Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

Page 30 text:

' ,::5,:-,!. .63 I 1 ' .1 . 'Hi ' i cf i If ,' , I H Q Mainphen-Svihnigfa Glnntrihutinna in Uhr iguhlir Svernirv HIC VRINCIC ICDXYARD AC.-XIDEIXIY was opened for students -Ianuary l, 1776, prior to the Declaration of Independence. lts foundation is attributed to the intellectual and religious energies of the descendants of immigrants of Scotch and Scotch Irish blood who left their native countries and settled in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and portions of Virginia. Its name was changed to I-Iampden-Sidney in May, 1777, in honor of those whose principles of political liberty which had been sealed by the blood of martyrs. The Legislature of Yirginia, in the year 1783, issued its first College Charter to Hampden-Sidney, which charter has never been amended. The College of XYillian1 and Mary had been chartered in 1693 by the British Crown, as its name indicates. and it is a signihcant fact that our Legislature should charter this College born in the midst of the American Revolution and baptized with the names of two of the most illustrious patriots who lost their lives for daring to defy the usurpations of the Crown and in defense of the same inher- ent rights for which our fathers fought. Hampden-Sidney from its inception has been strictly an American institution. One section of its charter makes especially interesting reading at this time. namely, And in order to preserve in the minds of the students the sacred love and attachment they should ever bear to the principles of the present glorious Revolution, the greatest care and caution should he used in electing such profess- ors and masters, to the end that no person shall be so elected unless his conduct manifests to the world his sincere affection for the liberty and independence for the United States of America. The names of the charter members of this College were alone sufficient war- rant for bright hopes for its future usefulness, including such men as Patrick Henry, blames Illadison, VVilliam Cabell, Sr., I'aul Carrington, Everard Meade, -Iohn Nash, 'lohn Martin, Thomas Reade, .Ioel Wlatkins, XVilliam Ilooker, Thomas Scott, Sr., -lames .X'len, Nathaniel Yenable, all of whom were among the founders of this Commonwealth and defenders of its liberties. To the student there has always been an influence, strict, personal, intentional: the Rev. Dr. Thomas XY. Hooper, in an address before the Literary Societies of this institution, called it lVIll'UllXL'IilI1IS intluence, and illustrated how it had acted as one of the silent forces in the Societies and the College. He described beautifully his personal feelings experienced on occasions under similar or kindred intluences I quote his words: I stood, one day. in the crypt of St. Paul's and looked upon the funeral car of ?V?.'f '7Wi7T , T' S' TT' ,gs X ,, I fgggjf-,ig 1 7 A Page Tfweniy-four

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, N TW: ,.,, A I' - I, i I if FV, 343, ?g7if5'T.. Liz . ,f J g Q.. f f 1 V ,Ag 53 ' V J , 4 14 ' 'gg zw.,e-cL'.2.f.fe,a'a,3 f fy 'M v--' fb F 2 f f :- ' ' . , X ia' A: ffzf- EsEi'ii5?E5 I 1 3 W M QM , 1-3-1- the Duke of NYel1ington. The next week I gazed with rapture on the Monolith that holds all that is mortal of the great Napoleon. The next week, at Lucerne, I gazed in silence at the splendid monument to the Swiss Guards. The next, I stood in the crypt where lie encased in stone and marble the dead Emperors and Empresses of Austria. But last October, for the first time, l stood in the Chapel at Lexington, Virginia, and, with feelings of still greater admiration and awe, I gazed in silence upon the recumbent statue of Robert E. Lee. 1Yhat was it that made a weird. wonderful, indescribable, almost inconceivable impression. as I gazed on the marble features of our own dead Chieftain. Oh! to us, he was the embodiment of 'A Cause' which, 'though lost to sight' is 'to memory dearf And no one who looked upon him calm in the storm of battle, and calmer still amid the academic shades of his later years, can ever look upon that monument without feeling that, at last, American genius has caught an inspiration worthy of the hero whose memory was worthy of being thus immortalized. In and around the historic village of Hampden-Sidney there is a moral at- mosphere that permeates the whole place, and nearly every student who has ma- triculated has felt the beneficial effect, not only as student but afterward as citizen. I have been requested to call attention to what I-Iampden-Sidney has contrib- uted to the public service in the 140 years of its existence, a more comprehensive subject than it would seem to the casual observer. I can only brietiy give some facts incident thereto that may be interesting to the reader and that demonstrate the great value of this institution to the State and Nation. I am one of the many who believe Hampden-Sidney has done more real good in the struggle for moral and civil betterment of mankind than any other institu- tion of its size and age in the country. Considering local iniiuence and conditions from its foundation to the present time. the names of its incorporators and of those who have been in charge from the first Rector of the Academy, with all its great presidents and accomplished professors, under the watchful care of its splendid trustees. the foregoing state- ment will not seem amazing. h The president, faculty, trustees and students have always taken much interest in religious, political and social questions. During the Revolution its students formed into a company, under the caps taincy of the Rev. john lillair Smith, were marched to Xiiilliamsburg and placed at the service of the Governor of the Commonwealth. Again in the XYar of 1812. the young men under the command of John Kirkpatrick, a graduate. pursuing theological studies under Dr. Moses Hoge, took part in defense of the City of -,...,, :i!'5Ef-- Page Tfwfrzty-ff1.'f'