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 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 Prof. Edward T. Fristoe, LL D. 
 
 DECEMBER 16, 1892 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 PUBLISHED BY THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. 
 
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 IN MEMORY OF 
 
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 Prof. Edward T. Fristoe, LL D. 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. 
 
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 EDWARD T. FRISTOE. 
 
 Edward T. Fristoe was born in Rappahannock 
 County, Virginia, December 16th, 1827; son of Joseph 
 and Martha Fristoe. Received his early training 
 at old time country schools in the neighborhood 
 of his home. At the age of seventeen years, he 
 entered Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, 
 Virginia, from which he graduated in 1849, with 
 the highest honors. For two years was principal 
 of an academy at Surrey Courthouse, Virginia. In 
 1852 entered the University of Virginia, from which 
 he graduated in three years, receiving the degree of 
 A. M. in 1855. He excelled especially in mathematics 
 and natural sciences. At the University he had the 
 respect and esteem of professors and students, and was 
 looked up to as a leader among the students. In 1855, 
 while still a student, he was elected to the chair of 
 mathematics in the Columbian College of Washington, 
 D. C, which position he held with great acceptance 
 until i860, when he resigned to accept the chair of 
 mathematics and astronomy in the State University of 
 Missouri. 
 
 He entered the confederate army in 1862 as Adjutant 
 General of the army of South Missouri, was made ma- 
 jor in 1863, and soon after appointed colonel of cavalry. 
 In 1864 he was with General Price in his march from 
 the Arkansas to the Missouri River. He is spoken of 
 
as having been a gallant soldier ; conspicuous alike for 
 his courage and discretion. After the close of the war 
 in 1865, he was elected to the chair of chemistry in the 
 Columbian College, and in 1 871, to chair of chemistry 
 in the Medical Department of the Columbian Univer- 
 sity ; 1872, lecturer on chemistry in the National Col- 
 lege of Pharmacy, District of Columbia; 1872, also 
 the degree of LL. D., from the Win. Jewell College of 
 Missouri, was conferred on him; 1874, Phar. D., from 
 the National College of Pharmacy, District of Colum- 
 bia; 1884, Professor of General and Analytical Chem- 
 istry of the Corcoran Scientific School, and Dean of 
 the Faculty. At the time of his death, he was Profes- 
 sor of Chemistry in Medical Department, Professor of 
 Chemistry and Physics in Corcoran Scientific School, 
 and Dean of Faculty of latter. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 president Jai^es C- Yfelliijg, LL D< 
 
 Lord Byron, in what is perhaps the best, as well as 
 the best known, of his poems has likened man to a 
 "pendulum betwixt a smile and tear." It is certain 
 that the mortal life of our lamented friend, the late 
 Professor Fristoe, if gauged from the point of time 
 when it first came within my ken, till the day when 
 it faded into the life eternal, may be literally said to 
 have vibrated between these two forms of emotional 
 expression. 
 
 I met him for the first time at his bridal, where, as 
 was meet on a wedding day, smiles of joy wreathed the 
 faces of the many friends who came to rejoice with 
 him on that day of his rejoicing. From that day on- 
 ward, it was my good fortune to enjoy his personal ac- 
 quaintance, down to the day when his life so suddenly 
 went out, amid the tears of the friends who were called 
 to follow his remains to the house appointed for all the 
 living. 
 
 But if his life, so far as it came under my observa- 
 tion, may be said, in a certain sense, to have oscillated 
 betwixt smiles and tears, it would be a great mistake 
 to suppose that his long and useful career moved in the 
 sphere of the emotions alone. Not enjoyment, and not 
 sorrow is our destined end or way, as one of our own 
 poets has said. We all can say, with entire assurance, 
 
that Professor Fristoe did not set the psalm of his life 
 to any emotional key-note, vivid as were his sensibili- 
 ties. If at any time he may have dreamed that Life 
 was Beauty he showed by all his waking activities 
 that Life for him was Duty. 
 
 If at any time he may have been tempted to indulge 
 in despondency, we may aver, with entire confidence, 
 that he never yielded to the temptation, and so it came 
 to pass that he led before us all a life that was full of 
 the most unintermitting labors as well as the warmest 
 aflections. 
 
 I say that the warmest affections as well as the most 
 unintermitting labors were blended in his life and his 
 career. The philosophical poet of England has taught 
 us that we must find in the primal affections of our 
 nature, "The fountain light of all our day, the master 
 ight of all our seeing.'' Long before Wordsworth had 
 given a poetical expression to this truth, King»Solomon 
 had said, as the induction of a wisdom condensed into 
 proverbial form, that "as a man thinketh in his heart, 
 so is he;" and a greater than Solomon has said that it 
 is "out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth 
 speaketh." 
 
 It is not for me, as the presiding officer of this me- 
 morial meeting, to enumerate, still less to classify and 
 appreciate, the virtues which shed their fragrance along 
 the path in life of our friend and colleague. In so 
 doing I should commit an indecorum, as seeming to 
 anticipate what will be better said by those who are to 
 follow me. But if I were called to sum up, in a sin- 
 gle trait, the most characteristic of his endowments 
 on the side of the affections, I should find it in the 
 strong human kindness which come to habitual expres- 
 sion in all his acts, and in all his words. And hence 
 it was but natural that this human kindness never 
 
failed to meet return from the friends who were bound 
 to him by hooks of steel. All the generosities of social 
 life found a congenial home in his benignant bosom. 
 On the side of his activities in this University, you 
 all know how superabundant he was in his arduous 
 labors. If Prospero in his cell could say that for him 
 his "libraiy was a dukedom large enongh," it may be 
 said with truth of Professor Fristoe, that he found his 
 "dukedom '' in the precints of the chemical laboratory, 
 and in the Lecture Hall where listening students 
 caught words of learning from his lips. And not in 
 chemistry alone, but in the whole circle of the physical 
 sciences, he had been a diligent student, and hence it 
 is that so many, in all parts of the land, are ready to 
 rise up and join with us to-day in invoking a blessing 
 on his memory. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 OP THE 
 
 Rev. A. J. Huntington, D. D. 
 
 It is no easy matter to analyze the motives which 
 impel us to pay our tributes of respect to the dead. 
 
 Cicero refers to the duties which the Romans were 
 so careful to perform for the dead, as a proof that they 
 believed that the soul was immortal, and that it was 
 interested in these tokens of regard from the living. 
 And it is possible that, even in Christian lands, a belief 
 of this kind, that our deceased friends are in some way 
 acquainted with the rites which we perform in memory 
 of them, and that they are gratified by them, though 
 such a belief is not well defined, and though but few, 
 comparatively, are even conscious of entertaining it, 
 may, nevertheless, often-times have something to do 
 with the honors which are bestowed upon the dead. 
 
 But it is probable that men generally pay them these 
 tributes of respect from the mere instinct of love, which 
 is too strong to remain silent and inoperative within 
 them, but constrains them in this way to. give expres- 
 sion to it. 
 
 Or, feeling that our departed friends are still entitled 
 to all the regard we can show them, we ma}-, in order 
 to satisfy our conscience and the claims of justice, render 
 them these attentions. 
 
 And, still further, we are incited to offer these tributes 
 of affection by the conviction that it is for the good of 
 society to cherish the remembrance of the departed, 
 and to hold up their characters for the imitation of the 
 living, and especially of the young, and thus to incite 
 
them to strive for the attainment of those excellences 
 which make men honored in life, and lamented in 
 death. 
 
 Now whether is is from motives like these, or from 
 other motives still, that we have come to-day to these 
 memorial services, of this, at least, we are sure, that we 
 are here with one accord for the purpose of showing the 
 esteem and love which we cherished for a noble man 
 while he was with us, and the veneration in which we 
 still hold his name. And we are gathered here also to 
 thank God for giving us such a blessing, and continuing 
 it to us so long. 
 
 Allow me, then, to refer to some of those traits in the 
 character of Professor Fristoe which, during an intimate 
 acquaintance of moie than thirty years, seemed to me 
 especially worthy of admiration. 
 
 And, to speak first of his intellectual qualities, it is 
 hardly necessary to say to those who knew him well, 
 that his natural gifts were of no common order. His 
 mind was strong and well balanced, not so remarkable, 
 perhaps, for the predominance of anyone of its faculties 
 as for their general development. He was quick and 
 clear in his perceptions; vigorous in his reasoning 
 powers; and eminently sound in judgment. And few 
 men were more strongly characterized by a practical 
 turn of mind. The faculty of the college found in him 
 a wise counsellor. In all the matters which pertained 
 to the arrangement of the courses of college study, and 
 to their proper adjustment to one another, and espec- 
 ially in the establishment of the Corcoran School, his 
 power of organization was clearly seen and gratefully 
 acknowledged by his colleagues. Of the Corcoran 
 School he was, from its beginning, the efficient and 
 honored Dean. But not only as a college faculty, but 
 as individuals, in our private affairs, we, as well as 
 
IO 
 
 man} 7 others, found him an intelligent, discreet, and 
 safe adviser. > 
 
 Of his ability as a scholar and a. professor, first of 
 Mathematics, and afterwards of Natural Science, it is 
 not too much to say that the intelligent pupils, who, for 
 a period of thirty-two years, class after class, listened 
 to his instructions, and the men of science who were 
 brought into contact with him, ever regarded him as a 
 thorough master and skillful expounder of the subjects 
 which he taught. 
 
 He wrote indeed no books connected with his 
 branches of study ; but we may believe that the prin- 
 cipal reasons of this were, on the one hand, that he did 
 not care to go over the ground which many authors in 
 these departments had already travelled; and, on the 
 other hand, that, after the exhausting labors to which 
 he was daily subjected in the lecture room, and in pre- 
 paring himself to impart to his students the greatest 
 possible benefit, he felt that he had not nervous energy 
 enough, and leisure enough, to enable him to press be- 
 yond the boundaries which others had reached, and to 
 conquer new territory for the domain of knowledge. 
 
 And what shall w T e say of those moral qualities of Pro- 
 fessor Fristoe which were so striking and attractive as 
 to make us sometimes almost lose sight of his rich in- 
 tellectual endowments. 
 
 The foundation of this lofty moral character was the 
 purity of his principles. His heart was right. His 
 great aim was to discharge his duty to God and man. 
 No one who knew him w 7 ell probably ever suspected 
 that the principles w T hich controlled that great heart 
 were evil. We all felt that the springs of action in that 
 noble life could not be wrong. 
 
 And, first, w 7 e may say that he was the very model of 
 sincerity and truthfulness. He was a man without guile. 
 
II 
 
 Whoever else was chargeable with duplicity, he was 
 simple and straightforward. No one distrusted him, or 
 feared that some evil purpose lurked in his soul. The 
 faculty and students of the college, and all who knew 
 him, were convinced that what he said, he meant; that 
 what he professed, he believed and felt. And this can- 
 dor, integrity, and uprightness, he practised through 
 life, and thus proved that he was worthy of this uni- 
 versal confidence which was reposed in him. He lived 
 and died "an honest man, — the noblest work of God." 
 
 And, in this connection, we may mention his con- 
 scientiousness and faithfulness in the discharge of duty. 
 In the long and honored roll of professors in our 
 American colleges, it would be difficult to find any who 
 have given themselves more completely to the work to 
 which they have been appointed, or who have been 
 more devoted to the interests of the institutions which 
 they have served, and to the welfare of the students 
 committed to their charge; who, in a w T ord, have been 
 more punctual, and careful, and diligent, in the dis- 
 charge of their various duties as college officers, than 
 Professor Fristoe. 
 
 Nor was he less remarkable for his energy and per- 
 severance. These high qualities, not only character- 
 ized him in youth when he was in pursuit, without 
 adequate pecuniary means, of an academic education, 
 first, at the Virginia Military Institute, and afterwards, 
 at the University of Virginia, from which he gained 
 the honor of the Master's degree, but also distin- 
 guished him in his whole career as a scholar and a col- 
 lege proffessor. 
 
 But all who are familiar with his life would say that 
 his unselfish disposition was worthy of special mention. 
 His motto seemed to be, "No manliveth unto himself." 
 He claimed nothing for himself which did not belong 
 
12 
 
 to him ; and even what was his own he often resigned 
 to others. As a member of the college faculty, he 
 never sought to lay heavier burdens on others than he 
 was willing to bear himself. He shirked no duty ; he 
 shunned no responsibility. Now it was this disposi- 
 tion to look not on his own things, but also on the 
 things of others, — "to love himself last," — that gave 
 his character much of its nobility, and gained for him 
 much of that esteem, and love, and admiration, in 
 which he was held. Men like him who can sink the 
 considerations of self in a regard for others, become, 
 when great occasions require, the true heroes and bene- 
 factors of the world. They are the men who in a 
 worthy cause are ready, at the summons of their coun- 
 try, to imperil their lives on the high places of the 
 field ; or who, at the call of God, for the sake of miti- 
 gating human woe and for the salvation of their race, 
 hesitate not to leave the luxuries and refinements of 
 civilized life behind, and to go to distant and savage 
 shores to unfurl the banner of the Cross. 
 
 And allied to this unselfish disposition he Had a kind 
 and generous nature. His conduct towards his col- 
 leagues was eminently friendly and courteous. It 
 seemed to be free from envy and jealousy, and to be 
 pervaded by a feeling of genuine good-will. Of the 
 kindliness of the words which marked his intercourse 
 with us, we might, each of us well say in the language 
 which the Roman orator represents Laelius as using 
 of his friend Scipio. Africanus The Younger, a little 
 w T hile after his death: "I never heard anything from 
 him which I was sorry to hear." 
 
 The students also found in him a kind and sympa- 
 thetic friend. They had such confidence in the good- 
 ness of his heart, as well as in the wisdom of his coun- 
 sels, that they went freely to him in their perplexities 
 
13 
 
 and troubles, and received from him the advice and en- 
 couragement which they needed. x\nd we believe 
 that a college officer has rarely been more highly ap- 
 preciated and respected, and more sincerely loved, than 
 Professor Fristoe by the successive classes of the Col- 
 umbian College. 
 
 Nor was his kindly disposition shown to those alone 
 with whom he was most intimately associated. His 
 genial nature inclined him, as far as his pressing 
 duties permitted, to social intercourse, and especially 
 fitted him for it. His kind and sympathetic heart, 
 the naturalness, simplicity, and cordiality, of his man- 
 ners, and the vivacity, mingled oftentimes with the 
 pleasantry of his conversation, made him welcome in 
 every house and in every social circle which he visited. 
 His presence, like the sudden shining of the sun into 
 our dwellings, diffused cheerfulness and delight. His 
 coming was a signal for social enjoyment. How sadly 
 in our families, and in our social gatherings, within 
 the last few months, has that benevolent and radiant 
 face, that warm grasp of the hand, and that glad voice, 
 been missed ! 
 
 And here I might refer to his generosity towards 
 either individuals or charitable and religious objects 
 that needed his aid. Although he was sparing in his 
 expenditures for his own gratification, yet he dispensed 
 to those purposes which he regarded as worthy of his 
 benefactions, with even a more liberal hand than most 
 men would have thought that his means justified. He 
 gave away what others would have laid up for future 
 need. 
 
 Such were some, and only some, of the admirable 
 traits which distinguished the character of him whose 
 departure from us we deplore. We sorrow not as 
 though one standing on the common level of humanity 
 
14 
 
 had gone from us, but we feel that a very prince has 
 fallen. 
 
 But we rejoice that "being dead he yet speeketh." 
 His words are still in our ears and in our hearts, and 
 there they will long abide. His actions are before our 
 eyes, and will still guide us to a better life. The 
 young who listened to his teachings, or only knew him, 
 as they look at his career, will see what a man of good 
 native intellect and strong common sense, with honesty, 
 industry, energy, self-denial, and kindness, — in a word, 
 with the love of God and man in the heart as the con- 
 trolling principles of conduct, — what such a man can 
 accomplish ; and inspired and encouraged by his ex- 
 ample, they will be stimulated to higher and nobler 
 things. 
 
 And how cheering is the thought that the influence 
 of our departed friend will not cease, even when all 
 who knew him shall have ceased to live. That in- 
 fluence is the inheritance of humanity, and remaineth 
 with it forever ; for communicated by one individual 
 to another and by one people to another, and transmit- 
 ted from generation to generation, it shall be as limit- 
 less as the dwelling place of the race, and as lasting as 
 the duration of the soul. 
 
 And let this our great loss be to us in one way our 
 great gain. Let us not continue to imagine, as we are 
 so prone to imagine, that all men are mortal but our- 
 selves. He who has gone from us, since he had a 
 strong bodily constitution and robust health, seemed to 
 see no sufficient reason why he might not also reach 
 the age of more than four score years and ten, to which 
 his mother had attained : and he casually remarked to 
 a friend, who had called to sympathize with him, just 
 after she died, that he expected to live himself to be 
 still older than she ; — and yet, in less than twenty-four 
 
15 
 
 hours, he was lying low in death. We know not in- 
 deed what a day may bring forth. Whatever then our 
 hand findeth to do, let us do it with our might. And 
 since we have here no continuing city, let it be our 
 first concern to seek for an abiding habitation in the 
 place which our Great Mediator and Forerunner has 
 gone to prepare for his followers ; and on the golden 
 streets, and beside the crystal waters, of that New 
 Jerusalem, may we again and forever hold communion 
 with our dear friend and brother, who has passed on 
 and entered in, a little before us. 
 
i6 
 
 ADDRKSS 
 
 BY 
 
 D. W. PRENTISS, A. M.. M. D. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 It is a sad purpose for which we meet to-night — to 
 do honor to the memory of our deceased colleague. I 
 appear before you in this connection, by invitation of 
 our honored President, as the representative of the 
 Medical Department. 
 
 A few weeks ago, on the first of October, we inaugu- 
 rated the seventy-first session of the Medical School, 
 with a fair prospect of a pleasant and prosperous win- 
 ter's work. But alas our pleasurable anticipations were 
 not without their shadow, the shadow cast by the death 
 of dear Professor Fristoe, the oldest member of our 
 Faculty. 
 
 We missed then, as we miss to-night, his genial fa- 
 miliar face. For twenty-one years he stood in his 
 place, evening after evening, giving instruction to the 
 successive classes of pupils, now numbered in the Alma 
 Mata of the Columbian University. For twenty-one 
 years he has worked with us, and by his courteous man- 
 ners, endeared himself to both professors and students. 
 On that occasion, for the first time, he failed to lend 
 his aid in the exercises of a public meeting; for the 
 first time he was absent from his accustomed place. 
 And now we meet upon the anniversary of his natal 
 day, to pay public tribute to his faithful work, and ex- 
 press our sorrow in his loss. 
 
17 
 
 The Destroyer, that is no respector of persons, spares 
 neither rank nor talent, strikes equally rich and poor, — 
 has left us but his memory. No more shall our ears 
 ring with the tones of his hearty voice ; no more shall 
 we feel the influence of his genial presence. Nothing 
 is left to us .but his good works, and the echoes from 
 the silent tomb. 
 
 It is perhaps not inappropriate that it should devolve 
 upon the present speaker this evening, to pay a just 
 and well deserved tribute to the memory of our de- 
 ceased and greatly lamented friend. I have known 
 him probably longer than any other member of the 
 Medical Faculty. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago I appeared before Professor 
 Fristoe at the old Columbian College on the hill, at the 
 end of fourteenth street, for examination for admittance 
 to the College. Well do I remember his kindly recep- 
 tion of the frightened candidate on that occasion. The 
 interview is still so vividly fixed in my mind, that I 
 remember even the problems in geometry that he gave 
 me to solve. Following that I was tinder his instruc- 
 tion in mathematics, in the daily routine of work at 
 the College for three years, until graduation. He was 
 then the same sympathetic friend, as well as a thorough 
 instructor, to the students that he has always been 
 since. Among the college boys he was a universal 
 favorite — which is saying not a little — for professors are 
 not always favorites with college boys. He treated 
 the boys then, as he has invariably treated his pupils 
 since, as young gentlemen. And I well remember how 
 distasteful it was to him to be detailed to watch a class 
 during written examination. In fact, he told the boys 
 they were too honorable to need watching. 
 
 Since the old college days, I have known Professor 
 Fristoe, almost continuously, except during the interval 
 
i8 
 
 of the late war. For thirteen years we were associated 
 in the Medical Faculty. Words fail me to express on 
 the part of my colleagues and myself, the esteem and 
 respect in which he was held. He was always punc- 
 tual to his engagements both in the Lecture room and 
 at Faculty meetings. He never shirked a duty, and 
 how he ever found the time and strength to accom- 
 plish his manifold work, is a wonder to his colleagues. 
 Certainly no other one person will fill his place. He 
 was Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the 
 Medical School ; Professor of General and Analytical 
 Chemistry in the Corcoran Scientific School and Dean 
 of the Faculty ; Professor of Physics and Natural His- 
 tory in the Collegiate Department; besides doing con- 
 stantly work in Analytical Chemistry, and instructing 
 private classes in the labratory. As great as is his loss 
 in all directions, it will be felt most keenly in the 
 Columbian University. 
 
 As to his popularity w T ith the students, I need say 
 nothing. None know better than yourselves, how af- 
 fable and obliging he always was, and of all the teach- 
 ers, none was held in higher esteem. A tribute to the 
 character of Professor Fristoe would be incomplete, 
 without reference to the esteem in which he was held 
 by the lady students of the University. In him they 
 felt sure of a friend and advocate. A number have 
 spoken to, me of his kindness, and more than one has 
 said she did not see how she could return to the work 
 of the chemical laboratory and not find him present. 
 The professor w T as ever noted for his gallantry to the 
 lair sex, and was among them, deservedly a favorite. 
 To be chivalrous was to him second nature. That vi- 
 vacity of manner which made him so pleasant a com- 
 panion, also gave him the appearance of a much 
 younger man than he really was. He was, in fact, the 
 
19 
 
 youngest looking man of his age that I have ever 
 known. His real age as it appeared in the obituary, 
 was, I am sure, a surprise to most of his acquaintances. 
 He himself often referred to his health and youthful 
 feelings. Only two days before his death, after the 
 death of his mother, he said to a friend, "My mother 
 lived to be ninety-two years of age; I shall live to be 
 a hundred." Within forty-eight hours he crossed the 
 dark river. 
 
 His private life was without a blemish. He was 
 never known to swerve from the very highest standard 
 of honor in all his professional and social relations. A 
 vivacious temperament, excellent memory, and ready 
 wit, combined with a generous spirit, made him socially 
 one of the best of men. He was zealous where his 
 convictions were involved, and impulsive by nature, 
 yet his candid, kindly spirit was so well understood by 
 his friends that he held fast their regard and esteem. 
 Of his fidelity to friends, one of his colleagues who 
 knew him best, writes me as follows: " If a friend or 
 even an acquaintance was criticized in his presence he 
 would always say something favorable, if it could pos- 
 sibly be said. In his hands a friend's character was al- 
 ways safe. His fidelty to his friends was one of the 
 most beautiful traits in a character as beautiful as man 
 could possess." 
 
 His generosity was proverbial, and for his means, 
 lavish, while at the same time so modestly bestowed, 
 that but few of his deeds were even suspected outside 
 of those immediately benefited. In his church where 
 he was a highly valued member, I am informed by one 
 who knows, that he gave more money in proportion to 
 his income than any other member. The quiet mod- 
 esty of his charities was only equalled by that of his 
 professional career, and which was characteristic of the 
 
20 
 
 man, one of quiet, unobtrusive usefulness. No one 
 ever heard him, even by inference, sound his own 
 praises nor make a virtue of his merits. 
 
 One of the most beautiful traits of his character was 
 his devoted tenderness and affectionate care of his aged 
 mother. Indeed, it was this filial love that led to the 
 fatal illness. Rather than leave her to the care of 
 others, he remained in the city during the hot sum- 
 mer, refusing to take the much needed vacation. And 
 the exposure to the sun during the intense heated spell, 
 attending to the details of her funeral, brought on the 
 sunstroke of which he died. 
 
 Professor Fristoe's death was sudden, caused bv sun- 
 stroke. When he returned from the burial of his 
 mother, he complained of feeling badly, but thought it 
 would soon pass. During the night an unusual noise 
 was heard in his room, and he was found unconscious. 
 Physicians were called, but he never rallied, dying at 
 seven a. m., July 30th, the clinical thermometer record- 
 ing a temperature of m°. The news of his death 
 came to his friends and associates as a stroke of light- 
 ning from a clear sky, and reaching beyond the con- 
 fines of his native land, across the Atlantic Ocean, it 
 summoned back, our honored president from a special 
 mission abroad. His place and work in the University 
 was so important that his death rendered necessary 
 here the presence of President Welling. 
 
 The last time I saw Professor Fristoe was at the 
 steamer's wharf in Baltimore, July 9th, where he had 
 gone to bid farewell to a party of dear friends, sailing 
 abroad, a trip which he also would have taken, but for 
 his filial devotion. Alas! had he gone with us, we 
 would in all probability, now not mourn his loss. 
 When we each one of us shook him by the hand and 
 received his cheery good wishes, little did we think we 
 
21 
 
 should see him no more on earth. The manner in 
 which we learned the news of his death was almost tragic. 
 On the night of August 19, at the Great Opera House 
 in Paris, in the corridor, between the acts, we met 
 some Washington friends. After conversing awhile, 
 one of them said, "Have you heard of Professor Fris- 
 toe's death ?" I denied it could be true, that there must 
 be a mistake in identity. But my informant gave the 
 details, until doubt was no longer possible. It seemed 
 like a dreadful dream ; in a strange city, in a strange 
 land, at an opera, that three of his students should have 
 such news dropped on them like a thunderbolt. I need 
 not say that we lost all further interest in French opera. 
 The next day we sailed for home. Another of our 
 Faculty first heard the news abroad, from a newspaper 
 paragraph, accidently read. 
 
 Of Professor Fristoe it can be truly said : He was 
 an upright^ honest man, in the loftiest sense of the term. 
 He was a. good citizen, faithful in the discharge of his 
 duties to society. He was a true friend to all those who 
 enjoyed the privilege of his frendship. He was a 
 trusted, trustworthy teacher. To what greater honor can 
 man attain? I hope for myself no higher. God grant 
 that to all of us it may come as well deserved as to 
 Professor Fristoe. Let us keep his memory green. 
 
 We can assist to keep his memory green in the Col- 
 umbian University. It occurs to me that it would be 
 a graceful tribute if the professors and students would 
 unite in placing a portrait of the Professor in the 
 library room of the University. At the Great Univer- 
 sity of Leyden, in Holland, the walls of the counsellor's 
 room are covered with not less than three hundred por- 
 traits in oil of deceased professors, among them that of 
 the great Boerhaave. Such a collection is of great in- 
 teres t, stimulates ambition on the part of the students, and 
 
22 
 
 holds out to the teachers the certainty that at least their 
 memory will be honored. Let us initiate the custom 
 in the old Columbian, with the portrait of Professor 
 Fristoe. 
 
23 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM B. KING. ESQ. 
 
 The: Influence of Professor Fristoe as a 
 Teacher. 
 
 Those of us who attended the old college on "the 
 hill'' like to think that a certain special fragrance 
 clings about the memories of our college days, un- 
 known to those who have done their college work 
 within these walls. We associate with the substantial 
 old college building and the broad grounds, a breadth 
 and freedom of action and of thought which we fondly 
 fear these younger men may never know. The old 
 college building has gone; every brick and stone has 
 been carried away. Yet I cannot think that any of us 
 pass its site without regret. 
 
 Across the college campus was the laboratory, which 
 we know no more, a little, old, rough, one story build- 
 ing. There we used to go for instruction in physics, 
 chemistry and higher mathematics. This was the 
 undisputed kingdom where presided our instructor and 
 friend, Professor Fristoe, in whose honor we are met 
 to-day. 
 
 I speak of him as our instructor and our friend be- 
 cause he was both of these. 
 
 As instructor, every student realized his mastery. 
 He knew thoroughly what he taught. From his full- 
 ness of knowledge and his clearness of vision, he spoke 
 clearly. No earnest student was too dull to understand 
 what he explained. 
 
24 
 
 He was gifted, too, with that peculiar intellectual 
 faculty, so important to a teacher, of insight into young 
 men. He saw the characteristics of each student read- 
 ily and knew his bent and purpose and was able to 
 adapt his instruction to the student's need. The indi- 
 viduality of each student made a distinct impression 
 upon him. 
 
 These are the two necessary qualifications of an in- 
 structor, knowledge of his subject and knowledge of 
 his scholars. Possessing both of these, Professor Fris- 
 toe was an instructor of high rank and of marked 
 ability. 
 
 Yet I think that all of us knew Professor Fristoe not 
 merely as an able instructor but as a valued friend. He 
 was endeared to us by his directness of speech, by the 
 simplicity of his manner and by that kindness of heart 
 which was apparent in all his actions. No student 
 ever had an unkindly feeling toward him. 1 have never 
 heard a student speak unkindly of him. We all real- 
 ized that he had our welfare at heart ; that every effort 
 on our part to master the studies which we pursued 
 with him, was more than met by an earnest desire on 
 his part to aid us. No student ever went to him for 
 assistance or advice, who did not feel that he was heart- 
 ily welcome. We all felt the impress upon us, of a 
 kind and generous heart, and of a determined purpose 
 to do well the work which was in his hands to do. 
 
 Every teacher has two spheres of action in which he 
 makes an impression upon the young men who come 
 before him. A college student learns facts from his 
 instructors, of mathematics, science, Latin, Greek, and 
 English. These he is consciously taught, and these he 
 consciously learns. But every teacher unknowingly 
 imparts what every student unknowingly receives, 
 those intangible moral influences which go to the mak- 
 
25 
 
 ing of character. The character of the teacher molds 
 the character of the scholar. The greatest teachers, 
 whose names, like that of Thomas Arnold, are remem- 
 bered with reverence and tender regard by generations 
 of students, are not those who have succeeded in crowd- 
 ing into the brains of their pupils, the greatest num- 
 ber of facts in the shortest space of time. 
 
 They are those whose personal characters have made 
 the greatest impression upon the young men who have 
 been under their instruction. In this great character- 
 istic, Professor Fristoe was notable. We learned from 
 him our full share of the curriculum prescribed by the 
 rules of the college. But we learned more than that; 
 we learned to appreciate a frank and open nature, free 
 from all affectation or sham ; we learned to value earn- 
 estness in worthy labor ; we learned to know the beauty 
 of a kindly heart and a generous chaiacter. Professor 
 Fristoe taught us the worth of a friend. 
 
 All of his former pupils have had occasion to recall 
 his wonderful memory for those who have studied with 
 him. He remembered all the boys who had been in 
 his care. If he met them he could still call them by 
 name and I think moreover that he still preserved for 
 every one a knowledge of his own individuality ac- 
 quired in teaching him. 
 
 When we gathered together last summer at the 
 funeral servicee of our lamented friend, 1 could not 
 fail to notice the many men there present, who had 
 sat under his instructions during his long period of use- 
 fulness here. While he remembered his students, this 
 showed that they had not forgoiten him, and that how- 
 ever much they might have forgotten the facts of 
 science which he had taught them, they had remem- 
 bered those moral characteristics of kindness of disposi- 
 tion, of sympathy with them and of earnestness, and 
 
26 
 
 that, in his death, the}' felt that they had lost a friend. 
 
 The students of the Columbian College will always 
 associate with Professor Fristoe, two other honored 
 professors who have been his colleagues for nearly 
 thirtv years. From one of these we learned the cor- 
 rect and forcible use of our mother tongue, and from 
 the other we learned the ancient language of far off 
 Greece. It has been more than twenty years since I 
 first knew them, and since then I have year by year 
 seen their dark hair change into that hoary covering 
 which a sacred writer calls, " a crown of glory," for 
 with them it has indeed been found "in the way of 
 righteousness." I speak for all the students of the 
 Columbian College, when I express the fervent hope 
 that many more years may be spared to both of them, 
 not only to instruct many succeeding classes in the 
 branches of learning which they so well teach, but 
 also to encourage them by the example of the high- 
 est virtues of character. 
 
 The task of a teacher of young men presents many 
 discouragements. While at college, very few students 
 are appreciative of the work of their teachers. They 
 receive instruction at best as a task; the close of the 
 lecture is the point they are looking for. However 
 happy the college life, ambitious youth is longing for 
 its end. On graduating, the student's thoughts are 
 centered in himself. The labors of the instructors 
 who have enabled him to reach this point are over- 
 looked. For some years after graduation his thoughts 
 are all turned towards his future, without a recollection 
 of those who have spent their toil and time in pro- 
 moting his welfare. 
 
 Thus the teacher seldom has the tribute of grateful 
 appreciation of his work from the student whose wel- 
 fare has been the object of his daily concern. Yet there 
 
27 
 
 comes a time in the life of every man, sooner or later, 
 when his thoughts turn back to his college days, and 
 when the labor and care of his instructors begins to be 
 impressed upon his tardy mind. If I may believe the 
 wisest of the world, these thoughts and these memories 
 grow stronger with years and the mature mind 
 more freely and more fully appreciates and consciously 
 thanks the instructors of the youthful days. 
 
 It is this due tribute of affection which we bring to 
 our honored preceptor in whose name we are gathered 
 here to-day. His mortal form has passed from us, but 
 he still lives to all who knew him ; in our memories — 
 by the instruction which we had from him ; in our 
 characters — formed by his wise precept and example; 
 and in our ever increasing gratitude to him for his 
 earnest care and attention, then too little appreciated. 
 
 1894 , 
 
 4Lbra^> 
 
28 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 DR STAKBU 
 
 Pastor of the First Baptist Church. 
 
 Having sustained to Dr. Fristoe the relation of pas- 
 tor, I feel that it is appropriate for me on this occasion 
 to speak of his religious character and life. Time will 
 not allow me to enumerate all the graces that adorned 
 his character, all the virtues that exhibited themselves 
 in his life. 
 
 In the short time in which it was my privilege to know 
 him his character impressed itself upon me, and I was 
 won to him by three things in particular that char- 
 acterized him as a Christian gentleman : His intelli- 
 gence, his liberality, and his cheerfulness.- Dr. Fristoe 
 was an intelligent Christian ; he kept himself well in- 
 formed in religious matters. I never found him un- 
 informed when I sought conversation with him on any 
 line of religious or theological thought. His Bible was 
 the man of his counsel, and he labored to understand 
 its teachings. 
 
 He gave the strength of his intellect to the Lord, 
 and recognized that his scholarship was something 
 which it was his privilege to bring and lay at the feet 
 of his Saviour. He thought on lines which usually 
 occupy the minister. He was not a minister of the 
 Gospel, yet he could hold interesting and valuable 
 conversation on subjects which occupy the minister. 
 He had a sure grasp of the truth, and seemed to me* to 
 excel in his understanding of the doctrines of the 
 Bible. 
 
29 
 
 He was clear-cut, strong, and positive in his de- 
 nominational views, but at the same time he recog- 
 nized also those doctrines which are held in common 
 by the body of Christians, and for them would just 
 as redily have laid down his life. He was an accept- 
 able Sunday School teacher. Young men and young 
 women were glad to sit at his feet and through him 
 learn of the Saviour. 
 
 I have never had any doubt of his experience 
 of grace. He had an intelligent conception of Chris- 
 tianity, of the mission of the Saviour, and he trusted 
 himself to the Saviour with the simplicity of a little 
 child. I have seen him in moments of supreme trial, 
 moments which would have brought desolation to the 
 heart of most persons, but I have never seen his spiritual 
 sky over-cast, I have never seen his faith or his hope 
 eclipsed. He was of buoyant disposition, trusting the 
 Lord even when he could not understand the leading 
 of the Lord, trusting the Lord with child-like simpli- 
 city and faith, and he always felt that although the Lord 
 led him by a way which he himself knew not, it was 
 never by a way which the Lord knew not. 
 
 Dr. Fristoe was also a liberal Christian. I have al- 
 luded to his liberality of sentiment; he was possessed 
 of a broad soul that took in not only the people of his 
 own denomination, but all the children of God with- 
 out regard to denomination or name. He was delighted 
 to shake the hand of a Christian man or woman ; he 
 was ever ready to assist anyone in the Christian life. 
 
 He was no respecter of persons. His attitude 
 toward the high and low was the same. He regarded 
 all souls as capable of salvation, as needing salvation, 
 and at the same time his heart went out like the heart 
 of his Saviour and impressed men and women wher- 
 ever they were found, with his benovolence. His spirit 
 
30 
 
 of missions, his charity seemed to have no bounds, and 
 that religion which lifted him up to the very throne of 
 God also broadened him, spread him out, so that he 
 recognized men and women everywhere as immortal 
 beings, and he rejoiced in their acceptance with God, 
 even when they did not unite with the people of his 
 own denomination. 
 
 He was liberal also in the use of his means. There 
 are scores of people in this city who can testify to the 
 benevolent disposition of this deceased professor. 
 There are scores of souls that he has lifted out of 
 trouble by contributions that the world never saw, never 
 heard of, contributions that God saw and some 
 few hearts knew of, contributions that were caught up 
 by angel hands and crystalized into stars to stud 
 his crown in light. He was liberal toward his own 
 church. I have sometimes been amazed at his gener- 
 ousity. We have never made an appeal to which he 
 did not respond readily, willingly and to the extent of 
 his ability. Sometimes he has placed in my hands 
 money for his church which I was quite reluctant to 
 take because I. thought he was giving beyond the 
 proper bounds, that he was giving where he ought not 
 to have given, giving more than he was able to give. 
 He never turned us away when we approached him 
 for charity, for benevolence, for current expenses, for 
 church extension, — any appeal that was made to him 
 in the fear of God and in the sympathy of the Lord 
 Christ was entertained by him, and so far as he was 
 able, met at his hand a free and liberal response. 
 
 It has been said also that Professor Fristoe was a 
 cheerful Christian. Those who knew him marked the 
 exceedingly cheerfulness of his countenance, of his 
 words, of his life. It is exceedingly difficult to be con- 
 stantly cheerful in this world of darkness and sorrow and 
 
31 
 
 sin, yet he was one of those few who recognized that the 
 key-note of the kingdom of heaven is joy. I never 
 saw him when sadness was on his face. I am sure I 
 never saw him in church with sadness on his face. He 
 did not believe that an elongated countenance and 
 a down-cast eye were the best exhibition of the true 
 spirit of Christianity. He had the upward look, and 
 peace and joy were in his face. I never heard 
 from him one word of murmur or complaint. 
 He moved about among the members of his own church 
 and among his own acquaintances and friends upon the 
 principle that if we smile, others will smile with us, 
 and he was continually in a cheerful mood. Not by an 
 austere countenance, but by a cheerful countenance he 
 commended the religion of his Saviour to his acquaint- 
 ances and friends. I believe that he made peace with 
 God. I believe that many of those graces and virtues 
 which characterized were the direct outcome of his 
 having made peace with God. He brought intellect- 
 uality to the Lord. He brought scholarship to the 
 Lord. He brought the social faculty to the Lord. 
 In all these ways he honored his Saviour and his God- 
 But after all, the supreme, test is not applied to 
 intellectuality to the scholarship, or to the social 
 faculty of a man. Here was a man possessed of a soul, 
 and in his early life he learned the true relation of that 
 soul to the Lord, and he appreciated that relation all 
 through his life, and we laid him away in the hope of 
 the resurrection of the just. 
 
 May it be with us as it was with him in the time of 
 departure from the world. He met it in hope, in faith 
 with confidence in the Lord. He could say out of a 
 soul that had loved the Lord for many years, and out 
 of a life that had been consecrated to the service of 
 j-he Lord, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished 
 
32 
 
 my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is 
 laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. 
 

 
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