THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 0378 
 
 UK3 
 
 1829H 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00036720272 
 
 This book must' not 
 be token from the 
 Library building. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
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 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
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 \^^l 
 
 c :' - 
 
 AN 
 
 U A T S O N 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL, 
 
 On Wednesday, June 24tl), 18-29, being the day before the 
 Commennpmpnt of the College, 
 
 ACCORDISG TO '^'•'* 
 
 '1 
 
 THE ANNUAL APPOINTMENT 
 
 THE TWO LITERARY SOCIETIES 
 
 N. 
 
 I I 
 
 
 Cs. 
 
 BELONGING TO THE 
 
 BY WILLIAM HOOPER, A, M. , j^^ 
 
 PROrESSOR or ancient languages in the UNIVEIlSITYt ^ 
 
 HILLSBOROUGH: 
 PRINTED BY DENNIS HEARTT. 
 
 1829. 
 
 ^ 
 
 > 
 

 
;^1^ @ :;> il >2N H @ 22?' 
 
 VW\'WWVVW 
 
 My Respected Audience: 
 
 I HAD hoped that this luimial office of addressing you 
 would have always {allrn upon one of the alumni of this 
 collego, whose political standirig, or whose space in the eye 
 of his countt'y, would have attracted public attention and 
 curiosity. An annual appointment which would thus draw 
 within these silriit and sequestered precincts some of our 
 distinguislied citizens, might confer several important be- 
 nefits on the institution, by awakening afresh in their bt5= 
 soms the recollections of youth, and brightening the links 
 wliich hind them to their alma mater — while to the youth 
 lecciving their education, the presence and the addresses of 
 such visiters would be received as a mark of attention, 
 highly flattering, and fitted to inspire a noble emulation. I 
 need feel no mortification of pride in informing the audi- 
 ence, that if tiie first w ishes of the young gentlemen mak- 
 ing the appointment could have been gratified, you would 
 have had the pleasure of listening, this da^, to some dis- 
 tinguished speaker from abroad; nor would the members of 
 the university have had one selected from their body to 
 fulfil a task which sectna tntwc graceftiHj and appropriate- 
 ly committed to a stranger. But the failure of their appli- 
 cations in other quarters having devolved the duty upon me, 
 I shall be happy if I am able, in some slight degree, to ful- 
 fil the wishes of the literary body who have done me the 
 honour of making me their representative on this Dccasion, 
 and to compensate this polite auditory for the favour of 
 their presence. 
 
The subject lo whiclt your atlciii ion is re^pectluliy suli- 
 cited, is one which I kimw must be acceptable to every Ame- 
 rican ear: The rnospKCTS or ovu common couiNTiiy. It 
 there is any toitic vvhicli. more tlian others, i-^ selected as 
 the thf^ne o! those \v!io aim, either by the voice or the pen, 
 to captivate the hearing ami the hearts of thi3 n<!tion, it is 
 the splendid afiticipatlons of its future destiny. On these 
 we all love to dwell; and whih; we lose ourselves in fond 
 prophecies of our country's fortunes, we find a soothing 
 oblivion, or at least alleviation, of any chaj^rins which her 
 present imperfections m ay h i^ v t^^Lugpired. So far Hh' effect 
 is happy. But it may he doubted whether the Amcricaji 
 citizen, by irnlulginjc too sanguine hopes of the lufurej, is 
 not led to M.-preciatc the value of his prcsen- blessings, and 
 thus to deprive himself of thnt fullness of contentment and 
 gratitude^ wliich is called for by the already auspicious re- 
 sults of our govertiment, under the smiles of I'rovidence. 
 This dissatisfaction with the present, and this longing after 
 some good in reserve, rs to live for posterity — is to make 
 ourselves anxious, th »t they may be exempt from anxiety. 
 But should we taste with indiffeience tljc sweet fruits which 
 a hotmteous heaven is now dropping into our lap, or thrust 
 tbem aside nitl» disgust because they are not as large or 
 as luscious as we imagine might be yielded by the same 
 tree when brought to a higher state of cultivation? And 
 are we sure that the future is to surpass the present? Are 
 we sure that our country is nor now in its meridian of hap- 
 piness aird glory, and that no subsequent age will be as 
 prosperous as thi.s? Lci us lake a view uf our present con- 
 dition, and indulge in some speculations on what we have 
 to fear an«i what lo hope, from the revolution of years. 
 
 When we compare the history of our country since its 
 attainment of indepen«ience with that of all other nations, 
 we see so much of national enjoyment with so little alloy, 
 that our very felicity begets susptr ion and alarm. Ourcon- 
 tlition appears too happy to be lasting. We arc ready to 
 
apjH'ehPiKl thif a I'lng continuanco ot'siicli untrotibleiS exis- 
 tcfne is m<u'i; than uy one tiutiou mii^ht Ux'xpi^C IVuni : e 
 favouf of licaveu; aiifl wt' sometimes heave a bodins; sigh, lest 
 oup I'i verst-s are to bv as rapi'! atul calamitous as our pros- 
 pci'itv has been «vArly and brj.;iit: and rliat thu>) is to he 
 cquaiized the distribution of providential .a,ifts, which hith- 
 erto st-eni to have been heaped upoti ns wifh a p.uttal pio- 
 digality. That a people should Isave been pcrmitfeci to set- 
 tle down in the bosom of a boundless cojstinent, v,ilh«!ut 
 any territorial limits to stint their growth — without any 
 jealous neighbours to cru^At «!■ cripple thcTp feeble infancy — 
 that t!icy sliouEd have grown, in spite of impolitic legisla- 
 tion, to the stature of manhood, and tlien have been goad- 
 ed by increasing misrule to try their stripling strength 
 against tlie gigantic might of the parent nation— that they 
 should have persevered in the unequal contest for sivea 
 long years, and at lesigth have gloriously triumphed — that 
 they should have escaped the usual fatality of revolutions, 
 and did not find a master and a t>rant iii some one of the 
 chiefs who led them to victory — that with a magnanimous 
 calmness and deliberation never before witnessed m any 
 people, they elected a council of their wisest senators to 
 frame for them a system of government, binding the seve- 
 ral parts into one liai'moniou;^ confederacy, making *»eplu- 
 ribus unum;" — that they should have adopted this govi^rn- 
 ment with so marvellous usianimity (the U'^ual selfjsh and 
 turbulent passions that niiglit have been expected to mar 
 such a work seeming lo lie dormant or extinct) — that half 
 a century of nlTitiTst~rrntntirrTTrpteT! p^arer amniie exclusive 
 ownership of an immense territory, should have afi'orded 
 them the most propitious opportunity of making an experi- 
 ment, how a nation could succeed under so free and popu- 
 lar a government — that the experim< «it has succeeded, and 
 that during that half century we ha\e had nothing to do 
 but to grow and spread as rapidly as amplitude of room -..nd 
 exuberance of plenty and incessant immigration could make 
 
G 
 
 us— -all these lliitigs compose sucli a rare aggrepjalion of po 
 litfcal blessings, ar, may well awaken fears tliat \vc liavc al- 
 ready had more than our s!iar<*of good anionc; the njcnibcrs 
 of the human family, and that we must now expect our dnr 
 portion of those misfortunes which have fallen to tlic lot of 
 all other nations. We are now in the simplicity sind inno- 
 cence of youth. Necessary industry yet keeps our maiinerr 
 incorrupt. Overgrown wealth has not yet introduced cr.- 
 ervating luxury with its train of vices. Our citizens, tiiinl; 
 scattered over the spacious continent, enjoy, on fiieir exten- 
 sive farms, all the ease^n n d pl cnij;^ they could wish. They 
 are not Tempted by desperate circumstances to aim at revo- 
 lution; their wits are not sliarpened to crime by liard no 
 cessity, and the rude collision of multitudes struggling for 
 the same objects. What can we expect in reserve for us 
 better than is already in our hands? Ought a nation to 
 desire more than that a vast majority of its populatiuu 
 should possess an easy competence, and the safe enjoyment 
 of lif», liberty and property? Can wc wish or hope for 
 more unrestrained freedom ol thought and action, for light- 
 er taxes, for more undisiurbed repose? Shall we value i' 
 at a cheap rate that our youth are not called out to shed 
 their biood in foreign battle, that we know nothing of in- 
 vading armies passing through our land, sending panic be- 
 fore ibem, and leaving carnage and de^^olation and mourn- 
 ing in their rear — that every citizen has the fostering hand 
 ot govtrjuiient to encourage his industry and protect him 
 in its products, while he is asked but a pittance in requital 
 = — that iie should be able ihus to accumulate wealth all hi.-; 
 Jife, and bequeath it as !;e pleases to his children? ThCwtse 
 features in our political condition seem to exemplify that 
 image of n.itional felicity, depicted by the expressive lan- 
 guage or Hoiy Writ, whvn in every part of a land is heard 
 « the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of 
 the bridegroom an(! the voice of the bride." Would not 
 every political economist and reformer of Europe think 
 
his country happy if it could just enjoy what ours has en- 
 joyed for the last fifty years? Would he not consider his 
 darling projects consummated, if he could only reduce the 
 complicated and oppressive establishments of the old world 
 to the simplf* model of this young republic, and leave man, 
 as he is in America, to the free pursuit of happiness, untram- 
 melled by taxes and monopolies and prescriptive rights and 
 privileged orders? Europe looks on with amazement and 
 with envy at a nation so free and yet so tranquil — so sale 
 without the overawing presence of military force — ai the 
 spectacle of a government sustained almost without taxa- 
 tion, and religion flourishing without thesucroui of t!»c na- 
 tional arm, or the aid of the national pursp. Her subjects 
 who visit us, and traverse our land, behold with admira- 
 tion a people spread over a vast empire, contentedly pur- 
 suing the arts of peace, and, at its most distant extrtmities, 
 gracefully according spontaneous homage and obedience to 
 the mild sway of a government, which loves to draw with 
 silken cords, and to hide, till hateful necessity reveals it, 
 the strength which can enforce its requisitions. 
 
 Historians admonish us. that nations, like the sun, have 
 their time of rising, of meridian, and of decline; and we are 
 familiar with the comparison of a whole people's existence 
 _to the life of a single individual, which has its youth, its 
 manhood, and old age. It is natural for each nation, while 
 it contemplates the transient date and the convulsive deaths 
 of its predecessors, to imagine that itself will have the wis- 
 dom or the good fortune to avoid the usual causes of politi- 
 cal destruction^ and to lm\ye that th^ seaKon of its glory will 
 be indefinitely extended. And must we believe all such ex- 
 pectations to be merely the pleasing illusions of self love, 
 destined to certain disappointment? Must we adopt the 
 desponding sentiment of the Roman poet 
 
 omnia fatis 
 
 In pejus ruere, et retro sublapsa referri. 
 
that all human things tend by a sad ialality to dcgcncra< v 
 and dissolution? Must we, in tl."c case ot ouc own dear roini- 
 try particulatly. admit the belief that the bright vision wo 
 have been C'litemplating will speedily vanisit? that these 
 numerous blessings are but dew drops which silver tlic 
 morning of our existence, as bright and as tsansient too? 
 Shall we, by unfriendly analogies drawn from vegetable and 
 animal life, where whatever is most rapid in growth soonest 
 hastens to decay, presage, from our early maturity, a biiel" r 
 term than ordinary of national duration? No. Let us rath- 
 er choose to entertain brig hter h opes for tl»,cd^>stinics of the 
 world. I«ct us hope that tije lessons derived from the me- 
 lancholy wrecks of fallen empires will not be lost upon the 
 present generation. Let us indulge the delightful belief, that 
 the active operation of the press, the consequent diffusion of 
 intelligence and freedom, and. above all, tiie kin(ily inlluencc 
 of Christianity, controlling the passions and riieenng tlic 
 hearts of men, furnish a security for national ijcrmanencc 
 and improvement, unknown to preceding ages. 
 
 \Vhile, however, the American patriot is glad to cling to 
 such consoling hopes, it \^ impossible for him not to feel some. 
 solicitude on ac( ount of certain frow ning spots in our blight 
 horizon. 
 
 Thr. first danger which meets his view and excites the 
 most dismal apprelnnsions, is disunion. When he con- 
 templates the immense extent of our empire, his mind will 
 somirtimes be agiuiteii with serious fears thai its parts can- 
 nut long cohtre, hot must fall asunder, b.v the mere effect of 
 nnwiefdy grtHtnosis. Tliis spaciou- tcriiiory he sees inter- 
 sected by many grand g: ographical divisions, large rivers 
 and high mountdins. forming natural boundaries for dis- 
 tinct nations. He asks iiiujself what moral ligaments suffi- 
 ciently strong, can bind together regions which nature 
 seems to have intended should be separated? The arm of a 
 powerful desp ifiNm. fixed in the centre, might, he could 
 suppose, wield so long a sceptre. By tiie dispersion of devo-= 
 
9 
 
 led legions and sei'viie satraps through the niimciuus pr«> 
 vinccs, di<^coii[piit mis^ht be hushed and QMery rebpiliouij 
 murrniir' stifled. But how, liev^ill say, can a government 
 which allows such unbounded f'reedora of thought and ac- 
 tioi wiiJOii actually excm|)Iifi*s the fail- theory of freedom 
 conceived by Cicero, that >« mr n may think what they please 
 and speak %vhat tl»ey think." iiow caji such a government 
 control tfie tr<'f) wiifs of so many myriads, and lestrain the 
 natural vvanlonuess of \he hiinMn mind, in lo\ing innova- 
 tion, and, \i\i»ile already in possession of much good, seek- 
 ing for somefhnrg iictter hv a rhan^ei^ 
 
 Tiic roinmou danger of dissolution, to be dreaded by eve- 
 ry overgrown empire, he sees increased, in ourca^iC, by the 
 heu'rogeneous materials of which the mass is composed. 
 Wt;e our people, he wi!! sny. all of one blood, had they 
 grown up in the same habits, and been attaclied to our in- 
 stitutions by a long course of filial nurture, we njight cher- 
 ish the hope (hat the evil day would be long delayed, if it 
 could not bo fiiKiliy aves-ted. But mingled among us as are 
 thousands and tens of thousands from ail parts of the old 
 v.'oild. and some of thein materials of the most dangerous 
 and explosive cliaracter, bringing from their respective 
 countries minds haidened by desperate circumstances, and 
 familiar vilh bloodshed, intrigue and revolution, how can 
 the most hopeful propitet anticipate permanence of union? 
 Such a combination might Ise said to resemble the ill com- 
 pacted image in the vision of llis Babylonian monarch, 
 whose head was of gold, while its legs were partly of iron 
 and partly of xirtj; — ^ — —- — -- — ^~^ 
 
 Of all these perilous elements of foreign mixture w ill he 
 contemplate with chief alarm, that race, whose complexion, 
 at once a banner of union and of vengeance, must forever 
 forbid amalgamation, and whose exclusion from all the bless- 
 ings of tlie government must make them wish for its over- 
 throw. The intermixture of these ingredients with the whole 
 mass of our population, he cannot but perceive, produces 
 
among us a state of mind much the same wilh that of a man 
 who [».is f;un-}>f)svder stored away in his cellar. It is a con- 
 tcmplatiou of these dangers, paitic ularly the last, which 
 gathers on tlie patriot's I)row the cloud of care, which ex- 
 tortfi from the father a sigh of solicitude for the fate of his 
 children, wliich startler, with terrific dreams the slumbers 
 of the mother, and makes her press her tender babe more 
 closely to her bosom*. Every fatler of a family, while he 
 muses on the probable issues of futurity, may indeed hope, 
 from the broad foundation of our national edifice, and from 
 ihe excellence of its maiujuateriais, that it will withstand 
 many amTTe shock of the elements, and preserve safe the 
 l)ulk of its inhabitants. But at the same time he may anti- 
 cipate with sliuddering the agony of his children who shall 
 jvihabit it, while the storm is howling over their heads, 
 and tlie probability that they may be overwhelmed by the 
 fall of some interior part of the fabric. A large majority of 
 the family is saved, but the part dearest to him is crushed. 
 The last act of his country*s drama he has little doubt will 
 be brought to a happy contlusion, but what if the calami- 
 tics of his own children are to constitute the tragedy of the 
 foregoing scenes! 
 
 Let it not be said that these are gloomy spectres conjur- 
 ed up by a distempered fancy, or the idle alarms of a tim- 
 orous spirit. They have disturbed the breasts of some of the 
 soberest and firmest statesmen of this country. Nor do we 
 show superioi' courage or sagacity by laughing at such ap- 
 prehensions. True courage is evidenced by dat ing to con- 
 template danger as it is approaching, and providently 
 adopting measures to avert it. Timidity, on the other hand, 
 works itself into a heat, refuses to listen to cautionary ad- 
 vice, dares not to stop and deliberate lest its blood should 
 cool, but rushes forward holding its hand before its eyes, 
 Jest it should see evils which it has not the nerve to con- 
 
 * Et trepidffi matres pressere ad pecfora natos. K£rg-. 
 
11 
 
 temjilrtte. Let us not be so fond of indulgiiif? s^a> visions of 
 our roiiotry's CPilain glory, as lo bopxaspcrutcil if any one 
 ■.vhisjtcj" Ihfit tlje contrary !;•> possible. The infelicity oi' 
 monarchs in being doomed nevci' to licar tbc trutli, is pro- 
 verbial. But it is quite possible Tor republican ears to be- 
 come as intolerant of unplcasanf communications as those ol 
 kings; and a reference to history migiit sliow, that the chief 
 danger of democracies consists in yielding themselves Uji to 
 the flattering counsels of venal demagogues, rather than 
 to the faithful admonitions of their honest patriots. 
 
 Let ns then, instead of eliuttingour ears with ineredulity 
 and resentment against all propijecics of evil, ratlur like a 
 wise and prudent people, consider whether there is anj' re- 
 deeming virtue in our fabric of government and the charac- 
 ter of our people; or wiiether timdy means may not be 
 adopted which may prevent the apprehended mischief. 
 
 With respect to that event so much to be abhorred 
 and dreaded, the disunion of the States, are not vve war- 
 ranted in entertaining goodly hopes for the confederacy, 
 from out* unprecedented advantages for a fair experiment of 
 govt rnment? In most countries that have ever existed, the 
 bulk of the population, the physical strengtii of the nation, 
 was not interested in the permanency of tlie established 
 sovereignty. They saw in that establishment little more to 
 tljem than a system of restraints and incumbrances, while 
 all the b< nefits of the social order were concentrated upon 
 a few privileged classes. Hence they were led to hope an 
 amenduient of their circumstances from every revolution; 
 and as soon aBUnyTKvorabTec^rrjiiTTctxire presented the pro- 
 mise of success, or some bold demagogue blew into a flame 
 their smothered discontent, or some popular hero showed 
 them their collected strength and offerod them redress by 
 the sword, they rose and overthrew their government with- 
 out scruple or remorse. Such governments were edifices re- 
 sembling inverted pyramids. They stood critically on a 
 qjoint, while a vast superincumbent vvright hung tottering 
 
13 
 
 in the air. So Jong as cunning statesmen could manage by 
 tlieir dexterity to maintain the. delicate equipoist\ by bal- 
 ancing one part of the structure against the other, so long 
 the building stood. But let any untoward accident, any 
 breath of wind, or the push of a foreign hand, cause a lean- 
 ing To either side, and the whole cumbrous mass came thun- 
 liering dov^ n and whelmed every thing in ruin. Happily for 
 us, our government is based upon the will of the governed. It 
 was framed by the people, it is administered by the people 
 and for the people. Nor does it arrogate to itself perfection, 
 and, like tiie laws of tJie_M£lks_and ^^jans, forbid all 
 change, 4«rt'^ohtains in its structure provisions Itrr pacific 
 and legium^te amendments. Should experience, therefore, 
 prove any existing ordinance to be grievous, there needs no 
 political convulsion to throw it off. The people who feel the 
 grievance have but to say to thfir-delegated authorities, re- 
 move it, and straightway it disappears. 
 
 Besides the contentment and tranquility likely to per- 
 vade the popular mass from the imtnunities so fully en- 
 joyed, we have much to hope for our permanent union 
 from the peculiar form of our federal government — its 
 happy adaptstion to «ur circumstances — the state govern- 
 ments supplying all the exigencies of local legislation, 
 while the united strength of the confederacy spreads the 
 broad shield of its protection over the general concerns, 
 and gives dignity and weight to ail our foreign opera- 
 tions. It would seem that if so wide an empire can co- 
 here under a free governmi nt, the system we have adopt- 
 ed must be the one whit b promise's ii. What rare calami- 
 ty shall overthrow a structure resting on so broad a basis! 
 What deep infatuation shall ever prompt a people, in qui- 
 et possession of such unpuraileied blessings, to hazard thera 
 all for the certain horrors and the precarious profits of a 
 revolution! Never had a government such claims to devo- 
 ted attachment, never were a people so deeply interested in 
 the perpetuity of the constitution under which they lived. 
 
13 
 
 They Utivc tested its virtues by a half century o*" safety arm 
 prosperirv. Thev have lounJ it lo yieM them all the advan- 
 tagos of tVcedom. «hile it secures thern from the turbulence 
 of licentiousness. The more they are enlightened, the morp 
 clearly they will see how happy they are compared with 
 other nations, and the more dear to them will be their own 
 institutions. To show them the value of our union, that it is 
 t!ie hinge on whiclj hang all the grand interests and desti- 
 nies of our country, deserves tlie efforts of the wisest heads! 
 and the most able pens of the nation. Everything ought to 
 be done which has a tendency to strengthen the confederacy; 
 every thing ought to be reHgiuusJy avoided w!uch threat- 
 ens the disruption of our political ties. Let the farewell ad- 
 monitions of our common father, Washington, bo written in 
 letters of gold on every wall, and in indelible characters 
 on every memory. Let every American believe, let every 
 child be trained up to think, that as soon as the chain of our 
 union is broken, this continent, hitherto cso pcac; iul and 
 harnionious, will become, what Europe has long been, the 
 bloody arena of perpetual strife between neighbouring na- 
 tions; that bur rivers and mountains, which now serve like 
 so many arteries and bones to brace the frame and circu- 
 late the juices of our healthful system, will then be the 
 boundaries of watchful bes, lined with garrisons and frown- 
 ing with liorrid battlements — that our sons will be drawn 
 froin^the academic shade and the endearments of home to 
 "grasp the swoi-il and the bayonet for mutual slaughter, 
 while the willing aid of envious foreigners will be called in 
 to help on thc-wt7iicTjt^'aterH*l l»«+el*ery. Then will our 
 peaceful nights be startled by the peal of the drum; our plen- 
 tiful fields, hitherto gathered vtithout a partner, shall then 
 become the foraging ground of an invading army, and the 
 heavy exactions which each petty sovereignty must necessa- 
 rily impose, will devour the remnant that the enemy has 
 spared. Let these premonitory notes be run^ in thvi ears of 
 tl)e people. Let them be persuaded tbat, compared with these 
 
14 
 
 incTitable consequeuces oF tlifsunion, all the Iticoinfijicrjice 
 and privatiojis we liave e\ev suffered from our federal com- 
 pact — direct tax. embargo, war, tariff, are ligii^ as air. and 
 that the golden chain once snapped, we shall look back with 
 bitter but fruitless regret upon our once slighted hlfssings, 
 and curse tiie madness wliicli drove us to cast them away. 
 
 We touched upon ihe dangers to be apprehended from 
 the admixture of foreigners among us. Happily this dan- 
 ger will grow less with the lapse of time. The original em- 
 igrant becomes a much more harmless citizen tlian he was 
 in his own country. Oppression and poverty may have ren- 
 dered ItiiiLa <knigerous revolutionTsTfTiefeTTiut the easy cir- 
 cumstances in which he soon places himself liere, transform 
 Ills character, and attach him to the liospitable land that 
 has afforded him an asylum iu its bosom. If he leaves chil- 
 dren after him, they constitute a most valuable species of 
 population, possessing the improvements brought from old- 
 er countries with the patriotism of natives. Besides, the 
 influx of foreigners must abate, as our territoi-y is filic<l 
 with indigenous multitudes. And it is to be hoped, that the 
 example of our free institutions, together with the progress 
 of political philosophy, will more and more meliorate Eu- 
 ropean governments, teaching sovereigns that it is their true 
 interest to respect each other's rights and to make their 
 subjects happy. As such benign cliangestake place, the in- 
 ducements to emigration will subside, and thousands of rest- 
 less malccontents, who now sigh for elysian fields beyoud 
 the Atlantic, will then seek that happiness at home whiclv 
 they before thought was only to be found in the new world. 
 
 Against the danger that threatens us from servile insur- 
 rection, it surely becomes a wise people to make timely 
 provision. If no fears were awakened by growing numbers 
 and incurable discontent, still, the necessary degradation, 
 and inevitable viciousnessof so large a proporti(»n of its in- 
 habitants, would demand remedial measures from a humane 
 and enlightened nation, Thatelavery is the baneful parent of 
 
the vilest morals, every virtiioii3 lairiiiy in this soutlieiu cuun 
 try knows full well, and deplores that it hoJds witliin its 
 own walls a (ountain of moral poison, which, in spite of t!ie 
 most watchful care, is continually diffusing around its bale- 
 ful influence and infecting the health f all the household j 
 while public testimony to the same mournful fact is furnish- 
 ed by every jail and gibbet in the land. Many of the state 
 governments have awaked to tiie importance of this subject, 
 and we may hope that the progress of political wisdom and 
 an in'-reasing sense of the magnitude of the evil, will enlist 
 the remainder, who now stand back tr^indiflference or des- 
 pair,until at length a unanimity shall be effected, by which 
 the collective wisdom and resources of the nation shall be 
 put into action for the extirpation of the bitter root from 
 our soil. 
 
 A survey of the multiplied blessings which already crown 
 our land, might seem sufficient to beget a perfect content- 
 ment, and that all we could ask of heaven is, a continuance 
 of the same condition. But it is certain we arc not satisfied 
 with our present attainments; and perhaps this restless de- 
 sire of something better was implanted in communities a?? 
 it is in individuals, to prevent the stagnation of human af- 
 fairs, and to stimulate our nature to its highest capacities 
 of improvement. Our country, rapidly as it has advanced, 
 has not advanced rapidly enough for our ambition. In ma- 
 ny respects we are far below the nations ot Europe, and 
 we cannot wait with patience until the gradual progress of 
 time shall place us on a level with them. We pant for 
 ♦•more space wibe-woi'ld's thought^' Ourhomely, domes- 
 tic joys, our humble, quiet, unostentatious happiness, seems 
 tame and insipid. We sigh for some more splendid fortune. 
 We want the world to ring with our renown — to talk with 
 admiration of fields won by ihe valour of our troops, of 
 towns and fleets demolished by the thunders our navy, of 
 charmed senates hanging with breathless rapture on the 
 tongues ot our orators, of the sublimity of our poets, (he 
 
Iti 
 
 erufiition of our scholars, the profound wisdom o! our jurists 
 and philoHopliei"*. We want to see shining cities line a!'i 
 our streums, tiie whole face of our land smilint; like a cul- 
 tivated garden, paved roads and canals intersecting every 
 district, and universal wealth, lik^* a nii.;hty rivpr, rolling 
 its tide from one extremity of the empiri- to tiie other. Some 
 of these are legirimate and lauddble objfcts of ambition, 
 while others are purcliased at so dear a rate that a desire 
 after them is one of the most unfortunate passions that c.u! 
 enter the breast of a nation. Are wetimitten with a passion 
 for glory, that noisy, r-n-iing g'/ddess, who drives her 
 flaming cUiUHot over ^he^e'irth, (leTigTiTM^itfr-tlie roar of 
 her own wlie-ls and th<' i^<;ze wiiich she attracts? We ;or~ 
 get that the period of a natron's greatest glory is not the 
 period of its greatest happiness. Its years of tranquil en- 
 joyment roll on unnoticed. Tiiose are too tame a theme for 
 the historic muse, who ioves to record daring achievements 
 of valour, struggles of terrilic passion, and tragical scenes 
 of suffering. On tiiese she lavishes her powers of descrip- 
 tion, on these she expatiates at larg**, while she passes over 
 Avith brief and careless notice, a much longer space of a na- 
 tion's existence, unsignaSized by striking events, but spent 
 in happy lepose. Thus a river may flow on with a deep 
 and quiet current for hundreds of miles, tlie convenient tho- 
 rough-fare of the whole popolatian. and ytt never appear 
 in thecolumnsof a newspaper, or be honourod with a poet's 
 song; but if in its progress it chances to dash its waters 
 over a precipice anO form a frightftil cataract, that single 
 spot absorbs ail artmtion and wins>»ij r»=-nowTi. The words 
 of the poet are but too well verified by the history of na- 
 tions as well as of individuuis. tliat 
 
 " The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 
 
 Great talents are called forth only by great exigencies. Itt 
 ordinary times, they slumber unknown, or expend them- 
 selves in quiet schemes of domestic usefulness. And shall 
 
\r 
 
 ^e li'gret that no caliiinitous event orciira to thi'ou' these 
 talents into boldrr prominonrp? Shall we wish a whole na- 
 tion's mighty body to writlip in a convulsive fit, that we 
 may have tlie pleasure of s(eing the action of its larger 
 muscles? Let us remcmbei" too. that the s;imc tr>in^ limes 
 which pntvoke into public view talents ttiat arc valuaiilCj 
 also rouse tlio^e that are noxious. If an itigl'>rioas tt'dnq-iil- 
 lity deprives us of the delight which we should rcceivpfroin 
 sublime ex.'iibitions of virtue, it may save us the pain wnd 
 the horror of witnessing gigantic powers employed only to 
 destroy. Who of us could desire a volcano to burst forUi in 
 our neighbor.'iood, bti ausc perchance it might send forth 
 I'rom its bowels some lumps of gold? Do we pant for milita- 
 ry renown? Alas! let us consider what rivulets of blood mus': 
 be slicd to nouiisli the hnirels of a single hero. Let us cast 
 our eyes on Rome in the days of her Julius and her Cato, 
 on France in the days of her Louis XIV and her Napoleon, 
 on England during the campaigns of her Marlborou<;;h and 
 the exploits of her Nelson! Would America be willing to 
 earn such celebrity at such an expense, and pour out, liko 
 water, the blood of her sons and the tears of her daughters, 
 merely tliat she might boast of a few splendid victories? 
 Heaven delend us from such accursed ambition, and such 
 «* had eminence" in the production of misery! 
 
 Do we burn with emulation to give birth to illustrious 
 orators? These too, are the product of a nation's throes. 
 It is impending dangers, it is kren suffering, which alone 
 can furnish the requisite subjects, or kindle the requisite 
 passions for tUejU&^y of cto^euce^JIhe- brilliant thun- 
 derbolt is the child of the storm. Wlien was it, let me ask 
 again, that appeared the immortal speakers v\ho have illus- 
 trated their respective countries, in ancient and modern 
 times? Greece heard not the thunder of her Demo><thenes 
 till the Macedonian conqueror was on the march with chains 
 in his hands to put about her neck: nor dici the tongu*' of Cice^ 
 ro Htter its most powerful notes till his country trembled or 
 
 ft 
 
18 
 
 smaHed under the treasons and spoliations oFCataline, Ver- 
 res and Anthony. France never knew what It was for the 
 voice of a popular debater to command the bayonets of a 
 nation till the concussions of her Revolution struck out the 
 coruscations of Mirabeau. And when was it that the Britisli 
 parliament bowed to the resistless force of human speech, 
 and every Englishman, yea, every descendant of English- 
 men, gloried in the claim, 
 
 "That Chatham's language was his mother tongue?" 
 It was when the British fleet was battering down our towns, 
 and the British legions were carrying havock through 
 our fields^ w4*en the blobdy tro^nTe?rortl)e Indian toma- 
 hawk were shami'Jessly leagued witli British arms, that the 
 indignant spirit of Chatham electrified the senate of his 
 country witli such bursts of overpowering eloquence as it 
 had never heard before, and perhaps will never hear again. 
 When was it that the pen of Burke ruled the fn-e minds of 
 his countrymen, like the wand of a magician? It was when 
 the friglitful apparition of the French Revolution, starting 
 up by his side, awakened all his energies, that he snatched 
 the harp of prophecy and remonstrance, and pi)ured upon 
 the ear of his country such a tide of soul-subduing song, as 
 bounJ in trance her restless spirits till the season of dan- 
 ger and infatuation was over. To come to ourselves, if the 
 American bosom has ever beat to the powerful strokes of 
 senatorial eloquence, it was when the expected horrors of 
 War and servitude fired the hearts and the lips of our Hen- 
 ry and our Ames. 
 
 Let us not therefore sigh because our Congress-hall does 
 not continually ring with strains rivaling the noblest efTu. 
 sions of Greece, Rome and England. Our race of great 
 men is not extinct, nor is their influence unfelt when their 
 voices are not heard in the Capitol. It would bean immense 
 mistake to suppose that all the eloquence and all the wis- 
 dom which we own, is collected in our Congress, or that 
 tUose either in Congress or out of it, who ajiake the most 
 
19 
 
 noise, are the most important personages of onr nation. To 
 borrow an illustration from Mr. Burke, lei us not imagine^ 
 <' because half a dozen grass-hoppers make the field ring 
 "with their imjK)! tuiiate chink, that they are therelore tho 
 only inhabitants of the field, whilst thousands of great cat- 
 tle repose beneath the shadow of the oak, and chew the cud 
 in silence." It is perhaps as vveli or bettor for our country, 
 that in her tranquil days, her great men should he distri- 
 buted through various parts of tlie cmjiire, than collected at 
 the metropolis. Our national debates may be less splendid, 
 the world's gaze may be less attracted, but perhaps the na- 
 tion is a gainer. These valuable characters -.ue ilic salt of 
 the republic, whose utility depends not on its accumulation 
 in one spot, but on its diffusion. They spread a wholesome 
 seasoning through the general mass. While they are quiet- 
 ly engaged in tlje pursuits of private life, Ihey are the or- 
 naments of their several neighbourhoods, they diffuse around 
 them the mild radiance of civic virtue and are the focus o? 
 light and heat to their little spheres — at the bar, on tlie bench, 
 or in the pulpit, maintaining the laws and watching over the 
 morals of their country, setting an example of honest, intel- 
 ligent patriotism in the midst of their fellow-citizens, cor- 
 recting their erroneous opinions, liberalizing their narrow 
 minds, staying their headlong passions, teaching them to 
 appreciate the blessings of freedom, introducing among them 
 the improvements of the age, stirring them up to generous 
 enterprises, founding and fostering seminaries ot learning, 
 and thus lighting up new^uns to illuminate their country 
 ■when their own last beams sliaTl have sunk in the west. 
 They may, too, without appearing in Congress, be pushing 
 forward the general well-being of the Union by leading use- 
 ful measures in the legislatures of the several States. Mean- 
 time, should any public exigency call for their services; 
 they are ready, at the summons of their country, to guide her 
 councils or to wield her sword. 
 But I siiid there were legitimate and laudable objects of 
 
20 
 
 our ambition. These are, the culture of our native soil and 
 of our native mind — the bringing to the highest pitch oi 
 beauty the face of our country and the intellect and morals of 
 our citizens. Be these the aims of American ambition. Let 
 as yield witliout envy (o others tlie glory of having slaugh- 
 tered more thousands of our fellow nien than \v* have; of 
 b(ing more sltrewd than we in the intrigues of diplomacy. 
 Bt" it ours by industry, frugality and the hand of art. by a 
 diligent improvenii-nt of the blessings of peace and freedom, 
 to tuike «'vt'ry part of our land smile like the garden of 
 Eden— pressing fr<jm4b« eiUiiii!sJiilJj)osoi)i^'ie greatest pos- 
 sible qtraiTtityTirntiTriment for the increasing miltttmsof her 
 children, and, by every facility of transportation, to send 
 all the proceeds of our labour with ease and rapidity from 
 the mountains to the ocean and from the ocean to the moun- 
 tains — these are achievements vvljich we may attempt and 
 Iiope for without guilt and without presumption — victories 
 over impassible matter —the lights of science detecting, and 
 the arm of industry wielding, all the laterit faculties of na- 
 tuic till the subjugation of the inanimate as well as the an- 
 imated world to the will of man, shall make good the char- 
 ter allowed him by heaven, of "having dominion over the 
 works of God's hands." 
 
 But there is yet a nobler subject than the surface of the 
 earth for us lo meliorate and polish — the ethereal mind. It 
 S€»eras to be an admitted doctrine, that the best guarantee we 
 can have for the permanence of our free institutions, is the 
 > Hitelligence of our people; that the more light they have, the 
 betrer will they appreciate and the more zealously defi-nd,the 
 precious inheritance bequeathed us by our fathers. Proceed- 
 ing oti this principle, most if not all of the members o'' our 
 confederacy have taken some measures tor the promotion of 
 education; some indeed have got greatly the start of others 
 in this race of honour, and are now reaping the fruits of it in 
 those liberal and magnificent public works to whiclv publie 
 mtelligeucc will infallibij' give rise — while som&are left at 
 
a iijoitiljuig distance behind, re'arded by the heavy clogs 
 of ignor-tttfce and sordid parsimony. Make a peopJe intelli- 
 genr, and you make them enterprising. They learn that a 
 JM'- irjoiis expenditure of the public money is the truest econ- 
 omy, the best art of growing rich. But an ignorant com- 
 munify, with the verj spirit of a miser, will lie stretched 
 npon its useless hoard, not having the heart to take from it 
 more than farthing by faithing, pining in i lie midst of abun- 
 dance, thrusting av\ay in iiisgrace, and spitefully growling 
 at e\evy counsellor that would persuac'e it to an enlightened 
 application of its res-ources. x^hilr it enlrusts with its keys 
 and iljoosrsas its seniiiiels tlie dragons who ^^i;l gtjard ll»e 
 precious deposit va ith the most wakeful eye, the earliest 
 hiss, and the fiercest talons. We ma* be sure that such a su- 
 icidal policy !S the offspring of p;ipular ignorance — an ugly 
 child of an ugly mother; and that the surest and spes diest 
 means for producing a fairer progeny is to let in l-ght upon 
 the common mind. Has Nortti-Carolina the means of doing 
 this, and will she neglect to improve the most valuable of !ier 
 possessions? Is she so anxious to have all her resources de- 
 veloped as to send the skilful geologist to climb all her moun- 
 tains, and explore all her caverns, that she may learn what 
 mines of precious metal may lie hid, or what minerals more 
 useful than they, may be traitsmuted into gold by the hand 
 of industry? And will she be careless of a much richer trea- 
 sure, the native genius of her sons, that which sheds more 
 lustre on a nation than the gilded palaces of nobles or the 
 gems that sparkle in the^jadems of princes? It is by hep 
 great men. fi^r men of cultivated talent, Ihat she is to ac- 
 quire rank and influenqe in the Union, and draw to herself 
 that share of the national respect and the national treasure 
 to which she is entitled. Is it not to the talents of her ad- 
 Tocates on the floor of Congress, (talents which this Col- 
 lege has the merit of haying nursed) that she now ovves the 
 means of opening her harbours and enlarging her com- 
 merce? How knows she but among the rude sons of her 
 
22 
 
 peasantry lie concealed ' hearts pregnant with celestial 
 fire,' which want only the breatii of education to make them 
 shed rays of glory on their native state! Why does she not 
 look with tlieeye of a mother on her languishing Universi- 
 ty, and make it the exuberant uursc of her youthful genius?" 
 This she must do, if she would rear within its walls a race 
 of vigorous and majestic growth, and not a breed of dwarfs 
 and starvelings. 
 
 The means now in operation throughout the United States 
 for the dissemination of the rudiments of knowledge, have 
 given us already one op hc bcstj nformed commonalties in 
 the vvorldr foreigners themselves being judges.- But this 
 diffusion of moderate intelligence among tiie tlirong, is by 
 no means all wliich our fortunate circumstances warrant us 
 to expect, and pi'ompt us to aspire to. All the heights and 
 depths of philosopliy, and all the flowers of elegant literature 
 lie before us, and Europe beckons us to a generous compe- 
 tition. Happy is it that there are so various and so alluring 
 walks in which the restless mind ol man can harmlessly 
 employ itself, and not be tempted to seek requisite excite- 
 ment in the disturbance of society. This is one vast advan- 
 tage when the genius of a nation takes a literary turn- All 
 its activity is noiseless, all its projects are pacific, all its 
 trophies are unbloody. So many minds find in this way 
 pleasurable exercise and repose, either as writers or as rea- 
 ders, that it is past calculation what a sum of public hap- 
 piness is thereby earned, and how much national tranquilli- 
 ty is thereby promoted. Many a daring and active spirit 
 that would otherwise have made cannon balls and human 
 heads the toys of its amusements, has, by receiving an ear- 
 ly direction towards literature, passed through the world 
 "Without wielding any more noxious weapon than the grey- 
 goose quill, or shedding any more costly liquid than the 
 contents of the ink-horn. 
 
 As the public mind advances in intelligence, we may hope 
 that the dominion of reason over the wiUs and actions c^ 
 
men will gain ground. While socit'.ty is in its infancy and 
 tlj6 minds of men are dark and rude, every thing is carried 
 by brute force. But just in proportion as society advances 
 in refinement, mental powers acquire an ascendancy over 
 corporeal strength. What an inducement this, to bring our 
 minds to the highest state of improvement, that we may pos- 
 sess so powerful an engine for moving the multitude of 
 mankind! How llattering the idea, how stimulating to gen- 
 erous exertion, that, in this enligh.tened day, by the agency 
 of tlie press, one potent mind can send abroad its thoughts, 
 as on the wings of the wind, to light upon ten tliousand oth- 
 er minds, moulding their opinions, determining their pur- 
 suits, and like the harp of Timotheus, now kindling their 
 passions into transport, now lulling them to sleep! 
 
 Here, young gentlemen, opens upon you, a glorious mo- 
 tive for pushing your intellectual improvement to the liigh- 
 est point, and also for studying with care the art of elegant 
 composition. As the age advances in refinement and vigour 
 of intellect, its taste will demand the most finished style. 
 No books but those of surpassing merit both in thought and 
 expression will have any chance of public favour or influ- 
 ence. But these will exert a sway over successive genera- 
 tions, serving, like the works of Bacon, of Newton, of 
 Locke and of Adam Smith, to effect the most auspicious 
 changes in the researches of philosophy and the adminis- 
 tration of governments. A still more sacred use and a still 
 prouder achievement of mental power will it be, if you can, 
 by the medium of the voreo oHhe pen, restrain the vices and 
 purify the morals of your country. Wliat avails our free 
 government, our plentiful and unmolested fruition of every 
 earthly good, if we are the slaves of vice? How is that maa_ 
 the happier for American privileges who makes no better 
 use of his ease and plenty than to imbrute himself by in- 
 temperance, reducing his family to shame and want? And 
 is it not a melancholy fact that there are thousands of such 
 wretched men, and o^ CamiUe^ made wretched by them, in 
 
24 • 
 
 these happy United States? Now if so, of what use to them 
 are all the envied privileges of American citizenship? Less 
 Hinh^ippy tiiiin these an; the toil-worn subjects of an oppres- 
 sive government, who eat a scanty meal in a mud-walled 
 cottage, and have neither the time nor the meansto be in- 
 temperate. Thus doos vice blast all the fruits of the patri- 
 ot's buttles and the statesman's counsels, and turn the milk 
 and honey of a land into gall! What tribute of national 
 gratitude would repay the merits of that writer who should, 
 by the irresistible force of argument and persuasion, give a 
 death blow to intemperance, that foe to all the peace and 
 charities^of -the heart, thaFscourgeTJT'our country, that 
 agent and factor of death and hell? If Rome bestowed 
 her highest badge of honour, the civic crown, upon him 
 who had saved the life even of a single citizen, what gar- 
 lands shall be an adequate recompense for the countless lives 
 saved by him who should dry up that fountain, whose ma- 
 lignant v/atcrsnot only destroy myriads of the present gen- 
 eration, but threaten to roll down upon posterity a stream 
 of poison about which thousands yet unborn shall gather to 
 <' taste the wave and die." Should the writings of Beecher 
 work such a revolution; should their success, so happily be- 
 gun in the formation of two hundred and twenty Temper- 
 ance Societies, continue its triumphaJit career until the whole 
 nation shall be sworn to the virtuous compact, his reputation 
 will mount << above all Greek, above all Roman fame;" fu- 
 ture generations will rise up and call him blessed; his coun- 
 try will hail him as the vanquisher of her most dangerous 
 enemy; her matrons will chant his praises while living 
 and mourn him when dead, as the preserver of the lives and 
 morals of their children, and history will rank his services 
 to mankind above the exploits of Hercules and Theseus, as 
 having rid the earth of a more pestilent monster than any 
 which fell beneath their arms. Similar honours await those 
 who shall overwhelm with the weight of argument, the pa- 
 thos of eloquence or the flashes oC wit, those 3ins ot the hon- 
 
durable and gentee! classes, duelling, gaming, profanitj 
 and dissoluteness, wliich maintain cietiit from the rank of 
 those who practice them, but whicli ougiit if possible to be. 
 rendered contemptible like the more vulgar vices of lying 
 and stealing. 
 
 But doubtless these are changes too vast and goodly to 
 expect from the force of reason or the charms of literature. 
 Will these be able to stem that torrent of voluptuousness 
 and effeminacy which will be apt to pour in upon us from 
 a long course of prosperity? Look at ilome, in the first cen- 
 tury of the christian era — mistress of the civilized world, 
 queen of Arts and elegancies; yet, by the inJignant confes- 
 sions of her own writers, loathsome for every species of 
 flagitiousncss and execrable for every atrocity of crime. *" 
 And if you prefer a more modrrn example, look at France, 
 just before her revolulion; the chosen seat of learning and 
 piiilosopiiy, the proverbial model of gentle manners and 
 social refinement. But see her passions once let loose, and 
 perhaps no barbaric nation ever exhibited a parallel of sav- 
 age fury and insatiate appetite for blood. No; in spite of 
 all those favourable circumstances in our situation which 
 have been detailed, we shall, it is to he feared, go the way of 
 all tlie nations that haye preceded us, who fell a prey to their 
 own vices after repelling the attacks of all outward ene- 
 mies, unless some more powerful principle of selt-preserva- 
 tion than any of them possessed, operate in our behalf. And 
 most happily for us such a principle exists among us, and 
 is now in active operatioir — and that is, the Christian Re- 
 ligion. Never was there a land where that softener of 
 hearts and purifier of morals enjoyed so safe an asylum, 
 and was taught with greater perfection and success. Let 
 its influence oncv become general, and those vices wbicU 
 are the destruction of a nation will be rooted out, while 
 those virtues which promote its happioeas and stability 
 
 * Vide Horace and Juvenal, passiin 
 c 
 
26 
 
 will sjM'ing up and flourish. It would seem, from the pro- 
 phecies of scripture, to be the intention of the ASmighty 
 Disposer of earthly affairs, that the state of mankind shall 
 go on to improve, ujitil the earth shall exhibit brigliter 
 scenes i»f happiness and virtue than have ever yet adorned it. 
 if so, that nation may, without presumption, hope for endur- 
 ing favour which shall lend itself to forward the purposes 
 of Omnipotence: hut wo to every people, who shall by de- 
 praved morals or armed hostility stand in the way ot these 
 I)enevo!cnt designs. Here rest the fairest hopes of this coun- 
 try. It appears to be instrumental in the hands of God in 
 acconij)lisidmg his designs of *^^accron earth a«d good will 
 to men." If we build upon this rock, it will be a sure foun- 
 dation, on which we may rear the tower of our national 
 greatness until it reach the skies, whose over-hanging bolts 
 shall be guided innocently off by its cloud-piercing spire. 
 Ten righteous men would have saved a city once from the 
 impending vengeance ol" heaven, if so many could have been 
 found within its walls, and a ship's crew of two Iiundred 
 and seventy-five souls were saved from the devouring deep 
 by the sacred presence of an Apostle.* We may then hope 
 that the day of calamity will be averted from our land, 
 or if it come will be alleviated, for the sake not of the ten, 
 but of the ten thousand righteous, whose prayers are un- 
 ceasingly offered for the nation's welfare, and wliose 
 strength and wealth are unsparingly devoted to the ad- 
 vancement of that cause for the consummation of which 
 beaven protracts the date of this terrestrial scene. Now, oh 
 My country, I begin to conceive less trembling hopes of thy 
 preservation. The holy cause of heaven is delegated to thee, 
 and thy person is therefore inviolable. ♦* What dost thou 
 fear," said the vain-glorious Roman to his dismayed pilot, 
 
 * I trust it will not be deemed too serious for the occasion to refer the 
 reader to the following passages of scripture as an illustration of the above 
 remarks and ot the dealings of Providence with nations: Gen. xviii. 32. 
 ^x. 22. Acts xxvii, 24. Matt, xxiv, 22. 
 
27 
 
 in the storm: " thou bearest Csesar and his fortunes." But 
 « behold a greater than Csesar is here." The ship on wliiclj 
 Christ is embarked can never sink. 
 
 Nil desperandum Christo duce, et auspice Christo. 
 
 Winds and waves may toss and vex It, but dare not destroy. 
 Enemies may attack tiie gallant bark, but there are iei^ions 
 of self-devoted hearts on board, \\ lio. on tin- trial, v ill t^ath- 
 er round the Sacred Freight, and vow to ea( h other never 
 to << give up the sliip." 
 
 This, then, is the glory which we ought to covet for our 
 country — t'»e glory of moral excellein p— Hie honour o( be- 
 ing the most virtuous nation on earth, renowned for justice, 
 for humanity, for truth, tor timperance, for industry, tor 
 pious gratitude to God, for matchless beneficence to man, 
 making happy every heart within its own spacious bounda- 
 ries, and feeding from its overlBlowing abundance the needy 
 of other hemispheres — the umpire of contending nations, 
 the peace-maker of the Universe. 
 
"\