_Oration on the Life and Character of the Rev. Joseph Caldwell, D.D.
late President of the University of North Carolina, by Walker
Anderson, A.M._
It was only within the last few days that we met with the above
oration, in a pamphlet form--and we cannot refrain from expressing the
very great pleasure its perusal has afforded us. Dr. Caldwell was
unquestionably a great and good man--and certain are we that the task
of paying tribute to his manifold qualifications and virtues, now that
he is gone, could not have been committed to abler hands, than those
of Professor Anderson. The tone of feeling pervading the oration is
quite characteristic of its author--ardent--affectionate--consistent.
"We come," says he, near the beginning, "we come as a band of
brothers, to do homage to that parental love, of which all of us, the
old as well as the young, have been the objects; and by communing with
the spirit of our departed father, to enkindle those hallowed emotions
which are the fittest offering to his memory. But why needs the living
speaker recall to your remembrance the venerated and beloved being
whose loss is fresh in the memories of all who hear me? We stand not,
it is true, over his grave, as the Spartan over the sepulchre of his
king, but his memorials present themselves to the eye on every side
and are felt in every throbbing bosom. The shady retreats of this
consecrated grove--the oft frequented halls of this seat of
learning--the sacred edifice in which we are assembled--and the very
spot on which I stand, are memorials to awaken the busy and thronging
recollections of many a full heart! _Quocumque ingredimur in aliquam
historiam vestigium ponimus._ I look around this assembly and see
monuments of his love and of his labors, such as can never grace the
memory of the warrior, and which throw contempt on all the sculptured
memorials of kings. I look at the eyes beaming with intelligence; I
contemplate the refined intellects; I see their rich fruits in public
and honorable employment; I recall the memory of others who are far
distant, but whose thoughts are mingling with ours upon this occasion;
who have carried with them the seeds of virtue and wisdom which they
gathered here, and in other lands, have brought forth the noblest
results of usefulness and honorable consideration. I revert, too, to
those whose bright career is ended, and who preceded their guide and
instructor to the abodes of the blessed. I think of all this, and feel
that you need not the voice of the speaker to arouse your grateful
recollections." p. 4.
Mr. Anderson shortly after this, goes into a very interesting sketch
of the family history of the deceased, portraying with great
tenderness and delicacy, the maternal solicitude to which young
Caldwell was so deeply indebted for his well doing in after life--and
evincing as we humbly conceive, in this part of his oration, fine
powers as a biographical writer. There is much force in his
development of the Doctor's character throughout, but especial beauty,
we think, in the way in which he treats of his religious principles.
One extract more from the pamphlet, in proof of what we have just
said, must close this hasty and imperfect notice of it.
"The religious character of Dr. Caldwell, was not the formation of a
day, nor the hasty and imperfect work of a dying bed. His trust was
anchored on the rock of ages, and he was therefore well furnished for
the terrible conflict that awaited him. We have seen that he had made
Religion the guide of his youth; it beautified and sanctified the
labors of his well spent life; nor did it fail him in the trying hour,
which an allwise but inscrutable Providence permitted to be to him
peculiarly dark and fearful. The rich consolations of his faith became
brighter and stronger, amidst the wreck of the decaying tabernacle of
flesh; and if the dying testimony of a pure and humble spirit may be
received, death had for him no sting--the grave achieved no triumph.
In any frequent and detailed account of his religious feelings he was
not inclined to indulge--the spirit that walks most closely with its
God, needs not the sustaining influence of such excitements--yet a few
weeks previous to his death, a friend from a distant part of the State
calling to see him, made inquiries as to the state of his mind, and
had the privilege of hearing from him the calm assurance of his
perfect resignation and submission to the will of God. His hope of a
happy immortality beyond the grave, was such as belongs only to the
Christian, and by him was modestly but humbly entertained. It was to
him a principle of strength that sustained him amidst the conflicts of
the dark valley; and to us who witnessed the agonies of his parting
hour, a bright radiance illuming the gloom which memory throws around
the trying scene." pp. 38, 39.