"I take, however, the earliest opportunity after his return to express through you, to the Board of Trustees, the high sense which I entertain of the flattering honor which they have been pleased to confer upon me, and at the same time my regret for the necessity which I am under of declining its acceptance. "My anxiety to prosecute thoroughly and with an undivided attention the study of a profession is such that neither my desire to promote the interests of education, nor even the temptation of the honorable post which you have offered me, and the agreeable society which I should enjoy in Virginia, are sufficient to withdraw me from a course in which my father has had the kindness to yield me his acquiescence. With the best wishes for the prosperity of your institution, and a hope that you may secure for it the services of one whose ability (though certainly not his desire) to serve you will be far greater than mine, I remain with great respect, "Yours, &c., R. EMORY. "_To the Rev. John Early_." Prof. Landon C. Garland and Rev. Martin P. Parks accepted the chairs to which they had been elected at the previous meeting. Their letters of acceptance were as follows: FROM LANDON C. GARLAND. "WASHINGTON COLLEGE, December 13, 1831. "DEAR SIR: Circumstances not altogether under my control have prevented me from replying to your communication of October 15th as early as I wished. Having given to its contents that mature deliberation which their importance surely demanded, I feel myself prepared to give a final decision. "The only ambition of my life has been to devote all my time and talents to the promotion and welfare and happiness of our common country; and that situation which would enable me to do this _most efficiently_ I have ever esteemed most eligible. Contemplating in this spirit the important and extensive field of useful labor which Randolph-Macon College presents, I have felt it a duty incumbent upon me to obey the call which you so politely communicated in behalf of its Trustees. And through you I beg leave to assure them that this discharge of duty accords with every impulse of the heart; and I do trust that by a vigorous and united exertion with those associated with me, we shall in some humble measure redeem the pledge, which by our acceptance we make both to that body and to the world. "Yours very sincerely, "LANDON C. GARLAND. "_To the Rev. John Early_." FROM M. P. PARKS. PETERSBURG, VA., _April 3, 1832_.