ties which bound us to them, and that the wide Atlantic rolls between us. Heaven grant that this magnetic cord may be a chain of friendship, ever kept bright by reciprocal kind offices, and never broken by the ravages of an unnatural or unjust war. But, fellow-citizens, I did not rise to make a speech. That will be much more ably and satisfactorily performed by those to whom that duty has been assigned by the committee of arrangements. I only wish to return my thanks for the honor you have done me in calling upon me to preside on this interesting occasion, and to express my regret that the modesty of our worthy Mayor should have induced him to decline this honor. I trust that the several speakers will pardon me for saying that the lateness of the hour admonishes us to be brief. [The Hon. James Wadsworth followed Mr. Fillmore, and at the close of his remarks proposed the toast, "Our honored townsman, Millard Fillmore."] In reply to the sentiment of Senator Wadsworth, Mr. Fillmore said that he could not forbear to say a word in regard to the personal allusion to himself. It was his fortune earlier than others to have confidence in the success of the telegraph. He was day by day in conference with Mr. Morse, and while few believed in the enterprise, he as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means said to his colleagues that if they would report in favor of an appropriation to Mr. Morse, he would risk his reputation in defending the measure in the House. He thanked God the project was successful. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO. As Chancellor of the University of Buffalo, Mr. Fillmore presided at the annual commencement of the Medical Department in 1859-February 23d-and presented the degrees to the graduating class. Of his address the fullest known record is the following synopsis (Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, February 24th): Having distributed the diplomas, Mr. Fillmore followed the ceremony with a brief address to the graduates, pertinent to the occasion, and particularly appropriate to its distinguished source. Remarking that it was not his province to advise them in matters purely professional, he could, perhaps, as an outside observer, address to them some counsel on their general duties as men and their relations to the community at large. He spoke of the physician as occupying a position as arbiter between life and death, and incurring a responsibility as heavy as man could possibly bear. It was their duty to be true to themselves, to act with perfect candor, making no unauthorized pretences, laying no claim to a wisdom greater than they possessed. He warned them against detraction of competitors and assured them that it was not only the right, but the best policy, to speak of other practitioners in a generous and appreciative manner. In their intercourse with patients and families they would become the repository of secrets which should remain inviolable. For ages the law had enjoined secrecy on the lawyer in his intercourse with his client, and recently that injunction had been extended to the relation of physician and patient. Not only in cases where crime came to his knowledge in the confidential intercourse of the sickroom, but in all cases of illness, the physician should make no revelations save such as are obviously for the good of the patient himself. Mr. Fillmore then spoke eloquently of the true idea of education. There are two educations-scholastic and practical. Books were of value, but in all professions practice was the great teacher. The positive sciences of medicine might be unchangeable, the anatomy of the human form was ever the same; but its diseases changed from time to time, new epidemics appeared, and were the student versed in all the literature of the medicine of today, he would find tomorrow new fields of research open before him. WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT THE BUFFALO CENTRAL SCHOOL. On February 22, 1861, Mr. Fillmore participated in a celebration of the anniversary of Washington's birthday, at the Buffalo Central School, and in response to a cordial welcome from young and old, made a brief address. He told how interested he had been, and said there was no need to add anything to what the young patriots, male and female, had uttered so eloquently during the morning. He believed that all the successors of Washington in the Presidential chair had endeavored to administer the Government on his principles; with what success time and history must determine. A dark cloud was lowering over the South. It was our duty in the North, the duty of every patriot, to withhold all manifestations of hostility, to show the South that we were their brethren, that we were ready to conciliate them, and to do so by doing all that we ever agreed to do, and then call upon them to do everything that they had agreed with us. The country was passing through a terrible crisis; but he believed that the patriotism which presided over its birth would ultimately save it. FILLMORE'S WAR-TIME VIEWS At the Union rally in the Metropolitan Theater, Buffalo, April 16, 1861, Mr. Fillmore, the chairman, said: FELLOW-CITIZENS: It is many years since I have taken any part in a political meeting, and I never intended to attend another. I have long since ceased to be a partisan or politician in the ordinary acceptance of those terms. But I have not ceased to love my country, to venerate its institutions, to take a just pride in its prosperity and glory, and to tremble with anxiety when I see all that a patriot should hold dear in the most imminent peril. It is for this reason that I have at your request, consented to preside at this meeting-composed, as it is, of the citizens of Buffalo without distinction of party, who have assembled here to express their sentiments on the alarming state of the country. To be thought worthy of such an honor, at such a time, from those with whom my life has been spent, calls for my grateful acknowledgment, and I therefore return you my cordial thanks for this mark of your continued confidence and respect. But, my fellow-citizens, this is no time for any man to shrink from the responsibility which events have cast upon him. We have reached a crisis in the history of this country when no man, however humble his rank, or limited his influence, has a right to stand neutral. Civil War has been inaugurated, and we must meet it. Our Government calls for aid, and we must give it. Our Constitution is in danger, and we must defend it. It is no time now to inquire by whose fault or folly this state of things has been produced. The Ship of State is in the breakers, the muttering thunder and darkened sky indicate the coming storm, and if she sinks we must go down with her. We have a common lot and must meet a common fate. Let every man therefore stand to his post, and like the Roman sentinel at the gate of Pompeii, let posterity, when the storm is over, find our skeleton and armor on the spot where duty required us to stand. You know, my friends, that my love of country embraces the whole Union-in all that relates to the administration of the Government, I know no North, no South-each and every portion is alike entitled to its protection, and I have that confidence in this Administration to believe that it will receive it. I therefore think that our Southern brethren have made a great mistake in arraying themselves against the Government, for fear it will be improperly administered. And I had hoped that if peace could be maintained for a short time, until they could be convinced of their error, that they would voluntarily unite with us again. Or if that were impossible, that time might thus be gained for a National convention, which might so amend the Constitution as to enable us to separate without war. But if they commence an aggressive warfare, we have no alternative but to rally around the constituted authorities and defend the Government. But no language can express my admiration of the noble patriotism displayed by the Union men of the border States. They stand like a rock in the midst of the ocean, against which the surges of secession beat in vain. Not moved by terror or seduced by an unholy ambition, they have formed a rampart for the protection of the Constitution. Their patriotism is as pure as the unsullied snow, and their loyalty is as incorruptible as virtue itself. If they ask further guarantees for any constitutional right which they may think endangered in consequence of their relative weakness by secession, I would cheerfully grant it. I feel that they deserve it; and no mere abstractions should induce me to withhold it. But I speak only for myself. The meeting will speak its own sentiments, and I wait its further pleasure. |