"Oh! the surprise, the shock, the grief of heart, the sense of loss, the feeling of desolation, which that news produced. Crowds attended his funeral at Broad-Street Church, which, by a marble tablet, acknowledges him its founder, and Bishop Doggett pronounced his eulogy. Memorial services were held in Richmond, Petersburg, and Baltimore. Resolutions of highest praise were passed by Quarterly Conferences and by the faculties of colleges and universities. The secular and religious press honored his memory with heartfelt tributes; but all these honors fell far short of expressing the reverence and love with which he is cherished in thousands of hearts and thousands of homes. We yield to our sorrow of personal bereavement, and then chide ourselves for the selfishness when we ought to be grieving over the loss to the church. We think with sadness and almost with despondency of the bereavement of our College, and Conference, and Church, and tears fill our eyes, and a sword pierces our heart, at the unbidden suggestion of the void in our own life which the death of this dear, this noble friend and brother has made.
"We have said little of his private life. He was early married to Miss Twitty, of North Carolina, who for many years proved a companion and helpmeet worthy of such a man, and passed away in 1870. He married in 1873, Miss Wade, a daughter of a minister of the Baltimore Conference, who ministered to him and comforted him through the last years of his life, years of comparative weakness and pain, and now mourns, yet in resignation and trust, his death. He leaves four children of the first and one of the second marriage. The widow and children have the deepest sympathies and fervent prayers of this Conference.
"A few more words we must say about this loved brother. He was a natural orator. Perhaps this remark should be changed, not to abate its force, but to enlarge its application. He was a born talker, equally gifted in conversation and in public discourse. He had every physical advantage—grace of attitude and gesture, a voice which everybody likened, in sweetness, richness, and compass, to the organ, and, we must add, to the organ when struck by a master musician, for he had his voice under perfect command, and moderated it to convey the fullest variety of pure and worthy sentiment; a countenance on which one loved to gaze, handsome in repose, lovely when lit up by the noble thoughts and feelings of his great soul. He had every intellectual and moral advantage; a ready flow of happy diction, which seemed perfectly spontaneous, and yet exactly suited the thought; a playful humor, and, when needed, keenness of wit and satire which added zest to his serious speech, but detracted not from its weight; a quick insight into the heart of a subject, judgment remarkably sound, the logical spirit without slavery to logical forms, and an imagination which could sport like a butterfly amid flowers, or soar like an eagle beyond the clouds; sensibility delicate, deep, strong—acute sympathy with his fellow-man; a response in his feelings to everything true, pure, generous, and grand. Above all, he was full of the Holy Ghost, and could say, 'For the love of Christ constraineth me.' His adaptation to all classes of hearers, to all classes of circumstances, was marvellous. He could interest and edify the child, the unlettered, the cultivated, the scholar, with equal ease. Every variety of style came naturally to him, from a familiar home talk, through all gradations of argument, instruction and pathos, to the impassioned, sublime and overwhelming appeal. The earnestness and simplicity of his soul were ever manifest; that he preached not self, not philosophy, not human wisdom, not excellency of speech, but Christ and him crucified, not for fame, but to win souls.
"In his social and pastoral qualities he no less excelled. Others have equalled, none surpassed him in diligence and fidelity; but who can compare in charm, in breadth and tenderness of sympathy, in aptness to guide and comfort, in power to draw forth trust and love? Place him in any parlor, at any table, among the rich or poor, and he would be the centre of attraction—every eye fixed on him, every ear attend his voice. Let him sit by the bed of any invalid, though a stranger before that hour, and soon he would soothe and cheer, and the heart would open to his words as though he had been a life-long friend. The young and old, men and women, the rude and the cultivated, felt free to confide to him their troubles and ask his sympathy and aid; yet, in the narrower circle of long-tried friendship and of home, never did there beat a truer, more constant, more generous heart; so unselfish, so frank, so forbearing, so trustful, so magnanimous, never giving up a friend, though he may have strayed far, and long, and fallen low; never slow in responding to any call for help.
"But we must close this sketch. He was our favorite and our ornament, we might almost say our idol; but we glorify God in him. He has been taken away in his prime, at the height of his usefulness, when we were leaning on his counsel and strength, when we were rejoicing in the prospect of many years of his company and service. But we thank God for his example, his work, and his prayers. He rests from his labors, and his works do follow him."
A meeting of the Board was called, to assemble at Broad-Street Church October 4, 1877, to make provision for the College after the loss of President Duncan. Dr. A. W. Wilson, vice-president, announced his death, and a committee, consisting of Dr. W. W. Bennett, Dr. Samuel Rodgers, and Hon. Wm. Milnes, Jr., was appointed to report suitable resolutions to the Board, and they presented the following, which was unanimously adopted:
"Resolved, That, as the Board of Trustees of Randolph-Macon College, we have the deepest sorrow in our hearts in announcing to our church and people the great loss we have sustained in the death of Rev. James A. Duncan, D. D., our late President. His devoted life as a Christian minister and his constant and arduous labors for the past nine years in behalf of Randolph-Macon College, and the high position to which he and his co-laborers in the Faculty have brought the institution, demand that our people should give some expression of their appreciation of this work, which, in its widening influence, we trust shall abide for generations to come. And in the judgment of this Board nothing can more adequately express our conviction of the value of his life and work for the College and the cause of Christian education than that the church should determine to raise a 'memorial fund' of $100,000 for the accomplishment of an earnest and often-expressed wish of our deceased President, the permanent endowment of the College and the enlargement of its sphere of usefulness."
The presidency of the Board having been made vacant by the death of
President Duncan, Rev. W. W. Bennett was elected to it.
To fill the presidency of the College, Rev. W. W. Duncan, brother of the late President, was elected.
At an adjourned meeting, held in Lynchburg, Va., November 16, 1877, Secretary Rev. Paul Whitehead presented a letter from the Rev. W. W. Duncan, Professor in Wofford College, South Carolina, declining the presidency, to which he had been elected in July last. This declination and the financial embarrassment of the College elicited the hearty interest of the Virginia Conference, then in session. A large committee from that body was appointed to confer with the Board to concert measures which would meet the serious condition of the affairs of the College. The joint conference was held for several days.