Paul A. Chadbourne.
have adopted if they had been left to themselves is not wholly certain. Outside pressure may have been unnecessary, but at all events there was opposition in the board to the election of Professor Hopkins. The cause of it, so far as can be ascertained, appears to have been the fact that he happened to be a young man. Whether it would be prudent to elect a president who was only thirty-four years old seemed to these grave worthies a debatable question. Finally Dr. Samuel Shepard, senior member and vice-president of the board, —he had been connected with it since 1808,— brought matters to a conclusion by saying, "If the boys want him, let them have him."
The election of Professor Hopkins to the presidency marks an epoch in the history of the college. His administration can hardly be regarded in any sense as a sequel to that of his predecessor, so different were the methods and ideals of the two men. Dr. Hopkins did not depreciate revivals. He understood very well what they had been to the institution, and was not ignorant of Dr. Griffin's impassioned appeal in 1828, that it might be "devoted forever as a scene of revivals of religion"; but he knew also that they could not be made the chief business of the college. His was a larger philosophy, which considered the whole man, which sought to develop the physical, intellectual, and ęsthetic faculties as well as the religious sensibilities.
The college president has come to be largely an executive officer. He is expected to take little part in the work of instruction, but to devote himself to the management of the institution. Fifty years ago it was necessary for him to combine the functions of executive and teacher, and in many cases he won his reputation in the class-room. For the details of business, Dr. Hopkins felt little attraction. He could not be called a man of affairs, yet, though the work of raising money and planning new buildings proved rather burdensome, he was not without success in it when something of the sort must be done. The material side of his administration makes a creditable showing. Nine buildings were erected, —the old Astronomical Observatory, South and East Colleges, Lawrence Hall, Kellogg Hall, Jackson Hall, the Chapel, Goodrich Hall, and College Hall, — while the productive funds rose from $25,000 to $300,000.
Hopkins Memorial Hall.
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