The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-02-07
Yhc University of virSinia-iss Moral
Character.

Character.
Editors Of The Dispatch: In the course of
the q scussioL on the University bill, now be-
fore the legislature, certain reflections have
been made On the moral character Of the in.
stituton which are calculated to grcr'ly
damage 1t in the opinion Of the public.
Truth and justice 20 the people Of Virginia
as well as to the country at large require that
this charge should be sustained by facts or
Withdrawn altogether. What the moral
character Of the University was twenty or
thirty years ago | am net prepared TO say
but do know what its mora! character is
to-day, and appreciate the sacredncss Of the
obligation TO protect the morals Of our
youth. | went from one OF the best col
leges In the land to the University. | lived
there two ycars. 1t was my duty to
study the morals Of the place. l went
there expecting to fnd it full Of in
fidelity and vice. 1 went there
expecting to find that the hereditary iDtlu.
ence of Mr.. Jctlerson's repu!cd sccpliciSm
rendered il Il very perilous place for young
men. After two years personal acquaint-
ance with the institution after having given
particular attention 10 this aspect Of its Char
acter; after having duly considered the
great importance Of this question in all Of its
bearing, give it as my deliberate and SET
tied conviction that in comparison with
other institutions Of learning the University
is as free from vice as any in the land. The
moral tone Of the institution is higher, and
its system Of corrective agencies more thor
oughIy organized and more effectively work
cd, than hat Of any college Of which have
any knowledge.
There is q chaplain sustained by the vol
untary libclality of professors aud students.
There is divine worship in the chapel as reg
ularIy as in any church in the land. There
| is an active, vigorous, and efficient Chris
are regular lectures delivered monthly by
distinguished divr es and orators selected
from all parts ef The country and from all the
denominations Of the Church. Belonging
to the Association and patronized by the stu.
dents, there is library and reading room,
with thirty CT forty religious periodicals,
reviews, magazines, and papers. Prayer
meetings are held in all the wards Of the
University, and the Sunday schools of the
surrounding country are furnished with
teachers from among the students. DR..
Minor every Sabbath morning and Dr.. Davis
every Sabbath afternoon lecture 10 large and
deeply. interested Bible classes. The pastors
of the various churches in Charlottesville
visit and preach to the students. There is an
excellent Temperance organization at the
very threshold of the institution with a
large and jealous membership. Above all,
nearly all of the professors are earnest Chris.
tian men, who have the religious welfare
of the young men at heart as much as their
intellectual improvement. Every one oil
them singly, and all unitedly, show by eX'
ample and by precept, yet quietly and with
out parade, that they regard piety SIS essential
| to true culture, and do not seek the develop
meut of the mind without the correspond
| ing Improvement Of the heart. If immortality
was ever conspicuous feature in the char
acter Of the University, the admirable system
of checks to vice and helps to piety which
has grown up there as the natural provision
of q Well.setted religious sentiment has .en.
tirely changed it. That there is great deal OIL
iniquity; that vice, lurking in guilty secrecy
exists; that temptations peculiar and mum
berless are there-all this | admit. 1t is true
Of every institution. 1t will be true till the
| millennium. But the University does all in
its power to repress it and to prevent IT,
| The result is obvious ST the success is marked.
L ID q IJiotahC eooos vas
matter. 1t is time This erroneous impression
about the moral character of the University
of Virginia were corrected. A young man
can be just as bad as be pleases at the Uni.
versity provided he keeps quiet about it;
but he will have to be bad in spite of the
| moral Influence Of The whole Institution
and my experience with them was that there
is less bsd behavior among the students oil
the University than among the same num-
| Der of young men to be found anywhere. ]
say this out of sense of justice to the insti'
| tuition, whose moral character has been mis-.
apprehended and aBsaled through the press
| II any one should ask me what guarantees
the Institution offer against the demoraliza-
ton and ruin Of young men, would repls,
its ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and efficiently.
worked religious agencies, the established mo
rqleiof the place, its freedom from the system
of espionage SO anfrienuiy The cultivation
of. the aigheryiriues, and the character of lhe
men, composing its faculty. Assured by Q
careful observation of the result, accept
these as adequate guarantees thatstudents are