The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-06-20
Mr.. BURDETTE'S ADDRESS
THE DISITNs UIsHHD HUMoRfST
ar RICHMOND COLLEGE.
lie Gives the Boy. some Excellent Advice
Presentation of tho Medsls-Tho
Annual Banquet Tonight

ram.
Mr.. wyndham Il. Meredith presided ana
Rev. W. r. Dunnaway, president OF the
Roanoke Female Institute, offered prayer
MIR. Meredith introduced Mr. Burdette
in clever little speech, and for an houI
the latter held spell-oound ms eealsh''u
audience IN an unbroken sudih "I nuiiioI,
pathos eloquence and hard, common
sense advice to the college graduates.
Mr.. Burdettc took as his text iroNefDs
xxi q. "Seest thou a man dihgent IN
his business? He shall stand before
kings he shall not stanu peIoIe mean
men"
From the time the speaker commenced
unit. the close Of his address he fired b
constant voiey Of good advice to young
men starting in the world, clothed in ha-
NOR satire and sparkling wit
- -Yt UlA.IiNG1g A. IT
BE dnigent ard work everlastlngly was
Ns theme, lie gave the history OF wo-
rnrus accomplishment In the world OF
l.1r. and how she had overcome oDsta-
,.s that no man could conquer 70 win
her way into business positions, elboNing
Tie pinks Of perfection from behind store
counters and taking the place OF men
Ga many lines in which she was opposed
ly man.
said he. a man to be dnlgent must have
sense enough 10 be diligent with, not ms
grandfather or his father $ diligence, but
ais own diligence. BE diligent, ana the
people win not miss your grandIatnel,
they VIII see that you do not need
grandfather. ~
II is a live world full of i've problems,
and n YOU are a good man in your me
the world will ind you out. yo9 can a.
mond IL will be worth its full value even
II ii be after you have reached m'uo's
age. $3.50, oo,
do. the one thing you want 10 40. tte
one thing you intend 10 90 anu w 3"
with all your heart.
WORK NEVER KILLS.
The man who works all the time will
be the man who stands before KINGS.
Work never kills a man. lie may "oIh
hard and live wrong ana dle, Out nlnt
times out Of ten sc IS his stomach undI
killed him and not his brain. Ills De
sCription Of the hard-working student
who burns the midnight oil over ms
books, and the one who wakes UP next
morning after a night with the boys was
graphic, and pictured IN way tha'
none but Burdette need attempt
said he. | want you TO have fun. iheFe
are so many griefs between you ana the
grave / would have You put IN laugh
wherever you can. Here the speaker
fell into beautiful bit Of moralizing'
touched with flashes of pathos and elo-
quence.
Then. said he. work goes on forever,
but l don't 20 on with H. The time
is coming when | will be al rest ana
another fellow come along with his pick
and shovel and work out his own road
tax just as ! have done, and that's
great consolation to me.
Don't be afraid Of being called crank.
When the Lord wants a fellow that
viii do something in the world, he goes
and picks out fellow that viii Keep
hammering away at one thing one nun
dred and fifty years If need be, without
being watched. He picks out crank,
and not one Of those volatile little fell
lows who jumps from one thing 10 an
other and never does anything. Don't
be just tolcrably good. A tolerably
good LAWYER a tolerably good doctor.
or toicrably good preacher IS just
about as good as a tolcrably good egg.
us NOT EASY.
You will find things congenial. but
you will never find things easy. If you
do. the ranks are full and the thing a
drug on the market
He said he did not adhere 10 the prn-
ciple taught in the old saw. that a roll
ing stone catches no moss; that a rock
had no use for moss anyway, and the
first thing the mason did was 10 knock
the moss off the stone to be used. He
also dealt In his original style with the
idea that there is always room at the
top. He thought they had better be
satisfied a little lower down; that the
top was generally the small end OF a
pyramid, which was the best place in
the world 10 stand and be abused and
pelted with bricks Only one President
OF the United States could stand on
that pedestal at a time. and somebody
comes along every four years to shove
him off.
His description OF his career In a news
paper Office was rich beyond description.
He said when he was reporter or city
editor, getting from SIS 10 S25 per week.
he was an Anarchist. but when he got
10 be managing editor. at a 500 per
week. he at once became n monOpost.
Said he, learn 10 make n responsible
signature one that stands for some.
thing when YOU write IT, and the cashier
at the hank won't care how your clothes
look. When YOU can get $50 line for
poetry. as Tennyson did. then you can
AFFORD 10 write as poor poetry as he did,
but you can't begin that way.
lie especially advised the young men
20 have self-reliance. Said he. II you
run up against the fastest man on earth
don't be afraid, hut Just trot him one
heat anyhow for trial.
Said he. some men stand before kings
without wOrk-slip into good places as
81 were without effort but they dent stand
upright they stoop and truckle and
cringe.
dette naturally made application OF the
cold storage fire at the Worlds Fair. and
the description was one Of the prettiest
pieces Of word pcturing ever presented
In this city.
HIS CLOSING WORDS.
lie closed with some beautiful senti-
ments, In which he said hope you will
be poor enough 20 be energetic.
/ hope you will have trouble enough
20 make you charitable.
/ hope you VIII have pain enough 10
make you tender-hearted.
/ hope YOU will suffer enough TO make
you love your fellow man.
J hope you will not only stand before
kings. but before THE King"
Al the close of MIR. Burdette's splendid
address Rev. Or r. B. Thomas presented
the society medals. and in doing so gave
expression to some beautiful sentiments
C0uched IN ornate and elegant English.
TYR MEDAIIsTs
The medalists were presented with their
trophies as follows:
H. ". Provence. joint writer's medal.
y. j. Hoover. Phiioiogian Debaters'
William 3. Duke Sigma Rho debaters'
medal
W. p. Gibson. Sigma Rho medal for
Improvement I'm debate.
Jesse BinfOrd PhilOlOglan medal for
Improvement IN debate.
Nnetree Foxes. orators medal.
Mr. Meredith stated that the geographic
cal and historical medal would not be
given out as advertised In taS pro
Framme. for the reason mat no one had
reached the standard required 70 obtain
it and he congratulated the college that
The standard was so high. He closed the
exercises with an impressive appeal 10
The college 20 pay more attention 10 the
history Of our own state.
rHE ANNUAL BANQUET
This evening al SIS o'clock the alumni