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Caption: Book - John Milton Gregory Memorial Convocation (1898)
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JOHN Mil TON GR1 UN A D D R E S S BY D E A N T H O M A S J. B U R R I L L . •• I should be something more or less than human not to feel the solemn pressure of this hour." T h e s e words constitute the first sentence in IV. Gregory's first official public utterance in connection with the institution here over which he had been called to preside. I have quoted the first line of his memorable inaugural address. H a d he then full)- comprehended all the labors he e n t e r e d upon, all the hardships and painful experiences he was to endure, the heavy burden he was to bear,— the words would have been weighted with further significance than was then understood, though he better than anybody else c o m p r e h e n d e d the situation in which he was placed. H a d they meaning then and to him, they have redoubled and reweighted significance now and to me. Dr. John M. Gregory, he whose voice in former times was so often echoed back from these walls, he whose words of wisdom and helpfulness were so often heard by intense and grateful listeners in these seats, he to whom in a very large degree this institution owes its being,— the wise counselor, the heroic executive, the gifted teacher, the friend of professor and of student, the manly Christian man,— has d e p a r t e d from Earth, and his mortal remains seek a resting place within the grounds he loved so well. Only, as it were, the other day, he spoke from this platform and in t h a t hall across the street. W i t h what happiness he revisited t h e scenes of those other times when the beating pulse was s t r o n g e r and the days proved all too short for the plans and purposes begotten in the fervid heat ot an active brain! His life had been devoted to the work of the University. H e would not and could not forget the thirteen years of his official connection here, and we. all of us. old friends and new on were glad that he did not forget, that he did come back, and out of the fullness oi his understanding and of th wealth of his heart delivered anew a message of information and of help, nf inspiration and ot hope. T h e >dy will m !d<-r back to dust in \ onder grave, but the lessons he t ught will never perish in their ini rest and pov I time
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