Address Before the Alpha Delta Phi Society of Miami University: On the Study of the Classics (Classic Reprint)

Explore the ideas that shape education, liberty, and moral progress through a lifelong advocate’s voice.

This nonfiction portrait delves into the role of teachers and scholars in guiding a nation. It highlights how learning, character, and civil liberty intersect, and it argues for the lasting impact of education on future generations. In a series of addresses, the text examines the responsibilities of schools, colleges, and universities to cultivate virtue and intelligence. It blends historical reflection with personal recollections, showing how a legal and practical life can still nurture literary and philosophical interests. The work also discusses the power of the Bible and moral ideals as a remedy for society’s ills, while warning against mere codes of morals without inward transformation.

• Framing the educator as a key civic actor who safeguards liberty and knowledge.
• Exploring how learning institutions shape national character and future trust.
• Balancing historical critique with a call for virtue, wisdom, and philanthropy.
• Contemplating the limits of political power without moral culture.