An oration, in commemoration of the founders of William and Mary College, delivered on the anniversary of its foundation, August 15, 1771. / By W. Leigh, student.

An oration, in commemoration of the founders of William and Mary College, delivered on the anniversary of its foundation, August 15, 1771. / By W. Leigh, student.

Table of contents

Title page

TO THE REVEREND SAMUEL HENLEY, PROFESSOR of MORAL PHILOSOPHY, In the COLLEGE of WILLIAM and MARY,

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AN ORATION, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FOUNDERS OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, DELIVERED ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDATION, AUGUST 15, 1771.

BY W. LEIGH, STUDENT.

WILLIAMSBURG: Printed by WILLIAM RIND, MDCCLXXI.

TO THE REVEREND SAMUEL HENLEY, PROFESSOR of MORAL PHILOSOPHY, In the COLLEGE of WILLIAM and MARY,

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THE following ORATION is inscribed, by the Author, as a Testimony of his Gratitude to a GENTLEMAN, from whom he hath received both the Instructions of a Tutor, and the Favors of a Friend.

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Mr. PRESIDENT, GENTLEMEN, FELLOW-STUDENTS,

THIS being the Day, on which their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary, were graciously pleased to grant their Royal Charter for the Establishment of an Academy in this infant Colony; you will accept, it is hoped, a short Tribute to the Memory of our illustrious Founders.

The Institution of this Seat of Science is sufficient of itself to win them the Heart of every grateful Virginian; but the other Actions of their Lives are such as must render their Names, forever, sacred. If there be any Period in the Annals of History, which deserves the Attention of Posterity, and which may hold forth to future Ages, a Lesson, we may confidently affirm it to be the glorious Revolution. During a long Course of Years, which preceded this Event, the Scepter of England had been swayed by arbitrary Hands. The Constitution was wrenched from its natural Frame; the Rights of the Subject were invaded by the Sovereign; and Nothing was heard but the Groans of the Oppressed. Learning drooped, Trade stagnated, and Liberty was exiled. Parliaments, once, the Security of British Subjects, were now stript of all their Authority. Through the whole Kingdom not a Patriot was found, who durst stand forth in Defence of his Country. Though every Member of the Community had been repeatedly insulted by the Pride of foreign Enemies; though Dangers threatened from every Quarter; though the Blood of Millions called for Vengeance; the Prince, dissolved in Luxury, and intoxicated with Pleasure, studied Nothing but to protract an inglorious Peace. To compleat the whole, Popery was introduced, Protestants persecuted, Morality reviled, and Virtue driven from the Realm. At this Juncture, William stept in, ascended the Throne, and England no longer lamented her banished Freedom. Parliaments were restored to their former Influence, the Pride of her Enemies was humbled, and the Possessions of her Subjects secured.

To all the amiable Qualities which throw a Radiance round a private Station, William added those which reflect a Splendor on the Throne. Unlike the preceding Monarchs, he sacrificed Ease, Pleasure, [Page]and every selfish Consideration to the Welfare of the State. As a Soldier, he was prudent, active, and undaunted; as a Sovereign, gracious, intelligent, and penetrating. See him in the Field, and he appears a Being of a superior Order! Behold him in the Cabinet, and you are surprized at a Genius, so fertile in Resources! His Hand was always uplifted against the Enemies of England; and the Subject of his Meditations was the Good of Mankind. Flattery and Fear fled from his Presence, and none but the honest and the brave were admitted to his Councils. His own Happiness, he considered as interwoven with the Happiness of his People. He was sensible that an Insult to the Subject, was an Insult to the Sovereign, and that the Poverty of the Nation must end in his own Disgrace. Allegiance and Protection were, with him, reciprocal Ties. Nor did his Care extend only to the civil Interests of his Subjects; he was also the watchful Guardian of their religious Rights. He knew that, in Things of a spiritual Nature, Man is not amenable to Man; that the Determinations of Reason are the sole Rules of his Conduct, and the Dictates of Conscience, the Sanctions of his Maker. He saw how absurd it was to prescribe to others, a Religion; how unjust to punish them for not embracing his own. To the Members of the established Church he gave peculiar Marks of his Friendship; while the honest Dissenter partook of his Favors. To ascribe to Merit its Due, his Virtues as a Man, and his Actions as a Prince, were such as made an astonished World gaze on him with Applause.

His Royal Consort joined him, in all his Efforts, to save and to serve the Kingdom. While he was at the Head of an Army abroad, she held the Reins of Government at Home: And such was her Conduct, that under her Administration, all Ranks of People thought themselves happy. She was open to Conviction, ruffled by no Passion, and free from the least Taint of Vice. Her Sentiments were the Sentiments of a christian Princess; of a pious Sovereign, who wept, in secret, at the Distresses of her Subjects, and beheld them, in public, with maternal Affection.

But, notwithstanding the many Virtues of William and Mary; notwithstanding the many Blessings, from them, derived to the Nation; [Page]their Characters were wounded by the invenomed Shafts of Detraction and their Persons exposed to the cruel Daggers of Conspiracy. Ingratitude soon forgot the Hand which rescued her from Destruction and that Hero, who had fought so many Battles, retrieved the Glory of the British Arms and delivered Britain herself from Chains, was censured for too warm an Attachment to the Country of his Birth. His Memory hath been reviled, by his Enemies, for having embroiled his Kingdom in foreign Connections. But is it not reasonable to suppose that he thought the Interest of Great-Britain and the Continent one? It is certain that Nothing but the united Efforts of the allied Armies, could have reduced France from the Zenith of her Ambition to a State of Misery and Despair. So that from this, as well as from all the other Actions of his Life, it appears that he had most at Heart the Good of England: And not to have made the Prosperity of his native Land, the second Object of his Attention, would have argued him highly ungrateful. He is charged with the Crime also of deposing his Uncle and Father-in-Law. But it would have been his Duty to have torn the Tyrant from the Throne, had James been his Brother or his Father. The Name of Timoleon illumines the Page of Grecian History. The remotest Corners of the World resound with the Fame of Brutus: And shall Envy obscure the Glory of William? Forbid it Heaven! The last Accusation is, that he was a sullen, and imperious Sovereign. Read the Annals of his Reign, and let Justice decide. With how much Equity, with how much Lenity did he govern that Kingdom, before distracted with civil Commotions? With what Humanity did he treat those whom he knew to be Foes both of his Government, and his Person? Even the Rebels of Ireland, and the Papists of England felt the kindly Influence of his sympathizing Heart.

To return to the Establishment of this College: Does this look like the offspring of a sullen Disposition? No; it "bears the more immediate Stamp of Heaven." And so long as Time shall endure Here, shall "grateful Science still adore her William's holy Shade." Before this Period, our intellectual World was "without Form and void, [Page]and Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep." But his Voice spake the Chaos into Order: He said, "let there be Light! And there was Light." Education arose, its Beams broke forth, dispelled the M [...] of Error, and gilded the Clouds of Opinion. A thousand hidden Qualities sprung up, which without its genial Influence had never been disinterred. The unrelenting was softened into Pity, and the Barbarian wondered by what Means he became broken into Ma [...]. Happy, my Fellow-Students, are we, whose good Fortune it was to be born in the golden Age of our Country. We have Advantages which to our Progenitors were not known. Their Knowledge was circumscribed by the gloomy Woods, which surrounded the narrow Spots they had cleared. Ours is unconfined; the Customs, the Manners, the Laws of every Nation are open to our View. We can unlock the sacred Fountains of Antiquity, inspect the Policy of Ages past, and, from thence, gather the Instructions of Wisdom to guide our future Conduct. It is in our Power, if we be not wanting to ourselves, to support with Dignity the Cause of Religion, to sustain with Firmness the Rights of Society, and to interpret with Precision the Laws of our Country. But let each of us remember that upon his own Industry depends all that can make him an Honor to this Temple of Science, a Blessing to the State, and an Ornament to Humanity. Nor does a good Education qualify us for public Stations alone. By its Help we are capacitated for discharging every Duty, and for relishing all the Sweets of private Life. Under its Auspices we may meet Adversity, in all her gorgon Terrors, without Dismay.

I shall trespass on your Patience no longer than to conclude with the following Lines:

Forever, as the circling Years return,

Grateful VIRGINIANS! crown the Hero's Urn;

To his just Care you every Blessing owe,

Which, or his own, or following Reigns bestow.

Tho' his hard Fate a Father's Name deny'd,

To you a Father, he that Loss supply'd.

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Title statement

An oration, in commemoration of the founders of William and Mary College, delivered on the anniversary of its foundation, August 15, 1771. / By W. Leigh, student.

Leigh, William, 1748-1787.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2011-05.

ID [DLPS]

N09502

ID [TCP]

N09502

ID [STC]

Evans 12095

ID [NOTIS]

APW7114

ID [IMAGE-SET]

12095

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99013268

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Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 12095.

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(Evans-TCP ; no. N09502)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 12095)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 12095)

Source

— An oration, in commemoration of the founders of William and Mary College, delivered on the anniversary of its foundation, August 15, 1771. / By W. Leigh, student., Leigh, William, 1748-1787..

Extent

8 p. ; (4to)

Printed by William Rind,,. Williamsburg [Va.]: :: MDCCLXXI. [1771].

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