Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1857-03-21

all lands and all times-it never grows old.
newspaper of last year is staler thing more apart
from the talk of the very hour in which am now
addressing you, than quotation. from speech OF
the Corinthian Ambassadors in Thucydides, or
reference from Horace to the grapes princpun amt
citias And with this practical character there is
nothing mean nor cynical Cast from your memory
few iicentiots passages episodical the true spi
rit of the chaste Camoenae, from which l am sure
that YOU turn with the quick instinct of masculine
purity you take from your Scottish homes. and what
q mass of healthful literature remains! Love of
country recognition of social duties the spirit that
can defy the naughty, the humanity that spares the
subjected reverence to virtue that celestial
thing which takes resigns its dignities 6 rbi-
trio popularis aure"-is it nothing that all these
should come before our eyes in youth, radian. with
the loneliness OF Athens or stately with the majesty
of Rome? [Cheers
Thus far then, we are agreed, and you will lose
opportunity now presented to you to increase
your intimacy with the languages and the authors
whose in afterlifc you so evidently appreciate
But unquestionably your culture of the ancient
learning is not to supercedc yonr natural destination
as the examiners and enfo.cers of the new ideas
which link You with the age in which you are to be
the actors. Loud cheers You have your choice
in the many subdivisions of intellectual labor-the
church, the BAR the various branches OF the medical
profession, commerce and manufactures-In short.
the busy callings of life. pretend not here to add
to the lessons of the eminent persons who administer
the instruction of the University. | can but sug
gest few general hints, which may equally apply
to each vocation that you may severally adopt.
And, first, let me impress upon you the value of
definite purpose. Having once chosen that calling
which then becomes your main object in life cling
to it frmly-bring to bear on it all your energies,
all the information you are elsewhere varIouSy col
lecting. All men are not born with genius, but
every man can acquire purpose, and purpose is the
backbone and marrow of genius-nay. can scarcely
distinguish one from the other. For what is ge-
MUS 4? Is it not an imprisoned prediction for
some definite art or study, to which the mind con-
vcrges all its energies, each thought or image that
is suggested bv nature learning, solitude
verse being habit,Iay and Involuntary added to
those ideas which ever returning to the same
central point so that the mind is not less busily
applying when it seems to be the most released from
application. That is genius, and that is purpose
the makes the great artist or poet the other the
great man of action. And with purpose comes the
grand secret of all worldly success, which some men
call will, but which would rather call earncstness.
If were asked from my experience of life. 20 say
what attribute most impressed the minds of others
or most commanded fortune, should say "carnest-
ness Take for instance, the House OF Commons
as the highest type of popular assembly. What
IS the great secret of success there? You all rcmem
Der that Demos,heneS placed the threcod art of the
orator in delivery think the word he used
acting stage play But though delivery, doubt,
is the appropriate excellence OF the mere orator. the
threefold gift Of the parliamentary speaker is earn
knowledge Of your subject and then be thoroughly
in earnest to impress your own honest conviction
upon Others and, no matter what your delivery,
though your gestures shocked every rule in Qunt
Ian, you would command the and influence the
debates of the most accomplished, the most fasti-
dions and, take it altogether, the MODEST assembly
of frecmen in the world while some man. in whose
delivery fault could be detected, except the
defect Of that earnest conviction which RoSicus him
self could not teach if the man has not got it, would
be indeed admired tirework, hut would never
guide like star. As it is the House of Commons,
which is but the representative of the national mind
so it is with all life throughout these nations The
earnest wins way for himself. and earnestness
and truth go together. Never affect to be other
than you are-either richer wiser. Never be
ashamed to saw II do not know" Men will then
believe YOU when yon say, 81 do know Never be
ashamed to say, whether as applied TO time o, mon.
ey. 81 cannot afford it"-"I cannot afford to waste
al hour in the idlcncsS to which you invite me-
cannot afford the guinea you ask me to throw away"
Once establish yourself and your mode of life
what they really are, and your foot is on solid
ground whether for the gradual step onward, for
the sudden spring over precipice. [Cheers.] From
these maximS let dcducc another-learn to say
NO" with decision; "Ycs" with cantiO"-"No"
with decision whenever it reSists temptation
''Ycs'' with caution whenever it implies promise
4 promise once given is bond invio'able [CheerS
\ man is already Of consequence in the world when
it is known that implicitly rely upon him.
have frequently in life pei son preferred to
long list Of applicants, for some important charge
which lifts him Mt once into station and fortune
merely because he has this reputation that when
he says he knows a thing he.knows it, and when he
says he will do thing he will 60 it. Muse, gentle
men, those maxims, you will find il easv
enough to practise them. for when YOU have added
them altogether the sun total looks vry much like
"A Scotchman. Much gh,er and applause Let
tonch. though bat humbiy. rs becomes
layman uoon those sacred truths which arc inter.
woven with your faith, and enforced by your spirit
ua teachers 1t i enough for me earnestly to inn
press you a reference Of all your actions to that
Divine standard of good which we never attain,
but should ever seek to approach, so that. to
homelv image the conscience may he the bookkeep.
err of life. Every man who would perform great
actions must pcrrctualy refer to some Judgment or
criterion elsewhere which both for his slim
illus and his guide. In that terrible night when
Alexander the Great was forcing his way across the
swollen waves Of the f1ydaSpes, thunder and light
ming and hurricane around him, and the elephants
of Porus on the opposite bank, he is said to have
exclaimed, "Oh. Athenians, what dangers I brave
to be recorded with praise by you!" But in con-
quests more arduous and lasting than those Of AL
exander-conqueSts which every has to achieve
over his heart and its tempters, how grand and
how accurate becomes the motive that stimulates
and guides to the man who habituallv inquiries,
" How will this bear record in the eyes of Him
who alone unerringly reads each desire and alone
impartially weighs every decd?' [Cheers Gen.
tlcmen. following the example set by than one
of my predecessors, it is my intention to offer some
prizes to your generous competition. shall place.
for that purpose, the modest Of fifty guineas in
the hands of your professors leaving it to their dis
creton to select such subjects their experience
may suggest most useful or pleasing to the general
body of the students. But, in addition to those
prizes, myself will now propose to the highest
class of your scholars prize of thirty guineas to
tho Hato ho holl