Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-10-22

acknowledgment impress on our oosoms Jus,
estimate Of desert. OF all The first iathers OF
New England, the wise aud provideat rulers
the grave magis,ra tes, the valiant captaihS'
those who counselled the ptople In peacei anu
led them in war,-lhe gratitude oil ms 'a'e
posterity has FIRST sought out the spot, "here
this iransien: stranger was laid 10 rest, scarce
year after his arrival in America. II IS not tna'
we are insensible to the worth OF Their cnarac'
tiers, nor that we are ungra'eful tor 1nen ser
vices. But it was given TO the venera'ea ma" ,
whom we commemorate this day, hrs' 10 s,r'ke
the key note in the character of this people,
FIRST 10 perceive with a prophets foresight, ano
to promote with princely liberali'y, cons!der>
ing his means that connection between PrlFa'e
munifcence and public educ alton. which, wen
understood and pursued BY Others, has given
to New England no small portion OIL her name
and her praise in the land. What is there TO
distinguish our community so honorabiy as us
institutions for general educa,ion,-beginning
with its public schools, supported WIDELY 'y
the pepple, and continued ,hfo' the higher in
stitu,ions, in whose establishment anG donation
public and private liberality have gone hand In
hand' What so emlnently reflects credit upon
MS. and gives to our institutions a character not
possessed by those Of many other communities,
as the number and liberali,y ofthe private hene-
factions, which have been made 10 item! The
excellent prae tice of liberal giving has obtained
currency here, which, If mistake not, II pos
sesses in few other places. Men give, mot merely
flom their abundance, but from their compe
,rnce; & following the great example, which we
now celebrate, Of John Harvard, who gave hall
his fortune, and all his books, i, is no uncom>
mon Thing form 10 devote very considerable
portion Of estates, not passing the bounds OF
moderation, TO the endowment OF institutions.
And we'll does he example o: Harvard teach
US, tina; what is thus given away, is, in reality,
the portion best saved and longest kept In the
public trusts to which il is confled, it is safe,
as far as any thing human is safe, from the vi
cissitudes to which all else is subject. Here
neither private extravaganza can squander, nor
PERSONAL necessity exhaust it. Here, II will not
perish with the poor clay, 10 whose natural
wants it would else have been appropriated 49,
Here, unc onsumed itself, it will feed the huge
Of mind, the only thing on earth, that never di s.
and endure and do good for ages, after the do
nor himself has ceased 10 live, in aught but his
benefactions.
There is, in the human heart, natural cra-
wing TO BE- remembered by those who succeed
US II is not the first passion, which awakens
in the soul, but it is the strongest, which amt
NJ ates, and the last which leaves it. II is sort
of instructive philosophy, which tells US, that
we who live, and act, and move about the earth,
and claim it for our own, are not the human race;
that we are but a small part oft; that those who
are TO follow US, when we are gone, and those
that here lie slumbering beneath our feet, are
with US bu, one company, OF which we are the
smallest part. 1t tells US, tha the true glory Of
man is not that which blazes out for moment
and dazzles the contemporary spectator, but
that which lives when the natural lie is gone;
which is acknowledged by benefited aud
grateful posteriiy, whom it brings back, even
as il does US at this moment, with thankful Of
ferines al an humble tomb, and gives 10 an
otherwirc obscure name a bright place on the
long catalogue Of ages.
We stand here amidst the graves Of some Of
The earliest and best Of the fathers and sons of
New England. Men Of usefulness and honor
in their generation, are gathered around us,
and among them, no doubt, not lev, whose
standing in the community, whose public SER
vices, and whose fortune placed them, in the
estimate Of their day, far above the humble nil
mister Of the gospel, who landed on GU, shores,
but to leave them forever. But were il given
TO man 10 live over the life that is passed, and
could the voice Of superior being penetrate
the Clat, on NnlCN we S'd'u, enu eau on '1e
sIeepers to signify whether. they would not
gladly exchange the wealth, the honors, and the
influence they enjoyed, for The deathless name
of this humble stranger, they would start up as
one man, from beneath the sods that cover
them
We have now, fellow students, discharged
our duty to the memory Of great benefactor
Of our country. In this age OF concentration.
as il has been called, it was not me,e that the
earliest Of those, 10 whom we are all under OBJ
legations, should be passed over. Nor is il
we, who are here assembled, nor the immediate
inhabitants Of this vicinity, who are alone unit.
ed in this act OF grateful commemoration. 1t
is not the least Of the prerogatves Of the intel
leciual service, that its influence is as little
bounded by space as by time. MOI few Of
the sons Of Harvard, in the distant parts Of The
Union, have promptly contributed their mite
towards the erection Of this humble structure.
While the college, which he founded, shall
continue 10 the latest posterity a monument
not unworthy Of the most honored name, we
trust that this plain memorial also will endure;
and while IL guides the dutifnl votary to the