AN ADDRESS, DELIVERED BEFORE THE PEITHESSOPHIAN AND PHILOCLEAN SOCIETIES OF RUTGERS COLLEGE, BY WILLIAM WIRT. Delivered and Published at the request of the Peithessophian Society. THIRD EDITION. NEW-BRUNSWICK. JOHN TERHUNE'S PRESS. 1838. Educ U 6940, 390.10 HARVARD COLLEGF LIBRARY ETHE REQUEST OF Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1830, In the Clerk's Office for the District of New-Jersey. CORRESPONDENCE. Extract from the Minutes of the Peithessophian Society July 20, 1830. "RESOLVED, That the thanks of this society he presented to the Hon. William Wirt, for his able and eloquent Address, and that he be respectfully requested to furnish a copy for publication. ROBERT O. CURRIE, WILLIAM H. COOPER, ABRAHAM POLHEMUS, Committee to inform Mr. Wirt of the above Resolution. August 1, 1830. GENTLEMEN-I have availed myself of the earliest leisure I could command, to write out the Address, of which the Peithessophian Society, by their Resolution of the 20th ult. have requested a copy, and regret that I had not the leisure and the capacity to make it more worthy of the indulgent terms, in which my Brethren have been pleased to speak of it. I thank you, Gentlemen, for the obliging expression of your own kind sentiments; and, with the warmest wishes for the fame and honor of our Society, as well as that of our generous rivals, and the complete success of your rising Institution, I remain, very respectfully, To ROBERT O. CURRIE, Your obedient servant, WILLIAM WIRT. WILLIAM H. COOPER, ABM. POLHEMUS, Esquires, Committee of the Peithessophian Society. PREFACE. The following ADDRESS was originally published in pamphlet form, at the request of the Literary Societies, before whom it was delivered, and for their special ben efit; but the distinguished reputation of the author, as a scholar and a patriot, together with the great merit which the work was found to possess, caused it to pass rapidly through two editions. In the mean time it found its way across the Atlantic, and was re-published in England. Soon after it was translated into the French language and published in Paris; and subsequently in Germany, in the German language. During all this time there has been a regular, and an increasing demand for the work at home, which has induced the publisher to put it in a more substantial and desirable form. The prophetic language of the author, in relation to the future prospects and perils of our Republic, and the influence which the educated youth of our country may have upon its future destinies, will render this work, especially at this critical period of our history, a valuable acquisition to the library of every youthful patriot. New-Brunswick, May, 1838. |