The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-10-19

their country were leaders in tao
strife. Although this was no training
school for soldiers it fitted men to DO
their duty and to do it well whenever
duty called. The roll is splenclG
one. one lieutenant general on1
major general and fifteen brlgadl@r
generals. Out of the seVenty-slX reg
ular regiments furnished by the STATE
or North Carolina. fOrty-eight were at
one time or another led by sons OF
the University as their colonelS anC
in all ninety-three colonies ana leu :
tenant colonies were furnished TO the
Confederacy. May the call for Such
a patriotic sacrifice never come again
The last great struggle for Whlcp
the University furnished the leaders
ana which shows how intimately tnT
history OF he University is interviewer
with that of the State is the struggle
against ignorance. Let me say at lne
/ outset that in this case also the cond'~
;IOnS were adverse TO the people anc
where the same conditions obtain III
sucn States as New York and Maine
/ the ignorance today is just as great rs
| III North Carolina. This is shown oy
Inc government statistics.
The struggle has been long one.
/ The University has from the first
| taken a very prominent part as was us
| pam duty, the one purpose for which
| IL was founded. Read again the word
ing of the constitution adopted by the
! founders of the State, those STURDY
| men who had thrown off the foreign
tyranny and willed that their children
should be free from the still greater
| bondage of ignorance, declaring thar
| one or more universities should be ee~
tahlished. Notice the prOdigality o.
their provision for what is now calico
| higher education with 10 mention %
common schools for all the people,.
| But they were wise. The latter would
surely follow. The light has always
| Uttered from above doWuWards The
! fountin of education from which the
| stream takes it's rise and whence II
draws it's power of blessing is of ne
cessity the University. And the rca-
/ sons are very simple. Take the state
of affairs when the University was
| founded There were very few schools
in the land and a great scarcity Of
| teachers. Furthermore the great mass
of the people were uneducated and
! had no desire for an education. There
was little sentiment in favor of edu-
| cation and not much induCement to
| secure one where there was almost no
, competition with educated men and all
| were about even in the race. And q
sentiment for education does not nat
urally take it's rise among the unedu-
Gated 1t springs from the example,
| the intelligence, the spirit of the edu-
Gated. Therefore for TWO purposes at
least the University was first neces-
sary: that there might be a sentiment
| in favor of education and a supply OF
| teachers.
The founders of the State were not
disa ppointed. From one of the first
| classes graduated from the University
was the leader for the struggle, Arch
ibald Murphey, who began the agita-
ton for popular education. In ter
years after the opening of the Uni
| versity the plans were formulated
Other University men gave their aid
notably Bartlett Yancey Gradually
the Literary Fund was established
which should aid and build up the
public schools, the first State aid fOl
education for at that time the Stat
gave nothing to the University. Their
in the fourth and fifth decade Uni
versity men aided in establishing the
church colleges which have don,
splendid service for the cause of clu
cation in the State but of course die
not come to its service until the fourth
decade of the last century.
The work of Murphey and Vance,
was taken up by Calvin Wiley wht
gave his life to it. With horse anC
buggy he went to all parts of the Stat
establishing by his untirinG energ,
the best public school system in tn
South. Then came the war with it