tale of freedom won and of freedom lost. Nations have grown up in strength-have flourished, and have passed away. The mighty ones of the earth have long since gone down to their graves and are forgotten. The tide of time has rolled, in its resistless course, over empires and states, leaving no traces of their former renown, but broken pillars and fragments innumerable. In knowledge of these facts, we, who are now actors on the stage of life, turn to our colleges and universities as to the arks in which the great covenant of freedom is deposited. There, history opens her volumes, in which are recorded the causes which have led to national greatness, and in which are traced out, as with a pencil of light, the causes of their final overthrow. There, religion and philosophy preside over the physical and moral world. There, are taught those great principles on which government should properly rest; and there, the youthful mind is early imbued with a love of liberty, and an abhorrence of tyranny. Our own system of madness of the passions? that refuge is to be found in the christian doctrine; in the charity which it teaches, in the love which it inculcates. The Bible is the great moral code, whose lessons address themselves with resistless power to the heart and to the understanding. Where, amongst the boasted philosophy of the schools, shall we look for any thing to compare with its pure and divine instructions? What lamp, lighted up by all their proud wisdom, shines with so brilliant and yet so mild a lustre along the pathway of life? What so elevates the soul to a sublime conception of the attributes of the Deity? In striving to attain perfection, where shall we look for an exemplar but to the meek and lowly Nazarene? Let the champions of infidelity, in their infuriate zeal, declaim as they may. Until they shall have furnished to the world something better than in their idle ravings they have yet done, they and their works will go down in darkness to the same grave. They have striven in vain to shake the edifice of christian faith; but its foundations are laid deep in the af-government, apparently complex, is explained in all its fections, and their assaults have ended only in their own destruction. The banner of infidelity has been struck down to the dust, while the cross has been set in the all-glorious heavens. parts. A political orrery is developed, which shows how the state and federal governments, like the sun and the planets, may each revolve in its separate orbit, and may roll on forever, without danger of collision-if Under the influence of these convictions, gentlemen, the people be wise and their rulers honest. Who, then, you are destined to enter upon the theatre of life. You can feel other than a lively interest in the prosperity of will do so at an eventful period in the history of man. each, and all of our literary institutions? Who, worthy The gloom of the Gothic ages has long since passed to be a legislator, could for a moment hesitate to inaway, and intellect has gradually awakened its energies. crease their pecuniary endowments, where necessary Science has now lighted up all her lamps, and at her al- to extend their usefulness? And actuated, as they are, tars are found innumerable votaries. Nature, so long by the same motives, and impelled by the same high veiled in mystery, exhibits herself in all her beautiful considerations, how unworthy would they be of their proportions to the enraptured gaze. The chemist is at exalted calling, if the base spirit of envy or jealousy work in his laboratory, and the philosopher in his clo- could find admittance within their halls. I come to deset: a flood of light has burst upon the world-and clare to you, masters and professors of Randolph-Mathings heretofore hid from the observation of man, are con, that if such spirit has obtained entrance into other now laid open to his view. The long and intricate halls, it has no abiding place within those of the venerachain of cause and effect, is in the process of exposure. ble college of William and Mary. It is known to you Mind is most powerfully at work, and no where is it that I hold a seat at her visitorial board, and I have more actively engaged than in this our father-land. full authority, therefore, to declare that she witnesses What heart can fail to beat with delight at contempla- your prosperity with pleasure, and hails you as an ting the mighty results which are transpiring around ally in the cause of literature, of science, and of freedom. us? Improvement meets us in all our walks. The me You both fight under the same banner-the banner of chanical arts are ceaselessly engaged in moulding exis- truth and of justice. You war upon the same common tences into new forms and new shapes, and the great enemy-error in deed and, error in opinion. Your ocean bears witness to new triumphs achieved by man's trophies are the same-the trophies of religion and phiinventive genius. Time and space are almost annihi-losophy. Your labors terminate alike in the good of lated. The most remote parts of this wide-spread confederacy are brought near to each other, and the dwel- And to you, students of Randolph-Macon, permit ler upon the distant lakes is made familiar with the in- one, who, like yourselves, has been the inmate of kinhabitant of the sea shore. Much, however, remains to dred halls to those which you have frequented, to extend be done, and a wide field has yet to be explored. A to you the right hand of friendship, and to express to country most highly favored by heaven, with every di- you a few more parting remarks. The race of true versity of soil and climate, will demand your aid. The glory lies before you. A close and diligent application generation which has passed, and the generation which to your studies, and a ready obedience to the advice of is passing, will commit to the hands of those who are your instructors, will best prepare you to run it sucto succeed, the task of improving, adorning and pre- cessfully. Like the racers at the Olympic games, you serving. To you, in common with others, will also be will keep the goal of honor evermore in view, and entrusted the task of fortifying and protecting civil strain every sinew in order to win the prize. In after liberty against the attacks which may be made upon it. life many of you will meet together in legislative halls. This is a task of fearful difficulty, and will require vigi- Then will be revived the recollections of your college lance the most unceasing. The spirit of change is ever life, and under the influence of the lessons which you active. There is a restlessness in the affairs of men, will have there received, the only rivalry amongst you which hurries on with equally rapid pace, from evil to will be an emulation in the great cause of your country's good, and from good to evil. The past tells us many al happiness. To that country, in every calling of life, your country and of man. your usefulness may be manifested. At the council "Honor and shame from no condition rise, I would address a few words to those of the other sex, who have honored us with their presence on this occasion. Upon woman rests much of the destiny of the human race. She is the flower planted in the wilderness of life to adorn and beautify it. We love the gay, and the bright, and the beautiful; and in the morning of our lives we are ready to admit, that in the olden time," the angels in heaven fell in love with the daughters of men." But youth is the period of romance Philosophy is the companion of more advanced ageand regarding her in its calm light, what on earth can be more interesting than the mother? How many recollections and ideas crowd upon the mind at the repetition of that single word-our mother! She who has nurtured us in infancy; watched over our cradles; taught us to raise our little hands in prayer; followed us in our infantile rambles, and reared us to manhood, in the love and practice of virtue-such a mother is of priceless value. No loud-toned trumpet sounds forth her praise. She drags at her chariot wheels no miserable captives made in war; but her path is strewed with flowers, and the virtues attend upon her footsteps. An elysium reigns around her, and countless blessings are her's. God will bless her, and man adores her. Your duty to your country, no matter what may be your ultimate destiny, will remain the same. You will keep your eyes steadily fixed upon her institutions, and will be prepared to stand by them in weal and wo. You will remember that free governments have been more frequently overthrown by fraud than force. You will therefore stand ready to make a bold sally from the citadel of liberty, the moment the sappers and miners have pitched their encampment before it. You will drive them off before they have had time to throw up an entrenchment behind which to shelter themselves. In all the agitations and convulsions of party, to which popular governments are particularly exposed, there will still be a post of absolute safety—it is to stand by the constitution. There is no other post of safety. The party of to-day may not be the party of to-morrow. The political idols which men set up and worship at one moment, may in the next be overthrown and trampled in the dust. Let, then, those who may have the folly to do so, fall down before the car of Juggernaut and be crushed; but you will not follow their example. You will still rally in support of the constitution; and, when the storm is at the highest, you will cling to its pillars—and, if needs be, will esteem it glorious to per- ON A YOUNG LADY'S SAYING SHE WAS IN LOVE ish amid its ruins. It may be your fate to be denounced by those who would betray the public liberty. DRAMATIC EPIGRAMS. I. WITH THE DRAMA. Heed not their denunciations. You may be persecuted Shakspeare has said that "All the world's a stage;"— even unto exile. Summon to your aid that moral With pretty Bess the play's so much the rage, courage which will enable you to achieve a victory So wholly claims her heart, one may infer more full of renown than ever conqueror won—a tri-That this same "stage" is "all the world" to her! umph over the weakness of human nature and over the temptations which most easily beset us. You will thus entitle yourselves to the respect even of your enemies; and when success shall once more perch on your country's standard, and the ravens be frightened from their prey, you will have a reward richer than crowned ON MANAGER WARD'S ANNOUNCING THAT HE MUST monarch can confer-the approval of your own unsullied consciences. Many of you are about to separate yourselves from those scenes which have been so long familiar to you. You will bid a long adieu to those friends who have been associated with you in your studies, and partaken in all your amusements. You will bid your kind instructors an affectionate farewell. In after-life the scenes through which you have passed will often gather around you. Memory, will recall the past, and the light of other days will break in upon your dreams. Ofttimes, like the young eaglet who has left the nest in which it has been nurtured, you will wish to recall the days of your youth, and to revisit these halls. The star of your destiny may be hid by dark and gloomy clouds, or your argosy of life, freighted with all your hopes, may be tossed on angry waves, which threaten to devour it. Remember then the instructions of your youth, and resting on the consciousness of a life well-spent in the practice of virtue, you may bare your bosoms to the fury of the storm, and stand erect before God and man. II. CHANGE HIS THEATRE INTO A CIRCUS. Manager loquitur : When wit is lowest, and its powers are spent, Are gallery loafers, with their voice potential,- By W. S. W. Ruschenberger, Surgeon U. S. Navy; author of "Three Years in the Pacific." Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, Philadelphia. This voyage was made in the United States' ship Peacock, the second man-of-war, that under the "stars and stripes,” has performed a voyage of circumnavigation from west to east. One object of the cruise was to exchange on the part of the United States, ratified treaties of commerce and navigation with the Sultan of Muscat, and with his Magnificent Highness, the King | of Siam; thus opening new channels of commerce between the old and new worlds, and preparing the way for American enterprise. A consul has since been appointed to Muscat, who is now on his way there, with the view of establishing in the dominions of His Highness, the Sultan, the first American factory, which is to be connected with a respectable mercantile house in New York. Besides the Persian Gulf and the coast of Arabia, this treaty with the Sultan has opened to the commerce of the United States a line of coast reaching south in Eastern Africa from the straits of Babelmandel to Cape Delgado; the latitudinal limits of which exceed in extent, by several degrees, the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. But whether the commercial edifices, which American citizens may raise in this country, are to be built in the sand, or on a rock, experiment will soon decide. The principal exports from the dominions of Syeed Syed bin Sultan, and which might find a market in the United States, are, Mocha coffee, wheat, raisins, drugs, horses, ivory, tortoise shell, ox and rhinoceros' horns and hides, gum copal, rice, cocoa-nut oil, and bees wax. While the necessities or fancies of his subjects create a demand for cotton and woollen goods, and many "Yankee notions." A thrifty, trading people are the Yankees; (for when abroad, the southern, the eastern, and the western man are alike proud of this patronymic.) We, ourselves, have "put a girdle round about the earth," and we have never sailed on any sea, nor visited any people, whether savage or civilized, where was not to be found some enterprising, trading son of brother Jonathan's, with his ships, his schemes, or his notions. When a Russian navigator was congratulating himself with the discovery of the South Shetlands, a Yankee was there to pilot him into port. While John Bull was boasting of the honor of the first discovery of the same islands, brother Jonathan was there laying out the seal in lots, to kill, flipper, and skin. ticipated luxury of a visit to the island and cave, as solitary and as lonely as they were when Robinson Crusoe left them. Our vessel came to her anchor, and the spell was broken; for no sooner were we brought to, than appeared along side of us a long-legged, barefooted "Tom Coffin" of a Yankee, who introduced himself as the lieutenant-governor of the island, and said he had come on board with the compliments of the governor, to offer us the civilities of the place, and codfish to buy. These two functionaries were sons of New England; they had landed in a whale boat a short time before, with a crew of six Sandwich Islanders, and taken possession of the island in the name of the United States. It is this ready spirit of adventure, and quick perception of expedients, that have made us the commercial nation we are. From the Arctic to the Antarctic circle, every breeze that blows upon the water, is a fair wind to American ships. They are found in all seas; and wherever the man-of-war goes, she finds herself always within the limits of American commerce, and within the sphere of usefulness to American citizens. The Peacock has performed an important service, though in the early part of the cruise she came well nigh being wrecked near the Isle of Mazeira. In the event of shipwreck there, the officers and crew would have been massacred, or made slaves of by the Bedouin Arabs, who were hovering around the ship in their daus. "About twenty minutes past two o'clock, on the morning of the 21st," says Dr. Ruschenberger, “all hands, except the watch on deck, were roused from sleep, by a horrid noise, caused by the ship's bottom grinding and tearing and tossing on a bed of coral rocks. When she struck, the ship was sailing at the rate of seven and a half miles the hour, and her progression was not suddenly and fully arrested, but she ran on for some minutes after the helm had been put up. When I reached the deck, it was starlight, the breeze was fresh, and neither land nor breakers could any where be seen; the wind had been brought on the starboard side, and the sails, no longer opposed to it by their surface, were fitfully flapping and slashing as the wind swept past them. The ship rolled with an uncertain wavering motion, grinding and tearing the coral as her sides alternately came against it. The uncertainty of our situation, threatened as we were with destructionthe crashing of coral-the darkness of the night-the wallop, wallop of the sails-the fast succeeding orders of the officer of the watch, and the piping of the boatswain and his mates, produced an impression not easily described nor forgotten. There was an appearance of confusion; but every thing went on with as much regard to rule as if the catastrophe had been anticipated. Every one asked, 'Where are we?' but no one knew, nor was it easy to explain, at this time, by what means we had got on shore. We once made a visit to Robinson Crusoe's island, and not expecting any one there our "right to dispute," we had drawn largely on our juvenile favorite for re- "The first gleam of day discovered a low sandy miniscences, and from the adventures of the skin-clad desert, about three miles to the eastward of us. The bucaneer and his man Friday, we had conjured up a water was in spots of a bright green, from its shallowfeeling of romance, to which the sight of herds of wildness, but dark where it was deeper. The work of goats, clambering over the precipices, gave a zest. And lightening the ship was continued. A raft was constructthe sea bird heightened it as she flew from her nest, ed of spare spars, and several ton of shot were thrown screeched and sent an echo from the cliffs. Fancy overboard. took wing-and we were already indulging in the an "About 10, A. M. a large canoe, manned by four men, approached the ship. We sent an unarmed boat towards her, with an indifferent interpreter. When near enough, he hailed the Arab, who manifested strong repugnance to communication. While our boat pulled rapidly towards him, his wild companions stood up, and we could see their broadswords flashing in the sun, as they flourished them over their heads, in a manner not to be misunderstood; our boat, therefore, returned, without opening any amicable intercourse, and the canoe anchored close to the shore. "Later in the day, an officer was sent towards the beach to ascertain the state of the tide. Immediately on perceiving our boat near the shore, an Arab sprang from the canoe, and ran along the sand, brandishing his sword, intimating that he would offer opposition to the landing. "About one o'clock, P. M. four large canoes were seen approaching from the northward. They joined company with the one above mentioned, and then they all anchored close to the ship, now very much careened from the falling of the tide. In this fleet, besides several negro rowers, we counted twenty-nine fighting men, each one wearing a 'khunger' in his girdle, and there were spears and broadswords and matchlocks enough in sight to fill their hands. "After anchoring, several persons left the canoes in which they had come and assembled on board another, which was paddled near the ship. A tall old man, with a white beard, stood up, and throwing up his naked arms, and nodding his head, hailed us; from his gesture, we gathered that he demanded to know whether we would cut his throat, if he should come on board. After a few minutes consultation, they came along side, and two of them climbed on deck. * and as the surest means of obtaining relief, the second cutter was equipped with a crew of six picked men, and despatched early the next morning to Muscat. * * "On Tuesday morning, the 22d, soon after the departure of the second cutter, the work of lightening was continued, and we saw, with feelings of regret, onehalf of our guns cast into the sea. "The upper spars and sails were sent down from aloft, and on renewing our efforts to heave, at the top of the tide, we discovered with pleasure, that the ship moved. This infused new life into all hands. The men broke forth in a song and chorus, to which they kept time, as they moved round the capstan, or hauled the hawser in by hand. * * And at 3 o'clock, P. M. we anchored in three and a half fathoms water." His highness, the Sultan of Muscat, with much promptness and great liberality, despatched a frigate and squadron of daus to the Peacock's relief. He proffered a sloop of war to bring the officers and crew of the Peacock home, in case she should be lost; and offered to send the United States' special diplomatic agent, Mr. Roberts, on his mission in one of his highness' own frigates. And after the ship had been docked at Bombay, she received her lost guns, which the Imaum had had weighed with much trouble, and sent at his own expense. True, as our author apprises his readers before setting out, 'No vamos a bodas, sino a rodear el mundo? But though not bound in search of pleasure or adventure, he has entertained his readers with a very interesting narrative of incidents and facts. Every thing he sees and learns is told off hand, and in a way that at once turns the reader into a companion; and makes him feel that it is a feast he is at, which his 'patrón' only went round the world to cater for. And in this he has spared neither pains nor expense; for his work abounds with statistics, agreeable narrative, and just such infor "The elder of the two was very talkative, and had rather a cunning expression of face; while the younger was more taciturn. His figure was slight, but every one, in strong terms, expressed admiration of his beauty.mation as the practical man would seek. A thick fell of curling black hair, which reached to the shoulders, keen, dark hazle eyes, regular features, smooth, dark skin, white teeth, and above all, the intelligence of his countenance, imparted to the beauty of his face a feminine character; but the jetty mustache and curling black beard stamped him as a young warrior. They inquired how much money we had on board, and said forty more dâus were coming. "In a few minutes they left us. The young warrior removed the 'khunger' from his girdle, and secured it by the folds of his turban to one side of his head, and then lowering himself by a rope down the ship's side, dropped into the sea, and swam gracefully to his canoe, followed by his companion. Soon afterwards they all weighed anchor, and stood away to the southward. We have been puzzled to gather from his book, satisfactory ideas of the Doctor's peculiar sentiments with regard to the business of foreign missionaries, among whom he has been and seen much. Without being warmly in favor, or strongly opposed to their cause, he freely expresses his opinion of whatever passes under his own observation; which, however honestly intended, will nevertheless induce the missionaries themselves to consider his VOYAGE ROUNd the world less the work of a friend than of a foe. "I have long entertained the opinion," says the Doctor, "that the little success attending the missionary labors in general, is owing to the demonstration of too much religious zeal on their part, without any attempt to show the worldly advantages attending on a full belief in christian doctrines. Greater success might be anticipated, if the minds of the misbelievers were first prepared by instruction in general knowledge, before attempting to convince them of the religious errors in which they live. We are not aware of more than three or four distinguished instances of conversion to christianity, effected by missionaries, where the individuals have been through the remainder of their lives, intrinsically pious." * p. 126. "Our situation was every hour becoming more critical. We were satisfied the Bedouins had not paid us their final visit, but were inclined to believe they would soon appear in greater numbers, to attack the ship; and though we were more than a match for them at this moment, when the ship was on an even keel, and the crew not very much fatigued, in the course of a few days the case would be different; our supply of water was inadequate to our necessities for more than a few days, and incessant labor must soon exhaust the powers The experience of nations has shown, that knowof the crew. ledge, without a code of sound morals, to impose re"The prospect of getting the ship off was dietant; straints, is a fearful thing. Witness the engines of per * secution, which were set up in Spain and elsewhere by in no one instance, have they failed to promote its inthe evil passions of men, who were guided by know-terest, either directly or incidentally. forced with all the vigilance of their men-of-war, have been able to accomplish. Owing to the manner in which native Africans have been operated upon by colonists and missionaries, the slave-trade on the western coast has become a mere shadow of what it was. ledge that was neither tempered with the wholesome Within a few years, the missionary enterprise with precepts of true religion, nor chastened by the moral its sister scheme of colonization, has done more towards influences of early religious education. Wisdom that suppressing the slave trade on the coast of Africa, than is learned before the nature of religious errors is under-the laws of the most powerful nations on the globe, enstood, only sets the passions of the human breast more cunningly to work. It teaches those who have the power, the art of drawing more closely around the people (who in few countries are learned) the chains which bind them to old habits and superstitious notions. One age back, and catholic Europe dispensed knowledge to the world. But the Bible was a sealed book to the people. The church preached example to them, only to set precept at nought, and to grind them the more with persecutions and oppressions. With talents that would grace their country, with affluence, friends, and bright prospects at home, men conceive themselves called to labor in the missionary field. Without a murmur, they forego all considerations of a personal character, and enter upon the work with glad hearts. Nor is there any privation, or hardship, or danger, which they do not unhesitatingly encounter. In the midst of the murderous customs of India, and the idolatrous islands; among the cannibals The enterprise of foreign missions had its origin in the United States among the Congregationalists of New England. The American Board of Foreign Missions was organized, as it now exists, under a charter granted in 1812 by the legislature of Massachusetts. Though of Sumatra; on the burning plains of pestilential Afnot itself an ecclesiastical body, the board of missions has acquired its ecclesiastical relations from the Congregational, Reformed Dutch, and Presbyterian churches, under the joint auspices of which it acts. Besides these, and independent of them, other denominations have also their missionaries. rica; or wherever his duty calls him-we behold in the * spect for individuals, who appeared more in the light of ministering angels of benificence, than that of human beings. When I contrasted their present situation with what it must have been in the United States; and viewed their active and incessant labors in behalf of The missionaries acting under the authority of the American Board, had in 1836 reduced seven languages to letters, made translations, printed, and taught reading and writing in them. They have raised up forty-nine churches, at which 2147 native members (heathen con-pensary, and left with feelings of admiration and reverts) go to worship. They have established 359 schools and seminaries, from which about 13,000 pupils receive instruction. More than 100,000,000 pages have been printed under the auspices of the Board, in twentyfive different languages, which are spoken by nearly 500,000,000 of people.* This shows that the mission-objects more calculated to excite disgust, than call forth ary has neither been idle, nor fruitlessly engaged; for active piety-the risk of health and life they were daily all of it has been done in one-third of a life time, and incurring-I could not help suspecting that they were that too by a feeble band of American citizens, (half acting under the influence of an enthusiastic zeal, tendof which is composed of women,) who, claiming no ing rather to retard than advance their cause. Their reward for their services, and craving no boon but the efforts are too strong, and must defeat themselves: a charity and prayers of their countrymen to sustain more leisurely and cautious manner, for the first few them, have nobly forsaken all the endearing ties of years at least, ought to be pursued. Of the truth of home, and boldly encountered, for the sake of their this opinion they are inclined to be convinced, but say, cause, dangers of the most appalling kind. The ad-How can we thrust away from us the afflicted, who ventures in India of the accomplished Mrs. Judson, of missionary memory, exposed her to sufferings, in which she displayed a courage and devotion that seem more like fictions in the beautiful stories of romance, than sober acts of the staid missionary. Setting aside its high and principal object, no institution is more national in its results, than that in America of foreign missions. And we may add, that no men, under the auspices of any association, deserve more than do the American missionaries, to be considered true patriots. Wherever these men have been,-and they pick out the darkest spots of the earth for their work, they have nourished science and added to our knowledge by their labors. They have gained the respect, and often the confidence and esteem, of those with whom they sojourn. Abroad, they have always presented their nation in a favorable point of view; and *Missionary Herald. hourly petition our relieving charity?" They are aware that their own unacclimated constitutions are incapable of long enduring so much fatigue: they know from experience, that over-zeal has been a rock upon which many bright prospects of the cause have been wrecked: they know that steady perseverance is likely to achieve more in this, as in every thing else, than interrupted efforts, however strong; yet they pursue the impolitic course, unable to repress the ardent desire of doing good, notwithstanding that 'doing good every day* is contrary to the laws of the land. The residence of the missionaries was moved, soon after their arrival, to its present place, by the Siamese authorities, because, as it was asserted, they were too near the residence of his Magnificent Majesty, who once a year passed that way. Be. sides, the missionaries were doing good every day, and thereby obtaining too much merit, which was contrary to law. His Magnificent Majesty himself, not being allowed to 'do good' for more than ten days successively. |