USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 1 > Part 37
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Engineer-in-Chief Melville is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, thic Grand Army of the Republic and of various Geographical Societies. I. L. V.
REV. WILLIAM C. CATTELL, D.D.
WILLIAM CASSADY CATTELL.
W ILLIAM CASSADY CATTELL, D. D., LL. D., a distinguished educator and preacher, was born at Salem, New Jersey, August 30, 1827. As a boy he attended the private schools of Salem, and in 1848 graduated at Princeton College. Having the ministry in view, he entered the Princeton Theological Seminary and graduated there in 1852.
lle began his work as an educator in 1853, as Associate Principal of the Edge Hill School at Princeton. In 1855 he was elected Professor of Ancient Lan- guages at Lafayette College, where his fine scholarship and his remarkable ability as a teacher made him very popular among the students. In 1859 he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees, and at once displayed the executive ability that was afterwards so conspicuous when he was placed, four years later, at the head of the college.
He resigned his chair at Lafayette to become the first pastor of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church at Harrisburg, where he was installed by the Presbytery of Carlisle in the spring of 1860. A letter from a prominent member of his congregation to the writer of this sketch says:
The newly-formed congregation had separated from the parent church in Market Square to connect themselves with the Old School Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. The departure or secession of so large and important a portion from the main body, with the purpose just stated, was expected to occasion more or less bitterness of feeling. It therefore required a man of unusual tact and great wisdom to keep the breach from widening and to allay, as far as possible, all the jealousies arising from a rivalry between the two congregations occupying the same ground and drawing their supplies from a then limited field. It is to-day the uniform testimony of both churches that no man could have met the peculiar conditions and suited the situation better than Mr. Cattell. His genial manners, rare tact and hearty sympathies served both to allay animosities and to harmonize conflicting interests. Under his ministry, as first pastor, the Pine Street Church began a career of usefulness which made it perhaps the most influential congrega- tion in the large l'iesbytery of Carlisle. In the Sabbath-school, with a reputation even beyond the limits of the State, he was a zealous co-laborer and a judicious adviser, and on every public occasion his pres- ence is still freely sought for and heartily welcomed. In the community Mr. Cattell was honored for his fine scholarship and noble Christian character.
His pastoral work at Harrisburg began just before the breaking out of the civil war, and it continued during the time that city was as one great camp, down to the closing days of 1863; and the writer of the letter adds: "In the urgent demands made upon the citizens of Harrisburg, when the bloody battles fought in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania filled the hospitals of the city with thousands of wounded soldiers, no one was more active to relieve the sick or more tenderly ministered to the dying, than the pastor of the Pine Street Church."
The pulpit utterances of such a man could not fail to attract publie attention, and the Harrisburg Telegraph, in referring to one of his sermons repeated by
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request, says : "The crowd on the occasion was greater than any which ever assembled to hear the delivery of any sermon in the city. The church was thronged long before the appointed hour for the delivery of the sermon, while the sidewalks in the vicinity of the church were covered with a patient mass of men and women anxious to get within hearing distance."
With what feelings of regret and sorrow the congregation parted from their young pastor may be seen from the minute adopted by them, and embodied in the following letter from the Session requesting a copy of his farewell sermon for publication :
DEAR SIR :
The undersigned, members of the Session, believing that the sermon preached by you on the last Sabbath of your pastorate will prove of great interest to the congregation, respectfully request a copy of the same for publication and private distribution.
We also desire to place on record the following resolution, unanimously passed at the congregational meeting held November 9th :
" WHEREAS, The Rev. W. C. Cattell has requested this congregation to unite with him in asking a dissolution of the pastoral relation, with a view to his entering on the duties of the Presidency of Lafay- ette College ; therefore,
"Resolved, That, while we cannot cordially unite with our beloved pastor in requesting the disso- lution of a pastoral relation in which he has become so endeared to us all, and so blessed of God, yet we will throw no obstacle in the way of the decision of the Presbytery; and if they should deem it wise and proper to dissolve the pastoral relation, we desire to place on permanent record our high appreciation of his services as a faithful preacher, our deep affection for him as a zealous and exemplary pastor, and our hearty admiration of those many qualities of head and heart which have endeared him at all times as a friend and counsellor ; and that we will earnestly pray the great Head of the Church to make him eminently useful in the important and responsible duties of his new position."
Hoping that you will place the manuscript of your sermon at our disposal, we remain,
Yours, very truly, F. WYETH. J. MCCORMICK, JR., J. F. SEILER.
II. M. GRAYDON,
It was in October, 1863, that he was called from the work he so successfully conducted at Harrisburg to a new and wider sphere of usefulness-the crowning work of his life-to the Presidency of Lafayette College.
The general depression which followed the outbreak of the war was felt very seriously at Lafayette. In August of 1863 President McPhail resigned, and a special meeting of the Board of Trustees was called in Philadelphia "to take into consideration the propriety of suspending operations under increasing embarrassments," and it seemed as if the doors of the institution would be per- manently closed.
Professor Owen, in his " Historical Sketches of Lafayette College," says :
It was at this critical juncture in the history of the college that we find the Board turning their atten- tion to one who had been a professor in the institution, Rev. William C. Cattell, to whom they gave a hearty call to return to Lafayette and fill the vacant presidency. Dr. Cattell was at that time pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church at Harrisburg. llis pastorate was one of marked success and useful- ness ; an able and devoted preacher, a man of warm and sympathetic heart, he had won the love of all his people, who, when he accepted the proffered presidency, consented to his separation from them with the utmost reluctance, and only under the conviction that he was called to a higher work. This indeed
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has proved to be the case ; but it was a work beset with great difficulties. Dr. Cattell was not ignorant of these, nor was he disheartened by them. Ile came to his new and enlarged sphere of labor with a strong faith in the ultimate success of the enterprise.
To his earnest zeal in the cause of education he added a knowledge of the ground and a keen insight, which enabled him to see the wants of the age in the matter of a higher education. His efforts at the very outset were characterized by that energy, prudence and tact which always masters difficulties, and which secured for him at once the hearty co-operation and confidence of the friends of the college.
President Cattell entered upon his duties in October, 1863, and was inaugurated in the old college chapel at the ensuing Commencement, July, 1864. Governor Pollock, president of the Board of Trustees, in his introductory address,* after referring to the recent discouragements and gloom of the friends of the college, says :
At this hour, and in analogy with nature, now robed in sunshine and smiling after the storm, the light of a genial sun now pouring down upon us through the riven and scattered clouds, Lafayette College stands revealed in the light of returning prosperity, and all without betokens favor, success and triumph ! We have met to-day to witness the inauguration of one well known and appreciated by you all, and who has been honored by a most happy, cordial and unanimous selection by the Synod and Board of Trus- tees. We present him to you as the scholar and the man-the highest style of man-the Christian gen- tleman, and one who combines in a remarkable degree the quiet dignity of the Christian mini-ter, the accomplishments of the scholar, and the no les> important qualifications of an administrative officer.
And Professor March, in the "College Book " (published by Houghton, Os- good & Co., Boston, 1878), says : "He had been everywhere greatly successful. ' The new President,' says Ik. Marvel, who knows him, 'has wondrous winning ways.' Things began at once to brighten. The alumni showed new interest in the college; students began to come in; donations of money were obtained which relieved immediate wants ; but the first great ' winning' was the good will of Mr. A. Pardee, of Hazleton, and the demonstration of it (his first gift of $20,000 to the college) was described by Dr. Cattell, at a banquett given to him by the citizens of Philadelphia, in 1869, upon the eve of his departure for Europe."
Every well-informed friend of education is familiar with the rapid and steady growth of Lafayette College under the administration of President Cattell. It has been described by the graceful pen of Mr. Donald G. Mitchell (Ik. Marvel) in Scribner's Magasine ( December, 1876), and more fully by Professor Owen, in his " Historical Sketches of Lafayette College," prepared during the centennial year at the request of the United States Commissioner of Education. The limits of this sketch will allow only a brief reference to it.
* See the pamphlet containing the report of the exercises, with President Cattell's inaugural.
+ Thursday evening, April 29th. The Philadelphia P'ress of the next day gives nearly a full page to a report of this meeting, printing President Cattell's address in full. The other speakers were Governor Pollock, Mayor Fox, Professor Traill Green, Dean of the College, Chief-Justice Thompson, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Dr. Herrick Johnson, then pastor of the historic First Church of Phila- delphia, now Professor in the Chicago Theological Seminary, Professor Samuel I). Gross, of the Jefferson Medical College, IIon. Ilenry Barnard, United States Commissioner of Education, and Hon. William Strong, afterwards of the United States Supreme Court.
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The number of students increased from thirty-nine in 1863 to three hundred and nineteen in 1875. It has been the policy since then to keep the number at about three hundred, rather than to give the professors such work with a larger number as would prevent personal and individual attention. The college grounds were enlarged by successive purchases until they now include nearly forty acres, graded, terraced and beautifully ornamented. The two small buildings, which were made to answer for the accommodation of the thirty-nine students in 1863, have been renovated and enlarged and new ones have been added. Notable among these is Pardee Hall, erected at a cost of nearly $300,000, and which is one of the finest college buildings in America. The whole building, with its furniture and scientific equipment, was the munificent gift of Mr. Ario Pardee. It was dedicated with imposing ceremonies and in the presence of a vast assem- blage, October 21, 1873. The day was a gala one for Easton and the neighbor- hood. The afternoon was a general holiday. All the schools, factories and shops were closed, and a procession, gay with banners and music and over a mile long, ascended the hill and gathered around the building when it was for- mally transferred by Mr. Pardee to the trustees of the college. On the evening of June 4, 1879, this magnificent building was totally destroyed by fire.
But it soon rose from its ashes, rebuilt upon the same site, of the same dimen- sions and exterior appearance, but the arrangement of the interior much im- proved, as experience with the original building suggested. At the reopening, November 30, ISSO, Prof. F. A. March delivered a most able and scholarly address before such a distinguished assembly as has rarely gathered in honor of any educational foundation in this country. It included the President of the United States, who came in a special car from Washington attended by several members of his cabinet, the General of the Army and the United States Con- missioner of Education ; the Governor of Pennsylvania, with his staff and the heads of the State Departments; the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church ; the Moderator of the Synod of Pennsylvania ; and many other dignitaries of Church and State, and eminent educators, including many presidents and professors in our universities and colleges.
In 1863 the curriculum of studies at Lafayette was the traditional college course, based mainly on the study of Latin and Greek, but the second year of President Cattell's administration was signalized by a large advance in the direc- tion of scientific studies. The classical course was still continued. In fact, the catalogue stated that the policy at Lafayette would be to give it greater efficiency year by year, " not only as the regular introduction to the special professional study of theology, medicine, law and teaching, but also as a thoroughly tried means of securing the culture and elevation of mind, and of imparting the useful and liberal learning which becomes a Christian scholar." But new courses of scientific, technical and post-graduate studies were successively added until " under this administration Lafayette has risen to her present commanding position, embracing departments of instruction widely different in specific scope
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and aim, yet brought into stimulating contact, and so into the unity of a har- monious progress " (Prof. Owen's Sketches). Of course this rapid and splendid development, the history of which, says the New York Christian Weekly, " reads like a romance," required the expenditure of large sums of money for the new buildings with their scientific equipment, and for the support of the increased number of professors. And from all sides, in response to the appeals of the enthusiastic and ever hopeful president, came the donations, so that the capital stock of the college, which in 1863 was scarcely $50,000, rose in a few years to nearly a million. The hard times commencing in 1873, and which pro- duced for many years such financial distress throughout the country, seriously crippled President Cattell in his plans for the continued increase of the college endowments. But the printed Tables accompanying his annual report to the trustees show that in 1879, after four years of heroic struggle, the current expenses of the college were fully met and the "capital stock " again increased. These Tables report the same gratifying results each year till the close of his adminis- tration, notwithstanding the added strain and toil to the President that followed the destruction of Pardee Hall in 1879.
President Cattell always aimed to continue in the College the Christian work begun by his pious predecessors. The subject of his inaugural address was " The Bible as a College Text-Book." The year following his inauguration a religious revival took place, which Professor Owen describes as "perhaps the most remarkable of the great revivals that have characterized the recent history." And how faithful Dr. Cattell was to the high trust committed to him, as the President of a Christian college, may be seen from the glowing and eloquent words of Rev. George C. Heckman, D. D., ex-President of Hanover College, and a graduate of Lafayette, who delivered the oration at the semi-centennial of the college, June 27, 1882. He says :
We come back from the past on this semi-centennial to see the heroic faith and fidelity of the origin and early history of Lafayette College crowned with material and academic glory, for which our faith long prayed, almost against hope. Our words are feeble to express our gratitude to God for the divine benedictions which have crowned the wise, watchful, indefatigable administration of President Cattell, and the munificent benefactions of Ario Pardee, William Adamson, John Welles Ilollenback, John I. Blair and others. We have no tears to shed over some landmarks, immortal in our cherished recol'ec- tions, but which have been swept fiom sight by the march of splendid and substantial improvements. We are only too glad in these filial visits to see our dear Alma Mater with youth and beauty renewed, with a growing vigor that makes her stronger than her sons, and in a more queenly dress than in those days of trial and poverty when we drank learning, honor and piety from her bosom. We have never had any other than feelings of admiration and gratitude for the devotion, statesmanship and triumphs- financial, academic and religions-which must ever make the administration of President Cattell distin- gui-hed in the history of Lafayette College and of American education. But believe one who stood as a silent, observant boy at the laying of these foundations in those far-off days-though now seemingly so near-that what thrills us mo-t and makes this semi-centennial a prolonged "Te Deum" is this : that the administration upon which God has bestowed these successes and prosperities-through light and darkness, in ebh and flow, in joyful thanksgiving and glorious achievement-has ever been faithful to the divine origin and aim of this Christian college. As we gaze upon those beautiful grounds, so har- monizing with the splendid setting of nature; as we look out upon these many stately buildings and
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study the academic equipment of our Alma Mater, we exclaim : "All these, and Christ with all !" We bless God and honor our noble President.
As a further testimony to his great work, from those who have watched it most closely and with the deepest personal interest, the following letter from Professor March has a peculiar and significant value. It is taken from a report in the College fournal, April, 1882, of a banquet given to President Cattell by the Alumni Association of Philadelphia on his return from a visit to Europe :
EASTON, PA., April, ISS2.
The Faculty of Lafayette College desire me to thank the Philadelphia Alumni Association for their kind invitation to be present at the reception to be given to President Cattell on the evening of Thurs- day, April 13th.
If there is any reason for which the Faculty might be excused for going off in a body it is that we might join the Alumni in honoring the President who has cheerfully met so many trials and borne so much toil for the college, who has led its friends to so many triumphs over such great obstacles, and who holds such a place in the affection and esteem of all his associates.
We send our heartiest congratulations.
F. A. MARCH.
But these " many trials " and " much toil " of an administration that led the college to " so many triumphs over such great obstacles" could scarcely fail, after twenty years, to tell upon the President's health. In his report to the Board of Trustees at the beginning of the year 1883, printed in the College Journal of March, he says :
With such pleasant recollections of the year just closed (the most delightful to me'since my connection with the college), and with such a brightening outlook, I enter upon the twentieth year of my Presidency with only one misgiving ; and that is, whether, in the present state of my health, I have the strength fully to discharge the arduous and responsible duties which are inseparable from my position. I am deeply grateful for the generous and unfailing support of my colleagues in the Board and in the Faculty, and of the Alumni, but even with this help the continuous anxiety and strain of my ordinary work, and the ne- ce-sity at times of unusually severe and prolonged exertion, secm to me to demand more than my present strength. But I am firmly persuaded that the great work here will continue with increasing power and usefulness, whoever may be the men honored of God lo carry it on.
And this foreshadowing of his retirement from the arduous duties of the Presidency, taking definite shape as the year passed on, called forth from the public press, religious and secular, universal expressions of regret and of high appreciation of the great work he had accomplished for the college. The gen- cral sentiment was well expressed in the following editorial from the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph :
Lafayette College has an unpleasant surprise for its commencement-one that will tinge this usual fes- tival occasion with sadness. It is difficult to imagine Lafayette without President Cattell, for the college may be fairly said to be the outgrowth of the tireles, energy and personal magnetism of that very exceptional educator. So devoted was Dr. Cattell to this institution that he has worn himself out in its service. Two years ago his health became so impaired through his ceaseless labors that he was compelled to take an unwelcome rest ; the ca-e has not bettered since, and huis definite withdrawal from the responsibilities of the Presidency is now announced. Fortunately, Lafayette is now founded securely, beyond chance of wreck or disaster; any good man can carry on the work at its present stage, and this is the one con-
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solation that the friends of the college and the friends and admirers of Dr. Cattell have. It may well be a lasting satisfaction, in his retirement, lo the distinguished ex-President ; who may be assured that his name will be honored in the halls of Lafayette as long as that college stands. And perhaps a man could not give his strength and his life more devotedly and more profitably than in just such a work.
Dr. Cattell received the honorary degree of D. D. from Princeton, and also from Hanover College, Indiana, and that of LL. D. from the University of Wooster, Ohio. He was Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Pres- byterian Church in 1863, and again in 1876, when he was Chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Education. In 1872 he was Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia.
Ile has made several visits to Europe and the East, and his travels and obser- vations thereon have formed the subject of numerous lectures and public ad- dresses. His preface to the report of the Hon. C. C. Andrews (Minister to Swe- den) upon the educational systems of Sweden and Norway, made to the United States Bureau of Education, shows his interest in all educational matters and his habits of careful observation at home and abroad.
He was sent by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States as a Commissioner to the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and to the Reformed Church in Bohemia in 1869, and again in 1881. One of the pas- tors in Bohemia, Rev. L. B. Kaspar, of Hradiste, in a letter to the New York Evangelist, December 29, 1881, thus speaks of Dr. Cattell's visits to that country :
This is not the first time that Dr. Cattell has come to Bohemia. Ile was here in IS69 and IS70. That welcome visit is still remembered by many. It was more than an occasional tourist's trip. At that time Sunday-school work was almost unknown in our church. Dr. Cattell noticed this lack, and set himself at once on calling attention to it. In public addresses and in private conversation he pressed the subject on our pastors and people. Since that time his name has been closely associated with the Sun- day-school work in our church. I trust that on the present visit he has had the satisfaction of seeing that his efforts have not been spent in vain. We have a respectable number of Sunday-schools now, and the work is growing still. And very well may I speak again of Dr. Cattell's efforts. He was not sitis- fied by coming to the capital and by looking at matters, as it were, through a telescope, but he spent much time in actually going about the country from place to place-which is not always very comforta- ble, I can assure you. Even this small, out-of-the-way place in the mountainous part of Bohemia (where this letter is written) has had the honor of his presence on a stormy Sunday three weeks ago.
And another pastor in Bohemia, the Rev. J. E. Szalatnay, of Velim, in a letter to the New York Independent, referring to Dr. Cattell's ageney in establishing Sunday-schools in his country, says : " We speak of him as the father of our Sun- day-schools."
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