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ever exist, must be formed at an early age. Let me entreat you to get and preserve a command over your own minds; the power of directing them to whatever object requires your attention. I take it for granted, that you are not indifferent to human estimation; and I hope that you will never affect such indifferBut whose approbation do you covet?

ence.

"-Nam satis est equitem mihi plaudere: ut audax,
Contemptis aliis, explosa Arbuscula dixit."

You would not be anxious for praise from the stupid and undiscerning; and pray, would their approbation be an object, more to be regarded, whose intellectual powers are so biassed by moral depravity, as to put evil for good and good for evil? But if you value the esteem of wise and good men, you will desire, still more eagerly, the approbation of upright beings superior to man; and most of all must you covet the approbation of Him, whose judgment will eternally accord with truth.

Never suffer a desire of praise to engage you in that, which will end in shame and everlasting contempt.

Though the opinion of others is entitled to attention, you cannot be justified in adopting it merely on their authority. As intelligent agents, you are accountable for the use, which you make of your intellectual powers. But a person of an independent mind is not under the necessity of being supercilious and dogmatical. Young men, on their leaving college, have frequently been charged, (perhaps not always unjustly) with giving their opinions with too much confidence, and impatiently bearing contradiction. May it be your care never to deserve this reproach. A modest deportment is not more becoming, than it is advantageous. He, who makes a humble estimate of his own talents or virtues, usually finds others ready to do ample justice to both. As their own sensibility and pride, are not wounded by his high pretensions, they will have no pleasure in his mortification.

As the habit of expressing opinions dogmatically is disgusting; that of doing it frequently is imprudent. Opinions, formed

hastily, will often by consequence be incorrect; and, in proportion to the frequency of a man's judging incorrectly, will his opinion be disregarded, when a decision is required.

Be conscientiously upright in your statement of facts; especially when character is concerned. Do not scatter firebrands, arrows, and death, and say that you are only in sport. Human depravity is scarcely in any thing more clearly shown, than in the pleasure, which, in spite of all efforts to conceal it, is often manifested in reporting the vices or indiscretions of others. An impression, made by a single sentence, may be communicated to many, producing permanent injury to individual characters; an injury, which perhaps the author of the expression did not contemplate, and may be wholly unable to remedy. It was the resolution of a man, as eminent for talents, as for piety, never to disclose the vices of men, unless some object of real importance required it. On such occasions, it becomes a duty; and to withhold a plain, upright statement of facts, when order, virtue, or the public good requires, argues a disposition criminally servile and timid.

Though it is as well your interest, as your duty, to treat all persons with civility and decorum, I would by no means advise you to be intimate with a great number of persons; nor with any on slight acquaintance. If any should offer you their confidence on easy terms, be assured, it is not worth having. You cannot think highly of his discretion, who is willing to put himself in your power when but superficially known to him.

That your reputation and safety depend much on the associations, which you form, cannot be doubted. Open profligates are not the only persons, whose intimacy may be injurious. There are thousands, not belonging to this description, whose system of morals, if they may be said to have any, less resembles Christian morality, than the practical standard of pagan ethics. Unite yourselves to those at present, whose future destiny you would choose to participate. "He, that walketh

with wise men, shall be wise."

Young Gentlemen,-To a deportment, fair and honorable,

and to a life of Christian piety, I exhort you by your love of good reputation and hatred of shame; by your affection and gratitude to those, who gave you birth; by your sense of the public generosity, and your regard to the approbation of those illustrious characters, whose attendance evinces the interest, which they take in this literary establishment, and by whom is not forgotten, either the prosperity of the commonwealth, or of science or Christianity :-Finally, I exhort you by the solemnity of that hour, when as little of mortal existence shall remain, as now remains of your academical life; and by the still greater solemnity of the day, when "the Son of God shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe."

• On this occasion, his Excellency Governor Gore, his Honor Lieut. Governor Cobb, and other gentlemen of distinction were present.

ADDRESS,

DELIVERED AT THE COMMENCEMENT IN 1810.

Young Gentlemen,

THE very few moments of your college life, which now remain, and which will soon be as irrecoverable, as "the years beyond the flood," I would eagerly seize with design to produce or perpetuate moral impressions.

I do most sincerely felicitate you on the arrival of this day. I partake largely in those sensations of tenderness and joy unutterable, which are at this moment experienced by your parents and connexions. They now obtain a joyful release from the anxiety, which, since your removal from them, has been almost their daily companion. They have witnessed the first fruits of your intellectual efforts, and now look forward to the time, when you may appear on a more public stage, perform duties of more interest to society, and exhibit characters of more firm and deep wrought texture.

At all periods of life, we are liable to be deceived by the sound of words. There are circumstances and seasons, however, when this deception may be practised upon us with peculiar facility. To young gentlemen of ingenuous feelings, nothing is recommended perhaps, which they hear with more pleasure, than independence of character.

Though this term, in its legitimate use, comprehends qualities of high value, it is not unfrequently made to designate those, by which reason and morality are set equally at defiance.

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Beyond all question, no person is independent of the Divine Being. If any think otherwise, why do they not give some proof of that power and elevation, of which they are so ready to boast? Why do they not secure to themselves perpetual life, and youth, and vigor? Why do they tolerate a lowering atmosphere, when their convenience requires serene weather? Why is the sun permitted to delay its rising, when its light is necessary to their business or pleasure? Why, indeed, should independent beings ever be disappointed? If they control events, why do the latter counteract their desires?

Among all the absurdities of heathen mythology, a constant sense of dependence on divine agency is remarkable. If a child was born, the gods marked his destiny. If battles were fought, the gods held the balance, and gave preponderancy to which scale they pleased. If a dart was thrown, it fell harmless unless divinely directed. Among the leaders of a numerous, combined army, it was noticed, if there was one who acknowledged no dependence on celestial powers-or boasted, Dextra mihi Deus, et telum, quod missile libro. The best of the spoils, taken in war, were devoted by the Greeks in sacrifice to the gods. Their augury, oracles, supplications, and religious processions, unite to prove that the sentiment expressed by Pliny in his panegyric on Trajan, was common among the Greeks and Romans: Nihil rite, nihilque providenter homines, sine Deorum immortalium ope, consilio, honore, auspicarentur.

If you are not now, it is certain that you never can be independent of your Creator. Objects, events, and the universe itself, will never be less under the divine direction, than they are at present. Whether you shall advance in your studies, acquire fair reputations, or extensive influence; whether you shall enjoy a high state of health or long life, will depend subordinately on your activity and prudence; but ultimately on the same Power which gave you being.

Nor is this remark to be applied exclusively to the present life. A hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years hence, you

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