r twenty years was
an active member of the Baptist Church."

Boynton's History of West Point gives the following valuable
paragraphs relating to Sylvanus Thayer, by whose munificence to the
cause of education he has laid his Alma Mater and his native town
under lasting obligations:

"Brevet-major Sylvanus Thayer, of the Corps of Engineers, on July 28,
1817, assumed command as superintendent of the West Point Military
Academy, and from this period the commencement of whatever success as
an educational institution, and whatever reputation the Academy may
possess, at home or abroad, for its strict, impartial, salutary,
elevating, and disciplinary government, must be dated. Major Thayer
was an early graduate of the academy. He had served with distinction
in the War of 1812, and had studied the military schools of France,
and profited by the opportunity to acquire more complete and just
views concerning the management of such an institution than were
generally entertained by educational and military men of that day. The
field before him was uncultivated; the period was one when rare
qualifications for position were not considered valueless; and,
blessed with health, devotion to the cause, and firmness of purpose,
he was permitted to organize a system, and remain sixteen years to
perfect its operation.

"Immediately after entering upon his duties, the Cadets were organized
into a battalion of two companies, with a colonel of Cadets, an
adjutant, and a sergeant-major, for its staff; and within the year he
created a 'Commandant of Cadets,' to be an instructor of tactics.

"The division of classes into sections, the weekly rendering of class
reports, showing the daily progress, the system and scale of daily
marks, the establishment of relative class rank among the members, the
publication of the Annual Register, the introduction of the Board of
Visitors, the check-book system, the preponderating influence of the
'blackboard,' and the essential parts of the Regulations for the
Military Academy, as they stand to this day, are some of the evidences
of the indefatigable efforts of Major Thayer to insure method, order,
and prosperity to the institution. When relieved, at his own request,
the upward impetus given to the institution had attracted general
observation."

General Thayer evidently believed that "peace hath her victories" as
well as war, and nobly acted in accordance with his intelligent,
earnest convictions.

"Joe