in

otic, beneficent, generous, magnanimous actions; may you crease in knowledge, in virtue; in benevolence to man and in piety to God; till you are prepared for the splendors of immortality; till you are assured "that your names are written in heaven," and can behold them brightening in the margin of Eternity-Actuated with these sentiments, Gentlemen, I now bid you Farewell.

AN

ADDRESS,

DELIVERED TO THE GRADUATES

OF RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE,

AT THE

PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT,

SEPTEMBER 1, 1802.

42

I beg leave to apologize to the public for the appearance of this unfinished performance. The state of my health was such at the time in which I was obliged to compose it, that I was not able to collect and arrange the parts of it as I intended. The earnest solicitation of my former pupils, has compelled me to consent to its publication as it is. If it shall be of any use to them, I shall be satisfied.

J. M.

AN ADDRESS.

In addressing you, Young Gentlemen, on this occasion, I am impelled not by the force of custom only, but by inclination, and a desire for your prosperity. As you have now completed the course of your collegiate education, you are doubtless filled with no small anxiety, as to the business you are to pursue in life. That you make a right choice in this respect, is of the highest consequence to your welfare and happiness. For if you engage in pursuits, to which you are not strongly attached or to which your abilities are not peculiarly fitted you cannot expect to prosper. You ought therefore particularly to consider your natural inclination, your acquirements and talents. To excel in a learned profession, you must not only love it, but you must admire it. You must prefer it with a partiality which borders on enthusiasm. None but voluntary worshippers can obtain a place in the temple of fame.

You have now arrived at a most important period in life; a period in which you must begin to reduce scientific acquirement to practical wisdom. The former is the result of study and attention; the latter of skill in moral adjustment and proportion. By the former, you become learned; and by the latter prudent. Both must unite in the formation of a character great and useful. Study and abstract speculation give the mind a range too uncircumscribed, and a direction too indefinite; and of course, before they can be really useful, must be modelled and limited