In our own city, as they do in every American city, the public schools rise up before us like waymarks upon the path of prosperity. They are the waymarks on the road to fame, and the boy may measure his way through them until he arrives at the distinction to which they direct him. There is no boy in Baltimore, nor in any city of the United States, but may honor the name of American citizen. And there is no boy but may study his way to character, to prosperity, and to eminence, in any profession he may choose. He may shine as a star in the social circle, in professional life, in the nation’s councils, in the field, and in religion’s walks; the way is open before him. The invitation is given him to enter and pursue it. The crown is on the height which rises to his view, and he may urge his way up to it,—he may win and wear it. To persevering zeal the palm is sure. Let every boy that belongs to a public school write his motto in his cap, and let him read the Latin, and feel the English of it whenever he puts it on or takes it off. Palmam qui meruit ferat. “Let him wear the palm who wins it.”
[EDUCATION PREPARES THE YOUTH FOR EMINENCE IN LIFE.]
And the education and character thus to be obtained by the American youth are the means by which he may erect the monument of his renown in the years of his maturity. The pursuit of study in the acquirement of character, prepares him for the march to eminence in any of the professions. It provides him with the materials for working his way to distinction in the mechanic arts, in mercantile life, and in pursuits which are more strictly professional. And the trophies of his triumphant genius may tell to other generations how successfully he pursued the path that opened before him. And where are the trophies that tell of the triumph of mechanical geniuses? Behold them in the splendid buildings that adorn this monumental city! Look on those proud monuments of marble that bear the names of American heroes. They tell how nobly the soldier fought, and how gloriously was his career of victory, in the securing and sustaining of American freedom. One of them proclaims to you of the high character of him whom I have held up before you as the model of American character. The other tells how nobly your fathers fell defending the city of your love. Witness the fair proportions of those splendid structures, their excellent workmanship, the chasteness of the chiseling, and the beauty that the sculptor’s hand has left upon them. Proudly they speak of the warrior’s deeds and fame, and as proudly do they tell us of the master skill that produced them. They are master specimens of the mechanic arts, and proclaim what may be done by the educated mind and hand.
And to what shall we look for the announcement of the merchant’s honors? Look at our large Commercial Exchange, our Custom House, and the numerous commercial halls that throng this city! Survey the wharves, and the shipping anchored in the port. Look out upon the mighty ocean, and see the ships that sail from port to port, their white sails swelling in the breeze, and moving like things of life over the billows! And cast your eyes upon those ocean steamers, the cities of the deep, that swim the waves in their dignity and power, and that, in regard to time, bring distant nations nearer to each other. These are the evidences, plain and palpable, of mercantile experiment. And they bear over every wave, and to every shore, the evidences of mercantile success.
[EDUCATION PREPARES THE YOUTH FOR EMINENCE IN ANY PROFESSION.]
And in what does the professional man’s renown consist? The answer comes from the teacher in the hall of learning; from the physician in his closet; from the artist in his studio; from the statesman in the nation’s council; from the minister of God in the pulpit; from the counsellor in the court room. And it comes from the soldier on the battle field; for the soldier is a professional character. It comes in the still small voice of the civilian’s intercourse; and it peals with the thunder tones of war. It tells of triumphs which the mind, in its improvement, has achieved, and of the trophies reared by hands of educated skill. There is no department of life in which the American boy may enter but will afford him honor and honorable success, if he seeks it in a manner that is becoming in the American character.
And these are the results of education. They are the results of education, in its improvement, of the American mind. And to the achievement of honor, in whatever is honorable, that he may undertake, the American boy may aspire. He may be an eminent mechanic, or a successful merchant; or he may gain distinction in the ranks of professional life. And eminent in the department he occupies, as a social character, as a patriot and Christian, he shall have attained the distinction he sought; and when he passes from this world, he shall leave behind him an honored name. Like our model Washington, he shall leave a character among his people which shall be remembered long after he has departed. And such a palm as this is worthy of a lifetime to win.
[CHOICE OF PROFESSION.]
In our country the choice of his profession is generally left with the boy himself. He selects, under the direction of his parents, such occupation as suits his taste, and to which he feels that he is partial. He goes from school to his employment in business, and thenceforward he is the pioneer of his own fortune; and his success depends upon himself. He can work his way to eminence if he is enterprising and industrious; or, he can lag with the crowd, and continue among those who are unsuccessful, and who are called unfortunate. I say called unfortunate, because the misfortunes of men are generally the fruits of their own incompetent labors. They are produced by their want of energy and active devotion to their profession. Remember that, as well as their fortunes, men make their misfortunes themselves. If the man would be successful, he must study as well as work. And he must study how to work, and how to bring his labor to good account. The school boy must not throw his books away when he leaves the school. He must carry them with him through life, and he must use them. The model which I have placed before you, in our venerated Washington, is not to be imitated by him who disregards his books. He was pre-eminently distinguished by habits of study. And we hear of no hours of any part of his life that were wasted in idleness, or spent in the mere pursuit of pleasure. He gained his character by study, and by persevering labor. He wrought his way to the distinguished position he attained. He won the palm by active and untiring devotion to the pursuit of his choice.