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 ORATION. 
 By Hon. JOHN W. A. SANFORD, LL.D V 
 
 O^ MONTGOMERY, ALA.
 
 THE 
 
 AN OKATION 
 Delivered Before the Erosophic and Philomathio Societies 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, 
 
 AT 
 
 BY HON. JOHN W. A. SANFOBD, LL.D., 
 
 OF MONTGOMERY. 
 
 MONTGOMERY. ALA. : 
 
 JAS. P. ARMSTRONG, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, 
 1878.
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
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 5% 
 
 TUSKALOOSA, ALA., Nov. 10th, 1878. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The Literary Societies of the University, 
 appreciating the eloquence and high literary char- 
 acter of the anniversary address delivered by you 
 during the last Commencement, and desiring to preserve 
 it in some more tangible form than the frail rec- 
 ord of their memories, have appointed the under- 
 signed a committee to solicit from you a copy of 
 that address for publication. Your compliance with 
 this request will be very gratifying to the members 
 of these Societies. Hoping for an early and favor- 
 able response, we are, 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, 
 
 TENNENT LOMAX, 
 E. E. SPRAGGINS, 
 JAS. H. LITTLE, 
 
 Committee from Erosophic Society. 
 
 CHAPPELL CORY, 
 CHAS. E. McCALL, 
 
 Committee from Philomathic Society . 
 HON. JNO. W. A. SANFORD, 
 Montgomery, Ala. 
 
 MONTGOMERY, ALA., Nov. 16th, 1878. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 1 have received your note of the 10th. 
 inst., requesting for publication a copy of the ad- 
 dress I had the honor to deliver before the Liter- 
 ary Societies of the University of Alabama on the 
 first day of last July. 
 
 Thanking you for the kind manner in which 
 
 you have made known the wishes of the Societies ; 
 
 and regretting that the address was not more 
 
 worthy of the occasion, I transmit to you a copy. 
 
 Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 JOHN W. A. SANFORD. 
 
 Messrs. TENNENT LOMAX, R. E. SPRAGGINS, JAS. H. LITTLE, 
 Committee from Erosophic Society ; and Messrs. OHAPPELIJ 
 OOKY, CHAS. R. MCCAIN, Committee from Philomathic So- 
 ciety, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
 
 Gentlemen of the Erosophic and, Philomathic Societies : 
 
 During the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the 
 wisest man that ever sat upon the throne of the Impe- 
 rial Cyesars, an insurrection was fomented by Avidius 
 Cassius, a descendant of the conspirator against the 
 great Dictator. Although he was the commander-in- 
 chief of the Oriental army stationed at Antioch, he was 
 narrow-minded, fanatical, visionary, cruel and rigid in 
 his discipline. He was morose, and devoid of sympathy 
 with the aims, and tastes, and pleasures of the world. 
 Consequently, he resolved that the soldiers subject to 
 his authority should not enjoy the luxuries and delights 
 that appeared on the thoroughfares, and haunted the 
 groves, and lurked near the temples of " Daphne by 
 Orontes," which was proverbial for all the allure- 
 ments that could captivate the senses. For there, amid 
 numberless kinds and forms of voluptuousness, the fire- 
 eyed daughters of the Sun, with mystical songs and 
 magical rites, wove charms and snares for the fame and 
 souls of men. In the execution of this purpose, the 
 ferocious general decapitated some, and amputated the 
 arms, and hands, and feet of others, in order that the 
 horrible spectacles might deter their comrades from any 
 act ot disobedience. He hoped by this conduct to ob- 
 tain such complete mastery over his legions, that they 
 would follow him without hesitation in the unwise and 
 impracticable enterprise of dethroning the Emperor and 
 re-establishing the Republic of Eome. 
 
 His movements were observed by Lucius Verus, the 
 colleague of Antoninus, who wrote to him, saying: "I 
 would you had him closely watched. For he is a great 
 disliker of our doings: he is gathering an enormous 
 treasure, and he makes an open jest of our literary pur-
 
 suits. You, for instance, he calls a philosophizing old 
 woman ; and me, a dissolute buffoon and scamp." And 
 Cassius, himselt, afterwards wrote: "Marcus Antoninus 
 is a scholar ; he enacts the philosopher ; he tries conclu- 
 clusions upon the four elements, and upon the nature of 
 the soul; he discourses lean iedly upon the 1 1 outturn; 
 and concerning the titiniiniun Ilonian he is unanswera- 
 ble. Meanwhile, is he learned in the interests of the 
 state ? Can he argue a point upon the economies of 
 the state f In this manner he attempted to justify his 
 rebellion, and to vilify and bring into contempt the great 
 ruler, whose statesmanship was no less remarkable than 
 his philosophy. He failed in his undertaking, but paid 
 the debt his folly owed to Justice. 
 
 I have narrated this incident to show that in high 
 places, and among persons in authority, is often found a 
 stupid, irrational prejudice against literature, and philos- 
 ophy, and scholarship, and men of letters ; and that in 
 all civilizations will be observed individuals hard, nar- 
 row, small-knowing, churlish, and self-conceited, who in 
 their murky ignorance are prone and prompt to sneer at 
 and condemn all culture, and every pursuit that liberal- 
 izes our nature and lifts humanity into a higher sphere 
 of existence. 
 
 This unavowed but absolute hostility to the large cul- 
 tivation and refinement demanded by advancing civiliza- 
 tion ; this condition that has neither a yesterday nor a 
 to-morrow, and which uses to-day merely to gaze into the 
 dust with the expectation of finding a few barley-corns, 
 the thinkers of Germany and England term Philistin- 
 ism. And those who are actuated by this sentiment ; 
 who wallow in the "gross inud-honey of the town"; 
 who are averse from every literary and aesthetic pursuit ; 
 and who are willingly inaccessible to all ideas uncon-
 
 nected with the bread aud butter sciences, are properly 
 named Philstines. And, verily, the thorough-paced 
 Philistine deserves your commiseration. For him, the 
 world is toil, and vexation, and vanity, and dreariness. 
 For him, neither the flowers bloom, nor birds sing, nor 
 fountains glisten. His life differs from the gray cloud 
 that coils and dies upon the hills, only in this, that no 
 fold of it is ever touched by the sunbeams. He belongs 
 to a large and widely-scattered tribe, which drifts togeth- 
 er in some places in formidable numbers. But as Tusca- 
 loosa is not Gath ; and as I do not stand in the headquar- 
 ters of Goliath, I purpose to speak of LITERATURE, AND 
 ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE CHARACTER OF A PEOPLE. 
 I do so the more willingly, because among us scholar- 
 ship is not fully appreciated ; the character of literary 
 men is misunderstood ; and their usefulness and power 
 are greatly misapprehended and underrated. 
 
 The Philistinism to which I have referred, is not con- 
 fined to the wholly uneducated portion of our country- 
 men. It is perceived among the indolent, the thought- 
 less, and, shall I say, illiterate men who are engaged in 
 the professions, as well as in other classes that pretend 
 to be intelligent. Having no ambition, or despairing of 
 excellence in the higher departments of knowledge and 
 culture, they jeer at, or damn with faint praise, those 
 members of the community whose tastes and talents, 
 and the fortunate accidents of whose lives, have enabled 
 them to obtain a thorough education ; and whose attain- 
 ments are, in some degree, commensurate with their 
 opportunities. These sneerers conduct themselves as if 
 the knowledge of any truth or principle outside of their 
 peculiar trade, or business, or profession, were despica- 
 ble : they act as if the tacts and ideas gathered from any 
 province of intellect, and the activity of the brain in-
 
 8 
 
 duced by familiarity with exalted themes of thought, 
 did not bestow large powers, and impart skill and finer 
 tact with which to direct and control the common affairs 
 of sorirt\. Such persons sometimes talk as if they 
 were ignorant that tlic civilization we enjoy ; the bless- 
 ings of good government; the domination of law; the 
 suppression of wrong; the supremacy of justice ; the 
 reverence for Religion and her ministers; and even the 
 material comforts derived from mechanical inventions 
 and contrivances, were the results of thought; as if 
 they did not know that these are the fruits of the re- 
 corded labors of the wisest men in all the fields of 
 Literature. 
 
 This indifference to cultivation does not arise alto- 
 gether from deficiency of talents, or from the want of 
 those qualities which perceive and appreciate its impor- 
 tance and beauty. It may be attributed to the circum- 
 stances which surround us, and which in some measure 
 control our actions. Here, the chase, unparalleled in its 
 energy, for the means of livelihood, seems to prevent 
 the pursuit of letters and arts that adorn and glorify 
 communities. But this submission to the pressure ot 
 the external world, and ready obedience to present ne- 
 cessities, are not peculiar to us. For history teaches 
 that the early years of every nation are occupied by 
 war, or by efforts to supply the simplest wants : but in 
 process of time agriculture employs its industry; com- 
 merce attracts its attention and stimulates its avarice ; 
 and finally, Art, Science and Literature commemorate 
 the achievements of its arms, mollify the exercise of its 
 authority, and embellish the acquisitions of its enter- 
 prise. But this general law of development has never 
 operated with its full force upon the people of the United 
 States. Their ancestors were ignorant neither of laws,
 
 9 
 
 nor of policy, nor of literature ; nor were they deficient 
 in the refinement of their era. The difficulties encoun- 
 tered and hardships endured by the first immigrants 
 were such as attend all pioneers. These obstacles, which 
 necessarily retarded the growth of literature and dimin- 
 ished somedeal the love of learning, have been removed. 
 And in the older States, the increase of population ; the 
 division of labor ; the amassment of riches ; the fre- 
 quent intercourse and intimate connection with Europe, 
 have supplied the educational deficiency observable in 
 the early days of the Eepublic, and still noticeable in 
 the younger members of the Union. 
 
 Although these impediments have disappeared from 
 many of the Southern States, they have not attained 
 the rank to which the virtues, the endowments and in- 
 dustry of their citizens entitle them. Full of life and 
 energy, they delight in action more than in contempla- 
 tion. Impatient of restraint, and ambitious of excellence, 
 they are too eager to seize the success that crowns the 
 passing hour, to wait for the gradual unfolding of their 
 powers, which would achieve more splendid triumphs 
 and obtain more magnificent trophies. Everywhere, the 
 effects of haste, of passion, of excitement, are visible. 
 These impress themselves upon many of their under- 
 takings. Lord Burleigh's favorite maxim, "Stay a little 
 that we may make an end the sooner," they utterly ig- 
 nore, and do everything hurriedly to-day, with the prom- 
 ise of doing it much better to-morrow. Hence, it is not 
 surprising that literary studies, whose rewards come so 
 slowly, if they come at all in proportion to the labor 
 bestowed, should be but little patronized by them ; or 
 that such students and authors should not be rightly 
 -esteemed. 
 
 In their eagerness to do, they overlook or disregard
 
 10 
 
 the fact that correct action naturally proceeds from cor- 
 rect thought; and that this is the product of the full 
 development and education of all the abilities that dis- 
 tinguish the race. Indeed, the practical man of the 
 most signal success in any vocation always possesses the 
 most accurate powers of reason, and all the knowledge 
 which can be brought to shed its light and blessings 
 upon what enlists his feelings, or employs his intellect. 
 When the philosopher, Thales, was taunted with the in- 
 utility ot his philosophy, as some are reproached now 
 for their bookish ness and devotion to literature, he re- 
 solved to apply himself to trade, and soon became the 
 wealthiest citizen of Miletus. The knowledge of the 
 laws of commerce, and the mental power acquired by 
 his literary and philosophical pursuits, were available in 
 his new occupation. These brought him boundless 
 prosperity. Nor was this result wonderful. His success 
 was in accordance with the law that subordinates all 
 things to mind. 
 
 Whether this power be inherent in the brain, or is the 
 result of the whole constitution of man, or is, like elec- 
 tricity, a free, grand force of Nature, which manifests 
 itself through human organs as its fittest apparatus, it 
 is certain that its laws and operations have long been 
 interesting topics of discussion. Its exhibitions are 
 greatly affected by race, and are seriously modified by 
 external conditions. The topography of a country : its 
 mountains ; its plains and water-courses ; the fertility 
 of its soil ; the abundance and variety of its vegetable 
 productions ; its inaccessibility, or patency to intercourse 
 with foreign nations ; the neighborhood of the sun ; the 
 proximity of the sea, all have a positive influence upon 
 the industry and industrialisms, the character and civili- 
 zation of the people. A similarity of locality has been
 
 attended by a similarity of results. In tbe early ages ot 
 the world, seclusion appears to have conduced to the 
 moral, religious, and intellectual advancement, both of 
 the individual and the community. It is immaterial 
 whether this isolation was the effect of natural or arti- 
 ficial causes. The Chinese, by the coustruction of a wall, 
 occluded themselves from maukind, aud produced a civ- 
 ilization remarkable for its ethical code, its religious 
 system, and a polity which, says Voltaire, made "the 
 wisest empire in the universe." In America, by the 
 shores of Titicaca, a sealed lake, the Peruvians, gov- 
 erned by the Incas, attained their highest civilization. 
 It was in such a secluded basin in Mexico that the 
 Aztecs achieved a refinement that surpassed all other 
 nations on this continent. But notwithstanding the 
 variety of circumstances favorable or unfavorable to 
 mental phenomena, all intellect is one in its essence. 
 The divers civilizations that have existed, and which 
 still exist, are its expressions as aifected by the facts I 
 have mentioned. These become a power that exerts an 
 immeasurable influence on its subsequent growth. 
 Nothing magnifies and activates intellect so much as 
 thought. Consequently, Literature, which is a conti- 
 nent of ideas, truths and principles that move in the 
 higher latitudes of being, or dwell habitually on the 
 heights of the soul, is its chief auxiliary. For its struc- 
 ture is such that only these can stimulate and influence 
 its action. Sensations, passions, or emotions, are pow- 
 erless to affect human conduct until they have been an- 
 alyzed and considered in their nature and tendencies. 
 This operation is performed in every voluntary move- 
 ment, but often so rapidly as to escape consciousness. 
 But the process by which externalities become ideas, 
 and transient events fix themselves in the opinions of 
 philosophy, in the business of life, or in the institutions
 
 12 
 
 of a country, cannot be too carefully scrutinised. To 
 do this effectually, the diligent and critical study of the 
 writings of great authors is absolutely necessary. Some 
 of them treat of the laws of intellect, and the condi- 
 tions of their operation. They t-ach the method accord- 
 ing to which the perceptions of the senses are transmu- 
 ted into ideas ; and often contain suggestions as to the 
 mode in which the faculties may be exerted so as to 
 yield the largest benefits. They impart not only inform- 
 ation, but also bestow positive power. 
 
 As Literature includes within its ample limits such 
 productions, no unfounded suspicion that its votaries are 
 visionaries; no taunts upon the employment of scholars, 
 and their apparent idleness ; no gibes upon the pedantry 
 or bookishness of the educated; no detraction from the 
 merit of literary men, can justify its neglect. It is true, 
 however, as Jeremy Taylor has well remarked: "Too 
 many scholars have lived upon air and empty notions 
 for many ages past, and troubled themselves with tying 
 and untying knots, like hypochondriacs in a fit of mel- 
 ancboty, thinking of nothing, and troubling themselves 
 with nothing, and falling out about nothing, and being 
 vc ry wise and very learned in things that are not, and 
 work not, and were never planted in Paradise by the 
 finger of God." By literature, I do not mean the 
 works of such persons, or the balderdash of some popu- 
 lar periodicals ; or the ephemeral performances of those 
 writers whose absurd social theories stir the passions 
 and perplex the judgment of the multitude. Under 
 such tuition, the barbarians of the nineteenth century 
 become as ferocious as J;he barbarians of former ages. 
 The Communists of Paris, led by Rochfort, Blanqui and 
 Raoul Rigault, were as cruel, as blood-thirsty, and as 
 terrible as the Huns of Attila, or the Vandals of 
 Genseric.
 
 13 
 
 But by literature, I mean the productions of the 
 grand old masters of our own language, and of other 
 tongues ; the labors of those immortal geniuses of all 
 ages, who, by virtue of their performances, are citizens 
 of all countries, and the contemporaries of every gen- 
 eration : by it, I mean such books as Milton so admi- 
 rably describes, in his Areopagitica, as " containing the 
 precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and 
 treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life"; books 
 that record the reflections and experience of men whose 
 exploits and opinions have affected the destiny of the 
 world ; books that contain exalted principles, from whose 
 summits can be viewed the Future, with its tremendous 
 forces still in reserve, stretching out like a landscape be- 
 fore you ; books that, replete with truth, teach the art 
 of life, and, full of noble examples of wisdom, of virtue, 
 of courage, of fortitude, of patriotism, and Christian 
 charity, invigorate the intellect and improve the charac- 
 ter. In such volumes are thoughts, whence have orig- 
 inated systems of philosophy and new sciences; thoughts 
 which have been the germs of religious creeds, and the 
 causes of civil revolutions; thoughts that, sown broad- 
 cast over the earth, like dragon's teeth have sprung up 
 armed men. 
 
 Such literature is the perfect psychological history of 
 Humanity. It is the expression of passion and thought 
 in all conceivable conditions, and in every stage of de- 
 velopment. Indeed, it performs the three-fold function 
 of recording the advancement of society; of being evi- 
 dence of the fact, and of promoting its further progress. 
 It quickens the intellect, and increases its actual power. 
 It not only imparts knowledge, but, arousing the ener- . 
 gies of the mind, causes it to excogitate ideas, which 
 become institutions about which new policies are sug-
 
 gested and laws enacted, that, in turn, produce other 
 ideas, and found still newer establishments. Literary 
 culture enhances the prosperity of a people. It gives 
 rise to new inventions and discoveries. It enables men 
 to overcome the physical elements, and make them the 
 vassals of their will and the instruments of their succe->. 
 It creates tastes that demand gratification, and straight- 
 way a new department of labor is opened, which, afford- 
 ing employment to many, contributes to the welfare of 
 all. And in a refined society, Literature, itself, becomes 
 a vocation, which engages the attention of gifted and 
 aspiring men, and renders them useful to their country. 
 The kingdom of Denmark, knowing the value and im- 
 portance of such characters, for many years has granted 
 a stipend to its artists and scholars, to enable them to 
 travel in foreign lands and perfect themselves in all the 
 learning and accomplishments of the times. It recog- 
 nizes the truth, that those ancient nations that did 
 not honor intellect, but despised all mental pursuits, are 
 the anonymous part ot mankind. They are remem- 
 bered by no wise system of morals, politics, or religion; 
 by no creations of art ; by no discoveries in science ; \>y 
 no ingenious inventions ; by no enduring monument of 
 useful or well-directed industry. They ignored the Sun, 
 and labored and moved by the light of the stars. They 
 were born only that they might be able to die. 
 
 But the cultivation of Literature has als,o a conserva- 
 tive power. It perpetuates the origin and achievements 
 of a people. It repeats the legends of their ancestors, 
 and incites them to the imitation of applauded acts and 
 virtues. It tells the source and mutations of their re- 
 ligious creeds and dogmas of philosophy. It sings in 
 musical numbers the triumphs of faith and the deeds of 
 valor. It consecrates, by its eloquence, the memory of
 
 15 
 
 those who died on the scaffold, or in the battle's van in 
 the discharge of duty, or in vindication of truth, and 
 inspires a reverence for the past and an aversion from 
 change. * The immutability of the Jews may be ascribed 
 to the Talmud. It has been the bond of their union ; 
 the fount of their morality ; the source of their enlight- 
 enment, and their shining glory. The Iliad of Homer 
 preserved the nationality of the Greeks long after the 
 jarring interests of the states, and the rivalries of am- 
 bitious leaders, had destroyed the sympathies which first 
 attracted and bound them together. But this conserva- 
 tism is by no means stagnation. It is not at all antag- 
 onistic to rational advancement. The persons, or peo- 
 ple, addicted to literature, follow the example of time 
 itself, which, Lord Bacon says, "indeed innovateth 
 greatly, but by degrees scarce to be perceived." They 
 do not subvert approved institutions for slight causes. 
 No temporary inconvenience, arising from mal-adminis- 
 tration of the government, can induce them to conspire 
 for its overthrow. They follow the convictions of reason, 
 and are submissive to the dictation of ideas. When a 
 cluster of thoughts, or principles, appears in the firma- 
 ment of mind, like a new constellation in the heavens, 
 and they yield it their homage, none are more progress- 
 ive, and, if necessary, more revolutionary, in their con- 
 duct. Indeed, while insurrections, proceeding from 
 passion or transient discontent, are often led by sciolists 
 or illiterate persons, such as Spartacus, of Rome, Wat 
 Tyler, of England, Massauiello, of Naples, Eaoul Ei- 
 gault, the Communist, of Paris, or All Suavi, recently 
 in Constantinople ; great revolutions, which overthrow 
 old governments, permanently establish new ones, and 
 change the course of history, are always begun, or con- 
 ducted, by learned and accomplished men, in accordance 
 with some beneficent principle.
 
 16 
 
 The vigor imparted by Literature gives the aims of 
 life a higher elevation, and promotes morality. The 
 productions of some authors were considered by Melanc- 
 thon to be scarcely inferior in usefulness and authority 
 to the Scriptures. In commenting on the heresies of 
 his age, he uses these memorable words: "Wherefore, 
 our decision is this: that those precepts which learned 
 men have committed to writing, transcribing them from 
 the common reason and common feeling of human na- 
 ture, are to be accounted as not less divine than those 
 contained in the table given to Moses ; and that it could 
 not be the intention of our Maker to supersede, by a law 
 graven on stone, that which is written with his own 
 finger upon the table of the heart." Few, perhaps, will 
 agree with the great reformer in his estimate of Litera- 
 ture, but none will deny that it mollifies manners, broad- 
 ens the sympathies, and makes the sad vicissitudes of 
 fortune more tolerable. Under its benign sway, the 
 passions are subdued; vice diminishes; the "bandit 
 propensities skulk away to their dens," and crimes are 
 less frequent. These effects are so universally recog- 
 nized, that there are laws in Iceland and China which 
 require the parents of a youthful criminal to be sought, 
 and if, upon inquiry, it is ascertained that they neglected 
 the education of their child, the offender is discharged, 
 and they suffer the penalty of the offence. The ameli- 
 orating influences of Literature upon a country make 
 the prizes of society of more difficult acquisition. The 
 depraved and ignorant are almost powerless; while 
 those who have integrity, fidelity to principle, and tal- 
 ents improved by culture, have authority and control 
 over public opinion equal to their merits ; and opinion 
 governs the world. 
 
 The development of mind ; the support of virtue ;
 
 17. 
 
 obedience to law, and reverence for religion, contribute 
 largely to social prosperity. These preserve the domes- 
 tic tranquillity of the State, and afford protection 
 against its foreign foes. For it is remarkable that, in 
 war, all other things being equal, the nation which is 
 endowed with the largest intellectual gifts ; or has the 
 highest civilization; or moves in accordance with the 
 noblest principle ot action, or some freshly recognized 
 truth that forms the basis of a new era, is the most suc- 
 cessful. It is not denied that barbarians have over-run 
 enlightened countries, but this has happened only when 
 their civilization was effete. Under such a condition, 
 they may have succumbed to savage hordes enthusiastic- 
 ally devoted to some idea, whose broad significance 
 they may not have comprehended. But, even in such a 
 calamity, the nation thoroughly enlightened is not anni- 
 hilated. The opinions of its sages, the writings of its 
 men of genius, and the traditions of its policy, will still 
 survive. Its institutions, even in ruin, will cast long 
 shadows over the rolling centuries ; and other countries 
 and distant ages will profit by the instruction of its 
 philosophers. The scholar of to-day reads with delight 
 the history of Thucydides, the dramas of JEschylus, the 
 poems of Homer, and the songs of Anacreon. The 
 doctrines of Plato and Aristotle have dominion and 
 rule an empire more glorious than Athens did, when she 
 was the brilliant mistress of a thousand tributaries, and 
 at once, the envy and the admiration of the world. 
 
 Literature has been termed the "school-mistress of 
 nations." and, like that admirable character, it preserves 
 good order and peace among its pupils. It teaches a 
 generous philanthropy. It shows that, whatever may 
 be the difference of intellectual development among dif- 
 ferent peoples, their faculties are the same, and vary
 
 18 
 
 only in degree; that Humanity, comprising such dis- 
 similar elements, is a unit, and exhibits, under like con- 
 ditions, the same traits, the same heroism, the same 
 virtues, and narrates almost the same legends. It re- 
 counts in every part of the globe the loves of the gods ; 
 the exploits of heroes ; the vigilance of beatified spirits 
 over mortals ; the conflict of good and evil ; the duel of 
 Ormuzd and Ahriman. In Attica, it says that, the di- 
 vine Plato was the offspring of a beautiful vision ; in 
 England, that the father of Merlin, the magician, was a 
 melodious voice, sometimes heard in the atmosphere; 
 and in Mexico, that Huitzilopotehli, the Aztec God of 
 War, was indebted for his existence to a gorgeous bunch 
 of feathers that floated in the air. It tells, by the flick- 
 ering camp-fire on the out-stretched prairies, that Hia- 
 watha was descended from the West wind. In India, 
 it relates that Sitva, one of the Hindoo trinity, was be- 
 gotten by a ray of light, and was born of the virgin 
 Maia. In Greece, it recites that Achilles, plunged into 
 the river Styx, became impenetrable to weapons, except 
 in the heel ; in Germany, Woden, bathed in dragon's 
 blood, was invulnerable, save on the spot where a leaf 
 had accidentally fallen ; among the American Indians, 
 Kwasind, renowned for strength, was reputed mortal 
 only on the crown of his head, and was vulnerable solely 
 by a cone of the pine ; and in Scandinavia, that nothing 
 but a twig of the misletoe could have slain one of its 
 deities. Indra among the Hindoos, and Thamar among 
 the Teutons, wear beards of fire, and both have an un- 
 quenchable thirst for the waters of Heaven. 
 
 But not alone is the identity of faculties shown by 
 similarity of traditions. The dissimilar forms of worship, 
 and variety of customs, and of laws, are only different 
 moods of the same individual. They are but the tempo-
 
 19 
 
 rary manifestations of endowments, striving for perfect 
 development and seeking a higher destiny. And ever, 
 side by side, along with all these phases of thought and 
 human passion, moves a procession of ideas, and sym- 
 pathies, and aspirations, not embodied in the state, or 
 faith, or achievements. These make literature, interpret 
 that portion of humanitv, and determine its value to the 
 world. This general resemblance of capabilities indi- 
 cates the interdependence of all literature, and the 
 importance of its extensive cultivation for the full 
 comprehension of any part of it. For, all events are 
 connected in logical order, and not the change of the 
 slightest circumstance ; not the utterance of an opin- 
 ion, or the suppression of a theory other than has been 
 spoken or silenced ; not the birth of a man distinguished 
 in any manner whatever ; or his death earlier, or later, 
 or otherwise than it occurred, but what would have 
 altered in some particular the condition of the race. A 
 grain of sand, says Godwin, the profound thinker, less 
 or more in the creation of the earth, would have changed 
 the entire history of the world. And Pascal thought 
 that if Cleopatra's nose had been a little shorter, the 
 fate of mankind would have been different. This inti- 
 mate connection of all occurrences and all literature 
 explains the influence of Ancient on Modern times, and 
 the authority of the thinkers of the past over the opin- 
 ions of the present. It is, therefore, of the greatest 
 concernment, "in the church and commonwealth, to 
 have a vigilant eye how books demean themselves, as 
 well as men." They have an existence of their owo, 
 and often produce effects not anticipated by their au- 
 thors, not only in the land, and at the time of their pub- 
 lication, but in foreign countries, and in remote genera- 
 tions. The strange, weird mysticism and dreamy philos- 
 ophy of India repeat themselves in Greece. In the early
 
 20 
 
 churches, the doctrines of Plato blended with the reli- 
 gion of Christ. And ages afterwards the dogmas of 
 Aristotle, disseminated through Europe by Avicenua, 
 Averrhoes, and otber Arabian philosophers, gave rise to 
 many perplexing, " vermiculate questions," and were the 
 prime cause of the Keforrnation of the sixteenth century. 
 But it the teachings of the master ot Alexander the 
 Great conduced to that event, to the writings of Nich- 
 olas Machiavelli must be imputed many ol the cruelties 
 and persecutions consequent to it. So damnable were 
 considered many of the sentiments promulgated by him, 
 so general was their acceptance, and so wide-spread their 
 practice, that the English called the Devil " Old Nick,'' 
 in honor of his name. His notorious book, entitled the 
 "Prince," mightily influenced the life of Catharine de 
 Medicis, andinstigated the massacre of St. Bartholomew. 
 
 A single work, on account of the novelty of its ideas; 
 or its wisdom; or the lucid exposition of principles; or 
 its accordance with the enlightenment of the period; or 
 its embodiment of passion; or popular prejudice, has 
 often been attended with extraordinary consequences. 
 The publication of Don Quixote, it is believed, over- 
 threw the institution of chivalry in Spain. "Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin" is known to have strengthened the party 
 of Abolitionists in the United States, and to have in- 
 tensified the sectional antipathy which culminated in 
 war. From "Oceana," a political novel, written by 
 Harrington, we derive the system of ballot employed 
 by our citizens in every election. Lessing's Minna Von 
 Barnheim, is said to have made peace between Prussia 
 and Saxony, at the end of the Seven Years' War. And 
 Nathan, the Wise, a drama by the same author, caused 
 a much needed reform, and beneficial change in the so- 
 cial status and estimation of the Jews in Germany.
 
 21 
 
 Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" has materially 
 moulded the policy of Europe. Speaking of it, Buckle 
 has said its publication "contributed more towards the 
 happiness of man, than has been effected by the united 
 abilities of all the statesmen and legislators of whom 
 history has preserved an authentic account." Dean 
 Swift's predictions of Isaac Bickerstaff quickened the 
 activity of a secret tribunal in Portugal, and established 
 periodical literature. His Drapier letters set Ireland on 
 fire, cancelled the patent of King William, inspired or 
 kept breathing the spirit which, in a later day, the elo- 
 quence of Grattan evoked to national life. The pre- 
 tended confessions of Elliston suppressed street rob- 
 beries in the city of London for forty years. Another 
 of his pamphlets caused the erection of fifty churches. 
 The introduction of the speeches and essays of Burke, 
 made an epoch in the history of Germany. The nar- 
 row, the selfish, the mean theory of human nature 
 taught by Hobbes, is responsible for the gross immorali- 
 ties that disgraced the profligate court and reign of 
 Charles the Second. The philsophy of Locke, adopted 
 and extended by the Encyclopaedists, occasioned the 
 French Eevolution of 1789. 
 
 I have mentioned only a few authors, the consequences 
 of whose works are plainly visible ; yet how many un- 
 known and lost productions have aided the advancement 
 of mankind ? How many volumes have been composed, 
 of which nothing remains except some homely maxim, 
 daily repeated by men who never suspect its origin? 
 May not the proverbs uttered so glibly by laughing child- 
 hood and thoughtful age, now serving as a warning to 
 the young, and now, as a consolation to the old, be the 
 remnant of a forgotten civilization 1 Or the literary 
 fragments of some splendid genius that lived, and
 
 22 
 
 thought, and suffered, long, long ago, when the world 
 was new, and when the faculties had walked so recently 
 in the train of God, that having caught the brightness 
 of his presence, they still retained its rays ? 
 
 In speaking of the influence of letters upon character, 
 songs cannot he omitted. They are the literature of 
 the feelings and sentiment. ' r Indeed," says Tyndall, 
 "the intellectual action of a complete man is consciously 
 or unconsciously sustained by an undercurrent of 
 emotions." If this be true, songs are of great import- 
 ance. They often express noble sentiments, or recall 
 some heart-stirring tradition, or commemorate all that 
 valor has dared or fortitude endured. Sometimes they 
 breathe the tenderness of mournful memories, and some- 
 times the ferocity of hatred, blind as enomious night, 
 and reckless as fire. Under their inspiration, piety 
 glows more ardently, and patriotism often renews its 
 drooping energies. It was, therefore, not unwise, but 
 cruel, in King Edward to massacre the bards of Wales, 
 in order that he might conquer that unhappy country. 
 When the Messenians had nearly subdued the Spartans, 
 the War Elegy of Tyrtaeus reanimated their courage 
 and aroused them to efforts which saved their capital. 
 A song of Euripides so affected the Syracusans that they 
 struck the chains from the limbs of the Athenians, cap- 
 tured by them, in the ill-advised expedition of Alcibiades 
 against their country. Not only in war, but in civil 
 revolutions ; in ecclesiastical reformations ; in all great 
 movements where principle and sentiment combine, 
 songs exert'an absolute sway over the passions. Hence, 
 the hymns of Hans Sach, the German shoemaker, con- 
 tributed as much to the triumph of the Reformation as 
 the Elector of Saxony. The "Ein feste Burg" Luther's 
 celebrated psalm, the Marseillaise of the Sixteenth Cen-
 
 23 
 
 tnry, conduced as much to his success as the eloquence 
 of his discourses, whose words are said to have been half 
 battles. The silly ballad of Lilli Bulero, the verses 
 of which were everywhere recited, inflamed the discon- 
 tent of the people, that terminated in the English Rev- 
 olution of 1688. The Marseilles Hymn, the recovered 
 echo of Thermopylae, interpreted and set to music by the 
 gallant young officer, Rouget de Lisle, inspiring enthu- 
 siasm for the liberty of France, incited her children to 
 exploits of heroism, and to acts of self-sacrifice not 
 easily paralleled in the annals of time. And in the 
 Crimea, on one of the bloodiest fields recorded in history, 
 far above the booming of cannon and clangor of arms ; 
 far above the battle-cry and rushing charge of cavalry ; 
 far above the furious shock and uproar of contending 
 armies, rang out loudly and clearly the words of Annie 
 Laurie, sung by thousands and thousands of stern war- 
 riors, ft recalled to the memory of each, the home of 
 his childhood, and the idols of bis heart in the far dis- 
 tant Island, and nerving his arm to a bolder stroke for 
 England and St. George, urged to a fuller, swifter 
 flow the bloody tide of battle. Such are the effects of 
 even the less thoughtful portions of literature upon 
 states, religion, passions and character. 
 
 Inasmuch as Literature has such influence upon mind; 
 as it possesses so much power on government, teaching 
 it wise policy and conserving institutions ; as it stimu- 
 lates industry and promotes morality and public virtue ; 
 as it is a noble vocation and glorifies a state; as the phil- 
 osophies are so intimatety connected that one cannot be 
 understood without knowledge of all, and their union 
 causes enlightenment as the interwoven beams of the sun 
 make the day; and as songs, the bright-robed and jubilant 
 children of fancy, rule the heart, it behooves all good
 
 24 
 
 citizens, for the sake of the community in -which they 
 live, and tor the glory of the commonwealth, to encourage 
 and promote, by all possible means, the cultivation and 
 diffusion of letters. 
 
 In this course we would imitate the example of the 
 wisest people of the world. In China, whose policy 
 until recently has been as immutable as the laws of 
 Nature, scholarship is the road which leads to the most 
 honorable posts of the empire. The ablest productions 
 of its authors in poetry, in ethics and sciences, its people 
 very appropriately call "Kings." The writings of Laotse 
 are so venerated that although they may be read by all 
 Chinese, a sect known as the " Honorers of Reason " 
 isolate themselves from civil affairs and make the study 
 of them their sole occupation. Among the Hindoos, 
 whose literature is again exciting much interest, the 
 Vedas, abounding in prayers and moral precepts, are 
 held too sacred to be read by any but the B rah mine, 
 and the perusal of them by another caste is punished 
 with death. The successful author of a history, a tragedy 
 or a panegyric, recited at the public games of Greece 
 was crowned with laurel or ivy ; and upon his return, 
 the city of his residence poured forth its population to 
 welcome him who had brought to it, immortality. So 
 esteemed are philosphy and poetry among the Arabs, 
 that nearly all of the early Caliphs are as renowned for 
 their learning and oratory as for their strategy and skill 
 in public affairs. Their seven illustrious poems, believed 
 to be inspired, are printed in letters of gold and suspended 
 in the holy Kaaba. 
 
 The prizes that Christendom offers to scholarship are, 
 questionless, as numerous and as brilliant as those which 
 induced the most gifted men of other races and other 
 systems of civilization, to engage in the pursuit of
 
 25 
 
 learning. Nor can it be denied that the present circum- 
 stances are as propitious to such labors as any that have 
 existed. The triumph of the principle which aggran- 
 dizes the power of society, and diminishes that of the in- 
 dividual, has not since the Reformation been so assured 
 as now. It is perceptible in politics, in religion, and in 
 science ; and creates a condition most favorable to the 
 growth and gratification of literary tastes and abilities. 
 
 In the opportunities that environ us, I behold the 
 means by which Southern authorship can reach as high 
 a position as that attained by American enterprise. We 
 have no distinctly marked literature. With few excep- 
 tions, American authors imitate the Europeans, not only 
 in style, but in sentiment. They advocate the reform of 
 abuses not known to us, and satirize vices which have 
 not, until recently, appeared in our society. They ig- 
 nore the fact that productions of taste, written to please 
 the subjects of monarchies, aristocracies, and absolute 
 despotisms, however exquisite may be the composition, 
 can elicit no hearty sympathy from the citizens of a Be- 
 public. To do this, the ideas expressed in fiction, in poetry, 
 in songs and eloquence, must resemble closely those in- 
 corporated in their political, moral and religious institu- 
 tions, and in their social and industrial habits and em- 
 ployments. In order that books should exert their full 
 power upon a people, they should appear to be the nat- 
 ural products of the country. The forest should cast 
 its shadows upon their pages; through them should 
 glide the refreshing influences ot its streams ; on them 
 should spread out the beauty of its plains ; and upon 
 them should rest the grandeur and gloom of its high- 
 lauds and mountains. They should throb with its pas- 
 sions ; they should shine with all phases of character, 
 as the diamond sparkles with its many facets; they
 
 should be phonographs of the multitudinous voices of 
 the market-place ; they should be blackened with the 
 smoke of its battles, and be stained by the blood of ita 
 people. For, notwithstanding all literature is linked 
 together, that is of the most value which expresses the 
 peculiarities of its birth-place and age. Because Field- 
 ing portrayed English habits and character; because 
 Burns sang with faultless melody the traits of his coun- 
 trymen and the scenery of Scotland ; because our own 
 Cooper, with matchless accuracy, has described American 
 landscape and Indian qualities, each of them has a re- 
 nown not altogether dependent upon his genius. Tht . 
 idiosyncracies of our people may not have appeared in 
 our writers, because they are not yet sufficiently defined. 
 They will become objective when they ]>ermeate every 
 form of life. Time alone can effect this result. 
 
 It may devolve upon some of you, Young (lentlemen, 
 to write their history ; or to embody them in fiction or 
 in poetry ; or to discuss them in a philosophical treatise, 
 which the world will not willingly let die. For such a 
 task, no preparation can be superior to the earnest and 
 exhaustive study of literature. Indeed, 1 can commend 
 no wiser course for your adoption, let your vocations be 
 what they may. If you should pursue the law as a 
 profession, it will conduce to your brilliancy as advocates ; 
 if you should practise medicine, it will increase and adorn 
 your success; if you should devote yourselves to the 
 ministry, it will enlarge your power to teach divine, 
 truths ; if you should engage in agriculture, or trade, or 
 mechanical employments, you will derive, from it, incal- 
 culable benefit*. 
 
 I hope that, as in the royal navy, with every cable, 
 and rope, and cord, used about the ship, is intertwined a 
 single, tiny, scarlet thread, which proclaims to the. world
 
 27 
 
 that the vessel belongs to the Queen of England, so 
 through all your lives and occupations will run the 
 scholarship acquired here, and love of letters, that show 
 you belong to the intellectual class, which forms the 
 opinions and makes and directs the destiny of a country. 
 This will be the reward of diligent study ; of careful train- 
 ing of the faculties; of self-denial ; of scorning delights, 
 and living laborious days. 
 
 The fate of the youth of the Swedish legend may 
 teach a lesson of perseverance and discipline ; of labor 
 and patience. Without knowing the purpose of the re- 
 quirement, he submitted to the command of an appa- 
 rently inferior being, to bring for the period of one year, 
 day by day, a single twig from the garden, to bind upon 
 each a thread, and to heap them together. When his 
 task was completed, the twigs burst into flame, and 
 from it issued a maiden radiant with beauty, and the 
 queen of a powerful kingdom. So, Young Gentle- 
 men, week after week, month following month, and year 
 succeeding year, you may gather some fact from nature ; 
 or learn some event of history ; or acquire some princi- 
 ple of science ; or may trace a truth to unknown conse- 
 quences ; or discover a force or law that has been 
 hitherto concealed ; or perceive some shade of thought, 
 or passion not before recognized. And the grand result 
 of these careful labors will be a mind crowned with 
 power, owning riches greater than the wealth of the 
 Indian hills, or the treasures of the sea, and ruling over 
 the fairest, loveliest, noblest realm in the Universe the 
 realm of Literature. Within its broad domain will be 
 found the germs of all wisdom, and influence, and earthly 
 glory, but not a single, solitary tabernacle, tent or sign 
 of the. Philistines.
 
 Univ of Calif. Library. lOS