The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1885-06-10

,erish with il, If not before, the other J.
. work for time and eternity, -tI VII
I've in immortal youth unhurt auilt thH
Gar ii clements. the wreck Of matter aui
he crash Of worlds. This was M guide
ana this was his greatest work. 10 hi-
start ia life be had neither money. posi
/ ~ nor influence. nor wa tie one q!
those on whom all the gods had 80 tnlir
seals. and ret there was that ~ hl.1
which gave assurance to all that be wAs
q man There was a traditi y ia c0llcse
when | was here that when lie Erst came
10 Chapel Hill he was a green, awkward
mountain boy. end was early selected a
a fit subject for the sport and rldlcule oi
his associates. On one occasion. az the
tradition has it, he was surrounded by a
crowd of ladies, who insisted that be
should take a text and give them d ser
mon. He demurred and begged that he
might be spared such profanity, but their
uncertainties increased, until yielding TO
the demand, be asked their serious con
sheraton of the text To be found 10
Mathew xx-G verse, Nv by stand ye
here all the day idle, and as he reason
ed with them In al! the earnestness OF his
soul, of duty neglected, opportunities
wasted, of temptations that lie IN wait for
the idle. of hopes disappointed and par
entail hearts crushed, one by one they
stole away until the young preacher dis
covered that he was left alone, and then
raising his voice and pointing his finger
IN the direction of the retreatlng audi
ence, he shouted, SO! 90 in the name
Of our common Creator BID you - work
in His vineyard. He promised a penny
a day each, and to my certain knowledge
| not one of you is worth halt the money.
Su h a sermon at such a time Is relieved
by its truth and earnestness OF all features
of profanity, and | am assured that few
sermons were ever.preached at Chapel
Hill, SO noted for preaching ability, that
accomplished more good; but as good as
i wa, there is no intimatlon hat he was
ever asked for another He at once be
come a leader anoEg the boys as he was
afterwards among men, and now could |
have my will, | would have this text in
scribed high upon this hall So that it
would be read from every direction, and
by all why stand We here all the day
idle, = go work in My vineyard, and
thu. | would perpetuatc the sermon and
make the tradition written history. The
design was afterwards changed, and in my
mind, most happily and justly. The
names of Caldwell. Mitchell and Phillips
stand side by side with that of Swain and
are Justly made to share with him the
honor of making this one of the first in
situations in the land In addition to
this, W on its walls are inscribed the
names of other good and grea; men Of the
State, now III their graves, who were III
some way connected, as pupils or other
wise, with the progress and fame Of the
University. Here you may read the bio
graphy to a large extent of the State :
illustrious dead. Here YOU may read her
own proud history, for the history OF a
State is out the biography of her sous.
Here the aspiring youth mas find illus
trious examples to guide and cheer him
10 every walk and occupation Of life.
Whether we consider.he heroes. her ju-
rists, her statesmen, her orators, her cler
gymen, her physicians, her scholars, her
scientists, her merchants, mechanics or
her farmers, each presents a class not to
be surpassed 10 the annals Of an State,
and taken together they make, as you
have SO we'll said, sir, a galaxy which
will do honor to the name and fame OF
North Carolina IN all time to come In
the late war her sons filled every position
ii the army, from Northumberland
down to the humblest private, and nc
higher examples OF heroic daring and de-
votion TO prlnclplr can be found in the
history Of that VA vn either side. The
trustees have also >ct apart, at their OWL
expense, a place Ia this h,ll for the hon
ored names of those Of her heroes who
fell in the late civil war and there is nc
spot around which we love to linger SC
much as this sacred spot. Here is a no.
bic army Of martyrs. 1t is headed b. lie,
onidas Polk, the holy bishop who left the
altar To throw himself and bis life across
the track of the invaders of his country,
lie was a man OF whom any people, State
or church might be proud; upon his brow
all the gods had set their seals, to give
assurance to the world that he was a man
An anecdotc is told of him and we'll au.
thenticated as Illustration OF the ilnples
sion which his appearance and bearing
made upon those with whom he came il
contact. just prior to the war the bishop
was 10 Nicksburg, and as he eutered
; hotel her in charge Of MacMackin,
famous hotelist IN that day, was greeted
most respectfully by Mac, whom he haC
; never before met, How are you to-day
& vernon - ':You are mistaken, | au
not the Governor replied the bishop
| Judge, then said Mac. NO, no
Judge" Senator. Again at fault, ;
said the bishop. Il am none of them,
am simply bishop of the Episcopa
church, All says Mack mot ia
wrong; | knew YOU were at the head o
your profession" Consecrated to Goo
lie the work Of the gospel. he sacredly ad
hered to his holy mission until duty call
ed him to the defense Of his home anC
his State. To these he gave his life anC
died a glorious martyr.
Further on | observe another man. L
will not be invidious to mention it, Tha
name is j. johnson Pettigrew. In lS4t
| Joined the junior class. One short SEES
sion terminated my connection as a stu
dent with the University. There were
J three names that preceded mine in thu
. division of the class, Pettigrew, Pool anc
!, Ransom, the three most brilliant men il
the class. Pool was awarded the SECOND
distinction, and in any other class would
probably have been among the first. HI
afterwards occupied a seat in the Senate
Of the United States. Ransom. a distin
guished soldier in the late war and.a
present our distinguished Senator. divi
ded the bonors Of the class with Petit
grew, but it is DO injustice to him aud il
, a very high compliment to Pettigrew t.
say that the valedictorv was awarded t
his competitor. l have been a long time
10 life and mingled much with the world
but have no hesitation in saying that il
!, Intellectual endowment and owe of ac
q%uiring knowledge Pettigrew surpassed
) any man | ever met. In the Difficult
mathematics of the junior year it was un
derstood that he was Z session in advanc,
OF MS class, a majority of whom wer,
A taxed to their utmost capacity to keel
: pace with the regular recitatious. Blu
, what is more remarkable still, he wa.
r equally distinguished in all his classes, i,
his society and on the nlaY.grnund. II.