Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-12-08
col. WADHELL'S ADDRESS.


LAI;IEs AND GENTLEMEN: Ages ago
when the Lydian shepherd found among
his native hills what he called liriag iron
nov called the {Odf-%t OHc-he discovered
one Of the greatest my Nstcrics Cf the ply
steal kingdom; a mystery still unsolved, al
though il has served for centuries as one Of
the great agents Of civilization. 1t is the
pulSrleSs pilot Gf Commerce, by whose Un-
erring instinct the mariner. for near a thou
sand years. has confidently ploughed the
pathless deep, alike in the full blaze Of day
or i'll the darkness of storm and night
1t is. indeed, the ultimate expression of
dumb Natures sympathy with the human
mind but, with all our knowledge of it,
in spite Of the familiarity which centuries
Of daily and hourly use of it has produced,
wherever the glad waters play and the cam
vass-wingcd birds Of the ocean tiy-a nyS-
terry it still remains.
Ages before the Lytian shepherd watch
ed his hocks the grand old gardener Of
Eden" when he aWOke from his deep
sleep, found that more mysterious magnet
which he called tshd-now called ecomda-
which is still mystery to the male portion
Of his descendants, although it has, for a
longer period. been 4 more intimate com
panion and a greater civiliZer than the lode
stone.
cIIliar law; each is true to its own instincts,
when not warped by some disturbing infllI-
encc, and eVonthpn it will inevitably return
to the law OF its existence as soon as the
disturbing cause is removed. That law is
absolute in each, and ineXplicahl0. When
free. the on" points Us unCI1inGly to some
unknown centre far away in spacc-Inag-
netized by Faith; the other leads us gently
to the Author Of all good We gaze with
the human we yield the homage Of our
hearts We have come to-day to pay that
tribute, representing one Of the oldest Soci-
etics known amongst men, one whose noble
principles do honor to humanity, and
whose existence is c0-eXtensye with the
Earth
We have Just laid the cornerstone Of the
first institution ever established in North
Carolina for the especial purpose of educa-
ting tcacheTS-ap institution to be erected
by the generous charity Of stranger-a
w0maI-and to be Conducted, free of cost
to its beneticiaries, under the efficient and
faithful supervision Of one whose enthusiaS-
tic and sclfsacriflcing IabOrs in educating
the poor, have made her name a synonym
among them for bcnefactOr. In saying this,
am gUiitiess Of uttering a mere empty
compliment, or cf indulging i'll a figure OF
speech for it is fact we'll known to you
that through her efforts, hundreds of the
children Of this city, whom misfortune
would otherwise have doomed to hopeless
ignorance, are now being educated accord
ing to the most approved methods.
Whatever risk | may run, therefore, o1
offending her sense Of modesty and unob-
trusiveness,I have no fear of being charged
by this audience at least, with using the
language of eXtrayagant pane9yric when
allude to her services in the cause CT hui
manity.
For the past four years she has prCsccr
ted in this CITY the good work to which she
has devoted her life, and to-day she enjoy;
the satisfaction Of realizing the beginning
of a higher and more enlarged experience
in the same noble calling. Like cyeiy
other phlanthrOpist she has, doubtless, hat
her seasons of doubt and gloom. but {
dauntless spirit and a quenchless faith have
sustained her, and to-day she triumphS il
the assurance that all and even more thar
she had hoped for is about to be attained
cOncratulatc her, most cordially, upon the
success which has SO far crowned her ct
forts to spread the blessings of sound secIt
lar knowledge among those who would eISt
have been strangers to them, and con
graduate the citizens of Wilmington tha
they can number among themselves one
who has conferred so great a public benefit
1t is at this time particularly GcSlraDlt
that private charity skOuld be directed to
wards the establishment of schools, because
the public school system Of the State, once
so tlOlrishng, now languisheS under the
! common calamity which has fallen upon al
/ classes and every interest of our people.
; is a fact not generally known, even among
! our own people, that, previous to the wa
/ North Carolina had the best common
| school system South of Mason and Dixon!
! line, and a better one than many OF the
States North of it. By reference to pub
lished address which l had the honor to de
| liver in this city in February, 1859, at ;
meeting of the citizens called for the pur
/ pose of establishing High School, find tht
! following statement of facts gathered from
| official sources, viz that in the nineteeI
| years which had then elapsed since the
| common school system was established Gr
| 1S4O) the colleges had increased in number
| from 2 to 1G, the academies from 40 tC
| $50, the primary schools from 632 to $500
| and the number of scholars from 10000 tC
| $4,000, or twO-thirds of the white children
| in the State between the ages of 5 and 21
| / find further that the productive schOO
| fund had increased to more than s., ,OOO, 900
exclusive Of swamp lands, and was yearly
increasing, and that it was larger than the
school fund Of Massachusetts by $500,OOO
larger than the school fund of New Jersey
| by three times that amount Isl, 500, ,000)
larger than that of GeOrpia-the EmDir6