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A SKETCH. "Ex parvis saepe maguarum momenta rerum peudeut."-Livy. 'N the afternoon of Thursday, September 6th, 1866, tile Master of Door-to-Virtue ~t . Lodge of Freemasons, assisted by his wardens, and surrounded by seventy five of his brethren, laid the corner-stone of a building which, when finished, was I~ known as "\Vestern Maryland College." The crowd of citizens who were to be present had come together not merely to witness a novel ceremony and to listen to speeches, but to testify, by their presence, the interest felt in the inauguration of a great aud beneficent enterprise. The hopes of the participants and spectators already high were lifted higher still by the breath of oratory. Prophecies of great things to come. of great works to be achieved, Icund ready credence, and westminster already saw itself, as in a kind of beatific vision, the home of learning and the nursery of scholars. The very scene by its beauty, perhaps still more by its associations, lent encouragement to the most optimistic views Certainly the site chosen for the new college was one of unsurpassed loveliness. Itself one of the" everlasting hills," lifted high above a surrounding country of rare beauty and fertility, with little Westminster nestling at its feet, while the majestic Blue Ridge loomed all the western horizon and freely gave its invigorating breezes; a spot retired yet accessible, it seemed the ideal location for a school. Then, too, the ground on which the corner-stone was laid possessed associations which seemed almost prophetic of the use.'; to which it was henceforth destined The" old commou" at the west-end, the play-ground of the village children, the favorite resort of young men and maidens ill search of the pictur- esque.c--wlmr more appropriate place could be selected as a scholastic home for youth? But the "old common" had been more than a play-ground. Here political meetings were wont to be held and the great questions of free-trade, protective tariff, internal improvements to be discussed for the enlightenment or confusion of citizens eager to learn their duties and their rights; here, annually, on "Tndependence Day," the grove was vocal with patriotic oratory and music, while the struggles of the Republic were recounted and its future painted in glowing colors-csurely an educational work ali this, even if intermittent and largely futile. Did not the ceremony of this sunny September day, twenty seven years ago, seem to dedicate the hill, most fittingly, to thc continuance, in a settled, solid way, of the work of training young people of both sexes, ill college walls, for the duties of citizeuship which lay before them?