Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

{756} “‘I know nothing about business,’ I replied, ‘and besides, I have neither capital nor credit.’

“‘The law, then? Your talents and education combine to fit you for that profession.’

“‘And what am I to live on, while I pursue the necessary study?’

“‘That’s true; one thing then is clear—money you must have, and that at once. That being the case, there is but one way to obtain it.’

“‘And that is—’

“‘By winning it,’ replied Roberts.

“I started from my chair, and walked up and down the room with violence.

“‘Now I pray you be calm, and listen to me attentively,’ continued the tempter. ‘You would not, I presume, object to getting back some of your losses by the same means that you made them?’

“‘And if I should not, how am I to know that I can? Has it not been, all along, my endeavor to do so, and has not each attempt invariably plunged me in deeper? Besides, I cannot play without a stake.’

“‘Let me put this question to you, W——,’ said Roberts. ‘Suppose you knew that a man had defrauded you of a certain sum of money; you had no proof, however, which could establish his guilt, and enable you to recover in a court of law. Would you, if he were by accident placed in your power, hesitate to force from him what he had deprived you of—nay, would you not deem yourself justified in using artifice to place him in that situation.’

“I replied that I could not tell; possibly under such circumstances I might do so.

“‘To be sure you would,’ rejoined Roberts, ‘and all the world would applaud the deed.’

“‘But whither does your question lead?’ asked I.

“‘Patience, and you shall hear,’ replied he. ‘Do you remember playing a game of brag in company with C. and F. and myself, on which occasion you and your humble servant were left minus a few thousands?’

“‘Certainly,’ said I, ‘I remember it but too well.’

“‘Well,’ resumed Roberts, ‘we, poor innocent lambs, were cursing our ill-luck—luck indeed! ha, ha! there was no _luck_ in the matter; we were fairly pigeoned—damnably cheated, sir!’

“‘How do you know, Roberts? By Heaven, if I thought so, I would make an example of them.’

“‘Oh! sir, you could not prove it!’

“‘How do _you_ know the fact, I repeat?’

“‘Because I have seen them playing together since, when I was not interested in the game, and could watch them coolly and closely, and I did so; and I am perfectly satisfied in my own mind that there was collusion between them. Now, for the drift of my question; I say, it would be perfectly justifiable in us to pay these knaves in their own coin—to turn the tables upon them, and so get back the cash they fobbed from us, and that, I take it, would be a pretty little capital to begin the world with again.’

“‘There is certainly nothing to object to on the score of justice,’ said I, ‘but I question if such a scheme would be deemed honorable among gentlemen.’

“‘I cannot answer for their abstract opinions,’ said Roberts, ‘nor do I greatly care for them; but this I know, that among the whole circle of my acquaintance, which is tolerably extensive, there is not one who would hesitate about the matter.’

“‘But what means shall we employ? If they be the rascals you have described, will they not be keen enough to detect us?’

“‘I defy them,’ said Roberts. ‘Leave every thing to me. To-morrow you shall be instructed; it is necessary now that I should sleep. Do you so, likewise, and be assured that your situation will soon be changed for the better. In the meantime you will need money; there are fifty dollars, half of all I have—take them; you will soon be able to repay me. Good night! and hark ye, no more despondency, but look the world boldly in the face, and smile with contempt upon fate, as I do.’

“Perhaps, Mr. S., you are surprised that I should so easily have assented to this vile proposal. There had been a time, sir, when I should have treated it as a personal insult; but I was not then a broken-down gambler. My principles had not been sapped by continual contact with the unworthy; the degrading and unhallowed desire of gain had not fastened on my soul, and corroded my sense of honor. One must have been crushed and miserable as I was, before he can be sure of his power to resist the tempter.

“Our scheme was soon executed; we regained our losses from ——, and something more besides, and I was once more out of the reach of absolute want. I hired a small house, where, very much against the inclination of her family, I placed Emily. One of her sisters accompanied her, for her continually declining health rendered the sympathies of a female friend absolutely necessary. I once more resolved to abandon play. The suggestion thrown out by Roberts with regard to the study of the law, although doubtless not seriously intended by him, had been frequently present to my mind. I now determined to pursue that avocation, and felt every confidence in my capacity to succeed. I compared myself with those around me who bore a reputation in the profession, and felt proudly conscious that in talent I was their equal. I told my wife of this. Her only answer was a deep sigh, that seemed to shake her slender frame, and these words: ‘I hope it may be so, Charles; for your sake, I hope it may be so.’ I felt nettled at the doubt implied, but I replied not. I had deceived her too often to dare to remonstrate. My studies were commenced, but I had little calculated on the difficulties of my task. It had been a long time since I had taken a book into my hand, and I found it almost impossible to chain down my attention to the subject before me. My eyes would be fixed on the page, but my mind would wander far, far away from it. Sentence after sentence was perused and reperused, but no distinct meaning was conveyed to my understanding. I would sit for hours in one fixed attitude, lost in total abstraction, and when recalled to myself by some accidental circumstance, the visions which had been floating in my mind were as scattered and unintelligible as the wildest fancies of a foolish dream. It was impossible to study.

“One morning, after repeated and unavailing attempts to overcome this state of mind, I threw down my book in despair, and went forth into the open air, to try if exercise would not bring relief. It was a lovely day in spring, the trees had just shot out their tender leaves, the birds were pealing forth their joyous notes, a thousand insects were dancing in the balmy air. It was a {757} day on which a heart at ease might feel most happy; but to me the blessed sun no longer shone with brightness, and my bosom was cold to those charms of nature which had once made it thrill with gladness. I wandered on, knowing and caring little where I bent my steps, when, at a sudden turn of the road, I encountered Roberts.

“‘Well met!’ said he. ‘I was on my way to see you. I have good news for you.’

“‘Indeed,’ replied I, sadly, ‘let me have them, then, for there is no one to whom they could be more welcome.’

“‘Another chance, W——, to get back some of your cash, and if I mistake not, a pretty good lump of it too. I am to give a dinner to-day, a bet I lost—lost _purposely_, my boy, and you must come; we will try conclusions with the gentlemen again, and with rather better chances of success than we formerly had. Turn back and get your horse, and as we ride along I’ll tell you all about it.’

“‘I must decline your invitation,’ replied I.

“‘That you shall not!’ said Roberts.

“‘It is useless for me to go, Roberts, for I will not play. I am convinced that I cannot win by fair means, and I will not resort to any other.’

“‘You can do as you please about that, but I must have you with me; it will be of service to you; it will cheer you up, and show your friends that you are not the man to give way to misfortune. Believe me, the world respects every one who shows it a bold front. Indeed you must not refuse me; I shall feel hurt if you do.’

“I went. Is it necessary to say that night was spent in play, and with the aid of my _honest_ partner, I did not lose. The ice was now fairly broke. I could no longer refuse to join Roberts in his schemes of plunder. I was in his power, and felt that he could blast me by a single word. But some suspicions began to be entertained; my success was too uniform for one who had formerly lost so constantly, and it was therefore concerted between Roberts and myself, that I should occasionally seem to lose to him, making a subsequent settlement with him in private.

“There was a young man, son of the Sheriff of the County of ——, who acted as deputy to his father, a very worthy and respectable man, who had served with great credit in the continental army, and brought up and maintained, by his industry, a numerous family. He himself paid no attention to the affairs of his office, but confided them entirely to the activity and integrity of his son, who had won general respect and popularity by the zeal and fidelity with which he discharged his duties, and the gentleness and mercy he exhibited, when called on to put in force the harsh decrees of the law. I had but little acquaintance with either the young man or his father, nor, in all probability, would the latter have been much pleased to have his son in habits of intercourse with me. I had attended a session of the court on some business, and was detained too late to admit of my reaching home that day. Several others were in the same situation—among them, Roberts. After supper he took me aside, and asked me if I recollected Wallis.

“‘No,’ I replied, ‘I remember no such person.’

“‘You have a bad memory, then,’ said he; ‘I never forget those who win my money,’ and he recalled to my mind the individual who had held the faro bank at the races.

“‘What of him?’ I inquired. ‘Does he think to take me in again?’

“‘O, no,’ replied Roberts, with a laugh, ‘we have learned rather too much for that. But I have been talking with him; he will open a bank to-night, and he agrees that you and I shall be equally interested. It shall be my business to get him betters; and as there are several here whose pocket-books are well filled, I think we shall make a handsome adventure of it. For the sake of appearances, you know, we too must bet against him, and he will permit us to win largely, for the purpose of enticing others. Is it not capitally contrived?’

“‘But may not this Wallis betray us hereafter?’

“‘Not the slightest danger of it; he is as close as wax. I know him of old; and besides, he is under obligations to me that he cannot violate if he would.’

“‘Roberts,’ said I, ‘do you feel no remorse? Does not conscience upbraid you with the meanness, the guilt of your course? Have you no misgivings, when you behold the agony of those you defraud?’

“‘Have _you_ such feelings?’ said Roberts.

“‘I have!’ replied I. ‘They torture me by night and by day. The hell that burned within me when, like a madman, I scattered my wealth to the winds, was ease, was happiness, to what I now endure, and if the hour of detection should ever come,—but that——I could not and I would not survive!’ I clasped my hands together, and shook with fear at the very thought.

“Roberts gazed at me some little time in silence, and his countenance assumed a bitter sneer. At length he broke forth.

“‘Conscience! Remorse! ha! ha! Because I have lived too long to be a dupe? Most men, in the greenness of youth, are fools, and ripen, with age and experience, into knaves. There are some, however, who are early wise, and they, if circumstances permit, become great and distinguished; and some, who are always silly, and these are reckoned virtuous, and become the footballs of the others. For my part _I_ was not made to be kicked. I have found out that I must be the wolf or the lamb; I prefer to be the beast of power. There is not one of those men that you see there, who would not, if they could, strip us to the last farthing. I play their own game, and place them where they would place me. And for this, forsooth, I must feel remorse! I find the whole system of society based upon a cheat; every one endeavors to overreach his neighbor, and the most successful is the most respected. Shall I not strive among the rest? You have been defrauded of a princely fortune and reduced to absolute want. I have let you into the secret of your misfortunes, and taught you how to retaliate your wrongs on others, and you prate to me of conscience and remorse. Well then, if conscience be to you this dreadful torment, in the name of common sense obey its dictates. Be wholly one thing or another. Go to those with whom you have played of late, and hand them back their money. Tell them they were cheated; that you see through the evil of your ways, and come to make restitution; once more throw yourself back on poverty, and see how highly the world will applaud the act! They say there is exceeding joy over a repentant {758} sinner in heaven. Do you try how much there is on earth. But I am losing time. Am I to understand that you decline sharing with Wallis and myself?’

“‘No,’ I replied, ‘it is my fate; I have gone too far to recede, and I must endure, as I can, the loss of self-respect.’

“We parted, mixing in with the general crowd. It was not long before Roberts had collected various persons around him, who seemed to be listening with great attention to something he was narrating, which, to judge from their frequent peals of laughter, was highly humorous. No one knew better than he how to afford entertainment to others. His manner was admirable; his very laugh was a provocative to mirth. Without being boisterous, it was the most joyous, careless, lighthearted burst of gaiety that I ever listened to. Of those who were most attracted by him, was the young man I have before mentioned, the son of the old sheriff. He seemed to be in an ecstasy of delight, and Roberts fooled him ‘to the top of his bent.’ They drank together, they sang together, and committed various extravagances; Roberts declaring that he was just in the humor for a frolic, and a frolic he would have. Presently cards were introduced, I know not at whose suggestion, and I was told by some one that a faro bank was about to be opened, and I received the information as if it were new to me. We soon afterwards adjourned to another room, and the game was commenced. At first I did not bet, or rather appeared not to do so, but stood looking on at the others, and marking the vicissitudes of the game. To my surprise and regret I saw the sheriff’s son at the table, for I had always heard him spoken of as a moral and prudent youth, and, moreover, I had not supposed he possessed the means to play. I observed, however, that although evidently flushed with what he had been drinking, he staked with caution, and would not, in all probability, win or lose any thing of consequence, and I thought nothing more of the matter. About midnight, after going through the mockery of apparently winning some hundreds, I threw myself upon a couch and slept. It was daybreak when I awoke, but the lights were still burning, and the gamesters, undiminished in number, as eager as ever in their play. Roberts was among them, and I, being desirous of returning home, took him aside to acquaint him with my intention. He objected to my doing so, stating that he was excessively fatigued, and must sleep a few hours himself; that he had forborne to awake me, and I must now take my turn to watch, for it was better that one of us should observe how things were going on; that so far, owing to the most singular run of luck on the part of one individual that he had ever witnessed, the bank was loser. I inquired how his young companion had fared. He had lost rather heavily. ‘But surely,’ said I, ‘he cannot afford to do so.’ He replied very carelessly, ‘that’s his own affair. I did not urge him to play. The truth is, he received yesterday a considerable sum of money in payment of an execution, and very possibly he may be using the funds. I suppose he knows that he can make it all good. But go you now and sit down, and wake me in a couple of hours, that will be sufficient repose for me.’

“I was fain to comply with his request. Before the two hours had elapsed, however, a messenger arrived with the intelligence that my wife had been taken alarmingly ill. Rousing Roberts, I immediately departed and pushed forward with all possible speed; but the distance was considerable and the road execrable, and several hours were consumed before I reached home. All was quiet. Leaping from my horse I rushed towards the house; a feeling of faintness came over me, and I was obliged to pause and lean against the door-post for support. Rousing my energies I proceeded to my wife’s chamber, and knocked gently for admittance. A faint voice desired me to enter. I did so, and was met by Emily’s sister, who was weeping bitterly. Not a word was spoken—she pointed to the bed and left me. I softly approached and with a trembling hand I drew aside the curtain.

“Did she sleep? The eyes were closed, the face serene and almost smiling. I took her hand—it was cold and clammy to the touch. I gently pressed her bosom. Was it a throb that I felt? No—that heart had ceased to beat, had ceased to feel. Life with all its bitterness had fled. The enfranchised spirit had soared to its native home. I gazed in silence. I did not weep, I did not groan. There was a benumbing, icy thrall that bound up every faculty; it was pain, it was agony, but it left no power to express that pain.

“I heard a feeble sob: Whence did it proceed? I had thought I was alone. I moved in the direction of the sound. Stretched upon the floor, his face buried in his little hands, lay my boy. I kneeled beside him; I raised and strained him to my breast. ‘Oh, let me go,’ said he, ‘mother is gone; I want to go to mother. She said she would ask her God to keep a place for me, and God is good, I know, and he will do it. Father, lay me down there with mother.’”

Mr. W—— here bent his head and wept like a child. It is fearful to see an old man weep. Presently he resumed.

“I left the chamber of death, and retired to the room I had used as a study. What was passing in my mind I am utterly unconscious of. The past, the present and the future, were mingled in one common chaos. I was lost in a reverie that seemed protracted beyond the years of man. Of the mass of confused and unintelligible ideas that were swarming in my brain, one at length stood out clear and distinct, and gathered strength as I brooded over it. It was self-destruction. It rose upon me, a cheering light, shedding gladness over my dark and desperate fortunes. The intolerable weight which had pressed upon my mind was at once uplifted, the pent-up agony which had racked my heart passed off, and visions of peace, of a deep, enduring calm, floated before me, unmixed with a doubt or dread of the untried future. There was a loaded pistol lying on the table; in an instant it was in my grasp, but heaven in its mercy saved me from that crime—a sudden icy pang transfixed me; utterly enfeebled I sank to the floor, my senses fled, and I was as one who is numbered with the dead, or who had never breathed among the living.

“When reason was again restored to me, I found myself stretched upon a bed. I recognized the apartment in which I lay; it had been my wife’s. I tried to move, but had not the strength to do so. I heard a step in the room and essayed to speak; my voice was scarce a whisper; the light in the chamber was dim, but my {759} eyes could not endure it. I again closed them and sank into sleep.

“When I awoke, a physician and a nurse were standing at the bed side. I would have spoken, but they bade me be quiet; and I was even as a child, and submitted. For many weeks had disease preyed upon me, and existence been suspended by a single thread which would not break. Slowly I recovered, my strength was restored to me, but never, from that day to the present moment, has this withered heart known peace.

“I have but little more to say. From my medical attendant I learned that the young man who had been fleeced at the tavern, stung by remorse, and unable to make good the money he had lost, had swallowed a deadly draught. His aged father, stripped of his little all to pay the debt, broken-hearted by the villainy in which I had participated, was thrown with his helpless family upon the reluctant bounty of society. Wallis and Roberts had fled, it was supposed, to the South. My son had been taken home by his grandfather. I have never seen him since I pressed him to my bosom in his mother’s death chamber. He was and is dear to me as the hope of heaven to the martyr’s heart, but his eye shall never look upon the degraded being who gave him life.

“While listening to the recital of the physician, amid pangs that gnawed my soul, I formed the resolution of quitting my country, never again to return, and in some foreign land, in an humble occupation, with rigid economy and ceaseless industry, to build up another fortune; not for the luxuries it might purchase, or the comforts it might afford me in age, but that I might, as far as _money_ could avail, repair the mischief which I had assisted in perpetrating, and the injustice I had been guilty of towards my child.

“I watched the sun as he threw his slant rays on the fields and the forests, familiar to me as the face of a friend, and when he sank beneath the horizon, commenced the preparations for my departure. I had some money; retaining as much as was absolutely necessary for my expenses, and no more, I enclosed the remainder to my physician, with a request that he would, after remunerating himself, pay the rest to the poor old sheriff. I also despatched a note to my father-in-law, stating my intention to leave the country, and imploring him, for the mother’s sake, to bestow every care and attention on her child, and to call him by her maiden name. This done, in the dead of the night I set out on my journey, and took the direction of the sea port of ——. Thence, under an assumed name, I embarked for this island, and here I have since remained, steadily pursuing the course I had laid down for myself. My labors have been crowned with success beyond my hopes, and I am now the possessor of much greater wealth than I inherited. When I was in England, a mere youth, an opportunity occurred of rendering an important service to an acquaintance, at that time very needy, but who has since become a partner in one of the most extensive banking houses in London. Instead of burying my money in the ground, as the wiseacres here have surmised, I have regularly remitted my gains to him, and by his judicious management of them in the British funds, they have reached their present amount. Through him too, I have received intelligence of my son, on whose education no expense has been spared. He has applied himself to the profession of the law, and is considered as fast rising to eminence. I could long ago have rendered him independent of labor, but I deemed it best that he should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. That portion of man’s doom is _not_ a curse.

“And now, Mr. S., it simply remains for me to acquaint you with the service which I wish you to render me. You will ascertain as soon as may be after your arrival in Virginia, what descendants there are of —— the former sheriff of ——, their situation in life and character; not that I mean to withhold from them what is justly their due, be they ever so vile; for may they not, if vicious, trace their very crimes to my unprincipled conduct? but that by being correctly informed of their pursuits and habits, I may be enabled to judge in what manner and to what extent, I can best act to their advantage. You will also seek the acquaintance of my son, and if you can become his friend. Write to me, and tell me candidly what he is; but until I sleep in death do not speak to him of me. You will not be condemned to a long silence, for I feel that my days are numbered. All necessary documents will be placed in your hands before your departure hence. You are my executor. Farewell.”

LIFE’S STREAM.

BY LUCY T. JOHNSON.

Life’s stream sweeps through many a vale
Of varied hues and smiles and tears—
And bowers that joy the breezy gale,
And desert wastes where grief appears.
It sweeps—aye swiftly to the sea,
Even as the gush of waters flowing;
A wave—a rush how merrily!
And then a chasm darkly showing.

Its source is in the little nook
Beside that far-off mountain,
Where young buds o’er its bosom look,
And violets kiss the fountain.
How pure it gurgling starts—and beaming
Bright in the first spring-morning’s sun,
Heaven’s own loved miniature seeming—
O thus is life begun!

And then it seeks another scene—
One gemmed with many flowers,
Where May-dews linger yet between
And in the leafy bowers:
And still it thrills most joyously,
Rippling o’er rock and glen—then sleeping
Beside the mead or on the lea;
But O, its dregs are creeping.

And still it meets another land;
But all its early flowers have faded,
Save here and there upon its strand,
One lingers by the storm abraded.
And now its lengthened depths are clouded
With misty volumes floating;
And in a wild of brambles shrouded,
O doth it cease its sporting. {760}

Yet one more vale it finds—the last
On life’s meandering shore—
Its yellow leaf twirls on the blast,
Its blossoms breathe no more:
And o’er its sullen, beamless tide,
Its bubbles all are breaking—
’Tis done—it meets the ocean wide,
Each balmy scene forsaking.

’Tis done—the ocean’s boundless waste
Rolls up its misty gleaming;
And on that desert shore is cast
The sea-wave darkly streaming.
But shall it be thus lost? No never—
A brighter impulse shall be given,
E’en from its ocean sleep—to sever
Its scintillings to Heaven.

_Elfin Moor, Va. 1836_.

AN ADDRESS

Delivered before the Students of William and Mary, at the Opening of the College, on Monday, October 10th, 1836.

BY THOMAS R. DEW,

President and Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy.[1]

[Footnote 1: Repeated calls from the friends of William and Mary, as well as our own high estimation of this Address, have induced us to publish it. It will be understood, of course, that the M.S. originally, was solicited of Professor Dew for publication, by a Committee on the part of the Students. We omit the correspondence as of no general interest.]

_Gentlemen_:—In obedience to the customs of our institution, I proceed to address you on the present occasion; and I do it, I assure you, with feelings of no ordinary character. When I reflect upon the antiquity and reputation of this venerable institution,—upon the numerous alumni who have been sent forth from its halls, so many of whom have graced the walks of private life, or risen into the high places of our government, and shed around them the benign influence of their talents and statesmanship,—when I reflect upon the long line of efficient and distinguished men who have preceded me in this office, and upon the character and virtues of him who was my predecessor, I cannot but feel a weight of responsibility which excites in me a deep and painful solicitude. For eight years it was my pleasure to be associated with him whose place I have been called to fill. His learning, his piety, his conscientiousness in the discharge of his duties, however onerous, will long be remembered by all who knew him well; and the regret manifested in the countenances of the citizens of our town when he bade them an affectionate farewell, marks conclusively the deep impression which his virtues and usefulness had made upon their hearts, and the loss which our society has sustained by the departure from among us of one, who, with his amiable family, constituted so interesting a portion of our social circle. Again, then, let me say, I enter upon the duties of my station with deep and painful solicitude, sustained alone by the consciousness, that I shall yield to none who have gone before me in this office, in zeal, fidelity, and love for our venerated Alma Mater.

I shall not, on the present occasion, endeavor to present to your view an exposition of the general advantages resulting from education; the limits which I have prescribed to myself in this address, together with the necessity of introducing other topics, will, of course, prevent me from such an effort. Nor is it necessary;—your presence in this hall—your determination to subscribe to our laws, and to obey the requisitions of our statutes, prove that you have already comprehended the inestimable benefits of education, and have come up here to pursue your collegiate career.

As it is probable there may be students in every department of our college, and each one may be anxious to know something of our entire system previous to the selection which he may make of the courses of study for his attendance, I will, in the first place, give you some information as to our general plan. Our plan embraces a course of general study, which may be pursued to great advantage by all having the time and means, no matter what may be their professions in after life. Besides this course of general study, it embraces the subject of law, and aims at accomplishing the student in one of the learned professions.

Let me then commence with the subject of the classics. In this school we have a preparatory department, in which the student may acquire that elementary instruction requisite for the successful study of the higher classics. As but few of you, however, will, in all probability, wish to enter this school, I shall confine the remarks which I have to make on this subject to the higher classical studies. In one department of this higher school, the attention of the student will be confined to the following authors: Horace, Cicero de Oratore, Terence, Juvenal, Livy and Tacitus, in Latin—and to Xenophon’s Anabasis, Æschylus, Herodotus, Euripides, Sophocles, Thucydides, and Homer in Greek.

He will be required to read them with facility—to construe them—to explain their meaning—to master portions of history which may be referred to, and to acquire a thorough and intimate acquaintance with the whole philosophy of the Latin and Greek Grammars. In this school it is expected that the classic student shall complete his knowledge of the ancient languages. I would therefore recommend it to all who may have the time and inclination to pursue such studies, or whose profession in after life may demand deep classical learning.

The knowledge of the ancient languages is far more important to us than that of any other, save our own. At the time that the barbarians from the north and east broke up the Roman Empire, and engrafted the feudal system on its fragments, whence the nations of modern Europe have arisen, the Latin and Greek languages were the two great languages of the civilized portion of the ancient world. It is necessary to study them in order that we may be enabled to understand their transition into the modern languages; the latter are derivations from the former. It has been well observed that there is not a single nation from the north to the south of Europe, from the shores of the Baltic to the plains of Italy, whose literature is not imbedded in the very elements of classical learning, and this remark applies particularly to the literature of England. But again, in order that you may understand well the classical authors put into your hands, it is necessary that you should become acquainted with the manners, customs, {761} institutions and religion of the ancient world. Great and mighty changes have taken place in the condition of man since the fall of the vast fabric of the Roman Empire. The whole interior economy of nations has been changed. The complex system of polytheism, with its thousand of forms, and ceremonies, and sacred mysteries, has all been overthrown, and the beautiful and simple religion of the meek and humble Saviour of the world traced, as with the pencil of light, upon the sacred page, and revealed even unto _babes_, has been established in its stead. This great and salutary change alone, has stamped a new character upon the age in which we live. How vast the difference between a Priest of Jupiter and a Minister of the Gospel! How great the difference between the Eleusinian mysteries of the Polytheist, and the communion service of the Christian! In order then that you may be enabled to read the classic authors to advantage, and apply with skill the lessons which you may draw from the page of ancient history, it is necessary that you should study the laws, customs, institutions, religion, and polity of Greece and Rome. For this reason, there has been recently attached to our classical department, a school of Roman and Grecian Antiquities, and Heathen Mythology, in which you will be enabled to derive full and complete information on all these topics.

The degree in the classical department has been placed upon a high footing. It is necessary that the candidate for this honor should not only be a proficient in the studies just mentioned, but that he should obtain a certificate of qualification on the junior, mathematical, rhetorical, and historical courses. With this additional information, our classic graduate goes into the world not a _mere Latin and Greek scholar_, but an elegant classic. This course of study has been devised principally for the benefit of that large and respectable class of students who propose to follow the profession of teaching. To all students of this description, I would recommend the attainment of this degree—a degree which will at once give its owner a high standing in our community, and be a most ample certificate of his merits and qualifications.

Besides the degree in the classical school, there are three others of a high order given in our institution; these are the degrees of A.B., B.L., and A.M. With regard to the first, you will find in our laws a detail of the courses of study necessary to its attainment. These courses you will find full and well selected, bearing an advantageous comparison with similar courses in any other college of our Union. They embrace the four great departments of mathematics, physics, morals and politics. These studies I would recommend to all who may have the time and the means to pursue them, no matter what profession they may follow in after life. Independently of the pleasure which each of them imparts to the mind of the zealous student, there is a utility arising from them far beyond the conception of ordinary minds—a utility which springs both from the enlargement of the understanding by the salutary exercise which they afford to it, and from the light which they respectively cast on each other. One of the most beautiful and interesting facts in relation to literature, is, that all its departments are connected and associated with each other; the study of one perfects the mind in the comprehension of another. The acquisition of a new idea sometimes revolutionizes the little republic of the mind, and gives a new cast to all our thoughts. Hence the division of labor in science is not productive of the same advantage as in physics, but we should always extend the range of our studies in proportion to the enlargement of mind and the facilities for acquiring information, no matter what may be our profession or occupation hereafter.

If the time or means of the student, however, should constrain him to limit his course of studies whilst here, then it would be certainly proper that he should make a selection of those subjects which may have the closest and most intimate connection with the profession which he may follow, or the station in life which he may expect to fill. His own judgment will readily inform him of the selection which should be made, taking care always, according to the requisition of our statutes, to enter a sufficient number of classes to afford him full occupation. Every young man should task himself fully, lest want of employment, while here, should induce idle habits. For the peculiar advantages of each course of studies, I must refer you to the introductory lectures of the Professors, all of which will be open to your attendance, and will give you much more complete information on each department than I could possibly impart, even if not confined within the limits of an opening address.

The degree in law is of a professional character, and consequently we can generally expect that those alone will aim at its attainment who propose to follow the profession of the law. This profession, in all countries, but particularly in our own, is one of elevated standing, of superior learning, and, I may add, of great moral and political power. The habits of his profession ensure the lawyer, in every country, an honorable station among statesmen, and the foremost rank in deliberative councils. Law, said Dr. Johnson, is the science in which the greatest powers of the understanding are applied to the greatest number of facts. The common law of England, with the great modifications which it has undergone in our own country from the operations of our government and republican institutions, will form the principal text to which your attention will be directed in this department. “This law,” it has well been said, “is not the product of the wisdom of some one man, or society of men, in any one age; but of the wisdom, counsel, experience and observation of many ages of wise and observing men.” It is, emphatically, “the gathered wisdom of a thousand years.” And you, gentlemen, who propose to accomplish its study, must devote yourselves to it with unremitting ardor. You must not study the mere statutes and prescriptions of the law alone, but you must examine, with the eye of philosophy, the whole foundation on which the great superstructure is raised. It is necessary that you should examine the principles of the science of government; that you should look into the wants of our nature; examine the beautiful structure of the human mind, with all our feelings, principles, propensities and instincts. In fine, you must, in the language of one who has risen to the highest eminence in his profession, “Drink in the lessons and spirit of philosophy. Not that philosophy described by Milton, as

A perpetual feast of nectared sweets
Where no crude surfeit reigns;

but that philosophy which is conversant with men’s {762} business and interests, with the policy and welfare of nations; that philosophy which dwells not in vain imaginations and platonic dreams, but which stoops to life, and enlarges the boundaries of human happiness; that philosophy which sits by us in the closet, cheers us by the fireside, walks with us in the fields and highways, kneels with us at the altars, and lights up the enduring flame of patriotism.”

Deep and extensive knowledge is, above all things, requisite for the success of him who aspires to an elevated stand in this honorable profession. Well, then, have the officers of our institution ordained that the degree in this department shall not be conferred for a mere knowledge of laws. The candidate for this honor must have studied, beside the municipal law, the subject of government and national law, together with some exposition of our own system of government, all of which subjects are taught by the Law Professor. He must, moreover, have obtained the Baccalaureate honor in this, or some other institution, or if not, must have attended a full course of lectures in some one of the scientific departments of this institution. With the collateral information thus obtained, the graduate in law will go forth, not a mere lawyer, equipped only with the forms and technicalities of his profession, but with a mind deeply imbued by the principles of science and the spirit of philosophy. With a mind thus furnished, every hour of study in his profession becomes efficient, and moves him forward with ease and rapidity in his career, enabling him to encounter all the difficulties and obstacles which beset him on his way.[2] For a full exposition of the courses of study in the law department, I must refer you to the introductory lecture of the Professor, which will impart all the information which you may desire on this subject.

[Footnote 2: One of the great advantages of establishing a Law School in a college is, that the student, whilst pursuing his professional studies, is enabled at the same time to give a portion of his attention to other subjects of a kindred character, and thus ultimately to enter his profession with the great and inestimable advantage of a proper elementary education, which must ever give him a decided superiority to him who is educated in the law alone.]

Before speaking of our Master’s degree, I will say a few words on the school of civil engineering, lately established by the visitors in this institution. The United States of North America present at this moment one of the most sublime spectacles which has ever been offered to the eye of the philanthropist—the spectacle of a people few in numbers at first—rapidly increasing and spreading over one of the fairest quarters of the world; building up institutions, the admiration of the age in which we live; and rearing up, by the mere development of internal resources, a fabric of greatness and empire, unparalleled in the annals of history. The original heterogeneous interests of the different portions of our Union, are made to harmonize more and more, from day to day, by the magic influence of internal improvement. The canal and the rail road, the steam boat and steam car, constitute in fact the great and characteristic powers of the age in which we live. Throughout our extensive territory, covering so many degrees of latitude and longitude, embracing every climate and yielding every production, nature calls on art to aid her. Although we have already executed works of improvement within the limits of our system of republics, which rival in splendor and grandeur the boasted monuments of Egypt, Rome or China, and far surpass them in usefulness and profit, yet the work is still in a state of incipiency—a boundless field is opening to the enterprise of individuals and states. In the peculiar phraseology of a favorite science, there at this moment exists a vast demand for internal improvements. From one side to the other of our immense territory, turnpikes, rail roads and canals are constructing every where; the engineer is abroad in the land, almost annihilating by his skill, time and space. Yet his labors are not commensurate with the demand. There is, at this time, scarcely any profession in our country which rewards its successful follower more highly and certainly than that of civil engineering. The visitors of our institution have therefore very wisely attached a school of this description to our college, placing it under the direction of an individual who combines, most happily, profound scientific knowledge with great practical skill—an individual who for years zealously and successfully pursued the business of engineering in another country, until called off by other employments. I would therefore warmly recommend this school to all who are anxious to follow this profession, as soon as their attainments will enable them to join it with advantage.

In the supplemental laws, published since the last session of our board of visitors, you will find a detail of the studies requisite for the attainment of the degree of A.M. This is the highest honor in our institution which can be won by the student during his collegiate career. It will require generally two years additional study after obtaining the Bachelor’s degree; few of you, consequently, can be expected to aim at its attainment. Those however who shall have an opportunity, will find themselves amply rewarded by the advantages which may be derived from it. In this course, all the studies which are pursued in the first portion of your collegiate career, are extended and amplified. In the first portion of your studies, you master the great principles of science; in the latter, you enter more fully into your subjects, and begin the great work of applying your principles to facts. He who shall have the good fortune to obtain this degree, will have amassed a fund of knowledge which will enable him to grace and ornament any of the walks of life into which he may choose to enter. His mind will have been trained in the most important of all arts—that of acquiring knowledge and generalizing facts. He will almost necessarily have attained the great desideratum of literary men—love of study and the power of discrimination. So that in his case there will be afterwards no waste of labor and time, no useless expenditure of frivolous and unprofitable thought. To a mind thus trained, all nature furnishes lessons of instruction and philosophy, from her least to her greatest operations—from the falling of an apple, to the complex movements of worlds innumerable, all is harmony, concord and wisdom. Such a mind can draw the lesson of philosophy alike from the prattle of the innocent babe, or the deeply studied conversation of a Bacon or a Newton.

I have thus, gentlemen, endeavored briefly to present an exposé of the several departments of study in our college.[3] I have given you the bill of fare, and we hope {763} that you may make your selections with judgment, and afterwards prosecute your studies with energy and perseverance. By the late arrangement of the visitors in regard to the Master’s degree, our scientific courses are as extensive as at any other institution in this country, and one of them, the moral and political, is believed to be more extensive than in any other institution known to us. And this will lead me to say a few words on the policy of our board of visitors in establishing so extensive a course.

[Footnote 3: I have dwelt in this address very little on the subjects requisite for the degree of A.B. because of their well known character and importance.]

Many persons are under the impression that moral and political studies need not be prosecuted at college—that the physical and mathematical sciences are the most important subjects, and should be studied to their exclusion. This opinion seems to be based upon the popular notion that moral and political subjects may be comprehended without the assistance of a teacher, and may consequently be prosecuted to most advantage when the student has finished his collegiate career and entered upon the great theatre of life. This impression is certainly erroneous and highly pernicious; and in justification of the system which we have adopted in our own college I must employ a few moments in attempting to explain its thorough fallacy. In the first place then, I have no hesitation in affirming that moral and political studies are the most important of all. These subjects are of universal application; they concern every member of the human family. We cannot escape their influence or connection, no matter what may be our destiny through life. The great _high-ways_, and the little _by-ways_, of our existence, if I may be allowed the expression, alike pass through the regions of morals and politics. From the village gossip who tells the tale of her neighbor’s equivocal conduct, and significantly hints that it was no better than it ought to be, to him who watches the movements of empires and penetrates the secret designs of statesmen, all are concerned in these universally applicable subjects. It is a matter of very little practical consequence to us what may be the opinions of our neighbor in mathematics or physics—whether he believes two sides of a triangle may be less than the third, or that the earth is the centre of our system, and that the sun, moon and stars revolve around it. We may laugh at him once or twice during the year for his ignorance, but his opinions wound none of our sensibilities and run counter to none of our interests. But the moment our opinions clash upon the subjects of morals and politics, that moment the case is altered. The opinions of my neighbor are no longer indifferent to me. If he has notions of morality under which he is constantly condemning my course of life, or a system of politics entirely at war with mine, then does the collision become indeed a serious one. It was a matter of very little moment to Castile that King Alphonso should believe the solar system miserably defective in its arrangements, and that he could suggest some most important improvements in it. But the case was seriously altered when he believed that he was responsible to God alone, and not to his subjects, in the administration of his government, and that his wisdom was sufficient to make and unmake the laws of his country. The fact is, morals, politics and religion are the great concerns of human nature. They spring from relations of universal existence throughout the human family—relations from whose influence none of us can possibly escape.