What more? I touch not holier strings, A loftier strain to win; Nor glance at prophets, priests and kings, As friend with friend, and man with man, Be Jonathan's to us! III. THE MEN TO MAKE A STATE: THEIR MAKING AND THEIR MARKS. THE THIRD FOURTH OF JULY ORATION AT BURLINGTON COLLEGE. It is only God, who sees, and can declare, "the end, from the beginning." With Him, the end is in the beginning: not as the oak is in the acorn; but, in its full growth, with all its foliage, and with all its fruits. Shakspeare, that greatest master of humanity, as true in logic, as he is sublime in poetry, has well expressed the nearest that man comes, in this respect, to God; as made with "large discourse, looking before, and after." With God, there is no "after," as there can be no "before." His Past, His Future, is all Present. His name, "I AM." It is from this aspect of the divine omnipresence, His presence, through all time, as well as in every place-if we may say so, His ubiquitous eternity-that faith derives its confidence, and enterprise its courage. Man is of a day. He plants the acorn; but can hardly *A. D. 1849. Dedicated to "Major-General Winfield Scott, General-in-Chief; a model of the men to make a state." hope to sit under the shadow of the oak. He lays the corner-stone; but does not look to see the crowning of the battlement. He nourishes the infant; but counts not upon the comfort of the man. He sows, in hope. Some one, he knows, will reap. He plants, in hope. Some one, he knows, will pluck the fruit. By a beautiful provision-to overcome, to faithful hearts, the curse, that came in with the fall-mortality is thus immortalized. A race, which perishes, is made perpetual. Humanity achieves eternity. Homer felt it, when, to his sightless orbs, were given "the vision and the fac ulty divine," which, for three thousand years, have been the spell of universal man. Milton owned it, in that modest hope, that he might yet do something, which the world would not willingly let die. And that old martyr wrote it in the fire, when, to his brother Bishop, he said, "Play the man; and we shall light, to-day, a candle, in England, which shall never be put out!" Neighbours and friends, if there be, anywhere, preeminent encouragement for this presentiment of perpetuity, it is here, and in such places as this is. The seed, whose life is in these furrows, is the seed of men. The harvest, that we hope to ripen, is of hearts. Schools are the seed-plots of the State. An hundred years ago, and they, who made this day immortal, were, as these are now. In less than half the years, that have rolled by, since 'seventy-six, these, and their fellows, in the Colleges, which star the land, will sway the State. We link ourselves, through them, with all the future; as they link themselves, through us, with all the past. It is a chain of hearts; and his will bear the recreant's curse, who fails the sacred trust. The men, who are to mould the nation, must be moulded here. These are the orators, the statesmen, the priests, the patriots, the heroes, of the coming age. Through them, that age will take its mark, from us. Their principles, their habits, their characters, will tell, through all the centuries to come, in surges, that will roll and swell, forward and onward, till the dreadful day of doom. Can we do better, on the festival, which consecrates the memory of the Fathers of the State, than to consider, how we best shall serve it, in the training of its sons? What can be fitter for this, our third, anniversary, than the contemplation of its sacred trust, towards the commonwealth, which shelters it, in its broad shadow? The men, to make a State; the making, and the marks, of men, to make a State, will be appropriate themes, today. The men, to make a State, must be intelligent men. I do not mean, that they must know that two and two make four; or, that six per cent., a year, is half per cent., a month. I take a wider and a higher range. I limit myself to no mere utilitarian intelligence. This has its place. And this will come, almost unsought. The contact of the rough and rugged world will force men to it, in self-defence. The lust of worldly gain will drag men to it, for self-aggrandizement. But men, so made, will never make a State. The intelligence, which that demands, will take a wider and a higher range. Its study will be man. It will make history its hearts. It will know Who else can govern cheap experience. It will read men. It will, first, know itself. men? Who else can know the men, to govern men? The right of suffrage is a fearful thing. It calls for wisdom, and discretion, and intelligence, of no ordinary standard. It takes in, at every exercise, the interests of all the nation. Its results reach forward, through time, into eternity. Its discharge must be accounted for, among the dread responsibilities of the great day of judgment. Who will go to it, blindly? Who will go to it, passionately? Who will go to it, as a sychophant, a tool, a slave? How many do! These are not men, to make a State. The men, to make a State, must be honest men. I do not mean, men that would never steal. I do not mean, men that would scorn to cheat, in making change. I mean men, with a single face. I mean men, with a single eye. I mean men, with a single tongue. I mean men, that consider, always, what is right; and do it, at whatever cost. I mean men, who can dine, like Andrew Marvel, on a neck of mutton; and whom, therefore, no king on earth can buy. Men, that are in the market, for the highest bidder; men, that make politics their trade, and look to office for a living; men, that will crawl, where they cannot climb: these are not men to make a State. The men, to make a State, must be brave men. I do not mean the men, that pick a quarrel. I do not mean the men, that carry dirks. I do not mean the men, that call themselves hard names; as Bouncers, Killers, and |