The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-06-15

| full for an occasion dedicated AT once 70
the muses. and social festiyity, butghe said
| that he remembered that he was speaking
to educated young men, met together In
season Of trial and solemn responsibility,
and would choose as his subject I" INTEL
LECTrAL PRIDE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERED
AZ ADAPTED TO MENTAL IMPROVEMENT AND
THE ACQUISITION 0P Truth"
He then proceeded to define the nature
and scope Of the term "pride." lie saiu
that tendency to assert superiority over
others might be prevented by benevolence
or policy, and the inclination to impress
others with their inferiority might be over,
come by good sense alone. Pride appeared
/ to be universal. and it was held that every
man was proud of something, and II ne
! thought not, it was because he was PROUD
of his humility. No man was SO deoaseo
rs not to be proud of his exemption 'roih
some one vice which he noted IN MS COM
rades, and it would also appear that no
man was so exalted as to be above Ihe
promptngs of some frivolous c0nceH. Inc
, Professor then alluded to Pride Of Veouh,
which precludes all those ennobling uses
| of wealth which alone make it other than
sworthlcss dross; to Pride Of Birth, which IS
inconsistent with the modesty, virtue,
scIf.reliance. and cndcavor, by which
alone honorable ancestors won their eH,
allied positions and to Pride Of Person and
! Dress so unworthy of rational beings VINO
enter into competition with brute beasts
only to find themselves diStanced in grace
/ by the cat, in SuriftneSS by the fox, IN sleek
ness by the snake, and in Sren9m by the
ass. He then referred in stirring terms
! to the effects of this foible of dress, so pc
culiarly inappropriate and mischicvous at
this time in the south, and protested
against the indulgence Of any eXtrava-
rance in dress. Some nations were sup
/ posed to be more infected with pride than
others. The British were thought to bear
off the palm, but since Sam Slick rose 10
the zenith in the literary armament, John
/ Bull has been compelled to yield the palm
! for concct to Brother Jonathan. All allow
/ that Jonathan has now the first place IN
pride and conccit. What else can be
| said, when he boasts that he has the great
/ est country the longest rivers, the "cutest'
people, the greatest steamboat disasters
and railroad collisions, the biggest rebel
/ lion. the most enormous national debt, the
| best government under the sun, and that
! the invinciblc Yankee nation can lick "
! all creation After such Il boast as this,
said the Professor, none but "rcbclS"
would presume to remind Jonathan that he
had TO call in the aid of all creation, in
/ addition to that of his fellow Citizens of
African descent, to conquer five millions OF
poor Confederatcs, already cncryated by
/ the institution of slavery
The adverse influences of intellectual
vanity are shown in the stimulation OF
Skeptical and erroneous speculation III
the production of oycrwccning confidence
in our deductions, and in the powers OF
the human understanding in tempting
men to transcend the proper limits of hui
man knowledge, and in superseding honest
effort and thus dcbasing the mind. Fer
sons of pert and conccited understandings
| are determined to utter something nota-
BILE, and if they cannot gain fame legiti-
matclv, will cndcayOr 10 attract attention
by broachng error, or by affecting the
skcptic or transccndentalist. Hence, our
! ace SwarmS with Il crop of hali-tlcdgcd
PantheistS, myStics, and iniidcls, who are
/ hctcrodOX in religion and metaphysical IN
! faith from sheer atlcctation and vanity,
venting obscure nonsense or lmplety as
cheap substitute for prolundity. They
can no longer be satisfied with the truths
which satisfied Il Newton, Locke, and
! Butler; and, with disgusting atlcctation,
, they IRISH that they cOHld believe Chris
! tianity. They admire " Jesus OF NaZa-
reth are quite disposed to "patronzc "
| him: are willing to give him niche
among their I0rOaStcrS, WOdenS, Moham-
meds, NaImlcms, and Rants acknowledge
: that this faith would be very desirable;
but alas "hcy must pay the penalty
Of superior Egbt." \ wiser age, like
! theirs, must needs outpour and cX-
podc those graceful and venerable myths
of our unsophSticatcd ancestors, and the
pucrilities Of the Bible cannot do for them.
Nauscating vanity! which rather than herd
where it belongs will go into error; rather
be cheated than remain insignificant. The
true motive of obscurity of expression Is
to deceive the unwary, and all the seeming
prOfunditicS of transccndcntalism are no
thing but trick to dclude the teacher
and the pupil with belief Of superiority,
all prompted by vanity and not by truth.
The master glorieS in his ability to unite
such profunditics," and the pupil gl0ricS
in approaching the "myStcricS" hidden
from so many. So the prOmptingS OF va
nifty set the reader to applaud the Cory
phnuS of absurditics; to echo his dicta
and babblc his pedantic gibbcrish. In
conclusion, the Professor eloquently cX-
planned that the antidote for all this is low
lineSS of mind; to desire eSSe guam rideri;
and ever to seek truth, and not Selt-lau-
dation.
THE LITERARY SOCIETIES.
At IIampdcn Sidney there are now two
debating societies, both of old standing
and high reputation. The "Union" is
the elder of the two, but the Phllan-
thropic" has among its members two-thirds
of the entire number of students. Each
society has fine hall and an excellent
, library, although the two societies lost about
five thousand volumes of books during the
war. Six or eight hundred volumes of
those lost or carried away have been re-
turned, and it is hoped the entire number
will ultimately be recovered.
THE ADDRESSES At NIGHT.
During the day the chapel in the college
building was prettily festooned with flow
crs and evergreens, and at the upper end,
in bold relief, was the motto of the PHI
lanthropic Society " Iude Sapere." At s
O'Clock, p. NJ, the whole building was
crowded with the fair friends of the col
lcgians. The members of the Philharmo-
mic Society wore handsome badges; and an
excellent amateur band, composed en-
tirely of students, played prettily and well,
to the great entertainment of the audience.