Gaston was the constant love of order and a devoted and almost
sacred regard for the Constitution and laws of his country. In all
his precepts, wheresoever and to whomsoever uttered, in all his
conduct, whether in public or in private, he inculcated and enforced
obedience to the law, observance of order, and the support and
maintenance of our fundamental institutions in all their integrity.
His views and opinions upon this subject are expressed in an address
which he delivered at Princeton in September, 1835, before the
"American Whig" and "Cliosophic" Societies of the College of New
Jersey. It is difficult to find anywhere, within the same compass,
the duties of an American citizen, in relation to the laws and
institutions of his country, so clearly expressed and so powerfully
enforced. The address was much admired at the time, and received on
two occasions a compliment of which any man might be justly proud.
In a charge to the grand jury of his Court, Chief Justice Cranch,
of the District of Columbia, read several pages from the address,
accompanied by remarks of the highest commendation. And shortly
afterwards, Governor Vance, of Ohio, on an occasion so solemn as his
inauguration, quoted largely from it, after speaking in the most
flattering terms of the author, as one of the most eminent statesmen
and profound jurists of our country.
If the qualities which we have considered excite our admiration
and command our respect, that to which I would now call your
attention is well calculated to inspire love and win affection. I
mean his kind regard for the young. To them he was ever accessible,
kind and communicative; always ready to give advice, or to impart
instruction. Among them it was his delight to unbend, after the
severity of his official labors, and to engage in their innocent
amusements. Often have I seen him in such moments of relaxation; and
as I saw, I could but admire and love a wisdom which, while it could
instruct senates, disdained not the sports of the young, nor even
the frolics of infancy; which, while it could one moment expound
the gravest of laws, could the moment after explain an apothegm for
the instruction of youth, or solve a riddle for the amusement of
childhood. His regard for the young extended from the earliest to
the latest period of that time of life. For those just approaching
the verge of manhood he has often given signal proofs of his
solicitude. In 1832 he was invited to deliver an address before the
two Literary Societies of this institution, and in 1835 he received
an invitation to perform a similar duty before the Societies of
Princeton College in New Jersey. In both instances, though at much
personal inconvenience, he complied with the request, and delivered
the addresses to which I have had occasion to allude. On the merit
of these productions the public has already decided. It remains only
for me to say that no young man can read them, as they ought to be
read, with care and attention, without profit and advantage; and
the best return I can make for your kindness to me on this occasion
is to advise each of you to procure copies of them, and to "attend
to their admonitions, treasure up their counsels and obey their
injunctions."
From what I have already said, you have doubtless anticipated my
account of the character of Judge Gaston in private and domestic
life. A kind master, a fond father, a true friend, a most amusing
and instructive companion, he made the social intercourse of life
a source at once of pleasure and profit. None could make the
grave remark, none could tell the laughable anecdote, better than
he. An evening spent among his friends always left them in doubt
whether to admire most the extent of his information, the depth of
his erudition, the variety of his powers, or the easy, cheerful,
instructive flow of his conversation.
It can hardly be necessary for me to say that Judge Gaston was
always a zealous and enlightened friend to the cause of education.
His great services to the University as a guardian and benefactor
for more than forty years have been very justly and appropriately
acknowledged in the resolutions recently adopted. He was appointed a
trustee of the University in the year 1802, and was at the time of
his death, with the exception of Judge Potter, the oldest member of
the board.
The crowning glory of Judge Gaston's character remains yet to
be spoken of. He was a firm believer in the superintending
Providence of an All-wise and an Almighty Being, and in the truths
of Revelation. The principles of the Christian religion were
deeply impressed upon his infant mind by the devoted piety of his
excellent mother; and they were never forgotten and never departed
from. An abiding faith in them was a staff to his hand and a lamp
to his feet. It sustained, guided, and animated him through life,
and in the hour of death it did not desert him. The last sentence
he uttered recognized its truth and its consolations. Yes, this
elegant scholar, this accomplished orator, this eminent statesman,
this profound jurist, was an humble follower of the meek and lowly
Jesus. He thought it no scorn to bow at the footstool--he felt it
no degradation to take upon him the yoke of a Saviour. And when
his last hour came, we cannot doubt that the parting soul counted
all--fame, reputation, worldly pleasures, worldly honors--as but
dross, in comparison with that faith, upon whose wings it was
upborne to the bright realms of glory.
Such, my young friends, was the great and good man whose life and
character I have attempted to portray. I cannot take upon myself to
say that he was faultless: since the memorable declaration of the
incarnate Son of God, that "there is none good save one, that is
God," it would be impious for me to do so; but whatever might have
been his frailties, he had such great virtues, such noble qualities,
there was such a harmony in his character, such a beauty in his
life, that I can conscientiously propose him for your study, and
recommend him for your imitation. Go then, and like him, perform
fully, faithfully, fearlessly, your duty to yourselves, your
families, your country and your God; and then, like him, you will be
honored in your lives, and when you come to die, a nation's tears
will hallow your graves.
ADDRESS AT THE UNIVERSITY.
BY WILLIAM GASTON.
_Gentlemen of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies_:
When I look around on this extraordinary concourse of visitors I
cannot but feel that expectation has been too highly excited, and
cannot but anticipate and regret the disappointment which it must
necessarily meet with. Aware of the value which is here set upon
the ceremony of the annual address; knowing that friends of the
University throughout the State regard it as calculated not only to
excite a spirit of emulation among the students, but to attract the
public attention to the institution itself; and warmly attached to
that noble cause, for the advancement of which these edifices have
been erected and your associations formed, I felt myself bound to
accept the invitation, in obedience to which I appear before you.
Could I indeed have foreseen the unusual engagements which, added to
the ordinary occupations of a busy life, have left me no leisure to
prepare anything worthy of the general expectation, I should have
deemed myself at liberty to decline the call. But the discovery was
not made until after my word was pledged and it was too late to hope
that the duty could be devolved on another. Compelled then to choose
between an entire disappointment of your hopes and the presenting
myself to you without the advantage of full preparation, I have
resolved to execute the undertaking imperfectly rather than forego
it altogether. To whatever petty mortifications the adoption of this
alternative may expose me elsewhere, from you, my young friends, I
am sure of a favorable reception. You will see in it an expression
of the sense which I entertain of the honor conferred on me, by your
choice, of my readiness to gratify your wishes, and of my solicitude
to cheer you on in the noble career upon which you have entered.
The few homely truths which I wish to impress upon your minds will
not indeed come mended from my tongue, but I do not despair that,
presented in their naked plainness, but urged with the earnestness
and sincerity of friendship, they may win their way to your generous
and affectionate approbation.
The authority of Shakespeare is often invoked for the position that
"there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood,
leads on to fortune." Without venturing to deny altogether the
fitness of this metaphor, and fully admitting it to have enough
of truth to render it appropriate to the occasion for which it
was used, and the character to whom the great poet assigned it, I
yet regard it as too favorable to that indolence of disposition
which is always ready to imagine success in life as depending on
some fortunate tide. I hold that, generally, every man is the
architect of his own fortune, the author of his own greatness or
insignificance, happiness or misery. True, it is, that casualties,
neither to be foreseen nor prevented, may defeat schemes which have
been wisely concerted and vigorously prosecuted; and that success,
undeserved, and perhaps unsought, may sometimes befall the weak
and slothful. These, however, are but occasional deviations from
the ordinary course of nature, according to which, man's energies,
wisely or foolishly directed, and diligently or carelessly exerted,
are made to determine his character and condition in society. The
stoutest ship that was ever manned with prudent heads, brave hearts,
and strong hands has foundered in a hurricane, while the feeble
bark that "owns no mastery in floating" is sometimes safely wafted
into port; yet, who can deny that, ordinarily, the fate of the
voyage must depend on the skill, care, and courage with which it is
conducted. Much, too, very much, either for permanent good or ill
in the fate of every individual, has been found to follow almost
necessarily from the habits formed, the propensities cherished
or restrained, and the rules of conduct adopted at a very early
period of life. We might, perhaps, be tempted to regret that such
important and often awful consequences should follow on the doings
of an age, when the unworn senses are alive to every impression and
the keen appetite greedy for every enjoyment; when the imagination
is wild, the judgment feeble, and "heedless, rambling impulse" has
scarcely learned to think. Yet such is the constitution of nature,
and such consequently the appointment of Him, whose ways are always
wise, benevolent and just, and whose will it were not more madness
to resist than it is impiety to question. Look through the world,
and the least observant cannot fail to discover talents abused,
opportunities squandered, and men ruined because of early folly,
misbehavior or thoughtlessness; and let those who have passed
through life's ordeal with safety and honor look back on their
trials, and they will acknowledge how much they owe to very early
impressions and to habits contracted almost without a sense of
their use or a foresight of their consequences. He, therefore, who
aspires to excellence cannot too soon propose to himself the objects
which he should strive to obtain, nor fix his aim too early, or too
steadily, on the end to which his efforts should be directed. The
shortness of life, large fragments of which are necessarily occupied
by animal wants or wasted on frivolous cares and amusements, leave,
at best, but an inconsiderable portion to be devoted to intellectual
cultivation and exertion. To waste this portion would be criminal
improvidence, and it is of the highest moment to learn betimes how
it may be most beneficially applied.
The end which an ingenuous youth naturally proposes to himself
is a faithful and honorable discharge of the duties of life. His
objects are to realize the fond hopes of his parents and friends,
to acquire the affection and esteem of those around him, to become
the dispenser of good to his fellow-men and thus to fulfill the
purposes for which it has pleased God to place him in this world
of trial and discipline. He feels that these objects are indeed
good. By a moral instinct he is propelled towards them as fit to
fill his heart, kindle his aspirations, and animate his exertions.
Reason, as she gradually unfolds her powers and assumes dominion
over him, sanctions this choice with her approbation; and religion
comes in aid of nature and reason, to teach him that talents are
but lent to be improved, and that an account must be one day
rendered in which their use or neglect will be amply rewarded or
severely punished. How much is it not to be lamented that sloth
should enervate, dissipation corrupt, or vice brutalize this child
of hope and promise? You, who have him in charge, watch over him
with never-sleeping vigilance and affectionate solicitude. Give
him a happy start, sustain him when disposed to flag, reanimate him
when discouraged, check kindly his wanderings, soothe his wounded
feelings, guide him with your counsels, and save him from the foes
by which he is waylaid and beset. _Macte nova virtute puer sic itur
ad astra._
Most faithfully, no doubt, are these duties performed by the
able and excellent men who are here charged with the office of
instruction. Little can be done in aid of their efforts but to
exhort and entreat all placed under their care to attend to their
admonitions, treasure up their counsels, and obey their injunctions.
Yet, there are some errors which were prevalent when I was a boy
which I have reason to believe still prevail in public schools,
and which may perhaps be better handled by an old friend than an
acknowledged instructor, and to these, therefore, I would for a few
moments request the favorable attention of the younger portion of my
hearers.
Vigorous, diligent, and persevering application is essential to the
attainment of excellence in every pursuit of man. It is undoubtedly
a mistake to suppose that there is no original inequality in the
mental faculties of different individuals. Probably, there is
as great a disparity in their intellectual as in their physical
conformation. But however false this extravagant theory may be
there is another error far more common, and, practically, far more
mischievous--the error of exaggerating the difference between the
original energies of intellect, and of attributing to splendid and
resistless genius those victories which are not to be achieved but
by well directed and continued industry. It is in the infancy of
life that the inequalities of original talent are most striking,
and it is not strange that vanity, on the one hand, and indolent
admiration, on the other, should hyperbolically extol these obvious
advantages. In what this disparity consists it may not be easy to
state with precision. But from an observation of many years, I
venture to suggest that the chief natural superiority manifested
by the favored few over their competitors in the intellectual
conflict is to be found in the facility with which their attention
is directed and confined to its proper subjects. That youth may
be regarded as fortunate indeed who in early life can restrain
his wandering thoughts and tie down his mind at will to the
contemplation of whatever he wishes to comprehend and to make his
own. A few moments of this concentrated application is worth days
and weeks of a vague, interrupted, scattered attention. The first
resembles the well-known manœuvre in strategy, so simple in its
conception and yet so astonishing in its results, by which all
the arms of a military force are made to bear upon a given point
at the same moment. Everything here tells, because there is no
power wasted, and none misapplied. Now let no one despair because
he finds this effort to confine his attention difficult, or for a
considerable length of time, impracticable. Nothing is more certain
than that this power over the mind may be acquired. Let the attempt
be repeated again and again--first short, afterwards (as the ability
is increased) for longer periods, and success will ultimately
follow. The habit of fixed attention will thus be created, and it is
one of the peculiarities of all active habits, that in proportion to
the difficulty with which they were produced, is their inveteracy,
when once thoroughly formed. Thus, it not unfrequently happens that
the advantages with which the individual commenced his career, who
was naturally alert and devoted in his attention to every subject as
it was successively presented to his notice, have not enabled him
to contend successfully with him who, by hard efforts, has chained
down his wandering thoughts and dissipated faculties to the habit of
attention.
Among the best results which attend a course of regular academical
education is this exclusive and concentrated direction of the
mental powers to their appropriate objects. In the years employed
principally in the study of the learned languages the necessity
of finding out the meaning of each word and discerning either the
agreement between different words or the dependence of some of them
upon others in certain grammatical relations necessarily sharpens
and fixes the attention. After this preparatory discipline of the
intellect the student is introduced to the study of mathematical
science, where proposition leads on to proposition in regular
order, and his attention is necessarily enchained to each truth,
as it follows with logical certainty, from truths previously
demonstrated. He is then initiated into the mysterious laws of
natural philosophy, as they have been discovered, explained and
illustrated, by a course of rigorous induction, and is ultimately
familiarized with the yet nobler and more sublime investigations of
moral science, the refinements of taste, the beauties of eloquence,
and the charm of heavenly poesy. And this admirable training is
conducted remote from the bustle and cares of the world, in the
very hush of the passions, and beyond the reach of beguiling and
distracting pleasures. Here surely, then, the understanding is
disciplined, its discrimination rendered more acute, its general
health and vigor confirmed, while a facility is created for
directing its powers to the various manly and trying services which
may await in life's busy theatre. But not unfrequently is the
question asked by querulous students, why all this devoted attention
to the dead languages, to mathematical theorems, philosophical
experiments, metaphysical disquisitions and critical subtleties? In
the world [he soliloquizes] no one talks Greek or Latin, and in the
forum or legislative hall we shall not be called upon to demonstrate
the propositions of Euclid, or explain the phenomena of hydrostatics
and optics. The motives of human action are better learned in that
great practical school, the world, than by poring over the theories
of metaphysicians; and all the rules of Quintilian, Rollin, or Blair
will never make a powerful reasoner or an eloquent orator. Why,
then, shall we consume our nights and days in the acquisition of
that which is to be of no practical utility hereafter, and which
brings with it no immediate advantage, except the gratification of
pride, a shortlived honor, a distinction at commencement? Beware, my
young friends, beware of the tempter! These are the suggestions of
sloth--the most insidious, persuasive and dangerous of deceivers.
_Vitanda est improba Siren Desidia._
If you cannot close your ears against her insinuations, strengthen
your understandings to triumph over her sophisms, and nerve your
courage to resist her wiles. Be sure, if you submit to her benumbing
influence, and waste your days here in idleness, the time will come,
when with bitter, but perhaps unavailing anguish, you shall bemoan
your folly. Remember, that it is not designed by an academical
education to teach you all that it behooves you to learn. Education
is not completed within these walls. When you shall have quitted
this peaceful retreat, and selected the profession or state in
life in which you are to be engaged, then you should apply all
your efforts to the acquisition of that species of knowledge which
is more especially needed. Here are inculcated those elementary
principles of science and literature which experience has shown
to be best fitted to form the foundation of the character of the
scholar and gentleman--those rudiments of instruction, which,
omitted here, are rarely indeed acquired afterwards. Here are to be
formed those habits of vigorous and continuous application--here,
the capacities for improvement are to be cultivated and
strengthened, so that every occasion and every employment without
these walls may become subsidiary to further advancement in
knowledge, ability, and usefulness. It is a miserable fallacy to
mistake the exception for the rule. True it is, that those who have
won the highest honors at college do not always realize the hopes
which these glorious beginnings have excited. "The fair bloom of
fairest fruit" may be blasted by pestilent dews. Folly, vanity and
vice, low pursuits and vulgar associations, indolence, intemperance,
and debauchery but too often debase and destroy the generous youth
who entered on life's career rich in academical distinction, docile,
ardent for fame, patient of labor, of manly purpose and noblest
promise. Mourn over these moral wrecks. Lament the inadequacy of
all earthly good, the frail character of all human excellence.
Weep for those who have fallen from their high estate, but say not
it was folly in them thus to have risen. True it is also, that it
sometimes, though very rarely, happens that those who have been idle
during their academical course have, by extraordinary exertions,
retrieved their early neglect, and in the end outstripped others
who started in the race far ahead. These are the exceptions--they
furnish cause to humble arrogance, check presumption, banish
despair, and encourage reformation. But so surely as a virtuous
life usually precedes a happy death, so surely it will be found
that within the college precincts is laid the groundwork of that
preeminence afterwards acquired in the strife of men, and that
college distinctions are not only good testimony of the fidelity
with which college duties have been performed, but the best presages
and pledges of excellence on a more elevated and extensive field
of action. In defiance, therefore, of all the lures of pleasure and
seductive suggestions of sloth, let active, persevering industry
be the habit of your lives. Form this habit here, and cherish and
preserve it ever afterwards.