THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 ENDOWED BY 
 JOHN SPRUNT HILL 
 
 CLASS OF 1889 
 
 C378 
 
 UK3 
 
 18UUI 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00036721002 
 
 This book musf not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/introductoryaddrOOives 
 
THE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ADDRF^SS 
 
 or THE 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE 
 
 op 
 
 ITOETH aAKOLIlTA, 
 
 DELIVERED IN TflE UNIVERSITY CHAPEL, 
 
 JUNE 5TH, 1S44, 
 
 BY 
 
 Bisliop of the Dioeese of North Carolina. 
 
 RALEIGH: Printed by 
 
 T Lering-^ Indepefident Office, Hillsboro' St. between McDowell (^ Dawson Streeii, 
 
 1844* 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 To the Rt. Rev. L. Sillivian Ives, D. D., L. L. D., Bishop of the 
 Diocese of North Carolina: 
 
 Dear Sir : I have the honor of transmitting to you the following 
 Resolution of the Historical Society of the University of North Caro- 
 lina : 
 
 *^ Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be tendered to the Rt, 
 Rev. Bishop Ives, for his able and interesting address ; and that he be 
 requested to furnish a copy of it for publication." 
 
 Permit me to hope, sir, that you will find it both convenient and a- 
 greeable to comply with this request ; that the pleasure and profit we 
 have enjoyed may be diffused. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 CHARLES PHILIPS, 
 
 Secretary of the Society. 
 Chapel Hill, June 6th, 1844. 
 
 To Charles Philips, Esq., Secretary of the Historical Society, 6fc : 
 
 Dear Sir : Please communicate to the Historical Society of North 
 Carolina, my acknowledgment of their too flattering resolution, and 
 my compliance with the request it makes for a copy of my address, for 
 publication. 
 
 With earnest desires for the success of the important objects of the 
 Society, and sentiments of high respect for its members, 
 I remain, dear sir, 
 
 Most truly, 
 Your friend and eerv't, 
 
 L, S, IVEa 
 ehapd Hill, June 1th, 1844, 
 

 
 BISHOP IVES INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS : 
 
 Delivered before the Historical Society of the University of 
 North Carolina, June 5, 1844. 
 
 liENTLEMEN OF THE HiSTOniCAL SOCIETY 
 
 OF THE University of North Carolina : 
 In attempting to lulfil your wishes, to day, I find, somewhat to my 
 alarm, that your favor has assigned me a place not more of honor than 
 difficulty. A difficulty growing out, in some measure, of the vast and 
 infinitely perplexed subject, I have consented, perhaps rashly, to dis- 
 cuss. The limited lime usually and properly allotted to such an ad- 
 dress, while it may enable me to exhaust your patience and my own 
 resources, is miserably insufficient for satisfying in any reasonable de- 
 gree, the claims of such an audience and such a subject. 
 
 In making this remark, however, it is not in my mind, that, on this 
 occasion of the opening of our Society, you are to expect of me more 
 than simply to lay before you the scope and importance of its objects, 
 and suggest some hints how ;they may best be pursued. Even with 
 this limit in view, I feel the perplexing extent of the task before me. — 
 And this feeling you will at once appreciate when you perceive, that 
 my duty leads me to a consideration of the philosophy rather than the 
 facts of history ; and must necessarily embrace a wider range of ob- 
 servation than could possibly be opened by the events, however varied 
 or significant, of a single State or period. The husbandman, who would 
 realize a harvest at all adequate to his labors, must not only plant the 
 ■seed produced by a former year, but also cultivate with the skill gath- 
 ered fiotn former experience. So in the investigations of history, our 
 
4. 
 
 efforts, to lead to any tolerable success, must be so linked with those of 
 the preceding generations of inca as to ensure a perfect exemplifica- 
 tion of every point, individual or social, moral, intellectual, or political, 
 which we design to make practical, or permanently useful to ourselves 
 and others. Besides, it is not so much the mere events of past time 
 that we need, as it is the agency by which they were respectively 
 brought to their issue. In constructing, after some ancient model, a 
 fitting temple to liberty, it would help us little in our work merely to 
 collect together the ruins of the most beautiful structures that ever 
 adorned classic ground. To effect our purpose, we must study, and 
 compare, and adjust these remains of the olden time ; and moreover call 
 to our aid in restoring what is lost, an accurate knowledge of the sci- 
 ence under which they first arose to beauty and perfection. 
 
 It is true, that in researches limited to our own State ; in simply tra- 
 cing out the causes, which, under human agency and human responsi- 
 bility, have steadily tended, since the first white man set his foot upon 
 our shores, to the encouraging result, that, on this day, is so gratifying 
 to all our hearts ; there would be much to entertain us, much to im- 
 prove. But to do this effectually ; to travers, with proper success, the 
 narrow field here lying before us, we must consent to the laborious 
 process of coming to our work, through the long and intricate and mul- 
 tiform windings, opened in the annals of other States and by-gone times; 
 of forming our conclusions and making due, self application of them, 
 after having, with the spirit of true philosophy, viewed man, in all the 
 depths of his complex and wonderful being ; in all the varied shapes 
 into which by the hand of providence he has been cast; "all the dif- 
 ferent scenes in which he has been called to act or suffer ;" all the 
 countless struggles, mental, moral and physical, in which he has been 
 made to bear a part ; all the defeats that have covered him with shame, 
 all the successes that have crowned him with honor; with all the vast 
 agencies, that have united to help him on to victory, or conspired to 
 thwart, and humble and destroy him. But in reaching this far ofl'goal, 
 penetrating to this ultima thule of historical research; we are not to 
 suppose the way either dreary or barren of good. Scenes of the most 
 thrilling interest will open upon us at every step ; and while, at times, 
 their disclosures may sadden our hearts and leave us with a mortified 
 and chastened spirit, they will not fail in the end, if wc are at all faith- 
 
fill to uuischcs, ill }icl(litig tlic brightest aiu! niosl siibstaiiti;ii leuards. 
 This will appear, as we pass onwards in tlic cxaiiiiiiaLion of sonic ol 
 the steps and results of our allotted course. The better, liowcver, to 
 ensure its recompense, we must, at the outset, admit, as axioms, certain 
 great fundamental principles ; such as will, if we arc earnest and tho- 
 rough in our enquiries, be inevitably wrought out, by the events of 
 history itself, before our eyes, and forced upon our recognition : — viz, 
 (1) that one Supreme God is the author and moral governor of the 
 Avorld ; (2) that while the understanding, the reason, and the imagina- 
 tion of man, may contribute largely to the proper results ot his being, 
 the ii;z7Z, after all, is the ruling element in his character and destiny, 
 whether he be taken alone, or in connection with his fellow man ; (3) 
 that his will then, and only then, leads to the end for which he was 
 created, when it moves in exact harmony w^ilh the will of his Maker; 
 (4) that owing to an early resistance of this, his own became, if we may 
 so speak, divided into two antagonist elements ; the one tending strong- 
 ly to the earthly and sensual, the other feebly to the heavenly and di- 
 vine. In respect to the first of these principles, little illustration is 
 needed. The mind, even imperfectly acquainted with the anricnt clas- 
 sics, must perceive that the foundation of this principle is as broad as 
 the race of man ; that upon the polity and customs of heathen nations, 
 east, west, north and south, civilized or barbarian, its truth was inscrib- 
 ed in the most luminous characters ; that it controlled the movements 
 of wandering tribes, while it overawed the counsels of Senates and 
 determined the issues of battles ; that it was proclaimed from Dodona, 
 Delphi, and Ammon ; inscribed on the temple of Sais — sung in the 
 Ek Dios arkoviethaoi Aratus — told in the story of Simonidcs — seen in 
 the To agatlwn, and ihe Proton Altion* of the Greeks — and enforced 
 by the ethics and eloquence of Rome. Nothing, indeed, could be clear- 
 er than the proof, that while the Gentile nations "did not like to retain 
 God in their knowledge, nor glorify him as God ;" they still had, uni- 
 versally, from some source, an impression of " his eternal power and 
 God Head," and w'idcly incoi'porated the truth into their schemes and 
 instruments of government. As regards the second principle perhaps, 
 there may seem, at fust, more doubt. Still to the careful reader of 
 
 *For •want oI'Grcck Type, ihcsc scnicncc^ are of neccstiiy pin in ihcir p^':.•^cnt 
 form. 
 
6. 
 
 history — the thouglitful observer of men — such doubt will be but mo- 
 mentary. Whoever lakes the trouble to examine this principle in the 
 strong light cast upon it from the luminous mind of a late German phi- 
 losopher,* can hardly fail to be at once satisfied of its eminent truth. 
 In illustration, I would observe, the intellectual system of ancient Chi- 
 na, — although strongly characterized by reason — instinct with the 
 pure spirit, the exalted genius of a Confucius, — still liad no power 
 within it of self-perpetuation — no power either to help its votaries to 
 substantial peace, or to uphold its own existence against the silent in- 
 roads of a senseless, neighboring superstition. While the intellectual 
 char^icter of India, — formed by and reflecting the rays of a glowing 
 iviagination — an imagination brilliant and burning, as if literally set 
 on fire by its own torrid sun, breaking out, on the one hand, in a wild 
 and rampant mysticism, and on the other in poetic strains, not falling, 
 in their Epic richness and fullness, much below the numbers of the 
 Maeonean bard, — has nevertheless been able to do nothing more for that 
 devoted people than to guide them to the most horrid depths of moral 
 degradation and misery. While again, the Egyptian system, with its 
 base, and indeed superstructure, in the understanding ; an under- 
 vStanding, "penetrating, as by a kind of magic power." into the deep 
 mysteries of nature, and embracing in its span the utmost limits of sci- 
 ence — was yet forced to yield, notwithstanding its Jewish prop, to the 
 destroyer ; — leaving only its pyramids towering in melancholy gran- 
 deur above the memorials of a grovelling and beastly superstition ; as 
 if to proclaim to the world, how high the understanding may soar with- 
 out profit to man, if the will be in subserviency to the sensual and im- 
 pulsive nature. And here comes in the system of Judea, whose char- 
 acteristic element is manifestly that high moral faculty, the will. This 
 system, noiseless in its working — gently bending its followers in sub- 
 mission to an invisible power — hardly attracting from surrounding na- 
 tions sufficient notice to be despised ; has — after all the symptoms of 
 its inward and outward decrepitude, all its trials and sufferings in "flood 
 and field" in defeat, desertion and captivity — faithfully preserved its 
 being, distinct from every opposing or insinuating influence; and, at 
 length, expanding into the nobler faith, the larger charity, the better hopp 
 "f the gospel, haij become, ^vhcrcvcr known, 'he only sure and ack- 
 
 -Ficdori'.'k Von, Sclilcs:*'! 
 
nowledged basis, as well of national as of individual prosperity. In re- 
 gard to the third principle, no diflicuky can exist in a mind, convinceil 
 of the perfection and providence of Almighty God. And if there could, 
 the events of history have upon them two mnch light from above, to 
 suffer it long to remain. In this it is clearly seen, (1) that the will ot 
 God is in exact agreement with the happiness of man. That his laws 
 and institutions and promises and threats, together tend to the best 
 good of our race. So that, if the proper end of man's being be the 
 pursuit of happiness ; that pursuit to be successful, must be conducted 
 by a will in harmony with that of his Maker. It is seen also (2) and 
 with equal clearness, that the resistance of God's will, in the case ei- 
 ther of individuals or nations, must lead to inevitable misery ; and 
 hence if knowingly made, is an act of deliberate self destruction. The 
 whole history of folly and crime, as well as the experience of every 
 criminal might be adduced in proof of the point. The Jewish nation 
 of old, and the French nation now, too awfully attest its truth. While 
 the careers and ends, respectively of Herod and Pilate, of Julian and 
 Napoleon bear the some witness. To dwell for a moment upon the 
 last ; what can be clearer than the interference of an invisible hand to 
 hedge up the way to universal dominion, of the mighty hero of France? 
 " Napoleon in November 1799 " says a late, lamented writer,* " was 
 made first Consul ; he found France humbled by defeats, his Italian 
 conquests lost, his allies invaded, his own frontier threatened. He 
 took the field in the May following, and in one month, the whole for- 
 tune of the war was changed, and Austria driven out of Lombardy by 
 the victory of Marengo. Still the flood of the tide rose higher and 
 higher, and every successive wave of its advance swept away a king- 
 dom. Earthly state has never reached a prouder pinnacle than when 
 Napoleon, in June 1812, gathered his army at Dresden — that mighty 
 host, unequalled in all time — and received the homage of subject Kings.'' 
 And now, what was the principal adversary of this tremendous pow- 
 er ? By whom was it checked and resisted, and put down ? By none, 
 and by nothing, but the direct and manifest interposition of God. I 
 know of no language so well fitted to describe that victorious advance 
 to Moscow, and the utter humiliation of the retreat, as the language of 
 
 *Dr, ArnoJd. ' *. ■ ' '■ 
 
i-]ie Prophet with respect to the advance and subsequent destruction of 
 the Host of Seunacherib, " Wlien they arose early in the morning, 
 beliold they were all dead corpses," applies almost literally to the mem- 
 orable night ef frost in which 20,000 horses perished, and the strength 
 of the French army was utterly broken. Human instruments no doubt, 
 were employed in the remainder of the work ; nor would I deny to 
 Germany and to Prussia the glories of the year 1813, nor to England 
 the honor of her victories in Spain, or of the crowning victory of Water- 
 loo. But at the distance of thirty years, those who lived in the time 
 of danger and remember its magnitude and now calmly review what 
 there was in human strength to avert it, must acknowledge, I think, 
 beyond all controversy, that the deliverance of Europe, if not of this 
 country, was effected neither by Russia, nor by Germany, nor by En- 
 gland, but by the hand of God alone. 
 
 Place Napoleon at the side of the great Theodosius. Napoleon at 
 the height of his fame in 1812. Theodosius at his triumphant return 
 after the carnage at Thesselonica. Both unsurpassed in military en- 
 dowments, stand crowned with victories and stained with cruelty and 
 blood. What should keep them from a similar destiny ? Why 
 should the one, baffled and humbled and overthrown, pass from the 
 view of men as a dreaded enemy to their best good ? While of the other 
 it is written even by an infidel hand, that his character and end " might 
 almost excuse the extravagant supposition of the Orator Pacatus — that 
 if the elder Brutus could be permitted to revisit the earth, the stern 
 republican would abjure at the feet of Theodosius his hatred of Kings ; 
 and ingenuously confess that such a monarch was the most faithful 
 guardian of the happiness and dignity of the Roman people ,!"'* Why 
 is this ? Who that looks narrowly into the respective tempers, and 
 the actuating principles of these men can for a moment doubt? Who 
 can doubt that beholds the Emperor of France, proud and insolent un- 
 der his successes — trampling equally upon the rights of men and the 
 church of God — and in his madness actually and impiously, as if ia 
 defiance of the decrees of heaven, erecting, before his march to Russia, 
 a monument to himself as the conqueror of that country.! While on 
 the other hand, he sees the good Emperor of Rome, whose virtues, it 
 
 *Gibbon Decline and Pall &c. Chap, xxvii. 
 
 t The monument is standing at Cobbeniz on the Rhine, 
 
9. 
 
 is said, expanded witlihis fortune, receiving with meekness the rebuke, 
 for his severity, of the Godly St. Ambrose, and submitting with a gentle 
 contrite spirit, to the self-humbling acts of penitence, which, in the name 
 of God and for the honor of his church, that holy man dared to impose 
 upon the monarch, even amid the exhilaration of his victories. The 
 fourth principle, viz : — that by an early resistance of God's will, discord 
 was introduced into the will of man, so that now, "there is a law in his 
 members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into 
 captivity to the law of sin and death" — is the one most frequently and 
 injuriously overlooked in treating of the philosophy of history, as it is 
 in plans based upon such philosophy, for the improvement of our race. 
 The notion of human -perfectibility, however loudly repudiated by 
 christian statesmen, has somehow, notwithstanding, more or less insin- 
 uated itself into and thus neutralized all their systems of philanthropy. 
 And this w^ould be not a little wonderful, even had men no eyes to dis- 
 tinguish the developments of history ; when we reflect, that they have 
 the faculty of self-consciousness. As the struggle, which every virtu- 
 ous mind perceives within, between the spiritual and sensual nature ; 
 and the inevitable triumph of the latter, except it be resisted by more 
 than human power, ought to be enough, one would think, to put to 
 flight every scheme for the moral renovation of men not founded upon 
 a higher principle than is involved merely in their own natural capa- 
 bilities. But while this, both from inward consciousness and outward 
 development, is found to be in the broadest sense true, still it should 
 not be forgotten that the faculties of man's soul, as contradistinguished 
 from the more impulsive faculties of the body, are, when under proper 
 discipline, especially favorable to the subjugation of his will to that of 
 God. Of this, we have a striking illustration in the comparative 
 eflects of the ancient philosophy. Dr. Neander, in his church history, 
 particularly that part of it wherein he points out the elements favorable 
 to Christianity in the " Religious and philosophical systems of antiqui- 
 ty," exhibits these effects in strong and affecting contrast. One fact is 
 remarkable, that while many Platonists became converts to the faith 
 of the Gospel, no record is left of the conversion of a single Epicurean. 
 Hence the grand enemy to our individual, or social happiness, is seen 
 to be the sensual nature of man — impelling his will so strongly in a 
 direction opposite to the dictates of God's will, as to become an over- 
 
10. 
 
 match for every power, short of the irresistible power provided' for 
 our relief in the Gospel; thus proclaiming beforehand, the ultimate 
 and inevitable failure of all schemes for the permanent v;ell-being oF 
 individuals or States, not based upon Gospel principles and sustained 
 by the Gospel spirit. 
 
 Thus have I endeavored to give you a distinct notion of the charac- 
 ter, and a clear perception of the truth of tlic four cardinal principles, 
 upon which, in my view, all our efforts must proceed in order to ar- 
 rive at any just appreciation of the events and lessons of history. 
 
 1. You will thence perceive, as we go on in our work, hoAv very far 
 our investigations must extend beyond the details of ordinary histori- 
 cal productions. We search for truth ; and truth in its essential, cath- 
 olic sense. But this is not to be found on the surface of society — in 
 those facts which usually obtrude themselves first upon one notice, and 
 engross most of our attention. It must be sought in the heart of the 
 social system — in the deep breathings — the moral pulsations of the 
 mass of men. It is somewhere said, and well said, that "a history, in 
 which every particular incident is true, may on the whole be fake.'' 
 And because, those circumstances which have most influence on the 
 happiness of mankind — the changes of manners and morals, the tran- 
 sition of communities from poverty to wealth, from knowledge to ig- 
 norance, from ferocity to humanity — these for the most part, are noise- 
 less revolutions. Their progress is rarely indicated by what historians 
 are pleased to call important events. They are not achieved by armies, 
 nor enacted by Senates. They are sanctioned by no treaties, and re- 
 corded in no archives. They are carried on in every school, in every 
 church, behind ten thousand counters, at ten thousand tiresides. In- 
 deed the upper current of society presents no certain criterion by which 
 we can judge of the direction in which the under current flows. We 
 read of defeats and victories. But we know that nations may be mis- 
 erable amidst victories, and prosperous amidst defeats. We read of 
 the fall of wise ministers, and of the rise of profligate favorites. But 
 we must remember how small a proportion the good or evil efl^ected 
 by a single statesman can bear to the good or evil of a great social sys- 
 tem." Hence we see at once how scanty are the materials — materials 
 In most cases, carelessly raked together from the mere surface of com- 
 aiunities — wdiich are furnished for philosophical inquiry in the histo- 
 
11. 
 
 I'ics of citiicr ancieiil or modern tiiiics. lliitoriaiif^ for the uiosl pari 
 ,sccm to rest satisfied, if ihcy can but succeed in entertaining their read- 
 ers V !;h a few of tlic more striking features of an age ; while the se- 
 cret ties which have linked it with otlicr ages and "with the destiny of 
 man, remain effectually concealed. It is certainly not to their credit 
 tliat, for an acquaintance with the moral form and complexion of a pe- 
 riod, we are mainly indebted to the writers of novels and the drama ; 
 tliat, as some one has said, " we have to look for the wars and votes 
 of the Puritans in Clarendon and for their phraseology in Old Morali- 
 ty — for one half of King James in Hume, and for the other in the for- 
 tunes of Nigel." Were I called upon however, to name one, who, a- 
 mong the multitude of professed historians, seems to have had more 
 than any other, a just conception of the true objects of history, I would 
 name Sir Walter Raleigh ; a writer whose character may in some 
 sort be viewed as the property of our State, and a knowledge of whose 
 works should be considered, by every one of its sons, as an indispensa- 
 ble pre-requisite to the study of its history. 
 
 2, Our next discovery, if we are guided by the principles here laid 
 down; will be, the biased and often uncharitable judgments of histori- 
 ans. Judgments formed at one time, by superficial, and, again, by in- 
 terested views of systems and events. We shall find such systems and 
 events not examined patiently and thoroughly in the light of their own 
 age, and judged of in a spirit of manly charity, with reference to their 
 own peculiar advantages or disadvantages ; but subjected, in a temper 
 of narrow, self-conceit, to the false test of the writer's own time and 
 sect. In this way, the good have been made to share in the condem- 
 nation of the bad ; systems to bear the reproach which belongs to pe- 
 riods ; individuals to answer for the blood shed through the intolerance 
 of an age. Hence the "schoolmen," notwithstanding their arduous, 
 and enduring, and glorious achievements, have been cruelly consigned 
 to the execration brought upon the middle ages by the corrupt ambi- 
 tion of civil and ecclesiastical rulers. A Thomas Aquinas made to suf- 
 fer for the sins of an unscrupulous Boniface. Hence too intolerance 
 js written "foul" and "bloody" under the sceptre of Mary, but 
 "just and stainless" under the despotic and relentless parliament of 
 Charles, 
 
 And in turning fo tlic historical f^kctclic? of our f)wn Slafc. we find 
 
12. 
 
 from tlic same cause, tliat every attempt falls too far short of the whole 
 truth, to leave any other than a false impression in the reader's mind- 
 The writers may have been good and learned men. But so long as 
 they were men, there is enough in our civil and religious state, with- 
 out assailing their personal motives to account for the partiality and 
 hence unfairness of their statements. Imbued, as we all are, with strong- 
 political and religious biases, nothing short of super human vigilance, 
 in our researches, can shiold us entirely from error. In regard to the 
 period of the "Proprietary government," a writer may state nothing but 
 what, is, in itself, strictly true — may make no reflection upon the op- 
 pressive acts of the " Church and State," not fully borne out by chris- 
 tian principle ; still, if he fails to exhibit, and with the same strength 
 of coloring, the conduct of the oppressed party, the moment they had 
 the power to become the oppressors ; if he places before us in strong, 
 and not untrue relief, the sufferings of baptists and quakers inflicted by 
 churchmen, but keeps back the cruel persecutions from those very 
 sects to which the church-missionaries* were for a scries of years 
 exposed ; he is no longer to be viewed as a historian of the State but 
 ef a party. He fails to tell the v/hole truth — to furnish that information, 
 without which, no just estimate can be formed of the events of our his- 
 tory. The difficulty here, you perceive, arises not from the obscurity 
 of historical facts ; but from the selfishness of human nature — an in- 
 born tendency in man to make that true, which he wishes to be true ; 
 hence demanding in the historian the very highest degree of self-dis- 
 cipline. This necessity too is not a little enhanced, in our day, by the 
 prevailing habits of literary dishonesty. We bitterly complain of the 
 " pious frauds " of Jesuitism practised upon the historical literature of 
 the 16th and 17th centuries. And they are bad enough it is true. But 
 what can surpass the fraudulent practices of " the Press " in our own 
 time ? Who, now-adays, expects, on opening one of our periodicals, 
 to get " the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," where 
 there can be the slightest motive to misrepresent ? This evil is terri- 
 ble in its influence both upon the individuals who help to foster it, and 
 upon the moral sense of the community where it prevails. It tends, 
 
 * Whoever would have an adequate notion of the sufferings and hardships of 
 these missionaries must consult the reports of the venerable Society for thf. 
 
 PROrACATION or THE GoSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 
 
13. 
 
 Ill sonic sort, to legalize imposture ; and even to betray good men, in- 
 sensibly perhaps, into the suppression or overstatement of truth, to sub- 
 serve a favorite notion, or a nnich-desircd end. In all questions of ii 
 polemic character, this is eminently true. And many such must inev- 
 itably arise in examining the early liistory of our State. The tempta- 
 tion of historians will be to take sides; to make up their minds respec- 
 tively that they are right — that the facts of history must speak in their 
 favor — and then proceed to act confidently upon the supposition that 
 they do. It will be well for them, if, like the Lydian King they be 
 not fatally betrayed by the voice of their own oracle. The only efl'ec- 
 tual counterpoise to this party bias, will be found in a well-digested 
 exhibition, by the joint-labors of the members of our Society, of all the 
 facts and principles of action, so far as they can be ascertained, which 
 enter into the history of our State up to the beginning of the present 
 century. The advantage of such a work by this Society will be at 
 once obvious. The concentration of knowledge thus secured, as well 
 as a fair representation of all parties concerned, must be enough, with 
 every mind, to give it paramount importance. 
 
 3. An investigation into our early history, however, nnist not only 
 be conducted in a spirit of christian philosophy, but it must be labori- 
 ous and thorough ; or it may tend to aggravate the very evils, which 
 it might otherwise correct — tend to keep up among us the existing pop- 
 ular delusions ; rather than sliow us our true state, show us exactly 
 where we stand, in reference to these great principles which actuated 
 our fathers in the trying, but glorious events of the American revolu- 
 tion. That, by som.e influence, we have been insensibly borne ofl'from 
 these principles, is to the reflecting man but too apparent. In the plain 
 facts of our history, we shall discern, I think, two causes tliat have 
 been especially active in producing this result. Both of which may be 
 traced to the circumstances that attended the achievement of our nation- 
 al independence. (1.) This was effected not by peaceful ncgociation, but 
 by conflict and blood. Not in the quietlialls oi Senates, but in the 
 fierce storms of the battle-field. The circumstance has left, I fear, its 
 indelible impress upon the nation ; at least, it is still acting powerfully 
 upon the ardent minds of our young men. Their^eye is manifestly 
 fixed, rather upon the sanguinary struggle of our fathers, tlian the ble?- 
 ■'ings of peace which it achieved — ui>on <lic sfuggcring' blow which 
 
11. 
 
 they struck, rather than the lofty princij>lcs uhich nerved tlie uphftcil 
 arm. The proof may be had in their political harangues — eA incing 
 more of the fiery temper of the soldier on the eve of battle, than the 
 di<Tnity of the citizen, proudly conscious of the true blessings of free- 
 dom — it may be seen in their eager scramble for military titles, and 
 their obsequious devotion to military renown, (2.) Besides this, wc 
 struTcrlcd lor liberty against tyrannical oppression. Struggled against 
 the exactions of arbitrary power, the restraints of unjust domination. 
 This circumstance too has not been unattended with injurious efFcets. 
 It has left in the minds of our people, a hatred for their oppressors — 
 extending itself to the very principles and privileges which they abus- 
 ed. And more and worse than this, it has left among us the notion that 
 true liberty consists in resisting all restraint. Hence it has tended, to some 
 extent, to o-ive us licentiousness instead of freedom — to take the fetters 
 once upon our limbs and place them upon our souls — to substitute 
 for the rule of a King, the despotism of a word — "Liberty," to many 
 only another name, I fear, for, "the unchecked lust of the flesh, the lust 
 of the eye and the pride of life " — has thus become invested, with the 
 most cruel and frightful attributes of Tyranny. The only corrective 
 of this desolating evil, which we can hope for within ourselves, is a 
 recurrence to first principles ; the principles, which guided and animated 
 the oreat and good men who laid the foundation of our liberties in acts 
 of deep, personal sacnfice. But to discover these principles our search 
 must be thorough, and without prejudice. It must extend entirely be- 
 yond ordinary historical detail. The arena of strife will not furnish 
 what we seek. We may linger over the pages, red Mith the carnage 
 of war, and glowing with the high deeds of heroic valor; may read, till 
 our souls shrink in horror from British oppressions and cruelties, or 
 exult in admiration of the bold daring by which these oppressions were 
 triumphantly resisted ; but, if we read no further (and no further shall 
 we be likely to read till better histories are provided) we shall know 
 little of the true basis and bulwarks of our constitutional liberty. We 
 must go deeper in our enquiries ; must uncover the secret springs 
 that moved our fathers to the great struggle ; bring to light those long 
 neglected records, which will unfold to the people, that undying love of 
 virtue — of integrity and justice and law — which gave such stout hearts 
 and unvicldin" haud? (o tlic veterans of the revolution. Gave hoarv 
 
15. 
 
 licails to our young men, and younsj Iicarts to our old ones. Instead ot' 
 leaching tlie people, the modern doctrine, that they have the power to 
 invent new truth, to strike out new paths to glory and prosperity, wc 
 must show them, in the light of these records — what our good fathers 
 taught — that essential truth is eternal — that the principles of true liber- 
 ty, while they may be presented under different forms of government, 
 can never change in themselves ; that our revolutionary resistance, 
 v.'as not to the British constitution, but to the oppressive acts commit- 
 ted in defiance of it, by British usurpation. Instead of courting pop- 
 ular flavor, by conniving at popular vices ; seeking the people's votes, 
 by giving countenance among them to that notion of liberty which is 
 essentially and totally subversive of their dearest rights, as it is of all 
 power of self-government — we must proclaim to them, in every pub- 
 lic speech, every legal enactment, every judicial sentence, from every 
 press, from every seat of learning, in every school-book, at every mo- 
 ther's knee, throughout the land, that noble sentiment written and sub- 
 scribed by the noble sons of our State — " He only is the determined 
 patriot, who willingly sacrifices his pleasures on the altar of freedom."* 
 It is true, the lesson to the disciple may prove humiliating and unpala- 
 table to the teacher — the lesson, given under the seal of our father's 
 blood, that as freemen, we are to enquire — not what is popular and to 
 pursue it for self-promotion — but what ii right and follow it at every 
 hazard of self-sacrifice. 
 
 4, In conclusion, the history of our State, pliilosophically consider- 
 ed, will expound another, and, to the rising generation, most instruct- 
 ive and animating lesson. North Carolina, has received, with much 
 that is disparaging, the enviable praise of being an honest State. I feel 
 that it is deserved ; that her sons may justly be proud of the distinc- 
 tion. And, at these times, of moral degeneracy in the nation, a greater 
 could hardly be coveted. But that which most deeply concerns us to 
 know — especially our youth — is, by what means, this blessing has 
 been acquired, and hitherto preserved ? The character and habits of 
 a large portion of the first settlers in our country, would certainly have 
 augured a very different result. How then has this most invaluable 
 one — honesty in the people — been secured ? A knowledge of our his- 
 
 See Proceed in gs of the Satefy Commitiee, &c.. p. G. 
 
IG. 
 
 tory will furnish the answer. (1) The controlling minds of our State 
 have been sound. Our eminent men, men of sterling integrity — men 
 who have set their faces sternly against " deceit and fraud ; " though 
 propped by family, or veiled by talent. Pretenders could find among 
 them no place, and adventurers no spoil. Their lives might have jus- 
 tified the motto — "No deceitful person shall dwell in my house; he 
 that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight." While at death, the epi- 
 taph might have been inscribed, with (ew exceptions, over c-ech — "He 
 hath sworn unto his neighbor, and disappointed him not, though it were 
 to his own hindrance." The eflxsct upon the mass of the people, has 
 been such as I have noticed. And we see in it, the immense value to 
 a State, of virtue and integrity in its leading men. And hence how in- 
 dispensable the duty, to guard well these fountains of knowledge and 
 morality, upon whose overflowing streams, either life or death is borne 
 to our people. (2) An additional cause of honesty in North Carolina is 
 the character of its soil. A soil almost every where sufiiciently pro- 
 ductive to yield an adequate return to honest labor ; but generally too 
 poor to allow in any one idleness and prodigality. This circumstance 
 has not been without signal advantage to us. Our citizens, as a body, 
 have been compelled to habits of industry. And industry is prover- 
 bially the parent of virtue. But if it were not, the condition of Scot- 
 land and Switzerland and Germany and New England would show its 
 immense value. But besides the direct influence, in this respect, of a 
 soil like our own ; other incidental advantages have arisen from the 
 peculiar situation and resources of the State. They are of a charac- 
 ter to hold out few temptations to speculation ; and hence to dishonest 
 gain. The consequence is favorable to our social state — property is 
 slowly acquired, and generally diffused. Economy and contentment 
 and fair-dealing are the crowning result. Thence has arisen our good 
 name — the title awarded us — and which we cannot too highly prize — 
 of "honest North Carolina." But we may forfeit the distinction. May 
 lose it, amid the general scuffle for wealth, or barter it away for the pal- 
 try enticements of an artificial life. In truth, there are some sad symp- 
 toms of a turn in the tide of our honorable, though humble advance. — 
 We have manifestly become infected with the national contagion — the 
 money-getting mania, now the blighting curse of our whole country. 
 The young men of our State, — and may I not add the old men too ? — 
 
17. 
 
 are fast learning to tlo,s[>ise tho lieallhy, tlie Jinpjfy I)ut well-earned coni- 
 petencc of our Ibrefalhers ; and to look (or broader fields and larger re- 
 sults and more speedy accmnulation, to meet the enormous and ever 
 encrcasing demands of artificial want. Or what is not less pregnant 
 with evil, their thirst for consequence lifting them above the honest, 
 the unpretending pursuits of agricultural life, is sending them in crowds 
 fit or unfit, to the professions of law and medicine;, already, to say 
 the least, sufficiently full. If tliese evils continue to increase for the 
 next twenty years, as they have encreased for the last, we may tremble 
 for the efiect upon the integrity of our people. Our farming interests 
 will become subordinate. Tho example of the higher classes cease to 
 impress at all, or iavorably, the bulk of the people. Sympathy between 
 the poor and the rich be destroyed — desires for wealth, or, what fiows 
 from it, luxury and ostentation, become too inordinate to be gratified 
 by honest means. And then, as all history shows, we may relinquisli 
 our meed of praise, and inscribe "Ichabod" upon the fading tablets of 
 our country, — for " our glory will depart." But, in this bewildering 
 chase of the things that perish, another and a heavier and more person- 
 al loss is to be sustained. Man is the only reality on the theatre of 
 this transient life. And he is only real, because he is immortal ; has a 
 nature encompassing the vast, the solemn interests of an unending life 
 to come. That nature is to be the great loser in these awful ventures 
 for mere earthly consequence. Its high destiny is lost sight of — its 
 momentouc rights sacrificed at this debasing shrine. If " they that 
 will be rich flill into temptation and a snare and into many and hurtful 
 lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition," O what must 
 be the end, of the generation now living in our midst, absorbed as it 
 seems in the thoughts and acquisitions of earth ! It is true, the civil re- 
 cords of the past can shed little or no light upon the destinies beyond 
 the slumbering dead. The most they can do, is to reveal here and 
 there a hint to direct the path-way of the present. But there are other 
 records whose sacred pages throw a purer, a diviner, and more cer- 
 tain radiance upon the issues of the unseen world before us. Let us 
 open these sacred records and mark and walk by them ; for O, there 
 are other records still, and they will unfold to an assembled universe, 
 "the deeds done in the body ;" the grounds upon whicli will proceed 
 tho awards of an eternal Judgment. 
 
Gentlemen of tlie Society : you see the wide extent ; the serious 
 character of our labors. That while they have to do Willi the indus- 
 trious collection and arrangement of facts — it is of facts pertaining to 
 all the attributes and interests and relations of man as he has existed in 
 our state and is to exist forever in another world. May the blessing ot 
 Almighty God rest upon these labors ; that the fruit of them may be 
 realized in the true advancement of our social system, and our better 
 preparation, through the cross and spirit of Christ, for a perfect state 
 above. 
 
We the undersigned members of the Executive Committee have examined 
 the above account of the Treasurer, exhibiting the receipts and payments 
 of the Institution for the year ending June 4th, 1849, and leaving a balance 
 to the credit of the Institution of $2298 06, and an amount due the Trea- 
 surer of $49 74, and find tlie same correct. 
 
 JOHN SARTAIX, ) Members of iJie 
 
 E. H. BUTLER, ^ Executive CommUtee. 
 
 PldUdclplda, June Ath, 1849.