Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1857-08-26
LITERARY.


Nature has done all for you that wisdom ano
mower could conceive and execute Man is the ast
work of the Almighty, aud the GROWING glory o.
his creation. Other creatures are formed prone 10
appetite" But behold the erect posture OF man,
the symmetry of bis mechanism, and the nob'eness
Of his bearing they bespeak the superiority and
excellence Of bis creation. Look upon the form d.
vine of the youth who is in the act of transition
from puberty to manhoodl His blood leaps through
his VEINS and the gaxelfe bounding DER the aowery
lawn is not more agile and airy than he. His eye
and cheek bespeak the varied emotions of his soul
His voice is attuned to harmony and the graces Of
his person and the msnliness of his form, vie with
each other for excellence. II is full of life and beau
ty and majesty, that youthful form model mimi
table by the chisel of a Phidias or Praxitlesl
But how much more to be wondered at and ad
mired is the living principle that rules and animates
that form! The body, however beautiful and ma
jestc, is Of the earth, earthy-t fades and decays
Its sphere of action is limited and circumscribed
1t has speed of feet. but wings with which to 6y
it may scale the mountain summit but it can rise
no higher. But who o. what can limit or circum-
scribe that intangible and spiritual essence, the
human mind! Princes have shut up with iron bars
and CRATES the bodies of their subjects, hoping to
check what they considered the inroads Of heresy
and the cratic flights of thought But even there,
amid the damp vapors of loathsome cell, with an
eye turned inward, it ueuld draw upon its own
swn Imagination On The wings of the morning it
flies to meet the at his rising, follows him in his
course through the heavens till his brighter glory
il Withdrawn, t'en watches each star as with silent
step of fear it steals forth chases the comet in its
eccentric flight through the depths of space noting
its returns at intervals of hundred years. even to
the very day, hour and moment. Turning to earth,
ID penetrates her darkest abodes, and walks among
her hidden fires dives into the depths of ocean
and gathers her pearly wealth. Standing upon the
present, an ishmus OF time, it looks back upon the
sea of the past and forward into that of the future
1t holds converse with the men Of other days-the
PATRIOTS sages, and heroes of antiquity; weighs
their deeds in the balances of enlightened reason,
and approves condemns them. 1t sits by the side
of the Ptolanies and Pharoahs of Egypt; behods
the sculptor giving form to the Sphynx, and hears
the busy hum of industry and the sharp clink of
the mason's chise, fashoning the granite blocks of
the pyramids; attends Eneas in his flight to Italy,
and, with the twin brothers, lays the first stone in
the walls of imperial Rome. 1t is familiar with the
philosophy Of Socrates and Plato, and with the no.
Die band Of Grecian youth that follow in their train
delights inter sylras Academi guerrero rerum."
1t is in the assembly when she fire and persuasive
tones of Demosthenes eloquence move the Greeks
like troubled sea against Philip and his hosts 1t
rs in the Roman Senate when Cicero denounces the
fierce Catalina cOnspirator and an enemy to his
country. 1t marks alike the progress of Empires
and of States discerning the springs Of prosperity
and greatness and the causes Of dissolution and de-
cay. Laden with the knowledge and experience
afforded by the past it goes to ork for the present
and the future. 1t conceives it plans it executes.
How mysterious and grand it's operations!
And yet, if we are lost in establishment at the ca
pacity of human intellect which is but scntla-
ton stricken out from the Great Source of light,
how utterly futile become all attempts to compre-
bend the infnitude Of mind possessed by the great
l Am! who fashioned the spheres and rolled them
from his mighty hand into the immensely of space,
and SO wisely adjusted the power of attraction and
Of centrifugal force that each amid the millions in
motion should move in harmony in its respective
orbit who SO inclined each planet upon its axis,
that as it moves around its common centre Of at
traction, it shall experience the vcissltudes of day
and of night and of seasons.
Such and far greater is the Author Of our being,
and so great are the gifts and capacities of mind
and Of body with which He has blessed us.
You, young gentlemen, arc the heirs apparent to
the sovereignty Of this great Republic. Soon your
fathers and the entire troop of actors upon the po-
litical arena, will pass away, and you will be called
upon to take their places in the pulpit, at the bar
and in the halls of State and federal legislation.
You will be compelled to assume the trust and the
responsibility OF conducting the affairs of the great
est and most powerful free government upon the
face of the globe. To you will be confded the con.
troll of our army and navy and vast commercial re-
htions with the powers Of the earth TO your
keeping will be entrusted that sacred emanation Of
the wisdom of our charlottesville American Con.
stitution aRd upon your Interpretation Of its prin
eiples and adherence to them, will depend the TO-
asre sRion and harmony aud confederation Of States
and the happy solution of that great problem-the
capacity of man for selfgovernment. Into your
hands will be placed the flag staff of our glorious
"stars and stripes" never yet dishonored never
yet trailed in the dust before mortal foe upon you
will depend the protection of this ensign of our
pIn hSo nt,o 49, 7
shields US now from insult and attack, by recoec-
ton, on the part of our enemies of the prowess the
chlvalry, and patriotism OF our fathers; the many
hard contested and bloody ba,t!efelds over which it
has proudly waved, though tattered in shreds, yet
in victory and triumph. But if you shall suffer it,
while in your custody. to be insulted and tramped
upon, 1t will no longer, as now protect, wherever
its azure field is unfured, our commerce and trade
and our citizens, whether they roam upon the high
seas or on foreign soil. These are grave trusts and
responsible duties, for the proper and faithful per-
formance of which posterity will hold you to strict
account
The true and faithful performance of them will
and patriotism you shall bring to the undertaking.
II you Shall come to the task prepared, as you
shouid be, the gray-headed sires of the land will
commit to your charge, without forebodings and
m'sg,V'ngs, the rich heritage and the future veal
ana destiny OF our country and in their declining
years, they Will fondly hope that for longer time
than lived the Roman Republic, our gallant old ship
OF State will ride, without hurt or damage. the
storms Of internal strife of faction and fana1icsn
and of foreign hate. As these are high and respon.
sible trusts, let me urge you to- make yourselve,
equal to the occasion whenever they shall fall upon
you; and do not, We entreat you, mistake the char
aeter Of true greatness and true nobility, which
alone can tit you for their discharge They consist
as We confidently assert and believe in virtue !,
moral and intellectual porth
The time has been, when men were accustomed
to look to wealth and rank and ancestral memorial
as Inc opponents of greatness, and were loath t,
acknowledge it without such insipnia-when IN,