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CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FROM 
 
 The History repj^rtment 
 
Cornell University Library 
 Z881 .A31 
 Address, delivered .bx,,aMnpent,^„^ * 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 539 776 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029539776 
 
h 
 
 SXBIVEREB BY AVtO^tamt, 
 
 m THE EPISCOPAL CHURCHi 
 
 -AT THE OPENING OF THE 
 
 AWRENTICES' LIBRARY, 
 
 IN THE CITY OF ALBANY, 
 Jancary 1, 1821. 
 
 BY SOLOMON SOUTHWK:^. 
 
 ALSAj\fi 
 FR^TrtD Bt JOHN O. CC^. 
 
SOLOMON SOUTHWICK, Esfl, 
 
 SlH, !>i 
 
 Thk committee of tbci Albany A ppMDtieeg' Library av^t tfaemsdves of itfei 
 opportunity afforded by their first mefetillig since the opening of tb|(4it»ai7, lo' 
 unite in a tender of thanks to yoa, for the Very appropriate^ inteiaeting, amd ale-' 
 quent address delivered by you 0(1 that occasion. 
 
 In the pleasure which HS&f experienced, 'they were gratified to find that allf 
 their fellow citizens, inbludiog thosennost distingiiiihed by station,' learning, tnid 
 virtue, most fiilly participated. If the satisfaction to be derived frem suoeessfiil 
 efforts in the cause of public morals and mental impr)>VeraeiM,>l8 a suffiKii^ ie.- 
 ward for the virtuous and patriotic, yon will indeed be richly compensated. 
 
 The committee are confident that they are not less governed by regard to the 
 expectations of the publiB and the interests of the insiStution wHich tlley 'bavti 
 laboured with you to establish, than by their own fedii^'i when they earnestly 
 request a copy of your address for publication. .^ . i 
 
 i^bany, Jan. 2,1821, 
 
 CHARLES R. VFEBSTER, 
 EBENEZER BALDWIN, 
 ASA H. CENTER, 
 JOHN MEADS, 
 C. A. TEN EYCK, 
 WM. MAYELL, 
 DANIEL CARMICHAEL, 
 HATHOBN M'CULLOCH, 
 J. FRY, 
 
 GIDEON HAWLEY, 
 N. H. CARTER, 
 O. R. V. BENTHUYSEN, 
 B. KNOWER, 
 G. Y. LANSING, 
 ISAAC Q. LEAKE, 
 SPENCER STAFFORD, 
 PHILIP HOOKER. 
 JOHN COOK, Sec'ry. and Librarian. 
 
 Albanv, Jan. 2, 1821. 
 Gestlemes, J 
 
 Cast upon the world in early life, with no compass to guide, no friend- 
 ly hand to direct my way ; and the best portion of my youth spent in the most la- 
 borious pursuits by land and by sea, I have often been made to feel deeply the want 
 of intelligencer and the necessity of application to acquire it. When called up< 
 on, therefore, to address^uch a youthful band as I had before me on the new 
 year's day, at the opeain'^of the>,Apprentices' Library, I should have been lost to 
 every benevolent feeling, and to every liberal sentiment, if I had not exerted my- 
 self to guard them against idleness, viceand folly, to excite their love of learning 
 and their devotion to the principles of virtue and piety. That my exertions have 
 been so successful as to call foiih your approbation in tarms so liberal and poliw. 
 
M those contained in yoar letter of this day, is a source of pleasure and sUtisfaC' 
 (ion which iirill remain with me through life : And if as an additional source of gra- 
 tification, my Address be instrumental insaving from the snares of destruction, 
 or redeeming from a career of ruin, even one precious youth— one genius like 
 Franki/Ih— then I shall not have lived in vain, jtpdcan never be grateful enough 
 to God that he spared me for the exercises of that day. 
 
 Agreeably to your request, I do not hesitate ta furnish a copy of my address 
 !E>r publication. 
 I am, gentlemen, with sentiments of the highest respect, esteem and gratitude^ 
 „ ' , Your Tery obedient servant, 
 
 S. SOUTHWICE, 
 Uhnrles R, Webster and Ebenezer Baldwin, Esqrs, 
 Apd the gentleiqen associated with .them in, 
 the Committee of the Albany Apprentices' 
 
ADDRESS, 
 
 My Young Friends, 
 
 The Goiwiuttee for instituting ah Apprea- 
 tices' Library in Albany, having determined that 
 one of their body should address you on this ''H^' 
 casion, and having assigned to me the perform- 
 axi&b of that task, I need not apologize for any 
 defect that may appear in the inatter or manner 
 of what. I shall advance in the hope of promotiwg 
 your temporal and eternal welfare : For you will 
 readily perceive, that I could not shrink from the 
 exercise of this duty, at so respectable a call ; 
 and consequently that I am not bound to perform 
 it in the best way in which it might be performed, 
 but only in as perfect a manner as my humble ca- 
 pacity and limited experience will permit. I must, 
 however, indulge the pleasing hope, that what I 
 shall say may not prove altogether in vain ; That 
 if I do not succeed in this attempt to enlighten 
 your understandings, I shall at least leave upon 
 your hearts, a favourable impression of my ardent 
 desire to contribute to your happiness, in pointing 
 out to you some of the means by which you may 
 extend the circle of your rational enjoyments; 
 prepare the way* for your future settlement and 
 prosperity in business ; and procure, through eve- 
 ry stage of your temporal existence, that ]^eace 
 of mind which flows from conjscions rectitude; 
 
which will sustain you in the trials of life ; which 
 will soothe the pangs ^f^ disease, and calm the 
 tumults of the soul in th6 liour of death, by un- 
 folding beyond the grave the bright prospect of 
 another and a better worH. 
 
 I trust in God, that this day,,ai^£l t^ d^ys which 
 have pitecede*d it in devotion tp ,the sjime purpose 
 in ;other' parts , of the United Statps, will f:)]^ a 
 new 6^pQh>in.o^r history ^ will'lojig be remerjaber-? 
 ed as the harbiijigers" of a great gocifk|< improyeT 
 inent;y an itaprpvement that shall not onjy be felt 
 in its, Jbenign effects upon tlas country ^ to the lafcegj 
 ages : but shall sjjrea'd from clime to' i:ii|j|ej andt 
 diffuse the blessii^gs pf instruction among lie chil- 
 di'en of indus^fy, wherever ther progress qf civi- 
 lisation shall have established the empire of the 
 firts. ■ ■., 
 
 . If we cast our eyes backward thrpugh a.jfew ^^ 
 »?olvirtg moons only,' we shall find, my ypurig,&iend^4 
 that to you, and to such as you, there W£ffi scarcely 
 any 6ther feivenueto liearning open, of which, you 
 fould re^idily avail yourselves, but that which dis^ 
 clpsfed' the :limited knowledge of your respeptivp 
 mechanical professions. You w^res dooined to 
 walk in one dull round of lahour; ^nd while Jjous 
 bodies were exhausting by toil, your pr€^ci<|us an^ 
 immoi'tal niinds were left to rust in ignoraiicei if 
 Bot to waste in dissipation. A fefw ipdindqal ex^ 
 csptions might exist ; but such was. the generjil, the 
 ungenial aspect of your condition. 
 . But behold! in the .East, a choice spirit, a mis-- 
 sionary of light, a messenger of .benevpJence^ ap- 
 
f 
 
 pe^r^. He cOttiWiserates the fat€ of youth like 
 you. On the" wings of charity and of IBve,' he flies 
 from bouse to house. In moving- accents, he un- 
 folds his ipuypd^e, and inspires each d^mestit ati- 
 ditory with the, same sacf^d flame of philanthiropy 
 that glows in his own bosom. The sons and daugh- 
 ters of hamanity are fired with emulation in the 
 glorious strife to do good. They ponir forth con- 
 tributions from their cabinets of learning and lite- 
 rature ; and suddenly a temple arises, a fountain 
 bf intelligence is opened, where the virtuous ap- 
 jprentice may resort at pleasure, and catch from 
 the page of the philosopher and the jptfet, the light- 
 of science and the love of virtue. . , , 
 
 But this apostle of philanthropy, this godlike 
 benefector of youthful mechanics, did notlingei' 
 at tfce, fi-rst stef| of his benevolent career. Like 
 the alpostles of Christianity, wherever he heard the 
 toice of the benighted, crying, " Come over and 
 help us," he did not hesitate to obey the call. 
 The Presbyterian of New-York and the Quaker 
 of Philadelphia — all parties in politics, and all 
 gec'ts in religion — received him alike with opeft 
 arms, as the angel of hxunBnity who was tpg'tir 
 the waters oi- reform, stnd prepare them for cleans- 
 ing the«ouls of the ignorant, and opening the eyes 
 'oPthe blind. , 
 
 Some very few indeed may have feared that po- 
 litical' or perpona,! views were concealed under liji^ 
 garb oC humanity ;^ while others, equally feW, J^§iy 
 haVe felt alarm, lest the progress of kii||^ledg^ 
 should ^ror© vmffiendly to subordination, a»d 
 
weaken the arm of authority ! Vain jii^ ^el»;igive 
 fears! the offspring of squinting envy, of selfish 
 spleen, of factious bigotry, or aristocratic predi- 
 lection! But these comparatively low an4 sohtary 
 murmurs died away amid the more cheering halle- 
 lujahs of enlightened freemen, and the Boston phi- 
 lanthropist and reformer pushed on, rejoicing ip 
 the success of his labours. 
 
 Like another Cadmus, he alighted on the shores 
 of Albany. We haveseen a^id felt his presence ; 
 For it is to this enthusiastic lov0r of letters, this li- 
 beral patron of the arts, the " quality" of whose b^^ 
 nevolence "is not strained, but droppeth as the gen- 
 tle rain from heaven"-— it is tp him alone, my young 
 friends, that we owe the origin of th^,t instituti^of ; to 
 open which, for your benefit, we have he^e^ assem- 
 bled, and for which I trust, that you and your suc- 
 cessors will never cease to remember the name of 
 Wood, your generous and exalted benefactor, in 
 your prayers to the Author of all per/ection. 
 
 Having paid the tribute which I could not in jus- 
 tice withhold from the philanthropist, whose name 
 will go down to posterity, as being the first iq 
 propose, if not the most active to, establish Ap- 
 prentices' Libraries ; I shall now call your a.ttentiq[|> 
 to those p^aramount duties which Revolve upon you 
 as rational beings, and heirs of immortality; duties, 
 the performance of which is indispensal^tle to your 
 happiness, and which you cannot neglect without 
 being made to feel the pangs of remorse and misery 
 in this life, if not the horrors of despair in the next. 
 
 I d« not c?)me here io depress, bat to elevate yoo 
 
9 
 
 in the scale of ^^eij. I was opte lijce you, IfQi^nd 
 j;o servitq(Je, and'^knew what it w?is tp feqljtlip force 
 of power, without. always. enjoyjing the benpl^lt of 
 right. I can enter, therefore, into^ aU your feelings, 
 and sympathize in all your wants. 
 
 I shall first tpuqh. upon ypur ^uty io yourselye?. 
 A ju^t estimate of ypur real impprtapce to socifety-j 
 jwill enable you to determine the d^gr^e of self-re- 
 apect which you ought t.o possess, aijd vifhich ought 
 to deter you at all times from the commis^ipn pf a^ct^ 
 jWhich would forfeit your own rights, or infringe 
 4hose of others ; which would degrade ypu. in youfr 
 ^own estimation, qr e;:^pose you to the contempt pfthg 
 wise and virtuous. It is.yopr just pri4e,;recqllect, 
 and not your vanity, or ^elf conceit, that I aim 4p 
 keep alive, to blow into a flame that^hall burn with- 
 out ceasing, pure and undiminished, tUl it glimmer 
 on the verge qflhe grave. Your iri\portance to: so- 
 ciety may be perceived at once, by adverting to thf 
 vast utility ^of those mechanical powers which it jp 
 your destiny to wield. 
 
 But for the operation of mechanical ppwersythje 
 earth would remain uncultiv£\,tedjan4 the seas w^icji 
 surround it unexplpred : and man .,wpiiid_ every 
 where still be doomed to roam asavage in the wildg 
 of nature. And if to the application p( .thespppTf" 
 ers, in a very limited degree, we owe the, first rud^ 
 and imperfect cuMvation oi" the earth ; to their im- 
 provement, and the extension of their empire, vije 
 .owe not only the great advancement to which t^e 
 art of cultivation has arrived; but the various use- 
 ful, convenient, profitable ai^ luxurious forms into 
 
 2 
 
ib 
 
 tvhich the numerous fruits and pr^jBTlfctS of the eartii 
 are moulded or manufactured fo/the subsistence, 
 benefit and pleasure of mankind. 
 
 The savage, for example, pounds or grinds his 
 Corn between two stones. The operation is tedious 
 and painful — the flour coarse, if not unpalatable — 
 and the quantity obtained bears a very inadequate 
 proportion to the time and labor employed iri thifS 
 rude and simple operation. But how vastly differ- 
 ent the effect of mechanical po'tversiin the same ope- 
 tatiod, when improved and elaborated in the wind 
 and the water mill, and that mighty machine the 
 feteam engine, which are the works of civilized mart^ 
 and which the untutored savage beholds with won- 
 der and admiration. Well might the poet exclaim— 
 
 " What high, capacious powers 
 " Lie folded' up in man !" " ■ 
 
 But with all these high and capacious powers, and 
 all the self respect with which their successftB 
 cultivation inay justly inspire you, never forget 
 that diffidence and modesty are the attributes and 
 the ornaments of science. We often, indeied, hear 
 of the pride of science. But it is false sciencd, 
 the offspring of iinposture, that shields herself in 
 pride, and vaunts of her acquisitions. The wisi5 
 iffian, on the Contrary, perceives, that ever^ advance 
 ' he makes in knowledge opens to him some neW 
 iEind unexpected prospect. He feels his limitefl 
 Capacity, and if the love of science has taken full 
 possession of his soul, he almost sinks into despon- 
 dency under the humiliating conviction that life is 
 too short to compass even the boundaries of the 
 
n 
 
 fi^lf of intelligence and speculation that expatid 
 Ifegfore him. He explores the surface of the earth. 
 He descends far beneath it, and analyzes the va- 
 rious s^bstanc^swhiclj he finds in his way.' He 
 pleasures thes trackless ocean in search of discove- 
 ries that, may benefit his species; and he ascends 
 to tjtie heavens to, study the la^s which impel and 
 govern ^tbf^ movements of other planets than his 
 own ; Afid thqugh he pursue this sublime career 
 fpth the; sagacity of a Bacon, and the success of a 
 Newton, winning the, brightest laurels that ever 
 adorned ,th^, brow of genius or of learning, he is 
 tttill made to feel and to confess, that the work& of 
 I)^ijty , are t©Oi vast ajnd complicated for, his limitted 
 powers to comprehend. Sq far, thereibrp, frpm 
 being lifted up by vanity or pride, he stands Con- 
 founded by the mysteries of Eternal Wisdom, while 
 the glow of charity kindles in his breast for all the 
 v^eaknesses an,d misconceptions of frail humanity. 
 This, my young friends, is the condition of the 
 wisest of men ; and it was the force with ivhich the 
 best, the greatest, and the wisest king of Israel felt 
 Has condition, that exjtprted from his lips the me- 
 morable exclamation, jiU is. vanity! He d44 nq^ 
 etult in his own powers. He did not betray to 
 those around him* any supercilious airs of self- 
 jmportance, nor attempt to humble them by ex- 
 posing their inferiority in any branch of knowledge 
 in which he was proficient. But he freely acknow- 
 ledged the imperfection of his understanding, and 
 the fallacy of human wisdom. Would to God, 
 that some modern princes and philpj^qphers had 
 
12 
 
 ffosses^d the mocTesty bf this ea&terii monarcli. 
 then the inq^uisition &i)d the stake, the axe and the 
 guillotine, would have spared thterr victims," and 
 the blood <rf" ma,rtyrs would not have stained the^ 
 earth, noroied to beWen for vengeance. 
 if You perceive, by this time, that I do not treait 
 you as children, who are • pleased Vi^ith a rattle, op 
 tietled iVith a stf aW. But I address yotr as youth, 
 whoj though you are not yoifip ovi^n master^, have 
 dignity of cha:racter to maintain,' aB;d capacity of 
 sEiind to inipfovei And here let me press upon. 
 foM the absolute necessity of improving every, 
 hour, My, every minute, you C86n justl-]^ claim as 
 j^our owri^ ifl the cultivation of your intellectual 
 sliid mOl-al pOwerS. Seize the precious obaoments 
 as they fly; a^d tr-flst not to a deieeitful futurity to do 
 that fot whifch the time present is the fittest. Ta 
 assist you In the pursuit of that knowledge, whicfr 
 ie essential to yotir happiness, permit me to point 
 out to you a course of study, which, if properly 
 pursued, cannot fail to check the, exuberance of 
 youp imagination, to temper the ardour of youi? 
 fefilings, to enlighten your 4jnderatanding, and to 
 jfortify yoor judgment. 
 
 To excel and to shifte in your respective caH-< 
 ings, ought to be the ruling -passion ,of you all ; 
 indeed, if it bte not so, your inasters had better 
 tear up your indentures, and send you forth to be- 
 come hewers of wood and drawers of water, or 
 to swell the list of thosf wretched vagabonds, who 
 are the pests of society, and who possess neither a 
 local habitation nor a name. 
 
n 
 
 hi the .first place, then, let me conjure y6« tM 
 study in earnest, Wkh a full aieteiMinatiorrto succeed, 
 one or more of the best writers upon the general 
 Jaws axidffsin&t^^^of Mechanics. You will thus kj» 
 .^>&>tindati(!m fot ■ improvement, ctf which neither 
 iWafe nor accident can d«p^ive ydw. For liiis pur- 
 ji&se Emerson's MuGHdiNtcs is a book of great and 
 acknowledged merit; and the study of this as k 
 %gai#Bictok, aided -by Constant references to ©regd^ 
 #y'g Diietionary of Arts^ I should recommend as imk 
 dispenSatte. When you have stored your mind# 
 #ith first principle, your neM obvious duty wiljf 
 be, to procure the best practical treatises on the pa*% 
 Miliar bfaftches which you are individually bound 
 fe' uftderetand ; smA to study lihese till you can say^ 
 Ibafr you have mastered thfeir Contents, if you have 
 Aot Ou^tstM^ped thei^'©0iiieteptio«sv* 
 ' Tiie science of Morality ^ght'iaext, or rather m 
 <^)itlttedtiofi^ if convenient, to claim your strict atten* 
 fton. This science, as laid dotvn in boeks, seem* 
 te bfeiii'^MM into the common sense, or plain prac4 
 iJcal teSsdJns; and the refined sense, or metaiphysic* 
 #f morality. The refined or metaphysical morali- 
 ty, and which is more properly a branch of natural 
 |iifeB^s#]f»ltif ,' or at least a mixture of moral and phy- 
 stcal science, is to be found ih the disputes con^. 
 ^^nii^g'fhe origin of our ideas, and the nature of 
 the mind or soul, which have been carried on with 
 so much Zealand ability by Jjocke, Hartlet, Hei* 
 VETius, Reid,' Stewart,' and other' philosophers* 
 ThfeS© may well enough occupy the time and attCn^ 
 tion of fllen who can ©oiivenieat^' devote theias 
 
u 
 
 Jferes to such nice investigations. But to tho&e whose 
 dnty it is to be mostly active in the pursuit of me- 
 chanical labour, such speculative refineflients can 
 serve only to waste their time, if not to bewilder and 
 mislead : For whether our ideas be deipived from 
 external impressions, through the medium of th^ 
 senses, or be fwwa/«,^ springing from the recesses of 
 the soul; or whether they be the result of an ind<!^ 
 finable, indescribable, mysterious combination^ of 
 gens&tion and reflection, of external impressions and 
 jfttemal operations ; it is morally certain, and this 
 is sufficient for us to understand, that our actions 
 are and must be controuled by the well known, es- 
 tablished laws of God and society, thole plSfeMH-and 
 practical standards of right and wrong, which; all 
 civihzed nations have adopted. 
 
 Thou sliatt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
 vain. Thou shalt honor thy father amd.thy mother. Thou 
 shalt Twt hear false witness against thy neighbor. I quote 
 this as a specimen of the simplicity of the' moral 
 law of Sinai; and of that plain and unequivocal 
 prescription' of morality which it is your duty to 
 seek for on all occasions: Arid I will here give yoa 
 ©ne more example: from the same divine and im- 
 perishable source. These six things doth, the Ltord 
 hate J yea seven are an ahomiiiation unto him. .^ proud 
 hok,a lying tongue,- hands that shed innocent bhod : An 
 heart that deviseth loicked imaginations^ feet that be swift 
 4n running to mischief : A false witness that speaketh lies, 
 tmd him that soweth discord among hpethren." 
 -•■ Take, then, for a course of study in moral philo- 
 sopher, which mea«s n© thing more than a rational 
 
t5 
 
 syAtem of conduct to be observed through life, those 
 ptW'tibns of the Bible which most forcibly inculcate 
 the cardinal virtues of Justice, Prudence, Temper 
 ranee, and Fortitude : &ich as the Book of Job^-^ 
 the Pfeahns of David-^the Proverbs of Soloiaon— >- 
 ®tofeltesilist@S**-thi© Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesi^ 
 asticus, and the beautiful story of Tobit, in the 
 Apocrypha-*the Sermon of €hrist upon the Mouui- 
 tain — ^the Rotok of J^ames^ — ^nd the writings of Paul 
 in general. In connection with . thefee scriptural' 
 studies, which, as you'n?alue eternal life, lefr me con- 
 ^re you not to overlook, make it' a- pointy; by alJ 
 means', to recur as often as you possibly can, to the 
 sermons of Dr. Blair. These sermons are so re- 
 plete with instruction, in a style so captivating, up- 
 on all the leading duties of life^ that I do not he- 
 sitate to assert, without regard to #eir religious 
 chaBacter^fthat no course of study in moral philo- 
 sophy can be complete, ifvthey make not a part of 
 it. The more I peruse them, and over many in^- 
 deed ofinEgr. solitary* hours, m sickness or in sorrow, 
 have they shed the beams of peace and consola- 
 tion, the more I am satisfied that their amiable and 
 enligbtejae^ aiathor intended them to form a com- 
 plete circle of moral science. They are all inva- 
 lufiblei But some of them are more peculiarly 
 adapted* than others to your present and probable 
 future condition in life. Such are the following : 
 On the Union of Piety and Morality — On the Dis- 
 orders of the Passions — ^On the Duties of the Young 
 — On the Duties belonging to Middlet€^^-On the 
 Importance of Order in conduct — On the Progress 
 
16 
 
 ®f Vice — On Fortitude — ^Qn Patieaiee^Qa Enyy-* 
 On Idleness — On the Misfortunes of Men teng 
 •chargeable to themselves — On Friendship— On In- 
 tegrity as ihe guide of Life. Next to these precious 
 relics of a great and venerable name, the Essia^*' on 
 Moral Philosophy, in the British Preceptor, aup- 
 :posed to have been written by 0m< JjoHwspif*^th€ 
 systematic and very sensible work of Archdeacon 
 Paley, and ^the Moral Essays of our own idfaw- 
 jcitiaqn, the Rev. Ezra SAMPS0N„must not escape 
 ■your atterrtipn. The Essays of Sampson being a 
 ismall book, and- in my estimation peculiarly adapt- 
 ed to impress morality on the mind, I hope you 
 may not only make it your constant compan- 
 ion ; but enrich yourselves by a :due conver- 
 -sion and appropriation of the mental treasures it 
 afibrds. . lik 
 
 Tfeou^I address you as minors, under Ahe legal 
 controuling influence of your masters ; ^yetiit would 
 be unpardonable on this occasion .toforget that you 
 ^are destined to become the members of a novel and 
 -grand social compact, founded on such broad and 
 liberal principles offreedom, as from time inupemo- 
 rial have never fully entered into civil and political 
 •constitutions and laws. Next, therefore, to the ac- 
 quisition of mcH-al science, as it exhibits your iduties 
 to individuals of your species, you are bqund to look 
 .well to the solemn and indissoluble ties which bind 
 you to your country. These are the tiesofpatriot- 
 ism, and the duties which flow from them cannot be 
 safely perforaaedwithouta knowledge of the ftinda- 
 t mental constitutions and .laws which witt. demand 
 
17 
 
 your support and pi'Otecti*>n ; and also of the resoUlc- 
 ces upon which your country must depend for th* 
 due maintenance of her &»Peign and internal rfela* 
 tions, her national independence and domestic pros- 
 perity. Happily this knowledge is wi&in your 
 reach, if you will but diligently seek for it. Biit 
 here again you must adopt a course of reading ; and 
 I know of no better course that you can pupgue^ 
 than^to take up in regular succession^ 
 The Declamlion of Independence: 
 Adams's Defence of the American Constitutions j 
 together with his Discourses upon Davilla, which, he 
 considers as forming a part of that defence. In thiu 
 work the venerable author, viewing man as aH ex*- 
 perience has proved him to be, liable to corruption 
 and errors has sought to discover in the political 
 what Newton did in the physical world— a sort of 
 moral law of gravitation, that shall so nicely balance 
 the virtue and vice, the weakness and wisdom of 
 mankind, as to preserve the grand orb of society 
 from flying out of its proper orbitf which is liberty, 
 into the regions of anarchy on the one hand, and 
 tyranny and despotism on the other. How far- Mp^ 
 Adams has succeeded in establishing his principl€fj 
 I am not here to decide.' The purity of his motives 
 are no longer doubted : And the work contains such 
 a variety of information on the structure and fate, 
 the good and evil, of ancient and modern republics, 
 that to have overlooked it on this occasion would 
 have been unpardonable. That venerable man was 
 one of the great patrons and founders of that revo- 
 lution^ wfeach hae given you the liberty of being here- 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 tliieday to xmeivemy livmhh^mmMmm-^^ .^^^^ 
 be dies the tears of his eoujstaf will tjedew his ashes, 
 and mav all the happiness of Heavea be his por- 
 tioH foECveR .■ , . 
 
 Let me nexi recommend the Essays of HAMiLTONj 
 MADisdif,. and Jay, which are published in e vo- 
 lume, entitled The FEPSRAiiisT, and which were 
 designed by this illustrious trio of writers, t© prove 
 the necessity o^ the federal compact of these states, 
 and to explain the principles upon which it ought 
 to be founded, aoft upon w;hich, indeed, witlisome 
 few hraitations* it is founded. I need not speak of 
 the roserito oftitis worjc,' Time has tested them. 
 The. learned of Ksrope and America have stamped 
 it by Umir. approbation. One of the great lumina- 
 fies.,.tiie rays of w|tose> genius were p@ared,;in 
 Iheir meradian splendour,; upon its p^ge^, has 
 sought thejeeptlfto^f jmmortaJiiity:,; The Qth#r two, 
 bavingfinished with glory, their course in the poli- 
 tical horizon of their conntry, are cultivating, like 
 Adams, and Jefferson, in ^p^losophic retirements 
 those int^lQ#yii|^ powers, those refined pleasures, 
 which constitu^ thm most exalted gifts of God to 
 man ; tbeycare trimming their lamps to follow thek 
 great fteljowi-labourer j but whether re-united soon- 
 er or- l^ter. beyond. thp« grave, t^ey win have left, 
 in The Federalist, ^legacy to their country, more 
 precious than the gold of Ophir : May its immor- 
 tal authors be jwelfjqflaed. alike at the. footstool of 
 ^eir Creator, and; be permitted to mingle eternal- 
 ly yvith the spirii» of just men made perfect. 
 ,0.In connection with; the Essays just mentioned. 
 
m 
 
 ^Mf the fecteiftilfieoBititatioh itself, mA feontpftF^ 
 it carefully with the wMmentaries whieh they af- 
 ford, and likewise 'with the respective stsite ebii«- 
 stitutions. In this branch of yoor studies, you #ill 
 feid an invaluable ftUKiMafy in the iehartfe of the 
 federal and state constitutiufts, by IsAa.© H; IPibpp*^ 
 m, m wfcich that gfetrtleraaaft has broi^bi into w 
 concke and^tt^JMttf t;t^nrpi£ra#pe^view,iall the im- 
 portant j^Eitufee of thtjse <Mfifei?ent constitutioftte. 
 
 Here* it mafnot be amiss t» KiMAarfc,'thatthe de^' 
 bates of rtiefier€hRali«k#i©6MN*fiitibns,tMi the attof^s 
 tion of the federal constittftio»; thio^great^li^t up- 
 on the subject, so fersis they have been paMishedv 
 Those of the Virginia convention are the most elabd- 
 iffirte!, and certainly not the least able and interesting. 
 i*>.i.onght not here to forget a work of gmat ability, by 
 loHN Tavlor, of Caroline, Virginia^ on the good and 
 ^il fBi(»?al principles of the federal cbnstitiition. 
 
 But it wotrid be little less than criminal, were 
 i to overlook^ that last ^gresrf effort ©f bur com^ 
 naon ^pditiea;! father for the good of his children; 
 t mean the Farewell Address' of Washingtow.-^^ 
 My- feeble powers are not adequate to speak the 
 praise' of that man. But to reconiniend to yon,^as 
 an indispensable acquisition, the treasures of his 
 €«peri!ence in that government to which you owe 
 a^}e^ance, the alle^ance of freemen, who know* 
 " no Mastery save t^es^ng H^avei%" i® a duty, for the 
 iM(gM«Pl^«f which, a life of penMenC©' would scarce- 
 ly prtrv^^ an atomeiMent : For whenever pibferityr 
 shall be so lost as to forget the virtues 'erf tlres^ 
 times, and iiefeHerate ;into '.Blaw^tbe?lfefacy of 
 
2« 
 
 Washington will prove the torch that #hall light- 
 them to the tombs of ' their fathers and the temple 
 of liberty. - 
 
 For a knowledge of the resources of your coun- 
 try, read in particular, Pitkin's and SewBekt's sta- 
 tistical views, and such other works of a similar: 
 nature, as time and opportunity MKiy enable you to 
 have access to. Your country is but of yesterday, 
 and the giant strides she is -making, and will con- 
 tinue to make, for centuries- to come, will con- 
 stimlty give rise to new and enlarged views of her 
 Fesources. But the works of Pitkin and Seybert 
 will suffice for the present day, and to these I must 
 claim your indispensable attention. 
 
 You would do well, however, on the subject of 
 national resources, to read on the one hand the vo- 
 lume of addresses which a society of gentlemen in 
 Philadelphia have written and published* in behalf 
 of encouraging domestic manufactures, as distinct 
 from family or household fabrics, by countervailing 
 duties on- foreign manufactures : And on the other 
 hand, the memorials or addresses of several agricul- 
 tural feocieties in Virginia, and commercial bodies 
 in the eastern states, who take the opposite ground* 
 Both sides have maintained their opinions with that 
 zeal and ability which ever distinguish ardent and 
 vigorous minds when brought into collision. Both 
 parties are unquestionably actuated by pure nation- 
 al and honorable views. And the discussion hav- 
 ing elicited all that can be said on either side of this 
 important question, the study of it will save you the 
 trouble at more advanced life, and when you may. 
 
21: 
 
 be called upcm to act uipon it, o^recurring to the vois 
 luminous works of Dr. Adam Smith, and Sir Jameat 
 Stuart, on Political iSccitioirifj^, or the Wealth of Na- 
 tions.5 ■ pf/-" ^■■" •■' 
 
 As your country is the only one on the face of the 
 earth, where youth of your condition can with: iiM. 
 confidence exult in the reflection, that public hon- 
 ours are as likely to be the reward of your merit, as; 
 that of any other description of persons ; it is im- 
 portant that you not only learn to act with propri- 
 ety i^ a moral point of view; but that you should 
 study to speak and to write correctly your verna- 
 cular tongue. At this moment you have before you; 
 numerous instances of that equal distribution of 
 public honors, which is perhaps one of the best 
 proofs of the existence of public liberty. The ve- 
 nerable President of your Senate and Lieutenant; 
 Governor of the state, has emerged by his talents 
 and industry from the humbler walks of life to his, 
 present exalted stations. The Speaker ©f your 
 House of Assembly is a mechanic; and I have seei^, 
 him ridiculed on account of his occupation in a 
 public paper. But this is a bad sign in a republic ;„ 
 and the least that can be said of the authors is, that 
 their wit is equal to their manners^ and conveys but; 
 an z7/ compliment to the genius of liberty and the, 
 constitution. I for one^ thank God, that I have not 
 only been bred a iSeehanio;; but that I have seen 
 and deeply felt those vicissitudes of life which are 
 in tendedby Heaven to repress vanity eaad pride; to 
 dispel from the heart the sordid, envious and ma- 
 lignant passions; to, expand our beneT?olent, sociafe 
 
22. 
 
 and charitable feeliiags; to teach us our own^insig- 
 ^iicance iii the great scale of creation, and lead us. 
 hot merely to. love man," but to adore the providence 
 of God, and bow to it with submission. But apart 
 from this slight digression, let me en-treat you, in 
 the critical department of iHstruetion, to study at- 
 tentively Murray's English Grammar; the Philo- 
 sophy of Rhetoric, by Campbell; the Lectures upoa 
 Rhetoric and Belles Lettresf- by Dr. Blair ; the 
 Essay of Edmund Burke, upon the Sublime tod' 
 Beautiful; and the work of Alison upon Taste. — 
 The Lectures of Dr. Blair, alone, after the study of 
 amy approved and simple system 6£.Gta.&mas6,"wi\l; 
 inspire you wi^a correct taste, and fenable you to 
 communicate your ideas either, orally or in wiiting,: 
 by • '• proper words in proper places," which is the 
 l&est definition of a pure and unaffected style. 
 • History has been styled Philosophy, teaching by 
 €^ample. But this. is true onlytvhen the spirit of 
 philosophy, which fearlessly and ikith&lly: traces- 
 events to their causes, enters into the composition 
 irf history, and presents a page beaming with the 
 light and majesty of truth and reason. 
 
 Of ancient histbry too much is fable; and of mo- 
 dern, the spirit of faction, the demons of . political 
 and religioiis bigotry, have too often usurped the 
 page where trufth ought to have shone in vestal pu- 
 rity, andmndiminished lustre. The best history for 
 a man of genius, penetration and judgment, who 
 mingles-deeply in the great concerns of the pubUc, 
 is, perhaps, the field of observation, filled with 
 men and the affairs of men, as it lies immediate- 
 
23 
 
 ly befoi>@ hii^ and presents itseM in alii the vsu- 
 rious hues, the lights and shades, of virtue and 
 vice, wisdom- and folly, vanity and pride, avarice 
 and ambitiom ' History,-*if ever so faithfully re- 
 corded, is btit a :picture of the bustle and bis- 
 siness of human life upon :a great scale, a nation» 
 al instead of aii individual |»«H)fc of view. Theman^ 
 therefore^ who mingles in the bustle, and surveys 
 with an eye of discffiimnation the variegated crowd 
 of objects as they revolve around or pass in succe&» 
 sion before him, wffl find his present experience to 
 supply the place of past historyj Jnstead of rea^ 
 soiling from what has been to what is, he will, com* 
 eluding justly human nature to be esseatiaEy the 
 same in all times, infer what has been from what he 
 sees, and 'will pretty clearly comprehend the eaus* 
 es which; have led to the rise, decline and fall of 
 states and empires. But Ifr may bte tihe lot of but 
 few, if any of you, to possess this eOTiiBaanding. view 
 ef.the present ; for. although you imay all act y©ur 
 parts in sustaining, fonmstj not aU take a part in dit- 
 i^ecting the^jolitical machine. You will do well, there*- 
 fore, to study the history of past times, in the works 
 of the^most apparos^ed historians. But .this 8itmdy,said 
 once a leapned correspondent of mine, " is a difficuM 
 and labori^oius uiidertakiiig. Ever since I began to 
 read, I have been inquiring after the best plans.- •! 
 have beard DMtoy proposed, and all of them- liable 
 to serious objections. The range is extensive, th© 
 Variety of subjects it comprehends nMWierousi and 
 the writers differ so widely in their ol^'ect and ex- 
 ecution, that the student is tewiWeited and dia* 
 ©ouraged. The pursuits of the reader have a pow- 
 
24 
 
 erful influence upon his taste and exertions ; and 
 this makes subjects and writers that are extremely 
 agreeable to some^ highly disgusting to others." 
 
 So far, libwever, as I know of history, and of 
 the situation in which you will probably find your- 
 selves as you advance in life, the plan that I Would 
 pursue is this : I would begin at ' the capture of 
 ■Constantinople by the Turks, which gave rise to 
 .the revival of learning in Europe, and led to the 
 ■Reformation. Robertson's Charles V. — Watson's 
 Philips' — Robertson's America — Hume's England^ 
 with Smollet's Continuation, and his successors, 
 «hould be my constant text books. With these I 
 ■would read as many of the writers on particular 
 branches, which they recommend or refer to, as 
 ■time and' opportunity might permit; especially 
 Machiavel's History of Florence, and Voltaire's 
 Historical Sketches : these are among the fathers 
 of modern historical composition. To young men 
 ■who are born and destined to live under a repub- 
 lican government, the History of Florence ailbrds 
 an inexhaustible fund of instruction ;and that great 
 master-spirit Machiavel, has infused into it all the 
 fire of his genius, and all the force of his under- 
 standing. 
 
 Before ^ commenced with the histories of Rome 
 and Greece, I would read with great care, so as to 
 imbibe every important fact, and to comprehend 
 clearly every sentiment of the author, the lectures 
 of Voi,NEY, delivered before the Normal School of 
 Paris. The perusal of this little work, the off- 
 spring of a mighty mind, will prepare you to enter 
 
upon jpiii* ta^fc, with minds fo^ifieaagiaiist thai 
 Wmma of ^ithuHJasoi, which has transfonaed the 
 viepp ojf antiquity into virtues, in the eyes of too 
 many inod^rn philosophers. Volney has touched 
 with the spear of Ithuriel, the monster of imposi- 
 tion, who has so long presided over the page rf 
 histpry, and brought her to light in all hei' defornii- 
 
 ity- ' , . ■■■■; 
 
 For the history of Rome, I would read, in all 
 events, FebjguSon's Rise and Progress, and Q-eef- 
 bon's Decline. If perfectly convenient, I would 
 read Hooke, before I commenced with these. Gffl- 
 BON, if not .th^ most profound, is certainly one ^rf" 
 the; most elegant historians. He composed his 
 Work ;j|videritlj with that great care and labour^ 
 which Horace, the best of ancient critics, recom^ 
 mends as indispensable to a iSnished production j 
 and certain it is, that a more finished production 
 than that of Gibbon, is not within the circle of mo- 
 (d«jn literature, Iwill Venture to say, though with 
 la^oh deference to the legal profession, that he de» 
 livers the best sketch of the civil law, of which 
 the republic of learning can boast. pp 
 
 Gillies, Mitford, or the author of'Anacharsis, 
 furnish all that you need to know of Grecian his- 
 
 The Bible, togettier with PiRmEAUx's Connections 
 of Sacred andPisofane History, will give you the 
 shortejst and clearest views of nations- of the east. 
 Wiiiallthe difficulties that atff nd tibe i&%onol9gy 
 of the Bible, which have arisen (Mm the total loss 
 of sotne parts of the work, arid ffom the errors «f 
 
 4 
 
3^ 
 
 iransl&torS aiaji jtfsiJScribers before, and of Ihcpresg; 
 since, the 4iscoyery pf the art of pi;inting,y ou will stiU 
 finditAhistoryvfhQseplacepE^IPjQtbesupplied. get- 
 ting aside Fetgipus principles, I dpen^jt ^Jwok es^en- 
 ^ally neces,sary tobe ^e^U: understood by an En^- 
 jiph pr American Bqhpl^r., And ^et^^me tell ^oUj 
 thAtjSoi^T: as yo^magter, tl^e subjects which I have 
 prest upon your attention, soi^ryou will be enti- 
 tled to Ijv© appellation gf,, scholars, tlwjugh you may 
 tindei:stand i^<pd]iif»g pf.tbe v^qacl languages, ,and 
 vepy litjtle,jjci^, any , l^r^i|[ch of tnatural philosophy, 
 J^pyeover,;as;I( have been ,£|.ttentiye itp exci^te your 
 Ipve pi counjtry, I ynay, with strict propriety, add, 
 IQb^l^hisplace, jtt^^no book con^ajns more sublime 
 lessons of patriotism thfiij the pii|)le^ ; Pep^io^tihenes 
 and Cicero, ^pme^.and Virgil,, so far as I can un- 
 derstand tbes^ in tf^n^ations^ f^t.I kjipw. nothing 
 ^ the joriginals, and ajl the oratprs.and poets wh@ 
 hav-e succeeded them, I believe may be safely chal- 
 lenged ,^p exhibit j;l}e sentiment pf patriotism, or 
 Ipve. pf. country, ifl strains so true to nature,, by 
 whijijb all eloquence must |)f ; tested, arjd so deep- 
 ly pathetic, as the lan^pntation of the Israelites in 
 their p^bylonishxapltivity. " By thf^rive^^ of J^a- 
 bylon, ,thqre.iftfijnt 4sfiW: yea^wa taept i^^e^ i^e r^e,m^-^ 
 bered Zion. We hanged our harps vpon the wulows . iii 
 the midst thereof: For there they that carried us ^way 
 captive, /^u^ec^^ of us. ^^ song ; qyt^^ tft^ that ^^ted 
 z^ required of us . mfrtl^ , saying, Sing its me of the 
 songs of Zio^: HptV:$iu^,^e sipgjth^ Lo^dls'^ng, in 
 (^stva^ge land? _ If ^d forget thef,, P^; Jerusalem, leff^rm 
 right hand forget Jier cunnin^j If I da not. ^remewi^ 
 
^Ci lei mif tongue ckitte to the fobfiof l^y mouth r if J 
 prefer mtJerusahm'above my ehief joy^yt •'?'«'>'' ^■*^\*'*i 
 = I have not yet alluded to Ihe' history bf-oilriaitwfe 
 eoimtry; for Dr. RolJ^tsbn's Ameriea/'refei-s "al- 
 most exdasiwEsl^ lio the sdathewi Coritaient,' and th« 
 European^monarchy ;whi<ih fe*St conquered it, dlsEk 
 tt-ampled «pon the rights, and bafbairoMsly sadfR 
 ftaeA. the l^es 'of itsaneient^Bravfe, and cbiHpara^' 
 tively civilfzed p6{Alfeitioff. f;Bfesidiesj ; until jfatefy* 
 we hsive possessed no 'genferal' \&.it(tty-&^ the* Wixtf. 
 ted States; nor of North lLineriC«,7e60iing*dt»^H't© 
 the present time. • The recent wbrfs:' of Dr.'R-Ajiife'AT 
 I hacre not'read ; but dti(nt>t doUbt, "from his 'feftosm- 
 ability, it deserves to be- made one' of y»ur test 
 books in pursuing ypur inquiries tqto the riserioid. 
 progress' 'of ■ ttie' United States. HotMfes's . Amieri- 
 dan Annals is a work of great brevity, but' df.na 
 less mterit. In two volumes, the author^, has com- 
 prised an historicaf and; chfMiblogical view of'liia 
 country from the voyage of Columbufi ia the ytegr 
 1805; But the brevity df these Ariftals hai' ex- 
 cluded Htanydelallk of the F^ohJtiohary periodj^ 
 which can never fail to prove iftter^tm^.kj* Whilst,- 
 therefore^ for general in^wh«itiiBnj'Iv would read 
 Holmes^ and such ef the authorities lii|ieii which 
 he relies, as I could find time to attend to j I w^ould 
 resort to GoRTOlfs "Revolution, and MaKsAjum-'sl 
 Life of :W«ishitfgton,ifor a series of details,; "with 
 wMch every citizen of the United States odght to 
 make himself acquainted. Gdrdorfs, it is true, is 
 a clumsy a:nd'pr0Bx perft>Aan#e»; but with all^his 
 elumsineSs and frolixity, without ele^ante).^iHfith- 
 
out philosophy, aftdwitjboiat arrangement, he" fiii'-, 
 nishes more infbrniation of the revQlH^oii, than ^i^! 
 to be iound even in ih© Work of the porrect pjid 
 scientific Ramsay apon that period. Tt^e;Woi:fc of, 
 Jud^e Mgirshall isj later than eith]er of th^sej and 
 in the trpinion of aome.,_will supply tjie pl^c? ^pn^- 
 But ray afocatidns have not:^ei?nii.iod.me to examine, 
 this work^ 'nor the histdry of Mft.iWAiwPK, % ladf 
 oFg]r'€fet*'merit» and superior tklents,; Njp? have I 
 read the two volttois, for tb© twa first voluBaes 
 ©nly have appeared, of the terfelatioppfithewQrk 
 of Bo-f Ia, an IlaHan; of genijog and. learning,, who 
 has employed himself in presenting hi:e country- 
 Hieii with a histt)ry of our refolf tion, wl:^ql^ Mr. 
 JkefESKSOT has |MfoniOTOeed superior to ,afl^ other, 
 histar^. of that gifeat and mfeniiORSiJbl© event. With 
 me, I fraiilcjyi confess, Mr.JEfFBi^poN's opinion, in 
 eu'dr a case, Js conclusive. 
 
 Thus iar I have chiefly alluded to the. gene,^ai, 
 histfiri'fed of the United States, pfid.,the rievolution 
 which istabHsh^ed our independ^nce, Rut there 
 arelocalhistottes, Jbelij^yi^.of.all the ol^i^yplu-. 
 tionary stated, which are valu^bitejJnitSinjueh as they 
 dQntain;ma»y interesting yift^Si. which ar^ either 
 slightfy noticed, or past over itantirely in oqr gene- 
 lial histdrieS; such for example as the pathetic sto- 
 ry of Logan, aln Indian war5ior,jnl%fier§oii's Notes 
 on Virglfaia,, This work of Mr. JEFj-ift^o^, is more 
 Taluable than the' modesty ofjts title indicates; es- 
 peciaJlIf as he has^ with piatriolie zeal, and with a, 
 force of argument peculiar to himself, refuted the 
 erroneous opinions, if not studied calumnies, of 
 
29" 
 
 jBtiibn and De Pauw, who would' faiif havemg^fee» 
 the world believe, that not only the men and other, 
 animals of America were of infferior races;, but th4t^ 
 the men and other aniinals of Europe d^gemi^g-tedb 
 in physical and meiltal vigour under fheJnfluence, 
 of our climate ! Of the local historifes t© which I 
 altbde^ t have read with great pleasure, Belknap's 
 New-Katmpshire, Hutchiftson's and Minot's M&sfe^^-I., 
 chttsetts, Williams's Vermont, and the Noteg of Mr. 
 Jefferson. I do not insist upon these loeal histories . 
 as a part of your regular course of study ; but thijpi^ 
 it my duty to remind you of th^jr existeiiee, &i^i% 
 you msiy profit by ^;hem if convenient; tboiigj^ I 
 confess I should pay but a poor compliment tQ„ 
 your patriotism, if I did not think you would, 
 take delight' in perusing the work of t|»e im- 
 mortal author of the Declaration of Indepeod;-^ 
 ence. « 
 
 Befwe I close this part of my subject, permit me to . 
 assure you, that 'y6u cannot pursue any study more ^ 
 deeply interwoven with the genuine feelings of your 
 hearts, than the early history of your country. There 
 is no mixture, in her origin, of superstitipn,i^b|e, or 
 fancy ; and you need not, therefore, like the Greeks, 
 the K&marig, or the Britpns, go mtq those dark 
 and romantic regioMi to seek in vain for the 4^lp» 
 and the circumstances of herbirth. On the contrary* 
 through a path of many perils, hiit ^^^a^^ \>j 
 fiction, you follow her from the first period, of hm 
 existence, to the present day; from the time thgit 
 the gloomy safage was awakened in ap^|jemej[tt„ 
 t& hear the first morning hallelujahs of me Pjl- 
 
m 
 
 grims ascend to heaven fromstlie rock of Plymouth, 
 till the shores of Erie .afl4,tli6 Mississippi resound- 
 ed with the strains of'gratitade to the : same Eter- 
 nal S^isrcgj from the gali&nfand victorious bands- 
 of Perry. and of Jackson : And as you accompapy 
 your iMMnortalanvCeStior& through all their struggles 
 for freedcan with savage and civilized foesj you will 
 find the ties which binduyou to their memory 
 strengthened, y^oui" love of country increased, and 
 all your generous and exalted feelings expanded iri' 
 i^ highest degree. • Not only will your bosome 
 sweB with iHanly.p^e. inthe fame of your ances- 
 tors,^ but they will -expand with difFerent feeliiJgS' 
 for the aborigine®,>^|;hanithosc jvhich have been 
 excited by the contemplation of tomahawks and 
 scalping knives as the only symbols of savage vir- 
 tue. The -mighty genius, the exalted magnanimi- 
 ty, the heroic fprtitudc, and daring enterprize of 
 Philip of Mount, Hope; the fideUty iti friend- 
 ship, the constancy, tenderness, and generosity in 
 love, which distinguished tfee daughter of Powhatan j 
 , will satisiy you, that it is n^t the; complexion of the 
 skin, that determines the virtues or the vices of- 
 nations or individuals ; and that the savp-ge is not' 
 always cruel and relentless, any more than the ci-^ 
 v«liz£^^ man (s uniformly coi^assionatte and ^r- 
 hearingi , .< ' 
 
 I have not touched upon that tremendous revohi- 
 ^n which.has just gone by, and which involved 
 France and all. Europe in so long and so. dreary a 
 night of. horrors, confusion and blood. Thathisto^' 
 Ty, I do not hesitate to say<- 'Cannot be written in 
 
my time, nor in yours. No simple annalist— no duU 
 compiler— no cloisfeetell liionk-i-ho tttgot in poitk* 
 or religion, can penetrate the mazes of that un|ia^#- 
 leled event. The man that ^lOuld have done it is no 
 moiiB. To VoLNET, and to Volney alone, the task 
 belonged. But sihce ^at suMimie and disinteresteii 
 spirit has fled t<i other regions, time must be given for 
 his equal to arise,vfrho can sit injudgment upon it, un- 
 biassed by passion or prejlttdice, and guided by that 
 pure atnd independent spirit of philosophy, tihait, 
 soaring above the Weakness, and the wickedness of 
 p^irty, takes her stand on the pinnacle of the iSlm- 
 -ple of truth ; from whence she surveys the riiove- 
 meijts of men and nations, with an eye keen a;nd 
 vivid as the lightning, but calm and serene as ibe 
 bow of heaven. '■ f' 
 
 Pfext to History, Biography has strong claims up- 
 on your attention. It cannot be expected, howe- 
 ver, that you can compass a very wide range in this 
 course ofreadih^i But yoiimliy, nevertheless, find 
 opportunity to converse with the pages of Plutarch, 
 and to read the lives of some few at least of the 
 illustrious «*li^M6tei^ of modem times.' " I \ote', said 
 •the philosophic Zimmerman, the youth who is fond 
 of climbing the rocks and seeking solitary places 
 with the' pages of Pliit^i-ch in his hand." And why 
 didiiiiis eiilighteti^liiftd hummie philosopher love 
 sucb a youth ? Because he found in him the love of 
 learning and virtue, moi'e thatri that of ignorance 
 and vice; and 'derived from thie dignity of his pur- 
 *nii the evidentre 6f his future usefulness. 
 
 The livos' of the British P@i?t^by Dn John s^dN, ytfu 
 
3S 
 
 May read with profit and pleasure, especially that 
 of Savage, and olhers of a similar cast. AH of you 
 who ^po^^'ess genius and strength of feeling, ought to 
 read the life of Savage, for the same reason that 
 mariners are watchful of beacons which warn them 
 Against the rocks and shoals that threateii their dtl- 
 strudtromi In the career of that grentiy gifted but mi- 
 ' serable man, you wUl recognize in vivid colours; the 
 deformity of vice, the horrid eflfects of yielding to 
 an ardent imagination, uricontrouled by judgment^- 
 and to licentious passions, which spurn at the dic- 
 t£L®s of reason and religion. The great impor- 
 tancie of early habits of virtue will strike you fdr- 
 cibly in contemplating the progress of this brilliant 
 btlt prodigal son of the muses from step to step in 
 the road to ruin. Like most prodigals he felt their 
 importance himself when too late, as we gather from 
 that pathetic palliation of his conduct which he leftf. 
 Upon record among other fruits of his genius : 
 
 " No mother's care 
 " Shielded my infant innocence with prayer, 
 " No fatKierS goa^dian hand my youth mairitain'd, 
 " Csli'd forth my virtues, qr from vice restrain'd." 
 
 But in all events, neglect not to study the life 
 ©f your own illustrious countryman and me'chanic, 
 the immortal Franklin. Imitate his virtues;* his 
 indhstry^ his economy, his prudence, his temper- 
 ance, his perseverance, which, together with his 
 genius, exalted him from the humWe station of a 
 journeyman printer to the pinnacle' of distinction 
 as a patriot, a statesmati, and a philosopher. And 
 »ot only the life, but the works of Franklin, must 
 
tiot, cannot escape your attention, if ycai do jus- 
 tice to yourselves ; and especially that intaluB^ble 
 legacy^ his advice to jovi^g trla^espjen.- But a^ 
 pven the glorious orb of day is not wjtheut hiil 
 dark specks, who can be suFprised if th€ Ipest and 
 greatest of hun^an characters are not > uniformly 
 and inyariably unspotted. There is jEine page in 
 the Life of Franklin, as written by him^el^ upo^ 
 which I conjufe you to ponder well ; for you will 
 derive from it .a lesson to refresh the soul, and p^ 
 fortify it in tl^e ho^r of temptation. It is thfft in 
 which, with the ingenuousness of true philosophyj 
 he confesses that he once attempted to take ad^anr 
 tage of the distress of a female, to rob her of hei* 
 honour; but she rose superior tahis arts; andthi^ 
 man who was destined to make princes tFei|it)le in hip 
 presence ; nay, to shake the thrones of kingdoms, 
 |ind grasp the lightning of heaven, shrunk back^ 
 9,bashed and confounded, from the glance of a fe^- 
 male eye; kindled into wrath by the dignity of inr 
 suited virtue ! I am well aware of that principle 
 of Eiogr?»,pl|y \yhieh detnand^ the, concealmeni, as 
 far as popsible, of the defects of the great- and 
 good. It is a principle which has my full ccfnsent. 
 ft prescribes that the virtues only of illustrious 
 men, the benefactors of mankind, should be held 
 up for emulation, while their frailties lie buried 
 with their bones. But s. Franklin, in this case, ife 
 his own accuser. He not only confesses the fact.; 
 but he tells you, that ever after, the recollection 
 of it poisoned his peace of mind. • Treasure up the 
 fact and the confession ; press them home .to ykwr 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 soals,, ari^ never forget, that in cherishing and pro- 
 tecting female purity, you preserve your own peace 
 and dignity of mind j you save the iflnocent from 
 ruin ; you reverence the tombs of your mothers ; 
 and you warn the ruthless villain who may medi- 
 tate the destruction of a sister's' happiness and 
 fame, that ybu have a s6ul to feel, and an arm to 
 avenge Ijer wrongs. 
 
 I have almost led myself to believe, that the 
 love of poltry is the love of virtue. But bfe this 
 as it may, there is a pleasure in poetry which 
 taste arid genius only can enjoy. To those of you 
 who are capable of this enjoyment, and I hope 
 this may be the case with you all, I would say, 
 adhere to the old school of Shakespeare, Mil'ton, 
 Young, Pope, Thomson, Goldsmith, Gray, Collins, 
 and that class of writers, whose flights of imagination 
 were restrainedbythepresenceof a moral sense,ahd 
 the principles of religion ; and who, with but few 
 exceptions, felt the force of this beautifbl male- 
 diction : 
 
 *' Curst be the verse, how smooth so e'er it flow, 
 ''■'That tends totnake one worthy man my foe, 
 " Give virtue scandal, innocence a fear, 
 " Or from thesoft-ey'd virgin steal a tear." 
 
 The poetry of this school, excepting a few of 
 Shakspeare's flights, did not consist of such ex- 
 travagant fictions, such gloomy and desperate sen- 
 timents^ such vices drest in virtue's garb, as a mo- 
 dern school, of w^hich Lord Btron is the chief, has 
 sent forth, to dfeprave the taste, and blast the mo- 
 rals of mankind. That Byron is a great, a tran- 
 
3^ 
 
 -scejxdant genius, no one who knows wha^ genius is, 
 will deny, ^^t with the exception of a few deli- 
 cate and beautiful effusions of feeling and fanpy, 
 his poetry nasi! no claim to utility: For his muse 
 delights, td soar into regions so: far heyond ,the. 
 common, ^nse, the common pui;suits, and the com- 
 mon fat^ pf mankind, ; that though you may be- 
 hold with wonder and admiration, her lofty and 
 sublim^ attitude, as a school-boy beholds that of 
 his kit^ ; yet she. does no more than the kite, amuse 
 you wijth her wild daring, her eccentric dartinga 
 amid tne clouds and sunbeams that play abound 
 her. ', ,1 
 
 I would not be understood as arraying all the 
 eonteipporaries of Lord ^Pyron under his banners: 
 For in^that case I shonld exclude Campbell, whose 
 Pleasiires of Hope will cheer the hour of despon- 
 dencjl and light the path of affli(ption, so long as 
 man s|iall love the muses, and be born to misery. 
 
 " Wnfading Hope, when life's last embers buFn, 
 " \^'heD soal to soul, and dust to dust return ! 
 " ^ei\ven to thy charge resigns the awful hour ! 
 " Oh ! then thy kingdom comes ! immortal Power ! 
 « What though each Sfiark of eartb-born rapture fiy 
 <' The ipiveMfeg lip, pale cheek, and elosii^ eye! 
 •' Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey 
 " The, morning ^?eaa< of life's eternal day !" 
 
 I do not mean, however, that you shall make j^o-. 
 etry so much an object of serious study. It will be 
 beat-to take it up occasionally as a ^ejaxat^on after 
 those severer studies which I deem it my duty rpOre 
 earnestly to enjoin upon you. In; the same manner 
 you will also find profit and pleasure in perusing 
 
3« 
 
 at least once or twice a week, some one or more of 
 those essajs, which being written in. an excursive 
 manner, and by men of genius, present in the lite-» 
 rary world, what the Iris or rainbow- does, as the 
 sign of pEotnise, in t;he nether heavens^ A combina" 
 tion of all the beauties of style, all the varieties of 
 (fexpressiori, all the elegance of allnsion, aad all the 
 richness of imagery. In thisspeciea (tf readiag, the 
 Hghter eflbrts of Lord Bagon, that. immortal father 
 of all modem philosophy, and the essays of CtA- 
 RbnOoN and A imrsoN, to say nothing of later oneS| 
 afford an inexhaustible fund of instruction and en- 
 tertainment. ' .#» 
 ' ■ Te the reading ofNovels, the same renaarks nearly 
 Dtay be applied, that I have made upon poetry. I am 
 hot an eneMy of novels ; but I am more particular- 
 ly attached to those which have probability, rather 
 than glaring and distorted fiction, "for theiri basis. 
 It is not by pictures ^f vice or virtue,- such las are 
 rarely if- ever realised in human life, that we are 
 to be disgusted by the one, or delighted by the 
 other; but by such delineations of the heatt, and 
 iti passions, ag, sensible minds perceive at once to 
 be rational and agreeable to the history of man- 
 kind. In tMs point of view, though some may think 
 it a bold assertion, I would not exchange The Vi- 
 car OF Wakefield, of Goldsmith ; the Louisa Mild- 
 ,Ma¥, of Kelly ; The Man op Feelwg, and The Man 
 ©p the WoRiiD, of Mackenzie j with several others 
 tbat might be mentioned of that old school ; for all 
 the novels and romances which have issued from 
 the British press during the lagt thirty years. 
 
37 
 
 H htt« scarcely alluded to Natural Philosophy | 
 fm my di@stiny<in life has permitted me to pay very" 
 little, is^eed, if any attention to that wide and deep 
 doaMH of intelligenee and speculation. I pretend 
 t©'^© you- only the results of my own experiencei 
 But were I ever so proficient in the various ftraneh- 
 es of knowledge which natural philosophy embrac- 
 er,'! sho«ld not introduce it here: For my aim 
 would s«ill be to make you, in the first pyee^foodf* 
 boys, good mechanics, good men, good citizens ; 
 and leave you, as to more intricate or profound pur-' 
 ^iiitg^Uo'be guided by your own impulse, and thef 
 guardian care of Providence. In studying as Ihave 
 recommended to you, the best- practical treatises 
 on the mechanic arts yofu are individually bound 
 to learn, you will find in them all the natural phi- 
 losophy connected with your business. There are,' 
 h0iwet*ei*, two ordinary and useful brandies of know- 
 ledge, which yow ought, by all means- to' acquire . 
 and as I- have inadvertently oterlottked them thus 
 far, I will now introduce them ; although this may 
 not be the! proper place. I mean Geography and 
 Arithmetic, the last of which is indispensable to all 
 who are engaged in the Ordina»ry afikirs of life. A^ 
 a scientific ge^raphier, Pinkerton stands at the 
 head of hi& profession. But his wol'k may not be 
 at all times accessible, and if it were so you would 
 still, have to look elsewhere for that diffusive light 
 which youwouM naturally wish to have thrown upon 
 your own country. I must, therefore, recommend 
 the works of Morse, and 'the Gazetteer of Worces- 
 ter. To these, if convenient, add the works of 
 
3S 
 
 Brown, Darby, Schoolcraft, and Thomas; all 
 of wMch , contain many interesting views of va- 
 rious parts of our union, and its territorial de- 
 pendencies, which areyet in an infant.state of set:- 
 tlement, or waiting in the wildness of nature for 
 the redeeming hlovF of the axe, and thelifergiving 
 furrow of the plough-share. The study of,geQgra- 
 phy is not only important as it opens to you the 
 boundaries, the population, the manners and cus- 
 toms, the principal cities, tpwns, villages, , stream* 
 of water, and natural curiosities of states, ^.nd em- 
 pires: But inasmuch as when you come tp settle 
 in life, you may learn from the pages ofi^JX impartial 
 and sagacious author, where to find the, m.ostjsqi ta- 
 ble gpot on which to commence your career. Most 
 young men, in their; pursuit of a place to settle in, 
 are guided by no land-marks, but- m,arch off, :3,t, ran- 
 dom, and sit down in the same way, without calcu- 
 lating the present or prospective advantages .flf 
 trade, commerce,. and the arts, which the. location 
 they have hit upon, for I cannot say choseii or se- 
 lected, may ormay not enjoy. In this rejSjgecl, .no- 
 thing is more important than a candid and correct 
 geographical view of the world: the want -of such 
 a view in the outset of life, how many disappointed 
 hopes, how many wasted fortunes, and broken 
 hearts, might be called up to attest.^,s ... 
 
 * There is an abridged system of GeograpTiy, by Willett, lately issued from a 
 press in I>Qughkets}i»ie, whicli forcibly recommends itself as%eing adapted toyour 
 presentcoudition, to begin Willi. I examined this litll^ work with the intention 
 of saying something about it in a different place'from th]4; but not having fulfil- 
 led that intention, I take the liberty of recommending it here. Independent of 
 niy own opinion, it is recommenced by the worthy professor Davis, of Middlcbury 
 college, inVermont'. 
 
39 
 
 In Arithmetic, our own countrymen, Pike, Root^ 
 WiLLET, and the Picketts, have given eJs- good 
 systems as any of the English. Let me heg of 
 you tiiot to neglbct this study, if you do not wisM 
 to appear awkward wheii yCu come into business; 
 I have known a man of capacity and exterisive ac- 
 quirements to be sneered at by a boorish bldck- 
 Ifeadj who happened, however, to be superior to 
 him in the calculation of simple inteifest/ Do not, 
 then, expose yourselves to such a dilemma, for 
 the want of a little industry : For certain it is— 
 
 " Fate never wounds more deep the gen'rous heart, 
 
 " Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart." V 
 
 And how let me press upon you the necessity of 
 a very diligent pursuit of the course of study I 
 have prescribed ; ufiless indeed some more expe- 
 rienced hand shall direct you to a better one : 
 For believe me, if your friends and your country 
 have much to fear from your ignorance and yoirt" 
 vices, which may prove their ruin in the hour of 
 danger; th^y have as much at least to hope from 
 ydur ' il^elli^eoce and youi* virtues, upon which 
 they fti&y safely rely, wherl assailed by foreign 
 foes, or domestic traitors, ' . 
 
 Think not, in the spirit of the sluggard, that I 
 ask too much of you; that you will want time to 
 accomplish all that I demand. If you have soufs 
 of heaveinly mould,- you will find time, and that 
 too without infringing yo«r duty elsewhere. Yon 
 will trim the midnight lamp, when the worthless, 
 idle youth is slumbering in his insignificance. And 
 here let me tcUyou plainly, that without jncossatYt 
 
*0 
 
 application, no man ever did or ever will become 
 truly great, in science or in art. It is the law of 
 nature, that whatever is Avorth possessing, is to be 
 conquered by exertion. If, therefore, you would 
 win the prize, you must push forward, and linger 
 njot in the race. 
 
 The studies I have pointed out to you, the whole 
 course of, them, can be accomplished, by tt^e re- 
 gular and. unremitted devotion of two hours daily, 
 during an apprenticeship of from four to seven 
 years; but suppose they should demand, every mi- 
 nute you can justly claim as your own.? What 
 then ? Is it a hardship to devote your youth to the 
 acquisition of knowledge, thait your grey hairs may 
 be crowned with honour! Spurn all base .calcula- 
 tions that would compromise reputation w:ith plea- 
 sure,- and pay not that you will attend to thia, im- 
 portant concern when you become your own masr 
 ters; for, well am I, aw are,, that nothing you may 
 promise now, can be. performed then, ^foutfe ip 
 the season of study. This, has bejen demonstrated 
 by the experience of thousands whphave attempt- 
 ed the pursuit of studies to which they had beep 
 strangers in youth, after, arriving at manhood, and 
 assuming the practical duties pf life. The per- 
 plexities, of business, the calls of friendship and 
 humanity,, the rites .of hospitality, th^ duties of a 
 citizen, which break in, in spite of evej^y effort tp 
 avoid them, and, suspend a favourite study, or de^ 
 stroy the order of a mental contemplation, .all; for- 
 bid the visionary attempt topursue science, when 
 we ought to begin to taste its fruit. It is true, thai 
 
10fK and then £t trahscendeiit genius rise* in thei 
 mental world, like a comet in the physical, to as- 
 tonish and confound thie schools, by dverleapirig thi 
 oiftiitary ruggefd'paths to science and to fame, fiol 
 the horizon of oUr infant country, we have beheld j 
 such eccentric orbs, whose rayS have not only , 
 dazzled our oWn e^es, but reflected their splen- 
 dor upon the aegis of distant nations. Those 
 orbs have descended from our horizon ; they have' 
 gone to femingle their beams with the eternal foun- . 
 tain from whence they sprung: But even through] 
 the dark shade of the vale of death theii* l^lit 
 ahall still arise : And ages to come shall hallow 
 the flame of genius which will ever ascend in pyre 
 alld'tihitafegted lustre from the tombs of RfTTSN- 
 Hotrsw, Franklin, and Fulton !* rf^;g ■ 
 
 Away then, my yoohg friends, with the daistard- 
 s^iMt' of the sluggard, that creeps with the mole, 
 wiken it ought to be soaring with the eagle; that 
 Ifes grovelling in the dust, when it ought to be wing* 
 ii^ its -vray to immortality ! This was not the spirit ' 
 by 'which Franklin made his' way from the work- ; 
 shop of a printer W the cabinets of philosophers, 
 aad the cduricHs of |)rinces ! But if the examples of 
 RiTTENHousE, Franklin and Fulton, will not move 
 you to resolve on a career of glory, I will give you one 
 aMeast worthy of eternal retnembrance and univer- 
 sal emulation. 'liOtafe, then, to the great apostle of 
 Christianity: '■'■Of the Jeivs^mys Paul, five times, re- 
 »eiv«i Ifortysiriftes, save one. Thrice vms I beaten mitk 
 
 • See an Essay, wri(tei) by tlie aathot of this A^dre?s, ib littmthtiMjti^liti, 
 oJNbv. Mth.ins. 
 
 6 
 
43- 
 
 l>i once was I sloned, thrice I s^<Sred' shipwrick, a 
 Might and a day I have been in the deep: InjoUtneyings 
 often, irtp6iib of waters) in pirils ofrobbirs^ inperik by 
 Mke own countrymen, in perils by the heathefi, in perils 
 i^the city, in perils in the ibildkimess, in p'irils in the seal 
 in, perils' imwMg false brethren,; in weariness and pain- 
 fulrksSy in loatchings often, in hunger and thirst, infast- 
 ii^S'ofieh, in cotd dndnalcedkess. N'OW,' then, if for 
 tKt! sake of the cause al6ne in which he was en- 
 gaged, and for no selfish ends, this immortal spirit 
 ceiald elidure patiently, nay, glory in Such unpa- 
 ra^ed SuSeringS ; will you, whose lines have 
 bwe^' cast by ' youlr beneficent Creator in plea- 
 saiit places; will you reftise, in the morning of 
 your days, the small, the almost naineless sa-* 
 crifice of your idle and insignificant amusements, 
 y6tir ridictilous frippery of dress, your disgust- 
 ing foppishness of manners; your unhallowed 
 walks to the race-ground, to the gamb1ing»t-ablevto 
 the grog Shdj^; to those temples of infamy and pol- 
 lution, tb^ steps of whose inmates lead dloWti' t<* 
 the gates of hell: "iviliycfu,' 1 repeat* if, refuse' tS 
 reliii^sh these unhallowefd and detestable walks, 
 tfiese pleasures, so vile, so worthless, thAtyoWmay 
 in th^ meridiai4 of your days enj6y wealth and'hSp- 
 pifiesg, ease and dignity, honor and reputation ! 
 
 Permit me here t6 redite art anecdote,' of whicl* 
 jtm canhot but feel the force. Bu%a*fe#'days sinCe^ 
 ayduii^ black man entered myoflSce, and inquired 
 aftcFTOy son. Wh'aty said -I, do you Want of my son ? 
 Why, sir, Said he, I have got into a dispute with a 
 ^oung lian whtr asserts that Mark Anthony was the 
 
<3 
 
 IJaesar, I9|»4 one of the conspjratpi^j bgj 
 I ^£^iiitp,in tliat he wag Caesar's frifipd ;., and we have 
 agreed, sir, to leave it to your soi? |q settle the dis- 
 pute. The fire of inteUigence beamed in his da^l 
 eye ; bis whole countenance aod deportment seigm- 
 edto say — "am I not a man and,a brother," and Ife|t 
 foff him a Buddt% involuntary emotion of respect 
 Is not this iSimple anecdote a :gFoof thfit the d^y- 
 spring from on high is descending upon $he long- 
 benighted negro race?„ But whether ^s be sp 
 or not, j|hall it ever, tq your shame., be said, ,^at 
 %ere is in Albany even a solitary, s^ple son ^f 
 ^fiiea, in all -prpbability born a slave, sn4 still a 
 slave, who is amhitipnato bur|Sti.the fettexs of his 
 mind, and emer^irom ignorance and degradation; 
 3vhi^ you, whose birlh-right is l^eedom, and who 
 have been! taught to boast a sfai^r. s^in and pfifer 
 Mood, shall suffer your immortal spirits to rifst in 
 indol^ee, or revel in the paths that lead to rifin 1 
 0od focbid tha^ even tjue of you should be so lost 
 to virtue ! Foriftijqrejbe one such among you, and 
 that.jone divinely ^fted with the creative powers pf 
 ge^iip, he ,is so much worse than thp petty .ffil^ir 
 laal who steals the filthy lucre jaf our purses, .that.he 
 rQbs himself-T'he robs hi$ friends and his country — 
 he robsposterityandmankind^-he robs high heaveri 
 of thafebavwity which was bestowed, for nobler 
 ends ; .for the benefit x^ men andthejeonteDaplation 
 of ang^lsi: — And M eternal peyditionbe not the fcite 
 ©f his# s^, scorn and contempt shall piHrswOj^ini 
 thrqiiighlife; in death no pious han4; shall close 
 Itts. eyef ;< no tear of reverence or fond' re^ft sliali 
 
44 
 
 flow to his memorj; and his grave shall be lonely 
 and unmarked for ever, save by the er^ions of the 
 venomous reptile, and the ravages of the -devouring 
 Jaickal ! 
 
 ; Though I have pointed oui to i^ou the sources 
 whence you may derive instruction in all the duties 
 oflife; I shall not conclude without a few remarks 
 upon the particular relationship which esiste be- 
 tween you and your masters;- and Jlikewise . upoa 
 your diE^y to your parents. . - ' 
 
 The duty which you owe to your master is not an 
 a]3^:mte,but a conditional duty. If your master per- 
 forni his obligations to you, then you are bound by 
 ■ the letter and spirit of your Indentures, and by every 
 tie of honour and gratitude, to be zealously faithful 
 to him, to labour for. him with the utmost diligence ; 
 to take all possible care of his interest, to watch over 
 it as you would your own with all the mental vigour 
 and .discernment jem posses-: to keep ia^ithMly 
 his secrets, and those of his family ; for in every 
 family there are circumstances, so frail is human- 
 ity, from which the domestic veil ought never to 
 bfe removed J; and viler than the sneaking fox, 
 meaner than the meanest reptile that creeps 
 in the dust, is he who, from any consideration, 
 however specious or plausible, woU'14f rudely 
 tear asid© this sjaoreds veil of domestic distraction, 
 disquietude or aMiction. The character, indeed^ 
 of a tale-bparer, a mischief-maker, is the m©st des- 
 pica})le of all charactera; and ever has been, and 
 ever will be, an object of contempt, in^^every circle 
 where* good sense and correct feelings prevail 
 
45- 
 
 Your master stands in the room of ybtir parent, aria 
 you ovr^ hirtP^'thierefore, filial as well as fcoveWMrifeor 
 i^on^eational duty ; and y/HUe on the one hand ydl 
 ought not to be^ wronged by him with imptttf^'; 
 fb^ ought not on the other hand, to be 6tfer-"nicfein 
 exacting all that-ydtt may conceive due to ybuat 
 Ms hknds!^ Remember that while he learns ii6i\l- 
 ing of you, you learn of bim thaf art %hich i^^to SQ|»- 
 port yoa 4te©u^ life ; that he is t)dttnd ttii sustaif 
 you, whilst learning it, in sickness as wfeH as in 
 health ; remember too, thit while he shares yt>ur 
 labour,,-yo# sharefeonfe bf his risk or re^ponsitllhy. 
 While you sleep in peace, he is freqtiietitly l^t 
 awake by cave and anxiety to provide for j^our 
 tvants as well as his own. While you go on dii^othty 
 at home, he is frequently called abroad to travel 
 through *stbJ*Biy seasons on troublesome aiid pigr- 
 ^texing businfess. If then at* some times he dti hot 
 •d^h¥e to you as kind as at others, or do not fulfill '^t 
 all times all that j^r too ardent feeHttgs, perhaps^ 
 may liffad ylfS to expect; so Idti'g as his condiicl 
 towards yoti catin'df be ddnstrued int'd vrilfiil neglect 
 erf the care and protection whteh he is l>ound' to 
 extend to' you, it would iltbefdome yon t#l>reak but 
 into dfsbbe^ience, and disgrace yourselves by un** 
 rtily behaviour. In no case, indeed, ought you 
 thQ# to disgrace -yourselves. But inaltfenhappy' 
 dMferences which arise betvreifti^fdUi resolve, that 
 ifh« forget Ms duty yon willttot forget 3*5"lif^ ; that 
 you wiH,^by the Cahn dignity of^*n#^depdriffl^' 
 your patience under sufferfng,- Convince hirti, that 
 jm merit better treatment *than cdd-i^fltect or^ 
 
ityranpical abuse ; and,if this magnanimity on your 
 .part do not awaken him to a sense jo^justice, let 
 youri|i(Sfc.?ippealbe tothat law Ayiiieh is the com- 
 mon protector of the high and tjte., low, jthe bond 
 and the frep ; that law which contains within its 
 ample provisions a shield for every right, a remedy 
 for ev£ry wrong^^^^t law which is the pride s^u^ 
 &|ory. of your country, to purchase whipji your tenr 
 |der inotjtiers have full often gope weepiqg to the 
 lonely pillow^ while your gallant fathers vpent fortl) 
 to cpnquer or to perish in the field. , ,, 
 
 To'^ your masters it might be deemed imperti- 
 nent to address myself on this. occasion, as my,, bu- 
 siness here seem^ to be exclusively with ypu; 
 But I may be permitted to say, that so long as you 
 |hall perform your duty to them, I have to<j much 
 confidence in their virtue and good sense, to sus- 
 pect them of bad faith towards you : For callous 
 indeed must be the^man to every just and noble 
 sentiment, who will not cherish by kindness and 
 affection the f iftuous youth who studies to excel in 
 his professional pursuits, and to discharge with 
 fidelity §11^ his obligations. 
 
 Let me ^warn you against an error, which too 
 many apprentices fall into, who conceive, that from 
 the moment they are indented, their parents have 
 ^o further claims, upon them. It is true, indeed^ 
 that the parent cannot claim any thing which is due 
 to the master. But filial piety and afiection are 
 ties of nature, which no artificial or adveintitipus 
 ties can sever. Continue, thepefi>jjf, not only to 
 Ioye,l3»uttQcherish, if requisite, soifar as you can 
 
db so, your ten3gr and affectionate parents "; ana 
 the more especially if they be labouring undlll a^e 
 and infirmity, and cast into the vale of ppverty. 
 Give all the succour in your power to their watits," 
 soothe their decuning years, and their infltmiti(|i, 
 by acts of gratitude and kindhesSf'|A.hd beware, if 
 fon woiild nbtkindle'a'ga&istyott-the wrath of your 
 Eternal Judge, in the great daj-of account, how 
 ybu adopt any course of conduct that shall wring 
 their aged hearts with anguish, and precipitate 
 their grey heirs with sorrOw to the grave. O ! never, 
 never Tet il be said of you, that ybu have with par- 
 rSjidal insensibility dissolved the tie? of filial af- 
 fection'; tfiatybii have barbarously land wickedly 
 
 " Stepp'd a mother's couch in tears, 
 "And ting'd a father's glowing cheek with shame." 
 
 But rather Jet me aijtiqipjate, as I do with emotions 
 inexpressible, indescribable,, thft you will notonly. 
 never disturb the peace of a father's mind ; but 
 tbgLiyouf BiQthers shall, re^alise the bright^ the coi;i- 
 Sfliing picture of the ^weet Poet of Hope: 
 
 " Lo ! at the couch where infant beauty sleep^ 
 ■ " Her silent watch the BJOurn|ul mother. keftps7*ii- 
 " She, while tlie !oyeJy^babe^,ancon|ci^u8 liMy 
 " Soiiles on her slumb'ringj child with pensive eyes, 
 " AncI weaves a song oiF melancholy joy — 
 '«'Si^p,1mi»g^*bf thy father, sleep, my boy t 
 " No Mng'ring li(inr of sorrow shall he thine ; 
 " No sigh that rends thy father^ heart and mine : 
 j'iBright a? bis m»nly sire, the son shall be 
 " In form and soul : but, ah ! more West than he S 
 "Thy fame, thy worth, thy filial love, at. Ja|t, 
 '" skll soothe^liiis aching heart for a^ the ftst^ 
 
4«. 
 
 ,. ," With many asjnile my solitude rfepayi 
 
 " And chase the wprld's ungenerous scoru away. 
 
 •' A.pd say, when summoned from the world and. thee, 
 " I lay my head beneath the willow tree ; 
 " Wilt thou, sweet mourner, at niy stone a]>pear, 
 " And soothe my parted spirit lingering near ? 
 " Oh ! wilt thouu;ome ! §rt evening hour, to shed 
 " The tears of met^jry o*er my narrow bed ; • 
 •'jWith-achinjgtemples on thy hand reclined, 
 " Mifte on the last farewell I leave behind, 
 " Breathe a deep sigh to i<feds that murmur low, 
 " And think on all my love, and all my woe !" 
 
 Hlbfore I part jWith you, I feel bound to touch up- 
 on tifo tender points, points whicjb I should not 
 touch upon if I had not your happiness at heart. 
 On the subject of your politicali^and religious opin- 
 ions, freedom is your charter and your birth-right, 
 But there is, says Solomon, a time- and a season for 
 ali things. Suffer me then to advise you, as I woul# 
 nay own childreH, n^Mo be diecisive in peliticsj till 
 ^iperience shall have ripened your- judgment. As 
 fmi advance in life, you will perceive that- party 
 spirit is^pt always the spirit of patriotism^ A great 
 man, indeed, has said, that party spirit is the mad- 
 ness of majay for the gain of a few. Be this as it 
 iQay, the modesty of youth, that modesty which I 
 i|£Qiilc;g^4 in the commepcement of this Address, 
 may weU preserye jou from plunging into the vor- 
 tex ©f party-strife, and bearding grey-headed men 
 with yoar crude and ill-digested notions. Believe 
 me, if your doraitry is not safe in the wisdom and 
 virtue of your fathers and guardians, that your igno- 
 rance ^nd inexperience cannot save her. Wait, 
 
^49 
 
 then, in politics, till you become your awn raasterg-i, 
 and know^ow to beware of demagogues who will 
 attempt to make tools of you to subserve their cgwn 
 sinister view^ On this ground your danger ife great; 
 and the more|o in proportion as you possess^^^feius,^ 
 generosity aM magnanimity: ^or the deHia|o|n€, 
 who is climbingtopowerwitlfcpatric»tismf9>rhis watch 
 word and selfishrteas foi* his end, will take ads^filgte 
 of your generous'credulity. He will flattir you with 
 Such small attentions as .fill tickle your vanity or 
 pride and excite your graititude. You will thi^ *in- 
 sensibly be caught in his toils, and led into i^sijp- 
 "^Itert of his vie w^. ^He will use you for all his*pur- 
 -j^ses in advancing to power; and when he has 
 reached the suirifflt of his ambition, he wilMeavfe 
 you where he foilnd you, in the shade of obscurity, 
 to mourn over the waste of your talents and your 
 ■finie at ihe shrine of IngitititMe. What a depl^- 
 ^bie^Tf^hat a melancholy waste is that, when the 
 youthM prime of genius is exhausted in subserving 
 ffie yie^' of unprincipled ambition. Bewarfe, 
 then, bf unequal connections. We have,|jt is true, 
 ©tie far^ instance on record, of real frieiAt^ip, not- 
 withstanding great disparity of conditio^-a Prince 
 ©f Israel an3 a Shephetd's#6y united in iflije'feWeei. 
 est bonds of amity. " T^e- sord of Jon^h&n wm 
 bound up in the soul of David, and Jonathan lomd fiini 
 a$ Ms own stmV Bttt this is a moral plienometoon j 
 'tit k^ the cdmet of a th&isahd years,'*tb th^ count*. 
 'ies^stars W a cloudless night. Wait, therefore, i 
 r^pEf# ft, before you enter the mazes of ^poiiticaj 
 dis&il, till yom teii0#-lomethii^ ©f the public cs^' 
 
eacters, the history, the eonstittttion,' the laws and 
 iwe true policy of your cauntry ; till youvcan cona.- 
 prehejid^ when entering upon the service ^f a party, 
 Whe^fer it be cemw^ted by a gordr^loye ©f. power, 
 or a generous love of principle; wWetherit be en- 
 listed under the b^ner$jj||if the ComNatntion, that 
 eacrjei' ari of the covenant of liberty, or led by dem- 
 ftgbgiaeg* to an inglorious Conflict for the loaves and 
 .fishes. Mr. Jeiffiferson ha^happily said, if thepeo- 
 'pje are not capable of^elf-gwemment, neither 
 AAfe angels been sent; in the shape of kings to 
 '^^pi them : And I may safely add, that if amgels 
 have never assumed the shape of kings to bless our 
 fallen race, in free gov)eraiments,,deTO?igogues have 
 too often asfeumed the shape irf angels, to the ruin 
 of liberty and the commonwealth. * 
 
 In "religionj I will, on this occasion, adopt tj^ 
 .T\^rds of the 'prophet Isaiah, In addressing hjpf 
 pelf, to God, he ex^ims — '■'• Dottbtkss thou urt'bv^ 
 fMifer, though Abraham be, ignorant of us, and^efl 
 acknoiokdge ui not.'''' I wiM not, therefore, ask y«« 
 to li^t ^he torch of your faith at the tombs of th^ 
 ^ou^^n m .the Protestaint Fathers. I will wot tell 
 ^ou of the rack of Muntzer, or the stake of Serve- 
 ius; of the njassacre of St. Bartholomew'; of tl^ 
 ;fls^me^ that c#nsume4 th« martyrs ©fSmithfield, or 
 the b|oqid that flowed upon the hrlls and in the^ vales 
 of Scotland, that the CamerqnIanB might construe 
 and enjtfy the mySteFJe^::and't,b,e blessings of the 
 povenant 'in tbeiF pwn way. But I must and will 
 give youmj^ parting advipe, and leave you to rumi- 
 fjipite in ^plitude and "^'ith freedom upon the value 
 
ftf what I ^asM hm«^ remajrk. :Whj4e t^ylipmibl^ 
 Smne sh^M; b? m<?.ulcl«riBgiii its. native dust, aiid the 
 Jips whieh new gTOfI 350U with |the,'^(Q4l^t^ Dfu% 
 a^«qite4 good wilj, ^all be siieikeed in the i^sffef 
 the guaRC ; you wiU,, pei^ps, lall Ajf iyou, he mdgiiig 
 on intheMesRdian of yftMAay.^an^ JnpMj^f 
 
 do* I hope, in a carreer 6;ra^li6ity,j^nour qxid u^je^, 
 fiilness. But whatever may, be. j|6ur destiny, in li/e, 
 whethcF gliding on the v^acid streapot of prosperity, 
 or tost upon the boisterojK billows M adversity, let 
 me advise you to study the Evidences of ChriplJEp- 
 fty by Addison, Paley aild Pojiteus ; let j&s cpp^p 
 you to believe, and .never for a momjent to for^et»^ 
 that without piety to God, man, with all the endear- 
 ing ties that bind %im to eawh, is but ia desolate 
 "and miserable being.? — Loyte, Friendship, Consan- 
 guinity and Affection, those grand ties of social ex- 
 ^Ikenoe, serve but to embitter our min^s in the ho*ir 
 of cal%mity, if we cannot loci&^ God, the Eternal 
 0jie, to soothe our agonies, and to *calm our fears. 
 While thereftwe the impious man, has no resting^ 
 place to sustain him^against. the shocks o^misfor- 
 tujie, and the floods of woe, with what ^nfidejice. 
 ajid consolation can he who cherishes I%t;f,.^thei' 
 sheet-anchor, of the soul, anpea} to his Everlasting 
 Father, when smarting.under th« ro^ of affliction. 
 " Though,''^ says the Psalmist, " /jwa/^ in the midst of 
 trcnAk, thou wiM revive me ; thou ihalt stretch forth^irut 
 hand against the wratltof my enemies^ av^thy right hand 
 shall save me." 
 
 As you value then, all the pure s&id precious joys 
 offcan, all the pacious andglq^us gifts of Go4; 
 
cherish, O cherfeh, I besee^ you, ijJiat li%h' aiid 
 holy spirit, which wiU lead you safeI}^|^o»^ th€ 
 i&torMy ocean of liie;'^ligbt.yQtf seren4y throu^ 
 the dftlfc and tremehddUs valedf dfatfe; usher yoo 
 triuinpliBaitiand*i*e}oicing,mto the s^iety ofangels^, 
 and* sustain you for ever; in the pwrs^M^ of the 
 I.or'd of IjOrds, and King -^^ Kings. 
 
3S^