USA > Maryland > Frederick County > Emmitsburg > Address delivered before the Philomathian Society, at the annual commencement of Mount Saint Mary's College, Emmittsburg, Frederick County, Md., June 30th, 1852 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
16
John Francis Knight, to W. P. 1h ADDRESS : 4 . Seit 852
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
PHILOMATHIAN SOCIETY,
AT THE
ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT
OF
Anunt Saint Mary's College,
EMMITTSBURG, FREDERICK COUNTY, Md.,
ON JUNE 30, 1852,
BY JOHN F. ENNIS, EsQ.,
OF WASHINGTON, D. C.
BALTIMORE: PRINTED BY HEDIAN & O'BRIEN, 82 BALTIMORE STREET. 1852.
C M 86 SK
Mr. St. Mary's El.
Connis John
١
ADDRESS
1
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
PHILOMATHIAN SOCIETY,
AT THE
ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT
OF
Mount Saint Mary's College,
EMMITTSBURG, FREDERICK COUNTY, Md.,
ON JUNE 30, 1852,
BY JOHN F. ENNIS, EsQ.
BALTIMORE: PRINTED BY HEDIAN & O'BRIEN, 82 BALTIMORE STREET.
1852.
MOUNT ST. MARY'S COLLEGE, June 30th, 1852.
Dear Sir :
The Philomathian Society, impelled by the delight which they ex- perienced in listening to your address, return you their most sincere thanks and solicit a copy for publication.
We remain
Your obedient servants, JNO. F. KNIGHT, S. M. CHATARD, JNO. R. IGLEHART, GEO. S. HEBB, CHS. E. THOMPSON, AUG. J. McCONOMY, J
Committee of Philomathian Society.
JNO. F. ENNIS, EsQ.
Mr. ST. MARY'S COLLEGE, June 30th, 1852.
Gentlemen :
In deference to your wishes, I accepted your kind invitation to ad- dress you. Actuated by the same spirit, I now comply with the request, contained in your note just received, and herewith place at your disposal a copy of my remarks.
With many thanks for your kindness, I remain,
Yours truly, JOHN F. ENNIS.
To MESSRS. JOHN F. KNIGHT AND OTHERS,
Committee, &c.
-
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates
https://archive.org/details/addressdelivered00enni
ADDRESS.
GENTLEMEN OF THE
PHILOMATHIAN SOCIETY :
IN obedience to your call, which, as a Mountaineer, I have not felt at liberty to disobey, I am here, to-day, to discharge the duty assigned me by your kind partiality. While ac- knowledging, with grateful feelings, the honor conferred upon me by the selection, let me transfer to your shoulders the burden and responsibility of the tax, which, through me, you are about to impose upon the patience and attention of our kind friends, here assembled.
It is no unmeaning phrase, I assure you, gentlemen, when I say to you that I enter upon the performance of my task with feelings difficult to be expressed in words. A multi- tude of thoughts now crowd to my mind. The time which has elapsed since I left this hallowed retreat of science and learning, seems almost to be annihilated, so vividly do the recollections of my college days, now rise up before my view. Here were spent four of the happiest years of life, amid friends and companions now
" ___ Scattered like roses in bloom, Some at the bridal and some at the tomb."
Solemn and impressive, indeed, is the lesson which I read in the absence of all those familiar faces, which surrounded me, when I participated, as I had supposed, for the last time in the ceremonies of this day. But the theme is of too mel-
6
ancholy a character to be indulged in amid the festivities of an occasion like the present. There are other changes which meet my eye, and which are worthy of a passing notice. This spacious hall-this magnificent building-now stands forth, the realization of the dreams, which the students of our day were wont to indulge in, with regard to the future of our Alma Mater. The old room, which, during the year, was known as the "Study Room," but, on this day, was styled "Exhibition Hall," now lives in the memory of the past, while those antique desks and benches which it contained, and whereon we were accustomed to pore over the tough passages of Tacitus and Xenophon, are now supplanted by the luxurious furniture which the progress of the times has rendered necessary for the use and convenience of the Moun- taineers of '52.
It were a pleasing task to dwell with you upon these gratifying evidences of the growth and prosperity of our Mountain Home, and to pay the tribute of a Mountaineer's thanks to the worthy Head, under whose administration these improvements have been effected. But the subject which I have selected for our consideration obliges me to forego the grateful task, and to pass on to the notice of changes made, beyond your College walls and in that arena into which you are shortly to enter, to engage in that great battle which will end only with your existence. With the noise and din of the combatants still ringing in my ears, 1 have come to offer whatever assistance my experience will enable me to give, to- wards preparing you for the contest.
Upon the very portals of this arena, will be found em- blazoned in letters-perhaps of brass-the word "Progress," and here, without proceeding further, we may find a subject worthy of our serious attention and consideration.
It would be idle, at this day, to deny that this is an age of Progress, and it would, doubtless, be considered presump- tuous to contest the claim which our country presents to the
7
apellation of a "nation of progress." We have reversed the figures which designated the original number of the States, and from 13, have progressed to 31 free and independent sovereignties. With a territory, extending from the Atlan- tic to the Pacific, and exhaustless in all the rich resources which can add to the wealth or happiness of a nation, we have a population whose rapidly increasing numbers exceed the calculations of Malthus, or the most sanguine of his disciples. Time and distance have been annihilated by the applications of science. "Young as I am," said a dis- tinguished Senator from Illinois, in a speech delivered a few months ago, "I have seen the time when I congratulated myself upon making a very quick trip, if I could go from Washington to my residence in three weeks, and now I la- ment my misfortune if it takes me four days to accomplish the same journey." Boston, through the means of the tele- graph, is in speaking distance of New Orleans, and ere another year rolls around, Washington and San Francisco will be connected by the same magic link. More than this, it has lately been announced through the columns of the press, that the great public will soon have an opportunity of taking an ærial trip from New York to California, and, in the city from which I come, there is now in the course of erection, the machine which, it is said, is to perform this almost miracu- lous journey. So that in a year hence you will be able on one day to inform your friend in San Francisco of your in- tention to visit him, and on the next you will arrive safe and sound, after an ærial passage of a few hours from Washing- ton or New York !
It is no wonder, in view of these mighty triumphs of man's genius and intellect, that our vanity should suggest "nil ad- mirari" for our motto, and that some of the more sanguine of our countrymen, should cherish the hope of being able, at no very distant day, to communicate, by some yet undis- covered means, with " the man in the moon !" Whether,
8
however, this, or some of the other feats to which we have alluded, shall be accomplished, it must certainly be admitted, that science, in its application to the comforts and convenien- ces of life, has been eminently progressive.
With this admission, we turn aside from the beaten track of our festival orators, whose eloquence but too often con- sists of fulsome panegyries upon our country and its institu- tions. Nor will it be considered unpatriotic in dissenting from this wholesale adulation. Philip of Macedon, it is said, ordered one of his attendants to repeat to him daily, " Re- member, Philip, thou art a man." Posterity has approved the wisdom of the Macedonian King, and we may profit by his example. While flushed and elated by our prosperity it may be wise that, now and then, a voice, however humble, should be heard, repeating the sad "Ilium fuit" which serves as the brief epitaph of nations, once as great and as powerful as we are now.
Admitting, then, the advancement of knowledge and science, and the increase of wealth, power and territory, we may first stop to ask, in what consists this progress of religious ideas, which, we are told, so distinguishes the civilization of the nineteenth century ? An important inquiry indeed ! For if it be true, that Christianity is the sheet anchor which is to save us from the fate of the republics of antiquity, who knew not its holy influence, then, indeed, should we be careful in guarding this citadel of our safety from the slightest approach of danger.
The investigation, we fear, will result in the conviction that Christianity -- true Christianity-has paled its light before the advance of civilization. In our own country, infidelity stalks abroad through our land with as much effrontery as it did in the days of Pagan Greece and Rome. An inter- course with the world affords daily evidences of this melan- choly fact. If further proofs be needed, we have but to turn our eyes to the New England States, and see there, with
9
what wonderful rapidity our Northern brethren are falling off from the simple, but austere faith of their Puritan fathers. From Unitarianism-just beyond the borders of Christianity -down to the recent creed established by the "Spiritual Rappers"-all have their believers and followers. As the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle, in the hands of their un- worthy disciples, degenerated into mysticism and pantheism, so has the creed of Christianity been improved and theorized by the advocates of religious progress, into unbelief and in- fidelity. Long ago it was said by one of the Puritan fathers, who foresaw the degeneracy of his decendants, that "if the Devil came visibly amongst many and held out indepen- dency and liberty of conscience, and should teach that there were no devils, no hell, no sin at all, but that these were only men's imaginations-he would be cried up, followed and admired." It is under this plea of "independency and liberty of conscience" that men have run into these wild ex- tremes of error, so startling in their effects upon religion, so- ciety and government. From this source, has grown up that most fearful of all doctrines ever announced in a republican country : I allude to the doctrine promulgated by a distin- guished Senator of the United States, and known as " the higher law." The one is the natural offspring of the other. That same process of enlightened reason, which when applied to Religion, leads a man into the mazes of infidelity, guides him with unerring certainty into treason against his country and its constitution. Let us not attribute this fearful state of feeling to the ignorance and prejudices of the people. The flame has been fanned by the teachings of our politico religious preachers, who have ever been the curse and disgrace of this country. They have left their impress upon the blackened walls of the Charlestown Convent, and the demoniac shouts, which greeted the sacred emblem of man's salvation, as it fell amid the burning ruins of the Church of St. Augustine, were but an echo to the incendiary appeals made, for months before, in various pulpits of Philadelphia.
10
Under such influences, we have seen the parricidal blow aimed against the institutions of our country. When the "Compromise," that noble monument of the exalted patriot- ism of those who framed it, was passed by Congress, these men were found in the front ranks of its fiercest opponents. Submitting the law to their own private judgment, they pro- claimed to the people that it was unjust and iniquitous-that "the Fugitive Slave Law was the work of hell, and that there was a law higher than any that could be passed by Con- gress and the Executive." Sedition was openly preached from the pulpit, justified on scriptural grounds, and a blessed immortality was promised to those who died in their traitor- ous efforts to overturn the institutions of their country A response was soon heard from those to whom these abomi- nable doctrines were addressed. Meetings were held, and associations formed, for the purpose of "purifying the churches from all participation in the guilt of slavery," and in laying down their "platform of principles," they say, "the Fugitive Slave Law is a bill of abominations, and its authors, advo- cates and enforcers deserve the severest condemnation, while the act itself, should every where be condemned and exe- crated." With such sentiments, diffused amongst a people, unrestrained by any of the influences of the Christian Re- ligion, can we wonder that the life-blood of the master has flown in his efforts to recover his slave, and that the whole authority of the United States has been called into requi- sition, for the execution of a law thus opposed and thus de- nounced ?
Such are some of the effects of this expansion of human thought, "which the liberalism of the day holds up to our admiration, as proof of the "progress of the age." No greater prostitution of the word could be made. It is progress, but it is progress from Christianity to infidelity. It is a change from the pure patriotism of our forefathers, to the wild anar- chy of the French Republicans, who, under the guidance of
11
"enlightened reason," destroyed religion, morals, and society. I intend, not here, to suggest the remedy for evils so fearful, but it may be well for us to hearken to the warning voice of the "Father of his Country," and to ponder well the sage advice contained in that rich legacy of a patriot's love which European testimony has pronounced, " the greatest produc- tion that ever emanated from uninspired pen." Amongst the paternal admonitions, contained in the Farewell Address of Washington, is one, which tells us, that "religion is one of the most indispensible supports to political prosperity." " In vain," says he, "would that man claim the tribute of patriot- ism, who should labor to subvert these pillars of human hap- piness-these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined edu- cation upon minds of peculiar structure, reason and experi- ence, both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of the principles of religion."
Next to religion, the highest moral institution on earth is that of government ; and, here again, we may well hesitate before yielding our assent to the doctrines and theories which have been developed by the "progress of the age." The locomotive speed, with which our ideas have progressed with- in the past few years, puts to shame the stage-coach pace of the men of the past. It was the fancy of the poet that sug- gested the lines :
"No pent up utica contracts our powers, The whole boundless continent is ours,"
But we have realized the thought, and expanding the the idea of the poet, proclaim :
No pent up "continent" contracts our powers, The whole boundless "universe" is ours !
Satisfied, ourselves, that we are the "greatest people on the face of the earth" we offer the blessings of our republican institutions, as a sovereign cure, for all the evils under which humanity labors. Nothing but a judgment, blinded by na-
12
tional vanity, could suggest so absurd a policy, and nothing but that madness, which, we are told, the gods first inflict upon those whom they wish to destroy, will ever induce us to attempt its enforcement. The boldness, however, with which it is advocated, demands from our hands a passing notice.
Macauley, in one of his political essays, quaintly remarks: "A good government, like a good coat, is that which fits the body for which it is designed." Experience has proved the truth of the observation. In 1790, the French nation tried on the republican coat, and they found it the tightest straight- jacket that ever confined the limbs of a maniac, and so it continued, until the tailor of Corsica fashioned it into an ab- solute monarchy, and the Frenchmen acknowledge the fit, by yielding implicit obedience to his authority. The same experiment was tried upon the Spanish American people, and the scenes of anarchy and confusion which have been enacted there, during the past twenty-five years, tell, with fearful truth, of their unfitness for the institutions under which they live.
But a more comprehensive policy still, will be found in the next chapter of this book of Progress. It has been gravely suggested, that this same republican coat should be tried on the limbs of all the old worn out and effete monarchies of Europe, and political soothsayers were not wanting to pre- dict that the hearts of the "peoples of the continent" were prepared for the change. A mighty convulsion shook Eu- rope to its centre-thrones trembled and monarchs quaked under the indignant frown of suffering humanity, while, from across the ocean, came the glad tidings that the foundation stones of republican liberty had been laid upon the prostrate thrones of departed royalty. France was welcomed with shouts of joy into the family of republics, and our minister was sent abroad, with a kind of roving commission, to exchange congratulations with the next nation that should follow her
13
example. How splendid the promise-how poor the per- formance! Constitutional monarchy has disappeared from the continent, and four millions of the " thinking bayonets " of Europe are now arrayed on the side of absolutism. In France eight millions of freemen voted away their liberty, and with a base and humiliating acknowledgment of their un wor- thiness to enjoy the boon of freedom, which fortune had thrown into their hands, surrendered to one man the power of re-modelling and re-constructiug their form of government. Louis Napoleon has executed the trust with a strong hand, and, under the title of President, wields the power of a des- pot. In the meanwhile, the liberty-loving citizens of France submit quietly, if not cheerfully, to his usurpations, and hail the nephew, as they did the uncle, " the savior of his coun- try!"
What is true of France may be said of each of the other states of the continent. In all of them we find a tame and willing obedience to the despotism, which has grown up from the seed planted by the hands of the reckless leaders, under whose auspices the late revolutionary movement was conducted.
Such is the condition of the people whom we were anx- ious to welcome into the family of republicans. How grand and noble does the wisdom of our forefathers appear when contrasted with the folly of these chemerical pretensions of modern progress ! One lesson, however, we may learn from the failure of republicanism in Europe, and that is, that if the people of those states ever rid themselves of the institu- tions under which they have lived for ages, and which have become part of their social and political existence, it will not be done by the speculative teachings of the men who have undone by their radicalism, the cause of liberty in Eu- rope. These so called " patriots " are omnipotent to de- stroy, but powerless to build up. Carried away by their abstract ideas of "liberty and equality," they found their
14
/
theories of government on fancy, and not upon experience. Such reformers never have, never will succeed. The peo- ple-the masses-must take the lead. As has been justly observed, "one man cannot govern an unwilling nation. When a whole people become fully impressed with the con- viction that free institutions will enure to their happiness- they will become free, and when they come fully to under- stand and appreciate those institutions, they will establish them firmly and make them enduring."
But it has been said, and by high authority, too, that "America has a mission to perform in the development and advancement of human rights throughout the world." This is the text, upon which an eloquent, but ungrateful exile has preached his five hundred sermons for the edification and enlightenment of the statesmen of our country. Stand- ing upon this platform, the cunning Hungarian has made his insidious appeals to Yankee vanity, and while dazzling us by the sublimity of his metaphors, has endeavored to fasten upon the policy of our government, his peculiar doctrine of " Intervention for the sake of Non-Intervention." Coming to our shore, with the prestige not only of an exiled patriot, but also with that of " a good hater" of the Jesuits, it was not surprising that his stirring eloquence found a responsive echo in the breast of those, particularly, who hate the Jesuits as much, or more, than they love their country. While the people everywhere greeted him with tumultuous joy-as fickle as it was noisy-the politico-religious teachers came forth from their retirement, and, with sacrilegious adulation, proclaimed him " the second Saviour." Kossuth's eye, how- ever, was fixed upon the Capitol, where sat those who were to give form and substance to the hollow shouts of the gap- ing multitude. Thither he advanced, with his splendid reti- nue, while behind him were left hotel bills of such enormous lengths, as startled even our progressive ideas of republican simplicity and economy !
15
It was at the seat of government he received the first check to his vain ambition. That Banquo's ghost which had haunted his imagination, from the time he first perused the " Life of Washington," now "seared his eye balls" and blasted his hopes of success. And when, in his interview with our chief Executive, the shade of Washington was in- voked to place the mark of condemnation upon the cherished scheme of his ambition, he might well have exclaimed in lan- guage similar to that addressed by the guilty Macbeth to the spirit of the murdered King: "Thou art too much like the spirit of Washington ; down." Finding, however, that the spirit would not "down at his bidding," he turned away soured and disappointed, muttering his threats of appealing from t' e President to the people.
Kossuth, however, is a man not easily moved from his purpose. There was then in Washington one individual whose approving voice would more than have compensated him for the slights previously received from Congress and the Executive. To him he applied ; and when the noble " sage of Ashland"-whose loss a nation now mourns-with his "dying breath," denounced his policy, the last ray of hope fled from Kossuth's bosom, and since then he has been figliting against despair.
But though the efforts of this political missionary have, in a measure, failed, yet it can neither be denied nor concealed, that his battery of five hundred speeches has made some im- pression upon the citadel of our political faith. The attack has been conducted by a master hand, and by one who had carefully studied the weak points of the enemy, against whom his fire was to be directed With the seductive ton- gue of the serpent in the garden of Eden, he tells us, that we are now " a power on earth," and the meaning of this is, he says, that " we have not only the power to guard our own particular interests, but also to have a vote in the regulation of the common interests of humanity, of which we
16
are an independent member." In response to this insidu- ous appeal, we hear it proclaimed in the Halls of Congress, and from the pulpit, and the stump, that the "progress of our country requires that we should establish a foreign policy," and that " it is time that we should begin to feel an interest in the" decision of the great questions which effect the rights of man throughout the world."
So thought Rome, when, in the day of her pride and prosperity, she claimed a similar right of extending to other nations the privileges of Roman citizenship. Maintaining her arrogant pretensions by the sword, she extended her con- quests far and wide, until Greece and all Italy bent submis- sive to the yoke of her power. But dearly did her "foreign policy" cost her. The Roman soldier, enervated and con- taminated by an intercourse with the vices and luxuries of the nations, whom his valor had subdued, became an easy prey to the tyrants and usurpers, who finally accomplished the ruin of the " once proud mistress of the world."
Impressed, no doubt, by the salutary lesson to be derived from the fate of Rome, the fathers of our republic have warned us of the danger of entangling ourselves by alliances or otherwise with foreign states. The good old chart which , they have laid down for us, was marked out at a time when the most tempting offers were made to engage us in the troubles and difficulties which agitated our brethren across the waters. So far has it guided our ship of state in safety, and the events of the past two years have but confirmed and established its correctness.
We all remember the crusade which was preached in this country "for the redemption and regeneration of the enslaved millions of Europe." England was proposed as our ally in the good work, and a forgiveness of past sins was urged by those in favor of this "holy alliance." The tone of feeling, towards the mother country was gradually changing, and American blarney was substituted for a time for the lan-
17
guage of denunciation and abuse which we were wont to in- dulge in with regard to " the tyrant of '76. Almost beneath the throne of the English Queen, an eminent American statesman was heard exhausting the vocabulary of flattery, in praise of British institutions, and in a wild flight of fancy proclaiming England " the breakwater of despotism in Eu- rope !" Never was compliment paid at greater expense of truth. Where is there an instance, in her whole history, in which England has shown any real or sincere sympathy with man in his struggles for constitutional freedom ? The ex- posures which have recently been made of her continental policy through the letters of the eloquent and gifted Dr. Ca- hill, have laid bare the falsehoods and treachery concealed beneath that. title worn, but never won by her-the friend of constitutional liberty. Was she sincere in the honors which she paid to Kossuth ? No! for while she stood with her arms extended to bind the laurel around his brow, her iron hoof_was resting upon the necks of the Irish patriots, and mingled with the hoarse shouts of welcome, which greeted the arrival of the exiled Hungarian, might be heard, across the channel, the cries and groans of thousands, whom Eng- lish tyranny and English oppression were driving, wander- ing exiles, from the land of their birth.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.