Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-16
DIR. H0GE'S ADDRESS.
The Historical 0raticn at Wash
inglOn and Lee.
A LARGE CROWD PRESENT.
Meeting Of the Alumni and the Board
OF Trustees
TIE AWARD or THE MEDALS.
A Professor Of Moral Philosophy and Bellies
Lettres Eleeted-The Chemist Chair
TO be FILLED To-Day.
A LARGE CROWD PRESENT.
THE AWARD or THE MEDALS
,sp.c'ai Telegram to the Dispatch


TT. Glasgow, Of Virginia; Secretary, Z.
A, Graves. Of Virginia Treasurer, John
l.. Campbell, Of Virginia. The Board Of
| Trustees have been in session oil day. and
| this evening elected j. A. Quarles, OF Mis-
souri,, professor Of Moral Philosophy and
| Relics Lettres. The vacant chair OF Chem
| I>try will be filed tomorrow.
| The committee 10 award the medIls for
| the best orator and declaimcr at the cele-
| lraiIon OF the literary societies last night
| met this morning andawardcd The orators
| medal 20 John G.. Scott. OF Richmond. Va
| and the doclaimer's medal TO W. I. Arm
| strong. % Texas.
| To-niyilt Dr. IIoge delivered his hl.tori-
| cal address. The distinguished speaker
was gracefully introduced by the venerable
| rector, Hon. Francis T. Anderson.
| THE ADDRESS.
| Dr. Uogc's subject was "The Memo
! ,ie.. Hopes, and Duties q the Hour lie
| smoke a. follows: In commencing my adj
| dress before you, the honOred president,
| professors, trustees, and alumni OF wash
| ington aud Lee University, when remem-
| brr how CXacting your daily duties are and
| how The varied labors 10 which Providence
| has called you so absorb your time a. TO
| cause YOU 10 lament your want OF leisure
for other tasks TO which you are sum
moned, | am sure ] shall have your sym
uatby when cOniide 10 you my regret that
the pressure Of my engagements at home
| prevented me from even commencing pre-
Iaration for this hour until the time had
almost come for the discharge Of the duty
undertake tonight.
Those Of us whose lives are fullest OF
toll do not complain that our work is ardu-
i,tf ttsae
Of III impOrtance grows the more we deplOre
tho fact that with all our diligence our tasks
are imperfectly performed. and we suffer
the modification OF conscious incomplete
ness in our best-mcant undertakings. None
are so ready to excuse the defects which are
apparent IL the work OF busy men as those
whose judgments are made generous and
kind by the experience Of their own ina
bility so TO discharge the evor-accumulatng
duties Of life rs TO satisfy either their owu
ideal or the expectation OF others. Their
only sOlace in the review Of their defcen-
cies comes from the conviction that though
they have failed TO accomplish what they
desired they have done what they could.
4 GRANDSON OP THE VALLEY.
In the admirable historic address deliv.
cred here in 1870, by the learned and
lamented Hugh Blair GrigSby, he referred
10 the labOrious research which its preplra-
ton had cost him, but added that ne wa 1t
the same time discharging tilial duty, for,
,sid he. " il am not son, | am grand.
son Of the Valley" and then proceeded TO
eDumerate the ancestors whose graves could
be seen from roads leading to Lexington.
by singular coincidence can say the same,
for nv fOrcfathers settled in the Valley on
a III afrfa ord
Lieutenant OF Frederick county. in colonial
times: and In the first class on which
degrees were conferred by this in
stituuon, one hundred and one years
ago, was my grandfather. But, unlike Mr..
Grigsby, | labor under persona! grievance
which ne never knew, and have 10 avail
myself Of this opportunity Of correcting
the impression which prevails in some
quarters that | am the Moses IlOge who
graduated here little over century ago!
As this has been family name for several
generations, and rs most OF its members
have been ministers Of the Gospel, the idea
has gone abroad that there has been but
one who has borne 10, and that | am IFS
perpetual posSCSsOr. A volume OF sermons
bearing my name has often been attributed
TO me, but as some Of The diScOurscs II con-
tains were delivered soon after the Revolu
tionary war / emphatically deny that |
was the preacher. In 1874 a body OF
soldiers sent 10 suppress what was called
"The WhiSkey Instruction IN Western
Pennsylvania, in passing through llarri-
sonburC, where the synod of Virginia was
then i'm session, threatened that body with
personal violence, but | distinctly declare
that I was not the venerable clergyman
who rushed out from the church and put
himself in some peril by addressing the
esasperated military in HarrisOnburg near
the close Of the last century, and desire to
nut il on record that ! am not the Moses
Hoge who graduated at this institution in
1875 at the age OF twcnty-four years, and
that, therefore, | am not one hundred and
twenty-five years old on this anniversary !!
am thus prevented from giving you my
personal recOllcctions Of the college from
the day OF its organization to the present
hour.
TWO METHODS OF HISTORY.
And now, in resumng my theme, am re-
minded 10y the very title Of n historic adj
! dress that there are two departments Of his
| tory. The one q chronicle Of famous men
| who have ruled their fellows by force, or
| 10y ideas, or 10y ethical systems; record Of
! battles and sieges, OF migratiOnS and I'M
| poTtant discoveries or inventions; a pOr-
! traiture Of the rise and fall of Kingdoms
| and confedCracies; an account Of great
| charters and declarations OF right, OF pOliti-
| cal coalitions and ecclesiastical organize
! tons in a word, this department of hstO-
| ~ Is the history OF events. But there is
| another and nObler department-that
which deals with the causes which have
| led 10 the events, that recognizes and
| ~. In nj 80
| the men who have moulded society by the
systems Of philosophy which they framed,
or who have broken up the existing order
OF the world by smiling down despotC
governments on the fields Of war, or who
have blessed humanity by making peace
| Illustrious with victories no less renowned
than those Of war. This is department OF
history that deals not so much with facts OF
results as with the agencies which led IA
! such issues. II traces the development OF
principles from their most germnal be-
ginnincs until they find expression in free
constitutions, or in the cTeeds and edIcts
OF ecclesiastical councils. Ii reveals the
foundations on which strong and just gov
Crnments are based, and the influences
which determine the decline and fall of
such as are not fitted to survive.
In our country the spirit which animated
the colonies in their struggle for indepen.
dence and which led 10 the adoption OF 8
Republican form OF Government was ldenti
cal with that which founded and fostereG
our older schools Of learning, and could
establish this position would succeed il
laying before you what your invitation
digniies with the title OF q historic address
ORIGIN OF THE OLDER AMERICAN COLLEGES
Were wo required 10 account for the ex
istsnce Of an institution kethls, which an
nually celebrates its work by the gatherin!
Of It's friends and by the impressive cere
! monies Of commencement week, the full
answer TO the inquiry would demand
method Of treatment such as / Just de
, scribed. The investigation would cover
wide 6eld and carry us back far into th
past In our search for the causes which LEI
TO its foundation, and in aseertaining tn
influences which developed Its gr0wtl
from primary school TO 3 university, anC
which gave II the character which now dis
tngulshes II rs its stands forth in its sym
metry and strength, one Of the happy illus
trations Of the cultured Christian civilIza
ton OF our time.
Were we 10 say OF these seminaries o.
learning, which are at once the ornament
and guard Of our land. that they are III,
product Of the patriotism aud piety Of thell
founders, that would be but partial solu
ton, for the inquiry would return, Whist
gave development 10 patriotism 80 pure