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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 Universities 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 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 selected 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, further than this, it is justly content with the immense accession of moral power which it can not but acquire from the glory of having conceived and embodied the great Southern idea of the 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 noticed in the office of the Trustees a number of plans for the building, drawn by experienced architects in various parts of the country. No selection has as yet been made. There is no doubt, however, that the enlightened gentlemen having the matter in charge will make a selection worthy of the great institution which is to offer to the sons of the South the hightest literaly culture--an institution that shall rival the famous seats of learning in the Old World.
WANEE. ---------------------
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THE LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE.
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To the Editor of THE CHURCHMAN:
In reading the interesting article relative to the University of the South in THE CHURCHMAN of Dec. 26, entitled "A Visible Work of Undaunted Faith," by D. Otey Compton, I was struck with the uncertainty of ascertaining the true dates upon which memorable events have occurred. In a pamphlet from the pen of F. Schaller, then a professor in the University of the South, published in 1873, he speaks of the corner-stone of the university having been laid at Sewanee, Tenn., in the year 1858. In the Church Standard of Dec. 19, in a report of the annual meeting of the Association for Promoting the Interests of Church Schools, Colleges and Seminaries, held in New York, on Dec. 5, one of the speakers, the vice-chancellor of the University of the South, is incorrectly reported as saying that "he recalled the day when Bishop Otey, laying the corner-stone on Lookout Mountain," etc.; and in Mr. Compton's article in your columns above referred to, it is said that "in 1857 the corner-stone of the present university was laid."
If we can forecast some student of his-
(18) January 9, 1897
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tory, a hundred years hence, seeking for information about the inception of the University of the South, and coming across these statements, we might well suppose he would be much perplexed to decide as to when and where the cornerstone was really laid.
As an eye-witness and participator in the ceremonies attending the laying of the corner-stone, I think it may be well to give the correct date and place. The joint representative convention of the southern dioceses to consider the plan of the proposed university, met at Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, on July 4, 1857, where Bishop Otey delivered the address. The selection of Sewanee as the site of the university was decided on at Montgomery, Ala., in November, 1857. The laying of the corner-stone of the mian building to be erected took place on Oct. 10, 1860, at Sewanee, Tenn., in the presence of five thousand people assembled from all over the land for the great occasion. Bishops Otey, Polk, Elliott, Cobbs, Green, Rutledge and Atkinson took part in the ceremony. The foundation on which the great marble block was laid still remains to mark the historic spot.
The corner-stone itself was destroyed during the war by troops encamped in its neighborhood. Other corner-stones of other structures at Sewanee have since been laid, but the foundation on which the original corner-stone of 1860 was placed has never been built upon, and is reserved for some future day, when it is to be hoped a still greater crowd of bishops, clergy and people will assemble around the spot, to re-lay upon the old foundation another corner-stone of a great central building, to be erected as a fitting monument of those great souls, Otey, Polk, Elliott, now in Paradise, who conceived in faith and laid the foundations in hope of this great work for Christian education, obliterated for a time, but successfully renewed by the zeal and labors of Quintard, and the many good men who have faithfully labored for its progress and welfare.
G. R. FAIRBANKS,
Fernandina, Fla., Dec. 29, 1896.