Qass. Book. rj4^x^ A ^ 'iJS' ■I'.' ■..Til' -•' ■, iw -r- ■ . j,w I ■ =: AN > ^/'/ <^, ^v^/'/^:-. ^ *^. APPEAL. HjT BEHALF -0 1 O^IiETHOBPE UNIVERSITY, PRINTED AT THfi C/iNSTITUTIONAUST OFFIQI^ AUGUSTA, GEO. 1835. :a=ss=5SB: AM APPEAL IN BEHALF OF OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY. PRINTED AT THE CONSTITUTIONALIST OFHCE, . AUGUSTA, GEO. 1835. •0 o > 22 UJ APPEAI.5 &e. The Presbytery of Hopewell, at its semi-annual meeting held in Washington, Wilkes County, Geo., in August last, resolved to attempt the establishment of a College, to be under the control of the Presbyte- rian Church, and located at Midway, Baldwin County, in this State. At the same meeting of the Presbytery, after having laid down some principles, which are to be consider- ed as fundamental and unalterable, that body appoint- ed a Board of Trustees to whom the estabhshment and management of the Institution were committed. The members of this Board are to be elected triennially by the Presbytery, to which body they are to present an annual report of their proceedings. The members of the Board arc as follows : Minist&rs—T. Goulding, D. D., S. K. Talmage, C. W. Howard, S. S. Davis, H. S.Pratt, S. J. Cassels, R. Quarternian, J. C. Patterson, and C. C. Jones. Laj/men — S. Rockwell, J. A. Cuthbert, R. K. Hines, C, C. Mills, B. E. Hand, C. P. Gordon, J. H. Lump- kin, E. A. Nisbit, A. Alexander, W. Poe, J. H. Howard, J. Billups, W. W. Holt, T. Fort and T. B. King. In accordance with the instructions of the Presby- tery, the Board met on the 22d of October last, in Milledgeville. It is thought unnecessary to give to the pubhc, a detailed statement of the doings of the Board ; some of them, however, may prove interesting to the friends of the proposed College. They elected Dr. Goulding, President, and R. K. Hines, Esq. Secretary and Treasurer. They appointed two agents, the Rev. Messrs. Talmage and Howard, to collect funds for the establishment of the College, they decided that it should be named Oglethorpe University; they appomt- ed an Executive Committee of the Board, consistmg of Messrs. S. Rockwell, J. A. Cuthbert,C. C. Mdls, J. H. Howai'd, and T.Fort; the Committee, among other duties, were authorized to take the superintendence ot the Midway Seminary, an institution recently placed under the control of the Board, to provide additional agents, if thought advisable, and whenever a sufficient sum shall be subscribed to insure the success of the University, to collect the first instalment upon the subscriptions. . i i The Board closed its sessions with the appoint- ment of a committee, to prepare an Appeal to the pub- lic in behalf of Oglethorpe University. ^ In conformity with these instructions, toe Commit- tee now proceed to lay before the friends of religion and literature, some of the considerations which have led to an effort, involving in its successful termination so much labor, and so large an expenditure of money. In the first place, the Committee in behalf ot the Board would disavow all ill feeling towards the Uni- versity of the State. As there is already m our fetate a College under the government of able officers, and amoly endowed, the question may arise m the minds of some persons,whethcr another is at present needed, and if not needed, whether this effort has not been caused by hostility to Franklin College, and with the design of injuring it. If it can be shown that anotker College is demanded by the exigency of the times,tur- ther disavowal of such motives is unnecessary. We believe, that during the course of the succeedmg re- marks, such a necessity will appear to exist. Instead of injuring the State Institution, the proper endowment of Oglethorpe University, must beyond ail iloubt, materially benefit it. This opinion is based ■upon the unquestioned fact, that wherever colleges have been founded by private enterprize in the vicinity of state institutions, the influence upon both has been highly salutary. To confirm this remark we need cite but a single instance, the effect of Amherst upon TTarvard College. A generous rivalry, is mutually beneficial to the parties between whom the rivalship exists. Could we see the proposed College, largely endow- ed and ably officered ; its halls thronged with students and rapidlv attainincr a well founded and extensive re- putation, the result must be, (from that principle of emulation which is natural to public bodies as well as single individuals,) to induce upon the part of the State, a more kind and fostering regard of the institu- tion, which is the creature of its bounty. Let it be so. Emulous in doing good, let them seek each to outstrip the other, in dispensing most freely and wisely, to the rising strength of our country, the blessings of educa- tion, blessings inexpressibly more valuable than gifts of silver and gold. The Committee have felt themselves bound in dutv to notice this subject, as the public mind is with pro- priety keenly alive to any thing v/liich may endanger the prosperity of a college established by the public funds ; and which has already educated for the ser- vice of the commonwealth, so many of its most dis- tinguished men. They dismiss this topic, v/ith an ex- pression 4^f their earnest hope that the University of Georgia, may long and increasingly diffuse throughout the State, knowledge and virtuous principles, the safe- guards of republics. The Committee propose nov/ to show some of the advantages which must follow a successful attempt to establish the College at Midway. It will facilitate the means of education and conse- quently multiply the number of educated men. 6 That which Georgia, at present, most needs, is the diffusion of useful intelligence among her numerous population. Favored with an ample extent of territo- ry, with rivers large and navigable ; with every vari- ety of soil and climate, and with singular adapted- ness of position, for all the purposes of agriculture and commerce, she yet holds second rank among several of her sister states, to whom her natural advantages are decidedly superior. Whence this inferiority? It arises in good part from the want of a system of education adapted to the necessities of the people, and all pervading in its salu- tary influences. Education with us, is monopolized by a comparatively small portion of our citizens. While this minority are prepared to act with the spirit of the day, which is emphatically the spirit of enter- prize in spiritual as well as secular concerns, the mass of the people inert, because uneducated, hangs like a dead weight upon their movements, and in fact too fre- quently prevent all efficient action. If therefore by any means, the facilities of mental improvement are multiplied, essential service is done the country. That the establishment of a liberally endowed university in the centre of the State, will largely tend to the attain- ment of this object, is instantly apparent to every mind. Upon the plan proposed in the contemplated College, a young man may receive, (if he will avail himself of the opportunity offered,) a finished collegi- ate education, at from fifty to one hundred dollars per annum. It will therefore not only increase the op- portunities of education, from the consideration, that in itself, from local causes, every new institution must to a certain degree, produce this result; but also be- cause its doors will be opened to those, who, by reason of poverty, are excluded from the other seminaries of the country. The cause of this diminished expense of education, w411 appear in another part of these re- marks, Another serious evil will be corrected, if the preseftt effort of the Board prove successful. That evil is the want of suitable native instructors of our youth. Parents, with the advance of society^ aie becoming every day more sensible, that cultivated intellect, to- gether with correct moral principle, constitute a more valuable legacy to their offspring than even splendid fortune-s. But in the execution of their praiseworthy desires, they meet with a serious obstacle in the outset. Save in our towns and villages, the intelligent school- master is rarely to be found ; and even in those places the supply is exceedingly partial. The want of teach- ers is the common complaint of the country. The planter is compelled to send his child at a tender age, to the village or distant academy, when he should for many years have remained under the parental roof, imbibing those principles, which none so well as the parent can instil into the youthful mind and which must be his safeguard in after years. It has been remark- ed by a quaint writer, that knowledge without princi- ple, is like the lamp in the lanthorn ; it may indeed give light without, but it soots and defiles the glass wdthin. Education unaccompanied by an enlight- ened moral sense, is often ruinous not only to the in- dividual, but to the society in which he moves. The parent is then reduced to one or the other of these al- ternatives; either to have the morals of his child, endan- gered by sending him from home, or from the deficiency of teachers to neglect altogether the cultivation of his mind. Either of these alternatives is distressing. Yet there are hundreds of parents in our State, who are suffering at this hour from this embarrassment. The Board have considered the subject, and design in the organization of the University to make special provision for the removal of the difficulties connected with it. Their plans not being yet matured,it is impossible to say what will be their definite mode of action ; most 8 probably, however, they will connect with the institu- tion, a branch similar in some respects to the Normal Schools of Prussia, which have for their sole object the preparation of young men for the office of teacher. If by making this provision they can multiply the number of competent teachers, they will think themselves to have done good to their country. The Board intend in the proposed College, to test the experiment of connecting manual labor with study. Various reasons might be assigned for this determina- tion ; as the preservation of the health of the student ; the connecting practice with the theory ; and the cor- rection of evils, growing out ©f the indisposition of Y/ealthy young men to physical exertion. But espe- cially for the two following considerations : 1st. The common system of collegiate education is extremely hazardous to the morals of youth. The truth of this remark may perhaps be clearly illustrated by the succeeding quotation from the opinion of Dr. Lindsley, President of Nashville University, a man well qualified to pronounce upon this subject : " Youth must and will have employment of some kind. They cannot study ahvays. In our colleges they are usually suffered to devise their ov/n ways and m.eans of amuse- ment. They are expected, indeed, perhaps exhorted, to take exercise, and they are allowed abundance of time for the purpose. Still the whole concern is left to their own discretion. The time they have, and the question is, how do they spend it ? Often in mere lounging, talking, smoking and sleeping ; often in se- dentary games, Avhether lawful or unlawful, are always injurious to the student, because he requires recrea- tion of a different kind ; but too frequently in drinking and gaming, to the utter neglect of every duty, and to the utter abandonment and sacrifice of every princi- ple of honor and virtue. I will not finish the melan- choly picture, which I had begun to sketch, not indeed from fancy or from books, but from facts, which I have 9 often witnessed, and which have sometimes led me to question the paramount utility of such institutions to the community. Still with all their faults I remain their decided advocate. But may they not be improv- ed, or may not others be organized upon wiser and safer principles." Every one familiar with seminaries for youth is aware that the chief danger to the morals of the pupil, arises from the improper use of what are termed, his leisure hours. The Berne Society of Teachers, of which the venerable Fellenberg is President, after a full discussion of this interesting subject, declared it as their opinion, that constant employment is indispensa- ble to the preservation of good morals in literary insti- tutions. This is a desideratum which, to a great ex- tent the manual labor system provides. The student is kept constantly occupied, while recreation of mind and body is provided, without opportunity for vicious indulgence. The healthful labor of the day, prevents late hours at night, and the evils arising from them. 2d. The manual labor system lessens the expense of education. The Committee v/ould refer the public to some instances of the operation of this system. The committee of the Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, use the following language in their report on the state of that institution : " During the early part of the year, an arrangement was entered into with Messr.s. Covey & Fairbanks, Booksellers of Cincinnati, to fur- nish the students with several presses, and with stereo- type plates for printing Webster's Spelling Book. This establishment has been in operation, and now em- braces six presses, furnishing work for twenty students. About 150,000 copies of the above named vfork have been printed and 1,000 copies are now issued daily from the presses. The Students have commenced the printing of Dr. Eberle's Treatise on the Diseases of Children, a valuable medical work, which requires fine paper and the best workmanship ; and it is beUeved, to that in all respects, the execution of the work is highly satisfactory to the employers." In regard to the pecuniary results, the committee state : " The average amount earned by six prin- ters in ten months, by working three hours per day, $120 00 Average amounts earned at the same rate in a year, 144 00 Amount now earned by 20 students per week, - - 50 00 Average amount by each student, - - 2 54 Average amount earned by 20 students at the same rate per year, - . - - 132 00 In view of these results, and the small annual ex- pense of the institution, it is hardly necessary to re- mark, that the students in this department, have the high satisfaction of providing the means of their own ed- ucation, without aid from friends, or from the benefac- tions of the church. This arrangement is the more im- portant for our young men from the fact, that a know- ledge of the business is easily acquired ; several of the students having such an acquaintance with the employ- ment in three or four weeks, as to be able to earn forty six cents per day, by working three hours daily." It may not be uninteresting to give the testimony of that committee in regard to the system in general. They say : " Whatever may be the theoretical objec- tions of good men, practically unacquainted with the system, to its practicability and importance, it is to the directors, no longer a matter of experiment, but of so- ber fact, resulting from three or four year's experience, that the connexion of three hours daily labor with stu- dy, in some useful and interesting employment, protects the health and constitution of our young men ; greatly augments their physical energy; furnishes to a con- siderable extent, or entirely, the means of self-educa- tion ; increases their power of intellectual acquisition ; 11 facilitates their actual progress in study ; removes their temptations to idleness ; confirms their habits of industry ; gives them a practical acquaintance with the useful employments of life ; fits them for the toils and responsibilities of a newly settled country, and in- spires them with the character and the originality of investigation, which belong peculiarly to self made and self educated men." At the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, the students generally pay their board by their labor ; some pay all their expenses, and some do even more than this. At the Oneida Institute, at Cumberland College, at LaFayette College, at Maryville, and in fact at most of the schools, the expense has been decreased in the same proportion. That the Manual Labour System, has been found elsewhere to be a saving system, is placed beyond all doubt. Whether it can be successfully connected with study at the South, is yet to be ascertained. The theory is admirable ; its practical effects, where it has been fairly tried, have proved themselves admirable as the theory. As an experiment, the Board feel them- selves bound by their ov/n consciences, and by the voice of the country to give it a fair trial. If they can succeed, results incalculably beneficial will follow ; if they fail, they have but made the experiment and sus- tained no disadvantage. The University will be so or- ganized as to allow the abandonment of the manual labor department, provided it does not succeed accord- ing to expectation. To the friends of literature and the south, an appeal is made in behalf of Oglethorpe University, on the con- siderations above stated ; that if successfully establish- ed, it will greatly facihtate the means of education, that it will multiply consequently the number of our educated men ; that it will give to us a proper num- ber of well quahfied native teachers, and that it will so diminish the cost of education, as to afford its blessr- 12 ings to the son of the poor, as well as the rich man. These considerations, are such as must certainly com- mend it to the kindly feeling and patronage of all friends of mental and moral culture. To the religious public, other arguments may be of- fered in addition to those already used. Oglethorpe University, is to be under decided and permanent re- ligious influences. It has been commenced with ear- nest prayer to God. Before, however, proceeding to enlarge upon this topic, it may not be amiss to antici- pate the impression, that because this is a religious, it must therefore be a sectarian institution : true, its offi- cers, will be members of the Presbyterian church, and from this cause, that wherever there are divisions as to denominationa,! views among the oincers of literary institutions, government is embarrassed in its opera- tions. It is upon this principle that the Methodist de- nomination in Virginia, South and North Carolina, and Georgia have, with laudable zeal, established Randolph Macon College in Virginia. Whilst the offi.cers of the College at Midvv^ay.will be Presbyterians, the privileges of the institution will be free to all. It v*'ill occupy the same position in this regard with Yale and Prince- ton Colleges. They were founded for the same pur- poses, on the same principles and by the same denomi- nation : yet every one is aware, that many of our most distinguished men, of every diversity of religious opinion, have been educated at one or the other of the above-named institutions. We recur from this digression to the urging of the claims of Oglethorpe University, upon religious men, especial of the Presbyterian denomination. The destitutions of the Southern Church are most -deplorable. The Presbytery of Hopewell, has under its care forty churches, vrhile it is composed of twenty two ministers, five of whom are engaged in instructing youth, thus showing more than half of the churches within its bounds, to be without the ministry of the gos- pel. This Presbytery we presume to be a fair exam- ple of the state of the church within the limits of the synod. In the entire State of Georgia, comprising within its territory, a population of more than 500,000 persons, there are not more than fifty ministers of the Presbyterian order actually engaged in the work of the ministry, making a proportion of one to every ten thousand. The supply of the ministry connected with other evangelical denominations is entirely inadequate to meet the pressing wants of so many immortal beings. We look over the field, wide almost beyond mea- surement, which spreads itself to the view^; it is white to the harvest, yet aJas, the laborers are few. We hear the anxious cry of the awakened sinner, what must I do to be saved ? Yet where are the men to point such to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world ! We beheld the current of iniquity sweeping steadily over the land, and where are those who shall breast its fury, and stay its course, that the waters of life may come in to cleanse the people from their sins? The heart of the believer bleeds, as his eye wanders almost hopelessly, over such scenes of spiritual deso- lation. So long as things retain their present aspect, no remedy presents itself to his mind. Our Theologi- cal Seminary remains with its former scanty number. Time, the destroyer, together with removals to other scenes of labor, are rapidly thinning the ranks of those who now preach the gospel of peace. These truths are the more saddening when contrast- ed with ^ngs as they are among our brethren of the North. They walk in light, while thick darkness broods over us. Their Theological Seminaries are crowded with candidates for the gospel ministry ; their pulpits are filled ; their churches multiply ; they send missionaries of the cross even to the far-oflf heathen. Why this diiference ? Not because there is less piety in the Southern church; not because we have propor- 14 tionably fewer young men ; but because we have notf as they have, such institutions as Amherst, Dartmouth^ Middlebury and Princeton Colleges. Those seminaries of learning, founded by the bene- factions of the Church, have been signally blessed of God. The spirit in its converting, sanctifying influ- ences, has rested upon them. Their young men have been brought to a knowledge of the Saviour; their immature piety, has been cherished by the prayers and personal exertions of faithful, godly instructors ; they have devoted themselves to the w^ork of the ministry ; they have fed the flock of Christ at the North ; and when w^e in the South, were without any to care for our souls, they, in the spirit of the gospel, came to us ; and the Presbyterian Church in Georgia, at this day owes, under God, its name and existence to their faith- ful labors amongst us. In our whole State, there are but six native ministers of our denomination ; for al- most all the rest we are indebted to revivals of religion in the above-mentioned institutions. The lesson then taught us is obvious. Is it our de- sire to occupy a similarly happy position with the Nor- thern church ? We must pursue a similar mode of conduct in order to attain this desirable end. It is sur- prising to know how large a proportion of the ministry at the North, have received their first serious impres- sions during their collegiate course, and before gradua- tion, through the faithful counsel which has been ad- dressed them, have determined to become heralds of the cross. If we would increase our ministry, we must have a literary institution, whose officers shall be men of one mind ; men, able and desirous to cultivate the moral powers of the soul, as well as skilfully to train the faculties of the mind ; and for which the prayers of the church shall constantly and ardently ascend to heaven. If we can learn aught from the past providence of God we may humbly indulge the hope, that an institution founded upon such principles, and with such results in 15 View, will be blessed with revivals of religion, and thus our ministry be increased, and the destitutions of our Church be supplied. The Committee would earnestly invite the attention of the Christian public to this sub- ject. Let them look to the difference between the North and South, in regard to the increase in the minis- try ; let them seek to assign a cause for this immense disproportion, and we are convinced that their minds must be brought inevitably and irresistibly to the con- clusion, as the minds of the Committee have been, that our great deficiency is the want of such an Institution as Oglethorpe University, with the blessing of God,^ must eventually become. To the friends of the Theological Seminary at Co- lumbia, the successful establishment of the proposed College must be an object of great interest. What has been the chief obstacle to the success of that Seminary ? Not a deficiency in funds ; it is now well and permanently endowed. Not a want of able offi- cers ; the professors of that seminary, we are proud to say, will bear comparison with any in the land ; it ha^ besides, a strong hold upon the affections of the lar^ gest portion of our church within the bound^of the t synod. The grand difficulty is the want of asufficien- "** ' cy of students ; its numbers have scarcely increased since its first existence. The reason of which appears clearly to be, that it has no literary institution, which may be considered as a feeder to it. Such, howevery will be the relation of our University to it, if the pre- sent effort prove successful. The interests of both in- stitutions are then one, their friends are common, they are equally the hope of the Church in South-Carolina and Georgia. On these several grounds, the Committee would earnestly yet respectfully solicit, from the friends o(* religion and literature throughout the country, their ^ support and co-operation in the establishment of Ogle- thorpe University. u They pass without delay to the consideration of another topic ; the propriety of the selected site of the College. The public are aware, that this point was decided, by the Presbytery of Hopewell at, its last meeting, by the choice of Midway, near Milledgeville. This choice of a location is sustained by the following reasons : 1st. The spot selected is decidedly healthy. The public are referred to the opinions of three intel- ligent physicians, which opinions were given in answer to some enquiries from the Committee on this subject. Gentlemen^ — Your letter has just been received, re- questing me to state my opinion, respecting the health of the contemplated site of the College. lean say that from the experience of many years, there is no situa- tion in this part of the country, that has enjoyed more health, and where the inhabitants have been more free from fever. I am therefore of opinion, that a more de- sirable situation could not be obtained in this part of the State. C. J. PAINE. I have lived about twelve years in Milledgeville, and I^P^^ I dorat this time remember, that I have ever seen any case of bilious fever in the vicinity of the Manual La- bor School, except one, which occurred soon after my settlement in this place. B. A. WHITE. Dr. Fort in a letter to the same committee, after having made seme statements in regard to the town of Milledgeville, speaks thus, in reference to that region of country in which the College is to be placed : *' Immediately belov/ the granite range above spoken of, is a narrow strip of country, based on a rock of a y _ poros or camerated structure, covered with a layer of *^ clay and sand variously blended, and yielding a soil of moderate fertility, broken into small and detached por- /^ /hri^Mn^ ^^ Cr4M^%m /^ ^T^- 11 fipns by the operation of secondary causes on the pe- culiar substratum of the land. This substratum is . composed of G reiss, a rock almost always lying on (^ h^^^* the outside of granite, but here so thick as to form a region every way peculiar and perhaps unprecedented •elsewhere in the geology of the earth. This region commences immediately below Milledgeville, and is at this point above six miles in width. The character of the soil and substratum of this narrow region of coun- try, secures to it the best drainage, the purest atmos- phere, and the purest water which is known to me. The inhabitants enjoy an entire exemption from inter- mittent or bilious fevers. My professional experience and observation of this interesting region of country, enables me to say that any number of families may be so located on it, as to pass from age to age, without ever suffering the slightest attack of those diseases, and I know many places where forty years experience bear^ out the assertion. Such I have no doubt is the char- acter of this region from the falls of the Potomac to the falls of the Chatahoochee. On the upper margin of this region, stands Midway, which has only of late assumed a name, but on which I have for twenty years witnessed the rise of a gradual- ly increasing population. They have enjoyed health in every way satisfactory. A perfect security from chills cannot be warranted to those settling too near Fishing Creek ; but amongst those who have resided on ground as well selected as that now occupied by the labor school, (the site of the college,) I should not feai' to warrant a perpetual exemption. This exemp- tion has heretofore been so great, that in the years in which bilious fever, seemed a ganeral epidemic, and from that to the present day, three slight cases only have been witnessed by me. No death or apparent danger from this disease has ever occurred at Midwar. TOMI.INSON FORT, 18 The testimony of gentlemen whose medical repu- tation is so well established in the State, is certainly sufficient to convince the public, that the choice of Midway, so far as health is concerned, has been a judicious one. 2d. It is central to the State of Georgia. Situated as it were, in the very heart of the State, it is more easy of access, than any other place in it; lines of stages, passing directly in its vicinity from all quarters of the country. 3d. It is most convenient to that large and popu- lous region occupying the south-western part of Geor- gia. From that region but few young men have hi- therto received a collegiate education ; the reason as- signed is, that no institution was within their reach. Oglethorpe University bituated near them, will proba- bly receive its largest pecuniary aid and the greatest number of its students from that section. 4th. It is central to the Southern States. It is the point to which facilities of approach are greatest from North and South Carolina, Alabama, Tenessee, and the Territory of Florida. If the College succeeds ac- cording to the expectation of its founders, it will draw students from all of those states. An objection has been raised to the location, from its proximity to the seat of government.' It would have been in the power of the Presbytery to have situated the institution farther from Milledgeville, but this they would not do, for the following reason. A college, if placed at a distance from a town, will speedily create one around it. It was deemed most advisable to se- lect a spot, about two miles from Milledgeville, because it was not too far off for the students to provide them- selves with necessary articles at the stores in that place, while it was too near to render it an object for any one to erecta store in the immediate vicinity of the insti- tution. More effectually to prevent this latter result, a provision has been inserted in the charter which. i9 renders it impossible to establish aay trading house within two miles of the college. I'he Committee are of opinion, that the objection which they are considering, arises from an erroneous impression as to the state of morals in the seat of gov- ernment. With the exception of two months in the year, w hen an influx of strangers brings with it deplo- rable immorality, the town is as free from vice, as ihe larger portion of towns of the same size. The evils in- cident to the particular period alluded to, might be ob- viated, by making as would most naturally occur, that season, the time of the winter vacation. The state of morals does not depend so much on location, as upon the disciphne exercised. A compa- ny of 3^oung men in a desert, unless the watchful eye, and the restraining arm of government be upon them, will devise the ways and ^means of vice. Taking all things into consideration, the Committee believe that the choice of Midway as the site of Oglethorpe Univer- sity, was the best which could have been made. The reasons which have induced the effort to estab- lish the college at Midway, and the propriety of the selected location have been considered ; one other to- pic remains to be discussed, and the duty of the com- mittee is ended. Granting the truth of all that has been said above, the question may arise, whether upon calculations of sober reason, a scheme so vast is practicable. The founders of thecollege, of course, have made this a mat- ter of serious and thorough investigation ; their delibe- rate opinion is, that it can be done. True, the accom- plishment will require labor, w ill be attended with diffi- culty. But he who at this day, shrinks from the dis- charge of duty, because difficulties attend it, should have lived years ago, he is behind the spirit of the times. But to the discussion of the question of prac- ticability. 1st. Can a sufficient number of students J)e obtained ;' t20 To this it may be replied, literary institutions, lu themselves create students. From the peculiar faver- abJeness of the location, Oglethorpe University will cafl forth many young man in the adjacent counties, to re- ceive the advantages of collegiate education, who oth- erwise would have been forever excluded from them. There are in the immediate vicinity of Midway, be- tween five and six thousand young men, between fif- teen and twenty years of age. Of this number a con- siderable proportion, from local considerations, may become students at that place. From an extensive correspondence, and personal enquiry throughout the State, no doubt is left upon the mind, that Georgia a- lone will furnish a respectable number of students. Again, there is no college of the kind, proposed., ^outh of the Potomac. It is the design of the Boards if indefatigable efforts can accomplish it, to rear up an institution, which shall compare well, with any in the Union. To such an one, occupying a central position to all the south, the attention of southern christians, especially of our denomination, must be turned. It is but a rational belief, that from the southern states generally, the students of our University will be drawn. Let the requisite funds be raised and an able faculty provided, and there can be no difficulty in regard to students. But can the requisite funds be raised ? As the re- sult of past enquiry, it is believed that in Georgia, from 130 to 150,000 dollars will be subscribed before the next meeting of the Board. This sum in itself will be sufficient to commence the operations of the college. The state of Georgia, has endowed a Professorship in the Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Car- ohna. From v»^hat has been learned by conversation with gentlemen from that State, and from the known liberality of its citizens, we are convinced that they will ho .prompt to return the favor !a hind a:nd degre:^-. T'he Territory of Florida, is much interested in thi? success of the measure proposed, and expectations are raised of considerable aid from that quarter. It will be atempted to induce, upon the part of the whole south, connected directly or indirectly with the Presbyterian church, a concentratien of its enorgies upon this, as a great central Institution, to which their sons may be sent, to be educated with the principles and habits of the people among whom they are to live and act. The Board have authorised one of their Agents, the Rev. S. K. Talmage, to solicit funds in the northern states, believing that, as our brethren of the north have received largly from the south, in the endowment of their institutions — they are prepared at this period of unexampled prosperity, to aid us in an undertaking, which must result in good, for time and eternity to the country in general. Mr. Talmage will proceed at once on his mission to the north. The churches in the states of South Carolina, as- sembled in their several judicatories,has spoken in most encouraging language to the immediate friends of the college. The Presbyteries of Flint river and Georgia and the Synod of South Carolina%nd Georgia, have passed unanimous resolutions in favor of the undertak- ing. The church in the two states, stands as it were>, pledged to go on with the work — and when her voice has spoken, shall her hand refuse to act ? Never. — Summoning up all her energies, she will go on to a, glorious consummation of^solve, pregnant with con- sequences, ceaseless in their duration and widening ia their salutary influences, with the lapse of years. We appeal then, in conclusion, to the patriot. WilJ he withhold his aid in the creation of a University, which shall redound to the honor of the state and the whole south, and which open-handed, shall dispense mental light to those now setting in darkness,and mor- al principle to those, around whom the wickedness oi this life has already cast its snares — which knowing no respect of persons, shall instruct the many poor, as well as the few rich ; which shall widely diffuse that intelligence, for want of which, we, as a people, have suffered and bled at every pore ? We appeal lo the Christian. Cousin, the French philosopher, by no means blindly partial to Christiani- ty, affirms in his unequalled report, that learning must be indissolubly united with religion, or the former can- not flourish. In the whole south, save the Methodist college in Virginia, we have no college founded upon this principle. Others are state institutions, in which in the nature of the case, such a principle cannot operate. We call earnestly upon the christian public ibr their support. Let the wants of our seminary — let the state of our churches — let the destitution of the land be considered, and that support, weare convinced, will be freely rendered. Let no one say the undertaking is too large ; the greater the glory of its accomplishment. Let no one say a failure will be disastrous ; so is the sin of neg- lecting duty. We feel, and i# is a rock beneath our feet, that the hand of God is in this matter. He is withus, and whom shall we fear — of what shall we be afraid. We seek to advance no private interests ; we labor for no pecunia- ry emolument; our end is the cultivation of mind, that most glorious structure of the heavenlyArchitect — mind, created to use its lofty powers in the study of his character, and in the praise of his mercies, unfatigued throughout eternity. Our end is the cultivation of the heart — the heart unregenerate, a nest of vipers, regen- erate, the temple of the living God. What objects more desirable ? What ends more worthy of attainment ? Laboring for such purposes, we look with humble con- fidence, to HIM, the source of unerring wisdom for S£«l guidance in our work, and to his smiles, lor support when difficulty and disappointment might otherwise fright us from our duty. €. W. HOWARD, Chairman of the Committee. BOARD OF TRVSTEES OI* Misiisters. T. GoFLWNG, t>, D. S. J. Cassels, S. K. Talmage, R. Quarterman, C. W. Howard, J. C. Pattbrson;^ S. S. Davis, C. C. Jones. H. S. Pbatt, liaymen. S. Rockwell, A. AlexandbJ^, J, ^-. CuTHBERTj W. POE, R. K. HiNEs, J. H. Howard,, C> G. MiLLs, J. Billups, B. E. Hand, W. W. Holt, C. P. Gordon, T. Fort, J. H. LuMPKiNy T. B. KiNOc E» A. Nesbst, OFFICKKS 4>F THE BOABIIO^ Rev. T. GOULDING, President. R. K. HINES, Esq Sec. 4» Treas, Executive Committee, — S. Rockwell, Chairmaiii T. Fort, J* H. Howard, J. A. Cuthbert, C. C. Mills. Agtnts of the Board — Rev. S, K. Talmage, andC. W. Howard. All Communications on th« subject of the Unirersity, must b« ad- dressed to R. K. HiNES, Esq. Sec. & Treasurer. MIBIVAY SE»I1J¥ARY» This Institution is now under the car© of the Trustees of Oglethorpe University, and they aro prepared to make full previsions for the re- ception of a large number of students during the next year. The next term of this Institution will commence on the first Monday in January. The Rev. Mr. Bsmait, the Principal, will be assisted by Mr. Meade, receutly teacher of the Mount Zion Academy ; and if the number o** Scholars require it, other assistants will be provided. I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 028 356 650 A