i
jrio? JN. 133,
Tarborough, Edgecomhe County, JV. C. Saturday, March 10, 182
7. Vol 111. No. 29.
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j ?y Geo. Howard,
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Domestic.
house be startled at the name ofiof truth and justice! Yes, it mat
ters not, though a scoundrel may
have robbed his mother, his fa
ther, his brother, his friend, or his
country, if he has done it in a way
to screen himself from prosecu
tion, and save his ears, though he
may basely have put into his pock
et ten thousand dollars of the mo
ney of the people, for which he
REMARKS OF MR. POTTER.
(continued from our last.)
Let it not be supposed, that be
cause I thus allude to the charac
ters of mean men, who hold high
stations in the country, that I am
the less regardful of the honor of
my country. I love my country,
and would die for her. Yes, sir,
if the olfering of my poor life
could in aught advance her inter
ests, or her honor, heaven knows
1 would lay it down, as promptly
and as cheerfully, as ever gallant
entered the bower of consent
ing maiden; but though "with all
her faults I love her still," I will
nut Hatter those faults I will not
flatter her rank vices and follies
1 will not "bend to her idolatries
a patient knee, nor cry aloud, in
-worship of an echo;" but rather
hold a mirror up to her, which, by
retlecting her moral deformities
full in her face, shall teach, her, if
possible, to turn away, in shame
and terror from them. It is right
it is necessary, she should sec
how she is gulled and dishonored,
ihe does not know it she does
not feel it and all the ills she
the institution nothing extrava
gant, nothing grand in the com
mon sense of the word, is intend
ed. It is not proposed to instruct!
our young men how to decorate
their bodies, to shine in drawing
rooms, and prattle about literature
and the sciences, but to instil into
their hearts the chastest and se
verest principles of virtue and phi
losophy to teach them, as the
cardinal principle of education,
that the first and most sacred ob
ligation of a citizen is his duty to
his country, and qualify them, at
the same time, efficiently to per
form it. All is to be conducted
service, yet having secured it, he
may furnish feasts, and honest
men will condescend to share
them. Nay, more, he may obtain
a place in the Legislature of his
State, and there procure the pas
sage of an act, for his own private
on the most rigid principles of and especial benefit an act, bear-
economy a farm is to be estab- mg upon its very face a lie, and
hshod,and plain wooden buildings having tor its object nothing more
constructed, as the only outward! nor less than the securing a legal
signs of the college; and, as a Ice m his dishonest and "itching
is the military professorship. It
is admitted to be incompatible
with the spirit of our government
to keep on foot a body of merce
naries; and hence it has been laid
down as one of the cardinal prin
ciples of our republican policy,
that to the militia should be . left
the defence of our liberties. Is it
not greatly important them that
never rendered a single act of they should be efficiently disci-
fundamental rule of discipline, the
palm;" and yet not only escape
young men are to be divided into'the vengeance due to crime, but
five classes, and in turn to be con- continue to legislate for the very
stantlv engaged in agricultural Ia-
Thc
.-5 O O
bors on the college farm.
influence of an institution, found
ed and conducted on these prin
ciples, would not be limited to its
plined and instructed! Who that
has attended the arrays- of our
militia, and witnessed their clum
sy and ungraceful evolutions, but
must laugh to scorn the idea of
their offering effectual resistance
to a disciplined foe! I am sure I
do not err, when I say that ten
thousand men, who had seen ser
vice ten thousand courageous
and disciplined troops, thrown up
on the coast of North-Carolina,
might overrun the State with fire
and sword. Let not my senti
ments be misunderstood. The
people he has betrayed and dis- light of heaven no where shines
honored. I call upon you, the upon a braver or a hardier race
guardians of the morality, as welljthan that of North-Carolina. I
as the rights of the people, to put! do not believe there is on earth a
your faces against these abomina-!pcoplc, with bolder hearts, or
own members. It would have anitions; and bv adopting the system stouter hands, than those we rep-
exalting effect on the morality of of education before you, prepare! resent; but the history of all time
the whole community, and strong- the way for exterminating these
ly tend to create an enlightenedievils. The people should be in
tone of sentiment, and a just sense! slructed to respect nothing but
of excellence, u ho can say, that virtue; to despise and tread uponiwc would be wise, therefore, and
such a sense now exists amongi a villain, though his limbs be ar- act upon the lessons ot the past.
j
has shewn, that, in the field, the
best and noblest efforts of valor
arc vain without discipline. If
. . . .
us! I affirm that it docs not. Wei raved in gold and fine linen.
are magnanimous enough in pro
fessions. A Ye saywc are repub
licans, and profess to live for vir-
let us now, when it is in our pow-
TcmcYGContemolationosucicvy lne foundation of a general
military education for our people.
If it be desirable that they should
be disciplined at all. and our noli-
. x
r 1 m
hears, are to be traced to her pro-! livery man's experience must have
i i i i ... .1 l!. 1 I 1 J.1 T 1
an institution as the one propos
ed, would strongly tend to accom-
tue and for liberty; but when wei plish this result. It would be a
come to act when we are called; sublime and noble spectacle tojcy s. mainly founded upon that
upon for that true touchstone of see a body of young men, associ-(principle, then it is obvious they
the heart, we show at once thclated togethcr'undcr the sanction should be iccll disciplined; so that,
emptiness of these professions, j and patronage of their country, m tunc f need, they may stand
found insensibility to her political
character and political rights. I
affirm, that such a sentiment, as
an enlightened regard to the dig
mtv and the interests of their
country, does not exist among the
mass of the people of North-Carolina;
and, in the name of Cod, I
would ask you who are assembled
here, under the sacred and re
sponsible obligation to guard their
rights; and to provide for their
welfare, if you will continue to sit
quietly here, with your arms fold
ed, and wait for heaven to inspire
them with it! The days of inspi
ration arc no more, and it will be
vain and idle in us, to expect our
people to become wise and virtu
ous, until ice give an impulse to
their slumbering energies. To
impart that impulse, is the object
(f the measure I now tender you.
It is founded on the admission of
our inability, at this time, to ex
tend the benefits of education to
dl our people, and proposes,
therefore, to select from the seve
ral sections of the State such a
portion of our youths as we can
conveniently educate, and assem
ble them in a common college,
that we may qualify them to in
struct the others. Let not the
plain and prudent men of the
satisfied him of this. I have my
self had striking exemplifications
of the fact. I have met with
those, who were all magnanimity
in professions, but real meanness
in conduct who, under an ap
pearance of simplicity approach
ing to childishness, and generosi
ty bordering upon enthusiasm,
concealed a degree of guile and
of selfishness, that would have
augmented the address of the pri
meval seducer. Yes, sir, the groat
Don .Juan of Eden himself, who
triumphed over the virtue of our
first mother, was not more wily
and more artful, and, like him, it
is their greatest luxury, with insi
dious creepings, to wind their way
into the unsuspecting heart, only
to deposit their poison there, and
leave it blackened, if not blasted
by the contagion. I call upon you
all to look around you in the
world, and sec if its dignities de
pend on virtue. Do you not eve
ry where behold villains, insensi
ble to all the obligations of moral
ity and patriotism, whose wealth
alone secures to them the smiles
and honors of the world, when,
too, in the very acquisition of it
they have violated not only the
kindly feelings of nature and hu-
' manitv, but the sternest principles
the direct and exclusive object ofifortn tl,c guardians of our liber
ties, our women, our cluiuren, and
our firesides. Among other inte
resting results, this important one
would inevitably attend the adop
tion of the system before you. It
does not propose to make enlight
ened citizens of those merely, who
shall be immediately educated un
der it; but, through them, to reach
and instruct the great body of our
people. It is to be remembered,
as the condition on which their
country is to undertake to educate
them, that she is to have a para
mount and indefeasible title to
their services, for six years from
the day on which their education
commences; and that, after they
shall have been supported and in
structed forthrce years at the Po
litical College, they are to be dis
tributed through the State, at such
stations as the Rector and Visit
ors of the college shall think pro
per to assign them, and there
serve the other three years in dis
seminating among their country
men the benefits of that education
and that discipline, which their
country shall have conferred upon
them. We shall thus have crea
ted for ourselves a body of in
structors eminently and efficiently
qualified to superintend the mo-
whose education, should be the
attainment of excellence. It would
relieve them, too, from the degra
ding consciousness of dependence,
to know that while they were qua
lifying themselves to serve their
country, they could, in. the course
of healthful exercise, produce
what was necessary to sustain and
support themselves. It would
dignify labor, and make it respec
table, not only in their eyes, but
those of the community; and
would thus furnish a powerful in
centive to general industry. It is
impossible to detail, or even to
anticipate, the many advantages
w hich might result to the country,
from the agricultural department
of the college. Agriculture, the
most important interest of North
Carolina, for we arc essentially a
body of farmers, would there be
systcmatised &reduced to science:
the professor of agriculture would
be chosen for his knowledge of
the elementary principles, as well
as the practical details of the sci
ence; and, in the conduct and go
vernment of the college farm,
might throw a body of new light
on the subject, which would be
eminently serviceable to the whole
community. Next in importance
to the department of agriculture, rality and intellect of the State,