University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XVIII

THE LITERARY SOCIETIES

In the first months of the session of 1825—which
extended from March 1 to December 15—the
Patrick Henry Literary Society was organized with
a membership nearly equal to the total number of
students. There are occasional references to this
society in the minutes of the faculty and also in the
records of the Visitors. The meetings were held
for a time in the lecture-room in Pavilion II, at the
north end of East Lawn, then occupied by Dr. Johnson,
the demonstrator of anatomy. In 1829 the
Visitors gave the Henryites notice to hold their sessions
in one of the vacant hotels, and this is the last
heard of them.

This society was yet in the first months of its life
when sixteen of its members seceded and founded
the Jefferson, which met at first weekly, and then
fortnightly, in the lecture-room in Pavilion I.
Later it convened in first one and then another of
the class-rooms until finally housed in Hotel C on
West Range, now known as Jefferson Hall.

The history of the Jefferson was given as the introductory
explanation to the second catalogue of
the society in 1859 by an editorial committee consisting
of R. Randolph Hutchinson of St. Louis,

afterwards a major C. S. A., Joseph E. Cox, Jr., of
Chesterfield Court House, who died in December,
1861, while serving as a lieutenant of artillery, and
Bennett Taylor of Kabletown, Va., afterwards a
colonel in the Confederate service. It is reproduced
here for the information it contains as to the Jefferson
and other literary societies:

"On the 14th day of July, 1825, a number of students
met in Dormitory No. 7, West Lawn, for the
purpose of organizing a society for debate and literary
improvement. At this meeting three gentlemen,
Edgar Mason [of Charles County, Md.], John H.
Lee [Fauquier County, Va.], and William G. Minor
[Fredericksburg, Va.], were appointed a committee
to frame a constitution for the regulation of the society,
which was adopted at a meeting held July 18,
in Dormitory No. 5. On this occasion an election
of officers was held, after the adoption of suitable
titles by which to distinguish them, resulting in the
choice of Edgar Mason, Moderator; John H. Lee,
Vice-Moderator; Mann A. Page [Richmond], Secretarius;
and J. N. Tazewell [Norfolk, Va.], Bibliothecarius.
Secrecy was strictly maintained with regard
to all that concerned the society, and the penalty
for violation of this law was expulsion. In
1826 a new officer was instituted, whose duty it was
to assess all fines for disorder, and a regular court
was held after each meeting, presided over by two
judges, who heard all appeals respecting fines, and
decided on them ultimately, always doubling the
amount of the original fine if the appeals were not
sustained. This custom was maintained up to about
1838, when it was found to be useless and cumbersome,
and accordingly abolished. It has been
adopted, however, by some societies of a later date,

and is, we believe, maintained in one. For many
years it was a part of the regular exercises of the
society to read essays on various subjects, a custom
entirely disused at present. The constitution of the
society, though often revised and enlarged, still contains
a great deal of the original one, and the preamble
now used is essentially the same as the one
first proposed in 1832.

"The first badge adopted by the society was ordered
`to consist of a bunch of ribbon, the colors of
which were to be blue, white and pink, to be worn
on the left lapel of the coat;' this was to be worn by
the members on `particular occasions.' Afterward
it was ordered that the badge of the society be a
small medal, with an appropriate motto, `the device,
a scroll, on which appears the Declaration of
Independence transversed by a spear, surmounted
with the cap of Liberty; on the reverse shall be the
name of the society, its date of birth, encircled by a
wreath of laurel. The seal shall be the front of the
device, with the motto, Pro Patria, Pro Libertate,
atque Pro Litteris.' Both these badges were
adopted in the course of 1825. In 1834 a badge of
blue ribbon was chosen by the society, to be worn on
public occasions, and blue has ever since continued
to be the color of the Jefferson Society, the white
and pink originally worn having been adopted by
other literary bodies of the University. There
seems to have been no badge worn commonly by the
members of the Jefferson until 1848, when a committee
recommended for adoption the present style,
viz: Jeff. Soc. U. V., with two pens crossed, and at
the bottom, the Greek letters Phi Kappa Theta.

"The anniversary celebrations were originally
held in some one of the churches of Charlottesville,

and frequent mention is made in the minutes of committees
appointed `to have a stage erected in front of
the pulpit of the Episcopal Church.' They seem also
to have been held in the daytime, until the faculty
interfered to prevent it. In 1825 it was resolved to
celebrate the anniversaries of the foundation of the
University of Virginia, the birthdays of Jefferson
and Washington, the fourth of July, the surrender
of Yorktown, and the birthday of Patrick Henry.
They must have found this rather too much for
them, since in 1832 it is recorded that a motion was
necessary to be made and carried, to elect annually
an orator and a reader of the Declaration of Independence
for the anniversary of the birthday of Jefferson.
The final oration has always been delivered
on the day before Commencement, not without some
quarrels with other societies, however, before courtesy
and long prescription had settled the point.

"There have been quite a number of rival societies
started, which appear and disappear on the record
books of the Jefferson, leaving there the sole
memorial of their existence. The first mentioned
is the Patrick Henry Society, in 1825; it does not
seem to have lived very long. In 1826 the Medical
Society appears, then in 1833 the Academic. In
1836 the first notice of the Washington Society appears
in the shape of an invitation to it and another,
the Gamma Pi Delta, to engage with the Jefferson
in a public debate, which however does not seem to
have been accepted. Since that time the Parthenon,
the Philomathean, and various others have been born
and have died. The last formed is the Columbian.

"The society honors have all along remained
pretty much the same—an anniversary and valedictory
oration, and a readership of the Declaration of

Independence on the 13th of April. During the session
of 1856-57 it was determined to give a gold
medal of the value of fifty dollars to the member who
shall prove himself to be the best debater during any
session. Formerly a diploma was given to each
member who, on leaving college, was adjudged to
have fulfilled his society duties faithfully, but this has
been discontinued.

"Many attempts have been made by the Jefferson,
in conjunction with her sister societies, to establish
a magazine at the University, but with small success,
until two sessions ago. The Jefferson Monument
Magazine, the Collegian, and others, were the fruits
of these endeavors, but all had a brief period of existence,
until 1856-7, when the present Virginia University
Magazine was established by the three societies,
on a footing which bids fair to render it a permanent
institution in College. The societies then
determined jointly to award a gold medal for the
best contribution appearing in each volume, to be
determined by a committee of the professors; the
first medal was awarded to a member of the Jefferson
Society, at its final celebration in 1858."

This catalogue is very rare and valuable. Fortunately
it contains a list of the members, with indications
of those upon whom the various honors of the
society were bestowed within the period between
1825 and 1859. The minutes covering a period of
fifty years (1825-1875), deposited in the library
for safe keeping, were lost in the fire of 1895. One
volume escaped—the roster of the society from 1859
to 1885—which makes it possible to complete the
list of members from where the catalogue left off.
The names of many distinguished men appear in the
roll—among them those of Poe and Thompson.

Poe, by appointment, read an essay—subject
"Cold and Heat"—participated in several debates
and on at least one occasion performed the duties of
secretary. His signature to the minutes as such was
cut from the book by some unscrupulous collector,
and is the sole survival of that record, if indeed it
has escaped destruction.

Honorary membership was not disdained.
Robert A. Thompson of Kanawha County, Virginia,
proposed Mr. Jefferson, which elicited the following
letter addressed to Edgar Mason, J. W. Brockenbrough
and J. W. Saunders.

"I am very thankful, gentlemen, for the honor
done me by the society of which you are a committee,
in electing me one of its honorary members. I
could decline no distinction conferred by them or
service I could render them, but on reasons of still
higher importance to themselves. On maturely
weighing the general relations in which the law of
the University and the appointment by its Visitors
have placed me as to every member of the institution,
I believe it my duty to make no change in these
relations by entering into additional and different
ties with different associations of its members. The
duties with which I am charged require that in all
cases which may arise I shall stand in an equal position
as to every person concerned, not only that I
may preserve the inestimable consciousness of impartiality
to all but the equally inestimable exemption
from all suspicion of partiality. Your kind expressions
toward myself ensure to me, I hope, an
equally kind acceptance of the reasons on which I

act, and I can add with truth on behalf of my colleagues
of the visitation, that the highest reward
they can receive from their joint cares and exertion
in behalf of this institution is the anticipated hope
and belief that they are rearing up in science and in
virtue those on whom the hopes of this country rest
for its future government and prosperity. For
myself I pray you to accept assurances of my sincere
affections and best wishes.

Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe were not constrained
by such considerations and accepted. General
Lafayette, who was in America that year, and
was entertained at dinner in the unfinished Rotunda,
was proud to be enrolled. John Randolph of Roanoke
was proposed, but failed of election because of
his opposition to the election of Monroe to the Presidency.
That gentleman was Mr. Jefferson's candidate.

It would be impossible, both because of limit and
the imperfect character of the records, to produce all
the officers of various grades who have served the
society since its organization. Even those who
filled the presidential chair[1] would make a long record.
During the sessions of 1825-26 no less than
twelve attained to that eminence. The presiding
officers whose incumbency covered the intermediate
and final terms enjoyed a distinguished honor.
Until about 1870 there were two celebrations each
session. The intermediate was in commemoration
of Jefferson's birth. Frequently the grounds were
illuminated, often what was called "the anniversary
oration" was delivered by some member, and always

the Declaration of Independence was read. The
three honors—the presidency, oratorship and the
readership—were highly prized, and much time and
care were given to preparation for the creditable discharge
of the duties they imposed.

The final celebration was regarded as the event of
the college year. The assemblages which at the
"intermediate" were composed in the main of local
residents were attended in June—in the earlier years
in July—by persons from all parts of the State and
even beyond, and the event had a place in the closing
exercises of the session. The president and the
valedictorian—afterwards he was a medalist—were
men of marked eminence, and used their utmost endeavors
to measure up to the distinguished character
confered upon them by the suffrages of their fellow-students.
Following the descriptions of some of
these occasions which appear in the student publications
one must conclude that everything was brilliant—with
lights, beauty and bright eyes, and "as
noisy as heaven since the noise was made by the
angels" with bright eyes; "a joyful noise, too, except
to the speakers and those who wished to hear
them."

Tribute must be paid to the truth of history. The
Board of Visitors, for some reason, took it into their
heads to disapprove of illuminations on the Lawn
and oratorical pyrotechnics in the Episcopal Church,
or wherever these early celebrations took place, and
they passed a resolution. The Collegian, then in the
first of its four years of existence, protested in the
following editorial from the pen of Barbour,
Critcher, Gooch, Holcombe or Watts, probably Holcombe:

"It is no doubt known to most of our readers that

by a resolution of the Board of Visitors passed about
two years since the celebration of anniversaries and
delivery of literary addresses in public is prohibited
to the students of this institution. This fact has
often been made a subject of regret (not to say reproach)
on the part of some of our warmest friends,
and we are pleased to learn that an effort is about to
be made, with a strong probability of success, to reestablish
the honored usage amongst us. Firm as
all are convinced of the utility of public addresses it
is indeed mortifying that a custom, venerable in
time, and sanctioned by the happy experience of all
other colleges, should be prohibited our use. We
are forbidden to speak, the tongue falters, the lips
are closed, and the voice of vivid eloquence must
ring through our Corinthian columns no more.
The effect of the present policy will be to hush up all
emulation and render neglected the cultivation of
elocution. Public spirit will linger in faint breathings
amongst us, and the alumni, failing to cherish
a college pride whilst here, will not be accompanied
by a sterling affection for their Alma Mater when
they leave its walls. Our debating societies indirectly
prostrated, the taste for classical literature will
be diminished; cold science and scholastic plodding
will then gloom this proud fabric of the American
Sage, and a meagre sheepskin be held up as the sole
incentive to intellectual exertion.

"The alleged causes of this proscription of liberal
and improving exercises are few, and, as we conceive,
wholly insufficient. If there be any bad effects
resulting from the practice let it be remembered
that every good has its concomitant evils. The
finger of scorn should by no means be pointed at
venerated customs because, forsooth, they occasionally

prove disadvantageous; neither should the
harper hang his lute upon the willow because its music
sometimes excites sad feelings."

This complaint appeared in the number for June,
1839, and yet there had been anniversary or intermediate
celebrations in the Jefferson in 1837 and 1838,
with orations (one of the editors of the Collegian
was the orator!), and in the Washington there was
no suspension at all. There is probably some explanation
of these apparent contradictions. Certainly
the board did once prohibit student speeches
on public occasions unless the consent of the faculty
was first obtained.

The Jefferson, as has been seen, undertook a great
deal in the matter of anniversary celebrations, putting
into its calendar in 1825 the foundation of the
University, the birthdays of Jefferson, Washington,
and Patrick Henry, the surrender of Yorktown, and
the 4th of July. It soon eliminated all but April 13.
Of course the anniversary oration dates from the
beginning; but the custom of reading the Declaration
of Independence was not introduced until the
session of 1846-47. It was probably often omitted.
At any rate, there is no record of the observance in
1848, 1850, 1852, 1853, 1855, 1859—not to pass beyond
the war.

The names of anniversary or intermediate orators
cannot be recovered before 1830-31, and even
after that session there are many gaps in the list.
No record can be found for the years 1833, 1835,
1836, 1842-45, 1854, 1856, 1858, 1866. Of course
there were none to record for the period of the war.

The final celebration was not instituted in the Jefferson
Society until the session of 1836-37. Probably
the commencement exercises, introduced by the

professors in July, 1829, satisfied for a time all aspirations
in that direction. The first program
was entered on the minutes of the faculty in this
form:

"The faculty convened in the Rotunda the 18th
day of July, 1829, where the following exercises
took place in the presence of the Rector [James
Madison] and Visitors and a numerous assemblage
of the public.

"1. The exercises were commenced with an oration
by Mr. George P. Beirne of Monroe County,
`On the Happy Influence Which Journals and Reviews
Have Exerted by the Conveyance of Intelligence.'

"2. The chairman of the faculty [Dr. Dunglison]
mentioned the names of the following students in
alphabetical order who at the recent examination
had displayed the greatest proficiency in their respective
schools. [List.]

"3. Oration by Mr. William F. May of the University,
`On the Connection between Education and
Republican Doctrine.'

"4. Essay by Mr. John A. Gretter of Richmond
City, `On the Comparative Advantages of Public
and Private Education.'

"5. The chairman next announced that the following
students had been admitted by the faculty to
graduation in the several schools and classes hereafter
mentioned, and delivered to them diplomas:
[List.]

"6. Oration by Mr. William Daniel, Jr., of
Lynchburg, Virginia, `On the Causes that Have Retarded
the Growth of Poetry in America.'

"7. The exercises concluded with an oration by
Mr. Charles Mosby of Powhatan, `On the Influence

of Republican Institutions upon Intellectual Improvement.'
"

The list of the final orators is not quite complete.
There is no existing evidence of appointments for
the years 1840, 1842, 1843, 1846, 1848, 1853, 1855,
1859, 1860.[2]

In 1860 Charles D. McCoy of Charlottesville,
Henry Lee of Alexandria, Virginia; W. O. Bullock
of Lexington, Kentucky, and J. W. H. Porter of
Warrington, Florida, acting as a committee of publication,
issued a roster of the officers and members
of the Washington Literary Society, to which they
prefixed a history of its organization and vicissitudes.
This catalogue was reissued in 1866, with
additions and corrections, by an editorial committee
consisting of Chapman Maupin of Charlottesville,
James W. Foster of Fauquier County, S. Travers
Phillips of Staunton, T. Jefferson Stubbs of Gloucester
Court House, and A. Frederick Fleet of King
and Queen County, all Virginians. The following
extracts from these publications preserve a part of
the history of the University:

"In the session of 1831-32 (the eighth session of
the University) some fifteen or twenty students met
together in the room of one of their number and
formed themselves into a club, `or association for
mutual improvement in the Art of Oratory.' To
this association they gave the name of Academics'
Society, the place of meeting being, after the first
few weeks, on the west side of the Lawn, the fourth
pavilion from the Rotunda, and at present the residence
of Professor [John Staige] Davis. A little
later an association of the same character was organized

at the present proctor's office,[3] and went into
operation under about as favorable auspices as the
Academics. These bodies continued a separate existence,
though neither of them a very flourishing
one until 1835-36[4] , when they resolved to unite and
form out of the two one vital organization; this new
body they called `The Washington Society, that its
name, recalling the deeds of the illustrious father
of American liberty, might animate them with the
desire of using the power there attained for the good
of their country and the weal of their countrymen.'

"Then and thus the Washington Society originated,
and thus did she spread her banner to the
breeze. The records show that her history has been
an eventful one, her ups and downs many. Several
times has her very existence been imperilled by discord,
but she has been able, on every such occasion,
to slough off the discordant spirits, and has only
wrapped closer around her the mantle of brotherly
love. She has also had to contend with all the disadvantages
usually attendant upon the situation of a
younger sister; but such trials have only resulted in
the attainment of a vigorous and hardy maturity,
and she can now bid defiance to all adversaries.

"The minutes and almost everything in the shape
of records for the first eight years have unfortunately
been lost. Enough, however, has been preserved
to show that until 1846 the society was but
poorly supported. This was no doubt in great part
the result of the want of a hall that it could strictly
call its own, for until this date the place of meeting

had been the proctor's office, which, of course, lacked
most of the conveniences afforded by a permanent
hall. * * * But the establishment of the Washington
Society upon its present firm footing took
place in 1845-46 and was due principally to the efforts
of two gentlemen, N. H. Massie and John L.
Cochran, esq. * * * Though they are not the
real founders of the society, to them it may be said
it owes its present existence and flourishing condition.
Up to this time the meetings seem to have
been suspended about the middle of each session,
but in the latter part of 1844-45 a room which
formed a part of the present hall was permanently
secured and 1845 constituted a new era in the society's
annals. The constitution was then carefully
and thoroughly revised, and many cumbrous features
remedied, and each succeeding year, consequently,
exhibits marked progress. From the
earliest formation of the society it had been the custom
to elect an orator, and a reader of Washington's
Farewell Address, for the 22d of February;
but the first notice of a public anniversary celebration
occurs in 1846-47. In the same session was instituted
the valedictory celebration. Both of these
were held in the Chapel of the University, and
printed invitations were then sent to the ladies, only,
of the neighborhood. As an additional evidence of
her growing prosperity, it may be noted that in the
next session the society ordered to be worn a badge,
in the form of a plain gold pin, bearing the name of
the society, and a representation of waves, with the
motto: `Quam fluctus diversi, quam mare conjuncti.'
During the last session (1859-60), however, the size
and shape of the pin was altered, and Washington's
coat-of-arms added. The badge for all public occasions
is a bow of plain white ribbon, worn on the
left lapel of the coat.

"In 1848-49 the Washington Society made the
initiatory move in getting up a periodical called the
Jefferson Monument Magazine, the proceeds of
which were to be appropriated to the erection of a
monument to the memory of Thomas Jefferson. It
was conducted by a corps of seven editors,[5] two
from each of the three literary societies, and one
from the students at large. The enterprise was at
first warmly seconded by the other societies; but the
`proceeds' not coming up to their expectations, they
soon became disheartened, and in 1851-52 abandoned
it altogether. Other attempts to establish a
magazine have, at various times been made by the
societies of the University, but with no better success,
until 1856-57, when the University Literary
Magazine (name since changed to Virginia University
Magazine) was founded so securely that it
cannot but succeed.

"In 1849 a number of members withdrew, and
together with deserters from the Jefferson, formed
the `Philomathean Society.' This association was
short lived. In 1852 a much more serious revolt occurred
and one which well-nigh proved fatal to our
body. In that year the `Parthenon Society' was
formed exclusively by members deserting from our
own, and this desertion was caused by the failure to
elect as final orator the candidate of a party in the
minority who, however, refused to join his too ardent
supporters, and was afterward a prominent
member of our own association. On this occasion
about one-third of the members joined the new

body. But `whom the gods love die young,' and the
Parthenon Society ceased November, 1853.

"In 1854-55 it was found necessary, owing to the
large number of new members, to enlarge the hall to
its present size. `I was in the society at the time,'
says a former president to whom we are indebted for
a number of the facts here given, `and well remember
the feelings of pleasure and anxiety depicted
upon the countenances of the old members as, on
each Saturday night, we initiated, in the business
language of the treasurer, fifteen, twenty, forty
and fifty dollars' worth—pleasure at the growing
prosperity of the body they loved so well, and anxiety
lest the expectant novitiates might not find
seats.'

"In the session of 1861-62 a few old members of
the Washington and Jefferson Societies united and
formed the University Literary Society, and held
their meetings in the hall of the Washington. This
new body ceased to exist after the close of that session,
but in the succeeding session the Jefferson Society
was reorganized and continued to hold its
meetings thereafter with but few interruptions during
the war."

In the Washington the intermediate and final
presidency were coveted for the same reasons that
made the terms attractive to the ambitious of the
Jefferson. The oratorship and the post of reader
were also valued honors.

On the 22d of February, 1838, Washington's
farewell was first read at an "intermediate celebration,"
nine years before the Jefferson made the
Declaration of Independence a part of its anniversary
program. If the records are to be trusted, the
reading was omitted for the years 1839-45 inclusive,

after which no break in the custom occurred until
everything was suspended for war. In the list of
intermediate orators about the same gap appears—
from 1839 to 1846 inclusive. Thereafter no break
occurs until 1861-65.

The line of final orators is broken during the
period of 1841-45 inclusive. Perhaps this uniform
suspension of the public exercises of the societies
which the lack of data as to the actors usual in such
functions seems to indicate was due to temporary
low vitality, although the time includes the prosperous
years of the Collegian, the first periodical established
by the societies. The valedictorians otherwise
show full ranks.[6]

The Washington possesses one volume of decided
interest—the minute-book beginning in 1859 and
continuing the record of the society for some years
after the war. Its brief entries in the late winter
and early spring months of 1861 are in the spirit of
coming war. These young men had all drilled in
the Sons of Liberty or the Southern Guard before
entering their literary hall to deliberate and debate.
Their subjects were significant of the times, and the
manner of their decision was unquestionably determined
by the peculiar conditions which swayed all
judgments. In February the subject for debate was,
"Would free trade be adverse to the interest of the
border slave States in a Southern confederacy?"
The society decided that it would.

Again: "Do the interests of the Confederate
States require the imposition of further political disabilities
on foreigners than now in the United

The Rotunda, north front

OPPOSITE P. 250

States?" They did, in the opinion of all but three
members.

And the last debate before the storm broke was on
the subject, "Is slavery the only substantial basis of
a republic?" Of course this was decided in the affirmative,
although five did vote no. Thus in advance
of the Ordinance of Secession these young
men were considering some of the economic questions
that would confront the Southern Confederacy,
serene in their confident expectation that the young
nation then foretold would be established beyond
any possibility of decline or fall.

This was in mid-March. The minutes showed the
temperature rising rapidly. This entry appears under
the date of 1861: "Mr. A. W. Weddell [of
Petersburg, afterwards rector of St. John's Church,
Richmond] moved that in view of the stirring and
exciting circumstances by which we are surrounded,
and the warlike appearances of [our] country which
would naturally interrupt the proceedings of all literary
bodies, the Washington Society meet again
only by order of the president after the adjournment
of this meeting." This was just a week after
the battalion drill on the Lawn in celebration of
Jefferson's birthday when the news of the evacuation
of Fort Sumter was announced.

On April 25, 1861, on motion of R. C. M. Page,
the final celebration of the society was dispensed
with "in view of the probable suspension of lectures
at the University growing out of the disturbed condition
of political affairs." Subsequently, in joint
session the Washington and Jefferson revoked an invitation
to "an individual" named David Paul
Brown of Philadelphia, who had been selected as
orator on the occasion of the joint celebration on the

coming 4th of July. Evidently David Paul Brown
was ugly about it, for this minute appears as a description
of the action taken by the joint assembly
of the societies upon the correspondence: "Mr.
Brown was deemed to have offered a great indignity
to the body, and the committee [was] instructed to
forward to him a letter which, upon being read before
the body, was deemed expressive of their views
with regard to the matter." Doubtless.

We come upon another indication of the temper of
the times. In 1859 Edward Everett had come
down from New England and delivered a striking
lecture, the proceeds of which he turned over to the
literary societies of the University with the expressed
hope that the interest would be used in providing
a medal to be bestowed upon the writer of the
best article on American biography published in the
University Magazine. Of course the societies disdained
Mr. Everett's medal after learning his pronounced
sentiments; Mr. Pendleton moved to abolish
it forever, and the motion was carried unanimously.
Then Mr. Falligant moved to return the
fund to Mr. Everett. Mr. Underwood proposed to
appropriate it to the defense of the State and this
substitute was adopted. At a subsequent convention
of the societies this disposition of the fund was reconsidered,
and various suggestions made, such as
that it be placed in the hands of the Governor of
Virginia to be returned to Mr. Everett at the close
of the war, that it be given to the poorest worthy
lady of Albemarle, and that the stock in which the
fund was invested be transferred to Mr. Everett.
Finally it was decided to deposit the money with the
proctor to be returned to the donor as soon as the
state of the country would permit.

This minute appears under the date of May 4,
1861: "Mr. Harris, acting upon one of the considerations
which led to the suspension of the final celebration
for this year, moved that the surplus funds
remaining in the treasury after the payment of our
debts, be placed in the hands of the Governor of
Virginia for the defense of the South in the present
war with the United States. The motion was carried
unanimously."[7]

The following page of the minute-book contains
the one word writ large—INTERREGNUM. The
next begins the record of the post-bellum era.
Under date of October 14, 1865, appears this entry:
"After a suspension of four and a half years occasioned
by the late war between the Northern and
Southern sections of the country, four old members
of the Washington Society—Messrs. John H.
Lewis, J. S. Harnsberger, W. M. Perkins, and A.
F. Fleet, all of Virginia—met in their hall for the reorganization
of their society. Mr. Lewis was called
to the chair and Mr. Fleet requested to act as secretary
pro tem. Upon taking the chair Mr. Lewis
made a few touching remarks, alluding to the small
number of old members present, and paying a
tribute to those who had fallen in defense of their
country."