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ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 €m\i %\itmi\ §nmiu:> . 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH'CAROLINA, 
 
 June 1> 1853, 
 
 M 
 HON. A. 0. P. NICHOLSON, 
 
 OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 RALEIGH; 
 PRINTED BY W: W. HOLDEN, "STANDARD" OFFICE, 
 
 1853i 
 
11 
 
Dialectic Hall, June 2, 1853. 
 
 Sir: " ' 
 
 Having been appointed a Commitfee, in behalf of the Dialectic Society, (o 
 tender you the thanks of that body, for the veiy able, instructive, and patriotic 
 Address which you delivered yesterday before the two Literary Societies, and to 
 request of you a copy of tlie same for publication, we most earnestly hope you 
 will not deny us a gratification so pleasing and a treasure so inestimable. 
 
 Permit us to express the very great pleasure we experienced during its de- 
 livery, and to add our personal solicitations to those of the Society which we 
 represent. 
 
 Willi the highest regard, 
 
 W. L. ALEXANDER, 
 R. B. JOHNSTON, \ (hinmittee. 
 
 W. LAFAYETTE SCOTT, 
 Hon. A. 0. P. Nicholson'. 
 
 Washixgton City, Avffust ], 1853. • 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 Yours of June 2d has been received, requesting a copy of my Address at the 
 late Commencement at Chapel Hill, and insisting on my compliance. It is dif- 
 ficult for me to overcome my aversion to the publication of a production which 
 was prepared under circumstances which rendered it impossible for me to do 
 justice to the occasion for which it was designed. But lest my refusal might be 
 misconstrued, I forward a copy, and submit the disposition of it to your 
 discretion. 
 
 • For the kind reception which I met from the Dialectic Society, and for the 
 compliment implied in their resolution, I ask you to convey to the members, 
 whilst you accept for yourselves, my unfeigned thanks. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 A. 0. P. NICHOLSON. 
 Messrs. Alexander, ) 
 
 JoHNSTO.v, >• Committee. 
 Scott, ) 
 
y 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 Gentlemen of the Philanthroinc and Dialectic Societies: 
 
 I propose to redeem my promise to address you on this oc- 
 casion, by submitting, for your consideration, a few practical 
 remarks upon the influence and responsibihties of the Law- 
 yer. It has occurred to me that this subject might be ap- 
 propriately and perhaps profitably discussed before an audi- 
 ence of whom a liberal portion is doubtless looking forward 
 to the legal profession as the field of their future labors, and 
 rewards and honors. 
 
 When I speak of the lawyer, I mean an educated man — 
 one whose intellectual faculties have been developed, disci- 
 plined and enlarged, preparatory to the labors of the profes- 
 sional student, and who has successfully encountered the ob- 
 stacles which lie in his path as a student, and so far progress- 
 ed in the science of the law as to entitle him to a place in 
 the Temple of Justice, as one of her authorised advocates. 
 It is the influence exerted by such a man on society, and the 
 consequent responsibilities which attach to his position, on 
 which I desire to enlist your indulgent attention during the 
 next hour. 
 
 My subject leads me, at the threshold, into the considera- 
 tion of the power of mind over mind. I shall not be guilty 
 of the presumption and folly, however, of undertaking to 
 analyze the inherent properties and constituent elements of 
 mind, or to elucidate the mysterious process by which its 
 power is made effective. That '' mind is power " is a tru- 
 ism ; but a limit was given to this power by Him from \vhom 
 it emanated, and to attempt to pass this limit would be worse 
 than folly. When God closed the wonderful work of Crea- 
 tion, and " saw every thing that ho had made, and, behold, 
 
it was very good," lie prescribed the laws by which the vast 
 machinery of the universe was to be governed. To-enable 
 man to discover the existence of these laws, to comprehend 
 their modes of operation, and to build upon them systems of 
 science, he was made " a living soul " — and one of the no- 
 blest uses to which he can dedicate the capacity thus given 
 him, is to the discovery and development of the laws of na- 
 ture, their combination into distinct systems of science, there- 
 by contributing to the enlargement of the range of philoso- 
 phy, and to the extension of human knowledge and happi- 
 ness. Philosophy acknowledges no indebtedness to the crea- 
 tive powers of those profound intellects which have, from 
 time to time, penetrated into the deep mysteries of nature, 
 brought to light the eternal laws of her government, and upon 
 their discoveries based their claims to immortal honors. The 
 work of creation was finished in the beginning, and was com- 
 mitted to man for his investigation and comprehension. This 
 task has- given full employment to the most capacious minds 
 that have illumined the progress of scientific research, and 
 the task is yet unfinished. In the material world '■'■ the march 
 of mind " has been constantly onward in the enlargement of 
 the boundaries of natural philosophy ; but comparatively few 
 triumphs have been achieved in the development of the laws 
 of our moral government. It is not to be doubted that the 
 laws of mind and of morals were originally prescribed with 
 as much certainty and distinctness as were those of matter.. 
 But whether they were designed from the beginning to be 
 susceptible of only imperfect development, in consequence of 
 the disturbing influences of the affections and passions, or 
 whether the obscurity which hangs over our moral nature is 
 one of the results of man's first disobedience, I shrill not un- 
 dertake to determine. Our discoveries have gone far enough 
 to enable us to know that there are laws regulating the inter- 
 course of soul with soul ; and though we may not be aUe to 
 build upon our discoveries in this etheriai field, systeins of 
 mental and moral philosophy, distinguished by the demon- 
 
strative certainU^ of the physical sciences^ yet we may turn 
 the little -that we do know to profitable account. We know 
 as ceitainly that mind attracts mind and that virtue attracts 
 virtue, as we do that matter attracts matter ; and it is by no 
 means improbable that these diiTerent species of attractions 
 are governed bylaws strictly analogous. As the natural phi- 
 losopher will not undertake to say what the gravity of mat- 
 ter is, but only what it does, much less would I be expected 
 to say what the gravity of mind or of morals is. I am con- 
 tent to know that it exists, and upon this knowledge, to point 
 out the power and influence exerted by the educated man 
 over society. 
 
 It \n\\ be observed, that when I speak of an educated man, 
 I speak of one whose moral as well as his mental faculties have 
 been properly cultivated. Superior mind is inherently pow- 
 erful and influential ; but when unregulated and unrestrain- 
 ed by a pure moral standard, it is a power to be dreaded. 
 
 If the truth of this remark needed confirmation, it may be 
 signallly illustrated by reference to the causes recorded in his- 
 tory, as having contributed to the French Revolution. This 
 great event, out of which grew wars that embroiled all the 
 nations of Europe, is attributed, in no small degree, to the 
 influence exerted upon the popular mind and public morals 
 of P^rance, by the powerful intellectual eflferts of her distin- 
 guished writers, amongst whom stand conspicuously the 
 names' of Helvetius, Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot. The 
 philosophy of Helvetius was a refined system of materialism, 
 and was little else than a revival of pagan epicurianism. 
 But it- was congenial with the taste of the times, and was 
 therefore adopted with avidity. Voltaire attempted no new 
 system, but sought rather to render all systems absurd by his 
 powers of sarcasm and ridicule. He is distinguished as the 
 chief apostle of French infidelity, and was idolized as the 
 oracle of his age. " He put the ball of atheism in motion, 
 and others followed in a bolder track ; pushed out, not his 
 principles, for he had none, but his spirit into the extreme of 
 
8 
 
 mockery and negation. ' ' Rousseau wrote elegantly in praise 
 of unsophisticated nature, and professed to love the simple 
 and the natural, whilst he really seduced the weak and sus- 
 <eptible by his fascinating appeals to passion, and devoted his 
 life to gilding what is corrupt, and glossing over what is im- 
 ])ure. Diderot was not only an open atheist, but a fierce 
 ileniocrat by profession, and taught that truth was a mere de- 
 lusion, and virtue but a name. From 1751 to 1765, he mada 
 liis Encyclopedia the channel through which he poured a 
 continuous stream of contagious poison upon the excita- 
 ble minds of his countiymen, corrupting the fountains of 
 thought, effacing in the French mind the image of God, 
 and preparing the way for <' the reign of terror" which 
 succeeded. 
 ■ The history of the intellectual triumphs of the French 
 writers, to whom I have adverted, furnishes an impressive il- 
 lu!<tration of the power of mind, and especially of its power 
 fo)- evil, when uncontrolled by a sound moral regulator. But 
 oiu' own Revolutionary history furnishes an illustration not 
 less striking. Thomas Paine was deeply, and no doubt sin- 
 lerely imbued with republican principles. Burke said of his 
 •■' Common Sense," that ''Uhat celebrated pamphlet prepar- 
 ed the minds of the people for independence "—and Jeffer- 
 soii declared that Paine " had labored with as much effect as 
 any man living for the principles of the Revolution." Un- 
 fortunately, however, for his reputation, he became infected 
 with the prevailing epidemic of French infidelity. He pub- 
 lished his << Age of Reason," and was idolized by French 
 infidels ; but thereby forfeited forever the high renown which 
 lie had won by his previous labors in the cause of rational 
 freedom, both in England his native, and America his adopt- 
 ed country. Had he been content with his fame, as a co- 
 ^v'orker with the fathers of the Republic, his name would 
 have gone down in company with theirs to the latest posteri- 
 iy, as one of the boldest and ablest pioneers in the cause of 
 freedom. But he dared to turn the batteries of his vigorous 
 
mind against the divinity of the Christian religion, and when 
 against the throne and monarchy of God he raised impious 
 war, 
 
 " Him the Almighty power 
 Hurled headlong flamiug from the otherial sky, 
 With hideous ruin and combustion down 
 To bottomless perdition." 
 
 But his "Age of Reason" survived him, and with it has 
 been perpetuated his power for evil. He is still the oracle of 
 thousands of superficial thinkers, who lack the capacity to 
 detect the sophistry of his assaults upon the Christian system. 
 
 The individual examples which I have adduced, will suf- 
 fice to illustrate the power of mind, and the dangerous char- 
 acter of this power, when directed against the cause of virtue 
 and morality, or when unregulated by their chastening 
 influence. I have not selected these extreme cases, merely 
 because I see a strong tendency in the times to infidelity ; 
 but my object mainly is, to present extreme cases that I may 
 impress upon your minds the important truth, that the edu- 
 cated man is necessarily a man of power either for good or 
 for evil. 
 
 If the educated man carries with him into the world so tre- 
 mendous an engine of power, how essential to his own hap- 
 piness, and to that of society, that it should be exerted only 
 for the accomplishment of good! In arranging the laws for 
 his moral government. Providence has furnished every man 
 with a sure guide for the regulation of his intellectual powers. 
 He carries in his bosom a faithful sentinel, who is ever ready 
 to sound the alarm when danger approaches. Unseared, 
 imbruised, and unperverted Conscience may be safely fol- 
 lowed, as the true touchstone of virtue. But if her "still 
 small voice" is unheeded, and her admonitions repeatedly 
 disregarded, she retires from her post and ceases to keep 
 vigils over the approach of the enemy. She is too sensitive 
 to submit to habitual neglect. Like the mind, whose senti- 
 nel she is, her powers may be cultivated^ improved and en- 
 
10 
 
 ]arg"ed. It is as mucli the business of education to enlighten 
 the conscience and give it strength and capacity^ as it is to 
 shed hght upon tlie understanding and give vigor and power 
 to the mind. With ah his prochvity to the indulgence of his 
 vicious propensities, man has an innate love of virtue. 
 Crime has seldom, if ever, been able to eradicate and destroy 
 in the soul this appreciation of the attractiveness and excel- 
 lence of pure morality. Conscience may become powerless 
 in her own household, but she never ceases to sympathize 
 with virtue in others. Virtue never exhibits so brightly her 
 real excellence as when she comes in contact with vice. 
 Crime cloaks itself in her pure habihments, and under this 
 disguise seeks to cheat the scrutiny and the ends of justice. 
 Passion works under the semblance of virtue, and commits 
 its ravages under the exterior of morality. Avarice gathers 
 her heaps of treasure by extortion and oppression, but she 
 operates under the name of right and justice. Ambition 
 wins its wa}'^ to distinction, but its frauds and deceptt^s are 
 gilded over with loud professions of honesty and patriotism. 
 Such is the tribute paid by vice to virtue — its beauty is uni- 
 versally conceded — its excellence counterfeited — and its in- 
 fluence appropriated by its worst enemies. 
 
 If there is so much attractiveness and power in virtue, that 
 passion, vice and crime find it necessary, for their success, to 
 see7n to be its votaries, its constant and sedulous culture can- 
 not be too earnestly impressed upon the attention of my au- 
 dience. If I nu'ght presume to question the perfection of the 
 prevailing systems of education, I would suggest that an un- 
 due proportion of attention is devoted to the development of 
 the intellectual, to the neglect of the moral faculties. 1 know 
 that the true place to begin the cultivation of the moral sense 
 is at the family altar, and that the best teachers are the father 
 and mother ; but I know, too, that there is a heavy responsi- 
 bility resting on parents for the neglect of this branch of edu- 
 cation. Every child has a right to tlaim of its parents, not 
 merely that the faculties of the mind shall be trained and dis- 
 
 .V 
 
11 
 
 ci])lined, but that he shall be furnished, by precept and ex- 
 ample, with a model of pure morality, which sliall make 
 truth, candor, honesty, and virtue the objects of his love. 
 
 But the neglect of this branch of education, so far from 
 excusing, only increases the responsibility resting upon the 
 man of cultivated mind. He cannot exert in a proper man- 
 ner the influence which properly belongs to him, without an 
 elevated standard of morality. He has the capacity to cor- 
 rect the omissions in his early training ; and by the lights fur- 
 nished by his own conscience, aided and supported by the 
 investigations of moral philosophers, to adopt a code of ethics 
 which will enable him to exert all the power that belongs to 
 a combination of cultivated mind and morals. The philoso- 
 phy of education consists in cultivating, expanding and dis- 
 ciplining the intellectual and moral faculties ; and its great 
 object is to prepare the man for exercising the greatest amount 
 of influence for the advancement of the best interests of so- 
 ciety. This end can only be attained by a combination of 
 the powers which belong to mind and morals. I would not 
 undervalue the able treatises on moral philosophy which are 
 used in the schools ; but I place the Books of the New Tes- 
 tament, regarded simply as a system of moral philosophy, and 
 without reference to their divine character, as standing far 
 above them all. Virtue is nowhere illustrated with so much 
 attractive beauty and simplicity as in the lives and doctrines 
 of Christ and his apostles. Viewing them only as moralists, 
 without divinity or inspiration, they have laid down a system 
 of ethics, so simple, pure, comprehensive and beautiful in its 
 principles, and have illustrated their excellence by so much 
 disinterestedness and benevolence, that it commands our ad- 
 miration and assent at once, as the perfection of morality, 
 and points unerringly to the divinity of its origin. To this 
 code I would invoke every educated man to go for that pure 
 and elevated standard of virtue which must be the hand- 
 maid of his cultivated mind, if he clears his skirts in execut- 
 ling the trust committed to him. He cannot enter safely to 
 
12 
 
 himself or to society upon the active scenes of hfe, without 
 this shield to protect him against the assaults and temptations 
 of passion which will beset his path. Without the segis of 
 virtue^ he is in constant danger of becoming a victim to un- 
 hallowed propensities, and then, by the exercise of the in- 
 herent powers of mind, of becoming the means of victimizing 
 others. It should be ever borne in mind, that man is an 
 imitative being ; and as he finds it easier to imitate the er- 
 rors and vices associated with great minds, than their exhi- 
 bitions of intellectual superiority, he readily adopts the for- 
 mer, and deludes himself, and seeks to delude others with 
 the idea that his very vi5es are evidence of his superiority. 
 Vice loses its native hideousness when seen in friendly asso- 
 ciation with genius, and when gilded by the light reflected 
 from its biightness. 
 
 If I have been successful in fixing your attention upon the 
 character of the power wielded by the educated man, my 
 first object has been accomplished, and I am prepared to pro- 
 ceed to illustrate this power, as it is exhibited in the influ- 
 ence exerted by the lawyer in the different theatres in which 
 his ambition calls him to play his part. I might as readily 
 give similar illustrations in the career of the members of the 
 other learned professions, but I will not venture to make so 
 unreasonable a draft on your patience. 
 
 The spirit of progress, which is characteristic of our times, 
 is worldng out a most desirable reform in the science of law. 
 It was long a standing reproach to the profession, that too 
 many of its members sought rather to become proficients in 
 the subtleties and technicalities of the law, than to excel in 
 developing the fundamental principles of justice and equity, 
 on which the science is based. The course of justice was 
 embarrassed, delayed, and too often defeated, amidst inge- 
 nious and artful efforts to excel in special pleading. This 
 system of legal chicanery provoked the merited sarcasm and 
 rebuke of eminent English writers, and gave plausibility to 
 the opinion expressed by Burke, that the practice of the law 
 
13 
 
 disqualified the mind for those liberal and enlarged views 
 which were essential to eminent statesmanship. It gave rise 
 also to the truthful remark of Bolingbroke, that the law^ in 
 its nature, is the noblest and most beneficial of the sciences, 
 but in its abuse and debasement the most sordid and perni- 
 cious. But the profession is no longer obnoxious to the re- 
 proach of attaching undue importance to the technicalities 
 and subtleties of the science. Lawyers now strive to become 
 eminent as expounders of the law, according to its reason and 
 spirit, seeking to climb up to the vantage ground- — as Lord 
 Bacon calls it — of science, rather than to become experts in 
 the art of perverting and defeating the ends of justice. For 
 this valuable reform we are indebted to the liberal and en- 
 larged views of the bench and the bar, as much as to the 
 wisdom of legislation. The result is, that the law is now 
 what it was always designed to be, the science of Jus- 
 iTiCE. It is the science which defines and guaranties the 
 rights of life, liberty, property and reputation. It interposes 
 its powerful arm between the strong and the weak, the rich 
 and the poorj the exalted and the humble, the learned andl 
 the ignorant, and settles their rights according to one uniform 
 standard. In its wide range it embraces the rights of na- 
 tions, and defines them with accuracy, whilst it points out 
 the means of preserving and protecting them. Its grand ob- 
 ject is even-handed justice to all. How deeply is it to be re- 
 gretted, that a science so noble in its nature should ever have 
 been degraded by any of its votaries, to a mere trial of wits 
 in the use of technicalities and forms ! How humiliating, 
 that Lord Coke himself should have held out an inducement 
 to the law student to fritter away his genius, in becoming an 
 expert in the art of special pleading, by the remark, that in 
 his time the skillful special pleader never failed of a lucra- 
 tive practice. The man who follows the law, with no high- 
 er purpose than to secure a lucrative practice, may become 
 prominent as an ingenious and acute practitioner j but he will 
 never win the reputation of a truly great lawyer » Wherever 
 
14 
 
 the passion for the emoluments of the profession is predomi- 
 nant, " the tricks of the trade " are sure to be cuhivated, as 
 the means of success. He who forms a just conception of 
 the principles of the law, and entertains a proper apprecia- 
 tion of the true dignity and morality of his profession, will 
 look to its emoluments as a secondary consideration. Its 
 honors, whether derived from the triumphant vindication of 
 the principles of justice in the course of his practice, or from 
 promotions to high and responsible judicial or political sta- 
 tions as the rewards of his superior attainments, will be the 
 leading and controlling incentives to his ambition. 
 
 How wide is the field within which the lawyer may legiti- 
 mately indulge his aspirations for fame ! If his ambition 
 craves the homage paid so freely to great intellectual attain- 
 ments, where else can the mind find such a theatre for the 
 development of its powers, and the exhibition of its triumphs, 
 as in its researches after truth and justice, buried deep as 
 they often are under a mass- of error, obscured by the inge- 
 nious devices of sophistry, entangled within the meshes of 
 
 ^Pconflicting precedents, and, not unfrequently, made the vic- 
 tims of fraud and crime ? If he aspires to the fame of an 
 orator, where else within the range of the human sciences 
 will he go to find subjects appealing so powerfully to his 
 heart for its warmest sympathies, and enlisting so ardently all 
 the generous impulses and energies of his nature, as in the 
 practice of the law? Injured innocence, oppressed weak- 
 ness, defrauded credulity, calumniated reputation, endanger- 
 ed libeit)^, threatened life — these constitute but a few of the 
 themes Avhich continually appeal to the eloquence of the 
 lawyer. But if power and place possess attractions for his 
 ambition, the genius of justice invites his aspirations to the 
 bench. There he can hold the scales of right, and signalize 
 his devotion to truth, by rewarding and protecting virtue and 
 
 . honesty. The lawyer is on the high-way to political dis- 
 tinction, and if he covets the fame of the statesman, his 
 knowledge of the law has so far instructed him in the sci- 
 
15 
 
 eiice of government, that the transition is natural and easy. 
 The science of law not only atrords ample scope for eve- 
 ry variety of laudable ambition, but the extent of its learn- 
 ing is such as to give constant employment to {he most ca- 
 pacious and expansive minds. No intelligent practitioner can 
 delude himself with the idea that he has exhausted the foun- 
 tains of legal knowledge, and that his hfe can be one of leis- 
 ure and repose. Such a delusion would prove fatal to all 
 his dreams of professional eminence. The lawyer is em- 
 phatically a working man, but whilst he is continually pro- 
 gressing and enjoying the consciousness of increasing 
 knowledge, he has no hope of ever attaining to perfection in 
 the science. Let not this remark, however, discourage any 
 generous mind which is inclined to the law. If the labor of 
 tlie lawyer is severe and unceasing, it is constantly reward- 
 ed with new and valuable acquisitions of knowledge, which 
 constitute the sources of the purest enjoyment. As he toils, 
 the treasures of the science are opened up to his view and 
 brought within his grasp, whilst the beauty, symmetry and 
 dignity of his profession continually increase in attractiveness. 
 The more he learns of the eternal principles of riglit and 
 justice, the more he desires to learn. The mists which at 
 first obscured his progress, and impressed his mind with " the 
 uncertainty of the law," gradually clear away as he ad- 
 vances. What he once suspected Avas a mere chaos of con- 
 I fused and conflicting opinions and inconsistent dicta, he now 
 1 finds to he a system of symmetrical principles, all harmoniz- 
 1 ing with each other, and each one traceable to the great 
 1 fountains of the science — right and justice. It is not until 
 1 he begins clearly to comprehend the reason and spirit of le- 
 [gal principles, that the lawyer labors with real intellectual 
 [pleasure. From that time his progress is onward and easy, 
 I from one acquisition to another, enjoying triumph after tri- 
 lumph, with a mind elastic with delight, and eager for new 
 (researches. But at the close of a long life he will never 
 Ihave to regret that there are no more acquisitions to be made. 
 
16 
 
 Whatever direction his ambition takes, the lawyer tnust 
 owe his success to tlie influence which he exerts upon mind. 
 He must not onJy convince the judgment by the force of lo- 
 gic, but he must control the will by the powers of persuasion. 
 There is a constant antagonism kept up in our moral govern- 
 ment between the understanding and the will — the result of 
 the co.ptivity of the Will to the passions and affections. We 
 see the right, and approve it — condemn the wrong, and yet 
 pursue it. The lawyer has but half accomplished his work 
 when he enlightens and satisfies the understanding — it is to 
 be completed, by breaking the chains which bind the will to 
 the car of the passions ; he must bring about harmony and 
 concert between the judgment and the will ; when he has 
 effected this^, his triumph is complete. It is apparent that the 
 successful lawyer must be deeply learned in the science of 
 human nature. When the understanding is resisted by the 
 will, he must be able to comprehend the character of the in- 
 fluence which stands in the way of their harmonious action. 
 This resistance sometimes originates in prejudice or partiality; 
 at others^ in mere passion ; and at others^ in moral obliquity 
 or de{)ravity. The remedy must be suited to the disease. 
 To discover the disease and apply the proper remedy, is often 
 the most difllicultj delicate and responsible duty that devolves 
 on the lawyer; A blunder may involve consequences fatal 
 to the ends of justice, may overwhelm innocence with ruin, 
 or even put life itself in jeopardy* To be able to exert a salu- 
 tary influence on others, the lawyer must know himself. 
 He carries in his own bosom a mirror in which he may see 
 reflected all the passions) affections, sympathies and feelings 
 which furnish motives and suggestions appealing to the will 
 against the decisions of the understanding; He cannot hope 
 for c.omplete success unless his own mental and moral per- 
 ceptions are clear, distinct and accurate; It is not enough 
 to be able to theorize fluently and plausibly and even cor- 
 rectly on the beauty and excellence of virtue ; but to exert 
 his full influence) he must not only speak from his heart, 
 v; '^ 
 
17 
 
 but bis babitual practice sboiild constitute " proof as strong 
 as Holy Writ " tbat bis judgment, bis affections, and bis 
 sympatbies are enbsted in bebalf of rigbt and justice. His 
 own brigbt example sbould be a living commentary on the 
 beauty and loveliness of virtue. To such a lawyer the 
 judge on the bench, the juryman in the box, and the people 
 in their primary assemblies open their hearts and listen with 
 confiding attention. When such an one has gained the as- 
 sent of the understanding, and seeks the sanction of the will;, 
 prejudice, passion and crime shrink from the contest, whilst 
 conscience throws off her shackles and responds to the gentle 
 persuasions of his eloquence, and right and justice become 
 triumphant. 
 
 It is essential to the peace and happiness of society, that 
 its members should be impressed with an abiding confidence 
 that the law affords a sure and certain protection to their 
 rights, against violation or invasion. It is this sentiment 
 which gives energy to enterprise, vigor and cheerfulness to 
 industry, and life and elasticity to patriotism. The legal 
 profession is mainly responsible for the maintenance and per- 
 petuation of*this sentiment. It is difficult to estimate the ex- 
 tent of this influence exerted by the lawyer and judge on the 
 popular mind. It is indicated, however, in the confidence 
 with which the citizen who considers himself aggrieved ap- 
 peals to the judicial tribunals of his country, and in the 
 cheerfulness with which he submits to their adjudications. 
 The sacred honor of every lawyer who comprehends and ap- 
 preciates the true dignity and responsibility of his profession, 
 is freely pledged for the preservation of this sentiment. 
 
 Every community is under the government of two distinct 
 
 codes of laws — the one written and the other unwritten — the 
 
 1 one based on legislation and the other resting on public sen- 
 
 itiment. The unwritten laws prescribe the rules of social 
 
 : government and regulate the standard of morality. Much of 
 
 1 the happiness of every society depends upon the tone of moral 
 
 sentiment which pervades it. All educated men exert an in- 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 fluence on the popular mind ; but the lawyer is brought so im- 
 mediately and so constantly into contact with the masses, that 
 his influence is peculiarly strong. He operates upon public 
 sentiment, not only by the inherent power of superior over in- 
 ferior mind, and by the opinions which he utters in the course 
 of his profession, but his example carries with it an unseen and 
 potent weight. If he is loose and irregular in his morality — if 
 he indulges in giving utterance to sentiments of infidelity or im- 
 piety — if he makes virtue the object of his ridicule, and scoffs 
 at morality as pharisaical hypocrisy — he diffuses around him 
 an influence which poisons public sentiment and gives coun- 
 tenance and encouragement to vice and crime. On the other 
 hand, if his legal discussions are pervaded and characterized 
 by sentiments of pure morality, and his private intercourse 
 and deportment reflect a similar devotion to truth, candor 
 and virtue, he contributes powerfully to elevate the tone of 
 the popular mind, to purify the standard of popular morals, 
 and to promote the quiet, good order and happiness of society. 
 These are the legitimate influences of a combination of en- 
 lightened mind and sound morality. How responsible the 
 trust which the lawyer undertakes to execute ! He as- 
 sumes to be the protector of the rights which give value to 
 freedom and happiness to life — to be the guardian of Inno- 
 cence and the advocate of Justice ! If his practice conforms 
 to his profession, he becomes the herald of Virtue and the 
 missionary of Morality. His pathway in life is illuminated 
 by the light which radiates from his own bright intellect, 
 whilst the emanations from his example are as a pillar of fire 
 for the guidance of the steps of others. 
 
 The influence of the lawyer rises in dignity and grows in 
 weight and extent, when he is promoted from the bar to the 
 bench. In view of its honors, he has then reached his top- 
 most round on the ladder of professional elevation. To the 
 man who is ambitious of legal distinction, the bench is the 
 theatre in which his professional fame may be consummated 
 and perpetuated. The judge undertakes to illustrate the ex- 
 
19 
 
 cellence of the science of law by practical application of its 
 principles to tlie attainment of justice. One of the main 
 pillars of government rests upon him, and to sustain the bur- 
 den, he must have Atlantean shoulders. The rights of life, 
 liberty, reputation and property are committed to his guar- 
 dianship, and his adjudications are fnial. To him is entrust- 
 ed the exposition and preservation of the fundamental law — 
 the constitution, to which all legislation must conform. 
 Whilst the law invests him with powers, in many respects 
 supreme, he is, to a great extent, exempt from responsibility 
 for their abuse. In the exercise of his official authority, the 
 judge is necessarily entrusted with a larger discretion. No 
 greater calamity could be visited on any community than to 
 have the administration of the law committed to a weak, 
 wicked, tyrannical or corrupt judge. Considering the ex- 
 tent of hi^ powers, his exemption f/om responsibility, and the 
 proneness of power to abuse, it is remarkable that history re- 
 cords so few instances of judicial dereliction and depravity. 
 It abounds in illustrious v_xamples of ability, purity and 
 learning on the benches of all civilized nations ; but it is sel- 
 dom that the profession has been disgraced by the tyranny 
 or corruption of its presiding officers. This fact, constituting 
 in itself the highest eulogy on the legal profession, may be 
 mainly attributed to the influence exerted by the bar in the 
 promotions to die bench, and in the restraint imposed upon 
 judicial conduct through the power of public sentiment. 
 There was profound wisdom in tbe remark of one of the fa- 
 thers of the Republic, Franklin I believe, that the judges 
 ought to be elected by the lawyers. Its wisdom is illustrated 
 in the well known fact that wherever the appointing power is 
 lodged, its exercise is materially controlled by the legal pro- 
 fession. But public sentiment furnishes a far more efficient 
 guaranty against judicial derelictiors, than strikes the view at 
 first blush. In regard to the official demeanor of the judge, 
 public sentiment derives its first and most effective impulse 
 from the bar. As a class, lawyers are sensitively jealous as 
 
20 
 
 to the maintenance of the purity of the judicial ermine, and 
 vigilant in detecting the first blot that stains its integrity. 
 Their OAvn professional reputation is identified with the oflft- 
 cial bearing of the judge, and hence they prompdy claim the 
 right, and boldly exercise it, of criticising his errors, rebuk- 
 ing his cielinquences, and denouncing his corruptions. The 
 popular mind responds approvingly to the impulse thus giv- 
 en by the bar, and public sentiment pronounces a judgment 
 which judicial power cannot resist. 
 
 Whilst it is tiie first and most important duty of the judge 
 to administer the law according to right and justice in all in- 
 dividual controversies, there are incidental influences attach- 
 ed to his station of too much consequence to be overlooked. 
 His official acts are clothed with the sanction of authority, 
 and on that accovmt, as well as from their consonance to jus- 
 tice, they command respect and approval. But the habitual 
 deference paid to the official opinions of the judge, readily 
 generates in the popular mind the conviction that his unof- 
 ficial sentiments are enitled to a similar respect. Regarded 
 as the just judge is, as a model of intelligence, uprightness 
 and purity in his official relations, it is not unnatural to look 
 upon these attributes as constituting part and parcel of his 
 personal character. Indeed, there is something revolting in 
 the idea, that when on the bench the judge should make 
 equity, right, and justice his polar star ; and yet when he 
 descends from that elevation, that he should disregard the 
 moral obligations, give loose reins to his vicious propensities, 
 or utterance to sentiments at war with virtue. The popular 
 mind is astute in detecting such inconsistency, and is slow to 
 concede that learning alone is sufficient to insure purity in 
 the administration of justice. Before the judge can exert 
 that semi-oflicial influence on public sentiment, which legiti- 
 mately attaches to his station, his private as well as his judi- 
 cial deportment must meet the sanction of the popular judg- 
 ment, and command its cheerful confidence. The power of 
 mind and morals combined, is nowhere displayed more con-^ 
 
21 
 
 spicuously and beautifully than in the influence exerted by 
 such a judge on public sentiment. 
 
 What we denominate public sentiment, is the judgment 
 formed by the popular mind on any given question of morals, 
 politics, or religion. In theory, each member of the com- 
 numity investigates, analyses and reasons on the cpiestion for 
 himself ; but our observations teach us that the investiga- 
 tion and reasoning on which the popular judgment is formed, 
 is the work of a comparatively few minds. The conclusions 
 of the few are either ratified or rejected by the minds of the 
 masses^ and the prevailing judgment becomes public senti- 
 ment. 
 
 Whatever may be the truth of history in other governments, 
 it is established by every page of our own, that public sen- 
 timent is our great social, political and moral regulator. 
 Statutes and constitutions bow to its dictation and yield to its 
 ])ower. It is our High Court of last resort ; and by its adju- 
 dications our customs, our laws, and our constitutions stand 
 or fall. It prescribes the rules of social government, and 
 modifies and reverses them at pleasure. It dictates the 
 course of legislative bodies, gives force and effect to their de- 
 liberations and actions, or paralyses and nullifies them at will. 
 It overthrows monarchies and drives tyrants into exile, or 
 sweeps away republics and erects upon their ruins unmiti- 
 gated despotisms. In its decisions it has no regard for uni- 
 formity or consistency of action — its decrees of to-day are un- 
 hesitatingly reversed by those of to-morrow — but until revers- 
 ed by its own will and judgment, they stand as the supreme 
 law. When goaded on by ignorant passion, or impelled by 
 blind fanaticism, its march over existing institutions is mark- 
 ed with the terrific violence of the tornado ; but when influ- 
 enced by enlightened reason, and controlled by sound morali- 
 ty, its course is characterized by the gentleness and noiseless- 
 ness of the evening zephyr. This is the chief instrumen- 
 tality through which mind displays its power over mind in 
 politics and morals^ and the means through which the law- 
 
22 
 
 yer exerts his greatest influence, whether in ihe strict hne of 
 his profession, or in judicial positions, or as a statesman. 
 
 The most iUustrious examples of the power of mind are 
 to be found in the history of the legal profession, in connec- 
 tion with affairs of government. Ambition delights in the 
 law as a favorite stepping-stone to political distinction. In 
 every civilized nation it has furnished the ablest champions 
 of liberty, and the most eloquent opponents of tyranny and 
 oppression. The most briUiant triumphs acliieved by Cicero 
 were gained in defence of the liberties of Rome. By his 
 disinterested patriotism he won the hearts of the people, and 
 by the power of his eloquence he was able for a time to 
 maintain a successful contest with military ambition. It has 
 been eloquently said, by one of our most distinguished 
 statesmen, that '^' the Roman lawyers or civilians of the great- 
 est celebrity, and whose judicial opinions were held in the 
 highest esteem, even under the despotic sway of the empire, 
 were not less distinguislied by the integrity of their private 
 character than by their talents and ability. Justice was so 
 much their idol ; so fixed and resolute was their sense of 
 right, that neither the temptations of avarice, nor the splendor 
 of official station, nor the threatening brow of a tyrant could 
 corrupt or intimidate them.'' In modem times, England 
 has furnished a host of eminent lawyers and judges, not less 
 illustrious for their private virtues than for their learning and 
 eloquence. They have signalized their own names, and 
 shed lustre upon their country 's fame by their unyielding op- 
 position to arbitrary power and despotism — by their fearless de- 
 nunciations of the tyranny of their own rulers, and their un- 
 wavering devotion to law, order and right, amidst all the 
 storms of faction, the threatenings of tyrannical power, and 
 the clamor of wicked agitators and demagogues. The lib- 
 erties of Great Britain may be correctly said to rest upon the 
 English bar. 
 
 The fame of our own countiy derives a large share of its 
 splendor from the exalted virtues, learning and patriotism, 
 
which have chaiaclerized the career of distinguished mem- 
 bers of the legal profession. In the able discussions as to the 
 right of self-government which characterized our colonial 
 history, the lawyer and the judge were amongst the master 
 spirits. They helped by their genius and their eloquence to 
 kindle the fires of the Revolution ; and in all its labors, sacri- 
 fices, dangers and honors they were prominent sharers. 
 When independence was secured, they were the master- 
 workmen in laying the foundation of that noble superstruct- 
 ure of republicanism, which, resting on the solid basis of our 
 federal constitution, secures vigor, strength, and I fondly 
 hope, perpetuity to our federal Union. To the legal profes- 
 sion is assigned the honor and the responsibility bf filling ex- 
 clusively one of the departments (and not the least important) 
 of the government. All the Presidents, except two, who have 
 occupied the Executive Department have been lawyers, 
 whilst a large majority of the Cabinet ofiicers and foreign 
 ministers, and a large portion of the Senators and Represen- 
 tatives who have held seats in Congress have belonged to the 
 same profession. These facts speak volumes in favor of the 
 legal profession, and furnish some idea of its influence in our 
 government. 
 
 In attempting to call up to your minds the prominent in- 
 fluence exerted by the legal profession upon the destinies of 
 our government, I am actuated by no wish to indulge in un- 
 profitable eulogy. I would have you to study the Hves and 
 characters of the eminent lawyers, jurists and statesmen who 
 have identified their names with the glory of our countiy. 
 If it were possible to strike from history all traces of their in- 
 fluence in the affairs of government, our national escutcheon 
 would emit but a dim pale light, in comparison with its pre- 
 sent dazzling brightness. But what is it in the character of 
 our distinguished public men that constitutes their crowning 
 glory, and hallows their names and their influence ? It is 
 not simply that they were men of gigantic intellectual pow- 
 ers, but it is, that associated with these powers was a deep 
 
24 
 
 devotion to virtue, which chastened their ambition and gave 
 to their actions all the moral force which belongs to genuine 
 patriotism. When Mr. Webster Jiad exhausted the powers 
 of his great mind in portraying the character of Jeremiah 
 Mason, he gave the finishing touch to the picture when he 
 said : 
 
 " But political eminence and professional fame fade away and die 
 with all things earthly. Nothing of character is really permanent but 
 virtue and personal worth. Mr. Mason's religious sentiments and 
 feelings were the crowning glories of his character." 
 
 Death achieves no victory over such a character — it only 
 embalms his name, consecrates his fame, and perpetuates his 
 influence. Our national annals abound in illustrious mem- 
 bers of the bar, 
 
 " Who shed great thoughts 
 As easily as an oak looseneth its golden leaves, 
 In a kindly largess to the soil it grew on — 
 Whose rich dark ivy thoughts, sunned over with love, 
 Flourish around the deathless stems of their names — 
 Whose names are ever on the world's broad tongue. 
 Like sound upon the falling of a force — • 
 Whose words, if winged, are with angel's wings — 
 Who play upon the heart as upon a harp — 
 And make our eyes bright as we speak of them." 
 
 Without undertaking to make a full enumeration, I would 
 most earnestly invite you to study the lives and characters of 
 such lawyers as Mason, Jay, Pinckney, Parsons, Wirt, Chaun- 
 cey, Marshall, Story, Kent and Gaston, and their illustrious 
 compeers, living and dead, in professional renown. Their 
 lives abound in instructive lessons of wisdom. An earnest 
 love of virtue and a constant devotion to Christian morality 
 will be found to pervade their characters, and to shed over 
 them their richest charm. They won distinction by their su- 
 perior intellectual achievements, but they won their claim to 
 true greatness by their devotion to virtue. It is this that 
 
 / 
 
 M 
 
25 
 
 shines out as the richest jewel in the coronet of tiieir fiinie. 
 It is this that gives immortahty to their influence as well as 
 to their names. 
 
 If any of my young friends, whose minds are inclined to 
 the law as a calling, are impressed with doubts as to the mo- 
 rality of the profession, I earnestly pray all such to study 
 carefully the career of the distinguished men to whom I 
 have alluded ; and if their minds are not thoroughly cleared 
 of all doubt, in the name of the profession I implore them 
 never to enlist under the legal banner. 
 
 If I have been successful in impressing you with a sense 
 of the power which the la\vyer wields in the several theatres 
 of his ambition, you will readily perceive the consequent 
 responsibility which attaches to the exercise of so perilous a 
 trust. 
 
 To meet that responsibility and to fulfil its obligations, all 
 history, experience, observation and reason, combine to dem- 
 onstrate that with the cultivated, enlarged and disciplined 
 mind, there must be associated a pure and elevated code of 
 morality — a code based on the truth of Christianity, and con- 
 forming with its purity. 
 
 The history of the world furnishes nothing which bears 
 comparison with the past career of our government in all the 
 elements of greatness and prosperity. Its contemplation fills 
 the patriotic bosom with emotions of national pride, whilst it 
 awakens sentiments of profound gratitude to the ovi&iruling 
 Providence who has watched our progress as a people with 
 paternal care. But I am pained to acknowledge that there 
 are " signs in the times " which may well excite fearful ap- 
 prehensions as to the future. I have been greatly at fault in 
 my obseiTations, if there is not, now, an alarming tendency 
 in the public mind to yield to stiange heresies and delusions 
 which strike at the very foundation of true morality. Im- 
 posture, with brazen face, stalks boldly through the land, and 
 crowds of enthusiastic votaries shout around its standard. 
 Under constant professions of reverence and veneration for 
 
26 
 
 the Christian system, its very corner-stone is beintj undermin- 
 ed by tlie working of a disguised materiahsm. The assauhi! 
 of infidelity are not now made openly and boldly, as in the 
 days of French atiieism, but it may be well doubted whether 
 they are less effective because covert and indirect. The 
 amazing developments in the career of scientific research, 
 which are constantly startling the public mind, seem to have 
 unloosed it from its moorings, to have destroyed all limit to 
 its credulity, and to have impressed it with the conviction 
 that nothing is so absurd as not to conunand credence. This 
 entire brood of delusions, from Mormonism to spiritualism, 
 are converging in their tendency to one common result — the 
 subversion of the authority of the Bible, and the erection ia 
 its place of a system of natural religion. Against the suc- 
 cessful spread of such fatal heresies, we have no other pro- 
 tection tiian in the efficiency of an unyielding adherence to 
 the standard of morals adopted by die Christian system. The 
 popular judgment and the popular heart must be fastened to 
 this standard with hooks of steel ; and this is the legitimate 
 work of the power and influence of the lawj^er, jurist and 
 statesman, in the formation and control of public sentiment. 
 They cannot witness the ditfusion of the spirit of insidious 
 infidelity without feeling the heavy responsibility which restd 
 upon them to resist its further progress. 1 am aware that it 
 would be as idle to address reason and arguments to the ma- 
 niac, as to most of the followers of diese impostors. But 
 their influence may be circumscribed and weakened by con- 
 centrating upon their heresies and delusions the earnest and 
 effective condemnation of the wise and good, who can be 
 made to comprehend and estimate their fatal tendency. So 
 strong has been the conviction on the popular mind Uiat the 
 maintenance of the Christian system is essential to the con- 
 tinued preservation of our liberties, that it need but be shown 
 clearly and forcibly that this great citadel of our freedom is 
 assailed, to awaken a spirit of patriotic enthusiasm w^hich will 
 communicate to public sentiment irresistible efficacy. The 
 
27 
 
 lawyer, in each of the theatres of his power and his glory, 
 as lawyer, jurist and statesman, must become the champion 
 of true religion — of pure morality — leased on the rock of 
 Christianity. His eloquent voice, sustained by his equally 
 eloquent example, nuist arouse tlie popular mind from its 
 torpor, enlist all its energies on the side of Christian patriot- 
 ism, and thus erect around our happy institutions a wall of 
 defence which will defy the assaults of fanaticism and infi- 
 delity in all their phases. 
 
 I am aware that the unparalleled success which has mark- 
 ed our career in self-government, has generated a feeling of 
 confidence in the durability of our institutions which inclines 
 us to listen with some degree of indifference to the cry of 
 danger. Our experiment has proved eminently successful, 
 but too much confidence may prove disastrous. It should 
 never be forgotten that " eternal vigilance is the price of free- 
 dom." The proud ship may ride triumphantly through 
 storm after storm, her solid bulwarks defying the utmost fu- 
 ry of the angry billows ; and yet when her happy crew are 
 gloiying in their safety and in the strength of their gallant 
 vessel, they may be carried to the bottom by the silent but 
 persevering work of the smallest insect. The confidence of 
 our people in tlie strength and durability of oiu' government 
 was never greater than at this moment. The noble vessel of 
 state has but recently encountered successfully the most ter- 
 rific storm that has yet crossed her path, and we are indulg- 
 ing in the happy repose generated by a sense of danger pass- 
 ed. The character and extent of that danger can never be 
 forgotten. It exhibited with alarmmg clearness the points of 
 weakness in our government. The spectacle exhibited dur- 
 ing the late perilous crisis paled the cheeks of our bravest pa- 
 triots, and caused the deep gloom of despair to hover for a 
 time over the national heart. Hope herself, with a deadly 
 heart-sickness, seemed almost ready to bid farewell to free- 
 dom as she gazed upon the sectional strife, the fraternal dis- 
 cord, the mad fanaticism, and the infuriated crimination and 
 
28 
 
 recrimination which threatened us with the horrors of dis- 
 union. 
 
 But what a change came over the patriot's heart when the 
 violence of the tempest abated, when the thick gloom clear- 
 ed away, and the noble old ship of state was seen careering 
 onward with her ancient firmness and steadiness, with her 
 rigging all sound, and our national banner, in its original 
 brightness, floating gracefully in the breeze, with our glori- 
 ous motto uneffaced, and every star and stripe shining in its 
 place ! A thrill of joy ran like electricity through the land. 
 It was then that the national heart, in the fullness of its grati- 
 tude and the ecstacy of its delight exclaimed — God be prais- 
 ed ! our national Union is safe ! 
 
 But is the Union safe? Is the danger all over? Is there 
 nothing delusive in the repose and happiness which pervade 
 the land? Are we sure that the mighty billows \vhich dash- 
 ed with so much fi-erce fury against the strong oaken sides of 
 the noble vessel, have made no impression ? Are we entirely 
 certain that the little insects are not busily and successfully 
 undemiining her strength? Would we feel no misgivings to 
 see her subjected to another such trial ? Without touching 
 here the forbidden tree of mere politics, may I not remind 
 you that above the loudest thunder-claps that startled us 
 amidst the storm, we heard the voices of Clay, of Webster 
 and of Cass, pleading as men seldom ever plead before — for 
 harmony — for compromise — for the Union. But we shall 
 hear the voices of Clay and Webster no more, except as they 
 speak from their tombs. They were spared only long enough 
 to make their last their brightest days. Cass lingers behind 
 them at three score and ten, but he too must soon follow his 
 illustrious compeers in renown. When the danger comes 
 again, who have we like this illustrious trio, to '^ride upon 
 the whirlwind and direct the storm?" We cannot specify the 
 individual names that will figure when the trial comes on ; 
 but we can confidendy predict that in its dangers, its labors, 
 its disasters or its glories, the lawyer will have his full share. 
 
29 
 
 Public sentiment has displayed its power in rebuking the 
 unholy coalition between fanaticism and political ambition, 
 but the elements of sectional discord and jealousy still exist. 
 How long it will be before the fires of agitation shall be again 
 kindled into a flame, will depend upon the success of fanati- 
 cism in forming new combinations. Whilst the arch-enemy 
 of our institutions is availing himself of the prevailing repose 
 in the public mind to gain additional strength, and beat up 
 for new recruits for its next attack, it becomes the friends of 
 the Union to be vigilant and active in preparing for the en- 
 counter. It is much to be feared that the standard of politi- 
 cal morality, even amongst many eminent statesmen, is too 
 low. If men in official stations can barter their influence for 
 pecuniary considerations with impunity, it is a strong indica- 
 tion that there is a tendency to political depravity in the times. 
 The same tendency may be inferred from the wide spread 
 mania for office, for the sake of its emoluments, which min- 
 gles itself with our political contests. It may be doubted 
 whether the spirit of frequent constitutional reform which 
 pervades some of the States, does not indicate a state of rest- 
 lessness in the pidalic mind which is inconsistent with that 
 respect for the fundamental law which is essential to the per- 
 manency of our institutions. It is neither to be expected nor 
 desired, that in this age of mental illumination and progress 
 the science of government should remain stationary j but it is 
 essential that its onward march should be characterized by a 
 spirit of moderation and conservatism — that stability as well 
 as progress should become our watchwords. 
 
 But without dwelling upon these evidences of social and 
 political demoralization, I cannot refrain from alluding to 
 another feature in the times, which strikes my mind as por- 
 tentous of evil. I refer to the disposition manifested by some 
 prominent men in different sections of the country, to enter 
 deliberately into a calculation of the value of the Union, 
 with an eye to its ultimate dissolution. Until recendy, the 
 announcement of such a proposition as susceptible of debate, 
 
30 
 
 would have startled the public mind. The fact that it does 
 not now excite astonishment or provoke indignation, consti- 
 tutes it a fearful omen. Heretofore the chief business of 
 f^tatesmen has been to de\ase the means for the greatest 
 amount of prosperity to be derived from systems and meas- 
 ures of internal policy ; but their great business now is, to 
 preseiTe our institutions from decay or overthrow, to reconcile 
 or harmonize the dissensions and conflicting interests of the 
 different sections, and to restore and preserve fraternal rela- 
 tions amongst the members of the confederacy. The wise 
 counsel of the father of his country on these questions 
 seems to me to be an appropriate conclusion to my remarks : 
 
 " The unity of government wliich constitutes you one people, is al- 
 ,so now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the edi- 
 fice of your real independence ; the support of your tranquility at 
 home ; your peace abroad ; of your safety ; of your prosperity ; of 
 that very liberty which j-ou so highly prize. But, as it is easy to fore- 
 sec, that from different causes, and from different quarters, much pains 
 will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the 
 conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress 
 against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be 
 most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) 
 directed ; it is of infinite moment, that you should proper!}^ estimate 
 the immense value of your national Union to j'our collective and indi- 
 vidual happiness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual and 
 immovable attachment to it; accustoming j^ourselves to think and 
 speak of it as the palladium of j^our political safety and prosperity ; 
 watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing 
 whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be 
 abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of eve- 
 ry attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to 
 enfeeble the sacred ties v.'hich now link together the various parts." 
 
 My young friends, I have now redeemed my promise— 
 a promise which I made with much hesitancy, and which I 
 fear I have fulfilled but little to your satisfaction. Your in- 
 vitation was received with feelings of gratification and plea- 
 sure which none can fully realize but those who have been 
 
31 
 
 separated for more tlian a quarter of a century from the hap- 
 py scenes and companions of their youth, and who have 
 been unexpectedly caUed to revisit those scenes and reunite 
 with a portion of those companions. Such was my situa- 
 tion. But I hesitated to accept because I was sincerely dis- 
 trustful of my ability to fill a station^ even with respectability, 
 which had been filled by others with so nmch distinction. 
 My judgment, however, surrendered to my feelings, and I 
 determined to throw myself upon your generous indulgence. 
 And now, if in the feeble plea in behalf of virtue which I 
 have made, I have succeeded in exciting a purpose in the 
 bosom of any one of you to dedicate his life, with increased 
 ardor, to her noble cause, I have been fully compensated, 
 and the pleasure of my visit — arising from the renewal of old 
 associations and friendships and the revival of happy recollec- 
 tions — is all clear gain. For the honor )^ou have conferred 
 on me, I tender you my profoundest gratitude ; and on your 
 behalf, I present to an overruling Providence my sincere 
 prayer that your course through life may be marked by the 
 richest blessings of Heaven.