GIFT OF
Class of 1900
If /
a*
THE LIFE
First Mathematical-Fellow of
Princeton College.
THOMAS D. SUPL^E,
Head Master of St. Augustine's College, and Author of "Riverside, a
Romance," "Plain Talks," "Life of E. D. Saunders, D. D.,"
" Analysis of Trench on Words," etc.
SAN FRANCISCO:
BACON & COMPANY,
508 Clay Street.
1879.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878,
BY THOMAS D. SUPLEE,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
c\
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. The Blands . . . 5
II. The Pryors and the Rices 17
III. Childhood at Charlottes ville 27
IV. School Life 35
V. In War Time 47
VI. Besieged 53
VII. The Baptism of Fire 63
VIII. A Remarkable Boy 71
IX. College Life at Princeton 83
X. Literary Laurels 97
XI. The Debating Quintette Ill
XII. Revival 119
XIII. Triumph 131
XIV. The Mathematical-Fellow 145
XV. On English Soil 155
XVI. Reunion and Home Life 165
XVII. Law Studies 173
XVIII. Lost and Found 183
XIX. Burial 189
XX. Aftermath .. . 195
886091
CHAPTER I.
THE ELANDS.
u I pray you, let us satisfy ourselves,
And search revolving periods past, to look,
With recollected interest, on all
The dim memorials, and things of fame,
That do renown this ancient family."
Watson.
HE ancient homesteads which crown the banks
of the James, York, Rappahannock, and other
rivers of Virginia, constitute one of the most
pleasing features in its scenery. They make the be-
holder forget the present, and carry him back into the
early days of the " Old Dominion." These " homes,"
occupying lofty heights or peeping from embowering
foliage, whose antiquated appearance is in such strong
contrast with all that is modern and familiar, in some
instances date back more than two hundred and fifty
years.
' ' The ' baronial ' style of living has long since passed
away with failing fortunes in the families once inhabit-
ing these old houses ; but the houses themselves re-
2
6 PRYOR 1 A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
main, with their wide portals, their grand staircases,
their lofty ceilings, and elaborate carvings queer old
relics of the days of coaches-and six, silk stockings,
hair-powder, and what is called ' aristocracy. ' This
term has aroused enmity in certain minds against the
old Virginians ; and yet they were not aristocrats in
any bad sense. The feeling of class existed in the
colonies then, as it existed in England ; but the social
prominence and importance of the landed proprietors
was directly attributable to the circumstances of their
position. They came over from England, generally
with reduced fortunes, if not absolutely poor ; but
they were men of education, energy, and great intel-
ligence; and they had the English passion for acquir-
ing land, and attaining to 'family importance.' As
land, and rich land, too, was exceedingly cheap, they
succeeded with little difficulty in obtaining extensive
tracts on the sole condition that they should settle it
and defend it from the Indians. Then, as slaves were
imported from Africa in large numbers, and indentured
servants came from England, the land-holders gradually
cleared large bodies of rich 'low-grounds,' as the river
bottoms were called, built substantial and commodious
houses often very grand ones, like 'Rosewell,' the
' Page-house ' on the York exchanged their much-
prized tobacco in London for rich furniture, costly
wines, laces, silks, embroidery, books, and every ob-
ject of luxury, and behold ! the originally poor immi-
grant had become the squire, lord of the manor, and
' aristocrat. ' He powdered his hair, wore silk stock-
ings, rolled in his coach, with the family coat-of-arms
THE ELANDS. 7
on the panel, to the rude court-house, where he sat in
awful state as magistrate ; or went with his brother
nabobs to listen to the rector of the Established Church ;
attended the brilliant assemblies at ' Raleigh ' ; for-
mally called on his excellency the governor ; and re-
garded himself, perforce of wealth, position, and au-
thority, as one of the leaders of society. There is
nothing, however, to show that they were an arrogant,
bad, or despotic race of men. Much remains to prove
that they were just the opposite kindly, charitable,
good neighbors, and as open-handed with their means
as they were tenacious of their social or political priv-
ileges. They were frankly accepted as leaders and
administrators of public affairs, as magistrates, bur-
gesses, agents to England, and afterwards as deputies
to Congress, governors, generals, and presidents. In
these capacities they proved themselves honest, capa-
ble, energetic, not dishonoring the memories of the
worthies of England from whom they were descended. "
It was immediately on James River, where most of
those old worthies of Virginia settled, " whose names
are now the property of history," that Theodorick
Bland, the earliest ancestor of Theodorick Bland
Pry or, in the year 1654 purchased the estate of West-
over, afterwards the home of Colonel William Byrd,
"who, with his personal graces, his literary accom-
plishments, and his distinguished career, resembles a
brilliant star set in the early skies of Virginia history. "
Theodorick Bland built a church, and gave to his
county ten acres of land, a court-house, and a prison.
He died at the age of forty-one, and was buried in the
8 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
chancel of the church which he built. The church
has long ago disappeared, but a tombstone bearing the
following inscription remains in the graveyard at West-
over :
J. S. M.
PRUDENTE ET EBUDITI THEODORICI BLAND, ARMIG :
Qui OBIIT APRILIS 23o, A. D. 1671,
^ETATIS 41.
CUJUS VIDUA M^ESTISSIMA,
FILIA RICHARDI BENNET, ARMIG :
HOC MARMOR POSUIT.
Which, translated, is : Jesus, Savior of the world.
The remains of the wise and learned Theodorick Bland,
Esq. , who died April 23d, A. D. 1671, aged 41 : whose
most disconsolate widow, a daughter of Richard Ben-
net, Esq. , erected this tomb.
This Theodorick Bland was one of the King's Coun-
cil for Virginia, and was both in fortune and under-
standing inferior to no person of his time in the coun-
try. His father-in-law, Richard Bennet, was gov-
ernor of the colony. He left three sons, Theodorick,
Richard, and John.
Richard Bland married Elizabeth, daughter of Col.
William Randolph of Turkey Island,* and died at
u Jordan's," on James River, leaving five children
* Thomas Jefferson was descended from Col. William
Randolph of Turkey Island.
THE ELANDS.
Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Theodorick, and Richard.
Mary Bland, eldest daughter of Richard Bland, mar-
ried Col. Robert Lee, of Westmoreland, and was the
ancestress of Gen. Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate
army. Richard Bland, eldest son of the said Rich-
ard, died at "Jordan's," on James River, October
26th, 1776. He was a member of the House of Dele-
gates, and was pronounced by Mr. Jefferson to be
"the wisest man south of James River." It is said
of him that "his intellectual calibre was capacious,
his education finished, his habits of application inde-
fatigable. Thoroughly versed in the charters, laws,
and history of the colony, he was styled the ' Virginia
Antiquary. ' He was a political writer of the first rank,
a profound logician, and as a writer unsurpassed in
the colony. His Letters to the Clergy, published in
1760, and his Enquiry into the Rights of the Colonies,
are monuments of his patriotism." His wife, Anne
Bland, is buried by his side at "Jordan's." She was
mentioned in the family record as "Anne, only daugh-
ter of Peter Poythress, gentleman."
Theodorick, youngest son of Richard Bland, Sr. ,
lived at " Causon's," a noble estate near the mouth of
the Appomattox River. He was twice married to
Frances Boiling and Mrs. Elizabeth Yates. His daugh-
ter Frances married John Randolph, and was the
mother of the famous orator, John Randolph of Roan-
oke. " Col. Theodorick Bland was an active promoter
of the Revolution. When Lord Dunmore, in the
spring of 1775, under instructions from England, un-
dertook to disarm the people, ' by secretly withdraw-
10 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
ing the muskets and powder from the magazine in
Williamsburg, Colonel Bland was among the first to
rouse the country to resistance. As munitions of war
were scarce, he, his son Theodorick, and his son-in-
law, John Randolph, purchased powder for the use of
the colony. Endowed with an ample fortune and a
manly character, having been for a series of years in
succession lieutenant of the county of Prince George,
clerk of the court, and representative in the House of
Burgesses, he possessed a commanding influence among
the people. His house was the center of a wide circle
of friends and relations, all of whom pledged their
lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the cause of inde-
pendence. " * Of his second marriage, Col. Bland says,
in a letter to his son : ' ' The person I have thought of is
a lady of great goodness, sensible, and a true Whig." t
This lady was the great great great grandmother of the
subject of our biography.
Theodorick Bland, son of Colonel Theodorick Bland,
was sent to England when he was eleven years of age,
to be there educated. He attended a school in Wake-
field, Yorkshire, whence the head-master wrote to his
father : " Master Bland is in my second class, and reads
Xenophon and Horace with tolerable ease, so that I
should think he would soon be very well qualified to be
a member at Edinburg ; only I have this deficiency
to lament in all the boys that they compose most
wretchedly, particularly in their Latin exercises. And
* See Garland's "Life of John Randolph," vol.1, pp.2, 3.
t See " Diary of Rev. Theodorick Pryor of Virginia,"
written in 1830.
THE ELANDS. 11
Master Bland (for I will not natter you) seems to
require discipline as much as any other young gentle-
man." " Master Bland " preserved his translation of
the first Eclogue of Virgil, which is still extant. It is
a very creditable specimen of his juvenile performance
in that line. He attended the infirmary in Liverpool
as a student of medicine, and in 1761, being then
nineteen years of age, he repaired to Edinburg, to
pursue the study of his profession in the university.
He was somewhat under the supervision of a Quaker
relative, John Bland, who did not disdain to counsel
him in love matters. This old gentleman, in a letter
dated July, 1762, observes to his young cousin at
Edinburg : " I will write to thy good father in regard
to the report of thyself and Miss Miller, and doubt not
he will be relieved from the distress he suffered in
consequence thereof. This matter shows thee how
circumspect thou ought to be. "
It seems the young gentleman had requested his
father to send him a negro boy to act as his valet de
ckambre, for his Quaker relative adds : " I will be glad
to hear Tom gets down well, but I fear he will elope
from thee ; and indeed I cannot but wish he had stayed
in Virginia, where he might most probably have been
a good servant."
After an absence of twelve years young Bland re-
turned to Virginia, and practiced his profession seven
years. From the cradle his constitution was delicate
and infirm, and his strong natural inclination was for
a life of rural quiet and studious repose. Yet while
he fondly meditated a life of perfect seclusion, he was
12 PEYOE: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
destined to take an active part in the Revolution that
ensued, and to be, from the commencement of the war
to the close of his life, either in the military or civil de-
partment, continually occupied in public service. In
1776, he was appointed by the Convention at Williams-
burg captain of the first troop of Virginia cavalry. Six
Virginia companies of horse were incorporated into
one in 1777, and Captain Bland being appointed their
leader, he became a lieutenant-colonel. Ambitious
of civic and literary as well as military honors, he was
at the same time member of the Senate of Virginia
and founder of the first literary society that was ever
organized in his State.
History follows Colonel Bland through the battle of
Brandy wine, the camp at Whitemarsh, Winchester,
Va., Mount Vernon, Alexandria, Baltimore, North
Carolina, and finally to Charlottesville, Va. , where he
was appointed by General Washington to ' ' superintend
the troops at that post." He corresponded with Gen-
eral Washington and enjoyed his confidence without
abatement or interruption to the end of his life. All
of Washington's letters would interest our readers, but
we can only give one or two. The following, written
soon after the battle at Germantown, will illustrate
Washington's ideas with regard to civilized ' ' warfare " :
"From General Washington to Colonel Bland.
" HEADQUARTERS, Oct. 25th, 1777.
"SiR : I am sorry to find that the liberty I have
granted to the light dragoons of impressing horses
near the enemy's lines has been most horridly abused,
and perverted into a mere plundering scheme. I in-
THE ELANDS. 13
tended nothing more than that the horses belonging
to the disaffected, in the neighborhood of the British
army, should be taken for the use of the dismounted
dragoons, and expected that they would be regularly
reported to the QuartermasterTGeneral, that an account
might be kept of the number and the persons from
whom they were taken, in order to a future settlement.
Instead of this, I am informed that under pretence of
the authority derived from me, they go about the
country plundering whomsoever they please, convert-
ing what they take to their own private emolument.
This is an abuse that cannot be tolerated ; and as I
find the license allowed them has been a sanction for
such mischievous practices, I am under the necessity
of recalling it altogether. You will therefore imme-
diately make it known to your whole corps, that they
are not, under any pretense whatever, to meddle with
the horses or other property of any inhabitants what-
ever, on pain of the severest punishment ; for they may
be assured, as far as it depends upon me, that military
execution will attend all those who are caught in the
like practice hereafter. The more effectually to put it
out of their power to elude this prohibition, all the
horses in your corps, in the use of the non-commis-
sioned officers and privates, not already stamped with
the continental brand, are without loss of time to be
brought to the Quartermaster-General to receive that
brand, and henceforth if any of them shall be found
with horses that are without it, they shall be tried for
marauding and disobedience of orders.
4 'I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
"GEO. WASHINGTON."
14 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
The stern virtue expressed in the above will be the
more appreciated when we remember the great scarcity
of horses at that time, the parties sent all over the
country to recruit them, and the often expressed
embarrassment at their failure. General Washington's
letters chronicle mournfully the want of horses and
clothing for the troops, and urge Colonel Bland to "pro-
cure all he can by purchase in Virginia. " In another
letter he says : "I have understood that horses have
got to such an extravagant price that it is in vain to
think of procuring but very few for dragoon service."
At the same time he consults Colonel Bland as to the
best mode to continue the soldiers in service, hoping
they might be persuaded by the officers who had imme-
diate influence over them. In 1780, Colonel Bland was
appointed by the Assembly of Virginia a delegate in
Congress. His congressional notes, speeches, reports,
etc., manifest his spirit and industry in the public
cause. On the department of finance he bestowed
particular attention.
The Marquis of Chastellux, in his travels, makes the
following mention of Colonel Bland: "My evening
terminated by a visit to Colonel Bland, of Virginia.
He is a tall, handsome man, who has been in the West
Indies, where he acquired French. He is said to be a
good soldier, but at present serves his country, and
serves it well, in Congress. I was invited to drink tea
at Colonel Bland's, that is "to say, to attend a sort of
assembly, pretty much like the conversazione of Italy.
Mr. Howley, Governor of Georgia, Mr. Izard, Mr.
Arthur Lee, (two last lately arrived from Europe) M.
THE ELANDS. 15
de la Fayette, M. de Noailles, M. de Damas, etc., were
of the party." *
Colonel Bland was also a member of the convention
that met June, 1788, to ratify the new Constitution.
He was a friend of Patrick Henry, and voted with him
against the ratification of that instrument. On its
adoption, however, he acquiesced in the will of the
majority, and was elected to represent his district in
the first Congress held under the Constitution. We
make an extract from a letter written by General
Washington to him, and dated,
"NEWBURG, N. Y., 4th of April, 1783.
'* DEAR SIR : On Sunday last the Baron de Steuben
handed me your obliging favor of the 22d of March.
Permit me to offer you my unfeigned thanks for the
clear and candid opinions which you have given me of
European politics.
" Peace has given rest to speculative opinions- respect-
ing the time and terms of it. The first has come as
soon as we could well have expected it, with the dis-
advantages under which we labored ; and the latter is
abundantly satisfactory. It is now the bounden duty
of every one to make the blessings thereof as diffusive
as possible. Nothing would so effectually bring this
to pass as the removal of those local prejudices which
intrude upon and embarrass that great line of policy
which alone can make us a free, happy, and powerful
people. Unless our union can be fixed upon such a
*" Travels iu North America in 1780-81-82," by Chas-
tellux.
1 6 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
basis as to accomplish these, certain I am we have toiled,
bled, and spent our treasure to very little purpose."
Colonel Bland died at New York, June 1st, 1790,
aged forty-eight, having spent a short but eventful
and highly useful life. He was a member of Congress
at the time of his death. In person he is said to have
been "tall and of a noble countenance, his manners
being marked by ease, dignity, and well-bred repose.
In character he was virtuous and enlight ened, of ex-
emplary purity of manners and integrity of conduct ;
estimable for his private worth and respectable for his
public services. Animated from his childhood b'y a
profound love of country, with him patriotism was not
an impulse but a principle."*
* See Campbell's " Bland Papers."
CHAPTER II.
THE PRYORS AND THE RICES.
" Go call thy sons, instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors, and make them vow
To pay it, by transmitting down entire
Those sacred rights to which themselves were born."
HE old baronial homes of the Bland family were
in ruins during the life of John Randolph, of
Roanoke. " Westover " was rebuilt by Colonel
Byrd. " Causon's " was burned, as also " Matoax " and
" Bizarre," the residences of the Randolphs. For. a
long time armorial bearings from the gates might be
picked up in fragments on the sites of the old homes,
but the ' ' wild pine and broom-sedge have made steady
encroachments. The early and noble sons of Virginia
are all gone, their hearths cold, their fields desolate." *
But they have left their name in the history and geogra-
phy of their native State. Blandford, a village once
rivaling Petersburg in its growth, but since incorporat-
* Garland's " Life of .Randolph."
18 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
ed with the latter, received its name from this family.
The " old Blandford church," the mother church of
the frontier, still remains one of the most beautiful
and interesting of all the Virginia ruins. The Blands,
for generation after generation, worshiped in this old
church, and a host of them represented the family as
vestrymen. ' ' The building continued to be used as a
place of worship until 1802, when, Petersburg having
extended westward, the inhabitants determined to build
another church. This was done, Blandford was aban-
doned, and the building left to battle with storm, and
rain, and snow. Age and these hostile influences soon
told upon it. The massive walls, with their covering
of ivy, resisted ; but slowly the windows, doors, pews,
and all the wood-work disappeared, leaving the edifice
a shell the ghost of its former self. Such it appears
to-day a venerable memorial of the past. It has been
visited by many thousands of persons ; among the rest
by the comedian Tyrone Power, who wrote impromptu,
with his lead-pencil, the subjoined lines on the eastern
side of the south door of the edifice. For twenty
years they remained quite legible, but during the war
some sacrilegious hand scrawled over many of the lines,
so defacing them as to render them entirely illegible.
They were written as follows : "
" Thou art crumbling to the dust, old pile,
Thou art hast'ning to thy fall,
And round thee in thy loneliness
Clings the ivy to thy wall.
The worshippers are scattered now,
Who knelt before thy shrine,
And silence reigns where anthems rose
In ' days of auld lang syne.'
THE PRYORS AND THE RICES. 19
"And sadly sighs the wand'ring wind,
Where oft in years gone by,
Prayer rose from many hearts to Him
The Highest of the High.
The tread of many a noiseless foot
That sought thy aisles is o'er,
And many a weary heart around
Is stilled for evermore.
" Though oft ambitious hope takes wing,
How droops the spirit now !
We hear the distant city's din
The dead are mute below.
The sun that shone upon their path
Now gilds their lowly graves,
The zephyr which once fanned their brows
The grass above them waves.
" Oh, could we call the many back,
Who've gathered here in vain,
W 7 ho've careless roved where we do now,
Who'll never meet again:
How would our very hearts be stirred
To meet the earnest gaze
Of the lovely and the beautiful
The light of other days ! "
" Around the crumbling walls, and sleeping sweetly
in their shadow, lie the good ' forefathers of the hamlet
of Petersburg,' whose names and memories would have
disappeared but for the half-erased inscriptions on their
tombs. Over these moss-covered tombstones, the
larch, the cedar, and the pine seem to keep watch and
ward ; above towers the ghostly ruin with its mantle
of ivy ; and the melancholy whippoorwill, with his
plaintive cry, seems to be the genius of the spot."
The first member of the Pryor family in this country
came from England, early in 1700, and purchased land
in Hanover County, Virginia. This was John Pryor,
the cotemporary and friend of Patrick Henry, and of
20 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
Wm. B. Giles, of Virginia. He was an enthusiastic
farmer, and gave his name to the best brand of tobacco
and the finest variety of Virginia apple. He was
elected to several places of trust and responsibility in
his own county, but took no prominent part in the
politics of the day. The great great grandfather of the
subject of our narrative was the Rev. Theodorick Bland,
of the Established Church. His son, the Rev. William
Bland, (also an Episcopalian) married Elizabeth Yates,
daughter of the President of William and Mary Col-
lege. Their daughter, Nancy Bland, married Richard
Pryor, son of the John Pryor mentioned above. Their
son, the Rev. Theodorick Pryor, grandfather of The-
odorick Bland Pryor, is now a venerable minister of
the Presbyterian church in Virginia. In his diary,
written in 1830, he says : " To me it is a source of
much comfort and of praise, that, in looking up the
long line of my forefathers, I find so many Ministers
of the Most High God. I can claim as mine the pecu-
liar mercies whicli belong to the children of the Cove-
nant. I can rank myself among the children of the
faithful, and plead the promises which are appropriated
to such."
Richard Pryor, after his marriage to Nancy Bland
settled in Nottoway, Virginia. Their oldest son, the
above mentioned Theodorick Pryor, D. D. , married
Lucy Atkinson, of Dinwiddie. Their oldest son, Roger
A. Pryor, married Sara Rice ; and Theodorick Bland
Pryor, the subject of our narrative, was the oldest son
of this marriage. The Atkinsons were an old aristo-
cratic English family. We cannot attempt a statement
THE PRYORS AND THE RICES. 21
of their complicated genealogy, including the names
of Poythress, Bland, and Pleasants. Many members of
the family were clergymen, and some who now bear
the name in Virginia are able and esteemed ministers
of the gospel. Lucy Atkinson, who married Dr. Pryor,
was the daughter of Mr. Roger Atkinson, of " Olive
Hill," Virginia, a man still remembered as remarkable
for his strong intellect, perfect integrity, and firm
character.
The earliest ancestor of Theodorick Bland Pryor, on
his mother's side, who came to this country, was
Thomas Rice, an Englishman of Welch extraction.
He emigrated to Virginia about the year 1680. The
name in Wales was " Ap Rhys." He purchased a farm
in Hanover, and returned to England to receive a large
estate which had been left him. He was never seen
again. The sailors reported he had died at sea. It
was supposed that he was assassinated. No return of
his property was ever made, and his family was left
destitute in a strange land. One of his sons, David
Rice, was the father of Benjamin Rice, and David Rice,
"the Apostle of Kentucky." Benjamin Rice was the
father of the Rev. John Holt Rice, President of the
Theological Seminary at Hampden Sidney. John H.
Rice was a very great and good man, and the intimate
friend of Dr. Archibald Alexander and others, whose
names will be precious as long as the Presbyterian
Church exists. His uncle, Dr. David Rice, from whom
Pryor was immediately descended, was a man of great
ability and fervent piety. He was born in Hanover
County, December 29th, 1733. He spent his whole
3
22 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
life in the study of the Bible, religious exercises, and
earnest work for his fellow-man. He was a pioneer in
the dissenting movements of .his time. The Episcopal
Church was established in the Dominion by law, and
remained so until the Revolution, which terminated in
American independence. Dr. Rice became deeply im-
pressed by reading "Luther on the Galatians," and
Whitefield's Sermons. At that time the Established
Church offered unusual inducements to the young
clergyman. It was under special protection of the
Government, every minister having secured to him the
annual salary of 1800 weight of tobacco, with other
perquisites of considerable amount. But Dr. Rice
was from conviction a Presbyterian, and although, as
he said, "by no means averse to the worship of the
Episcopal Church, he could not in conscience take
orders in that church."* The good Bishop Kidder
Meade laments this disaffection, and pays tribute to his
ability when he says, in "Old Churches": " David
Rice was a host in himself. " He removed, when quite
a young man, to Kentucky, where he founded and built
the Presbyterian Church, and where he labored un-
ceasingly for the advancement of religion until he
died, at the ripe age of eighty-three.
His wife, Mary Blair, was daughter of the Rev.
Samuel Blair, of Pennsylvania. Her biographer says :
' c She was a woman of uncommon strength of mind,
and most cheerfully brought the resources of her mind
into action. The heart of her husband did safely trust
in her. She did him good and not evil all the days of
*" Memoirs of Dr. Rice."
THE PBYOKS AND THE RICES. 23
her life. Nor was she merely an help-meet for him
with respect to this world. Having herself enjoyed a
full and systematic religious education, and being blest
with a considerable genius, a taste for reading and a
mind habituated to reflection, she had acquired a knowl-
edge of the doctrines and the duties of Christianity
beyond many. She professed great influence over her
friends, and wrote many letters on the necessity and
importance of religion." So deep an impression did
she make on her son, William Rice, that he requested
that her name should be perpetuated in all succeeding
generations, a request which has been respected to the
present day.
The Rices were an earnest and grave race of people,
studious and thoughtful. They boasted of no aristo-
cratic blood, until it was mingled with the Bacons and
Henshaws by the marriage of William Rice to Miss
Henshaw, of Virginia. She was a lineal descendent
of the Nathaniel Bacons, senior and junior, who gave
Sir William Berkeley such trouble in the early history
of Virginia, and who in their turn claimed kinship
with the great Lord Bacon of England. Nathaniel
Bacon's name still exists among his descendants in
Virginia, and the site of one of their great estates,
" Bacon's Quarter," is still known near Richmond.
Dr. William Rice was the worthy son of his father,
' ' the Apostle of Kentucky. ' ' He was a man of digni-
fied bearing and classical culture. His home in Char-
lotte, Virginia, was near that of his friend and neigh-
bor, Patrick Henry, and their graves are but a short
distance from each other.
To return, Roger A. Pry or, the father of Theodo-
24 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
rick Bland Pryor, was a Virginian by birth, and re-
ceived his education in that State. He graduated at
Hampden Sidney, and the University of Virginia. He
achieved distinction in both colleges, prepared himself
for law, and married before he was twenty-one. In a
book recently published in New York, entitled " Biog-
raphies of Distinguished National Men," we find the
following notice of him : " In 1851-52-53 and '54, Mr.
Pryor edited the Washington Union and Richmond
Enquirer, having relinquished the practice of law on
account of his health. In 1855, he was appointed by
Mr. Pierce Special Minister to Greece, to adjust cer-
tain difficulties with that country, originating in the
persecution of Rev. Dr. King, American Consul and
Missionary. In 1859, he was elected to the thirty-
sixth Congress, and was re-elected to the thirty-seventh
Congress, but was among those who were prominent
in the secession movement. He was a member of the
Provisional Congress of the Southern Confederacy, and
was conspicuous among those who aided in the forma-
tion of the new government. He was elected to the
regular Congress of the Southern States, but resigned
his position to enter the Confederate army, and was
appointed Colonel. He was promoted as Brigadier-
General, and served in the army of Northern Virginia
until 1864, when, resigning his rank on account of a
difference with Jefferson Davis, he served as a private
until the end of the war. Removing to New York
city in 1865, he settled as a lawyer, and at once took a
prominent position at the Bar, where he was advanced
to distinction and a lucrative practice. In Congress,
THE PRYORS AND THE RICES. 25
General Pry or was distinguished as a ready debater,
and took a leading part in all the stormy legislation
preceding the war. Eschewing politics since, he has
devoted himself exclusively to his profession, and mak-
ing many friends among his new associates, both in
and out of his profession, General Pry or has a fair field
before him for future promotion and distinction."
This notice, though written by a stranger, is in the
main correct. But if we may judge from a speech of
Mr. Pry or 's, which was delivered in the House of Rep-
resentatives, in February, 1861, we would consider the
state of his mind in that agitated hour to be calm, tem-
perate, and fully alive to all the calamities and guilt of
civil war. He closed his argument in these words :
lt Not for ourselves alone do we deprecate a conflict of
arms ; but from respect to the memory of our common
ancestry ; for the sake of a land to be rent by the cruel
lacerations of the sword ; and in reverence of virtues
which a benign religion instructs us to adore. By the
persuasion of these pious and persuasive importunities
we would soothe in every breast the spirit of strife, and
invoke the pacific intervention of reason for the adjust-
ment of our disputes." From this whole speech we
judge General Pryor to have been one of those who
avoid " entrance into a quarrel," and we have also
reason to believe that " being in," no man was ever
more earnest, zealous, and self-denying.
Such were the men from whom the subject of this
memoir was sprung, and we have given them not to
prove the nobility of his ancestry, but to trace that
line which, remarkable as it is, owes new luster to his
great scholastic achievements.
CHAPTER III.
CHILDHOOD AT CHARLOTTES-
YILLE.
"Then time flies fast, while laughing childhood throws
Hands-full of roses at him as he goes :
And all the future, like a lake is spread,
A calm expanse beneath hope's angel tread :
Home is his realm ; his throne, a mother's knee ;
His crown, her smile, bent o'er him lovingly."
Furness.
HEODORICK BLAND pRYOR,jR.,wasborn
July 8th, 1851, at "Rock Hill," near Char-
lottes ville, Virginia, and not far from Monti-
cello, the home of Jefferson. His mother perceiving
that he was a "goodly child," gave him the honored
name of the ancient family from which he sprung. As
an infant, his personal beauty was remarkable, his
body being entirely without mark, spot, or blemish,
insomuch that his old colored nurses delighted in him
as a royal specimen of infantile loveliness.
In order that he might breathe the pure mountain
air, and be reared with his sister under the care of their
grandmother, the earlier years of his life were spent in
28 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
his native town. The home of his childhood was a per-
fect Eden. The scenery around Charlottesville is sur-
passingly lovely, " presenting a mixture of mountains,
fields, woodlands, and running streams, combined into
a landscape of quiet, but uncommon beauty."* The
town commands a view of the Blue Ridge, stretching
away to the north and south for a hundred and fifty
miles, and brings under the eye one of the boldest and
most beautiful horizons in the world ; while on the
east, it presents an extent of prospect bounded only by
the spherical form of the earth, in which nature seems
to sleep in eternal repose, as if to form one of the finest
contrasts with the rude and rolling grandeur of the
west. Washington Irving writes lovingly of the ' i atmos-
pheric tints " of his own dear Catskills, and claims them
as their peculiar attraction. The changes in the color-
ing of the Blue Ridge are as lovely and bewildering.
Sometimes they are bathed in a dense blue light, then
warm pink or purple, and again flooded with gold.
Randall, in his " Life of Jefferson," did not fail to
notice and record these beautiful illusions. " The Blue
Ridge, near Monticello, exhibits a phenomenon which
is very striking. To one unacquainted with these opti-
cal illusions, they bring unutterable amazement. It is
as if he had stepped into a land of enchantment, where,
according to the superstitions of past ages, necroman-
cers or genii were sporting with the forms and consis-
tencies of the solid globe. And what must have been
the emotions of the former Indian inhabitants the
* Randall's "Life of Jefferson."
CHILDHOOD AT CHARLOTTESVILLE. 29
wild and roving Tuscarora, whose hunting grounds em-
braced this region as he paused, startled, in the morn-
ing chase, to witness these tremendous transfigurations
of the most massive and immovable objects in nature."
A writer in the Southern Literary Messenger gives
the following glowing description of a trip to the peaks
which formed the western wall of the landscape around
Pryor's early home. " On one side, towards Eastern
Virginia, lay a comparatively level country, in the dis-
tance, bearing a strong resemblance to the ocean ; on
the other hand were ranges of high mountains, inter-
spersed with cultivated spots, and then terminating in
piles of mountains, following in successive ranges, until
they were lost also in the haze. Above and below, the
Blue Ridge ran off in long lines, sometimes relieved
by knolls and peaks, and in one place above us making
a graceful curve, and then running off in a different
line of direction. Very near us stood the rounded top
of another peak, looking like a sullen sentinel for its
neighbor. We paused in silence for a time. We were
there, almost cut off from the world below, standing
where it was fearful even to look down. There was
almost a sense of pain at the stillness which seemed to
reign. Towards the direction of our morning's ride,
we had beneath us Albemarle County, with its farms
and farm-houses, the village of Charlottesville, and its
ancient university, Monticello, cut out of the hillside,
and afar off in Buckingham County, the lone summit
of Willis' Mountain."
In these scenes of loveliness, Pry or passed much of
his childhood. To the judicious training and Chris-
30 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
tian faithfulness of those who had charge of him during
these years, he was indebted for the preservation of his
rare symmetry of mental and moral character, and for
its full and delightful development. Unusually gentle
and retiring, even for a child, he shunned the boister-
ous companionship of the village boys, and clung to
his home, contented with its quiet occupations and
satisfied with its enjoyments. From the extraordinary
quickness and precocity which distinguished him, more
than usual encouragement was given to the instillation
of the elements of religious knowledge, and advantage
was duly taken of his docile and inquisitive disposition
to direct his attention to the most important of all sub-
jects. To his grandmother he was indebted to a degree
that cannot be fully ascertained in this world. Under
her guidance, his mind was early and richly stored
with divine truth, the full benefit of which did not
appear at the time, but afterwards. Those principles
were implanted and strengthened, which tended to
preserve him when exposed to temptations in after
life, and his moral feelings cultivated to such a degree
of sensitiveness as to be incapable of bearing what was
evil, and of relishing, in the most exquisite manner, all
that was lovely, and pure, and excellent.
From earliest childhood an elder sister was his only
companion, and to her we are principally indebted for
the history of the first eleven years of his life. " When
a little fellow, only three or four years of age," she
writes, "he used to cower with me in the corners,
taking a fearful pleasure in telling and hearing the most
awful ghost stories which our imaginations could fur-
CHILDHOOD AT CHARLOTTE SVILLE. 31
nish. Both learned to read at an early age, and by no
means confining ourselves to children's books, we ven-
tured upon many things, which, but dimly compre-
hended, took us very far into the region of the mys-
terious. I remember especially Theodorick's lying
awake at night through fear of the witches of Macbeth,
and his firm conviction that our large old house was
haunted."
He was only five years old when the Crimean war
engrossed his attention. At that time he was visiting
his mother at Petersburg, and amused himself by
making a panorama of the events of the war, which
was considered a wonderful production by his little
cousins. Every day he would learn the last news from
Sebastopol, beg a sheet of foolscap, and add to his
panorama. At last he rolled it into a box, and exhib-
ited it, illuminated by a candle, with all the manner of
a lecturer. About this time his father was a candidate
for Congress, and the little fellow entered with ardor
into all the questions of the hour. On election day,
he was early at the polls, and selecting a commanding
position, exulted in the votes cast for his father. He
was an ardent lover of play, and delighted in mock
battles with wild animals, and in enacting thrilling
scenes from English history.
" At seven years of age," his sister's narrative con-
tinues, " he had read many fairy tales, and we then
entered upon what might be called a series of illustra-
tive plays, acting out with paper dolls and wooden
soldiers, first the stories we read, then romances of our
own invention. The one which I recall most clearly
32 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
extended through a whole summer. The scene was
a low, broad window-seat, in which we built palaces of
books, decorating the grounds with grasses and flowers.
His reverence for religion commenced when he was
very young, for I remember how carefully the Bible
was always removed from among the books we used in
our play. I am surprised now at the clearness and
interest with which his mind invented and carried on
a plot far more involved than that of many a modern
novel. The hero and heroine were the objects of much
conspiracy, peril, and even enchantment. Day after
day, with unflagging zeal, did he invent and surmount
new difficulties in the way of the happy completion of
the story. During the summer, some one gave him a
bag of colored marbles, which, instead of devoting to
their legitimate uses, he immediately wove into the
tale, making them the gods and goddesses of a most
extraordinary mythology, and heightening the perplex-
ity of the play by supposing hero and heroine to be of
different religions. If I remember correctly, autumn
leaves had taken the place of spring violets around our
palaces before the story closed.
"A few months later, ' Abbott's Histories' and
' Hollo's Tour in Europe ' took the place of fairy tales
and the l Arabian Nights,' and our favorite plays were
modified accordingly. Our days were spent in con-
structing a miniature Holland on the banks of a little
rivulet, and in climbing the mountains around our
home, giving to almost every rock and hill some Euro-
pean name. With much patience and difficulty, he
built a little village of rocks, on a steep hillside, to
CHILDHOOD AT CHARLOTTESVILLE. 33
imitate the Swiss chalets, copying as nearly as possible
the pictures he had seen.
" For the amusement of the long winter evenings,
he instituted historical tableaux, selecting, unassisted,
impressive scenes, principally from the lives of the
great men in whom he was most interested. Of these
I remember particularly ' The Execution of Charles I,'
1 The Coronation of Napoleon,' l Lady Jane Grey Re-
ceiving the Crown,' ' The Execution of Mary, Queen of
Scots,' i Pocahontas and Captain Smith,' and l The
Death of Marshal Ney. ' He delighted, too, in mimic
battles. If out of doors, a pile of stones would be a
fort, behind which one of us would take position, while
the other assailed it with turf, corn-stalks, etc. In the
house we substituted a chair and newspapers. He
never failed to become greatly excited, and having
found somewhere a book of military tactics, he always
planned his movements in accordance with rule and
precedent. He usually adopted the name of whoever
happened to be his favorite hero at the time, and
would give to his playmates the titles of his own con-
temporaries.
" In all of these amusements, he showed much fer-
tility of invention, and great fixedness of purpose,
never abandoning an idea until he had carried it out to
his perfect satisfaction. Associating at that time with
few children of his own age, his books were his con-
stant companions, and we lived in an ideal world, with
characters of history, fairies, enchanters, ghosts, and
dragons, as the familiar friends of e very-day life. I do
not know how or when he became interested in astron-
34 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
omy, but I remember, when we were spending a day or
two with a large family of children, the great amuse-
ment of the older people on finding that he had
arranged us all to represent the solar system, while he,
with a long train of newspapers pinned behind, darted
erratically among us all in the role of a comet.
"Unlike many children, he always thoroughly en-
joyed the services of church and Sunday school. The
first text he ever read or learned was, ' Keep thy foot
when thou goest to the house of God, and be more
ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools ; for
they consider not that they do evil. ' He often repeated
it, and his earnest, reverent attention in the place of
prayer was noticed by all.
" We were frequently separated during the following
four years, and except that his thirst for knowledge
increased, I can recall but little. He commenced his
school-life under Mrs. Buel, the widow of a missionary
to China, and although this lady's experience with
children had not resulted in any very high appreciation
of their characteristics, she was impelled to say of him,
1 Little Theodorick is perfect ! ' All through life, at
every school, at home and abroad, this continued to
be his record, so that in looking back, his early friends
and relatives can but feel that they entertained an
angel unawares."
CHAPTER IV.
SCHOOL-LIFE.
" Now take the germ and make it
A bud of moral beauty. Let the dews
Of knowledge, and the light of virtue, wake it
In richest fragrance and in purest hues."
John Bowring.
; SOUND mind in a sound body was Pryor's
birthright, and all the circumstances of his early
life were well calculated for the preservation
and full development of both. During those ten years
spent in his early mountain home, his intellect, which
in different keeping would most probably have been
overfed, was carefully provided with food convenient
for it, while his daily life was of such a character as to
develop and strengthen all his bodily powers. Provid-
ing in a great measure for his own amusement, his own
genius furnished his playthings. The field of his opera-
tions was so large as always to furnish some unexplored
ground and some new diversion. " Summer's sun
browned and crimsoned his fair skin, and its winds
played with his hair. The ice and snow of winter was
36 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
his wonder and pastime." His young hands and feet
were always employed in healthful, active play, or
errands of love. He went to bed sleepy and rose
refreshed.
In all boys we discover some propensity, some irre-
sistible attraction. Their minds run, we say, in that
direction, and they creep or lie still if turned in another.
The secret of this bent is hidden as deeply from those
who have it as from those who have it not. They can-
not think otherwise than so, and to this exercise have
been provoked by every influence in life. The boy
who is an organized arithmetic and geometry, will
count all the hills of potatoes and reckon the kernels
of corn in a bushel, and his triangles soon begin to
cover the barn-door. He sees nothing but number
and dimension ; he feeds on these, another boy on
apples and nuts. But his brother loves application of
force, builds wheels and mills ; his head is full of cogs,
and levers, and eccentrics ; and after he has gone out
to his engineering in the great machine-shop of a mod-
ern world, the old loft at home is lumbered with his
mysterious contrivances, studies for a self -impelling
or gravitating machine, and perpetual motion. While
still another boy is fired with the mystery of form, and
paints faces on the wheels of his mechanical brother.
Genius is prophetic an anticipation of the manhood
into which the boy is maturing.
The peculiar bent of Pryor's mind was evident to all
long before he was sent regularly to any school, or was
influenced by any particular teacher. But when a
pupil, roused, enchanted, and fired in his ambitious
SCHOOL-LIFE. 37
struggles toward the goal of his hope, the promise of
the man was most clearly read in every act of the boy.
The influences under which he was reared were such
as to make him eminently bookish ; and his mental
peculiarities now and later exhibit the shape of the
mould in which his intellect was cast. The crown re-
vealed to him as the object for which to study and
labor, was that culture which marks the complete
scholar. His whole life is an example of what can be
accomplished in the way of mental culture, when the
highest possible degree of perfection is made the busi-
ness of life. From his earliest years, he was scholarly
in his tastes and chosen pursuits. At ten years of age,
he was a " student " in the highest sense of that word.
His daily life was clearly governed by an intelligent
desire, ever fully before his mind, to become a scholar.
His natural inclinations were strongly mathematical,
but he did not earlier in life pursue this branch of
study to the neglect of others.
He was in his eleventh year, when he was entered
as a pupil in the school of S. W. Goodson, at Smithfield,
in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, a town situated
" on an elevated bank on the margin of Pagan Creek,
a bold and navigable stream, commanding a beautiful
view of both land and water scenery." During the
few months spent at this school, he established the
reputation which we have already claimed for him, and
won the hearty love of his teacher and companions ;
for while his superior intellectual attainments com-
manded their admiration, the amiable simplicity and
guileless innocence, which formed such predominating
4
38 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
features in his character, necessarily claimed their love.
His instructor furnishes this testimony : "If strict
attention to study, and the faithful discharge of every
duty, can endear a pupil to his teacher, then I have
sufficient grounds upon which to. rest my affection for
him ; for at no time, nor under any circumstances, did
he ever fail to do his whole duty.
1 1 Well do I remember when I first met him in the
school-room. As I gazed upon his erect carriage, his
fair, manly brow, and sparkling eyes, the conviction
forced itself upon me that no ordinary material had
been entrusted to my care, no ordinary mind to direct
and train. The dullest observer could not fail to see
in his countenance the indications of intellectual vigor,
indomitable energy, firm purpose, and grand and high
resolve. He had not been long under my instruction
before he displayed the most noble qualities of heart
that I have ever seen in any boy, young or old. Young
as he was, he took up his English and Latin Grammar
at the same time, along with the other usual elemen-
tary studies, and to the best of my knowledge, he never
missed a lesson. I never assigned him any particular
task, but always told him to do as much as he could,
and his performances, in many instances, were abso-
lutely wonderful. He passed rapidly from one class to
another, till he stood solitary and alone, the acknowl-
edged champion of the school, unimitated, inimitable !
He seemed to realize, even at that early age, that
' knowledge ' was a deep hidden treasure, the posses-
sion of which demanded his earnest, constant toil.
And oh ! how earnestly he toiled ! If there is on earth
SCHOOL-LIFE. 39
one sight more interesting than another to me, it is to
see a boy intensely earnest in the pursuit of knowl-
edge. I enjoyed that pleasure while Pry or was my
pupil. I regret to say that I have never enjoyed it
since, though I have had some quite studious boys. I
have often thonght, what a delightful task teaching
would be if all children were like him. Never did
miner dig for gold with more zeal than young Pryor
for knowledge. In memory, I can see him now, as
plainly as if it were yesterday, with that intense, earn-
est gaze, that wrapt attention which nothing could
distract.
' ' I recollect no particular incident illustrative of his
marked traits of character, except one, perhaps, show-
ing his extreme sensitiveness, his pride, and high sense
of honor. On one occasion, I was so unfortunate as
to reprove him for something for which he was in no
degree responsible, and it had such an effect on him,
that I would have given anything to have been able to
recall it. I thought it would break his manly little
heart, and it taught me a lesson, which I trust 1 may
never forget, viz: never to attempt reproof till I have
learned the disposition of the child. In most children,
the strong points of character are not known until
some incident reveals them to us. Pryor's were always
prominent. There was no mistaking them. His future
could have been as easily predicted at ten as at twenty.
* ' That he possessed all the qualities of a great and
good man, his daily life was a living demonstration. I
predicted for him a glorious future, and my sanguine
heart looked forward to the time when he would be not
40 IRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
only the pride of his parents, but the pride of his coun-
try. I watched his career with an interest known only
to myself, and to my pupils, before whom I have been
proud-to place him as an example, in the highest degree
worthy of their imitation. I rejoiced to hear, from
time to time, of his greater triumphs in more exten-
sive fields, and looked with increased confidence to the
fulfilment of my prophecy. But alas ! how inscruta-
ble are the ways of Providence. The ignorant, the
low, and the grovelling are spared ; the noble, the true,
and the gifted are taken away ! "
Shortly after leaving Mr. Goodson's school, Pry or
became the pupil of the Rev. Dr. William J. Hoge,
near his native town. Dr. Hoge's school was one of a
peculiar character and constitution. Having left his
church, in New York, on account of troubles arising
from the war, he removed to the neighborhood of Char-
lottesville, with his family, and there superintended
the education of his children. As a particular favor,
Pry or and his sister were allowed to join the little
group, which thus became a select family school.
"From this time,'' writes his sister, "Dr. Hoge be-
came not only the pastor, but the invaluable teacher,
and veritable friend of several of the happiest years of
Theodorick's life. With him he continued his Latin
studies, and began the study of Greek and Algebra,
and although he recited only three days in the week,
he progressed with astonishing rapidity. Under Dr.
Hoge's tuition, his taste and heart were educated, as
well as his mind. Study was made so pleasant, by the
enthusiasm of both teacher and pupil, that without the
SCHOOL-LIFE. 41
excitement of prizes, or even marks for which to con-
tend, it became ' its own exceeding great reward. ' At
one time, Dr. Hoge read to us, ( The Vision of Mirza,'
then putting away the book, required us to write it
from memory. I well recollect that Theodorick's ver-
sion retained, in many places, the very language of
Addison, and where his memory failed him, he so
admirably imitated the author's style, that the differ-
ence was scarcely perceptible.
"During this year, he had serious impressions on
the subject of religion. I found once a stray leaf from
his diary, since destroyed or lost, on which was written :
i Sometimes I think God has forgiven my sins, and that
I am a Christian, but then again I fear ,' and there
the paper Avas torn in half. Thus early was sown the
seed, which, 'after many days,' brought forth such
precious fruit in Princeton.
' ' Not the least potent teacher of his expanding mind,
at this time, was our beautiful country home, among
the mountains. He lived out of doors, learning by
heart every foot of ground for miles around us, and
investing it all with some fancied association of history
or romance. A little creek, which wound through
meadow and forest, about half a mile from the house,
was his favorite place for play. Sometimes it served
as the River Rhine, and its modest banks bore the im-
posing names of i Ehrenbreitstein,' ' Drachenfals,' etc. ;
sometimes it was an enchanted stream, which we were
to cross by stepping-stones, to gain a paradise beyond.
Forsaking the public road, we usually walked to school
along its banks, fancying ourselves pilgrims on the
42 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
banks of the Jordan, Christian and Hopeful in the
land of Beulah, or two knights in quest of adventures.
Several old stone-quarries in the forest were also fre-
quented haunts. Here he would read and study, lying
on his back and looking up at the sky through the
over-arching branches ; or, wearied with books and
thought, scaling the sides of almost perpendicular rocks,
with as much energy as though they were indeed the
walls of a castle, within which lay the reward of his
prowess. In the early spring, a meadow, carpeted
with blue and white violets, was supposed to represent
the 'fair land of France,' and the hapless flowers, re-
ceiving the names. of the principal characters of the
Revolution, were mercilessly guillotined in the fork-
ing branch of a little willow.
"Our 'study' was far above the ground, amid the
gnarled boughs of an ancient cherry tree. Here, on
every bright day, we would sit for hours, from the time
when the tree was covered with its snowy blossoms,
until the last yellow leaves fluttered to the earth. Often
have the books of man's writing lain unheeded before
my brother, while his eyes sought the glorious page of
God's authorship. Hill rose above hill, mountain above
mountain, as far as the eye could reach. Close beside
us was the summit of Monticello, crowned with tie
home and tomb of Jefferson ; the little river, winding
at its base, veiling it, each morning, with a cloud of
silver mist ; the spring-time clothing it with tender
green, the summer with a darker, richer hue, the
autumn covering it with a jeweled robe, or making it
tremulously beautiful through the soft, warm haze of
SCHOOL-LIFE. 43
'Indian summer,' and the winter wrapping it in its
pure snow mantle, no less beautiful against the clear,
blue sky. Billowy fields of wheat and corn rolled, on
our right, to the feet of other hills, and the borders of
the luxuriant, perfumed Southern forests. Here and
there, a church-spire rose in the direction of Charlottes-
ville, about two miles distant, and the rotunda of the
University of Virginia looked out above the surround-
ing trees. The grand circle of the everlasting hills
swept around the horizon, their outlines cut in the
deep and vivid blue against their paler background.
There may be some scenes as fair, with lakes, and foun-
tains, and all the attractive results of landscape garden-
ing, which while they delight, fail to elevate the mind ;
but here, where earth herself seemed struggling heaven-
ward, it was impossible not to look ' from nature up to
nature's God,' and I believe that the ' unspoken word-
ing ' of these eloquent companions of his boyhood, did
much to raise his mind above the littleness of mere
worldly ambition, to give him aspirations for a calm,
high life, which should be closer to heaven than to earth,
above the passions and the strivings of mankind : an
ideal too sublime to be satisfied in this world ! "
The record of Pryor's life, during the time he con-
tinued to be Dr. Hoge's pupil, would need nothing
more to make it complete, if we were able to introduce
here his teacher's narrative of his daily school-life.
But teacher and taught have alike passed away. The
following, from the widow of Dr. Hoge, almost sup-
plies the want. ' ' I well remember the day that my
husband came in with Mrs. Pryor's kind and compli-
44 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
mentary note, asking him to teach her children with
his own. He at once seized upon the plan in his eager
way, and took Theodorick and his sister straight to his
arms and heart. Never was instruction a source of
more unmingled delight to teacher and pupils. I can
see even now the glow of love and pride that would
light up his noble face, as he talked over, at home, the
achievements of those youthful minds in his bright
little study ; that unpretending center, from which radi-
ated such beams of genius.
' ' I delight to dwell upon my husband and Theodo-
rick, linking them in tender memories. Never, 1
believe, did a purer enthusiasm flash from the soul of
an instructor ; never was it caught and given back with
intenser lustre by the soul of a student. I especially
recall one day, when my husband returned in such an
ecstasy of admiration for Theodorick, that even his
eloquent tongue seemed hardly able to express it. He
had kept his little quartette longer than usual over
problems in mathematics. Drawn on by the evident
interest and satisfaction of all, and fascinated by the
workings of Theodorick's mind, he had forgotten how
time was passing. At last, suddenly checking himself,
he said : ' This will do, now, my children ; run out and
play.' No, no, Mr. Hoge ; please, Mr. Hoge, go on,
this /.s better tlmn jJ<iit,' said Theodorick, (then, I think,
in his eleventh year) rubbing his hands together with
impulsive glee, while his dark eyes sparkled and his
fresh cheeks glowed !
"Often have I heard Mr. Hoge say, that he could
scarcely conjecture the career that was before that
SCHOOL-LIFE. 45
splendid boy ! Who could have conjectured it 1 Such
a brilliant beginning, and such 'a lamentable end?
Such glory was never followed by such gloom ! And
yet, the gloom only covers the brief pathway that led
to a glory unspeakably brighter than that of the grand-
est earthly career. How comforting to think of his
radiant spirit freed from all the fetters of this limiting
flesh, which is ever checking the immortal mind, say-
ing, ' thus far shalt thou go, and no farther. ' Thus it
was with Theodorick. The envious mortal frame strug-
gled against the supremacy of the soul. Vain effort,
which only opened a swifter passage into infinite
freedom !
1 ' I have often thought of the exultation with which
Mr. Hoge would have watched his career. I little
thought that they were so soon to be reunited, where
higher deeds ' are wrought with tumults of acclaim. '
One who was afterwards Theodorick's teacher recently
remarked, that ' no passing event or news mentioned
in his presence ever arrested his attention ; his mind
was always at work, solving some great problem ; he
never knew any rest. ' Does not this throw a light too
sadly clear upon the end ? But in view of this, it is
sweet to apply to him the oft-quoted words of Augus-
tine : ' Lord, Thou hast made man for thyself, and he
finds no rest, till he finds it in Thee ! ' "
CHAPTER V.
IN WAR TIME.
" I hear an army's mighty tread,
And the sound of war's alarms ;
I read a thought serene and dread,
Written in gleaming arms ;
A solemn purpose fills the air
Like the holy effluence of a prayer."
Sh'illdber.
1 A R L Y in the year 1861, when Pryor was
scarcely twelve years of age, began the war
with the Confederacy, many of its battles being
fought at the very doors of his childhood home. From
the time when the first blow was struck at Fort Suinp-
ter, until the evacuation of Richmond and the surren-
der which followed, the sounds most familiar to his
ears were the beating of drums, the marching of
troops, the clangor of arms, and the noise of battle.
During these four years his life was often in jeopardy.
More than once he was driven from home ; he was
often exposed to the fire of contending armies ; on
one occasion he was fairly in battle, and for months he
suffered the inconveniences and wants consequent upon
48 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
a long and miserable siege in a city that was but poorly
supplied with, the necessities of life.
His life at this time presents a bold contrast, as
compared with the preceding period. Previously he
had lived a quiet life in a region of country whose
peculiar charm was that of repose. Only the gentlest
ripples had roughened the calm surface of his exist-
ence. But all this came suddenly to an end with the
call to arms. No State was more thoroughly convulsed
by the throes of the great conflict than his own, and no
class of people suffered greater disaster than those
with whom he was immediately and dearly connected.
For the youthful scholar, perhaps, war had few charms ;
there was little sympathy between it and his peace-
loving nature. Of gentle and retiring nature, he
shrunk instinctively from collision with any. He
never quarrelled. Up to this time he had never lifted
a hand in anger, or struck a blow in self-defense. He
was always ready to yield whatever was properly at his
disposal, for the good of others, or for the sake of
harmony. But, though never obstinate, he was ever
firm. He could not concede an iota of principle. It
seemed an impossibility for him to swerve a hair, on
any inducement, from the path of duty as he saw it.
The feelings of patriotism that stirred his youthful
breast, however, proved superior to his quiet disposi-
tion, and he entered with ardor into the war move-
ment, and kindled with enthusiasm as he saw the
preparations for the struggle that was imminent. Had
he been older, he would have followed his impulses,
and sprung forward at the first call for troops ; for he
IN WAR TIME. 49
was already persuaded that the cause of his friends
was right, and he was never a laggard in duty.
Mothers were girding their sons for the contest ; wives
sent the fathers of their babes to all the perils of
battle ; and maidens hurried or postponed their bridals,
that their lovers might hasten to the field, where shot
and shell tear limb from limb, and cover the ground
with dead. Our boy looked upon it all, and sighed
because he was but a boy, and debarred by his youth
from the privilege of performing some part in the great
struggle.
Early in April Virginia seceded, arid from all its
hills and valleys marched the hosts of the new Con-
federacy to repel invasion. The woes which subse-
quently fell upon this State can never be told. It is
here and there an isolated fact only, which history has
collected and preserved. The wild wail of the storm
of misery passed away, as the howlings of the mid-
night tempest die, leaving its memorials in beggary,
ashes, mutilation, orphanage, and blood. The seces-
sion of the State he represented 'was followed by Gen.
Pryor's resignation of his seat in Congress. He was
early appointed to a command in the Confederate
army, and^was stationed at Smithfield. The following
winter Pry or spent in camp with his father. Although
so young, he manifested a full apppreciation of the
novelties and incongruities of his new mode of life,
and entered heartily into all the legitimate excitements
and enjoyments which the camp afforded. His bear-
ing towards those with whom he was associated would
have done credit to a general. It was knightly. All
50 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
the graces of valor, loyalty, and generosity sat upon
him, and made him the very flower of heroic youth.
But the soldierly boy did not waste his time or
neglect the cultivation of his mind. He never ceased
to be a student. Among other things, he acquired
proficiency in details of drill and company movements,
while making army tactics a subject of careful study.
He read all his father's books, and borrowed others
from Major-General Pemberton. This study engrossed
him during the greater part of the winter, and when
General Pryor left his command temporarily to take
his seat in the Southern Congress at Richmond,
the soldiers persuaded him to drill their regiments,
lavishing upon him an amount of adulation which
might have injured a boy of less modesty and humility.
His father had no opponent at the Congressional
election but his son, for when the ballots were con-
sulted, some were found to have been cast for Theo-
dorick !
The events of the following spring made it necessary
for Pryor's parents to select a home for their son where
he would be out of danger, and in position to resume
his regular studies. He was accordingly sent into the
interior of the State, to the residence of his uncle, Dr.
Rice, in Charlotte County. " Here," says his sister,
"he lived for a year on a large plantation, winning
not only the admiration but the love of all who knew
him. In regard to his mental attributes, his teacher,
Mr. King, joined with all his other instructors, in
prophesying for him a most brilliant future. He im-
mediately, and without apparent effort, took his place
at the head of all his classes here as elsewhere.
IN WAR TIME. 51
" During this year his character matured in a very
remarkable manner. He was naturally extremely
passionate, but my aunt has, told me that she never
saw him, even when under great provocation, lose his
self-control for a moment. He would sometimes hur-
riedly leave the room with flashing eyes, but always
returned in a few moments perfectly calm. The secret
of his strength may be told in the words of a faithful
and pious colored woman, who was more the friend
than the servant of the family. i I never knew Theo-
dorick to neglect reading his Bible and praying both
morning and night.' I was told that if any interrup-
tion occurred to his morning devotions, he would leave
his play and steal to his room for half an hour during
the day.
" It was at this time that he and his cousin, William
Rice, two years his senior, became inseparable friends.
This lad was, perhaps, the best companion that could
have been chosen for him at this time, since he was
not only capable of appreciating and sympathizing
with his literary tastes, but also initiated him into
boyish sports, often luring him from his books and
serious thought for the sake of a long day's fishing,
riding, or hunting.
"A little incident, illustrating his force of character,
put an end to this pleasant episode of his life. In the
summer of 1864, when the whole South was convulsed
with the agony of the closing scenes of the war, when,
even in the secluded region surrounding his home,
there was not left a man capable of bearing arms, a
rumor reached the neighborhood that a party of Union
troops was advancing upon an unprotected magazine of
52 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
army stores a few miles from Dr. Rice's residence.
Immediately old men and boys organized into a regi-
ment, marched to the place, threw up breastworks,
and, after a severe engagement, repulsed the enemy.
Master Rice, full of excitement and boyish heroism,
could not be prevented from joining the perilous ex-
pedition ; but although Theodorick was no less anxious
to share at least a few of the dangers of the war, Dr.
Rice was firm in refusing his consent. We could see
that he was mortified when his cousin came home, tri-
umphing in having taken part in one of the exciting
scenes of the war, and wearing very proudly the laur-
els gained by his victory. Without consulting any
one, Theodorick wrote to his mother in Petersburg,
which was then in a state of siege, saying that, though
he could not share the exertions, he might at least
share the dangers, of the war. So earnestly did he
plead to be with her that at length, against her will,
she consented, and he went firmly to the bombarded
city, with the confessed presentiment that he should
lose his life, an act of no small courage in a boy not
yet thirteen years of age.
" The scene of our last Sabbath together before we
separated for more than two years is often before me
now. Theodorick, my cousin, and I, sitting with the
large old family Bible on our laps, read together the
one hundred and nineteenth psalm. Very vividly I
see again the bright, earnest faces of those two boys,
eloquent with the words upon their lips, those two of
whom so many hoped so much, together then for the
last time on earth, together now where the ' testimo-
nies' they loved are, indeed, their 'heritage forever/ "
CHAPTER VI.
BESIEGED.
" Worth our want and self-denial,
Worth all the weary time
Worth the woe and the peril,
To stand in that strait sublime !
Fear ? A forgotten form !
Death ? A dream of the eyes !
We were atoms in God's great storm,
That roared through the angry skies."
Brownell.
CUBING the last year of the war, Pry or, in
common with the other members of his fam-
ily, suffered all the horrors of a protracted
siege. The army of Northern Virginia had been
forced into the defenses around Richmond and Peters-
burg by heavy losses sustained in the Wilderness, and,
abstaining from the adventurous offensive operations in
which it had engaged up to this time, assumed the atti-
tude of defense. General Grant, having crossed the
James River, moved against the Confederate army from
south and west. ' ' Now for the first time were fairly
pitted the military resources and endurance of the
5
54 PRYOK I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
North against the military resources and enthusiasm
of the South. For every life he destroyed, Grant
could afford to lose two." The issue was of the high-
est moment, the fate of the Southern capital and the
life of its defenders depending upon it.
After crossing the James River, Grant attempted
the capture of Petersburg by a coup de main before
Lee could defend it in force. But in this he was un-
successful, and his operations assumed the form of a
siege, the surrender of Petersburg implying the fall of
Richmond. An effort was next made to break in be-
tween the two cities. This also proved a failure.
Grant now began to entrench, and fortified his posi-
tion, hoping by frequent sallies to right and left to
weaken his adversary and compel a surrender, retreat
being almost impossible. At one time he tried to
break through the enemy's front by the aid of a mine,
but the result was a serious disaster to his own army.
His last and most successful plan was to make a dem-
onstration with one wing of his army, and on the Con-
federates moving their forces to resist the attack, to
strike their weakened point energetically with the
other.
While Grant was thus steadily acting against the
political and military focus of the Confederacy by de-
veloping his entrenched line, and relentlessly execut-
ing his design of destroying its armies, troops from all
parts were drawn into the defenses of his opponents.
The investment of Petersburg began on the repulse of
Grant's first assault of the 18th of June, 1864. At
this time Pryor was in the interior of the State with
BESIEGED. 55
the family of his uncle, Dr. Rice, and attending a
country school in Charlotte, the unsettled condition of
the country rendering it necessary that he should be
placed where he might be less subject to raids and sud-
den alarms. The rest of the family, General Pry or
excepted, were at Petersburg, shut in by the move-
ments of the army, and in a position of very great dan-
ger. Once Mrs. Pry or attempted to join her son in
Charlotte, but after proceeding fifty miles was warned
back by the approach of a raiding party.
Petersburg was deserted, except by a few families
who remained through the strength of their affection
for those " at the front." No regular supplies reached
the city, and the necessaries of life were brought from
a distance at great peril. Soon after the beginning of
the siege, the large guns of the Northern army opened
upon the city. The air was full of flying iron and lead,
pattering in a shower upon the ground, rattling like
hail among the trees, and crashing through the houses
on every side.
Rumors of these things having reached Pryor in his
sheltered, happy home in Charlotte, he wrote to his
mother, representing the impropriety of her son's en-
joying safety and comfort while she was exposed to
privation and peril, and earnestly entreating that he
might be allowed to come to her. " If," said he, "I
cannot be of any use, I can at least be with you."
The letter was immediately followed by his arrival.
He had grown little during his absence, was small for
his age, and in his linen blouses looked as fair as a
girl. But a great and brave heart beat in his youthful
56 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
breast, and the consciousness that he was near his
mother, to suffer, and if need be to die with her, made
him happy !
The firing continued all summer, not constantly, but
fitfully. Sometimes there would be a pause of a week
or two ; then the sullen boom of a challenging gun
would break the silence of the night, followed by a
fierce duel of artillery, until the horizon was lit as by
the fitful flashes of the aurora borealis. At times the
scene was one of absolute magnificence. The firing of
guns would sometimes continue for hours, keeping up
one uninterrupted peal of thunder, while each dis-
charge lighted up with vivid brilliance the locality
from which it came, and the smoke, which rolled in
clouds towards the heavens. Nothing in the way of
pyrotechnics could equal in effect a broadside from
guns, whose tongues of flame, piercing into the dark-
ness, revealed with a momentary distinctness the can-
non from which they sprung, and the heavy boom
coming after an apparent delay.
Still the family felt comparatively safe, the shells
falling in the lower part of the city, near Blandford.
One day, however, when Pryor was playing in the gar-
den with his brothers, an immense shell, hissing like a
serpent, buried itself near them, the concussion throw-
ing one of the boys to the ground. A few days later a
similar shell lodged in the walls of the Presbyterian
church, half a block off, dismissing the congregation
without the formality of a benediction. Soon another
shell exploded immediately over the house, showering
down its dangerous fragments. Then the family knew
BESIEGED. 57
they were no longer safe that some of the enemy's
guns had them in range. Their reliance for safety was
in hasty flight to the bomb-proof cellar of the Ander-
son Seminary. Once this flight occurred in the night.
The children were called up after midnight, and on
their way a large shell exploded immediately in their
path !
Notwithstanding the dangers by which he was con-
stantly surrounded, Pry or never exhibited the least
symptom of fear. Thoroughly excited internally, and
every nerve tense, he could not be accused of any
tendency to avoid danger. He was as cool and as
natural as ever in life. Being greatly interested in all
the movements of the army, he frequently visited the
trenches, and that at times when no one else ventured
abroad. The absorbing interests of the hour, and the
frequent presence of the wounded and dying men, for-
bade all thought of self.
At this time Pryor's dear friend and former teacher,
then pastor at Petersburg, fell ill, and was removed
under shell-fire to the country. His death occurred a
few weeks afterwards, and Mrs. Pryor ventured, in an
ambulance, to visit his widow and orphans. Twice on
her way did she stop to listen twice turn back in
fear but was finally assured by the soldier who was
driving that the firing they heard was not at Peters-
burg. When she returned in the evening she found
that her house had been struck by a shell and deserted
by its inmates. Pryor was the first to return and
relate the events of the day. With perfect calmness
he told of his perilous walk into the country, describ-
58 PBYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
ing the crashing of the shells through the boughs of
the trees ! Whatever he may have felt, he preserved
an external appearance of the most absolute self-
possession.
Worn out by this perpetual anxiety, and perceiving
that both armies would winter around Petersburg, the
family removed to " Cottage Farm," three miles dis-
tant from the city, and just " out of shell range."
There they could witness the superb display without
danger without even hearing the ominous whirr
which made each missile seem so near. There, too,
they were relieved from that harrowing sound of
picket-firing, which night after night had banished
sleep, and filled them with mournful apprehension.
But having escaped the thunderbolts, the gaunt
spectre, Famine, looked them steadily in the face.
General Pry or a prisoner of war in Fort Lafayette,
pay and rations both ceased ; and the little family, cut
off from all resources, endured much stern hardship.
A limited quantity of rice was allowed the besieged by
the government, and a small quantity of meal could be
purchased. Flour was held at $1300 a barrel, hams $75
apiece, sugar $30 a pound, and happy were those who
could command such luxuries even at these prices.
Tea and coffee were almost unknown. Bread, rice,
and molasses made from the native sugar-cane, were
the chief articles of food. These were occasionally
varied by a princely present from some distant farmer
of peas, hominy, and a few pounds of butter or bacon.
General Lee's headquarters were immediately before
" Cottage Farm," and its inmates were sometimes
BESIEGED. 59
cheered by a visit from the serene and genial Com-
mander-in-Chief. His presence always inspired
courage and confidence ; and the example of the
soldiers, whose white tents covered the fields, and
whose privations this winter were extreme, forbade
discontent and murmuring from all non-combatants.
It is not remembered that a single complaint ever
escaped Pryor's lips. He became very earnest and
grave this winter, and was quite anxious about his
education. With a great deal of trouble Courtenay's
Calculus was obtained through the blockade, and
Major-General Wilcox became his occasional teacher.
The little fellow responded ardently to all the repre-
sentations that were made to him of the importance of
self -culture, and studied amid all the excitement of
the time, with such profit that his instructor expressed
enthusiastic interest in him. His whole nature be-
came absorbed and elevated. The experience he had
gone through made the boy a full man, in everything
but years. The solitary evening light consisted of
what our Southern readers will recognize as a ' ' Con-
federate Candle," i. e. 9 along wick dipped in yellow
wax and wound round a bottle ! There, while his
mother fashioned from cloth the unsubstantial shoes
for the " moon-faced darling of all," or combined, as
in one instance, twenty-six fragments of flannel to
make one boy's garment, Pryor solved those problems
he loved so well.
The soldiers would sometimes come to the door or
window to look in, and so touching was the group,
struggling thus under such disadvantages, that often a
60 PBYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
little brown parcel would be laid down, to be discovered
next day, and found to contain some man's whale
ration of coffee, or some officer's monthly allow-
ance of six candles ! Sometimes, when the con-
versation of a visitor interrupted Pry or 's studies, he
would take his book and retire to an office in the yard,
light a pine torch and be perfectly content. The Hon.
Thomas Conolly, M. P., from England, visited the
family late in the winter, and was filled with astonish-
ment at all these things. He said the burning shells
on the horizon, and " that boy at his Latin," were
the most wonderful of all things to him, and he would
often leave the social circle and go out to the office to
compare " that boy's Latin " with his own. Great was
his amusement to hear the expression ' ' cornered. "
" That is a perfect Americanism," said he. " What
can a man do when he is cornered ? blank wall at his
back and his enemy in front ! "
Want and suffering continued throughout the win-
ter, everything needed by man or woman being ex-
tremely scarce. Patriotic housewives in the interior
kept their busy looms and spinning wheels actively at
work ; but the besieged were cut off from these re-
sources, and could only hope that, like the ancient
Israelites, " their raiment would not wax old upon
them." Stationery was so scarce that the blank leaves
of books were brought into requisition. Ink was
manufactured from the red ball of the oak tree. Yeast
was made from a little bitter field herb something like
the immortelles, and known as " life everlasting," the
hops being all sent to the hospitals, to be used as ano-
BESIEGED.
61
dyne applications for the sick. Such was the actual
condition of things within the city, as the long and
dreary winter came to a close.
CHAPTER VII.
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE.
" Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them,
Volley'd and thunder'd."
Tennyson.
HE opening of the spring brought no relief to
the beleaguered city. The besieged were still
surrounded on all sides, and under Grant's re-
morseless strategy the armies of the Confederacy were
fast disappearing. Still the inhabitants of the two cities
suffered in patience, trusting to the valor of their
troops and the strength of their fortifications. The bat-
tle of Malvern Hill was fought, and their soldiers came
forth covered with the glory of a decisive victory, and
the prospect of early succor inspired them with fresh
confidence. Extraordinary measures were taken to ex-
tricate the army from the position which threatened its
destruction by starvation. General Lee was promoted
to the command of the entire army, and a resolution was
adopted to arm the slaves. The commander-in-chief
64 PKYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
determined to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond, and,
if possible, to join Johnston's army in North Carolina.
On the morning of April 1st the battle of Five Forks
was fought, resulting in a victory for the Union army.
Lee, supposing that Grant's intention was to cut the
railroads, almost stripped Petersburg of its defenders
to meet the threatened attempt. When it was too late,
he discovered that his right flank was turned, and that
his adversary was in his rear. He saw, also, that his
lines would be assaulted at once, and all that he could
do was to hold the enemy in check until a retreat could
be secured.
The same day Grant's army advanced toward Pe-
tersburg. The defenses of the city might have proved
impregnable, had they been properly garrisoned ; but
Lee had withdrawn most of the troops, as we have
seen, to be used at another point. Breastworks guard-
ed the approach toward the south and west. Behind
these were rifle-pits, flanked by a series of batteries, so
situated as to command every possible approach. Be-
hind the batteries was arranged an abatis of felled
trees, w r hich might have been made an ample defense
against any assault. The intrenchments thus thrown
up were several miles in extent. Upon every com-
manding position a battery frowned with its independ-
ent line of defenses.
The same evening the Union army approached the
defenses of the city, and joining the forces already there,
established itself in position. The two armies peace-
fully slept within rifle range of each other. No camp-
fires were kindled, and the spectator would not have
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 65
supposed that in those silent woods, on that quiet
night, there slept thousands of men waiting for the
bloody struggle of the morrow. So nature sleeps on
the eve of her terrible battles. Thus silently the ele-
ments prepare for the tempest, the tornado, and the
earthquake.
The early part of the following morning was spent in
a series of sharp skirmishes with the Confederate pick-
ets. Their adversaries, as yet, knew little of the nature
of the works which they were to carry. Now and then
a shell was thrown from a Union gun into some suspic-
ious spot, awakening a response, and revealing a bat-
tery. It was thought that the flower of the Confederate
army was in waiting behind the defenses, and the attack
was therefore conducted slowly and with caution.
Breasting the fire of the defending force, the Union
troops swept like a flood over the intrenchments, and
the true condition of things was at once apparent. In
perfect line of battle, with skirmishers in front, the
majestic sweep of the living flood, in the bright sun-
light, was both beautiful arid sublime. The Confeder-
ate troops contested the ground obstinately, gallantly.
A shower of grape and canister shot ploughed their
ranks, but closing up, they returned a murderous vol-
ley of balls and bullets. For hours the unyielding com-
batants struggled in the death conflict. Every foot of
ground was covered with the dead and dying ; the
groans of the wounded, all along the line, mingled
with the incessant roar of the cannon and the ring of
the musket. The trees of the forest, pruned and shat-
tered by the balls, showed how severe was the strife.
66 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
At length an advantage was gained by the Union
troops, and the brave defenders commenced a sullen
retreat, yet sternly resisting. They were pressed so
fiercely, however, that soon their retreat became a pre-
cipitate flight. The works were deserted, and the roads
were soon thronged with retiring columns of cavalry,
infantry, and artillery ; while ambulances and baggage-
wagons disputed progress with the mass of moving
men. Before mid-day the entire exterior defenses had
been carried, and many prisoners captured. The Con-
federate army was divided into two ; and the Union
troops having carried everything in their front, swung
to the right, and moved toward Petersburg, leaving
that part of their opponents which had been cut off
from the main army to be disposed of by the troops
under the command of Sheridan.
Draper gives the following account of the contest in
the immediate vicinity of the city : ' l On reaching the
lines immediately surrounding Petersburg, Gibbon's
division came upon two strong inclosed works, the most
salient and commanding south of the city Fort Alex-
ander and Fort Gregg. These were all that stood in
the way of a direct advance to the city. The former
was instantly carried ; but the resistance at Fort Gregg
was so severe that Gibbon's force was driven back.
Again and again they returned to the assault, and
thrice recoiled. At length they gained the crest, and
a hand-to-hand struggle ensued. They held their
ground, carried the fort, but found only thirty of all
its garrison alive !
" Before night Lee's lines were broken, and his army
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 67
irretrievably ruined. An order was given for the
evacuation of Richmond, which was at once carried
into effect. Petersburg was evacuated simultaneously
with Richmond. Its municipal authorities came out
and surrendered it. It was taken possession of quietly,
and the United States flag hoisted on the Court-house,
at an early hour on Monday morning."
The scene of the hardest conflict preceding the sur-
render of the city was " Cottage Farm," the home of
General Pryor's family. So sudden was the attack,
that they were all made unwilling spectators of the
fight. At ten o'clock the family fled from their home,
Pryor and his mother crossing fields that were literally
plowed by shot and shell. They reached the city in
safety, however, and at one o'clock the farm was occu-
pied by the Confederate battle line.
The day after the surrender Pryor returned to the
farm, when the whole country was filled with Federal
soldiers, found his father's papers and private letters,
and, despairing of saving all, contrived, unperceived,
to burn them. The temporary home of the family in
Petersburg was immediately occupied as an Adjutant's
office by Major-General Sheridan ; and great was the
anxiety felt by the older people lest the boys should be
betrayed, by imprudent speech, into trouble. Pryor's
behavior at this critical moment was more than com-
mendable. His bearing was courteous but dignified ;
he could not be less than a perfect gentleman, even to
the enemy.
Six weeks later the family returned to " Cottage
Farm," to find their home stripped of everything, and
68 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
occupied by a party of negroes. With some difficulty
the house was cleared, and the family began life over
again. So was brought to an end that period of
trouble and anxiety which Pryor and the other mem-
bers of his family suffered in common with the faithful
few who were shut in by the contending armies. At
no time during the war had they been absolutely free
from danger ; but the months spent within the envir-
oned city was a period of imminent peril. A kind
Providence shielded them throughout, however, and
kept death and fatal disaster from their number. The
return of peace saw them restored to their desolate
home ; and a little later Pryor recovered his books,
and was soon again engrossed in study.
It is not our design to make ajar expose of the losses
which General Pryor and his family sustained in the
issue of the war. It is sufficient to say that they were
great. All that made home pleasant was gone car-
ried off by the conquering armies, never to be recov-
ered. Rare pictures, mementos, letters and other
papers, besides many interesting and valuable articles
accumulated through many years, and which, for va-
rious reasons, were highly prized, became the booty
of the enemy. The valuable library alone esoaped in
the thorough pillage.
This state of affairs, together with the wretched con-
dition of the State subsequent to. the declaration of
peace, induced General Pryor to remove to the North.
Leaving his family in Virginia, he went to New York
and began the practice of law. Pryor soon followed
his father, and was his constant companion during
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE.
69
many weeks of earnest, manly labor. During his s j ay
in the city he was a pupil at the College of St. Francis
Xavier. Expressing himself dissatisfied with the pro-
gress he was making here, his father at once sent him
to Petersburg, where he entered the school of John
Christian.
6
CHAPTER VIII.
A REMARKABLE BOY.
' ' Of manners niild,
And winning every heart, he knew to please-
Nobly to please."
remained in Mr. Christian's school but
a short time. In fact, some difficulty was ex-
perienced in finding a school of the proper kind
for him. He was really prepared for college might
have entered much earlier than this, had not his age
and the unsettled condition of his family rendered
this impossible. He was compelled to wait, but he
felt that the time was too precious to be spent in mere
waiting. To attend a school in which he was com-
pelled to traverse again and again the old ground, or
to accommodate himself to less advanced classmates,
was no better. A school was therefore sought in which
he might begin the studies usually pursued in the ear-
lier college course. Such opportunities were afforded
by a classical school, then and still under the charge
of Professor Gordon W. McCabe, and Pry or was com-
72 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
mitted to him. The following letter from his polished
pen we give without alteration or abridgment :
"I saw Theodorick Pry or for the first time in the
autumn of 1866, when he became one of my pupils.
His mother, whom I knew to be not only a wise guider
of children, but a woman of notable culture, came to
enter him his father being absent. I remember her
saying to me, ' I have brought you no ordinary boy; he
is a scholar and a gentleman.' He could not fail of
being a gentleman by reason of blood and rearing ; but
there must be few schoolmasters, indeed, who do not
set down something to maternal fondness ; and I yet
recall a happy speech of hers as the quick mother-eye
detected the half humorous expression which must
have crossed my face on hearing that he was ' no ordi-
nary boy. '
" I at once gave him a preliminary examination in
order to assign him his class, and, at its conclusion,
felt half inclined to run after his mother and beg her
pardon for that momentary look of scepticism, born of
no small experience touching the real and fancied abil-
ities of ' new boys. '
1 1 He was then fourteen years old ; a handsome lad,
with a certain frankness of face and graciousness of
manner, blended with diffidence, which could not fail
to claim at once kindly feeling. From that first day,
his conduct and scholarship were such as won for him
the hearty affection and admiration of every master
and pupil in the school.
" Even then he was strong in mathematics ; but de-
ficient, from lack of practice, in writing Latin and
A REMARKABLE BOY. 73
Greek prose. In a single year, he made in these last
a progress the most extraordinary I have ever known.
He commenced writing the exercises in Arnold's Latin
Prose ; but such was his prodigious capacity for work,
so accurately and carefully, yet so rapidly, did he do
that work, that in the following June, in his l Final
Examinations,' he performed the unparalleled feat of
writing, without dictionary or grammar, as required
in these examinations, the exercise set to the senior
class in the i School of Latin ' of the University of
Virginia ! Of course the work set him in Roman his-
tory and in the Latin syntax was not nearly so diffi-
cult as that required at the University; but his ability
to write the exercise, with no mistake in construction,
was little short of wonderful, the more so when we
consider the high requirements of the University, even
then, in the matter of Latin prose, and that this par-
ticular exercise was full as difficult as the piece of
prose set in the Cambridge Examination Papers for the
same year ! I should never have dreamed of setting
such a bit of work to any boy, who had such brief
training, save Pry or.
" Equally marked was his progress in Greek. During
the year his class-standing was always first ; but he
came out especially strong in the examinations. These
examinations are conducted in writing on the plan pur-
sued at the University of Virginia, the value of the
questions set being 100, while the value of the answers
rendered must be four-fifths, or 80, to entitle the pupil
to a Certificate of Distinction. There are two examin-
ations during the year : one in the month of February,
74 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
(intermediate) and the other in June (final). Prifor
obtained certificates on all his studies at both examina-
tions ! The mathematical master, himself a brilliant
mathematician, had told me that ' Pry or was a mathe-
matical genius,' and that both in f book- work' and in
the original problems set, he had more than once
greatly simplified the methods of the text-books. In
the final examinations, he had for book- work the whole
of Courtenpy's Differential and Integral Calculus, and
sent in papers within a shade of being perfect. The
fraction lost in marks was owing to an oversight which
Pry or at once explained, when the papers were handed
back to him ; but as it was the rigid rule of the school
to consider only what the written papers called for,
and make no allowance for any slip or inaccuracy, he
heartily acquiesced in the decision.
' ' In the same examination he sent in perfect papers
on ( English Literature,' the period embraced for book-
work being from Chaucer to the comic dramatists of
the Restoration. So struck was I at the breadth of
the outside reading evinced in these papers, truly mar-
velous for a boy not yet fifteen, that I showed his
work to several gentlemen of culture. They paid him
the compliment of believing at firsf that he must have
been ' crammed ' for this particular examination, and
of afterwards confessing that no such thorough work
could ever have come from mere cram.
"In his history examination, the work given his
class to prepare was the whole of Dr. Smith's History
of G-reece. Twenty questions were set from the book,
and Pryor's papers, sixteen closely written pages of
A REMARKABLE BOY. 75
foolscap, were handed back without a scratch on them.
It was ever a matter of astonishment to me how he
found time to do so much outside reading. I remem-
ber once advising this same history class to read cer-
tain chapters in G-rote, touching the first years of the
Peloponnesian War, when Pry or told me, modestly
enough, that he had read them, and at once showed
me that he had digested what he had read. At another
time, I advised him to read the article on Plato in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, and again he surprised me
by telling me that he had already done so.
1 ' I do not know what were his powers of memory
afterwards, but they were then simply prodigious ! He
appeared never to forget anything. At home he had
excellent taste to guide him in the matter of books ;
and it seemed that, like Lord Bacon, he had taken all
human knowledge to be his province. In reading the
classics he would often delight me by pointing out
some parallel passage in the good old English authors ;
and I still remember a noble translation in sinewy
English, which he wrote in examination, of that most
touching story of Cleobis and Biton, out of the Clio of
Herodotus. In Latin and Greek, however, his prefer-
ences then were for Livy and Thueydides, though, I
believe, as he grew older, he gave up the former for
Tacitus.
" And yet, though so manifestly born a student, he
took kindly enough to play. I never knew a braver
fellow in any game that required pluck. Many a
scrimmage have we had together in the great snow-
ball battles where the sport was rough enough ; and
67 PRYOK: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
I remember that we both belonged to the same ' nine '
in the ' School - House Club/ where he was never
known to ' shirk/ and where we had a common bond
of sympathy in being reckoned the worst players in
the school.
"At the close of the year, he carried off the i Pegram
Prize ' in the ' Upper School. ' This prize had been
founded in memory of an old university man, a dear
comrade of mine, who fell in action at the early age
of twenty-three, full colonel of artillery, mourned by
an army ! The fly-leaf of the first volume of the set
of books presented, bore the following inscription :
"'THE PEGRAM PRIZE,
FOUNDED IN 1865, IN MEMORY OF
COLONEL WM. JOHNSON PEGRAM,
CONFEDERATE STATES ARTILLERY,
Who fell with his wounds all in front,
April, 1865 :
AWARDED JUNE 28TH, 1867, TO
THEODORICK BLAND PRYOR,
FOR BEST SCHOLARSHIP IN THE SENIOR CLASSES.'
" His competitor for the prize, a boy possessed of
fine parts, who has since achieved substantial honors
in his university, generously said : ( Pryor deserved it,
and I had no feeling to grudge such a splendid fellow
what he had fairly won.'
1 ' I need not say what delight was felt in the school
at his later successes at Princeton and Cambridge. I
A REMARKABLE BOY. 77
believe that, given him a few years, he would have
made his mark in any American or European univer-
sity, had he never seen the inside of a school-room
that he would have made his mark in the world, had
he never seen the inside of a university !
" Of his character, so finely tempered by manly
and gentle virtues ; of his modesty and inimitable
sweetness of disposition, there is no need for me to
speak. I always think of him along with another
brilliant boy, Pegram Prizeman of the year before,
who has also ' passed into the still land,' as foremost
among those brave young hearts in the ( Upper School,'
whom I must ever love and honor who did for the
school what no master can ever do of himself who
did what ' the Sixth ' did for Arnold at Rugby set-
ting such an example of courage and honesty, main-
taining such a tone of absolute truth and delicate hon-
or, as made every boy, down to the lowest classes in
the school, ashamed to tell a lie !
' f To those who knew him only as the brilliant schol-
ar, the simplest outline of that character must seem
an ideal picture, touched by the tender hand of a too
loving regret ; while to us who possessed the privilege
of his friendship, any portrait must seem at best but
a blurred picture of the lad we loved and honored."
The reader has doubtless already observed that Pryor
was not only a hard student, conscientiously perform-
ing all the tasks assigned to him by his teachers, but
also a most thorough reader. Not satisfied with ac-
complishing merely what was expected of him in the
narrow line of duty, he was even now found foraging
78 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
in various directions, reaping in fields that lay beyond
the limits open to other lads of his age, and drawing
his inspiration and intellectual strength from sources
that cause us to wonder when we consider them. At
this period, his reading would have done credit to a
man of thirty, although he had not yet celebrated his
sixteenth birthday !
We cannot refrain from introducing here two letters
written to him by his father during the spring preced-
ing his graduation from Prof. McCabe's school. They
afford additional proof of his habit of making inde-
pendent efforts at self -improvement, and are certainly
remarkable as being addresed to and fully appreciated
by a youth of Pryor's age. The first of these was
written in April, 1867. It was the season when we
would more naturally expect to see a Virginia boy busy
with his fishing-rod and line ; but if we had been there
at the moment, we would have looked upon a more in-
teresting picture a manly little fellow, in the retire-
ment of his own chamber, eagerly conning this emi-
nently sensible letter :
" MY DEAR BOY : I am pleased to hear that you are
reading ' Boswell's Johnson.' It was the book that
first gave me a taste for literature, and the habit of
reading a taste which I have found not only the chief
agency in the development of my intellect, but the
most unfailing source of happiness. While a prisoner
of war, my love of letters sustained and cheered me ;
and I find it now the best solace in weary and unhappy
moments. Cultivate the taste and habit of reading,
now that your mental constitution is forming, and it
A REMARKABLE BOY. 79
will stand you in good stead in the future trials of life.
You know what Horace says :
" 'Emollit mores nee sinit esse penas.'
" Above all other influences, literature humanizes
the heart, and at the same time it brightens and invig-
orates the mind. My observation is, that the chief
difference between men, in an intellectual sense, is the
superior love of letters which distinguishes one above
another. Besides, it is the rarest thing in the world to
see a bad man addicted to literature. Converse with
books, next to religious principle, is the best safeguard
against vice. Perhaps you have read Macaulay's Re-
view of ( Boswell's Johnson.' It is a very brilliant
essay, but is characterized by all the splendid faults of
the writer. Love of parodox, and a straining after
effect, impel the writer to pervert truth. Johnson
was not the bear he paints him, though somewhat rude
from defect of early associations and perhaps disease
nor was Boswell so absurd as Macaulay represents
him. His admiration of his hero was excessive, and at
times, ludicrous ; but he was a man of parts and at-
tainments. At times he got drunk, which made him,
as it does all other men ridiculous ! Johnson was a
great and good man ; but he was greater in talk than
in authorship ; and it was his piety which tamed the
original frivolity of his nature. Croker's notes are hardly
worth reading. He, Croker, was a violent Tory poli-
tician, which explains Macaulay's lashing criticism.
" Read the review after you finish the book. John-
sen's best production is the ' Lives of the Poets.'
80 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
That you will devour. I would not have you read
upon system. It kills all interest and sensibility. My
advice to you is to read only worthy books I mean
books of ability and sound principle, and to read thor-
oughly. Don't skip frivolously from book to book ;
and don't be content with a vague, murky impression
of the author's meaning. Your ideas of his sense
should be clear and complete. I have great hopes of
you, my dear The. ; and I look confidently to see you
the guide and comfort of my old age. Be inflexible
and strenuous in resistance to wrong, and in pursuit of
the right. Never do a mean thing, and never indulge
an evil passion. Serve God ; be kind and just to your
fellow-men. Honor your mother, and love your broth-
ers and sisters. Heaven bless you ! "
The other letter which we shall reproduce is valua-
ble as giving us still further information respecting the
development of Pryor's mind, and his progress in the
art of letter- writing. His chirography, referred to at
length in this letter as susceptible of improvement,
was peculiar. He wrote then, as he did later in life, a
large, round hand, which once seen could never be for-
gotten. The specimens of his penmanship extant in-
dicate a slow and labored formation of letters and
words ; and although these reviewed separately have
an ungainly look, yet the appearance of the full writ-
ten pages is rather pleasing. He never acquired the
coveted ability of writing an easy, running hand ; yet
who shall call that a misfortune which was no material
drawback to his progress, and only another of those
peculiarities which made him different from his fellows,
A REMARKABLE BOY. 81
and which he could afford to retain. The second let-
ter was written in May, 1867 :
" MY DEAR SON : Your letter of the 5th gratified me
beyond measure. In every respect your improvement
as a correspondent is very evident ; and I hope soon to
compliment you as above criticism. By reading the
best authors, you will not only appropriate their ideas
and invigorate your thinking faculty, but you will in-
sensibly catch their art in composition. Make it a rule
always to do your best, and never to be content with a
slovenly or imperfect performance. Avoid fine writ-
ing, however, by which I mean the use of big words
and an artificial mode of thinking. I take the letters
of Cowper and Burns to be models of epistolary com-
position. Your last letter was most pleasingly simple
and unpretending, and that is the characteristic excel-
lence of this sort of writing.
" Still, your penmanship is not at all perfect, even
for one of your years. Now is the time to acquire a
goood caligraphy ; your handwriting will be fixed now
for life. Don't undervalue excellence in this art.
Hear what a very learned and a very great man Dr.
Paar says on the subject: ' In truth, the author,
(Paar) has felt frequent and serious inconvenience from
his early and perverse inattention to an attainment,
the usefulness of which was justly appreciated by an
ancient critic. (Quintilian, Liber 1, Cap I, page 13.)
He (Paar) unfortunately accustomed himself velociter
scribe-re, non brevere, and often has he been induced by
his own painful experience to recommend Quintilian's
observation to young men, who, conscious of their nat-
82 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
ural talents and their literary acquisitions, were dis-
posed to slight good penmanship, as below the notice
of a scholar. He hopes to put some check upon the
boyish heedlessness or petty vanity of other men, by
reminding them, that in the art of writing Mr. Fox,
(the great orator) was eminently distinguished by the
clearness and firmness, Mr. Porson, (the great scholar)
by the correctness and elegance, and Sir William Jones,
(a scholar, poet, and lawyer) by the ease, beauty and
variety of the characters which they respectively em-
ployed. '
" I am at the trouble to copy this language, from the
hope that it may make some impression upon you.
Pray, heed it. Press forward in your studies. We'll
see what -can be done toward sending you to College ;
so be prepared."
CHAPTER IX.
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON.
" He has just arrived
At life's best season, when the world seems all
One land of promise ; when hope, like the lark,
Sings to the uririsen sun, and time's dread scythe
Is polished to a bright and flattering mirror,
Where youth and beauty view their growing image,
And wanton with the edge."
Henry Neek.
remained in the school of Prof. McCabe
until July, 1868 the close of the academic
year, when he returned to Brooklyn to spend
the summer with his family. During the two months
following the all-important, oft-discussed, but still un-
decided question was " Shall I go to College ?" For
more than a year he had been fitted to enter the Fresh-
man class in any of our collegiate institutions ; but his
age, as well as the circumstances of the family, pre-
vented him from doing so. And now that he was pre-
pared to begin college life, as a Sophomore, the prospect
seemed no brighter the pet dream of his life, a col-
84 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
lege education, appeared, as it ever had, to flee before
him.
And the question which gave so much anxiety and
trouble to the son, caused equal disquietude in the
hearts of his parents. Many were the councils held
in secret, and long protracted the frequent but unsatis-
factory discussions, which often lasted far into the
night. Both felt that their boy must be sent ; and yet
the way never seemed clear to either. And so it was
when the summer was drawing nearer its close the
important question still unsettled, and the hour immi-
nent when it must be answered.
One morning late in August, as Pry or and his mother
were returning from church, he drew her arm within
his own, and turned into a quiet street, saying that he
wanted to speak with her on a subject which had occu-
pied his mind for months. The fond mother's heart
anticipated the cause of her son's perplexity had
shared it with him but she said nothing, only waited
in silence for the question which was earnestly and
sadly put " Am I to go to College ?" Before they
reached home the great question was answered in the
affirmative for that mother then resolved that he
should be sent, feeling for the first time that God would
provide a way for the accomplishment of her plans.
This resolution was speedily communicated to General
Pryor ; and he also found courage at this important
moment to second it ; and so the matter was settled.
Next came the question, "Where shall we send him ?"
General Pryor's preferences were for the University of
Virginia. But it had not yet fairly recovered from the
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON. 85
demoralizing effects of the war ; and besides, economy
rendered the choice of some institution nearer home
imperatively necessary. Attention was next turned to
Princeton the cosmopolitan college, where students
from all sections work harmoniously together and it
was determined that he should be sent thither as a
candidate for entrance to the Sophomore class.
Early in September Pryor presented himself for ex-
amination, and was admitted, as he modestly stated in
a letter home, not to the Sophomore, but to the Junior
class. Thus he was saved the expense of a whole year
away from home, a great load was lifted from the hearts
of both parents and son ; and thus soon came the re-
ward of that faith in God which had prompted them to
go forward trusting to Providence for means of over-
coming all difficulties as they might be presented.
The choice of Princeton was a fortunate one. It
had just elected, as the successor of the veteran Presi-
dent, Dr. Maclean, the renowned author and meta-
physician, Dr. James McCosh. The college was in a
transition state old things were passing away, and
the spirit of improvement wrought great and speedy
changes in the college curriculum. The second of the
two great eras referred to by the Hon. Wm. C. Alex-
ander in his address of welcome to Dr. McCosh, had
just now come. " The first was in 1768, when on the
death of Dr. Finley, the trustees, anxious to extend
the fame and enlarge the influence and usefulness of
the institution, cast their eyes across the Atlantic, and
in the person of Dr. John Witherspoon, of Scotland,
saw one who was eminently fitted to supply the wants
7
86 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
of the institution. They brought him to preside over
the college. He added to European education and
great theological and scholastic attainments, a profound
knowledge of the science of government. He had a
strong sympathy and affection for popular rights, which
had been engendered, fostered, and cultured in the wars
and contests waged by him against the claims of privi-
lege and patronage in his own church. No man can
carefully examine the history of the college and the
times, without being impressed with the wonderful in-
fluence which that extraordinary man exercised on the
cause, progress and success of human liberty, and the
destinies of the country. He seems to have imbued
the mind of every pupil with an ardent love of liberty,
and to have moulded the minds and characters of the
future men of the country, and prepared them for the
proud and distinguished part which many of them were
destined to perform in the great political drama then
about to be enacted."
It was at the beginning of the second era that Pry or
entered Princeton, when "the presidency of the col-
lege again becoming vacant, the trustees, animated
with the same feeling that governed their predecessors
one hundred years before, desirous to extend the fame
and enlarge the influence of the college, again cast
their eyes across the Atlantic to summon to the presi-
dency of the college one whose reputation is not
confined to countries where the English language is
spoken, but extends as far as mental science is known. "
The inauguration of Dr. McCosh, thus referred to,
took place on October 27th, and he at once entered
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON. 87
upon the duties of his office, and assumed the charge
of the various classes in religious and philosophical
studies. Pry or was among those who were first priv-
ileged to sit at the feet of this great instructor at
Princeton, to receive the words of wisdom that dropped
from his lips. And never had the good Doctor a more
faithful or more appreciative pupil than this stripling
who sat modestly before him, listening, remembering,
and on occasion reproducing with astonishing minute-
ness and wonderful appreciation, the garnered wisdom
of his good teacher. The attention of the President
was early drawn to this, his most promising and preco-
cious pupil, and after a short period of closer contact,
as a friend, he learned to love him as his own son.
The testimony of that affection, as well as his estimate
of the intellectual powers and capabilities exhibited by
his "young friend," are given elsewhere, and need not
be repeated here.
The class with which Pryor became connected was
large, up to that time the largest ever gathered at
Princeton, having on its Junior catalogue eighty-six
names. Entering as he did, when the class had already
half finished its course, he was the subject of consider-
able attention and some criticism. He was an entire
stranger to his classmates, the report of his school suc-
cesses had not preceded him, and his abilities were all
unknown to his new competitors. His initial threw
him into the second division of the class, and the occa-
sion of his first recitation will never be forgotten by
that portion which heard him. At the sound of his
name he rose promptly to his feet, stood erect, and
88 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
folding his arms, as his custom was at such times,
calmly waited for the questions. With scarely a sec-
ond for deliberation, he quickly gave answers covering
the whole ground of the questions, as they were put to
him in rapid succession. Not a superfluous or irrele-
vant word escaped his lips ; there was no blundering,
not even the utterance of a sentence which was defect-
ive in its construction ; but clear, concise, and exact
replies followed each interrogation. Whether the
professor confined himself to the text or propounded a
side question, it was the same ; he was perfectly at
home, and sometimes displayed acquaintance with
kindred subjects which was remarkable. His reputa-
tion for scholarship was made by his first recitation,
and established and maintained by all succeeding
ones. Students testified their pleasure in hearty stu-
dent style, applauding him to the echo ; Professors
smiled their approval, and to strangers he was pointed
out as a wonder. And this brilliancy was not the
exception but the uniform rule. From first to last,
always and under all circumstances, it was the same.
Long before the session ended or the grades were pre-
pared, universal opinion pointed to him as the first
man of his class ; and this estimate received confirma-
tion in the fact he gained that honor and kept it
throughout his course.
The question has often been asked whether Pryor
obtained and held this high position easily, or with
difnculty. He had many strong competitors. The
class of which he was a member was intellectually as
well as numerically strong. There were many vigor-
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON. 89
ous minds opposed to him, that were excited and
spurred on by great ambition. And these never hesi-
tated to confess that the battle was a hard one, requir-
ing a careful mustering as well as a skillful marshalling
of forces. They were little on the play-ground and
much in their rooms. They talked often of the l i mid-
night oil," and wore in their countenances the lines
which labor makes. But not so with Pry or. He was
not a hermit. If he was not an athlete, nor often
found participating in their sports, he was, at times,
an interested observer, and his face was not an unfa-
miliar one at the ball-ground, in the gymnasium, or
on the daily walk. He ate well, slept well, rarely
denying himself his regular rest, and always had a
leisure moment for the entertainment of a friend.
His evenings were rarely busy ones. But he worked
during the day, faithfully, earnestly, systematically,
manfully. When he converted his room into a work-
shop there was no loitering, no frivolity, no play but
work that rebuked the loiterer who chanced to behold
it, that shamed the frivolous, and sent the idler to his
neglected tasks. Students saw and wondered ; then,
catching his enthusiasm, endeavored to go and do like-
wise. He raised the standard of scholarship , in his
class, and it is not saying too much to affirm that his
influence was felt by every member of it. True, no
one ever competed successfully with him. He was,
intellectually speaking, head and shoulders taller than
the tallest in his class. But there was strong and
determined effort to surpass him, for all that.
Immediately after matriculation, Pry or was elected
90 PKYOK: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
a member and invited into the mysteries of the
* ' American Whig Society." An explanation of this
title, which forms the caption of the present chapter,
may be necessary for the enlightenment of some of
our readers.* "In the division of sentiment that
occurred just previons to the Revolution, those who
advocated the cause and rights of the colonies, like
the liberal party in England, assumed the name of
Whigs, while those who adhered to the side of the
crown were called Tories. The great issues of the day
were the constant theme of conversation : in England,
Burke, and Chatham, and Fox were arrayed against
Mansfield and North. The thunders of their eloquence
were borne across the broad Atlantic, and fell upon
ears that were trained to catch even the feeblest whis-
pers of those who were pleading the cause of liberty
and the rights of the people. An ardent lover of
libertyt presided over Nassau Hall, and from his
instructions the students learned the lessons of free-
dom. The sacred fire kindled in Nassau Hall was
fanned by invigorating breezes that swept from distant
lands, and every youthful heart was inspired, not
merely with the love of learning that had drawn its
possessor within these walls, but with a love for the
eternal principles of truth and liberty, and an undying
devotion to their fatherland. It was amid scenes like
these, and at such a momentous period of the world,
that a noble band of young men with James Madison
*History of the American Whig Society, page 10 .
tjohn Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence.
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON. 91
(afterwards President of the United States) as their
leader, formed a society for the cultivation of elo-
quence and literature. Their young hearts glowed
with patriotism, and gave to this society, in which
they were united by the three-fold cord of literature,
friendship and morality, the name of AMERICAN WHIG;
a name that appeals to all who delight to dwell upon
the history of their country, and which falls like angel
music upon the ears of her sons."
This society and the " Cliosophic " are the only
secret organizations that exist at Princeton, the forma-
tion of any others being forbidden by an act of the
Board of Trustees, passed at their meeting on the 28th
of June, 1855. The past history and present character
of these two societies, which we believe to be about
equal in point of interest and merit, give them a
prominent place among the college institutions. They
are purely literary in their character, being designed
to supplement the regular classical and scientific course
of studies. The students govern themselves, making
and executing their own laws, and are virtually inde-
pendent of all college authority in matters pertaining
to their respective societies. The proceedings are
characterized by a dignity and decorum rarely, if ever,
found in organizations of a like character. Their laws,
brought to a high state of perfection, during the hun-
dred or more years of their history, are well nigh
faultless, and the course of literary training and legal
discipline which the members of both societies receiye,
combine to fit them in an eminent degree for the prac-
tical duties of life.
92 PRYOK : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
" They were originated," says the historian of the
Cliosophic Society, " with these great objects in view :
The improvement of the mind, the expansion of the
intellect, the culture of the heart and the promotion of
close and lasting friendships. They aim to give a
practical tone to abstract study, to furnish a field for
the exercise of those powers which Latin, Greek, sci-
ence, mathematics, and metaphysics awaken in the
mind. They introduce the scholastic student to the
great world in miniature, launch him into the active
sympathies of life, into the contested questions of lit-
erature, art, history, and morals ; sympathies and
questions of which he would otherwise, in all proba-
bility, be ignorant or regardless. They furnish the
play-ground and arena, the palaestra, the forum, the
agora, in which new-born vigor is exercised and trained.
It is here that the faculties acquired are first applied,
and here are the prelude and preparation for the pub-
lic labors and conflicts of real life. While then we
greet the COLLEGE as the gracious mother of our intel-
lectual life, from whose full breasts we drew the nutri-
ment of learning, we love to think of our societies as
her fair offspring.
1 ' We speak, remembering the oft-repeated opinions
of many great men who have graduated from these in-
stitutions. Eeapers from the fruitful fields of life,
laden with the heavy sheaves of experience, they have
endeavored to impress upon others the importance of
this portion of the college education. They declare
that to these Societies they are indebted for the train-
ing that made them successful men ; that in them they
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON. 93
learned to think for themselves, and say what they
thought ; that in them they found immediate contact
with other men, and received that more perfect polish
which such attrition alone can give ; that in them lies
a plain, practical usefulness, not to be neglected and
shunned, but cherished and sought after."
" Let me express," said George M. Dallas, five years
after graduating, " my high estimation and affectionate
remembrance of my Society, its principles, its practice,
its discipline, and its admirable influence upon those
who are fortunate to become its members. Whatever
reputation I have obtained by a successful college
course, must be attributed to the generous emulation
it encouraged. And whatever lasting useful instruction
I reaped during those three years of literary toil would
have proved but transitory, had not the impressive
scenes and exercises of our hall stamped it indelibly
upon my memory. The most valued friendships I pos-
sess were formed upon its floor, and in the ardor of its
literary competitons. "
Such is the character of the American Whig and
Cliosophic Societies, the former of which Pryor became
connected with, as we have said, shortly after his en-
trance into college. His success in the class-room
had been perfect. Men now waited to see how he
would perform his part in the literary society. For
students have a poor opinion of the book- worm, and
unless brilliant recitations are accompanied by plainer
and more substantial accomplishments, they pass only
for what they are worth. College communities are ex-
tremely democratic ; worth never remains long in con-
94 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
cealment, and each member of the community speedily
finds his place, and is labelled with an estimate of his
true value. So these are rare critics, and men are not
slow to express an opinion. This is eminently true of
their Societies. Let a man fail there, let him exhibit
a lack of tact, or show himself unequal to an emerg-
ency, and he falls behind the shrewd manipulator, the
ready thinker, the interesting writer, and the effective
debater.
Pryor made his debut in the literary society as a
writer. An essay was assigned him, which was written
and read to the assembled nabobs. Criticism hung fire.
The effort was quiet, matter-of-fact, full of common
sense, (we ought to reject such a misnomer, and say
uncommon sense) and so carefully expressed withal,
that it received nothing but commendation. Other pro-
ductions which quickly followed this, fixed his reputa-
tion as an essayist. He was considered sensible rather
than brilliant, dealing in " the evergreens of truth "
rather than "the flowers of rhetoric," scarcely ever
odd in his opinions, and never unpleasant in the
expression of them ; calm, easy, dignified, rarely excit-
ing adverse criticism, and always interesting by clear-
ness and method, rather than by originality.
His ability received a severer test in debate ; but in
this he exhibited unmistakable excellence. He was
great here. Possessing the three prime essentials to
success, a well stored mind, great clearness of expres-
sion, and remarkable analytic power, he was invincible
to the strongest adversary. The sharpest and shrewd-
est opponents were pitted against him ; they united in
COLLEGE LIFE AT PRINCETON. 95
their endeavors to perplex him ; but even with every
advantage in their favor, the preponderance of num-
bers, the popular side of the question, and the sympa-
thies of the audience, the victory was always his, and
defeat and discomfiture the portion of his adversaries.
But it was in the exercise of authority as an execu-
tive that he won his greatest triumphs. It came his
turn to rule. The votes of his fellows placed him in a
position where it devolved upon him to administer au-
thority, to pass judgment, and to give his opinions
upon such questions as arise in every deliberative as-
sembly. His duties were sometimes unpleasant, often
difficult, and always demanded considerable tact for
their proper discharge. There were excitements to
control, fair play to be secured in fierce battles of
words, personalities to be discouraged, petty bickerings
and quarrellings to be rebuked, difficulties of various
kinds to be adjusted, and general good order to be pre-
served. Once he was the victim of a plot, carefully
preconcerted, and designed to discomfit him, if that
were possible. All the elements of confusion, disorder,
and distraction, were to be introduced in a certain meet-
ing over which he was to preside. The time came, and
the Society organized for business, and the plot began
to work successfully at first for Pry or was con-
founded by circumstances so unusual. But he speedily
recovered himself ; and, sitting erect, fixed his piercing
eyes on the noisy audience, and commanded order.
Quiet was restored.; but his troubles did not end here.
The main object of the plotters was to see whether
they could not perplex or confound him on some point
96 PRYOR I A BIOGRAHPTCAL STUDY.
of law. A measure was accordingly introduced, and
opened for discussion. Youthful ingenuity did its
best, using the most unfair advantages, but in vain.
He was never bothered for a moment. His clear mind
saw through everything ; and his opinions were given
in a manner that utterly discouraged the hope of being
able to corner him. He invariably saw a way out of
difficulty, and was not long in using it. They gave it
up at last, acknowledging an ignominous defeat, and
were generous enough afterwards to mingle their apolo-
gies and congratulations. The farce was never repeat-
ed men were satisfied that he was one
" Whose steady will
No force could daunt, no tangled path divert
From its right onward purpose."
CHAPTER X.
LITERARY LAURELS.
' As a fossil in the rock,
Or a coin in the mortar of a rain,
So the symbolled thoughts
Tell of a departed soul ;
The plastic hand hath its witness in a statue,
And exactitude of vision in a picture ;
And so the mind, that was among us,
In its writings is embalmed."
Proverbial Philosophy.
)BERT SOUTHEY, while admitting* "that
we need encouragement in youth, and that
praise is the sunshine, without which genius
will wither, fade, and die ; or rather, in search of
which, like a plant that is debarred from it, will push
forth in contortions and deformity," condemns the
practice of writing for prizes, as teaching youth " to
look for applause instead of being satisfied with appro-
bation, and fostering in them that vanity which needs
no cherishing. This," says he, " is administering
stimulant to the heart, instead of ( feeding it with food
convenient for it ' ; and the effect of such stimulants is
* Life of Henry Kirke White, p. 11.
98 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
to dwarf the human mind, as lap-dogs are said to be
stopped in their growth by being dosed with gin.
Thus forced) it becomes like the sapling which shoots
up when it should be striking its roots far and deep,
and which therefore never attains to more than sap-
ling's size."
With all deference to so great an authority, we hold
to the opinion that emulation is useful, and that the
promise of reward, either in the way of praise or profit,
is a legitimate method of exciting youth to the highest
distinction possible in its sphere. It may not be the
lot of many to achieve any great success ; but even
where the results are not commensurate with the ef-
forts put forth, no labor in this direction can truly be
said to be lost. As to approbation fostering vanity,
we are not so much alarmed for that. Merit is not
often injured by compliment, or made hurtful to its
possessor by excessive praise. On the contrary, there
is great danger that genius will be overlooked and
neglected. Therefore all disposition to improvement
in youth should be encouraged; and as the best fruits
of inventive genius are obtained by securing to inven-
tors the results of their ingenuity, under the protec-
tion of patents, so to secure the best intellectual
development, a premium is wisely placed on the pro-
ducts of mental labor, allowing not only the ' i sun-
shine of praise," but also those substantial returns
for which there is more frequently need !
Princeton College, under the new regime, has testi-
fied to the wisdom of this policy, by establishing a
great variety of fellowships and prizes, to secure a
LITERARY LAURELS. 99
healthy rivalry among its students and elevate the
grade of scholarship. The list of these " special in-
centives to study" now includes a large number of
prizes of recent foundation ; but of the number open
to competition in 1870, it is conceded that Pryor might
certainly have taken any one, and perhaps more than
one, if the privilege had been extended to him.
At the time when he entered college, these rewards
had not yet been instituted. Each society, however,
gave several prizes annually for excellence in oratory,
debate, and composition. But the prizes which then
held a place quite as important as some of those more
recently established, were offered by the " Nassau Lit-
erary Magazine. " This quarterly, established more than
thirty-eight years ago, is conducted entirely by the stu-
dents, and has been made to play quite an important
part in their literary education and training. Some of
the most gifted minds which the country has produced,
appeared for the first time as authors in the modest
effusions contributed to its pages. Shrinking from
public criticism, they ventured to submit their pro-
ductions to the protection of this magazine ; and many
a literary gem has thus been rescued from oblivion,
and attracted to the author that attention which has
ripened, by his maturer efforts, into admiration. And
so, by preserving much that would otherwise never
have met the public eye, it has diffused in a way
unknown to any other channel a taste for intellectual
beauty.
As a register of passing events, this periodical com-
bines in an eminent degree two of the great attributes
100 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
which Cicero ascribes to history. It is not only the
" testis temporutn," but the " vita memorice " preserv-
ing facts not unworthy of record, and chronicling
much that adds to its usefulness and interest. The
student turns to it with veneration ; for it is the record
of daily college life, and carries him back into the
presence of his predecessors, so that he walks with
them, as it were, amidst the foundations of the old
institution and of its prosperity. In its ' c memorabilia "
he reads of many things as the occurrences of the day,
which have since become interwoven with the history
of the country ; and it is only to be regretted that the
early periodicals of Princeton College have not been
more regularly preserved in their day, with a spirit
prophetic of their future value.
But to return. The prizes offered by the " Nassau
Literary Magazine " were open for competition to the
class of 70 for the first time in the summer of 1868 ; and
of the twenty awarded while the class were in college,
three-fifths were won by Pryor's class-mates. The first
prize gained by a member of the class was in April, 1868,
and the successful essay was published while its au-
thor was still a sophomore ; an event unknown in the
previous history of the magazine.
The seeds of talent, wherever they are sown, cannot
fail to spring up under proper fostering influences.
And so the activity of Pryor's mind was awakened,
and the success of others impelled him to exert him-
self in the same direction. In the spring of 1869,
while a junior, he prepared a paper on " History"
which was submitted among fifteen other competing
LITERARY LAURELS. 101
essays fertile prize in the June number of the magazine.
Accompanying the manuscript was a little note
to the editor, stating that if his essay should be suc-
cessful, he would prefer to appear as a resident of
Virginia, notwithstanding his home was then at Brook-
lyn, New York. So familiar was the editor with Pry-
or's peculiar chirography, that he did not deem it
necessary to open the envelope to ascertain the author's
name, when the essay was returned as the successful
one, and the manuscript was sent to the printer with-
out this being done. A few days later, however, the
editor opened the envelope, and found with tne real
name and nom de plume of the author the note before
mentioned. The printer was notified just in time to
make the necessary correction, and in accordance with
Pryor's wishes he appeared- in print as a Virginian.
These facts are mentioned as indicating something of
that strong and unchanging love for his native State
which he never lost. He never acknowledged himself
the son of any other than the " Old Dominion," where
his childhood and youth were spent. On several oc-
casions he was observed to take particular pains to
avoid being accredited to any other State.
His prize essay was published in June, 1869, and
was only the third in the whole history of the maga-
zine written by an uncler-classman. His triumph was
rendered more remarkable by the fact of his extreme
youth, and the large numbers of excellent writers com-
peting with him. This was his contribution to the
literary reputation of the class which had already be-
come famous in the college. Of the merits of the
8
10 4 2 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
essay we shall say nothing. We choose to let it speak
for itself. It has been reproduced in these pages, not
as an evidence of the author's genius we shall give
other and better proof of this but because all his
efforts in composition, and among them many which
we would take great pleasure in presenting, were de-
stroyed by him after they had served the purpose for
which they were written. We give his prize essay just
as it was published :
" HISTORY.
" PRIZE ESSAY BY THEODORICK B. PRYOR, VA.
" It is a great advantage in the pursuit of Truth, that
every step of her votary rewards him, not more by its
immediate fruits, than by the increased distinctness of
his path and the nearer prospect of his goal. Like
Bunyan's pilgrim, the latter stages of his course show
fascinations to which he was a stranger ; but they are
chiefly prized for their clearer and clearer glimpses of
the Celestial City, till, in the Land of Beulah, it bursts
upon his view in all its glories.
' l But the progress in some cases is but slow ; the
philosopher may encounter a mass of facts so great and
intricate as long to set order at defiance, and conceal
from view his true object and the means for attaining
it. Such is the difficulty respecting history, concern-
ing which the most various ideas have prevailed, but
none that assign to it its proper place among the sci-
ences. It will be our object, first to determine this,
LITERARY LAURELS. 103
and then to decide upon the plan best pursued in its
composition.
"It is well known, that, to be complete, every material
science must embrace the two processes of analysis and
synthesis. From the vast number of details which are
present to the philosopher, he must discover the hid-
den laws and causes of their seeming confusion. This
task is difficult ; but it is not alone sufficient to elicit
order out of the surrounding chaos. He has .found
the spell which will free Truth from the labyrinth
in which she is enchanted, but it has not yet been
spoken. It is further necessary that he should turn
again to the region of facts, and apply his princi-
ples to the phenomena from which they have been
derived. By them, he explains changes formerly
wrapt in mystery. He follows them to their remotest
consequences, observing the coincidence of what oc-
curs with the results they enable him to predict ; and
thus inspired with renewed confidence in their truth,
he may hazard a searching glance into the gloom of
the future.
"Few sciences are sufficiently mature to give an ex-
ample of both these processes. Of those that are, we
instance astronomy. Its principal laws have long been
known, and its further progress has chiefly consisted in
deductions founded upon them. Suppose this science
were arrived at its highest degree of perfection. A
complete exposition of it would place first before the
reader those particular facts which were chosen as the
basis upon which to found all the subsequent reasoning.
It would thence obtain every general principle of im-
104 PliYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
portance either in itself or in its bearing the laws of
matter and motion, especially that grand one of gravi-
tation. It might then fix upon some special part of
the universe and some definite portion of time ; and
exhibit in order the various changes which take place
in the limits assigned ; showing the orbit of each star
and planet, and the different forms it successively takes ;
the striking phenomena of comets and meteors, and
the regular course of the days and seasons ; reconciling
facts the most discrepant, and explaining appearances
the most deceitful ; but treating them all as conse-
quences of those fundamental rules whose investigation
formed the first object of inquiry. Or, if possible,
the author might confine himself to no limits of time
or space, but, taking advantage of the recurrence of
events in an infinite but repeating series, he might
embrace the universe in his speculations, and describe
the recurring changes which will happen through all
eternity. In the case taken as an example, this may
some day be accomplished ; but in most instances the
limited faculties of man must be content with a much
narrower field.
' 'Now, philosophic history has been well defined as
an attempt to trace a set of causes in producing their
successive effects. This coincides precisely with the
synthetic process in every material science. Were it
required to relate philosophically the heavenly motions,
it could be done only by showing them in order as the
continued workings of those laws to which they are all
subj ect .
1 'History, then, forms an essential part of every
LITERARY LAURELS. 105
science which deals with actual being. But the history
here meant must be distinguished from that which is
sometimes shown as one of the three divisions of each
branch of philosophy. The one details the successive
changes which take place in a certain department ; the
other gives the successive opinions which have pre-
vailed concerning them. The one is a history of the
objects of a science, the other of the science itself.
The former includes the latter, since the progress of
each science is at least a principal topic in a general
history of civilization. Such a history would be much
more properly regarded as a single division of learning,
than as belonging to a number of such divisions en-
tirely distinct from one another. If the progress of
the sciences be given philosophically, each one is so
intimately connected with the others as respects the
causes of its advance, that they should all be treated
together. If it be not so given, the history of a science
is not itself a portion of a science, and has no right to
be considered such.
" History, then, in its most, general meaning, forms
an essential part of every science. But if confined to
its more common signification, it will refer only to the
affairs of mankind when combined in societies ; and,
consequently, belongs to social physics, which contains
the various branches of ' law, political economy, and
the like. ' Their object has long been considered to
be the discovery of general principles ; but they have
a no less important office in tracing their successive
influence in the history of the human race.
" Complete success in the study we are considering
106 PRYGK; A BIOGRAPHICAL STTDY.
requires that these be first fully developed. The re-
verse of this has commonly been held, and it has been
often asserted that history lies at the root of all specu-
lations on the best forms of government or policy of a
state. If this means that such can only be sound when
founded on a large induction from facts, the proposi-
tion is true. But a collection of facts may constitute
a chronology, but never a philosophic history. It is,
indeed, in all investigation, necessary to observe a
mass of details, in order to generalize. But, this be-
ing done, we must apply to them the rules they have
given us.
' ' To this form of composition historians are rapidly
tending. In exercising their various powers without
intruding upon the domain of fiction, they have tried
by every means to widen the scope of their favorite
pursuit. Their imaginations have been lately em-
ployed less in describing battles and sieges, than in
portraying with life-like reality the customs and con-
dition of the great body of a people ; and they have
seized every occasion, in telling the policies of kings
and cabinets, to deliver profound theories and bold
prophecies. But the latest class of writers have taken
a more correct and original view of the entire subject.
They determine first the complex influences of the
great physical and moral agents, and then show their
working in the case under discussion, referring to them
the striking events and ever changing circumstances
through which they conduct the reader. An example
of these is found in Buckle, or rather would have been,
had he lived to conclude his work.
LITERARY LAURELS. 107
1 'But, in the best of such productions,' it must be
felt that the preliminary generalizations are often im-
perfect. The authors do not reflect that this is the
office of another department, though an office that is
far too meagrely performed.
' ' A distinction has been drawn between special and
general histories. The former detail the growth of a
community in only one respect ; in numbers, for in-
stance, in wealth, or in civilization. The latter may
also be restricted to a particular society and limited
time, but they narrate the progress of every important
characteristic at once, whether it be convenient to
treat them all precisely at the same time, or to exer-
cise some choice, devoting one chapter to political
events, another to religious, and a third to manners
and customs.
" In the present state of our knowledge on the sub-
ject, special histories are all that can be expected.
Not only would any other require in the author a com-
prehensiveness of grasp such as has been attained by
few who have devoted themselves to this pursuit, but
it would introduce him into many fields of thought
which have received too small a share of attention.
Accordingly, those have proved the most successful
who, like Guizot, confine themselves to a particular
phase of a subject, which, even upon so partial a view,
assumes vast and various dimensions.
' ' But even these histories are retarded by obstacles
of a grave and enduring character. So intimately con-
nected is the civilization of a nation with its wealth,
its wealth with its government, its government with a
108 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
thousand other important circumstances, that none
can be considered exclusively without serious injury
to itself and the rest. This analytic method of dis-
cussing what is essentially synthetic, or forcibly di-
vorcing elements in their nature inseparable, is inci-
dental only to a stage of comparative ignorance ; and
no one who compares the present form of composition
with those which have preceded, can doubt that it also
will give place to one still more philosophical.
" In order to this, it is necessary first to investigate
thoroughly every department of social science a do-
main whose extent is little known, but, for that reason,
one which will amply reward the greatest labors of the
philosopher. After the complete discovery and classi-
fication of its principles, the field will be open for the
general historian.
t( The whole progress of our race is a theme too com-
prehensive for the profoundest of mankind. But leaving
to each a special task, he may select such a community
and period as he may deem to be best for his abilities
and information. Exhibiting its general condition at
the outset, he will trace in its history the successive
effects of internal organization and outward influence,
explaining their operation by those general laws which
he finds already obtained. In such a work he will find
material for the greatest depth, and free scope for the
utmost versatility. There will be a continual demand
for information the most unbounded and accurate, an
understanding the broadest and most profound ; at one
moment seeking the origin of wide-spread institutions
or deep-rooted opinions ; at another bringing the past
LITERARY LAURELS. 1 09
in life-like reality before the view, giving an interest
to its scenes and characters otherwise unattainable ; he
will equally need the penetration of the philosopher
and the imagination of the poet. If to these qualities
he add a regard for the paramount interests of truth
and morality, he will give -birth to a composition not
less unique in plan and execution, than unrivalled in
originality and value."
CHAPTER XL
THE DEBATING QUINTETTE.
" Behold, what fire is in his eye, what fervor on his cheek !
That glorious burst of words! How bound they from his
tongue!
The full expression of the mighty thought, the strong, tri-
umphant argument,
The keen demand, the clear reply, the fine poetic image,
The nice analogy, the clinching fact, the metaphor bold
and free.
The grasp of concentrated intellect wielding the omnipo-
tence of truth,
The grandeur of his speech, in his majesty of mind! "
JHATEYER else may be said of the class of
which Pry or was a member, in one respect,
at least, it was unique in the utter dissimi-
larity of the men who composed it. The combination
of circumstances which brought together so many in-
congruous characters was certainly a strange one, and
could hardly have been possible outside of college walls.
Every variety of politics, policies, and opinions was
represented, and all seemed working for different ob-
jects, in different ways, with different motives : and
yet, although agreeing, sympathizing, and combining
112 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
in little, the class might be called an eminently har-
monious one, when we consider its finished record.
From the very outset the class was characterized by
an unusual fondness for debate. Was any question
proposed for discussion, or any plan presented for ac-
tion ; it received the most thorough sifting, and was
made the subject of most careful deliberation before
any final disposition was made of it. The keenest in-
spection precluded all possibility of " smuggling "; nor
was the class often imposed upon by the covert efforts
of "rings" to legislate for their own benefit. The
bare suspicion of any such movement was enough to
render its overthrow inevitable. Even matters of the
most trifling importance were handled with as much
care as though the highest interests were at stake.
The few items of business which the too stringent
laws of the college allowed the class to transact for
itself, received an attention which would have done
credit to more important executive bodies.
Hours were consumed in discussion before a college
color was agreed upon. An election for class-officers
was the cause of more manoeuvering than the choice of
a State governor. The selection of a photographer cre-
ated an excitement seldom witnessed in the quiet pre-
cincts of a college, and was the occasion of a series of
meetings covering days, and caused a division in the
class which came to an end only after the most serious
negotiations between these parated parties : while the
election of speakers as representatives in the exer-
cises of the annual Class-Day, developed such a talent
for electioneering and " wire-pulling " as surprised
THE DEBATING QUINTETTE. 113
even the class itself, when these things were after-
wards made public. And yet the class usually reached
the best decision, and before the final settlement of
any question became a unit. Opponents that looked
fierce in the heat of the strife would scarcely have
been recognized in the men who became very brothers
the moment the smoke of conflict had cleared away.
The mind of the class was eminently legal. In the
class-meetings, and more particularly in the societies,
the laws that governed these bodies were thoroughly
tested. If any unfair advantage could be taken under
any interpretation of the letter of the law, the flaw
was discovered and remedied. It would be no exag-
geration to say that the code of laws in both the great
literary societies of the college were brought to a per-
fection which they never knew before, and both were
originally the work of the minds that framed the
matchless Constitution of our country! The class
availed itself of all the advantages which the exercises
of the societies afforded. Debates were performed with
a zeal and relish that sometimes tried the patience of
those who were less careful in the performance of
these duties. By many, this diligence in devising
methods to exercise the art of speech-making and
debating was looked upon with wonder, and the peri-
od during which the Class of Seventy became the rul-
ing power, was considered an era in the history of the
Cliosophic and American Whig Societies. The true
friends of both were as loath to see them depart from
their walls as the men of Seventy were to leave them.*
* History of the Class of Seventy, p. 65.
114 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
Outside of these societies the class was quite as
active. Numerous mock courts were held, and, as the
historian remarks, " Murders, thefts, house and heart-
breaking, and all the crimes classed under the criminal
code were decided, and summary judgment meted
out." So great was the interest manifested in these
trials, that measures had to be taken to secure the
court against the encroachments of the public. Ad-
mission was denied to all those not immediately inter-
ested, and the members of the profession were limited
to the invitation of a single friend.
There was another means of mental improvement to
which the class paid special attention. This was found
in those minor debating clubs, a large number of which
sprung into existence during Junior year. Each of
these was conducted on a different principle, and men
joined themselves to them as their tastes or friend-
ships directed, or the advantages of one over another,
attracted them. Few failed to identify themselves
with some club, and all over college might be heard
the sound of excited voices engaged in the earnest
discussion of some important question of the hour.
Doubtless we shall again hear the same voices ringing
clear in the Senate Hall of the nation! At all events,
these men availed themselves of the best training for
such a career.
In all these class-meetings, meetings of societies,
sittings of mock courts, and gatherings for debate,
Pry or was most deeply interested, and will always be
remembered as a prominent figure. But we wish to
advert more particularly to his career as a member of
THE DEBATING QUINTETTE. 115
v one of these select debating circles. The club in ques-
tion was organized early in Junior year, under the
name and style of the D. 8. P., the Greek charac-
ters being the initial letters of the following words :
dialektike, mmbole, pempys, meaning, as they construed
the terms, " Debating Club of Five,'" or " The Debat-
ing Quintette." The five men who composed this club
were Hugh Graham Kyle, John T. Shelby, David R.
Sessions, Henry R. Whitehill, and Theodorick B.
Pry or. Its object was improvement and discipline in
debate, and the cultivation of friendly and social rela-
tions. One night in the week was appointed for dis-
cussion, the meeting usually being held in Pryor's
room out in town.
The leading spirit in the debates of this club was
Pryor, and the impressions which he made upon his
associates are well remembered still. His mind was
keen, quick, and ready for any emergency. It was
the custom of the debaters, upon assembling for the
evening, to determine, by lot, the affirmative and
negative sides of the question; next to call upon him
whose lot it was to lead off in the debate, and then to
announce the subject for discussion. This method was
pursued in order that no one might have time to pre-
pare himself by previous study or research, and for the
purpose of cultivating extemporaneous thought and
speech. If by chance Pryor was called upon to lead the
way in the debate, it was surprising to see with what
readiness he attacked the subject. Rising to his feet,
without a moment's preparation, he seemed intuitively
to grasp the point at issue. This hold he never relaxed
116 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
through all the turnings and contortions of the debate.
All his arguments and illustrations he made subservi-
ent to the one purpose of demonstrating the leading
thought which was to decide the question. With the
advantage which such a course of action secured to
him, Pry or was very frequently the victor. In addi-
tion to his keen and quick perceptions, he was gifted
with great fluency and accuracy of language; and this
also contributed to make him what he was a very
ready debater. Those who know the difficulty of
effective speaking without previous preparation, will
at once perceive that Pryor's mind was exceedingly
penetrating and under absolute control.
Again, his mind was stored with a rich fund of
information. Whatever subject might be proposed, he
could tell something, often a great deal, about it. He
would suggest new thoughts, quote the opinions of
many writers, and bring to his aid facts and statistics
innumerable; while others were compelled to hesitate
for want of accurate knowledge.
But it was his grand analytical and logical power of
intellect which preeminently calls forth admiration.
He separated the subject into its component ideas with
the ease and skill of the apt anatomist. These he
would arrange in their proper order and relation, and
then draw' his conclusions. This faculty was most
apparent when he acted as judge of the debate, and
summed up the arguments, pro and con, previous to a
decision. He would then discuss the merits of the
debate, lay out the question clearly before you, indi-
cate the point at issue, show what arguments were
THE DEBATING QUINTETTE. H7
faulty and wherein, and what were sound and effective,
draw his conclusions, and rarely fail to give satisfaction
by his decision!
Such were Pryor's most conspicuous powers of mind,
as displayed and impressed upon his fellow-students in
their debates. His exterior demeanor was marked by a
pleasing courtesy and deference. He never presumed
upon his own powers in debate to treat lightly or
contemptuously the feeble arguments of his adver-
sary. His conduct disarmed you of the fear of rough
treatment, and made the way of debate "a way of
pleasantness and a path of peace. " There was an air
of candor and truth in whatever he said, and the
modesty with which he urged his opinions was only
surpassed by the readiness and good nature with which
he retracted them when convinced of his error. His
name will never be forgotten by the members of that
society, in which he became the brightest ornament
by his talent, and the most beloved by his gentle and
peaceful demeanor.
The meetings of " The Debating Quintette " were
continued through Junior and the greater part of
Senior year. At graduation, its members had won a
deservedly high reputation as debaters, and were also
found among the best in scholarship. The faithful
discharge of these weekly self-imposed duties did not
prevent them from securing the honors of Commence-
ment," while stepping aside from the beaten path to
acquire that power of eloquent and effective speech
which is the envy of all and the possession of compar-
tively few.
9
CHAPTER XII.
REVIVAL.
" I yield my will to thine, and pledge my soul
Supremely to thy service. I renounce
All worldly aims, all selfish enterprise,
And dedicate the remnant of my power
To thee and those thou lovest."
is a characteristic of Princeton College, as a
Christian institution, that it has exalted religion
to its true place in the academic course. The
sentiments of its Trustees, in reference to this matter,
were aptly expressed by Dr. Hodge in his address of
welcome, on the occasion of Dr. McCosh's inauguration
as President of the College. " We would state," said
he, " in a single word what it is that we desire. It is
that true religion here may be dominant; that a pure
gospel may be preached, and taught, and lived; that
the students should be made to feel that the eternal is
infinitely more important than the temporal, the heav-
enly than the earthly."
It was Pryor's high privilege to pursue such a course
of education at Princeton, and to be brought under
1*20 I'KVOR: A IJIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
the influence of a great religious revival. The history
of this work of grace was so faithfully narrated by Dr.
McCosh in his last sermon before the class of 1870,
that we cannot do better than transcribe it here :
" During Senior year we had our attention drawn,
among other things, such as the evidences of religion,
to the conversions detailed in the New Testament, as
those of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, of
the Ethiopian Eunuch, of Saul, Cornelius, Lydia, and
the Philippian jailor. The students had their atten-
tion thus directed from Sabbath to Sabbath, and in
preparing for the recitation during the week, to the
nature and necessity of regeneration. From the very
beginning <>f the year a number of students, new and
old, wore supplicating in their then rather slimly
attended prayer-meetings for an out-pouring <>f the
Spirit.
" There was an idea abroad that for ages past n<>
class had passed through Princeton College without
being in the midst ..f a revival: that no student had
ever pursued a four years course in our college with-
out finding himself in the heart of a scene in which
friends were confessing sins and professing Christ. S
these students prayed on in the midst of discourage-
ments as if they would take no refusal, and hoped
against hope. The day of prayer for colleges came
and passed away, and the heaven was over our head as
brass, and the earth under us as iron. Meanwhile a
noble and generous resolution of one of the d
that they would abstain from a practice which would
' themselves and companions into temptation, was
REVIVAL. 121
registered in the annals of the college I believe also
in the records of heaven. A blessing came not long
after on the college, and descended specially on that
class. * It visited first those who had been professing
followers of Christ, but who were not living worthy of
their profession. Then it spread to others, who had
previously manifested no interest in religion. It
appeared at a time when the students were busily
preparing for a sessional examination, and yet the
examination did not hinder the work of God, nor did
the work of God hinder the preparation for the exam-
ination. It outlived the vacation that succeeded, and
continued through the term following. It was accom-
panied with no worldly demonstrations, with no carnal
excitement of any kind. It was produced simply by
the Word read, or uttered by the lips of those who
felt its power. For three months meetings for prayer
were held every night among the students, and no
ordinary college room could hold those who attended,
and we had to throw open the college chapel ; and
there were other meetings held every evening in the
rooms of the students.
t{ Our strongest young men bowed down under that
mastering power which they felt it in vain to resist.
Some of our youths of brightest promise, who took the
honors in their classes, publicly professed themselves
followers of the Crucified One, and declared ' God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. ' There could not have been fewer than
one hundred who avowed that they received a quick-
* Class of 1871.
122 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
ening or converting power, and I believe there were
more. Not a few of those originally intended for other
professions, devoted themselves to the service of God
in the work of the minister or missionary; while a
number resolved to lead a consistent Christian life,
and promote religion in other professions and walks of
life."
During the earlier part of this season of revival,
Pryor was a passive but interested spectator of the
events occurring around him. He was, of course, a
regular attendant at all the public religious services of
the Sabbath, and was also occasionally present at the
evening prayer meetings, held at first in Philadelphia!!
Hall, but afterwards in the more commodious chapel.
He seems not to have been fully awakened, however,
until late in the spring.
It was on Saturday evening, May 21st, 1870, at the
regular weekly meeting of the Philadelphian Society,
that Pryor first asked an interest in the prayers of
God's people. Another student arose for prayer in
the same meeting. Immediately after, the Rev. Mr.
Harris, who was present, arose and said that " prayer
had been requested for one of these young men in a
city prayer-meeting, unknown to him." There is
scarcely a doubt that it was Pryor to whom he refer-
red.
The next day Dr. Brookes, of St. Louis, preached
in the college chapel. His sermon is remembered as
among the most eloquent and effective ever delivered
before the students. Such a presentation of truth,
such adaptation of thought to the peculiar mental atti-
REVIVAL. 123
tude of his audience, and such eloquent reasoning and
pleading, were irresistible. Men who had remained
unmoved until now were compelled to acknowledge
themselves affected, and many whose awakening dated
from that hour afterwards made public profession of
their faith in Christ. Dr. Brookes remained in Prince-
ton for several days, conversing with the students on
religious subjects, and otherwise laboring with great
success. He has kindly furnished us with an account
of an interview with Pryor at the close of the prayer-
meeting on Monday evening, May 23rd. " I was
much impressed," he writes, u by the earnestness of
his manner and the readiness of his mind during our
conversation. He had learned by sad experience the
truth of our Lord's declaration, l That which is born of
the flesh, is flesh,' but he had not entered into the joy
to be derived from the abiding presence of the Com-
forter. He knew that the flesh was in him, but he
had not fully understood that he was not in the flesh
but in the spirit. Hence he was greatly troubled
about the state of his feelings, until told that the testi-
mony of the Gospel is not he that feeleth, but ' he that
believeth HATH everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, (or judgment) but is passed from death
unto life,' and 'there is therefore now NO condemna-
tion to them which are in Christ Jesus;' for ' by Him
all that believe ARE justified from ALL things,' and,
hence, we ' are complete in Him, ' because ' as He is,
so ARE we in this world. '
' ' I remember how his countenance lighted up with
a gleam of happy intelligence as he listened to these
124 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
simple truths, and eagerly asked : i Is this all I Am I
saved now and for nothing?' ' Exactly so,' was the
reply, ' saved now according to God's eternal purpose,
and saved for nothing; without waiting for repentings
or feelings, or resolutions, or anything else, through
the precious blood of Christ alone, which cleanseth
from all sin." He gave me liis hand and went quickly
out into the dark, and I saw him no more; but I expect
to see him at our gathering together into the Lord, in
the shining garments of his immortality! "
It was on the evening previous to that on which this
interview occurred, Sunday evening, May 22nd, at a
class-prayer-meeting, held in Mr. Spencer's room,
number five, north college, that Pry or made a public
profession of his faith in Christ. Up to this time he
had said nothing to his family about religious experi-
ence. The first intimation they had of his deep inter-
est in religion was derived from a letter which was
written on that same Sunday night. Without a word
in reference to the long struggle he had gone through,
he states, in the simple manner that ever characterized
him, the result of the conflict. We insert the letter
entire :
"PRINCETON COLLEGE, May 22nd, 1870.
" MY DEAR MOTHER : God has been pleased, in
answer to prayer, as I belie ve ; to pardon my sins, and
has given me strength to state the fact to my class-
mates. I had yesterday a talk with Dr. Dumeld, who
prayed with me and gave me great hope, and to-day I
feel that I trust wholly in my Saviour for salvation.
"Dear mother, you know not how thankful I am
REVIVAL. 125
for the efforts of you and sister in praying for me, as I
know you have done. Please pray now that I may
receive grace from on high to lead a consistent Chris-
tian life and give all the glory to God.
" I am often troubled by pride and doubts, but Dr.
Duffield says they are felt by all Christians. Pray to
God to remove them and give me greater love to His
Son. Give my dearest love to all.
" Your affectionate son,
"T. B. PRYOR.
" P. S. I wish, too, that you and sister would ask
God to bless my class-mates, for there are many whom
I wish to bring to Christ. The Christians of my class
have been very kind to me, and Wallie Miller and
several other friends have been praying specially in
my behalf."
Pryor never did anything by halves. Soon as he
became convinced of his duty to examine the claims of re-
ligion, he did so in the most thorough and conscientious
manner. When he began to feel the need of an interest
in the prayers of others, he hesitated not to ask for
it. And once having made profession of religion, he
accepted its responsibilities and entered at once upon
the discharge of its duties. The question of his own
salvation settled, he asked, like Paul " Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do I" and devoted himself to the
revealed will of God concerning him. A class-mate,
writing in reference to that period of his life succeed-
ing his conversion, says : " All of us who were about
him perceived that he was a Christian who followed
126 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
Christ. All things that were true, honest, just, pure,
lovely, and of good report, shone in his walk and con-
versation among vis. Not more pleasing was his manly
beauty to the eye, than was his piety to the hearts of
those who communed with him. His modesty, purity,
and simplicity of character, seemed not to belong to
one of his years, but rather to the innocence of child-
hood. Entirely unconscious of the powers he possessed,
he would hardly seek responsibility ; yet, he -was not
the man to turn from the path of duty or avoid it.
The only question in his mind would be, ' What is
duty I ' But, with a great responsibility thrown upon
him, he would have been an inspired man, and equal
to any emergency."
Another class-mate, Mr. John L. Caldwell, who was
quite intimate with Pry or, and who became interested
in religion at about the same time with him, furnishes
many interesting details of his religious experience.
He writes as follows : " Would that I could make my
own convictions the common property of all as regards
the reality of Pryor's conversion. The first real evi-
dence I had of his being under serious convictions was
obtained during a walk we took one afternoon just
after prayer-meeting. In speaking of himself, he said
that he had been in spiritual trouble for some time,
even before the beginning of the revival. He had
been studying the Evidences of Christianity for several
months, and with those studies religious convictions
had daily grown upon him.
" I remember asking him at that time if he was fully
satisfied with the * Evidences. ' He said there were
REVIVAL. 127
some things he could not understand, but he under-
stood enough to satisfy himself that Christianity was
true and that he was a sinner. He said he had just
been reading Hume, and was surprised that a man of
his reputed ability could be guilty of such weak argu-
mentation.
" I saw comparatively little of him from this time
until the day when he made a public profession of re-
ligion. On the morning of that day I went to his
room, and he told me he intended to make a profession
of religion at the next meeting. Said he : ' I have
been thinking of taking the step for a day or two,
but 1 have been afraid that the work is not yet com-
plete, and I might fall away and bring reproach on
Christ. But I have just read a passage in the ninety-
first Psalm ' For He shall give his angels charge over
thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear
thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against
a stone. ' I hope now I have given myself wholly to
God, and I will rely on His promises for the future,
and I believe He will not let me dishonor Him. ' And
that evening he did formally and publicly give himself
to God. I never afterward heard a doubt come from
his lips. Surely the Spirit itself bore witness with his
spirit that he was a son of God then is he now a
joint heir with Christ.
" But that which most of all assures me of the
reality of his hopes, is the recollection of his child-
likeness and simplicity. He had that indescribable
something which marks the child of God, in an eminent
degree. Truly, as a little child he endeavored to enter
128 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
into the Kingdom of Heaven. When conversing with
him, I seemed not to talk with P-ryor, but with an im-
mortal soul. It was really refreshing to see that huge
intellect prostrate itself before its Maker in such
humility. If, with God, to be conquered is to be a
conqueror, surely he was a conqueror, and is waiting
now for us to join him in singing the ' song of Moses
and the Lamb. ' I cannot see how any one can think
for a moment that a knock like his was not heard. He,
himself, used to dwell on that verse in John, ' He
that believeth on me hath everlasting life,' with pecu-
liar pleasure. I remember that in one of our walks
together he quoted that passage, with one or two
others, and spoke of the consolation of having such
assurances given us by God.
" But his faith was not without works. I was in
trouble myself at that time, and I shall ever remember,
with gratitude, his labors of love. I know four of the
class who were among the most callous in it, with
whom he labored unceasingly, to induce them to seek
their souls' salvation. Two of these are now professing
Christians, and testify that Pryor was the instrument in
God's hands of their conversion. In addition to those
with whom he talked on the subject of religion, he
prayed privately for one, by name, and he was con-
verted. He also sent to New York for some tracts,
and he took an active part in securing their private
judicious distribution.
" These are labors of his which fell under my ob-
servation : he may have done other things of which I
know nothing. In view of all these things, how can
REVIVAL. 129
we but believe that Pryor was a true child of God ?
Never in my experience have I seen any one show as
clearly as he did the inworkings of the Holy Spirit.
Such works could hardly have been hypocritical, and
such hope surely was not built on a sandy foundation.
The fruits of the Spirit were so manifest in him, that
no one could doubt that the real ' root of the matter
was in him.' But he was so comparatively seclusive
that but few could really know much of his inner life.
But I am sure that no one of his intimate friends can
doubt the reality of his life, after having witnessed the
humble and child-like manner in which he sought
peace, and the gentleness and zeal which characterized
every action after he had found it. He must have
been a Christian."
But this portion of our record would not be com-
plete without one other intensely interesting letter,
showing the power of Pryor's Christian example and
efforts upon those with whom he was brought into
contact. It is the story of the new birth of a soul
which shall " shine as a star in the crown of his re-
joicing." The writer says : "On entering college, I
was wholly without hope and without God in the
world. I was beyond the reach of any power except
the power of Jesus. I do not know whether I believed
the Bible or not. I did not hesitate to ridicule such
parts of it as my inclinations, urged on by such a state,
prompted. I could sit in a prayer-meeting in the re-
vival of '70, when nearly all my class-mates were giving
testimony of the power of God to send hope and peace
to despairing souls, wholly unmoved. Pryor was my
130 PKYOK: A BIOGKAPHICAL STUDY.
companion through college, perhaps more than any
other member of the class. I saw in him a character
and a life I had never seen before. By his life sub-
sequent to his conversion, I was forced to admit that
his profession was per se no libel on the Master in
whose service he was.
" I do not recollect the exact time when he first
spoke to me on the subject of my soul's salvation, but
it was somewhere near the close of our college course.
His upright and godly life had forced from me the
most profound respect for him and the Saviour to
whom he prayed. He said very little ; but he said
enough to lead me to think over my past life, and to
cast a glance at the future. I shall never forget the
impression that first conversation had upon my mind.
It was not so much what he said, as the way he said it.
He believed he was setting forth God's truth, and
spoke as if he knew it was so. I felt that he had evi-
dences that were withheld from me. He spoke with
me only a few times on this wise, but every time with
telling effect. I could not help thinking of it ; and
after we parted, and I had lost his companionship, I
made his thoughts the companions of my lonely hours.
I began to love him more than ever, and with love for
him grew the love of the Lord whom he loved and
served. I cannot but feel that he ivas the instrument
chosen of God to unveil the darkness that shut out tJie
light from my soul. I fear that, had I never known
him, I had never known the love of God, nor welcomed
the glad enjoyments of a Christian experience."
CHAPTER XIII.
TRIUMPH.
' Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves."
Shakespeare's "Julius Cwsar."
f^fliP *^ ie student just entering college, the four
years of prospective banishment from home
and its joys seem long and dreary. And if he
should tarry long on the threshold and reflect, he might
never go farther. But once a collegian and the center
of a new circle, surrounded by new companions of like
tastes and sympathies, he lives his new live with a zest
and pleasure that he had never deemed possible.
Within college walls the days pass unclouded save by
the most transient shadows. In its seclusion and iso-
lation outside excitements and noises are but faintly
echoed, and the signal that calls the world to the
weary struggle and strife of daily life has no place here,
where the morning bell ushers in a day of fresh delights
and pleasures that are ever new.
The employments of college are intensely enjoyable
to the man who has any of the student's habits and
132 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
tastes. There is food here for every variety of intel-
lect. The mind that is endowed with the love for
ancient lore strolls amid the groves, the gardens, and
the graves of classical antiquity ; the youthful astron-
omer may gather wisdom from the clustered stars,
and trace their circuit through the sky ; the story of
buried empires and the biography of nations that have
passed away may here be read in a better light and
with a keener interest ; and every phase of genius
finds something congenial to foster and develop it.
The improvement of time and advantages implies labor
and care ; the way is steep up the hill of knowledge,
but the ascent is everywhere hedged with pleasure,
and difficulties only give that shade to the picture
which is necessary to make it more thoroughly enjoy-
able. If there are troubles and who has not troubles
they are concealed by the stronger light which joy
sheds about them.
Who ever knew a graduate to speak of his college
life with anything but a smiling face 1 His whole
countenance lights up with pleasure as he tells of its
work and play and even when he did little else but
play, he regrets not that he gave himself up entirely to
the pleasures of that life, but rather that its delights
were so short-lived, and that the stern realities of life
so soon succeeded !
But the years of college existence
"Swift years ! that to the glad heart sweep along
As o'er the prairie bounds the aiitlered stag !
Long years ! that to the sad heart pass away
As o'er Venetian waters glides at night
The slow and silent gondola "-
TRIUMPH. ] 33
whether passing swiftly or slowly have at last an
end; and the young faces which but a little while ago
exchanged glances for the first time soon become
parts of a gladly-remembered picture of the past.
The class so long bound together by the ties of
friendship and affection goes back into the world as it
came together, and enters individually into new rela-
tions. Others press forward into the vacant places,
assuming like responsibilities, and entering upon
similar labors and enjoyments.
There is, however, a- brief space before a class severs
its student connection with Alma Mater and goes out
into the world, when it pauses to receive a loving bene-
diction, and to participate in the joyful festivities of
the annual celebration. This time had now been
reached by the one hundred and twenty-third graduat-
ing class at Princeton. The class of '70 was waiting
to celebrate its freedom and speak its farewells.
To no one was this separation the cause of deeper
sorrow than to Pryor. His after-life proved that he
had loved his class-mates and all the associations of
Princeton with an affection that would not be con-
cealed. Student life, and the scenes with which it
identified him, had become necessary to his happiness.
The friendships he had formed and the affection he
had conceived for those most closely endeared to him,
though in many cases unspoken and even concealed
from those who were its objects, made the years spent
at college the very happiest of his short life.
Besides, he felt the need of the friends by whom he
had been surrounded, to help him in the Christian
10
134 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
life. He often acknowledged a strong influence for
good coming from the companions who had made
profession of religion with him, and expressed the
wish to remain longer with them. But this could not
be. The time was come when the strongest ties must
be broken and the best friends say Farewell.
The regular exercises began as usual with the Bac-
calaureate Sermon by President McCosh, on Sunday,
June 26th. The theme of the discourse was " Les-
sons derived from the Plant," and the text, u Where-
fore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-
day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he
not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?" After
a beautiful unfolding of his subject, the speaker con-
cluded with a practical application, addressing himself
directly to the graduating class, in part, as follows:
" The gardener seizes the lily, beautiful even in the
marsh, and he transplants it into his garden, and it
grows with more luxuriance and sends forth a richer
fragrance. So we would, in a college like this, lay hold
of the more gifted minds of the country, and raise
them to as high a state of refinement as possible, by
means of the highest literature of the ancient and
modern worlds, and the highest science of modern
times. We do not pretend here to make you mer-
chants, or lawyers, or farmers, or theologians, or phy-
sicians, but we give such a training that, whatever be
the profession to which you turn, you will find your-
selves with formed and conformed powers of applica-
tion, which will continue with you through life, and in
possession of varied knowledge which may aid you
TRIUMPH. 135
your pursuits, and furnish enjoyments of a high kind
in the midst of your professional solicitudes. That
has been the aim of all discipline here : of the old
studies which have stood the test of time, and of the
new studies which have given proof that they are
worthy of being placed alongside of them. And I may
take the opportunity of saying, that we have no inten-
tion whatever in this college of discarding the old
branches, which braced the minds of our forefathers
and made them men of courage and power. We have
no idea of giving the imprimatur of our Degree to
persons, supposed to be educated gentlemen, who,
not being able to translate an ordinary Latin or
Greek author, are cut off from the literature and the
very history of the past. We mean, too, that the
minds of our young men should be strengthened by
the study of a competent amount of mathematics,
which, besides being the grand instrument of investi-
gation in certain of the physical sciences, is more fitted
than any other study to cure that wandering and
dissipation which is the ruin intellectually of so many
bright youths. Philosophy, too, especially the philos-
ophy of the mind of man, has ever had a high place,
and will continue to have a high place, in this institu-
tion, were it only to counteract the materialistic spirit
of the times ; and because it opens to us a far nobler
part of God's workmanship than the lilies of the field
or the stars of heaven. But in this college we are
open to receive light from every quarter, and are pre-
pared to admit history, and modern literature, and
every branch of true science."
136 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
" The class now before me is the largest that ever
graduated in this college. It contains as many bright
and promising youths as any class which old Nassau
has sent forth from her walls. Your Alma Mater will
watch over your future career with intense interest
with hope not unmingled with anxiety; will rejoice to
hear of you, prospering in this world, healthy, happy;
but will rejoice ten thousand times more when she
hears of you, whether in prosperity or adversity, being
good and doing good ; and she will shed a silent but
sad and bitter tear should she hear of any of you de-
clining from the paths of rectitude and purity. But
let me tell you that this mother's love is somewhat of
a jealous love. She will be disappointed if you forget
her ; if you do not come up from time to time to visit
her on this pleasant height on which she dwells, to
revive old recollections in your bosoms, and make her
feel as if she were yet young, when she sees her boys
gathering around her, and listens to them as they tell
with their own lips what they are doing, and what God
is doing for them and by them. In short, as she loves
you with a mother's affection, she expects you to love
her in return with a filial regard. "
On the evening of the same day, the class met for
the last Sunday evening prayer-meeting in Mr. Wm.
Spencer's room, number five North College. Perhaps
there is no room in all the older college dormitories
that has not been consecrated by more or less earnest
prayer, at some time during the history of the college.
But if any one has received a fuller consecration than
the others, it is the room referred to above. It con-
TRIUMPH. 137
tinued to be a very " Bethel " during the two years
that the class of '70 met there for prayer and praise.
These occasions will always be remembered as among
the brightest of all the happy experiences of that col-
lege life. Their record shall be written in heaven in
letters of gold, by the souls that were born there.
The memory of that last meeting must be fresh in
the minds of all that were gathered there. The room
was filled with young men who realized how narrow
was the line that separated them from the world, how
brief the space of time during which they could be
together as a class. Pryor was there as he had been
every Sunday since his conversion radiantly happy,
the center of a group of friends, some of whom he
had brought to this place of prayer. He seemed de-
termined to draw as much comfort and happiness as
possible from this last social meeting with his class-
mates on earth, and if his bright and joyous counte-
nance was the index of the feelings of his heart, he
must have been eminently successful. It was an hour
whose history can never be properly written by human
pen. The Spirit of God brooded over praying and
melting hearts, and as we know, some began to follow
Christ from that time. The usual time for bringing
the meeting to a close found many hearts loath to
leave the place, and men tarried long under the unseen
power that seemed to hold them together in the still-
ness of that quiet Sabbath evening. The last prayer
was at length uttered, the last word of Christian
exhortation was spoken, and the last hymn sung
together on earth, and with the solemn benediction of
138 PRYOB: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
heaven, they went out into the night out into the
world !
On the following afternoon the usual class-day exer-
cises were celebrated, the students becoming, for the
time being, a self-governing body. As Dr. McCosh
very naively remarked early on that day : "I am
President of this College 364 days, and on the 365th
these young men take the government out of my
hands. The Faculty, which is a very grave body, gives
prizes to the best men ; but these young men, when
they are beyond the President's control, give a prize to
the wickedest man ! And they make so many mis-
takes, that I will guarantee that their wickedest man
turns out best of all, and their wittiest man never
perpetrated a joke !" But if the students did fall into
such errors as the Doctor predicted, they certainly
were never happier than on this day. Heaven smiled
upon them from a sky that was without a cloud, and
from beginning to end the festivities were not marred
by a single unpleasant incident. Time would fail us,
and it would be foreign to our subject, to tell of all
that was done that day. We must confine ourselves
to that particular part of the proceedings in which
Pry or played an unwilling part.
Among the exercises held on the campus around the
old cannon a revolutionary relic was the distribu-
tion of the burlesque prizes by the Presentation Orator,
Henry S. Harris. One of these was voted to Pry or
for the "best moustache." Now Pryor's face was as
smooth as a child's ! Covered with confusion, and
blushing like a girl, he left his seat, and advancing to
TRIUMPH. 139
the platform, awaited the bestowal of the prize. The
few moments that he stood there, ' i the observed of all
observers," must have been a period of exquisite
agony to him, who uniformly shrunk from anything
approaching an exhibition of himself. He fixed his
penetrating eyes on the speaker, and his color came
and went as he was addressed in these words :
1 i Hirsute youth ; the care and culture you have
bestowed upon your upper lip have met with due re-
cognition. Your flowing beard and fierce moustache
now flourish beneath the smiles of the fair. Oh, how
much more beautiful is yours than Shelby's ! Poor
Shelby ! only three votes. Let me here note a coinci-
dence. You see Shelby got three votes, and Jo.
Guernsey got eight, Kline got one, and Sam Irwin
one. Just exactly as many votes apiece as hairs. To
go on Our class, Mr. Pryor, have always gazed upon
your beardal development with becoming pride ; yet
they have further observed that your moustache has a
tendency to turn in in fact to disappear altogether
sometimes. Their presents look to the cure of this
tendency. First, we have here a corn-cob, a famous
assistant for bringing up young moustaches/ Next a
cup,* which you will find most convenient. You have
only to apply your mouth to the spout, and then 'each
particular hair ' being entirely free from any inter,
course with your ' grub,' your moustache will never
become a post-prandial bill of fare. No reference is
intended to the bill of the fair. It will always be well for
* A kerosene can.
140 PRY OR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
your moustache to come in contact with. that. Next,
a pair of shears, which will be nice to cut out the short
hairs with. Lastly, I present you with a } 7 oung kitten.
This you will find most efficacious. Whenever your
moustache has ' struck in,' in the way I spoke of, let
this pussy lick your face, and it will return to l strike
in ' no more."
The festivities of the day concluded with a grand
promenade concert. The whole college grounds were
lighted with Chinese lanterns suspended from the trees ;
and until late at night, the crowd of happy visitors
stepped to the numbers of the sweetest music, and
wandered about in the full enjoyment of the bland
summer evening. " Fond hearts lingered long under
the monster elms which had bowered them through
the years of happy college-life the same elms which
kissed the same calm sky they wooed four years before,
and which drooped their trailing limbs lovingly to the
same earth that steadily and quietly wrought in them
their stature and their strength. The throng gradually
disappeared, until only here and there was heard the
loitering foot-fall of some benighted dreamer strolling
along the walks of the deserted grounds, or the sub-
dued voices of the class quartette singing for the last
time i Home, Sweet Home. ' The lights glimmered
one by one ; and one by one, like breaking hopes, they
melted away into darkness. The risen moon dappled
the ground beneath the trees, touching Old Nassau's
spire with silver, and slanting its loftiness as memory
slants grief in long, dark, tapering lines upon the
silvered green. "
TRIUMPH. 141
Wednesday witnessed Pryor's triumph. All the
labors and studies of his college course culminated in
the honors that fell thick upon him on the Commence-
ment Stage. He was the hero of the occasion. His
average grade, which secured him the first honor, was
only a tenth short of absolute perfection ! In all the
previous history of the college this mark had been ob-
tained by only one other Aaron Burr, in 1772. We
must not, however, think of Burr's standing as being
in any sense equivalent to Pryor's, any more than we
would say that Princeton College in 1870 was in no re-
spect different from the same institution in 1772.
What the qualifications were for admission into col-
lege at the latter date, may be inferred from a remark
in one of Pierpont Edwards' letters. He writes: "I
am reading Yirgil and Greek grammar. I would have
entered college, but my constitution would not bear it,
being weak." A boy able to read Virgil, and who had
some acquaintance with Greek grammar, could have
obtained admission to the Freshman Class at Prince-
ton at that time. Therefore, when we consider the
progress made by the college during the years that
elapsed between Burr's graduation and Pryor's, we
must assign to the latter the very highest place of dis-
tinction.
The oration assigned to Pryor was the "Latin
Salutatory." This he delivered before the unquestion-
ably select and vast audience which had assembled to
listen to the Commencement Orators. Viewed in the
act of speaking this composition, he might well be con-
sidered as having attained to one of the highest of all
142 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
his earthly successes. Bright and beautiful, in the
full vigor of his early manhood, and flushed with the
excitement of the occasion, he stood welcoming in
elegant Latin the guardians, officers, and friends of the
college. The address was listened to with the most
profound attention, and at its conclusion received con-
tinued rounds of hearty applause.
The awarding of Fellowship and Prizes followed the
orations, and here again Pryor came in for his share of
the honors. He received the Jay Cooke Mathematical
Fellowship, yielding the sum of $600, payable in quar-
terly installments. As the successful competitors for
the various prizes were announced, they appeared be-
fore Dr. McCosh on the platform for congratulation,
and were loudly applauded by the audience. When
Pryor appeared, he was greeted with a wild burst of
enthusiasm from the students. The President took
him kindly by the hand, and in his happy way ex-
pressed the peculiar pleasure which the bestowal of
this the First Mathematical Fellowship gave him.
He alluded to Pryor's examination, and said that it
was the most remarkable in the annals of the college.
It almost challenged belief.
Such was the triumphant end of that beautiful stu-
dent life which Pryor lived at Princeton. The
flowers that were showered upon him in that final hour
of triumph are long since withered and dead ; the
shouts of the applauding multitudes, and the words of
compliment and praise then spoken, have died upon the
ear ; but the position which he obtained and the suc-
cesses he achieved have passed into the history of
TRIUMPH.
143
Princeton College, and can never be erased from its
record, or be forgotten by its sons. Bright among the
names of his Alma Mater must ever be the name of
the Mathematical-Fellow and First Honor Man of the
Class of 1870.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE MATHEMATICAL-FELLOW.
"As streams that run o'er golden mines,
Yet humbly, calmly glide ;
Nor seem to know the wealth that shines
Within their gentle tide ;
So, veiled beneath the simplest guise,
Thy radiant genius shone,
And that which charm'd all other eyes
Seemed worthless in thy own."
HE festivities of Commencement at Princeton
were over. The members of the graduating
class lingered for a few moments in their col-
lege home
" Where oft, as brothers, they had met to count
The beads of memory, and to weave a thread
Of sadness in the sunny chain whose links
Whose breaking links had bound their hearts in one,"
then went their several ways into the busy world. The
last sands had dropped from the hour-glass of College
Life, and the sad farewell that severs heart from heart
had fallen from trembling lips. On the last day of
146 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
June, Pry or bade adieu to his venerated teachers,
parted from his beloved comrades, and the gates of the
Paradise of College Life shut behind him. Of the
eighty-five classmates with whom, up to that hour, he
had been so happily associated, but few ever saw him
afterwards. To many he was seen for the last time
when old Princeton twined her fairest laurel 'round his
head, while her children made her ancient walls shake
above their thrilling plaudits. Under what better
circumstances could their happy glances have rested
on their leader for the last time on earth !
Leaving Princeton, Pry or returned to his home in
Brooklyn. That he suffered severely from the change
is evident from the tone of his letters during this
period. He felt that his happiest days had fled into
the great past, and he could only live them over again
in memory. His walks were solitary; no friendly
voices cheered him as of old, no congenial soul became
the partner of his joys or sorrows. In the midst of
those endeared to him by the ties of blood, he yet felt
the want of a friend. Life would have been wearisome
and wretched if he had not been able to depend upon
himself for enjoyment. Writing of the associates
from whom he had been separated, he says : "I have
been wishing to see them even more than I wished to
go home, a few weeks after I entered college. I recol-
lect that home-sickness then seemed to me the greatest
of earthly evils. Now it is nothing to separation from
classmates."
He t might have suffered less from this separation,
had it not occurred under the circumstances which it
THE MATHEMATICAL-FELLOW. 147
did. It was the summer season, and Brooklyn was
fairly deserted by the friends of his family, among
whom he might otherwise have found that intercourse
which he now sought in vain. As it was, the history
of his daily life was only the record of a continual
struggle with his feelings. He was smothering a fire
which threatened to consume him. More than all did
he miss the ready sympathy of the friends with whom
he had been accustomed to converse. He thought he
needed them in the new life upon which he had entered
a fiction flattering to them, but having no foundation
in reality.
It is to be regretted, however, that Pryor passed
directly from the softly-tempered atmosphere of re-
ligious Princeton into the trying air of an unregenerate
world. A brief sojourn in some such retreat as Maurice
De Guerin found in the romantic home of his friend
La Morvannais, would have been just what he needed :
"Change from the sanctuary of the college to a house
raised on the border of two regions, where, without
being in solitude, one still does not belong to the
world ; a house whose windows open, on the one side
upon the plain covered with the tumult of men ; the
other upon the desert, where the servants of God are
singing; there upon the ocean, here upon the world."
At this time, however, the pain of separation did
not make Pryor misanthropic or sour; it produced
only those feelings of sadness which were naturally to
be expected. He now won the victory over himself by
keeping watch over his tendencies, and adjusting them
to the sober standards of reason. He was too wise to
148 PKYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
waste in idle lamentations, over what was forever gone,
the energies which should be used in surviving its de-
parture. He was, perhaps, lonelier at this period than
ever before in his life, but he wisely shunned the evils
and nobly gained the benefits of his isolation. Still
laboring to perfect himself, he disinterestedly served
his fellow men, resolutely sought truth, and humbly
worshipped God. In this way he neutralized misery
and was still cheerful ; exerting a noble influence, and
setting a redemptive example an influence and exam-
ple which the knowledge of his pure life promises to
diffuse arid perpetuate. Epictetus says : ' ' Solitude
is the reaction of the soul without an object and
without a product. If our activity has products, those
products serve as comrades. But if our activity is the
overflow of unemployed powers, with no object to
meet and return it, and no object to embody and re-
flect it, we are conscious of an unrelieved loneliness."
Pryor seems to have understood at last the principle
herein set forth, and to have sought and found friendly
occupation.
The Rev. S. W. Plumer, Professor of the Theologi-
cal Seminary at Columbia, S. C., and an old friend of
Gen. Pryor 's family, was at this time in New York
City, superintending the publication of one of his
theological works. He proposed to employ Pryor as
an assistant proof-reader, and an arrangement was
made to begin at once. The task was one of great
responsibility, and required considerable ability and
care for revision and the verification of quotations.
He entered upon the work with great zest, and per-
THE MATHEMATICAL-FELLOW. 149
formed his p&rt with a faithfulness that called forth
the highest praise from his friend, the distinguished
author of the book. This labor was one of double
advantage, affording occupation for and disciplining his
mind, besides bringing him into daily contact with
such an intellect as he was eminently fitted to appre-
ciate and study for the benefit of his own. Several
hours each day were spent in this severe but delightful
labor and this uniformly pleasant intercourse. In the
prosecution of this work, his extensive reading and
wide acquaintance with the world of letters proved of
excellent service to him. Here, as elsewhere, he was
reaping the fruit of a strict adherence to his father's
kindly advice, given to him while he was yet a boy, to
read nothing that was not destined to live, or which
would not in some way repay him for his trouble. He
did not live to see in print the book which he assisted
in preparing for the press, and which he must have
learned to love by daily contact. A copy of it has a
place to-day in. the library once his, but it stands only
as a monument of his industry, and a sad reminder of
the time when his eyes scanned the written leaves of
the weighty folio. There is a testimony here to be
added, which, owing to the eminent source from which
it comes, cannot fail to enlist the interest of every
reader :
"THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, COLUMBIA, S. C. , \
il Nov. 9th, 1871. }
"In June, 1870, I was superintending the publica-
tion of my Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans;
and I secured the aid of Mr. Theo. B. Pryor as an
11
150 PKYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
assistant proof-reader. We were commonly together
three or four hours a day, most of which was spent in
our work. I discovered in him unusual accuracy in
83holarship, a retentive memory, exceeding amiability,
a warmly pious disposition, and a readiness to learn
that was very remarkable. As his service was chiefly
for my benefit, I felt a desire to make some return. I
proposed to give him lessons in the Law of Nature and
in the Law of Nations. A Burlemagin was procured
and a few lessons gone ever. But the weather becom-
ing hot, his father advised him to remit so close study.
After that there were no more formal lessons ; but
every day I had some topic of conversation that might
be useful to him, if we had thirty minutes or more un-
occupied with proof-reading. All who have studied
such subjects, know how many hard and perplexing
questions arise. I have taught the elements of law to
many young men; and among them all I never had
but one who was so clear, so completely beyond the
reach of confusion. His mind refused all needless
complications. Its powers of analysis were nearly
prodigious. He would do nothing on any question
until he had cleared it of everything foreign to the in-
quiry. He hated circumlocution and indirection.
' ' In all this he was as artless as a child, and as
modest as a woman. I still regard him as one of the
most precious young men I have ever known. When
I met him in June, 1871, he told me that his views on
religious subjects had undergone a change. But be-
yond that simple declaration I could perceive no differ-
ence. He was still an eager listener to the preached
THE MATHEMATICAL-FELLOW. 151
gospel, and was still as kind and friendly to Christians
and ministers as ever. When I review his history for
two or three years past, it seems to me like the way of
an eagle through the air. I wonder at what I saw and
remember. There is now no longer any cause of doubt,
that for some time past his mind has been too strong
for his body, and that his reason finally dropped her
sceptre and left his mind a wreck. I loved him. I
miss him. I weep for his untimely end.
" WILLIAM S. PLTJMER."
So passed the summer. In September some decision
was to be made as to his course of action for the fol-
lowing twelve months. The laws of Princeton College
require the student who obtains a Fellowship, " to pur-
sue his studies in the department for which the Fellow-
ship is provided for one year, under the superintend-
ence of the Faculty, and to live in Princeton, or appear
in Princeton from time to time as may be appointed ;
or if he study at a foreign university, to furnish regu-
lar written reports of what he is doing." It was
Pryor's desire to teach in the neighborhood of Prince-
ton, and with a view to this he had secured a position
in the Academy at Lawrence ville, five miles from the
College. This plan he was informed he could not con-
sistently with the conditions of the Fellowship carry
out. Dr. McCosh's pet project was to send him to
Cambridge, England, and he strongly urged this as the
best course for one of Pryor's marked mathematical
tastes and abilities. This plan was perhaps least pleas-
ant of all to Pryor, and was not very warmly seconded
by his friends, more especially by his mother.
152 PRYOE: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
As no certain decision had yet been reachd, Pry or
entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton early
in September, and began a joint course of Theological
and Mathematical studies. This, though having no
certain hope of long continuance, was for the time a
source of great pleasure to him. A large number of
those who had been associated with him in college
joined the Junior class in the seminary at the same
time with him. He began to live over again the old
life, and found it even pleasanter than before. He
now enjoyed the companionship of perhaps more and
better friends, and the studies on which he was en-
gaged were eminently congenial to his tastes. He im-
mediately displayed great proficiency in Hebrew, and
his recitations in this as in all other branches were a
repetition of his former perfection in this particular.
Those associated with him hoped that he would be al-
lowed to continue with them, and congratulated them-
selves upon this accession to the number of those who
were preparing to be the evangels of the Christian
religion. But these hopes were not to be realized.
After a few weeks, arrangements were made to send
the " Mathematical -Fello w " abroad, and he prepared to
leave Princeton. To this brief period in his life Pryor
never ceased to look back, as a time when he ceased to
think for himself, and yielded himself to the wishes
of others. He would have preferred to remain as he
was in the supreme happiness of the life he was then
leading. But his seniors had decided otherwise, and
he obeyed. Perhaps this course ivas the best. His
mind may have suffered an earlier eclipse if it had not
THE MATHEMATICAL-FELLOW.
153
been thus diverted. Be this as it may, Pryor cast a
look of unutterable regret behind him as he passed
out of Princeton for the second time to return to it
never again as a student !
CHAPTEE XV
ON ENGLISH SOIL.
" He reads much ;
He is a close observer, and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men."
Julius Ccesar, Act I, Scene 2.
REPARATIONS for the voyage were soon made,
and the great ocean steamer left the harbor of
New York, bearing Pryor from the land of his
birth, his home and his friends. The trip was an
exceedingly tempestuous and disagreeable one, and in
consequence, all on board suffered much from sea-sick-
ness. Aside from this, the voyage afforded no incident.
Land was seen on the tenth day, and in a few hours
later the Mersey was entered, and anchor dropped
opposite the busy city of Liverpool.
Pryor went immediately up to London, and there
passed one week in sight-seeing. "I spent a day," he
writes, u at the Crystal Palace, and might have gone
there daily for a week without being tired. There is
an exhaustless number of paintings and statues. Be-
sides these there are a great many curiosities, but I
156 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
scarcely think they are worth so much attention." He
also went up to "the ball of St. Paul's," but, to his
great disappointment, found too much fog for a good
view of the city. Two places of the greatest interest
he failed to see " Westminster Abbey" and the
"Tower," but expressed his intention of making an-
other trip to the metropolis to see them.
From London he went directly to Cambridge, and
reported himself to the authorities. A few days later
he was furnished with his student's apparel, and began
the duties of his new life shortly after the opening of
the Michaelmas term. Notwithstanding he had gradu-
ated from an American college, into which his entrance
was considerably delayed, his age at entering St. Peter's
College at Cambridge was but little above the Univer-
sity average. This was owing to a great diversity
between the systems of education adopted by the Eng-
lish and American colleges. Students enter the former
at an age comparatively mature, and after having been
thoroughly drilled by a long course of study in the best
preparatory schools. Boys are sent at an early age to
Eton, Harrow or Westminster, and remain there until
fitted for college. With us, the case is different. Our
institutions seem to occupy a place midway between
the English academy * and university. Pryor was,
therefore, in just the condition to appreciate, to the
fullest extent, the course of study upon which he now
entered.
He found much that was new and a little that was
unpleasant in the habits, manners and pursuits of the
men with whom he became associated. He was a boy
ON ENGLISH SOIL. 157
of too high tone to see the necessity of some of the
disciplinary regulations of the University. The con-
sciousness of being constantly under the surveillance
of the " omnipresent, omniscient and argus-eyed peace-
officers who patrol the streets, accompanied by their
faithful attendants, familiarly ycleped the ' bull-dogs,'"
he considered belittling and unpleasant. The sanitary
habits of English students he early adopted, and prac-
ticed con amore for a considerable time. Two or three
hours every day he devoted to athletic sports in the
open air, spending most of the time, however, in boating
and walking. For the latter he found the surrounding
country well adapted, foot-paths smooth as a gravel
walk skirting all the roads, offering every inducement
to pedestrian exercise. He also allowed himself more
time for sleep than was his custom heretofore.
To one of Pryor's mental constitution and tastes, we
may readily suppose the scenes and objects around him
to have afforded a vast amount of pleasure. The Gothic
architecture of the colleges among which he lived,
modelled from nature and interesting by associations,
is calculated to awaken in the mind thoughts of all
that is venerable and time-honored. Fuller speaks of
these buildings as the "rarest fabrics in Christendom,
wherein the stone- work, wood- work and glass-work
contend which most deserve admiration." King's Col-
lege Chapel is esteemed by connoisseurs the most perfect
specimen of its kind in the world. Its roofs, unsup-
ported by a pillar, are "so geometrically contrived that
voluminous stones naturally support themselves in the
arched roof, as if Art had made them forget Nature,
158 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
and weaned them from their fondness to descend to
their centre." The construction of this edifice puz-
zles the best architects. Sir Christopher Wren was
accustomed to go to it once a year to survey it, and
once said that f ( if any man would show him where to
place the first stone, he would engage to build such
another." Massive towers and flying buttresses
strengthen and support every part of the building.
The interior is grand and imposing, elaborately carved,
and adorned with quaint and grotesque devices from
roof to pavement. Its windows the finest in Europe
are richly painted, and when at vespers, arrayed in
their white robes,
" Assembled men to the deep organ join
The long-resounding voice, oft breaking clear.
At solemn pauses, through the swelling base,"
the effect is indescribably solemn and fine.
The grounds are scarcely less interesting than the
buildings. The Cam, a gentle, placid stream, leisurely
meanders through the principal gardens, crossed by
light and airy bridges; and its banks, rolled and shaven,
invite the observer to linger long and view their lovely
scenery. Boats, gaily painted and adorned, and
manned by athletic youths in aquatic garb, cleave the
smooth surface of the river, shooting with regular
strokes up and down the stream. The picture is fairy-
like and enchanting. Once seen, it can never be
forgotten.
The climate of Cambridge, which is somewhat damp
and foggy, though generally mild and healthy, was
very trying to Pryor. His health continued good
ON ENGLISH SOIL. 159
throughout his stay, but his spirits were sorely tested.
Every one is sensible to the exhilerating effects of
clear, sunny skies, and the contrary effects of an over-
clouded heaven and a heavy atmosphere. All are
cheered by sunshine and depressed by gloom, from a
simple principle of the mind's taking pleasure in that
which looks bright and cheerful, and being dejected by
the sight of whatever is dull and dismal. It is one of
the few places where Boswell exceeds in wisdom the
subject of his biography, when in a reply to a remark
of Johnson on the silliness of those who believe their
minds to be affected by meteorological causes, he ex-
claims : "Alas, it is too certain that, where the frame
has delicate fibres, and there is a fine sensibility, such
influences of the air are irresistible !"
" Not always actions show the man : we find
Who does a kindness is not therefore kind:
Perhaps'prosperity becalmed his breast;
Perhaps the wind Just shifted from the east."
After the positive alternates of clear and rainy
weather which Pryor had been accustomed to in
America, the protracted periods of fog, drizzle, and
sickly sunshine at Cambridge soon began to affect his
nervous system. It was here that he first manifested
and afterwards retained a morbidly sensitive state of
mind which had never before existed in him to such a
degree. The abnormal condition of his mind was fur-
ther increased and aggravated by the unsociable dis-
position of the students with whom he was brought in-
to contact. Comparing the frigid Englishmen around
him with the warm-hearted and impulsive companions
160 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
of his former student life, Pryor could not but notice
and be influenced unfavorably by the contact. He
lived almost alone, without a human being to whom
he could communicate his deep thoughts and feelings ;
and passed through intellectual and moral conflicts so
absorbing as often to banish all interest even in his
favorite mathematical studies. Sometimes he would
lock himself up in his room and remain there during
the entire day, fighting in solitude the most fearful
battles with gloomy feelings.
At such times study was out of the question, and
when attempted brought on irritable and nervous dis-
gust. Pryor was keenly alive to this incubus and
strove to escape from it. He reduced his tasks and
even resorted to light literature for this purpose, but
in vain. He had the best digestion, firm strength,
and sound sleep, but his restless longings in the social
direction, all unsatisfied, kept him in irritating rela-
tions to the world, and made him an unhappy sufferer.
To look to others, either with humble supplication as
did Guerin, with irate command as did Schopenhauer,
or with mute expectation as did Pryor, for the sympa-
thy which they cannot or will not give, is to be miser-
able. We read that in the story of La Picciola a
simple flower became the light, the comrade, the angel
and Paradise of the poor prisoner in whose cell it
grew! Pryor could not boast a companion equal in
congeniality to even this little flower. And yet, sad
as was his life, and great as was the depression of
spirits under which he sometimes labored, his life at
Cambridge cannot be called less than a grand success.
ON ENGLISH SOIL. 1G1
Separated from the community in which he lived, he
walked the streets of Cambridge alone, sat by his fire
alone, worked alone, without the slightest faltering in
his aim, his strong intellectual desires supporting him,
and his intense craving for knowledge ever driving him
steadily onward.
"His English life," writes his sister, "was produc-
tive of little incident. He found no friends so con-
genial as his Princeton college-mates had been, and he
devoted himself while at Cambridge entirely to his
mathematics and to reading ; taking however, as he
told me, much exercise and sleep. I do not think he
formed an agreeable idea of the English character. It
appeared to him selfish, cold, and conceited. He en-
vied the Irish and Scotch, the physical strength which
enabled them to study fifteen hours out of the twenty-
four with an impunity vainly coveted by Americans."
During his stay in Cambridge, Pryor wrote several
letters to a friend in Princeton, from one of which
was taken the folio wing, which appeared in the " College
World," and with which we shall close this chapter.
' ' ST. PETER'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, ENG. , )
" March 21st, 1871. J
" MESSRS. EDITORS : Your special correspondent at
Cambridge is glad to make himself known to your
readers. He wishes them much pleasure in what he
feels assured will be the success of their new paper.
Meanwhile, until it gets something of a momentum
let them be a little chary of their criticisms; for they
might prove retarding forces.
162 PJBYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
" I enjoyed the sweets of an ocean-voyage to the
full, being sea-sick six days and not remarkably well
the other four. I never before felt so fully that ' the
stomach is the seat of the soul. ' My soul was entirely
gone, and I can give you no very edifying description
of the poetry of the sea. On board the vessel, by the
way, was a German who may be said to have afforded
a first-rate illustration of the power of love for
although about as sick as I, he wrote hi&fraulein a let-
ter thirty-two pages long at least that is the story the
passengers told of him. I cannot tell you exactly how
I felt at landing on English soil! It was somewhat as
if I had just recovered a long-lost feeling of patriotism,
but it was soon dispelled by the harassing re3ollection
that I must go on to Cambridge and get ready for an
examination. The Professor told me when 1 waited
on him that ' I might look over the first sixty pages of
the Differential Calculus by day after to-morrow, and
then he would give me some work to do. ' Before the
day of examination, I felt as if I were breathing in an
atmosphere of sines and cosines; but the examination
was no harder than some I have passed at Princeton.
" The students here are just as they are elsewhere,
but the lines between the classes are more distinctly
drawn. They are divided into reading men, boating
men, and fast men. The reading men are strange crea-
tures who generally spend from twelve to sixteen hours
a day with their books, are very regular and sedate in
their habits, and take, among other things, a long
afternoon walk. As their chief commodity is brain,
so that of the other two classes is muscle and money;
ON ENGLISH SOIL. 168
and you see that for a person amply endowed with all
these, as your correspondent, there is a wide field for
development. It is a great grievance to be spoken of
as a Freshman, but I find it best to treat those who talk
thus with a kind of silent pity or sarcastic indifference.
I do not think, however, that the term conveys such
opprobrium here, as it does at Princeton. I have not
yet met Mr. Verdant Green in fact, I do not think
he is in College now.
"The students all seem to be very nice fellows, but
they are not so social as at Princeton.
" Cambridge would be a hard place for some book-
sellers and book-readers. On the first day after I
arrived here, I went to a book-store and asked for
Collins' novel, 'Man and Wife,' and was told that
novels were not read at Cambridge. I have since come
to the conclusion that he had better have said that
' novels are not sold at Cambridge. ' But it was an
awful rebuke to a trembling Freshman, and I almost
sunk under it.
"We have morning and evening chapel here, con-
ducted in the high church manner. The students all
have to attend in white surplices. How would that do
for Princeton students?
"A good many of the forms are rather new to me,
too, but I have not yet heard anything in the least
unevangelical. A good many of the students show
quite a spirit of reverence and devotion, and what is
a little strange there is never the least disorder.
"I do not think, however, that the general standard
of religious feeling is very high ; and from what I have
164 PKYOK : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
seen so far, I suspect that the state of university morals
is about as represented in Bristed's 'Five Years at an
English University.' Rationalism is quite prevalent
here, but I have not heard much of it yet.
1 ' I will not attempt a description of the country
around here, as, probably, you have all read a better
one than I can give you. If not, it will be the best
plan to come and see for yourselves ; only do not come
in November, for the. weather during that month is
one continuous fog and drizzle. Statistics say that
there are more suicides committed in that month than
any other, and I can easily account for it now.
"I cannot say, Messrs. Editors, how soon you may
receive another communication from me perhaps not
at all, since I expect, before next Commencement, to
exchange Cantabrian for Nassovian shades.
"Ad interim, let me be known to your readers by
the unknown term of X."
CHAPTER XVI.
REUNION AMD HOME LIFE.
"One small spot
Where my tired mind may rest and call it Home!
There is a magic in that little word :
It is a mystic circle that surrounds
Comforts and virtues never known beyond
Its hallowed limits."
Southey.
jjRYOR left Cambridge and returned to his fath-
er's house at Brooklyn in June, 1871, and
for a short season seems to have given himself
up completely to the quiet pleasures of home, and to
have shown a peculiar satisfaction at being once more
with his friends. To all questions as to whether his
life in England had been a happy one, he would simply
express pleasure at having been permitted to go. He
manifested little disposition to talk of his life there,
and mentioned nothing that was especially enjoyable
during his stay. He had, evidently, sought or found
little friendship, and felt no desire to return.
"For a week or two after his arrival at home, he
seemed to prefer complete relaxation from all reading
12
160 PUYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
and study, and found enjoyment enough in being with
his friends again. He brought with him from England
John Stuart Mill's ' Examination of Sir William Ham-
ilton's Philosophy,' Hamilton's 'Aids to Faith,' and
several volumes of light reading, not one of which he
ever opened after his return. He was uniformly cheer-
ful during this short period, enjoying to the full the
home life after his foreign sojourn, and exhibiting to a
degree unnatural in him a pleasure for society and
amusements. He attended almost every concert which
the season afforded, and showed much love and ap-
preciation of the compositions of German masters.
Schuman's 'Traumerei' the dreamings of a genius
verging upon madness and death was his especial
favorite, and the last music he ever heard."
On the last Wednesday in June, Pry or went to
Princeton, to attend the graduating exercises of the
Class of 1871. He evidently expected a great deal of
pleasure from this visit, not only because he thought to
find the scene of his happy college existence unchanged,
but also because he hoped to meet many of his former
friends and classmates. He was bitterly disappointed
in both. While it is true that Princeton is always
essentially the same to the graduate of one or of fifty
years' standing, there is still the absence of that charm
which the presence of the class with which the Alum-
nus was connected gave to the place, and which made
it a home.
Pryor was also disappointed in the number of the
classmates whom he met, and the manner in which he
was received by them. He was literally athirst for the
JiEUXION AND HOME LIFE. 1 C>T
kindness and sympathy which he had known on this
loved spot only a twelvemonth before. Absence had
strengthened rather than weakened the ardor of that
love which he cherished for the friends of his college
days. A full realization of the intense pleasure which
he expected from this pilgrimage to Princeton would
have sent him back to his friends encouraged and
strengthened for the first rude shock with the world.
But only a few of his classmates came up to take part
in the annual festivities; and to all, but particularly to
his own modest, shrinking nature, there was a lack of
cordiality in the greetings that were exchanged that
chilled him and made him regret the visit.
Any one who has had the experience knows how
unsatisfactory such reunions are. A fraction of a for-
ever disorganized class come together, each individual
bent on securing the greatest amount of happiness
from the renewal of his acquaintance with old friends
and places. In the hurry and confusion of the hour,
he sees perhaps oftener fails to see the face of a
classmate, but there is only time at the most for a
hurried greeting and a hasty grasp of the hand ; then
each is lost to the other again, it may be for years and
it may be forever. But this was Pry or 's first reunion,
and he had not yet learned what to expect from men
who had already become interested in the friends of
their world life. Some of those whom he had loved
most he was debarred from seeing at all, and those,
whom he did meet seemed
" All unlike the friends of other days ! "
168 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
This was an unexpected revelation, and he turned
his back upon Princeton with great sadness at heart,
reflecting, " No one cares for me : I am lost to my
friends, and the place which I once filled in their hearts
is better occupied by others." And so he went back
to his home and to the unsympathetic world, to be
more than ever alone. The thoughts woven from
the experience of those days of disappointment became
to him, like Pascal's "iron girdle, full of steel thorns,"
a fearful reminder of the emptiness of the world's best
friendships. And henceforth he seemed "to seek no
satisfaction on earth, to hope for nothing from men,
and to find his good in God alone. " What Leigh Hunt
wrote of the unfortunate Shelley might with equal pro-
priety be said of him: "He was like a spirit that
had darted out of its orb and found itself in another
world. It seemed as if his spirit, not constituted like
the rest of the world, to obtain their sympathy, yet
gifted with a double portion of love for all living things,
had been found dead, its wings stiffened, its warm
heart cold, the relics of misunderstood nature slain by
the ungenial elements.
* The love he sent forth void returned,
The fame that crowned him scorched and burned;
Burning, yet cold and drear and lone,
A lire-mount in a frozen zone!' "
Could Pryor, at this critical period, have found a
friend capable of receiving his confidence, and satisfy-
ing his keen craving for the sympathy of a kindred
soul, his career might have been different. As it was,
his "deep and high heart" sought and found inter-
REUNION AND HOME LIFE. 169
course with great minds through their writings. These
furnished his highest enjoyment. Their thoughts came
to him as letters from home and kindred to one ban-
ished from both, and wandering in strange lands.
During the summer, he read Leckey's " Rationalism in
Europe" and "European Morals"; also Dr. McCosh's
work on i ' Positivism. " The first two he and his father
read together and often discussed. He was greatly
interested in them, but by no means agreed with many
of the author's views, and often disputed the soundness
of his logic.
" We noticed in him at this time," writes his sister,
"a growing taste for German literature, and an unceas-
ing admiration for the German mind. He had long
considered Carlyle the greatest of living English writ-
ers. A day seldom passed without his taking up
i Sartor Resartus' or a volume of his i Essays,' and
reading aloud passages that particularly pleased him.
Through the German literature he became introduced
to the Germans themselves, and soon found how con-
genial to his own were their habits of thinking and
reasoning. Goethe's l Faust' and 'Wilhelm Meister'
were the last books in which he displayed any interest.
I always, however, observed with wonder that, though
enthusiastic in his devotion to his favorite authors, he
was never blind to their faults. He discerned more
clearly than any one I ever knew the evil as well as
the good, even in his best-loved books. No plausi-
bility of argument or brilliancy of style could disguise
from him imsoundness of reasoning ; no coruscations
of genius deceive him if the steady light of truth were
wanting.
170 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
" Anything like mannerism annoyed him. ' I believe
you love your favorite authors because of their peculi-
arities,' he once said to one less discriminating than
himself ; ' I always in spite of them. ' He liked even
Carlyle best when he displayed fewest Carlyleisms. "
* -K- * * * *
During this summer and the early autumn, Pryor,
for the first time in many years, lived continuously
under his father's roof. We have seen how his early
life was spent among his relatives, with only occasional
contact with his parents ; and how later he was much
at school, afterwards at college, and last of all abroad.
He was now restored to the companionship of that sis-
ter who remembers with inexpressible pleasure the
delightful intercourse of those few brief months dur-
ing which they were together again. His home was
always eminently cheerful. Since the settlement of
the family at the North, no cloud had come over the
household to darken it, or to sadden the hearts of the
little circle of exiles. No cloud could ever linger long
in such an atmosphere. Father and mother, brothers
and sisters, vied with each other in making home a de-
light and life a pleasure. They possessed among them-
selves the possibilities of happiness, but the host of
friends which they gathered about them never made it
necessary to rely solely upon themselves.
Said one who was the recipient of their kind offices
of hospitality: "I never saw a more cheerful circle
of hearts nestling in a lovelier home. During the
four or five days that I spent under their roof I was
the object of a thousand attentions, without feeling
REUNION AND HOME LIFE. 171
any of that embarrassment which so often results
from over-notice. Parents, children, and even servants
seemed to catch the general spirit and contributed each
a share to the fund of enjoyment and delight that it
was my distinguished privilege to experience. Hap-
pier and brighter countenances seldom gather about
the family board, than those with which I was there
daily surrounded. Each meal furnished mental ali-
ment as well as bodily refreshment. Food was well
chatted, and an easy flow of conversation that was in-
teresting to all was well and constantly sustained. Of
the still more delightful enjoyments of the parlor,
drawing-room, and library, I can give no adequate de-
scription. The memory of the hours that flew, mark
those days as among the happiest of my life. Surely
there could be no sad hearts in the little company as I
saw it and was entertained by it. "
It is a matter of wonder and surprise that this period
of home-life did not continue to be one of glad enjoy-
ment. We cannot help thinking that he must have
per force appropriated at least a little of the happiness
that was afforded him in the social intercourse with
his family and their friends. It is true that he did
devote himself with more zest than ever before in his
life to the lighter accomplishments. His increasing
fondness for music has already been adverted to. To
gratify this taste he impressed all the musicians of the
family into his service, and would listen for hours to
the rendition of the best works of musical art. He
seemed absorbed and happy only when in an atmos-
phere that was vibrating with waves of harmony.
172 PRYOK: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
What the pious never say except on their knees, in
communion with God, is often spoken in the palpitat-
ing utterances of music in the language of tones
those mysteries of emotion, which man is permitted to
understand without words, because no words can utter
them. Pryor was no musician, but he had learned to
appreciate the noblest expressions of tone language,
and he began to live on music the moody food of
the imagination. The threefold characteristic of
genius in affection is the richness, the intensity, and
the tenacity of the emotions. The emotions of a
meagre nature are comparatively evanescent. What-
ever entered Pryor's heart became a part of his being,
throbbed with his life-blood, and stayed as a fixed
part of his life. His love for music was one of this
description. It never left him again, but remained as
a sweet and pure pleasure to the end of his life.
CHAPTER XVII.
LAW STUDIES.
" I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness;
And from that full meridian of my glory
I haste now to my setting: I shall fall
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
And no man see me more."
Shakespeare.
now approach the record of a great mental
) conflict. The summer was rapidly passing
away, and the time was at hand when Pryor
should begin the struggle of life in some chosen line
of duty. Two paths were open to him, two profes-
sions Law and Theology in either of which he might
hope to act well his part in life. His own choice, it
was plain, was Theology; that of most his friends, the
Law.
u I am as resolved as ever," he said in writing to a
friend at Princeton, "to go through the seminary, and
expect to be back next year. And if not, I fully ex-
pect to study at some time for the ministry. If I find
myself unfit for a pastor, I wish to be a professor in
some college or seminary, for which that would be the
174 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
best preparation. I have all along wished to go to the
seminary, but I am much afraid that it is a sudden im-
pulse that will not stand any lengthened trial. I trust
that God will soon guide me to the proper decision. "
Feeling the call to the sacred office to be a matter of
the highest importance, he considered it with a serious
and prayerful spirit. He seems to have been solicitous
to avoid the doom of Uzziah, by an unhallowed touch-
ing of the ark ; and yet all the time felt so distinctly
called to the work, that he could not excuse himself
from giving that call a fair hearing. From the mo-
ment that he gave himself to Christ, he seemed to re-
nounce all personal and worldly ambition. He never
spoke of his future life except to hope that God would
use it for himself. His greatest, most frequently ex-
pressed, hope was to be holy. When first asked if he had
chosen a profession, his simple reply was : u I want to
be a minister, if I can be good enough. I don't think
anything else is worth living for." Cherishing the
most exalted ideas of the Christian ministry, he hes-
itated to accept its responsibilities, and permitted his
mind to dwell on the subject and view it with calm-
ness. After many days spent in careful deliberation
and earnest prayer, he determined to wait for a fuller
development of his desire to enter the ministry, and
get clearer indications of a call to that office. ' ' I will
wait," said he, "another year; and if at the end of
that time I still feel it to be my duty to become a min-
ister, I will consider my life-work decided, and en-
deavor to fulfil my mission as best I can."
But even this year was not to be spent in idle wait-
LAW STUDIES. 175
ing: he might choose the law at the end of this period
of probation ; therefore he resolved to pursue that
study in the interim. From this time onward his days
were spent in New York, the time being divided be-
tween the Columbia Law School and his father's law
office. At six in the evening he would return to his
home in Brooklyn, and after dinner, read, visit or
converse until bed-time.
His career at the law school is similar in its record
with all his previous undertakings. He could no more
consent to be mediocre here than at school or college,
even though it might not be his lot to complete the
course of study thus commenced. One who was asso-
ciated with him at this time, writes as follows : " He
comprehended legal principles readily, and where others
encountered difficulties he found none whatever. He
seemed to understand at once not merely the refined
distinctions of law, but the relations of one principle
to another ; and so far as he went, to take in the science
in all its proportions. He manifested not merely a
highly discriminating mind, but a generalizing and
philosophical one. His mind was calm, clear, and
self -poised, and his judgment sound. He had also in
a high degree the judicial capacity, and would have
made an able judge. His faculties, naturally superior,
had evidently been improved by thorough education.
He thus came to the study of the law with a mind re-
markably well disciplined, as well as with a rare literary
culture. His reading, also, seemed to have been sys-
tematic and well chosen, so that he was furnished both
with thoughts on the most important subjects and
with valuable information."
1 76 PRYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
The sessions of the law school left ample leisure for
collateral reading, attendance at the city courts, and
attention to office duties. To these Pryor severally
devoted himself, with a zeal that was in the highest de-
gree commendable. He was a diligent reader, attended
the sessions of the court, where he watched, listened,
and took notes, using the latter in connection with
readings on kindred subjects ; and also dispatched the
office business devolving upon him, with a scrupulous
care that was alike observable in things small and
great. Of course, all this was not accomplished with-
out reducing his labors to a perfect system, and he
could not adhere strictly to this system without prac-
ticing the severest self-denial.
About this time he was seized with an uncontrolla-
ble desire to become self-supporting, supposing that
he was a burden to his parents. His whole previous
life had been characterized by a spirit of exertion and
independence. He grasped with avidity everything
which would enable him to be less of a burden to
others. His wants were few and easily supplied ; and
we could furnish evidence of economy thougli he
never was stingy which would excite surprise. Pos-
sessed of a generous and self-denying spirit, he nobly
sacrificed everything which it was possible for him to
give up, so that the expenses of his education might
affect as little as possible the other members of the
family. But now this desire to relieve others became
a strong passion, causing him great mental anxiety and
disquietude. It was in vain that the tale of his labors
and services was placed to his account. In vain that
LAW STUDIES. 177
he was assured of more than cancelling his indebted-
ness by the faithful discharge of his duty as a loving
son, to say nothing of the material aid which he ren-
dered his father in the office. He felt that he must do
something for himself.
This condition of Pryor's mind was the source of
great anxiety to his parents, who observed this grow-
ing tendency to excessive irritability with great pain.
More than solicitous for their son's highest happiness,
they saw no way out of the difficulty no means of re-
moving the incubus that was crushing their boy and
making his life miserable. His time seemed already
too thoroughly occupied to entertain the idea of his
assuming any additional labor ; and yet this seemed the
only way out of the difficulty, since he was as loath to
forsake any of his duties as he was anxious to help
himself.
Just at this time, a gentleman of Brooklyn proposed
to General Pryor to engage the services of his son
in preparing one or two pupils for college. It
seemed as though Providence was thus opening a
way to the adjustment of the difficulty ; and to secure
his son's happiness he accepted the offer, and Pryor
entered upon the discharge of his new duties as
tutor, without materially changing his former mode
of life, or diminishing its various tasks. Of these new
relations into which he entered, the nature of his
duties, and the manner in which they were discharged,
it is unnecessary for us to speak. Under almost any
other circumstances, this additional labor must have
been highly beneficial. The family was one of the
178 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
greatest respectability, all its associations eminently
pleasant, and the task of teaching would have been a
delightful one to Pryor, if it had fallen to his lot one
year earlier in life. But the coveted peace of mind
came not, and it soon became evident that this abnor-
mal restlessness was to be traced to a deeper cause.
The most trivial annoyances affected him inordinately,
and were magnified into great troubles, which unsettled
him and made him miserable for whole days together.
He also became keenly sensitive to the wickedness
which he saw in the world around him. It was the time
when the whole nation was standing aghast at the reve-
lation of the corruption and fraud that existed among
the officials in the city of New York. To Pryor, the
story of theft and deceit came with a peculiar force. A
morbid depreciation of the worth of all worldly aims
gradually possessed him. He became extremely un-
happy. His pure mind saw disproportion, misery, and
frightful mystery everywhere. Born with delicate sen-
sibilities and irritable nerves, developing a precocious
sensitiveness, his early reading joined with his native
bent to blend in his soul the heroic ideality of Rome and
Sparta with the poetic ideality of chivalry and truth.
In his first contact with the world, wickedness and
crime so disfigured and marred the reality, that lie
reacted from his ideas of absolute good and human
perfectibility into a wretched despondency. Had
he turned from the special examples of wrong to
the general laws of right, to the deep, steady, moral
sanctions and tendencies in the nature of things and
in the nature of man, he might still have been happy.
LAW STUDIES. 179
But successive developments and unveilings of crime
kept up a vibrating action between his soul's high
ideal and the real condition of men and things as
gradually revealed to him.
Such a state of things could not but be noticed by
his family, but the importance which is attached to
them now was not realized to the same extent then.
The clouds that came over that young life and dark-
ened it are remembered, but they seemed not then to
be heavy with the blasting storm that came out of their
bosoms. The mind dwells with sadness upon the
history of those last sorrowful autumn days. Nature
was putting on gorgeous apparel in which to die.
Flowers were fading and leaves falling. That sad
influence which comes with the dying days of fall, and
affects the most cheerful dispositions, must also have
had a depressing effect upon Pry or 's already drooping
spirit. "He lost all taste for reading, became excit-
able and restless, and could not bear to be left alone.
He would give way to days of darkness, during which
he sought quiet, seldom speaking, and becoming ex-
ceedingly nervous if conversation was forced upon
him. These changes took place so gradually, and
were interspersed with transient gleams of such sun-
shine, that no one realized the truth. In the light of
the present the past is always clear, and all is plainly
seen now that was hidden then."
Various expedients were resorted to, with the im-
perfect understanding of his mental condition, to
excite in him a fresh interest in the duties and pleas-
ures of life. He lent himself a willing subject to these
180 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
devices of loving hearts, but it was only a passive
obedience, springing from principles too firmly fixed
even for temporary derangement. Automaton-like,
he moved in prepared grooves, seeking not his own
pleasure, and finding no new interest in the things
offered to him ; or if he did, sinking rapidly back into
listlessness and lethargy. Among other things, a con-
nection with " The Hamilton Literary Association," an
organization composed of the literati of Brooklyn, was
sought and obtained for him. Contact with gentle-
men of high literary tastes and culture, it was thought,
would revive in him some of his former enthusiasm.
The plan appeared to succeed. He attended the meet-
ings of the society, evidently deriving much pleasure
from them, and was at length chosen to take part in a
debate. He studied the question with much of his
former zest and thoroughness, and produced an argu-
ment which was unanswerable. But, before the time
came for its delivery, his good genius seems to have
fled again ; and to the surprise of every one, he de-
stroyed his paper and absented himself from the
meeting of the Association.
Pryor was not blind to his own condition. He saw,
and strove heroically to conquer his misery, but there
was fatal error in his methods. He needed spiritual
rest, that his organism might accumulate force ; but
he kept up an incessant spiritual activity, an uninter-
rupted waste. A wearing intellectual anxiety usurped
the place of the leisurely and complacent assimilation
of intellectual nourishment that he needed. Instead
of sedulously cultivating every means of avoiding
LAW STUDIES. 181
introspection and critical thought, to give room for
repose and recuperation, the worse he suffered the
more he analyzed and criticised, still adding to the
already excessive exhaustion. If he could have made
his transitions of thought outward and upward, his
ideas would have reacted wholesomely on his mind,
radiating a tonic refreshment through the nervous
system. But as the last direction of his prevailing
modes of mental association was inward and downward,
returning from the ideal to the actual, and stopping at
last on defects and longings, his ideas were constantly
shedding back irritating and melancholy influences on
the mind.
13
CHAPTER XVIII.
LOST AND FOUND.
" I have no will to wander forth of doors,
Yet something drives me forth."
Julius Cwsar, Act III, Scene 3rd.
plYOH'S disease, for such we may term it, man-
ifested itself in an apparent dissatisfaction and
restlessness. These were its chief symptoms.
During the early autumn days he suffered from con-
tinuous depression of spirits "his deportment was
often peculiarly sad, and his mind seemed to lack its
accustomed steadiness and brilliancy. These and
many other indications which nature was giving of an
overworked constitution, were interpreted as the
merely temporary effects of ill-health, resulting from
unremitting study and unnecessary anxiety with re-
gard to future success." He still continued in the
faithful discharge of all his duties, however, and as
these made it necessary for him to be away from home
much of the time, many things escaped notice which
must otherwise have been observed and attended to.
It must also be remembered that at this time another
184 PKYOR I A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
member of the family was so ill as to require the closest
attention from those whose fond anxiety would, under
any other circumstances, have detected the symptoms
of mental trouble to which we have alluded.
Saturday, October 14th, 1871, was a half-holiday with
Pry or, and certainly no one ever enjoyed respite from
labor more than he appeared to 011 that day. As far
as we can judge, Saturday evening was one of the
happiest of his life. His gay flow of spirits was ex-
traordinary, and he was thoroughly master of himself
for a few hours. Before retiring he asked his mother
to play for him, and promptly acceding to this last
request he ever made, she immediately seated herself
at the piano, and performed the selections which she
knew he loved best. For almost two hours she con-
tinued to play, without any sign of weariness in her
son. At last he came to the instrument, reproaching
himself for exacting so much from her, and expressing
the most intense pleasure, hastily retired.
The following morning, Pry or did not make his ap-
pearance until much later than usual, and on coining
down stairs, was evidently quite ill, and complained
of feeling chilly. He kept the house during the day,
but towards evening he was completely himself again.
All the solicitude which was felt by those around him
was wholly removed by his improvement, and at
dinner the indisposition of the morning was almost
entirely forgotten. At this meal, the last one of
which he ever partook under his father's roof, his
manner was such as to allay any feelings of anxiety
which may have been felt for him. He ate heartily,
LOST AND FOUND. 185
and entered with spirit into conversation that was
carried on during the meal. After dinner, he became
restless and uneasy again, but true to his appoint-
ments, accompanied a friend to church, and returned
home at nine o'clock. After some moments spent in
reading, he went into the hall, put on his coat and hat,
and returning to the library, addressed his mother by
a pet name, and telling her that he felt warm, and
would take a walk to cool off, left the room and went
out of the house. This act was scarcely observed -by
his mother. There was nothing remarkable about his
going out for a walk he had often done the same
thing, sometimes in company with his father, oftener
alone. She quietly resumed her reading, and gave
herself no anxiety. Hours passed by and he returned
not. Late in the night his father came in from visit-
ing a friend, and finding his son absent, bade the
others retire, and went out into the streets again,
hoping to meet him. He retraced his steps expecting
to find him at home. But going to his room he found
it still empty, and descended to the library to wait.
Far into the night extended the lonely vigil, and his
child was still absent. Every step on the pavement
promised to end his watch, but departing footsteps
carried hope away in their dying sounds. The last
step died out and nothing broke the stillness, save
the moaning of the night winds around the eaves.
He was alarmed now, and called his wife to share his
watch, and the gray dawn of a new day found them
still waiting. In vain did each suggest reasons for
his absence to comfort the other. Every moment in-
186 PRYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
creased their anxiety, and their hearts grew sick by
"hope deferred." The great city became noisy with
the life and toil of a new day and a new week, and
still no tidings of the lost son. At an early hour the
news of his disappearance was circulated, and friends
and neighbors joined in the search. The police
authorities were immediately notified, and descriptions
of the missing sent to every part of the country. But
days and nights passed, and still no solution of the
mystery. Much perplexity was experienced as to
where and how to search. Nothing that Pryor had
said, written, or done afforded any clue. All efforts to
find him failed, detectives were baffled, and rewards
were offered in vain. Once, indeed, hopes were enter-
tained of his having been fouud. A young man
answering to his description was seen in Norwalk,
Connecticut ; but even this proved a false alarm.
In Princeton the report of Pryor's absence caused
a profound sensation among his friends. Many earnest
prayers were offered for his speedy restoration to his
parents, and many hearts grew sad as the days passed
by without terminating their suspense. On Sunday
special prayer was again made that the efforts put forth
for his recovery might be successful.
On Monday morning, October 23rd, a body was
found floating in East River, which proved to be
Pryor's. His coat, watch, and purse were missing,
but no marks of violence were found on his person.
The theory of his death founded on subsequent inves-
tigation, and commonly accepted as the true one, is,
" that he was suffering from congestion of the brain ;
LOST AND FOUND. 187
that this brought on temporary derangement of his
reason, and that he walked off the dock at Wall Street
Ferry within five minutes after he left home." But
whether in a sudden fit of insanity he cast himself
into the river, or whether in his lonely walk he perished
by the hand of another, must ever remain a matter of
conjecture. "All we know is, that he went in and
out among his family, gentle, lovely, sad in his de-
meanor, and that they lost him on that Sunday night ;
that they exhausted human skill and energy in search-
ing for him; that the waves brought him to them,
pure and white, the very perfection of manly beauty
Whatever may have been the cause of his death, there
was nothing in any of the various circumstances of his
life from which he could possibly have desired to
separate himself."
CHAPTER XIX.
BURIAL.
" Fast as tlie rolling seasons bring
The hour of Fate to those we love,
Each pearl that leaves the broken string
Is set in Friendship's crown above;
As narrower grows the earthly chain,
The circle widens in the sky;
These are our treasures that remain,
But those are stars that beam on high!"
JARLY on the morning of Tuesday it was an-
nounced that Pryor's remains would be carried
to Princeton for burial. This arrangement
gave peculiar pleasure and satisfaction to the residents
of that place, and measures were taken for a general
participation in the funeral exercises. The College
and Theological Seminary united in paying honor to
the memory of the departed. At quarter past two
o'clock the College bell began to toll, and the class-
mates of the deceased who were in Princeton, together
with the College Faculty and students, assembled in
the Chapel. When all were collected, a line was
formed, the Class of Seventy walking first, followed by
190 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
the officers of the College, and the classes in the order
of their seniority. The procession proceeded to the
depot, where it was met by the students from the
Seminary, and the two lines were united.
In a few minutes the train arrived, bearing its prec-
ious freight. The casket containing the remains
was transferred from the car to the hearse by class-
mates who had been selected to act as pall-bearers.
As they were slowly borne along towards the church,
the bells tolled minute strokes.
The exercises were held in the First Presbyterian
Church. The organ pealed out its deep and solemn
tones as the procession entered the building. The
coffin, blossoming all over with the rarest flowers, was
placed on the platform under the pulpit, where only a
little more than a year before its occupant stood,
laden with honors, and bright with the flush of vigor-
ous youth, representing his class in the first position
of distinction. Dr. Vandyke, of Brooklyn, Dr. Mac-
donald, the Pastor of the Church, and Dr. McCosh,
were in the pulpit. When the immense audience
which crowded the church were composed, the College
choir chanted the dirge :
" Hark to the solemn bell,
Mournfully pealing!"
The singing finished, Dr. Vandyke, in a voice trem-
bling with an emotion which would not be controlled,
spoke partly as follows :
" There seems to be an eminent propriety in holding
these funeral solemnities at Princeton. I believe that
BURIAL. 191
if the dead could speak he would approve the choosing
of his grave in this classic ground.
" He was a son of Princeton. Here he spent the
best and the happiest years of his short life. Here he
achieved literary distinction. Here he won the con-
fidence and affection of his associates. Here he gave
to the world those bright promises of eminence in the
future, which, alas ! must all be buried to-day in his
grave.
" And now, professors and students, we have brought
these mortal remains to you the teachers whom he
loved, and the companions with whom he took sweet
counsel in the confidence that you will lovingly and
tenderly lay them with the honored dead of his Alma
Mater.
" Painful as the subject is, the necessity is laid upon
me to speak of the manner of his death. You are all
aware that after a diligent and fruitless search for seven
days, the mystery of his sudden disappearance from
home was at last solved, by finding his body in the
East River, where there can be little doubt that he
drowned himself. But it is my sweet privilege to say
to you, what has comforted my own soul, and what
has been an unspeakable consolation to those whose
hearts are pierced with a grief that only God knows
that we ought not to regard his death as suicide. He
did not rush wilfully, madly, into the presence of his
Maker, with the guilt, the unpardonable guilt, of self-
murder on his soul. No : his brain was crazed. A
frenzy that he could not control^ and for which the
Almighty and just God does not hold him responsible,
192 PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
drove him to his untimely end. And now, dear
friends, this wreck of his manly body, in which, as
you know, feminine beauty and masculine strength
were singularly blended, this wreck of his body is only
the symbol of an earlier and sadder wreck of his noble
mind.
" It would be manifestly improper, even if it were
possible, to enter, at this time, and in this place, upon
the detailed proofs of this conviction. It is enough
for me to say to you, my friends, that there seems to
be abundant evidence in the history of that last sad
day of his upon earth, of a disordered mind, aggravated
by a diseased body. And now, looking back, as we
often can do in the light of the event, and weaving
together a great many things that seemed to be small
at the time those who knew him and loved him best,
even the mother that bore him, and the sister that
clung to him and mingled her pure soul familiarly
with his, and the father that garnered up in him his
joys and his hopes, are all fully satisfied that long ago
melancholy marked him for her own.
" More than six months ago, when he was in a for-
eign university, where he had gone as the honored
representative of this college, there is reason to believe
that the obscure and terrible disease which ended in
his death began its fatal ravages. As I stated before,
it is not possible, or needful, or proper, to enter into
detailed proofs on this point. Those who knew him
best are fully satisfied in regard to it. And now, in
this persuasion, we blot out from our estimate of his
character, and from our auguries of his destiny, what-
BURIAL. 193
ever may have been unpleasant in the remembrance of
the past few months, and we come back at this time to
that day of his espousals, and of the gladness of his
heart, when, in the prime and vigor of his manhood,
with all his honors fresh upon him, he laid himself
down at the feet of Jesus Christ and entered into an
everlasting covenant with his God. No one that
knew him will suspect for a moment that there was
any formality, any hypocrisy, any want of deep and
real conviction in that covenant with God. Surely,
that covenant was not broken, and God's loving kind-
ness was not withdrawn from him."
At the close of the exercises in the church, the body
was returned to the hearse, and followed to the place
of burial by the entire College and Seminary.
Slowly and sadly the procession entered the old village
grave-yard the Westminster Abbey of Presbyterian-
ism where Princeton has laid the mightiest of her
reasoners, and the most eloquent of her divines. The
gray old monuments, whose homeliness is made beau-
tiful by the rare flowers of historic recollection that
cluster about them, and which "Parian marble,
wrought with consummate skill, could not replace,"
told each its own story of the burial of greatness in
the past. Along the grassy walk, and under the
shadow of the whispering pines, the precious casket
was borne to the open grave, made at the southern end
of the ground consecrated to bereaved student friend-
Gently and tenderly the body was lowered into the
grave, by the hands of loving class-mates. For a
194: PRYOR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
moment there was a silence, broken only by the voice
of the wind, as it sighed with the sweetness of JEolian
music through the branches of the trees. A sere and
faded leaf fluttered through the air to the grave,
rustled gently as it touched the mould, and made its
tomb with the dead. With simple, natural pathos, it
seemed to tell the story of humanity ' ' We all do fade
as a leaf."
The early twilight deepened ; the sad October haze
covered the throng as with a pall; the silence was
broken by the voice of the clergyman uttering the
words of prayer and benediction. One by one the
relatives and friends passed around the grave and
gazed down into the narrow home where was laid
" Youth, Hope, Beauty,
Innocence, and Trust:
Life's lost blossoms born for fruit
But consigned to the dust ! ' '
It was a dark and gloomy scene to the eye of sense,
but it required no great power of the imagination to
pierce beyond the darkness of earth, and see with the
eye of Faith the spirits in glory welcoming the departed
soul to the higher joys and holier services of heaven.
The years shall come and go, but as often as the pil-
grimage is made to Princeton " Mecca of the
Mind" the student shall linger in that place of burial,
and be glad that the same consecrated mould which
contains the ashes of Edwards, Davies, and the Alex-
anders, also holds all that was earthly of Theodorick
Bland Pryor.
CHAPTER XX.
AFTERMATH.
" This was the noblest Roman of them all:
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world : This was a man I "
Julius Ccesar, Act V, Scene 5th.
HE prominent traits of Pryor's character have
already been indicated in the progress of our
narrative, whenever they seemed to be most
naturally suggested ; it is, therefore, unnecessary for
us to add any elaborate description. Some features,
however, seem to warrant a clearer and fuller notice in
our concluding resume.
Most of our readers were personally acquainted with
and will readily remember Pry or as he went in and out
among them. For those who were not permitted to
know him, we feel compelled to attempt some descrip-
tion of the man, preparatory to a fuller analysis of his
character. He was gifted with a vigorous constitution,
and a body that was without an approach to deformity
or blemish. Blessed with sound health from his youth
up, he brought to the years of maturity a person which
196 PKYOR : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
combined all the elements of a noble and manly beauty.
His stature, which was five feet and eleven inches at
the date of his graduation from Princeton, was com-
manding; his limbs elegantly symmetrical, and his car-
riage, though not exactly graceful, was far from
unpleasant. His walk was rapid, rather by the
measure of his steps than by swiftness of motion. His
head and face would have attracted attention any-
where, and his features once studied and they com-
manded study could never be forgotten. A forehead
of great beauty; sad-hazel eyes, whose eloquence
11 Twin born with thought, outstripped the tardy voice " ;
a nose faultless in its Grecian chiseling ; cheeks through
which "timid blood had faintly melted," and a mouth
that spoke of firmness and decision, all combined to
make his face one of great and attractive beauty. But
it was not the loveliness of the face that gave him his
highest charm. It was the mind that spread its sun-
light or its shadows over all :
" The soul brought out
To light each charm, yet independent
Of what it lighted, as the sun,
That shines on flowers, would be resplendent
AY ere there no flowers to shine upon."
In conversation, there was a lighting up of the coun-
tenance, and sometimes an animated sparkle of the
eye that made his usually quiet expression bright and
beaming, and added greatly to the force of his uttered
thoughts. The general fascination of his manner was
noticed and felt by all who were brought in contact
AFTEKMATH. 197
with him. Another has referred elsewhere, to the
" impression of intense purity in his looks," which,
happily, conveys a clear idea of the outward expres-
sion of what we shall find still more marked in his
character.
The examination of his peculiar intellectual qualities
reveals to us a mind chiefly characterized by great in-
vestigating, pondering, remembering, and applying
power. He was never dismayed by the difficulty of
any subject, and in his investigations of things obscure
or intricate in their relations, he displayed great acute-
ness in unravelling and simplifying them. Truth was
the great end and object of all his study, and to arrive
at this goal he sought the best and shortest way. He
also meditated much, pondering long upon difficult
processes of metaphysical and theological argument.
He was a close and careful thinker. His mathematical
studies, pursued to such an extent as they were, made
him eminently accurate. His powers of memory were
great. What has been recorded of Archibald Alex-
ander, a man almost peerless in this respect, might
truthfully be asserted of him. " It was not the memory
of words or any conventional signs. But in regard to
faces, localities, historical events, the opinions of
authors and classes of men, the sources of knowledge,
and above all what was held together by a logical
thread, his recollection almost surpassed belief. " Nor
did he glean in the fields of knowledge, simply for the
purpose of hoarding whatever he could gather. He
early learned to put to a practical use his garnered
wisdom. He not only sought, found, studied, and
14
198 PRY OR: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.
remembered, but also applied. Hence he obtained a
high reputation for soundness of judgment, and was
often appealed to for his opinion or decision in matters
under dispute.
As to the nature and extent of his attainments, we
can scarcely trust ourselves to speak ; anything like
what we believe to be the truth in this respect might
challenge belief among those who knew him not. In
mathematics, the philosophy of the mind, and in moral
science, his proficiency was tested and placed beyond
dispute by rigorous examinations, duly attested and
recorded in the annals of the college from which he
graduated. In these branches, the only wonder is
that the mass of his reading did not mar the native
vigor of his understanding.
He was not a pretentious scholar. His recitations
at college were not characterized by flippancy, but in-
variably by a quiet self-possession that was evidently
founded on a thorough, profound, and solid compre-
hension of what he had been studying, whether it had
been acquired by an intuitive knowledge, or by close
and energetic application.
Pryor was fascinating, both by demonstrativeness
and by reticence, his frankness and his mystery. "His
soul was often seen on his lips ready to fly," and there
was now and then a spiritual unveiling, wonderful in
quantity and quality. He was too much occupied,
however too grave, too earnest, and quiet for that
fragmentary jocosity, or free-and-easy intercourse on
the level of little nothings, in which average natures
take pleasure. His studies of himself and his states ;
AFTERMATH.
199
his steadfast sympathies with the simplest objects, as
well as his insight into the sublimities of nature, his-
tory, and philosophy, neutralized the strong affections
which he cherished for those around him, and affected
an insulation from his fellows which was not the result
of his own choice. Throughout life he was separated
from the mass around him by the manifold superiority
of his soul, the greater quickness and richness of his
sensibility, the peculiar keenness and gravity of his
conscience, the distinguishing force and constancy of
his aspirations after internal harmony and usefulness.
No being was ever more simple, unpretending, and
kindly-natured, and yet he seemed inaccessible. Even
in the midst of an up-gazing world, a mind of unusual
strength, tenderness, and earnestness, is likely to be
alone !
SUPLfiE'S TRENCH ON WORDS.
LECTURES ON THE
STUDY OF WORDS
Addressed (originally) to the Pupils at
THE DIOCESAN TRAINING SCHOOL,
WINCHESTER,
By RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH, D. D.
ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN,
WITH AN EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS, ADDITIONAL WORDS
FOR ILLUSTRATION, AND QUESTIONS
FOR EXAMINATION,
BY THOMAS D. SUPLEE,
Head Master of St. Augustina's College.
Suplee's Trench on Words
Is used as a Text Book in. the following
Schools and Colleges :
Princeton, Trinity, Hobart. Racine, St. Stephen's, St. Au-
gustine's, Shattuck School (Dartmouth),The University
of California and many others, and is recommended
by the leading educators of the country.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY