The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-06-05

ohly l4,4S1 pupils. The number of white
people over twenty years Old who could
not read was -, sos.
Heroic men were they who in this gen.
eral gloom sought to kindle a new light.
Falth and prayer and toll and sacrifice
were needed, and these were mt lack
ing. In spite of the reluctance of :ha
Legislature TO grant a charter in tho
race Of the opposition of some and the
apathy OF their own brethren. with small
means al their disposal, and with but
rev academies TO serve as feeders 10
tHe new institution, they had the courage
anu the far-sighted wisdom to carry ont
~ purpose. vi course some mistakes
were made. for they were human. The
original "Manual-Labor Plan" adopted ar
ne beginning, was relinquished after
me- VI Iour years trial. A considerable
debt. necessarily incurred. was for some
years an incubus. On December aotb
1871 the FINANCIAL reported
TO Inc trustees that, besides the land
ana farm buildings which had been mr.
chdSed' the total assets of the coll ana
were a debt OF $S43.34& and a firm trust
III the goodnesS of divine providence m
crown our Efforts with ultimate sue
cess"
inns frm trust has not been disapnoint-
cd. Under the lead of Wait, who sung his
""S lhto tue hearts of the people. Of
'ne scholarly Hooper, of White the rrdc-
'icai' OF 'he peerless and sanity Win
gate, of Pritchard the untiring and cl,-
quent. and through the cooperation Of
men like Purefoy, OVERLY, Mitchell. and
Hufham. the cloud of debt and djscour-
aseheht melted away. The faculty was
enlarged ana students in constantly in
'i'dalhS numbefs were attracted to their
lectures. At the beginning of the Civil
war, the amounted to nearly
seventy thousand dollars. At its close
III 1860, only about twelve thousand dol
lars renamed. The rest had disappeared
IL the universal storm and food. Even
more serious were the losses in alumni
who are always the most precious ms
sessions of any college. More than five
hundred Of these had entered the Con-
fedorate army, for the most part as off
GERS, ard not a few in command Of ragi-
ments and brigades. And there was
scarcely q battlefield east of the Miss
lsslrpl which was not Redeemed by the
blood of the sons Of Wake Forest.
Early in the chaotic era of the recon |
struction the college was reorganized
and The long silent bell again rang OUT
us daily calls to devotion and instruc- !
ton. From that time there has been
q gradual but healthy and steady growth
IL tOIDc IL |
North Carolina, the poor and the rich
together. have made willing offerings |
10 the endowment; and in the affections !
OF our people is q more enduring monu- |
ment TO the memory of Jabez A.. Bost-
wick, Ct New York, than the stately pile
Of marble in his native State.
New departments have been estab- !
lShed. new chairs have been created
and manned with able and scholarly men.
new buildings have been erected. Re-
quirements for entrance and graduation |
have been raised until it is not too much
to say that Wake Forest is the peer of
the best of her sister colleges in the
South. All through the years, even when
nuch desirable equipment was wanting.
thorough and honest work was done and
strong emphasis was laid upon the para
mount Importance of character. 1t might
be said that the unwritten motto of he
college was and is The fear of the
Lord is the beginning Of WISDOM
1t is perhaps due to these facts that
so few Wake Forest men have made
failures in life and that so many have
achieved signal success. This success
has been attained in almost every calling.
Many of the alumni have entered the
ministry OF nearly all evangelical de-
nominations. Scores of these have been
counted worthy TO occupy the most i'm
portant metropolitan pulpits. Hundreds
Of them have faithfully filed those more
important fields which are not metropoll-
tan. They are now preaching the Gospel
in thirty-one States, and worthy success
sors CT Yates are holding forth the bread
of life in foreign lands. The influence
CT these educated ministers. and through
them, of the college, in elevating intel
lectual and social. moral and religious
condition of our State has happ ipnolo,,-
liable. And hat this influence is likely
to increase is suggested by the fact
that in the Seminary at Louisville, which
has more students than any other in the
world, Wake Forest has had, for consecu-
tive years, more representatives than
any other college.
These statements. however, must not
be understood to Justify the wide and
very erroneous idea that Wake Forest is
only or mainly for the education of min
listers. AS q matter of fact, eighty per
cent of the marticulates of the college
have entered other professions and oc-
equations. OF the large number who
have entered upon the practice Of law,
several have climbed to the topmost
round Of the ladder, having become Chief
Justices OF this and other States. In
journalism, secular or religious, in the
practice of medicine, in farming and 9
manufacturing, as civil engineers and
men, in the halls of legislation
of the nation, at the bankers desk and
he merchants counting room, and in the
halls CT legislation of the State and ma c
ton, many have been successful and S
some have become eminent. p
Nearly four thousand men have been 4
students at the college. 1t would probably t
be within safe limits to estimate that b
at least fifteen hundred of these have /
been teachers for a longer or shorter a
period and that five hundred have made fl
teaching their life work. One hundred q
and forty-twO have been principals of
academies in the Southern and Western q
States, sixty-ive have been professors O
N colleges, and fourteen have been COL @
presidents. t.
AS we look around us today and wit f
ness the Improvement and improving W
in our beloved State, we re- Ii
joice. Wealth has increased, railroads d
ave Denetrated into almost every Sec |.