Excerpt from Address Delivered Before the Adelphian Society of Greenwood, South Carolina Being constrained to approach the vestibule of the Temple of Science with faltering steps, we would not attempt to conceal the deep emotions of the soul, in essaying to perform the part allotted to us in your annual festival. From a most profound regard for age and experience, we ever feel that youth should keep silence in the presence of superior wisdom. But as every one has a part to act in the grand drama of life, and silver-locked generations pass in quick succession from the stage, leaving in eternal bequest their glorious patrimony of civil and religious liberty; shall it be thought presumptuous, if their sons be found striving to maintain and perpetuate this priceless legacy? Shall it be thought presumptuous, even if I should raise my feeble testimony in behalf of principles, involving the dearest rights of man, and bought with the blood and treasure of an honored ancestry? Certainly not, while there is, a heart to feel, or a soul to love the beautiful, the excellent, and the Divine - certainly not, while there is one drop of freedom's blood coursing the veins of this youthful band, or one glow of maternal beauty upon the fair cheeks of these virgin daughters. Then, to divest myself of all that embarrassment, which self-distrust and inexperience are wont to beget on occasions like the present, permit me to speak without reserve; desiring rather to be profitable, than speculative and beautiful, while I invoke the charity of an indulgent auditory. Standing upon the beetling brow of six thousand years, during a period the most eventful the world ever witnessed, we enjoy opportunities for observation and improvement, which none of our fathers knew. Convulsion succeeds convulsion, and events crowd upon events in such rapid succession, that the styles of the historian can scarcely record them. Philosophers seem wrapped in astonishment, diplomatists confused and restive, and Divines construct theories of prophetic exposition only to behold them vanish like dissolving scenes before increasing light - and amid all this pell-mell confusion, the wise and curious begin anxiously to enquire, "Whereunto shall these things grow?" But not confining their enquiries to the land of the Jew and the fall of the Turk - to the prospective success of Greek corruption, Romish priestcraft, or Protestant purity, they are pushing beyond and asking, What part shall America have in the picture? rather, shall we continue to be at peace and prosper as we have done, in view of the ten thousand elements which are at work, stirring up the deep waters of our pure republicanism? Discarding all pretensions to the wisdom of a philosopher, or the ken of a prophet, I shall not attempt a solution of the problem. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.