The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-10-27
GRAFTON
BY THE
REV. MOSES D. HOGE, D. D.,
Delivered st the dwelling Of the Statue Of
T. j. JACKSON,
October %, 1875.
BY THE

own wishes, would Do tne tnunuer oi Tue cahuVu
and the sccamstions OF the people announce the
unwilling of the statue; and then when with hearts
beating with commingled emotions OF love, and
grief, and admiration we had contemplated this
last aud nobest creation of the genius OF the great
SCULPTOR the ceremonies oil this august hour should
end
In attempting to commence my Grafton, am
forciby reminded OF the falterlug words with winch
Bossuet began his splendid eulOgy on the Prince
of Condo Said he AT the moment open my
lips to celebrate the immortal glory of the Prince OF
Condo, feel myself equally overwhelmed by the
greatness of the theme and the needessness OF the
task What part Of the habitable world has moi
heard OF his victories aud the wonders of his life
Everywhere they are rebearSed His own country
men 10 extolhng them can give no information
even to the stranger And although may remind
YOU of them, yet everything | could say would be
anticipated by your thoughts, aud | should suffer
the reproach of falling far below them.
How true is all this to dav Not only is every
important event in the life Of our illustrious Chief
tain familiar to you all, but what lesson TO be de-
sired from his example has not already been i'm
pressively enforced by those whose genius, patriot
ism and piety have qualified them 70 speak 10
terms worthy Of their nobe,tbeme? And now
that the statesman and soldier, who we'll represents
the honor of Virginia as its ohiet magistrate, nas
given his warm and earnest wfcome to our dlstln
guished guests from otbex States, aod from Other
lands. who honor the OCCASION. by~the.r presence,
i would Det venture to proceed had a5t tae Com
mODwe2lth laid on me It's command to utter some
words of greeting to my felow-countrymen who
this day do honor to themselves 10 rendering HON
age to the memory OF Virginia ilustrious son.
cannot repress an emotion of awe as | vainly
attempt to overlook this mighty throng extending
as it does beyond the limits Of these CapitO
grounds. and covering spaces which cannot ever
be reached by the eye OF the speaker. More i'm.
pressive is this assemblage of Gil z'us and repre-
sentatives from all parts of our owu and of foreign
lands, than ever gathered on the banks of auoien
Alpheus at one of the solemnities which united the
men of all the Grecian States, and attracted
strangers from the mot distant Countries There
was one pleasing feature 10 me Old Hellenic festi
yals The entire territory around OlvmDia was
consecrsted to peace during their celebration, and
there even enemies might meet as friends and
brothers, and In harmony rejoice in their ancestral
glories aud national renown Ii is so with Us 10
day. But how deficient In moral interest was the
old Olympiad, and how wanting In one feature
whicn gives grace to our solemnity. No citizen,
no stranger however honored, was permitted to
bring with him either mother, wife or daughter,
But here day, how many of the noble women OF
the land of whom the tabled Alcestis, Autigoue
and Iphigeuia, were but the imperfect types, lend
the charm OF their presence to the scene-Ohris
tan women of a nobler civilization than Pagan an
tiquity ever knew.
We have come from the seashore, the noun
tsins, and the valleys of our Southland not only
to inaugurate a statue bat a new era in our his
tory. Here on this Capitoline Hill on this Goth
day of October, 1875, and in the one hundredtb
wear of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in sight Of
that historic river that more than two centuries and
half ago bore on its bosom the bark freghted with
the civilization of the North American Continent,
on whose banks Powhatsn welded his sceptre and
Pocahontas launched her skiff, under the shadow
of that CAPITOL whose foundations were laid before
the present Federal Constitution was framed, and
from which the edicts of Virginia went forth over
her realm that stretched from the Atlantic to the
Mississippi-edicts framed by some of the patriots
whose manly forms on yonder monument still gath
or around him whose name is the purest in human
history,-we have met to inaugurate new Pan
theon to the glory OF our common mother.
In the story of the empires of the earth some
crisis often occurs which develops the genius Of the
era, and impresses an imperishable stamp on the
character of the whole people, Such crisis was
the Revolution of l776, when thirteen thinly set
tied and widely separated colonies dared to Her
the gage of battle to the greatest military and naval
power on the globe.
The story of that struggle is the most familiar in
| American annals. After innumerable reverses and
incredible suferings and sacrifices, our fathers came
during the progress of the strife, before calm re-
Fiction had Quoted the violence of in6smed pas
sion, they were branded by opprobrious names and
their revolt denounced as rebellion and treason, the
Justice of their cause and the wisdom, the valor
and the determination with which they vindiosted
it, was quickly recognized and generously scknowl
edged by the braVest and purest OF British soldiers
and statesmen, so that now when we seek the no
best euogies of the founders of American repub
fad in fha Of
ssyists and historians of the mother country. We
honor ourselves, and do homage to virtue, when
we hallow the names of those who IN the council
and the field achieved such victories We be-
uueath an Influence which will bless coming gene
rations. when with the brush and the chisel we
perpetuate the images of our Fathers, and the
founders of the State Already has the noble
Office been begun. Here on this hill the forms Of
Washington and Henry and Lewis, and Mason and
Nelson and Jefferson and Marshall arrest our
eyes and make their silent but sanitary and stir
ring appeals to our hearts Nor are these all
who merit eternal commemoratlon | miss James
Madison and others of venerable and iLustrious
name. Let US not cease our patriotic work, until
we have reared Pantheon worthy of the undying
glory of the past
But this day we insugurate new era. We lay
the corner. stone of new Pantheon in commend
ration of our countrys fame We come to honor
our Confederate cause, and whose genius illumined
the great contest which has recently ended,
and which made an epoch not only In our own
history, but in that of the age.
We assert no monopoly in the glory of that
leader. 1t was his happy lot to command, even
while he lived the respect and admiration of right
minded and right-hearted men in every part of
this, and in all lands 1t is now his rare distinc
ton to receive the homage of those who most diff
fered with him on the questions which lately rent
this republic in twain FROM ocean to ocean. From
the North, and from the South, from the East and
from the West, men have gathered on these
grounds to-day, widely divergent in their views on
social political, and religious topics, and yet they
find in the attraction which concentrates their re-
gard upon one name, a place where their hearts
unexpectedly touch each other and beat in strange
unison.
1t was this attractive moral excellence, which,
winning the admiration of the brave and pure on
the other side of the sea, prompted them to enlist
the genius of one of the greatest of modern sculp-
tors in fsshioDing the statue we have met to In
augurste this day.
1t is singular and striking illustration of the
world wide appreciation OF his character, that the
6rst statue of Jackson comes from abroad, and
that while the monument to our Washington and
the efiges of those who surround him, were erect
ed by order of the Commonwealth, this memorial
is the tribute OF the admiration and love OF those
who never saw his face, and who were bound to him
by no ties save those which a common sympathy
for exalted worth establishes between the souls Of
maguanimous and heroic men. We accept this
magnificent gift all the more gratefully, because it
comes from men of kindred race and kindred
hearts, as the expression of their goodwill ard
sympathy for our people as we'll as Of their admir-
alton for the genius and character Of our ilustri
Gus hero.
We accept it as the visible symbol of the ancient
friendship which existed in colonial times between
Virginia and the mother country. We accept it
as prophecy Of the incoming of British settlers to
our sparsey populated territory, and hail it as a
pleasing omen for the future, that the rebuilding
l.. e.. - H. .JoI L. A.