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+Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charles Lewis Cocke
+ Founder of Hollins College
+
+Author: William Robert Lee Smith
+
+Release Date: October 6, 2011 [EBook #37636]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES LEWIS COCKE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julia Neufeld, Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
+Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ [Illustration: CHARLES LEWIS COCKE]
+
+
+
+
+ CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+ FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE
+
+
+ BY
+
+ W. R. L. SMITH, D.D.
+
+
+ BOSTON
+ RICHARD G. BADGER
+ THE GORHAM PRESS
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
+ All Rights Reserved
+
+ Made in the United States of America
+ The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+It will be obvious that this biography has been written in a passion of
+admiration and loyal love. Conscious of the eminent worthiness of its
+subject, the writer has felt no temptation to exceed the just limits of
+praise, or to violate the demands of a true sincerity. The effort has
+been to hold the record to a faithful presentation of the facts in a
+long and distinguished career. The singular unity of his life-work,
+localized on one spot of earth, has made the gathering of materials an
+easy task. An intimate and affectionate friendship of twenty-three
+years, is one of the author's invaluable sources. Then, abundant
+information was found in the minutes of the trustee meetings, the yearly
+catalogues, the college magazines, the occasional reminiscent speeches
+to students and the annual commencement address.
+
+One makes bold to say that he fears not the verdict of the older Hollins
+girls on this memoir. If it shall awaken hallowed memories and unseal
+the fount of tears; if it shall tighten the clasp of their heartstrings
+to dear old Hollins, its purpose will have been largely accomplished.
+
+ W. R. L. Smith.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER I PAGE
+ THE EARLY YEARS 21
+
+ CHAPTER II
+ CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST 34
+
+ CHAPTER III
+ HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE AND GROWTH 49
+
+ CHAPTER IV
+ THE CLEARING SKIES 63
+
+ CHAPTER V
+ EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT 75
+
+ CHAPTER VI
+ THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS 91
+
+ CHAPTER VII
+ COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES 105
+
+ CHAPTER VIII
+ RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND ACTIVITIES 123
+
+ CHAPTER IX
+ CHARACTERISTICS 132
+
+ CHAPTER X
+ HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS 142
+
+ CHAPTER XI
+ HIS MONUMENT 159
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ CHARLES LEWIS COCKE _Frontispiece_
+
+ FACING PAGE
+
+ CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS, ABOUT 1840 30
+ THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852 36
+ THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855 46
+ HOLLINS INSTITUTE 60
+ MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE 70
+ "GOOD MORNING, 'GYRLS'" 92
+ CHARLES L. COCKE 132
+ MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE 142
+ MRS. ANNE HOLLINS 150
+ JOHN HOLLINS 154
+ HOLLINS COLLEGE 160
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This biographical sketch of Charles L. Cocke has been written with fine
+appreciation and sympathy. It brings before us an exceptionally strong
+man, who after years of struggle against discouragements realized, in
+large measure, the ideals of his early years. It is a story of heroic
+achievement that can not be read without emotion.
+
+Hollins College stands today as a fitting and permanent memorial of its
+founder's indomitable will and noble aims. But there was something still
+finer connected with his years of struggle and toil. Long before the end
+came, he had made the noblest achievement of human life, bringing from
+its disappointments and conflicts, not a cynical distrust of his fellow
+men, but a courageous, hopeful and invincible character of righteousness
+and love. He learned to look upon the tumultuous world with a serene and
+benignant spirit.
+
+It was my privilege for many years to serve as one of the chaplains of
+Hollins College. The hours spent in Mr. Cocke's office after the evening
+service are among my cherished memories. Our talk, often protracted
+till nearly midnight, turned chiefly on educational, religious, and
+social subjects, which always made a strong appeal to his vigorous mind
+and earnest nature. He loved the truth; but in the expression of his
+opinions there was sometimes a delightful touch of exaggeration that
+lent a peculiar charm to his conversation.
+
+Beyond any man I have ever known he possessed the power to call forth
+noble sentiment and stimulate intellectual activity. This quality
+explains, in part at least, the loyal devotion of his co-workers and the
+grateful affection of his students. It made him a great teacher. It
+endowed him with a sort of divine right to leadership; it crowned him
+with the glory of perennial, unconscious beneficence.
+
+In the quality of his intellect he was distinctly Roman. By the law of
+resemblance he easily conjures up before our minds the dignified and
+sturdy personality of a Cato. Without the gifts of Attic versatility,
+his strong intellect and sound judgment set him apart for substantial
+practical achievement. We are fully warranted in believing that he would
+have won in any industrial or political field the same distinguished
+success that he achieved in education.
+
+The religion of the New Testament was a vital element in his character.
+Its dominant feature was not emotion but conscience. To him the call of
+duty was imperative and final. It was in obedience to this call that he
+entered upon his work at Hollins. The materialistic science of the
+latter half of the nineteenth century left him untouched. He recognized
+the Divine agency in the lives of men no less than in the destiny of
+nations. This profound and dominant faith habitually filled the future
+with hope, and imparted to him, as to all who cherish it, unfailing
+courage and strength.
+
+A massive intellect, supported by a deep sense of religious duty, made
+him an independent and fearless thinker. He had the force to break the
+trammels of tradition. With the vision of a true pioneer he saw the need
+of a better intellectual training for American women, and with the
+resourcefulness of a strong nature he led the way in its attainment. His
+aims and efforts were manifestations of real greatness. It is men of
+like vision and resourcefulness who are raised up from time to time to
+lead the forward movements of our race. It is no reproach to say that
+Mr. Cocke would hardly have been in full sympathy with the feminist
+movement of recent years. No man can live too far ahead of his time. But
+he helped to prepare the way for it by his pioneer insistence on a
+richer culture and larger opportunities for women; and it may justly be
+said that no other man in Virginia or the South has a higher claim on
+their recognition and gratitude.
+
+He was fortunate to recognize in his early manhood his vocation as a
+pioneer educator. The call was clear, and his consecration complete. Few
+men have ever labored with greater singleness of purpose. As Tennyson
+dedicated his life to poetry and Darwin to science, so Mr. Cocke gave
+himself to the work of a nobler culture for the women of Virginia and
+later of our whole country. Without this singleness of aim, which gave
+unity to his efforts for more than fifty years, he could not have
+brought his great life-task to a triumphant conclusion.
+
+But his great mind and heart were not so utterly absorbed in this work
+as to exclude from his thought and effort other important interests.
+Before the present movement for social betterment had been inaugurated,
+he labored unselfishly for the material and moral improvement of his
+community and State. He was interested in the establishment of schools
+for boys. He was a recognized leader in the extension of the Baptist
+Church in Southwestern Virginia, and his foresight and wise counsel
+contributed in no small measure to the vigorous life and growth of that
+denomination.
+
+Yet he was not narrowly sectarian. His broad outlook on life welcomed
+every agency that contributed to moral and religious advancement. To
+his mind denominational differences of creed were of secondary
+importance as compared with the great fundamental agreement in the work
+of establishing the kingdom of God in the world. He cultivated friendly
+relations with all branches of the Christian Church, and invited their
+ministers from time to time to conduct services in the Hollins Chapel.
+His chief requirement was a helpful message supported by an upright
+life.
+
+He delighted, it seems to me, in what we might call intellectual
+athletics. He welcomed a disagreement of view, and enjoyed measuring
+strength in an argument. The enjoyment, I think, was independent of the
+outcome of the discussion; it was found in the pleasurable exercise of a
+vigorous brain. Defeat in argument yielded him scarcely less pleasure
+than did victory. The warmest discussion never ruffled in the slightest
+degree his self-possession and friendly courtesy.
+
+In the massiveness of his character he was exempt from the foibles of
+smaller natures. In his striving after truth he was unswayed in his
+judgment by petty prejudices. His broad benevolence and warm interest in
+the welfare of others shielded him from envy and jealousy. While sternly
+intolerant of wrong-doing, he was gently patient with the wrong-doer,
+being less anxious to punish than to reclaim. Though he was doubtless
+conscious of his strength, as are all truly great men, he was too
+sensible and honest to feel the inflation of egotism. His natural
+stately dignity forbade familiarity; but to those in need he was
+uniformly kind and helpful. It is the memory of his kindness and
+helpfulness that has enshrined his image in many hearts.
+
+The life of so rare a character deserves to be recorded in permanent
+form. It will thus stand as an inspiration and guide to others. As
+biographer Dr. Smith has performed his task worthily; and I esteem it a
+privilege to write this introduction and pay this tribute of admiration
+and affection to one of the greatest men I have known.
+
+ F. V. N. PAINTER.
+
+ SALEM, VA.,
+ September 2, 1920.
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGY
+
+
+1820
+
+_February_ 21 Charles L. Cocke was born at Edgehill, King William
+County, Va.
+
+
+1836
+
+He entered Richmond College.
+
+
+1838
+
+He entered Columbian College at Washington, D. C.
+
+
+1840
+
+Graduated from Columbian College, and accepted a position at Richmond
+College.
+
+
+1840
+
+On _December_ 31 married Susanna Virginia Pleasants, of Henrico County.
+
+
+1840-1846
+
+Connected with Richmond College.
+
+
+1845
+
+Called to take charge of "Valley Union Seminary," a co-educational
+school, Roanoke County, Va., at Botetourt Springs.
+
+
+1846
+
+_June_ 23 arrived at Botetourt Springs to take charge of the school.
+
+
+1846
+
+_July_ 1 the first session under Mr. Cocke's superintendence opened with
+36 boys and 27 girls.
+
+
+1852
+
+Board of Trustees discontinued the department for boys.
+
+
+1852
+
+_July_ 20 the session 1852-'53 opened for girls only, under the name The
+Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs, Va., Mr. Cocke, Principal,
+Registration 81 girls.
+
+
+1853
+
+_September_ 4 the session of 1853-'54 opened with increased faculty and
+registration of 150 girls.
+
+
+1855
+
+Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins of Lynchburg, Va., donated funds to the
+institution, and in their Honor the name was changed to _Hollins
+Institute_.
+
+
+1855-'61
+
+Average attendance 106.
+
+
+1861-'65
+
+Doors not closed during this period. Average attendance 134.
+
+
+1865-'71
+
+Average attendance 73.
+
+
+1871-1900
+
+Buildings, enlarged to accommodate 225 students.
+
+
+1901
+
+_May_ 4 Charles L. Cocke died.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+FOUNDER OF HOLLINS COLLEGE
+
+ I think I would rather have written a great biography than a
+ great book of any other sort, as I would have rather painted
+ a great portrait than any other kind of picture.
+
+ PHILLIPS BROOKS.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES LEWIS COCKE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE EARLY YEARS
+
+1820-1846
+
+
+In the library at Hollins College is a life-size portrait of a great
+Virginian. In its presence, you instantly feel the spell of a commanding
+personality. The figure is tall, graceful, well proportioned, and in the
+right hand is a diploma, the proper symbol of the vocation of a College
+President. The attitude exactly fits the supreme moment on Commencement
+day. In the face, the artist has cunningly gathered the insignia of fine
+mental quality, and pictured the forces of achieving manhood. The ample
+brow looks the home of ideality and enterprise, the aquiline nose hints
+endurance and tireless energy. Napoleon selected as his marshals men
+marked by the prominence of this feature. That jaw and chin and those
+thin lips speak virility and determination. In the glance of those blue,
+eagle eyes, are intimations of keen intensity and lightning force, yet
+subduable to all the moods of tenderness and love. Truly, this is a
+notably fine presentation in art of one of the noblest Virginians of the
+19th century.
+
+This man was marked for high performance, and would have won distinction
+in any sphere of honorable endeavor. "Excelsior" was the divine
+imprimatur stamped on his nature. His call was to leadership, and his
+response enrolled him among the pioneers in the cause of the higher
+education of women in the South. The educational ideals of Thomas
+Jefferson became the inspiration of his youth, and with astonishing
+tenacity and unity of purpose he pursued them until he worked out
+Hollins College, making it one of the rare gems of American culture. His
+work stimulated the founding of other like institutions in Virginia and
+the South. Thus he builded wiser than he knew. He wrought well in his
+generation, and a multitude of splendid women throughout the whole
+nation will revere his name forever. It was a brilliant battle he fought
+against hostile conditions and appalling odds. He was cast in heroic
+mold. In fancy we can see him bearing his banner up the heights, his
+eyes flashing strange fires, and every energy of soul and body exerted
+to its utmost. The name of this remarkable man is Charles Lewis Cocke,
+and there stands the faithful, impressive likeness of him in the
+library building at Hollins College.
+
+It is the story of this man that we want to know, and to that end the
+following pages are written. It is the right of every child to be born
+of honorable parentage. The life of Charles L. Cocke began with a good
+heredity. He was born February 21, 1820, at Edgehill, the home of his
+father, James Cocke, in King William County, Virginia. Elizabeth Fox was
+the maiden name of his mother. Both family names run back a number of
+generations, the old English ancestors having come to Virginia in the
+17th century. Richard Cocke bought a home with three thousand acres, and
+from 1644 to 1654 represented Henrico in the House of Burgesses. John
+Fox located in York County and then in Gloucester, in the years 1660 to
+1680. From this worthy stock descended the subject of this biography.
+Charles Lewis was the oldest son of the family at Edgehill. Religious
+reverence and intelligence dwelt in the home, and correct views of
+conduct were expressed in parental example. The Baptist faith was an
+important part of his inheritance, and at Beulah Church near by his
+childhood received its first impressions of divine worship. By singular
+good fortune, the benign influence of the eloquent pastor and friend,
+the Rev. Dr. Andrew Broaddus, fell on the family and the growing lad.
+In the atmosphere of this happy home, and in the moral securities and
+privileges of a good country community, the early years were passed. The
+boy's mind was alert, and both on the farm and in the local schools,
+gave hints of latent powers. The growing youth demonstrated his
+managerial capacity one year by taking charge of a kinsman's farm and
+raising, as he said, "the finest crop it had ever borne." Self-reliance
+and the power of bringing things to pass early became distinguishing
+qualities. The father was proud of the promise of his son, and when the
+boy was about fifteen years of age, gave him his choice of a career on
+the farm or in some professional calling. The father could hardly have
+been surprised at the prompt decision in favor of a profession.
+
+Richmond College was then new, and under the presidency of the Rev. Dr.
+Robert Ryland, was prosecuting its work in the suburbs of the Capital
+City. The College was only twenty miles distant from Edgehill and soon
+our ambitious youth was diligently pursuing his studies within its
+walls. No special genius betrayed itself, but there was the same bent of
+assiduous application which was on display when the abundant crop was
+raised. Dr. Ryland was not slow in discovering the promising traits in
+the new student, and a mutual interest sprang up between them. The
+astute President saw in the boy the prophecy of stalwart young manhood,
+just such a factor as might some day be of value to himself in the
+labors of the Institution. The interest grew into intimacy, and there
+were occasional confidential interchanges respecting the boy's hopes and
+aspirations. The time of attendance on the College classes was drawing
+to a close, when one day the Doctor suggested to him a further course at
+Columbian College, a Baptist institution of higher learning in
+Washington City. The thought enlisted the youth's enthusiasm, but he
+urged the lack of funds needful for such a scheme. Then the generous
+friend replied: "I will furnish that, and you can repay me at your
+convenience."
+
+Here was a compliment from a wise educator which, though it tended to no
+inflation of conceit, put a glowing stimulus in a young man's soul. No
+true man or woman ever fails to give gratitude and honor to those who
+quickened and encouraged aspiration in the days of youth. Impressed
+deeply by the kindly offer, and stirred by leaping ambition, Charles
+Lewis Cocke left the College and returned to his home. At once he
+communicated to his father the new visions and hopes. The father,
+pleased at the hunger of the son for larger knowledge, said: "You shall
+go to Columbian College; but we will not draw on the generosity of Dr.
+Ryland. I will supply the means." Charles was then about eighteen years
+of age.
+
+The boy Daniel Webster was riding one day in a buggy with his father,
+when at a certain point of the conversation the father said: "Son, I
+have decided to send you to Dartmouth College." The announcement fell
+like music on the aspiring soul, and the only response the delighted son
+could make was to lean his head on his father's bosom and burst into
+tears. Edgehill knew an emotion like that in the summer of 1838.
+Pursuant to plans for early departure to Washington, James Cocke and his
+son drove to Richmond in a buggy. While the reins were in the father's
+hands, the horse went at a sluggish gait. Presently they were passed to
+the son, when instantly the drudging steed pricked up his ears and
+struck a new stride.
+
+"You have been whipping this horse," exclaimed the surprised father.
+
+"No," was the reply, "I have never whipped him, but he knows what I want
+him to do."
+
+Long years afterward, this little incident was told by the President of
+Hollins Institute to his graduating class, with the reflection, that he
+had learned that the best movements in horses and in people can be
+secured without whipping.
+
+The new student was welcomed into Columbian College and there pursued
+the courses of study with unabating enthusiasm. Naturally the
+environment of the national Capital served as a wholesome stimulus to
+all his faculties. The good habits of his life suffered no deterioration
+and the fine qualities of his mind went on maturing rapidly. It was
+during this period that deepening religious impressions resulted in an
+open confession of faith, and in union with a Baptist church in the
+city. He was baptized in the Potomac river. Closely following his
+twentieth birthday came his graduation with the degree of M.A. It is to
+be regretted that no letters written to his parents during this season
+have been preserved. Fortunately, two written to his friends do survive.
+One, sent to his college chum, Mr. A. B. Clark, of Richmond, Virginia,
+bears date of May 22, 1839:
+
+"I walk at the usual times alone, spending the moments mostly in
+meditation on serious subjects. My thoughts are more apt to turn this
+way than formerly. I write two lessons per day in Greek and read but
+little in other books."
+
+Something far more significant appears in the second letter which was
+addressed to a kinswoman in the neighborhood of Edgehill. In that he
+declared a settled purpose, "To devote my life to the higher education
+of women in the South, which I consider one of our greatest needs. In
+this decision, my promised wife concurs." What special influences led
+the college boy to such a majestic consecration, we have no means of
+discovering. That it is a mark of uncommon maturity and breadth of
+intelligent conception, there can be no question.
+
+The benignant spirit of Democracy was becoming atmospheric and the
+intellectual emancipation of woman steadily and slowly pressed to the
+fore. Ancient prejudices and stupidities were beginning reluctantly to
+yield. Not one of the elder ages had ever grasped the thought of woman's
+mental, social and political equality with her brothers. Here and there
+a lone voice had been lifted in her behalf to fall on deaf ears and
+unresponsive hearts. The world habit of thought laughed the innovation
+out of court and the bondage of general ignorance remained unbroken. But
+the imperial idea of the dignity and worth of the human individual could
+not be forever submerged. Its persistent pressure loosened the bonds of
+tradition and began to breach the walls of custom. Modern freedom
+wrought itself into the minds of men, and thinkers announced the
+harbinger of a new era. Practice, as usual, lagged behind theory, and
+one hundred years ago when Charles L. Cocke was born, advantages for the
+culture of daughters were inferior to those afforded the sons. That
+this inequality should have impressed the mind of a young collegian,
+shows uncommon susceptibility to social needs and sacred human rights. A
+rare young manhood came to expression when he dedicated himself to the
+new ideal. He did not originate the ideal. It was borne to him in the
+expansive thought of the time. His shining merit is in the fact that he
+made the early resolve to be an agent in bringing in the better day for
+the liberal education of young women.
+
+It was in the Spring of 1840 that his college work closed and he
+received the degree of Master of Arts. Before the Finals of that
+session, there was some important correspondence between himself and
+Doctor Ryland. The good President had startled Charles with the
+flattering proposition that he should become a member of the Faculty of
+Richmond College, as assistant teacher in Mathematics and as manager of
+the dining hall. The college was then trying to combine training in
+agriculture with the usual curriculum, an experiment that was soon
+abandoned. The young man was too genuinely modest to fancy himself
+equipped for so responsible a position. He faced the issue frankly,
+however, and much influenced by confidence in the judgment of Doctor
+Ryland, decided to accept. Leaving Columbian College he hastened to
+witness the closing exercises at Richmond College.
+
+It must have seemed almost comical to see a practically beardless
+youngster put in charge of some of the vitally important duties of the
+Institution. There he was, without a touch of egotism of
+self-consciousness, quiet of manner, and yet with something about him
+that looked resourceful, unapologetic, and unafraid. You may be sure
+that the boys looked at him curiously, and asked themselves, "Can he do
+it?" Of course there were cautious conservatives who doubted the
+competency of the new incumbent. This tribe is always with us. However,
+there was ground of assurance in the known confidence of Doctor Ryland,
+and nothing remained but to wait and see its vindication. No misgivings
+troubled the Doctor himself. Without bluster or consequential airs, the
+assistant professor made prompt acquaintance with his tasks, and
+discharged them with an efficiency that left nothing to be desired. He
+was on his mettle, conscious of the questioning curiosity centered upon
+himself. For the first time in his life he stood before the footlights
+of public observation and expectation. Leadership had thrust its burdens
+on him early and had imposed its first critical test.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES LEWIS COCKE AND SUSANNA VIRGINIA PLEASANTS ABOUT
+1840]
+
+A survey of the affairs of the dining hall convinced him that a change
+of methods was necessary, and with pure audacity he introduced them. At
+the opening of the fall session of 1840 he presented the boys with a
+new bill of fare. To their astonishment he gave them oysters, finding
+them as cheap as other meats. He gave them raisins and plum pudding for
+dessert. He scored instant success, and the boys' heartstrings were in
+his hands. Without incurring increased expense, the new manager secured
+a new satisfaction with the dining hall. Noiselessly other needed
+changes were made and the voice of the growler ceased to be heard. At
+the helm was an officer who knew college boys, and the college spirit
+was noticeably improved. Like competency appeared in the duties of the
+class room. He could teach mathematics and he did. Before the
+Commencement in 1841, Charles L. Cocke was recognized as a distinct
+contribution to the life of the Institution. Here is a young professor
+who does not propose to rest content with inadequate facilities and
+outworn methods. His whole nature cries for improvement and for better
+ways of doing things. What a boon to many a school and college would
+such a man be. Good Doctor Ryland's face wore a smile which plainly
+said, "I told you so." His judgment of capacity and character was
+sufficiently justified. The young comrade was to him an object of
+ever-deepening interest and their relations steadily ripened into
+sincere and loving friendship.
+
+Now, the President knew that his assistant was romantically entangled
+with an affair of the heart. He also knew the fair young woman who was
+responsible for that state of things. Miss Susanna V. Pleasants lived
+five miles north of Richmond in a lovely old Virginia home which bore
+the Indian name of "Picquenocque." Knowing that a matrimonial alliance
+was imminent, the Doctor, one day, ventured to ask Charles about the
+date of the coming event. He warmly approved the match and was exuberant
+in congratulations. As a matter of fact he was hoping that the marriage
+would tend to fix his assistant more firmly in Richmond College. This
+genial intrusion into sacred privacy was not resented, but Charles found
+it inconvenient to confide. The question was asked in November, and at
+that very moment the issue to be decided between the sweethearts was
+whether the ceremony should come off on the last day of December, or the
+first of January following. That problem enabled the young gentleman to
+make a complete but truthful evasion. His honest reply was: "I know
+neither the day, nor the month, nor the year." There the matter ended,
+and the mystified Doctor relapsed into silence. Later the mighty problem
+was solved and the marriage was solemnized on the last day of 1840.
+Doctor Ryland, officiating, beamed on the happy pair and found great
+merriment in the perfectly true, but dextrously non-committal answer,
+made just six weeks before. The bride and groom had not quite reached
+their twenty-first birthdays when they began that remarkable human
+pilgrimage which was to endure a little more than sixty years. The
+angels of domestic peace and joy sang benediction all the way. That home
+life is a glorious memory now, but its lesson is more precious than
+gold. An astronomer discerned a luminous star. On closer inspection he
+found it, not single but binary. The twin stars joined their radiance,
+which came streaming down in one glorious pencil of light. Such a star
+beams forever in the Hollins firmament.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+CALL OF THE SOUTHWEST
+
+1846-1856
+
+
+The attraction of the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains was a fact
+freely confessed by eastern Virginians. Even before the Revolutionary
+War the section, now known as the Tazewell country, became an Eldorado,
+and thitherward set the streams of migration. Along the beautiful
+valleys and in the hearts of the hills lay the possibilities of fabulous
+wealth. Through the early decades of the nineteenth century this
+fascination continued, population increased, centers of culture were
+formed, and men of enterprise began to think of a railroad from
+Lynchburg, Virginia, to East Tennessee. Christian evangelism was active,
+but education lagged. There were fine brains in the Southwest, but the
+means of culture were deficient. The land called for the school teacher.
+Slowly the providential workings were preparing a place for a young
+professor in Richmond College, who as yet had no dream of it.
+
+Seven miles north of the City of Roanoke, Carvin's creek pours down out
+of the mountains into the wonderful Roanoke Valley. Right in the
+aperture of the hills where it emerges, was discovered a little sulphur
+spring whose properties suggested the establishment of a watering place.
+Accordingly, Mr. Johnston, a man of wealth from Richmond, bought a
+hundred acres and built a commodious brick hotel near the two springs,
+one limestone, the other sulphur. This was somewhere near the year 1815.
+A race course was made one of the additional attractions. The place took
+the name of "Botetourt Springs," and at once leaped into fame as a
+health resort. The turnpike from the west passed immediately in front of
+the hotel and between the springs, which are one hundred yards apart.
+General Andrew Jackson stopped here for entertainment on his way to and
+from Washington City. General Lafayette, on his last visit to the United
+States, was an honored guest. Touring south, he came out of his way to
+pay respect to his old friend, Mr. Johnston.
+
+Interesting legends from the old pioneer days gathered round the spot.
+One bold adventurer, named Carvin, was said to have built a rock castle
+on a crag near the springs and to have had many hair-breadth escapes
+from Indians and wild beasts. All that is certainly known is, that he
+left his name on the little creek that passes nearby. A huge, isolated
+mountain, in the shape of an elephant, rises just one mile to the north,
+and tradition says that cowardly slackers of the Revolutionary period
+made it a hiding place. They mended pots, plates and pans, and so were
+called "tinkers." Thus it comes that the beautiful mountain wears a
+homely name and perpetuates an unworthy memory.
+
+Botetourt Springs was popular and well patronized by seekers for health
+and pleasure, but the death of Mr. Johnston brought a crisis, and in
+1840 the property was on the market. The administrator, Col. George P.
+Tayloe, offered it to the highest bidder. Just at this time a Baptist
+minister, the Rev. Mr. Bradley, from New York State, had come into the
+neighborhood, seeking a home and work. Being an intelligent man and
+especially interested in education, he saw that this property was
+capable of being converted to the uses of a school. His zeal and
+industry soon materialized in the organization of the "Valley Union
+Education Society," and that body purchased Botetourt Springs with
+promises to pay.
+
+[Illustration: THE VALLEY UNION SEMINARY, 1842-1852]
+
+The buildings were easily adaptable to the purposes in hand. The old
+hotel, consisting of a basement and two stories, provided a dining hall,
+a chapel, and thirty-one rooms. Then, there were seven smaller buildings
+with two to four rooms each. These latter were ranged on opposite
+sides of the front yard, at right angles to the main building. In the
+fall of 1842 the "Valley Union Seminary" was launched, under encouraging
+conditions, with Mr. Bradley at the head. The patronage was large and
+the prospects alluring at the outset, but soon the relations of the
+Principal with his faculty and students became unhappy. He was a worthy,
+irreproachable man, and intellectually competent, but it seemed
+impossible for him to make tactful adjustments with the young
+Virginians. The management was changed, attendance was large, and the
+only cloud on the enterprise was the unpaid notes. The affairs of Mr.
+Johnston's estate must be wound up. The young Seminary in its third year
+was in the breakers, and looked disaster in the face. It was now in the
+spring of 1845. Deliverance must come speedily, or another dead school
+would pass into the abyss. In this critical hour, two or three students
+just returned from Richmond College said to members of the society: "We
+know a man who can handle your Seminary and make it go." Any remark that
+hinted at relief was more than welcomed by the trustees, who asked whom
+the students had in mind.
+
+"It is Professor Charles L. Cocke of Richmond College. He is only
+twenty-five years old but he has had five years' experience in teaching.
+He knows how to bring things to pass, and if your school can be pulled
+out of a hole, he is the man you want."
+
+Such was the homely but emphatic tribute of the college boys, and it did
+not pass unheeded. Propositions from the Society went promptly to
+Richmond, and the Professor was induced to come to the mountains to look
+the situation over. The Society was pleased with him, and he was
+impressed with the possibilities of the Seminary. The call of the great
+Southwest sounded in his ears and the visions of the things that may be,
+beckoned him on. The call was made in the spring of 1845. He would
+ponder it devoutly.
+
+Shall he break all the tender ties that bind him to his Tidewater home?
+Shall he sunder relations with Richmond College and bring grief to the
+heart of his devoted friend, Dr. Ryland? Shall he take his young wife
+and three little children into a rugged land, remote and destitute of
+the comforts they have known? Such questions voiced the negative,
+self-regarding view, and he asked himself: "Is not this Southwest a land
+of great promise and educational need? May not this be the providential
+arena for the realization of my fond dream of mental liberation for the
+daughters of Virginia and the South?" This noble speculation, still
+working, was hid away in his soul, vague and undefined. It would grow.
+This was the positive and unselfish view, and he knew it. "Yes, I will
+go," was the final settlement of the painful controversy. Like Abraham,
+he would go forth all unknowing, yet believing in the guidance of a
+divine wisdom. No, this young man was not the football of impulse. His
+decisions were the outcome of long deliberate thought. This was the most
+vital step of his life. He heard the voice of duty, that "stern daughter
+of God," and obeyed. He had an imaginative power which went, not to the
+uses of poetry, but to the practical problems of life. It was his habit
+to project his thought thirty years forward, deploying before him the
+reasonable developments of a growing civilization. In these forecasts,
+imagination did him a fine service. Here was the spring of those
+ceaseless demands for enlargement and improvement of facilities, which
+later marked his work as college president.
+
+The spring of 1846 is come; the six years of work in Richmond College
+are closed; the farewells are spoken; and Mr. Cocke journeys toward the
+sunset. It is a weary overland drive of five days in a carriage from
+Richmond to Botetourt Springs. Lofty "Tinker" salutes the pilgrims as
+they move up the highway, and now the vehicle stops in front of the old
+hotel, whose front yard is a wilderness of weeds. Mrs. Cocke's heart
+sinks within her as she looks on the inhospitable desolation. Ghosts of
+dilapidation and decay stretch out hands of welcome in sheer, grim
+mockery. The anguish in the young wife's heart is momentary. With a
+sublime courage, equal to that of her husband's, from that awful moment
+she goes smilingly with him to the task of preparing for the coming
+session. Unwittingly, they are laying the foundations of the noble
+Institution which, today, is a pride and joy to the state and nation.
+Little do they dream that before the closing of their toil, they will
+see girls from thirty states parading and singing on that outlandish
+front yard.
+
+ "I'd rather walk with God in the night
+ Than go alone by day."
+
+By a business arrangement with the trustees, Mr. Cocke had put into the
+treasury of the Society $1,500.00 of his own and his wife's money, to
+stay off the creditors. On the 23rd day of June, 1846, the session
+opened with the new Principal in charge. It was a new dignity, truly,
+but how precarious and involving what weight of responsibility! The
+young soldier is on the firing line with an independent command. He can
+hardly anticipate the leagued masses of trouble, disappointment and
+despair that lurk in the mountains, plotting his destruction. For the
+next twenty-five years we shall see the storms of battle break upon
+him, and we shall see his banner waving in victory to the shoutings of a
+multitude. The Principal is a born leader. He is resolute and confident
+without egotism; resourceful and wise without display. The Richmond
+College boys were right. Here is the man. However, the burden-bearing
+years must develop the fact. The first nine years will carry us through
+seasons of struggle and painful progress. With the outstanding facts of
+this period, it is the purpose of this chapter to deal.
+
+He was now the head of a co-educational Seminary, which from its
+inception was designed to be strictly benevolent in character. In ample
+proof is the fact that $45.00 paid the student's bill for tuition and
+board for five months. The school never made money, nor was that ever
+its end. The purpose of the founders was to put education in the reach
+of all who thirsted for it. Such was the generous basis of the
+enterprise. The small revenues thus realized, yielded the teachers
+pitifully inadequate reward, and made improvements practically
+impossible.
+
+You may be sure that good order was maintained and good lessons were
+required. From the start, Mr. Cocke's administration won popular
+confidence and approval. Soon after his coming he was announced to speak
+in the Baptist church in Big Lick (now the City of Roanoke), and a
+large audience was there to greet him. In the address he said, among
+other things, "I have come to Southwest Virginia to give my life to the
+cause of education, to spend and be spent in that work." A fine
+impression was made on the citizens, and on dismission a gentleman said
+to a lady: "That is the man to send your son to." Fifteen years later
+that boy was a Colonel in the Confederate army. This boy's older brother
+had told Mr. Cocke that Thomas was a bad boy, and had added, "If he does
+not behave, I hope you will thrash him." For two whole sessions the
+youth found himself seated at the table next to Mr. Cocke and the coffee
+pot. He was entrusted with messages here and there, and finally the boys
+began to say that Tom Lewis was Mr. Cocke's pet. Not so: that was his
+ingenious discipline. He could control horses and boys without whipping.
+In the long after years the Principal had no more faithful and devoted
+friend than Colonel Lewis. Once a group of older boys made some of the
+younger ones drunk. The offenders were promptly expelled, and nothing
+was done to the innocent victims. Other young men made angry threats,
+and their expulsion followed. Rebellion grew; a large body of the boys
+defiantly paraded the campus, making the situation ominous. The school
+was called to the chapel, the boys on one side and the girls on the
+other. The Principal fronted the boys and said: "I am the head of this
+school and I am going to run it. I have sent some disorderly students
+away, and if necessary I will send more. I will send every one of you
+home and start a new school, and if I can't run it I will give it up and
+go at some other business." The audience understood the tone of that
+voice and took warning from the gleam in the blue eyes. After that the
+incident was closed.
+
+His skill in dealing with mischievous boys is exhibited in another
+episode. Some of them felt that school life was dull without a little
+spice of adventure, so in pure fun they sallied forth at night to visit
+the neighbors' orchards, and even to take unwarranted liberties with
+their chicken roosts. Complaints came to the Principal, who at once
+sought a private interview with the culprits. He talked to them kindly,
+yet with earnest protestations against such pranks. He knew they were
+not thieves, far from it, but they should not take people's property
+that had cost labor and care. After duly moralizing on the case, he
+closed the interview with the following burst of magnanimity: "Now boys,
+if hereafter some irresistible impulse is on you to prowl, spare the
+neighbors and plunder _my_ poultry yard." What human heart but a school
+boy's could resist an appeal like that? One night not long thereafter,
+Mrs. Cocke heard curious noises on the back premises. Mr. Cocke slipped
+out in the darkness and readily took in the situation. The following
+night he stood at the window of one of the boys' cottages and saw the
+preliminaries looking to a midnight carnival on roast duck. Just as the
+feast was ready to begin, there was a tap at the door. Hospitality
+invited entrance, when in stepped Mr. Cocke! To his friendly inquiries
+they responded that they were about to dispose of a savory meal and
+coolly invited the visitor to share it, which he as coolly proceeded to
+do. The party was jolly, and though all knew that nobody was deceived,
+the fact was not betrayed by one look or word. Mr. Cocke bowed himself
+out with a pleasant good night, and the mystified marauders went to bed.
+Depredations ceased, and the boys' admiration of that midnight diplomacy
+was unconcealed.
+
+When a boy was guilty of some offense, not mean, but mischievous, his
+case was stated in the presence of the school, and the roaring laughter
+that followed was sufficient correction. There was not a case of
+disobedience among the girls in the years 1846-'52, but they would keep
+their windows open. The boys lifted hats in passing, and were rewarded
+with pleased and winning glances. Often while sitting by the open
+window, a thoughtful look covered one side of a girl's face, while on
+the other side, looking window-ward, played a bewitching smile. In those
+days was established the yearly October visit to the top of Tinker. The
+day of the excursion was a "secret between Charles and the Lord," as
+Mrs. Cocke once humorously said to the inquiring girls. Arriving on the
+summit, and viewing the landscape over, suddenly an apple would fall in
+the midst, as from the sky. Where did it come from? The girls knew, and
+the boys knew. The boys had gone before and hidden behind the rocks and
+brush. Then the mountain scenery lost its charm, and a romantic search
+for flowers began.
+
+The halls of the Seminary filled to their capacity and the Principal
+pleaded for more room. Alas, the Trustees had no money, and the school's
+revenue was a sacrifice to the benevolent principle of minimum rates.
+The Institution he wanted could come only through increased equipment
+and accommodations. There the young Principal was, the sport of harsh
+conditions. One balm came to his heart in the timely sensible praise of
+the Trustees. In their meeting, January 10, 1851, they said in formal
+resolution: "We cannot speak in terms too high of the untiring diligence
+of the Principal and his assistants in maintaining judicious discipline,
+and in the prosecution of their responsible duties."
+
+His efforts for notable success had a double motive. First, he quite
+properly wanted to convince all of his capacity for educational work.
+Second, by the overcrowded conditions, he wanted to force an issue on
+the Trustees respecting the future policy of the school. The
+accommodations were palpably insufficient, and as there was no
+possibility of increasing them, what should be done? The Principal knew
+what to do. He boldly advised a radical change: dismiss the male
+department and convert the Seminary into a school for girls. To his
+immense delight, the proposition was accepted. The new order looked like
+the opening of an approach to the goal of ambitions born in his college
+days. His loyal interest in the education of young men was not abated,
+but the dream of the higher education of women became a passion. This
+important decision was made in the spring of 1852, and thus a ten years
+co-educational school, in which Mr. Cocke had labored for six prosperous
+years, came to a close. With mingled feelings of grateful hope and keen
+anxiety, he now faced a golden opportunity. He enjoyed the distinction
+of being the head of the first chartered school for girls in Virginia.
+The fall session of 1852 opened with eighty-one pupils. That of the fall
+of 1853, with one hundred and fifty. The wisdom of the radical change
+was fully justified. It was a time of radiant satisfaction and jubilant
+hope.
+
+[Illustration: THE FEMALE SEMINARY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, 1852-1855]
+
+But it was now that the battle with austere conditions and scant
+equipment became the torment of his mind. The Trustees could give no
+material aid, and popular interest in education was too feeble to
+proffer financial help. It is simple truth to say that on this vestibule
+of his great enterprise, the gravest doubts and trepidations of his
+whole career assailed him. In moods of depression the heroic man feared
+that he had attempted the impossible. Was he unnerved or unstrung? Not
+for one minute. In these black days he fronted his task with the
+resourcefulness of an uncommon manhood. The stamina of his nature came
+to expression in a way that surprised even himself. He made imploring
+appeals to friends who were well to do in this world's goods. A good
+providence put him in touch with two noble spirits, Mr. John Hollins and
+his wife, of Lynchburg, Virginia, members of his own denomination. Mr.
+Hollins presented the Seminary with a gift of $5,000 cash, and then the
+daylight began to break. The good man proposed as a condition of his
+gift that the old management by an Education Society and its appointed
+Trustees must give way to a board of self-perpetuating Trustees. To all
+concerned the proposition seemed wise and just, and it was so ordered.
+It was then generously agreed that the name of the Institution should be
+changed, and that henceforth it should be known as "Hollins Institute."
+To Mr. Cocke and the dissolving Society, this appeared to be a
+compliment well deserved by the man and his wife who had saved the life
+of the school.
+
+The transfer of all the property of the Valley Union Education Society
+to the Trustees of Hollins Institute was made in March, 1855. Thus in
+the first nine years of his incumbency, Mr. Cocke saw two revisions of
+the original charter granted in January, 1844. By the first revision in
+1852, the Seminary was made a school for girls. By the second, in
+December, 1855, the name of the Institution was changed, the old
+management was abolished, and its functions put into the hands of a
+self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. No friction arose; all was harmony.
+The old régime passed, but its personnel remained steadfast.
+
+In all the stress and tribulation of the past years, Mr. Cocke had been
+the central bolt that held the structure intact. Around his single
+heroic personality gathered all the forces that made possible the
+perpetuity of the Institution. His reward had now come, and a blessed
+assurance threw its foregleams on the future. He was now in his
+thirty-sixth year and athrill with that full health and masculine energy
+that was his blessing to the end of his life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+HOLLINS INSTITUTE IN STRUGGLE AND GROWTH
+
+1855-1870
+
+
+That was a high day, in the summer of 1855, when Hollins Institute flung
+its banner to the breeze. A munificent gift, a new régime and a new name
+put fresh enthusiasm into the Institution, and the gladness of hope into
+the hearts of all its friends. You have noticed how these joyous effects
+always flow from new deals and revisions of plans. A better day has
+dawned, bright visions float in the brain of Mr. Cocke, and the blue
+mountains seem to hail him with congratulation. The human heart would
+famish but for these fountains that break out in the midst of weary,
+toiling years. Economic conditions are improving in the Southwest. The
+Kanawha Canal now connects Richmond with Buchanan, a village just twenty
+miles away. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad has been built (1852),
+supplying quick communication with the outside world; and the
+macadamized turnpike has been built from Buchanan to the west, passing
+within a few hundred yards of the School. The general conditions were
+never so cheering, nor was the outlook ever so bright.
+
+Some necessary changes have been made by the Trustees in internal
+affairs. The rates of board and tuition are moderately increased, and
+Mr. Cocke is put in charge of all departments, with authority to select
+his teachers and to fix their salaries. The new Board of Trustees knows
+the qualities and capacities of the Principal, and from this time forth
+they give him confidence and almost unlimited powers. Charles L. Cocke,
+not yet thirty-six years of age, had attained enviable distinction in
+the educational ranks of his native State. He will justify the faith of
+his friends.
+
+The Hollins gift of $5,000 was put to work. The East Building with
+thirty-eight rooms, was projected, and by January, 1857, completed at a
+cost of $12,000. Alas, calamity crashed upon the school. In the fall of
+1856 typhoid fever broke out and forced a temporary suspension. With
+cruel suddenness the epidemic worked a loss of public confidence, and
+once more the heart of the Principal was harrowed with discouraging
+thoughts. It was given out that bad sanitary conditions had invited the
+scourge, but rigid investigation exploded the theory. The fact was that
+the disease had been brought to the Institute by one of the pupils.
+Slowly the panic yielded and confidence returned, but the experience was
+shocking. Quickly the Principal regained his tone of courageous hope and
+its wholesome contagion spread far and near. In July, 1857, in a report
+to the Trustees, he made this important and assuring statement: "By
+affording these superior inducements the school has realized a degree of
+prosperity beyond that of any boarding school in the state, and has
+given an impulse to female education heretofore unknown. The plan and
+policy of our school must be considered the true one. This plan
+recognizes the principle that in the present state of society in our
+country, _young ladies require the same thorough mental training as that
+afforded to young men_, and accordingly, in the arrangement of the
+course of studies, and the selection of teachers, and the conferment of
+distinctions, we have kept this principle steadily in view. This feature
+of the Institution has given to it its prominence and past success, and
+other Institutions, originating since our plan was made public, have
+almost uniformly adopted it."
+
+ "To each man is given a marble to carve for the wall;
+ A stone that is needed to heighten the beauty of all;
+ And only his soul has the magic to give it a grace;
+ And only his hands have the cunning to put it in place."
+
+During the year 1858, the activity of the Trustees secured a good many
+subscriptions, and the generous Mrs. Anne Hollins rallied with her own
+gift of $2,500. The dark days of 1857 began to be a memory, and the
+revival of public confidence and patronage smoothed the brow of care.
+
+It must not be supposed that Mr. Cocke lost interest in the education of
+boys when the co-educational system was abandoned in 1852. No man in
+Virginia was more enlisted in the education of all the people than he.
+There must be a school for the boys in the Virginia Mountains, and in
+the later fifties, though sufficiently burdened with local cares, he
+turns his attention to this interest. With the valuable assistance of
+Dr. George B. Taylor, later an eminent Baptist missionary to Italy, he
+was the chief factor in establishing Alleghany College, in Greenbrier
+County, one hundred miles northwest of Hollins Institute. This county
+was included in the new state of West Virginia, organized in 1861. The
+school opened with one hundred young men and ran well for a brief
+season, but was suspended at the beginning of the Civil War. The
+buildings were occupied by Federal soldiers, and shortly afterwards were
+destroyed by fire. All subsequent efforts to revive the college were
+unavailing. With characteristic loyalty, Mr. Cocke matriculated his son,
+Joseph James Cocke, at the opening of the first session. The brave boy
+laid down his books at the first alarm of war and entered the
+Confederate army, and in the terrible battles in Northern Virginia, he
+was twice dangerously wounded. That boy is now a venerable and honored
+citizen of the State of Texas.
+
+Long years after, Mr. Cocke bent his efforts towards the erection of
+Alleghany Institute at Roanoke, and had great satisfaction in its
+commodious buildings and its promising attendance of boys. In the course
+of varying fortunes this enterprise fainted by the way and ceased to be.
+One can but fancy that if Mr. Cocke himself could have held the helm in
+these two adventures, the story would have been different. The storms
+beat and the floods came, but Hollins Institute stands. Her standards
+are stirring thought currents and stimulating like enterprises in
+Virginia and the nation. For our pioneer in the Southwest, this is
+compensation and a crown of glory. Without one thrill of jealousy does
+he see the spread of his views and the certainty of large competition.
+To stand in his own place and make good, is the one guiding and
+all-controlling purpose of his life.
+
+In 1860, Mrs. Hollins, now a lonely widow, signalized her profound
+interest in a new gift of $10,000. This generous and timely act pushed
+up the contributions of the Hollins family to the handsome sum of
+$17,500. The growing popularity of Hollins sprung the problem of
+enlarged facilities and to solve it was the design of this latest
+benevolence. It was greeted with boundless gratitude, and the Trustees
+deputed one of their members, Mr. Wm. A. Miller, to bear to her their
+most cordial thanks. Accompanying this message was an urgent request for
+the oil portraits of the two benefactors. In due time the portraits
+came, and to this day they adorn the walls of the Main Building, whose
+erection was made possible by the recent gift. An architect was
+employed, and work was begun on this building in the spring of 1861, on
+the very day that Virginia seceded from the Union. The tempest and
+blight of the Civil War came down to threaten the life of the
+Institution and to almost break the heart of the founder. Expectant hope
+had looked for early occupancy, but it was not to be. In one year the
+walls were upreared, the roof was on, and then the work stopped. The
+contractor quit his job because the war had disorganized labor and the
+situation was simply helpless. There stands the unfinished structure,
+and there it will stand, a ghastly skeleton for eight long years.
+
+At this beginning of horrors, Mr. Cocke's reputation as a strong man was
+established, and the fair name of his school was extended beyond the
+limits of the State. Seasoned in old battles and richly schooled in
+experience, he stands in his place unterrified. He dares, even amid the
+clouds and disasters of war, to send out his adventurous thought, thirty
+years to the fore. What ought to be, what may be, the facilities and
+achievements of this Institution a generation hence? He is now too well
+fortified in his convictions of educational theory and practice, and of
+their fitness to the needs of the time, to be affrighted by the spectres
+and goblins of ultimate failure.
+
+In 1862, he speaks to his girls and the public in this fashion: "The
+organization of this school is unlike all others in Virginia. To some
+extent it is denominational, but decidedly anti-sectarian. Its Trustees
+perpetuate their own existence. Its funds cannot revert to any other
+object. It is responsible to no religious body and its success depends
+solely on its merits. It looks to permanent existence and to the good of
+the whole commonwealth. Its successes have exceeded the most sanguine
+expectations of its friends. It was first to adopt a high standard of
+classical education for young women in Virginia; first to place the
+English Department under a regular professor; and first in the nation to
+adopt the elective system of studies. With the prestige of a history of
+twenty years, it may properly and confidently appeal to the general
+public to make it an addition to the permanent wealth and moral
+elevation of the country. I believe its reputation will spread until it
+draws pupils from all over the South." Under the distressful conditions,
+is there not something morally grand in this utterance? It was a
+prophetic speech, and the daring prediction was more than realized in
+the thirty years that followed.
+
+In 1863, one hundred girls filled every room, and seventy-five
+applicants were turned away. Oh, for the forty-six student-rooms in that
+unfinished hulk! Sequestered snugly in the mountains, no Institution in
+the country suffered less from the demoralization of the war. Families
+driven from the areas of invasion sent their daughters to the haven of
+its seclusion. The faculty of four gentlemen and three ladies had ample
+occupation. It was at this juncture that the President dropped the wise
+remark that the success of an Institution demands a capable manager as
+much as qualified instructors, and that he is harder to find. Of course,
+during this period, the depreciated currency and the correspondingly
+high cost of living required advance in the rates of the tuition and
+board. In 1864, one hundred and twenty-eight students were crowded into
+the rooms, and an equal number were turned away. In these days of
+inevitable stringency, the fare was far from luxurious, but it was
+accepted by teacher and pupil with that cheerfulness which becomes
+sensible and considerate people.
+
+That year the school was not immune to the alarms of war. A Federal
+raid, led by General Hunter, rushed into the town of Salem, nine miles
+distant, and the news spread consternation at Hollins, but without
+panic. The President had prepared a paper, stating the defenseless
+condition of the college and entreating protection by the General of any
+invading force. This paper he kept in his pocket, ready to be sent by
+messenger, if from any cause he himself should be prevented from going
+to make an oral request. Happily, Hunter came no nearer than Salem, and
+the awful suspense was relieved. On that very day, George Newman, the
+faithful colored driver, went to Salem with his omnibus, and was waiting
+at the depot, when the horsemen in blue came thundering down the street.
+He cracked his whip over his trusty four and dashed southward across the
+river, amid a shower of bullets. He was going in a course directly
+opposite from Hollins, but that was the only avenue of escape. When he
+was not heard from for the best part of two days, he was given up for
+lost. But late on the second day, who should drive in but this same
+George Newman, with an air of triumph and an ecstasy of smiles on his
+face! He came bare-headed, having lost his hat in the impetuosity of
+that patriotic retreat. The girls hailed him with a storm of acclamation
+and instantly took up a collection with which they crowned the hero
+with a new straw hat!
+
+Mrs. Cocke, in these times of nervous excitement, was perfectly sure of
+her own demeanor in case of irruption by the enemy. She would stand
+defiant in the doorway and forbid all entrance. The family tell a story
+which the dear mother never denied. One day her son Charley, a lad of
+ten years, with some of the servants, was coming back to the stables
+with the horses which had been hidden in the woods of Carvin's creek, to
+escape the hands of the enemy. The youngsters came galloping down the
+road, when some excitable person imagining it a charge of Yankee
+cavalry, raised the alarm, and then followed the worst panic Hollins
+ever knew. Mrs. Cocke, quietly busy in the pantry, hearing the shrieks,
+following an irresistible impulse, left the pantry door wide open and
+vanished to some place, she was never quite sure where.
+
+It was Mr. Cocke's custom in those days to send a group of girls in the
+omnibus to the Sunday morning service of one of the churches in Salem.
+Such was the economic stress of the period that a handsome new hat in
+the school produced a sensation. Fortune crowned one of the students
+with a beautiful headgear. She wore it to church, and generously, on the
+following Sunday put the treasure on the head of a comrade who was
+going up to worship. So the ornament became a regular attendant at the
+Salem services. Gathered at the church doors were the Salem boys, of
+course, and they soon became merrily interested in the new hat. One day
+after service, the girls found in the omnibus a note, inquiring: "Who
+does that hat belong to?" The owner lives, today, in Blacksburg, Va.
+Those trips to Salem ceased long ago, and now in the Hollins Chapel,
+regular Sunday evening services are conducted by chaplain pastors from
+the various denominations.
+
+In the spring of 1865, pneumonia became epidemic in the school, taking
+off six of the pupils and two more in their homes. This disaster caused
+a suspension one month before the close of the regular term.
+
+With the fall of the Confederacy, Mr. Cocke had again to face a
+condition that seemed the mockery of his hopes. Everywhere were economic
+prostration, social disorganization, and pinching poverty. Shall Hollins
+keep up the fight? Will the sun of Austerlitz ever rise on her long and
+varying battles? What young Institution ever threaded its way through a
+wilderness so gloomy or by pits and precipices so dangerous? Hollins
+will go on, walking by faith, and its doors shall not be closed, even
+for the part of a session. That is the mind of the President. He and
+his faculty, though exhausted in means, will face the destitution and
+never give up the ship. The session of 1865-6 ran on with forty-five
+students. Rates had to be increased, and even with that, the college
+would have been compelled to close but for a timely loan from Colonel
+Tayloe to buy food. This noble friend and President of the Board of
+Trustees had been a comfort to Mr. Cocke from the beginning, and will
+continue so for thirty years more. Our great leader did not talk about
+his troubles, being always master of himself. Once he made this brief
+pathetic admission to his Trustees: "I am so burdened that I do not feel
+fit for my work." What can move us to tears like a strong man's grief?
+And there stands the ghastly figure of the unfinished Main Building,
+mocking his struggles and dreams. For five years now, pine boards have
+been nailed up to cover the windows, and not even a porch relieves the
+monotony of its ugliness. Two alternatives were before him: first,
+reduce the faculty, which is a most deplorable thing to do; second, go
+on as we are, but that is bankruptcy and ruin. Hear him: "I will go on;
+I will trust in God and the people." He insisted to his Trustees: "We
+must not descend to the character of a neighborhood school." Their
+sympathies were with him, but they felt unable to cope with the iron
+stringencies of the time. He did go on, never lowering a standard or
+abating the passionate cry for more room and better equipment. How he
+ever pulled through this slough of despond, he himself could not
+possibly tell. Of one thing he was in no doubt and it was this, that in
+the long night of anguish, there was a precious mystery of heavenly aid.
+
+[Illustration: HOLLINS INSTITUTE
+
+[Main Building Completed 1869. East Building Completed 1856]]
+
+One of the encouraging incidents of this season, was the fact that one
+of the finest young scholars in Virginia accepted a call to the
+Institute. When Professor Joseph A. Turner, in 1866, consented to become
+a member of the faculty, it meant that a finely accomplished man had
+confidence in the character and destiny of the College, and that
+certified confidence was a tonic to the President's soul. But Hollins is
+still in the depths. There is no bracing of firm rock under her feet.
+All the officials know that the whole property is in peril of a public
+sale. How did the School go on? You must find answer in the
+resourcefulness and adamantine will of one great man. Hollins did go on,
+and complimentary testimonials from leading scholars in the State began
+to be written and spoken. Mr. Cocke was cheered at the generous
+recognition and said: "We must lift our standards a little higher than
+ever before. Our school should be second to none in the State and we
+must reach out for more distant patrons." The tide begins to rise, and
+on the horizon there are gleaming hints of a better day. In 1868, Mr.
+Cocke secured a loan of $10,000, and by the end of 1869, that nightmare
+of the Main Building was transformed into a handsome and completed
+edifice. The passing of this melancholy incubus made a new epoch in his
+life. It was the cutting of chains from his feet, and the addition of
+wings wherewith to fly. The new structure greatly increased the
+accommodations, and now begins active propaganda in the South,
+acquainting the people with Hollins Institute. Newly risen, like a star
+above tempest and cloud, she will shed benignant light on the homes and
+daughters of the land. May she go on shining forever!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CLEARING SKIES
+
+1870-1880
+
+
+The torturing issues of the past are now settled. Mr. Cocke will let
+them pass to practical oblivion while he presses on to larger
+realizations. Of course annoying problems will continue to dog his
+steps, but they will not wear the malignant aspect so familiar in the
+strenuous years. His ideal is a flying goal, and he will never see his
+loved college free from growing pains. The happiest decade of work that
+he has yet known is before him. He stands on its threshold with hope
+assured, and his face is lit with thanksgiving as he beholds the clouds
+receding, and the sunshine flooding all the sky. It is a time to grasp
+his hand and shower him with congratulations. He has now completed
+twenty-four years of toilsome labor beside the little sulphur spring.
+Into the holy enterprise he has grandly flung himself, his property and
+his family. Never had a man a more tactful and sympathetic co-worker
+than he found in his wife. Without one murmur of complaint she has
+shared all his burdens and cares. Her feminine quietness and grace have
+matched his masculine push and executive force. In him is a certain
+rugged virility which is delightfully supplemented by her charm of
+patient gentleness. With a noiseless and tireless efficiency, she has
+managed the domestic details, while he has handled the administrative
+affairs of the school. In the apportionment of praise, he would resent a
+bestowal that made her unequal to himself; nor would he fail to
+recognize the services of his children. Since the wedding bells rang,
+thirty years ago, nine have come into the home [Joseph J., Leila V.
+(Mrs. Joseph A. Turner), Sallie Lewis, Mary Susan (Mrs. C. W. Hayward),
+Rosa Pleasants (Mrs. W. R. L. Smith), Charles Henry, Matty L., Lucian
+H., and Bessie (Mrs. J. P. Barbee)]. Brought up in an atmosphere of
+service, all of them have, for longer or shorter periods, loyally served
+the institution.
+
+The new session of 1870-'71 began with the registration of eighty girls.
+The Trustees at this juncture stepped to the front with a cheering note,
+announcing that the Institute was "Getting on a firm basis," and
+expressing their intense gratification at its increasing popularity and
+patronage. They emphasized their high appreciation of the system of
+instruction, and the thoroughgoing diligence of the President and his
+faculty. All honor to these men who were sensitive to merit, and who had
+the grace to crown it with praise. These men also had learned that human
+progress is not much accelerated by whips of fault-finding and rebuke.
+In all their official records there is not an instance of clash between
+them and the President, nor even a hint of cross-purpose or loss of good
+understanding. When we think of the rough road they had travelled
+together, and the bewildering tangle of issues with which they had
+grappled, this concord is as surprising as it is honorable. An obstinate
+and wrangling Board could have crippled him cruelly. These harmonies
+were due to two facts: first, the absolute confidence of these gentlemen
+in the judgment and business capacity of Mr. Cocke; second, his
+reciprocal confidence in them, accompanied by the most cordial respect
+and courtesy. At the Board meetings through this decade they will not
+forget the value of commendatory resolutions, and it is pleasing to
+mention now, that this congenial partnership never knew a jar in all the
+after years.
+
+Never was sunshine more grateful to the flowers, or music more cheering
+to a tired spirit, than were the tokens of the spreading fame of
+Hollins to the soul of Mr. Cocke. Golden appreciations by distinguished
+men began to be spoken and written. Here is a tribute from Professor
+Edward S. Joynes, of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia: "I am
+intimately acquainted with the history of Hollins. It is an Institution
+of the very highest character, certainly second to none of its kind in
+this State. It has existed for upward of twenty-five years and been
+conducted upon the very highest standards of moral and intellectual
+education. Its success and permanence have been due to its merits alone.
+It is an unendowed Institution, founded originally by benevolence and
+supported by public patronage, and by the energy and economy of its
+administration. The President is a man of ability and of the highest
+personal character, and no Institution in this State has a higher claim
+on the public confidence." Dr. John A. Broaddus, of the Baptist
+Theological Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina, wrote his estimate: "I
+know of no better female school in the whole country, and very few, that
+for a moment, can be compared with Hollins. The instruction takes an
+ample range, and is able, skillful and honest." The Rev. Dr. J. L.
+Burrows, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, stated
+his view: "In beauty and healthfulness of location; in attractiveness
+and adaptableness of its buildings; in tasteful adornment of grounds;
+in the wild grandeur of surrounding scenery, Hollins Institute occupies
+one of the most charming and sequestered nooks among the far-famed
+mineral springs of Virginia. In the comprehensiveness and thoroughness
+of its course of study; in the ability and devotion of its instructors;
+in the carefulness and homefulness of its domestic economy; in its
+seclusion from the distractions of fashion and social disquietude, I
+regard this Institution as one of the very best for girls on this
+continent."
+
+Many such heartening notes by University professors, ministers, editors
+and heads of colleges for girls, began to sound forth as early as 1868.
+Golden opinions, rightly deserved and rapidly spreading, brought the
+natural result. The session of 1869-'70 opened with twenty-one girls
+from nine Southern States, not including Virginia. The year following,
+the number grew to twenty-eight from the nine states. The session of
+1873-'74 reported thirty-nine girls from thirteen states outside of
+Virginia, and that of 1875-'76 enrolled fifty-three from fourteen
+states. The session of 1877-'78 registered a total of one hundred and
+seventeen students, seventy of them coming from other states. This
+noticeable decline in the percentage of Virginia girls is easily
+accounted for by the increasing competition of the new and excellent
+schools for girls, now arisen in the Old Dominion. During this decade,
+the fair fame of Hollins spread swiftly, and from this time on, a
+gradually increasing and uninterrupted stream of pupils, from all points
+of the compass, poured smilingly through her doors. Nor did her native
+commonwealth fail in admiration and generous support.
+
+You can imagine the emotions of the founder in this happy emergence from
+the dilemmas and horrible incertitudes of the past twenty-five years.
+His bearing was calm and undemonstrative, while in his bosom the peans
+of thanksgiving go up to the great White Throne. But on the gladness of
+these days, a blight of bereavement was about to fall. In 1871, the
+brilliant and able Professor Turner had married Miss Leila Virginia
+Cocke, an accomplished daughter of the President. He was a shining light
+in the faculty, and on him great hopes centered. For two years his
+health declined, and on May 5th, 1878, gloom settled on Hollins. Great
+was the grief at the going of the beloved scholar and teacher. His
+twelve years of service began in the dark days of 1866, and closed in
+the full tide of victory. The memory of him will never perish from the
+hearts of pupils and friends who almost idolized him.
+
+An event in 1874 meant much relief and comfort to our veteran educator,
+amid his manifold labors and cares. Charles H. Cocke, his son, now in
+early manhood, capable, courageous and completely responsive to the
+father's wish, took on himself the duties of business manager of the
+Institution. Here was a much needed and most grateful division of
+responsibilities, and the competent new official magnified his calling
+to the uttermost. The thoroughness and courtesy with which he handled
+affairs, won for him the confidence and affection of the girls.
+
+Have we ever found Mr. Cocke in a state of perfect satisfaction with
+things as they are? Never. He is a stranger to that experience, and will
+ever remain so. When we met him forty years ago as an assistant
+professor in Richmond College, his slogan was, "Betterment, enlargement,
+progress." The urgencies of an early ideal are still upon him, and he
+will never count himself to have attained. This fact touches him
+pathetically, now that he is nearing his sixtieth year. Unrealized aims
+add somber hues to every earnest life.
+
+ "All I aspired to be
+ And was not, comforts me."
+
+The equipment of growing Hollins is far from complete; much remains to
+be done. The spirit of advance gives him no rest. He has a vision, and
+"forward" is ever his imperious challenge to things as they are.
+Absolutely sure is he that his beloved College, with its reasonably low
+rates, and its high standards, is on the sure road to greatness in human
+service.
+
+All through this decade his brain had been active with schemes of
+improvements. In the early seventies, the Baptists of Virginia were
+freshly aroused on the subject of education, and made large plans for
+strengthening Richmond College. Taking cue from this new denominational
+interest, the Trustees of Hollins Institute determined to go before the
+public and ask for a contribution of $100,000. A financial agent went
+among the people with argument and appeal. The result was disappointing
+and the agent was withdrawn. The failure was depressing, but by no means
+unnerving. From the beginning of the "Seminary" in 1842, the
+intermittent calls on public benevolence had never met with notable
+response. Nor is this fact any real ground for reproach. The mood of the
+general public had never been toned and cultivated in the interests of
+liberal education. From first to last the benevolent gifts to Hollins
+amounted to but $35,000, exactly half of which had come from Mrs. Ann
+Hollins and her husband. In the light of the recent failure Mr. Cocke
+saw that there was no further ground of hope from this source of supply.
+The school's expanding reputation and growing patronage gratified him
+exceedingly, but the financial situation excited disquieting
+apprehensions. The Trustees had no funds in the treasury; the
+Institution was making no money, and their debt was growing every year.
+The mind of the President was filled with foreboding and grave anxiety.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+Let it now be said that not one dollar had ever been added to the debt
+by any form of extravagance. No head of an Institution ever practiced a
+more rigid economy in projecting improvements. Not even a fancy
+catalogue was ever sent out from Hollins. His severe frugality, and the
+constantly demanded investment of his personal means in improvements,
+actually limited the reasonable privileges and gratifications of his
+family. Never did a family bear restrictions more cheerfully and
+uncomplainingly. It was not in Mr. Cocke to rebel against the law of
+sacrifice, but once, in his annual report to the Trustees in 1879, he
+permitted himself to say: "It is a hard case, however, that a man should
+have all his means so wound up in an Institution, conducted for the
+public, that he cannot command enough money to give his family anything
+at all, except hard work and self-denial."
+
+In 1846, by express contract with the Trustees, Mr. Cocke became
+Principal and Steward of the Seminary without stipulated salary. Neither
+he nor any one of his sons and daughters, who worked so loyally with
+him, ever received a salary from the Board. That initial agreement
+illustrates the unbargaining generosity of the man. He pressed on the
+attention of the Trustees the certainty of continuous demand for
+enlarged facilities. To provide for this, it was agreed that the revenue
+from the boarding department should go to the Trustees, who would devote
+it to that purpose. How ridiculously small that revenue was likely to
+be, may be gathered from the fact that a student was boarded at the rate
+of $5.00 a month! Through all the subsequent years this principle of
+benevolent rates had never been abandoned. The figures were necessarily
+increased, but only with the view of keeping out of debt. Now what
+possible promise was there in this arrangement for increasing
+facilities? Absolutely none. So the long issue of events proved. By the
+same agreement, Mr. Cocke was to pay his teachers' salaries and maintain
+himself and family out of the tuition funds. What remained in the
+treasury after the teachers were paid was his. Out of that residue, it
+soon became evident, must come much of the means for repairs and
+improvements. There was no other source from which to draw. Improvements
+were made, and self-denial paid the bills.
+
+Now, while this involved inconveniences, it did not, of course, mean the
+making of gifts to the Trustees. In just business fashion, they
+recorded each outlay of this kind as a loan to themselves. As a
+consequence they went steadily in debt to Mr. Cocke, until by 1864 they
+owed him $7,785. This included the $1,500 which he lent to them in 1846.
+This curious financial arrangement continued, unavoidable and regretted
+by all concerned. In 1868, the debt of the Trustees ran up to $17,473,
+and in 1876 it reached the sum of $22,094. Why had not these claims been
+settled? We have seen the source of the Trustees' revenue; how could
+they pay? The $35,000 raised by public gift had been given to the
+Trustees, who invested every cent of it in new buildings and
+accommodations. Not a dollar of it ever touched the hand of Mr. Cocke.
+On the contrary, as noted above, the growing plant had commandeered much
+of his own slow, hard earnings. Either this undesirable order of things
+had to go on, or Mr. Cocke had to abandon his dear ambition. But the
+time had come for better adjustments. He felt that the multiplying years
+required that he think of the interests of his family. With these views
+and wishes, the Trustees were in their usual cordial sympathy. The
+Institution was their property. They were in debt to Mr. Cocke in a
+large and yearly increasing sum. They had no possible way of liquidating
+that debt. What could they do? What ought they to have done? They solved
+the question by offering to give Mr. Cocke a deed to their Institution
+in satisfaction of their debt. The proposition was declined. He did not
+want to own the College. Such had never been his aim. He saw that the
+move would be a relief to the Trustees, but a disadvantage to the
+school. He deprecated the idea of the College going into private
+ownership. The associated wisdom and responsibility of a good Board of
+Trustees he regarded as one of its best assets. Moreover, what could
+such a deal effect in the way of relieving his financial embarrassments?
+He could not see, and so the troublesome question was left unsolved. The
+school was prosperous, his heart was serenely grateful; and this
+personal matter could wait.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+EXPANSION AND ACHIEVEMENT
+
+1880-1901
+
+
+The projection, building, and safe establishment of Cornell University,
+in the State of New York, was essentially the work of that remarkable
+man, Andrew D. White. In the face of many obstacles and antagonisms he
+founded it, named it in honor of its chief benefactor, was its first
+President and led its fortunes until he saw it take rank among the
+famous Institutions of the United States. Another famous man performed
+the same kind of service for his people in the South. The founder and
+builder of Hollins Institute was long a voice in the wilderness. You
+have seen the stern, invincible purpose of this man in the face of an
+apathetic public, painfully straitened finances, epidemics, and the
+desolations of war. Several times his enterprise trembled on the verge
+of ruin. But in him was that iron quality that never knew when it was
+beaten. Forty years of toil in the educational field sat lightly on him,
+thanks to the natural vigor of a well knit body and the resilient tone
+of a well endowed mind. We come now to the last lap of the journey,
+which most gratefully takes the form of a triumphal progress. In the
+good providence of God, the next twenty-one years were to be filled with
+expansion and achievement. His years multiplied, but there was no
+slowing down of energy and contriving strategy. Destiny put him
+benignantly into a life-long association with the young, and he could
+not grow old. To thousands of us still, no figure on the Hollins
+quadrangle ever stands out so statuesque as his large form, becomingly
+clad in a Prince Albert suit, and surmounted with a favorite tall beaver
+hat. As he walked in unconscious majesty, one could hear that resonant
+voice, issuing orders or bestowing courtly greetings. The grace and
+evenness of the old Virginia gentleman sat on him like a crown, making
+him ever accessible to student and friend. He was a worker, and he hated
+idleness as sin. Unrelentingly he demanded work. Never a student was
+allowed to escape that imperious law. For this his girls gave him honor.
+Well did they understand that Hollins was not for fashionable finish, or
+for money-squandering, but for downright honest study and true adornment
+of womanhood. He requested parents not to encourage extravagance in
+their daughters by putting in their hands undue sums of money to spend.
+
+The sessions in the early eighties showed a rising volume of patronage
+from the Southern states, a condition that was to go from more to more.
+His chief resulting gratification was in the obvious awakening of
+Southern people to better appreciation of the higher culture of women.
+Along with this pleasing discovery, however, he began to realize a
+serious barrier to the task at Hollins, created by the defective
+preparatory training in the primary and secondary schools of the
+country. In later years the difficulty began to disappear. To him,
+education consisted in the acquisition of knowledge, the training of
+faculty, and more especially, the broadening and multiplication of
+powers. His students must think, reason, and understand. That is the top
+of culture. Did he show any disposition to remain satisfied with the
+standards already erected? Not by any means. This is a growing world
+where nothing is stationary but a cemetery. The developing impulse in
+the mind of the Founder would never subside while the perfect was
+unattained. Even in this good summertime of 1920, nineteen years after
+his going, the mighty momentum he gave to the College operates with
+undiminished force. One does not expect spectacular variety in the life
+of an educator, particularly in one whose labors for fifty years were
+focalized on one spot. The philosopher Kant never went away from the
+place of his birth, nor figured once in the publicities of his time, and
+yet the patient thinker has won undying fame among the intellectuals of
+the world. So we shall not find abundant incident at Hollins, but we
+shall know that its organizing genius is ever active and sounding the
+note of progress.
+
+On the 15th of June, 1882, was adopted a new adjustment with the
+Trustees. Mr. Cocke was still unwilling to take over the property in
+payment of the Trustees' debt, but he had come to the conclusion that it
+might be wise to take a lease on it for fifteen years. To this the
+Trustees agreed, and the lease was duly written in favor of Charles L.
+Cocke and his son, Charles H. Cocke. At this time the debt due Mr. Cocke
+was $42,212, and by the terms of the contract, that sum might be
+increased to $50,000. An annual rental of $3,500 was to be due the
+Trustees, which was offset by the interest due on their $50,000 debt. In
+this arrangement the only right reserved by the Trustees was that of
+sanction of all improvements that might be undertaken during the period
+of the lease. On the very day when this agreement was written, Mr. Cocke
+submitted a plan for a Chapel. This was promptly approved by the
+Trustees. The work began, and soon the sacred edifice was an
+accomplished fact. A little later the open grates and hot air furnaces
+in the buildings were abolished in favor of steam heat. The limestone
+spring and the pump in the yard were abandoned to give place to a
+reservoir on the side of Tinker Mountain, which supplied running water
+on every floor. Needed philosophical and chemical apparatus were
+forthcoming, and a beautiful Art and Music hall was built on the site of
+Carvin's rock castle. Then followed a new and enlarged dining room with
+all its appurtenances. The Trustees acquiesced cheerfully in all these
+betterments, but they looked on the vast increase of their debt in a
+sort of helpless wonderment. How should they ever meet the huge
+obligation? While they forbore to put a check on this advance, they were
+sure that there could be only one way of ultimate settlement.
+
+In July, 1882, came the first great heartbreak his own household had
+ever known. His daughter, Rosa Pleasants Cocke, wife of the Rev. W. R.
+L. Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia,
+passed to her dreamless sleep. She was young, beautiful, universally
+loved,--the fairest bloom of queenly womanhood. She left a little Edith,
+who, twenty months later, went to rest with her mother on the green hill
+near Hollins.
+
+The enrollment of one hundred and seventy-six girls in the session of
+1888-'89, was the largest in the history of the school. At this date the
+President found, by careful comparison, that during the past forty-seven
+years, the average attendance had been greater than that of any other
+school for girls in the State. The session of 1889-'90 registered two
+hundred and nine students, and for the first time since 1864
+applications had to be declined. The only minor chord that marred the
+general joy sounded in the troubled minds of the Trustees. In his own
+private reflections, Mr. Cocke had to confess that the solution offered
+by the Trustees looked like the obstinate, unavoidable necessity. About
+this time he made known to the Trustees and friends, a compliment to the
+Institution, recently paid by the National Bureau of Education at
+Washington. In a report of that body concerning schools for girls in
+Virginia, Hollins was named the foremost Institution for girls, the best
+known and the most effective in the State. The report continues: "There
+is an admirable foundation already laid at Hollins Institute ... for
+a woman's college of the type of Vassar, Smith, Wellesley and Bryn
+Mawr ... in a beautiful and healthful region with ample buildings for a
+great beginning.... An investment of a million would place here a great
+school of the highest type, and perpetuate the well-earned reputation
+of this well-known Institute,--for the past forty years one of the most
+notable of Southern schools." This fine appraisement, coming from an
+independent and impartial source, was unspeakably pleasing to the man
+around whom this school had grown, and he could but cherish the hope
+that some large-minded man of wealth would arise to follow the
+suggestion of endowment made in the quotation.
+
+A rare sensation was sprung on the Hollins community in the celebration
+of Mr. and Mrs. Cocke's Golden Wedding, December 31, 1890. All unknown
+to them, a group of loving hearts and hands had prepared an elaborate
+and impressive program. But some days before the brilliant event,
+mysterious hints, furtive interviews and beaming expectancy gave away
+the secret. Mr. Cocke himself began the jubilee in the early dawn, by
+slipping on the finger of his sleeping wife a handsome plain gold ring.
+All day, by letter and telegram, came happy congratulations and "bridal
+presents" from former pupils and friends. In the evening, Hollins took
+on unprecedented splendor with illuminations everywhere. Chandeliers,
+windows and doors were hung with ivy, and over the door of the main
+parlor, in large green figures, were placed the dates, 1840-1890. At
+7:30 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Cocke took their stand in the large parlor,
+thronged by loved ones and friends. Prayer was made by Rev. Dr. G. W.
+Beale, pastor of Enon Baptist Church and chaplain of the college. Then,
+the Rev. Dr. E. C. Dargan of Charleston, S. C., a former pastor of Enon
+and college chaplain, made an affectionate address. Among the
+appropriate remarks is the following quotation: "This great school, the
+love and labor of your life, speaks for itself, both in glad presence
+and widely extended absence. From over all the land, and indeed from far
+distant lands, the pupils of Hollins send their love and
+congratulations. Through the willing service of one who has labored long
+at your side,[1] they present to you this book, containing the
+signatures of hundreds, who came to learn of you. Their affection also
+presents to you this portrait, intending that it shall be a perpetual
+heirloom, at once a splendid souvenir of this day and a monument of
+their lasting gratitude."
+
+ [1] Mrs. Eliza S. Childs, Associate Principal.
+
+As these words were spoken, two of his little granddaughters, Thalia
+Hayward and Leila Turner, touched a wire, and the veil dropped,
+revealing the fine life-size portrait of Mr. Cocke, described in the
+first chapter of this book. It was the work of his accomplished
+daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, Va. Mr. Cocke made
+brief and tender acknowledgment of the honor done him, and then his
+son, Mr. Lucian H. Cocke, expressed in few words the same sentiment.
+Professor Wm. H. Pleasants read a poem, written for the occasion by a
+former pupil and teacher of Hollins. Two other short speeches were made
+by admiring friends and Dr. Dargan pronounced the benediction.
+
+In every particular, this program was beautifully conceived and
+gracefully executed, making one of the most felicitous and memorable
+events ever known in the life of the Institution.
+
+On the occasion of their meeting in July, 1896, the Trustees signalized
+the completion of a half century of service by renewed expressions of
+admiration and love for Mr. Cocke. One year later they returned to the
+theme and took action which gave the most general delight. They passed
+two resolutions: "First, that in honor of President Cocke, while living,
+and after his death, in memory of his great achievements in education,
+the 21st of February, his birthday, be set apart as a legal holiday in
+Hollins Institute. Second, that the young ladies be permitted to
+celebrate the day in such manner as may be deemed by the officers of the
+school appropriate to the occasion." Such was the origin of Founder's
+Day, only three happy celebrations of which the beloved President was
+destined to see.
+
+The eventide drew gently on, and that good, gray head was crowned with
+glory and honor. His own health was still fine, but his dear family was
+drawing near to a land of shadows. Three times in a very short period
+the billows of bereavement went over him. An avalanche of grief fell on
+his stout heart in the sudden loss of three of his children. Mrs. Leila
+Virginia Turner, on October 21st, 1899, laid her burden down and was put
+to rest beside her husband on the green hill. On the 3rd of May, 1900,
+the noble Manager, Charles H. Cocke, passed away, and was gathered to
+the loved ones gone before. Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke died on July 29th,
+1900, and was added to the silent company of brothers and sisters.
+
+"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." With chastened tenderness and
+submissive resignation, Mr. Cocke held his course as one who gets
+support from an invisible world. The concerns of the Institute pressed
+on him, and he must still take hold on life's affairs. The lease, in
+1897, had been extended for a new period of ten years. But, obviously,
+it was now full time that his business relations to the Trustees be
+brought to a definite and final settlement. The issue, pending through
+many years, could be deferred no longer, and on June 2nd, 1900, a
+radical change in the old order was made. The Trustees found themselves
+in debt to Mr. Cocke $101,253, in addition to the $50,000 in bonds
+already executed. Not yet had they been able even to pay the $1,500
+loaned by him in 1846. He gave up his notes and bonds to the Trustees,
+and they in turn gave over the Institution. Thus the Board of Trustees,
+after a period of forty-five years, went out of existence, and Hollins
+became the property of Mr. Cocke. It was not the consummation that he
+wished, but there was no other alternative.
+
+The venerable man, now in his 81st year, had on his hands the great
+Institution he had so laboriously builded. If he could have called back
+forty years, the responsibility would have rested on strong shoulders
+and a confident brain. But the competencies of the earlier years were
+spent, and age could only plan for the activities in which it should not
+share. He stood a noble, picturesque figure on the peak of life's work,
+looking backward with thankful satisfaction, and then wistfully forward
+into those years when other hands, hearts and brains should shape and
+guide the Institution. Not with one touch of gloomy foreboding did he
+make this provision. He believed that his children and grandchildren
+would loyally cherish his ideals and aspirations. They would hold the
+legacy sacred, maintain its standards, and keep it true to its aims. In
+the mellowing days of life's late afternoon this confidence gave him
+comfort and peace. Human affection played around him soft and tender as
+summer sunset on the mountains, but it could not be doubted that among
+the deepest satisfactions of his soul was the conviction that his
+successors would do him the real homage of preserving the fruitage of
+his long, unselfish labors.
+
+His form was unbent and his physical force gave him hope of ten more
+years of life. It was not to be. In the summer of 1898 a violent
+carbuncle brought him perilously near the brink of the great mystery.
+Two years later, warning symptoms came upon him suddenly. They did not
+yield to careful treatment, and with premonitions of the end, he decided
+in January, 1901, to go to the home of his son, Lucian H. Cocke, in
+Roanoke. This arrangement was his own device. He thought thereby to save
+Hollins from the anxiety which his illness would create, and from the
+shock of its probable end. What could be lovelier than the two letters
+that follow?
+
+ "Hollins, Virginia, February 21, 1901.
+
+"Our Dear Mr. Cocke:--
+
+"We, the members of your Faculty,--or rather of your great household
+here at Hollins,--deeply touched by your never-ceasing thought of us,
+and your intense interest in the work of our classes which prompted you
+even in the hour of great bodily distress to send us from your bed of
+sickness a message of comfort and encouragement, feel that we can not
+suffer this, your birthday, to pass by without some expression of our
+gratitude and sympathy.
+
+"We can never cease to be grateful for the kindly wisdom of your counsel
+which has directed us always unerringly to what is true and right, and
+for the firm guidance of your hand which has unfalteringly led us
+through the dark places of doubt and despair. Though we miss your wise
+head and guiding hand, we shall ever feel the inspiration of your spirit
+and the silent influence of your example; and trusting in that Divine
+Providence which has so long directed and prospered the labors of your
+brain and hand, we will endeavor to carry out, along your own lines, the
+work which you have so nobly planned and which you are now forced to lay
+aside.
+
+"In this time of your physical weakness and bodily suffering, our
+thoughts are often with you, and we send you this message assuring you
+of our sympathy, both as a body and as individuals. May our Heavenly
+Father take you in His keeping and give to you unwavering faith and
+comfort and peace.
+
+"With the expression of our affectionate regard.
+
+ "J. M. MCBRYDE, JR.
+
+ "On behalf of your fellow laborers, the Faculty of
+ Hollins Institute."
+
+
+"To The Faculty and Pupils of Hollins Institute:
+
+"It is now nearly two months since I have been with you. During this
+time I have been prostrated by great infirmities of body, and my
+weakness still is extreme. During my illness, however, there has been no
+time when I have ceased to have the welfare of each of you upon my mind
+and heart. Of all the expressions of sympathy that have come to me, none
+have been so comforting and gratifying as those that have come from my
+faculty and pupils. I wish to extend to each one of you my sincere
+appreciation of your earnest solicitude on my account. From every source
+the information comes to me of the orderly conduct of affairs at
+Hollins--teachers and pupils in their accustomed places, performing in a
+faithful and conscientious manner each duty that the occasion demands.
+It would be difficult indeed to adequately express to you the
+gratification that this information brings to me. For many years it has
+been my earnest desire to so conduct the affairs of the Institution,
+that whether I was present or absent there should be no abatement in the
+earnest purpose and devotion to duty which I have sought to make a part
+of the atmosphere of Hollins. I can not express to you a proper idea of
+what a pleasure it has been to me to know that this ideal is being
+exemplified in your conduct, and I feel that in my declining years I am
+greatly blessed in having your sympathy and co-operation in the proper
+conduct of the work which has been on my heart for these many years.
+
+"I trust that under the care of a favoring Providence, I may yet be able
+to be with you, and exchange once more the kindly greetings that have
+been a delight to me; but should it be otherwise, I always feel well
+assured that I can rely with confidence upon you to give to the
+Institution and the work with which I have been connected, the same
+devotion and loyalty which you have, without stint, accorded to me.
+
+"May our Father in Heaven preserve each one of you in His holy keeping.
+
+ [Signature: Charles L. Cocke]
+
+ "March 10th, 1901."
+
+It was on May 4th, 1901, that the end came. In the early morning of May
+6th, the body was brought to Hollins and placed in the Chapel. Mr. Cocke
+had planned the two funeral services of the day. The first was held in
+the Chapel, for the family, faculty and students, who crowded the room.
+It was conducted by the Rev. Dr. F. H. Martin, Baptist pastor at Salem,
+assisted by ministers of the Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal
+churches. At the beginning and close of the service were sung his
+favorite hymns: "How Firm a Foundation," and "My Hope is Built on
+Nothing Less."
+
+At 4 p.m., the second service was held at Enon Church, which was
+thronged by neighbors and friends. The pastor, the Rev. J. M. Luck,
+presided, and after the singing of "There is a Fountain Filled With
+Blood," remarks followed by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. W. E. Hatcher, and
+Mr. William Ellyson of Richmond, and the Rev. Dr. P. T. Hale of Roanoke.
+The service closed with "My Jesus, as Thou Wilt," and then the
+procession moved up the hill in a sudden shower of rain. As the casket
+was lowered, the great assemblage sang softly, "There's a Land That is
+Fairer Than Day," and the Rev. T. J. Shipman offered the closing prayer.
+Two impressive incidents followed. A procession of Hollins girls,
+dressed in white and bearing white carnations, came up the slope and
+covered the grave with flowers. In the same moment the setting sun broke
+through the clouds and bathed the scene in a radiance of glory. Dr.
+Hatcher, with felicitous tact, called attention to the shining symbol of
+heaven's benediction on the proceedings of that solemn day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GIRLS
+
+
+A careful examination of the catalogues and school registers of the
+early years leads us to believe that by June, 1896, when Mr. Cocke
+delivered his semi-centennial address, he had seen under training at
+Hollins not fewer than 5,000 young women. To the privileges of the
+school he had welcomed the children and grandchildren of his first
+pupils. As terms of study closed, what did this host of girls think of
+the Head of the Institution? Today in thousands of homes throughout the
+nation, the name of Hollins unseals, as by magic, a well-spring of
+precious and tender reminiscence. With unanimous devotion, the girls who
+knew him, honored and loved the name of Charles L. Cocke. Hardly did
+Tinker and Dead Man Mountain loom so large to them as the form of the
+venerable man. They honored him because he was strict and absolutely
+just; because he held high standards of school decorum and culture, and
+insisted on hard work. He was too honorable to take the daughters of
+patrons, and allow waste of time and opportunity. His stringent demands
+may sometimes have caused irritation, but the good sense of the student
+was certain to react to grateful recognition of his wisdom. The after
+years never fail to evoke loving acknowledgment in the heart of a girl
+whose teacher requires her to make good in her studies. The Hollins
+girls loved Mr. Cocke because he was uniformly considerate and kind. The
+fatherly interest in his heart, not one was allowed to doubt. Daily he
+met them at the evening worship. Often has the visiting "old girl"
+spoken of those unforgotten prayers. He welcomed them in his office,
+listened to their requests, responding with sound advice and
+encouragement. Arbitrariness and severity were foreign to his nature,
+but all knew that the standards of conduct and study must be maintained.
+
+How proud he was of the distinctions won by his girls! In the early
+eighties five of them, in the English literature classes, took the
+Shakespeare prize offered in London.
+
+[Illustration: "GOOD MORNING, 'GYRLS'"]
+
+The class room work was ever the major interest, but beyond this was a
+large range of activity and diversion. In 1855 the Euzelian (Love of
+Wisdom) Society was organized for debate, recitations and essays.
+Increasing numbers in 1874 required the formation of the Euepian (Pure
+Diction) Society. Still memorable are those exciting joint debates,
+held occasionally by the Societies, along the years. In these latter
+days, they have given place to other disciplines more in harmony with
+the practical spirit of the age. Class organizations, Sororities, Clubs,
+Student Government, the College "Spinster" and Magazine, monopolize the
+spare hours. The Young Women's Christian Association maintains its
+prominence and usefulness.
+
+But the old-time diversions do not pass. Those glorious romping trips up
+Carvin's Creek to the Falls, and the annual holiday climb to the top of
+Tinker in October, together with the strenuous games and sports on the
+campus, will continue to furnish happy memories.
+
+The democratic spirit of the Institution Mr. Cocke constantly
+cultivated, and with profound satisfaction he welcomed students from the
+homes of rich and poor. All entered on terms of equality in privilege
+and opportunity. The rich girl of common sense and industry won
+popularity and honor; and by the same token the poor girl gained the
+love of classmates and the medals of distinction. At no institution was
+there more contempt for snobbery or for the spirit of favoritism. Moral
+and intellectual worth were the sole tests of credit and high standing.
+
+His interest followed the students, and he smiled at the tidings of
+their usefulness. He counted on their private and public values in
+society. Some, he was fond of saying, had become the wives of ministers,
+of lawyers and judges, of officers of the Army and of the Navy, of
+political leaders and of distinguished men in all ranks and professions.
+With pride, he spoke of those who were teaching in the schools and
+colleges, and of those who had gone into the far mission fields of the
+world. In his heart the grand old man felt: "They are all my daughters,
+and the sweetest benedictions be on every one." You will never meet the
+daughters of Hollins, old or young, whose faces do not light up at the
+mention of his name, or that of the dear place where many of life's
+holiest memories were stored. When old Hollins girls meet--whether as
+bosom cronies, after years of separation, or as strangers at some
+Exposition, gazing through tears at a portrait--a listener need but
+catch fragments of their reminiscences to know how Mr. Cocke's
+personality glows in the memory of his "gyrls."
+
+"Could we ever forget how he used to read the hymns at evening worship?
+Nobody else could, or can, read them as he did:
+
+ Guide me, O thou great Jehovah--
+ My hope is built on nothing less,
+ Than Jesus' blood and righteousness--
+ In the Cross of Christ I glory,
+ Towering o'er the wrecks of time--
+
+This last always with an unconscious lifting of the head in his vision
+of the glory one day to be revealed. It meant much to look, once a day,
+on a colossal faith like his. Was it due to those unbroken, silent
+trysts with his Savior in the chapel, in the early morning?"
+
+"Latin and mathematics were always second to the Bible with Mr. Cocke,"
+testifies another. "He was certainly never afraid of the 'hard-grained
+muses' for us. I once heard him say, with a touch of regret, 'The next
+generation in our country will produce many more readers, but fewer
+scholars.' He revered true learning and made us revere it, however
+little some of us possessed it. Scholarship with him was no musty work,
+smelling of the midnight oil. He never laughed at it as odd or pedantic.
+It was, in his mind, never dissociated from service; but scholarship was
+a high thing, and he flung out the work as a challenge to the best
+within us.
+
+"One now laughs to recall her own mental protests, as a new girl, when
+Mr. Cocke would so earnestly tell her fellow-students that they would be
+leaders in their communities, in their states. 'How mistaken Mr. Cocke
+is about this,' I would say to myself. 'He doesn't know this year's
+girls. He is thinking about those women who shone out so brilliantly
+here two, four, ten, thirty years ago--those stars in the crown of
+Hollins. But these girls are just ordinary people. The best of them
+don't even know their lessons every time--not to mention the rest of us.
+They could never lead communities. Great women would be necessary for
+that.' But those girls _have_ been real leaders, just as Mr. Cocke said.
+They were nothing but girls, just like other girls, but they did, many
+of them, go forth to lead and to lead straight. It may be that they had
+from him some touch of his power; it may be that he opened their eyes to
+the fact that there is, after all, nobody else to do most of these
+things except just plain humanity. There really is nobody else, you
+know.
+
+"And Mr. Cocke's dignity withal--how cheap have many other men looked to
+my eyes when set beside my image of him! It is like that fabled
+measuring rod which made inflated pride shrink to its true stature. Mr.
+Cocke was the only man I ever saw who really seemed equal to wearing a
+high hat. I have watched the throng of the genteel coming down Broadway
+in their Sunday best and have thought, 'Not a man of you looks right in
+it--looks wholly free from affectation.' To him it was as natural as the
+crown of white hair beneath it.
+
+"Imperious sometimes? Yes. I recall once, certainly. That new invention,
+the telephone, had been installed at Hollins. It was wonderful,
+enabling one to talk to the depot agent at Cloverdale, _three_ miles
+away. For the first few days of the new 'fixture,' Miss Matty had
+attended to all the preliminaries, so Mr. Cocke had not realized just
+what these preliminaries were, or that any were necessary. I saw him
+walk up to the transmitter and speak into it, without ringing the bell,
+asking a question of the agent. No response, of course. He spoke again.
+The same dead silence. Then he right royally tapped the transmitter as
+with a rod of office and commanded, 'Here, _answer_ me!' Although I knew
+that the ringing of the bell was essential, I had the feeling that some
+response _must_ come when Mr. Cocke spoke like that.
+
+"By means of credit and otherwise, he helped me and helped other girls
+from my section of Virginia who had less ready money than craving for an
+education. The work of one of these, as Foreign Missionary, has been so
+good and so big that I love to think that in her, Hollins may have its
+reward for what it did for the rest of us. But so utterly did Mr. Cocke
+ignore all such benefits conferred by himself that I used to think he
+surely must not know about these things, that they must have all been
+transacted in the privacy of Mr. Charley's business office. The
+President looked so far above any money considerations; and still he
+must have been a wonderful financier. Who else could have found the
+means of building and maintaining that great Institution without aid of
+church or state or millionaire? I never know what to say when asked by
+school men how Hollins was financed in the old days. The means must have
+been brought down by prayer from Heaven somehow.
+
+"We talk much of the prudence that keeps at a safe distance from the
+plague of influenza. That is right, often. But when LaGrippe came from
+Russia in 1889 and invaded Hollins, I saw how the suffering was, to some
+of the girls, far outweighed by the honor and joy of having Mr. Cocke
+himself make the rounds to visit them as if he cared. Cared? I have
+looked out into the semi-darkness of the campus and seen that stately
+figure, with bowed head, walking up and down beneath the window of the
+infirmary, where some girl lay extremely ill, moving to and fro, far
+into the night, in a vigil, which, let me say it with reverence, has
+made it easier to believe that close to all earth's pains,
+
+ "Standeth One within the shadow,
+ Keeping watch above His own."
+
+ E. P. C.
+
+Such was the inner life of Hollins. It was and is the loving fellowship
+and co-operative industry of a big family, consecrated to true culture,
+good citizenship and human progress. It was the life-work of the Good
+President, to cheer and help his girls onward to the realization of
+these noble ideals.
+
+One day in May, 1901, the sad tidings of Mr. Cocke's death reached them.
+Out of the multitude of letters that came to Hollins, all bearing the
+same message of sympathetic grief, only a few can be subjoined.
+
+ "It is sad, and almost unbearable, to think of Hollins without Mr.
+ Cocke. And yet, our grief at his death has, mingled with it, a
+ spirit of thanksgiving for his life. We are so glad that we came
+ under the influence of that life. I was so young when I first went
+ to Hollins, and Hollins was my home for so long, that its influence,
+ the life-example of Mr. Cocke, all, indeed, that made up the
+ strength and beauty of those days, are woven into every fibre of my
+ being, have become a part of my very life, so that I know I am
+ better for having known Hollins, and Mr. Cocke."
+
+ R. B.
+
+ "For a long time I have realized that I owe more to the influence of
+ my teachers and friends at Hollins than to all the text-books I have
+ ever opened, and today I count it one of the greatest blessings of
+ my life that it was in the pure, elevating atmosphere of Hollins
+ that I grew into womanhood. To dear Mr. Cocke, the Founder, the
+ Head, the Life of Hollins, I do now and ever shall feel the deepest
+ gratitude, and shall ever think of him with reverence, so high has
+ always been my regard for him. Hundreds of women all over the land
+ are sorrowing that they will see his noble face no more; for we, his
+ old pupils, have lost a benefactor, a teacher, a friend."
+
+ M. W. C.
+
+ "Indeed, a course so nobly run can be as fitly congratulated on its
+ close--a close pertaining not merely to the finite conditions which
+ fetter it here, but which, freeing it from these, ushers its powers,
+ refined, magnified, glorified, into the blessed sphere of attainment
+ awaiting those who have steadily followed the steps of the Master in
+ ceaseless effort for the good of man. It is not the note of
+ lamentation that accords with this grand freeing and glorious
+ entrance of a friend of man, a soldier of the Cross, into the
+ kingdom he has won: we rather shout our acclamations for the triumph
+ of our friend, and drop the tear only that we are for a moment shut
+ from the comfort of his countenance. We all, in fullest degree,
+ offer our love and attachment, founded on unspeakable memories of
+ early and lasting life."
+
+ B. D. F.
+
+ "I am only one of the hundreds of girls who loved Mr. Cocke dearly,
+ and honored him beyond the power of words to express. I feel that I
+ loved him particularly well, more than others did; but perhaps many
+ others feel the same way. I never knew any other man whose religion
+ showed so plainly in his daily life. It always seemed to me that he
+ walked with God. Hollins will never be the same again to the old
+ girls."
+
+ L. J. M.
+
+ "I feel sure that all you dear Hollins people know how fully my
+ heart is with you at this time; but I feel that I must give some
+ outward expression to the love and sympathy that I feel. Along with
+ thousands of other old Hollins girls, I know what a great loss the
+ world has sustained, and what a great and lasting grief has come to
+ all of us who knew and loved and revered Mr. Cocke. To think of the
+ thousands of minds and souls he has helped to strengthen and fit out
+ for life's work! His opportunity was great, and he made the most of
+ it,--and what higher praise can be given to any man?"
+
+ B. P. M. T.
+
+ "I have been more distressed than I can tell you to hear of dear Mr.
+ Cocke's increasing feebleness and dangerous illness, and I have
+ opened each letter from Hollins with a feeling of dread, always
+ fearing the worst. But although the sad news, now that it has come,
+ does not find me unprepared, my grief is no less acute. I know so
+ well what this loss means not only to the thousands of girls who,
+ like me, loved him as a father, but to the cause of education and
+ religion, in which he stood ever as a beacon light. My heart is very
+ sad when I think of how much goodness and greatness and strength
+ went out of the world when he was taken. I have not the power to
+ express in words the grief I feel! I shall always thank God for the
+ priceless boon of being for a time under the influence of that
+ consecrated life, and it is my earnest prayer that I may never lose
+ sight of that blessed example of 'pure religion and undefiled before
+ God and the Father.'"
+
+ E. S. F.
+
+ "A friend writes me that Mr. Cocke's work is done, and that today he
+ is laid to rest, I suppose on the beautiful hill that looks down on
+ the field of his labors, that field that has borne such beautiful
+ fruit. We are all distressed, as will be a great many others
+ throughout the South who have felt the importance in life of a
+ character like that of Mr. Cocke. If there were more men with like
+ quality of character and mind, the world would speedily become a
+ better place. He did what he could to better it, and there are many
+ left to honor him who have not the strength to do likewise."
+
+ L. B. P.
+
+ "As one of the many thousands who owe to him unestimated, because
+ inestimable, blessings, treasures of thought and influence and
+ inspiration that time can not touch any more than it can dim his
+ priceless memory, I sorrow today for Hollins' great 'creator,
+ builder, guide.'"
+
+ S. B. D.
+
+ "The news of dear Mr. Cocke's death has filled me with sorrow, for I
+ realize what an inestimable loss the church, the school, his
+ friends, and his family have sustained. I never knew any one like
+ him! No one ever laid down a life more filled with good works, and
+ he has indeed earned the blessed rest which he is now enjoying."
+
+ C. M. J.
+
+ "The knowledge of such a life is invaluable. We should, we will,
+ cherish the remembrance of it and hold this among the greatest
+ object lessons taught us by God. The treasure of his memory would
+ not be so priceless had his life been one smooth journey. It is the
+ knowledge of the struggle, the knowledge that a man has fought and
+ gloriously won in life's severest conflicts, that furnishes us the
+ incentive, that lends us the inspiration."
+
+ A. W.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+COMMENCEMENTS AND ADDRESSES
+
+
+The fine portrait of Mr. Cocke in the Hollins Library, executed by his
+daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, was formally presented
+at the Golden Wedding celebration in 1890. Death claimed the brilliant
+artist in 1899. With keen insight she portrayed her subject at the
+culminating moment of the final exercises of the Institution. The
+diploma in his hand is the one which he handed to his daughter, Miss
+Matty L. Cocke, on the day of her graduation. The artist wanted a real
+diploma, and by felicitous chance, this was the one supplied. At the
+time, the owner little dreamed of being her father's successor as
+President of Hollins Institute.
+
+As now, so during the lifetime of Mr. Cocke, Maytime at Hollins stirred
+a flutter of excitement in the student's mind. The session's close was
+drawing near, with its terrors of examinations; its flourish of music,
+oratory and white dresses; its orderly pomp and splendor. The season
+brought a new flush of animation and gaiety. There were happy greetings
+of fathers and mothers. The old girls came, eager for the raptures of
+re-union. The bright stars shone on dear old Hollins; the blue mountains
+stood guard round their jewel; and the sky dropped down benediction.
+Nature and the human heart held high festival on Commencement Day.
+
+Services began with an interesting dramatic presentation, and the
+Reception to the Senior Class. The Sunday services were conducted by
+invited ministers. In the days following, came the jollities of Class
+Day, the joint celebration of the Societies, the Musical Concert, and
+lastly, the annual address by the President, with the conferring of
+Diplomas. Of course the programs of the earlier years were not so
+elaborate as the one just indicated, but the exercises were as vitally
+interesting and popular. On these occasions many distinguished men
+delivered strong and eloquent addresses. Woe to the man who ventured to
+stand before a Hollins audience without honest preparation. Declamatory
+rhetoric never deceived this group of intellectually alert students. Mr.
+Cocke drew his ministers for Commencement from the various Protestant
+denominations, as the students came from all these bodies. Sectarian
+narrowness never guided his choice, and that spirit never thrived in his
+school. Christian truth and character were to him the eternal verities,
+and among all communions he made devoted friends. One of his preachers
+disappointed him cruelly. That good man made a calamitous mistake. He
+had fancied that he was to appear before a mountain school, and that
+almost any sort of a sermon would answer. Lazy unpreparedness meets
+retribution. Arriving at Hollins, his disillusion was instantaneous, and
+all that Saturday night he tossed in mental misery. The next morning he
+appeared in the pulpit with an irrelevant theme, and a profitless
+sermon. College girls are never profoundly impressed by unctuous
+platitudes, or by theological combat.
+
+One of the surprises about these years is the small number of Full
+Diplomas that were given. From 1855 to 1900, Mr. Cocke bestowed this
+honor on one hundred and twenty-five girls. To secure it the student had
+to graduate in at least seven of the departments of study. The standards
+were high, so that to win the Full Diploma, demanded native ability and
+long, hard work. In the operation of the school's elective system, each
+girl chose the classes she preferred, and received certificates of
+graduation as the work in each subject was accomplished. Though, as we
+have said, Full Diplomas were rare, many girls won these minor
+distinctions, which also bore the name of Diploma. Many were the
+students who, coming for one year's course, were stirred by these
+Commencement occasions to larger views and longer attendance. This
+imposing pageant of the Finals was apt to awaken in the ambitious,
+first-year girl, a sense of her intellectual poverty, and to inspire
+noble resolution for ampler education.
+
+At the close of the session of 1899-1900, Mr. Cocke delivered his 52nd
+annual address. Sad to say, it was his last. It is a notable and
+probably an unparalleled fact, that he should, through fifty-two
+consecutive years, have made the graduation address and have delivered
+the Diplomas. In these messages he dealt with the many problems of
+educational theory and practice, never failing to appeal for high and
+noble standards of living. He counted on his girls as the finest
+advertisement, and as the most eloquent testimonial of the merits of
+Hollins. It was no vain reckoning. As a matter of fact, it became no
+unusual thing for him to hear patrons confess that they had seen Hollins
+girls and had been deeply impressed by their intelligence, cultured
+manners and social grace.
+
+Now we yield the platform to the President. There can be no more fitting
+close of this chapter than a few paragraphs, taken from his annual
+addresses. The captions are not his, but they indicate the special
+thought of the passage.
+
+
+THIS ONE THING 1889
+
+ "I have aimed to implant deep in the hearts of my pupils the
+ principles and precepts of our holy religion, as taught in the Word
+ of God. As to those externals of religion which divide the Christian
+ world into parties and sects innumerable, I have nothing to say; for
+ our great Law-Giver and High Priest has said, 'The Kingdom of God is
+ within you,' and unless we are subject to this law, all rites and
+ ordinances and organizations put together and scrupulously
+ practiced, cannot save the soul."
+
+
+REVIEW OF FIFTY YEARS JUNE, 1896
+
+ "Our trouble has been all during these fifty years, to secure
+ equipment. Had this been furnished, the history of the school would
+ have been far more satisfactory. The success of the school in 1852
+ and years following, gave a wonderful impetus to girls' schools in
+ Virginia. Many chartered schools came into existence during that
+ decade. Some of course proved failures, and others exist to this
+ day.
+
+ "The annual registers of pupils during the entire existence of the
+ school, aggregate 6,689. It has been almost exclusively a boarding
+ school, and as such has led in numbers all the schools of Virginia.
+ Its contributions to the teaching profession have been most valuable
+ and probably more numerous than that of any other Virginia school.
+ It has educated many daughters of ministers of different communions,
+ free of charge for tuition. It has aided large numbers of indigent
+ girls. Its graduates are in all parts of this country, North, East
+ and West as well as in the South, where they are numerous. Some six
+ or eight are in foreign mission fields. The school has far surpassed
+ my own expectations and has been a surprise to the general public.
+
+ "As soon as we took charge in 1846, and became acquainted with the
+ surroundings and prospects, we saw clearly that the school could not
+ live with a merely local patronage. It was almost wholly a boarding
+ school, and it must draw its pupils from a broad area. The necessary
+ steps were taken to make its advantages known in all parts of
+ Virginia, and that patronage was sufficient for our limited
+ accommodations until the close of 'the war.' We often declined
+ applicants for want of proper accommodations. But after Virginia had
+ been devastated by two contending armies within her borders for four
+ years, we had to look to still broader fields for pupils. It was
+ about the year 1870 that we first made known the advantages of the
+ school in other states, and now a majority of our pupils come from
+ other sections beyond our state lines. This patronage, with more
+ ample equipment, might be greatly increased, and with broader and
+ more ample facilities, it might be made the most prominent school
+ for girls in all the South. Its country location, its invigorating
+ atmosphere, its mineral waters, its glorious mountain scenery, all
+ combine to bring to it increasing numbers from different and
+ distinct sections. The great boarding schools for girls in the
+ North, in which millions are invested, are in the country.
+
+ "My life has been one of unceasing work and energy, of constant
+ cares and anxieties, and of a deep sense of responsibility. I have
+ only laid a foundation on which the next generation may build. Will
+ Virginia, the most desirable State in the Union for institutions of
+ learning of every grade and class, seize the opportunity and again
+ advance, through educational channels, to the leadership of States,
+ and inaugurate an era of greater glory and higher destinies for this
+ great American people? Oh, that she may be wise to discern the
+ ominous signs of these times and seek through great schools for
+ young men and young ladies, a power and progress which shall far
+ eclipse her pristine glories!
+
+ "And now, at the close of fifty years' connection with this school,
+ I can, without reservation or modification, say I have done all I
+ could to conduct and perpetuate an Institution which might prove a
+ blessing to the people without distinction of sect or class, and an
+ honor to my native State. And this, too, on the very basis I found
+ it standing when I took charge."
+
+
+EDUCATIONAL THEORY
+
+JUNE, 1893
+
+ "These graduates are not confined to a single Christian
+ denomination; they have come from all denominations. And this is, in
+ my judgment, the true ideal of a Christian school. I have often said
+ that the associations of a school for young ladies, properly
+ conducted, are worth more to them than any single department of
+ study. They learn so much from contact and association with each
+ other.
+
+ "Certainly a school for young ladies should not aim to send forth
+ all its pupils of exactly the same type. Its facilities and
+ associations should be such as to give ample scope for individuality
+ of development, and that genuine sympathetic contact and impress,
+ which lifts the less cultured to higher walks and ways, and
+ impresses the more fortunate with their duty to the needy and
+ dependent, often the most deserving, and often reaching, under such
+ influence, the highest stations of life.
+
+ "The school from its beginning has maintained and made prominent one
+ feature so culpably neglected, and even opposed by most schools for
+ girls. It has maintained a broad and elevated course of study and
+ fixed high standards of graduation. This has been done with special
+ reference to the demands of that class of girls who propose to make
+ teaching their profession or business in life. And most abundantly
+ has it been rewarded in this effort. Its graduates are in great
+ demand and many of them hold elevated positions as teachers. But
+ there are other courses in addition to that required for full
+ graduation. These are intended to meet the varied wants of other
+ classes of students, who, from feeble health, inadequate means or
+ mere preference, decline to pursue the full course.
+
+ "The school has accomplished far more than its early founders aimed
+ at or even dreamed of. They looked to local demands and a limited
+ sphere. But its influence has been felt not only through Virginia,
+ but throughout the South and West, and even from the great North,
+ pupils have sought and enjoyed its advantages. Graduation from
+ school does not imply full and complete knowledge on any subject or
+ in any department of learning. The object of true scholastic
+ training is, first, to discipline the powers, and, second, to open
+ to pupils the sources of knowledge. In these processes, of course,
+ much information is imparted; but to stop here and read and study no
+ more, would be fatal to a high and commanding success in life. You
+ must read and read systematically and continuously. You must keep up
+ with the progress of the times, and times are in quick movement in
+ this day...."
+
+
+SECRET OF SUCCESS
+
+1855
+
+ "If you would have your minds well disciplined and well stored with
+ useful information, you must be willing to retire, for a time at
+ least, from the enticing and distracting scenes of the busy world,
+ and in the quietude of academic life, devote your powers to those
+ labors which alone can secure the desired boon. Here the work must
+ be done, here the foundation must be laid, upon which your future
+ attainments and your future eminence must rest. Neglect this
+ preparation, and you can have no well grounded hope of rising to
+ distinction in society, or of exerting an influence which shall
+ leave a record of your name and your deeds upon the hearts and
+ memories of those who shall come after you....
+
+ "The secret of success is the ability _to fix the attention on one
+ subject at a time...._"
+
+
+CREATIVE WORK
+
+1862
+
+ "I urge you to cultivate a taste not only for literature, but for
+ _making literature_. The literature of a country determines its
+ institutions, its social conditions, and its destiny. It is really
+ its inner life whence its external manifestations spring."
+
+
+LITERARY TASTE
+
+JUNE, 1894
+
+ "Many a wise man has said repeatedly: 'Let me go into a young lady's
+ parlor and examine the literature which lies on her table, and the
+ books which fill the shelves of her library, and I will tell you all
+ about her; the secret thoughts which habitually haunt her
+ imagination, the purposes, the ambitions, the affections, good or
+ bad, which agitate and fill her heart; the scenes, the sights, the
+ objects, the aims which thrill her soul--all this I know from the
+ companionship amid which she delights to linger and live, and with
+ which she delights to commune.' Young ladies, when you reach home
+ and unpack your trunks, will you take out the text books you have
+ studied in this school, one by one, and place them on the highest
+ shelf of your library and in the far corner, and with a scowl on
+ your face say to them, 'Now, you go and stay where I put you; you
+ have cost me weeks and months and years of toil, of anxieties, of
+ troubles, vexations and tears, but you have at last given me my full
+ diploma and I want nothing more to do with you'! Are you going to
+ speak thus to your best friends, who have done more for you than
+ father and mother?
+
+ "Are you going to turn your back upon, and quit the company of, the
+ only true aristocracy of all the ages and all countries, and seek
+ lower associations? These people are not upstarts; they have lived
+ and still live in all ages and countries; they have been the
+ intimate and loving companions of kings and queens; of emperors and
+ statesmen; divines and poets, scientists and linguists, and all the
+ great of all the earth and every clime and kindred.
+
+ "Again, the Good Book says, 'Where there is no vision the people
+ perish.' This was spoken most probably in regard to the ancient
+ prophets and seers who received the divine light from the great
+ original source, and reflected it from their own hearts and minds on
+ a benighted race.
+
+ "But has not the great Inspirer of light and knowledge, since that
+ remote past, raised up other prophets and seers and imparted other
+ visions that the people might not perish? These great men are among
+ us; they do not compel, but they invite companionship; they say,
+ 'Come, go with us, talk with us, commune with our spirit, drink with
+ us of the clear, cool springs of nature; the journey is pleasant and
+ the scenery is grand; come, go with us and we will do thee good.'
+
+ "Will you reject the invitation and decline the association? So,
+ young ladies, as I said in the beginning, from a literary
+ standpoint, from a social standpoint, from a business standpoint,
+ and from the standpoint of philanthropic and Christian usefulness,
+ your future position and success in life depend upon the company you
+ keep. Under the great principle of the freedom of the press, the
+ newspaper has become a universal institution in
+ America,--omnipresent, and almost omnipotent. The result is that the
+ vast constituency of our great government are better informed on
+ current events all over the land and all over the world, than any
+ people on the earth.
+
+ "But the curse of the land is this: We spend too much time on this
+ and kindred literature; this habit enfeebles the mind, contracts the
+ vision, and suppresses high ambitions in the fields, the vast and
+ elevated fields of broader, more solid, more useful and more
+ permanent knowledge. Our people are making the most marvelous
+ progress on all lines of human thought and effort, but on none more
+ rapid than that of science and literature. The spirit of the nation
+ seems to be a consuming ambition to lead the world in thought, in
+ intellectual development, and in products of the brain of men. To
+ keep in harmony with this spirit, you, young ladies, must rise above
+ the plane on which so much of our literature moves and study the
+ works of great minds."
+
+
+TRUE CULTURE
+
+1870
+
+ "The great mistake which so many make and which satisfactorily
+ accounts for their want of success, is that they regard the mere
+ accumulation of facts as the sole object of scholastic study;--that
+ knowledge may be stored in the mind as we gather grain into a
+ garner, and this, too, without regard to its character or quality,
+ or the order in which the deposits are made. We have aimed, young
+ ladies, to give you a better theory of education, and a more
+ enduring foundation of scholarship....
+
+ "The great object of that culture and training which courses of
+ scholastic study afford, is to assist the mind in the processes of
+ its own development; to give to its searchings after truth and its
+ toils in the fields of literature, direction and system; to enable
+ it to think, to reason, to solve; to give it scope and expansion
+ that it may successfully grasp both the theoretical and the
+ practical of life and advance to those objects and destinies which
+ its very structure implies and foreshadows...."
+
+
+BROAD SYMPATHIES
+
+JUNE, 1892
+
+ "I would remind you, young ladies, that you go forth into life at a
+ time when society is advancing on all lines of progress. In breadth,
+ variety and thoroughness of literary and scientific knowledge, we
+ are no less a marvel to ourselves than the wonder and admiration of
+ the oldest civilizations of the world. This American people proposes
+ to hold no inferior rank in the world-wide race for the greatest and
+ grandest results in material development and production. This the
+ most casual observer beholds all around him in every-day life. But
+ when we come to review, critically and comparatively, the rise and
+ progress of American learning, we see one determined and steady
+ advance towards the highest standards the world has ever known. In
+ the production and giving forth of all kinds of literature, this
+ people aspires to the highest place; to the most advanced
+ achievements that bless society and adorn life.
+
+ "And shall our own section and people continue heedless and
+ oblivious of this throbbing, restless, inspiring energy to rise to
+ the very acme of literary fame and glory? We blush to own that,
+ thus far, we have made but a feeble response to the high and
+ honorable calling. When the poison diffused through the channels of
+ a false and envenomed literature during the last generation, South
+ as well as North, shall have spent its force, and the prejudices and
+ passions that literature engendered and fostered shall have given
+ place to just and generous award, then, and not until then, will the
+ whole people and the outside world be prepared to receive and
+ appreciate a truthful revelation, and do mental honor to all, of
+ every section, who from their standpoint and environment, and with
+ the light that shone upon their pathway, lived and labored for great
+ ends, and the same ends. That record will show that not only under
+ Southern skies, but throughout the nation, in national Senate, in
+ Northern cities, even in Western wilds, Southern counsel has
+ contributed in full proportion to the great results which today
+ astonish the world. And furthermore, it will show that Northern
+ energy, foresight and enterprise have made their deep and
+ ineffaceable mark on the whole country in its educational and
+ religious work, its business, political and social life, and its
+ institutions. The gigantic struggle which occurred on this continent
+ just before your eyes opened on the light of day was the result of
+ a misunderstanding; a family quarrel on a grand scale, such as more
+ than once has occurred in the land of our forefathers. But even when
+ the conflict rose to its most fearful height, deep down in the
+ heart, this people were one. They are now one, and may the high
+ council of Heaven ordain that they shall never be other than one.
+
+ "Young ladies, suffer no sectional jealousies or narrow prejudices
+ to find a resting place in your bosoms. They dwarf your souls, they
+ contract your minds. Love your country in all its sections and broad
+ limits and constituent elements, and contribute your best energies,
+ in appropriate spheres, to its high and grand mission."
+
+
+CONFIDENT HOPE
+
+APRIL, 1862
+
+ "You go forth at a dark and threatening hour.... When the great
+ plans of His far-reaching and comprehensive providence shall have
+ been accomplished, in the stupendous conflict which you now behold,
+ He will speak peace to the troubled waters, and there will be peace.
+ Till then let us wait with calm resignation and abiding confidence
+ in His designs of mercy.... This providence, however complicated and
+ strange, leads only to some good and grand result, opening up new
+ channels of usefulness to the virtuous and the good, and saying to
+ the faithful--nations as well as individuals: 'This is the way, walk
+ ye in it.'"
+
+
+GUIDING PURPOSE
+
+1901
+
+ "For many years it has been my earnest desire to so conduct the
+ affairs of the institution that whether I was present or absent,
+ there should be no abatement in the earnest purpose and devotion to
+ duty which I have sought to make a part of the atmosphere of
+ Hollins."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASMS AND ACTIVITIES
+
+
+All the activities of a good man's life are religious. Intelligent
+Christian thought has long since abolished the distinctions, "sacred"
+and "secular." The minister is not the only man with a divine calling.
+It is the right of every true man to regard his tasks, of whatever kind,
+as sacred, and the vigorous discharge of them as religious fidelity. The
+apostle, making tents, was serving God as truly as when preaching to the
+philosophers of Athens. All the vocations are spheres in which men serve
+their generation, increasing the sum of human comfort, and securing the
+moral order of the world. The man who serves his fellowmen is the
+anointed servant of the Lord.
+
+Mr. Cocke's life was an uninterrupted consecration to the cause of the
+education of women, permeated and energized by spiritual motive. No man
+understood better than he the living unity between intellectual and
+moral culture. He knew that cultivated faculties without corresponding
+nurture of the spiritual nature may prove a curse rather than a
+blessing. Along with growing mental power, must go a development of
+religious character. The two are inseparable in any right conception of
+human life. So, while he wrought with a wonderfully sustained enthusiasm
+in the sphere of education, he kept always in mind the transcendent
+claims of religion. There he recognized the fundamental interest of
+humanity. Teaching was his vocation, but the honor of God was his
+comprehensive guiding principle. To him the Bible was the word of Life,
+and the worship of the Holy One of Israel the supreme privilege and
+duty. Such was his view and, without intermission, his practice.
+
+From the beginning of his work at Botetourt Springs in 1846, daily the
+assembled students heard the reading of Scripture and united with the
+President in ascriptions of praise. Nor were Mr. Cocke's religious
+services given only to the school. His Christian interest ran out to the
+whole community. He recognized an obligation to his neighbors, and was
+soon meeting them here and there, instructing them in the Scriptures,
+and leading them in their worship. In 1855 the little Enon Baptist
+Church was organized and located within a quarter of a mile of the
+Springs. Into membership in this church he and his family went, to be a
+strong nucleus around which has since grown the excellent congregation
+and the beautiful building of today. The pastors of Enon never had a
+more loving and loyal member of their church. By all odds the strongest
+force in the body, he could have ruled as he pleased, but the humble man
+never dreamed of domination, or of the assertion of any kind of superior
+right. He wanted harmony and growth, and sought it by preferring his
+brethren in honor. His wise counsel and influence were potent, of
+course, but not another member of the church was farther from the
+assumption of authority. He was a model church member in attendance and
+gifts; hence all the people gave him honor and love.
+
+But Enon set no limits on his religious activity. The neighboring towns
+and communities felt the force of his spirit of evangelism. The
+Christian religion must have free course in the regions round about.
+There was not a village within twenty miles of his school that failed to
+catch something of his spirit. The impulses he gave in that early day
+lie at the foundation of much of the present religious strength and
+prosperity in the regions he touched.
+
+Did this young school teacher overlook the needs of the colored people?
+Would it look strange to see him conducting a Sunday School for the
+slaves on Sunday afternoons at Big Lick? That is what he did. "Inasmuch
+as ye have done it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me." The
+negroes, in the days of slavery, learned to love him as a friend, and
+when freedom came, his service among them did not cease. Their
+struggling pastors and congregations sought his counsel and were not
+disappointed. They looked on him as their big white brother, wise and
+good, and to this day he is remembered among them with affection. Here
+is a tribute written by a negro teacher on the occasion of Mr. Cocke's
+death. No more tender or significant praise has been accorded him.
+
+"My race in this section of the State would be guilty of the rankest
+ingratitude did they not pay a humble tribute to the memory of their
+friend and benefactor, Professor Charles L. Cocke. Any tribute to his
+memory must needs be incomplete without a touching reminder of his
+devotion to the cause of Christianity among my people in the days of
+slavery. To him my people looked for religious instruction in those dark
+days. Through his zeal and untiring efforts the slaves of this section
+of the State were allowed to attend services at the white Baptist church
+Sunday evenings where they could hear the word of God preached to them
+by the white ministers of the gospel, Professor Cocke himself frequently
+leading the meetings. He taught the slaves sound lessons in morality
+and honesty, and it is a well known fact that the slaves of this county
+were among the most upright, honest and trustworthy to be found anywhere
+in the South. Upon every plantation were to be found Christian men and
+women of our race whose lives were honest and true, and whose characters
+were spotless, and they enjoyed the confidence, respect, and sometimes a
+devotion, from their masters, that was touching and beautiful. Upon
+every plantation were to be found colored preachers who 'exhorted' to
+their people and explained to them the lessons that had been taught them
+by Professor Cocke. Whilst laboring faithfully amongst the whites, he
+did not forget the poor African slave.
+
+"At the close of the war, when freedom came to our people, he gave them
+the best advice and encouragement in the organization of their own
+churches. He was full of the milk of human kindness. He was ever ready,
+willing, yea, anxious to give advice and instruction to our preachers
+who sought his aid. His purse was open to any colored minister who
+appealed to him for help. No colored church was ever built in this
+county that did not receive substantial aid at his hands. Thousands of
+our people with bowed heads mourn his loss and revere his memory. My
+mother and father received religious instruction at his hands, and it
+is with a heart full of untold gratitude that I pen this tribute.
+Professor Cocke was a white man in all that word implied, but he was a
+Christian and not afraid to labor among men of 'low estate.'
+
+"Such men are the negro's best friends on earth. We have nothing to fear
+at their hands. To them we have ever been true and devoted, and shall
+forever remain so. Such men are the salt of the earth, and the negro
+believes in such salt.
+
+"We, too, drop a tear upon his bier and shall ever hold in grateful
+remembrance his many acts of kindness to a benighted race. Sweet be his
+rest."
+
+ ZACHARIAH HUNT.
+
+With the increase of Baptist churches in the Southwest, the Valley
+Association was organized, and Enon became a member. Not a pastor
+brought into that body more interest and zeal than did Mr. Cocke. He was
+not of those whose Christian liberality slackens and enfeebles devotion
+to their own communion. While broadly charitable, he was firmly Baptist.
+The influence he carried into these conferences with his people arose
+from his personal worth, not from his official prominence in education.
+Not one of the denominational causes failed to receive his cordial
+support. They appealed to him in the degree of their relative
+importance, but in the roundness and balance of his benevolence nothing
+was slighted. He spoke in advocacy of each and all. Of course many
+gatherings wished to hear Mr. Cocke speak on the subject of Education.
+In such addresses the fire of his soul was apt to burst into flame. He
+did not quote much. Being the impersonation of the educational spirit,
+he did not need to borrow thoughts. The man who does things has power
+with an audience. Your theoretical orator has no thrills. After one of
+his powerful utterances, many fathers and mothers said in their hearts:
+"I want to send my daughter to that man." His motive was not the cunning
+calculation of a man with a school, but rather the pure devotion of a
+large-minded servant of the Master.
+
+In the State assemblies of his brethren, where he was regularly found,
+he was equally a man of recognized distinction. Likewise in the meetings
+of the Southern Baptist Convention, he was greeted with the honor due to
+one who had advanced the credit of the denomination. He knew that fact
+himself, but no man could have been more innocent of self-important
+airs. While the higher education of young women was the goal of his
+daily thought and labor, the Kingdom of God was central to all his aims.
+
+Religious controversy never interested him. Through the years ministers
+of the various churches were invited to Hollins to lead its services and
+receive its hospitalities. Many were the interviews with them in his
+office and on the verandas in which conversation drifted into animated
+discussions of things political, educational and religious. Views
+differed, thoughts clashed, but the best of humor prevailed. In every
+denomination he had devoted friends.
+
+In vacation periods it was his frequent custom to make tours through the
+Southwest in a large vehicle, capable of carrying six or eight persons.
+His trusty colored driver, Prince Smith, held the reins, and commonly
+there was in the party a goodly number of Baptist ministers from middle
+or eastern Virginia. From one District Association to another, the
+_caravan_ went, adding zest and interest to the meetings. It was a
+genuinely delightful religious progress. The Baptists in all this region
+considered him as their greatest layman and their unordained Bishop.
+Everywhere he and his fellow-travelers were welcome guests. Sometimes
+they lodged in homes presided over by women who had been Hollins girls.
+Then the hospitality was overflowing. These summer visits did much to
+stimulate the hope and courage of many small and slowly growing
+churches. And what charmingly exhilarating experiences they brought to
+the _caravan_! The men who shared these progresses with the "Bishop" of
+the Southwest considered themselves the favorites of fortune.
+
+It was never his habit to go off for a summer's rest. It might have been
+well if he had done so, but such was not his bent. When the pressure
+ceased at the close of the session, he began to plan another visit to
+his brethren in the mountains. To go about doing good was the call of
+his heart in those long past summertimes.
+
+Religion and Education were the watchwords, written on the tablets of
+his heart. "This one thing I do, ever pressing on to the mark of the
+prize of the high calling of God." Here is the rare spectacle of a long
+life, full of religious activity, supported by unfailing enthusiasm, by
+fixed, high purpose, and by that ardor of achievement which are the
+marks of a great soul. Unselfish human service magnified him and gave
+his name to grateful remembrance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHARACTERISTICS
+
+
+There was nothing angular or disproportionate in the structure of Mr.
+Cocke's mind. The photograph of it may be said to have been reflected in
+his face, with its fine assemblage of strong and well-balanced features.
+The intellect was clear, the will robust, and the feeling intense. One
+never saw him when he did not know what he wanted to do; never found him
+irresolute or languid of purpose; and never knew him indifferent or
+unresponsive. Along every line of enterprise that summoned him, these
+powers were joined in unity and concert of action. He was not in the
+smallest degree visionary or quixotic. Illusions, phantasms, Utopian
+dreams, perished in the light of his large common sense. Yet this man
+was a true idealist. In his youth he saw a vision. At first he saw it
+dimly, but as time passed it grew in clarity, until it materialized in a
+better system for the higher education of young women. Had he failed, we
+might have called him a dreamer; but as he succeeded gloriously, we
+rank him with the adventurous thinkers who have blessed the world. He
+followed the gleam and domesticated it in society. In his early days
+Hollins Institute was to him what the Holy Grail was to the Knights of
+King Arthur, or what the Golden Fleece was to the ancient Argonauts. The
+thing that makes a man great, is a great idea seized and brought into
+beneficent application. He is greatest that is servant of all. When Mr.
+Cocke said that his habit was to think thirty years ahead, he was hardly
+conscious that it was a fine feat of imagination. Yet this is his title
+to the crown of the Legion of Honor. Intellectual and moral heroism must
+have its reward.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+He would not have us say that his scholarship was broad. Too honest was
+he to make pretense of much learning. Broadly intelligent and well
+informed he was, and an efficient teacher of mathematics, but he made no
+claim to extended acquaintance with literature, science or philosophy.
+It is interesting to know that he was fond of Milton's "Paradise Lost"
+and Pollock's "Course of Time," and could quote long passages from each.
+He deplored inability to devote himself more assiduously to wide reading
+and deep study. The scholarly instinct and craving was in him, but the
+engrossing cares of his Institution absolutely monopolized his
+attention. Pathetic necessity barred him from the fuller measures of
+intellectual culture. On administrative burden bearing depended the life
+and growth of the school, and with perfect intelligence of the personal
+sacrifice involved, the responsibility was accepted. However, he was
+keen to discover scholarship, and quick, with the wisdom of a master, to
+add it to his Faculty.
+
+It was sometimes said that he was autocratic, and he himself admitted
+that there was some ground for the charge. How could it be otherwise? He
+was the informing soul and energy of the Institution, and in that fact
+was the sole guaranty of its development and perpetuity. He knew his
+plans and hopes, he had bold confidence in his own judgment, and he
+possessed an indomitable will. He had to speak with decision and
+authority. All confessed his right to command and understood the certain
+penalties of faulty service or of disobedience. The harassments of
+interminable worries and of defeated hopes may at times have resulted in
+a look of sternness, or have given his manner a touch of unpleasing
+abruptness; but, withal, it was far from him to inflict intentional
+pain. Austerity of manner, incidentally of expression, was balanced by
+as kind a heart as ever beat. He was a superb gentleman, and in his
+prevailing gentler moods, had pleasant greetings for all. He was at the
+helm, and the necessity was on him to guide and direct, but behind the
+flash of those keen blue eyes lay a wealth of human kindness and
+affection. All Hollins knew it. Tyrant he could not be, but master he
+was. Never did it pass from his thought that he was a servant of God and
+that the mind of the Master was the goal of his life. He had the bearing
+of a lord, but the child in his heart never died. Then, if ruggedness
+appeared, it was but a surface exhibition, the fatherly feeling being
+the deep inextinguishable fact within. For this, his pupils and friends
+gave him a life-long devotion, and his children loved him, almost to
+adoration. This man was no autocrat.
+
+He was conspicuous for his liberality. Owing to the fact that his
+earnings and that of his family were constantly swallowed up by
+improvements in the Institution, he was never a wealthy man. Yet that
+fact did not close the door of his compassions and generosities. Gifts
+went to the poor, contributions unstinted went to his church and to the
+benevolences of his denomination. Once, when attending the Baptist State
+Association at Petersburg, Virginia, after several speeches had been
+made on missions, he arose and said: "Now let us do something. I wish
+right here to subscribe $100." The suggestion struck the body and a
+handsome subscription was taken. Mrs. Cocke said, some time after the
+event: "Charles came home and sold a horse to pay that subscription."
+At an educational gathering in Enon Church, when the inevitable
+subscription was taken, his young son, Lucian, signalized his immature
+and reckless enthusiasm by saying: "Put me down for $100." The cautious
+collector called out to the father what the boy had done. "All right,"
+said the acquiescent father; "he has a pony." In dismay the youth saw
+the meaning, and the pony went to education.
+
+Not often did he relate jokes and anecdotes, but he enjoyed them at the
+hands of his friends. He had a saving sense of humor and could relish a
+flash of it even at his own expense. This incident he told on himself.
+At one of the Valley meetings of ministers and laymen, he made a
+stirring speech. His oratory was of the spontaneous, practical type,
+often impassioned and tremendously moving. When he closed an admiring
+brother arose and paid compliment to the speaker for his "exhaustive"
+address. The modest orator meekly protested the extravagant language.
+Then a wit of a preacher stood up to explain to Mr. Cocke that the
+brother did not mean that the speaker had "exhausted" the subject, but
+that he had "exhausted" himself! The house was instantly in a roar of
+laughter, in which the orator himself as heartily joined. His brethren
+knew they could take innocent liberties with him, because they loved him
+so. At Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Bedford County, Virginia, a
+meeting was in progress in the fall of 1881. The house was crowded when
+Mr. Cocke arose. The good genius of speech was upon him and that address
+on education was memorable for power. Later, in the church yard, a good
+mother was talking to a minister about the speech. A flush was on her
+face and tears glistened in her eyes as she said, "Oh, I wish I was able
+to send my daughter to Hollins." Now he had not said one word about
+Hollins, his effort being to magnify the importance of the education of
+young women, and to fasten conviction on parental hearts. At another
+time, while he was attending a Baptist meeting in Southern Virginia, he
+spoke before the body. A college professor in the audience inquired as
+to the personality of the speaker. On being told, he said: "I want to
+meet him, for he said more forcible things in five minutes than all the
+speakers before him in fifteen." An interview followed, with the result
+that the distinguished Professor Kusian spent twenty-eight years in
+teaching at Hollins.
+
+Self-conceit Mr. Cocke regarded as a sort of vulgarity. With all
+sincerity, his soul responded to the sentiment of him who asked: "Why
+should the spirit of mortal be proud?" His friends thought that in some
+instances his humility was overdone. Richmond College gave him the
+degree of LL.D., but he declined it, silently and unostentatiously. His
+frank reverence for truth disallowed acceptance. The degree, in his
+view, stood for a measure of learning which he regarded himself as
+lacking. His modesty wronged him. The compliment has come to be bestowed
+on high civic merit and achievement as well as on broad scholarship. In
+the former virtues, Mr. Cocke stood pre-eminent. His standard, if
+applied, would strip a multitude of names of this honorary title.
+
+Interest in making money seems never to have touched him. Not once did
+he venture on an investment. The material prosperity of men gratified
+him. He knew that most men ought to make money, but he had no time for
+it. "This one thing I do." On one thing, the gifts, plans and powers of
+his long life were literally and undividedly centered.
+
+He loathed the feeling of jealousy. He would have despised himself if he
+had been unable to hear the praise of other college presidents and of
+their institutions without inward pangs. Eulogize his brethren, and you
+smote on no chord of envy. He was a large man. He bore no grudges and
+carried no enmities, the common luggage of proud and envious minds.
+
+What a good and generous neighbor this man was! The successes and
+sorrows of the countryside round about Hollins touched him sensibly. He
+was their counsellor in times of perplexity; their comforter in seasons
+of grief. Frequent were the times when a minister not being accessible,
+he conducted funerals and buried the dead. He loved the people as do all
+who really love God. The religion that attempts to terminate on God,
+ignoring human beings, is as sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. Of
+such worship this man knew nothing. He expressed love to the divine in
+even-handed justice and in benevolent sympathy among men. Perhaps the
+finest tribute paid at his funeral was spoken by the Lutheran minister,
+Dr. F. V. N. Painter, a part of which is as follows:
+
+"Dr. Cocke was a great educator. He was great both in theory and
+practice. He had not made, I think, an elaborate study of the science
+and history of education, as they are presented in text-books. His
+knowledge was deeper than the knowledge acquired in that way. In the
+educational work of more than fifty years, his strong intellect worked
+out independent views of educational principles and methods. In no small
+degree he helped to make the educational history of Virginia and of the
+South.
+
+"Dr. Cocke always impressed me as a large man. His stalwart frame was
+but the counterpart of a vigorous intellect. There was nothing petty,
+narrow, cynical, in his views or aims or methods. He loved to deal with
+fundamental principles and great facts; and in his discussion of any
+subject, there was always a breadth of view and a vigor of utterance
+that commanded attention. In his great, absorbing concern for truth, he
+cared but little for that delicacy of diction and that refinement of
+phrasing which so often, in the hands of smaller men, become an end in
+themselves. He was a strong earnest man, wrapped about with invincible
+integrity, reminding us of Carlyle's words on Luther, 'Great, not as a
+hewn obelisk, but as an Alpine mountain, yet in the clefts of it
+beautiful valleys with flowers'.
+
+"Dr. Cocke was a man of sterling integrity of character. A brief
+acquaintance was sufficient to elicit our highest confidence. He was
+straightforward and honest in his aims and methods of work. He attempted
+to deceive neither himself nor others; and it is impossible now to
+associate an insincere or crafty diplomacy with his character. His
+native integrity of soul, which must have come as a rich inheritance
+from worthy ancestors, was strengthened by his deep religious life. He
+recognized his supreme obligations to God; and he took the life of Jesus
+Christ as his model. Thus he stood before us as a beautiful example of
+Christian manhood. In character and in life he reflected credit on our
+common humanity."
+
+It is the divine way to do mighty works through consecrated men and
+women. Christian faith so identifies one with the life of God that the
+eternal energies can flow onward to great consummations, even to the
+casting of mountains of difficulty into the sea. Nothing evil was ever
+charged against Mr. Cocke. The absolute open purity of the man shamed
+all envy, and paralyzed misrepresentation. Misunderstood and
+unappreciated at times he doubtless was, but this he accepted as one of
+the inevitable assets of an ongoing, achieving career. He was not
+perfect, but he pressed far up the heights of resplendent manhood. The
+signature of a divine call was upon him, and he honored it to the end.
+His long labor fell far short of his dreams, but it was crowned with the
+blessings of Heaven.
+
+ "All I could never be,
+ All, men ignored in me,
+ That was I worth to God."
+
+Hollins College is his monument. There it stands, a thing of beauty, by
+the little Sulphur Spring. There may it stand forever!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HIS COMRADES AND CO-WORKERS
+
+
+The building of Hollins Institute was not the achievement of one man. It
+was the outcome of associated work. There was a leader, gifted with
+vision, judgment and iron will, but without abundant and able
+co-operation, there would have been no realization of his scheme. No man
+would be more prompt than Mr. Cocke in acknowledgment of this fact. He
+was accurate in measurements of the qualities of men and women, and not
+often in his selection of teachers was his judgment at fault. It was a
+compliment to be invited into his Faculty, and its members always found
+Hollins one big family. In one dining hall, students and teachers met
+three times a day, and the warmth of home feeling fused all generous
+natures into one delightful fellowship. Mr. Cocke did not look on his
+comrades as hired people. He took them into his confidence and high
+regard as honorable and worthy associates in his sacred work of
+education. He was no dictator; he issued no commands. He trusted his
+teachers, invited their freedom of initiative, and complimented them
+with the expectation of efficient service. He asked for good team work.
+It is no surprise that in such an atmosphere and under such genial
+conditions, he always had a loyal and harmonious Faculty. Rarely did one
+of its members go away without happy memories and loving attachments.
+Many fine men and women, through the long years, made invaluable
+contributions to the upbuilding of the Institution. Their work was
+worthy of all praise, and it is a matter of regret that most of their
+names have to be omitted from this brief record.
+
+
+_Mrs. Charles L. Cocke_
+
+In the presentation of Mr. Cocke's fellow-workers in the building up of
+Hollins Institute, no one will deny the first place to his wife. Her
+pre-eminent worth has already been indicated in the foregoing chapters.
+Longer than others, she bore him company and demonstrated a sturdiness
+of character, quite as marked as his own. She did not want to come to
+the mountains with her three little children. In 1845, she listened with
+loving interest to the enthusiastic recitals of her husband, just
+returned from the Southwest, but kept hidden in her heart an invincible
+preference for her old home. Yet, in the summer of 1846, she went with
+him, loyally and cheerfully. His optimism she could not share, but the
+path of duty she trod as willingly as he. In the far after years she
+confided to her children that she had never loved the mountains, and
+then added, "But I never told Charles!" The fact would not have helped
+him, hence it was shut up in her heart. That confession is full of great
+meanings, pathetic, unselfish and honorable. Such was her faith in him,
+such her love and hearty comradeship in toil and sacrifice, that he most
+likely never suspected the secret feeling.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES L. COCKE]
+
+The shock of that first view of her new home we have seen. A little
+later, the primitive rawness of it was accentuated to her as she saw a
+wild bear leisurely passing through the premises! Bravely she plied the
+domestic tasks, and smiled sympathetically on her husband's plans. In
+truth, without such a wife he could not have won. In the strong cord
+that held him to his work, she was the golden strand. Though loaded with
+the cares of the household and of her little ones, this wonderful woman
+gave herself to numberless ministries among the girls. One feels
+astonishment at her physical endurance. Her energies and womanly
+loveliness were elemental in the making of Hollins. Six years after her
+arrival, it was her joy to see her brother, Professor William H.
+Pleasants, added to the Faculty. In the long, dark struggles that were
+to follow, there was no breaking down of her faith and courage. Through
+two generations, the girls loved her with a genuine affection, and made
+no distinction between her and Mr. Cocke in the bestowal of honors.
+
+It was truly said, that if Mr. Cocke was the head of Hollins, Mrs. Cocke
+was its heart. That splendid patriarchal Trustee, Mr. Wm. A. Miller,
+says: "It is common to speak of the wife as the better half. In my view,
+Mrs. Cocke was the better two-thirds." She watched the health of the
+girls, and entered into their amusements, sometimes even lending her own
+wardrobe for a histrionic performance. She could never endure harsh
+criticism, and if conversation drifted in that direction, she invariably
+withdrew. No unkind speech ever escaped her lips. To most mortals this
+will seem unbelievable, but ample testimony supports it. If ever
+compelled to express disapproval, it was in fashion so gentle that no
+sting was left. In the latter years, all the graces and beatitudes
+seemed to cluster on that feminine face, framed in with silver locks and
+the little white cap. She had a delightful gift of humor and many times
+the unconscious play of it surprised her by its mirthful effects. Enon
+Church and its worship always enlisted her active sympathy and gave her
+spiritual comfort. Often in quiet seclusion, she was found reading her
+Bible.
+
+The eventide came slowly on, with the relaxation of cares long borne.
+Then came the desolation of sorrow, and a deepening of life's
+lonesomeness. There was no decay of mental power, no encroachment of
+disease. At last the mortal part went down without pain, and on January
+5th, 1906, the Mother of Hollins went away. Just three weeks more, and
+she would have rounded out her eighty-sixth year. The last services
+revived memories of those solemn scenes of May 6th, 1901. She was laid
+beside him on the hill, and weeping college girls strewed the grave with
+flowers.
+
+
+_Professor William Henry Pleasants_
+
+Here is a great looking man, scholarly, courtly, popular, and in his
+maturer years, affectionately called, "Uncle Billy." He was born at the
+"Picquenocque" homestead, five miles north of Richmond, January 29th,
+1831, the youngest in a family of nine children. The family was reared
+under the quiet influence of the Quaker faith. At about eighteen years
+of age, the young man graduated at Richmond College, and entered into
+business relations with a foreign tobacco firm, in which was the promise
+of promotion and wealth. Turning from this inviting prospect, he went to
+the University of Virginia, and by diligence in study, bore off its
+honors. Mr. Cocke invited him to Hollins in 1852, just as the "Female
+Seminary" began its work. Soon thereafter, he married Miss Minta Smoot,
+of Washington City. After a few years, the young wife passed away,
+leaving him with a little daughter and son, who became the sole objects
+of his devotion. It was his joy to see the daughter, Mary, achieve
+distinction as a teacher of Music at Hollins.
+
+He was a lover of Latin and Greek; and literature, ancient and modern,
+was his passion. Latin was his special department of instruction, but so
+versatile was his culture that he often taught the classes in Natural
+Science and Philosophy. He was a magnetic teacher, accurate, clear and
+inspiring. He won reputation as a polished writer and speaker, and had a
+natural fondness for music and flowers. In association with congenial
+friends, he was the center of courtesy and charm. Masonry was his
+pleasing avocation, and he was twice honored with the office of Grand
+Master of Masons of Virginia.
+
+Here are a few of the many fine sayings which reflect his quality:
+
+"Find out things for yourself, and you will know them better than if I
+were to tell you beforehand."
+
+"I am afraid that the average teacher of the present day prepares the
+students for examinations, not for life."
+
+"All higher education is essentially self-education."
+
+"Can anyone who himself neither intelligently observes, reflects, nor
+reasons, aid others in so doing?"
+
+Washington and Lee University gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1907. He
+gave up his work as teacher in 1912, having spent sixty years in the
+service. On November 26th, 1914, he passed away, lacking only two months
+of fulfilling his eighty-fourth year. He sleeps with his kindred in the
+little cemetery on the hill.
+
+
+_Professor Joseph A. Turner_
+
+Professor Turner was born in Greenville County, Virginia, August 6th,
+1839; was a B.A. of Richmond College in 1858, and an M.A. of the
+University of Virginia, in 1860. He served in Mahone's Brigade, Army of
+Northern Virginia, during the entire war, and in 1866 accepted the chair
+of English and Modern Languages at Hollins Institute, which position he
+held to the time of his death, May 5th, 1878. Hollins has had many able
+and popular teachers, but it is simple truth to say that none ever
+stirred more enthusiastic admiration and devotion than he. Indeed, after
+hearing and reading his eulogies, one is almost forced to the conclusion
+that he was one of the most remarkable teachers the Institution has
+ever known. Of high character, broad scholarly sympathies, and passion
+for teaching, he made his classroom electric with literary contagions
+and enthusiasms. Not only did he teach, but he magnetized and inspired
+the student. His teaching was largely by lecture, punctuated with
+pointed questions. Intellectually honest, accurate, painstaking, he
+cultivated the same qualities in the student. He published a valuable
+treatise on Punctuation and left several works in manuscript on his
+special subjects of English literature and philosophy. He contributed
+occasionally to _Appleton's Journal_ and _The Atlantic Monthly_, and
+regularly to the editorial columns of _The Nation_.
+
+Mr. Cocke honored and loved him, and the tribute he paid to the lost
+teacher in his annual report to the Trustees in 1878, is probably the
+finest ever given by him:
+
+"Mr. Turner was a man of no ordinary type. When a boy, he was a mark
+among boys; when he became a man, he was a man among men. He hesitated
+long between law and teaching, and when the question was settled, he
+gave all the energies of his soul to his chosen calling. Prompt, able,
+faithful and enthusiastic, he carried his pupils to the highest
+standards of improvement of which they were capable, opening the fields
+of Literature, where they might wander, explore and gather the richest
+fruits in after years. Not only did he give them knowledge and culture,
+but he inspired a zest for knowledge which would carry them beyond the
+ordinary confines of female acquirements. As an officer in a school for
+girls, his eminent literary attainments, his temperament, manners and
+very person, inspired respect and affection. His purpose was to make
+this a prominent Institution for young ladies, and accordingly he was
+engaged in preparation of textbooks adapted to that end. Among literary
+men, Mr. Turner was regarded as a scholar of mark, and destined to
+become a figure in the literary world."
+
+
+_Mrs. Leila Virginia Turner_
+
+Mrs. Turner, Mr. Cocke's oldest daughter, was born in Richmond,
+Virginia, February 5th, 1844. She was educated at Hollins and taught
+twenty-one years in the Institution. Brightly gifted, ardent, magnetic,
+witty and companionable, she had peculiar power to win and hold the
+hearts of students and friends. She was happily married to Professor
+Joseph A. Turner in 1871, and was consigned to early widowhood in 1878.
+Two little children were left to her care. The daughter, now Mrs. Erich
+Rath, teaches in the College, and the son, Mr. Joseph A. Turner, is its
+Business Manager.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. ANNE HOLLINS]
+
+
+_Miss Sallie Lewis Cocke_
+
+This gentle and accomplished daughter was born in Richmond, Virginia,
+May 25th, 1845. She was a graduate of Hollins, and taught many years in
+the college. Though frail in body, she was alert in mind, and lovingly
+responsive to all those tasks wherein she could do her father service.
+Gentleness and spiritual refinement were eminent qualities. Friendliness
+and social grace seemed native to her character. Her teaching was in the
+department of Literature and Languages, and to this day her pupils speak
+in praise of her taste and skill in the teaching art. She was a model of
+feminine culture, and filled her mission well. On the 29th of July,
+1900, the lovable life faded away, at Hollins.
+
+
+_Mr. Charles Henry Cocke_
+
+This nobly useful man was born at Hollins, May 21st, 1853. He took a
+course at Richmond College and in early manhood became an invaluable
+helper to his father in the business affairs at Hollins. The growth of
+the Institution, with the multiplying years and cares of the President,
+made assistance imperative. No more timely relief could have been given
+than that which came when young Charles H. Cocke threw his fresh
+energies and enthusiasm into this work. On the new manager a
+multitudinous and bewildering mass of incessant duties descended. He
+discharged them with surprising swiftness and ability. A friendlier
+manner or a kinder heart could not be. He had patience even with the
+trivial and senseless interruptions that arose. Everybody leaned on him
+and everybody loved him. His work at Hollins was one of the finest
+contributions given by any one to the success and stability of the
+Institution. All honor to his name. His health began to fail before the
+end of twenty-five years of service, and, too late, he began to recruit
+his spent vitalities. On May 3rd, 1900, his labors closed in death. All
+Hollins wept and mourned his loss. Mr. Cocke said: "He was the right arm
+of my strength. Without him the school would never have reached the
+commanding position it now holds." With the precious company on the hill
+he rests in peace. One is glad to see his son, M. Estes Cocke, a
+prominent member of the Faculty.
+
+
+_Mrs. Eliza Speiden Childs_
+
+This noble woman was one of the distinguished factors in the evolution
+of beautiful Hollins. Rich and varied are the contributions which she
+made to the school. She was born in Washington City, July 26th, 1829.
+Her father, William Speiden, was a U. S. Naval officer, and rose to the
+rank of Commodore. Her mother was an English lady. Eliza was the oldest
+of seven children. She was educated at Mrs. Kingsford's School in
+Washington, and in that environment of elegant culture, her young
+womanhood was nourished. By the strange vicissitudes of human life, she
+was, before middle age, twice a widow, with two little children in her
+care. In the year 1873, by good fortune both to herself and Mr. Cocke,
+she came to Hollins as Associate Principal, a position she was to fill
+for twenty-five years. After resignation, she was made "Emeritus." Mr.
+Cocke said of her: "Mrs. Childs' gifts and qualifications were of
+inestimable value to the Institution, and without them and her untiring
+service, it could not have reached the excellence it has."
+
+There was about her a captivating nameless grace of womanly finish,
+delicacy and comeliness. Her unaffected goodness blended smoothly with
+her emphasis of authority, and a perfect taste joined itself to charm of
+manner and flowing sympathy. It was social culture to be in her company.
+Her influence went out over all the South and will abide. Her daughter,
+Miss Marian Bayne, is Librarian at Hollins today. Mrs. Childs resigned
+at Hollins in 1898, and on August 11, 1901, she passed away, at
+Marshall, Virginia. Her body was laid to rest at Alexandria, Virginia,
+near the scenes of her childhood.
+
+
+_Professor A. T. L. Kusian, LL.D._
+
+Here is one of the most picturesque and delightful of scholars. His
+history is dramatic and his experience of the world is rich. He was born
+in France and educated in Germany. During the Civil War his sympathies
+were with the South, and he bought supplies for the Confederacy in
+France and Italy. He came to the United States while still young, and
+took out naturalization papers in Kentucky. He married a Virginia lady,
+and taught a number of years in the Baptist College at Danville,
+Virginia. From there he was called to Hollins in 1890. After more than
+twenty-five years of work in the department of Modern Languages, he
+retired as Professor Emeritus. He was a man of remarkable memory, never
+forgetting a fact or a face. He was one of the most competent, courteous
+and obliging of teachers and friends, and for Mr. Cocke he had the most
+sincere admiration and attachment. Honored and revered by all, he fell
+asleep March 24th, 1920, at his home in Accomac County, Virginia.
+
+
+_Trustees_
+
+Two of the original Trustees of Hollins stand out particularly as
+notable for long service and devotion.
+
+[Illustration: JOHN HOLLINS]
+
+
+_Mr. William A. Miller_
+
+This venerable and delightful gentleman was born in Pittsylvania County,
+Virginia, in March, 1824, and is now in his ninety-seventh year. This
+summer of 1920, he is in fair health, and goes daily to his place of
+business in Lynchburg, where most of his life has been spent. His whole
+career has been one of stainless virtue and lofty Christian character.
+His first meeting with the Trustees of Hollins was on July 5th, 1855;
+his last was in February, 1900, making a term of forty-five years. He
+was always high in the esteem of Mr. Cocke. He recently explained in
+humorous way, that his long term of life was due to long teaching in
+Baptist Sunday Schools. This got into the papers, and he has received
+letters from all over the country, and some from people in other
+countries, asking his methods of teaching the lessons. A halo of honor
+is on his head, and thousands of friends wish him long life.
+
+
+_Colonel George P. Tayloe_
+
+On the 18th of April, 1897, this splendid citizen of Roanoke, Virginia,
+this strong and invaluable friend of Hollins Institute, passed away, in
+the ninety-third year of his age. He was the first-named Trustee on the
+Board of the Valley Union Seminary, in 1842. That position he held
+until the school took the name of Hollins Institute. In 1857 he became
+President of the Board of Trustees, and as long as he lived, he held
+this office with distinction. In 1896 some members thought it expedient
+to elect another President, owing to Colonel Tayloe's frequent, enforced
+absence on account of sickness. Mr. Cocke objected, however, and the
+grand old man was re-elected. Before the next annual meeting he was no
+more.
+
+Mr. William A. Miller has this to say of his comrade: "Colonel Tayloe
+was a gentleman in every sense of the word, and was often consulted by
+Mr. Cocke. He seemed to feel himself a part of Hollins and was almost
+like the right arm of the President."
+
+Mr. Cocke himself, in giving a brief history of the Institution, in
+1896, said, "I cannot close this sketch without a tribute to one who
+well deserves to be mentioned on this occasion. The Hon. George P.
+Tayloe, of this County, a gentleman of wealth and exalted social
+station, was the administrator of the estate which held possession of
+the property at the time the purchase was made for educational purposes.
+He not only heartily approved of the establishment of the school and
+gave liberally to its funds, but he gave his personal influence and more
+than all, he indulged the Trustees in the payments due the estate, to
+the utmost limits of the law, refusing to accept offers made by others,
+until he finally secured the property to its present owners, thus
+enabling the school to continue its high mission. For nearly the entire
+period of fifty years, he has held the Presidency of the Board of
+Trustees, and seldom has he been absent. When at any time during the
+history of the school, money had to be raised for any emergency, he was
+the first to subscribe and prompt to pay. His influence has contributed
+largely to its successful career."
+
+The Institution never had a more loyal friend, or a more generous and
+intelligent Trustee. Hollins and its community ought to wipe the
+opprobrious name of "Tinker" off the beautiful mountain, and replace it
+with the honorable and cherished name of "Tayloe."
+
+
+_Mr. and Mrs. John Hollins_
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hollins lived at Lynchburg, Virginia, prosperous, highly
+respected and influential. Mr. Hollins was a man of superior worth and
+always responsive to the generous impulses of his intelligent wife. Her
+ancestors, the Halseys, came from England in 1623. One of these kinsmen
+was a member of the English Parliament, and another went to the United
+States Congress from New Jersey. She was a member of the First Baptist
+Church of Lynchburg, but her husband, on account of self-distrust,
+never joined. Mr. Hollins' gift of $5,000 in 1855 was by her
+inspiration. Her own later gifts, amounting to $12,500, assured the life
+of the Institution. But for the Civil War, which destroyed most of her
+wealth, she would have given much more. They had no children. Mr.
+Hollins was born February 11th, 1786, and died April 7th, 1859. Mrs.
+Hollins was born in 1792 and died July 3rd, 1864. Both were buried in
+Spring Hill cemetery, at Lynchburg.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HIS MONUMENT
+
+
+The perpetual, unsatisfied longings of the Founder of Hollins projected
+plans and schemes whose completion had to be left to other hands. In his
+wise view, an Institution completed was an Institution already on the
+downward grade. The large, expansive life of the age requires continuous
+modifications and enlargements to meet the ever-springing exigencies of
+society. In his eighty-first year, amid the desolations of a triple
+bereavement, the aged hero sounded this note: "I will devote my energies
+to putting the Institution on a permanent, broad basis, with facilities
+of all kinds to meet the advancing demands for such schools; for
+education of every kind throughout the South is on rising grade, and
+Virginia, like New England, may yet have a reputation for school
+facilities with scholarly men and women equal to those of any section of
+this broad and progressive land." This is the same clarion voice so
+familiar through two generations. Thus came from his lips the general
+program, committed to his successors for the following thirty years.
+With no consciousness of the fact, he was providing his own monument
+which lives in the noble Hollins College of today.
+
+When the Institution passed from the Trustees to Mr. Cocke, it became
+the charge of a Board of Governors, selected from the members of his own
+family. From that day, they have regarded as their precious inheritance
+the plans of his mind and the wishes of his heart. His principle of
+progress has been the guiding light of the Board of Governors and not
+for a moment have they forgotten that the passionate desire of the
+Founder of the College was to make Hollins, in an ever increasing
+degree, a leader in the cause of the education of women.
+
+What has been done during the nineteen years of the Board's control? It
+is impossible to visit Hollins without feeling that the memory of Mr.
+Cocke and his influence equally abide. He, being dead, yet speaketh. At
+his death the Presidency of the college went to his daughter, Matty L.
+Cocke, and the Chairmanship of the Board of Governors to his son, Lucian
+H. Cocke. The business affairs, so long and heroically managed by
+Charles Henry Cocke, are now entrusted to two of the Founder's
+grandsons: Marion Estes Cocke as Secretary and Treasurer, and Joseph
+Augustine Turner as General Manager.
+
+[Illustration: HOLLINS COLLEGE]
+
+The improvements on the grounds and buildings, and on the farm, have
+been many. A beautiful Library building, made possible by the Alumnæ,
+was erected in 1908, as a memorial to Mr. Cocke. The Susanna Infirmary
+was built in 1911, as a memorial to Mrs. Cocke. In 1914, the Science
+Hall was built. Meanwhile important changes were being made in the
+courses of study. The curriculum was gradually enlarged, and eight years
+after the Founder's death, the institution was standardized on the basis
+of a four years college course. When this change was recognized in a new
+charter from the legislature of Virginia, the name "Hollins Institute"
+gave place to that of "Hollins College."
+
+The realization of the Founder's dream is an endless process, and the
+motto will ever be, "Forward and Upward." In the very atmosphere of the
+place, the sensitive soul feels a brooding presence. The trees on the
+campus, nearly all of which he planted, seem to whisper the revered
+name. His Ideal lives, and his Spirit interfuses all. His monument is
+building still. Let it go shining down the centuries!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Charles Lewis Cocke, by William Robert Lee Smith
+
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