The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-07-31
.UNVE|L MONUMENT
TO FIRST ASSEMBLY
rec, and was heard with close atten-
Continued from First Page.)

r 5f p : T : = 5 ? t=3
gree, and was heard with close atten-
ton and frequent bursts Of applause.
Bishop Randolph said in part:
..Our grateful recognition is due to
the Norfolk branch of the Society for
the Preservation OF Virginia Anti
and giving it to this country and to
history. Why 1t was not done before. |
why have the people of America, and
especially Of Virginia. consented to
wait for three hundred years before
doing this act of reverence and dis
charging this duty to the one Of the
greatest of our historic memories. are
questions which have been asked by
not, only Virginians, but Americans
and foreigners. The answer to these
natural Inquiries will be found to be not
entirely satisfactory, or flattering TO 1
LOT the people in relation to the preser-
walton of monuments. Doubtless 1t Is
true that greed and private interests
combined with ignorance have not
| of men and events of historic value to-
perish, but have, without knowing it,
ruthlessly destroyed memorials of
iprehistorc races and buried civiliza-I
| tions and treasures that would have
our country. These are due in large
measure to the lack Of information
and education among the Heterogeneous
/ masses, which crowd the old State and
i press out to the new fields Of enter.
/ surprising the experience of any other
nation upon the earth.
Party Prejudice.
| "The bane and the falsehood OF much
Of the history, Of much historical
writing, is due to the party prejudice
or fanatlcism Of the historian, who
medl um Of political antipathies or atti-
d liations in the present. You have Eng
!. ltsh histories written by brilliant men
where the political bias of the Wing
or the Tory is manifest on almost every
. page. 1t has been said by the. critics
OF Grote's History Of Greece, l think
: unjustly, that it Is only long and
labored argument n favor Of, Of de- e !.
pages that the main obJe Of the writer
( is to prove that Divine Providence was
: always on the side of the Wings and
roSay some Of gS ha0 0s hae
r Puritan against the Cavalier has con-
Z dlttoned much of the tone and the tenn.
!. per of American history; that even 9
Q editing his great Cambridge history
J. has chosen Puritan writer of moder.
3 ate abilities to contribute the article or
Q the Colonies OF Virginia and NIassachu,
town is represented as without signi
the horizon Of history as the founda
4 lion and the sIOuntalnl OIL democracy ant
: liberty and the principles Of free gov
eminent that have transformed tn,
! modern world.
+ Preconccived Opinions.
J; "a gain, history Is liable to perver
: slons, because upon social and politica
!, and ecclesiastical questions the ma
!, jority OF us enter upon the study t
;, ! prove the Justice Of precon
y ceived ideas and opinions, We go t
= work to paint a picture, a portrait, bu
r find ourselves in obedience to the In
stinct to please more solicitous abou
n the picture than the likeness. We ar
like the voter, the Democrat or the Re
publican, who has already made up hi
mind on which side ne VIII shout an
matte Instinct In human nature cor
stitutes temptation in the path Of tn
historian In his delineation of tn
events and personalities of the pas
s In his search for dramatic incidents i
forEets that tho ultimate purpose I
"a Is not to amuse, but to teach the trut
the whole truth and nothing but IL
truth, Imagination when relied upo
becomes q dangerous companion
u truthfulness.
@3 Colonial Clergy.
'The clergy of the Episcopal Churc
during the Colonial period. and befol
and after the American Reyolutio
l upon their religious characters hayr
\ their origin In sectarian, political al
social prejudices. and some or Il
# novels from the pens OF gentle AZ
1 talented women here in Virginia, mari
Cd in some instances "a by hs dramaf
I n worl d iy, rol !ckl1lg class whose tntinen'
! WAS nothing but scandal to rellglo