Jjvtrtidemeritj irWrted at $1 per 'iare for the first,
JL 25'Ctrnts fH each jBubseqiicnt insertion. Court Or-
chlrged 23 per cent higher. , . "r
Reduction Af 33'per cent, wm dc- made io: mose,
..1,0 iyeruc ., -r-
iVvo Dollies per-anrtumin a. N ance:
Wf
m
WRRSIf MRMIMNRS
plmTSi AND DYE STUFFS,
Winis and Spirits ; Fancy Soaps,
J Perfumery ; Shop: Furniture ; Fine - Tobacco nnd
J."fl;'Sj)iJe9, Paint nd Hair Brushes; Rice Oil, and
rifldle arge Variety of fancy' articles for La
... ind Gentlemen, Just received and for aale, very
for cash at - . . WHEELER'S.
J fajjfary;NoT.22j845tf3Q . ? ,
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4' ; - -j x.- -a ' - . - ' - Ji! i i , I 1 ii i i
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-M.',.-: ?.tfiT?5;v -' v-J V?.!"":" -r -) -r-y--.--.:-.rr-w J et-J.irfT. ft) NUMBER. 32, OP .VOLUME II. .
"IOUNO in my yard on the 10th of this month, the 7 . ;
X? ,um of T WEN TY DOLLARDS, which the Iosrt -u
can hate, by, application. to me, on condition that he
give a satisfactory account of it ; and by paying for thuf
notice. - ' - DANIEL LYERLY,." .
Nov. 23th 184o31:3t . t ;. 1 '-; -j - .
;DBS. P..& AV M; HENDERSON,,
a viu associates inemseives mine rrac-
..r!tice ofSlEDicnfE, ofl'er iheir Professional l.J
services to the IWIic.;(ttr Officejn the brick
building, opposite the Roiva!iHotel.---?45-44tf
DILIGEN
DELIVERED IN
CE - AND PERSEVERANCE i
SERMON
M MMM - ' - " - - - ' i - - .- - - - - ' - r- '"rt f- i . " - ?:-." ' -5- ' , .
-J- - - fl.-- ' .. - - - ' .... . . . .
THE CHAPEL DAYIDS
- OCT. 2Gtu, 1845. v
hN COLLE3E.
-BY
J. A.
WALLACE
Youth is the most interesting and momentdu's period of hu
jnarj life. The ft rtunes of later years, and ijhedestihies of
$t soul in eternity, depend in a great meutire, on early train
inj The rnind f man commences its existence estitate
of a single i(ca, an intellectual blank. All its faculties exist
only in erpbr ;of ar d require age to expand and develope them.
Bat from the timd thatthe eye is first-opener on the light of
this world,' u nil t le dissolution of the soul a id the body in
death; the m nt continues to receive impressioris from the ob
jects around it. deas are poured in upon it,' 'Iromwithout;
pi the whole system of mental machinery- in active within,
combining, planning, and executing. And That-knowledge
which is impartccl to the mind, in the first ye irs of its' exist
ence, wilt ge tieral y stamp its character, for ti acatid for eter
nityi. E4rly impressions fake precedenceof ill others. And
viiatever may be the courseof after lig, the vicissitudes, the
attachmcbts, and he pursuits, the Impressio is of youth are
nefr wholly obliterated. A mid illtb emblazonry of fash
ion and HbnpranA all the pomp and circumstance of milita
n glory, the! associations of early life rise up and flash upon
taeijsoaU'likihccc'sibhal burst of the vivid: lightning on
lie bosom of the garjt summer cloud. ; '.,
The mind iof th t aged man wanders back, over a long life
of toils, and -fjac.ttationS-and disappointpients, to the scenes of
jouthful enjoymeiit. The pleasures and amusements of cbild
iiood come up to lltnr like the voice of the dec. d of other days.
,An3 all' theye. scenes, though in some measure obliterated
from the, mi nil by the crowded events of yeirs of business,
will haie thijir bearifig, in a greater or less degree, on after
: Aj life jf pre sperity and virtuous action jwill be review
ed with ft hih i decree ofpfeasure.: But thd recollection of
topes crushejl, fears realized, and plans ;frustratqd will pro-,
duce seinsatifnstc Jill.lhe soul with gloom ard melancholy.
tile is;a 'treani that heads inr infancy ; and the waters
that rise in the fotjntain will mingle with ar d influence all
ihe triliutarids that afterwards flow into 'it. Jlf the waters of
that fountain be 'bitter, like the Waters of Mirah; thev will
diffuse their itterliess through the vhole length and breadth
of the stream. Or life (may be compared to the little wave,
set in jftotion hy t
onward, incifasin
mountain billow,"
Then hdv interes
it is theibegmning ot that which shall neveHend, the cause
which produces consequences, that must endure, through ltf
sad to ajll eternity.! ,
But it is of the Kpung of the sterner sex, thatj will presume
tow particularly jo sprak. I venture to addjress lho.se who
shall ere long be, engaged in the active scenes of busy life.
And though wornJtn from ::the -stjhere in whicft she moves and
the silent Inuencp which she wteldsjfnay with propriety be
Jcrmed ,,a ppweri-belund the throne, yet man is the throne
iv . - - - I - w ; -w V V mja,
ie gentle breeze, which rolls onward and
g in sizeand strengih, until it beeomes the
ind bears the man of war upon its bosom.
l rl - . - . i .t -
tug utm unponaai. a penou'is youm,ince
iisen. ; ii is pis lojpiungeimmeuiaieiy into tne vortex ot a
trouhlous life, and engage' in the ever varying sefenes-of a
veiatious world. It iliis province to till thje soil, and bear
its products to distant climes; to raise up and put down rul
ers; to sit on thrortes ot power ; to sway listening Senates
by his eloquence ; j and to stand up as the Mrtiuster pf reconcil
iation to a fallen World. His is a life of eneigvVactivity and
enterprise. ;1 he stormy agitations of life ard the Elysium of
iis delights, j Hisjith rone is tempest, and his state convulsion.
He Vules nations by a word, shakes kingdoms by his influence,
overturns governments at his will, and destroys 4ifs ; fel low
mail in the rnere )vantonness of powerr On the shoulders
of those young mejn now just entering upon the threshold of
busy life yil soonall the mantles of their fathers. By them
-the ship ' of State must be steeredV the Church upheld, and all
thfc Institutions of jour country, Jteligious, Literary and Poht?
ical, controll sd. All the vealth, the power, and the learning
oftheiworld, will soon be in the hands of the present rising
generation. ' j ' . , -
And; how important that ,thesexmighjy" resources, which
may be turn?d for the weal or the woe of. mankind; should be
applied teui eful plurposes ! . How important; thtf the future
guardians off our country's. Welfare, should be prepared for the
onerous and responsible duties that must soon devolve upon
them ! :The vounbr men of our .--land ! ' There is sometliMsr
- , f CJ , . ' 7 V
ul-stirring and charmiiig in the term. , "There is. something
poia noble and lnterestin.in.the mind of youth just develop
ingf its latent powers,' like trie bud of oneninff flower blowing
5J5 ,n! the ;orolloi of an hundred leaves And there is some
ftingintweJting iiVthat'mind bursting from the shackles of
youth, kaviijg its idle sports, settling down in the sedateness
Ji manhood, and: preparing ,for , the infirmities of old age. -
spt?emauGn, orfempiy ineme lor jine ora
nor is tne view that vve-tiave tauen, ana-
The portrait is ;as antiquated as the pages
draWn by the .wisest of even inspired men.
wise, -and set in order many proverbs, and
Neatly printed and for. sale atlhis Office;-;
op is this I sin idle
r's decla'mktion ;
Tpl or hastvlonp .
rreacner was!
burdt
!c js his picture of
J "posed 1 How
en of these arenpplicabletqthe young. How graph-
the temptations to which the young man
does his heart yearn over those whom he
- - w " tiuiti; uio i tiu ui I ii oruuvti w iuuuv uvro i
"chad rbn thf rniinfl'nf vnnthful -Jnllv h hnd. nrnvpil him.
mirth; he had enjoyetl all the dazzling splendors of
Jnor and Ai'eaUh,and the pleasures of sense ; and now when
fc -M arrived at natu re pld age, we find him describing all
H rjnity of Vanities." And casting his eye - back on the
nesthrotigh which he had passed, and beholdihgcothers
oout to grapple vith temptations which had proved too
jftojg for hjs moral fortitude, he seems to agonize in spirit,
eir feet. JThfi vnilii!? man is ever first in his mind.-' Mv
?Mov endearing the y&tfi lMy ' so'n,-4f sinners entice
ii f.PP " My sonattend unto my wisdom
uow mine: cay to my oinderstanUin -My son, keep
J father's Comm indments. and forsake not "the law of thv
mother. "
And looking backward 'from old age,' to the days of his
and temembejiiig how swiftly the years had passed
yj and how muchof dunr was to h doncAn so shoitra
randjseeiat timce is JnpU.to;. I he suilnorthe
;wt!e to the stron2he addresses us in the wprds of the text ;
Soevjer
ct' QJe-? son .as signed for this promptness Vn'd diligencejn
Wr?- shorliiess of the 'timerinwhich: the worklmay
yisdomjn the grave whither, Ihou gbest.'V,J
' "Se ! Words "&tp. nennod.hv th vifcf nf i-num . ;A nr? biv
t'e.Writt?n in old age, and are4heesult!of-a lonand'lulf
rnence; biuce.marfmust soon; go;lb his-long home, it
ifuln0Ves mm to be'diligent, that he" may perform with faith-
;:. are especially applicable to those xvho'm we now particuiar--
; v "uuiuss. .ii mere is a ciass npon -earth .whom behoves 4
to be diligent and persevering, that class are young-men.-- -
:The world is before them, with its I vicissitudes, its' conflicts;
and its rewards; Every man Is tola great extent fatier for
tunae the builder of his owti fortune. ' .And although the dis-;
' pensations of an overruling- providence bfteV seem adverse, '
and overthrow the wisest schemes ; of I men: ihe;savinVmav "
I' - neverthelessbe esteemed as' truer'-Thoughone eflbrt may
jirpve aooruve anomer may De attended iVvith success. l
Though the dark cloud of misfortu ne may lower for a -while,
it will eventually break away, and the sunshine of prosperity
will appear, ; And if we examine into the history of those
who have been denominated unfortunate, we shall find their
want of success Jo have been the result of unskillfulness,- in
dolence, or a want of perseverance to overcome the obstacles
: thrown in their way. If constant dropping will wear away
the hardest rocks, surely the assiduous persevering efforts of
a rational and experienced creature, may overcome the diffi
culties of ? an adverse fortune. 'There is a regular and na
tural connexion betweeneause and result. And though there
may be many intervening links in the chain that binds them
together, the chain is never entirely broken. I One man rides f
intb a throne of power in an almost bloodless triumph, while
another experiences repeated defeat and disaster, and, is at
last, completely overthrown. But were the same means used
in the one ease as the other ? One was a more skilful Gen- .
era), marshalled better troops,; and selected his time and laid
his plans with more dom 'than the other. And where v
strength and numbers ffifye wanting, prudence has supplied
their pliJce, and enabled pne to chase a thousand and two to
put ten thousand to flight!. :
We venture then to lay it.down as a truth that diligence
and perseverance AJbjll overcome all difficulties. This is clearly
deducible from the injunction of our text, and well attested
by bur own experience. '
In c6"nsiderig.this subjeet as applicable to young men,.we
are taught,
1. That they should engage diligently and perse veringly in
some useful avocation fn life. Sacred -Writ tells us elsewhere,
that the man that provides not for his own household is worse
than the inSdel, and has denied the faith. .-Man was not
made' to be a mere cipher in society, a blank in the creation
of God. . Nor is it his appropriate part to while away his pre
cious time in a perpetual whirl of folly and amusement, nor
c to prostitute his noble powers of soul and bod to a life of re
bellion against his God. Imbecility and inaction are the very
reverse of human nature in its primitive excellence. The
first man that was created, by far more noble and highly ex
alted in privilege, than any of his descendants, was a work
ing man. The lovely Eden was given him, as an earthly in
heritance, but he was commanded to dress and to keep it
wilh' his own hands. And there is no greater mistake to be
made than that which supposes, that if man had retained his
innocence he would not have been required to labor, and to
labor diligently and perseveringly. And the difference be
tween the performance of his duties ir the days of his inno
cence, and since fe fall exists in the change of his disposi
tion, and his powers, and the success that attends his efforts.
Then every duty was performed with a hallowed delight, and
every expectation was fulfilled. No cares then pervaded an
anxious breast, and no disappointments vexed a troubled spi
rit. - It was truly and emphatically, his meat and his drink to
do the will of his Creator, in both spiritual and temporal du
ties. But now the whole order of nature is reversed. La
bor has become a drudgery and a pain ; and the highest and
noblest efforts of man are often met with the most signal dis
appointments. The ground is cursed, that it may not bring
forth its fruits in due season. But the divine command still
z stands in its full force : " In the sweat of thy face thou shalt
eat bread, till thoij return unto the ground." And why in
reason should man form an exception to all the rest of crea
tion animate and inanimate, by proving a useless appendage
and a scourge to all others. From the heaviest planet that
rolls through the heavens, to the smallest insect that grovels
in obscurity, all have their appropriate use in the vast uni
verse of God. No one is lost sight of by the eye of Omnis
cence. . The same Omnipotent power that brought them into
being at first, will not suffer them to fall to the ground with
out bis permission. They are all engaged in performing his
will though unknown to us, or despised and trampled under
foot as unworthy of our notice. And shall man with all his
noble powers of soul and body, man who was placed in the
scaje of creation only a little lower than the angels, and
-crowned with glory and honor, man who was made upright
in the image of God himself, with capacities susceptible of
the highest enjoyments, and a soul that must live and expand
forever man who shall survive this wreck of matter and this
crush ef worlds shall he stoop down from his high estate,
and sink himself below even the most insignificant of God's
creatures, proving himself a vile and useless thing 1 Man is
never so noble, never feels so much complacency and inde
pendence, as when engaged in some honorable and useful
calling. And although his vocation may be an humble one
in the eyes of the world, though it may add no garlands to
his brow,at will afford him both the reward of a portion of
earthly comforts, and the answer of a good conscience.
The man who devotes himself to the humble duties of
training the youthful mind cannot, .expect to claim the imme
diate adulations of so large a portion of his race as many
others. He cannot, in his vocation, rise like the orator, and
sweep away his audience in the whirlwind of his eloquence.
.But are his labors the less honorable, because they attract
the notice, and receive the applause of a smaller portion of
his fellow-men ? Is there nothing momentous and big with
importance, in the still small voice of instruction that shapes
the. youthful mind, and prepares it for the responsible duties
of life, and for the enjoyments of eternity ? And is it no
gratification to the instructor in literature and science, to have
scores and hundreds of the noblest spirits in the land to rise
up, and with-gratitude hail him as their benefactor ? Does
it reflect no honor on the memories of Caldwell and Waddel,
; that many of the Garolinas' most gifted sons rise up and call
them blessed ? Was it no honor to an Aristotle that he
strained an Alexander, though he powers of his mighty mind
w'ere perverted to bloodshed and conquest, and his youthful
honors were lost in crime, before he reached the meridian of
life? - ' ' " !' -
' And where shall we place the followers of other useful
- and indispensable professions ? Shall the husbandman, the
merchant, and the mechanic, be ranked below other callings,
because thev rnav not ride so hich as they on the, wave of
, pspmarityf;, Are they not all engagea in pursuas auqiucu
ri J'Lf'lJir. I '2 V' ...U:U -- 1ia .rtocifinofl thorn "-
wilenendeht oil uthese. for the ordinary' comforts' of life. The:
v kingr himself is obliged to the'hutnblest brhls subjects,' for all
y the blessinjgs that crown his boards T J ;i : -'V
'X :Thft Gosnel Minister. thou?h" he is in a'great measure cot
i- off from the emoluments and the honors ef , this -world, is yK '
V-not without his reward. He Jives In, the affections of his
ssigned to him by his CreatoV.V- The words -: people and in the favor of God so long as he js fait!
- v- . : . v .::- -: -:-1
s- trust.' He bears a commission signed by the King of .Heaven, 9
. as an embassador of peace to a lost and rebellious world.1 I
And though he may not be allowed to deal in high-sounding.
Swords to gain the admiration of men, he can "catch inspira--Vtion,
from, the sublimity of his theme itself. He deals not
with sublunary things. . He rises into the 1 glories of the dp-"
per sanctuary, and descends into the dark regions ofthe pit.
His subject is. eternity, with its glories and its horrors : the r
soul mounting up from one degree of happiness to another,
or sinking'down to deeper abodes of misery, throughout the;
endless aes of eternity. But has not the Minister a just
and high claim on the affections of his fellow-men for his
, services, although none should ever dare seek the sacred ofV
; .fice from that motive? .What class of men have ever proved
more self-denying, and more devoted to the 'great works of
philanthropj', and the alleviation of human4woes, Chan the
ministers of Jesus? And who have ever dope so much to
keepalive the lamp of science, and to uphold the tottering
pillars of the State f In the middle of ages, when literature
had fled from all other parts of the world, it still retained a
lingering hold on the asylums of the monks. And it is a no-,
tprious and gratifying truth, that the gospel missionaries have
borne, the lamp, of science, as well as the word of eternal
-truth, back to the old world. From this recent wilderness,
where lately none but savage roamed and wild beasts utter
ed their fearful cry, the light of learning and religion has .
gone to illumine the once most favored regions of the East.
The heralds of the cross now stand on Mars' Hill, where
Paul stood eighteen hundred years ago, and preached the re
surrection from the dead and a day of final judgment. They
are imparting knowledge, scattering the mists of superstition,
and teaching gospel truth ; and doing more for the honor of
their country, than any other class of men ihat have ever
visited those regions of darkness. Can any then deny the
usefulness of the Minister of the Cross, even when his labors
are confined within the limits of earthly things. Much too
might be said of the other learned professions, but we deem
it unnecessary. Their excellencies and their advantages are
obvious to all.
And may we not, from a consideration of these truths as--sign
to each and all of these classes of men, a high and hon
orable station among mankind ? Can we not with propriety,
place together in the highest niche in the temple of fame, a
Newton and a Bacon, an Arkwright and Fulton, a West and
Stuart, a Mansfield and a Hale, an Abercrombia and a Hush,
a Whitfield and a Brainerd, a Howard and a Washington 1
These all lived not for themselves only not for the simple
gratification of their pleasure and ambition, but for the hap- ,
piness of their fellow-men, the welfare of their country andJ
the glory of their God.
And can any young man now be at a loss in casting about
him, to find some honorable and useful calling adapted to his
taste and his talents? Does the wide field of which we have
explored only a little part, present no spot on which the eye
may rest with pleasure? Jn the whole range, of husbandry,
the mechanic arts, and the learned professions, is there no
occupation to which each one may apply the powers which
God has given him for usefulness and pleasure ? Or has hu
man nature so sadly degenerated as to furnish a class of be
ings who may with propriety, be termed good for nothing ?
Are the powers ot the soul on which the image of the Al
mighty was once enstamped, so deteriorated as to be no longer
capable of high and noble achievments? We" deny the alle
gation. Human nature is the same now that it ever was.
But it is sadly perverted in our day, by imperfect and impro
per modes of early training. It is a lamentable truth, that
God's most perfect workmanship has been rudely marred.
There are multitudes of 3oung men, highly endowed by na- -ture,
and who might share largely in their country's honors,
with proper training, and by a diligent application to some
useful calling: but whose education has been wrong or neg
lected, and who are sleeping away a life of inactivity and
usefulness ; or what is worse, indulging in the commission of
crime.
And what is the cause of so much suffering? and why are
there so many disappointments ? and why do so many young
men fall in the earlier part of their earthly career f Says a
late writer: " One half sink into an early grave, While the
tears of disappointed affection, the deep sighs of blasted love,
are the memorials of their fearful end. Crowds of our young
men fall suicidal to the grave : while others mere dying
wrecks remain, with pallid brows and wasted powers : the
cold marble, on which, in characters of shame and blood their
epitaph is written. Passing from this waste of life and blasted
character, we search for the result of others : we look for their
success in life ; and a melancholy picture meets us here. The
country and the age present us with an almost unbroken his
tory of failures, severely trying to moral principle, and fear
fully disclosing moral delinquency." For years past few of
our young men have succeeded even in the laudable pursuits
of life : while the failure is wholly unnecessary. We take up
the College Catalogue only a few years after the classes have
passed from the cloisters of their Alma Mater, and with
thrbbbing hearts we follow them out into the world. Some
are; in the enjoyment of comparative peace and happiness,
and a few are wending their arduous way to the heights of
honor; but the greater portion have sunk into obscurity, or
have become the inmates of the asylum and the tomb.
The source of the evil is obvious. Youthful training is
not! now as it was fifty years ago. Young men and young
maidens are not now as were those who landed more than
two centuries ago amid the snows of the rock of Plymouth ;
nor as they were in the days of our revolutionary struggle.
Thousands of both sexes are now reared expressly for want,
misery, crime, and an early and inglorious grave. Every
one grows, up with the impression, that there is a Utopian
period, when the restraints of youth will be cast off, if any
indeed they ever endured,.when labors and cares will be
wholly dispensed with, and life will be one halcyon holyday
of uninterrupted delight. They expect, in some unknown
and mysterious way, to achieve a fortune, or secure an honors
without the slow dull routine of virtuous action that is de
serving of such a reward. To live without labor, to enjoy
without care is the motto of thousands. But O how mista
ken the idea. That individualwho does not perform his
part in the great drama of human life, who fails to add his
portion to the general stock of wealth, By his own individual
exertion, is, on the clearest principles of politicateconomy, a
swindler of his race. If he lives not by his own Industry, he
must and will li ve on the savings of others. f
And what the'result will be, we cannot divine. V hen a
great moral revolution will take place, when the sons and
tbei daughters of our land will leave their idle habits, give up
their imaginary pleasures, and return tathe sober pursuits of
industry,Jor which our fathers and our mothers were famed
we cannot foresee. It is said that revolutions never go back
wards. When the habits of a people begin to deteriorate,
they grow from worse to worse, until the government is over-thrownr-jf
this be true what is to be our fate, the fate of
beloved America before another halt century rous rouna t
-4 f
our
os heis faithful to his' ;;-
Mtkfcoia heets novert v2 poverty begets crime, and crime is
--O , - " . . - .
Apollyon of all lav .and -.social oraer. Ana ii we progress
downward for a few years longer as we have done in years
that are past, we may, like ancient Rome' with her luxurious
and -licentious habits, fall to "pieces from the burthen of 'our. ,
w a VUBIIV. (, May ilUC VUU VI, ULUIbll rUO VUU ,VI-t UU1 S - I J
country, the. God of our fathers avert such a calamity.''
' II. , Young men should be diligent and persevering in the 3 i
nursuit of knowledge. v : i . . " : i , y-ir' , -
H has been'said with some degree, of truth, th'at.in Ameri, V
thft nraft!fal nnd tht. nrnfitnhl wllnnr iifi"t'rvJ 'ntfiievK:.
thought, it has been said that here is the land ? where ge- .
ni us sickens and where fancy dies," and .Where there is art 7
utter destitution of tastel ' As a nation, we --have; been charg- - .
ru viiu an exclusive uevutiun iu tire uccuuiuuuion 01, wealth, T . .
and the acquisition of those petty honors yhich any shrewd :
aspiring demagogue may obtain. , JAnd aTjhough these things
have been exaggerated, and uttered in any but a" liberal spi-., -;
rit,yet there is unfortunately, too much ground for. the charge.
As a people, we live in thejiurry and bustle of liC' Engag--'
rd xrenerallv in the more active and ""excitin'r nursuit!?. w '
w j V.V 0 I p- --7 '
overlook, or are entirely ignorant of those rich intellectual
pleasures which literary men enjoy. In'this land of activity
and enterprise the temptations to these evils areyery great.' , "
The demands upon talent forl-active service -are - greater
than the calls for that knowledge which books impart." We, '
are more an active and enterprising, than a Jiterarv people.
And for this there are many causes. As a nation,' we i are
yet in the infancy of our existence. , Vast regions of jour ex'-J
tensive domain are vet unsettled, and large portions are only
just brought under the control of civilization And in felling
forest trees and rearing humble cottages there is but JitlleV
disposition or opportunity for.attentioh to reading books.; And j
in the counting room of the merchant, and the.worksbopjpf
the mechanic, and even in the ofiice of the professional man,:'
the business of each one's immediate caliing is too pressing
to give room for the pursuits of literature. - ZThe I political .
journaL takes the place of the Literary -Review and the ''cum '
brbus volume. And party slang inflames the baser passions z
of the mind which might be sweetened and enriched with the r-. .
intellectual treasures ol the mightiest spirits ot the age. ,-.! he
noble powers of the intellect are paralyzed through inaction. ' t
or perverted and inflamed by unwholesome- aliment. But
ttlPr 9li tlrkliconrlQ 'Vrc.a taeto irw vnnl!nnr AnltStutn1 " 1
V. V.1 s .IIVUCU1IUO UVOb lUOlb iui ituuiug il, vuilll ui,l.Ur . "
would afford much substantial and ennoblingjpleasure, but,;
who have suffered all within to run to waste and are "wholly
absorbed in the pursuit of wealth, or are wasting their lives .
in idleness and folly. In ithe language of a distinguished -statesman
and scholar of bur own age and country. "The
mighty ladder of thought and reason, reaehingjrom the visi'; j
ble to the invisible from thefprude knowledge gained through y';
the senses to the sublimest iiifertnces "jjf the pure reason-'
from the earth to the very footstool of God's throne is before
them and invites .their ascent. ButThey bend their, eyes ob
stinately downwards upon the glittering ores at their feet,
until they lose the wish or the hope, foranyhiug: better." :
It is true that we have in our country io class of mende- r
voted exclusively to literary pursuits. We have here no -richly
endowed fellowships, where men of talents and taste
may devote themselves to scientific and literaryresearch.
in Europe, a pampered Literary Aristocracjv I Here the man j
vvho scans the wide field of literature must minjgle .'-'these .la-' f
bors wilh his professional duties. The Lawyer, tbe?Phvsi-;5'
cian and the Minister, can devote to science ahd literature,!
only the time which they takejrom their hours of repose and
recreation. But does this fact furnish a sufficient excuse for
the utter neglect of reading and cultivating the mind ? Incur
free country no one, as in despotic Europe, is confined by law "
exclusively to any one single vocation. A man may engage"
at the same time in as many different pursuits, as, may be,-
Q tmo QQ ma T hie rao.A n nrttfnn.A ft i c in. a ot-akw c Anl .
even the man engaged in active life, is surpervising-the' af."
fairs of his farm, his store, or his study, lie; may find ; many? '
remnant hours, in which he may retire from-the bustling 7,
scenes of the world, and Jiold communion wilh the mighty,.;
intellects of different countries and other ages : yheri .didi. .
Franklin make his most astonishing and usefurdiscbyeries iti"
science, but while engaged in the drudgery of . a printing of-:-fice,
and pressed with a multitudeof other cares. v When did(
Edwards complete those "far drawn speculations in; ;Mcta-,
physics, which astounded the most profound of : European ,
scholars, but while performing the pressing and responsible
duties of a Gospel Minister? A distinguished Physician' of
the State of South Carolina, while engaged in the labors of, -an
extensive practice, imposed on himself the duty of writing.
t t-.Z A i.-T-.
j one luerary Hjssay every wren, i piyu xunuaicr ui ,11105
TGospel in Philadelphia, has given to the world, in the last ten ;
years, a greater amount 01 EiDiicai n,x position man anytiri.
Theological Professor in the land. Thatdistinguished Scotch
Lawyer Archibald Alison, amid the duties of a laborious
profession, has written the best history of Europe, during the . -time
embraced, that the world has ever seen. And what . M
seem to expand at one and the same time to the tour winds
of heaven and through every age of the world? A,nd.what '
of a Brougham, whose giant intellect grasps at once the :
mighty truths law, politics, literature, and revelation present 7 ' ' .
And what of our owA learned mechanics, one Pf them a. son . -of
Ethiopia, whose, literary attainments would put many of
the pnviiegeu sons ot ireeuom 10 me oiusn t 11 is irue (
that some of these brilliant examples which we have cited -are
from among the great men of the old world. ' But they'
serve as well as others, to illustrate the same principle as the;
learned and enterprising of jpur own landr Theyjaborimder
the same disadvantages," have the same multiplicityof 'proJl
fessional duties to perform with those in our own1 country,"7
who make these excuses for their criminal neglect of literary 1"
pursuits. ' 'u:-M'-- "
Nor is application to literature "uncongenial to the spirit bf "
our free institutions, it is a sianaer on ine, genius 01 repuD
licanism, to say that here men maynot attain to a standard
of literature of a high order. And why may we not ? There v
is no want of native talent of as high a grade as nature eycr.
nroduced. Our history furnishes themes as rich, as romantic, V -
and as interesting as ever poet, novelist or historian discours-
ed upon. Our country abounds in beautiful landscape scenes, -,
in sublime mountain scenery, in-mighty caiaracis miu majes- : -
tic rivers, outvieing those of the old world, vl he allegations v
of Buffon and De Pauw, that in this country both men and ' r
animals deteriorate are just as false, as the reason assigned :
for the phenomenon, is absurd, thaimis conuneni was auo- -
merged by a deluge long subsequent to that of Noah ; and v-
as the theorythat this globe originated in the impact of a
rface of the sun. which struck a' buge
mass of melted glass and sent it whizzing on its aerial jour-
hey. There is nothing, so far as the history of our country ,.
can showeither in climate, or soil, or in oar free institutions,
to prove the deterioration of the American mind, or its unfit-; a ,
ness for high literary and scientific::attajhmehts, -'There tis f
nothing in 1 republicanism iUelf, even "in the party chapges ;
that continually occur adverse to it.' The very reverse is true
freedom of spint gives range to the 'flight of thoughtsand
l-indles the latentl fires of eloquence : and the changesand,
i
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