The mountain Democrat., 1864-02-13

Most of you, young gentlemen, have
read the usual course of "ancient class.
les" It is the fashion of our time to decry
this study. But aside from the perennial
pleasure through life, which he receives
who seeks these precious fountains, their
practical value also will not be questioned
by him who reflects that our whole Ian
guage, and especially our scientific no.
menclature. is derived largely from the
Greek and Latin, and that our entire lit
erature is pervaded by the spirit of these
classics, and iull of quotations and al!u-
sions drawn from them. Ccero's magn-
ficent eulogy upon the studies which
Archias taught, is not at all exaggerated
when apphcu 10 tme L. -7-e.s-r- -4s..1 <-D.As.y~
writings which have come down to u.s.
II the modern sculptor study the Apollo
.}a@)zi1"se s9nd the Dying Gla1iatoy. ThE
shall not the modern student learn the
language of the men who chise!ed these
wonderful creations out Of the solid mar
| bel But most valuable as the here dis
cipiine may be. il is not enough that you
! content yourselves I, IN sxhc@u ata} -soGyse
j now prescribed in school or college. -
These writings must be q study, more or
less, through life. Let not any say thai
he has "no time" There is always time
and way, for whatever . strong -wil!cd,
+ diliIent man may choose to undertake.
What is most wanted il; judicioua econ.
omy of time, and wi.e division Of it in
the multiplicity Of employments, 20 thGt
but one thing shall be done 1t time.
A majority Of you, young gentlemen,
are preparing yourselves for professional
| pursuits. Whoever would become
! Christian clergyman, let him preach the
cvangely of Bethlehem. Let him conline
himself to his legitimate duties, and as
pire to be the most faithful and exemplary
of the men Of his calling.
Whoever would practice surgery and
medicine, let his ambition be to reach rs
nearly as possible, or to exec, the acquire
ments and skill of the great men who, in
ancient and modern times, have been the
ornaments Of that profession, The noYum
organum of medicine remains to be writ.
! ten, and he who IS to write it has not yet
appeared. Why sh uld he not be an
! American? Why rot adorn the Univer-
sity Of Michigan?
And you, young gentlemen, who pre-
pare for the profession of the law, will
! have n nober theater to act in, than any
who have gone before you in the United
States. Out Of the terrible revolution
which now cdnVnIses every part Of our
unhappy land, will arise questions of con-
stitutional ard statute law, OF personal
liberty, Of private right, Of property, of
life, grander, more numerous. more inf
mite in variety, and more prrplexinE, than
heretofore in any age or country. II just
now "Gmid arms laws are silent in your
day, at least, should free government hap
pilv in any iurm survive among us, arms
will again yield to the tosa, and laws
reign supreme. With diligence, there
fore, fixed faith and unaltcrable purpose,
prepare yourselves for the destiny which
lies before you; to the end that in the next
generation you nay be among the num-
Der Of those who, upon the Bench and at
the Bar, shall restore and bear aloft to
higher 'renown the already llusrious
standard of British and American forensic
learning and cloquence. Cowardice and
Servilitv before executive power were the
disgrace Of the English Bar and Bench in
the days Of the Stuarts; and these, threat
ening now the honor and the indcpcnd-
cnce Of the American judiciary are among
the most alarming portcntS OF the titncs.
But remember that while along with the
great llamp!en, the name Of the honest
and fearless Coke and Of his poble wife
still survive in honor, the time serving and
unjust Judges who sat with him, and yield
ed to political expediency and military
! necessity" have pcrished from history, or
! IL L. 4
The blessed memory of Lord Hale is still
! fragrant; while the name of the bloody
Jeti'ries. who escaped death upon the fel
on's scafFold only by dying miserably in
a felons cell, is the Opprobrium Of che
English Bench. AlgeERon Sydney died
as convicted II aitor; but in a little while
his execution was adjudged Judicial muir
der; and poSterity, for six generations,
! has held him in reverence as a patriot
! Fitch. King james the Seconds Attorney
General, procured the conviction and
death of the pure and virtuous Lord Rus,
sell, MS conspirator against the Govern
mcnt; but eight years afterward, when he
would have relieved himself in Parliament
from the o1um Of the act, the indignant
| rlamoT of the whole House forced him, in
shame and confusion, to resume bis seat;
! and Russell still lives in England and
America as a martyr to liberty.
Your courage, your fortitude, your man.
hood, will also some day be severely tried.
But then remember Curran, whose fame
brightcns just as the memory Of the vcnal
pacemen and barriSterS around him rots,
with each revolving year, and who, when
menaccd in court by file Of soldiers clat-
ttring their muSkets as he addressed the
Jury in defense Of one charged with trea-
son, exclaimed in manly defiance: You
may asSassinatc, but you cannot intimi
date me." Read, too, TIE speeches, and
admire and initiate the heroic Erskinc,
the greatest uf English harristerS, who,
against the whole power Of the Executive
in tire Of both foreign war and rebellion,
maintained for years the rights and libcr-
ties of EngIiShmcn, with undaunted in
trrpidity. Prepare yourselves, by con-
tinual study Of the characters and noble
emulation OF the example of these and
other great and good men of the past, for
like scenes in your own day. Nerve
your hearts now for the struggle. But,
remember that ability, however eminent,
and intellectual disci' line, however exact,
are not enough. Without pure morals,
correct habits and fixed integrity. you
cannot endure the trial. Be virtuous,--
Be pious use the word in no narr me-
sectarian, or theological sense; out in
that which Virgil means whc,n he calls
Eneas "pius"Aa piety which belongs to
no one sect, nor clims, nor time, nor
country. but which everywhere, and At
all times, renders to God and self and