The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-09-12

their country with an earnestncss of devo-
tion which places them in most honorable
distiction for their heroic defence of what
they believed to be right.
General Smith then spoke Of the regard
for religious instruction observed by the
institution, Instruction in the Bible and
in the evidences of christianity is enioined
by the laws of the institution, and all are
required to attend to these teachings cx-
cept such as may be excused upon the ap-
application of parents on conscientious
grounds. For the purpose Of devotion he
pointed ont the prayer hall, which it had
been his pleasure in the work Of recon-
struction TO restore to complete order.
There Jackson and Crutchfeld were wont
TO meet in holy communion with the cadets
morning and evening in seeking the bless
ings of Heaven, and here again we would
raise the altar of devotion to Him who
promised that "where two or three are
met together in His name there is He in
the midst of them."
The speaker called the attention Of the
cadets to the work before them of resusci-
tating the country and developing its re-
sources to meet public necessity and re-
licve the land from the prostration in
which il was left by the war, in which we
suffered and bled so much in vain. Prin-
ciples of truth and right have to be care
fully disseminated, that lawlessneSs, and
crime, and dissoluteness, and corruption
in public and private morals may be check
cd and rectiied, and righteousness be once
more the ruling principle of our land.
General Smith alluded to the war, say
ing that in the appeal to arms we had been
compelled to yield to superior force, and
our people have returned from it with
full purpose to maintain, in good faith,
their restored relations to the Constitution
and the United States. But, whatever We
had lost, General Smith said, we could at
least maintain our moral and intellectual
strength. By the culture of the sciences
and arts, and their application to the moral
and social, physical and intellectual de-
velopmept of our people, we may show that
we have the poIrer and the ,ciN to rise
above the disasters of civil strife, and
maintain in unsullied purity our distinc-
tive civilization.
In conclusion, General Smith quoted an
anecdote of the great Frederick Of Prus-
sia, who taking his then young nephew
Frederick William $50 soon to succeed
him on the throne) into the garden Of the
palace, and stopping before an obeli,k,
said to him: "See that tall column It's
aprightneSs is its strength, Remember
this evening, my good Fritz; perhaps thou
wilt think of it long after when am gone"
In conclusion, said the General, leave
with You, gentlemen, as my closing re-
mark, the striking commentary of the
King Of Prussia on the Importance of the
supreme law OF Truth and Probity, and in
the words of this great monarch say to
you that in the formation of your indi-
vidual character, and imprcssing that cha
racter upon our own people, ever remcm-
Der that its uprightness is its strength"
AT the conclusion of this most iudicious
and wcll-timcd address the students
cvinccd their hearty approval in an cnthu-
siaStic manner. The audience, much en-
tcrtaincd by the speech and approving its
views, aided warmly in the demonstration.
The aSsemblagc then dispersed, and the
cadets, with their officers and guests, re-
paired TO their mess hall, where they par
took of very fine dinner, prepared in the
cuisine just fitted up. ! have not time in
the hurried preparation Of this commune
cation to refer more particularly to this
pleasant occasion.
The body of cadets paradcd today on
the Institute grounds /; was remarkable for
its fine and gallant appearance. | never
saw finer looking set Of young men as
scmbled together. Many of them were in
the late war, and behaved in a manner
honorable to themselves and rejecting adj
ditional glory upon the noble institution
which instilcd into them not only the art
in which they distinguished themselves,
but the noble principles which guided
their conduct.