The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1872-08-16
NTarietta Georgia, Friday Morning 49, 1879

Of virtue and the independence Of
religion and the Republic of your
fathers shall stand, an Ararat in the
deluge of nationalities, unmoved by
the pillows that surge areunds it's
summit or burst at its base. An in
stitution, for imparting such an edu-
cation, you are here to inaugurate
to-day : pioneer in the work Of
blending the natural and mechanical,
with the moral and intellectual civil
ization of the times.
And how happily do their require
ments accord and harmonize, how
beautifully blended their aims and
necessities. Wealth is the pole
star Of their ambition and their
hopes, Theon seeking the riches
and possessions OF i.e material uni
verse, digs it from its mountains,
carves it from its forests, gamers it
from its fields, drags it from its wa
tiers, snatches it from it's skies the
other searches for it, in those broad
intellectual and moral fields, where
educated sciences sow their seed and
intelligent virtue scatters her grain.
Happy is that people, who possess
ing both, directs their united ener-
gies to the advancement of science
and the elevation Of virtue The
one, when successful, Is the sequence
of the other. The one plans, the
other executes the one inyents, the
other manufactures the one discov-
ers II CIV fields Of labor, the other
sows the seed and gamers the grain
the one explores the earth and opens
the mine; the other enters the cav
ern and secures the golden treasure
the one invents the machinery and
discovers the motive power, the 9TH
er erects the factory and attunes the
hum of its spindles TO the music of
the waters the one blazes path
with chart and compass through
oceans waves, the other rides in
palaces along its course, needless of
the calm that tranquilizes its pillows,
of the storm that lashes to fury its
deep; the one masters time and
earth, the other seeks utilization with
God and eternity.
Thank God, these civilizations
are combining in Georgia, presaging
to the old State, deliverance and
triumph. Institutions are changing ;
new systems are developing the
fires of old Influences are burning
out enlightened energies are ex-
panding educated industries" are
being multiplied and fostered labor
is being elevated and schooled; and
the old State, fired with newborn !
zeal and heaven-inspired purpose,
bursts the chain that binds her to
the Promethean rock-and nerved
by the unbroken spirit of her sons
and the patriotic intelligence of her
daughters, strikes for independence,
hopeful of results and confident Of
victory, Enthused with the per-
spective and encouraged by the
example of other States. who are
flooding us with the light Of their
experience, our people demand a
more enlarged system Of education
and more economical facilities tor
securing its advantages and its bless
ings, and the combined power of
government and people should be
directed to this, the grandest con-
ception that ever enlisted the head
of the ruler or the heart of the phi-
Ianthropist.
If knowledge be power, make ev-
ry home fertilization and fortress,
every household an army with ban
ner8, carry this boon of a govern
ment's bounty to the door of the pea
SAINT and the cottages of the poor,
let the father feel as he ploughs his
field or drives his plane, that his
child is the ward of the State, entit-
led alike, with the opulent and the
great, to drink of her fountains of
knowledge, and poverty will rejoice,
in its lowliness, labor will be sweet
ened in its duties and honest toll
lightened of its cares, and anxiety,
will HE to its daily employment, the
song of gladness upon its lips, the
dream of contentment sleeping on
its brow. Government owes it to
her people, that they should be edu-
Gated justice to them, safety to her.
self demands it, for intelligence is the
sheet anchor of her hopes, the foun-
dation stone, upon which rests the
great pillars OF her institutions. Ed
ucation heretofore has been dear
bought blessing, mot that the means
expended for it have been wrongly
applied, for it is ABOVE money and
price, but because sought chiefly in
classical schools and college halls
inability to pay their charges exclu-
ded the humble poor. The barrier
must be removed not that | would
tear down your colleges, for | would
bys endowment elevate them to
higher standard Of usefulness and
benefits; but | would build up in my
old State, institutions adapted to the
labors and industries ofthe age, that
will educate your people in Agricul-
ture, that your wasted fields, your
neglected hill sides, your worn-out
acres, may breathe new life and
their increased productiveness thrill
t;uo, vour heart with 0ladness. NAV