AN

ADDRESS,

DELIVERED TO THE GRADUATES

OF

RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE,

AT

COMMENCEMENT,

SEPTEMBER 3, 1794.

38

AN ADDRESS.

You, Gentlemen, are now stepping into the great world, where you must soon act for yourselves. The eyes and the hearts of your friends are fixed upon you. Consider, therefore attentively, the difficulties to which you may be exposed; that if they arrive you may surmount them with courage, or bear them with resignation. The passions of youth spread a thousand unreal charms over the objects of sense and the prospects of fancy: Hence we are liable to numberless deceptions. As we behold the world decorated in ornaments, the splendid dress of imagination, we are inconsiderately hurried through a vast field of objects, in pursuit of new pleasures, which serve no other purpose than to fascinate and perplex, to allure and disappoint. Such is the ardency of our passions, such is their tendency to excess, that a reiterated succession of disgust and mortification cannot, but for a short interval, rob the objects of our pursuit of their deceitful charms, and teach us to place our affections on that alone in which true happiness is to be found. Hence appears the necessity of cultivating our reason, and of subjecting our passions to its control. The capacity of improvement forms a principal distinction between man and the

lower orders of animated nature. There is a certain degree of improvement, beyond which the constitution of their nature forbids them to proceed. Their situation is commensurate with their natures. Though the objects about which they are conversant are perishable, yet they are such as fill their capacities, and satiate their desires. But man rises above the present scene of things. Unconfined by the bound of the world, or the the flight of time, his ardent soul rushes down the long range of eternity, rolling over millions of ages, discovering new, but happy scenes of existence. As he possesses nothing here with which he is satisfied, his only happiness in this world consists in the desire and pursuit of higher attainments. His soul can be satisfied with nothing less than a reversion to God, and a complete absorption into his nature. Strive, therefore, to make great and rapid advances in knowledge and virtue, that you may excel men in those things in which men excel the brutes. Conform yourselves to those laws which God has established and revealed in the great kingdoms of Nature and Grace.

Take care of your minds, your passions and your bodies. These constitute that sphere in which God has appointed every one to exercise dominion. If this dominion be invariably supported, it will elevate man to the original glory of his nature; and by restoring that harmony which once subsisted between his internal frame and his external condition, will deluge his soul with an unceasing tide of bliss. Man, it is true, is in a fallen state; but that state is the best possible for the exercise of virtue. If no obstacles were to be removed, no difficulties to be surmounted, no enemies to be conquered; where would be magnanimity? Where would be perseverance? Where courage? If no powers of darkness to be opposed, why dress ourselves in the armour of light? Were we borne through the world on the pinions of an eagle, or did our way lay through a field of roses, heaven would lose half its charms.

If, therefore, you meet with difficulties in the subsequent periods of life, if you find yourselves pressed by the iron hand of adversity, indulge not that pusillanimity which censures because it cannot understand, and complains because it cannot alter the

allotments of infinite wisdom. Repose the highest confidence in the Supreme Being; always believing that wisdom and goodness are concealed under the darkest veils thrown over the designs and events of his providence. Remember, that "all things work together for good to them that love God." Remember, that no length of time, no distance of place, no change of circumstances, can frustrate the purpose of his will, or mar the beauty of his plan. If you are willing to be at his disposal, and to be conformed to his laws, you will find all his perfections mansions of safety and delight. But if you rebel, if you transgress, you arm heaven against yourselves.

Should any of you assume the character of a minister of the gospel, let me advise you to form your faith immediately from the sacred scriptures. Emancipate your souls from the force of prejudice, annihilate all attachments to particular systems, exalt yourselves to a noble independency of thought; and the glories of the gospel will burst upon you in their full effulgence. Suffer men to advise you, but not to think for you. If you consult the works of men for the acquirement and establishment of your religious sentiments, you cannot do justice to yourselves till you have consulted the whole; but before you have accomplished this, you will find yourselves embarrassed amidst ten thousand jarring schemes, and will be as much puzzled to learn divinity here as you would language at Babel. The design of revelation is to unfold to men the true God, acting according to the principles of his nature. This design is brought forward in the sacred pages. The character of the great Supreme is there portrayed with such plainness, that every unbiassed mind must understand; and with such majesty, that every candid heart must feel. An acquaintance with your Creator, by enlivening all the sensibilities of nature, will inconceivably enhance the blessings of life; and by inspiring you with confidence, will produce a firmness and serenity of mind, which neither the adversities of time, nor the flight of ages can destroy.

Let not the peculiarities of your religious faith confine your benevolent affections and exertions within the narrow limits of a party. Neither let a cynical moroseness, nor a fanatical zeal,