"Since the communication on behalf of the Trustees, to which your letter of the 8th instant was in reply, a contingency then contemplated has arrived. A minority of the Trustees have sued out an injunction restraining the Board from making the contemplated removal of the College, the writ being returnable on the first Monday in August at Charlotte Courthouse for hearing before Judge Marshall. We are advised that the suit will prove very tedious as well as very expensive, and will thus operate very disadvantageously to the interests of the College whatever the decision. We therefore add to the former application made to you in behalf of the Trustees, that you will issue an order protecting us, both from obstruction and from delay, through these appeals to the courts, until such time as the legislative authority of the State, of which you are at present the sole representative, shall be regularly organized and open to the application usual in such cases. "Very respectfully yours, (Signed) "J. EARLY, ETC., ETC., "_Committee_." To this communication General Stoneman submitted the following reply: "HEADQUARTERS FIRST MILITARY DISTRICT, "RICHMOND, VA., _July 29, 1868_. "GENTLEMEN: I am directed by the commanding General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date in relation to the subject of the removal of Randolph-Macon College, and in reply thereto, to inform you that authority is hereby given to the Trustees of that College to remove that institution, with all the appurtenances and fixtures thereunto belonging, to such place and at such time as the majority of the Trustees may think proper, this removal to be subject to the conditions set forth in a former letter from these headquarters, dated the 8th instant.* *This letter is not found in the record. "I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, (Signed) "S. F. CHALFIN, "_Assistant Adjutant-General_" "_To Messrs. John Early, D. S. Doggett, Richard Irby, R. M. Smith, and others, Committee of the Trustees of Randolph-Macon College._" The owners of the property at Ashland, who had purchased the same for the Trustees, submitted the conditions on which they proposed to turn it over to the Trustees, and the same were, on motion, accepted. This property embraced all the buildings then standing on the thirteen acres, now constituting the campus of the College at Ashland, with some other lots adjacent. Thus the location was provided for the College with accommodations for professors and students, and the way was cleared for the removal of the College to it. At this juncture President Johnson submitted the following communication: "RICHMOND, VA., _July 30, 1868_. "_Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees of Randolph-Macon College:_