and lies in
the Chapel of Washington and Lee. This is now a shrine to which hundreds
come daily from all over the world to pay their homage, love and respect
to this great man.

[Illustration:--_Courtesy Virginia State Chamber of Commerce_

VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE]

THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE

Virginia Military Institute was first an academy and was established in
connection with Washington College by an act of the Legislature during
the years 1838-9. A guard of soldiers had been maintained at the expense
of the State for the purpose of affording protection to the arms
deposited in the Lexington arsenal for the use of the militia in western
Virginia. It was through the influence of Governor McDowell, who came
from Rockbridge County, that this militia was made into an educational
unit of Washington College.

One seldom thinks of the Virginia Military Institute without associating
with it the noted Colonel Claudius Crozet--soldier, educator and
engineer. He was the first president of the V.M.I. Board of Visitors. An
imposing hall at the Institute is named in his honor.

In the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hall hangs the painting which depicts
the charge of the corps of cadets at the Battle of New Market. "This
great painting, not a mural, is one of the largest canvas paintings in
the country"--according to authorities there.

Among other memorial buildings is the one erected in honor of
Brigadier-General Scott Shipp, a former cadet, instructor and
superintendent; Maury-Brooke Hall, dedicated to Matthew Fontaine Maury,
the Pathfinder of the Seas and honoring Commander John Mercer Brooke,
inventor of the deep-sea sounding apparatus and builder of the first
successful iron-clad vessel, the "Merrimac."

During the War Between the States the greater part of the buildings were
destroyed by Federal authority. When General Lee heard of this tragedy
he wrote to General F. H. Smith, the superintendent there. We quote his
letter because of its prophetic message:

"CAMP PETERSBURG, (VA.) _July 4, 1864_.

"I have grieved over the destruction of the Military Institute.
But the good that has been done to the country cannot be
destroyed, nor can its name or fame perish. It will rise
stronger than before, and continue to diffuse its benefits to a
grateful people. Under wise administration, there will be no
suspension of its usefulness. The difficulties by which it is
surrounded