Wake Forest University - Howler Yearbook (Winston Salem, NC)

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unique record of having completed a half-centurj- of continuous ser dce as a col- lege professor. Dr. Royall was ordained as a minister of the gospel in 1869, and for thirty- seven years served as pastor of countrj ' and village churches. In all of these churches the memory of his gentle influence and untiring devotion is cherished as a perpetual benediction. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Jud.son Col- lege in 1886, and that of Doctor of Laws by Furman University in 1907. Dr. Royall ' s scholarship is solid, profound, and discriminating, and yet is pervaded by a most delightful and refreshing modesty that forbids an ' undue display of the depth and extent of his erudition. These endowments of learning and simplicity, combined with an intimate knowledge of and sympathy with his fellow-men, an extiuisite tactfulness, a clearness of vision and fa.stidiousness of taste, have made him an itleal teacher. No earnest student ever came under his influence without feeling the inspiration toward the good and the beautiful in life. The.se same characteristics are illustrated in his literary productions, which are models of chaste, i)ure and simple language. . s a minister of the gospel Dr. Royall has always felt a peculiar delight and satisfaction, and his influence in this fichl of labor has l)een. perhaps, as deep and far-reaching as in his teaching. Thoroughly orthodox, and yet devoid of the arroganc.v of orthodoxy, genuinely evangelical, ami yet free from emotion- alism and sensationalism, clear concise, effective, and authoritative in his preach- ing, with a spirit of beautiful charity toward the erring and of tender .sympathy for all trouble and suffering, he has been unrivaled as a pastor and preacher. For over forty years he was the adviser and examiner of the ministerial students of the College, and the .same gentleness and graciousness that characterized his own ministry wen ' in rich measure imparted to the young men who began their spir- itual labors with his kindly counsel and encouragement. It is impossible to wTite of Dr. Royall as a friend and an a.ssociate: the heart grows full and worils are inadequate. We who have known him, who have seen the beauty and gentleness of his home life, his quiet geniality and cheerfulness in the social zircle. his Christlike patience in trials and sufferings, his unosten- tatious piety, and his unswerving loyalty to all that is true, noble, and good, we love him from the depths of our hearts and we honor him with full devotion. We fervently l)ra - that many years may yet be added to the beautiful and useful life of this servant of (iod.

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William Pailcp EopaU, B.B., HIL.IB. In Professor Dowden ' s deliglitful life-story of Robert Browning lie speaks of the inadequateness of a simple narration of facts when the chief concern of the reader is a biography of the mind. The like difficulty confronts the writer in the attempt to construct a biographical sketch of Dr. William B. Royall, for the ):)are relation of the details of a life of this truly great and good man would be insufficient to give a correct idea of his greatness as a teacher and the good- ness and gentleness of his character and influence. In the limited space, there- fore, at our disposal it will be necessary to pass rapidly over the facts of his life and to mention the more obvious characteristics of personality, leaving the bi- ography of the mind — that beneficent and lovable nature that really makes the man — to the sweet and tender memories of the thousands of friends who know and love him. William Bailey Royall was born September 2, 1S44. at Mount Pleasant, S. C, in view of the city of Charleston. It is no mean honor to lie descended as he was from a noble Huguenot ancestry, a sjilcndiil iicojile who have so greatly en- riched and eml)ellished the moral and intellectual lifi ' of , merica. His father was Dr. William Royall — claruin et venerahile iiinncn — a scholar and teacher of wonderful versatility and a preacher .second to none in inspiration anil depth of thought. This learned and godly father was the fruitful mentor of the son, who, at the early age of ten, began under him the study of Greek and enjoyed the un- surpassed advantage of his influence and instruction during the four years from 18.5.5 to 1859 that he was a student at Furman University. In 1860 the family removed to Wake Forest, from which institution Dr. Royall was graduated with the Bachelor ' s Degree in 1861, and the Master ' s Degree upon his return from the war in 1866. Immediately after his graduation he entered the Confederate Army, being at first a corporal in the Santee Artillery of Manigault ' s South Carolina Bat- tallion. Ilpon the appointment of his father as Chaplain of the 55th North Carolina Regiment, the son was transferred to that command in 1862 and served under Longstreet, A. P. Hill, and Robert E. Lee, being with Ceneral Lee at the Surrender at Appomatto.x. During these four years of storm and stress he maintainetl an ardent and enthusiastic devotion to the Greek langviage, as a result of the influence of the scholarly and inspiring teaching of his old master at Furman, Professor P. C. Edwards. On his return from the war he at once took charge of a preparatory school, which he conducted with such success that he was elected a member of the Faculty of Wake Forest College in .January, 1866, and lias thus attaiiic d the

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