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 ADDRESS 
 
 THE PROGRESS 
 
 POPULAR SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 AND TIIKIR 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND PROSPECTS IN TENNESSEE. 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 Before the Alurnni Society of the Nashville University, at Nashville, Tcfirtessce, 
 
 October I, 1S3(5 ; 
 
 THE HON. E. J. SHIELDS. 
 
 <s 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY GALES AND SEA T () N. 
 1836. 
 
 
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ADDRESS 
 
 THE PR OGRE 
 
 POPULAR SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 AND THEIR 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND PROSPECTS IN TENNESSEE, 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 Before the Alumni Society of the Nashville University, at Nashville, Tenneggee, 
 
 October 4, 1836, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 HON. E. J, SHIE LD 
 
 lj WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY GALES AND SEATON. 
 1836. 
 
A* 
 
 : .r 
 
Extracts from the Minutes or the Alumni Society. 
 
 At a regular meeting of the Alumni Society of the Nashville University, 
 holden at the Presbyterian Church, on Wednesday, the 5th October, 1836, the 
 following resolutions were offered by T. T. Smiley, Esquire, and unanimously 
 adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Alumni Society be presented to the Hon. 
 E. J. Shields, for the able and satisfactory manner with which he discharged 
 the duties of anniversary orator. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to inform him of the pas- 
 sage of the above resolution, and to request a copy of his address for publica- 
 tion. 
 
 Whereupon the Chair appointed Thos. T. Smiley, V. P. Winchester, and 
 Turner Vaughan, Esquires. 
 
 Nashville, October 6, 1836. 
 Sih: At a meeting of the Alumni Society of the Nashville University, held 
 at the Presbyterian Church in this city, on the evening of the 5th instant, the 
 undersigned were appointed a committee to express to you the thanks of the 
 society for the able and satisfactory manner in which you discharged the duty 
 of anniversary orator on the 4th instant; and to request of you a copy of the 
 address delivered on the occasion, for publication. 
 
 In discharging the duty imposed on us, allow us to express also the high 
 regard with which we are, individually, 
 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 
 THOS. T. SMILEY, 
 TURNER VAUGHAN, 
 V. P. WINCHESTER, 
 Hon. E. J. Shields. Committee. 
 
 Nashville, October 6, 1836. 
 
 Gentlemen: Your polite note, of the present date, has just been received. 
 
 The flattering terms in which your communication is couched, together with 
 the sentiments contained in the resolutions which accompany it, (whatever my 
 own opinions might otherwise have been,) have induced me at once to yield to 
 your request a ready compliance. I have therefore forwarded, herewith, a copy 
 of "the address," for the object which you contemplate. 
 
 You will be pleased to permit me to tender, through you, to the society which 
 you represent, and of which you compose a part, my grateful acknowledgments 
 for this evidence of your and their approbation of the humble effort referred to 
 in your letter and the resolutions. 
 
 And accept for yourselves, individually, assurances of my very high regard 
 and esteem, 
 
 And believe that I remain, with profound respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 E. J. SHIELDS, 
 
 Messrs. Thos. T. Smilet, 
 
 Turner Vaughan, and V. P. Winchester. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/progressofpopulaOOshie 
 
ADDRESS, 
 
 Gentlemen Alumni : 
 
 In discharging my present duty I trust I shall 
 have your kind indulgence. The importance of the task 
 to be performed, the ability of those who have preceded 
 me, and circumstances which have recently connected 
 me with other exciting pursuits, preclude the hope that 
 I shall be able, on this occasion, to meet the general, or 
 even my own expectation. 
 
 We should, however, be encouraged by the presence 
 of so numerous and respectable an audience, which very 
 flatteringly evinces the interest that is felt for our success 
 in the common effort we are making, to improve the mind, 
 to cultivate the heart, and to advance the happiness of 
 man. 
 
 To one who is sincerely devoted to the welfare of his 
 countiy it must be gratifying to reflect on the rapid ad- 
 vancement and general diffusion of science, literature, and 
 knowledge, which, during the present century, have taken 
 place in our own country. How accelerated soever may 
 have been the progress of other nations in all those pur- 
 suits which elevate and ennoble the human character, we 
 may (at least) boast of our superiority to many of those 
 illiberal prejudices and misdeeds in government, which 
 tend so much in other countries to cramp the genius, sour 
 
6 
 
 the mind, and disturb the social relations of life. Among 
 us the lights of science, freed from primitive restraints, 
 are no longer imprisoned within the schools of philoso- 
 phers, the courts of the great, or the mansions of the 
 wealthy ; but learning, like all of Heaven's best gifts be- 
 stowed on man, if we shall but act in accordance with the 
 spirit of the age in which we live, will soon become as 
 universal as it is useful. 
 
 This wide-spread diffusion of light and knowledge is 
 and must be one of the results of that happy constitution 
 which was won and secured to us by our sires, and which 
 constitutes the chief distinction and glory of this nation. 
 In other countries, the great body of the people, from the 
 nature of their political institutions, are comparatively 
 destitute of wealth and power, and consequently bear but 
 little part, or are altogether disregarded, in the direction 
 of public affairs and the administration of government, 
 In this country the case is entirely different. While the 
 freedom of the press, the freedom of religion, and the 
 liberty of speech are maintained, and the rewards of in- 
 dustry are hedged around in perfect security by the laws ? 
 monopolies in wealth are no longer legalized. Our wise 
 statutes of distribution have broken down the distinctions 
 of entailed opulence, and with it hereditary consequence » 
 The chances of wealth, left free to individual enterprise^ 
 are as general as the acquisition of science and know- 
 ledge is unrestrained. The absolute equality of rights is 
 secured by canons fixed and unalterable, except by culti- 
 vated and enlightened public opinion. The rights of the 
 sovereign and the obligations of the subject, correlatively 
 united in the person of the citizen, are happily blended, and 
 carried into successful practice by the popular will. Sov- 
 ereignty is universally diffused. The law-making power 
 which, in other governments, is arbitrarily wielded or 
 
unlimited in its extent, is here dependent on written 
 charters, regulated by free, independent, and general 
 suffrage. 
 
 With such inducements, is it surprising that philan- 
 thropic statesmen, and men of letters, have of late directed 
 their studies and their means to the improvement of every 
 class of the citizens of the republic ; and that the success ' 
 already gained is commensurate with the hopes of the 
 most ardent patriot, and so prophetic of a prosperous and 
 a happy future'? Among our cotemporaries, the names of 
 Jefferson, Smithson, Girard, and others, are already con- 
 spicuously distinguished in this ample field of enterprise 
 and noble-daring in the cause of letters. Their munifi- 
 cence, patriotism, and forecast, have erected, and are 
 erecting for their country, the most enduring monuments 
 of fame ; and bulwarks more to be relied on in the de- 
 fence of free institutions, than a Chinese wall, the military 
 castles of feudal lords, or the boasted fortifications of more 
 modern advocacy. Their memories will be cherished, and 
 their names regarded as the benefactors of the human 
 race, until patriotism itself shall cease to be a virtue, and 
 while learning is held in honor and reverence among 
 men. 
 
 The progress of the arts in the American States for the 
 last half century, and their present maturity, would have 
 been regarded in other times, if not as divine, as highly 
 precocious, and fearfully portentous of premature decay. 
 The palsying hand of superstition would have been up- 
 lifted against the omen. If we shall compare the advance- 
 ment of improvement in the arts and all the more refined 
 sciences in this country, with that of any other age or na- 
 tion, will not the preponderance be found to result greatly 
 in our favor ] What ages of successive labor and refine- 
 ment were required in the Grecian republics to prepare 
 
8 
 
 the way for the soul-stirring eloquence of Demosthenes,, 
 and the high-wrought fancy of Homer, 
 
 The literature of Greece, which still continues to en- 
 lighten and refine the world, occupied a series of eight 
 centuries in progressive cultivation, succeeding the Trojan 
 war, before it reached the zenith of that beauty and puri- 
 ty and excellence which it finally attained in the age of 
 Pericles* 
 
 The Augustan age, which combines in it all that ig 
 useful, refined, and elegant in Roman literature ; the 
 age in which Cicero transferred whatever of Grecian elo- 
 quence and erudition that was left, from Athens to Rome, 
 and in which Virgil rivalled, in the purity of his morals 
 and the beauty and harmony of his numbers, the ancient 
 land of song, was eight centuries removed from the 
 foundation of the imperial city. The full development of 
 French literature was, also, in the eighth century from 
 the establishment of the first rudiments of their language. 
 But the progress of Arabian literature was much more- 
 rapid. In a century and a half from the foundation of 
 the monarchy, Bagdad was at once the throne of the 
 Caliphs and " the centre of literature." The same spirit 
 soon overspread the peninsular cities, and " Spain" was 
 quickly said " to be more especially the seat of Arabian 
 learning," and rivalled the other quarters of the world in 
 the magnificence of its schools, colleges, academies, and 
 libraries. Their literature alone may be regarded as bearing 
 a striking similitude to our own, in the rapidity of its pro- 
 gression. In tracing this part of history, we are at a los& 
 to account for the quick transition, in a nation that had been,, 
 previous to the period of which we are speaking, only 
 distinguished in arms, from a barbarous state to a high 
 degree of refinement in the cultivation of all that is most 
 excellent in human knowledge. However, in the language 
 
of history, " they united in themselves the advantages of 
 all the nations they had subjugated"— of the magii and 
 Chaldeans, of Egypt, the storehouse of human science. 
 They also possessed the "rich inheritance of Grecian lit- 
 erature ;" and, above all, the cultivation of science was the 
 idol, and had the zealous successive patronage of several 
 of their most illustrious and enlightened sovereigns. The 
 very court of the Caliphs had more the appearance, it is 
 said, of a learned academy than of the seat of the Govern- 
 ment of a great empire. This accounts, in some measure, 
 for the astonishing rise and progress of Arabian literature, 
 and is additional proof of the hypothesis, that nothing 
 tends so much to give wings to genius, and permanency 
 and utility to science, as certain rewards for eminence and 
 excellence in their attainment, popular approbation, and 
 the patronage of Government. 
 
 It would, perhaps, be uninteresting, and indeed more 
 curious than useful, to endeavor to determine, with any 
 degree of precision, the exact point of time at which the 
 mighty impetus was given to the onward march of human 
 knowledge that has produced the great results of our 
 own country and times. It may not, however, be un- 
 profitable to trace some of the life-giving principles and 
 leading motives which have had a more direct and imme- 
 diate agency in their final accomplishment. The invention 
 of the mariner's compass in the fourteenth century, the 
 spirit of maritime improvement consequent upon it, and 
 the subsequent discovery and settlement of a new conti- 
 nent, may not be regarded among the least of those agents 
 that have been at work in the moral world. Nothing 
 " could be more favorable to the development of the hu- 
 man powers," or offer stronger inducements to the indus- 
 try and emulation of man, than the circumstances under 
 which these events transpired. The discovery itself of a 
 
10 
 
 new and unexplored continent, its mountains, rivers, 
 lakes, and boundless forests, the inexhaustible fertility of 
 the soil, the salubrity of the climate, the various and 
 amazing resources of the country, the contiguity of a 
 strange and a savage race of men, the rivalry of some 
 of their contemporaries who were engaged in colonizing, 
 and the fame of others who were pillaging the new world, 
 (I will be indulged the expression,) for the avaricious 
 Spaniard, in pursuit of gold, carrying with him the 
 sword, the cross, and the inquisition, had rifled the 
 treasures, and revelled in the palaces of Montezuma, 
 and the various commotions that pervaded all Europe, 
 from a general spirit of invention, enterprise, and discov- 
 ery, were circumstances eminently calculated to produce 
 that excitation and intensity of feeling and interest in the 
 first emigrants to the Western hemisphere, which usually 
 precede any great moral or physical movement in the 
 advancement of human knowledge or human happiness. 
 The character, likewise, of the pilgrim fathers, who 
 first landed on the rock of Plymouth, and the prin- 
 ciples they brought with them and inculcated, were, in 
 no small degree, promotive of those results which followed 
 that event in such rapid succession, and which have 
 added so much knowledge to the store-house of science, 
 and shed so much lustre on the American name. But I 
 will not undertake to defend their names, entirely, against 
 the obloquy, the prejudices, the folly of the age in which 
 they lived. " Theirs was an intolerant age." They fled 
 from persecution, and became persecutors themselves in 
 their turn. The abominable veil of superstition was still 
 unbroken, and beclouded the understandings of men ; and 
 it must be admitted (in the language of a late author) 
 " that they who enacted, from the purest motives of con- 
 science, all the extravagances of the blue laws," were not 
 
11 
 
 a little imbued with the gross darkness and folly of the 
 age. Still, they had many redeeming qualities. They 
 brought with them the most enlightened political creed of 
 their times ; and the Bible was their guide, their text- 
 book—" the only elevated, pure, and consistent code of 
 ethics which the world has ever known." They were a 
 pious race ; and never was that divine precept, which 
 teaches that " righteousness exalteth a nation," more 
 strikingly exemplified than in the sequel of the history of 
 the colonies, and of " the noble empire of the wandering 
 pilgrims." 
 
 Also, in advancement and aid of the results, (of which 
 we have been speaking,) was the great discovery of the 
 fifteenth century. The art of printing had awakened a 
 general spirit of inquiry, and given a new impulse to the 
 acquisition of knowledge. This wonderful equalizer of 
 human intelligence was making its way into every village, 
 and hamlet, and cottage, dissipating the spell that had so 
 long cloistered and monopolized the learning of the mid- 
 dle ages, and that had benighted and enslaved the world. 
 The universal diffusion of information it produced, ena- 
 bled every one to appropriate to himself the accumulated 
 wisdom and experience of all the ages that had preceded 
 him ; and, indeed, more immediately in consequence of 
 the increase of intelligence, and the facility of its commu- 
 nication, dependent on this important discovery, were the 
 dignity and equality of human nature maintained, and the 
 unalienable rights of man asserted. Upon these princi- 
 ples, the ability and right of self-government in the peo- 
 ple, by agents of their own choosing, without the inter- 
 vention of king, lords, or aristocracy, were propagated 
 and "inculcated with the power of the press and the force 
 of truth. The events that followed this enlightenment of 
 the public mind on the science of government are written 
 
12 
 
 on the escutcheon of our nation's honor. They have been 
 emblazoned to the world, and are engraved on the hearts 
 of our countrymen. Like the twelve tables of the Roman 
 law, they are (carmen necessarium) " the necessary les- 
 son" of every school-boy. 
 
 The Revolution formed a new and momentous era in our 
 history. Notwithstanding our colonial ancestors were a har- 
 dy and virtuous race of men, and many of them were learned 
 and even accomplished scholars, who were the Palinuruses 
 of the Revolution, yet our nation maybe regarded as having 
 been not only in a state of vassalage, but also in a state of 
 comparative pupilage, previous to this great crisis. From 
 the sudden achievement of our independence, and the tri- 
 umph of principle that was achieved by it, as well as the 
 onward impulse that was given to "the cause of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty," and of the great moral interests of the coun- 
 try, by the happening of that glorious event, has it not been 
 well said " that, as a nation, we have passed through no 
 age of fabulous obscurity, nor useless years of feeble infan- 
 cy, but stepped forth at maturity in the panoply of war, like 
 Minerva, from the brain of Jove 1" What numerous in- 
 ventions and countless improvements in the arts, founded 
 on scientific discovery, date their origin since the birth of 
 our national independence ; and how successful has been 
 their application to purposes of the highest utility. What 
 section of our wide-spread country or of the world is 
 there so remote or obscure, which has not felt the com- 
 forts or enjoyed the benefits of the improvements and 
 discoveries of the first half century of the American Re- 
 public'? The most liberal principles in religion, politics, 
 and the arts, have been propagated throughout Christen- 
 dom. Men have been taught to think for themselves, and 
 a general spirit of improvement is every where abroad. 
 This may, indeed, be eminently denominated the age of 
 
13 
 
 movement. Time and space have yielded to the master 
 spirits of the present century. The extremities of our 
 vast republic are brought into a close proximity ; the union 
 of the confederated States is ensured (if ensurance there 
 can be) by ties the most indissoluble ; a free and constant 
 intercourse among the citizens, and a community of inter- 
 est. A new agent is at work, and commerce rides upon 
 our waters, and is transported on our roads, with a security 
 and rapidity that rivals example and defies competition. Its 
 agency, likewise, is perhaps not less efficient in its moral 
 tendencies, and no where more seen and felt than in our 
 Western commerce. The celerity of transportation effected 
 by this new power has already had a most happy influence 
 on the morals of a large portion of our countrymen who are 
 engaged in the navigation of the Western waters. The 
 boatsman no longer loiters in the villages on the banks of 
 the Mississippi in inglorious idleness, or in the sinks of dis- 
 sipation. His character is altogether changed. He is car- 
 ried rapidly " from port to port," under rigid and wholesome 
 discipline, observed and enforced by enlightened men, 
 who are themselves worthy to be intrusted with the highly 
 responsible charge of the great commerce of the West. 
 But I will not enlarge on a theme, however interesting, 
 that has become so trite. " The philosophy of railroads 
 and steam engines is, that, in subduing time and space, 
 they lengthen a man's life ; for they enable him, within 
 the limited period of his residence on earth, to do, for good 
 or evil, all that the multitude of years could have enabled 
 him without their aid to effect." 
 
 The unexampled improvement, prosperity, and vigorous 
 growth of our country, have been mainly owing to a wise 
 and equitable administration of Government, under the 
 operations of our free and justly-cherished institutions. Ac- 
 cidental causes, however, have likewise contributed much 
 
14 
 
 to the promotion of these great objects. The brilliant suc- 
 cess of our arms in the war of independence, the bright 
 hopes of new-born liberty, the acquisition and settlement of 
 the vast and fertile valley of the Mississippi, the novelty of 
 our institutions, and the enthusiasm they inspired, could 
 not but animate the orator, the poet, the politician, the 
 statesman, the citizen, the warrior, to deeds of virtue and 
 patriotism. It cannot, therefore, be reasonably expected 
 that, amidst the vicissitudes of coming events, the full 
 tide of prosperity, which has attended the early years of 
 the republic, will continue to flow on, as a matter of 
 course, with increased interest and velocity throughout 
 the inevitable changes of future time. The exercise of 
 self-government has always been arduous, difficult, and 
 even perilous. The difficulty of the task to be performed 
 is proportioned to the magnitude of the object obtained. 
 It must be remembered that "the price of liberty is eternal 
 vigilance ;" but to despair of the perpetuated existence of 
 our free institutions, and a continuation of their blessings, 
 would be treason against the memories of our fore- 
 fathers, against our country, against conscience, reason, 
 liberty, posterity ! I cannot believe that this country, 
 which was designed by the Author of Nature to be free, 
 united, and happy, is soon to become a prey to the in- 
 trigues of party, the schemes of restless and ambitious 
 rulers, or the more dangerous consequences of a wanton 
 destitution of intellectual, and moral, and religious know- 
 ledge. The political conflicts that have occasionally, in 
 the morning of our existence, created the most lively ap- 
 prehensions in the bosom of the patriot for the safety of 
 the republic, have uniformly resulted in the confirmation 
 of the integrity, wisdom, and virtue of the American peo- 
 ple. The tongue that has had the temerity to suggest, 
 or the hand that would have attempted the severance of 
 
'- 
 
 15 
 
 the Union or the overthrow of constitutional government, 
 is palsied in the effort. The power of base money has 
 given way to popular opinion. The profligate and waste- 
 ful use of the public treasure, for sinister or ambitious 
 purposes, is met and crushed at the threshold. The 
 wild theories of agrarianism, and other Utopian projects 
 which have occasionally found advocates, are treated as 
 the mania of visionary minds, or as the depraved aspira- 
 tions of unprincipled demagogues : virtue and patriotism 
 are still triumphant : public opinion is every thing. This 
 is as it should be in a Government like ours. It is the 
 mighty lever that now gives direction to the civilized 
 world, and that must continue, for unnumbered ages yet 
 to come, to move forward the principles of civil liberty, 
 and to sustain the great fabrics of free government every 
 where. The destinies of mankind are dependent on its 
 decrees. It is the aggregate learning and wisdom of the 
 community. Its foundations are laid deep in the bosom 
 of society. The laws of gravitation are not more certain 
 in their results than the truth of this fact, that public 
 opinion can never rise in elevation and refinement beyond 
 the sources of information that are made accessible to the 
 great mass of the people. To cultivate, to enlighten, and 
 to refine public opinion, must, therefore, be the paramount 
 duty of every friend of his country. And who, of what- 
 ever school, creed, or sect, in politics or religion, will deny 
 that a general diffusion of knowledge among the people 
 is the basis of enlightened public opinion ; and that its per- 
 fection can only be attained by a universal, well-ordered, 
 and thorough system of education. 
 
 However important and indisputable this fact is, Ten- 
 nessee has, notwithstanding, but a feeble claim to a partici- 
 pation in whatever of honor and credit is due the whole 
 country for the promotion of science, or for contributing 
 
16 
 
 to the establishment of any general system of education. 
 That she is, indeed, far in the rear of several of her 
 sister States in the cultivation of letters, and in the ad- 
 vancement of the arts and sciences, will not, cannot be 
 denied. While she has been actively engaged in defend- 
 ing her own territories, and, in truth, " the entire West," 
 from savage depredations waged in " fierce border wars" 
 — in winning fresh laurels by the defence of the whole 
 nation in glorious conflict with a foreign foe — in remov- 
 ing the natural obstructions to civilization that exist in 
 every newly-settled and uncultivated region, many of her 
 sister States have far outstripped her in the more solid 
 and substantial improvements of the mind, and in estab- 
 lishing the permanent means of communicating and per- 
 petuating knowledge among the great body of the people. 
 It is, nevertheless, true, that many of her sons, by the 
 mere force of genius and an unusual energy of character, 
 combined with the peculiar events of the times, have 
 nobly and successfully contended for the front rank in 
 military enterprise and renown, and for the highest civil 
 honors within the gift of the nation. But the period has 
 now arrived when we can no longer rely on fortuitous 
 circumstances, or the genius and energy of our citizens, 
 alone, for usefulness and distinction in the advanced state 
 of society with which we are surrounded, or in the lauda- 
 ble emulation and rivalry that must exist among the sister 
 States in all future time. The scenes around us have 
 changed, and men must change. The Indian has ceased 
 to claim dominion, or to way-lay the path in ambush. 
 The wilderness has yielded to the arts of civilization. 
 The " boundless forests" of the West have given place 
 to smiling fields, abounding with all the necessaries, and 
 even luxuries of life ; and also with the " richest staple of 
 the world," which yearly adds a new tide of wealth to 
 
the general stock. "The glories of peace, indeed, out- 
 shine the illusions of war." When did ambition or pa- 
 triotism have a fairer field or stronger motives for action X 
 " Or when went there by" a time, since this country was 
 fivst visited by the adventurous pioneer or the wandering 
 hunter, so auspicious for mental culture as the present? 
 The world is beginning to be alive to its true interest with 
 regard to education ; and never were a people more bless- 
 ed with precept or example than are the citizens of Ten- 
 nessee on this vitally interesting and absorbing subject, 
 Even in Europe, and from portions of that country, 
 too, which have not heretofore been famous for enter- 
 prise in the acquisition or dissemination of knowledge, 
 especially among the community at large, it is proclaim- 
 ed " that the schoolmaster is abroad," and " that floods 
 of intellectual light are poured upon the lower ranks of 
 society," (as the commonalty are styled on the other side 
 the waters.) Prussia, a few years since, had no less than 
 thirty-three public schools, expressly for the instruction of 
 teachers, which supplied preceptors, accomplished in the 
 knowledge and learning of the country, sufficient to pre- 
 side over all the literary institutions established by Gov- 
 ernment throughout the kingdom ; and out of upwards 
 of two millions of children in the Prussian dominions, 
 all except about twenty thousand are taught at the public 
 expense ; the residue receive their literary instructions at 
 private academies. Similar systems have, likewise, long 
 since obtained in Germany and Austria. And France, 
 within the last five years, has also adopted a like system 
 of education ; the beneficial effects of which, it is said, 
 " are already visible in the habits and employments of 
 her citizens." It is to be devoutly hoped that the ca- 
 naille of this ancient, proud, and chivalrous nation, will 
 be speedily redeemed from the deep degradation and 
 2 
 
18 
 
 thraldom into which an almost total destitution of moral 
 and religious culture has so long plunged that portion of 
 this versatile but gallant people. England, too, has 
 done but little in the way of educating the common peo- 
 ple ; the pernicious effects of a failure to perform so im- 
 portant a social duty are also strikingly manifested in 
 the operations of her institutions, and in the degraded 
 and destitute condition of a large class of her population. 
 In turning from this brief reference to the present sys- 
 tems and condition of education in some of the European 
 states, it is cheering to observe the wonder-working pro- 
 gress of the common-school system in several, and the 
 preparation for its adoption in other, of the sister States 
 of our own dear America. The young American republics 
 are beginning to wake up in their strength, and to bring 
 their mighty resources to bear upon the cultivation of mind ; 
 
 " To pour upon their patriot sons 
 Instruction's living ray." 
 
 A common-school system, such, in some respects, as was 
 unsuccessfully attempted, a few years since, to be set on 
 foot in our own State, has been in successful operation in 
 the great State of New York for the last twenty years. The 
 whole State is laid off into small districts, to each of 
 which a competent teacher is assigned ; the Common- 
 wealth discharges one-half of the entire expense, and re- 
 quires the other half to be defrayed by an equitable 
 contribution upon the inhabitants of the respective dis- 
 tricts. The children of the rich and the poor are admitted 
 alike into these schools, without charge or distinction. 
 The fruits of this system have met the most sanguine 
 expectations of its friends. In 1832, four hundred and 
 ninety-four thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine, out of 
 five hundred and eight thousand eight hundred and 
 seventy-eight children in that State, " were regular pupils 
 
19 
 
 at common schools," leaving but a trifling fraction to be 
 educated elsewhere. 
 
 In the large and respectable State of Massachusetts, 
 under the operation of a system somewhat similar, but 
 "where nearly the whole expense is required by law to be 
 defrayed by the districts or townships themselves, in 1832 
 " there were but ten persons between the ages of fourteen 
 and twenty-one who could not read and. write"- — never 
 were a people so well educated. Several of the other 
 States, with like systems, but, perhaps, in some respects 
 less perfect, have enjoyed corresponding benefits. Surely, 
 nothing in the way of example can be more animating 
 and encouraging to the friends and patrons of a liberal 
 and popular system of instruction. 
 
 But, furthermore, to pursue example on this subject, it 
 is also provided in the constitution of the State of Maine, 
 (which is, comparatively, but a new State,) that " a gen- 
 ral diffusion of the advantages of education being essen- 
 tial to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the 
 people, to promote this important object the Legislature 
 are authorized, and it shall be their duty, to require the 
 several towns to make suitable provision, at their own ex- 
 pense, for the support and maintenance of schools, * * * 
 and to encourage, and suitably to endow, from time to 
 time, as the circumstances of the people may authorize, 
 all academies, colleges, and seminaries of learning within 
 the State." So completely have the Legislature complied 
 with the requisition in this article of the fundamental law 
 of the State, that, in 1834, one hundred and one thousand 
 three hundred and twenty-five persons, between the ages 
 of four and twenty-one, out of one hundred and thirty- 
 seven thousand nine hundred and thirty-one, were attend- 
 ing school, by authority of Government, under this wise 
 constitutional provision. 
 
20 
 
 It would be a useless consumption of your time to give 
 the details of education in its progress in all the New 
 England States. They have always been distinguished 
 for their excellent system of common education. It is, 
 perhaps, to their example that New York owes the de- 
 tails of its system of common schools which we have 
 described, and probably to this cause she is chiefly in- 
 debted for their present success and prosperity. The 
 whole school fund of Connecticut, one of these States, 
 productive aud unproductive, was reported, in 1832, to be 
 one million nine hundred and two thousand nine hundred 
 and fifty-seven dollars and eighty-seven cents ; and the 
 interest accruing thereon amounted, at the same time, to 
 eighty-six thousand two hundred and fifty-two dollars per 
 annum, which is annually distributed through the State for 
 the benefit of schools. In the small State of Rhode Island, 
 in 1831, there were three hundred and twenty-three pub- 
 lic schools, in which were taught seventeen thousand and 
 thirty-four pupils. In the State of Vermont there were, 
 in 1834, one thousand six hundred and twelve public 
 schools, which were required by statute to be open for the 
 reception of pupils for the term of three months in every 
 year. In 1832 the State of New Jersey had, also, a 
 school fund amounting, in all, to near two hundred and 
 thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 In " the key-stone" State, (the great State of Pennsyl- 
 vania,) early attention was given to the cause of educa- 
 tion. The illustrious Penn, in his " Preface to the Frame 
 of Government," remarks that " that which makes a good 
 constitution must keep it, viz : men of wisdom and vir- 
 tue—qualities that, because they descend not with worldly 
 inheritance, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous 
 education of youth." In this " Frame" he provides for 
 the establishment of public schools by the Government, 
 
21 
 
 Also, in the constitution of 1790, the Legislature of this 
 State is required, " as soon as conveniently may be, to 
 provide, by law, for the establishment of schools through- 
 out the State, in such manner that the poor may be taught 
 gratis." Pennsylvania has now a large school fund, the 
 annual income of which will, in a few years, amount to 
 one hundred thousand dollars, at which time the Legis- 
 lature is to dispose of it " for the promotion of free 
 schools." The little State of Delaware had, in 1834, a 
 school fund of one hundred and seventy thousand dollars. 
 The State of Maryland had, also, a school fund, in 1831, 
 of near one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, besides 
 an annual tax of twenty per centum on bank capital, for 
 the same object. 
 
 Education in the " Old Dominion," before her separa- 
 tion from the mother country, was not only neglected, 
 but absolutely discouraged. " The most distinguished 
 governor which Virginia had during her colonial state" 
 wrote to the Committee on Colonies in England in the 
 following disgraceful manner : " I thank God, there are 
 no free schools or printing ; and I hope we shall not have, 
 these hundred years ; for learning has brought disobedi- 
 ence, and heresy, and sects, into the world, and printing 
 has divulged them, and libels against the best govern- 
 ment." But (as might well have been expected) after 
 the declaration of independence, education seems to have 
 been one of the first subjects which engaged the atten- 
 tion of the leading politicians of Virginia. Mr. Jefferson, 
 who was always at the post of usefulness and of honor, 
 was found, among the foremost of her sons, urging, with 
 all the energies of his great mind, the establishment of 
 " a general system of education for ' all classes' of the 
 community." The system of common schools, recom- 
 mended by this illustrious statesman many years since, is 
 
22 
 
 now being carried into successful practice, and has alrea- 
 dy been eminently useful. North Carolina is accumu- 
 lating a school fund, and anticipates the adoption of a 
 common-school system. The State of Georgia has a 
 school fund of more than five hundred thousand dollars, 
 from which much practical benefit has already been de- 
 rived. The chivalrous State of South Carolina has also 
 appropriated, as a fund for the support of a system of 
 " free schools," the sum of four hundred and forty-one 
 thousand one hundred and seventy-six dollars and nine- 
 ty cents ; and, in 1832, had no less than eight hundred and 
 seventeen " free schools" in operation. The new States, 
 likewise, (as we may notice more particularly hereafter,) 
 have generally been well provided for in this respect on 
 their admission into the Federal Union. 
 
 With these bright examples before her, what is to pre- 
 vent Tennessee from pressing forward, with a laudable 
 emulation, in this highway to excellence in knowledge and 
 virtue! With a climate congenial, a soil productive, a posi- 
 tion as to the confederacy nearly central ; and far removed 
 from the demoralizing influence of a commerce too great 
 or too active on the one hand, yet sufficiently great, so as 
 not to induce inertness, on the other; with these advan- 
 tages, and this happy mediocrity, what obstacle opposes 
 our progress in usefulness and even to eminence in these 
 pursuits 1 If, indeed, it be true that the progress of letters 
 has uniformly "followed that of arms," Tennessee must be 
 destined speedily to take a noble and elevated stand in 
 literary pursuits, not only in America, but as to the civilized 
 world. But, gentlemen, I need not urge upon you, or upon 
 my countrymen generally, by argument or example, the 
 necessity of immediate action on a subject of such thrilling 
 interest and paramount importance. All realize that it is 
 the only pillar of our political safety— the only sure founda- 
 
Zo 
 
 tion on which we can reasonably build our hopes for the 
 permanency and continuance of free government. It is 
 the ark of our political covenant — the rock of our de- 
 fence. 
 
 However true this conclusion is, yet it may be properly 
 asked, where shall we obtain the indispensable means to 
 put into successful motion some practical system, such as 
 has been referred to as existing in other States, the 
 beneficial effects of which will be felt, and appreciated, 
 and disseminated, in every portion of this wide-spread 
 community] Where is the golden lever that is to move 
 forward a machinery so complicated, with sufficient mo- 
 mentum to attract public attention, and to enlist the 
 united, zealous support of Tennessee's chivalrous and 
 enlightened sons \ If our schools and our colleges have 
 not been cheated out of their " birthright" they have, at 
 least, (I fear,) unfortunately and irretrievably lost the 
 larger portion of those means that were designed for 
 their protection and support. An ample fund, sufficient 
 for the staff of mental life, was provided for our State, by 
 the liberal policy of the General Government, in the terms 
 of its admission into the Federal Union. But where shall 
 we search for this fund now 1 Will public men, who are 
 the guardians of the public interest, respond to this in- 
 quiry 1 Or shall we find the response in the scarcity 
 and dilapidated condition of our schools, colleges, and 
 academies 1 Or in the number of the illiterate and un- 
 educated that are to be found among the poor, or rather 
 among the middling classes of society, in this country ?-— 
 (for we have no really poor in this country.) Or will this 
 inquiry be answered by a reference to the inconsiderable 
 and meager school fund which remains in the coffers of 
 the State 1 It needs merely be mentioned to be remem- 
 bered, that it was provided, among other things, in an 
 
24 
 
 ordinance that was passed by Congress in 1787, for the 
 government of the then territory northwest of the river 
 Ohio, that " religion, morality, and knowledge, being 
 necessary to good government and the happiness of 
 mankind, schools and the means of education should 
 for ever be encouraged." The new States, which have 
 since been formed out of that territory and admitted into 
 the Federal Union, have received one thirty-sixth part 
 of all the lands within their chartered limits, respectively, 
 besides other donations from the General Government, 
 for the benefit of schools, which ensures them an ample 
 endowment for all their literary institutions. Tennessee 
 afterwards united herself to the confederacy, on the ex- 
 press condition that her inhabitants were never to be de- 
 prived of the privileges which the people of the territory 
 northwest of the Ohio were to enjoy. In pursuance of 
 this condition it was afterwards provided, by act of Con- 
 gress, that two hundred thousand acres of land should 
 be laid off, the one-half in East and the other in West 
 Tennessee; the half of the proceeds of the same, at two 
 dollars per acre, was to be applied to the use of two col- 
 leges, to be located, one in each of the great natural 
 divisions of the State, and the remainder to be appro- 
 priated for the benefit of academies. According to a 
 fixed policy of this country with regard to the public do- 
 main, these lands were afterwards conveyed to actual 
 settlers at one-half the stipulated price, depriving these 
 institutions at once of half the beneficent patronage of 
 Government, and striking a deadly blow at the rising 
 prospects of the State. Tennessee was equally unfortu- 
 nate in the next effort that was made by Government to 
 endow her institutions of learning. It was also provided 
 that the State of Tennessee should, moreover, in issuing 
 grants and perfecting titles, locate six hundred and forty 
 
25 
 
 acres of land to every six miles square, in the territory 
 ceded to the State of Tennessee, to be appropriated for 
 the use of schools for the instruction of children for ever ; 
 thus placing her on an equal footing with the other new 
 States of the Union. But of this she has only received 
 some twenty-three or four thousand acres, leaving a defi- 
 cit of more than half a million of acres of land to which 
 she is justly entitled. No hope now remains, however, 
 for further aid from this quarter that can be of much 
 avail to this object. The remnant of the public lands 
 that is yet unappropriated in this State, and which justice 
 and policy demand should be speedily added to the school 
 fund, cannot be of much consequence, in what way soever 
 it shall be applied. But shall we cease to make exertions 
 to overcome these opposing obstacles, or shall we brood 
 over our misfortunes, in despair of the cause of education 
 —in despair of the republic — and lose sight of all the 
 bright visions of the future'? This is impossible! There 
 is no object that is worthy to be desired, that is not at- 
 tainable. There is no difficulty so arduous that it cannot 
 be overcome by the enterprising genius and energy of our 
 citizens and the exhaustless resources of the country. 
 And, in proof of these conclusions, as well as in justice 
 to the State, it must not be forgotten that she has, 
 notwithstanding the misfortunes and embarrassments 
 which we have enumerated, accumulated a considera- 
 ble fund for the purposes of education ; but not an 
 amount sufficient, of itself, to promise to be perma- 
 nently useful to the country at large. The whole amount 
 of this fund, arising from its various sources, to wit : from 
 the capital and interest of the new State bank, the sale of 
 the Hiwassee, the twelve and a half cents and one cent 
 per acre lands, the donation of John Rice of five thousand 
 acres of land, the stock of the old bank of the State at 
 
26 
 
 Knoxville, the bonuses of the three banks now in opera- 
 tion in the State, and also of the fire ensurance company, 
 may be computed at a sum between five and six hundred 
 thousand dollars. There is, also, another source from 
 which, it seems to me, we may reasonably hope for an 
 additional income to be annually added to this sum ; I 
 mean the interest that will accrue on that portion of " the 
 surplus revenue" that is to be deposited with the treasurer 
 of the State, which, if it should be added to the school 
 fund, will soon swell it to an amount commensurate with 
 the wants of the country. For it will be remembered 
 that the present Congress (by, perhaps, the most equita- 
 ble and the least exceptionable disposition which could 
 have been made, under existing circumstances, of the 
 surplus revenue of the General Government) have placed 
 more than a million of dollars within the control of your 
 local Legislature, to be used for the benefit of the State. 
 It is true, however, that a question may be raised as to 
 what is the most suitable and proper object to which the 
 proceeds of this new capital should be applied, or whether 
 or not, for the present, it should receive any direction at 
 all 1 If this were a time and place to indulge in political 
 sentiment or political discussion, I should take the occa- 
 sion to express a regret that a " surplus" fund has ever 
 found its way to the public treasure, and to offer some of 
 the reasons by which I have been, individually, induced 
 uniformly to favor the curtailment of the sources from 
 which the present superabundance has been produced. 
 But for our purpose, or so far as it concerns the disposi- 
 tion or application of the proceeds of the surplus revenue, 
 it is immaterial whether this fund has been accidentally, 
 incidentally, or improperly collected. It is admitted, on 
 all hands, that the Government has no need of the whole 
 of this sum, which has been taken from the pockets of the 
 
27 
 
 people ; and that, to them, equity demands " the surplus" 
 should be returned, as far as practicable, and as is conso- 
 nant with the principles of constitutional law ; and that, also, 
 a part of this amount is now in the disposing power of the 
 State Legislature. If it be right that this surplus should, 
 if possible, be disbursed among the people ; or, in other 
 words, " be returned to the pockets of the people," I would 
 ask how this object can be so nearly approached, in this 
 State, as by the application of the proceeds of our portion 
 of it to the purposes of common education 1 By this ap- 
 plication of it its benefits will reach every neighborhood, 
 eveiy family, throughout the community ; its blessings will 
 be equally diffused among the whole people ! None of the 
 many local and sectional objections which may be properly 
 urged against its appropriation to any other object, can 
 be maintained against its application to this most neces- 
 sary and useful of all objects ! May we not, therefore, 
 trust and look with some degree of confidence to the 
 learned and distinguished members of our enlightened 
 Legislature, (who are now assembled at the Capitol, in 
 this beautiful city, to deliberate upon this subject,) for a 
 safe, economical, and profitable investment of this fund, 
 so that, at no very distant day, if properly husbanded, its 
 proceeds will accumulate an amount, connected with 
 other resources, sufficient to send forth streams of living 
 light and knowledge into every hamlet, dell, and cottage 
 within our borders. The anticipation of this result excites 
 the cheering hope that the wasted and too long neglected 
 genius of this country, much of which has been " born to 
 blush unseen," may yet be gathered from its obscurity, 
 and disciplined in the school of the people, to defend their 
 rights and maintain their liberties ; that Tennessee may 
 yet have her Henrys, her Franklins, her Hamiltons, her 
 Jeffersons, to plead the rights of man ; her Coopers and 
 her Irvings to record their deeds in story, and to throw an 
 
28 
 
 enchantment over her beautiful hills and mountains, her 
 cultivated fields and fertile valleys. 
 
 But while we have reason to lament the melancholy des- 
 titution of primary schools in this State, it is with the liveliest 
 emotions of gratification that we refer to the better success 
 of some of our higher institutions of learning. The East 
 Tennessee and Greenville Colleges, and the Southwestern 
 Seminary, at Maryville, which are still flourishing institu- 
 tions, have been extensively useful, and are identified 
 with the character and prosperity of our State. 
 
 The Jackson College, at Columbia, which has been late- 
 ly founded on a permanent basis, promises to be of high 
 utility. Similar remarks might be made with regard to 
 many academies in various parts of the State. But the 
 Nashville University may now be regarded as the " cherish- 
 ed object of every man's pride," not merely in this city and 
 State, but throughout the "great Southwest" Its healthful 
 and central location, aside from its other merits, ensure 
 for it the most favorable consideration from this vast and 
 wealthy portion of the country. The champions and pa- 
 trons of education, on whom its destinies have more im- 
 mediately and mainly devolved, have encountered and 
 overcome the numerous and appalling difficulties and 
 embarrassments which usually beset all literary institutions 
 in their infancy. Its present accomplished president, with 
 a perseverance, ability, and moral courage, peculiar to 
 himself and worthy of the noble cause, has prostrated the in- 
 veterate and stubborn prejudices which once unjustly ex- 
 isted against this young and rising institution, by the dint 
 of argument, the force of truth, and the power of example. 
 The calumnies by which this seminary of learning was 
 once represented as being the school of sectarian doctrines 
 and party politics, or the favorite of the wealthy and 
 aristocratic of the land, or as the seat of the reckless and 
 dissipated sons of fortune, have been boldly met and re- 
 
29 
 
 luted, not by the force of truth and eloquence alone, but 
 also by the lofty bearing of the alumni, and the high distinc- 
 tions to which they have attained, many of whom are 
 living witnesses that merit is the only test of eminence, 
 and the highway to preferment, within her halls ; that, in- 
 deed, many spirited young men, without fortune, family 
 distinction, or even pecuniary means, have borne away in 
 triumph the highest collegiate honors her faculty could 
 bestow. In comparison with other literary institutions of 
 the " great West," she now stands on high and enviable 
 ground, if not on a peerless eminence, in what light soever 
 she maybe regarded, whether as to the course of instruc- 
 tion, the discipline, the number and moral habits of the 
 students, or the character and reputation of the alumni. I 
 will here be permitted to remark, in justice to the friends 
 and patrons of this institution and the principles which 
 are here taught and inculcated, that, in whatsoever situa- 
 tion or department of life my lot has been cast, whether 
 at the bar in courts of justice, or in the councils of the 
 country in the halls of the State or National Legislature, 
 I have there uniformly met, and witnessed, with pride 
 and exultation, the alumni of our own " alma mater" ad- 
 vocating the cause of the unfortunate, the injured, and 
 the oppressed, or fearlessly repelling error, and boldly and 
 ably battling on the side of liberal principles and popular 
 rights. They are, already, dispersed into almost every 
 part of this great confederacy, discharging important social 
 duties, and executing high and honorable trusts in the 
 administration of the Government, or engaged in fighting 
 the battles of the country in the defence of the homes and 
 firesides of our brethren on the borders of the republic* 
 
 * A number of them are at this time in the expedition to the Withlacoochee ; 
 of whom, among - the officers, are Major A. F. GofF and General W. Barrow. 
 
so 
 
 In view of this simple statement of facts connected with 
 the history of the alumni, may not the Nashville University, 
 with propriety, join in this patriotic declaration of the gal- 
 lant Commodore Preble, " Our sons, they are our coun- 
 try's !" Or point to her sons, and like the mother of the 
 Gracchii exclaim, in ecstacies of joy, " These are my 
 jewels !" Is she not entitled to higher honors than were 
 awarded to the Roman matron ! Our country owes her a 
 statue of gold ! 
 
 But, finally, how invaluable is the inheritance de- 
 rived from our ancestors ! and how priceless the legacy 
 which they have bequeathed to us ! How auspicious have 
 been the first dawnings of our political existence ! How 
 prosperous our brief national career ! How responsible the 
 charge that is committed to our keeping ! and with what 
 untiring zeal should we endeavor to maintain and per- 
 petuate the blessings of our glorious institutions, by 
 the advancement of knowledge and the cultivation of 
 mind ! It has devolved on America to test the experi- 
 ment of a Government founded on the popular will ; and 
 upon this age to prove the utility of popular systems of 
 education, for the enlightenment of the public mind. If the 
 exhaustless resources of this country can be brought to 
 bear, in some measure, upon these experiments, may we 
 not hope that the proudest anticipations, which our present 
 elevated position among the nations of the earth, and our 
 present expanded prospects may suggest, shall be realized 
 in tenfold blessedness ; and that, in the progress of the 
 great drama of human events, Time's destroying hand 
 may here find a mighty structure of wisdom and virtue 
 mocking his power and defying his efforts ! 
 
Gentlemen Alumni of the Senior Class :* 
 
 This is. perhaps, the most interesting moment of your 
 lives ; you are about to quit scenes and sever connexion:: 
 that have been long and dearly cherished ; you are about to 
 exchange the shady retirements of a collegiate course, and 
 the halcyon days of youthful anticipation, for the sunshine 
 and sober reahties of life. You will be no longer under the 
 wise guardian-hip and protection of the president and 
 faculty of the University. Henceforth, each of you will 
 stand or fall by the merit or demerit of liis own deeds, 
 prompted by his own judgment. However painful or in- 
 teresting these reflections may be. or however evanescent 
 and delusive are all human prospects, yet we have high as- 
 surances and full confidence that you will be useful to society 
 and ornamental to your country. We therefore cordially 
 greet you on this occasion, as our younger brothers in the 
 great family of the alumni of the Nashville University; and, 
 in behalf of the society which I now represent., and of which 
 you will soon be constitutional members. I shall merely 
 remind you, individually, ever to recollect the wise and 
 salutary admonitions which you have received, and to prac- 
 tise on the precepts which you have been taught, during 
 your collegiate course ; to be faithful to " edmei mater'.' to 
 your country, and to your God. You will soon leave this 
 institution, and go forth into the world ; and. as you go, 
 you will cany with you the blessings of your venerated 
 president, the best wishes of the alumni, and the prayers 
 of all good men for your future prosperity and success 
 through the journey of life. 
 
 ' This class of the University graduated on the following day.