USA > Virginia > Sketches of Virginia : historical and biographical > Part 46
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Extract from a letter from Dr. Miller, Jan. 17th, 1823 .- " I will not enter into the business of the Presidency, for two reasons. The . first is, because I have no time, having only a few minutes to devote to this letter; the second, that judging of your feelings from what mine once were in a similar situation, you ought not to be burdened with any such weighty matters, until your recovery has made further progress. One thing, however, I will say. Give yourself no uneasi- ness about the delay of your answer. There is no reason why you should. We are in no haste to receive it. Take your own time. But do not, I beseech you, think of a negative answer. I hope you will not. I think if you let us know your mind by the last of next month, or the beginning of March, or even by the first of April, no one will complain. The earnest hope of every one whom I have heard speak on the subject, is, that you will not suffer your mind to be burdened with it, in your feeble state.
"P. S. I am going on with my answer to Brother Stuart, slowly. You were right in predicting that I would not despatch the subject in a single short letter. It is not improbable, if I live to finish it, there may be 7 or 8 letters, making in all a pamphlet as large as his." The Dr. refers to his controversy with Dr. Stuart on the Eternal Generation of the Son of God.
Dr. Miller sent Dr. Rice an extract of a letter from Chief Justice Kirkpatrick,-under date of March 17th, 1823, " You will be able to judge of the state of mind of at least one of the committee, by the following extract of a letter received two days ago, from Chief Justice Kirkpatrick, viz. : ' It is now a long time since I have heard any thing concerning Dr. Rice. The meeting of the Trustees of the Col- lege is fast approaching, and I begin to be afraid we, shall not be able . to give them a satisfactory account of the matter committed to our charge. We were appointed to wait upon the Dr. at Richmond. Can we give any satisfactory reason why we have not done so ? Will it be sufficient to say, we made a communication to him last autumn, (such as in truth we did make), and that we expected, that upon that communication, he would accept or decline the Presidency ; and that therefore we have done nothing further since that time ? Is it not probable that his silence is grounded upon the expectation, that the committee must necessarily perform the duty imposed upon them by the Board; and upon the sentiment that it might be rather indeli- cate for him, either to form or to signify his determination before that was done ?" '
383
REV. JOHN H. RICE, D. D.
Dr. Miller adds-"I know of few things on which my heart has been mere set, for a long time, than prevailing with you to come to this place, and take charge of Nassau Hall."
The sickness of Mr. Rice prevented a decision of the questions before him ; and the delay in deciding kept his mind in agitation, and delayed his recovery. In his waking moments he could refrain from any conversation on these matters. But as he rolled upon his bed in his feverish restlessness, the broken prayers and exclamations that fell upon the ears of his watching wife and friends revealed the workings of h's mind, and the burden on his heart, " Dear old Vir- ginia ! Richmond, and the dear people there ! Oh God! O God ! for life and health to labor and glorify thee ! O for health and strength to do something for old Virginia ! A theological school- we must have a theological school ! Where does duty call ? What can I do for the College of New Jersey ? What can I do for the Presbytery -for the Church -for the world of man !" From such like expressions his wife and friends drew the conclusion, before he was sufficiently recovered to make a decision, that his heart was in- clining to the theological school, with all its difficulties, which he felt in their full number and weight. He had urged Mr. Hoge to hold on, and encouraged him in his wonderful self-denial and multi- plied labors. He had urged Alexander to return and take the ardu- cus post, which no one could fill so much to the satisfaction of the Virginia Synod. And how should he refuse the call of the Presby- tery to occupy that very station ?. As he considered the case of Mr. Hoge, he could make no objection. When he looked at his own elec.ion he could excuse himself somewhat by saying that Alexander was the choice of the whole Synod, and he had been chosen by his own Presbytery. But then the Presbytery had thought of no one else, and were in earnest to have a school; and all the arguments he himself had used for a seminary of the kind in the South, would come back upon him as reasons why he should leave Richmond, and refuse Princeton, and remove to Prince Edward.
When the winter was passed, and his health but partially restored, he felt himself bound to make some reply to the invitations given him in his early sickness. Having resolved to decline the appoint- ment of president of the college, he wrote to Mr. Alexander, March 5th, 1823; and after stating that his health would entirely prevent his usefulness in that office, he goes on to say - "But if this were removed, there are others I know not how to surmount. I will state them as briefly as I can. 1st. There has been no question so often proposed to me, as whether I would accept the presidency of a col- lege. And in reference to nothing have I studied myself so com- pletely as to this question. The result of the whole of my examina- tion is, that I am not well fitted for the office. 1st. I have a very strong dislike to it. 2d. My education has never been sufficiently complete for it. In that station I could not bear the idea of being unable to instruct in any department in college. I do think that a president ought to be able to look particularly into the studies of
384
DR. RICE DECLINES THE OFFER FROM PRINCETON.
every class, see that the professors were discharging their duties, and rouse the pupils to activity in their studies. Now, this I could not do without an intensity of application which would kill me.
2d. It is well known that the acceptance of the presidency would. be very advantageous to me in a pecuniary point of view. Here, my nominal salary is two thousand dollars; my real one sixteen hundred dollars, very irregularly paid ; and my expenses are beyond my income. At Princeton I should get two thousand five hundred dollars, punctually paid at quarter-day, and should have much less company than here. On acceptance, then, it would at once be said, ' Ah ! this is what his love to Virginia has come to. Northern gold has bought him, and it can buy any of them.' And then my influ- ence at the South would be greatly lessened, if not destroyed. And, with my disqualifications for the office, I could never regain at Prince- ton what I should lose here.
"3d. The state of things in the South is such, as in my view, pre- sents very serious obstacles to my going North. I have been observ- ing as carefully ás I could, how matters are working, and I am con- vinced that a theological seminary in the South is necessary ; and that if there is not one established before long the consequences will be very deplorable. The majority of students in the South will not go North. I think this a settled point. In North Carolina there are twelve or fifteen candidates for the ministry, now studying divinity in the old field-school way. And between preachers brought forward in this manner, and those who have better opportunities, there is growing up a strong spirit of envy and jealousy on the part of the former. This is so much the case, that among Presbyterians there is actually now an undervaluing of that sort of education, which we think very important. And things are like to get worse and worse. If, however, a seminary can be established in the South, many will frequent it who will not go to the North. If we do not go on with ours, they will have one of some sort between themselves . in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The more remote, the more dissociated from the centre of Presbyterianism. But my plan is, if we can succeed here, to take Princeton as our model, to hold correspondence with that great and most valuable institution, to get the most promising of our young men to finish off at Prince- ton; and, in a word, as far as possible, make this a sort of branch of that, so as to have your spirit diffused throughout us, and do all that can be done to bind the different parts of the church together. And it has appeared to me, that if the Lord does not intend to throw me aside as 'a broken vessel,' of no use, that I may be more useful here than I possibly could be anywhere else. I do not speak now of the effect of training up men for the South in the North country, nor of the unfitness of most Northern men for our purposes. You know that in general they will not do.
"P. S. - I have just lost one of the dearest and most devoted friends I had in the world, Mrs. Wood, widow of the late General Wood."
385
REV. JOHN H. RICE, D. D.
Having given these efficient reasons to his friend Dr. Alexander, he announced to the committee of the board of trustees, that he declined the call to the Presidency of New Jersey College. Dr. Miller, under date of April 21st, 1823, gave an official reply, couched in the most courteous language, and expressing the kindest senti- ments. He adds: "The contents of the preceding pages are offi- cial. I add a few unceremonious lines, as a friend and brother. , I will not attempt to tell you how grievously we were all disappointed by your rejection of the call to the presidency. Had not your letter to Dr. Alexander, a few days before, in some measure prepared us for it, it would have been still more grievous and disheartening. As it is, I can only say, with those around me, the will of the Lord be done. You have indeed, I had almost said, cruelly disappointed us ; and yet, if the estimate which you make and express in your letter, of the state and prospects of your health be indeed correct, you have done right. Again, I say, the will of the Lord be done ! . I had hoped to spend the remainder of my days near you; but it is all ordered in the wisest possible manner.
"Mr. Lindsly is elected president. He has not yet accepted the office. Whether he will do so is uncertain. I have already in type two hundred and twenty-four pages of my answer to Professor Stuart, It is as you predicted. I have written eight letters, instead of one. I hope it will be out in a fortnight or three weeks."
To recover his strength, Mr. Rice tried an excursion, in the month of April, towards the sea shore, visited Gloucester and Mathews, and then the Eastern Shore. The moderate exercise, the sea air, and unmeasured kindness of the people refreshed his languid frame, and affected his heart. "The people down here," he says, "are as affectionate and respectful to me and your aunt as possible. It is not possible not to love and pity them. They are so destitute, and yet such excellent stuff to make Christians of. Everywhere we are received with kindness, and treated with affectionate respect, which may well awaken gratitude to the gracious Being, who, I was almost ready to say, paves our way with love. I have a deeper conviction than ever, of the necessity of building up a theological school among ourselves. We must have a school. But must I be the professor ?" That was the question which now rested on his mind : none the less difficult of solution, because he was at rest respecting New Jersey College. In the month of May, he was undecided about the pro- fessorship. Two things now caused the difficulty : his health, the feebleness of which had, in his estimation, rendered the performance of the duties of a president of a college impossible, was still so frail, that some thoughts which he expressed early in the spring were still in his mind, that he might have to retire to some quiet and healthy situation," where I should be called on to preach but little, and have opportunty of taking a great deal of exercise;" and the situation of the printing press in Richmond, established by his efforts for the circulation of religious books, "the press give us great advantage, and increases our moral power to a vast extent ; 25
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386
DR. RICE ACCEPTS THE PROFESSORSHIP.
if we give it up. we shall be shorn of half our strength." He feared that, if he left Richmond, the press " in which I have worked almost alone, have broken my constitution, spent my time and sunk my money," would have to be given up, and the preparation and cir- culation of religious books abandoned; "to give it up now, will be a sore business to me, and ruinous to our plans." In the end the press was abandoned, to his great grief and pecuniary loss ; but he lived to rejoice in seeing the work done on a larger scale by the benevolent societies that were then coming into being and activity.
But he must decide ; and as in declining the invitation to Prince- ton he had cordially set his worldly interests aside, supposing him able to perform the duties, so, in finally accepting the invitation to the professorship which his brethren still urged upon him, he still further sacrificed his personal interests, and assumed a weight of labor, the very prospect of which made him tremble. Funds were to be collected to sustain the professor, and make provision for other professors, to erect necessary buildings, and gather a proper library ; and beside these labors laid before him, in which he himself must take an active part, beside the duties of the professorship, which embraced the circle of studies allotted to the two able men, Alexan- der and Miller, in Princeton, he was to be in a position of compari- son with those men, in very disadvantageous circumstances, perhaps even of apparent rivalry to those he loved and respected to the highest degree. If he pressed the claims of a Southern institution, would he not seem to be in opposition to the beloved brethren in Princeton ? If he gave way to them to the degree his heart prompted, would he not seem to be traitor to the very cause he had urged with effect on Hoge, and with great urgency on Alex- ander ?
On the 2d of June he made a communication to the session of his church, announcing that, "with the utmost reluctance, and even with deep anguish of spirit, I have been brought to the deter- mination to accept that appointment," and also to announce the necessary consequence, "I resign to you my pastoral office." The session and church, in the whole matter, treated their pastor with the greatest kindness and respect. The thought of his leaving them was painful. His peculiar relation could be filled by no one else ;" but it is not known that a single intimation, reflecting either on the motives or acts of their pastor, escaped their lips, or that any efforts were made to decide for him. They waited for his decision, with an affectionate confidence that he would do what seemed to him was duty ; and when the announcement was made, that brought sor- row to many hearts, they yielded at once, but their hearts went with him to the seminary; he was their spiritual father. The Rev. John B. Hoge, pastor of the church on Shockoe Hill, and successor of Mr. Blair, presided at the session that received the kind letter of resignation from Dr. Rice, and passed resolutions dignified in their conception, and complimentary in their truthfulness.
387
VISIT TO NEW YORK. K
About the middle of July Mr. Rice embarked, to try the advantage of the sea air, on a voyage to New York. Not finding much advan- tage from this short trip, he proceeded to visit Saratoga, to try the medicinal waters. Besides attention to his health, he proposed, in his journeyings, as far as opportunity was afforded, to carry into effect a resolution of Hanover Presbytery, passed in April-" That the Board of Trustees be authorized to raise by subscription a sum sufficient for the erection of necessary buildings for the accommoda- tion - of the Professor and Students of the Seminary, to procure a site for the buildings, and have them in readiness by the 1st of No- vember, if possible :"-and another resolution passed in June-"that the Rev. John H. Rice be a, special agent to solicit contributions to the funds of the Theological Seminary." The Presbytery of Albany held its meeting in the village of Saratoga, while Mr. Rice was there. Encouraged by the brethren, Mr. Rice laid before the Presbytery the project of the Presbytery of Hanover, in giving greater effi- ciency to her theological school. Mr. John Chester, pastor of the Church in Albany, said he addressed the Presbytery then, in a house put up, in a great measure, by Southern funds, and strongly com- mended the enterprise laid before them. Dr. William Chester, pastor of the Church in Hudson, related some of his experience in Virginia, and confirmed the statements made by Dr. Rice, of the great necessity of the proposed school. The members of Presbytery lis- tened with attentive benevolence, and gave assurance of their aid. The character Mr. Rice had acquired in the Assembly gained him a hearing from the Albany Presbytery at Saratoga; and from this Presbytery he received his first encouragement to expect that the Presbyterian Church would cherish the Theological School in Prince Edward. Dr. Nott received him kindly in Schenectady. In Albany Dr. Chester's kind welcome was followed by some handsome dona- tions. At Lebanon Springs he found advantage from the mineral waters, and the excitement at the reception of his enterprise among his friends. In Boston he found many friends, the acquaintances of his former tour, and made many for his Seminary. In Salem Dr. Cornelius assisted him in making collections, At Andover his ac- quaintances of the former visit, Messrs. Porter, Stewart, and Woods, proffered their friendship and assistance. The summer being passed, his health improved, his spirits cheered, and many friends to the Seminary secured, he turned homewards, preaching and making col- lections in Philadelphia-in Baltimore with his brother Nevins, and in Fredericksburg with his friend Wilson, since his successor in office, and reached Richmond in safety.
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388
REV. JOHN H. RICE, D. D.
CHAPTER XXXI.
JOHN H. RICE, D. D. - HIS ENTRANCE ON THE WORK OF THE PROFESSORSHIP. 1
WHEN Dr. Rice left Richmond, in the fall of 1823, to enter upon the duties of the Professorship, he went with hopes and fears, provi- ----- dential warnings and encouragements, intermingled. In the eleven and a half years of useful and pleasant occupation in Richmond, he had seen great changes in the constituent parts of Hanover Presby- tery. Death had been busy with the ministry. The venerated Hoge, the lovely Legrand, the noble-hearted Lacy, the amiable Blair, and the ardent Robinson, after years of service, had passed away ; all, and Robinson peculiarly so, with some degree of suddenness in the final call; and young Kennon, after having given earnest of exten- sive usefulness, had fallen with his harness on. Changes were taking place from age and infirmity ; and Mitchel and Turner were growing old in Bedford, time worn and time honored ; Logan had paused from his labors, waiting the event of providence, whether his impaired health should sink in death, or be refreshed for more labor. Turner the younger, in feeble health, was occupying Hanover-and Lyle, in full strength, was at his post in Briery and Buffalo; Read, putting forth his energies in Cub Creek ; Reid, teaching school in Lynch- burg, and extending the borders of the church; Paxton, at the Col- lege, ministering to that part of the Cumberland Congregation south of the Appomattox; Russell, was in Norfolk; and Petersburg was nourishing a church under ministry of his brother Benjamin; and Lee, Armstead, and Davidson, from the Republican Methodists, held their congregations in Lunenburg and Charlotte. Of the Alumni of the College and Theological School, under the teaching of his venerated predecessor, Dr. Hoge, John B. Hoge had lately removed from Winchester Presbytery to the Church on Shokoe Hill, the suc- cessor of Mr. Blair ; Kirkpatrick had been removed from Man- chester to be pastor of Cumberland, north of the Appomattox; Kilpatrick, at Boydton; and Caldwell, in Nelson County; and Tay- lor, from New England, was gathering a church in Halifax. In addi- tion to these were the missionaries, John M. Fulton, in Buckingham County ; Silliman, in Leaksville ; Brookes, in Fluvanna; Curtis, in Brunswick; and Cochran at large, under the direction of the Young Men's Missionary Society ; and James G. Hamner, was supplying the pulpit he had himself just vacated. The position of his Presby- tery seemed to say to him - work while the day lasts ; work in hope ; but remember, also, the night cometh.
When he looked at the College, the place of his happy labor in his youth, there were changes both to sadden and to cheer him. Mr. Jonathan P. Cushing had succeeded his friend Hoge, in the Presidency. The trustees had wisely determined that, in the present
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389
THE COLLEGE UNDER MR. CUSHING.
state of literature and science, the President should not be encum- bered with care, foreign from the College duties. For the accommo- dation of students that were now flocking to the College, the present spacious buildings had taken the place of the old wooden chapel, endeared by a thousand recollections; and the contracted brick walls of the old College, over which some tears were shed, were torn down; and preparations were making for better accommodations for the Professors in comfortable dwellings near the College. Mr. Cushing's powers, as a teacher and administrator of College, shone still brighter in the President than in the admired Professor. His feeble health, contracting somewhat his sphere of usefulness, made that sphere more resplendent, and excited the enquiry in men's minds, what degree of excellence he would attain with firm health. Able associates were actively engaged-and the College was rising in usefulness, and influence, and fame. All this seemed to say, work in hope, but remember the night cometh.
When he turned to contemplate his own prospects as professor, he saw much to try his faith. He found himself houseless. Accom- modations had been "voted" by Presbytery, but not a trace of the buildings were to be seen. Where the seminary now, stands was the native forest in the possession of one not supposed to be friendly to the cause. Nothing had been done for the accommodation of students. There were no preparations made for his library, or for the assemblage, for prayers and for recitation, of those disposed to profit by his teachings and experience. Funds to some amount had been raised, but inadequate to the object designed. The committee appointed to superintend the erection of proper buildings had not agreed upon any plan, and were preparing to act upon a very small scale, and through efforts at economy were hazarding the whole enterprise. Mr. Cushing entered fully into the situation and views of Dr. Rice, encouraged him to act on a large scale, and offered him every assistance in his power.
A person well acquainted with the sayings and doings at that time, thus relates the passing events of the day. "No arrange- ments had been made for his accommodation. The committee had supposed that the Doctor and his wife could reside at her father's at Willington, and the Doctor could ride up to college and attend to his classes, as they had no children, and servants were not thought of. They supposed the few students could find some place to live, and a recitation room could be found about college. But Dr. Rice was obliged to have a room for his books, and to live where they were. And of course Mrs. Rice must live where he did ; and their servants with them. Their good friend, Mr. Cushing, who had been appointed President a year or two before, and lived in the Presi- dent's old house, which is now burnt down, and kept bachelor's hall with Professor Marsh, finding the Doctor's situation, very kindly invited him to share with him, and acted as if it were the Doctor's house, and he and Mr. Marsh were boarders. The house had one room, a large passage, and two very small rooms down
390
MR. CUSHING AIDS DR. RICE.
stairs ; and two attics. These two in the roof were small, at least the one that had the fire-place, and the other had always been used as the College Library, shelved for the purpose and without a fire- place. Mr. Marsh had the small room with a fire-place up stairs ; and Mr. Cushing the large one below, and his health at the time was such that he often had to hear his classes there; and much of the chemical apparatus was also there. The larger of the small rooms down stairs was used for a dining room and parlor. Harriet Minor, now Mrs. Bowman, the Doctor's niece and protege had the small room without a fire-place. Professor Marsh still used his room as a study, but gave it up at bed-time to the Doctor and his wife for a lodging room, and he slept with Mr. Cushing ; his room was pre- pared for him before breakfast. The servants were fixed in the loft of the kitchen to sleep; and their room adjoining the kitchen was fitted up for the library, study for Dr. Rice, and recitation ro m. In this room he commenced with three students, Thomas P. Hunt, Jesse S. Armstead, and Robert Burwell."
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