Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-10-08

as well as the conviction 20 Wni'h 'htS
have been thus led. Of the great value
ana efficiency Of the Institute
Thus mas passed away one
of tbs most remarkable men OF
the nineteenth century. IN regard
10 tho bust which Is soon 10 be unveiled
Mr. Zolnay has been very successful. lie
had never seen Poe. and had to depend
upon the portraits Of the etching needle
and tho Photographic lens.
DIR. KENTs REMARKS.
DR.. Kent. in his address, spoke first Of
the recognized aims Of q university 20
collect and disseminate human know
ledge. both I'm the halls and TO the out
side world. then Of the duty TO preserve
the historic past of the land or section
in which Il is situated. and then OF the
higher nob,cr. and more practical pur-
pose belonging TO a university TO Apply
knowledge TO lie. aud thus cultivate Wis
dom and make men. The two last pur-
poses are at once subserved by due honor
paid 20 the i.lustfious dead Tor the
record Of their achievements the revival
Of interest In their lives. and Wogk al the
same time 10 elicit the admiration or
young men for the great and TO incite
them 10 the emulation Of the deeds OF
their fathers. The University OF Nir-
giaia has not. lac said. been remlss be
pond other Institutions in IGNORING her
seus. but she has been blessed with many
nose substantial attainmen's. eXem-
plary citizenship. and laulable contribu-
lions 10 letters and arts deserve fun re-
cognition at her hands
But to-day, he continued, we have
met on n most notable occasion-an occ--
sion attracting not tho attention OF our
University and Virginia alone, but, as
you vii hear tonight. Of men and Wo-
men an over our land. And surely no
son more worthy OF our homage, for
no other has become so widely known,
or has so clearly established his claim
20 an Immortality II came. And Poes
connection with the University is more
close and essential than many have sup
posed r. has been often pictured as
one who came into Or midst for BRIEF
period as. fo~ example. did. later VOL
colt Balcsuer the colabirator Of Rud-
yard Kirliag. described ~ one whose
career here vas brief stormy. abruptly
and rudely ended. Not ouiy rs this no;
true. but the truth Is. that despite lapsas
from the path of exemplary conduct. de-
spite an occasional surrender TO the pre-
vailing vices OF his day. he conducted
himself I'm his associations with che
fessors and officers u the institl
so as 10 command their respect. 70.
attachments they had high rega d.
which they testified privately, by public
commentator and by her official sigma
lures. Moreover his literary career ar
forwards had more than is supposed TO
do with his life here II is true that
there rs difficulty in determining when
Poe served his apprentice years. but r.
IS known that I'm his own room on the
Pance--in Rowdy Row. as IL was then
significantly called-as well as in the
rooms ~ his lell0w-students. he often
fascinated them with his wcird cre2-
lions His long walks around these
HIS furnished him with both mood and
material and there are echoes OF his lie
here I'm the Tale of the Ragged Noun
tains and I'm other stories. Presumably.
too uoet exercises Nere usual with
him. else how would he have merited
that famous commentator for his metri-
cal translation of passage from
Tqseor His reading here too might
have been taken as a slight indication
both of his taste and his mental traits.
/, was here. no doubt that he laid the
foundation for his mental achievements.
and we can claim 20 have Influenced
him in his development as much as any
other institution or as any experience of
bouoring him. and In this day. which re-
minds MS OF his life and death. we can
law aside for the moment all censure of
his life all scorn for his weaknesses, all
ritv for his fate. and rejoice in the
unique productions OF his solitary genius
and the worldwide recognition OF his
literary greatness
MIR. MABIE'S ADDRESS.
NJ Nabie said in part: 1t is the first
and perhaps the most obvious dis'ihctiVh
~ Edgar Allan Poe that his creative
work babies all attempts TO relate IL ms
toricaly TO antecedent condluohsi lhaN
II detached itself almost completely from
the time and place in which II mace us
appearance. and sprang suddenly ana
mvsteriously from a soil which had never
borne It's like before. Ihere Was hOthl.s
in the America of the third decade OF Ihe
country which seemed TO pIeu'Ct Inv
civ of the Sea" ISRAELI and the lines
go Helen" - Poe stood alone among
bia contemporaries by reason OF the iact
that he. while his imagination was iefti-
Iized nv the movement of the time, his
work was not. save I'm its originality ana
baauty representative OF the FORCES De-
hind H. The group Of gifted men win
ubon no had for the most part such
casual connections reflected the age De-
hind them or the time In which Ihey
lived: Poe shared with them the creative
impulse without sharing the SPECIFIC IN
terests and devotions Of the period lie
was primarily and distinctively the artist
OF his time; the man who cared FOR his
ar, and not for what he could say
through II. but for what 1t had TO say
through him Emerson. Lowell, Holmes,
Whittiel. Bryant Irving, and, in certain
aspects OF his genius. Hawthorne, might
have been predicted, reading our early
history I'm the light Of our later develop
ment. their coming seems 10 have been
foreordainec by the conditions Of life on
the new continent; and later. Whitman
and I.anier stand for and are bound up
In the fortunes OF the new world and its
new order Of political and social life. Poe,
alone. among men Of his eminence, could
not have been foreseen. This fact sug-
eests his limitations, but IL also brings
into clear view the unique individuality
OF his genius and the complete original
nv O, his work. His contemporaries are
explcable: Poo is ineXplicable, lie re-
mains the most sharply defined PERSONAL
ity in our literary history. His verse and
his imaginative prose stand out In bold
relief against a background which neither
suggests nor interprets him One may 20
further and affirm that both verse and
prose have place by themselves in the
literature OF the world. - In the CITY
I'm the Sea" '1srafcl,' and the verses ITO
Hclen"-to recall three OF Poe's earliest
and most representative poems-there Is
complete earlier detachment from the in
teresis and occupations and complete es-
cape into the world OF ideality. II is part
o. the charm OF these perfect creations
that they are free from all trace OF time
and toll Ont ~ the new world ~ Uork