UC-NRLF llllll G^^'' nniai Celet VJ ijMM^i I Sffi] lis lilHmSKuS P in 2007 with funding froi IVIicrosoft Cornoratic " xvi^^^ Ju littp://ww,. bilii ADDRESSES AND PROCEEDINGS AT THE CEnLEBI?,.A.TIOasr )F THE n$ Bttttlii^i§il| ^ttitilij^^atfi OF THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY, OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY PRINCETON, N. J., June 29th, 1869. PRINCETON: STELLE & SMITH, PUBLISHERS. 187I. r)E3DIC.A.TBI3 ■ S iHembcrs of tl]c American iDMS Socictn ITS HISTORIAN. • • • m-^ • • • • • • • • • • • ••• " •••• • • • • • • • • • • • • « • • • • • Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, By Henry Clay Cameron, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY, . y FI^OlwI 1763 TO 1869. PREPARED FOR AND READ AT June 29TH, 1869, BY HENRY CLAlf CAMERON. PROFESSOR IN THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. MS12681 HISTORY AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Fathers and Brethren of the American Whk; Society : — Your partiality has assigned to me the pleasing duty of gathering from the past, not the floating traditions that cluster around a venerable in- stitution, but the well authenticated facts known to all who love our Society, or those which may have been hidden in remote corners and thus escaped the attention of men whom the absorbing cares of life render impatient of painful investigation. With un- affected diffidence I say that I wish that it had been assigned to abler hands. I approach the duty, how- ever, with a reverence that increased as the work advanced, and with an affection for the Whig Socie- ty that has been augmented with each passing day. O friends, and ye fair loving gentle folk, Would I could better tell a tale to-day ; But hark to this. The origin of the American Whig Society, the time and place ot its foundation, the name of its founder 6 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. are all well known. In an upper chamber of Nassau Hall, on the 24th day of June, in the year i 769, one of the authors of the Federalist, one of the framers of the Constitution of our country, and the only Pres- ident of the United States whom Nassau Hall has graduated, in connexion with a few others, laid the foundation of the American Whig Society. The time, when the day of popular freedom was just dawning upon the world ; the place. Nassau Hall, which had been consecrated to liberty and was to be intimately connected with the struggle for indepen- dence ; the name, typical of its patriotic principles ; were all that we could have desired. And when we remember that the most distinguished graduate of Nassau Hall, who with Hamilton and Jay fashioned our National Constitution, gave form and character to the Institution whose Centennial Anniversary we this day celebrate, we are justified in saying that no Literary Society in our Colleges can point to a no- bler origin. The "prentice work" and the finished structure alike reveal traces of their great author. But James Madison was not alone in founding the Whig Society. Associated with him were others who became distinguished in the various walks of life. Among these were Samuel Stanhope Smith, after- wards President of Nassau Hall, William Bradford, Attorney General of the U. S., John Beatty, a mem- ber both of the Continental and of the Federal Con- gress, John Henry, Governor of Md., a U. S. Repre- sentative and Senator, the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, who showed his affection for the Society by a large lega- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHKi SOCIETY. 7 cy, the Rev. Caleb Wallace, who was also Chief Jus- tice of Ky., Gunning Bedford, a member both of the Continental and of the Federal Congress, a member of the Convention which framed the Constitution of the U. S., and also a U. S. District Judge, Hugh H. Brackenridge, Judge of the Supreme Court of Pa. and author of Modern Chivalry, Philip Freneau, the patriot-poet of our revolution, who with Dr. Charles McKnight, Surgeon-General of our Revolutionary Army, was among those who were sent to the prison ships in the harbor of New York. Other names might be mentioned, but these are sufficient for our present purpose. The object of the Society is expressed in its ever unchanged motto, Literae, Amtcitia, Mores. Its name, American Whig, reflects the patriotic spirit of its founders, and was inspired by the noble impul- ses which animated the public mind at that momen- tous period of our history. Let us briefly glance at the condition of Europe and of our own country at that time that we may thus learn the character of the year 1 769. Upon the throne of Russia was Catharine II., whose talents were equalled only by her vices, and whose learning was surpassed only by her ambition. Engaged in a great struggle with the Turks her armies were successful at Choczim,at Jassy and at Bucharest, while the dream of Peter the Great was fulfilled when astonished Europe beheld a Russian fleet issuing from the Baltic, passing down the Atlantic and covering the waters of the Mediter- ranean. It seemed as if the Greek empire was to 8 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. be re-established and the crescent to fade before the cross. A century has rolled away, "the sick man" still lives, and the name of Constantine in the royal family of Russia tells of blighted hopes and unac- complished plans. Joseph 11. was Emperor of Ger- many, trying to reform and to benefit people who were too ignorant to understand the designs of their ruler and who indignantly rejected the blessings he wished to confer. The " light from the North " was but a brilliant aurora that soon died away; that in the South was but a passing mirage. Alexander II. and Francis Joseph in our day have accomplished that which their predecessors of a century ago could but attempt. Maria Theresa was the controlling spirit of her empire so long as she lived, and at this time (1769) by all her actions she vindicated the title given her by her faithful Hungarians in the begin- ning of her reign in that famous burst of loyalty: Moriamur pro rege iwsti^o, Maria Theresa. Freder- ick the Great, the hero of Protestantism, was on the throne of Prussia, resting now from the labors and battles which had ended but six years before, armed indeed and ever ready for the conflict, and yet devo- ting his days and nights to the restoration of his country and the pursuits of literature. In France the Encyclopedia of Diderot and D'Alembertand the infamous orgies of the Pare aux Cerfs had been prepar- ing the nation for the bloodiest and greatest political revolution of modern times. Under Louis XV. she had lost Canada and Louisiana in 1763, and the re- covery of Avignon and Venaissin from the Pope was MIsroRN OK rilE AMERICAN WHKi SOCIKTV. 9 but a slight compensation. Corsica was obtained by gold rather than by valor, and the gallant Paoli, whom '* neither the gold, nor the splendid offers of France, had the power to tempt to dishonor," es- caped from the island and landed at Leghorn in this very month of June, 1769. Poland and Sweden were distracted by internal difficulties. The Rom- ish Church was losing its hold upon the minds of men and its influence over the crovernments of Eu- o rope. A monk (Ganganelli,) had come forth from his cell to sit in the chair of Peter; but even the Bour- bon Princes were all demanding the suppression of the Jesuits at the hands of the Pope. England, through the East India Company, had so oppressed the natives of India, that under Hyder Ali they had risen and penetrated to the gates of Madras and compelled a treaty of peace. It was the year in which Watt obtained his patent for the steam engine, and Arkwright for his spinning machine. It was in the month of June, 1769, that Daniel Boone, " from the top of an eminence surveyed with delight the beautiful plain " of Kentucky, *' the Dark and Bloody Ground." It was the year in which Cuvier and Humboldt and Chateaubriand and J. O. Adams and Dupont de I'Eure and Mehemet Ali and Tallien and Soult and Ney and Wellington and Napoleon Bona- parte were born. In England the great question of the rights of the people in the matter of choosing their own representatives was agitating the popular mind. John Wilkes, a demagogue indeed and a man of bad character, but representing a great prin- lO HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. ciple, had been unjustly deprived of his seat in par- Hament. The government triumphed for the time, but the victory was ultimately with the people. It was the year in which Junius, stet noininis 2imbra, wrote his first terrible letters. The struggle for the rights of the people in England raised up friends for the Colonies in their disputes with the government of the Mother country. The Home government foolishly clung to the tax on tea which yielded noth- ing, simply to assert their right to tax America for purposes of revenue, and threatened to transport to England for trial those w^ho might be charged with treason. In reply to the English Parliament the House of Burgesses of Virginia adopted its three Resolutions on taxation, intercolonial correspon- dence, and trial by a jury of the vicinage, resolves so ** calm in manner, concise, simple and effective ; so perfect in substance and in form, that time finds no omission to regret, no improvement to suggest;" and these became the model for the action of all the colonies. Thus the public mind was agitated throughout the colonies and earnest discussions were carried on particularly through the press. In the division of sentiment that occurred, those who advo- cated the cause and rights of the colonies, like the lib- eral party in England, assumed the name of Whigs, while those who adhered to the side of the crown were called Tories. The great issues of the day were the constant theme of discussion ; in England, Burke and Chatham and Fox were arrayed against Mansfield and North ; the thunders of their elo- HISTORY OK IHK AMERICAN WIUC. SOCIETY, I ] quence were borne across the broad Atlantic and fell upon ears that were strained to catch even the fee- blest whispers of those who were pleading the cause of liberty and the rights of the people. An ardent lover of liberty presided over Nassau Hall, and from his instructions the students learned the lessons of freedom. The sacred fire kindled in Nassau Hall was fanned by the invigorating breezes that swept from distant lands, and every youthful heart was in- spired not merely with the love of learning that had drawn its possessor within these walls, but with a love for the eternal principles of truth and liberty and an undying devotion to their fatherland. It was amid scenes like these, and at such a momentous period in the history of the world, that a noble band of young men with James Madison as their leader, formed a Society for the cultivation of eloquence and litera- ture. Their young hearts glowed with patriotism, and gave to this Society, in which they were united by the threefold cord of Literature, Friendship and Morality, the name of American Whig, a name that appeals to all who delight to dwell upon the history of their country — and which falls like angel music upon the ears of her sons who this day meet to cel- ebrate her HUNDREDTH YEAR. The American Whig and the Cliosophic Societies were not the earliest literary associations in the Col- lege of New Jersey. Such societies had existed al- most from the foundation of Nassau Hall, but with the exception of the immediate predecessors of the present Literary Societies they had been ephemeral I 2 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. in their existence. These Associations possessed no halls, no libraries and no strong bonds of union. A few years, however, before the present Societies were formed, two sprang up with a complete organ- ization, seals, diplomas, &c. These were " The Plain- Dealing Society" and " The Well- Meaning Society" : the " American Whig Society " is the legitimate suc- cessor of the former, the "Cliosophic Society" of the latter. The Minutes of the Faculty begin in 1787, the first date being Nov. loth, 1787 ; the Minutes of the Trustees are complete ; but both are silent, so that the records of the College do not contain any reference to the foundation or history of these early Societies. There is however, satisfactory evidence that they were suppressed by order of the Faculty in the summer of 1768 in consequence of serious disturbances between them. For a year there were no Societies, and it was not until June 24, 1769, that James Madison, in connexion with some of the mem- bers of the Plain-Dealing Society and some other students, formed the American Whig Society, a^ has been already stated. The members of the Plain- Dealing Society were claimed as American Whigs, although the catalogue contains the names of those only who were actual members of the Whig Society. In like manner the members of the Well-Meanine Society were considered as Cliosophians. The Cli- osophic Society proper w^as organized June 8th, 1770, and it was not until 1820, just fifty years after its foundation, that the date was changed to 1 765, which was considered as representing the time of the or- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHK; SOCIETY. I 3 L(anization of the Well-Meaning Society, of which it was the legitimate successor. Prof. Giger in his ex- cellent History of the Cliosophic Society concludes, from certain papers which belonged to the late Judge Patterson and which were without date, but which, from internal evidence, he refers to the month of July, 1769, "that the two Societies [The Plain-Deal- ing and the Well-Meaning] were disbanded about the middle of the year 1769." In this, however, he mistakes ; The America^i Whig Society was already in existence, at that very time. They were dissolved by order of the Faculty in 1768 ; the Whig Society was organized in i 769 and the Cliosophic Society in 1770. On these points there can be no dispute, and it is for this reason that for a century the Societies have been spoken of as the American Whig and Cli- osophic, and not in the reverse order. I suppose that it was owing to the activity oi youth that our sis- ter Society was four years in advance of us in cele- brating her Centennial Anniversary. That I may not be suspected of any undue bias, arising from my attachment to my own Society, I will refer you to the testimony of the members of our sister Society given on pp. 68 and 69 of Prof. Giger's History of the Clio- sophic Society. In 1820, the date 1770, on the Clio- sophic Medal, was changed to 1765 the supposed date of the organization of the Well-Meaning Soci- ety, in view of certain communications to the Clio- sophic Society and especially of an important one *' by the Rev. John Woodhull, D. D., who sent a list of those who were members of the Well-Meaning 14 IIISTORV OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Society in 1765, and until the breaking up of that Society." This Hst contains the names of persons who were graduated as early as 1761, 1762 and 1763; thus showing conclusively, I think, that the Society existed at an earlier date than 1765, prob- ably in 1 760. Prof. Giger accounts for the presence in Princeton in 1765 of graduates of the College of an earlier date. Messrs. Thomson and Perriam were Tutors, Messrs. Sergeant and Patterson and, probably, Mr. Reeve had been law students with the Hon. Richard Stockton, and Mr. Williams was prob- ably engaged in the study of theology. I am not aware that any other memorials of the Well-Mean- ing Society are now extant. In reference to the Plain-Dealing Society we are satisfied "that it was in existence in 1763 and was founded at an even earlier date, probably in i 760. The list of its members has perished and almost the only names certainly known are those attached to the only diploma of either of these early Societies that is known to be in existence. From a most careful examination of the whole subject I am convinced that there is no means of determining the precise date of the foundation of either of the early Societies of this college, although it is certain that both the Plain- Dealing Society and the Well-Meaning Society ex- isted previous to the assumed date of 1765. Thus much I have deemed it proper to say in elucidation of the question of priority ; and I need not assure you that I have been IVell meaning in my Plain deal- ing. As to the origin of the name Plain-Dealing, if it HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHU; SOCIETY. 15 was anything more than a student's fancy, it was prob- ably taken from the title of a publication like The Spectator, The Rambler, &c. We here present a copy of the diploma to which allusion has been made : OMNIBUS ET SINGULIS Has literas lecturis, notum sit, quod Jo- SEPHUS Hasbrouck, A. B., pro more institu- to, admissus in Plain-Dealing Club, per- digne se gessit dum inter nos versatus fuit ; et praeterea quamdiu se ita gesserit, omnia ejusdem privilegia jure sibi vindicet. Cujus sigillum commune Plain-Dealing Club, nominaque nostra subscripta testi- monium sint. HUGO VANCE, JOHANNES HALY, A. B., GULIELMUS SMITH, A. B., DANIEL McCALLA, HENRICUS WAGGAMAN, GULIELMUS SCHENCK, . NATHANAEL RAMSAY, JOHN ELMENDORPH, SAMUEL EAKIN, A. M., -SAMUEL SMITH, A. B. Datum Plain Dealing Hall, in Aula Nassovica, quarto calendas Octobris,Anno yErae Christi millesimo septingen- tesimo et sexagesimo sexto. The device on the seal was a gentleman dressed in the costume of the day, with head uncovered, the arms extended from the sides at an angle of forty-five I 6 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. degrees, with the hands open and presented towards the front. Near the outer margin of the seal are the words " Seal of the Plain-Dealing Club," and in an inner circle the motto, " Aperta vivere mente." The men, whose names are attached to this diplo- ma, were the pioneers of the Society whose Centen- nial we this day celebrate ; and we delight to honor their memories. Except in the case of two or three, I have been able to gather but little of their history to present to you upon the present occasion. Joseph Hasbrouck, whose diploma is here given and who was graduated in 1766, was of Huguenot descent. It may not be uninteresting to give a brief account of his ancestry. Abraham Hasbrouck, a native of Calais, France, and a Huguenot, escaped from that country and took refuge in the Palatinate, a few years before the Rev- ocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. He lived there a few years, and emigrated to America in 1675, setding at Esopus (now Kingston), N. Y. He mar- ried Maria Deyo. also a Huguenot immigrant, and in 1677, with eleven others, obtained from the English Governor of the colony a patent for a tract of land on the Wallkill, which they purchased from the In- dians and named New Paltz, from grateful rec- ollection of the kindness received in their former place of refuge. He settled a few miles south of the present village, in 1678, and died March 17th, 171 7, leaving five children. His eldest son, Joseph, was born in 1683, ^^^ died in 1724. He married Elsie Schoonmaker, one of the most remarkable women HISTORY OF THK AMERICAN WIIIC. SOCIKTV. I J of her day, a grand-daughter of Hendrick Joachim Schoonmaker, of Hamburg, Germany, the ancestor of all the ministers of that name in the Reformed (Dutch) Church in this country. The Hasbrouck Place, at which Joseph resided, was called Guilford, and is three miles south of the village of New Paltz. Abraham Hasbrouck, the eldest of their ten chil- dren was born in 1707, and died in 1791. He was a merchant at Kingston, N. Y., a man of influence and public note, frequently a member of the Colo- nial Legislature. The British forces under Sir Hen- ry Clinton plundered and burned the village of Kingston (then called Esopus), Oct. 17, 1777 ; only one house escaped. In this house, which is still standing, the first Constitution of the State of New York was framed. It has been erroneously stated that this house belonged to the Hasbrouck family. Abraham married Catharine Bruyn, Jan'y 5th, 1739, and became the father of twelve children. Joseph, the subject of this memoir, was the third child and oldest son. He was born March 3d. i 744, and re- ceived his preparatory education at Kingston, where there was a classical school at a very early period. He entered Nassau Hall in 1763, and was gradu- ated in 1766. All of his diplomas have been pre- served, and both of his college diplomas are now deposited in the archives of the College. The dip- loma of the Plain- Dealing Club as the Society was termed, was intended for the American Whig Soci- ety, but has not yet reached it. He did not study a profession but settled on the old homestead as a far- l8 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. mer. He married Elizabeth Bevier, a member of one of the old Huguenot families. Of his seven sons, Abraham, a merchant at Rondout, N. Y., was prom- inent in political life in the state of New York, a member of both branches of the State Legislature and of the National Congress ; another was a lawyer of good standing, in Ogdensburg, N. Y. ; a third was a physician, at Utica, N. Y. ; and the others were wealthy farmers, in Ulster Co. Mr. Hasbrouck was an ardent patriot and entered the Revolutionary Army, in which he became a Colonel of Militia, and saw some service. He afterwards became a Gener- al in the state service, by which title he w^as always known. He was also a member of the Legislature of his native state. He was a man of fine personal appearance, dignified and courteous in his manners, of acknowledged ability and great influence in the community in which he resided. He accumulated and left a large inheritance to his family, who enjoy a high social position. One of his nephews, the Hon. A. Bruyn Hasbrouck, LL. D., was, for some time^ President of Rutgers College, at New Brunswick. The "Hasbrouck House," Washington's Headquar- ters, at Newburgh, N. Y., belonged to Colonel Jon- athan Hasbrouck, a brother of his grandfather. Gen. Hasbrouck died, Feb. 26th, 1808, greatly respected and mourned by all who knew him, and is buried in the family yard, near the mansion in which he so long resided. Hugo Vance, who was graduated in 1767, was a minister of the gospel, licensed by the Presbytery of IllSroRV OF rilF. AMKRKAN WUKi SOCIKIN'. \g Donegal in i 769, ordained in 1771, and was present at the meeting of the Synod in 1787 Nothing is known of John Haly, Henry Wagga- nian, and John Elmendorph. WilHam and Samuel Smith were probably sons of Samuel Smith, of Bur- lington, N. J., who in 1755, published his valuable History of New Jersey from its settlement to 1721. Haly and the Smiths were graduated in i 766. Samuel Eakin, (A. M.), was graduated in 1763, li- censed to preach by the Presbytery of Lewes in 1 768, called to the Third Church in Philadelphia, and or- dained by the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, Aug. 3, 1 769. He became involved in a dispute with Dr. Ewing, deserted his charge and was deposed in 1 77 1 . Upon the expression of his sorrow before the Synod, he was restored for a year and placed under the care of the Newcastle Presbytery where he la- bored for a time. He was fully restored and united with the First Presbytery of Philadelphia and settled at Penn's Neck, Oct., 1772. From i 776-80 he labored at Pencader or Welsh Tract, Del. He died in i 784. He was very patriotic and eloquent, and greatly admired as a preacher. Nathaniel Ramsay, (A. M.), a younger brother of the Hon. David Ramsay, M. D., the historian, was born in Lancaster Co., Pa., about 1 75 1 , and was grad- uated at Nassau Hall in 1767. He studied and practised law in Baltimore, Md., where he became quite eminent. An ardent patriot, he entered the service of his country, was a Major in the Maryland line and rose to the rank of Colonel. He repre- 20 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Maryland in the Continental Congress from i 785 to 1787. He continued the practice of his profession until his death in 181 7. William Schenck was born at Allentown, Mon- mouth county, New Jersey, and was graduated at Nassau Hall in 1767. He was licensed to preach in 1 77 1 by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, ordained in 1 772 and preached in '' the settlement on Hudson's river and the parts adjacent." His first pulpit ser- vices, however, w^ere in Newark, N.J. He was the pastor of Pittsgrove from 1 780 to 1 787, then removed to Ballston, N. Y., and thence to Huntington, L. I., and was pastor of the church in that place from 1 794 to 1 818. He then removed to Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio, where he was pastor for several years, and where he died. He married, at Newark, N. J., Anna Cumming, sister of Gen. John Noble Cum- ming, and connected with the family of the dis- tinguished Rev. William Tennent, of Freehold, N. J. Mrs. Schenck passed a long, happy and useful life with her husband and survived him some years, dying like himself at an extreme old age in Franklin, Ohio. Mr. Schenck was a man of strong mind and liberal views. He emigrated to Ohio to join and reside near his son, Gen. Wm. C. Schenck. Gen. Robert C. Schenck, M. C, and Rear Admiral James F. Schenck, U. S. Navy, are among his surviv- ing grand children. Daniel McCalla, (A. M., S. T. D.), was born at Neshaminy, Pa., in 1 748, of most worthy and pious parents. He was admitted to the Communion table HISroRV OK II1I-: AMKRKAN VVIIKi SOCIETY. 2 1 at the early age of thirteen. He was prepared for college at Fagg's Manor, Pa., under the instruction of the Rev. John Blair. He had a very decided taste for classical learning, maintained a high reputation for scholarship, and was graduated at Nassau Hall in I 766 when " his attainments were regarded as very extraordinary." While engaged as a teacher in Phil- adelphia from 1766 to I 772, he studied medicine and theology and made himself master of several modern languages. He was licensed to preach by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia, July 20th, 1772, and was ordained and installed pastor of the united congre- gation of New Providence and Charleston, Pa., in I 774. In 1776 he was appointed a Chaplain of Gen. Thompson's corps — the only Chaplain of the Army of the Revolution, ever appointed directly by Congress — and accompanied the expedition to Can- ada. With Gen. Thompson and other officers he was taken prisoner at Three Rivers, confined in a loathsome prison-ship and subjected to great pri- vations and indignities. He returned to his con- gregation in 1776 but being accused of violating his parole he escaped to Virginia and was subsequently exchanged. He established a flourishing Academy in Hanover Co., Va., and also became pastor of the church formerly under the charge of the Rev. Samuel Davies. He married Eliza, the second daughter of the Rev. John Todd, of Louisa Co., — an amiable and accomplished woman. His convivial nature led him into some indiscretions and he left Virginia, and became the minister of a Congregational Church in 2 2 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Christ's Church parish in Charleston, S. C, in 1788. He was a very fine scholar and for many years be- fore his death he was a diligent student of the Scrip- tures, not only in the original languages, but in sev- eral other languages into which they had been trans- lated. He received the degree of Doctor of Divin- ity from the College of S. C. He died, after a protracted illness, in May, 1809, in great peace and confidence. Two volumes of his works with notices of his life by Dr. Hollingshead were published in 1 8 10. He was one of the most eminent of all those who are known to have been members of the Plain- Dealing Society until it was merged into the Ameri- can Whie. John Macpherson, who was also a member of the Plain-Dealing Society, was a son or relative of Capt. John Macpherson, a Scotch gentleman who immi- grated and settled in Philadelphia about 1745. His son, William, was educated in part at Princeton, be- came an officer in the British Army, but resigned and entered our Revolutionary Army, and after- wards was an officer of the Port of Philadelphia from 1789 until his death in 181 3. John, I infer, was an older son who was graduated in 1 766, studied law in Philadelphia with John Dickinson, author of the celebrated Farmer's Letters, and practised his pro- fession there. He was a friend and correspondent of William Paterson. These memorials constitute the history of the Plain-Dealing Society. msroRV OF the American whig society. 23 I am most happy to present upon this occasion an account of the Commencement of i 769, by Mr. Mad- ison himself. The Latin Salutatory was pronounced by Samuel Stanhope Smith, of Pennsylvania, and the Valedictory was delivered by John Henry, of Maryland, both being members and founders of the American Whig Society. It may not be improper to state that the Valedictory at this Commencement will be delivered by an American Whig. Mr. Mad- ison's account of the Commencement is contained in a letter to his father, dated Nassau Hall, September 30th, 1 769. Honored Sir: — I received your letter by Mr. Rosekrans, and wrote an answer ; but as it is prob- able this will arrive sooner which I now write by Dr. Witherspoon, I shall repeat some circumstances to avoid obscurity. On Wednesday last we had. the annual Com- mencement. Eighteen young men took their Bach- elor's degrees, and a considerable number their Master's Degrees. The Degree of Doctor of Law was bestowed on Mr. Dickinson, the Farmer, and Mr. Galloway, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania As- sembly — a distinguished mark of Honor, as there never was any of that kind done before in America. The Commencement began at ten o'clock, when the President walked first into the Church, the Board of Trustees following, and behind them those that were to take their Master's degrees, and last of all 24 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. those that were to take their first degrees. After a short Prayer by the President, the Head Oration, which is always given to the greatest scholar by the President and Tutors, was pronounced in Latin by Mr. Samuel Smith, son of a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania. Then followed the other Orations, Disputes, and Dialogues, distributed to each accord- ing to his merit, and last of all was pronounced the Valedictory Oration by Mr. John Henry, son of a Gentleman in Maryland. This is given to the great- est orator. We had a very great Assembly of peo- ple, a considerable number of whom came from N. York ; those at Philadelphia were most of them de- tained by Races which were to follow on the next day. Since commencement the trustees have been sit- ting about Business relative to the college, and have chose for tutors the ensuing year, for the junior class, Mr. Houston from North Carolina in the room of Mr. Periam ; for the Freshman class, Mr. Reeve, a gentleman who has for several years past kept a school at Elizabethtown, in the room of Mr. Pem- berton. The Sophomore Tutor. Mr. Thomson, still retains his place, remarkable for his skill in the sophomore studies, having taken care of that class for severa\ years past. Mr. Halsey was chosen junior tutor, but refused. The Trustees have like- wise appointed a Mr. Caldwell, a minister at Eliza- bethtown, to take a journey through the Southern Provinces as far as Georgia, to make collections by which the college Fund may be enabled to increase HISTORY OK THK AMERICAN WHK; SOCIETY. 25 the Library, provide an apparatus of mathematical and Philosophical Instruments, and likewise to sup- ])ort Professors, which would be a great addition to the advantages of this college. Dr. Witherspoon's business to Virginia is nearly the same, as I conjec- ture, and perhaps to form some acquaintance to in- duce Gentlemen to send their sons to this college. I feel great satisfaction from the assistance my uncle Beale has received from the springs, and I flatter myself from the continuance of my mother's health that Dr. Shore's skill will effectually banish the cause of her late indisposition. I recollect nothing more at present worth relating, but as soon as opportunity and anything worthy your attention shall occur, be as^^ured you shall hear from Your affectionate son, JAMES MADISON. Col. James Madison, Orange Co., Va. The following notice of the same commencement appeafed in one of the newspapers of the period. The Nezu York Gazette ; ajid the Weekly Mercury : No. 938. New York : Monday, Oct. 16, 1769. "On Wednesday, the 27th of September, the An- niversary Commencement of the College of New Jer- sey was held at Princetown, when the following young gentlemen were admitted to the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, viz : 2 6 history of the american whig society. John Beatty, James Linn, William Blair, John A. McDougal, Joel Brevard, Thomas Melvil, Matthias Burnet, Samuel Niles. William Channinc;, Jesse Reed, John Davenport, Samuel Smith, John R. Davis, Elihu Thayer, Peter De Wiit, William Wilcox, John Henry, David Zubly. Mr. Caleb Cooper, a Bachelor of King's College, New York, was admitted Ad Eundem. The Degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon Twenty-one Gentlemen, Alumni of the College ; and also John Hancock, Esq., and Mr. Thomas Brattle, who hav- ing been graduated Masters in Harvard and in Yale Colleges, were complimented by admission Ad Eun- dem. A Degree, Honoris Causa, was also confer- red upon William Hyslop, Esq. — The College was pleased to compliment John Dickinson, Esq., and Joseph Galloway, Esq., of Philadelphia, with a Doc- torship of Laws. The entertainment of the Day, was very agreeably opened and closed with vocal Music, performed in three Parts, by the Students." Of the class of 1 769, six were American Whigs, four are enrolled in the Cliosophic Society and the names of eight do not appear in the catalogue of either Society. The earlier Societies had arisen under the admin- istration of Dr. Finley, or, it may be, of President Davies. The present Societies came into being un- HISTORY OF THE AMKKICAN WHK; SOCIETY. 27 der Dr. Witherspoon's administration, but he never became a member of either. The patriotic spirit by which both were animated was such that the name of no tory appears upon their catalogues. All the graduates of Nassau Hall proved true to their coun- try : and, although the tiarnc of American Whig be- longed to only one of these Associations, yet the same spirit animated them both and was nobly ex- emplified in the great President of Nassau Hall, Dr. Witherspoon, and in her alumni, Richard Stockton of her first class in 1748, and Benjamin Rush of the class of 1760, who were signers of the Declaration of Independence. The biographies of the founders and early mem- bers of the American Whig Society are full of stir- ring interest ; the life of the greatest of its founders would be a history of our own country. Alas that the Life of James Madison, by the Hon. William C. Rives, should be but a grand torso. Can any one complete it? In consequence of the loss of MSS. in the fire that consumed the college, March 6th, 1802, it is impossible now to tell precisely how many of the class of 1772 were among the founders of the Whig Society; but, that no injustice may be done, it is proposed to include the names of them all in this series of biographies. In the class of 1769, the first name is that of John Beatty, A. M., M. D., of N. J. He was born in Bucks Co., Pa., about 1749. He was the son of the Rev. Charles Beatty and Anne Reading, the daugh- ter of John Reading, President of the Council 28 HISTORY OF THE AMEF^ICAN WHIG SOCIETY. and afterwards Governor of the Province of New Jersey. After his graduation he studied medicine with Dr.Rush, of Philadelphia. Upon the breaking out of the Revolution, he entered the army as a common soldier, and soon rose to the rank of Lieu- tenant-Colonel. He fell into the hands of the enemy at the capture of Fort Washington in 1776, and suffered a long and tedious imprisonment. After his exchange he was appointed to succeed Dr. Elias Boudinot in 1779, as Commissary-General of Pris- oners. At the close of the war he represented the state of New Jersey in the Continental Congress from 1783 to 1785, and again from 1793 to 1795. He practised medicine in Princeton for many years; was a member and Speaker of the State Legis- lature, was Secretary of State of New Jersey for ten years, and a Trustee of the College from i 785 to 1802. He removed to Trenton and became Presi- dent of the Trenton Banking Company, and was for a long time an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He died April 30, 1826, aged seventy-seven years. John Rodgers Davies, a native of Virginia, was the second son of President Davies and was named after his father's friend, the celebrated Dr. John Rod- gers, pastor of the Wall Street Presbyterian Church in New York, who labored at first as a missionary in Viro-inia. Mr. Davies studied law and attained to eminence in his profession in Sussex Co., Va. John Henry, A. M., was a native of Maryland. He was a man of fine talents, excellent scholarship* and considerable eloquence. He was the Valedic- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHK; SOCIETY. 29 torlan of his class, an honor, as Mr. Madison said, " given to the greatest orator ". Mr. Henry was a member of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1 781, and again from 1 784 to 1787. He was the first United States Senator from Maryland, from 1789 to 1797. This first Senate in 1789 was com- posed of twenty members, three of whom were graduates of Nassau Hall, viz : John Henry of Md., William Paterson, of N. J., and Oliver Ellsworth, of Conn., the last two being distinguished members and " founders " of the Cliosophic Society. Mr. Henry was elected Governor of Maryland in 1797 and died at Easton, Md., in December, i 798. Of John Alexander McDougal of Md.. and William Wilcocks, A. M., of N. J., I know nothing beyond their names, and their graduation in 1769. Samuel Stanhope Smith, S. T. D., LL. D., a founder of the American Whig Society, who had *' the head oration " as young Madison styled the Latin Salutatory, and was " the greatest scholar " of his class, who was afterwards the founder of Hamp- den Sidney College in Va., and in i 795 became the first graduate President of Nassau Hall and the first of that long line of American Whigs who guided its destinies without interruption for sixty years, needs no eulogy from us upon this occasion. He was born at Pequea, Lancaster Co., Pa., March i6th, 1750. He was the son of the Rev. Robert Smith, a distinguished Presbyterian minister who came from Ireland, and established an Academy in which many able ministers of the Gospel were trained up. His 30 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. mother was Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Blair, and sister of the Rev. Samuel Blair who was graduated at Nassau Hall in 1760, and was elected its President in 1768, but declined the appointment when he learned that Dr. Witherspoon could be in- duced to accept. Another brother, the Rev. John Blair, was the first Professor and the first Vice Pres- ident of this college. The talents and attainments of the father, the endowments and grace of the mother descended to the son. Young Smith im- proved to the utmost the advantages of his father's academy, where the assistants were accomplished scholars and Latin was the only language employed in the school. He became a communicant in the church before he entered college and early evinced his predilection for the ministry of the gospel. He became a member of the Junior Class of Nassau Hall in i 767, was probably a member of the Plain- Dealing Society, and by far the finest scholar in his class. He was not only a fine classical scholar, but very fond of metaphysical pursuits. Through the influence of Mr. Periam, then the Senior Tutor, he became a convert to the Idealism of Berkely and was near making shipwreck of his faith in the Gos- pel. The salutary influence, however, of Dr. With- erspoon and of the philosophical school w^hich he represented soon restored this brilliant young man to sound views of the truth in philosophy and in re- ligion. Henceforth no aberrations w^ere visible in his speculations or his teachings. He was graduated in 1 769 with the highest honor, the Latin Salutatory, and HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 3 I reflected no little credit upon the American Whig So- ciety which with Madison and Beatty and Henry and Freneau, with Bedford and Brackenridge and Irwin and Bradford and others, he had founded June 24th, I 769. After his graduation he assisted his father in his Academy for some time, occupying himself, chief- ly, however, in diligent study, especially in the high- er walks of literature and philosophy. He was ap- pointed Tutor of the Classics and Belles Lettres in Nassau Hall in 1770. Here he remained until 1773, a most faithful and acceptable instructor. He pur- sued a course of theological study at the same time under the direction of Dr. Witherspoon, and was li- censed to preach by the Presbytery of Newcastle in 1773. His health was delicate and he became a missionary in the Western and Southern Counties of Virginia. Here his learning and talents, com- bined with his polished manners, high character and great eloquence produced the most remarkable effects. Persons of all ranks and of every religious denomination flocked to his ministrations, and it seemed " as if another Davies had arisen." It was determined to retain him in Virginia ; funds were raised, Hampden Sidney College was established and he became its first President in 1776. In 1779 he was elected Professor of Moral Philosophy in the College of New Jersey, and he left Virginia to which he was much attached, to enter the service of his Alma Mate7\ The College had suffered much from the ravages of the war ; Nassau Hall had been used as a barrack and a hospital alternately by the British T^2 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. and American forces, and was greatly dilapidated ; the students were dispersed, the funds were lost or greatly impaired, and Dr. Witherspoon was almost absorbed in his duties as a member of the Continen- tal Congress. It therefore devolved upon Professor Smith to reorganize the institution. His activity and self-sacrifice were crowned with success and students once more gathered within its walls. The repeated absence of Dr. Witherspoon, his fruitless visit to Great Britain in 1783-4, and his blindness during the lat- ter part of his life caused the greater part of the ex- ecutive and other duties of the President to be de- volved upon Dr. Smith for some time previous to his election as President in 1795. He was Vice- President from 1779 to 1794. He was President of the College of New Jersey from 1795 to 181 2, and was connected with its instruction for nearly 36 years. This is not the occasion on which to give a history of his successful administration. On the 6th of March, 1802, the College was destroyed by fire. Immediately measures were taken for its restoration. Dr. Smith made a tour through the Southern States where he collected about ^100,000 which, added to the sums collected in other parts of the Union, ena- bled the Trustees to rebuild Nassau Hall, preserv- ing, however, its time honored walls, to erect the buildings which now^ contain the Lecture and Reci- tation rooms, to purchase a new library and scien- tific apparatus, and to enlarge its Faculty. This was the great achievement of his life, and he soon saw the College not only completely restored, but its HISTORY OF THP: AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 33 means of usefulness increased and its popularity so enhanced that two hundred students were soon as- sembled within its walls. In 1812, after repeated strokes of paralysis, he resigned the Presidency of the College and spent the remainder of his life in re- tirement, occupying himself chiefly in revising his published works and preparing others for the press. He was Professor of Theology in the College from 1783 until 181 2 except from 1803 to 1806 when Dr. Henry Kollock occupied that chair. Besides occa- sional sermons his principal works were Sermons, 8vo., I 799 ; Lectures on the Evidences of the Chris- tian Religion, i2mo., 1809 ; Lectures on Moral and Political Philosophy, i2mo., 181 2; A Comprehen- sive View, &c., of Natural and Revealed Religion, 8vo., 1 81 6; Sermons (posthumous), 2 vols., 8vo., 1 82 1. He was associated with Drs. Witherspoon, McWhorter and others in the preparation of the Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church in I 786, which still endures. His most eloquent pro- duction was his Oration, delivered at Trenton, on the occasion of the death of Washington. His Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species, first delivered before the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and subsequently expanded into a volume, and pub- lished in 1787, gave him a wide reputation both in this county and in Europe. His Inaugural Oration is a fine specimen of Latin. Dr. Smith, one of the founders of the American Whig Society, was the first graduate President of this College, and began that 34 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY glorious Whig dynasty which continued uninterrupt- ed for sixty years, from 1794 to 1854. He was probably the most accomplished scholar, the most cultivated in his manners, and with the exception of President Davies, the most eloquent preacher who has adorned the Presidential Chair of Nassau Hall, Persons were accustomed to come from New York and Philadelphia for the purpose of hearing his Baccalaureate Sermons which were remarkable for their ability and eloquence. I cannot close this sketch more becomingly than by quoting the lan- guage of one who witnessed his gradual decline. " During the remaining seven years he lived in retirement. This was perhaps the most beautiful and instructive period of his life. It often looms up before me like a bright, blessed, glorious vision, — such as we dream of, but never realize. It seemed as though all the Christian graces and virtues, freed from every human imperfection, had now clustered around him, and blended tocrether, like the colors of the rainbow, into a living form of chastened, hal- lowed, radiant loveliness. His person, presence, and carriage were so remarkable, that he never en- tered the village church or college chapel, or walked the streets, or appeared in any company, without ar- resting attention, or creating a sensation, not of sur- prise or wonder, but of pleasing, grateful admira- tion, — a kind of involuntary emotion and homage of the heart, — a tribute as cordially yielded as it was richly deserved. In a word, the venerable figure, the saindy aspect, the benignant smile, the ethereal HISTORY OF rilE AMKRICAN VVUKi SOCIKTY. 35 spirit, the tranquil resignation, the humble faith, the cheerful temper, the habitual meekness, the gener- ous sympathy, the comprehensive charity, the mod- est unpretending gentleness of his whole manner, — all proclaimed the mature and gifted Christian, ready to depart, and calmly expecting his final trans- lation to a more congenial world." He married a daughter of Dr. Witherspoon. She died a short time before her husband. Of their nine children five sur- vived their parents. He passed from earth to his heavenly reward, August 21st, 181 9. All true sons of Nassau Hall and especially all American Whigs will ever delight to honor his memory. All the Whig members of the class of 1770 were among the founders of the Society. Nothing has been discovered respecting the Rev. John Campbell, The Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, A. M., was of Scotch- Irish descent, and was born at Fagg's Manor, Ches- ter county. Pa., on the 17th of October, 1756. Af- ter his graduation in 1770, he studied theology and was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Newcastle between the meetings of Synod in 1772 and 1773. He took charge of the Neshaminy Church in Bucks Co., Pa., May ist, 1774, was or- dained and installed as its Pastor, by the First Pres- bytery of Philadelphia, Nov. 3d, 1774. Here he con- tinued until his death on March 3d, 181 2. He was greatly beloved by his people and honored by his fellow ministers. His natural abilities, his business talents, his knowledge of human nature, his famili- arity with all the forms of ecclesiastical procedure, 36 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. and the almost Implicit confidence reposed in him by his brethren in the ministry gave him great influence in the ecclesiastical courts and especially in the Gen- eral Assembly. Dr. Alexander said of him ; " Na- thaniel Irwin, of Neshaminy, was an influential member of this Assembly [178 1]. * * * It was easy to discern that as his head was literally long, so it was intellectually." He was Clerk of the Old Synod of New York and Philadelphia from 1781 to 1785 ; was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1 801 ; and was its permanent Clerk from 1802 to 1807. He was a fluent speaker and an excellent preach- er, but with a stentorian voice. He was a man of considerable scientific attainments and assisted John Fitch in his steamboat enterprises, and the latter dedicated to him his MS. autobiography. He was public spirited and patriotic. His influence largely contributed to fixinor the Court House of Bucks Co.» Pa., at Doylestown. A caricature represented him in his shirt sleeves and without his hat, tugging to pull the building to Doylestown. He was very fond of music and played on the violin. Although reserved in manner yet he unbent among intimate friends. He was very fond of the society of the young, and especially of the young ladies to whom he would often give parties. Domestic troubles clouded his last days and finally he died of a broken heart. His attachment to the Whig Society which he had assist- ed in founding was most ardent, and he manifested his interest in it throughout life and remembered it HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHKi SOC'IKTV. 37 even in his death. Although his salary was always small, yet, by careful management, he accumulated a considerable estate. The following extract from his Will is a proof of his regard for the Society : " To the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, I give one shiD^c in the capital stock of the Ba7ik oj Pennsylvania, in special trust and confidence, that they shall and will yearly, or w^hen required, empow- er to draw the dividend such person or persons, as the American Whig Society at Princeton shall des- ignate by a written request under the hand of the Secretary, for the time being, of the- said Society. And in the confidence that the said Society shall and will give the annual and semi-annual dividends from time to time to the best orator belonging to the Society, who is an underg7^aduate and not yet enter- ed into the last ter77t of the Se7iior Year ; the pref- erence to be decided publicly or privately by such persons, and under such regulations, as the said So- ciety shall from time to time prescribe : And in the further confidence that if the said Society or Trus- tees in their behalf shall become a body corporate in law, the Trustees of the said College shall and will legally transfer the said share." I regret to add that in the financial crisis of 1837 this legacy was reduced to one-tenth of its original value, and that it utterly disappeared in that of 1857. The Rev. Thomas McPherrin, A. M., studied the- ology and was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Donegal in 1773, he was ordain- ed by the same Presbytery, and became pastor of 38 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. the Welsh Run Church, formerly called " Lower West Conococheague " and originally a part of what is now Mercersburg, Pa., Aug. 17, 1774. He con- tinued as the pastor of this church until Oct. 2, 1799, when he resigned. He was also the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hagerstown, Md., his relation to it being dissolved in 1779. He also preached to a congregation near Greencastle, Pa., which was accustomed to worship in a tent. He died Feb. 3d, 1802, aged 51 years. The Rev. Caleb Wallace studied theology, proba- bly under Dr. Witherspoon, as he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of New Bruns- wick in I 772, by which body he was dismissed before the meeting of Synod in May, 1773, to join one of the southern Presbyteries. He, with Mr. John Simpson, was directed by the Synod to labor at '' the Hawfields and Eno in N. C. and St. Paul's Parish, Ga.," and to preach in other vacancies. He was re- ceived from the New Castle Presbytery by the Han- over Presbytery at Tinkling Spring, Va., April 13th, 1773; was ordained to the ministry and installed pastor of the Club Creek and Little Falling River Churches, Oct. 3d, 1774. He was a native of Char- lotte Co., Va. ; he removed to Botetourt Co., in 1779, and in 1783 emigrated to Kentucky. Here he abandoned the ministry and commenced the study of law. He was very successful in his new profes- sion, speedily rose to eminence and became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of that state. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIO SOCIETY. 39 James Witherspoon, A. M., was the oldest of the three sons of Dr. Witherspoon, who survived to ac- company their parents to America. Upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary war he entered the army. He was aid to Gen. Francis Nash of N. C, and was killed at the battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, I ']^'], when Gen. Nash was also mortally wounded, at the head of his brigade. As the Class of 1771 was that in which President Madison was graduated, we present an account of the Commencement. It is very remarkable that evr ery member of the Class had some part assigned him except Mr. Madison. His devotion to study had so impaired his health that he did not recover from the effects until several years afterward. After giving an account of the Competition for Premiurhs in the different classes, the report pro- ceeds : Prtncetown, September 25, 1771. " This day the anniversary Commencement of the College of New Jersey was held in the Church here. After the usual Procession, the Business of the Day was introduced with Prayer by the President, and a Piece of vocal Music, performed by the Students. The Exercises were conducted in the following Order : I. Mr. Brackenridge pronounced a salutatory l^tin Oration, " De Societate Hominum. " 40 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 2. The following Proposition, " Mendacmrn est semper ilHciHim/' was defended by Mr. Williamson; who was opposed, in the syllogistic Way. by Mes- sieurs McKnight and Taylor. 3. Mr. Black supported this Thesis, " Moral Qual- ities are confessedly more excellent than natural ; yet the latter are much more e?tvied in the Possessor, by the Generality of Mankind ; a sure Sign of the corrupt Bias of human Natiire.'' Mr. Cheesman opposed' him ; and was answered by Mr. Taylor. 4. Mr. Campbell delivered an English Oration, on " The Advantages of an active Life:'' And the Business of the Forenoon was concluded with an Anthem by the Students. 5. At Three o'Clock, the Audience again assem- bled ; and after Singing by the Students, Mr. Spring delivered an English Oration, on " The Idea of a Patriot- King. " 6. An English Forensic Dispute, on this Ques- tion, " Does ancient Poetry excel the modern ? " The Respondent, Mr. Freneau, being necessarily absent, his Arguments in Favour of the Ancients were read by the Assembly : Mr. Williamson answered him, and supported the Moderns; and Mr. McKnight replied. 7. A Poem, on " The rising Glory of America, " was spoken by Mr. Brackenridge, and received with great Applause by the Audience. 8. Mr. Ross delivered an English Oration, on " The Power of Eloquence, " HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHK; SOCIETY. 41 9. The Students su n^r an Anthem ; after which the following young Gentlemen were admitted to the First Degree in the Arts, viz : Gunning Bedford, yohn Black, Huoh Brackenridge, Donald Camp- hell, Edmund Cheesman, Philip Freneau, Charles McKfiight, James Madison, Joseph Ross, Samuel Spring, James Taylor, and Jacob Williamson. The following Gentlemen, Alumni of this College, proceeded Masters of Arts, viz : Waightstill Avery, Richard D evens, William Ch. Houston, Thomas Reese, Thom^as Smith, and Isaac Story. Samuel Wilson, Esq., of Maryland, for his known literary Merit and Reputation, was complimented with the Degree of Master of Arts. The Rev. William Jackson, of Bergen, in New Jersey, M. A., in Yale College and King's College, was admitted ad eundem. Messieurs John M'Clarren Breed, and Thomas Wooster, Masters of Arts in Yale College were ad- mitted ad eundem. Jacob Bankson, M. A. in Philadelphia College, was admitted ad eundem in this Colleore. Michael Joye, B. A. in Harvard College, was ad- mitted ad eundem. 10. A pathetic valedictory Oration on ''Benevo- lence'', by Mr. Bedford, concluded the Exercises. The whole was conducted with the ofreatest Pro- priety. The Speakers performed their several Parts with Spirit, Ingenuity and Address ; and met with the highest Approbation and Applause from a nu- merous, polite and discerning Audience. " 42 HISTORY OF THE AMP:RICAN WHIG SOCIETY In reference to this class I merely remark that nine of the twelve who composed it were members of the American Whig Society, and that the Latin Salutatorian, the Valedictorian, and the Poets were American Whigs. The Poem on " The rising Glory of America " was the joint production of Bracken- ridge and Freneau, the portion written by the latter being now embraced in his published works. Mad- ison's non-participation is accounted for by his fee- ble health. Gunning Bedford, A. M., was a native of Dela- ware. He was the Valedictorian of his class, and it was remarkable that his wife and infant were pres- ent at his graduation. He devoted himself to the profession of the law in which he rose to great emi- nence. He was a member of the Continental Con- gress in I 785-86, and was a member of the Con- vention which formed the Constitution of the United States in 1787. He was elected Governor of Dela- ware in 1 796, and shordy afterwards was appointed a Judge of the United States District Court, which position he held until his death at Wilmington, Del., in March, 181 2. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, A. M., was born near Cambletown, in Scodand, in 1 743, and was brought to America by his parents, when only five years of age. They were in very moderate circumstances, and his father leased a farm in York county. Pa. HISTORY OK THK AMERICAN WHKi SOCIETY. 43 The children were required to assist in cultivating the farm, but their father gave them the best educa- tion the neighborhood afforded. Young Bracken - ridge was passionately fond of learning and soon distanced all competitors among his schoolmates. The pastor of the church took an interest in him, gave him a few lessons, and these at long intervals and usually on Saturday evenings ; but his application was such that he became a trood Latin scholar and had mad^ considerable progress in Greek before he was thirteen years of age. He loved books more than manual labor; but his parents, though poor, encouraged him, and his mother, who was a woman of excellent mind and considerable education hoped one day to see her favorite son a minister of the Gospel. He would study at night by the dim light afforded by chips and splinters ; and would walk twenty miles and sometimes even thirty miles as far as Fogg's Manor to borrow a book or even a news- paper. He would go on Saturday night and return on Monday morning so that he might lose but little time from the work of the farm. He devoured rath- er than studied books. He once borrowed a copy of Horace which he studied night and day, in the house and afield ; but happening to leave his treas- ure, on one occasion, upon a stump, a cow of culti- vated tastes like his own devoured the precious vol- ume and caused him the keenest distress. He ex- changed lessons in Latin and Greek for instruction in mathematics with a young man to their mutual advantage. At the age of fifteen he was appointed 44 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. teacher of the free school on the Gunpowder Falls in Maryland. The trustees hesitated to appoint him on account of his youth ; but his attainments were such that they could not refuse. Some of his pupils were young men, but he showed his ability to rule even them ; for, when one of them attempted to overthrow his authority by force, he seized a brand from the fire and knocked the rebel down. He was sustained in his action and had no further trouble. Here he remained for three years engaged in teach- ing and study ; improving his mind in every way. In 1 767, with his frugal savings, he came to Prince- ton, and proposed to Dr. Witherspoon to assist in teaching, probably in the Grammar School, then con- nected with the college, while pursuing his studies with his class. He was thus enabled to support him- self and yet to maintain a high position in a very able class. He became one of the founders of the American Whig Society and was probably a member also of the Plain-Dealing Society. He excelled in languages, literature and philosophy, but possessed no great talent for mathematics. He was graduated with the Latin Salutatory, the subject of his Oration being De Societate Hominuni. He wrote in conjunc- tion with Freneau, and also spoke his "Commence- ment Poem " on " The Rising Glory of America ", and it was published in 1772 ; but he was a wit and an orator rather than a poet. His voice and per- sonal appearance were very fine. On one occasion, in conversation with Dr. Witherspoon, he alluded to HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 45 his limited means and want of friends and quoted from Juvenal the sentiment : Haud facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi. '* There you are wrong, young man, " said the Doctor ; *' it is only your res angusta domi men that do emerge. " He taught in the Grammar School and studied theology under Dr. Witherspoon for some time after his graduation and then became the principal of an academy on the eastern shore of Maryland. He had among his pupils a number who subsequently rose to distinction. He was an ardent patriot and in 1776 he repaired to Philadelphia. His means were considerable, but the currency depreciated rap- idly and the labor of years soon disappeared. He became the editor of the United States Magazine which abounded in patriotic appeals, and was varied with poetry and witty effusions, not unmingled with satire. His strictures on Gen. Charles Lee for his conduct to Washington so enraged Lee that he called with two of his aids to assault the editor. He knocked at the door, and Brackenridge, looking from an upper window, asked what was wanted ? " Come down," said Lee, " and I'll give you as good a horse- whipping as any rascal ever received." " Excuse me. General," he replied, " I would not go down for two such favors." In 1777 he became a chaplain in the army, passed a year in camp and preached patriotic and political sermons, six of which were published and extensively circulated. The evening 46 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. before the battle of Brandywine he was taken for a spy by his Whig host, so while he was examining the American Army, his host and some friends ex- amined his saddle bags which contained only a pocket- bible and a couple of shirts — all well worn. Although licensed to preach he was never or- dained on account of his inability to receive certain doctrines in the Confession of Faith. A Scotch clergyman, with whom he met, told him that he was in the same predicament. " Then, how do you rec- oncile it to your conscience to preach doctrines of whose truth you are not convinced ? " " Hoot man," said he, "I dinna think muckle aboot it — I explain the doctrine, as I wud a system o' moral philosophy or metaphysics; and if I dinnajust un- derstand it noo, the time may come when I will ; and in the mean time I put my faith in wiser men, who established the articles, and in those whose heads are sufficiently clear to understand them. And if we were tae question but ane o' these doctrines, it wud be like takin' a stane oot o' a biggin ; the whole wa' might fa' down. " Mr. Brackenridge's conscience was not so facile, and so he studied law, thus incurring the charge of apostasy from some for what was due to his consci- entiousness. He pursued his legal studies at An- napolis, Md., under the distinguished Samuel Chase, afterwards one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the U. S. In 1781 he setded at the small village which is now the flourishing city of Pittsburg, Pa. His talents, learning, wit and eloquence soon placed fllSTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 47 him at the head of the bar in Pennsylvania. He wrote much for the public papers. He was elected a member of the State Legislature and was an ear- nest advocate of the adoption of the Federal Con- stitution. He became wealthy, married and was looked upon as the defender of popular rights. He despised duelling, but his great strength and skill gave him the victory in several personal contests. Once, an adversary, armed with a small sword, was knocked down with a chair, and placed on the fire. Mr. Brackenridge was intimately connected with " The Whiskey Insurrection " in Western Pennsyl- vania in 1 794. It was mainly through his great abil- ity, ready address and consummate skill that this movement did not assume the character of an open and bloody war. At first his position was misunder- stood, or as Mr. Hamilton expressed it, "your con- duct has been horridly misrepresented, owing to mis- conception." The final result was to exonerate him from all blame and to secure the applause of all who were acq^uainted with the facts. In 1794 he published a large volume entitled "In- cidents of the Western Insurrection." He shortly afterwards wrote and published the first part of " Modern Chivalry" in 1 796 ; the second part did not appear until ten years after. It is really a profound political work under the guise of pleasantry. Mod- elled upon the plan of Don Quixote, it is admirably adapted to its purpose and was exceedingly popular in the West. 48 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. In 1800 he was appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Pa. by Gov. McKean. He made an admirable Judge, and his opinions on the bench bore " the stamp of strict integrity, and the most perfect independence. " His gazette pubHcations were collected into a volume in 1806; and his law miscellanies were published in 18 14. He removed to Carlisle towards the close of his life. He con- tinued upon the bench until his death in 181 6. Donald Campbell, A. M., was a native of Virginia, but joined the Army of the Revolution from the state of New York. He rose to the rank of Colonel in the reo-ular Continental Line and served with credit through the war. I can find no memorials, beyond what appears in the Catalogue and in the Account of the Com- mencement, of Edmund Cheesman, of N. Y., Joseph Ross, of Pa., and James Taylor, of Va. Philip Freneau, the patriot-poet of the Revo- lution, was born in the city of New York, January 2d, 1752. His family, originally De Fresneau, was Huguenot, and escaped from France after the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes. The first of the name in this country settled in Connecticut and opened a copper mine there. The ship which was carrying the ore to England was captured by a French cruiser and he was ruined. The excava- tions of this mine became the first Penitentiary of Connecticut. He then settled in New York and his grandson, Philip, entered. Nassau Hall in 1767. Philip Freneau was probably a member of the Plain- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHKi SOCIKl Y. 49 Dealing Society and was one of the founders of the American Whig Society. He was not only a class- mate but a room-mate of Madison, and even in his old days he delighted to dwell on the theme of his collegiate career with Madison. He excelled in languages and in general literature. In my copy of his Poems published at his own press at Mount Pleasant near Middletown Point, 1795. his first Poem, " The Poetical History of the Prophet Jonah," bears date " Done in i 768. " His poems were quite numerous even while a student, no less than sixteen of this period being in his own edition of 1795, be- sides his Commencement Poem of '' The Rising Glory of America, " which was written in connexion with Brackenridge and published in Philadelphia in 1772. After his graduation he spent some years in New York, employing his pen in the service of the patriots of the day. His songs and satires ex- hibited great power and a genuine love of liberty and gave him considerable reputation. In 1776 he sailed for the Danish West Indies and spent some time in Jamaica and Santa Cruz, where he composed some of his best poems, — "The House of Night", " The Jamaica Funeral ", and " The Beauties of San- ta Cruz." In 1778 he went to Bermuda, and in 1779 he was in Philadelphia where he edited the '' United States Magazine, " for Francis Bailey, who published the first collected edition of his poems in 1 786. His poems ''America Independent," "George the Third's Soliloquy, " " Dialogue between George the Third and Fox," belong to this period. In 1 780 50 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. he sailed in the Aurora for St. Eustatia, but was captured within sight of Cape Henlopen by the British frigate Iris and taken to New York. Here with his companions he was committed to the pris- on-ship Scorpion, and when he fell sick was transfer- red to the hospital-ship Hunter. After his recovery from his illness he managed to escape, and in 1781 he published his " Cantos from a Prison-Ship, " in which he gives an account of the capture of the Au- rora, of the sufferings of the prisoners, and of the cruel treatment by the British officers, and of the awful horrors of the hospital-ship. The conclu- sion of the poem thus begins : " Each day at least six carcasses we bore And scratch'd them graves along the sandy shore. By feeble hands the shallow graves were made, No stone, memorial, o'er the corpses laid ; In barren sands, and far from home, they lie, No friend to shed a tear, when passing by ; O'er the mean tombs insulting Britons tread, Spurn at the sand, and curse the rebel dead. When to your arms these fatal islands fall, (For first, or last, they must be conquered all,) Americans ! to rites sepulchral just. With gentlest footstep press this kindred dust. And o'er the tombs, if tombs can then be found. Place the green turf, and plant the myrtle round. " He wrote a number of patriotic poems at this time besides his prose sketches and essays, all of which appeared in the Freema7is Journal, of Phila- delphia, with which he became connected. To this period belong his *' Address to the American Army," '' To Cornwallis, " and " On the Fall of Cornwallis." In these poems he pays the highest tribute to Wash- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 5 i ington. His poem "To the Memory of the brave Americans " who fell at Eutaw Springs was pro- nounced by Scott " as fine a thing as there is of the kind in the language " and he even transferred one of the lines to Marmion ; while Campbell has a line from Freneau in his '* O'Conor's Child." TO THE MEMORY Of the brave Americans, under General Greene, in South Carolina, who fell in the action of September 8, 1 78 1. At Eutaw springs the valiant died ; Their limbs with dust are cover'd o'er — Weep on, ye springs, your tearful tide ; How many heroes are no more ! If in this wreck of ruin, they Can yet be thought to claim a tear, O smite thy gentle breast, and say The friends of freedom slumber here ! • Thou, who shalt trace this bloody plain, If goodness rules thy generous breast, Sigh for the wasted rural reign ; Sigh for the shepherds, sunk to rest ! adorn ; Stranger, their humble graves ado You too may fall, and ask a tear : 'Tis not the beauty of the mom That proves the evening shall be clear — They saw their injured country's woe ; The flaming town, the wasted field ; Then rushed to meet the insulting foe ; They took the spear — but left the shield. Led by thy conquering genius, Greene; The Britons they compell'd to fly : None distant view'd the fatal plain. None griev'd, in such a cause, to die — 52 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. But, like the Parthian, fam'd of old. Who, flying, still their arrows threw ; These routed Britons, full as bold, Retreated, and retreating slew. Now rest in peace, our patriot band ; Though far from Nature's limits thrown. We trust, they find a happier land, A brighter sunshine of their own. His poems illustrate almost every style of poetry, and the ease with which he wrote is remarkable. He directed many of his wittiest and severest pieces against Rivinorton & Gaines, the Tory editors and booksellers, in New York. From 1784 to 1790 he led a seafaring life, being in command of a vessel that sailed from New York to Charleston and the West Indies. In 1 790 Captain Freneau became ed- itor of the ''Daily Advertiser'' in New York. In October, 1791, upon the recommendation of Mr. Madison and Gen. Harry Lee, he was appointed by Mr. Jefferson, " interpreter of the French language for the Department of State. " Mr. Madison says: " I was governed in these recommendations by an acquaintance of long standing, by a respect for his talents, and by a knowledge of his merits and suf- ferings in the cause of the Revolution. He also ed- ited the Philadelphia ''National Gazette' for the next two years. This paper was the organ of Mr. Jeffer- son's party and contained severe strictures not only upon Hamilton and Adams, but even attacked Wash- ington himself so that he spoke of him as " that ras- cal Freneau". Mr. Jefferson seems to have been un- justly suspected of inspiring these attacks, although HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHU; SOCIETY. 53 he sympathized with Freneau's political views, and es- pecially those in regard to the French Revolution. In connexion with the establishment of this paper, Mr. Madison calls him "a man of genius, of republican principles, and a friend to the Constitution." He next retired to Mount Pleasant, near Middletown Point, N. J., where he set up a press and published " The Jersey Chronicle'' from May, 2, 1795 to April 30, 1796. The fir^t edition of his poems was by Francis Bailey in Philadelphia, 1786: in 1788 appeared his "Essays and Additional Poems." In 1795 he published at his own press a complete collection of his poems, nearly three hundred in number and occupying four hundred and fifty-six octavo pages. Copies of this edition (of which I possess one,) are exceedingly rare and are worth their weight in silver. He returned to New York and engaged in the pub- lication of the " Time Piece and Literary Com- panion,'' from 1797 to 1798. He attacked with great severity William Cobbett who was then publishing ''Porcupine's Gazette", in Philadelphia. From 1798 to 181 2 he pursued a sea-faring life and then retired to his home at Mount Pleasant, near Monmouth, N. J. He still devoted himself to literature, and occasionally visited New York where he was always welcomed by the prominent politi- cians and literary men of the day. His house was destroyed by fire about 1814 and many of his MS. poems perished. His poems were republished in 1809 and again in 181 5. Since his death they have 54 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. appeared even in England which he always attacked so bitterly. Captain Freneau lived to be more than eighty years old, and then perished in a snow storm, Dec. 1 8, 1832. The '' Monmouth Inqtiirer'\ pub- lished at Freehold, N. J., thus relates the incidents of his death : — " Mr. Freneau was in the village and started, towards evening, to go home, about two miles. In attempting to go across he appears to have got lost and mired in a bog meadow, where his lifeless corpse was discovered yesterday morning. Captain Freneau was a staunch Whig in the time of the Revolution, a good soldier, and a warm patriot. The productions of his pen animated his country- men in the darkest days of '76, and the effusions of his muse cheered the desponding soldier as he fought the battles of freedom. " The late Dr. John W. Francis, of New York, who knew him in his later years, pays a graceful tribute to his genial character, his cultivated mind, his classical scholar- ship, his poetical genius and his ardent patriotism. I close this sketch with one of the most beautiful of his poems ; 'THE WILD HONEY SUCKLE. Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat, Untouch'd thy honey'd blossoms blow, Unseen thy little branches greet : No roving foot shall find thee here, No busy hand provoke a tear. By Nature's self in white array'd, She bade thee shun the vulgar eye, And planted here the guardian shade. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 55 And sent soft waters murmuring by ; Thus quietly thy summer goes, The days declining to repose. Smit with those charms, that must decay, I grieve to see thy future doom ; They died — nor were those flowers less gay, The flowers that did in Eden bloom ; Unpitying frosts, and Autumn's power Shall leave no vestige of this flower. From morning suns and evening dews At first thy little being came : If nothing once, you nothing lose, For when you die you are the same ; The space between is but an hour. The frail duration of a flower. Charles McKnight, M. D., was the son of the Rev. Charles McKnight and Elizabeth (Stevens) McKnight. The father, who was the son of a Pres- byterian minister of eminence in the North of Ire- land, emigrated to this country about 1 740, was or- dained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, Oct. 12, 1742, and installed pastor of the united congre- gations of Cranberry and Allentown, Oct. 1 6, 1 744. In 1756, on account of ill-health, he resigned the charge at Cranberry, but remained at Allentown until 1766, when he accepted a call from the congre- gations of Middletown Point and Shrewsbury, of which he remained pastor until his death. His church at Middletown Point was burned by the British troops, and he himself, having become ob- noxious on account of his patriotism, was arrested and subjected to the hardships and sufferings usual- ly inflicted upon the imprisoned patriots of our Rev- 5 6 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. olution. He died, shordy after his release, Jan'y i, I 'j'j^. He was a Trustee of Nassau Hall from i 757 until his decease. His oldest son, Charles, was born at Cranberry, Oct. 10, 1750, was graduated with honor at Nassau Hall in 1771, and was one of the founders of the American Whig Society. He stud- ied medicine with Dr. Shippen of Philadelphia, also a graduate of Nassau Hall, and upon the breaking out of the Revolution he hastened to offer his services to the cause of his country. His abilities were soon recognized and he was appointed '* Senior Surgeon in the Flying Hospital," Middle Department, April II, 1777. He was with the main army in all its movements ; his duties were constant, his labors onerous. For some months in 1780 he acted as Surgeon General; and from Oct. i, 1780 to Jan. i, 1782 as Chief Surgeon of the Middle Department. His talents, his zeal, his devotion to duty and his ar- dent patriotism rendered him conspicuous in his profession and among the heroes of the Revolution. At the close of the war he settled in New York and became Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in Co- lumbia College, '' where he delivered lectures on these two branches of medical science, while the pro- fundity of his research and the acuteness of his genius, gained for him the approbation of the most fastidious," and he enjoyed the reputation of being "the most. eminent surgeon of his day." He was honored in Europe as well as in this country. He married the only daughter of Gen. John M. Scott, a Delegate to the Continental Congress, who with HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 57 Wm. Livingston and Wm. Smith constituted that " triumvirate of Presbyterian lawyers " in New York, who so earnestly and patriotically resisted the encroachments of the Crown upon the rights of our fathers. Dr. McKnight died November i6, I79i,at the early age of 41, and lies buried in St. Paul's churchyard, New York. He left an only son, Dr. John M. Scott McKnight, of New York, some of whose descendants reside in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. isji :e: jbJT CD I Ti OF JA.MES ]VtA.DISON, FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY, FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Between the Potomac and the Rappahannock riv- ers lies a narrow, winding strip of land, called the Northern Neck of Virginia. This portion of the state has given birth to many of the most eminent men of Virginia. It was the country of the Lees, and within a few miles of one another in Westmoreland county were born no less than three Presidents, Washington, Madison and Monroe. At the house of his maternal grandfather, Conway, where now stands the little village of Port Conway, in King George Co., James Madison was born March 16, 1 75 1. His father was a landed proprietor of high social position in Orange Co., Va. For several years I resided but a few miles from the spot and repeatedly visited the hamlet where our great 58 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCPETY. founder was born. His earliest education was by Donald Robertson, a learned Scotchman in King and Queen Co., Va., from whom he acquired a knowl- edge of Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian and his Scotch- Frejich, as he used to call it. He subsequently studied under the Rev. Thomas Martin, a Jersey- man, I think, and a graduate of Nassau Hall in 1762, the rector of the parish, who resided in his father's family at Montpelier. Various reasons have been suggested for his preferring Princeton to Williams- burg, where most young Virginians were then edu- cated. The unhealthy location, the dissensions then existing in the college of William and Mary, the in- fluence of Mr. Martin who was an alumnus of Nassau Hall, its rising reputation, the prestige of Dr. Witherspoon's name, who had been made President of the College August 17, 1768, have all been con- sidered as motives of his choice. But the most po- tent influence has been overlooked. His mother, Eleanor Conway, was a pious woman, a good Pj^es- byterian, and she it was who sent her first-born to this Institution of which he was to become the greatest son. He entered Nassau Hall early in the summer term of 1769. He came from Virginia where the public mind was agitated with that true patriotism which soon culminated in those celebra- ted Resolutions of the House of Burgesses to which I have above alluded. The students of the college were animated with the spirit of their fathers. Young Madison at once identified himself with the party that advocated the principles of liberty and the HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WIIKi SOCIETY. 59 riehts of the colonies. Hence he united with Stan- hope Smith, and Beatty, and Henry, Bedford and Brackenridge and Freneau, Bradford and Fithian and Hodge and Hunter and Livingston and others in giving the name of "American Whig" to the Society which they formed June 24th, 1769. Dr. Witherspoon had considerably enlarged the curric- ulum of the college by paying special attention to metaphysics, moral philosoj^hy, history and criticism. Young Madison was a most diligent student, and for months together he was accustomed to sleep only three hours of the twenty-four. He was a fine lin- guist, and accomplished in all the departments of the College Course. His health, however, was so much impaired by his devotion to study at this time that he could not take any part in the Commencement Exercises ; indeed, he felt the injurious effects upon his constitution so long as he lived. He remained at Princeton for nearly a year after his graduation, engaged in a course of reading and study under the direction of Dr. Witherspoon who had a great affec- tion for him, as he had exerted great influence upon him in moulding his mind and character. Dr. With- erspoon once remarked to Mr. Jefferson " that in the whole career of Mr. Madison at Princeton, he had never known him to say or do an indiscreet thing." He returned to his home in 1772 and devo- ted his time to an extensive course of systematic reading in theology, philosophy and general litera- ture, besides " undertaking to instruct his brothers and sisters in some of the first rudiments of litera- 6o HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. ture." His theological studies were extensive and exhaustive, and he has left in manuscript the fruit of much of his study of the Scriptures. Mr. Rives says : " He explored the whole history and eviden- ces of Christianity on every side, through clouds of witnesses and champions for and against, from the Fathers and schoolmen down to the infidel philoso- phers of the eighteenth century. No one not a pro- fessed theologian, and but few even of those who are, have ever gone through more laborious and ex- tensive inquiries to arrive at the truth." When the University of Virginia was founded more than fifty years afterwards, Mr. Jefferson requested him to prepare the list of theological writers for the library of that institution. This he did in part and that catalogue, still extant, is a memorial of his learning and his regard for religion. His correspondence with his young friend Brad- ford of Philadelphia, afterwards Attorney-General of the United States under President Washington, gives us interesting views of his character and tranquil pursuits at this time. His indignation was aroused by the persecution of Baptist ministers by the Es- tablished Church in Virginia, and he was a most earnest advocate of the rights of conscience, of the principles of civil and religious liberty. He visited Philadelphia and Princeton in 1774, and in 1775 be- came a member of the Committee of Public Safety for the county of Orange, Va., of which his father was Chairman. His first public paper was the Ad- dress of thanks by this committee to Patrick Henry HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 6 1 and his company for obtaining compensation from Lord Dunmore for the powder he had seized. At the age of twenty-five he was elected in April, 1775, to represent Orange cov.nty in the convention which met in Williamsburg, Va., May 6th, 1776. His fee- ble constitution and delicate health alone pre- \ vented him from entering the army into which so many of his Princeton friends had gone. Mr. Mad- ison says : " My first entrance on public life was in May, 1776, when I became a member of the Con- vention in Virginia, which instructed her delegates in Congress to propose the Declaration of Indepen- dence." On May 15th the celebrated resolutions of instruction were adopted and on June 7th the dele- gates of Virginia, in obedience to them, brought for- ward in Congress the resolution which led to the Declaration of Independence drawn up by the hand of Mr. Jefferson. The Convention framed a Con- stitution and Mr. Madison caused the term " tolera- tion " to be excluded from the Declaration of Rights which preceded it and the words "all men are equally entitled to the full and free exercise " of their religion to be inserted. This amendment, proposed by one of the youngest and most modest members, Mr. Rives justly considers not only as a proof of his " early wisdom and sagacity, " but as an epoch in American liberty. In preparing this sketch of Mr. Madison I have had the pleasure of examining the only extant copy of this Declaration as printed for the Committee and which contains the changes, &c., in Mr. M.'s own handwriting. This Constitution 62 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. of 1776 remained unchanged until 1829, and Mr, Madison was a member of die Convendon that adopted the new instrument. It was in October, 1776, that Mr. Madison first met Mr. Jefferson who had resigned his seat in the Continental Congress and had become a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. These two great men then began a friendship that was destined to continue and strengthen for half a century. The elder thus expressed his opinion of the younger : " Mr. Madison came into the House in 1776, a new member and young ; which circumstances concur- ring with his extreme modesty, prevented his ven- turino- himself in debate before his removal to the Council of State in November, 1777. From thence he went to Congress, then consisting of few mem- bers. Trained in these successive schools, he ac- quired a habit of self-possession, which placed at ready command the rich resources of his luminous and discriminating mind and of his extensive infor- mation, and rendered him the first of every assem- bly afterwards of which he became a member. Never wandering from his subject into vain decla- mation, but pursuing it closely in language pure, classical, and copious, soothing always the feelings of his adversaries by civilities and softness of ex- pression, he rose to the eminent station which he held in the great national Convention of 1787 ; and in that of Virginia which followed, he sustained the new Constitution in all its parts, bearing off the palm against the logic of George Mason and the HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 63 fervid declamation of Mr. Henry. With these con- summate powers was united a pure and spotless virtue, which no calumny has ever attempted to sully." Mr. Madison was not re-elected in 1777 because from high principle he would not treat the electors ; but on November 13th, he was chosen by the legis- lature a member of the Council of State, a body composed of men of the highest talents and patriot- ism. His skill as a writer and his knowledge of French caused him to be considered as Secretary of State rather than Councillor. He remained in this position until he was elected a delegate to represent Virginia in the Continental Congress, Dec. 14, 1779. He took his seat March 20th, 1780, atone of the most gloomy" and critical periods in the course of our struggle for Independence. Congress had neither money nor credit ; disappointment, disaster and treason combined almost to destroy the hopes of freedom and the chances of success. Mr. Madi- son's influence was soon felt in the great questions before Congress. Although probably the youngest member, he was appointed Chairman of the Com- mittee to prepare the letter of instructions to Dr. Franklin and Mn Jay in support of our claim to the free navigation of the Mississippi and insisting upon that river as our Western boundary. His able pa- per upon this difficult and important matter exhibi- ted his talents, learning and judgment in so remarka- ble a manner that he was henceforth associated with the leading members on many of the most impor- 64 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. tant committees. For example, he was one of the members of the Committee to devise a method for announcing to the pubHc the signature of Maryland to the Articles for Confederation, thus completing the bond of Union among the States, on Thursday, March ist, 1781. He was the author of the Ad- dress to the States, on April 26th, 1783, urging them to enlarge the powers of Congress in reference to the laying of duties for the. payment of the public debt, &c. So important were his services in Con- gress considered that the Legislature of Virginia re- pealed the law that rendered him ineligible after three years of consecutive service so as to enable him to remain a fourth year. It is not a little singular that it was within the walls of Nassau Hall that Mr. Madison had the pleasure of settling in Congress the difficult questions connected with the cession to the Union of her North-Western territory by the State of Virginia. This event occurred Sept. 20, 1 783, Congress having a short time before adjourned from Philadelphia to Princeton in consequence of a mutiny of a band of soldiers who disturbed its de- liberations. Congress was in session in Nassau Hall from June 26th to Nov. 4th, 1783, the Trustees of the College having placed at the disposal of Con- gress " its hall, library and every other convenience which the edifice could afford." Only eleven years before, Mr. Madison had been a quiet and diligent student within its walls, now he was one of the lead- ing statesmen of a nation which had secured its inde- pendence after a long and bloody struggle with the HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 65 mother country second to none in her military and naval power. It was within these walls that he heard the Father of his country receive the thanks and congratulations of Congress. Thence Washington went to New York for the purpose of witnessing the closing of the drama of the Revolution by the evacuation of our chief city. From these walls also went forth the proclamation disbanding the troops and returning to the army " the thanks of their country for their long, eminent and faithful services." From this same Nassau Hall also pro- ceeded the first proclamation of a day of national thanksgiving to God acknowledging the assistance of Divine Providence in the arduous struggle for liberty and invoking him " to cause pure religion and virtue to flourish ; to give peace to all nations and to fill the world with his glory." Independence and nationality achieved, Madison now bade adieu to Conorress and to Princeton and returned to his native state. He now entered upon a thorough course of legal study which he continued for years despite the interruptions caused by public duties. He was elected a member of the House of Dele- gates of Virginia in 1 784. Of this body composed of able and distinguished men, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, both brilliant orators, were the leaders, and Mr. Madison was prominent in all the important measures that occupied the attention of the legislature, such as the revisal of the Statute laws, the law against " filibustering, " the discussion as to the payment of British debts, &c. But his 66 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. most important public service was his preparation of a *' Memorial and Remonstrance " aeainst the bill for "a general assessment for the support of relig- ion." Henry, Marshall, R. H. Lee and many oth- ers, including even Gen. Washington at first favor- ed the proposition and Mr. Madison stood almost alone in his opposition. The memorial is one of the ablest and most eloquent of Mr. Madison's produc- tions, discussing the question of the establishment of religion by law, in the most thorough manner. His victory was complete, and instead of the com- pulsory support of " teachers of the Christian relig- ion " there resulted, the complete separation of the Church and State, and the establishment of relig- ious freedom. In Jan'y, 1786, Mr. Madison offered the resolutions to invite the other states to send Commissioners to Annapolis, Md., to regulate commerce and revise the Articles of Confederation. He was appointed one of the Commissioners who met in September, but as only five states were represented nothing defi- nite was decided upon. He drew up the report of the Commissioners to their respective Legislatures rec- ommending a second convention to be held in Phil- adelphia in May, 1787. This led to the formation of the Constitution of the United States. He not only bore a conspicuous part in this Convention but to him we owe a record of its debates of which he kept full notes. These were purchased after his death for ^30,000, and published by authority of Congress. His original plan of the Government HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 67 to be adopted was somewhat modified, but the main features are preserved in our Constitution. In this Convention are said to have been more graduates of Nassau Hall than of any other College in the' United States, although it had existed only forty years. Here were Bedford, his class-mate and fellow founder of the Whig Society and Davie, also a Whig of the class of 1776, besides Paterson, Ells- worth, Martin and others of the Cliosophic Society. It is rather remarkable that the two main plans for the new form of government presented to the Con- vention proceeded chiefly from or were advocated by two graduates of Nassau Hall ; and these two men are claimed as the founders of our respective Literary Societies. The New Jersey Plan which contemplated only an Amendment of the old Arti- cles of Confederation was presented by Mr. Pater- son and was strictly Federal in its character. This plan was rejected. The Virginia Plan was mainly shaped by Mr. Madison and was not presented by him but by Gov. Randolph simply because the latter was the Governor of the State of Virginia, " of dis- tinguished talents, and in the habit of public speak- ing." This was the truly National plan, and in its main and substantial features, forms our present Constitution. Into the question of State Sovereign- ty and National Sovereignty I do not enter, nor do I allude to other plans, because they were scarcely considered. I wish simply to signalize the fact which I have not seen noticed elsewhere that these two plans, opposite in their character, were so intimately 68 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. connected with two graduates of Nassau Hall, and these persons the Founders of our two Literary So- cieties. Some of his fellow graduates had returned home or for other reasons did not attach their names to the New Constitution. Hence there are only two Whig names, James Madison, Jr. and Gunning Bedford, Jr., and two Clio names, Wm. Paterson and Jona. Dayton, found among those who signed this immortal document. After the adjournment of the Convention, over which Washington pre- sided, he devoted himself in conjunction with Hamilton and Jay to influencing the people to accept the new Constitution. Many of the ablest statesmen of the country were opposed to it, and others were doubtful as to the propriety of its adoption. The series of letters signed '* Publius, " written by Hamilton, Jay and Madison, published originally in a New York newspaper and thence copied by the papers throughout the land, did more than anything else to secure its adoption by the dif- ferent states. These papers as now collected in the work entitled, " The Federalist, " form the best expo- sition and defence of the Constitution, and rank among the ablest of political writings, distinguished alike for comprehensive views, logical power and real eloquence. He was one of the Committee who revised the style and digested the Articles of the Constitution into their present order and who pre- pared the Address to the People of the United States. Mr. Madison has been justly styled the chief architect of the Constitution and to him was HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 69 committed almost exclusively the discussion of the Legislative Department and the kindred questions in *'The Federalist." .He was the author of Nos. 10, 14, 2)7 to 58, twenty-four in all, and wrote por- tions of Nos. 18, 19, 20, in conjunction with Hamil- ton. Mr. Hamilton wrote fifty-three numbers, Mr. [ay only five in consequence of sickness, while Mr. Madison, owing to his absence in Virginia, was pre- vented from writing any of the closing papers. He was a member of Congress as well as of the Con- vention, and it was chiefly through his influence that Congress resolved unanimously to transmit the new Constitution to the several legislatures " in order to be submitted to a Convention of delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof." The Constitution had been signed in Convention by all the members except three, the name of George Washington being the first attached to that instrument — "Done in convention, by the unani- mous consent of the States present, this 1 7th day of September, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twelfth." A few days afterwards an incident occur- red which must have been peculiarly gratifying to Mr. Madison. The Trustees of the College of New Jersey at the Annual Commencement honored them- selves by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. We insert the letters of Dr. Witherspoon upon the occasion : 70 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. TuscuLUM (near Princeton), i October, 1787. Deu}^ Sir : — I do myself the pleasure of inform- ing you that the Trustees of this college at their last meeting, have unanimously conferred on you the degree Doctor of Laws. It seemed to give them a very particular pleasure that they had the oppor- tunity of giving deserved honor to one of their own alumni ; and I believe you will hardly doubt that none had greater pleasure in it than myself. A diploma will be made out and transmitted, as soon as it can be done in a proper manner. I have the honor to be, dear sir, your most ob't servant, JOHN WITHERSPOON. Hon. James Madison. The second letter accompanied the diploma and shows the warm affection entertained by the writer for his former pupil. TuscuLUM, nth August, 1788. Sij^ : — The diploma for the degree of Doctor of Laws, which the Trustees and Faculty of this college did themselves the honor of conferring on you last commencement, ought to have been sent long ago ; but as there are no printed forms for the honorary degree, we often find it difficult to get them prop- erly executed. This occasioned a little delay, which has been protracted to a very blamable length. It now accompanies this letter ; and I hope you will find no difficulty in believing that all concerned in HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 7 I this college were, not barely willing, but proud of the opportunity of paying some attention to, and giving their approbation of, one of their own sons who had done them so much fionor by his public conduct. And, as it has been my peculiar happiness to know, perhaps more than any of them, your use- fulness in an important station, on that and some other accounts, there was none to whom it gave more satisfaction than to, sir. Your most obedient humble servant, J. WITHERSPOON. Hon. James Madison. I believe that this is the first instance in which Nassau Hall conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws upon one of her own alumni, so that his own language in reference to another is here very appro- priate to his own case ; " a distinguishing mark of honor, as there was never any of that kind done be- fore in " Princeton. His acknowledgment of the honor conferred upon him by his Alma Mater has, unfortunately, not been preserved. In March, 1788, Mr. Madison returned to Virginia, arriving only the day before the election of members of the State Convention. His speech or " sentiments from his own mouth " secured his election. Eight states had adopted the Constitution and the question of Union and Nationality, a stable Government and a glorious History depended upon the action of Vir- ginia. The battle was long and earnest; while Washington, Randolph, Pendleton, Marshall, Nicho- 72 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. las and many others of the ablest men were its champions, Henry, Mason, Monroe and others equally eminent were its stout opponents. The Convention was in session nearly four weeks and af- ter an animated general discussion participated in by the leading members, it was narrowed down to a contest between Henry and Madison, the eloquent, impassioned orator, and the calm, logical statesman. Mr. Madison spoke no less than thirty-five times in four days, and the final result was victory for the Con- stitution which was adopted by a vote of eighty-nine to seventy-nine ; Virginia joined her sisters, being preceded four days by New Hampshire, and the United States became an organized nation. It is no disparagement of others to say that this was due to the ability, learning, statesmanship and eloquence of Mr. Madison. In examining his manuscripts I have been struck with the extent of his studies up- on the subject of Government. The MS. that most interested me was Notes of Ancient and Modern Confederacies, preparatory to the federal Convention of 1787. In this he gives a summary account of the various Confederacies or Unions, such as the Lyci- an, the Amphictyonic, the Achaean, the Helvetic, &c. ; the synopsis in each case being followed by a state- ment of the Vices of the Constitution. This brief was employed by Mr. Madison in the Convention at Philadelphia and an Additional Memorandum show- ing the defect of mere Confederacies was also pre- pared by him for use in the Convention of Virginia. After the adoption of the Constitution by Virginia, HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 73 he returned to New York to attend the meetings of the last Continental Congress of which he was still a member. He desired to enter the more popular branch of Congress, under the new form of Government, but yielded his personal wishes and became a candidate for Senator. Through the exertions of Mr, Henry he was defeated, but he was chosen a Representative in Congress by a hand- some majority over Mr. Monroe, after an animated contest and in a district expressly arranged to defeat him. He continued a member of Congress during the whole of Washington's Administration. His conscientious convictions compelled him to differ from Mr. Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, in reference to fmancial questions. Hence he was obliged to separate from his former political friends and to assume an independent position which grad- ually became one of opposition. It was not in his na- ture to become a violent partisan and hence, although the ablest statesman if not the leader of the republi- can opposition, he retained the respect of the Fed- eral party and, above all, the confidence and warm friendship of Washington. When Jefferson return- ed from France, Madison was repeatedly offered the position of Ambassador to that country, but declined as he subsequently refused the office of Secretary of State when Jefferson retired from the Cabinet of Washington. He was the friend of the French rev- olution and advocated a policy adverse to England and favorable to France. His pen was at the ser- vice of his friends, and when Hamilton attacked Jef- 74 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. ferson, in reference to his views on Neutrality with France, in papers signed Pacificus, Madison was the author of the letters of Helvidius in reply. Gen- eral Washington desired to retire in i 793 and gave the outline of a Farewell Address to Mr. Madison which he filled up. This was subsequently enlarged by the President and formed the basis of what was submitted to Hamilton and Jay, and which was final- ly presented to the country as the Farewell Ad- dress OF George Washington, President, to the People of the United States. The original is now in the possession of James Lenox, Esq., of New York. On September 15, 1794, Mr. Madison married Mrs. Dolly Payne Todd, of Philadelphia, but who was a Virginian by birth. He desired to retire into private life but his friends resisted his wishes and even desired him to become a candidate for the po- sition of President. This he decidedly refused. He retired from public life in i 797 but was soon called forth from his privacy. The difficulties with France under the administration of Adams were fast plung- ing the country into war. The measures of the gov- ernment in response to the insults of France met with a hearty response from the people. The Alien and Sedition Laws, however, aroused considerable opposition and Mr. Madison prepared the now fa- mous " Resolutions of 1 798-99," which were offered in the Legislature of Virginia by John Taylor of Caroline, and which, undoubtedly, changed the cur- rent of political feeling. They insisted upon a strict HISTORY OF THK AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 75 construction of the Constitution and declared the Alien and Sedition Laws unconstitutional and dan- L^erous to the liberties of the commonwealth, and ap- pealed to the other states to co-operate in maintain- ing the rights and liberties of the states and the people. In 1 799 Mr. Madison was elected a mem- ber of the Virginia House of Delegates, where he prepared other Resolutions of a kindred character and presented his celebrated Report in reply to the remonstrances of some of the Northern States and in defence of these resolutions. In connexion with this subject I may state that Mr. Jefferson was him- self the author of the Kentucky resolutions of 1798, although he never acknowledged them and the fact became known to the public only after his death. These resolutions explicidy asserted the doctrine of nullification: the Virginia resolutions of 1798 and '99, prepared by Mr. Madison at the earnest solici- tation of Mr. Jefferson were not so extreme, and in later life Mr. Madison utterly disclaimed the doc- trine of nullification, and also declared that in these resolutions there was " not a shadow of countenance to the doctrine of nullification." He thus expressed himself in his retirement in reference to the Union : " The happy Union of these states is a wonder ; their Constitution a miracle ; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world. Woe to the am- bition that would meditate the destruction of either!" These obnoxious laws, leading to the resolutions of " '98 and 99," coupled with the Report of Madison, which ranks among the ablest state papers ever pro- 76 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. duced, caused the overthrow of the Federal party and the election of Mr. Jefferson as President. Mr. Madison was made Secretary of State, which position he held during the whole of Mr. Jefferson's adminis- tration from 1801 to 1809. He was identified with all the important public measures of the administra- tion, having to discuss with the different govern- ments of Europe or their ambassadors, some of the most difficult questions of international law, and to conduct negotiations of the utmost delicacy with Great Britain, France and Spain. I need but allude to the acquisition of Louisiana, the navigation of the Mississippi, the British orders in Council, the Berlin Decrees of Napoleon, and the affair of the Chesa- peake. To his wisdom and ability did Mr. Jeffer- son owe much of the success and popularity of his administration. Although Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison argued so strenuously in favor of a strict construction of the Constitution, and considered the Alien and Sedition Laws as in violation of its prin- ciples, contrary to the opinions of Washington and even of Patrick Henry, yet they favored the acqui- sition of Louisiana, which was confessedly in viola- tion of its provisions. Instead of an amendment to the instrument, which they considered necessary to legalize it, they accepted the broadest construction and acquired Louisiana under the treaty-making power and a simple act of Congress. This inter- pretation of the Constitution has ever since been ac- quiesced in and repeatedly acted upon by the Gov- ernment and the people. As historian, I merely re- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 77 cord the inconsistency of Mr. Madison in this mat ter, as also his subsequent change of opinion in ref- erence to a National Bank. The ablest writing by Mr. Madison while Secreta- ry of State was an unofficial document prepared during the summer of 1806. This was an Exami- nation of the Doctrines of National Law in refuta- tion of the British views as to the rights of neutrals in time of war. John Quincy Adams declared that there was nothing superior to this in all the diplo- matic papers of American statesmen, and that it was not inferior to the works of any writer upon the Law of Nations since the days of Grotius. He had conducted foreign affairs so admirably and was so familiar with them that it was deemed best that he should retain the direction of them. Hence, despite the opposition of Mr. Randolph and a few others, he was nominated by a caucus of Repub- lican members of Congress and triumphantly elected President to succeed Mr. Jefferson. It was well that a wise and prudent man was called to be the head of the nation at such a critical period in its history. The nation was slowly drifting into war, and no effort on the part of Mr. Madison could pre- vent it. The course both of England and France was exceedingly irritating and unjust, and non-in- tercourse was too mild a remedy. Napoleon did in- deed revoke the Berlin and Milan decrees, but Eng- land was too late in repealing her orders in Council, for War had been declared June 18, 181 2, five days before the repeal So reluctant was Mr. Madison 78 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. to declare war that it was seriously proposed not to renominate him for President on the ground of his lack of energy and his inclination to preserve peace. When this course was suggested in caucus, a shrewd old member arose and inquired, " what they would do if, within a few days, he sent in a war message ? " '' Then we will break him down on the horrors of war," was the reply. But his hold upon the party and upon the country was too strong for any oppo- sition, open or covert, and he was again nominated and elected. Efforts at negotiation proved fruitless, although they delayed the opening of hostilities for some months. Mr. Madison purposed appointing Mr. Clay to command the army, satisfied that his en- ergy and brilliant talents would make him successful in the conduct of the war. In this, however, he was overruled. The war by land and sea was a checkered scene of success and defeat. It lasted in reality but two years, and was terminated by the glorious victory at New Orleans, fought Jan'y 8, 1 815, two weeks after peace had been signed at Ghent. " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," for which the war had been undertaken, were not, however, secured by the treaty ; but all parties rejoiced at the conclusion of peace. The country had sustain- ed great losses, and yet came out of the war with greater strength and confidence than before, and the incidental and positive benefits to the nation were of no slight value. Mr. Madison devoted himself to all the measures, financial and commercial, that fa- vored the rapid recovery of the country. He was HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 79 succeeded in the Presidency, March 4, 181 7, by Mr. Monroe, who had been Secretary of State through- out his administration. Mr. Madison had been in public Hfe, with a slight interruption from 1797 to 1 799, for a period of more than forty years, and had witnessed the birth of the nation, its struggle for life and its growth to such power that it was able to con- tend successfully with the most powerful countries of the world. He had participated in the most impor- tant events of the national history, and occupied the most honored positions in the gift of a country grate- ful to one who had devoted his talents and his learning faithfully to her service. He retired into private life with the respect of all parties and the admiration of the people for his unsullied character and devoted patriotism. He devoted the remainder of his days to agricul- ture, literature and natural history, of which last he had always been very fond. He was given to hos- pitality, and Montpelier, his home, was the resort, not only of his immediate neighbors, but of many from remote places. After the death of Mr. Jeffer- son, in 1826, he became Rector of the University of Virginia, in the foundation of which he had been concerned, and of which he was a Visitor. Only once, however, did he come forth from his retire- ment. He consented to become a member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia, in 1829. Owing to his age and want of strength, he declined becoming its presiding officer, but his great wisdom was manifest in the advice he gave in reference to 8o HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. chanees in that Instrument which he assisted to frame more than half a century before. He poured oil on the troubled waters, and favored the compromise of conflicting interests. From Richmond he returned to his home to pass the remaining years of his life in his quiet retreat, engaged in those pursuits which became his age and position. As I have said before, a full history of his life would be a history of the na- tion for at least the half of its existence, for he en- tered public life just as it sprang into being. His character was so well rounded that it scarcely pre- sents any salient points to arrest the attention, and lacks that brilliancy which dazzles the imagination. He was never a zealous partisan, and hence his un- doubted honesty and sincere patriotism, coupled with his conciliatory manner, caused him to retain the warm regard of his political opponents. He was never so attached to his views as to be incapable of change ; hence, when the condition of the country, after the war of 1812, differed from that which pre- ceded, he was willing to change his opinion upon financial questions, and especially as to a National Bank. Better acquainted with our system of gov- ernment than any of the successors of Washington, and possessing a complete history of its formation in his record of the Debates of the Convention he was unwilling that this document should be used for party purposes. While taking the deepest interest in public affairs, he would not permit the publication of these precious memorials until he had himself passed away. He grew in the affection of the nation HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Si as time rolled on, and it has been said, with appar- ent truth, that before his death he stood second only to Washington in the regard of the people. In per- sonal appearance he was rather plain unless when animated, was below the middle height, and always dressed in black, usually having but one suit of clothes at a time, in order, it has been said, to im- press habits of economy upon some of his friends in Virginia. Always an invalid, yet his temper was ever unruffled; occupying through life the most promi- nent positions, his manners were simple, and his bear- ing modest and unaffected. He was not a brilliant orator, but was a close, logical speaker, and so ex- tensive had been the range of his studies, so well- digested was his knowledge, so thorough and accu- rate his memory, that his speeches exhausted the subject and his arguments were almost invincible. We have already given Mr. Jefferson's opinion of him as '* the first of every assembly of which he be- came a member." They were intimate friends for fifty years, hence Mr. Jefferson's opinion of his friend may not be impartial ; therefore we present the tes- timony of others. Mr. Rives quotes from an in- teresting letter written in 1857, by one who had heard Madison and Patrick Henry in the Virginia Convendon of 1 788, upon the Adoption of the Con- stitution : **The impressions made by the powerful ar- guments of Madison and the overwhelmingeloquence of Henry can never fade from my mind. I thought them almost supernatural. They seemed raised up by Providence, each in his way, to produce great re- 82 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. suits : the one, by his grave, dignified, and irresisti- ble arguments to convince and enlighten mankind ; the other, by brilliant and enrapturing eloquence to lead whithersoever he would. Although there were other brilliant stars in the convention, such as Pen- dleton, Wythe, Mason, &c., &c., &c., the discussion, after a few days, was narrowed down very much to Mr. Henry and Mr. Madison. They were both, at all times, great and interesting ; but the convention yielded gradually to the convincing and irresistible arguments of Madison, and adopted the Constitu- tion. These two eminent men seemed ever deeply impressed with the magnitude of the issues before them, and each to labor with his whole strength and energy to accomplish the object he had in view, — the one the adoption, the other the rejection of the Constitution." His administration occurred at a most critical period in the history of the nation. He had conducted the affairs of state with marked abil- ity under Mr. Jefferson and this was one great rea- son why he was selected over Mr. Clinton, the V^ice President, for the highest office. A man of peace, he was compelled to engage in war, and despite dis- aster at first, it was conducted to a successful issue. As Mr. Jefferson said, " Of the powers and polish of his pen, and the wisdom of his administration, I need say nothing. They have spoken and will for- ever speak for themselves." Mr. Gallatin pronounc- ed Mr. Madison to be, in his judgment, " the ablest man that ever sat in the American Congress ;" and Chief Justice Marshall, being asked who was the HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 83 most eloquent speaker he had ever heard, replied : " Eloquence has been defined to be the art of per- suasion. If it includes persuasion by convincing, Mr. Madison was the most eloquent man I ever heard. " The opinions of Jefferson, Gallatin and Marshall may be accepted as correct, and the lapse of time serves only to prove their truth. There was noth- ing to disturb the declining years of Mr. Madison save the attempt at ''Nullification" in 1832, which he very strongly condemned, while rejoicing in the successful measures of compromise which poured oil upon the troubled waters. His strength gradu- ally wasted away through the effects of several dis- eases, but his mind continued bright and active to the last, and in his correspondence I find a letter dated only the day before his decease. He always felt a deep interest in the prosperity of the American Whig Society, which he had founded in connexion with a band of noble young men, all of whom preceded him In their death. All the signers of the Declaration of Independence, all the signers of the Articles of Confederation, and all the signers of the Constitution, save himself, had passed away. Upon the 28th of June, 1836, the last of these patri- otic men, James Madison, the great and the good, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, passed from earth and his spirit went to God. Like Washington, he was childless. Mrs. Madi- son survived him many years, and her residence in Washington, D. C, was the favorite resort of the 84 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. most distinguished men of the nation, until her death, at the age of 82 years, July 12, 1849. His affection for his Alma Mater was shown by a legacy of one thousand dollars to the Library, and the exceedingly valuable Parliamentary History of England now upon its shelves constitutes a portion of that legacy. I cannot close this memoir more appropriately than by quoting his last counsels to the country he had loved and served so well. ADVICE TO xMY COUNTRY. As this advice, if it ever see the light, will not do so till I am no more, it may be considered as issuing from the tomb, where truth alone can be respected, and the happiness of man alone consulted. It will be entitled, therefore, to whatever weight can be de- rived from good intentions, and from the experience of one who has served his Country in various sta- tions through a period of forty years ; who espous- ed in his youth, and adhered through his life, to the cause of its liberty ; and who has borne a part in most of the great transactions which will constitute epochs of its destiny. The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is, That the Union of the States be CHERISHED AND PERPETUATED. LeT THE OPEN ENEMY TO IT BE REGARDED AS A PaNDORA WITH HER BOX OPEN- ED, AND THE DISGUISED ONE AS THE SERPENT CREEPING; WITH HIS DEADLY WILES INTO PARADISE. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 85 William Bradford was die great-grandson of Wil- liain Bradford, die first printer in Pennsylvania, who landed in 1682, where Philadelphia now stands, be- fore a house was built. The subject of this notice, the son of Col. Wm. Bradford, of the Revolutionary Army, and Rachel Budd, his wife, was born in Phila- delphia, Sept. 14th, 1755. He entered Nassau Hall in the spring of 1 769, became very intimate with Madison and was one of the founders of the Amer- ican Whig Society. His father had intended him for a business life, but such was his love of learning that the most tempting pecuniary offers could not induce him to forcQ^o the advantages of a liberal ed- ucation. He was a young man of fine talents and excellent scholarship, very popular with the faculty and his fellow students, who all predicted for him a brilliant career. He received the Valedictory at his graduation, the subject of his oration being " The Disadvantages of an unequal Distribution of Prop- erty in a State!' He passed a year more in Prince- ton, engaged in general study and in attending the lectures on Theology by Dr. Witherspoon. Mr. Madison, his intimate friend and correspondent, in one of his letters to him, says : " I think you made a judicious choice of History and the science of mor- als for your winter's study. They seem to be of the most universal benefit to men of sense and taste in every post, and must certainly be of great use to youth in settling the principles and refining the judg- ment, as well as in enlarging knowledge and correct- ing the imagination. I doubt not but you design to S6 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. season them with a little divinity now and then, which, like the philosopher's stone, in the hands of a good man, will turn them and every lawful acquire- ment into the nature of itself, and make them more precious than fine gold." He studied law with the Hon. Edward Shippen, subsequently Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. In 1 776, he entered the Continental Army, and rose to the rank of Colonel, but on account of delicate health, \vas obliged to resign in April, 1779, having been with the army at White Plains, Fredericksborough and Raritan, during 1778. He resumed his legal studies, was admitted to practise in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1779, and setded at Yorktown, in that state. His talents and attainments soon attracted public attention, and in 1780, when only 25 years of age, he was appointed Attorney General of the State, a position which he held until 1791, with ever increasing reputation. On August 2 2d, I 791, he was appointed one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ; and on Jan'y 28th, 1794, President Washington, who was personally acquainted with him and greatly admired his character and abilities, appointed him the second Attorney General of the United States to succeed Edmund Randolph, who had become Secretary of State. He remained in this office until his death, Aug. 23d, 1795. While Attorney General of Pennsylva- nia, in connexion with Joseph Reed, James Wilson and Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, he successfully pleaded the cause of Pennsylvania vs. Connecticut, before the Commissioners of Congress in reference HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 8/ to the Wyoming land titles. The correspondence and report to President Washington in reference to the " Whiskey Insurrection " in Pennsylvania, in I 794, were chiefly from his pen. It was in conse- quence of this able report, conciliatory in tone yet firm and dignified, that the President issued his proc- lamation, and called out the militia to enforce the laws and suppress rebellion. His celebrated report upon the criminal laws of Pennsylvania was drawn up at the request of Gov. Mifflin, and presented to the Legislature in Dec, 1792. It led to a great amelioration of these laws ; and in 1 794, the pun- ishment of death was abolished for all crimes except murder in the first degree. In 1782 he married Susan Vergereau, daughter of Dr. Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, and Commissary General of Prisoners during the Revolution. In the midst of a most promising career, as his judgment was ripening and his powers were beginning to exert their full influence, he was suddenly cut off He died at Rose Hill, an estate belonging to Dr. Boudinot, near Philadelphia, Aug. 23d, 1795, of a bilious fever, contracted by ex- posure in the discharge of his duties. Mrs. Brad- ford survived until 1855. One who knew him well says, " he advanced with a rapid progress, to an eminence of rep- utation which never was defaced by petty artifi- ces of practice, or ignoble associations of thought. His course was lofty as his mind was pure ; his elo- 88 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. quence was of the best kind ; his language was uni- formly classical." His style was modelled upon that of the best Eng- lish writers, and in the earlier period of his life he published a number of his poems in the magazines of Philadelphia. His report, or memorial, on crim- inal law was published in 1793, under the title, "An Inquiry how far the Punishment of Death is neces- sary in Pennsylvania, with Illustrations," and was well received, both in this country and in England. His splendid abilities, his great integrity, his clear judgment, his persuasive eloquence, his ardent patri- otism were crowned with the graces of the Christian character. Of Andrew Bryan, I know nothing. Israel Evans was of Welsh descent. His great- grandfather was a minister in Wales, his grandfather, the Rev. David Evans, and his father, the Rev. Sam- uel Evans, were Presbyterian ministers in Pennsyl- vania, where he was born. His father relinquished his pastoral charge of the Great Valley Church, in Penn'a, without the consent of the Presbytery, and made several voyages to England, so that he was disowned by the Synod in 1751. Israel Evans, with Fin ley and Hodge, spoke a ** Dialogue on the proper Employ me^it of the Time of Youth',' at the Commencement in 1772. He probably remained in Princeton after his graduation for the purpose of studying theology under Dr. Witherspoon. In May, 1775, the Presbytery of Philadelphia re- ported to the Synod that they had licensed to preach HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG S(X:IF:TY. 89 the gospel, Messrs. Philip Vicars Fithian, Andrew Hunter, Israel Evans, and Robert Keith, " since the annual meeting in 1774." All these were graduates of Nassau Hall in 1772, and members of the Whig Society. Mr. Evans and Mr. William Lynn were both ordained, in 1775, by the Presbytery of Phila- delphia, " to qualify them to act as chaplains in the army, to which they had been appointed." Mr. Evans served as chaplain to the New Hampshire Brigade from 1777 until the close of the Revolu- tionary war. He was pastor of the Congregational Church in Concord, N. H., from July ist, 1789 until July, 1797, when he resigned his charge. He con- tinued to reside in Concord until his death, March 9th, 1807. He published a number of sermons preached upon special occasions. Besides an Ora- tion at Hackensack at the interment of General Enoch Poor, i 780, there are a sermon at York, Va., on " the memorable occasion of the surrender of the British Army, &c.," I78i,a Thank^iving Sermon at New York for the blessings of independence, lib- erty and peace, 1783, and others. Ebenezer Finley, a son of the Rev. Samuel Finley, D. D., the fifth President of Nassau Hall, was a native of Nottingham, Md. At his graduation he maintained the following Thesis : " Amo7^ Patrice non debet Virtus haberi, 7iisi ad Benevolejitiam erga Uni- vei^sos referaturr He studied medicine and became a physician of some eminence in Charleston, S. C. His mother, Sarah Hall, a woman of rare excellence died in 1760 and his father in 1766. 90 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Philip Vicars Fithian was a native of Cumberland Co., N. J. At the Commencement he supported the Thesis, " Political Jealousy is a laudable Passion^ In connexion with his classmate, Andrew Hunter, and about forty other young patriots, he assisted in the destruction of a cargo of tea at Greenwich, N. J. This cargo had been brought over by the ship Grey- hound, which sailed up the Cohansey Creek and de- posited the tea in the cellar of a store-house which is still standing. In imitation of the proceedings of the Whigs of Boston in 1773, and animated by the same patriotic spirit, this company of young men, disguised as Indians, assembled on the evening of Nov. 22d, 1774, removed the chests of tea from the store-house, conveyed them to an adjoining field and there burned them. The efforts to indict these young men failed because the Sheriff and jurymen were Whigs ; and the suits brought against them were dropped when the Revolution broke out. Mr. Fithian had been engaged in the study of theology for some time, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1775. The Synod of New York and Philadelphia appointed him to supply three months under the Presbytery of Donegal, three months under that of Hanover, and as much time as he could before their next meeting under that of Orange ; and he is reported to the Synod as having fulfilled this mission. He receiv- ed his degree of A. M. in i 775, but was not ordained, as he died in i 776. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 9J James Grier, son of John and Agnes (Caldwell) Grier, who immigrated from Ireland to this country shortly after their marriage, was born at Deep Run, Bucks Co., Pa., about 1750. He was hopefully con- verted under the preaching of Whitefield. He be- came a student of Nassau Hall where he was gradu- ated with the Latin Salutatory, his subject being '' De U till tat e Scientiariim excolejidartimy He was ap- pointed Tutor in the College in 1773, in which posi- tion he remained until 1774. at the same time pur- suing his theological studies under Dr. Wither- spoon. He was licensed to preach the Gospel by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1775. He was ordained by the same Presbytery, in 1 778, and in- stalled pastor of the church at Deep Run, where he remained until his death. He also supplied the church at Tinnecum for some years. His health became so feeble that for some time previous to his death he delivered his sermons in a sitting posture. He preached his last sermon on Sunday, November 1 8th, 1 79 1, and died the next day from the rupture of a blood-vessel in the lungs. He was a fine schol- ar, an excellent and instructive preacher, had a deep sonorous voice, but never spoke loud ; he used but few gestures, and yet so earnest and impressive was his manner that " it was not possible to hear him preach and refrain from tears." A younger brother, his only son and two nephews, became ministers of the Gospel in the Presbyterian Church. Andrew Hodge was the son of Andrew Hodge, who emigrated to this country from the North of 92 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Ireland in 1730, and married Miss Jane McCullough, in Philadelphia in i 739. He became a weakhy mer- chant, was one of die founders of die Second Presbyte- rian Church in that city, and died in 1789. His son, Andrew, was born in Philadelphia in March, 1 753. He became a student of Nassau Hall, and was orfaduated o Sept. 30, 1772. At the Commencement he took part with Messrs. Evans and Finley in a Dialogue on " The proper ernpLoynient of the Time of YotUhy Immediately after his graduation he commenced studying law in the office of Gov. Reed, in Philadel- phia. He was thus engaged until after the break- ing out of the Revolution. His patriotism led him to join the First City Troop of Philadelphia, which was Washington's Body Guard, and he participated in the battle of Trenton, Dec. 26, 1777. Shortly before the close of the war he enoraored in commer- cial business with his younger brother, Hugh, (after- wards Dr. Hodge,) until 1783, when the firm was dissolved. He continued in business until about 1806, when the embargo and his impaired health caused him to retire from active life. He resided partly in Philadelphia and partly with his son-in-law, Dr. Rose, in Susquehanna Co., Pa., until his death, which occurred at Philadelphia in May, 1835. Andrew Hunter, Jr., was the son of Col. David Hunter, an officer of the British Army, and nephew of the Rev. Andrew Hunter, and was born near Winchester, Va., in 1747. At his graduadon he defended the Proposition, '' A mixed Mo7iarchy is the best For in of Government!' But he evidently did HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 93 lot approve of all the acts of the " Mixed Monar- :hy " of which he was a subject ; for he, with his :lassmate Fithian, was a member of the band of pa- xiotic young men who, on the 2 2d of November, [1774, destroyed the cargo of tea landed by the ship rreyhound at Greenwich, N. J. He studied theolo- and with his classmates, Fithian, Evans and [eith, is reported to the Synod of New York and liladelphia, in May, 1775, as having been licensed preach the Gospel, by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia, since the last meeting of the Synod, in 774. The Synod appointed Messrs. Keith, Hun- ter, Jr., and Fithian, to supply, each of them, three lonths under the care of the Presbytery of Done- il, three under that of Hanover, and as much time as they could under that of Orange until the next meeting, when they are all reported as having ful- filled their missions, Mr. K. having received forty- two pounds for a year's service, and Mr. H., nineteen pounds and ten shillings for his service of eight months. He was ordained to the ministry in 1778 and was present at the meeting of the Synod in 1779. He acted as a brigade chaplain in the Revo- lutionary army until the close of the war, and was present at the meetings of the Synod in 1784, '86, '^y and '88. The minutes of the General Assembly state that he was at Woodbury, N. J., in 1794, and in 1803 mention him as without charge in the Pres- bytery of New Brunswick. He had resigned his charge in consequence of ill health. In 1 788 he was elected a Trustee of the College of New Jersey, 94 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. which position he continued to hold until 1803, when he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and As- tronomy. He resigned in 1808, having been ap- pointed a chaplain in the Navy through the influence of his friend, Mr. Madison. Notwithstanding his weak lungs and impaired health, he continued to dis- charge the duties of chaplain and also of a profes- sor in the Navy with great acceptance, until his death at Washington, D. C., in Feb., 1823, aged 76. Among his children are Gen. David Hunter, U. S. A., Dr. Lewis Hunter, U. S. N., and the wife of the Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge. Robert Keith was a native of Pennsylvania, and at his graduation opposed Mr. Finlay on the follow- ing Thesis : " Amor Patrice no?i debet Virtus haberi, nisi ad Benevole7itiam erga Universos 7^eferatiiry He studied theology and was licensed by the first Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1774. Under the di- rection of the Synod he preached in the Presbyter- ies of Donegal, Hanover and Orange for a year, re- ceiving forty-two pounds for his labor. He was ap- pointed a chaplain in the army, and was ordained by the Philadelphia Presbytery in 1776, to qualify him for this office. He continued to discharge his duties throughout the Revolutionary war, having been present at the meeting of the Synod only in 1782, when he was a member of the Committee on over- tures. He was never a permanent minister, but en- gaged in missionary labors after the close of the war. He died in 1784. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 95 William Linn was born near Shippensburg, Pa., ?Feb. 27th, 1752. • He was the eldest of a large fam- ily. He received his classical education under the .ev. George Duffield, of Carlisle, (afterwards Dr. ;iDuffield, of Philadelphia,) and the Rev. Robert Smith, ►f Pequea. He made a profession of religion at ^the latter school, and determined to devote himself [to the Christian ministry. Entering the Sophomore ^Class at Princeton in 1 769 he was graduated with a ligh reputation for scholarship in 1772, the subject bf his speech at the Commencement being " Inde- "iendence of Thought^ Returning home he studied ^theology under the Rev. Dr. Robert Cooper, of Mid- [dlespring, Pa., for some time, then taught a select [school in Philadelphia for a year, afterwards resumed lis theological studies under Dr. C, and was licens- ed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Don- legal in April, 1775. He was a zealous patriot, and [became the chaplain of Gen. Thompson's regiment fwhich was raised in the vicinity of Carlisle in 1776, fWhen he was ordained by the Presbytery which had [licensed him. For family reasons he could not ac- [company his regiment to Canada, and therefore re- signed his chaplaincy and became pastor of the :hurch at Big Spring, Pa., where he remained for [six years. In 1 784 he took charge of an Academy at Somerset, Md., whence he was called to the Pres- byterian Church in Elizabethtown, N. J., in 1786. His reputation as a preacher was so great that in a few months he was called to be one of the Associate Pastors of the Reformed Dutch Church in New q6 history of the AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. York. Here he remained for twenty years, one of the most eloquent and attractive preachers of his day. In consequence of faiHng health he resigned in 1807, and removed to Albany, where he preached as his strength permitted, and died Jan'y 8th, 1808, in the 56th year of his age. The death of his ac- complished and distinguished son, the Rev. Dr. John Blair Linn, in 1804, was a blow from which he never recovered. Another son, the Hon. Archibald Laid- lie Linn, was a member of Congress from 1841 to 1843. Several volumes of his sermons have been published, besides other productions of his pen. Among his sermons was one preached at Carlisle, Pa., March 17th, 1776, before a regiment of soldiers, who were about leaving home to enter the Army. A man of genius and learning, a patriotic citizen, a preacher of power and eloquence, he left behind him the memory of a good name. Of William Smith Livingston I know nothing be- yond the fact that he died before 1 800. In the Tri- ennial Catalogue he has evidently been confounded with some other of our distinguished graduates of the same name, for his name is not marked in capi- tals in the editions of 1800 and 1804. Oliver Reese at his graduation delivered an Ora- tion on ''Passive Obedience and Non- Resistance!' He studied theology, and was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of New^ Brunswick in 1773. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Wilton Presbyterian Church in South Carolina in 1775. He was evidently a young man of consider- FlISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 97 able promise, for the congregation was pleased with his settlement over them, celebrating the event by a fine entertainment. He did not, however, remain with them for any length of time ; he died within a year after he became their pastor. Hugh Hodge, a younger brother of Andrew Hodge of the class of 1772, was born in Philadel- phia, Aug. 20, 1755, and was graduated at Nassau Hall in 1773. He delivered the Valedictory Ora- tion, the subject being " The Government and Policy of States!' He studied medicine with Dr. John Cadwalader, and, when the Revolution- ary war broke out, his pa-triotism induced him to offer his services to his country. He was appointed Surgeon of the First Battalion, Cadwalader Brigade. He served a short time, and was captured by the British at Fort Washington, N. Y. He was released on parole through the exertions of Robert Morris, the great financier of our Revolution, who thus speaks of him in one of his letters to Gen. Washing- ton : Phila., 23 Dec, 1776. "There is a Doctor Hodge, Surgeon to Colonel Cadwalader's battalion of Pennsylvania, now prison- er in New York, a young man of much merit, and his abilities in his profession would render him very use- ful could he be exchanged." Being upon parole he engaged in mercantile pur- suits with his brother Andrew ; but owing to cap- tures at sea, and other causes, they were not very 98 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. successful. He resumed the practice of his profes- sion about 1 788 or '89, and rose to eminence in connection with Drs. Benjamin Rush and Caspar Wistar. In 1 790 he married Miss Maria Blanchard, daughter of Joshua Blanchard, Esq., of Boston, Mass. His children were Dr. Hugh Lenox Hodge, of Phil'a, and the Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge, of Prince- ton. He died in Philadelphia, July 14, 1788. His eminence as a physician, and his excellence as a man caused his death to be felt as a great loss to the community in which he had always lived, and where he had been so useful, especially in the malignant fever that desolated Philadelphia in i 793. He was one of the earliest members of the Amer- ican Whig Society, and his diploma is the earliest in date that I have been able to find. For the use of it upon this occasion I am indebted to his son, Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, of Philadelphia, who has also risen to great eminence in his profession. Omnibus Literarum studiosis sit notum Hugonem Hodge liberalibus Artibus eru- ditum, Societatis vulgo dictae Americana Whiggensis Socium fuisse, seque fidelem probumque in omnibus praestitisse. In omni itaque Tempore, quoad se bene ges- serit, Commoditates Beneficiaque hujus In- STiTUTiONis suo jurc. Quorum in Testimo- nio, commune Societatis Sigillum huic Membranae est affixum, Nominaque quo- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 99 rundam ejusdem Societatis Consociorum scripta sunt infra. THOMAS H. M'CAULLE, JOANNES B. SMITH, JOANNES PECK, STEPHANUS B. BALCH. Datum in Aula Whig- GENsiUM, apud Collegi- um Novae Caesariae, un- decimo Calendarum Septembris, Annoque Domini 1773. It is written in current hand on a piece of parchment seven inches and three quarters in length and nine inches and a quarter in breadth. The Seal contains in the centre a gentleman in the same attitude and costume as upon the seal of the Plain- Dealing Society, and holding in his hand the motto, Union. From this period until the breaking out of the Revolutionary War our catalogue teems with the names of men who became distinguished in the field and in the forum. I should be glad to honor all the sons of Nassau Hall upon this day, and if I men- tion the names of Whigs only it is because of the occasion that has called us together. Four years ago we joined most cordially in all that my lament- ed colleague uttered in honor of the distinguished members of Clio Hall, who have reflected so much lOO HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. credit upon our sister Society and upon our common Alma Mater. There are a few names which appear upon both catalogues. This has arisen from the fact that in the earlier history of the Societies persons did some- times pass from one to the other; but no instance of this kind has occurred since the treaty of March 6, 1799. It may be well to state some facts here in refer- ence to a few of these narnes. I have carefully ex- amined some very ancient records of the Whig So- ciety, which antedate the Minutes of the Faculty. I have carefully compared them with the College Rec- ords, with the printed accounts of College affairs that appeared in the newspapers of 1 769 and the subsequent years down into the Revolution, with my own knowledge within the last quarter of a cen- tury, and finally with a record made by Prof. Giger in reference to certain matters from 1782 to 1847; and their essential cori^ectjiess has surprised me. I, therefore, feel the utmost confidence in their truth- fulness, even as to the few years in which I had not the means of comparison. In these records such men as Gen. Henry Lee, of the class of 1773, "light- horse Harry " of the Revolution, and author of that immortal tribute to the Father of his Country, "First IN WAR, first in PEACE, AND FIRST IN THE HEARTS (^F HIS COUNTRYMEN," Henry Brockholst Livingston, ot the class of 1774, the distinguished jurist and Judge of the Supreme Court, Jonathan Mason, of the same class, Samuel Doak, the first President of Washing- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. IQI ion College, Tenn., and Isaac Tichenor, U. S. Sen., Chief Justice and Gov. of Vermont, of the class of 1775, appear as members- of the Whig Society at the time of their gradtcati on. These names, and one or two others, appear upon the Clio Catalogue also, but at an earlier period in their college course. My explanation is, that while they may have entered the Cliosophic Society at first, yet they were graduated from the American Whig Society. Whatever be the truth in the matter, we can all join in honoring their memory as worthy sons of Nassau Hall, and, perhaps, attribute their eminence to the fact that they received the admirable training of both So- cieties. The first name in the class of 1773 is that of the Rev. James F. Armstrong, whose patriotism led him to join a volunteer company in the Revolution, and who, on July 17, 1778, was appointed by Congress " Chaplain of the Second Brigade of the Maryland Forces." He was in the Southern campaign that closed with the decisive victory of Yorktown, and contracted in the service of his country a rheumatic disease which attended him all his life. He was for thirty years pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, and for twenty-six years a Trustee of this College. David Bard was both a minister of the Gospel and a Representative in Congress from Pennsylvania. James Dunlap was President and Professor of Lan- guages and Moral Philosophy in Jefferson College, Pa. I02 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. William Graham, the ardent patriot, in order to en- courage others, was the first to enrol himself as a member of a volunteer company of riflemen. Min- ister as he was, he was unanimously elected captain of the company, which was immediately formed. He founded Liberty Hall, which, pardy through his exertions, was endowed by Washington, and is now Washington College, in Va. Dr. Archibald Alex- ander, who was one of his pupils, remarks, " that the extent of the influence exerted by this one man over the literature and religion of Virginia cannot be estimated. As the stream which fertilizes a large district is small in its origin, but goes on continually increasing until it becomes a mighty river, so the in- fluence of the Rev. William Graham did not cease when he died, but has gone on increasing by means of his disciples, who have been scattered far and wide over the South and West." Of Hugh Hodge I have already spoken. Andrew King, John Linn and Samuel Waugh, all became ministers of the Gospel. John McKnight was a prominent pastor in Istew York for twenty years, and was for a while Presi- dent of Dickinson College, Pa. John Blair Smith, a younger brother of Sam- uel Stanhope Smith, was a preacher upon whose lips multitudes hung breathless, a patriot who raised a company of volunteers from among his students and his congregation, and as their Captain marched sword in hand, joined the army and pur- sued the British legions who were ravaging lower HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 103 V'ireinia. He succeeded his brother as President of Hampden Sidney College, Va., and was the first President of Union College, N. Y. Thus from this one class the American Whig So- ciety sent forth Henry Lee, one of the most distin- guished soldiers, who was also Governor of his native state and represented her in Congress, ten ministers of the Gospel, one of whom was a promi- nent member of Congress, and four of whom, Dun- lap, Graham, M' Knight and Smith, were Presidents of Colleges, two of these last being founders of the institutions over which they presided. Stephen Bloomer Balch, of the class of 1774, af- ter his graduation taught an Academy in Md., and used to have the guns of his pupils stacked in the corner of his school room ready to repel the enemy. He founded the church in Georgetown, D. C, and was its beloved and honored pastor for fifty years. I never saw him, but after his death I worshipped for years in the church to which he had ministered, and where his remains now lie. Of Henry Brockholst Livingston I have spoken. Samuel Leake was a successful lawyer in Trenton. Thomas H. Maccaulle, a patriot of the Revolution, who accompanied his congregation to the camp, was beside Gen. William Davidson, when he fell at the batde of Catawba Ford, N.-C, Feb. i, 1781. He was President of Wynnsborough College, S. C. Jonathan Mason, a Boston boy, one of the ninety- six attestators of the Boston Massacre, became an eminent lawyer, a U. S. Representative and Senator. I04 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Wm. Stevens Smith was a member of Congress. David Witherspoon, son of President Wither- spoon, was graduated with distinguished honor at the early age of fourteen, and became a successful lawyer in North Carolina. In 1775, we find John D. Blair, who founded the Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va., a popular preacher and a polished gentleman ; Thomas B. Craighead, a minister of great ability, but erroneous views ; Isaac Stockton Keith, an able minister in Charleston, S. C. ; Charles Lee, Attorney General of the United States under Washington and Adams, from 1 791 to 1801 ; Spruce Macay, Judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina ; James M'Cree, an eminent minister in North Carolina, Samuel Doak, and Isaac Tichenor already alluded to. and others. In 1776 we find William R. Davie, an officer in Count Pulaski's legion, delighting to lead a cavalry charge, and to engage in a contest hand to hand. He was wounded severely at Stono ; expended his last shilling to equip the corps he commanded. He was a Brigadier General in the Revolution, a mem- ber of the Convention which formed the Constitu- tion, was Governor of North Carolina, and Minister to France. John Rutherford, who was a nephew of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, was one of the first Presidential Electors, a U. S. Senator from New Jer- sey, and the last survivor of the Senators who were in Congress under the administration of Washington. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN V/HIG SOCIETY. 105 Thus close the first eight years of the existence ►f the Society. The names that I have given you •e taken from a Hst of only eighty-one members, hig Hall sent forth her sons to battle for the right the times that tried men's souls. The Revolution [most destroyed the Whig Society, and no meetings rere held for some time. The College was dis- nded for a while, and when it resumed operations lere were but ten students. There was but a sin- gle Whig in the class of 1777; and in 1782 there ras but one member of the Society in College, .nd yet the men who were graduated at this period jcame as distinguished as their predecessors. Let le but name some of them. Matthew M'Allister, attorney General of Georgia ; George Merchant, rwho was graduated with the first honor, and pre- served the records of the Society from destruction fat the hands of the soldiery ; James Riddle, Judge [of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; Richard ^Stockton, son of the signer of the Declaration of Independence, U. S. Representative and Senator ifrom New Jersey, a Trustee of Princeton College for twenty-seven years, and one of the ablest law- yers this country has ever produced ; Abraham B. Venable, a U. S. Representative and Senator from Virginia. There were but two Whigs in the class of 1 781 ; and yet who were they ? One was William Branch Giles, of Virginia, afterwards Governor of his native state, a Representative in Congress for ten years, a Senator for eleven years, and an erratic statesman but one of the ablest Virginia has pro- I06 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WPHG SOCIETY. duced. The other was Edward Livingston, mem- ber of Congress for twelve years, a Senator of the United States, Secretary of State, and Minister to France. An able lawyer, an eminent jurist, more profoundly learned in the Civil Law than any one in America, he not only obtained the highest rewards of his profession, but the widest reputation both in Europe and in his native land. His "System of Penal Law," prepared for the Legislature of Louisi- ana, his own unaided work, is not merely a monu- ment of his great learning, wisdom and philanthro- py, but has been received throughout the civilized world as an " eternal possession," proving him to be '* the first Legal genius of modern times," and plac- ing him among the great lawgivers of the world, the benefactors of their race. In reference to the condition of the Colleo-e, and the revival of the Society at the close of the Revo- lution, I cannot, present anything more satisfactory than the account given by Dr. Ashbel Green in his autobiography. The member of the Society who had most of the Records of the Society in his possession was Mr. George Merchant, then residing in, or near Princeton. The lady who had some of the furniture was Mrs. Annis Stockton, the wife of Richard Stockton, the signer of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. Tradition says that for some time the Rec- ords were in her keeping, but that her curiosity HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 107 never induced her to attempt to penetrate the veil that was thrown over these transactions. She was r\er after considered a member of the American Whig Society, was consulted freely in reference to its interests, and at her death the Whig Society at- tended her remains to their last resting place on earth. This last fact I have from the lips of Col. John R. C. Smith, of Philadelphia, of the class of 180T, who still survives, and who was a member at the time of her death. A woman of gentle virtues, of patriotic character, of elegant tastes and literary culture, she needs not my praise on this occasion. American Whigs delight to honor her memory, and by your action of to-day, her name is henceforth to appear in your Catalogue among the Honorary Members of the Society. Ashbel Green and Samuel Beach determined to unite with and revive the American Whig Society. Messrs. James F. Armstrong, George Merchant, Richard Stockton and other orraduate members ac- cordingly met and admitted to membership Ashbel ' Green, Samuel Beach, Joseph Riddle; Derrick Ten : Eyck, Conrad Elmendorf, Peter R. Livingston, Wil- ! liam Clements, and another, who was shortly after- wards expelled, and whose subsequent admission I into the Cliosophic Society was the occasion of con- siderable difficulty between the Societies. The So- ciety was revived in an upper room of Nassau Hall, and subsequently met in the College Library, which was situated in the third (now second) story of Nas- I08 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. sail Hall, until their own room was repaired and furnished. The Society soon began to increase in numbers ; there were earnest contests, called " paper wars," between the two Societies, which consisted in reading satires and attacks upon one another in the Prayer Hall, or in attaching them to the door ; and the Whigs felt that they were the victors in these con- tests. The evils, however, that resulted were of such a character that the Faculty, at last, interfered and commanded peace. Upon July 4th, 1783, the national Jubilee was cel- ebrated at Princeton, and the Literary Societies for the first time in their history appointed ^Orators to represent them before a public audience. Upon this occasion, Ashbel Green was the representative of the American Whig Society, and Gilbert T. Snow- den of the Cliosophic Society. The subject of Mr. Green's speech was " The supej^ioi^iiy of a republi- can government over any other form!' In consequence of a mutiny among the soldiers in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress had adjourn- ed to meet in Princeton. They held their meetings in the Library of Nassau Hall. Dr. Boudinot, a Trustee of the Colleo^e, was the President of Con- gress, and that body adjourned to hear the youthful orators. The lot was in favor of Mr. Green, and thus an American Whig had the honor of speaking first upon so interesting an occasion. The New Jersey Gazette contained the following advertise- ment: HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 109 Princeton, June 20th, 1783. '' The anniversary of the independence of Amer- ica will be celebrated in the College by two orations delivered by young gentlemen appointed for that purpose by the two Literar)i Societies established in the Institution, in which they propose not only to pay the tribute that is due to their country from youth engaged in the pursuits of science, but to em- ulate each other in the opinion of a polite assem- bly for the honor of their respective Societies." In his autobiography. Dr. Green gives the follow- ing account of the matter : •' The national Jubilee, the 4th of July, was to be celebrated ; and then occurred the first instance of the Whig and Cliosophic Societies appointing each an orator, to represent them as speaker before a public audience. I had the honor to be the Whig representative, and my Cliosophic competitor was a classmate, by the name of Gilbert T. Snowden. It was considered as a point of some importance which orator should speak first. This was decided by lot, and the lot was in my favor. The subject of my oration was, * The superiority of a republica7i gov- ernment over any other form! * ♦ ♦ Congress made a part of. our audience, and the orators of the day were invited by the President of Congress to dine with him and his .other invited guests, at his quarters, which were with his sister, then a widow, at her seat in Morven." I lo HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. At the Commencement in 1783, Ashbel Green was the Valedictorian. It may be interesting to notice the fact that in 1769, the year of its founda- tion, to the Whig Society were assigned the Latin Sakitatory and the Valedictory; in 1776, the year of the nation's birth, the Latin and the English Saluta- tories ; in 1847, the Centennial of the College, the English Salutatory and the Valedictory ; and in 1869, the Centennial of the Society, the Valedictory has been awarded to it. At the Commencement in 1783 occurred that incident, memorable in the His- tory of tlie College and of the American Whig So- ciety. General Washington was present upon the occasion, the only instance, probably, in which he at- tended a Colleore Commencement. Youne Green concluded his Valedictory with an eloquent address to the great leader of our armies, the Father of his Country. It was eminently appropriate that in this place, where the tide of battle had turned in our favor, and almost on the spot where I am now standing, a member of the American Whig Society, should thank the great Leader of the Whigs of the Revolution for his distinguished services. Dr. Green thus describes the most interesting Com- mencement Nassau Hall has ever witnessed : " The church in Princeton had been repaired dur- ing the summer (1783) which preceded the Com- mencement at which I received my bachelor's de- gree. An extended stage, running the length of the pulpit side of the church, had been erected; and as the President of Congress was a Trustee of the HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I I I College, and the President of the College had re- cently been a distinguished member of Congress, and that body itself had been accommodated in the college edifice, an adjournment to attend Commence- ment seemed to be demanded by courtesy, and was readily agreed on. We accordingly had on the stage, with the Trustees and the graduating class, the whole of the Congress, the Ministers of France and Holland, and Commander-in-Chief of the Amer- ican Army. The valedictory oration had been as- signed to me, and it concluded with an address to General Washington. I need not tell you, that both in preparing and delivering it, I put forth all my powers. The General colored as I addressed him, for his modesty was among the qualities which so highly distinguished him. The next day, as he was going to attend on a committee of Congress, he met me in one of the long entries of the college ed- ifice, stopped and took me by the hand, and compli- mented me on my address, in language which I should lack his modesty if I repeated it, even to you. After walking and conversing with me for a few minutes, he requested me to present his best wishes for their success in life to my classmates, and then went to the committee room of Congress." This valedictory was published in a newspaper, October, 1783, edited by Mr. Shepard Kollock, at Chatham, in Morris Co., N. J. All efforts to find a copy of this paper have proved fruitless. It was at this time that '' General Washington made a present of fifty guineas to the Trustees of I I 2 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. the College, which they laid out in a full length " portrait of him, painted by the elder Peale, of Philadelphia. This picture * now occupies the place, and it is affirmed the very frame, which contained the picture of George the Second, and which was decapitated by Washington's artillery. There is a representation in the background of this picture of the batde of Princeton, in which Gen. Mercer, prostrate, wounded and bleeding, holds a conspicuous place." This portrait differs from that by Stuart. A Mr. Van Horn, who frequendy saw General Washing- ton when his father's house, near Rocky Hill village, was the General's Headquarters, used to pro- nounce it a most admirable likeness. The portrait of Mercer was painted from his brother, but so strong was the family likeness that the late Col. Mercer, of Fredericksburg, Va., could readily be recognized as the son of General Mercer, from his resemblance to this portrait. The flag borne by the standard-bearer is, of course, an anachronism, as the present form of the national flag, the stars and STRIPES, had not yet been adopted. The picture formerly hung against the projecting portion of the eastern wall in the present library. Prof. Giger has alluded to the fact that in 1814, when this Valedictorian of 1 783 was President of Nassau Hall, the hero of Lundy's Lane, with wounds still fresh, and laurels yet unwithered, was in like manner addressed by Bloomfield Mcllvaine, the Valedictorian, and a member of the Cliosophic So- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I I 3 ciety. Gen. Scott gives an account of this interest- ing occurrence in his autobiography. I had the narration, however, from his own hps, and I may here state what he added in his conversa- tion with me. He remarked : ** There was quite a number of Virginians among the students at that time who were members of the Whig Society ; and although, Hke Shakespeare, I knew * small Latin and less Greek,' yet they would have it that I was a very learned scholar, and therefore elected me an Hono- rary Member of the American Whig Society." I can but glance at the history of the Society from the close of the Revolutionary war until the end of the last century. The Fathers, who have now pass- ed away, gathered the precious memorials of those days, and American Whigs delight to recall those times when their representatives bore off almost constantly the highest honors of the College. To call the roll of the distinguished members of the Whig Society for the next twenty years would give no mean idea of its history. I select but a few prominent names, towering peaks of an elevated mountain range. James A. Bayard, 1784, U. S. Representative and Senator, and Minister to France; Robert Goodloe Harper, 1785, who at the age of fifteen, before he entered College, was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army under Gen. Greene, and who became an eminent lawyer, a U. S. Represen- tative and Senator; Robert Finley, 1787, for twelve years a Trustee of our College, President of the University of Georgia, and founder of the American I 14 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Colonization Society ; David Stone, i 788, Governor and Chief Justice of North CaroHna ; Smith Thomp- son, 1788, Secretary of the Navy and Judge of the U. S. Supreme Court; Mahlon Dickerson, 1789, Governor of New Jersey, U. S. Senator for sixteen years, and Secretary of the Navy ; David Hosack, 1 789, the eminent physician, and who was made a member of the Royal Societies of London and Edin- burgh ; William Johnston, 1790, Judge of the U. S. Supreme Court ; John Taylor, Governor of South Carolina, U. S. Representative and Senator ; Jacob Burnet, 1791, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, U. S. Senator, and upon the nomination of Lafay- ette elected a member of the French Academy ; Joseph Caldwell, 1791, President of the University of North Carolina; John Henry Hobart, 1793, a most earnest and enthusiastic American Whig, one of the most distinguished Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country ; George W. Campbell, i 794, U. S. Representative and Senator, U. S. District Judge, Secretary of the Treasury, and Minister to Russia; John Sergeant, 1794, a distin- guished lawyer, and U. S. Representative ; Freder- ick Beasley, 1797, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania ; also Charles Fenton Mercer, U. S. Representative, the first American Whig who deliv- ered the Oration before the Literary Societies of the College; Richard Rush, Secretary of the Treas- ury, Minister to Great Britain and to France ; John Watson, a most admirable linguist, who learned to read Horace without a grammar HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I 15 or an instructor, and with only a part of a lexi- con, and whose modesty was so great that he de- clined any honor, although he might have had the first honor in his class, and who yet became the President of Jefferson College ; Charles Ewing, 1 798, Chief Justice of New Jersey, and Thomas Sergeant, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania ; John Forsyth, 1 799, Governor of Georgia, U. S. Reprsentative and Sen- ator, and Secretary of State ; James Carnahan, 1800, President of the College of New Jersey for thirty- one years ; Jacob Lindly, first President of the Uni- versity of Ohio. The present century opened with the names of ofreat men, but I have not time even to allude to them. Students were from the earliest times elected members of the American Whig Society, solely on the ground of character and scholarship. Unless they were free from censure, and maintained a high stand in their class, they could neither become, nor remain, members of the Society. I must confess that the testimony, written and oral, official and pri- vate, in reference to this point, which has been pre- sented to me in the course of my investigations, has surprised me. I make simply this general statement because I am precluded from exhibiting the proofs to the public gaze. Sometimes men were not ad- mitted to the Society until they were examined by the Faculty, and recommended for a degree. Dr. Carnahan, so long the able President of Nassau Hall, was graduated with the First Honor in 1800. He once stated, in reference to the period between I I 6 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I 790 and 1800, that he doubted " whether any other ten successive years, since the origin of the Society, so decidedly prosperous, could be found." In 1797 and 1798, in consequence of certain difficulties within the Society, some of its members left and en- tered the Cliosophic Society. After remaining there a year or eighteen months, they left that Society also, and again applied for admission into the Whig Society, but were refused. Neither could they be readmitted among the Clios. To prevent these em- igrations from one Society to the other, and the con- sequent demoralization of their members, the two Societies entered into the following treaty, March 6, 1799-' " The American Whig and Cliosophic Societies of the College of New Jersey, having taken into consideration their mutual relations, have appointed Thomas Miller, John Forsyth, and Henry G. Wisner, on the part of the former, and Isaac Meason, Fred- erick Nash, and John Van Dyke, on the part of the latter, to enter into an agreement on the subject of the following articles, viz. : Article I. The A. W. & C. Societies do pledge themselves to each other not to admit any person dismissed from or who shall have been connected with the one, into the other after the present time. Article II. The above mentioned Societies, wish- ing to prevent discontent among their respective members, and deeming it necessary thereto that ev- ery person before he enters either Institution should be acquainted with the character and members of HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I I 7 both, do further agree that no student shall be pro- posed to either body within less than four weeks after he has become a regular member of College. Article III. As the articles above are wholly in- dependent of each other, the contracting parties also agree that the violation of one of them by either party shall not in any degree impair the obligation to observe the other." The first Article is still in force and will never be changed ; once a Whig, always a Whig ; once a Clio, always a Clio. The second Article was re- peatedly, but unintentionally, violated by both Soci- eties, and this violation sometimes led to much un- kind feeling and serious difficulty. I shall have oc- casion to notice the final abolition of this part of the agreement in connexion with some other matters in 1846. The time was subsequently reduced to three, and at last to two weeks. For a number of years the students have been introduced into the Societies one week after their entrance into College. The destruction of Nassau Hall by fire on March 6th, 1802, was a terrible disaster for the American Whig Society. It had removed its Hall from the northern projection of the building to the southern, and occupied the rooms in the uppermost story immediately over what was then the chap- el. The e*astern room was a lumber room, and the western was the room in which the Society held its meetings. The fire began under the cupola, and just over the rooms of the Whig Society, and in a short time everything was enveloped in smoke and I 1 8 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. flame. The loss then sustained was in some re- spects irreparable ; in others, by dint of the efforts and love of the older graduates, the deficiency was supplied. In this matter Whigs feel ever grateful to Drs. Green and Carnahan, both honored Presi- dents of Nassau Hall, and to Bishop Hobart, ob- jects of just pride to the Society they so well loved. Immediate efforts were made to remedy the dis- astrous effects of the fire. A room was obtained in the house of Captain Morgan, which, I believe, is the first house east of the old second Presbyterian church. The plate for the diploma, which had been devised only a short time before, was, fortunately, preserved; but the seal of the Society was so much injured that a new one was devised. The diploma is that now employed for Sub-Graduates, the word " non " hav- ing been introduced to adapt it to its present pur- pose. Only about three hundred volumes of the library were saved ; and attention was at once direct- ed to repairinor the serious losses it had sustain- ed. The Society resumed their old quarters upon the rebuilding of Nassau Hall, and there remained until 1805, when they removed to the new build- ing west of Nassau Hall. Their new Hall was the southern room in the upper story, now used as the Senior recitation room above the Geological Mu- seum. It was handsomely furnished, "fitted up with an elegance and splendor corresponding to the in- trinsic dignity of our Society," and the members of the Society felt great pride in all that pertained to it. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I J 9 The new Halls, however, were found very un- comfortable in warm weather, but were occupied for more than thirty years, until the erection of the pres- ent beautiful and commodious buildings. The seven opening years of the century were " years of plenty " among the Whigs, so far as the honors of the College were concerned. Prof. Gi- ger says : '* From 1801 to 1806 the Whigs had taken the first honor every time, the English Salutatory three times, and the Valedictory once; and in 1807 they had swept almost everything before them." In 1808 the tide was turned, and the Clios for years had their fair share of the honors. Prof. G. inti- mates that some peculiar encouragement was given in both Societies to the competitors for the honors of the College, for a long period, after 1807. I con- fess that I do not know to what he alludes as re- gards the American Whig Society. As to " the highest reward and greatest insignia of honor Clio- sophians can bestow upon conspicuous merit," I will only say that in my student days, we Whigs ob- served that the Clios were always very anxious that their " first honor " man should be a fine, handsome fellow, one who would make a good portrait. In 1804-5 a number of the members of the Whig Society united with some of the Cliosophic Society to form a third, called the Adelphic. Both Societies protested against the formation of a third Society, and sent in a remonstrance to the Faculty against granting persons permission to appear at any pub- lic exercises of the College, with any badges other I 20 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. than those of the two Societies. The following treaty was formed between the two Societies, in ref- erence to the Adelphic Society : " I. That no person who is a member of the Clio- sophic or American Whig Societies, shall be a mem- ber of the Adelphic Society. That no person shall be proposed to the said Adelphic Society until dis- missed, suspended, or expelled from our respective Institutions. And that no person who applies to the Adelphic Society shall be admitted to the Cliosophic or American Whig Societies ; and, further, that this article also excludes the founders of the above men- tioned Adelphic Society. II. That each member of the two Societies shall pledge himself, according to the most sacred forms and ceremonies of the body to which he belongs, that he will never aid or assist the Adelphic Society in any of its interests or concerns ; and that he will never, upon any account or consideration whatever, become a member of said Adelphic Society until such time as the two Societies shall concur in deter- mining that these forms and ceremonies are not ob- ligatory. And, further, that every member who is hereafter received into either of the Institutions, shall be obliged to pledge himself, in like manner, to the same effect, with the exception of those who may be admitted as honorary members. III. That the Articles of the Treaty, entered into by the Cliosophic and American Whig Societies with respect to the Adelphic Society, shall be made to extend to every Society which may have been, is, or HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHK; SOCIETY. 121 may be contemplated or established in the College of New Jersey ; and that in this Resolution the ex- ception of the American Whig and Cliosophic Soci- eties only be understood." Another Article was added a few years after- wards : "IV. That the following clause of the first Article of the existing Treaty, viz : " That no person who applies for admission into the Adelphic Society shall be admitted into the Cliosophic or American Whig Societies ; and, further, that this Article also excludes the founders of the Adelphic Society," be annulled, so far as it actually includes, or is made to extend to, the Adelphic Society ; but that in other respects it remains in full force. That those persons who have formerly had connexion with the Adelphic Society, and who may hereafter be admitted into either the American Whig or the Cliosophic Society, shall pledge themselves according to the forms and cere- monies referred to in the Treaty, with such addi- tions and alterations as their previous relations to the Adelphic Society may require." It may have been in consequence of the increas- ing numbers in the College, and consequently in the two regular Societies, that a few young men of real ability desired to form a third and very select one. But in consequence of the steps taken, the Adelphic was dissolved, and its members sought readmission to the old Societies, or membership in them, but were refused. 122 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. In 1807 some disgraced members of the two So- cieties, and a few others who were under their con- trol, seceded, and formed the Euterpean Society. It was a stormy year in the history both of the College and the Societies ; a great rebellion occurred, and many students were suspended or dismissed. Peace was at last restored, and at-^the Commencement the Whig Society " swept all the honors," not only gen- eral but special. In 1808 sentiments of humanity induced the two Societies to relent, and to restore to membership some of those who had gone astray and formed a third Society. A treaty was also entered into to regulate the time of the meetings of the So- cieties so that there mio^ht be no interference or mis- understanding. The Clios obtained most of the honors in 1808, and the Whigs felt much dissatisfaction in regard to the distribution. Students, however, are not the best judges in reference to these matters. George Wood, the eminent lawyer, and James Booth, after- wards Chief Justice of Delaware, were among the leading Whigs. In 1809 I find, as a matter of record, that the au- thorities of the College applied to the Societies to assist them in the suppression of disorder and im- morality among the students. The Whig Society, while carefully watching over the conduct of its members, declined to comply with the request, " be- cause they conceived that the government of the College should belong wholly and solely to its offi- cers and not be dependent upon the Societies." The HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 123 defeats of 1808 and 1809 aroused the Whigs so thoroughly that in 18 10 they regained their former position. For some reason, which I have not ascer- tained, the decision of the first honor was left to the class in 181 1 and 1812, and the result caused much dissatisfaction among the Whigs. In consequence of the establishment of the Theo- logical Seminary in this place in 181 3, the custom of electing Adopted Graduate Members was introduc- ed, and many of the warmest friends of the Society have thus become connected with our Hall. Hon- orary Members had been elected from a much ear- lier period. The precise date cannot now be ascer- tained, in consequence of the destruction of the ear- lier records ; and the Catalogue contains the names of those only who have become honorary members since 1801. In 1 81 4 the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, of the class of 1770, and one of the founders of the Society, left a considerable legacy to the Trustees of the College for the use of our Society, as has been previously stated. The number of students in the College was not diminished by the war of 181 2-1 5, and the class of 181 5 was the fourth in point of size, that had been graduated since the foundation of the Institu- tion. Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, an American Whig, resigned the Presidency of the College in 181 2, and Dr. Ashbel Green, another American Whig, was elected to succeed him. In 18 14 the So- ciety, in common with the whole College, felt the I 24 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. beneficial influence of the remarkable religious re- vival which then occurred. In the class of 181 5 I will mention the Rev. Drs. Baker and Biggs, and Gen. Persifer F. Smith ; and that I may for once name living men, that I may as- sure them how much American Whigs not only hon- or but love them, I will add the names of John Johns, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, who, in response to our invitation, telegraphed, "I cannot come, or I could not decline;" and Charles Hodge, the greatest of living theologians. In 1 8 19 the Societies entered into an agreement not to elect students of the Theological Seminary as members until they had resided here at least four weeks. The Cliosophic Society about this time pro- posed that each Society should be represented by an Orator on the 2 2d of February, annually. The Whigs, after some deliberation, declined, on the ground that " the occasions of public speaking were already sufficiently numerous;" the Fourth of July being one of the most interesting. The Library, to which much attention was paid, at this time contain- ed more than twelve hundred volumes. The Socie- ty had now been in existence just half a century, and it was not until about this period that it equalled the Cliosophic in numbers. At this time our pres- ent diploma was adopted. The device upon it, "The Choice of Hercules," is from a picture by the artist Sully, painted expressly for the American Whig So- ciety for this object. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 125 In 1824, the Transylvania Whig Society of Tran- sylvania University proposed to become a branch of the American Whig Society, by adopting our badge, diploma, &c. Pleasant relations existed with that Society for a short time, but the arrangement, hav- ing led to some difficulty, was soon abandoned. In 1824 the Societies determined to have a public celebration of the National Anniversary. Each So- ciety was represented in alternate years by the Ora- tor and the Reader of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. This custom was kept up regularly for fifteen or sixteen years, until 1840. In 1825 the American Whig Society proposed to the Cliosophic Society, that the Societies should al- ternately select a graduate member to deliver an Oration before them on the evening preceding Com- mencement. I present the correspondence which led to the present arrangement. Whig Hall, July 7th, 1825. Gentlemen: — We, the undersigned, as a com- mittee from the American Whig Society, request the members of the Cliosophic Society to appoint a sim- ilar committee for the purpose of conferring with us on the expediency of abolishing the speaking on the evening before Commencement, and of substituting in the place of it some distinguished graduate from the two Societies alternately, who will deliver an oration before the two Societies assembled in the church upon that occasion. 126 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. Com. : — J. Addison Alexander, Sam'l J. Bayard, John Beirne, Thos. Flournoy, John B. Ripley. This proposition was modified, and the following arrangement was entered into on July 13th, 1825 : "The joint committee from the American Whig and Cliosophic Societies have agreed to recommend the following propositions to their respective So- cieties : First : That it be expedient, and that it would re- dound to the credit of each Society, and have a ben- eficial tendency on the parent Institution, if some distinguished honorary or graduate member of ei- ther Society should be annually appointed to deliver a discourse before them in joint meeting. Second : That it is inexpedient to abolish the (Jun- ior) speaking before Commencement. Com.: James Weatherby, A. R. Rodgers, Rich'd E. Darrah, William N. Wood, William B. Napton. The time was originally fixed at 3 p. m., but was subsequently changed to 1 1 a. m., so as to permit the Annual Meetings of the Societies and also the Meet ing of the Alumni to be held in the afternoon. As the Whig Society had proposed the arrangement, it has been stated that the first choice of the Orator was given, by courtesy, to the Cliosophic Society ; but my impression is that this question was decided by lot. The first Orator was the Hon. Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey, one of the most distinguish- ed members of the Cliosophic Society. In 1826 the Hon. Charles Fenton Mercer, of Virginia, a distin- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. i 27 oulshed member of the American Whig Society, was the Orator. I subjoin a Hst of those who have represented the American Whig Society upon these occasions. 1826. Hon. Charles Fenton Mercer, Va. 1828. Hon. Joseph Reed Ingersoll, LL. D., Pa. 1830. Hon. John Forsyth, Ga. 1836. Hon. John Morin Scorr, Pa. 1838. Joseph Warren Scorr, Esq., N. J. 1840. Rev. John Johns, D. D., Md. 1846. Alexander E. Brown, Esq., Pa. 1 849. Hon. John Thomson Mason, Md. 1 85 1. Hon. Abraham W. Venable, N. C. 1853. Hon. Benjamin H. Brewster, LL. D., Pa. 1855. Rev. James W. Alexander, D. D., N. Y. 1857. Hon. William C. Alexander, LL. D., N. J. 1859. Rev. Joshua H. McIlvaine, D. D., N. Y. 1 861. Rev. William C. Catiell, D. D., Pa. 1863. Hon. John T. Nixon, N. J. [866. Rev. Noah H. Schenck, D. D., Md. 1868. Hon. Thomas N. McCarter, N. J. 1 847. The Historical Discourse, at the Centennial Commencement of the College, was deliv- ered by the Rev. James W. Alexander, D. D., a member of the American Whig So- ciety. In 1823 the number of members was only 29 af- ter the departure of the Senior Class, while the Cli- osophic Society numbered twice as many. Within two years, however, the number was more than I 28 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. doubled. At this time the Library contained about 2,300 volumes. At the Annual Meeting in September, 1835, ^ Committee was appointed to consider and report the best mode of procuring means to erect a new Hall, as the Society had increased greatly in numbers, and the room in which they met was inconvenient- ly small and very uncomfortable in summer. Cir- culars were sent to the old graduates, donations were solicited, and a Treasurer appointed. Louis P. Smith, Esq., Cashier of the Bank of Princeton, and an Adopted Graduate member of the Society was very active and efficient in the entire matter and acted as Treasurer. The Trustees granted a site for the building, and the Circular that was sent forth soliciting subscriptions bore the names of many of the most distinguished members of the Society. After much effort a sufficient amount of money was obtained to justify the erection of the new Hall, and it was accordingly begun in 1837. It was finished and delivered to the Building Committee, August ist, 1838. The Society removed all their effects except their Library into the new buildings on the nights of September 14th and 15th. The first meeting was held in the new Hall, after evening prayers, on Monday, September 17th, 1838. In November the Library was removed from the old Hall to the new building. The utmost gratitude was felt toward Mr. Smith for his efforts in behalf of the Society. In 1840, in consequence of the loss of some of the Records of the Society, a most serious difficulty oc- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 129 curred. They happened to fall into the hands of a member of the Cliosophic Society, who used them in a manner unbecoming a gentleman, and the hon- orable Society of which he was a member. The in- jury to the Whig Society was soon remedied ; but in consequence of the election of this person as the Reader of the Declaration of Independence by the Cliosophic Society, much irritation was produced ; and the result was that the Whig Society declined to participate in the usual Celebration of the Fourth of July. From a careful examination of the whole subject, I feel that no other honorable course could have been pursued by the Whig Society. This year and the beginning of 1841 were dark periods in the history of the Society. She was struggling with a heavy debt incurred in the erection of the new Hall. But it is the darkest hour that precedes the dawn, and one of the brightest days of her his- tory soon appeared. By an act of singular munifi- cence, unparalleled in the history of this or any other similar literary institution, one of the most distinguished of the members of the American Whig Society added new lustre to his name, and secured the undying gratitude of American Whigs. Allow me here to introduce an incident. A few months since a bundle of papers, marked " Wkio Hall,'' was handed to me by Col. Olmsted, the Cashier of the Princeton Bank. They had remained in its vault for nearly thirty years. I examined them with much interest for they related to the erection of Whig Hall. Here was the contract for its erection, 130 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. signed on the loth day of October, 1837, by R. S. Field, W. C. Alexander, and Louis P. Smith, the '* Committee of the American Whig Society of Nas- sau Hall," and Chas. Steadman, the builder. And here was the final receipt which I will now read. Princeton, 26 July, 1841. Dolls. 4,000. Received of Louis P. Smith, TreasV of the Building fund of Whig Hall, the sum of Four thousand dollars in full payment of the balance due to me at this time for building the said Hall, includ- ing all accounts whatsoever. Chs. Steadman. But whence came this money ? Among these papers I came across the small memorandum book which I now hold in my hand. I looked over the entries it contained, and the last one that greeted my eyes was the following : " 1 841, July 16, Reed from Capt. R. F. S toe k ton the sum of $4,000, ivhieh sum enables the Society to pay the ivhole debt now due for building Whig Hall!' This illustrious man and noble Whig had inherited the patriotism of his distinguished ancestors, and the love of his father and his grandmother for the American Whig Society. In this presence, in Prince- ton, and among American Whigs, I need not sketch his life, for the name of Robert F. Stockton is a "household word." Entering the Navy, in 181 1, as a mere boy, he received honorable notice for his gal- lantry in the war of 181 2-14, and distinguished him- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIKTY. 131 self by boarding, with only a boat's crew, an Alger- ine vessel of war in 1815. In 182 1 he obtained by treaty the cession of the original territory of what is now Liberia, and was for some years engaged in the suppression of the slave trade in Africa, a;id the destruction of piracy in the West Indies. By the construction of the "Princeton," in 1842-44, he in- troduced steam vessels of war into our navy, and the nations of the world have since imitated us. He devoted himself to the cause of internal improve- ments in New Jersey, and while a U. S. Senator he secured the abolition of flogging in the navy. In 1847, with a small force he conquered California and gradually established the authority of the United States throughout its whole extent. He deserved well of his country; and American Whigs delight this day to honor his memory. The Hall was most elegantly furnished, and much attention was also bestowed upon the Library. The next few years were a period of prosperity and suc- cess. The number of students in the College had increased, East and West Colleges had been erected, intended, probably, in their plainness to act as foils, and by their striking contrast to enhance the beauty of the Society Halls. These buildings differ hut slightly in external appearance. They are in the Ionic style, sixty-two feet long, forty-one feet wide, and two stories hieh. The columns of the hexastyle porticos are copied from those of a tem- [)le on the Ilissus, near the fountain of Callirhoe in Athens. The splendid temple of Dionysus (Bac- 132 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. chus,) in the Ionian city of Teos, situated on a pen- insula of Asia Minor, is a model of the buildings in other respects. Their simple elegance commends them to the admiration of all ; and it were well did all our College buildings manifest such good taste. In 1844 the present medal of the Society was adopted; and in 1845 the Catalogue, for the first time, contained a handsome steel engraving of the Hall. Difficulties have, from time to time, arisen be- tween the Societies in consequence of the uninten- tional violation of the treaties existing between them. One of the most serious that probably ever occurred, took place in 1846, while I was a student in the College. Through inadvertence the Whigs initiated two members before they had been con- nected with the College two weeks, as was required by the treaty. The Clios declared the treaty null and void, and would not receive our explanation. The return of a letter, in what was considered an im- proper manner, in the course of an excited corres- pondence, induced the Whigs to post the Clios upon the walls of the College. The paper was removed by the authorities of the College, and the Clios ceased to have any social relations with the Whigs. The dearest friends were separated, and I have nev- er witnessed so much excitement or such a display of bitter feeling since I have been connected with the Institution. Daily meetings were held by the Societies, at which members of the Faculty and old graduates were present attempting to restore kindly HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY ^33 feeling. The storm fortunately passed without any personal outbreaks ; but the only solution of the difficulty consisted in the mutual withdrawal of the correspondence and the abolition of the treaty. It was not until the Commencement of my class in 1847 ^^^^^ ^ general reconciliation occurred and har- mony was restored, where no rivalry should exist save that of the most laudable and honorable kind. Out of this quarrel sprang the custom of autograph books, which has since prevailed so extensively in the College. At first the autographs were simply the names of the Whigs attached to a copy of the pa- per which had been posted against the Clios. The single sheet of paper was next supplanted by a small book, in which each Whig obtained the names of his fellow Whigs. I need barely allude to the elegant volumes of these latter years, in which, happily, no Society distinctions appear, but which have become truly formidable in their numbers and by reason of the sentiments, prophecies, &c., which are expect- ed to accompany the autograph. The truth of history here compels me to allude to a subject which may not be agreeable to some of my hearers, and which I would gladly pass by. I allude to affiliated Secret Societies, which were first established in the College in 1845, but which were soon suppressed by the Faculty. Others sprang up in 1850, and acquired great influence in the College and in the Literary Societies. They were composed of members from both 'Halls, and the secrets of each Society, which in other days had been most care- 134 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. fully guarded, were now revealed to the members of the other, the obligation of a solemn promise seemed to be forgotten, and the sense of honor to have disappeared. The interest and affection which should have been given to the Literary Society were concentrated upon the affiliated Society, and combinations were formed that succeeded for a time in controlling all offices and honors, which were con- ferred, in many cases, without regard to merit. Elec- tioneering, trickery, and most of the objectionable features connected with political affairs were intro- duced into the College and led to most serious and objectionable results. The regular Societies were powerless to resist the evil, and it seemed as if they were destined to dissolution. In every Col- lege in the land where these affiliated Socie- ties have been tolerated, they have paralyzed or destroyed the Literary Societies, and were it not invidious I might mention conspicuous examples. The unanimous action of the Board of Trustees in 1855 caused the best of these Societies to surrender their charters and disband. I know that some still exist, but I cannot understand how any student, in view of the solemn pledge he makes upon his en- trance into College, can either become or remain a member of such organization with honor, or a clear conscience. It is not simply owing to my position that I am opposed to this kind of Societies, but be- cause of the evil I have seen done by them to young men, and especially because I am so earnest and ar- dent an American Whig. Rest assured, that any- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 135 thing that interferes with the highest interests of the Literary Societies must be evil, and should be sup- pressed. In 1847 the Centennial of the College was cele- brated, the Whigs having the Valedictory and the Knglish Salutatory. The Centennial Historical Dis- course, by appointment of the Trustees, was deliv- ered by the Rev. James W. Alexander, D. D., a grad- uate of the American Whig Society. In 1848 the College Chapel was erected, and to the great relief and gratification of the Whig Socie- ty, the unsightly steward's house, which stood to the east of Nassau Hall, and the removal of which had been so often requested, was demolished and Whig Hall was rendered visible from the street. In 1 85 1 the Society presented a block of marble to the National Washington Monument Association. The block was four feet long, two feet wide, and fif- teen inches thick. " It consisted of a slab of pure Carrara marble, five inches thick, clamped to a piece of American marble with brass, thus insuring strength and, at the same time, presenting as large a surface as possible of the pure material." In the centre of the face of the block was the inscription in raised letters : AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY, COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PRINCETON, N. J. O — A TRIBUTE TO WASHINGTON. 136 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. On each side of this inscription appeared in basso- relievo the obverse and reverse of the medal of the Society. The CHosophic Society shortly afterwards imitated our good example, and presented a yet handsomer block in 1853. In 1854 the Library, to which great attention has always been paid, contained about 4,400 vols. March loth, 1855, Nassau Hall was again de- stroyed by fire, but fortunately the Halls of the Lit- erary Societies were not involved in the disaster. In 1856 the CHosophic Society suffered from the withdrawal of a considerable number of her mem- bers, and in the next year the Whigs were unwilling to avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded to secure an undue proportion of the new students. When the war broke out in 1861, nearly one hun- dred students, residents of the South, withdrew from the College, the majority of whom were members of the Whig Society. In that and the following years quite a number entered the Army of the Union ; so that, in consequence of the war, the numbers of the Society greatly diminished. The history of the So- ciety within the past few years presents but few events to engage the historian's pen. In conse- quence of the evils attending the old mode of se- lecting Junior Orators, it was several times modified, and finally the present plan was adopted in 1864. The Societies select a Committee from the members of the Faculty, who choose the Orators upon the ground of merit alone. It has been found an ad- mirable plan in every respect. Begun in 1865 it HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I 37 has thus far given universal satisfaction, and the Whigs have obtained a fair share of the gold medals which are now offered by the Trustees of the Col- lege as prizes to the successful competitors. In 1865 a Catalogue of the Library was published when it numbered 5,650 volumes. The Society had the pleasure of attending the Centennial Celebra- tion of our Sister Society in 1865, and are happy to welcome her sons upon this joyous occasion. Thus, Fathers and Brethren, have I endeavored to perform the task your kind partiality has assign- ed me. I have given you glimpses of the history of that Society we love so well, whose object has ever been the cultivation of Literature, Friendship AND Morality. Search through the Colleges of our land, and, save her fair twin-sister, Clio, there is no Literary Society that can be compared with her, in the advantages she affords and in the culture she gives. Within her walls, hid from the vulgar eye, the youthful warrior prepares for the great struggle of life. The mental discipline here afforded and the skill acquired in using the knowledge daily gain- ed is unsurpassed, even unequalled by aught this College can afford. The Whig Society has ever been the smaller ; but twice or thrice in her whole history can I discover that she has surpassed her sister Society in the number of her attending mem- bers ; once, when she reached her fiftieth year, and 138 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. again to-day, when she celebrates her hundredth birthday. Within the hundred years of their joint Hves, the sons of CHo have numbered 2,700, those of Whig Hall have been less than i ,800. And yet the little band have taken at least their fair propor- tion of the coveted college honors, the insignia of their successful struggles. The Clios have received the Salutatories more frequently, but the Whigs have oftener won the Valedictory. May their rival- ry ever be of that noble and generous kind that be- comes the youthful aspirant for these bright honors that are but symbols of those higher ones that flash and glimmer in the dim distance. The American Whig Society needs not my praise to-day ; there she stands in all her beauty, fair as the loveliest matron that ever pointed to her sons as her brightest jewels. Need I call again that long roll of her children, who have worthily filled the highest stations in the councils of the nation, in the forum, in the pulpit, and in all the varied walks of life ? Need I remind you that Smith, and Green, and Car- nahan, that noble triumvirate of American Whigs, guided the destinies of Nassau Hall for sixty years? They were succeeded, indeed, by a graduate of the Cliosophic Society, one whom American Whigs ever delight to honor, and to whom, in their name, I this day offer the warmest tribute of our grateful hearts. Hampden Sidney and Washington Colleges in Vir- ginia, the University of North Carolina, Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, Union College in New York, and others, have been founded by her sons. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 139 Need I remind you of Brockholst Livingston, and Smith Thompson, and William Johnston, Judges of the Supreme Court, of William Bradford, who was Attorney General under Washington at the age of 2,J, and of Charles Lee, who succeeded him, of those eminent lawyers, Richard Stockton and Edward Liv- ingston, of those Boanerges, James and Addison Alexander, of Bishop Hobart and the eloquent Breckinridge, of Persifer F. Smith, the only grad- uate of Nassau Hall who was a General in the Reg- ular Army, of Stockton, who added the golden Cal- ifornia to the Union, and caused his country to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and among living men, of Bishop Johns, and of Dr. Charles Hodge, the greatest of modern theologians ? Or to place the sun in this galaxy of stars, shall I utter the name of Madison, our founder, who went forth from her walls to lay the foundation of the institutions un- der which we live, and who retired from the chief magistracy after having achieved for his country a position among the foremost nations of the world ? As has been her past, so must be the coming days ; her honors untarnished by the lapse of time, her glories brightening as the years roll on, her sons de- light to sing her praise, and as they gaze into the future there sounds the gladsome prophecy: In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbrae Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet, Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt. The ties that bind you to this Society and to one another are light as the air that bears your wnnged 140 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. words, and yet stronger than adamantine bonds cu- riously wrought by the hands of cunning workmen. The blue badge you are all so proud to wear, is the symbol of that constant friendship which cannot pass away ; for it is like that which Achilles felt for his friend Patroclus : IldzfwxAo^ • TOO d' oux iTtdvjaoiiat^ ocfft' du iycoye Zwdloiv fiszeco, xai [loc ipUa yo^jvax d[jiO(j7^. Ec de davoi^Tcov Tzsff xaraXijOour ecu Wioao, AuTUff iy(h xac xecdc (fikou fietiurjcro/i kzaioov. Patroclus: whom I never can forget, While number'd with the living, and my limbs Have pow'r to move; in Hades though the dead May be forgotten, yet ev'n there will I Themem'ry of my lov'd companion keep. Ninety-four years ago the breezes from the North wafted to the Southern colonies the report of that first sharp volley on the church green at Lexington, that opened the drama of the Revolution. As it echoed from the mountains on either side of the val- ley of Virginia, her sons sprang to arms. On the morning of a beautiful summer day, beside a large spring that sends its waters to the Potomac, assem- bled a band of men ready to battle for their country. There they pledged their- lives to her, and promised that any who might survive would meet at that spot when fifty years had rolled away. Thus from my native town came forth the first company of soldiers that crossed the Potomac to fight for liberty and fatherland. Fifty years rolled away, and on the Fourth of July, 1825, amid the gathered multitude came two venerable men with whitened locks and HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 141 bowed beneath the burden of years. There were two others, but infirmity and disease forbade their presence. There, beneath that cerulean sky that stoops to kiss the neighboring Blue Ridge of yet deeper hue, beside that spring that sends its stream into the river where Rumsey's first steamboat fret- ted the waters of the Potomac, these Whigs of the Revolution recounted the story of the long struggle, and rejoiced in the prosperity that smiled upon the country whose liberty they had helped to win. And then they parted to meet again only in the dim hereafter. When fifty years shall have rolled away, how many of us shall assemble here to recount the story of to-day, and to listen to the history of the coming fifty years of dear old Whig Hall ? We know not, but some there may be ; and may they see her fairer and more beautiful even than now ; let the memory of this day ever remain, and so far as the claims of this Society are right, ri^ay it be truly said of every American Whig, Nihil aut fecit, aut dixit, aut sensit, Nisi pro Societate Americana \Vhiggensi ! AMERICAN WHIG OEISTTElSrisri^L OR^lTIOJST BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL. D. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Whig S( )CIETY : We celebrate to-day, the One Hundredth Anni- versary of the American Whig Society, of the Col- lege of New Jersey. I cannot but feel that you have (lone me very great honor, in inviting me to address you upon this interesting occasion. But the task which you have imposed upon me is not without its embarrassment. For the gentleman who has pre- ceded me, and to whose narrative we have all lis- tened with so much pleasure, has with, I had almost said, such a provoking fullness of illustration, gath- ered up everything of interest in your past history, and presented it in so attractive a form, that he has left me litde if anything to say upon that subject, which above all others to-day lies nearest to my heart, and which I would gladly have made the theme of my discourse. There are, however, one or two features of your Society, to which I believe he has not adverted, and to which I may be allowed therefore for a moment to direct your attention. 144 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION Societies of a somewhat similar character, exist in most if not all of our American Colleges ; but there are circumstances connected with the Literary Soci- eties of this Institution, which give to them a pecu- liar and distinctive character; and to which I think we are in a great measure to ascribe the long con- tinued prosperity which they have enjoyed, and the unflagging interest which has always been felt in them. In the first place, as to their number, there are two, and only two. Had there been but one, there would have been wanting that spirit of emula- tion, that generous rivalry, that strenuous struggle for supremacy, which are always such powerful in- centives to exertion. And to have had -more than two would have been equally fatal. The attention, which is now concentrated by each student upon his one loved Society, would in that case have been dis- tracted by the conflicting claims of others. He could not have felt for it that deep and absorbing in- terest which it now excites. He could not have given to it that full and undivided affection which he now bestows. In the next place, these two Societies came into existence almost at the same time, and they date back their origin very nearly to that of the College itself. In fact it may be said that the College has never existed without the Societies. They are thus in a great measure identified with it. They are in- tegral parts of it. They have grown with its growth, they have strengthened with its strength. When it has languished, they have declined. They have h\ THE HON. RICHARD S. IIKLI), LI..1). i ^c shared in Its glory, they have partaken of its renown. 1 las there been among the sons of Princeton, one, who has distinguished himself in Church or State, or in the walks of private life, and who has thus reflect- ed honor upon the Institution which gave him birth, a portion of that honor may justly be claimed by one or the other of these Societies. Then, with rare exceptions, every student of the College is a member of one of these Societies, and he can be a member of only one. Thus College life l)ecomes necessarily blended with Society life. Their ends Indeed are one, their aims the same. The studies of the College invigorate the exercises of the Halls ; the exercises of the Halls give a stimu- lus to the studies of the College. Thus every stu- dent has a double motive for exertion. He aspires to the honors of the College, not merely for his own gratification, but because he feels that it will redound to the honor of his Society. What would other- wise be a mere selfish ambition, becomes in this way a noble and generous impulse. And his fellow members, instead of envying his superiority, take a pride in his distinction. They share in the prize which he wins. Another feature of these Societies Is, that while their objects and purposes are known and avowed, a veil of secrecy Is thrown around their transactions — just enough to impart to them an Interest and a charm, better felt than described, and which serves at the same time as a sacred tie of fellowship, a mys- terious bond of union. Should this, in other re- 146 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION spects, bs deemed an objectionable feature, it is ren- dered harmless by the fact, that the officers of the College are members of the Societies ; that they have free access to their meetings ; that their pres- ence is not only permitted but invited ; and that thus there is one place, where professors and pupils may meet together on a common level, as friends, com- panions, and brothers. In short, these Societies are litde Republics, gov- erned by laws of their own making, and the more cheerfully obeyed because self-imposed. These laws are not repugnant to those of the College, but come in aid of them. And they not only incite to literary culture, but they exercise a wholesome cen- sorship over morals. And then too, the intellectual encounters, the mimic contests, as it were, that there take place, are a training and a preparation, for the more serious and earnest struggles which await these youthful champions in the great battle of life. I cannot but think, that these Societies have done much for Princeton College, and that they deserve the fostering care of its authorities. The love which the alumni of this Institution bear for their alma mater, has often been remarked — the interest which they continue to take in it through life — the delight- ful recollections which they cherish of the days they have passed here — and the pleasure with which they revisit these scenes of their youth. Now noth- ing I believe has contributed more to create and keep alive such feelings and associations, than the existence and influence of these Societies. BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. 47 And now, my young friends, having said thus much of your Society, what shall I further propose for your consideration to-day? What would be most appropriate to the occasion ? Shall it not be the excellency and dignity of learning ? The pro- motion of learning is one of the great objects of your Society. But the subject is a large one, and I can only present it to you in one of its aspects. What I wish chiefly to insist upon is, the obligations that Christianity is under to learning. I desire to press upon you the claims of literature and science, not so much for their own sake — not so much be- cause they are sources of the purest and most ra- tional enjoyment — not because they are instruments for your advancement in the world, and by which you may hope to win fame and fortune — but because they are calculated, in the highest degree, to pro- mote the cause of pure and enlightened religion. This venerable Institution was designed by its found- ers for the advancement of learning and piety ; and I wish to show how closely they are allied — how in- timately they are blended together — and how the cultivation of the one has a natural tendency to the production of the other. I am aware, that we sometimes hear language em- ployed, from which it might be inferred, that litera- ture and science occupied a position, if not of hos- tility to religion, yet at least of a sort of armed neu- trality, from which religion had quite as much to fear as to hope. There are those, who seem to think, that religion is in constant danger of incursions from 148 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION the domain of learning, and that science is the foe which she has chiefly to dread. Knowledge, it is said, is power, but it is a power for evil as well as for good ; learning without religion is worse than igno- rance ; it is a curse instead of a blessing, whether to an in-dividual or a community ; and with regard to education generally, that unless a people can re- ceive, what is called a religious education, they had better not be educated at all. I do not think I state these opinions too strongly. They spring no doubt from an acknowledged truth — which no one here at least will question — the paramount importance of religion. But they are not on that account the less dangerous. The most pernicious errors that have ever prevailed, are those which are arrayed in the garb of truth. A half truth is the worst kind of falsehood. If these opinions are correct, then learning is one of those things which is to be received with the greatest caution and hesitation ; schools and colleges are dangerous institutions ; and the teacher who aids in the developement of the intellectual faculties of a child incurs a fearful responsibility. For what security can there be beforehand, that those faculties, which are thus called into activity, and awakened from their slumber, and sharpened and invigorated by exercise, will not be wielded by their possessor for purposes of wickedness ? It might well be thought safer, that a power, with such capacity for evil, should be suffered to lie dormant. BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. 149 But in Opposition to all such opinions, I insist, that learning is a good thing in itself; that knowledge under any circumstances is better than ignorance ; that the cultivation of science and literature has an elevating, a refining, a purifying influence ; that its tendency is, to keep in subjection the animal and sensual part of our nature, the predominance of which sinks man to a level with the brute, and is the most prolific source of vice and crime ; and that in- tellectual education therefore, even when deprived of its natural adjunct religious training, instead of makine one a worse man, is calculated to make him a better man — a better member of society — a better citizen and patriot — a better husband and father. But I further insist, that knowledge is friendly to religion ; that the best preparation for religious cul- ture, is intellectual culture; that the seeds of relig- ious truth can best be sown in the cultivated mind ; that an educated man is more likely to become a re- ligious man than one who is not educated ; and, what is more particularly to my purpose upon this occasion, that in every age of the world, learning has been the ally and handmaid of true religion. What then, I ask, has not learning done for Chris- tianity ? Under the old dispensation, who was com- missioned to liberate from bondage the chosen race ; to educate them in the wilderness ; to prepare them for their entrance into the promised land ? Moses ! who had enjoyed all the advantages of the most re- fined culture ; who had been educated as the son of Pharoah's daughter ; who was learned in all the wis- I 50 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION dom of the Egyptians. And the wisdom of the Egyptians was at that time the wisdom of the world. He was, *' slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." Learning and eloquence are not always united. True, God could have given him a tongue — could have put words into his mouth. But God works by human means and instrumentalities. And therefore Aaron was associated with him in his ereat work. For Aaron could speak — he was eloquent. And thus were combined, '' With Moses' inspiration, Aaron's tongue." Who, of all the rulers of Israel, was the man after God's own heart ? David ! the sweet psalmist of Israel — of whose touching, tender, and sublime effusions, it may be truly saiid, that the devotional raptures of all succeeding generations have found no more fitting strains. Who was the most prosperous, and the most powerful, of all the Jewish Kings ? — the one to whom was assigned the distinguished honor of " building a house to the Lord ? " He ! who had asked, not for '' long: life " nor for "riches," but for wisdom and understanding — Solomon ! the wisest of men — whose "wisdom ex- celled all the wisdom of the Egyptians " — whose proverbs and whose songs, have been the wonder and delight of all subsequent ages. And under the new dispensation, who was most instrumental in the propagation of Christianity ? The injunction, " to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," was addressed to that little company of illiterate fishermen, who clustered around their risen master. But they were not the BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. I 51 men by whom that work was to be accompHshed. No ! the great apostle of the Gentiles was Paul — l^aul, who was born and educated at Tarsus, where the Greek language was spoken in its utmost purity — who was *' brought up at the feet of Gamaliel," the most enlightened man in Jerusalem, who when Peter and the other apostles were arraigned before the Jewish council, had the magnanimity to say, " Refrain from these men and let them alone, for if this work be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God you cannot overthrow it," thereby giving an example of toleration, rare in a Jew of that age, and worthy of imitation by a Christian in any age — Paul, a man of the rarest intelligence and the high- est attainments — who was capable of enriching his discourses with flowers culled from the poets and dramatists of Greece, and whose writings exhibit the noblest sentiments and the -loftiest eloquence, and abound in passages, which, for beauty and sub- limity have never been surpassed. And where did he first proclaim the truths of Christianity? Did he go to the rude tribes of Germany and Gaul ? Did he seek to penetrate that " northern hive," from which were to issue the future conquerors of Rome ? Their primitive manners and untutored minds, it might have been thought, would have made them peculiarly open to the pure and simple doctrines of the gospel. But they were ignorant and uneduca- ted. Knowledge, to their eyes, had never " unfold- ed its ample page," and Christianity could make no lodgement there. The ground had not been brok- 152 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION en Up, the soil had not been prepared, and Paul might plant and Apollos water in vain. No ! he went to the cultivated and the polished cities of Syr- ia, and Asia Minor, and Greece. He went to Tar- sus, the place of his nativity, distinguished for letters and learning, than which no city in the world, not even Athens or Alexandria, was at that time more rich in schools of rhetoric or science. He went to Antioch, to " Antioch the beautiful, the crown of the East," the third city within the dominions of the Roman empire, where were collected the noblest specimens of Grecian art ; and it was there that the disciples were first called Christians. He went to Corinth, which, although its ancient glor}^ had been dimmed, was still a prosperous and populous city, the capital of Achaia. He went to Ephesus, the chief city of Asia Minor, where was the famous Temple of Dimia, one of the seven wonders of the word, whose altar was adorned with the matchless ; works of Praxiteles. And he went to Athens ; " Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence, native to famous wits Or hospitable." There he disputed daily in the market place. There he encountered the Epicureans and Stoics, and " preached to them Jesus and the resurrection." j There he stood on the Acropolis, in the midst of Mars Hill, and proclaimed to the men of Athens, that God whom they unknowingly worshipped, that life and immortality of which their philosophers had onlv dreamed. HV THE HON. RICHARD S. KIP:LI), LL.l). I 53 It was not by miracles that the gospel was to be propagated. It made in fact but little progress in Judea, where the stupendous miracles wrought in its attestation had been performed. Miracles made but little impression upon the stubborn and unbelieving Jews. They ascribed them to infernal agencies. " He casteth out devils throuo^h Beelzebub the prince of devils." They who would not hear Moses and the Prophets, could not be persuaded though one rose from the dead. How different was the im- pression made by miracles upon the Gentiles. When Paul performed a miracle of healing at Lys- tra, the people cried out with one voice, "The Gods are come down to us in the likeness of men," and the Priest of Jupiter would have done sacrifice. But still, it was not by miracles that the Gentiles were to be converted. Paul never appealed to his power of working miracles as an evidence of the truth of what he taught. He addressed himself to the reason and understanding of his hearers, and by arguments which they were capable of appreciating, sought to win them from their false gods and graven images, to the worship of the true and living God, who dwelleth not in temples made with hands, and who is the Father of all, reminding them of what certain of their own poets had said, " For we are also his off- spring." Thus, it was in the chief seats of Grecian learn- ing, that the first Christian churches were planted. It was where intellectual culture prevailed, where literature flourished, where the matchless specimens 154 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION of art were to be found which embodied beauty in its highest forms, that the pure precepts, and the subHme doctrines of Christianity, were first received and embraced. And who were the early Fathers of the Christian Church? Were they unlearned and uneducated men ? On the contrary, as Lord Bacon says, " they were excellently read and studied in all the learning of the heathen ; insomuch, that the edict of the Em- peror Jtdiarius, whereby it was interdicted unto Christians to be admitted into schools, lectures, or exercises of learning, was esteemed and accounted a more pernicious engine and machination against the Christian Faith, than were all the sanguinary prosecutions of his predecessors." Origen, one of the most eminent of the early Christian writers, and " the father of biblical criticism and exegesis," was initiated at an early age into Hellenic science and art, and applied himself with great zeal to the study of the new philosophy of Plato. Justin Martyr, the. great apologist of the Christian Church, was an ar- dent student of the philosophy of his age. He first atached himself to the school of the Stoics, and then to that of the Platonists ; but a desire having been created in his mind for a higher knowledge than Plato had reached, he betook himself to the study of the Jewish Prophets, and through them to the great Christian teacher whom they foretold. Clement, of Alexandria, devoted his earlier years to the study of philosophy, and when he became a Christian, did not cease to be a philosopher, but brought his learning BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. 155 and science to bear upon the higher questions of re- ligion. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, an illustrious father of the African Church was a distinguished teacher of rhetoric before his conversion to Christi- anity. Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed, distin- guished for the splendor of his eloquence, studied oratory under the celebrated Libanius, a heathen rhetorician, distinguished himself at the bar in Anti- och, and then, devoting himself to philosophy, retir- ed to a solitary place in Syria, where he began to study that one source of eloquence, to which the human heart responded, the Holy Scriptures. Au- gustine, the greatest of the Latin fathers, was first arrested in his career of profligacy, " not by the sol- emn voice of religion, but by the gentler remon- strances of pagan literature." He learned from a passage in the Hortensius of Cicero, the worth and the dignity of intellectual attainments. He confess- es, that the writings of Plato " enkindled in his mind an incredible ardor," first awakened his deeper spir- itual nature, and led him to the study of the Holy Scriptures, whereby he emerged from the gray dawn of the Platonic philosophy into the noontide splen- dor of Christianity. It was the literature and civilization of Greece, that prepared the world for the reception of Christi- anity. The existence of that literature, is one of the most wonderful phenomena in the history of man- i kind. Nothing like it had ever appeared before. There had been vast and powerful empires, the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Persian ; 56 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION there had been populous and wealthy cities, Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon ; but not an epic poem, not a historical work, not a dramatic composition, not a forensic discourse, had ever before been produced. All these sprung- up for the first time in Greece, and there attained a degree of perfection, which has never been surpassed, if indeed it has ever been equalled. Thus we speak of Homer as the father of epic poetry, of Herodotus as the father of histo- ry, and of i^schylus as the father of tragedy. To what causes are we to ascribe these astonishing re- sults ? To the influence, doubtless, of free institu- tions and popular education. Never before, had there been a government, of the people, -and for the people. Never before, had the people been educa- ted. These are the sources to which we are to trace all the civilization that existed in Greece. The op- eration of the first of these causes, has been the subject of frequent remark. Thus Hume lays it down as a general proposition, '* That it is impossi- ble for the arts and sciences to arise, at first, among any people, unless that people enjoy the blessing of a free government." But to the influence of the second of these causes, popular education, sufficient importance has not been attached. It is generally thought that the idea of making the education of the people the care of the state, is altogether a modern idea. But I think it might be shown, that the ancient Greeks understood, quite as well as we, the impor- tance, nay the absolute necessity of popular educa- tion in a free state. Says a distinguished writer BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. 157 upon the language and literature of ancient Greece, " Elementary education appears to have been uni- \ ersal among the free citizens of the Greek States during the entire Attic period. Scarcely an allusion occurs, if indeed an authentic one can be found, to an illiterate Hellene. Even the Spartans, proverbi- ally the least learned of the people of Greece, were constrained by the spirit, if not by the letter of their State discipline, to acquire at least the art of reading and writing. . . . Schools and schoolmasters ac- cordingly, are represented as in every part of Greece an essential element of the social system ; and the instruction, even of the upper classes, was carried on much more generally in those schools, than in the mode of private tuition. In Athens, and probably in other Greek republics, every citizen was under at least a moral obligation to provide his sons with a competent knowledge of letters." These schools too, so far at least as their discipline was concerned, were under the control of the state. Of the impor- tance attached by the Greeks to the education of youth, we have a touching and beautiful instance re- lated by Plutarch in his life of Themistocles. When the people of Athens abandoned their city to Xerxes, and took refuge at Troezene on the coast of Pelo- ponnesus, the Troezenians, among other acts of i^^enerous hospitality, had a decree passed, that schoolmasters should be provided at the public ex- pense for the children of their guests. Some idea of what was meant by an elementary course of education among the Greeks may be I 58 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION gathered from the writings of Plato. "As soon," he says, "as a boy has acquired, under the care of his parents, his nursemaid, or his paedagogue, a sense < of the distinction between right and wrong, he is sent to school to be instructed in reading, writing, music, and orderly habits. After he has learnt his alphabet, and is practised in reading a continuous text, the schoolmaster selects, as his task, from the works of the best poets, such passages as inculcate the most approved rules of life, and hold up the best examples of virtuous conduct ; which lessons he is also made to learn by heart. He is then taught music and the use of the lyre, as the next most ef- fectual source of mental refinement ; and his voice is exercised in singing some of the finest odes of the lyric poets, to instil into his mind that sense of har- mony, so important in after life both to the orator, and the man of the world. Upon this should follow a course of athletic exercises in the gymnasium, which finishes the education of the boy, and fits him for the higher training of the citizen." This higher training was followed up in the Lyceum, and the Academy, by a more enlarged course of instruction, comprised under the heads of rhetoric and philoso- phy. Such was the education which Greece provi- ded for her sons. I have spoken only of the literature of Greece. I may be reminded, that at the beginning of the Christian era, Greece had no longer an independent existence, but was a mere province of the Roman Empire. Rut, although Greece had been conquer- BV THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD. LL.D. I 59 rd by the arms of Rome, Rome had herself been subdued by the arts of Greece. Rome, in fact, can scarcely be said to have had a Hterature of her own. She but imitated, or rather translated, the literature of Greece. Thus, it has been said, Horace transla- ted Alca^us, Terence translated Menander, Lucretius translated Epicurus, Virgil translated Homer, and Cicero translated Demosthenes and Plato. The lit- erature therefore of the Roman Empire, which at that time comprehended the whole civilized world, may without impropriety be called the literature of Greece. It was then, I say, the language, the literature, the philosophy, and the civilization of Greece, which prepared the world for the reception and diffusion of Christianity. In the first place, they dispelled that ignorance and barbarity, with which, the prevalence of a pure religion would have been simply impos- sible. The contest which was waged for so many years between Persia and Greece, was in fact a con- test between oriental despotism, and Hellenic civili- zation. When the countless hosts of Xerxes, drawn from all parts of his vast dominions, precipitated themselves upon Greece, the destinies of the world hung upon the result of the expedition. Had Greece been conquered, she would have become a mere satrapy of Persia. Her people would have been carried into captivity, her cities would have been razed to the ground, every vestige of art and civilization then existing would have been swept away, and mankind plunged back again into ignor- l6o AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION ance and barbarism. Not only however, were the successive tides of Persian invasion hurled back, but, by the subsequent conquests of Alexander, in- stead of Greece being orientalized, Asia was Hel- lenized. It is this which invests the history of ancient Greece, with an interest and a grandeur which belong to that of no other nation ; and causes it to be studied with an ardor and an earnestness, which the lapse of more than two thousand years has only intensified. What the world owes to the heroes of Marathon, of Thermopylae, of Salamis, and of Plataea, can be better understood and apprecia- ted here, and now, than it ever could have been, at any other time, or in any other country. It was this marvellous civilization, which had sprung up in Greece, which had thus been preserved from extinc- tion, and which had gradually diffused itself through- out the whole Roman Empire, that paved the way for the introduction of Christianity. But the learning and philosophy of Greece had produced another result, no less favorable to the re- ception of Christianity. It had shaken to its base the whole edifice of heathen superstition. It had destroyed all faith in the popular religion. " It is marvellous," says the Epicurean in Cicero, " that one soothsayer can look another in the face without laughing." But man cannot exist without religion in some form or other ; and it was the void thus cre- ated in the human mind, that philosophy had sought to fill. That it had failed to do so, was no ground for disparagement, or reproach. It is easy for those BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. i6l who sit in the full blaze of gospel light, to speak lightly of the philosophy of a Socrates or a Plato. But, to their honor be it said, they were sincere and earnest seekers after truth ; and in their specula- tions had risen to a loftier height than the mind of man had ever reached before ; and had discovered all that human reason, in its greatest expansion, and highest state of cultivation, was capable of discover- ing in matters of religion. Their failure, therefore, had only demonstrated the necessity of a revelation. In one thing, however, they had succeeded. They had dethroned the false gods of heathendom, and thus prepared the world for the reception of the true God which Christianity proclaimed. Thus, the full- ness of time had come. The mental childhood of the human race had passed away, and it had become wearied of its old toys. The Greek language, too, was a most important instrument in the diffusion of Christianity. It was spoken in all the provinces of the Roman Empire. It had become the language of the civilized world. The Old Testament had already been translated into Greek, and it is a remarkable fact, that all the wri- ters of the New Testament, Jews though they were, made use of the Greek language. You thus see, how in the providence of God, the Greeks were destined to perform as important a part in the ushering in of Christianity, as were the Jews. They were, certainly, the two most extraordinary races that have ever appeared in the history of the world. No people, so few in number as were the I 62 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION Jews and the Greeks, have ever made so deep and lasting an impression upon mankind. To the Jews, were committed '* the Hvely oracles of God." They were ignorant — they were superstitious — they were intolerant. But they had been made the deposito- ries of one grand truth, the central idea of all relig- ion, the existence of one God ; a truth, indeed, which they often forgot, from which they frequently lapsed, and which perhaps they imperfectly understood ; but which was nevertheless, so embodied and enshrined in types and ceremonies, that it was safely preserv- ed until the time had come, when it was to be devel- oped in a purer and more spiritual form. The Greeks, on the other hand, had learning, had taste, had refinement, had philosophy ; but they lacked the knowledge of the one true God. They had "gods many, and lords many." To the perfection of our nature, it was necessary that these elements should be combined ; that Jewish theology should be en- grafted upon Grecian humanity ; and this is what Christianity in effect accomplished. But not only did the learning of Greece thus pre- pare the world for the reception of Christianity, but with the decay of that learning came the corruption of the Church. And when, during that long night of intellectual darkness which enveloped Europe, nearly every vestige of ancient learning and civilization was effaced, Christianity became well nigh extinct. But when the remains of Greek and Roman literature were rescued from that tomb to which they had been so long consigned, then came a purer Christianity. BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIKl.l). 1.1 .1). I 63 \ es ! the revival of learning was the precursor of the Reformation. And now, who were the great Reformers of Ger- many, and France, and England, and Scotland ? They were all men of the highest education — bred in the most famous universities — the finest scholars of their age. Melancthon, with whom I have always associated in my mind the late Joseph Addison Al- exander — one of the brightest ornaments of Prince- ton College, and of the Whig Society — Melancthon, as you know, was a prodigy of learning. At the age of eighteen, he gave lectures on the Aristotelian philosophy and the classics. At the age of twenty- one, he was professor of the Greek language and literature in the University of Wittemberg, and stu- dents flocked to him from all parts of Europe. Lu- ther was educated at the University of Erfurt, and was afterwards a professor in the University of Wit- temberg. Such was the extent of his learninor, and the impression made by his lectures, that the rector of the University is said to have exclaimed, " This monk will puzzle our doctors, and bring in a new doctrine." Calvin, who, as it has been said, " syste- matized the doctrine of Protestantism, and organiz- ed its ecclesiastical discipline," was educated at Paris, under the celebrated Corderius, and became the greatest Latin scholar of his day. He was also a student of the Universities, both of Orleans and Paris. Cambridge gave birth to the great Reform- ers of England — Cranmer — Ridley — and Latimer, the flames of whose martyrdom, as he predicted, f I 64 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAl. ORATION lighted a candle in England which has never been put out. Of the Scotch Reformers, Hamilton was educated at Paris ; and from St. Andrews went forth Buchanan, who wrote Latin poetry " with the purity and elegance of an ancient Roman," and as a schol- ar was unrivalled in his age ; and John Knox, whom one of the most distinguished of the living histori- ans of England has justly denominated, "The Apos- tle of the Reformation," and but for whom not only Scotland, but England too, would in all human prob- ability have fallen back into Popery. Such is a very feeble and imperfect sketch of the services which learning has rendered to religion in every age of the world. It will be seen, that religion has advanc- ed or declined, as learning has flourished or faded. But it is sometimes said, learning makes a man proud — Scientia inflat — and that is a state of mind unfriendly to religion. But the want of learning is very apt to beget a spiritual pride, quite as unfriend- ly to religion, and quite as offensive in the sight of God, as intellectual pride. The learning, however, which makes a man proud is shallow learning. True science makes a man humble. It is when we survey the grandeur, the immensity, the magnificence of God's creation, that we feel our own insignificance. " When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fin- gers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordain- ed, what is man that thou art mindful of him ? " The higher we ascend the hill of science, the loftier the peaks to which we climb, the more boundless is the field of vision, the more countless are the ob- BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. 165 jccts of knowledge, and the deeper becomes our con- viction of how little we know, compared with what is to be known. Newton, who *' carried the rule and the line to the uttermost barriers of creation " — who with an energy of mind almost divine, and guid- ed by the light of mathematics purely his own, first discovered the motions of the planets, the paths of comets, and the causes of the tides — was in the habit of comparing himself to a child gathering pebbles on the seashore while the immense ocean of truth lay unexplored before him. And such, no doubt, is the natural effect of all that deserves the name of science. The truth is, we must come to science as we come to religion, with the humility, and the do- cility of a child. ''In regnum natw^ce.quod funda- fum est in sctentiis, sic — tit in regnum coeli, nisi forma infantis, intrare non datur. " Into the kingdom of na- ture, which is founded in the sciences, as into the kingdom of Heaven, no one can enter save as a lit- de child. But again, we frequently hear it said, that learn- ing without religion is satatiic. I confess, I never have been able to see the force or the propriety of such language. They who employ it, I am very much inclined to suspect, take their ideas of Satan, not so much from the Bible, as from Milton. Satan is the hero of Paradise Lost ; and in that immortal epic, undoubtedly he is clothed with the very high- est attributes of intellectual power. Nothing can exceed in sublimity, the description there given of that grand council, held in '' Pandoemonium the high 1 66 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION capital of Satan and his peers." Their debates are conducted in a style of eloquence, " above all Greek, above all Roman fame." Satan is the central figure — " high above the rest, in shape and gesture proud- ly eminent." Around him are his peers, worthy of such a chief — Moloch, " sceptered king," whose " trust was with the eternal to be deemed equal in strength, and rather than be less cared not to be at all " — Belial, whose *' tongue dropped manna, and could make the worse appear the better reason " — Beelzebub, whose " look drew audience and atten- tion," deep on whose *' front engraven, deliberation sat and public care." Why, compared with these, the good angels Abdiel, and Michael, and Raphael, are tame and spiritless. Compared with these, the gods of Homer are a vulgar and ignoble herd. Their only crime would appear to have been ambi- tion, " that last infirmity of noble minds." In their very sports and pastimes there is something heroic : " Part on the plain or in the air sublime, Upon the wing or in swift race contend, As at the Olympian games or Pythian fields." " Others more mild, Retreated in a silent valley, sing With notes angelical to many a harp Their own heroic deeds and hapless fall By doom of battle ; and complain that fate Free virtue should inthral to force or chance. Their song was partial ; but the harmony, Suspended hell, and took with ravishment The thronging audience." Nay, the themes, in the discussion of which, the choicest spirits of hell were in the habit of indulging, would seem to have been theological tenets : BY THE HON. RICHARD S. MELlJ, LL.D. 167 '• Others apart sat on a hill retired, In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate, Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute," Such is the Satan of Milton. It may be pardon- ed on the score of poetic Hcense ; but it lacks the essential quality of truth to nature ; and I cannot but esteem it a foul blot, upon what would other- wise be, the grandest production of human genius. It has furnished the example and the apology, for those monstrous productions of modern fiction, in which villainy of the deepest dye is associated with qualities which command our respect and admira- tion. The Lucifer, of Byron's Cain, is but the repro- duction of Milton's Satan ; and only shocks us the more, because unredeemed by the sublimity of Par- adise Lost, and because the noble poet lacked that sanctity of character which truly belonged to Milton. How different is the Satan of the Bible ? There, he is typified by the most grovelling, and least erect of all God's creatures — the most remote from that image in which man was created. There, he is rep- resented as the father of lies — the most contempti- ble, and the most detestable of all imaginable beings. There, he is described as the power of darkness, in- tellectual as well as moral. And when cast out of man, by Him who knew them well — their " name was legion "^they besought Him, " that they might enter into a herd of swine," the appropriate habita- tion of such *' unclean spirits." I protest then against the idea of ascribing to Satan those high in- tellectual qualities which Milton has attributed to I 68 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION him, or of supposing, that learning and science can ever conduce in any way to the advancement of his kingdom. His chief project is, and it has ever been, to keep men in ignorance. I dare say we are all tempted by Satan in many ways ; but I doubt very much, that he ever tempted a young man to become a hard student. Why has it been said, that "an undevout astrono- mer is mad ? " And why has that sentiment been so universally applauded ? Why ! but that the tenden- cy of science is to make a man devout ? If this were not so, there would be neither truth nor beauty in the sentiment. That distinguished friend of sci- ence and religion,* one of the last acts of whose well spent life — when on a bed of sickness and ap- proaching death — was the preparation of a memori- al to the Board of Trustees, urmuCT the establish- ment of an Observatory in connexion with the Col- lege of New Jersey, could he, in that solemn hour, have for one moment supposed, that the impulse which would thus be given to science in one ot its highest forms, could have any other possible effect than the promotion of the glory of God ? Through the munificence of another friendf of science and religion, that dying wish of the lamented Van Rens- selaer has in part been realized. A beautiful struct- ure has been reared, a fitting receptacle for that great telescope, destined, as we trust, to reveal new wonders of science, new o-lories of the firmament. * The late Rev. Cortlandt VanRensselaer, D. D. t Gen. N. Norris Halsted. BY THE HON. RICHARD S. VWA.D, LL.I). 169 Hut, if science is not in itself friendly to religion, if knowledge is a power for evil as well as for good, then the corner-stone of that edifice ought to have been laid with fear and trembling, instead of being accompanied, as it was, by that grand and glowing address,* in which learning and piety are so beauti- fully blended — in which the sublime imagery of the Bible, that wonderful Book, " whose emanations vi- brate in exquisite symphony with all that is beautiful and orrand in nature, ".is so interwoven with the magnificent illustrations, furnished by the discoveries of modern astronomy, of the truth of the annuncia- tion, that "the heavens declare the glory of God" — that the eloquent speaker must at least himself have felt, that upon the foundation then laid, was to be erected a temple, at once of religion and science, where God was to be worshipped, while his heavens were explored. But if knowledge is a power for evil, what a potent engine of wickedness might not such an observatory become, in the hands of an as- tronomer indeed undevout — pointing his batteries at the skies, and " hurling defiance Vainst the vault of heaven ? " . Bacon notices an objection to science made in his day : " that the contemplation of second causes doth derogate from our dependence upon God, who is the first cause. " And the answer which he gives to it is, that while a superficial knowledge of philosophy * Address delivered by Prof. Stephen Alexander, LL. D., at the laying of ihe Comer Stone of the Astronomical Observatory of the College of New Jersey, June 27, 1866. 170 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION may incline the mind of man to atheism, a further proceeding therein doth bring the mind back again to rehgion ; and as to second causes, if the mind dwell and stay there, it may indeed induce some ob- livion of the highest cause ; " but where a man pass- eth on farther, and seeth the dependence of causes, and the works of providence, then, according to the allegory of the poets, he will easily believe, that the highest link of nature's chain must needs be tied to the foot of Jupiter's chair." ^ No ! depend upon it, religion has nothing to fear from learning. Ignorance is her most dangerous foe. She can combat learning with its own weap- ons ; but she has no means of coping with igno- rance. Science and religion will ever be found in harmony WTth each other. Discard forev^er the idea, that they are incapable of reconciliation. There is science falsely so called ; and there is zeal w^ithout knowledge ; and these of course can never be rec- onciled. But never was there a jar or a discord be- tween sound science and true religion. Never, no never, did science say one thing, and religion an- other. If the error which I have been attempting to ex- pose, were a speculative error only, it might hardly be worth while to refute it. It springs, as I said be- fore, from a laudable desire to give to religion the paramount place to which it is justly entitled. But, it is very far from being a mere speculative error. It has done more to prolong the reign of ignorance, to retard the progress of education, to quench the BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. 171 lii>ht of knowledcre, than all other causes combined. For ac^es, it made the Bible a sealed book, and thus locked up the most precious treasure ever commit- ted to man. It imprisoned learning in the cloister of the monk. Its fatal influence iis still felt. Why is it, that in England, notwithstanding the munifi- cence with which she has endowed her higher semi- naries of learning, notwithstanding her renowned I'niversities, and her great Public Schools, no ade- (juate provision has ever been made for the educa- tion of her people ? Just because it has been taken for granted that knowledge without religion is a dan- gerous gift, and that unless the people can be edu- cated in what are called religious schools, they had better not be educated at all. And all this in the name of religion! ''Oh gracious God," exclaims Lord Brougham in pleading for a system of Nation- al Education, '* was ever the name of thy holy ordi- nances so impiously profaned before ? Was ever ])efore, thy best gift to man — his reason — so bewil- dered by blind bigotry, or savage intolerance, or wild fanaticism ; bewildei'ed, so as to curse the very light thou hast caused to shine before his steps ; be- wildered, so as not to perceive, that any and every religion must flourish best in the natural and tutor- ed mind, and that by whomsoever instructed in sec- ular things, thy word can better be sown in a soil prepared, than in one abandoned through neglect to the execrable influence of the evil spirit." But, although unwilling to adopt a system of Na- tional Education for herself, England consented to 172 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION the Introduction of such a system into Ireland. And what has been the result ? The schools established in Ireland, like those in this country, are secular schools, open to pupils of every religious persua- sion. It was looked upon by many at the time as a dangerous experiment ; but it has thus far been crowned with the most signal success. It has done more for Ireland, than any measure of relief ever devised for that unhappy country. It is rapidly vin- dicating her from the reproach of popular ignorance and intellectual darkness. If you doubt the correct- ness of this statement, I can refer you to an author- ity, which I am sure you will not question ; to the opinion of one who has not only seen the practical operation of the system, and witnessed its beneficent results, but who has been himself one of the chief workers in carrying it out ; and who, when it was threatened with destruction some years since, did as much, if not more, than any other man to rescue and sustain it ; to the honored President of your College, who, although he has been with us so short a time, has already established a lasting claim to the grati- tude of every friend of education in this country by the interest which he has manifested in our common schools. Yes ! that problem, which for more than two centuries has perplexed the wisest statesmen of England — how to deal with Ireland is likely to re- ceive its solution in the education of the Irish peo- ple and the dis-establishment of the Irish Church. From the same source, springs that hostility to public schools, which is continually manifesting itself BY THE HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL.D. I 73 in this country, and which, in a neighboring State, al- ready threatens the whole system with destruction. riiere is, we know, a church, composed for the most part of a foreign element, and which has been swol- len by the tide of immigration until it has become a power in the land, which does not hesitate to pro- claim open war against our whole system of popular education — a system, which, in connexion with the ample provision made by our churches for religious instruction, has done more to make us what we are, to elevate the character of our people, to rescue the masses from that degradation which has hereto- fore been their sad doom, and to strengthen and perpetuate our free institutions, than all other agen- cies combined. But the opposition which comes from this quarter ought not to surprise us. It is the natural result of their ecclesiastical system. Believ- ing what they do, I do not know that we can blame them for it. They are at least consistent. But what shall we say of those, who, while calling themselves Protestants, yet sympathize in this hostility to com- mon schools ? Why, the common school is the child of Protestantism. It is the offspring of the Refor- mation. Destroy it, and you bury Protestantism in the same grave. A pure and enlightened religion, never has existed, and never will exist, among an ig- norant and uneducated people. Did time permit, I think, it would not be difficult to show, that these schools, free to all of every sect and creed, must necessarily be secular schools ; and that the interests ^oth of religion and learning are best subserved, by 174 AMERICAN WHIG CENTENNIAL ORATION. leaving to the State the secular education of the peo- ple, and to the Church their religious education. But my hour is up, and I must bring these re- marks to a close. In what I have said to you to-day, my young friends, I have sought to furnish you with fresh incentives to the pursuit of learning and science. I have sought to deepen your interest in that Society which has for its object, the promotion of a taste for literature, and a love of knowledge. I have endeavored to persuade you that learning was not a foe to religion, but that it has ever been its most valuable friend and ally. And now, my young friends, members of the American Whig Society, let me exhort you in con- clusion to be true to your time-honored motto — Lit- ercB, Amicitia, Mores — Friendship, Literature, and Virtue — the sweets of friendship, the charms of lit- erature, the loveliness of virtue. That these may all be yours, is the sincere wish of my heart. You will not live to see a return of this day : but you may so live, that when another hundred years shall have passed away, your names may be pointed at, as having shed lustre upon your beloved Society, as having reflected honor upon your dear Alma Mater, and as having contributed in your day and genera- tion to the glory of God and the good of your fel- low men. CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. The American Whig Society of the College of New Jersey, at its Annual Meeting, June 25th, 1867, resolved to celebrate its Hundredth Anniversary on Tuesday, June 29th, 1869, the day preceding the An- nual Commencement of the College. A Committee of graduate members was appointed to select a His- torian, and Prof. Henry C. Cameron was unanimous- ly appointed. At the Annual Meeting, June 23d, 1868, another Committee was also appointed who in like manner selected the Hon. Richard S. Field, LL. D., as the Centennial Orator. A Committee of Arrangements was appointed consisting of Prof. Henry C. Cameron, Hon. Edward W. Scudder, Henry M. Alexander, Esq., Prof. Joshua H. McIlvaine, D. D., Prof. Charles W. Shields, D. D. Of this Committee Prof. Cameron was appointed Chairman and Treasurer. 176 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION An undergraduate Committee was subsequently appointed, consisting of five members from each class : SENIOR CLASS. William McKibbin, Pennsylvania ; John William Rosebro, North Carolina ; William Seely Little, New York ; George Kemp Ward, New York ; Frederick Fowler, Maryland. JUNIOR CLASS. Robert M. Agnew, Pennsylvania ; Hugh Graham Kyle, Tennessee ; David R. Sessions, South Caro- lina ; G. Clmton Deaver, Pennsylvania ; Thomas Bruen Brown, District of Columbia. SOPHOMORE CLASS. Alexander VanRensselaer, New Jersey; E. Henry Perkins, Maryland ; Josiah McClain, Illinois ; Chas. W. Darst, Ohio ; Robt. H. Patterson, Pennsylvania. FRESHMAN CLASS. Charles Wellington Kase, New Jersey ; Lemuel H. Tyree, Tennessee ; Charles S. Lane, Maryland ; Thomas Kell Bradford, Maryland ; Richmond Pear- son, North Carolina. Special invitations were extended to the President of the United States and other distinguished Hon- orary Members, to the Governor of the State, the Board of Trustees of the College, and the Faculties of the College and the Theological Seminary. A special invitation was extended to all the mem- bers of the Cliosophic Society. OF THE AMERICAN WHK; SOCIETY. 77 At ten o'clock a. m., Tuesday, June 29th, 1869, the American Whig Society met in its Hall. The central columns of the portico were wreathed with evergreens, and the motto of the Society, Literas Amicitia, Mores, adorned the architrave, and the dates *' 1 769-1 869" were placed in the pediment of the front. The officers upon the occasion were : PRESIDENT OF THE DAY. HON. WILLIAM C. ALEXANDER, LL. D., Of the Class of 1824. HISTORIAN. PROF. HENRY C. CAMERON, Of the Class of 1847. HON. RICHARD S. FIELD, LL. D., Of the Class of 1 82 1. CHIEF MARSHAL. GEN. CALDWELL K. HALL, A. M., Of the Class of 1857. ASSISTANT MARSHALS. HENRY P. ROSS, A. M., Of the Class of 1857. JOSEPH K. m'cAMMON, A. M., Of the Class of 1865. WILLIAM B. GLEN, Of the Junior Class. S. ADAM WILLIS, Of the Junior Class. CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. PROF. HENRY C. CAMERON. I 78 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION The members of the Society formed in front of the Hall at 10:30 a. m. The members of the Cliosophic Society assembled in front of their Hall, and the Faculties of the Col- lege and the Theological Seminary, Professors in other Institutions, Invited Guests, Representatives of other Literary Societies, and citizens met at the Col- lege Chapel at the same hour. The undergraduates of the American Whig Soci- ety acted as an Escort, and the procession moved to the front of Nassau Hall, where, at 10:45 a. m., it was met by the Governor of the State, the President and ex-President of the College, the Chancellor and Chief Justice of the State, and the Board of Trus- tees of the College. The whole body then proceed- ed down the central path to the First Presbyterian Church in the following order : ORDER OF PROCESSION. Chief Marshal. Grafulla's Band. The Undergraduate members of the American Whig Society as an Escort. The President of the Day, the Orator, and the Historian. The Committee of Arrangements. The Junior Orators. . The Governor of the State. The Chancellor and the Chief Justice of the State. The President and the Ex-President of the College. The Board of Trustees. The Faculty. The Faculty of the Theological Seminary. Professors in other Institutions. Invited Guests and Representatives of other Literary Societies. Honorary Members of the American Whig Society. Alumni of the American Whig Society. ^ Alumni of the Cliosophic Society. Undergraduates of the Cliosophic Society. Citizens. OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 179 The galleries of the church had been opened at 10 A. M., and were crowded with ladies from Prince- ton and from distant cities. Upon arriving at the church the Escort opened ranks and received the main portion of the procession for which the lower floor of the church had been reserved, the western block of pews being appropriated to the Escort. When the procession had entered, the church was filled to overflowing. The following was the order of exercises : Exercises in the Church. — • — PRAYER. By the Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D., LL. D., of the Class of 181 5. HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY, By Prof. Henry C. Cameron, of the Class of 1847. Is^TJSIO. ORATION By the Hon Richard S. Field, LL. D., of the Class of 1821. 3iwCTJSIC. \ After music by Grafulla's Band, the exercises were opened with prayer by the Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D., LL. D., of the Class of 1815. l8o CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION PRAYER. Almighty God ! we are in Thy presence. We acknowledge Thee as the only living and true God, infinite in Thy being and perfection, our. Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor. We thank Thee, oh God ! that thou hast made man after Thine own image ; that Thou hast endowed him with intelli- gence ; that Thou hast given him a soul capable of knowing, and loving, and enjoying Thee. We thank Thee for all the means Thou hast afforded us of ob- taining a knowledge of Thee, and of Thy works. We thank Thee for the establishment of the College of New Jersey — founded in Thy fear, and for the promotion of Thy glory. We thank Thee for all the favors Thou hast manifested towards it. from the time of its formation until the present hour. We are gathered here this morning in connexion with this Institution to celebrate the Centennial Anniver- sary of one of the Societies connected from the be- ginning with this Seminary of learning. We desire now to bless Thee, oh Lord, that this Society has been the means, in times past, of promoting Litera- ture, Morals, and Friendship. Grant, we pray, that all its members, past and present, may feel that they are consecrated to the service of Thee, — to the pro- motion of knowledge, of true morality, and of uni- versal brotherhood among mankind. We pray Thee that this celebration may be the means of promoting anew this spirit of an enlightened Christian knowl- edge and enterprise, and that it may, above all, be for the promotion of true moral excellence. Grant OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. igl that all connected therewith may be led to the deep conviction that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life ; that all access to true knowledge, to holiness, and to life, is through Him, the eternal Son of God, clothed in our nature. Him we acknowledge : to Him we bow our knee : we confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father. We invoke now Thy presence and Thy blessing. We would consecrate ourselves, this College, this Society — all that we have and are, to Him that loved us, and i^ave himself for us ; to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be praise forever. Amen. The Hon. William C. Alexander, LL. D., Presi- dent of the day, then said : We have assembled to celebrate by appropriate exercises the One Hundredth Anniversary of the American Whig Society of the College of New Jersey. In an address delivered before the two Societies in 1826, the distinguished statesman who made it, in speaking of the two Societies of the College, said that "they were the faithful seminaries of everything that was useful, manly and noble, nurturing the precious germs of literature, friendship and moral- ity." (Applause.) What more gratifying sight can there be, than an assemblage of young men, coming up from every separate republic of our union ; governing them- selves after a model supplied by that political union, at an age, too, when passion pleads for indulgence ; exercising their powers as legislators, as judges, and I 82 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION as magistrates ; and governing their own. deport- ment, and the conduct of others, by laws founded in the strictest rules of order and justice, wisely framed, faithfully, impartially, and zealously enforc- ed : and this, too, under the seal of the most impen- etrable secrecy ; and planting the seal of heroic self- denial upon the habits of youth, and restraining the ardor, the precipitancy, and often the rude impulses of young natures ! Neither in the affairs of the nation, nor of my own state, have I taken a deeper or livelier interest, than I have in the progress and welfare of one of the So- cieties of which you are now the active members ; and believe me, the former will call for no greater sacrifice, elicit no greater interest, confer no greater happiness, than it is now yours to impart, to cherish, and to enjoy. The attention of the audience is respectfully invi- ted to the exercises of the occasion ; and first, I beg leave to introduce to you Professor Henry C. Cam- eron, the Historian of the American Whig Society. Prof. Cameron then read the History of the Amer- ican Whig Society. The reading of the History was followed by music, after which the President said : The Centennial Oration, on behalf of the Ameri- can Whig Society, will be pronounced by the Hon- orable Richard S. Field, LL. D., of the Class of 1 8 2 1 , whom I now have the pleasure of introducing to you. The Centennial Oration was then delivered by the Hon. Richard S. Field, LL. D. OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 1 83 At 2 o'clock P. M. the Society re-assembled in their Hall, and at 2:45 the procession again formed in front of the Halls, and moved in the same order as in the morning, to the old Second Presbyterian Church, where a collation was served. The Hall was decorated with green garlands, stars and crosses, with the names of the most distinguish- ed former members of the Society, and with mottoes. Liters, Amicitia, Mores, the motto of the Whig Society, was placed at the northern end of the church, with the name and portrait of the principal found- er of the Society, James Madison, and the dates I 769-1869. On the eastern side was the old motto of the College, Dei sub numine viget, and on the western side was the motto of the Plain-Dealing So- ciety, Aperta vivere mente. All these were in beau- tiful characters and of a blue color, which is that of the Whig Society. At the southern end of the church, in very handsome letters, appeared the motto of the Cliosophic Society, Prodesse quam conspict, the color being pink, which is that of the Clio Soci- ety. The mottoes were surrounded with wreaths of evergreen, prepared for the occasion by a number of the ladies of Princeton, and some of the Whig Committee of Arrangements. Mr. E. Sandoz, a member of the Whig Society, had entire charge of the decorations of the church. From the corbels of the arches on the sides were suspended the por- traits of Drs. Smith, Green and Carnahan, for- mer Presidents of the College, Drs. James W. and J. Addison Alexander, John Breckenridge and 184 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Commodore R. F. Stockton. The portrait of Mrs. Richard Stockton, wife of the signer of the Dec- laration of Independence, on account of her rela- tion to the Society in the time of the Revolution, also graced the occasion. Upon the northern end of the church were the names of the founders of the Society. Among the names of the numerous distinguished mem- bers of the Society which adorned the eastern and western walls may be mentioned : Henry Lee, Charles Lee, Henry B. Livingston, William R. Davie, Richard Stockton, William B. Giles, Ed- ward Livingston, James A. Bayard, Robert G. Har- per, Robert Finley, Smith Thompson, Mahlon Dickerson, David Hosack, William Johnson, John Henry Hobart, George W. Campbell, John Sergeant, Charles Fenton Mercer, Richard Rush, Charles Ewing, John Forsyth, James Booth, Joseph R. Ingersoll, and many others. The Hon. William C. Alexander, President of the day, acted as Chairman. The Rev. Dr. Maclean invoked the Divine blessing. After the dinner, the Chairman annnounced the Toasts and speakers as follows : I. The President of the United States. Professor Cameron read the following letter from the President: of the american whig society. 1 85 Executive Mansion, Washingto7i, D. C, June 26, 1869. Dear Sir : — I am directed by the President to thank you for your very cordial invitation to be pres- ent at the Centennial Celebration of the Whig So- ciety, and to say that he regrets extremely that ur- gent public business will prevent him from leaving the Capital at that time, and he is therefore com- pelled to decline. I have the honor to be Very respectfully yours, HORACE PORTER, Secretary. Prof. H. C. Cameron, Princeton, New Jersey. II. Our Sister Association — The Cliosophic So- ciety. Response by the Hon. John Slosson, of New York, of the Class of 1823 : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : This call upon me for a speech is a little embarrassing, but I have still in me so much of the old Clio spirit — such as it used to be in the good old time of 1820-23 — that I cannot hear the name of my loved Society pronounc- ed without springing to my feet. I felt half disposed this morning, while listening in the church to the very eloquent historical account of our great rival, the Whig Society, to make a public protestation to that part of the oration which claimed for the Whigs I 86 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION a higher antiquity, than that of our own Society ; in- deed, the language of the speech left me under the impression that the eloquent speaker intended to convey the idea, in the politest manner possible, that the Clio Society had committed a sort of fraud, in dating its birth in 1765, instead of 1770. I did not live in that period and therefore cannot speak from knowledge, but there may be some here pres- ent who can correct me, if in error, when I claim the earlier as the true date of " fair Clio's " birth. What higher proof, sir, do we need of this, than the fact that we Clios celebrated our Centennial four years ago ? (Applause.) It is now forty-six years since I stood on this clas- sic ground as a graduating student. I see some be- fore me who were my fellow students then, and among them, some, who, I must do them the justice to say, did all that lay in their power to make me a Whig ; but that protecting Providence, which has al- ways been kind to me and has shielded me in every time of danger, saved me in that fearful peril. (Laughter.) It seems but yesterday, when I stood where some of the young men who hear me to-day, will stand to-morrow, on that awful stage on which I was to pronounce my Commencement speech, and it seems as though the whole scene was now be- ing re-enacted before me. For the comfort of those who are to graduate to-morrow, I will say that there probably never was an occasion on which I felt, greater alarm, or a more immediate and sudden de- liverance. (Laughter.) I suppose there is no event OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. I 87 which is so provokingly embarrassing to a young man, as that of his final exhibition on Commence- ment Day, when he feels that so much is expected of him, and has that intense desire of making his mark, which is so natural on such an occasion. I remem- ber very distinctly when my name was called, and I stepped out upon those dreaded boards, with that large audience before me, sitting with attentive ears and fixed eyes, and in the most awful silence ! It seemed for the moment as if the speech, which for six long weeks I had been elaborating, had all es- caped me ! Time and space had disappeared, and " chaos come again ! " What in the world I was to do, I did not know. I advanced to the centre of the platform, and like one of Homer's heroes in desperation inwardly prayed " give me but light, and Ajax asks no more ! " Suddenly it came ; I re- membered the first sentence and delivered it ore ro- tundo ; I resolved to go through with the speech at all hazards, and to extemporize, if my memory should fail me, and that resolution saved me. The speech came back to me in all its glowing beauty and I was safely delivered of it. (Applause.) Among the gentlemen present is one whose ac- quaintance I formed when I first came, a mere 'boy, to the college, and whose society was certainly of great profit and pleasure to me during my college days. He was then in one of the higher classes, and has a little the advantage of me, not much however, in years. I have not seen him, to know him, since those early college times, now forty-six years ago, I 88 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION but he still, I am happy to say, retains all the vigor and energy which characterised him then, and I rec- ognize in his eye that peculiar twinkle, which he had when on my first arrival in Princeton he endeavored to convince me that my only possible chance of get- ting through college was to join the Whig Society ! You will all know to whom I allude, when I tell you that, since his graduation, he has occupied in this, his native state, some of the highest positions in the gift of the people. He has served his country in the Senate of the United States ; he has occupied the distinguished office of Attorney General of his own State, and is, at this moment, filling a high ju- dicial position under the government of the United States, wearing a name without blemish and full of honor, and which will doubtless be cited at future centennials of the Whig Society, in the list of emi- nent men who have adorned its membership. I need not name the gentleman ; your own consciousness has already suggested it to your mind. He has lived long enough to atone for the sin of endeavoring to make me a Whig, and I here magnanimously and publicly forgive him. After forty-six years, during which I have known him only by reputation, I see him again, on the old battle ground of our youthful literary conflicts, and am this day an honored guest of his family. Forty-six years ago ! What names come crowd- ing on my memory as I look back to that remote period ! Carnahan had just succeeded the learned, venerable Green as President. Among the profes- OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 1 89 sors were Lindsley, whose keen, searching black eye, full of an indescribable sardonic irony, would drive die very blood out of the boys, when he fixed his glance upon them. Vethake, the gentle genial man, profoundly able and learned in his department of mathematics, and celebrated as one of the great- est chess players of his day. McLean, still living and with us to-day, full of well earned honors, then just commencing his fine career and the especial ter- ror of all those industrious students, who, in mo- ments of great absent-mindedness, would sometimes slip out of the back door of the college in winter nights to pursue their studies in Trenton or else- where. In the Theological Seminary were names which have become historical : Alexander, the ven- erable head of the Institution, that simple hearted, faithful follower of his master — " a living epistle of Christ, known and read of all men " — as learned as he was truly religious, and as profound a thinker as he was learned, the very embodiment of the holy principles he so loved to teach ; who that ever heard him, but delights to recall his venerable figure, as, standing, with the word of God before him, in lan- guage which a child could understand, but with a depth of analysis which riveted the attention of the profoundest theologian, and with an unction so child- like and so sincere, that none could doubt its heav- enly origin, he expounded the deep mysteries of man's redemption. There, too, was Miller, the ac- complished Divine, the thorough gentleman, and Hodge, then just commencing a career which has 190 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION since embellished our sacred literature with some of its choicest gems. In the town were then living Richard Stockton, one of New Jersey's greatest sons, and Bayard, an accomplished gentleman of the old school, with Woodhull, the pastor of the village church, and like his renowned prototype, " passing rich, in forty pounds a year." And now, young gentlemen of both Societies, a word for you. You doubtless think that forty-six years is a large cycle of time, and probably most of you dream that long before that number of fleeting years have sped their course with you, you will have attained to high and honorable positions in life and will have achieved wealth, or fame, or both. It is all right that you should strive to attain these prizes, and sincerely do I hope you may ; but let me say to you one word, and it is the only serious one I pro- pose to utter. There is something better than mere convenience in life, better than wealth ; it is a stainless reputation and " a conscience void of of- fence towards God and towards man. " Let me rec- ommend to you, in after life to be industrious, in whatever calling or pursuit you may engage, to maintain the strictest integrity, the greatest purity of life, and above all things to exercise faith, — faith in yourselves, faith in others, and more than all, faith in God, who is faithful to all who put their trust in him, and without whose favor and smiles, all the fame and wealth you may ever attain, will in the end, turn to bitterness and disappointment. OF THE AMERICAN WHKJ SOCIETY. 191 And now, brother Clios and Whigs, a word in parting. When I remember the rivalry that once existed between our two Societies, the jealousy with which each was wont to regard the success of the other, and the zeal and genius displayed by each in proselyting for new members, I confess to some sur- prise that either should have outlived the strife a hundred years. I am not so much surprised at the vitality of the great Clio Society, for all the world knows, that that Institution has in it the element and principle of perpetual life ; (Applause.) but how the Whigs ever stole from us the secret of that immor- tality, is to me a puzzle indeed. (Applause.) In my day we always kept our secrets most profoundly — the old green door of Clio Hall, which closed upon the awful mysteries within, was always kept under lock and key, and if any over-curious Whig ever dared to peep behind, he was sure to meet with condign punishment. Yet notwithstanding every pre- caution on our part, the restless, jealous, pertina- cious Whig Society seems to have possessed itself of the secret of great Clio's immortality ! Brother Clios, let us not complain ; it is best that it is so ; let us run the race of competition together; we can well afford to do this. It would be selfish in us to wish to run alone. Throw no obstacles, brother Clios, in the way of our Whig brethren ; encourage them to keep on in the path of generous rivalry, and if at any time you find them lagging behind, stop and wait till they catch up with you — give them your hand, and start together afresh on a new heat. 192 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Mr. Chairman, excuse these rambHng remarks. This occasion has afforded me extreme pleasure, and I hope we may all be here at the next centenary of the Whig Society. (Applause.) The President : The Centennial Ode will now be sung, — the Band playing the Air : " America'' — previous to which the Ode will be read. Prof. Cameron : I wish to say in reference to this Ode that the author desires that his name should be concealed for the present. His modesty Shields his name from public view. (Applause.) centennial ode. BY PROF. CHARLES W. SHIELDS, D. D. Air : America. I. Come, Brothers, old and young, Wake every heart and tongue : Come and recall Our old time-honored name ; An Hundred Years of fame, Call forth the loud acclaim, Long live Whig Hall ! n. All hail her classic fane. Where still the Muses reign, And Graces dwell ! Where Letters hold their sway. In Friendship's vestal ray. While Virtues guard the way With mystic spell ! OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 193 in. Bring garlands to her shrine ; Laurel and olive twine, With song and cheer : Let Sects and Parties meet, One kindred at her feet, While Peace and Glory greet Her Hundredth Year. IV. Come hither, Honored Age ; Soldier, and Saint, and Sage, Our shield and guide, Your trophies to behold : High are your names enroll'd; Long shall your deeds be told With filial pride ! Go hence, Herculean Youth, Clad in the might of truth And reason calm. To turn with high disdain From Vice to Virtue's train : — Such manhood must he gain Who wins our palm. VI. Nor will our twin-born Muse, Fair Clio, e'er refuse Her trump and scroll. Our kindred to proclaim In Alma Mater's fame, And spread her storied name From pole to pole. VII. Shades of the good and great, Who o'er us stand and wait. Stern lookers on ! 194 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Swayed by your smile or frown, We wrestle for the crown. To hand it spotless down , From sire to son. VTII. Then, Brothers, old and young. Join every heart and tongue, Join to recall Our old, time honored name; Each Hundred Years the same, With ever growing fame, Long live Whig Hall ! III. The American Whig Society. Response by Hon. John T. Nixon, of Bridgeton, N. J., Class of 1 841 : Mr. President and Brethren and Friends: Af- ter all that has been said to-day, and so ^vell said, concerning the American Whig Society, it seems su- perfluous to say much more. And yet I deem it an especial honor, to be requested by the Committee to respond to this sentiment. I know not upon what principle I have been invited to do so, unless the Committee had some suspicion of the hearty love and devotion which I have and bear for our time- honored Society. Her name always awakens in my heart the strongest sentiments of gratitude, rever- ence and love. Strangers may honor and revere her for her vast contributions of intellect, and worth, and moral power, to the Church, to the Republic and to the World ; but we, her sons, who have en- joyed the benefits of her training, admire and love her, for that internal organism, by and through OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY, '95 which she develops her children into large hearted, sturdy, and efficient men. She is now rounding out her century of usefulness and honor; and pausing for a moment upon this festive day, with her chil- dren around her, she calmly reviews the past ; and unrolling the catalogue of her honored dead and liv- ing, she challenges the world to produce a superior record of worthy and illustrious names. Mr. President, I speak advisedly, and from the roll. I am not insensible to the merits of other so- cieties. I rejoice especially in the prosperity and greatness of our rival sister. I should be proud to be a Clio, if I were not a Whig. For is she not our older sister, and most friendly rival ? And are not all our contests for superiority in scholarship and other distinctions, rivalries of the most generous sort? I am sure, therefore, that our Clio brethren will excuse me, if I repeat, that no literary society has more reason to rejoice, than ours, in the charac- ter and renown of its graduates. Born before the Revolutionary war, and the child of revolutionary principles, her sons have ever been the advocates of popular rights, and have largely contributed to the formation and upbuilding of a system of government, best adapted to the highest development of man. If you look to the origin of the American Whig Society, you will find among her first members James Madison, confessedly with- out a peer in the wisdom of his suggestions in the formation of the Constitution of the United States. If you look to the National Cabinet at Washington, 196 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION you will observe eight of her sons, at different pe- riods making their impress upon the policy of the government. If you examine the rolls of the Su- preme Court of the United States, there are the names of Livingston, Thompson and Johnston, who received their first training within the walls of our Society. Making a brief summary of her contribu- tions to the State, her catalogue is illustrated with the names of five foreign Ministers to the most dis- tinguished Courts of Europe ; fifteen Governors of States ; twenty-four United States Senators ; sixty- six members of the House of Representatives ; six Chief Justices of States ; and fifteen Judges of the highest Courts of the several States. And if you would take in the full measure and meaning of this record, you must bear in mind that they were not the men whom the passions and prejudices of the hour turned to the surface ; but representative men of their age, such as Madison, Lee, Giles, Ewinc;, Forsyth, the Livingstons, the Bayards, the Breck- enridges, the Stocktons, the Ingersolls, and the Sergeants. Strike these names from the history of the country, and deduct the value of their labours from the aggregate wealth, and what a loss do you sustain ! But turning from the state, to the educational in- terests of the land, the contributions of this society have been still more remarkable. I will not pretend to number the skilled Profes- sors, in the different departments of science, who have left her Halls to make their impression upon OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 197 the educated youth of the country. Take from the Princeton Theological Seminary, the names of the Alexanders and the Hodges, children of the Whig Society, and what a vacuum do you make in its corps of learned Professors ! Suffice here to add, that no less than twenty-three of her graduates have been the Presidents of respectable literary institu- tions ; three of whom, Samuel Stanhope Smith, Ashbel Green and James Carnahan, have material- ly contributed to the prosperity of our beloved Al- ma Mater. But our venerable Society has made her best and largest contributions to the world, through the Church of Christ. It is here that she has lived her most useful and affluent life. Upwards of 330 min- isters of the Gospel have left her Hall, with their hearts all aglow with love for the souls of men, and in all departments of the work, from the highest positions in the church to the humbler, have faith- fully served their Master and generation, and re- flected back upon the Society of their choice, the lustre of their vigilant and self-denying life. But I refrain. It is useless to weary you with such naked recitals. There stands the Hall, crown- ed with a century of honorable life ; there is the cat- alogue of her children. You and the world are fa- miliar with their names. Youthful members of the Whig Society, the ap- peal is now unto you. This record of their achieve- ments appeals to you. It is a grave responsibility to be born of such a lineage, and the final exhorta- tion is, " Go ye and do likewise." (Applause.) 198 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IV. The Founders of the Ainerican Whig Society. Response by Ashbel Green, Esq., of the Class of 1846: Mr. President and Brothers of the American Whig Society : The task you have assigned to me of responding to the sentiment just announced, I feel to be a difficult one, in view, not only of the el- oquent observations of the honorable gendeman who has just taken his seat, and who seems to have an- ticipated what I ought to have said, but also in view of the historical recollections and wholesome truths to which we have all listened with so much satisfac- tion to-day. Mr. President, I believe I have never yet been found recreant to the duty which every American Whig owes to his Society, nor ever failed to respond to any call which she in her wisdom has seen fit to make upon me — nevertheless I tremble as I seek to do justice to the subject you have announced, lest in the ardor and enthusiasm of the moment, I suffer some unbidden word to escape my lips, and lift somewhat to the outer world the veil which hides the awful mysteries to which we were admitted, when we took upon ourselves the solemn promise to put a bridle on our tongues as to what we then saw and heard. I fear lest I may permit some secret to be at last exposed to our ever curious Clio friends, and thus, on returning to those sacred halls, may suffer that condign punishment due to so grievous a fault, and be henceforth lost to mortal vision. OF THE AMERICAN WHIG S0CIE:TY. 1 99 Still, Mr. President, there are some things which even Clios may be supposed to understand, and to those I propose to invoke your attention. I shall not again call over the roll of the illustri- ous men who founded our Society. I shall not even repeat all those names, which, if they were unknown before, will certainly from this day become as famil- iar to us as household words. As we cast our eyes upon the portraits of our fathers, which hang upon these walls, let us the rather recall the record of their deeds, and recol- lecting the principles which inspired them, learn the lessons they taught, and strive to follow the exam- ples they have left us. It was not the cultivation of learning alone, or of friendship alone, or of man- ners alone, which led to the successes of these men, but it was the cultivation of knowledge, the practice of charity and good will towards mankind, and the observance of genuine morality, all blended togeth- er in one harmonious whole, that made the world declare that it was better for their having been born. As I see around me the portraits of Samuel Stan- hope Smith, of James Madison, and Hugh Hodge, and others, their fellows in good deeds, and remem- ber how faithful each was in his own vocation, what lives they led, whether as ministers of the Gospel, as statesmen, or as healing physicians, I am impressed with the truth, as well of the motto of our Clio Brethren, Prodesse quam conspici, as of the motto and maxim of our own beloved Society. We are told by Mr. Rives in his biography that Madison im- 200 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION bibed his political principles and his devotion to con- stitutional liberty from the illustrious Scotchman who was called in pre-revolutionary times to preside over our Alma Mater ; the eloquent theologian who suc- ceeded that illustrious Scotchman in the Presidency, derived from the same source much of his acuteness of intellect, polished rhetoric, and profound knowl- edge of human nature, which made him so conspic- uous an ornament in the annals of Nassau Hall. The lessons taught by Witherspoon were the les- sons of knowledge combined with morality, the thinking well of, and the doing well to our fellow men, the cultivation alike of the head and the heart. And it is with no little pride and satisfaction this day that we welcome in our midst another countryman of Witherspoon, inspired as we believe by the prin- ciples he professed, and who is a worthy successor of the metaphysicians, the theologians and the accom- plished preceptors who have preceded him. The lessons taught by the lives of those who have been so justly celebrated as founders of our Society was, that virtue and religion should always be the allies of true statesmanship, and that the highest type, not of friendship only, but also of knowledge, can only be found when in harmony with morality : reviewing the whole list of those who have been em- inent as members of this Society, from the earliest times till now, I undertake to say that wherever they were distinguished as statesmen, as theologians, as lawyers, or in any other walk of life, they carried out in their lives those lessons they learned in these OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 20I classic shades, and that they would never have been successful had they not cultivated all the graces of learning, of charity, and of morality, had they not come early to know that to be good was better than to be great. And, sir, in parting with this theme, let me repeat the warning so often given, but perhaps never so el- oquently as by the latest and most brilliant of Brit- ish historians when he says, " knowledge is power and wealth is power, and harnessed, as in Plato's fable, to the chariot of the soul, and guided by di- vine wisdom, they may bear it in triumph through the circle of the stars ; but left to their guidance, or reined by a foolish or impious hand, the wild horses may bring their Master to Phaeton's end, and set a world on fire." Mr. President, what I say will, I know, find an echo in the heart of every American Whig, when I declare that these being the lessons we are taught, and these the principles upon which our Society is founded, whatever may have been our causes of gratitude to Nassau Hall, whatever of benefit we may have de- rived from the teachings of her faculty, whatever of discipline, of culture, or of truth we may have im- bibed in our college course, whatever the pride and satisfaction with which we may look back to the hours that we have passed within her walls — still, for the active duties of life there is no better school- ing than that which is to be found in Old Whig Hall. And, sir, without revealing any of the inviolable secrets of our Society, without telling to our envi- 202 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ous Clio brethren the mysteries which give impulse to our efforts and promote the success of the Amer- ican Whig Society, we can bid them emulate her course, and strive to come somewhere near her glory, pitying them always from our inmost soul be- cause when they look on these, her triumphs, and see the fruits of her labors, they must ever remem- ber, that they resemble Tantalus in this, that though these triumphs and these fruits may be very near their reach yet it is not in the nature of things that Clio Hall can ever fully attain them. V. Alma Mater. Response by the Rev. James McCosh, D. D., President of Nassau Hall : Our Alma Mater has one most admirable trait — whether she take it from the patriarch Job, or from any other source, I do not know : but at a certain time, once in every year, she calls her sons together, and openly declares that that day is the happiest in the whole year. Sir Walter Scott tells of the lady of Tintern Abbey, that for a year before King Charles visited her, the whole subject of her conver- sation was about his coming visit ; and for the next twelve months after he paid the visit, the great sub- ject of her conversation was about the visit. And it is thus that we act in regard to this venerable insti- tution in the town of Princeton ; for six months be- fore the Commencement, we look forward to it, and are speaking of it every day ; and for six months af- ter, we look back upon it, and have the same inci- OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 203 dents continually referred to in our conversations as we meet with one another, and in our families. There was once an Irish woman, (it could have been no one else,) who was accustomed to thank God that the Sabbath came not in the middle of the week, but at the end of it. (Laughter.) She said that if it had come in the middle of the week, it would have deranged everything, but coming at the end of the week it kept everything in its proper order. So it is with this Commencement in Princeton. I be- lieve that if it did not come in its proper time, all things would get into disorder ; but it now comes at its proper season and regulates everything. We do not begin the year at Princeton as they do elsewhere in the world, on the first day of January ; but I beg leave to explain to strangers that our year ends on the 30th day of June ; then we have a little interval, and then we begin the new year on the first of Sep- tember. That is our practice ; and we believe that it tends to keep everything in good order ; at least everything about us seems at this time to put on its best appearance. You have only to go to Judge Field's garden, or anywhere else in town, to see that the flowers have come out in all their beauty, and God has given the sunshine this day, and every- thing is delightful. I say, therefore, that we reckon this day the happiest of the year ; and we are very glad to see so many of our sons coming back to us. We give you all our most hearty welcome. We hope you will return again and again, on every such occasion ; for there is nothing that you can do that so rejoices tfiis venerable Alma Mater of yours. 204 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION There has been much said to-day about the bene- fits of knowledge ; and I have certainly, in my own experience, found the disadvantage of ignorance. (Applause.) I really did not know, what I ought to have known, that there might be any inconsistency in joining myself to both of the two Societies, the Whig and the Clio, and with the tantalizing view of each, that was placed before me, I desired to become a member of both ; and I was therefore greatly mor- tified when I found that I was to make my choice between them. My position was something like that of the Irishman who had engaged himself to two ladies, and was unhappy because he could not marry them both. I felt very badly because I could not join both Societies, but as I could not without being liable to bigamy, it was left to an umpire which I should marry. It was decided at last that I should become a Whig, for which I am very thankful ; and I am engaged to the Whig Society, and ready to do everything I can for it, except one. When I came to this country, I promised a friend that I would do everything for this land that I could, and fight their battles as far as might be in my power ; but that there was one thing that I would never do : — make war against Great Britain. God forbid that the day should ever come — for it would be a sad day for Christianity and for the world — when war shall be again declared between the two countries. (Ap- plause.) And if you ever go to war with Great Britain, you must not expect me to put on the sol- dier's armor and fight against the old country. Now OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 205 I say to my friends, the Whigs, that I am willing to fight their battles, and to do for them everything that I can, except one : — I have such a grateful re- membrance of the many kindnesses shown me by the members of the Clio Society, that if ever you fight the Clios, you must not expect me to help you. (Applause.) You who have returned again to Alma Mater, af- ter a few years absence, are no doubt interested to learn what is being done in the way of securing increased facilides for the education of young men. If you look about you, you will see an observatory nearly completed, a gymnasium, and a hall rapidly under way ; and will learn of many other contem- plated improvements. The Board of Trustees do not expect everybody to know what they are doing ; but I will tell you what action they have recently taken in reference to one matter of interest to the College. We need a Professor of Modern Lan- guages and Literature. We had nobody in view, personally known to us, whom we could call to that position. So we looked around to see who was the most distinguished man in the country for that de- partment, and said among ourselves, let us get him here. We found one man, known not only in this country, but in Europe, as standing high in that de- partment of learning — a man of large attainments in science, in history and in literature ; and so we last night unanimously elected Professor De Vere, of the University of Virginia, as the Professor of Mod- ern Languages and Literature in this College. (Ap- plause.) 206 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION There were some little money difficulties in the way, which I have no doubt the friends of this insti- tution will remove at an early day. Before we meet to-morrow afternoon, I hope some one will furnish the means to remove all existing difficulties. We have not yet a guaranty that Professor De Vere will accept ; but I mention the incident as showing the spirit by which our Trustees are actuated. They are influenced by no personal or selfish considera- tions : they seek only the good of this College. Though we do not hope to do as much for the good of the College as those who have gone before us, and whose names we are to-day proud to honor ; we do not think ourselves equal to them, but we set them up before us as a pole star to guide us, and in our voyage we sail towards them, and they guide us ; and although we never can come up to them here, we hope at last to come up to them in heaven. VI. The Past Presidents of Nassau Hall. Response by Ex-President John Maclean, D. D.: I am not taken by surprise at the subject announc- ed, as an intimation was given that I was expected to say a few words in reply to this toast ; but I in- tend to say but a very few words. It is a difficult matter to speak of my predeces- sors in office. They were great men. They did a great work. They were good men. They laid the foundations, in the first place for an institution for the promotion of piety and learning. The great object of Mr. Dickinson (in honor of whom there is OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 207 soon to be laid the foundation-stone of an edifice, and in which I hope we shall all take an interest,) was to prepare men for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was certainly, if not the foremost man, among the foremost men in our country. I suppose we may venture to say that at that time he was actually the foremost man in the Protestant Church. He was President under the first charter, — a charter granted by John Hamilton, the acting C jovernor of this state, in 1 746. It was regarded by the gentlemen who were appointed Trustees as a liberal charter. You may recollect that at that time we were under a royal government, in which there was an established religion, and that an attempt was being made at that time to establish that church in our own land ; and therefore it was not to be expect- ed that a very liberal charter would be granted by the King and Court of that day. This charter was sufficiently liberal to induce the friends of learning in the Presbyterian Church to establish a college. I think it probable that Mr. Dickinson had gathered some few students at Elizabethtown, of the Presby- terian Church, in which place he was then the pastor. At any rate there were a number of youth who en- tered college in the spring of 1747. Mr. Dickinson died soon after, and Mr. Burr, who was one of the original Trustees of the college, was requested to take charge of the pupils then assembled. They continued under his care until the time of the remo- val of the college to Princeton, when there were seventy students. Mr. Burr being relieved of his 208 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION charge as pastor of a church at Elizabethtown, came here and continued to take charge of his pupils. Mr. Burr, I think, was one of the most remarkable men of our land. He died at about forty-one years of age, but he had already established a wide repu- tation for talent, learning, energy and piety. He was an admirable governor of youth. He was mild in his discipline, but very resolute. He could bear with no opposition to authority ; yet as far as he could be, he was indulgent. Upon his death, his still more distinguished father-in-law, President Ed- wards, was called to take his place. Need I refer to his character or attainments ? They are known, not only in our own land, but abroad. It pleased God, in a few months, to remove him. There was then raised up to the presidency of the college the most eloquent orator in the colonies, Mr. Davies. At least that was the reputation that he then had ; and, I be- lieve, that even now his published sermons are re- garded by many as the most eloquent in the English language. They are considered so abroad, as well as in our own land. He continued to act as presi- dent for a few years, and was cut off in the midst of his usefulness at the early age of thirty-eight. There were more presidents of the college than students, who died during the first thirty years of the exis- tence of the institution. The next president, after the death of Mr. Davies, was Mr. Finley, an Irish- man, who came to this country when quite a youth. He continued president for six or seven years. He was remarkable for his excellent scholarship. He OF THE AMERICAN WIIU; SOCIETY. 209 established an academy, in which such eminent men as Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, and some of the most distinguished clergymen of the age, received their preparatory training. On the decease of President FiNLEY, the Trustees, casting around for a president, elected, I think, a gentleman from Weathersfield, Connecticut, who declined. Afterwards they elected Dr. WiTHERSPOON. He, at first, also declined. The Trustees then elected Mr. Samuel Blair, of whom mention was made by Professor Cameron this morn- ing. He was the author of the first History of the College. He was a man of remarkable talent and learning. He was but little over thirty at the time he was elected president, yet he was regarded as the man, among the distinguished men of the time, to take charge of this institution. Mr. Stockton, the grandfather of the distinguished orator of the day, and one of the first class that graduated at this col- lege, was, at this time, in London, attending to some important public business ; and had an interview with Dr. WiTHERSPOON, and learned that he could be induced to come here. He immediately wrote to the College that if the invitation should be again ex- tended, he thouo^ht that Dr. Witherspoon would ac- cept. When Mr. Blair heard this, he promptly re- signed. His uncle, Rev. John Blair, a Professor in the College at the time, a man of eminent ability, a metaphysician of no little distinction in his day, was then Vice President of the College, and he acted as president about one year, and until Dr. Wither- spoon arrived. Our friends were then complaining 2IO CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION of the want of funds ; and want of funds in that day was not what it is to-day. They then had Dr. WiTHERSPOON as President, and Dr. Blair as a Pro- fessor. The college could not sustain them both, and Dr. Blair resigned, and Dr. Witherspoon con- tinued as president. I need not tell you of him. His reputation is throughout the land. He was an able preacher: that was not all; he was an admira- ble educator: that was not all ; he was a man of great practical wisdom, of sound political maxims : he was honored with a seat in the national Congress, and exercised great influence there. He continued nominally the president of the college for twen- ty-six or twenty-seven years. A few years before his death he declined and retired from active ser- vice to a residence about two miles from the college, and his son-in-law, Dr. Smifh, became the acting- President of the College, under the title of Vice President. Upon the death of Dr. Witherspoon, Dr. Stanhope Smith, his son-in-law, was selected for his place. He is remembered by some who are present, though not by many. He departed this life just fifty years ago, full of honors. He resign- ed some seven years before his death. He was an admirable classical scholar. He was probably one of the very best scholars connected with our college. His successor was my own honored preceptor, Dr. AsHBEL Green, another member of the American Whig Society. I know, from my personal knowl- edge, that he took a deep and lively interest in the welfare of this Society ; and yet, as every Pres- OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 21 I ident ought to be, in the discharge of his duties he knew neither Whig or CHo. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be. Dr. Green was among the leading men of his church and country. He was a popular preacher ; perhaps, when he was in his prime, there was not a more popular preacher in the country. He gained a high reputation in the college. He ad- ministered its affairs for ten years, and then retired from active duties, although for many years after he continued useful to his church and time. Then suc- ceeded him my venerable friend, with whom for more than thirty-one years I was associated, — the Rev. Dr. Carnahan. I wish to dwell a little upon his character. I do not think that he has ever been held in the estima- tion that he ought to have been. He was about the most modest man that I ever knew. He never sought to call attention to himself. He never sought to put himself forward in any way whatever. He labored earnestly for the good of the college. He was a bold and fearless man in the discharge of his duty. He had sound opinions, and held them firmly; yet was willing to make any sacrifice for the interest of the institution. He was a man of real learning, but made as little parade over it as possible. He was a man of good sound common sense, and one of the best presiding officers I have ever known. About the year 1838 his health failed him; and he thought he must retire. I was not at home at the time. He prepared a letter to me — as I was the eldest professor at the time — stating his purpose, 212 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION and tendering his resignation. When I returned home, he gave me the letter, and I called upon Pro- fessor Don, Professor Henry, and another of my most intimate friends, the late Dr. James W. Alex- ander ; and we all agreed that he must not resign. If he were not known and esteemed as he ought to be without, lue knew him, and we insisted that he should not resign. I wrote a letter to him stating our views. We were all young men at that time, with some ardor, and some ambition, and needed somebody older and wiser than ourselves to moder- ate us. We applied to the Trustees to excuse him for the summer, and permit him to go on a visit to Virginia to recruit his health, and if he should then come back and take his place again, we should be delighted : but that if his health still continued poor we would interpose no objection to his resigning. He went away, and it fell upon me to discharge his executive duties. It was a very happy thing that he went under those circumstances, for the students were very glad to have him back again. (Applause.) I do not know whether you ever heard of the "reign of terror ; " but I believe they called my short ad- ministration by that name. The Doctor returned in the fall of 1848, and continued president until 1853, when he tendered his resignation. One of the members of his family asked him if he had spoken to me about it. He said '* No ; and I am not going to." I had had something to do with pre- venting his previous resignation, and he had reason to suppose that I would oppose his resignation OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 213 Strongly and earnestly ; as I should have done if I had known it. The Doctor was a wise man, a good man, a zeal- ,ous man ; an excellent counsellor, and an admirable presiding officer. He told me that the reason he resiorned was that the state of his health was such that he could not give that attention to the religious instruction of the college that he felt it was his duty to do. I hope you will forgive me for trespassing upon your patience so long, in speaking of my predeces- sors in office. I am rejoiced to think that whatever estimate may be placed upon my own services, there is every reason to believe from the spirit manifest- ed by the trustees and by all those connected with the college, that there will be no falling off in regard to the character and influence of its president, and that those who come after me, like those who have gone before me, will be men of marked ability, and men in whom the whole country will have confi- dence ; and I trust that those who celebrate the next centenary of the college, which will be in 1947, will have cause to exult far more than we, in the history of the college, and for what it has done. I have perhaps not been as desirous as some of my friends, that the number of students in attend- ance should be increased. I would rather have three hundred students well and thoroughly trained, than one thousand inefficiently trained. But that is a matter of which those who come after us must judge. We can all hope and certainly pray, that 214 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION God's blessing may rest upon this college, upon its president, upon its professors, and upon its stu- dents ; and that the college may be a hundred fold more useful in the time to come than it has been in the past. VII. The Cle7^gy. Response by the Rev. Noah Hunt Schenck, D. D.,of the Class of 1844: Mr. Chairman: I can readily understand that the inspiration at your end of the table might be derived from the learned gentlemen that surround the Speaker's chair; but I think that at this end of the table, the most prolific source of inspiration is in the ladies who are sitting here. You will excuse me, therefore in declining the invitation just now extend- ed, to take a seat at your end of the table, and to make my remarks from a closer proximity to the president's chair. I have no intention to warm up this audience with any remarks of mine this sultry afternoon : on the contrary I should be glad to produce a contrary ef- fect — which probably I shall do without much effort. (Laughter.) I rather suspect, at this stage of the proceedings, the proper reply to a toast to the " Clergy" would be a benediction, (applause,) or if not, you had better give us three cheers and a tiger, and let us go, — not but that we would be edified by . hearing more of such speeches as we have already listened to, — but I think there is enough even of such good things as we have had here, and particu- OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 215 larly, as we have the promise of still more in the (veninof. The last time I had the privilege of making my salutation to the sons of Nassau, was at an alumni meeting in New York, when the chairman who now presides did me the honor to call upon me to respond to this same toast, to the clergy — which I did to the best of my ability. As I am now called upon to again respond to that toast, I would like to ask the Chairman whether this is to be chronic? (Ap- plause.) If it is, I give you due notice that on the next occasion I shall decline. I made an express stipulation on that occasion, that as I made such a lame effort in responding, I was to have a better theme next time ; but it seems my wish was not re- spected, and I must therefore throw myself upon the mercy of the audience in the effort that I must now make. I really do not know what connection the clergy have with Whig Hall. There were no clergy in our class. I remember upon the occasion, of our graduation, the valedictorian announced, as a grati- fying fact, that one-third of the class designed study- ing for the ministry — a fact which I did not then ap- preciate as highly as I subsequently did ; for I then had my attention turned to the law ; but I found the change from the law to the Gospel a most grateful one, and I was only sorry I was not able at that time to catalogue myself in the statistics that he re- ported. We are here to-day upon the One Hundredth An- niversary of the American Whig Society ; and as I 2l6 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION respond to the toast to the Clergy, I can but think, as my mind runs retrospectively over this glorious century of history of this Society, how many men have gone out from the training of Whig Hall into the world's great field of battle, to fight under the Captain of their Salvation that warfare, which has its victories and its trophies, not only in the life which now is, but in that which is to come. I conceive that in the education of the clergy, the great defect in our system of college education is a want of versatility in the application of the powers of the mind, and in the general processes of educa- tion. We constantly hear men speaking of the clergy as the most impracticable body of men in the world. I know, in my own experience, that when- ever I am brought into a disputation w^ith anybody outside of my own profession, I am frequently re- garded in that light ; but when I suggest that I spent seven years at the law, then my disputant assumes quite a different attitude and takes a different tone, and becomes so over cautious that I almost imao^ine I am a lawyer still. The education of the clergy is — I will not say one-sided, — but there is too much attention paid to the one clerical aspect of the devel- opment that is designed. A youth goes from the nursery to the boarding school, from the boarding school to the college, and from the college to the theological seminary ; and he is then let loose upon society to correct its bad morals, and to expound the philosophy of religion to the world, which gathers at his feet. I need not say how little prepared is a man OF THE AMERICAN WIIIC, SOCIETY. 217 thus cultured, for the great burden in life. If we were to go back, and change the whole curriculum of that man's education, from the first to the last, we might make him more efficient in this warfare in which the clergy engage with so litde advantage against the world. I will say nothing, just now, of what the theological seminary might do, or of what a more extensive contact with the world might do, or of the preparatory training in schools before the college career: but I am free to say, that, speaking for myself personally, as I look back upon whatever preparation I may have had for the ministry myself, the training that I received in Whig Hall told more than all else in securing to me whatever little profi- ciency I may have carried to the work I have in hand. The advantage of the training there derived, arises from the fact that at the Hall we are taken away from the regular routine and discipline of the college ; we are introduced to new associations ; we are subjected to different training; we have new el- ements introduced in the make-up of our minds, which can be received nowhere so thoroughly as there. I believe I am not at liberty to give exactly the course of discipline practised in the Hall, and I must therefore stop right here, at what would have been the pith of my remarks, and you must take it for granted that what I would have added is exceed- ingly important. As I have never got over my college habit, I will add, that if you would know all about it, you have only to join the Whig Society. 2l8 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION " The Clergy " is rather a proHfic theme, — rather too prolific for this late hour. I will conclude by re- ferring for a single moment longer to the results which ought to follow the grand work proposed to be attained by the training, of which the college course is a part. I have been convinced, as I have wandered around the world, and seen men, inspired by the same motives, glowing with the same zeal, teaching the same truth, having the same object in view, that if there is one single occupation in life which binds men together in a brotherhood, which makes men brothers indeed, not only in this world, but in that which is to come, — it is that of the min- istry. As I stand here, to-day, I feel myself most forcibly reminded of a scene, suggested by the pres- ence here of the President of the College. Two years ago, I went on Sunday morning into the Dutch church at Amsterdam. It was in the month of Au- gust — the worst month in the whole year to go to Amsterdam. The Evangelical Alliance was in ses- sion at the time. The old church was packed with eager people, and I was obliged to climb up a nar- row stairway to a place just under the roof, from which I could look down upon the crowd. The men had their hats on, giving the assembly very little the appearance of worshippers, except for the air of de- votion which certainly seemed almost natural and hearty, assumed by them when the moment of prayer arrived. In a pulpit in the middle of this audience were seated two gentlemen, one the Dutch pastor, and the other my theological friend, Dr. McCosh. OF THE AMERICAN WIIIC, SOCIETY. 219 (Applause.) The opening exercises having been concluded, the Doctor arose and began a most fer- vent and eloquent discourse, and at the end of five minutes took his seat. The audience, which had been listening with great eagerness and attention, remained seated ; and presently the Dutch pastor arose and with great earnestness of speech inter- preted what the Doctor had been saying. Then the Doctor spoke again, and then the pastor fired away again his Dutch translation ; and so this firing back and forth, — Dutch and English, English and Dutch, continued through that sultry morning, until, at last, owing to the unventilated condition of the building, I was forced to leave before the peroration, As I took my way toward my lodging place, I could not but feel how truly catholic the work of the ministry was. Here was one from the British Isles, standing among people in a foreign land, who knew not the tongue he spake, and yet knew that he was speaking the truth they loved ; and they waited for the trans- lation into their own language, with the full convic- tion and faith that when it was translated it would be the truth as it was in Jesus. The impression which the service left upon my mind is deepened by the fact that the eloquent English preacher is now present, and is the President of your College. (Ap- plause.) I will only say, in conclusion, that Princeton College, according to the statistics, has probably furnished a larger number of clergymen, in proportion to the number of her graduates, than any other College in 2 20 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION the United States ; and that if she has not the praise of men, she must have the praise of God. VIII . The Judiciary. Response by the Hon. Daniel Weisel, of Mary- land, of the Class of 1823 : The venerable ex-President stated, a few moments ago, that the College of New Jersey was founded for the purpose of preparing men for the Gospel ministry. It certainly has very ably succeeded in that purpose. But that is not the only benefit which our Alma Mater has conferred, not only upon the union of the states, and upon our own country, but I may say, upon the world. It has done its full share in preparing men for all the vocations of life. Not only have the ranks of the clergy been recruit- ed, but the bench and the bar have been as liberally supplied by this College and Society, as by any other institution in the country. The studies and training of Whig Hall (without saying more) are eminently fitted to prepare men for the bar ; and it is just as important that we should have good and able law- yers, as it is that we should have able divines. While one lays the foundation of virtue and religion, and of the highest civilization, by means of an incul- cation of moral precepts, the other is engaged in administering the laws of the land. The three words which constitute the motto of. our society, are appli- cable to the bar as well as to the church. We want not only able men at the bar and upon the bench, but we want good men. A good bar will produce OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 221 good judges ; and without good judges in the land we should have a bad administration of the laws. As the administration of the law affects every man in soci- ety, either in his person or his property, it becomes every man to see that those who minister at the altar of justice are men who are not only learned, not only enlightened, but virtuous ; and especially should we see that men who are elevated to the bench should not only be fully prepared for the administra- tion of the law, but they should be men of upright-, ness and integrity. In a country like ours, a repub- lic founded upon public opinion, a learned, upright and impartial bench is the bulwark of our free insti- tutions, as well as the protection of society. (Ap- plause.) Though the clergy are at work in infusing a right spirit into the hearts of men, and preparing them for the life to come, as well as for the better living of that which now is, it is important that he who pronounces the decision between man and man should be upright, honest, intelligent and virtuous. How are you to get -these men ? We must keep in mind the sacred principles which Madison, the founder of our beloved Society, and one of the framers of the Constitution of our country, taught; and remember that an upright judiciary is the best protection to civil society, and the only way to se- cure that is by conferring the office on men fully prepared and competent, and then giving them a support which shall not be dirninished during their continuance in office. It will be by a lasting adhe- rence to this, and to the other wise principles incul- 22 2 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION cated by Madison and his compatriots, that the best interests of civil society will be promoted. As this sentiment has been offered to this learned assembly, consisting of the venerable, the aged, the middle aged, and the young — those who have run the race of life and achieved all its honors, and re- tired, as well as those about to commence that life, and to climb the ladder of fame, and honor, and use- fulness in the land, — let me say to them, that correct principles alone should emanate from this place ; and the more particular should you be as to this, since this is neither a political society, nor one actu- ated by political passions, but a Society for the dis- cussion of truth — political, social, moral and theolog- ical. I say; then, that the best way to achieve the safety of the republic, the purity of our institutions, and to attain hiorh and honorable distinction, is to re- turn and hold fast to the principles of the Constitu- tion. You will find there that these two principles are the palladium of our liberties: that an upright judiciary is the best protection to civil society ; and that the tenure of office during good behavior is the best expedient yet devised in any government for securing an upright, steady, and impartial adminis- tration of the laws of the land. A gentleman preceded me, a few minutes ago, whose face I had not seen for many years. Judge Slosson was a classmate of mine ; he was a member of the other Society, and I was a Whig. I thought until I heard his name called, that I was the only rep- resentative of my class present. It is forty-six years OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 223 since we graduated — in the first class that graduated under the presidency of the predecessor of Dr. Maclean, who was inaugurated a few days before the graduation of the class. I commenced my ca- reer at college under the auspices of the venerable AsHBEL Green. I am happy to have lived and to have enjoyed this Anniversary Day. I have feasted upon recollections of the past, and upon the new associations I have formed ; but I should have been still happier, could I have met here more of my own class ; but in look- ing back over the space of half a century, that has passed since our graduation, we may well conclude that the most of that class are sleeping quietly under the sod. Peace to their ashes. It will be the fate of all of us ere long. Let me say, in concluding, to those who are now about to enter upon the duties of life : study well the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and take with you the teachings of the fath- ers, for they knew more about the principles of civil government, and how to preserve civil liberty, than do their offspring. (Applause.) IX. The Legal Profession, Response by E. Spencer Miller, Esq., Professor of Law in the University of Pennsylvania, of the Class of 1836 : I was at the other end of the room just now, when Dr. Schenck rose, and when I heard him speak from that end of the room, it struck me that it was a very 2 24 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION excellent idea, particularly as all the ladies, as well as the gentlemen, heard him. But when I recollect- ed how much greater favorites the clergy are among the ladies than those who represent the law, I deter- mined to retreat to this end of the room again ; and here I am. That was a very pleasant place for Dr. ScHENCK to speak from, but I am afraid that I should not succeed so well. I have been asked to respond to the toast to the Legal Professsion ; and in the very kind letter that the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements addressed to me last evening, requesting that I would respond to this sentiment, he was good enough to refer to my being a practitioner, as well as a teacher of the law, — knowing that a teacher always has crotchets, (I beg pardon of the faculty,) and that if he teaches long (and I have been teaching a good while ; I won't say how long, for the reason that I would still pass for a young man, although I cannot for a clergyman) these crotchets are crystalized very hard ; and I am asked now to vent some of these crotchets in regard to the profession of the law. No one talks without responsibility ; and I remem- ber here, in what 1 am saying, that I stand with such men as Madison and Livingston behind me, and that within my hearing are young men who are about to adopt my profession ; and therefore, in the few words that I have to say, I desire to talk plainly and simply about the profession that many of them, I have no doubt, are longing for, and to which they look forward with hope and pride. When I was OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 22.5 graduated — and I suppose at times before that, (Madison went early from college to the law) — the college was treated as a stepping-stone to the bar ; but I suppose that many of the young men who now hear me, and who intend entering the legal profes- sion, regard it merely as a stepping stone to some- thing better ; and the honors of public life seem to lie almost immediately before them on their entrance into the law. This is one view of the profession that I desire, as far as I am able, to correct. It is a very poor com- pliment to a profession to say that it is a stepping- stone to something else. What would you think of one about to enter the clerical profession, as a very good beginning to another career ; or of one at the threshold of the medical profession, if he were to tell you that he regarded his profession merely as a stepping-stone to something better. This impres- sion with regard to the law seems to be steadily on the increase. If you will take the trouble to look over the list of the members of the legislature, or of the House of Representatives, you will find that the proportion between the lawyers, and the entire number of members is very different from what it used to be. I am afraid you may think me too ear- nest in the advocacy of my own profession, when I say, that I believe that one reason why things are going so badly, is because there are relatively so few well-trained and mature lawyers in public life. There is another idea that I desire to remove from the minds of these young men, if I can ; and that is, 2 26 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION that the profession of the law is. one in which what is called the ''gift of gab" is a good thing. The time has gone by when that is the aim of the lawyer. I remember once hearing a gentleman speak of the necessity or advantage of a command of the fea- tures; and he asked me which feature of the face I thought the most difficult to command. I told him I thought the mouth was. He said it was the eye; that if I would ask the gambler which was the most difficult feature of his face to command, as he sat facing his opponent, he would tell me it was the eye. Now, in my profession, I say that the result of the highest training with the lawyer, is to hold his tongue. I remember once hearing the late Bishop Potter, of Philadelphia, tell a lady that she had the " talent of silence ; " and no one can tell, unless he is trained, what the value of that talent is. The- bar and courts of the present day are entirely different from what they used to be.. There was a time when the " gift of gab " was considered of value ; it may still be so considered in some parts of the country ; young men do not now go to the country, but -to the cities, as the place where the highest ambition may be realized ; and in the courts of the city, where the time is necessarily limited, you will find that there is little opportunity and still less inclination to listen to lengthy arguments. A gentleman of the bar, who had been travelling in Europe, told me that what de- lighted him most, while there, was to hear the ablest men of the London Bar, in the House of Lords, on a case involving even the largest interests, occupy OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 227 but half an hour in saying all they had to say. So the day is coming, and now is, when lawyers are not mere talkers, but men who have cultivated the talent of silence. You are therefore to accustom yourselves to a new order of things. You must come to the profession of the law because you love it, and not because it is a good opening to another career ; and you must come to it appreciating fully what the gifts are which you are to cultivate. There is an inclination now to have lady practi- tioners at the bar. Of course they will have to go through college ; and you, gentlemen of the Whig, and of the Clio Societies will have to admit them. It is possible, and probable, that you will have to admit -them into your Societies : whether you will have to alter the rules in regard to secrecy, or whether those awful preparations which you have the credit of making, for the introduction of gentlemen, will have to be somewhat modified — you are the better judges. (Applause.) The entrance of ladies into the profes- sion is an era that you will have to prepare for, per- haps — following the example of the man who mar- ried his servant, saying that it was cheaper to marry help than it was to hire it — you may prefer to marry partners in the profession. (Applause.) I should not like to settle the question with my partner, (if the partner was a lady) as to who should be the at- torney, and who should be the advocate, for I am afraid the lady would insist upon being the advocate, and make me do all the attorney's work. 2 28 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION You may ask me, as I would take from these young gentlemen those two motives for coming to the bar, what incitements I would give them. I will tell you. What I mean by leaving politics out of view in entering the profession, is that you should not step right out of college into politics, as Madi- son did in different times and under different aus- pices. I would as soon lay my son in the grave, as encourage him, in the present state of things, to go right out of college, or right out of a profession, in- to political life. What then are the incentives to effort in the legal profession ? Money ? It has been said that law- yers generally work hard, live well, and die poor. Some lawyers, now-a-days, do not die poor. They live very comfortably : and some of them make great gains honorably. I remember hearing the story of a Boston lawyer, who began the practice in poverty, but being an en- ergetic man, made rapid progress, and at last came to be very rich and very respectable. Some one said of him that he first got on : then he got o?iward ; and then he got hofiest, I would not encourage you to that sort of money making ; but I say, directly, that if a man is diligent and industrious, he is sure to make a living, and to have something to lay up, besides. There is no man so sure to be called upon in times of trouble, when strong men, and firm men are wanted, as the lawyer. When those times — and they arise in all cities (for our government is OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 229 given to seasons of paroxysm — sometimes long con- tinued, sometimes short — everything seems for the time to be going wrong ; and then it is that conser- vative citizens arouse themselves and say, " These things shall no longer be ; " and then it is that we find the lawyer — not the man who has rushed into politics from the time he has left college, but the one who has kept himself aloof — watching the elements and preparing himself for the time of need. Then comes to him his opportunity. Then he may gain honor and distinction. That is true honor. That is his place and opportunity of doing good. Let the lawyer, then, be conservative, — never going too fast; never sailing with the current when it is too rapid. No one can say, at the present day, that what intel- ligent and cultivated men are called upon to do, rs to drive the current faster. In the great leveling that is going on, the tendency is to break down the dis- tinctions between rich and poor, between learned and unlearned, between new and old. I was delighted when I heard read that letter from Madison to his father, beginning, as Professor Cam- eron read it, " Honored Sir, " Who writes to his father, now-a-days, — ''Honored Sirf Who signs himself " dutiful " now ? The same persons who are breaking down the distinctions between classes, are breaking down the distinctions between young and old, and children are losing respect for their parents, and for those that are older. Now it is to prevent this current setting in too fast that the lawyer is to work ; and it is the lawyer 230 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION who has had the firmness to keep himself out of pol- itics, and to await his time, who will act most suc- cessfully. (Applause.) Want of time prevented responses to a number of other toasts. A resolution of thanks was ten- dered to the Committee of Arrangements, and es- pecially to Mr. Ernest Sandoz and the Ladies of Princeton, who had so tastefully decorated the Hall in which the proceedings were held ; and the meet- ing then adjourned. The Society again met in their Hall at 6:30 p. m., when the following resolutions were adopted : Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be returned to the Committee of Arrangements from the four classes, for the good taste and fidelity with which they have carried out the arduous duties devolved upon them in decorating the Hall. Resolved, That the thanks of the American Whig Society be hereby ten- dered to the Hon. Richard S. Field, for his able and eloquent oration de- livered this morning at the Centennial Celebration of the Society, and that a copy be requested for publication. DANIEL WEISEL, HUGH L. HODGE, MARTIN RYERSON, NOAH H. SCHENCK, Committee. Resolved, That the thanks of the American Whig Society be extended to Professor Henry C. Cameron, for the able and interesting History of the Society to which they have listened at the Centennial Celebration to-day, and that a copy be requested for publication. CHARLES HODGE, Sr.^ WM. C. ALEXANDER, E. SPENCER MILLER, JOHN T. NIXON, Com?fttftee. Professor Cameron offered to publish the History, free of expense to the Society, which offer was ac- cepted with the thanks of the Society. APPENDIX A. Page 23. I here Insert all the extant letters of Mr. Madison while a student at Nassau Hall. They have been transcribed by myself from the original manuscripts now in the Department of State, at Washington. Portions of some have been already printed, but the omitted parts of these, and the others, are now pub- lished for the first time. NO I. TO THE REV. THOMAS MARTIN. Nassau Hall, August i6th, 1769. Rev, Sir, — I am not a litde affected at hearing of your misfortune, but cannot but hope the cure may be so far accomplished as to render your journey not inconvenient. Your kind advice and friendly cautions are a favor that shall be always gratefully remembered ; and I must beg leave to assure you that my happiness, which you and your brother so ardently wish for, will be greatly augmented by both your enjoyments of the like blessing. I have been as particular to my father as I thought necessary for this time, as I send him an account of the institution, &c., &c., and of the college, wrote by 232 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Mr. Blair, the gentleman formerly elected President- of this place. You will likewise find two pamphlets entitled '• Britannia's Intercession for John Wilkes, " &c., which, if you have not seen it, may divert you. I am perfectly pleased with my present situation and the prospect before me of three years' confine- ment, however, terrible it may sound, has nothing in it, but what will be alleviated by the advantages I hope to derive from it. The Grammars, which Mr. Houston procured for you, amount at 2s. 6d. each to I ys. Your brother's account with Plumb to 6^-. jd. and Sawney's expenses /\s. 2d., the whole 1-7-9. Inclos- ed you have 15, the overplus of which you must let Sawney have to satisfy those who may have been at any trouble on his account. The near approach of examination occasions a surprising application to study on all sides, and I think it very fortunate that I entered College imme- diately after my arrival. Though I believe there will not be [the] least danger of my getting an Irish hint, as they call it, yet it will make my future studies somewhat easier. I have by that means read over more than half Horace and I have made myself pretty well acquainted with prosody, both which will be almost neglected the two succeeding years. The very large packet of letters for Carolina I am afraid will be incommodious to your brother on so long a journey, to whom I desire my compliments may be presented ; and conclude with my earnest request for a continuance of both your friendships, OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 233 and sincere wishes for your recovery, and an agree- able journey to your whole company. I am sir your obliged friend and H'e serv't JAMES MADISON. [ It is written in a small, neat and legible hand, upon a half sheet of foolscap paper, and covering one page and a quarter. The letter of September 30th, 1869, is precisely similar, except that it occu- pies the two pages.] NO. II. TO HIS FATHER. Nassau Hall, July 23, 1770. Hond Sir, I received yours dated June 4th and have applied to Mr. Hoops as you directed. He says you must suit yourself in paying him and if you should let him have a bill of Exchange it must be on your own terms. Forty Pounds, ^40, New Jersey Currency is the sum I shall have of him before I get home ; my frugality has not been able to keep it be- low that, consistent with my stating here to the best advantage. I shonld be glad if it should be conve- nient for you, to have my next year's stock prepar- ed for me against I come home, for I shall not be able to stay in Virginia more than 4 weeks at most. Half Jos. pass here to the greatest advantage. I have spoken to several of the present senior class about living with you as a Tutor, but they will deter- mine on nothing unless they know what you would allow them, as it would not be proper for them to 234 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION remain in suspense till I should return here. If you should receive this time enough to send me an an- swer by the middle of September and let me know the most you would be willing to give I think there would be a greater probability of my engaging one for you. Inclosed are the measures of my neck and wrists. I believe my Mother need not hurry herself much about my shirts before I come, for I shall not want more than three or four at most. I should chuse she would not have them ruffled till I am present myself. I have not yet procured a horse for my Journey, but I think you had better not send me one as I can't wait long enough to know whether or not you will have an opportunity without losing my chance, most of the horses being commonly engaged by the stu- I dents before vacation begins. If I should set off •' from this place as soon as I expect you may look for me in October, perhaps a little before the middle if the weather should be good. We have no public news but the base conduct of the merchants in New York in breaking through their spirited resolutions not to import; a distinct account of which I suppose will be in the Virginia Gazette before this arrives. Their letter to the mer- chants in Philadelphia requesting their concurrence was lately burnt by the students of this place in the college yard, all of them appearing In their black gowns, and the bell tolling. The number of stu- dents has increased very much of late ; there are about an hundred and fifteen in college, and in the OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 235 grammar school twenty-two commence this fall, all of them in American cloth. With my love to all the family, I am, honored sir, your affectionate son JAMES MADISON. [Written in a good legible hand on a half sheet of letter paper and occupying one page and a half.] NO. III. TO HIS FATHER. Princeton, October 9th, 1771. Honored Sir, In obedience to your requests I here- by send you an answer to yours of the 25th of Sept., which I received tTiis morning. My letter by Dr. Witherspoon, who left this place yesterday week, contains most of what you desire to be informed of. I am exceedingly rejoiced to hear of the happy de- liverance of my Mother and would fain hope your rheumatic pains will not continue much longer. The Bill of Exchange was very acceptable though I can- not say I have been as yet very much pressed by" my creditors. Since I got the bill I have been mak- ing a calculation of my past and future expences and find it nothing more than a bare competency, the reason of which I dare say you will not ascribe to extravagance when you read my letters of last week. If I come home in the spring, the purchase of a horse and travelling expences I am apprehen- sive will amount to more than I can reserve out of my present Stock for these purposes so that it would 236 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION not be amiss perhaps if you were to send a few half Jos. by Dr. Witherspoon or Col. Lewis's sons if they return or some safe hand afterwards as best suits you. I should be glad if your health and other circumstances should enable you to visit Dr. With- erspoon during his stay in Virginia. I am persua- ded you would be much pleased with him, and that he- would be very glad to see you. If you should not be able to see him, Col. Lewis or any other Gen- tlemen in Fredericksburg would advance what money I am to have at the least intimation from you. If you should ever send me any Bills hereafter, it will be best for you to make them payable to Dr. Witherspoon which will give him an opportunity to endorse them and greatly help me in selling them. If it should so happen that you see him please to mention it to him. I was so particular in my last with regard to my determination about staying in Princeton this winter coming, that I need say nothing more in this plac'e, my sentiments being still the same. I am sorry Mr. Chew's Mode of Conveyance will not answer in Virginia. I expect to hear from him in a few days, by return of a man belonging to this town from New London, and shall then acquaint him with it and get it remedied by the methods you propose. Mr. James Martin was here at commencement, and had an opportunity of hearing from his Broth- ers and friends in Carolina by a young man lately come from thence to this college ; however, I shall OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 237 follow your directions In writing to him immediately, and visiting him as soon as I find it convenient. You may tell Mr. Martin he left his Family at home all well. If you think proper that I should come back to this place after my journey to Virginia in the Spring and spend the Summer here, you may send the cloth of my coat which I am entirely pleased with and could have wished it had come time enough to have used this summer past. If you chuse rather I should remain in Virginia next summer It will be unnecessary. I am D'r S'r your Affect'e Son JAMES MADISON. To Col. James Madison Orange County Virginia. To be left at Fredericksburg. [Written upon a letter sheet and filling one page and a half. The chirography Is in his best style.] There is another letter from Mr. Madison to his father, written from Princeton, Aug. 30, 1783, when the Continental Congress was In session here. It begins in the same style as In the days of his youth : " Ho7id Sir, I rec'd great pleasure," &c. 238 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION APPENDIX B. The History of the College to which Mr. Madi- son here refers was prepared by the request of the Trustees. It is commonly called " Dr. Finley's His- tory," but this title is erroneous, as is evident from the direct statement of Mr. Madison in this letter and also from internal evidence. The gentleman who was requested to write it was prevented from accomplishing the work, and the Rev. Samuel Blair, one of the most eminent clerical graduates of the College, prepared and published it while Dr. Finley was President of the College. Mr. Blair was him- self elected President of the Institution in 1768, but upon learning that Dr. Witherspoon could be in- duced to accept the position if tendered to him a second time, Mr. Blair magnanimously withdrew his acceptance, and Dr. Witherspoon became the sixth President of Nassau Hall. As copies of this History are rare, a few extracts may prove not uninteresting as representative of the spirit and manners of other days. " The Trustees, thus generously assisted, immedi- ately set about the task of erecting a building in which the students might be boarded as well as taught, and live always under the inspection of the college officers, more sequestered from the various temptations, attending a promiscuous converse with the world, that theatre of folly and dissipation. The little village of Princeton was fixed upon as the most convenient situation ; being near the center of OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 239 the colony, on the pubHc road between Neiv York and Philadelphia, and not Inferior in the salubrity of its air, to any village upon the continent." pp. 11,12. '*To teach a classic author, or system of philoso- phy is a much easier task than to govern a society of youth, in the gay and volatile period of life, when the passions are predominant, and reason but in a forming state, a society, collected from almost all the several colonies on this continent, educated in different manners, with different views, and an end- less variety of tempers and circumstances. To gov- ern such a society, so as at once to command their veneration, and conciliate their love : To grant every innocent liberty, and, at the same time, to re- strain every ensnaring indulgence : To habituate them to subjection, and yet maintain their respective ranks without insolence or servility: To cherish a sense of honour, without self-sufficiency and arro- gance : In a word, to Inspire them with such prin- ciples, and form them to such a conduct, as will pre- pare for sustaining more extensive connections, with the grand community of mankind ; and introduce them on the theatre of .the world, as useful servants of their country. — This is the task, the arduous task, of a governor of the college : To which how few are equal ! " " We come now to give some account of the man- ner, together with the expences of boarding. It is true, so minute a detail of the little affairs of a col- lege affords but a dry and unentertaining story: 240 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION And a relation of the economy of a kitchen and dining room, would be still more low and vulgar. But as the judicious reader must be sensible, that a proper regulation of these matters, is of more con- sequence to such a community, than a thousand things that would make a more shining figure in de- scription ; it is presumed that some account of them may be expected ; and that he will excuse the dul- ness of the narrative, for the sake of the importance of the information, to those especially, who may en- cline to educate their sons at this college. It is the business of the steward to provide all necessaries for the use of the society, to employ cooks and other servants to cleanse the chambers, make the beds, &c. The tutors, and all the students, and sometimes the president, eat together in the dining-hall, always seated according to rank or sen- iority. No private meals are allowed in their cham- bers, except with express license on special occa- sions. Tea and coffee are served up for breakfast. At dinner, they have, in turn, almost all the variety, of fish and flesh the country here affords, and some- times pyes ; every dish of the same sort and alike dressed, on one day ; but with as great difference, as to the kinds of provision, and manner of cookery, on different days, as the market, and other circum- stances will admit. Indeed, no luxurious dainties, or costly delicacies can be looked for among the viands of a college, where health and economy are alone consulted in the furniture of the tables. These, however, are plentifully supplied, without weight or OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 24 1 measure allowahce : And the meals are conducted with regularity and decorum ; waiters being in at- tendance. The general table-drink is small beer or cyder. For supper, milk only is the standing allow- ance ; chocolate is sometimes served as a change. Some of the young gentlemen chuse, at times, and are indulged, to make a dish of tea in their apart- ments, provided it be done after evening prayer ; that the time spent therein, may not interfere with the hours of study ; except in cases of indisposition, or other circumstances, which are previously laid before one of the officers, in order to a permit. But this is an article wholly of private expence." pp. Zl^ 38. APPENDIX C. Page 131. The description of the Halls given in the text dif- fers in some respects from the traditional account, but I believe it to be accurate in every particular. Prof. Giger has presented the popular belief in his History of the Cliosophic Society. It is as follows : " The Halls are, indeed, beautiful buildings, and richly de- serve the praises lavished upon them. They do not differ from each other in dimensions and external appearance. They are in the Ionic style, sixty-two feet long, forty-one feet wide, and two stories high. The columns of the hexastyle porticos are copied from those of the small temple dedicated to the His- 242 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION sian Muses, that stood (for it was demolished in 1790) on the southern bank of the reedy IHssus, of whispering stream, near the fountain of CalHrhoe. The execution was in all respects so perfect that it was considered as one of the most remarkable pro- ductions of Grecian architecture. Its simplicity and marvellous beauty made it a sort of test of excel- lence in art. A temple on the island of Teos, con- secrated to Dionysius (or Bacchus), the patron god of the Dionysii, the ancient Freemasons of Asia- Minor, is a model of the buildings in other re- spects. In reference to this Temple of the Ilissian Muses I will simply remark that, if it ever existed, it did not stand upon the souther 71, but upon the -northern, bank of the Ilissus. But even the existence of a temple dedicated to the Ilissian Muses is purely a matter of conjecture, and hence nothing is known as to its style, &c. Pausanias, who wrote his Itinerary of Greece near the close of the second century of the Christian era, and which is even now the best authority on the antiquities and temples of Greece, mentions an altar of the Ilissian Muses upon the northern bank of the river and near the altar of Boreas. I can find no other allusion to this altar until the middle of the seventeenth century, as Athens was rarely visited by travellers and its con- dition was scarcely known to the scholars of Europe. Spon and Wheler made their tour in 1675 and 1676, and have given us a most interesting account of the remains of antiquity in Athens. In 1656 a flood in OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 243 the Ilissus had caused much damage to the neigh- boring land and swept away several houses. It also brought to view the fo2i7idations of a round temple near the spot where the altar seen by Pausanias had probably stood. Hence it was supposed that there might have been a temple of the Ilissian Muses and that these were its foundations, although there was nothing to indicate its style. They say, " Ce Temple est apparemment celuy des Muses Ilissiades^' &c. It was in 1751 that Stuart and Revett visited Athens, and began those investigations and surveys the results of which are embodied in their invaluable work on the Antiquities of Athens. At this time even the foundations of this round temple seem to have disappeared. The temple from which the columns of the por- ticos of the Halls are copied, formerly stood upon the southern bank of the Ilissus near the fountain of Callirhoe. It is " of the Ionic order, but differing considerably in its details from all ordinary example. The forms are simple but elegant, and the execution is in all respects so perfect, that this building may be considered as one of the most remarkable pro- ductions of Grecian architecture." It had a por- tico at each end, consisting of only four columns, and was built of beautiful, white marble from Pentel- icus. Having undergone some repairs and addi- tions it was transformed into a Greek church ded- icated to the Mother of our Lord, and named from its situation, St. Mary on the Rock. In 1674, the Marquis de Nointel, French Ambassador to the 244 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Porte, spent some weeks at Athens, and very un- wisely celebrated Roman Catholic Mass in it. The Greeks considered it as desecrated, and hence it was neglected and fell into decay. In 1780 it was destroyed by order of the Voivode or Turkish Gov- ernor of Athens, and the materials were used in constructing a wall around the city. Spon thought that it was a Temple of Ceres, but it was too small even for the celebration of the Lesser Mysteries. Stuart imagined that it was erected in honor of the hero Panops. Leake and Gell, however, relying upon Pausanias, are probably correct in supposing it to be the Temple of Trip- TOLEMUS. The large and splendid Temple of Dionysus (or Bacchus) in the Ionian city of Teos furnished the model of the Halls in other particulars. Teos was on the south side of the isthmus which connected the peninsula of Mt. Mimas with the mainland of Asia Minor, so that, with its adjacent territory, " at most it could only be termed a peninsula." OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 245 NOTES ON THE ORATION. Page 156. There are, no doubt, to be found in the Old Tes- tament, some instances of dramatic dialogue, as, for example, in the Book of Job ; but the existence of the drania, profierly so called, cannot be traced to Hebrew literature. The dramatic poetry of the Hindus, only dates back to a titile, when there was close and frequent intercourse between India and Greece. So that it is to Greece alone that we hiu^t look for the invention of the drama. PAGE 158. " The primitive education at Athens consisted of two branches ; gymnastics, for the body, music, for the mind. The word music is not to be judged ac- cording to the limited signification which it now bears. It comprehended, from the beginning, every thing pertaining to the province of the Nine Muses ; not merely learning the use of the lyre, or how to bear a part in a chorus ; but also the hearing, learn- ing, and repeating, of poetical compositions, as well as the practice of exact and elegant pronunciation ; which latter accomplishment, in a language like the Greek, with long words, measured syllables, and great diversity of accentuation between one word 246 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION and another, must have been far more difficult to ac- quire than it is in any modern European language. As the range of ideas enlarged, so the words music and musical teachers acquired an expanded meaning, so as to comprehend matter of instruction at once ampler and more diversified. During the middle of the fifth century B. C, at Athens, there came thus to be found, among the musical teachers, men of the most distinguished abilities and eminence ; masters of all the learning and accomplishments of the age, teaching what was known of astronomy, geography, and physics, and capable of holding dialectical discus- sions with their pupils, upon all the various prob- lems then afloat among intellectual men." — Grote^s History of Greece, vol. S, p. 349. No view of popular education among the Greeks would be complete, without taking into consideration the influence of dramatic exhibitions. After speak- ing of the continuous stream of new tragedy, pour- ed out year after year, Grote proceeds to say : " Moreover, what is not less important to notice, all this abundance found its way to the minds of the great body of the citizens, not excepting even the poorest. For the theatre is said to have accommo- dated thirty thousand persons ; here again it is un- safe to rely upon numerical accuracy, but we cannot doubt that it was sufficiently capacious to give to most of the citizens, poor as well as rich, ample op- portunity of profiting by these beautiful composi- tions We cannot doubt that the effect of these compositions upon the pub- OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 247 lie sympathies, as well as upon the public judg- ment and intelligence, must have been beneficial and moralizing in a high degree. Though the subjects and persons are legendary, the relations between them are all human and simple, exalted above the level of humanity only in such measure as to present a stronger claim to the hearer's admira- tion or pity. So powerful a body of poetical influ- ence has probably never been brought to act upon the emotions of any other population ; and when we consider the extraordinary beauty of these immortal compositions, which first stamped tragedy as a sepa- rate department of poetry, and gave to it a dignity never since reached, we sl^all be satisfied that the tastes, the sentiments, and the intellectual standard, of the Athenian multitude, must have been sensibly improved and exalted by such lessons. The recep- tion of such pleasures through the eye and the ear, as well as amidst a sympathizing crowd, was a fact of no small importance in the mental history of Athens." — Vol. 8, pp. 320, 321, 322. PAGE 171. As a natural result of the want of a system of national education, look at the picture of an English peasant of the present day, drawn by one who is himself an Englishman ! I quote from a work on •' The Social Condition and Education of the People of England," by Joseph Kay, Esq., of Trinity Col- lege, Cambridge, who was commissioned by the Senate of the University to examine into the social 248 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION condition of the poorer classes. "You cannot ad- dress an English peasant, without being struck with the intellectual darkness which surrounds him. There is neither speculation in his eye, nor intelli- gence in his countenance. His whole expression is more that of an animal than of a man. He is want- ing too in the erect and independent bearing of a man. As a class, our peasants have no amuse- ments beyond the indulgence of sense. In nine cases out of ten, recreation is associated in their minds with nothing higher than sensuality. About one half of our poor can neither read nor write, have never been in any school, and know little, or positively nothing, of the doctrines of the Christian religion, of moral duties* or of any higher pleasures than beer drinking and spirit drinking, and the grossest sensual indulgence. They live precisely like brutes, to gratify, so far as their means allow, the appetites of their uncultivated bodies, and then die, to go they have never thought, cared, or won- dered whither." PAGE 174. A good deal of misapprehension exists with re- gard to the degree of religious instruction given in our common schools. The following is from a very able article on Common Schools in the " Princeton Review," for January, 1866. "Though little direct religious instruction may be given in the common school, there is usually a large amount of religious influence. A great majority of the teachers of our OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 249 common schools are professing Christians. Very many of them are among our most active Sabbath School teachers. Now a truly godly man or woman, at the head of a school, though never speaking a word directly on the subject of religion, yet by the power of a silent, consistent example, exerts a con- tinual Christian influence. In the next place, as a matter of fact, direct religious teaching is not en- tirely excluded from our public schools. The Bible, with very rare exceptions, Is read daily in all our common schools. It Is appealed to as ultimate au- thority in questions of history and morals. It Is quoted for Illustration In questions of taste. It is in many schools a text-book for direct study. In the third place, nine out of ten of the children of the week-day school attend the Sabbath School. The Sabbath School supplements the Instruction of the week-day school. The case, therefore. Is not that of an education purely intellectual. Moral and relig- ious instruction accompanies the Instruction In world- ly knowledge. The Sabbath School, the Church, and the family, by their combined and ceaseless ac- tivities, infuse into our course of elementary educa- tion, a much larger religious ingredient than a stranger might suppose, who should confine his ex- amination to a mere inspection of our common schools, or to the reading of the annual reports of our educational boards." AN ACCOUNT OF THE Commencement and the Whig Centennial. Abridged from ^he " Princeton Standard. The T2 2d Commencement of the venerable Col- lege of New Jersey was expected to be one of unu- sual Interest on account of the late change in the Presidency, and the large gifts which the College has received, and also, because it was the celebration of the Centennial of the American Whig Society. THE BACCALAUREATE SERMON was preached in the First Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning by President McCosh, before a very full congregation. He took as his text — "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life." — John xiv. 6. Dr. McCosh closed his discourse with a direct ad- dress to the members of the graduating class, as- suring them of the deep interest with which Alma Mater would watch their course in the future, and exhorting them to pure and noble lives. 252 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION TUESDAY. Before the business of the day was inaugurated, a group of members of the " American Whig Society" were beguiHng the time by recounting many of the ancient customs and forms of discipHne in the col- lege. Much laughter was created by an allusion by one venerable gentleman to part of the code of dis- cipline promulgated in 1765, which, although it would now be regarded as absurd or tyrannous in its exactions, was nevertheless considered then as eminently essential for the maintenance of order and obedience. The narrator described it, in substance, as follows : Every scholar should keep his hat off about ten rods to the President, and about five to the tutors. Every scholar should rise up and niake his obeisance when the President goes in or out of the hall or enters the pulpit on any day of religious wor- ship. When walking with the superior they should give him the highest place, and when first going into his company they should show their respect to him by doffing their hats. They should give place to him at any door or entrance, and when meeting him going up and down stairs should stop and give him the baluster side. They should not enter into his room, nor in any way intrude^themselves upon him. and should never be first or foremost in any under- taking in which a superior Is engaged. They were forbidden to use any indecent or rude behavior in a superior's presence, such as making a noise, calling aloud, or speaking at a distance, unless spoken to OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 253 by him, if within hearing ; and they should always crive a direct, pertinent answer, ending with sir. The recital created much merriment, but the speak- er said he was glad he was not old enough to have been subservient to such servile requirements. THE WHIG CENTENNIAL. At forty-five minutes past ten a. m., the exercises for the Centennial Anniversary of the American Whig Society were inaugurated by the movement of the procession to the First Presbyterian Church ac- cording to the published programme. The procession as it wended its way from the campus to the church, presented a most imposing ap- pearance, being composed of about 500 sons of Princeton, of all ages — from the vigorous youth of " sweet sixteen " to the hoary-headed sire of three score years and ten. The moment the church doors were thrown open the galleries were filled with wealth and beauty. The body of the church was reserved for the persons in the procession. Rarely, if ever, has there been such an immense concourse assembled together to participate in the annual cel- ebration. The stage was comfortably filled by the faculty, alumni and invited guests. After the band had discoursed somt eloquent music, the proceed- ings were opened with prayer by the Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D., of the Class of 18 15. The reverend gentleman invoked the divine blessing on the mem- bers of the society, which has, since the foundation 254 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION of the college been the means of promoting litera- ture, morality and friendship among men. Hon. William C. Alexander, LL. D., of the class of 1824, then addressed the audience on the nature of the celebration, and concluded by intro- ducing the Rev. Professor Henry C. Cameron, the historian of the American Whig Society of the Col- lege of New Jersey. Professor Cameron, on com- ing forward, was the recipient of a perfect ovation. He said the American Whig Society was founded on the 24th day of June, 1769, in Nassau Hall, by the only graduate of Princeton who ever attained to the exalted office of President of the United States — James Madison. The object of the society is ex- pressed in its never changing motto — Literature, Friendship and Morals. He briefly glanced at the condition of our own country and that of the Old World at the time of the origin of the American Whig Society. Catharine was on the throne of Russia ; the drearh of Peter the Great was real- ized ; Joseph the Second was Emperor of Germany ; Frederick the Great was on the throne of Prussia ; Louis the Fifteenth, who wielded the sceptre of France, was losing Canada and other of his territo- ries. It was the year in which Wait obtained his patent for the steam engine, and when Chateaubri- and, John Quincv Adams, Soult, and Nev, and Na- poleon Bonaparte were born. It was In the year when Junius wrote his first letters. At this time the claims of the colonies were advocated. An ardent lover of liberty presided over Nassau Hall, and OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 255 every youthful spirit was inspired with a love of the eternal truths of love of liberty, and of fatherland. The Society derived its name from the party of lib- erty. Other societies existed before the present so- ciety was organized, but they were ephemeral in their existence. The Cliosophic Society was formed in 1770, but subsequently adopted the date of the Well-Meaning Society from which it sprung. There is no means of ascertaining the exact date of the foundation of the earlier societies of this college. Mr. Samuel Blair, and not Dr. Finley, was the author of the so-called *' Dr. Finley's History of the College of New Jersey." No luxurious dain- ties were provided for the students of earlier days. The oldest living graduate of the Whig Society is Colonel Joseph Warren Scott, »whose infirmities prevent him from being present to-day. The speak- er then reviewed the biographies of the members of the class of 1769, dwelling particularly on Hugh Breckinridge. Gunning Bedford was a classmate of James Madison, and ultimately a member of the Continental Congress. Colonel John Smith, of the class of 1 80 1, is the second oldest member of the Whig Society. No poor scholar or person guilty of any immorality was admitted to membership in either the Whig or Cliosophic Society. There is no literary society in the country that can be compared with these in the advantages they afford. The Clios have received the salutatories more frequently, but the Whigs the valedictories. Professor Camer- 4 256 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ON concluded widi an eloquent peroration for the continued welfare of the Whig Society. After some music from Grafulla, Richard S. Field, LL. D., of the class of 1821, Judge of the United States District Court, came forward and pro- ceeded to deliver the centenary oration. Judge Field said : I cannot but feel you have done me very great honor in inviting me to address you on so very interesting an occasion. There are one or two features to which I desire to call your attention. Societies of a similar character exist in almost all, if not all, our American colleges. Had there been but one society in this college there would be wanting a spirit of emulation, and conflicting claims would arise which would prevent its. perpetu- ation. The college has never existed without a so- ciety. With rare exceptions every student of the college is a member of one or the other society. Thus every student aspires to the honor of the col- lege, because he feels it will redound to the honor of the Society to which he belongs. While the object and purposes of these Societies are avowed, there is a secrecy which serves as a mysterious bond of union. In these Societies professors and students may meet together as brothers and friends. These Societies have done much for Princeton College, and deserve Its constant care. They serve to keep alive a fraternal feeling and association among the alumni. There are events in one's life we can never forget. One of the events of my life was my ad- mission into Whig Hall. I am glad to have this op- OF THE AMERICAN VVHU; SOCIETY. 257 portunity to acknowledge the obligations I am under to the Whig Society. If I have ever loved literature and drawn delight from its indulgence, if it has lightened labor ^nd smoothed the brow of care, very much of all this happiness I attribute to the Whig Society. It was there I first learned the value of books. Without the intellectual discipline the college furnishes, reading would be a sort of mental dissipation. The promotion of learning is one of the great objects of your Society. The obligations that Christianity is under to learning is one of the aspects in which I would present my remarks. Learning and piety are closely allied. We some- times hear language employed by the best men, with the purest of motives, to the effect that learning, if not occupying a hostility, at least affords a neutrality to piety. The most pernicious errors that have ever prevailed are those that have half proof. Learning is a good thing in itself. Knowledge, under any circumstances, is better than ignorance. It keeps the animal and sensual tendencies of our nature in subjection. It makes man a better citizen, a better husband and father. Learning has been the hand- maid of virtue. The speaker here proved by quo- tations from the Bible from the time of Moses and Aaron, that learning and religion were identified with each other. His sketch of the eloquence and persuasive abilities of St. Paul was loudly applaud- ed. It was in the most learned cities of antiquity that the sublime doctrines of Christianity were re- ceived and embraced, and churches first raised to the 258 CENTENNIAL CELEFiRATION worship of the Lord. It was the learning and phi- losophy of Greece that prepared the world for Chris- tianity, It had razed to its base the edifice of pagan- ism. With the decay of the learning of Greece came the corruption of the Church, and during the Dark Ages Christianity nearly became extinct. The revi- val of learning was the precursor of the Refor- mation. The great reformers of England, Scotland and France, were men of prodigious learning. Lu- ther was a student in the University of Wittenberg, and such was his learning, that his professor said of him, *' This monk will puzzle our doctrine." The martyrdom of Cranmkk, Ridley and Latimer crea- ted a flame in England which was never extinguish- ed. As learning has flourished or faded, so religion has advanced or declined. The learning which makes a man proud is shallow learning. True science makes a man humble. The higher we as- cend the hills of science, the deeper is our convic- tion of how little we know compared with what we could know. Newton was in the habit of comparing himself to a child gathering pebbles on the seashore. Into the kingdom of science as into the kingdom of heaven no one can enter save as a little child. Satan is the hero of " Paradise Lost." Nothing could ex- cel in sublimity that grand council held in Pandemo- nium. His only crime was ambition, the last infir- mity of noble minds. Milton's Satan has furnished the example and apology for those monstrous villain- ies of fiction. That of the noble poet lacked a sanctity of character. In the Bible Satan is typified as the OF THE AMERICAN WHIC. SOCIETY. 259 least erect of God's creatures — the most remote from that in which man was created. He is the power of darkness, intellectual as well as moral. It was ig- norance, not knowledge, that caused the angels' fall. Satan may tempt us in many ways, but he never in- duced a man to become a hard student. Religion has nothing to fear from learning. Ignorance is her deadliest foe. Science and learning are in harmony with each other. Never did science say one thing and religion another. Judge Field here lauded the system of national education in Ireland, which he claims did more for that unhappy country than any legislative enactment, and supported his assertion by citing the authority of the Presidentof the college, who, although with us but a short time, has done much to deserve our everlasting gratitude for the interest he has manifested in the success of our public schools. Our public schools have done more to strengthen and perpetuate our free institutions than all other agencies. The common school is the child of Protestantism, the offspring of the Reformation. Our country needs a higher education. It will be conceded that, as far as our popular education is concerned, we are the foremost nation in the world. We want an education commensurate with the grandeur and destiny of our republic. The rays of the coming glories of Princeton are darting around it, and auspicious omens are arising every day. Judge Field concluded an eloquent oration by ex- horting the students to be true to their motto — lib- erty, literature and virtue. 2 6o CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION At I f o'clock a second procession was formed and marched to the old Second Presbyterian Church, where a tempting collation was spread. The hall was decorated with green garlands and crosses, with the names of the most distinguished former mem- bers of the Society, and with mottoes. THE FEAST OF REASON. All appetites having been satisfied, the Hon. Wm. C. Alexander, at the head of the table, gave the first toast " The President of the United States, " In connection with this a letter from Gen. Grant was read, regretting the necessity of his absence from the proceedings of the day. The second toast was then given, " The Cliosophic Society.'' The Cliosophians replied with three vigorous cheers and the '' Nassau rocket." Judge Slossun, of New York, replied in an eloquent manner with a speech. Prof. Henry C. Cameron then read the beautiful Centennial Ode, composed for the occasion by the Rev. Professor Shields, D. D. As he finished the reading, the students and alumni took it up and sang it to the air, " America.!* Tears sprang to many an eye before they had done. The third toast, " The American Whig Society,'' was responded to by the Hon. John T. Nixon, of OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 26 1 New Jersey, who showed what the Society had done for the church and the state. The next regular toast was, " Our Alma Mater. " To which Dr. McCosh, the President of the Col- lege, responded. The Doctor, who speaks with a Scotch accent that gives a keener point to his wit, set the table in frequent roars of laughter. As he sat down, three right brave cheers were given for him by all present, and one more " Nassau rocket " was set off. " Our Former Presidents!' was responded to by ex- President Maclean, who gave an outline of the his- tory of the College ; " The Founders of the Whig Society r responded to by Ashbel Green, Esq., of New York ; " The Clergy " was responded to by the Rev. Dr. Schenck, of Brooklyn ; " The Judiciary!' by the Hon. Daniel Weisel, of Maryland ; " The Legal Profession!' by E. Spencer Miller, Esq., of Philadelphia ; and '' The Ladies of Princeton!' by the Hon. Wm. C. Alexander, the chairman. Mr. Al- exander delivered an exceedingly effective speech. He said this, and this only : " Gentlemen, I will de- tain you no longer. You have been detained too long already. If you wish it, I will reply to the toast at the next centennial celebration of the Amer- ican Whig Society." THE JUNIOR orations. The honorary orators from the class of 1870 de- livered their orations in the evening before a crowd- 262 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ed house, embracing a large amount of the youth, beauty, wit, and learning of Princeton and vicinity. The limited space in the church and the large num- ber seeking admission compelled the College au- thorities to grant admission only by tickets. Great numbers of ladies from the surrounding country were in town unable to secure admission. The evil seems unavoidable, unless a more capacious house is secured for the exercises. The church was intoler- ably hot, and certainly could bear no greater crowd- ing. President McCosh presided, and the youthful orators spoke in the following order : ORDER OF exercises. Music — Overture — Poet and Peasant. Suppe. Adrian H. Joline, N. Y. The Voice of the People is the Voice of God. Music — Selection from La Perichole. Offenbach. Emelius W. Smith, Pa. The Influence of Mystery on Man. Music — Galop —Pottergeister. C. Faust. George C. Yeisley, Md. The True Sense of History. Music — Selection from Genevieve de Brabant. Offenbach. William P. Schell, Pa. Elements of National Decay. J/z/.y?V— Galop— Cathrine. * Parlow. AsHER B. Temple, N. J. Self Mastery. Music — Selection from the Grand Duchesse. Offenbach. Hugh G. Kyle, Tenn. Party Strife. Music— 1.11X13. Polka— (Fantasia.) Peblow. Wm. M. Bartholomew, Ind. The Legacy of the Primitive Church. Music — Selection from La Vie Parisienne. Offenbach. John Crawford, Del. American Practicality. Music — Selection from La Belle Helene. Offenbach. The orations have been spoken of as somewhat superior to the average of the kind. OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 263 REUNION OF THE CLASS (JF 1 859. One of the most pleasant exercises we have seen was connected with the decennial celebration of this class. In the afternoon they met, to the number of 21 out of over 50 members, around the historical cannon in the campus, which was formally dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. These consisted of historical recital, by George W. Ketcham, of New- ark, of its capture and retention upon the college grounds ; a poem by Mr. Wm. B. Wright, of New York, and an eloquent oration by Mr. Thomas J. McKaig, of Maryland. In the evening the ceremony of presenting a silver cup to the oldest boy in the class was performed in the presence of several hundred deeply interested spectators. An address of welcome was tendered by President McCosh, in which he complimented the class upon the interest they had shown in the Col- lege by contributing $2,000 to form a prize fund for the encouragement of the study of English Litera- ture. He hoped other classes would imitate their example, and that in future times the class would be so prospered that they, v/ill be encouraged to do larger things for their Alma Mater. The class President, Mr. Hugh I. Cole, of Ala- bama, responded, expressing the thanks of the class that their efforts for the college w^ere appreciated, and hoping for a career of increasing usefulness for her. As she had always been conservative, the speaker suggested that she was eminently fitted to 264 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION do certain things needful for harmonizing our people, and that she could become a mediator between the contending interests and factions in the land. He alluded to the fact that one-fifth of all the class had died, which opened a theme for sad reflections. The Committee of Award reported that there were 21 children in the class. They had awarded the cup to J. R. Yerger, of Jackson, Miss. The resolution was adopted oy acclamation ap- pointing the father the guardian of this class boy, and that he be authorized to rear and educate him in the best possible manner at his own expense. The cup was presented in a neat and felicitous speech by the Rev. F. B. Hodge, of Pennsylvania. An address on behalf of the disappointed ones was given by Mr. C. B. Morris, of New Jersey. Mr. T. C. Lyon, of Mississippi, consoled the bachelors in an ingenious and witty speech, which closed the interesting exercises. The class supper was held in the old Philadelphian room, under the Museum, where the class head- quarters were located. The class of '66 had a supper in the Seminary refectory. WEDNESDAY.' Shortly after nine o'clock the proqession formed in front of Nassau Hall in the same general order as upon the preceding day, and preceded by Grafulla's band marched to the First Presbyterian Church, where the exercises of the class took place. OF .THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 265 Among the distinguished men occupying seats upon the platform, we observed the Hon. Theodore F. Randolph, Governor of the State ; ex-Governors Haines and Olden ; Judge John T. Mason, of Maryland; Henry P. Ross, of Pennsylvania; Daniel Weisel, Maryland : Martin Ryerson and George T. Cobb, of New Jersey, and George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia; John T. Nixon, of New Jersey, and Wm. E. Dodge, of New York. The forenoon was occupied by the addresses of the graduating class. This class numbered 51 mem- bers, to 33 of whom were allotted places on the pro- gramme, although the actual' number of speeches was twenty. There was little in the addresses to distinguish this class from former ones. The finest, perhaps, were those of Messrs. Keasbey, Stites, Finley, Ward and McKibben, which were all good, and it would be, perhaps, unfair to distinguish par- ticularly any of them. The delivery of Mr. Stites was very fine and excited considerable applause. This gentleman is one of the best young elocution- ists in the country, and some four or five years ago represented Philadelphia in an elocutionary contest between that city and New York. At twelve o'clock an intermission of an hour was given, after which the master's oration was delivered by John K. Cowen, Esq., of Ohio, a member of the class of 1866, which was present this year to re- ceive their degree of Master of Arts in course. The subject chosen by the speaker was " Moral Culture as allied to Modern Civilization." This ad- 2 66 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION dress was one of the finest things of its kind to which we have ever Ustened, The .orator's manner and dehvery were very fine, and the attention was most marked. The speaker commenced with a comparison of the civihzation of the East with that of the West, de- nominating the one as passive or conservative, the other as active and radical. In our time moral thought does not express itself in physical or archi- tectural beauty, but in the development of science, not furnishing food for the appreciation of cultivated minds, nor in simple artistic beauty, but in a more direct appeal to the minds of the masses, and for the development of such things as shall prove of the greatest use to mankind. The tendency of thought is to embody itself in things of utility, and science is daily becoming more intensely practical. The speaker insisted upon the need of a thorough practical education — one fitted to meet the moral needs of this, not by-gone centu- ries. The feature of the times seems to be the di- rection of all education to utility. One feature of civilization is its hopeftdness, — a hopefulness which is the result of moral culture, the practical result of the development of the idea q{ faith in religion. This is the sure result of eio^hteen centuries of Christian cultivation, and the source of our great business and scientific success. The great necessity now is to turn this tide of utiHty into the Church. It has been developed by Christianity, and yet the practical and materialistic tendencies of the age are in danger of OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY. 267 withdrawing its fruits from out the church. The speaker then showed the means for preventing this loss. •* The plastic elements of the age can be and 77iust be moulded. Our college men should be fitted not only with a mental, but a moral culture, which will give them the leaderships in the great material successes of the century and thus these tendencies may be given a right direction. Let their moral and civilizing character be stamped upon all the great works of the age. We have a free country, and our danger is in abusing our freedom. It must be learned that true freedom consists not in license, but in restraint. The speaker denominated enter- prise, enthusiasm and conservatism, as the great el- ements of success, and without the combination of these any true success is impossible." The grand mission of Christianity has been ful- filled not by crusades, but by the vast scientific suc- cesses of late centuries, and by its activity, the result of energy given by moral culture. The orator concluded by saying that the continual contact of the age with the practical leads to mate- rialism, and this must be counteracted by education and moral culture — moral life gives to character its chief beauty, and to the age its glory. Immediately after the conclusion of the oration, the degrees were conferred. The degree of A. B. was conferred upon the graduating class, in course, as follows : John William Aitken, N. Y. ; Charles Thomson Anderson, N. J. ; Frank Emanuel Baltzell, Md. ; 268 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Benjamin Rulon Black, N. J. ; Jonah Turner Brake- ley, N. J. ; John Robert Breckinridge, Ky. ; Ar- thur Chapman, Pa. ; Charles Dodd Crane, N. J. ; Colbert Mousseau Des Islets, Pa. ; William How- ard Eby, Pa. ; Nathaniel Ewing, Jr., Pa. ; James Thomas Finley, Ala. ; Frederick Fowler, Md. ; John Evans Fox, Pa. ; William Coleman Freeman, D. C. ; John Quincy Adams Fullerton, Ky. ; John F. Hage- man, Jr., N. J. ; Charles Hazelhurst, Pa. ; George Bevan Hope, N. J. ; Lambert Lot Howell, N. J. ; William Hutchinson, Texas : John Patton Irvin, Pa. ; Thomas Allen Jobs, N. J.; Edward Quinton Keasbey, N. J. ; William Smith Lalor, N. J. ; William Seely Little, N. Y. ; Henry Albert Lloyd, Pa. ; John N. Logan, Pa. ; William Henry McGee, N. J. ; William McKibbin, Pa. ; Kennedy Duncan Mellier, Mo. ; Frank Halsey Mills, Ka. ; William Henry Park, Ohio ; George T. Porter, Ind. ; Charles Dallas Ridg- way, N. J. ; John William Rosebro, N. C. ; Archibald Alexander Schenck, Pa. ; John G. Schenck, N. J. ; Charles William Sloan, N. J. ; Alexander Speer, D. C. ; Nicholas Frederick Stahl, 111. ; Winfield Scott Stites, N. J. ; William Lincoln Swan, N. Y. ; Henry Clay Talmage, N. Y. ; Albert Clark Titus, N. J. ; Ed- ward Stanley Toadvin, Md. : William B. Waller, D. C. ; George Kemp Ward, N. Y. ; Richard Boyd Webster, Pa. ; Eugene Franklin Wells, N. Y. ; George Crittenden Young, Ky. Total, 51. OF THE AMERICAN WIIIC; SOCIETY. 269 The degree of A. M. in course was conferred upon the members of the class of 1866 who have been pursuing professional or other studies since graduation. John Mather Allis, Abram Burtis Baylis, Jr., Otto Bergner, Austin B. Blair, John A. Blair, J. Sylvanus Blair, R. W. Butterfield, John A. Cobb, Edward A. Condit, George Washington Cotts, John K. Cowen, Robert C. Dalzell, George M. Davis, Henry W. Elmer, M. D., Macomb K. Elmer, Edward M. Fith- ian, Henry Melville Gurley, Edward W. Haines, John A. Hall, Robert Harbison,. William Wallace Harris, George A. Hood, J. Beatty Howell, David B. Hunt, George Frederick Keene, Jacob B. Krewson, Sam- uel T. Lewis, Spotswood Welford Lomax, Joshua Hall Mcllvaine, Jr., John Bayard McPherson, William F. C. Morsell, Wakeman Bryerly Munnikhuysen, M. D., Samuel H. Murphy, Henry I. Owen, Andrew H. Parker, John C. Paulison, John C. F". Randolph, Nin- ian Beall Remick, Edwin DeWitt Sampson, John S. Sherrill, William Morgan Shuster, Jr., Richard Mer- tor Johnson Smith, Miles Wilbur Tate, Addison W. Taylor, Spencer Trask, Ledyard Van Rensselaer, Robert S. M. Wherry, William Hull Wickham. The honorary degrees were conferred as follows : LL. D.— The Rev. William Adams, D. D., New York ; Charles W. Elliot, President of Harvard College ; the Rev. Henry B. Smith, D. D., N. Y. ; the Hon. Martin Ryerson, New Jersey ; the Rev. William B. Sprague, D. D., New York ; Gen. Ben- 270 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION jamin G. Howard, Maryland ; die Hon. Daniel Wei- sel, Maryland. D. D. — The Rev. John McNaughton, Ireland; die'Rev. John Crowell, Delaware. Ph. D. — Frederick A. Adams, New^ Jersey ; the Rev. Mahlon Long, Pennsylvania. A. M.— William J. Gibby, Princeton, N. J. : the Rev. William R. Garroll, Allentown, N. J. ; Louis W. Smith, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa. ; E. A. Goodridge, New York; L. W. J. Seal, Pennsylvania; James Sheirz, N. J. The degree of Bachelor of Arts {ad eundeni) was conferred upon Neville B. Craig, of Washington and Jefferson College, and Robert L. Belknap, of Columbia College, N. Y. The Committee on Junior Orator Prizes had con- siderable embarrassment in selecting from the ora- tions four to receive the prizes, owing to the excel- lence of all, but according to the best of their abili- ty awarded as follows : I St prize, Asher B. Temple, N. J. 2d " George C. Yeisley, Md. 3d " John Crawford, Del. 4th " Emelius W. Smith, Pa. The prizes for Senior Bible recitations have been awarded to E. Q. Keasbey and Richard B. Webster. The exercises of the class closed with the delivery of an oration, " Our Country's Part in Modern Civ- ilization," with the Valedictory Address by John W. OF THE AMERICAN WHIG SOCIETY 271 RosKBRu, of N. C. The Oration was one of the best of the day, and was well received. The closing prayer and the benediction were pro- n6unced by the Rev. Dr. Maclean. We insert the full programme of the exercises : COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES. MUSIC. •rayer by the president. Archibald Alexander Schenck. Pa. Edward Quintox Keasbey, N. J. Richard Boyd Webster, Pa. A. Alexander Speer, D. C. MUSIC. Thomas Allen Jobs, N. J. ^Nathaniel EwiNG, Jr., Pa. William Henry Park, Ohio. Henry Clay Talm.a.1)Ge, N. Y. Jonah Turner Brakely, N. J. Latin Salutatory. English Salutatory. Metaphysical Oration. Belles Lettres Oration. Classical Oration. Philosophical Oration. Philosophical Oration. Philosophical Oration. Physical Oration. MUSIC. Lambert Lot Howell, N. J. *Ben.tamin Rulon Black, N. J. WiNFiELD Scott Stites, N. J. Nicholas Frederick Stahl, 111. *WiLLiAM Hutchinson, Tex. Relation of the United. States to Literature. Harmony of Nature and Human Life. Educational Responsibility. Sir Thomas Moore. MUSIC. Kennedy Duncan Mellier, Mo. *WiLLiAM Henry McGee, N. J. *Frank Emanuel Baltzell, Md. *George Crittenden Young, Ky ^Frederick Fowler, Md. George T. Porter, Ind. Colonization. The Evils of Wealth. Observation. The Future of England. Religious Fanaticism. Literature as a Profession. 2/2 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ••James Thomas Finlev, Ala. . . . . Hkrarchi/. Eugene Fkankltn Wells, N. Y. . . Mechanical Powers. *JoHX Q. A. Flllertox, Ky. . . Lessons from Nature. George Kemp Waud, N. Y. . . . Critical PeHods. MUSIC. •-Chahles Dallas Kidgway, N. J. . . , Ideals. AViLTJAM B. Waller, D. C. . Demand for Intellectual Exertion in America. *JoHN N. LoGAX, Pa. .... The Arthitect. JoHx Evans Fox, Pa. The Neces.^ity of Education in a Republic. *Charles Dodd Craxe, N. J. . . . . Bells. William McKibbex, Pa. ' . . Power of Man over Man. *Edward Stanley Toadvin, Md. . . . Instinct. John WiLfJAM Aitken, N. Y. . . Poetri/ and Paintinr/. MUSIC. recess for one hour. MUSIC. THE MASTER'S ORATION. By John K. Cowen. Jr., of Ohio. MUSIC. CONFERRING OF DEGREES. THE VALEDICTORY ORATION, By John Wm. Rosebro, of N. C. PRAYER AND BENEDICTION. •^Excused. THE ALUMNI COLLATION. The Alumni and their guests accompanied the Trustees to the usual collation. The number was ereater than we have ever seen at Nassau Hall be- fore, and makes evident the necesssity of a large dining hall for the numerous sons of Alma Mater. After full justice had been done to the viands, the cloth was removed. The Hon. B. F. Brewster- OF THE AMERICAN WHIO SOCIETY. 273 LL. L)., Attorney General of Pennsylvania, respond- ed to the sentiment Ahna Mater in a speech glow- ing with eloquence. Our Honored Guests were re- sponded to by the Hon. William E. Dodge, George H. Stuart, Esq., and the Hon. A. D. Pouter, of Indiana. In offering the sentiment, "The Alumni," Presi- dent McCosH stated that between 50 and 60 stu- dents had entered for the next class, which will be largely increased, no doubt, before the beginning of the next term. He hoped the College would be a means of reuniting the North and the South, as had been suggested at the meeting last evening. This sentiment was responded to by Mr. Hii,l, of North Carolina, and judge Ross, of Pennsylvania. A. O. Keasbey, Esq., of Newark, N. J., U. S. Dis- trict Attorney, responded on behalf of the graduates of other colleges. With these pleasant exhibitions of wit and wisdom the time flew by, and the guests reluctandy left the classic shades of their fostering mother. The Commencement of 1869 insensibly passed into history, to become food for pleasant memories and sober reflections. During the past year, under the efficient adminis- tradon of Dr. McCosh, the College has gready im- proved. A new gymnasium building is in course of erection, also a new building for recitation purposes, to be called Dickinson Hall. Several fellowships have been founded. The Boudinot fellowship has an income of $450, which is to be divided between those two members of the senior class who shall 2 74 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION excel in classics and mathematics. At its decennial anniversary, the class of 1859 subscribed $2,000, the interest of which is to be given to that member of the senior class who shall, upon examination, excel in writing and P^nglish Literature. Several other fellowships of this sort are in con- templation. Alumni associations have been formed in our leading cities, and there is now no reason why Princeton, with the means at its command, and a good and efficient faculty, should not rank as the foremost college in the United States. All things conspired to make the Centennial Cel- ebration and the Commencement most delightful. Princton has rarely witnessed such a scene, and its recollection will ever abide with those who were present. The weather was favorable, the College had received large donations and was entering upon a new administration with most auspicious signs, and great numbers had gathered to celebrate the Whig Centennial and to salute anew their Alma Mater. The memories that clustered around Nassau Hall were dwelt upon by her sons, and in her present prosperity and promising future, all saw and ac- knowledged the hand of God, and recognized the truth of her ancient motto : Dei sub numine viget. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT | TO— i#^ 202 Main Library | LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 , :^':>- ; ^ 4 5 < ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS ■ Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. H Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405 1 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW | OEN/ ON/LL JUN04 1996 WC. BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY BERKELEY, CA 94720 ivi212681 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ^-