Commencement Oration.
June 7th 1860.
That feeling which prompts a man to maintain and preserve his own
good name and that of his friends; which makes him jealous of the best
interests of his country and nerves the soul to encounter danger and trouble
with tranquility and firmness is a ruling principle of action in the life and
character of every good and great man. It raises him above revenge, injustice
and meanness and impels him to the sacrifice of personal ease and safety for
the accomplishment of laudable objects. The most brilliant achievements and the
most perfect models of all that can awaken the admiration or gain the
affections and the gratitude of man which we find recorded in history, are the
manifestations of that delicate sense of honor which constitutes the essential
element of greatness, which first suggests in man something more than animate
nature, a Promethean spark enkindled from Heaven in his soul. While it is not
the growth of experience or of time and cannot be adopted for the sake
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of expediency, it is not confined in its operation
to separate portions of the human family; but wherever the darkness of
perpetual night has been removed from the mind and a single ray of civilization
has entered, in every condition of society where man is one remove from the
beasts that surround him—in a rude and unpolished state of nature, with
the forests for his home through which he roams by day and with only the starry
canopy of heaven above him by night, no less than amid the glorious blessings
of civilized life, do we find that sense of honor which binds him to the Spirit
of the universe and lifts him above all other created beings. In the deep
forests of
America—in
the wilds of the far-distant
Australia—amid the mountain of glaciers of the
north and in the balmy isles of the south—on the plains of
Asia—wherever
society of any sort exists the sentiment of honor he guards with a holy care.
While it often urges men to violence and desperation in return for insults
offered and injuries received, it is supreme for the age and for the time and
is ever the same when tried by the existing standard of virtue. Poverty and
danger, sickness and death—aye more, ten thousand deaths would they
endure rather than a violation of honor. True there are those destitute of this
principle; beings who are scarcely worthy of contempt; who cannot resist the
temptation of a bribe; whose opinions are those of the last person they have
conversed with, and whose
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highest aspiration it is
to reflect the smile of some notable; who speak loudly of the public good that
they may have an opportunity of advancing selfish interests and pronounce the
sacred name of patriotism with treason and cowardice concealed in their hearts,
but these we would not remember nor would we grant that they have any claim to
the high distinction of being called men. And if it should happen that their
names go down to later generations they are mentioned only as a warning against
the crime and the utter ruin attending a sacrifice of honor. Where this
sentiment is an active principle man is raised to an infinitely higher
position, and though he be devoid of wealth and ancestral honors, devoid of
fluent speech and courtly art, stand[ing]
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alone and obscure with nothing but his true heart beating in his noble bosom a
divine impulse inspires him to place so high a value upon it that the gold of
California
and the riches of
Golconda could
not induce him to make a surrender. And if in any period of the history of the
world the stars of resplendent lustre have risen in greater number than in
another it was the development of a high sense of honor and because it was
regarded as a fixed principle of action 'Tis this that gives the steady burning
of the eye of intellect and the fierce flashing of the eye of passion, the love
of youth and manhood's ambition and it forms a bright spot in the character of
man around which the best affections linger and the sweetest memories
gather.
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The good sword of the fearless and
gallant soldier as he mingles in the scenes of the battle-field with death and
carnage around him strikes for the honor of its bearer, and this sentiment
inspires the mariner when defending the flag that floats above him, amid the
fierce assaults of enemies to maintain those rights that are confided to his
keeping and refrain from whatever is base or cowardly. Actuated by this
principle the statesman would see his country endure anything rather than
impeachment of that national honor which constitutes not only her pride, her
strength and security, but the vital spark of her prosperity.
'Twas thus with the men whose names and deeds are dearest to the
American
citizen—with the man of the "calm gray eye" the chosen
instrument of a people's redemption—with the gallant
Warren
—with the partisan
3
soldier from the swamps of
Santee—with the youthful stranger from the
luxuries of his native
France and a host
of
others at the mention of whom we feel proud of our
national character—proud of the splendid examples of heroism presented to
the world, and we must not forget the crowning glory of their dear-won laurels.
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The sentiment of honor was a ruling principle in the lives of these illustrious
men and thus have they recorded their deeds on the hearts of their countrymen
and left to distant posterity names around which gratitude will encircle the
most precious garlands,
"Until the sun shall linger in the cloud
Forgetful of the voice of morning"