In vacation periods it was his frequent custom to make tours through the Southwest in a large vehicle, capable of carrying six or eight persons. His trusty colored driver, Prince Smith, held the reins, and commonly there was in the party a goodly number of Baptist ministers from middle or eastern Virginia. From one District Association to another, the caravan went, adding zest and interest to the meetings. It was a genuinely delightful religious progress. The Baptists in all this region considered him as their greatest layman and their unordained Bishop. Everywhere he and his fellow-travelers were welcome guests. Sometimes they lodged in homes presided over by women who had been Hollins girls. Then the hospitality was overflowing. These summer visits did much to stimulate the hope and courage of many small and slowly growing churches. And what charmingly exhilarating experiences they brought to the caravan! The men who shared these progresses with the "Bishop" of the Southwest considered themselves the favorites of fortune.
It was never his habit to go off for a summer's rest. It might have been well if he had done so, but such was not his bent. When the pressure ceased at the close of the session, he began to plan another visit to his brethren in the mountains. To go about doing good was the call of his heart in those long past summertimes.
Religion and Education were the watchwords, written on the tablets of his heart. "This one thing I do, ever pressing on to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God." Here is the rare spectacle of a long life, full of religious activity, supported by unfailing enthusiasm, by fixed, high purpose, and by that ardor of achievement which are the marks of a great soul. Unselfish human service magnified him and gave his name to grateful remembrance.
CHAPTER IX
CHARACTERISTICS
There was nothing angular or disproportionate in the structure of Mr. Cocke's mind. The photograph of it may be said to have been reflected in his face, with its fine assemblage of strong and well-balanced features. The intellect was clear, the will robust, and the feeling intense. One never saw him when he did not know what he wanted to do; never found him irresolute or languid of purpose; and never knew him indifferent or unresponsive. Along every line of enterprise that summoned him, these powers were joined in unity and concert of action. He was not in the smallest degree visionary or quixotic. Illusions, phantasms, Utopian dreams, perished in the light of his large common sense. Yet this man was a true idealist. In his youth he saw a vision. At first he saw it dimly, but as time passed it grew in clarity, until it materialized in a better system for the higher education of young women. Had he failed, we might have called him a dreamer; but as he succeeded gloriously, we rank him with the adventurous thinkers who have blessed the world. He followed the gleam and domesticated it in society. In his early days Hollins Institute was to him what the Holy Grail was to the Knights of King Arthur, or what the Golden Fleece was to the ancient Argonauts. The thing that makes a man great, is a great idea seized and brought into beneficent application. He is greatest that is servant of all. When Mr. Cocke said that his habit was to think thirty years ahead, he was hardly conscious that it was a fine feat of imagination. Yet this is his title to the crown of the Legion of Honor. Intellectual and moral heroism must have its reward.
CHARLES L. COCKE