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+Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charles Lewis Cocke
+       Founder of Hollins College
+
+Author: William Robert Lee Smith
+
+Release Date: October 6, 2011 [EBook #37636]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES LEWIS COCKE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julia Neufeld, Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
+Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: CHARLES LEWIS COCKE]
+
+
+
+
+  CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+  FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE
+
+
+  BY
+
+  W. R. L. SMITH, D.D.
+
+
+  BOSTON
+  RICHARD G. BADGER
+  THE GORHAM PRESS
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
+  All Rights Reserved
+
+  Made in the United States of America
+  The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+It will be obvious that this biography has been written in a passion of
+admiration and loyal love. Conscious of the eminent worthiness of its
+subject, the writer has felt no temptation to exceed the just limits of
+praise, or to violate the demands of a true sincerity. The effort has
+been to hold the record to a faithful presentation of the facts in a
+long and distinguished career. The singular unity of his life-work,
+localized on one spot of earth, has made the gathering of materials an
+easy task. An intimate and affectionate friendship of twenty-three
+years, is one of the author's invaluable sources. Then, abundant
+information was found in the minutes of the trustee meetings, the yearly
+catalogues, the college magazines, the occasional reminiscent speeches
+to students and the annual commencement address.
+
+One makes bold to say that he fears not the verdict of the older Hollins
+girls on this memoir. If it shall awaken hallowed memories and unseal
+the fount of tears; if it shall tighten the clasp of their heartstrings
+to dear old Hollins, its purpose will have been largely accomplished.
+
+                                                  W. R. L. Smith.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I                                   PAGE
+  THE EARLY YEARS                               21
+
+  CHAPTER II
+  CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST                         34
+
+  CHAPTER III
+  HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE AND GROWTH      49
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+  THE CLEARING SKIES                            63
+
+  CHAPTER V
+  EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT                     75
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+  THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS                   91
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+  COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES                  105
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+  RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND ACTIVITIES         123
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+  CHARACTERISTICS                              132
+
+  CHAPTER X
+  HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS                  142
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+  HIS MONUMENT                                 159
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  CHARLES LEWIS COCKE                                   _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                           FACING PAGE
+
+  CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS, ABOUT 1840    30
+  THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852                              36
+  THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855               46
+  HOLLINS INSTITUTE                                                 60
+  MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE                                             70
+  "GOOD MORNING, 'GYRLS'"                                           92
+  CHARLES L. COCKE                                                 132
+  MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE                                            142
+  MRS. ANNE HOLLINS                                                150
+  JOHN HOLLINS                                                     154
+  HOLLINS COLLEGE                                                  160
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This biographical sketch of Charles L. Cocke has been written with fine
+appreciation and sympathy. It brings before us an exceptionally strong
+man, who after years of struggle against discouragements realized, in
+large measure, the ideals of his early years. It is a story of heroic
+achievement that can not be read without emotion.
+
+Hollins College stands today as a fitting and permanent memorial of its
+founder's indomitable will and noble aims. But there was something still
+finer connected with his years of struggle and toil. Long before the end
+came, he had made the noblest achievement of human life, bringing from
+its disappointments and conflicts, not a cynical distrust of his fellow
+men, but a courageous, hopeful and invincible character of righteousness
+and love. He learned to look upon the tumultuous world with a serene and
+benignant spirit.
+
+It was my privilege for many years to serve as one of the chaplains of
+Hollins College. The hours spent in Mr. Cocke's office after the evening
+service are among my cherished memories. Our talk, often protracted
+till nearly midnight, turned chiefly on educational, religious, and
+social subjects, which always made a strong appeal to his vigorous mind
+and earnest nature. He loved the truth; but in the expression of his
+opinions there was sometimes a delightful touch of exaggeration that
+lent a peculiar charm to his conversation.
+
+Beyond any man I have ever known he possessed the power to call forth
+noble sentiment and stimulate intellectual activity. This quality
+explains, in part at least, the loyal devotion of his co-workers and the
+grateful affection of his students. It made him a great teacher. It
+endowed him with a sort of divine right to leadership; it crowned him
+with the glory of perennial, unconscious beneficence.
+
+In the quality of his intellect he was distinctly Roman. By the law of
+resemblance he easily conjures up before our minds the dignified and
+sturdy personality of a Cato. Without the gifts of Attic versatility,
+his strong intellect and sound judgment set him apart for substantial
+practical achievement. We are fully warranted in believing that he would
+have won in any industrial or political field the same distinguished
+success that he achieved in education.
+
+The religion of the New Testament was a vital element in his character.
+Its dominant feature was not emotion but conscience. To him the call of
+duty was imperative and final. It was in obedience to this call that he
+entered upon his work at Hollins. The materialistic science of the
+latter half of the nineteenth century left him untouched. He recognized
+the Divine agency in the lives of men no less than in the destiny of
+nations. This profound and dominant faith habitually filled the future
+with hope, and imparted to him, as to all who cherish it, unfailing
+courage and strength.
+
+A massive intellect, supported by a deep sense of religious duty, made
+him an independent and fearless thinker. He had the force to break the
+trammels of tradition. With the vision of a true pioneer he saw the need
+of a better intellectual training for American women, and with the
+resourcefulness of a strong nature he led the way in its attainment. His
+aims and efforts were manifestations of real greatness. It is men of
+like vision and resourcefulness who are raised up from time to time to
+lead the forward movements of our race. It is no reproach to say that
+Mr. Cocke would hardly have been in full sympathy with the feminist
+movement of recent years. No man can live too far ahead of his time. But
+he helped to prepare the way for it by his pioneer insistence on a
+richer culture and larger opportunities for women; and it may justly be
+said that no other man in Virginia or the South has a higher claim on
+their recognition and gratitude.
+
+He was fortunate to recognize in his early manhood his vocation as a
+pioneer educator. The call was clear, and his consecration complete. Few
+men have ever labored with greater singleness of purpose. As Tennyson
+dedicated his life to poetry and Darwin to science, so Mr. Cocke gave
+himself to the work of a nobler culture for the women of Virginia and
+later of our whole country. Without this singleness of aim, which gave
+unity to his efforts for more than fifty years, he could not have
+brought his great life-task to a triumphant conclusion.
+
+But his great mind and heart were not so utterly absorbed in this work
+as to exclude from his thought and effort other important interests.
+Before the present movement for social betterment had been inaugurated,
+he labored unselfishly for the material and moral improvement of his
+community and State. He was interested in the establishment of schools
+for boys. He was a recognized leader in the extension of the Baptist
+Church in Southwestern Virginia, and his foresight and wise counsel
+contributed in no small measure to the vigorous life and growth of that
+denomination.
+
+Yet he was not narrowly sectarian. His broad outlook on life welcomed
+every agency that contributed to moral and religious advancement. To
+his mind denominational differences of creed were of secondary
+importance as compared with the great fundamental agreement in the work
+of establishing the kingdom of God in the world. He cultivated friendly
+relations with all branches of the Christian Church, and invited their
+ministers from time to time to conduct services in the Hollins Chapel.
+His chief requirement was a helpful message supported by an upright
+life.
+
+He delighted, it seems to me, in what we might call intellectual
+athletics. He welcomed a disagreement of view, and enjoyed measuring
+strength in an argument. The enjoyment, I think, was independent of the
+outcome of the discussion; it was found in the pleasurable exercise of a
+vigorous brain. Defeat in argument yielded him scarcely less pleasure
+than did victory. The warmest discussion never ruffled in the slightest
+degree his self-possession and friendly courtesy.
+
+In the massiveness of his character he was exempt from the foibles of
+smaller natures. In his striving after truth he was unswayed in his
+judgment by petty prejudices. His broad benevolence and warm interest in
+the welfare of others shielded him from envy and jealousy. While sternly
+intolerant of wrong-doing, he was gently patient with the wrong-doer,
+being less anxious to punish than to reclaim. Though he was doubtless
+conscious of his strength, as are all truly great men, he was too
+sensible and honest to feel the inflation of egotism. His natural
+stately dignity forbade familiarity; but to those in need he was
+uniformly kind and helpful. It is the memory of his kindness and
+helpfulness that has enshrined his image in many hearts.
+
+The life of so rare a character deserves to be recorded in permanent
+form. It will thus stand as an inspiration and guide to others. As
+biographer Dr. Smith has performed his task worthily; and I esteem it a
+privilege to write this introduction and pay this tribute of admiration
+and affection to one of the greatest men I have known.
+
+                                                F. V. N. PAINTER.
+
+  SALEM, VA.,
+  September 2, 1920.
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGY
+
+
+1820
+
+_February_ 21 Charles L. Cocke was born at Edgehill, King William
+County, Va.
+
+
+1836
+
+He entered Richmond College.
+
+
+1838
+
+He entered Columbian College at Washington, D. C.
+
+
+1840
+
+Graduated from Columbian College, and accepted a position at Richmond
+College.
+
+
+1840
+
+On _December_ 31 married Susanna Virginia Pleasants, of Henrico County.
+
+
+1840-1846
+
+Connected with Richmond College.
+
+
+1845
+
+Called to take charge of "Valley Union Seminary," a co-educational
+school, Roanoke County, Va., at Botetourt Springs.
+
+
+1846
+
+_June_ 23 arrived at Botetourt Springs to take charge of the school.
+
+
+1846
+
+_July_ 1 the first session under Mr. Cocke's superintendence opened with
+36 boys and 27 girls.
+
+
+1852
+
+Board of Trustees discontinued the department for boys.
+
+
+1852
+
+_July_ 20 the session 1852-'53 opened for girls only, under the name The
+Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs, Va., Mr. Cocke, Principal,
+Registration 81 girls.
+
+
+1853
+
+_September_ 4 the session of 1853-'54 opened with increased faculty and
+registration of 150 girls.
+
+
+1855
+
+Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins of Lynchburg, Va., donated funds to the
+institution, and in their Honor the name was changed to _Hollins
+Institute_.
+
+
+1855-'61
+
+Average attendance 106.
+
+
+1861-'65
+
+Doors not closed during this period. Average attendance 134.
+
+
+1865-'71
+
+Average attendance 73.
+
+
+1871-1900
+
+Buildings, enlarged to accommodate 225 students.
+
+
+1901
+
+_May_ 4 Charles L. Cocke died.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE
+
+    I think I would rather have written a great biography than a
+    great book of any other sort, as I would have rather painted
+    a great portrait than any other kind of picture.
+
+                                                PHILLIPS BROOKS.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE EARLY YEARS
+
+1820-1846
+
+
+In the library at Hollins College is a life-size portrait of a great
+Virginian. In its presence, you instantly feel the spell of a commanding
+personality. The figure is tall, graceful, well proportioned, and in the
+right hand is a diploma, the proper symbol of the vocation of a College
+President. The attitude exactly fits the supreme moment on Commencement
+day. In the face, the artist has cunningly gathered the insignia of fine
+mental quality, and pictured the forces of achieving manhood. The ample
+brow looks the home of ideality and enterprise, the aquiline nose hints
+endurance and tireless energy. Napoleon selected as his marshals men
+marked by the prominence of this feature. That jaw and chin and those
+thin lips speak virility and determination. In the glance of those blue,
+eagle eyes, are intimations of keen intensity and lightning force, yet
+subduable to all the moods of tenderness and love. Truly, this is a
+notably fine presentation in art of one of the noblest Virginians of the
+19th century.
+
+This man was marked for high performance, and would have won distinction
+in any sphere of honorable endeavor. "Excelsior" was the divine
+imprimatur stamped on his nature. His call was to leadership, and his
+response enrolled him among the pioneers in the cause of the higher
+education of women in the South. The educational ideals of Thomas
+Jefferson became the inspiration of his youth, and with astonishing
+tenacity and unity of purpose he pursued them until he worked out
+Hollins College, making it one of the rare gems of American culture. His
+work stimulated the founding of other like institutions in Virginia and
+the South. Thus he builded wiser than he knew. He wrought well in his
+generation, and a multitude of splendid women throughout the whole
+nation will revere his name forever. It was a brilliant battle he fought
+against hostile conditions and appalling odds. He was cast in heroic
+mold. In fancy we can see him bearing his banner up the heights, his
+eyes flashing strange fires, and every energy of soul and body exerted
+to its utmost. The name of this remarkable man is Charles Lewis Cocke,
+and there stands the faithful, impressive likeness of him in the
+library building at Hollins College.
+
+It is the story of this man that we want to know, and to that end the
+following pages are written. It is the right of every child to be born
+of honorable parentage. The life of Charles L. Cocke began with a good
+heredity. He was born February 21, 1820, at Edgehill, the home of his
+father, James Cocke, in King William County, Virginia. Elizabeth Fox was
+the maiden name of his mother. Both family names run back a number of
+generations, the old English ancestors having come to Virginia in the
+17th century. Richard Cocke bought a home with three thousand acres, and
+from 1644 to 1654 represented Henrico in the House of Burgesses. John
+Fox located in York County and then in Gloucester, in the years 1660 to
+1680. From this worthy stock descended the subject of this biography.
+Charles Lewis was the oldest son of the family at Edgehill. Religious
+reverence and intelligence dwelt in the home, and correct views of
+conduct were expressed in parental example. The Baptist faith was an
+important part of his inheritance, and at Beulah Church near by his
+childhood received its first impressions of divine worship. By singular
+good fortune, the benign influence of the eloquent pastor and friend,
+the Rev. Dr. Andrew Broaddus, fell on the family and the growing lad.
+In the atmosphere of this happy home, and in the moral securities and
+privileges of a good country community, the early years were passed. The
+boy's mind was alert, and both on the farm and in the local schools,
+gave hints of latent powers. The growing youth demonstrated his
+managerial capacity one year by taking charge of a kinsman's farm and
+raising, as he said, "the finest crop it had ever borne." Self-reliance
+and the power of bringing things to pass early became distinguishing
+qualities. The father was proud of the promise of his son, and when the
+boy was about fifteen years of age, gave him his choice of a career on
+the farm or in some professional calling. The father could hardly have
+been surprised at the prompt decision in favor of a profession.
+
+Richmond College was then new, and under the presidency of the Rev. Dr.
+Robert Ryland, was prosecuting its work in the suburbs of the Capital
+City. The College was only twenty miles distant from Edgehill and soon
+our ambitious youth was diligently pursuing his studies within its
+walls. No special genius betrayed itself, but there was the same bent of
+assiduous application which was on display when the abundant crop was
+raised. Dr. Ryland was not slow in discovering the promising traits in
+the new student, and a mutual interest sprang up between them. The
+astute President saw in the boy the prophecy of stalwart young manhood,
+just such a factor as might some day be of value to himself in the
+labors of the Institution. The interest grew into intimacy, and there
+were occasional confidential interchanges respecting the boy's hopes and
+aspirations. The time of attendance on the College classes was drawing
+to a close, when one day the Doctor suggested to him a further course at
+Columbian College, a Baptist institution of higher learning in
+Washington City. The thought enlisted the youth's enthusiasm, but he
+urged the lack of funds needful for such a scheme. Then the generous
+friend replied: "I will furnish that, and you can repay me at your
+convenience."
+
+Here was a compliment from a wise educator which, though it tended to no
+inflation of conceit, put a glowing stimulus in a young man's soul. No
+true man or woman ever fails to give gratitude and honor to those who
+quickened and encouraged aspiration in the days of youth. Impressed
+deeply by the kindly offer, and stirred by leaping ambition, Charles
+Lewis Cocke left the College and returned to his home. At once he
+communicated to his father the new visions and hopes. The father,
+pleased at the hunger of the son for larger knowledge, said: "You shall
+go to Columbian College; but we will not draw on the generosity of Dr.
+Ryland. I will supply the means." Charles was then about eighteen years
+of age.
+
+The boy Daniel Webster was riding one day in a buggy with his father,
+when at a certain point of the conversation the father said: "Son, I
+have decided to send you to Dartmouth College." The announcement fell
+like music on the aspiring soul, and the only response the delighted son
+could make was to lean his head on his father's bosom and burst into
+tears. Edgehill knew an emotion like that in the summer of 1838.
+Pursuant to plans for early departure to Washington, James Cocke and his
+son drove to Richmond in a buggy. While the reins were in the father's
+hands, the horse went at a sluggish gait. Presently they were passed to
+the son, when instantly the drudging steed pricked up his ears and
+struck a new stride.
+
+"You have been whipping this horse," exclaimed the surprised father.
+
+"No," was the reply, "I have never whipped him, but he knows what I want
+him to do."
+
+Long years afterward, this little incident was told by the President of
+Hollins Institute to his graduating class, with the reflection, that he
+had learned that the best movements in horses and in people can be
+secured without whipping.
+
+The new student was welcomed into Columbian College and there pursued
+the courses of study with unabating enthusiasm. Naturally the
+environment of the national Capital served as a wholesome stimulus to
+all his faculties. The good habits of his life suffered no deterioration
+and the fine qualities of his mind went on maturing rapidly. It was
+during this period that deepening religious impressions resulted in an
+open confession of faith, and in union with a Baptist church in the
+city. He was baptized in the Potomac river. Closely following his
+twentieth birthday came his graduation with the degree of M.A. It is to
+be regretted that no letters written to his parents during this season
+have been preserved. Fortunately, two written to his friends do survive.
+One, sent to his college chum, Mr. A. B. Clark, of Richmond, Virginia,
+bears date of May 22, 1839:
+
+"I walk at the usual times alone, spending the moments mostly in
+meditation on serious subjects. My thoughts are more apt to turn this
+way than formerly. I write two lessons per day in Greek and read but
+little in other books."
+
+Something far more significant appears in the second letter which was
+addressed to a kinswoman in the neighborhood of Edgehill. In that he
+declared a settled purpose, "To devote my life to the higher education
+of women in the South, which I consider one of our greatest needs. In
+this decision, my promised wife concurs." What special influences led
+the college boy to such a majestic consecration, we have no means of
+discovering. That it is a mark of uncommon maturity and breadth of
+intelligent conception, there can be no question.
+
+The benignant spirit of Democracy was becoming atmospheric and the
+intellectual emancipation of woman steadily and slowly pressed to the
+fore. Ancient prejudices and stupidities were beginning reluctantly to
+yield. Not one of the elder ages had ever grasped the thought of woman's
+mental, social and political equality with her brothers. Here and there
+a lone voice had been lifted in her behalf to fall on deaf ears and
+unresponsive hearts. The world habit of thought laughed the innovation
+out of court and the bondage of general ignorance remained unbroken. But
+the imperial idea of the dignity and worth of the human individual could
+not be forever submerged. Its persistent pressure loosened the bonds of
+tradition and began to breach the walls of custom. Modern freedom
+wrought itself into the minds of men, and thinkers announced the
+harbinger of a new era. Practice, as usual, lagged behind theory, and
+one hundred years ago when Charles L. Cocke was born, advantages for the
+culture of daughters were inferior to those afforded the sons. That
+this inequality should have impressed the mind of a young collegian,
+shows uncommon susceptibility to social needs and sacred human rights. A
+rare young manhood came to expression when he dedicated himself to the
+new ideal. He did not originate the ideal. It was borne to him in the
+expansive thought of the time. His shining merit is in the fact that he
+made the early resolve to be an agent in bringing in the better day for
+the liberal education of young women.
+
+It was in the Spring of 1840 that his college work closed and he
+received the degree of Master of Arts. Before the Finals of that
+session, there was some important correspondence between himself and
+Doctor Ryland. The good President had startled Charles with the
+flattering proposition that he should become a member of the Faculty of
+Richmond College, as assistant teacher in Mathematics and as manager of
+the dining hall. The college was then trying to combine training in
+agriculture with the usual curriculum, an experiment that was soon
+abandoned. The young man was too genuinely modest to fancy himself
+equipped for so responsible a position. He faced the issue frankly,
+however, and much influenced by confidence in the judgment of Doctor
+Ryland, decided to accept. Leaving Columbian College he hastened to
+witness the closing exercises at Richmond College.
+
+It must have seemed almost comical to see a practically beardless
+youngster put in charge of some of the vitally important duties of the
+Institution. There he was, without a touch of egotism of
+self-consciousness, quiet of manner, and yet with something about him
+that looked resourceful, unapologetic, and unafraid. You may be sure
+that the boys looked at him curiously, and asked themselves, "Can he do
+it?" Of course there were cautious conservatives who doubted the
+competency of the new incumbent. This tribe is always with us. However,
+there was ground of assurance in the known confidence of Doctor Ryland,
+and nothing remained but to wait and see its vindication. No misgivings
+troubled the Doctor himself. Without bluster or consequential airs, the
+assistant professor made prompt acquaintance with his tasks, and
+discharged them with an efficiency that left nothing to be desired. He
+was on his mettle, conscious of the questioning curiosity centered upon
+himself. For the first time in his life he stood before the footlights
+of public observation and expectation. Leadership had thrust its burdens
+on him early and had imposed its first critical test.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS ABOUT
+1840]
+
+A survey of the affairs of the dining hall convinced him that a change
+of methods was necessary, and with pure audacity he introduced them. At
+the opening of the fall session of 1840 he presented the boys with a
+new bill of fare. To their astonishment he gave them oysters, finding
+them as cheap as other meats. He gave them raisins and plum pudding for
+dessert. He scored instant success, and the boys' heartstrings were in
+his hands. Without incurring increased expense, the new manager secured
+a new satisfaction with the dining hall. Noiselessly other needed
+changes were made and the voice of the growler ceased to be heard. At
+the helm was an officer who knew college boys, and the college spirit
+was noticeably improved. Like competency appeared in the duties of the
+class room. He could teach mathematics and he did. Before the
+Commencement in 1841, Charles L. Cocke was recognized as a distinct
+contribution to the life of the Institution. Here is a young professor
+who does not propose to rest content with inadequate facilities and
+outworn methods. His whole nature cries for improvement and for better
+ways of doing things. What a boon to many a school and college would
+such a man be. Good Doctor Ryland's face wore a smile which plainly
+said, "I told you so." His judgment of capacity and character was
+sufficiently justified. The young comrade was to him an object of
+ever-deepening interest and their relations steadily ripened into
+sincere and loving friendship.
+
+Now, the President knew that his assistant was romantically entangled
+with an affair of the heart. He also knew the fair young woman who was
+responsible for that state of things. Miss Susanna V. Pleasants lived
+five miles north of Richmond in a lovely old Virginia home which bore
+the Indian name of "Picquenocque." Knowing that a matrimonial alliance
+was imminent, the Doctor, one day, ventured to ask Charles about the
+date of the coming event. He warmly approved the match and was exuberant
+in congratulations. As a matter of fact he was hoping that the marriage
+would tend to fix his assistant more firmly in Richmond College. This
+genial intrusion into sacred privacy was not resented, but Charles found
+it inconvenient to confide. The question was asked in November, and at
+that very moment the issue to be decided between the sweethearts was
+whether the ceremony should come off on the last day of December, or the
+first of January following. That problem enabled the young gentleman to
+make a complete but truthful evasion. His honest reply was: "I know
+neither the day, nor the month, nor the year." There the matter ended,
+and the mystified Doctor relapsed into silence. Later the mighty problem
+was solved and the marriage was solemnized on the last day of 1840.
+Doctor Ryland, officiating, beamed on the happy pair and found great
+merriment in the perfectly true, but dextrously non-committal answer,
+made just six weeks before. The bride and groom had not quite reached
+their twenty-first birthdays when they began that remarkable human
+pilgrimage which was to endure a little more than sixty years. The
+angels of domestic peace and joy sang benediction all the way. That home
+life is a glorious memory now, but its lesson is more precious than
+gold. An astronomer discerned a luminous star. On closer inspection he
+found it, not single but binary. The twin stars joined their radiance,
+which came streaming down in one glorious pencil of light. Such a star
+beams forever in the Hollins firmament.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST
+
+1846-1856
+
+
+The attraction of the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains was a fact
+freely confessed by eastern Virginians. Even before the Revolutionary
+War the section, now known as the Tazewell country, became an Eldorado,
+and thitherward set the streams of migration. Along the beautiful
+valleys and in the hearts of the hills lay the possibilities of fabulous
+wealth. Through the early decades of the nineteenth century this
+fascination continued, population increased, centers of culture were
+formed, and men of enterprise began to think of a railroad from
+Lynchburg, Virginia, to East Tennessee. Christian evangelism was active,
+but education lagged. There were fine brains in the Southwest, but the
+means of culture were deficient. The land called for the school teacher.
+Slowly the providential workings were preparing a place for a young
+professor in Richmond College, who as yet had no dream of it.
+
+Seven miles north of the City of Roanoke, Carvin's creek pours down out
+of the mountains into the wonderful Roanoke Valley. Right in the
+aperture of the hills where it emerges, was discovered a little sulphur
+spring whose properties suggested the establishment of a watering place.
+Accordingly, Mr. Johnston, a man of wealth from Richmond, bought a
+hundred acres and built a commodious brick hotel near the two springs,
+one limestone, the other sulphur. This was somewhere near the year 1815.
+A race course was made one of the additional attractions. The place took
+the name of "Botetourt Springs," and at once leaped into fame as a
+health resort. The turnpike from the west passed immediately in front of
+the hotel and between the springs, which are one hundred yards apart.
+General Andrew Jackson stopped here for entertainment on his way to and
+from Washington City. General Lafayette, on his last visit to the United
+States, was an honored guest. Touring south, he came out of his way to
+pay respect to his old friend, Mr. Johnston.
+
+Interesting legends from the old pioneer days gathered round the spot.
+One bold adventurer, named Carvin, was said to have built a rock castle
+on a crag near the springs and to have had many hair-breadth escapes
+from Indians and wild beasts. All that is certainly known is, that he
+left his name on the little creek that passes nearby. A huge, isolated
+mountain, in the shape of an elephant, rises just one mile to the north,
+and tradition says that cowardly slackers of the Revolutionary period
+made it a hiding place. They mended pots, plates and pans, and so were
+called "tinkers." Thus it comes that the beautiful mountain wears a
+homely name and perpetuates an unworthy memory.
+
+Botetourt Springs was popular and well patronized by seekers for health
+and pleasure, but the death of Mr. Johnston brought a crisis, and in
+1840 the property was on the market. The administrator, Col. George P.
+Tayloe, offered it to the highest bidder. Just at this time a Baptist
+minister, the Rev. Mr. Bradley, from New York State, had come into the
+neighborhood, seeking a home and work. Being an intelligent man and
+especially interested in education, he saw that this property was
+capable of being converted to the uses of a school. His zeal and
+industry soon materialized in the organization of the "Valley Union
+Education Society," and that body purchased Botetourt Springs with
+promises to pay.
+
+[Illustration: THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852]
+
+The buildings were easily adaptable to the purposes in hand. The old
+hotel, consisting of a basement and two stories, provided a dining hall,
+a chapel, and thirty-one rooms. Then, there were seven smaller buildings
+with two to four rooms each. These latter were ranged on opposite
+sides of the front yard, at right angles to the main building. In the
+fall of 1842 the "Valley Union Seminary" was launched, under encouraging
+conditions, with Mr. Bradley at the head. The patronage was large and
+the prospects alluring at the outset, but soon the relations of the
+Principal with his faculty and students became unhappy. He was a worthy,
+irreproachable man, and intellectually competent, but it seemed
+impossible for him to make tactful adjustments with the young
+Virginians. The management was changed, attendance was large, and the
+only cloud on the enterprise was the unpaid notes. The affairs of Mr.
+Johnston's estate must be wound up. The young Seminary in its third year
+was in the breakers, and looked disaster in the face. It was now in the
+spring of 1845. Deliverance must come speedily, or another dead school
+would pass into the abyss. In this critical hour, two or three students
+just returned from Richmond College said to members of the society: "We
+know a man who can handle your Seminary and make it go." Any remark that
+hinted at relief was more than welcomed by the trustees, who asked whom
+the students had in mind.
+
+"It is Professor Charles L. Cocke of Richmond College. He is only
+twenty-five years old but he has had five years' experience in teaching.
+He knows how to bring things to pass, and if your school can be pulled
+out of a hole, he is the man you want."
+
+Such was the homely but emphatic tribute of the college boys, and it did
+not pass unheeded. Propositions from the Society went promptly to
+Richmond, and the Professor was induced to come to the mountains to look
+the situation over. The Society was pleased with him, and he was
+impressed with the possibilities of the Seminary. The call of the great
+Southwest sounded in his ears and the visions of the things that may be,
+beckoned him on. The call was made in the spring of 1845. He would
+ponder it devoutly.
+
+Shall he break all the tender ties that bind him to his Tidewater home?
+Shall he sunder relations with Richmond College and bring grief to the
+heart of his devoted friend, Dr. Ryland? Shall he take his young wife
+and three little children into a rugged land, remote and destitute of
+the comforts they have known? Such questions voiced the negative,
+self-regarding view, and he asked himself: "Is not this Southwest a land
+of great promise and educational need? May not this be the providential
+arena for the realization of my fond dream of mental liberation for the
+daughters of Virginia and the South?" This noble speculation, still
+working, was hid away in his soul, vague and undefined. It would grow.
+This was the positive and unselfish view, and he knew it. "Yes, I will
+go," was the final settlement of the painful controversy. Like Abraham,
+he would go forth all unknowing, yet believing in the guidance of a
+divine wisdom. No, this young man was not the football of impulse. His
+decisions were the outcome of long deliberate thought. This was the most
+vital step of his life. He heard the voice of duty, that "stern daughter
+of God," and obeyed. He had an imaginative power which went, not to the
+uses of poetry, but to the practical problems of life. It was his habit
+to project his thought thirty years forward, deploying before him the
+reasonable developments of a growing civilization. In these forecasts,
+imagination did him a fine service. Here was the spring of those
+ceaseless demands for enlargement and improvement of facilities, which
+later marked his work as college president.
+
+The spring of 1846 is come; the six years of work in Richmond College
+are closed; the farewells are spoken; and Mr. Cocke journeys toward the
+sunset. It is a weary overland drive of five days in a carriage from
+Richmond to Botetourt Springs. Lofty "Tinker" salutes the pilgrims as
+they move up the highway, and now the vehicle stops in front of the old
+hotel, whose front yard is a wilderness of weeds. Mrs. Cocke's heart
+sinks within her as she looks on the inhospitable desolation. Ghosts of
+dilapidation and decay stretch out hands of welcome in sheer, grim
+mockery. The anguish in the young wife's heart is momentary. With a
+sublime courage, equal to that of her husband's, from that awful moment
+she goes smilingly with him to the task of preparing for the coming
+session. Unwittingly, they are laying the foundations of the noble
+Institution which, today, is a pride and joy to the state and nation.
+Little do they dream that before the closing of their toil, they will
+see girls from thirty states parading and singing on that outlandish
+front yard.
+
+  "I'd rather walk with God in the night
+          Than go alone by day."
+
+By a business arrangement with the trustees, Mr. Cocke had put into the
+treasury of the Society $1,500.00 of his own and his wife's money, to
+stay off the creditors. On the 23rd day of June, 1846, the session
+opened with the new Principal in charge. It was a new dignity, truly,
+but how precarious and involving what weight of responsibility! The
+young soldier is on the firing line with an independent command. He can
+hardly anticipate the leagued masses of trouble, disappointment and
+despair that lurk in the mountains, plotting his destruction. For the
+next twenty-five years we shall see the storms of battle break upon
+him, and we shall see his banner waving in victory to the shoutings of a
+multitude. The Principal is a born leader. He is resolute and confident
+without egotism; resourceful and wise without display. The Richmond
+College boys were right. Here is the man. However, the burden-bearing
+years must develop the fact. The first nine years will carry us through
+seasons of struggle and painful progress. With the outstanding facts of
+this period, it is the purpose of this chapter to deal.
+
+He was now the head of a co-educational Seminary, which from its
+inception was designed to be strictly benevolent in character. In ample
+proof is the fact that $45.00 paid the student's bill for tuition and
+board for five months. The school never made money, nor was that ever
+its end. The purpose of the founders was to put education in the reach
+of all who thirsted for it. Such was the generous basis of the
+enterprise. The small revenues thus realized, yielded the teachers
+pitifully inadequate reward, and made improvements practically
+impossible.
+
+You may be sure that good order was maintained and good lessons were
+required. From the start, Mr. Cocke's administration won popular
+confidence and approval. Soon after his coming he was announced to speak
+in the Baptist church in Big Lick (now the City of Roanoke), and a
+large audience was there to greet him. In the address he said, among
+other things, "I have come to Southwest Virginia to give my life to the
+cause of education, to spend and be spent in that work." A fine
+impression was made on the citizens, and on dismission a gentleman said
+to a lady: "That is the man to send your son to." Fifteen years later
+that boy was a Colonel in the Confederate army. This boy's older brother
+had told Mr. Cocke that Thomas was a bad boy, and had added, "If he does
+not behave, I hope you will thrash him." For two whole sessions the
+youth found himself seated at the table next to Mr. Cocke and the coffee
+pot. He was entrusted with messages here and there, and finally the boys
+began to say that Tom Lewis was Mr. Cocke's pet. Not so: that was his
+ingenious discipline. He could control horses and boys without whipping.
+In the long after years the Principal had no more faithful and devoted
+friend than Colonel Lewis. Once a group of older boys made some of the
+younger ones drunk. The offenders were promptly expelled, and nothing
+was done to the innocent victims. Other young men made angry threats,
+and their expulsion followed. Rebellion grew; a large body of the boys
+defiantly paraded the campus, making the situation ominous. The school
+was called to the chapel, the boys on one side and the girls on the
+other. The Principal fronted the boys and said: "I am the head of this
+school and I am going to run it. I have sent some disorderly students
+away, and if necessary I will send more. I will send every one of you
+home and start a new school, and if I can't run it I will give it up and
+go at some other business." The audience understood the tone of that
+voice and took warning from the gleam in the blue eyes. After that the
+incident was closed.
+
+His skill in dealing with mischievous boys is exhibited in another
+episode. Some of them felt that school life was dull without a little
+spice of adventure, so in pure fun they sallied forth at night to visit
+the neighbors' orchards, and even to take unwarranted liberties with
+their chicken roosts. Complaints came to the Principal, who at once
+sought a private interview with the culprits. He talked to them kindly,
+yet with earnest protestations against such pranks. He knew they were
+not thieves, far from it, but they should not take people's property
+that had cost labor and care. After duly moralizing on the case, he
+closed the interview with the following burst of magnanimity: "Now boys,
+if hereafter some irresistible impulse is on you to prowl, spare the
+neighbors and plunder _my_ poultry yard." What human heart but a school
+boy's could resist an appeal like that? One night not long thereafter,
+Mrs. Cocke heard curious noises on the back premises. Mr. Cocke slipped
+out in the darkness and readily took in the situation. The following
+night he stood at the window of one of the boys' cottages and saw the
+preliminaries looking to a midnight carnival on roast duck. Just as the
+feast was ready to begin, there was a tap at the door. Hospitality
+invited entrance, when in stepped Mr. Cocke! To his friendly inquiries
+they responded that they were about to dispose of a savory meal and
+coolly invited the visitor to share it, which he as coolly proceeded to
+do. The party was jolly, and though all knew that nobody was deceived,
+the fact was not betrayed by one look or word. Mr. Cocke bowed himself
+out with a pleasant good night, and the mystified marauders went to bed.
+Depredations ceased, and the boys' admiration of that midnight diplomacy
+was unconcealed.
+
+When a boy was guilty of some offense, not mean, but mischievous, his
+case was stated in the presence of the school, and the roaring laughter
+that followed was sufficient correction. There was not a case of
+disobedience among the girls in the years 1846-'52, but they would keep
+their windows open. The boys lifted hats in passing, and were rewarded
+with pleased and winning glances. Often while sitting by the open
+window, a thoughtful look covered one side of a girl's face, while on
+the other side, looking window-ward, played a bewitching smile. In those
+days was established the yearly October visit to the top of Tinker. The
+day of the excursion was a "secret between Charles and the Lord," as
+Mrs. Cocke once humorously said to the inquiring girls. Arriving on the
+summit, and viewing the landscape over, suddenly an apple would fall in
+the midst, as from the sky. Where did it come from? The girls knew, and
+the boys knew. The boys had gone before and hidden behind the rocks and
+brush. Then the mountain scenery lost its charm, and a romantic search
+for flowers began.
+
+The halls of the Seminary filled to their capacity and the Principal
+pleaded for more room. Alas, the Trustees had no money, and the school's
+revenue was a sacrifice to the benevolent principle of minimum rates.
+The Institution he wanted could come only through increased equipment
+and accommodations. There the young Principal was, the sport of harsh
+conditions. One balm came to his heart in the timely sensible praise of
+the Trustees. In their meeting, January 10, 1851, they said in formal
+resolution: "We cannot speak in terms too high of the untiring diligence
+of the Principal and his assistants in maintaining judicious discipline,
+and in the prosecution of their responsible duties."
+
+His efforts for notable success had a double motive. First, he quite
+properly wanted to convince all of his capacity for educational work.
+Second, by the overcrowded conditions, he wanted to force an issue on
+the Trustees respecting the future policy of the school. The
+accommodations were palpably insufficient, and as there was no
+possibility of increasing them, what should be done? The Principal knew
+what to do. He boldly advised a radical change: dismiss the male
+department and convert the Seminary into a school for girls. To his
+immense delight, the proposition was accepted. The new order looked like
+the opening of an approach to the goal of ambitions born in his college
+days. His loyal interest in the education of young men was not abated,
+but the dream of the higher education of women became a passion. This
+important decision was made in the spring of 1852, and thus a ten years
+co-educational school, in which Mr. Cocke had labored for six prosperous
+years, came to a close. With mingled feelings of grateful hope and keen
+anxiety, he now faced a golden opportunity. He enjoyed the distinction
+of being the head of the first chartered school for girls in Virginia.
+The fall session of 1852 opened with eighty-one pupils. That of the fall
+of 1853, with one hundred and fifty. The wisdom of the radical change
+was fully justified. It was a time of radiant satisfaction and jubilant
+hope.
+
+[Illustration: THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855]
+
+But it was now that the battle with austere conditions and scant
+equipment became the torment of his mind. The Trustees could give no
+material aid, and popular interest in education was too feeble to
+proffer financial help. It is simple truth to say that on this vestibule
+of his great enterprise, the gravest doubts and trepidations of his
+whole career assailed him. In moods of depression the heroic man feared
+that he had attempted the impossible. Was he unnerved or unstrung? Not
+for one minute. In these black days he fronted his task with the
+resourcefulness of an uncommon manhood. The stamina of his nature came
+to expression in a way that surprised even himself. He made imploring
+appeals to friends who were well to do in this world's goods. A good
+providence put him in touch with two noble spirits, Mr. John Hollins and
+his wife, of Lynchburg, Virginia, members of his own denomination. Mr.
+Hollins presented the Seminary with a gift of $5,000 cash, and then the
+daylight began to break. The good man proposed as a condition of his
+gift that the old management by an Education Society and its appointed
+Trustees must give way to a board of self-perpetuating Trustees. To all
+concerned the proposition seemed wise and just, and it was so ordered.
+It was then generously agreed that the name of the Institution should be
+changed, and that henceforth it should be known as "Hollins Institute."
+To Mr. Cocke and the dissolving Society, this appeared to be a
+compliment well deserved by the man and his wife who had saved the life
+of the school.
+
+The transfer of all the property of the Valley Union Education Society
+to the Trustees of Hollins Institute was made in March, 1855. Thus in
+the first nine years of his incumbency, Mr. Cocke saw two revisions of
+the original charter granted in January, 1844. By the first revision in
+1852, the Seminary was made a school for girls. By the second, in
+December, 1855, the name of the Institution was changed, the old
+management was abolished, and its functions put into the hands of a
+self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. No friction arose; all was harmony.
+The old régime passed, but its personnel remained steadfast.
+
+In all the stress and tribulation of the past years, Mr. Cocke had been
+the central bolt that held the structure intact. Around his single
+heroic personality gathered all the forces that made possible the
+perpetuity of the Institution. His reward had now come, and a blessed
+assurance threw its foregleams on the future. He was now in his
+thirty-sixth year and athrill with that full health and masculine energy
+that was his blessing to the end of his life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE AND GROWTH
+
+1855-1870
+
+
+That was a high day, in the summer of 1855, when Hollins Institute flung
+its banner to the breeze. A munificent gift, a new régime and a new name
+put fresh enthusiasm into the Institution, and the gladness of hope into
+the hearts of all its friends. You have noticed how these joyous effects
+always flow from new deals and revisions of plans. A better day has
+dawned, bright visions float in the brain of Mr. Cocke, and the blue
+mountains seem to hail him with congratulation. The human heart would
+famish but for these fountains that break out in the midst of weary,
+toiling years. Economic conditions are improving in the Southwest. The
+Kanawha Canal now connects Richmond with Buchanan, a village just twenty
+miles away. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad has been built (1852),
+supplying quick communication with the outside world; and the
+macadamized turnpike has been built from Buchanan to the west, passing
+within a few hundred yards of the School. The general conditions were
+never so cheering, nor was the outlook ever so bright.
+
+Some necessary changes have been made by the Trustees in internal
+affairs. The rates of board and tuition are moderately increased, and
+Mr. Cocke is put in charge of all departments, with authority to select
+his teachers and to fix their salaries. The new Board of Trustees knows
+the qualities and capacities of the Principal, and from this time forth
+they give him confidence and almost unlimited powers. Charles L. Cocke,
+not yet thirty-six years of age, had attained enviable distinction in
+the educational ranks of his native State. He will justify the faith of
+his friends.
+
+The Hollins gift of $5,000 was put to work. The East Building with
+thirty-eight rooms, was projected, and by January, 1857, completed at a
+cost of $12,000. Alas, calamity crashed upon the school. In the fall of
+1856 typhoid fever broke out and forced a temporary suspension. With
+cruel suddenness the epidemic worked a loss of public confidence, and
+once more the heart of the Principal was harrowed with discouraging
+thoughts. It was given out that bad sanitary conditions had invited the
+scourge, but rigid investigation exploded the theory. The fact was that
+the disease had been brought to the Institute by one of the pupils.
+Slowly the panic yielded and confidence returned, but the experience was
+shocking. Quickly the Principal regained his tone of courageous hope and
+its wholesome contagion spread far and near. In July, 1857, in a report
+to the Trustees, he made this important and assuring statement: "By
+affording these superior inducements the school has realized a degree of
+prosperity beyond that of any boarding school in the state, and has
+given an impulse to female education heretofore unknown. The plan and
+policy of our school must be considered the true one. This plan
+recognizes the principle that in the present state of society in our
+country, _young ladies require the same thorough mental training as that
+afforded to young men_, and accordingly, in the arrangement of the
+course of studies, and the selection of teachers, and the conferment of
+distinctions, we have kept this principle steadily in view. This feature
+of the Institution has given to it its prominence and past success, and
+other Institutions, originating since our plan was made public, have
+almost uniformly adopted it."
+
+  "To each man is given a marble to carve for the wall;
+  A stone that is needed to heighten the beauty of all;
+  And only his soul has the magic to give it a grace;
+  And only his hands have the cunning to put it in place."
+
+During the year 1858, the activity of the Trustees secured a good many
+subscriptions, and the generous Mrs. Anne Hollins rallied with her own
+gift of $2,500. The dark days of 1857 began to be a memory, and the
+revival of public confidence and patronage smoothed the brow of care.
+
+It must not be supposed that Mr. Cocke lost interest in the education of
+boys when the co-educational system was abandoned in 1852. No man in
+Virginia was more enlisted in the education of all the people than he.
+There must be a school for the boys in the Virginia Mountains, and in
+the later fifties, though sufficiently burdened with local cares, he
+turns his attention to this interest. With the valuable assistance of
+Dr. George B. Taylor, later an eminent Baptist missionary to Italy, he
+was the chief factor in establishing Alleghany College, in Greenbrier
+County, one hundred miles northwest of Hollins Institute. This county
+was included in the new state of West Virginia, organized in 1861. The
+school opened with one hundred young men and ran well for a brief
+season, but was suspended at the beginning of the Civil War. The
+buildings were occupied by Federal soldiers, and shortly afterwards were
+destroyed by fire. All subsequent efforts to revive the college were
+unavailing. With characteristic loyalty, Mr. Cocke matriculated his son,
+Joseph James Cocke, at the opening of the first session. The brave boy
+laid down his books at the first alarm of war and entered the
+Confederate army, and in the terrible battles in Northern Virginia, he
+was twice dangerously wounded. That boy is now a venerable and honored
+citizen of the State of Texas.
+
+Long years after, Mr. Cocke bent his efforts towards the erection of
+Alleghany Institute at Roanoke, and had great satisfaction in its
+commodious buildings and its promising attendance of boys. In the course
+of varying fortunes this enterprise fainted by the way and ceased to be.
+One can but fancy that if Mr. Cocke himself could have held the helm in
+these two adventures, the story would have been different. The storms
+beat and the floods came, but Hollins Institute stands. Her standards
+are stirring thought currents and stimulating like enterprises in
+Virginia and the nation. For our pioneer in the Southwest, this is
+compensation and a crown of glory. Without one thrill of jealousy does
+he see the spread of his views and the certainty of large competition.
+To stand in his own place and make good, is the one guiding and
+all-controlling purpose of his life.
+
+In 1860, Mrs. Hollins, now a lonely widow, signalized her profound
+interest in a new gift of $10,000. This generous and timely act pushed
+up the contributions of the Hollins family to the handsome sum of
+$17,500. The growing popularity of Hollins sprung the problem of
+enlarged facilities and to solve it was the design of this latest
+benevolence. It was greeted with boundless gratitude, and the Trustees
+deputed one of their members, Mr. Wm. A. Miller, to bear to her their
+most cordial thanks. Accompanying this message was an urgent request for
+the oil portraits of the two benefactors. In due time the portraits
+came, and to this day they adorn the walls of the Main Building, whose
+erection was made possible by the recent gift. An architect was
+employed, and work was begun on this building in the spring of 1861, on
+the very day that Virginia seceded from the Union. The tempest and
+blight of the Civil War came down to threaten the life of the
+Institution and to almost break the heart of the founder. Expectant hope
+had looked for early occupancy, but it was not to be. In one year the
+walls were upreared, the roof was on, and then the work stopped. The
+contractor quit his job because the war had disorganized labor and the
+situation was simply helpless. There stands the unfinished structure,
+and there it will stand, a ghastly skeleton for eight long years.
+
+At this beginning of horrors, Mr. Cocke's reputation as a strong man was
+established, and the fair name of his school was extended beyond the
+limits of the State. Seasoned in old battles and richly schooled in
+experience, he stands in his place unterrified. He dares, even amid the
+clouds and disasters of war, to send out his adventurous thought, thirty
+years to the fore. What ought to be, what may be, the facilities and
+achievements of this Institution a generation hence? He is now too well
+fortified in his convictions of educational theory and practice, and of
+their fitness to the needs of the time, to be affrighted by the spectres
+and goblins of ultimate failure.
+
+In 1862, he speaks to his girls and the public in this fashion: "The
+organization of this school is unlike all others in Virginia. To some
+extent it is denominational, but decidedly anti-sectarian. Its Trustees
+perpetuate their own existence. Its funds cannot revert to any other
+object. It is responsible to no religious body and its success depends
+solely on its merits. It looks to permanent existence and to the good of
+the whole commonwealth. Its successes have exceeded the most sanguine
+expectations of its friends. It was first to adopt a high standard of
+classical education for young women in Virginia; first to place the
+English Department under a regular professor; and first in the nation to
+adopt the elective system of studies. With the prestige of a history of
+twenty years, it may properly and confidently appeal to the general
+public to make it an addition to the permanent wealth and moral
+elevation of the country. I believe its reputation will spread until it
+draws pupils from all over the South." Under the distressful conditions,
+is there not something morally grand in this utterance? It was a
+prophetic speech, and the daring prediction was more than realized in
+the thirty years that followed.
+
+In 1863, one hundred girls filled every room, and seventy-five
+applicants were turned away. Oh, for the forty-six student-rooms in that
+unfinished hulk! Sequestered snugly in the mountains, no Institution in
+the country suffered less from the demoralization of the war. Families
+driven from the areas of invasion sent their daughters to the haven of
+its seclusion. The faculty of four gentlemen and three ladies had ample
+occupation. It was at this juncture that the President dropped the wise
+remark that the success of an Institution demands a capable manager as
+much as qualified instructors, and that he is harder to find. Of course,
+during this period, the depreciated currency and the correspondingly
+high cost of living required advance in the rates of the tuition and
+board. In 1864, one hundred and twenty-eight students were crowded into
+the rooms, and an equal number were turned away. In these days of
+inevitable stringency, the fare was far from luxurious, but it was
+accepted by teacher and pupil with that cheerfulness which becomes
+sensible and considerate people.
+
+That year the school was not immune to the alarms of war. A Federal
+raid, led by General Hunter, rushed into the town of Salem, nine miles
+distant, and the news spread consternation at Hollins, but without
+panic. The President had prepared a paper, stating the defenseless
+condition of the college and entreating protection by the General of any
+invading force. This paper he kept in his pocket, ready to be sent by
+messenger, if from any cause he himself should be prevented from going
+to make an oral request. Happily, Hunter came no nearer than Salem, and
+the awful suspense was relieved. On that very day, George Newman, the
+faithful colored driver, went to Salem with his omnibus, and was waiting
+at the depot, when the horsemen in blue came thundering down the street.
+He cracked his whip over his trusty four and dashed southward across the
+river, amid a shower of bullets. He was going in a course directly
+opposite from Hollins, but that was the only avenue of escape. When he
+was not heard from for the best part of two days, he was given up for
+lost. But late on the second day, who should drive in but this same
+George Newman, with an air of triumph and an ecstasy of smiles on his
+face! He came bare-headed, having lost his hat in the impetuosity of
+that patriotic retreat. The girls hailed him with a storm of acclamation
+and instantly took up a collection with which they crowned the hero
+with a new straw hat!
+
+Mrs. Cocke, in these times of nervous excitement, was perfectly sure of
+her own demeanor in case of irruption by the enemy. She would stand
+defiant in the doorway and forbid all entrance. The family tell a story
+which the dear mother never denied. One day her son Charley, a lad of
+ten years, with some of the servants, was coming back to the stables
+with the horses which had been hidden in the woods of Carvin's creek, to
+escape the hands of the enemy. The youngsters came galloping down the
+road, when some excitable person imagining it a charge of Yankee
+cavalry, raised the alarm, and then followed the worst panic Hollins
+ever knew. Mrs. Cocke, quietly busy in the pantry, hearing the shrieks,
+following an irresistible impulse, left the pantry door wide open and
+vanished to some place, she was never quite sure where.
+
+It was Mr. Cocke's custom in those days to send a group of girls in the
+omnibus to the Sunday morning service of one of the churches in Salem.
+Such was the economic stress of the period that a handsome new hat in
+the school produced a sensation. Fortune crowned one of the students
+with a beautiful headgear. She wore it to church, and generously, on the
+following Sunday put the treasure on the head of a comrade who was
+going up to worship. So the ornament became a regular attendant at the
+Salem services. Gathered at the church doors were the Salem boys, of
+course, and they soon became merrily interested in the new hat. One day
+after service, the girls found in the omnibus a note, inquiring: "Who
+does that hat belong to?" The owner lives, today, in Blacksburg, Va.
+Those trips to Salem ceased long ago, and now in the Hollins Chapel,
+regular Sunday evening services are conducted by chaplain pastors from
+the various denominations.
+
+In the spring of 1865, pneumonia became epidemic in the school, taking
+off six of the pupils and two more in their homes. This disaster caused
+a suspension one month before the close of the regular term.
+
+With the fall of the Confederacy, Mr. Cocke had again to face a
+condition that seemed the mockery of his hopes. Everywhere were economic
+prostration, social disorganization, and pinching poverty. Shall Hollins
+keep up the fight? Will the sun of Austerlitz ever rise on her long and
+varying battles? What young Institution ever threaded its way through a
+wilderness so gloomy or by pits and precipices so dangerous? Hollins
+will go on, walking by faith, and its doors shall not be closed, even
+for the part of a session. That is the mind of the President. He and
+his faculty, though exhausted in means, will face the destitution and
+never give up the ship. The session of 1865-6 ran on with forty-five
+students. Rates had to be increased, and even with that, the college
+would have been compelled to close but for a timely loan from Colonel
+Tayloe to buy food. This noble friend and President of the Board of
+Trustees had been a comfort to Mr. Cocke from the beginning, and will
+continue so for thirty years more. Our great leader did not talk about
+his troubles, being always master of himself. Once he made this brief
+pathetic admission to his Trustees: "I am so burdened that I do not feel
+fit for my work." What can move us to tears like a strong man's grief?
+And there stands the ghastly figure of the unfinished Main Building,
+mocking his struggles and dreams. For five years now, pine boards have
+been nailed up to cover the windows, and not even a porch relieves the
+monotony of its ugliness. Two alternatives were before him: first,
+reduce the faculty, which is a most deplorable thing to do; second, go
+on as we are, but that is bankruptcy and ruin. Hear him: "I will go on;
+I will trust in God and the people." He insisted to his Trustees: "We
+must not descend to the character of a neighborhood school." Their
+sympathies were with him, but they felt unable to cope with the iron
+stringencies of the time. He did go on, never lowering a standard or
+abating the passionate cry for more room and better equipment. How he
+ever pulled through this slough of despond, he himself could not
+possibly tell. Of one thing he was in no doubt and it was this, that in
+the long night of anguish, there was a precious mystery of heavenly aid.
+
+[Illustration: HOLLINS INSTITUTE
+
+[Main Building Completed 1869. East Building Completed 1856]]
+
+One of the encouraging incidents of this season, was the fact that one
+of the finest young scholars in Virginia accepted a call to the
+Institute. When Professor Joseph A. Turner, in 1866, consented to become
+a member of the faculty, it meant that a finely accomplished man had
+confidence in the character and destiny of the College, and that
+certified confidence was a tonic to the President's soul. But Hollins is
+still in the depths. There is no bracing of firm rock under her feet.
+All the officials know that the whole property is in peril of a public
+sale. How did the School go on? You must find answer in the
+resourcefulness and adamantine will of one great man. Hollins did go on,
+and complimentary testimonials from leading scholars in the State began
+to be written and spoken. Mr. Cocke was cheered at the generous
+recognition and said: "We must lift our standards a little higher than
+ever before. Our school should be second to none in the State and we
+must reach out for more distant patrons." The tide begins to rise, and
+on the horizon there are gleaming hints of a better day. In 1868, Mr.
+Cocke secured a loan of $10,000, and by the end of 1869, that nightmare
+of the Main Building was transformed into a handsome and completed
+edifice. The passing of this melancholy incubus made a new epoch in his
+life. It was the cutting of chains from his feet, and the addition of
+wings wherewith to fly. The new structure greatly increased the
+accommodations, and now begins active propaganda in the South,
+acquainting the people with Hollins Institute. Newly risen, like a star
+above tempest and cloud, she will shed benignant light on the homes and
+daughters of the land. May she go on shining forever!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CLEARING SKIES
+
+1870-1880
+
+
+The torturing issues of the past are now settled. Mr. Cocke will let
+them pass to practical oblivion while he presses on to larger
+realizations. Of course annoying problems will continue to dog his
+steps, but they will not wear the malignant aspect so familiar in the
+strenuous years. His ideal is a flying goal, and he will never see his
+loved college free from growing pains. The happiest decade of work that
+he has yet known is before him. He stands on its threshold with hope
+assured, and his face is lit with thanksgiving as he beholds the clouds
+receding, and the sunshine flooding all the sky. It is a time to grasp
+his hand and shower him with congratulations. He has now completed
+twenty-four years of toilsome labor beside the little sulphur spring.
+Into the holy enterprise he has grandly flung himself, his property and
+his family. Never had a man a more tactful and sympathetic co-worker
+than he found in his wife. Without one murmur of complaint she has
+shared all his burdens and cares. Her feminine quietness and grace have
+matched his masculine push and executive force. In him is a certain
+rugged virility which is delightfully supplemented by her charm of
+patient gentleness. With a noiseless and tireless efficiency, she has
+managed the domestic details, while he has handled the administrative
+affairs of the school. In the apportionment of praise, he would resent a
+bestowal that made her unequal to himself; nor would he fail to
+recognize the services of his children. Since the wedding bells rang,
+thirty years ago, nine have come into the home [Joseph J., Leila V.
+(Mrs. Joseph A. Turner), Sallie Lewis, Mary Susan (Mrs. C. W. Hayward),
+Rosa Pleasants (Mrs. W. R. L. Smith), Charles Henry, Matty L., Lucian
+H., and Bessie (Mrs. J. P. Barbee)]. Brought up in an atmosphere of
+service, all of them have, for longer or shorter periods, loyally served
+the institution.
+
+The new session of 1870-'71 began with the registration of eighty girls.
+The Trustees at this juncture stepped to the front with a cheering note,
+announcing that the Institute was "Getting on a firm basis," and
+expressing their intense gratification at its increasing popularity and
+patronage. They emphasized their high appreciation of the system of
+instruction, and the thoroughgoing diligence of the President and his
+faculty. All honor to these men who were sensitive to merit, and who had
+the grace to crown it with praise. These men also had learned that human
+progress is not much accelerated by whips of fault-finding and rebuke.
+In all their official records there is not an instance of clash between
+them and the President, nor even a hint of cross-purpose or loss of good
+understanding. When we think of the rough road they had travelled
+together, and the bewildering tangle of issues with which they had
+grappled, this concord is as surprising as it is honorable. An obstinate
+and wrangling Board could have crippled him cruelly. These harmonies
+were due to two facts: first, the absolute confidence of these gentlemen
+in the judgment and business capacity of Mr. Cocke; second, his
+reciprocal confidence in them, accompanied by the most cordial respect
+and courtesy. At the Board meetings through this decade they will not
+forget the value of commendatory resolutions, and it is pleasing to
+mention now, that this congenial partnership never knew a jar in all the
+after years.
+
+Never was sunshine more grateful to the flowers, or music more cheering
+to a tired spirit, than were the tokens of the spreading fame of
+Hollins to the soul of Mr. Cocke. Golden appreciations by distinguished
+men began to be spoken and written. Here is a tribute from Professor
+Edward S. Joynes, of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia: "I am
+intimately acquainted with the history of Hollins. It is an Institution
+of the very highest character, certainly second to none of its kind in
+this State. It has existed for upward of twenty-five years and been
+conducted upon the very highest standards of moral and intellectual
+education. Its success and permanence have been due to its merits alone.
+It is an unendowed Institution, founded originally by benevolence and
+supported by public patronage, and by the energy and economy of its
+administration. The President is a man of ability and of the highest
+personal character, and no Institution in this State has a higher claim
+on the public confidence." Dr. John A. Broaddus, of the Baptist
+Theological Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina, wrote his estimate: "I
+know of no better female school in the whole country, and very few, that
+for a moment, can be compared with Hollins. The instruction takes an
+ample range, and is able, skillful and honest." The Rev. Dr. J. L.
+Burrows, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, stated
+his view: "In beauty and healthfulness of location; in attractiveness
+and adaptableness of its buildings; in tasteful adornment of grounds;
+in the wild grandeur of surrounding scenery, Hollins Institute occupies
+one of the most charming and sequestered nooks among the far-famed
+mineral springs of Virginia. In the comprehensiveness and thoroughness
+of its course of study; in the ability and devotion of its instructors;
+in the carefulness and homefulness of its domestic economy; in its
+seclusion from the distractions of fashion and social disquietude, I
+regard this Institution as one of the very best for girls on this
+continent."
+
+Many such heartening notes by University professors, ministers, editors
+and heads of colleges for girls, began to sound forth as early as 1868.
+Golden opinions, rightly deserved and rapidly spreading, brought the
+natural result. The session of 1869-'70 opened with twenty-one girls
+from nine Southern States, not including Virginia. The year following,
+the number grew to twenty-eight from the nine states. The session of
+1873-'74 reported thirty-nine girls from thirteen states outside of
+Virginia, and that of 1875-'76 enrolled fifty-three from fourteen
+states. The session of 1877-'78 registered a total of one hundred and
+seventeen students, seventy of them coming from other states. This
+noticeable decline in the percentage of Virginia girls is easily
+accounted for by the increasing competition of the new and excellent
+schools for girls, now arisen in the Old Dominion. During this decade,
+the fair fame of Hollins spread swiftly, and from this time on, a
+gradually increasing and uninterrupted stream of pupils, from all points
+of the compass, poured smilingly through her doors. Nor did her native
+commonwealth fail in admiration and generous support.
+
+You can imagine the emotions of the founder in this happy emergence from
+the dilemmas and horrible incertitudes of the past twenty-five years.
+His bearing was calm and undemonstrative, while in his bosom the peans
+of thanksgiving go up to the great White Throne. But on the gladness of
+these days, a blight of bereavement was about to fall. In 1871, the
+brilliant and able Professor Turner had married Miss Leila Virginia
+Cocke, an accomplished daughter of the President. He was a shining light
+in the faculty, and on him great hopes centered. For two years his
+health declined, and on May 5th, 1878, gloom settled on Hollins. Great
+was the grief at the going of the beloved scholar and teacher. His
+twelve years of service began in the dark days of 1866, and closed in
+the full tide of victory. The memory of him will never perish from the
+hearts of pupils and friends who almost idolized him.
+
+An event in 1874 meant much relief and comfort to our veteran educator,
+amid his manifold labors and cares. Charles H. Cocke, his son, now in
+early manhood, capable, courageous and completely responsive to the
+father's wish, took on himself the duties of business manager of the
+Institution. Here was a much needed and most grateful division of
+responsibilities, and the competent new official magnified his calling
+to the uttermost. The thoroughness and courtesy with which he handled
+affairs, won for him the confidence and affection of the girls.
+
+Have we ever found Mr. Cocke in a state of perfect satisfaction with
+things as they are? Never. He is a stranger to that experience, and will
+ever remain so. When we met him forty years ago as an assistant
+professor in Richmond College, his slogan was, "Betterment, enlargement,
+progress." The urgencies of an early ideal are still upon him, and he
+will never count himself to have attained. This fact touches him
+pathetically, now that he is nearing his sixtieth year. Unrealized aims
+add somber hues to every earnest life.
+
+  "All I aspired to be
+  And was not, comforts me."
+
+The equipment of growing Hollins is far from complete; much remains to
+be done. The spirit of advance gives him no rest. He has a vision, and
+"forward" is ever his imperious challenge to things as they are.
+Absolutely sure is he that his beloved College, with its reasonably low
+rates, and its high standards, is on the sure road to greatness in human
+service.
+
+All through this decade his brain had been active with schemes of
+improvements. In the early seventies, the Baptists of Virginia were
+freshly aroused on the subject of education, and made large plans for
+strengthening Richmond College. Taking cue from this new denominational
+interest, the Trustees of Hollins Institute determined to go before the
+public and ask for a contribution of $100,000. A financial agent went
+among the people with argument and appeal. The result was disappointing
+and the agent was withdrawn. The failure was depressing, but by no means
+unnerving. From the beginning of the "Seminary" in 1842, the
+intermittent calls on public benevolence had never met with notable
+response. Nor is this fact any real ground for reproach. The mood of the
+general public had never been toned and cultivated in the interests of
+liberal education. From first to last the benevolent gifts to Hollins
+amounted to but $35,000, exactly half of which had come from Mrs. Ann
+Hollins and her husband. In the light of the recent failure Mr. Cocke
+saw that there was no further ground of hope from this source of supply.
+The school's expanding reputation and growing patronage gratified him
+exceedingly, but the financial situation excited disquieting
+apprehensions. The Trustees had no funds in the treasury; the
+Institution was making no money, and their debt was growing every year.
+The mind of the President was filled with foreboding and grave anxiety.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+Let it now be said that not one dollar had ever been added to the debt
+by any form of extravagance. No head of an Institution ever practiced a
+more rigid economy in projecting improvements. Not even a fancy
+catalogue was ever sent out from Hollins. His severe frugality, and the
+constantly demanded investment of his personal means in improvements,
+actually limited the reasonable privileges and gratifications of his
+family. Never did a family bear restrictions more cheerfully and
+uncomplainingly. It was not in Mr. Cocke to rebel against the law of
+sacrifice, but once, in his annual report to the Trustees in 1879, he
+permitted himself to say: "It is a hard case, however, that a man should
+have all his means so wound up in an Institution, conducted for the
+public, that he cannot command enough money to give his family anything
+at all, except hard work and self-denial."
+
+In 1846, by express contract with the Trustees, Mr. Cocke became
+Principal and Steward of the Seminary without stipulated salary. Neither
+he nor any one of his sons and daughters, who worked so loyally with
+him, ever received a salary from the Board. That initial agreement
+illustrates the unbargaining generosity of the man. He pressed on the
+attention of the Trustees the certainty of continuous demand for
+enlarged facilities. To provide for this, it was agreed that the revenue
+from the boarding department should go to the Trustees, who would devote
+it to that purpose. How ridiculously small that revenue was likely to
+be, may be gathered from the fact that a student was boarded at the rate
+of $5.00 a month! Through all the subsequent years this principle of
+benevolent rates had never been abandoned. The figures were necessarily
+increased, but only with the view of keeping out of debt. Now what
+possible promise was there in this arrangement for increasing
+facilities? Absolutely none. So the long issue of events proved. By the
+same agreement, Mr. Cocke was to pay his teachers' salaries and maintain
+himself and family out of the tuition funds. What remained in the
+treasury after the teachers were paid was his. Out of that residue, it
+soon became evident, must come much of the means for repairs and
+improvements. There was no other source from which to draw. Improvements
+were made, and self-denial paid the bills.
+
+Now, while this involved inconveniences, it did not, of course, mean the
+making of gifts to the Trustees. In just business fashion, they
+recorded each outlay of this kind as a loan to themselves. As a
+consequence they went steadily in debt to Mr. Cocke, until by 1864 they
+owed him $7,785. This included the $1,500 which he lent to them in 1846.
+This curious financial arrangement continued, unavoidable and regretted
+by all concerned. In 1868, the debt of the Trustees ran up to $17,473,
+and in 1876 it reached the sum of $22,094. Why had not these claims been
+settled? We have seen the source of the Trustees' revenue; how could
+they pay? The $35,000 raised by public gift had been given to the
+Trustees, who invested every cent of it in new buildings and
+accommodations. Not a dollar of it ever touched the hand of Mr. Cocke.
+On the contrary, as noted above, the growing plant had commandeered much
+of his own slow, hard earnings. Either this undesirable order of things
+had to go on, or Mr. Cocke had to abandon his dear ambition. But the
+time had come for better adjustments. He felt that the multiplying years
+required that he think of the interests of his family. With these views
+and wishes, the Trustees were in their usual cordial sympathy. The
+Institution was their property. They were in debt to Mr. Cocke in a
+large and yearly increasing sum. They had no possible way of liquidating
+that debt. What could they do? What ought they to have done? They solved
+the question by offering to give Mr. Cocke a deed to their Institution
+in satisfaction of their debt. The proposition was declined. He did not
+want to own the College. Such had never been his aim. He saw that the
+move would be a relief to the Trustees, but a disadvantage to the
+school. He deprecated the idea of the College going into private
+ownership. The associated wisdom and responsibility of a good Board of
+Trustees he regarded as one of its best assets. Moreover, what could
+such a deal effect in the way of relieving his financial embarrassments?
+He could not see, and so the troublesome question was left unsolved. The
+school was prosperous, his heart was serenely grateful; and this
+personal matter could wait.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT
+
+1880-1901
+
+
+The projection, building, and safe establishment of Cornell University,
+in the State of New York, was essentially the work of that remarkable
+man, Andrew D. White. In the face of many obstacles and antagonisms he
+founded it, named it in honor of its chief benefactor, was its first
+President and led its fortunes until he saw it take rank among the
+famous Institutions of the United States. Another famous man performed
+the same kind of service for his people in the South. The founder and
+builder of Hollins Institute was long a voice in the wilderness. You
+have seen the stern, invincible purpose of this man in the face of an
+apathetic public, painfully straitened finances, epidemics, and the
+desolations of war. Several times his enterprise trembled on the verge
+of ruin. But in him was that iron quality that never knew when it was
+beaten. Forty years of toil in the educational field sat lightly on him,
+thanks to the natural vigor of a well knit body and the resilient tone
+of a well endowed mind. We come now to the last lap of the journey,
+which most gratefully takes the form of a triumphal progress. In the
+good providence of God, the next twenty-one years were to be filled with
+expansion and achievement. His years multiplied, but there was no
+slowing down of energy and contriving strategy. Destiny put him
+benignantly into a life-long association with the young, and he could
+not grow old. To thousands of us still, no figure on the Hollins
+quadrangle ever stands out so statuesque as his large form, becomingly
+clad in a Prince Albert suit, and surmounted with a favorite tall beaver
+hat. As he walked in unconscious majesty, one could hear that resonant
+voice, issuing orders or bestowing courtly greetings. The grace and
+evenness of the old Virginia gentleman sat on him like a crown, making
+him ever accessible to student and friend. He was a worker, and he hated
+idleness as sin. Unrelentingly he demanded work. Never a student was
+allowed to escape that imperious law. For this his girls gave him honor.
+Well did they understand that Hollins was not for fashionable finish, or
+for money-squandering, but for downright honest study and true adornment
+of womanhood. He requested parents not to encourage extravagance in
+their daughters by putting in their hands undue sums of money to spend.
+
+The sessions in the early eighties showed a rising volume of patronage
+from the Southern states, a condition that was to go from more to more.
+His chief resulting gratification was in the obvious awakening of
+Southern people to better appreciation of the higher culture of women.
+Along with this pleasing discovery, however, he began to realize a
+serious barrier to the task at Hollins, created by the defective
+preparatory training in the primary and secondary schools of the
+country. In later years the difficulty began to disappear. To him,
+education consisted in the acquisition of knowledge, the training of
+faculty, and more especially, the broadening and multiplication of
+powers. His students must think, reason, and understand. That is the top
+of culture. Did he show any disposition to remain satisfied with the
+standards already erected? Not by any means. This is a growing world
+where nothing is stationary but a cemetery. The developing impulse in
+the mind of the Founder would never subside while the perfect was
+unattained. Even in this good summertime of 1920, nineteen years after
+his going, the mighty momentum he gave to the College operates with
+undiminished force. One does not expect spectacular variety in the life
+of an educator, particularly in one whose labors for fifty years were
+focalized on one spot. The philosopher Kant never went away from the
+place of his birth, nor figured once in the publicities of his time, and
+yet the patient thinker has won undying fame among the intellectuals of
+the world. So we shall not find abundant incident at Hollins, but we
+shall know that its organizing genius is ever active and sounding the
+note of progress.
+
+On the 15th of June, 1882, was adopted a new adjustment with the
+Trustees. Mr. Cocke was still unwilling to take over the property in
+payment of the Trustees' debt, but he had come to the conclusion that it
+might be wise to take a lease on it for fifteen years. To this the
+Trustees agreed, and the lease was duly written in favor of Charles L.
+Cocke and his son, Charles H. Cocke. At this time the debt due Mr. Cocke
+was $42,212, and by the terms of the contract, that sum might be
+increased to $50,000. An annual rental of $3,500 was to be due the
+Trustees, which was offset by the interest due on their $50,000 debt. In
+this arrangement the only right reserved by the Trustees was that of
+sanction of all improvements that might be undertaken during the period
+of the lease. On the very day when this agreement was written, Mr. Cocke
+submitted a plan for a Chapel. This was promptly approved by the
+Trustees. The work began, and soon the sacred edifice was an
+accomplished fact. A little later the open grates and hot air furnaces
+in the buildings were abolished in favor of steam heat. The limestone
+spring and the pump in the yard were abandoned to give place to a
+reservoir on the side of Tinker Mountain, which supplied running water
+on every floor. Needed philosophical and chemical apparatus were
+forthcoming, and a beautiful Art and Music hall was built on the site of
+Carvin's rock castle. Then followed a new and enlarged dining room with
+all its appurtenances. The Trustees acquiesced cheerfully in all these
+betterments, but they looked on the vast increase of their debt in a
+sort of helpless wonderment. How should they ever meet the huge
+obligation? While they forbore to put a check on this advance, they were
+sure that there could be only one way of ultimate settlement.
+
+In July, 1882, came the first great heartbreak his own household had
+ever known. His daughter, Rosa Pleasants Cocke, wife of the Rev. W. R.
+L. Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia,
+passed to her dreamless sleep. She was young, beautiful, universally
+loved,--the fairest bloom of queenly womanhood. She left a little Edith,
+who, twenty months later, went to rest with her mother on the green hill
+near Hollins.
+
+The enrollment of one hundred and seventy-six girls in the session of
+1888-'89, was the largest in the history of the school. At this date the
+President found, by careful comparison, that during the past forty-seven
+years, the average attendance had been greater than that of any other
+school for girls in the State. The session of 1889-'90 registered two
+hundred and nine students, and for the first time since 1864
+applications had to be declined. The only minor chord that marred the
+general joy sounded in the troubled minds of the Trustees. In his own
+private reflections, Mr. Cocke had to confess that the solution offered
+by the Trustees looked like the obstinate, unavoidable necessity. About
+this time he made known to the Trustees and friends, a compliment to the
+Institution, recently paid by the National Bureau of Education at
+Washington. In a report of that body concerning schools for girls in
+Virginia, Hollins was named the foremost Institution for girls, the best
+known and the most effective in the State. The report continues: "There
+is an admirable foundation already laid at Hollins Institute ... for
+a woman's college of the type of Vassar, Smith, Wellesley and Bryn
+Mawr ... in a beautiful and healthful region with ample buildings for a
+great beginning.... An investment of a million would place here a great
+school of the highest type, and perpetuate the well-earned reputation
+of this well-known Institute,--for the past forty years one of the most
+notable of Southern schools." This fine appraisement, coming from an
+independent and impartial source, was unspeakably pleasing to the man
+around whom this school had grown, and he could but cherish the hope
+that some large-minded man of wealth would arise to follow the
+suggestion of endowment made in the quotation.
+
+A rare sensation was sprung on the Hollins community in the celebration
+of Mr. and Mrs. Cocke's Golden Wedding, December 31, 1890. All unknown
+to them, a group of loving hearts and hands had prepared an elaborate
+and impressive program. But some days before the brilliant event,
+mysterious hints, furtive interviews and beaming expectancy gave away
+the secret. Mr. Cocke himself began the jubilee in the early dawn, by
+slipping on the finger of his sleeping wife a handsome plain gold ring.
+All day, by letter and telegram, came happy congratulations and "bridal
+presents" from former pupils and friends. In the evening, Hollins took
+on unprecedented splendor with illuminations everywhere. Chandeliers,
+windows and doors were hung with ivy, and over the door of the main
+parlor, in large green figures, were placed the dates, 1840-1890. At
+7:30 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Cocke took their stand in the large parlor,
+thronged by loved ones and friends. Prayer was made by Rev. Dr. G. W.
+Beale, pastor of Enon Baptist Church and chaplain of the college. Then,
+the Rev. Dr. E. C. Dargan of Charleston, S. C., a former pastor of Enon
+and college chaplain, made an affectionate address. Among the
+appropriate remarks is the following quotation: "This great school, the
+love and labor of your life, speaks for itself, both in glad presence
+and widely extended absence. From over all the land, and indeed from far
+distant lands, the pupils of Hollins send their love and
+congratulations. Through the willing service of one who has labored long
+at your side,[1] they present to you this book, containing the
+signatures of hundreds, who came to learn of you. Their affection also
+presents to you this portrait, intending that it shall be a perpetual
+heirloom, at once a splendid souvenir of this day and a monument of
+their lasting gratitude."
+
+  [1] Mrs. Eliza S. Childs, Associate Principal.
+
+As these words were spoken, two of his little granddaughters, Thalia
+Hayward and Leila Turner, touched a wire, and the veil dropped,
+revealing the fine life-size portrait of Mr. Cocke, described in the
+first chapter of this book. It was the work of his accomplished
+daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, Va. Mr. Cocke made
+brief and tender acknowledgment of the honor done him, and then his
+son, Mr. Lucian H. Cocke, expressed in few words the same sentiment.
+Professor Wm. H. Pleasants read a poem, written for the occasion by a
+former pupil and teacher of Hollins. Two other short speeches were made
+by admiring friends and Dr. Dargan pronounced the benediction.
+
+In every particular, this program was beautifully conceived and
+gracefully executed, making one of the most felicitous and memorable
+events ever known in the life of the Institution.
+
+On the occasion of their meeting in July, 1896, the Trustees signalized
+the completion of a half century of service by renewed expressions of
+admiration and love for Mr. Cocke. One year later they returned to the
+theme and took action which gave the most general delight. They passed
+two resolutions: "First, that in honor of President Cocke, while living,
+and after his death, in memory of his great achievements in education,
+the 21st of February, his birthday, be set apart as a legal holiday in
+Hollins Institute. Second, that the young ladies be permitted to
+celebrate the day in such manner as may be deemed by the officers of the
+school appropriate to the occasion." Such was the origin of Founder's
+Day, only three happy celebrations of which the beloved President was
+destined to see.
+
+The eventide drew gently on, and that good, gray head was crowned with
+glory and honor. His own health was still fine, but his dear family was
+drawing near to a land of shadows. Three times in a very short period
+the billows of bereavement went over him. An avalanche of grief fell on
+his stout heart in the sudden loss of three of his children. Mrs. Leila
+Virginia Turner, on October 21st, 1899, laid her burden down and was put
+to rest beside her husband on the green hill. On the 3rd of May, 1900,
+the noble Manager, Charles H. Cocke, passed away, and was gathered to
+the loved ones gone before. Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke died on July 29th,
+1900, and was added to the silent company of brothers and sisters.
+
+"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." With chastened tenderness and
+submissive resignation, Mr. Cocke held his course as one who gets
+support from an invisible world. The concerns of the Institute pressed
+on him, and he must still take hold on life's affairs. The lease, in
+1897, had been extended for a new period of ten years. But, obviously,
+it was now full time that his business relations to the Trustees be
+brought to a definite and final settlement. The issue, pending through
+many years, could be deferred no longer, and on June 2nd, 1900, a
+radical change in the old order was made. The Trustees found themselves
+in debt to Mr. Cocke $101,253, in addition to the $50,000 in bonds
+already executed. Not yet had they been able even to pay the $1,500
+loaned by him in 1846. He gave up his notes and bonds to the Trustees,
+and they in turn gave over the Institution. Thus the Board of Trustees,
+after a period of forty-five years, went out of existence, and Hollins
+became the property of Mr. Cocke. It was not the consummation that he
+wished, but there was no other alternative.
+
+The venerable man, now in his 81st year, had on his hands the great
+Institution he had so laboriously builded. If he could have called back
+forty years, the responsibility would have rested on strong shoulders
+and a confident brain. But the competencies of the earlier years were
+spent, and age could only plan for the activities in which it should not
+share. He stood a noble, picturesque figure on the peak of life's work,
+looking backward with thankful satisfaction, and then wistfully forward
+into those years when other hands, hearts and brains should shape and
+guide the Institution. Not with one touch of gloomy foreboding did he
+make this provision. He believed that his children and grandchildren
+would loyally cherish his ideals and aspirations. They would hold the
+legacy sacred, maintain its standards, and keep it true to its aims. In
+the mellowing days of life's late afternoon this confidence gave him
+comfort and peace. Human affection played around him soft and tender as
+summer sunset on the mountains, but it could not be doubted that among
+the deepest satisfactions of his soul was the conviction that his
+successors would do him the real homage of preserving the fruitage of
+his long, unselfish labors.
+
+His form was unbent and his physical force gave him hope of ten more
+years of life. It was not to be. In the summer of 1898 a violent
+carbuncle brought him perilously near the brink of the great mystery.
+Two years later, warning symptoms came upon him suddenly. They did not
+yield to careful treatment, and with premonitions of the end, he decided
+in January, 1901, to go to the home of his son, Lucian H. Cocke, in
+Roanoke. This arrangement was his own device. He thought thereby to save
+Hollins from the anxiety which his illness would create, and from the
+shock of its probable end. What could be lovelier than the two letters
+that follow?
+
+                              "Hollins, Virginia, February 21, 1901.
+
+"Our Dear Mr. Cocke:--
+
+"We, the members of your Faculty,--or rather of your great household
+here at Hollins,--deeply touched by your never-ceasing thought of us,
+and your intense interest in the work of our classes which prompted you
+even in the hour of great bodily distress to send us from your bed of
+sickness a message of comfort and encouragement, feel that we can not
+suffer this, your birthday, to pass by without some expression of our
+gratitude and sympathy.
+
+"We can never cease to be grateful for the kindly wisdom of your counsel
+which has directed us always unerringly to what is true and right, and
+for the firm guidance of your hand which has unfalteringly led us
+through the dark places of doubt and despair. Though we miss your wise
+head and guiding hand, we shall ever feel the inspiration of your spirit
+and the silent influence of your example; and trusting in that Divine
+Providence which has so long directed and prospered the labors of your
+brain and hand, we will endeavor to carry out, along your own lines, the
+work which you have so nobly planned and which you are now forced to lay
+aside.
+
+"In this time of your physical weakness and bodily suffering, our
+thoughts are often with you, and we send you this message assuring you
+of our sympathy, both as a body and as individuals. May our Heavenly
+Father take you in His keeping and give to you unwavering faith and
+comfort and peace.
+
+"With the expression of our affectionate regard.
+
+                                              "J. M. MCBRYDE, JR.
+
+  "On behalf of your fellow laborers, the Faculty of
+  Hollins Institute."
+
+
+"To The Faculty and Pupils of Hollins Institute:
+
+"It is now nearly two months since I have been with you. During this
+time I have been prostrated by great infirmities of body, and my
+weakness still is extreme. During my illness, however, there has been no
+time when I have ceased to have the welfare of each of you upon my mind
+and heart. Of all the expressions of sympathy that have come to me, none
+have been so comforting and gratifying as those that have come from my
+faculty and pupils. I wish to extend to each one of you my sincere
+appreciation of your earnest solicitude on my account. From every source
+the information comes to me of the orderly conduct of affairs at
+Hollins--teachers and pupils in their accustomed places, performing in a
+faithful and conscientious manner each duty that the occasion demands.
+It would be difficult indeed to adequately express to you the
+gratification that this information brings to me. For many years it has
+been my earnest desire to so conduct the affairs of the Institution,
+that whether I was present or absent there should be no abatement in the
+earnest purpose and devotion to duty which I have sought to make a part
+of the atmosphere of Hollins. I can not express to you a proper idea of
+what a pleasure it has been to me to know that this ideal is being
+exemplified in your conduct, and I feel that in my declining years I am
+greatly blessed in having your sympathy and co-operation in the proper
+conduct of the work which has been on my heart for these many years.
+
+"I trust that under the care of a favoring Providence, I may yet be able
+to be with you, and exchange once more the kindly greetings that have
+been a delight to me; but should it be otherwise, I always feel well
+assured that I can rely with confidence upon you to give to the
+Institution and the work with which I have been connected, the same
+devotion and loyalty which you have, without stint, accorded to me.
+
+"May our Father in Heaven preserve each one of you in His holy keeping.
+
+                                       [Signature: Charles L. Cocke]
+
+  "March 10th, 1901."
+
+It was on May 4th, 1901, that the end came. In the early morning of May
+6th, the body was brought to Hollins and placed in the Chapel. Mr. Cocke
+had planned the two funeral services of the day. The first was held in
+the Chapel, for the family, faculty and students, who crowded the room.
+It was conducted by the Rev. Dr. F. H. Martin, Baptist pastor at Salem,
+assisted by ministers of the Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal
+churches. At the beginning and close of the service were sung his
+favorite hymns: "How Firm a Foundation," and "My Hope is Built on
+Nothing Less."
+
+At 4 p.m., the second service was held at Enon Church, which was
+thronged by neighbors and friends. The pastor, the Rev. J. M. Luck,
+presided, and after the singing of "There is a Fountain Filled With
+Blood," remarks followed by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. W. E. Hatcher, and
+Mr. William Ellyson of Richmond, and the Rev. Dr. P. T. Hale of Roanoke.
+The service closed with "My Jesus, as Thou Wilt," and then the
+procession moved up the hill in a sudden shower of rain. As the casket
+was lowered, the great assemblage sang softly, "There's a Land That is
+Fairer Than Day," and the Rev. T. J. Shipman offered the closing prayer.
+Two impressive incidents followed. A procession of Hollins girls,
+dressed in white and bearing white carnations, came up the slope and
+covered the grave with flowers. In the same moment the setting sun broke
+through the clouds and bathed the scene in a radiance of glory. Dr.
+Hatcher, with felicitous tact, called attention to the shining symbol of
+heaven's benediction on the proceedings of that solemn day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS
+
+
+A careful examination of the catalogues and school registers of the
+early years leads us to believe that by June, 1896, when Mr. Cocke
+delivered his semi-centennial address, he had seen under training at
+Hollins not fewer than 5,000 young women. To the privileges of the
+school he had welcomed the children and grandchildren of his first
+pupils. As terms of study closed, what did this host of girls think of
+the Head of the Institution? Today in thousands of homes throughout the
+nation, the name of Hollins unseals, as by magic, a well-spring of
+precious and tender reminiscence. With unanimous devotion, the girls who
+knew him, honored and loved the name of Charles L. Cocke. Hardly did
+Tinker and Dead Man Mountain loom so large to them as the form of the
+venerable man. They honored him because he was strict and absolutely
+just; because he held high standards of school decorum and culture, and
+insisted on hard work. He was too honorable to take the daughters of
+patrons, and allow waste of time and opportunity. His stringent demands
+may sometimes have caused irritation, but the good sense of the student
+was certain to react to grateful recognition of his wisdom. The after
+years never fail to evoke loving acknowledgment in the heart of a girl
+whose teacher requires her to make good in her studies. The Hollins
+girls loved Mr. Cocke because he was uniformly considerate and kind. The
+fatherly interest in his heart, not one was allowed to doubt. Daily he
+met them at the evening worship. Often has the visiting "old girl"
+spoken of those unforgotten prayers. He welcomed them in his office,
+listened to their requests, responding with sound advice and
+encouragement. Arbitrariness and severity were foreign to his nature,
+but all knew that the standards of conduct and study must be maintained.
+
+How proud he was of the distinctions won by his girls! In the early
+eighties five of them, in the English literature classes, took the
+Shakespeare prize offered in London.
+
+[Illustration: "GOOD MORNING, 'GYRLS'"]
+
+The class room work was ever the major interest, but beyond this was a
+large range of activity and diversion. In 1855 the Euzelian (Love of
+Wisdom) Society was organized for debate, recitations and essays.
+Increasing numbers in 1874 required the formation of the Euepian (Pure
+Diction) Society. Still memorable are those exciting joint debates,
+held occasionally by the Societies, along the years. In these latter
+days, they have given place to other disciplines more in harmony with
+the practical spirit of the age. Class organizations, Sororities, Clubs,
+Student Government, the College "Spinster" and Magazine, monopolize the
+spare hours. The Young Women's Christian Association maintains its
+prominence and usefulness.
+
+But the old-time diversions do not pass. Those glorious romping trips up
+Carvin's Creek to the Falls, and the annual holiday climb to the top of
+Tinker in October, together with the strenuous games and sports on the
+campus, will continue to furnish happy memories.
+
+The democratic spirit of the Institution Mr. Cocke constantly
+cultivated, and with profound satisfaction he welcomed students from the
+homes of rich and poor. All entered on terms of equality in privilege
+and opportunity. The rich girl of common sense and industry won
+popularity and honor; and by the same token the poor girl gained the
+love of classmates and the medals of distinction. At no institution was
+there more contempt for snobbery or for the spirit of favoritism. Moral
+and intellectual worth were the sole tests of credit and high standing.
+
+His interest followed the students, and he smiled at the tidings of
+their usefulness. He counted on their private and public values in
+society. Some, he was fond of saying, had become the wives of ministers,
+of lawyers and judges, of officers of the Army and of the Navy, of
+political leaders and of distinguished men in all ranks and professions.
+With pride, he spoke of those who were teaching in the schools and
+colleges, and of those who had gone into the far mission fields of the
+world. In his heart the grand old man felt: "They are all my daughters,
+and the sweetest benedictions be on every one." You will never meet the
+daughters of Hollins, old or young, whose faces do not light up at the
+mention of his name, or that of the dear place where many of life's
+holiest memories were stored. When old Hollins girls meet--whether as
+bosom cronies, after years of separation, or as strangers at some
+Exposition, gazing through tears at a portrait--a listener need but
+catch fragments of their reminiscences to know how Mr. Cocke's
+personality glows in the memory of his "gyrls."
+
+"Could we ever forget how he used to read the hymns at evening worship?
+Nobody else could, or can, read them as he did:
+
+  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah--
+  My hope is built on nothing less,
+  Than Jesus' blood and righteousness--
+  In the Cross of Christ I glory,
+  Towering o'er the wrecks of time--
+
+This last always with an unconscious lifting of the head in his vision
+of the glory one day to be revealed. It meant much to look, once a day,
+on a colossal faith like his. Was it due to those unbroken, silent
+trysts with his Savior in the chapel, in the early morning?"
+
+"Latin and mathematics were always second to the Bible with Mr. Cocke,"
+testifies another. "He was certainly never afraid of the 'hard-grained
+muses' for us. I once heard him say, with a touch of regret, 'The next
+generation in our country will produce many more readers, but fewer
+scholars.' He revered true learning and made us revere it, however
+little some of us possessed it. Scholarship with him was no musty work,
+smelling of the midnight oil. He never laughed at it as odd or pedantic.
+It was, in his mind, never dissociated from service; but scholarship was
+a high thing, and he flung out the work as a challenge to the best
+within us.
+
+"One now laughs to recall her own mental protests, as a new girl, when
+Mr. Cocke would so earnestly tell her fellow-students that they would be
+leaders in their communities, in their states. 'How mistaken Mr. Cocke
+is about this,' I would say to myself. 'He doesn't know this year's
+girls. He is thinking about those women who shone out so brilliantly
+here two, four, ten, thirty years ago--those stars in the crown of
+Hollins. But these girls are just ordinary people. The best of them
+don't even know their lessons every time--not to mention the rest of us.
+They could never lead communities. Great women would be necessary for
+that.' But those girls _have_ been real leaders, just as Mr. Cocke said.
+They were nothing but girls, just like other girls, but they did, many
+of them, go forth to lead and to lead straight. It may be that they had
+from him some touch of his power; it may be that he opened their eyes to
+the fact that there is, after all, nobody else to do most of these
+things except just plain humanity. There really is nobody else, you
+know.
+
+"And Mr. Cocke's dignity withal--how cheap have many other men looked to
+my eyes when set beside my image of him! It is like that fabled
+measuring rod which made inflated pride shrink to its true stature. Mr.
+Cocke was the only man I ever saw who really seemed equal to wearing a
+high hat. I have watched the throng of the genteel coming down Broadway
+in their Sunday best and have thought, 'Not a man of you looks right in
+it--looks wholly free from affectation.' To him it was as natural as the
+crown of white hair beneath it.
+
+"Imperious sometimes? Yes. I recall once, certainly. That new invention,
+the telephone, had been installed at Hollins. It was wonderful,
+enabling one to talk to the depot agent at Cloverdale, _three_ miles
+away. For the first few days of the new 'fixture,' Miss Matty had
+attended to all the preliminaries, so Mr. Cocke had not realized just
+what these preliminaries were, or that any were necessary. I saw him
+walk up to the transmitter and speak into it, without ringing the bell,
+asking a question of the agent. No response, of course. He spoke again.
+The same dead silence. Then he right royally tapped the transmitter as
+with a rod of office and commanded, 'Here, _answer_ me!' Although I knew
+that the ringing of the bell was essential, I had the feeling that some
+response _must_ come when Mr. Cocke spoke like that.
+
+"By means of credit and otherwise, he helped me and helped other girls
+from my section of Virginia who had less ready money than craving for an
+education. The work of one of these, as Foreign Missionary, has been so
+good and so big that I love to think that in her, Hollins may have its
+reward for what it did for the rest of us. But so utterly did Mr. Cocke
+ignore all such benefits conferred by himself that I used to think he
+surely must not know about these things, that they must have all been
+transacted in the privacy of Mr. Charley's business office. The
+President looked so far above any money considerations; and still he
+must have been a wonderful financier. Who else could have found the
+means of building and maintaining that great Institution without aid of
+church or state or millionaire? I never know what to say when asked by
+school men how Hollins was financed in the old days. The means must have
+been brought down by prayer from Heaven somehow.
+
+"We talk much of the prudence that keeps at a safe distance from the
+plague of influenza. That is right, often. But when LaGrippe came from
+Russia in 1889 and invaded Hollins, I saw how the suffering was, to some
+of the girls, far outweighed by the honor and joy of having Mr. Cocke
+himself make the rounds to visit them as if he cared. Cared? I have
+looked out into the semi-darkness of the campus and seen that stately
+figure, with bowed head, walking up and down beneath the window of the
+infirmary, where some girl lay extremely ill, moving to and fro, far
+into the night, in a vigil, which, let me say it with reverence, has
+made it easier to believe that close to all earth's pains,
+
+  "Standeth One within the shadow,
+  Keeping watch above His own."
+
+                                                            E. P. C.
+
+Such was the inner life of Hollins. It was and is the loving fellowship
+and co-operative industry of a big family, consecrated to true culture,
+good citizenship and human progress. It was the life-work of the Good
+President, to cheer and help his girls onward to the realization of
+these noble ideals.
+
+One day in May, 1901, the sad tidings of Mr. Cocke's death reached them.
+Out of the multitude of letters that came to Hollins, all bearing the
+same message of sympathetic grief, only a few can be subjoined.
+
+    "It is sad, and almost unbearable, to think of Hollins without Mr.
+    Cocke. And yet, our grief at his death has, mingled with it, a
+    spirit of thanksgiving for his life. We are so glad that we came
+    under the influence of that life. I was so young when I first went
+    to Hollins, and Hollins was my home for so long, that its influence,
+    the life-example of Mr. Cocke, all, indeed, that made up the
+    strength and beauty of those days, are woven into every fibre of my
+    being, have become a part of my very life, so that I know I am
+    better for having known Hollins, and Mr. Cocke."
+
+                                                            R. B.
+
+    "For a long time I have realized that I owe more to the influence of
+    my teachers and friends at Hollins than to all the text-books I have
+    ever opened, and today I count it one of the greatest blessings of
+    my life that it was in the pure, elevating atmosphere of Hollins
+    that I grew into womanhood. To dear Mr. Cocke, the Founder, the
+    Head, the Life of Hollins, I do now and ever shall feel the deepest
+    gratitude, and shall ever think of him with reverence, so high has
+    always been my regard for him. Hundreds of women all over the land
+    are sorrowing that they will see his noble face no more; for we, his
+    old pupils, have lost a benefactor, a teacher, a friend."
+
+                                                         M. W. C.
+
+    "Indeed, a course so nobly run can be as fitly congratulated on its
+    close--a close pertaining not merely to the finite conditions which
+    fetter it here, but which, freeing it from these, ushers its powers,
+    refined, magnified, glorified, into the blessed sphere of attainment
+    awaiting those who have steadily followed the steps of the Master in
+    ceaseless effort for the good of man. It is not the note of
+    lamentation that accords with this grand freeing and glorious
+    entrance of a friend of man, a soldier of the Cross, into the
+    kingdom he has won: we rather shout our acclamations for the triumph
+    of our friend, and drop the tear only that we are for a moment shut
+    from the comfort of his countenance. We all, in fullest degree,
+    offer our love and attachment, founded on unspeakable memories of
+    early and lasting life."
+
+                                                         B. D. F.
+
+    "I am only one of the hundreds of girls who loved Mr. Cocke dearly,
+    and honored him beyond the power of words to express. I feel that I
+    loved him particularly well, more than others did; but perhaps many
+    others feel the same way. I never knew any other man whose religion
+    showed so plainly in his daily life. It always seemed to me that he
+    walked with God. Hollins will never be the same again to the old
+    girls."
+
+                                                         L. J. M.
+
+    "I feel sure that all you dear Hollins people know how fully my
+    heart is with you at this time; but I feel that I must give some
+    outward expression to the love and sympathy that I feel. Along with
+    thousands of other old Hollins girls, I know what a great loss the
+    world has sustained, and what a great and lasting grief has come to
+    all of us who knew and loved and revered Mr. Cocke. To think of the
+    thousands of minds and souls he has helped to strengthen and fit out
+    for life's work! His opportunity was great, and he made the most of
+    it,--and what higher praise can be given to any man?"
+
+                                                      B. P. M. T.
+
+    "I have been more distressed than I can tell you to hear of dear Mr.
+    Cocke's increasing feebleness and dangerous illness, and I have
+    opened each letter from Hollins with a feeling of dread, always
+    fearing the worst. But although the sad news, now that it has come,
+    does not find me unprepared, my grief is no less acute. I know so
+    well what this loss means not only to the thousands of girls who,
+    like me, loved him as a father, but to the cause of education and
+    religion, in which he stood ever as a beacon light. My heart is very
+    sad when I think of how much goodness and greatness and strength
+    went out of the world when he was taken. I have not the power to
+    express in words the grief I feel! I shall always thank God for the
+    priceless boon of being for a time under the influence of that
+    consecrated life, and it is my earnest prayer that I may never lose
+    sight of that blessed example of 'pure religion and undefiled before
+    God and the Father.'"
+
+                                                         E. S. F.
+
+    "A friend writes me that Mr. Cocke's work is done, and that today he
+    is laid to rest, I suppose on the beautiful hill that looks down on
+    the field of his labors, that field that has borne such beautiful
+    fruit. We are all distressed, as will be a great many others
+    throughout the South who have felt the importance in life of a
+    character like that of Mr. Cocke. If there were more men with like
+    quality of character and mind, the world would speedily become a
+    better place. He did what he could to better it, and there are many
+    left to honor him who have not the strength to do likewise."
+
+                                                         L. B. P.
+
+    "As one of the many thousands who owe to him unestimated, because
+    inestimable, blessings, treasures of thought and influence and
+    inspiration that time can not touch any more than it can dim his
+    priceless memory, I sorrow today for Hollins' great 'creator,
+    builder, guide.'"
+
+                                                         S. B. D.
+
+    "The news of dear Mr. Cocke's death has filled me with sorrow, for I
+    realize what an inestimable loss the church, the school, his
+    friends, and his family have sustained. I never knew any one like
+    him! No one ever laid down a life more filled with good works, and
+    he has indeed earned the blessed rest which he is now enjoying."
+
+                                                         C. M. J.
+
+    "The knowledge of such a life is invaluable. We should, we will,
+    cherish the remembrance of it and hold this among the greatest
+    object lessons taught us by God. The treasure of his memory would
+    not be so priceless had his life been one smooth journey. It is the
+    knowledge of the struggle, the knowledge that a man has fought and
+    gloriously won in life's severest conflicts, that furnishes us the
+    incentive, that lends us the inspiration."
+
+                                                            A. W.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES
+
+
+The fine portrait of Mr. Cocke in the Hollins Library, executed by his
+daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, was formally presented
+at the Golden Wedding celebration in 1890. Death claimed the brilliant
+artist in 1899. With keen insight she portrayed her subject at the
+culminating moment of the final exercises of the Institution. The
+diploma in his hand is the one which he handed to his daughter, Miss
+Matty L. Cocke, on the day of her graduation. The artist wanted a real
+diploma, and by felicitous chance, this was the one supplied. At the
+time, the owner little dreamed of being her father's successor as
+President of Hollins Institute.
+
+As now, so during the lifetime of Mr. Cocke, Maytime at Hollins stirred
+a flutter of excitement in the student's mind. The session's close was
+drawing near, with its terrors of examinations; its flourish of music,
+oratory and white dresses; its orderly pomp and splendor. The season
+brought a new flush of animation and gaiety. There were happy greetings
+of fathers and mothers. The old girls came, eager for the raptures of
+re-union. The bright stars shone on dear old Hollins; the blue mountains
+stood guard round their jewel; and the sky dropped down benediction.
+Nature and the human heart held high festival on Commencement Day.
+
+Services began with an interesting dramatic presentation, and the
+Reception to the Senior Class. The Sunday services were conducted by
+invited ministers. In the days following, came the jollities of Class
+Day, the joint celebration of the Societies, the Musical Concert, and
+lastly, the annual address by the President, with the conferring of
+Diplomas. Of course the programs of the earlier years were not so
+elaborate as the one just indicated, but the exercises were as vitally
+interesting and popular. On these occasions many distinguished men
+delivered strong and eloquent addresses. Woe to the man who ventured to
+stand before a Hollins audience without honest preparation. Declamatory
+rhetoric never deceived this group of intellectually alert students. Mr.
+Cocke drew his ministers for Commencement from the various Protestant
+denominations, as the students came from all these bodies. Sectarian
+narrowness never guided his choice, and that spirit never thrived in his
+school. Christian truth and character were to him the eternal verities,
+and among all communions he made devoted friends. One of his preachers
+disappointed him cruelly. That good man made a calamitous mistake. He
+had fancied that he was to appear before a mountain school, and that
+almost any sort of a sermon would answer. Lazy unpreparedness meets
+retribution. Arriving at Hollins, his disillusion was instantaneous, and
+all that Saturday night he tossed in mental misery. The next morning he
+appeared in the pulpit with an irrelevant theme, and a profitless
+sermon. College girls are never profoundly impressed by unctuous
+platitudes, or by theological combat.
+
+One of the surprises about these years is the small number of Full
+Diplomas that were given. From 1855 to 1900, Mr. Cocke bestowed this
+honor on one hundred and twenty-five girls. To secure it the student had
+to graduate in at least seven of the departments of study. The standards
+were high, so that to win the Full Diploma, demanded native ability and
+long, hard work. In the operation of the school's elective system, each
+girl chose the classes she preferred, and received certificates of
+graduation as the work in each subject was accomplished. Though, as we
+have said, Full Diplomas were rare, many girls won these minor
+distinctions, which also bore the name of Diploma. Many were the
+students who, coming for one year's course, were stirred by these
+Commencement occasions to larger views and longer attendance. This
+imposing pageant of the Finals was apt to awaken in the ambitious,
+first-year girl, a sense of her intellectual poverty, and to inspire
+noble resolution for ampler education.
+
+At the close of the session of 1899-1900, Mr. Cocke delivered his 52nd
+annual address. Sad to say, it was his last. It is a notable and
+probably an unparalleled fact, that he should, through fifty-two
+consecutive years, have made the graduation address and have delivered
+the Diplomas. In these messages he dealt with the many problems of
+educational theory and practice, never failing to appeal for high and
+noble standards of living. He counted on his girls as the finest
+advertisement, and as the most eloquent testimonial of the merits of
+Hollins. It was no vain reckoning. As a matter of fact, it became no
+unusual thing for him to hear patrons confess that they had seen Hollins
+girls and had been deeply impressed by their intelligence, cultured
+manners and social grace.
+
+Now we yield the platform to the President. There can be no more fitting
+close of this chapter than a few paragraphs, taken from his annual
+addresses. The captions are not his, but they indicate the special
+thought of the passage.
+
+
+THIS ONE THING 1889
+
+    "I have aimed to implant deep in the hearts of my pupils the
+    principles and precepts of our holy religion, as taught in the Word
+    of God. As to those externals of religion which divide the Christian
+    world into parties and sects innumerable, I have nothing to say; for
+    our great Law-Giver and High Priest has said, 'The Kingdom of God is
+    within you,' and unless we are subject to this law, all rites and
+    ordinances and organizations put together and scrupulously
+    practiced, cannot save the soul."
+
+
+REVIEW OF FIFTY YEARS JUNE, 1896
+
+    "Our trouble has been all during these fifty years, to secure
+    equipment. Had this been furnished, the history of the school would
+    have been far more satisfactory. The success of the school in 1852
+    and years following, gave a wonderful impetus to girls' schools in
+    Virginia. Many chartered schools came into existence during that
+    decade. Some of course proved failures, and others exist to this
+    day.
+
+    "The annual registers of pupils during the entire existence of the
+    school, aggregate 6,689. It has been almost exclusively a boarding
+    school, and as such has led in numbers all the schools of Virginia.
+    Its contributions to the teaching profession have been most valuable
+    and probably more numerous than that of any other Virginia school.
+    It has educated many daughters of ministers of different communions,
+    free of charge for tuition. It has aided large numbers of indigent
+    girls. Its graduates are in all parts of this country, North, East
+    and West as well as in the South, where they are numerous. Some six
+    or eight are in foreign mission fields. The school has far surpassed
+    my own expectations and has been a surprise to the general public.
+
+    "As soon as we took charge in 1846, and became acquainted with the
+    surroundings and prospects, we saw clearly that the school could not
+    live with a merely local patronage. It was almost wholly a boarding
+    school, and it must draw its pupils from a broad area. The necessary
+    steps were taken to make its advantages known in all parts of
+    Virginia, and that patronage was sufficient for our limited
+    accommodations until the close of 'the war.' We often declined
+    applicants for want of proper accommodations. But after Virginia had
+    been devastated by two contending armies within her borders for four
+    years, we had to look to still broader fields for pupils. It was
+    about the year 1870 that we first made known the advantages of the
+    school in other states, and now a majority of our pupils come from
+    other sections beyond our state lines. This patronage, with more
+    ample equipment, might be greatly increased, and with broader and
+    more ample facilities, it might be made the most prominent school
+    for girls in all the South. Its country location, its invigorating
+    atmosphere, its mineral waters, its glorious mountain scenery, all
+    combine to bring to it increasing numbers from different and
+    distinct sections. The great boarding schools for girls in the
+    North, in which millions are invested, are in the country.
+
+    "My life has been one of unceasing work and energy, of constant
+    cares and anxieties, and of a deep sense of responsibility. I have
+    only laid a foundation on which the next generation may build. Will
+    Virginia, the most desirable State in the Union for institutions of
+    learning of every grade and class, seize the opportunity and again
+    advance, through educational channels, to the leadership of States,
+    and inaugurate an era of greater glory and higher destinies for this
+    great American people? Oh, that she may be wise to discern the
+    ominous signs of these times and seek through great schools for
+    young men and young ladies, a power and progress which shall far
+    eclipse her pristine glories!
+
+    "And now, at the close of fifty years' connection with this school,
+    I can, without reservation or modification, say I have done all I
+    could to conduct and perpetuate an Institution which might prove a
+    blessing to the people without distinction of sect or class, and an
+    honor to my native State. And this, too, on the very basis I found
+    it standing when I took charge."
+
+
+EDUCATIONAL THEORY
+
+JUNE, 1893
+
+    "These graduates are not confined to a single Christian
+    denomination; they have come from all denominations. And this is, in
+    my judgment, the true ideal of a Christian school. I have often said
+    that the associations of a school for young ladies, properly
+    conducted, are worth more to them than any single department of
+    study. They learn so much from contact and association with each
+    other.
+
+    "Certainly a school for young ladies should not aim to send forth
+    all its pupils of exactly the same type. Its facilities and
+    associations should be such as to give ample scope for individuality
+    of development, and that genuine sympathetic contact and impress,
+    which lifts the less cultured to higher walks and ways, and
+    impresses the more fortunate with their duty to the needy and
+    dependent, often the most deserving, and often reaching, under such
+    influence, the highest stations of life.
+
+    "The school from its beginning has maintained and made prominent one
+    feature so culpably neglected, and even opposed by most schools for
+    girls. It has maintained a broad and elevated course of study and
+    fixed high standards of graduation. This has been done with special
+    reference to the demands of that class of girls who propose to make
+    teaching their profession or business in life. And most abundantly
+    has it been rewarded in this effort. Its graduates are in great
+    demand and many of them hold elevated positions as teachers. But
+    there are other courses in addition to that required for full
+    graduation. These are intended to meet the varied wants of other
+    classes of students, who, from feeble health, inadequate means or
+    mere preference, decline to pursue the full course.
+
+    "The school has accomplished far more than its early founders aimed
+    at or even dreamed of. They looked to local demands and a limited
+    sphere. But its influence has been felt not only through Virginia,
+    but throughout the South and West, and even from the great North,
+    pupils have sought and enjoyed its advantages. Graduation from
+    school does not imply full and complete knowledge on any subject or
+    in any department of learning. The object of true scholastic
+    training is, first, to discipline the powers, and, second, to open
+    to pupils the sources of knowledge. In these processes, of course,
+    much information is imparted; but to stop here and read and study no
+    more, would be fatal to a high and commanding success in life. You
+    must read and read systematically and continuously. You must keep up
+    with the progress of the times, and times are in quick movement in
+    this day...."
+
+
+SECRET OF SUCCESS
+
+1855
+
+    "If you would have your minds well disciplined and well stored with
+    useful information, you must be willing to retire, for a time at
+    least, from the enticing and distracting scenes of the busy world,
+    and in the quietude of academic life, devote your powers to those
+    labors which alone can secure the desired boon. Here the work must
+    be done, here the foundation must be laid, upon which your future
+    attainments and your future eminence must rest. Neglect this
+    preparation, and you can have no well grounded hope of rising to
+    distinction in society, or of exerting an influence which shall
+    leave a record of your name and your deeds upon the hearts and
+    memories of those who shall come after you....
+
+    "The secret of success is the ability _to fix the attention on one
+    subject at a time...._"
+
+
+CREATIVE WORK
+
+1862
+
+    "I urge you to cultivate a taste not only for literature, but for
+    _making literature_. The literature of a country determines its
+    institutions, its social conditions, and its destiny. It is really
+    its inner life whence its external manifestations spring."
+
+
+LITERARY TASTE
+
+JUNE, 1894
+
+    "Many a wise man has said repeatedly: 'Let me go into a young lady's
+    parlor and examine the literature which lies on her table, and the
+    books which fill the shelves of her library, and I will tell you all
+    about her; the secret thoughts which habitually haunt her
+    imagination, the purposes, the ambitions, the affections, good or
+    bad, which agitate and fill her heart; the scenes, the sights, the
+    objects, the aims which thrill her soul--all this I know from the
+    companionship amid which she delights to linger and live, and with
+    which she delights to commune.' Young ladies, when you reach home
+    and unpack your trunks, will you take out the text books you have
+    studied in this school, one by one, and place them on the highest
+    shelf of your library and in the far corner, and with a scowl on
+    your face say to them, 'Now, you go and stay where I put you; you
+    have cost me weeks and months and years of toil, of anxieties, of
+    troubles, vexations and tears, but you have at last given me my full
+    diploma and I want nothing more to do with you'! Are you going to
+    speak thus to your best friends, who have done more for you than
+    father and mother?
+
+    "Are you going to turn your back upon, and quit the company of, the
+    only true aristocracy of all the ages and all countries, and seek
+    lower associations? These people are not upstarts; they have lived
+    and still live in all ages and countries; they have been the
+    intimate and loving companions of kings and queens; of emperors and
+    statesmen; divines and poets, scientists and linguists, and all the
+    great of all the earth and every clime and kindred.
+
+    "Again, the Good Book says, 'Where there is no vision the people
+    perish.' This was spoken most probably in regard to the ancient
+    prophets and seers who received the divine light from the great
+    original source, and reflected it from their own hearts and minds on
+    a benighted race.
+
+    "But has not the great Inspirer of light and knowledge, since that
+    remote past, raised up other prophets and seers and imparted other
+    visions that the people might not perish? These great men are among
+    us; they do not compel, but they invite companionship; they say,
+    'Come, go with us, talk with us, commune with our spirit, drink with
+    us of the clear, cool springs of nature; the journey is pleasant and
+    the scenery is grand; come, go with us and we will do thee good.'
+
+    "Will you reject the invitation and decline the association? So,
+    young ladies, as I said in the beginning, from a literary
+    standpoint, from a social standpoint, from a business standpoint,
+    and from the standpoint of philanthropic and Christian usefulness,
+    your future position and success in life depend upon the company you
+    keep. Under the great principle of the freedom of the press, the
+    newspaper has become a universal institution in
+    America,--omnipresent, and almost omnipotent. The result is that the
+    vast constituency of our great government are better informed on
+    current events all over the land and all over the world, than any
+    people on the earth.
+
+    "But the curse of the land is this: We spend too much time on this
+    and kindred literature; this habit enfeebles the mind, contracts the
+    vision, and suppresses high ambitions in the fields, the vast and
+    elevated fields of broader, more solid, more useful and more
+    permanent knowledge. Our people are making the most marvelous
+    progress on all lines of human thought and effort, but on none more
+    rapid than that of science and literature. The spirit of the nation
+    seems to be a consuming ambition to lead the world in thought, in
+    intellectual development, and in products of the brain of men. To
+    keep in harmony with this spirit, you, young ladies, must rise above
+    the plane on which so much of our literature moves and study the
+    works of great minds."
+
+
+TRUE CULTURE
+
+1870
+
+    "The great mistake which so many make and which satisfactorily
+    accounts for their want of success, is that they regard the mere
+    accumulation of facts as the sole object of scholastic study;--that
+    knowledge may be stored in the mind as we gather grain into a
+    garner, and this, too, without regard to its character or quality,
+    or the order in which the deposits are made. We have aimed, young
+    ladies, to give you a better theory of education, and a more
+    enduring foundation of scholarship....
+
+    "The great object of that culture and training which courses of
+    scholastic study afford, is to assist the mind in the processes of
+    its own development; to give to its searchings after truth and its
+    toils in the fields of literature, direction and system; to enable
+    it to think, to reason, to solve; to give it scope and expansion
+    that it may successfully grasp both the theoretical and the
+    practical of life and advance to those objects and destinies which
+    its very structure implies and foreshadows...."
+
+
+BROAD SYMPATHIES
+
+JUNE, 1892
+
+    "I would remind you, young ladies, that you go forth into life at a
+    time when society is advancing on all lines of progress. In breadth,
+    variety and thoroughness of literary and scientific knowledge, we
+    are no less a marvel to ourselves than the wonder and admiration of
+    the oldest civilizations of the world. This American people proposes
+    to hold no inferior rank in the world-wide race for the greatest and
+    grandest results in material development and production. This the
+    most casual observer beholds all around him in every-day life. But
+    when we come to review, critically and comparatively, the rise and
+    progress of American learning, we see one determined and steady
+    advance towards the highest standards the world has ever known. In
+    the production and giving forth of all kinds of literature, this
+    people aspires to the highest place; to the most advanced
+    achievements that bless society and adorn life.
+
+    "And shall our own section and people continue heedless and
+    oblivious of this throbbing, restless, inspiring energy to rise to
+    the very acme of literary fame and glory? We blush to own that,
+    thus far, we have made but a feeble response to the high and
+    honorable calling. When the poison diffused through the channels of
+    a false and envenomed literature during the last generation, South
+    as well as North, shall have spent its force, and the prejudices and
+    passions that literature engendered and fostered shall have given
+    place to just and generous award, then, and not until then, will the
+    whole people and the outside world be prepared to receive and
+    appreciate a truthful revelation, and do mental honor to all, of
+    every section, who from their standpoint and environment, and with
+    the light that shone upon their pathway, lived and labored for great
+    ends, and the same ends. That record will show that not only under
+    Southern skies, but throughout the nation, in national Senate, in
+    Northern cities, even in Western wilds, Southern counsel has
+    contributed in full proportion to the great results which today
+    astonish the world. And furthermore, it will show that Northern
+    energy, foresight and enterprise have made their deep and
+    ineffaceable mark on the whole country in its educational and
+    religious work, its business, political and social life, and its
+    institutions. The gigantic struggle which occurred on this continent
+    just before your eyes opened on the light of day was the result of
+    a misunderstanding; a family quarrel on a grand scale, such as more
+    than once has occurred in the land of our forefathers. But even when
+    the conflict rose to its most fearful height, deep down in the
+    heart, this people were one. They are now one, and may the high
+    council of Heaven ordain that they shall never be other than one.
+
+    "Young ladies, suffer no sectional jealousies or narrow prejudices
+    to find a resting place in your bosoms. They dwarf your souls, they
+    contract your minds. Love your country in all its sections and broad
+    limits and constituent elements, and contribute your best energies,
+    in appropriate spheres, to its high and grand mission."
+
+
+CONFIDENT HOPE
+
+APRIL, 1862
+
+    "You go forth at a dark and threatening hour.... When the great
+    plans of His far-reaching and comprehensive providence shall have
+    been accomplished, in the stupendous conflict which you now behold,
+    He will speak peace to the troubled waters, and there will be peace.
+    Till then let us wait with calm resignation and abiding confidence
+    in His designs of mercy.... This providence, however complicated and
+    strange, leads only to some good and grand result, opening up new
+    channels of usefulness to the virtuous and the good, and saying to
+    the faithful--nations as well as individuals: 'This is the way, walk
+    ye in it.'"
+
+
+GUIDING PURPOSE
+
+1901
+
+    "For many years it has been my earnest desire to so conduct the
+    affairs of the institution that whether I was present or absent,
+    there should be no abatement in the earnest purpose and devotion to
+    duty which I have sought to make a part of the atmosphere of
+    Hollins."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND ACTIVITIES
+
+
+All the activities of a good man's life are religious. Intelligent
+Christian thought has long since abolished the distinctions, "sacred"
+and "secular." The minister is not the only man with a divine calling.
+It is the right of every true man to regard his tasks, of whatever kind,
+as sacred, and the vigorous discharge of them as religious fidelity. The
+apostle, making tents, was serving God as truly as when preaching to the
+philosophers of Athens. All the vocations are spheres in which men serve
+their generation, increasing the sum of human comfort, and securing the
+moral order of the world. The man who serves his fellowmen is the
+anointed servant of the Lord.
+
+Mr. Cocke's life was an uninterrupted consecration to the cause of the
+education of women, permeated and energized by spiritual motive. No man
+understood better than he the living unity between intellectual and
+moral culture. He knew that cultivated faculties without corresponding
+nurture of the spiritual nature may prove a curse rather than a
+blessing. Along with growing mental power, must go a development of
+religious character. The two are inseparable in any right conception of
+human life. So, while he wrought with a wonderfully sustained enthusiasm
+in the sphere of education, he kept always in mind the transcendent
+claims of religion. There he recognized the fundamental interest of
+humanity. Teaching was his vocation, but the honor of God was his
+comprehensive guiding principle. To him the Bible was the word of Life,
+and the worship of the Holy One of Israel the supreme privilege and
+duty. Such was his view and, without intermission, his practice.
+
+From the beginning of his work at Botetourt Springs in 1846, daily the
+assembled students heard the reading of Scripture and united with the
+President in ascriptions of praise. Nor were Mr. Cocke's religious
+services given only to the school. His Christian interest ran out to the
+whole community. He recognized an obligation to his neighbors, and was
+soon meeting them here and there, instructing them in the Scriptures,
+and leading them in their worship. In 1855 the little Enon Baptist
+Church was organized and located within a quarter of a mile of the
+Springs. Into membership in this church he and his family went, to be a
+strong nucleus around which has since grown the excellent congregation
+and the beautiful building of today. The pastors of Enon never had a
+more loving and loyal member of their church. By all odds the strongest
+force in the body, he could have ruled as he pleased, but the humble man
+never dreamed of domination, or of the assertion of any kind of superior
+right. He wanted harmony and growth, and sought it by preferring his
+brethren in honor. His wise counsel and influence were potent, of
+course, but not another member of the church was farther from the
+assumption of authority. He was a model church member in attendance and
+gifts; hence all the people gave him honor and love.
+
+But Enon set no limits on his religious activity. The neighboring towns
+and communities felt the force of his spirit of evangelism. The
+Christian religion must have free course in the regions round about.
+There was not a village within twenty miles of his school that failed to
+catch something of his spirit. The impulses he gave in that early day
+lie at the foundation of much of the present religious strength and
+prosperity in the regions he touched.
+
+Did this young school teacher overlook the needs of the colored people?
+Would it look strange to see him conducting a Sunday School for the
+slaves on Sunday afternoons at Big Lick? That is what he did. "Inasmuch
+as ye have done it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me." The
+negroes, in the days of slavery, learned to love him as a friend, and
+when freedom came, his service among them did not cease. Their
+struggling pastors and congregations sought his counsel and were not
+disappointed. They looked on him as their big white brother, wise and
+good, and to this day he is remembered among them with affection. Here
+is a tribute written by a negro teacher on the occasion of Mr. Cocke's
+death. No more tender or significant praise has been accorded him.
+
+"My race in this section of the State would be guilty of the rankest
+ingratitude did they not pay a humble tribute to the memory of their
+friend and benefactor, Professor Charles L. Cocke. Any tribute to his
+memory must needs be incomplete without a touching reminder of his
+devotion to the cause of Christianity among my people in the days of
+slavery. To him my people looked for religious instruction in those dark
+days. Through his zeal and untiring efforts the slaves of this section
+of the State were allowed to attend services at the white Baptist church
+Sunday evenings where they could hear the word of God preached to them
+by the white ministers of the gospel, Professor Cocke himself frequently
+leading the meetings. He taught the slaves sound lessons in morality
+and honesty, and it is a well known fact that the slaves of this county
+were among the most upright, honest and trustworthy to be found anywhere
+in the South. Upon every plantation were to be found Christian men and
+women of our race whose lives were honest and true, and whose characters
+were spotless, and they enjoyed the confidence, respect, and sometimes a
+devotion, from their masters, that was touching and beautiful. Upon
+every plantation were to be found colored preachers who 'exhorted' to
+their people and explained to them the lessons that had been taught them
+by Professor Cocke. Whilst laboring faithfully amongst the whites, he
+did not forget the poor African slave.
+
+"At the close of the war, when freedom came to our people, he gave them
+the best advice and encouragement in the organization of their own
+churches. He was full of the milk of human kindness. He was ever ready,
+willing, yea, anxious to give advice and instruction to our preachers
+who sought his aid. His purse was open to any colored minister who
+appealed to him for help. No colored church was ever built in this
+county that did not receive substantial aid at his hands. Thousands of
+our people with bowed heads mourn his loss and revere his memory. My
+mother and father received religious instruction at his hands, and it
+is with a heart full of untold gratitude that I pen this tribute.
+Professor Cocke was a white man in all that word implied, but he was a
+Christian and not afraid to labor among men of 'low estate.'
+
+"Such men are the negro's best friends on earth. We have nothing to fear
+at their hands. To them we have ever been true and devoted, and shall
+forever remain so. Such men are the salt of the earth, and the negro
+believes in such salt.
+
+"We, too, drop a tear upon his bier and shall ever hold in grateful
+remembrance his many acts of kindness to a benighted race. Sweet be his
+rest."
+
+                                                     ZACHARIAH HUNT.
+
+With the increase of Baptist churches in the Southwest, the Valley
+Association was organized, and Enon became a member. Not a pastor
+brought into that body more interest and zeal than did Mr. Cocke. He was
+not of those whose Christian liberality slackens and enfeebles devotion
+to their own communion. While broadly charitable, he was firmly Baptist.
+The influence he carried into these conferences with his people arose
+from his personal worth, not from his official prominence in education.
+Not one of the denominational causes failed to receive his cordial
+support. They appealed to him in the degree of their relative
+importance, but in the roundness and balance of his benevolence nothing
+was slighted. He spoke in advocacy of each and all. Of course many
+gatherings wished to hear Mr. Cocke speak on the subject of Education.
+In such addresses the fire of his soul was apt to burst into flame. He
+did not quote much. Being the impersonation of the educational spirit,
+he did not need to borrow thoughts. The man who does things has power
+with an audience. Your theoretical orator has no thrills. After one of
+his powerful utterances, many fathers and mothers said in their hearts:
+"I want to send my daughter to that man." His motive was not the cunning
+calculation of a man with a school, but rather the pure devotion of a
+large-minded servant of the Master.
+
+In the State assemblies of his brethren, where he was regularly found,
+he was equally a man of recognized distinction. Likewise in the meetings
+of the Southern Baptist Convention, he was greeted with the honor due to
+one who had advanced the credit of the denomination. He knew that fact
+himself, but no man could have been more innocent of self-important
+airs. While the higher education of young women was the goal of his
+daily thought and labor, the Kingdom of God was central to all his aims.
+
+Religious controversy never interested him. Through the years ministers
+of the various churches were invited to Hollins to lead its services and
+receive its hospitalities. Many were the interviews with them in his
+office and on the verandas in which conversation drifted into animated
+discussions of things political, educational and religious. Views
+differed, thoughts clashed, but the best of humor prevailed. In every
+denomination he had devoted friends.
+
+In vacation periods it was his frequent custom to make tours through the
+Southwest in a large vehicle, capable of carrying six or eight persons.
+His trusty colored driver, Prince Smith, held the reins, and commonly
+there was in the party a goodly number of Baptist ministers from middle
+or eastern Virginia. From one District Association to another, the
+_caravan_ went, adding zest and interest to the meetings. It was a
+genuinely delightful religious progress. The Baptists in all this region
+considered him as their greatest layman and their unordained Bishop.
+Everywhere he and his fellow-travelers were welcome guests. Sometimes
+they lodged in homes presided over by women who had been Hollins girls.
+Then the hospitality was overflowing. These summer visits did much to
+stimulate the hope and courage of many small and slowly growing
+churches. And what charmingly exhilarating experiences they brought to
+the _caravan_! The men who shared these progresses with the "Bishop" of
+the Southwest considered themselves the favorites of fortune.
+
+It was never his habit to go off for a summer's rest. It might have been
+well if he had done so, but such was not his bent. When the pressure
+ceased at the close of the session, he began to plan another visit to
+his brethren in the mountains. To go about doing good was the call of
+his heart in those long past summertimes.
+
+Religion and Education were the watchwords, written on the tablets of
+his heart. "This one thing I do, ever pressing on to the mark of the
+prize of the high calling of God." Here is the rare spectacle of a long
+life, full of religious activity, supported by unfailing enthusiasm, by
+fixed, high purpose, and by that ardor of achievement which are the
+marks of a great soul. Unselfish human service magnified him and gave
+his name to grateful remembrance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHARACTERISTICS
+
+
+There was nothing angular or disproportionate in the structure of Mr.
+Cocke's mind. The photograph of it may be said to have been reflected in
+his face, with its fine assemblage of strong and well-balanced features.
+The intellect was clear, the will robust, and the feeling intense. One
+never saw him when he did not know what he wanted to do; never found him
+irresolute or languid of purpose; and never knew him indifferent or
+unresponsive. Along every line of enterprise that summoned him, these
+powers were joined in unity and concert of action. He was not in the
+smallest degree visionary or quixotic. Illusions, phantasms, Utopian
+dreams, perished in the light of his large common sense. Yet this man
+was a true idealist. In his youth he saw a vision. At first he saw it
+dimly, but as time passed it grew in clarity, until it materialized in a
+better system for the higher education of young women. Had he failed, we
+might have called him a dreamer; but as he succeeded gloriously, we
+rank him with the adventurous thinkers who have blessed the world. He
+followed the gleam and domesticated it in society. In his early days
+Hollins Institute was to him what the Holy Grail was to the Knights of
+King Arthur, or what the Golden Fleece was to the ancient Argonauts. The
+thing that makes a man great, is a great idea seized and brought into
+beneficent application. He is greatest that is servant of all. When Mr.
+Cocke said that his habit was to think thirty years ahead, he was hardly
+conscious that it was a fine feat of imagination. Yet this is his title
+to the crown of the Legion of Honor. Intellectual and moral heroism must
+have its reward.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+He would not have us say that his scholarship was broad. Too honest was
+he to make pretense of much learning. Broadly intelligent and well
+informed he was, and an efficient teacher of mathematics, but he made no
+claim to extended acquaintance with literature, science or philosophy.
+It is interesting to know that he was fond of Milton's "Paradise Lost"
+and Pollock's "Course of Time," and could quote long passages from each.
+He deplored inability to devote himself more assiduously to wide reading
+and deep study. The scholarly instinct and craving was in him, but the
+engrossing cares of his Institution absolutely monopolized his
+attention. Pathetic necessity barred him from the fuller measures of
+intellectual culture. On administrative burden bearing depended the life
+and growth of the school, and with perfect intelligence of the personal
+sacrifice involved, the responsibility was accepted. However, he was
+keen to discover scholarship, and quick, with the wisdom of a master, to
+add it to his Faculty.
+
+It was sometimes said that he was autocratic, and he himself admitted
+that there was some ground for the charge. How could it be otherwise? He
+was the informing soul and energy of the Institution, and in that fact
+was the sole guaranty of its development and perpetuity. He knew his
+plans and hopes, he had bold confidence in his own judgment, and he
+possessed an indomitable will. He had to speak with decision and
+authority. All confessed his right to command and understood the certain
+penalties of faulty service or of disobedience. The harassments of
+interminable worries and of defeated hopes may at times have resulted in
+a look of sternness, or have given his manner a touch of unpleasing
+abruptness; but, withal, it was far from him to inflict intentional
+pain. Austerity of manner, incidentally of expression, was balanced by
+as kind a heart as ever beat. He was a superb gentleman, and in his
+prevailing gentler moods, had pleasant greetings for all. He was at the
+helm, and the necessity was on him to guide and direct, but behind the
+flash of those keen blue eyes lay a wealth of human kindness and
+affection. All Hollins knew it. Tyrant he could not be, but master he
+was. Never did it pass from his thought that he was a servant of God and
+that the mind of the Master was the goal of his life. He had the bearing
+of a lord, but the child in his heart never died. Then, if ruggedness
+appeared, it was but a surface exhibition, the fatherly feeling being
+the deep inextinguishable fact within. For this, his pupils and friends
+gave him a life-long devotion, and his children loved him, almost to
+adoration. This man was no autocrat.
+
+He was conspicuous for his liberality. Owing to the fact that his
+earnings and that of his family were constantly swallowed up by
+improvements in the Institution, he was never a wealthy man. Yet that
+fact did not close the door of his compassions and generosities. Gifts
+went to the poor, contributions unstinted went to his church and to the
+benevolences of his denomination. Once, when attending the Baptist State
+Association at Petersburg, Virginia, after several speeches had been
+made on missions, he arose and said: "Now let us do something. I wish
+right here to subscribe $100." The suggestion struck the body and a
+handsome subscription was taken. Mrs. Cocke said, some time after the
+event: "Charles came home and sold a horse to pay that subscription."
+At an educational gathering in Enon Church, when the inevitable
+subscription was taken, his young son, Lucian, signalized his immature
+and reckless enthusiasm by saying: "Put me down for $100." The cautious
+collector called out to the father what the boy had done. "All right,"
+said the acquiescent father; "he has a pony." In dismay the youth saw
+the meaning, and the pony went to education.
+
+Not often did he relate jokes and anecdotes, but he enjoyed them at the
+hands of his friends. He had a saving sense of humor and could relish a
+flash of it even at his own expense. This incident he told on himself.
+At one of the Valley meetings of ministers and laymen, he made a
+stirring speech. His oratory was of the spontaneous, practical type,
+often impassioned and tremendously moving. When he closed an admiring
+brother arose and paid compliment to the speaker for his "exhaustive"
+address. The modest orator meekly protested the extravagant language.
+Then a wit of a preacher stood up to explain to Mr. Cocke that the
+brother did not mean that the speaker had "exhausted" the subject, but
+that he had "exhausted" himself! The house was instantly in a roar of
+laughter, in which the orator himself as heartily joined. His brethren
+knew they could take innocent liberties with him, because they loved him
+so. At Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Bedford County, Virginia, a
+meeting was in progress in the fall of 1881. The house was crowded when
+Mr. Cocke arose. The good genius of speech was upon him and that address
+on education was memorable for power. Later, in the church yard, a good
+mother was talking to a minister about the speech. A flush was on her
+face and tears glistened in her eyes as she said, "Oh, I wish I was able
+to send my daughter to Hollins." Now he had not said one word about
+Hollins, his effort being to magnify the importance of the education of
+young women, and to fasten conviction on parental hearts. At another
+time, while he was attending a Baptist meeting in Southern Virginia, he
+spoke before the body. A college professor in the audience inquired as
+to the personality of the speaker. On being told, he said: "I want to
+meet him, for he said more forcible things in five minutes than all the
+speakers before him in fifteen." An interview followed, with the result
+that the distinguished Professor Kusian spent twenty-eight years in
+teaching at Hollins.
+
+Self-conceit Mr. Cocke regarded as a sort of vulgarity. With all
+sincerity, his soul responded to the sentiment of him who asked: "Why
+should the spirit of mortal be proud?" His friends thought that in some
+instances his humility was overdone. Richmond College gave him the
+degree of LL.D., but he declined it, silently and unostentatiously. His
+frank reverence for truth disallowed acceptance. The degree, in his
+view, stood for a measure of learning which he regarded himself as
+lacking. His modesty wronged him. The compliment has come to be bestowed
+on high civic merit and achievement as well as on broad scholarship. In
+the former virtues, Mr. Cocke stood pre-eminent. His standard, if
+applied, would strip a multitude of names of this honorary title.
+
+Interest in making money seems never to have touched him. Not once did
+he venture on an investment. The material prosperity of men gratified
+him. He knew that most men ought to make money, but he had no time for
+it. "This one thing I do." On one thing, the gifts, plans and powers of
+his long life were literally and undividedly centered.
+
+He loathed the feeling of jealousy. He would have despised himself if he
+had been unable to hear the praise of other college presidents and of
+their institutions without inward pangs. Eulogize his brethren, and you
+smote on no chord of envy. He was a large man. He bore no grudges and
+carried no enmities, the common luggage of proud and envious minds.
+
+What a good and generous neighbor this man was! The successes and
+sorrows of the countryside round about Hollins touched him sensibly. He
+was their counsellor in times of perplexity; their comforter in seasons
+of grief. Frequent were the times when a minister not being accessible,
+he conducted funerals and buried the dead. He loved the people as do all
+who really love God. The religion that attempts to terminate on God,
+ignoring human beings, is as sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. Of
+such worship this man knew nothing. He expressed love to the divine in
+even-handed justice and in benevolent sympathy among men. Perhaps the
+finest tribute paid at his funeral was spoken by the Lutheran minister,
+Dr. F. V. N. Painter, a part of which is as follows:
+
+"Dr. Cocke was a great educator. He was great both in theory and
+practice. He had not made, I think, an elaborate study of the science
+and history of education, as they are presented in text-books. His
+knowledge was deeper than the knowledge acquired in that way. In the
+educational work of more than fifty years, his strong intellect worked
+out independent views of educational principles and methods. In no small
+degree he helped to make the educational history of Virginia and of the
+South.
+
+"Dr. Cocke always impressed me as a large man. His stalwart frame was
+but the counterpart of a vigorous intellect. There was nothing petty,
+narrow, cynical, in his views or aims or methods. He loved to deal with
+fundamental principles and great facts; and in his discussion of any
+subject, there was always a breadth of view and a vigor of utterance
+that commanded attention. In his great, absorbing concern for truth, he
+cared but little for that delicacy of diction and that refinement of
+phrasing which so often, in the hands of smaller men, become an end in
+themselves. He was a strong earnest man, wrapped about with invincible
+integrity, reminding us of Carlyle's words on Luther, 'Great, not as a
+hewn obelisk, but as an Alpine mountain, yet in the clefts of it
+beautiful valleys with flowers'.
+
+"Dr. Cocke was a man of sterling integrity of character. A brief
+acquaintance was sufficient to elicit our highest confidence. He was
+straightforward and honest in his aims and methods of work. He attempted
+to deceive neither himself nor others; and it is impossible now to
+associate an insincere or crafty diplomacy with his character. His
+native integrity of soul, which must have come as a rich inheritance
+from worthy ancestors, was strengthened by his deep religious life. He
+recognized his supreme obligations to God; and he took the life of Jesus
+Christ as his model. Thus he stood before us as a beautiful example of
+Christian manhood. In character and in life he reflected credit on our
+common humanity."
+
+It is the divine way to do mighty works through consecrated men and
+women. Christian faith so identifies one with the life of God that the
+eternal energies can flow onward to great consummations, even to the
+casting of mountains of difficulty into the sea. Nothing evil was ever
+charged against Mr. Cocke. The absolute open purity of the man shamed
+all envy, and paralyzed misrepresentation. Misunderstood and
+unappreciated at times he doubtless was, but this he accepted as one of
+the inevitable assets of an ongoing, achieving career. He was not
+perfect, but he pressed far up the heights of resplendent manhood. The
+signature of a divine call was upon him, and he honored it to the end.
+His long labor fell far short of his dreams, but it was crowned with the
+blessings of Heaven.
+
+  "All I could never be,
+  All, men ignored in me,
+  That was I worth to God."
+
+Hollins College is his monument. There it stands, a thing of beauty, by
+the little Sulphur Spring. There may it stand forever!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS
+
+
+The building of Hollins Institute was not the achievement of one man. It
+was the outcome of associated work. There was a leader, gifted with
+vision, judgment and iron will, but without abundant and able
+co-operation, there would have been no realization of his scheme. No man
+would be more prompt than Mr. Cocke in acknowledgment of this fact. He
+was accurate in measurements of the qualities of men and women, and not
+often in his selection of teachers was his judgment at fault. It was a
+compliment to be invited into his Faculty, and its members always found
+Hollins one big family. In one dining hall, students and teachers met
+three times a day, and the warmth of home feeling fused all generous
+natures into one delightful fellowship. Mr. Cocke did not look on his
+comrades as hired people. He took them into his confidence and high
+regard as honorable and worthy associates in his sacred work of
+education. He was no dictator; he issued no commands. He trusted his
+teachers, invited their freedom of initiative, and complimented them
+with the expectation of efficient service. He asked for good team work.
+It is no surprise that in such an atmosphere and under such genial
+conditions, he always had a loyal and harmonious Faculty. Rarely did one
+of its members go away without happy memories and loving attachments.
+Many fine men and women, through the long years, made invaluable
+contributions to the upbuilding of the Institution. Their work was
+worthy of all praise, and it is a matter of regret that most of their
+names have to be omitted from this brief record.
+
+
+_Mrs. Charles L. Cocke_
+
+In the presentation of Mr. Cocke's fellow-workers in the building up of
+Hollins Institute, no one will deny the first place to his wife. Her
+pre-eminent worth has already been indicated in the foregoing chapters.
+Longer than others, she bore him company and demonstrated a sturdiness
+of character, quite as marked as his own. She did not want to come to
+the mountains with her three little children. In 1845, she listened with
+loving interest to the enthusiastic recitals of her husband, just
+returned from the Southwest, but kept hidden in her heart an invincible
+preference for her old home. Yet, in the summer of 1846, she went with
+him, loyally and cheerfully. His optimism she could not share, but the
+path of duty she trod as willingly as he. In the far after years she
+confided to her children that she had never loved the mountains, and
+then added, "But I never told Charles!" The fact would not have helped
+him, hence it was shut up in her heart. That confession is full of great
+meanings, pathetic, unselfish and honorable. Such was her faith in him,
+such her love and hearty comradeship in toil and sacrifice, that he most
+likely never suspected the secret feeling.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+The shock of that first view of her new home we have seen. A little
+later, the primitive rawness of it was accentuated to her as she saw a
+wild bear leisurely passing through the premises! Bravely she plied the
+domestic tasks, and smiled sympathetically on her husband's plans. In
+truth, without such a wife he could not have won. In the strong cord
+that held him to his work, she was the golden strand. Though loaded with
+the cares of the household and of her little ones, this wonderful woman
+gave herself to numberless ministries among the girls. One feels
+astonishment at her physical endurance. Her energies and womanly
+loveliness were elemental in the making of Hollins. Six years after her
+arrival, it was her joy to see her brother, Professor William H.
+Pleasants, added to the Faculty. In the long, dark struggles that were
+to follow, there was no breaking down of her faith and courage. Through
+two generations, the girls loved her with a genuine affection, and made
+no distinction between her and Mr. Cocke in the bestowal of honors.
+
+It was truly said, that if Mr. Cocke was the head of Hollins, Mrs. Cocke
+was its heart. That splendid patriarchal Trustee, Mr. Wm. A. Miller,
+says: "It is common to speak of the wife as the better half. In my view,
+Mrs. Cocke was the better two-thirds." She watched the health of the
+girls, and entered into their amusements, sometimes even lending her own
+wardrobe for a histrionic performance. She could never endure harsh
+criticism, and if conversation drifted in that direction, she invariably
+withdrew. No unkind speech ever escaped her lips. To most mortals this
+will seem unbelievable, but ample testimony supports it. If ever
+compelled to express disapproval, it was in fashion so gentle that no
+sting was left. In the latter years, all the graces and beatitudes
+seemed to cluster on that feminine face, framed in with silver locks and
+the little white cap. She had a delightful gift of humor and many times
+the unconscious play of it surprised her by its mirthful effects. Enon
+Church and its worship always enlisted her active sympathy and gave her
+spiritual comfort. Often in quiet seclusion, she was found reading her
+Bible.
+
+The eventide came slowly on, with the relaxation of cares long borne.
+Then came the desolation of sorrow, and a deepening of life's
+lonesomeness. There was no decay of mental power, no encroachment of
+disease. At last the mortal part went down without pain, and on January
+5th, 1906, the Mother of Hollins went away. Just three weeks more, and
+she would have rounded out her eighty-sixth year. The last services
+revived memories of those solemn scenes of May 6th, 1901. She was laid
+beside him on the hill, and weeping college girls strewed the grave with
+flowers.
+
+
+_Professor William Henry Pleasants_
+
+Here is a great looking man, scholarly, courtly, popular, and in his
+maturer years, affectionately called, "Uncle Billy." He was born at the
+"Picquenocque" homestead, five miles north of Richmond, January 29th,
+1831, the youngest in a family of nine children. The family was reared
+under the quiet influence of the Quaker faith. At about eighteen years
+of age, the young man graduated at Richmond College, and entered into
+business relations with a foreign tobacco firm, in which was the promise
+of promotion and wealth. Turning from this inviting prospect, he went to
+the University of Virginia, and by diligence in study, bore off its
+honors. Mr. Cocke invited him to Hollins in 1852, just as the "Female
+Seminary" began its work. Soon thereafter, he married Miss Minta Smoot,
+of Washington City. After a few years, the young wife passed away,
+leaving him with a little daughter and son, who became the sole objects
+of his devotion. It was his joy to see the daughter, Mary, achieve
+distinction as a teacher of Music at Hollins.
+
+He was a lover of Latin and Greek; and literature, ancient and modern,
+was his passion. Latin was his special department of instruction, but so
+versatile was his culture that he often taught the classes in Natural
+Science and Philosophy. He was a magnetic teacher, accurate, clear and
+inspiring. He won reputation as a polished writer and speaker, and had a
+natural fondness for music and flowers. In association with congenial
+friends, he was the center of courtesy and charm. Masonry was his
+pleasing avocation, and he was twice honored with the office of Grand
+Master of Masons of Virginia.
+
+Here are a few of the many fine sayings which reflect his quality:
+
+"Find out things for yourself, and you will know them better than if I
+were to tell you beforehand."
+
+"I am afraid that the average teacher of the present day prepares the
+students for examinations, not for life."
+
+"All higher education is essentially self-education."
+
+"Can anyone who himself neither intelligently observes, reflects, nor
+reasons, aid others in so doing?"
+
+Washington and Lee University gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1907. He
+gave up his work as teacher in 1912, having spent sixty years in the
+service. On November 26th, 1914, he passed away, lacking only two months
+of fulfilling his eighty-fourth year. He sleeps with his kindred in the
+little cemetery on the hill.
+
+
+_Professor Joseph A. Turner_
+
+Professor Turner was born in Greenville County, Virginia, August 6th,
+1839; was a B.A. of Richmond College in 1858, and an M.A. of the
+University of Virginia, in 1860. He served in Mahone's Brigade, Army of
+Northern Virginia, during the entire war, and in 1866 accepted the chair
+of English and Modern Languages at Hollins Institute, which position he
+held to the time of his death, May 5th, 1878. Hollins has had many able
+and popular teachers, but it is simple truth to say that none ever
+stirred more enthusiastic admiration and devotion than he. Indeed, after
+hearing and reading his eulogies, one is almost forced to the conclusion
+that he was one of the most remarkable teachers the Institution has
+ever known. Of high character, broad scholarly sympathies, and passion
+for teaching, he made his classroom electric with literary contagions
+and enthusiasms. Not only did he teach, but he magnetized and inspired
+the student. His teaching was largely by lecture, punctuated with
+pointed questions. Intellectually honest, accurate, painstaking, he
+cultivated the same qualities in the student. He published a valuable
+treatise on Punctuation and left several works in manuscript on his
+special subjects of English literature and philosophy. He contributed
+occasionally to _Appleton's Journal_ and _The Atlantic Monthly_, and
+regularly to the editorial columns of _The Nation_.
+
+Mr. Cocke honored and loved him, and the tribute he paid to the lost
+teacher in his annual report to the Trustees in 1878, is probably the
+finest ever given by him:
+
+"Mr. Turner was a man of no ordinary type. When a boy, he was a mark
+among boys; when he became a man, he was a man among men. He hesitated
+long between law and teaching, and when the question was settled, he
+gave all the energies of his soul to his chosen calling. Prompt, able,
+faithful and enthusiastic, he carried his pupils to the highest
+standards of improvement of which they were capable, opening the fields
+of Literature, where they might wander, explore and gather the richest
+fruits in after years. Not only did he give them knowledge and culture,
+but he inspired a zest for knowledge which would carry them beyond the
+ordinary confines of female acquirements. As an officer in a school for
+girls, his eminent literary attainments, his temperament, manners and
+very person, inspired respect and affection. His purpose was to make
+this a prominent Institution for young ladies, and accordingly he was
+engaged in preparation of textbooks adapted to that end. Among literary
+men, Mr. Turner was regarded as a scholar of mark, and destined to
+become a figure in the literary world."
+
+
+_Mrs. Leila Virginia Turner_
+
+Mrs. Turner, Mr. Cocke's oldest daughter, was born in Richmond,
+Virginia, February 5th, 1844. She was educated at Hollins and taught
+twenty-one years in the Institution. Brightly gifted, ardent, magnetic,
+witty and companionable, she had peculiar power to win and hold the
+hearts of students and friends. She was happily married to Professor
+Joseph A. Turner in 1871, and was consigned to early widowhood in 1878.
+Two little children were left to her care. The daughter, now Mrs. Erich
+Rath, teaches in the College, and the son, Mr. Joseph A. Turner, is its
+Business Manager.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. ANNE HOLLINS]
+
+
+_Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke_
+
+This gentle and accomplished daughter was born in Richmond, Virginia,
+May 25th, 1845. She was a graduate of Hollins, and taught many years in
+the college. Though frail in body, she was alert in mind, and lovingly
+responsive to all those tasks wherein she could do her father service.
+Gentleness and spiritual refinement were eminent qualities. Friendliness
+and social grace seemed native to her character. Her teaching was in the
+department of Literature and Languages, and to this day her pupils speak
+in praise of her taste and skill in the teaching art. She was a model of
+feminine culture, and filled her mission well. On the 29th of July,
+1900, the lovable life faded away, at Hollins.
+
+
+_Mr. Charles Henry Cocke_
+
+This nobly useful man was born at Hollins, May 21st, 1853. He took a
+course at Richmond College and in early manhood became an invaluable
+helper to his father in the business affairs at Hollins. The growth of
+the Institution, with the multiplying years and cares of the President,
+made assistance imperative. No more timely relief could have been given
+than that which came when young Charles H. Cocke threw his fresh
+energies and enthusiasm into this work. On the new manager a
+multitudinous and bewildering mass of incessant duties descended. He
+discharged them with surprising swiftness and ability. A friendlier
+manner or a kinder heart could not be. He had patience even with the
+trivial and senseless interruptions that arose. Everybody leaned on him
+and everybody loved him. His work at Hollins was one of the finest
+contributions given by any one to the success and stability of the
+Institution. All honor to his name. His health began to fail before the
+end of twenty-five years of service, and, too late, he began to recruit
+his spent vitalities. On May 3rd, 1900, his labors closed in death. All
+Hollins wept and mourned his loss. Mr. Cocke said: "He was the right arm
+of my strength. Without him the school would never have reached the
+commanding position it now holds." With the precious company on the hill
+he rests in peace. One is glad to see his son, M. Estes Cocke, a
+prominent member of the Faculty.
+
+
+_Mrs. Eliza Speiden Childs_
+
+This noble woman was one of the distinguished factors in the evolution
+of beautiful Hollins. Rich and varied are the contributions which she
+made to the school. She was born in Washington City, July 26th, 1829.
+Her father, William Speiden, was a U. S. Naval officer, and rose to the
+rank of Commodore. Her mother was an English lady. Eliza was the oldest
+of seven children. She was educated at Mrs. Kingsford's School in
+Washington, and in that environment of elegant culture, her young
+womanhood was nourished. By the strange vicissitudes of human life, she
+was, before middle age, twice a widow, with two little children in her
+care. In the year 1873, by good fortune both to herself and Mr. Cocke,
+she came to Hollins as Associate Principal, a position she was to fill
+for twenty-five years. After resignation, she was made "Emeritus." Mr.
+Cocke said of her: "Mrs. Childs' gifts and qualifications were of
+inestimable value to the Institution, and without them and her untiring
+service, it could not have reached the excellence it has."
+
+There was about her a captivating nameless grace of womanly finish,
+delicacy and comeliness. Her unaffected goodness blended smoothly with
+her emphasis of authority, and a perfect taste joined itself to charm of
+manner and flowing sympathy. It was social culture to be in her company.
+Her influence went out over all the South and will abide. Her daughter,
+Miss Marian Bayne, is Librarian at Hollins today. Mrs. Childs resigned
+at Hollins in 1898, and on August 11, 1901, she passed away, at
+Marshall, Virginia. Her body was laid to rest at Alexandria, Virginia,
+near the scenes of her childhood.
+
+
+_Professor A. T. L. Kusian, LL.D._
+
+Here is one of the most picturesque and delightful of scholars. His
+history is dramatic and his experience of the world is rich. He was born
+in France and educated in Germany. During the Civil War his sympathies
+were with the South, and he bought supplies for the Confederacy in
+France and Italy. He came to the United States while still young, and
+took out naturalization papers in Kentucky. He married a Virginia lady,
+and taught a number of years in the Baptist College at Danville,
+Virginia. From there he was called to Hollins in 1890. After more than
+twenty-five years of work in the department of Modern Languages, he
+retired as Professor Emeritus. He was a man of remarkable memory, never
+forgetting a fact or a face. He was one of the most competent, courteous
+and obliging of teachers and friends, and for Mr. Cocke he had the most
+sincere admiration and attachment. Honored and revered by all, he fell
+asleep March 24th, 1920, at his home in Accomac County, Virginia.
+
+
+_Trustees_
+
+Two of the original Trustees of Hollins stand out particularly as
+notable for long service and devotion.
+
+[Illustration: JOHN HOLLINS]
+
+
+_Mr. William A. Miller_
+
+This venerable and delightful gentleman was born in Pittsylvania County,
+Virginia, in March, 1824, and is now in his ninety-seventh year. This
+summer of 1920, he is in fair health, and goes daily to his place of
+business in Lynchburg, where most of his life has been spent. His whole
+career has been one of stainless virtue and lofty Christian character.
+His first meeting with the Trustees of Hollins was on July 5th, 1855;
+his last was in February, 1900, making a term of forty-five years. He
+was always high in the esteem of Mr. Cocke. He recently explained in
+humorous way, that his long term of life was due to long teaching in
+Baptist Sunday Schools. This got into the papers, and he has received
+letters from all over the country, and some from people in other
+countries, asking his methods of teaching the lessons. A halo of honor
+is on his head, and thousands of friends wish him long life.
+
+
+_Colonel George P. Tayloe_
+
+On the 18th of April, 1897, this splendid citizen of Roanoke, Virginia,
+this strong and invaluable friend of Hollins Institute, passed away, in
+the ninety-third year of his age. He was the first-named Trustee on the
+Board of the Valley Union Seminary, in 1842. That position he held
+until the school took the name of Hollins Institute. In 1857 he became
+President of the Board of Trustees, and as long as he lived, he held
+this office with distinction. In 1896 some members thought it expedient
+to elect another President, owing to Colonel Tayloe's frequent, enforced
+absence on account of sickness. Mr. Cocke objected, however, and the
+grand old man was re-elected. Before the next annual meeting he was no
+more.
+
+Mr. William A. Miller has this to say of his comrade: "Colonel Tayloe
+was a gentleman in every sense of the word, and was often consulted by
+Mr. Cocke. He seemed to feel himself a part of Hollins and was almost
+like the right arm of the President."
+
+Mr. Cocke himself, in giving a brief history of the Institution, in
+1896, said, "I cannot close this sketch without a tribute to one who
+well deserves to be mentioned on this occasion. The Hon. George P.
+Tayloe, of this County, a gentleman of wealth and exalted social
+station, was the administrator of the estate which held possession of
+the property at the time the purchase was made for educational purposes.
+He not only heartily approved of the establishment of the school and
+gave liberally to its funds, but he gave his personal influence and more
+than all, he indulged the Trustees in the payments due the estate, to
+the utmost limits of the law, refusing to accept offers made by others,
+until he finally secured the property to its present owners, thus
+enabling the school to continue its high mission. For nearly the entire
+period of fifty years, he has held the Presidency of the Board of
+Trustees, and seldom has he been absent. When at any time during the
+history of the school, money had to be raised for any emergency, he was
+the first to subscribe and prompt to pay. His influence has contributed
+largely to its successful career."
+
+The Institution never had a more loyal friend, or a more generous and
+intelligent Trustee. Hollins and its community ought to wipe the
+opprobrious name of "Tinker" off the beautiful mountain, and replace it
+with the honorable and cherished name of "Tayloe."
+
+
+_Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins_
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hollins lived at Lynchburg, Virginia, prosperous, highly
+respected and influential. Mr. Hollins was a man of superior worth and
+always responsive to the generous impulses of his intelligent wife. Her
+ancestors, the Halseys, came from England in 1623. One of these kinsmen
+was a member of the English Parliament, and another went to the United
+States Congress from New Jersey. She was a member of the First Baptist
+Church of Lynchburg, but her husband, on account of self-distrust,
+never joined. Mr. Hollins' gift of $5,000 in 1855 was by her
+inspiration. Her own later gifts, amounting to $12,500, assured the life
+of the Institution. But for the Civil War, which destroyed most of her
+wealth, she would have given much more. They had no children. Mr.
+Hollins was born February 11th, 1786, and died April 7th, 1859. Mrs.
+Hollins was born in 1792 and died July 3rd, 1864. Both were buried in
+Spring Hill cemetery, at Lynchburg.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HIS MONUMENT
+
+
+The perpetual, unsatisfied longings of the Founder of Hollins projected
+plans and schemes whose completion had to be left to other hands. In his
+wise view, an Institution completed was an Institution already on the
+downward grade. The large, expansive life of the age requires continuous
+modifications and enlargements to meet the ever-springing exigencies of
+society. In his eighty-first year, amid the desolations of a triple
+bereavement, the aged hero sounded this note: "I will devote my energies
+to putting the Institution on a permanent, broad basis, with facilities
+of all kinds to meet the advancing demands for such schools; for
+education of every kind throughout the South is on rising grade, and
+Virginia, like New England, may yet have a reputation for school
+facilities with scholarly men and women equal to those of any section of
+this broad and progressive land." This is the same clarion voice so
+familiar through two generations. Thus came from his lips the general
+program, committed to his successors for the following thirty years.
+With no consciousness of the fact, he was providing his own monument
+which lives in the noble Hollins College of today.
+
+When the Institution passed from the Trustees to Mr. Cocke, it became
+the charge of a Board of Governors, selected from the members of his own
+family. From that day, they have regarded as their precious inheritance
+the plans of his mind and the wishes of his heart. His principle of
+progress has been the guiding light of the Board of Governors and not
+for a moment have they forgotten that the passionate desire of the
+Founder of the College was to make Hollins, in an ever increasing
+degree, a leader in the cause of the education of women.
+
+What has been done during the nineteen years of the Board's control? It
+is impossible to visit Hollins without feeling that the memory of Mr.
+Cocke and his influence equally abide. He, being dead, yet speaketh. At
+his death the Presidency of the college went to his daughter, Matty L.
+Cocke, and the Chairmanship of the Board of Governors to his son, Lucian
+H. Cocke. The business affairs, so long and heroically managed by
+Charles Henry Cocke, are now entrusted to two of the Founder's
+grandsons: Marion Estes Cocke as Secretary and Treasurer, and Joseph
+Augustine Turner as General Manager.
+
+[Illustration: HOLLINS COLLEGE]
+
+The improvements on the grounds and buildings, and on the farm, have
+been many. A beautiful Library building, made possible by the Alumnæ,
+was erected in 1908, as a memorial to Mr. Cocke. The Susanna Infirmary
+was built in 1911, as a memorial to Mrs. Cocke. In 1914, the Science
+Hall was built. Meanwhile important changes were being made in the
+courses of study. The curriculum was gradually enlarged, and eight years
+after the Founder's death, the institution was standardized on the basis
+of a four years college course. When this change was recognized in a new
+charter from the legislature of Virginia, the name "Hollins Institute"
+gave place to that of "Hollins College."
+
+The realization of the Founder's dream is an endless process, and the
+motto will ever be, "Forward and Upward." In the very atmosphere of the
+place, the sensitive soul feels a brooding presence. The trees on the
+campus, nearly all of which he planted, seem to whisper the revered
+name. His Ideal lives, and his Spirit interfuses all. His monument is
+building still. Let it go shining down the centuries!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES LEWIS COCKE ***
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+Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charles Lewis Cocke
+       Founder of Hollins College
+
+Author: William Robert Lee Smith
+
+Release Date: October 6, 2011 [EBook #37636]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES LEWIS COCKE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julia Neufeld, Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
+Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 308px;">
+<a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a>
+<img src="images/ill-001.png" width="308" height="500" alt="CHARLES LEWIS COCKE" title="CHARLES LEWIS COCKE" />
+<span class="caption">CHARLES LEWIS COCKE</span></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h2><big>CHARLES LEWIS COCKE</big><br />
+
+<small>FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE</small></h2>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>BY<br />
+
+W. R. L. SMITH, D.D.</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="center">BOSTON<br />
+
+<big>RICHARD G. BADGER</big><br />
+
+THE GORHAM PRESS</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1921, by Richard G. Badger</span></h4>
+<hr class="half" />
+<h4>All Rights Reserved<br />
+<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+Made in the United States of America</h4>
+<hr class="half" />
+<h4>The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.</h4>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p>
+<h2>FOREWORD</h2>
+
+
+<p>It will be obvious that this biography has been
+written in a passion of admiration and loyal
+love. Conscious of the eminent worthiness of its
+subject, the writer has felt no temptation to exceed
+the just limits of praise, or to violate the demands
+of a true sincerity. The effort has been to
+hold the record to a faithful presentation of the
+facts in a long and distinguished career. The
+singular unity of his life-work, localized on one
+spot of earth, has made the gathering of materials
+an easy task. An intimate and affectionate friendship
+of twenty-three years, is one of the author's
+invaluable sources. Then, abundant information
+was found in the minutes of the trustee meetings,
+the yearly catalogues, the college magazines, the
+occasional reminiscent speeches to students and
+the annual commencement address.</p>
+
+<p>One makes bold to say that he fears not the
+verdict of the older Hollins girls on this memoir.
+If it shall awaken hallowed memories and unseal
+the fount of tears; if it shall tighten the clasp of
+their heartstrings to dear old Hollins, its purpose
+will have been largely accomplished.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">W. R. L. Smith.</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER I</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Early Years</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER II</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Call of the Southwest</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER III</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hollins Institute in Struggle and Growth</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER IV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Clearing Skies</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER V</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Expansion and Achievement</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER VI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The President and his Girls</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER VII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Commencements and Addresses</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER VIII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Religious Enthusiasms and Activities</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER IX</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Characteristics</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER X</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">His Comrades and Co-Workers</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdcen">CHAPTER XI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">His Monument</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a></span></p>
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Charles Lewis Cocke</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><span class="smcap">facing page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Charles Lewis Cocke and Susanna Virginia Pleasants, About 1840</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Valley Union Seminary, 1842-1852</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs,</span> 1852-1855</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hollins Institute</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Charles L. Cocke</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">Good Morning, 'Gyrls'</span>"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Charles L. Cocke</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Charles L. Cocke</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Anne Hollins</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">John Hollins</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hollins College</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a></span></p>
+<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>This biographical sketch of Charles L. Cocke
+has been written with fine appreciation and
+sympathy. It brings before us an exceptionally
+strong man, who after years of struggle against
+discouragements realized, in large measure, the
+ideals of his early years. It is a story of heroic
+achievement that can not be read without emotion.</p>
+
+<p>Hollins College stands today as a fitting and
+permanent memorial of its founder's indomitable
+will and noble aims. But there was something
+still finer connected with his years of struggle
+and toil. Long before the end came, he had
+made the noblest achievement of human life,
+bringing from its disappointments and conflicts,
+not a cynical distrust of his fellow men, but a
+courageous, hopeful and invincible character of
+righteousness and love. He learned to look upon
+the tumultuous world with a serene and benignant
+spirit.</p>
+
+<p>It was my privilege for many years to serve as
+one of the chaplains of Hollins College. The
+hours spent in Mr. Cocke's office after the evening
+service are among my cherished memories.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+Our talk, often protracted till nearly midnight,
+turned chiefly on educational, religious, and social
+subjects, which always made a strong appeal to
+his vigorous mind and earnest nature. He loved
+the truth; but in the expression of his opinions
+there was sometimes a delightful touch of exaggeration
+that lent a peculiar charm to his conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond any man I have ever known he possessed
+the power to call forth noble sentiment and
+stimulate intellectual activity. This quality
+explains, in part at least, the loyal devotion of
+his co-workers and the grateful affection of his
+students. It made him a great teacher. It
+endowed him with a sort of divine right to leadership;
+it crowned him with the glory of perennial,
+unconscious beneficence.</p>
+
+<p>In the quality of his intellect he was distinctly
+Roman. By the law of resemblance he easily
+conjures up before our minds the dignified and
+sturdy personality of a Cato. Without the gifts
+of Attic versatility, his strong intellect and sound
+judgment set him apart for substantial practical
+achievement. We are fully warranted in believing
+that he would have won in any industrial or
+political field the same distinguished success that
+he achieved in education.</p>
+
+<p>The religion of the New Testament was a vital
+element in his character. Its dominant feature<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+was not emotion but conscience. To him the call
+of duty was imperative and final. It was in
+obedience to this call that he entered upon his
+work at Hollins. The materialistic science of
+the latter half of the nineteenth century left him
+untouched. He recognized the Divine agency in
+the lives of men no less than in the destiny of
+nations. This profound and dominant faith
+habitually filled the future with hope, and imparted
+to him, as to all who cherish it, unfailing
+courage and strength.</p>
+
+<p>A massive intellect, supported by a deep sense
+of religious duty, made him an independent and
+fearless thinker. He had the force to break the
+trammels of tradition. With the vision of a true
+pioneer he saw the need of a better intellectual
+training for American women, and with the resourcefulness
+of a strong nature he led the way
+in its attainment. His aims and efforts were manifestations
+of real greatness. It is men of like
+vision and resourcefulness who are raised up
+from time to time to lead the forward movements
+of our race. It is no reproach to say that Mr.
+Cocke would hardly have been in full sympathy
+with the feminist movement of recent years. No
+man can live too far ahead of his time. But he
+helped to prepare the way for it by his pioneer
+insistence on a richer culture and larger opportunities
+for women; and it may justly be said that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+no other man in Virginia or the South has a
+higher claim on their recognition and gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>He was fortunate to recognize in his early manhood
+his vocation as a pioneer educator. The
+call was clear, and his consecration complete.
+Few men have ever labored with greater singleness
+of purpose. As Tennyson dedicated his life
+to poetry and Darwin to science, so Mr. Cocke
+gave himself to the work of a nobler culture for
+the women of Virginia and later of our whole
+country. Without this singleness of aim, which
+gave unity to his efforts for more than fifty years,
+he could not have brought his great life-task to a
+triumphant conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>But his great mind and heart were not so
+utterly absorbed in this work as to exclude from
+his thought and effort other important interests.
+Before the present movement for social betterment
+had been inaugurated, he labored unselfishly
+for the material and moral improvement of his
+community and State. He was interested in the
+establishment of schools for boys. He was a
+recognized leader in the extension of the Baptist
+Church in Southwestern Virginia, and his foresight
+and wise counsel contributed in no small
+measure to the vigorous life and growth of that
+denomination.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he was not narrowly sectarian. His broad
+outlook on life welcomed every agency that contributed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+to moral and religious advancement. To
+his mind denominational differences of creed
+were of secondary importance as compared with
+the great fundamental agreement in the work
+of establishing the kingdom of God in the world.
+He cultivated friendly relations with all branches
+of the Christian Church, and invited their ministers
+from time to time to conduct services in
+the Hollins Chapel. His chief requirement was
+a helpful message supported by an upright life.</p>
+
+<p>He delighted, it seems to me, in what we might
+call intellectual athletics. He welcomed a disagreement
+of view, and enjoyed measuring
+strength in an argument. The enjoyment, I think,
+was independent of the outcome of the discussion;
+it was found in the pleasurable exercise of a
+vigorous brain. Defeat in argument yielded him
+scarcely less pleasure than did victory. The
+warmest discussion never ruffled in the slightest
+degree his self-possession and friendly courtesy.</p>
+
+<p>In the massiveness of his character he was
+exempt from the foibles of smaller natures. In
+his striving after truth he was unswayed in his
+judgment by petty prejudices. His broad benevolence
+and warm interest in the welfare of others
+shielded him from envy and jealousy. While
+sternly intolerant of wrong-doing, he was gently
+patient with the wrong-doer, being less anxious
+to punish than to reclaim. Though he was doubtless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+conscious of his strength, as are all truly
+great men, he was too sensible and honest to feel
+the inflation of egotism. His natural stately dignity
+forbade familiarity; but to those in need he
+was uniformly kind and helpful. It is the memory
+of his kindness and helpfulness that has
+enshrined his image in many hearts.</p>
+
+<p>The life of so rare a character deserves to be
+recorded in permanent form. It will thus stand
+as an inspiration and guide to others. As biographer
+Dr. Smith has performed his task worthily;
+and I esteem it a privilege to write this introduction
+and pay this tribute of admiration and
+affection to one of the greatest men I have known.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">F. V. N. Painter.</span></div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Salem, Va.</span>,<br />
+September 2, 1920.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHRONOLOGY</h2>
+
+<div class="pblockquot">
+<div class="center">1820</div>
+
+<p><i>February</i> 21 Charles L. Cocke was born at
+Edgehill, King William County, Va.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1836</div>
+
+<p>He entered Richmond College.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1838</div>
+
+<p>He entered Columbian College at Washington,
+D. C.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1840</div>
+
+<p>Graduated from Columbian College, and accepted
+a position at Richmond College.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1840</div>
+
+<p>On <i>December</i> 31 married Susanna Virginia
+Pleasants, of Henrico County.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1840-1846</div>
+
+<p>Connected with Richmond College.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1845</div>
+
+<p>Called to take charge of "Valley Union Seminary,"
+a co-educational school, Roanoke County,
+Va., at Botetourt Springs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1846</div>
+
+<p><i>June</i> 23 arrived at Botetourt Springs to take
+charge of the school.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1846</div>
+
+<p><i>July</i> 1 the first session under Mr. Cocke's
+superintendence opened with 36 boys and 27 girls.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1852</div>
+
+<p>Board of Trustees discontinued the department
+for boys.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1852</div>
+
+<p><i>July</i> 20 the session 1852-'53 opened for girls
+only, under the name The Female Seminary at
+Botetourt Springs, Va., Mr. Cocke, Principal,
+Registration 81 girls.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1853</div>
+
+<p><i>September</i> 4 the session of 1853-'54 opened
+with increased faculty and registration of 150
+girls.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1855</div>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins of Lynchburg,
+Va., donated funds to the institution, and in their
+Honor the name was changed to <i>Hollins Institute</i>.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1855-'61</div>
+
+<p>Average attendance 106.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1861-'65</div>
+
+<p>Doors not closed during this period. Average
+attendance 134.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1865-'71</div>
+
+<p>Average attendance 73.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1871-1900</div>
+
+<p>Buildings, enlarged to accommodate 225 students.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">1901</div>
+
+<p><i>May</i> 4 Charles L. Cocke died.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHARLES LEWIS COCKE</h2>
+
+<h3>FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+<div class="pblockquot">
+<p>I think I would rather have written a great
+biography than a great book of any other sort,
+as I would have rather painted a great portrait
+than any other kind of picture.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Phillips Brooks.</span></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>CHARLES LEWIS COCKE</h2>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>THE EARLY YEARS</h3>
+
+<h4>1820-1846</h4>
+
+
+<p>In the library at Hollins College is a life-size
+portrait of a great Virginian. In its presence,
+you instantly feel the spell of a commanding personality.
+The figure is tall, graceful, well proportioned,
+and in the right hand is a diploma,
+the proper symbol of the vocation of a College
+President. The attitude exactly fits the supreme
+moment on Commencement day. In the face, the
+artist has cunningly gathered the insignia of fine
+mental quality, and pictured the forces of achieving
+manhood. The ample brow looks the home
+of ideality and enterprise, the aquiline nose hints
+endurance and tireless energy. Napoleon
+selected as his marshals men marked by the prominence
+of this feature. That jaw and chin and
+those thin lips speak virility and determination.
+In the glance of those blue, eagle eyes, are intimations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+of keen intensity and lightning force,
+yet subduable to all the moods of tenderness and
+love. Truly, this is a notably fine presentation in
+art of one of the noblest Virginians of the 19th
+century.</p>
+
+<p>This man was marked for high performance,
+and would have won distinction in any sphere of
+honorable endeavor. "Excelsior" was the divine
+imprimatur stamped on his nature. His call was
+to leadership, and his response enrolled him
+among the pioneers in the cause of the higher
+education of women in the South. The educational
+ideals of Thomas Jefferson became the inspiration
+of his youth, and with astonishing tenacity
+and unity of purpose he pursued them until
+he worked out Hollins College, making it one of
+the rare gems of American culture. His work
+stimulated the founding of other like institutions
+in Virginia and the South. Thus he builded
+wiser than he knew. He wrought well in his generation,
+and a multitude of splendid women
+throughout the whole nation will revere his name
+forever. It was a brilliant battle he fought
+against hostile conditions and appalling odds.
+He was cast in heroic mold. In fancy we can
+see him bearing his banner up the heights, his
+eyes flashing strange fires, and every energy of
+soul and body exerted to its utmost. The name of
+this remarkable man is Charles Lewis Cocke, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+there stands the faithful, impressive likeness of
+him in the library building at Hollins College.</p>
+
+<p>It is the story of this man that we want to
+know, and to that end the following pages are
+written. It is the right of every child to be born
+of honorable parentage. The life of Charles L.
+Cocke began with a good heredity. He was born
+February 21, 1820, at Edgehill, the home of his
+father, James Cocke, in King William County,
+Virginia. Elizabeth Fox was the maiden name of
+his mother. Both family names run back a number
+of generations, the old English ancestors
+having come to Virginia in the 17th century.
+Richard Cocke bought a home with three thousand
+acres, and from 1644 to 1654 represented
+Henrico in the House of Burgesses. John Fox
+located in York County and then in Gloucester,
+in the years 1660 to 1680. From this worthy
+stock descended the subject of this biography.
+Charles Lewis was the oldest son of the family at
+Edgehill. Religious reverence and intelligence
+dwelt in the home, and correct views of conduct
+were expressed in parental example. The Baptist
+faith was an important part of his inheritance,
+and at Beulah Church near by his childhood received
+its first impressions of divine worship. By
+singular good fortune, the benign influence of the
+eloquent pastor and friend, the Rev. Dr. Andrew
+Broaddus, fell on the family and the growing lad.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+In the atmosphere of this happy home, and in the
+moral securities and privileges of a good country
+community, the early years were passed. The
+boy's mind was alert, and both on the farm and
+in the local schools, gave hints of latent powers.
+The growing youth demonstrated his managerial
+capacity one year by taking charge of a kinsman's
+farm and raising, as he said, "the finest
+crop it had ever borne." Self-reliance and the
+power of bringing things to pass early became
+distinguishing qualities. The father was proud
+of the promise of his son, and when the boy
+was about fifteen years of age, gave him his
+choice of a career on the farm or in some professional
+calling. The father could hardly have
+been surprised at the prompt decision in favor of
+a profession.</p>
+
+<p>Richmond College was then new, and under the
+presidency of the Rev. Dr. Robert Ryland, was
+prosecuting its work in the suburbs of the Capital
+City. The College was only twenty miles distant
+from Edgehill and soon our ambitious youth
+was diligently pursuing his studies within its
+walls. No special genius betrayed itself, but there
+was the same bent of assiduous application which
+was on display when the abundant crop was
+raised. Dr. Ryland was not slow in discovering
+the promising traits in the new student, and a
+mutual interest sprang up between them. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+astute President saw in the boy the prophecy of
+stalwart young manhood, just such a factor as
+might some day be of value to himself in the
+labors of the Institution. The interest grew into
+intimacy, and there were occasional confidential
+interchanges respecting the boy's hopes and aspirations.
+The time of attendance on the College
+classes was drawing to a close, when one day the
+Doctor suggested to him a further course at
+Columbian College, a Baptist institution of
+higher learning in Washington City. The
+thought enlisted the youth's enthusiasm, but he
+urged the lack of funds needful for such a
+scheme. Then the generous friend replied: "I
+will furnish that, and you can repay me at your
+convenience."</p>
+
+<p>Here was a compliment from a wise educator
+which, though it tended to no inflation of conceit,
+put a glowing stimulus in a young man's soul.
+No true man or woman ever fails to give gratitude
+and honor to those who quickened and
+encouraged aspiration in the days of youth.
+Impressed deeply by the kindly offer, and stirred
+by leaping ambition, Charles Lewis Cocke left
+the College and returned to his home. At once
+he communicated to his father the new visions
+and hopes. The father, pleased at the hunger of
+the son for larger knowledge, said: "You shall
+go to Columbian College; but we will not draw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+on the generosity of Dr. Ryland. I will supply
+the means." Charles was then about eighteen
+years of age.</p>
+
+<p>The boy Daniel Webster was riding one day
+in a buggy with his father, when at a certain
+point of the conversation the father said: "Son,
+I have decided to send you to Dartmouth College."
+The announcement fell like music on the
+aspiring soul, and the only response the delighted
+son could make was to lean his head on his
+father's bosom and burst into tears. Edgehill
+knew an emotion like that in the summer of
+1838. Pursuant to plans for early departure to
+Washington, James Cocke and his son drove to
+Richmond in a buggy. While the reins were in
+the father's hands, the horse went at a sluggish
+gait. Presently they were passed to the son,
+when instantly the drudging steed pricked up
+his ears and struck a new stride.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been whipping this horse," exclaimed
+the surprised father.</p>
+
+<p>"No," was the reply, "I have never whipped
+him, but he knows what I want him to do."</p>
+
+<p>Long years afterward, this little incident was
+told by the President of Hollins Institute to his
+graduating class, with the reflection, that he had
+learned that the best movements in horses and in
+people can be secured without whipping.</p>
+
+<p>The new student was welcomed into Columbian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+College and there pursued the courses of study
+with unabating enthusiasm. Naturally the environment
+of the national Capital served as a wholesome
+stimulus to all his faculties. The good
+habits of his life suffered no deterioration and the
+fine qualities of his mind went on maturing rapidly.
+It was during this period that deepening
+religious impressions resulted in an open confession
+of faith, and in union with a Baptist
+church in the city. He was baptized in the Potomac
+river. Closely following his twentieth birthday
+came his graduation with the degree of M.A.
+It is to be regretted that no letters written to
+his parents during this season have been preserved.
+Fortunately, two written to his friends
+do survive. One, sent to his college chum, Mr.
+A. B. Clark, of Richmond, Virginia, bears date
+of May 22, 1839:</p>
+
+<p>"I walk at the usual times alone, spending the
+moments mostly in meditation on serious subjects.
+My thoughts are more apt to turn this way than
+formerly. I write two lessons per day in Greek
+and read but little in other books."</p>
+
+<p>Something far more significant appears in the
+second letter which was addressed to a kinswoman
+in the neighborhood of Edgehill. In that
+he declared a settled purpose, "To devote my life
+to the higher education of women in the South,
+which I consider one of our greatest needs. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+this decision, my promised wife concurs." What
+special influences led the college boy to such a
+majestic consecration, we have no means of discovering.
+That it is a mark of uncommon maturity
+and breadth of intelligent conception, there
+can be no question.</p>
+
+<p>The benignant spirit of Democracy was becoming
+atmospheric and the intellectual emancipation
+of woman steadily and slowly pressed to
+the fore. Ancient prejudices and stupidities were
+beginning reluctantly to yield. Not one of the
+elder ages had ever grasped the thought of woman's
+mental, social and political equality with
+her brothers. Here and there a lone voice had
+been lifted in her behalf to fall on deaf ears
+and unresponsive hearts. The world habit of
+thought laughed the innovation out of court and
+the bondage of general ignorance remained unbroken.
+But the imperial idea of the dignity and
+worth of the human individual could not be forever
+submerged. Its persistent pressure loosened
+the bonds of tradition and began to breach the
+walls of custom. Modern freedom wrought
+itself into the minds of men, and thinkers announced
+the harbinger of a new era. Practice,
+as usual, lagged behind theory, and one hundred
+years ago when Charles L. Cocke was born,
+advantages for the culture of daughters were
+inferior to those afforded the sons. That this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+inequality should have impressed the mind of a
+young collegian, shows uncommon susceptibility
+to social needs and sacred human rights. A rare
+young manhood came to expression when he dedicated
+himself to the new ideal. He did not
+originate the ideal. It was borne to him in the
+expansive thought of the time. His shining merit
+is in the fact that he made the early resolve to
+be an agent in bringing in the better day for the
+liberal education of young women.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the Spring of 1840 that his college
+work closed and he received the degree of Master
+of Arts. Before the Finals of that session,
+there was some important correspondence between
+himself and Doctor Ryland. The good
+President had startled Charles with the flattering
+proposition that he should become a member of
+the Faculty of Richmond College, as assistant
+teacher in Mathematics and as manager of the
+dining hall. The college was then trying to combine
+training in agriculture with the usual curriculum,
+an experiment that was soon abandoned.
+The young man was too genuinely modest to
+fancy himself equipped for so responsible a position.
+He faced the issue frankly, however, and
+much influenced by confidence in the judgment of
+Doctor Ryland, decided to accept. Leaving
+Columbian College he hastened to witness the
+closing exercises at Richmond College.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>It must have seemed almost comical to see a
+practically beardless youngster put in charge of
+some of the vitally important duties of the Institution.
+There he was, without a touch of egotism
+of self-consciousness, quiet of manner, and
+yet with something about him that looked resourceful,
+unapologetic, and unafraid. You may
+be sure that the boys looked at him curiously,
+and asked themselves, "Can he do it?" Of course
+there were cautious conservatives who doubted
+the competency of the new incumbent. This tribe
+is always with us. However, there was ground
+of assurance in the known confidence of Doctor
+Ryland, and nothing remained but to wait and
+see its vindication. No misgivings troubled the
+Doctor himself. Without bluster or consequential
+airs, the assistant professor made prompt
+acquaintance with his tasks, and discharged them
+with an efficiency that left nothing to be desired.
+He was on his mettle, conscious of the questioning
+curiosity centered upon himself. For the first
+time in his life he stood before the footlights
+of public observation and expectation. Leadership
+had thrust its burdens on him early and had
+imposed its first critical test.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill-002.png" width="500" height="241" alt="CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS
+ABOUT 1840" title="CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA P" />
+<span class="caption">CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS
+ABOUT 1840</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>A survey of the affairs of the dining hall convinced
+him that a change of methods was necessary,
+and with pure audacity he introduced them.
+At the opening of the fall session of 1840 he presented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+the boys with a new bill of fare. To their
+astonishment he gave them oysters, finding them
+as cheap as other meats. He gave them raisins
+and plum pudding for dessert. He scored instant
+success, and the boys' heartstrings were in his
+hands. Without incurring increased expense, the
+new manager secured a new satisfaction with
+the dining hall. Noiselessly other needed changes
+were made and the voice of the growler ceased
+to be heard. At the helm was an officer who
+knew college boys, and the college spirit was
+noticeably improved. Like competency appeared
+in the duties of the class room. He could teach
+mathematics and he did. Before the Commencement
+in 1841, Charles L. Cocke was recognized
+as a distinct contribution to the life of the Institution.
+Here is a young professor who does not
+propose to rest content with inadequate facilities
+and outworn methods. His whole nature cries
+for improvement and for better ways of doing
+things. What a boon to many a school and college
+would such a man be. Good Doctor Ryland's
+face wore a smile which plainly said, "I
+told you so." His judgment of capacity and
+character was sufficiently justified. The young
+comrade was to him an object of ever-deepening
+interest and their relations steadily ripened into
+sincere and loving friendship.</p>
+
+<p>Now, the President knew that his assistant was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+romantically entangled with an affair of the heart.
+He also knew the fair young woman who was
+responsible for that state of things. Miss Susanna
+V. Pleasants lived five miles north of Richmond
+in a lovely old Virginia home which bore
+the Indian name of "Picquenocque." Knowing
+that a matrimonial alliance was imminent, the
+Doctor, one day, ventured to ask Charles about
+the date of the coming event. He warmly approved
+the match and was exuberant in congratulations.
+As a matter of fact he was hoping that
+the marriage would tend to fix his assistant more
+firmly in Richmond College. This genial intrusion
+into sacred privacy was not resented, but
+Charles found it inconvenient to confide. The
+question was asked in November, and at that
+very moment the issue to be decided between the
+sweethearts was whether the ceremony should
+come off on the last day of December, or the first
+of January following. That problem enabled
+the young gentleman to make a complete but
+truthful evasion. His honest reply was: "I know
+neither the day, nor the month, nor the year."
+There the matter ended, and the mystified Doctor
+relapsed into silence. Later the mighty problem
+was solved and the marriage was solemnized
+on the last day of 1840. Doctor Ryland, officiating,
+beamed on the happy pair and found great
+merriment in the perfectly true, but dextrously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+non-committal answer, made just six weeks before.
+The bride and groom had not quite
+reached their twenty-first birthdays when they
+began that remarkable human pilgrimage which
+was to endure a little more than sixty years. The
+angels of domestic peace and joy sang benediction
+all the way. That home life is a glorious memory
+now, but its lesson is more precious than gold.
+An astronomer discerned a luminous star. On
+closer inspection he found it, not single but
+binary. The twin stars joined their radiance,
+which came streaming down in one glorious pencil
+of light. Such a star beams forever in the
+Hollins firmament.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST</h3>
+
+<h4>1846-1856</h4>
+
+
+<p>The attraction of the Blue Ridge and Alleghany
+mountains was a fact freely confessed
+by eastern Virginians. Even before the Revolutionary
+War the section, now known as the Tazewell
+country, became an Eldorado, and thitherward
+set the streams of migration. Along the
+beautiful valleys and in the hearts of the hills
+lay the possibilities of fabulous wealth. Through
+the early decades of the nineteenth century this
+fascination continued, population increased, centers
+of culture were formed, and men of enterprise
+began to think of a railroad from Lynchburg,
+Virginia, to East Tennessee. Christian
+evangelism was active, but education lagged.
+There were fine brains in the Southwest, but the
+means of culture were deficient. The land called
+for the school teacher. Slowly the providential
+workings were preparing a place for a young
+professor in Richmond College, who as yet had
+no dream of it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>Seven miles north of the City of Roanoke, Carvin's
+creek pours down out of the mountains into
+the wonderful Roanoke Valley. Right in the
+aperture of the hills where it emerges, was discovered
+a little sulphur spring whose properties
+suggested the establishment of a watering place.
+Accordingly, Mr. Johnston, a man of wealth
+from Richmond, bought a hundred acres and built
+a commodious brick hotel near the two springs,
+one limestone, the other sulphur. This was somewhere
+near the year 1815. A race course was
+made one of the additional attractions. The
+place took the name of "Botetourt Springs," and
+at once leaped into fame as a health resort. The
+turnpike from the west passed immediately in
+front of the hotel and between the springs, which
+are one hundred yards apart. General Andrew
+Jackson stopped here for entertainment on his
+way to and from Washington City. General
+Lafayette, on his last visit to the United States,
+was an honored guest. Touring south, he came
+out of his way to pay respect to his old friend,
+Mr. Johnston.</p>
+
+<p>Interesting legends from the old pioneer days
+gathered round the spot. One bold adventurer,
+named Carvin, was said to have built a rock
+castle on a crag near the springs and to have
+had many hair-breadth escapes from Indians and
+wild beasts. All that is certainly known is, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+he left his name on the little creek that passes
+nearby. A huge, isolated mountain, in the shape
+of an elephant, rises just one mile to the north,
+and tradition says that cowardly slackers of the
+Revolutionary period made it a hiding place.
+They mended pots, plates and pans, and so were
+called "tinkers." Thus it comes that the beautiful
+mountain wears a homely name and perpetuates
+an unworthy memory.</p>
+
+<p>Botetourt Springs was popular and well patronized
+by seekers for health and pleasure, but
+the death of Mr. Johnston brought a crisis, and
+in 1840 the property was on the market. The
+administrator, Col. George P. Tayloe, offered it
+to the highest bidder. Just at this time a Baptist
+minister, the Rev. Mr. Bradley, from New York
+State, had come into the neighborhood, seeking
+a home and work. Being an intelligent man and
+especially interested in education, he saw that
+this property was capable of being converted to
+the uses of a school. His zeal and industry soon
+materialized in the organization of the "Valley
+Union Education Society," and that body purchased
+Botetourt Springs with promises to pay.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill-003.png" width="500" height="315" alt="THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852" title="THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852" />
+<span class="caption">THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The buildings were easily adaptable to the purposes
+in hand. The old hotel, consisting of a
+basement and two stories, provided a dining hall,
+a chapel, and thirty-one rooms. Then, there
+were seven smaller buildings with two to four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+rooms each. These latter were ranged on opposite
+sides of the front yard, at right angles to the
+main building. In the fall of 1842 the "Valley
+Union Seminary" was launched, under encouraging
+conditions, with Mr. Bradley at the head.
+The patronage was large and the prospects alluring
+at the outset, but soon the relations of the
+Principal with his faculty and students became
+unhappy. He was a worthy, irreproachable man,
+and intellectually competent, but it seemed impossible
+for him to make tactful adjustments with
+the young Virginians. The management was
+changed, attendance was large, and the only cloud
+on the enterprise was the unpaid notes. The
+affairs of Mr. Johnston's estate must be wound
+up. The young Seminary in its third year was
+in the breakers, and looked disaster in the face.
+It was now in the spring of 1845. Deliverance
+must come speedily, or another dead school would
+pass into the abyss. In this critical hour, two or
+three students just returned from Richmond College
+said to members of the society: "We know
+a man who can handle your Seminary and make
+it go." Any remark that hinted at relief was
+more than welcomed by the trustees, who asked
+whom the students had in mind.</p>
+
+<p>"It is Professor Charles L. Cocke of Richmond
+College. He is only twenty-five years old but he
+has had five years' experience in teaching. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+knows how to bring things to pass, and if your
+school can be pulled out of a hole, he is the man
+you want."</p>
+
+<p>Such was the homely but emphatic tribute of
+the college boys, and it did not pass unheeded.
+Propositions from the Society went promptly to
+Richmond, and the Professor was induced to
+come to the mountains to look the situation over.
+The Society was pleased with him, and he was
+impressed with the possibilities of the Seminary.
+The call of the great Southwest sounded in his
+ears and the visions of the things that may be,
+beckoned him on. The call was made in the
+spring of 1845. He would ponder it devoutly.</p>
+
+<p>Shall he break all the tender ties that bind him
+to his Tidewater home? Shall he sunder relations
+with Richmond College and bring grief to
+the heart of his devoted friend, Dr. Ryland?
+Shall he take his young wife and three little children
+into a rugged land, remote and destitute of
+the comforts they have known? Such questions
+voiced the negative, self-regarding view, and he
+asked himself: "Is not this Southwest a land of
+great promise and educational need? May not
+this be the providential arena for the realization
+of my fond dream of mental liberation for the
+daughters of Virginia and the South?" This
+noble speculation, still working, was hid away in
+his soul, vague and undefined. It would grow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+This was the positive and unselfish view, and he
+knew it. "Yes, I will go," was the final settlement
+of the painful controversy. Like Abraham,
+he would go forth all unknowing, yet believing in
+the guidance of a divine wisdom. No, this young
+man was not the football of impulse. His decisions
+were the outcome of long deliberate thought.
+This was the most vital step of his life. He
+heard the voice of duty, that "stern daughter of
+God," and obeyed. He had an imaginative
+power which went, not to the uses of poetry, but
+to the practical problems of life. It was his habit
+to project his thought thirty years forward,
+deploying before him the reasonable developments
+of a growing civilization. In these forecasts,
+imagination did him a fine service. Here
+was the spring of those ceaseless demands for enlargement
+and improvement of facilities, which
+later marked his work as college president.</p>
+
+<p>The spring of 1846 is come; the six years of
+work in Richmond College are closed; the farewells
+are spoken; and Mr. Cocke journeys toward
+the sunset. It is a weary overland drive of five
+days in a carriage from Richmond to Botetourt
+Springs. Lofty "Tinker" salutes the pilgrims as
+they move up the highway, and now the vehicle
+stops in front of the old hotel, whose front yard
+is a wilderness of weeds. Mrs. Cocke's heart
+sinks within her as she looks on the inhospitable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+desolation. Ghosts of dilapidation and decay
+stretch out hands of welcome in sheer, grim
+mockery. The anguish in the young wife's heart
+is momentary. With a sublime courage, equal
+to that of her husband's, from that awful moment
+she goes smilingly with him to the task of preparing
+for the coming session. Unwittingly, they
+are laying the foundations of the noble Institution
+which, today, is a pride and joy to the state
+and nation. Little do they dream that before the
+closing of their toil, they will see girls from
+thirty states parading and singing on that outlandish
+front yard.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquot">
+"I'd rather walk with God in the night<br />
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Than go alone by day."
+</p>
+
+<p>By a business arrangement with the trustees,
+Mr. Cocke had put into the treasury of the Society
+$1,500.00 of his own and his wife's money,
+to stay off the creditors. On the 23rd day of June,
+1846, the session opened with the new Principal
+in charge. It was a new dignity, truly, but how
+precarious and involving what weight of responsibility!
+The young soldier is on the firing line
+with an independent command. He can hardly
+anticipate the leagued masses of trouble, disappointment
+and despair that lurk in the mountains,
+plotting his destruction. For the next twenty-five
+years we shall see the storms of battle break upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+him, and we shall see his banner waving in victory
+to the shoutings of a multitude. The Principal
+is a born leader. He is resolute and confident
+without egotism; resourceful and wise without
+display. The Richmond College boys were
+right. Here is the man. However, the burden-bearing
+years must develop the fact. The first
+nine years will carry us through seasons of struggle
+and painful progress. With the outstanding
+facts of this period, it is the purpose of this
+chapter to deal.</p>
+
+<p>He was now the head of a co-educational Seminary,
+which from its inception was designed to
+be strictly benevolent in character. In ample
+proof is the fact that $45.00 paid the student's
+bill for tuition and board for five months. The
+school never made money, nor was that ever its
+end. The purpose of the founders was to put
+education in the reach of all who thirsted for it.
+Such was the generous basis of the enterprise.
+The small revenues thus realized, yielded the
+teachers pitifully inadequate reward, and made
+improvements practically impossible.</p>
+
+<p>You may be sure that good order was maintained
+and good lessons were required. From
+the start, Mr. Cocke's administration won popular
+confidence and approval. Soon after his
+coming he was announced to speak in the Baptist
+church in Big Lick (now the City of Roanoke),<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+and a large audience was there to greet him. In
+the address he said, among other things, "I
+have come to Southwest Virginia to give my life
+to the cause of education, to spend and be spent
+in that work." A fine impression was made on
+the citizens, and on dismission a gentleman said
+to a lady: "That is the man to send your son to."
+Fifteen years later that boy was a Colonel in the
+Confederate army. This boy's older brother had
+told Mr. Cocke that Thomas was a bad boy, and
+had added, "If he does not behave, I hope you
+will thrash him." For two whole sessions the
+youth found himself seated at the table next to
+Mr. Cocke and the coffee pot. He was entrusted
+with messages here and there, and finally
+the boys began to say that Tom Lewis was Mr.
+Cocke's pet. Not so: that was his ingenious discipline.
+He could control horses and boys without
+whipping. In the long after years the Principal
+had no more faithful and devoted friend
+than Colonel Lewis. Once a group of older boys
+made some of the younger ones drunk. The
+offenders were promptly expelled, and nothing
+was done to the innocent victims. Other young
+men made angry threats, and their expulsion followed.
+Rebellion grew; a large body of the boys
+defiantly paraded the campus, making the situation
+ominous. The school was called to the
+chapel, the boys on one side and the girls on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+other. The Principal fronted the boys and said:
+"I am the head of this school and I am going to
+run it. I have sent some disorderly students
+away, and if necessary I will send more. I will
+send every one of you home and start a new
+school, and if I can't run it I will give it up and
+go at some other business." The audience understood
+the tone of that voice and took warning
+from the gleam in the blue eyes. After that the
+incident was closed.</p>
+
+<p>His skill in dealing with mischievous boys is
+exhibited in another episode. Some of them felt
+that school life was dull without a little spice of
+adventure, so in pure fun they sallied forth at
+night to visit the neighbors' orchards, and even
+to take unwarranted liberties with their chicken
+roosts. Complaints came to the Principal, who
+at once sought a private interview with the culprits.
+He talked to them kindly, yet with earnest
+protestations against such pranks. He knew
+they were not thieves, far from it, but they should
+not take people's property that had cost labor
+and care. After duly moralizing on the case, he
+closed the interview with the following burst of
+magnanimity: "Now boys, if hereafter some irresistible
+impulse is on you to prowl, spare the
+neighbors and plunder <i>my</i> poultry yard." What
+human heart but a school boy's could resist an
+appeal like that? One night not long thereafter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+Mrs. Cocke heard curious noises on the back
+premises. Mr. Cocke slipped out in the darkness
+and readily took in the situation. The following
+night he stood at the window of one of
+the boys' cottages and saw the preliminaries looking
+to a midnight carnival on roast duck. Just as
+the feast was ready to begin, there was a tap at
+the door. Hospitality invited entrance, when in
+stepped Mr. Cocke! To his friendly inquiries
+they responded that they were about to dispose
+of a savory meal and coolly invited the visitor
+to share it, which he as coolly proceeded to do.
+The party was jolly, and though all knew that
+nobody was deceived, the fact was not betrayed
+by one look or word. Mr. Cocke bowed himself
+out with a pleasant good night, and the mystified
+marauders went to bed. Depredations
+ceased, and the boys' admiration of that midnight
+diplomacy was unconcealed.</p>
+
+<p>When a boy was guilty of some offense, not
+mean, but mischievous, his case was stated in the
+presence of the school, and the roaring laughter
+that followed was sufficient correction. There
+was not a case of disobedience among the girls
+in the years 1846-'52, but they would keep their
+windows open. The boys lifted hats in passing,
+and were rewarded with pleased and winning
+glances. Often while sitting by the open window,
+a thoughtful look covered one side of a girl's face,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+while on the other side, looking window-ward,
+played a bewitching smile. In those days was
+established the yearly October visit to the
+top of Tinker. The day of the excursion was a
+"secret between Charles and the Lord," as Mrs.
+Cocke once humorously said to the inquiring girls.
+Arriving on the summit, and viewing the landscape
+over, suddenly an apple would fall in the
+midst, as from the sky. Where did it come
+from? The girls knew, and the boys knew. The
+boys had gone before and hidden behind the rocks
+and brush. Then the mountain scenery lost its
+charm, and a romantic search for flowers began.</p>
+
+<p>The halls of the Seminary filled to their capacity
+and the Principal pleaded for more room.
+Alas, the Trustees had no money, and the school's
+revenue was a sacrifice to the benevolent principle
+of minimum rates. The Institution he
+wanted could come only through increased equipment
+and accommodations. There the young
+Principal was, the sport of harsh conditions. One
+balm came to his heart in the timely sensible
+praise of the Trustees. In their meeting, January
+10, 1851, they said in formal resolution: "We
+cannot speak in terms too high of the untiring
+diligence of the Principal and his assistants in
+maintaining judicious discipline, and in the prosecution
+of their responsible duties."</p>
+
+<p>His efforts for notable success had a double<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+motive. First, he quite properly wanted to convince
+all of his capacity for educational work.
+Second, by the overcrowded conditions, he
+wanted to force an issue on the Trustees respecting
+the future policy of the school. The accommodations
+were palpably insufficient, and as there
+was no possibility of increasing them, what
+should be done? The Principal knew what to
+do. He boldly advised a radical change: dismiss
+the male department and convert the Seminary
+into a school for girls. To his immense delight,
+the proposition was accepted. The new order
+looked like the opening of an approach to the
+goal of ambitions born in his college days. His
+loyal interest in the education of young men was
+not abated, but the dream of the higher education
+of women became a passion. This important
+decision was made in the spring of 1852, and
+thus a ten years co-educational school, in which
+Mr. Cocke had labored for six prosperous years,
+came to a close. With mingled feelings of grateful
+hope and keen anxiety, he now faced a golden
+opportunity. He enjoyed the distinction of being
+the head of the first chartered school for girls
+in Virginia. The fall session of 1852 opened
+with eighty-one pupils. That of the fall of 1853,
+with one hundred and fifty. The wisdom of the
+radical change was fully justified. It was a time
+of radiant satisfaction and jubilant hope.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill-004.png" width="500" height="310" alt="THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855" title="THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855" />
+<span class="caption">THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it was now that the battle with austere conditions
+and scant equipment became the torment
+of his mind. The Trustees could give no material
+aid, and popular interest in education was too
+feeble to proffer financial help. It is simple truth
+to say that on this vestibule of his great enterprise,
+the gravest doubts and trepidations of his
+whole career assailed him. In moods of depression
+the heroic man feared that he had attempted
+the impossible. Was he unnerved or unstrung?
+Not for one minute. In these black days he
+fronted his task with the resourcefulness of an
+uncommon manhood. The stamina of his nature
+came to expression in a way that surprised even
+himself. He made imploring appeals to friends
+who were well to do in this world's goods. A
+good providence put him in touch with two noble
+spirits, Mr. John Hollins and his wife, of Lynchburg,
+Virginia, members of his own denomination.
+Mr. Hollins presented the Seminary with
+a gift of $5,000 cash, and then the daylight began
+to break. The good man proposed as a condition
+of his gift that the old management by an Education
+Society and its appointed Trustees must
+give way to a board of self-perpetuating Trustees.
+To all concerned the proposition seemed wise and
+just, and it was so ordered. It was then generously
+agreed that the name of the Institution
+should be changed, and that henceforth it should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+be known as "Hollins Institute." To Mr. Cocke
+and the dissolving Society, this appeared to be a
+compliment well deserved by the man and his
+wife who had saved the life of the school.</p>
+
+<p>The transfer of all the property of the Valley
+Union Education Society to the Trustees of Hollins
+Institute was made in March, 1855. Thus in
+the first nine years of his incumbency, Mr. Cocke
+saw two revisions of the original charter granted
+in January, 1844. By the first revision in 1852,
+the Seminary was made a school for girls. By
+the second, in December, 1855, the name of the
+Institution was changed, the old management was
+abolished, and its functions put into the hands of
+a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. No friction
+arose; all was harmony. The old régime
+passed, but its personnel remained steadfast.</p>
+
+<p>In all the stress and tribulation of the past
+years, Mr. Cocke had been the central bolt that
+held the structure intact. Around his single
+heroic personality gathered all the forces that
+made possible the perpetuity of the Institution.
+His reward had now come, and a blessed assurance
+threw its foregleams on the future. He was
+now in his thirty-sixth year and athrill with that
+full health and masculine energy that was his
+blessing to the end of his life.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE
+AND GROWTH</h3>
+
+<h4>1855-1870</h4>
+
+
+<p>That was a high day, in the summer of
+1855, when Hollins Institute flung its banner
+to the breeze. A munificent gift, a new régime
+and a new name put fresh enthusiasm into the
+Institution, and the gladness of hope into the
+hearts of all its friends. You have noticed how
+these joyous effects always flow from new deals
+and revisions of plans. A better day has dawned,
+bright visions float in the brain of Mr. Cocke,
+and the blue mountains seem to hail him with
+congratulation. The human heart would famish
+but for these fountains that break out in the
+midst of weary, toiling years. Economic conditions
+are improving in the Southwest. The
+Kanawha Canal now connects Richmond with
+Buchanan, a village just twenty miles away. The
+Virginia and Tennessee Railroad has been built
+(1852), supplying quick communication with the
+outside world; and the macadamized turnpike<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+has been built from Buchanan to the west, passing
+within a few hundred yards of the School.
+The general conditions were never so cheering,
+nor was the outlook ever so bright.</p>
+
+<p>Some necessary changes have been made by the
+Trustees in internal affairs. The rates of board
+and tuition are moderately increased, and Mr.
+Cocke is put in charge of all departments, with
+authority to select his teachers and to fix their
+salaries. The new Board of Trustees knows the
+qualities and capacities of the Principal, and from
+this time forth they give him confidence and almost
+unlimited powers. Charles L. Cocke, not yet
+thirty-six years of age, had attained enviable distinction
+in the educational ranks of his native
+State. He will justify the faith of his friends.</p>
+
+<p>The Hollins gift of $5,000 was put to work.
+The East Building with thirty-eight rooms, was
+projected, and by January, 1857, completed at
+a cost of $12,000. Alas, calamity crashed upon
+the school. In the fall of 1856 typhoid fever
+broke out and forced a temporary suspension.
+With cruel suddenness the epidemic worked a
+loss of public confidence, and once more the heart
+of the Principal was harrowed with discouraging
+thoughts. It was given out that bad sanitary conditions
+had invited the scourge, but rigid investigation
+exploded the theory. The fact was that
+the disease had been brought to the Institute by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+one of the pupils. Slowly the panic yielded and
+confidence returned, but the experience was shocking.
+Quickly the Principal regained his tone of
+courageous hope and its wholesome contagion
+spread far and near. In July, 1857, in a report
+to the Trustees, he made this important and assuring
+statement: "By affording these superior
+inducements the school has realized a degree of
+prosperity beyond that of any boarding school
+in the state, and has given an impulse to female
+education heretofore unknown. The plan and
+policy of our school must be considered the true
+one. This plan recognizes the principle that in
+the present state of society in our country, <i>young
+ladies require the same thorough mental training
+as that afforded to young men</i>, and accordingly,
+in the arrangement of the course of studies,
+and the selection of teachers, and the conferment
+of distinctions, we have kept this principle steadily
+in view. This feature of the Institution has
+given to it its prominence and past success, and
+other Institutions, originating since our plan was
+made public, have almost uniformly adopted it."</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"To each man is given a marble to carve for the wall;</span><br />
+<span class="i0">A stone that is needed to heighten the beauty of all;</span><br />
+<span class="i0">And only his soul has the magic to give it a grace;</span><br />
+<span class="i0">And only his hands have the cunning to put it in place."</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>During the year 1858, the activity of the Trustees
+secured a good many subscriptions, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+generous Mrs. Anne Hollins rallied with her own
+gift of $2,500. The dark days of 1857 began
+to be a memory, and the revival of public confidence
+and patronage smoothed the brow of care.</p>
+
+<p>It must not be supposed that Mr. Cocke lost
+interest in the education of boys when the co-educational
+system was abandoned in 1852. No
+man in Virginia was more enlisted in the education
+of all the people than he. There must be a
+school for the boys in the Virginia Mountains,
+and in the later fifties, though sufficiently burdened
+with local cares, he turns his attention to
+this interest. With the valuable assistance of Dr.
+George B. Taylor, later an eminent Baptist missionary
+to Italy, he was the chief factor in establishing
+Alleghany College, in Greenbrier County,
+one hundred miles northwest of Hollins Institute.
+This county was included in the new state of West
+Virginia, organized in 1861. The school opened
+with one hundred young men and ran well for a
+brief season, but was suspended at the beginning
+of the Civil War. The buildings were occupied
+by Federal soldiers, and shortly afterwards were
+destroyed by fire. All subsequent efforts to
+revive the college were unavailing. With characteristic
+loyalty, Mr. Cocke matriculated his son,
+Joseph James Cocke, at the opening of the first
+session. The brave boy laid down his books at
+the first alarm of war and entered the Confederate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+army, and in the terrible battles in Northern
+Virginia, he was twice dangerously wounded.
+That boy is now a venerable and honored citizen
+of the State of Texas.</p>
+
+<p>Long years after, Mr. Cocke bent his efforts
+towards the erection of Alleghany Institute at
+Roanoke, and had great satisfaction in its commodious
+buildings and its promising attendance
+of boys. In the course of varying fortunes this
+enterprise fainted by the way and ceased to be.
+One can but fancy that if Mr. Cocke himself
+could have held the helm in these two adventures,
+the story would have been different. The
+storms beat and the floods came, but Hollins
+Institute stands. Her standards are stirring
+thought currents and stimulating like enterprises
+in Virginia and the nation. For our pioneer in
+the Southwest, this is compensation and a crown
+of glory. Without one thrill of jealousy does he
+see the spread of his views and the certainty of
+large competition. To stand in his own place
+and make good, is the one guiding and all-controlling
+purpose of his life.</p>
+
+<p>In 1860, Mrs. Hollins, now a lonely widow,
+signalized her profound interest in a new gift
+of $10,000. This generous and timely act pushed
+up the contributions of the Hollins family to the
+handsome sum of $17,500. The growing popularity
+of Hollins sprung the problem of enlarged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+facilities and to solve it was the design of this
+latest benevolence. It was greeted with boundless
+gratitude, and the Trustees deputed one of
+their members, Mr. Wm. A. Miller, to bear to
+her their most cordial thanks. Accompanying
+this message was an urgent request for the oil
+portraits of the two benefactors. In due time
+the portraits came, and to this day they adorn the
+walls of the Main Building, whose erection was
+made possible by the recent gift. An architect
+was employed, and work was begun on this building
+in the spring of 1861, on the very day that
+Virginia seceded from the Union. The tempest
+and blight of the Civil War came down to
+threaten the life of the Institution and to almost
+break the heart of the founder. Expectant hope
+had looked for early occupancy, but it was not to
+be. In one year the walls were upreared, the
+roof was on, and then the work stopped. The
+contractor quit his job because the war had disorganized
+labor and the situation was simply
+helpless. There stands the unfinished structure,
+and there it will stand, a ghastly skeleton for
+eight long years.</p>
+
+<p>At this beginning of horrors, Mr. Cocke's reputation
+as a strong man was established, and the
+fair name of his school was extended beyond the
+limits of the State. Seasoned in old battles and
+richly schooled in experience, he stands in his place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+unterrified. He dares, even amid the clouds and
+disasters of war, to send out his adventurous
+thought, thirty years to the fore. What ought
+to be, what may be, the facilities and achievements
+of this Institution a generation hence? He
+is now too well fortified in his convictions of educational
+theory and practice, and of their fitness
+to the needs of the time, to be affrighted by the
+spectres and goblins of ultimate failure.</p>
+
+<p>In 1862, he speaks to his girls and the public
+in this fashion: "The organization of this school
+is unlike all others in Virginia. To some extent
+it is denominational, but decidedly anti-sectarian.
+Its Trustees perpetuate their own existence. Its
+funds cannot revert to any other object. It is
+responsible to no religious body and its success
+depends solely on its merits. It looks to permanent
+existence and to the good of the whole
+commonwealth. Its successes have exceeded the
+most sanguine expectations of its friends. It was
+first to adopt a high standard of classical education
+for young women in Virginia; first to place
+the English Department under a regular professor;
+and first in the nation to adopt the elective
+system of studies. With the prestige of a history
+of twenty years, it may properly and confidently
+appeal to the general public to make it an addition
+to the permanent wealth and moral elevation
+of the country. I believe its reputation will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+spread until it draws pupils from all over the
+South." Under the distressful conditions, is
+there not something morally grand in this utterance?
+It was a prophetic speech, and the daring
+prediction was more than realized in the thirty
+years that followed.</p>
+
+<p>In 1863, one hundred girls filled every room,
+and seventy-five applicants were turned away.
+Oh, for the forty-six student-rooms in that unfinished
+hulk! Sequestered snugly in the mountains,
+no Institution in the country suffered less from
+the demoralization of the war. Families driven
+from the areas of invasion sent their daughters
+to the haven of its seclusion. The faculty of four
+gentlemen and three ladies had ample occupation.
+It was at this juncture that the President dropped
+the wise remark that the success of an Institution
+demands a capable manager as much as qualified
+instructors, and that he is harder to find. Of
+course, during this period, the depreciated currency
+and the correspondingly high cost of living
+required advance in the rates of the tuition and
+board. In 1864, one hundred and twenty-eight
+students were crowded into the rooms, and an
+equal number were turned away. In these days
+of inevitable stringency, the fare was far from
+luxurious, but it was accepted by teacher and pupil
+with that cheerfulness which becomes sensible and
+considerate people.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>That year the school was not immune to the
+alarms of war. A Federal raid, led by General
+Hunter, rushed into the town of Salem, nine miles
+distant, and the news spread consternation at
+Hollins, but without panic. The President had
+prepared a paper, stating the defenseless condition
+of the college and entreating protection by
+the General of any invading force. This paper
+he kept in his pocket, ready to be sent by messenger,
+if from any cause he himself should be
+prevented from going to make an oral request.
+Happily, Hunter came no nearer than Salem, and
+the awful suspense was relieved. On that very
+day, George Newman, the faithful colored driver,
+went to Salem with his omnibus, and was waiting
+at the depot, when the horsemen in blue came
+thundering down the street. He cracked his
+whip over his trusty four and dashed southward
+across the river, amid a shower of bullets. He
+was going in a course directly opposite from
+Hollins, but that was the only avenue of escape.
+When he was not heard from for the best part
+of two days, he was given up for lost. But late
+on the second day, who should drive in but this
+same George Newman, with an air of triumph
+and an ecstasy of smiles on his face! He came
+bare-headed, having lost his hat in the impetuosity
+of that patriotic retreat. The girls hailed him
+with a storm of acclamation and instantly took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+up a collection with which they crowned the hero
+with a new straw hat!</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Cocke, in these times of nervous excitement,
+was perfectly sure of her own demeanor
+in case of irruption by the enemy. She would
+stand defiant in the doorway and forbid all
+entrance. The family tell a story which the dear
+mother never denied. One day her son Charley,
+a lad of ten years, with some of the servants, was
+coming back to the stables with the horses which
+had been hidden in the woods of Carvin's creek,
+to escape the hands of the enemy. The youngsters
+came galloping down the road, when some
+excitable person imagining it a charge of Yankee
+cavalry, raised the alarm, and then followed the
+worst panic Hollins ever knew. Mrs. Cocke,
+quietly busy in the pantry, hearing the shrieks,
+following an irresistible impulse, left the pantry
+door wide open and vanished to some place, she
+was never quite sure where.</p>
+
+<p>It was Mr. Cocke's custom in those days to
+send a group of girls in the omnibus to the Sunday
+morning service of one of the churches in
+Salem. Such was the economic stress of the period
+that a handsome new hat in the school produced
+a sensation. Fortune crowned one of the
+students with a beautiful headgear. She wore
+it to church, and generously, on the following
+Sunday put the treasure on the head of a comrade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+who was going up to worship. So the ornament
+became a regular attendant at the Salem services.
+Gathered at the church doors were the Salem
+boys, of course, and they soon became merrily interested
+in the new hat. One day after service,
+the girls found in the omnibus a note, inquiring:
+"Who does that hat belong to?" The owner
+lives, today, in Blacksburg, Va. Those trips to
+Salem ceased long ago, and now in the Hollins
+Chapel, regular Sunday evening services are conducted
+by chaplain pastors from the various denominations.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1865, pneumonia became epidemic
+in the school, taking off six of the pupils
+and two more in their homes. This disaster
+caused a suspension one month before the close of
+the regular term.</p>
+
+<p>With the fall of the Confederacy, Mr. Cocke
+had again to face a condition that seemed the
+mockery of his hopes. Everywhere were economic
+prostration, social disorganization, and pinching
+poverty. Shall Hollins keep up the fight? Will
+the sun of Austerlitz ever rise on her long and
+varying battles? What young Institution ever
+threaded its way through a wilderness so gloomy
+or by pits and precipices so dangerous? Hollins
+will go on, walking by faith, and its doors shall
+not be closed, even for the part of a session.
+That is the mind of the President. He and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+faculty, though exhausted in means, will face the
+destitution and never give up the ship. The session
+of 1865-6 ran on with forty-five students.
+Rates had to be increased, and even with that, the
+college would have been compelled to close but
+for a timely loan from Colonel Tayloe to buy
+food. This noble friend and President of the
+Board of Trustees had been a comfort to Mr.
+Cocke from the beginning, and will continue so
+for thirty years more. Our great leader did not
+talk about his troubles, being always master of
+himself. Once he made this brief pathetic admission
+to his Trustees: "I am so burdened that I
+do not feel fit for my work." What can move us
+to tears like a strong man's grief? And there
+stands the ghastly figure of the unfinished Main
+Building, mocking his struggles and dreams. For
+five years now, pine boards have been nailed up
+to cover the windows, and not even a porch relieves
+the monotony of its ugliness. Two alternatives
+were before him: first, reduce the faculty,
+which is a most deplorable thing to do; second,
+go on as we are, but that is bankruptcy and ruin.
+Hear him: "I will go on; I will trust in God and
+the people." He insisted to his Trustees: "We
+must not descend to the character of a neighborhood
+school." Their sympathies were with him,
+but they felt unable to cope with the iron stringencies
+of the time. He did go on, never lowering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+a standard or abating the passionate cry for
+more room and better equipment. How he ever
+pulled through this slough of despond, he himself
+could not possibly tell. Of one thing he was
+in no doubt and it was this, that in the long night
+of anguish, there was a precious mystery of
+heavenly aid.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill-005.png" width="500" height="304" alt="HOLLINS INSTITUTE
+
+Main Building Completed 1869. East Building Completed 1856" title="HOLLINS INSTITUTE
+
+Main Building Completed 1869. East Building Completed 1856" />
+<span class="caption">HOLLINS INSTITUTE<br />
+
+[Main Building Completed 1869. East Building Completed 1856]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>One of the encouraging incidents of this season,
+was the fact that one of the finest young
+scholars in Virginia accepted a call to the Institute.
+When Professor Joseph A. Turner, in
+1866, consented to become a member of the faculty,
+it meant that a finely accomplished man had
+confidence in the character and destiny of the
+College, and that certified confidence was a tonic
+to the President's soul. But Hollins is still in
+the depths. There is no bracing of firm rock
+under her feet. All the officials know that the
+whole property is in peril of a public sale. How
+did the School go on? You must find answer
+in the resourcefulness and adamantine will of one
+great man. Hollins did go on, and complimentary
+testimonials from leading scholars in the
+State began to be written and spoken. Mr.
+Cocke was cheered at the generous recognition
+and said: "We must lift our standards a little
+higher than ever before. Our school should be
+second to none in the State and we must reach
+out for more distant patrons." The tide begins<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+to rise, and on the horizon there are gleaming
+hints of a better day. In 1868, Mr. Cocke
+secured a loan of $10,000, and by the end of
+1869, that nightmare of the Main Building was
+transformed into a handsome and completed edifice.
+The passing of this melancholy incubus
+made a new epoch in his life. It was the cutting
+of chains from his feet, and the addition of wings
+wherewith to fly. The new structure greatly
+increased the accommodations, and now begins
+active propaganda in the South, acquainting the
+people with Hollins Institute. Newly risen, like
+a star above tempest and cloud, she will shed
+benignant light on the homes and daughters of
+the land. May she go on shining forever!</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CLEARING SKIES</h3>
+
+<h4>1870-1880</h4>
+
+
+<p>The torturing issues of the past are now
+settled. Mr. Cocke will let them pass to
+practical oblivion while he presses on to larger
+realizations. Of course annoying problems will
+continue to dog his steps, but they will not wear
+the malignant aspect so familiar in the strenuous
+years. His ideal is a flying goal, and he will
+never see his loved college free from growing
+pains. The happiest decade of work that he has
+yet known is before him. He stands on its
+threshold with hope assured, and his face is lit
+with thanksgiving as he beholds the clouds receding,
+and the sunshine flooding all the sky. It is a
+time to grasp his hand and shower him with congratulations.
+He has now completed twenty-four
+years of toilsome labor beside the little sulphur
+spring. Into the holy enterprise he has
+grandly flung himself, his property and his family.
+Never had a man a more tactful and sympathetic
+co-worker than he found in his wife. Without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+one murmur of complaint she has shared all his
+burdens and cares. Her feminine quietness and
+grace have matched his masculine push and executive
+force. In him is a certain rugged virility
+which is delightfully supplemented by her charm
+of patient gentleness. With a noiseless and tireless
+efficiency, she has managed the domestic details,
+while he has handled the administrative
+affairs of the school. In the apportionment of
+praise, he would resent a bestowal that made her
+unequal to himself; nor would he fail to recognize
+the services of his children. Since the wedding
+bells rang, thirty years ago, nine have come into
+the home [Joseph J., Leila V. (Mrs. Joseph A.
+Turner), Sallie Lewis, Mary Susan (Mrs. C. W.
+Hayward), Rosa Pleasants (Mrs. W. R. L.
+Smith), Charles Henry, Matty L., Lucian H.,
+and Bessie (Mrs. J. P. Barbee)]. Brought up in
+an atmosphere of service, all of them have, for
+longer or shorter periods, loyally served the institution.</p>
+
+<p>The new session of 1870-'71 began with the
+registration of eighty girls. The Trustees at this
+juncture stepped to the front with a cheering note,
+announcing that the Institute was "Getting on a
+firm basis," and expressing their intense gratification
+at its increasing popularity and patronage.
+They emphasized their high appreciation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+system of instruction, and the thoroughgoing
+diligence of the President and his faculty. All
+honor to these men who were sensitive to merit,
+and who had the grace to crown it with praise.
+These men also had learned that human progress
+is not much accelerated by whips of fault-finding
+and rebuke. In all their official records there is
+not an instance of clash between them and the
+President, nor even a hint of cross-purpose or loss
+of good understanding. When we think of the
+rough road they had travelled together, and the
+bewildering tangle of issues with which they had
+grappled, this concord is as surprising as it is
+honorable. An obstinate and wrangling Board
+could have crippled him cruelly. These harmonies
+were due to two facts: first, the absolute
+confidence of these gentlemen in the judgment and
+business capacity of Mr. Cocke; second, his reciprocal
+confidence in them, accompanied by the
+most cordial respect and courtesy. At the Board
+meetings through this decade they will not forget
+the value of commendatory resolutions, and
+it is pleasing to mention now, that this congenial
+partnership never knew a jar in all the after
+years.</p>
+
+<p>Never was sunshine more grateful to the flowers,
+or music more cheering to a tired spirit, than
+were the tokens of the spreading fame of Hollins<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+to the soul of Mr. Cocke. Golden appreciations
+by distinguished men began to be spoken and written.
+Here is a tribute from Professor Edward S.
+Joynes, of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia:
+"I am intimately acquainted with the history
+of Hollins. It is an Institution of the very
+highest character, certainly second to none of
+its kind in this State. It has existed for upward
+of twenty-five years and been conducted upon the
+very highest standards of moral and intellectual
+education. Its success and permanence have been
+due to its merits alone. It is an unendowed Institution,
+founded originally by benevolence and
+supported by public patronage, and by the energy
+and economy of its administration. The President
+is a man of ability and of the highest personal
+character, and no Institution in this State
+has a higher claim on the public confidence." Dr.
+John A. Broaddus, of the Baptist Theological
+Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina, wrote his
+estimate: "I know of no better female school in
+the whole country, and very few, that for a
+moment, can be compared with Hollins. The instruction
+takes an ample range, and is able, skillful
+and honest." The Rev. Dr. J. L. Burrows,
+pastor of the First Baptist Church, Richmond,
+Virginia, stated his view: "In beauty and healthfulness
+of location; in attractiveness and adaptableness
+of its buildings; in tasteful adornment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+of grounds; in the wild grandeur of surrounding
+scenery, Hollins Institute occupies one of the
+most charming and sequestered nooks among the
+far-famed mineral springs of Virginia. In the
+comprehensiveness and thoroughness of its course
+of study; in the ability and devotion of its instructors;
+in the carefulness and homefulness of
+its domestic economy; in its seclusion from the
+distractions of fashion and social disquietude, I
+regard this Institution as one of the very best for
+girls on this continent."</p>
+
+<p>Many such heartening notes by University professors,
+ministers, editors and heads of colleges
+for girls, began to sound forth as early as 1868.
+Golden opinions, rightly deserved and rapidly
+spreading, brought the natural result. The session
+of 1869-'70 opened with twenty-one girls
+from nine Southern States, not including Virginia.
+The year following, the number grew to twenty-eight
+from the nine states. The session of 1873-'74
+reported thirty-nine girls from thirteen states
+outside of Virginia, and that of 1875-'76 enrolled
+fifty-three from fourteen states. The session of
+1877-'78 registered a total of one hundred and
+seventeen students, seventy of them coming from
+other states. This noticeable decline in the percentage
+of Virginia girls is easily accounted for
+by the increasing competition of the new and
+excellent schools for girls, now arisen in the Old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+Dominion. During this decade, the fair fame
+of Hollins spread swiftly, and from this time on,
+a gradually increasing and uninterrupted stream
+of pupils, from all points of the compass, poured
+smilingly through her doors. Nor did her native
+commonwealth fail in admiration and generous
+support.</p>
+
+<p>You can imagine the emotions of the founder
+in this happy emergence from the dilemmas and
+horrible incertitudes of the past twenty-five years.
+His bearing was calm and undemonstrative, while
+in his bosom the peans of thanksgiving go up to
+the great White Throne. But on the gladness
+of these days, a blight of bereavement was about
+to fall. In 1871, the brilliant and able Professor
+Turner had married Miss Leila Virginia Cocke,
+an accomplished daughter of the President. He
+was a shining light in the faculty, and on him
+great hopes centered. For two years his health
+declined, and on May 5th, 1878, gloom settled
+on Hollins. Great was the grief at the going of
+the beloved scholar and teacher. His twelve
+years of service began in the dark days of 1866,
+and closed in the full tide of victory. The memory
+of him will never perish from the hearts of
+pupils and friends who almost idolized him.</p>
+
+<p>An event in 1874 meant much relief and comfort
+to our veteran educator, amid his manifold
+labors and cares. Charles H. Cocke, his son,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+now in early manhood, capable, courageous and
+completely responsive to the father's wish, took
+on himself the duties of business manager of the
+Institution. Here was a much needed and most
+grateful division of responsibilities, and the competent
+new official magnified his calling to the
+uttermost. The thoroughness and courtesy with
+which he handled affairs, won for him the confidence
+and affection of the girls.</p>
+
+<p>Have we ever found Mr. Cocke in a state of
+perfect satisfaction with things as they are?
+Never. He is a stranger to that experience, and
+will ever remain so. When we met him forty
+years ago as an assistant professor in Richmond
+College, his slogan was, "Betterment, enlargement,
+progress." The urgencies of an early ideal
+are still upon him, and he will never count himself
+to have attained. This fact touches him
+pathetically, now that he is nearing his sixtieth
+year. Unrealized aims add somber hues to every
+earnest life.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><span class="i0">"All I aspired to be</span><br />
+<span class="i0">And was not, comforts me."</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The equipment of growing Hollins is far from
+complete; much remains to be done. The spirit
+of advance gives him no rest. He has a vision,
+and "forward" is ever his imperious challenge
+to things as they are. Absolutely sure is he that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+his beloved College, with its reasonably low rates,
+and its high standards, is on the sure road to
+greatness in human service.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 339px;">
+<img src="images/ill-006.png" width="339" height="500" alt="MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE" title="MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE" />
+<span class="caption">MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>All through this decade his brain had been active
+with schemes of improvements. In the early
+seventies, the Baptists of Virginia were freshly
+aroused on the subject of education, and made
+large plans for strengthening Richmond College.
+Taking cue from this new denominational interest,
+the Trustees of Hollins Institute determined
+to go before the public and ask for a contribution
+of $100,000. A financial agent went among the
+people with argument and appeal. The result
+was disappointing and the agent was withdrawn.
+The failure was depressing, but by no means
+unnerving. From the beginning of the "Seminary"
+in 1842, the intermittent calls on public
+benevolence had never met with notable response.
+Nor is this fact any real ground for reproach.
+The mood of the general public had never been
+toned and cultivated in the interests of liberal
+education. From first to last the benevolent gifts
+to Hollins amounted to but $35,000, exactly half
+of which had come from Mrs. Ann Hollins and
+her husband. In the light of the recent failure
+Mr. Cocke saw that there was no further ground
+of hope from this source of supply. The school's
+expanding reputation and growing patronage gratified
+him exceedingly, but the financial situation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+excited disquieting apprehensions. The Trustees
+had no funds in the treasury; the Institution was
+making no money, and their debt was growing
+every year. The mind of the President was filled
+with foreboding and grave anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>Let it now be said that not one dollar had
+ever been added to the debt by any form of extravagance.
+No head of an Institution ever
+practiced a more rigid economy in projecting improvements.
+Not even a fancy catalogue was
+ever sent out from Hollins. His severe frugality,
+and the constantly demanded investment of
+his personal means in improvements, actually limited
+the reasonable privileges and gratifications
+of his family. Never did a family bear restrictions
+more cheerfully and uncomplainingly. It
+was not in Mr. Cocke to rebel against the law of
+sacrifice, but once, in his annual report to the
+Trustees in 1879, he permitted himself to say:
+"It is a hard case, however, that a man should
+have all his means so wound up in an Institution,
+conducted for the public, that he cannot command
+enough money to give his family anything at all,
+except hard work and self-denial."</p>
+
+<p>In 1846, by express contract with the Trustees,
+Mr. Cocke became Principal and Steward of the
+Seminary without stipulated salary. Neither he
+nor any one of his sons and daughters, who
+worked so loyally with him, ever received a salary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+from the Board. That initial agreement illustrates
+the unbargaining generosity of the man. He
+pressed on the attention of the Trustees the certainty
+of continuous demand for enlarged facilities.
+To provide for this, it was agreed that the
+revenue from the boarding department should go
+to the Trustees, who would devote it to that purpose.
+How ridiculously small that revenue was
+likely to be, may be gathered from the fact that a
+student was boarded at the rate of $5.00 a month!
+Through all the subsequent years this principle
+of benevolent rates had never been abandoned.
+The figures were necessarily increased, but only
+with the view of keeping out of debt. Now what
+possible promise was there in this arrangement
+for increasing facilities? Absolutely none. So
+the long issue of events proved. By the same
+agreement, Mr. Cocke was to pay his teachers'
+salaries and maintain himself and family out of
+the tuition funds. What remained in the treasury
+after the teachers were paid was his. Out of
+that residue, it soon became evident, must come
+much of the means for repairs and improvements.
+There was no other source from which to draw.
+Improvements were made, and self-denial paid
+the bills.</p>
+
+<p>Now, while this involved inconveniences, it did
+not, of course, mean the making of gifts to the
+Trustees. In just business fashion, they recorded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+each outlay of this kind as a loan to themselves.
+As a consequence they went steadily in debt to
+Mr. Cocke, until by 1864 they owed him $7,785.
+This included the $1,500 which he lent to them
+in 1846. This curious financial arrangement continued,
+unavoidable and regretted by all concerned.
+In 1868, the debt of the Trustees ran
+up to $17,473, and in 1876 it reached the sum of
+$22,094. Why had not these claims been settled?
+We have seen the source of the Trustees' revenue;
+how could they pay? The $35,000 raised
+by public gift had been given to the Trustees, who
+invested every cent of it in new buildings and
+accommodations. Not a dollar of it ever touched
+the hand of Mr. Cocke. On the contrary,
+as noted above, the growing plant had commandeered
+much of his own slow, hard earnings.
+Either this undesirable order of things had to go
+on, or Mr. Cocke had to abandon his dear ambition.
+But the time had come for better adjustments.
+He felt that the multiplying years
+required that he think of the interests of his
+family. With these views and wishes, the Trustees
+were in their usual cordial sympathy. The
+Institution was their property. They were in
+debt to Mr. Cocke in a large and yearly increasing
+sum. They had no possible way of liquidating
+that debt. What could they do? What ought
+they to have done? They solved the question by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+offering to give Mr. Cocke a deed to their Institution
+in satisfaction of their debt. The proposition
+was declined. He did not want to own the
+College. Such had never been his aim. He saw
+that the move would be a relief to the Trustees,
+but a disadvantage to the school. He deprecated
+the idea of the College going into private ownership.
+The associated wisdom and responsibility
+of a good Board of Trustees he regarded as one
+of its best assets. Moreover, what could such a
+deal effect in the way of relieving his financial
+embarrassments? He could not see, and so the
+troublesome question was left unsolved. The
+school was prosperous, his heart was serenely
+grateful; and this personal matter could wait.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT</h3>
+
+<h4>1880-1901</h4>
+
+
+<p>The projection, building, and safe establishment
+of Cornell University, in the State of
+New York, was essentially the work of that remarkable
+man, Andrew D. White. In the face
+of many obstacles and antagonisms he founded
+it, named it in honor of its chief benefactor, was
+its first President and led its fortunes until he
+saw it take rank among the famous Institutions
+of the United States. Another famous man performed
+the same kind of service for his people
+in the South. The founder and builder of Hollins
+Institute was long a voice in the wilderness. You
+have seen the stern, invincible purpose of this
+man in the face of an apathetic public, painfully
+straitened finances, epidemics, and the desolations
+of war. Several times his enterprise trembled on
+the verge of ruin. But in him was that iron
+quality that never knew when it was beaten.
+Forty years of toil in the educational field sat
+lightly on him, thanks to the natural vigor of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+well knit body and the resilient tone of a well
+endowed mind. We come now to the last lap of
+the journey, which most gratefully takes the form
+of a triumphal progress. In the good providence
+of God, the next twenty-one years were to be
+filled with expansion and achievement. His years
+multiplied, but there was no slowing down of
+energy and contriving strategy. Destiny put him
+benignantly into a life-long association with the
+young, and he could not grow old. To thousands
+of us still, no figure on the Hollins quadrangle
+ever stands out so statuesque as his large form,
+becomingly clad in a Prince Albert suit, and surmounted
+with a favorite tall beaver hat. As he
+walked in unconscious majesty, one could hear
+that resonant voice, issuing orders or bestowing
+courtly greetings. The grace and evenness of the
+old Virginia gentleman sat on him like a crown,
+making him ever accessible to student and friend.
+He was a worker, and he hated idleness as sin.
+Unrelentingly he demanded work. Never a student
+was allowed to escape that imperious law.
+For this his girls gave him honor. Well did they
+understand that Hollins was not for fashionable
+finish, or for money-squandering, but for downright
+honest study and true adornment of womanhood.
+He requested parents not to encourage
+extravagance in their daughters by putting in
+their hands undue sums of money to spend.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>The sessions in the early eighties showed a rising
+volume of patronage from the Southern
+states, a condition that was to go from more to
+more. His chief resulting gratification was in
+the obvious awakening of Southern people to
+better appreciation of the higher culture of
+women. Along with this pleasing discovery, however,
+he began to realize a serious barrier to the
+task at Hollins, created by the defective preparatory
+training in the primary and secondary
+schools of the country. In later years the difficulty
+began to disappear. To him, education consisted
+in the acquisition of knowledge, the
+training of faculty, and more especially, the
+broadening and multiplication of powers. His
+students must think, reason, and understand.
+That is the top of culture. Did he show any disposition
+to remain satisfied with the standards
+already erected? Not by any means. This is a
+growing world where nothing is stationary but
+a cemetery. The developing impulse in the mind
+of the Founder would never subside while the
+perfect was unattained. Even in this good summertime
+of 1920, nineteen years after his going,
+the mighty momentum he gave to the College
+operates with undiminished force. One does not
+expect spectacular variety in the life of an
+educator, particularly in one whose labors for
+fifty years were focalized on one spot. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+philosopher Kant never went away from the
+place of his birth, nor figured once in the publicities
+of his time, and yet the patient thinker
+has won undying fame among the intellectuals of
+the world. So we shall not find abundant incident
+at Hollins, but we shall know that its organizing
+genius is ever active and sounding the note of
+progress.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th of June, 1882, was adopted a new
+adjustment with the Trustees. Mr. Cocke was
+still unwilling to take over the property in payment
+of the Trustees' debt, but he had come to
+the conclusion that it might be wise to take a
+lease on it for fifteen years. To this the Trustees
+agreed, and the lease was duly written in favor
+of Charles L. Cocke and his son, Charles H.
+Cocke. At this time the debt due Mr. Cocke
+was $42,212, and by the terms of the contract,
+that sum might be increased to $50,000. An
+annual rental of $3,500 was to be due the Trustees,
+which was offset by the interest due on their
+$50,000 debt. In this arrangement the only
+right reserved by the Trustees was that of sanction
+of all improvements that might be undertaken
+during the period of the lease. On the very
+day when this agreement was written, Mr. Cocke
+submitted a plan for a Chapel. This was
+promptly approved by the Trustees. The work
+began, and soon the sacred edifice was an accomplished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+fact. A little later the open grates and
+hot air furnaces in the buildings were abolished
+in favor of steam heat. The limestone spring
+and the pump in the yard were abandoned to give
+place to a reservoir on the side of Tinker Mountain,
+which supplied running water on every
+floor. Needed philosophical and chemical apparatus
+were forthcoming, and a beautiful Art and
+Music hall was built on the site of Carvin's rock
+castle. Then followed a new and enlarged dining
+room with all its appurtenances. The Trustees
+acquiesced cheerfully in all these betterments,
+but they looked on the vast increase of their debt
+in a sort of helpless wonderment. How should
+they ever meet the huge obligation? While they
+forbore to put a check on this advance, they were
+sure that there could be only one way of ultimate
+settlement.</p>
+
+<p>In July, 1882, came the first great heartbreak
+his own household had ever known. His daughter,
+Rosa Pleasants Cocke, wife of the Rev. W.
+R. L. Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church,
+Lynchburg, Virginia, passed to her dreamless
+sleep. She was young, beautiful, universally
+loved,&mdash;the fairest bloom of queenly womanhood.
+She left a little Edith, who, twenty months later,
+went to rest with her mother on the green hill
+near Hollins.</p>
+
+<p>The enrollment of one hundred and seventy-six<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+girls in the session of 1888-'89, was the largest
+in the history of the school. At this date the
+President found, by careful comparison, that during
+the past forty-seven years, the average
+attendance had been greater than that of any
+other school for girls in the State. The session
+of 1889-'90 registered two hundred and nine
+students, and for the first time since 1864 applications
+had to be declined. The only minor chord
+that marred the general joy sounded in the
+troubled minds of the Trustees. In his own private
+reflections, Mr. Cocke had to confess that
+the solution offered by the Trustees looked like
+the obstinate, unavoidable necessity. About this
+time he made known to the Trustees and friends,
+a compliment to the Institution, recently paid by
+the National Bureau of Education at Washington.
+In a report of that body concerning schools
+for girls in Virginia, Hollins was named the foremost
+Institution for girls, the best known and
+the most effective in the State. The report continues:
+"There is an admirable foundation
+already laid at Hollins Institute ... for a
+woman's college of the type of Vassar, Smith,
+Wellesley and Bryn Mawr ... in a beautiful
+and healthful region with ample buildings for a
+great beginning.... An investment of a million
+would place here a great school of the
+highest type, and perpetuate the well-earned reputation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+of this well-known Institute,&mdash;for the past
+forty years one of the most notable of Southern
+schools." This fine appraisement, coming from
+an independent and impartial source, was unspeakably
+pleasing to the man around whom this
+school had grown, and he could but cherish the
+hope that some large-minded man of wealth
+would arise to follow the suggestion of endowment
+made in the quotation.</p>
+
+<p>A rare sensation was sprung on the Hollins
+community in the celebration of Mr. and Mrs.
+Cocke's Golden Wedding, December 31, 1890.
+All unknown to them, a group of loving hearts
+and hands had prepared an elaborate and impressive
+program. But some days before the brilliant
+event, mysterious hints, furtive interviews
+and beaming expectancy gave away the secret.
+Mr. Cocke himself began the jubilee in the early
+dawn, by slipping on the finger of his sleeping
+wife a handsome plain gold ring. All day, by
+letter and telegram, came happy congratulations
+and "bridal presents" from former pupils and
+friends. In the evening, Hollins took on unprecedented
+splendor with illuminations everywhere.
+Chandeliers, windows and doors were
+hung with ivy, and over the door of the main
+parlor, in large green figures, were placed the
+dates, 1840-1890. At 7:30 p.m. Mr. and Mrs.
+Cocke took their stand in the large parlor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+thronged by loved ones and friends. Prayer was
+made by Rev. Dr. G. W. Beale, pastor of Enon
+Baptist Church and chaplain of the college. Then,
+the Rev. Dr. E. C. Dargan of Charleston, S. C.,
+a former pastor of Enon and college chaplain,
+made an affectionate address. Among the appropriate
+remarks is the following quotation: "This
+great school, the love and labor of your life,
+speaks for itself, both in glad presence and widely
+extended absence. From over all the land, and
+indeed from far distant lands, the pupils of Hollins
+send their love and congratulations. Through
+the willing service of one who has labored long
+at your side,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> they present to you this book, containing
+the signatures of hundreds, who came to
+learn of you. Their affection also presents to
+you this portrait, intending that it shall be a perpetual
+heirloom, at once a splendid souvenir of
+this day and a monument of their lasting gratitude."</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Mrs. Eliza S. Childs, Associate Principal.</div>
+
+<p>As these words were spoken, two of his little
+granddaughters, Thalia Hayward and Leila
+Turner, touched a wire, and the veil dropped, revealing
+the fine life-size portrait of Mr. Cocke,
+described in the first chapter of this book. It
+was the work of his accomplished daughter-in-law,
+Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, Va.
+Mr. Cocke made brief and tender acknowledgment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+of the honor done him, and then his son,
+Mr. Lucian H. Cocke, expressed in few words
+the same sentiment. Professor Wm. H. Pleasants
+read a poem, written for the occasion by a
+former pupil and teacher of Hollins. Two other
+short speeches were made by admiring friends and
+Dr. Dargan pronounced the benediction.</p>
+
+<p>In every particular, this program was beautifully
+conceived and gracefully executed, making
+one of the most felicitous and memorable events
+ever known in the life of the Institution.</p>
+
+<p>On the occasion of their meeting in July, 1896,
+the Trustees signalized the completion of a half
+century of service by renewed expressions of admiration
+and love for Mr. Cocke. One year
+later they returned to the theme and took action
+which gave the most general delight. They
+passed two resolutions: "First, that in honor of
+President Cocke, while living, and after his death,
+in memory of his great achievements in education,
+the 21st of February, his birthday, be set apart
+as a legal holiday in Hollins Institute. Second,
+that the young ladies be permitted to celebrate
+the day in such manner as may be deemed by
+the officers of the school appropriate to the occasion."
+Such was the origin of Founder's Day,
+only three happy celebrations of which the
+beloved President was destined to see.</p>
+
+<p>The eventide drew gently on, and that good,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+gray head was crowned with glory and honor.
+His own health was still fine, but his dear family
+was drawing near to a land of shadows. Three
+times in a very short period the billows of bereavement
+went over him. An avalanche of grief
+fell on his stout heart in the sudden loss of three
+of his children. Mrs. Leila Virginia Turner, on
+October 21st, 1899, laid her burden down and
+was put to rest beside her husband on the green
+hill. On the 3rd of May, 1900, the noble Manager,
+Charles H. Cocke, passed away, and was
+gathered to the loved ones gone before. Miss
+Sallie Lewis Cocke died on July 29th, 1900, and
+was added to the silent company of brothers and
+sisters.</p>
+
+<p>"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
+With chastened tenderness and submissive resignation,
+Mr. Cocke held his course as one who gets
+support from an invisible world. The concerns
+of the Institute pressed on him, and he must still
+take hold on life's affairs. The lease, in 1897,
+had been extended for a new period of ten years.
+But, obviously, it was now full time that his business
+relations to the Trustees be brought to a
+definite and final settlement. The issue, pending
+through many years, could be deferred no longer,
+and on June 2nd, 1900, a radical change in the
+old order was made. The Trustees found themselves
+in debt to Mr. Cocke $101,253, in addition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+to the $50,000 in bonds already executed. Not
+yet had they been able even to pay the $1,500
+loaned by him in 1846. He gave up his notes and
+bonds to the Trustees, and they in turn gave over
+the Institution. Thus the Board of Trustees,
+after a period of forty-five years, went out of
+existence, and Hollins became the property of
+Mr. Cocke. It was not the consummation that
+he wished, but there was no other alternative.</p>
+
+<p>The venerable man, now in his 81st year, had
+on his hands the great Institution he had so
+laboriously builded. If he could have called back
+forty years, the responsibility would have rested
+on strong shoulders and a confident brain. But
+the competencies of the earlier years were spent,
+and age could only plan for the activities in which
+it should not share. He stood a noble, picturesque
+figure on the peak of life's work, looking
+backward with thankful satisfaction, and then
+wistfully forward into those years when other
+hands, hearts and brains should shape and guide
+the Institution. Not with one touch of gloomy
+foreboding did he make this provision. He believed
+that his children and grandchildren would
+loyally cherish his ideals and aspirations. They
+would hold the legacy sacred, maintain its standards,
+and keep it true to its aims. In the mellowing
+days of life's late afternoon this confidence
+gave him comfort and peace. Human affection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+played around him soft and tender as summer
+sunset on the mountains, but it could not be
+doubted that among the deepest satisfactions of
+his soul was the conviction that his successors
+would do him the real homage of preserving the
+fruitage of his long, unselfish labors.</p>
+
+<p>His form was unbent and his physical force
+gave him hope of ten more years of life. It was
+not to be. In the summer of 1898 a violent carbuncle
+brought him perilously near the brink of
+the great mystery. Two years later, warning
+symptoms came upon him suddenly. They did not
+yield to careful treatment, and with premonitions
+of the end, he decided in January, 1901, to go to
+the home of his son, Lucian H. Cocke, in Roanoke.
+This arrangement was his own device. He
+thought thereby to save Hollins from the anxiety
+which his illness would create, and from the shock
+of its probable end. What could be lovelier than
+the two letters that follow?</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+"Hollins, Virginia, February 21, 1901.</div>
+
+<p>"Our Dear Mr. Cocke:&mdash;<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"We, the members of your Faculty,&mdash;or rather
+of your great household here at Hollins,&mdash;deeply
+touched by your never-ceasing thought of us, and
+your intense interest in the work of our classes
+which prompted you even in the hour of great
+bodily distress to send us from your bed of sickness
+a message of comfort and encouragement,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+feel that we can not suffer this, your birthday, to
+pass by without some expression of our gratitude
+and sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>"We can never cease to be grateful for the
+kindly wisdom of your counsel which has directed
+us always unerringly to what is true and right,
+and for the firm guidance of your hand which has
+unfalteringly led us through the dark places of
+doubt and despair. Though we miss your wise
+head and guiding hand, we shall ever feel the
+inspiration of your spirit and the silent influence
+of your example; and trusting in that Divine
+Providence which has so long directed and prospered
+the labors of your brain and hand, we will
+endeavor to carry out, along your own lines, the
+work which you have so nobly planned and which
+you are now forced to lay aside.</p>
+
+<p>"In this time of your physical weakness and
+bodily suffering, our thoughts are often with you,
+and we send you this message assuring you of
+our sympathy, both as a body and as individuals.
+May our Heavenly Father take you in His keeping
+and give to you unwavering faith and comfort
+and peace.</p>
+
+<p>"With the expression of our affectionate regard.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+"<span class="smcap">J. M. McBryde, Jr.</span></div>
+
+<blockquote><p>"On behalf of your fellow laborers, the Faculty
+of Hollins Institute."</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"To The Faculty and Pupils of Hollins Institute:</p>
+
+<p>"It is now nearly two months since I have been
+with you. During this time I have been prostrated
+by great infirmities of body, and my weakness
+still is extreme. During my illness, however,
+there has been no time when I have ceased to
+have the welfare of each of you upon my mind
+and heart. Of all the expressions of sympathy
+that have come to me, none have been so comforting
+and gratifying as those that have come
+from my faculty and pupils. I wish to extend to
+each one of you my sincere appreciation of your
+earnest solicitude on my account. From every
+source the information comes to me of the
+orderly conduct of affairs at Hollins&mdash;teachers
+and pupils in their accustomed places, performing
+in a faithful and conscientious manner each duty
+that the occasion demands. It would be difficult
+indeed to adequately express to you the gratification
+that this information brings to me. For
+many years it has been my earnest desire to so
+conduct the affairs of the Institution, that
+whether I was present or absent there should be
+no abatement in the earnest purpose and devotion
+to duty which I have sought to make a part
+of the atmosphere of Hollins. I can not express
+to you a proper idea of what a pleasure it has
+been to me to know that this ideal is being exemplified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+in your conduct, and I feel that in my
+declining years I am greatly blessed in having
+your sympathy and co-operation in the proper
+conduct of the work which has been on my heart
+for these many years.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust that under the care of a favoring
+Providence, I may yet be able to be with you, and
+exchange once more the kindly greetings that have
+been a delight to me; but should it be otherwise,
+I always feel well assured that I can rely with
+confidence upon you to give to the Institution and
+the work with which I have been connected, the
+same devotion and loyalty which you have, without
+stint, accorded to me.</p>
+
+<p>"May our Father in Heaven preserve each one
+of you in His holy keeping.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/ill-013.png" width="200" height="31" alt="Signature of Charles L. Cocke" title="Signature of Charles L. Cocke" />
+</div>
+
+<div style="clear: both;"></div>
+<blockquote><p>"March 10th, 1901."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>It was on May 4th, 1901, that the end came.
+In the early morning of May 6th, the body was
+brought to Hollins and placed in the Chapel.
+Mr. Cocke had planned the two funeral services
+of the day. The first was held in the Chapel, for
+the family, faculty and students, who crowded the
+room. It was conducted by the Rev. Dr. F. H.
+Martin, Baptist pastor at Salem, assisted by ministers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+of the Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal
+churches. At the beginning and close of the
+service were sung his favorite hymns: "How Firm
+a Foundation," and "My Hope is Built on Nothing
+Less."</p>
+
+<p>At 4 p.m., the second service was held at
+Enon Church, which was thronged by neighbors
+and friends. The pastor, the Rev. J. M. Luck,
+presided, and after the singing of "There is a
+Fountain Filled With Blood," remarks followed
+by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. W. E. Hatcher, and
+Mr. William Ellyson of Richmond, and the Rev.
+Dr. P. T. Hale of Roanoke. The service closed
+with "My Jesus, as Thou Wilt," and then the
+procession moved up the hill in a sudden shower
+of rain. As the casket was lowered, the great
+assemblage sang softly, "There's a Land That is
+Fairer Than Day," and the Rev. T. J. Shipman
+offered the closing prayer. Two impressive incidents
+followed. A procession of Hollins girls,
+dressed in white and bearing white carnations,
+came up the slope and covered the grave with
+flowers. In the same moment the setting sun
+broke through the clouds and bathed the scene in
+a radiance of glory. Dr. Hatcher, with felicitous
+tact, called attention to the shining symbol of
+heaven's benediction on the proceedings of that
+solemn day.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h4>THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS</h4>
+
+
+<p>A careful examination of the catalogues
+and school registers of the early years leads
+us to believe that by June, 1896, when Mr. Cocke
+delivered his semi-centennial address, he had seen
+under training at Hollins not fewer than 5,000
+young women. To the privileges of the school
+he had welcomed the children and grandchildren
+of his first pupils. As terms of study closed, what
+did this host of girls think of the Head of the
+Institution? Today in thousands of homes
+throughout the nation, the name of Hollins unseals,
+as by magic, a well-spring of precious and
+tender reminiscence. With unanimous devotion,
+the girls who knew him, honored and loved the
+name of Charles L. Cocke. Hardly did Tinker
+and Dead Man Mountain loom so large to them
+as the form of the venerable man. They honored
+him because he was strict and absolutely
+just; because he held high standards of school
+decorum and culture, and insisted on hard work.
+He was too honorable to take the daughters of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+patrons, and allow waste of time and opportunity.
+His stringent demands may sometimes have
+caused irritation, but the good sense of the student
+was certain to react to grateful recognition
+of his wisdom. The after years never fail to
+evoke loving acknowledgment in the heart of a
+girl whose teacher requires her to make good in
+her studies. The Hollins girls loved Mr. Cocke
+because he was uniformly considerate and kind.
+The fatherly interest in his heart, not one was
+allowed to doubt. Daily he met them at the
+evening worship. Often has the visiting "old
+girl" spoken of those unforgotten prayers. He
+welcomed them in his office, listened to their requests,
+responding with sound advice and encouragement.
+Arbitrariness and severity were foreign
+to his nature, but all knew that the standards of
+conduct and study must be maintained.</p>
+
+<p>How proud he was of the distinctions won by
+his girls! In the early eighties five of them, in
+the English literature classes, took the Shakespeare
+prize offered in London.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 421px;">
+<img src="images/ill-007.png" width="421" height="500" alt="&quot;GOOD MORNING, &#39;GYRLS&#39;&quot;" title="&quot;GOOD MORNING, &#39;GYRLS&#39;&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;GOOD MORNING, &#39;GYRLS&#39;&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The class room work was ever the major interest,
+but beyond this was a large range of
+activity and diversion. In 1855 the Euzelian
+(Love of Wisdom) Society was organized for
+debate, recitations and essays. Increasing numbers
+in 1874 required the formation of the
+Euepian (Pure Diction) Society. Still memorable
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>are those exciting joint debates, held occasionally
+by the Societies, along the years. In
+these latter days, they have given place to other
+disciplines more in harmony with the practical
+spirit of the age. Class organizations, Sororities,
+Clubs, Student Government, the College "Spinster"
+and Magazine, monopolize the spare hours.
+The Young Women's Christian Association maintains
+its prominence and usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>But the old-time diversions do not pass. Those
+glorious romping trips up Carvin's Creek to the
+Falls, and the annual holiday climb to the top of
+Tinker in October, together with the strenuous
+games and sports on the campus, will continue to
+furnish happy memories.</p>
+
+<p>The democratic spirit of the Institution Mr.
+Cocke constantly cultivated, and with profound
+satisfaction he welcomed students from the homes
+of rich and poor. All entered on terms of
+equality in privilege and opportunity. The rich
+girl of common sense and industry won popularity
+and honor; and by the same token the poor
+girl gained the love of classmates and the medals
+of distinction. At no institution was there
+more contempt for snobbery or for the spirit of
+favoritism. Moral and intellectual worth were
+the sole tests of credit and high standing.</p>
+
+<p>His interest followed the students, and he
+smiled at the tidings of their usefulness. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+counted on their private and public values in
+society. Some, he was fond of saying, had become
+the wives of ministers, of lawyers and
+judges, of officers of the Army and of the Navy,
+of political leaders and of distinguished men in
+all ranks and professions. With pride, he spoke
+of those who were teaching in the schools and
+colleges, and of those who had gone into the far
+mission fields of the world. In his heart the
+grand old man felt: "They are all my daughters,
+and the sweetest benedictions be on every one."
+You will never meet the daughters of Hollins, old
+or young, whose faces do not light up at the mention
+of his name, or that of the dear place where
+many of life's holiest memories were stored.
+When old Hollins girls meet&mdash;whether as bosom
+cronies, after years of separation, or as strangers
+at some Exposition, gazing through tears at a
+portrait&mdash;a listener need but catch fragments of
+their reminiscences to know how Mr. Cocke's
+personality glows in the memory of his "gyrls."</p>
+
+<p>"Could we ever forget how he used to read
+the hymns at evening worship? Nobody else
+could, or can, read them as he did:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">Guide me, O thou great Jehovah&mdash;</span><br />
+<span class="i0">My hope is built on nothing less,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">Than Jesus' blood and righteousness&mdash;</span><br />
+<span class="i0">In the Cross of Christ I glory,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">Towering o'er the wrecks of time&mdash;</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p>
+<p>This last always with an unconscious lifting of
+the head in his vision of the glory one day to be
+revealed. It meant much to look, once a day, on
+a colossal faith like his. Was it due to those unbroken,
+silent trysts with his Savior in the chapel,
+in the early morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"Latin and mathematics were always second
+to the Bible with Mr. Cocke," testifies another.
+"He was certainly never afraid of the 'hard-grained
+muses' for us. I once heard him say,
+with a touch of regret, 'The next generation in
+our country will produce many more readers, but
+fewer scholars.' He revered true learning and
+made us revere it, however little some of us possessed
+it. Scholarship with him was no musty
+work, smelling of the midnight oil. He never
+laughed at it as odd or pedantic. It was, in his
+mind, never dissociated from service; but scholarship
+was a high thing, and he flung out the work
+as a challenge to the best within us.</p>
+
+<p>"One now laughs to recall her own mental protests,
+as a new girl, when Mr. Cocke would so
+earnestly tell her fellow-students that they would
+be leaders in their communities, in their states.
+'How mistaken Mr. Cocke is about this,' I would
+say to myself. 'He doesn't know this year's
+girls. He is thinking about those women who
+shone out so brilliantly here two, four, ten, thirty
+years ago&mdash;those stars in the crown of Hollins.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+But these girls are just ordinary people. The
+best of them don't even know their lessons every
+time&mdash;not to mention the rest of us. They could
+never lead communities. Great women would be
+necessary for that.' But those girls <i>have</i> been
+real leaders, just as Mr. Cocke said. They were
+nothing but girls, just like other girls, but they
+did, many of them, go forth to lead and to lead
+straight. It may be that they had from him some
+touch of his power; it may be that he opened their
+eyes to the fact that there is, after all, nobody
+else to do most of these things except just plain
+humanity. There really is nobody else, you
+know.</p>
+
+<p>"And Mr. Cocke's dignity withal&mdash;how cheap
+have many other men looked to my eyes when
+set beside my image of him! It is like that fabled
+measuring rod which made inflated pride shrink
+to its true stature. Mr. Cocke was the only man
+I ever saw who really seemed equal to wearing a
+high hat. I have watched the throng of the genteel
+coming down Broadway in their Sunday best
+and have thought, 'Not a man of you looks right
+in it&mdash;looks wholly free from affectation.' To
+him it was as natural as the crown of white hair
+beneath it.</p>
+
+<p>"Imperious sometimes? Yes. I recall once,
+certainly. That new invention, the telephone,
+had been installed at Hollins. It was wonderful,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+enabling one to talk to the depot agent at Cloverdale,
+<i>three</i> miles away. For the first few days
+of the new 'fixture,' Miss Matty had attended to
+all the preliminaries, so Mr. Cocke had not realized
+just what these preliminaries were, or that
+any were necessary. I saw him walk up to the
+transmitter and speak into it, without ringing the
+bell, asking a question of the agent. No response,
+of course. He spoke again. The same dead
+silence. Then he right royally tapped the transmitter
+as with a rod of office and commanded,
+'Here, <i>answer</i> me!' Although I knew that the
+ringing of the bell was essential, I had the feeling
+that some response <i>must</i> come when Mr. Cocke
+spoke like that.</p>
+
+<p>"By means of credit and otherwise, he helped
+me and helped other girls from my section of
+Virginia who had less ready money than craving
+for an education. The work of one of these,
+as Foreign Missionary, has been so good and so
+big that I love to think that in her, Hollins may
+have its reward for what it did for the rest of
+us. But so utterly did Mr. Cocke ignore all such
+benefits conferred by himself that I used to think
+he surely must not know about these things, that
+they must have all been transacted in the privacy
+of Mr. Charley's business office. The President
+looked so far above any money considerations;
+and still he must have been a wonderful financier.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+Who else could have found the means of building
+and maintaining that great Institution without
+aid of church or state or millionaire? I never
+know what to say when asked by school men how
+Hollins was financed in the old days. The means
+must have been brought down by prayer from
+Heaven somehow.</p>
+
+<p>"We talk much of the prudence that keeps at
+a safe distance from the plague of influenza.
+That is right, often. But when LaGrippe came
+from Russia in 1889 and invaded Hollins, I saw
+how the suffering was, to some of the girls, far
+outweighed by the honor and joy of having Mr.
+Cocke himself make the rounds to visit them as if
+he cared. Cared? I have looked out into the
+semi-darkness of the campus and seen that stately
+figure, with bowed head, walking up and down
+beneath the window of the infirmary, where some
+girl lay extremely ill, moving to and fro, far into
+the night, in a vigil, which, let me say it with reverence,
+has made it easier to believe that close
+to all earth's pains,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Standeth One within the shadow,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">Keeping watch above His own."</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="signature">E. P. C.</div>
+
+<p>Such was the inner life of Hollins. It was and
+is the loving fellowship and co-operative industry
+of a big family, consecrated to true culture, good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+citizenship and human progress. It was the life-work
+of the Good President, to cheer and help
+his girls onward to the realization of these noble
+ideals.</p>
+
+<p>One day in May, 1901, the sad tidings of Mr.
+Cocke's death reached them. Out of the multitude
+of letters that came to Hollins, all bearing
+the same message of sympathetic grief, only a
+few can be subjoined.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;<br />"It is sad, and almost unbearable, to think of
+Hollins without Mr. Cocke. And yet, our grief
+at his death has, mingled with it, a spirit of
+thanksgiving for his life. We are so glad that
+we came under the influence of that life. I was
+so young when I first went to Hollins, and Hollins
+was my home for so long, that its influence, the
+life-example of Mr. Cocke, all, indeed, that made
+up the strength and beauty of those days, are
+woven into every fibre of my being, have become
+a part of my very life, so that I know I am better
+for having known Hollins, and Mr. Cocke."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">R. B.</div>
+
+<p>"For a long time I have realized that I owe
+more to the influence of my teachers and friends
+at Hollins than to all the text-books I have ever
+opened, and today I count it one of the greatest
+blessings of my life that it was in the pure, elevating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+atmosphere of Hollins that I grew into
+womanhood. To dear Mr. Cocke, the Founder,
+the Head, the Life of Hollins, I do now and ever
+shall feel the deepest gratitude, and shall ever
+think of him with reverence, so high has always
+been my regard for him. Hundreds of women
+all over the land are sorrowing that they will see
+his noble face no more; for we, his old pupils,
+have lost a benefactor, a teacher, a friend."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">M. W. C.</div>
+
+<p>"Indeed, a course so nobly run can be as fitly
+congratulated on its close&mdash;a close pertaining
+not merely to the finite conditions which fetter it
+here, but which, freeing it from these, ushers its
+powers, refined, magnified, glorified, into the
+blessed sphere of attainment awaiting those who
+have steadily followed the steps of the Master in
+ceaseless effort for the good of man. It is not
+the note of lamentation that accords with this
+grand freeing and glorious entrance of a friend
+of man, a soldier of the Cross, into the kingdom
+he has won: we rather shout our acclamations for
+the triumph of our friend, and drop the tear only
+that we are for a moment shut from the comfort
+of his countenance. We all, in fullest degree,
+offer our love and attachment, founded on unspeakable
+memories of early and lasting life."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+B. D. F.</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am only one of the hundreds of girls who
+loved Mr. Cocke dearly, and honored him beyond
+the power of words to express. I feel that I
+loved him particularly well, more than others did;
+but perhaps many others feel the same way. I
+never knew any other man whose religion showed
+so plainly in his daily life. It always seemed to
+me that he walked with God. Hollins will never
+be the same again to the old girls."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+L. J. M.
+</div>
+
+<p>"I feel sure that all you dear Hollins people
+know how fully my heart is with you at this time;
+but I feel that I must give some outward expression
+to the love and sympathy that I feel. Along
+with thousands of other old Hollins girls, I know
+what a great loss the world has sustained, and
+what a great and lasting grief has come to all of
+us who knew and loved and revered Mr. Cocke.
+To think of the thousands of minds and souls
+he has helped to strengthen and fit out for life's
+work! His opportunity was great, and he made
+the most of it,&mdash;and what higher praise can be
+given to any man?"</p>
+
+<div class="signature">B. P. M. T.</div>
+
+<p>"I have been more distressed than I can tell
+you to hear of dear Mr. Cocke's increasing
+feebleness and dangerous illness, and I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+opened each letter from Hollins with a feeling of
+dread, always fearing the worst. But although
+the sad news, now that it has come, does not find
+me unprepared, my grief is no less acute. I
+know so well what this loss means not only to
+the thousands of girls who, like me, loved him as
+a father, but to the cause of education and religion,
+in which he stood ever as a beacon light.
+My heart is very sad when I think of how much
+goodness and greatness and strength went out of
+the world when he was taken. I have not the
+power to express in words the grief I feel! I
+shall always thank God for the priceless boon of
+being for a time under the influence of that consecrated
+life, and it is my earnest prayer that I
+may never lose sight of that blessed example of
+'pure religion and undefiled before God and the
+Father.'"</p>
+
+<div class="signature">E. S. F.</div>
+
+<p>"A friend writes me that Mr. Cocke's work is
+done, and that today he is laid to rest, I suppose
+on the beautiful hill that looks down on the field
+of his labors, that field that has borne such beautiful
+fruit. We are all distressed, as will be a
+great many others throughout the South who
+have felt the importance in life of a character
+like that of Mr. Cocke. If there were more
+men with like quality of character and mind, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+world would speedily become a better place. He
+did what he could to better it, and there are many
+left to honor him who have not the strength to do
+likewise."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+L. B. P.
+</div>
+
+<p>"As one of the many thousands who owe to
+him unestimated, because inestimable, blessings,
+treasures of thought and influence and inspiration
+that time can not touch any more than it can
+dim his priceless memory, I sorrow today for
+Hollins' great 'creator, builder, guide.'"</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+S. B. D.
+</div>
+
+<p>"The news of dear Mr. Cocke's death has
+filled me with sorrow, for I realize what an inestimable
+loss the church, the school, his friends,
+and his family have sustained. I never knew any
+one like him! No one ever laid down a life more
+filled with good works, and he has indeed earned
+the blessed rest which he is now enjoying."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+C. M. J.
+</div>
+
+<p>"The knowledge of such a life is invaluable.
+We should, we will, cherish the remembrance of
+it and hold this among the greatest object lessons
+taught us by God. The treasure of his memory
+would not be so priceless had his life been one
+smooth journey. It is the knowledge of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+struggle, the knowledge that a man has fought
+and gloriously won in life's severest conflicts,
+that furnishes us the incentive, that lends us the
+inspiration."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+A. W.</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h4>COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES</h4>
+
+
+<p>The fine portrait of Mr. Cocke in the Hollins
+Library, executed by his daughter-in-law,
+Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, was formally
+presented at the Golden Wedding celebration in
+1890. Death claimed the brilliant artist in 1899.
+With keen insight she portrayed her subject at
+the culminating moment of the final exercises of
+the Institution. The diploma in his hand is the
+one which he handed to his daughter, Miss Matty
+L. Cocke, on the day of her graduation. The
+artist wanted a real diploma, and by felicitous
+chance, this was the one supplied. At the time,
+the owner little dreamed of being her father's
+successor as President of Hollins Institute.</p>
+
+<p>As now, so during the lifetime of Mr. Cocke,
+Maytime at Hollins stirred a flutter of excitement
+in the student's mind. The session's close
+was drawing near, with its terrors of examinations;
+its flourish of music, oratory and white
+dresses; its orderly pomp and splendor. The
+season brought a new flush of animation and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+gaiety. There were happy greetings of fathers
+and mothers. The old girls came, eager for the
+raptures of re-union. The bright stars shone
+on dear old Hollins; the blue mountains stood
+guard round their jewel; and the sky dropped
+down benediction. Nature and the human heart
+held high festival on Commencement Day.</p>
+
+<p>Services began with an interesting dramatic
+presentation, and the Reception to the Senior
+Class. The Sunday services were conducted by
+invited ministers. In the days following, came
+the jollities of Class Day, the joint celebration of
+the Societies, the Musical Concert, and lastly, the
+annual address by the President, with the conferring
+of Diplomas. Of course the programs
+of the earlier years were not so elaborate as the
+one just indicated, but the exercises were as vitally
+interesting and popular. On these occasions
+many distinguished men delivered strong and
+eloquent addresses. Woe to the man who ventured
+to stand before a Hollins audience without
+honest preparation. Declamatory rhetoric never
+deceived this group of intellectually alert students.
+Mr. Cocke drew his ministers for Commencement
+from the various Protestant denominations,
+as the students came from all these
+bodies. Sectarian narrowness never guided his
+choice, and that spirit never thrived in his school.
+Christian truth and character were to him the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+eternal verities, and among all communions he
+made devoted friends. One of his preachers disappointed
+him cruelly. That good man made a
+calamitous mistake. He had fancied that he was
+to appear before a mountain school, and that
+almost any sort of a sermon would answer. Lazy
+unpreparedness meets retribution. Arriving at
+Hollins, his disillusion was instantaneous, and all
+that Saturday night he tossed in mental misery.
+The next morning he appeared in the pulpit with
+an irrelevant theme, and a profitless sermon.
+College girls are never profoundly impressed by
+unctuous platitudes, or by theological combat.</p>
+
+<p>One of the surprises about these years is the
+small number of Full Diplomas that were given.
+From 1855 to 1900, Mr. Cocke bestowed this
+honor on one hundred and twenty-five girls. To
+secure it the student had to graduate in at least
+seven of the departments of study. The standards
+were high, so that to win the Full Diploma,
+demanded native ability and long, hard work.
+In the operation of the school's elective system,
+each girl chose the classes she preferred, and
+received certificates of graduation as the work in
+each subject was accomplished. Though, as we
+have said, Full Diplomas were rare, many girls
+won these minor distinctions, which also bore the
+name of Diploma. Many were the students who,
+coming for one year's course, were stirred by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+these Commencement occasions to larger views
+and longer attendance. This imposing pageant
+of the Finals was apt to awaken in the ambitious,
+first-year girl, a sense of her intellectual poverty,
+and to inspire noble resolution for ampler education.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of the session of 1899-1900, Mr.
+Cocke delivered his 52nd annual address. Sad
+to say, it was his last. It is a notable and probably
+an unparalleled fact, that he should, through
+fifty-two consecutive years, have made the
+graduation address and have delivered the Diplomas.
+In these messages he dealt with the many
+problems of educational theory and practice,
+never failing to appeal for high and noble standards
+of living. He counted on his girls as the
+finest advertisement, and as the most eloquent testimonial
+of the merits of Hollins. It was no vain
+reckoning. As a matter of fact, it became no
+unusual thing for him to hear patrons confess
+that they had seen Hollins girls and had been
+deeply impressed by their intelligence, cultured
+manners and social grace.</p>
+
+<p>Now we yield the platform to the President.
+There can be no more fitting close of this chapter
+than a few paragraphs, taken from his annual
+addresses. The captions are not his, but they indicate
+the special thought of the passage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="center">THIS ONE THING<br />
+1889</div>
+
+<p>"I have aimed to implant deep in the hearts of
+my pupils the principles and precepts of our holy
+religion, as taught in the Word of God. As to
+those externals of religion which divide the Christian
+world into parties and sects innumerable, I
+have nothing to say; for our great Law-Giver and
+High Priest has said, 'The Kingdom of God is
+within you,' and unless we are subject to this law,
+all rites and ordinances and organizations put
+together and scrupulously practiced, cannot save
+the soul."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">REVIEW OF FIFTY YEARS<br />
+JUNE, 1896</div>
+
+<p>"Our trouble has been all during these fifty
+years, to secure equipment. Had this been furnished,
+the history of the school would have been
+far more satisfactory. The success of the school
+in 1852 and years following, gave a wonderful
+impetus to girls' schools in Virginia. Many chartered
+schools came into existence during that decade.
+Some of course proved failures, and others
+exist to this day.</p>
+
+<p>"The annual registers of pupils during the entire
+existence of the school, aggregate 6,689. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+has been almost exclusively a boarding school,
+and as such has led in numbers all the schools
+of Virginia. Its contributions to the teaching
+profession have been most valuable and probably
+more numerous than that of any other Virginia
+school. It has educated many daughters of ministers
+of different communions, free of charge for
+tuition. It has aided large numbers of indigent
+girls. Its graduates are in all parts of this country,
+North, East and West as well as in the
+South, where they are numerous. Some six or
+eight are in foreign mission fields. The school
+has far surpassed my own expectations and has
+been a surprise to the general public.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as we took charge in 1846, and
+became acquainted with the surroundings and
+prospects, we saw clearly that the school could
+not live with a merely local patronage. It was
+almost wholly a boarding school, and it must
+draw its pupils from a broad area. The necessary
+steps were taken to make its advantages
+known in all parts of Virginia, and that patronage
+was sufficient for our limited accommodations
+until the close of 'the war.' We often declined
+applicants for want of proper accommodations.
+But after Virginia had been devastated by two
+contending armies within her borders for four
+years, we had to look to still broader fields for
+pupils. It was about the year 1870 that we first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+made known the advantages of the school in other
+states, and now a majority of our pupils come
+from other sections beyond our state lines. This
+patronage, with more ample equipment, might be
+greatly increased, and with broader and more
+ample facilities, it might be made the most prominent
+school for girls in all the South. Its country
+location, its invigorating atmosphere, its mineral
+waters, its glorious mountain scenery, all
+combine to bring to it increasing numbers from
+different and distinct sections. The great boarding
+schools for girls in the North, in which millions
+are invested, are in the country.</p>
+
+<p>"My life has been one of unceasing work and
+energy, of constant cares and anxieties, and of a
+deep sense of responsibility. I have only laid a
+foundation on which the next generation may
+build. Will Virginia, the most desirable State
+in the Union for institutions of learning of every
+grade and class, seize the opportunity and again
+advance, through educational channels, to the
+leadership of States, and inaugurate an era of
+greater glory and higher destinies for this great
+American people? Oh, that she may be wise
+to discern the ominous signs of these times and
+seek through great schools for young men and
+young ladies, a power and progress which shall
+far eclipse her pristine glories!</p>
+
+<p>"And now, at the close of fifty years' connection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+with this school, I can, without reservation
+or modification, say I have done all I could to
+conduct and perpetuate an Institution which
+might prove a blessing to the people without distinction
+of sect or class, and an honor to my
+native State. And this, too, on the very basis I
+found it standing when I took charge."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">EDUCATIONAL THEORY<br />
+
+JUNE, 1893</div>
+
+<p>"These graduates are not confined to a single
+Christian denomination; they have come from
+all denominations. And this is, in my judgment,
+the true ideal of a Christian school. I have often
+said that the associations of a school for young
+ladies, properly conducted, are worth more to
+them than any single department of study. They
+learn so much from contact and association with
+each other.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly a school for young ladies should not
+aim to send forth all its pupils of exactly the
+same type. Its facilities and associations should
+be such as to give ample scope for individuality
+of development, and that genuine sympathetic
+contact and impress, which lifts the less cultured
+to higher walks and ways, and impresses the more
+fortunate with their duty to the needy and dependent,
+often the most deserving, and often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+reaching, under such influence, the highest stations
+of life.</p>
+
+<p>"The school from its beginning has maintained
+and made prominent one feature so culpably
+neglected, and even opposed by most
+schools for girls. It has maintained a broad and
+elevated course of study and fixed high standards
+of graduation. This has been done with
+special reference to the demands of that class
+of girls who propose to make teaching their profession
+or business in life. And most abundantly
+has it been rewarded in this effort. Its graduates
+are in great demand and many of them hold
+elevated positions as teachers. But there are
+other courses in addition to that required for
+full graduation. These are intended to meet the
+varied wants of other classes of students, who,
+from feeble health, inadequate means or mere
+preference, decline to pursue the full course.</p>
+
+<p>"The school has accomplished far more than
+its early founders aimed at or even dreamed of.
+They looked to local demands and a limited
+sphere. But its influence has been felt not only
+through Virginia, but throughout the South and
+West, and even from the great North, pupils
+have sought and enjoyed its advantages. Graduation
+from school does not imply full and complete
+knowledge on any subject or in any department<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+of learning. The object of true scholastic
+training is, first, to discipline the powers, and,
+second, to open to pupils the sources of knowledge.
+In these processes, of course, much information
+is imparted; but to stop here and read
+and study no more, would be fatal to a high and
+commanding success in life. You must read and
+read systematically and continuously. You must
+keep up with the progress of the times, and times
+are in quick movement in this day...."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">SECRET OF SUCCESS<br />
+
+1855</div>
+
+<p>"If you would have your minds well disciplined
+and well stored with useful information, you must
+be willing to retire, for a time at least, from the
+enticing and distracting scenes of the busy world,
+and in the quietude of academic life, devote your
+powers to those labors which alone can secure
+the desired boon. Here the work must be done,
+here the foundation must be laid, upon which
+your future attainments and your future eminence
+must rest. Neglect this preparation, and you can
+have no well grounded hope of rising to distinction
+in society, or of exerting an influence which
+shall leave a record of your name and your deeds
+upon the hearts and memories of those who shall
+come after you....</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>"The secret of success is the ability <i>to fix the
+attention on one subject at a time</i>...."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">CREATIVE WORK<br />
+
+1862</div>
+
+<p>"I urge you to cultivate a taste not only for
+literature, but for <i>making literature</i>. The literature
+of a country determines its institutions, its
+social conditions, and its destiny. It is really
+its inner life whence its external manifestations
+spring."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">LITERARY TASTE<br />
+
+JUNE, 1894</div>
+
+<p>"Many a wise man has said repeatedly: 'Let
+me go into a young lady's parlor and examine
+the literature which lies on her table, and the
+books which fill the shelves of her library, and I
+will tell you all about her; the secret thoughts
+which habitually haunt her imagination, the purposes,
+the ambitions, the affections, good or bad,
+which agitate and fill her heart; the scenes, the
+sights, the objects, the aims which thrill her soul&mdash;all
+this I know from the companionship amid
+which she delights to linger and live, and with
+which she delights to commune.' Young ladies,
+when you reach home and unpack your trunks,
+will you take out the text books you have studied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+in this school, one by one, and place them on the
+highest shelf of your library and in the far corner,
+and with a scowl on your face say to them, 'Now,
+you go and stay where I put you; you have cost
+me weeks and months and years of toil, of anxieties,
+of troubles, vexations and tears, but you
+have at last given me my full diploma and I want
+nothing more to do with you'! Are you going
+to speak thus to your best friends, who have done
+more for you than father and mother?</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to turn your back upon, and
+quit the company of, the only true aristocracy of
+all the ages and all countries, and seek lower
+associations? These people are not upstarts;
+they have lived and still live in all ages and countries;
+they have been the intimate and loving
+companions of kings and queens; of emperors and
+statesmen; divines and poets, scientists and linguists,
+and all the great of all the earth and every
+clime and kindred.</p>
+
+<p>"Again, the Good Book says, 'Where there is
+no vision the people perish.' This was spoken
+most probably in regard to the ancient prophets
+and seers who received the divine light from
+the great original source, and reflected it from
+their own hearts and minds on a benighted race.</p>
+
+<p>"But has not the great Inspirer of light and
+knowledge, since that remote past, raised up
+other prophets and seers and imparted other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+visions that the people might not perish? These
+great men are among us; they do not compel,
+but they invite companionship; they say, 'Come,
+go with us, talk with us, commune with our spirit,
+drink with us of the clear, cool springs of nature;
+the journey is pleasant and the scenery is grand;
+come, go with us and we will do thee good.'</p>
+
+<p>"Will you reject the invitation and decline the
+association? So, young ladies, as I said in the
+beginning, from a literary standpoint, from a
+social standpoint, from a business standpoint, and
+from the standpoint of philanthropic and Christian
+usefulness, your future position and success
+in life depend upon the company you keep.
+Under the great principle of the freedom of the
+press, the newspaper has become a universal institution
+in America,&mdash;omnipresent, and almost
+omnipotent. The result is that the vast constituency
+of our great government are better informed
+on current events all over the land and
+all over the world, than any people on the earth.</p>
+
+<p>"But the curse of the land is this: We spend
+too much time on this and kindred literature; this
+habit enfeebles the mind, contracts the vision, and
+suppresses high ambitions in the fields, the vast
+and elevated fields of broader, more solid, more
+useful and more permanent knowledge. Our
+people are making the most marvelous progress
+on all lines of human thought and effort, but on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+none more rapid than that of science and literature.
+The spirit of the nation seems to be a
+consuming ambition to lead the world in thought,
+in intellectual development, and in products of
+the brain of men. To keep in harmony with this
+spirit, you, young ladies, must rise above the
+plane on which so much of our literature moves
+and study the works of great minds."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">TRUE CULTURE<br />
+
+1870</div>
+
+<p>"The great mistake which so many make and
+which satisfactorily accounts for their want of
+success, is that they regard the mere accumulation
+of facts as the sole object of scholastic study;&mdash;that
+knowledge may be stored in the mind as we
+gather grain into a garner, and this, too, without
+regard to its character or quality, or the order
+in which the deposits are made. We have aimed,
+young ladies, to give you a better theory of education,
+and a more enduring foundation of scholarship....</p>
+
+<p>"The great object of that culture and training
+which courses of scholastic study afford, is to
+assist the mind in the processes of its own development;
+to give to its searchings after truth and
+its toils in the fields of literature, direction and
+system; to enable it to think, to reason, to solve;
+to give it scope and expansion that it may successfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+grasp both the theoretical and the
+practical of life and advance to those objects and
+destinies which its very structure implies and foreshadows...."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">BROAD SYMPATHIES<br />
+
+JUNE, 1892</div>
+
+<p>"I would remind you, young ladies, that you go
+forth into life at a time when society is advancing
+on all lines of progress. In breadth, variety
+and thoroughness of literary and scientific knowledge,
+we are no less a marvel to ourselves than
+the wonder and admiration of the oldest civilizations
+of the world. This American people proposes
+to hold no inferior rank in the world-wide
+race for the greatest and grandest results in
+material development and production. This the
+most casual observer beholds all around him in
+every-day life. But when we come to review, critically
+and comparatively, the rise and progress
+of American learning, we see one determined and
+steady advance towards the highest standards the
+world has ever known. In the production and
+giving forth of all kinds of literature, this people
+aspires to the highest place; to the most advanced
+achievements that bless society and adorn life.</p>
+
+<p>"And shall our own section and people continue
+heedless and oblivious of this throbbing,
+restless, inspiring energy to rise to the very acme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+of literary fame and glory? We blush to own
+that, thus far, we have made but a feeble response
+to the high and honorable calling. When the
+poison diffused through the channels of a false
+and envenomed literature during the last generation,
+South as well as North, shall have
+spent its force, and the prejudices and passions
+that literature engendered and fostered shall
+have given place to just and generous award,
+then, and not until then, will the whole people
+and the outside world be prepared to receive and
+appreciate a truthful revelation, and do mental
+honor to all, of every section, who from their
+standpoint and environment, and with the light
+that shone upon their pathway, lived and labored
+for great ends, and the same ends. That record
+will show that not only under Southern skies,
+but throughout the nation, in national Senate, in
+Northern cities, even in Western wilds, Southern
+counsel has contributed in full proportion to the
+great results which today astonish the world.
+And furthermore, it will show that Northern
+energy, foresight and enterprise have made their
+deep and ineffaceable mark on the whole country
+in its educational and religious work, its business,
+political and social life, and its institutions. The
+gigantic struggle which occurred on this continent
+just before your eyes opened on the light of day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+was the result of a misunderstanding; a family
+quarrel on a grand scale, such as more than once
+has occurred in the land of our forefathers. But
+even when the conflict rose to its most fearful
+height, deep down in the heart, this people were
+one. They are now one, and may the high council
+of Heaven ordain that they shall never be
+other than one.</p>
+
+<p>"Young ladies, suffer no sectional jealousies or
+narrow prejudices to find a resting place in your
+bosoms. They dwarf your souls, they contract
+your minds. Love your country in all its sections
+and broad limits and constituent elements, and
+contribute your best energies, in appropriate
+spheres, to its high and grand mission."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">CONFIDENT HOPE<br />
+
+APRIL, 1862</div>
+
+<p>"You go forth at a dark and threatening hour....
+When the great plans of His far-reaching
+and comprehensive providence shall have been accomplished,
+in the stupendous conflict which you
+now behold, He will speak peace to the troubled
+waters, and there will be peace. Till then let us
+wait with calm resignation and abiding confidence
+in His designs of mercy.... This providence,
+however complicated and strange, leads only to
+some good and grand result, opening up new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+channels of usefulness to the virtuous and the
+good, and saying to the faithful&mdash;nations as well
+as individuals: 'This is the way, walk ye in it.'"</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">GUIDING PURPOSE<br />
+
+1901</div>
+
+<p>"For many years it has been my earnest desire
+to so conduct the affairs of the institution that
+whether I was present or absent, there should be
+no abatement in the earnest purpose and devotion
+to duty which I have sought to make a part of the
+atmosphere of Hollins."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND
+ACTIVITIES</h3>
+
+
+<p>All the activities of a good man's life are
+religious. Intelligent Christian thought has
+long since abolished the distinctions, "sacred" and
+"secular." The minister is not the only man with
+a divine calling. It is the right of every true
+man to regard his tasks, of whatever kind, as
+sacred, and the vigorous discharge of them as religious
+fidelity. The apostle, making tents, was
+serving God as truly as when preaching to the
+philosophers of Athens. All the vocations are
+spheres in which men serve their generation, increasing
+the sum of human comfort, and securing
+the moral order of the world. The man who
+serves his fellowmen is the anointed servant of
+the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cocke's life was an uninterrupted consecration
+to the cause of the education of women,
+permeated and energized by spiritual motive.
+No man understood better than he the living
+unity between intellectual and moral culture. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+knew that cultivated faculties without corresponding
+nurture of the spiritual nature may prove a
+curse rather than a blessing. Along with growing
+mental power, must go a development of religious
+character. The two are inseparable in any
+right conception of human life. So, while he
+wrought with a wonderfully sustained enthusiasm
+in the sphere of education, he kept always in
+mind the transcendent claims of religion. There
+he recognized the fundamental interest of humanity.
+Teaching was his vocation, but the honor
+of God was his comprehensive guiding principle.
+To him the Bible was the word of Life, and the
+worship of the Holy One of Israel the supreme
+privilege and duty. Such was his view and, without
+intermission, his practice.</p>
+
+<p>From the beginning of his work at Botetourt
+Springs in 1846, daily the assembled students
+heard the reading of Scripture and united with
+the President in ascriptions of praise. Nor were
+Mr. Cocke's religious services given only to the
+school. His Christian interest ran out to the whole
+community. He recognized an obligation to his
+neighbors, and was soon meeting them here and
+there, instructing them in the Scriptures, and
+leading them in their worship. In 1855 the little
+Enon Baptist Church was organized and located
+within a quarter of a mile of the Springs. Into
+membership in this church he and his family went,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+to be a strong nucleus around which has since
+grown the excellent congregation and the beautiful
+building of today. The pastors of Enon
+never had a more loving and loyal member of
+their church. By all odds the strongest force
+in the body, he could have ruled as he pleased,
+but the humble man never dreamed of domination,
+or of the assertion of any kind of superior
+right. He wanted harmony and growth, and
+sought it by preferring his brethren in honor.
+His wise counsel and influence were potent, of
+course, but not another member of the church
+was farther from the assumption of authority.
+He was a model church member in attendance
+and gifts; hence all the people gave him honor
+and love.</p>
+
+<p>But Enon set no limits on his religious activity.
+The neighboring towns and communities felt the
+force of his spirit of evangelism. The Christian
+religion must have free course in the regions
+round about. There was not a village within
+twenty miles of his school that failed to catch
+something of his spirit. The impulses he gave
+in that early day lie at the foundation of much
+of the present religious strength and prosperity
+in the regions he touched.</p>
+
+<p>Did this young school teacher overlook the
+needs of the colored people? Would it look
+strange to see him conducting a Sunday School<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+for the slaves on Sunday afternoons at Big Lick?
+That is what he did. "Inasmuch as ye have done
+it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me."
+The negroes, in the days of slavery, learned to
+love him as a friend, and when freedom came,
+his service among them did not cease. Their
+struggling pastors and congregations sought his
+counsel and were not disappointed. They looked
+on him as their big white brother, wise and good,
+and to this day he is remembered among them
+with affection. Here is a tribute written by a
+negro teacher on the occasion of Mr. Cocke's
+death. No more tender or significant praise has
+been accorded him.</p>
+
+<p>"My race in this section of the State would be
+guilty of the rankest ingratitude did they not pay
+a humble tribute to the memory of their friend
+and benefactor, Professor Charles L. Cocke.
+Any tribute to his memory must needs be incomplete
+without a touching reminder of his devotion
+to the cause of Christianity among my people
+in the days of slavery. To him my people looked
+for religious instruction in those dark days.
+Through his zeal and untiring efforts the slaves
+of this section of the State were allowed to attend
+services at the white Baptist church Sunday evenings
+where they could hear the word of God
+preached to them by the white ministers of the
+gospel, Professor Cocke himself frequently leading<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+the meetings. He taught the slaves sound lessons
+in morality and honesty, and it is a well
+known fact that the slaves of this county were
+among the most upright, honest and trustworthy
+to be found anywhere in the South. Upon every
+plantation were to be found Christian men and
+women of our race whose lives were honest and
+true, and whose characters were spotless, and they
+enjoyed the confidence, respect, and sometimes a
+devotion, from their masters, that was touching
+and beautiful. Upon every plantation were to be
+found colored preachers who 'exhorted' to their
+people and explained to them the lessons that had
+been taught them by Professor Cocke. Whilst
+laboring faithfully amongst the whites, he did not
+forget the poor African slave.</p>
+
+<p>"At the close of the war, when freedom came
+to our people, he gave them the best advice and
+encouragement in the organization of their own
+churches. He was full of the milk of human
+kindness. He was ever ready, willing, yea, anxious
+to give advice and instruction to our preachers
+who sought his aid. His purse was open to
+any colored minister who appealed to him for
+help. No colored church was ever built in this
+county that did not receive substantial aid at his
+hands. Thousands of our people with bowed
+heads mourn his loss and revere his memory. My
+mother and father received religious instruction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+at his hands, and it is with a heart full of untold
+gratitude that I pen this tribute. Professor
+Cocke was a white man in all that word implied,
+but he was a Christian and not afraid to labor
+among men of 'low estate.'</p>
+
+<p>"Such men are the negro's best friends on
+earth. We have nothing to fear at their hands.
+To them we have ever been true and devoted, and
+shall forever remain so. Such men are the salt
+of the earth, and the negro believes in such salt.</p>
+
+<p>"We, too, drop a tear upon his bier and shall
+ever hold in grateful remembrance his many acts
+of kindness to a benighted race. Sweet be his
+rest."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Zachariah Hunt.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>With the increase of Baptist churches in the
+Southwest, the Valley Association was organized,
+and Enon became a member. Not a pastor
+brought into that body more interest and zeal
+than did Mr. Cocke. He was not of those whose
+Christian liberality slackens and enfeebles devotion
+to their own communion. While broadly
+charitable, he was firmly Baptist. The influence
+he carried into these conferences with his people
+arose from his personal worth, not from his official
+prominence in education. Not one of the
+denominational causes failed to receive his cordial
+support. They appealed to him in the degree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+of their relative importance, but in the roundness
+and balance of his benevolence nothing was
+slighted. He spoke in advocacy of each and all.
+Of course many gatherings wished to hear Mr.
+Cocke speak on the subject of Education. In
+such addresses the fire of his soul was apt to
+burst into flame. He did not quote much.
+Being the impersonation of the educational spirit,
+he did not need to borrow thoughts. The man
+who does things has power with an audience.
+Your theoretical orator has no thrills. After
+one of his powerful utterances, many fathers and
+mothers said in their hearts: "I want to send my
+daughter to that man." His motive was not the
+cunning calculation of a man with a school, but
+rather the pure devotion of a large-minded servant
+of the Master.</p>
+
+<p>In the State assemblies of his brethren, where
+he was regularly found, he was equally a man of
+recognized distinction. Likewise in the meetings
+of the Southern Baptist Convention, he was
+greeted with the honor due to one who had advanced
+the credit of the denomination. He knew
+that fact himself, but no man could have been
+more innocent of self-important airs. While the
+higher education of young women was the goal of
+his daily thought and labor, the Kingdom of God
+was central to all his aims.</p>
+
+<p>Religious controversy never interested him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+Through the years ministers of the various
+churches were invited to Hollins to lead its services
+and receive its hospitalities. Many were the
+interviews with them in his office and on the
+verandas in which conversation drifted into animated
+discussions of things political, educational
+and religious. Views differed, thoughts clashed,
+but the best of humor prevailed. In every denomination
+he had devoted friends.</p>
+
+<p>In vacation periods it was his frequent custom
+to make tours through the Southwest in a large
+vehicle, capable of carrying six or eight persons.
+His trusty colored driver, Prince Smith, held the
+reins, and commonly there was in the party a
+goodly number of Baptist ministers from middle
+or eastern Virginia. From one District Association
+to another, the <i>caravan</i> went, adding zest and
+interest to the meetings. It was a genuinely delightful
+religious progress. The Baptists in all
+this region considered him as their greatest layman
+and their unordained Bishop. Everywhere
+he and his fellow-travelers were welcome guests.
+Sometimes they lodged in homes presided over by
+women who had been Hollins girls. Then the
+hospitality was overflowing. These summer
+visits did much to stimulate the hope and courage
+of many small and slowly growing churches.
+And what charmingly exhilarating experiences
+they brought to the <i>caravan</i>! The men who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+shared these progresses with the "Bishop" of the
+Southwest considered themselves the favorites
+of fortune.</p>
+
+<p>It was never his habit to go off for a summer's
+rest. It might have been well if he had done so,
+but such was not his bent. When the pressure
+ceased at the close of the session, he began to
+plan another visit to his brethren in the mountains.
+To go about doing good was the call of
+his heart in those long past summertimes.</p>
+
+<p>Religion and Education were the watchwords,
+written on the tablets of his heart. "This one
+thing I do, ever pressing on to the mark of the
+prize of the high calling of God." Here is the
+rare spectacle of a long life, full of religious
+activity, supported by unfailing enthusiasm, by
+fixed, high purpose, and by that ardor of achievement
+which are the marks of a great soul. Unselfish
+human service magnified him and gave his
+name to grateful remembrance.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>CHARACTERISTICS</h3>
+
+
+<p>There was nothing angular or disproportionate
+in the structure of Mr. Cocke's mind.
+The photograph of it may be said to have been
+reflected in his face, with its fine assemblage of
+strong and well-balanced features. The intellect
+was clear, the will robust, and the feeling intense.
+One never saw him when he did not know what
+he wanted to do; never found him irresolute or
+languid of purpose; and never knew him indifferent
+or unresponsive. Along every line of enterprise
+that summoned him, these powers were
+joined in unity and concert of action. He was
+not in the smallest degree visionary or quixotic.
+Illusions, phantasms, Utopian dreams, perished
+in the light of his large common sense. Yet this
+man was a true idealist. In his youth he saw
+a vision. At first he saw it dimly, but as time
+passed it grew in clarity, until it materialized in
+a better system for the higher education of young
+women. Had he failed, we might have called
+him a dreamer; but as he succeeded gloriously,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+we rank him with the adventurous thinkers who
+have blessed the world. He followed the gleam
+and domesticated it in society. In his early days
+Hollins Institute was to him what the Holy Grail
+was to the Knights of King Arthur, or what the
+Golden Fleece was to the ancient Argonauts.
+The thing that makes a man great, is a great idea
+seized and brought into beneficent application.
+He is greatest that is servant of all. When Mr.
+Cocke said that his habit was to think thirty
+years ahead, he was hardly conscious that it was
+a fine feat of imagination. Yet this is his title
+to the crown of the Legion of Honor. Intellectual
+and moral heroism must have its reward.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 340px;">
+<img src="images/ill-008.png" width="340" height="500" alt="CHARLES L. COCKE" title="CHARLES L. COCKE" />
+<span class="caption">CHARLES L. COCKE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>He would not have us say that his scholarship
+was broad. Too honest was he to make pretense
+of much learning. Broadly intelligent and well
+informed he was, and an efficient teacher of
+mathematics, but he made no claim to extended
+acquaintance with literature, science or philosophy.
+It is interesting to know that he was fond
+of Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Pollock's
+"Course of Time," and could quote long passages
+from each. He deplored inability to devote himself
+more assiduously to wide reading and deep
+study. The scholarly instinct and craving was in
+him, but the engrossing cares of his Institution
+absolutely monopolized his attention. Pathetic
+necessity barred him from the fuller measures of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+intellectual culture. On administrative burden
+bearing depended the life and growth of the
+school, and with perfect intelligence of the personal
+sacrifice involved, the responsibility was
+accepted. However, he was keen to discover
+scholarship, and quick, with the wisdom of a master,
+to add it to his Faculty.</p>
+
+<p>It was sometimes said that he was autocratic,
+and he himself admitted that there was some
+ground for the charge. How could it be otherwise?
+He was the informing soul and energy
+of the Institution, and in that fact was the sole
+guaranty of its development and perpetuity. He
+knew his plans and hopes, he had bold confidence
+in his own judgment, and he possessed an indomitable
+will. He had to speak with decision and
+authority. All confessed his right to command
+and understood the certain penalties of faulty
+service or of disobedience. The harassments of
+interminable worries and of defeated hopes may
+at times have resulted in a look of sternness, or
+have given his manner a touch of unpleasing
+abruptness; but, withal, it was far from him to
+inflict intentional pain. Austerity of manner, incidentally
+of expression, was balanced by as kind
+a heart as ever beat. He was a superb gentleman,
+and in his prevailing gentler moods, had
+pleasant greetings for all. He was at the helm,
+and the necessity was on him to guide and direct,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+but behind the flash of those keen blue eyes lay
+a wealth of human kindness and affection. All
+Hollins knew it. Tyrant he could not be, but
+master he was. Never did it pass from his
+thought that he was a servant of God and that
+the mind of the Master was the goal of his life.
+He had the bearing of a lord, but the child in his
+heart never died. Then, if ruggedness appeared,
+it was but a surface exhibition, the fatherly feeling
+being the deep inextinguishable fact within.
+For this, his pupils and friends gave him a life-long
+devotion, and his children loved him, almost
+to adoration. This man was no autocrat.</p>
+
+<p>He was conspicuous for his liberality. Owing
+to the fact that his earnings and that of his family
+were constantly swallowed up by improvements
+in the Institution, he was never a wealthy
+man. Yet that fact did not close the door of his
+compassions and generosities. Gifts went to the
+poor, contributions unstinted went to his church
+and to the benevolences of his denomination.
+Once, when attending the Baptist State Association
+at Petersburg, Virginia, after several
+speeches had been made on missions, he arose and
+said: "Now let us do something. I wish right
+here to subscribe $100." The suggestion struck
+the body and a handsome subscription was taken.
+Mrs. Cocke said, some time after the event:
+"Charles came home and sold a horse to pay that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+subscription." At an educational gathering in
+Enon Church, when the inevitable subscription
+was taken, his young son, Lucian, signalized his
+immature and reckless enthusiasm by saying: "Put
+me down for $100." The cautious collector
+called out to the father what the boy had done.
+"All right," said the acquiescent father; "he has
+a pony." In dismay the youth saw the meaning,
+and the pony went to education.</p>
+
+<p>Not often did he relate jokes and anecdotes,
+but he enjoyed them at the hands of his friends.
+He had a saving sense of humor and could relish
+a flash of it even at his own expense. This incident
+he told on himself. At one of the Valley
+meetings of ministers and laymen, he made a
+stirring speech. His oratory was of the spontaneous,
+practical type, often impassioned and tremendously
+moving. When he closed an admiring
+brother arose and paid compliment to the speaker
+for his "exhaustive" address. The modest orator
+meekly protested the extravagant language.
+Then a wit of a preacher stood up to explain to
+Mr. Cocke that the brother did not mean that
+the speaker had "exhausted" the subject, but that
+he had "exhausted" himself! The house was instantly
+in a roar of laughter, in which the orator
+himself as heartily joined. His brethren knew
+they could take innocent liberties with him, because
+they loved him so. At Walnut Grove Baptist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+Church in Bedford County, Virginia, a meeting
+was in progress in the fall of 1881. The
+house was crowded when Mr. Cocke arose. The
+good genius of speech was upon him and that
+address on education was memorable for power.
+Later, in the church yard, a good mother was
+talking to a minister about the speech. A flush
+was on her face and tears glistened in her eyes
+as she said, "Oh, I wish I was able to send my
+daughter to Hollins." Now he had not said one
+word about Hollins, his effort being to magnify
+the importance of the education of young women,
+and to fasten conviction on parental hearts. At
+another time, while he was attending a Baptist
+meeting in Southern Virginia, he spoke before the
+body. A college professor in the audience inquired
+as to the personality of the speaker. On
+being told, he said: "I want to meet him, for he
+said more forcible things in five minutes than all
+the speakers before him in fifteen." An interview
+followed, with the result that the distinguished
+Professor Kusian spent twenty-eight
+years in teaching at Hollins.</p>
+
+<p>Self-conceit Mr. Cocke regarded as a sort of
+vulgarity. With all sincerity, his soul responded
+to the sentiment of him who asked: "Why should
+the spirit of mortal be proud?" His friends
+thought that in some instances his humility was
+overdone. Richmond College gave him the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+degree of LL.D., but he declined it, silently and
+unostentatiously. His frank reverence for truth
+disallowed acceptance. The degree, in his view,
+stood for a measure of learning which he regarded
+himself as lacking. His modesty wronged him.
+The compliment has come to be bestowed on high
+civic merit and achievement as well as on broad
+scholarship. In the former virtues, Mr. Cocke
+stood pre-eminent. His standard, if applied,
+would strip a multitude of names of this honorary
+title.</p>
+
+<p>Interest in making money seems never to have
+touched him. Not once did he venture on an investment.
+The material prosperity of men gratified
+him. He knew that most men ought to make
+money, but he had no time for it. "This one
+thing I do." On one thing, the gifts, plans and
+powers of his long life were literally and undividedly
+centered.</p>
+
+<p>He loathed the feeling of jealousy. He would
+have despised himself if he had been unable to
+hear the praise of other college presidents and of
+their institutions without inward pangs. Eulogize
+his brethren, and you smote on no chord of
+envy. He was a large man. He bore no grudges
+and carried no enmities, the common luggage of
+proud and envious minds.</p>
+
+<p>What a good and generous neighbor this man
+was! The successes and sorrows of the countryside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+round about Hollins touched him sensibly.
+He was their counsellor in times of perplexity;
+their comforter in seasons of grief. Frequent
+were the times when a minister not being accessible,
+he conducted funerals and buried the dead.
+He loved the people as do all who really love
+God. The religion that attempts to terminate on
+God, ignoring human beings, is as sounding brass
+and a clanging cymbal. Of such worship this man
+knew nothing. He expressed love to the divine
+in even-handed justice and in benevolent sympathy
+among men. Perhaps the finest tribute
+paid at his funeral was spoken by the Lutheran
+minister, Dr. F. V. N. Painter, a part of which
+is as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Cocke was a great educator. He was
+great both in theory and practice. He had not
+made, I think, an elaborate study of the science
+and history of education, as they are presented in
+text-books. His knowledge was deeper than the
+knowledge acquired in that way. In the educational
+work of more than fifty years, his strong
+intellect worked out independent views of educational
+principles and methods. In no small
+degree he helped to make the educational history
+of Virginia and of the South.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Cocke always impressed me as a large
+man. His stalwart frame was but the counterpart
+of a vigorous intellect. There was nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+petty, narrow, cynical, in his views or aims or
+methods. He loved to deal with fundamental
+principles and great facts; and in his discussion
+of any subject, there was always a breadth of
+view and a vigor of utterance that commanded
+attention. In his great, absorbing concern for
+truth, he cared but little for that delicacy of
+diction and that refinement of phrasing which so
+often, in the hands of smaller men, become an
+end in themselves. He was a strong earnest man,
+wrapped about with invincible integrity, reminding
+us of Carlyle's words on Luther, 'Great, not
+as a hewn obelisk, but as an Alpine mountain, yet
+in the clefts of it beautiful valleys with flowers'.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Cocke was a man of sterling integrity of
+character. A brief acquaintance was sufficient to
+elicit our highest confidence. He was straightforward
+and honest in his aims and methods of
+work. He attempted to deceive neither himself
+nor others; and it is impossible now to associate
+an insincere or crafty diplomacy with his character.
+His native integrity of soul, which must
+have come as a rich inheritance from worthy
+ancestors, was strengthened by his deep religious
+life. He recognized his supreme obligations to
+God; and he took the life of Jesus Christ as his
+model. Thus he stood before us as a beautiful
+example of Christian manhood. In character and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+in life he reflected credit on our common
+humanity."</p>
+
+<p>It is the divine way to do mighty works
+through consecrated men and women. Christian
+faith so identifies one with the life of God that
+the eternal energies can flow onward to great
+consummations, even to the casting of mountains
+of difficulty into the sea. Nothing evil was ever
+charged against Mr. Cocke. The absolute open
+purity of the man shamed all envy, and paralyzed
+misrepresentation. Misunderstood and unappreciated
+at times he doubtless was, but this he
+accepted as one of the inevitable assets of an
+ongoing, achieving career. He was not perfect,
+but he pressed far up the heights of resplendent
+manhood. The signature of a divine call was
+upon him, and he honored it to the end. His long
+labor fell far short of his dreams, but it was
+crowned with the blessings of Heaven.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"All I could never be,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">All, men ignored in me,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">That was I worth to God."</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hollins College is his monument. There it
+stands, a thing of beauty, by the little Sulphur
+Spring. There may it stand forever!</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS</h3>
+
+
+<p>The building of Hollins Institute was not
+the achievement of one man. It was the
+outcome of associated work. There was a leader,
+gifted with vision, judgment and iron will, but
+without abundant and able co-operation, there
+would have been no realization of his scheme.
+No man would be more prompt than Mr. Cocke
+in acknowledgment of this fact. He was accurate
+in measurements of the qualities of men and
+women, and not often in his selection of teachers
+was his judgment at fault. It was a compliment
+to be invited into his Faculty, and its members
+always found Hollins one big family. In one
+dining hall, students and teachers met three times
+a day, and the warmth of home feeling fused all
+generous natures into one delightful fellowship.
+Mr. Cocke did not look on his comrades as hired
+people. He took them into his confidence and
+high regard as honorable and worthy associates
+in his sacred work of education. He was no dictator;
+he issued no commands. He trusted his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+teachers, invited their freedom of initiative, and
+complimented them with the expectation of
+efficient service. He asked for good team work.
+It is no surprise that in such an atmosphere and
+under such genial conditions, he always had a
+loyal and harmonious Faculty. Rarely did one
+of its members go away without happy memories
+and loving attachments. Many fine men and
+women, through the long years, made invaluable
+contributions to the upbuilding of the Institution.
+Their work was worthy of all praise, and it is a
+matter of regret that most of their names have
+to be omitted from this brief record.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 346px;">
+<img src="images/ill-009.png" width="346" height="500" alt="MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE" title="MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE" />
+<span class="caption">MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE</span>
+</div>
+
+<h4><i>Mrs. Charles L. Cocke</i></h4>
+
+<p>In the presentation of Mr. Cocke's fellow-workers
+in the building up of Hollins Institute,
+no one will deny the first place to his wife. Her
+pre-eminent worth has already been indicated in
+the foregoing chapters. Longer than others, she
+bore him company and demonstrated a sturdiness
+of character, quite as marked as his own. She
+did not want to come to the mountains with her
+three little children. In 1845, she listened with
+loving interest to the enthusiastic recitals of her
+husband, just returned from the Southwest, but
+kept hidden in her heart an invincible preference
+for her old home. Yet, in the summer of 1846,
+she went with him, loyally and cheerfully. His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+optimism she could not share, but the path of
+duty she trod as willingly as he. In the far after
+years she confided to her children that she had
+never loved the mountains, and then added, "But
+I never told Charles!" The fact would not have
+helped him, hence it was shut up in her heart.
+That confession is full of great meanings,
+pathetic, unselfish and honorable. Such was her
+faith in him, such her love and hearty comradeship
+in toil and sacrifice, that he most likely never
+suspected the secret feeling.</p>
+
+<p>The shock of that first view of her new home
+we have seen. A little later, the primitive rawness
+of it was accentuated to her as she saw a
+wild bear leisurely passing through the premises!
+Bravely she plied the domestic tasks, and smiled
+sympathetically on her husband's plans. In truth,
+without such a wife he could not have won. In
+the strong cord that held him to his work, she
+was the golden strand. Though loaded with the
+cares of the household and of her little ones, this
+wonderful woman gave herself to numberless
+ministries among the girls. One feels astonishment
+at her physical endurance. Her energies
+and womanly loveliness were elemental in the
+making of Hollins. Six years after her arrival,
+it was her joy to see her brother, Professor William
+H. Pleasants, added to the Faculty. In the
+long, dark struggles that were to follow, there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+was no breaking down of her faith and courage.
+Through two generations, the girls loved her with
+a genuine affection, and made no distinction between
+her and Mr. Cocke in the bestowal of
+honors.</p>
+
+<p>It was truly said, that if Mr. Cocke was the
+head of Hollins, Mrs. Cocke was its heart. That
+splendid patriarchal Trustee, Mr. Wm. A.
+Miller, says: "It is common to speak of the wife
+as the better half. In my view, Mrs. Cocke was
+the better two-thirds." She watched the health
+of the girls, and entered into their amusements,
+sometimes even lending her own wardrobe for a
+histrionic performance. She could never endure
+harsh criticism, and if conversation drifted in that
+direction, she invariably withdrew. No unkind
+speech ever escaped her lips. To most mortals
+this will seem unbelievable, but ample testimony
+supports it. If ever compelled to express disapproval,
+it was in fashion so gentle that no
+sting was left. In the latter years, all the graces
+and beatitudes seemed to cluster on that feminine
+face, framed in with silver locks and the little
+white cap. She had a delightful gift of humor
+and many times the unconscious play of it surprised
+her by its mirthful effects. Enon Church
+and its worship always enlisted her active sympathy
+and gave her spiritual comfort. Often in
+quiet seclusion, she was found reading her Bible.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>The eventide came slowly on, with the relaxation
+of cares long borne. Then came the desolation
+of sorrow, and a deepening of life's lonesomeness.
+There was no decay of mental power,
+no encroachment of disease. At last the mortal
+part went down without pain, and on January 5th,
+1906, the Mother of Hollins went away. Just
+three weeks more, and she would have rounded
+out her eighty-sixth year. The last services revived
+memories of those solemn scenes of May
+6th, 1901. She was laid beside him on the hill,
+and weeping college girls strewed the grave with
+flowers.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Professor William Henry Pleasants</i></h4>
+
+<p>Here is a great looking man, scholarly, courtly,
+popular, and in his maturer years, affectionately
+called, "Uncle Billy." He was born at the "Picquenocque"
+homestead, five miles north of Richmond,
+January 29th, 1831, the youngest in a
+family of nine children. The family was reared
+under the quiet influence of the Quaker faith.
+At about eighteen years of age, the young man
+graduated at Richmond College, and entered into
+business relations with a foreign tobacco firm, in
+which was the promise of promotion and wealth.
+Turning from this inviting prospect, he went to
+the University of Virginia, and by diligence in
+study, bore off its honors. Mr. Cocke invited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+him to Hollins in 1852, just as the "Female
+Seminary" began its work. Soon thereafter, he
+married Miss Minta Smoot, of Washington City.
+After a few years, the young wife passed away,
+leaving him with a little daughter and son, who
+became the sole objects of his devotion. It was
+his joy to see the daughter, Mary, achieve distinction
+as a teacher of Music at Hollins.</p>
+
+<p>He was a lover of Latin and Greek; and literature,
+ancient and modern, was his passion.
+Latin was his special department of instruction,
+but so versatile was his culture that he often
+taught the classes in Natural Science and Philosophy.
+He was a magnetic teacher, accurate,
+clear and inspiring. He won reputation as a
+polished writer and speaker, and had a natural
+fondness for music and flowers. In association
+with congenial friends, he was the center of
+courtesy and charm. Masonry was his pleasing
+avocation, and he was twice honored with the
+office of Grand Master of Masons of Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Here are a few of the many fine sayings which
+reflect his quality:</p>
+
+<p>"Find out things for yourself, and you will
+know them better than if I were to tell you beforehand."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid that the average teacher of the
+present day prepares the students for examinations,
+not for life."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>"All higher education is essentially self-education."</p>
+
+<p>"Can anyone who himself neither intelligently
+observes, reflects, nor reasons, aid others in so
+doing?"</p>
+
+<p>Washington and Lee University gave him the
+degree of LL.D. in 1907. He gave up his work
+as teacher in 1912, having spent sixty years in
+the service. On November 26th, 1914, he
+passed away, lacking only two months of fulfilling
+his eighty-fourth year. He sleeps with his
+kindred in the little cemetery on the hill.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Professor Joseph A. Turner</i></h4>
+
+<p>Professor Turner was born in Greenville
+County, Virginia, August 6th, 1839; was a B.A.
+of Richmond College in 1858, and an M.A. of
+the University of Virginia, in 1860. He served
+in Mahone's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia,
+during the entire war, and in 1866 accepted
+the chair of English and Modern Languages at
+Hollins Institute, which position he held to the
+time of his death, May 5th, 1878. Hollins has
+had many able and popular teachers, but it is
+simple truth to say that none ever stirred more
+enthusiastic admiration and devotion than he.
+Indeed, after hearing and reading his eulogies,
+one is almost forced to the conclusion that he was
+one of the most remarkable teachers the Institution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+has ever known. Of high character, broad
+scholarly sympathies, and passion for teaching, he
+made his classroom electric with literary contagions
+and enthusiasms. Not only did he teach,
+but he magnetized and inspired the student. His
+teaching was largely by lecture, punctuated with
+pointed questions. Intellectually honest, accurate,
+painstaking, he cultivated the same qualities in
+the student. He published a valuable treatise on
+Punctuation and left several works in manuscript
+on his special subjects of English literature and
+philosophy. He contributed occasionally to
+<i>Appleton's Journal</i> and <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i>,
+and regularly to the editorial columns of <i>The
+Nation</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cocke honored and loved him, and the
+tribute he paid to the lost teacher in his annual
+report to the Trustees in 1878, is probably the
+finest ever given by him:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Turner was a man of no ordinary type.
+When a boy, he was a mark among boys; when
+he became a man, he was a man among men. He
+hesitated long between law and teaching, and
+when the question was settled, he gave all the
+energies of his soul to his chosen calling. Prompt,
+able, faithful and enthusiastic, he carried his
+pupils to the highest standards of improvement
+of which they were capable, opening the fields
+of Literature, where they might wander, explore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+and gather the richest fruits in after years. Not
+only did he give them knowledge and culture, but
+he inspired a zest for knowledge which would
+carry them beyond the ordinary confines of
+female acquirements. As an officer in a school
+for girls, his eminent literary attainments, his
+temperament, manners and very person, inspired
+respect and affection. His purpose was to make
+this a prominent Institution for young ladies, and
+accordingly he was engaged in preparation of
+textbooks adapted to that end. Among literary
+men, Mr. Turner was regarded as a scholar of
+mark, and destined to become a figure in the literary
+world."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 415px;">
+<img src="images/ill-010.png" width="415" height="500" alt="MRS. ANNE HOLLINS" title="MRS. ANNE HOLLINS" />
+<span class="caption">MRS. ANNE HOLLINS</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h4><i>Mrs. Leila Virginia Turner</i></h4>
+
+<p>Mrs. Turner, Mr. Cocke's oldest daughter,
+was born in Richmond, Virginia, February 5th,
+1844. She was educated at Hollins and taught
+twenty-one years in the Institution. Brightly
+gifted, ardent, magnetic, witty and companionable,
+she had peculiar power to win and hold the
+hearts of students and friends. She was happily
+married to Professor Joseph A. Turner in 1871,
+and was consigned to early widowhood in 1878.
+Two little children were left to her care. The
+daughter, now Mrs. Erich Rath, teaches in the
+College, and the son, Mr. Joseph A. Turner, is
+its Business Manager.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke</i></h4>
+
+<p>This gentle and accomplished daughter was
+born in Richmond, Virginia, May 25th, 1845.
+She was a graduate of Hollins, and taught many
+years in the college. Though frail in body, she
+was alert in mind, and lovingly responsive to all
+those tasks wherein she could do her father
+service. Gentleness and spiritual refinement were
+eminent qualities. Friendliness and social grace
+seemed native to her character. Her teaching
+was in the department of Literature and Languages,
+and to this day her pupils speak in praise
+of her taste and skill in the teaching art. She
+was a model of feminine culture, and filled her
+mission well. On the 29th of July, 1900, the
+lovable life faded away, at Hollins.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Mr. Charles Henry Cocke</i></h4>
+
+<p>This nobly useful man was born at Hollins,
+May 21st, 1853. He took a course at Richmond
+College and in early manhood became an invaluable
+helper to his father in the business affairs
+at Hollins. The growth of the Institution, with
+the multiplying years and cares of the President,
+made assistance imperative. No more timely
+relief could have been given than that which
+came when young Charles H. Cocke threw his
+fresh energies and enthusiasm into this work. On
+the new manager a multitudinous and bewildering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+mass of incessant duties descended. He discharged
+them with surprising swiftness and
+ability. A friendlier manner or a kinder heart
+could not be. He had patience even with the
+trivial and senseless interruptions that arose.
+Everybody leaned on him and everybody loved
+him. His work at Hollins was one of the finest
+contributions given by any one to the success and
+stability of the Institution. All honor to his
+name. His health began to fail before the end
+of twenty-five years of service, and, too late, he
+began to recruit his spent vitalities. On May
+3rd, 1900, his labors closed in death. All Hollins
+wept and mourned his loss. Mr. Cocke said:
+"He was the right arm of my strength. Without
+him the school would never have reached the
+commanding position it now holds." With the
+precious company on the hill he rests in peace.
+One is glad to see his son, M. Estes Cocke, a
+prominent member of the Faculty.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Mrs. Eliza Speiden Childs</i></h4>
+
+<p>This noble woman was one of the distinguished
+factors in the evolution of beautiful Hollins.
+Rich and varied are the contributions which she
+made to the school. She was born in Washington
+City, July 26th, 1829. Her father, William
+Speiden, was a U. S. Naval officer, and rose to
+the rank of Commodore. Her mother was an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+English lady. Eliza was the oldest of seven children.
+She was educated at Mrs. Kingsford's
+School in Washington, and in that environment
+of elegant culture, her young womanhood was
+nourished. By the strange vicissitudes of human
+life, she was, before middle age, twice a widow,
+with two little children in her care. In the year
+1873, by good fortune both to herself and Mr.
+Cocke, she came to Hollins as Associate Principal,
+a position she was to fill for twenty-five years.
+After resignation, she was made "Emeritus."
+Mr. Cocke said of her: "Mrs. Childs' gifts and
+qualifications were of inestimable value to the
+Institution, and without them and her untiring
+service, it could not have reached the excellence
+it has."</p>
+
+<p>There was about her a captivating nameless
+grace of womanly finish, delicacy and comeliness.
+Her unaffected goodness blended smoothly with
+her emphasis of authority, and a perfect taste
+joined itself to charm of manner and flowing sympathy.
+It was social culture to be in her company.
+Her influence went out over all the South
+and will abide. Her daughter, Miss Marian
+Bayne, is Librarian at Hollins today. Mrs.
+Childs resigned at Hollins in 1898, and on
+August 11, 1901, she passed away, at Marshall,
+Virginia. Her body was laid to rest at Alexandria,
+Virginia, near the scenes of her childhood.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 409px;">
+<img src="images/ill-011.png" width="409" height="500" alt="JOHN HOLLINS" title="JOHN HOLLINS" />
+<span class="caption">JOHN HOLLINS</span>
+</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Professor A. T. L. Kusian, LL.D.</i></h4>
+
+<p>Here is one of the most picturesque and delightful
+of scholars. His history is dramatic and
+his experience of the world is rich. He was born
+in France and educated in Germany. During the
+Civil War his sympathies were with the South,
+and he bought supplies for the Confederacy in
+France and Italy. He came to the United States
+while still young, and took out naturalization
+papers in Kentucky. He married a Virginia lady,
+and taught a number of years in the Baptist College
+at Danville, Virginia. From there he was
+called to Hollins in 1890. After more than
+twenty-five years of work in the department of
+Modern Languages, he retired as Professor
+Emeritus. He was a man of remarkable memory,
+never forgetting a fact or a face. He was one
+of the most competent, courteous and obliging
+of teachers and friends, and for Mr. Cocke he
+had the most sincere admiration and attachment.
+Honored and revered by all, he fell asleep March
+24th, 1920, at his home in Accomac County, Virginia.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Trustees</i></h4>
+
+<p>Two of the original Trustees of Hollins stand
+out particularly as notable for long service and
+devotion.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Mr. William A. Miller</i></h4>
+
+<p>This venerable and delightful gentleman was
+born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in March,
+1824, and is now in his ninety-seventh year. This
+summer of 1920, he is in fair health, and goes
+daily to his place of business in Lynchburg, where
+most of his life has been spent. His whole
+career has been one of stainless virtue and lofty
+Christian character. His first meeting with the
+Trustees of Hollins was on July 5th, 1855; his
+last was in February, 1900, making a term of
+forty-five years. He was always high in the esteem
+of Mr. Cocke. He recently explained in
+humorous way, that his long term of life was due
+to long teaching in Baptist Sunday Schools. This
+got into the papers, and he has received letters
+from all over the country, and some from people
+in other countries, asking his methods of teaching
+the lessons. A halo of honor is on his head, and
+thousands of friends wish him long life.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Colonel George P. Tayloe</i></h4>
+
+<p>On the 18th of April, 1897, this splendid citizen
+of Roanoke, Virginia, this strong and invaluable
+friend of Hollins Institute, passed away, in
+the ninety-third year of his age. He was the
+first-named Trustee on the Board of the Valley
+Union Seminary, in 1842. That position he held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+until the school took the name of Hollins Institute.
+In 1857 he became President of the Board
+of Trustees, and as long as he lived, he held this
+office with distinction. In 1896 some members
+thought it expedient to elect another President,
+owing to Colonel Tayloe's frequent, enforced
+absence on account of sickness. Mr. Cocke objected,
+however, and the grand old man was
+re-elected. Before the next annual meeting he
+was no more.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. William A. Miller has this to say of his
+comrade: "Colonel Tayloe was a gentleman in
+every sense of the word, and was often consulted
+by Mr. Cocke. He seemed to feel himself a part
+of Hollins and was almost like the right arm of
+the President."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cocke himself, in giving a brief history of
+the Institution, in 1896, said, "I cannot close this
+sketch without a tribute to one who well deserves
+to be mentioned on this occasion. The Hon.
+George P. Tayloe, of this County, a gentleman of
+wealth and exalted social station, was the administrator
+of the estate which held possession of the
+property at the time the purchase was made for
+educational purposes. He not only heartily approved
+of the establishment of the school and gave
+liberally to its funds, but he gave his personal influence
+and more than all, he indulged the Trustees
+in the payments due the estate, to the utmost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+limits of the law, refusing to accept offers made
+by others, until he finally secured the property to
+its present owners, thus enabling the school to
+continue its high mission. For nearly the entire
+period of fifty years, he has held the Presidency
+of the Board of Trustees, and seldom has he been
+absent. When at any time during the history of
+the school, money had to be raised for any
+emergency, he was the first to subscribe and
+prompt to pay. His influence has contributed
+largely to its successful career."</p>
+
+<p>The Institution never had a more loyal friend,
+or a more generous and intelligent Trustee. Hollins
+and its community ought to wipe the opprobrious
+name of "Tinker" off the beautiful
+mountain, and replace it with the honorable and
+cherished name of "Tayloe."</p>
+
+<h4><i>Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins</i></h4>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Hollins lived at Lynchburg, Virginia,
+prosperous, highly respected and influential.
+Mr. Hollins was a man of superior worth and always
+responsive to the generous impulses of his intelligent
+wife. Her ancestors, the Halseys, came
+from England in 1623. One of these kinsmen
+was a member of the English Parliament, and
+another went to the United States Congress from
+New Jersey. She was a member of the First
+Baptist Church of Lynchburg, but her husband,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+on account of self-distrust, never joined. Mr.
+Hollins' gift of $5,000 in 1855 was by her inspiration.
+Her own later gifts, amounting to
+$12,500, assured the life of the Institution. But
+for the Civil War, which destroyed most of her
+wealth, she would have given much more. They
+had no children. Mr. Hollins was born February
+11th, 1786, and died April 7th, 1859. Mrs.
+Hollins was born in 1792 and died July 3rd,
+1864. Both were buried in Spring Hill cemetery,
+at Lynchburg.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>HIS MONUMENT</h3>
+
+
+<p>The perpetual, unsatisfied longings of the
+Founder of Hollins projected plans and
+schemes whose completion had to be left to other
+hands. In his wise view, an Institution completed
+was an Institution already on the downward grade.
+The large, expansive life of the
+age requires continuous modifications and enlargements
+to meet the ever-springing exigencies
+of society. In his eighty-first year, amid the desolations
+of a triple bereavement, the aged hero
+sounded this note: "I will devote my energies to
+putting the Institution on a permanent, broad
+basis, with facilities of all kinds to meet the
+advancing demands for such schools; for education
+of every kind throughout the South is on
+rising grade, and Virginia, like New England,
+may yet have a reputation for school facilities
+with scholarly men and women equal to those of
+any section of this broad and progressive land."
+This is the same clarion voice so familiar through
+two generations. Thus came from his lips the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+general program, committed to his successors for
+the following thirty years. With no consciousness
+of the fact, he was providing his own monument
+which lives in the noble Hollins College
+of today.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill-012.png" width="500" height="260" alt="HOLLINS COLLEGE" title="HOLLINS COLLEGE" />
+<span class="caption">HOLLINS COLLEGE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the Institution passed from the Trustees
+to Mr. Cocke, it became the charge of a
+Board of Governors, selected from the members
+of his own family. From that day, they have
+regarded as their precious inheritance the plans
+of his mind and the wishes of his heart. His
+principle of progress has been the guiding light
+of the Board of Governors and not for a moment
+have they forgotten that the passionate desire of
+the Founder of the College was to make Hollins,
+in an ever increasing degree, a leader in the cause
+of the education of women.</p>
+
+<p>What has been done during the nineteen years
+of the Board's control? It is impossible to visit
+Hollins without feeling that the memory of Mr.
+Cocke and his influence equally abide. He, being
+dead, yet speaketh. At his death the Presidency
+of the college went to his daughter, Matty L.
+Cocke, and the Chairmanship of the Board of
+Governors to his son, Lucian H. Cocke. The
+business affairs, so long and heroically managed
+by Charles Henry Cocke, are now entrusted to
+two of the Founder's grandsons: Marion Estes
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>Cocke as Secretary and Treasurer, and Joseph
+Augustine Turner as General Manager.</p>
+
+<p>The improvements on the grounds and buildings,
+and on the farm, have been many. A beautiful
+Library building, made possible by the
+Alumnæ, was erected in 1908, as a memorial to
+Mr. Cocke. The Susanna Infirmary was built in
+1911, as a memorial to Mrs. Cocke. In 1914, the
+Science Hall was built. Meanwhile important
+changes were being made in the courses of study.
+The curriculum was gradually enlarged, and eight
+years after the Founder's death, the institution
+was standardized on the basis of a four years
+college course. When this change was recognized
+in a new charter from the legislature of Virginia,
+the name "Hollins Institute" gave place to that
+of "Hollins College."</p>
+
+<p>The realization of the Founder's dream is an
+endless process, and the motto will ever be,
+"Forward and Upward." In the very atmosphere
+of the place, the sensitive soul feels a
+brooding presence. The trees on the campus,
+nearly all of which he planted, seem to whisper
+the revered name. His Ideal lives, and his Spirit
+interfuses all. His monument is building still.
+Let it go shining down the centuries!</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
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+Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charles Lewis Cocke
+       Founder of Hollins College
+
+Author: William Robert Lee Smith
+
+Release Date: October 6, 2011 [EBook #37636]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES LEWIS COCKE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julia Neufeld, Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
+Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: CHARLES LEWIS COCKE]
+
+
+
+
+  CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+  FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE
+
+
+  BY
+
+  W. R. L. SMITH, D.D.
+
+
+  BOSTON
+  RICHARD G. BADGER
+  THE GORHAM PRESS
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
+  All Rights Reserved
+
+  Made in the United States of America
+  The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+It will be obvious that this biography has been written in a passion of
+admiration and loyal love. Conscious of the eminent worthiness of its
+subject, the writer has felt no temptation to exceed the just limits of
+praise, or to violate the demands of a true sincerity. The effort has
+been to hold the record to a faithful presentation of the facts in a
+long and distinguished career. The singular unity of his life-work,
+localized on one spot of earth, has made the gathering of materials an
+easy task. An intimate and affectionate friendship of twenty-three
+years, is one of the author's invaluable sources. Then, abundant
+information was found in the minutes of the trustee meetings, the yearly
+catalogues, the college magazines, the occasional reminiscent speeches
+to students and the annual commencement address.
+
+One makes bold to say that he fears not the verdict of the older Hollins
+girls on this memoir. If it shall awaken hallowed memories and unseal
+the fount of tears; if it shall tighten the clasp of their heartstrings
+to dear old Hollins, its purpose will have been largely accomplished.
+
+                                                  W. R. L. Smith.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I                                   PAGE
+  THE EARLY YEARS                               21
+
+  CHAPTER II
+  CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST                         34
+
+  CHAPTER III
+  HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE AND GROWTH      49
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+  THE CLEARING SKIES                            63
+
+  CHAPTER V
+  EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT                     75
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+  THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS                   91
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+  COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES                  105
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+  RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND ACTIVITIES         123
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+  CHARACTERISTICS                              132
+
+  CHAPTER X
+  HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS                  142
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+  HIS MONUMENT                                 159
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  CHARLES LEWIS COCKE                                   _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                           FACING PAGE
+
+  CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS, ABOUT 1840    30
+  THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852                              36
+  THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855               46
+  HOLLINS INSTITUTE                                                 60
+  MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE                                             70
+  "GOOD MORNING, 'GYRLS'"                                           92
+  CHARLES L. COCKE                                                 132
+  MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE                                            142
+  MRS. ANNE HOLLINS                                                150
+  JOHN HOLLINS                                                     154
+  HOLLINS COLLEGE                                                  160
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This biographical sketch of Charles L. Cocke has been written with fine
+appreciation and sympathy. It brings before us an exceptionally strong
+man, who after years of struggle against discouragements realized, in
+large measure, the ideals of his early years. It is a story of heroic
+achievement that can not be read without emotion.
+
+Hollins College stands today as a fitting and permanent memorial of its
+founder's indomitable will and noble aims. But there was something still
+finer connected with his years of struggle and toil. Long before the end
+came, he had made the noblest achievement of human life, bringing from
+its disappointments and conflicts, not a cynical distrust of his fellow
+men, but a courageous, hopeful and invincible character of righteousness
+and love. He learned to look upon the tumultuous world with a serene and
+benignant spirit.
+
+It was my privilege for many years to serve as one of the chaplains of
+Hollins College. The hours spent in Mr. Cocke's office after the evening
+service are among my cherished memories. Our talk, often protracted
+till nearly midnight, turned chiefly on educational, religious, and
+social subjects, which always made a strong appeal to his vigorous mind
+and earnest nature. He loved the truth; but in the expression of his
+opinions there was sometimes a delightful touch of exaggeration that
+lent a peculiar charm to his conversation.
+
+Beyond any man I have ever known he possessed the power to call forth
+noble sentiment and stimulate intellectual activity. This quality
+explains, in part at least, the loyal devotion of his co-workers and the
+grateful affection of his students. It made him a great teacher. It
+endowed him with a sort of divine right to leadership; it crowned him
+with the glory of perennial, unconscious beneficence.
+
+In the quality of his intellect he was distinctly Roman. By the law of
+resemblance he easily conjures up before our minds the dignified and
+sturdy personality of a Cato. Without the gifts of Attic versatility,
+his strong intellect and sound judgment set him apart for substantial
+practical achievement. We are fully warranted in believing that he would
+have won in any industrial or political field the same distinguished
+success that he achieved in education.
+
+The religion of the New Testament was a vital element in his character.
+Its dominant feature was not emotion but conscience. To him the call of
+duty was imperative and final. It was in obedience to this call that he
+entered upon his work at Hollins. The materialistic science of the
+latter half of the nineteenth century left him untouched. He recognized
+the Divine agency in the lives of men no less than in the destiny of
+nations. This profound and dominant faith habitually filled the future
+with hope, and imparted to him, as to all who cherish it, unfailing
+courage and strength.
+
+A massive intellect, supported by a deep sense of religious duty, made
+him an independent and fearless thinker. He had the force to break the
+trammels of tradition. With the vision of a true pioneer he saw the need
+of a better intellectual training for American women, and with the
+resourcefulness of a strong nature he led the way in its attainment. His
+aims and efforts were manifestations of real greatness. It is men of
+like vision and resourcefulness who are raised up from time to time to
+lead the forward movements of our race. It is no reproach to say that
+Mr. Cocke would hardly have been in full sympathy with the feminist
+movement of recent years. No man can live too far ahead of his time. But
+he helped to prepare the way for it by his pioneer insistence on a
+richer culture and larger opportunities for women; and it may justly be
+said that no other man in Virginia or the South has a higher claim on
+their recognition and gratitude.
+
+He was fortunate to recognize in his early manhood his vocation as a
+pioneer educator. The call was clear, and his consecration complete. Few
+men have ever labored with greater singleness of purpose. As Tennyson
+dedicated his life to poetry and Darwin to science, so Mr. Cocke gave
+himself to the work of a nobler culture for the women of Virginia and
+later of our whole country. Without this singleness of aim, which gave
+unity to his efforts for more than fifty years, he could not have
+brought his great life-task to a triumphant conclusion.
+
+But his great mind and heart were not so utterly absorbed in this work
+as to exclude from his thought and effort other important interests.
+Before the present movement for social betterment had been inaugurated,
+he labored unselfishly for the material and moral improvement of his
+community and State. He was interested in the establishment of schools
+for boys. He was a recognized leader in the extension of the Baptist
+Church in Southwestern Virginia, and his foresight and wise counsel
+contributed in no small measure to the vigorous life and growth of that
+denomination.
+
+Yet he was not narrowly sectarian. His broad outlook on life welcomed
+every agency that contributed to moral and religious advancement. To
+his mind denominational differences of creed were of secondary
+importance as compared with the great fundamental agreement in the work
+of establishing the kingdom of God in the world. He cultivated friendly
+relations with all branches of the Christian Church, and invited their
+ministers from time to time to conduct services in the Hollins Chapel.
+His chief requirement was a helpful message supported by an upright
+life.
+
+He delighted, it seems to me, in what we might call intellectual
+athletics. He welcomed a disagreement of view, and enjoyed measuring
+strength in an argument. The enjoyment, I think, was independent of the
+outcome of the discussion; it was found in the pleasurable exercise of a
+vigorous brain. Defeat in argument yielded him scarcely less pleasure
+than did victory. The warmest discussion never ruffled in the slightest
+degree his self-possession and friendly courtesy.
+
+In the massiveness of his character he was exempt from the foibles of
+smaller natures. In his striving after truth he was unswayed in his
+judgment by petty prejudices. His broad benevolence and warm interest in
+the welfare of others shielded him from envy and jealousy. While sternly
+intolerant of wrong-doing, he was gently patient with the wrong-doer,
+being less anxious to punish than to reclaim. Though he was doubtless
+conscious of his strength, as are all truly great men, he was too
+sensible and honest to feel the inflation of egotism. His natural
+stately dignity forbade familiarity; but to those in need he was
+uniformly kind and helpful. It is the memory of his kindness and
+helpfulness that has enshrined his image in many hearts.
+
+The life of so rare a character deserves to be recorded in permanent
+form. It will thus stand as an inspiration and guide to others. As
+biographer Dr. Smith has performed his task worthily; and I esteem it a
+privilege to write this introduction and pay this tribute of admiration
+and affection to one of the greatest men I have known.
+
+                                                F. V. N. PAINTER.
+
+  SALEM, VA.,
+  September 2, 1920.
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGY
+
+
+1820
+
+_February_ 21 Charles L. Cocke was born at Edgehill, King William
+County, Va.
+
+
+1836
+
+He entered Richmond College.
+
+
+1838
+
+He entered Columbian College at Washington, D. C.
+
+
+1840
+
+Graduated from Columbian College, and accepted a position at Richmond
+College.
+
+
+1840
+
+On _December_ 31 married Susanna Virginia Pleasants, of Henrico County.
+
+
+1840-1846
+
+Connected with Richmond College.
+
+
+1845
+
+Called to take charge of "Valley Union Seminary," a co-educational
+school, Roanoke County, Va., at Botetourt Springs.
+
+
+1846
+
+_June_ 23 arrived at Botetourt Springs to take charge of the school.
+
+
+1846
+
+_July_ 1 the first session under Mr. Cocke's superintendence opened with
+36 boys and 27 girls.
+
+
+1852
+
+Board of Trustees discontinued the department for boys.
+
+
+1852
+
+_July_ 20 the session 1852-'53 opened for girls only, under the name The
+Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs, Va., Mr. Cocke, Principal,
+Registration 81 girls.
+
+
+1853
+
+_September_ 4 the session of 1853-'54 opened with increased faculty and
+registration of 150 girls.
+
+
+1855
+
+Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins of Lynchburg, Va., donated funds to the
+institution, and in their Honor the name was changed to _Hollins
+Institute_.
+
+
+1855-'61
+
+Average attendance 106.
+
+
+1861-'65
+
+Doors not closed during this period. Average attendance 134.
+
+
+1865-'71
+
+Average attendance 73.
+
+
+1871-1900
+
+Buildings, enlarged to accommodate 225 students.
+
+
+1901
+
+_May_ 4 Charles L. Cocke died.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE
+
+    I think I would rather have written a great biography than a
+    great book of any other sort, as I would have rather painted
+    a great portrait than any other kind of picture.
+
+                                                PHILLIPS BROOKS.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE EARLY YEARS
+
+1820-1846
+
+
+In the library at Hollins College is a life-size portrait of a great
+Virginian. In its presence, you instantly feel the spell of a commanding
+personality. The figure is tall, graceful, well proportioned, and in the
+right hand is a diploma, the proper symbol of the vocation of a College
+President. The attitude exactly fits the supreme moment on Commencement
+day. In the face, the artist has cunningly gathered the insignia of fine
+mental quality, and pictured the forces of achieving manhood. The ample
+brow looks the home of ideality and enterprise, the aquiline nose hints
+endurance and tireless energy. Napoleon selected as his marshals men
+marked by the prominence of this feature. That jaw and chin and those
+thin lips speak virility and determination. In the glance of those blue,
+eagle eyes, are intimations of keen intensity and lightning force, yet
+subduable to all the moods of tenderness and love. Truly, this is a
+notably fine presentation in art of one of the noblest Virginians of the
+19th century.
+
+This man was marked for high performance, and would have won distinction
+in any sphere of honorable endeavor. "Excelsior" was the divine
+imprimatur stamped on his nature. His call was to leadership, and his
+response enrolled him among the pioneers in the cause of the higher
+education of women in the South. The educational ideals of Thomas
+Jefferson became the inspiration of his youth, and with astonishing
+tenacity and unity of purpose he pursued them until he worked out
+Hollins College, making it one of the rare gems of American culture. His
+work stimulated the founding of other like institutions in Virginia and
+the South. Thus he builded wiser than he knew. He wrought well in his
+generation, and a multitude of splendid women throughout the whole
+nation will revere his name forever. It was a brilliant battle he fought
+against hostile conditions and appalling odds. He was cast in heroic
+mold. In fancy we can see him bearing his banner up the heights, his
+eyes flashing strange fires, and every energy of soul and body exerted
+to its utmost. The name of this remarkable man is Charles Lewis Cocke,
+and there stands the faithful, impressive likeness of him in the
+library building at Hollins College.
+
+It is the story of this man that we want to know, and to that end the
+following pages are written. It is the right of every child to be born
+of honorable parentage. The life of Charles L. Cocke began with a good
+heredity. He was born February 21, 1820, at Edgehill, the home of his
+father, James Cocke, in King William County, Virginia. Elizabeth Fox was
+the maiden name of his mother. Both family names run back a number of
+generations, the old English ancestors having come to Virginia in the
+17th century. Richard Cocke bought a home with three thousand acres, and
+from 1644 to 1654 represented Henrico in the House of Burgesses. John
+Fox located in York County and then in Gloucester, in the years 1660 to
+1680. From this worthy stock descended the subject of this biography.
+Charles Lewis was the oldest son of the family at Edgehill. Religious
+reverence and intelligence dwelt in the home, and correct views of
+conduct were expressed in parental example. The Baptist faith was an
+important part of his inheritance, and at Beulah Church near by his
+childhood received its first impressions of divine worship. By singular
+good fortune, the benign influence of the eloquent pastor and friend,
+the Rev. Dr. Andrew Broaddus, fell on the family and the growing lad.
+In the atmosphere of this happy home, and in the moral securities and
+privileges of a good country community, the early years were passed. The
+boy's mind was alert, and both on the farm and in the local schools,
+gave hints of latent powers. The growing youth demonstrated his
+managerial capacity one year by taking charge of a kinsman's farm and
+raising, as he said, "the finest crop it had ever borne." Self-reliance
+and the power of bringing things to pass early became distinguishing
+qualities. The father was proud of the promise of his son, and when the
+boy was about fifteen years of age, gave him his choice of a career on
+the farm or in some professional calling. The father could hardly have
+been surprised at the prompt decision in favor of a profession.
+
+Richmond College was then new, and under the presidency of the Rev. Dr.
+Robert Ryland, was prosecuting its work in the suburbs of the Capital
+City. The College was only twenty miles distant from Edgehill and soon
+our ambitious youth was diligently pursuing his studies within its
+walls. No special genius betrayed itself, but there was the same bent of
+assiduous application which was on display when the abundant crop was
+raised. Dr. Ryland was not slow in discovering the promising traits in
+the new student, and a mutual interest sprang up between them. The
+astute President saw in the boy the prophecy of stalwart young manhood,
+just such a factor as might some day be of value to himself in the
+labors of the Institution. The interest grew into intimacy, and there
+were occasional confidential interchanges respecting the boy's hopes and
+aspirations. The time of attendance on the College classes was drawing
+to a close, when one day the Doctor suggested to him a further course at
+Columbian College, a Baptist institution of higher learning in
+Washington City. The thought enlisted the youth's enthusiasm, but he
+urged the lack of funds needful for such a scheme. Then the generous
+friend replied: "I will furnish that, and you can repay me at your
+convenience."
+
+Here was a compliment from a wise educator which, though it tended to no
+inflation of conceit, put a glowing stimulus in a young man's soul. No
+true man or woman ever fails to give gratitude and honor to those who
+quickened and encouraged aspiration in the days of youth. Impressed
+deeply by the kindly offer, and stirred by leaping ambition, Charles
+Lewis Cocke left the College and returned to his home. At once he
+communicated to his father the new visions and hopes. The father,
+pleased at the hunger of the son for larger knowledge, said: "You shall
+go to Columbian College; but we will not draw on the generosity of Dr.
+Ryland. I will supply the means." Charles was then about eighteen years
+of age.
+
+The boy Daniel Webster was riding one day in a buggy with his father,
+when at a certain point of the conversation the father said: "Son, I
+have decided to send you to Dartmouth College." The announcement fell
+like music on the aspiring soul, and the only response the delighted son
+could make was to lean his head on his father's bosom and burst into
+tears. Edgehill knew an emotion like that in the summer of 1838.
+Pursuant to plans for early departure to Washington, James Cocke and his
+son drove to Richmond in a buggy. While the reins were in the father's
+hands, the horse went at a sluggish gait. Presently they were passed to
+the son, when instantly the drudging steed pricked up his ears and
+struck a new stride.
+
+"You have been whipping this horse," exclaimed the surprised father.
+
+"No," was the reply, "I have never whipped him, but he knows what I want
+him to do."
+
+Long years afterward, this little incident was told by the President of
+Hollins Institute to his graduating class, with the reflection, that he
+had learned that the best movements in horses and in people can be
+secured without whipping.
+
+The new student was welcomed into Columbian College and there pursued
+the courses of study with unabating enthusiasm. Naturally the
+environment of the national Capital served as a wholesome stimulus to
+all his faculties. The good habits of his life suffered no deterioration
+and the fine qualities of his mind went on maturing rapidly. It was
+during this period that deepening religious impressions resulted in an
+open confession of faith, and in union with a Baptist church in the
+city. He was baptized in the Potomac river. Closely following his
+twentieth birthday came his graduation with the degree of M.A. It is to
+be regretted that no letters written to his parents during this season
+have been preserved. Fortunately, two written to his friends do survive.
+One, sent to his college chum, Mr. A. B. Clark, of Richmond, Virginia,
+bears date of May 22, 1839:
+
+"I walk at the usual times alone, spending the moments mostly in
+meditation on serious subjects. My thoughts are more apt to turn this
+way than formerly. I write two lessons per day in Greek and read but
+little in other books."
+
+Something far more significant appears in the second letter which was
+addressed to a kinswoman in the neighborhood of Edgehill. In that he
+declared a settled purpose, "To devote my life to the higher education
+of women in the South, which I consider one of our greatest needs. In
+this decision, my promised wife concurs." What special influences led
+the college boy to such a majestic consecration, we have no means of
+discovering. That it is a mark of uncommon maturity and breadth of
+intelligent conception, there can be no question.
+
+The benignant spirit of Democracy was becoming atmospheric and the
+intellectual emancipation of woman steadily and slowly pressed to the
+fore. Ancient prejudices and stupidities were beginning reluctantly to
+yield. Not one of the elder ages had ever grasped the thought of woman's
+mental, social and political equality with her brothers. Here and there
+a lone voice had been lifted in her behalf to fall on deaf ears and
+unresponsive hearts. The world habit of thought laughed the innovation
+out of court and the bondage of general ignorance remained unbroken. But
+the imperial idea of the dignity and worth of the human individual could
+not be forever submerged. Its persistent pressure loosened the bonds of
+tradition and began to breach the walls of custom. Modern freedom
+wrought itself into the minds of men, and thinkers announced the
+harbinger of a new era. Practice, as usual, lagged behind theory, and
+one hundred years ago when Charles L. Cocke was born, advantages for the
+culture of daughters were inferior to those afforded the sons. That
+this inequality should have impressed the mind of a young collegian,
+shows uncommon susceptibility to social needs and sacred human rights. A
+rare young manhood came to expression when he dedicated himself to the
+new ideal. He did not originate the ideal. It was borne to him in the
+expansive thought of the time. His shining merit is in the fact that he
+made the early resolve to be an agent in bringing in the better day for
+the liberal education of young women.
+
+It was in the Spring of 1840 that his college work closed and he
+received the degree of Master of Arts. Before the Finals of that
+session, there was some important correspondence between himself and
+Doctor Ryland. The good President had startled Charles with the
+flattering proposition that he should become a member of the Faculty of
+Richmond College, as assistant teacher in Mathematics and as manager of
+the dining hall. The college was then trying to combine training in
+agriculture with the usual curriculum, an experiment that was soon
+abandoned. The young man was too genuinely modest to fancy himself
+equipped for so responsible a position. He faced the issue frankly,
+however, and much influenced by confidence in the judgment of Doctor
+Ryland, decided to accept. Leaving Columbian College he hastened to
+witness the closing exercises at Richmond College.
+
+It must have seemed almost comical to see a practically beardless
+youngster put in charge of some of the vitally important duties of the
+Institution. There he was, without a touch of egotism of
+self-consciousness, quiet of manner, and yet with something about him
+that looked resourceful, unapologetic, and unafraid. You may be sure
+that the boys looked at him curiously, and asked themselves, "Can he do
+it?" Of course there were cautious conservatives who doubted the
+competency of the new incumbent. This tribe is always with us. However,
+there was ground of assurance in the known confidence of Doctor Ryland,
+and nothing remained but to wait and see its vindication. No misgivings
+troubled the Doctor himself. Without bluster or consequential airs, the
+assistant professor made prompt acquaintance with his tasks, and
+discharged them with an efficiency that left nothing to be desired. He
+was on his mettle, conscious of the questioning curiosity centered upon
+himself. For the first time in his life he stood before the footlights
+of public observation and expectation. Leadership had thrust its burdens
+on him early and had imposed its first critical test.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS ABOUT
+1840]
+
+A survey of the affairs of the dining hall convinced him that a change
+of methods was necessary, and with pure audacity he introduced them. At
+the opening of the fall session of 1840 he presented the boys with a
+new bill of fare. To their astonishment he gave them oysters, finding
+them as cheap as other meats. He gave them raisins and plum pudding for
+dessert. He scored instant success, and the boys' heartstrings were in
+his hands. Without incurring increased expense, the new manager secured
+a new satisfaction with the dining hall. Noiselessly other needed
+changes were made and the voice of the growler ceased to be heard. At
+the helm was an officer who knew college boys, and the college spirit
+was noticeably improved. Like competency appeared in the duties of the
+class room. He could teach mathematics and he did. Before the
+Commencement in 1841, Charles L. Cocke was recognized as a distinct
+contribution to the life of the Institution. Here is a young professor
+who does not propose to rest content with inadequate facilities and
+outworn methods. His whole nature cries for improvement and for better
+ways of doing things. What a boon to many a school and college would
+such a man be. Good Doctor Ryland's face wore a smile which plainly
+said, "I told you so." His judgment of capacity and character was
+sufficiently justified. The young comrade was to him an object of
+ever-deepening interest and their relations steadily ripened into
+sincere and loving friendship.
+
+Now, the President knew that his assistant was romantically entangled
+with an affair of the heart. He also knew the fair young woman who was
+responsible for that state of things. Miss Susanna V. Pleasants lived
+five miles north of Richmond in a lovely old Virginia home which bore
+the Indian name of "Picquenocque." Knowing that a matrimonial alliance
+was imminent, the Doctor, one day, ventured to ask Charles about the
+date of the coming event. He warmly approved the match and was exuberant
+in congratulations. As a matter of fact he was hoping that the marriage
+would tend to fix his assistant more firmly in Richmond College. This
+genial intrusion into sacred privacy was not resented, but Charles found
+it inconvenient to confide. The question was asked in November, and at
+that very moment the issue to be decided between the sweethearts was
+whether the ceremony should come off on the last day of December, or the
+first of January following. That problem enabled the young gentleman to
+make a complete but truthful evasion. His honest reply was: "I know
+neither the day, nor the month, nor the year." There the matter ended,
+and the mystified Doctor relapsed into silence. Later the mighty problem
+was solved and the marriage was solemnized on the last day of 1840.
+Doctor Ryland, officiating, beamed on the happy pair and found great
+merriment in the perfectly true, but dextrously non-committal answer,
+made just six weeks before. The bride and groom had not quite reached
+their twenty-first birthdays when they began that remarkable human
+pilgrimage which was to endure a little more than sixty years. The
+angels of domestic peace and joy sang benediction all the way. That home
+life is a glorious memory now, but its lesson is more precious than
+gold. An astronomer discerned a luminous star. On closer inspection he
+found it, not single but binary. The twin stars joined their radiance,
+which came streaming down in one glorious pencil of light. Such a star
+beams forever in the Hollins firmament.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST
+
+1846-1856
+
+
+The attraction of the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains was a fact
+freely confessed by eastern Virginians. Even before the Revolutionary
+War the section, now known as the Tazewell country, became an Eldorado,
+and thitherward set the streams of migration. Along the beautiful
+valleys and in the hearts of the hills lay the possibilities of fabulous
+wealth. Through the early decades of the nineteenth century this
+fascination continued, population increased, centers of culture were
+formed, and men of enterprise began to think of a railroad from
+Lynchburg, Virginia, to East Tennessee. Christian evangelism was active,
+but education lagged. There were fine brains in the Southwest, but the
+means of culture were deficient. The land called for the school teacher.
+Slowly the providential workings were preparing a place for a young
+professor in Richmond College, who as yet had no dream of it.
+
+Seven miles north of the City of Roanoke, Carvin's creek pours down out
+of the mountains into the wonderful Roanoke Valley. Right in the
+aperture of the hills where it emerges, was discovered a little sulphur
+spring whose properties suggested the establishment of a watering place.
+Accordingly, Mr. Johnston, a man of wealth from Richmond, bought a
+hundred acres and built a commodious brick hotel near the two springs,
+one limestone, the other sulphur. This was somewhere near the year 1815.
+A race course was made one of the additional attractions. The place took
+the name of "Botetourt Springs," and at once leaped into fame as a
+health resort. The turnpike from the west passed immediately in front of
+the hotel and between the springs, which are one hundred yards apart.
+General Andrew Jackson stopped here for entertainment on his way to and
+from Washington City. General Lafayette, on his last visit to the United
+States, was an honored guest. Touring south, he came out of his way to
+pay respect to his old friend, Mr. Johnston.
+
+Interesting legends from the old pioneer days gathered round the spot.
+One bold adventurer, named Carvin, was said to have built a rock castle
+on a crag near the springs and to have had many hair-breadth escapes
+from Indians and wild beasts. All that is certainly known is, that he
+left his name on the little creek that passes nearby. A huge, isolated
+mountain, in the shape of an elephant, rises just one mile to the north,
+and tradition says that cowardly slackers of the Revolutionary period
+made it a hiding place. They mended pots, plates and pans, and so were
+called "tinkers." Thus it comes that the beautiful mountain wears a
+homely name and perpetuates an unworthy memory.
+
+Botetourt Springs was popular and well patronized by seekers for health
+and pleasure, but the death of Mr. Johnston brought a crisis, and in
+1840 the property was on the market. The administrator, Col. George P.
+Tayloe, offered it to the highest bidder. Just at this time a Baptist
+minister, the Rev. Mr. Bradley, from New York State, had come into the
+neighborhood, seeking a home and work. Being an intelligent man and
+especially interested in education, he saw that this property was
+capable of being converted to the uses of a school. His zeal and
+industry soon materialized in the organization of the "Valley Union
+Education Society," and that body purchased Botetourt Springs with
+promises to pay.
+
+[Illustration: THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852]
+
+The buildings were easily adaptable to the purposes in hand. The old
+hotel, consisting of a basement and two stories, provided a dining hall,
+a chapel, and thirty-one rooms. Then, there were seven smaller buildings
+with two to four rooms each. These latter were ranged on opposite
+sides of the front yard, at right angles to the main building. In the
+fall of 1842 the "Valley Union Seminary" was launched, under encouraging
+conditions, with Mr. Bradley at the head. The patronage was large and
+the prospects alluring at the outset, but soon the relations of the
+Principal with his faculty and students became unhappy. He was a worthy,
+irreproachable man, and intellectually competent, but it seemed
+impossible for him to make tactful adjustments with the young
+Virginians. The management was changed, attendance was large, and the
+only cloud on the enterprise was the unpaid notes. The affairs of Mr.
+Johnston's estate must be wound up. The young Seminary in its third year
+was in the breakers, and looked disaster in the face. It was now in the
+spring of 1845. Deliverance must come speedily, or another dead school
+would pass into the abyss. In this critical hour, two or three students
+just returned from Richmond College said to members of the society: "We
+know a man who can handle your Seminary and make it go." Any remark that
+hinted at relief was more than welcomed by the trustees, who asked whom
+the students had in mind.
+
+"It is Professor Charles L. Cocke of Richmond College. He is only
+twenty-five years old but he has had five years' experience in teaching.
+He knows how to bring things to pass, and if your school can be pulled
+out of a hole, he is the man you want."
+
+Such was the homely but emphatic tribute of the college boys, and it did
+not pass unheeded. Propositions from the Society went promptly to
+Richmond, and the Professor was induced to come to the mountains to look
+the situation over. The Society was pleased with him, and he was
+impressed with the possibilities of the Seminary. The call of the great
+Southwest sounded in his ears and the visions of the things that may be,
+beckoned him on. The call was made in the spring of 1845. He would
+ponder it devoutly.
+
+Shall he break all the tender ties that bind him to his Tidewater home?
+Shall he sunder relations with Richmond College and bring grief to the
+heart of his devoted friend, Dr. Ryland? Shall he take his young wife
+and three little children into a rugged land, remote and destitute of
+the comforts they have known? Such questions voiced the negative,
+self-regarding view, and he asked himself: "Is not this Southwest a land
+of great promise and educational need? May not this be the providential
+arena for the realization of my fond dream of mental liberation for the
+daughters of Virginia and the South?" This noble speculation, still
+working, was hid away in his soul, vague and undefined. It would grow.
+This was the positive and unselfish view, and he knew it. "Yes, I will
+go," was the final settlement of the painful controversy. Like Abraham,
+he would go forth all unknowing, yet believing in the guidance of a
+divine wisdom. No, this young man was not the football of impulse. His
+decisions were the outcome of long deliberate thought. This was the most
+vital step of his life. He heard the voice of duty, that "stern daughter
+of God," and obeyed. He had an imaginative power which went, not to the
+uses of poetry, but to the practical problems of life. It was his habit
+to project his thought thirty years forward, deploying before him the
+reasonable developments of a growing civilization. In these forecasts,
+imagination did him a fine service. Here was the spring of those
+ceaseless demands for enlargement and improvement of facilities, which
+later marked his work as college president.
+
+The spring of 1846 is come; the six years of work in Richmond College
+are closed; the farewells are spoken; and Mr. Cocke journeys toward the
+sunset. It is a weary overland drive of five days in a carriage from
+Richmond to Botetourt Springs. Lofty "Tinker" salutes the pilgrims as
+they move up the highway, and now the vehicle stops in front of the old
+hotel, whose front yard is a wilderness of weeds. Mrs. Cocke's heart
+sinks within her as she looks on the inhospitable desolation. Ghosts of
+dilapidation and decay stretch out hands of welcome in sheer, grim
+mockery. The anguish in the young wife's heart is momentary. With a
+sublime courage, equal to that of her husband's, from that awful moment
+she goes smilingly with him to the task of preparing for the coming
+session. Unwittingly, they are laying the foundations of the noble
+Institution which, today, is a pride and joy to the state and nation.
+Little do they dream that before the closing of their toil, they will
+see girls from thirty states parading and singing on that outlandish
+front yard.
+
+  "I'd rather walk with God in the night
+          Than go alone by day."
+
+By a business arrangement with the trustees, Mr. Cocke had put into the
+treasury of the Society $1,500.00 of his own and his wife's money, to
+stay off the creditors. On the 23rd day of June, 1846, the session
+opened with the new Principal in charge. It was a new dignity, truly,
+but how precarious and involving what weight of responsibility! The
+young soldier is on the firing line with an independent command. He can
+hardly anticipate the leagued masses of trouble, disappointment and
+despair that lurk in the mountains, plotting his destruction. For the
+next twenty-five years we shall see the storms of battle break upon
+him, and we shall see his banner waving in victory to the shoutings of a
+multitude. The Principal is a born leader. He is resolute and confident
+without egotism; resourceful and wise without display. The Richmond
+College boys were right. Here is the man. However, the burden-bearing
+years must develop the fact. The first nine years will carry us through
+seasons of struggle and painful progress. With the outstanding facts of
+this period, it is the purpose of this chapter to deal.
+
+He was now the head of a co-educational Seminary, which from its
+inception was designed to be strictly benevolent in character. In ample
+proof is the fact that $45.00 paid the student's bill for tuition and
+board for five months. The school never made money, nor was that ever
+its end. The purpose of the founders was to put education in the reach
+of all who thirsted for it. Such was the generous basis of the
+enterprise. The small revenues thus realized, yielded the teachers
+pitifully inadequate reward, and made improvements practically
+impossible.
+
+You may be sure that good order was maintained and good lessons were
+required. From the start, Mr. Cocke's administration won popular
+confidence and approval. Soon after his coming he was announced to speak
+in the Baptist church in Big Lick (now the City of Roanoke), and a
+large audience was there to greet him. In the address he said, among
+other things, "I have come to Southwest Virginia to give my life to the
+cause of education, to spend and be spent in that work." A fine
+impression was made on the citizens, and on dismission a gentleman said
+to a lady: "That is the man to send your son to." Fifteen years later
+that boy was a Colonel in the Confederate army. This boy's older brother
+had told Mr. Cocke that Thomas was a bad boy, and had added, "If he does
+not behave, I hope you will thrash him." For two whole sessions the
+youth found himself seated at the table next to Mr. Cocke and the coffee
+pot. He was entrusted with messages here and there, and finally the boys
+began to say that Tom Lewis was Mr. Cocke's pet. Not so: that was his
+ingenious discipline. He could control horses and boys without whipping.
+In the long after years the Principal had no more faithful and devoted
+friend than Colonel Lewis. Once a group of older boys made some of the
+younger ones drunk. The offenders were promptly expelled, and nothing
+was done to the innocent victims. Other young men made angry threats,
+and their expulsion followed. Rebellion grew; a large body of the boys
+defiantly paraded the campus, making the situation ominous. The school
+was called to the chapel, the boys on one side and the girls on the
+other. The Principal fronted the boys and said: "I am the head of this
+school and I am going to run it. I have sent some disorderly students
+away, and if necessary I will send more. I will send every one of you
+home and start a new school, and if I can't run it I will give it up and
+go at some other business." The audience understood the tone of that
+voice and took warning from the gleam in the blue eyes. After that the
+incident was closed.
+
+His skill in dealing with mischievous boys is exhibited in another
+episode. Some of them felt that school life was dull without a little
+spice of adventure, so in pure fun they sallied forth at night to visit
+the neighbors' orchards, and even to take unwarranted liberties with
+their chicken roosts. Complaints came to the Principal, who at once
+sought a private interview with the culprits. He talked to them kindly,
+yet with earnest protestations against such pranks. He knew they were
+not thieves, far from it, but they should not take people's property
+that had cost labor and care. After duly moralizing on the case, he
+closed the interview with the following burst of magnanimity: "Now boys,
+if hereafter some irresistible impulse is on you to prowl, spare the
+neighbors and plunder _my_ poultry yard." What human heart but a school
+boy's could resist an appeal like that? One night not long thereafter,
+Mrs. Cocke heard curious noises on the back premises. Mr. Cocke slipped
+out in the darkness and readily took in the situation. The following
+night he stood at the window of one of the boys' cottages and saw the
+preliminaries looking to a midnight carnival on roast duck. Just as the
+feast was ready to begin, there was a tap at the door. Hospitality
+invited entrance, when in stepped Mr. Cocke! To his friendly inquiries
+they responded that they were about to dispose of a savory meal and
+coolly invited the visitor to share it, which he as coolly proceeded to
+do. The party was jolly, and though all knew that nobody was deceived,
+the fact was not betrayed by one look or word. Mr. Cocke bowed himself
+out with a pleasant good night, and the mystified marauders went to bed.
+Depredations ceased, and the boys' admiration of that midnight diplomacy
+was unconcealed.
+
+When a boy was guilty of some offense, not mean, but mischievous, his
+case was stated in the presence of the school, and the roaring laughter
+that followed was sufficient correction. There was not a case of
+disobedience among the girls in the years 1846-'52, but they would keep
+their windows open. The boys lifted hats in passing, and were rewarded
+with pleased and winning glances. Often while sitting by the open
+window, a thoughtful look covered one side of a girl's face, while on
+the other side, looking window-ward, played a bewitching smile. In those
+days was established the yearly October visit to the top of Tinker. The
+day of the excursion was a "secret between Charles and the Lord," as
+Mrs. Cocke once humorously said to the inquiring girls. Arriving on the
+summit, and viewing the landscape over, suddenly an apple would fall in
+the midst, as from the sky. Where did it come from? The girls knew, and
+the boys knew. The boys had gone before and hidden behind the rocks and
+brush. Then the mountain scenery lost its charm, and a romantic search
+for flowers began.
+
+The halls of the Seminary filled to their capacity and the Principal
+pleaded for more room. Alas, the Trustees had no money, and the school's
+revenue was a sacrifice to the benevolent principle of minimum rates.
+The Institution he wanted could come only through increased equipment
+and accommodations. There the young Principal was, the sport of harsh
+conditions. One balm came to his heart in the timely sensible praise of
+the Trustees. In their meeting, January 10, 1851, they said in formal
+resolution: "We cannot speak in terms too high of the untiring diligence
+of the Principal and his assistants in maintaining judicious discipline,
+and in the prosecution of their responsible duties."
+
+His efforts for notable success had a double motive. First, he quite
+properly wanted to convince all of his capacity for educational work.
+Second, by the overcrowded conditions, he wanted to force an issue on
+the Trustees respecting the future policy of the school. The
+accommodations were palpably insufficient, and as there was no
+possibility of increasing them, what should be done? The Principal knew
+what to do. He boldly advised a radical change: dismiss the male
+department and convert the Seminary into a school for girls. To his
+immense delight, the proposition was accepted. The new order looked like
+the opening of an approach to the goal of ambitions born in his college
+days. His loyal interest in the education of young men was not abated,
+but the dream of the higher education of women became a passion. This
+important decision was made in the spring of 1852, and thus a ten years
+co-educational school, in which Mr. Cocke had labored for six prosperous
+years, came to a close. With mingled feelings of grateful hope and keen
+anxiety, he now faced a golden opportunity. He enjoyed the distinction
+of being the head of the first chartered school for girls in Virginia.
+The fall session of 1852 opened with eighty-one pupils. That of the fall
+of 1853, with one hundred and fifty. The wisdom of the radical change
+was fully justified. It was a time of radiant satisfaction and jubilant
+hope.
+
+[Illustration: THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855]
+
+But it was now that the battle with austere conditions and scant
+equipment became the torment of his mind. The Trustees could give no
+material aid, and popular interest in education was too feeble to
+proffer financial help. It is simple truth to say that on this vestibule
+of his great enterprise, the gravest doubts and trepidations of his
+whole career assailed him. In moods of depression the heroic man feared
+that he had attempted the impossible. Was he unnerved or unstrung? Not
+for one minute. In these black days he fronted his task with the
+resourcefulness of an uncommon manhood. The stamina of his nature came
+to expression in a way that surprised even himself. He made imploring
+appeals to friends who were well to do in this world's goods. A good
+providence put him in touch with two noble spirits, Mr. John Hollins and
+his wife, of Lynchburg, Virginia, members of his own denomination. Mr.
+Hollins presented the Seminary with a gift of $5,000 cash, and then the
+daylight began to break. The good man proposed as a condition of his
+gift that the old management by an Education Society and its appointed
+Trustees must give way to a board of self-perpetuating Trustees. To all
+concerned the proposition seemed wise and just, and it was so ordered.
+It was then generously agreed that the name of the Institution should be
+changed, and that henceforth it should be known as "Hollins Institute."
+To Mr. Cocke and the dissolving Society, this appeared to be a
+compliment well deserved by the man and his wife who had saved the life
+of the school.
+
+The transfer of all the property of the Valley Union Education Society
+to the Trustees of Hollins Institute was made in March, 1855. Thus in
+the first nine years of his incumbency, Mr. Cocke saw two revisions of
+the original charter granted in January, 1844. By the first revision in
+1852, the Seminary was made a school for girls. By the second, in
+December, 1855, the name of the Institution was changed, the old
+management was abolished, and its functions put into the hands of a
+self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. No friction arose; all was harmony.
+The old regime passed, but its personnel remained steadfast.
+
+In all the stress and tribulation of the past years, Mr. Cocke had been
+the central bolt that held the structure intact. Around his single
+heroic personality gathered all the forces that made possible the
+perpetuity of the Institution. His reward had now come, and a blessed
+assurance threw its foregleams on the future. He was now in his
+thirty-sixth year and athrill with that full health and masculine energy
+that was his blessing to the end of his life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE AND GROWTH
+
+1855-1870
+
+
+That was a high day, in the summer of 1855, when Hollins Institute flung
+its banner to the breeze. A munificent gift, a new regime and a new name
+put fresh enthusiasm into the Institution, and the gladness of hope into
+the hearts of all its friends. You have noticed how these joyous effects
+always flow from new deals and revisions of plans. A better day has
+dawned, bright visions float in the brain of Mr. Cocke, and the blue
+mountains seem to hail him with congratulation. The human heart would
+famish but for these fountains that break out in the midst of weary,
+toiling years. Economic conditions are improving in the Southwest. The
+Kanawha Canal now connects Richmond with Buchanan, a village just twenty
+miles away. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad has been built (1852),
+supplying quick communication with the outside world; and the
+macadamized turnpike has been built from Buchanan to the west, passing
+within a few hundred yards of the School. The general conditions were
+never so cheering, nor was the outlook ever so bright.
+
+Some necessary changes have been made by the Trustees in internal
+affairs. The rates of board and tuition are moderately increased, and
+Mr. Cocke is put in charge of all departments, with authority to select
+his teachers and to fix their salaries. The new Board of Trustees knows
+the qualities and capacities of the Principal, and from this time forth
+they give him confidence and almost unlimited powers. Charles L. Cocke,
+not yet thirty-six years of age, had attained enviable distinction in
+the educational ranks of his native State. He will justify the faith of
+his friends.
+
+The Hollins gift of $5,000 was put to work. The East Building with
+thirty-eight rooms, was projected, and by January, 1857, completed at a
+cost of $12,000. Alas, calamity crashed upon the school. In the fall of
+1856 typhoid fever broke out and forced a temporary suspension. With
+cruel suddenness the epidemic worked a loss of public confidence, and
+once more the heart of the Principal was harrowed with discouraging
+thoughts. It was given out that bad sanitary conditions had invited the
+scourge, but rigid investigation exploded the theory. The fact was that
+the disease had been brought to the Institute by one of the pupils.
+Slowly the panic yielded and confidence returned, but the experience was
+shocking. Quickly the Principal regained his tone of courageous hope and
+its wholesome contagion spread far and near. In July, 1857, in a report
+to the Trustees, he made this important and assuring statement: "By
+affording these superior inducements the school has realized a degree of
+prosperity beyond that of any boarding school in the state, and has
+given an impulse to female education heretofore unknown. The plan and
+policy of our school must be considered the true one. This plan
+recognizes the principle that in the present state of society in our
+country, _young ladies require the same thorough mental training as that
+afforded to young men_, and accordingly, in the arrangement of the
+course of studies, and the selection of teachers, and the conferment of
+distinctions, we have kept this principle steadily in view. This feature
+of the Institution has given to it its prominence and past success, and
+other Institutions, originating since our plan was made public, have
+almost uniformly adopted it."
+
+  "To each man is given a marble to carve for the wall;
+  A stone that is needed to heighten the beauty of all;
+  And only his soul has the magic to give it a grace;
+  And only his hands have the cunning to put it in place."
+
+During the year 1858, the activity of the Trustees secured a good many
+subscriptions, and the generous Mrs. Anne Hollins rallied with her own
+gift of $2,500. The dark days of 1857 began to be a memory, and the
+revival of public confidence and patronage smoothed the brow of care.
+
+It must not be supposed that Mr. Cocke lost interest in the education of
+boys when the co-educational system was abandoned in 1852. No man in
+Virginia was more enlisted in the education of all the people than he.
+There must be a school for the boys in the Virginia Mountains, and in
+the later fifties, though sufficiently burdened with local cares, he
+turns his attention to this interest. With the valuable assistance of
+Dr. George B. Taylor, later an eminent Baptist missionary to Italy, he
+was the chief factor in establishing Alleghany College, in Greenbrier
+County, one hundred miles northwest of Hollins Institute. This county
+was included in the new state of West Virginia, organized in 1861. The
+school opened with one hundred young men and ran well for a brief
+season, but was suspended at the beginning of the Civil War. The
+buildings were occupied by Federal soldiers, and shortly afterwards were
+destroyed by fire. All subsequent efforts to revive the college were
+unavailing. With characteristic loyalty, Mr. Cocke matriculated his son,
+Joseph James Cocke, at the opening of the first session. The brave boy
+laid down his books at the first alarm of war and entered the
+Confederate army, and in the terrible battles in Northern Virginia, he
+was twice dangerously wounded. That boy is now a venerable and honored
+citizen of the State of Texas.
+
+Long years after, Mr. Cocke bent his efforts towards the erection of
+Alleghany Institute at Roanoke, and had great satisfaction in its
+commodious buildings and its promising attendance of boys. In the course
+of varying fortunes this enterprise fainted by the way and ceased to be.
+One can but fancy that if Mr. Cocke himself could have held the helm in
+these two adventures, the story would have been different. The storms
+beat and the floods came, but Hollins Institute stands. Her standards
+are stirring thought currents and stimulating like enterprises in
+Virginia and the nation. For our pioneer in the Southwest, this is
+compensation and a crown of glory. Without one thrill of jealousy does
+he see the spread of his views and the certainty of large competition.
+To stand in his own place and make good, is the one guiding and
+all-controlling purpose of his life.
+
+In 1860, Mrs. Hollins, now a lonely widow, signalized her profound
+interest in a new gift of $10,000. This generous and timely act pushed
+up the contributions of the Hollins family to the handsome sum of
+$17,500. The growing popularity of Hollins sprung the problem of
+enlarged facilities and to solve it was the design of this latest
+benevolence. It was greeted with boundless gratitude, and the Trustees
+deputed one of their members, Mr. Wm. A. Miller, to bear to her their
+most cordial thanks. Accompanying this message was an urgent request for
+the oil portraits of the two benefactors. In due time the portraits
+came, and to this day they adorn the walls of the Main Building, whose
+erection was made possible by the recent gift. An architect was
+employed, and work was begun on this building in the spring of 1861, on
+the very day that Virginia seceded from the Union. The tempest and
+blight of the Civil War came down to threaten the life of the
+Institution and to almost break the heart of the founder. Expectant hope
+had looked for early occupancy, but it was not to be. In one year the
+walls were upreared, the roof was on, and then the work stopped. The
+contractor quit his job because the war had disorganized labor and the
+situation was simply helpless. There stands the unfinished structure,
+and there it will stand, a ghastly skeleton for eight long years.
+
+At this beginning of horrors, Mr. Cocke's reputation as a strong man was
+established, and the fair name of his school was extended beyond the
+limits of the State. Seasoned in old battles and richly schooled in
+experience, he stands in his place unterrified. He dares, even amid the
+clouds and disasters of war, to send out his adventurous thought, thirty
+years to the fore. What ought to be, what may be, the facilities and
+achievements of this Institution a generation hence? He is now too well
+fortified in his convictions of educational theory and practice, and of
+their fitness to the needs of the time, to be affrighted by the spectres
+and goblins of ultimate failure.
+
+In 1862, he speaks to his girls and the public in this fashion: "The
+organization of this school is unlike all others in Virginia. To some
+extent it is denominational, but decidedly anti-sectarian. Its Trustees
+perpetuate their own existence. Its funds cannot revert to any other
+object. It is responsible to no religious body and its success depends
+solely on its merits. It looks to permanent existence and to the good of
+the whole commonwealth. Its successes have exceeded the most sanguine
+expectations of its friends. It was first to adopt a high standard of
+classical education for young women in Virginia; first to place the
+English Department under a regular professor; and first in the nation to
+adopt the elective system of studies. With the prestige of a history of
+twenty years, it may properly and confidently appeal to the general
+public to make it an addition to the permanent wealth and moral
+elevation of the country. I believe its reputation will spread until it
+draws pupils from all over the South." Under the distressful conditions,
+is there not something morally grand in this utterance? It was a
+prophetic speech, and the daring prediction was more than realized in
+the thirty years that followed.
+
+In 1863, one hundred girls filled every room, and seventy-five
+applicants were turned away. Oh, for the forty-six student-rooms in that
+unfinished hulk! Sequestered snugly in the mountains, no Institution in
+the country suffered less from the demoralization of the war. Families
+driven from the areas of invasion sent their daughters to the haven of
+its seclusion. The faculty of four gentlemen and three ladies had ample
+occupation. It was at this juncture that the President dropped the wise
+remark that the success of an Institution demands a capable manager as
+much as qualified instructors, and that he is harder to find. Of course,
+during this period, the depreciated currency and the correspondingly
+high cost of living required advance in the rates of the tuition and
+board. In 1864, one hundred and twenty-eight students were crowded into
+the rooms, and an equal number were turned away. In these days of
+inevitable stringency, the fare was far from luxurious, but it was
+accepted by teacher and pupil with that cheerfulness which becomes
+sensible and considerate people.
+
+That year the school was not immune to the alarms of war. A Federal
+raid, led by General Hunter, rushed into the town of Salem, nine miles
+distant, and the news spread consternation at Hollins, but without
+panic. The President had prepared a paper, stating the defenseless
+condition of the college and entreating protection by the General of any
+invading force. This paper he kept in his pocket, ready to be sent by
+messenger, if from any cause he himself should be prevented from going
+to make an oral request. Happily, Hunter came no nearer than Salem, and
+the awful suspense was relieved. On that very day, George Newman, the
+faithful colored driver, went to Salem with his omnibus, and was waiting
+at the depot, when the horsemen in blue came thundering down the street.
+He cracked his whip over his trusty four and dashed southward across the
+river, amid a shower of bullets. He was going in a course directly
+opposite from Hollins, but that was the only avenue of escape. When he
+was not heard from for the best part of two days, he was given up for
+lost. But late on the second day, who should drive in but this same
+George Newman, with an air of triumph and an ecstasy of smiles on his
+face! He came bare-headed, having lost his hat in the impetuosity of
+that patriotic retreat. The girls hailed him with a storm of acclamation
+and instantly took up a collection with which they crowned the hero
+with a new straw hat!
+
+Mrs. Cocke, in these times of nervous excitement, was perfectly sure of
+her own demeanor in case of irruption by the enemy. She would stand
+defiant in the doorway and forbid all entrance. The family tell a story
+which the dear mother never denied. One day her son Charley, a lad of
+ten years, with some of the servants, was coming back to the stables
+with the horses which had been hidden in the woods of Carvin's creek, to
+escape the hands of the enemy. The youngsters came galloping down the
+road, when some excitable person imagining it a charge of Yankee
+cavalry, raised the alarm, and then followed the worst panic Hollins
+ever knew. Mrs. Cocke, quietly busy in the pantry, hearing the shrieks,
+following an irresistible impulse, left the pantry door wide open and
+vanished to some place, she was never quite sure where.
+
+It was Mr. Cocke's custom in those days to send a group of girls in the
+omnibus to the Sunday morning service of one of the churches in Salem.
+Such was the economic stress of the period that a handsome new hat in
+the school produced a sensation. Fortune crowned one of the students
+with a beautiful headgear. She wore it to church, and generously, on the
+following Sunday put the treasure on the head of a comrade who was
+going up to worship. So the ornament became a regular attendant at the
+Salem services. Gathered at the church doors were the Salem boys, of
+course, and they soon became merrily interested in the new hat. One day
+after service, the girls found in the omnibus a note, inquiring: "Who
+does that hat belong to?" The owner lives, today, in Blacksburg, Va.
+Those trips to Salem ceased long ago, and now in the Hollins Chapel,
+regular Sunday evening services are conducted by chaplain pastors from
+the various denominations.
+
+In the spring of 1865, pneumonia became epidemic in the school, taking
+off six of the pupils and two more in their homes. This disaster caused
+a suspension one month before the close of the regular term.
+
+With the fall of the Confederacy, Mr. Cocke had again to face a
+condition that seemed the mockery of his hopes. Everywhere were economic
+prostration, social disorganization, and pinching poverty. Shall Hollins
+keep up the fight? Will the sun of Austerlitz ever rise on her long and
+varying battles? What young Institution ever threaded its way through a
+wilderness so gloomy or by pits and precipices so dangerous? Hollins
+will go on, walking by faith, and its doors shall not be closed, even
+for the part of a session. That is the mind of the President. He and
+his faculty, though exhausted in means, will face the destitution and
+never give up the ship. The session of 1865-6 ran on with forty-five
+students. Rates had to be increased, and even with that, the college
+would have been compelled to close but for a timely loan from Colonel
+Tayloe to buy food. This noble friend and President of the Board of
+Trustees had been a comfort to Mr. Cocke from the beginning, and will
+continue so for thirty years more. Our great leader did not talk about
+his troubles, being always master of himself. Once he made this brief
+pathetic admission to his Trustees: "I am so burdened that I do not feel
+fit for my work." What can move us to tears like a strong man's grief?
+And there stands the ghastly figure of the unfinished Main Building,
+mocking his struggles and dreams. For five years now, pine boards have
+been nailed up to cover the windows, and not even a porch relieves the
+monotony of its ugliness. Two alternatives were before him: first,
+reduce the faculty, which is a most deplorable thing to do; second, go
+on as we are, but that is bankruptcy and ruin. Hear him: "I will go on;
+I will trust in God and the people." He insisted to his Trustees: "We
+must not descend to the character of a neighborhood school." Their
+sympathies were with him, but they felt unable to cope with the iron
+stringencies of the time. He did go on, never lowering a standard or
+abating the passionate cry for more room and better equipment. How he
+ever pulled through this slough of despond, he himself could not
+possibly tell. Of one thing he was in no doubt and it was this, that in
+the long night of anguish, there was a precious mystery of heavenly aid.
+
+[Illustration: HOLLINS INSTITUTE
+
+[Main Building Completed 1869. East Building Completed 1856]]
+
+One of the encouraging incidents of this season, was the fact that one
+of the finest young scholars in Virginia accepted a call to the
+Institute. When Professor Joseph A. Turner, in 1866, consented to become
+a member of the faculty, it meant that a finely accomplished man had
+confidence in the character and destiny of the College, and that
+certified confidence was a tonic to the President's soul. But Hollins is
+still in the depths. There is no bracing of firm rock under her feet.
+All the officials know that the whole property is in peril of a public
+sale. How did the School go on? You must find answer in the
+resourcefulness and adamantine will of one great man. Hollins did go on,
+and complimentary testimonials from leading scholars in the State began
+to be written and spoken. Mr. Cocke was cheered at the generous
+recognition and said: "We must lift our standards a little higher than
+ever before. Our school should be second to none in the State and we
+must reach out for more distant patrons." The tide begins to rise, and
+on the horizon there are gleaming hints of a better day. In 1868, Mr.
+Cocke secured a loan of $10,000, and by the end of 1869, that nightmare
+of the Main Building was transformed into a handsome and completed
+edifice. The passing of this melancholy incubus made a new epoch in his
+life. It was the cutting of chains from his feet, and the addition of
+wings wherewith to fly. The new structure greatly increased the
+accommodations, and now begins active propaganda in the South,
+acquainting the people with Hollins Institute. Newly risen, like a star
+above tempest and cloud, she will shed benignant light on the homes and
+daughters of the land. May she go on shining forever!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CLEARING SKIES
+
+1870-1880
+
+
+The torturing issues of the past are now settled. Mr. Cocke will let
+them pass to practical oblivion while he presses on to larger
+realizations. Of course annoying problems will continue to dog his
+steps, but they will not wear the malignant aspect so familiar in the
+strenuous years. His ideal is a flying goal, and he will never see his
+loved college free from growing pains. The happiest decade of work that
+he has yet known is before him. He stands on its threshold with hope
+assured, and his face is lit with thanksgiving as he beholds the clouds
+receding, and the sunshine flooding all the sky. It is a time to grasp
+his hand and shower him with congratulations. He has now completed
+twenty-four years of toilsome labor beside the little sulphur spring.
+Into the holy enterprise he has grandly flung himself, his property and
+his family. Never had a man a more tactful and sympathetic co-worker
+than he found in his wife. Without one murmur of complaint she has
+shared all his burdens and cares. Her feminine quietness and grace have
+matched his masculine push and executive force. In him is a certain
+rugged virility which is delightfully supplemented by her charm of
+patient gentleness. With a noiseless and tireless efficiency, she has
+managed the domestic details, while he has handled the administrative
+affairs of the school. In the apportionment of praise, he would resent a
+bestowal that made her unequal to himself; nor would he fail to
+recognize the services of his children. Since the wedding bells rang,
+thirty years ago, nine have come into the home [Joseph J., Leila V.
+(Mrs. Joseph A. Turner), Sallie Lewis, Mary Susan (Mrs. C. W. Hayward),
+Rosa Pleasants (Mrs. W. R. L. Smith), Charles Henry, Matty L., Lucian
+H., and Bessie (Mrs. J. P. Barbee)]. Brought up in an atmosphere of
+service, all of them have, for longer or shorter periods, loyally served
+the institution.
+
+The new session of 1870-'71 began with the registration of eighty girls.
+The Trustees at this juncture stepped to the front with a cheering note,
+announcing that the Institute was "Getting on a firm basis," and
+expressing their intense gratification at its increasing popularity and
+patronage. They emphasized their high appreciation of the system of
+instruction, and the thoroughgoing diligence of the President and his
+faculty. All honor to these men who were sensitive to merit, and who had
+the grace to crown it with praise. These men also had learned that human
+progress is not much accelerated by whips of fault-finding and rebuke.
+In all their official records there is not an instance of clash between
+them and the President, nor even a hint of cross-purpose or loss of good
+understanding. When we think of the rough road they had travelled
+together, and the bewildering tangle of issues with which they had
+grappled, this concord is as surprising as it is honorable. An obstinate
+and wrangling Board could have crippled him cruelly. These harmonies
+were due to two facts: first, the absolute confidence of these gentlemen
+in the judgment and business capacity of Mr. Cocke; second, his
+reciprocal confidence in them, accompanied by the most cordial respect
+and courtesy. At the Board meetings through this decade they will not
+forget the value of commendatory resolutions, and it is pleasing to
+mention now, that this congenial partnership never knew a jar in all the
+after years.
+
+Never was sunshine more grateful to the flowers, or music more cheering
+to a tired spirit, than were the tokens of the spreading fame of
+Hollins to the soul of Mr. Cocke. Golden appreciations by distinguished
+men began to be spoken and written. Here is a tribute from Professor
+Edward S. Joynes, of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia: "I am
+intimately acquainted with the history of Hollins. It is an Institution
+of the very highest character, certainly second to none of its kind in
+this State. It has existed for upward of twenty-five years and been
+conducted upon the very highest standards of moral and intellectual
+education. Its success and permanence have been due to its merits alone.
+It is an unendowed Institution, founded originally by benevolence and
+supported by public patronage, and by the energy and economy of its
+administration. The President is a man of ability and of the highest
+personal character, and no Institution in this State has a higher claim
+on the public confidence." Dr. John A. Broaddus, of the Baptist
+Theological Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina, wrote his estimate: "I
+know of no better female school in the whole country, and very few, that
+for a moment, can be compared with Hollins. The instruction takes an
+ample range, and is able, skillful and honest." The Rev. Dr. J. L.
+Burrows, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, stated
+his view: "In beauty and healthfulness of location; in attractiveness
+and adaptableness of its buildings; in tasteful adornment of grounds;
+in the wild grandeur of surrounding scenery, Hollins Institute occupies
+one of the most charming and sequestered nooks among the far-famed
+mineral springs of Virginia. In the comprehensiveness and thoroughness
+of its course of study; in the ability and devotion of its instructors;
+in the carefulness and homefulness of its domestic economy; in its
+seclusion from the distractions of fashion and social disquietude, I
+regard this Institution as one of the very best for girls on this
+continent."
+
+Many such heartening notes by University professors, ministers, editors
+and heads of colleges for girls, began to sound forth as early as 1868.
+Golden opinions, rightly deserved and rapidly spreading, brought the
+natural result. The session of 1869-'70 opened with twenty-one girls
+from nine Southern States, not including Virginia. The year following,
+the number grew to twenty-eight from the nine states. The session of
+1873-'74 reported thirty-nine girls from thirteen states outside of
+Virginia, and that of 1875-'76 enrolled fifty-three from fourteen
+states. The session of 1877-'78 registered a total of one hundred and
+seventeen students, seventy of them coming from other states. This
+noticeable decline in the percentage of Virginia girls is easily
+accounted for by the increasing competition of the new and excellent
+schools for girls, now arisen in the Old Dominion. During this decade,
+the fair fame of Hollins spread swiftly, and from this time on, a
+gradually increasing and uninterrupted stream of pupils, from all points
+of the compass, poured smilingly through her doors. Nor did her native
+commonwealth fail in admiration and generous support.
+
+You can imagine the emotions of the founder in this happy emergence from
+the dilemmas and horrible incertitudes of the past twenty-five years.
+His bearing was calm and undemonstrative, while in his bosom the peans
+of thanksgiving go up to the great White Throne. But on the gladness of
+these days, a blight of bereavement was about to fall. In 1871, the
+brilliant and able Professor Turner had married Miss Leila Virginia
+Cocke, an accomplished daughter of the President. He was a shining light
+in the faculty, and on him great hopes centered. For two years his
+health declined, and on May 5th, 1878, gloom settled on Hollins. Great
+was the grief at the going of the beloved scholar and teacher. His
+twelve years of service began in the dark days of 1866, and closed in
+the full tide of victory. The memory of him will never perish from the
+hearts of pupils and friends who almost idolized him.
+
+An event in 1874 meant much relief and comfort to our veteran educator,
+amid his manifold labors and cares. Charles H. Cocke, his son, now in
+early manhood, capable, courageous and completely responsive to the
+father's wish, took on himself the duties of business manager of the
+Institution. Here was a much needed and most grateful division of
+responsibilities, and the competent new official magnified his calling
+to the uttermost. The thoroughness and courtesy with which he handled
+affairs, won for him the confidence and affection of the girls.
+
+Have we ever found Mr. Cocke in a state of perfect satisfaction with
+things as they are? Never. He is a stranger to that experience, and will
+ever remain so. When we met him forty years ago as an assistant
+professor in Richmond College, his slogan was, "Betterment, enlargement,
+progress." The urgencies of an early ideal are still upon him, and he
+will never count himself to have attained. This fact touches him
+pathetically, now that he is nearing his sixtieth year. Unrealized aims
+add somber hues to every earnest life.
+
+  "All I aspired to be
+  And was not, comforts me."
+
+The equipment of growing Hollins is far from complete; much remains to
+be done. The spirit of advance gives him no rest. He has a vision, and
+"forward" is ever his imperious challenge to things as they are.
+Absolutely sure is he that his beloved College, with its reasonably low
+rates, and its high standards, is on the sure road to greatness in human
+service.
+
+All through this decade his brain had been active with schemes of
+improvements. In the early seventies, the Baptists of Virginia were
+freshly aroused on the subject of education, and made large plans for
+strengthening Richmond College. Taking cue from this new denominational
+interest, the Trustees of Hollins Institute determined to go before the
+public and ask for a contribution of $100,000. A financial agent went
+among the people with argument and appeal. The result was disappointing
+and the agent was withdrawn. The failure was depressing, but by no means
+unnerving. From the beginning of the "Seminary" in 1842, the
+intermittent calls on public benevolence had never met with notable
+response. Nor is this fact any real ground for reproach. The mood of the
+general public had never been toned and cultivated in the interests of
+liberal education. From first to last the benevolent gifts to Hollins
+amounted to but $35,000, exactly half of which had come from Mrs. Ann
+Hollins and her husband. In the light of the recent failure Mr. Cocke
+saw that there was no further ground of hope from this source of supply.
+The school's expanding reputation and growing patronage gratified him
+exceedingly, but the financial situation excited disquieting
+apprehensions. The Trustees had no funds in the treasury; the
+Institution was making no money, and their debt was growing every year.
+The mind of the President was filled with foreboding and grave anxiety.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+Let it now be said that not one dollar had ever been added to the debt
+by any form of extravagance. No head of an Institution ever practiced a
+more rigid economy in projecting improvements. Not even a fancy
+catalogue was ever sent out from Hollins. His severe frugality, and the
+constantly demanded investment of his personal means in improvements,
+actually limited the reasonable privileges and gratifications of his
+family. Never did a family bear restrictions more cheerfully and
+uncomplainingly. It was not in Mr. Cocke to rebel against the law of
+sacrifice, but once, in his annual report to the Trustees in 1879, he
+permitted himself to say: "It is a hard case, however, that a man should
+have all his means so wound up in an Institution, conducted for the
+public, that he cannot command enough money to give his family anything
+at all, except hard work and self-denial."
+
+In 1846, by express contract with the Trustees, Mr. Cocke became
+Principal and Steward of the Seminary without stipulated salary. Neither
+he nor any one of his sons and daughters, who worked so loyally with
+him, ever received a salary from the Board. That initial agreement
+illustrates the unbargaining generosity of the man. He pressed on the
+attention of the Trustees the certainty of continuous demand for
+enlarged facilities. To provide for this, it was agreed that the revenue
+from the boarding department should go to the Trustees, who would devote
+it to that purpose. How ridiculously small that revenue was likely to
+be, may be gathered from the fact that a student was boarded at the rate
+of $5.00 a month! Through all the subsequent years this principle of
+benevolent rates had never been abandoned. The figures were necessarily
+increased, but only with the view of keeping out of debt. Now what
+possible promise was there in this arrangement for increasing
+facilities? Absolutely none. So the long issue of events proved. By the
+same agreement, Mr. Cocke was to pay his teachers' salaries and maintain
+himself and family out of the tuition funds. What remained in the
+treasury after the teachers were paid was his. Out of that residue, it
+soon became evident, must come much of the means for repairs and
+improvements. There was no other source from which to draw. Improvements
+were made, and self-denial paid the bills.
+
+Now, while this involved inconveniences, it did not, of course, mean the
+making of gifts to the Trustees. In just business fashion, they
+recorded each outlay of this kind as a loan to themselves. As a
+consequence they went steadily in debt to Mr. Cocke, until by 1864 they
+owed him $7,785. This included the $1,500 which he lent to them in 1846.
+This curious financial arrangement continued, unavoidable and regretted
+by all concerned. In 1868, the debt of the Trustees ran up to $17,473,
+and in 1876 it reached the sum of $22,094. Why had not these claims been
+settled? We have seen the source of the Trustees' revenue; how could
+they pay? The $35,000 raised by public gift had been given to the
+Trustees, who invested every cent of it in new buildings and
+accommodations. Not a dollar of it ever touched the hand of Mr. Cocke.
+On the contrary, as noted above, the growing plant had commandeered much
+of his own slow, hard earnings. Either this undesirable order of things
+had to go on, or Mr. Cocke had to abandon his dear ambition. But the
+time had come for better adjustments. He felt that the multiplying years
+required that he think of the interests of his family. With these views
+and wishes, the Trustees were in their usual cordial sympathy. The
+Institution was their property. They were in debt to Mr. Cocke in a
+large and yearly increasing sum. They had no possible way of liquidating
+that debt. What could they do? What ought they to have done? They solved
+the question by offering to give Mr. Cocke a deed to their Institution
+in satisfaction of their debt. The proposition was declined. He did not
+want to own the College. Such had never been his aim. He saw that the
+move would be a relief to the Trustees, but a disadvantage to the
+school. He deprecated the idea of the College going into private
+ownership. The associated wisdom and responsibility of a good Board of
+Trustees he regarded as one of its best assets. Moreover, what could
+such a deal effect in the way of relieving his financial embarrassments?
+He could not see, and so the troublesome question was left unsolved. The
+school was prosperous, his heart was serenely grateful; and this
+personal matter could wait.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT
+
+1880-1901
+
+
+The projection, building, and safe establishment of Cornell University,
+in the State of New York, was essentially the work of that remarkable
+man, Andrew D. White. In the face of many obstacles and antagonisms he
+founded it, named it in honor of its chief benefactor, was its first
+President and led its fortunes until he saw it take rank among the
+famous Institutions of the United States. Another famous man performed
+the same kind of service for his people in the South. The founder and
+builder of Hollins Institute was long a voice in the wilderness. You
+have seen the stern, invincible purpose of this man in the face of an
+apathetic public, painfully straitened finances, epidemics, and the
+desolations of war. Several times his enterprise trembled on the verge
+of ruin. But in him was that iron quality that never knew when it was
+beaten. Forty years of toil in the educational field sat lightly on him,
+thanks to the natural vigor of a well knit body and the resilient tone
+of a well endowed mind. We come now to the last lap of the journey,
+which most gratefully takes the form of a triumphal progress. In the
+good providence of God, the next twenty-one years were to be filled with
+expansion and achievement. His years multiplied, but there was no
+slowing down of energy and contriving strategy. Destiny put him
+benignantly into a life-long association with the young, and he could
+not grow old. To thousands of us still, no figure on the Hollins
+quadrangle ever stands out so statuesque as his large form, becomingly
+clad in a Prince Albert suit, and surmounted with a favorite tall beaver
+hat. As he walked in unconscious majesty, one could hear that resonant
+voice, issuing orders or bestowing courtly greetings. The grace and
+evenness of the old Virginia gentleman sat on him like a crown, making
+him ever accessible to student and friend. He was a worker, and he hated
+idleness as sin. Unrelentingly he demanded work. Never a student was
+allowed to escape that imperious law. For this his girls gave him honor.
+Well did they understand that Hollins was not for fashionable finish, or
+for money-squandering, but for downright honest study and true adornment
+of womanhood. He requested parents not to encourage extravagance in
+their daughters by putting in their hands undue sums of money to spend.
+
+The sessions in the early eighties showed a rising volume of patronage
+from the Southern states, a condition that was to go from more to more.
+His chief resulting gratification was in the obvious awakening of
+Southern people to better appreciation of the higher culture of women.
+Along with this pleasing discovery, however, he began to realize a
+serious barrier to the task at Hollins, created by the defective
+preparatory training in the primary and secondary schools of the
+country. In later years the difficulty began to disappear. To him,
+education consisted in the acquisition of knowledge, the training of
+faculty, and more especially, the broadening and multiplication of
+powers. His students must think, reason, and understand. That is the top
+of culture. Did he show any disposition to remain satisfied with the
+standards already erected? Not by any means. This is a growing world
+where nothing is stationary but a cemetery. The developing impulse in
+the mind of the Founder would never subside while the perfect was
+unattained. Even in this good summertime of 1920, nineteen years after
+his going, the mighty momentum he gave to the College operates with
+undiminished force. One does not expect spectacular variety in the life
+of an educator, particularly in one whose labors for fifty years were
+focalized on one spot. The philosopher Kant never went away from the
+place of his birth, nor figured once in the publicities of his time, and
+yet the patient thinker has won undying fame among the intellectuals of
+the world. So we shall not find abundant incident at Hollins, but we
+shall know that its organizing genius is ever active and sounding the
+note of progress.
+
+On the 15th of June, 1882, was adopted a new adjustment with the
+Trustees. Mr. Cocke was still unwilling to take over the property in
+payment of the Trustees' debt, but he had come to the conclusion that it
+might be wise to take a lease on it for fifteen years. To this the
+Trustees agreed, and the lease was duly written in favor of Charles L.
+Cocke and his son, Charles H. Cocke. At this time the debt due Mr. Cocke
+was $42,212, and by the terms of the contract, that sum might be
+increased to $50,000. An annual rental of $3,500 was to be due the
+Trustees, which was offset by the interest due on their $50,000 debt. In
+this arrangement the only right reserved by the Trustees was that of
+sanction of all improvements that might be undertaken during the period
+of the lease. On the very day when this agreement was written, Mr. Cocke
+submitted a plan for a Chapel. This was promptly approved by the
+Trustees. The work began, and soon the sacred edifice was an
+accomplished fact. A little later the open grates and hot air furnaces
+in the buildings were abolished in favor of steam heat. The limestone
+spring and the pump in the yard were abandoned to give place to a
+reservoir on the side of Tinker Mountain, which supplied running water
+on every floor. Needed philosophical and chemical apparatus were
+forthcoming, and a beautiful Art and Music hall was built on the site of
+Carvin's rock castle. Then followed a new and enlarged dining room with
+all its appurtenances. The Trustees acquiesced cheerfully in all these
+betterments, but they looked on the vast increase of their debt in a
+sort of helpless wonderment. How should they ever meet the huge
+obligation? While they forbore to put a check on this advance, they were
+sure that there could be only one way of ultimate settlement.
+
+In July, 1882, came the first great heartbreak his own household had
+ever known. His daughter, Rosa Pleasants Cocke, wife of the Rev. W. R.
+L. Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia,
+passed to her dreamless sleep. She was young, beautiful, universally
+loved,--the fairest bloom of queenly womanhood. She left a little Edith,
+who, twenty months later, went to rest with her mother on the green hill
+near Hollins.
+
+The enrollment of one hundred and seventy-six girls in the session of
+1888-'89, was the largest in the history of the school. At this date the
+President found, by careful comparison, that during the past forty-seven
+years, the average attendance had been greater than that of any other
+school for girls in the State. The session of 1889-'90 registered two
+hundred and nine students, and for the first time since 1864
+applications had to be declined. The only minor chord that marred the
+general joy sounded in the troubled minds of the Trustees. In his own
+private reflections, Mr. Cocke had to confess that the solution offered
+by the Trustees looked like the obstinate, unavoidable necessity. About
+this time he made known to the Trustees and friends, a compliment to the
+Institution, recently paid by the National Bureau of Education at
+Washington. In a report of that body concerning schools for girls in
+Virginia, Hollins was named the foremost Institution for girls, the best
+known and the most effective in the State. The report continues: "There
+is an admirable foundation already laid at Hollins Institute ... for
+a woman's college of the type of Vassar, Smith, Wellesley and Bryn
+Mawr ... in a beautiful and healthful region with ample buildings for a
+great beginning.... An investment of a million would place here a great
+school of the highest type, and perpetuate the well-earned reputation
+of this well-known Institute,--for the past forty years one of the most
+notable of Southern schools." This fine appraisement, coming from an
+independent and impartial source, was unspeakably pleasing to the man
+around whom this school had grown, and he could but cherish the hope
+that some large-minded man of wealth would arise to follow the
+suggestion of endowment made in the quotation.
+
+A rare sensation was sprung on the Hollins community in the celebration
+of Mr. and Mrs. Cocke's Golden Wedding, December 31, 1890. All unknown
+to them, a group of loving hearts and hands had prepared an elaborate
+and impressive program. But some days before the brilliant event,
+mysterious hints, furtive interviews and beaming expectancy gave away
+the secret. Mr. Cocke himself began the jubilee in the early dawn, by
+slipping on the finger of his sleeping wife a handsome plain gold ring.
+All day, by letter and telegram, came happy congratulations and "bridal
+presents" from former pupils and friends. In the evening, Hollins took
+on unprecedented splendor with illuminations everywhere. Chandeliers,
+windows and doors were hung with ivy, and over the door of the main
+parlor, in large green figures, were placed the dates, 1840-1890. At
+7:30 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Cocke took their stand in the large parlor,
+thronged by loved ones and friends. Prayer was made by Rev. Dr. G. W.
+Beale, pastor of Enon Baptist Church and chaplain of the college. Then,
+the Rev. Dr. E. C. Dargan of Charleston, S. C., a former pastor of Enon
+and college chaplain, made an affectionate address. Among the
+appropriate remarks is the following quotation: "This great school, the
+love and labor of your life, speaks for itself, both in glad presence
+and widely extended absence. From over all the land, and indeed from far
+distant lands, the pupils of Hollins send their love and
+congratulations. Through the willing service of one who has labored long
+at your side,[1] they present to you this book, containing the
+signatures of hundreds, who came to learn of you. Their affection also
+presents to you this portrait, intending that it shall be a perpetual
+heirloom, at once a splendid souvenir of this day and a monument of
+their lasting gratitude."
+
+  [1] Mrs. Eliza S. Childs, Associate Principal.
+
+As these words were spoken, two of his little granddaughters, Thalia
+Hayward and Leila Turner, touched a wire, and the veil dropped,
+revealing the fine life-size portrait of Mr. Cocke, described in the
+first chapter of this book. It was the work of his accomplished
+daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, Va. Mr. Cocke made
+brief and tender acknowledgment of the honor done him, and then his
+son, Mr. Lucian H. Cocke, expressed in few words the same sentiment.
+Professor Wm. H. Pleasants read a poem, written for the occasion by a
+former pupil and teacher of Hollins. Two other short speeches were made
+by admiring friends and Dr. Dargan pronounced the benediction.
+
+In every particular, this program was beautifully conceived and
+gracefully executed, making one of the most felicitous and memorable
+events ever known in the life of the Institution.
+
+On the occasion of their meeting in July, 1896, the Trustees signalized
+the completion of a half century of service by renewed expressions of
+admiration and love for Mr. Cocke. One year later they returned to the
+theme and took action which gave the most general delight. They passed
+two resolutions: "First, that in honor of President Cocke, while living,
+and after his death, in memory of his great achievements in education,
+the 21st of February, his birthday, be set apart as a legal holiday in
+Hollins Institute. Second, that the young ladies be permitted to
+celebrate the day in such manner as may be deemed by the officers of the
+school appropriate to the occasion." Such was the origin of Founder's
+Day, only three happy celebrations of which the beloved President was
+destined to see.
+
+The eventide drew gently on, and that good, gray head was crowned with
+glory and honor. His own health was still fine, but his dear family was
+drawing near to a land of shadows. Three times in a very short period
+the billows of bereavement went over him. An avalanche of grief fell on
+his stout heart in the sudden loss of three of his children. Mrs. Leila
+Virginia Turner, on October 21st, 1899, laid her burden down and was put
+to rest beside her husband on the green hill. On the 3rd of May, 1900,
+the noble Manager, Charles H. Cocke, passed away, and was gathered to
+the loved ones gone before. Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke died on July 29th,
+1900, and was added to the silent company of brothers and sisters.
+
+"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." With chastened tenderness and
+submissive resignation, Mr. Cocke held his course as one who gets
+support from an invisible world. The concerns of the Institute pressed
+on him, and he must still take hold on life's affairs. The lease, in
+1897, had been extended for a new period of ten years. But, obviously,
+it was now full time that his business relations to the Trustees be
+brought to a definite and final settlement. The issue, pending through
+many years, could be deferred no longer, and on June 2nd, 1900, a
+radical change in the old order was made. The Trustees found themselves
+in debt to Mr. Cocke $101,253, in addition to the $50,000 in bonds
+already executed. Not yet had they been able even to pay the $1,500
+loaned by him in 1846. He gave up his notes and bonds to the Trustees,
+and they in turn gave over the Institution. Thus the Board of Trustees,
+after a period of forty-five years, went out of existence, and Hollins
+became the property of Mr. Cocke. It was not the consummation that he
+wished, but there was no other alternative.
+
+The venerable man, now in his 81st year, had on his hands the great
+Institution he had so laboriously builded. If he could have called back
+forty years, the responsibility would have rested on strong shoulders
+and a confident brain. But the competencies of the earlier years were
+spent, and age could only plan for the activities in which it should not
+share. He stood a noble, picturesque figure on the peak of life's work,
+looking backward with thankful satisfaction, and then wistfully forward
+into those years when other hands, hearts and brains should shape and
+guide the Institution. Not with one touch of gloomy foreboding did he
+make this provision. He believed that his children and grandchildren
+would loyally cherish his ideals and aspirations. They would hold the
+legacy sacred, maintain its standards, and keep it true to its aims. In
+the mellowing days of life's late afternoon this confidence gave him
+comfort and peace. Human affection played around him soft and tender as
+summer sunset on the mountains, but it could not be doubted that among
+the deepest satisfactions of his soul was the conviction that his
+successors would do him the real homage of preserving the fruitage of
+his long, unselfish labors.
+
+His form was unbent and his physical force gave him hope of ten more
+years of life. It was not to be. In the summer of 1898 a violent
+carbuncle brought him perilously near the brink of the great mystery.
+Two years later, warning symptoms came upon him suddenly. They did not
+yield to careful treatment, and with premonitions of the end, he decided
+in January, 1901, to go to the home of his son, Lucian H. Cocke, in
+Roanoke. This arrangement was his own device. He thought thereby to save
+Hollins from the anxiety which his illness would create, and from the
+shock of its probable end. What could be lovelier than the two letters
+that follow?
+
+                              "Hollins, Virginia, February 21, 1901.
+
+"Our Dear Mr. Cocke:--
+
+"We, the members of your Faculty,--or rather of your great household
+here at Hollins,--deeply touched by your never-ceasing thought of us,
+and your intense interest in the work of our classes which prompted you
+even in the hour of great bodily distress to send us from your bed of
+sickness a message of comfort and encouragement, feel that we can not
+suffer this, your birthday, to pass by without some expression of our
+gratitude and sympathy.
+
+"We can never cease to be grateful for the kindly wisdom of your counsel
+which has directed us always unerringly to what is true and right, and
+for the firm guidance of your hand which has unfalteringly led us
+through the dark places of doubt and despair. Though we miss your wise
+head and guiding hand, we shall ever feel the inspiration of your spirit
+and the silent influence of your example; and trusting in that Divine
+Providence which has so long directed and prospered the labors of your
+brain and hand, we will endeavor to carry out, along your own lines, the
+work which you have so nobly planned and which you are now forced to lay
+aside.
+
+"In this time of your physical weakness and bodily suffering, our
+thoughts are often with you, and we send you this message assuring you
+of our sympathy, both as a body and as individuals. May our Heavenly
+Father take you in His keeping and give to you unwavering faith and
+comfort and peace.
+
+"With the expression of our affectionate regard.
+
+                                              "J. M. MCBRYDE, JR.
+
+  "On behalf of your fellow laborers, the Faculty of
+  Hollins Institute."
+
+
+"To The Faculty and Pupils of Hollins Institute:
+
+"It is now nearly two months since I have been with you. During this
+time I have been prostrated by great infirmities of body, and my
+weakness still is extreme. During my illness, however, there has been no
+time when I have ceased to have the welfare of each of you upon my mind
+and heart. Of all the expressions of sympathy that have come to me, none
+have been so comforting and gratifying as those that have come from my
+faculty and pupils. I wish to extend to each one of you my sincere
+appreciation of your earnest solicitude on my account. From every source
+the information comes to me of the orderly conduct of affairs at
+Hollins--teachers and pupils in their accustomed places, performing in a
+faithful and conscientious manner each duty that the occasion demands.
+It would be difficult indeed to adequately express to you the
+gratification that this information brings to me. For many years it has
+been my earnest desire to so conduct the affairs of the Institution,
+that whether I was present or absent there should be no abatement in the
+earnest purpose and devotion to duty which I have sought to make a part
+of the atmosphere of Hollins. I can not express to you a proper idea of
+what a pleasure it has been to me to know that this ideal is being
+exemplified in your conduct, and I feel that in my declining years I am
+greatly blessed in having your sympathy and co-operation in the proper
+conduct of the work which has been on my heart for these many years.
+
+"I trust that under the care of a favoring Providence, I may yet be able
+to be with you, and exchange once more the kindly greetings that have
+been a delight to me; but should it be otherwise, I always feel well
+assured that I can rely with confidence upon you to give to the
+Institution and the work with which I have been connected, the same
+devotion and loyalty which you have, without stint, accorded to me.
+
+"May our Father in Heaven preserve each one of you in His holy keeping.
+
+                                       [Signature: Charles L. Cocke]
+
+  "March 10th, 1901."
+
+It was on May 4th, 1901, that the end came. In the early morning of May
+6th, the body was brought to Hollins and placed in the Chapel. Mr. Cocke
+had planned the two funeral services of the day. The first was held in
+the Chapel, for the family, faculty and students, who crowded the room.
+It was conducted by the Rev. Dr. F. H. Martin, Baptist pastor at Salem,
+assisted by ministers of the Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal
+churches. At the beginning and close of the service were sung his
+favorite hymns: "How Firm a Foundation," and "My Hope is Built on
+Nothing Less."
+
+At 4 p.m., the second service was held at Enon Church, which was
+thronged by neighbors and friends. The pastor, the Rev. J. M. Luck,
+presided, and after the singing of "There is a Fountain Filled With
+Blood," remarks followed by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. W. E. Hatcher, and
+Mr. William Ellyson of Richmond, and the Rev. Dr. P. T. Hale of Roanoke.
+The service closed with "My Jesus, as Thou Wilt," and then the
+procession moved up the hill in a sudden shower of rain. As the casket
+was lowered, the great assemblage sang softly, "There's a Land That is
+Fairer Than Day," and the Rev. T. J. Shipman offered the closing prayer.
+Two impressive incidents followed. A procession of Hollins girls,
+dressed in white and bearing white carnations, came up the slope and
+covered the grave with flowers. In the same moment the setting sun broke
+through the clouds and bathed the scene in a radiance of glory. Dr.
+Hatcher, with felicitous tact, called attention to the shining symbol of
+heaven's benediction on the proceedings of that solemn day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS
+
+
+A careful examination of the catalogues and school registers of the
+early years leads us to believe that by June, 1896, when Mr. Cocke
+delivered his semi-centennial address, he had seen under training at
+Hollins not fewer than 5,000 young women. To the privileges of the
+school he had welcomed the children and grandchildren of his first
+pupils. As terms of study closed, what did this host of girls think of
+the Head of the Institution? Today in thousands of homes throughout the
+nation, the name of Hollins unseals, as by magic, a well-spring of
+precious and tender reminiscence. With unanimous devotion, the girls who
+knew him, honored and loved the name of Charles L. Cocke. Hardly did
+Tinker and Dead Man Mountain loom so large to them as the form of the
+venerable man. They honored him because he was strict and absolutely
+just; because he held high standards of school decorum and culture, and
+insisted on hard work. He was too honorable to take the daughters of
+patrons, and allow waste of time and opportunity. His stringent demands
+may sometimes have caused irritation, but the good sense of the student
+was certain to react to grateful recognition of his wisdom. The after
+years never fail to evoke loving acknowledgment in the heart of a girl
+whose teacher requires her to make good in her studies. The Hollins
+girls loved Mr. Cocke because he was uniformly considerate and kind. The
+fatherly interest in his heart, not one was allowed to doubt. Daily he
+met them at the evening worship. Often has the visiting "old girl"
+spoken of those unforgotten prayers. He welcomed them in his office,
+listened to their requests, responding with sound advice and
+encouragement. Arbitrariness and severity were foreign to his nature,
+but all knew that the standards of conduct and study must be maintained.
+
+How proud he was of the distinctions won by his girls! In the early
+eighties five of them, in the English literature classes, took the
+Shakespeare prize offered in London.
+
+[Illustration: "GOOD MORNING, 'GYRLS'"]
+
+The class room work was ever the major interest, but beyond this was a
+large range of activity and diversion. In 1855 the Euzelian (Love of
+Wisdom) Society was organized for debate, recitations and essays.
+Increasing numbers in 1874 required the formation of the Euepian (Pure
+Diction) Society. Still memorable are those exciting joint debates,
+held occasionally by the Societies, along the years. In these latter
+days, they have given place to other disciplines more in harmony with
+the practical spirit of the age. Class organizations, Sororities, Clubs,
+Student Government, the College "Spinster" and Magazine, monopolize the
+spare hours. The Young Women's Christian Association maintains its
+prominence and usefulness.
+
+But the old-time diversions do not pass. Those glorious romping trips up
+Carvin's Creek to the Falls, and the annual holiday climb to the top of
+Tinker in October, together with the strenuous games and sports on the
+campus, will continue to furnish happy memories.
+
+The democratic spirit of the Institution Mr. Cocke constantly
+cultivated, and with profound satisfaction he welcomed students from the
+homes of rich and poor. All entered on terms of equality in privilege
+and opportunity. The rich girl of common sense and industry won
+popularity and honor; and by the same token the poor girl gained the
+love of classmates and the medals of distinction. At no institution was
+there more contempt for snobbery or for the spirit of favoritism. Moral
+and intellectual worth were the sole tests of credit and high standing.
+
+His interest followed the students, and he smiled at the tidings of
+their usefulness. He counted on their private and public values in
+society. Some, he was fond of saying, had become the wives of ministers,
+of lawyers and judges, of officers of the Army and of the Navy, of
+political leaders and of distinguished men in all ranks and professions.
+With pride, he spoke of those who were teaching in the schools and
+colleges, and of those who had gone into the far mission fields of the
+world. In his heart the grand old man felt: "They are all my daughters,
+and the sweetest benedictions be on every one." You will never meet the
+daughters of Hollins, old or young, whose faces do not light up at the
+mention of his name, or that of the dear place where many of life's
+holiest memories were stored. When old Hollins girls meet--whether as
+bosom cronies, after years of separation, or as strangers at some
+Exposition, gazing through tears at a portrait--a listener need but
+catch fragments of their reminiscences to know how Mr. Cocke's
+personality glows in the memory of his "gyrls."
+
+"Could we ever forget how he used to read the hymns at evening worship?
+Nobody else could, or can, read them as he did:
+
+  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah--
+  My hope is built on nothing less,
+  Than Jesus' blood and righteousness--
+  In the Cross of Christ I glory,
+  Towering o'er the wrecks of time--
+
+This last always with an unconscious lifting of the head in his vision
+of the glory one day to be revealed. It meant much to look, once a day,
+on a colossal faith like his. Was it due to those unbroken, silent
+trysts with his Savior in the chapel, in the early morning?"
+
+"Latin and mathematics were always second to the Bible with Mr. Cocke,"
+testifies another. "He was certainly never afraid of the 'hard-grained
+muses' for us. I once heard him say, with a touch of regret, 'The next
+generation in our country will produce many more readers, but fewer
+scholars.' He revered true learning and made us revere it, however
+little some of us possessed it. Scholarship with him was no musty work,
+smelling of the midnight oil. He never laughed at it as odd or pedantic.
+It was, in his mind, never dissociated from service; but scholarship was
+a high thing, and he flung out the work as a challenge to the best
+within us.
+
+"One now laughs to recall her own mental protests, as a new girl, when
+Mr. Cocke would so earnestly tell her fellow-students that they would be
+leaders in their communities, in their states. 'How mistaken Mr. Cocke
+is about this,' I would say to myself. 'He doesn't know this year's
+girls. He is thinking about those women who shone out so brilliantly
+here two, four, ten, thirty years ago--those stars in the crown of
+Hollins. But these girls are just ordinary people. The best of them
+don't even know their lessons every time--not to mention the rest of us.
+They could never lead communities. Great women would be necessary for
+that.' But those girls _have_ been real leaders, just as Mr. Cocke said.
+They were nothing but girls, just like other girls, but they did, many
+of them, go forth to lead and to lead straight. It may be that they had
+from him some touch of his power; it may be that he opened their eyes to
+the fact that there is, after all, nobody else to do most of these
+things except just plain humanity. There really is nobody else, you
+know.
+
+"And Mr. Cocke's dignity withal--how cheap have many other men looked to
+my eyes when set beside my image of him! It is like that fabled
+measuring rod which made inflated pride shrink to its true stature. Mr.
+Cocke was the only man I ever saw who really seemed equal to wearing a
+high hat. I have watched the throng of the genteel coming down Broadway
+in their Sunday best and have thought, 'Not a man of you looks right in
+it--looks wholly free from affectation.' To him it was as natural as the
+crown of white hair beneath it.
+
+"Imperious sometimes? Yes. I recall once, certainly. That new invention,
+the telephone, had been installed at Hollins. It was wonderful,
+enabling one to talk to the depot agent at Cloverdale, _three_ miles
+away. For the first few days of the new 'fixture,' Miss Matty had
+attended to all the preliminaries, so Mr. Cocke had not realized just
+what these preliminaries were, or that any were necessary. I saw him
+walk up to the transmitter and speak into it, without ringing the bell,
+asking a question of the agent. No response, of course. He spoke again.
+The same dead silence. Then he right royally tapped the transmitter as
+with a rod of office and commanded, 'Here, _answer_ me!' Although I knew
+that the ringing of the bell was essential, I had the feeling that some
+response _must_ come when Mr. Cocke spoke like that.
+
+"By means of credit and otherwise, he helped me and helped other girls
+from my section of Virginia who had less ready money than craving for an
+education. The work of one of these, as Foreign Missionary, has been so
+good and so big that I love to think that in her, Hollins may have its
+reward for what it did for the rest of us. But so utterly did Mr. Cocke
+ignore all such benefits conferred by himself that I used to think he
+surely must not know about these things, that they must have all been
+transacted in the privacy of Mr. Charley's business office. The
+President looked so far above any money considerations; and still he
+must have been a wonderful financier. Who else could have found the
+means of building and maintaining that great Institution without aid of
+church or state or millionaire? I never know what to say when asked by
+school men how Hollins was financed in the old days. The means must have
+been brought down by prayer from Heaven somehow.
+
+"We talk much of the prudence that keeps at a safe distance from the
+plague of influenza. That is right, often. But when LaGrippe came from
+Russia in 1889 and invaded Hollins, I saw how the suffering was, to some
+of the girls, far outweighed by the honor and joy of having Mr. Cocke
+himself make the rounds to visit them as if he cared. Cared? I have
+looked out into the semi-darkness of the campus and seen that stately
+figure, with bowed head, walking up and down beneath the window of the
+infirmary, where some girl lay extremely ill, moving to and fro, far
+into the night, in a vigil, which, let me say it with reverence, has
+made it easier to believe that close to all earth's pains,
+
+  "Standeth One within the shadow,
+  Keeping watch above His own."
+
+                                                            E. P. C.
+
+Such was the inner life of Hollins. It was and is the loving fellowship
+and co-operative industry of a big family, consecrated to true culture,
+good citizenship and human progress. It was the life-work of the Good
+President, to cheer and help his girls onward to the realization of
+these noble ideals.
+
+One day in May, 1901, the sad tidings of Mr. Cocke's death reached them.
+Out of the multitude of letters that came to Hollins, all bearing the
+same message of sympathetic grief, only a few can be subjoined.
+
+    "It is sad, and almost unbearable, to think of Hollins without Mr.
+    Cocke. And yet, our grief at his death has, mingled with it, a
+    spirit of thanksgiving for his life. We are so glad that we came
+    under the influence of that life. I was so young when I first went
+    to Hollins, and Hollins was my home for so long, that its influence,
+    the life-example of Mr. Cocke, all, indeed, that made up the
+    strength and beauty of those days, are woven into every fibre of my
+    being, have become a part of my very life, so that I know I am
+    better for having known Hollins, and Mr. Cocke."
+
+                                                            R. B.
+
+    "For a long time I have realized that I owe more to the influence of
+    my teachers and friends at Hollins than to all the text-books I have
+    ever opened, and today I count it one of the greatest blessings of
+    my life that it was in the pure, elevating atmosphere of Hollins
+    that I grew into womanhood. To dear Mr. Cocke, the Founder, the
+    Head, the Life of Hollins, I do now and ever shall feel the deepest
+    gratitude, and shall ever think of him with reverence, so high has
+    always been my regard for him. Hundreds of women all over the land
+    are sorrowing that they will see his noble face no more; for we, his
+    old pupils, have lost a benefactor, a teacher, a friend."
+
+                                                         M. W. C.
+
+    "Indeed, a course so nobly run can be as fitly congratulated on its
+    close--a close pertaining not merely to the finite conditions which
+    fetter it here, but which, freeing it from these, ushers its powers,
+    refined, magnified, glorified, into the blessed sphere of attainment
+    awaiting those who have steadily followed the steps of the Master in
+    ceaseless effort for the good of man. It is not the note of
+    lamentation that accords with this grand freeing and glorious
+    entrance of a friend of man, a soldier of the Cross, into the
+    kingdom he has won: we rather shout our acclamations for the triumph
+    of our friend, and drop the tear only that we are for a moment shut
+    from the comfort of his countenance. We all, in fullest degree,
+    offer our love and attachment, founded on unspeakable memories of
+    early and lasting life."
+
+                                                         B. D. F.
+
+    "I am only one of the hundreds of girls who loved Mr. Cocke dearly,
+    and honored him beyond the power of words to express. I feel that I
+    loved him particularly well, more than others did; but perhaps many
+    others feel the same way. I never knew any other man whose religion
+    showed so plainly in his daily life. It always seemed to me that he
+    walked with God. Hollins will never be the same again to the old
+    girls."
+
+                                                         L. J. M.
+
+    "I feel sure that all you dear Hollins people know how fully my
+    heart is with you at this time; but I feel that I must give some
+    outward expression to the love and sympathy that I feel. Along with
+    thousands of other old Hollins girls, I know what a great loss the
+    world has sustained, and what a great and lasting grief has come to
+    all of us who knew and loved and revered Mr. Cocke. To think of the
+    thousands of minds and souls he has helped to strengthen and fit out
+    for life's work! His opportunity was great, and he made the most of
+    it,--and what higher praise can be given to any man?"
+
+                                                      B. P. M. T.
+
+    "I have been more distressed than I can tell you to hear of dear Mr.
+    Cocke's increasing feebleness and dangerous illness, and I have
+    opened each letter from Hollins with a feeling of dread, always
+    fearing the worst. But although the sad news, now that it has come,
+    does not find me unprepared, my grief is no less acute. I know so
+    well what this loss means not only to the thousands of girls who,
+    like me, loved him as a father, but to the cause of education and
+    religion, in which he stood ever as a beacon light. My heart is very
+    sad when I think of how much goodness and greatness and strength
+    went out of the world when he was taken. I have not the power to
+    express in words the grief I feel! I shall always thank God for the
+    priceless boon of being for a time under the influence of that
+    consecrated life, and it is my earnest prayer that I may never lose
+    sight of that blessed example of 'pure religion and undefiled before
+    God and the Father.'"
+
+                                                         E. S. F.
+
+    "A friend writes me that Mr. Cocke's work is done, and that today he
+    is laid to rest, I suppose on the beautiful hill that looks down on
+    the field of his labors, that field that has borne such beautiful
+    fruit. We are all distressed, as will be a great many others
+    throughout the South who have felt the importance in life of a
+    character like that of Mr. Cocke. If there were more men with like
+    quality of character and mind, the world would speedily become a
+    better place. He did what he could to better it, and there are many
+    left to honor him who have not the strength to do likewise."
+
+                                                         L. B. P.
+
+    "As one of the many thousands who owe to him unestimated, because
+    inestimable, blessings, treasures of thought and influence and
+    inspiration that time can not touch any more than it can dim his
+    priceless memory, I sorrow today for Hollins' great 'creator,
+    builder, guide.'"
+
+                                                         S. B. D.
+
+    "The news of dear Mr. Cocke's death has filled me with sorrow, for I
+    realize what an inestimable loss the church, the school, his
+    friends, and his family have sustained. I never knew any one like
+    him! No one ever laid down a life more filled with good works, and
+    he has indeed earned the blessed rest which he is now enjoying."
+
+                                                         C. M. J.
+
+    "The knowledge of such a life is invaluable. We should, we will,
+    cherish the remembrance of it and hold this among the greatest
+    object lessons taught us by God. The treasure of his memory would
+    not be so priceless had his life been one smooth journey. It is the
+    knowledge of the struggle, the knowledge that a man has fought and
+    gloriously won in life's severest conflicts, that furnishes us the
+    incentive, that lends us the inspiration."
+
+                                                            A. W.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES
+
+
+The fine portrait of Mr. Cocke in the Hollins Library, executed by his
+daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, was formally presented
+at the Golden Wedding celebration in 1890. Death claimed the brilliant
+artist in 1899. With keen insight she portrayed her subject at the
+culminating moment of the final exercises of the Institution. The
+diploma in his hand is the one which he handed to his daughter, Miss
+Matty L. Cocke, on the day of her graduation. The artist wanted a real
+diploma, and by felicitous chance, this was the one supplied. At the
+time, the owner little dreamed of being her father's successor as
+President of Hollins Institute.
+
+As now, so during the lifetime of Mr. Cocke, Maytime at Hollins stirred
+a flutter of excitement in the student's mind. The session's close was
+drawing near, with its terrors of examinations; its flourish of music,
+oratory and white dresses; its orderly pomp and splendor. The season
+brought a new flush of animation and gaiety. There were happy greetings
+of fathers and mothers. The old girls came, eager for the raptures of
+re-union. The bright stars shone on dear old Hollins; the blue mountains
+stood guard round their jewel; and the sky dropped down benediction.
+Nature and the human heart held high festival on Commencement Day.
+
+Services began with an interesting dramatic presentation, and the
+Reception to the Senior Class. The Sunday services were conducted by
+invited ministers. In the days following, came the jollities of Class
+Day, the joint celebration of the Societies, the Musical Concert, and
+lastly, the annual address by the President, with the conferring of
+Diplomas. Of course the programs of the earlier years were not so
+elaborate as the one just indicated, but the exercises were as vitally
+interesting and popular. On these occasions many distinguished men
+delivered strong and eloquent addresses. Woe to the man who ventured to
+stand before a Hollins audience without honest preparation. Declamatory
+rhetoric never deceived this group of intellectually alert students. Mr.
+Cocke drew his ministers for Commencement from the various Protestant
+denominations, as the students came from all these bodies. Sectarian
+narrowness never guided his choice, and that spirit never thrived in his
+school. Christian truth and character were to him the eternal verities,
+and among all communions he made devoted friends. One of his preachers
+disappointed him cruelly. That good man made a calamitous mistake. He
+had fancied that he was to appear before a mountain school, and that
+almost any sort of a sermon would answer. Lazy unpreparedness meets
+retribution. Arriving at Hollins, his disillusion was instantaneous, and
+all that Saturday night he tossed in mental misery. The next morning he
+appeared in the pulpit with an irrelevant theme, and a profitless
+sermon. College girls are never profoundly impressed by unctuous
+platitudes, or by theological combat.
+
+One of the surprises about these years is the small number of Full
+Diplomas that were given. From 1855 to 1900, Mr. Cocke bestowed this
+honor on one hundred and twenty-five girls. To secure it the student had
+to graduate in at least seven of the departments of study. The standards
+were high, so that to win the Full Diploma, demanded native ability and
+long, hard work. In the operation of the school's elective system, each
+girl chose the classes she preferred, and received certificates of
+graduation as the work in each subject was accomplished. Though, as we
+have said, Full Diplomas were rare, many girls won these minor
+distinctions, which also bore the name of Diploma. Many were the
+students who, coming for one year's course, were stirred by these
+Commencement occasions to larger views and longer attendance. This
+imposing pageant of the Finals was apt to awaken in the ambitious,
+first-year girl, a sense of her intellectual poverty, and to inspire
+noble resolution for ampler education.
+
+At the close of the session of 1899-1900, Mr. Cocke delivered his 52nd
+annual address. Sad to say, it was his last. It is a notable and
+probably an unparalleled fact, that he should, through fifty-two
+consecutive years, have made the graduation address and have delivered
+the Diplomas. In these messages he dealt with the many problems of
+educational theory and practice, never failing to appeal for high and
+noble standards of living. He counted on his girls as the finest
+advertisement, and as the most eloquent testimonial of the merits of
+Hollins. It was no vain reckoning. As a matter of fact, it became no
+unusual thing for him to hear patrons confess that they had seen Hollins
+girls and had been deeply impressed by their intelligence, cultured
+manners and social grace.
+
+Now we yield the platform to the President. There can be no more fitting
+close of this chapter than a few paragraphs, taken from his annual
+addresses. The captions are not his, but they indicate the special
+thought of the passage.
+
+
+THIS ONE THING 1889
+
+    "I have aimed to implant deep in the hearts of my pupils the
+    principles and precepts of our holy religion, as taught in the Word
+    of God. As to those externals of religion which divide the Christian
+    world into parties and sects innumerable, I have nothing to say; for
+    our great Law-Giver and High Priest has said, 'The Kingdom of God is
+    within you,' and unless we are subject to this law, all rites and
+    ordinances and organizations put together and scrupulously
+    practiced, cannot save the soul."
+
+
+REVIEW OF FIFTY YEARS JUNE, 1896
+
+    "Our trouble has been all during these fifty years, to secure
+    equipment. Had this been furnished, the history of the school would
+    have been far more satisfactory. The success of the school in 1852
+    and years following, gave a wonderful impetus to girls' schools in
+    Virginia. Many chartered schools came into existence during that
+    decade. Some of course proved failures, and others exist to this
+    day.
+
+    "The annual registers of pupils during the entire existence of the
+    school, aggregate 6,689. It has been almost exclusively a boarding
+    school, and as such has led in numbers all the schools of Virginia.
+    Its contributions to the teaching profession have been most valuable
+    and probably more numerous than that of any other Virginia school.
+    It has educated many daughters of ministers of different communions,
+    free of charge for tuition. It has aided large numbers of indigent
+    girls. Its graduates are in all parts of this country, North, East
+    and West as well as in the South, where they are numerous. Some six
+    or eight are in foreign mission fields. The school has far surpassed
+    my own expectations and has been a surprise to the general public.
+
+    "As soon as we took charge in 1846, and became acquainted with the
+    surroundings and prospects, we saw clearly that the school could not
+    live with a merely local patronage. It was almost wholly a boarding
+    school, and it must draw its pupils from a broad area. The necessary
+    steps were taken to make its advantages known in all parts of
+    Virginia, and that patronage was sufficient for our limited
+    accommodations until the close of 'the war.' We often declined
+    applicants for want of proper accommodations. But after Virginia had
+    been devastated by two contending armies within her borders for four
+    years, we had to look to still broader fields for pupils. It was
+    about the year 1870 that we first made known the advantages of the
+    school in other states, and now a majority of our pupils come from
+    other sections beyond our state lines. This patronage, with more
+    ample equipment, might be greatly increased, and with broader and
+    more ample facilities, it might be made the most prominent school
+    for girls in all the South. Its country location, its invigorating
+    atmosphere, its mineral waters, its glorious mountain scenery, all
+    combine to bring to it increasing numbers from different and
+    distinct sections. The great boarding schools for girls in the
+    North, in which millions are invested, are in the country.
+
+    "My life has been one of unceasing work and energy, of constant
+    cares and anxieties, and of a deep sense of responsibility. I have
+    only laid a foundation on which the next generation may build. Will
+    Virginia, the most desirable State in the Union for institutions of
+    learning of every grade and class, seize the opportunity and again
+    advance, through educational channels, to the leadership of States,
+    and inaugurate an era of greater glory and higher destinies for this
+    great American people? Oh, that she may be wise to discern the
+    ominous signs of these times and seek through great schools for
+    young men and young ladies, a power and progress which shall far
+    eclipse her pristine glories!
+
+    "And now, at the close of fifty years' connection with this school,
+    I can, without reservation or modification, say I have done all I
+    could to conduct and perpetuate an Institution which might prove a
+    blessing to the people without distinction of sect or class, and an
+    honor to my native State. And this, too, on the very basis I found
+    it standing when I took charge."
+
+
+EDUCATIONAL THEORY
+
+JUNE, 1893
+
+    "These graduates are not confined to a single Christian
+    denomination; they have come from all denominations. And this is, in
+    my judgment, the true ideal of a Christian school. I have often said
+    that the associations of a school for young ladies, properly
+    conducted, are worth more to them than any single department of
+    study. They learn so much from contact and association with each
+    other.
+
+    "Certainly a school for young ladies should not aim to send forth
+    all its pupils of exactly the same type. Its facilities and
+    associations should be such as to give ample scope for individuality
+    of development, and that genuine sympathetic contact and impress,
+    which lifts the less cultured to higher walks and ways, and
+    impresses the more fortunate with their duty to the needy and
+    dependent, often the most deserving, and often reaching, under such
+    influence, the highest stations of life.
+
+    "The school from its beginning has maintained and made prominent one
+    feature so culpably neglected, and even opposed by most schools for
+    girls. It has maintained a broad and elevated course of study and
+    fixed high standards of graduation. This has been done with special
+    reference to the demands of that class of girls who propose to make
+    teaching their profession or business in life. And most abundantly
+    has it been rewarded in this effort. Its graduates are in great
+    demand and many of them hold elevated positions as teachers. But
+    there are other courses in addition to that required for full
+    graduation. These are intended to meet the varied wants of other
+    classes of students, who, from feeble health, inadequate means or
+    mere preference, decline to pursue the full course.
+
+    "The school has accomplished far more than its early founders aimed
+    at or even dreamed of. They looked to local demands and a limited
+    sphere. But its influence has been felt not only through Virginia,
+    but throughout the South and West, and even from the great North,
+    pupils have sought and enjoyed its advantages. Graduation from
+    school does not imply full and complete knowledge on any subject or
+    in any department of learning. The object of true scholastic
+    training is, first, to discipline the powers, and, second, to open
+    to pupils the sources of knowledge. In these processes, of course,
+    much information is imparted; but to stop here and read and study no
+    more, would be fatal to a high and commanding success in life. You
+    must read and read systematically and continuously. You must keep up
+    with the progress of the times, and times are in quick movement in
+    this day...."
+
+
+SECRET OF SUCCESS
+
+1855
+
+    "If you would have your minds well disciplined and well stored with
+    useful information, you must be willing to retire, for a time at
+    least, from the enticing and distracting scenes of the busy world,
+    and in the quietude of academic life, devote your powers to those
+    labors which alone can secure the desired boon. Here the work must
+    be done, here the foundation must be laid, upon which your future
+    attainments and your future eminence must rest. Neglect this
+    preparation, and you can have no well grounded hope of rising to
+    distinction in society, or of exerting an influence which shall
+    leave a record of your name and your deeds upon the hearts and
+    memories of those who shall come after you....
+
+    "The secret of success is the ability _to fix the attention on one
+    subject at a time...._"
+
+
+CREATIVE WORK
+
+1862
+
+    "I urge you to cultivate a taste not only for literature, but for
+    _making literature_. The literature of a country determines its
+    institutions, its social conditions, and its destiny. It is really
+    its inner life whence its external manifestations spring."
+
+
+LITERARY TASTE
+
+JUNE, 1894
+
+    "Many a wise man has said repeatedly: 'Let me go into a young lady's
+    parlor and examine the literature which lies on her table, and the
+    books which fill the shelves of her library, and I will tell you all
+    about her; the secret thoughts which habitually haunt her
+    imagination, the purposes, the ambitions, the affections, good or
+    bad, which agitate and fill her heart; the scenes, the sights, the
+    objects, the aims which thrill her soul--all this I know from the
+    companionship amid which she delights to linger and live, and with
+    which she delights to commune.' Young ladies, when you reach home
+    and unpack your trunks, will you take out the text books you have
+    studied in this school, one by one, and place them on the highest
+    shelf of your library and in the far corner, and with a scowl on
+    your face say to them, 'Now, you go and stay where I put you; you
+    have cost me weeks and months and years of toil, of anxieties, of
+    troubles, vexations and tears, but you have at last given me my full
+    diploma and I want nothing more to do with you'! Are you going to
+    speak thus to your best friends, who have done more for you than
+    father and mother?
+
+    "Are you going to turn your back upon, and quit the company of, the
+    only true aristocracy of all the ages and all countries, and seek
+    lower associations? These people are not upstarts; they have lived
+    and still live in all ages and countries; they have been the
+    intimate and loving companions of kings and queens; of emperors and
+    statesmen; divines and poets, scientists and linguists, and all the
+    great of all the earth and every clime and kindred.
+
+    "Again, the Good Book says, 'Where there is no vision the people
+    perish.' This was spoken most probably in regard to the ancient
+    prophets and seers who received the divine light from the great
+    original source, and reflected it from their own hearts and minds on
+    a benighted race.
+
+    "But has not the great Inspirer of light and knowledge, since that
+    remote past, raised up other prophets and seers and imparted other
+    visions that the people might not perish? These great men are among
+    us; they do not compel, but they invite companionship; they say,
+    'Come, go with us, talk with us, commune with our spirit, drink with
+    us of the clear, cool springs of nature; the journey is pleasant and
+    the scenery is grand; come, go with us and we will do thee good.'
+
+    "Will you reject the invitation and decline the association? So,
+    young ladies, as I said in the beginning, from a literary
+    standpoint, from a social standpoint, from a business standpoint,
+    and from the standpoint of philanthropic and Christian usefulness,
+    your future position and success in life depend upon the company you
+    keep. Under the great principle of the freedom of the press, the
+    newspaper has become a universal institution in
+    America,--omnipresent, and almost omnipotent. The result is that the
+    vast constituency of our great government are better informed on
+    current events all over the land and all over the world, than any
+    people on the earth.
+
+    "But the curse of the land is this: We spend too much time on this
+    and kindred literature; this habit enfeebles the mind, contracts the
+    vision, and suppresses high ambitions in the fields, the vast and
+    elevated fields of broader, more solid, more useful and more
+    permanent knowledge. Our people are making the most marvelous
+    progress on all lines of human thought and effort, but on none more
+    rapid than that of science and literature. The spirit of the nation
+    seems to be a consuming ambition to lead the world in thought, in
+    intellectual development, and in products of the brain of men. To
+    keep in harmony with this spirit, you, young ladies, must rise above
+    the plane on which so much of our literature moves and study the
+    works of great minds."
+
+
+TRUE CULTURE
+
+1870
+
+    "The great mistake which so many make and which satisfactorily
+    accounts for their want of success, is that they regard the mere
+    accumulation of facts as the sole object of scholastic study;--that
+    knowledge may be stored in the mind as we gather grain into a
+    garner, and this, too, without regard to its character or quality,
+    or the order in which the deposits are made. We have aimed, young
+    ladies, to give you a better theory of education, and a more
+    enduring foundation of scholarship....
+
+    "The great object of that culture and training which courses of
+    scholastic study afford, is to assist the mind in the processes of
+    its own development; to give to its searchings after truth and its
+    toils in the fields of literature, direction and system; to enable
+    it to think, to reason, to solve; to give it scope and expansion
+    that it may successfully grasp both the theoretical and the
+    practical of life and advance to those objects and destinies which
+    its very structure implies and foreshadows...."
+
+
+BROAD SYMPATHIES
+
+JUNE, 1892
+
+    "I would remind you, young ladies, that you go forth into life at a
+    time when society is advancing on all lines of progress. In breadth,
+    variety and thoroughness of literary and scientific knowledge, we
+    are no less a marvel to ourselves than the wonder and admiration of
+    the oldest civilizations of the world. This American people proposes
+    to hold no inferior rank in the world-wide race for the greatest and
+    grandest results in material development and production. This the
+    most casual observer beholds all around him in every-day life. But
+    when we come to review, critically and comparatively, the rise and
+    progress of American learning, we see one determined and steady
+    advance towards the highest standards the world has ever known. In
+    the production and giving forth of all kinds of literature, this
+    people aspires to the highest place; to the most advanced
+    achievements that bless society and adorn life.
+
+    "And shall our own section and people continue heedless and
+    oblivious of this throbbing, restless, inspiring energy to rise to
+    the very acme of literary fame and glory? We blush to own that,
+    thus far, we have made but a feeble response to the high and
+    honorable calling. When the poison diffused through the channels of
+    a false and envenomed literature during the last generation, South
+    as well as North, shall have spent its force, and the prejudices and
+    passions that literature engendered and fostered shall have given
+    place to just and generous award, then, and not until then, will the
+    whole people and the outside world be prepared to receive and
+    appreciate a truthful revelation, and do mental honor to all, of
+    every section, who from their standpoint and environment, and with
+    the light that shone upon their pathway, lived and labored for great
+    ends, and the same ends. That record will show that not only under
+    Southern skies, but throughout the nation, in national Senate, in
+    Northern cities, even in Western wilds, Southern counsel has
+    contributed in full proportion to the great results which today
+    astonish the world. And furthermore, it will show that Northern
+    energy, foresight and enterprise have made their deep and
+    ineffaceable mark on the whole country in its educational and
+    religious work, its business, political and social life, and its
+    institutions. The gigantic struggle which occurred on this continent
+    just before your eyes opened on the light of day was the result of
+    a misunderstanding; a family quarrel on a grand scale, such as more
+    than once has occurred in the land of our forefathers. But even when
+    the conflict rose to its most fearful height, deep down in the
+    heart, this people were one. They are now one, and may the high
+    council of Heaven ordain that they shall never be other than one.
+
+    "Young ladies, suffer no sectional jealousies or narrow prejudices
+    to find a resting place in your bosoms. They dwarf your souls, they
+    contract your minds. Love your country in all its sections and broad
+    limits and constituent elements, and contribute your best energies,
+    in appropriate spheres, to its high and grand mission."
+
+
+CONFIDENT HOPE
+
+APRIL, 1862
+
+    "You go forth at a dark and threatening hour.... When the great
+    plans of His far-reaching and comprehensive providence shall have
+    been accomplished, in the stupendous conflict which you now behold,
+    He will speak peace to the troubled waters, and there will be peace.
+    Till then let us wait with calm resignation and abiding confidence
+    in His designs of mercy.... This providence, however complicated and
+    strange, leads only to some good and grand result, opening up new
+    channels of usefulness to the virtuous and the good, and saying to
+    the faithful--nations as well as individuals: 'This is the way, walk
+    ye in it.'"
+
+
+GUIDING PURPOSE
+
+1901
+
+    "For many years it has been my earnest desire to so conduct the
+    affairs of the institution that whether I was present or absent,
+    there should be no abatement in the earnest purpose and devotion to
+    duty which I have sought to make a part of the atmosphere of
+    Hollins."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND ACTIVITIES
+
+
+All the activities of a good man's life are religious. Intelligent
+Christian thought has long since abolished the distinctions, "sacred"
+and "secular." The minister is not the only man with a divine calling.
+It is the right of every true man to regard his tasks, of whatever kind,
+as sacred, and the vigorous discharge of them as religious fidelity. The
+apostle, making tents, was serving God as truly as when preaching to the
+philosophers of Athens. All the vocations are spheres in which men serve
+their generation, increasing the sum of human comfort, and securing the
+moral order of the world. The man who serves his fellowmen is the
+anointed servant of the Lord.
+
+Mr. Cocke's life was an uninterrupted consecration to the cause of the
+education of women, permeated and energized by spiritual motive. No man
+understood better than he the living unity between intellectual and
+moral culture. He knew that cultivated faculties without corresponding
+nurture of the spiritual nature may prove a curse rather than a
+blessing. Along with growing mental power, must go a development of
+religious character. The two are inseparable in any right conception of
+human life. So, while he wrought with a wonderfully sustained enthusiasm
+in the sphere of education, he kept always in mind the transcendent
+claims of religion. There he recognized the fundamental interest of
+humanity. Teaching was his vocation, but the honor of God was his
+comprehensive guiding principle. To him the Bible was the word of Life,
+and the worship of the Holy One of Israel the supreme privilege and
+duty. Such was his view and, without intermission, his practice.
+
+From the beginning of his work at Botetourt Springs in 1846, daily the
+assembled students heard the reading of Scripture and united with the
+President in ascriptions of praise. Nor were Mr. Cocke's religious
+services given only to the school. His Christian interest ran out to the
+whole community. He recognized an obligation to his neighbors, and was
+soon meeting them here and there, instructing them in the Scriptures,
+and leading them in their worship. In 1855 the little Enon Baptist
+Church was organized and located within a quarter of a mile of the
+Springs. Into membership in this church he and his family went, to be a
+strong nucleus around which has since grown the excellent congregation
+and the beautiful building of today. The pastors of Enon never had a
+more loving and loyal member of their church. By all odds the strongest
+force in the body, he could have ruled as he pleased, but the humble man
+never dreamed of domination, or of the assertion of any kind of superior
+right. He wanted harmony and growth, and sought it by preferring his
+brethren in honor. His wise counsel and influence were potent, of
+course, but not another member of the church was farther from the
+assumption of authority. He was a model church member in attendance and
+gifts; hence all the people gave him honor and love.
+
+But Enon set no limits on his religious activity. The neighboring towns
+and communities felt the force of his spirit of evangelism. The
+Christian religion must have free course in the regions round about.
+There was not a village within twenty miles of his school that failed to
+catch something of his spirit. The impulses he gave in that early day
+lie at the foundation of much of the present religious strength and
+prosperity in the regions he touched.
+
+Did this young school teacher overlook the needs of the colored people?
+Would it look strange to see him conducting a Sunday School for the
+slaves on Sunday afternoons at Big Lick? That is what he did. "Inasmuch
+as ye have done it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me." The
+negroes, in the days of slavery, learned to love him as a friend, and
+when freedom came, his service among them did not cease. Their
+struggling pastors and congregations sought his counsel and were not
+disappointed. They looked on him as their big white brother, wise and
+good, and to this day he is remembered among them with affection. Here
+is a tribute written by a negro teacher on the occasion of Mr. Cocke's
+death. No more tender or significant praise has been accorded him.
+
+"My race in this section of the State would be guilty of the rankest
+ingratitude did they not pay a humble tribute to the memory of their
+friend and benefactor, Professor Charles L. Cocke. Any tribute to his
+memory must needs be incomplete without a touching reminder of his
+devotion to the cause of Christianity among my people in the days of
+slavery. To him my people looked for religious instruction in those dark
+days. Through his zeal and untiring efforts the slaves of this section
+of the State were allowed to attend services at the white Baptist church
+Sunday evenings where they could hear the word of God preached to them
+by the white ministers of the gospel, Professor Cocke himself frequently
+leading the meetings. He taught the slaves sound lessons in morality
+and honesty, and it is a well known fact that the slaves of this county
+were among the most upright, honest and trustworthy to be found anywhere
+in the South. Upon every plantation were to be found Christian men and
+women of our race whose lives were honest and true, and whose characters
+were spotless, and they enjoyed the confidence, respect, and sometimes a
+devotion, from their masters, that was touching and beautiful. Upon
+every plantation were to be found colored preachers who 'exhorted' to
+their people and explained to them the lessons that had been taught them
+by Professor Cocke. Whilst laboring faithfully amongst the whites, he
+did not forget the poor African slave.
+
+"At the close of the war, when freedom came to our people, he gave them
+the best advice and encouragement in the organization of their own
+churches. He was full of the milk of human kindness. He was ever ready,
+willing, yea, anxious to give advice and instruction to our preachers
+who sought his aid. His purse was open to any colored minister who
+appealed to him for help. No colored church was ever built in this
+county that did not receive substantial aid at his hands. Thousands of
+our people with bowed heads mourn his loss and revere his memory. My
+mother and father received religious instruction at his hands, and it
+is with a heart full of untold gratitude that I pen this tribute.
+Professor Cocke was a white man in all that word implied, but he was a
+Christian and not afraid to labor among men of 'low estate.'
+
+"Such men are the negro's best friends on earth. We have nothing to fear
+at their hands. To them we have ever been true and devoted, and shall
+forever remain so. Such men are the salt of the earth, and the negro
+believes in such salt.
+
+"We, too, drop a tear upon his bier and shall ever hold in grateful
+remembrance his many acts of kindness to a benighted race. Sweet be his
+rest."
+
+                                                     ZACHARIAH HUNT.
+
+With the increase of Baptist churches in the Southwest, the Valley
+Association was organized, and Enon became a member. Not a pastor
+brought into that body more interest and zeal than did Mr. Cocke. He was
+not of those whose Christian liberality slackens and enfeebles devotion
+to their own communion. While broadly charitable, he was firmly Baptist.
+The influence he carried into these conferences with his people arose
+from his personal worth, not from his official prominence in education.
+Not one of the denominational causes failed to receive his cordial
+support. They appealed to him in the degree of their relative
+importance, but in the roundness and balance of his benevolence nothing
+was slighted. He spoke in advocacy of each and all. Of course many
+gatherings wished to hear Mr. Cocke speak on the subject of Education.
+In such addresses the fire of his soul was apt to burst into flame. He
+did not quote much. Being the impersonation of the educational spirit,
+he did not need to borrow thoughts. The man who does things has power
+with an audience. Your theoretical orator has no thrills. After one of
+his powerful utterances, many fathers and mothers said in their hearts:
+"I want to send my daughter to that man." His motive was not the cunning
+calculation of a man with a school, but rather the pure devotion of a
+large-minded servant of the Master.
+
+In the State assemblies of his brethren, where he was regularly found,
+he was equally a man of recognized distinction. Likewise in the meetings
+of the Southern Baptist Convention, he was greeted with the honor due to
+one who had advanced the credit of the denomination. He knew that fact
+himself, but no man could have been more innocent of self-important
+airs. While the higher education of young women was the goal of his
+daily thought and labor, the Kingdom of God was central to all his aims.
+
+Religious controversy never interested him. Through the years ministers
+of the various churches were invited to Hollins to lead its services and
+receive its hospitalities. Many were the interviews with them in his
+office and on the verandas in which conversation drifted into animated
+discussions of things political, educational and religious. Views
+differed, thoughts clashed, but the best of humor prevailed. In every
+denomination he had devoted friends.
+
+In vacation periods it was his frequent custom to make tours through the
+Southwest in a large vehicle, capable of carrying six or eight persons.
+His trusty colored driver, Prince Smith, held the reins, and commonly
+there was in the party a goodly number of Baptist ministers from middle
+or eastern Virginia. From one District Association to another, the
+_caravan_ went, adding zest and interest to the meetings. It was a
+genuinely delightful religious progress. The Baptists in all this region
+considered him as their greatest layman and their unordained Bishop.
+Everywhere he and his fellow-travelers were welcome guests. Sometimes
+they lodged in homes presided over by women who had been Hollins girls.
+Then the hospitality was overflowing. These summer visits did much to
+stimulate the hope and courage of many small and slowly growing
+churches. And what charmingly exhilarating experiences they brought to
+the _caravan_! The men who shared these progresses with the "Bishop" of
+the Southwest considered themselves the favorites of fortune.
+
+It was never his habit to go off for a summer's rest. It might have been
+well if he had done so, but such was not his bent. When the pressure
+ceased at the close of the session, he began to plan another visit to
+his brethren in the mountains. To go about doing good was the call of
+his heart in those long past summertimes.
+
+Religion and Education were the watchwords, written on the tablets of
+his heart. "This one thing I do, ever pressing on to the mark of the
+prize of the high calling of God." Here is the rare spectacle of a long
+life, full of religious activity, supported by unfailing enthusiasm, by
+fixed, high purpose, and by that ardor of achievement which are the
+marks of a great soul. Unselfish human service magnified him and gave
+his name to grateful remembrance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHARACTERISTICS
+
+
+There was nothing angular or disproportionate in the structure of Mr.
+Cocke's mind. The photograph of it may be said to have been reflected in
+his face, with its fine assemblage of strong and well-balanced features.
+The intellect was clear, the will robust, and the feeling intense. One
+never saw him when he did not know what he wanted to do; never found him
+irresolute or languid of purpose; and never knew him indifferent or
+unresponsive. Along every line of enterprise that summoned him, these
+powers were joined in unity and concert of action. He was not in the
+smallest degree visionary or quixotic. Illusions, phantasms, Utopian
+dreams, perished in the light of his large common sense. Yet this man
+was a true idealist. In his youth he saw a vision. At first he saw it
+dimly, but as time passed it grew in clarity, until it materialized in a
+better system for the higher education of young women. Had he failed, we
+might have called him a dreamer; but as he succeeded gloriously, we
+rank him with the adventurous thinkers who have blessed the world. He
+followed the gleam and domesticated it in society. In his early days
+Hollins Institute was to him what the Holy Grail was to the Knights of
+King Arthur, or what the Golden Fleece was to the ancient Argonauts. The
+thing that makes a man great, is a great idea seized and brought into
+beneficent application. He is greatest that is servant of all. When Mr.
+Cocke said that his habit was to think thirty years ahead, he was hardly
+conscious that it was a fine feat of imagination. Yet this is his title
+to the crown of the Legion of Honor. Intellectual and moral heroism must
+have its reward.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+He would not have us say that his scholarship was broad. Too honest was
+he to make pretense of much learning. Broadly intelligent and well
+informed he was, and an efficient teacher of mathematics, but he made no
+claim to extended acquaintance with literature, science or philosophy.
+It is interesting to know that he was fond of Milton's "Paradise Lost"
+and Pollock's "Course of Time," and could quote long passages from each.
+He deplored inability to devote himself more assiduously to wide reading
+and deep study. The scholarly instinct and craving was in him, but the
+engrossing cares of his Institution absolutely monopolized his
+attention. Pathetic necessity barred him from the fuller measures of
+intellectual culture. On administrative burden bearing depended the life
+and growth of the school, and with perfect intelligence of the personal
+sacrifice involved, the responsibility was accepted. However, he was
+keen to discover scholarship, and quick, with the wisdom of a master, to
+add it to his Faculty.
+
+It was sometimes said that he was autocratic, and he himself admitted
+that there was some ground for the charge. How could it be otherwise? He
+was the informing soul and energy of the Institution, and in that fact
+was the sole guaranty of its development and perpetuity. He knew his
+plans and hopes, he had bold confidence in his own judgment, and he
+possessed an indomitable will. He had to speak with decision and
+authority. All confessed his right to command and understood the certain
+penalties of faulty service or of disobedience. The harassments of
+interminable worries and of defeated hopes may at times have resulted in
+a look of sternness, or have given his manner a touch of unpleasing
+abruptness; but, withal, it was far from him to inflict intentional
+pain. Austerity of manner, incidentally of expression, was balanced by
+as kind a heart as ever beat. He was a superb gentleman, and in his
+prevailing gentler moods, had pleasant greetings for all. He was at the
+helm, and the necessity was on him to guide and direct, but behind the
+flash of those keen blue eyes lay a wealth of human kindness and
+affection. All Hollins knew it. Tyrant he could not be, but master he
+was. Never did it pass from his thought that he was a servant of God and
+that the mind of the Master was the goal of his life. He had the bearing
+of a lord, but the child in his heart never died. Then, if ruggedness
+appeared, it was but a surface exhibition, the fatherly feeling being
+the deep inextinguishable fact within. For this, his pupils and friends
+gave him a life-long devotion, and his children loved him, almost to
+adoration. This man was no autocrat.
+
+He was conspicuous for his liberality. Owing to the fact that his
+earnings and that of his family were constantly swallowed up by
+improvements in the Institution, he was never a wealthy man. Yet that
+fact did not close the door of his compassions and generosities. Gifts
+went to the poor, contributions unstinted went to his church and to the
+benevolences of his denomination. Once, when attending the Baptist State
+Association at Petersburg, Virginia, after several speeches had been
+made on missions, he arose and said: "Now let us do something. I wish
+right here to subscribe $100." The suggestion struck the body and a
+handsome subscription was taken. Mrs. Cocke said, some time after the
+event: "Charles came home and sold a horse to pay that subscription."
+At an educational gathering in Enon Church, when the inevitable
+subscription was taken, his young son, Lucian, signalized his immature
+and reckless enthusiasm by saying: "Put me down for $100." The cautious
+collector called out to the father what the boy had done. "All right,"
+said the acquiescent father; "he has a pony." In dismay the youth saw
+the meaning, and the pony went to education.
+
+Not often did he relate jokes and anecdotes, but he enjoyed them at the
+hands of his friends. He had a saving sense of humor and could relish a
+flash of it even at his own expense. This incident he told on himself.
+At one of the Valley meetings of ministers and laymen, he made a
+stirring speech. His oratory was of the spontaneous, practical type,
+often impassioned and tremendously moving. When he closed an admiring
+brother arose and paid compliment to the speaker for his "exhaustive"
+address. The modest orator meekly protested the extravagant language.
+Then a wit of a preacher stood up to explain to Mr. Cocke that the
+brother did not mean that the speaker had "exhausted" the subject, but
+that he had "exhausted" himself! The house was instantly in a roar of
+laughter, in which the orator himself as heartily joined. His brethren
+knew they could take innocent liberties with him, because they loved him
+so. At Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Bedford County, Virginia, a
+meeting was in progress in the fall of 1881. The house was crowded when
+Mr. Cocke arose. The good genius of speech was upon him and that address
+on education was memorable for power. Later, in the church yard, a good
+mother was talking to a minister about the speech. A flush was on her
+face and tears glistened in her eyes as she said, "Oh, I wish I was able
+to send my daughter to Hollins." Now he had not said one word about
+Hollins, his effort being to magnify the importance of the education of
+young women, and to fasten conviction on parental hearts. At another
+time, while he was attending a Baptist meeting in Southern Virginia, he
+spoke before the body. A college professor in the audience inquired as
+to the personality of the speaker. On being told, he said: "I want to
+meet him, for he said more forcible things in five minutes than all the
+speakers before him in fifteen." An interview followed, with the result
+that the distinguished Professor Kusian spent twenty-eight years in
+teaching at Hollins.
+
+Self-conceit Mr. Cocke regarded as a sort of vulgarity. With all
+sincerity, his soul responded to the sentiment of him who asked: "Why
+should the spirit of mortal be proud?" His friends thought that in some
+instances his humility was overdone. Richmond College gave him the
+degree of LL.D., but he declined it, silently and unostentatiously. His
+frank reverence for truth disallowed acceptance. The degree, in his
+view, stood for a measure of learning which he regarded himself as
+lacking. His modesty wronged him. The compliment has come to be bestowed
+on high civic merit and achievement as well as on broad scholarship. In
+the former virtues, Mr. Cocke stood pre-eminent. His standard, if
+applied, would strip a multitude of names of this honorary title.
+
+Interest in making money seems never to have touched him. Not once did
+he venture on an investment. The material prosperity of men gratified
+him. He knew that most men ought to make money, but he had no time for
+it. "This one thing I do." On one thing, the gifts, plans and powers of
+his long life were literally and undividedly centered.
+
+He loathed the feeling of jealousy. He would have despised himself if he
+had been unable to hear the praise of other college presidents and of
+their institutions without inward pangs. Eulogize his brethren, and you
+smote on no chord of envy. He was a large man. He bore no grudges and
+carried no enmities, the common luggage of proud and envious minds.
+
+What a good and generous neighbor this man was! The successes and
+sorrows of the countryside round about Hollins touched him sensibly. He
+was their counsellor in times of perplexity; their comforter in seasons
+of grief. Frequent were the times when a minister not being accessible,
+he conducted funerals and buried the dead. He loved the people as do all
+who really love God. The religion that attempts to terminate on God,
+ignoring human beings, is as sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. Of
+such worship this man knew nothing. He expressed love to the divine in
+even-handed justice and in benevolent sympathy among men. Perhaps the
+finest tribute paid at his funeral was spoken by the Lutheran minister,
+Dr. F. V. N. Painter, a part of which is as follows:
+
+"Dr. Cocke was a great educator. He was great both in theory and
+practice. He had not made, I think, an elaborate study of the science
+and history of education, as they are presented in text-books. His
+knowledge was deeper than the knowledge acquired in that way. In the
+educational work of more than fifty years, his strong intellect worked
+out independent views of educational principles and methods. In no small
+degree he helped to make the educational history of Virginia and of the
+South.
+
+"Dr. Cocke always impressed me as a large man. His stalwart frame was
+but the counterpart of a vigorous intellect. There was nothing petty,
+narrow, cynical, in his views or aims or methods. He loved to deal with
+fundamental principles and great facts; and in his discussion of any
+subject, there was always a breadth of view and a vigor of utterance
+that commanded attention. In his great, absorbing concern for truth, he
+cared but little for that delicacy of diction and that refinement of
+phrasing which so often, in the hands of smaller men, become an end in
+themselves. He was a strong earnest man, wrapped about with invincible
+integrity, reminding us of Carlyle's words on Luther, 'Great, not as a
+hewn obelisk, but as an Alpine mountain, yet in the clefts of it
+beautiful valleys with flowers'.
+
+"Dr. Cocke was a man of sterling integrity of character. A brief
+acquaintance was sufficient to elicit our highest confidence. He was
+straightforward and honest in his aims and methods of work. He attempted
+to deceive neither himself nor others; and it is impossible now to
+associate an insincere or crafty diplomacy with his character. His
+native integrity of soul, which must have come as a rich inheritance
+from worthy ancestors, was strengthened by his deep religious life. He
+recognized his supreme obligations to God; and he took the life of Jesus
+Christ as his model. Thus he stood before us as a beautiful example of
+Christian manhood. In character and in life he reflected credit on our
+common humanity."
+
+It is the divine way to do mighty works through consecrated men and
+women. Christian faith so identifies one with the life of God that the
+eternal energies can flow onward to great consummations, even to the
+casting of mountains of difficulty into the sea. Nothing evil was ever
+charged against Mr. Cocke. The absolute open purity of the man shamed
+all envy, and paralyzed misrepresentation. Misunderstood and
+unappreciated at times he doubtless was, but this he accepted as one of
+the inevitable assets of an ongoing, achieving career. He was not
+perfect, but he pressed far up the heights of resplendent manhood. The
+signature of a divine call was upon him, and he honored it to the end.
+His long labor fell far short of his dreams, but it was crowned with the
+blessings of Heaven.
+
+  "All I could never be,
+  All, men ignored in me,
+  That was I worth to God."
+
+Hollins College is his monument. There it stands, a thing of beauty, by
+the little Sulphur Spring. There may it stand forever!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS
+
+
+The building of Hollins Institute was not the achievement of one man. It
+was the outcome of associated work. There was a leader, gifted with
+vision, judgment and iron will, but without abundant and able
+co-operation, there would have been no realization of his scheme. No man
+would be more prompt than Mr. Cocke in acknowledgment of this fact. He
+was accurate in measurements of the qualities of men and women, and not
+often in his selection of teachers was his judgment at fault. It was a
+compliment to be invited into his Faculty, and its members always found
+Hollins one big family. In one dining hall, students and teachers met
+three times a day, and the warmth of home feeling fused all generous
+natures into one delightful fellowship. Mr. Cocke did not look on his
+comrades as hired people. He took them into his confidence and high
+regard as honorable and worthy associates in his sacred work of
+education. He was no dictator; he issued no commands. He trusted his
+teachers, invited their freedom of initiative, and complimented them
+with the expectation of efficient service. He asked for good team work.
+It is no surprise that in such an atmosphere and under such genial
+conditions, he always had a loyal and harmonious Faculty. Rarely did one
+of its members go away without happy memories and loving attachments.
+Many fine men and women, through the long years, made invaluable
+contributions to the upbuilding of the Institution. Their work was
+worthy of all praise, and it is a matter of regret that most of their
+names have to be omitted from this brief record.
+
+
+_Mrs. Charles L. Cocke_
+
+In the presentation of Mr. Cocke's fellow-workers in the building up of
+Hollins Institute, no one will deny the first place to his wife. Her
+pre-eminent worth has already been indicated in the foregoing chapters.
+Longer than others, she bore him company and demonstrated a sturdiness
+of character, quite as marked as his own. She did not want to come to
+the mountains with her three little children. In 1845, she listened with
+loving interest to the enthusiastic recitals of her husband, just
+returned from the Southwest, but kept hidden in her heart an invincible
+preference for her old home. Yet, in the summer of 1846, she went with
+him, loyally and cheerfully. His optimism she could not share, but the
+path of duty she trod as willingly as he. In the far after years she
+confided to her children that she had never loved the mountains, and
+then added, "But I never told Charles!" The fact would not have helped
+him, hence it was shut up in her heart. That confession is full of great
+meanings, pathetic, unselfish and honorable. Such was her faith in him,
+such her love and hearty comradeship in toil and sacrifice, that he most
+likely never suspected the secret feeling.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+The shock of that first view of her new home we have seen. A little
+later, the primitive rawness of it was accentuated to her as she saw a
+wild bear leisurely passing through the premises! Bravely she plied the
+domestic tasks, and smiled sympathetically on her husband's plans. In
+truth, without such a wife he could not have won. In the strong cord
+that held him to his work, she was the golden strand. Though loaded with
+the cares of the household and of her little ones, this wonderful woman
+gave herself to numberless ministries among the girls. One feels
+astonishment at her physical endurance. Her energies and womanly
+loveliness were elemental in the making of Hollins. Six years after her
+arrival, it was her joy to see her brother, Professor William H.
+Pleasants, added to the Faculty. In the long, dark struggles that were
+to follow, there was no breaking down of her faith and courage. Through
+two generations, the girls loved her with a genuine affection, and made
+no distinction between her and Mr. Cocke in the bestowal of honors.
+
+It was truly said, that if Mr. Cocke was the head of Hollins, Mrs. Cocke
+was its heart. That splendid patriarchal Trustee, Mr. Wm. A. Miller,
+says: "It is common to speak of the wife as the better half. In my view,
+Mrs. Cocke was the better two-thirds." She watched the health of the
+girls, and entered into their amusements, sometimes even lending her own
+wardrobe for a histrionic performance. She could never endure harsh
+criticism, and if conversation drifted in that direction, she invariably
+withdrew. No unkind speech ever escaped her lips. To most mortals this
+will seem unbelievable, but ample testimony supports it. If ever
+compelled to express disapproval, it was in fashion so gentle that no
+sting was left. In the latter years, all the graces and beatitudes
+seemed to cluster on that feminine face, framed in with silver locks and
+the little white cap. She had a delightful gift of humor and many times
+the unconscious play of it surprised her by its mirthful effects. Enon
+Church and its worship always enlisted her active sympathy and gave her
+spiritual comfort. Often in quiet seclusion, she was found reading her
+Bible.
+
+The eventide came slowly on, with the relaxation of cares long borne.
+Then came the desolation of sorrow, and a deepening of life's
+lonesomeness. There was no decay of mental power, no encroachment of
+disease. At last the mortal part went down without pain, and on January
+5th, 1906, the Mother of Hollins went away. Just three weeks more, and
+she would have rounded out her eighty-sixth year. The last services
+revived memories of those solemn scenes of May 6th, 1901. She was laid
+beside him on the hill, and weeping college girls strewed the grave with
+flowers.
+
+
+_Professor William Henry Pleasants_
+
+Here is a great looking man, scholarly, courtly, popular, and in his
+maturer years, affectionately called, "Uncle Billy." He was born at the
+"Picquenocque" homestead, five miles north of Richmond, January 29th,
+1831, the youngest in a family of nine children. The family was reared
+under the quiet influence of the Quaker faith. At about eighteen years
+of age, the young man graduated at Richmond College, and entered into
+business relations with a foreign tobacco firm, in which was the promise
+of promotion and wealth. Turning from this inviting prospect, he went to
+the University of Virginia, and by diligence in study, bore off its
+honors. Mr. Cocke invited him to Hollins in 1852, just as the "Female
+Seminary" began its work. Soon thereafter, he married Miss Minta Smoot,
+of Washington City. After a few years, the young wife passed away,
+leaving him with a little daughter and son, who became the sole objects
+of his devotion. It was his joy to see the daughter, Mary, achieve
+distinction as a teacher of Music at Hollins.
+
+He was a lover of Latin and Greek; and literature, ancient and modern,
+was his passion. Latin was his special department of instruction, but so
+versatile was his culture that he often taught the classes in Natural
+Science and Philosophy. He was a magnetic teacher, accurate, clear and
+inspiring. He won reputation as a polished writer and speaker, and had a
+natural fondness for music and flowers. In association with congenial
+friends, he was the center of courtesy and charm. Masonry was his
+pleasing avocation, and he was twice honored with the office of Grand
+Master of Masons of Virginia.
+
+Here are a few of the many fine sayings which reflect his quality:
+
+"Find out things for yourself, and you will know them better than if I
+were to tell you beforehand."
+
+"I am afraid that the average teacher of the present day prepares the
+students for examinations, not for life."
+
+"All higher education is essentially self-education."
+
+"Can anyone who himself neither intelligently observes, reflects, nor
+reasons, aid others in so doing?"
+
+Washington and Lee University gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1907. He
+gave up his work as teacher in 1912, having spent sixty years in the
+service. On November 26th, 1914, he passed away, lacking only two months
+of fulfilling his eighty-fourth year. He sleeps with his kindred in the
+little cemetery on the hill.
+
+
+_Professor Joseph A. Turner_
+
+Professor Turner was born in Greenville County, Virginia, August 6th,
+1839; was a B.A. of Richmond College in 1858, and an M.A. of the
+University of Virginia, in 1860. He served in Mahone's Brigade, Army of
+Northern Virginia, during the entire war, and in 1866 accepted the chair
+of English and Modern Languages at Hollins Institute, which position he
+held to the time of his death, May 5th, 1878. Hollins has had many able
+and popular teachers, but it is simple truth to say that none ever
+stirred more enthusiastic admiration and devotion than he. Indeed, after
+hearing and reading his eulogies, one is almost forced to the conclusion
+that he was one of the most remarkable teachers the Institution has
+ever known. Of high character, broad scholarly sympathies, and passion
+for teaching, he made his classroom electric with literary contagions
+and enthusiasms. Not only did he teach, but he magnetized and inspired
+the student. His teaching was largely by lecture, punctuated with
+pointed questions. Intellectually honest, accurate, painstaking, he
+cultivated the same qualities in the student. He published a valuable
+treatise on Punctuation and left several works in manuscript on his
+special subjects of English literature and philosophy. He contributed
+occasionally to _Appleton's Journal_ and _The Atlantic Monthly_, and
+regularly to the editorial columns of _The Nation_.
+
+Mr. Cocke honored and loved him, and the tribute he paid to the lost
+teacher in his annual report to the Trustees in 1878, is probably the
+finest ever given by him:
+
+"Mr. Turner was a man of no ordinary type. When a boy, he was a mark
+among boys; when he became a man, he was a man among men. He hesitated
+long between law and teaching, and when the question was settled, he
+gave all the energies of his soul to his chosen calling. Prompt, able,
+faithful and enthusiastic, he carried his pupils to the highest
+standards of improvement of which they were capable, opening the fields
+of Literature, where they might wander, explore and gather the richest
+fruits in after years. Not only did he give them knowledge and culture,
+but he inspired a zest for knowledge which would carry them beyond the
+ordinary confines of female acquirements. As an officer in a school for
+girls, his eminent literary attainments, his temperament, manners and
+very person, inspired respect and affection. His purpose was to make
+this a prominent Institution for young ladies, and accordingly he was
+engaged in preparation of textbooks adapted to that end. Among literary
+men, Mr. Turner was regarded as a scholar of mark, and destined to
+become a figure in the literary world."
+
+
+_Mrs. Leila Virginia Turner_
+
+Mrs. Turner, Mr. Cocke's oldest daughter, was born in Richmond,
+Virginia, February 5th, 1844. She was educated at Hollins and taught
+twenty-one years in the Institution. Brightly gifted, ardent, magnetic,
+witty and companionable, she had peculiar power to win and hold the
+hearts of students and friends. She was happily married to Professor
+Joseph A. Turner in 1871, and was consigned to early widowhood in 1878.
+Two little children were left to her care. The daughter, now Mrs. Erich
+Rath, teaches in the College, and the son, Mr. Joseph A. Turner, is its
+Business Manager.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. ANNE HOLLINS]
+
+
+_Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke_
+
+This gentle and accomplished daughter was born in Richmond, Virginia,
+May 25th, 1845. She was a graduate of Hollins, and taught many years in
+the college. Though frail in body, she was alert in mind, and lovingly
+responsive to all those tasks wherein she could do her father service.
+Gentleness and spiritual refinement were eminent qualities. Friendliness
+and social grace seemed native to her character. Her teaching was in the
+department of Literature and Languages, and to this day her pupils speak
+in praise of her taste and skill in the teaching art. She was a model of
+feminine culture, and filled her mission well. On the 29th of July,
+1900, the lovable life faded away, at Hollins.
+
+
+_Mr. Charles Henry Cocke_
+
+This nobly useful man was born at Hollins, May 21st, 1853. He took a
+course at Richmond College and in early manhood became an invaluable
+helper to his father in the business affairs at Hollins. The growth of
+the Institution, with the multiplying years and cares of the President,
+made assistance imperative. No more timely relief could have been given
+than that which came when young Charles H. Cocke threw his fresh
+energies and enthusiasm into this work. On the new manager a
+multitudinous and bewildering mass of incessant duties descended. He
+discharged them with surprising swiftness and ability. A friendlier
+manner or a kinder heart could not be. He had patience even with the
+trivial and senseless interruptions that arose. Everybody leaned on him
+and everybody loved him. His work at Hollins was one of the finest
+contributions given by any one to the success and stability of the
+Institution. All honor to his name. His health began to fail before the
+end of twenty-five years of service, and, too late, he began to recruit
+his spent vitalities. On May 3rd, 1900, his labors closed in death. All
+Hollins wept and mourned his loss. Mr. Cocke said: "He was the right arm
+of my strength. Without him the school would never have reached the
+commanding position it now holds." With the precious company on the hill
+he rests in peace. One is glad to see his son, M. Estes Cocke, a
+prominent member of the Faculty.
+
+
+_Mrs. Eliza Speiden Childs_
+
+This noble woman was one of the distinguished factors in the evolution
+of beautiful Hollins. Rich and varied are the contributions which she
+made to the school. She was born in Washington City, July 26th, 1829.
+Her father, William Speiden, was a U. S. Naval officer, and rose to the
+rank of Commodore. Her mother was an English lady. Eliza was the oldest
+of seven children. She was educated at Mrs. Kingsford's School in
+Washington, and in that environment of elegant culture, her young
+womanhood was nourished. By the strange vicissitudes of human life, she
+was, before middle age, twice a widow, with two little children in her
+care. In the year 1873, by good fortune both to herself and Mr. Cocke,
+she came to Hollins as Associate Principal, a position she was to fill
+for twenty-five years. After resignation, she was made "Emeritus." Mr.
+Cocke said of her: "Mrs. Childs' gifts and qualifications were of
+inestimable value to the Institution, and without them and her untiring
+service, it could not have reached the excellence it has."
+
+There was about her a captivating nameless grace of womanly finish,
+delicacy and comeliness. Her unaffected goodness blended smoothly with
+her emphasis of authority, and a perfect taste joined itself to charm of
+manner and flowing sympathy. It was social culture to be in her company.
+Her influence went out over all the South and will abide. Her daughter,
+Miss Marian Bayne, is Librarian at Hollins today. Mrs. Childs resigned
+at Hollins in 1898, and on August 11, 1901, she passed away, at
+Marshall, Virginia. Her body was laid to rest at Alexandria, Virginia,
+near the scenes of her childhood.
+
+
+_Professor A. T. L. Kusian, LL.D._
+
+Here is one of the most picturesque and delightful of scholars. His
+history is dramatic and his experience of the world is rich. He was born
+in France and educated in Germany. During the Civil War his sympathies
+were with the South, and he bought supplies for the Confederacy in
+France and Italy. He came to the United States while still young, and
+took out naturalization papers in Kentucky. He married a Virginia lady,
+and taught a number of years in the Baptist College at Danville,
+Virginia. From there he was called to Hollins in 1890. After more than
+twenty-five years of work in the department of Modern Languages, he
+retired as Professor Emeritus. He was a man of remarkable memory, never
+forgetting a fact or a face. He was one of the most competent, courteous
+and obliging of teachers and friends, and for Mr. Cocke he had the most
+sincere admiration and attachment. Honored and revered by all, he fell
+asleep March 24th, 1920, at his home in Accomac County, Virginia.
+
+
+_Trustees_
+
+Two of the original Trustees of Hollins stand out particularly as
+notable for long service and devotion.
+
+[Illustration: JOHN HOLLINS]
+
+
+_Mr. William A. Miller_
+
+This venerable and delightful gentleman was born in Pittsylvania County,
+Virginia, in March, 1824, and is now in his ninety-seventh year. This
+summer of 1920, he is in fair health, and goes daily to his place of
+business in Lynchburg, where most of his life has been spent. His whole
+career has been one of stainless virtue and lofty Christian character.
+His first meeting with the Trustees of Hollins was on July 5th, 1855;
+his last was in February, 1900, making a term of forty-five years. He
+was always high in the esteem of Mr. Cocke. He recently explained in
+humorous way, that his long term of life was due to long teaching in
+Baptist Sunday Schools. This got into the papers, and he has received
+letters from all over the country, and some from people in other
+countries, asking his methods of teaching the lessons. A halo of honor
+is on his head, and thousands of friends wish him long life.
+
+
+_Colonel George P. Tayloe_
+
+On the 18th of April, 1897, this splendid citizen of Roanoke, Virginia,
+this strong and invaluable friend of Hollins Institute, passed away, in
+the ninety-third year of his age. He was the first-named Trustee on the
+Board of the Valley Union Seminary, in 1842. That position he held
+until the school took the name of Hollins Institute. In 1857 he became
+President of the Board of Trustees, and as long as he lived, he held
+this office with distinction. In 1896 some members thought it expedient
+to elect another President, owing to Colonel Tayloe's frequent, enforced
+absence on account of sickness. Mr. Cocke objected, however, and the
+grand old man was re-elected. Before the next annual meeting he was no
+more.
+
+Mr. William A. Miller has this to say of his comrade: "Colonel Tayloe
+was a gentleman in every sense of the word, and was often consulted by
+Mr. Cocke. He seemed to feel himself a part of Hollins and was almost
+like the right arm of the President."
+
+Mr. Cocke himself, in giving a brief history of the Institution, in
+1896, said, "I cannot close this sketch without a tribute to one who
+well deserves to be mentioned on this occasion. The Hon. George P.
+Tayloe, of this County, a gentleman of wealth and exalted social
+station, was the administrator of the estate which held possession of
+the property at the time the purchase was made for educational purposes.
+He not only heartily approved of the establishment of the school and
+gave liberally to its funds, but he gave his personal influence and more
+than all, he indulged the Trustees in the payments due the estate, to
+the utmost limits of the law, refusing to accept offers made by others,
+until he finally secured the property to its present owners, thus
+enabling the school to continue its high mission. For nearly the entire
+period of fifty years, he has held the Presidency of the Board of
+Trustees, and seldom has he been absent. When at any time during the
+history of the school, money had to be raised for any emergency, he was
+the first to subscribe and prompt to pay. His influence has contributed
+largely to its successful career."
+
+The Institution never had a more loyal friend, or a more generous and
+intelligent Trustee. Hollins and its community ought to wipe the
+opprobrious name of "Tinker" off the beautiful mountain, and replace it
+with the honorable and cherished name of "Tayloe."
+
+
+_Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins_
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hollins lived at Lynchburg, Virginia, prosperous, highly
+respected and influential. Mr. Hollins was a man of superior worth and
+always responsive to the generous impulses of his intelligent wife. Her
+ancestors, the Halseys, came from England in 1623. One of these kinsmen
+was a member of the English Parliament, and another went to the United
+States Congress from New Jersey. She was a member of the First Baptist
+Church of Lynchburg, but her husband, on account of self-distrust,
+never joined. Mr. Hollins' gift of $5,000 in 1855 was by her
+inspiration. Her own later gifts, amounting to $12,500, assured the life
+of the Institution. But for the Civil War, which destroyed most of her
+wealth, she would have given much more. They had no children. Mr.
+Hollins was born February 11th, 1786, and died April 7th, 1859. Mrs.
+Hollins was born in 1792 and died July 3rd, 1864. Both were buried in
+Spring Hill cemetery, at Lynchburg.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HIS MONUMENT
+
+
+The perpetual, unsatisfied longings of the Founder of Hollins projected
+plans and schemes whose completion had to be left to other hands. In his
+wise view, an Institution completed was an Institution already on the
+downward grade. The large, expansive life of the age requires continuous
+modifications and enlargements to meet the ever-springing exigencies of
+society. In his eighty-first year, amid the desolations of a triple
+bereavement, the aged hero sounded this note: "I will devote my energies
+to putting the Institution on a permanent, broad basis, with facilities
+of all kinds to meet the advancing demands for such schools; for
+education of every kind throughout the South is on rising grade, and
+Virginia, like New England, may yet have a reputation for school
+facilities with scholarly men and women equal to those of any section of
+this broad and progressive land." This is the same clarion voice so
+familiar through two generations. Thus came from his lips the general
+program, committed to his successors for the following thirty years.
+With no consciousness of the fact, he was providing his own monument
+which lives in the noble Hollins College of today.
+
+When the Institution passed from the Trustees to Mr. Cocke, it became
+the charge of a Board of Governors, selected from the members of his own
+family. From that day, they have regarded as their precious inheritance
+the plans of his mind and the wishes of his heart. His principle of
+progress has been the guiding light of the Board of Governors and not
+for a moment have they forgotten that the passionate desire of the
+Founder of the College was to make Hollins, in an ever increasing
+degree, a leader in the cause of the education of women.
+
+What has been done during the nineteen years of the Board's control? It
+is impossible to visit Hollins without feeling that the memory of Mr.
+Cocke and his influence equally abide. He, being dead, yet speaketh. At
+his death the Presidency of the college went to his daughter, Matty L.
+Cocke, and the Chairmanship of the Board of Governors to his son, Lucian
+H. Cocke. The business affairs, so long and heroically managed by
+Charles Henry Cocke, are now entrusted to two of the Founder's
+grandsons: Marion Estes Cocke as Secretary and Treasurer, and Joseph
+Augustine Turner as General Manager.
+
+[Illustration: HOLLINS COLLEGE]
+
+The improvements on the grounds and buildings, and on the farm, have
+been many. A beautiful Library building, made possible by the Alumnae,
+was erected in 1908, as a memorial to Mr. Cocke. The Susanna Infirmary
+was built in 1911, as a memorial to Mrs. Cocke. In 1914, the Science
+Hall was built. Meanwhile important changes were being made in the
+courses of study. The curriculum was gradually enlarged, and eight years
+after the Founder's death, the institution was standardized on the basis
+of a four years college course. When this change was recognized in a new
+charter from the legislature of Virginia, the name "Hollins Institute"
+gave place to that of "Hollins College."
+
+The realization of the Founder's dream is an endless process, and the
+motto will ever be, "Forward and Upward." In the very atmosphere of the
+place, the sensitive soul feels a brooding presence. The trees on the
+campus, nearly all of which he planted, seem to whisper the revered
+name. His Ideal lives, and his Spirit interfuses all. His monument is
+building still. Let it go shining down the centuries!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
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