Dr. John E. Edwards, who visited the College frequently in its early history, wrote: "Dr. Olin's personal appearance impressed me as no other man ever impressed me. The Greeks would have deified him as a god." W. F. Samford, LL. D., of Alabama, who graduated at Randolph-Macon College in June, 1837, wrote: "Physically, intellectually and morally, Stephen Olin was a giant--as veritable a one as Og, king of Bashan. He might well rank with the 'mighty men who were of old, men of renown' _facile princeps_ among all the great men I have ever known. The etymology of this word, by which I have designated him, _gigas_, suggests its appropriateness--a man of violence and terror. Without the restraints of divine grace his passions were volcanic, his ambition boundless. He once told me that before his conversion to Christianity he 'would have bartered a crown in heaven for a seat in Congress.' How humble, how patient, how loving he became as a disciple of Christ! 'Great, humble man!' exclaimed Dr. Leroy Lee, of Virginia, when he met him at the Conference in Lynchburg in 1835. Olin had disclosed his whole heart to Lee in a rebuke which he administered to him for a display of untempered zeal in a debate on the Conference floor--'What business have you with any feelings in the matter? A man of God should be gentle and easy to be entreated.'" It may be thought that the estimates of Dr. Olin above given were partial, and hence not fully reliable. It is proper, therefore, to give the opinion of Rev. Theo. L. Cuyler, D. D., one of the most distinguished ministers of the Presbyterian Church, and one of the best writers of the present century. He speaks of him as President of Wesleyan University, Connecticut, about ten years after he left Randolph-Macon: "In physical, mental, and spiritual stature combined, no Methodist in the last generation towered above Dr. Stephen Olin. He was a great writer, a great educator, and preeminently a great preacher of the glorious gospel. During the summer of 1845, While I was a student for the ministry, I spent some time at Middletown, Conn. Dr. Olin was then the President of the Wesleyan University, and was at the height of his fame and usefulness. Like all great men, he was very simple and unassuming in his manners; with his grand, logical head was coupled a warm, loving heart. When his emotional nature was once kindled it was like a Pennsylvania anthracite coal-mine on fire. These qualities of argumentative power and intense spiritual zeal combined made him a tremendous preacher. No one doubted that Stephen Olin had the baptism of the Holy Spirit.