was yet doubtful; while their united energies of mind and body were strained to the utmost, in order to obtain a happy issue to the enterprize in which they were engaged.

If then the birth and connexions of Clinton had any influence in determining his future usefulness, it was rather by shewing him illustrious examples of devotion to the cause of his country, and models of perseverance through good and evil report, than by facilitating his introduction into public life-Nay, had he entered it without the benefit of such experience, his early attainment of office and honours might have had the effect of blighting his talent, and obscuring his fame. So far then from attributing the high celebrity to which Clinton attained, to his early advantages, we may rather ascribe to his great strength of mind the merit of being able to withstand the dazzling effect of premature success; and in this very circumstance the candid inquirer will find a full apology for the errors to which he like all other mortals was sometimes exposed. Of his errors, however, it is not my business to speak, nor have they left any trace behind them, in the shape of permanent injury to his country. Whatever they were, they recoiled upon his own head, and an impartial posterity will not record them against him.

tremely unfavourable.

Clinton received his early education at a period exThe long revolutionary contest had driven from their quiet occupations to take a share in active struggles, on one or the other side, nearly all who were eminent in the profession of instructers. Of the ancient academies of the state, but one was kept even upon a tolerable footing, and even this felt for a moment the devastating effects of the struggle. In this, although crippled of its means, was Clinton compelled to seek the foundation of his future usefulness. His literary productions may, notwithstanding, be quoted as splendid instances of the power, that genius and industry can exert in forming the taste and improving the style; yet, it must be admitted that the critical eye will occasionally detect a want of those graces, that an early and accurate acquaintance with classic models can alone bestow.

If the subject of our eulogy, the near relative of the chief magistrate of our state, and the son of one of its most distinguished citizens, were thus condemned to suffer from the want of sufficient means of elementary education, what, may we stop to inquire, must have been the condition of the mass of the people? How highly ought we to appreciate the advantages we now enjoy, in means of instruction diffused through every section of our state, and brought to the doors and within the means of the humblest of our citizens. To attain this happy state of things, Clinton lent his powerful aid; and if not the first to propose the present system, his voice was not unimportant in obtaining the

munificent endowments our common schools now enjoy. It is, perhaps, to be lamented that the enlightened mind of Clinton should not have entered more fully into the detail of these establishments, for he would unquestionably have seen and obviated the odious distinction that now exists between those educated in them, and those taught in our higher seminaries, in consequence of the exclusion of the ancient languages from their course of instruction: a feature, which it would take but little argument to show to be pregnant with evil, and even subversive of the great ends to which they might be rendered applicable.

If, however, the boyhood of Clinton were doomed to be spent without a perfect enjoyment of all those aids and facilities which experience has shown to be so important in training the mind, brighter prospects dawned upon his youth. The halls, in which we are now assembled, had been closed to the student of literature and science during the whole period of the revolutionary war. In the place of the youthful aspirant for academic honours, the dormitories and lecture rooms had been filled in turn, with the wounds, the disease, and the misery of two contending armies. But no sooner was the struggle at an end, than the fathers of our freedom* turned their attention to the

*Among these it would be an act of injustice were I not to name particularly; the late Hon. James Duane, then Mayor of the City of NewYork, whose services in the re-establishment of the College were allimportant.

restoration of the building to its original purposes, and strove to fill the vacant chairs with the ablest men within their reach. The subject of our eulogy, burning with honourable zeal, first presented himself to demand the privilege of matriculation, and thus stands at the head of the catalogue of the revived institution. To his successors he furnished a most honourable example of diligence, industry, and application. The influence of emulation, which is in many minds almost essential, as a stimulus to exertion, was indeed wanting, for the number of those who joined him in his collegiate career was too small to call it forth; yet this was not necessary to excite him. He in consequence left behind him a character for sedulous improvement of the opportunities within his reach, that has never been surpassed by any of his successors.

The very atmosphere of an ancient seminary of learning, brings to a well regulated mind a series of associations, that often conduce to eminence, even when the teachers themselves have degenerated from the former glories of the institution. But Clinton was fortunate in meeting with instructers qualified to appreciate and cultivate his talent, and to direct it to advantageous ends. The classical department was directed by the Rev. Dr. Cochran, a ripe and eminent scholar, who still fills the office of an instructer of youth in the honourable and elevated station of President of King's College, Nova Scotia. Of another of the teachers, it is in this building sufficient to mention the name, to convey to all a clear idea of the advantages that

must have been derived by his pupils from his instructions. This was the late Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore, whose services to this institution every alumnus will at once appreciate; and who in a wider field of usefulness, diffused blessings upon all who came within the sphere of his active piety, and mild benevolence.* To these useful and learned instructers Clinton was fond, to the latest period of his valued life, of acknowledging his obligations.

But

I cannot help believing that his own future character, and that of his public services, were influenced in a greater degree by another professor. One, who for a quarter of a century filled with distinguished ability and usefulness, what his powerful exertions finally rendered the most important of the chairs. Many who hear me will at once recognize the useful and valuable instructer to whom I allude-the late Dr. John Kemp, to whom they, with myself and many others, are under the deepest obligations.

Under the tuition of Dr. Kemp, Clinton laid the foundation of that acquaintance with the true principles of internal improvement, and I may add, acquired the basis of those clear views of national policy, which he afterwards so fully developed, and applied with such advantage to his native state, and the Union at large. The capabilities of the interior of this state for the opening of internal navigable communications, early attracted the attention of this able instructer, and were annually illustrated by him in his

*See Note A.