THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 C378 
 
 UK3 
 
 1886V 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00039136826 
 
 This book must not 
 be token from the 
 Librory building. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/addressbeforelitOOvanw 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 Literary Societies 
 
 OF 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 By Hon. AUGUSTUS VAN WYCK. 
 
 RALEIGH : 
 
 EDWARDS, BROUGHTON & CO., POWER PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 
 1886. 
 

 ADDRESS. 
 
 Respected Sir, Ladies and Gentleuien : 
 
 The old, old story of education in all its relations to 
 every branch of progress has been told again and again by 
 the profoundest thinkers, ripest scholars and most eloquent 
 tongues. It has been so often repeated that nothing novel 
 can be hoped for at this time, and I can assure you that 
 never was the performance of a duty imposed and assumed 
 approached with more anxious misgivings than this one. In- 
 consistent fears of opposite extremes confront me. Wafted 
 back on the wings of memory, dear to college days, there 
 stands a student's timidity ; cognizant of a living present, 
 there stands a conscious dread that too much will be ex- 
 pected from an alumnus, in your forgetfulness that there is 
 but an infinitessimal difference between the height of youth 
 and that of man. It was not with any egotistical pride, or 
 even remote hope of adding a gleam of light to this bril- 
 liant occasion, that this invitation was accepted. 
 
 Members of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, I 
 am with you to-day in obedience to the dictates of a manly 
 affection for the historic society that mothered me in youth,, 
 and was then most generous with honors, as well as with. 
 kind feelings now ; in response to the high esteem and deep 
 regard, fruitage of honorable competition, entertained for 
 her sister society, and in willing and most pleasurable sub- 
 mission to the ever imperious demands of sincere gratitude 
 to this grand old institution, which for a century has been 
 intensely faithful and loyal to the mission of equipping her 
 children for the perilous march over the limitless plain of 
 human activities, even unto the Golden Gates of the world 
 to come. Such emotions prompted me to revisit these 
 sacred precincts and ascend once again the college rostrum 
 overlooking a scene of splendor that can never fade from 
 
4 ADDRESS. 
 
 memory so long as the soul shall be incarnate ; such a liv- 
 ing human sea of beauty, culture and refinement — not of 
 strangers to this institution or aliens to her interests — has 
 never been surpassed ; gathered under the protecting shade 
 of classic halls, in homage to an institution of learning, their 
 own or their fathers' alma mater, words always talismanic in 
 their influence on her sons, words that have whispered to 
 them when in despair, encouragement, when flushed with 
 success, congratulation. 
 
 You come, not to hear me, but the annual proclamation 
 that the young men of another class, full of hope and prom- 
 ise of future usefulness and honors, have been armed with 
 the helmet of knowledge, the shield of morality, the spear 
 of incisive thought and the glistening and untarnished sword 
 of honor, ready to enlist in the army of the world's workers. 
 
 The sight of these scenes, the first time since graduation, 
 is one of mixed sadness and pleasure ; the commingling of 
 the things of the past and present and the thoughts of the 
 dead and living ; so many of the professors, students and 
 villagers whom I knew so well and regarded so highly have 
 been translated to the " Temple not made with hands," yet 
 how charming to meet, after long separation, the living 
 friends of one's youth, to stroll over this lovely campus 
 under its majestic oaks, and through the buildings, libraries 
 .and halls, once the home of your youth, awakening most 
 ■delightful reminiscences of that ever hopeful age. 
 
 I truly envy those whose precious privilege it is to make 
 an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of their alma mater. 
 Where they can quaff the refreshing nectar of the fountain 
 of youth ; where they can breathe the pure scholastic air, 
 and thus clarify the moral and political malaria so often sur- 
 rounding us in the concrete thoughts of practical life ; where 
 they can renew their devotion in all its freshness to litera- 
 ture for its own pure sake, which is in constant danger of 
 being killed by the spirit of the world, or smothered in the 
 stifling atmosphere of an exclusively business life. They 
 go hence stronger and better men. It is not time lost. 
 
ADDRESS. • 5 
 
 It is an honor indeed to respond to your most compli- 
 mentary invitation, and especially so in this " Memorial 
 Hall," beautiful in architecture, which, though new in con- 
 struction and fresh from the handiwork of the mason's 
 plumb and trowel, yet is rich and bristling with the wonder- 
 ful traditions of a great State and nation for more than a 
 century. Those whom it commemorates, a roll of honor 
 too numerous to call on this occasion, speak to us in person 
 of the great achievements in the struggle of man's advance- 
 ment on this continent ; of the events in the growth of self 
 government in the colonies; of the development of a coun- 
 try once solely the habitation of the savage ; of Indian wars ; 
 of open and successful resistance to England's Stamp Act 
 in 1766, nearly eight years before that against the tea tax 
 at Boston ; of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, prior to that of 1776 at Philadelphia ; of the battle 
 fields of a seven years' war to make both a reality; of the 
 trials of a Continental Congress ; of the deliberations of a 
 Constitutional Convention, where was conceived and formu- 
 lated a constitution for a federal confederated representative 
 republic, the first known to history; of soldiers of bravery, 
 patriotism and self-sacrifice never eclipsed ; of those that 
 graced and honored the chair of the Chief Executives of 
 States and nation, and legislative halls of both ; of those 
 that were members of cabinet and representatives at foreign 
 Courts ; of judges of Federal and State Courts ; and of 
 those adorning all the professions and avocations of a mighty 
 commonwealth. 
 
 The central figure of all those so justly celebrated is the 
 lawyer, judge, legislator, governor, historian and educator, 
 all united in one, David L. Swain, one of the most remark- 
 able men of the age. He surveyed from the mountain peaks 
 of the Blue Ridge all the varied necessities of his State, and 
 discerned the alpine need of them all ; and through a pro- 
 fessional and political career most rapid, useful and illustri- 
 ous, this mountaineer, in ten short years, leaped to the head 
 and front of the cause of education. He was a true man, a 
 
6 ADDRESS. 
 
 great teacher and a superb organizer and disciplinarian. The 
 Nestor of College Presidents, whose death not only touched 
 the University, but ev^ery heart that beats throughout the 
 State in sympathy with the interest of learning and science. 
 
 Years ago I entered the collegiate department of this 
 University. It was in most trying and troublesome times ; 
 civil war had commenced its sad work of human carnage ; 
 alarm and intense excitement pervaded the atmosphere and 
 filled the minds of all, found their way to the professor's 
 sanctum and the student's room. Under such unpropitious 
 and unfavorable circumstances we then attempted to drink 
 freely at this Pierian Spring. The young men of this day 
 are to be congratulated that they have been able to pursue 
 their studies under more auspicious surroundings, and that 
 the bloody and wasting revolution, angry offspring of con- 
 flicting interests and ideas, has forever settled the questions 
 that so long distracted and monopolized the American mind 
 to the exclusion of others most needful. These issues were 
 submitted to the wager of battle, the last that should be 
 resorted to, in which soldiers of the gallantry of the six 
 hundred at Balaklava, faced in deadly array soldiers of the 
 valor of the old guard at Waterloo. A contest for 
 courage, numbers engaged and killed, means expended and 
 influence on the destiny of the world itself, has no parallel 
 in history. But grander and stranger than all these is the 
 sequel : these hostile forces in a few years brought together 
 as brothers of old, with equal ardor for and the same pride 
 in the one Union, rejoicing in the preservation of both the 
 moral and physical integrity of the nation, and that there 
 is a radiant star for each State and a sovereign State for 
 each star upon the flag of our common country. 
 
 What produced this result in the face of so many adverse 
 precedents? It was due to the wise scheme of government 
 that the founder of this University and his associates de- 
 vised and crystalized into form ; to the enlightenment and 
 morality of an educated people ; to the fact that the same 
 undying honor that moved the Southern soldier to heroic 
 
ADDRESS. 7 
 
 deeds on her battle fields, moved him in good faith to ac- 
 quiesce in the decision of the bloody arbitration selected. 
 A spectacle so strange in the annals of time many doubted 
 and disbelieved for a time, but both the honor and good 
 faith of the Southerner were so strongly impressed that the 
 citizens of the entire republic have solemnly declared, in 
 due form of law, their mutual confidence in and respect for 
 each other. And none regret, but all rejoice, that it has been 
 decreed forever that this is constitutionally an indestructi- 
 ble union, and that the spirit of fraternity reigns supreme 
 throughout a country so great that it can and does count 
 the Southern valor and Northern valor as joint assets in the 
 estate of its fame ; a people so noble that heart and intel- 
 lect have conquered hate and prejudice. 
 
 According to science and the book of books, the Bible, 
 man was last in order of creation and more richly endowed 
 with gifts than all living creatures. He was made a free 
 agent, with mind to think, voice to speak, and vitality to 
 act, with the single restriction that he must not and cannot 
 use these powers in violation of God's or nature's laws, 
 without exposing himself to their penalty. Let him use 
 them well and he shall have dominion over the earth, ani- 
 mate and inanimate ; he shall be enabled to subdue the 
 powers of nature and combine and separate them according 
 to his want ; he shall be master of the earth, covering it 
 with harvest and homes, villages and cities ; master of the 
 sea, covering it with ships floating at ease over its unfath- 
 omed abysses ; master of the elements, fire, air, light and 
 water, docile slaves of his sovereign will ; utilizer of the 
 beasts of the land, the birds of the air, and fish of the water ; 
 and the possessor of things of beauty and usefulness. These 
 immeasured and immeasurable blessings bestowed only on 
 man, carried with them their correlative responsibilities, for 
 every privilege has its corresponding duty. These benefac- 
 tions, in their vastness and generousness, impel man nearer 
 to Divinity than all living creatures. He says : use them, 
 but obey the laws supreme over them. They were confided 
 
5 ADDRESS. 
 
 to man, not for purely selfish purposes, but in trust for his 
 own and his fellow man's welfare and advancement. What 
 we term progress or retrogression, is the mere record of 
 how these far reaching and all pervading responsibilities 
 have been fulfilled or neglected. 
 
 The Holy Record, of admitted antiquity, reveals that 
 their repudiation resulted in the expulsion of man from the 
 beauties and comforts of Eden, and then in the destruction 
 of all save a single family. Now, be this as it may, be it a 
 Divine revelation, authentic history, or a romance, the con- 
 text of that great Book proves beyond dispute that a high 
 degree of learning and wisdom existed in the times of Moses, 
 David, Solomon and Paul respectively ; the first, brought up 
 as a member of the royal family of Egypt, was versed in 
 the wisdom of that country; the Psalms of the second, in 
 their sublimity and tender and touching pathos, are still the 
 most fitting strains of devotional raptures ; the Proverbs 
 and songs of the third, who asked not for riches or long life, 
 but understanding, have been the delight and wonder of 
 all ages; the fourth was a man of the highest intelligence 
 and rarest attainments. 
 
 Purely profane history, at least, discloses that the world 
 reached a wondrous development of wisdom, challenging 
 our own boasted civilization. 
 
 Grecian literature is the miracle in the phenomena of the 
 human mind and soul. In Greece there was an intensely 
 original creative force which has never been transcended. 
 There had been vast and powerful empires and cities before, 
 but you must look to Greece for the parentage of profane 
 history, epic poetry, tragedy, forensic eloquence and philoso- 
 phy, and there you will find Heroditus, Homer, ^schylus 
 Demosthenes and Socrates. 
 
 In Greece, literature, arts, philosophy and civilization 
 reached a degree of perfection and an altitude never before 
 touched, if indeed attained since. 
 
 To what causes are these marvelous results to be ascribed ? 
 These causes once ascertained and fixed, you will discover 
 
ADDRESS. 9 
 
 that to the blind disregard of them, the subsequent decline 
 was due. Free agency, developed and understood, was the 
 rock foundation upon which was raised the edifice of free 
 institutions ; a temple that has and ever will crumble into 
 dust, if exposed to the atmospheric action of immorality 
 and ignorance. 
 
 The influence of free institutions and popular education 
 is the source, doubtless, from which all the civilization that 
 existed in Greece flowed. It was a government of the peo- 
 ple for a people who had been educated. Schools and 
 school-masters were essential elements in their social system. 
 Plato says, as soon as the distinction between right and 
 wrong was impressed by the parent upon the child, he was 
 sent to school to be instructed in "reading, writing, music 
 and orderly habits," which fitted him for self-training as a 
 citizen, and for further training in rhetoric and philosophy 
 to be pursued at the Academy and Lyceum. They recog- 
 nized the necessity of both popular and higher education. 
 Grecian civilization was transplanted to other lands ; to 
 Ephesus, where the " Temple of Diana " was the depository 
 of the most perfect works of the greatest artists of antiquity, 
 the painting by Apelles, of Alexander grasping a thunder- 
 bolt, the picture of the Goddess, by Timante, the first female 
 artist upon record, and the matchless works of many others ; 
 to Alexandria, affluent in her libraries, museums, schools of 
 arts, sciences, rhetoric, medicine, mathematics and theology; 
 to Rome whose poets, orators and philosophers translated 
 Homer, Demosthenes a:id Plato. 
 
 Rome physically conquered the world and became an 
 empire of strength and statesmen, but was subdued by the 
 arts and learning of Greece. Her best scholars were educa- 
 ted there. Thus the learning of Greece advanced the world 
 to a remarkable condition of civilization, of which Athens 
 and Rome were two mighty monuments. But in time Ro- 
 man love of conquest and spoils became the dominating 
 spirit of that empire, and then there came a decay of that 
 learning and civilization ; a mighty cloud of decline covered 
 
lO ADDRESS. 
 
 the world with blight, a black night of desolation to human 
 hopes and progress. During that long night of intellectual 
 darkness, nearly every vestige of ancient learning and civ- 
 ilization was effaced. The Archseologist of this day is still 
 delving amid the ruins of the past to uncover them to the 
 view once again. The dawn of light disclosed that a total 
 failure to appreciate the responsibility of self to self and to 
 others, imposed by the dominion given man over the world 
 in all things save his fellow man, had destroyed free agency; 
 and free thought, free expression and free action we're fet- 
 tered, chained and enslaved. In this age and country, it is 
 most difficult to believe that the naked right to think was 
 ever denied man. The stake, dungeon, gibbet, and inquisi- 
 tion, all affirm it beyond contradiction. Huss and Galileo, 
 and a long list of associates, were victims or martyrs to this 
 tyranny. The contest, waged so long between Hellenic 
 civilization and Oriental despotism, had to be fought over 
 again ; the fallen therein can never be counted. This des- 
 potism had become so firmly established that the success 
 of the revolution for the emancipation of free thought, 
 -expression and action, was gradual and slow indeed. Man 
 had to struggle with himself, against the prejudices and 
 superstitions that hovered around his birth and became a 
 part of him from infancy ; then, with his fellow man, for the 
 right of expression ; and lastly, with rulers of church and 
 nation, for freedom of action, the application of his thoughts 
 to the practical affairs of life. This revolution, sometimes 
 in silence and sometimes in noisy war, went on for ages, 
 •gaining slowly the rights belonging to free agency. The 
 final and fortuitous culmination of these bloody wars, waged 
 for the right to think, was the discovery of this hemisphere 
 by Columbus, where the liberty to think and speak was 
 crowned with the triumph of freedom of action, where, at a 
 cost that to us would seem most burdensome, severance of 
 the ties of home and kindred, an asylum was found for their 
 exercise. 
 
 The seventeenth century marked a mighty exodus from 
 
ADDRESS. II 
 
 Europe to America, the importance of which, to man's ad- 
 vancement, was not second to that of Moses from Egj-pt. 
 
 The bold, manly, restless and determined spirits and firm 
 believers in the freedom of mind, expatriated themselves 
 from native lands, to seek the protection of the wilderness 
 of the new continent. There came Englishman with his 
 tenacity of purpose, Scotchman with his love of philosophy, 
 Celt with his ever irrepressible agitation for the greatest lib- 
 erty, Hollander with his inherited fondness for work and 
 freedom, Frenchman with his vivacity of spirit, German 
 with his thrift and learning, and so on from all nations. 
 
 Loneliness of position, self-protection against the toma- 
 hawk of the scalping savage, self-interest, trade, commerce 
 and social instincts, all combined to bring them together, 
 intermarrying and living and working, under divine guidance, 
 in harmony for the common benefit ; each lifted to a higher 
 plane by the aid and presence of the other ; and thus the 
 seed of free government and greater mental development 
 was sown broadcast over the continent. These subtle forces 
 were silently working results never dreamt of by the states- 
 man, philanthropist or political economist. The law of com- 
 pensation reveals that every race excels in some respect, 
 and as the blood of these different races mixed and com- 
 mingled in the veins of the people, mental strength increas- 
 ed ; moral vigor advanced ; national prejudices, habits and 
 customs, that once in their conflict seemed to have forbid- 
 den ihe unification of the colonies, \w re amalgamated ; the 
 best traits of each survived, and the pernicious ones were 
 obliterated, and a new race was created, " the American,'' 
 without which this nation, a marvel in the world's history, 
 could never have existed. 
 
 Great effects are due to great causes and not to small 
 ones. " A spark only lights a vast conflagration when it 
 falls upon combustible material previously collected." Gen- 
 eral causes, whether moral or ph}'sical, direct the world's 
 destiny. 
 
 In 1776, the condition of the American colonies was such 
 
12 ADDRESS. 
 
 that the tea tax, of trifling burden, was the spark that set 
 aflame the accunnulated spirit of free thought, voicing the 
 principle of free agency and founding a government there- 
 upon, that " all men were born equal," not in strength of 
 mind or body, but in the right to enter the race of life and 
 contend before impartial judges, the full jury of one's coun- 
 trymen, for the prizes great and small ; that the people 
 were sovereigns, a government of collective thought. 
 
 The inspired leaders that impelled the world forward in 
 this great stride of human progress, knew well that its per- 
 fection and perpetuation must rest upon developed thought,^ 
 men trained for the contest and clothed with the wisdom of 
 the ruler. North Carolina was the first to stamp its recog- 
 nition upon the organic law. Read it in her constitution of 
 1776, written in golden letters, that schools for the conven- 
 ient education of children, and a University for the encour- 
 agement and promotion of all useful learning, shall be estab- 
 lished. The fame of him who penned these words of light 
 can never be extinguished till the world itself shall be hurled 
 out of its orbit through infinite space and broken into dis- 
 integrating fragments against worlds greater and larger than 
 it. All hail his name ! 
 
 Davie and his associates, as soon as the martial uniform 
 and arms were laid aside, aroused from slumber the man- 
 date of the constitution, and breathed life and vitality in 
 the infant University' — a living and ever enduring monu- 
 ment to their glory, speaking through her scholars in every 
 hamlet of this State and in every State, grander than was 
 ever raised to the military heroes of empire. This Univer- 
 sity can stand, in the sunlight of the 19th century, the cru- 
 cial test of successful, useful and influential lives of her stu- 
 dents and their students in every walk of human endeavor. 
 
 Her doors have been open from birth till now, except for 
 a few years, when strange gods, made mad and soon 10 be 
 destroyed, desecrated her pure bosom, mistaking the influ- 
 ence and power of her teachings in men, for these dumb 
 walls. 
 
ADDRESS.. 13 
 
 She was born of the practical idea, underlying the whole 
 fabric of our institutions, that the rulers — the people — must 
 be made intelligent, or a government by them will be either 
 a farce or a tragedy, even under an absolute despotism. The 
 theory is that he must know the law, for at his peril he must 
 obey. In this country the voter not only obeys the law — 
 directly or indirectly, by action or by neglect — he makes, in- 
 terprets and executes it ; his is the originating and guiding 
 brain as well as the obedient hand. 
 
 The mere accumulation of knowledge is not education, 
 nor is it wisdom ; and for this reason, the chief purpose of 
 this college has not been to store the mind with facts of 
 history, but to develop the moral nature of the student 
 upon whom the mother has already strongly impressed the 
 distinction between right and wrong ; and then to train his 
 mind, teaching him to think and reason, drilling and strength- 
 ening the faculties in need thereof, and pruning and repress- 
 ing those in need thereof, so that the resultant will be a 
 sound and healthy mind, balanced and adjusted in all its 
 parts and functions ; teaching him the best methods of ac- 
 quiring knowlege and cultivating the habit of learning ; to 
 wrestle for the time with abstract thought rather than with 
 the concrete, though these are always in some degree inter- 
 woven ; preparing him to continue, without the aid of 
 teacher, the development only commenced, for graduation 
 is only a mile stone on the highway of development. He 
 must then employ the complicated powers and forces of 
 mind in the fields of actual practice. 
 
 The plow, sinking shallow or deep in the soil ; the intri- 
 cate machinery of the factory, moving with accuracy and 
 without friction ; the needle gun and minie rifle, sending 
 the ball with precision to the desired object ; the diamond 
 drill, penetrating to the places of the hidden treasures of 
 the earth ; the lens of the telescope, carrying the human eye 
 to the secret places of the skies; and chemical action, ana- 
 lyzing and commingling the properties of bodies for use ; all 
 think, when moved to action by the will of man who thinks. 
 
14 ADDRESS. 
 
 There is no royal road to learning and wisdom. The mind 
 must be exercised and disciplined, and the regular collegiate 
 course, notwithstanding the bitter denunciations lately 
 directed against it, is best adapted to accomplish that end 
 in a four years' term for classes of young men, ranging from 
 fifteen to twenty, of average capacity and preparation. 
 They then have acquired an index to the innumerable 
 branches of human knowledge and industries, and their 
 minds have been suflficiently disciplined to select and pursue 
 one of these to its legitimate end with advantage and suc- 
 cess. Our colleges aie truly American institutions, grandly 
 working in co-operation with the scheme of thirty-eight (38) 
 State governments, united under one government, exer- 
 cising delegated functions relating to the joint necessities 
 of all. Each State has its college, where her sons gather 
 and are taught to think upon the facts evolved from the 
 industries, interests, lives of the people, and the diversified 
 nature of the State. The legislatures of the States give 
 diversity of legislation, and the Colleges of the States give 
 diversity of thought. And when an American Congress 
 convenes, whether scientific or legislative, the members do 
 not voice the ideas of a single professor or institution, but 
 of many schools of thought, from every conceivable stand- 
 point ; and better results are reached, for just as flint upon 
 flint throws off the spark, so the conflict of ideas of educated 
 men has enlightened the world. Save us from a people of 
 the supineness of assimilated ideas on all subjects. And for 
 this reason, the tendency of the State to look to Federal 
 government for the means to educate the people, is to be 
 deprecated, for it will destroy self reliance and responsi- 
 bility, the cornerstone of community independence; and the 
 contribution will in time be followed by supervision of its 
 application, appointment of teachers, and the direction of 
 opinions to be taught or repressed, and will endanger the 
 rights of States, centralizing ideas .and power — a constant 
 menace to freedom of mind and action. 
 
 The conditions of our institutions and country during 
 
ADDRESS. 15, 
 
 this century have been most conducive to the era of the 
 great progress that has marked it. There was the rich soiL 
 with mental seed and moral atmosphere which brought forth 
 a harvest most prolific. 
 
 Progressive development has been wondrous indeed in- 
 answer to the ever increasing demands of man, as a living, 
 breathing, seeing, hearing, thinking, speaking, social and 
 dying free-agent. Measured by the age of the individual, 
 slow, but by the age of all time, swift. From the savage to 
 the cultured gentleman ; cave to modern homes ; foot to 
 horse ; oar to sail ; and from these to Titan steam driving, 
 moving palaces over and through mountains and across the 
 waters of the briny deep and the unsalted seas of the inte- 
 rior ; courier to electricity harnessed as a messenger; the 
 music of the human voice, audible only a few feet and lost 
 forever to vocal sound, transmitted to startling distances 
 through the telephone, and preservable for ages in the pho- 
 nograph ; the fickle sun picture of objects reflected upon 
 the water mirror, to the likeness transferred and transfixed 
 upon substances in enduring form ; garments of skins of 
 wild animals fastened with thongs, to the machine made and 
 sewed fabrics ; substances in native form, to those changed 
 and shaped by man at his will for his use, by mechanical and 
 chemical action ; marble rough, to marble chiseled in statues 
 perfect ; the healing ingredients and sweet perfumes, separa- 
 ted from poisons and loathsome odors ; conjurer, to skilled 
 physician and surgeon ; muscle unassisted, to gunpowder, 
 steam and electricity, obedient to the will of man ; adobe 
 architecture, to imposing cathedrals and proud capitals ; 
 brute force, to persuasive reasoning ; thoughts spoken, to 
 thoughts written and printed for exchange with the living 
 and those of the future ; superstitions debasing, to the phi- 
 losophy of the materialists and idealist, and from these to 
 philosophy of an ego and non ego, the thing knowing and 
 the thing known of ; intellect buried in ignorance,, to intel- 
 lect set at liberty; multiplicity of warring gods of passions 
 vile, to one Supreme Divinity, all-knowing,. all-powerful and 
 
 4 
 
l6 ADDRESS. 
 
 always present, regulating the action of the subtle forces of 
 nature by laws of uniform order, and offering immortal 
 felicity to the spirit of man ; conscience buried in ignorance 
 and immorality, to conscience cultured, moral and free, the 
 tribunal before which every thought and act of man must 
 pass in judgment of approval or condemnation, and through 
 which the mysteries of God, self and the world must be dis- 
 cerned and detected. 
 
 You are fortunate in the age you have been born, the 
 fruitful era of the highest civilization yet touched. 
 
 You are fortunate in the country in which you have been 
 reared, which is second to none in prestige and power; fore- 
 most of all in its political institutions, in the security of 
 private rights, and in opportunities for individual advance- 
 ment. You are justified in feeling a pride in this country, 
 which in a century has increased and enlarged from three 
 4Tiillions to sixty millions citizens, and from thirteen to 
 thirty-eight States; latticed with iron rails and wires; hills 
 and valleys covered with farms and factories, towns and 
 ■cities, schools and churches, libraries and colleges. In wealth, 
 invention, discovery, arts, literature, philosophy, science and 
 all achievements, there has been a proportionate advance. 
 Such ceaseless activity in all departments of progress has 
 never been exceeded. Without the strength and stimulus 
 of education these advantages can nev^er be preserved. Edu- 
 cation is the most economical, if not the only defense of 
 the prosperity and civilization of a nation. Such progress 
 makes it a greater necessity than ever. In a social system, 
 the relations of which are so multiplied and intricate, and 
 growing more so, the duties of government, of the profes- 
 sional, business and laboring man, become more complex ; 
 and greater wisdom is needed to cope with them ; greater 
 moral vigor to resist the temptations of the riches incident 
 thereto. Accumulated wealth is followed by organized 
 capital and labor, often engaged in a struggle for their re- 
 spective rights, the bias of self-interest frequently blinding 
 each as to what are their rights ; virgin soil consumed re- 
 
ADDRESS. 17 
 
 quires the restoratives of science ; over-production in field 
 and factory calls for new markets; commerce enlarged, more 
 perfect system of finance; large cities exact the best engi- 
 neering and hygienic skill. The laws of political economy 
 applicable to such conditions are more difficult, and the 
 laws of mechanics more essential. Only a few years since the 
 Swiss watch product, their chief industry, was driven from 
 the markets of the world by the machine-made watch of 
 our own country. 
 
 This outline of the landmarks of progress suggests from 
 whence our civilization came, and where it is ; but where it 
 shall go, whether onward and upward or backward and 
 downward, depends upon whether or not each generation 
 will arm itself with all the weapons necessary to a full per- 
 formance of the duties imposed by its rich gifts. Sons to be 
 equal to their ancestors must be better ; they have the 
 thoughts and works of the latter to add to. To-day is no 
 better than yesterday, except it utilizes the experiences of 
 yesterday. 
 
 All the constituent elements of civilization must keep 
 step in the march. Constant readjustment is needed to 
 preserve their proper relations. One must not dominate 
 the other or there will be a deformed social system, either 
 mentally, morally or physically. It has been often and well 
 said, that the majesty and authority of civilized government 
 is not sui^cient. Rome had these under a republic and 
 empire for 1,000 years. Commerce is not suf^cient. Carth- 
 age had this. Intellectual culture is not sufficient. Greece 
 had this, when there were separate States and a confedera- 
 tion of States, with her orators, poets, statesmen, rhetori- 
 cians and philosophers. The elective suffrage is not suffi- 
 cient. All the fallen republics of the past had this. There 
 must be a harmonious blending and co-operation of all the 
 elements in every department of progress, according to the 
 requirements of the community and age. 
 
 Our inventions, discoveries and products are used abroad, 
 2 
 
I8 ADDRESS. 
 
 and the reflex influence of American thought has been felt 
 in Europe. It assisted in making France thrice a republic, 
 and her people in gratitude therefor have sent to us, to be 
 placed in the harbor of the commercial metropolis, a co- 
 lossal statue of the " Goddess of Liberty," raising high to- 
 ward the heavens in her uplifted hand, a torch to beckon to 
 these shores the ships of commerce and emigrants. But 
 lest the newcomers be deceived and misunderstand the vital 
 spirit of our institutions, right amid the commercial and 
 money exchanges of that city, on the very stone and spot 
 of his inauguration, stands a heroic sized statue of the pure, 
 able and christian soldier and statesman, George Washing- 
 ton, the unrivaled, to warn them that the goddess of liberty 
 or reason has not dethroned the King of Kings in this land. 
 
 American thought has influenced England to such an ex- 
 tent that her Prime Minister (Gladstone) can rise under the 
 very shadow of the divine right of kings, and admonish his 
 courPtrymen that unity of boundless empire can only be 
 maintained by diversity of legislation, decentralization. And 
 this reminds us that our young men should learn well the 
 constitution of their own country. 
 
 Remember, neither to underestimate nor overvalue your 
 strength — the one paralyzes and the other allures to danger- 
 ous shoals; that self-knowledge is all important, but the 
 innate bias of self renders it the most difficult ; that knowl- 
 edge is power, but of little value unless you utilize it ; that 
 the glory of power is not in the possession thereof, but 
 rather in the use thereof along the line of moral purpose, to 
 the beneficent end of shedding the effulgence of the star of 
 progress over the world. The weight of evidence in spiritual 
 and worldly matters must be respected. When you reach the 
 stream of doubt, do not plunge yourself headlong into the 
 howling waters of infinite inquiry, but stand upon the firm 
 facts of collective thought, cross the ugly torrent upon the 
 bridges that have stood the strain of ages, unless you have 
 constructed a stronger and safer one. You must select some 
 
ADDRESS. 19 
 
 definite pursuit, and let it be a rivulet, ever in sight, 
 running its silver cord through the valley of your earnest 
 efforts and unceasing labors. Supine content buries hope 
 and absolute rest prevents ascent. You should be law- 
 abiding and order loving. The imperative "necessity of right, 
 outward authority, binding us into organic connection with 
 other beings," is the highest act of intellect — the highest 
 glory and the highest freedom of a responsible and social 
 being. Restrain the boastful spirit of the age — that self- 
 glorification which rests upon material progress alone ; for 
 the vastness of empire and wealth, subjugation of the latent 
 forces of nature, classification of animals, and their descent 
 traced, and ingenuity of invention, cannot satisfy conscience 
 or relieve death of its terrors. " The search for causes in na- 
 ture, when divorced from those spiritual verities which 
 minister to the soul's health, simply pushes away from 
 needy man the bending heavens and hides the Cause of 
 Causes in the awful silence behind the stars."' Be conserva- 
 tive, but not slavish to tradition. True conservatism is the 
 desire and effort to follow through all ages every step along 
 the line of progress, distinguishing the enduring from the 
 perishable in human history, and preserving the former as 
 the guide of the present. Let your motto be intellectual 
 culture and liberty rightfully employed ; culture harmoni- 
 ous with all the relations of man to God, man and the world, 
 and liberty free from infringement upon that of others. Let 
 your potential influence as educated men be exerted towards 
 keeping open the living fountains of thought. May you be 
 lights of society and pillars of government, ever scrutinizing 
 the mysteries ot the seen and unseen and promoting the 
 welfare of man, reaching a higher fruition than ever before 
 attained. May your acts ever shed lustre and reflect honor 
 upon your alma mater. May you enjoy to the fullest 
 measure "the sweets of friendship, the charms of literature 
 and the loveliness of virtue." 
 
 May this University live and flourish to the end of time. 
 
20 ADDRESS. 
 
 deserving the sympathetic support of good men and the 
 loving smile of Him on high, and go on, with unrelaxing 
 energy, to enlighten successive generations, training men in 
 true learning and wisdom, in all that is manly and pure, 
 humane and generous. May the crystal clear waters of this 
 and the other similar fountains of knowledge f^ow on and 
 on forever, till our country becomes one vast ocean of 
 wisdom and intelligence, crowning our loftiest hopes and 
 most dazzling visions of development and glory, with reali- 
 zation complete. 
 
 The mighty migrations of the human races in the order 
 of their highest development respectively: from Egypt, the 
 Orient, Greece, Rome, Gaul and Britain, in the westward 
 march of empire, would seem to indicate that there were 
 some demoralizing influences attending the fruits of civiliza- 
 tion, which man had been unable to resist in the past, such 
 as the corruption and enervation of wealth and luxury, and 
 such as the superstitions and prejudices largely the result of 
 an over boastful spirit and self content of a people who 
 have climbed to the highest round yet reached on the ladder 
 of progress ; and that the preservation of each civilization 
 required a fresh soil to plant its seed in and rear aloft a still 
 higher growth. May the teachers of our schools and col- 
 leges, and the ambassadors of God, impart an intense love of 
 truth and a deep sense of justice — the twin jewels in the 
 crown of an intelligent free-agent, worth more than all else 
 under the broad canopy of the skies — -and thus save our land, 
 even in the distant future, from migrations therefrom for 
 such causes. 
 
 The trite truths of the past should never be lost sight of 
 in the glitter of the latest civilization. But such civilization 
 should perpetually be a text, a golden nail on the venerable 
 wall of time, upon which to hang the old trophies of long- 
 enduring truths and familiar thoughts, and keep them free 
 from the collecting dust of oblivion.