Letter from Joseph Caldwell to William Neill, January 5, 1815
Chapel Hill
Jany 5, 1815
Dear Sir,
I received your letter at the proper time after its date, and must now apologize
for not answering sooner. It arrived at the time of our publick examination
which was on the first of December. As soon as the business of the session was
over, I was compelled to go to Raleigh without delay to attend to some business of the
bible society, which was to meet in two or three days afterwards. A vacation of
a month succeeded, during which all regular business was suspended with me,
except the preaching of the gospel on the sabbath.
The explanations I shall give on the subjects of your inquiries will be made as
much as possible of facts. The college here has subsisted since the year 1794. I
came to it in the year 1796, which was the time when degrees began to be
conferred. Since that date there have been disorders of an open and aggravated
nature on four different occasions. The last time was four years ago, when
mischief was done by combination, with the persuasion in the minds of the
perpetrators, that the number would operate with the Faculty as a reason for
declining to punish. Impelled by the emergency, and by the hope of breaking up
this ground on which inexperience and shortsightedness had made them calculate,
a sentence of suspension was firmly pronounced and perseveringly carried intoeffect against 37 students. From that time the
spirit of subordination has been confessed and uniform. It has been the fixed
principle of the Faculty to maintain in as great perfection as possible the
discipline and scholarship of the best northern colleges. We hold that at no
college south of New
Jersey, are the government and morals in a practical view, to be compared
with what are supported at the University of North Carolina. I state
this, having present to my mind the publicity and conspicuousness of the
subject, and with a wish to invite inquiry, without a distrust of the result,
provided it be derived from the dispassionate and informed. The Faculty consists
at present of two professors and two tutors, besides the president. The number
will probably be soon increased with another professor before long, for the
Trustees are intent on success, and have ample funds. The members of the
Faculty are well united, and well disposed, aware of the necessity of strict
examinations, punctual attention to the classes, a stedfast adherence to the
laws, and a conscientious and exemplary attention to scriptural religion and
morality. The funds of the institution have been hitherto directed on the
erection of buildings. The library and apparatus therefore have not been greatly
enlarged. We have not perhaps more than a thousand volumes, but these are mostly
selected for their immediate usefulness, and with a view to divinity. There are
two societies which have a thousand volumes apiece, many of which, though you
might not suspect it, are religious books of thebest sort. The Faculty have at their disposal $160 a year for the
purchase of such books as they choose. But it is probable the time is not far
off when the Trustees will make an appropriation of money for enlarging the
library to three or four thousand volumes.
The number of communicants in this place is about 20; three of whom are members
of the Faculty, one a student of divinity not belonging to the college, two
students of the college, and the rest of the vicinity. The professor of
languages we hope and believe is as truly pious as any of our professors of
religion, but his distrust of himself has prevented him from communing. I
believe I shall be correct in stating that the people of this vicinity are generally well informed on religious subjects, and
predisposed to attend publick worship. Their advantages have never been such as
are commonly enjoyed in the northern states; their habits and manners are not so correct, and by
many the sabbath is not well observed. It is apprehended in the northern country that the
people of the south are
hostile to religion. I believe that this was formerly true, but there has been a
remarkable change within a few years. In our village and the neighboring
country, but especially among ourselves, no open violations of of the sabbath
are customary, nor would they be permitted, except that you will sometimes see
awagon or a traveler passing through. In this
state our church has a synod called the Synod of North Carolina, composed of
the three presbyteries of Orange, Fayetteville, and Concord. The number of our ministers, the congregations,
and a general view of the presbyterian church within the bounds of this synod,
are presented in the minutes of the General Assembly of the last
year, to which I would refer you. Hillsborough is our county town, and is 17 miles from
this place. The inhabitants of that town are building themselves a brick meeting
house, the old one which was of wood, having gone to decay. There is a
congregation about 7 miles from us, to which Doctor Chapman preaches once a month in
its own meeting house.
I have now lived in this place 19 years; am a native of N. Jersey; was educated at Princeton where I took a degree as you will see by the catalogue, and
where I studied divinity, and received license. I came to N. Carolina at the age of twenty
three. I was then young; the college was beginning here; men of our profession,
fitted to act as superintendents, were not to be had in this State. I consented
to take charge of the institution while it was rearing for some years, but was
at length indulged by the Trustees with the appointment of another person
to act as President, and I have since continued as professor of mathematicks.
Having grown up thus far with the institution, I shall probably die in its
service.
The sentiments commonly entertained of the climate of N. Carolina by the people of the
north, are not
applicable to this part of it. They are true of the lower part of the State,
that part which lies between Raleigh and the sea. In our lower country I would not consent to live,
if the whole were offered as an inducement. The site of the university is
chosen for its healthiness. In traveling from the sea to this place you change
the temperature much faster than by going northward the same distance. From the
sea to the
western limit is probably 450 miles. We live about the middle of this distance.
One hundred miles remove us sufficiently from the influence of the marshes and
swamps that relax the bodies and minds of those who have not been enured by time
to their effects. The winters here are generally mild, but often cold and
sometimes severe. There is scarcely a sabbath in the winter when we are not
willing to press back with speed to our fires after publick worship. The waters
we drink are pure, well tasted and healthy. We live among the hills; the country
is rougher than you would wish it, and springs are breaking out on every side,
without any limestone to render them disagreeable to the taste, or unfit for
washing. Our summers are lasting; the atmosphere is genial; and our vernal and
autumnal seasons continue long pleasant. I should apprehend from the description
you give of your debility, it would hardly be effectually modified and
terminated by aclimate less soft than this. We live
in the latitude of Portugal, whose character you know, for its beneficial effects upon
northern constitutions.
Here is undoubtedly opening a scene of usefulness. If any where I hope it is here
that an invasion has been effected into the region south of Virginia, bringing reformation into the
manners, customs, and principles of society. The progress of improvement is like
that of an army, it must have its prisoners. But these must be followed up by a
force, or their labours is lost. We who have yet acted, have been prisoners; but
we can promise you, and in making this promise, I anticipate the time when your
presence may charge me if it be not true, the road is now opened for others to
advance with safety and success.
But I will push this long letter no further at present. Be so good as to let me
hear from you soon.
I am, Revd & Dear Sir
your's most
respectly & sincerely
Joseph
Caldwell