The Port Gibson reveille. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 185?-1857, 1854-07-26

cope with his Carthagenian adversary By rea-
son of bis ships, seized one Of his ;riremes.
cast ashore in storm. as : model He hewed
out Of Che forest nary. aud soon beak TO
beak disputed and won the mastery Of the
sea.
Let US learn Of our Northern brethren.
They freely offer us themodel. Wehave the
raw material Of Colleges amongst ourselves.
Let us no longer be tributary TO the North,
or any 0fler State. br education. DO as
our sires did before US. when they buckled on
their revolutionary armcr. Do as their sires
did before them. when tIey turned their backs
on the green fields and smiling homes Of Old
England and bravely bailt them new homes
beyond the stormy ocean, amid savage war
whoops and winter BLAST and drift Of snow.
They did not pause or turn back because
there we're obstacles, hazards, sacrifices, evil
bodings in the way.
Would had the voice Of trumpet to
ring It in every ear. and thrill It through eve
nv heart = the State is not safe, cannot be
great or glorious. without the upholding hand
Of home education.
just twenty-four years ago few noble
men began the good work here. They laid
the corner stone in doubt and fear. Man7
told them Colleges could not be sustained in
Mississippi they we're too expensive, and our
youth too unmanageable. and we had not
public spirit. Disregarding these croakers.
thew have gone on to build the walls. Some
of them are nolo beneath the clods of the
valley. the rest are fast descending the vale.
Some have grown weary Of the apparently
tharkless labor. Oakland has uct quite an
swered their expectations; they compare it
with Institutions having century or two OF
growth. and find it lacxing. They begin to
think they have done enough Some. whose
sons have not done well here. complain Of the
incompetency or inattention Of the teachers,
and that the students are learning nothing
but idleness and mischief These deter the
few coming up to her help with apprehension,
lest after all. it will be money and exertion
thrown away to contribute to her exhausted
treasury. Thus gradually all supporting
hands Withdrawing. this work Of years, Of
money and of prayers, is in danger Of CON-
ing 10 an end.
Oakland College Il will not mince the mat
teri is halting. falteriug, waning She per-
ishing Of neglect. Her donors. who once
flocked thithcr with large offerings and en-
couraeing smiles, no longer answer her invi-
tations. These massive walls are the product
of their liberality. but they do not CONS up
with parental fondness TO see the work Of
their own hands. They respond to our re.
peated calls. "I pray thee have me excused. "
The parent bird watches and supplies each
want Of her young fedgling until the day it
can leave the nest, then turns it loose, and
never knows It more. Colleges have not the
fedgling' instinct Of selfpreservation. They
are the work Of mans hand = they are de-
signed to last for centuries, and require the
fostering care of generations to build and sus-
tain them. Look around you. and see what
less than a generation has done here. Look
first at our advantageous. rural, and healthful
location. What if the shopping and market
ing are Indifferent. boarding houses defective
or scarce, access a little inconyenient. and
social intercourse limited. Fill our halls with
students, our treasury with money. and these
difficulties viii disappear. The demand will
regulate the supply. Compare these Objec-
tions with the objections to certain fayorlte
Northern Colleges
Princeton lies on the route between two
great cities. Yale 10 city. and Harvard with
IN a stones throw of another. Their omni-
buses and railroads stand ready at moments
notice to whirl your sons to every haunt Of
secret and open dissipation. Where are the
pimps of Oakland? where are her enerva-
ting allurements Of fashion the saloons Of
the dance, the bottle and the card table the
places Of lawless pleasure? the greedy crowd
of corrupt hangers on that cluster round the
outer walls of those old and famous lnstitu-
tions, like barnacles on ships bottom
Oakland truly is an insipid place to him who
comes here in search of these. But for the
quiet earnest student what does she lack p
Examine her list of studies, her laboratory,
her we'll selected library, her two literary So
cietics scan these noble buildings; run
your eye down her honorable list Of alumni,
as planters, ministers. lawyers physicians,
Judges and Legislators, filling their places with
honor and usefulness Bethiuk you how
much will be lost to the cause Of education by
failure nolo !, how its friends. dishearteued.
will fee away in haste aud fear from all fu-
ture undertakings of the kind
To erect buildings. appoint professors. and
call together a goodly number Of Students is
not all that is needed to constitute success
ful college. It will not do to rely on tuition
fees to pay the salaries. A money pressure
often diminishes the number of students. or
an epidemic scatters them A salutary exer-
else Of discipline sometimes depopulates the
college walls The rise Of rival Institutions.
a slanderous report. hundred transient or
trivial causes occasionally thin the attend lance.
If the salaries Of professors depend in any
degree on the number Of students, It Is an in.
to retain indOlent or dIsorderly pu.
pils-thus lowering the standard and demor-
aliziog the character of the whole institution.
Salaries too low. and dependent on the num-
Der Of students. has long been q stumbling
block at Oakland. Get students, or resign,
or ssarve, are the three horns Of the dilemma
that have ever been presented to her Faculty.
Thirty-hve hundred dollars has been the ordi-
nary annual income from tuition fees. What
is that divided amongst President and three
professors AT no time have our meagre
= - 49,. ~....o&..l H., .sos1 Mo~fsecsft..r,