The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1859-08-10
Address of L. L. Tomkies, Esq,
To the Young Ladies of the
CLIosopH1o AND UNAnEIpHIAn Socur1r

Permit me- on the present occasion, to render unto
you my sincere thanks for the distinguished favor
ferred upon me, in being conformity and unanimously
called to address you occasion fraught with
much interest to this institution and to the community
at large in which each of us claims abiding resi-
n denee.
In the days of yore when ignorance and supersti,
tion held ALMOST universal sway the mind of
man, and the arts and sciences in their infancy
twas then that oratory burst forth along the shores
of the Mediterranean sea- and stirred the inmost soul
of man to deeds of war; ofambion of love; Or like
the magic wand of the enchantress ued to sleep the
rising passions Of ifuriated populace and made
the stubborn heart bend the supple reed before the
storm-chaos and confusion dispersed beneath the
powers of eloquence, while the multitude though
antagonistic varied in purposes, in principles
in ends, moulded obedent to the will of one
individual.
We pause to ask the question. why oratory of old
welded sach a commanding influence the mind
of man. and shaped were the destiny Of empires?
Was lord Chatham less brilliant than Demosthenes in
the forum or Cicero more eloquent than Patrick Hen
ry the sage of Ashland, the immortal CLAY, whose
voice has swayed listening senate and hushed the
murmurs of an impending tumult2 No! in tones of
thunder, would be the inpulsive response of every
breast: Henry has never had an equal, Clay su-
perior in thought, in dicton, or address.
The material on which the ancient orator had to op
crate, rough uncouth and untutnred the mind of
the masses had formed oidea of its own supersliti
and rank idolatry shrines at which they bowed
and paid their adoraton-they looked up their great
exponuder the embodiment Of worth, and he
thought, they thought-as he spoke, they spoke, and
he led, they followed to infany and destruction,
! to conquestand victory.
What a change comes over the spirit of our dream
to day: ushered from the dark dungeons of the
past into the brilliant atmosphere of the present where
light with all the refulgenee of the mondays spen-
dor bursts upon u.s. and stand tonight in the very
centre of cvsaon where the arts and sciences mark
h CHER scale towards human happiness, where wo-
mans rights respected and she, the standard bearer
of future good and our present greatness, moves
in her appropriate sphere. the brightest Jewel oer
earths vast wilderness, and last, but the least
where the of eousness the great invisible
of the eternal II am dwes in the heart of his
chosen followers.
i And now can we otherwise conclude than that man
hath progressive intellect which, from want of ul
tiyaon stagnate like the waters of the Dead Sea,
or press forward with energy and grasp the hidden
treasure, which has lain for ages imbedded in the
closters of futurity Nor has lain dormant,
or proved recreant TO his trust He has advanced by
degrees from little to much, from volume to volume,
from age to age un'il by his exertion and aided
by theinspiration Of divine first cause he has acqur
ed that fund of knowledge which makes him but little
lower than the angels. Surrounded then as are
with every species Of knowledge whchsis not confn-
ed to the learned few but ia dused among all classes,
cases and characters of the human family: it
cheap, and swift the lightnings wing-is accessi-
ble ALL from the very plough boy to the lord of the
manor.
Encirced with these advantages, the people of our
day form and mature their opinions; they build
the tower OF their tnOQS0t Dy cullng mere inserting
and appTopraing that and rejecting this notion until
the human intellect becomes emporium of strength:
therefore the siren song of oratory allure
: to destruction and the hackneyed theme robbed of
half its charms, longer holds spell bound, and
t with due regard for self and our preconceiyed
s ideas we independence of thought and
ton not that appre ciae oratory true eoquenee
r less but because and cherish opin
ions more, and forbid any to attack that citadel with
n impuni y.
Kossuth on his return Europe declared that near
" every man in the United States public speak
and ruy mania has taken possession of the minds
of the American people which seems not to be con
fined particularly to any order age and since IT
behooves quit the tenor of my course, you
behold to night another devotee who is willing pay
tribute at the shrine Of oratory.
With the above remarks shall now touch upon d
subject more congeuial with my feelings and apt
:, ly beftting my purpose on the present occasion.
In tracing the records of the past and studying the
different phases in which mankind has presented it
self what strange history do up to the mind
'r eye for most serious contemplation! Mankind
the roughest of the rough aud the frest Of the fair
g a mystery which man himself can never solve Trace
him through the meandering of life and mark
y his character whereer his heel has made footprint
on the shores Of time-whether along old Sibera's
cebound coast, or where the gentle zephyr fans the
flowers of eternal spring, he is still that myster
i Gus creature,
h GAS sunshine broken in the rill,
. Though turned astray, is sunshine still"
Read his folly on the plains of Shinah, where the
II assembled wisdom of earth in grand council and
hatehed up that scheme the tower of Babel, whose
lofty height should touch the vaults of heaven, and
whose colossal proportions should tell to unborn nyr
k lads the vanity of all earthly achievements Study
his character IN national point of view Is he capable
of self government-can he frame his own laws and
ID conform to the very rules which he erects stan
s. dard for the regulation of his affairs? Let the
annals of the past reveal unto lis the facts in the
N Had Rome rival in all the expanse Of earth, proud
Rome. which in our boyhood we were taught to re-
ya arm
ed legions in the very bosom of the Roman empire III
the pamiest days of rspendor, and the Carthagen
an hero that struggle for supremacy wreathed ful
his own brow ehaplet of fame which the great Napo
leon could never excel. And Palmyra no mean com
pettor Of hers. enjoying the of the world
difused the splendor of her wealth. with the growing
strength other prosperity amid all the nations of the
east-and yet the lone traveller scarcely point tt
the place where stood those mighty structures OF art
'e ALL all have vanished and living monuments to
1t day of earjh's perishable wisdom
L 1t would be idle for rehearse before YOU tht
rise and progress of nation after nation whose learn
ing in all its varied branches for that age carried
y to supposed perfection and license and luxury
eed proiscuously in the lap OF pleasure where gov
to ernments seemed to be established basis ini
S movable as earth itself--vet all know that thu
thunders of the Vatican have long since ceased to ter
ry. Kings that ruled have passed from their thrones
and laws that were framed to protect and enhance h
interest and happiness of the people, have become
source of terror and cruelty And freedoms champi
" wants, but in the day of victory and over becon
y changed into tyrants and oppresssors such is
o a national sense and such is the wide world
Does he know his species? then why take his fac
I'd index to his hear why and remode
that which is symmetrical in proportion and bears ol
u its countenance the stamp of perfection2 Why und
to-day that which completed on yesterday, ant
rs revise and alter statutes to morrow, and pull dow
and demolish those noble structures of and of hu
intellect which reared and in full force to day
Man is stranger to himself in individual
enemy to his aires hopes and his dearest interests
Did you contemplate him in the garb OF re
T. ligious fanaticsm, with all his fois and foibes ai
bare and open to investigation? A cauldron of fer
menting liquids whose poisonous vapor like the ex
halation Of the deadly upas tree dffuses itself int
every pore and puncture of the human soul. He ha
b. but one channel in which his thoughts rum and ik
the freighted under head of steam moves alon.
the accustomed track turning the right han
nor to the left, until some formidable barrier hurl
i him destruction. Luther felt the n-edged thor
in his side and knew persecution meant and tina
De martyred throng faithful to their t. paid the las
penalty of nature at the stake and who Penix like
e arise from the expiring embers and attest to the wor
this late period the unreenting and nolerabe per
seeutions of their fellow worshpers Have forgot
ten the tortures of the inquisiton when all the pow
ers of hell combined to externinae the last vesge