723 
 
 U 
 
 ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS: 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 FIRST ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF 
 
 
 COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, ' y „ r & 
 BY R. W. CUSHMAN. 
 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY ROBERT A. WATERS, 
 
 1848. 
 
ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 FIRST ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF 
 
 COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Vi!,^ i'""- '" v W T*«5 
 
 DEC 2 2 !332 
 
 BY R. W. CUSHMAN 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY ROBERT A. WATERS. 
 
 1848. 
 
 JX 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/elementsofsuccOcush 
 
dl23u,K 
 
 Washington, July 20, 1848. 
 Rev. R. W. Cushman. 
 
 Dear Sir : The Alumni Association of Columbian College unani- 
 mously request, for publication, a copy of the Address delivered by 
 you before that body, in the presence of a large number of ladies 
 and gentlemen, on the evening of commencement day, the 12th 
 instant. 
 
 The members will feel a pride in being permitted to present to 
 their Alma Mater and to their fellow citizens so rich an offering, as 
 the first fruits of their Association. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 WM. a FORCE, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, 
 
 Washington, August 11, 1848. 
 
 Dear Sir : I owe you an apology for the tardiness with which 
 I reply to your request, made in behalf of the Alumni Association of 
 Columbian College. The simple truth is, I have not considered the 
 Address worthy, as a literary article, of the compliment your kind- 
 ness has given it. It was only commenced, with the advantage of a 
 few hours' premeditation, on the Wednesday before it was delivered ; 
 and it divided even that opportunity with the claims of clerical duty. 
 
 The good of others, however, and not his own literary reputation, 
 should be the prevailing consideration with a christian minister. 
 I have concluded therefore to say, that if the Committee to whom 
 the Association have referred the matter, shall judge that the value 
 of the lessons which the Address contains may compensate for its 
 literary deficiency, it is at their service. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 R. W. CUSHMAN. 
 
 Wm. Q. Force, Esq., 
 
 Cor. Sec. of Association of Alumni of Columbian College. 
 
 8347! 8 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 <JENTLEMEN, ALUMNI OP COLUMBIAN COLLEGE : 
 
 The twenty-fourth anniversary of our Alma 
 Mater has called us together from our different 
 and distant homes, to the first anniversary of our 
 literary brotherhood. We come, for the most 
 part, strangers to each other. More than a score 
 of classes have passed from her halls since some 
 of us were there. Many of us, therefore, are 
 known to each other scarcely by name. But 
 we have a common bond : a kind of intellectual 
 consanguinity connects us with each other. The 
 Institution, whose youngest sons have this day 
 shown how faithful and skilful has been her care 
 to them, has nursed us all, and given us the be- 
 ginnings of what we are. 
 
 We all look back to days when we, like them, 
 were conning our lessons amidst the quiet groves 
 of yonder classic hills ; and we can well remem- 
 ber with what emotions we looked forward to 
 that day of days — the last, the greatest of college 
 life, the most thought of, the most coveted, and 
 yet the most dreaded, as "big with fates" and 
 full of portents — when we should receive, as they 
 
6 
 
 have this day received, her farewell counsels and 
 benediction ; and should go forth to seek our 
 part to act, and our place for action, in the busy 
 world. It was to us then an untried world. 
 But it had been the object of our contempla- 
 tion — the theme of our study ; and we thought 
 we knew it well, geographically, scientifically, 
 historically, politically, and religiously. We had 
 laid our plans as to the part we should play in it, 
 and had schooled our powers that we might 
 play it with success. 
 
 Years have since passed over us. And they 
 have offered to us their lessons of wisdom. 
 They have taught us much we then did not 
 know, and much that never can be learned in 
 the cloister. The most efficient of teachers is 
 the daughter of time and of suffering. 
 
 It has seemed to me, nevertheless, that some- 
 thing of that knowledge which we have to ac- 
 credit to experience might be gained in a man- 
 ner less painful ; at a time, in the outset of life, 
 when it would be more valuable, as it would 
 have been more available. 
 
 If we improve the present occasion by a re- 
 view of some of the lessons on 
 
 SUCCESS IN LIFE, 
 
 which we have gathered either from our own 
 experience or from our observation of the success 
 or the mistakes of others who began the career 
 of life with us, we shall, perhaps, spend the 
 
present hour as agreeably as we could spend it 
 by the discussion of a topic less practical. Such 
 a survey, though it may prove too late to be 
 greatly serviceable to ourselves, may yet, per- 
 haps, render some service to our junior brethren 
 who have to day attained their academic ma- 
 jority. 
 
 Life, socially considered, and as an object of 
 hope to the young, is a complex thing : compri- 
 sing, chiefly, the domestic relations, property, 
 standing, and influence. When these have been 
 attained, and possessed through the common 
 period of human longevity, a man feels that life 
 has had, in his case, whatever it can claim as 
 properly belonging to it. And if these things 
 have been rightly used and enjoyed, it is parted 
 with, with a kind of satisfaction which belongs 
 only to the ideas of attainment, success, and com- 
 pletion. On the contrary, when the natural an- 
 ticipation of congenial domestic associations has 
 been disappointed, and life has worn on either 
 without those ties and those springs of happiness 
 that belong to the family state, or with them 
 realized only as chains of bondage and fountains 
 of bitterness ; or when, through indiscretion or 
 misdirected endeavors, one's industry and enter- 
 prise have left him, each year of life, still battling 
 with poverty ; or when, through self distrust, or 
 the want of address to take, and the skill to main- 
 tain, the position among men to which he is en- 
 
8 
 
 titled ; or when the consciousness of powers ne- 
 glected or misapplied comes over him, as life 
 draws to a close — and I speak of life in its phi- 
 losophical aspect merely — I apprehend a most 
 painful sense of futility must haunt his waning 
 years, as if existence had been to him an abortion. 
 To know the causes of failure, and how to 
 shun them ; and the means of suceess, and how 
 to secure them ; is the problem of life. 
 
 As to the elements of success, it is certainly 
 an advantage to enter on life with the aids of for- 
 tune and family distinction. For the beginning 
 of the race they give a commanding starting point. 
 But, then, the race is long. And though they 
 may supply a good momentum in the outset, 
 they are altogether insufficient of themselves to 
 countervail and overrule the thousand causes of 
 disaster which every man must meet in his pro- 
 gress. And, in point of fact, notwithstanding 
 their undeniable advantages, they prove obstacles, 
 incumbrances, or snares, to young men who pos- 
 sess them, as frequently as they prove to be real 
 aids to life. 
 
 The possession of a fortune to begin life with, 
 may be regarded as an advantage, as spreading 
 one important element of happiness along the 
 entire course of a man's career, which he who 
 is the architect of his own fortunes can reach, 
 perhaps, only when the morning glow and fresh- 
 ness of life have passed. But then, possession 
 
9 
 
 supersedes the necessity of acquisition, and de- 
 stroys the incentive to temperance, self-control, 
 invention, exertion, and enterprise, which the 
 want of wealth supplies. And this is a great 
 disadvantage ; for these qualities form the very 
 bone and sinew of a valuable character. And this 
 relief from the necessity of their cultivation lets 
 down the mind into a seducing repose, where it 
 is likely to become a prey to reverie, ennui, and 
 temptation. It is a mistake in young men who 
 are entering on life, to fix the eye so intently on 
 wealth as an immediate requisite, as to render 
 themselves unhappy by discontent or envy. Tal- 
 ent and character are a better inheritance than 
 money, as they may be converted into fountains 
 whose streams are silver and- never run dry. 
 
 The advantage of family distinction, also, like 
 that of wealth, is good for a beginning. It will 
 give a young man the vantage ground in the start 
 with his competitors. But, like that, also, it may 
 prove a snare. 
 
 To be a great man's son, is a good thing up to 
 twenty-one. But it has this disadvantage con- 
 nected with it afterwards, that his merits are 
 doomed to play their lustres under his father's 
 shadow. And however serene or brilliant they 
 may be, men will still compare them, not with 
 their own, but with his ; and he, too, will look, 
 not down on the world below him, but up to his 
 own revered paragon, and will oftener feel a 
 
10 
 
 sense of discouragement than of emulation, in the 
 consciousness of the world's invidious compari- 
 son. As it will be well for the glory of our 
 national monument that Washington is not the 
 city of the pyramids ; so it is better for a young 
 man to reach greatness and stand absolute, than 
 to be born to it, and be overshadowed by it. 
 
 The things which are really essential for a 
 successful life are not circumstances, but qualities; 
 not the things which surround a man, but the 
 things which are in him ; not the adjuncts of his 
 position, but the attributes of his character. 
 Among those deemed most necessary, must be 
 enumerated, principle, self-control, self-knowl- 
 edge, the knowledge of men, industry, persever- 
 ance, and self-reliance. 
 
 The bearing of these on the prosperity of life, 
 their connexion with each other, their relative 
 importance, their reciprocal influence, it would 
 be both profitable and interesting to discuss at 
 large. The limits of the occasion, however, and 
 the fatigues of the day, restrict us, on most of 
 them, to a passing observation merely. 
 
 Principle. — We speak of a man of principle, 
 in distinction from a man of passion, of impulses, 
 notions, whims, and temporizing expedients. 
 Principle recognizes the difference between right 
 and wrong ; holds that difference in view ; and is 
 governed by it, not merely in the selection of the 
 
il 
 
 objects to be aimed at, but in the means of reach- 
 ing them. If an object which is desired can be 
 reached only by bending from the right, princi- 
 ple foregoes that object. It resists impulse ; it 
 refuses the counsels of expediency ; it scorns 
 temporizing. It opens the book of law, and 
 swears fealty to the constitution of the moral 
 world. It has its haven ; and it marks its course. 
 It spreads out its chart ; fixes its eye on the com- 
 pass ; lays the hand on the helm, and points the 
 ship to her pathway, and holds her there, though 
 seas may buffet, and winds and currents solicit 
 to an easier motion, and promise a speedier but 
 a different home. 
 
 Thus, principle becomes the basis of self-con- 
 trol, and is essential to it. A man without prin- 
 ciple can never be his own master. His passions 
 will ever assert supremacy over him ; and the 
 present flitting advantage will be ever seducing 
 him from the path that leads to ultimate and per- 
 manent good. 
 
 Self-knowledge. — We use this term as embra- 
 cing both the knowledge of what belongs to one- 
 self, in common with other men, and what con- 
 stitutes his personality. 
 
 On this point we will only say, in this connex- 
 ion, that if the associations of life have their har- 
 monies and their discords, it is because there 
 are such things as adaptations, congenialities, 
 and antipathies in the natures of men ; and that, 
 
12 
 
 if we would find happiness, and exert right in- 
 fluence in the associations into which we enter, 
 we should make our elections not only with a 
 reference to what we approach, but with refer- 
 ence to what we are : and this can be done only 
 by knowing ourselves. 
 
 And if the pursuits of life require certain qual- 
 ities to prosecute them with success, a man should 
 not enter on a given pursuit without knowing 
 himself to possess those qualities which fit him 
 for it. And if he knows that he does not possess 
 them, in development, and his tastes covet what 
 his powers seem to forbid, it is certainly desira- 
 ble he should understand enough of his nature to 
 judge whether use and practice may give him 
 fitness for that pursuit. 
 
 Knowledge of men. — What degree of confidence 
 a man may place in his fellow men, is, practically, 
 one of the most important questions connected 
 with the economy of life. How far is it safe to 
 trust appearances, professions, and promises? 
 To what extent may benevolence and justice be 
 relied on, to overrule the promptings of selfishness 
 in those with whom one's happiness and interests 
 are implicated, either in friendships or business? 
 What are the springs of action that move the 
 busy world ; and what, really, the ties that bind 
 society together? And what may be expected 
 to be its reaction on one's welfare from the 
 adoption of a given line of conduct in one's in- 
 tercourse with it ? 
 
13 
 
 To answer these questions requires the knowl- 
 edge of men. It is, indeed, a knowledge which is 
 not to be expected of a man to any great extent 
 in the outset of life. And yet, if he enters on 
 his career with erroneous conceptions on these 
 points, he is almost sure to place his confidence 
 where it will be abused ; to find his aims circum- 
 vented, his plans defeated, his hopes disappoint- 
 ed, and his enterprises overtaken by disaster. 
 The almost universal error of honorable and in- 
 genuous youth is, to think better of the world 
 than truth will justify. 
 
 Instruction may do something in preparing a 
 young man to shun the dangers of a misplaced 
 confidence in men; and maxims which have 
 been stamped with the approval of ages, would 
 he but heed them, might serve him as lights of 
 a safer pathway. But the wrecks of fortunes and 
 of happiness which line the shores of all time 
 attest their insufficiency. For some evils, alas, 
 suffering seems the only corrective: and from 
 those of a misplaced confidence in men, expe- 
 rience proves, after all instruction that can be 
 given, the only successful schoolmaster. Yet, as 
 we are linked with society, and our prosperity 
 necessarily placed within the power of other men^ 
 the knowledge of men should certainly be among 
 the first lessons to be taught and learned ; and 
 all should be done that can be done, in the way 
 of gathering from the experience of others the 
 
)4 
 
 wisdom which else must be taken from the smart 
 of our own. 
 
 The necessity of Industry to success, is almost 
 too obvious even for a passing observation. It is 
 God's prerogative alone to have by wishing. 
 The constitution which He has given to things 
 has made acquisition, for man, the issue only of 
 effort. A w 7 orm in his needs, yet a god in his 
 powers, and placed amid the elements of the 
 things suited to his being rather than their struc- 
 tures, what he wants he is required to create. 
 v And though science and art have increased his 
 facilities, civilization has multiplied his wants ; 
 till activity is even more necessary to satisfaction 
 in the civilized than the savage state. And then, 
 what he has labored to create, the constitution 
 of things withdraws from his possession ; and 
 the work that has once met a given w r ant, has to 
 be done over again. The great law of decom- 
 position — in some of its operations vulgarly 
 called consumption, in others poetically named 
 "the tooth of time" — imposes the necessity of 
 repetition. The labor which is necessary to 
 bring us into a condition of comfort, is necessary 
 to keep us there. Things being thus by the 
 constitution which God has given them, a young 
 man should never calculate on prosperity with- 
 out industry ; especially amid the rivalries, the 
 competitions, and struggles that will surround 
 him, whatever path he enters. 
 
15 
 
 And Perseverance, too, is a necessary element 
 of success. No great good thing which life holds 
 out to the ambition of man is so conditioned that 
 inception and achievement are within reach of 
 each other. Wisdom, skill, honors, fortune, 
 power, all lie far onward from their beginnings. 
 Even friendships and domestic joys submit to the 
 universal law : they are no such fruits of spon- 
 taneous and extempore growth as to be plucked 
 for the mere planting. 
 
 But I pass to the last named quality, on which 
 it was my design mainly to dwell : 
 
 Self- Reliance. — And I attach the more impor- 
 tance to this, as an element of success, because 
 it is a quality which it would almost seem as if 
 mankind had conspired to proscribe. 
 
 We mean by this term, not a conceited self- 
 sufficiency, which is more usually seen associated 
 with ignorance and incapacity than with intelli- 
 gence and a good understanding ; but we mean 
 that confidence in one's own powers which may 
 rightfully be indulged from a just appreciation of 
 them. Of this, certainly, there ought to be no 
 censure. And yet how often do we hear the 
 sorrowful exclamation, half in pity and half in re- 
 proach, "why didn't he ask my advice !" Now, 
 it may be admitted that, in those cases in which 
 misfortune results to a man from his following 
 his own judgment, it would have been better to 
 
16 
 
 have followed other people's. But I do not 
 know how this can be known in advance ; and if 
 it cannot be, the question is a very simple one> 
 whether the Creator meant that men should or 
 should not act by the aid of their own powers ? 
 Has he given to some men eyes for others to see 
 by ? Or does He expect that all men, at least all 
 to whom He has given eyes, should use their 
 own? Where has He laid the responsibility of 
 action ? On the actor, or on his neighbor ? 
 
 It is, indeed, a man's duty to gather the ma- 
 terials of judgment wherever he can find them ; 
 to seek the information he needs, from any source 
 and from every source, from the highest and from 
 the humblest that may yield it. And it behooves 
 him, as he values success in his undertakings, 
 to see well to it, that his information be reliable, 
 and that he has all the elements which are ne- 
 cessary in making up a judgment on the course 
 to be pursued. But beyond this, the judgment, 
 the decision, as the responsibility, must be his 
 own. 
 
 It is a remark which has often been made^ 
 that those who are thrown on the world without 
 fortune, and without the benefit of parental coun- 
 sel and guardianship, have, frequently, the great- 
 est success in life. Bating the numerous instan- 
 ces of wreck by temptation, this remark is true. 
 The eminence to which they reach they could 
 never have attained, if they had not been made 
 
17 
 
 to feel while young, and made to feel most inly, 
 that they must stand on their own feet, if they 
 would stand at all ; and that if they would rise, 
 they must employ their own powers. Self-reli- 
 ance has thus been early forced upon them by 
 their circumstances. 
 
 Young men who have the benefit of a worthy 
 parental supervision are not early called on to 
 cultivate this characteristic. D uring their minor- 
 ity, it is hardly expected in them. It is not the 
 age for self-direction, but for submission and 
 docility. But every virtue has its neighbor 
 vice, and every good its besetting evil : and this 
 very influence of parental counsel and control 
 may readily prove an injury in one of its bearings, 
 if not guarded against, while it is an inestimable 
 blessing in many others. The reliance on others, 
 which is, in fact, a necessary condition of the 
 first part of existence, may grow into a habit ; 
 w T hich, after a young man has begun life for him- 
 self, he may find it very difficult to overcome. 
 And his danger is the greater, the more excel- 
 lent the counsel, the more efficacious and health- 
 ful the control : because the more full the suc- 
 cor, the less felt the need of self-exertion. 
 
 It is very natural, moreover, for a young man, 
 whose domestic relations have been fortunate, to 
 go out into the world with a better opinion of 
 mankind than truth will sanction. It is true he 
 will not get far on in it before he will find that 
 
18 
 
 the generality of men are neither as wise, nor as 
 honest, nor as benevolent, as they might be. 
 But he is in danger of making the mistake of 
 looking on men, after his arrival at manhood, too 
 much as he was accustomed to look on his pa- 
 rents in his minority — of regarding them with a 
 reverence to which, from him as a man among 
 men, they are not entitled ; and of accrediting 
 them, in the matters of knowledge, wisdom, ca- 
 pacity, with advantages they do not possess. 
 The natural effect of all is, to lead him to indulge 
 an unwarrantable distrust of his own abilities; 
 and to place his welfare too much within the 
 control of others. 
 
 For these reasons, we would place a young 
 man who is entering into life, on his guard against 
 depending on the advice and judgment of others. 
 If he is conscious of wanting the knowledge re- 
 quisite for action, let his first business be to set 
 about getting it. Let him enter on no pursuit 
 or enterprise till he has first properly prepared 
 himself for it. Before he decides to enter a given 
 relation, or assume a given responsibility, let him 
 understand himself — let him consider his own 
 fitness and powers. If he is conscious of being 
 destitute of the qualities which are requisite for 
 it ; why, then he should let it alone, and turn to 
 something else better suited to his idiosyncrasy. 
 In God's well ordered providence there must be 
 a place for every thing ; and every thing should 
 
19 
 
 be in its place — talent and mind) as well as mat- 
 ter. 
 
 But when a man knows himself to possess the 
 requisite qualifications for a given undertaking 
 and knows enough of the means by which the 
 end is to be secured, and enough of the causes 
 that may work defeat, to justify a judgment of 
 the probability of success; let him form that 
 judgment himself, and rely on it, and calmly act 
 on it. It is — it must be, as a general fact, bet- 
 ter than the judgment of other men can be who 
 have had less interest in gathering, weighing, and 
 comparing the elements that belong to the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 It will often happen, however, in every man's 
 history, that he will find himself under the ne- 
 cessity of acting, even in matters of the greatest 
 moment, without that confidence in the favora- 
 ble issue of an undertaking which is most desira- 
 ble. The causes on which success or failure 
 shall depend, are either so numerous, so hidden, 
 or so implicated, that one cannot be assured of 
 knowing them all and understanding their influ- 
 ence. And yet he is called to act. In such case 
 a habit of self-reliance, becomes a most important 
 element of success. It renders every power and 
 faculty which he possesses for ensuring success, 
 available to the greatest possible extent. Confi- 
 dence in one's own powers, in an emergency, is 
 strength ; while distrust is a paralysis, the sure 
 
20 
 
 precursor and the very cause of defeat. The 
 seaman who relies on the grasping power of his 
 own rough hand to hold him to the tossing sky- 
 sail has descended to the deck in safety, while 
 he who doubted and trembled in his dizzy 
 height, fainted and fell. 
 
 These then, are the qualities which, as we 
 have observed the influences that shape the for- 
 tunes of men, have seemed to us essential to suc- 
 cess in life : right principle ; self-control ; self- 
 knowledge ; the knowledge of men ; industry ; 
 perseverance ; and self-reliance. 
 
 We would not say that they are the only 
 qualities which enter into a thorough competen- 
 cy for every pursuit and situation. Nor would 
 we say that instances may not be pointed to, of 
 successful life, in which some one of them may 
 be wanting. A man may become rich, for ex- 
 ample, without industry, by a providence, an ac- 
 cident, or a blunder. And there are cases of 
 fortune, influence, and fame, which seem to speak 
 the all sufficiency of some one particular quality ; 
 from which a successful career seems to have 
 sprung, like a tree, with all its branches, foliage, 
 and fruit, from a single germ. Thus, in the med- 
 ical profession, fortune and fame, from tender- 
 ness ; in the ministry, popularity, though with- 
 out fortune, from affability ; in authorship, from 
 wit: in politics, from cunning; in diplomacy, 
 
21 
 
 from address ; in editorship, from tact ; in friend- 
 ship, from forbearance ; in social position, from 
 manners ; in domestic life, from self-control ; 
 in war, from coolness ; in courtship, from courage. 
 
 All this, however, after all, is but selection. 
 The fortunate agency of a particular trait has given 
 it prominence, and an importance in the public 
 eye, which belongs not to itself alone, but as it 
 is connected with other and more fundamental 
 qualities. The medical practitioner would never 
 have succeeded, as he has done, without some- 
 thing more important to commend him to popu- 
 lar favor than the gentleness and sympathy, val- 
 uable though they are, with which he approaches 
 the bed-side of suffering. Other qualifications 
 must have conspired to advance the military 
 chieftain to renown, besides the distinguished 
 one of firmness before an enemy's fire. And so 
 of the rest. 
 
 The popular mind is fond of unity, and is inapt 
 at analysis. And when it has named one con- 
 spicuous element in a complex sum of causes it 
 is satisfied, as having accounted for the effect. 
 The effect of them aU y nevertheless, it can feel, 
 and accord the meed of favor and of fame. 
 
 But, if instances of success, without the pos- 
 session of all the qualities we have commended 
 may be cited, they are fortunately too few to en- 
 courage hope without merit ; while the wrecks 
 of hope and of promise that lie within the view 
 
22 
 
 of every man, if he will but survey them, attest 
 the force and value of those qualities. 
 
 One, whose career we have marked, has al- 
 ways been poor, though always a man of untir- 
 ing industry. The source of his misfortunes has 
 been the want of a knowledge of men. With 
 the highest tone of principle himself, he could 
 never realize the extent to which it is wanting in 
 the world. Another, though reared in affluence, 
 and starting with a good patrimony, has iallen 
 into the same condition, by relying on his inheri- 
 tence instead of his exertions. Another, who 
 might have been a treasure to society, and a gem 
 on the nation's brow, has drowned his memory 
 in the wine cup, and lingered on through life, a 
 spiritless mope, with happiness blasted and hope 
 extinguished, by an unsuitable domestic alliance ; 
 originated as, alas, too many are originated, 
 without self-knowledge, or knowledge of the ob- 
 ject selected — determined on and pledged at a 
 period too early for a sound judgment, and ad- 
 hered to and consummated at a riper age, against 
 the remonstrance of the heart ; and, melancholy 
 to say, for the apostacy it confesses, in the 
 spirit of self-immolation to principle. A fourth, 
 whose talent and industry were all that could be 
 asked, as guaranty of wealth and honor, sunk to 
 the doom of the culprit through want of principle. 
 A fifth, who seemed to have been born for occu- 
 pying a commanding position, has remained in 
 
23 
 
 comparative obscurity from want of self-controU 
 His passions have obstructed every path that for- 
 tune has prepared for him; and dashed every 
 cup of happiness that Providence and love and 
 friendship have mingled. 
 
 In the choice of pursuit, also, on which so much 
 depends as to influence., fortune, and happiness, 
 the instances of mistake are not few. One is 
 pining in a profession which he loathes, and in 
 which, for that reason, he can never excel ; and 
 which he selected, not from a love and a taste 
 for it, but from an idea of its honor. And 
 another, who had happily chosen the very 
 pursuit for which, of all that could be named, 
 both his talents and his tastes best fitted him, 
 has left it, and sacrificed every thing — prospect, 
 influence, and happiness, to a love of change ; 
 a mistake in which one hardly knows which to 
 say was most conspicuous, a want of persever- 
 ance, or a want of self-knowledge. 
 
 In what we have said we hope we shall not be 
 understood ascountenancing the disposition which 
 is sometimes seen in young men to mark out for 
 themselves a course of action while in a state of 
 minority and even of boyhood ; and to enter up- 
 on it in disregard of parental counsel and defi- 
 ence of parental authority. Such a disposition 
 betokens the absence of right principles, right 
 affections, self-knowledge, and self-control ; and 
 
24 
 
 is not to be called self-reliance, but self-will. 
 And where it is manifest, it is to be regarded 
 rather as the omen of a life of ignominy and 
 disaster, than as a prognostic of honorable suc- 
 cess. The self-reliance which we would describe, 
 and exhort a young man to cherish, can be in- 
 dulged only when it has a proper basis to rest 
 on : the basis of a disciplined mind, a regulated 
 heart, and common sense. 
 
 Thus, as we have looked back on the history 
 of some we knew in early days, but who have 
 passed away, and around on others who are still 
 walking life's journey with us, we gather exam- 
 ples which proclaim this truth : That he who 
 would he happy, and prosperous, and honored, 
 and useful in the public, social, and domestic re- 
 lations and responsibilities oj life, must know how 
 to act his part ; to employ his powers ; to select 
 and fill his station ; to improve his occasions ; to 
 avoid his dangers : and must set himself about it, 
 and keep himself at it, under the guidance of 
 principle and the approval of virtue. 
 
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF 
 
 COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, D. C. 
 
 The first organized meeting of the Alumni of the Columbian 
 College was held in the Baptist Church on Tenth street, in Wash- 
 ington, on the evening of commencement day, July 14, 1847. 
 
 Dr. T. B. J. Frye, being the eldest alumnus present, convened 
 the meeting, and stated its object in the following remarks : 
 
 Gentlemen Alumni of Columbian College : It devolves upon me, 
 as the eldest of you present, to state the objects for which this meet- 
 ing was called. I regret that it has not fallen into abler hands ; yet, 
 though fully sensible of my inadequacy to the task, I will undertake 
 it, relying upon your kindness to overlook the imperfect manner in 
 which I may perform the duty. 
 
 The chief object for which we have assembled is a high and holy 
 one. It is to gather around the domestic hearth of our Alma Mater 
 those of her children who remain near it, and also such of those 
 whom circumstances may permit occasionally to revisit those col- 
 lege scenes, which ever linger upon the memory as the happiest of 
 our lives. We hope by means of this Association to keep alive in 
 all their brightness the friendships and intimacies which bound their 
 golden links about our hearts during our sojourn in the walls of 
 Alma Mater, and at the same time to afford us opportunities of ma- 
 king the acquaintance of those who preceded us in the ascent of the 
 hill of learning, and of those who since have walked in academic 
 groves and deeply drank of the Pierian spring. 
 
 Such reunions as this Association contemplates are calculated to 
 produce the best possible results in softening the asperities of char- 
 acter which we are all too apt to acquire in the contests of the world. 
 
 Each commencement day will be to us as is the good old thanks- 
 giving day of our Puritan fathers to their descendants, when we, at 
 the shrine of our classic mother, as they at the altar of maternal 
 affection, will turn from the turmoil of life, to pay our homage, to 
 interchange the grasp of friendship, and to breathe the heartfelt wish 
 for each other's future welfare, and, gaining new strength from this 
 healthful exercise of the mind and heart, <;o forth better fitted to per- 
 form our part in the great drama of life, 
 
26 
 
 Another object of this Association, and one of deep importance, is 
 to repay the debt of gratitude we owe our Alma Mater, by using 
 our most strenuous efforts to aid and assist her in becoming what 
 she ought to be, situated as she is at the metropolis of the nation, 
 and possessing from that very cause the greatest advantages — advan- 
 tages which are increasing with every year. To do this, gentlemen, 
 we must have action and concentration of effort. This banding to- 
 gether of her sons is the best and surest mode of obtaining both 
 these requisites; and let us individually, as well as collectively, do all 
 in our power, with our tongues and* with our pens, to bring about a 
 consummation so devoutly to be wished. 
 
 Gentlemen, in conclusion, may wisdom and harmony preside over 
 your deliberations, and may this Association, together with the col- 
 lege which gave it birth, be a means in the hands of the Giver of 
 all Good to diffuse true knowledge and true religion throughout 
 the world. 
 
 Whereupon, on motion of H. W. Dodge, Dr. Frye was unan- 
 imously chosen President of the meeting. 
 
 On motion of Rev. T. J. Shepherd, H. W. Dodge was chosen 
 Secretary. 
 
 The Rev. T. J. Shepherd then moved that a committee of three 
 be appointed by the Chair to draught a Constitution ; and the fol- 
 lowing gentlemen were appointed : Rev. T. J. Shepherd, Prof. A. 
 J. Huntington, and Wm. B. Webb, Esq. 
 
 The committee retired for a few minutes, and, during their ab- 
 sence, the meeting was addressed by Rev. J. S. Walthall. 
 
 Upon the return of the committee a constitution was reported ; 
 and, after a brief discussion, during which Messrs. W. L. Childs 
 and W. B. Webb addressed the meeting, was adopted. 
 
 The Association then elected the following officers for the current 
 year : 
 
 Hon. W. Collins, President. 
 • S. C. Smoot, M. D., Vice President. 
 T. B. J. Frye, M. D., Recording Secretary. 
 Prof. A. J. Huntington, Corresponding Secretary. 
 Wm. Gt. Force, Treasurer. 
 E. M. Chapin, M. D., } 
 
 Wm. Q,. Force, > Executive Committee. 
 
 William B. Webb, ) 
 
 On motion of Rev. T. J. Shepherd, Prof. Huntington, Win. Q,. 
 Force, and John Pickett were appointed a committee to revise the 
 constitution and report at the next annual meeting. 
 
 On motion of Prof. Huntington, a committee of three was ap- 
 
27 
 
 pointed to nominate an orator for the next annual meeting. They 
 reported the Rev. R. W. Cushman, of Boston, who was unani- 
 mously elected for the occasion. 
 
 On motion of Mr. W. L. Childs, the President, Executive Com- 
 mittee, and such other officers as may be present, were empowered 
 to appoint another orator in case the one elected declined. 
 
 The Rev. T. J. Shepherd moved that the proceedings of this 
 meeting be published in the National Intelligencer and Union. 
 
 There being no further business, the Association adjourned. 
 
 T. B. J. FRYE, Chairman. 
 
 H. W. Dodge, Secretary. 
 
 ALUMNI PRESENT AT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Rev. Eli Ball, Virginia. j R. S. HaVnes, Virginia. 
 
 S. C. Smoot, M. D m Washington. J. R. Bagby, Virginia. 
 
 Rev. T. S. Walthall, Virginia. { J. Pickett, Virginia. 
 
 T. B. J. Fkye, M. D., Washington. I W. T. Hendren, Virginia. 
 
 E. M. Chacin, M. D., Washington. \ J. P. Craig, Maine. 
 
 Rev. H. W. Dodge, Virginia. \ J. R. Nijnn, Virginia. 
 
 Wm. Q. Force, Washington. W. L. Claybrook, Virginia. 
 
 Rev. T. J. Shepherd. Virginia. B. H. Lincoln, Massachusetts. 
 
 Rev. J. B. Taylor, Virginia. j T. Follard, Virginia. 
 
 Rev. A. J. Huntington, College Hill. > J. Christian, Virginia. 
 
 H. L. Chapin, Washington. ; R. H. Land, Virginia. 
 
 W. B. Webb, Washington. i R. French, District of Columbia. 
 
 J. W. H. Lovejoy, Washington. A. Bagby, Virginia. 
 
 W. L. Childs, New York. \ 
 
 FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 
 
 The first annual meeting of the Association of the Alumni of 
 Columbian College was held on Wednesday, the 1 2th of July, in 
 the E street Baptist Church. The President, the Hon. Wm. Col- 
 lins, on taking the chair, made a brief, but highly interesting ad- 
 dress. 
 
 In the absence of the Secretary. Mr. J. B. Pleasants was 
 elected pro tempore. 
 
 The committee appointed at the last meeting, reported through. 
 Mr. John Pickett, the following Constitution, which, after an 
 amendment, was adopted. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE COLUMBIAN COL- 
 LEGE; D. C. 
 
 Art. 1. This Association shall be styled the Alumni Associa- 
 tion of the Columbian College in the District of Columbia. 
 
28 
 
 Art. 2. The objects of this Association shall be the cultivation 
 of friendship and union among- its members, the promotion of the 
 interests of their Alma Mater, and the general advancement of 
 literature. 
 
 Art. 3. This Association shall consist of such persons as have 
 received or shall receive, in course, the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
 from the Columbian College. 
 
 Art. 4. All persons upon whom this College has conferred or 
 shall confer an honorary degree, shall be honorary members of this 
 Association. 
 
 Art. 5. There shall be an annual meeting of this Association 
 on the evening of Commencement day, when an oration shall be 
 delivered by an alumnus of the College, appointed at the annual 
 meeting previous ; also, such other meetings as may be deemed 
 proper. 
 
 Art. 6. The officers of the Association shall be a President, a 
 Vice President, a Corresponding and a Recording Secretary, a 
 Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of five, who shall be 
 -chosen at each annual meeting from Alumni residing in the 
 District of Columbia or its vicinity. 
 
 Art. 7. This Constitution may be altered at any annual meeting 
 by a vote of two-thirds of the members present. 
 
 Amendment to the 5th Article. There shall be also appointed 
 an alternate, and in the event of a failure on the part of both, the 
 Executive Committee shall have the power of appointing one. 
 
 Professor Huntington, Horace Stringfellow, and W. B. 
 Webb, were appointed by the President to nominate an orator and 
 an alternate for the next meeting, who, according to the 5th article 
 of the Constitution, shall be alumni of the institution. After a 
 short consultation, they reported the Rev. Baron Stow, D. D., of 
 Boston, as orator; and the Rev. S. G. Bul finch, of the District of 
 Columbia, a3 alternate; which nominations were unanimously ap- 
 proved. 
 
 The Association then proceeded to elect its officers : 
 Hon. Wm, Collins was elected President. 
 Dr. Frederick May, Vice President. 
 Wm. Q. Force, Corresponding Secretary. 
 Dr. T. B. J. Frye, Recording Secretary. 
 Wm. B. Webb, Treasurer. 
 John Pickett, ~) 
 J. W. H. Lovejoy, J 
 
 Dr. E. Chapin, J» Executive Committee. 
 J. B. Pleasants, 
 J. S. Cathcart, J 
 
 The Association was addressed on the various matters coming 
 
29 
 
 before it, by Messrs. Huntington, Force, Childs, Stringfellow, 
 Pleasants, and Pickett ; and after a most harmonious and interesting 
 session, adjourned to meet at half past seven o'clock. 
 
 J. B. PLEASANTS, Secretary pro tern. 
 
 At half past seven the Association met in the E street Baptist 
 Church. 
 The annual oration was delivered by the Rev. R. W. Cushman. 
 
 Immediately after which it was unanimously voted that Mr. 
 Cushman be requested to grant a copy of the oration for publica- 
 tion. 
 
 0EQ22 1932 
 
Pressboard 
 
 Pamphlet 
 
 Binder 
 
 Gaylord Bros. Inc. 
 
 Makers 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 111540719