St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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ear. But the question itself remains. Was it a providential prognostication or a mere accident ? It remains for you to demonstrate, that the people are capable of' self-govern- ment, and to this end you must devote all your powers. The people must be educated for the crisis-they must be raised above the atmosphere of a pitiful partizanship, and have their feet set on the rock of a broad conservative statesmanship. They must breathe once again the fresh, pure air of the mountains that echoed ot the tread of freemen, and take their stand by the compatriot fathers of the Republic with the broad aegis of the Consti- tution over them, as they march, to use the language of the incomparable Choate, to the music of the Union. You will have your part to act in the solution of the fearful problems we have to solve in the national life. The question will be removed from the halls of debate where mind met mind, and wit clashed with wit to the stirring arena of actual life. Be true to duty. Be true to your country- Be true to yourselves. Above all and in all be true to the destiny that is before you. Strong men alone can meet the exigen- cies of the times-men of purity, of honor and of truth. Ripe culture, exact scholarship, high-toned moral principle, steadiness of will, and fixedness of purpose constitute the ele- ments of the greatness which the country's future weal demands- Drifting from her ancient moorings, our noble ship must founder. You will soon be on the quarter deck. Keep ever before you the fact that a little more drifting will plunge us on a more fatal rock than Scylla or Charybdis. Keep by you the compass, never let go- your hold on the cableg and you will ride the sea in safety. The Union Hag at the masthead-the port of entry, the harbor of '76-the haven far away in the deep blue of the sea not yet explored-the crew disciplined and taught to love the flag that envelopes them, and you will be the honored instruments of preserving the past in all its glory, and making the future the faithful reflection of the past. Wlieri I reflect that I stand in the presence of the young men ofthe country, who are destined to transmit to coming generations this rich heritage of glory, or to witness the eclipse of the stars that have shone so brightly in the iirmament of liberty and of the Union, I feel the magnitude of the crisis, and cannot express the anxietyithat consumes me as I lift, up a warning voice and bid them be true to duty, true to the country, true to the destiny that awaits them. ' zhgsr fl 'Xb iiiasarlii 97

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tinguished of our Alumni, your son, honored wherever known for his wealth of mind and h rt Judge Tuck has pledged a thousand dollars. Another, not an Alumnus, your adopted ea 2: . . . son whose ripely cultivated intellect has, on So many occasions, fascinated you with the com- bined flowers of rhetoric and logic, has pledged another thousand. Annapolitans, can it be that you will not appreciate the wisdom of the choice, that made this venerable city the seat of the College? Iwill not believe it. I am one of those who think that the people's ' b tl C should lead in ork should be done by the people. Not the monied few, ut ie masses W . this Great work of educational reform. Let the streams of your beueficence, formed of single D d meet and mingle with the State's benefaction, and the Collegelis safe- Many a .dia- rops, Q, mond now concealed from human view will be brought forth and set in the country's crown to enhance her ancient glory. . a . ' The spirit of the olden times is not dead.. Philomathians and Philokahans, there is power enough in you to fan it to a brighter flame. V Forty' odd years ago I dreamed golden dreams as I wandered through those consecrated grounds, and listened to the echoes of the past as they whispered through the branches of the grand old poplar, and one of the brightest of those dreams was the rising of St. Iohnls from its ashes. That dream is but half ful- filled. The hour has been too long delayed, and I now turn to you, her gifted sons, to help us to make it a grand reality. The eloquence of years is concentrated in one brief hour. By the memories of the past I implore you too seize hold of, use and improve the present opportunity. Key, Thomas, Murray, Johnson are blending their tuneful tongue, with our feeble advocacy-the living and the dead- They all commend her to your care, your sym- pathy and pecuniary aid. 1 Yours is a grand destiny if you are wise to meet it. You may fix stars in the firmament of thought, and noble activity, that will burn on forever. You may add to the lustre of the past new names, to grace the scroll that shall bear no other motto than this-the College cradled in the revolution, whose destiny is onward and upward- Young gentlemen, you are living in a great age-an age of extraordinary mental activ- ity, full of the wealth of invention, and teeming with the fruits of knowledge, gathered on every field of thought. It is in age, however, whose very intellectuality constitutes a peril, against which it becomes you to watch. It is a glorious part. It is above the envy of the most envious. The present is before you. On its proper use and wise husbandry depends the future. It was my privilege to listen to a debate between your two societies. The subject was one of absorbing interest. It was characterized by great power on both sides. Facts, the result of close investigation, and careful research, were marshalled' with great skill by each of the contestants. I felt proud of the talent I witnessed and consider the discussion one of the strongest proofs of the value of such literary societies to the College and the State- Young gentlemen, the theme was well chosen. The question you debated stretches for- ward, and penetrates the vast and unexplored future. It is a question to be determined amid the accumulation of stars in the blazing constellation. The sovereignty of States Evithin the sovereignty of the Union, withlno conflict of powers and no just cause of con- ict-the M agna.Cha1'te1' with the broad shield of the Habeas Corpus, and a pure judiciary, with nerve of will to declare the law and nerve of will to execute it, or 'else the total fxlipiiliiitliose stars, and the fatal. jar in the complex machinery of the government, which liberty be 103 iillgiggggiiiiidEEJO'CgS11gwan tgelzlvlll of one man will become the law, and you discussed was C1 - .1151 W - ie e of your debate was broad-the question 631' 35 P0531 C- The echoes of your eloquence have died away on the 96

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