The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1855-05-08
THE COLLEGE AND THE REPUBLIC.
BY EDMUND B +, FAIRFIELD, PRESIDENT OF
TIE uIII SnAI.E f1aI IEQE

BENG me substance OF fhe remarks m dde upon
The occasion Of laying he corner-stone ofhe
nesO College building al Hiilsdaie, July 4M.
1853. -
Mr.. President and fsiioc citizens:
must confess to the reluctance which I
have felt in consenting to occupy your atten-
+ tion at this hour. as well as during the next
But circumstances. and your committee of ar
rangemen's have imposed upon me the neces-
sity, to which submit.
But may also as we'll acknowledge that my
before me SO large gathering of the citizens
of the County at large. with whom it has been
my privilege to form most agreeable acquain-
tance in connection with the enterprise which
has called us to this spot to-day. The cor
diality, the unanmity, and the liberality with
which they have contributed to the erection of
the building whose cornerstone is now to be
laid, have no. often been paralleled in the his
tory Of such institutions. And we have before
US in this immense concourse of people, from
all parts ofthe County, only another manifest.
alton of thu same spirit and Of the same lively
interest which has fro m the first pervaded this
whole movement
Fellow citizens--it were a vain thing for mo
to say that you have the cordial thanks Of the
trustees and officers Of the College for what
you have done, and are still doing in its behalf
This you know full well. And what is more,
you have already given yourselves hearty
vote of thanks for the interest you have taken
in this work; and your presence and counte-
nances to-day assure us that you are not yet
ready to reconsider that vote. 1t is not mere
ly the money which you have furnished and
engaged to furnish for this work, but the cor
dial goodwill with which it has been done,
that has cheered us on.
The law of custom imposes upon mo the du-
ty of saying few things appropriate to the
occasion. That duty shall aim to discharge
10 the best Of my ability, only promising that
however deficient my words shall be in other
respects, they shall not be wanting in brevity.
There are many suitable topics that natuf-
ally suggest themselves; but, convened as we
are, to lay the stone or College edfce
on this anniversary of our national independ-
|
naturally than this:-THE CONNECTION B .
TWEEN OUR REPUBLICAN AND OUR EDUCATION
AL INSTITUTIONS. This, then is my text for
few brief utterances The history of Liberty
has been the history of Intelligence. "The
fathers brought with them 10 this poodly
land the ommon School end the College,
! These had prepared the way for rational civil
and seligious liberty; and they wore ever TO
stand as its reliable Notifications Ignorance
is rightly deemed an essential prerequisite TO
Slavery. The more the ignorance, the better
the slave and when the bondman becomes
possessed of intelligence, his oppressor will
tell you that the devil is in him Too much
intelligence is The worst devil that oppression
knows. The process of edu alton is continu-
ally cherishing Independence of thought
that is in close alliance with civil liberty. Give
freedom to mind and you will not easily put
chains upon The body. Educsticn gives to each
man a. individual personality atwell enough
prepares him to be freeman, but sadly dis
qualities him from being a slave. 1t is con-
,inual process Of self cultiration: introducing
him into the hidden arcana of his own intellec-
tuaI nature, making him acquainted with his
own powers and capacities, Whatever else he
may stuIy-whether the heavens above him.
or the earth beneath him, or tho world around
him. there is continually reflection of him
self, and he who knows himself knows that he
was not made TO be a slave; and the next thing
he knows. is that no human arm is strong o.
potic oppression mus, as far as possible be
stripped of all consciousness of personality: he
must be hidden from himself; his noble nature
must be unseen by his own eyes. that he may
be content to be a thing-tbat he may be stu
pidly submissive when the tyrant oppressor
despoils him of MS rights and crushes out of
him his soul. YOur educational institutions
furnish poor reperation for such despotic
rule. Intelligence. at the same time that il
prepares man for the enjoyment Of his liber-
ty, cultivates sad distaste for tho sweets of
slavery. The man who knows u OF what no is |
or what he was made to be, may tacitly consent
to be mere appendage to another; bot as
process ofintellectual development goes on, he
discovers in himself the equa! of his lord; he |
has revealed TO him tho Fundamental doctrine
ofhuman equality, and he can no longer con-
sent to be but the fraction of a unit. He sees
in himself WHOLE MAN; and in another he
sees no more He recognizes in himsefa sep
arate responsible agent; and as said Webster,
"lhe greatest thought Of my life is that Of my
individual responsibility to God" SO with ev-
cry man. And when once inspired with such
q thought as this, he is forever above that level
where the tyrant may find facile subject =
The self.respect which such man feels, and
cannot bot feel, lily qualities him for the place
ofa mcnial, or to do tho bidding of naughty
lord; no respects other men as men, ard him
self as man too, and he thinks too highly of
his manhood to consent to lose it, or allow 1t
to be absorbed in that of another
But Educational Institutions are not only
invaluable in preparing for the enjoyment Of
rational liberty. but thew re eouallv so In NOR