13

By 1861 Polk had seen his original three clergymen increased to thirty-
two and his three parishes of 1841 grown to forty.

Polk's episcopate was an outstanding success but so were
those of other consecrated men. His personal life was exemplary but
that condition can also be found in all stations. He demonstrated an
attitude worthy of Job under formidable afflictions but so have
others.

His crowning work was accomplished quietly in his study during
the most tragic of his years, the early fifties. While he was losing
home and slaves, while Yellow Jack stalked his plantation, and diocese,
while his fortune was disappearing, he was preparing a plan for an
educational center which had not yet been matched. Methodically he
collected catalogues from all over the world. He concluded these
things: a significant institution must be supported by a large number
of dioceses; a geographically broad base of government was desirable;
compromise in doctrine could not replace faith in basic principles---
hence Bible and Prayer Book as keystones. Support, he said, could
be had from civic spirited citizens as well as Episcopalians; an
endowment corpus must be assembled of such magnitude that the
income alone would suffice for original construction; operating expenses
and subsidizing salaries; and institution could flourish above the
academic level of the state universities and their graduates should
be admitted for further study; Oxford provided the best pattern for
the agrarian and aristocratic South and he named thirty-two schools
or colleges which would comprise his educational complex; a community