The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-06-23

several monumental schemes which have
been projected in the South for honoring
the memory Of General Lee, and claimed
that, as no one of these has yet united the
public suffrage in its favor as his final and
browning monument, the field is still open
for the suggestion Of commemorative works.
In this view of the case he proposed in
the interest of the cause of learning and
education in the South to suggest and dis
cuss on the present occasion another me-
mortal scheme, and therefore had chosen
as his theme: The Lee Monument, or q
plea for the conversion of Washington and
Lee University into a memorial university
by the people of the South, to constitute
their final and browning monument to the
memory of Gen. r. E. Lee"
After few remarks vindicatlng the ap-
preparedness of his theme to the occasion,
he proceeded to cnumerate the claims OF
Washington and Lee University rs Il foun-
dation for the proposed memorial univcr-
sity. These were embraced under five lead
| ing heads
First. The geographical situation of the
University.
Second. It's historical antecedents.
Third. It's present prosperous condition
and the high estimation in which it is held
by the people of the South.
Fourth. The association OF General Lees
name and fame with the institution.
Fifth. The fact that his sepulchre is here.
He illustrated and ably and eloquently
enforced each one Of these points. He then
proceeded to sketch the outlines of 4 plan
for the proposed memorial university,
showing in the progress OF his argument
that it should be projected on the most
comprehensive scale, made monumental in
its type by suitable commemorative ar
rangements that it should be literally
endowed by contributions from the States
and people of the South, and from friends
of the enterprise everywhere, and open for
the reception of students, free of cost, upon
| the basis of numbers proportional to the
| contributions to the endowment funds of
| the institution.
He next showed that Washington and
Lee University, thus endowed, equip
ped, and dedicated to 4 combined educa-
tional and memorial use, would constitute
the noblest, the most appropriate, and the
most enduring monument that the people
of the South could erect to the memory of
ioblest, he delineated the true ideal of Il
monument as 4 commemorative work OF
art, brought the ordinary monuments erect
ed by man and the proposed memorial uni
versity to the test of this ideal, and showed
the superiority of the latter.
The appropria teness Of the proposed me-
mortal was proved by showing that uni
versity would be the most appropriate
monument to great and successful college
president like General Lee; that it would
be in harmony with his Inst labors and
aspirations on earth; that it would
be the monument most in unison with the
known character, tastes, and feelings of the
great chiettain, and the one which he him.
self, if we can think Of him as choosing,
would have chosen; and that as General
Lee was grand advance on the type Of
| the WORLDS heroes, so this would be i'll
advance of the common monuments of the
world.
He argued that this monument would be
more enduring than the ordinary monu-
ments, because the memorial building
would be under better supervision, and
| therefore better preserved, but especially
because this monument would live in the
minds and hearts of the young men trained
at the University, and of the thousands
whom they would influence, and would
thus constitute in the hearts Of the people
moral monument more enduring than
marble or brass. He concluded as follows !:
"Permit me now, by way of general
summary and conclusion of the whole ar
gument of this address, to present in a
somewhat rhetorical form the contrasted
| merits of the two monumental schemes
most likely to divide the suffrages Of the
people of the South, embodied in the con-
| crete reality of two supposed-to-be COM
pleted monuments.
In public cemetery at Richmond, Va,
for example, stands a noble monumental
column. Its foundations have been laid
deep in the soil which drank to the full of
the blood of the martyrs of the Lost
Cause and its summit mounts high
into the Heavens, which blush red with
the hue Of the stricken fields of
the conflict, and flung back to the earth the
echoes of the blended prayers of the dying
for mercy and of the living for help. 1t
has been erected by the hands and slucti-
fled by tho blessing Of all the people of the
| South as their common monument to the
memory Of one of the greatest aud most
beloved heroes in their annals. Hard by
the dead General, whose remains have
been brought to the spot, that the
monument and Its subject may not
| be disassociated, sleeps in the tent or
hi. grave, in the midst of his dead soldiers
and comrades in arms whom he led along
! the rugged highways of the struggle and in
the stormy day of the battle. 1t looks out
over the proud city which was the metrop-
oils OF the fair cline for whose cause he
fought, and is visible at their homes to many
| thousand citizens of the State which gave
him birth. It is an object of ,yeneration
and respect to visitors from every land.
The sons and daughters Of the South view
it with liquid hearts and moistened eyes,
! az they think of their trodden CLINE
and Of the mighty sleeper below whose
great heart bled and broke In Its
cause. Still fresh from the hands OF us
builders, it stands erect and grand In the
beauty and the glory of its architectural
I prime. without one scar or assure from