ent. In 1796 Washington settled upon Liberty Hall as the proper
recipient of the one hundred shares in the James River Company to
augment its endowment. In accepting the gift the name of the academy was
changed, and the trustees were able to sign themselves, "the trustees of
Washington Academy, late Liberty Hall." Washington was greatly touched
by the honor, and ascribed his ability to make the donation to "the
generosity of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia."

The institution prospered. About 1802 a new charter was granted with
larger powers, under the name of Washington College. John Robinson, a
soldier of the Revolution under Washington, gave, in emulation of his
illustrious commander, his entire estate to Washington College; from it
the trustees realized $40,000 toward the endowment. The stock of the
James River Company, which Washington transferred to the College, to-day
yields an income of six per cent, on $50,000, and, after prospering
years, the College has now a productive endowment of $600,000, and a
property worth $800,000. The country has passed through many critical
periods since Washington's day, and the Union is stronger than ever. The
old College is a witness to the all-healing power of time and kinship,
for its name has again been added to: it is Washington and Lee
University now; and thus is joined with the name of the Father of His
Country the name of one whom the South has ever loved, whom the North
long since forgave, and whose memory the country will ever cherish.

The Revolutionary War was a costly experiment of education in military
affairs in the field; it cost heavily in blood and treasure. Washington
realized that preparation for service in the army must be had in
military schools.

From the very beginning of the war until the end of his life, by
official message and by letter, Washington urged the importance of
military instruction. In his message to Congress in 1796 he said: "The
institution of a military academy is recommended by cogent reasons.
However pacific the general policy of a nation may be, it ought never to
be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies. In
proportion as the observance from the necessity of practicing the rules
of the military art, ought to be its care in preserving and transmitting
by proper establishments the knowledge of that art. A thorough
examination of the subject will evince that the art of war is extensive
and complicat