THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 C378 
 UK3 
 
 1851A 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00036721119 
 
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ADDRESS 
 
 I)F.LITEni;i) KEFORB THB 
 
 TWO LITERARY SOCIETIES 
 
 OF TBE 
 
 m 
 
 ■ UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 
 
 JUNE 4, 1 851 
 
 W. W, AVERY, ESQ 
 
 ^v.%U%f)tt} iig Qx^ix of t^c miaiecJic ^QtUtv. 
 
 RALEIGH: 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM W. HOLDEN. 
 18 5 1. . 
 
Dialectic Hall, June 5tii, 1851. 
 Sir: 
 
 The undersigned have been appointed, on behalf of the Dialectic 
 Society, to return you its most sincere thanks for the able and interesting 
 Address delivered by you on yesterday, and to request a copy for publi- 
 cation. 
 
 Permit us, Sir, in communicating the wish of our Society, to add 
 our personal solicitations, and indulge the hope that you will grant their 
 request. 
 
 With very great respect, 
 
 Leon. F. Siler, 
 Legh R. Waddell, 
 Thos. L. Williambon, 
 
 Committee, 
 W. W. Avery, Esq. 
 
 Chapel IIill, June Cth, I80I. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I am in receipt of your polite favor of the 5th instant, communi- 
 cating the wshes of the Dialectic Society, touching the publication of the 
 Address delivered by me before the two Literary Societies, on the day 
 jireceding the late Commencement. 
 
 I enclose you a copy of the Address ; and, in doing so, permit me to 
 express my regret that it is not more worthy the flattering notice which 
 the Society proposes to bestow upon it. 
 
 Accept my acknowledgments for the kind terms in which you have 
 conveyed the request for its publication, and believe me to be, 
 A'ery respectfidl}'. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. \\. AVEKY. 
 
 Messi-s. L. F. Silek, , 
 
 L. R. Waddei.i,, 
 T. L, AVilliamsok. 
 
A D 1) II E 8 S . 
 
 Gkktlemkn- of the riiiLAXTiiKOPic AKD Dialectic Societiks ; 
 
 III attempting to follow the path of those eminent 
 men, who have gained fresh laurels, and enhanced re- 
 putations already exalted, by their lessons of wasdom 
 and instruction, imparted at the annual festivals of our 
 Alma Mater, I must claim much from your indulgence. 
 
 I cannot flatter myself that an Address, prepared 
 amid the avocations of a professional life, affording few 
 hours of leisure for literary pursuits, will conform to the 
 cultivated taste of those who are accustomed to see this 
 position occupied by Statesmen and Orators, and to 
 hear, from the lips of Genius and Learning, an instruc- 
 tive expression of the spirit of the occasion. But I in- 
 dulge the hope, that the sincerity with which I offer 
 this tribute of homage at the shrine of Science and 
 Learning, will command your approval, though I may 
 fail to send this brilliant assemblaoe of talent, intelli- 
 gence, and beauty, to their homes, in a mood of 2:)erfect 
 gratification. 
 
 From the broad plain of Philosophical Inquiry — • 
 from the wide field of Literary Speculation — and from 
 the extended domain of Science and Art, various sub- 
 jects arise, that would be attractive to the speaker, and 
 which are commended to his consideration by the pre- 
 eminence usually given to them as themes for discussion 
 at literary anniversaries ; but your well-stored libraries 
 furnish sources for acquisition in all the departments of 
 
6 
 
 learning, far more accurate and lucid than any disserta- 
 tion, comj^rised in the condensed form of an Address, 
 however elaborate the aroument, and thouoh its reason- 
 ing might be presented in all the brilliancy and glow, 
 and with all the intensity of eloquence. Books are the 
 real sources of all learning. They perpetuate truth — 
 they record the discoveries in science. And when the 
 truths they contain are expounded, and the discoveries 
 they record are illustrated, by the wise and learned 
 men who direct your studies liere, no more "royal road 
 to learning" can be devised; and the youth may well 
 despair of attaining excellence, who sighs for other 
 channels of instruction. 
 
 The speaker, on an occasion like this, can aspire to 
 no higher purpose than an earnest effort to give fresh 
 impulse to the mind of ingenuous youth, in its search 
 after knowledge, by impressing upon it tlie conviction, 
 that the attainment of excellence in all tilings is not 
 only a high moral and personal duty, but is likewise an 
 obligation of patriotism, imposed by the ^tate whose 
 bounty is enjoyed. This latter obligation it is my in- 
 tention to enforce, by the highest considerations which 
 can intluence man's actions with reference to his duties 
 on earth ; and, in that connection, to inculcate the sen- 
 timent, and, if possible, to engender the feeling of State 
 Pride. 
 
 And here allow me to premise, that I do not intend 
 to discuss any creed of political ethics, in its usual ac- 
 ceptation, or mar the harmony of this festive scene by 
 rainglinw witii its ceremonials the discordant elements 
 of party strife. I wish to present this sentiment to your 
 consideration, in its bes-t and liighest sense, as worthy of 
 all commendation, and a fit companion in the patriot's 
 bosom, for those holy influences which awaken there, 
 
reverence for, antl devotion to his God. And having 
 chosen this subject for the purpose of enabhng me to 
 speak freely, and describe fully to \'oii the condition oi 
 that State upon whose soil you were born, whose career 
 you may hereafter direct and control, and of whose 
 wants and interests ^'Oii cannot be too early advised, I 
 shall discuss, at its |)roper place, the probable influence 
 which the active existence of this feehng in North Car- 
 olina would exercise over her future destiny. 
 
 State pride is an active desir<3 to see our immediate 
 country prosperous and happy. It has its origin in 
 that love for the land of our birth, which is one of the 
 strongest instincts of our nature, and incites nobler ac- 
 tions, and induces greater sacrifices, than any other 
 impulse of man's bosom. Love of birth-place and 
 home, is developed simultaneously with those warm 
 affections for parents — brothers — friends, that exist 
 around the family hearth, and which, if cultivated, 
 cluster ever after about the human heart. As associa- 
 tion expands the scope of affection, this feeling extends 
 to the sooial system around us, and is gradually enlar- 
 ged, until it comprises within its devotion the entire 
 Government of the country w^e inhabit. No Govern- 
 ment has ever retained the allegiance of its citizens 
 where this sentiment has languished; and no country 
 has flourished where it was not taiight as a principle, 
 cherished as a passion, and made fiut^ordinate only to 
 religiqji, in the ardor with which it glowed in the bosom 
 of the j^eople. But the force and effiediency of this feel- 
 ing, in controlling our actions, stimulating high resolves, 
 and securing the sacrifice of individiiial interest to the 
 public good, depends upon the extent ^of the area of its 
 operation. And in order to make it active, effective, 
 ttnd self-sacrificing — I speak \vith reference to the 
 
public weal — ■that area should be circumscribed by 
 fixed and definite boundaries, and must not be too 
 extensive, for each successive enlargement of the cir- 
 cle of its sympathy weakens its intensity, precisely as 
 our affection for family — relative — 'friend — country- 
 maU) becomes less ardent as it diverges from the prin- 
 cipal focus of concentration. 
 
 The division of the vast territory of our ReiDublic 
 into StateS) with known and fixed boundaries, and hav- 
 ing the entire control of their own internal police and 
 government, thereby concentrating the actions, thoughts, 
 and afiections of their people, while it constitutes the 
 strength and beauty of our political system, is likewise 
 the chief element of the prosperity of our Republic. 
 As liberal competition between individuals, in the race 
 for honorable distinction, is the greatest incentive to 
 success, so does the generous rivalry among the mem- 
 bers of our family of States, in their contest for pre- 
 eminence in improving and ameliorating the condition 
 of their people, ensure to each greater progress in the 
 march of improvement ; and the aggregate of character 
 and prosperity thus attained by the several States, im- 
 parts to the Republic the glory and grandeur of its 
 national character. 
 
 Much of the well-merited renown acquired by our 
 arms upon the plains of Mexico, may be ascribed to the 
 noble emulation which was excited in the bosoms of the 
 several corps of patriotic soldiers, representing the dif- 
 ferent States of the Union. Marching under a banner, 
 clothed in the emblems, and inscribed with the motto 
 of Ais State, each citizen-soldier approached the field of 
 battle, proudly conscious that her honor and character 
 were confided to his keeping; and, as he beheld his 
 brethren from the other States unfurling their respec- 
 
live banuerri, and marshalliiio- thomselves beneath their 
 ibid?;, he resolved, with a hero's spirit, that the flag of 
 his native State should be foremost in the van, whilst a 
 single hand was lei't to carry and defend it. 
 
 Thus inspirited, the citizen-soldier of America has 
 proved himself invincible. And if the same noble spirit 
 of emulation, existing and operating in the civil depart- 
 ments of life, would animate and direct the people of 
 all the States in this Union, what limit could human 
 prophecy affix to their intellectual, social, political, and 
 moral advancement ! Would to God that our beloved 
 State thrilled from centre to circumference with the 
 inspiration of this spirit ! Would that I could this day 
 enkindle in your bosoms the regenerating spark I For 
 I am licre to speak for North Carolina — to appeal from 
 her children whose generation is passing away, to those 
 whose generation will soon succeed them ; and if I 
 shall speak plainly and boldly, it is because all that I 
 am — -all that I have — and all that the future has in 
 store for me, are hers, and from my fall and perfect 
 consciousness of loyalty to her institutions and her in- 
 terests, I claim the privilege of telling you the truth, 
 and recounting the simple story of her wrongs. 
 
 North Carolina connnenced her career as a member 
 of this Union with an average share of the wealth, in- 
 telligence, and virt^ie, then existing among the Colonies. 
 And it is true, she has increased in population — in 
 wealth — in intellioence — in most of the elements that 
 constitute the greatness of a State. But has that in- 
 crease been commensurate with the progress of the 
 world around us \ Is she not immeasurably behind 
 many of her compeers \ While she pauses, after short 
 and conxulsive efforts at progress, are not her proud 
 sisters movino onward in tlieir career, and widening- 
 
10 
 
 the distance which separates her irom ihem t Do you 
 require evidence that she occupies a position so low in 
 the scale of progress I As a primary question, I ask 
 you, Where are the memorials of" her advancement I 
 Where are the works ol' puhlic improvement, propor- 
 tionate to the resources and means ot her people, attest- 
 ing their public spirit I A lew partial works of im- 
 provement in one section, struggling into precarious 
 existence, and sustained alone by their small band of 
 Spartan projectors, and a single grand scheme progress- 
 ing, which has been saved from positive i'ailure only by 
 unparalleled exertions, although a munificent subscrip- 
 tion had been made by the State to aid its consumma- 
 tion — these arc the only monuments of their public 
 spirit. 
 
 Where are the magnificent schemes of private en- 
 terprize, the results of individual or associated effort, 
 exhibiting the energy of a thriving j)opulation ? A few 
 manufaetories here and there, wdthout facilities for 
 transportation, and with indiflerent patrons., who prefer 
 to purchase every thing from abroad, are the only re- 
 flections from the fields of enterprize in a State where 
 one portion of her population are never beyond the 
 sound or echo of a waterfall, whilst all of them are 
 daily, hourly, surrounded by the elements of steam. 
 
 Where are the flourishino- cities, dotting an extend- 
 ed seaboard — marts for the commerce of the world, 
 and reflecting the w-orld's intelligence to the interior I 
 Let the struggles of the spirited citiz^ens of a single 
 town, whose noble and manly efforts should be rewai'd- 
 ed, for a season at least, with half the trade that floats 
 upon the ocean, answer the question. 
 
 Where are the striking exhibitions of our inventive 
 genius, indicating the skill of our artizans in mechanism'? 
 
11 
 
 The Patent Oftice answers, that few testimonials oi' Of/r 
 enterprize or skill are spread upon its records, and tells 
 the painftd story, that we are spending the hard earn- 
 ings of our industry in ])urchasing irom abroad the poor 
 privilege of using the inventions of others. 
 
 In that grand panorama of the art and industry of 
 the civilized world, now beingr exhibited across the At- 
 lantic, what niche or corner is occupied by specimens 
 of art and industry, or .even by the productions of agri- 
 culture, from North Carolina? T hope that no stranger 
 from abroad, no citizen from our sister States, will ask 
 i/ou that question, for i/ou will blush to answer it. 
 
 What have we accomplished in the great cause of 
 popular education 1 What expenditures have we made 
 to disseminate intelligence among the mass of our peo- 
 ple, and thereby lay deep and broad the foundations of 
 popular freedom I We received a fund from abroad, 
 in terms a loan, but in effect a donation. We estab- 
 lished a system of Common .Schools and devoted that 
 fund to their maintenance. The fund has proved in- 
 adequate to give life and vitality to the system, and, 
 instead of increasing it from our own abundant resour- 
 ces, and quieting the public mind by enlarging it to an 
 amount sufficient to meet the wants of all sections, we 
 .are calmly witnessing a contest touching its distribu- 
 tion, that may terminate either in the destruction of the 
 system itself, or in the alienation of the affections of our 
 people from each other. And, pending this prolonged 
 conflict, the great cause languishes, almost to stagnation, 
 because the mass of our people have abandoned schools 
 founded upon private subscription, in the confident ex- 
 pectation that their children would be allowed the 
 privilege of drinking deep from the fountains of public 
 instruction. 
 
1:? 
 
 i.L 15 true, wc luivc tins '■ tiiiie-iioiiorcd LJiiiversity,'' 
 a lasting monument of" the wisdom and liberality of its 
 founders, and left to us, by tliem, as the richest heritage 
 they could bestow ; and each generation of young men, 
 as they have successiveh' sought its advantages, have 
 been advanced in the various departments of learning, 
 and all that wise instruction and rigorous disci])line 
 could accomplish, in cultivating their minds, tempering 
 their imaginations, and jjurifying their hearts, has been 
 well and nobly performed here. But, in return for all 
 this, what contributions have been made to Literature, 
 to Science, or to Art ? 
 
 Where is North Carolma s Literature, beyond the 
 altars that surround us now? 
 
 The important records of her own Colonial History 
 are not yet even compiled, and the most memorable 
 events connected with her career, either lie mouldering 
 in musty parchments, or exist alone in a tradition, that 
 the stream of time will soon render too imperfect a 
 medium for transmitting to posterity the truths of His- 
 tory. Her mountains, streams, and vallies, abound in 
 legends and traditionary lore — blending the cruelties 
 and barbarities of Indian warfare, and the stoic heroism 
 of savage warriors, with the trials, sufferings, and ulti- 
 mate triumphs of our forefathers — with all that is pic- 
 turesque and beautiful in nature around them to inspire 
 the genius of Poetry and awaken the spirit of Romance. 
 Yet, how few are the scenes consecrated to the Muses ! 
 And still more rare, the incidents in her early career, 
 which have been moulded, by the plastic hand of Fic- 
 tion, " to point a moral or adorn a tale." 
 
 Where are her discoveries in Science, or the in- 
 stances of her application of its established princijiles, 
 in improved forms, to promote the comfort or happiness 
 
13 
 
 of mankind ? Slie has ascended the platform which 
 others liave erected, Ijut seeks not, by the simple light 
 of her own genius, to explore the ascent beyond. 
 
 Where are her specimens of Art, sketched by a 
 Raphael's pencil, or springing life-like from a Canova's 
 chisel ? The one exists only in the unreflected bean- 
 ties of nature ; the other lies buried in her numberless 
 (piarries of native marble, which not even the hand of 
 Utility, much less the finger of Taste, has yet pointed 
 out for exploration. 
 
 Where, in fine, are all those other imposing testi- 
 monials, indicating the growth, prosperity, and power 
 of a flourishing Commonwealth ? The Statesman and 
 Philanthropist will find them nowhere within our bor- 
 ders, unless they exist in the latent and undeveloped 
 energies of our people. 
 
 This picture of the condition of our beloved State, 
 gloomy and lamentable as it may be, is literally true. 
 I've extenuated nothing, "nor set down aught in mal- 
 ice." Had I loved her less, I should not dare, thus 
 rudely, to draw aside the veil and expose her deform- 
 ities. But there is a fault somewhere, and there is a 
 remedy. I invite your attention whilst I seek the one 
 and explain the other. 
 
 The torpor wdiich I may have made painfully mani- 
 fest to you, cannot be ascribed to any inferiority in the 
 mental or physical organization of our people ; they 
 are, in the main, Anglo-Saxon in their origin, claiming 
 descent from an ancestry common alike to most of the 
 citizens of the other States in the Union ; and we can 
 divine no cause that w^ould render the descendants 
 within our territory less vigorous in mind or body than 
 their forefathers. It cannot be attributed to any pecu- 
 HaritY in our institutions and form of government, for 
 
11 
 
 tlie most pj'osperous States tliat surround us are blessed 
 with the same institutions, and governed by the same 
 general policy. 
 
 The character of our soil has not dispirited, nor has 
 our climate enervated, our population. The soil, in re- 
 turn for the labors of the husbandman, yields an abun- 
 dant harvest, and is no less remarkable for the quantity 
 than the infinite variety of its productions ; whilst the 
 climate, without creating any perceptible change in the 
 temperaments or characteristics of our people, is so 
 modified, in different sections, that snow-clouds float 
 upon our mountains at the same time that flowers 
 brought from the tropics are blooming on our Eastern* 
 shore, and exhaling sweet odours beneath a Summer's 
 sun. The absence of public virtue, nor practice of 
 vice and immorality, can not have blunted the moral 
 sense of her population, for in no other State is virtue 
 more highly appreciated — integrity so scrupulously 
 practised — vice more generally reprobated — and crime 
 so certainly punished. The torpor of the Body Politic 
 of which I speak, has its origin in none of these causes, 
 but results from the total want of State Pride among 
 our people, in the sense that I have considered it. 
 
 The extinction of this sentiment — or I should rather 
 say decay, for I hope the germ still exists — has been 
 occasioned, in an eminent degree, by the course and 
 action of the prominent public men in our State, who 
 give tone to, and control public opinion ; and, in ar- 
 raigning them at the bar of that public opinion which 
 they have misdirected, and holding them responsible 
 lor the dire consequences to our most vital interests, 
 which have followed in the train of their conduct and 
 example, I intend no injustice to the living — I mean 
 jio disrespect to the dead. On the contrarv, if time 
 
jienintted, it \\ould he a. pleasing as well as a grateful 
 task, whilst awakeiiinp- the slumberiug energies of the 
 one, to canonize the virtues of the other. We have 
 had — we now have Patriots, Statesmen, and Orators, 
 whose love of country, talents, and eloquence, would 
 render them ornaments to any vState ; but, in selecting 
 objects for the peculiar devotion of their pati-iotism, 
 and in choosing theatres for the exercise and display of 
 their talents and eloquence, they have, in my humble 
 judgment, committed a most grievous error, and that 
 error I shall summon the boldness to expose. 
 
 There exists in this Republic the singular, 3'et, as 
 time has shown, consistent anomaly of two Governments 
 operating wathin the several States at the same time, 
 and intended to work harmoniously in the same sys- 
 tem — one domestic, acting directly uj^on the immediate 
 interests of its citizens, in the protection of their jiersons 
 and property — the other chiefly foreign, having its 
 powers defined by express delegation, and entering 
 the domestic circle only in specified instances, where 
 that invasion is necessary to consummate the main and 
 principal purpose contemplated in its creation. The 
 discussion of the extent and nature of the powers thus 
 delegated to the latter, and of the propriety of their ex- 
 ercise under various circumstances, has originated pol- 
 itical parties, organized with reference to these ques- 
 tions. Such parties, when founded upon principle, 
 arraying men who honestly differ in opinion on oppo- 
 site sides of questions of national policy, and, when 
 confined to the legitimate purpose of advancing issues 
 thus made, are eminently conservative. Their con- 
 flicts elicit truth and expose error, and no patriot can 
 regret their existence, or will refuse connection and 
 affiliation with them. Solon incorporated a provision 
 
16 
 
 in the Athenian code, requiring every man to take one 
 side or the other in the discussion and ultimate decision 
 of public questions, in order to secure the wisdom and 
 counsel of virtuous men. These questions of a national 
 character are sometimes of great magnitude, involving 
 the rights of the States, the fate of the Union, yea, the 
 existence of Constitutional liberty itself, and, in such 
 emergencies, they demand the highest consideration 
 from every citizen in the respective States ; but they 
 are oftimes mere ephemeral issues, creating a momen- 
 tary excitement and then passing away, having affected, 
 in no serious respect, the general welfare. In no in- 
 stance, however, can the internal regulations and local 
 interests of any one of the States be made subordinate 
 and inferior in the scale of importance, to questions and 
 issues pertaining to the Federal Government, without 
 retarding the progress and endangering the future wel- 
 fare of the particular State whose public sentiment may 
 be thus misdirected. 
 
 It has been the misfortune of our State, that her 
 statesmen, and leading men generally, have given to 
 national issues, whether momentous or ephemeral, ap- 
 parent precedence in their regard. By speeches, es- 
 says, and personal appeal, they have directed the atten- 
 tion of our people so habitually and constantly to these 
 subjects, that many of our citizens regard them as the 
 only questions demanding peculiar consideration; and 
 believino-, from the prominence always accorded to 
 national politics, that the Federal head at Washington 
 is the only source of life aiid vitality to our system — 
 that our national councils is the only true medium of 
 wise legislation — and that national glory is the only 
 altar at which a patriot should offer oblations, they 
 have ceased to manifest that anxious zeal for the local 
 
17 
 
 prosperity of ilioii- Si ale, wliicli untiiroro(] nature itself 
 \vould otherwise have prompted them to leel and ex- 
 hibit. 
 
 By the exam})le of her Statesmen, our young men 
 of genius and talent, as they respectively enter the 
 grand drama of Ufe, turn aside from the paths of Lite- 
 rature — desert the investigations of Science — forsake 
 the cultivation of Art — repudiate the homely avoca- 
 tions of Commerce, Trade, and Mechanical Industry, 
 and seek political hfe as affording and opening the only 
 sure avenue to fame ; or those pursuits alone are cho- 
 sen, which may eventually lead the young aspirants to 
 political honors. 
 
 Under the instruction of her Patriots, the patriotism 
 of our people has been extended over a wider surface, 
 but it is wholly ineffectual for good, because the strength 
 of their local attachments has been impaired. Her citi- 
 zens abandon their homes and firesides without regret, 
 with positive indifference, and, carrying with them 
 wealth, intelligence, and virtue, learn, in some more 
 favored State, to feel and cherish a devotion to the im- 
 mediate government which protects them, that would 
 have had no kindred feeling here. The wealth thus 
 abstracted is enriching every soil — the intelligence 
 thus lost is enlightening every cabinet — and the virtue 
 thus removed is adorning every social circle, in this 
 wide-spread Union. Not only is our State thus impov- 
 erished by a continuous ebb-tide of the principal ele- 
 ments of prosperity, but she has not even the consola- 
 tion of knowing that she will retain the affections and 
 sympathies of her departing sons ; for the only testimo- 
 nials furnished us, after their departure, that the land of 
 their birth holds a place in their memories, are numer- 
 ous epistcjJary supplications, imploring their Iriends 
 
IS 
 
 whom they leave behind to follow their footsteps, and 
 abandon a State that has not sufficient public spirit to 
 gain and maintain such a jiosition as will secure the 
 affections and command the allegiance of her people. 
 
 Our leading men hear, without rebuke, the State 
 pride of an adjoining State denounced as presumption 
 and arrogance, and although it may be esteemed by 
 fastidious j^ersons to be somewhat overweening, yet 
 even they must concede, that it has thrown her popula- 
 tion in advance of their unjDretending neighbors. They 
 hear, without reproof, the "boasted chivalry" of our 
 brethren in another State ridiculed, and the spirit 
 w^hich prompts its display condemned as weakness and 
 vanity, w4iilst it is apparent to the most casual observer, 
 that, however objectionable may sometimes be the man- 
 ner of its exhibition, their pervading love and devotion 
 to their own State have elevated their characters and 
 improved their condition. 
 
 We are thus taught to respond to no suggestions of 
 patriotism within our own bosoms, unless it embraces 
 within its scope an entire continent, and comprehends 
 within its sympathy twenty millions of people. And is 
 it surprising that, whilst thus stationary, awaiting the 
 growth and full development of an expanded love of 
 country, our 
 
 " Way of life is fallen into tlie sear, 
 The yellow leaf," 
 
 and that the impulsive energies, which alone build up a 
 State, should be nipped by the frosts of age before our 
 affections and sympathies can attain the haven of a 
 world-wide patriotism ? 
 
 I will not exhaust your patience, by pointing out in 
 detail all the evil consequences which have resulted 
 
19 
 
 from ihc iinloilunatc proniincnce given to parly ques- 
 tions, and to which our Statesmen — men of honor, vir- 
 tue, and inteUigence — have either actively or passively 
 contributed. But I hazard nothing in affirming, that if 
 half the toil, research, and eloquence, which have been 
 expended, through a series of years, in the party con- 
 flicts I have described, had been devoted to the promo- 
 tion of the local prosperity of North Carolina, I would 
 not now be engaged in making this appeal to her chil- 
 dren on her behalf; but, on the contrary, with a bril- 
 liant present to animate, and a glorious future to cheer 
 me, I might have indulged in strains of eulogy, as truth- 
 ful, if not so extravagant and gorgeous, as was the pan- 
 egyric upon Athens of "the old man eloquent," who 
 devoted fifteen years to its composition. 
 
 My young friends, the hopes of our "good old State" 
 are now concentred in her young men, and I impress it 
 upon you, as a duty of paramount obligation, to cultivate 
 the sentiment of State pride. This feelin.o- mav be 
 cherished with patriotic ardor, without impairing the 
 force of any obligation imposed by the Federal Consti- 
 tution. It will loosen no chord, and weaken no tie, 
 that should bind your affections to the Union of the 
 States ; and whilst it abates no portion of that general 
 interest which we must feel in the happiness of all who 
 live with us in the same Republic, it will imbue you 
 with unfaltering devotion to your native State, her in- 
 stitutions and her people. vSuch devotion, and such 
 devotion 07ilij, will preserve our territory from depojD- 
 ulation, or save those who may remain upon our soil 
 from degrading inferiority, in the eyes of our brethren 
 in the other States, and in the estimation of the civil- 
 ized world. I have delineated faithfully and truly the 
 actual condUloii of the State ; you have looked upon the 
 
20 
 
 picture : / can add nothing that wiU heighten its im- 
 pression. As Antony exposed before his countrymen 
 the corpse of Cccsar, reeking with blood, and thereby 
 excited their minds to mutiny and rage, so I present 
 before you the Bodi/ Politic of your native State, bleed- 
 ing from a hundred woimds, and ask that their " dumb 
 mouths" may speak for me. If theii' mute eloquence 
 awaken not your sympathies, no human language could 
 touch your hearts. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Graduating Class : 
 
 Life's young dream is over, and you stand upon the 
 verge of a new and untried existence. A {ew years 
 ago, I stood where you now stand, and looked out upon 
 the dark vista before me with the same emotions, and 
 with the same fond hopes that animate your bosoms. 
 The companions of my boyhood were around me. We 
 thought deeply of the future for the first time, and 
 spoke freely, for our hearts were full. We parted in 
 tears : but the hope expressed, and the promise made, 
 that we should meet again, and often, soon brought sun- 
 shine wdiere clouds before had hung. We promised, 
 at the altars of our youthful friendships, to make pil- 
 grimages to this shrine of our early worship, and com- 
 pare together, amid our College scenes, the incidents of 
 life's journey, /am here to-day, and in looking over 
 this vast assemblage, how few are the faces, once fa- 
 miliar to me here, that now meet my gaze ! ]\Iy com- 
 j^eers, with one or two exceptions, are all absent ; and, 
 whilst death has, here and there, selected from among 
 them some brilliant victim for sacrifice, the greater 
 number are still living, in all the freshness and vigor of 
 manhood. But they are gone, and you ask whither ? 
 Thev ha\c been carried from our associations and our 
 
21 
 
 counsels, by that spirit of emigration, which has been 
 more destructive to the vital interests of our beloved 
 State than "war, pestilence, and famine." They had 
 gone forth from these classic shades, with no thought 
 beyond the limits of their native State, for their plans 
 of happiness, their dreams of love, and their schemes of 
 ambition, were all then confined within her boundaries ; 
 and they left not their homes until an effort was made 
 for the fulfilment of young life's plans. They sought 
 happiness among the friends of their youth, and upon 
 the soil wdiich gave them birth, and were willing to 
 have enjoyed it-— where alone, in this world, it can be 
 found — in the wages of labor and industry; but their 
 search was fruitless : our fields of energy and enter- 
 prize were unexplored ; no hand was raised to help ; 
 no voice cheered them on ; they turned, disheartened, 
 and sought Ambition's goal ; they found it only amid 
 the dark and angry waves of party strife, where aspir- 
 ants innumerable stood expectant, each insatiate for the 
 spoils. That theatre was abandoned, and they went to 
 Beauty's shrine, and there in humble adoration knelt. 
 Their dream of Love alone of all their plans, and 
 schemes, and dreams, a full fruition had. Beauty's 
 prize was won ; and now that Beauty, in other climes, 
 lends such grace, elegance, and taste, to life's domestic 
 scenes, as have no parallel elsewhere than here in the 
 same old State, where your brightest dreams of love 
 may likewise be fully realized. 
 
 The world is now open before you, and it wdll soon 
 become your imperative duty to select, from its varied 
 avocations, some honorable pursuit, adapted to your 
 tastes and talents. If you have genius, combined with 
 literary taste, pardon the earnest invocation which I 
 now offer, that you devote yourselves to literary pur- 
 
22 
 
 suits as a patriotic duty. Your own State needs the 
 soul-stirring, life-pervading influence of literary men. 
 She cannot float safely in that impetuous stream of 
 Progress, upon which I would have you launch her, 
 without Science and Learnino- at the helm. The Pro- 
 gross of which I speak is but the development of the 
 public mind, sharpened by collision, and expanded by 
 unremitting devotion to particular objects. The en- 
 larged scope of mental vision by means of steam — the 
 Press — and the Telegraph, has afforded the field of 
 conflict, wdiilst the vast accumulation of human inter- 
 ests, and the astounding discoveries in science and art 
 have given the impulse, and furnished the incitements 
 to mental activity. Thus operated upon, the human 
 mind is intensely active. Whether devoted to purposes 
 of good, or perverted to the generation of mischief, its 
 motto is action, and its march irresistibly onward. We 
 have new theories of go^ei-nment, new theories of the 
 world's formation, new theories of man's creation. We 
 have new theories of ethics, new philosophies of life, 
 and new svstems of relioion. The chanoefal hues of 
 the creations of mind impart to human affairs an ever- 
 varying aspect. In this mighty revolution — social, 
 moral, political — agitating the whole earth's surface, 
 we require the guidance of liberal education and scien- 
 tific research. Your whole country needs the influence 
 of a sound American literature. Launched on the 
 stream of Progress, among nations of a thousand years' 
 duration, without hereditary wealth or fixed preroga- 
 tives of any kind, and with a novel form of government, 
 the United States demands a literature peculiarly her 
 own — a literature essentially republican — to give sup- 
 port, steadiness, and buoyancy to the majestic vessel of 
 State during the boundless vovage before us. 
 
O'^ 
 
 To enable you to lay the foundation of such a lite- 
 rature as would meet the demands of your age and 
 country-, you must not only have the genius to discover 
 truth and detect ftdlacy, but you must have varied 
 learning, cultivated taste, and elevated morals, and 
 above all. the hioh moral couraoe to attack and refute 
 those sophisms in morals and religion that may endan- 
 ger our social welfare, or the perpetuity of our peculiar 
 institutions. Years of toil and research must be the 
 portion of those who may contribute to found such a 
 literature, but immortality will be their reward ; and I 
 could wish my native State no future more glorious, 
 than that your generation might make her territory the 
 scene for such labors. 
 
 Patriotic ambition would dictate this career. But 
 whatever direction you may give your talents, abandon 
 not your native land ! Cling, with filial devotion, to 
 the soil of your State. She has nurtured your child- 
 hood ; she has sustained and cherished your early man- 
 hood ; she has cultivated your minds, improved your 
 morals, and protected your persons. She now offers 
 you her entire domain as a theatre for your ambition 
 — a benificent Government for your sujiport — and a 
 virtuous people for your companions. And, in return^ 
 asks only that j^ou remain upon her soil^ — give her the 
 benefit of your counsels — help, when she declines — 
 impel, as she advances. If you have patriotism, how 
 strong is her appeal to your aflections and sympathies I 
 If you have State jDride, that appeal will be irresistible. 
 Fulfil, then, a bright destiny in some department of 
 excellence within her borders, and the plaudits of a 
 grateful people will hail you as Benefactors and Pat- 
 riots.