[Illustration: EDWARD S. BROWN, A. B.]
The oldest alumnus present was Edward S. Brown (Class 1843), a prominent and most estimable citizen of Lynchburg, who matriculated in 1837.
Letters were received from the oldest alumnus now living, and one of the members of the graduating Class of 1839, who, with Thomas H. Garnett, of Buckingham county, Va., of same class, still survives.
The oldest living alumnus, Dr. Theophilus S. Stewart, of Marietta, Ga., graduated in 1836. He accompanied Dr. Olin to Europe, and took his degree of M. D. in Paris in 1839.
The letters of Dr. Stewart and Rev. James F. Smith, of Spartanburg, S.
C., referred in tenderest terms to the College.
[Illustration: DR. THEOPHILUS S. STEWART, A. B., (Class, 1836.)]
"Thursday. The opening prayer was made by Rev. Dr. Arnold, of North Carolina, at the conclusion of which the Commencement hymn (No. 1) was sung by the students to the air of 'America,' all standing. Bishop Vincent, of Kansas, the speaker of the occasion, was then introduced by the chancellor. The Bishop, who is a man of fine appearance, with a pleasant voice, launched forth in these words: 'Notable days to the individual, to associations, to state and to church, come into all lives. This is an interesting day to the individual, to families, and to the institution. It is a day of an ending and a day of a beginning. I see a picture, as I stand in this place to-day, of closing doors and of doors ajar, the end of complete or partial course of study and the beginning of lessons in the great school of life. Here, with the fragrance and flowers, under the spell of music, beneath these glorious skies and amid these mountains of Virginia, we need not only to look backward, but to look forward.'
"He closed his address as follows: 'Above all things, a man wants character; for if you presented yourself at the gate of heaven without the quality that would make you worthy to dwell there, you would find the beauties and glories of the home of God uncongenial to you. Live, not that you may have your name in Washington with a big pension or something of that kind, but in order that you may contribute to the betterment of the environment of those about you.'
"To the students before him he said he would recommend the whole world and the universe as a university in which to learn and in which to strive to ascend to the university of the most high God.