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 AN ADDRESS, 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 BEERSHEBA SPRINGS, TENN., 
 
 AUGUST 19th AND 224, 1859, 
 
 AND ALSO, BY INVITATION OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF TEN- 
 NESSEE, AT THE CAPITOL, NASHVILLE, SEPT. 8th, 1859. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM GILES DIX, 
 
 ^W. T. BERRY & COMPANY, 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENN. 
 1859. 
 
'3« 
 
BEEESHEBA SPRINGS, TENN. > 
 August 20th, 1859.1 
 W. G. DIX, Esq. 
 
 Sir : The undersigned respectfully request 
 the favor of you to deliver again the Address which you 
 recently made on the University of the South, on such day of 
 the ensuing week as may best suit your convenience, and also 
 to furnish us with a copy of it for publication. 
 
 Very Respectfully, 
 
 J. B. Williams, G. Mason Graham, 
 
 W. M. Stone, H. Johnson, 
 
 W. C. Stout, Jno. A. Dougherty, 
 
 John M. Bass, E. I). Wheeler, 
 
 H. W. Connor, Jr., T. T. Castleman, 
 
 S. R. Cockrill, Jas. H. Walker, 
 
 D. S. GOODLOE, • M. PlLCHER, 
 
 Jas. L. Goodloe, J. A. Richardson, 
 
 J. Armfield, O. F. Hadley, 
 
 O. J. Morgan, Frank H. Ingram, 
 
 Minor Kenner, R. W. Lewis. 
 
 BEERSHEBA SPRINGS, ) 
 August 20th, 1859.1 
 
 To Gen. Graham, Gov. Johnson, ana otners : 
 
 Gentlemen: Acknowledging the kind favor with which 
 my Address has been heard, I comply with your joint request, 
 in the hope that other friends of the University of the South 
 may urge its claims upon public consideration and support, 
 with a power more worthy than mine, of the magnitude of the 
 enterprise, though none can have a more earnest desire for its 
 
complete fulfilment. May the Institution, which, for compre- 
 hensiveness of design, stands foremost in our history, be 
 sustained by the same large judgment and patriotic hopes which 
 have inspired its projectors. 
 
 Very respectfully and sincerely, 
 
 Yours, 
 
 WILLIAM G. DIX. 
 
At a regular meeting of the Historical Society of Tennessee, 
 held in the Society's Room, in the State Capitol, on Tuesday, 
 6th of September, the following resolution was offered and 
 unanimously adopted, to wit : 
 
 "Resolved, That W. G. Dix Esq. be invited to repeat, on 
 Thursday evening next, before this Society and the citizens of 
 Nashville, his lecture on the University of the South, recently 
 delivered at Beersheba Springs " 
 
 "The Rev. Dr. Quintard was appointed to extend the invita- 
 tion to Mr. Dix, and request his acceptance of it." 
 A true copy from the minutes of the Society. 
 ( Signed) 
 
 A. NELSON, 
 Rec. Secretary Historical Society of Tennessee. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 The South, often, no doubt, unjustly regarded as being back- 
 ward in the cause of education and of intellectual refinement, has 
 projected, and is now boldly and triumphantly maturing, the 
 grandest scheme of education, yet shown in the annals of the 
 new world. All who desire to see the minds and souls of men 
 lifted to that height which they can reach ; all who would have 
 American communities informed throughout with the spirit and 
 the appreciation of the noblest culture ; all who would gladly see 
 the tides of demoralizing influences restrained by the strong 
 bulwarks of Christian education, will hail with joy the promise 
 of that great work, the establishment of the University of the 
 South ; and they will rejoice yet more, when this great enter- 
 prize, undertaken in religious faith and fear, shall be brought 
 to a successful consummation. May God bless the University of 
 the South, and inspire all its friends with new ardor and vigor. 
 
 The proceedings of the Board of Trustees of this Institution, 
 recently assembled here, were marked by the same earnest, yet 
 calm deliberation, which has distinguished every step of this 
 great undertaking. The States represented in this vast work, 
 are Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas. 
 
 The progress has been sure and rapid. It is but three years 
 since a circular letter, proposing and unfolding the design of a 
 comprehensive institution, was addressed by the Bishop of Lou- 
 isiana to distinguished citizens, clerical and lay, of the ten 
 States above named. The response was immediate and cordial. 
 At the next annual Convention of each Diocese, Trustees were 
 
8 
 
 chosen to meet and carry through the design, without a prece- 
 dent, but none the less momentous and reasonable, of a consoli- 
 dated University. The place for the first assembly of the 
 Trustees, was Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
 a place most fitting, for there, in one of the most majestic 
 horizons in America, can be seen lands of five of the ten States 
 included in the vast area represented in the work. The time 
 was fitting, the 4th of July, 1857, a day sacred to patriotic 
 associations, and one most appropriate for ushering to public 
 confidence and regard a labor so truly patriotic, as to found a 
 University on the sanctions of religious faith ; a day most be- 
 coming to show to the world a profound conviction of the truth, 
 that political liberty, unsustained by Christian culture, is as 
 brief and baleful as a meteor's glare. 
 
 The first thing to be done was to select a site. The whole 
 subject was submitted to the severest scrutiny. The friends of 
 every place suggested were allowed not only a fair hearing, but 
 an ardent urging of its claims. Competent men were appoint- 
 ed to examine carefully all the sites presented for decision. A 
 mass of information was collected, most valuable in itself, and 
 of vast use in making the final choice. Friends of the valley 
 and of the mountain, of the cultivated city and of the uncleared 
 plain, argued, each, earnestly but courteously, for his favorite 
 spot. The place selected as having the most advantages, as 
 regards central position, ease of access, health, numerous un- 
 failing springs, abundance and variety of material for building, 
 grandeur of scenery and the far off future was that portion, now 
 called *Sewanee, of the Cumberland Mountain, the summit of 
 
 ♦The term Sewanee is of Indian origin. It appears that a tribe, having crossed the Southern 
 Mississippi from west to east, occupied successively land3 bordering on the gulf of Mexico, as 
 far east as Georgia and Florida, and gave their name to a river in each of these States. Thence 
 migrating northward, they reached the grand table-land of the western range of the Apalachian 
 chain, to which they gave their name Sewanee. This range is now called Cumberland. The 
 river also, now known as the Cumberland river, these Indians called Sewanee. This is the same 
 tribe, which going farther north, at last settled in the northwest, and has been known as the 
 Shawnees. 
 
 An exploring party from Virginia, in 1748, gave to the mountain and river the name of 
 Cumberland, in honor of the Duke of Cumberland. 
 
 Mr. Putnam, in his valuable " History of Middle Tennessee," says that these Indians affixed 
 their name to some natural feature of the aountry which they traversed : as "Savanna, Savanne- 
 has, Sawana, Sewane and the like." 
 
 The term Sewanee, most happily restored, is now given to that portion of the Cumberland 
 table-land which comprises the ten thousand acres granted to the University. 
 
9 
 
 which, instead of being steep, rugged peaks, is, for the most 
 part, a broad, fertile, gently undulating table-land, from fifteen 
 to forty miles wide, and crossing the State of Tennessee, This 
 place thus affords all the convenience of the valley and all the 
 invigoration of the mountain. The final choice was acquiesced 
 in by those who had preferred a different selection, with a spirit 
 of christian nobleness and magnanimity, which, while adding 
 honor to those whom it inspired, is itself not the least hopeful 
 augury of success for the work. All have joined heartily in 
 the labors to be done. One aim, one hope has animated all 
 hearts, and nerved all hands. 
 
 At the recent meeting of the Board at this place, it was 
 evident, that all concerned felt that the enterprize was too great, 
 too comprehensive, too far-reaching, to be made the subject of 
 spasmodic excitement. The whole action of the convention 
 was considerate, firm, vigorous, such as became the men who 
 composed it, and the object which they came together to serve. 
 Every motion was carefully weighed, and decided by force of 
 character and truth. The idea of establishing a great Univer- 
 sity by the combined action of honorable and liberal men, in 
 ten States of the Union, was seen to be no exhalation of wild 
 enthusiasm, but a design as practical and substantial, as it is 
 vast and commanding. Its very magnitude is its surest sign of 
 success. Its conception bears that impress of grandeur, which, 
 while it represses puerile display and fantastic emotion, yet 
 calls forth sublime energies, and nerves them for firm, decided 
 victory. 
 
 So disastrous have been the failures of many schemes of 
 education, begun too soon, or with means too small, that the 
 projectors of the University of the South wisely determined not 
 to break ground for the buildings, until the preliminary capital 
 of half a million of dollars should be subscribed and secured. 
 To some, this resolution would seem to have palsied the enter- 
 prize. The result has shown that the men who so resolved, 
 knew with whom they had to do. From the report of the com- 
 mittee it appeared that two thirds of this sum had been raised, 
 
10 
 
 and that the greater part of the remaining third had been 
 pledged by reliable parties. Now, only a few days after the 
 meeting of the Trustees, so much has been added to the sum 
 already subscribed, that the whole amount may be regarded as 
 secured. The confidence of men of business, accustomed to 
 consider investments in all their bearings, has been gained. A 
 bold aim, clearly announced, has challenged respect and found 
 support. A timid policy would have won but half the day. 
 
 The greater portion of this sum has been subscribed by citi- 
 zens of Louisiana, that being the State where application was 
 first made. Several gentlemen, indeed, of other States, with- 
 out waiting to be called upon, have given largely, of their own 
 accord, to the enterprize; but Louisiana has been canvassed, 
 not entirely, but in part only, and the result is seen in more 
 than four hundred thousand dollars subscribed by citizens of 
 that State. Citizens of other States represented in the move- 
 ment stand ready to do their part faithfully and well ; but so 
 short has been the time, and so much has been requisite to do, 
 that subscriptions may be made understandingly , that a part 
 only of one of the ten mines has been wrought; and, there is 
 the result. The amount, without which, it was determined not 
 to begin operations, has, virtually, been raised. It is but three 
 years ago that this great scheme, lying in the domain of learn- 
 ing, and not in that of commerce and manufactures, was 
 broached to the public. Who, after this, will accuse the South 
 of apathy and indifference in a great and good work? What 
 part of the country, nay, what part of the world, would have 
 come up more promptly to the mark? All honor to Louisiana 
 for her noble example ; all honor to the other States, that are 
 eager to follow it, and which would gladly have begun the 
 work, had application been made. 
 
 The Trustees, though unwavering in their purpose to do noth- 
 ing which could be considered as practically organizing the 
 University, until half a million of dollars should be secured, 
 have yet busily gathered, from various sources, both in America 
 and in Europe, the results of Universities, as regards organiza- 
 
11 
 
 tion, discipline and courses of instruction, so that, at the ear- 
 liest possible time, they may erect buildings, and place the In- 
 stitution in working order. The Trustees have determined not 
 to found the University on mere theories, however plausible. 
 They will compare faithfully the practical working of dif- 
 ferent systems, both on this continent and in Europe, and make 
 that digest of them, for their use, which in their deliberate judg- 
 ment, shall seem most suited to the objects proposed, the state 
 of society, the spirit of the age. A committee has in hand this 
 Very work. Institutions or friends of education, in this coun- 
 try and in Europe, have answered applications for information 
 with cordial zeal. The Government of the United States has 
 rendered ready facilities for obtaining foreign documents of 
 great value. Governments, Institutions, individuals, have 
 given services, worthy of themselves and of the cause. No 
 higher praise could be awarded. By this manly and candid 
 course, the Trustees have shown their wish to found the Univer- 
 sity upon the basis of tried wisdom and real experience, and 
 also their entire willingness, that the whole world should know 
 what they aim to do. By a Southern University they mean an 
 Institution, which, built on Southern ground, and by Southern 
 resources, shall vindicate the intelligence and enterprise, and 
 illustrate the duty of the South, while discarding everything 
 which can deprive it of a national character and usefulness. 
 . In short, it is explicitly said, that "it is the purpose of the 
 " founders of this Institution, to establish an intellectual cen- 
 " tre, at which shall be concentrated all the means and applian- 
 " ces, whether of libraries or of living minds, to impart in- 
 " struction in all departments of human learning, and to cover 
 " the whole area of attainable knowledge. So that it will be 
 " unnecessary for the youth of the nation, to be transported be- 
 i( yond seas, in pursuit of educational resources and facilities ; 
 " but, they shall find the treasures of the old world and the 
 11 new collated, and offered in the richest profusion, at their 
 " own doors." 
 The necessity and importance of such a design are too plain 
 
12 
 
 and urgent to be denied, and demand the support of all reflect- 
 ing men. The enterprise, the intelligence, the duty of the South 
 form a threefold cord, which cannot be quickly or easily broken. 
 To what better use can this cable of combined strength be put, 
 than to hold fast the ark of safety for sound learning, 
 social order, civil justice, Christian truth ? Such an ark of 
 safety is a University, amply endowed, heartily sustained, ably 
 administered. 
 
 Has not the South sent to the councils of the States and of 
 the Nation men of high endowments as scholars and as states- 
 men? Will not the South seek to continue and even to make 
 stronger, deeper, higher, broader, this intellectual force? Can 
 she find so good a way to do it, as to found a consolidated Uni- 
 versity, which shall gather to its classic shades the best minds, 
 and fit them, by courses of vigorous, varied, thorough learning, 
 in all departments of Science and of Letters, for the arduous, 
 yet honorable labors of the statesman-scholar? The whole 
 country needs a high order of statesmen. The South needs 
 them. If, as Americans, we do not strive to educate thoroughly 
 the men whom we wish to represent us, at home and abroad; if 
 we let noisy politicians wear the civic crowns which belong to 
 the brows of accomplished statesmen ; if we place in power 
 men, who have no comprehensive views of duty, but those 
 only, who have learned to play over and over again, like hand- 
 organs, those tunes that catch ears and catch votes, but add dis- 
 cord only to those majestic harmonies that come down to us, 
 through "the corridors of time," from the early councils of the 
 nation ; if we are willing to be represented abroad by men who 
 are not, in character and ability gentlemen, patriots, men equal 
 to their work ; then let us build no more Colleges. Let those 
 already established fall into decay; let Democracy own sadly 
 her defeat ; let the world point the finger of scorn to the land 
 of sublime experiments andwoful failures. "Will the South be 
 content with her share of this reproach? Will she fold her 
 arms and say nothing, do nothing, to avert this catastrophe, to 
 avoid those civic terrors which loom up with gigantic gloom in 
 
13 
 
 the future? No ; — she will not. A million voices will thunder 
 No. A million hands will be ready to build the fortresses that 
 shall defend America from such a fate. Build, then, your Uni- 
 versity; build it on the solid rock. Build it on this broad-topped 
 mountain. Here are no quicksands to draw down to destruc- 
 tion the unlucky feet placed upon them. No levees are need- 
 ed here, to keep off the flood. Look at yonder bluffs that 
 show their gray faces among the forests that skirt the sides of 
 the opposite ridge. They look as if ten thousand artilleries 
 could not shake them. Of such rocky foundations are these 
 hills, though beautiful plains adorn their broad summits. Let 
 the University be a solid rock, that shall stand unshaken, if the 
 blast must come ; and, when the rage of the winds is over, and 
 the floods have ceased ; and the terrible blackness of the sky has 
 yielded to the serenity of Heaven's unclouded blue ; may the 
 towers of the University be seen, rising high in the air, not a 
 stone displaced, not a crevice made ; but, full, perfect, beautiful 
 as Grecian Art, sublime as the citadel of God. 
 
 These are no vain apprehensions. The time is coming ; it 
 may be very near, when all the intellectual forces of America 
 will be needed, when they will be strained to the utmost tension, 
 to defend American honor and to secure American institutions. 
 No part of the land will need them more than the South. Let 
 the wise ponder, and bestow their zeal and gifts, if in truth, those 
 can be called gifts, which do most good to the givers. Your 
 University comes not to your doors, to solicit your charity. 
 She comes bravely to ask, if you are willing, by endowing her, 
 to endow and defend yourselves. 
 
 This University is to be governed, according to the Charter 
 of Incorporation, by the Episcopal Church, as represented in 
 the ten States joined in its establishment. To what better 
 hands could this task be committed, than to that Communion, 
 which has stood firm, among many unhappy divisions, and 
 whose influence, from the beginning, has been on the side of 
 comprehensive culture and social stability? This steadfastness 
 has not been more warmly claimed, than it has been magnani - 
 
14 
 
 mously acknowledged. Aside from the Church of God, no in- 
 stitution is more truly and gloriously conservative, than a 
 Christian University. As many institutions of learning? 
 throughout the country, of all grades, from schools to colleges, 
 though directed by various religious communities, yet are open 
 freely to all, who are willing, while retaining their individual 
 convictions, to respect the established order and discipline ; so 
 will the University of the South dispense gladly her best and 
 highest advantages to all, of whatever religious faith, who will 
 receive them in the same spirit in which they will be granted, — 
 in the spirit of enlightened conciliation and candor. Yet, it is 
 very evident, that the Trustees, in proclaiming their intention 
 to give to the Institution all the power which the means at their 
 disposal will allow, to afford the highest and broadest mental 
 culture, and while determining to recognize throughout the 
 great facts of Christianity ; — that they are not only true to them- 
 selves, but to the communities, which they represent, which 
 demand alike that the best instruction shall be given, and that it 
 shall be sanctioned by Christian Truth. 
 
 I am most happy to be able to state, as the result of some ob- 
 servation and inquiry in the South, that men of eminence and 
 ability, of various religious belief, are agreed in this position, 
 that education and Christian instruction should go together. I 
 have found men cordially sustaining Institutions, conducted 
 under the auspices of communions differing, in organization, 
 from theirs, yet bearing boldly the broad shield of the Faith, in 
 which substantially they all agree, and sustaining the banner, 
 on which are portrayed the holy symbols of the Truth, which 
 touches their hearts with the same peace and joy, and exalts 
 them with the same immortal hopes. Experience has decided 
 the question too plainly to require its discussion, that attempts 
 to strike out Religion from University instruction, have been 
 most abject, in the point of principle, and most deplorable, iu 
 the point of success. A School, a College, a University, to be 
 successful, in the best sense, must be under the plain and direct 
 control of some definite, recognized, Christian order,. Christian 
 
15 
 
 men, of whatever persuasion, look with most reasonable dis- 
 trust upon any scheme of intellectual culture, built upon the 
 liberal basis, so called, of excluding the direct recognition of 
 the Gospel of Christ. Mr. Webster's argument, in the case of 
 the Girard College, showing how unwise it is, on all possible 
 grounds, to found a College, without Christianity as the corner 
 stone, has never been assailed with success. It stands impreg- 
 nable, now and forever. In the Girard College itself, which 
 was intended to be independent of Christian men and Christian 
 truth, it has been requisite that Christian men should teach 
 Christian truth, as the only sure foundation of morals.* The 
 mad leaders of the French Revolution voted God out of the 
 Universe; but soon, terrified by the results of taking from the 
 minds of men the idea of responsibility to a higher Power, 
 they eagerly voted him back to his everlasting throne. The 
 time has gone by, when, in a Christian land, learning will be 
 severed from religious faith. The friends of the University of 
 the South invoke the Great Teacher, now glorified, to look upon 
 their labors with the same benignity, with which, on earth, he 
 taught his disciples; and, though earnestly wishing to do 
 faithfully their own work, they invoke the sympathy of the 
 Church of the Living God throughout the world. 
 
 The establishment of a great University is truly a worthy 
 subject of world-wide congratulation. The South can do noth- 
 ing more becoming a high and noble ambition, to secure the ap- 
 proval of all men of right minds everywhere, than by founding 
 this University so firmly, that no tempest can shake it. Here, 
 on this mountain plain, where half a century ago, was heard 
 the war-whoop of savage conflict, let there be heard the sublime 
 instructions of "star-eyed Science." From this height, let the 
 eye of the Astronomer follow, in all their mazes, the suns and 
 worlds that glitter in the abyss of night ; and, as the glories of 
 immeasurable space expand before his vision, may his soul be 
 lifted, on the wings of holy reverence and fear, to the great 
 throne of uncreated light, and tremble as it looks. Here, may 
 "divine philosophy" discourse her wisdom more charming than 
 
16 
 
 "Apollo's lute," until He, Incarnate Truth, shall fix his 
 image on the heart forever. Here, let the Chemist search into 
 the mysteries of the etherial principles of things, and reveal to 
 men their marvellous powers and affinities, until all the ele- 
 ments shall seem a choir of angels; until Air shall seem to 
 breathe everywhere the name of God, and Fire, flaming up- 
 ward, to point to Him, who dwells on high, and Water alike in 
 the ocean and in the brook, shall seem to sound His praise, and 
 Earth to sing his glory, as she spins her starry way around the 
 central Sun. Here, let the Geologist study the formation of the 
 world, search the "rock-ribbed" mountains, and find in their 
 diversities of structure and position, wonders passing thought, 
 until the simple hammer, with which he breaks the rock be- 
 neath his foot, shall show mysteries as stupendous as the teles- 
 cope, that points out to view the star, whose rapid light is yet 
 thousands of years on its etherial road, and, until the fossil: 
 shells and tracery of leaves daguereotyped on ancient rocks, 
 shall seem to be called forth from their depths of earth, where 
 they have lain for ages after ages, to testify to creative gran- 
 deur, while the strong foundations of the earth shall repeat the 
 testimony to "reason's ear" in everlasting echoes. Here, let 
 the wisdom, the eloquence, the poetry of antiquity, and of "the 
 ages all along" inspire young hearts anew, until they shall be 
 drawn gently to hear His words serene, sublime, who spoke as 
 never man had spoken, yes, who spoke, as never poet sung. 
 Here may the holy strains, which once mingled with the mur- 
 murings of Siloah's brook, lead heavenward the aspirations of 
 youth. Those strains — how widely have they traversed the 
 world! The seas that surround the "fast anchored isle" of Eng- 
 land make a sublime chorus to their gentle melody. They have 
 crossed the ocean, until the waves that dash upon the Atlantic 
 coast, and those which roll through "the golden gate of Cali- 
 fornia," mingle with their heavenly music. One of our poets, 
 in his grand hymn to death, has spoken of the land, 
 
 "Where rolla the Oregon, and hears no eound 
 Save his own dashing;" 
 
17 
 
 yet now, even the wild Oregon, as he rushes to the sea, must 
 mingle the noise of his waves with the sound of those same 
 sublime strains, to which the King of Jerusalem, far away and 
 long ago, tuned his holy harp. 
 
 Thus, the University of the South will consecrate science, 
 literature and all that she shall teach, to guide men honorably 
 through life, with that higher wisdom that shall guide aright those 
 " thoughts that wander through eternity." "Will Southern men, 
 whatever may be their political or religious preferences, hesi- 
 tate to uphold the hands which are striving in a work so neces- 
 sary, so valuable, so glorious? "Will they not eagerly surrender 
 all differences, and sustain those Christian patriots, who have 
 been the first to see, and the first to plan, and if God will bless, 
 and men will aid, will be the first to execute, the only grand de- 
 sign of the kind, which can be compared with the gigantic 
 efforts of the old world to found enduring institutions of 
 learning? 
 
 This great work is not completed : it has been nobly begun, 
 but, the weight of toil is yet to come. How many colleges, 
 commenced with fair prospects of success, have failed, because 
 their friends, too ardent, believed the work to be sure, when it 
 was not half done! Let not the University of the South be 
 added to this mournful list. The Trustees have, indeed, guard- 
 ed against failure, as far as possible. They have declared, that 
 to place the University of the South upon a sure basis, and to 
 make it what it ought to be, as an exponent of Southern intelli- 
 gence, social and religious culture, they need three millions of 
 dollars. A large sum this seems in itself; but, it is not large, 
 considering the resources from which it is to be drawn, and the 
 purpose to which it is to be applied. A community, whose an- 
 nual income is more than one hundred and fifty millions of 
 dollars, can certainly afford to endow the University of the 
 South with a permanent capital of three millions. "What Insti- 
 tution is this capital to endow ? Not one, certainly, which will 
 take away from the value of the resources, which will supply 
 its wants. Intellectual power enriches, as well as strengthens 
 2 
 
18 
 
 and adorns human society. But, the Institution has a value 
 far higher, one which figures cannot measure. Easier it is to 
 compute the value of the air we breathe, than to define the 
 worth of broad, refined, consecrated mental culture. Easier it 
 is to measure exactly the light of all the stars in space, than 
 that intellectual light, which will endure, when stars shall for- 
 get to shine. Express by algebraic symbols the value of a 
 single human soul; then will you be ready to show, in the 
 terms of an equation, the worth of a great, comprehensive 
 University, a central Sun, whose light and heat shall cause the 
 dormant, eternal energies of the spirit to spring forth, and to 
 bear perennial fruit. 
 
 Consider a University as a bulwark of civilization. The 
 sums spent to endow it with vigorous activity are too small to 
 be regarded, in comparison with its varied, comprehensive uses. 
 "When tribes of wild barbarians trampled on empires, as the 
 laborers of the vineyard trample on grapes in the wine-press, 
 and broke in pieces thrones, sceptres and jewelled crowns, as 
 children destroy the playthings of an hour, Christian schools of 
 learning stood; and their disciples taught to the savage hosts 
 the alphabet of learning, human and divine, until the rude 
 warriors knelt in homage to that faith, in whose behalf those 
 structures had been reared, which saved civilization, when cas- 
 tles and mail-clad armies failed. 
 
 What sums are expended for naval and military service, for 
 the general defence of the country against foreign foes, to sus- 
 tain the national dignity at home and abroad ! But, there are 
 enemies, which no armies or navies can reach. They are pop- 
 ular ignorance, mental indolence, social demoralization. These 
 are the insidious foes which consume slowly, but surely, the 
 strongest ships which art can build, which undermine the 
 mightiest fortresses which skill can make. These are the wily 
 traitors, which guide the helm astray, till the flag surrenders 
 to the sudden assault, which open the secret gate to the, enemy, 
 at night, till the sentinels are slain at their posts, and the gar- 
 rison wakes but to yield. Protect, as firmly as you may, the 
 
19 
 
 organized, material defences of the nation; protect, if you will, 
 by acts of Congress, the rights of commerce, of agriculture, 
 manufactures, of property and life ; protect, by the strongest 
 legal enactments, the rights of States, of citizens, of all the 
 varied interests of the land ; yet if you fail to protect intellec- 
 tual civilization, the great protector of all that deserves and 
 needs protection, your labor will be all in vain. Acts of Con- 
 gress, of Parliament, of an Imperial Diet, decrees of Rulers, 
 whose will is law, cannot make nations great, if the people wil 
 not use the means of greatness ; but, an instructed, vigorous, 
 Christian people can be great, whether rulers frown or favor. 
 
 The most dangerous enemies are those within the camp. 
 Against these a Christian University is a tower of strength. It 
 upholds social order against wild vagaries, intellectual refine- 
 ment against brutal ignorance, Christian truth against infidelity. 
 Strengthen such a fortress ; and far less will be needed to sus- 
 tain municipal and national means of defence. A thousand 
 ships of the line are not so strong for truth and right, as a great 
 University, founded on Christianity; not a thousand armies or 
 navies can so well uphold, as she can, a nation's fame, a nation's 
 mind, a nation's loyalty to God and man. The "wooden walls" 
 of England have not availed so much to make her strong, and 
 to keep her so, as the stone fortresses of Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 May this University be the Oxford of America. May her 
 fame and her power be as great and as good for a thousand years 
 to come, as Oxford has been for a thousand years past, since 
 Alfred the Great, the glory of Saxon England, laid the humble 
 foundation, on which has been reared by successive generations, 
 by bounties royal and popular, a superstructure so splendid and 
 powerful. The lights which glitter on the towers of halls de- 
 voted to learning are the last to go out in a nation's gloom. 
 Political ascendancy may fail ; but, the light of science may 
 yet spread radiance around, and secure the respect of nations. 
 Philosophy in all its branches, Poetry and Rhetoric, all the 
 intellectual graces shone forth with lustre hardly dimmed, from 
 Greece, long after her political pre-eminence had gone forever ; 
 
20 
 
 and Grecian literature itself, the glorious result of the schools 
 of Athens, shall last, until the globe itself shall melt. Turn to 
 Italy : whether she has ruled the world, or the world has ruled 
 her, or fought to determine who should rule ; Italy has yet sent 
 from her schools and universities for ages an influence over all 
 the nations, that cannot die. The farthest east and the farthest 
 west have thrilled to the chords of Italian genius. When the 
 sceptre of universal dominion was torn from her grasp, all the 
 Graces and the Muses gathered in a consoling group, and placed 
 upon the brow of Italy the diadem of intellectual beauty ; and 
 there, it will ever glow. In all the changes of her career, 
 Italy has won laurels ever green. In her days of power, Italy 
 has shone forth like the Sun, in his meridian glory. In her 
 days of sorrow, Italy has beamed like the Sun, when he sends 
 his rays abroad through the tearful mists of coming eve, and 
 spreads a soft, golden halo over all the scene. As the crushed 
 flower sends forth the sweetest fragrance, so Italy, trampled be- 
 neath the feet of power, has sent forth strains of such patriotic 
 tenderness, as will move all hearts forever. In her ascendency, 
 intellectual power was the chief splendor of Italy ; in her de- 
 cline, intellectual grace has dignified her sorrow. Nations far 
 larger on the map of the world than Italy now is, may occupy a 
 much smaller space than hers in the intellectual history of the 
 world, if the truth be not recognized, that ideal glory is the 
 highest that men or nations can win. 
 
 Look at Germany having, but neglecting to use the materials 
 of a vast, consolidated, powerful empire ; the very heart of 
 Europe dissevered, and its pieces bound by a slender cord, when 
 it should be entire, vigorous, great; yet, though politically so 
 abject, as regards her vast and glorious capabilities, Germany 
 has in her universities the gems of an imperial diadem of 
 mind, to which the world pays eager homage. Look at Eng- 
 land! Wherever her power goes, a school, a college, or a 
 university rises, or all three rise together, to testify to her 
 knowledge of the way to found and keep her sway. The truth 
 is plain. A nation cannot be truly great, unless her intellectual 
 
21 
 
 power is as strong as her political dominion ; and, she may be 
 truly great, when her political dominion is far weaker than her 
 intellectual power. Political dominion is as transient as the 
 insect, whose life is a day, compared with the dower of ages 
 which belongs to intellectual power. 
 
 The history of France is full of hard problems, intellectual, 
 social, political. Yet this is plain, that the stupendous results 
 of the French mind, in science, have been the fruits of per- 
 vading, consolidated university culture. France is an organ- 
 ized contradiction. Regarded as the most frivolous of civilized 
 nations, the French have gone beyond most of their contempo- 
 raries, in the pursuit of the exact sciences. They have taken 
 equal delight in strict and searching analysis, and in combining 
 theories and systems. From the wildest political frenzy France 
 has emerged, to accept with joy severe dynastic authority. She 
 shouts, in turn, to the cap of liberty and to the imperial crown. 
 Even French despotism is half democratic, for it acknowledges 
 and advances merit. The French character is a pendulum be- 
 tween faith and doubt, order and anarchy, science and supersti- 
 tion, freedom and absolutism. Yet, none will accuse the 
 French of mental stagnation. This is the very worst of nation- 
 al evils. War, pestilence or famine, cannot so surely destroy 
 national life. Revolutions are better than popular imbecility. 
 Barricades are better than boors. The reign of terror was the 
 true heir of the reign of ignorance and folly. The suc- 
 cession was legitimate ; the reaction natural. France has 
 waded deep in gulfs of atheistic anarchy and depravity. Again, 
 she has taken high vantage-ground, and has magnani- 
 mously, bravely, successfully defended the right. Her system 
 of centralization may have many evils ; but it has grown out of 
 the French character. Right or wrong, it is essentially French. 
 "Whatever it has of good has been mainly the fruit of thorough 
 discipline of the best minds. Whatever it has of evil has been 
 owing not to the instruction given, but to its not being broad 
 enough, and, especially, to its not being sufficiently guided, 
 strengthened, elevated by Christian truth. Had France been 
 
22 
 
 more thoroughly Christian, she would have been more constitu- 
 tionally free. Had France honored God and his revelation, as 
 she has honored her great names, she would have brought more 
 honor to herself than her great names have brought, or could 
 do, were they ten thousand more. The great want of France 
 is reverence. Let America draw the lesson ; for she too is 
 wanting in reverence. She too has reason to consider how 
 worthy she will prove, to keep her precious legacies. Political 
 liberty cannot stand in the new world better than the old, if 
 deprived of the two pillars which alone can uphold it, Christian 
 instruction, Christian reverence. How strong are these pillars 
 in America? Are they so strong, that there is no reason to 
 fear that our beautiful fabric of conservative freedom may be- 
 come a shapeless ruin? If they are so strong, it is well. If 
 they are not so strong, which is wiser, to make them stronger, 
 or to let them grow weaker and weaker, till the crash conies, 
 the pillars fall and break the brightest hopes of man ? 
 
 The men of the South have now a tangible, definite, well- 
 ordered plan, on which to bestow their care and benefaction. 
 Let America wear no longer the stigma of being the Paradise 
 only of material civilization, the Mecca of Mammon, the land 
 where the harp is tuned in vain to catch the ear, where spiritual 
 beauty languishes and weeps. Size or wealth is not the essen- 
 tial quality of national greatness. Fertile lands, fields white 
 with cotton, or yellow with ripened grain, harbors crowded 
 with ships, store-houses overflowing with goods from all lands, 
 social comfort and luxury, stately dwellings and costly garni- 
 ture, — all these are blessings truly, yet, if a nation stops with 
 securing these, she fails in her duty, and her shame will be as 
 great as was her power to be glorious. 
 
 May this beautiful mountain, with its summit of broad table- 
 land, become the intellectual and social centre of the South, the 
 seat of refinement, culture, elegance, of all the graces of life, 
 overspread by that most refining, most elevating, most enduring 
 of all good influences, the beauty of holiness. Here may the 
 sons of the South quench their mental thirst at the fountains of 
 
23 
 
 knowledge, and draw water for the soul from the wells of sal- 
 vation. This invigorating air, these pure springs, to revive ex- 
 hausted energies, these magnificent prospects of fertile valleys 
 and of wooded heights, these glorious mountain sunrises and 
 sunsets, these splendors of the clouds and of the forests, these 
 softly rolling surfaces, these combinations of scenery, sublime 
 and picturesque, these broad acres, extending so high above the 
 regions which fevers invade, with pale and haggard sorrows in 
 their train, how well adapted are they all, to promote the vigor 
 of the body and of the mind, to brace the physical energies for 
 the intellectual conflict with the hard problem, or the hard page 
 that yields only to the patient siege of the determined will ; 
 and, in the hour of victory, when the wall is scaled, and the 
 fortress surrenders to the iron hand that grapples with difficul- 
 ty, as Jacob wrestled with the angel, how reviving it will be, 
 to look upon these graceful heights and secluded vales, and to 
 walk this mountain-top, rejoicing over victory won on the field 
 of hard, yet peaceful conflicts — victory which shall cause loving 
 friends to shed no tears but those of joy — victory that shall en- 
 circle the brow with laurels that wear no crimson stain. 
 
 Those who enjoy the direct advantages of Universities reap 
 but a small share of their entire harvest. Universities 
 are but the crucibles, in which the treasures of past wis- 
 dom, the experience of ages, the discoveries of science, 
 the graces of literature are transmuted into the pure gold, 
 which freshly stamped, supplies the mental currency of the 
 world. A £reat University is an Apostle of the intellec- 
 tual dispensation; and, while he labors long and late, to in- 
 struct his immediate disciples, it is the world at large which 
 derives the main benefit of these hard and constant toils. How 
 many revile Christianity, who yet enjoy, during every day of 
 their lives, some of her innumerable benefits conferred upon 
 mankind I as men, who breathe this air, so skilfully compound- 
 ed for human life, and who enjoy the brightness of the sun, 
 and partake of the grains and fruits, which his heat has ripen- 
 ed, will yet deny the Creator, and yet worship chance and fate. 
 
24 
 
 So is it with Universities. Thousands fail to appreciate them, 
 who, nevertheless, are indebted to them, remotely or directly, 
 for many of their social, civil, intellectual and religious benefits. 
 The whole world is higher in the scale of civilization, for the 
 labors of busy scholars, ages ago, trimming their midnight 
 lamps. Many a man, who looks on Universities as merely 
 aristocratic establishments, has rights as a citizen and respect 
 as a man, which he never would have had, but for their wide, 
 pervading influence. No institutions, of human design, are so 
 wisely conservative, and so wisely progressive as Universities ; 
 for they restrain the rash renunciation of the wisdom of ages, 
 and demand thorough reasons for changes, before they are made. 
 Universities uphold the rights of citizens against tyranny, and 
 the rights of lawful authority against faction. No despot ever 
 sat easy on his throne ; anarchy never brought complete ruin 
 to a State, when Universities stood ready, boldly to defend the 
 right and to resist the wrong. Against the usurpation of the 
 ruler, or of the mob, Universities present a front equally firm 
 and decisive. In Imperial Europe, Universities are the protec- 
 tors of popular justice; in Republican America, they are the 
 safeguards of order and law. Tyrants flourish, when Univer- 
 sities are weak. Demagogues lose power, when Universities 
 are strong. 
 
 When the advantages of Universities are set forth, it is com- 
 mon to point to this, or to that great man, who never studied 
 within the walls of a University ; and, thus, the challenge is 
 made, that such Institutions are not needed to promote the 
 highest culture. This objection is unfair in two respects ; in 
 the first, because instances of minds, of the highest order, vin- 
 dicating their ascendency, without the direct aid of Universi- 
 ties, prove not that most minds devoted to intellectual pursuits, 
 need not, for their just training, the severity of collegiate in- 
 struction. In the second respect, the objection is unfair, be- 
 cause minds, which have reached high position and honor, 
 without the individual culture of the University, have been 
 greatly indebted for that eminence to the labors of others, who 
 
25 
 
 have acquired mental strength and knowledge in Academic 
 halls. Besides, Universities have no stronger friends any- 
 where, than those very men, who, having become eminent in 
 mental pursuits, though without the culture of the University, 
 yet have learned to acknowledge its power and use, and deplore 
 their deprivation. 
 
 The self-made man, as he is called by eminence, as if learn- 
 ing were an amulet, that, even in the best University, could 
 impart its power, without strength of will and severity of toil ; 
 the self-made man cannot advance a step beyond the rudi- 
 ments of knowledge, without being guided by the works of 
 University-scholars. Would he study ancient literature or 
 modern, in the original languages ? How little can he do, with- 
 out the books of University-scholars ! The poets, the philoso- 
 phers, the statesmen, the orators, the generals of antiquity were 
 laborious disciples of the schools of Greece and Rome, the 
 Universities of their day. A vast proportion of modern liter- 
 ature has been written by University-scholars. If the self-made 
 man will content himself with translations, he must depend 
 upon University -scholars. Would he study Natural Science? 
 That owes as much as Literature to Universities. The vast 
 field of Natural Science has been ploughed, sown, tended, 
 reaped, garnered by University-scholars. He knows not how 
 to study accurately the bloom of the flower, the light of the 
 star, the force of the lightning, the tides of the ocean, the pro- 
 perties of the soil, the intangible currents that thrill through 
 space, without being directed by the University-scholar. If he 
 would follow Newton among the starry worlds, to apply the 
 great laws of motion and attraction, he must follow a Uni verity- 
 scholar. If he would ponder with Bacon on the advancement 
 of learning, and on the laws of induction, he must ponder with 
 a University-scholar. In the chief departments of practical 
 science, the University-scholar holds the wand of JProspero, to 
 call forth the subtle forces of nature, and bid them do the will 
 of man. 
 
 The domain of imagination, as well as that of science, lies 
 
26 
 
 within the realm of University-culture. The palace of ideal 
 beauty, as well as the stronghold of practical knowledge, is 
 guarded and filled by University-scholars. How many painters 
 and sculptors, composers of immortal verse and of immortal 
 music, have had their perceptions of the beautiful and the har- 
 monious, nurtured and brought to perfection by the generous 
 culture, and by the rich memories and traditions of the Col- 
 lege ! The greatest part of enduring English poetry has been 
 produced by men, whose intellectual impulses were owing, in 
 whole, or in part, to the developing culture of Universities. He 
 who spurns the College, and yet enjoys excursions in the realm 
 of imagination, cannot revel with Spenser among the embower- 
 ed shades of the Court of the Fairy Queen, without being 
 guided by the glittering wand of the University-scholar. He 
 cannot follow Milton through spiritual realms of awful gran- 
 deur, without owning that a University-scholar has dared to 
 "soar above the Aonian Mount," and in his sublime Epic, to 
 "justify the ways of God to man." Would he stand within 
 view of the ruins of the Parthenon, or contemplate the solemn 
 arches of the Coliseum, who will interpret for him the scene so 
 well, as Byron, wayward in life, yet ever great, ever sublime, 
 when true to the instincts of his University culture? 
 
 But, he may point triumphantly to Shakspeare and say, "he 
 was no University-scholar." Perhaps he was not ; but, he was 
 surrounded by them ; he studied them ; they were his friends ; 
 he obtained some of his best materials from the labors of Uni- 
 versity-scholars. But, take a broader, more comprehensive 
 view. How could Shakspeare, as a great intellectual develop- 
 ment ever have been, but, for that accumulated force of ages of 
 culture, directly furnished by cloisters of learning to those under 
 their care, and by these to the world at large, which brought 
 about that mental condition of things, which made possible the 
 expression of Shakspeare's mind? Shakspeare was as truly 
 the result, intellectually considered, of University- culture, as 
 if he had spent all his years of manhood in the cloisters of Ox- 
 ford. If not a graduate of one University, nevertheless, in a 
 
27 
 
 high and noble sense, Shakspeare was a graduate of all the 
 Universities of all preceding time. They all aided in preparing 
 his sphere ; they all aided in preparing him to fill it. The air 
 which the great poet of human nature must breathe is that 
 ether ial beauty of the spirit, which is the blight exhalation of 
 the broadest, deepest culture ; and this never could be, but for 
 long, long centuries of laborious thought upon material things, 
 and upon the soul of man ; and the retired cloisters of Univer- 
 sities developed such thoughts, they were sanctuaries of the 
 mind, in ages of strife; until the ripe intellectual harvest of 
 centuries, "the bright, consummate flower" whose roots lay 
 far back, in the distant past, expanded in the glorious mind of 
 Shakspeare. The great poet, though "warbling his native 
 wood-notes wild," was a graduate of the vast University of 
 of History and Time. 
 
 Shakspeare, indeed, poured forth myriads of u thoughts that 
 breathe, and words that t burn;" but, centuries of reflection on 
 man and nature, worlds visible and invisible, the inborn powers 
 of the soul, the mysteries of time past, present and to come, the 
 shadows of eternity ; all these ages were needed to develop that 
 spiritual atmosphere, which thoughts can breathe, that etherial 
 fuel of the soul which words can burn. And he who utters 
 them must feel how they can breathe and burn, or they will not 
 so affect the minds of others. And this condition of things : 
 was it not owing greatly to the culture of two thousand years — 
 to go no further back — of the Universities of modern Europe, 
 the schools of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and the East? Yes, 
 we will claim Shakspeare as a University- scholar. !N"or will 
 that name be denied to those, whether the recipients of diplo- 
 mas or not, who have reached their intellectual heights by lad- 
 ders of the mind, made and placed by the labors of sons of 
 Universities. 
 
 The instruction directly imparted is, then, no measure of the 
 influence of a University. It is a fountain for the world. 
 Streams flowing in far distant places may yet be traced back to 
 the full aod gushing spring. The University is the banyan- 
 
28 
 
 tree of the intellectual forest, which spreads branches far and 
 wide, from which descend other branches to the ground, that 
 themselves take root, and grow, and thus extend the sheltering 
 shade. A great Universiy is, in the highest and best sense, 
 the most Democratic institution which man can build ; for it 
 alone is that sure basis of general intelligence, without which, 
 Democratic structures of government rest on sand, liable to fall 
 before the first political tornado. A great central University is 
 a support to all other institutions of learning, great and small. 
 It supplies thoroughly trained men for offices of instruction. 
 All schools are raised in character by a University demanding 
 high qualifications and supplying the means of high attain- 
 ments. The more a community is educated, the more it desires 
 to be educated. The desire of learning and the way of learn- 
 ing grow each with the growth of the other. There is never a 
 reason to fear that too much will be done for the human mind. 
 All men become more comprehensive in thought from the pre- 
 sence of a University. It is a momentous truth, that a Uni- 
 versity is the centre of a circle with an infinite circumference. 
 The ten States represented in the establishment of the Univer- 
 sity of the South cannot confine its rays. They reach beyond 
 space and time* They are as immortal as the soul. The build- 
 ings may crumble to the dust ; and, the antiquary of the future 
 may strive in vain to find their trace ; but the University, as a 
 power, must live forever. Build, then, let me urge it, build, 
 conscious that you build for eternity. 
 
 The proposed University has a claim upon public support, 
 independently of its province as a place of instruction. It can 
 be the centre of a noble literature. American literature has 
 not kept pace with American advancement in the practical arts 
 of life. Here, indeed, will be supplied the means of enlarged 
 information, as regards all those studies which develop wisely 
 the material resources of the land. The University will com- 
 prehend, in its circle of studies, engineering, surveying, the 
 application of Science to agriculture, mining, mechanics, man- 
 ufactures, commerce, political economy, and every kind of in- 
 
29 
 
 struction, on which the most rigid utilitarian can insist, as of 
 importance in a country like this, of resources of incalculable 
 value, yet needing, for their true use and improvement, deep 
 skill and wide knowledge. All departments of science, whether 
 as modes of refined investigation, or as applications to human 
 need and to the growth of the land, will here be cultivated. 
 But, also, those studies which refine the soul, and crown all 
 practical labors with the halo of intellectual grace, will here 
 nerve ambition to excel in the noble fields of Christian litera- 
 ture. This is one of the highest aims, as its accomplishment 
 will be one of the highest victories of the University. "Man 
 shall not live by bread alone," says the inspired Word. The 
 practical civilization of America, commendable as it is, cannot 
 satisfy the demands of humanity and of the age. We need a 
 profound, vigorous, Christian literature, worthy of the New 
 World. Such we have not. Steam-engines have engrossed 
 our time, to the exclusion of intellectual power. We have been 
 far more eager to build railroads on the earth, than to trace 
 upon our western sky a pathway of living light, that shall il- 
 lume the land for ages to come. Outward conveniences and 
 splendors of life are not enough to found a nation's glory. The 
 fault is not of the South alone, but, of all America, that we 
 have not made the foundation, which we should have made, for 
 a substantial, noble literature. In America, public opinion, or 
 hard necessity pushes men, who desire to devote themselves to 
 letters, into politics, trade, or into some sphere of jostling life, 
 in which, though conscientiously desirous to do their duty in 
 the world, yet having no heart or aptitude for labors not in 
 keeping with their higher aims, or consciousness of power, they 
 succeed indifferently, and gain, often, cruel obloquy, when, if 
 allowed to spend their strength in the severe toils of their chos- 
 en sphere, they would be happier and more successful, and 
 would do more good, because working in harmony with their 
 aspirations and convictions of duty. Nothing is more practical 
 than a sound literature. The wildest visionary is not he, who 
 demands for literature due regard, but he who thinks that the 
 
30 
 
 wants of man's intellectual nature can be safely thrown out of 
 tut, account, in considering claims to national protection, or the 
 evidence of national prosperity. 
 
 A man in America needs the invincible nerve of Christopher 
 Columbus, to resist the tide, that would drag him down from 
 high resolves and lofty aims. We pay homage to foreign wri- 
 ters, as we do to foreign fashions, while we are apt to look with- 
 out favor on those who deserve praise for nobleness of aim, if 
 not for brilliancy of success. Some, who admire, as they ought, 
 the literary productions of former times, and who bow, in most 
 obsequious homage, before living authors from abroad, pierce 
 with the arrows of sharp, bitter, unrelenting contumely, the 
 hearts of those, at their very side, who keep that same persis- 
 .tent loyalty to literature, which never has failed of admiration 
 in America, provided only that it has been shown by Europeans, 
 now or in ages past. "Whatever sound literature we have in 
 America has not been fostered and encouraged. It has had to 
 fight its way, inch by inch, through difficulties terrible, almost 
 overwhelming. It has had to run the gauntlet of scorn, dis- 
 couragement, materialism. More than that ; it has found ene- 
 mies, where it should have found friends. Yes, even in Ameri- 
 ca, where literature should be more kindly cherished, than any- 
 where else in the world, many, who gaze with idolatrous venera- 
 tion on the portraits of dead authors, endeavor to "kill with 
 looks" the young, living scholar, whose trembling ambition it 
 is, to add, it he can, a few worthy leaves to the precious lega- 
 cies of time. Literature, in America, has felt the whip of scor- 
 pions from the very hands, which should have held the laurel 
 and the palm. The wonder is, that so much has been done, of an 
 enduring kind. This mountain glows with the dawn of a 
 brighter day. The genius of true American glory has inspired 
 the hearts of noble men in the South, to build substantial halls, 
 where literature can find a refuge for her high, assiduous labors, 
 from the driving storm of materialism ; where, with strenuous, 
 but delightful toil, she may weave her splendid fabrics, of threads 
 that never wear out, and color them with hues that never fade. 
 
31 
 
 Coming ages will honor the South for this, her grandest bless- 
 ing to mankind. Millions, in the future, when American lit- 
 erature shall become, not a timid hope, but a grand fruition, 
 will bless the memory of these benefactors of their country and 
 of their time, and will keep it green forever. 
 
 JNo enterprise, of an intellectual character, can succeed, but 
 one commensurate alike with the wants to be supplied, with the 
 obstructions to be resisted. Such, in design, is the University 
 of the South. It is right that the land of great rivers, of ma- 
 jestic mountains, of millions of fertile acres, should sustain a 
 University, as grand as the scale of nature. It is right that the 
 South should prove to the whole country, and to the whole 
 world, that her energies, devoted to the welfare of the minds 
 of men, can be as powerful and as successful, as they have 
 been, in drawing wealth from the land, and in covering the sea 
 with the white wings of ships. May this enterprise vindicate 
 forever the spirit, vigor and intelligence of the region which 
 sustains it. As a friend of Christian learning, I bid you God 
 Speed. As a Northern man, as an American, I bid you God 
 Speed. Lay the foundations of your structure deep and broad, 
 and raise the towers high"; and, on the highest, let the Cross, the 
 symbol of divine compassion, greet the morning sun. Make 
 avenues that shall wind over these gentle undulations, and lure 
 the feet of the thoughtful and the studious ; but, also, may 
 reverent feet follow that holy Guide, "whose ways are ways of 
 pleasantness, and all whose paths are peace." Let the varied 
 hues of the forest and all the flowers of the field diversify the 
 scene with blended stateliness and beauty ; yet, forget not to 
 plant the rose of Sharon and the Tree of Life. May the birds 
 of Spring and of Summer chant daily, at morning and at even- 
 ing, from their leafy oratories, their melodious orisons; yet, also, 
 may the aspirations of many hearts be wafted upward by the 
 celestial warblings of the bird of Paradise. Here, at this Uni- 
 versity, on this beautiful mountain, may hosts of ingenuous 
 youth, year after year, gather knowledge that shall prepare 
 them to do faithfully, in the fear of God, life's noble work ; may 
 
32 
 
 they gain the best and brightest laurels, to which high culture 
 can aspire ; and, when life's labors shall be over, may they be 
 found worthy to win a good degree in that upper University, 
 of all kindreds, nations and tribes, upon the Mount of God, 
 receive those amaranthine honors which are to last, not for 
 fleeting days or years, but for countless ages, and hold, as the 
 title to everlasting bliss, that diploma, which bears the precious 
 sign-manual of the Savior of mankind. May the morning 
 and the evening hymn never fail. Though above the heights 
 of Earth and Heaven stands the Throne of God ; yet, ever 
 should rise to the Supreme, from the mountains of Earth and 
 from Mount Zion above, the holy chorus of praise 
 
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