The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-04-25

thought sink deep into your hearts, and
: ever present to your minds, let it encour
! age You to persevore in thegood course yon
have begun-more than this, recollect al
rays that the name Of each ono of you is
recorded in the Great Books Of this Institu.
tion--there all of your acts both of com
mission and Of omission are set down.
there is noted the progress Of each one Of
you in Your daily 1essons-thcre the result
Of your annual examinations. which last
will also. with column showing Demer.
4 it," be published annually to the world
and laid, with the Report of the Institution,
every Winter before the General Assembly
How great then will be the exultation Of
the families and friends Of those Cadets
who shall there be shown to have distin.
guished themselves in their studies and
by their good conduct! How distressing
the grief and disappointment of the fami-
lies and friends of those Cadets who shall
find themselves in the opposite condition
still there is this consideration to be
made, that Almighty COD has not created
all with hearts and minds Of equal capaci-
ties, and that he who struggles saraegly
to overcome the defects of nature, even
though he may not meet with entire sue.
cess, is more deserving of praise than lie
who only profits by bis natural gifts.
! To those Books you yourselves will look
back in manhood, and in old age, with price
or with bitterness according as shall ha, b
been Your career kere--your sons, and
grand-sons, and great grand.sons, as gener-
alton after generation Of them shall sue
coed got, in these Halls (and time passes
rery rapidly, my young friends, after you
leave school, no matter how slow may an
pear to be the motion of his Wheels while
you are at school-many Of you now here
will live to see yobr descendants Cadets in
this Institution; see before me now the
sons and grand-sons Of those who were nv.
associates in early nsnhood,) will refer to-
those Books to soc what Record they bear
Of their fathers-how STRONG is that feeling
Of pride. and affsctation in son. Is we'll j..
lustrafsd in on incident in the History Of
Lord Byron, who, when his associates Of
Elton, in an outbreak, were about to de-
stroy the windows Of that time.honored
school Of England, restrained them by,
simply pointing their attention to the
names of their ancestors cut Oh tho paues
Of glass.
Another thought I wish earnestly to i'm
press on you-collected here from all parts
OF the State, you will form aeinaintances
here that will exercise material influence
on your after life. The boys of the present
day are to succeed the men of the present
day-yoaare presently take to our places-
from among you are to come the farmers,
the di lines, the doctors, the lawyers, the
legislators, the judges, the governors of the
State Il trust in God it will be long ere
there BIO another occasion for soldiers and
those who are to exercise an influence in
the National Government; now you haveall
heard tho trite sayings "the boy is the fa-
ther of the rhan"-"Just as the twig is
bent the trees inclined" the meaning of
which is that the character and reputation
you establish for yourselves al. school, is apt |
to be that which will adhere to you through |
lJe-your associates here will always bear
that character in mind, each one Of all the
others, and when any of you, emulous to
serve your country, and enjoy its honors
and reward, may become candidates for
popular favor either in civil or political
life, they will tell their neighhorswhat sort
Of man YOU are from the impression they
formed of your character "a a boy-and here
let me tell you, and I wish could engrare
u on the heart of each one Of you, where
I trust however it las been imnlax'ed at
home, that the only trne and stable founda-
ton on which to build manly, hiyhtonad
IS respect for the religion and
worships of Almighty God, industry. integ
rity and truthfnlness, as beautifully ex-
pressed BY Robert Burns. natures great,
feet, in his ".Epistle to Young Friend"
which would commend to your attentive
perusal, as comprehending and beautifully
the whole moral law.
Shakespeare, tor, who so we'll knew the
human heart and MI its springs Of action,
oithily says ITO Ayself be true. Then shall
it follow as the night the day, thon cans't
be false to no mlr," text proy1ant with
much GOOD talk, with much f,olf,r thong ht
md reflection, which would r,s,,ctfllly
suggest ta the p,5fsss,r of
English to m,ks, at SON, suitable tins,
tho subject of a discourse to yon.
fdssire now to say few w,ri, to Won
IN regard to this Iastitnsion itself (Which
nay perhaps lead me to say somsthine of
myself in connection with it, because
wish yon to understand its origin. its ma
;ure aud its design. Although called "the
Louisiana Stats Seminary of Learning and
Military Academy" the pscuniary fund
m which it is founded WIS derived from
he sales Of land given by the General
Government of the United States, first to
he Territory of Orleans, as that portion of (,
he vast body of landacauired from France
y the Treaty Of Paris in 1893. now consti-
uting the State Of Louisiana, was then
allied, and again to the State of Louisiana
tself {" for the purpose of establishing /;
seminary of Learning 80 that W, ara |
indebted to the li6srality Of the General
Government for the existence of this Institu. !
ion
The sale Of these lands was slow, and it ,
Tas not until 1853 that the G,aeral Assem- a
ly of the Stats felt itself justified in APP {