Whereas, The Board of Curators of the University of the State of Missouri have heard with regret that on account of failing health the Honorable James S. Rollins, who for many years has been a member of the Board and its honored president, has resigned both positions; and

Whereas, it is eminently befitting the occasion, in view of his long and distinguished services as both member and president, and the valuable aid he has rendered the cause of education in this State, both as private citizen and public official, that we place on record our appreciation of what he has accomplished for this institution and for other great and enduring interests of the commonwealth of Missouri. Therefore be it

Resolved, That neither the utterances of tongue nor press, nor attempted personation, whether in bronze or marble, can suffice to record or perpetuate a faithful record of the long and honorable services which this distinguished citizen has rendered in private and public life to the conception, organization, and success of the University of Missouri.

Second. That during his first term in the Legislature of the State in 1839 he developed, anterior to anything except a general interest in the question, a fervid zeal for the establishment of a great institution of learning in his adopted State, and from that period to the present his life, both official and private, is a record of self-sacrifice, unshaken faith, and patient waiting for the fruition of his hopes.

Third. That at that session of the Legislature, in a bill which he introduced, the policy was inaugurated of commencing the work of building in this great commonwealth, then in its infancy and sparsely settled, the institution of learning in which we are assembled and which to-day rises like a thing of beauty and a monument to his fame.

Fourth. That without attempting, in this brief testimony to his invaluable services, to recall in detail the long line of measures he devised in the Legislature and on the Board of Curators to advance the best interests of the University, we remark with pleasure and cordially indorse the eminently befitting terms in which these services are recognized by Governor Marmaduke in his letter accepting his resignation (which is herewith appended), wherein, in behalf of the people of the State, he tendered him an expression of their high appreciation of his long and eminently successful efforts in creating an institution of learning which is already an ornament to our great commonwealth and the pride of her citizens. "It is a matter of history" (the Governor continues) "that to you [him] more than to any one else is due its foundation, its location, its organization, and its growth and advance to its present position of extended usefulness; and its perpetuity already assured will transmit your [his] name through the histories of countless future ages."

Fifth. That these resolutions be entered on the journal of this body, and that the secretary be instructed to have a copy of them neatly printed on white satin, under the seal of the institution, and forwarded to Mr. Rollins, and that a similar copy be framed and hung in the library of the University.

THE BLAIR MONUMENT.

Letter of the Honorable James S. Rollins to the President of the Association.

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI, January 22, 1880.

COLONEL RICHARD J. HOWARD, PRESIDENT OF THE BLAIR MONUMENT

ASSOCIATION.

Dear Sir: I have received the printed circulars that you were pleased to send me, in regard to the Blair monument. It will give me pleasure to coöperate in the effort now being made to raise means sufficient to procure an equestrian statue of General Frank P. Blair, and I herewith send you my draft on the Third National Bank for $100, which you will please have placed to the credit of the fund. I will also open subscription papers here, giving all an opportunity to become members of the association by subscribing to the fund.

For twenty-five years before his death I was upon the most intimate and friendly terms with him, and sympathized with him in his political views and opinions.

He was an honest, brave, independent, true, and patriotic man. On the breaking out of the rebellion he was one among the first to volunteer his services in behalf of the Government of the United States, and with the lamented Lyon he gave the first effective blow against the rebellion. He did more than any other man to save Missouri from the disaster of secession; and I received it from the lips of the martyred President himself that except for "Frank Blair" he hardly knew how he would have managed successfully the affairs of the Government in Missouri at that critical period. He fought through the war for the Constitution and the Union, and when it was over he was liberal and magnanimous. For these deeds of valor and true patriotism, no less than for his numerous personal virtues, his memory deserves to be perpetuated in bronze and marble; and whilst Washington, Marshall, Clay, Jackson, Winfield Scott, Benton, Lincoln, Bates, Farragut, Thomas, and others, all of them sons of Virginia, North or South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, have for similar services and virtues had such a tribute paid to their memories, there is every reason why Missouri and the country at large should commend to posterity the bright example and heroic deeds of our illustrious statesman, patriot, and soldier, General Frank P. Blair.

On the soil of Missouri, and in the city of St. Louis, is the proper place for such

a statue.

I am, with high regard, your friend and obedient servant,

JAMES S. ROLLINS.

EX PEDE HERCULEM.

THE following letter addressed to Mr. R. B. Price, then at Jefferson City, is only one of a thousand, but it is interesting as showing how entirely con

sumed were mind and soul of Major Rollins by zeal for the University, and it is valuable as illustrating his methods in dealing with measures and with men. Disease had indeed prostrated his body, but from the couch of pain he still reached forth a hand full-fingered, to press the keys of legislation and teach it how to sound.

MR. PRICE:

COLUMBIA, MƆ., March 14, 1883.

Dear Sir: After you left yesterday I received a letter from our friend L. T. Collier, in which he speaks encouragingly of the passage of our bills. He stated in his letter that his family was sick and he probably would have to leave there and go home. I hope you will see him promptly and induce him to remain, for besides his vote his presence there until the end of the session is very important to us.

My experience is that at the end of every session of the Legislature important bills are lost from carelessness and indifference, and I desire you, therefore, to trace up and ascertain the precise condition of the following bills, all of which were carefully drawn by me here and sent to various members for introduction.

First. A small bill changing the law in regard to the Treasurer of the Board of Curators of the University, and authorizing the Board of Curators to fix his annual compensation. I sent this bill to Proctor, and it was introduced, I think, by Hughlett. Find out how it stands, and see that it becomes a law.

Second. The bill authorizing five Curators to act as a quorum to do business, I think, was defeated by the interference of . . . . of Phelps County. Third. The General Appropriation Bill you will, of course, look after. The item of twenty-three thousand dollars is put in the bill, to pay debts; this is better than the way I had it, which was to compensate for stock lost in the National Bank of the State of Missouri. We shall still have a good claim for this stock hereafter. I presume the items in this bill will be left undisturbed.

Fourth. Senate Bill No. 35, providing for the investment of public educational funds and also for the increase of the said funds, I sent to Senator Bryant; he introduced it, it passed the Senate, and is now pending in the House. Look after this bill, and press it through the House. It will be in the long run one of the most important measures ever introduced into our Legislature. We must not lose it for the lack of close attention.

Fifth. There is Senate Bill No. 40, which I also sent to Senator Bryant, and which he introduced. It was finally passed through the Senate, and is now pending in the House. This bill appropriates $100,000 for enlarging and repairing the main edifice of the University. For present purposes this is our most important bill. It was most carefully drawn, and needs no amendment. Rally the forces and see that it is passed through the House, with the $100,000 appropriation retained in it. Do not allow this item to be changed. Contend for every inch of ground, and pass it.

Sixth. There is what is known as the Sanborn Bill, appropriating $15,000 for the benefit of the Agricultural College.

This bill was drawn up by Mr. Sanborn.

I took it, remodeled it, and put it in good shape. It was introduced by, and is in the hands of, Mr. Marmaduke. See him, and also see that it becomes a law. Seventh. Professor Schweitzer drew up a bill for a separate laboratory. I had nothing to do with this but to look over it carefully. It was an excellent bill and was sent to Senator Bryant also, but I think he never introduced it into the Senate. See how this is.

Eighth. The Governor recommended in his message a larger permanent endowment for the University. Senator Bryant, I think, got up a bill for this object, but it was never pressed for final action in the Senate, I believe. how this is, and get a printed copy of this bill for future use.

See

The above, as I remember, are all the bills pertaining to the University. See that they are in good shape and get as many of them through the two Houses as you possibly can, more particularly the General Appropriation Bill, and also Senate Bills Nos. 35 and 40 above referred to. Nothing that I could say could induce either

go to Jefferson. I sent

will coöperate with you.

or

to

in their place, who will do good service and I have written another strong letter to

Call on him and talk with him. He is a man who can be impressed with good influences. See of Ray, and urge him to "make hay while the

sun shines."

.

and

I have written also to See them both if they are in Jefferson City, and urge them to bring the railroad men to the support of our bills. There is no time to be lost. This is the seventy-first day of the session, and at one dollar a day the members will begin to scatter like wild geese. I hope you will remain at your post until the last one of our bills is acted upon, for if you leave a number of them will be lost. Confer freely with . . and . . . . ; awaken them to the importance of the occasion, and put additional springs in their backs. Although half-dead, I have worked myself nearly to death in my library this winter in behalf of these measures. It is about the last work perhaps that I shall ever be able to do for the University and for this town, and hence my great anxiety at this time.

There is nothing new here.

P. S.-I sent

a bill making the Governor, State Auditor and ex-officio Annual Visitors to the University, and also authorizing the Governor to appoint five other intelligent gentlemen to act annually as Visitors. This is a very important bill; it has passed the House, and is now in the Senate. J. S. R.

MISSOURI UNIVERSITY ALUMNI REUNION.

From the Columbia (Missouri) Statesman, June 22, 1883.

PROFESSOR BLACKWELL'S SPEECH.

AT the Alumni Reunion held in the Library Hall of the State University, on the evening of June 6, 1883, J. S. Blackwell, A. M., Ph. D., professor of Hebrew and Semitic Literature and Modern Languages, in response to the sentiment "The President of the Board of Curators" spoke as follows:

Mr. Chairman: I feel that the world is growing. It is growing in that which best exalts the race: in the spirit of unselfishness; in generous reproof of the meanness of those who in past time stoned their prophets, poisoned their sages, and crucified their benefactors; men who were too short-sighted to perceive what a poor sagacity might have foreknown: a swift repentance on the morrow, and a deification of that which was yesterday abhorred. It is not the lessons of history alone which have wrought more of steadiness in the fickle affections of men, nor is it alone the persuasive influence of religious culture which has stolen like a blessing into the human heart. It is mostly the enlightenment of the people. The cry of every consciously deserving human soul that has suffered the anguish of misappreciation and neglect might well be, in speaking of the thoughtless workers of its undoing, that "they know not what they do." It is pleasant therefore to-night to realize that hand which we recognize, with grateful acknowledgments, has been itself the scatterer of the beams of light, which our Alumni have gathered up, and that we can exhibit practically the beneficent influences of education in reflecting, while we have here the presence in the flesh of the founder of the institution, the kindred rays of gratitude, reverence, and love.

We would honor James S. Rollins for the magnificent faith which he entertained of this people when he bent the sturdy shoulder of an apostle of education to the arduous task of drawing the people of Missouri to that station of progress which he occupied, when forty years ago he lived far ahead of his age in the prophetic realities of this moment. We would honor him for his large, constant, and cheerful nature, as evidenced in the Roman fortitude which never despaired of ultimate success while carrying forward the interests of this sacred trust, when he argued and disputed with foes, when he won friends, when he defeated duplicity and rewarded faithfulness, when he brought to every struggle the quick and facile fence, the surprising parry, the formidable thrust, or the shivering thunderstroke of an alert, nimble, and full-panoplied mind. We would honor him as a man who brings to this generation, which else would have no adequate conception of the giants of other days, the vigor of an oratorical power which breathed in fullest strength in Henry Clay, whose displays are not like the tinsel and glitter of our pinchbeck rhetoric, but in the uncreated, swift, fierce, and resistless torrent that sweeps in floods of volcanic fire from the hot passions of the heart. We honor him as the incarnate type of Missouri's best thought, the model of its noblest manhood, the representative of its highest refinement, as the presentient