THE LIFE OF 
 
 GEORGE AUGUSTUS 
 
 \ ISABEL SMITH GATES 
 
 I 
 jr : 
 
Class LA_2ii7_ 
 
 Book . 
 
 Copyright )J^_ 
 
 w \i 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 
 
THE LIFE OF 
 GEORGE AUGUSTUS GATES 
 
GEORGE AUGUSTUS GATES 
 
The Life of 
 George Augustus Gates 
 
 by 
 
 ISABEL SMITH GATES 
 
 THE PILGRIM PRESS 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 

 Copyright 1915 
 By Isabel Smith Gates 
 
 ^/-^o 
 
 THE PILGRIM PRESS 
 BOSTON 
 
 ©GIA40136-1 
 
 JUiN I i lyl5 
 
FOEEWOED 
 
 I SEND this little book out with fear and 
 trembling lest it may seem an unworthy offer- 
 ing. It is not a literary production, it is not 
 a critical estimate of a man's worth to his 
 fellow-creatures, nor to the institutions to which 
 his life was related. It was not written for the 
 public, nor with this larger world in thought, 
 but because of inward compulsion and the joy 
 found in the work, as well as with a desire to 
 leave on record for my sons a summary of 
 their father's life and something concerning 
 the spirit in which his life was lived. Many 
 of the inner circle who have read this sketch 
 feel that because of its intimate touch it has 
 special and peculiar value for that large num- 
 ber of young men and women who have spent 
 their happy college years under his adminis- 
 tration. So, I take courage and send it forth 
 to speak its own message in its own way. 
 
 Isabel Smith Gates. 
 Cambridge, Mass., 
 April, 1915. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 Foreword .... 
 
 George Augustus Gates 
 I Boyhood and Youth . 
 II Life at Grinnell College 
 
 III A Year in the Pastorate . 
 
 IV The Years at Pomona College 
 V President of Fisk University 
 
 VI The Last Chapter 
 
 page 
 
 V 
 
 ix 
 1 
 
 11 
 27 
 33 
 45 
 55 
 
<}EORGE AUGUSTUS GATES 
 
 A TKIBUTE 
 
 My first meeting with President Gates oc- 
 curred shortly after his acceptance of the pres- 
 idency of Iowa College. I was leaving for my 
 first year in Europe ; he had already spent some 
 years there. In a few incisive and memorable 
 words he gave me advice for which I am under 
 lasting obligations. How often did I recall and 
 act upon it when hesitation through diffidence 
 or doubt would have meant failure to attain 
 a much desired end. So I became, at the very 
 beginning, acquainted with one of our Presi- 
 dent's most characteristic traits, his clear- 
 sighted, direct and ready helpfulness. 
 
 Wlien I returned to the college a full year 
 of the new administration had passed and I 
 was struck by certain manifest changes. There 
 was new order and decorum in chapel, an 
 achievement which had long baffled the earnest 
 efforts of an experienced faculty. **How has 
 this been doneT' I asked, and the only answer 
 I could get was, '* Gates did it." This was not 
 sufficient for me. I wanted to know how Gates 
 did it. No one could tell me ; and after serv- 
 ing with him in most confidential relations for 
 many years I am still unable to fully explain 
 
 [ix] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 the President's influence over the students. No 
 list of his virtues and his qualities, no verbatim 
 report of his words, no detailed account of his 
 acts, brings real understanding. ''Gates did 
 if — and '4f was now one thing and now an- 
 other quite diverse, — ^because he was Gates and 
 through his inherent personality. First at 
 Grinnell, then at Pomona and finally at Fisk 
 upon an alien race that remarkable personality 
 wrought its wise will. At Pomona and at 
 Fisk it was an experienced administrator who 
 worked beneficent changes ; but at Grinnell the 
 man was young, untried, inexperienced in aca- 
 demic affairs, and there, it seems, he did his 
 greatest work. 
 
 The relations of President Gates to his fac- 
 ulty are well described in Mrs. Gates' faithful 
 sketch. By relieving the teachers of harassing 
 cares concerning discipline he enabled them to 
 devote their energies to instruction and edu- 
 cational organization. In matters academic his 
 was emphatically a faculty administration. He 
 had neither the training nor the disposition 
 required for the mastery of the intricate details 
 of educational systems; but he had a genius 
 for finding the men to do that work, and to 
 them he gave intelligent and effective support. 
 
 By nature as well as by training Dr. Gates 
 was a preacher. Out of his own profound 
 religious experience he brought a message of 
 reconciliation between the new science and the 
 old religion. He was peculiarly adapted to aid 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 in effecting the transition of the earlier type 
 of Christian college to that of the educational 
 institution open to all truth, and he became 
 a conspicuous leader in the adjustment of the 
 new education to the new social gospel. For 
 twenty years before he came to Grinnell the 
 doctrine of evolution had been sympathetically 
 presented to the students of the college by 
 members of the faculty; but this was largely 
 intramural, the theory was not proclaimed from 
 the housetops. Under President Gates evolu- 
 tion became orthodox both in the college and 
 among the younger ministers of the churches. 
 Dr. Gates' utter, self -forgetting devotion to 
 his high calling as preacher of righteousness 
 and herald of the truth — all the truth that had 
 been revealed to him — shows us the dominant 
 note in his life and character. In the pursuit 
 of this great endeavor he was absolutely fear- 
 less and devoid of self-seeking. He once said 
 to me that it never seemed to him right to 
 receive a salary or to accept any kind of pay 
 for what he was doing. His work was a priv- 
 ilege. He rejoiced literally to pour out his 
 life in the cause of righteousness. To his own 
 heart he was debtor. He had received more 
 than he could ever give and how boundless his 
 obligation! How natural for a man of such 
 rare and beautiful spirit to choose for himself 
 the hard places in the service. How natural 
 to stay in the hard places with little pay when 
 easy positions with large salaries were open 
 
 [xi] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 to his acceptance. How natural that the officers 
 of the American Missionary Association know- 
 ing the man should seek to secure his services 
 for a negro college in the South. 
 
 When finally, with health already damaged 
 in the service of humanity, he went to Fisk, 
 how completely he vindicated his fitness and 
 power to deal with that toughest of human prob- 
 lems, race prejudice. Those of us who knew 
 Gates noted with inward satisfaction, but with- 
 out surprise, the skill with which he led the 
 Governor of his state and — greater triumph 
 still! — the Governor's wife to an entire change 
 of attitude towards our negro citizens. He 
 seemed the man for the time and for the place, 
 and our personal grief for his loss is mingled 
 with sore disappointment and regret that he 
 was not permitted to toil on in his eager, hearty, 
 happy and gloriously successful way through- 
 out the three score and ten years of man's 
 natural earthly span. 
 
 Jesse Macy. 
 
 Grinnell College, 
 Grinnell, Iowa. 
 
 [xii] 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 
 
 Geoege Augustus Gates was born on Jan- 
 uary 24th, 1851, at Topsham, a small New 
 England village in the granite hills of northern 
 Vermont. His boyhood was passed, however, 
 in East St. Johnsbury where his parents went 
 early in their married life. His mother knew 
 no other home for thirty-five years. The house 
 in which they lived was destroyed by fire about 
 1908. I well remember it with its beautiful 
 location, standing high in ^he angle made by 
 the old St. Johnsbury road, which, as it went 
 over the covered bridge, forked to east and 
 west. There was a stone wall about the front 
 yard over which honeysuckle and nasturtiums 
 hung in fullness of bloom. Along either side 
 of the walk to the front door were beds of old 
 fashioned flowers. The house itself was yellow 
 with white trimmings and green blinds, and 
 stood four square to all the winds that blew. 
 An old friend and neighbor has recently writ- 
 ten of it as *Hhe stately home mansion of the 
 Gates family. '^ With the exception of some 
 slight details about the front door, it was a 
 counterpart of the historic Longfellow House 
 in Cambridge. It was here — only about one 
 
 [1] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 hundred yards from the Moose River — that the 
 boy George passed his boyhood. For some ten 
 years he lived the life of the normal boy — 
 fishing, swimming, hunting woodchucks and 
 making life yield its delights as no one but a 
 boy can. Then a shadow fell across his life in 
 the sudden death of the father, — Hubbard 
 Gates. He was a miller and it was while his 
 mill was being repaired that he was instantly 
 killed by a falling timber. This left the widow 
 with three children, George, Estelle, and little 
 Zora. Mrs. Gates was a young woman of 
 strong, forceful character. As a girl she had 
 been given all the education which was in reach 
 of the average girl at that time, and had even 
 gone for a short time to Newbury Seminary — 
 afterward, Montpelier Seminary — which was a 
 rare privilege. Most fathers thought a com- 
 mon district school education quite sufficient 
 for their girls. Mrs. Gates' father knew she 
 was both an able scholar and teacher for she 
 was always eagerly sought in the district 
 schools, and for seven years taught success- 
 fully large classes and often big boys, twice 
 her size, if not twice her age. Her father had 
 been a miller in good circumstances and the 
 home possessed the comforts then available. 
 When left with no income and three young 
 children she still had her home. Her husband's 
 parents occupied a wing of it, but their re- 
 sources were not adequate to the growing 
 demands of four more. Her neighbors said 
 
 [2] 
 
Boyhood and Youth 
 
 '*she could never earn a living for herself and 
 care for those young children," but, nothing 
 daunted, she set her face to the task. That 
 she succeeded far beyond her expectations was 
 her reward. She opened one of her sunny east 
 rooms for millinery and dressmaking, and as 
 the work grew from year to year, she had six 
 or more girls working under her direction. 
 
 George, as the oldest child, was very helpful, 
 taking care of the home, working wherever he 
 could to add his boy's mite to the treasury, and 
 often, in the evening, running long seams on 
 the sewing machine to help his mother. That 
 he did not neglect his school work these words 
 recently written by one of the townspeople will 
 bear witness. **He was the most brilliant 
 scholar we ever had in our East Village schools ; 
 it was just as natural for him to acquire knowl- 
 edge readily from books as it was for our song- 
 birds to sing. He never sowed any *wild oats' 
 but was always * a credit to his bringing up. ' ' ' 
 One summer, when about thirteen, he went to 
 work for a farmer, which experience was never 
 forgotten. The farmer forgot that he was a 
 boy, a growing boy, not over strong, and he 
 worked him like a man. The food was monot- 
 onous and not overabundant, the hours long 
 and the work heavy for growing muscles. The 
 boy never complained, and only once in that 
 long summer of unremitting toil did he ever 
 lose courage. Having been allowed to go home 
 over Sunday, he dreaded so much going back 
 
 [ 3 ] . 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 that lie wept upon his mother's shoulders. 
 Years later, when sometimes asked if he would 
 like to be a farmer, he would reply with per- 
 haps surprising emphasis, *^No, I never want 
 to see a farm implement/' The iron had en- 
 tered his soul and years could not efface the 
 recollection. 
 
 Later, in the fall of 1865, he attended St. 
 Johnsbury Academy, going down the four 
 miles on Monday morning and returning Fri- 
 day night. His mother supplied him with his 
 food for the week. He was always a fine 
 scholar, taking rank among the first, if not 
 leading his class. After graduating with honor 
 the question came, **What next? Work or 
 more education?" Mrs. Gates said ^^More 
 education." The neighbors sniffed and even 
 said ironically, ^^You seem to think your boy 
 a little smarter than ours, that you send him 
 to college." Few boys in that town had so 
 much as dreamt of college, why should her boy 
 desire to go? In spite of all the discourage- 
 ments, the mother kept counsel with her own 
 heart and her boy's ambitions, and to Dart- 
 mouth College he went in the fall of 1869. 
 Dartmouth College in '69 was not the college 
 of today. Rooms were heated with stoves; 
 cared for by the individual student ; there was 
 no bath, public or private; the old pump on 
 the College Common furnished cool water in 
 summer and ice water in winter, and surely 
 to be clean then was to be akin to godliness. 
 
 [4] 
 
ROSETTA GATES STARK 
 
 THE MOTHER OF PRESIDENT GATES AT EIGHTY-SEVEN 
 
Boyhood and Youth 
 
 Nevertheless, high thinking and fine fellowship 
 were as common then as now. It was the cus- 
 tom at that time for many boys to earn part 
 or all of their expenses by staying out during 
 the winter term to teach, and in summer by 
 finding profitable employment on farms or 
 among the hotels of the White Mountain re- 
 sorts. Work for this one term was arranged 
 with this great falling off in view. Now-a-days 
 the loss from this dropping out is deemed so 
 unwise that every effort is made to obtain work 
 for students in the college town, so keeping 
 hold upon and uniting the student body. Dur- 
 ing those four years he joined the Delta Kappa 
 Epsilon Society; in his Junior year he won a 
 place which was assigned by rank on the Junior 
 Exhibition program, and on Commencement 
 Day, in June, 1873, he gave an oration when 
 receiving his B. A. From 73 to 75 he was 
 Principal of the Vermont Morrisville Academy 
 and Graded Schools, where he proved himself 
 an able administrator and an especially inspir- 
 ing teacher, and won friendships which lasted 
 to the time of his death. 
 
 In the fall of 1875 he entered Andover The- 
 ological Seminary, remaining two years. Fol- 
 lowing that he was tutor in a prominent Bos- 
 ton family for two years. These years were 
 fruitful in spiritual growth and they added to 
 his fine mental equipment a refinement and cul- 
 ture of manner and spirit which means much 
 to a youth who has been a part of an educa- 
 
 [5] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 tional institutional life for many years. The 
 quiet strength of the head of this household, 
 the rarely fine spiritual vision and mental ac- 
 tivity of the wife and mother, and the constant 
 contact with men and women — the choice spirits 
 of Boston — made this home of unusual charm 
 and inspirational power. With them he went 
 abroad for a year of travel and remained for 
 a year of study after their return. 
 
 He was able to sit under some of the ablest 
 of theologians and philosophers, as Godet at 
 Neuchatel, Christlieb at Bonn, and Lotze at 
 Gottingen. It was often his great privilege to 
 be invited by Lotze to accompany him on some 
 of his long walks. We can imagine what these 
 walks held for him. It was during this period 
 of study and travel that he met and solved the 
 fundamental questions of life. Because this 
 conquest was fraught with temporary darkness 
 and great agony of spirit he was later able in 
 a peculiar measure to help young men to see 
 the light and to find ^^the Way, the Truth 
 and the Life.'' Out of fourteen men and 
 women who represent Pomona College now on 
 the foreign field twelve went out under his 
 leadership. 
 
 Upon returning to America full of enthusi- 
 asm, having found, as he believed out of his 
 own experiences, a sure foundation for an intel- 
 ligent, consistent faith and loyalty to the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, he finished his work at Andover 
 and graduated in June, 1880. Then came one 
 
 [6] 
 
Boyhood and Youth 
 
 of the most unexpectedly trjdng experiences of 
 his life. He had been taught in Germany to 
 seek for the Truth fearlessly, as that was the 
 meaning of Life, and to hold fast that which 
 was good. He was called in August, 1880, 
 to become the pastor of the Congregational 
 Church of Littleton, New Hampshire. The 
 Ecclesiastical Council, which was headed by 
 Dartmouth's President, Dr. S. C. Bartlett, 
 refused him ordination because of ** doctrinal 
 unsoundness.*' Dr. Gates had found **the 
 Christianity of Jesus Christ was summed up 
 in love; its theology, God is love; its law, 
 the law of love; its ritual, the spontaneous 
 expression of love to God; its Church organ- 
 ization, cooperation in the service of others, 
 inspired by love." But this was not enough. 
 His statement of formal belief was frank and 
 fearless. He did not know dogmatically of 
 certain great mysteries. To him the revelation 
 of truth was progressive, growing ever more 
 and more. To the young man before them 
 spiritual conviction, belief in the unseen as 
 the real, a working gospel which was a foun- 
 tain of living water for quenching the thirst 
 of men, were things he knew he had. However, 
 Dr. Bartlett and others of the council were 
 asking that he follow the old paths in the the- 
 ological woods, forgetting that ^* paths are not 
 dwelling places, but cleared roads for advanc- 
 ing feet." So the verdict remained *^he had 
 no gospel to preach. " It is interesting to notice 
 
 [7] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 in this connection * dime's revenges/' This 
 same doughty knight of theological truth, Dr. 
 Bartlett, wrote Mr. Gates some ten years later 
 (as President of Dartmouth College) announc- 
 ing the bestowal of the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity upon him at that commencement sea- 
 son, and spoke of his pleasure at being chosen 
 to convey the message. As if this was not 
 enough, in 1892 he again wrote, expressing the 
 pleasure it would give him to have Dr. Gates 
 for his successor in office as President of Dart- 
 mouth College, should he find himself able to 
 favorably consider the matter. Those two in- 
 cidents healed forever the tender spot in his 
 heart caused by that crushing blow at the begin- 
 ning of his ministerial career. Among Dr. 
 Gates ' letters I find one, written evidently about 
 the time of this second letter of Dr. Bartlett 's, 
 in which the writer (a minister) says, ^^May 
 I be allowed to congratulate you on the honor 
 you have received from the Trustees of Dart- 
 mouth College. It must have been especially 
 gratifying as coming from an institution whose 
 recent head once sat upon an ordaining coun- 
 cil, — zealous for God to be sure but ^ not accord- 
 ing to knowledge.' " In this connection may 
 be mentioned an interesting episode in the life 
 of John Fiske, which I found published recently 
 in one of our magazines. While an under- 
 graduate in Harvard Mr. Fiske was summoned 
 before the faculty under the double charge of 
 having been found reading a book in church 
 
 [8] 
 
Boyhood and Youth 
 
 instead of listening to the sermon, and the 
 ** accumulated evidences of his conversion to 
 Darwinism/' He was let off, however, with 
 an admonition and a threat of ''summary ex- 
 pulsion if he did not in the future refrain from 
 airing his too-advanced views. ' ' Less than ten 
 years later he was called back to Harvard, to 
 expound under its auspices that for which he 
 had almost suffered expulsion. ''Short range 
 condemnation and a long range vindication" 
 is not unusual in history. 
 
 In 1880, within a short time after his ordi- 
 nation in Littleton was refused. Dr. Gates went 
 to Upper Montclair, New Jersey, to preach to 
 a congregation of people of different denomi- 
 nations. They had built a fine edifice, but 
 because of technicalities possession was denied 
 them. The result was a generous giving up 
 of all that the building had meant to them 
 in labor, hope and sacrifice. At such a time, 
 under such trying circumstances, was the young 
 man called to bring honey from the lion's 
 loins and to re-create the spirit of Christian 
 unity. He accepted gladly the hard task which 
 would occupy his mind and keep his own spirit 
 sweet. A council was called with Dr. Lyman 
 Abbott as moderator and he was ordained and 
 installed as pastor. Within three years his sal- 
 ary of $600 was raised to $1,500 and later to 
 $2,000. He married in 1882 Isabel Augustus 
 Smith of Syracuse, N. Y., and two of his three 
 children were born while in this parish. That 
 
 [9] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 his work was blessed, the record shows. This 
 church of forty-two members held at that time 
 the unique position of giving to missions the 
 largest amount proportionally of any Congre- 
 gational Church then in the United States. 
 
 [16] 
 
CHAPTER II 
 LIFE AT GEINNELL COLLEGE 
 
 In the fall of 1887, after seven years of 
 service with the Upper Montclair church, Mr. 
 Gates accepted a call to Iowa College, at Grin- 
 nell, Iowa. In connection with this event a 
 quotation from one of his letters to the Pres- 
 ident of the Board may be of interest: *^In 
 addition to what I have previously written, I 
 desire to say this, in order to avoid any mis- 
 understanding on the part of anyone. What 
 I have said, or now say, must not be understood 
 as a pledge to any policy, nor must it be looked 
 upon as a promise to say or do anything, or 
 to refrain from doing or saying anything. I 
 desire that it shall be understood between the 
 Trustees and myself that if I come, I come, 
 to quote the words of one of their own number, 
 *as a free man in Jesus Christ.' I desire to 
 state to the Trustees that in case I come it will 
 be my purpose to keep my work and my office 
 free from partisan theological complications. 
 I refer to questions now disturbing our denom- 
 ination. Any other course would seem to me 
 injurious to the best interests of all concerned. '* 
 
 This Congregational college was born of the 
 spirit of that Iowa Band of young men who so 
 
 [11] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 splendidly ventured forth from their homes in 
 the far East, leaving financial success behind 
 them, to enter into the great unknown West 
 and build churches and start colleges. Let us 
 never forget what this country owes education- 
 ally to the Congregational Church. Like the 
 heroic Methodist circuit riders, these Congre- 
 gational preachers also went forth to conquer 
 into the then far "West, the Bible in one hand 
 and the school-book in the other. 
 
 To this college at Grinnell, from 1887 to 
 1900, Dr. Gates gave thirteen of his best years, 
 equally successful as an administrator and an 
 inspiring constructive educator. The funds of 
 the college grew rapidly under his hand. A 
 new chair was created, unlike anything then 
 in existence in the colleges. It was called 
 '^The Chair of Applied Christianity.'' Its 
 purpose was to promote the study of social 
 conditions and the search for methods of 
 Christ-like application to them. The first to 
 occupy this chair was Dr. George D. Herron 
 and later it was filled by Dr. Edward Steiner, 
 of international reputation. 
 
 Dr. Gates established the *^ Friday morning 
 Chapel," when the President should speak 
 directly to his student body. For years his 
 printed *^ Chapel Talks" were in constant de- 
 mand, and their variety, originality and virility 
 still make them of interest. He, too, continued 
 on a broad scale the custom which has since 
 been widely adopted as a source of inspiration 
 
 [12] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 and broadening of view-point; namely, the in- 
 viting of prominent men to speak on the college 
 platform. He had great faith in the *^ con- 
 tagion of greatness and fine enthusiasms.'' 
 
 Wliile at Grinnell Dr. Gates received many 
 honors. He was asked to be President of two 
 large state universities, promising large finan- 
 cial inducements for the work and for himself 
 personally; two colleges in the East followed 
 suit, and the refusal to one of them cost him 
 so much that it was hard for him in later years 
 to speak of it. His reason for declining was 
 the same to all. The need was so great where 
 he was, and the unsettling of the college if left 
 would be so serious a matter that he must not 
 think of himself. It was characteristic of his 
 whole life. He was given the degree of LL. D. 
 from Nebraska University in 1893 and the 
 degree of D. D. from Dartmouth College in 
 1892. He appreciated these overtures and 
 honors and used them as spurs to larger en- 
 deavor. I might speak of the value of his 
 work educationally to the state. He traveled its 
 length and breadth again and again, preaching 
 and inspiring young men to seek for the best. 
 He strove to open the eyes of older men to 
 new forms of truth, as well as to have the 
 obedient spirit and the listening ear. In Grin- 
 nell he stood for clean athletics, when such a 
 stand was somewhat unpopular; he made an 
 ** honor system'' into an honor habit and a 
 permanent basis for good faith between stu- 
 
 [13] 
 
Geor^ge Augustus Gates 
 
 dents and Faculty. He broadened the curric- 
 ulum and introduced the group system; he 
 dignified the chapel service, and his unique 
 chapel talks were something many of the 
 *Hown" as well as of the *^gown'' did not like 
 to miss. He gave more adequate expression to 
 the ^^Grinnell spirit.'' He embodied afresh 
 that spirit which had been so potent from the 
 beginning of the college. To his Faculty he 
 was not only the dignified officer, but one who 
 could use ^^parliamentary principles without 
 permitting action to be hindered by parlia- 
 mentary rules; his humor lightened dreary 
 discussion, his enthusiasm gave interest to 
 details, and one lost the sense of pettiness of 
 work in the feeling of its greatness. ' ' 
 
 The Faculty grew from seventeen to thirty- 
 five. The scholastic standing was constantly 
 raised, so that when he left it stood among the 
 highest of the Western colleges as to quality 
 of work. In 1910, he returned to Grinnell to 
 give the Commencement address. Referring 
 to that happy time, he writes : **It was a special 
 joy to me to be at Grinnell Commencement. 
 Nearly nine-tenths of the alumni body which 
 gathered at that time were *my' graduates. If 
 Peter hesitates about admitting me, I am per- 
 fectly ready to refer the case to those Grinnell 
 alumni. ' ' 
 
 Perhaps a word ought to be said here as to 
 Dr. George D. Herron and his work. He came 
 to Iowa College to occupy the new Chair of 
 
 [14] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 Applied Christianity, presented by Mrs. Rand 
 of Burlington, under new conditions and in 
 response to the growing social consciousness of 
 men that human brotherhood might be pos- 
 sible. He hoped to bring to this chair fresh 
 interpretations of brotherhood, in the light of 
 the pressing social and industrial interests of 
 the day. He came at the invitation of the 
 Trustees, and with the cordial cooperation of 
 the President and Faculty. That he then had 
 a great gospel of social righteousness to preach, 
 few would question. Dr. Gates gave him his 
 cordial, sincere cooperation, his personal affec- 
 tion and the freedom of his Chair as long as 
 he could conscientiously do so. There came a 
 time however when he could no longer agree 
 with many of Dr. Herron's doctrines, nor 
 endorse all his teaching. Neither was the col- 
 lege ready or willing to be held responsible for 
 many of his growing radical views. So grad- 
 ually the breach widened, and other elements 
 of danger entering in, through personal rela- 
 tions, made it best for Dr. Herron to resign. 
 This came about some six months after Dr. and 
 Mrs. Gates had gone to Colorado seeking the 
 recovery of health for Mrs. Gates. 
 
 Perhaps Dr. Gates' splendid belief in the 
 goodness of men, his rare loyalty to friendship 
 when once given, his unquenchable faith in the 
 value and greatness of the truth which he be- 
 lieved Dr. Herron 's message embodied, with 
 his desire to see that truth launched upon a 
 
 [ 15 ] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 world as ever reluctant, gave him a patience 
 and charity during this period beyond that of 
 most men. It was a peculiarly delicate and 
 difficult administrative situation. Beside the 
 vital truth wrapped up in Dr. Herron's mes- 
 sage, there was varied and fine service rendered 
 by those standing behind Dr. Herron, and there 
 were obligations for generous gifts and for the 
 creation and endowment of the very chair Dr. 
 Herron occupied. It was perhaps all these ele- 
 ments which entering in made Dr. Gates less 
 able to understand as fully or quickly what may 
 have seemed very clear to a disinterested on- 
 looker. Then too. Dr. Gates never allowed 
 himself to judge any man without an adequate 
 ground for that judgment. This very quality 
 endeared him to his student body, for they 
 knew that at his hand they would receive jus- 
 tice. It also made any sentence of his more 
 effective and impressive. From a student who 
 had to leave college because of flagrant wrong- 
 doing, came this testimony many years later: 
 *^I want to thank you now for the discipline I 
 received at your hands. The justice and sever- 
 ity, coupled with your belief that I could and 
 would retrieve myself, has been my satisfaction 
 and incentive. I want you to know that I have 
 achieved honorable citizenship and am a happy 
 husband and father.'' This genius for loyalty, 
 for a wonderful faith in the deep-down good- 
 ness of men, was Dr. Gates ' contribution to his 
 world. Like all great virtues it sometimes 
 
 [16] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 leaned to the side of weakness, and so may 
 have at times affected adversely his adminis- 
 trative ability. At any rate, of this we are sure, 
 *^Time justifies a calm judgment and an unfal- 
 tering faith in the leading of Providence. ' ' The 
 Chair of Applied Christianity in Grinnell Col- 
 lege has been occupied since Dr. Herron's res- 
 ignation by Dr. Edward A. Steiner, widely 
 known all over this country. Under him many 
 young men have been stimulated to interest 
 in and work for social betterment. Through 
 the generosity of the college. Dr. Steiner has 
 been able to give himself to a national work 
 for a new and better appreciation of our so- 
 called alien races. 
 
 In a recent number of *^The Congregation- 
 alist,'' in the telling of his life story. Dr. Steiner 
 bears unconscious witness to the value of those 
 truths which Dr. Herron announced and for 
 whose promulgation Dr. Gates and the college 
 gave themselves. These are his words: **A 
 number of causes have contributed to the meas- 
 ure of success which I have attained in my 
 department. The radicalism of my predeces- 
 sor had by the time I began my work become 
 more or less the accepted doctrine of the 
 churches. At least no one was startled by the 
 word social as related to the teaching of Jesus. 
 The seed sown by the pioneers had germinated 
 well, and many churches were permeated by 
 the social spirit of the gospel. I began teach- 
 ing the glorious Christian doctrine of Brother- 
 
 [17] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 hood, my one aim being to send my students 
 out rightly related to their God, their fellow- 
 men, and their duty. ... I teach one religious 
 doctrine with a scientific dogmatism and one 
 scientific doctrine with a religious zeal ; namely, 
 that underneath all the differences between 
 races and classes humanity is essentially one/^ 
 
 Surely one of these ^* pioneers'^ as a sower 
 of a social gospel was Dr. Gates, and Dr. Her- 
 ron's reiterated message, the one clear note 
 through all the din of other sounds and the 
 one for which Dr. Gates gave himself with 
 passionate earnestness, was that ^* underneath 
 all the differences between races and classes 
 humanity is essentially one.'' Shall not Iowa 
 College at Grinnell be proud that she stood long 
 and even suffered that from her watch-tower 
 might ring out to the churches and to the civic 
 conscience of men one of the first strong mes- 
 sages of social regeneration through the reality 
 and practicality of the Brotherhood of Man? 
 
 In speaking of the Chair of Applied Chris- 
 tianity and its first occupant I must add a word 
 in regard to a religious weekly called *^The 
 Kingdom,'' published for several years at 
 Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was the enlarged 
 ** Northwestern Congregationalist " under new 
 leadership. This paper was closely related to 
 the work done at Grinnell in that it was made 
 possible by the spirit engendered there and by 
 the men who came to the ** retreat" held there 
 for several successive summers. The paper 
 
 [18] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 was principally concerned with things pertain- 
 ing to the coming of the Kingdom of Christ 
 here and now, — hence its name, *^The King- 
 dom.'' Its aim was to persuade men to **seek 
 first the Kingdom of God and His righteous- 
 ness." It dealt largely with those great ques- 
 tions which touch the social relations of men 
 and vitally affect the establishing of the King- 
 dom of Heaven on earth. Its managing editor 
 and publisher was Eev. Herbert W. Gleason, 
 whose personal sacrifices, financial and other- 
 wise, in the conduct of the paper can only be 
 appreciated by those who worked with him at 
 the time. The board of associate editors was 
 headed by Dr. Gates and included such men as 
 Prof. John Bascom, Dr. Josiah Strong, Prof. 
 Jesse Macy, Dr. Thomas C. Hall, Eev. Geo. D. 
 Black, Prof. John R. Commons, Dr. Washing- 
 ton Gladden and Mr. Robert A. Woods, while 
 the list of contributors contained the names of 
 many prominent leaders in the religious and 
 social thought of the country. All gave freely 
 of their services without compensation, and 
 seldom if ever has a paper of its kind received 
 such notable and generous support *^ without 
 money and without price. ' ' It did a great work 
 in stimulating the growth of social conscious- 
 ness through the application of the teachings 
 of Jesus Christ to social conditions. The pub- 
 lication of this weekly was at a time too, when 
 the idea of service as applied to business rela- 
 tions was exceedingly new. In the awakening 
 
 [19] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 of such miglity forces, it is not strange that 
 they should have at times gone to extremes, but 
 because they were mighty and righteous, they 
 ultimately must be stronger than the powers 
 they stood against. Today this now tremen- 
 dously awakened conscience is dealing sternly, 
 not only with wrong committed, but with the 
 persons whose methods tend to such wrong. 
 All our public service commissions today are 
 only another expression of this same awakened 
 conscience. 
 
 There is however, no great social movement 
 but carries with it much that is not essential 
 to its usefulness, nor necessarily a part of its 
 value. Such was the fact in connection with 
 the new spirit of social consciousness which was 
 embodied in Dr. Herron's message. That it 
 was imperiled later by the individual does not 
 permanently detract from its value. He em- 
 phasized this gospel of social responsibility 
 at a time when the churches had not yet greatly 
 realized or preached it, and when the people's 
 vision was darkened. All that was precious 
 and vital in it has come now, in our day, with 
 such force and power that it is hard to realize 
 the apathy and even antagonism to it existent 
 at that time. A prominent minister and teacher 
 of men wrote three years later that it was his 
 deliberate opinion 'Hhat the little paper, while 
 it lasted, struck the highest and truest note of 
 any publication in America, before or since.'' 
 
 There was one experience in Dr. Gates' aca- 
 
 [20] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 demic life that deserves special note in this 
 connection because of its peculiar interest and 
 value to all lovers of honorable methods which 
 concern our public schools. In the year 1896 
 Dr. Gates read before the College Section of 
 the Southeastern Iowa Teachers* Association, 
 a little pamphlet of some forty-seven pages. 
 Its object was *Ho acquaint the public with 
 certain notorious facts relating to the unscru- 
 pulous methods of a well known school-book 
 monopoly in introducing its text books into the 
 public school.** This paper created so strong 
 a sentiment as to its courage, timeliness and 
 value, that it was endorsed by the Association 
 as a body and recommended for publication. 
 However, it lay for a year on Dr. Gates* desk 
 before it was sent to *^The Kingdom Publishing 
 Co.,** of Minneapolis, Minnesota, by whom it 
 was published under the title of **A Foe to 
 American Schools.** In the writing of this 
 pamphlet Dr. Gates had but accepted the 
 American Book Company *s own challenge, pub- 
 licly stated in circulars sent out by them to 
 their patrons. These are their words: **We 
 ask our patrons and correspondents to look 
 around them and view the business transac- 
 tions of this company and its agents. We invite 
 such a test. * * The first edition of two thousand 
 copies was at once exhausted and a second was 
 called for. These were just ready for circu- 
 lation when the American Book Company 
 sought to secure an injunction against the pub- 
 
 [21] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 lishers, cliargmg the book with being ^^false, 
 scandalous and libelous" and asking for an 
 order of court to restrain the further publica- 
 tion and circulation of the book. After a hear- 
 ing in court this petition for an injunction was 
 dismissed. Then followed a suit against Dr. 
 Gates personally, as the author, and another 
 against the publishers, each alleging libel and 
 conspiracy with rival publishers and each claim- 
 ing one hundred thousand dollars damages. 
 Meanwhile the little pamphlet went far and 
 wide, uttering its warning to American educa- 
 tors. In January, 1898, in the suit against the 
 Kingdom Publishing Company, the judge who 
 presided practically took the case out of the 
 hands of the jury and ordered a verdict for the 
 plaintiff on a purely legal technicality, — an 
 important witness not being able to reach the 
 court-room in time to have his evidence in- 
 cluded. One of the jurymen, after the trial 
 was over, stated that in their deliberations the 
 evidence given in the case was not considered 
 at all ; in view of the judge 's positive instruc- 
 tions they felt bound to render a verdict for 
 the company. This was made for seventy-five 
 hundred dollars instead of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 With regard to the suit against Dr. Gates 
 personally, the Des Moines Leader of March 
 4, 1898, made the following comment: 
 
 "The American Book Company received a 
 knockout blow yesterday at the hands of Judge 
 
 [22] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 Woolson of the United States Circuit Court 
 in its libel damage ease against President Gates 
 of Iowa College. Fourteen of the fifteen counts 
 in its petition for one hundred thousand dollar 
 damages were stricken out. The fifteenth which 
 stands is of such little importance as compared 
 to the others, that the finding practically car- 
 ried the book company out of court. . . . The 
 rulings of the court give the plaintiff a case, 
 such as it is, but the effect is, to intents and 
 purposes, a sweeping victory for Gates. It 
 leaves but seventeen lines of a pamphlet con- 
 taining forty-seven pages on which to build 
 a case. . . . The case will never be submitted 
 to a court on the question of facts involved in 
 the seventeen lines of the pamphlet in which 
 it is held there may be libel. ' ' 
 
 Dr. Gates was quite indifferent as to what 
 the verdict of the courts might be, **for no 
 verdict could change the conditions to which 
 the pamphlet called attention.'' He felt the 
 case was only nominally his **for it is really 
 the case of the American schools and the Amer- 
 ican people. A corporation should not be un- 
 justly attacked any more than an individual" 
 and for that reason he wished this company 
 to have every opportunity for a clear vindi- 
 cation, but any vindication which should be 
 merely technical, namely a judgment for them 
 when no adequate defense was made, would 
 not be clear vindication. Henry D. Loyd of 
 Chicago said of this suit, *Hhe issue they have 
 
 [23] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 raised regarding American schools and school 
 children is one of the most momentous that 
 can be presented to the American people/' 
 Dr. Gates never regretted his part in helping 
 to arrest in this case, and to make less possible 
 in the future, notorious abuses in any * ' school- 
 book trust.'* All the statements made con- 
 cerning this suit can be verified from Volume 
 X, 1897-1898, of **The Kingdom.'' 
 
 About 1900 the very serious illness of Dr. 
 Gates ' wife from persistent asthma, from which 
 she had suffered from her first coming to Iowa, 
 made it absolutely imperative to remove to the 
 high mountain regions of the farther West. 
 The decision was made seemingly in haste, but 
 it had been a growing conviction for several 
 years, only the extreme hour of need brought 
 the decision to a climax in twenty-four hours 
 after a consultation of physicians. All that 
 they both had hoped might be their life-work 
 was given up, and Mrs. Gates was taken to 
 Colorado under orders ** never to return to 
 live" in that home which was so endeared to 
 them both. Her rapid gain and final restora- 
 tion to health justified this action. Meantime 
 Dr. Gates returned to Grinnell to adjust the 
 college to the change in leadership, as at this 
 time the trustees felt they could not let him 
 go. He was asked to remain and complete that 
 college year from January to June, and, after 
 a summer in Colorado with his family, to re- 
 turn to open the new college year in September. 
 
 [24] 
 
Life at Grinnell College 
 
 This he did, although it meant much to his 
 family to have him so far away for nearly a 
 year. In December, 1900, having seen the col- 
 lege prepared for a new administrator, he left 
 for Colorado. A quotation from one of the 
 countless letters received at this time, relative 
 to his going to the far West, may prove inter- 
 esting. It is written by a man who had a large 
 family of children all of whom were at one 
 time or another in college under Dr. Gates. 
 
 **We all, belonging to this house, are simply 
 inconsolable at the action you have taken. To 
 us the shadow on the dial seems going back- 
 ward. It takes all the heart out of Iowa Col- 
 lege so far as I am concerned. . . . But I did 
 not start to say such things as these, but to 
 tell you how grateful I am that it has been 
 given to all of my children to have been under 
 your teaching for the past ten years, and to 
 thank you for the inspiration and uplift you 
 have given to them and to so many of the young 
 people of Iowa. Whatever may become of 
 Iowa College in the future, the years of its 
 more recent past will live in those you have 
 led into larger conceptions of life and duty.'* 
 
 There was one incident in connection with 
 Dr. Gates' departure from Iowa College that 
 was so significant and unique, that I want to 
 speak of it here. Just the day before leaving 
 he was asked to attend a Faculty meeting. 
 He was somewhat surprised, as his official 
 meetings with that body were over. On enter- 
 
 [25] 
 
George Augustus Gates - 
 
 ing the room lie found a chairman in his ac- 
 customed place, which for an instant gave him 
 a queer feeling. In a few moments, however, 
 it was all made clear to him when Professor 
 Main, now President of the college, arose and 
 said that, as all formal Faculty meetings were 
 over, the body felt they would like to gather 
 once again with their departing leader. A 
 beautiful silver and gold loving cup was then 
 brought in, filled with wine. Professor Main 
 took it in his hands and addressed Dr. Gates 
 with words most beautiful and touching. He 
 referred to the occasion as **a sacrament of 
 love, friendship and fellowship that time could 
 not destroy," and said: **The cup has three 
 handles : one was for the Faculty, one for our 
 President, and one for Mrs. Gates." Some 
 eight or ten others followed him in speeches 
 fresh from their hearts, '* tender and sweet," 
 and then the cup was passed from one to the 
 other, each drilling in silence. By the time 
 it had reached Dr. Gates it was almost impos- 
 sible for him to speak words which could con- 
 vey what he felt. One of the Faculty who had 
 been a life-long member of the Church said a 
 year later, that for the first time he hnew what 
 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper meant. 
 You may be sure that loving cup is a precious 
 legacy to his wife and sons. 
 
 [26] 
 
CHAPTER III 
 A YEAR IN THE PASTORATE 
 
 In order to give Mrs. Gates the fullest oppor- 
 tunity to regain complete health, and to allow 
 himself time to be adjusted to a new situation, 
 he accepted, within a month (in December, 
 1901), an invitation to the First Congregational 
 Church of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Here he spent 
 about one year. Nowhere did his somewhat 
 rare originality of mind show more conspicu- 
 ously. Sermons preached then are still living 
 in the hearts of many people as a unique and 
 impressive revelation of some new and won- 
 derful aspect of the mind and heart of the 
 Father in His relation to His children. Thir- 
 teen years of contact with impressionable youth 
 made him less patient with the slowness of 
 heart and indifference of men to the Spirit of 
 God as found in organized church life. He 
 longed to lay his hand on clay that could be 
 moulded while yet plastic rather than to melt 
 or break the hardened material. To be with- 
 out social vision was to him to be almost blind. 
 So he looked forward to a return to college 
 work somewhere in the West. 
 
 In connection with his short stay in Chey- 
 enne one event ought to be related, as it has 
 
 [27] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 to do with state and national political history. 
 The record is largely taken from Dr. Gates* 
 printed story of it. In 1900 Wyoming was the 
 one state of the Union that formally licensed 
 gambling and actually issued gamblers' li- 
 censes. These were held, practically without 
 exception, by saloon-keepers. At an informal 
 meeting of four of the pastors of the city this 
 fact came out in the conversation and it was 
 proposed that as the Legislature was then in 
 session it would be just the right time to abol- 
 ish that dishonor. At first the suggestion was 
 received with smiles but gradually the serious- 
 ness of the proposed question dominated the 
 meeting. Of course the proposer was George 
 A. Gates. It was decided to invite the coop- 
 eration of the other ministers, but all declined. 
 That convinced the original four. Baptist, Con- 
 gregational, Presbyterian and Methodist, that 
 they must do it and **do it now." A young 
 lawyer drew the bill and a sturdy Scotch sena- 
 tor presented it. Not desiring to be too bold 
 a local-option bill was drawn up. A vote was 
 taken in the Senate and the bill was turned 
 down with scorn and laughter. In the Senate 
 chamber only the four ministers from outside 
 were present at the voting. But that Senate, 
 as have some other Senates, met its Waterloo. 
 The Methodist pastor had Irish blood in his 
 veins, the Baptist inherited a square jaw, the 
 Presbyterian was a Scotch man, and the Con- 
 gregationalist had Vermont granite in his 
 
 [28] 
 
A Year in the Pastorate 
 
 makeup. Result — the local-option bill was 
 changed into a state prohibition gambling law 
 — and the war was on. One city paper stood 
 for reform; the other, controlled by a United 
 States senator, at first strongly opposed it but 
 later, when it became popular, nearly ruined the 
 cause by its approval. Mass meetings were 
 held in the churches, the voting women gave 
 their united help, but no prominent citizen 
 would speak or preside save one, — a fine old 
 ex- Senator. All honor to him. When the 
 women swung solidly into the cause with their 
 power, plus personal influence, the gamblers 
 recognized the danger and rallied their friends 
 fiercely to their standard. Their cohorts, from 
 hundreds of miles, gathered at the Capitol and 
 delays, amendments and tricky devices were 
 used openly and shamelessly. 
 
 At last came the day for the Senate's vote. 
 The women were there — fine strong women 
 who as lovers of Home and Right were ready 
 to fight if need be for their children's right 
 to a fair chance. The saloon-keepers' *^ con- 
 stituents" were also there and needed no label 
 to tell whence they came, or why they were 
 there. It took courage, great courage, to stand 
 for that bill, for every man knew that it meant 
 his political doom if he voted for it, for his 
 ** constituency" was threateningly watching. 
 The plan was to kill the bill in the House and 
 here dilatory tactics almost won, for the House 
 vote was forced only on the last morning of 
 
 [29] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 the day on wMch the session expired by limi- 
 tation. The ministers realized the danger and 
 met for last desperate action. From that meet- 
 ing they went out to interview the Governor, 
 the Attorney-General, the Secretary of State 
 and several other leading politicians. From 
 them came the weak promise, **We will try 
 to pass the bill but may fail.'' This was not 
 enough and the four ministers thus declared 
 themselves : 
 
 *^ There are sixty members of this Legisla- 
 ture, fifty-seven of whom are Republicans. 
 Now the party thus in power either can and 
 will not, or wills to and cannot carry a desired 
 measure. Accept either horn of that dilemma 
 you choose. We four men are also Eepublicans. 
 But we promise you that if our party in this 
 State is so allied with a vice like gambling, 
 and is so weak, that with fifty-seven out of 
 sixty votes it cannot pass this bill, then we 
 four men will take care of our pastorates as 
 we may or surrender them if need be, and will 
 travel over this State and organize the moral 
 forces therein to sweep you men out of power 
 and even out of the Eepublican party." (There 
 were not more than 40,000 voters in the State.) 
 ** You have already seen what we can do in the 
 way of arraying voters, especially the women, 
 on this clear moral issue; you have means, 
 therefore, of judging the value of what we 
 say.'' Those men took a little time to con- 
 sider, and then they reported that in all prob- 
 
 [30] 
 
A Year in tJie Pastorate 
 
 ability the bill would pass the next morning. 
 It did, though many telegrams were exchanged 
 that night with home voters and local politi- 
 cians explaining the ^* necessity'' that had 
 arisen. It is reported that the most important 
 of these exchanges was the obtaining of the 
 final consent of a national Senator — one knows 
 not if that report be true. But the battle was 
 not yet won. For four years, by technicalities 
 of various degrees of infamy and by the fact 
 that the four ministers had gone from Chey- 
 enne, the ultimate carrying out of the victory 
 was delayed. But finally a new young city 
 attorney came, and he saw the situation. He 
 had the temerity to ask why that law had 
 never been enforced and went forth and had it 
 enforced. The chief gambler of the city moved 
 out of town. This man was one of the ** leading 
 citizens'' to receive a President of the United 
 States when on a tour, and had dictated the 
 politics of that great state for a dozen years. 
 
 Meantime in 1902 there came to Dr. Gates 
 an urgent appeal to go to Talladega, one of 
 our largest American Missionary Association 
 schools, but the age of his two boys made it 
 unwise to take them South into an entirely 
 colored school. Fisk University, at Nashville, 
 also made its plea at this time. He and his 
 wife visited Washburn College at Topeka, Kan- 
 sas, at the invitation of the Trustees, but the 
 climate proved, even in the few days of this 
 visit, to be similar in its effect to that at Grin- 
 
 [31] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 nell, so that it was not possible to undertake 
 the work there. 
 
 Then followed the call to Pomona College, 
 Claremont, California — a young Congrega- 
 tional college which was just coming into 
 existence when Dr. Gates first took up the 
 Presidency of Iowa College in 1887. The col- 
 lege was heavily burdened with debt and in 
 great need of an inspiring strong leadership. 
 Difficulties were never obstacles to George A. 
 Gates, only an added spur. The climate prom- 
 ised to be an ideal one for Mrs. Gates, so that 
 he felt it best to accept this call, and on De- 
 cember 4, 1901, the family arrived in Clare- 
 mont. 
 
 [32] 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE YEARS AT POMONA COLLEGE 
 
 At Pomona, as at Grinnell fourteen years 
 before, Mr. Gates at once started a campaign 
 for the removal of the college debt. The sal- 
 aries paid were probably all that seemed pos- 
 sible under the existing conditions but were 
 wholly inadequate and their payment intermit- 
 tent. He made a change in this latter respect 
 at once, stipulating that on the first day of 
 each month salaries were to be paid first, as 
 no man could be respected or could respect 
 himself if constantly unable to meet his living 
 expenses. As rapidly as possible the salaries 
 of the teaching force were increased by his 
 special labor, although his own never changed — 
 his attitude was never one of self-seeking but 
 always thoughtful for others. At Pomona, his 
 relation to the college, church and town was 
 most intimate. All projects for civic better- 
 ment or material growth met not only his help- 
 ful word but, as far as possible, his cordial 
 financial support. A bank, an improved ceme- 
 tery, water- works and an Inn for college and 
 town, still bear witness to his interest. Not 
 only local affairs but all vital questions con- 
 cerning Southern California were within his 
 
 [33] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 range of interest. The good roads movement, 
 the struggle for freedom from the domination 
 of the Southern Pacific Eailroad, and all large 
 educational questions found in him an earnest 
 advocate and leader. 
 
 The college, including the preparatory school, 
 grew from 245 students to 500, the college de- 
 partment alone from 100 to 345, and the grad- 
 uating classes from 11 to 48. The building of 
 the Carnegie library, the big dormitory for 
 men, the observatory, together with the pur- 
 chase through the generosity of one of the 
 trustees of sixty acres of wonderful wooded 
 land for a park, this called after the giver 
 ^^Blanchard Park'' — all these, with the draw- 
 ing up and acceptance of a new plan for build- 
 ings of **the greater Pomona" that is to be, 
 are no mean showing of the kind of work he 
 was busy about. The enrollment had been 
 doubled as had the endowment, and the assets 
 had increased from $238,000 to $750,000. Fig- 
 ures tell somewhat and they are stated here, 
 but the best successes are not in the outward, 
 but in that inward spirit which triumphs over 
 disaster and difficulties. Better yet, high schol- 
 arship, finer ideals of athletics, conduct and 
 relations, a social vision and service in emula- 
 tion of the best in character and a ** Pomona 
 Spirit," intangible but real, and like that of 
 Grinnell, made for the unity and strength 
 of Pomona. Best of all, a strong virile per- 
 sonality had given the student body some- 
 
 [34] 
 
The Years at Pomona College 
 
 thing of itself which time has no power to 
 efface. 
 
 It was while at Pomona, in October, 1906, 
 that Dr. Gates was invited to give the annual 
 sermon at the Centennial Anniversary of the 
 Haystack meeting of the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions. It was 
 a great honor, for the distinction is considered 
 *Hhe highest the Congregationalists of the 
 country have in their power to bestow,'' or, 
 as someone has said, the *^blue ribbon of Con- 
 gregationalism." That he was worthy to be 
 so chosen an abundance of letters prove, as 
 well as touching personal words spoken to him 
 after the sermon. On a card sent up to him 
 at this time a leading and brilliant preacher 
 of this country wrote these words in pencil, 
 ** Praise God. You did honor to His name." 
 In a letter I find written by him soon after 
 this occasion, and referring to it, he reverently 
 and humbly concludes, **So let it rest. The 
 Lord can use it and will. ' ' 
 
 In the midst of all these activities — ** labors 
 of joy" as well as ** works of commission and 
 omission" — the time drew near for his depar- 
 ture from Pomona College. Dr. Gates was pre- 
 eminently a teacher and an inspirational force 
 — a Mark Hopkins type of man. In this giving 
 of himself — this power of personality which he 
 had to so unusual a degree — ^he found his great- 
 est reward. He felt that in the modern demand 
 made upon a college President there was too 
 
 [35] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 much of the executive, the business manager, 
 as over against the leadership of scholarship 
 and personality. To be responsible for internal 
 conditions, student relations, discipline, har- 
 mony of students and Faculty, cordial and live 
 relations with church constituency, high schools, 
 preparatory schools, and the public in general ; 
 the maintenance of growth and high standards 
 of scholarship and athletics, plus this constant 
 raising of money, he thought to be a wearing 
 and wearying combination, and almost a ** Pres- 
 ident killing^' combination. After twenty-one 
 years, without a single sabbatical year, he 
 began to find his spirits flagging and an ina- 
 bility to sleep nights and to grip affairs as he 
 had always done. Although he had never failed 
 in raising college debts and fresh endowment 
 he often declared that he ** couldn't raise 
 money." Nevertheless he had all these years 
 accumulated funds and added building upon 
 building. But his heart was not in these things, 
 and now that once again he found himself 
 deeply involved in a money campaign, which 
 was not only for a few months but for an inde- 
 terminate time to come, he was compelled to 
 ask for release at once while self-recovery was 
 possible. This decision came suddenly in De- 
 cember, 1908, but the conviction of its need had 
 been growing for months. 
 
 The Board of Trustees adopted the follow- 
 ing resolutions setting forth their sentiments 
 concerning their retiring president: *^The 
 
 [36] 
 
The Years at Pomona College 
 
 seven years of Dr. Gates' relation with the 
 Board, through all the perplexing problems 
 that have arisen, have been years of unbroken 
 harmony and of mutual respect and regard 
 and have continued without flaw until today. 
 We desire not only to put this on record, but 
 also to express our appreciation of the high 
 sense of honor and fidelity that he has brought 
 to all his work, of his broad sympathies with 
 men and of the simplicity and winsomeness of 
 his Christian character. 
 
 *^We recognize also that under his leadership 
 the college has made remarkable growth, more 
 than doubling its membership and material 
 equipment. But most of all would we give 
 grateful expression to our sense of the service 
 that he has rendered to the college and to the 
 broader interests of Christian education, and 
 of his personal influence upon the young men 
 and women of the institution. The moral ear- 
 nestness and high idealism of the student body 
 at Pomona is so marked as to impress the most 
 casual observer. The atmosphere is not only 
 unmistakably Christian, but charged with the 
 spirit of social service and unselfish living. 
 Many influences have contributed to maintain 
 and strengthen this condition through the 
 years but chief among these we gratefully rec- 
 ognize the personal character of the retiring 
 president. 
 
 *^This inspiration of many student lives, 
 even more than added buildings and campus, 
 
 [37] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 will remain as his enduring contribution to the 
 life of Pomona College." 
 
 The press of Southern California regretted 
 his departure and recognized that his going 
 was **of great significance in educational cir- 
 cles." Writing of this later to a college pres- 
 ident, Dr. Gates says: 
 
 **I can see perfectly plainly that as matters 
 were a year and a half ago, it was a virtual 
 impossibility for me to do this thing, that is, 
 continue the work. There was a whole range 
 of conditions, not any one but a considerable 
 number, which constituted this impossibility. 
 And when I found it absolutely killing me 
 physically there was but one thing to do. Of 
 course one cannot help feeling always that 
 there are two regrets: the first, that one was 
 not able to finish up a piece of work fairly 
 begun; the second, a regret that in his and 
 all human work one must find contentment in 
 the effort to do a piece of good work and in 
 the memory of some fair beginnings and some 
 not insignificant successes, rather than look for 
 very much recognition, as the years go on, of 
 that work or success. It is just as well that 
 our work shall so be buried — provided only it 
 be under some foundations that can rise 
 thereon. I shall never fail to take satisfaction 
 in remembering that those plans for the per- 
 manent campaign, the two buildings, the library 
 and the dormitory, as well as pledges already 
 made for more than half of this $250,000 
 
 [38] 
 
The Years at Pomona College 
 
 campaign, came into the college, I will not 
 say because I was there but while I was 
 there/' 
 
 And again, ^^Most of us college folks, par- 
 ticularly the Presidents, who are, by the very 
 nature of their office, in a position where a 
 strong impress of one sort or another must, 
 forsooth, be made upon successive generations 
 of students, find this anyhow for high reward 
 — the most holy and tender testimonies, whose 
 genuineness cannot be doubted, from scores 
 and hundreds of students to that which we 
 have given them in the years when we were 
 face to face. High wages that for any man. 
 No true man lacks an oppressive consciousness 
 of having failed to do in this respect what, with 
 profounder consecration, he might have done* 
 Nevertheless, there is enough of this sort of 
 compensation to thrust into adequate shadow 
 any other elements. So that down in a quiet 
 place in the bottom of my heart I have tucked 
 away the comfortable consciousness that under- 
 neath the glory of the permanent success lies 
 hidden a little piece of myself, a modest piece 
 indeed, but all I had to give. ' ' 
 
 That his students felt his decision most 
 keenly there is abundance of evidence. The 
 Senior class sent him the following tribute, 
 signed by their entire number: '*It is with a 
 sense of deepest sorrow, which we cannot ap- 
 preciate nor understand now, that we, the Class 
 of 1909, receive the news of the resignation of 
 
 [39] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 our beloved College President, George Augus- 
 tus Gates. We are brought face to face with 
 a situation we can not analyze. We have only 
 begun to realize what our President's honest 
 service, devoted example and matchless sincer- 
 ity have meant to us. We have only begun to 
 feel the beauty of his message and the strength 
 of his personality. He has been our inspirer, 
 our leader, our true friend. But words are 
 inadequate. Our whole feeling is one of love, 
 — deep and fervent, our one hope that we may 
 show forth in our own lives something of the 
 sweetness and light and breadth of his to whom 
 we must bid farewell.'' 
 
 In speaking before the college for the last 
 time of these attested words of high regard 
 and even of affection and of the students' con- 
 stant loyalty to him and his to them and the 
 institution, I find these words of his : 
 
 * * Our fellowship has been good with our col- 
 leagues in student body and faculty on this 
 campus, in these buildings, in this chapel. It 
 has been rich and mutually enriching. 
 
 *^In relations of humans with each other, 
 there is no other higher factor than loyalty. 
 Loyalty, if it have worthful content, includes 
 truthfulness, frankness, faithfulness — with 
 sharp contention of opinion oftentimes and 
 rebuke and indignation if need arise — always 
 frank kindness, sympathy each with the other's 
 point of view, fair tolerance, helpfulness, love 
 —all these are in loyalty. Loyalty is not one- 
 
 [40] 
 
The Years at Pomona College 
 
 sided; it is each to the other, and each to all 
 — all to each. 
 
 **0f this matter of loyalty, of my part, my 
 loyalty to the students of this college in these 
 seven years, my single-eyed desire that the col- 
 lege shall do them good and only good, my 
 effort to help create an atmosphere and spirit 
 here best adapted to American young men and 
 women, in this age of American and the world's 
 life, it is not fitting that I should speak many 
 words, for if words are necessary then words 
 would be in vain. 
 
 *^But of the loyalty of you students to me, 
 — I cannot trust myself to speak of it. It is 
 an abiding and holy memory. Your ways of 
 expressing it have been most ingenious and 
 generous; your abundant presence in parting 
 and greeting; your countless personal words 
 of generous appreciation; your gifts so rich 
 in their words and the added touch of personal 
 signatures. I wish you could know how much 
 I value all these. Your loyalty is a great gift. 
 All one can do is to say Hhank you' and that 
 seems inadequate. 
 
 '*So we go out hence, into an even larger 
 life, but always and everywhere at home in our 
 Father's house." 
 
 He left soon after (January, 1909) for a six 
 months' trip to Australia and New Zealand, a 
 trip he had been dreaming about for years. As 
 a land of social and economic promise it had 
 stood before him as a fascinating and educative 
 
 [41] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 study. The thirty days of wonderful calm sea- 
 journey greatly restored his tired nerves and 
 gave him hours of profound sleep ; the blessed 
 sleep so long delayed. By the time the ship 
 touched land he was as eager as a boy **for 
 to see and to hear." He had many letters of 
 introduction to Government officials and men 
 prominent in education and religious life. He 
 made most delightful friendships as well as 
 acquired large and valuable stores of informa- 
 tion which he anticipated using in the latter 
 days to come. Before leaving Pomona he had 
 promised, if all went well, to return in time 
 to graduate his Senior class, to whom he was 
 especially attached. This he was able to do 
 about the first of June. His last Commence- 
 ment at Pomona in June, 1909, was one of pecu- 
 liar joy, tinged with sadness (which is a part 
 of all real joy) as well as peculiar freedom 
 from responsibility. It was a fitting close to 
 eight happy years of fruitful service. * * So we 
 go hence into an even larger life." These 
 words uttered at the close of his Pomona ad- 
 dress seem somewhat prophetic of what was 
 to come. The summer he passed quickly and 
 delightfully among his old friends in the East, 
 feeling wonderfully free of all responsibility, 
 and yet a bit uneasy at such unaccustomed 
 freedom. He thought of writing a book on 
 Australia and New Zealand, a study of their 
 social and economic history, as a result of his 
 six months' travel and investigation, and all 
 
 [42] 
 
The Years at Pomona College 
 
 sorts of delightful prospects sprung up in liis 
 mind's eye. God had for him, however, yet 
 another piece of constructive work to do, before 
 he could be released from active productive 
 work. When the men of our American Mis- 
 sionary Association found him free, the old 
 urgency, which had followed him all the years, 
 began to make itself felt. The ever increasing 
 difficulty of finding a leader, ripe, scholarly, cul- 
 tured, to man a Southern school for the col- 
 ored race made them realize their opportu- 
 nity. So Dr. Ward of ^^The Independent" and 
 others began their persuasions. In this case 
 the wall of defense was weak, for down in the 
 depths of George A. Gates' heart there was, 
 and had always been, all the latent fire of the 
 missionary. He had offered himself to the 
 Foreign Board in his first ministry, but Dr. 
 Alden had feared ^^his gospel might lack in 
 theological soundness," and again, later, he 
 was almost persuaded to join Joseph Neesima 
 when he returned to Japan; only family ties 
 at that time prevented. Now, his heart yearned 
 to respond to the tremendous need set before 
 him by the death at Fisk University of Pres- 
 ident Cravath, that noble heroic soul, who spent 
 himself for the onward and upward journey 
 of the colored race. No one can measure what 
 President Cravath wrought out in those early 
 years of the poverty, tremendous prejudice and 
 the inertia of a race ** despised and rejected 
 of men" struggling blindly toward the light. 
 
 [43] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 Dr. Gates studied the situation carefully, pray- 
 erfully, and talked long with the Trustees of 
 the institution. He made it clear to them, that 
 if he accepted, he was to carry no financial 
 burden. Of course he would give his whole 
 soul to the work, especially along constructive 
 lines, for Fisk had been without a head for two 
 years, and was losing faith in herself. She 
 needed complete rejuvenation in class-room 
 and in fact everywhere. Dr. Gates knew him- 
 self well enough to have no fear as to ultimate 
 success here. He had laid too many founda- 
 tions and raised too many solid walls thereon 
 to fear any failure at this point. So the Trus- 
 tees pledged their cooperation and their will- 
 ingness to assume entire responsibility for the 
 financial side. Most splendidly did they keep 
 their promise to the end. So to Fisk Univer- 
 sity at Nashville, Tennessee, early in Septem- 
 ber, 1909, Dr. Gates was minded to go. 
 
 [44] 
 
CHAPTER V 
 PRESIDENT OF FISK UNIVERSITY 
 
 Dr. Gates condenses the story of his going 
 to Fisk University in a few words written at 
 the time to a friend: 
 
 ^*It was a very great pleasure to me indeed 
 to receive your letter. It heartened me very 
 much to read the expressions of your judgment 
 and feeling concerning this work. Beyond any 
 doubt, to many it seems like stepping down into 
 more modest work than I have done, and from 
 some points of view that is doubtless true. As 
 a matter of fact, when I left Grinnell ten years 
 ago the A. M. A. wanted me to come to Fisk, 
 whose President, Dr. Cravath (uncle, I think, 
 of our Mr. Cravath of Grinnell), had just died. 
 I would not even look at it, so sure did I feel 
 that Mrs. Gates would be no more able to live 
 in Nashville than Grinnell. I did look at Talla- 
 dega, which was also vacant at that time, but 
 I feared that. 
 
 **It seems to me quite strange and romantic 
 that after all we should have come here. When 
 I came East with my mother, bringing her back 
 to her Vermont home after nearly two years 
 with us in California, I expected to return to 
 California within a few weeks, but the Trustees 
 
 [45] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 of Fisk and the A. M. A. people hit my trail 
 ventre a la terre, and after long discussions 
 and a visit to Nashville, it did seem possible 
 to try it. The financial matters were put in 
 such a way that, while of course they are ever 
 to the front in this sort of work, nevertheless 
 they were not pressing in the sort of way which 
 was killing me at Pomona, and all weight of 
 responsibility was to be carried by the Trus- 
 tees. I should like to write you much of this 
 work. I confess that it is most fascinatingly 
 interesting to find one's self really working 
 away next to the heart of this mighty problem. 
 Every added item in knowledge of it adds to 
 the appreciation of its size." 
 
 You will note here this sentence: '^Beyond 
 any doubt to many it seems like stepping into 
 more modest work than I have ever done. . . . ' ' 
 This view was shared by some of his friends, 
 one minister writing ** There may be in it an 
 element of 4mmbling himself,' '' while yet the 
 writer had to acknowledge that it was singu- 
 larly fit that it should be the crowning work 
 of his long day of educational service. It was 
 in his mind the mingling of the Cross and the 
 Crown which after all has never gone out of 
 fashion since the Great Coronation. This same 
 friend continues: *'A11 his life Dr. Gates has 
 been the champion of those * spoken against and 
 without a helper.' And now again he associ- 
 ates himself with a cause that, while dignified 
 and worthy, still calls for the offering in its 
 
 [46] 
 
President of Fish University 
 
 behalf of some of the noblest names of the 
 North. It is a great field and will call out all 
 that is best in him. It is not often that a man 
 in mature life has a chance again to hear the 
 missionary call and to take up the missionary 's 
 life, but it seems to be his honorable privilege. ' ' 
 
 Another friend, a lawyer, wrote: ^'I con- 
 gratulate you upon your high calling though 
 it may be a martyrdom ! It will certainly make 
 for the welfare of humanity and the best inter- 
 ests of our common country." 
 
 To all these friends his replies were prac- 
 tically like this one : ** You speak of my present 
 work as a possible ^martyrdom.' Oh, no! I 
 have always wanted to get into some such work 
 as this. I feel that the Lord is very good to 
 me to give me such an opportunity and to put 
 such a crown upon my last years of work. In 
 many respects it is the most inspiring work 
 to which I have ever set my hand. If I can 
 only keep * humble' enough to do it well and 
 strong enough to carry the load, this reward 
 is enough.'' 
 
 And yet again, to others, Dr. Gates said: *^I 
 thank God daily for giving me this great op- 
 portunity. One certainly can feel that every 
 ounce of lift he can pull out of himself tells 
 at its full weight. I never was in a place where 
 that factor stood out so prominently. And is 
 there any joy like that one can have in con- 
 nection with this work? Many a serious word 
 has come to me from men who stand high in 
 
 [47] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 the councils of our people, when they have 
 learned of my purpose to come here; their 
 faces would grow sober, and a look of great 
 seriousness would be in their eyes and tones 
 of seriousness in their voices as they have 
 spoken with me of this work. One of the lead- 
 ing men of the nation, a preacher, said to me 
 earnestly: *That place down there — Fisk Uni- 
 versity — is on the firing line, if there is 
 one on this planet.' It must be a weak and 
 cheap man that can take however modest a 
 position *on the firing line' in an irreverent 
 spirit. ' ' 
 
 To Dr. Gates Fisk University represented 
 the greatest problem ever any nation had to 
 attack or would have dared even if it had the 
 chance. He found there, too, **a great founda- 
 tion, materially and spiritually, and a mighty 
 work to be done. ' ' In the doing of it he found 
 *Hhe most rewarding work'' to which he had 
 ever set his hand. 
 
 It may seem easy from long range to try to 
 aid in the solving of the ^' Negro Problem." 
 Dr. Gates found that the longer he considered 
 it, the more he knew of it by living with it, 
 the more difficult and herculean became the 
 task. It was like the Golden Rule, easy to talk 
 about and easy to repeat, but it was as pro- 
 found as is that and closely akin to it. The 
 Spirit of Christ, merciful, patient, all-loving, 
 the righteousness of God and His justice, and 
 the grace of God are wrapt up in it, and these 
 
 [48] 
 
President of Fish Umversity 
 
 forces alone can solve the problem aright. The 
 higher education of the Negro has not met with 
 that cordial and instant response which comes 
 to the industrial demands. Most of us believe 
 in the Negro learning to work with his hands, 
 but to believe him equal to thinking rightly and 
 able to build into himself a character seems 
 extreme and dangerous. A dozen books from 
 this yearns press which take up the Negro life 
 and character testify to a great and vital 
 ignorance of his real mental progress and abil- 
 ity. Industrial education there must be, but 
 also an educated teaching force. If there must 
 be, according to law, separate schools for Ne- 
 groes, wherein the supply of white teachers is 
 necessarily inadequate and in some states pro- 
 hibited, then there must also be men and women 
 not only of good education, but of equally good 
 character to lead and teach their own people. 
 Where are they to come from if it is not from 
 the few strong Christian colleges for colored 
 people? 
 
 That the greatness of the work to the indi- 
 vidual, to the race and to the white man and 
 this nation is recognized, the following excerpts 
 from letters may help to show. The first is 
 from Theodore Eoosevelt : 
 
 *^I cordially agree with Booker Washington 
 in his support of Fisk because it is eminently 
 undesirable that the Negro should have only a 
 chance to get the technical education in indus- 
 try and agriculture. With the Negro as with 
 
 [49] 
 
George Augiistus Gates 
 
 the white while such training is that of which 
 there is fundamentally the greatest need for 
 the greatest number, it is yet imperative for 
 the sake of the race that there shall be oppor- 
 tunity of furnishing a different type of train- 
 ing for a certain proportion of the race. Fisk 
 has behind it a long record of proved efficiency, 
 and its present work is of high merit, not only 
 from the standpoint of the colored man, but 
 from the standpoint of the good citizen gen- 
 erally. I very earnestly hope that the burden 
 resting upon Fisk may be quickly lifted. It 
 would be a calamity not only to the cause of 
 education but to the cause of good citizenship, 
 to have Fisk crippled in its work.'' 
 
 The second is quoted in a letter from Sidney 
 Lanier, Jr., and is taken from his father's book 
 ^^The Balm of the West." The son of this 
 Southern white poet was in fine sympathy with 
 the work of Fisk : 
 
 *^Our hardest oppositions, our greatest trials, 
 our very evils become — ^what they always essen- 
 tially are — our greatest blessings the moment 
 we allow them true and free action in us. So 
 with this darkest of our nation's questions 
 today, this seeming shadow upon the face of 
 the earth, the Negro question. Not only his 
 childlike simplicity, his free and joyous nature 
 acting as a balance of spontaneity to our over- 
 rationalized minds, but his wealth of emotion, 
 will change the waters of Marah into the wells 
 of Elim. In reality the Negro is the Servant 
 
 [50] 
 
President of Fish University 
 
 in the House, the Servant in the House of our 
 America." 
 
 Governor Hooper of Tennessee, a Trustee, 
 writes: **I have had an opportunity to observe 
 the work of Fisk University at close range. 
 There can be no question but that this school 
 is doing a great and permanent work for the 
 colored race of the whole nation, and especially 
 the South. It holds high rank as an educa- 
 tional institution, and commands the respect of 
 both races.'' 
 
 Chancellor Kirkland of Vanderbilt Univer- 
 sity, probably the largest and strongest of 
 universities for white men in the Southland, 
 expressed his appreciation as he did his friend- 
 ship in no uncertain terms : 
 
 **I desire to express to you my appreciation 
 of the splendid work you have undertaken in 
 the upbuilding of Fisk University. This insti- 
 tution has had a long and honorable career, 
 and has done a noble work in the higher educa- 
 tion of Negroes in the South. The results of its 
 labors are quite apparent to one who has lived 
 in the South for the past twenty-five years. 
 Leaders of the Negro race in the pulpit and in 
 the schoolroom have been trained very largely 
 by Fisk University. I know of no other insti- 
 tution of like character that has held so con- 
 stantly to high standards and ideals. The work 
 that has been accomplished gives the best claim 
 for future enlargement. This calls for larger 
 resources and wider support. In the great task 
 
 [51] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 you have set before yourself you should have 
 the sympathy, the encouragement, and finan- 
 cial support not only of a small section, but 
 of philanthropic friends throughout our whole 
 nation. I trust that you may not lack for any 
 of these things." 
 
 Dr. Gates tells the following story which 
 proves that the Athenians were wise in their 
 desire to see all things and to hear new and even 
 strange doctrines : * ' For some time past it has 
 been the custom of Fisk University to offer to 
 the biennial session of the Tennessee Legisla- 
 ture a complimentary concert at Fisk Memorial 
 Chapel. The legislators and their friends 
 showed themselves appreciative of this invita- 
 tion by attending very generally. Governor 
 Hooper and Mrs. Hooper and family attended 
 the concert last April. I could not fail to notice 
 that both were very much interested. At the 
 close of the concert Mrs. Hooper said to me, 
 with a deal of impressiveness : *I am a South- 
 ern woman, with a Southern woman's opinion 
 and possibly prejudices about Negroes, but I 
 want to say to you, that what I have seen and 
 heard this evening has changed my whole 
 attitude toward the race for all my life. ' Some 
 days later Governor Hooper was present at the 
 graduating exercises connected with the Negro 
 High School of Nashville. This is a popular 
 event on the Negro calendar, and brings to- 
 gether some thousands of Negroes in Ryman 
 Auditorium. Governor Hooper accepted an in- 
 
 [52] 
 
President of Fish University 
 
 vitation to be present and make an address. I 
 was not there but it was reported to me that he 
 said something like this : ' Mrs. Hooper and I 
 attended the complimentary concert given by 
 Fisk University students to the Legislature 
 and State officials. We were both greatly im- 
 pressed by the evidences of solid attainments 
 in real culture and in the different departments 
 of music study which were put before us. On 
 the way home Mrs. Hooper said to me, *^Ben, 
 the colored people of this country have never 
 had the chance which they deserve. I hope you, 
 during your governorship, will do all you can 
 for them.'' ' It is our universal experience 
 at Fisk University that when people from 
 either North or South, but particularly South- 
 ern people, once see and hear and know what 
 we are doing, their resulting opinions and sen- 
 timents are like those quoted from Governor 
 and Mrs. Hooper.'' 
 
 That the colored people appreciated Dr. 
 Gates' presence among them and work for 
 them, let this one letter suffice : 
 
 ^ ^ I am deeply indebted to you for your efforts 
 in behalf of my people and their best educa- 
 tional institution; as a Fiskite, my gratitude 
 is more heartfelt than it is utterable. Criti- 
 cism, malice, bitterness and all that is unpleas- 
 ant may beset your path, but you will always 
 find that the real bulwark of Fisk— the Alumni 
 — are with you. As one of your Faculty ex- 
 pressed it, *We will all agree that President 
 
 [53] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 Gates has contributed to the glory of Fisk.' " 
 Education does not always spell character 
 among the whites and blacks, but Fisk and 
 Talladega and other institutions of like rank 
 do stand primarily for just that. In the two 
 years which followed President Gates' inaugu- 
 ral, Fisk standards were raised, discipline 
 strengthened, a spirit created, an enthusiasm 
 engendered, and many young men and women 
 went forth to preach into reality the gospel 
 of high thinking and high living which they 
 had so freely absorbed. 
 
 [54] 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LAST CHAPTER 
 
 It was a beautiful morning in February, 
 1912, when President Gates left Nashville for 
 New York to begin there with the Trustees and 
 their Advisory Committee and an able finan- 
 cial agent and treasurer the campaign for an 
 Endowment Fund for Fisk University. The 
 following day, near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, 
 on the ** Limited ^^ came the accident which 
 ultimately closed his earthly career. Many 
 were injured, a few killed, and others died 
 later. Dr. Gates seemed at first to be one of 
 the least injured and gave aid generously to 
 others, but he was the last to leave the hospital 
 where all were cared for so efficiently. All 
 thought of going on with the campaign had to 
 be given up, and he who had gone toward New 
 York with such an undaunted morning face, 
 returned home with energy of body and mind 
 weakened. He tried slowly to resume his work, 
 but the first attempt ended in complete mental 
 and physical collapse. A leave of absence fol- 
 lowed and all the spring in the mountains 
 of North Carolina mental vigor and physical 
 strength were sought for but not found. As 
 the Commencement time drew near (which 
 
 [55] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 would be the completing of his twenty-five 
 years of academic work) he pleaded so hard 
 to be allowed to return to Fisk to give out the 
 diplomas to the graduating class that it was 
 deemed wise to yield. He was relieved of all 
 responsibility, and every plan for his comfort 
 was made, and three days before Commence- 
 ment he arrived. It was a heartening time. 
 The tender sympathy which had followed him 
 all winter through letters, now flowed directly 
 to him, and he had that rare satisfaction of 
 receiving while yet here words of appreciation 
 and love. The future was veiled, but unknown 
 to all it was the emptying of the alabaster box 
 — the anointing unto burial. At Commence- 
 ment, the dignity of a great apprehension sat 
 upon him like a crown and many felt it was 
 the last time *'our President'^ would be among 
 them. 
 
 Yet the summer following, in the bracing 
 Vermont hills of his childhood, he seemed for 
 a time to win a certain measure of mental 
 vigor. It was but a seeming, for suddenly 
 came attacks of mental disturbance so serious 
 as to necessitate his immediate resignation 
 from Fisk, which resignation was written by 
 his wife without his permission or knowledge. 
 Not until the die was cast was he told, in order 
 that the relief of it might lessen the constant 
 pressure on the brain of his incessant thought 
 of and for Fisk. The instant and continuing 
 relief justified the action while it could not 
 
 [56] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 retard the results from concussion of the brain, 
 which his physician found had unmistakably 
 begun its deadly work. Now came another trip 
 South, with a consultation with expert brain 
 specialists on the way, the hopeful verdict of 
 which cheered him greatly and gave him a 
 month of wonderful seeming relief, so that his 
 best friends did not and could not understand 
 or realize how critical his real condition was. 
 After only ten days in the far South came 
 another brain storm with utter collapse phys- 
 ically, in which, after four days with but a 
 few hours of clear mind (when there came 
 a wondrous vision of *Hhings unseen"), this 
 man, so undaunted in spirit, but held in the 
 grip of an unsound mind, departed this life. 
 The terrible shock to those nearest and dear- 
 est was felt in some measure among all who 
 had held him as friend, counsellor and leader. 
 One friend wrote at this time concerning the 
 sudden going: **He was so essentially a man 
 of the day, a man of energy and action, that 
 a long twilight would have seemed inappro- 
 priate. I, at least, hadn't been able to get my 
 mind around to it; so even in this shock and 
 distress, I dare to say that it seemed almost 
 fitting to have him go without too long delay. ' ' 
 Wondrous kindness at this time of great sor- 
 row flowed like a river to that lonely wife and 
 her aged mother so far from home and dear 
 ones. 
 The body was brought to Grinnell, Iowa, 
 
 [57] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 where seventeen years before, the beloved 
 daughter was laid to rest. It was a home- 
 coming, for it was to his own people whom he 
 had loved and served many a year. 
 
 Pomona College sent as its representative 
 Dr. Gates' especially loved friend. Professor 
 Brackett, while up from Nashville came as 
 Fisk's representatives Mr. and Mrs. Work 
 (Professor Work as a member of the Faculty) 
 and with them the choicest of the Jubilee Sing- 
 ers, whose contribution of song was as unique 
 as it was comforting in its tenderness and 
 power. At the chapel of Iowa College a special 
 memorial service was held, intimate, personal, 
 as of one family, and later a more formal 
 service at the Congregational Church. Some- 
 thing of this service Professor Brackett has 
 told in his article printed in the ** Pomona Col- 
 lege Quarterly Magazine '' for January, 1913. 
 
 **Wlien President Gates went away from 
 Claremont after that memorable last Baccalau- 
 reate sermon, it was difficult for us to realize 
 that he was gone and that we should hear him 
 no more. Indeed his words still live. Like 
 seeds sown in many a soul, they have grown 
 up to bear fruit in noble, courageous life. And 
 so when word came that he was dead, it was 
 difficult to realize that he was gone, that we 
 should never again look into his kindly face, 
 or feel the pressure of his hand. Yet he is not 
 dead. His spirit in Pomona can never die. 
 This thought, so strong in all our minds, was 
 
 [58] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 the central thought of the memorial services 
 at Grinnell. 
 
 President Main said, **He made a priceless 
 contribution to Grinnell. He gave it a soul like 
 his own. It is profoundly true that he lives 
 in this institution now, today. This college is 
 carrying his spirit on and on to generations 
 that know him not.*' Eef erring to a meeting 
 of the Grinnell faculty on the last day of Pres- 
 ident Gates' official life there, President Main 
 said : ' ^ The only action was the presentation to 
 him of a loving cup by the members of the 
 faculty. This gift to him was a token of love 
 and confidence and devotion. There was some 
 juice of the grape in the cup and we passed 
 it around, each taking a sup as a pledge of good 
 fellowship and good will. President Gates was 
 entirely taken by surprise and was hardly able 
 to respond to the sentiments expressed, but 
 this is the word he said which I remember: 
 *This is not a faculty meeting. It is a sac- 
 rament.' That last meeting was one of the 
 unforgettable things in the life of each one who 
 was there. It could not have happened in just 
 this way with anyone else. It could not have 
 happened in a company that was not brought 
 together by ties of strong good will. The spirit 
 expressed was typical of the spirit of the man. 
 
 **It was fitting that the body of President 
 Gates should be brought to Grinnell and laid 
 to rest beside that of his daughter. It was 
 right that the memorial and funeral services 
 
 [59] 
 
George Augiistus Gates 
 
 should be held there amid the scenes of his most 
 strenuous labors and his longest service. And 
 it was appropriate that Fisk University and 
 Pomona College should both be represented in 
 these services by members of their faculties. 
 It was natural that we should all think and 
 speak of him as our leader and captain and the 
 verses of Whitman's poem, *0 Captain, My 
 Captain,' were appropriately read. 
 
 "0 Captain, my Captain ! our f ea^rf ul trip is done, 
 
 The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is 
 
 won. 
 The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting. 
 While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and 
 daring ; 
 
 But heart! heart! heart! 
 
 the bleeding drops of red. 
 Where on the deck my Captain lies. 
 Fallen cold and dead." 
 
 * ^ Notwithstanding the profound sadness and 
 sorrow which pervaded the college chapel and 
 the old stone church where the services were 
 held, the dominant note throughout was one of 
 great achievement and triumph. ' ' 
 
 Some further sentences from the message 
 from Pomona may be quoted: 
 
 **He came to Pomona at a time when there 
 was need of a leader of integrity, of absolute 
 candor and courage. In all these his greatness 
 is well known. We can not here review the 
 fine work of those years at Pomona, nor can 
 we explain that rare spirit of manliness which 
 
 [60] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 emanating from him pervaded the whole stu- 
 dent body. It was chiefly through his Friday 
 morning chapel talks and his personal touch 
 with the young men and women that he set his 
 high and permanent mark upon the college. 
 How many times, to young men groping in the 
 dark, he has shown the truth as by a flash of 
 pure light, revealing men to themselves and 
 pointing the way to what he called the good 
 success. One secret of his power was his faith 
 in his fellows. How completely he trusted us 
 all — students, teachers and friends — not with a 
 simple, childlike trust, but with a great, philo- 
 sophical, Christ-like confidence, which might 
 perhaps rarely be betrayed, but that drew out 
 a man's best by its very utterness. The leader 
 is gone. Yet I know that we shall continue 
 consciously and unconsciously to measure life 
 and conduct in many respects by his standards 
 and there are many whose lives will always be 
 stronger, truer, because of his inspirations and 
 the vows made before him. 
 
 **To both Grinnell and Pomona President 
 Gates gave a national position. This Fisk 
 already possessed. *In shaping so largely the 
 character of these representative colleges and 
 in the natural contact of his position with other 
 institutions throughout the country his influ- 
 ence was nation-wide in extent. We can under- 
 stand somewhat, now that we see the great 
 work as a whole, better than we did at the 
 time, that Providence which took him from 
 
 [61] 
 
George Augidstus Gates 
 
 Grinnell a dozen years ago and then gave him 
 to us, and which three years ago took him from 
 us and gave him to Fisk. 
 
 ^ ^ I have been reading again in * The Student 
 Life' the words spoken in chapel on the spur 
 of the moment out of a full heart, after Pres- 
 ident Gates had announced his resignation, 
 when I said: ^I am convinced that as the 
 months and years go by we shall realize more 
 and more that we are now losing a great edu- 
 cator, a man whose nobility of character and 
 Christian leadership is not excelled in any col- 
 lege in the land. ' The verity of these words is 
 clearer now than when they were spoken. 
 
 * ^ During the seven years of President Gates ' 
 administration at Pomona College the number 
 of students increased from 245 to 500, the num- 
 ber of college students from 100 to 345, and 
 the graduating class from 11 to 48 ; the library, 
 Smiley Hall and the observatory were built and 
 sixty acres were added to the campus, while 
 the endowment funds were more than doubled. 
 But this material growth, exceptional as it was, 
 is far less important than the advance in 
 esprit de corps and character. Grinnell is full 
 of the ^Grinnell spirit,' and Pomona is proud 
 of the * Pomona spirit,' and in them both is the 
 spirit of George A. Gates himself — ^his sincer- 
 ity, his zeal for truth and hatred of sham, that 
 spirit which was thus characterized in the * Ap- 
 preciation' written for ^The Student Life' four 
 years ago: 
 
 [62] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 '* *His greatness as an educator consists in 
 the greatness of his ideals, and these ideals, 
 like his nobility of character and Christian lead- 
 ership, are the result of one underlying, vital 
 fact — a profound, unshaken belief in God and 
 his fellow-man. He ever sees the best things. 
 Like Mrs. Booth, Jane Addams, Jacob Riis and 
 other great workers for their fellow-men, he 
 believes in men. He inspires them to believe 
 in themselves and to determine to make the 
 most of themselves. His spirit is the spirit of 
 the Master, proclaiming by teaching and ex- 
 ample that the best life, the most successful 
 life, is the life of largest possible service and 
 usefulness. ' 
 
 ** President Main interprets this spirit in 
 almost identical words: *He injected the spirit 
 of service into every brick and foundation 
 stone on the campus. He introduced a policy 
 of confidence, a policy of belief in men and 
 women.' '' 
 
 From the address of Professor John Wes- 
 ley Work of Fisk at the funeral the following 
 extracts are taken: 
 
 **When this great, big, earnest man came to 
 Fisk University, to take up the work there, he 
 accepted and undertook the most difficult prob- 
 lem that he had undertaken, but before I had 
 known him long I found that he wanted some- 
 thing difficult to do. . . . He changed the whole 
 life of that institution in the short time he was 
 there. ... He utterly disregarded everything 
 
 [63] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 of race and color and put everyone upon the 
 basis of men and women. . . . There is no per- 
 son who has made such a good impression upon 
 the city of Nashville as the good man before 
 us. ... I stand here to offer the love of the 
 people there who knew him and loved him, to 
 say that we of the University and of Nashville, 
 Tennessee, will always be better because Dr. 
 Gates decided to cast his lot among us. ' * 
 
 The conviction felt by President Gates that 
 God had called him to the work at Fisk was 
 voiced in the duet, of which he was especially 
 fond, sung at this time by Professor and Mrs. 
 Work, both Negroes, ^*I know the Lord hath 
 laid His Hands on Me.'* 
 
 No one can measure the intimacy and the 
 power of his relations with individual students 
 and teachers; they are too sacred to be ex- 
 posed. But these words from Dr. Gates' letter 
 to the students published in *^The Student 
 Life*' of Pomona College give some hint of, 
 and reveal as well, his appreciation of these 
 relations : 
 
 *^So many expressions of high regard are 
 reaching me from graduates and students that 
 it was almost worth while to pay the full price 
 — for what my resignation is costing me no 
 one is likely to understand. There are many 
 pleasant features connected with the work of 
 college administration, but no one of them can 
 be compared to the deep joy of touching inti- 
 mately the lives of the men and women that 
 
 [64] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 constitute the student body. In the measure of 
 success of our work together in and for this 
 college, the high loyalty of the students has full 
 share. The fine spirit of the student body is 
 Pomona ^s pride. *^ 
 
 He was an inspiring leader, filling others 
 with his own courage and vision, open and 
 frank in all his methods, fearless in his attack, 
 never asking others to go where he would not 
 lead. But the fight which he captained was not 
 against men, it was against evil, against social 
 wrongs, against political corruption. How he 
 hated all these things ! 
 
 Yet while he was a great, brave fighter, 
 there was no stronger advocate of peace. He 
 was recognized as one of the many men lead- 
 ing on the world movement for international 
 peace, rejoicing in the progress of the move- 
 ment at The Hague and delighted by the setting 
 up of the cross on the Andes between Chili and 
 Peru. 
 
 This was only a manifestation of his great 
 love for his fellow-men. He was indeed a lover 
 of men. Unreserved in his casual metings with 
 people of all sorts, he cheered many a stranger 
 with his frank address and wholesome conver- 
 sation. His acquaintances all felt the warmth 
 of his interest and sympathy. This intense 
 love for men was quite regardless of race or 
 nationality or circumstances and did not stop 
 with those who cared for him. As President 
 Main said: **He could forgive seventy times 
 
 [65] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 seven. He simply couldn't hold a grudge. He 
 came as near loving his enemies as any man 
 I ever knew. He was sensitive to wrong 
 and slight, but ready at any time to receive 
 back mth open arms anyone who wanted to 
 come. ' ' 
 
 One of those who had opposed him in the 
 strenuous days of the ** Kingdom '' movement, 
 speaking at the funeral told this characteristic 
 story: **I shall never forget a scene which 
 occurred just here in the stone church. I had 
 preached both morning and evening and Presi- 
 dent Gates had honored me with his presence. 
 At the close of the evening service he alone 
 came forward and said, *You have given me a 
 good day. ' But that is not the point. Pressing 
 my hand more cordially, with tears in his voice, 
 a rare thing for him, he said, * Douglass, I wish 
 you loved me.' We were opposites in some 
 respects, and as he was high in office and at- 
 tainments, and I low in office, I did not think 
 he cared whether I loved him or not, and as 
 I came to know him better I found that he 
 craved friendship and friends. ... I learned 
 to love him after that occasion as the years 
 came and went. I loved him for his virtues; 
 I loved him for those things which perchance 
 some count his weaknesses; I loved him for 
 his abruptness, his openness, his communica- 
 tiveness. ... I think the message which comes 
 to us at this time from the Scriptures is, *Be 
 ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiv- 
 
 [66] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 ing one another, even as God for Christ's sake 
 hath forgiven you ! ' " 
 
 Personality is a very real thing and yet elu- 
 sive to transmute into words. You have caught 
 perhaps something of what this man was, but 
 he was always greater than his deed. One of 
 his successors in office said to him: **You have 
 set a standard for myself and for all those who 
 will come after you.'' Many, a surprising 
 number, have written of the power and virility 
 of some word, address, or sermon, or even of 
 social contact with him, which has power yet 
 to stir their mind and quicken their heart. 
 One in hearing his sermon at the National Con- 
 gregational Council at St. Louis said to him: 
 **I will not say to you that that sermon is the 
 best I ever heard ; I do not know or care about 
 so irrelevant a matter as that. But I could 
 not go away without saying, that I never heard 
 a spoken word that lifted me so far along or 
 so high up." It was always a ^' piece of him- 
 self" that he gave to those who came in contact 
 with him. Yet another spoke of meeting him 
 and feeling as though he *^had taken twenty 
 grains of quinine." When he entered a room 
 he brought a certain north wind with him, stim- 
 ulating the mind and opening the heart to give 
 out its best. The story is told that Washington 
 once said to Alexander Hamilton: ^*You have 
 a streak of light in you that never goes out. 
 When I catch a spark of it I am cheered for 
 the rest of the day. When I am close to it for 
 
 [67] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 a time, I can feel the iron lid on my spirits 
 lifting as if it were on a bubbling pot. ' ' These 
 words might have been spoken of George A. 
 Gates. 
 
 He believed mightily in good women and 
 publicly espoused their cause early in his life. 
 He had always believed in women's suffrage, 
 but after nine months in Colorado in 1900, when 
 he and his wife went together to the polls, and 
 when in Wyoming later he saw the power of 
 woman's influence, plus the ballot, to win moral 
 victory, his belief took on unshaken conviction. 
 To him women turned the leaves of their heart 
 and mind in a rare way, and he was father- 
 confessor to many a burdened soul. Women 
 had with him a sense of being protected, know- 
 ing that in his hands all was safe. The death 
 of his beloved and only daughter in her blos- 
 soming time left a tender spot in his heart 
 toward all young women. He saw them as 
 through her eyes with exquisite appreciation 
 and tenderness, and followed their growth as 
 he would have done hers had God spared her 
 to him. Note the discerning spirit of the man 
 in his tribute to Julia Ward Howe, when he 
 led the devotional memorial exercises in Bos- 
 ton in 1910 at the National Congregational 
 Council : 
 
 **We are gathered not to praise Julia Ward 
 Howe, but to commemorate her life and bow 
 reverently at the hour of her funeral, as this 
 great American passes under the majesty of 
 
 [ 68 ] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 death. To praise such a woman is impertinent. 
 To use the occasion of this memorial service 
 for the turning of rhetorical phrases about her 
 would seem as much out of order as pretty 
 compliments about one of the planets of the 
 solar system. No small part of her greatness 
 is her simplicity. Her sweet womanhood was 
 ever at the service of her home, as wife and 
 mother; when mind and heart, voice and pen, 
 were on call there leaped into prominence a 
 human need to be met, a wrong crying to be 
 righted, a cause of human advancement want- 
 ing a voice. Pausing just long enough to sing 
 the victory of achievement her eyes quickly 
 turned toward new achievements. So she has 
 led, and the inspiration of her memory will 
 lead us all.'' 
 
 He believed mightily also in democracy, the 
 people — all sorts and kinds. This belief some- 
 times led him into unusual and more direct 
 methods of approach than many could have 
 found or would so have chosen to use if found. 
 He reached people's hearts and minds by short 
 cuts, not always using the formal methods of 
 presentation. Sometimes this brought him 
 censure and misjudgment but more often men 
 and women, after the first surprise, recognized 
 the genuineness and nobility of the man and 
 were often drawn toward him by this unique 
 and unusual characteristic. His intense sin- 
 cerity drove him imperatively from anything 
 sinuous, roundabout or underhanded. To think 
 
 [69] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 or to hold a mean thought was a hideous sin 
 to him. He could forgive seven times seven 
 and only once in thirty years did I know of 
 his finding it almost impossible to think gently 
 and forgivingly, and then it was of one who 
 he felt had wronged him, and through him the 
 best interests of a cause dear to him. The very 
 day of his death, when, in a wonderful hour 
 of what might be called '^ecstatic vision, '^ his 
 release from this heavy burden came, he said, 
 
 '^Now, I can love even ." To a man of 
 
 his strength such a victory can not be esti- 
 mated in Avords. God knew and gave of His 
 grace in this last moment of earthly life. 
 
 He was a ready writer, and his pen flowed 
 unceasingly in many directions. Any really 
 extensive creative work in book form, how- 
 ever, was stored in his mind for those years to 
 come, when the toiling days would be over. 
 But, as one said of him, ' * President Gates used 
 as tablets ^hearts of flesh.' '^ 
 
 That the gospel which Dr. Gates lived had 
 power to send out to the uttermost parts of 
 the earth *' living epistles'' is shown by the list 
 of some seventeen foreign missionaries, not to 
 mention others, who went out on Christian 
 service during his college administration. In 
 the home field his boys and girls can be found 
 in many places leading in social betterment 
 and the ministry of service. He believed in his 
 college, men and women, and cheered them in 
 their work and sustained their faith in days 
 
 [70] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 of uncertainty. He stood to many as a strong 
 tower for liberty in the interpretation of the 
 Scriptures, for to him the word of the Lord 
 was sure — Truth ultimately prevails. He 
 taught men to know themselves *4n the light 
 of the highest sense of right that a man is 
 capable of.'' From one has come this word of 
 personal testimony: **One sentence in your 
 address changed my life — and by the grace of 
 God made me of whatever use I have been. . . . 
 I have never touched you except to receive help. 
 Virtue has gone out of you. . . . You have 
 helped, strengthened, encouraged and inspired 
 me more than you dreamed. ' ' 
 
 This tender bit was found enclosed in a letter 
 of sympathy from one of the boys in his last 
 graduated class at Pomona, and shows per- 
 haps more clearly the affection with which he 
 was held in many a student 's heart : 
 
 "In Prexy's face 
 Are many stories — some of them are glad, 
 Told in a smile of youthful joy and mirth ; 
 And some of them are tender, having birth 
 In tears of sympathy when hearts are sad. 
 Power, strength and comfort, all are there, 
 
 And even a dim, soft shadow, sorrow's trace — 
 With these the hand of time has set love's seal 
 In Prexy's face.'^ 
 
 A trustee wrote of him: **No other man I 
 ever knew stood so squarely for * just balances, 
 just weights, a just ephah and a just hin.' '' 
 A leader in social uplift speaks of him as fol- 
 
 [71] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 lows : ^ ' Strength and tenderness are a rare com- 
 bination in human character, and as beautiful 
 as rare. Such a man cost God a great deal, 
 and such powers do not complete their service 
 in a few earthly years. If they were not im- 
 mortal and used in never-ending service their 
 loss would be a loss to the universe and would 
 be a waste which would be utterly inconsistent 
 in an infinitely wise and benevolent Creator. 
 His going was a loss to us, but not to the King- 
 dom of God, and least of all to him. I doubt 
 not he is engaged in service far more worthy 
 of his splendid powers and spirit than any he 
 was permitted to render in the flesh — great as 
 that was." 
 
 Only one more extract must be given, and 
 that because of the unusual quality of testi- 
 mony: ^*I was passing through the town a 
 couple of months ago where Dr. George A. 
 Gates joined the immortals — a fascinating, ro- 
 mantic, splendid, tragic life. This is my delib- 
 erate conviction about Gates. He came as near 
 filling my conception of what the term Chris- 
 tian means as any man I have ever known. 
 Always in the front for his ideals regardless 
 of consequences to himself, and his battles wore 
 him out. He has fallen outside of the breast- 
 works. I knew the type before I ever knew 
 him or Dartmouth. I had seen idealists like 
 him hold desperate lines and fling themselves 
 against entrenchments and open the way so 
 that those in the rear might win the battle. 
 
 [72] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 And how he helped! He left his impress on 
 thousands of men, young and old. No time- 
 server he; and to few men of his time, more 
 than to him, is due the fact that we have a new 
 republic with new ideals, and it is owing to 
 men like Gates that it is such a splendid thing 
 to be alive today. I am not a member of any 
 church, nor a subscriber to any of the creeds, 
 but I do believe that we are going to put the 
 Golden Rule and the ethics of Jesus Christ 
 into public life. And that was the star that 
 Gates followed, as the knights of old followed 
 the Holy Grail, and it will lead us at last to 
 the Ox-stall and the Manger, where, in his swad- 
 dling clothes, a new Christ lies — the Christ of 
 human brotherhood." 
 
 Dr. Gates could have said with Tennyson, *^I 
 should infinitely rather feel myself the most 
 miserable wretch on the face of the earth, with 
 a God above, than the highest type of man 
 standing alone,' ^ 
 
 To him it was 
 
 "Not in the cloister dim, 
 Not along the tortuous way — 
 But where men are, in the conflict grim 
 Of life in the world, 
 Not pausing to doubt, but resting to pray." 
 
 He was preeminently **a friend to man and 
 lived in a house by the side of the road. ' ' His 
 passionate desire was to have a clearer and 
 fuller vision of God and *Hhe glory of going 
 on and still to be.'' These, his last words, 
 
 [73] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 found on his desk after his death, express his 
 trust in God, in which trust he so amply lived 
 unto the end. They were written for the Fel- 
 lowship meeting held yearly at Fisk University 
 which brought into closer touch by written 
 word all those who represented the Past and 
 those who were of the Present : 
 
 ** Sometimes when listening or speaking at 
 the telephone there is a click ; then silence ; you 
 are 'cut off.' "Well, that is what happened to 
 me. It is very disconcerting, i. e., it snaps one 
 out of concert or harmony, in which one has 
 been for some forty years taking one 's place in 
 the work of the world alongside his fellow-men. 
 
 ''That experience is text for my little con- 
 tribution to our reunion meeting: viz.. When 
 we have a chance, take it and use it. We may 
 not get another. There is in my office desk a 
 whole drawerful of memoranda of high and fine 
 words which I have been saving up for use 
 in chapel and elsewhere — and now it is too 
 late. 
 
 "I am profoundly grateful for the chance I 
 have had in this great school; grateful spe- 
 cifically for the many kind words that have 
 come to me latterly, expressions of appreciation 
 of what I have tried to do in the brief time I 
 was permitted to be one of you in presence and 
 work. 
 
 ' ' So, if anyone here now has a helpful word 
 to speak, any service to contribute to the struc- 
 ture of institution or spirit going up here on 
 
 [74] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 this hill, let it not be withheld or postponed: 
 *Do it now.' 
 
 ** Anyhow we are all in God's love and care, 
 and are at home with Him in Christ. What- 
 ever our experience, no fatal harm can befall 
 us who put our trust in God." 
 
 The Trustees of Grinnell College expressed 
 themselves in the following resolution: 
 
 ^*We the Trustees of Grinnell College desire 
 to place upon record our sense of loss in the 
 death of a former Chairman of this Board for 
 many years, Dr. George A. Gates, President of 
 Iowa College from 1887 to 1901, who gave to 
 this college the best years of his life, serving 
 it with ability and fidelity and distinction, with 
 steadfast enthusiasm and splendid devotion 
 and loyalty unbounded. With a bracing and 
 chivalrous and inspiring personality President 
 Gates was indeed a courageous and heroic 
 spirit, whose life was a challenge to service; 
 who gave to thousands of young men and young 
 women their best ideals and profoundest con- 
 victions — to the permanent enrichment of their 
 lives ; who gave to all with whom he came into 
 contact an inspiring example of a brave, loyal, 
 truth-loving soldier of the common good. 
 'Man's unhappiness,' said Thomas Carlyle, 
 * arises from his greatness,' and so President 
 Gates was one who could not sit at ease within 
 Zion, but who yearned to realize the Kingdom 
 of God upon earth, here and now. We rejoice 
 that his successor could say over his grave that 
 
 [75] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 President Gates brought a new vision to the 
 College, and that he had inscribed the word 
 Service upon every brick on the campus. We 
 rejoice that his work and his memory, here and 
 elsewhere, abide, and that we his long-time 
 friends and comrades dare to apply to him, 
 as most fitting, these lines characterizing an 
 undaunted soul: 
 
 ^One who never turned his back but marched breast 
 forward, 
 
 Never doubted clouds would break, 
 Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would 
 
 triumph, 
 Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, 
 Sleep to wake/ " 
 
 Mazzini describes a great man as one who is 
 * * endowed by God with a faculty of feeling more 
 largely and intensely, and, as it were, of ab- 
 sorbing more than his fellows of that univer- 
 sal life which pervades and inter-penetrates all 
 things, and who breathes it out again at every 
 pore/' In this sense George A. Gates was a 
 great man — ^^He was not faultless, but in all 
 things essential he was great.'' 
 
 An endowed President's chair is his monu- 
 ment at Fisk University. At Grinnell College 
 ^^The George A. Gates Memorial Lectureship" 
 is established and is bringing its yearly enrich- 
 ment to college and town. Pomona College 
 speaks of the eminent fitness of such a monu- 
 ment to his memory by quoting '*The Grinnell 
 
 [76] 
 
The Last Chapter 
 
 Beview": ^^Dr. Gates believed thoroughly that 
 the college student should have the privilege 
 of hearing the men and women who are doing 
 the world ^s work. Through his wide acquaint- 
 ance he was able to attract to Grinnell, as after- 
 wards to Pomona, many of those most distin- 
 guished and most inspiring to young people. 
 In no more appropriate way could Dr. Gates' 
 memory be honored than in the perpetuation 
 of this peculiarly fine service of his. President 
 Gates gave the best years of his life to Grinnell. 
 He gave the College a new impetus and put 
 it into vital and harmonious relation with the 
 new movement of society, education, and col- 
 lege administration. He greatly endeared him- 
 self to a multitude of young people. They look 
 back to him as a creative influence in their lives. 
 His name should be perpetually associated with 
 Grinnell College. The fund raised, twenty thou- 
 sand dollars, will enable the College to empha- 
 size in his name the principles of social democ- 
 racy and righteousness which were so dear to 
 him and which are so vital in the development 
 of the race. ' ' 
 
 One of GrinnelPs eminent professors adds 
 his unique word, ** Living endowment is the 
 thing for our Gates. You cannot express such 
 a man in marble or brass.'' 
 
 At Pomona College, California, a memorial 
 set of chimes will ring out, temporarily from 
 the College church tower, but later from the 
 new chapel that is to be, somewhat of that 
 
 [77] 
 
George Augustus Gates 
 
 triumpliant faith and joy which made Dr. 
 Gates a living spirit. 
 
 These memorials characterize the man. So 
 though his body has gone back to earth, his 
 soul is ever marching on. Death can not dim 
 his memory nor will the influence of his noble 
 life be abated. To him Death must have been 
 but a ** change of key in Life — the Golden 
 Melody.'' 
 
 [78]