New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-11-27
PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPY.

western part of the great Empire state,
beautiful scene was witnessed by tbs
people of that section of the dedication o
an Institution of learning called "Tht
Cornell University" to the purpose ant
object for which it was built.
The following description is worthy o
reproduction and will make profound i'm
preston upon the mind of all who read it
Around the solid brick building, ovel
\ the entrance of which was written " The
| Cornell Library there was moving
crowd and throng of young men poured
in and out of the door and
loitered vaguely expectant upon
the steps. By ten o'clock in the
morning there were two or three hundred
young men answering to roll-call at q
side door, and the hall above was filled
with citizens. Presently the young men
passed in, and procession entered the
hall and assembled the platform. Prayer
aud music followed, and then a tall man
spare, yet of rugged frame and slightly
stopping, his whole aspect marking an
indomitabe will, stood up and read a
brief simple, clear and noble address. 1t
I
ginning of an institution oflearning for those
upon whom fortune bad omitted to smile;
an institution in which any person could
acquire any instruction in any branch of
| knowledge, and in which every branch
should be equally honorable. Every word
hit the mark and the long and sincere ap-
plause that followed the close of the little
| speech showed how fully every word had
nd bnr fr,,1vv inf oh
| But the face and voice of the speaker were
unchanged throughout. Those who best
know what he had done and what he was
doing, knew with what sublime but wholly
silent enthusiasm he had devoted his life
and all his powers to the work. But the
stranger saw only a sad, reserved earnest
ness, and gazed with interest at a man
whose story will long be told with graft
tude and admiration.
This is one of the many instances
which have occurred within a few
years past, in the Northern States
and especially in New York, where noble
minded men have been their own almoners
during their lifetime, and have not left their
property after them, like Girard and Nc
Donogh, to be FILTERED away in tedious liti-
cation before the courts in an endeavor to
ascertain the Interpretation of some clause
in their wills When we call to mind such
men as Cooper, Vassar, Wadsworth, Leake
and Watts, Rose, Gerrit Smith, and others
whose names are out of our present recol-
lection who have made dedicatons as the
one above alluded to, for the education
and training "of those upon whom fortune
had omitted to smile" either North or
South, we are led to ask the question
where in the South are the men who will
do the same, with the like catholicity and
munifcence Remembering, too, what has
been done by our noble countryman, Pea
body, in his magnificent gift Of two millions
of dollars for the promotion of education
in the mere destitute portions of the South
ern and Southwestern States to be dis
tributed among the entire population with
out any distinction, ought we not to be ex-
ceedingly thankful that such great and
noble princes by nature have been raised
up, who by their wealth are imparting so
much knowledge and happiness to the
young and rising generation. How much
better the course adopted by these men,
that they see, direct and supervise the dis
position of their fortunes acquired by life
of industry and successful business in APP
and devoting their means to
the high and noble purpose of elevating
and educating mankind, than to suffer their
money to become a curse and a root of
evil and contention among their surviving
friends and relations. We have heard of
an institution founded by a worthy
citizen of the State of Ohio, named
in the parish of st. Mary, on the
Teche, in this State, which is said to be
magnifcently endowed by him for the sup
port and education of colored orphans; and
we have heard that this same noble gentle
man was not permitted by the people of
the parish where this institution is located,
to remain quietly in their midst to care for
it and its helpless orphaned inmates, but
he must be driven away from the scenes of
labor on account of his pc
litical sentiments. Mark the contrast be-
tween the two extremes, the one where tole-
ration invites all to participate in the
privileges of philanthropy without limit,
and the other where bigoted, narrow
minded prejudice will not permit the good
man to perform work of benefcence for
the young and rising generation ola people
poor and prosecuted and almost friendless.
Let the examples of such men as we
have named be emulated by some Of the
wealthy men of the Sonth, by the appro-
priation of their wealth, or some of it at
least, toward the same object, and see to
the accomplishment of the work while they
live, as Cooper, Cornell and Vassar have
done, and there will no longer be cause for
pickering or dissension on sectional or
other political questions which now divide
the country, but all will be peace, unity
and concord. If the people here would
turn their attention to these objects which
elevate and improve the people in indus
try, sobriety, good morals and the attain
ment of knowledge for themselves and their
children, the latter of which is "freely Of
fered without money and without price,
how much more happy they would be than
in the indulgence Of those passions which
ruin the DO dy and destroy the soul.
NEW COURTHOUSE.