University of the South Papers Series A, No1

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neighboring cottages. The Music Band was playing during the dinner, and in the intervals between the speeches which followed in the afternoon. When the dinner was finished, the guests still retaining their seats, Bishop Otey arose and said:--

"I feel peculiar pleasure in introducing to you a distinguished fellow-citizen, whose labors in the cause of science have crowned his name with honor throughout the world, and made him, in a measure, the property of nations. The winds of Heaven and the waves of the sea, have, by his researches, been made tributary to increase the facilities of trade to every land and on every sea where Commerce spreads her sails. I announce to you the name of Commander Mathew Fontaine Maury."

Lieut. Maury addressed the audience briefly but eloquently, and was greeted with applause as he continued. Speeches were also made by Rev. F. A. P. Barnard, President of the University of Mississippi, who has consecrated his talents and devoted the earnest labors of his whole life to the development of true principles of Education, and by Bishop Smith, of Kentucky, and the Hon. John M. Bright, of Fayetteville.

AT NIGHT.

The visitors and guests were all taken care of by the attentive Committee of Arrangements, and rooms and comfortable couches were assigned to all. And thus passed off the day, harmoniously and delightfully, and to the entire satisfaction of all interested. The arrangements altogether were admirable, and lasting credit is due to the efficient management for the agreeable manner with which they prepared for, and received, the visitors. The Executive Committee spared neither pains nor expense in furnishing supplies for the occasion, and, we are happy to be enabled to state that their efforts were crowned with success. Most of the visitors returned to their homes the next morning--delighted with their excursion, and with the beginning of an undertaking, the most important ever inaugurated in the

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South, and from which incalculable advantages may be derived by the Southern people.

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[From the Church Intelligencer.]

A writer in the Nashville Union and American, after giving an excellent account of the ceremonies which is in substance the same as the above, gives the following remarks well worthy of our perusal:

"Thus the 10th of October marks an important epoch in the educational interests of the South. The laying of the corner-stone of the building for the proposed University of the south was an event that has been looked forward to for months with no ordinary interest. The work has been commenced, and the friends of this great institution have an earnest in the proceedings of this day, that it will be prosecuted with all the energy which those having it in charge can command to its final completion.

I was agreeably surprised in the appearance of the summit of the mountain. I had anticipated something of the rugged appearance that our ideas naturally assocciate with mountains, instead of which I found "a wide table land," as an address issued by the Trustees some two years ago said, "having upon its summit a level area of from two to twenty miles in width, upon which a railroad is now running for fifteen miles, and might be extended for a hundred; upon which stage roads are made as smooth and easy of grade as any in the middle counties of South Carolina or Georgia; upon which farms, county towns and watering places are located, and which is as well timbered as any part of the country except the heavy river swamps." Upon this summit "there spreads out before the eye an area with just enough undulating to make it picturesque, covered with large timber, with a rich underbrush of grass, and with springs of freestone water, yielding four hundred, five hundred, and in one case one thousand gallons of water per hour. From this summit the visitor is delighted with scenes of unsurpassed beauty; with points of the mountain running in fantastic shapes into the valley,

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like promontories into the ocean; with wooded slopes stretching down into the cultivated lands and mingling the wildness of nature with the improvements of man; with fat valleys rich in the bounties of Providence; with an almost boundless horizon spreading away toward the far West. And these views vary at a hundred points of the University lands, for it is the peculiarity of this sandstone formation to break into gorges and to open up new scenery at every turn."

The elevation of this mountain is about one thousand nine hundred feet above the level of the ocean, and it possesses a mild and genial climate in summer, which is but little colder in the winter than that of the surrounding lowlands, and certainly not so cold as that of the more Northern and Eastern States. As the Trustees say, the salubrity of the climate is beyond all question. With its pure water and bracing atmosphere, " this Cumberland plateau," as the Trustees remark in the address already alluded to, "seems to have been formed by God for the benefit and blessing of the Valley of the Mississippi and the cotton growing regions of the Southern States. Forming the Eastern limit of that immense Valley, stretching, with its peculiar formation of sandstone table-land, for one hundred miles across the State of Tennessee, easy of access at many points, it must be the summer resort of those wealthy planters who desire to recruit their families during the summer months, and are yet unwilling to be far separated from their planting interests."

While the mountain is thickly covered with the best varieties of timber, either for building purposes or fuel, it also abounds in a most excellent variety of stone coal, which can be delivered to the University at reasonable rates. There is also any quantity of building stone easy of access, a variety of sandstone which is susceptible of a very fine polish, the surface of which becomes very hard after being dressed. Specimens of this stone, which is to be used in the construction of the University building, may be seen in the office of the trustees. It is much cheaper and more durable than brick, the cost, when put in the building, being equal to brick at nine dollars per thousand.

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These facts, collated mainly from the address of the Trustees, will show that the site possesses many and peculiar advantages. The selection was not made without the maturest deliberation. Every locality suggested as the site of the proposed University was personally examined by a committee appointed for the purpose, accompanied by a corps of engineers under the superintendence of Col. Walter Gwynn, and the advantages of each as to healthfulness, aceessibility, climate, water, building materials, and centrality, fully and fairly set forth. The result was the selection of Sewanee as combining more advantages than any locality which had been examined.

As to its centrality and accessibility to the ten Dioceses interested in its establishment, the University of the South is within eighty hours* of the remotest portions of the Union penetrated by railroads.

The following paragraphs will give the reader some idea of the aims of the projectors of this great central institution of learning:

"It is designed to give the South a seat of learning, which shall compete in its appliances and facilities with the world-renowned Universitites of Europe, and far surpass any rival on the western continent. This is no mere dream of benevolent enthusiasts; events so far have shown that the project rests on the broadest and safest basis, and that its feasibility is beyond a doubt. The University of the South will be no slavish imitation of any model however illustrious. In its organization it will be guided by a generous eclecticism and take for its rule of conduct the advice of St. Paul: "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." Those inveterate defects which a past age has engrafted on older institutions and which have become vital portions of them, will be carefully avoided, and a system adopted which shall be proper to our age, our necessities, our genius; a thriving plant of our own soil, and not an artificially transplanted exotic. Having a wider and higher range than our State Colleges, the University will not trench on their interests, but will be their most valuable

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*1887. Now within 48 hours.--ED.

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friend and they its most valuable tributaries. Its faculties will be complete and extending beyond a sterile academic education. The living languages, the natural sciences, agriculture, all the practical requirements of modern times, will be entitled to equal rank and equal honor with the classic lore of antiquity. The most liberal compensation will be awarded to scrupulously select talent, and there is every prospect that some of the best minds from every clime will cluster together on the mountain plateau of Sewanee. A few years ago, when the project was yet in its incipient stage, one of the most distinguished Northern professors spoke of it to the present writer as one of the greatest conceptions of the age, and intimated that he would feel himself honored by a call, and that many of his confreres would. We can conceive how attractive to a vigorous original mind a national effort like that at Sewanee, must be. What a magnificent field it offers to an ambitious intellect.

"It must be kept in view that this great seat of learning is not intended as merely an Episcopal College. Although originating in the bosom of the Protestant Episcopal Church presided over by its heads and fostered by its most distinguished and influential laity, the University is a national and not a sectarian idea. The Church designs no propagandist policy; it will necessarily control the chair of theology and make that faculty its principal seminary, but farther than this it is justly content with the immese accession of moral power which it cannot but acquire from the glory of having conceived and embodied the great Southern idea of that age. A Catholic spirit, embracing all denominations and free from any purpose of proselytism, will preside over a patriotic work in which all Southerners of whatever creed are equally interested."

Although the corner-stone was laid to-day, it is not, I believe, intended to commence active operations until next year. In the meantime, active efforts will be made to procure additional subscriptions until the endowment fund reaches one million dollars. The subscriptions already reach over half a million dollars.

I notice in the office of the Trustees a number of plans

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for the building drawn by experienced architects in various parts of the country. No selection has as yet been made. There is no doubt, hower, that the enlighttened gentlemen having the matter in charge will make a selection worthy the great institution which is to offer to the sons of the South the highest literary culture --an institution that shall rival the famous seats of learning in the Old World. WANEE.

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[Correspondence to the Church Intelligencer.]

UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH.

The Corner-stone of the University of the South was laid on the 10th inst. On the morning of that day the plateau swarmed with the thousands assembled. Arrangements had been made for the entertainment in a simple but comfortalbe mode of a very large number of invited guests. Those for a week had been collecting. All the dioceses chiefly concerned in the grand enterprise were represented, except the Diocese of Arkansas. Seven of the Bishops of these Dioceses came together to lay the foundation of the University in whose beginning and progress they are so gloriously concerned, the Bishops of South Carolina, Arkansas, and Texas, being unavoidably absent. The venerable Bishop of Kentucky also came to bid God-speed to the undertaking.

At 12 1/2 o'clock, a procession of more than a thousand citizens led the way to the site. Opening as they reached the spot, the Bishops, Trustees, Clergy and invited guests, passed through in order. The Stone prepared as the Corner-stone was a highly polished, but massive stone of two tons weight, of beautifully variegated marble (as the Tennesseeans call it.) It was quarried in the county.

The services commenced with the singing of the 79th Ps. Appropriate sentences of Holy Scripture were read by the Bishop of Florida. The Bishop of North Carolina gave the Exhortation. The Bishop of Alabama offered Prayer. The deposits in the Corner-stone were then announced by the Bishop of Georgia, viz:

The Holy Bible; the Book of Common Prayer; the

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Constitution of the United States; the Journal of the General Convention of 1859; with the Constitution and Canons. The latest Journals of the Dioceses of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee. Documents pertaining to the founding of the University, copies of Church Review, Protestant Episcopal Quarterly, Southern Episcopalian, Spirit of Missions, and all the Church newspapers published in the United States; and lastly a Pocket Almanac, containing a complete clergy list of the Church of England and Great Britain, Ireland and the colonies. As the first three deposits were announced, Bishop Elliott used the following language:

HOLY BIBLE.

This sacred volume, being the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, is deposited, before and above all other memorials, in this cornerstone, to testify to the present generation and to all future ages, that the University of the South recognizes the Word of God as the fountain of all true learning, and as the only source of that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation.

BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.

This copy of the Book of Common Prayer is deposited in this cornerstone, next after the Word of God, to testify that the University of the South believes it to be in perfect harmony with that Word, and to exhibit, in its ministry, doctrine, and sacraments, the Church of God, as that Church was founded by Christ and His Apostles.

CONSTITUTION.

I next deposit in this cornerstone the Constitution of the United States, the time-honored bond which binds together the States of this Confederacy, to testify that the University of the South, while it holds itself superior to the State in all strictly spiritual matters, acknowledges itself subordinate to it in all matters of Government and Law. Esto perpetua!

As these words were uttered, so pertinent to such time of anxiety as that through which our union is now passing, all hearts in the vast circle joined in an earnest audibly murmured Amen!

The Corner-stone being lowered to its place, the Bishop of Louisiana, the projector of the great undertaking,

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applied the level, and then, striking the stone three times pronounced it laid in the name of the Holy Undivided Trinity.

The Benedicite was then sung.

The procession then forming again moved to the spacious audience shed, where seats for 3000 persons were furnished:

The Orator of the day was Col. J. S. Preston, of South Carolina. The Oration was a highly ornate production filled with a profusion of fine thoughts.

After prayer by the Bishop of Mississippi, and the singing of the Gloria in Execelsis, the benediction was pronounced by the Chancellor of the University, the Bishop of Tennessee.

A plentiful collation was then served up in the refreshment shed to more than a thousand guests. It was preceded by a hymn of praise, and concluded with prayer and blessing. Appropriate sentiments were read by the Chancellor and responded to eloquently by Com. Maury, President Barnard, Hon. Mr. Bright and the Bishop of Kentucky.

Twenty four designs for the Central Building of the University have been offered for the consideration of the Trustees, by artists of talent from Boston, New York Washington, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, Nashville and St. Louis. We know not which of several beautiful plans will be adopted; the Trustees were busily engaged in this and other business for several days. There was a large attendance of the Board.

Among the Clergy present were several from abroad. Those from the ten Southern Dioceses, were the Rev. Drs. Curtis and Mott, of N. C.; Rev. Messrs. Campbell, Cornish, Glennie, Habersham, Jones and Pinckney, of S. C.; Rev. Messrs. Benedict, Clark, Curtiss, Hawks and Rees, of Georgia; Rev. Dr. Scott, of Florida; Rev. Messrs. Denneston and Mitchell, of Alabama; Rev. Drs. Barnard and Ingraham, and Rev. Mr. Miller, of Mississippi; Rev. Messrs. Douglass and Miller, of Louisiana; the Rev. Mr. Eaton, of Texas; Rev. Drs. Pise and Quintard, and Rev. Messrs. Everhart, Harlow, Harris, Harrison, Judd, Lawson, Morris, L. L. Smith, J. B. T. Smith and Webb, of Tennessee.

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The most perfect unanimity seemed to prevail in regard to the appropriate selection of the Cumberland Plateau as the site of this contemplated seat of learning. All the advantages of a temperate climate, numerous springs of pure water, a productive soil, abundance and variety of timber, inexhaustible beds of sandstone, limestone and coal, seem here to be concentrated within 36 hours' ride of the Seaboard Cities of the Sunny South. Though 2100 feet above the tide level, it is not a mountain summit, but a gently rolling table land two or three miles wide at this point, and affording as easy a railroad route for 150 miles to the North East, as any of the vallies beneath. We doubt not that the generous aid of Southern gentlemen will cause this favoured spot to gather here the richest stores of wisdom, science, art, and literature, that it may become, as its founders intend, the glory of our land and the upbuilder of the Church of Christ. BENE.

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PROGRAMME OR ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS TO BE OBSERVED AT THE LAYING OF THE CORNERSTONE OF THE "UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH," SEWANEE, OCT. 10TH, 1860.*

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A Procession, consisting of the Board of Trustees, persons specially invited to take part in the Ceremonies, Clergymen and Citizens, shall be formed under the command of the Chief Marshal, Maj. A. M. Rutledge, proceed from the Executive Office, and thence march to the site of the principal building, in the following order:

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*The programme and order of procession and service used on the occasion, was written out in full in the hand-writing of Bishop Otey.

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1. Citizens. 2. Trustees. 3. Clergymen and Ministers of Religion. 4. Persons specially invited, as the Orator of the Day, and other speakers, 5. The Bishops in double file, and according to seniority.

On arriving at the site of the principal building, the Chancellor, or Senior Bishop, shall either himself or some one named by him, begin the services by reciting the following sentences:

"It is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness," Ps. cxxvii. 3.

"Except the Lord build the house, the labor is but lost that built it," verse 1.

"Except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman waketh but in vain," verse 2.

"Thou shall remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth power to get wealth." Deut. viii. 18.

"Ye shall diliflently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee." vi. 17.

"Thou shalt diligently teach them unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." vi. 7.

"This commandment have we from God, that he who loveth God, loveth his brother also." I John iv. 21.

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments." I John v. 2.

Then shall another Bishop say the Exhortation following:

Christian Brethern, Friends and Fellow Citizens:--It is decent and agreeable to the precepts of Holy Scripture, that in all our undertakings, we should beseech Almighty