his official duties, and gave to them all his energies. Here his popular career commenced under the most favorable auspices. At the Commencement succeeding his inauguration, the College was illuminated, and a transparency was placed in the attic story displaying his name, with "President 24 years old." The University, over which he presided with distinguished honor to himself and benefit to the public, flourished under his administration, and his fame was extended over every section of the Union. The splendor of his genius, and his brilliant talents as an orator and a divine, were seen and admired by all. Between the President and his associates in office, there was an intercourse of mind and feeling the most harmonious and delightful. He had nothing of that dictatorial, imperious and overbearing spirit which persons, who are elevated to power, are too apt to assume. He endeared himself to the students, by his courteous and conciliatory manners, and his paternal solicitude for their welfare, while his various and exact knowledge, sound judgment, refined taste and impressive eloquence, commanded their respect and supported his authority. President Maxcy beautifully exemplified the maxim, "Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes, His government was reasonable, firm and uniform, and marked in its administration by kindness, frankness and dignity. He did not attempt to support his authority, as is sometimes done, by distance, austerity and menace, but his pupils were addressed and treated as young gentlemen. He well knew human nature, and especially the character of young men, and hence his appeals were made to the understanding, the magnanimity and the conscience of his pupils.* In speaking of his presidency over Brown University it has been justly observed, that he was one "whose name and fame are identified with its reputation, and whose mildness, dignity and goodness equalled only by his genius, learning and eloquence, subdued all envy, made all admirers, friends, and gave him an irresistible sway over the minds of those placed under his care.”† Under his administration the College acquired a reputation for belles-lettres and eloquence inferior to no seminary of learning in the United States. His pupils saw in him an admirable model for their imitation, and the influence of his pure and cultivated taste was seen in their literary performances. Though destitute of funds, and of patronage from the legislature of the state, guided by his genius and wisdom, the College flourished and diffused its light over every part of our country. It sent forth a constellation of accomplished scholars, whose eloquence has glowed upon the altar, guarded the rights and privileges of the people, and shone in the halls of Congress. Mr. Maxcy's first publication was a Sermon occasioned by the death of President Manning, delivered July This system of government, we are convinced, will be found, in almost every instance, to be the best. The writer of these lines can say, from his own experience, and he hopes he may do it without the charge of egotism, that after having been a Professor in a college for the last eighteen years, and coming daily in contact with young men of varied dispositions, he never met with an instance of personal disrespect from a student Let an instructor address and treat his pupils as young gentlemen, and endear himself to them permanently by his kindness, and by cherishing the virtuous principles of our nature, and he will be able to do what stern authority, pedagogical arrogance and a tyrannical mode of government can never accomplish. Let his appeals be made to the conscience, and they will imbibe a delicate, noble sensibility to character, and acquire a high respect for order and decorum. + See the Hon. Virgil Maxcy's Discourse before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Brown University, delivered September 4, 1:33. 31, 1791. In this Sermon, which is written in a style chaste and elegant, he pays an eloquent tribute to his beloved and revered friend and preceptor. He expresses his opinions with independence, and expounds them with ability. The Sermon is replete with a vigor of expression, an elevation of thought, and a cogency of reasoning rarely found in so young a writer. During his Presidency of Brown University, Dr. Maxcy published nine Sermons, four Addresses to Graduates and three Orations. They are all written with great beauty and felicity of diction, and exhibit vast attainments and a mind of the first order. Their number and variety, considering his duties as President and his other numerous avocations, evince his industry and the extent of his capacity. One of his most celebrated productions is his Sermon on the Existence and Attributes of God, delivered in Providence, in 1795. The striking effect which it produced is still fresh in the recollection of many; and the impression was no doubt very much deepened by the manner of its delivery. The natural element of his mind was greatness, and on subjects of this nature, his powers were displayed to uncommon advantage. Here he made his hearers feel the grasp of his intellect, and subdued them by his logical arguments, his profound reasoning, and his deep pathos. In identifying the sympathies of his hearers with the developement and progress of the subject, and, in elevating the best affections of the heart, he was unrivalled. His train of thought in this sermon is luminous and philosophical, and it attracts our attention by its sublime sentiments and beautiful imagery, expressed in classical and forcible language. In November, 1796, President Maxcy published two Discourses on the Doctrine of the Atonement, which were delivered in the College Chapel. He possessed, in an eminent degree, the art of explaining the most abstract subjects in an obvious and convincing manner, and his style is as clear as the most limpid stream. These Discourses afford a striking contrast to many of the flimsy and superficial sermons of the present day. His views on the Atonement are in unison with those of President Edwards, and for acute and powerful reasoning, we think the intelligent reader will rank them among the ablest productions, on this subject, which our country has produced. President Maxcy's reputation was now established as one of the first scholars and divines in the United States, and in 1801, when only thirty-three years of age, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Harvard University. In the language of Dr. Samuel Johnson, “Academical honors would have more value, if they were always bestowed with equal judgment." As a pulpit orator, Dr. Maxcy, during his Presidency of Brown University, was powerful and fascinating, and wherever he preached, the place of worship was crowded. In the eloquent language of one of his pupils, "What man who knew him, can forget Maxcy, the disciple and successor of Manning? Although our country abounds in able and learned divines, and the pulpit is everywhere adorned with eloquence: yet who, among them all, does in the enchanting attribute of utterance, approach so near as Maxcy approached to the glorious character of Him "who spake as never man spake." The eloquence of Maxcy was mental: You seemed to hear the soul of the man; and each one of the largest assembly, in the most extended place of worship, received the slighest impulse of his silver voice as if he stood at his very ear. So entirely would he enchain attention, that in the most thronged audience, you heard nothing but him, and the pulsations of your own heart. His utterance was not more perfect, than his whole discourse was instructive and enchanting.* As Dr. Maxcy's celebrity as a teacher and an eloquent divine, became known and appreciated, he was invited to more eligible positions, in distant parts of the country. In 1802, after the death of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D., President of Union College, at Schenectady, New-York, Dr. Maxcy was elected to the Presidency of that Institution. Here he officiated with distinguished reputation, until 1804, when he was called to another sphere of action.† In that year, upon the establishment of the SouthCarolina College, at Columbia, South-Carolina, he received the unsolicited appointment of President of that College. He accepted of the Presidency of the SouthCarolina College, and entered upon his official duties with the fond anticipation of finding a clime more congenial to his delicate constitution. He was now in the zenith of his reputation. His brilliant and attractive talents, the variety and extent of his erudition, and his agreeable and refined manners soon gained him the esteem of all classes of society. In this arduous and honorable station, he labored and shone for sixteen years. His eminent talents for instruction and discipline were now called into full exercise. The College was now in its infancy, and he devoted himself to its interests with great fidelity. He continued to preside over the South *See Hon. Tristam Burges' Oration delivered before the Rhode Island Federal Adelphi, Sept. 9, 1831. t See Note E. |