William Campbell Preston. well. In speaking of Thornwell as president of the college, Dr. Labórele says: " I have long since come to the conclusion that he united more of the qualities which give fit ness for the high office, than any one who has rilled it; and abating none of my admir ation for the distinguished men who preceded him, and holding them in grateful remem brance for their valuable services, still I must present him as the model president; as primus inter pares." In the domain of eloquence they were both stars of the first magnitude. Here we find it hard to compare them. Mach of them was well fitted for his peculiar field — Thornwell for the pulpit, and Preston for the hustings, the forum, and the political arena. As a graceful orator Preston may have been, and doubtless was, more univer sally popular; and yet it remains true that, at times, the eloquence of Thornwell has never yet been surpassed by that of any other orator on the American conti nent. Mr. Preston's great rival for oratorical fame in Carolina, and perhaps in the South, was wereGeorge so dissimilar McDuffie. that it And is hard yetto their compare styles j them. It has always seemed to me that Mr. Toombs and Mr. McDuffie resembled each other somewhat in their style of oratory. Both of them had a sweeping, overpowering style. They carried everything before them with a rush. They burst upon you like an avalanche from the mountain's side. Mr. McDuffie's eloquence came in torrents. Mr. Preston was more graceful and more varied in style. A writer in an article on " Higher Education in South Carolina" compares them as follows: "Of the men in public life, George McDuffie probably reached the highest rank. He and W. C. Preston were room-mates at college, and he was looked on as the Demosthenes of the State, as Preston was considered the Cicero." Preston was more ornate, more incisive, and more brilliant; while, on the other hand, Mc
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Duffie was more powerful, more terrific, and more tornado-like. And now that I have about reached a conclusion, I would remark, in the words of Dr. Carlisle : " How transient and fleeting is fame! " Although Mr. Preston was one of the most highly educated men of America, was an exceedingly able statesman, and perhaps unsurpassed as an orator, was at different times a member of the South Caro lina legislature, mayor of Columbia, United States Senator, and president of the South Carolina College, yet how little is known of him! In Barnes's " History of the United States," which is recognized by our school authorities and used in our common schools, Preston's name does not occur at all. I have looked in vain al.so for some allusion to him in Chapman's " History of South Carolina," a book which is also studied by the school children of our State. Nor is his name mentioned by Eggleston. These things ought not so to be. Arc our children to grow up in ignorance of our really great men — those who have shed lustre upon our State and country, and who by their high characters and noble lives have not only won for themselves a place worth}' of record on the historic page, but have furnished a pattern for study and emulation for all time to come? Whose fault is it that this is so? Some remedy must be devised. To the credit of the students of WofFord College be it said that, while they have honored them selves by doing so, they have at the same time perpetuated the name and fame of two of Carolina's great men, Calhoun and Pres ton, by giving their names to their literary societies. And in doing this they have fos tered the spirit of eloquence and statesman ship as well. I am glad to be able to say that on the walls of the Preston Literary Society at Wofford there is suspended a fine picture of Mr. Preston. I would remark also en passant that in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington there is a splendid por trait representing Preston when in his prime.
