Class 
 
 
 Boob .4 
 
 Title. 
 
 Imprint 
 
 la— 30B89-1 OPO 
 
AI ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
 
 jfrfejjnlii ^flung IaMph' Iminnni; 
 
 FREEHOLD, N. J., 
 
 JUliY ao, 1853, 
 
 By ROBERT DAVIDSON, D. D 
 
 [PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.] 
 
 NEW-BRUNSWICK, N. J. 
 
 PRESS OF J. TERHUNK & SON, 31 ALBANY-STREET. 
 
 MDCCCLIII. 
 
0-1 'X Dl 
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 ADDRESS &c. 
 
 Young Ladies of the Fkeehold Semhstaky: 
 
 It is very natural that we should desire to shun, on such 
 an occasion as this, every thing trite and hackneyed. The 
 great subject of Education, — its principles, developments, 
 and results, as well as its importance to the female sex, — is 
 an exhausted field, and offers no fresh laurels. It is pro- 
 posed, therefore, to choose a theme at once suitable to your 
 years and studies, agreeable to a promiscuous audience, and 
 instructive to all. Such a theme presents itself in The 
 Study of History. 
 
 History has ever, and deservedly, held a high place in 
 the estimation of mankind. Of the daughters of Memory, 
 Clio, the eldest born, has not been least honored. To her 
 have appertained the birth-right, and the double portion. 
 In the anaglyphs of Egypt, the arrow-heads of Nineveh, and 
 the picture writings of the Aztecs, we discern the labors of 
 the never-absent annalist. Of the Sacred Scriptures, revered 
 by us as traced under the superintendence of a hand from 
 heaven, a third part are historical. 
 
 The uncertainty of History has sometimes indeed been 
 objected against this branch of knowledge. "We are told 
 that while Sir Walter Ealeigh was preparing his History of 
 the World, he saw a fray from his window; and mixing 
 afterwards with some of the spectators, he was amazed at the 
 discrepancy of their accounts, accounts varying from each 
 other not only, but totally irreconcileable with the facts as 
 they had appeared to himself The story adds that Raleigh 
 
returned, to his chamber, and in a pet threw his manuscripts 
 into the fire, saying, that if it was so difficult to learn the 
 truth, in regard to the most recent affairs, no reliance could 
 be placed upon traditions collected and recorded by histo- 
 rians at a distance from the scenes they described. The story 
 reads smoothly, and hath a sharp twang of a moral ; pity it 
 is, that the work specified, the History of the World, sur- 
 vives in print, to stamp the whole of the narrative as apoc- 
 ryphal. 
 
 If History is uncertain, where is the blame to rest? It is 
 the historian's office diligently to collect all the traditionary 
 notices within his reach, and. exercise his judgment in sifting 
 and assorting them. He makes up his mind not firom 
 isolated, but concurrent, sources of information. This is a 
 work of discrimination solely. If the traditions are incom- 
 plete, or incorrect, or discolored by prejudice, he is not at 
 liberty to travel beyond the record. He dares not invent 
 facts or incidents. He must be content to take what he 
 finds ready made to his hand. Invention is the prerogative 
 of the Novelist, not his. 
 
 History is neither an exact, nor an experimental science. 
 The principles of Geometry are as much settled, and beyond 
 amendment as they ever will be. Cubes and cones have 
 been always the same ; and Euclid, and Diophantus were 
 perfect within their proper limits. As for the Experimental 
 Sciences, they have improved greatly of late years, and are 
 taking rapid strides towards exactness. The dreamer of 
 olden time bent over his crucible to transmute base metals 
 into precious ; or, amid fames and formulas of the Eed Lion 
 and the Lily, and mayhap less innocent adjurations, sought 
 to extract an Elixir of perpetual youth. The Scientific 
 Chemist of modern times, pursuing his researches only as 
 the Interpreter of Nature, adjusts atom to atom, and volume 
 to volume, with almost mathematical precision 
 
 History belongs to another department. It is one of the 
 Moral Sciences. Its aims and ends are of a high moral 
 
character. To it Etliics and Politics confess their obligations. 
 Like tliem, its field is indeterminate, and not capable of 
 being measiired with rule and callipers. It does not claim 
 to work out its results witli tbe precision of geometry ; nor 
 is it able to repeat tbe past till it bas modelled, it to its 
 wishes. The materials it employs are sometimes tbe most 
 shadowy, indistinct, and imponderable; a word, a look, a 
 thought. Why then should History be judged more harshly 
 than the other Moral Sciences? It has to grapple with 
 Human Nature in its ever shifting, slippery. Protean phases, 
 and opal lights, that mock the hues of the dying dolphin. 
 The Chemist, the Naturalist, the Geologist, appeal to rec- 
 ords, traced by the finger of Nature, which is incapable of 
 deceiving; but the Historian depends upon testimonies often 
 involuntarily, and sometimes designedly, unreliable. His is 
 a silent and sombre path among the catacombs. He needs 
 to hold fast to his clue, or he will speedily lose his way, and 
 be stifled by the dust from a thousand crumbling skeletons. 
 
 Judgment and discrimination are therefore the prime 
 qualifications, which fit the Historian for his task ; and there 
 is no reason why we should not confide the opinion or 
 the guidance of a judicious writer in the domain of History, 
 as much as in the domains of Law or Commerce. 
 
 Who can help admiring the noble spirit that pervades the 
 opening paragraph of Tacitus. "Even in the time of 
 Augustus there flourished a race of authors, from whose 
 abilities that period might have received ample justice ; but 
 the spirit of adulation growing epidemic, the dignity of the 
 historic character was lost. During the lives of those em- 
 perors, [succeeding Augustus,] fear suppressed or disfigured 
 the truth; and after their deaths, recent feelings gave an 
 edge to resentment. For this reason, it is my intention 
 shortly to .state some particulars relating to Augustus, 
 chiefly towards the close of his life ; and thence to follow 
 downward the thread of my narration through the reigns of 
 Tiberius, and his three immediate successors, free from an- 
 
imositv, and partial affection, with the candor of a man 
 who has no motives, either of love or hatred, to warp his 
 integrity." — (Annals, bk. I. 1.) 
 
 There is reason to believe that History has suffered, also, 
 from th^ parasites that have fastened, and fattened upon it. 
 The glut of Historical Novels, and the Romance of History, 
 have created a prejudice against the benefactress to which 
 they owed their precarious existence, as if it were equally 
 trivial and frivolous with themselves. But this objection 
 should really have no more force than the barnacles that 
 attach themselves to a ship's bottom. They form no part 
 of the ship. Their adhesion is purely accidental. So it is 
 with the writers of historical novels, and of books entitled 
 the Romance of History. Their morbid and dainty appetite 
 rejects solid reading, and they select the lighter portions 
 only for their purpose. In fact this is the flag under which 
 they sail. They do not attempt to deceive. They openl}?" 
 acknowledge that amusement is their aim. Since therefore 
 they exsect so carefully the solid and weighty portions, and 
 Bkim nothing but the froth upon the surface, it is unjust to 
 make the Historic muse responsible for their levities. 
 Enough of gravity and dignity will be found remaining for 
 those who have sense to appreciate them. 
 
 The most brilliant and successful author in this line was 
 Sir Walter Scott. The fecundity of his genius was astonish- 
 ing. His learning was extensive, and of the rarest kind. 
 The antiquarian lore lavished on the notes to his poems 
 might have sufi&ced to give a reputation to other men. But 
 with him it flowed without effort. His thoughts ran in that 
 channel. He was under no necessity of rummaging his 
 library, and cramming for the occasion. His antiquarian 
 knowledge was not like a pump which requires force to 
 make it yield its crystal hoard, but rather like a natural 
 fountain, whose waters bubble and gush up in an exhaust- 
 less stream. Scott's mind resembled his own Abbotsford. 
 That mediasval structure, a romance in stone and lime, was 
 
the embodiment of his habitual turn of thought. But 
 charming and fascinating as was this great master of the pen, 
 his accuracy was not unimpeachable. He sacrificed truth 
 to effect. He sometimes misrepresented characters, or held 
 them up in a ridiculous light. The minstrel of princes, and 
 the favorite of the drawing-room, in his eyes the splendor of 
 chivalry atoned for the miseries of vassalage, and the prestige 
 of high birth, like the mantle of Charity, covered a multi- 
 tude of sins. His genius glorified only what was in harmo- 
 ny with Tory principles, and aristocratic usages ; and what 
 he disliked was sure to be painted in exaggerated colors. 
 Had the sturdy Scots who fought for Christ's crown and 
 covenant, been gentlemen instead of peasants, or Jacobites 
 instead of Cameronians, or had they been " out in the '46," 
 we would have had a very different picture of them. 
 Balfour of Burley would have been made as attractive as 
 Claverhouse, and the portrait of Mause Headrigg would 
 have been supplanted by a counterpart of sweet Jeanie 
 Deans. But with all his faults it must be conceded, that 
 Scott drew the attention of many to history, that they might 
 better understand his novels ; and they who relished the 
 productions of his pen, could not endure the stuff that flow- 
 ed from his successors, 
 
 " In one weak, washy, everlasting flood." 
 
 Whatever abatements we might be willing to concede to 
 the genius, taste, and negatively moral influence of the great 
 Coryphaeus, we cannot extend the same indulgence to the 
 tribe of his imitators. The effect of their labors has un- 
 doubtedly been to create a superficial taste, to emasculate 
 the mind, to give a disrelish for solid and manly reading, to 
 foster a morbid craving for stimulants, and to inspire a dis- 
 gust for history itself apart from the piquant sauce of a 
 prurient fancy. 
 
 Objections having been disposed of, let us turn our atten- 
 tion to the ADVANTAGES, Avhich result from the study of 
 History. 
 
If Entertainment is tlie object in view, we know not where 
 a more healthy and rational entertainment can be found. 
 It brings into play enough of thought to prevent stagnation, 
 and to give a gentle fillip to the mind ; while it does not 
 tax the intellect so severelj^, as the differential calculus, or 
 some profound professional text-book. We may have been 
 jaded by the toils of our daily occupation, but the perusal of 
 Kobertson's Charles Y. or Macaulay,s England, acts as a re- 
 freshing restorative. "When I mix with the world," ob- 
 served Yoltaire, "I am subject to every man's humor; but 
 when I enter a library, every man's humor becomes subject 
 to me." " A chair in a tavern," said Dr. Johnson, " is the 
 throne of human felicity." " He would have been more 
 correct," remarked Dr. Eush, "had he |)laced that chair in a 
 library. It is in this repository of the fruits of intellectual 
 labor, that we find an epitome of human knowledge. Here 
 the historian informs, the traveller amuses, the poet delights, 
 and the philosopher instructs us. Here, past and present 
 time unite ; here, all the quarters of our globe, with their 
 kingdoms, and customs, are seen in miniature, and here we 
 find an abstract of all the opinions and systems of knowl- 
 edge, that have ever existed in the world." 
 
 People must have amusement, especially the young. And 
 it is of the last importance, that they should have such 
 amusements as will relax without debasing them. The 
 degenerate Eomans demanded bread and games ; the modern 
 Eomans are bribed with fire- works and illuminations ; the 
 Spaniard is never so happy, as at a bull-fight, or a fandango ; 
 the Americans, 
 
 " Intent on high designs, a thoughtful band.' 
 
 have scarcely any popular amiisements at all. Hence it is 
 that in the dearth of innocent excitement, so many resort to 
 low and sensual stimulants, and prepare for themselves a 
 downward path of shame and degradation. But our very 
 amusements should contribute to the encouragement of 
 virtue, and furnish a rational mode of spending time, and 
 
relaxing the mind, without the aid of frivohty or vice. Such 
 a rational, profitable, and elevating recreation we possess in 
 Historj^. 
 
 Where can we find more varied or elegant entertainment 
 than in the pages of Plutarch, or Froissart, or Eobertson, or 
 Carlyle's French Eevolution, or Alison's Eurojoe, or Macau- 
 lay's England, or Lamartine's Girondists, or Bancroft's 
 United States? In truth, History may vie with Poetry and Eo- 
 mance in the thrilling interest of its revelations. Shakspeare 
 diligently worked this rich mine in his Historical Plays, to 
 which some, oblivious of the sources whence they were 
 drawn, have acknowledged themselves indebted for nearly all 
 their acquaintance with British annals! The student seats 
 himself in his quiet nook, as the shades of evening close 
 around ; and other suns, long since set, rise again to view ; 
 "the famous dead" are evoked from their remote sepulture; 
 and the panorama of the world's eventful progress silentlj'- 
 unrolls before him. 
 
 " 'Tis pleasant through the loop holes of retreat 
 To peep at such a world ; to see the stir 
 Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd : 
 Thus sitting, and surveying thus at ease 
 The globe and its concerns, I seem advanced 
 To some secure and more than mortal height, 
 That liberates and exempts me from them all. 
 • It turns submitted to my view, turns round 
 
 With all its generations ; I behold 
 The tumult, and am still. The sound of war 
 Has lost its terrors ere it reaches me ; 
 Grieves, but alarms me not. » * « * « 
 He travels and expatiates, as the bee 
 From flower to flower, so he from land to land; 
 The manners, customs, policy of all 
 Pay contribution to the store he gleans; 
 He sucks intelligence in every clime. 
 And spreads the honey of his deep research 
 At his return— a rich repast for me. 
 He travels, and I too. I tread bis deck. 
 Ascend his topmast, through his peering eyes 
 Discover countries, with a kindred heart 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 Suffer his woes, and share in his escapes ; 
 While fancy, like the finger of a clock. 
 Runs the great circuit, and is still at home." 
 
 We are not shut up to fiction. Trutli has a novelty and 
 an interest not a wliit inferior. Were we permitted to visit 
 another planet, how eagerly would we investigate its pro- 
 ductions, its inhabitants, its laws, its manners, and customs! 
 We would be absorbed in this occupation to the exclusion 
 of every other. But, in fact, the history of past generations 
 of our own planet is hardly less new or strange, and may be 
 made fully as attractive. 
 
 The sources of a river, the Niger or the Nile, have been 
 investigated with the greatest eagerness ; why should there 
 be less curiosity to trace the history of a nation to its foun- 
 tain-head, and learn what influence the character of the pro- 
 genitors had on that of their posterity ? We are not restrict- 
 ed to the limited range of our forefathers. We have escaped 
 from the dreary prolixity of E-apin, and the parliamentary 
 abstracts of SmoUet. Modern writers have found out the 
 difficult art of blending imagination with reason. Robertson, 
 Michelet, Lamartine, but above all, England's latest brilliant 
 and fascinating historian, have sufficiently demonstrated that 
 a volume of history may be made as interesting, and as 
 much sought after as the last novel. And why should it be 
 otherwise? Imagination, well trained, is able to re-people 
 the past, not with rigid, unimpassioned skeletons, but with 
 warm, breathing, Hving men. It shows us the same human 
 heart, with its susceptibilities, its deep emotions, its myste- 
 rious undertones, its faith, its enthusiasm, its strange incon- 
 sistencies, pulsating ahke beneath the toga, the cuirass, the 
 jacket, and the chasuble. 
 
 " The proper study of mankind is man ; 
 
 and it is the office of History to make us acquainted with 
 our species, and show us all the varieties of the race civilized 
 or savage. Thus doth this Mysteriarch of the Ages revivify 
 
 3 
 
11 
 
 the past, solve enigmas, reconcile contradictions, and hold 
 up the lamp of Experience to the dim and misty tiiture. 
 
 Such are the elevated entertainments, such the pure de- 
 lights which the Muse of History unfolds before the youth- 
 ful and observant mind, and which need not the false lights 
 of fairy land, nor the exaggerations of as unreal romance to 
 enhance their attractions. These are 
 
 "Cups that cheer, but not inebriate." 
 
 We do not rest our apologetics for the study of History 
 upon the ground of entertainment merely ; it claims respect 
 for the rich Instruction with which it teems. The sentiment 
 which the sage of Halicarnassus dropped near two thousand 
 years ago, has been endorsed by the wisdom of succeeding 
 generations, and has grown to the dignity of a proverb ; 
 *' History is Philosophy teaching by example." 
 
 Instruction communicated in this way is very lively and 
 impressive, Horace tells us that it was thus his father in- 
 spired his youthful mind with detestation of vice, and love 
 of its opposite. The grave Senator, the spendthrift Albius, 
 the profligate Trebonius, in turn were made the occasion of 
 wholesome advice. But it is not always judicious, or safe, 
 to make free with the names of contemporaries. It is more 
 prudent to select illustrations from the storied page, '■ rich 
 with the spoils of time." Let Phocion and Eegulus, Aris- 
 tides and Fabricius, continue patterns of integrity to the 
 youth of future generations, as they were to our own. Let 
 Alexander's drunkenness, and Caesar's ambition still "point 
 a moral, and adorn a tale." Let the Eoman Emperors illus- 
 trate the precariousness and corrupting influence of irre- 
 sponsible power. Let Cincinnatus and Washington furnish 
 examples of pure and disinterested patriotism. Let Arnold 
 and like names, "Whom 'tis unblest to mention," be the 
 beacons to warn from a traitor's grave. Let Cornelia ex- 
 hibit her jewels, and Cleopatra point her asp. Let Margaret 
 of Anjou teach her own sex courage, and the fate of La 
 Valliere confirm them in modesty. 
 
12 
 
 Historical researclies farnisli a fruitfal source of Political 
 Philosopliy of the profoundest and most practical sort. 
 Once, battles, sieges, and tlie actions of kings were thought 
 the sole facts worth recording ; and these were set off with 
 all the beauties of style and the particularity of an amateur. 
 Whatever concerned the masses was kept in the back-ground 
 as unworthy of attention ; as in the wall-paintings of Egjrpt, 
 the king is magnified into a colossus, while his own, and the 
 opposing armies dwindle into pigmies. But those days are 
 past. Wars now are viewed by the philosophical historian 
 as blemishes and excrescences ; subjects of regret rather than 
 admiration ; occasional and insignificant trivialities compared 
 with the great sum of human destiny ; retarding the pro- 
 gress of the human race, and putting farther off the millenial 
 era of universal brotherhood, 
 
 " The parliament of man, the federation of the world." 
 
 The old-fashioned buckram dignity of history has disap- 
 peared and nothing that contributes to illustrate- life and 
 manners is deemed unworthy of notice. The prying eye 
 is carried into every nook and corner ; literature, commerce, 
 the arts, public ceremonies and private manners, are dili- 
 gently scrutinized, and the entire Past is faithfully repro- 
 duced, and stands forth like a disinterred Pompeii. 
 
 Thus the hidden springs of action are unveiled, and their 
 true motives are brought to light. We see the ambitious 
 Eichelieu, when the foundations of royal favor are tottering 
 under him, secretly giving orders that a battle should be lost 
 by the French army, that in the confusion which should 
 ensue, the king might find himself compelled to retain him 
 in his councils as the only man on whom he could rely in 
 such an exigency. 
 
 We explore the rise and fall of empires. We behold 
 Rome steadily rising from small beginnings, to the domin- 
 ion of the world, and advancing the curule chair above 
 thrones and sceptres, till at last grown un wieldly and corrupt, 
 it gradually dies at the extremities before vitality ceases at 
 the heart. 
 
13 
 
 "We scrutinize the revolutions of States, analyze their 
 internal feuds, and detect the weak points of their institu- 
 tions. What a subtle and sagacious parallel has Machiavelli 
 drawn between the conflicting states of Greece, and those of 
 Italy, in his Decades on Livy ! While the British revolution 
 steadily diminished the royal prerogative and advanced the 
 popular influence, those of France have three times served 
 only to show the facility with which a single individual, 
 having firmly clutched the reins of government, may thwart 
 the wishes of an entire people. From the instability of the 
 French, some have inferred the unfitness of the national 
 manners for a republican form of government ; others be- 
 hold in the condition of Spain and Ireland, the reciprocal 
 evil influence of a bad government on the habits of the 
 people ; and nothing is plainer than that the foundations of 
 our own political institutions were laid centuries ago in the 
 habits of the colonies, and of their ancestry. 
 
 It is impartial History alone that can help us to under- 
 stand these riddles, and which, lifting a corner of the veil 
 that hides the past, lets in an affluent light upon all that it 
 concerns us most to know. It exposes the evils of both 
 anarchy and despotism, and shows how the one prepares 
 the way for the other, by that fatal oscillation of all sublu- 
 nary things, which forbids them to remain stationary. 
 Action and reaction balance each other, and in some antag- 
 onisms so equally, that neither side can claim any advantage ; 
 as it was in that famous sortie commemorated by Sully. 
 Two towns in France were at war ; and on a certain dark 
 night each plotted the surprize and capture of the other. 
 The respective men-at-arms, sallying forth by opposite cir- 
 cuits, did not meet, and accordingly daylight revealed the 
 ridiculous spectacle of each army in possession of the other 
 hostile town, while their own wives and children were in 
 turn captives. Nothing was now to be done, but to negotiate a 
 mutual surrender on equal terms, as speedily as possible. — 
 Thus we see in the strifes and controversies of by-gone days, 
 
14 
 
 vanquished Greece giving Eome letters, Christianity borrow- 
 ing ceremonies from Paganism, the Goths learning from the 
 Italians, and the Crusaders importing improvements from 
 the Saracens. 
 
 There is another lesson which History teaches in her most 
 solemn tones, and which should be graven with a pen of 
 iron on the rock forever. That lesson is the advantage of 
 unity, and the mischief of faction. "We read it in the fate 
 of the small states of Greece, ever striving for supremacy. 
 
 " Then first the change began, when Greece with Greece 
 Embroiled in foul contention, fought no more, 
 For common glory, and for common good : 
 But false to Freedom, fought to quell the Free ; 
 Broke the firm band of peace, and sacred love. 
 That lent the whole unconquerable force." 
 
 We read the same lesson in the virtue of the old Achaean 
 league ; and of the great Lombard league against Frederick 
 Barbarossa. Warned by such testimonies, our nation should 
 frown down every factious and divisive scheme, and nip it 
 in the "bud. For us the maxim has an awful and portentous 
 meaning, Union is Strength, Division is political suicide. 
 
 History is invaluable to the Publicist. Such books as Hal- 
 lam's Middle Ages, and Constitutional History of England, 
 should be familiar to every one interested in the study of 
 government. There he has a clear and comprehensive view 
 of the nature of the feudal system, its tenures, its tyranny, 
 and its villenage ; the origin of franchises and of boroughs ; 
 habeas corpus, and trial by jury ; the balance of power 
 between the crown, the nobles and that middle class, which 
 their neighbors across the channel were so much concerned 
 to find, The Third Estate. 
 
 History is to the Statesman what the chart is to the sailor ; 
 marking the capes and headlands, the reefs and shoals, the 
 sunken rocks and safe harbors. Thus he is admonished 
 against the possible perils that may assail the ship of state 
 and wreck its fairest prospects. Storms may indeed arise, 
 which no pilot, however accomplished, can either prevent or 
 
15 
 
 lay ; but by his skill and experience he may keep all snug, 
 and outride the storm in safety. Not only as regards general 
 principles, is History thus useful, but it preserves the 
 records of law and treaties, ignorance of which might subject 
 to disastrous consequences. How much forgotten History 
 Avas brought forward from its dusty crypts during the Oregon 
 dispute, and in what a disgraceful dilemma would our Sec- 
 retary of State have been placed, had he not been familiar 
 with the stipulations of Utrecht. Some thoughtless youth 
 might say, what have we to do with the old mouldy 
 treaty of Utrecht ? But if he had fallen in a war brought 
 about by a supposed infringement of that Treaty, he would 
 have found to his sorrow, what interest he had in it. 
 
 Each of our citizens may aspire to the highest office in 
 the land, and does, by his vote, assist in placing some com- 
 petent stateman there ; and therefore each individual should 
 have such an acquaintance with the important interests of 
 which that statesman is to take charge, as that he shall 
 know to what policy he is committing himself. Socrates, 
 meeting Alcibiades, questioned him about the science of 
 government and public affairs ; but a few skillful queries 
 compelled 'him to confess that he who aspired to lead the 
 councils of Athens, was ignorant of the first principles that 
 should guide him. Many such a blushing sciolist, it is to be 
 feared, may be found in our country and in our day. 
 
 There is a fine illustration of the influence wielded by 
 the accomplished Publicist, in the ancient tribe of Issachar. 
 The heads of the tribes numbered not over two hundred on 
 the roll ; but they were men that had understanding of the 
 times, to know what Israel ought to do ; they were versed 
 in History and politics, and other cognate sciences ; and 
 mark the pregnant record so naively added! "All their 
 brethren were at their commandment." That was a specimen 
 of commanding influence. 
 
 Not only the Statesman, but the (3rator is under obliga- 
 tions to the Historic Muse, for some of his choicest illustra- 
 
16 
 
 tions and precedents. From Gamaliel, theHlearned Pharisee, 
 down to Vergniaiid, tlie eloquent Girondist, an apt citation of 
 pertinent precedents from History, lias never failed to prove 
 a powerful weapon in tlie hands of the orator. 
 
 Who would venture to pronounce the Divine completely 
 furnished without a knowledge of Ecclesiastical History ? 
 Not only should the clergyman be versed in the general 
 history of the world, in common with all educated men, 
 but he must add to this an intimate acquaintance with that 
 of the Church. It will render him skilful in detecting and 
 exposing the revival of exploded heresies ; it will fortify 
 him on doubtful or disputed points with the common 
 belief of Christendom ; it will qualify him to battle with 
 schism, and put to silence the infidel. The history of a 
 doctrine or a ceremony is sometimes as good as an argu- 
 ment for or against it. The relation of the Church to the 
 State, and the degree of benefit or injury thence resulting 
 to either; the gradual growth of hierarchical power; the 
 vexed questions of concordats, investitures, and patronage, 
 may be investigated with more or less interest even in the 
 United States, on account of the important principles in- 
 volved. So also the Theology and the Sects of the Middle 
 Ages may form a study of intense interest to the laity of 
 the present day, when so many strenuous efforts are made 
 to revive and glorify them. The Church owes an incalcula- 
 ble debt to Neander and D'Aubigne for their inimitable 
 contributions to this branch of science, and for their efforts 
 to exhibit the Church as a hving witness of the divine power 
 of the gospel. 
 
 But it is not tograve Senators and public personages alone 
 
 that we would restrict the study of History, it will be found 
 both profitable and interesting by the Female Sex also, 
 though of course they will not be expected to dive into its 
 most recondite depths. This was the opinion of Dr. Fordyce, 
 an old English author of repute, who not content with 
 merely recommending the study, placed it in the front rank. 
 
17 
 
 " First," says he, I would observe that History, in which 
 I inchide Biography and Memoirs, ought to employ a 
 considerable share of your leisura Those pictures which it 
 exhibits, of the passions operating in real life and genuine 
 characters* of virtues to be imitated, and of vices to be shun- 
 ned ] of the effects of both on society and individuals ; of the 
 mutability of human afiairs; of the conduct of Divine 
 Providence; of the great consequences that often arise 
 from little events ; of the weakness of power, and the wan- 
 derings of prudence, in mortal men ; with the sudden, 
 unexpected, and frequently unaccountable revolutions, that 
 dash triumphant wickedness, or disappoint presumptuous 
 hope.; — the pictures, I say, which History exhibits of all 
 these, have been ever reckoned by the best j udges amongst 
 the richest sources of instruction and entertainment." 
 
 I am happy to be able to adduce in the support of 
 this position, so high an authoritjr as Dr. Sprague, 
 Vvrhoae elegant and facile pen is an ornament to our own 
 country. The remarks about to be quoted are found in his 
 Letters to a D^vUghter, an admirable work, which should be 
 in the hands and in the heart of every young kidy in the 
 land, 
 
 "I have adverted," says Dr. Sprague, "to History. 
 This I would have joii study not merely with a vievf to 
 gratify curiosity, but as containing an instructive record of 
 human actions, and as fun)isliing an important means of 
 becoming acquainted with the operations of the human 
 heart ; for what the nature of man has been, so it is now ; 
 and its operations are the same, making due allowance for 
 diversity of circumstances. s * * * * 
 "While I would have you familiar with every part of History, 
 both ancient and modern, I would recommend a special 
 attention to the history of your own country ; not only be- 
 cause it is your own, but because it is the land v,- hich seems 
 to be marching forward in the order of Providence to a 
 more glorious destiny than any other." 
 
18 
 
 I cannot refrain from adding here tlie views of this dis- 
 tinguished writer, on the subject of novel-reading. Speaking 
 of works of fiction generally, and admitting the artistic skill 
 and even moral tendency of some of them, he continues, 
 "I cannot doubt that the time which you would occupy in 
 reading them might be employed to better purpose in study- 
 ing the actual realities of life, as they are exhibited by the 
 biographer or the historian ; and moreover, there is danger, 
 if you begin to read works of fiction, with an intention to 
 read but few, and to confine yourself to' the better class, that 
 your relish for these productions will increase, till you can 
 scarcely feel at home unless the pages of a novel are spread 
 out before you ; and what is still more to be dreaded, that 
 you will read indiscriminately, the most corrupt as well as 
 the least exceptionable. You may rest assured that a character 
 formed under the influence of novel-reading, is miserably 
 fitted for any of the purposes of practical life. ^ ^ 
 I say then, as you would avoid forming a character which com- 
 bines all the elements of insipidity, corruption, and moral 
 death, beware of the reading of novels. Many a young 
 female has been obliged to trace to this cause, the destruction 
 of her principles, her character, and ultimately her life ; and if 
 she have escaped these greater evils, she is still unfitted for 
 solid intellectual enjoyment, and for a life of active useful- 
 ness." 
 
 " Ye novelists, who mar what ye would mend, 
 Sniv'ling and driv'ling folly without end ; 
 O that a verse had power, and could command 
 Far, far away these flesh flies of the land ! ' 
 
 But while I would lure you to the pursuit of the more 
 solid branches of polite literature, far be it from my aim to 
 expose you to the charge of pedantry or affectation. Pedan- 
 try is disgusting enough in man, but in a woman it is 
 the incarnation of unloveliness. But there is no necessity 
 for such a result. A modest woman, with a well-balanced 
 and well-informed mind, will naturally fall into her place, 
 and sustain her part in intelligent society, without seeking 
 
19 
 
 to shine, to take the lead, or to show off her accomplishments. 
 If there has been occasionally a De Eambouillet or a Mon- 
 tagu who has offended in this way, we can point to an 
 Aspasia, who fastened Pericles to her side by the unaffected 
 charms of her conversation ; to a Maintenon, who reclaimed 
 her royal lover from his roving fancies ; to a More, more pure 
 than the one, more pious than the other, whose society was 
 eagerly sought to the very close of her protracted life. It 
 is only the superficial and the half-taught that make a dis- 
 play of a little second-hand learning ; the well -instructed of 
 either sex are not guilty of such impertinence. I would 
 not have you a Bas Bleu, attracting the hatred of one sex 
 and the ridicule of the other ; but on the contrary, 
 
 " A creature not too bright or good 
 For human nature's daily food ; 
 A perfect woman, nobly planned, 
 To warn, to comfort, to command." 
 
 Fraught with rich instruction as the Study of History 
 must be confessed to be, there is another signal benefit re- 
 sulting from its pursuit, its tendency to enlarge and liberalize 
 the mind. This is an object of incomparably grander im- 
 portance than even that which we have just been considering, 
 the one being but a means, the other an end. What would 
 be the advantage of storing the inemory with facts, with dates, 
 with names, if the capacity of making use of them is wanting? 
 The true instructiveness of history consists in its aiding the 
 reflecting mind to classify, to arrange, to discriminate, to gen- 
 eralize, to deduce sound and practical conclusions, and putthe 
 experience of past generations in a shape to benefit posterity. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive how a person versed in general 
 history can be a narrow-minded man. The mere mathema- 
 tician, the mere metaphysician, the mere linguist, the mere 
 lawyer, the mere theoloigan, may gyrate within the very 
 small circumference to which professional habit has chained 
 him ; but the historian demands a wider range. He sails 
 on bolder wing, and from a lofty elevation takes a bird's-eye 
 
20 
 
 view of the oceans and continents beneath. Petty details 
 are merged in the grand effect of the comprehensive pros- 
 pect,|and the due relation of its various parts to each other 
 and to the whole, is earefally noted. 
 
 In feet, History, like traveling, dissipates prejudices, and 
 corrects or modifies preconceived notions. It teaches to 
 make allowance for national differences and variant modes 
 of education and thinking. It sees something that is good 
 in all, as well as evil, and takes pleasure in discovering 
 points of agreement and harmony. It detects the existence 
 of the same common feelings under every variety of feature 
 and complexion, and owns that "one touch of nature makes 
 the whole world kin." It is ignorance and want of intercourse 
 that perpetuate national antipathies, which are in conse- 
 quence, forced to justify themselves by the most frivolous 
 pretexts ; as the British sailor hated the French because 
 they wore wooden shoes. If the different nations could see 
 more, or learn more, of each other, they woiild find 
 cause for mutual admiration and esteem. The Chinese, who 
 hoot at the civilized European as a Fan-qui, or Foreign 
 Devil, and in whose geography their own country monopo- 
 lizes the map, while the rest of the world is thrust into the 
 corners, would never be guilty of such ridiculous conceit, if 
 they were better acquainted with the history and resources 
 of the nations they deride. How can we be sm-prised that 
 so much prejudice against our own country prevails in Eu- 
 rope, when scarcely anything is known of it, and half the 
 people believe that the Americans are copper-colored ! Even 
 Tytler, whose Epitome of General History is the text-book 
 in Great Britain, has not a single chapter on the United 
 States ; two or three paragraphs alone being allotted to the 
 War of the Revolution, and that of 1812. In the editions 
 which we use, the deficiency is supplied by an American 
 writer. Perhaps after a few more yachts, and ocean-steam- 
 ers, and statuary, and locks, and steam -plowing, the haughty 
 Islanders will become aware of the existence of a rival 
 
21 
 
 across tlie Atlantic wMcli bids fair to transfer to herself the 
 proud title of queen of commerce and mistress of the seas. 
 
 Religious intolerance also, as well as every other form of 
 bigotry must disappear before the increase of historical knowl- 
 edge. Intolerance, which is seen to be so unlovely in its 
 faithful record, arises from inattention to the just limits of 
 authority, to the natural right of freedom of opinion, and 
 to the out cropping in one direction of what was suppressed 
 in another. 
 
 " The time has gone by," says an acute writer, " when 
 more general knowledge and higher studies, were deemed 
 superfluous, to all except professional men, — the lawyer, the 
 physician, * or the divine. It is now admitted by many of 
 the best judges, that a more liberal education, either Academ- 
 ical or Collegiate, may be alike beneficial to the Farmer 
 the Mechanic, and the Merchant ; as serving to expand and 
 quicken the mind, and to prepare the aspiring youth, not only 
 for engaging in the labors of his profession, but for adorn- 
 ing a higher station,' and becoming more extensivelv useful 
 should prosperity attend his career. At least, the study of 
 languages and calculative processes, of mental and phvsical 
 philosophy, of historical and political truths, of the works 
 of nature and of art, will lay a wide basis for intellectual 
 cultivation ; and it will be the student's own fault if it is not 
 improved, for his secular and eternal benefit." 
 
 He who lives entirely in the present and for the present 
 can attach little more dignity or importance to his pursuits 
 that the ephemeral insect whose little life is comprised within 
 the rising and setting of the sun, and which sports away its 
 brief hour on careless wing. On the contrary, by studying 
 the past, and scanning the future, we as it were, multiply 
 our existence, and concentrate the light, the knowledge, and 
 the glory of all ages on our own. 
 
 " We hve, says Bohngbroke, with the men who lived 
 before us, and we inhabit countries that we never saw. 
 Place is enlarged, and time prolonged in this manner ; so 
 
22 
 
 that the man who applies himself early to the study of his- 
 tory, may acquire in a few years, and before he sets his foot 
 abroad in the world, not only a more extended knowledge 
 of mankind, but the experience of more centuries than the 
 patriarchs saw. -x- * -x- * Experience is 
 
 doubly defective ; we are born too late to see the beginning, 
 and we die too soon to see the end of many things. History 
 supplies both these defects." 
 
 Time will not permit more than a word or two on The 
 Method of Studying History. But we may observe that 
 History should be studied systematically. As beginners, 
 with the best intentions in the world, are sometimes at a loss 
 to know what to select, the following books maj^ be recom- 
 mended as a brief course of Historical reading. To abridge 
 it as much as possible, those works which must be regarded 
 as absolutely indispensable, are put in italics ; — Qleig's His- 
 tory of the Bible ; EoUin's Ancient History ; Tytler''s Universal 
 History ; Plutarch's Parallels ; Gibbon's Decline and Fall of 
 the Eoman Empire ; Sismondi's Italian Republics ; Hal- 
 lam's Middle Ages ; Milner's Church History ; Michelet's 
 France ; Kohlrausch's Germany ; Hume's, Mcintosh's, or 
 Macaulay''s England; Robertson's Charles Y. and Mary 
 Queen of Scots ; HAuhigne's History of the Reformation ; 
 Irving's Columbus ; Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, 
 Mexico and Peru ; Bancrofts United States ; Alison^ s recent 
 History of Europe ; Schlegel's Philosophy of History ; Gui- 
 zot's European Civilization. 
 
 History should be studied with the map. Geography 
 and Chronology are the two eyes of History, 
 
 The habit should be formed of taking comprehensive 
 views of the results, bearings and connections of past events. 
 Glaring errors should be noticed, and an indiscriminate idola- 
 try of antiquity avoided. Allowances must also be made 
 for the peculiarities and different circumstances of nations. 
 What is suitable for one is not suitable for others. Another 
 thing against which we should be on our guard, is the par- 
 
23 
 
 tialities of historians. One is to be modified and corrected by 
 another. It is highly important to know an author's stand- 
 point. 
 
 In perusing the history of the world, we should observe 
 the hand of Providence in the course of events. Grod devel- 
 opes his will in the Holy Scriptures, in the works of Nature, 
 in Conscience, and in History. By many writers the idea 
 of God and Providence seems completely ignored ; by others 
 it is contemptuously opposed. Following the lead of Bo- 
 lingbroke, who in his famous " Letters" rejected the Old 
 Testament as an authentic or reliable guide, the wily Gib- 
 bon employed his seductive rhetoric to account for the early 
 spread of Christianity by secondary causes alone. Watson, 
 and Milman have done a good service in exposing the 
 hoUowness of his sophistry. To see God in History will 
 afford delight to every well-trained and pious mind, for is 
 not God the Maker of History! "History," said the elo- 
 quent Hungarian in one of those aphoristic gems that 
 sparkled in his speeches, " History is the Book in which God 
 records his counsels by deeds." To see God in History 
 will furnish a key to many obscure and intricate affairs. 
 It is a sublime thought that the march of Providence is 
 holding on its undisturbed way, and accomplishing its great 
 results, alike through the agency of individuals and the 
 social life of nations. Although we may not be able to 
 trace all its indistinct vestiges, and should be very careful 
 not to form rash or presumptuous judgments, we may 
 acquiesce in this momentous truth with a reposing confi- 
 dence which will harmonize many an apparent contradiction, 
 and impart to our reflections almost a prophetic value. The 
 permission of evil, the calamities visited on particular nations, 
 the fact that corruption works out its own punishment; 
 these and similar phenomena indicate the overruling attrib- 
 ute of justice ; a justice, which though it lingers, never 
 sleeps. Consider that remarkable catalogue drawn up by 
 Ealeigh, illustrative of the tremendous threat of visiting the 
 
24 
 
 iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third 
 and fourth generations. Time will not allow a detailed 
 narrative, but you may trace the sentence fulfilled in the 
 extinction of the race, or the diversion of the crown to 
 another succession, in the cases of the I. lY. VI. YII. and 
 YIII, Henries, the III and lY Edwards, and the 11, and III, 
 Eichards of England ; Lewis Debonair, and Francis I. of 
 France ; and Pedro, Ferdinand I. Charles Y. and Philip II. 
 of Spain. And if the great statesman were now alive, he 
 might add to his list, the instructive example of the XYIth 
 Louis, and Xth Charles of France. These are solemn and 
 instructive warnings ; they are easily legible, and should 
 not be disregarded. 
 
 In fine. History is not to be studied as an idle recreation, 
 nor to foster bigotry and prejudice ; nor to nurture a party 
 spirit determined to find instances only on its own side ; nor 
 to minister to personal vanity and the pedantic ostentation 
 of learning; but it is to be regarded with veneration, and 
 conscientiously employed, as the handmaid of Truth, the 
 Interpreter of Heaven, and the Instructor of mankind. Its 
 aims and aids are neither trivial, nor superfluous; its high 
 mission is to elevate and dignify : to introduce to 
 
 " an opening world 
 Diviner than the soul of man hath yet 
 Been gifted lo imagine — truths serene 
 Made visible in beauty, that shall glow 
 In everlasting freshness ; unapproached 
 By mortal passion ; pure amidst the blood 
 And dust of conquests ; never waxing old ; 
 But on the stream of time, from age to age, 
 Casting bright images of heavenly youth 
 To make the world less mournful !" 
 
 What is the proudest statue or national monument to the 
 historic page, in point of value, extent, or durability ? The 
 one appeals to our eye, to our imagination, and fancy ; it is 
 picturesque, and poetical ; it is the index of princely power, 
 or of national enthusiasm ; it is suited to a semi-barbarous 
 age when reading is sparingly known : like its own marble, 
 
25 
 
 it fixes one unvarying thouglit only, one result, one achieve- 
 ment, and it announces tliat acfiievement to but one people 
 and one locality. The other appeals to the reflecting powers, 
 our judgment and our reason ; it commands the attention of 
 the philosopher and the sage ; it not only tells of power, but it 
 unfolds the secret of success; it not only commemorates great 
 exploits, but it informs who and what they were that 
 achieved them; it delivers its utterances not to one locality 
 alone, but in the ears of all mankind. Wherever books 
 penetrate, there is carried the memory of the hero. On the 
 banks of the Ganges, the Hindoo youth reads of the British 
 Alfred, and under the shadow of the Carpathian peaks, the op- 
 pressed Magyar kindles his patriotism by the remembrance 
 of Washington. 
 
 ■" Though graven rocks the warrior's deerls proclaim, 
 
 And mountains, hewn to statues, wear his name ; 
 
 Though shrined in adamant, his relics lie 
 
 Beneath a pyramid, that scales the sky ; 
 
 The mouldering rocks, the hero's hope, shall fail. 
 
 Earthquakes shall heave the mountains to ihe vale. 
 
 The shrine of adamant betray its trust, 
 
 Ami the proud pyramid resolve to dust ; 
 
 The Lyre alone immortal fame secures. 
 
 Fur song alone through Nature's change endures ; 
 
 Transfused like life, from breast to breast it glows. 
 
 From sire to son by sure succession flows, 
 
 Speeds its unceasing flight from clime to clime, 
 
 Outstripping Death upon the wings of Time.'' 
 
(OmSQID'ILAm. 
 
 The Freehold Young Ladies' Seminary was established in 1844. Nine 
 years have aiforded sufficient time to test the correctness of the princi- 
 ples on which it was founded, and in accordance with which it has 
 been invariably conducted. It has ever been our conviction that the 
 Education of Females could be made thoroughly practical, and at the 
 same time nothing need to mar its beauty as an accomplishment. We 
 did not believe that the oft repeated assertion, that modern education 
 unfitted its subjects for the stern realities of life, need be true. For the 
 justness of our opinions we point to the large number of our Pupils 
 scattered throughout the community, who are adorning the sphere 
 in which Providence has cast their lot. But we have a still stronger and 
 more dearly cherished confidence in the practicability of uniting the 
 culture of the heart with that of the understanding. The gentle, yet 
 powerful influence of the religion of Christ, is that which transmutes 
 all human knowledge into intellectual gold. It is to a christian home 
 that we would send our own children, and so far as power shall be given 
 us, it is such a home that we would prepare for the children of others. 
 We are grateful to a kind Providence for His smiles upon our labors. 
 Nor would we allovv' this opportunity to pass without an expression of 
 gratitude to our patrons for the continued proofs of their confidence. — 
 Every day's experience makes us more desirous of a free and cordial 
 understanding between them and ourselves. On our part, we would 
 gladly visit the homes of our pupils, that we might there converse with 
 their parents, and learn most perfectly their every wish respecting their 
 daughters ; and with a coal from the altar of home, kindle anew our 
 own ardor in the work that is given us to do. And, respected patrons, 
 we wish that, on your part, you could become more intimately acquainted 
 with our daily life. We wish you could stand side by side with us and 
 participate for a little season in our pleasures, and see what are some 
 of the trials and discouragements which we meet in attempting to dis- 
 charge our duties. Of the pleasures of the teacher's life, we need 
 not speak— since the world denies that there is such a thing in existence. 
 We know that there are such pleasures, and long years of experience 
 have taughr us that they are far greater in number than the things of 
 an opposite nature. Hence, though we may often be weary in the 
 
2 
 
 profession of our choice, we are never weary of it. We cannot but 
 think that if you could, for a season, become a part of our little com- 
 munity, and watch with us the current of thought and feeling as we 
 watch it, and participate in all our anxieties for the healih and happiness 
 of your children, that you would at least, pardon us for kindly suggesting 
 to you any of the many ways in which we think you could aid us in 
 fulfilling your own just wishes. 
 
 Course of Study, &c. For full information respecting the Course 
 of Study, Terms, &c., we would referto our Annual Catalogue, which 
 we shall be happy to forward to any desiring such information. We 
 merely add here that the School year commences on the first Wednes- 
 day in September, and ends on the third Wednesday in July. The 
 Vacations are from the third Wednesday in July to the first in Septem- 
 ber, and a recess of two weeks at Christmas. This arrangement sets 
 us free from confinement during the warm weather of July and August, 
 and affords a fine opportunity for another means of improvement— viz ; 
 travelling. The Principal will hereafter accompany such of the Pupils 
 as may desire it, on excursions to the most interesting and instructive 
 portions of our country. During the present vacation a large party 
 propose to visit the principal cities and most interesting localities along 
 the banks of the Hudson, and Lakes George and Champlain, and 
 throughout New England. It is believed that this will do much to 
 awaken an interest in, and extend a knowledge of History. 
 
 The next Session will commence on Wednesday, September 7tli. 
 Those who propose to enter at that time, will do well to make early 
 application to 
 
 A. RICHARDSON, Principal. 
 
 Freehold, Monmouth Co. N. J., July> 1853. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 020 994 730 4