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diff --git a/37636-8.txt b/37636-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e0a071 --- /dev/null +++ b/37636-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3826 @@ +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 *** + +***** This file should be named 37636-8.txt or 37636-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/6/3/37636/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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