USA > North Carolina > Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical : illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers > Part 51
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The college was opened as a manual labor institution ; and all
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the students were required to labor some hours each study day upon the college farm, for which they received compensation. After about four years' trial, the system was modified from necessary to voluntary labor ; those laboring receiving a suitable compensation.
In the year 1838 an ample charter was obtained from the State, empowering the Board of Trustees chosen by Concord and Bethel Presbyteries, to manage all the affairs of the college, and hold property to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. Vacan- cies in the board are to be supplied by the Presbyteries that founded the college ; and such other Presbyteries as they may associate with themselves.
By Art. 2d, Sec. 3d, of the Constitution, it is provided, that the teachers and professors shall, on their inauguration, enter into the following obligations, viz .- " I do sincerely believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be. the word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. I do sincerely adopt the Con- fession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, as faithfully exhibiting the doctrines taught in the Holy Scriptures. I do sincerely approve and adopt the Form of Govern- ment and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in these United States of America. I do solemnly engage not to teach anything that is opposed to any doctrine contained in the Confession of Faith, nor to oppose any of the fundamental principles of the Presbyterian Church Government, while I continue a teacher or professor of this Institution." By Art. 1st, no one is eligible to the office of trustee but such as are " members in full communion of the Presbyterian Church." It is also provided, that " no person shall be inducted into the office of teacher or professor but a member of the Presby- terian Church in full communion." Great pains are taken to impart suitable religious and moral instruction to the students, and to en- force the necessary discipline. The charter provisions make it an offence cognizable by the common law courts, for any person to set up or open to the students any allurements to dissipation within two miles of the College.
The College was deprived of the valuable services of its first President, Dr. Morrison, by protracted ill health, which for a time rendered any effort at teaching or preaching impracticable ; and of Professor Sparrow, by resignation. Dr. Morrison, after retiring to his farm, recovered his health, and is now preaching; and Mr. Sparrow is President of Hampden Sydney College, in Virginia. Davidson College has been pretty regularly increasing in the num- ber of its students and the extent of its influence; and the standard
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of its scholarship is rising as fast as that of any infant institution in our land. Its instruction is imparted by a President, Rev. Samuel Williamson, and two Professors, Rev. S. B. O. Wilson, and Mr. Mor- timer Johnson, with the assistance of tutors.
There are, or ought to be, students enough in the State to fill the University and this College also. There ought to be enough con- nected with the ten thousand communicants of the Presbyterian Church to sustain this College to the full, and spare some students to the University. And if the whole State is ever aroused to a just apprehension of the value of education, these two institutions will not contain the youths thirsting for knowledge; and, if ever the Presbyterian population become alive to the real value of classic in- struction chastened by Christian morality and truth, this College will neither want funds nor students.
In reviewing the efforts of the Scotch and Scotch-Irish, and their descendants, worthy of all praise and imitation, we can but lament that the citizens of Mecklenburg and the neighboring counties suf- fered themselves to be beguiled from the good work of establishing a College on a liberal foundation, and their attention to be turned to the neighboring excellent but short-lived Institution at Winnsbo- rough, and to the more imposing and permanent one at Princeton. It is scarcely possible to conceive the amount of influence that long before this would have been put forth in the South and West, fol- lowing the stream of emigration towards the Mississippi, had the Queen's Museum or Liberty Hall been sustained with the spirit and liberality with which they were founded.
There is another feature in the efforts at education among these people, worthy of notice, and that is, the attention paid to the in- struction of females. Before the Revolution, and for some years afterwards, females were not generally favored with an opportunity of an education beyond the rudiments taught in the common schools. How men who thought so wisely on religion and politics, and vindi- cated them so nobly, and prized the liberal instruction of their sons, should have so overlooked their daughters, can be solved only by a reference to their previous history and the circumstances in which they were placed. But the fact remains, that the men who built the College at Charlotte and those who founded the classical schools in different parts of the State, were contented for the most part with affording their daughters a very limited course of study. To read- ing the Bible and repeating the catechism, and writing a legible hand, few studies were added. Grammar, arithmetic and geography, were seldom numbered amongst the studies of females. There were
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some noble exceptions in daughters of clergymen and some others. Dr. Caldwell, of Guilford, gave his daughter the best education that could be obtained. Some sent their daughters to Philadelphia. But the mass were contented with a very low standard of acquirements. As a consequence, the females, who were, as females generally are, admirers of mental accomplishments, and who labored hard that their brothers and sons might obtain the advantages of knowledge, were themselves sometimes neglected and ready to cry out, " many a day have I worked with these hands," in sickness of heart.
This evil has been of late passing away before the commendable efforts to establish schools of high reputation for young females. These have sprung up in different parts of the State-some few, public institutions, and many on private responsibility. And at this time, the daughters of Carolina are not compelled either to grow up with few acquirements besides what their own native talent could, unaided, accomplish, or seek in some other State the privileges de- nied in their own. In their native State, they can now enjoy ad- vantages for a literary, scientific and ornamental education, not sur- passed in any of the Southern States, and which may compare advantageously with the most favored sections of our country. These institutions are found both in Eastern and Western Carolina.
The efforts now making by the State to ensure the instruction of all children of the community in the common branches of education, in conjunction with the exertions made by different denominations, for the proper training of the youth under their care, will, by a di- vine blessing, secure to all the privilege of reading, and to multitudes a liberal course of study.
MARTIN ACADEMY, in its history and influence, is the property of Tennessee. It received its existence from the Rev. Samuel Doak, the earliest classical teacher west of " the Mountains;" and, in 1788, received a charter from the State of North Carolina. In 1795, it became a College, under the labors of that indefatigable man, and by the charter granted by the Territorial Government. Its in- fluence during the Revolution, and after, together with a full sketch of the early ministers that settled along the Holston, will be a part of the work of him that writes either the ecclesiastical or civil his- tory of Tennessee.
This article may be very properly brought to a close, by an ex- tract from a report of a committee of Fayetteville Presbytery, " on the condition and prospects of Davidson College." The Presbytery had been invited to join in the support of the College ; a committee, of which Rev. Simeon Calton was chairman, was appointed to visit
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the institution and make report. This committee submitted a long and able report to the Presbytery in November, 1844, which was, by order of Presbytery, printed and widely circulated. Towards the conclusion of the report, the committee say : " Here, it is natural to inquire, can Davidson College be sustained ; and can it ever become such an institution as will hold a good rank among sister institu- tions, and be likely to attract any considerable attention to itself, as a place of education ? It should be remembered that there are but few colleges that rank so high as to command general attention through the country, and exert a general influence on the cause of education. Of the sixty, which our country contains, comparatively few are known beyond the immediate region where they are located. They are all, however, useful in their place ; and exert no little influ- ence on the community that surrounds them. Davidson College is located in a section of country where the influence of such an insti- tution will be appreciated ; and be productive of much good. It is easy of access, and placed in the midst of a rich section of territory, it will always be surrounded by a dense population, out of which many young men will be desirous of obtaining an education. These will find this institution, on many accounts, an eligible place of resort. The districts of Spartanburg, York, Lancaster, and Chesterfield, in South Carolina; and the counties of Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Anson, Lincoln, Rutherford, Burke, Iredell, Wilkes, Davy, Rowan, and Stanley, in North Carolina, will find this the most con- venient place for them. Surry, together with the counties further to the west, with Richmond, Moore, Montgomery, Robeson, and other eastern counties, will, for various reasons, always contribute more or less to the patronage of this institution. The districts and counties which we have named contain a population of two hundred thousand souls ; a population considerably exceeding that of the State of Connecticut, previous to the establishment of the two
denominational colleges, in addition to Yale. Within the limits of the district of country which have been described, there are between eight and nine thousand members of the Presby- terian churches; how many of other denominations, we have no means of determining. Supposing the patronage of the institution is confined to the Presbyterian denomination, there is sufficient po- pulation of that order, within the limits named, not only to justify, but even to demand, that the institution should, by them, be sus- tained. But if conducted on liberal principles, the Presbyterian is not the only denomination that will patronize the institution. Other denominations, from contiguity of situation, or from motives of eco-
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nomy, and, as may be hoped, from intrinsic merits of the institution, will patronize it to some extent. Patronage, too, from other parts of the State may be expected, when the character of the institution shall have become established and known."
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CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AND THE REV. JOSEPH CALDWELL, D.D.
THE following brief statement, which appeared in the public pa- pers immediately after the exercises it describes, was admitted by the friends of the institution to be a correct view of the state of things at Chapel Hill, and will form our introduction to the Uni- versity of the State.
At half-past ten o'clock on Thursday morning, June 3d, 1842, the usual procession of students, faculty, trustees, and visitors, was formed in front of the South College, and moved through the beau- tiful grove of native forest trees, carefully preserved as an ornament of the University grounds, round the monument erected to the memory of the first President, the Rev. Joseph Caldwell, D.D., who cherished the infant university and presided over its destinies for some forty years, to the chapel, where the exercises of Com- mencement Day were opened with prayer by the Rev. Professor Mitchell, of the Presbyterian church, and closed with prayer by Professor Green, of the Episcopal church.
During the exercises, His Excellency Governor Morehead on the right of the President of the University, Ex-Governor Swain, occupied the centre of the stage, and the orators of the day, nine in number, in their rear ; and the Trustees and Professors on the right and left, occupied the wings of the stage, leaving a space in front of the two presiding officers for the speakers' stand ; imme- diately in front of the platform were the students of the University in a company.
The performances of the young gentlemen, candidates for the Baccalaureate, adorned each with the insignia of the literary so- ciety of which he was a member, were characterized by correct- ness of sentiment and chasteness of style and delivery ; and an entire absence of the artificial action and pompous diction some- times so prominent in academic exercises. Before the Bachelor's Degree was conferred, one of the Trustees read the report of the Fa- culty, giving individually, at d by name, the rank of each of the candidates for the honor, from the time of entering the University
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till the close of his studies ; and in a general manner the standing of the under-graduates. The senior class occupied a small area in front of the stage, while the statement was read from the col- lege records. Their rank in scholarship, their behavior in recita- tions, public worship, and daily prayers, and the number of absentees from any college exercise, were each stated in order. The deep interest with which the whole assembly listened to this record, evinced the power of the appeal to the sense of honor and propriety in the bosoms of the young men. A strong sensation pervaded the assembly when it was announced that on account of inattention to college duties, after repeated admonitions, two under- graduates were in danger of being remitted to their parents ; their names were not mentioned ; and it would have been cruel to have scanned the anxious company for the discovery that might have been made. The report closed by announcing that twenty-nine young gentlemen were admitted to their first Degree ; of these, one had not failed in an exercise or duty during the whole four years' course ; six others had not failed during the senior year ; and three others had not in their course voluntarily failed ; their few absences being the consequence of unavoidable necessity.
The degree of A.B. was then conferred by the President, call- ing the young gentlemen by name, upon the stage, pronouncing the form of admission in Latin, and presenting the parchment on which was written a certificate of the fact, signed by the trustees and faculty. After the parchment had been given to each Bache- lor, a beautifully bound copy of the Bible, the pocket edition of the American Bible Society, was presented, by the President, to each of the graduates, with a Latin Form expressive of the desire of the Faculty and Trustees-that it might be their guide to eternal life. It is understood that besides public worship on the Sabbath, and daily prayers in the chapel, instruction in the Bible forms a part of the regular College course.
An air of solemnity pervaded all the proceedings of this day, in the beautiful classic grove of Chapel Hill. Events had occurred, which touched all hearts, in this little community, composed of the Faculty of the University, their families, and the students, and a few families connected with the Institution. Death, perhaps, has not as many terrors in a retired village, as in a crowded city ; but it is more solemn and affecting. The throng of business and heartless dissipation in the city, neglects the sick, the dying, and the dead, and makes it horrible and loathsome to die. In a secluded village, or retired community, the death of a single individual, for
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a time, stops the current of business, changes the tide of feeling, awakens the tenderest sympathies, and brings home the truth, that the narrow resting-place of the grave will soon be the home of us all.
An amiable young lady, the daughter of the Rev. Alexander Wilson, D.D., of Caldwell Institute, Greensborough, returning in company with her father, from a visit to Raleigh, had been detain- ed a few days at the house of Professor Philips of the University, by a fever, which yielded to no medicine, but went on slowly and steadily in its work, till, on the last day of May, it triumphed over its victim. What parent could check the feelings of sympathy with a parent for a sick child ? What youth could shut the heart against that indescribable interest, that surrounds an amiable female, cheered in her struggles with disease and death, by the. hope of immortal life through Jesus Christ, her Lord ? Simply to say, however, that the inhabitants of Chapel Hill sympathized with the afflicted parent and his dying child would be saying little of that classic community.
A sense of religion had grown up with that young lady, and the duty and privilege of prayer had been felt and enjoyed from her earliest days. Her religious principles maintained an unbroken ascendency through the various stages of her disease till about a day before her death, when the last struggle of unbelief preceded the last struggle of mortal life. Her disturbed appearance and restlessness of body exciting attention, she said-" it was not pain of body, but that her mind was dark, and fears had come over her, dest her hopes were vain, and would desert her in the last hour." The Professor, whose hospitality was privileged in ministering to the wants of the dying one, was immediately summoned from his college exercises,-prayer was offered around her couch, till her soul was quieted in the good hope through grace. From that time she enjoyed unbroken peace, till she fell asleep in Jesus. The solemn funeral services, conducted by Professor Philips, took place the evening preceding the commencement, and her remains were laid in the burying-ground of the University. You will see her monument as you pass, a little distance from the gate.
The impression of the whole scene on commencement day was entirely favorable ; creditable alike to the students, the Faculty and the University. Under the present admirable arrangements, a studious youth may acquire as complete an academic education as at any college in the Union ; and parents and guardians may be assured that unceasing attention is paid to the morals, religious in-
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struction, and studious habits of the young men committed to the fostering care of the University."-( Watchman of the South, June 16th, 1842.)
The University of North Carolina, introduced to the kindness of criticism and the public sympathy by the preceding notice, is not a Presbyterian institution, neither does it belong to, nor is it un- der the peculiar management of any religious denomination. It is the child and property of the State at large, in which all have an interest, and over it the Legislature the ultimate control. As part of the community that loves the education of youth, the Pres- byterian congregations and families have a great and increasing interest in the University, now rising in the public estimation, in actual merit and in the influence on the public mind ; they must, in common with all the denominations in the State, feel the pul- sations of this literary and scientific heart of the State ; as patri- ots, they must, and do wish, well to this nursery of citizens and rulers, for its disease and pollution, or its health and moral action, must affect every section of the State, and sooner or later guide the fortunes of the whole. Who can estimate the influence of a well endowed popular literary institution, as it pours out its streams, year after year, into the bosoms of society, and like the Nile of Egypt, watering every garden on the plains !
But there is another view in which Presbyterians have been, and are, deeply involved as a community that love their creed, and fully believe that, in the fair working of their principles, the best interests of society will advance with a rapid pace, even to the full enjoyment of the rights of man in freedom of conscience, and undisturbed possession of life and property ; a view in which, as we look at the University, every Presbyterian may point at it, as an exhibition or development of one part of their principles, which convinces, not by argument, but by facts, that the Presby- terian Church is neither monarchical nor aristocratical, nor grasping, but is seeking honestly the welfare of the whole. This view will be set forth in this sketch of the history of the institution, and a short notice of him, justly styled the Father of the University, JOSEPH CALDWELL.
On the 11th of December, 1789, the Legislature of North Caro- lina, in accordance with the provisions of her constitution, adopted December 6th, 1776, requiring all useful learning to be promoted in one or more universities, incorporated an university with the following preamble to the charter : "Whereas, in all well regu- lated governments it is the indispensable duty of every legislature
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to consult the happiness of a rising generation, and endeavor to fit them for an honorable discharge of the social duties of life, by paying the strictest attention to their education; and whereas an university supported by permanent funds, and well endowed, would have the most direct tendency to answer the above pur- pose, Be it therefore enacted," g-c., &c. The following forty names were inserted as " the trustees of the University of North Carolina," viz. ; Samuel Johnson, James Iredell, Charles John- son, Hugh Williamson, Stephen Cabarrus, Richard Dobbs Speight, Wm. Blount, Benjamin Williams, John Sibpeanes, Fre- derick Harget, Robert W. Snead, Archibald Maclane, Hon. Sam- uel Ashe, Robert Dixon, Benjamin Smith, Hon. Samuel Spencer, John Hay, James Hogg, Henry Wm. Harrington, Wm. Barney Grove, Rev. Samuel E. McCorkle, Adlai Osborn, John Stokes, John Hamilton, Joseph Graham, Hon. John Williams, Thomas Person, Alfred Moore, Alexander Mebane, Joel Lane, Willie Jones, Benjamin Hawkins, John Haywood, sen., John Macon, Wm. Richardson Davie, Joseph Dixon, Wm. Lenoir, Joseph McDonald, James Holland, and Wm. Porter. Some moderate endowment was made by the State, which cost her nothing, by way of old debts due from receiving officers previous to 1st Jan., 1785, and all the property which had escheated to the State or should thereafter be escheated. The latter part of the endow- ment was repealed in a few years.
The first meeting of the trustees was held in Fayetteville, the 15th of November, 1790, and the work of gathering funds to erect buildings and maintain teachers was commenced. In De- cember, 1791, the State made a loan of $10,000, which was after- wards converted into a donation, and the trustees determined to select a site and erect buildings. According to the charter " a healthy and convenient situation, which shall not be situated within five miles of the seat of government, or any of the places of holding the courts of law or equity," was to be chosen by the trustees according to their discretion. On the 1st of November, 1792, a committee of six met at Pittsborough, to determine the precise location of the university, the trustees having decided in August in favor of the neighborhood of Cypress Bridge, on the road from Pittsborough to Raleigh. Liberal offers were made by various proprietors to secure the location on their tracts, or in their neighborhoods. On the 9th the committee unanimously chose Chapel Hill, and the same day the citizens of the neigli- borhood conveyed eleven hundred and eighty acres of land to the
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university, and made a subscription of about $1600 to assist in carrying the designs of the trustees into speedy execution. The North Carolina Journal, Halifax, for September 25th, 1793, says : " The seat of the university is on a high ridge. There is a gentle declivity of 300 yards to the village, which is situated in a hand- some plain considerably lower than the site of the public build- ings, but so greatly elevated above the neighboring country as to furnish an extensive landscape. The ridge appears to com- mence about half a mile directly east of the college buildings, where it rises abruptly several hundred feet ; this peak is called Point Prospect. The Peak country spreads off below, like the ocean, giving an immense hemisphere, in which the eye seems to be lost in the extent of space.
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