The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-12-26

is made and ~humanity's level viii
never fall SO low again.
Higher still we find the recorded
word of PestaloZzi, that queer old
| Swiss school-master, who prepared
the world for the doctrine that the
child in developing from infancy TO
old age passes through stages that
the races have passed in coming from
primitive man to its given level. he
gave a new Interpretation TO Piatos
maxim that the state is the lndIVl0-
ual writ large" and il called 1ortn
a new psychology, a new c%urrlcuiuhi
a new teacher, and a new INSTITUTION
Before this word was written II ire
Quently took twenty or thirty years
10 teach a child to read. But TO-DAY,
given the same number OF years, the
child is in possession OF mucn OF Tue
worlds achievements.
Civilization, therefore, rests on
the written word. Our religion. our
science. our government, our educa-
tion-each and all on the
of what is written. The world is aver
looking into the past, crltlclslng ana
revising. Plato criticises Homer ana
a new philosophy is necessary. ChrlSt
criticises the Mosaic law and a new
religion is the result. CromWeii
criticises the divine right OF kings
and a new command is written. Cal
hOun criticises the federal ConStltu-
ton and a more perfect union IS the
result. The old written word is dis
sected and a new word is "ritle" anu
the world progresses.
After this discussion the purpose OF
the library is manifest. In our zeaI
to encourage the young and the Old
to read the written word we some
times neglect a duty equally as great
which is to collect and preserve what
is written. The University OF Aiexan
dria is famous today because OF IT'S
great library. The first Ptotemles IN
stituted a search for written oocu-
ments such as has never been paral-
leled save at the time or the flehalS-
sance. The passion for the collection
Of books reached such a stage that
sthe third Ptolemy, taking advantage
Of the wandering habits OF the Greek
scholars, required that ey~ery~Vlsltor
to Alexandria should leave behind MN
q copy of any manuscript mat ne
might possess.' 1t was the collected
manuscripts Of his library that 1900
years later aroused all Europe. VI
the 4.OOO,0 900 books in the BRUSH
Museum not more than $4,000 are
in use. Acres Of books remain I'M
cut, vet some old volume, some news
paper, or some pamphlet in the years
to come may be Of priceless value
IL getting humanity straight again.
A civilization is preserved and d.
rected by the written word. How mas
our civilization, our history, in North
Carolina been preserved? I'D De
Soto and his soldiers in their wander
ines in the sixteenth century visit
Western North Carolina? Tradition
has a faint recollection, but the word
is vague. Who has preserved this
tradition? Who has Interpreted this
word?
Did the Mecklenburgers declare
for independence on the goth of May,
1878? Tradition points to the word,
but the word is lost. One little news
paper only a few inches square, II
it could be found. would clear up the
mystery. In it's absence North Caro-
linians dispute among themselves,
and when the word is written which
shall record the deeds OF North Caro-
linians this question is passed over
as lightly as possible in order to avoid
offending either faction.
Were North Carolinians towards at
the battle Of Guilford Court House?
The word was written thus, they did
run like turkeys" SO tyrannical is
the written word that even error be-
comes the law and it takes the re-
search Of a generation TO correct one
error after it has been written.
Were North C~arOlinianS superior
soldiers in the Civil War? It is writ
ten thus: They were first at Bethel,
f rtherest at Gettysburg and Chica-
manga, and last at ~Appomattox-" To
be sure other States of the old Con-
federacy did not let this word go un-
challenged, and North Carolinians
must preserve the record, otherwise
his motto will become a myth with
no value save as an aid to school
masters in teaching abstract pa
triotism.
Was Andrew Jackson born in North
Carolina? There are people living
today who knew Old Hickory we'll and
they are divided into two classes: one
claims North Carolina to be the State
of his birth and the other claims
South Carolina. What tricks the