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An Account of the Laying of the Corner
Stone, by the Rev. J. F. Young,
D. D., from the Church
Journal, Oct. 24, 1860.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH.

[Correspondence of the Church Journal.]

Messrs Editors:--Being honored with an invitation to
be present at the laying of the cornerstone of the Uni-
versity of the South, we left New York by rail by way of
Washington, Alexandria, Lynchburg, and Knoxville,
arriving at Chattanooga on the morning of Oct. 6th, after
some forty-eight hours of continuous travel. Here we
met to our great pleasure the Bishop of Alabama,* and
several clergymen from Alabama, Georgia, and South
Carolina. with whom, after breakfast, we took the Nash-
ville railroad, winding around the base of Lookout Moun-
tain, at one time passing under its tremendous and
threatening cliffs, and at another skirting the banks of
the beautiful Tennessee. We were fully occupied during
the half day's ride to Cowan, in viewing the bold and
striking scenery, often changing, as it did, from the near
to the more distant, from the towering peak and yawn-
ing chasm, to the quiet and far-stretching river and
valleys. A little past noon we arrived at Cowan, where
we left the Nashville road, to take the cars of the Se-
wanee road, which pass through the University grounds.
And had we had any doubts of there being abundant
provision made for the large concourse of people that
might be expected on such an occasion, (doubts which
many years' residence at at the South, however, alto-
gether precluded), the twenty-nine negroes, cooks and

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NOTE.--*Rt. Rev. N. H. Cobbs, D. D., &c.--T. H.

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waiters, just arrived from Nashville, and the freight ac-
companying them, awaiting the same train with us, and
the remark of an employe of the University that they
were providing for the entertainment of over a thous-
and, were quite sufficient entirely to dispel all uneasiness.
The ascent of the mountain is very interesting, the
grade being one hundred and forty feet to the mile for
seven miles, and more than two-thirds of this for the re-
maining two miles. The train stopped midway to let us
view a prospect which suddenly opened through the for-
ests amid which we were winding up the mountain's
side. That prospect consisted of a panorama of some
thirty miles of country, surpassingly beautiful, as we all
exclaimed; but it was only a prelude, as we afterwards
found, to far more extensive and enchanting landscapes.
Arriving at the University site, we found the families of
Bishops Elliott, Polk, and Otey in part, settled, and
moving into their newly erected shanties; and several
other most agreeable ladies, the relatives or guests of
these families And the hogsheads of hams, the barrels,
and boxes, and bags of groceries, the cartloads of crock-
ery and glass, the bales of sheeting and blankets, and
(acres we might almost say) of straw beds, &c., &c.,
which on every hand greeted our sight, indicated that
Southern hospitality for once had entered upon the dif-
ficult undertaking of outdoing itself. These things but
betokened, however, the cordial heart-welcome that
awaited all, and would make even a stranger feel at
once that he was amongst the friends of many years.

On Sunday, Oct. 7th, Divine Service was held, and the
Holy Communion very appropriately celebrated, in the
morning, in a log building recently erected on the
premises, Bishop Atkinson preaching, Bishop Cobbs
consecrating, and both administering to the Bishops,
clergy, and laity present. In the afternoon, the Rev.
Mr. Glennie of South Carolina, preached, the Rev. Messrs.
Glennie, Hawkes of Georgia, Mitchell of Alabama, and
Young of New York, assisting in the Morning and Evening
Prayers. The congregations consisted of persons from
the wide district of country lying between New York
and New Orleans, Chicago and Charleston; and the
earnest devotion with which all joined in the old familiar