University of South Carolina Libraries
The Abbeville Press and Banner. 1 BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1904. ESTABLISHED 1844 |l The Associate R Pres Pioneer in Chris ./ MANY INTERESTING H REFERENCE TO THE OF A PEOPLE IN BL LEADING TO WONDE1 i Address Delivered at Winnsb Centennial Exercises, Nove Kennedy, of Bartow, Fla. [Associate Reform e I The history of education in the f Associate Reformed Church is a fa- c miliar story. It has been told many 11 times. It has been told with a love t that was blind to defects aod diffusive 1 in praise. It has been told with well t intended criticism that magnified im- c perfections and minified excellencies, t It has beeo told by the statisticean c who saw the small corps of teachers, t the short roll of studeuts, the build- li iDgs and endowments, but saw not & the faith and love and hope that n breathed and thrilled and throbbed s< in the body of the words and acta of o: ha fothoro and ?miB of the church. 8< He is the wise man who knows his 1< weakness as well as his strengh. Let i< our history be faced with candor. Let ci It be told with frankness. We love A our institutions and point with just pride to their successful sons, and say, C "These are our products." But every G country has produced its great men. ft Every institution may point to its n illustrious names. I can conceive of b no study which, systematically and ?< persistently pursued, will not result J in an educated mind and a strengthen- ti ed will. "Great men were trained in tl the schools of the Greek sophists and tl Arabian aetrologers, of the Jesuits and ? Toifionnlofo buu vauoouiowt There were great men when nothing n was taught but School Divinity on c Canon Law; and there would still be tj great men if nothing were taught but li the fooleries of Spurzhem and tl Swedenborg." It has been justly observed that it is 0 the general course of those who patronize an abuse to attribute to it ^ every good which exrets in spite of it, e and to take it for granted that we are c indebted to them for all the talent tl which they have not been able to _ destroy. It does not comport iil with ? love for our institutions to compare Q them with others. Let the com- d parison be made. Let us seek tbe v truth. Let the pride we feel in a reviewing our progress by tempered with modesty. It has been remarked a I that an individual should Dot be more proud of his knowledge, because he 1 participate? in the universal improve- -j ment, that, ne is vain of bis speed, be- {, cause he is flying along with the earth ^ and everything upon it, at the rate of 3 seventy thousand miles an hour. It is 0 only when we are going forward in e comparison with others that we have (( ground for merited pnde. , 1 But criticism, even that criticism which would rouse from lethargy an(i c stimulate to action, sometimes does e scant justice, and ofteutimes much e harm. Criticism is never creative 0 itself, nor ever conducive to the c creative spirits in others. It is one thing to fiud fault, it is another thing , to remeuy. ruumg uowu is uui j building up. Some tbiDgs ought to be H pulled down. But the destructive v spirit is less noble, and is less in j demand, than the spirit that is con- . struct! ve. An institution must not be charged ? with the faults of the age or of cir- ^ cumstances not of its making. The r collego may say to the church give ue fi more members with as much justness t as the church can say to the college , give us more students. The truth is, ( no college has been more ready to j. serve its church, no church has been ( more loyal to its college, than Erskine j College has been ready to serve the i ? 1-._ ?..? V, | neiuruieu uuuivu, iuau mc s Associate Reformed cburcb has beeD < loyal to Erskine College. , Again, if tbe history of rulers and of , battles Is not tbe true history of a | cation, no more is that the true his- { lory of education in the Associate ( Reformed church which gives facts | and dates, but makes no mention of the discussions, debates and resolutions of the synod relative to this work. 1 That is not an adequate history of ' Erskioe College, the centre of the church's educational work, which fails to give an account of tbe scholarship and anecdotal side of the presidents and professors, of the students' troubles and festivals, of the junior exhibitions, Society celebrations and commencement days. Obviously then, I do not purpose to -? *.->1 u *?. ll give S tun maiuijr, auu u mu uc evident I have not given a justly proportioned hiotory of the educational work of our church. before 1803. One hundred years ago, scattered [ over the Carolinas and Georgia for the most part, were some nineteen hundred Asfociate Reformed Presbyterians. They bad inherited from Scotland and Ireland a bigh standard of requirement lor the Christian ministry. A candidate for ordination to this office must have received a thorough classical training at some college and have pursued a theological A course of study either at college, or un Ii der the direction of some minister. I The Associate Reformed church, of ( which these nineteen hundred were only a part, had established Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., in 1783. Here most of the candidates for tbe minr istry In tbe Associate Reformed church, for the first fifteen years after its organization, received both their literary and theological training. I As early as 1796 the Associate Re eformed ;byterian Church. kiCVl X UVfV*VMMViA? ISTORICAL FACTS IN REMARKABLE SUCCESS AZING THE WAY AND RFUL RESULTS. oro, S. C, as a Part of the mber JO, J903, by Rev. E. B. id Presbyterian.] ormed church discussed the founding if a theological seminary. In 1801 he Rev. John M. Mason was sent o Great Britain and Ireland to soicit donations for a seminary aDd auhorized to purchase with the funds ollected books for the library. After ifteen months be returned having ollected 8bout five thousand dollars, he most of which was spent for the ibrary. In 1804 the Rev. John Maon, one of the ablest men and forelost preachers of America, was chojn Profe-sor of Divinity, and the city f New York fixed as the place for the - ?- ? ^V? in moo *Ko oonnnH t Koa_ 5LU ILJai1UIO TW OrO iUV DV-WUV* kUUV )gical seminary established in Amer;a: Twelve years before the Assoiate Presbytery had established the rst in Beaver county, Pa. After the Synods of Scioto and the aroiinas had withdrawn from feneral Synod of the Associate Reirmed church, a portion of the retaining part united with the Presyterian church, and managed to con}iidate the theological seminary at few York with that at Princeton and ansfer the library from the former to tie latter place. At the suggestion of tie Associate Reformed Synod of the outh delegates from the Synods of tie South, the West, and New York let in convention to take steps to reover this library and re-established tie seminary. After vlong years of tigation the library was restored to tie Synod of New York. BIGIN OF COLLEGE AND SEMINARY. But while it i9 interesting to note be active part our fathers took in the arly educational work of the Assoiate Reformed church, eur chief lnerest lies in the work done among the eople of our Synod since its organi* ation in 1803. To meet the requireaentsfor the miuistry in the early ays of the Synod, our young men rere dependent on the old field chools, few, inefficient and of unertain continuance, on the very few cademieo, and on the still fewer col>ges. In a paper read before the State "eachera Association, at Spartanburg 1894, Prof. Morrison or Clemson Jo liege quotes from various sources howing that the educational condition f the South in the last quarter of the ijjbteenth century and the first quarer of the nineteenth century was >rimitive and pathetic. General McUrady, who gave the nost favorable account of colonial ducation in South Carolina, could numerate ouly twenty two scholars >f all kinds in the entire State at the loeeofthe Revolutionary war. An eye witness of a scene on Sulli-an's Island the day after the battle of 'ort Sumter writes: "And indeed to ee tbe looks of our poor soldiers, vhen those great ladies, all glittering n silks and jewels, and powdered and >erfumed so nice, would come up to bem, in faces like angels, sparkling ina sinning so awem, as 11 iaey wouiu cissthem;! say to nee the looks of >ur poor fellows, their awkward bows ind broad grins, and other droll capers hey cut, no human being could have efrained from laughing." When 5ov. Rutledge presented his sword to Sergeant Jasper and offered him a commission, the gallant officer replied: 'I am greatly obliged toyou, Govenor, 3ut I had rather not have a commission. As I am, I pass very well with such company as a poor sergeant has any right to keep. If I were to get a jommiusion, I would be forced to keep higher company; and then, as I don't ft now how to read, I should only be throwing myself in a way to be I nf 9) laugucu au Ex-Govenor Perry in an address delivered in 1878 said: "Thirty years ago I rode all day through the counties of Oconee, Pickens, Anderson, Abbeville, and Greenville, taking the testimony of very aged witnesses in a great lawsuit then pending in the city of Mobile, involving several hundred thousand dollars and the legitimacy of a highly respectable family of young ladies. The witnesses who appeared before me were mostly born before or during the Revolutionary War. I was greatly surprised and not a little shocked to find that almost all of the old ladies examined were unable to write their names, and had to make their marks, to their depositions. TKoir tuarn in cpaaH nlrnnmofonnoa and A Uv7jr t* vi v iu ^wu vix vumotMuvvu mothers of prominent men in their counties." Prof. Morrison states that he has frequently asked ex-Confederate offiofficers, mainly from the upper counties of South Carolina, "how many men in their commands were unable to write home, or read the letters received, and the answers usually given were one fourth or one fifth. Such being the condition of education among these masses, the ministei as a "finished classical scholar and thorough theologian" was not inap *1 prupiiai^ij uaueu ILI? purtouu, uciu^ easily chief person. At the beginning of the last centu ry the public school system bad no been established in the territory of tb< Associate Reformed church, and w< may believe that the first educationa work done by the fathers of thi v . -it * '->? church was done in maintaining schools for elementary instruction. Among the very few academies ol that time were those of Rev. James Rogers, at Monticello, Fairfield county, 8. C., and of Eleazer Harris in York county, S. C. While the former was not controlled by the church, it was presided over for more than a quarter of a century by an Associate Reformed minister ana largely patronA oaAntofa manannla 1<6CU UJ Aoouuiavo ivuiux luwu pwj^iv* The latter, known as Ebeoezer Academy, was taken under the care of the Synod in 1825. Both of these were established in the early part of the century. Perhaps there were other schools which are justly entitled to be mentioned, but 1 have no record of them. OF DR. COOPER'S INFIDELITY AND SECTIONAL HATRED ERSKINE COLLEGE WAS BORN. Out of the need of education among all classes, and especially out of the need of those who expected to enter the ministry, was born the church's desire and purpose to estaonsn educational work of its own. This need, already deeply felt, was emphasized by two things, the growing political animosity between the North and the South, and the pronounced infidelity of Dr. Cooper, President of the South Carolina College. We had no college of our own. Our young men having the ministry in view had been attending Northern institutions, principally Jefferson College and Miami Uuiversity. But bitterness had increased to such degree between the two sections of country that in 1834 the Synod declared in a resolution, "that in their opinion it is prejudicial to the Southern church to send our young men to the North or West, either to college or to a theological seminary." Thus shut off from the North many of our people looked to the South Carolina College. But here trouble of another kind existed. Thomas Cooper, whom Jefferson thought "the greatest man in America in the powers of his mind and in acquired information, and that without a single exception," but whom John Adams regarded as "a learned, ingenous, scientific and talented madman," became Professor of Chemistry in the South Carolina College in 1819, and a year later the President of this institution. Born in London, for a short time a resident of Paris and a congenial associate of the Revolutionary spirits there, Cooper came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. For many acts of petty tyranny, browbeating counsel, witnesses, and parties to a suit, he was impeached by the Senate of Pennsylvania and removed from the office of Judge. For a violent attack made on President Adams in the f>ress he was fined four hundred dolars and imprisoned six months. dr. cooper's charge. This restless and disagreeable man, in private conversation, classroom lecture and pamphlet attacked the authenticity and genuineness of the Scripture. He hated the clergy venomously, and in bis report to the legislature in 1822 charged that "the most powerful obstacle to the prosperity of this institution is the systematic hostiltty of the clergy generally, to every seminary of education which is not placed under their government and control." # synod's denial. The Associate Reformed Synod of the South at its next meeting prepared And ordered to be nublished in one of the papers of the State an address denying the charge and appealing from the "illiberal, unrighteous and sweeping charge of the learned president against the ministers of reconciliation, to the candor and gpod sense of the Christian commonwealth." President Cooper continued covertly and openly to attack the Bible, and the Christian people did not cease to oppose Presidenrt Cooper from the time of his installation. ACTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. In 1831 John S. Pressly. a graduate of the South Carolina College, and afterwards an A. B. P. minister, introduced in the house of representatives the following: "Besolved, that in the opinion of this house it is expedient that the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina College do forthwith investigate the conduct of Dr. Cooper, as President of the South Carolina College, and if they find that his continuance in office defeats the ends and aims of the institution, that they be requested to remove him." The board found nothing against the president. The historian of the oollege says the board made the exculpating report through sympathy for the old gentleman. The cry of "reorganization ! revolu;ion!" which had been raised from the mountains to the seaboard wa9 uow heard louder than ever. Dr. Cooper gave up the presidency, but retained a position as teacher. But even this did not satisfy the - ?1 J i? inoj I U people, auu iu1004 u? sevcicu uu wunection with the college. The college suffered seriously in the loss of students aDd of public favor on account of Dr. Cooper's infidelity. Ever since, the college authorities have been careful to avoid any irreligious tendency, and have been stricter than most State institutions aDd maDy denominational ones in having religious exercises and in requiring attendance on public worship. Dr. Lathan credits the Associate Reformed people for being among the first, if not the first, to raise the alarm and start the oppostion to Dr. Cooper. erskine's first charter. The Deed of education among oui , people, and the few facilities for sup plying the need, offered the invitation , and imposed the necessity for some . kind of educational work by tb< l church. The sectional differences made the churoh feel more than eve] . thrown upon its! own resources. Th< . trouble in the South Carolina Colleg* I suggested the possibility and fear of i . similar recurrence and impressed th< P importance of a college which woulc ' provide helpful religious influences ai . well aB guard agaiDSt harmful ones, k 8uch were the causes which led t< ? the founding of Erskine College it j 1839. It was the first denominationa j college in the State, and perhaps th< a first in the whole South. It is inter eating to note that the charter wa f at first refused by the legislature, an< not granted until 1850, although active f efforts were made to secure it. Th< opposition to the granting, a chartei came from the friends or:^he Bouth Carolina College, who wished that the latter institution might be patronized by all parts of the State and thus be come the means of uniting the different sections. The1 friends of Erskine believed that the way to get right with men is to get right with God. The synod believed then and the synod believes now, that there is a vast difference between universities in which religion is offered as an optional study, and colleges in which it is the chiel cornerstone and crown. SUCCESSIVE STEPS. If we except the classical schoole established in the early part of the century, and James Rogers school in Fairfield county, the first step taken by the synod in educational work waa at its meeting in 1825. Then the synod established a theological seminary by electing Rev. John Hemphill professor of didactic and polenaic theology, and Rev. John T. Pressly professor of oriental languages, Biblical criticism, and church history. Without buildings, without salary, these men, living one hundred miles apart and doing regular pastoral work, performed the duties of teachers assigned them until Mr. Hemphill, I burdened with age and infirmity, resigned in 1827, and Dr. Pressly removed to Pittaburg in 1831'. In the meantime efforts were made to collect funds and a library for the seminary. MANTTAT, T.AROR SCHOOL. While the seminary and the college as now constituted have separate funds, separate boards, and separate faculties, the two are one, one in purpose and one in history. It is not a change to a different sub - ' 1 i- AI . ?/ tUn jecc wnen we note iub ucal otcp ui iuc synod in 1834 sb an effort to eBtablisb one or more schools on the manual labor system. At the next meeting of synod in 1835 this purpose was abandoned as impracticable or undesirable. But in a series of resolutions adopted at the same time on the subjcct of education, agents were appointed to collect and treasurers to manage fuDds to assist in the education of young men having the ministry in view. FIRST SCHOOL AT DUE WEST. It was resolved to establish a school at Due West Corner, Abbeville district, 8. C., with John 8. Pressly as rV *1 J A ?u: ? teaener. oeveu iuou?auu buu mmjfive dollars were collected, a building was erected, and the school opened the first Monday in February, 1836, with twenty classical scholars. The school was called the Academy at Due West Corner. The next year it was incorporated as Clark and Erekine Seminary. Rev. Samuel P. McCracken of Miami University, having declined to accept the position of Professor of Divinity to which he was elected in 1836, Dr. E. E. Pressly was elected to fill the place in 1887. In 1839 John 8. Pressly resigned as teacher of Clark and Erskine Seminary. The synod in this year changed the name to Erskine College and enlarged the list of, faculty ana the course of study. THE FIRST FACULTY OF ERSKINE. Rev. E. E. Pressly, President and Profess&r of Moral Science; , Neil M. Gordoh, Professor of Languages, pro tem ; John N. Young, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, pro tem. By 1843 a new building bad been erected at a cost of seven thousand and ninety dollars. FINANCES. For the first year of its history the college was supported by tuition fees and occasional gifts and bequests. In 1853 a movement was begun to raise an endowment. A fund of $50 000 was raised which was afterwards increased to $70,000. The flourishing college had closed its doors early in the war, but resumed *r? lfiAA All hnt thirfpon YVUItk iu iwwi ai* mu? ?? or fifteen thousand dollars of its endowment bad beed swept away. The young men had been scattered, impoverished, slain, the ooilege bad a struggle to live. In 1-807 a successful effort was made to secure two hundred men whc would give twenty dollars each foi five years in return for a scholarship for each twenty dollars. y Again in 1871 the Synod resolved tc raise an endowment of $100,000. Bj the sale of scholarships, which wer< to expire in 1895, donations and be quests, about $80,000 were raised. At the semi-centennial celebratior of Erskine in 1886 an honored son o the college arose in the alumni meet Infr onH nrnnnaari that w? civfl oil] r-"i ?? * - o mother a new dress. She had wori the old since 1843. The suggeBtioi fell on an atmosphere already electric The movement then started was ac celerated by the burning of the oh building in 1892. Attblstime (1892) some advocate< the removal of the college to anothe place, on the ground of better adver 1 tisement and larger patronage. Die cussion and debate waxed warm When it was settled that the institu tion should remain at Due West, ad vocates and opponents united heart > and hands to build a bigger and bet i ter college. The present spaciou college building, the College Horn for bovs. and Wvlie Home for srirh stand as monuments to the zeal an liberality of some who were untirin in their efforts and of those who wer generous in their gifts. TWENTIETH CENTURY FUND. At its meeting in 1902 the By no resolved to raise a Twentieth Centur educational fund of $50,000 in tb next five years, one half for Erskiu College, one fourth for edueatiom work in connnection with foreig 1 missions, and one fourth for the Du ' ? T* 1- ?-11 1 J ?V., west rcujaio v^uuegc, piuviucu iuc this institution was placed under tfa 5 control and become the property < j the Synod. The canvase is bein 1 successfully prosecuted, and about on e half of the amount has been raisec At various times gifts have bee B made to the college and to the sera l nary oy persons wnose names ar i household words in the Synod. ; With the college endowment o p $88,803.13, the Theological Seminar: i endowments of ?55,756.88, collegi i buildings of not less value than $73, t 000, the Synod has for educationa work a plant of about $220,000, be sides adequate libraries and a flni i laboratory. t INNER GROWTH. The inner growth of the college ha? ke?t pace with its outer development, The improved exterior appearance if au index of a new spirit infused intc it. In 1893 the Chair of English Lit erature and Language was added tc the curriculum. This was a tardj recognition of the value of the stud} i of a literature "wider in its scope, , sounder in its philosophy, purer ir its morals, and immeasurably ricbei a^d more extensive than the frag, ments of all the dead tongues that remain in the world," of a language, in force and copiousness, second tc that of Greece alone. My partiality for this department of study and my ponsequent familiarity with the efficiency with which it is couducted in Ersbine will permit me to say of it, without seeming to fail in the least to give due credit to the thoroughness ol the work done in the other departments, that I would rather have the instructions given in the English course in Erekine than that given in the same course in any other college in (he State. The establishment of the Chair of English was followed by an enlarged course In the natural sciences and the arrangement of studies leading to the B. S. degree. Education which had so long Men hellenized and romanized was invigorated with new life. Some apprehended a loss of patrician flavor in the plebeian touch 'of the laboratory. It was the old and oft debated question of the classics as against science. The question has been wisely and satisfactory settled by leaving it to each student to settle for himself. Tbe studies' ebanged were less significant than the spirit of tbe change. It was the triumph of a protest older than Milton, who two centuries ago contended for an education which should be natural in method and useful and noble in results. He advocated beginning with things concrete and nepr and proceeding to those abstract and remote. He protested against debasing noble literatures to the making of grammarians and philologians. "Though a linguist should pride himself to have all the tongues that Babel cleft the world into, yet, if he have not studied the solid things in thenj as well as the words and lexicons, he were nothing so much to be esteemed a learned man as any yeoman or tradesman competently wise in bis motner-dialect only." While Milton's first two ideas of education condemned in a manner the study of the classics, his third idea of nobleness condemns no less what seems to have come in with tbe study of tbe sciences. In the opinion of Philips Brooks, there "is a decay of nobleness, a certain prosaical minuteness. a certain sordidness, a certain dry economy in our day, when the highest culture is distrustful of enthusiasm, when eloquence is not in favor in our schools, when the average teacher is more afraid of exuberance than of dryness in his pupil." The classics have a higher value in ministering to this nobleness than science has. But higher than the classics and science together is the value of what is called Christian education. Among the marked changes of recent years is the increased attention given to the study of the Englisb Bible in both the College and the Seminary. The Scriptures either witt regard to tbe principles iney leacn, lives they record, the spirit thej breathe, or the language in which al is clothed, stand alone amidst al literatures, sacred or profane, ancien or modern, for instruction in nobl< principles and inspiration to nobl< life* CHANCELLOR MCCRACKEN ON CHKIS TIAN EDUCATION. Chancellor MacCracken, of Nev York University, said recently: "j wish we could require from everj freshman a Sabbath school diplomi tbat would certify he knew by hear the Ten Commandments, tbe Sermor i on the Mount, a church catechism o some kind, and a score oftbeScripturi n rirl hoot filangin humnfl. Thil t JT HttiULIO OfUU wvov viMuvaw M.*.. university will join auy association o i universities and colleges that will de i mand this as an entrance requirement So much as in us lies, we will mak< > the college a place for preserving an< strengthening reverence for things di ? vine.'' r > THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS. Dr. Oilman, for twenty-fiv years President of John Hopkins Uni 1 versity, now says, that for literary * A?' ?1 /?o 1 ?n/1 rv-?nro 1 roc " msumcai, lueiunwi, ouvj u,v,u. ' sods the Bible ought to be useful ii schools of every grade, public and pr vate. Greece had her temples, Rom 1 had her tables, but Christian Btate* * partly through unwarranted a^sumf tions of students' previous familiarity neglect the study of Christian litert . ture and Christian institutions. Y< the church has its names as prominer J! and potent in shaping the destinies < nations and individuals, it9 martyrs, s numerous and true, its councils f ' eventful, its thought as original, ii [" feelings as deep and and pure, as an l" nation or any literature on earth. ] s rears its structure in every community It permeates all society and lepislatioi 8 I believe its study is more profitab 6 than knowledge of the details of a d !| funct and mummified civilisation, tc remote tor idiosyncrasies !to be distil ? guished from essentials. Rufus Choa ^ * ?8 L*" 1 ?otn/lonfa tn ohlH " BQVlStS Ll is iavr oiuuvuio wr b?mv theology for the mental discipline an those who have threaded the wa through theological subtleties will n< d dispute the wisdom of the learnt y jurist's advice. e OTHER SCHOOLS. e il With the addition of another fu n professorship in the seminary, the r ie organization of the Preparatory D it partment, the establishment of Presb, ,e terian schools at White Oak, Ga., Trc >f and Bethany, S. C., Mission schools i g Mexico and a school at the orphanag ie the church is more actively and larg J. ly engaged in educational work tha n ever before in its history. The pu i- pose of the mission schools reminds i 0 of the purpose of tbe rounders or jsrskine College. ' If it is proper to make a record of 7 James Rogers' school in the early part s of the past century, it is proper to - mention the Huntersville High School 1 which for a number of years was in a * flourishing condition under Rdv. W. 3 W. Orr, and gave to the college and tbe church some of our best men. Perhaps there are still other schools, as Jones Seminary for young ladies at i All Healing, N. C., which ought to be mentioned. 5 ) DUE WEST FEMALE COLLEGE. [From a recent issue of the catalogue > of the Due , West Female College, ' Queen of the Church institutions, the r printer would add "historical facts." i Beginning with its foundation in 1859, 1 and continuing to the present time, it r has ranked for the education of - women amoDg the very best of the & Colleges in the State. Its abundant > success is the best proof of the good ' judgment and the earnest work of ' those who have been in charge of the ' InofltiiH/in Tta noofnlnmaa in hfflt evi denced by tbe multitude of cultuied Christian women that may be found in every 8tatein the Union:] t Rev. J. I. Bonner, D. D., President, i December 30th, 1859, to April 29, 1881. Died April 29th 1881. Prof. J. P. Kennedy, President. Died January, 21st, 1897. Mrs. K. P. Ke'nnedy, Vice President. Mrs. L. M. Bonner, Vice-Principal. June 19th, 1881, to July 1st, 1887. Miu. L. M. Bonner, Principal. H. E. Bonner, Vice-Principal, July 1st, 1887, to July 1st, 1895. Rev. C. E. Todd, President, July Jet,-1895, to July 1st, 1899. . Rev. James Boyce, President, July 1st, 1899. One other school must be mentioned. It has stood for nearly half a century, side by sid? with Erskine College, under the shadow of one of the principal churches of the denomination, singing the church's songs, teaching the church's daughters. It does not receive the church's money; It Is not controlled by the ohurch's boards, it is called nodenominational, but however labeled, in warp and woof, in fibre and in dye, it 1* Associate Reformed Presbyterian if Erskine Col lege 1b Associate Reformed Presbyterian. Its presidents have been servants of tbe church, loyal and faithful, and the church would be poorer by far today if the Due West Female College had never existed. Tbe Synod now has under consideration the purchase of the property and control of the institution. The reason the church has never aided this college is not because of the Salic law which so long denied or ignored woman's right to knowlege, but because the crllege has prospered so well without the PRINCIPLES OP EDUCATION. Let me recur to the principles in education for which tbe church has niwul Wfl havfl all axnerienced the purpose and enthusiasm with which i we nave begun a day, or task or pro! fession; As we have all felt that pur. pose weaken and that enthusiasm subi side In the progress of our work, as we . have felt the throb of the engine when i the ship starts but have not felt it ? when the ship was well under way at i sea,i Erekine has stood for a liberal i and a Christian education. There r never was more need than today for ! the church to stand forsuch education, 1 and to stand firm. We pride ourt selves on having never asaed what ? was popular and expedient, but what ? is true and right. The spirit that animated the six hundred ministers in the crddle of our history to lose their " living rather than their principles, that' spirit that strengthened twenty thous7 and Presbyterians to lose their liveB r rather than violate their conscience, the spirit that fired the hearts of the Scottish soldiers to raise the bonny t blue flag, bearing the legend, "For Christ's Crown and Covenant," the * spirit that has prompted the Reform. ers, the Associates and the Associate ? Reformed people, to stand for the f right even if they have to stand alone, is the spirit that has prevailed in all the history of education in our church. ' Today it combats the error that a j liberal education is impractical, and disproves the contention that a Christian education is narrow. Thwing in the North American Review is quoted assaying that while the college man will find himself bee hind the boy with whom he parted i- company on leaving the high school, he will in a few years over take aud t- pass the latter, through keener peril ception and more comprehensive i- grasp. But the main end or education e is not to become rich. It may justly i- ho iipmanried of education that it add >- to the material worth and happiness r, of the world, but education is an end i* in itself. The ability to read has a ?t commercial value, but who would sell it his power to read for money ? Man>f hooa, not money, is the Motto of 19 Erskine. The college has been is modernized, and, with an unchanging ts purpose must have constantly changy ing methods to adjust itself to the (t changing conditions. r. Erskine has stood for a thorough 3. education. Ie But a university does not multiply e- one's faculties or increase his ca>o pacities. Q- In the college the various departte menta are better correlated, ana the y studies in the same department are d more closely and logically related, ty than can well be the case in the 3t university. id But above all else Erskine stands for Christian education. Engraved in a marble slab above the college door was written in Hebrew: "The ill fpar of the Lord is the beginning e- of wisdom." Below was inscribed in e- Latin: "Soientiacum moribus cony juncta." >y The Associate Reformed Presbyn terians have completed a century ol e, educational work. This work has nol e- been without errors. The results are m not imposing. But of Erskine College r- and the Theological Seminary, the is main products or the church's efforts, we are proaa. me uonege nas oeen fa true to the purpose of its founders in /:, (riving a thorough, a liberal, and a Gbriatian education and in serviDg as ^ an ally to the church. Siuce its ee- ' ^ tablishment in 1839, Erskine has given to the world 674 graduates, of whom 174, or thirty-six per cent, have entered th? (Ihrintian minietrv. HISTORICAL FACTS. 1. In 1839 Dr. E. E. Pressly was 33 elected President and Rev. N. M. Gor- 7'T%j don and Rev. J. N. Yonng were elect- g cd professors, pro tem. Iu 1840 Rev. >; rj J. N. Young and Rev. J. P. Pressly : ^3 were elected permanent profesbore. The college baa bad'the following gen- "'Vj tlemen as Presidents: Rev. E. E. Pressly, D.D., 1839. R. C. Grier, D.D.. (two terms, 1847 ;<$ to 1858 and 1865 to 1871.) Rev. E. L. Patton, LL. D. Rev. W. M. Grier, LL. D., D.D. . m Rev. F. Y. Pressly, D.D. FIRST GRADUATES. 2. The first class graduated in 1842. ' ^ 3. There were seven in the first grad- & naflnep nlaoa Enoch Agnew. Due West, 8. C. Samuel P. Davis, Mecklenburg, N. C. ' '<fa David F. Haddon, Due West, 8# C. /% John O. Lindsay .Due West. 8. C. -a James A. Sloan, Farfleld, 8. C. . . John C. Williams, Abbeville Coun- ' v";iS ty, s. c. ' : iim R. A. Fair, Abbeville County, 8. C. 'i ; | FIBST TRUSTEES. 7. The flrat Trustees were Abram % Haddon, James Fair, JohnL. Ellis, James Lindsay, A. C. Hawthorn, Dr. Enoch Agnew, Bev. B. E. Pressly. V' il They all lived in and about Due West. , '/fi TRUSTEES IN 1855. i ^ 8. In 1855 the Trustees and their homes were as follows: Dr. E. E. Presslv, Due West. Enooh Agnew, M. D., Mississippi. m Dr. Geo. W. Pressly, Cedar Springs. <$3 T nr TT--if rv jm_ . < ?i. VY. xaearu', m. JL?., teuar optJUKe. - ? Wo. Atfderson, M. D.f Cartersvme, j; J Ga. j r .v Dr. A. W. Chalmers, Newberry. Gen. P. H. Bradley, Cedar Springs. Jl Col. Sam'l Donald, Donalds, S. C. jsS Maj. W. K. Bradley, Long Cane. ,'M Col. D. O. Hawthorne, Dae West. Col. Wm. Wright, York. James Hemphill, Chester. Dr. W. R. Hemphill, Due West, Rev. J. I. Bonner, Dae West. Rev. J. C. Chalmers. Anderson. v^i Rev. JJL. Young, Mississippi, Dr. J. Boyce, Fairfield. . m Rev. J. Galloway, Newberry. y!f Judge J. B. O'Neal, Newberry. Dr. R. C. Grier, Dae West. J. ,L. Ellis, Due West. /?. vjpg J. R. Wilson, Due West ' \ J. Pratt, Due West. ^ x# John Walker, Meoklenburg, N. C. . 'M H. A. Jones, Abbeville. A. C. Hawthorne, Due West. Rev. J. N. Yoang, Dae West. \KP($ RE-ORGANIZATION OF BOABD OF p. TRUSTEES. _ Synod reduced the number of trustees to .15 in 1888. The previous nam- * ber had been 89, so 24 were dropped.* wM, In 1892 the number was again raised :;*j to 25. \ilila DROPPED FROM THE BOLL. 9. The following were/ dropped lAM from the board of trustees in 1888 : Dr. Jag. Boyce, T. 8. Brioe, Prof J P Kennedy.G. H. McMaster, Dr. J. L. Miller, W. L. Miller, Joseph F. Lee, J. A. Brioe, J. C. Wilson, Dr. W. L. Pressly, Robert Moorbead, M. A. Ren wick, Dr. H. T. Sloan, Prof. J. G. Cook, Gen P. H. Bradley,T. R. Magill, RevD. F. Haddon.J. 8. Douglass. Hon. W. A. Lee, Dr. J. E. Pressly. $? Capt W. L. Roddy,Prof H. E. Bonner, GenR R Hemphill, H. 8. Moseley, Rev. J. C. Boyd, Rev. J. H. 8trong, Dr. D. G. PhllllpSjHon C B Simonton Galvln Bribe, Rev. A. 8. Sloan, Rev B. F. Bradley,W. B. Robinson. BOARD OF TRUSTEES IK 1903. Rev. E. P. McClintock, D.D., President of Board, Newberry, 8. C. Rev. D. G. Phillips, Secretary of Board, Atlanta, Ga. J Geo. 8. Mower, Esq., Treasurer of -V' a "VT u. ? n Doaxu, newuerrjf, o. v. Rev. R. G. Miller, D.D., Sardls.N.C Rev. W. H. Miilen, Rosemark, Tenn Rev. J. P. Knox, Columbia, 8. C. Rev. W. M. Hunter, Monitor, W.Va Rev. O. Y. Bonner, Due West, S. C. J. K. Morrison, Statesville, N. C. ' J. C. Hemphill, Charleston, S. C. Capt. F. Dilling, Kings Mountain, N. C. Rev. C. B. Betta, D.D., Lewisvllle, 8 C ' ^ Hon. D. E. Flnley, Yorkville, 8. C. Hon. J. N. Miller, Camden, Ala. W. A. Gri^r, Charlotte, N, C. Rev. F. Y. Pressly, D.D., (member * ex-offlcio) Due West, 8. C. Hon. J. J. Darlington, LL.D.jWash-^ ington, D. C. J. W. Kirkpatrlck, Charlotte, N. C. A. 8. Kennedy, Due West, 8. C. W. L. Phillips, Louisville, Ga. J. H. Miller, Birmingham, Ala. R. 8. Galloway. Due West, 8. C. Rev. W. Y. Love, Taylorsville, N.C Rev. J. P. Erwin, Rosemark, Tenn. Rev. H. R. Rabb, Okete, Mo. Rev. H. Rabh, Okete, Mo. Rev. W. A. Blakely, Harrells, Ala. Rev. J. R. McCormicb, Eureka, TGX&S* T. H. White, Chester, 8. C. FACULTY IN 1903. Frank Young Pressley, D.D President. Wylie Professorship of Mental and Moral Philosophy. John Irenaeus McCain, Ph. D., (Princeton.) Professor of English Liter i ture and LaDguage. Paul Livingston Grier, A. M,, Proi feasor of Mathematics and Astronomy. Rev. Dallas Grier Caldwell, A. B., s Professor of Latin and French. ; Ebenezer Leonidas Reid, A. M., Proi fessor of Physical Science. John Lowry Pressly, A. B., Professor of Greek and (ierman. ; James Boyd Kennedy, A. B., Professor > of Fitting School. ! , Continued on Eigth Page. I