Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-07-31
D. w YATT AIKEN.
Fl DIN tho Associate Reformed PRESBYTERIAN
Erskno College.

DEAR RIENDs:-iIaving z recently
attended meeting of the Board Of
Trustees OF E"sk;nc College at Due
West, deom 1t my duty to lay before
you iew of tho things that saw
and heard on that occasion.
The College, as you know, is located
in tho upper portion of Abbcvi.lc
District, South Carolina. Tho site il
one Of beauty and lovclincss. With q
sky rs hluo and an atmosphere as
pure as that of Italy, water in great
abundance, cold, pure aud limpid az
any in the Blue Ridge, Il moro healthy
place cannot bc found in all our broad
land than Duo West.
The College buildings and literary
halls are good, neat and substantial,
and in state of excellent prcscrva-
tlon. Good boarding can be had in
tho village and ncighborhood at from
ten TO twelve dollars per month. The
moral atmosphere Of Due West is az
pure and healthy as tho physical, and
III that respect cannot be surpassed
by any other portion OF our country.
The citizens Of the place are educated
and refined, largc-Acartcd and hospita.
bIe; and tho Students, either mulo or
female, that arc sont there for the
purpose Of receiving an education,
are at once brought under the influ-
ence OF cultivated, refined and polish
ed minds, that mnst necessarily havo
most happy effect in moulding and
forming their characters, and fitting
thom for usefulness in afer life.
Although "Secedcrism" is the pre-.
vailing religious sentiment Of Duo
West, it is not entirely so. Two min.
istors Of the o. S. Presbyterian
Church are residents of tho place,
both of them members of tho Board
OF Trustees, and both take q deep in
terest in the affairs of tho College.
Ihers are also members of other do
nominations living in the place who
are fast friends and patrons of the
institution. There has been in at
tendance the past year, about fifty
students. These have received the
careful training and instruction of
Drs. Grier and Pressly and Rev. J. N.
Young, tho RESOURCES Of the Collie go
not permitting the labors Of the other
professors. l know AS well as any
ono that tho times arc hard and
money scarce, and these reasons may
offer solne apology and barely satisfy
the minds Of our pcopIo: yet l must
confess that l felt severely rcbukcd
whom L saw fairly before me the self.
sacrificing devotions of the professors
of Erslsine College, These men have
toilcd on, almost without complaint
amid every disc aragement for years,
and tried TO Sustain tho College and
1--we on G. miserable pittanco that q
Yankee schoolmarm or q member Of
q Sopomore class would scorn to take
for teaching an old:feld school. s.EIL :EIsL
l suppose it is generally understood
bya!I Associate Refor.nod.pspplo that
| nearly all the funds Of the College
were lost in the latss war, and that a
new plan for sustaining the insLitu.
tion WAS adopted by Synod as it's last
meeting. That plan has, 30 far, par
TALLY failed, owing, l think, entirely
to the ilE health Of Dr,HempAilI, Che
agent sHe has vbeensunabls, ever
since his return from Synod LIST 6ll
to giyeEthe business MUCH attention
But without the labors Of the agent,
Or any special effort OH the part Of
any epe, about seventy five names
have been secured, leaving one hum
dred and twenty-five yet to be OBJ
tanned; and upon:that result depohd:
1 the fatos6f the College, and,Il nigh,
add, the. fate of;thesO Church also.g ]
do not sanpose thsre as.f any tSneswbs
is fully; identified wibhahs Assoeiatt
! Reformed Church and" her Institutions
4 apd is ip complete sympathy and ac-
serd With sher peepiiarities and doc
trines, but knows and feels that with
! |zouttthss sCollsgs the CHURCH could mo
survive q gganter Of a century. Ok
you then, by ffiends, love you
church, Are you firmly attached
to her time-henored and Soriptura
principles and doctrines7 Do youl
4 minds love to linger around the mem
DRY Of a sainted ancestry who lovet
AID 6NerishSd 4lGs pssAsspleysossxSa,