Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-06-09
President Buchanan's Speech at Chapel HILL
North Carolina.

MOTH OaIOlihd'
| thank you for your kindness, and | am
thankful for the kindness with which ! have
been received by the citizens. | have al
ways had a partially for this good oid NORTH
State. Her cmincntly prudent, wise, and
conservative sons have always stood by the
Constitution and laws, and are destined in
the history Ct this country to do much to
preserve our glorious Union.
| thank you most heartily for the KIND
reference which you have made to my ma
tive State. | am proud to hear her assocIa-
ted with North Carolina. The two sisters
have generally met together in all lmpor-
tant questions. And in all history North
Carolina has followed the footsteps OF Coy.
llartsdalc, in whose day. rs i'll Pcnn's day,
the Indians all loved the white man, be-
cause the Indians were treated kindly by
him.
You refer To mournfnl events. You speak
Of President Polk. He was proud in speak
ing of his intense love for his Alma Mater.
lie was II good man, a great man, AN honest
man. No man ever performed the duties of
his high office more conscirntiousIy than
james X. Polk. Justice has not ye; been
done to his memory But the impartial
IllSlbIltn, W u llt Nlll' w
of that period, will place James X. Polk ON
the list Of the most noble and distinguished
men of the country. lie was Il laborluuS
man, and sacrificed himself with intense la
bors. | might refer to other distinguished
men who have graduated at tins college,
which would probably be inyidious. Oi the
dead we may speak; il is best 10 say nothing
of the living.
have come Ia this institution Of learning
because mind with me is everything. Ii has
produced the best fruits Of the country. 1t
is a practical institution. and may venture
to say proves the superiority Of Il collegiate
over a private education. 1t creates emula-
ton. The boy who is compelled TO recIte
with his master, not interminglcd with 9TH
ers, has not 4 due spirit of emulation aroused;
while each boy at college cndcavors to acquire
superiority over the other, and he becomes
thoroughly prepared. This preparation has
been seen in the hosts OF men whom You
have sent to other States. As far as | know,
they carry with them the firm integrity and
wisdom which characterizes the people Of this
State in IN eminent degree. They have been
scattered over the wilds and have contributed
essentially to give character to the place of
! lllclT CllUlCC.
wish | could address all the young men
in my hearing. A vast responsibility rests
upon them. As generations of men rise and
sink and are forgotten, principles remain
and are eternal. | would advise them to de-
vote themselves to the preservation OF the
principles of the Constitution, for without
these blessings our liberties are gone. Let
this Constitution he torn into atoms; let the
Union separate; let thirty Republics rise
up against each other, and it would be the
most fatal day for the liberties of the human
race that ever dawned upon any land. Let
this experiment be tried, and mankind and
every friend of liberty would deplore the sad
event. | belong to II passing generation. My
lamp of life cannu continue long. ] hope
may survive to the end of my Presidential
term, but so emphatically do | believe that
mankind as well as the people of the United
States are interested in the preservation OF
this Union. that | hope ! my be gathered to
my fathers before | should witness its dlsso-
luton.
In the hux and refux of public opinion,
things are constantly passing away. Events
that may be considered great to-day, the re,
hux ofpublic opinion may remove tomorrow.
Let us keep together, then, for better, for
worse, as man and wife. Let it be the same,
For though troubles, as they say, sometimes
prevail in the married state, yet still the cou'
pie hold together and pursue their quiet way,
thank YOU for the kind and cordial re-
ccption. ! have no doubt it will prove one
of the most interesting periods Of my life.