The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-03-08

day, in travelling from Nashville to
Chattanooga, came upon the crude
university huts. The work of putting
up the stone buildings had not been
started.
The soldiers saw the marble corner
stone and at once became inquisitive.
The stone was blown open with gun
powder, and the papers that Bishop
PGl!i had placed there were abstarct-
ed The wooden huts were set afire,
and nothing remained to mark the
site of the Sewanee university but
ashes.
During the war Bishop Polk, at the
head of Louisiana regiment, was
killed. When the war was over the
trustees again took up the work of
building the university. They found
that the fortunes of those who had
promised the 100000 of endow-
ments had been dissipated. There
were no funds with which to continue
the work.
Discouraged, the trustees concluded
to abandon the idea. Under the grant
by which they came into possession
of the forest land, they would lose
title if no buildings were put up by
the fall of 1868. Bishop Quintard,
whose brothers now own the Quln-
tard iron works, of this city, real
lied that Sewanee was doomed un-
less something was hurriedly done
Three days before possession would
have passed from the trustees, the
bishop and two others went up to
the mountain and planted a rustic
cross, after the fashion of the war
riors under William the Conqueror.
The next day they hastily nailed to-
gether two rough huts, and the day
after that the University of the South
was an established fact.
The bishop and his two confreren
sent for their sons, and for a year THO
boys were the only students of Sc
vance In the meantime the trustees
had got more funds and stone build
ings were beginning to assume shape
Inside of two years there were half
a dozen fine structures in that wilder
ness, with several professors and so
students.
Now Sewanee has an average of $50
students every year. It's domain has
been beautiful until to-day the grounds
are among the finest to be found in
the world. There are magnificent
residences for the professors, while
many of the friends or alumni of the
university have houses on the
grounds and live there the year round.
One of the things on which Sewanee
prides itself is this community. The
university population, outside of the
students, is over 1000.
Sewanee's professors, unlike those
of some universities, are never kept
under restraint of speech. Freedom
of the chair is one of the things for
which the university is famed. An
instance of this is furnished in the
case of Prof Trent, now professor of
English literature at. Columbia uni
versity. The professor was, until a
few years ago, one of the faculty Of
Dew ducS.
Although southerner, Prof. Trent
has some views on the war that are
not in accord with those of all other
southerners. Some years ago the pro-
lessor wrote his impressions in a book
which he called Southern Statesmen
of the Old Regime"
The book created a Juror in the
south, as Prof Trent had expected.
Stanch friends of the university in
the south wrote scorching letters to
the trustees, demanding that Prof.
Trent be instantly dismissed. They
considered his utterance intolerable.
The reply of the trustees was sub
tantially this:
1--WE allow free speech at Sewanee.
That is one of the cardinal principles
of our institution. Prof. Trent has
not violated the university's law;
therefore we cannot see any reason
why he should be called to account.
He will remain with Sewanee as long
as he is true to it's principles"
Prof. Trent remained until he mar
ried and then moved to New York
city.