE, N. C.
THOMAS S. ARTHUR, S. C.

At the close of this year I. I. Crenshaw and H. N. McTyeire resigned their places as Tutors. The former went to the Buckingham Female Institute, and the latter took work as an itinerant on a circuit till Conference.

Williams T. Davis was elected Principal of the Preparatory School.

COLLEGE YEAR 1845-'46.

The drought referred to continued till late in the summer. Many farmers had to buy corn at one dollar per bushel, and in some cases had to go as far as thirty miles to get meal.

At the close of the year in June, at the meeting of the Board, great financial embarrassment was reported. A bond to be secured by mortgage on the real estate of the College for $5,000 was authorized to raise funds to meet pressing indebtedness.

The following received degrees June, 1846:

A. B.

JOHN DAVIS, Va.
OLIVER H. P. CORPREW, Va.
FRANK X. FOSTER, S. C.
EDWARD T. HARDY, Va.
SAMUEL HARDY, Va.
WM. G. de GRAFFENREIDT, Va.
OLIN M. DANTZLER, S. C.
BENJAMIN F. LOCKETT, Va.
THOMAS J. LOCKETT, Va.
THOMAS P. JERMAN, S. C.
GEORGE HOWARD, Va.

A. M.

JAMES F. DOWDELL, Ga.
WILLIAM F. SAMFORD, Ala.
JOHN F. RIVES, Miss.
THOMAS H. CAMPBELL, Va.
WILLIAM G. CONNER, S. C.
JOHN C. WALKER, Va.

D. D.

Rev. W. M. WIGHTMAN, S. C.
EDMOND W. SEHON, Ky.

The session of the College, 1846-'47, opened very inauspiciously. In addition to (and probably in large measure growing out of) the financial troubles which had been thickening for years past, a want of harmony and co-operation between the President and some of the members of the Faculty began to be shown. This led to disorder and insubordination among the students. To inquire into the matter at issue a meeting of the Trustees was called in September, 1846, at which, after reciting a history of the troubles, President Garland tendered his resignation, and requested the immediate acceptance of the same. This was followed by the resignation of their positions by Professors D. S. Doggett and David Duncan, and Tutor Thomas H. Rogers.

The resignation of the President was not accepted for prudential reasons. That of Professor Doggett, to take effect at the close of the session, was accepted, as was that of Tutor Rogers. Professor Duncan was induced to withdraw his.

The Board then adjourned to meet in the succeeding November, at the session of the Virginia Conference, which was to meet at the College.

At the adjourned meeting held November 13, 1846, the Board accepted the resignation of President Garland. Rev. Wm. A. Smith, D. D., of the Virginia Conference, was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of President Garland. The Faculty, as re-organized, was as follows, viz:

REV. WM. A. SMITH (_President_), _Prof. Moral and Mental Philosophy_.
REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, A. M., Prof. _Latin and Belles Lettres_.
EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, A. M., _Prof. Pure and Applied Mathematics_.
DAVID DUNCAN, A. M., _Prof. Greek Language and Literature_.
JAMES W. HARDY, _Prof. Experimental Science, Astronomy and Optics_.

The severance of President Garland from the College, after a service of fourteen years in various capacities, was a source of great sorrow to his old pupils and friends. However deficient he may have been in some qualifications for the presidency, which from the first he not only did not seek, but frequently declined, he preserved all along the unqualified respect of all as an able professor and scholar. So devoted was he to the prosecution of his favorite study, Astronomy, that he generally broke himself down every year by attempting to perform the arduous work of the president and also of full professor. Added to this he was for years Treasurer. To a sensitive nature like his, the demands of creditors made on him when he could not meet them was a burden of itself heavy enough for any one to bear. If the College had had an endowment fund large enough to pay the expenses as they were incurred, and had allowed him to retain a professorship at a fair salary, with a president taking on his shoulders the duties which in most colleges devolved on the president, his valuable services could probably have been retained--certainly if the dissension had not arisen in the administration of the College. It is proper here to state that this dissension was only with Professor Hardy, and was not participated in by the other members of the Faculty, and did not lead to the resignation of several of them.

President Garland accepted the Chair of Mathematics in the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. He never returned to his native State except on visits. The whole of a long life was spent, first, at the University to which he went, then at the University of Mississippi, from which he was called to take the Chancellorship of the Vanderbilt University, at Nashville, Tenn., which he accepted and filled for many years. Here in connection with his old pupil, Bishop McTyeire, he did valuable work, till age and feebleness forbade active work. Then he was made _Chancellor emeritus_. He died suddenly, but not unprepared, at the Vanderbilt University.

The closing years of President Garland's administration were the darkest in, the history of the College. Many of its friends were hopeless of its ever rallying again. Others gathered new hope, and their faith "staggered not" in this dark hour. All the older Methodist colleges had gone down, or were tottering to their fall. So much the greater faith was needed at Randolph-Macon.

It was a fortunate circumstance that this re-organization took place at the session of the Virginia Conference, which was held at the College, and presided over by Bishop Capers.

Rev. W. B. Rowzie, who for many years had been Agent, resigned the position. A better friend the College never had.

At the request of the Board, Rev. B. R. Duval and Rev. Nathaniel Thomas were appointed Agents for the College. They were men of extraordinary energy and zeal, and they at once entered on a thorough canvass of the Conference in raising funds for the College. President Smith entered on his duties with characteristic zeal. He was fortunately possessed of an unconquerable will and a buoyancy of disposition, without which he would have quailed under the discouragements under which he labored.