union, is to enhance its ability to use the fabrics and to consume the productions of the other. The growing expansion of liberal feelings, and the illuminating progress of political philosophy, have had a salutary tendency in checking prejudices and antipathies which have too much prevailed. But, little to our honor, I speak it with regret, they have been recently excited by a contest of equestrian swiftness. In the Olympic games, where enlightened Greece assembled, where Homer recited his poem and Thucydides his history, the laureled crown, the "palma nobilis," was awarded to the man, not to the beast; but the late display reminds us of the degenerate days of Rome, when a horse was raised to the honors of the consulship; and of the Prasini and the Veneti, the green and blue factions, which arose from those colors of livery in horse-races, and which accelerated, if not occasioned the ruin of the Greek empire.†

The necessity of counteracting the tendency of all human institutions to debasement-of guarding with efficacious circumspection against the advances of anarchy and tyranny, and of preventing the evils to which we are peculiarly exposed from expanded territory and geographical prejudices, must be obvious; and for this purpose, it is essential to attend, with increased zeal, to the great interests of education, and to promote with unrelaxed fervor the sacred cause of science. Education includes moral as well as intellectual culture-the georgics of the heart as well as of the head; and we must emphatically look up to a general diffusion of knowledge as the palladium of a free government-the guarantee of the representative system, and the ægis of our federative existence.

Is it necessary, on this occasion, to show the important connexion between science and all the arts, which contribute to the sustenance, the accommodation, and the embellishment of human life? The analytic researches of chemistry have opened to us a knowledge of the constituent parts of soils, minerals, vegetables,

and other substances, and have developed their useful application. From the first conception of the propulsion of vessels by steam by the Marquis of Worcester, to its consummation by Fulton, how slow was the progress-how difficult the accomplishment! And this could never have been effected, had it not received the aids of chemical discovery, of mathematical calculation, and of mechanical philosophy. All that relates to the economy of labor by machinery-to the facilitation of intercourse by canals and bridges-to naval, civil, and military architecture-to the improvement of agriculture-to the advancement of the mechanic artsmust be derived, directly or indirectly, from scientific research.

It is an ordinance of heaven, that man must be employed, or be unhappy. Mental or corporeal labor is the destination of his nature; and when he ceases to be active, he ceases to be useful, and descends to the level of vegetable life. And certainly those pursuits which call into activity his intellectual powers, must contribute most to his felicity, his dignity and his usefulness. The vigorous direction of an active mind to the accomplishment of good objects, forms its most extatic delights. "Hæc studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium præbent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur."*

The honor and glory of a nation consist in the illustrious achievements of its sons in the cabinet and the field-in the science and learning which compose the knowledge of man-in the arts and inventions which administer to his accommodation, and in the virtues which exalt his character. Scarcely two centuries have elapsed since the settlement of these United States, and in that period we have seen a Washington, a Henry, a Franklin, a Rittenhouse, and a Fulton-the most splendid names in war, in eloquence, in philosophy, in astronomy, and in mechanics, which the world

* Cicero.

has ever witnessed. The congress of patriots who proclaimed our independence in the face of an admiring world, and in the view of approving heaven, have descended, with three exceptions, to the grave; and in this illustrious band were comprised more virtue and wisdom, and patriotism and energy, than in any association of ancient or modern times. I might proceed, and pronounce a eulogium on our savans, who have illustrated philosophy and the exact sciences— on our literati, who have explored the depths and ascended the heights of knowledge-on our poets, who have strung the lyre of Apollo-on our painters, who have combined the sublime and the beautiful in the graphic art-on our statesmen, who have taught the ways and means of establishing the greatest happiness of the greatest number-and on our theologians, who have vindicated the ways of God to man. But I for

bear. The task of selection is at all times invidious; and most of the distinguished men to whom I allude, are still living, and probably some of them are now present. And I ought certainly neither to offend their modesty, nor violate my sense of self-respect, by the obtrusion of praise which is not required by the occasion, and which will be more suitably, and unquestionably most liberally, dispensed by future times.

When we consider the small areas in which the insignia of human greatness have been displayed, we will find equal cause for astonishment and exultation. Attica was not more extensive than some of our counties, and the whole of Greece did not exceed this state in dimensions. Rome, for a long period, did not cover as great an extent: and the Swiss Cantons, the United Netherlands, and England, when compared with the illustrious men and the illustrious deeds of which they can boast, are of a very limited space. The United States contain more than a twentieth part of the land of this globe, and not six hundred thousand square miles less than the whole of Europe. The Deity has placed us on a mighty continent: the plastic hand of nature has operated on a stupendous scale. Our rivers and lakes-our cataracts and mountains

our soil and climate-bear the impress of greatness, of fertility, of salubrity. In this spacious theatre, replete with the sublime and the beautiful, let us act a correspondent part. This state, which now has a population of a million and a half, is capable of supporting ten millions of souls, and before this century closes, this maximum will be attained. And if in the councils of the Almighty it is decreed, that we shall continue to advance in all that can render a people intelligent and virtuous, prosperous and happy, with what reverence will posterity regard the memory of those who have laid the foundation of such greatness and renown!

The elementary parts of education in common schools, are the substrata of the studies of the academy and the college-and then again the acquisitions of those institutions become the basis of professional pursuits in divinity, law or medicine, and the foundation of that information which leads to more momentous advances in the cabinet, the senate or the field-which penetrates the regions of discovery and invention, and which enlightens the world by literary disquisition and scientific investigation. Giving full credit to all the benefits derived from the prescribed courses of collegiate studies, perhaps the faculties of young men are more powerfully evolved by institutions like the present, which generate habits of observation and reflection, and which produce ability in composition and facility in public speaking. And equally striking are the benefits of the extensive libraries within reach, where the relics of the ancient saints of literature, full of true virtue and without delusion or imposture," and the oblations and offerings of the votaries of learning in other times, are preserved.

The field of honor and usefulness is now before you. Whatever direction you take, whatever course you adopt, it is in your power to become eminent. The first man in his profession is often absolutely, and always relatively, a great man. In this country particularly, every man has it in his power to be the architect

* Bacon.

of his own fortune. And when he rises, let him ascend the pyramid of greatness, not by the creeping tortuous windings of the reptile, but by the sublime flight of the bird of Jove. The eagle erects his aerie on the mountain top-looks at the sun with undazzled eyes, and defies the thunder and the lightning. The serpent creeps on the earth, hides in the cavern, and sinks into torpidity.

Without referring to the inducements for exertion arising from the successful enterprises of our citizens at home, it must be sufficient to animate you to active industry, by pointing out the harvest of profit and glory which has been reaped abroad. West, of Pennsylvania, has delighted and astonished the world by his pictorial performances. Murray, of New York, has written the best work on English Grammar, evincing a mind of the most lucid, discriminating and arranging constitution, and he is now enjoying the rewards of his piety and erudition, in the smiles of an approving conscience, and in the plaudits of good men. Perkins, of Massachusetts, is now pushing that wonderful invention, the steam engine, to the utmost verge of perfection. Many of our enterprising youth are now traversing sea and land in the pursuit of science-some are seated in the celebrated schools of medicine and natural science-some are in the great cities examining the fabrics of art, the machinery and processes of manufacturing the movements and evolutions of commerce, and the complex relations of political economy. Others are moving in various directions, improving their information in agriculture, their taste in the fine arts, and adding to their knowledge of men and things. A late writer* mentions that at a popular point of his tour in Switzerland, it appeared from a register which he consulted, that even in that sequestered region the proportion of American travellers was respectable.

The revolution in navigation is the most astonishing portion of history. Wherever great communica