The address which forms this little book was not intended for publication. It was prepared to be delivered at the celebration of the Public Schools on the 22d inst. After it was delivered, Commissioners of Public Schools and others regarded it as being worthy of a general circulation in some convenient form, so that whatever benefit might be derived from its use should not be limited to the pupils of the Public Schools, but shared by the youth of our city and country, so far as the same may be practicable. With this view the address was solicited for publication by the Committee of Arrangements.
As usefulness was the aim of the author in preparing the address, he hopes that every boy who may obtain a copy will read it with a view to his improvement. Doubtless the model which is presented in our illustrious Washington will be found to contain what is excellent and valuable in character, and worthy the emulation of the American boy. And if his ambition be excited to the pursuit of that which is high, and honorable, and virtuous, the expansion of his manly faculties may develope such character as shall render him a distinguished man,—distinguished in his deeds, as he is in the proud name he bears of American citizen.
July 28, 1846.
[WASHINGTON THE MODEL OF AMERICAN CHARACTER.]
My Young Friends,
Pupils of the Public Schools of Baltimore:
The motto inscribed upon the beautiful banner of your Central High School is the subject of my remarks to you to-day. Palmam qui meruit ferat—Let him wear the palm who wins it. And when I say that this is a motto worthy of the American youth, I give it a place far above that which it occupied in the proudest days of Roman honor, or in the brightest days of Grecian fame. And if you ask me for the proof, I point you to the American character, more brilliant in its enlightened freedom, and in its patriotic integrity, than that of Greece or Rome ever was, and to American institutions, blending republicanism, intelligence, and religion in a greater degree than they were ever blended in a nation before. And if you ask me for the cause of the difference between the character of those ancient nations and their institutions, and the American character and institutions, I direct you to one grand distinguishing characteristic, and that is,