IlIBRARY OF CONGRESS,! 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 
 
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SELF-CULTIVATIO 
 
 AN 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE SOCIETY OF THE ALUMNI 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON, 
 
 AT THEIR 
 
 ANNIVERSARY, FEBRUARY 25th, 1851. 
 
 BY W. D. PORTER 
 
 A MEMBER. ^^f : -..•-— i-S^^^ 
 
 ^ ^^ 
 
 
 [published by bequest of the society.] 
 
 CHARLESTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD C. COUNCELL, 119 EAST-BAY. 
 
 1851. 
 
U C i\ 
 
,,0 
 
 
 MARCH iO, 1851. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 At a meeting of the Society of the Alumni of the College of Charleston, 
 held this afternoon, the undersig'tied were appointed a Committee to convey 
 to you the following resolution which was adopted : 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to the Hon. Wm. D. 
 Porter, for his very able and eloquent address delivered before them at their 
 late anniversary, and that a Committee be appointed to request of him a copy 
 for publication." 
 
 It affords us sincere pleasure to communicate the wishes of the Society ; 
 
 and we hope that a production which, ft the time of its delivery, gave such 
 
 great and unqualified satisfaction, may be placed in a permanent form, by 
 
 your furnishing us with a copy for publication, at your earliest convenience. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 JOS. T. LEE. 
 H. D. LESESNE. 
 JAS. W.MAY. 
 To Hon. W. D. Portek. 
 
 MARCH 11, 1851. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I have received your note, communicating a resolution passed by the So- 
 ciety of the Alumni of the College of Charleston, in which they request for 
 publication a copy of the address delivered before them upon the occasion of 
 their late anniversary. 
 
 I could wish that the Address were worthier of this compliment ; but 
 such as it is, I place it at their disposal. 
 
 Please accept for yourselves personally, the assurances of my esteem and 
 respect. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. D. PORTER. 
 
 Messrs. Jos. T, Lee, H, D. Lesesne, James W. Mat. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 This is our festival day ! A pious duty, as well as a 
 pleasant custom brings us together on this occasion. 
 Years have glided by since most of us, elate with the 
 hopes of youth, took leave of the calm retreats of the 
 College, to enter upon the active and stirring scenes of 
 life. Diverse have been our paths, and variously hath 
 fortune dealt with us since those days ; but there is a 
 bond of union between us, which the chances and 
 changes of time cannot altogether sever, and which it 
 is the aim of this Association to draw closer and render 
 stronger with each recurring year. We are all the fos- 
 ter-children of Alma Mater ! In turn, we have bowed 
 to her discipline, and felt her tender cares ; we have 
 sojourned in her halls, spending laborious hours and 
 days in 
 
 " Search of deep philosophy, 
 Wit, eloquence and poesy, 
 Arts which we loved ;" — 
 
 and as often as this day of commemoration rolls around, 
 so often shall memory, still faithful to the past, call up 
 to view images and scenes dear to recollection, because 
 associated with many an early joy, and many a youth- 
 ful aspiration. And though, now, as at all times, there 
 should be in the retrospect, something of sadness and 
 regret for departed pleasures which can never return, 
 and for hopes, perhaps two ardent, hardly realized ; still 
 shall the prevailing sentiment of our hearts be one of 
 deep thankfulness to our academic mother for the soli- 
 citude with which she trained us to whatever of acqui- 
 
sition or usefulness we have since been able to attain. 
 Long, long, may the College, which looks out upon the 
 ocean, flourish in modest but generous rivalry of that, 
 which, like some crowning glory, sits upon a hill in the 
 centre of our State ! 
 
 There are other pleasures, too, which this occasion 
 brings with it. Not only does it revive old and agree- 
 ble recollections, but it gives us the opportunity of 
 forming new associations and new friendships with 
 those who have passed through the same probation 
 as ourselves. Already has a fresh band of Alumni 
 just issued from the portals of the College ; the hopes 
 of youth are beating high at their hearts, and the 
 kindly ofiices of friends are strewing their path- way with 
 flowers. The eye of the mother glistens with a quick 
 emotion, as she bids her boy, the pride of her heart, 
 God-speed on his way; while the father looks for- 
 ward with a more calculating, but yet hopeful confi- 
 dence to the distinction into which the early promise 
 of his son may well be expected to ripen. Fortunate 
 young men ! to have enjoyed the benefits of a liberal 
 culture, and to have begun the journey of life under 
 such happy auspices ! Over how many thousands of 
 your fellow-citizens have you been distinguished by 
 these superior advantages, and by what an increased 
 weight of obligation are you constrained to render them 
 available for good ! May the germs of excellence that 
 have already unfolded themselves in your minds find 
 a shelter from the blight of the world, and ripen in due 
 season into rich and golden fruits ! For ourselves, we 
 meet you with a cordial greeting, and bid you welcome, 
 as a worthy accession, to the growing ranks of our 
 brotherhood. 
 
How full of interest is the situation of an intelligent 
 and ingenuous young man, just about to enter upon the 
 stage of active life. Hitherto he has been trained and 
 
 a 
 
 guided by others, but now the whole responsibility of 
 his education is to be devolved upon himself Hitherto 
 his lessons have been learned chiefly from books, but 
 now experience, derived from actual contact with men 
 and things, is to give discipline to his mind, and shape 
 and consistency to his character. Before him lies the 
 world, with its infinite diversity of pursuits and enter- 
 prises ; its hopes, excitements, temptations and strug- 
 gles ; its glittering rewards, and its cruel, he art- crushing 
 disappointments. Pleasure, with syren voice, woos 
 him on one side, into the ways of dalliance ; while on 
 the other, labor points him to the rugged steeps where 
 knowledge and virtue hold their chosen seats. Ease 
 has its seductions, and just in proportion as his aims 
 are high, does he know them to be difficult of attain- 
 ment ; but in making the nobler choice, in taking the 
 first resolute step in the right direction, he has already 
 conquered more than half the obstacles that lie in his 
 way to success. To dare and to do, stand in much closer 
 proximity than is generally supposed ; for the expe- 
 rience of the world shows that there are few enterpri- 
 ses which intelligence, united with a clear purpose and 
 a strenuous, determined will, cannot accomplish. 
 
 Intellect, mind, that faculty or assemblage of facul- 
 ties, by means of which man acquires knowledge and 
 applies it to useful purposes, is his peculiar possession ; 
 and the improvement of which this distinguishing at- 
 tribute is susceptible, as well as the great results it is 
 capable of achieving, should inspire him with a high 
 conception of the dignity of his nature, and the great 
 ends of his being. It is by this means, that he con- 
 
trives, invents, and discovers; imagines and creates; 
 traces the relations between cause and effect, analyses 
 what is compound, and from the observation of parti- 
 cular facts, rises to the comprehension of general laws. 
 The results of this intellectual agency are all around 
 and about us in such a rich and various profusion of 
 shapes that, like old familiar things, they do not suffi- 
 ciently impress our attention. How wonderfully are 
 they displayed, for example, in the curious M^orkman- 
 ship of the hand, fashioning things of use and of beauty ; 
 in the construction of machines for the economy of 
 time and the multiplication of power, combining the 
 utmost force with the most delicate nicety and skill ; in 
 the clearing of forests, the building of cities, and the 
 binding of masses of men together under governments 
 and into great communities ; in the mastery acquired 
 over the forces of nature, so that they are not only dis- 
 armed in a great measure of their power of mischief, 
 but are rendered subservient to the daily uses of life ; 
 in the rapid, far-reaching and wide-spreading inter- 
 change of thought, intelligence and commodities, but 
 lately rendered more perfect by a skilful appropriation 
 of the powers of steam and electro-magnetism ; and in 
 all the numberless arts and appliances which give com- 
 fort, elegance and refinement to civilized society. There 
 too, are those exquisite productions of poets, orators 
 and philosophers, which are for the instruction and de- 
 light of mankind in all time ; and though last not least 
 in the scale of importance, the wonderful discove- 
 ries of that science, which not content with reveal- 
 ing the hidden things of earth, has winged its way 
 into the clear upper sky, and brought to light the 
 laws and influences which govern the movements of 
 myriad circling worlds far beyond the reach of the 
 
unassisted eye. Certainly there is something sublime 
 in a collective view of these realizations of thought, 
 these displays of creative intellectual power, but we 
 must not forget, that however grand and imposing in 
 the mass, they are but the successive and accumulated 
 contributions of individuals to the common stock of 
 human knowledge. Revelation has been made after 
 revelation, conquest has been achieved after con- 
 quest, and improvement has been added to improve- 
 ment, as the wants of man seemed to require them; 
 and inasmuch as these wants by a law of his nature 
 increase and multiply at every step of his progress, 
 they operate as a perpetual stimulus to the exercise 
 of his faculties for the supply and gratification of his 
 desires. A great king of antiquity is said to have 
 wept because he could find no more worlds to con- 
 quer, but no philosopher has ever been heard to com- 
 plain that he could extend no further the boundaris of 
 knowledge. It is a piece of signal beneficence in the 
 Divine economy, that in the wide realms of thought 
 and science, there are always new ideas to be evolved 
 and new agencies to be discovered; new fields to be 
 cultivated, and new laurels to be won. 
 
 The consciousness of possessing, in a greater or less 
 degree, faculties such as I have described, so admira- 
 ble in themselves, and so fitted to accomplish great 
 results, should inspire the young adventurer in life with 
 the determination of tasking them to the full term and 
 limit of their ability. To vi'hat end has he been placed, 
 with such glorious endowments, in the midst of this 
 throng of thinking and active beings, if it be not that 
 he may give "a true account of his gift of reason to 
 the use and benefit of men." True, it is not the por- 
 tion of all to speak with the tongue of eloquence, to 
 
10 
 
 scale the heights of invention, or to leave the impress 
 of their genius upon the times in v^hich thej live ; but 
 all may rightly use and diligently employ the talents 
 committed to their care, and in so doing, they v^ill have- 
 fulfilled their mission here in all faithfulness and honor. 
 The love of praise and distinction is an instinct of 
 the soul, vindicating its native excellence. It is an 
 aspiration after something higher; and however dim or 
 vaguely defined the sentiment may be in the breasts of 
 some, it is at all times, eminently worthy of encour- 
 agement and respect. In obedience to this common 
 sentiment, almost all young men begin their career in 
 life by placing before them some ideal of excellence, 
 some mark of ambition v^hich they aspire or hope to 
 reach. And this is commendable and right ; but how 
 few, alas ! have the courage and consistency of pur- 
 pose to work their way up to the goal proposed, to 
 " scorn delights, and live laborious days," to encounter 
 the toils, privations and sensuous self-denials, which 
 are the necessary conditions of success. And yet the 
 labor of intellectual culture carries with it its own 
 rich recompense ; for as the painter or sculptor sees 
 with ecstacy the ideals of his fancy take beneath his 
 hand shapes of life and beauty to enchant the v^orld, 
 so does the student, with kindred emotions of delight 
 and conscious power, feel within him the stirrings and 
 the growth of those glorious intelligences that make 
 him " in apprehension, so like a God." We crave ex- 
 citement ! But what excitements are there more pure, 
 genial and durable than those that accompany the pur- 
 suit of truth ! The grosser pleasures of sense are tumul- 
 tuous, but short lived ; they perish in the using, and 
 leave no worthy memorial behind ; but to master an 
 idea or a system, to light upon a happy discovery, to 
 
11 
 
 proclaim a new truth, or elaborate a great principle^ 
 affords as real and permanent, and oftentimes as intense 
 gratification as any within the compass of human en- 
 joyment. The rapturous exclamation of Archimedes, 
 as he rushed from the bath in which he had solved the 
 problem of Hiero's crown, is familiar to all students. 
 When Kepler discovered the great law that fixes the 
 relation between the periods and distances of the pla- 
 netary bodies, he fell into the transports of what he 
 calls a '' sacred fury," and, in the lofty confidence of 
 assured immortality, he exclaimed, " The book is writ- 
 ten, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not 
 which ; it may well wait a century for a reader, when 
 God has waited six thousand years for an observer !' 
 And Milton who lost the use of his eyes in writing his' 
 noble Defensio pro populo Anglicano, has expressed in 
 lofty and immortal verse, the high and proud consola- 
 tion, bordering almost upon exultation, which he de- 
 rived from the consciousness that those " idle orbs" 
 had been bereft of light, in the service of no unworthy 
 cause : 
 
 " Yet I argue not 
 Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot 
 Of heart or hope ; but still bear up and steer 
 Right onward. What supports me, dost thou ask 1 
 The conscience, friend, to have lost them overplied 
 In liberty's defence, my noble task, — 
 Of which all Europe rings from side to side. 
 This thought might lead me thro' the world's vain mask, — 
 Content, though blind, had I no better guide." 
 
 There is much in the temper of the times and the 
 country in which we live, to admonish us of the value 
 of early and adequate preparation for the business of 
 life. The present is what may be called in homely, 
 but expressive phrase a fast age ; and in this country 
 particularly, the unexampled rapidity of our progress 
 
12 
 
 in all the elements of national greatness has commu- 
 nicated to the people a fervor and restlessness of spirit 
 that will not be content with any but the shortest and 
 most summary modes of arriving at results. The ma- 
 gical doings of steam and magnetism have infected 
 them; they cannot abide the slow processes of former 
 days, however sure ; their plans and enterprises must 
 spring to maturity, like the prophet's gourd, in a single 
 night. They have so often seen the wild imagination 
 of yesterday become the reality of to-day, that they 
 have come to regard nothing as extravagant, and to 
 put implicit faith in the efficacy of adventurous dar- 
 ing. The desire to accomplish is equalled only by 
 the anxiety to begin. So vast is the area of our coun- 
 try, so boundless its resources and opportunities, and 
 so open and accessible to all, by means of its free po- 
 pular institutions, are the avenues which lead to the 
 general objects of desire — wealth, power, social and 
 political position, that our young men step forward upon 
 the stage of action, with an alacrity and confidence 
 that are apt to make them undervalue those habits of 
 patient discipline, of earnest, faithful and continuing in- 
 dustry which lie at the bottom of all great and well-me- 
 rited distinction. Enterprise and self-reliance are ex- 
 cellent qualities in youth ; they are elements of great 
 force, whether considered in their influence upon the 
 formation of personal character, or upon the interests 
 of society at large. But the young man who nourishes 
 the hope of effecting something beyond mere transient 
 popularity or temporary success, who is animated with 
 the desire of building up a reputation which shall live 
 after him, and be to his children at once a heritage 
 and an example, must set out with the conviction and 
 persevere in it to the end, that whatever may be the 
 
13 
 
 natural quickness of his parts, Self-cultivation, the full 
 and systematic development of his mind and resources 
 is not the short labor of a day or a year, but the pro- 
 gressive work of a life-time ; and that without this dis- 
 cipline and preparation faithfully performed, no solid 
 or enduring excellence can ever be achieved. Even 
 Genius, with its rare and transcendent qualities, cannot 
 subsist altogether on its own resources ; without the 
 material which study supplies, its fires pale away and 
 often die out from sheer exhaustion. Much less can 
 Talent, the more common and mechanical, but in the 
 main, not less useful endowment, expect to achieve any 
 thing of consequence, without the aid of persevering 
 labor. 
 
 The self-cultivation of which I speak, does not con- 
 sist altogether in what is commonly called learning. 
 There are other teachers than books, and other schools 
 than those in which masters and professors are to be 
 found. Life has its unwritten lessons, of deeper im- 
 port than human lore ; and what nobler school can there 
 be to him who uses it right, than this many-colored 
 world with its living manners, and its rich and diversi- 
 fied experiences. That which is daily and hourly 
 enacted before our eyes, is but an epitome of the gen- 
 eral history of men and things. The same motives 
 actuate, the same hopes inspire, the same passions 
 agitate, and the same deeds are done here as elsewhere, 
 now and in all time. Though always one, in es- 
 sence, human nature has yet an endless variety of man- 
 ifestations from the varying circumstances to which it 
 is subjected in life. To understand this nature in the 
 race as w^ell as the individual, and to comprehend the 
 causes and principles which prevail in the regulation 
 of human affairs, searching self-study, and a large, 
 
14 
 
 accurate and generalizing observation are equally ne- 
 cessary. There is a world within, that answers to the 
 world without ; and the short aphorism of the Greek 
 philosopher, Know thyself, embraces in its spirit a know- 
 ledge far deeper, broader and more universal than its 
 terms would seem to imply. 
 
 Let me not be understood however, as seeking to 
 disparage the value of college learning. Happy is he 
 who enjoys its advantages and puts them to the proper 
 account. These studies, if pursued in the right spirit, 
 and especially that of the ancient classics, of those two 
 languages which, though dead, yet speak to us with the 
 voice of many centuries, and of those great masters 
 of thought and composition who still maintain the ma- 
 gical sway they have so long exercised over the hearts 
 and understandings of men, will cultivate his taste, 
 store his mind with noble imagery, give scope and 
 strength to his argumentative faculties, and fire his soul 
 with those heroic breathings of freedom which have 
 been to mankind, in all ages and climates, the source of 
 hope and inspiration and fortitude to do and to suffer 
 in the mortal struggles between liberty and power 
 from which the world is never altogether free. There 
 is no force in the objection that these are dead lan- 
 guages. A great man, statesman, philosopher or hero, 
 may die, and must die, — but his spirit and character, 
 his principles and actions live forever, as a study and 
 example to men. In the same sense, and for the same 
 purposes, the model languages of Greece and Rome, 
 although no longer spoken, survive and will survive, 
 because instinct with living thoughts, as fresh and beau- 
 tiful, as profound and true, now as in the days of their 
 utterance. But in these, as in all other studies, real 
 knowledge is not to be found on the surface ; like 
 
15 
 
 trUith, it must be sought for at the bottom of the well. 
 The art of all study, and indeed the great business of 
 education is, not merely to accumulate knowledge, but 
 to a'p'pro'priate it thoroughly, — to incorporate what we 
 learn with our intellectual nature, and make it part and 
 parcel of our intellectual being. To this end, the higher 
 faculties of comparison, reasoning and judgment must 
 be brought to bear, actively and constantly, upon the 
 facts and things, with which reading and observation 
 have made us acquainted. It is through the agency of 
 these higher faculties, in their processes of analysis and 
 generalization, that the information received through the 
 senses, is converted into mind, like food into blood, — 
 thereby giving to the whole mental system, a healthy 
 and vigorous action, quickening and expanding its nat- 
 ural powers, and enabling its possessor, by the sure 
 and prompt application of these powers, to determine 
 and to act, with almost unerring certainty, in the va- 
 rious and complex exigencies of human life. It is 
 knowledge so prepared, assimilated and rendered life- 
 like and available, which constitutes ^wz^er; which is 
 the parent of all decisive and efficient action ; and of 
 which. Lord Bacon speaks so nobly, when he says : 
 " the commandment of knowledge is yet higher than 
 the commandment over the will ; for it is a command- 
 ment over the reason, belief and understanding of man, 
 which is the highest part of the mind, and giveth law 
 to the will itself; for there is no power on earth, which 
 setteth up a throne or chair of state in the spirits and 
 souls of men, and in their cogitations, imaginations, 
 opinions and belief, but Knowledge and Learning.''^ 
 
 The choice of a vocation is an epoch in the life of 
 a young man. However heedless or indolent his pre- 
 vious course may have been, this important step should 
 
16 
 
 never be taken without a full estimate of its bearing 
 upon his future destiny. The incurring of new and 
 weighty responsibiUties has not unfrequently arrested 
 men in a career of levity, and called out into sudden 
 and vigorous exercise, powers of which they were be- 
 fore unconscious and unsuspected. "No more of these 
 fooleries now," said Frederick the Great upon his ac- 
 cession to the throne, to his old favorites who were 
 luxuriating in the anticipated continuance of their for- 
 mer idle dissipations ; and Charles XII of Sweden, on 
 a like occasion, although a mere boy in years, is said to 
 have astounded his grey-headed counsellors, by the 
 sudden and wonderful transformation his character un- 
 derwent. A young man when about to assume the 
 manly gown and enter upon the arena of active life, 
 should feel like some worthy Prince when called to his 
 inheritance of a crown. " The world is all before him, 
 where to choose ;" and inasmuch as this choice of a 
 pursuit for life, involves duties which do not terminate 
 in himself alone, but extend through all his relations 
 " from dust to deity," it is matter of great concern that 
 it be made wisely and well. A mere preference for 
 one calling over others, is by no means a reliable test 
 of capacity for its successful prosecution. This pre- 
 f«*ence is often suggested by fashion, caprice, associa- 
 tion, 'or other accidents and circumstances of a transi- 
 tory character. There is for instance, a very strong 
 proclivity among uaito the learned professions, from an 
 idea that they are of superior respectability, and that 
 they open a short and easy way to emolument and 
 honors. Hence the number of mere supernumeraries, of 
 idle unproductive consiui^eYS—"fruges consumere natif"— 
 who hang upon the skirts of the professions, like camp 
 followers upon the rear of an advancing dJ^j. When 
 
17 
 
 a good merchant is lost in an. unskilful doctor, or an 
 excellent mechanic in an indifferent lawyer, the loss is 
 two-fold — to the community as well as to the individual. 
 How poor must that spirit be, how meagre that ambi- 
 tion, whiph instead of putting the thewes and sinews 
 of the physical man, at least, to a good account, can 
 content itself with occupying an undistinguished place 
 upon the long and melancholy roll of " briefless bar- 
 risters," or with rejoicing in a diploma which is generally 
 regarded as little better than a license to jeopard hu- 
 man life. No ! it is the man that illustrates the calling ; 
 not the calling, the man. There is no office or employ- 
 ment so high, that it can give respectability to igno- 
 rance or indolence ; nor is there any so low, that it can 
 detract from the dignity of intelligent, faithful and vir- 
 tuous endeavor. Follow the bent of your genius ; but 
 that you may not be deceived or misled, first institute 
 an honest and thorough scrutiny into your natural ap- 
 titudes, your qualifications of body and mind, for the 
 pursuit proposed. Interrogate Nature in good faith, and 
 in this, as in all other matters, she will respond to your 
 questionings, with a fidelity and truth, upon which you 
 may safely rely. 
 
 But whatever the vocation, let it be your great aim 
 to acquire a mastery over it. Fix your standard of at- 
 tainment high, and work up to it with the faitsh and 
 hope, the dauntless courage and untiring activity which 
 belong to earnest and aspiring matures. 'Youthful 
 energy is an agent of mighty power ; and when fired 
 by a pure love of excellence, is capable of achieving 
 magnificent results. What indeed can it not accomplish? 
 Facing difficulties, and making sport of obstacles; cut- 
 ting down the mountains, and raising up vallies that 
 lie in its course ; bounding on, in all the rapture of sue- 
 
18 
 
 cessful strife, from one victorious conflict to another, it 
 moves right onward and upward in its proud career, 
 with its unblenching eye ever fixed upon higher sum- 
 mits of achievement, and 
 
 " All the crooked paths 
 Of time and change disdaining, takes the range 
 Along the line of limitless desires." 
 
 Young men ! be true to the immortal principle of 
 progress that lies folded up within you. Cultivate your 
 whole spiritual being, — heart, intellect and soul. Carry 
 forward with you into the powders, and duties and strug- 
 gles of manhood, the feelings of boyhood ; — its joyous 
 bouyancy of spirit ; its fresh and unwearying ardor ; 
 its love of the right and the true ; its warm and gush- 
 ix\o sensibilities that leap at every touch of kindred 
 nature ; its full, free, and glorious affections, that like 
 the knights of old, go forth into the world in search of 
 vi^orthy objects, whereon to lavish all the wealth of 
 their charities. So only can you expect to be happy ; 
 so only hope to be good and great !