The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1825-08-11

"PPicCiatc inc Honor you nave received from /
your country in being called to preside over
the Institution, as the highest mark of her
confidence. The trust which you have nm
dertaken is high and solemn. Behold the |
favored children of the nation. These are
to be the future men Of America. Ii pro-
perry reared, her ornaments in peace-in
war, her shield and buckler. To the i'm
provement of the mind add sentiments of
morality, honor, and patriotism. The main
tenance of your authority by rigid discp-
line, is essential alike to the Youths and to
the institution. But remember, they are
taken young and inexperienced from their
paternal roof Their homes and their par
ents are afar oii-Thcir wants are no longer
administered to by the hands of Affection
You are substituted for the absent parent
temper then the sternness of authority BY
acts of kindness and beneficence; there is no
ncompatibilty between them, and in their
due mixture, consists the highest excellence
ct your calling: yCur reward is in the con
seriousness of having done your duty, in the
mass Of worth and intelligence you arnually
return to society, and in the appreciation Of
your country.
Cadets, your country has large claims up
on you-you have been singled out amid
thousands of unsuccessful candidates as the
objects Of her favor. Repay this kindness by
your exemplary col duct, and by your attain
ments in science Subordination to your SUI
perior, stands forward as a prominent part
of your duty. 1t is Indispensable to your own
welfare. Although the duties enoned may
seem 70 your inexperlence unnecessarily Sc
we're, remember they have been prescribed
by your fathers, whose affection you CANNOT
doubt; they are the result OF wisdom cnlisht-
encd by experience: respect them, therefore,
for the source from which they cninatc.
There arc two roads which lie before you:
the signs of the one arc virtue, rerown, and
happiness; of the other, vice, de5l alatlor,
and ruin. Is there any one among you whose
spirit is so abascd as to hesitate which to
clccts The one is full of satisfaction; con-
sciousncss that You have done your duty,
giving 10y to your parents, and rejoicing
Yourself in your course. The other presents
10 temptation but the temporary Indulgence
of the grosSest appetitcs, whose reward is
infamy and wretchedncss. You may yet
from experience not have sufficiently appre-
ciated how essentially the happiness of your
parents and the prosperity OF your country
is involved in your fate. Supposc--but why
need suppose such a case, when we saw it
but ycsterday-a father present; then the
whole father sat upon his ftce-agitated by
the conflicting emotions of fear and hope,
when his son was called to come down OH the
arena. The anxious suspense was painful
to all, till the son, with a masters hand,
distinctly evolved the intricate mazes of the
most abstiuse sciences: Then the gentle
murmur Of applause circulated from one to
the other, till the fathers fears were dissi-
patcd and hope changed into confidence: and
when, to fiji the measure of his happiness,
| he was told that the attainmcnts OF his son
were inferior to his moral worth the tear OF
! 10Y escaped from his eye, AMI the parental
bencdction, nvoluntariy escaping, settled
on the head of his beloved child. You IN
deed might not have the pleasure OF your
fathers presence, but, wh"rcsoevcr he IS,
however distant his solicituac foryour sue
cess in no less intense. He is anXiously a
waiting the impartial award OF the dlstln-
guished men who have been called together
to examine you. If you have no father,
you have perhaps some widowed mother
who nurtured your infanLy--watched your
sick bed with slccpless eye, Or sambolled
with YOU in health-whosc happiness you
carry in your hand, and who, when she night"
" prepares her pillow, sends up yonr name
! in her supplicatons to the throne OF mercy
with the cry of "My God, my God, protect
and prosper nv child" and, in the distant
prospect bcyond this, see your country hold-
| ing the wreath Of merit for him who DC
serves it. Is there one Of you so debased as
to be insensble to these great considerations
If SO, there is that other path when you
must traYel With the mark or reproacE on
YOUR forehead, with the consciousness OF de-
merit, YOU timidly seek the parc.ital root to
carry disgrace into the bosom OF that family,
whc but Yesterday, at the mention OF your
name thrilled with hope and expectation
But this picture is too dark to pursue
Turning from it with disgust, suppiicat,e,
our common Father that you may DC all
! cxemDt from such doom.
There is one other subject to which wish
to invite your most serious attention. Our
country. from it's extent, and for the purpose
of Geo~rahhicai discrimination, IS divided
into sections, East, West, North, and South
TO this let the division be confined; add not
to its preiudices and jealousics-scowl into
contempt every term and every efiort 10
keep them alive. Remember your fathers
faurht as americans; as Americans they con-
ouered. In the same name, and as one tam
ily, they produced the present constitutior
Of your country, the noblest effort OF the hui
man mind, and carrying in its tate the ias'
homes of human libcrty-thus by one act re-
paving to Europe whatever we were lhaept,
ed for the acts and sciences OF ~nlch SIG
claims to have been the origin. Remcm
; her that YOU are destined to occupy aistih-
puished place in the annals of your country
to whose prosperity or Degradation you