Oak Street .. - ---- 
 
 UNCLASSIFIED 
 
 „ ORATION 
 
 Unlv.of 
 
 51 
 
 Its 
 
 ANNUAL CONYENTION 
 
 PSI UPSILON FRATERNITY, 
 
 HELD AT SCHENECTADY, N. Y 
 
 July 27 , 1852 . 
 
 HOOPER C. VAN VORST. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 METCALF AND COMPANY, 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 1 8 5 3 . 
 
1 
 
ORATION 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 CHAPTERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PSI UPSILON FRATERNITY, 
 
 ASSEMBLED IN CONVENTION 
 
 AT THE 
 
 CITY OF SCHENECTADY, JULY 17th, 1852. 
 
 HOOPER C. VAN YORST. 
 
 y 
 
 ^ y 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 METCALF AND COMPANY, 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 <<185 3 . 
 
Cambridge, June 1st, 1853. 
 
 At the last Convention of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity, held at 
 Schenectady, New York, it was unanimously voted to request for 
 
 publication the Oration delivered on that occasion by Brother Hooper 
 
 C. Van Vorst, and the Poem by Brother J. Wade Wilson, and a 
 Committee from the Alpha Chapter was appointed to procure and 
 publish them. 
 
 The length of time which elapsed before the receipt of the min¬ 
 utes of the Convention, and the subsequent prolonged absence of 
 two members of the Committee, must be our apology for our delay 
 in the performance of this duty. 
 
 It had been our intention to present also some brief obituary 
 notices ; but as replies to the inquiries addressed to the different 
 Chapters had not been received from all of them at the time of pub¬ 
 lication, it was of course impracticable. We must therefore con¬ 
 tent ourselves with presenting to the Fraternity the following Ora¬ 
 tion and Poem, hoping that their perusal will afford to the brethren 
 in general as much entertainment and instruction as it has to the 
 Committee. 
 
 
 Charles Carroll, 
 
 John D. Bryant, 
 William H. Rowe, 
 Benjamin Joy Jeffries. 
 
 s 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/orationbeforechaOOvanv 
 
ORATION. 
 
 In these days, when the attention of the American 
 people is drawn to the revolutions which are occur¬ 
 ring among European states, — when our sympathies 
 are awakened by the efforts of the men of other com¬ 
 munities in vain attempting at once to change their 
 system of government, — it is well that we should 
 tarry a moment and regard our own organization, and 
 contemplate its capacity for fulfilling the end of its 
 establishment; that we should observe how it has 
 affected the civilization of the old continent, and 
 what part there yet remains for us to act in the great 
 drama now enacting on the world’s stage. 
 
 We are struck with wonder and amazement when 
 we consider what is transpiring around us; so rapidly 
 do changes take place, not only in the face of nature, 
 but in the condition of the people themselves. Along 
 our extended sea-board, and seated on “ broad-armed 
 ports” and harbors, have arisen within a few years 
 
6 
 
 large and magnificent cities, enriched by the fruits 
 of an extensive surrounding agriculture, — rendered 
 populous and powerful by an increasing and skilful 
 system of manufacture, and by a commerce which not 
 only penetrates to the utmost bounds of our own ex¬ 
 tensive country, but bears off with its powerful wings 
 the products of our own science and labor to distant 
 lands, and returns the choice fabrics and wealth of 
 foreign states. 
 
 The progress made by the American people in all 
 the arts which dignify life, and in useful science, the 
 valuable contributions which they have made to litera¬ 
 ture in the brief space since their establishment as an 
 independent nation, are facts calculated to arrest the 
 attention of the student of History. The condition, 
 wants, and avocations of our people, widely scattered 
 over a broad extent of country, have necessarily char¬ 
 acterized our civilization and prominent achievements 
 as practical. The great distance intervening between 
 the States of the North and the South, the broad ex¬ 
 tent of rapidly filling and yet to be cultivated territory 
 lying between the Atlantic and the Pacific, and the 
 constant interchange of commodities, have necessa¬ 
 rily directed the minds of this active people to the 
 discovery, perfection, and application of powers and 
 elements which would facilitate the change of the 
 raw material into the useful article, and expedite as 
 well as cheapen travel and transportation; and hence 
 
the discovery of the wonderful properties of steam, 
 and its almost universal use as a motive power. 
 
 By this agency the forests of timber in the Northern 
 States are converted into lumber, borne down the 
 stream upon whose banks they grew, and thence to 
 the utmost limits of California, where they form the 
 dwelling of the new settler. So, too, by this same 
 power, the inexhaustible mineral of Pennsylvania, so 
 necessary for the comfort of man, is exhumed from its 
 deep bed in the mountains, and conveyed to hamlet, 
 village, and city over the entire continent for the use 
 of every citizen; and so, too, the innumerable manu¬ 
 factured articles of the Eastern States, and the rich 
 products of the South, are rapidly interchanged, in¬ 
 creasing the wealth and adding to the comforts of 
 all, and binding more strongly the links which unite 
 these States in one whole. 
 
 Out of these necessities, and prompted by the de¬ 
 mands of this active commercial spirit, have arisen 
 those great works of internal improvement which are 
 the admiration of the world, — the canals and railroads 
 in our State joining the waters of the lakes on our 
 western border with the Hudson River, and indeed the 
 Atlantic Ocean on our southern limit, — and which 
 in the progress of time will eventuate in the comple¬ 
 tion of that gigantic work of a travelled way from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, through a region now 
 wild, but destined to be the home of a numerous 
 
8 
 
 population; an undertaking, the claims of which are 
 now urged by its projector with a perseverance des¬ 
 tined ultimately to lead to success, and which, when 
 accomplished, will shorten the distance between our 
 land and the Eastern world. 
 
 The practicability of this last enterprise will be 
 demonstrated, as the exigencies of society demand its 
 construction. Eastward the commercial spirit of the 
 English nation tends; there her conquests are made, 
 and then civilization slowly follows ,in the steps of 
 war and traffic. Westward flows the tide of Ameri¬ 
 can civilization and dominion, until the broad waters 
 of the Pacific mark the termination of each. 
 
 Although the energies of our people have been 
 chiefly addressed, by the necessities of their situation, 
 to these works, pursuits, and enterprises; though 
 agriculture, the useful arts, and commerce have 
 flourished and enriched the people; and though this 
 wealth, devoted principally to the projection and com¬ 
 pletion of great works and enterprises, is returning 
 with increase all that has been expended, with in¬ 
 numerable comforts and means of happiness; — still 
 the claims of education, the highest orders of science, 
 and the fine arts, have not been neglected. Erom the 
 income of the canals, and the surplus revenues which 
 commercial imposts have created, have been fostered 
 in our own and other States a system of education, en¬ 
 nobling and comprehensive, which teaches and trains 
 
9 
 
 for the pursuits of life the children of all our citizens. 
 Libraries are established, high schools and univer¬ 
 sities are sustained and cherished, by the liberality of 
 the State, and endowed by the wealth of men enriched 
 by manufactures and commercial success. The doors 
 of these institutions are open all around, inviting every 
 one to enter who is desirous of fitting himself for the 
 duties of life in any station, pursuit, or avocation. 
 
 The American scholar has done much towards per¬ 
 fecting the language he speaks, and the writers of 
 this country have made valuable contributions to a 
 literature the most refined and elegant the world has 
 yet produced. We have men “ skilled in deep phi¬ 
 losophy, wit, eloquence, and poetry.” 
 
 The claims of astronomy, chemistry, and kindred 
 sciences, in this practical age and country, are not 
 overlooked. The names of Mitchell and Henry, and 
 even Agassiz (as America is now the home of his 
 adoption and the theatre of his studies), have shed 
 honor upon the sciences which they investigate. 
 
 Could there in our day appear a rational being from 
 some other world, without any knowledge of the pre¬ 
 vious history of the nations of this globe ; could this be¬ 
 ing make a pilgrimage among all tribes and people, and 
 observe all states and empires; and, having visited the 
 various Eastern nations, — China with her millions of 
 population, Arabia, and Turkey, — thence pass to the 
 continent of Europe, and there survey the condition of 
 2 
 
10 
 
 the people, and the state of science and the useful arts ; 
 and having made, too, this tour of observation through 
 France and England, the most advanced of all the old 
 communities, — having properly considered the con¬ 
 dition of the masses, the character of the various 
 governments, and the progress made by the most re¬ 
 fined and civilized of them all, — could he then pass 
 over to our continent and contemplate the results 
 achieved here ; and should the question then be pro¬ 
 posed, 44 Which is the oldest government on this globe \ 
 What people have been engaged longest in the work of 
 civilization and legislation V 9 — we can imagine what 
 would be the reply. It would embody these ideas. 
 
 Man, Society, is progressive. Wherever I have 
 travelled over this broad universe, I have found 
 the human mind with all its energies, whether em¬ 
 ployed for the advantage of the individual or the state, 
 engaged in the same pursuits and striving for the 
 same ends, — improvement, a struggle for the better. 
 With you I find the results of these efforts in the 
 greatest perfection. While others are contending 
 for a free government, you have attained it. Else¬ 
 where are occurring wars and conflicts, which evidently 
 characterize the early history of society. In most 
 states there is ignorance almost universal; — the use¬ 
 ful arts are entirely unknown, or but feebly practised, 
 and inequalities among men are rendered strong by 
 usage or unjust laws. In one place the rich and 
 
11 
 
 powerful, by arbitrary enactments, are enjoying great 
 immunities and privileges; in another, the poor and 
 humble are crushed by the power of the great above 
 them; — always, everywhere, I see the people restless, 
 
 — hoping, struggling for emancipation. But here, 
 upon this great continent, I find every thing accom¬ 
 plished, or hastening towards perfection. Your govern¬ 
 ment is, without a doubt, the result of great experience 
 and the work of ages; you have passed through, and 
 have become emancipated from, the political and 
 social errors existing elsewhere; centuries have marked 
 the various epochs of your progress. Your laws are 
 humane and wise; with you there are no strifes nor 
 contentions, no restlessness or rebellion; no anxiety 
 for a change in government, but a universal desire to 
 cherish and perfect institutions founded in reason. 
 Here all are equal in the State, — the poor, the rich, 
 
 — the learned, the unlearned; and, above all, here 
 peace prevails and the arts of peace flourish. Else¬ 
 where society is in its sickly infancy ; here it stands 
 forth in the strength of vigorous manhood. 
 
 How great would be the surprise of this visitor to 
 our earth, when told that the semi-barbarous Chinese 
 nation is the oldest organization in the world, and 
 has been studying the science of government five 
 thousand years! And in that other Eastern country 
 now covered with hordes of wandering Arabs, without 
 homes or civil institutions, more than four thousand 
 
12 
 
 years ago the wisest sovereign in the universe held 
 sway, and under the guidance of Heaven ruled and 
 promulgated laws; and the sublime truths and pre¬ 
 cepts of that greater Prince, the Son of God, which 
 have made us the great people we have become, were 
 eighteen hundred years ago divulged, and enforced by 
 his spotless example, in that land where liberty, aye, 
 where civilization, is extinct. 
 
 And yet with all these indications of perfection in 
 the science of government, which would seem to have 
 been the results of centuries of experience and develop¬ 
 ment, the American nation is of recent origin. It was 
 only four hundred years ago that the continent itself 
 upon which this people subsists was discovered, and 
 only within two hundred years that the men who 
 planted the foundations of our political fabric first 
 sought these shores. But these men brought to the 
 New World, not the antiquated ideas of the Old, but 
 rather the best civilization of Europe ! They brought 
 with them the valued experience which ages of mis¬ 
 rule had taught, and were liberated from the politi¬ 
 cal errors exposed in the ill-fated history of states 
 and empires which had fallen, or existed only as a 
 curse to mankind. 
 
 The American system commenced at a point far 
 beyond that to which the ripest European civilization 
 had attained, and was advocated by men in whom the 
 principle of self-government was firmly established; 
 
13 
 
 not as an uncertain, vague, or impracticable idea, but 
 as a fixed, determined, living principle. They left the 
 Old World because it afforded neither theatre nor op¬ 
 portunity for its application. There, progress was 
 condemned; there, authority checked the growth of 
 liberal sentiment; the mind was fettered by the strong 
 claims of old prejudice, or startled by the dread of 
 change, in the apprehension that it might tend to 
 reform. The throne was grasping and tenacious of 
 power, and increasing in prerogatives. The wealth, 
 education, and chivalry of the realm, with persever¬ 
 ance and mistaken ideas of self-interest, either aided, 
 or yielded to and readily acquiesced in, the constrained 
 policy of government. There, these men were re¬ 
 garded as enthusiasts dangerous to the public safe¬ 
 ty, — the disseminators of treason. 
 
 But this sentiment of the sovereignty of the people 
 was not of recent growth ; its origin could be traced 
 back, far back, to the very commencement of society, 
 — and farther back still, — to the very creation. Man 
 was created free and independent; he recognized no 
 sovereignty save that of the King of Heaven and 
 Earth. The progress of this sentiment was slow; and 
 in the minds of few men only, in the earlier ages, did 
 it find lodgment; but no tyranny or false system of 
 government, however alluring it might be, could ob¬ 
 literate it. It was not to be silenced by honor or 
 power, nor suppressed by the rack, the dungeon, or 
 
14 
 
 the gibbet. It might be, it was, restrained , — its 
 growth was retarded, and at times its very existence 
 was scarcely perceptible; for single-handed it was 
 opposed by authority, and wealth, and arms. Yet it 
 was at work silently and efficiently in the minds of 
 men, gaining converts and increasing in strength, trust¬ 
 ful, and hoping for ultimate triumph and recognition, 
 even in the theatre of that old civilization ; until, from 
 long neglect desponding of success, and wearied by 
 continued and unrelenting persecution, it left the 
 Old World and found shelter among the forests and 
 on the mountains and fertile plains of a new continent, 
 w T hich seemed at the very instant to have been mi¬ 
 raculously upheaved from the bosom of the ocean, and 
 garnished for the reception of this people. 
 
 This nation is young, but the principle of govern¬ 
 ment is old. The peculiar form of the American 
 system is novel; the elements which give it strength, 
 the source of its confidence and power, its system of 
 representation, legislation, and execution of author¬ 
 ity, are ancient, and came into existence when the 
 eye of man first opened to the wondrous light of 
 Heaven, and the law of his Maker was written on his 
 heart. Truth is not of recent origin ; truth is not a 
 discovery made by man; it exists independent of him, 
 and by research may be revealed to him. Liberty came 
 not into existence with the formation of the American 
 States. It only found here an abode, an asylum, a 
 
15 
 
 theatre for its reduction to form, and an entrance into 
 the very elements of a human government. 
 
 But as we gaze with admiration upon the complete 
 and well-proportioned edifice of this republic, — as we 
 contemplate her illustrious origin and great success, 
 and look forward to her probable destiny, when a hun¬ 
 dred millions of inhabitants shall be spread over a coun¬ 
 try in extent equal to three quarters of all Europe, 
 embracing all climates and yielding every variety of 
 products, — when we contemplate this immense popu¬ 
 lation in the enjoyment of rights in the defence of 
 which their fathers made such sacrifices, and which 
 their far-seeing wisdom secured and established ; — is 
 there not mingled with all this a feeling of regret, as 
 the thought naturally reverts to the extinction of that 
 mysterious race who have disappeared before the steps 
 of the white man, — whose primitive manners and 
 wandering and unsettled life have given place to our 
 civilization 1 Marvel not that they opposed the aggres¬ 
 sive steps and irresistible march of the pale stranger, 
 moving onward for the fulfilment of his great mission 
 in the New World. But how unequal the contest,— 
 how T feeble a defence were their upraised hands and 
 exposed persons, though as numerous as the leaves of 
 the forests in which they dwelt! The untutored, un¬ 
 expanded intellect of the native could not understand 
 the justice of the principle by which a stranger claimed 
 his soil. Had he not been born beneath the shade of 
 
16 
 
 the old trees by his side 1 Had not his ancestors for 
 centuries hunted in security on the same broad prai¬ 
 ries, and occupied the same streams \ Had not his 
 right of ownership and possession been established by 
 long wars and bloody conflicts with surrounding tribes 
 striving for mastery \ And were not the ashes of their 
 renowned chiefs, their wise sages, their fathers, their 
 children, quietly reposing in their burial-places upon 
 the hills and in the valleys \ And did they not own 
 those fields upon which each summer’s sun for cen¬ 
 turies had ripened the golden maize, and which their 
 hands had planted and reaped \ Did not a possession 
 which commenced so far back that its very origin was 
 lost or treasured only in uncertain tradition, — did not 
 this give them the right of soil? But these claims 
 and arguments could not melt the white man’s heart, 
 change his purpose, or retard his steps. He was 
 forced on by a power he could not himself control, and 
 was engaged in the execution of a great work from 
 which he could not desist; he must advance, though 
 his footsteps should crush the red man’s hopes, though 
 his dwelling should rise on the ashes of the wigwam, 
 and his ploughshare level the simple burial-mound of 
 their wise sages and renowned chieftains. 
 
 He came, protected by the principles of that code 
 which all civilized nations have adopted, which gave 
 to the discoverer of the territory the right of soil, sub¬ 
 ject only to the occupancy of the native, to be extin- 
 
17 
 
 guished by purchase or conquest. Nor do we propose 
 to question the correctness of this law. The code of 
 nations, as now settled and universally accepted, is 
 of incalculable benefit to mankind; its provisions are 
 founded in reason, and its justice confirmed by experi¬ 
 ence. The method of its execution, though at times 
 cruel, is no reproach upon the law itself. 
 
 And as the American Indian disappears before the 
 steps of the white man, so will every other people and 
 government on these continents in time yield to the 
 Anglo-American, and the institutions which he has 
 founded. Already in North America her empire is 
 nearly universal. In the French and Mexican terri¬ 
 tories acquisitions have been made by purchase or 
 conquest, as the spreading population pressed against 
 their confines, and in the wondrous West, including 
 the fertile valley of the Mississippi, — which now em¬ 
 braces more people than the entire population of the 
 Colonies at the time of the war of Independence, — 
 and beyond, towards the Pacific, states are forming 
 which in wealth and strength will soon outstrip the 
 Atlantic and Middle States. 
 
 From the day of its organization to the present, the 
 government has gone forward in one uninterrupted 
 career of success. It has been discovered and proved, 
 that the people are safe repositories of the power of 
 the state. With us the chief officers receive their 
 commissions directly from the people: and the ten- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 dency of our legislation for years has been, to break 
 up whatever centralization of power remained, and to 
 give back to the primary assembly much that was, 
 from motives of mistaken policy, committed to the 
 executive, the council, or the legislature. The result 
 of all this will render the administration of the legiti¬ 
 mate duties of the constituted authorities purer and 
 more in conformity with the best interests of the 
 people. The people determine whether the constitu¬ 
 tion shall be changed or not, whether they will be 
 taxed or not. In our State they elect the Legislature 
 which frames, the Judiciary which expounds, and 
 the Executive which enforces, the law. 
 
 These remarks preclude, as you will perceive, all 
 idea of the dissolution of this Union; the happening 
 of which event has been discussed by some timid or 
 bad men within a few years past. This Union is in¬ 
 dissoluble. Its permanence is too deeply identified 
 with the prevalence of the sovereignty of the people, 
 which would receive a fatal wound in such a contin¬ 
 gency. The mission of these States clearly indicates 
 their destiny; nor can this mission be fruitless: their 
 union and success go hand in hand. 
 
 The Union is stronger this day than it ever has been. 
 The integrity of its organic law is held in deep rever¬ 
 ence ; and the very slightest suspicion in the minds 
 of the people that any reproach is intended to be cast 
 upon it, or its power questioned, is sufficient to excite 
 
19 
 
 a general sentiment of indignation from one extremity 
 of the land to the other. Among no people is there 
 entertained greater respect for constitutional law and 
 constitutional rights than among the Americans. And 
 there is a universal acquiescence of the public in the 
 determinations of our judicial tribunals, declaring in¬ 
 valid the acts of State Legislatures, and of Congress 
 itself, which in the least degree infringe the provisions 
 of the fundamental law, —* it matters not how disas¬ 
 trous such decisions may be to the interest of the 
 individual or the community. 
 
 Though the American people now stand secure in 
 the enjoyment of national and social rights, their con¬ 
 tinued enjoyment of these rights, under Providence, is 
 in their own hands. Nations are no more exempt 
 from the penalties annexed to a violation of moral law, 
 or of those wise enactments which are founded in hu¬ 
 manity, than individuals. If the individual offends any, 
 the slightest, moral or physical law, he suffers in his 
 conscience and in his life the severe judgment which 
 follows the breach of these laws: and society, too, 
 avenges herself on the person who violates her law. 
 
 The punishments and evils which come on men and 
 nations are the result of efficient causes, — such are 
 the dictates of reason and the decrees of Heaven, — 
 and man cannot, if he would, alter them. If the indi¬ 
 vidual, having the ability, refuses to acknowledge and 
 fulfil an honest and equitable contract, he does so at 
 
20 
 
 the expense of his reputation. If the State repudiates 
 her just debts, she sacrifices her honor. If the in¬ 
 dividual wrongs his neigbor, he is punished by man 
 and God. If the nation wantonly, and without cause, 
 despoils a sister state, there is a retribution in store 
 for her, and though slow at times in appearing, it is 
 sure to follow. Governments are judged and pun¬ 
 ished in this world: here only do nations rise and fall. 
 
 Let it then be ours to present to the world a govern¬ 
 ment renowned for the wisdom, justice, and humanity 
 of its laws, its respect for the rights of others, and 
 its firm and patriotic defence of its own, and distin¬ 
 guished for its intelligence and virtue. Forget not 
 that the nation is composed of men, — that it has no 
 distinct and separate being. You are a part of the 
 nation; — “ The people are the State.” Always, and 
 in every emergency, be it yours to stand up in vindi¬ 
 cation of the Constitution, and the laws which have its 
 sanction. 
 
 In a monarchy, the patriotism of the subjects cen¬ 
 tres in the king; their idea of power and protection 
 and national glory goes back to the stability of the 
 throne, with its vast prerogatives and the great wealth 
 and force which it controls. We recognize no such 
 power or pride; our conception of security, of strength 
 and perpetuity, should resolve itself in the Constitu¬ 
 tion and the laws; for these are the voice of the 
 people and the will of the State, expressed in the most 
 
21 
 
 legitimate form, and, until changed, they are the su¬ 
 preme power here, — they constitute the defence of 
 the nation against intestinal feuds, and are the origin 
 of its ability to resist attacks from without. 
 
 Weaken, then, by no act of yours their authority 
 or strength, but in all your acts encourage love and 
 respect for them. The Constitution is each man’s 
 guardian angel; its invisible and ever-attending power 
 protects him in the enjoyment of all his rights, of 
 property, person, and liberty; and though convulsions 
 may shake society, though bands of excited men 
 should arise and threaten the destruction of all you 
 hold dear, though they may attempt by physical 
 might to overpower the weak in this emergency, — 
 although you fear, still despair not, for your guardian 
 angel is at hand with her avenging sword. It is then 
 your country calls on the good and valiant for coun¬ 
 tenance and aid, and with their assistance amid the 
 fierce tumult the law will work on silently and effi¬ 
 ciently, will vindicate itself and cover you with her 
 impenetrable shield from all attacks. 
 
 The Union, I repeat, is strong! both from the love 
 which the people entertain for it, and for the interests 
 which its perpetuity guarantees. And there is a Power, 
 too, beyond all human control, and unmoved by the 
 short-sightedness of man’s intellect or passion ; a Power 
 by whose permission, and under whose guidance, it 
 was formed, and which will protect and bind it more 
 
22 
 
 strongly together, and by its instrumentality work out 
 great ends. 
 
 Such is the condition of our country, such is the 
 advance we have made in the arts, sciences, agricul¬ 
 ture, and commerce. We stand this day in the en¬ 
 joyment of perfect liberty, guaranteed and secured to 
 us by our liberal institutions, whose foundations were 
 laid deep and firm by our fathers, and which no at¬ 
 tacks from abroad, or contending interests or strife 
 within, have been able in the least to w T eaken. 
 
 But is our work complete \ Has the principle of 
 Freedom spent itself in the accomplishment of its 
 greatest work on these Western shores % Is justice 
 partial ] Is there any thing in the American people 
 which renders them the especial favorites of Heaven; 
 or destined alone, though they may spread over this 
 entire continent and be limited only by the surround¬ 
 ing ocean, to this fruition of the elements of politi¬ 
 cal and social happiness ? The world, — the entire 
 world, — over man wherever he exists on this globe, 
 — on the continent, the peninsula, the island of the 
 sea, — in the frozen North, where humanity barely 
 subsists, and in the glorious South, — in the East, 
 where old civilization with trembling hand and relax¬ 
 ing grasp still maintains her feeble hold, and in 
 Europe, in the midst of her down-trodden millions, — 
 everywhere will Freedom unfurl her spotless banner, 
 and all men rest in security beneath its broad folds. 
 
23 
 
 Europe is now the point to which our eyes are 
 directed, and in which our hopes centre. True, she 
 expelled our fathers from her bosom ages ago. True, 
 she offered no secure asylum; she opened no field for 
 the expansion of the principles of government which 
 are diffused throughout every part of our system. 
 True, we have -surpassed her in every great and noble 
 work; we have outstripped her with all her experi¬ 
 ence, — with all the wisdom of her great writers and 
 teachers, — with all her science, — with all her art, 
 her.commerce, her wealth; we have left her behind 
 in the swaddling-bands of infancy, while we stand 
 erect -in the strength of manhood. But let us not for¬ 
 get the source from which we sprang, — the rock 
 out of which we were hewn; and however unnatural 
 and cold she may have been, let us not forget the 
 mother of the American citizen. 
 
 Europe is destined to learn a great lesson from the 
 grand experiment wrought among us. She has 
 watched us in amazement as we have made rapid, 
 gigantic strides to greatness, compared with her feeble 
 steps. Her march is impeded, ours is free. There 
 are a thousand encumbrances and weights which hin¬ 
 der her, — there are old customs, usages, laws, and 
 prerogatives, which so bear down and retard her, 
 that her progress is like that of some noble vessel 
 sunk nearly to the water’s edge with merchandise, 
 urged by its worn-out crew, without wind, against the 
 
24 
 
 tide ; — and this, too, while no officer nor pilot gives 
 a word of encouragement to cheer the fainting spirit 
 of the toiling mariners, or suffers any useless burden 
 which encumbers her movements to be cast into the 
 ocean. 
 
 The whole power of wealth, the cabinets, courts, 
 and statesmen of Europe, exercise all their great 
 influence to check the movement of Freedom. Does 
 the press speak, — the decree of the court, enforced by 
 the bayonet, silences her voice. Do liberal-minded 
 men utter a word in favor of the people’s rights, — 
 exile or a dungeon is their fate. 
 
 Still, the powerful pamphlet anonymously issued is 
 working in silence revolutions and changes; and 
 travellers from these States, all over the Continent, are 
 spreading liberal sentiments, and every mail-packet 
 which crosses the broad Atlantic bears from the emi¬ 
 grant settled in our fertile valleys messages of hope 
 and encouragement. The son writes to his father, the 
 sister to her brother, and friend to friend; all tell of 
 the blessings enjoyed by man in a country of freedom. 
 Freighted with great truths and bright experiences 
 are these mail-vessels, and the simple yet truthful 
 language of these letters is a more effective agent 
 than great speeches or an ill-timed rebellion. 
 
 Be not discouraged that you do not see great 
 changes or progress taking place in Europe. From 
 the causes to which allusion has been made, the ad- 
 
vance is destined to be slow, as it is now imperceptible. 
 The element, although unseen, is at work. The hours 
 do pass, although your vision is wearied as you en¬ 
 deavor to note the progress of the hand upon the dial- 
 plate ; and that largely freighted vessel does feel the 
 influence of some occasional wind, as the anxious 
 sailors have spread all canvas to catch the slightest 
 breeze. 
 
 It is during the continuance of violent revolutions 
 that thrones are upturned and great political changes 
 effected in the institutions of the country; it is only 
 when the troubled waters subside that the havoc 
 which has been made is disclosed. The peaceful action 
 of the ocean does, unnoticed, wear away the firm rocks 
 which stand sublime upon its shores; it is only when 
 lashed into anger by the storm, that its uplifted waves 
 dash against the overhanging cliff, which, yielding to 
 the stroke, is buried beneath the foaming surge. 
 
 But has there not been some perceptible progress 
 made in Europe since the foundation of this govern¬ 
 ment ] In truth, man is more free ; despotism is not 
 so absolute, and her encroachments are met by noble 
 men. Poland has been blotted out of political ex¬ 
 istence, but her fall was only accomplished by the 
 slaughter of thousands, tens of thousands, of her peo¬ 
 ple. And Hungary too, — ill-fated Hungary, — in our 
 day, and under our own eyes, only yielded when the 
 unholy alliance of despots brought into the field forces 
 4 
 
26 
 
 against which it was in vain longer to struggle. But 
 though Poland has fallen, and Hungary has yielded, is 
 Liberty dead? Ah no! the man may die, but the 
 principles he cherished and the lessons he inculcated 
 W T ill live. Both Hungary and Poland have, by their 
 resistance, their patriotic devotion, although unsuc¬ 
 cessful, done inestimable service to the cause of en¬ 
 lightened freedom. 
 
 The people who willingly and unresistingly yield 
 their necks to the yoke of tyranny deserve no sym¬ 
 pathy, and never accomplish much for their own 
 amelioration. But Hungary can never be effectually 
 conquered; the day of liberation is as sure to come 
 as the morrow’s sun to rise. She arose in vindica¬ 
 tion of truth. Her foe was too powerful, and after 
 great sacrifice she was overcome, her soldiers were 
 cut down, her armies perished, her generals and 
 statesmen were exiled. Who thinks that the prin¬ 
 ciple that originated this movement, and which has 
 sustained it, was destroyed % Encouraged by the 
 generous sympathy of the friends of liberty, in the 
 cessation of strife it will take deeper root, grow, ex¬ 
 pand, and ultimately prevail. 
 
 And has not this revolution discovered to the world, 
 as all revolutions do, men of firmness, integrity, and 
 great intellectual power, who ennoble the age in 
 which they live, and give an impulse to the cause in 
 which they have enlisted ? These men have not ori- 
 
27 
 
 ginated the sentiment or spirit of the revolution; — 
 they are only the embodiment of it, and by its power 
 are thrown above their fellows, and stand forth its 
 great champions, and by common consent speak for it; 
 and as in the times of our own Revolutionary strug¬ 
 gles there were found men in all respects equal to the 
 great occasion, so the revolutionary spirit of Europe 
 has discovered great master-spirits. These men, whose 
 stirring words are exciting the public mind, have not 
 spoken new truths, but old maxims; they have but 
 applied the fire which will kindle throughout all 
 Europe the slumbering embers of Liberty. Despair 
 not, then, that you do not see immediate results; they 
 will come before you are aware of the existence of the 
 cause which will produce them. The elements are 
 now at work; you will not perceive them except you 
 examine closely the relations of things. 
 
 The movement of the wing of a bird has sent from 
 its great elevation, on the summit of the highest 
 Alps, the avalanche of snow which had been gathering 
 there for ages. How simple the cause, how terrible 
 the result, in the destruction of the unsuspecting 
 travellers, who, winding their way among the frozen 
 passes of the mountains, were overwhelmed in the 
 awful catastrophe! And there are causes now at 
 work in the Old World, which will eventually sweep 
 from the earth the last remnant of despotism, now 
 invested with all the symbols of pride and pomp, and 
 
28 
 
 enriched by the spoil of an oppressed people. Far 
 from secure are the foundations of their power; for 
 there are raging beneath their feet the pent-up furies 
 which misrule and tyranny have kindled, and their 
 thrones rest insecurely upon the bursting crater of a 
 volcano. 
 
 There are those who confess to a feeling of regret at 
 the successful termination of the coup d'etat of the un¬ 
 scrupulous despot who now directs the affairs of France, 
 — w r ho regard the seeming security of his power, and 
 the acquiescence therein by the people, as hindering 
 the progress of European liberty. They know not 
 France who thus judge, nor have they faithfully read 
 the records of the past. No people, governed as the 
 French nation have been, ever, at one stride, stepped 
 from monarchy to settled, well-matured republicanism. 
 
 “ A thousand years scarce seem to form a state, 
 
 An hour may lay it in the dust.” 
 
 The unsettled state of affairs at the termination of the 
 power of the last French king, followed as it was by a 
 provisional government of great talent but no energy, 
 rendered the rise of the present ruler of France inev¬ 
 itable. Even a bad government is better than no 
 government; and the dread of insecurity and anarchy 
 forces the people who pant for repose and security in 
 their property, their persons, and their homes, to tol¬ 
 erate his unjustifiable assumption of power, though 
 
29 
 
 upraised on the broken elements of their constitution. 
 The grasping ambition of the man, exciting his great 
 determination and energy, fortifying all the citadels of 
 his power, seems to them the pledge of their security. 
 Yet though his government should continue, every 
 year will show this power abridged, and this despotism 
 relaxed; maintained as it is by the prestige of a mere 
 name, and unfelt amid pageants and views and the 
 excitement of reviving trade and art. 
 
 Yet is not this despotism undermining the founda¬ 
 tions of its own strength \ Does not every act of in¬ 
 tolerance, every persecution of opinion, every exile of 
 the great and good, recall the minds of the unwilling 
 subjects to the magnitude of the power which is settling 
 upon them and threatening to crush them'? Are not 
 its aggressions and assumptions dispelling the glare 
 of the heartless pomp and parade which has dazzled 
 them % And will they not look with contempt upon the 
 senate and assemblies and ministers by whom he is 
 surrounded, whose servile adhesion to the government 
 displays itself in a legislation intended to strengthen 
 his ill-gotten authority, and to employ the revenue 
 extorted from trade and commerce to enrich the court 
 or corrupt the people \ 
 
 Without the fame of great services to his country,— 
 without the confidence which statesmanship begets, — 
 this prince has attained, by a sudden, bold, and bloody 
 step, which held his people, wearied by misrule, in 
 
30 
 
 awe and astonishment, a power, the destruction of 
 which is as certain as was the dismemberment of the 
 gigantic empire which a greater Napoleon established, 
 and as sudden and complete as was the overthrow of 
 that Eastern king whose downfall was foretold and 
 accomplished in the same hour;—for while yet in 
 the midst of his impious feast, and rejoicing in the 
 seeming security of his reign, Belshazzar the king 
 was slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom. 
 
 The throne of the Supreme Governor of the world 
 is seated high in the heavens, above all human powers, 
 and his unwearied eye runs to and fro throughout all 
 this earth. He raises and overthrows nations. With¬ 
 out His assent, kingdoms and men are alike powerless. 
 Think not for an instant that there is any such thing 
 as chance. The well-matured plans and purposes of 
 Infinite Wisdom are discoverable in the rise, progress, 
 prosperity, and downfall of nations. Not more regu¬ 
 larly do the golden worlds above us, shining through 
 illimitable space, obey the laws of their system, and 
 move in their well-defined orbits, than do the govern¬ 
 ments of this world answer and fulfil the design of 
 the Supreme Euler. 
 
 And what though great nations, whose empire was 
 commensurate with the world, have passed away! 
 Have not new and better states arisen % What though 
 great orbs which shone forth when the stars sung 
 together on the morning of the creation, and which 
 
31 
 
 have illumined their pathway through the heavens for 
 ages, have become extinct! Have not new and bril¬ 
 liant planets emerged from the darkness which their 
 void has made, and poured their newly created light 
 upon us even in our day % 
 
 This Infinite Power will not interpose, by any 
 miraculous display, to arrest the career of wickedness 
 and crime in which governments indulge, as He does 
 not so restrain the folly of the individual. His religion 
 even, so distasteful to the heart of man, He does not 
 compel him to embrace, nor does He make converts 
 by the sword. Yet the whole world must bow to the 
 peaceful sceptre of the Child born in a manger in 
 Bethlehem. How simple the means in use to estab¬ 
 lish this dispensation ! Uneducated fishermen were its 
 first heralds, and peaceful men are now its advocates, 
 and are bearing the standard of the cross to every 
 nation, tribe, and tongue, before whose words hoary 
 superstition and old religions are passing away. 
 
 Now what is the part that America is to take in 
 this struggle] She has in fact taken her position. 
 She has exhibited to the world what a people can 
 accomplish when armed in the cause of Liberty against 
 their oppressor; and she is now teaching, by the sta¬ 
 bility of her institutions and the happiness of her 
 people, how preferable is a free government to mo¬ 
 narchical institutions. 
 
 It was not an immature rebellion, — it was not 
 
32 
 
 simply a desire of change regardless of consequences, 
 — which awakened that revolution which resulted in 
 the establishment of these States. The right of a 
 people to array themselves in opposition to the con¬ 
 stituted authorities in certain cases, and indeed to 
 overthrow the government itself, is thus recognized in 
 their Declaration of Independence : — 
 
 “ Prudence indeed will dictate that governments 
 long established should not be changed for light and 
 transient causes: and accordingly, all experience hath 
 shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while 
 evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abol¬ 
 ishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But 
 when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
 invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce 
 them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it 
 is their duty, to throw off such government, and to 
 provide new guards for their future security.” 
 
 Such is the sentiment of this people, promulgated 
 in 1776, and such is the position this government is 
 understood to have taken with regard to other nations 
 who have in a successful revolution achieved their 
 independence. The far-seeing wisdom of the founders 
 of this republic anticipated the evils which would flow 
 from an active participation in the affairs of Europe. 
 
 Our mission is a pacific one. What we do as a 
 nation, for the progress of liberty throughout the 
 world, should be done by example and judicious legis- 
 
33 
 
 lation. The people can accomplish much by obedi¬ 
 ence to the laws, and by thus exhibiting to the world 
 that the greatest amount of political freedom and 
 social equality does not lead to lawlessness or insta¬ 
 bility. Far more do these lessons tend to the ameli¬ 
 oration of Europe, than though we should send fleets 
 and armies to batter down the intrenchments of des¬ 
 potism. 
 
 Fellow-members of the Fraternity, the posture of 
 affairs at this time has necessarily led to this train of 
 remarks the mind of the person selected to address 
 you on this occasion. He knew of no subject, the 
 consideration of which could be more profitable to 
 you. How forcibly it addresses itself to your atten¬ 
 tion ! What cannot this body of men assembled here 
 this day accomplish ? What cannot the members of 
 this Fraternity effect in this country? You are here 
 from every portion of our country, representatives of 
 all its professions and pursuits, having enjoyed its 
 choicest education. Many of you are already strug¬ 
 gling with the stern realities of life, — have gained 
 success and reputation in the world, and a generous 
 ambition urges you forward to greater honors. Others 
 of you are now ready for the world; standing as it 
 were upon its threshold, anxious to meet and conquer 
 its difficulties. Go forward! delay not, — time press¬ 
 es. You carry with you the best wishes of the good 
 and generous everywhere. 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 You are reapers, just about to enter the domain of 
 thought and action, and with a keen sickle and un¬ 
 flagging toil you will gather full sheaves, — while 
 behind you are pressing on the ranks of the gleaners, 
 who will be enriched by what you in your haste will 
 leave; for the fields are fertile and abundant, and 
 white for the harvest. 
 
 But oh ! in your anxieties for yourselves, forget not 
 your country, — forget not her welfare, her honor, 
 her mission; do all in your power to elevate her 
 character. Next to your God let your affections em¬ 
 brace this government, the best which the world has 
 yet seen, the success of which will bless millions yet 
 unborn. Have some of the devotion of that Jewish 
 king to whom his country was more dear than the 
 apple of his eye, and who would rather relinquish the 
 cunning of his right hand than forget the Holy City, 
 the seat of his empire. 
 
 The part to be assumed by you in the struggle of 
 opinion here upon this continent is clear and manifest, 
 and I make no doubt that your position has already 
 been defined. We find no apologists for absolutism 
 here, — no friend of ignorance or tyranny, — no one 
 who would attempt to arrest the current of enlightened 
 civilization, but rather willing to trust his bark on the 
 flowing tide. You go for freedom against oppression, 
 and of the great contest which is going on in the Old 
 World, where man is struggling with bondage, where 
 
35 
 
 the people are opposed to the crown, you are not in¬ 
 different spectators. Your sympathies are with the 
 downtrodden. Your voice will never be heard advo¬ 
 cating error, although venerable from age and fortified 
 by power and wealth. 
 
 You remember how the students in the European 
 universities left their halls of science and the peaceful 
 shades of academic life, — how the lawyer deserted 
 the courts, the medical man his lectures, — for the 
 troubles and deprivations of the camp, and fell in the 
 foremost ranks in the attempt to rescue their country 
 from the power of the spoiler. 
 
 Your influence will go where your generous im¬ 
 pulses lead; and although you are not called to the 
 battle-field, nor summoned to mingle in the strife of 
 arms, while, as good citizens of your country, you do 
 all in your power to elevate her character, — to make 
 her great, humane, just, — you will also hasten by 
 your advocacy the political millennium which ere¬ 
 long will pervade the entire globe, whose dawning is 
 now perceptible amid the departing darkness which 
 hangs over Europe. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
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