[Little Rock] Old-Line Democrat, January 19, 1860
From Northern Institutions. The late news from Richmond, informing us of the revolt of the Southern students from the Medical Colleges of Philadelphia and New York, is one of the most striking and gratifying assurances to the people of the South, that the pride, interests, and future glory of our southern country, is increasing and advancing with rapid progress every day. During the past fifty years Northern institutions have been in a great degree supported by Southern patrons. The halls of Harvard, Yale, Amherst and Dartmouth, have been crowded with the talent of the South, while the Medical Universities of Philadelphia, New York and Cambridge have been thronged with young men from Southern States.
The Professorships and President’s chairs, have been supported by the wealth of the South, and while they slyly laughed and chuckled over their ill-gotten gains, they have been continually crowding, and infringing upon the dearest interests and most sacred rights, of the South.
But a bright day has dawned upon our land. The hour when a young man felt constrained to enter a Northern University to secure a good education, has passed; and the true spirit of independence and energy has taken possession of every son in our Southern country. The thousands of young men who have heretofore made up that bright circle of students in Northern Colleges, will hereafter seek institutions in their own section of the Union.
The hundreds of thousands of dollars which have yearly been expended at these institutions from Southern patrons, will hereafter build up universities of our own, within our own limits. The Universities of the South which even now stand high in the catalogue of American Institutions of learning, will each year increase in wealth, and position until they rank as high as any in the North. Let it be the aim of every State within the galaxy of Southern States, to inaugurate a system of education, which will add honor, and renown upon her history, and reflect credit, and fame upon the graduates of these institutions.
It behooves the young men of the South in this “impending crisis” to look well to their own interests, and to guard well the interests of the future. Let them foster a pure Democratic faith, and allegiance to their mother country, and support none else but the institutions of their own section.
And this plan well applies to every industrial system which is carried on both in the North and South. Our merchants should protect Southern trade, while our mechanics, and agriculturalists should vie with the North in all of their products.
With this principle we may succeed. In encouraging this system, we can become at once a happy and prosperous country. In fostering these resolutions we may advance with the astonishing rapidity towards the high point which the hand of the Almighty has marked out for us.
And we trust the movement which our friends in other States have made, will not be lost upon the people of Arkansas, but that every son and daughter of our growing State, will work hand in hand for her future success and prosperity. Let all the friends of Education put their shoulders to the work, and erect institutions of learning, which may forever stand as proud monuments to her name. Let the artisans of the anvil, and the husbandman on his farm, labor with their best energies, for the advancement of their objects.
Now is the time for us ALL to commence in earnest, and soon a bright future will dawn upon our State. Soon the cries of fanaticism will be hushed, and the South will be a happy and independent community.