The fine portrait of Mr. Cocke in the Hollins Library, executed by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lucian H. Cocke of Roanoke, was formally presented at the Golden Wedding celebration in 1890. Death claimed the brilliant artist in 1899. With keen insight she portrayed her subject at the culminating moment of the final exercises of the Institution. The diploma in his hand is the one which he handed to his daughter, Miss Matty L. Cocke, on the day of her graduation. The artist wanted a real diploma, and by felicitous chance, this was the one supplied. At the time, the owner little dreamed of being her father's successor as President of Hollins Institute. As now, so during the lifetime of Mr. Cocke, Maytime at Hollins stirred a flutter of excitement in the student's mind. The session's close was drawing near, with its terrors of examinations; its flourish of music, oratory and white dresses; its orderly pomp and splendor. The season brought a new flush of animation and Services began with an interesting dramatic presentation, and the Reception to the Senior Class. The Sunday services were conducted by invited ministers. In the days following, came the jollities of Class Day, the joint celebration of the Societies, the Musical Concert, and lastly, the annual address by the President, with the conferring of Diplomas. Of course the programs of the earlier years were not so elaborate as the one just indicated, but the exercises were as vitally interesting and popular. On these occasions many distinguished men delivered strong and eloquent addresses. Woe to the man who ventured to stand before a Hollins audience without honest preparation. Declamatory rhetoric never deceived this group of intellectually alert students. Mr. Cocke drew his ministers for Commencement from the various Protestant denominations, as the students came from all these bodies. Sectarian narrowness never guided his choice, and that spirit never thrived in his school. Christian truth and character were to him the One of the surprises about these years is the small number of Full Diplomas that were given. From 1855 to 1900, Mr. Cocke bestowed this honor on one hundred and twenty-five girls. To secure it the student had to graduate in at least seven of the departments of study. The standards were high, so that to win the Full Diploma, demanded native ability and long, hard work. In the operation of the school's elective system, each girl chose the classes she preferred, and received certificates of graduation as the work in each subject was accomplished. Though, as we have said, Full Diplomas were rare, many girls won these minor distinctions, which also bore the name of Diploma. Many were the students who, coming for one year's course, were stirred by At the close of the session of 1899-1900, Mr. Cocke delivered his 52nd annual address. Sad to say, it was his last. It is a notable and probably an unparalleled fact, that he should, through fifty-two consecutive years, have made the graduation address and have delivered the Diplomas. In these messages he dealt with the many problems of educational theory and practice, never failing to appeal for high and noble standards of living. He counted on his girls as the finest advertisement, and as the most eloquent testimonial of the merits of Hollins. It was no vain reckoning. As a matter of fact, it became no unusual thing for him to hear patrons confess that they had seen Hollins girls and had been deeply impressed by their intelligence, cultured manners and social grace. Now we yield the platform to the President. There can be no more fitting close of this chapter than a few paragraphs, taken from his annual addresses. The captions are not his, but they indicate the special thought of the passage. THIS ONE THING 1889 "I have aimed to implant deep in the hearts of my pupils the principles and precepts of our holy religion, as taught in the Word of God. As to those externals of religion which divide the Christian world into parties and sects innumerable, I have nothing to say; for our great Law-Giver and High Priest has said, 'The Kingdom of God is within you,' and unless we are subject to this law, all rites and ordinances and organizations put together and scrupulously practiced, cannot save the soul." REVIEW OF FIFTY YEARS JUNE, 1896 "Our trouble has been all during these fifty years, to secure equipment. Had this been furnished, the history of the school would have been far more satisfactory. The success of the school in 1852 and years following, gave a wonderful impetus to girls' schools in Virginia. Many chartered schools came into existence during that decade. Some of course proved failures, and others exist to this day. "The annual registers of pupils during the entire existence of the school, aggregate 6,689. It "As soon as we took charge in 1846, and became acquainted with the surroundings and prospects, we saw clearly that the school could not live with a merely local patronage. It was almost wholly a boarding school, and it must draw its pupils from a broad area. The necessary steps were taken to make its advantages known in all parts of Virginia, and that patronage was sufficient for our limited accommodations until the close of 'the war.' We often declined applicants for want of proper accommodations. But after Virginia had been devastated by two contending armies within her borders for four years, we had to look to still broader fields for pupils. It was about the year 1870 that we first "My life has been one of unceasing work and energy, of constant cares and anxieties, and of a deep sense of responsibility. I have only laid a foundation on which the next generation may build. Will Virginia, the most desirable State in the Union for institutions of learning of every grade and class, seize the opportunity and again advance, through educational channels, to the leadership of States, and inaugurate an era of greater glory and higher destinies for this great American people? Oh, that she may be wise to discern the ominous signs of these times and seek through great schools for young men and young ladies, a power and progress which shall far eclipse her pristine glories! "And now, at the close of fifty years' connection EDUCATIONAL THEORY JUNE, 1893 "These graduates are not confined to a single Christian denomination; they have come from all denominations. And this is, in my judgment, the true ideal of a Christian school. I have often said that the associations of a school for young ladies, properly conducted, are worth more to them than any single department of study. They learn so much from contact and association with each other. "Certainly a school for young ladies should not aim to send forth all its pupils of exactly the same type. Its facilities and associations should be such as to give ample scope for individuality of development, and that genuine sympathetic contact and impress, which lifts the less cultured to higher walks and ways, and impresses the more fortunate with their duty to the needy and dependent, often the most deserving, and often "The school from its beginning has maintained and made prominent one feature so culpably neglected, and even opposed by most schools for girls. It has maintained a broad and elevated course of study and fixed high standards of graduation. This has been done with special reference to the demands of that class of girls who propose to make teaching their profession or business in life. And most abundantly has it been rewarded in this effort. Its graduates are in great demand and many of them hold elevated positions as teachers. But there are other courses in addition to that required for full graduation. These are intended to meet the varied wants of other classes of students, who, from feeble health, inadequate means or mere preference, decline to pursue the full course. "The school has accomplished far more than its early founders aimed at or even dreamed of. They looked to local demands and a limited sphere. But its influence has been felt not only through Virginia, but throughout the South and West, and even from the great North, pupils have sought and enjoyed its advantages. Graduation from school does not imply full and complete knowledge on any subject or in any department SECRET OF SUCCESS 1855 "If you would have your minds well disciplined and well stored with useful information, you must be willing to retire, for a time at least, from the enticing and distracting scenes of the busy world, and in the quietude of academic life, devote your powers to those labors which alone can secure the desired boon. Here the work must be done, here the foundation must be laid, upon which your future attainments and your future eminence must rest. Neglect this preparation, and you can have no well grounded hope of rising to distinction in society, or of exerting an influence which shall leave a record of your name and your deeds upon the hearts and memories of those who shall come after you.... CREATIVE WORK 1862 "I urge you to cultivate a taste not only for literature, but for making literature. The literature of a country determines its institutions, its social conditions, and its destiny. It is really its inner life whence its external manifestations spring." LITERARY TASTE JUNE, 1894 "Many a wise man has said repeatedly: 'Let me go into a young lady's parlor and examine the literature which lies on her table, and the books which fill the shelves of her library, and I will tell you all about her; the secret thoughts which habitually haunt her imagination, the purposes, the ambitions, the affections, good or bad, which agitate and fill her heart; the scenes, the sights, the objects, the aims which thrill her soul—all this I know from the companionship amid which she delights to linger and live, and with which she delights to commune.' Young ladies, when you reach home and unpack your trunks, will you take out the text books you have studied "Are you going to turn your back upon, and quit the company of, the only true aristocracy of all the ages and all countries, and seek lower associations? These people are not upstarts; they have lived and still live in all ages and countries; they have been the intimate and loving companions of kings and queens; of emperors and statesmen; divines and poets, scientists and linguists, and all the great of all the earth and every clime and kindred. "Again, the Good Book says, 'Where there is no vision the people perish.' This was spoken most probably in regard to the ancient prophets and seers who received the divine light from the great original source, and reflected it from their own hearts and minds on a benighted race. "But has not the great Inspirer of light and knowledge, since that remote past, raised up other prophets and seers and imparted other "Will you reject the invitation and decline the association? So, young ladies, as I said in the beginning, from a literary standpoint, from a social standpoint, from a business standpoint, and from the standpoint of philanthropic and Christian usefulness, your future position and success in life depend upon the company you keep. Under the great principle of the freedom of the press, the newspaper has become a universal institution in America,—omnipresent, and almost omnipotent. The result is that the vast constituency of our great government are better informed on current events all over the land and all over the world, than any people on the earth. "But the curse of the land is this: We spend too much time on this and kindred literature; this habit enfeebles the mind, contracts the vision, and suppresses high ambitions in the fields, the vast and elevated fields of broader, more solid, more useful and more permanent knowledge. Our people are making the most marvelous progress on all lines of human thought and effort, but on "The great mistake which so many make and which satisfactorily accounts for their want of success, is that they regard the mere accumulation of facts as the sole object of scholastic study;—that knowledge may be stored in the mind as we gather grain into a garner, and this, too, without regard to its character or quality, or the order in which the deposits are made. We have aimed, young ladies, to give you a better theory of education, and a more enduring foundation of scholarship.... "The great object of that culture and training which courses of scholastic study afford, is to assist the mind in the processes of its own development; to give to its searchings after truth and its toils in the fields of literature, direction and system; to enable it to think, to reason, to solve; to give it scope and expansion that it may successfully BROAD SYMPATHIES JUNE, 1892 "I would remind you, young ladies, that you go forth into life at a time when society is advancing on all lines of progress. In breadth, variety and thoroughness of literary and scientific knowledge, we are no less a marvel to ourselves than the wonder and admiration of the oldest civilizations of the world. This American people proposes to hold no inferior rank in the world-wide race for the greatest and grandest results in material development and production. This the most casual observer beholds all around him in every-day life. But when we come to review, critically and comparatively, the rise and progress of American learning, we see one determined and steady advance towards the highest standards the world has ever known. In the production and giving forth of all kinds of literature, this people aspires to the highest place; to the most advanced achievements that bless society and adorn life. "And shall our own section and people continue heedless and oblivious of this throbbing, restless, inspiring energy to rise to the very acme "Young ladies, suffer no sectional jealousies or narrow prejudices to find a resting place in your bosoms. They dwarf your souls, they contract your minds. Love your country in all its sections and broad limits and constituent elements, and contribute your best energies, in appropriate spheres, to its high and grand mission." CONFIDENT HOPE APRIL, 1862 "You go forth at a dark and threatening hour.... When the great plans of His far-reaching and comprehensive providence shall have been accomplished, in the stupendous conflict which you now behold, He will speak peace to the troubled waters, and there will be peace. Till then let us wait with calm resignation and abiding confidence in His designs of mercy.... This providence, however complicated and strange, leads only to some good and grand result, opening up new GUIDING PURPOSE 1901 "For many years it has been my earnest desire to so conduct the affairs of the institution that whether I was present or absent, there should be no abatement in the earnest purpose and devotion to duty which I have sought to make a part of the atmosphere of Hollins." |