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 S THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 Princeton, N. J. ^— ^ '^^" 
 
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ON THE LOVE OF PRAISE. 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED SEPT. 23, 1810, 
 
 BEING THE 
 
 SUNDAY PRECEDING COMMENCEMENT. 
 
 BY SAMUEL STANHOPE SMITH, D.D. 
 PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW-JERSEY, 
 
 NEW-BRUNSWICK: 
 PUBLISHED BY J. SIMPSON AND CO. 
 
 L. DEARE, printer. 
 
 1810. 
 
 % 
 
^^ 
 
SERMON, 
 
 Whatsoever things ai'e of good report, if there be any 
 
 praise, think of these things Phil. iv. 8. 
 
 1 HE supreme motive, in the heart of every good 
 man, to honorable and worthy actions, to goodness, 
 to virtue, and universal holiness is, the pure love of 
 goodness, of holiness, and of virtue. The Spirit of 
 God, however, has not disdained to employ, as an 
 auxiliary principle of duty, that love of praise, or of 
 standing well in the ophiion of our fellow men, 
 which, though common to mankind, is often felt 
 most sensibly by generous and noble minds. 
 
 As virtue presents to us only what is amiable in 
 disposition, what is honorable and manly in conduct, 
 or what is useful to society, it is not wonderful that 
 it should be the object of general approbation. In 
 like manner all the noble endowments of our nature, 
 all distinguished acquisitions in science, all extraor- 
 dinary efforts of genius, all great talents for the man- 
 agement of affairs, if they are seen to be directed by 
 disinterested and virtuous principles to pubHc good, 
 
command the applause of mankind. And, in re- 
 turn, the approbation, and esteem of our fellow 
 men, being among the most precious rewards of 
 virtue, in this life, are also justly ranked among its 
 most powerful and laudable incentives. Youth are 
 particularly susceptible of the influence of this prin- 
 ciple. And praise may justly be held out to them, 
 as a motive to stimulate every improvement of their 
 natural talents, and their moral powers. Not that 
 false praise which vanity solicits for superficial or 
 frivolous attainments ; not that corrupted praise 
 which vice bestows on the ingenuity which is em- 
 ployed to defend its pleasures ; nor those mistaken 
 plaudits which the ignorance and passions of the 
 misguided multitude too often yield to the art and 
 cunning which mislead them ; — but the praise which 
 is bottomed upon piety and virtue ; upon solid good- 
 ness ar.d usefulness ; the praise of actions which God, 
 which conscience, which the A\'orld, when all their 
 ends and motives are known, will approve. For 
 this reason the apostle has said, " Whatsoever things 
 are just, whatsoever things are ^honorable^ whatso- 
 ever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely," 
 before he adds, " if there be 'Any praise, think of these 
 things," — that is, let your desire of praise be con- 
 nected with truth, with honor, with justice, and with 
 
 * Th's is the meaning of the ovisjiutvl word translated ho7iecr 
 in our version. 
 
all that is amiable in life and manners. But this 
 principle, however justifiable and laudable, when 
 properly directed, is susceptible al«o of great per- 
 version and abuse ; and, instead of invigorating, and 
 unfolding the germs of goodness and worth, or of 
 greatness and nobleness of character in the hearts of 
 youth, may be made the instrument of misleading 
 them into the most pernicious deviations from duty, 
 or inciting them to vice. 
 
 Let me, then, propose to your consideration the 
 love of praise under two views. 
 
 I. As it is a laudable and useful principle of ac- 
 tion — and, 
 
 II. As it may be corrupted, and possess a dan- 
 gerous influence on the heart. 
 
 1. The love of praise has, evidently, been intend- 
 ed by our Creator as one of the most powerful in- 
 centives to actions great and honourable in them- 
 selves, and beneficial to mankind. No principle 
 raises human nature to a higher tone of exertion. 
 And when all its activity is directed to good and 
 noble ends, it may justly be expected to lay the 
 most solid and sure foundation for reputation and 
 esteem in every sphere of life. The collisions of 
 interest, indeed, or the predominance of party pas- 
 sions may, for a season, depress merit, and elevate 
 imbecility, or vice to distinction ; — Vanity may, 
 for a time, be caressed by the insidious flatteries of 
 those who despise, while they court it ; — Wealth, 
 
though acquired by crimes, may receive a deceitful 
 and interested homage from dependants ; the splen- 
 dor of conquestfiTiay dazzle for a while the misjudg- 
 ing world, and cover with a false and temporary lus- 
 tre, the iniquities by which they were achieved, 
 and the miseries which follow in their train ; but, 
 they are talents guided by wisdom and piety, and 
 directed to promote the interests of humanit}'^, which 
 unite the suftrages of all mankind, and embalm to 
 posterity the memory of good men, and the fame of 
 the benefactors of nations. 
 
 In examining the principles of human conduct 
 we M'ill often find this passion pervading with a use- 
 ful influence all the active springs of our nature. It 
 serves to polish the manners, and circulate those 
 amiable attentions which contribute so much to the 
 pleasure and enjoyment of life. The delicacies of 
 conversation, the elegancies, the refinements, the 
 charms of social intercourse which distinguish civi- 
 lized from savage man, all spring from the mutual 
 desire of pleasing and the reflected hope of being- 
 respected and beloved. Praise often cherishes in 
 the youthful breast the seeds of future worth, 
 and infuses into them the principles of a vigorous 
 growth. And a generous emulation t<j excel is 
 usually regarded, at that period, as the presage of all 
 that is wise, and virtuous, and manly in after life. 
 Praise has trimmed the lamp of the student, has 
 ,^aided and animated the hand of the artist, and often 
 
administered the noblest incentives to the fires of 
 genius. To what, indeed, do we owe the poets, the 
 orators, the statesmen, the patriots, the heroes, who 
 have adorned, and shed a glory on the respective 
 nations which have given them birth ? 1 will not 
 exclude the operation of other, and of higher prin- 
 ciples in the formation of many of these great char- 
 acters ; but certainly one, and that, by no means 
 the weakest in its influence, has been the prqud hope 
 of being rewarded with the esteem of their country ; 
 or the still prouder hope of enjoying that immortali- 
 ty in the memory of men which genius so often con- 
 fers on its possessor ; or which the public gratitude 
 sometimes endeavours to bestow on illustrious ser- 
 vices rendered to the interests of humanity. Those 
 nations have, accordingly, flourished most who have 
 best known how to touch this powerful spring of 
 great and honorable actions. A statue, a tripod, 
 a triumph, even a laurel crown, or an oaken wreath, 
 bestowed as a mark of the public favour, contrib- 
 uted to elevate the genius of Greece and Rome, 
 above that of all other nations. — What dangers will 
 not men encounter, what labors will they not un- 
 dergo, what self denials not endure, in order to ob- 
 tain a high place in the esteem of mankind ? None 
 can be entirely insensible to it except those who are 
 conscious to themselves that they want worth to 
 deserve it. Base and malignant must be that heart 
 which is wholly indifferent to th|topinion of the 
 world. 
 
The love of praise, therefore, when cherished in 
 its due degree, not only incites the youth to useful 
 improvement, and prompts the man to the perform- 
 ance of actions of conspicuous merit, but is inti- 
 mately connected with those respectful and benevo- 
 lent regards to mankind, which form the finest ties 
 of human society. TFliatsoever things^ then, are 
 lovely, in themselves, and in the esteem of the worlds 
 if there be any virtue^ and if their be any praise 
 resting on these amiable and solid foundations, think 
 of these things. 
 
 From so many considerations does it appear that 
 the love of praise, when directed to proper objects, 
 and preserved w ithin proper bounds, is a legitimate, 
 and a laudable principle of action. Our blessed 
 Saviour himself, who was the most humble and self- 
 denied of men, has not disdained to employ it as a 
 motive and reward of good deeds in the example of 
 the grateful sister of Lazarus, who had just given 
 him a costly testimony of her affectionate attach- 
 ment : — " Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this 
 gospel sliall be preached in the whole world, there 
 shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told 
 for a memorial of her." And God hath denounced 
 it as a curse on the w'icked, that " their name shall 
 rot;'^ but, " blessed shall be the memory of the 
 just ;'''* " They shall be had in everlasting remem- 
 brance.'''' 
 
 As a noble erj|buragement to piety, to virtue, to 
 philanthropy, to the cuitivation of ail your intellect- 
 
ual and moral powers, remember that these are the 
 qualities which chiefly command the esteem of man- 
 kind, and procure for their possessor that " good 
 name which is better than precious ointment ;" and 
 is infinitely more to be valued, than the splendor of 
 riches, or of power. The one is exposed to envy, 
 the other begets affection and confidence ; the one 
 may excite admiration, the other commands esteem; 
 the one may awaken in the bosom, the pride of su- 
 periority, a cold unsocial sentiment, the other at- 
 tracts love, than which a sweeter consciousness 
 comes not to the heart. Riches and honors pass 
 away, or descend to others who enjoy the benefit, 
 and forget the favor. The memory of a good man 
 is precious. While he lives he marches encompass- - 
 ed with his virtues, which attract round him the 
 hearts of his fellow citizens ; and when he dies, he 
 carries with him their regrets and their tears. 
 
 Ah ! did the princes and rulers of the earth know 
 wherein their true glory consists ! They would find 
 it, not in the splendors which dazzle the eyes, and 
 repel the groans of a miserable people ; not in the 
 power which imposes its yoke on subject nations ; 
 not in the mercenary flatteries with which they are 
 worshipped in life ; nor, at death, in the magnifi- 
 cent monuments, and proud inscriptions which lie 
 to posterity ; but in the felicity of their country, in 
 the blessings and prayers of nations made happy by 
 their wisdom. —Those who have extorted bv arbi- 
 
10 
 
 trary force, or stolen by insidious arts, a false glory 
 during their lives, shall be held up in their true light 
 to posterity. Their private faults, the public evils 
 which have flowed from their vices, will be dragged 
 from beneath the veil with which power, or depen- 
 dent adulation had attempted to cover them, and 
 condemned, by the faithful severity of history, to 
 the reprobation and contempt of future ages. — But 
 the justice and magnanimity of great rulers, the 
 wisdom and integrity of able legislators, and states- 
 men, the illustrious actions, or the generous sacri- 
 fices of patriots and heroes, the talents which have 
 adorned the age in which they flourished, the extra- 
 ordinary mental powers which have given direction 
 to the great movements of the world shall, in the 
 language of the sacred writer, he had in everlasting 
 remembrance. 
 
 In every station of life, then, in which men may 
 be placed by divine providence, they may justly re- 
 gard an honest fame as among the purest and holiest 
 motives of a noble and virtuous conduct. What- 
 soever things are of good report ; if there be any vir- 
 tue, if there he any praise^ think of these things. 
 
 That a fliir reputation is a valuable possession, that 
 the love of praise, when directed by just principles, 
 and preserved within due bounds, is not only an al- 
 lowable but a laudable motive of action, will not be 
 denied. But, like all the best propensities and pow- 
 ers of our nature, it is capable of being perverted^ 
 
11 
 
 and it often is perverted, to ends very different from 
 those for which it was implanted in the heart of man 
 by his Creator. 
 
 2. Of its abuses, therefore, I am next to speak. 
 
 It may be excessive. It may be ill directed, and 
 become the minister of vice. 
 
 The praise of men, as has been already said, far 
 from being the governing motive of our conduct, 
 should only be auxiliary to the pure love of virtue, 
 and a pious submission of heart to the will, and the 
 law of God. It should be subordinate, as a princi- 
 ple of action, even to the approbation of our own 
 consciences, and to that self respect which it will 
 ever be the care of a wise and good man to cultivate. 
 The noblest enjoyment of virtue and piety, next to 
 the sense of the favor of God, is derived from the 
 conscious rectitude of our own conduct ; and that 
 inward tranquility and peace which a self approving 
 conscience sheds through the whole soul. A good 
 man will always be able to rest upon himself, if the 
 caprice of tlie world should deny him his honest 
 fame, or even the malignant arts of his enemies should 
 succeed for a time, to overwhelm him with calumnies. 
 
 The desire of praise, when it becomes excessive, 
 and this is its first abuse, puts your happiness too 
 much in the power of others, both for your com- 
 fort and your duty. For although great talents will 
 generally be admired, and virtue esteemed ; yet, 
 many events may occur to rob the best of men of 
 
12 
 
 that reputation to which their merits justly entitle 
 them. They may be sunk in obscurity ; they may 
 be thrown, in the course of providence, into situa- 
 tions unfavorable to the display of their talents, or 
 their virtues. Ignorance may not be able to appre- 
 ciate them ; prejudice may distort them ; misfortune 
 may cast them under a cloud ; party passions may 
 taint them ; slander may tarnish them ; envy may 
 corrode them ; the unsuspecting candor, frankness, 
 and honesty of the most innocent minds may often 
 lay them open to the attacks of artful, and design- 
 ing enemies. Beware, then, of setting your heart 
 too fondly on a possession so perishable and uncer- 
 tain. For if you fail to attain it, by having formed 
 a wrong estimate of your own powers, or the opin- 
 ions of the world ; or if you should be deprived of 
 it, by the arts of rivals, or of enemies, you will be 
 overwhelmed with anguish. But, seek first the 
 praise of God, and of your own hearts. Hence you 
 will derive the truest and most lasting happiness. 
 And although the approbation of your fellow men 
 would be a sweet ingredient in the enjoyment of 
 life ; yet, the want of it will, in that case, inflict no 
 fatal wound on your peace ; you will have a happi- 
 ness secured, above the arts of malice, and the 
 storms of misfortune. 
 
 It deserves to be particularly remarked, in the 
 next place, when this passion becomes too visible, 
 mankind often take a pleasure in disappointing our 
 
13 
 
 vanity. And the truth is, vanity forfeits a great 
 part of the esteem which would otherwise be paid-to 
 the virtues with which it is sometimes connected. 
 Not even the splendid talents, and illustrious ser- 
 vices of Cicero, could save him from the contempt 
 and ridicule of his cotemporaries. When he would 
 have it believed that he was wholly devoted to the 
 republic, he seemed to be not less devoted to his 
 own glory, and was thought by many of his country- 
 men, to be a patriot only for fame. 
 
 To repress still further the criminal excess of this 
 passion, which invades that supremacy of duty and 
 love which we owe to God, reflect how often is praise 
 unjustly withheld, by ignorant or envious men, from 
 your most deserving qualities, or your most merito- 
 rious actions ; how often it is injudiciously bestow- 
 ed upon the undeserving ; how often it is given to 
 the most frivolous accomplishments ; how often it is 
 won by the most superficial appearances of merit ; 
 how often it is stolen from the multitude by base 
 compliances, and hypocritical professions ; and how 
 often, if you possess power, or wealth, or beauty, it 
 is impossible to distinguish sycophancy from esteem, 
 and flattery from sincere attachment. — Reflect more- 
 over, that the breath of mortals, however soothing 
 to our vanity, cannot soothe the cold ear of death, 
 or follow us beyond the grave. If it hangs over our 
 tombs for a few moments, like a light vapour, it is 
 soon dissipated by the passions which occupy and 
 
u 
 
 iigitate the surviving world, or sinks down in the 
 chili night of an eternal oblivion. Nothing but the 
 testimony of a good conscience, and a sincete trust in 
 the Redeemer, can support the soul when all human 
 things are passing away, and it finds itself entering 
 alone through the valley of shades* into the eternal 
 world. — Let not the praise of men, therefore, if you 
 receive it, unduly elate you ; nor, if it is withheld, 
 be too much depressed, if you have the much higher 
 praise of your conscience, of your works, and of 
 God. — 
 
 As the love of praise, when it is suffered to hold 
 too high a place in the heart, will necessarily disap- 
 point you, and will often defeat its own aims ; so, 
 by receiving a wrong direction, it becomes the min- 
 ister of sin. 
 
 If the applauses of those with whom you associ- 
 ate are the chief objects of your ambition. What 
 temptations do they not lay in your way, when you 
 happen unfortunately to be connected with men who 
 substitute fashion for duty, and who justify vice by 
 example? Your contempt of religion, and of sober 
 manners will, in such connexions, often outrun 
 fashion itself; you will be ambitious to obtrude 
 your example among the first in every modish scene 
 of dissipation. 
 
 * The valley of shades, was the name by which a dark vale, 
 not far from Jerusalem, was distinguished, which furnished to 
 the sacred poet the allusion contained in this figure. 
 
15 
 
 But, most dangerous is this passion in the asso= 
 ciations of young men, who are yet in the full tide 
 of folly ; whose reason has not been enlightened, 
 and whose passions have not been chastened by ex- 
 perience ; who mistake sprightliness for wit, and 
 effrontery for talent. Here, he who can point out 
 new roads to pleasure ; he who can most ingeniously 
 defend the vices of fashion, or with the greatest dex- 
 terity wield a stroke against the authority or the doc- 
 trines of religion ; he who is most daring in his own 
 conduct to overleap the bounds prescribed by the 
 prudence of wisdom, and the caution of experience, 
 will always be encouraged with thoughtless and 
 giddy applause. Leaders in vice who are bold and 
 assuming, ever meet with followers and imitators, 
 sooner perhaps, than the patrons and examples of 
 virtue and piety, who are modest and retiring. 
 Here, in the noisy plaudits of your companions, you 
 will learn to drown the voice of conscience, and the 
 awful menaces of religion ; here will you soon be 
 incited ostentatiously to trample on the restraints, 
 which you miscall the prejudices, of a pious educa- 
 tion; and to contemn the sober opinion of the world. 
 You will affect to be more impious and profligate 
 than you are, till you become as profligate and im- 
 pious as you affect to be. Ah ! how many unhappy 
 youth, aspiring to distinction among such associates, 
 have precipitated their own destruction ! 
 
 Looking a little higher, among the ranks of litera- 
 ture, and turning over the volumes of infidelity> 
 
16 
 
 and immorality, which the press has so copiously 
 poured upon the present age, I say to myself of 
 these pernicious writings, that spring from the cor- 
 rupt affections of the heart, How many have their 
 immediate source in that vanity which aspires to 
 gain the reputation of superior wit, and strength of 
 mind, by attacking all ancient systems, by boldly 
 assailing the sacred doctrines of religion, and main- 
 taining every extravagant novelty of opinion. All 
 the libertine, all the vain, all who are lovers of plea- 
 sure more than lovers of God ; that is, unhappily, the 
 greater portion of all the higher circles of society, 
 are n^ady to extol with excessive praise, and crowa 
 witl^aurels of genius, the authors who would eman- 
 cipate them from the thraldom of religious fear, and 
 lay the spectres which haunt the gloom of the grave. 
 In an age of luxury and pleasure, this misapplication 
 of talent opens an easy path to that airy temple 
 which false wit, and superficial science, have erected 
 on an humble eminence, decorated with artificial 
 flowers, in opposition to the genuine temple of 
 Fame, planted on the summit of an arduous cliff, 
 the ascent to which is always difficult and laborious. 
 The incessant applauses of the giddy throng who 
 surround it below, seduce a crowd of authors, who 
 hasten thither to offer their works on the altars of 
 vice. — Alas ! deplorable talents ! corrupted while 
 the}^ corrupt ! Applauded by those only whom they 
 rire helping to destroy ! 
 
17 
 
 In the false and pernicious direction given to this 
 passion, in the next place, we may find the cause of 
 many of those disorders which, in all ages, have dis- 
 turbed the tranquillity of free governments. Often 
 it created the most dangerous ferments in the little 
 republics of Greece. And we do not want exam- 
 ples among ourselves of the most odious factions ex- 
 cited, and nourished by this principle. It is not 
 always the love of a little brief authority, nor even 
 the mean avarice of gaining a few extraordinary 
 emoluments in the public service, which sets your 
 consequential and restless demagogues on work, 
 (although not a small proportion of our pretended 
 patriots are governed by these unworthy motives), 
 but, frequently, vain men, with no other talents than 
 presumption and loquacity, are ambitious of obtrud- 
 ing themselves into public view. Restless, and am- 
 bitious of vulgar praise, they declaim, they harangue, 
 they endeavour to seize on some popular topic to stir 
 the commonality into violence and frenzy. The 
 best characters are the subjects of dieir slander ; the 
 best measures they find some low and mercenary- 
 ground of defaming ; while they study to raise into 
 a flame a fickle, envious and ignorant populace, with 
 whom a violent and wordy zeal is generally the proof 
 of patriotism. Little scrupulous of the means they 
 employ to accomplish their end, the public good, 
 which is their loudest pretence, is their least concern. 
 All their object is to rise into favor on the agitated 
 c 
 
18 
 
 tide. And, for a while, perhaps, they ride in tri- 
 umph, supported on the bubbles they have raised. 
 The bubbles soon break under them, and leave them 
 to sink into their native obscurity ; other favorites, 
 then, not less ambitious, and, possibly, more un- 
 principled than themselves, agitate this multitudin- 
 ous ocean by a new storm. They hurl their prede- 
 cessors into the troubled waves, in the midst of 
 which, like them, they ride, for a little while, till, 
 in their turn, they are precipitated by new pretend- 
 ers. In the mean time, their country suffers innu- 
 merable evils ; till, at last, they make the very name 
 of patriotism to be abhorred ; and the distracted, 
 and so often deluded people, seek some dreadful 
 remedy for these political disorders at length become 
 intolerable. 
 
 But, perhaps, a still more deplorable effect of this 
 misguided passion, is seen when it ascends to the 
 very seat of Moses and the apostles, and corrupts, 
 in the mouths of the teachers of reli^on, the purity 
 and simplicity of its truths. On this subject two 
 opposite evils often dishonor the sanctuary of truth. 
 While some, studious only to please the circles of 
 polite fashion, prophesy smooth things, and bring 
 down the standard of evangelic morality to what 
 fashion prescribes, or the delicacy of luxury will 
 bear ; others, destitute of talents to edify the church 
 of God by the extent and variety of their knowledge, 
 or the powers of a cultivated elocution, address. 
 
19 
 
 themselves to catch the applause of zeal from the 
 misjudging multitude, who seldom are able to dis- 
 tinguish an assumed fervor from the genuine warmth 
 of sincere piety. With noise, with rant, with ter- 
 ror, by whatever engines will move and agitate rude 
 minds, but equally distant from the genuine spirit of 
 religion as the vicious complaisance of the former, 
 they pursue their unworthy ends. There are dem- 
 agogues in religion as well as in politics, whose chief 
 aim it is to render themselves conspicuous in a party. 
 But all the flashings of their fiery zeal cannot con- 
 ceal from a true discerner of the human heart, the 
 vanity and self-love which, under the mask of 
 humble devotion, are helping to blow the flame, 
 for the purposes of their own vanity. Among 
 all impieties, hardly can one be mentioned more 
 odious to Heaven, and to all good men, than thus to 
 stand up in the temples, and in the name of the Most 
 High, only to seek our own glory. To soften down 
 to the taste of fashionable pleasure, on the one hand, 
 those holy and eternal truths on which depends the 
 salvation of immortal souls ; or, on the other, to 
 convert the humble, devout, and reasonable service 
 of the living God into the frantic bowlings of the 
 idolatrous worshippers of Moloch, or of Dagon. I 
 know not which should most shock a rational and 
 pious mind, to see an Adonis present himself, like 
 a servant of the Graces, before the awful altars of 
 Jehovah ; or to see an ignorant and presumptuous 
 mortal throwing himself into a counterfeited frenzy ; 
 
20 
 
 dealing out the denunciations of Heaven on his fel- 
 low creatures, according as his own passions impel 
 him ; approaching his Creator and Redeemer with 
 the most indecent familiarities of expression ; and 
 pouring forth his own incoherent rhapsodies, instead 
 oi the rvords of truth cmd soberness ; — Those divine 
 truths which Ave ought always to touch with the same 
 reverence and awe, with which the priests of Israel 
 approached the ark of the covenant, or Aaron and 
 his sons entered into the holy of holies. — Oh ! im- 
 piety ! thus hypocritically to employ religion to serve 
 the base purposes of our own vanity ! to dare attempt 
 to make God, if I may speak so, pander to our vile 
 praise ! — 
 
 Thus the love of praise, when it is excessive, or 
 ill directed, may, in many ways, corrupt the heart. 
 We have often seen it, when lavishly and indiscreet- 
 ly bestowed, deprave those excellent dispositions 
 which at first deserved it. Acquired, in the begin- 
 ning, by the exercise of the most modest virtues, 
 it has at last inflated the heart with an odious 
 vanity, and created a spirit self- conceited, arro- 
 gant, and intractable. Ah! how little does vanity, 
 or pride, become a man in the midst of his fellow 
 men! a brother in the midst of his brethren ! — -above 
 all, a worm of die dust in the presence of the infi- 
 nite Creator ! 
 
 But though the love of praise when it is exces- 
 sive, or misplaced, is attended with so many evils 
 
21 
 
 and dangers, yet have we seen it, when properly 
 regulated, ever united with a generous emulation to 
 excel, and become the parent of the most valuable 
 improvements in society, and of the highest virtues-- 
 Separate it from the pernicious principles with which 
 it is often conjoined, and I will again and again re- 
 peat, with the apostle, — " Whatsoever things are of 
 good report ; if there be any virtue, if there be any 
 praise, think of these things." 
 
 But, it is time to address myself to the last duty 
 of this day, giving my parting counsels to those 
 youth who have just finished their course of studies 
 in this institution, and offering up for them my most 
 fervent prayers. 
 
 Youjig Gentlemen, 
 
 We now touch on the last moments of our union 
 as instructor, and as pupils. It is a moment always 
 accompanied with many serious reflections. You 
 are parting from the retirements of your studies. 
 The vast, and various prospect of life is before you, 
 with all its uncertainties and dangers, its hopes and 
 disappointments, its rivalships and contentions, its 
 labors, and its duties. I look upon you like a mari- 
 ner who has just passed an agitated ocean, while you 
 are, as yet, only launching amidst the waves. He 
 hopes, he prays for the success of so many young 
 and ardent adventurers ; but he trembles at the 
 hazards in which he knows you will presently be in- 
 
22 
 
 volved. At a moment, then, in which many recol- 
 lections and anticipations naturally press upon the 
 mind to dispose it to solemnity, and to awaken in 
 our bosoms many tender, as well as serious emotions, 
 may I not hope that instructions to which you have 
 often listened with deference, will make upon your 
 hearts a more lasting impression than on ordinary 
 occasions. 
 
 In the course of your studies it has ever been an 
 object with the government of this institution to 
 nourish in your bosoms a generous emulation to ex- 
 cel, and to fan that love of praise, which, united 
 with the love of science, and the nobler sentiments 
 of duty, would stimulate you to the highest exertion 
 of the best powers and faculties of your nature. 
 Still continue to cherish that useful principle which 
 will impel you forward in the career of honorable 
 improvement. In the youthful breast it can hardly 
 be excessive. Not yet tainted by the envy of rival- 
 ship, or the intrigues of ambition, which so often 
 corrupt tlie passions of riper years, its earliest ten- 
 dencies are to lead you to virtue ; to prompt you to 
 the cultivation of every talent, the acquisition of eve- 
 ry accomplishment which will awaken in your favor, 
 on all sides, the voice of praise. How lovely is 
 youth when we behold in it all the symptoms of a 
 virtuous sensibility ; all the ardor of a generous em- 
 ulation ; all the noble purposes of duty ; all the 
 modest consciousness at once of worth, and of the 
 
23 
 
 imperfection of its attainments ; all the auguries of 
 future honor, and usefulness ! 
 
 Cultivate a generous love of praise. At your age, 
 it will be a powerful incentive to virtue : to genius 
 it will be like the animating rays of the sun, which 
 give life, action, and energy to the whole creation. 
 
 What then are those qualities which procure for 
 their possessor the highest honor and distinction 
 among men ? Are they not the great endowments 
 of the mind, and the good affections of the heart ? 
 On a noble magnanimity, on diffusive benevolence, 
 on unshaken integrity, on a warm, rational, and 
 dignified piety, on extensive science, on a power- 
 ful and manly eloquence, on the masterly ability of 
 combining and applying all the branches of know- 
 ledge for the purposes of public utility, are founded 
 the most solid claims to public honor and respect. 
 Superficial talents, and showy but hollow preten- 
 sions, may deceive the multitude for a moment ; but 
 experience and time, which disclose the true char- 
 acters of men, and the sounder judgments of the 
 wise, which ultimately prevail over hasty and ill 
 founded opinions, will strip from them the laurels 
 with which ignorance had crowned them. 
 
 It is the union of talents with virtue which forms 
 the true foundation of lasting praise. Virtue will 
 procure for you higher confidence from your fellow 
 citizens, talents spread round you greater lustre. 
 It is on the union of both that you should build your 
 hopes of honor and esteem. 
 
24 
 
 Be not in haste, then, to enter on the exercise of 
 those various liberal professions to which most of 
 you intend hereafter to devote your faculties Wait 
 with patience the developement of the full powers of 
 your minds; and continue long to collect, with per- 
 severing industry, from every source, the treasures 
 of knowledge, which are necessary to fit you to ap- 
 pear with distinction and eminence, before you ad- 
 vance into the public theatre of life. A prudent de- 
 lay will, in the end, be gaining both time and re- 
 putation. But if you are impatient to display your 
 talents, or to enter on the acquisition of a pitiful 
 gain, and therefore content yourselves with hasty 
 and superficial preparations, you will probably march 
 through your whole course with feeble, nerveless, 
 and obscure efforts, which, if they do not cover you 
 with contempt, will, at least, leave you sunk among 
 the vulgar throng who make up the mass, or drag at 
 the tail of their respective professions. 
 
 Whence is it that we hear from the pulpit so many 
 insipid, and common-place discourses, without illu- 
 mination to gratify the understanding, and without 
 energy to impress the heart ? Seldom, perhaps, is 
 it to be ascribed to the absolute defect of natural 
 talents ; but to the want of due preparation for dis- 
 charging honorably and usefully the functions of this 
 holy office. Whence is it that many a young 
 preacher, after being well received for a few dis- 
 courses, becomes at last spiritless, and insipid, and 
 .addresses only fatigued, and listless audiences^ He 
 
25 
 
 has exhausted his scanty intellectual funds, and has 
 nothing new to produce from his impoverished trea- 
 sury. 
 
 Whence is it that the noble and dignified science 
 of justice, so often degenerates into a pitiful petti- 
 fogging and chicanery ? Young men, without dili- 
 gence and application, meanly furnished with ju- 
 ridical knowledge, and destitute of the rich and va- 
 ried powers of eloquence derived from a general ac- 
 quaintance with other arts, have addicted themsel- 
 ves only to the meagre forms, and the dishonorable 
 quibbles of the law. — And is it not lamentable to 
 see, in so many instances, men, ignorant of the first 
 elements of civil and political science, presuming to 
 prescribe laws to the republic ; and pretending, 
 without the smallest consciousness of their own in- 
 sufficiency, to direct the relations, and settle the jar- 
 ring interests of the state with foreign nations ! In- 
 terests, relations, laws, which require a consummate 
 knowledge of the principles of civil society, the most 
 extensive information concerning the political, com- 
 mercial, and military state of the civilized world, 
 the most vigorous powers of combination, a penetra- 
 tion which pervades at a single glance the most com- 
 plicated systems; a comprehension able to embrace at 
 one view the most remote consequences ; a p^pi- 
 cacity fitted to unravel the most intricate questions 
 of policy. 
 
 Among your most valuable attainmentf let me 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 add, that it is especially important, in a free coun- 
 try, to cultivate a forcible and persuasive eloquence. 
 I may surely address myself to an American scho- 
 lar in the language which Sir William Jones has 
 used to a Young British nobleman whom he was de- 
 sirous of training up to the knowledge and manage- 
 ment of public affairs. " I am fully convinced, says 
 he, that an Englishman's real importance in his 
 country will always be in a compound ratio of his 
 virtue, his knowledge, and his eloquence, without 
 all of which qualities little real utility can result from 
 either of them apart." 
 
 But, remember, it is not the noisy declamation 
 of a town-meeting, nor the crude and incoherent 
 garrulity which so often fatigues the attention, and 
 delays the public busines, in our legislatures, which 
 will enable an orator to combine the great interests, 
 and guide the movements of a nation. To perform 
 this with success he should thoroughly comprehend 
 those interests, he should possess a perspicacious 
 mind, clearly to develope them, he should be able 
 to foresee, and to obviate all difficulties which will 
 oppose the execution of his plans, he should derive 
 light and information from all ages, he should un- 
 derstand the true character, powers, and resources 
 of His country, he should discern the best means of 
 drawing them i|ito operation, he should knOw liow 
 to touch all the springs of human action. Behold 
 what a ^eid is before the real statesman ! These 
 
27 
 
 were the powers which gave Demosthenes so great 
 an ascendant over all the corrupted politicians, and 
 noisy demagogues of Athens. These were the pow- 
 ers which made even the most polished orators, who 
 knew only the modulation of periods, and charmed 
 the ear without enlightening the understanding, yield 
 to his superior illumination and energy. He did 
 not deem it sufficient to declaim with angry and 
 boastful vehemence against the public enemy. This 
 would have been an easy task to a far inferior ora- 
 tor. He penetrated and displayed the artful designs 
 of the Macedonian king; — he unfolded the true in- 
 terests of Greece ; he pourtrayed in strong colours 
 the storm which impended over his country, he 
 pointed out, at the same time the resources with 
 which she was able to meet and dispel it ; he shew- 
 ed to Athens her own strength ; he entered into the 
 minutest details of her finance ; he understood the 
 views and intrigues of every state which could aifect 
 the interests of his own country ; he knew how to 
 resuscitate from the slumbers of luxury, the ancient 
 vigor of the republic ; all the stores of history were 
 open to his use ; all the lights of science, all the pow- 
 ers of language, were summoned to his aid.-— Were 
 these mighty effects the fruit of superficial attain- 
 ments, of hasty studies, of precipitately intruding 
 himself into the management of affairs ? You know 
 his history — ^liis labors ; his long continued, and 
 intense application ; his obstinate conflicts with the 
 
28 
 
 difficulties which nature opposed to his success. 
 But he resolved to become the first statesman, and 
 orator in Greece ; and he became so. But, why- 
 propose such an illustrious and transcendant exam- 
 ple to young men who, as yet, are only entering on 
 their literary career ? — Because every young man, 
 who desires to excel, should, from the beginning, 
 have his view and his ambition fixed on the highest 
 models. But this example, while it is calculated 
 to excite the ardor of your emulation, is fitted also 
 to encourage your hopes, and may serve to shew 
 you how much is in your poAver. For it is a maxim 
 which ought to be engraven on the heart of every 
 ingenuous youth to whom nature has not been ex- 
 traordinarily deficient in her gifts, that, like the 
 Athenian orator he can accomplish whatever he is 
 firmly resolved to do. 
 
 But, let me add, that the love of praise, when it 
 is not made the handmaid of vanity, but is modest 
 and well-directed, will make you studious especially 
 to gain the approbation of those whom it is your 
 duty, and whom it will be your chief honor and hap- 
 piness to please. To be ever ready to do good to 
 the lowest of mankind is an exalted virtue ; but to 
 be ambitious of the applauses of the ignorant and 
 fickle multitude is a low aim ; and to collect them 
 is not a difficult task to those who can stoop to the 
 dishonorable arts which are necessary for this pur- 
 purpose. Be it your ambition to deserve the esteem 
 
29 
 
 of the wise and good, whose opinion will stamp a 
 worth upon your name. Cultivating their esteem, 
 you will be supported also by the consciousness of 
 your own hearts ; — That noble consciousness which 
 God has made, next to his own approbation, the 
 most precious reward of virtue ; and which will con- 
 sole you like Socrates, and like Phocion, or, to take 
 a higher example, like Daniel, if, at any time, the 
 malignant arts of rivals, or of enemies should pre. 
 vail against you. 
 
 Prepare to deserve, hereafter, the approbation of 
 your country by meritorious and distinguished ser- 
 vices, as so many of the sons of the college have 
 done who once occupied the place in which you now 
 stand. Men who have not enjoyed the advantages 
 of liberal culture are permitted to confine their views 
 to a narrow sphere. But education imposes higher 
 duties on her sons, and enforces them by the sub- 
 limest examples. Patriotism was the first of virtues 
 to a Greek, or a Roman. He sucked it in with his 
 first milk ; he inhaled it with his vital breath ; to 
 strengthen this passion all his studies, his discipline, 
 his exercises were directed. 
 
 But passing all other considerations, permit me 
 to press upon you one which cannot fail to touch the 
 lieiTt of an ingei^iUs youth. Among your highest 
 aims let it ever be, to deserve the praise, and the 
 love oftjiose to whom, immediately, you owe your 
 existence ; and who have the deepest stake in your 
 honor and felicity. 
 
30 
 
 The sweetest recompence which, as dutiful sons, 
 you can receive for all the self-denials of your early 
 virtues, must be to witness the happiness, and the 
 honest pride of those who have loved you with su. 
 preme tenderness, whose hearts have throbbed with 
 ten thousand anxieties over your inexperienced 
 years, who have made so many painful sacrifices to 
 your education, when they behold all their sacri- 
 fices, their anxieties, their love, repaid by your du- 
 ty, and rewarded by your improvement. I seem to 
 participate with them the tender delight, the sweet 
 rapture in which they are dissolved, when they be- 
 lieve they are embracing in their arms their worthy 
 sons. If the world were filled with your praises, 
 methinks the idea dearest to you, must be the deli- 
 cious pride which your reputation and honor must 
 reflect to the heart of an affectionate parent. Ah ! 
 what a motive to improvement ! what a reward for 
 excelling ! The most amiable trait in the character 
 of the great Epaminondas was his filial piety. Be- 
 ing asked which was the happiest circumstance in a 
 life distinguished, as his was, by illustrious deeds, 
 and the admiration of his countrymen ; "it was, 
 says he, that after my victory at Leuctra my father 
 and mother were both living lo enjoy the honors paid 
 me by my fellow citizens." If '^fjj^ virtue displays 
 a more resplendent lustre surrounded with the glory 
 of heroic actions, yet this lovely sentimentlinmy 
 opinion, confers more real greatness on the Theban 
 
31 
 
 hero than all his victories. The thought of render- 
 ing happy a father, or a mother by our own virtues 
 and honors, how precious to the heart of a dutiful 
 son ! There are no personal gratifications he would 
 not forego, there are no sacrifices he would not make, 
 to enjoy it. But why do I speak of sacrifices? 
 When it is your own virtue, honor, reputation, 
 when it is, in a word, your own happiness which 
 makes them happy. — Imagine you see the tear of 
 tenderness and delight start in their eyes at these 
 your first honors ; and, with their venerable and be- 
 loved forms before you, resolve that they never shall 
 have cause to blush for their sons. 
 
 But if, in any instance, they have already descend- 
 ed to the tomb, and left you to maintain the honor 
 of their families, let your virtues prove the noblest 
 monument to their memory. 
 
 Would to God that I could inspire this pure and 
 virtuous sentiment into the bosom of every Ameri- 
 can youth ! It would, along with religion, to which 
 it is intimately allied, be the surest foundation of the 
 prosperity and glory of my country. — " Honor thy 
 father and thy mother, saith the Spirit of God to the 
 people of Israel, that thy days, thy existence as a 
 nation, may be long upon the land which the Lord 
 thy God giveth thee." 
 
 I have recommended the praise of your friends, 
 of your country, and of mankind, as a motive to du- 
 ty ; and pointed out the good effects that may result 
 
32 
 
 from your desire to obtain it. Bear with me how- 
 ever, a few moments, while I caution you against 
 the dangerous consequences which may spring from 
 the abuse of this passion. 
 
 Many young men who have early discovered a 
 certain promptness and vivacity of parts, courted and 
 caressed as the life of e\ ery gay company, have cul- 
 tivated only those superficial talents which made them 
 entertaining companions, and attracted the unthink- 
 ing applauses of levity and mirth. Having glittered 
 awhile in the circles of fashion, or of dissipation, 
 they have afterwards sunk into insignificance and all 
 their early promises have perished. 
 
 Their vanity, nourished by the praises of their 
 friends, led them to imagine that they already shone 
 with the lustre of genuine wit at the summit of the 
 mountain, while they only flashed like meteors at the 
 bottom for a few moments and disappeared. Be- 
 tween sprightliness of parts, and the capacities of a 
 great mind, between promptness of wit, and solidi- 
 ty of understanding, between the brilliancy of certain 
 companionable qualities and mature wisdom, there 
 is a wide difference. And young men, fascinated 
 by the noisy plaudits bestowed on these frivolous 
 accomplishments, have too frequently misapplied 
 their time, and given a wrong direction to the early 
 efforts of their genius. Thus have bte i blasted all 
 the opening blossoms of hope ; and the first rich 
 promise of fruit has withered and dropped from the 
 tree before it came to maturitv. 
 
When vanity assumes a merit to itself for the 
 novelty, the extravagance, or impiety of the prin- 
 ciples it maintains, it presents to us one of the most 
 fatal spmtoms of a depraved heart. It is dangerous 
 even to sport opinions of which you are not firmly 
 persuaded, in order to gain the praise of ingenuity 
 and wit. But lost, and commonly beyond recove- 
 ry, is the unhappy youth whom the vanity of re- 
 ceiving the applause of loose and profligate com- 
 panions leads to place himself at the head of associ- 
 ations for vice. Stimulated by their flatteries, he 
 outgoes even his own desires for indulgence ; and 
 far outgoes his convictions of what is consistent with 
 reason, or with duty. In proportion to the ascen- 
 dancy he has assumed among them, must he be 
 more profligate than they ; aim a more poignant ridi- 
 cule at virtue, more impious scoffs against religion. 
 Gh ! fatal vanity ! which is hastening the perdition 
 of the soul, and laying up for them the eternal exe- 
 crations of those whom they have ruined by their ex- 
 ample, and who are now ruining them by their guil- 
 ty praises. " Of you, I may say with the apostle, 
 I hope better things, though I thus speak. ^^ 
 
 But, in the conclusion of this address, suffer me to 
 repeat to you, that, however laudable in youth is a 
 generous love of praise, it should never hold the 
 chief sway among the motives of your conduct. It 
 should ever be subordinate to a pure and ardent 
 love of virtue, and reverence for religion, and even 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 to a just and noble respect for yourselves. But, the 
 first object of desire to every reasonable being should 
 be the approbation of God. He who embraces all 
 being in himself is the sovreign good. What is the 
 transient breath of mortals compared to his favour 
 xvhlch is lije, afid his loving kindness which is better 
 than life ? Vain is all human glory, separated from 
 virtue and from the love and service of the living 
 God. The laurels of the conquerors of the world 
 have long since withered on their brows — the proud- 
 est monuments of princely vanity have been long 
 since levelled with the dust, the most splendid 
 works of genius and of art consecrated to the fame of 
 illustrious men, are continually passing to oblivion, 
 and the world itself shall perish; but those wl^love 
 God shall inhabit with him the praises of eternity. 
 Never can you too profoundly impress it on your 
 hearts that God your Creator possesses the supreme 
 right to all the powers of your being. From him 
 they are derived, to him they ought continually to 
 tend. How amiable and lovely in youth is piety, 
 which draws down the spirit of heaven to earth ; 
 which opens on the beginning of life the fairest bios- 
 soms of hope ; which consecrates to our adorable 
 Creator and Redeemer the bloom of existence ; and 
 is preparing in the heart the ripened fruit of a bless- 
 ed and glorious immortality. The early contact of 
 the soul, If I may speak so, with infinite purity, 
 which is effected by the power of devotion, at once 
 
35 
 
 ennobles and purifies its being, and prepares it for 
 those holy and ineffable joys which perfect spirits 
 taste in the presence of God. 
 
 Retiring as you now are from these studious re- 
 treats in which you have spent many hours of refin- 
 ed and social pleasure ; and dissolving many pleas- 
 ing ties which have hitherto united you with your 
 literary associates, let these separations remind you 
 of that more serious moment when you must part 
 with all human friendships ; and when the world 
 fading from your view, shall leave you no support in 
 the conflict with death, and no consolation at the 
 bar of Heaven, but the mercy and grace of your 
 Redeemer, and the review of life spent in obedience 
 to his holy will. So live, and employ the talents 
 which God has given you, that the Supreme Judge, 
 assembling round you in that day your good works, 
 may, from this tribunal, proclaim them to the uni- 
 verse, to your everlasting glory and praise. 
 
 As I am now performing the last office which my 
 station requires in superintending this period of your 
 education; for your diligence, for your laudable 
 ambition, in any instance, to excel ; for all that you 
 have done well for your own honor and interest, or 
 for the general interest of morals and letters in the 
 college, accept my thanks. For nothing is dearer 
 to my heart than the improvement in every useful 
 and ornamental endowment of those whose educa- 
 tion has been committed to my charge. 
 
36 
 
 ' If, in the course of your studies, I have, through 
 madvertance or mistake, injured the feelings of one 
 person in the class, I trust tha't my motives, and the 
 arduousness of my situation will excuse it. All 
 that is past is forgotten, except your virtues. Hence- 
 forward I regard you as equals, and, as men. One 
 emotion only occupies my heart in a fervent aspira- 
 tion to heaven, for your honor and usefulness in 
 hfe ; and for your everlasting salvation. O blessed 
 Jesus ! Saviour and advocate of mankind ! who dost 
 offer the sincere prayers of thy people before God, 
 deign to present this prayer with acceptance at the 
 
 heavenly throne ! 
 
 Adieu I 
 
^•. 
 
 1804. 
 

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