University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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dying, but of course it was in a languishing condition. It was almost a leap in the dark for Dr. Manning, with a large famih ' , to remove to Chapel Hill, with no salary promised, on the prospect of realizing a support from tuition money of his students. The venture shows his far-seeing sagacity. Begin- ning with a class of seven, he has had under his instruction in 1897-98, eighty -seven students. He secured this wonderful success by hard work and faithful teaching, by intelligent sympathy with the needs of young men, and insisting on honest labor on their part. The reputation of the school for thoroughness has spread to distant states. The hold possessed by Dr. Manning on the hearts of his students is boundless. They admire and respect his learning and skill in instruction, they reverence his piety and unbending integrity, and repay his kindly interest in their welfare with the sincerest gratitude and affection. This sketch would be incomplete if the fact should be omitted that Dr. Manning has from boyhood been a faithful follower of Christ and not ashamed to avow it. He has been an active member of the church of his forefathers, the Protestant Episcopal, holding nearly all its offices which can be conferred on a layman, including a seat in its General Convention.

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vention in adopting the Provisional and Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States and ineffectually endeavored to have them submitted to the people. All measures for a vigorous prosecution of the war he actively sustained. After the war he devoted himself assiduousl} ' to repairing his shattered fortvme. On the death, in 1870, of the member of Congress of his district (Ex-Judge Robert B. Gilliam) he was nominated as his successor and, with a majority of over one thousand against him, was elected over Hon. Joseph W. Holden by over 350 votes. While in Congress he vigorously assailed all measures especially directed against the Southern States. He made a strong speech against the old Force Bill, which set aside safe- guards of liberty under the plea of suppression of the Ku Klux Klan. This speech was circulated by his party throughout the Northern and Western States as a campaign document. Having no taste for the manipulation of primaries he was not nominated by the ensuing District Convention, a disastrous part) mistake, as the Democratic candidate was badly defeated. Thenext public position held by Dr. Manning was a membership in the Constitutional Convention of 1875. Here he labored successfully to correct many crude and unsuitable provisions of the Constitution of 1868. Having a deep love for the university, his alma mater, then in straits, he consented to be a candidate for a seat in the General Assembly of 188 1, with the avowed object to aid in upbuilding it. At the request of President Battle he introduced the bill for granting the first annuity ever received from the State, $5,000. B the active labor and eloquent speeches of himself and others the bill became a law At the same session he was, with Hon. Wm. T. Dortch and Hon. John S. Henderson, selected by the Assembly to codify the laws, which had been changed greatly since Battle ' s Revisal. The result of their most intelligent labors is the Code of North Carolina, two volumes, promulgated by the General assembly of 1883, pronounced by such an excellent Judge as George V. Strong, to be the best publication ever made in the State. About this time he was tendered a position on the Superior Court bench, but declined the offer. He likewise declined the office of Secretary of State. In 1881, not onl} without his solicitation, but without his knowledge, the Board of Trustees of the university, b} a unaminous vote, elected him to fill the vacancy in the professorship of law, caused by the death of ex-Judge Wm. H. Battle, in 1879. After the death of his father. President Battle had, amidst the multiplicity of other engrossing duties, kept the Law School from 17

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( hc f©Qeultvj. President, Edwin Anderson Alderman, D. C. L., Ph. B., University of North Carolina, 1882. J . K. 2. Fraternity. Professor of History, Kemp Plummer Battle, L. L. D., A. B., University of North Carolina, 1849; A. M., University of North Carolina, 1852. Professor of Chemistry, Francis Preston Venable, University of Virginia, 1874 ; University of Bonn, 1879 ; Ph. D., University of Gottingen, 1881. A. K. E. Fraternity. Professor of Nattiral Philosophy , Joshua Walker Gore, C. E., Univetsity of Virginia, 1875 ; K. A. Fraternity (Southern.) Professor of Law, John Manning, L. L. D., A. B. and A. M., University of North Carolina. Professor of the English Language and Literature, Thomas Hume, D. D., L. L. D., a. B. and A. M., Richmond College ; University of Virginia. Pfofessor of Modern Languages, Walter Dallam Toy, M. A., University of Virginia, 18S2 ; University of Leipsic, 1883; LTuiver- sity of Berlin, 1883-84; College de France, 1885. X. . Fraternity. 19