>DE.ESS 
 
 £r:Mv::r;rD Enrcr.E Tna 
 
 TWO LITERARY' SOCIETIES 
 
 ^r THS. 
 
 Eiitl)erHt!) 0f ^§Mili €Malm, 
 
 AY 31st, 1854, 
 
 PX- 
 
 HOH. AAEOH V. BROWF , 
 
 PCELI^nED BY ORDEn OF TIi!i: I'lTI L.WTITROPIC SOCIETT'. 
 
 RALEIGH, N. C: 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM C, DOUB* 
 
 1854. 
 
 
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 DDRESS 3 /J 
 
 DKLIVEEED BEFORE THB 
 
 TWO LITERARY SOCIETIES 
 
 
 (^iiiiiiJ ^aiiiuiia^ 
 
 AY 31st, 1854, 
 
 
 HON. AARON V: BROWN. 
 
 PDBLI8IIED BY ORDER OF THE PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETY, 
 
 RALEIGH, N. C. : 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM C. DOIJB. 
 
 1854. 
 

 '^ 
 
 By tnuufor 
 
 OCT 1 2 me 
 
Philanthropic Hall, Chapel Hill, N. C, June Ist, 1854. 
 Sie: — The undersigned have been appointed a committee in behalf of 
 the Philanthropic Society, to express to you the very great pleasure and 
 gratification they realized on the delivery of your peculiarly interesting and 
 appropriate address before the two Literary Societies of the University OQ, 
 yesterday ; and solicit a copy of the same for publication. 
 
 In performing this agreeable duty, the committee are desirous of tendering 
 their individual thanks, and adding their personal solicitations to those of 
 the body they represent. 
 
 Yours most respectfully, 
 
 C. W. YELLOWLEY, 
 A. B. IRION, 
 A, B. HILL, 
 To Gov. A. V. Brown. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C, June 2nd, 1854. 
 Gentlemen: — I fear that you, as well as the society you represent, over' 
 estimate the address, a copy of which you request for publication. It 
 was prepared in haste, amid the frequent interruptions of private pursuits, 
 and will be found on perusal, trite in its subjects and devoid of that interest, 
 which the exciting scenes transpiring on the day of its delivery, doubtless 
 conspired to give it. I submit it however to your better discretion, with 
 my sincerest thanks to you and to the society which you represent, for th» 
 favorable opinion of it which you have been pleased to express. 
 Very sincerely, yours &c., 
 
 AARON y, BROWN. 
 To Messrs. C. W. Yellowlet, 
 
 A. B. Irion, V CommiUee, &c 
 
 A. B, Hill. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Philanthropic and Dialectic Societies : — 
 
 After an absence of just forty years I return to these ancient, 
 and consecrated halls : I return upon your kind invitation, hero 
 to oiler up on the altars of my early worship, renewed vows of 
 devotion and gratitude, to that alma-mater, who in the days of 
 my youth carried mc in Iier arms and folded me to her bosom. 
 During this long pilgrimage I have seen and felt enough to 
 reader this sentiment of homage and respect both profound and 
 indelible. Wherever I have been, I have seen no success crown 
 the efforts of her alumni, and no public honors conferred upon 
 them, which might not be fairly attributed to their early disci- 
 pline in this Institution, and her two Literary Societies. It was 
 here that the foundation was laid for a sound, thorough an<l 
 practical education. It was here that they were taught to 
 redeem every moment of their time — to put temptation at defi- 
 ance — to scorn the degradations of vice — to watch, like the 
 eagle, for every opportunity of improvement, and when discov- 
 ered, however high or far ofl', like that noble bird, to fly upward 
 to it. 
 
 Their eminent success in every profession and pursuit in life, 
 ought to remove every doubt which at any time may have crossed 
 your minds, as to the Institution you have selected. You have 
 heard much of Princeton, of Yale and Harvard, and in moments 
 of gloom and despondence you may have doubted, whether some 
 one of these would not have been better, or might not have 
 opened to you an easier or more certain passport to the honors and 
 emoluments of life. The Presidential mansion, the Halls of both 
 Houses of Congress, the courts and legislatures of half the State» 
 *f the Union, all unite in quieting every such apprehension. 
 
6 
 
 Wherever the graduates of this Institution have come in collis- 
 'on with those of other Colleges and Universities, they have 
 never retired ingloriously from the conflict. In the arts and 
 sciences they have yielded nothing on the score of genius and 
 talents. At the Bar and on the Bench they have exhibited a 
 learning as varied, profound and accui ate. In the Senate Cham- 
 ber they have displayed an eloquence as lofty and a patriotism 
 as heroic. On the battle-fields of liberty, their swords have 
 gleamed as brightly, and their war-plumes waved as proudly, and 
 when the conflict was ended they have returned wi*h laurels as 
 green and unfading as ever decked the brow of the soldier. 
 
 Be then content with Chapel Hill. Walk amid her groves and 
 breathe the pure atmosphere of her almost mountain elevation. 
 If you would be daily inspired with fresh devotion to learning 
 and piety, here you can visit the tomb of Caldwell, the nobl« 
 founder of the University, and for more than a quarter of a 
 century its brightest ornament. If you would kindle up in your 
 bosoms the patriotic fires of the revolution, look out to the west, 
 where you can almost behold the battle grounds of Guilford and 
 King's Mountain. Nearly in the same range of vision, lies good 
 old Mecklenburg, who threw down the first defiance to British 
 pov/er, and first proclaimed American Independence. Turn your 
 eyes now to yonder eastern summit. There you can look down 
 upon the plain, that stretches off in the distance as far as York- 
 town, where the last great battle was fought, and where the 
 American Eagle uttered her loudest notes of triumph and exul- 
 tation. Surrounded on every side by holy and consecrated 
 memorials like these, who is not compelled to exclaim "this is 
 the place" — the very place beyond all others, where the altars 
 of learning, piety and patriotism should have been erected. 
 
 There is, however, another doubt which more frequently comes 
 darklirfg over the mind of the desponding student. Secluded 
 from the world, trimming with nervous hand, his midnight lamp 
 in his lonely dormitory, he is oftentimes tempted to ask, why all 
 this toil and labor ? what good does education bring to its anxious 
 votaries, to compensate them for so many privations in its acqui- 
 sition? Whether this question be asked under tlie pressure of 
 exhausted nature, or from the suggestion of an indolent lassitude 
 
■whicii shrinks from exertion of every description, its influence is 
 too paralyzing to be passed over in silence. "What good doe»$ 
 Education do ?" "What good, might be asked, is there in being a 
 man, in all the proportions of dignity and powei, instead of the 
 mere dwarf, who, if not too insignificant to invite, is certainly 
 too feeble to resist aggression. But what good is there in phys- 
 ical manhood of the most athletic proportions, without a mind, 
 a spirit, a soul to animate, to elevate, to assimilate to its own 
 divine origin and destination. 
 
 But this question is not commonly propounded in a sense so 
 etartling to the intelligence of the 19th century. It is intended 
 as an enquiry into the value of Collegiate Education over that 
 of self-made man, who often rises to the highest pinnacle of 
 fame by the vigorous exercise of his own native talents. Our 
 argument does not maintain that Education can only be had in 
 Universities and Colleges, but only, that it must come from some- 
 where. It may come from the field, in the intervals of rest 
 from the severe toils of the husbandman. It may come from 
 the workshop of the mechanic, in nightly meditations, when 
 others have given themselves up to inglorious repose. It may 
 come to those who have slighted their opportunities at College, 
 under the very delusion we are now considering, but who, on 
 discovering the infinite error which they have committed, retire 
 with eagerness to the chambers of private study, and by redoubled 
 efforts atone for their former indolence. Franklin did indeed 
 snatch the lightning from the heavens, and Morse sent it flash- 
 ing round the world, speaking the language of every nation and 
 giving utterance to every thought and sentiment of the human 
 family. But not until they were educated — well and soundly 
 educated — not in the College but out of the College. '■' Count 
 Kumford did not stand pre-eminent among the Philosophers of 
 Europe, nor did West become President of the Royal Academy 
 at London, until they had passed through a long and severe dis- 
 cipline of reading, reflection and ob&ervation. What enabled 
 Whitney to invent the Cotton Gin, now giving more than one 
 hundred millions to the annual products of our country ? Whence 
 sprang that beautiful and complicated machinery of Arkwright 
 for spinning and of Cartwright for weaving this vast product, 
 
8 
 
 thereby doubling it in value, and greatly diminishing the expense 
 of clothing a large portion of the human family ?" These inven- 
 tions were not the result of untutored ignorance, blindly blun- 
 dering upon them by accident: hut of Education ; not general 
 Education, it is true, sweeping the whole horizon of the arts and 
 sciences, but Education, mental exercise and discipline, in one 
 especial and particular pursuit. But surely it cannot be neces- 
 sary to press an argument in favor of Education beyond its 
 own obvious advantages. Society has settled the question. The 
 vast machinery of Universities, Colleges, Academies and com- 
 mon schools which she has set in motion — the throng of intel- 
 lectual and ingenuous youth who crowd the portals of these 
 institutions — the sighs and regrets of all who have never enjoyed 
 such opportunities — the universal homage and respect paid to 
 educated men, and the indelible impress made by them on all 
 public aflairs — and above all, the wonderful and almost magical 
 progress and improvement of our country under these educa- 
 tional influences and appliances, all demonstrate that this ques- 
 tion of "what good," is settled, conclusively and finally settled. 
 There is yet another class of desponding students, to whose 
 fears and apprehensions we would address ourselves on the pres- 
 ent occasion. These admit the inestimable value of learning, 
 and are exerting every faculty of body and mind to acquire it, 
 yet the preparation is so tedious and their progress apparently 
 so slow, that they sometimes apprehend that they may be too 
 late in entering on the theatre of life — that the golden moment 
 may have passed — that all the avenues to wealth and fiime may 
 be preoccupied by others, and that nt last they may fail of that 
 success to which so much toil and labor would seem fairly to 
 entitle them. This, gentlemen, brings me to the distinctive 
 subject which I have selected for our communion on the present 
 occasion. To exhibit (very briefly of course) such a view of the 
 Uiuted States — its progress in government — in territory — in its 
 multiplied and daily increasing pursuits and employments, as 
 may have a tendency to inspire young men just entering into 
 life, with encouraging hopes and confidence of success. 
 
Tig mitm $t&tm, 
 
 Its Progress and Improvement in Government — in Terri- 
 tory — IN ITS Industrial Employments — Its ScaEntifig 
 AND Professional Pursuits. 
 
 The history of the United States, its discovery, settlement 
 and general progress, is but a succession of Avonderful events, 
 romantic as anything to be found in the gorgeous stories of Ara- 
 bian fiction. That there should have been any United States 
 at all, is a preliminary wonder that challenges and confounds 
 all ordinary calculations. Where else is it recorded as a reality 
 in hum m affairs, that a mere handful of men have been collected 
 in haste and disorder as at Lexington and C )ncord, and a revo- 
 lution commenced so grand in its operations and so sublime in 
 its results ? Withcut pre-establi&led ccrnection between the 
 colonies — without a ship on the ocean — withcut a soldier in the 
 field — without a dollar of revenue in their coffers, they bade 
 defiance to the oldest and strongest civilized nation in the world ! 
 They were impelled to the perilous deed, by no sudden or brutal 
 outrage such as drove a Tarquin from the Roman throne — by no 
 warlike invasion of their homes and altars, such as Grecian 
 valor was called upon to re:ti3t, on the plains of Marathon, or' 
 the mountain passes of ThermopylEe ! It was the imposition of 
 a mei-e paltry taxation, neither enormous in amount, nor flagi- 
 tious in the mode of its collection. Looking at this as the real 
 cause, it would have been better, far better for our ancestors to 
 have paid the duties on a few pieces of stamped paper, or on a 
 few boxes of tea, than to have plunged into a war, so protracted, 
 expensive and bloody. But the noble actors in the soul-stirring 
 scenes of that day, looked far beyond these ostensible and incon- 
 siderable provocations. They knew andfe'c! heaven inspired 
 them to know and feel, that the hour had come when they should 
 build up an independent Empire in the new world ; an Empire 
 wherein the civil and religious liberties of themselves and their 
 posterity should be secured and established forever. Lender- 
 standing the magnitude of the work, they dedicated to it, "theiv 
 
10 
 
 lives, their fortunes and their sacred honors." All else was 
 fthandoned. The implements of husbandry were left rusting in 
 the field — the ring of the anvil was no longer heard, save in the 
 manufacture of some rude instrument of war — churclies dedi- 
 cated to the Most High were deserted, with no one to minister 
 at their altars — the school houses and the colleges were shut up, 
 and both teacher and scholar hastened to the tented field. 
 Long and dubious was the conflict ; when driven from the plains, 
 they took refuge in the mountains ; the rocks and the hills 
 became their castles of defence. Sometimes buried in snows — 
 often wasted with disease and threatened with famine. When 
 compelled to retreat from province to province, the enemy would 
 follow them, by the blood trickling from the feet of theii bare- 
 footed soldiery. Patiently they suffered every privation, and 
 heroically they fought whenever opportunity furnished the faint- 
 est hope of success, until at last the struggle was ended in a 
 blaze of glory on the plains of Yorktown ! Full as this subject 
 is of national and individual exultation, it is adverted to here to 
 remind the young men of the present generation of the immense 
 advantages they enjoy in entering upon life with our national 
 liberties firmly established. You have to go through no seven 
 years war in order to establish wise and salutary institutions, 
 ^ under which you might hope to be happy and prosperous. Why, 
 seven years is nearly the third part of the active and busy man- 
 hood of life ! now thanks to our noble ancestors every thing is 
 prepared ready for our advent. The tree of liberty planted by 
 their valor and watered by their blood, has put forth its branches 
 far and wide, and we have nothing to do but to walk beneath its 
 shade, and gather the rich fruits that cluster on its boughs. 
 
 The fortunate and brilliant termination of the war was not, 
 however, the completion of that Republican organization for 
 which it was mainly commenced. Temporary and provisional 
 arrangements had indeed been made, but the great Temple had 
 not yet been built. The Revolution had only prepared its foun- 
 dation — vast, solid and permanent. The same skillful workmen 
 who laid the foundation were summoned to erect the superstruc- 
 ture. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and i\Iadison came. Ham- 
 ilton, Roger Sherman, Rutledge and the Pincknevs were there. 
 
n 
 
 They came fresh from the scenes of the Revolution, with all the 
 hopes and inspirations of that great event. They looked far 
 backward into the history of man, and scrutinized every form 
 of government that had ever heen established. They lookeel 
 forward, also, into the distant future as far as mortal vision is 
 allowed to penetrate. A long succession of ages passed in dim 
 and shadowy review before them. They saw the millions who 
 were to be the future inhab'tants of this vast Continent. They 
 gazed with wonder on its lakes and bays and harbors — on its 
 mountains and rivers and luxuriant vallies, until wrapped and 
 inspired by the prophetic vision, they conceived the great design 
 and plan cf our present happy form of government. Its adop- 
 tion constitutes the grandest epoch in the science of govern- 
 ment. It was then that man recovered his long lost birthright 
 of self-government, and trampled beneath his feet the odious 
 doctrine that the Kings of the earth had a divine right to gov- 
 ern him, and that it was rebellion against Heaven to resist their 
 oppressions. 
 
 The present is no fit occasion for a disquisition on the Consti- 
 tution so adopted — to analyze its proportions — to decide whether 
 it established a National or Federative Republic — whether sov- 
 reignty resides in the people of the United States as one aggre- 
 gate whole, or in the people of the respective States in their 
 confederate character. To none of these vexed and subtle 
 questions do we now address ourselves, but invoke your attention 
 to the great fact, that so far, it has eminently secured to the 
 people the disideratum required — a sound, healthy and prosper- 
 ous system of self-government. The. great problem has been 
 solved, that man — civilized, educated, moral man — can govern 
 himself, dispensing with the whole system of hereilitary mon- 
 archy, with its attendant orders of nobility. So complete and 
 nndeniable has been the solution of that problem that it has 
 given rise to another : whether those who formed our State and 
 Federal Constitutions did not underrate the capacity of the 
 people for self-government. The question is now being asked, 
 why were the people not permitted to elect the President by 
 their own direct action, without invoking the agency of an Elec- 
 toral College ? Why they were not permitted to elect the two 
 
12 
 
 Senators who are to represent their State sovereignty in t 
 Congress of the United States ? If that sovereignty be in thei 
 why the employment of the subordinate agency of the Legisl 
 ture? So, of tijc Judges, State and Federal, who are to sit 
 judgment on their lives, liberties and fortunes. These and sii 
 ilar questions are now presenting themselves in the progress 
 future constitutional reform. We barely state them with t' 
 remark, that however they may be settled, no decision which mi 
 be made can detract from that eternal debt of grntitude andhon 
 which we owe to the patriots and statesmen who fi-amcd o 
 State arid Federal Constitutions. Trained and disciplined 
 the American people have been, by general education — by t] 
 public press, and by the information annually flowing out fro 
 the Legislatures of the different States, and from the halls 
 Congress, it would be no matter of wonder if they Avere no 
 prepared to venture still nearer to the forms and principles of 
 pure and perfect self government. The experience of the pa 
 should repress all apprehension as to Avhat is to be the decisic 
 on any or all of these questions. The people of the Unite 
 States are fully competent to decide them wisely, ?s well as a 
 other political questions which the emergency of the times ma 
 make necessary. He Avho has a hearty reliance on the grcj 
 popular basis on Avhich our government is founded, sliould nev( 
 indulge in mournful anticipations of the future. " The gallai 
 mariner does not pale before each gathering cloud, nor tren^b! 
 when he hears the howling tempest. lie knows his ship and tht 
 its sturdy sides can stand the dashing Wuves and ride in triump 
 the agitated waters." Not so Avith the timid and distiustfi 
 statesman. lie can see danger in every change, and tr:mb] 
 Avith awe at the very thought of progress and improvement ! 
 
 Under the benign influances of that form of governmer 
 which Ave have just been considering, the United States has mat! 
 the most Avonderful progress in the acquisition of territory an 
 in the accession of States to the Union. At first not one of th 
 old Thirteen Avhich achieved our independence, extended in il 
 effective organization much beyond the range of our easter 
 mountains. It Avas not long, hoAvever, before new States bega: 
 to rise like exhalations from the rich soil and genial climate c 
 
13 
 
 the Mississippi Valley. That great River, however, interp'osed 
 its barrier to all further expansion in that direction. All beyond 
 it belonged to the crown of Spain. The English Government^ 
 cither from exasperation for the recent loss of her colonies, or 
 from that passion for distant possessions which is yet displayed 
 in India, resolved to acquire that portion of our Continent. 
 Napoleon saw the movement, and to foil and baffle his great ene- 
 my, exerted his preponderating influence with the court of Spain 
 and procured it for himself. Soon afterward, by a fortunate 
 negotiation, Mr. Jefferson acquired it. by treaty for the United 
 
 States. 
 
 .A 
 
 Here Avas another event in our political history almost marvel- 
 lous, and scarcely less important than our Independence itself. 
 Louisiana extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the great Lakes of 
 the North. Its base was the Father of Waters from its mcuth 
 with all its meanders, to its very head fountains. If the transfer 
 to England had not been prevented,, what disastrous and blight- 
 ing influence must it not have exerted on the future destinies of 
 the Republic ? Where now are Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and 
 Louisiana, would have been large and powerful provinces belong- 
 ing to Great Britain. Her large cities might have grown up on 
 the site of St. Louis, or opposite Cairo, to Meinphis and to 
 Natchez. Even New Orleans would have been hers, and the 
 mouth of the most magnificent River on the Continent, if not in 
 the world, would have been in her possession. A line of impreg- 
 nable fortifications, bristling with artillery, might have been 
 everywhere directed against us. With her possessions in Canada 
 on the North, with such as we are now considering on the West, 
 and her Islands on our Eastern coast, the United States would 
 have been environed on all sides, and we should have felt and 
 known that our freedom was but a delusion, and that the battles 
 for independence v/ere only begun, not ended. W^ell might Mr. 
 Jefferson designate the West as his favorite country, and lono- 
 should that West offer up to his memory the homage of its admi- 
 ration and gratitude. Having crossed the Mississippi, the march 
 of Empire was still westward and onward. It passed over the 
 Sabine in the annexation of Texas. It precipitated itself 
 beyond the Del Norte, in the acquisition of California, and 
 
14 
 
 scaling the Kocky Mountains, could only find its termination on 
 the distant shores of the Pacific. "What a magnificent country 
 for the future abode of the sons and daughters of Freedom ! It 
 offers to tliem every soil and climate and production. It opens 
 wide the doer of welcome admission into every occupation and 
 profession, and guarantees to a life of sobriety, industry and 
 energy, the surest and most eminent success. 
 
 But the progress of the United States in territorial expansion 
 has not been more wonderful than the various means which sci- 
 ence has invented to obviate the inconvenience of her increasing: 
 magnitude. Although as large as the Empire of Rome or that 
 of Alexander, and nearly three times as large as that of France 
 jtnd Great Britain combined, the inventions and improvements of 
 the age have pracrtically compressed her within the dimensions of 
 most ordinary nations. 
 
 Her telegraphic instructions can be transmitted in a few mo- 
 ments to her most distant agents. From his head-quarters at 
 Washington, her commanding General, with the rapidity of 
 thought, can give his orders to his army to advance at once oi^ 
 an invading enemy. In the world of commerce and business, 
 correspondence flies on the wings of the lightning, and bo tit 
 principals and factors, though widely separated, understand each 
 other as if they were inhabitants of the same city. In the arts! 
 and sciences, every new idea that may become practically useful, 
 is conveyed at once to the mechanic, the operative and the man- 
 ufacturer. In the hgal profession no new principle is adjudica- 
 ted, and in the medical, no new antidote is discovered to stay 
 the sweeping and desolating scourge, which is not promulgated 
 almost in the twinkling of an eye to the remotest corners of 
 the Republic. 
 
 If to the Telegraph wo add the facilities of the Railroad, 
 penetrating every valley, and of the Steamboat, navigating all 
 our Lakes and Bays and Rivers, we are compelled to abandon 
 every apprehension of danger from great expansion. May no 
 o-enuine son of Liberty ever desire it to be less. America may 
 be the last asylum of Freedom to the down-trodden and oppressed 
 millions of mankind. Let her have scope and verge enough for 
 all who understand and revere her principles and implore tha 
 
15 
 
 protection of lier Eagles. We started witV only thirteen : we 
 now have thirty-one States. Why may we not at some future 
 day have fifty or one hundred States, all moving like the con- 
 stellations of Heaven around the Constitution as their common 
 center ! That Constitution was ordained and established for 
 the express purpose of expansibility and progress. It provided 
 expressly for the admission of new States without number, bufe 
 consecrated the word Equality, for their eternal welfare and 
 preservation. Equality of rights amongst the States — Equality 
 of rights amongst the millions of individuals who are to live 
 under it. Equality ! that great word — unknown to the Consti- 
 tution of any other nation in the world — scoffed at by the titled 
 nobility of other lands — derided by the wealthy, proud and 
 insolent, but here made the foundation of a new social and polit- 
 ical system, better securing the civil rights and religious privile- 
 ges, of mankind. Save to us this one word, Equality, and adhere 
 faithfully to a strict construction of the Constitution, and the 
 execution of it according to its plain and obvious import, and 
 we have nothing to apprehend from the wide and growing expan- 
 sion of our country. No matter how many States may compose 
 it — no matter how diversified their climates, soil and produc- 
 tions- — no matter where may be the preponderance of popula- 
 tion, nor to what region the sceptre of power may be transfer- 
 red, give to all, both States and people, their just and equal 
 rights, with the proper means to understand and defend them 
 and this Government Avill prove to be the greatest boon ever 
 conferred on the human family. 
 
 Let us now turn to the contemplation of our country in her 
 progress in those industrial and professional pursuits into which 
 your preparations here are mainly intended to introduce you. 
 Eoremost of all the pursuits of man stands agriculture. It was 
 the original and natural employment of our race. The Patri- 
 archs were successful cultivators of the earth. Among the 
 Romans the proudest patrician thought it no disgrace to live on 
 his farm and cultivate it with his own hands. Cincinnatus Avaa 
 called from the plough to save his country, and having accom- 
 plished the great work, resigned the Dictatorship and hastened 
 back to his labors in the field. It is not only the most ancient 
 
16 
 
 f mplojment, but its necessity and usefulness, are the greatest. 
 It is, in fact, the foundation of all others. There can be no 
 commerce, no manufactures, and, indeed, no subsistence without 
 it-. In the expressive language of an old adage, " it makes all, 
 pays all, and supports all." But although it ia the substratum 
 of all the other pursuits, it has always been the most neglected. 
 A very high degree of education has been considered necessary 
 to those who intended to betake themselves to the learned pro- 
 fessions. Some preparation was thought necessary to success in 
 commei'ce, manufactures and the mechanic arts, but in agricul- 
 ture, no apprenticeship, no degree of instruction seems to have 
 been thought at all important. Men were to be educated 
 to other things, but they M'ere to be born farmers. How to 
 follow the plough and to handle the axe and the scythe was to 
 be the sum total of the qualifications for the noblest, the most 
 virtuous and the happiest occupation of man. 
 
 Happily for our country, however, tliese rude notions have 
 been rapidly giving way before the advancing intelligence of the 
 age. The establishment of agricultural professorships in some 
 of our colleges, the reports from one of the Bureaus at Wash- 
 ington, the organization of fairs, and the publication of news- 
 papers and periodicals, exclusively devoted to the subject, are 
 beginning to place agriculture rather in advance of any other 
 pursuit or profession. Wherever in the United States it has 
 made its greatest progress, there the relative rank of the planter 
 and farmer, in the social circle, has been the most completely 
 restored. He no longer stands back in conscious inferiority to 
 the lawyer and physician. As avcII educated as they; as learned 
 in his profession as they are in theirs ; remunerated by as large 
 ])rofits, and devoting those profits to hospitalities as elegant and 
 rational, he knows and feels tliat he is pursuing a calling which 
 may well challenge a comparison with any otffbr. In confir- 
 mation of this just claim of equality, he sees all other profes- 
 sions and pursuits beginning to pay homage to the one which he 
 has selected. How many of the learned professions are found, 
 "f late years, engaged in the same bold, vigorous and healthful 
 pursuit ? How many opulent merchants and manufacturers are 
 retiring in the evening of their days, and engaging in agricul- 
 
tare ? Even the statesman, and the warrior paj the same hom- 
 age to this noble calling. Mr. Webster, in the midst of his highest 
 fame, still looked to his favorite Marshfield, and cherished the 
 hope that he might spend the last years of his life in the culti- 
 vation of his fields, and in looking after his herds and his flocks. 
 Mr. Clay clung to the same hope, as to the rich fields, and the 
 verdant lawns of Ashland. Gen. Jackson sighed when he left 
 the precincts of the Hermitage, and exchanged the cultivation 
 of his farm for the executive sway of a mighty empire. 
 
 Of all the professions, learned or unlearned, it is best calcu- 
 lated to inspire deep and undying sentiments of patriotism. 
 Standing on his own soil, personally identified Avith it as his own, 
 the farmer is ever ready to protect and defend it. It may have 
 
 descended to him from ancestors, whose memory he reveres 
 
 the dwelling may have been built or the orchard planted by a 
 father's hand. Here is the green lawn on which he played, the 
 spring, the brook, the grove, the church, all consecrating his 
 home, and inspiring him with attachments which can cease only 
 with his life. Wherever business or other necessity of life, raav 
 compel him to roam, 
 
 "He still has hope, his long sojournings past, 
 Safe to return and die at home at last." 
 
 We speak not of him who, inheriting from his ancestors his 
 broad acres and his many servants, commits them all to the 
 superintendence of a selfish and ignorant agency, and betakes 
 himself to the crowded city, to pursue a life of indolence and 
 pleasure, far removed from the invigorating and manly pursuits 
 which we are now commending. We speak rather of him who 
 resides on his farm, or near to it, and directs in person its scien- 
 tific cultivation ; of him who knows personally that his servants 
 are well fed, well clothed, well housed, and well protected against 
 unmerited punishment, inflicted by cruel and capricious subordi- 
 nates. This is the farmer and planter who is worthy of the 
 name. Such an one soon finds every thing prospering under 
 his enlightened and humane supervision. From ruder construc- 
 tions and more humble preparation he advances in his improve- 
 ments, until the conveniei.t and costly edifice, the wide-spread- 
 ing and verdant lawn, the waving field and the abundant harvest, 
 2 
 
18 
 
 give unerring evidence that, in the selection of his pursuit, he 
 was both wise and fortunate. 
 
 Connected with agriculture, there are two other pursuits of 
 increasing importance, which claim a large portion of the edu- 
 cated talent of the United States. Geology and mineralogy in 
 the last few years have taken rank in dignity and usefulness 
 with any other science. Those who engage in them are contin- 
 ually startled by the discovery of new facts in the world's history, 
 which inspire them with the most sublime emotions. Whilst 
 charmed by a brilliant succession of discoveries, they are richly 
 rewarded by their practical usefulness in developing the rich 
 mines of gold, silver, copper, iron and other metals essential to 
 the welfare and comfort of the human family. In no age of the 
 world, and in no country, Avas there ever a wider field opened 
 for well educated professors in these sciences. Nearly every 
 State in the Union, every mining association, and every agricul- 
 tural community is invoking their presence and assistance. 
 Even here, in your own State, wealth in untold millions lay 
 buried in your mountains for more than half a century after it 
 became inhabited. Geology at last smote tlie rock, and the hid- 
 den streams of individual and national wealth are gushing and 
 pouring out upon you. The employments which these sciences 
 afford are destined to be as permanent as they are lucrative and 
 important. This vast continent is no where fully populated. 
 There are yet mighty regions of it, on which the foot-print of 
 the civilized man has never yet been made. These will open, 
 for ages to come, outlets to the hardy pioneer, the geologist and 
 mineralogist. 
 
 Nearly the same observations may be submitted to you in 
 favor of Civil Engineering, as one of the comparatively new, 
 but now permanent and lucrative employments of the present 
 advancing state of society. In the new and the old States, we 
 are destined to feel more and more the necessity of improved 
 means of intercommunication. The fiat has gone forth that we 
 must have railroads, canals and unobstructed rivers ; that the 
 mountains must be leveled or penetrated ; that the ships of war 
 and of commerce must pass through an Isthmus which has sep- 
 arated two great oceans from the morning of the creation ; that 
 
DO obstructions must prevent, and no difficulties retard these 
 mighty enterprises. Who can safely and successfully guide us 
 to these great results hut the educated and accomplished engi- 
 neer ? Our colleges must furnish him. They must endow pro- 
 fessorships and all the appliances proper, to enable him to meet 
 the high demands of the age. 
 
 The mechanical and useful arts seem to have found their 
 favorite home in the United States. It was here that Franklin 
 made those brilliant discoveries in electricity, that placed him in 
 the first rank of the philosophers of the age. It was here that 
 Morse gathered the laurels of immortality in the same science. 
 It was here that Fulton invented the steamboat, and Whitney 
 the cotton gin. It is here, too, that Ericson has introduced his 
 caloric engine, which seems destined in the opinion of many to 
 supercede every other motive power heretofore known to science. 
 Besides these great and capital discoveries, the mechanics of our 
 country are daily making the most valuable improvements upon 
 the old ones, and thus are placing themselves among the greatest 
 benefactors of mankind ; yet for them no colleges nor iustituies 
 have been erected ; no libraries have been founded ; no profess- 
 orships have been endowed, and no degrees conferred upon them, 
 a3 the incentives of industry and the rewards of merit. 
 
 Although the real masters of arts, the title is never bestowed 
 upon them. Although truly and profoundly learned in sciences 
 the most practical and useful, yet who ever heard of the title of 
 "Learned Doctor in Mechanics," or that of "Learned Doctor 
 in Agriculture !" The Lawyer who may have made a few pro-, 
 found and able arguments at the bar : the Physician who suc- 
 cessfully performs a rare and diHicult operation in surgery: the 
 Clergyman who delivers orthodox and eloquent sermons to his 
 congregation, all find the honors of literature showered thickly 
 upon them. Why withhold them from the mechanic whose 
 enterprise and learning in his peculiar science, gave existence 
 to the printing press, justly denominated " the great engine of 
 modern civilization and refinement ?" Shall the Geologist, also, 
 have no honors, who opens to us the sublime mysteries of the 
 planet which we inhabit, and brings forth the rich treasures 
 which lie concealed in its bosom ? Shall no diplomas likewise 
 
20 
 
 reward the sturdy toil and labor of the agriculturist ? He fa 
 pursuing the most ancient and honorable profession ever followed 
 by man. It was Adam's profession. It was that of Cincinna- 
 tus. It was AYashing^on's profession, and yet even these could 
 not ennoble it. Nothing indeed seems able to rescue all these 
 pursuits, which we have just mentioned, from a supposed inferi- 
 ority to what have been usually called " the learned professions," 
 upon which alone our collegiate and literary honors are bestowed. 
 Manufacturers occupy too conspicuous a place among the 
 industrial employments of the United States, to be overlooked 
 in an address like this. Heretofore they have flourished chiefly 
 and almost exclusively in the Northern portions of the Repub- 
 lic. A great change, however, has been taking place in this 
 respect, and the effort now making to introduce them into the 
 South, would seem to challenge our most earnest attention. 
 Looking at the natural advantages and the circumstances favor- 
 ing their introduction, we cannot withhold the opinion, that the 
 South is eminently suited to the introduction of nearly every 
 branch of this sort of industry. We have the greatest variety 
 and excellence of natural product, animal, vegetable, and mineral. 
 We have unsui passed water-power for propelling machinery. Our 
 rivers, canals, and railroads furnish every facility of intercom- 
 munication. The intelligence, enterprise and moral habits of 
 our people furnish the highest guarantees of our ultimate and 
 final success. But whilst eminently suited to all, the South is 
 mainly directing her efforts to the manufacturing of her own 
 peculiar staple. If she shall be true to her interest, she will 
 never give over her exertions until she sball abstract one-fourth 
 or even one-third of her 1 iborers engaged in the production of 
 the raw material and employ them in manufacturing it. Every 
 stream should be made tributary to her purposes. Every eligible 
 site on her navigble rivers and on her railroads should be occu- 
 pied. Her capitalists, but chictly her planters, should be appealed 
 to earnestly to engage in the work. The latter can build the 
 houses necessary with their own hands. Two or three, or half 
 a dozen living contiguously can unite in one establishment. 
 They can select from their own stock of slaves, the most active 
 and intelligent ones, for operatives, without the necessary 
 
21 
 
 advances In money to other laborers. The cost of machinery, 
 and the expense of one or two skillful superintendants and 
 instructors, will be nearly the actual outlay of capital for the 
 business. Under such a system as this, the planter can realize 
 the profits not only of production, but those of manufacturing. 
 Besides this, the abstraction of so much labor from the produc- 
 tion, would give an elevation and steadiness of price to the raw 
 material, which would better justify its cultivation. 
 
 Here is a wide and noble field opened to the cultivated talent 
 of the young men of the South, which they should be proud to 
 explore. We hold it to be a libel on our own countrymen to say 
 that they have not the requisite talent and enterprise to enable 
 them to succeed, and that they must continue to depend on 
 others, on this or the other side of the ocean. 
 
 From her industrial employments, let us now turn to contem- 
 plat'e the progress of our country in those professional pursuits, 
 into which your preparations here, are no doubt mainly intended 
 to introduce you. Foremost among these, and indeed the only 
 one we shall consider, stands the Profession of the Law.* Fore- 
 most, because of the deep and lasting impress it has made on 
 all of our American institutions. In the discussion of those 
 great questions, which resulted in the declaration of Independ- 
 ence. In the old Congress that formed the Constitution and in 
 the State Legislatures that ratified it, the men of this profession 
 surpassed all others in the extent and variety of their learning, 
 and in that bold and thrilling eloquence which the occasion 
 demanded. It has furnished every President of the United 
 States except two. It has furnished a majority of every Cabi- 
 net and a long list of eminent attorneys-general. It has had 
 entire possession of course of the Judicial department, both 
 State and Federal. In the Halls of Congress and in the Leg- 
 islatures of the respective States, its power and influence has 
 been scarcely less signal. It would be difiicult to specify a sin- 
 gle great problem in legislation, which did not owe its final 
 solution to the talents and eloquence of men distinguished in 
 this profession. Off'ering to her votaries honors so high and daz> 
 
 * Quotations are freely made on this subject from an address lately deliv- 
 ered to the law class of the Cumberland Uuiversity, Lebanon, Tennesaeo. 
 
22 
 
 jJing, DO vrondcr they should throng and crowd her portals for 
 admission. 
 
 But they -will enter in vain, in the present advanced and 
 iriiproved condition of our country, unless they bring with them 
 the fixed and unalterable determination to make themselves 
 emphatically and truly profound and able Lawyers. The times 
 have gone by, for merely skimming over the profession, com- 
 prehending a few only of its general principles, and acquiring 
 some slight familiarity with its details in practice. No. He 
 must dive into its hidden depths, penetrate its secret arcana, 
 and bring up the pure and sparkling waters from the very bot- 
 tom of the well of knowledge. He who undertakes to master 
 this first and noblest of human sciences, should also fully com- 
 prehend the magnitude of the work. It embraces Law in its 
 widest and most comprehensive sense. The Laws of God — of 
 nature — of nations — of independent States: under the latter — 
 the common law — the statute law — the constitutional law — the 
 commercial law — the law of real estates — of descents. In fine it 
 embracesall law, human and divine, and challenges the profound 
 study of years to comprehend and expound them. But even these 
 are not all the studies of the Lawyer. There are others collat- 
 eral and incidental which must by no means be neglected. He 
 must make himself well acquainted with history, both ancient 
 and modern. Especially should an American Lawyer be familiar 
 with the history of his own country, with our revolutionary his- 
 tory, with the discussion and events which led to the first confed- 
 eration of the colonies, with the debates on the formation of the 
 Federal constitution and its subsequent adoption by the States, 
 and the debates in Congress, on leading topics, since that period. 
 All these illustrate the true nature of our government and shed 
 a light on its laws and institutions which the lawyer who deserves 
 the name must fully comprehend. 
 
 Vast as this amount of hard and severe study may seem to 
 be, still more remains to him who would shine with the steady 
 brilliancy of the truly great Lawyer. He will have spent many 
 years almost in vain if he shall have neglected the art of speak- 
 ing. To be the finished Orator at the bar, in the pulpit, the 
 Senate chamber, or the lecture room, he must be master of logic 
 
23 
 
 and rhetoric. These are auxiliary to true eloquence, and when 
 combined with it, have exalted man above all other attainments 
 and achievements in life. This etherial, this almost God-like 
 faculty is especially necessary in criminal cases. In capital 
 ones, the responsibility is immense. That vital spark which God 
 has given is committed to the hands of the advocate, to preserve 
 it alive or to extinguish it forever. One argument omitted, it is 
 lost ! one bold, fervid and eloquent appeal, and it is saved ! He 
 who sways the sceptre of an Empire or wears the sword of a 
 conqueror, enjoys no prouder triumph than he who overcomes 
 the unconscious prejudices of both Judge and jury, and by the 
 magic power of his eloquence snatches his client from the very 
 jaws of perjury and the grave. 
 
 If it be asked what lifetime will be long enough, and what 
 constitution of body will be strong enough, to acquire this vast 
 fund of knowledge, we can only point to the numerous instances 
 of eminent Lawyers and Judges who have attained to the high 
 standard which we have here erected. It is however undeniable 
 that many have fallen and perished on the way side. "Whilst 
 with one hand they were sowing the rich seeds of knowledge, 
 Avith the other they were scattering those of disease and death. 
 Physically unable to go through so many years of hard prelim- 
 inary study or to sustain the Herculean labor of a large and 
 lucrative practice, or to preside through long and perplexing 
 terms in the administration of justice, they have been too fre- 
 quently summoned, in the very mid-way of life, to a premature 
 grave. 
 
 I congratulate the age and the profession upon the dawn of a 
 most auspicious change in the arduous toils of preliminary 
 preparation and of the subsequent practice of the law. 
 
 The great reforms now everywhere beginning to be called for, 
 will go far to remedy the physical inability which has cut short 
 the career of some of the master spirits who have adorned the 
 profession. 
 
 The present state of jurisprudence, in most of the States of 
 the Union, has long been the subject of the most serious com- 
 plaints. The arbitrary division of rights into legal and equitable, 
 and the establishmtnt of separate structures, to maintain and 
 
24 
 
 perpetuate these idle and injurious distinctions — the investiga- 
 tion of one division of rights by oral testimony in one court, 
 and another division in another court by depositions — the ina- 
 bility of another court to complete justice in many cases, ■without 
 the aid of the organization and process of the other — the con- 
 Btant mistakes as to the proper court in which relief is to be 
 asked, arising from the unsettled and changing boundaries of 
 their jurisdictions — the impossibility of determining the proper 
 jurisdiction in many cases until the proof shall have been heard — 
 the double set of costs accruing, and the double delay incurred — 
 the frequent taxation of costs on the party entitled to a recovery, 
 and who does in fact ultimately recover — all unite to keep alive 
 a spirit of discontent in the popular mind. Plain men go into 
 the courts and there hear almost endless discussions upon ques- 
 tions which they regard as utterly frivolous. They see their 
 own and the public time consumed in settling questions about 
 amendments, pleading, jurisdiction, &c., and the causes taken 
 up and reversed against the justice of the case, upon some point 
 whose force they cannot see when settled. They understand not 
 much of this technical routine, but they see plainly that the result 
 is disastrous to a cheap and speedy administration of justice. 
 
 This state of popular feeling has existed in dliferent ages, 
 and wherever these systems of common law and equity proceed- 
 ings have been in existence. It results necessarily and inevita- 
 bly in as great a delay and cost as any system which the wit of 
 man could easily devise. If it were made on purpose to spin 
 out every judicial controversy to the greatest possible length, it 
 is not easy to see how it could bo made more fully to accomplish 
 that object. Every lawyer knows that the two systems had 
 their origin in accidental and fortuitous circumstances many 
 centuries ago — that it sprang out of an attempt 1o correct the 
 crudities and absurdities of the common law courts. The pre- 
 longed controversy between priests and common law lawyers 
 built up two structures, which have now grown to be stupendous 
 fabrics, which if venerable for their age, are not wholly exempt 
 from much of folly and absurdity. The great English Poet, 
 living under operation of this system, makes Hamlet repeal 
 what was but the echo of public sentiment even in his day : 
 
25 
 
 " The oppressor's wrong, the proud man'a contumely; 
 The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, 
 The insolence of office, and the spurns 
 That patients merit of the unworthy takes." 
 
 The noble Dane seems to have thought that the law's delay 
 was one of the "whips and scorns of time" which could only 
 be escaped bj taking refuge in the grave. Whilst Hamlet spoke 
 thus on the English stage, Lord Coke, that dry and hard old 
 lawyer, was giving utterance to the following sentiments: 
 " When I consider the course of our books and terms, I observe 
 that more jangling and questions grow up on the matter of 
 pleading and exceptions than on the matter itself, and that infi- 
 nite causes are lost and delayed thereby." We suppose my 
 Lord Coke to have long since departed this life, but certain it is 
 that the evil which he discovered, is yet alive in confirmed health 
 and vigor. Wrangling about pleadings more than about the 
 matter or merits themselves ! Infinite causes lost or delayed by 
 it 1 And yet we are told that any attempt to overthrow this 
 system must result in confusion. Confusion ! to make a state- 
 ment of the facts in pleading, in plain, concise and intelligible 
 language, instead of the obsolete law language in which the par- 
 ties are required noAV to speak, under the penalty of costs and 
 delay, if not expulsion from the court ! This cry of confusion 
 was raised against the one hundred lawyers, headed by Chan- 
 cellor Brougham, who commenced this great reform in England. 
 It was raised against those who commenced it in New York. 
 *' To rest as we are," said Judge Curtis, now of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States — " to rest as we are, is to continue 
 to impose on the people a burden of delays, expense and vexa- 
 tions, which in our judgment necessarily grows out of the pres- 
 ent state of things." The Legislature of Massachusetts, in 
 1851, abolished all the distinctions of actions, retaining only 
 that between contracts and wrongs, and in 1853 passed a bill 
 of five sections applying equitable remedies to suits at law. The 
 last of this mutilated system was swept by this statute to the 
 receptacle "of things lost upon earth." 
 
 If these suggestions, borrowed chiefly from an eminent jurist 
 (Judge Humphreys,) who is heading the movement in favor of 
 
26 
 
 law reform in my own State, be too thorough and radical, still 
 much can be done, and should be done, to rid this noble profes- 
 sion of its antiquated forms, and to bring it within the compass 
 of an ordinary constitution to encounter its labors. 
 
 There is but one other pursuit, or profession, which the bre\nty 
 proper for such an address as this will allow us to mention. It 
 is the science, or profession, of legislation and statesmanship. 
 It embraces within its aaiple folds not only those who are 
 engaged in political affairs, but in fact the whole American peo- 
 ple. According to the theory as well as the practice of our 
 governmont, its highest ofiices may be filled by the most humble 
 and obscure individual. Every man may therefore be considered, 
 in the language common to most other countries, as "heir appa- 
 rent to the thfone." He may at any time be "raised to the 
 peerage," and by the voice of his fellow-citizens, not less potent 
 than the royal patent, take his seat in that House of Lords, the 
 American Senate. lie may be elected to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives in Congress, or become the Governor of one of the 
 States or a member of its Legislature. The vast number annu- 
 ally elected and re-elected to those high and responsible offices, 
 constitute no inconsiderable portion of the people of the United 
 States, and exert a most powerful influence over their aflfairs. It 
 is more than probable that a large majority of the young gen- 
 tlemen who now surround me, are hereafter to engage in this 
 profession, and are to become the future legislators and states- 
 men of the land. Would that I could repay them for the honor 
 conferred upon me on the present occasion, by delineating the 
 character of a truly great statesman — portraying that lofty 
 sense of true honor — that unceasing attachment to the interest 
 and cause of the people — that never dying devotion to piety, 
 virtue and patriotism, which should distinguish his every action ! 
 
 But time will not allow me to enter on a theme so inviting and 
 brilliant. Whether you engage in this or any other of the 
 employments and professions which we have enumerated, you 
 should never permit the gloomy shadows of despondence to pass 
 over your firm and fixed resolves. To doubt, is to fail — to resolve 
 boldly is to be successful. Nor must you be content with mere 
 mediocrity of attainment. By you who enjoy the advantages 
 
27 
 
 of such an institution as this, the very word mediocrity skcjdd 
 be scorned ! In this age, you must not, you dare not fail below 
 the highest standards. It is the age of progress — of improve- 
 ment in every science, in every art, in every profession. It is 
 that very progress which is making your University the pride 
 and boast of the South, and drawing to it annually, as you wit- 
 ness this day, the most eminent scholars and jurists of the State. 
 And now, gentlemen, I have submitted to you all that my 
 leisure enabled me to prepare and all indeed, that the occasion 
 seems to require. I retire from this consecrated scene of early 
 life, breathing the humble prayer, that Earth may have no hap- 
 piness and Heiven no blessings which may not be bestowed upon 
 you and on this large assembly, who have honored us by their 
 presence. 
 
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