genuine virtue and high moral integrity, men who will maintain our free institutions and bring about some great moral reforms in the political condition of our country! We very much stand in need of a recruit of such men as Washington and Old Man Eloquent and the lamented Taylor. We have many truly virtuous men. Whatever may be the position you may fill in life, give all your influence in favor of virtue and sound morality. Ever let it be known that you are sworn enemies to vice and intrigue. Could the young men of America but see the great conflict that is awaiting them in the future, they no doubt would be arming themselves with the invincible weapons of virtue and manfully meet the growing enemies of American freedom. In conclusion, let me say: Be men in mind, men in virtue, and men in every condition—more, be God-fearing men.

Hon. Mr. James McIntosh, my much respected friend, as the representative of this respectable body I have been chosen to welcome you back to your Alma Mater and the scenes rendered dear to you, we doubt not, in other years. We are not entirely ignorant of the feelings that would naturally be awakened in the heart of one who has been absent for a time, and then permitted to renew the old associations of college life by meeting with classmates, fellow-students, and instructors. It would be impossible for me to describe even partially the feelings that are now at work in the hearts of many here, but they may be read in the index of the heart-the countenances of this large audience. The occasion that has called us together is one of great and vital interest to us, and we trust that it will be rife with pleasure and benefit to you. We think in our choice of a man to address us at this time we have been governed strictly by our motto, "Meritum dignitatis noster regula erit." As Philisonians then we welcome you back, as students we welcome you back, and we hesitate not to say that the board of instructors and the citizens of Greencastle who knew you when here also welcome you back, so that you are four times welcome!

THE MISSION OF AMERICA.

July Oration, 1852, delivered before the students of the Indiana Asbury University.

THOUGH America is a theme upon which so many have written, still it presents an unfailing source of matter for the orator and an inexhaustible fund of material for the poet. Tell me not that the subject is hackneyed and wanting in interest because so many have written and spoken upon it. Better tell me that the ocean is likely to be exhausted of its unfathomable treasure of water by the finny tribe that sport in it, than to say that the home of Liberty contains nothing to interest its occupants, because it has been so often eulogized by those who love her with an endearing and unalloyed affection. Had you a tried bosom friend, would you esteem him less for no other reason than that he had been so highly applauded by his admirers? Surely not. Surely not. As has been said of the fabled Hydra that had a hundred heads and as soon as one was cut off there came two in the place thereof, so it is with our beloved land, the more that is said and written about it, if true, only heightens it in the estimation of all true Americans and multiplies material for its future glorification.

We shall accomplish all that we desire or are able to effect on this occasion, if we can but present this subject in an intelligible light to your understandings, and impress your minds with the great truth that you all are or very soon shall be actors in the most important mission that was ever entrusted to any nation or people. "A mission for America!" exclaims one. Yes, a mission imposed upon her not by men only, but by the Ruler and Controller of the affairs of men! To be sure, we claim for it no direct or positive revelation specifying in so many words that the Republic of America is to accomplish this certain work for the rest of the world; but we claim that it is scarcely less evident that such a demand is made of her by Heaven than if it had been given by direct revelation. If we will but admit "that there is a Divinity that shapes

our ends"-and we are bold to affirm that the doctrine of an overruling Providence has always been maintained by this Nation-we will surely be at no loss to trace out and develop this fact in our short but eventful history! Who is there so atheistic in his views that after he has once thoroughly examined the history of this country but can trace the footprints of Deity hard by in our advance to our present prosperity and elevation in the scale of nations? Behold yon vessel freighted with the germs of Freedom, mounting the angry billows of the Atlantic with her prow towards the recently discovered continent, there to transplant what for so many centuries in the Old World had been smothered by the weeds of despotism and anarchy. Providence granted the Pilgrim Fathers a safe voyage across the mighty deep, and finally moored them safely by Plymouth's Rock, where they did not forget to bow their knees and offer up the deepest gratitude of overburdened hearts for His protection and care, thus clearly showing that they were not on an errand of selfaggrandizement, but that God had brought them hither. Those seeds of liberty watered by their tears and hallowed by their prayers grew with unparalleled rapidity and symmetry. Here under the shade of Freedom's Banian they worshiped God according to the dictates of conscience, where no despot dared bound their religious privileges. But the oppressive parent, not willing that they should enjoy these blessings long unmolested, soon imposed her tyrannical laws upon them as when they were under her immediate watchcare. But the thirst for freedom already awakened in their bosoms was not to be extinguished by the combined efforts of the Mother Country. To the wilds of America they had come to enjoy liberty of conscience, of thought, and of speech, and they were not to be thwarted or driven from their object. No doubt they felt the full force of a sentiment uttered by a master Spirit of the Revolution, "Give me Liberty or give me death!" Death will ever be preferable to tyranny, when once the principles of freedom have been deeply seated in the mind. They had indeed from an Omnipotent Source an assurance

of final success in the glorious cause they had espoused, which nerved them for the fearful contest that was shortly to ensue. They had a just cause and a just God to vindicate that cause. Was it not this firm reliance on the protection of Heaven that inspired the Congressmen of '76 to give to the world that instrument that has been the wonder of men and a terror to tyrants? Is it strange that we should so venerate those men who gave to us that immortal instrument? Will ever truer-hearted men grace the Congress of these Confederate States than those of '76; or a nobler object call them together than that for which they were convened? But who were they? A Franklin was there, an Adams, and a Sherman! We may not now name them all! But a greater than these was there the Divine Presence pervaded that memorable assembly in an unusual manner, while their ardent prayers were ascending to the God of nations for direction in the important and momentous deliberations of that eventful day and period! Enter with me to-day-for this is the day on which the event transpired-enter, I say, with me in your imaginations into that old Congress Hall in the City of Brotherly Love and witness the scene that there transpired! Mark those dignified yet unassuming men as they step forward one after another, conscious of the rectitude of their conduct and the justice of the act they are about to perform, and with a steady hand pen down their names in bold characters, signifying thereby "that their fortunes and their sacred honors were pledged to support the Declaration!" Can you not see depicted in their countenances all that an illustrious son of one of those signers has said in his "supposed speech" concerning that much admired document, "Sink or swim, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration!" Did those men shrink from the attitude in which they had placed themselves to the Mother Country? No! they stood like colossal pillars sustaining the capacious cathedral of Liberty they had reared as a refuge to the oppressed and downtrodden of every land. This glorious achievement has roused the British Lion from his lair! Hark! the report

of distant cannon warns them of the approach of an exasperated enemy! The tread of a foreign foe is shaking the new continent! The gallant and fearless Colonists prepare to meet them! There seems to be a fearful odds against the little phalanx, but the Gideon of America fears not the Scarlet Coats, saying to this little band, "The battle is not to the strong," but to those fighting in freedom's holy cause. When we consider their numbers and inexperience in the art of war, how are we to account for the unexampled success of the American arms? They certainly had as many impediments to overcome as their antagonists; nay, had they not more? Would you know the secret of their success? Come here. See you that man kneeling at the foot of yon monarch oak with eyes and hands raised towards heaven, supplicating the God of battles that victory might perch upon the standard of the infant Colonies? Can you not draw an argument from this scene convincing and satisfactory why they came off triumphant? When the old Quaker witnessed this strange and heart-thrilling act of the American general, he had no hesitancy in avowing his belief that Columbia's honored sons would surely be the victors, assigning as his reason that George was consulting the Divine Being upon the momentous question. Well did that great and good man know where his strength lay-in the arm of the Omnipotent! What would have been the fate of that handful of men had there not been praying, God-fearing men among them who daily invoked Heaven's guidance in their struggles for liberty? Thus it has been in every conflict our country has had with the British Lion; though greatly inferior to her antagonist, she has ever come off triumphant! Such doubtless will ever be the case, so long as our cause is that of justice and freedom.

We have taken this cursory view of our early history to establish our previous position, that this Nation has been raised up by a gracious Providence for a high and noble purpose. What that purpose was will claim our attention for a short time. First, we remark that it was reserved for this people to solve the long-attempted prob