Sketches of Western Pennsylvania [pp. 280-306]

Sketches of Western Pennsylvania.
the public assembly, and afforded him a subject of meditation
for days and weeks. Mr. Smith, like all his brethren associated with him, was a good Latin and Greek scholar, as well as
an impassioned and eloquent speaker. Mr. Dod, in his knowledge of the Hebrew language, and also of mathematics and
natural science, was superior to all his associates. The estimation in which his mathematical talents and acquirements were
held, when a student in college, is learned from the following
incident. When the late Albert B. Dod was nominated as a
candidate for the mathematical chair in the College of New
Jersey, Chief Justice Kirkpatrick, one of the Trustees,
remarked, that he was not acquainted with the candidate, and
did not know his qualifications as a mathematician; nevertheless, he would vote for him. "When," said the Judge, "I was
a student in the College, there was one Thaddeus Dod, a
student at the same time, who seemed to understand mathemnatics by instinct; all the students applied to him when anything difficult occurred in their mathematical studies. I
presume," he continued, "the candidate is of the same stock,
and 1 will vote for him."*
The contrast was still greater between the Rev. John McMillan and the Rev. James Power. The former in his aspect was
austere, in his dress negligent, in his manners rough. The
latter was graceful in his person, polished in his manners, and
always dressed in a neat and becoming manner. The style of
preaching of these two men was as variant as their personal
appearance. When fairly under way, Mr. McMillan was loud,
boisterous, rolling out his words in a torrent, without regard to
emphasis or natural pauses, manifesting an earnestness in what
he uttered, to the neglect of all the rules of correct speaking.
The elocution of the Rev. James Power was clear, distinct; no
rambling, inarticulate sounds were heard; every word and
every syllable was uttered with a distinctness which left no
* The Judge did not err in his conjecture. Albert B. Dod was elected Professor of Mathematics in the College of New Jersey; and in the few years that
it pleased a sovereign and righteous God to permit him to remain on earth, he
attained an eminence, not only in mathematical knowledge, but also in mental,
physical, and theological science, such as few men of his age, in any country,
have reached.
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