The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1847-09-02
ADDRESS
OF THE
lion. John Y. Mason, of Va,

lion. John Y. Mason, of Va.,'
Delivered before the Alumni OF the University at
ChaIel Hill. the Evening before Commence
meni, June :, lsi7.
W.. President, and Gmitmsn
ofMe .issoaintion:
In appearing before you today, while
| regret Thai yonr invitation had not found
one possesstd Of more leisure than have
had in which 10 meet lis requirements. l
am glad ofihe opportunity which has thus
been afforded me. 10 testify ms continued
interest in my Alma Mater, and my sin.
EceIe regard for those great purposes Of
science and OF virtue which il is the for
tunaIe Office Of an American University
to promote. ...
After intervals Of absence-some Of
Them embracing more Than quarter Of a
!cenIury--we visit again, mindful yet of
nur literary brotherhood, the cherished
scenes Of our youthful studies, and renew
for few brief hours. amid the fragrant
memorials Of Chapel Hill, our ancient
companionship Of letters, and our old a, =
sociauons Of classic life. Turning aside
from our accustomed pursuits, we ex-
change the greetings OF friendship in halls
long sacred 10 religion and 10 truth and
before the affairs Of our early worship, we
gather fresh motives of gratitude 10 the
venerable Institution whose virtues they
commemorate. We surrender ourselves
10 the mild influences Of the day and the
occasion. We forget The discords ofpro.
lessional strife tie hard competitions OF
business; The feverish thirst for fame !:
if5afsy zrai;- ne BON -uotsefves. n-tnifes.sal
Ing SUBMISSIVE " ,'rs vss~s--s-.y
In such influences we find our best pre-
paraiinn for the Anniversary which we
celebrate. II is festival less Of the head
than Of the heart. II has more concern
with generous impulses and warm alice
lions, Than with The cold deductions Of
reason, or The dry speculaiions Of meta
physics. Il is wisely intended, not so
much for The exhibition of boarded know.
ledge and the discussions of abstruse
thought, as for the promotion of kind feel
ing, The strengthening Of good resolves,
the awakening and qnickening Of a spirit
ofimproyemeni in ourselves and in others.
II brings together, from remote places and
from various paths, those whose only
memories in common cluster around this
seat of learning; and it thus perpetuates
attachments which might otherwise lie
buried for ever in The dust Of years. In
this view Of lis character, il claims the re-
wards Of patriotism, no less than the re.
CARDS Of friendship; and strengthens ouI
union as cilizens, by reviving our con-
nectinn as students. The bonds which
hold together our extended confederacy
of States. are not those alone which are
Ia be read in written constitutions anl
gathered from The enactments OF lega
> codes; but those, rather, which are fount
: in the interchange Of social kindness il
the attractions Of literary intercourse; ant
in the manifold associations which sprin:
from the communions of religion and TN
pursuits OF business. Every institution
therefore, which. like our own Society
gathers its members at frequent period
Il from distant sections and difieren, States
r forms new link in that most importar
+ chain Of causes. upon which We mus
II chiefly RELY, under Providence, for tn
y support and perpelui'y of our republica
Is system.
r In behalf Of that system, how hume
to Gus and powerful are the motives wh'c
5, appeal to MS on an anniversary like thi
H. The tranquility Of these academic walk
r. the circumstances, all Of them, und
~ which we assemble, speak 10 US Of b
IN neicent Government and prosper
lis country. The experience, too, of eve
at one Of us eniorces the same lesson w
Ter the strength and vividness Of persol
ed conviction. XIII.
int In what other nation has honest am
n ton so wide range, and merit SO GER,
i'm and so brilliant reward? Where ell
an- in the civilized world, can virtuous e,
Of cation be SO surely obtained, and lead
,ne results of such transcentant worth!
or A distinguished illustration Of this II
}. we have present in our own eompani
ms, ship Of to-day. The youth, whom 81
fro Of us remember as student OF CHI
had Hill in the class Of 1918, whose le