Address delivered before the Philanthropic and Dialectic Societies of the University of North-Carolina, June 3, 1857 / by Henry W. Miller.

  • Miller, Henry W. (Henry Watkins), 1813-1862.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address delivered before the Philanthropic and Dialectic Societies of the University of North-Carolina, June 3, 1857 / by Henry W. Miller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    resources—moral, intellectual and physical—of his county, no subject can bring more of interest and importance than one, which presents to his view the prospects of that coun- try's success and glory, and which warns him, in season, of those dangers that threaten its ruin or disgrace. It is good, at all times, if we desire to learn our duty to the generation in which we live, to recur to the teachings of history. No people cease to provide for the prosperity of their otfspring, so long as they look back with proud interest to the achievements of their ancestors. And it certainly is peculiarly befitting this occasion, in view of the moral and political degeneracy now prevailing, and the ultimate national disasters with which we are threatened, to institute a rigid and fearless enquiry into the character and strength of those tenures by which we hold our social blessings and political rights. He who aims only at pleasing the fancy or grati- fying a taste for novelty, when every energy should be directed to the safety of those most substantial of all bles- sings and valuable of all rights, which society and govern- ment are formed to secure and perpetuate, would not be acting less foolish than the architect who proceeds to add rare and costly decorations to a temple, whose foundations are at the very moment being undermined by causes, which if not counteracted, must ensure its swift demolition! We cannot disguise the fact—it stands out in bold relief before us, and is presented in a variety of forms well calcu- lated to arouse the apprehensions of the most careless—that to rescue those great blessings which we enjoy as a people, from the perils that environ them, there must be called into action the most sleepless vigilance, unceasing energy, and indomitable courage of the wise, the good and patriotic of the land ! To the consideration of this great subject, so important to us and those who are to come after us, I ask your attention ; and I trust we shall all approach it with no partizan feelings or improper sectional prejudices, but under the influence of those high and sacred obligations that rest on us as Chris- tians and patriots.