The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-03-01

was named Cambridge. The other two
colleges established by the act were
the Mount Zion institute at Wlnns-
! borough and the College of Charles
ton, which remains doing its appoint
ed work.
The first president of the college at
Cambridge was Rev. John Springer,
graduate of Princeton. He was g
moral force of the first order. With
every member of his congregation a
slave owner, Springer Numbered
against slavery as sin in the sight
of God and man. All attempts to s.
lence him were vain.
To Springer for advice as to his fu-
ture course came the young preacher,
then merely licentiate, Moses Wad-
del, who had been serving the church
of Johns Island and Wadlamaw.
Springer pointed the way to Waddel
and Waddel followed.
Not long after Moses Waddel mar
ried Catherine Calhoun, daughter of
Patrick Calhoun and older sister of
John C. Calhoun who became pupil
of his brother-in-law.
Mr.. Carson has drawn fine pic
.! ture of the Wilmington school, calling
it an American Eton or Rugby. 1t
merits the appellation, and no school
within American annals has turned
out more men of distinction within
the same time.
Many Charleston planters sent their
sons there to be educated; and to this
school came James Louis Petigru.
One may then pause and view the
composite influences focused on the
young Petigru. The Huguenot and
Irish were parental. Kindred spirits
of the same race, like Hugh Swinton
Legare, he met there; the masterful
force of great pioneer up-countrymen
whose fame was to become coter-
minous with the nation buoyed him
up and fired his ambition. The deep
piety Of the countryside tinged his
thought and affected the whole course
of his life.
! One of the singular facts to con-
, slider is that John Caldwell Calhoun
and James Louis Fetigru had the
same teacher, although Calhoun, sew
en- years older, had attended school
in Columbia County, Georgia, and had
begun his career before Petigru left
school.
In his panegyric on the people Of
/ Virginia and Maryland Percy Greg:
Iauds them as not only the fnes- pee
pie in the world, but probably the
most superior the void had eEer
seen. The same class Of people, many
of the same families, inhabited the
Ninety-Six district; a few remain in
! it yet.
! It was not, therefore, to b" expect
ed that Petigru would lose his head,
even among the landed gentry Of the
coast.
With such forbears and with such
training ard associations, i WAS not
to be wondered at shat he became a
! world figure, and that there was little
or nc prcvincialism in his makeup.
! Petigru in 1850
! The able reviewer states that IL
1860 MIR. Petigru stood alone. In a
sense he did so; but he was far from
being alone in opposing secession.
Many Of the most eminent and patri-
otic men in the state were likewise
opposed, among them being the illus
trious name Ct Wade Hampton. After
the ordinance Of secession was pass
ed there was no man of eminence
that sided with Pctigru; buta count
of names would show little balance,
if any; one the side Of secession prior
to the passage of the ordinance.
There were many, like Gen. Johnson
: IIagood, who, while believing in the
\
right of secession, felt that the cause
F., was hopeless from the first. He said
so; but that did not prevent him from
doing a mans part in the war.
Now to Petigru the War Between
the States was the result of a deliber-
ate attempt to upset and destroy the
union. He charged the leaders with
! it and thought Mr.. Calhoun's agita-
tion in large measure responsible for
the loosing of the storm. Profoundly
,convinced himself, there lay open but
one course, and that course he took.