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(Letters from John H. Hopkins to Rt.Rev.Bishop Polk,D.D.)8-12)
Burlington Vt. Octob. 2. 1860
(Letters from John H. Hopkins to Rt.Rev.Bishop Polk,D.D.)(8-12)
Burlinton, Vt. Octob. 8, 186-
Rt.Rev. & dear Brother:
Your favor of the 23d ulto. reached me last night, in which you kindly say that you are "very anxious" that I should be with you at the laying of the corner stone of your noble University of the 10th inst. I had previously received the circuler of Bishop Otey, containing the formal invitation, and answered it immediately, saying that it would not be in my power to attend. And I am obliged to report the same, although I feel not a little regret at the necessity which compels me to disappoint your friendly wishes.
You do not mention, however, whether you received my reply to your former letter, to which you expressed your desire that I should return and complete the remaining three months of our agreement. In that reply I declined, according to the option which you had given, to close our agreement, or to go on, as I preferred. And I stated my reasons, very frankly, viz. that I would not regard my service as being of any serious use to you, under existing circumstances. I also sent you a copy of my Journal, directing your attention to the fact that I had given the whole %750 of my 8 sojourn at Sewanee to our Vermont Institution, so that you might have the satisfaction of knowing that your friends had at least added the cause of Church education, or sound principles, at the North, although the amount paid to me had not been a very profitable investment for your own special enerprise.
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(8-12)
(Letters from John H. Hopkins to Rt. Rev.Bishop Pol,.D.D.0
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The state of the matter, in my mind, was this: that notwithstanding my grateful appreciation of the kind feeling towards myself which started the proposal, and the high sense of honorable consistency which induced you to carry it through, even if it proved to be an unprofitable bargain, yet I should not be satisfied conscientiously to avail myself of your friendly offer, when, on I became convinced, on full reflection, that I should not render you a fair quid pro quo. Ant therefore I felt sure that you would approve the principle-on which I declined returning to Sewanee, although I remained as zealously interested in your grand design, and as sincerely desirous of its success, as ever.
I trust that this letter of mine reached you, and that you were satisfied with my decision. SInce it was despatched I have become more closely engaged with the wants of my own Picayune issue, (as my excellent brother Bishop Elliot calls it) so that I cannot possibly get away for a considerable time to come. Our Institute is now prosperously at work, having commenced with 24 boarders in the Academical department, & 3 in the theological. But it has stripped me so bare, by the advances which I have made for it, that i have been compelled to take the rectorship of the Church at Rutland, at $1000 a year, in order to make both ends meet, in my family expenses. Besides which, I have on my hands the work of Architect for two stone Churches, one at Brandon, & the other at Rutland. My residence continues at Burlington, the arrangement being that I leave home every Friday, and return the following Monday, so as to have 3 1/2 days for my duty in the Theol. Semy.
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(8-12)
(Letters from John H. Hopkins to Rt.Rev.Bishop Polk)
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and domestic matters, correspondence, &c, The distance is only 66 miles by railroad, for which 2 1/2 hours suffice.
Now then, you understand why I cannot accept your kind invitation. My time is all pledged & most fully occupied in my own little sphere, for probably some two years to come, if my health & strength should so long be continued. I was, for a while, so absorbed in your noble plan, that I should have strongly inclined to prefer a subordinate instrumentality in that, to almost any other duty. But the day-dream has passed away, and is not likely to trouble me again. THe view Providence of our divine Master appoints the servants to very different positions in His earthly kingdom, and it is our duty to accept our place at His hands, with cheerful acquiescence, so being, on the whole, the best for the Church and for ourselves. Your sphere, my beloved brother, is an eminent and great one. Mine is comparatively humble and obscure. But both are equally necessary in the fulfillment of His designs, who alone knows and judgeth without the possibility of error. May His blessing qualify you, abundantly, for the grand work you have so well begun, and prosper it to the full extent of your most sanguine expectations.
Yr. affectionate friend & brother in Christ,
John H. Hopkins
Rt. Rev. Bishop Polk, D. D.