The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1890-11-19
Ex-Goy. JARvIss SPEECH.
On the Occasion of the Laying
0fthe Corner Stone of Trinity
college at Durham.


Raleigh Chronicle.
Gov. Jarvis said:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: We
are engaged to-day in laying
the corner stone upon which il
to be erected great and costly
buildings of brick and granite
The materials outof which these
buildings are to be constructed
are durable and lasting, and il
may reasonably be expected
that many generations yet un
born will occupy them and re
we're the names of the men who
designed and erected them. Yet
there will come a time when
they must decay andpass away.
They are of earth earthly and
cannot exist perpetually. Fash.
ion and shape them and secure
them as we may, the hand OF
time will surely tear them down
and obliterate the very founda-
tions upon which they stand.
But the good works which shall
be done in them will live on and
on till time shall be no more,
and eternity shall reward those
who have acted well their part
in this grand effort for the up
lifting Of the young men who
have been made better by rea-
son of the existence and noble
work of Trinity College, Cra-
ven and Crowell and Carr and
Duke and hosts of others who
have generously contributed, in
one way and another, to this
noble cause have put in motion
forces whose influences shall
live and grow and multiply and
bear rich fruit long otter these
buildings have crumbled to dust
and others have arisen upon
their ruins.
! would not undervalue the
work of the architect who de-
signs, nor that of the laborer
who constructs the splendid
buildings which will, in due
time, adorn these hills and in
which a great work is to be
done. From forest and field
and quarry crude, 'unsightly
material will be gath Nd which
skill and labor will convert into
magnificent buildings, faultless
in appearance and perfect in ap-
pointments. Thousands of our
countrymen passing to and fro
will admire them, and multi
tudes will annually gather about
them, but after all, prize them
as we may, they are inanimate,
lifeless things without power,
in themselves, to do good or
harm. Such of necessity is the
work Of the architect and the
artizan. They build. lifeless
houses.
Not so with the men who are
to occupy these buildings as
professors and instructors. 1t
will be theirs to deal with mind
to make character, From
country and city, from village
and hamlet, from the palace and
the cottage will come youth in
its various types to be instruct
ed and led into the paths of USE
full manhood. The indolent
must be stimulated, the igno-
rant taught, the aimless inspir-
ed, I he thoughtless directed,
the reckless restrained and the
ambitious guided. How diff
cult the task! How precious
the results. See these untutor-
ed youths grow under the tute-
lage of their Christian instruc-
tors into the trained thinker,
the ripe scholar, the useful citi-
zen, the Christian gentlemen.
And then see these go out into
the world to do the same good
work for others whose influence
will be felt by those who may
live in the far off future. Who
can fix a standard by which the
lives of such men are to be val
ued. We give deserved praise
to the great Architects, Sculp-
tors and Painters and we often
record their names among the
renowned men Of their age.
They simply give form and
beauty to material things. How
much more then should we
honor and revere those who de-
vote their time and talents to
form and beauty to the
lives of their fellow men by
which humanity is elevated,
society purified and the world
made better. Noble army OF
teachers! They are the salt OF
the earth. The service they rem.
der the State and society Is be.
yond human conception. Their
good deeds form o golden chain
which is endless in this life and
which will link them on to the
reward Of the life to come. To
me IL Is a source Of infinite
pleasure 10 know that they are
loved and honored by our peo-
pie as never before. May the
time come when they shall be