The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-16

g Virginia Mutual Admiration society .oe
dissojyed. - But he would not discriminate
apnin.t Virginia. and there Is one fheb tna'
cannot be ignored A New York congress
man bad said several years ago: we "aut
the southern men to come BACK, hoI 'nat
we approve their politics, hut hecaI,e We
want men here who will not steal" ne III,
sisted that ~. Virginia ba7 always ihs's'eu
upon personal honor, that the moral IS sup,
rior to the material, aud earnestly III -.
that we do all in our power to retain tni'
nr;ncinle. and that moral teaching IN tue
schools is most important means oil dolng
so. IS fua
The Association then took recess OF hVe
,,;nntrs: after which it assembled to hear an
address by Hon. r. G. II. Gean, OF Lynch
burg rector OF the University OF Virginl'.
THE visitors at the springs came ID anu nj.
Kean had a most appreciatiVe AUDIENCE luz
his noble address.
with graceful compliment TO the charac-
ter If the men who composed the Associi'
tion. he announced as bis theme, Inc Va'ue
of the nroducts OF human industry Is IN pro-
nortion not to the force expended In their
PRODUCTION, but to the amount OF hou5ht
realized and expressed in them" And AS a
corolary TO this proposition he proposed 10
maintain the public economy OF He ht9her
education. He did not mean 10 say that
higher culture was valuable only because IL
naSs for truth is excellent Of itself, but
Cod has so ordered that truth pays in the
long run and on the large scale, and ne meant
to demonstrate this.
By way Of illustration of bis first PROPOSE
ton be took iron in it's crude state and beau
tifuIy traced it through its various stages 10
the finest cutlery, the Berlin ornaments, Inc
hn has
other minute forms Of exquisite fineuess and
temper in WHICH il exceeds GOLD many tunes
in value, weight for weight.
| He further illustrated by skilfully tracing
the history of navigation from the rude canoe
| To the discovery of the magnet, the applIca-
ton Of steam, the sai-clipper,. the oceaE-
steamer. ard the iron. clad man of.war; and
By showing how the progress of agricultural
science depends on the power of thought and
observation.
He illustrated again by vivid contrast
between the rude but OF a savage and The
splendid creation of the genius OF a Alichael
| Angelo or Christopher Wren, and by the
progress in painting ard others oil the me
arts.
He defined labor to mean the primal curse
laid on man as the punishment OF sin, and
,rorE TO implg the free act of an Intelligent,
moral agent directed to specitic md generally
useful ends. He established his definition
nv able argument, and repudiated the popu-
lar can't about the dignity of labor"
Proceeding to bis corolllry, be established
il by ant Illustrations ably and eloquently
drawn from the history of Egypt, Assyria.
Greece, Rome, end Prussia (who.e glory and
power be attributed less to the pollticaI
guidance OF Bismarck Or the incompatible
Strategy of q Motke than TO her twenty uni.
versities with their one thousand professors
and sixteen thousand studentS)
He ably showed that it is by no means
true that material advancement will make
nation, or that physical power alone endo"s
a nation with immortality.
As illustrating his position. he alluded 10
the recent seml-centennial of the University
of VIRGINIA., and proceeded to speak Of the
power and Influence eXcrted by the UniVer-
. " during the fly years Of its existence. He
.aid that the University was the first on this
continent to present an approximation to the
ideal university, aud for years stood alone ;
that the colleges Of New England have OF lat
ter years tesun quite rapidly to ash ate
Jemsclyes to lis methods, and had done this,
, Strange to say, without the fainteSt ackn 'wl-
lyement that there is any cOnnec'lCn be-
tween the post hoe and the prOpter hoe.
+ He spoM Of the University because OF bis
familiarity with its history, and by no means
from unv desire TO disparage other instlfu-
tons. From 1885 10 1850 one single acide-
nv THAT of MIR. Fred. Coleman, distin-
: guished Master of Arts Of the University
, furnished over half of oil who took the NJ. A.
, degree: but that has all been changed, and
there has sprung up large number OF acad-
emies. which send students to bear Oft the
, honors of the University. And the standards
. of these schools and of the colleges ha e all
been gradually raised.
As showing the power Of the University
t in education he presented the following sta
/ tsticS: Nine OF the professors ut the Unl-
ver>iiy itself, five in Washington and Lee
SIX out OF seven in Richmond College, four
out of six in Randolph Macon, the president
| aud two professors in the Virginia Agrlcul'
turi College, two IN the virginia Military
Institute, three at Hampden-Sidney, one ut
f Union Theological Seminary, two in Rich
mrpd Medical College, six i'll Maryland col
leses, six IN North Carolina, seven in South
Carolina, four in Georgia, six in Alabama,
two in Mississippi, one in LOUISIANA, (5eiole
, the " n there were six, most OF whom per
{ iShed in the field y the president OF the State
Military Academy (rrXa>), eight III Ten
: ucssee, one in Kentucky, two in Missouri,
two in the District Of Columbia, one in
Arkansas. and one in Massachusetts, were
recalled from memory as alumni OF the Wiz.
t einia University and he doubled not that
accurate statistics would show that over two
hundred of the professors in the colleges in
; the country have been trained at this Iustitu-
ton, and thrice as many OF the teachers IN
high.schoos and academies.
t It's Influence in other professions was
shown by such statistics as the following:
Fifteen hundred alumni OF the University
bore arms in the war for southern indepeDG-
eoce. and 100 of these Won commissions as
a hcers from generals to subilterDs, from
the Secretary OF War TO second licutenants.
Tue whole number Of alumni spread over
titiy yeaIs is bb 10000; Of tt csc, one
, 3 600 have been there since the war, and
about 1000 Of the survivors were beyond
the age of military service. Of the remain
ing 5000, at least third were probably
, dead or disabled. Three fourths OF the Inv.
! ing residue bore arms; and the truth that
culture is power is shown 10 the proportion
OF those who won promotion 10 office. DE
doubted not that the satisfies of our 9TH
b CHER institutions would show like results.
aud furnish more complete proof that ma
tonal culture is national power.
He further illustrated by the statement oil
historical fact not generally known: When
the Conlederacy instituted It's ordnance de-
, partment the officers were appointed from
those who had passed satisfactorily most
rigid competitive examination, which was
open to all, and when the reports came IN II
was ascerlained that all the field officers, and
all of the Contains and large proportion oil