The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-06
TELLS HISTORY OF THE
 SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

it's various sessions We quote: The cultivation of tho intellect, apart from the moral and spiritual Is not an end to be desired. The Christian college is the bulwark of the Christian church. The education which the state gives by fts Constitution Is necessarily non-re- | ligious. Rationalisn,, evolution. nonde- | script skepticism are being widely dis
 seminated in various forms. To coun- teract this influence Is our imperative duty If these were the only reasons | for the denom:national school. all churches might unite on certain schools and be able to enjoy the advantages found in secular institutions with their great libraries. renowned faculties and costly equipments. But these are not | the only reasons
 They exist. not only to inculcate the 1 universal principles of religion but also to emphasize some definite phase of l truth and too, what are often termed the non n-essentials--the forms. ceremo- nies and modes of work. This idea is borne out in the report written by Dr. 4N. S. Andrews and adopted by the con- ference of 1876.
 If we would succeed as we ought, we must retain eur family likeness, and preserve our peculiar faith and prac- ttice. We must preach them around our fresides. through our publications and Tn our institutions of learning. Tn | all these and everywhere we should have one faith, one standard of experi-
 ence, and one line of duty. To do this we must stand together. The church | that does not furnish educational ad- vantases to its children will in a few generations hs thing of the past pr. A H. Mitchell in the seermon in 1855 that inaugurated tho movement to es. tablfsh conference college, protested that his people should not be fed on
 the husks of Calvinism, These words | seem harsh to us of today, yet Is such
 a sentiment still alive? The Presby- l terians are taking up the gauntlet at
 Anniston to guard their people against | the 'husks of Armenianism. None be- l licve more in denominationa1 schools
 than the Methodists. Since the found ing of Kingswood by Wesley they have been foremost In tho work Wesley proposed his doctrine should live, and
 he organized societies and schools t, | fix 1t in the brains and hearts of his people. It Is as follows: The doctrine | of conscious conversion. and of a direct witness of the spirit, testifyfng to the heart of the believer that he if a child CT God. He could not teach this doo- | Urine without rldlcule and ostracism by
 Journalists For the same reasons to- day, separate institutions exist, and may the historian play
 prophet and say they will exist til all shall accomplishe their obpect. the finding of truth, that is truth. Tn 1924 | the General Conference adopted res- olution recommending" that each con- ference establish seminary of learn ing under Its own regulations and pat | ronage. This resolution accounts for | the long list of college wrecks along | the line Of the church's march. Five | male colleges have been established by the Methodists of A1abama-LaGrane College, North Alabama. Florence wes- leyan University. East Alabama Male College. Southern University, North Alabama Conference College. Only one | recognized college remains. Likewise ! of the seven female colleges only one | remains.
 Rev c. L. Chiffon. agent 1891, re- ported that while there was agitation about uniting or disuniting with the North Alabama Conference, endow- rnent money could not be secured. Some may doubt the statement of Dr.
 Wsdsworth that our conference was | once among the foremost In it's re- gard for education, but the statement is true.
 | "LaGrange College, near Florence,
 Ala, organized by the Mississippi and | Tennessee Conferences was opened January 11th, 1885, the first college In Alabama. It was opened two years before Randolph, Macon. Ga, seven years before Emory and Henry, Vir- ginia, twenty-four before Trinity Col
 lege, N. C., twenty-one before Wofford,
 S. C., and sixteen before Howard Coll
 lege. At the division of the Methodist
 Church, 1t was one of the foremost In
 the United States. Robert Paine af-
 forwards bishop. was its first president
 Its faculty were graduates of Yale
 University of Virginia and University
 nf Tn students, $50,000 endowment, and for
 twenty-five years was the leading col lege of the South. But the church
 must have a university. LaGrange
 was closed and in its stead rose near
 by, ''The Florence Wesleyan Univer-
 sity" This with two other Methodist
 colleges, were in course of time turn
 ed over to the State. The Florence
 Wesleyan became the State Normal
 School. and the East Alabama Male
 College, founded the same year as the
 Southern University rival school,
 adopted at the same time by the same
 conference passed into the hands of
 the State. and became the Polytechnic
 Institute. at Auburn.
 La Grange was In the Tennessee Conference. The Alabama Conference
 wanted a university The time seemed
 opportune. The church had none in the South. and this section, at this
 time. was perhaps the richest on the
 globe The Southern planter had been
 educating his sons at Yale and liar
 yard. The Ministerial Association of the Alabama Conference. sent candi- dates for the ministry and preachers sons to the Eastern colleges. The South was able and anxious to found a great institution, In her own. and this she undertook to do. The move ment which led to the founding of the Southern University was begun at the twenty-third session of the Alabama Conference, Talladega. Ala. in 1854. The citizens of Auburn presented a memorial asking for the location of
 A college in the Alabama Conference
 It was agreed that the location of-
 fering $100,00o in good subscriptions
 should have the prize. commission
 lay and clerical was appointed to re-
 port at the next conference.
 The commission reported at the next
 conference which met at Eutaw. Ala,
 1855. The requirements were met both
 by Auburn and Greensboro: then
 Green County. But the most prominent
 of the commission being West Alabama.
 men, they were able to secure the Uni
 versity for Greensboro The debate
 which engendered strife. existed to
 this very day, lasted three days. There
 was no railroad to Greensboro at that
 time, in fact, in those days. our fath-
 CTS invariably located their colleges
 remote from great thoroughfares. and
 busy marts. Secular interests prompt
 ed the location of them on railroads.
 Rev. C. c. Galloway was appointed agent to raise funds; Colonel John