Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1859-03-30
Ihs Sfapoato.
For the standard.
THE LATE ROBERT A. EZELL.

fellow creatures, and whose life adorned human ma
ture, it is inexpressibly la,nentable. Kind and
noble soul has passed away from earth, and '"soafed
above the lofty mansions of the stars" Robert A.
Eel is no more! On Monday, the 3lst of January,
1859, after lingering and painful illness, he died
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams"
To many of his "children by adoption, scattered
in various portions of the land this sad news will
bring psays of regret Especially IN the "old North
State where he had devoted Twenty-Five years in
the noble and arluous task fnstructing the young,
will his death be la,nented Many there "who at
his feet learned the Tudmetts Of education and from
his lips heard the sweet cadenccs of that classic
sic which led them willing captves among the green
woods of Ida, and along the 1owery banks of the
Arno." will, with bleeding hearts drop tears of man.
ly sorrow over the death of one whose loving coun-
sells and parental advice they have so often received
1t was the sad pleasure of the writer of this humble
tribute to watch often around his sick be-to hear
the 'cassic music" of Virgil, Homer, and those ia
vorite poets whose works he had so often taught,
and which he so much loved with the most conso-
ling passages from Gods own book, pass gently
FROM his lips and to wipe the dews of death from
his noble brow.
~His eyes were closed without q cloud; they set
As sets the morning star, which goes not down
Behind the darkened West, nor sides obscured
Among the tempests of the sky. but n,es
Away INTO the light of Heaven
Thus calmly passed into the spirt-land, one of the
most unselfsh, generous, and pure souls ever lent
to mortals on earth for imitation.
Mr. Ezell was native of Brunswick county, Va,
received his preparatory education in Warrenton,
N c., where he afterwards taught, and graduated
at William and Mary College, Virginia. He devo-
ted more than quarter of a century to the great
cause of teaching in North Carolina which State he
ever devotedly loved, for there he might point to
some of the leading men as "his jearels" About
eighteen months ago he removed to the ''lone star
State" almost n pioneer in the cause of sound and
thorough education; where he found many kind
friends and admirers, who now mourn over so great
a loss to society, education and Christianity, Du-
ring his last summer vacation, seeing the need of
proper buildings to sustain the University over
whose destinies he had been called to preside he
traversed the whole county under the burning Sun
of almost tropical climate, to solicit subscriptions
for the erection of Presidents house. He had the
satisfaction Of seeing his labors crowned with sue
ceSs-of raising in short time $4,000 for his good
cause. The building, when completed, will be fit
ting monument to his memory, ever keeping fresh
in the hearts of the people the name Of Robert \.
Eze who SO generously devoted his lifetime to ed
ucation. He leaves a dependent family to mourn
their irreparable loss. But they have the consong
satisfaction that leaving them the rich legacy of
spotleSs name his soul has scared into the regions
of the blessed. How can we better close this
humble chaplet to his memory" than by extract
ing the following beautiful eulogy on the death of
Prof Mitchell delivered at the close of lecture on
education by Mr. Eel, shortly after his arrival in
Marshall and which sentiments are peculiarly and
beautifully appropriate to himself:
EULoGY.
Yes, gentlemen disguise the fact as we may put
off the dread thought we may attempt to do still
we are, every day, admonished by the sad realities
constantly occurring around U.S. that "in the midst
of life We are in death" The grim monster has re-
Gently been busy in high places. He spares no
rank nor condition in life. Pallida mors aequo
The noblehearted and accomplished Butler, the
philosophc Marcy, the profoundest thinker and alb
lest writer of the age, the pious and scholarly
Mitchell, and the distinguished and patriotic Rusk,
all men of national reputation have lately been re-
moved from the love, the gratitude and the venera-
ton of the rng, to an association with the kindred
spirits of our Washington the departed patriarchs
of freedom The few remaing links which connect
this generation with the preceding, with that illus
of this stupendous fabric of American freedom, are
fast being broken forever They are rapidly fading
away from our sight, like the leaves of the Moss
Rose, which one by fall from the stem to be
seen no more upon earth
1t was my privilege to know slightly ALL intimat
ly, but one Of these eminent men whom their coun-
try now mourns; and as am now lecturing on the
subject of education to which his whole life was de-
voted, it may not, perhaps, be considered inappro-
pirate to the occasion, to weave herein an humble
chaplet to his memory. In the yea: 1917 Just forty
years before his death, Prof Mitchell was elected
member of the Faculty of the University of North
Carolina For several years he presided in the chair
of Mathematics and no man, either before or since
ever discharged its duties with more fidelity or abili
ty. He was afterwards, at his own request trans
ferred from that chair to the professorshp of Chem
istry and Mineraogy, branches of science for which
ne possessed peculiar fondness and talent and in
which he made researches and discoveries which
have contributed to give him world-w reputa-
ton as scholar. lie was impassioned lover of
knowledge IN all its various departments and it is
remarkable fact, well known to every. student of
the University of North Carolina that there was no
chair belonging to the college which he was not
prepared to fill whenever occasion required. The
temporary absence of any professor was supplied by
DIR. Mitchell, who was living, encyclopedia Of
knowledge. He never forgot anything of mpor.
lance that he learned from books or from men. and
he was, perhaps. at the time of his death the best
geographer living There was no place on the face
OF the earth, however, insignificant or obscure.
whose ldsallty population, trade commerce imports
or exports, he could not accurately describe.
have frequently heard his old students, who after
wards explored different portions of the eastern
continent remark that they invariably found the
places visited, even obscure towns, to be precisely
as described by Mitchell and that they never detect
ed In his descriptions the slightest error. He was
remarkable for his accuracy. He seemed devoted
to truth for the sake Of truth and spared no
OF labor or time that was necessary to its acuusi
ton Such was his indomi:able thirst for knowl
edge that he was in the habit of spending the larc
portion of his college vacations in excursions int
the mountain regions of North Carolina with view
OF making geological Investigations for the bene6
OF his classes During the forty years he has con
nected with the University of North Carolina, h,
was almost constantly present at the recitation 0
ms classes, and derived an inexpressible pleasure
from instructing the young men of college Hi
nature was kindly and affectionate: and he imnart
ed knowledge with cheerfulness and spirit. He wa
fond of meeting and interchanging civilities witt
those who had formerly received instruction from
his lips and he ever had pride in their success i
after life. He was in the habit of speaking face
tiously Of such men as Gov Morehead, Gov Grs
ham, Judge Manly and others, now growing era
IN the service of their State as his bnhSes ~