themselves for
positions of usefulness in every direction,--not all to be temperance
lecturers, not all to be honest lawyers, virtuous physicians, radical
anti-slavery enthusiasts; but some to fill all the various positions of
honor and trust.

No argument need be made to prove the vast extent of influence for good
which the College has exerted through the multitudes of young men who
have gone out from her halls, bearing the precious seed with them. It
has been scattered over the North, and to some extent over the South.
And to-day we are permitted to see the fields whitening, though not
fully ripe. The most enlightened communities, instead of receding from
the views promulgated by Oberlin teachers, have rapidly approached them.

The majority of the students of the College were those who had been
reared under good influences at home, and who found upon their arrival
at Oberlin, that the views entertained by the people and taught by the
Faculty were similar to their own. When the first military company was
formed from them, the members represented not simply Oberlin College,
but also the Christian families in which they had been trained. And so
they all felt. Each was proud to offer himself to defend the principles
his praying mother had taught him.

The news of the attack on Fort Sumter, by a rebellious force in arms,
was received by the students with a sad enthusiasm. From the morning
recitation, they would make haste to the Reading Room to learn the
latest item of intelligence in the Daily, with regard to the progress of
what then seemed the Insurrection.

[Sidenote: The Enlistment.]

The President issued a proclamation for 75,000 volunteers. A meeting of
the students, in the College Chapel, was called, Friday evening, April
19th, and was addressed by enthusiastic speakers from each of the
regular classes in the Institution. A committee of five was appointed to
get volunteers. On the next day Prof. Monroe arrived from Columbus. A
meeting was called in the Church, which was addressed by him and Col.
Sheldon from Elyria. At the close of the meeting it was announced that
the roll was open for enlistments. Immediately, young men ran from
various parts of the assembly, and in a few moments the stand was
crowded. Lester A. Bartlett was the first to write his name on the roll.
Forty-nine names were secured that evening. The next day was the
Sabbath; but many more were added before its close, because each feared
the r