/ JUDGE JESSUP'S ADDRESS, ADDRESS BEFORE THE LINN^AN ASSOCIATION PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE, DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT, September 19, 1860. HON. WILLIAM JESSUP, LL. D. K i/5 GETTYSBURG: H. C. NEINSTEDT, PRINTEK, NEAR CORNER OF FRANKLIN & WEST STREETS. 1861. ^^°> \^ bO Pennsylvania College, Sept. 19, 1860. Hon. William Jessup, Dear Sir : The Linnsean Association has instructed me to thank you for the Discourse you, this afternoon, kindly delivered, and to solicit a copy for publication. It gives me pleasure to communicate to you the wishes of the Associ- ation, and allow me to express the hope, that it may be in your power to grant the request. With assurances of high regard, I have the honor to remain, Your obedient servant, M. L. STOEVER, President of the Association, Montrose, Dec. 20, I860. Prof. M. L. Stoever, Dear Sir : Since the delivery of my Address, at Gettysburg, to this time, I have had no opportunity for transcribing it and getting it ready for the press. I now send it to you with regret, that it has not been in my power to send it earlier. Truly yours, WM. JESSUP. ADDEESS Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Linncean Association : Yielding to your kind yet unexpected invitation to address you on this interesting occasion, I may be per- mitted, to congratulate you, upon the return of your annual Festivity, and, although out of the ordinary course of my associations and engagements, to add my trifling contribution to the interests of the occa- sion. No one can contemplate the Annual Commence- ments of our Schools, without feeling that a control- ing influence is thus frequently sent out upon the nation, and like the overflowing of great rivers, fer- tihzing and reviving influences are spread over all the professions of the land. No one can help feel- ing that the character of our civilization, and the general prosperity of the nation are most intimately connected with the influence, which these periodical contributions of educated minds exert upon the mass- es, with which they come in contact in the varied avocations of hfe. We must admit, that in nothing, has the Pa- triot, the Philanthropist, the Statesman and the Christian, a deeper interest than in the character of the Educated man. thus sent forth from our Colleges from year to year. This interest is deepened, as we look at the past, and consider the fcture. Who have been our Presidents, our Judges, our most eminent Statesmen ? Who have been our most eloquent min- isters of the Gospel ? Who most successful in the Healing Art ? But one answer can be given. Those who laid the foundation for their eminence and suc- cess in their Collegiate course, and carried with them into their professions, the mental and moral disci- pline acquired in the schools ! It is true, that emi- nent examples exist of self-instructed and self-made men, but they are the exceptions to the general rule and, like most exceptions, prove the rule to be cor- rect. Looking for eminent and controling useful- ness for the future, we must direct our attention to the young men, who are every year entering upon the learned professions and engaging in the various vocations of life, from our Colleges and Seminaries. They are yet to fill our offices, to lead our institu- tions of learning, to adorn our pulpits, and, in brief time, all will look to them to guide the destinies of the nation. The Common School education of the State oc- cupies a most important and commanding position. Its influence as a whole, can not be over-estimated, and it is well entitled to the fostering and sustaining patronage of the government. The time has been, when, in our State, Classical Education was deemed equally worthy the pecuniary aid of the common- wealth; and a system of sustaining Colleges and Female Seminaries, was once inaugurated upon a broad and liberal basis. When the embarrassments, arising from great expenditures for improving our material condition, shall have passed away, we may again expect a return to the enlarged system of sup- port for the higher branches of education. Then the State, standing in loco Parentis^ will open the avenues of learning, from the common schools to the highest classical attainments, for all her sons and daughters. Until this is done, our system will not be complete, and our duties will not be performed. The right to be educated is yet to be deemed the birth-right of every American-born citizen. The State alone, in the exercise of an impartial power, based on a wise system, can provide the means for all alike. Such provision is due lo our free institutions and to our ingenuous and aspiring youth. Classical education, as given in our Colleges, needs no advocacy from me on this occasion. Its trmmphs are recorded in the men it has sent out to eminence in every profession, in the mental and moral disci- pline which it gives, and in the unanimous testimony of its subjects. An effort has been made, to a very limited extent, in some quarters, to decry its useful- ness, and to substitute the Normal and Graded 8 School for the Academy and the College ; but all such efforts must be powerless. The Common School, the Graded School and the Normal School, are all the proper and legitimate supports of the Col- leges, and must be so considered so long as proper views are entertained of the two systems. It is a fact well attested, that the numbers of students, in the Academies and Colleges, have increased in the direct ratio of successful common school education ; and in those States, in which their common schools have been best conducted, their Colleges have been best sustained. If the prosperity of any nation ever required an educated and enhghtened people, ours more, and our Legislators will fail in their high obli- gations, if they do not, at the earhest practical peri- od, provide, from the common fund, an endowment and support for our Academies, Female Seminaries and Colleges. This State owes an unpaid debt of gratitude to a great man, once a citizen of this town,"* for his noble and effective efforts on behalf of class- ical, as well as common school education. To him, more than any one man, are we indebted for our com- mon school system, established upon the principle, thai the property of the State must educate the youth of the State, and that such education is to be exten- ded to the highest literary pursuits in any of our Col-, leges. Who does not desire a reinstatement of that system ? But it is not the purpose of this brief ad- *Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, LL. D. dress to dwell upon this interesting topic, or to dis- cuss at length the obligations of the State in refer- ence thereto. So much as has been said is simply in the way of suggestion upon this most vitally im- portant subject. Several thousand young men have again, this year, bid adieu to Alma Mater^ and commenced in earnest, the business of life. The learned professions have received, and are receiving their large annual contri- butions of zealous, ardent, aspiring and cultivated minds. Impulse, too, is given to almost every avoca- tion. Many have gone to niipart knowledge to oth- ers, and have devoted themselves to the business of teaching. Sad is it to reflect that this arduous, self- denying and most meritorious branch of public ser- vice furnishes so Uttle reward. Teaching, it is true, has its attractions and sometimes its ample rewards ; but as a whole and as a system, it has not yet in this country attained its proper position or its true emi- nence. It needs more the fostering protection and support of the public, and to be made a profession in all its branches^ which shall always claim the devo- tion of a hfe. Like the other learned professions, it should be entered upon, not as the means of ac- quiring other professions, but as the engagement of life, and while it should receive the high honor due to the Instructor of youth, it should, also, be the source of fair remuneration and competent support to its Professors. 10 It is well known that efforts to this end are being extensively made, and it is hoped, they may be crown- ed with most ample success. The graduates of the Colleges, who devote themselves to the business of instruction are doing very much to elevate the character of that profession. They are ahvays to be found advocating a high standard of teaching, and are in that way accomplishing much good. The field before them is a broad one. The cultivation has hitherto been indifferent. It needs deep plowing, draining and fertilizing, and it wdll yield a rich re- ward. There is a vast amount of superficial education in the land. Deep digging and deep foundations are too much neglected. The showy, and not the sohd, is too often the system. The consequence is a large amount of vapid and inane qualifications for the learned professions, and so few comparatively of em- inent Divines and Jurists. This is, by no means, a suggestion more applicable to our ow^n times, than the age which preceeded them. Indeed, in many re- spects, there has been a vast progress in sound, sol- id education within the past half century. It is scarce- ly that length of time, since an appointed preacher, before a large and highly respectable association of Christian ministers and churches, received the con- gratulations of many of his brethren, for proving (as they thought) that "College learning" was the vain philosophy, against which the learned and inspired Apostle warned the churches. That denomination 11 has now its Colleges, Universities and Theological Seminaries, and its classically educated ministry, and the churches, then addressed, are contributors to the endowment of these institutions, and zealous for an educated ministry. This is only one among the many illustrations, which might be adduced to .the positive advance of sohd education in the nation. It is pleasant on an occasion hke this, to look upon the progress which has been made in several of the larger Christian denominations in the education of their ministry. This is especially gratifying when a few brief considerations are presented of the posi- tion and influence of the Christian ministry. Cum- bered by establishment, with no class, irrespective of choice or qualification, devoted thereto, the minis- try of this country is the free spontaneous devotion of its members. Its character, as a whole, is deter- mined, to a great extent, by this freedom of choice. In this respect, too, it partakes largely of our free and liberal institutions. The American pulpit, elo- quence, learning, ability and influence may well chal- lenge comparison with that of any nation, Ours is a land of free speech^ and no where is that freedom to be more prized, to be more valued and more fearlessly sustained than in the pulpit. He who would fetter a free press, or a free tongue, does violence to^ the fundamental principles of liberty ; but he who* muzzles the pulpit, does sacrilegious violence to lib- erty in her purest, holiest temple. God is Lord of 12 the conscience of His ministers m a peculiar man- ner. Called to His holy ministry, they may not fear man more than God. No men and no institutions of men have a right to prescribe to them what they may or may not preach. With the Word for their guide, with the wants of the perishing around them, as their incentive, they have a responsibihty above that which belongs to any man or any usages of so- ciety to over- awe or control. To instruct in Divine things, and in those high morals, inculcated in the Divine Word, is one delight- ful part of their sacred duty, and well do they per- form it. Look into the Churches of the land on the Sabbath. Listen to the hundreds of thousands of sermons there, on each returning sacred day deliv- ered. Consider the varied characters of the preach- ers and hearers. Look at the congregations of ev- ery sect, name and hue, of every condition in life, the educated and refined, the unenlightened, unedu- cated and ignorant, the pohshed and the rude. To each and all (if they be not perverse in heart and mind) is wisdom imparted and knowledge conveyed. As an element of sound instruction, no institution can compare with the pulpit. Blot out our Colleges and Schools, but leave us our free pulpits, and we will rebuild them all, endow them all, and fill them all in brief time. Break down our pulpits, and we merge into irrecoverable barbarism and heathenism. Our ministers most deservedly exercise a larger 13 share of influence and control than any (perhaps than all) other professions. It is matter of congrat- ulation that it is so, for as a class, they are cultiva- ted and refined gentlemen. Their vocation is one of love and mercy. Their characters, blameless and harmless, without rebuke. They are every where the champions of education, of good morals and good order. They stand foremost in every good enterprise, and in self-denial, and labors of love and charity, they leave all other classes far behind. This is a tame eulogium upon the American pulpit of this day, and the only purpose in view, on this oc- casion, is to speak, in plain terms, of this profession as it deserves. It needs no vmdication, but it may be permitted a layman to render this slight tribute of regard to a profession he deems the most impor- tant to all the vital interests of a beloved country and a sin-stricken world. But even in this free country and in this enlight- ened age, there is much mistake, misapprehension and ignorance in respect to the true freedom of the pulpit, and censures, unjust criticism as well as open opposition, are often resorted to, in order to curb its freedom or control its influence. The delig-htful du- ty of instruction has been adverted to, and while the ministry confines its public services to imparting wis- dom, no attempts are made to restrain it, if unac- companied by the no less imperious but much less pleasant dutv of rebuke. There are fashions, usa- 2 14 ges and institutions which will not hear rehuke. They may have their foundations in pride, in avarice or in any other base passion ; they may degrade and debase, and even destroy. They iiiay be at variance with some of the plainest precepts of our holy re- hgion and subversive of the Saviour's Golden Rule ; but from their power and influence, and perhaps control, they must not be rebuked. These institu- tions may darken the hopes, destroy the happiness, and rest as a deadly incnhus upon millions, pervert- ing the right and sustaining the wrong, but minister- ing to the ease, and comfort and enjoyment of oth- ers, and promoting the interests of the few at the expense of the many. They may not be rebuked. It is the glory of our age that we have, for the most part, a free and fearless pulpit, and come evil, and sin and wrong, in what shape they may, their guises are torn off in naked deformity, they are held up to merited rebuke. Emerging from the pleasant associations and warm friendships of College life, many graduates will enter the Legal profession. It is already well filled, but for the hard student, the energetic and aspiring young man, there is ample room and abundant reward. The life of a successful lawyer is a hfe of constant study, of unremitting toil and labor. No men, in any walk of life, are (of necessity) harder workers. It is not ne- cessary to say that through the legal profession is laid the great highway to political preferment, and the 15 regard and estimation, in which the profession is held by the pubUc, is well evinced in the honorable sta- tions conferred upon the Bar. Their necessary train- ing, their duties, their connection with the public ad- ministration of justice, lead, of course, to tbis result An uneducated lawyer, is usually, a very contemptible man, and seldom, in this searching profession, do any rise above mediocrity, except when building upon the foundation of a good education. >S'eZ/^educated men are sometimes found adorning eminent positions in profession, but they are comparatively few. Educa- ted men, too, are often drones in the hive, without energy, life, character, business or influence. Suc- cess here must depend upon well directed and perse- vering effort and constant study. The mind must be fired by love of the profession, by determination to master all its intricacies and to be at its head. It is not absolutely necessary in this particular, that a man should be, in the usual acceptation of the term, a man of one idea^ but in devotedness to his profes- sion, the nearer he approaches that point, without imbibing its narrowness, the more certain is his suc- cess. The law, in all its branches of theory and practice, of law and equity must be his hobby, and no mental pursuits must be permitted to divert his attention from the one great object of mastering the law in all its branches. The successful lawyer is, of similar necessity, a student of all branches of useful know- 16 ledge, and unless well informed upon all ordinary and many abstruse subjects, he will often be found wanting in time of need. Of all the special subjects of re- search, none is more important than the Bible, and some of our ablest jurists have drawn from its lofty inspiration, its sublime thoughts and teachings and pure principles, those arguments which have render- ed their names immortal. A lawyer is not furnished for his work, without a critical knowledge of the principles of law and equity, revealed through the Great Lawgiver. It would be pleasant, did the oc- casion and time admit, to trace, in some detail, the cardinal principles of the common law as revealed in the Bible, as well, as to show how the .common law tribunals derive their origin from the courts, ori- ginally established among the ancient Israelites. This, however, is not now the object of this address. The legal profession is there distinctly recognized as an aid in the administration of justice. Under our system, the legitimate and proper sphere of the coun- sel and advocate is in aid and furtherance of the cause of right and justice, and right and justice could not be arrived at, nor equity and truth adminis- tered, but by the help of this office of counsel and advocate. There have sometimes been wrong apprehensions in reference to the part assigned to counsel in the ad- ministration of justice. It is admitted that at times, members of the profession may have given occasion 17 for the reproachful speaking of their high office. What walk in life, what profession or avocation is not afflicted by unworthy niembers ? But the calhng is to be judged by its object, its purposes and its de- signs. Courts of justice, for the suppression and punish- ment of crime, and courts for the setthng and sus- taining the rights of persons and property, are likely to be always required. At least in the present ad- vance of our civilization and Christianity, we see no prospect of being able to dispense with them. They stand around us, the safeguards of all our most in- valuable rights. The man who never enters them, no less than he who uses them for redressing his wrongs, is their constant debtor. While they are the ''terror to evil-doers,'^ no less are they ''the praise" or pro- tection "of them who do well." For their efficiency and power, they are and ever must be dependent up- on the legal profession. From no other source can the learning, and the skill be drawn, which are ne- cessary to furnish the Bench with efficient judges. Their success as judges, invariably depends upon their training at the Bar, and without the contest, the earnest, full and ardent contest of the Bar, the Judge would never acquire the proper skill to dis- cern, and power clearly to apprehend the intricate and complicated questions, presented for his solution. Under the system of Common Law as derived from our fathers, and built up elevated and refined, as well as enriched by some of the greatest minds which have ever existed, the office of the Advocate is hardly inferior to that of the Judge. That system has long existed. Its great object is the ascertain- ment and enforcement of right, truth and justice be- tween man and man. Its principles are those of eternal truth and right, and wherever these lead, it follows implicitly, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. Fiat Jiistitia is its cardinal maxim. It allows no perversions. It tolerates no short-comings. Its aims are simple^ right ; to control and correct all that is wrong ; to give to all redress, and to afford to all protection. It recognizes no privilege of class or condition, but the humblest individual finds its broad cegis of protection spread over him, equally with his more exalted neighbor. With the burning inquiry ever sounding from its voice, what is truth^ what is right, what is just, amid all the fierce contentions, which the evil passions, malignity and perverseness of man has excited, it has devised a plan for answering those questions and arriving at this truth and right. In this world of sel- fishness and sin, of wrong, oppression and extortion, this is a mighty office. To perform a most impor- tant and essential part in this work, the office of Counsel and Advocate has been estabhshed ; and it is here repeated, that without the due exercise of this office, justice could not be safely admnnstered. 19 It is conceded that this admirable system of Judges and Advocates, from the weakness of the one, or the wickedness of the other, is hable to abuse. It is not an omniscient Judge, and is therefore falhble. It is not a perfect-man advocate, and is therefore liable to per- vert and mislead. But these are faults, not of the system, but of its administration ; mcident as well to the weakness as the wickedness of human nature. The question recurs. What is the best mode of ascertaining the truth in controverted and disputed cases? The wisdom of ages has answered. An able, learned and honest Bench, and a well disciplm ed, learned and faithful Bar. The Counsel owes his highest obhgation to the court. His oath is of equal fidelity to the court and the client, and he can no more divest himself of his obligations to the one than to the other. When his duty is faithfully per- formed to the one it is equally performed to the other. Duty to the court and to the cause of justice, equal- ly demands all fidelity to the client, and it is a mistake to suppose that the advocate (not wandering from the truth) can ever too earnestly press his client's cause upon the court. The wit and the wisdom of man, sanctioned by the wisdom from above, has de- vised this plan for ascertaining the truth. It arrays on each side of the disputed question, counsel and advocate, equally skilled, with equal facilities for in- vestigation of all the merits of the ease, and it re- quires of them to pour into the mind of the Judg% 20 all the arguments which can be raised, and all the reasons which can be urged for either side of the cause. Nothing short of full, searching, exhausting argument will suffice. Nothing short of earnest zeal can be accepted. Persuasive eloquence here finds its legitimate sphere. Between these, sits the learn- ed Judge. To aid him in arriving at the right, is all this ardent zeal, this fervid argument and impassioned eloquence, and by these means his mind,- quickened, elevated and enlightened, arrives at the truth. In this view of the obligation of an advocate, Lord Brougham spoke, when he said "That every power of mind, every effort of learning, and all the zeal pos- sessed by the advocate, belonged to the chent, and that the advocate was bound to use his utmost effort to advance the cause of the chent." No perversion of truth, no falsehood can be allowed. Indeed, they never serve the purpose of the chent. Detection usually follows, and that detection is accompanied by disaster. It has been deemed proper to introduce this view of the office and duty of the advocate, as well because of the fitting occasion, as because it is not so well understood and fully appreciated, and be- cause some men of ingenuous minds have been led to turn from the profession under the erroneous im- pression that their duties to their clients might lead them to espouse the cause of falsehood and wrong. I have ventured, too, upon this topic, because I ove my profession, and am wilhng to advocate its integ- 21 rity, its usefulness, nay, its absolute necessity. I am aware that the legal profession is, sometimes, said to be a tiecessary evilj and only to be sustained be- cause it is a necessary evil. It is such an evil as is government. It is rendered necessary as is medicine. The diseases of the body render the physician a necessary evil. The maladies of the body politic require the administration of executive and judicial government, and in the latter the lawyers, as has been shown, occupy a most important position. It is an error to suppose that those, who are quiet, law-abiding citizens, have no interest in the government. To that government, and especially to the legal tribunal, is the peaceable and order-lov- ing citizen indebted for the very security which gives him his peace, and secures his quiet enjoy- ment of all his rights and happiness. But not alone to the learned professions, are our Colleges sending their annual contributions. While the sacred ministry, with its honors, its high and holy and devoting aims, has and ought to have its hold upon the ardent. Christian mind ; while the le- gal profession has its allurements for the aspiring ; yet still to many the physical sciences have strong and mastering attractions. It would be pleasant, did time admit, to consider some of these avoca- tions in detail, and to discuss their merits and claims, but any lengthened views of them is preclu- ded. 3 22 This nineteenth century, thus far, has been one of wonderful progress in physical science. The cultivated minds, devoted to the application of na- ture's two great forces, electricity and steam, have outstripped the speed of the sun, and levelled the mountains, and are introducing to our neighborly brotherhood the nations of the earth. Old and barbarous systems of government, under their influ- ence, are passing away, but their death throes have convulsed and are now convulsing the nations. The effete systems of the past will never yield to the enlightening physical and moral influences of this century, without mighty convulsions. The steam- boat, the rail-road, and especially the Electric- Tele- graph, are mighty instruments of civihzation, and mighty means of enlightment to the nations, and they will, accompanied as they ever have been, by great moral influences, eventually work the over- throw of the false systems of religion and govern- ment, now holding in abject submission the millions of earth. Strong are the attractions, and important the field here opened for the aspiring youth. The pecuniary reward is certain. All these professions and engagements have their claims, but they are all accompanied, to a greater or less extent, by the mental excitements, conflicts and toils which are not always pleasant. We turn from them to only one other vocation, which will also re- 23 ceive accessions from the young men, now gradua- ting. The cultivation of the soil will have its educated votaries, and happy is the young man who is privi- leged to devote himself to agricultural pursuits ! "When our first parents were without sin, they were placed amid the fruits of earth, and dwelt among its never-fading flowers. Gorgeous must have been the beauty of Eden, when "every tree pleasant to the sight," was there, rich ; indeed, when "every tree good for food," brought forth its spontaneous wealth, and placed it at the feet of its master, man. Now by toil and labor, are these sweets and these riches to be obtained from our mother earth. Yet, how grand that avocation, which tends, by its labors and toils, to bringing back this earth to its primeval state, and if until "the fullness of times be come," it cannot be entirely restored to its original fertility and glory, yet can make some approaches to that object, can remove the thorn and the thistle, can cause the beautiful flower to bless the sight as it did in Eden, and partially remove the physical curse, and amid all that is withering and blighting in the moral world, looks to the Great Advocate and In- tercessor for introducing the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. It needs not argument, or illustration, to prove that the life of the agriculturist, (all things consid- ered) is the happiest state of man •, that it is most 24 honorable, all admit. That it has attractions, oay, fascinations of a high character, is in proof, by the votaries it draws from all other professions. It has its matter of fact and every-day routine and detail of labor, that looked at superficially, seem far from en- chanting, but what profession or avocation has not similar drudgery. It has trials and troubles ! What position on earth is free from them ? But to the culti- vated mind there is ample field for improvement and expansion, and for high enterprise and skill. The earnest devotion to husbandry in all its branches, carries with it its constant reward, and truly blessed is that man who can lay aside the turmoil and vexa- tion of business, or the mental fatigues and perplex- ities of professional life, and fill up his days in the peace, quiet and usefulness of a well conducted farm ! It is matter of regret, that educated men have so frequently considered agriculture as an in- ferior pursuit, and especially that young men, leav- ing the halls of learning, have so often regarded it as an inferior, if not a degrading pursuit. It is, how- ever, gratifying to know that such views are passing away, and that this most important vocation is en- grossing some of the best informed minds of the age. If a calling may claim to be honorable, as it is important to all the interests of this world, this surely may claim to be most honorable. Every one of the thousand millions of earth's teeming popula- tion, is daily dependent upon the production of 25 earth for daily subsistence. This supply, not now falling in rich profusion from ever-bearing fruit trees, as in Eden, is to be produced by man's constant care. What dependencies upon effort! What stim- ulus to labor 1 How highly to be prized is that pur- suit which gives to all, day by day, their daily bread, as the almoners of heaven's mercies to the needy and starving ! But no matter what the profession which the young man, now entering upon the business of life, may be called to select, each has its attractions, and each its pecuUar claims, and as to all, a few general remarks may be made. There is a sure road to eminence, in all of them. It is not trodden by the indolent or dissipated. The young man, who expects to attain that eminence in any walk of pro- fessional hfe, must part company with enervating pleasures and pursuits, and gird himself with strong and stern resolves to maintain person and repute unsuUied. There is no paved way for genius, even to high and honorable positions. The toils may not be bitter, but they must be constant and unremitting. The reward is sure. What has been said of the legal profession is true of all. The object and aim of all preparation and discipline is to fire the mind, control the will, bind all other things to its purpose, subdue all opposition, break down or remove every impediment. No hindrance is to be considered as insuperable. With inflexible will and untiring in- ^6 dustry, is the pursuit to be followed. With these, everything is accomplished. But let the young man listen to the Siren's song of pleasure, visit her enchanted grounds and yield to her blandishments, and manhood is subdued and Jife a blank ! '^ U: ,n,!?Ii;i\^Y OF CONGRESS 029 892 265 4