) give a just and enlightened J cisc over the interests, the charac
ion to it; and when distributer,1 and the fame, even of a learn-
ed and a powerfurnation. iNone
X
and to
direction
schools shall have been establish
ed throughout the State, the Poli
tical College shall remain as a fo
cus for the concentration of the
genius of the country. It would
be a nucleus, round which the
sentiments and afFections of the
people would form it would give
life and sriul to the State it
would be to her, what now she has
not, a heart, equally enlivening
and animating all her parts, and
would soon absorb the stupid and
selfish prejudices now entertained
by one portion of our people a
gainst the other. The men who
should be educated there, would
be particularly qualified to contri
bute to this result. One of the
principles of the measure, is to ex
tend the aid of the State only to
those who are unable to educate
themselves. Taken, theref e,
from the humblest grade of life,
and exalted by education, they
would, when they returned among
their countrymen, have more au
thority and influence with them,
than those of equal abilities, but
higher birth, and better fortunes
than their own. It is impossible
at this time to enumerate all the
advantages which might result
from such an institution, or even
adequately to discuss tiie details
of the measure itself. Perhaps,
however, among other reasons for
opposition, it may be objected to,
who have communed with him,
ever can forget the divine spirit
that breathes and burns in every
line of the immortal Scottish
tales. As an author, he has done
more for his country, than ever
man before did for his country.
He has rescued Scotland from
comparative obscurity and obli
vion, and made her a holy, and a
haunted region. Every vale of
his native land has been lighted
up with a ray of his genius, and
her mountains and her caverns
arc peopled with the children of
his fancy. Along his page, tier
chiefs and sages rise like "spirits
conjured from the vasty deep,"
and stand embodied there, in the
eternal panoply of truth truth
avouched by history, and conse
crated by genius. Their thoughts,
their deeds, their very forms, have
all the warmth and freshness of
life; and we hear, and see, and. al
most feel them, with as palpable
distinctness, as if they yet "lived,
and moved, and had their being."
But whence the mighty power,
that could thus, "as with the
stroke of an enchanter's wand,"
past excellence, to act as moni
tors of living men, persuading us
by their eloquence, and exalting
us by their example, to the pur
suit of virtue and nvnllnnrn?
it may be with the
for my
that hour shall arrive, to him
bringing neither terror nor sad
ness, when the shaft of the dark
and relentless monster shall reach
and rive his sublime heart, the ge
nius of poetry will hover o'er the
spot where he reposes, and chant
to the winds of the evening, "a
mute, inglorious Milton, here doth
rest." And will you thus permit
the genius of your country to
droop, and wither, and die of ina
nition! Will you leave the rich
mine of intellectual ore, every
where abounding in your State,
unexplored and unwrought! Or,
rather, will you hot forthwith esta
blish a moral mint, and work it
up, as the only source of true
wealth and happiness to the peo- "O, g
nlel The Universirv. indned. is i short,
A j 7 , x -"viiiu;
now open to the sons of the weal-! basely wre too long; though life
thv. where thev are received and! did ride upon a dial's nnint
j, j , x - clUj
cultivated to the utmost extent of ending at the arrival of an hour:"
their capability of improvement; Of the frailty and the fleetingness
but those of the needy must gaze of our nature, what an appalling
upon that temple of science, as' and mournful exemplification we
did the patriarch on the land of have just beheld. While stand
promise, as a place they are des-jing up here in the presence of his
tined never to reach. Adopt the 'country, the champion of her best
system of education proposed to mid noblest institution, in the full
you, and it will at once rcmcdv exertion of his divine energies, in
this hardship, and remove thnsn defence of her dearest and nmn
unjust distinctions. Wherever a essential interests, the sod-like
be with the rest of you-1
fself, when I shall
live in accordance with the
tatcs of honor and of truth- u.jlc"
I shall be deterred by any co ?
deration whatever, from the
and honest discharge of niy
to my constituents and my 'col?
try, may the execration of '
constituents, and of that countr
await me may the spirit of J
father, whose heart was exalt J
though his station was lowly, an'j
whose principles remained
and unaltered, even by the foiu
and most evil destiny aye! nj.
his 'spirit indignantly swoon 1
me from on Inch, and blast
with the wrath of his eternal curL
kj, genucmen, tne time oflifeis
call back the vanished models of genius shall appear, with more Stanly faultered in his course-
on the ground of the smallness of Whence, I say, this mighty this
.! i i i . I - r .... P !
the number winch it nronnsns in
educate. To this, I answer, that
the sparseness of our population,
diffused as it is over such an ex
tensive space, and the condition of
our hscal concerns, forbids, at
this time, the thought of educating
all our people; and it is, therefore"5,
proposed to select from among
them such a portion, as our funds
will enable us to educate, and qua
lify them to instruct the others.
It may be answered, too, that if
the number ot young men to be
cducatcd.eomparcd with the whole
number of the State, be small, the
sum to be raised by the State to
support and educate them, com
pared with the whole amount of
the funds of the State, is propor
tionately small. The interest of
it might be raised from the prop
erty of North-Carolina, and so tri
fling would be the proportion
which each man would pay, that,
unless reminded of it, he scarcely
would perceive it. Many gentle
men in my part of the State annu
ally contribute a hundred times as
much as their share of it would
amount to, to improve the breed
of game-cocks and race-horses.
Besides, a hundred men, educated
in the manner proposed, would
be worth to the State more than
a hundred thousand, with a mere
smattering of education.
In all ages, and in all countries,
we find that in difficult and dan
gerous emergencies, the safety of
the many has depended on the
tew; and in a decisive crisis, a
hundred such men would be worth
to ns far more than the "rascal
counters"' which we should ex
pend upon them. They might be
worth to us our liberties. Sir.
would you ask for an instance of
the amazing influence, which even
one great mind, happily cultivated,
magic power! The
original
ca-
pacuy must indeed Have come
from heaven; but its dccclopmcnt
was the fruit of education alone.
But for the expanding and enno
bling influence of education, even
fecott himself,
"In
than ordinary promise of aliilitv even his great, his rnhditv mnt
.4 J ' O J "
to serve his family and his coun-; quailed and sunk beneath the
try, no matter how obscure his mysterious power of heaven. Ia
birth, how low his fortune, the the arms of his weeping country
fostering hand of his country will he fell. who. with rmnf mmtW.
be extended to him he will be blc, had marked his failing and
liuvun unuer nor protection, and,se wiin eager zeal to receive
his education provided for. Sir, and sustain him. The fortitude
I despise gasconading here and with which he met the blow, the
elsewhere, and it is only because eflort of his undauntable spirit, to
1 Know that where 1 called unon. T bear his bod v un ao-ainst the
should be as prompt to act, as I shock: the dignified and stern re-
am to speak, that 1 now declare tojluctance with which at last that
life's low vale remote, hnd nInPfl!)rou tl,at SLICh is my sense of the hodn yielded to a nower which
alone, I utility of this measure, of its vast mortals would in vain oppose, con-
Then drop'd into the grave, unpitied : importance to the dearest inter- stituted the most sublime and op-
UlIU UU1UIU vv u.
In education alone, may consist
the difference between his mind.
and that of many a youth, now toil-
esls of my country, that if blood i prcssive spectacle I ever beheld.
alone could procure its adoption, May that power, which thus in a
and the sacrifice of an humble in
dividual Would snfTirn I mrn in mir
v v ' , iivi v ill my
iug u me nandies oi a plough, in, lace would I receive the axe of
the ileitis ot Carolina; and the clc-j the executiouer. At this mo
ments of as great a heart might inent, and on this spot, would I
be found beneath the tattered vest.ibowmn dnvn mid nhmit Ur
ouuum IU U1U
oi many a neipiess boy. JNay, I ' death-stroke of the headsman, and
I should depart, witii the conso
ling and triumphant conviction,
that 1 had done more to exalt the
character of my country, to en-
1 1 m
large ncr happiness, and perpetu
ate her liberties, than if I had
been entrusted with the command
of her citizens, and had met and
vanquished her enemies in the
held, ljut, alas! for the honor
and the interests of the State,
such is the doating fondness with
which many of us cling to the pet-
uusi portion oi power, sucli our
extreme reluctance to incur the
least liability to lose the dear fa
vor of the people, that whenever
we are called upon to make an
appropriation of money, though it
be directly and obviouslv for their
oenent, we hx our eyes at once
upon that brilliant chandelier, nnd
begin to calculate the chances of
returning next winter, to spend
six or eight weeks in this fine hnll
with the right to say yea and nay,
on unimportant questions. 1
should hope, however, that on this
occasion, you would discard all
selhsh considerations, and resolve
take it upon myself to saw that I
do know a man, reared and living
among us in profound obseuritw
scarcely less divinely gifted than
Scott himself, who, if his lot had
been cast in a kindly and intellec
tual region, would have been the
object of universal love and ad
mirationwhose spirit, if it had
been courted into expansion, and
enlivened into action, would have
been a blessing to his country,
and an ornament to humanity; but,
alas! alas! too gentle and too de
licate, to meet and master the
rugged storm of vulgar passions
and stupid prejudices, that spirit
is fast retiring within the dark and
icy chambers of despair. I speak,
and I could weep while I speak,
of the immortal Edwin Paschallc.
Yes, though his name be like my
own, unknown to fame, yet here
in the face of my country and the
world, I dare to call him the im
mortal Edwin Paschallc; for the
elements of his mind and his
heart can never dissolve; but must
endure forever. Death may in
deed lay low his mortal form, and
remove him from a scene unwor-
andtairly developed, could cxer-thy of his pure spirit; and when
moment snatched him from among
us, again restore him to his de
served pre-eminence. Brief in
deed is the space allotted us, ei
ther for thought or action. But
few years will have passed away,
and the scats we all now occupy,
will be filled by other forms, as
reckless, perhaps, and certainly
as perishable as our own. those
of us whose voices shall not have
been stifled by faction, or by the
just and enlightened decision of
our country, will have fallen be-
neath a sterner and a surer blow
than that which silenced the elo
quence of Stanlw Here, then,
J - 7
while we stand "upon this bank
and shoal ot time, let us do that,
which, in after years, shall show
we did not live in vain. Let u
leave to fhf fntum crnnnrntinilS ot
& "
our countrymen a lasting and con
soling evidence, that of the many
hours of sin and tears, crowded
into our mortal soan, there was
one in which we yielded to tho
suggestions of patriotism and vir
tue. For myself, if it were par
donable in ine at this moment to
indulge a selfish thouirht, I should
say that if fame stood obedient to
my will, with all her rolls and
monuments before me, 1 wouia
choose, as the safest and most
sacred repository that which
&hnnhl nnnvnxr mo tr rkntnntV. 3
to act worthilv of I nrlrnf AfO
and yourselves. I know not howlof this measure.