Manly, Charles, 1795-1871
Page 1
Raleigh
18 Oct 1856
My Dear Gov.,
I send you herewith a copy of minutes of Ex. Com. of
this day.
On the
trial of
the Impeachment, after all the Communications
from the Faculty were read
Gov. Bragg
presented 4 papers of 30 mortal pages
from
"Sir
Wm Hamilton"
called his
"Postscript to Memorial N
o 1; Key &
Appendix to Memorial N
o. 2 & Postscript to his
Key & Appendix." No one called for the reading of these
papers & they were not read.
Gov B.
&
Mr Bryan
stated
that they had rec
d private letters from the Prosecutor
which were not exhibited. I have no doubt that other members (
Moore
&
Saunders
) had also rec
d some, but they did
not say so.
I made the Comm
a speech, me judice,
a rouser & introduced 4 Resolutions.
1. That the case of Whitaker was, by law, exclusively within the cognizance
& jurisdiction of the Faculty, that we had confidence in their
judgt & discretion & declined expression of any opinion
on merits (in substance).
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2. Condemning the interference of
Herrisse
in the appointment of Tutors &
opposition to Pres
t & affirming &
approving Faculty's [Resolution] of 15 Aug
t. last
(following copy).
3. Approving of discipline &c & that there was nothing in
"Sir
Wm's"
complaint.
4. Therefore that the further consideration of the subject be indefinitely
postponed.
Moore
said we had not time to consider the subject, that he had to fix his papers
for his Circuit &c.
Saunders
also was "taken with a
leaving" to attend a Rail Road meeting. The illegible moved that the whole be ref.
d to a select Com
m consisting of
Moore
,
Bryan
, & myself
to make report &c This motion was seconded by
Bryan
& carried.
Should this Committee never
report & the subject remain on the table,
the necessary inference will be that the grave impeachments of the
Prosecutor have been regarded as senseless clamor & unworthy of
notice. But more of all this anon.
After taking a sober second thought of this whole affair I am inclined to
believe that you are magnifying it too much, giving too much importance to
scandal. All
Sir
Wm
wants is to provoke &
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goad you all. His private griefs &
malice will not be heeded by a single member of the
Board of Trustees. I
will not repeat (with
Young) that it is:
"Old Ocean into tempest wrought
To waft a feather or to drown a fly."
But I will say (with one illustrious predecessor
Old Stoky) that it is firing a cannon at a
small cock sparrow.
As to
Hedrick
, he is beheaded. I read your letter to the
Comm
on their power to
dismiss. But to no purpose. The "out side pressure" was
too great. Sundry letters had come up from
Trustees (from
Col
Steele among others) a public meeting (I think in
Murfreesboro
) & the Southern press all demanding his instant
removal, the
Committee determined to take the
responsibility.
Saunders's
Reso
n was a long
& violent one, mixed up with politics; we finally got it down to
what it is. Moreover it was stated that certain students who were here
during the fair declared that the danger of a College riot was imminent;
that they were only waiting to see what the
Ex.
Comm
would do & if they passed it
over that violence & bloodshed would ensue. I placed very little
confidence myself in this story.
Please notify
Mr Hedrick
of the decision.
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Finding that the young McKimmons are here I
will send up by them the "Key & Appendix &
Postscript" as I could not afford to pay postage on it, &
after you have amused yourself with it you can return it by a
private opportunity.
It is my purpose, at present, to call by CHill on my return from Chatham
Count . It will be a favorable time to pay off the balance of
salaries &c. Should I do so I shall drive straight up to your House.
I can't stand Guthrie's
& I know you will be glad to see me "any how" I
will let you know whether I go or not.
Mr
Amis of Granville has I think made a pretty plain case against the
Anthropophagos about Jacob
Fane.
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Copy
"Raleigh
Oct. 18, 1856
Executive Committee met.
The
Committee resumed the consideration of the
several memorials of
Mr Herrisse
heretofore laid on the
table.
Copies from the Faculty's Journal together with the answering &
statements of the President & several of the Professors as to the
charges contained in the said memorials were laid before the
Committee & read: and
Gov. Bragg
also
presented other papers from
Mr Herrisse
called by him
"A Postscript to Memorial N
o. 1, Key &
Appendix to Memorial N
o. 2, & a Postscript to
Key & Appendix."
On motion of Judge Saunders
Ordered that the whole subject be referred to a select Committee consisting
of Mess
r
Moore
Bryan
&
Manly
to make report.
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Judge
Saunders
presented the following Resolutions which were read
& adopted.
Whereas
Profr B.
S. Hedrick
seems disposed to respect neither
the opinion of the Faculty nor the
Trustees of the
University but persists
in retaining his distinction to the manifest injury of
the
University:
Resolved that for the causes set forth by this Committee
on the 11
th inst., he the said
B. S. Hedrick
be & he
is hereby dismissed as a Professor in the
University; & the
Professorship which he now fills is hereby declared to
be vacant.
Resolved that he be paid his full salary to the close of
the present session.
Resolved that the Secretary notify him of this
decision.
The resignations of
A. G. Brown
as Adjunct Prof
r of
Latin & Greek, & of
Wm R. Wetmore as Tutor from
& after the present session were read & accepted.
The Report of Jas. S. Amis
Esq of Granville Co on the escheat case of Jacob Fane made at the request of
the Bd of Trustees in June last was presented
& read & laid on the table.