The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-06-27
. CLOSING ExER, 6Is E S.
ALUMNI ADDRESS BY REV. CHARLIE;
s.. II. RYLAND. ~
ANNOUNCEMENT or DISTINCTIONS.
DELIVERY OF WOODS MEDAL,
CERTIFICATES OF PROFICIENCY
Degree Diplomas Awarded.
6e... DC. i&c.

lene l0Ok pace last DlSQt aG tue SecOpu
Baptist. church.. The main audence-room
and the galleries Of the church were literally
packed with an audience as brilliant as lit
was nr,nerous.
Punctually at S:l5 Dir. Leo Wheat insti-
tuted the interesting ceremonies by 4 grand
overture upon the church organ, during
which the faculty, trustees, and students
who were to receive college honors entered
the body of the church by the main aisle,
and the faculty and trustees were assigned
prominent positions on the stand. at the
conclusion of the opening piece, an appro-
propriate prayer was offered by Rev. DR..
Long, of Charlottesville. +.
Another grand piece of instrumental
music, by Mr. Wheat, followed, after which
Rev. Charles Fl. Ryland, of Alexandria, Va,
was introduced by Mr. Samuel Ii. Pulliam,
and delivered the :. +
.''E ALUMNI ADDRESS. -
The address was one of marked ability
and progressive spirit, and having the addi-
tonal merit of brevity, was heard with
marked attention. .s..s
Mr.. Ryland commenced by saying: Our
annual meeting brings us cheer. The year
now closing has been prolific Of substantial
progress in the interests of Richmond Col
lege. If we might yield to the popular
estimate Of our duty, we could easily,
at this hour, abandon ourselves to
welcomes, congratulations, and boast
ings. There are many, said he, who
regard a society of Alumni as veterans Of a
past strife who are collected annually to give
the last salvo of resounding praise to the
triumpbs of the present. If that were true.
and were he the man and that the hour for
rendering tribute to those who have breasted
the waves of discouragement, he should
have need only to strike the keynote, and
the love and gratitude of their hearts would
prove too spontaneous for the formality of
words. ..f
The Alumni should not fail to place on
record testimonial of their feelings of
gratitude, but the past was in manner
sealed and the future must command atten-
tiop. There has been revealed to us law
which, having proved safe in the past, may
guide us in our plans and enable us to build
and harmoniously with those
who have gone before-thc law of
progress. All the wisdom and expert
ence of the past will be necessary
to preserve the unity and promote
the progress of the anxious future. We
must build with sincerity, if we would have
our work ever remain the delight alike to
poet and historian and it must not be said
that success was ours because we "grasned
the skirts of happy chance" but that ours
was monument of thought, foresight. skill,
and mighty faith. lie who would project
his spirit upon the events that are striding
on to crowd out and replace the institutions
of to-day must eyince Il foresight cOmmenSu-
rate with the possibilities Of the future. To
this end let the alumni remember that " The
college achoSe honorS lDe lcedr 1ciH hdUe age
and pernldnence.' ......-
The speaker here referred to notable in-
stances in which great institutions of learn
ing have for many years yielded their fruit in
all university accomplishments, and he 81 id
even now the hoariest Of them, instead of
giving signs of decay, is like the sun as he
approaches the zenith of his highness and
power. So we ought to believe Richmond
College will become the child of centuries.
He would have them to mentally see her III
the depths of the future, upon the emls
nence Of ten centuries a great scat of learn
ing, the refuge of true knowledge, and the
dispenser of the clearest rays of truth.
Again, be would have them remember that
increased patronage and influence will accu-
mulate their riches and lay them at the feet
of the growing institution. The college is
located in metropolitan home that is unsur-
passed, and she must increase with the
growth of our common country. We eShould
not build with reference to Virginia as she
is. but must gauge our plans for the ten
millions that will one day make Virginia
blossom as the rose-indeed. for the whole
country, to which we are 80 closely bound
by material and political ties.
The ace and increased resources will
make constant demands on the college for
internal Improvement. The developments
of science must receive prompt incorpora-
ton into the ever expanding system of true
education. The limits of olden times are
not recognized in the nineteenth century,
and the passing away of old methods IS due
not to eXpediency only, but to necessity OF
the rapid development of science. Our
college bears marks of this truth in
her brief history. Compare the three Pc
riods of her brief history-of her founding
ia 1882 with three professors and siXty-seven
students; her reincorpOratiOn in 1S4O with
six professors and ninety-three nlatriculatcS
and her catalogued numbers to-day of eight
professors about to be strongly reintorced)
and one hundred and ninety-three students.
See how her courses of study have been
widening and her methods changing, till she
is scarcely recognized as the expanding but
identical germ of forty years ago. The col
leges and universities of to-day, with all their
endowments, are but pgmies compared with
the giant proportions they shall assume IN
coming centuries.
The anomalous Position of Alumni in the
scheme of educational labor is relieved by
The introduction of few of them among
the trustees and Faculty. If our college
shall accomplish her mission and achieve the
renown that is right(ully her's.we must not
limit her capacities or check her ambltlon.
With increase of years and opportunities the
college must have such increased capacities
and widening range of instruction, Win
comprehensiyeness and thoronghness, as
will give power, win fame, and lay this and
other lands under tribute to It; but patleaI
ambition only will win collegiate supremacy.
There is no reason why Virginia should nos
have three instead of three universities anu
why should not Richmond college become tne
third. Into this greatWork the Socletyoi tne
Alumni must enter with more spirit and ioi-
tier Impulses than it has heretofore done.
Alumni will outliyeany Board of Trustees
oraDy single Faculty, and any harm to come
to the Alma Mater will bring stain upon
her sons that cannot attach to others.
Mr.. Rylaud, IN conclusion, urged bis fel-
low-alumni to give ,assiduous attention to
the subject Of college-building; to walk
ahead of their generation, that might take
advantage of every advance in learning, and
project the lines of true progress upon every
plain that opens before them. He reminded
them that they did not work for the present
but for the future, and for u land not foi
humanity alone, but for God.
The address was we'll received by the
Alumni: The rapid strides of this vigorous
institution find most emphatic expression
in the hopefulness of feeling pervading- bel
thar yontinU aIOhi