The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-04-18

dress, Delivered UO0ay, dIter nc vas III
Quoted into Office as the first president
Of the University of Virginia, was a
notable effort and was received with
marked attention by an immense au-
dience, who frequently interrupted the
eloquent flow of words with sponta-
neous and hearty outbuIsts of ap-
plause. DIR. Alderman, in part, said:
Eighty-seven years ago the common
wealth Of Virginia, inspired by the
genius of Thomas Jefferson guided by
the patient good sei.3e of joseph Ca
bell, and heartene1 Ivy the encourage
ment of James Manson n James
Mon.oe, laid the foundation Of this
university, and dedicated 1t CONSCIOUS
ly TO freedom for mind and soul, to de-
sire for knowledge and truth, n TO
solemn faith IN the justice and slow
progressiveness Of a democratic soeie
ty. Men OF English anG Scotch Irish
breeding long settled on the soil OF the
state, had evolved 4 free n forcefnl
society of gracious charm and dist;nc-
tion and leadership in tie republic
then belonged TO Virginia through the
rare greatness Of her sons.
Out of her social conditions had
come the spirit that called for revo IL
ton in voices singLlarly clear ana
sweet. From her independent life had
arisen the forces that clothed in noole
In. ase the reasons Tor revolution, that
guided victorious. 2 The legions Of war.
that bore just part in the shaping OF
the constitution, SO compact OF high
sense and tragic compromises; that in
terpreted it's spirit; that widened colo
NAL vision from provincialism to m
pire; hat fixed faith in average hu-
mainly as the philosophy of a new
civilization, and hat set b frame
work of the great popular experiment
in forms of im~perishable strength anG
beauty.
The illustrious man who inspired
this foundation mas eternal honor here.
Here he lived, here they laid his Nor
tai body, and here dwells in ceaseiess
energy his immortal spirit. But Thorn
as Jefferson, like George Washington,
is a world name and a world force. His
phrases, on the lips of aspiration, stand
everywhere as a rebuke and a Stunlb
ling block to tyrrany and oppression.
His ideals, far spreading in all lands.
1IoNC S1fSH III 81 NA S
democratic movement of the modern
age in Europe and America. To this
university Thomas Jefferson is some
thing more than a philosophy, or a lig-
ure in pantheon. He is a friend, q
founder, a father. No university in the
world-not Bologna, or Ell Ashar, or
Oxford, or Prague-is S 10 intimately as
ISOLATED with so immortal a name. To
us he inhabits his high hill forever.
an unwearied, versatile, myriad-mind-
ed old man, acquainted with glory ana
high station, a smile of faith forever
on his lips, a passion for freedom for
ever at his heart, knowing men deeply
and yet believing in them and having
patience with them; subjecting every
thing, with thoughtful radicalism, 10
the test of their advancement; watch
ing with patient eyes the slow rising
walls of this university for their train
inc. and counting that foundation the
greatest in the sum of his vast human
achievement:
Born thus of the union of human en-
thusiasm and civic impulse, the uni
yersity of Virginia seems to me the
first deliberate gift of democratic Ideal
ism to the nation and century, thoGSn
three score and sever institutions had
preceded it in the national life, OWING
their origin to the great historic causes
of religious zeal, private beneflcence
and high community OF Impulses iof
wisdom and guidance.
In our satisfaction that we stand sc
impressively as an expression OF thf
national mind tOward political SELF -di-
rection, let us not forget the debt that
we owe to the great forces that ha1
already builded the pioneer American
institutions, out of which had come
the inspiration for Lexington AM
Yorktown, the Continental Congress
and the Constitutional Convention. In
particular, let us not forget the reiig-
ious motive that gave sacredness ane
moral direction to our ideals, that helt
us to the faith that mans relation Il
God is the supreme essence of human
culture, and that admonishes us, DAY
by day. that through wisdom IS ar
house builded, and by understanding
it is established, and by knowledSe
shall the chambers be filled with al
precious and pleasant riches
Universities stand both as servant:
and as symbols OF the spiritual insigh
anu TIE SOCldI uSSuS vi IuCi SpOS."
The Greek peoples studied PHILOSOPHY
because the need of their time was eth
ical. The E~nglishman is intent upol
the getting of general culture becaus'
his need is for the man of breadth All
culture will. In the second decade o
the republic popular thought centeres
upon the rights of man and the bound
Of political freedom. The statement ,
the purpose of the founding of the uni
versity, therefore, drawn up by tn
same hand that had drawn up the Dec
laration of American Independence
while rejecting this mood of the age
passed beyond it with a daring compre
h-ensiveness that marks our founder a
a master of foresight and interpreta
ton. "The university shall exist" sai'
Jefferson.
SD To form the statesmen, legis
1ators, and judges, on whom publ
prosperity and individual happines