166 
W. H. HOSKINS. 
crease your power and influence in every good and earnest way. 
In your town, city, county and State give your influence and 
support to all good movements, and thus identify yourselves with 
their interests, and you will find they will associate theirs with 
yours. Keep yourselves alive to the public questions of the day, 
and when you may be called upon to solve some important ques¬ 
tion or case for your people’s interest, you will increase your 
value as men and bring supporters to your calling, who would 
otherwise have been indifferent to your appeals for recognition. 
It is appalling when I contemplate that the second city of the 
Union has not to my knowledge ever called one of our men to any 
public position of honor, trust or emolument, and I venture to say 
this is true of many other localities. 
Before concluding, I may say that the hand of death has not 
been idle among us, but from our members she has called no less 
than six; three from the class of ’76 ; one from the class of ’79 ; 
and two from that of ’80. Our loss in this respect cannot be 
measured, for among them were some whose love and devotion 
for their chosen calling could hardly have been greater or more 
devout. Of the class of ’80 we find our kind friend Cowhey, who, 
first in his class at the close of his college career, from the most 
indefatigable labors, which cost him much, for the early warnings 
of that deceitful disease were then announcing themselves, but so 
closely and longingly did he contemplate the value of increasing 
his knowledge that he remained at the wheel until the last wave 
had passed over his head, that bespoke the utter destruction of 
the craft he had launched into our profession, and that which to 
us all seemed to proclaim a bright and successful career was cut 
down in its infancy, and our hearts must to-day mourn such a loss, 
and look upon blank pages in our history that once seemed de¬ 
stined to be filled with a grand and good history. Another of 
that same class, our fellow-graduate Wing, seemed destined to be 
a victim to one of the dangers of his calling. From an injury in the 
pursuit of his daily labors, he was suddenly stricken down with a 
fatal malady that soon speut its course, and another of our young 
and promising menbers was removed from our midst. At col¬ 
lege he was not the brightest of his class, but his studies were 
