Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-27
be said, though physically dead, her spirit
still lives. [Applause.l 81 '''~

L The memory of F. R. Cossist the fir
!, President Of Cumberland University: ii
r ashes mingle with the dust, but his meu1or
: y green in all our hearts. @tst usai 81
IA Rev. 4 BEARD. d D.--Mr, Presiden
{ The mention of the name of DIR. Cossii
d swakens memories in my mind which ar
l very sacred and very tender. was &C
: | quainted with him during a space of NOR
/ | than forty years / knew him well;
think no man knew him better. / hayl
{ | already given my estimate of his characte
TO the public. have made a permanep
record of something of what he was, anC
Of what he accomplished for the church
and the world. But az am called out ou
The present occasion a few thoughts may b
offered. In the month of March, 1926
! pr Cossitt entered upon the great work Of
his life. At that time he organized Cum
1eriand College, at Princeton, Kentueky,
You will see, Mr.. President, that "Cum-
berland" is a favorits prefix with US. This
college was an experiment. 1t would be
considered novelty now. He had farm
there. He had plows and hoes, and axes,
and oxen, and carts, and all the apparatus
Of well ordered farm. The boys worked
two hours each day in connection with
their studies, and rubbed their backs
| sgainst the walls of wooden college,"
| Cumberland University is an out-growth
OF this institution. The sytem did not
work we'll, and in 1913 DR.. Ccssitt moved
70 Lebanon and and became the frss Presi-
Gent OF what Is now Cumberland Univer-
SHY. IL was for while, however, "Cum-
Derland College at Lebanon, Tennessee"
Here he labored until declining health,
and other engagements suggested the pro-
priety of resignation. DR.. Cossitt con-
tinued his other labors a number of years
bat finally disconnected himself from pub
lie pursuits. The last decade of his life
ne spent in the quietude Of bis own we'll
regulated home. Early in 1868 when war
vas sweeping over the land, and we were
hearing the roar ofthe cannon nearly every
day, the good man ended his days in the
bosom Of his family in peace and in the
nope OF glorious resurrection. If / may
DC allowed to be 30 much of Cumberland
Presbyterian here, the Cumberland Pres
oyterian Church has always seemed 10 me
q provideDtial necessity in its origin, and
DIR. Cossitt has seemed a proVidential
agency amongst Us. He came a stranger
from the remote North; he liked US; our
spirit and theology were congenial with
his; be united himself with us and became
a pioneer in our work of education,
and in all Of our progressive develop
ments- Allow me to read asenteRee or two |
from letter 10 myself from a distin- |
guished minister of another denomination |
whose education DIR. Cossitt had superin- |
tended. 1t is in reference to brief bio |
graphical sketch: HYour memoir of DIR. |
COssitt is excellent az a sketch, but his |
life and labors in the great work of educa- |
ton deserve more space and detail. In |
reading your account Of his struggles, anx.
ieties and suferings in the great and self.
denying work he had undertaken, and sus-
tanned so well to the last, my mind was
hiled with tenderness and my eyes with
tears. L revere his memory as q christian
instructor who filed his high position
with dignity, fidelity and christian con-
In the great day many will
rise up and call him blessed.
7 sum up the character of DR.. Cossitt
very briefly. He was eminently a christian
scholar, and in the very highest sense Of
the expression, christian gentleman.
These are high attainments. Might |
reach them myself, and might the mantle
which fell from his shoulders after having
been worn with so much dignity and suit
ableness, fall upon some of us who survived
NINTH TOAST.
The memory Of Carutbers and Green,
the fathers of the Law School: upon the
foundation which they laid has arisen a
structure Of fadeless renown. s .s.
Col. Il. /. GoLLADAY-GentIeme of /
t lie Alumni The mention Of the names of |
Caruthers and Green awakens memories
bright and dear to many in this assembly.
They are truly great and illustrious names,
and we would rejoice could they be per-
mitted to mingle their voices with ours
around the festive board. But they are
no more. f. aa -
Great men are the landmarks and guide.
posts of q nation. They are the Jewels of
the State. They form and fashion govern
ments; they furnish all the grand ideas upon
which, as q substrstum, all things good and
useful are founded. Under their instrue-
tons, and in the Light of their actions,
young genius loves to trim her wings and
fashion her flights for immortality. We
may well say Of the great men whose
We recall to-day, what Virgil said
Of Eneas and his band, who founded Latin
greatness and glory on Italia's ancient
e ~ CLARA ct venerabilia nomina
Gentibqs;; ct multum nOstr1 quOd PrOderant
Yes, cir, they are illustrious and vsner-
able names in the land, and have brought
glory and greatness TO our country.
Caruthers may well be called the father
and founder Of the true common law of
Tennessee. We can with truth say of him,
as Lord AVonmore said of Blackstone: He
gave to the Law an air of science-he found
It skeleton, and he clothed il with flesh,
color, and complexion-he embraced the
cold statue, and il stepped forth, chiseled
into perfection, life and beauty. 1t was
he who truly founded the principles of the
great law of selfdefense in our State, to-
day unchanged and unaltered. |
What Caruthers was to the common law,
Green was to chancery Jurisprudence. He
ia the lofty founder and father of equity
in our State. II Lord Nottingham in nine
years labor founded English chancery,
and Lord Hardwick gave the finishing
touches in the succeeding twenty, we may
claim for Judge Green that, in the thirty
years of his Judicial labors, he both founded
and finished the equity Jurisprudence of
Tennessee.
But the profound jurists and the beloved
instructors are gone. OmaPs torch has
eveled the halls of Alma Mater with the
lust; the academic groves, planted by US in
affection, have been destroyed by the van
1al band of the invader. Plato and Socra-
,es shall no more assemble their iDgens-
,us youths for rich instruction amid scenes
10 Consecrated. But successors to their
disciples to their labor, let US
preserve the form and fashion of the mind
which they impaired. Let Us rear anew
Dur fallen columns, and resound Our glori-
BUS old Mother on the spot where she fell.
Let us remember and bear about Us the
Iweet lines of an American poet,
In the worlds broad field of battle.
In the bivouac Of life,
Be not like dumb driven cattle
Be hero in the strifel
Art is long, and time is heeting,
And our hearts, though strong and brave, |
Still like mufiled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave"
TENTH TOAST
Camp Blake: the garrison from which
90 forth the soldiers who are to storm the
Itrongholds of Satan.
Rev. II. +. BONE, of Texas-Mr. Presi-
dsnt-This seems to be q new feature of
this institution-one frsught with great in
terest. A great necessity of the age is now
supplied. 1. has been organized to furnish
means Of high education. Like Miner
va, it seems to have sprung full-fedged
from brain Of Jove. We must avail our
selves Of all the benefits in our power to
push forward the great work. May Camp
Blake ever spread wide her gates to receive
The vnI,fh If the North 9os,fh Eaaf and |