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men and patriots ! A young and noble generation 

 stands ready to receive from you, the trusts of the 

 past age. 



And you, gentlemen of the Society, by whose com- 

 mand I speak, you, who, at the portals of a new age, 

 curb a generous ambition, and anxiously view the 

 ground of conte&t before you, — Do not your hearts 

 burn at the thought, that you stand one step nigher the 

 future than ourselves? Think of that noble condition 

 which awaits j^ou, when morals and mind shall receive 

 new impulses in your time ; when science shall be pro- 

 moted, the arts advanced, philosophy expanded, and 

 human nature exalted. What part each of you is to 

 act in the scene, may be of great moment to the world. 

 Providence may be reserving you for stations further 

 in advance of this age, than a generation may expect. 

 To each of you nature gives a duty to be performed 

 in the vast business of creation. Then press onward. 

 You cannot stand still. You must either advance or 

 recede, grow wiser and better, or more ignorant and 

 vicious. Exert every nerve to know your part, and 

 then perform it. Be neither ashamed of its humility, 

 nor fearful of its responsibility. Some may get be- 

 fore you — some may reach loftier eminences; but will 

 you in mean jealousy and care-worn envy, retire from 

 the contest of life, and fail in your part? If one is high- 

 er in station, is he not still useful to society 1 Does he 

 not add to that stock of knowledge and morals which 

 blesses you in your generation 1 Reason, gentlemen, 

 as well as the rights of men, alike reject the idea of 

 personal distinction resting on gifts of fortune ; but if 

 allowed so to express the thought, there must be an 

 aristocracy of mind, there will be a nobility of morals, 



