Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-05-07
MISCELLANEOUS.
AN ADDRESS,

OedGy 81 he Literary association connected
MereDiih. Published By request IF The
Students.
Fellow ScHooLaATEs-I compliance
with the request Of the Literary Society, !
stand before you, as its representative. And
In doing so, I shall not attempt to represent
tho sentiments or the feelings Of that Associ'
ton but merely on its behalf to give you M
ouon. Tho purposes for which we havespent
the winter here-the occasion upon which
we are now met are full Of interest and full
OF importance. The cultivation Of the mind
and the acquisition Of useful knowledge, are
among tho highest and the noblest objects Of
human pursuit. The history of the world in
every age, aud In all time is full Of demon-
%stration Of the fact that knowled &c Is power.
Even in the dark ages Of barbarism, when
the common herd Of mankind exhibited no.
thing moro than mere animal propensities-
when the qualification Of the lower and baser
faculties of the mind we're the highes. o6-
jects Of human desire-when wal and blood
shed were tho distinguishing characteristics
Of hunanity-when the whole green earth
was one vast slaughter house, one mighty
temple Of carnage and blood-when conquest
and victory were the highest objects of hui
man ambition and human hops-even then
knowledge commanded respect Ind influence.
And although the sun Of science had no, yet
dawned upon the world-although human ma
ture and human rights were shrouded in i'm
penetrable gloom-and although superstition
and tyranny brooded darkly and terribly over
creation, yet he who was best skilled in the
schemes and stratagems of death, who knew
best the rude arts of the age. was always the
most honored and the most successful; and
that nation which possessed the greatest de-
gree Of Intelligence was always the most
powerful and rich. Thus Rome, by the wis
dom Of her senate, and tho superior know
ledge Of her citizens, once swayed her i'm
perial sceptre DER the world And he who
knew best how TO play upon the governing
passions Of the mind, who, with the master
hand Of Eloquence, could strike the chord,
anu "hdtONCl MUG NO lACooCo IA ~
human bosom, was the ruler of his brethren.
He could call out at pleasure the wild
est tempest of passion, and then say to the
mad bilious, "Thus far shalt thou go, but no
father" He could stir up the deep fountains
of mind, and then roll back the swelling
surges Of the tide and speak peace 10 the
troubled waters. Thus Demoslhenes was
once the monarch of Athens, and the ruler OF
the world. The thunders of his eloquence
were more powerful, more effective, than the
roaring Of the cannon or the clashing Of the
sword. Thus Cicero was once The arhiter OF
Rome. When he spoke, attention hung upon
his lips when he reasoned, conviction cl 1sed
his periods; when he eXhoTted or entreated
obedience few to perform his utmost wish.
And thus the sages and philosophers, the
| magicians and poets, although their powers
were less complete and their course less bril-
liant, were still the organs and %oracles of the
world, to whom their more ignorant brethren
bowed in humble submission, reverence and
devotion. Whether combined with virtue oil
with vice-whether exerted to promote the
happiness of tho race, the personal ambition
of its possessor, knowledge has always been
supreme. Mahomed, by his superior wis
dom, succeeded in establishing his hateful
religion, and in .palming upon his follower:
the most detestable system Of superstition
and tyranny /; and so complete was his power
so perfect his triumph, that the people regard
ed him as a god and cheerfully bowed thei
necks to his yoke. They even regarded i
the most glorious privilege to die in extend
ing the limits of his empire and spreading TIN
blessings of his glorious Koran. The histo
~ Of modern nations and the Christian church
is full Of examples Of the triumph of know
ledge over ignorance. Painful and heart
sickening examples though they are ; exam
pies in which that power has been prostratet
for the vilest purposes, and used to crust
rather than redeem the world; examples il
which humanity has been sacrificed upon IN,
altar Of an i~nsatiate ambition, and thrones ant
churches built upon the bones and cementet
with the blood OF the ignorant and deluded; ye
striking examples of the power of knowledge
Catholicism, with its learned priests and III
splendid e%nginery of delusion, has exercised
the most fatal tyranny over the minds Of it
victims. 1t has reared its mighty temples
and Its gorgeous affairs upon the PROSTATE III
ms of Humanity. And Professionalism, al
though a step in advance, although less de
moniac in its features, less iendish in its cha
aeter, has still ruled with a rod Of iron, ant
has still furnished abundant evidence of thu
truth of our proposition. But the influence
Of knowledge is not limited to war or govern
ment; it extends to every object in the wide
creation, whether animate or inanimate, whe'
Their mineral or vegetable, solid or liquid,
whatever are its properties. or whatever its