, 1864-03-05
Dedication of St. vincents Academy.


ed on the occasion by Capt. John Mullan:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN You assem-
BILE here to-day to witness the dedication to
Almighty God, of building, which your own
liberality and generous means have erected.
1t should be a source of congratulation to all
of you, to mark the success that has thus
far attended the efforts that have been made
to erect in our midst the first Academy or
Seminary Of learning east of the Cascade
Mountains. 1t is meet and proper, there
fore, in opening this building to the public,
that those who have taken the initiatory
steps towards its erection, and those who by
their means have fostered its progress,
should assemble, and by public manifesto
tion signify their appreciation of the past,
and their desires and determination for the
future. When this valley was first opened
to settlement, it was not to be expected that
school-houses and churches would be the
first buildings erected these as a general
thing are not the first fruits of the settle
ment of any new country, but are the legiti-
mate results of more advanced enlightened
and fixed society. When it was a question
Of doubt, as to the future Of this section of
the territory, few families with children to
educate, could be induced to risk the chan
ces of life, where such intellectual barom-
eters could not be found But thank God,
that day has passed, and to-day we not only
find the nucleus Of fixed and we'll organized
society in our valley, but two churches and
two Academies of learning rear their spires
aloft, to give us to understand that true
God is here worshipped, and that the future
of the youth of our valley, who are hereaf-
ter to take our places in the busy world, is
neither forgotten nor neglected. The edu-
cation of youth is a precept enjoined by
God, and hence duty that parents owe not
only their children, but their Creator. But
in these days of rapid thought, and action,
the full meaning and import of education is
not always felt and appreciated. BY educa-
ton we do not mean a certain amount of in
formation CLEANED from books, or the recit-
ing by rote fixed formula, that smack of
erudtion; but we mean that full free and
liberal development of the head, heart and
hand, that gives impulse to original thought,
that cultivates the generous part of our
compound nature, and gives strength and
energy to well-directed industry 1t has
become too fashionable in many places at
this date, to think that the youth of the
land are educated by sending them from
home, to different Academies, leaving the
whole mental, moral and physical training
to professors and teachers; in most cases a
more fatal mistake is never made by parents,
unless great care has been taken to first pre-
pare the child by proper home education,
for it is here after all that the soil must be
prepared for the reception of seed that is to
produce a generous harvest. Let parent
neglect the earlier years Of his child, let its
wayward and perverse nature be yielded to.
and so true as night follows day, will the
child when attained to years Of discretion,
garner in a harvest of evil, to his own dam
nation and the modification of his friends.
Let him 60 from day to day, with unbended
knee to his Creator, let him not be taught to
lisp with infant lips the Lords S prayer at his
mothers knee, and so sure as God has said
It, will he scoff his Maker when christians
kneel and pray. That the whole system of
education as heretofore practised could be
changed for the better, few l believe will
question for one l have never advocated
those Seminaries of learning, where the
mind was developed to the detriment of the
heart, or the hand strengthened to the det-
riment of the head As | would not have
man all head, | would not have him all hand;
and as l would not have woman all heart, |
would not have her all head but we desire
to see each get its share Of proper culture
What is proposed, therefore, by the erection
of this Seminary in Walla Walla, by the
Father who with that energy and praise
worthy zeal of which you have daily been
witness, is this To form here an educa-
tional home for the youth of our valley and
surrounding country where day by day they
will be taught their duty to God, where they
will be instructed in the different branches
of education, by competent teachers, where
in time an agricultural school will be at
tached to impart practical knowledge of
agricultural chemistry; where the Sisters of
Charity, those miniStering spirits, will like
angels Of light direct the footsteps Of the
girls in the path of virtue, industry aud the
necessary mental development; and where
the fathers whose lives have been given up
as a voluntary sacrifice to the good of man.
kind will supervise the mental and moral
training of the boys. This system is to ap-
ply to all children from eight to Fl years,
Thus they will be fitted for the mechanical
trades, for farmers, or any profession of life.
The programme of the Academy is liberal,
and its terms will be within the reach of all
persons, both in the city and country who
have children to educate. Ample provision
will be made for the reception of boarders
from the country, dormitories and refecto-
ries will be provided, which are expected to
be in readiness early this summer; till then,
the Sisters can only receive day-scholars and
boys under ten years.
Thus organized the Academy cannot be a
failure, but the auspices under which it has
begun is the cynOsure for its success 1t is
for you, therefore, residents Of Walla Walla,
to say whether the Academy shall flourish
or be neglected, this last cannot believe
Schools and churches are not more expen-
sive to erect and maintain, than prisons and
jails, and surely the presence of the former
must shed a more healthy and genial infu-
ence in any community, than the proximity
Of the latter. To keep the one empty, there
is no other alternative except to keep the