Excerpt from The College of Hampden-Sydney: Calendar of Board Minutes 1776-1876 What are the origins and the fortunes of any idea that has taken shape? These must be interesting questions always, and not least so in the case of an academic institution in a new country. Southside Virginia has been a tobacco country from the first. Who have been those of the region that have been formally identified with efforts looking to the maintenance of the academic tradition? The following pages give an answer for' Hampden Sidney College, which, with William and Mary and Washington and Lee, has survived in Virginia from a colonial foundation. Hampden Sidney and Washington and Lee, repre senting the south and the west in the State, mark the beginnings of the positive Revolution; the history of William and Mary, stand ing for the colony, is now dim with the circumstances of age. How have the three fared since the establishment of the Uni versity, and what have been the well-devised plans for collegiate education in the State? What have been the vicissitudes? This Calendar is no brief. In it may be found the facts for a hundred years of the management by Trustees of one of the old est colleges in the country. Very few of these men are now living, but the College exists no one can say how much because they gave it their oversight. The history of an institution, even if complete as histories go, would be but a partial record: the forces making to that result are so numerous and involved that a state of mind may easily be brought about quite antagonistic to the drawing up of any rational account of past conditions. Action is the thing, and if a register of current acts is kept, little more can be expected. And yet acts are related, often springing one out of another, and it is desirable to trace the process. It is not certain that historical tastes and aptitudes mean decadence in the community - it is possible that the community is taking on new life in several ways including the historical. At no time has there been any lack of subjects for research in history, but it is interesting to observe the forming of solidarities out of which grows the historical feeling in specific directions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.