Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1884-07-17
GIRARD'S GREAT LEGACY.


How Forty Years Have Served to Prove the
Falslly of Daniel Wcbstcr's Prediction.
1t is now u little more than forty
years since Daniel Webster argued in
the United States supreme court to
break the will of Stephen Girard, and
declared of his plan for the education
of the young that "whilc it lives it
will lead an annoyed and troubled life,
and leave an unblcsscd memory when
it dies The great reputation of the
author Of these words and the position
which Girard college now occupies in
the hearts Of those who have been
nourishcd within its walls give an ad-
ditional interest to the p ophccirs ut
tered on that occasion.
The argument began on February
~, lSii, and lasted three days. The
Importance Of the question ut stake
can be estimated from WcbStcr'S own
words when he styled it ~ question
certainly the mighticSt which this
court has ever been called upon to
consider, and one Of the highest and
most important, in my opinion ever
likely to come before it. That lucS-
ton is whether. in the eye of equitable
Jurisprudence, this device be Il charity
to all. | deny that it is So Con
tinuing, he said: at is no charity,
because the plan of education pro.
posed by Mr. Girard is dcrogatory to
the Christian religion, tends TO weaken
mems reverence for that religion and
their conviction for its authority and
Importance. and therefore in lis gcn-
cral character tends TO miSchicyous
and not to useful ends"
Upon Il question that is now oc-
cupying the minds of moraliSts -
namely, Sabbath Observance Mr..
Webster said: There can be no Sab
bath in this college; there can be- no
religious observance Of the Lord 5 day,
forthcrc are no means ofattaining that
cnd.n
But probably an assertion which
seems most grutcSquC in light of the
eleven hundred boys now sheltered in
the college buildings, and the many
hundreds more whose mothers
are anxious that their little
ones should be nurturcd by the same
fostering care, was that Il parent would
be reluctant to allow his boys to he
educated at Girard's proposed college
He said: "And would ask: Would
any Christian man conSidc" it dcsir-
able for his orphan children, after his
death, to find refuge within this
asylum under all the circumstances
and influences which will necessarily
surround its inmates? Are there or
will there he any Christian parents who
would desire that thcirchildrCn should
be placed in such Il school, 10 be for
twelve years exposed to the pcrniCiOuS
influences which must he brought to
bear ON their minds? very much
doubt il there is any Christian father
who hears me this day, and am quite
sure there is no Christian mother
who, if cal ed upon to lie down upon
the bed of death, although sure to
leave her children rs pOorchildrcn can
he left, would not rather trust them.
nevertheless, to the Christian charity
of the world, however uncertain it has
been said to be, than place them where
their physical wants and comforts
would be abundantly attended to, bift
away from the Solaccs and consola-
tionS, the hopes and the grace of the
Christian religion. She would rnthcr
trust them to the mercy and Kindness
of that spirit which. when il has moth
ing else left, gives Il cup of cold water
in the name Of II disciple; tothat spirit
which has its origin in the fountain of
all good, and of which we have on
record an example the most beautiful,
the most touching, the most intensely
affecting that the worlds history con.
tainS mean the offering of the poor
widow who threw her two mites into
the treasury
A little further on Mr.. Webster said:
"Bul his school of learning is not to
be valued, because il has not the chaSt-
cning influences of true religion be-
cause it has no fragrance of the spirit
of Christianity. 1t is not Il charity, for
it has not that which gives to charity
for education its chief value. II will
therefore Soothc the heart of no Christ
ian parent, dying in poverty and dis
trcSs, that those who owe TO them
their being may he led and fed and
clothed by Mr.. Girard's bounty at the
expense Of being excluded from all the
means of religious instruction afford
ed to other children, and shut up
through the most interesting period Of
their lives in II seminary without re-
ligion and with moral sentiments as
cold as its own marble walls
After reviewing the law on the qucs-
tion ut issue, the great cSpoundcr of
the constitution concluded by saying;
"In my opinion, if Mr.. Girard had
given years to .hc study of IL mode by
which he could dispose of his v;Ist for
tune so that no good could arise to the
general cause of charity, no good ia
the general cause of learning, no good
to human society, and which should be
most productive of protractcd strug-
giles and difficulties in the popular
counsclS of Il great city, he could moi
so cilcctually have attained that re-
suit as he has by this devise now be
fore the court. believe that
this plan, this schc ne, was unblcSscd
in all its purposes and in all its origi.
nal plans; unwiSe in all its frame and
theory. While it lives it will lead an
annoyed and troblcd life, and leave an
unblcsscd memory when il dies. -
PhiiniCiphia Record.
A Dozen Historical Facts.