MARIETTA, GA:
HUNT & CAMPBELL, PUBLISHERS.
Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Boles Collection
special collections
emory university
AN ADDKESS
bELiVERED BEFORE
THE PHI KAPPA SOCIETY,
FRANKLIN COLLEGE, GA.
AT THE
Annual Commencement, 1849>
BY THE REV. JOHN JONESL
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY.
MARIETTA, GA:
HUNT & CAMPBELL, PUBLISHERS.
COKEESPONDEtfCir,
PHI KAPPA HALL, >
Franklin College, Aug. 4,18491 $
To Rkv. John Jones.
Dear Sir:
We, the undersigned, have been appointed a
committee, by the Phi Kappa Society, to return its warmest thanks to-
you for the able manner in which you-sustained the reputation of the So¬
ciety. and respectfully to solicit a copy of your interesting and highly in-
-• i ii. iivr adtlros for publication. While communicating the above resolu¬
tion, permit us to add our personal regards and wishes for your welfare.
Yours very respectfully,
R.J.BACON, )
J. WALKER,
11, Q,. MALLARD, Committee,
T. ANDERSON, |
T. WALKER. )
MARIETTA, AUG. 11,1849'.
To Messrs.
R. J. Bacon,
J'. Walker, i .
R. Q,. Mallard, > Committee.
T. Anderson, |
T. Walker. jt
Gentlemen:
Your kind and polite note, re¬
questing a copy Of my address for publication, has been received, The
address is at your service. You can dispose of it as you think best.—
Please accept for yourselves individually, and for the welfare of our be¬
loved Society, my most cordial and best wishes.
Very respectfully yours,
JOHN JONES.
ADDRESS.
Respected Auditory :—
I rise before you at this time,
and in this place, with feelings of no ordinary interest. The
remembrance of the past ; my former relations with this
beloved and venerated Institution ; the presence of Re¬
spected Teachers, for whom I ever cherish a filial reverence ;
the meeting of so many Brother Alumni, and other Elite
of the land—all combine to interest, embarrass, and al¬
most overwhelm me at this moment. To stand before you,
at the close of so many brilliant exercises, savours not a lit¬
tle of presumption.
But I will hope for your indulgence ; and trust that it may
be with you as it was at ancient feasts.—" Every man at
the beginning did set forth good wine ; and when men had
well drunk, then, that which is worse." This is my hope?
that you are so " well drunk," not with the genuine ardent,
but with the rich libations of literature, that your critical
taste will have lost its keenness, and like mellow sons of
Bacchus, you will be pleased alike with that which is good,
and that which " is worse."
We propose for your attentive consideration, a subject of
deep and practical interest: The influence of the Bible on
man as a social being. Man is by nature, and from necessi¬
ty, a social being. What animal so helpless at birth, and
so much, and so long dependent in the early years of life ?
This natural dependence calls for the care and society of
his fellow man. And having enjoyed that society and care,
he insensibly learns to love and cherish the guardians of
childhood and youth. And, as time passes on, he in turn,
4
ADDRESS,
is called to feel and fulfil similar cares and responsibilities ;
and those cares bestowed, and responsibilities felt, excite
love and interest in the objects which claim them. Thus
each generation becomes the connecting link of the pre-'
ceding and succeeding generations. Thus, mankind are
bound together in families, in communities and nations ; and
the social principle leads to mutual interest, exertion, and im¬
provement—and hence, one of the great studies of men, has
been, the cultivation, and improvement of the social princi¬
ple, in reference either to the family, the community, or the
State. And the point, that we would establish, is, that the
Bible is best adapted of all systems of morals or refinement,
to exercise a proper influence on man as a social being.
That civilization, arts, and literature, have done much, to
refine and polish mankind, is most cheerfully accorded. But,
after all that they have done, they come short of fathoming
the deepest fountain in the bosom of man, his moral feelings.
There remains a fatal deficiency, a want of some final and
fundamental influence, which will regulate the whole man.
This must be a moral influence ; an influence which will
lead men to do right, aside from the presence and prevention
of their fellow men ; when passions might be gratified with-
out shame or infamy, and crimes perpetrated, without dis¬
covery and punishment. Such a moral influence produces
three grand elements of right feeling and action in all good
society, confidence, respect, benevolence.
Such an influence, and such society, are found only in
christian lands ; because the Bible is the best of all moral
systems in its regulation of man as a social being. And we
proceed to establish this point, not by a course of abstract
reasoning, but, by an examination and comparison of facts ;
and a contrast of christian nations, with the most enlighten¬
ed which have not enjoyed, or have rejected the light of
Revelation. And then, we will explain the reasons of thia
contrast.
Let us therefore glance into the domestic economy of a
few nations which were destitute of the sacred scriptures.
Take two, celebrated in antiquity, Persia and Rome.
The Persians are said to have had " the purest of all un¬
inspired religions," and the best adapted to elevate tHe soul.
They worshipped God through the heavenly luminaries, the
most glorious exhibitions of His great power and wisdom.
Their religion, or rather their religious philosophy, recog¬
nised the existence of the two opposite principles, good antj
evil; and they sought to explain the great problem which
has always confounded human reason, by the supposition of
ADDRESS.
two opposing Divinities, presiding over the destinies of the
world.
Such a religion pleased the curious, amused the sceptic,
and gratified the dissolute. It played around the head, but
came not to the heart. It exerted no salutary influence
upon man as a social being. A writer of high authority has
remarked, " that the history of Persia is a compendium of
crimes, suffering and intolerance." " A despot ruled the
State, and Polygamy, that despotism in miniature, gave
law to the domestic and private relations of the people."
This last expression explains the difficulty, and developes
the cause of their trouble—the prevalence of a system
which utterly annihilates even the form of a family ; which
smothers female influence and affection, and parental love,
and filial reverence. And instead of mutual confidence, we
find dark suspicion, and sleepless jealousy ; instead of re¬
spect, there is the bondage of fear; and instead of benevo¬
lence, hatred and revenge, and slumbering enmity. And
the numerous progeny of such an economy, know not the
blessed influences of parental love and authority, and are
acknowledged and held, for selfish and mercenary ends,
and not as loved and cherished offspring. And as a natural
and certain consequence, domestic confidence, respect, and
benevolence, so crushed and prostituted, can never expand
into social or civil influence, and adapt the rising youth to
adorn society, or honor the State. Such was ancient Per¬
sia, and such is Turkey, and every modern nation where
polygamy prevails, and the social institutions are perverted
and degraded. And no more can be expected of a country
" where woman fades at twenty—is decayed at thirty—and
at five and thirty sinks into the. grave." It is too sadly true,
that the female sex estimate themselves, according to the
relative value attached to them by the opposite sex. Wherev¬
er the Bible is obeyed, and the social relations honored, and
the sex elevated, there man is ennobled, and female charac¬
ter ever susceptible of the highest culture, returns a rich and
generous reflection.
Let us turn for a moment to Rome, that bright and mag¬
nificent empire, whose faded glories, like the lingering rays
of sunset, still cast a golden lustre upon the arts, literature,
arms, government, but not the social institutions of the
present age.
Says a modern writer : "If any man will examine the
history of Rome, from the institution of the Regal Govern¬
ment, to the expulsion of Tarquin : from the consulship es¬
tablished by Brutus, to the magistracy of the military Tri~
ADDRESS.
buries ; from the usurpation of Cinna, to the supreme pow¬
er of Augustus ; and from Augustus to Constantine ; lie
will see dissimulation, revolt, tumult, slaughter, revolution,
despotism, servitude, peace and war, and where the evils of
peace, were not unfrequently the worst calamities. And in
what manner shall we account for such dreadful evils, if we
do not attribute them to the absence of a Bible influence ;
and particularly, in the control of the social relations ? What
then was the condition of the social institutions, when the
Roman empire was in the zenith of its glory ?
The laws of a country generally furnish a fair index of
its moral as well as its civil condition.
The then existing laws of Rome will answer.
A legal marriage among the Romans, was performed in
three different ways.
The first was a kind of social compact, without ceremony
or solemnity. The second was solemnized by the High
Priest : and the third was a mutual purchase, when a man
and woman were married, by delivering to each other a
small piece of money, and repeating a few words. Only
one of the three forms, had the least solemnity. The law
of divorce existed for many hundred years in the early re-*
public without abuse ; but contrary to expectation it was
greatly abused in the later ages of the republic. Husbands
might at all times divorce their wives for the most trivial cir¬
cumstance, or to satisfy the most whimsical caprice. And
latterly, the same privilege was granted to wives also ; and
afterwards, some women deserted their husbands, so fre¬
quently and with so little shame, that " Seneca says they
reckoned their years not from the number of consuls, but
from the number of husbands." The influence of such laws
and customs, might be easily conjectured ; but there are
many facts which leave no room for conjecture. And we
see that the facility of obtaining divorces introduced the same,
and even worse evils than Polygamy. " The nuptial tie of¬
fered no barrier either to motives of ambition, wealth, pow¬
er, or irregulated passion."
A modern writer remarks, " that the private history of
women of the first rank^n Rome, is but a succession of
marriages and divorces ; and he establishes the remark by
the following facts. " Octavia the daughter of the emperor
Claudius, married Nero, and was repudiated by him for the
sake of Poppsea. Poppsea herself was first married to
Rufus Crispinus ; then to Otho ; and at length to Nero who
killed her with a violent blow.
'* For his third wife Nero married Thessalina, and to pos-
ADDRESS.
r
sess her, murdered her husband." " Julia the daughter of
Augustus, was married first to Marcellus, then to Agrippa,
and then to Tiberius." " Livia Orissulla was on the eve of
a marriage with Caius Piso, when Cafigula enamoured of
her beauty, carried her off by force, and in a few days di¬
vorced her." " Marc Antony, who was married to Octavia,
the sister of Augustus, repudiated Octavia because he was
in love with Cleopatra." " Within thirty days, Thessalina
married her tenth husband, and legally evaded the restraints
of law."*
These facts clearly reveal the operation and inefficiency
of the Roman laws, versus Roman customs ; and they show-
that the marriage bond was nothing worth in such a state
of things. But the people make the laws, and not the laws
the people. A virtuous people will enact sober and righte¬
ous laws; and a licentious and wicked people, will ever leg¬
islate for their own vices, and guard their own crimes. Such
was the fact in enlightened literary Rome, destitute of the
influence of the sacred scriptures.
The marriage relation being thus degraded, as a certain
consequence, the parental and filial relations were lightly
esteemed, and failed to produce confidence, respect, and
love. And for the proof, we are directed again to the laws
of Rome, and corresponding facts.
"A father among the Romans had the power of life and
death over his children. He could expose them to die when
infants ; and when grown up, he might imprison, scourge,
send them bound to work in the country, and also put them
to death by any punishment of which he thought them de¬
serving."
Hence a father was called a domestic judge or magistrate.
A son could acquire no property without his father's consent;
and what he did acquire, was his peculium as that of a
slave.—The condition of a son was in some respects harder
than that of a slave.
" A slave when sold once, became free ; a son not unless
sold three times." The power of the father was suspended
only during such time as the son was promoted to any public
♦ Note. Such was the extent of female licentiousness in the highest
classes at Rome, and such the inefficiency of the laws, that a special de¬
cree was passed in the reign of Tiberius, ordering " that no woman whose
grandfather, or father, or husband was a Roman Knight, should be allow¬
ed to make her person venal." Such a decree reveals the corruption of
the higher classes, and contains in itself unlimited indulgence for the sub¬
ordinate ranks.
8
ADDRESS.
office ; for it continued through the life of the children, and
extended even to grand children. Such laws and rights*
converted every family into a domestic despotism : and the
framers of such laws did certainly entertain the smallest
share of affection for their children ; and facts demonstrate,
that the children of such parents, were provoked rather un¬
to wrath, than to love, respect and confidence*
It is stated that in Rome under the emperors, " it was
considered an advantage to be childless and fathers often
renounced their children for the estimation and flattery of
those who sought their inheritance. It was no strange oc¬
currence for children to take sides with the enemies of their
parents, and lend personal aid in accomplishing their des¬
truction. " Nero poisoned his own mother, and Seneca, one
of the wisest and best of the heathen philosophers was ac¬
cessory to the base transaction." And Roman history fur-1
nishes us with a fact of a son procuring the death of a kind
father. " The father of Caius Toranius had been pro¬
scribed by the triumviate. Caius Toranius coming over ta
that party, discovered to the officers, who were in pursuit of
his father's life, the place where he concealed himself, and
gave them a description by which they might distinguish his
person. The old man more anxious for the safety and for¬
tunes of his son, than the little which might remain of his own
life, began immediately to inquire of the officers who seized
him, whether his son was well, and whether'he had done his
duty to the satisfaction of his generals ? That son, (replied
one of the officers,) so dear to thy affections, betrayed thee to
us ; by his information thou art apprehended, and diest. The
officer with this, struck a poniard to his heart, and the un¬
happy man fell, not so much affected by his fate, as by the
means to which he owed it." How astounding would such &
fact be in christian lands.
These facts have been collated, that the difference between
Pagan and christian lands, may be seen in the strong light
of contrast; and that the truth of our starting remark may
be evident. 1
Civilization, literature and arts, may accomplish much for
man, but the Bible can do most. If the Bible be absent,
there will be a fatal deficiency, and absolute want of a final
and fundamental influence, a moral balance wheel that will
regulate and control the whole system, and produce the
grand principles of right feeling and action amongst man¬
kind. Another illustration we introduce from one of the
most powerful and intelligent of modern nations. We re¬
fer to that period in the history of France when Christianity
ADDRESS.
9
Was proscribed by law. It is " said that all circumstances
favored the success of the experiment." Learning, philo-
sophy, refinement, politeness, were in their highest state of
perfection. But the result is written in letters of blood !
The social institutions and morals of the nation were re¬
duced to a most shocking degradation. An eye witness
of the whole scene, and an actor in some parts of it, has
drawn the following sketch : " Multiplied cases of suicide ;
prisons crowded with innocent persons ; permanent guillo¬
tines ; perjuries of all classes; parental authority set at
naught ; debauchery encouraged by an aUowance to those
called unmarried mothers :—nearly six thousand divorces in
the single city of Paris, within a little more than two years
after the law authorized them ; in a word, whatever is most
obscene in vice, and most dreadful in ferocity." And such
continued to be the state of things until Christianity was re¬
stored by an act of government.
And now, let us turn from these lands of Egypt, and look
forth to some country where there is light in the land, and
light in the dwelling. Let its leave these splendid piles of
gilded rubbish, where the true gold is not found, and search
for the simple, yet precious pearl of great price. How
gladly does the mind seek relief from this arid desert of
glittering sands, and fly for shelter to some green spot in the
parched waste, or to the " shadow of a great rock in a
weary land." And whither shall it fly, if not to Bible lands ?
It certainly needs no discussion to prove to a christian au¬
dience, that, in christian lands, and in them alone, there ex¬
ists that true state of society, domestic, social, and civil, in
which are found unfeigned confidence, sincere respect, and
enlarged benevolence. It is a fact which shines in the eye
of the world : he that runs may read, and the wayfaring
man cannot err therein. We would therefore, in the se¬
cond place, endeavor, not so much to prove, as to explain
the reasons of the fact. Why is it, that man is more bles¬
sed, more noble, and more happy, as a social being, in
christian, than in unevangelized lands ? The answer is
plain—the Bible recognizes and respects the social institu¬
tions ; the Bible honors and protects the social relations.
And the Biftle in christian lands, is supreme in authority,-
and ultimate in appeal.
The Holy Scriptures commence at the foundation of all
virtue, and strike at the root of all vice. The great start¬
ing points of the Bible, are the natural and fundamental in¬
stitutions of the human family, marriage and the parental
and filial. The Bible regards marriage as a divine institu-
10
ADDRESS.
tion, and a religious contract. The origin of marriage shows
that God never designed that the abase of polygamy should
creep in ; which, although, tolerated among the ancient Pa¬
triarchs and Hebrews, " was not so from the beginning."
The scriptures guard the marriage bond most strictly, and
pronounce it a perpetual union, to be dissolved- only by crime
or death. He who spake as man never spake, declared
"that a man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to
his wife ; and they twain shall be one." And then, He ad¬
ded those words, which are inscribed on every nuptial altar—
" Whom therefore God hath joined together, let not man
put asunder." The Bible also enjoins in the tenderest terms
the reciprocal dvities of the marriage relation. " Husbands
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave Himself for it."—" Husbands love your wives, and be
not bitter against them." " Let every one of you in par¬
ticular, so love his wife as himself; and the wife see that
she reverence her husband." The Bible honors the mar¬
riage relation, by its high appreciation of female excellence.
How beautiful a picture is drawn of the virtuous woman in
the sacred scriptures :—" Her price is above rubies. The
heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he
shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not
evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax, and
worketh willingly with her hands. She stretcheth out her
hands to the poor ; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the
needy. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth
among the elders of the land. Strength and honor are her
clothing, and she shall rejoice in the time to come. She
openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the
law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her house¬
hold, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children
rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he
praiseth her. Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain ; but a
woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." And
how much has the Bible done to elevate the femate sex ?
And how sadly have other than christian nations debased
female character ?
One class of nations smothers her influence, checks all
virtuous and intellectual expansion, and holds her in du¬
rance, as fatlings for the stall. Another class errs in the
opposite extreme ;—removes all restraints of modesty and
purity, and allows that liberty which degenerates into licen¬
tiousness : such was the fact with the nations of antiquity.
And the condition of females in heathen lands, in the glori¬
ous nineteenth century of the christian era, is hapless and
ADDRESS.
11
pitiable. In the eloquent language of another, " she is
hated and despised from her birth ; and her birth itself re¬
garded a calamity ;—in some countries not even allowed the
rank of a moral and responsible agent;—so tenderly alive
to her own degradation that she acquiesces in the murder of
her female offspring;—immured from infancy;—without ed¬
ucation ;—married without her consent;—in a multitude of
instances sold by her parents ;—refused the confidence of her
husband, and banished from his table ;—on her husbands'
death doomed to the funeral pile, or to contempt that ren¬
ders life a burden." Such is the degraded state of woman,
where the true light does not shine, and darkness covers the
land, and gross darkness the people. But, the Bible finds a
proper station for her, a sphere in which she moves, and
shines, and is happy. It does not call her to reap the hon¬
ors of military achievement—to mingle in the agitations of
the camp, the counsels of the cabinet, or the eloquence of
the forum. It does not even demand for her the right of
suffrage, or " allow her to speak in the house of God."—
But it assigns her own appropriate place in the bosom of her
family ; and there she is second to none, in her proper in¬
fluence. There she is Queen, and her little Kingdom is an
epitome of the world. She confers honor upon her husband ;
her children are reared to virtue and usefulness, and they
rise up and call her blessed. How wonderfully adapted, is
the Bible to the peculiar texture of the sex : God who
made them, knows their distinguishing peculiarities; and
therefore, is his blessed volume most careful to cherish and
guard their tender sensibilities, by insisting upon the love
and fidelity of the husband, the obedience and honor of the
children. The true hearted christian woman finds her pu¬
rest enjoyment in her own cherished home; she seeks no
influence beyond that of love—she desires no other em¬
pire than the heart—she sends forth all her sympathies on
adventure—she embarks her all in the traffic of affection.
If blessed with responding feelings, her gain is unfeigned
happiness ; if saddened by disappointment, her loss is bank¬
ruptcy of the heart, shipwreck of the affections. And the
time would fail us, to mention the happy effects which are
not only promised, but do actually proceed from a parental
influence, based upon the word of God.
The same blessed volume which recognizes the marriage
relation, also marks distinctly, the correlative duties of pa¬
rent and child. To the parent it says, " train up a child in
the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart
from it." And to the child, " honor thy father and mother,
12
ADDRESS.
that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee." To the parent it says, " ye fathers pro-
voke not your children to wrath, lest they be discouraged."
And to the child, " the eye that mocketh at his father,- and
refuseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall
pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." Under the
Mosaic law " the man that cursed his parent, was surely to
be put to death." The Spartans taught their youth to rev¬
erence age ; but Moses commanded, " thou shalt rise up
before the face of the hoary head, and honor the face of the
old man, and fear thy God." How far are the scriptures
from erecting each family into a domestic tyranny, and thus
destroying those grand elements of all good society, confi¬
dence, affection and benevolence. The parental and filial
relations are most sacredly and tenderly cherished by the
word of God—and all these precepts are confirmed by the
example of our Lord. How touchingly beautiful is that in¬
cident, in the closing hours of the Son of God.
The Redeemer was just filling up the measure of His
day on earth, just enacting the last scene of the most
solemn and momentous tragedy ever witnessed by men or
angels. The sins of the world pressed upon Him, and His
soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death! At such
an hour, when all earthly ties might have been forgotten, did
the affectionate Son of God, remember his earthly parent.
She stood by the Cross, watching with agonized heart, the
cruel sufferings of her Son and Lord. " When Jesus there¬
fore, saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he
loved :" He determined to provide for her declining years.
Turning to His Mother, " He said, woman, behold thy Son!
and to the Disciple, behold thy Mother! And from that
hour, that Disciple took her to his own home."
Such are the precepts and examples of the Bible; it is
adapted to man in his original relations. It commences
with him in the family; and as soon as his infant lips can
call the name of God, it folds his little hands upon the lap of
maternal affection, and bids him lisp " Our Father which
art in Heaven." Such families are found only in christian
lands ; they have no record in profane history, and no place
in pagan countries, or infidel nations of the present day.
Such families are the dwelling places of many peaceful and
happy privileges. And the christian traveller finds sweet
refreshment, as he tarries on the last evening of the week,
with some humble cotter, to enjoy the comforts of sacred
rest.
" A,nd when the hour of prayer is come,"
ADDRESS.
13
,!The Priest-like father reads the sacred page,
How Abram was the friend of God on high j
Or, Moses bade eternal warfare wage
With Amalek's ungracious progeny ;
Or how the royal Bard did groaning lie
Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire.
Or, Job's pathetic plaint and wailing cry ;
Or rapt Isaiah's wild seraphic fire ;
Or other holy soers that tune the sacred lyre.
Perhaps the christian volume is the theme,
How guiltless blood was shed, for guilty man ;
How He who bore in Heaven the second name,
Had not on earth whereon to lay his head ;
How His first followers and servants sped;
How he, who lone, in Patmos banished,
Saw in the Sun a mighty Angel stand ;
Ajpd heard great Babylon's doom pronounc'd by heaven's command.
Then kneeling down to heaven's Eternal King.
The Saint/ the Father, and the Husband prays."
We apply this subject to our fellow-citizens generally.
Many are here from our own and sister States. All are in¬
terested in the prosperity of the States, and the stability of
the Union. We have a vast territory ; and a teeming popu¬
lation is rolling its ocean waves upon us, at home and from
abroad. Like a huge Colossus we can lay one hand upon
the Atlantic, and the other upon the Pacific. Including
Texas, New Mexico, Oregon and California, the U. States
now cover an area of three millions two hundred and fifty-
two thousand five hundred and seventy-four square miles ;
and according to the most careful estimates at the General
Land Office, in Washington, two billions, eighty-one mil¬
lions, six hundred and forty-seven thousand, three hun¬
dred and sixty acres. Allow one half for forest and
waste lands, and it is supposed the other moiety, with skill¬
ful tillage, would feed, and clothe a population larger than
the whole number of human beings now on the globe.
What a basis for a republic ! According to the last census,
the annual increase of our population was over six hundred
thousand; the home increase being three hundred and
sixty-six thousand annually, and the increase for for¬
eign immigration, two hundred and fifty thousand. No
doubt our next census will show an increase of one million
per annum. What will be our population fifty years hence ?
Our facilities for improvement are rapidly increasing. We
have six thousand miles of railroad in successful operation.
And not satisfied with steam—we have caught the lightning
and employ it as a swift and willing messenger. Shall this
14
ADDRESS.
great republic live ? Let, no man predict its downfall! But
let us all be alive to every cause that may work its ruin.
There is at home in our midst, a tendency to extremes, a
predominance of the centrifugal power,—a being- wise above
what is written,—the reaching forth of a rude hand which
maketh no distinctions, and aimeth at one blow to destroy a
union of independent states, rather than resign or even
compromise an unkind and ungenerous scheme—a bare¬
faced lawlessness, which disregards alike the sanctions of
Holy Writ, and the provisions of the Constitution. We be¬
lieve there is no remedy for this mad spirit of radicalism,
but the Bible, which teaches mutual forbearance, prudence,
justice, benevolence from man to man. We need more of
that Bible training which teaches and enforces a system of
responsibilities from infancy to manhood, from man to man,
and up to God. There is another cause from abroad that
ought to be watched—the immense increase of foreign
population, two hundred and fifty thousand annually.
Through them are smuggled in many contraband principles,
in politics and religion. The vast majority are Catholics ;
and at this time the largest religious sect in the U. States
is the Catholic. They number one million, two hundred
thousand. We must watch this foreign influence. Let us
not drive them off' nor lose our good name—" the home of
the exile, the asylum of the oppressed." But let us-meet
them on the shore, with the Bible in one hand and the Con¬
stitution in the other.
To the* Members of the Phi Kappa and Demosthenian
Societies, who have so highly distinguished their unworthy
speaker on this occasion, I return my unfeigned thanks—and
gladly improve the opportunity, by commending to them the
important principles we have been discussing. You will ex¬
cuse the gravity of the subject, and allow us to speak to
you in the language of the great Cromwell, when he said of
his son, " I wish he may be serious ; the times require it."
And the same is true of our day. Our times call for thought-
fulness ; for all that is pure in principle, elevated in morals,
intelligent in mind, decided in character, stable in purpose,
energetic in action, and useful in life. Great and important
duties await you; duties to your God, yourselves, your
country, and the world. We shall soon pass from the stage.
You will soon be in the midst of the action. Prepare your¬
selves, that you may faithfully fill up the measure of your
days. We sum up all remark, in one suggestion. Study
to control yourselves—strive to govern your feelings. "He
that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city."—
ADDRESS.
15
"We hear much of balanie of mind we need much more
balance of feeling. Lite is a state of feeling-. Man is ft
creature of feeling ; and he acts an hundred times from
emotion and passion, where he is once guided by the dictates
of reason, or the investigations of intellect. Master your
feelings, and you will easily train your minds. Educate the
heart and the affections, and the mind will be properly con¬
trolled. All knowledge which you may acquire, will only
increase your capacity to do evil, if not balanced by a pro¬
per discipline- of the feelings and affections. Knowledge
without moral training is like a sword in the hands of a
madman. And to what system of ethics will you go for this
moral training, if hot the Bible ? that wonderful book which
lays its foundation in the heart. You owe it therefore to
your country, to search the scriptures, that you may come
forward to the responsibilities of life,-with proper self con¬
trol, and well balanced feelings. We need men of a deci¬
dedly evangelical character in our schools, and seminaries,
and colleges ; upon the benches of our judiciary, and in the
halls of legislation. We solemnly believe, that the glory
and perpetuity of our government, depend upon the preva¬
lence and power of a Bible influence. You have also a duty
to discharge to the nations of the earth ; the sovereign ru¬
ler of all, seems to have honored the United States, to lead
the van, in the great civil and moral reformations of the age.
We have a mission abroad, as well as at home. The na¬
tions of the world have come to the knowledge of the fact,
* that a great people are capable of governing themselves,
without a crown or an aristocracy. Knowledge provokes
comparison, and comparison leads to inference, and infer¬
ence to determination. This is the posture of many Euro¬
pean nations. They have compared, and inferred that their
governments are wrong, and they have determined upon re¬
form. Their eye is eagerly fixed on us : They watch our
every movement. They constantly cry to us, " watchman,
what of the night?" and we as constantly respond, "the
morning cometh." Their success is bound up withouis. If"
we fail, they fail. The day that our gallant ship goes down,
their little boat will perish forever. If our bright sun
should be extinguished, their little star will set in obscure
Youno- gentlemen, think, on these things ! Pontjef well
your high destiny. And now fti the bright spring time of
life, drink deep and often, from the fountains of divine
truth. Prepare for the responsibilities which await you. Be
faithful now, and you will be faithful in riper years. Spend
16
ADDRESS.
not your youth in vanities and pleasures. Life is not a mere
play time.
'' Life is real! Life is earnest !
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow*
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
In the world's broad field of battle*
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife /
Trust no future, hovve'er pleasant !
Let the dead past bury its dead !
Act,—act in the living present!
Heart within, and God overhead !
Lives of great men all remin d us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Foot-steps on the sands of time.
Foot-steps, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn tnain,
A forlorn and ship-wrecked brothei1,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing.
Learn to labor1 and to wait.'1'1