Colleges—Beginnings, 1790-1840. 717
Peripatetics of old, disposed to indulge in pliilosopliic strolls, they
would find interesting objects for contemplation. On tlie outset, is
presented to their view the cumulated embankments of the Raleigh &
Gaston Rail-Road. Here is suggested the science of Engineering,
which calls into practice all the Mathematics which they have studied
only in theory. Here they may speculate upon the force of Mechanical
power, and have practical illustrations in Hydraulics. Here, too, they
may acquaint themselves with that mighty Engine of Locomotion,
which is working such wonderful effects in the country; and the aspir-ing
youth, of ardent imagination, borne along by the rapid impulse of
steam, already realizes the future prosperity of our State. JSTo longer
is his pride mortified by the degrading epithets that are now applied to
her ; but with a proud heart and stentorian voice, he drowns those mean
carpings, in proclaiming, that instead of emigration from the State, a
dense population of hardy yeomanry cultivate the soil ; that towns have
sprung up as by magic over the land; that her villages have become
great cities, and that opulence and wealth, with their concomitant bless-ings,
glitter in magnificent splendour all around.
The accommodation for Students is ample, and in the highest degree
comfortable ; for the large building is now finished, which, judging of
the Chapel as a sample for the interior work, we would pronounce to be
well executed. That the Institute is well endowed, the established repu-tation
of the Faculty is sufficient assurance. But notwithstanding the
Institute is now better prepared to accommodate a large number of
Students, and impart lasting instruction to their minds, than at any
former period, it is a mortifying fact, that it is almost neglected by the
public. The present number is about forty-two—a very small number,
in comparison with that, when the Institution was first established.
If the people of ISTorth-Carolina shall cause this Institution to cease
operations, for the want of patronage, they will extinguish one of the
brightest lamps that ever illuminated our page of classic literature.
A Visitor. —Raleigh Register, Septemher 3, 1838.
NOTICE.
Sale of Lots at Wake Forest.
At a late meeting of the Trustees of the Institute, an order was passed
for the laying off and selling of lots, with a view to the erecting of a
village, on grounds now belonging to the Institution. The sale will
take place, by appointment on the premises, on Wednesday the 5th of
February next—when such as may wish to provide themselves with a
residence in a healthful and delightful section of country, and at the
very door of our excellent seminary of learning ^svill have an oppor-tunity
to procure the requisite ground for building. Under certain