The southern press. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-15

Delivered before the Society OF Alumni o. me
Uaipersity9f Virginia, atis Annual Meeting,
held in The Rotundd, on The 28h June, 1851,
BY JOHN RANDOLPH TUCKER.
Mr.. President AND GENTLEMEN OF THE SocI-
ETY. OF ALUMNI:
Since last we met, another year has added its
irrevocable record to the volume of the past;
and our returning anniversary summons US to a
retrospect 1t assemblies US to renew in the
shades of this great University, associations cher
ished in ur hearts and ever to be remembered
II calls US from the busy avocations Of life to
mngle in noble communion within these hon.
ored walls, and to lay at the feet of our Alma
Mater, the thoughts, the prizes and the honors
of our ripper age It. thus that external nature
acts upon the internal man. The constantly re
curing periods of its grand revolutions, stops
in the march of time, demand Of him, that, amid
the active struggles of his existence. he, too,
should pause ponder and reflect. The scene
before me, and the associations Of our anniyer.
sary, present theme for this occasion.
speak to young men of the South, 10 whom
in the future, her rights, her honor and her lib
critics, must be committed.
speak to the sons of Virginia upon the an
niversary of her nativity. Three quarters of q
century have passed, since first, upon the West
eTn COuuutnt Wcub lOTtu ucCihIutOu VI buc
freedom OF people, the sovereignty and inde-
pendence of State. Upon the 29th day Of
June, l776, Virginia, shaking from her the power
of the British crown, assumed her separate con-
dition of sovereignty and independence, by the
establishment of a constitutional organism, a
step novel in the history of the continent; full
of momentous consequences to her own people;
grand in its moral relations to that era, and high
ly important in its political bearings upon the
present condition of our Unicn.
Can il, then, be deemed inappropriate 10 Sc
ect as the subject for this occasion, before such
an audience, and within the halls Of Virginia's
University, the relations Of this great historical
event to the past and to the present! to consid-
or its moral power and meaning then-its use
and political efficiency noDi
Icrave your attention TO this important era in
the history Of Virginia--I speak for her glory
and for her honor TO those who cannot refuse
to hear mel speak TO young yirginans fol
old Virginia!
To ascertain what position the action Of Vir.
ginia occupies in the history Of the progress Of
free institutions, il is necessary to answer this
preliminary question, Wherein consists this pro
gress'
thipG<st will be- found that there lie buried
| in the heart Of man, the elements Of political
history He i. made up Of opposing principles
There is a duality and a polarity in the consti.
tuition Of his moral being, numerous instances
Of which might be mentioned, and will occur to
every one.
But in no respect is this opposition more
striking than in his social and anti-socia dispo.
sitions. His desires are greganous. Isolation
is foreign 10 his heart, and alien TO his feelings
He seeks association with his fellows, and finds
in that alone the realization Of his highest hopes
and the qualification Of his most intense sfiec.
tons.
But he 10 created with will 4: his o,on. and
not another's-a will which opposes restraint
and restiSely shrinks from control external "a
itself
Now this desire for society. which can only
be satisfied by suljection 10 its necessary re-
straints. and Ms impotence Of all authority, but
his own free will, bring into play the social and
anti-socisl principles Of mans nature; principles
the opposition Of which, time and custom may
impair, but cap never entirely destroy. Here
then, are two forces in opposition; two currents
Of feeling flowing from the heart Of man and
meeting in convusion in the stream Of civiliza
ton; the secret springs Of its every movement
it, every revolution; and Of the advancement Of
retrogradation Of free institutions.
The relations Of these IN society: their man
ifestations and its modes, and their respective
tendencies, can be easily indicated.
No truth Is clearer, than that IDEAS and feeling.
seek outward manifestations In action. Thus
after the formation OF society, these same pre-
existent principles would necessarily be devel
oped. The same desires which urged man int
society, would afterwards demand that its bond
should be strengthened, and its powers be in
creased; and the same jealousy which oppose,
his entrance, would make him FESTIVE under tn
imposition Of every new retraint upon his per
feet freedom. The one principle manifests itsel
in the increase Of social control: the other, i
the security Of personal independence. Tn
one finds its best development in po,cer! IN
other, In liberty. The one seeks 10 ceDtrsliz
and consolidate the other, 10 indiyiduslize an
10 separste. The one looks 10 the action Of III
mass the other, 10 the rights Of the man.
| The one, " left alone and without the counter
acting influence Of the other, would find its nal
ur.l consummatiOn In despofism !; the other, ar
der like circumstances, In anarchy.
Here, then, are the elements Of that progress
for which ] seek and here, the extreme tender
eies Of each centraIism or despotism; indiv
duali.m 10 anarchy. BY the united action q
these two extreme forces, we may find mea
resultant, the consummation Of neither alone. bu
Of both conjoined; and il is only where each
90 distinctly and strongly manifested, 90 ths
the struggle will be between well.matched an
equal opponents, that society is compatible wit
the liberty Of the individual, or confederate
consistent with the happiness and rights Of N
States composing II.
The most difficult problem in the science
government, is the proper arrangement 10 the.
two forces. How is il TO be accomplished
How can the mass possess It's power, withot
danger 10 The liberty Of the individuals
have already in some degree indicated III
answer N these questions The two force
must each have distinct and palpable mantle,
tation in the social organism. Society is u,
! multiple Of its separate interests. To speak IN
! trne voice If the whole, IL must sound the ton
OF each. Its strength must be the resultant q
3 OF the cordial co-working Of the various intel
ests Of which il is made up. II is only when ],
. elements, so decomposed, are federated IN IN
I government; when each spesks its unit voic
and exercises its self.sustaining and inhereu
will, as essential 10 the action Of the Who'll,
that society can utter the full toned power Q
it's moral energy 10 The world, and liberty CO