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GEOBGIA AND GEORGIANS 419
budded at an early period. He became the most brilliant of Georgia's
ante-bellum statesmen in the use of the pen. Gibson Olarke was the
valedictorian. It fell to the lot of William H. Jackson to deliver the
salutatory address; Jeptha V. Harris pronounced an oration in favor of
liberty; Robert Rutherford spoke on the dignity of man; James Jackson
counseled a sentiment of gratitude to France; and "William Williamson
dilated in praise of representative government. There was also a dia
logue in which several members of the class took part. At commence
ment, in 1901, the centennial anniversary of the formal opening of
Franklin College was observed with impressive ceremonies, at which time
the centennial oration was delivered by Judge Emory Speer, an alumnus
of the institution.
Today the University of Georgia is one of the greatest institutions
in America. It includes the old original Franklin College, the College
of Agriculture, the Lumpkin Law School, and the State Normal School,
all of which are located at Athens; the Georgia School of Technology
located in Atlanta; the Georgia College of Medicine located in Augusta;
the Georgia Normal and Industrial College located at Milledgeville; the
South Georgia Normal College at Valdosta; and the Industrial School for
Colored Youth located at Savannah. The prophecy of President Meigs
has been realized. Said he, in a letter to Governor Milledge in 1805: *
"Your institution has taken a strong root and will flourish; and I feel
some degree of pride in reflecting that a century hence, when this nascent
village shall embosom a thousand of the Georgia youths, it will now and
then be said that you gave this land and I was on the forlorn hope.''
* '' History of Georgia," L. B. Evans, p. 158.