ADDRESS

Delivered by the Hon. Henry St. George Tucker, before the Virginia

Historical and Philosophical Society.[1]

[Footnote 1: The anniversary meeting of this Society was held at the

Capitol in Richmond, on the second of March, in presence of a

numerous auditory of both sexes. There was much disappointment at the

absence of Professor Dew, who was expected to deliver the annual

Address, but whose attendance was prevented by ill health. The Hon.

Henry St. Geo. Tucker was unanimously appointed President in the room

of Chief Justice Marshall, and the address which we now have the

pleasure of publishing was delivered by the new President upon taking

the chair. It was listened to with profound attention and pleasure.

So, also, was a speech to be found on page 260 of Mr. Maxwell on

presenting a resolution commemorative of the services and virtues of

the late Chief Justice.

During the meeting, Mr. Winder, the Clerk of Northampton, presented a

collection of MSS. found in some of the dark corners of the clerk's

office of that ancient county. These papers, we are informed, are

highly valuable, and shed new and interesting light upon an early

period of Virginia History. They were the papers, it appears, of a

Mr. Godfrey Poole, who early in the eighteenth century, was the clerk

of Northampton court--was also a lawyer of considerable practice, and

for many years clerk of the committee of Propositions and Grievances,

an office, we suppose, of much higher relative grade then than at

present. The MSS. are various in their character--consisting for the

most part, of addresses by the then governors Spotswood and Dugsdale

to the House of Burgesses--answers to those addresses, by the House,

and copies of various acts of Assembly and Reports of Committees, not

found in any printed record extant. There is also an undoubted copy

of the Colonial Charter which received the signet of King Charles,

and was stopped in the Hamper office upon that monarch's receiving

intelligence of Bacon's rebellion. This charter, we believe, is not

to be found in any of the printed collections of State papers or

Historical Records in this country, having eluded the researches of

Mr. Burke, and of the indefatigable Mr. Hening, the compiler of the

Statutes at Large.

It appears also that Mr. Poole contrived to enliven the barren paths

of Law and Legislation by an occasional intercourse with the Muses.

We find among his papers two Poems--one is brief, of an amatory

character, and addressed to Chloe--that much besonnetted name. The

other, containing about one hundred and ninety lines is thus entitled

The Expedition oe'r the mountain's:

Being Mr. Blackmore's Latin Poem, entitled,

Expeditio Ultra-Montana:

Rendered into English verse and inscribed

To the Honourable the Governour. (A. O. Spotswood.)

The "Expedition &c" is remarkable for three things--its antiquity

(Virginian antiquity)--its mediocrity--and for one or two lines in

which (singularly enough) direct reference is made to the discovery

of a gold region in Virginia. The lines run thus--

Here taught to dig by his auspicious hand,

They prov'd the growing Pregnance of the land;

For, being search'd, the fertile earth gave signs

That her womb teem'd with gold and silver mines.

This ground, if faithful, may in time outdo

The soils of Mexico, and of fam'd Peru.]

_Gentlemen_,--In accepting, with the profoundest sense of my own

unworthiness, the station you have been pleased to confer upon me, my

mind very naturally reverts to the distinguished individual who has

heretofore presided over your deliberations, and has added to the

interest of your proceedings by the lustre of his own reputation, and

the mild dignity of his exalted character. Since the days of General

Washington, no man has lived more beloved and respected, or died more

universally regretted, than the late venerable Chief Justice.

Throughout this widely extended republic, our fellow citizens have

vied in the distinguished honors which have been paid to his memory.

Those honors have not been confined to the state which gave him

birth, to the city in which he dwelt, to the supreme tribunal of his

native state, which owes so much of its former reputation to the

efficient aid he brought to their deliberations in the flower of his

age. They have not been confined to any political party, or denied by

those who have honestly and widely differed from him in their views

of the construction of the great charter of our government. No,

gentlemen, his character and life have been the themes of universal

eulogy. The meditations of the wise have dwelt upon his virtues, and

the lips of the eloquent have poured forth his praises throughout the

Union. It is right that it should be so. As Chief Justice of the

United States, his fame was the common property of that Union, which

he so truly loved, and which he so long and so faithfully has served.

For five and thirty years he presided over the first judicial

tribunal of the United States; a tribunal which he elevated by his

dignity, which he illustrated by his abilities, and instructed by his

wisdom; a tribunal which was not only enlightened by the splendor of

his meridian greatness, but was illumined by the last rays of his

departing genius, and beheld with admiration its broad and spotless

disc as it descended to the horizon. Even the hand of time seems to

have dealt gently with his noble mind; and, like Mansfield and

Pendleton, he too sunk into the grave full indeed of years as well as

honors, but with unfading powers: thus affording another illustrious

instance of the preservation of the undying intellect amid the ruins

of a decaying frame.

Orbis illabetur ævo, vires hominumque tabescent,

Mens sola cælestis in œvum intacta manebit.

But, gentlemen, it has been the good fortune of some among us to have

known our venerated countryman, not only in the elevated station to

which his abilities had exalted him, but also in the not less

interesting relations of private life.

Seen him we have, and in the happier hour,

Of social ease but ill exchanged for power;

And in that delightful intercourse who has not remarked how

beautifully the amiable urbanity and simplicity of his manners,

commingled with the unpretending dignity which was inseparable from

the elevation of his character and his station? Who has not witnessed

the purity of his feelings, the warmth of his benevolence, and the

fervor of his zeal, in lending the support and countenance of his

great name and influence to every enterprise which was calculated to

promote the public good; to every scheme which promised to assist the

march of intellect; to every association which had for its object the

advancement of his countrymen in wisdom and virtue, and to every plan

which philanthropy could plausibly suggest, for the amelioration of

the condition of the humblest of our species? His heart and his hand

were equally open, and his purse and his services were always freely

commanded where they were called for by any object of public utility

or private beneficence. It is not then surprising, gentlemen, that

such a man should have been found at the head of this Society; that

you should have selected him to grace your laudable enterprise, or

that he should have lent his ready aid to an institution, which,

however humble in its beginnings, gives the promise of important aid

to the {259} knowledge and literature of our country. But it is a

matter of the most painful regret, that the light of his countenance

will shine no more upon us here, and that the influence of his

counsels and the inspiration of his wisdom are withdrawn from us

forever. Those cannot be replaced; and we may say of him as was said

of the great father of his country more than forty years ago,

Successors we may find, but tell us where,

Of all thy virtues we shall find the heir.

For myself, gentlemen, I can bring to the discharge of the duties of

this station nothing but the most earnest wishes for the success of

your institution; an institution, whose laudable design is to save

from oblivion whatever is interesting in the natural, civil and

literary history of our country; to rescue from unmerited obscurity

the many interesting papers which may throw light upon our annals;

and to concentrate in its "transactions" the materials now scattered

through the land, which at some future day may assist the researches

of the historian or the speculations of the philosopher. It is

neither my purpose nor my province here to dilate upon the benefits

of such an institution. That duty was performed on a former occasion,

by one who is now no more, with distinguished ability. Yet I trust I

may be excused for a very cursory allusion to this interesting topic.

It is not required to whet your purpose or to stimulate your

exertions. But it is not amiss that we should occasionally advert to

the powerful motives which impel us to sustain this infant

institution. Do we look to the reputation of our ancient and beloved

commonwealth; to her progress in the arts and in the cultivation of

that literature which softens the manners and gives its finest polish

to society? How then can we hear unmoved the taunts of others at her

supineness? How can we listen without an ingenuous blush, to the

reproaches of those who are ever ready to cast into our teeth our

inglorious neglect of the noble cause of literature? Throughout the

civilized world, the lovers of learning and of science are on the

alert. Academies and societies for their promotion are no longer

confined to Europe. They have long since found their way across the

Atlantic, and have been growing and extending in our sister states

for half a century. Some of them have grown to maturity and no longer

totter in a state of infantile weakness. Those of Pennsylvania and

Massachusetts particularly rest upon a basis stable and enduring, and

have attained a noble elevation that does honor to their founders.

And what has Virginia done? Absolutely nothing, until the spirited

efforts of a few individuals first gave existence to this

institution. She has aroused indeed from her slumbers at the voice of

internal improvements, and has caught the enthusiasm with which they

seem to have inspired the world. Her canals and her rail roads are

sustained with all the zeal of patriotic feeling, backed by the less

meritorious, but more steady influences of pecuniary profit. In every

direction those arts and enterprises which promise to pour their

rapid returns of wealth into the lap of the adventurer, are pursued

with an eye that never winks, and a step that never tires. _Their_

progress is as rapid as the speed of a locomotive. But

literature--neglected literature, still lags at a sightless distance

behind. While companies spring up in a day for the excavation of a

canal or the construction of a rail road, for the working of a coal

mine or the search after gold. Behold what a little band has

associated here, to redeem our state from the disgrace of a Bœotian

neglect of literature--and to pluck up drowning honor by the locks,

without other reward than the participation with our great corrivals

in all the dignities of science. But let us not despair because we

are but a handful. Our little society is but the germ of better

things. This little seedling will, if properly nourished, become like

a spreading and majestic oak. Then indeed, will it be an enduring

monument to your memory, and posterity will look upon the noble

object which has been planted by your hands and watered by your care,

with respect and veneration for the authors of so great a

benefaction. But remember it will wither when so young, unless

sedulously fostered. An annual meeting at the seat of government and

a discourse from a learned academician once a year, however

interesting, will effect but little without the zealous and personal

co-operation of us all. Wherever we go, we may be of use to the

institution. The sagacious and observing will every where meet with

interesting matter to be communicated and collected into this common

reservoir. In the library of almost every man of ordinary diligence

in the collection of what is curious and interesting, there are

materials which by themselves are of little worth, but united with

others here would become valuable and important--like the jewel,

which shows to little advantage until it is surrounded by other

brilliants, and is set by the hands of a master workman. So too, in

our intercourse with society, we daily meet with the men of other

days--those living depositaries of the transactions of early times;

of transactions which live only in tradition and must be buried in

the grave with the venerable patriarch or interesting matron, unless

rescued from oblivion by the present generation. These evanescing

fragments of our history should be gathered together with the most

diligent care, like the flowers of an herbarium or the minerals of a

geologist, and prepared for the historical department in this cabinet

of literature. In short, gentlemen, go where we will, the most humble

among us may still advance the great cause in which we are engaged.

And while the learning and ability of some may contribute the rich

treasures of their own minds, and the valuable results of their own

profound lucubrations, there is not one among us who cannot in some

way or other add his mite to the general stock. This is indeed no

small consolation to myself; for I would not be a drone in such a

hive; and yet my professional pursuits have been too exclusive to

permit me to hope that I can ever be of other service than as an

humble gleaner in the great field which lies before us.

It now only remains for me, gentlemen, to offer my most respectful

acknowledgments for the honor you have conferred upon me, accompanied

by the assurance that I shall discharge the duties assigned me with

alacrity, and contribute to the success of your laudable views, as

far as my humble abilities and my very limited acquirements in these

walks of literature will permit.