xt7xd21rg95d https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7xd21rg95d/data/mets.xml Transylvania University. 1856  books b92-155-29772362 English s.n.], : [S.l. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Green, Lewis W., 1806-1863. Addresses delivered at the inauguration of Rev. Lewis W. Green, D.D., as a president of Transylvania University and State Normal School, November 18, 1856 text Addresses delivered at the inauguration of Rev. Lewis W. Green, D.D., as a president of Transylvania University and State Normal School, November 18, 1856 1856 2002 true xt7xd21rg95d section xt7xd21rg95d 
ADDRESSES



        DELIVERED AT THE INAUGURATION




                     OF




REV. LEWIS W. GREEN, D. D.,



            AS PRESIDENT OF




Traiisylvania University and State Normal School,



NOVEMBER



18, 1856.



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD.





      FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY.
  A. G. HODGES ....... PRINTER.
           1856.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 




       ADDRESS OF GOV. MOREHEAD.




   By virtue of an act of the General Assembly of Ken-
tucky Transylvania University has been reorganized, and a
Normal School established as an important, if not an indis-
pensable, auxiliary of the Common School system of the
State. This system, after struggling for existence for many
years, is at length in successful operation, and P5 insure its
perpetuity has been interwoven with our organic law. To
impart to it the proper degree of efficiency and usefulness it
is admitted, on all hands, that there should be competent and
well qualified teachers, in sufficient numbers to meet the pub-
lic demand.
  To effect this great object the Legislature, in its wisdom,
has established this school, where our own young men can be
educated in the art of teaching; and we have now assembled
to inaugurate you, sir, as its first President under the new
organization.
  It would be out of place for me to speak of the import-
ance of such an establishment to the cause of Common
School education, in which the whole State feels such deep
and vital interest, and I only rise on behalf of the Trustees,
whose organ I am, under whose control this Institution has
been placed, and by whom you have been unanimously elect-
ed President-and may I not add, also, on behalf of the
State of Kentucky, whose most cherished institution is sought
to be promoted-to welcome you back to your native State,
and, with a heart glowing with honest pride with the antici-
pation of triumphant success, to congratuaate you on the en-
larged sphere of usefulness which is open before you.

--> 
4



   Welcome then, most welcome, to the land of your birth.
 Thrice welcome when coming to fill the high and responsible of-
 fice to which you have been invited, the duties of which you are
 so peculiarly and eminently qualified to discharge. May your
 inauguration on this day be also the inauguration of a sys-
 tem which, with each revolving year, shall advance the cause
 of education until its diftused blessings shall pervade every
 hamlet in our land.
   As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania
University, in their name and by their authority, I do here-
by invest you with the office of President of said Universi-
ty, with all the authority, rights, and franchises appertaining
thereto.








   ADDRESS OF DR. LEWIS W. GREEN.



Mr. President, and gentlemen of the Board of Trustees:
  I had not intended, sir, to allude at all to any of those
feelings which would of course be natural to me on the pres-
ent occasion, but your own kind allusion, and your hearty
and manly welcome, have broken up the fountains of those
emotions which I had designed to stifle. I have been, for
more than sixteen years, an exile from my native State-in
no dishonorable exile, I hope, yet amidst the uniform kind-
ness and generous confidence which I have everywhere ex-
peTienced, it was an exile still; for they were not the friends
of my boyhood; it was not my home.

 

5



   I had thought, sir, it would be happiness enough to breathe
 the free air and tread the green sod of my native State once
 moore; to look abroad over the glorious scenery of this good-
 ly laud, the pride and glory of all lands; to gaze upon the
 familiar countenances of friends and kindred, and behold the
 classmates and the pupils of my earlier days proudly vindi-
 cating the promise of their youth, filling the highest offices of
 the State, presiding on the bench of Justice, and in the halls
 of Legislation.
   I had thought I should love with you to live, amongst you
to die; that "the clods of the valley would lie sweeter"
above my remains if they only slumbered near to kindred
dust; and that even the morning of the resurrection would
appear more glorious to me if, amidst the glories of that
ecstatic vision, my opening eyes might first rest upon the
countenauces of those whom I had loved below. But to re-
ceive such a welcome, and from such a source, and amidst
this crowded audience of my countrymen; the tongue falters,
and words fail to express the depih of my emotions.
   But amidst the pressure of the urgent business of life,
and the stern demands of duty, brief space is left us for the
indulgence of feeling, even the mninliest and noblest. Let
us turn, then, to the consideration of those solemn interests
and high trusts which hvie been committed to our guardian-
ship. and for whose especial consideration we are met to-day.
  The causes that mould the character and decide the destiny
of nations do not lie upon the surface. They are the inward
fires, deep-seated in the bosom of the earth, and not the
showers which fall, or the tempests which beat upon its sur-
face, that have heaved up its mighty mountains and sunk its
valleys, and hollowed out its water courses, and given to the
whole ace of external nature its varied aspects of beauty and
of grandeur. So the soucres of a nation's permanent pros-
perity and glory must be sought, not in the form of its gov-
ernment, in the wisdom of its administration, in its written

 

6



constitution, in the equipoise of its different departments, in
the exquisite adjustment of all their nicely ballanced powers,
or in any other cunning device of human ingenuity, but deep
in the heart of society itself; in the healthy, intellectual,
and moral life that is throbbing there; in all those nameless
influences radiating from every point, streaming in from eve-
ry quarter, inhaled at every breath, too minute to be observ-
ed, too numerous to be c dcullted, too subtle. to be grasped,
too powerful to be resisted, which constitute the total educa-
tion of a people; and by their combined efficiency mould the
whole inward character and outward constitution of society.
   There is a power mightier than that of fleets and armies, as
there is a glory brighter f ir than that of victories and triumphs.
Knowledge is power. Freedom is power. Virtue is power.
Free, virtuous, enlightened intellect is power-the mightiest
power that walks the earth; rightly understood, indeed, the
only real power recognized amongst men-which includes all
other power, and subordinates even the mightiest to itself
Tfi-s wields the arm that wields the sword. This penetrates,
analyzes, comprehends, the mysterious laws and agencies of
nature, subjugates them to its will, and binds them to its
service. The winds and the waves obey it, and bear its coIm-
merce safely amidst the sweep of the hurricane, and in the
very face of the tempest anrd the storm. The everlasting
mountains open wide their portals to give it pathway; and
surpassing all the prodigies of fable. and transce-nding all the
limits of time and space, the lightning be irs, in a single mo-
ment, beneath the waters of the ocean, and over the breadth
of continents, its messages of friendship or of business.
This only develops the physical resources of a land, and un-
veils its geological structure, and reveatis the boundless wedilth
that lies hidden often in the soil upon its surface, an(d the
minerals within its bosom. This moulds its politcal and so-
cial institutions, and wisely gufides the enterprize of its peo-
ple, aad braces up their energies, and brings into effectual op-

 

7



eration all the elements of physical and intellectual greatness,
and constitutes, at 'ast, the only distinction between the bar-
barous tribe and civilzed nation, between the abject slaves of
despotic power, and enlightened and independent freemen.
To wield this mightiest of all earthly powers is really to pos-
sess the mastery of the world, of all nature, and of man.
   It is not surprising, then, that the sagacious potentates of
Europe, with a wise prevision of the ibevitable future, are
seeking diligently now to develope the intellectual resources
of their people, and that they cultivate the masses, even on
selfish principles, as they would any other portion of their
royal doniain, as the surest source of revenue in peace, the
cheapest and mightiest bulwark against a foreign foe. How
much more should each free and enlightened State make
abundant provision for the education of her children, to train
them up as men and citizens; that they may occupy the
places their fathers filled, administer the institutions their fa-
thers founded, and perpetuate the freedom and the glory their
fathers won by blood.
   If man were, indeed, an insolated individual, born into the
world without any relation to his kind, his future develop-
ment involving no other interests but his own, might safe-
ly be confided to himself. Were he the member of a single
family only, bound by no common tie of interest or duty to
society around, his education and whole future character
might wisely be entrusted to the exclusive guardianship of
that patriarchal administration. Were there one universal
church extending over all the land, including all its individu-
als and families, pervading all by its spirit of purity and
love, and really securing the highest intellectual and mar dl
culture of the whole, then Arnold's devout imagination of a
church coextensive with the State, and a Christian State
merged in and identical with the church, would have been
alrearly realized; and the education of the whole people, along
with every other function of the State, might be confided as

 

8



a privilege, if not demanded as a right, by this august imper-
sonation of the supreme intelligence of God.
   But far beyond the range of individual interests; beyond
 the limits of family authority; beyond the reach of organi-
 zed christianity, in any and in all its forms; including all,
 protecting all, subordinate to none; recognized alike by rea-
 son and revelation, and founded in the deepest necessities of
 our social nature, thbre is another power-the Power of the
 State-whose duties spring from its peculiar relations to the
 interests of all, and whose rights and powers are commen-
 surate with its duties.                            A
   It is, indeed, the peculiar glory of that divine religion,
which first taught the dignity of individual man, and inspir-
ed an interest in his welfare as a rational and immortal being,
that she first directed attention to the universal education of
the people, and her humble ministers, as they penetrated our
primeval forests, bore the ark of science and of religion, side
by side, on the foremost wave of our advancing population,
seeking to plant the school house beside the church, and rcar-
ing institutions where science should be the hand-maid of re-
ligion, and religion the patroness of science. To depreciate
the labors and sacrifices of these devoted and truly enlighten-
ed men, would be not ordinary folly but sheer idiocy. I am
not here, to-day, to vindicate the truth of Christianity. But
I will say, as intim itely connected with my subject, that the
man who does not recognize Christianity as a fact and a power
-the great central fact in all human history, the central and
controlling power in all modern civilization-has yet to learn
what be the simplest elements of our modern thought, and is
himself a living exemplification of the necessity for an im-
proved common school instruction. All honor to those no-
ble and heroic men who, in the infancy of our early settle-
ments, marched before into the wilderness, and planted the
germs of our existing institutions; who, when the State was
recreant to her trust, and statesmen thought only of material

 

9



interests, cared for the culture of man's intellectual and mor-
al nature, and "out of the depths of their penury" contribu-
ted m ire largely to the education of the race, than the rich
from their overflowing coffers, or the State from its abundant
treasury. Yes, all honor to the men who laid, in Christian
faith 'and piety, the first foundations of learning overall our
land!
   Yet, after all the contributions of individual beneficence;
after all the effbrts of denominational zeal, wide around us, in
all directions and in all our states, stretches far away an im-
metise domain of ignorance and vice, a vast multitude, in-
creasing with incredible rapidity; re-duplicating its millions
thrice within the period of an ordinary lifetime; sweeping
almost boundlessly away beyond the limits of civilization,
beyond the light of knowledge, beyond the restraints of law
and moral obligation; and assuming, daily, a loftier attitude
of defiance against all authority, human and divine. The
great problem of our day, for the patriot and the Christian,
for the practical statesman and the philanthropist; which is
forcing itself, at last, on all thinking and unthinking minds;
which demands to be solved; whose solution becomes every
day more difficult as it becomes more urgent; which threat-
ens soon to solve itself in no peaceful way-the great ques-
tion of our age and country is-"How SHALL WE BEST PRO-
VIDE FOR THESE ACCUMULATING MILLIONS, THE CHILDREN AND FU-
TURE RULERS OF THE STATE, AND NOW CONFIDED TO ITS GUARDIAN-
SHIP, THE EDUCATION WHICH SHALL FIT THEM FOR THE DIGNITY
AND THE DUTIES OF FREE, ENLIGHTENED, AND VIRTUOUS CITIZENS"
This question Kentucky has calmly met, and wisely solved,
by the organization of her Common Schools.
  After a series of years, and by the labors of successive
superintendents-and especially by the unparalelled energy
and administrative genius of one whose name is forever ident-
ified with its history-your system of Common Schools has
been, at length, fairly and firmly established.  Deeply

 

10



grounded in the hearts of the people is the conviction of
their necessity; firmly fixed the purpose to sustain them;
and the policy by which they were originated, and thus far
sustained, may be considered as irrevocably settled. But
vain were, all the labors of the past; illusive all hopes for the
future; futile all eflbrts to carry on successfully the noble
scheme devised by the wisdom and matured by the energy of
her most gifted sons, if funds be secured, and schools organ-
ized, and the whole legislative and fiscal machinery complete,
yet the motive power, the presiding and directing intelligence,
be wanting.
  A good teacher may create a good school, but no school
or schools, however wisely organized, or munificently endow-
ed, can supply for themselves efficient teachers. It soon be-
came apyarent, therefore, to all reflecting minds, that, in or-
ganizing a system of general education, one of its most es-
sential elements had been omitted; that the loudest demand
of the people, the most urgent necessity of the SNate, was
really for the right men-for a corps of trained and edu-
cated teachers, born upon the soil, nurtured amidst her insti-
tutions, imbued with her own spirit, indentified with her in-
terests and glory, and consecrated to her service. Hence,
from an early period, and through a series of years, success-
ive superintendents, with extraordinary unanimity and (ar-
nestness, have urged annually upon the Legislature, and up-
on the people, the indispensable necessity of establishing a
Normal School; a school which should train our own young
men for this service of their country, not only by more thor-
ough instruction in the ordinary branches of Common School
education, but by exhibiting, both in theory and in practice,
the true principles and best methods of communicating knowl-
edge. Thus the noble conception of a system for the gener-
al education of a whole people, spontaneously and irresisti-
bly expanded into that of a school for the education of the
teachers themselves, as an indispensable necessity, without

 

11



which the whole system must inevitably prove a failure; a
school which should increase their numbers, enlarge their
knowledge, elevate their character, and give to this most im-
portant and dignified of all human employments, by its con-
nection with the highest functions of the State, a social po-
sitionl and attractions equal to those enjoyed by other profes-
sions.
   Henceforth the Common School is but part of a more
comprehensive system, derives its life and supplies from a
superior source, and presupposes the Normal School as its
necowsary supplement. To establish a magnificient system
of Common Schools over all the State, and then neglect the
School which should supply the teachers, would be like the
wisdom of some sagmtcious schemer, who should erect a mill
of huge dimensions and at vast expense, with all its machin-
ery exquisitely adjusted, and then refuse to supply the
water and the steam, necessary to set the machinery in mo-
tion; or should build a railroad of prodigious length, with
a long and magnificent array of cars, for freight or passen-
gers, and then refuse to procure a locomotive, on the frivol-
ous pretext that a locomotive is no part of a railroad, and is
not mentioned in the body of the law.
   Without the motive power, your mill and your railroad
are the work of madmen. Without the Normal School,
your whole scheme of popular education is a failure; a mag-
nificent monument of human folly, and all your past expen-
diture almost wholly lost.
  TIlS is to the system of Common Schools what the water
and steam are to the mill and the railrz ad; at once the foun-
tain which furnishes the supply-the channel through which
it is conveyed, and the power which propels it.
  BUT IT IS THE PREROGATIVE OF HMGH THOUGHTS AND NOBLE PUR-
POSES THAT THEY ENGENDER EVER HIGHER AND NOBLER. The ed-
ucation of a great people, once seriously contemplated, in-
volves much more than the simple inculcation of the lowest

 


12



elements of knowledge; and as the patriot statesman medi-
tated this vast theme, and his heart expanded with the
thought of the prodigious energies lying dormant and unde-
veloped in the bosoms of our young countrymen, the sub-
ject rose in its grandeur, and expanded beneath his view, un-
til the truly great conception awoke almost simultaneously
in many minds, of a system co-extensive with the State, and
designed for all her citizens; by which she should seek out
her chosen sons, and open to the poorest and worthiest in ev-
ery county the highway to the widest knowledge and loftiest
eminence, which had previously been open only to the4ich.
   IT IS FROM SUCH AS THESE THAT THE WORLD S GREAT IEN
H WE EVER SPRUNG! It is from the deep granite foundations
of society that the materi ils are gathered to rear a super-
structure of massive grandeur and enduring strength. The
God of nature has scattered broad-cast over all our land, on
our mountain heights, in our secluded valleys, and in many
a forest home, the choicest elements of genius; invaluable
mines of intellectual wealth, the noblest treasures of a State.
Shall these be all neglected Shall these sons of the State,
these children of the soil, be confined forever to the merest
elements of knowledge necessary in the lowest schools Will
you arouse the slunibering intellect to action, ex ite the ap-
petite for knowledge, open wide before the aspiring youth
the whole broad domain of science, only to mock and tan-
talize him with the view, and then return him to his distant
home to pine in indolent despondence, or madly curse his
fate Will you thus convert your proffered boon into a pe-
culiar curse Lead him yourself to the tree of knowledge,
encourage him to pluck its golden fruit and taste their sweet-
ness, only that you may perpetuate the curse primeval; that
his eyes may be opened to behold his own ignorance and
wretchedness, and find that this earthly paradise is closed
against him, and all its fruit forbidden

 
13



   For almost twenty years this question, in various forms, has
been propounded to the people of Kentucky; earnestly dis-
cussed, profoundly pondered; and the answer has been repeat-
edly and distinctly given, by the voice of immense majorities
of her citizens, and finally by the action of her legislative
assembly, at their last annual session. This act requires the
reorganization of her ancient University, and the establish-
ment in connection with it of a Normal School; thus offer-
ing to her sons, by their felicitous combination, the advan-
tages of both; and affording to each pupil, according to the
grade of his acquirements, at once the largest opportunity
and the most powerful incentive to the highest culture of
which he might be susceptible. Perhaps a happier concep-
tion never entered the mind of man than that of such an in-
stitution, where both these elements should be harmoniously
blended, including the whole circle of education, from its
highest to its lowest departments, under one general super-
vision, pervaded by one spirit, directed by one common
method, and tending to one grand result. Such is the sys-
tem we are called to inaugurate to-day, containing all the el-
ments of the highest moral grandeur; suggested by the exi-
gencies of education in our country; adapted to its condition
and its wants; and, if wisely organized, faithfully executed,
and vigorously sustained, replete with incalculable blessings
to our land.
  I behold around me to-day the former representatives of
this venerable University, and the chief officers of the State.
organized by law into one corporation, and co-operating, un-
der that supreme authority, towards one common end. It
was never the design of either to merge the University in a
Normal School, even of the highest order, after any North-
ern or German pattern. For this would have been to forfeit,
at once, all the "peculiar advantages, in its grounds, build-
ings, endowments, libraries, and various properties," distinct.
ly enumerated, in the preamble to the bill, as the very mo-

 

14



tives for establishing a "school for teachers," in connection
with the University; and must necessarily have prevented
"the sucecessful execution of a plan," (I use the very words
of the law) 'for combining every advantage of a Aormal
School with those which can be derived from general university
instruction."  To act on the supposition that the two are in-
congruous and irreconcilable, would be to stultify the legis-
lature which ordained their union, to thwart the distinctly
avowed purpose of the whole organization, to disappoint the
just expectations of the mass of the people, and the high
hopes of the most enlightened friends of the enterprize.
Having assumed, at your request, the rather perilous respon-
sibility of suggesting a palt of organization, in the interest
of this pervading conception, I stand here to-day to exhibit,
more distinctly and fully than could be done in a former
brief and hurried interview, the nature of the institution
proposed to be organized, the mutual relation of its several
parts, the reciprocal advantages derived to each from  their
combination; to show how they may be and are, not mere-
ly combined, but actually interpenetrate each other; each
benefitted by their common union; the Normal School en-
joying the superior instruction of the University, and the
University adopting, in all its departments, the stricter
methods, and more accurate acquirements of the Normal
School, and thus securing a profounder and more thorough
scholarship than could be otherwise attained.
  And to commence with that which is, naturally and legit-
imately, an object of interest to the masses of our people
who are to pay the taxes and receive the benefit, let us view
it in its bare pecuniary aspects, as a compact between the
State and the old University; as the most economical arrange-
ment ever offered to a State, by a portion of its citizens, for
the attainment of advantages absolutely unparalleled in any
other similar institution in the nation. Viewed in this as-
pect, the University has contributed to the education of the

 
15



children of the State, her grounds, her spacious, costly and
commodious buildings, her libraries, apparatus, and other
properties, valued, on the most moderate estimation, at 100,-
000; the interest of which, at the lowest rates, is 6,000.
She adds an actual income, from various sources, of 3,600,
soon to be increased to 3,850. All the tuition fees, (of
which the State p tys none,) must be added to this sum,
which, estimated at the low rate of 1,000, annually, swells
the whole amount of interest on capital invested, and actual
income to 10,850. To these we are enabled to add other
advantages not directly specified in the terms of the act,
nor distinctly contemplated, even by the intelligent friends
of the enterprise, yet of immense importance in connection
with other parts of the scheme; the use of the spacious build-
ings, the costly chemical apparatus, the mineralogical cabinet,
and the really superb anatomical preparations belonging tO
the medical department of the University, all voluntari-
ly offered, and now actually employed for the more complete
instruction of the Nornal students. Should we estimate
this contribution alone, at the annual sum of 1,200, the
interest upon 20,000 it would scarcely equal one half of the
real amount.
  It will be perceived, then, that in this common enterprize,
the old University has contributed more than two thirds
of all the funds devoted to the education of our youth;
thus offering advantages which it would have cost the State
200,000 to secure. Of the 12,000 voted by the State,
7,000 are very wisely appropriated to the partial support
of meritorious young men preparing for the service of their
country, and only five thousand remain to aid in paying the
direct cost of their instruction.
  But if, as we have seen, the University contributes two
thirds of all the funds, let us see what is the distribution of
instructors Here too we shall find that the advantage lies
wholly with the Normal School; and that having contribu-

 

16



ted more than two thirds of all the funds. the UIniversity
Conceldes to the Normal School more than two thirds ot the
advantages of instruction. In the proposed "Re-organiza-
tion,"' the whole institution, according to the wise provision
of the statute, is divided into several schools; in "some one of
which," says the law, "shall be embraced all branches of
learning usually taught in the district schools, together with
the theory and practice of teaching."  In accordance with
this general conception, it was proposed, and the plan aidopt-
ed by the board, to constitute FIVE DISTINCT SCHOOLS.
embracing the whole range of general education.  1st. The
SCHOOL OF MORAL SCIENCE, including all the branch-
es usually embraced in that department, intellectual, moral,
and social. 2nd. Physical Science, with a like extent of
meaning, including chemistry, natural philosophy, astrono-
my, and other cognate sciences. 3d. THE SCHOOL OF
MATHEMATICS, which sufficiently defines itself 4th. The
school of Ancient Languages, including the Greek and Latin
languages, and literature. And 5th. The school for Teach-
ing, including, as above suggested, the theory and practice,
the science, and the art of teaching.
  In each of the first four departments, covering a vast do-
main of varied knowledge, and demanding, each, much and
continued thought and labor, we have employed a single
Professor only. To that of teaching we have assigned two,
each of tried and known ability, who devote their whole
time, EXCLUSIVLY, to that department. Nor is this the on-
ly provision for their improvement. The Professors of Mor-
al and of Physical Science in the University, are really and
in all respects as truly Professors in that department as in
the junior and senior classes. A special course of instruc-
tion is prepared by each of these professors, adapted to the
peculiar state of preparation of the Normal pupils and their
especial wants, and classes are organized wholly for their ben-
efit. Thus, four out of six Professors are speefically de-

 
17



voted to their instruction, and two exclusively, while every oth-
er department of the institution is open gratuitously for their
improvement, to the whole extent of their ability and prep-
anation, to appreciate and profit by the advantages which
these departments severally offer.
   I am glad to inform you, after a fair experiment of several
months, that all the anticipations formerly expressed, of the
benefit to be derived from this arrangement, are completely
realized, and that several of these sons of the State, be-
sides their Normal studies, are already taking a high posi-
tion in some of the higher studies of the University, thus
reflecting honor upon the counties which they represent, and
illustrating the wisdom of that beneficent policy which
places the poor man and the rich, the children of the moun-
tain, the forest, and the plain, side by side, in the same halls
of science, with a fair field and an open track, in their gener-
ous competition for the noblest prizes which society can offer.
  THIS IS MAN'S TRUE EQUALITY; not the equal-
ity  of brute strength, and   mere power to vote; but
equality of intellect and knowledge; equality of access
to those vast stores of thought which the experience
and the enquiries of centuries have accumulated-the rich-
est legacy by far which the past has bequeathed to the pres-
ent, and the present is bound to transmit, not only unimpair-
ed but increased, to the coming future. "Spelling, geogra-
phy, a little English gramm ir, arithmetic to vulgar or deci-
mal fractions!"  Is this the rich and varied intellectual re-
past to which a proud State, after years of preparation, in-
vites her noblest sons The hucksters of Constantinople
are accustomed, daily, to perambulate the streets of that con-
secrated city and proclaim aloud, with devout and sonorous
cadence, to all the faithful, "Figs! figs! In the name of the
prophet! figs !" A most impotent conclusion, surely, to an
invocation so solemn and sublime. What shall we say, then,
to that political huckster who, with stentorian voice, pro-
                2

 
18



claims to all our people-"Ho ! ye men of the mountains,
ye men of the valleys, ye men of the broad, green, fertile plains,
ye sons of revolutionary sires, ye guardians of a nation's lib-
erties, ye depositories of a world's best hopes-in the nange
and by the authority of the great State of Kentucky, and of
her highest wisdom, in the city of Frankfort assembled, we of-
fer, for your acceptance and your gratitude, a little geography,
a little grammar, and arithmetic to the rule of three or vulgar
fractions, to be doled out by strolling pedagogues, in ho-
mowopathic doses for the health of the body politic!" A
smile may play upon the lip in view of absurdity like this,
but does not the blush mantle on the cheek, and indignation
buru upon the brow, while the oily demagogue is seen smil-
ing in his sleeve, as he slilly whispers-"'Well, it is good
enough for them. They will have it so. My son shall en-
joy a finished education at some foreign institution, well en-
dowed by private munificence or the wise policy of States,
wiser than our own. But, these awkward sons of the rude
mechanic, the laborious tiller of the soil, the hardy moun-
taincer: it would be idle to expect that such as they should
either understand or appreciate, should desire or improve the
large advantages you proffer."
   Thus sneers the mountetank and demagogue, in his igno-
rance of man and of the God who made him; ignorance of
the noble elements that lie slumbering in the bosoms of the
neglected millions; ignorance of the high destiny assigned
them in the future history of the world, by the wise designs
of the great Father of all human spirits. Now, in the name of
God. and man we hurl back the slander of the demagogue, and
tell him this is the very thing which we expect to do; the very
thing which can be done, which we are doing now; which, by
God's blessing, and the permission of the people, we shall
acco