Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

31 Ult‘. w unrx • .MnwnMn —t • > iw.’ri*ar*x!afc*ii'i DEMOS i HENEAN SOCIE i Y. The following ORATION was de livered on the i fb injl in the Cba pely to an attentive audience, by Mr. Richard Jones. ‘The Orati * on ivas preceded by a folemn and hnpreffsve prayer from the Rev. >Dr. tirown. Rfpe Tied Fellow - Members , WITH hearts replete whh gratitude, and under the protection of Heaven, we convene this even ing, for the purpofe of again com memorating that propitious epochs which give exiflence to the De moftbenian Society. Never perhaps are the reelirgs of men more pure, or more plcafiig, than when aff n b’ed on an occaiio.i of this nature. The foe:a! affections are unquefti ortably the /ounce of man’s greateft happinefs, and the power of com municating our thoughts to each o ther, and tranlmuting them to puf reiity, ts the principal means by ‘which theje sff'vftior.s have been Expanded & called into action. The faculty of fpeech is one of the moll liberal gifts of H*aven. It is the great milriimenr, (as Dr. Blair ex pire lies liimf if) by which man be comes beaeficial to man, and aim.id the ooiv attribue by which he is diftlng'ffhed, being originally but litrle lupriior to the bru.e. How indifpei lablf th*n vs the duty-, and how vaft the importance to every Inember of fociety, to cultivate the art of fpcerh, and by this rrrans enlarge the f.opeqf the Ibcial pow ers, and facilitate the intercourfe b; tween mind and mind. I was for this my fellow-members, r cwa.i far this noble purpofe our inft.tudoti was originally formed, and w s will dare to indulge the fond hope, that the praife-worthy ceiign will never be frufliated. This fociety has un queftionabiy been conducive to the iv'at improvement in elocution of ail its members; though wr are ne ceflitated to confefs that fame of rhem have not made that profi :ien ty which might have been expect ed. It is well known that in all ages a id in ail countries young m*n are too apr to be regirdie/s vf .their own brm (is, and to nrgleft the manv golden opportunities off.red them tor unpr ovrmen', a circum fiance vre cannot but regard with for row. In this iriftkucion palpable inadvertancc alone can entirely ifn pede the improvement of 1 s mem bers ir. delivering their fimnments on any lot j .6t with rale and ft <cncy, and certainly nothing can be of wore imp irtance, to a literary cha racEr, than to fpcak or write with out hefirarioit. Our Society, my fellow-mem bers, has lorn-times tottered on the brink of and If lution, and there was every probability that this would be the ulTmate rcfulr. It ftill, how ever ex its, and at this moment a b g iter horiz on lies before us.— Wc will yield to our vr fnts for its nrofperity, and rdl confiient that it has palled the threlh Id cf dan ger. Where there ex fts fuel) a fpi nt or emulation as chat which at prefenc reigns among us, eventual fu cm mar always be expedted.—* Had the Collegiate Seminary ft ju riflied, our Society would h ive par taken of its profperity, & not have approached To near as it has done the fatal cataftrophe of an ex incti on. Let us then unite and ule our exertions in order that it may again revive, again b!mm, and yield co us and our fucctiTors its natural and important fruits. l>.e inftitunons of man, like m*n htmiVlf, are fub : & to the infljcncc of fimlbr e- vents. Vo cuefe events thqufands cf them fall vidtims, partly, Trom the nature of the events themfelves, but more from the want of unani mity, order and energy in thofe who cornpofc them. Ect this day, my fellow members, give all of ui new energy. I. ‘t us hail with joy, the return of our flnp.iverfary, and make a determination thsr. the inftitutio.i fhc.ll not fa I—provided our exertions can fupporc it. Which of us chies not fu. i a pride when on looking over the lift of our predeceff >rs, members of this Society, he fi-ids that almoft ai! of them are in fume way or other ufefuily engaged in life. Some of them bent fitting their country, by rearing * virtuous and manly cfF.pring. Several of them already eminent in the three learned profefiions*—and a few even in the legifluive councils of their country—confulting for her prof perity and .guarding her rghts.— Shall we inftarsce m coi.fiiimrion of this the efteemed names of B iy kin, Davis and A kinfon ? Every thing, rnjr fellow ffudents, 1s to be expedted from American genius—untrammelled by precedent —-unfettered by authority—it is prepared to difeover truth with more readinefs, and to purfue it with more psrfeverance. Li this country—under this governmenf— if any where, has A m ghty Provi dence defined chst the greit and imporant volume of nature Ihould be read, explained and commented on. Although fcience feems to have advanced i] >wlv, her march is undjubtcdly pr< g-t fiive, and wc have the pleaßog profpeft before us, that our de'fceodar u. if not our- THvta, will be able to z -r< one for alrn ft a I the phenomena of nature. Tnai future Chymifis will be able to anal ze the mo'ft comp mn 1 bo dies, and to giye a juft idea cf their concomitant parts. That future Pnilofophers wiii be able to unfold the great charts of natural and mo ral Truth—-and future Allrunomers explain the hitherto loexpliable phenomena of the u.iiverfe. Wat in this will not a century ef frd ? I contemplate the profpeft with perul.ar plea lure. I fee fu peiftiuon, that fi-*nd which has heretofore caufed fo much pinefs and mdery,, the brigot rays of Trurn aud* Sciiencc, anu abioiu < ly vamfh’ng penetraung ?< fi .ence.. .Look for moment at the doleful < of Ig norance b uh. or, na ions and indivi duals. In all eounrr.es, and among all nations, where lrteiaiure is not cultivated, the m ft fatal confe qunnees attend their ignorance.-An important expedition is deferred— an act of juftne is p<>ftponed—a battle is put t ff— if it thunders to the right or to the left; if a poor black C row happens to fi t acrofs the hor.zon, or a D g bays the moon. The rrmnants of luperfti tion, at the prefent da'>, are neither fmail nor 1 tnifted. Mare or lefs of it pervades every clafs of fode tv, ad attaches itfeif co all agrs. Hjw often is not tne unimproved mind filled with trie molt dreadful apprehenfionß on the occurrence of any unuiual phenomenon. An r*- nis fatuus, or as it is moft common ly called a Jack o * lantern, is fuf ficient to ftnke their fouls with con firmation. This phenomenon has been a moft fertile fcurce of terror for centuries, and unfortunately it ftdl continue* to be fb with the ig norant. But, rny fellow-members, howdoes all its factitious importance diffipate before the light of chymi cai knowledge. Shall we defeend into an explanation of the pheno- menon in illuftration ofeufremaike’ Chymiftry, then, teaches us, that the me ft combuftible of the gales viz. Hydrogen, is capable of dif foSvftng a portion of another very highly combuftible fubftance, phof phorus, which itfeif undergoes a fl)w combuftion evn at the com mtvn temperature of the atmsl phere. The unifon of thefe takes fire as foon as it meets with the oxy gen of the atmoftphere, and in this ftatc exhibits a blueifh, lambent flirae. See here, my fellow-mem bers, the real nature of a pheno menon, which has been the fcurce of fear, pain—and even ficknefs, to thoufands of (as we arc plea fed to call ourfelves) rational beings. How many a day, how many an hour, has been, from this caufe, fpent in gloomy filence and fearful dependency, which other wife would have been a day, r.n hour, of happi nefs and utility. Enough of this gloomy fubjedfc, ict us turn to contemplate, with m ire pleafure, the delight which every one ftels on an incrc&fe of knowledge, and in becoming ac quainted with the various phenome na of nature. This dehght Ik a proof that man was ma le to exer cife the fatuities which God has gi ven him, and per&verancc only is rrquired to furmount ahnofl every ddicidty, and chat ro enable him to fu.fil the intention of his Creator. But alas ! if he nrglefts this duty, and remains enveloped in the clouds of ignorance, let him attribute to bis own inactivity only, the dark nefs which furrounds him. Noth ing tends to exire this induftry in the purluit o. 1, knowledge among young men, more than ir.ftirutions fimiiar to ours. Ic is acknowledged that fom? of the moft brilliant cha raiters which ha ve appeared in that country from whence we drew our origin, have laid the foundation of their future eminence in polemical focietirs. Eft tutiuns of this kind not only infinite its members in rheto ic, but in the difeufiion of fo many various fubje&3, they obtain more accurate ideas of them. By the exchange of thefe it of ten happens that fomethirg is add ed to the rnafs of knowledge, and even fomething new difeovered, for as the proverb fays, sx colltfitne join - tilla. Some objections have been made to thefe inftituiions, on the fuppefition that eloquence is noth ing more than a fophiftic, or para logical ftiie of reafoning. It is true, fays the wife Dr. Blair, that corrupt orators do lo me times employ their talents to mi (lead people, but when any intereft attracts their attention, when any great danger roufes them, they foon diftinguifti between genu ine and Bond eloquence. In the prefent age people are apt to be influenced by the rhetorical art no further rhan the orator carries w;ih him reafonand good fenfe, the foundation of ail true eloquence. Oratori may fometimes, and no doubt often do, make ufe of fophif try —but let not the abufe of the arc be received as an a:gument a gainft the art itleif. Eloquence may be employed to advantage in the moft profound reafoning, as well as in public declamations-—and Lo gicians when arguing the moft ccn cife points frequently become them felves elc quent. In the hands of a good man it is an inftrument of the greateft importance; he is enabled by it to inftruft and perfuade, De mofthenes, from whom this Socie ty received its name, as well as Ci cero, are proofs of this. The for mer will be ever regarded with ad miration, as affordUig by his ora lory a ffiert i.Tjpr. g.ubfc for the pre/ervation of the Grecia-ff Republics, again ft the arts cf Philip W than all their armies; and. Cicero® who alone can ftand in competitio!® with him, will be equally regarde® as the preferver of the Roman lE® public againft the attempts of Ca.® tal;ne>—but a further detail of th e ;® merits, which are io well known t® you, would be tediouf; fuffiecitj fay, that their names will be perenM nius acre, and their characters ;.(■ Tuna inter min ores fellas. ■ [ /he TOAST'S drank on the eveniuM ef the Celebration, are poftpor.iM for want of room. They /hall pear in cur next ] | “"TT rHENS'TFEBRUAR tUT I THERE is yet one Northern PAail due at Athens. By ytftrr., day’i ?Aail we were favored by cur attentive friend, Mr. Hall, with Wcfhington City papers to the Bth inft. They contain nothing of im portance. A letter from Mr. Hall to the Editorr, contains the follow ing i u We are ftill pregreßing with every mealure which we think ne ceffary for aft ate of WAR. The eftabiiftiment of a fund to defray the expence, ‘prefents the greateft ci fiiculty sit this time. I truft ws ‘(hall devi/e’fome lefts objedbionable plan than a rcibrt to ftamp, excift, or dire<ft taxe?, for that purpofe. ,> We coincide with Mr. Hall, and fmcerely wifh that the Representa tives of the People will refort to fome left obj :6hor able Tax than a ftarnpc aeft, or an ex ife law—at the lame time, we h®pc they are mak irg every preparation to meet our enemy, and the common enemy of the world, in an eft*, dual manner— provided (lie will not render unto us, that juftice, to which, by the -Lawscf Nature and of Nations, we are entitled. WE had hoped, that there was nor, in his Mqtfty’s employ, an Editor who was fo very a fcoundrei as co difpute the if juftice of the Or ders in'Council— out in this hope we have been ddeppointed—Wag ner, the advocate of <c Britain’s faft anchor’d if] ,** in Baltimore, has had the eff onrery to affert, in his fianderous vehicle , of the q/h inft. that he never has believed that the Orders in Council operated op prefp.vtly on the American Govern ment or People. This fame penfi cried fccundrel has alfo had the har tihood to deny that the Brit’fn hsd anv agency in exciting the Indians to hoftiluies. We are always forrv when we are obliged to reforc to barfh language—-but when we fee the e nemies of Liberty traducing rhe American Government, we cannot fupprefs our indignation—nor re frain from beftowing on them luch epithets as we ffrioufly believe they deferve. Andrew Eliteott Efq. has arrived in Miliedgevilie. Nothing pcfidve is vet known—but it is believed no part of Walton county belongs to this ftate. Of courfe there will be no Cotton made in that county the prelent year. It were an end lefs labor to relieve the public ear of all the falfehoocl with which it is daily abufed; to retail contradifcieas of every milre prefentation which dlfgraces the columns of our federal prints.—* Thefe are fo numerous, fo palpa ble, fome of them fo evidently in tentional, that wc arc tempted cc