8747. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, Necessity for.—[further continued].
The reflections that the boys of this age are to be the men of the next;
that they should be prepared to receive the holy
charge which we are cherishing to deliver over
to them; that in establishing an institution of
wisdom for them, we secure it to all our future
generations; that in fulfilling this duty, we
bring home to our own bosoms the sweet consolation
of seeing our sons rising under a
luminous tuition, to destinies of high promise;
these are considerations which will occur to
all; but all, I fear, do not see the speck in our
horizon which is to burst on us as a tornado,
sooner or later. The line of division lately
marked out between different portions of our
confederacy is such as will never, I fear, be obliterated,
and we are now trusting to those who
are against us in position and principle, to
fashion to their own form the minds and affections
of our youth. If, as has been estimated,
we send three hundred thousand dollars a year
to the northern seminaries, for the instruction
of our own sons, then we must have there five
hundred of our sons, imbibing opinions and
principles in discord with those of their own
country. This canker is eating on the vitals
of our existence, and if not arrested at once,
will be beyond remedy. We are now certainly
furnishing recruits to their school.—
To General Breckenridge. Washington ed. vii, 204.
(M.
1821)
