THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 C378 
 
 UK3 
 
 1832G.3 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00036720502 
 
 This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/addressdelivered01gast 
 

 
 ADDRESS 
 
 
 ;,?/ 
 
 
 iS-' V 
 
 
 i)Er.rvj.RED Bepo/,.- t:i>: 
 
 SOCIETIES, 
 
 SSii^IPIIil^ miilEdSj^ Mo <Sa 
 
 JUNE 2(K 1832. 
 
 
 FOUETH EDITION. 
 
 RALKIGH: 
 
PREFATORY NOTE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 Of the very many Addresses delivered before the Literary Societies, of 
 the Universities and Colleges in the United Slates, within the last thirty- 
 years, no one, it is bcl eved, has attracted such getieial alieni.on, ana 
 ehciied such general commendation, as the roilowing-. 
 
 It was received at its dehvery with marked favor by the most numer- 
 ous and intelligent audience that had ever assembled at this seat of learn- 
 ing for a similar purpose. An edition of 5000 copies was immediately 
 published by the Philanthropic Society, a second edition was printed 
 shortly thereafter at La Grange College, Alabama, and a third, in a re- 
 markably neat style of typography, during the same year, appeared from 
 the press of the late Thomas \V. VVhyte, at Richmond Va., to which 
 the annexed commendatory letter from the late Chief Justice Marshall 
 was prefixed. It was published either in whole or in part, in various 
 periodicals, and will be found entire in the LTniversity Magazine for the 
 year 1844. 
 
 Notwithstanding this wide dissemination, it has long been out of print, 
 and the Literary Societies before whom it was delivered, have been in- 
 duced to publish tlie present edition to supply the demands so frequently 
 made for it from various sections of tlie Union. 
 
 Ilichmc7id, August 9th, 1832. 
 
 Mr. Thomas W. White. 
 
 Dear Sir: — I have just received your note intimating your intention to 
 reprint the address delivered by Mr. Gaston before the Philanthropic and 
 Dialectic Societies at Chapel Hill, and asking my opinion of it. 
 
 Mr. Gaston favored me with a copy of this address, and I have perused 
 it with peculiar interest and pleasure. The advice he gives to students 
 is excellent. It may be read again and again to advantage by every 
 youth who wishes to avail himself to the utmost of the instruction to be 
 acquired in our seminaries. 
 
 His lessons on the course to be observed by the young gentleman who 
 is about to enter the great theatre of human action are not less valuable, 
 and cannot be too frequently or too deeply impressed on the rising gene- 
 ration. They seem to constitute the true basis of the character to which 
 statesmen in a republic ought to aspire. 
 
 With great respect, your ob't. 
 J. MARSHALL. 
 

iUlllRESS. 
 
 dentleme)^ of the Dialectic aiid Philanflirnpir Sncidies : 
 
 When I look around on this extraordinary concourse of visitors, 
 T cannot but feel that expectation has been too highly excited, 
 and cannot but anticipate and regret the disappointment which it 
 must necessarily meet with. Aware of the value which is here 
 set upon the ceremony of the annual address ; knowing that the 
 friends of the University throughout the State, regard it as calcu- 
 lated not only to excite a spirit of emulation among the Students, 
 but to attract the public attention to the Institution itself; and 
 warmly attached to that noble cause, for the advancement of 
 which these edifices have been erected and your associations 
 formed, I felt myself bound to except the invitation, in obedience 
 to which I appear before you. Could I indeed have foreseen 
 the unusual engagements, which added to the ordinary occupa- 
 tions of a busy life, have left me no leisure to prepare any thing 
 worthy of the general expectation, I should have deemed myself 
 at liberty to decline the call. But the discovery was not made 
 until after my word was pledged, and it was too late to hope 
 that the duty could be devolved on another. Compelled then to 
 choose between an entire disappointment of your hopes, and the 
 presenting myself to you without the advantages of full prepara- 
 tion, I have resolved to execute the undertaking imperfectly, 
 rather than forego it altogether. To whatever petty mortifica- 
 tions the adoption of this alternative may expose me elsewhere, 
 from you, my young friends, I am sure of a favorable reception. 
 You will see in it an expression of the sense which I entertain 
 of the honor conferred on me, by your choice, of my readiness to 
 gratify your wishes, and of my solicitude to cheer you on in the 
 noble career upon which you have entered. The few homely 
 truths which I wish to impress upon your minds, will not indeed 
 
 <0 
 
JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 come mended from my tongue, but 1 do not despair that, pre- 
 sented in their naked plainness, but urged with the earnestness 
 and sincerity of friendshiii, they may win their way to your 
 generous and affectionate approbation. 
 
 The authority of Shakspearc is oftt-n invoked for the position, 
 that "there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the 
 flood, leads on to fortune." AVitliout venturing to deny altogether 
 the fitness of this metaphor, and fully admitting it to have enough 
 of truth to render it appropriate to the occasion for which it was 
 used, and the character to whom tlie great poet assigned it, I yet 
 regard it as too favorable to that indolence of disposition which is 
 always ready to imagine success in life as depending on some 
 fortunate tide. I hold, that, generally, every man Is tlie architect 
 of his own fortune, the author of his own greatness or iixsignlfi- 
 cancc, happiness or misery. True it is, that casualties, neither 
 to be foreseen nor prevented, may defeat schemes which have 
 been wisely concerted and vigorously prosecuted ; and that 
 success, undeserved, and perhaps unsought for, may sometimes 
 befall the weak and slothful. These, however, ore but occasional 
 deviations from the ordinary course of nature, according to which, 
 man's energies, wisely or foolishly directed, and diligently or 
 carelessly exerted, are made to determine his character and 
 condition in society. The stoutest ship that was ever manned 
 with prudent heads, brave hearts, and strong hands, has foundered 
 in a hurricane, while the feeble bark that " owns no mastery in 
 floating," is sometimes safely wafted into port: yet, who can 
 deny that, ordinarily, the fate of the voyage must depend on the 
 skill, care and courage with which it is conducted. 
 
 IMuch too, very much, either for permanent good or ill in the 
 fate of every individual, has been found to follow almost neces- 
 sarily from the habits formed, the propensities cherished or re- 
 strained, and the rules of conduct adopted at a very early period 
 of life. We might, perhaps, be tempted to i-egret that such im- 
 portant and often awful consequences should follow on the doings 
 of an age, when the unworn senses are alive to every impression, 
 and the keen appetite greedy for every enjoyment; when the. 
 imagination is wild, the judgment feeble, and "heedless ram- 
 bling impulse" has scarcely learned to think. Y'et such is the 
 constitution of nature, and such consequenth' the appointment of 
 
^^" ^ ^' "^y ' ^ 4ti /tMi 
 
 JIDCE CASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Him, whose wuys ;trt' ahvavi wiso, henevolent and just, and 
 whost' will it wero not more madness to resist, than it is impiety 
 to question. Look through tlic world, and the h-ust observant 
 cannot fail to discover talents abused, opportunities squandered, 
 and men ruined, because of early folly, misbehavior or thoui^ht- 
 leisness ; and let those who have passed through life's ordeal 
 with safety and honor, look back on their trials, and they will 
 acknowledge how much they owe to vej-y early impressions, and 
 to habits contracted almost without a sense of their use or a fore- 
 sight of their consequences. He, therefore, who aspires to excel- 
 lence, cannot loo soon propose to himself the objects which he 
 shoidd strive to obtain, nor fix his aim too early, or too steadily, 
 on the end to which his efforts should be directed. The short- 
 ness of life, the large fragments of it which are necessarily occu- 
 pied by animal wants, or wasted in frivolous cares and amuse- 
 ments, leave, at best, but an inconsiderable portion to be devoted 
 to intellectual cultivation and exertion. To waste this portion 
 would be criminal improvidence, and it Is of the highest moment 
 to learn betimes how it may be most beneficially applied. 
 
 Tlie end which an ingenuous youth naturally proposes to him- 
 self is, a taithful and honorable discharge of the duties of lite. — 
 His obj<''cts are to realize the fond hopes of his parent.s and friend.s, 
 to acquire the affection and esteem of those around him, to be- 
 come the dispenser of good to his fellow-men, and thus to fulfil 
 the purposes for which it has pleased Cod to place him in this 
 world of trial and discipline. He feels that these objects are 
 indeed go<-)d. By a moral instinct, he is propelled towards them 
 as fit to fill his heart, kindle his aspirations and animate hi^* 
 axertions. Reason, as she gradually unfolds her ]X>wer3 and 
 assumes dominion over him, sanctions this choice with her appro- 
 bation ; and Religion comes in aid of Nature and Reason, to teach 
 him that talents are but lent to be improved, and tliat an account 
 must be one day rendered, in which their u.'^e or neglect will b*-' 
 amply rewarded or severely punished. How much is it not to 
 be lamented, that sloth should enervate, dis.sipation corrupt, or 
 vice brutalize, thici child of hope and promise } You, who have 
 him in charge, watch over him with never sleeping vigilance and 
 affectionate solicitude. Give him a happy :-tart, sustain him 
 when disposed to flag, reanimate him when di;Couraged, check 
 
! „Vv >>» \^. y-.xN 
 
 JUDGE GASTONS ADDRESS. 
 
 kindly his wanderings, soothe his wounded feelings, guide him 
 with your counsels, and save him from the foes by which he is 
 \va\-laid and beset. 
 
 Made iioi'd virtiite puer sic itur (id astra. 
 
 Most faithfullv, no doubt, are these duties performed hv the 
 able and excellent men who are here charged with the office of 
 instruction. Little can hu done in aid of their efforts, but to 
 exhort and entreat all placed under their care to attend to their 
 admonitions, treasure up their counsels, and obey their injunctions. 
 Yet thci-e are some errors w hich were prevalent when I was a 
 boy, which I have n-ason to believe still prevail in public schools, 
 and which may perh.i[)s he better handled by an old friend than 
 an acknowledged instructor — and to these, therefore, I would for 
 a few moments request the favorable attention of the vounger 
 portion of my hearers. 
 
 Vigorous, diligent, and persevering application is essential to 
 the attainment of excellence in every pursuit of man. It is un- 
 doubtedly a mistake to suppose, that there is no original inequalitv 
 in the mental faculties of dilferent individuals. Probabl}', there 
 is as great a disparity in their intellectual, as their physical con- 
 formation. But however false this extravagant theory may be, 
 there is another error far more common, and, practically, far more 
 mischievous — ihe error of exaggerating the difference between 
 the original energies of intellect, and of attributing to splendid 
 and resistless genius those victories, which are not to be achieved 
 but by w-ell directed and continued industry. It is In the Infancy 
 of lite, that tlie inequalities of original talent are most striking, 
 and it I-; not >trange that vanity on the one hand, and indolent 
 admiration on the other, should hyperbolically extol these obvious 
 advantages. In what this disparity consists, it may not be easy 
 to state with precision. . Hut from ,\i\ observatio.i of many years, 
 I venture lo su^cgest, that the cliief natural superiority manifested 
 by the favored few over their competitors in the intellectual 
 conflict, i^ lo be loand in the facility with which their attention 
 is directed and confined lo its prij)er -ui)ject.^. That youth may 
 be regarded as fortimate in.loo I, w'lo in early life can restrain 
 his wanderlu'r thoughts and tie down his mind at will, to the 
 contemplation of whatever he wishes to comprehend and to make 
 his own. A I'e v moments of this concentrated application is 
 
JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 worth days and weeks of a vague, interrupted, scattered at- 
 tention. The first resembles the well-known manceuvre in 
 Strateg;y, so simple in its conception and yet so astonishing in 
 its results, by which all the arms of a military force are made to 
 bear upon a given point at the same moment. Every thing here 
 tells, because there is no power wasted, and none misapplied. — ' 
 Now let no one despair, because he finds this eflbrt to confine 
 his attention difficult, or for a considerable length of time, im- 
 practicable. Northing is more certain, than that this power over 
 the mind may be acquired. Let the attempt be repeated again 
 and again — first for short, afterwards, us the ability is increased, 
 for longer periods, and success will ultimately follow. The habit 
 of fixed attention will thus be created, and it is one of the pecu- 
 liarities of all active habits, that ;n proportion to the difficulty 
 with which they were produced, i.s their inveteracy, when once 
 thoroughly formed. Thus, it not unfreqently happens, that the 
 advantages with which the individual commenced his career, 
 who was naturally alert and devoted in his attention to every 
 subject as it was successively presented to his notice, have not 
 enabled him to contend successfully with him, who by hard 
 elforts has chained down his wandering thoughts and dissipated 
 faculties to the habit of attention. 
 
 Among the best results which attend a course of regular acad- 
 emical education, is this exclusive and concentrated direction of 
 the mental powers to their appropriate objects. In the years em- 
 ployed principally in the study of the learned languages, the 
 necessity of finding out the meaning of each word, and discerning 
 either the agreement between different words, or the dependance 
 of some of them upon others in certain grammatical relations, 
 necessarily sharpens and fixes the attention. After this prepara- 
 tory discipUne of the intellect, the Student is introduced to the 
 study of mathematical science, where proposition leads on to 
 proposition in regular order, and his attention is necessarily en- 
 cTiained to each truth, as it follows with logical certainty, from 
 truths previously demonstrated. He is then initiated into the 
 mysterious laws of Natural Philosophy, as they have been discov- 
 ered, explained, and illustrated, by a course of rigorous induction, 
 and is ultimately familiarized with the yet nobler and more 
 sublime investigations of moral science, the refinements of taste, 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 the beauties of eloquence, and the charms of heavenly poesy. — 
 And this admirable training; is conducted remote from the bustle"? 
 and cares of the world, in the very hush of the passions, and 
 beyond the reach of beguilins; and distracting pleasures. Here 
 surely, then, the understanding is di'^ciplined, its discrimination 
 rendered more acute, its general health and vigor confirmed, 
 while a facility is created for directing its powers to the various 
 manly and trying services, which may await it in life's busy 
 theatre. But not unfrequently is the question asked by querulous 
 Students, why all this devoted attention to the dead languages, to 
 mathematical theorems, philosophical experiments, metaphysical 
 disquisitions and critical subleties ? In the world, no one talks 
 Greek or Latin, and at the forum, or in the Legislative hall, we 
 shall not be called upon to demonstrate the propositions of Euclid, 
 or explain the phenomena of hydrostatics and optics. The mo- 
 tives of human action are better learned in that great practical 
 school, the world, than by poring over the theories of metaphy- 
 sicians; and all the rules of Quiuctilian, Rollin or Blair, will 
 never make a powerful reasoner or an eloquent orator. Why, 
 then, shall we consume our nights and days in the acquisition of 
 that which is to be of no practical utility hereafter, and which 
 brings with it no immediate advantage, except the gratification of 
 pride, a shortlived honor, a distinction at Commencement ? Be- 
 ware, my young friends, beware of the tempter. Those arc the 
 suggestions of Sloth — tlie most insidinuj, persuasive and danger- 
 ous of deceivers. 
 
 " J'itanda est improba sijren DcsUUa.^^ 
 
 If you cannot close your ears against her insinuations, strengthen 
 your understandings to triumph over her sophisms, and nerve 
 your courage to resist her wiles. Ba sure, if )'ou submit to her 
 benumbing influence, and waste your days here in idleness, the 
 time will come, when with hitter, but perhaps unavailing anguish, 
 you shall bemoan your folly. Remember, that it is not designed 
 by an academical education, to teach you all that it behooves you 
 to learn — Education is not completed within these walls. When 
 you shall have quitted this peaceful retreat, and selected the pro- 
 fession pr state in life in which you are to be engaged, then you 
 should apply all your efforts to the acquisition of that species of 
 knowledge v;hich jb more especially needed. Here are in- 
 
JLDGK (JASTOxX"^: ADDRESS. 
 
 11 
 
 culcated those elementary i)rinciple.s of science and literature, 
 which experience has shewn to be best fitted to form the founda- 
 tion of the character of the scholar and gentleman — those rudiments 
 of instruction, Avhich, omitted here, are rarely indeed acquired 
 afterwards. Here are to be formed those habits of vigorous and 
 continuous application — here, the capacities for improvement are 
 to be cultivated and strengthenened, so that every occasion and 
 every employment without these walls may become subsidiary 
 to further advancement in knowledge, ability, and usefulness. It 
 is a miserable fallacy to mistake the exception for the rule. True 
 it is, that those who have won the hisrhest honors at College, do 
 not always realize the hopes whicli these glorious beginnings have 
 excited. " The fair bloom of fairest fruit" may be blasted by 
 pestilent dews. Folly, vanity and vice, low pursuits and vulgar 
 associations, indolence, intemperance, and uebauchery, but too 
 often debase and destroy the generous youth, who entered on life's 
 career, rich in academical distinctions, docile, ardent for fame, 
 patient of labour, of manly purpose and noblest promise. Mourn 
 over these moral wrecks. Lament the instability of all earthly 
 good, the frail character of all human excellence. Weep for those 
 who have fallen from their high estate, but say not it was folly in 
 them Hius to have risen. True it is also, that it sometimes, though 
 vtry rarely, happens, that those who have been idle during their 
 academical course, have, by extraordinary exei-tions, retrieved 
 their early neglect, and in the end outstripped others who started 
 in the race far ahead. These are the exceptions — they furnish 
 cause to humble arrogance, check presumption, banish despair, 
 and encourage reformation. But so surely as a virtuous life usu- 
 ally precedes a happy death, so surely it will be found, that within 
 the College precincts is laid the ground work of that pre-eminence 
 afterward acquired in the strife of men, and that College distinc- 
 tions are not only good testimony of the fidelity with which Col- 
 lege duties have been performed, but the best presages and 
 pledges of excellence on a more elevated and extensive field of 
 action. In defiance, therefore, of all the lures of pleasure, and 
 seductive suggestions of sloth, let active persevering industiy be 
 the habit of your lives. Form this habit here, and cherish and 
 preserve it ever afterwards. 
 
 But however earnestly vou are thus exhorted to dilii^nce, let 
 
12 JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 it not be forgotten, that tllligence itself is but a subordinate quali- 
 ty, and derives its chief value from the end to which it is directed, 
 and the motives by Avhich it is impelled. It is diligence in a good 
 cause only that is commendable. Tlie iirst great maxim of human 
 conduct, that which it is all important to impress on the under- 
 standings of young men, and recommend to their iiearty adoption, 
 is, above all things, in all circumstances, and under every emer- 
 gency, to preserve a clean heart and an honest pui-pose. Integrity, 
 firm, determined integrity, is that quality, which of all others, 
 raises man to the highest dignity of his nature, and tits him to 
 adorn and bless the sphere in which he is appointed to move. 
 Without it, neither genius nor learning, neither the gifts of God, 
 nor human exertions, can avail aught for the accomplishment of 
 the great objects of human existence. Integrity is the crowning 
 virtue — integrity is the pervading principle which ought to regu- 
 late, guide, control, and vivify, every impulse, desire and action. 
 Honesty is sometimes spoken of as a vulgar virtue ; and perhaps 
 that honesty, which barely refrains from outraging the positive 
 rules ordained by society for the protection of property, and which 
 ordinarily pays its debts and performs its engagements, however 
 useful and commendable a quality, is not to be numbered among 
 the highest efforts of human virtue. But that integrity which, 
 however tempting the opportunity, or however secure against de- 
 tection, no selfishness nor resentment, no lust of power, place, 
 favour, profit or pleasure, can cause to swerve from the strict rule 
 of right, is the perfection of man's moral nature. In this sense, 
 the poet was right, when he pronounced 'an honest man the 
 noblest work of God." It is almost inconceivable what an erect 
 and independent spirit this high endowment communicates to the 
 man, and what a morali ntrepidity and vivifying energy it imparts 
 to his character. There is a family alliance between all the vir- 
 tues, and perfect integrity is always foilowed by a train of goodly 
 qualities, frankness, benevolence, humanity, patriotism, prompt- 
 ness to act, and patience to endure. In moments of public need, 
 these indicate the man who is worthy of vmiversal confidence. 
 Erected on such a basis, and built up of such materials, fame is 
 enduring. Such ig the fame of our Washington, of the man 
 ''inflexible to ill and obstinately just." W'hile, therefore, other 
 monuments, intended to perpetuate human greatness, are daily 
 
JUDGE GASTONS ADDRESS. 13 
 
 mouldering into dust, and belie the proud inscription:^ whlcli they 
 bear, the solid granite pyramid of his glory lasts from ago to age, 
 imperishable, seen afar oil", looming high over the vast desert, a 
 mark, a sign, and a wonder, for the wayfarers through this pil- 
 grimage of life. 
 
 A nice sense of Integrit}'' cannot, therefore, be too early cherish- 
 ed, or too sedulously cultivated. In the very dawnlngs of life oc- 
 casions are presented for its exercise. Within these walls, temp- 
 tations every day occur, when temporary advantage solicits a de- 
 viation from the rule of right. In the discharge of the various du- 
 ties which you owe to your companions, let no petty selfishness 
 be indulged, no artifices practised, by which you are to escape 
 from your fair share of labour, inconvenience or contribution, 
 or any one deprived of the full measure of whatever he ma}' right- 
 fully claim. Cultivate singleness of purpose and frankness of 
 demeanor, and hold in contempt whatever is sordid, disingenuous, 
 cunning, or mean. But it is when these peaceful shades shall 
 have been left behind, and the fitful course of busy life begun, 
 that seductions will be presented under every form by which inex- 
 perience, infirmity of purpose, and facility of disposition, can be 
 waylaid. Then is the crisis of the young man's fate — then is 
 the time to take his stand, to seize his vantage ground. If he can 
 then defy the allurements of cupidity, sensuality and ambition, 
 the laugh of fools, the arts of parasites, and the contagion of 
 improbity ; then indeed, may he hope, 
 
 " III sight of mortal and immortal powers, 
 
 " As iu a boundless theatre to run 
 
 " The great career of justice — 
 
 " And through llie mists of passion and of St- ns^", 
 
 " And through the tossing tide of chance and paiu 
 
 " To hold his course unfaltering." 
 
 You, my young friends, who are standing at the threshold, and 
 waiting with eager impatience the signal for entrance upon life, 
 must not think that I mean to alarm you with idle fears, because 
 I thus warn you of the approaching conflict. The enraged bull 
 may close his eyes before he rushes upon his foe, but rational 
 courage calmly surveys danger, and then deliberately prepares 
 and determines to encounter it. Apprized of your peril, and 
 armed for the encounter, enter on your course with resolved 
 hearts, and fear not for the issue. 
 
14 JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 So sweet arc the notes of human praise, and so abhorrent the 
 tones of reproach, that It is among the highest eiibrts of magnan- 
 imity to pursue the straight forward course of duty, without being 
 turned aside by commendation or reproof, by flattery or calumny. 
 Whatever be our journey through hfe, like the princes in the 
 Eastern tab- ascending the mountain in search of the wondrous 
 bird, we are sure to hear around us the confused sounds of blan- 
 dishment and solicitation, of menace and insult, until with many 
 of us, the giddy bead is turned, and we arc converted into monu- 
 ments of warning to those who are to follow life's adventure. 
 Rare, indeed, is that moral courage, which, like a prudent Paris- 
 ade, closes its ears against the impression of these sounds, and 
 casts not an eye behind until its destined course be accomplished. 
 Rare, however, as may be this excellence, and in its perfection 
 perhaps unattainable, there can be no true dignity and decision of 
 character without a near approach to it. Let youth be ever mo- 
 dest, ever deferential to the counsels, the suggestions and the 
 claims of others. But in matters of right and wrong, whatever 
 be the lures, tlie taunts, or the usages of the world, or whatever 
 the suppos:d inconveniences of singularity, let judgment and con- 
 science always rule with absolute sway, Carry this maxim with 
 you through life, whatever be the station you arc to occupy, or 
 the business you are to pursue ; and carry with it another kindred 
 niaxim : rely for success in yom- undertakings, not on 'he patron- 
 age of others, but on your own capacity, resolution, diligence^ and 
 exertions. Rise by merit, or rise not at all. Suited as these in- 
 junctions are believed to be to all, they are peculiarly addressed 
 to those among you, who, panting ior renown^ are resolved to en- 
 ter upon a public career, and long '•' to read their history in a na- 
 tion's eyes." 
 
 '•How wretched," exclaims the Poet of Nature, " is that poor 
 man who hangs on Princes" favours." Miserable is the condition 
 of every being who hangs on the favours of creatures like himself. 
 Deserve, and strive by desert to win, the esteem of your fellow- 
 men. Thus acquired, it decorates him who obtains, and blesses 
 those who bestow it. To them it is returned in faithful service, 
 and to him in aid of the approbation of conscience to animate 
 diligence and reward exertion. Those too, who engage in public 
 service, arc bound to cherish a liCcU-ty sympathy ■with the wants, 
 
JII)(;K GASTON'S ADDRESS. 15 
 
 leelingH, comforti< and wi>i)es of tho people whose wellare is 
 committed to tlieir chargo. It is essential for the preservation of 
 that confidence which ought to subsist between the principal and 
 the agent, the constituent and the representative, that all liaugh- 
 tiness and reserve should be banished from their intercourse. It 
 sometimes happens, that he who Iras lived too constantly among 
 books, manifests a disgust in an association with the uneducated 
 and unrefined, w^hich mortifies and repels them. This is absurd 
 in him, and unjust to them. It is absurd, for he ougiit to know, 
 and know well, those for w'hom, and upon whom, he expects to 
 act — they constitute, iii fact, one of the first and most appropriate 
 objects of his study ; and it is unjust, for not unfrequently under 
 this roughness which shocks the man of books, is to be found a 
 stock of practical information, in which he is miserably deficient. 
 Banish, then, all superciliousness, for it is criminal and ridicu- 
 lous. Honestly seek to .serve yaw country, for it is glorious to 
 advance the good of your fellow-men, and thus, as far as feeble 
 mortals may, act up to the great example of Him to whose image 
 and likeness you are made. Seek also, by all honest arts, to win 
 their confidence, but beware how you preter their favor Uy their 
 service. The high road of service is indeed laborious, exposed 
 to the rain and sun, the heat and dust ; while tlie by-path of favor 
 has, apparently, at first, much the same direction, and is bordered 
 w'ith flow^ers and sheltered by trec'^. •' cooled with fountains and 
 murmuring with waterfalls." No wonder, then, that like the 
 son of Abensina, in Johnston's beautifvil A}Xjlogue, the young 
 adventurer is tempted to try the happy experiment of " uniting 
 pleasure with business, and gaining the rewards of diligence 
 without suffering its fatigues." But once entered upon, the path 
 of favor, though found to decline more and more from its first 
 direction, is pursued through all its deviations, till at length even 
 the thought of return to the road of service is utterly abandoned. 
 To court thel'fondness of the people, i.s foimd, or supposed, to be 
 easier than to merit their approbation. Meanly ambitious of 
 public trust, without the virtues to deserve it ; intent on personal 
 distinction, and having forgotten the ends for which alone it is 
 worth possessing, the miserable being, concentered all in self, 
 learns to pander to every vulgar prejudice, to advocate every 
 popular error, to chime in with every dominant party, to fawn, 
 
IG 
 
 JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 flatter and deceive, and becomes a deinago<^uc. How wretched 
 is that poor bL;ing who hangs on the people's favor! All manli- 
 ness of principle has been lost in this long course of meanness ; — 
 he dare not use his temporary popularity for any purposes of 
 public good, in which there may be a hazard of forfeiting it ; and 
 the very eminence to which he is exalted, renders but more 
 conspicuous his servility and degradation. However clear the 
 convictions of his judgements, however strong the admonitions of 
 his, as yet, not thoroughly stifled conscience, not these, not the 
 law of God, nor the rule of right, nor the public good — but the 
 caprice of his constituents, must be his only guide. Having risen 
 by artifice, and conscious of no worth to support him, he i* in 
 hourly dread of being supplanted in the favor of the deluded 
 multitude by some more cunning deceiver. And such, sooner 
 or later, is sure to be his fate. At some unlucky moment, when 
 he bears his blushing honors thick upon him, (and well may such 
 honors blush !) he is jerked from his elevation by some more 
 dexterous demagogue, and falls unpitied, never to ri.se again. — 
 And can this be the lot of him who has been here trained to 
 admire and love high-minded excellence — who has been taught 
 by high classical authority to regard with the same fearless and 
 immoveable indifference, the stern countenance of the tyrant and 
 tlie wicked ardor of the multitude, and who has learned from a 
 yet higher and holier authority, to hold fast on -'whatsoever 
 things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things 
 are just, v.halsoever things are pure, to abhor that which is evil 
 and cleave to that which is good ?" Believe me, however, this 
 is no fancy picture. The original may be found in the world 
 every day. Nor will it surprise those who have had occasion to 
 see how the vain heart is swoln, and the giddy head turned, how 
 honesty of purpose and manliness of spirit, are perverted by 
 popular applause. It is but the first step that costs. Once yield 
 to the suggestion, that a little deceit or prevarication, a slight 
 sacrifice of principle and independence, a compromise of con- 
 science in matters not absolutely fundamental, may be excused, 
 when the immediate gain is obvious and the end in view impor- 
 tant, and the downward path becomes every day more and more 
 smooth, untd, iu its descent, it reach the very abyss of vulgar, 
 trading, intriguing, electioneering, olfice-hunting politicians. If 
 
JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. r 
 
 in this lowciit depth alowerdeep can be found, iiuiie. of u:^, I am 
 sure, have the curiosity to explore it. 
 
 But is Integrity sure to meet here its merited reward ? Un- 
 questionably not. If it were, and the fact generally known, 
 there would scarcely be room for choice, and men would be 
 honest from the want of a plausible temptation to be otherwise. 
 But it is not too much to say, that, in general, Integrity has a 
 tendency to promote the interest of him who pursues it, and it is 
 therefore recommended to our adoption by prudence, not less 
 than by principle. Success in the acquisition of aji}' extrinsic 
 object is necessarily uncertain, since it depends on contingencies 
 which cannot be foreseen, and which, if foreseen, are frequently 
 beyond our power. It is not in mortals to command success. — 
 No talent, no courage, no industry, and no address, can be 
 certain to affect it. But when it is attempted by cunning, disin- 
 genuous means, it is usually rendered more dilficult of attain- 
 ment, because of the complexity of the scheme, and the risk of 
 detection and counteraction. Honesty, in the long run, is there- 
 fore the surer policy. It is impossible to thrive without the rep- 
 utation of it, and it is far easier to be honest indeed, than to cheat 
 the world into the belief of integrity where it is not. The crooked 
 stratagems, the arts, toils, concealments and self-denials, which 
 are necessary' to carry on a successful imposition, are far more 
 onerous and painful, than all the duties which a life of probity 
 enjoins ; while the consciousness of an upright deportment, dif- 
 fuses through the whole man that security and serenity, which 
 infinitely outweigh all the advantages of successful cunning. — 
 Nor in recommending a spirit of Independence, is it intended to 
 proscribe the acceptance of friendly aid, freely tendered, and 
 won by no mean solicitation. Children of the same common 
 family, we are bound to help each other in the trials and difficul- 
 ties of our common pilgiimage, nor should we ever be too proud 
 to receive from others that assistance, which it is our duty to 
 render to them. Now such aid is not only more likely to be 
 bestowed, but comes with far greater effect, when there has been 
 a manly and sustained effort to do without it. The spindling 
 plant which hai always been supported by a prop, is not only 
 unable to stand alone, but can scarcely be sustained by props 
 when the season of fruit an-ives ; whereas, the slightest assistance 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 then bestowed on the hardy tree, that self-sustained has always 
 braved the breeze, will enable it to bear up under the heaviest 
 and richest burthen. He who trusts to others, must necessasily 
 be often disappointed, and the habit of dependence creates a 
 helplessness which is almost incapable of exertion. Fancy 
 dwells on expected aid, until it mistakes its own creations for 
 realities, and the child of illusion wastes life in miserable day- 
 dreams, unable to act for himself, and confidently relying; on 
 assistance which he is destined never to receive. 
 
 Deeply rooted principles of probity, confirmed habits of in- 
 dustry, and a determination to rely on one's own exertions, con- 
 stitute then the great preparation for the discharge of the du-' 
 ties of man, and the best security for performing them with hon- 
 or to one's self and benefit to others. But it may be asked, what 
 is there in such a life of never ending toil, effort, and privation, 
 to recommend it to the acceptance of the young and the gay ? 
 Those who aspire to heroic renown, may indeed make up their 
 minds to embrace these " hard doctrines ;" but it may be well 
 questioned whether happiness is not preferable to greatness, and 
 enjoyment more desirable than distinction. Let others, if they 
 will, toil up "up the steep where Fame's proud temple shines 
 afar;" we choose rather to sport in luxurious ease and careless 
 glee in the valley below. It is, indeed, on those who aspire to 
 eminence, that these injunctions are intended to be pressed with 
 the greatest emphasis, not only because a failure in them would 
 be more disastrous than in others, but because they are exposed 
 to greater and more numerous dangers of error. But it is a sad 
 mistake to suppose that they are not suited to all, and arc not 
 earnestly urged upon all, however humble their pretensions or 
 moderate tlieir views. Happiness, as well as greatness, enjoy- 
 ment as well as renown, have no friends so sure as Integrity, Dil- 
 igence, and Independence. We are not placed here to waste our 
 days in wanton riot or inglorious ease, with appetites perpetual- 
 ly gratified and never palled, exempted from all care and solici- 
 tude, with life ever fresh, and joys ever new. He who has fit- 
 ted us for our condition, and assigned to us its appropriate duties, 
 has not left his work unfinished, and omitted to provide a penalty 
 for the neglect of our obligations. Labor is not more the duty, 
 than the blessing of man. Without it, there is neither mental 
 
JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 19 
 
 nor physical vigor, health, cheerfulness, nor animation ; neither 
 the eargerness of hope, nor the capacity to enjoy. Every hu- 
 man being must have some object to engage his attention, excite 
 his wishes, and rouse him to action, or he sinks, aprey to listlessness. 
 For want of proper occupations, see strenuous idleness resorting 
 to a thousand expedients — the race course, the bottle, or the 
 gaming table, the frivolities of fashion, the debasements of sen- 
 suality, the petty contentions of envy, the grovelling pursuits of 
 avarice, and all the various distracting agitations of vice. Call 
 you these enjoyments ? Is such the happiness which it is so 
 dreadful to forego ? 
 
 " Vast happiness enjoy thy gay alhesl 
 
 " A youth of lollies, an old age of cares, 
 " Young yet enervate, old yet never wise ; 
 
 *' Vice wastes their vigor and their mind impairs. 
 " Vain, idle, dissolute, in thoughtless ease, 
 
 " Reserving woes lor age, their prime they spend ; 
 *' ^'^11 wretched, hopeless to the evil days, 
 
 " With sorrow to the verge of life they tend ; 
 " Grieved with the present, of the past ashamed ; 
 
 " They hve and are despised, they die, no more are named." 
 
 If to every bounty of Providence there be annexed, as assuredly 
 there is, some obligations as a condition for its enjoyment ; on us, 
 blest as we have been, and as we now are, with the choicest gifts 
 of Heaven here below — with freedom, peace, order, civilization 
 aiid social virtue — there are unquestionably imposed weighty ob- 
 lig;ations. You whom I now address, will, in a few years, be 
 a; long the men of the succeeding age. In a country like ours, 
 where the public will is wholly unfettered, and every man is a com- 
 ponent part of tliat country, there is no individual so humble who 
 has not duties of a public kind to discharge. His views and ac- 
 tions have an influence on those of others, and his opinions, with 
 theirs, serve to make up that public will. More especially is this the 
 case with those who, whatever may be their pursuits in life, have 
 been raised by education to a comparative superiority in intellec- 
 tual vigor and attainments. On you, and such as you, depends 
 the fate of the most precious heritage ever won by the valor, or 
 preserved by the prudence, or consecrated by the virtue of an 
 illustrious ancestr}^ — illustrious, not because of factitious titles, but 
 nature's nobles, wise, good, generous and brave ! To you, and 
 such as you, will be confided in deposit, the institutions of our re- 
 
20 
 
 JUDGE GASTONS ADDRESS. 
 
 nowned and beloved country. Receive them with awe, cherish 
 them with loyalty, and transmit them wliole, and if possible, im- 
 proved to your ciiildren. Yours will indeed, be no sinecure of- 
 fice. As the public will is the operative spring of all public ac- 
 tion, it will be your duty to make and to keep the public will en- 
 lightened. There will always be some error to dispel, some pre- 
 judice to correct, some illusion to guard against, some imposition 
 to detect and expose. In aid of these individual eflbrts, you must 
 provide, by public institutions, for dilFusing among the people, 
 that trcneral information without which thev cannot be protected 
 from the machinations of deceivers. As your country grows in 
 years, vou must also cause it to grow in science, literature, arts 
 and refinement. It will be for you to dcvelope and multiply its 
 resources, to check the faults of manners as they rise,' and to ad- 
 vance the cause of industry, tempeiancc. moderation, justice, mor- 
 als and religion, all around you. On you too, will devolve the 
 duty which has been too long neglected, but which cannot with 
 impunity be neglected much longer, of providing for the mitiga- 
 tion, and (is it too much to hope for in North Carolina?) for the 
 ultimate extirpation of the worst evil that afflicts the Southern 
 part of our Confederacy. Full well do you know towiiat I refer, 
 for on this subject there is, with all of us, a morbid sensitiveness 
 which gives warning even of an approach to it. Disguise the 
 truth as we may, and throw the blame where we will, it is Slave- 
 ry which, more than any other cause, keeps us back in the ca- 
 reer of improvement. It stifles industry and represses enter- 
 prize — it is fatal to economy and providence — it discourages skill 
 — impairs our strength as a community, and poisons morals at 
 the fountain head. How this evil is to be encountered, how sub- 
 dued, is indeed a dillicult and delicate enquiry, which this is not 
 the time to examine, nor the occasion to discuss. I felt, however, 
 that I could not discharge my duty, without referring to this sub- 
 ject, as one which ought to engage the prudence, moderation and 
 firmness of those who, sooner or later, must act decisively upon it. 
 I would not depress your buoyant spirits with gloomy antici- 
 pations, but I should be wanting in frankness, if I did not state 
 my conviction, that you will be called to the performance of other 
 duties unusually grave and important. Perils surround you and 
 are imminent, which v.-ill require clear heads, pure intentions, 
 
JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 21 
 
 and stout hearts, to discern and to overcome. There is no side on 
 which danger may not make its approacli, but from the wicked- 
 ness and madness of factions, it is most menacing. Time was, 
 indeed, when factions contended amongst us with virulence and 
 fury ; but they were, or aflbcled to be, at issue on questions of 
 principle : now, Americans band together under the names of 
 men, and wear the livery, and put on the badges of Ihcir leaders. 
 Then, the individuals of the different parties were found side by 
 side, dispersed throughout the various districts of our confederated 
 Republic ; but now, the parties that distract the land, are almost 
 identilied witli our geographical distinctions. Now then has 
 come that period, foreseen and dreaded by our Washington, by 
 him, " who, more than any other individual, founded this our 
 wide-spreading Empire, and gave to our western world indepen- 
 dence and freedom" — by him, who with a lather's wo.rning voice, 
 bade us beware of "parties founded on geographical discrimina- 
 tions." As yet, the sentiment so deeply planted in the hearts of 
 our honest yeomanry, that union is strength, has not been uproot- 
 ed. As yet, they acknowledge the truth, and feeL the force of the 
 homely, but excellent aphorism, "United we stand, divided we 
 fall." As yet, they take pride in the name of "the United 
 Stales" — in the recollection of the fields that were won, the 
 blood which was poured forth, and the glory which was gained 
 in the common cause, and under the common banner of a united 
 country. May God, in his mercy, forbid that I, or you, my 
 friends, should live to see the day, when these sentiments and 
 feelings shall be extinct ! Whenever that day comes, then is the 
 hour at hand, when this glorous Republic, this at once national 
 and confederated Republic, which for nearly half a century has 
 presented to the eyes, the hopes, and the gratitude of man, a 
 more brilliant and lovely image than Plato, or More, or Harring- 
 ton, ever feigned or fancied, shall be like a tale that is told, like 
 a vision that hath passed away. But these sentiments and feelings 
 are necessarily weakened, and in the end must be destroyed, 
 unless the moderate, the good and the wise unite to "frown 
 indignantly upon the first dawnings of every attempt to alienate 
 any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred 
 ties which now link together its various parts." Threats of re- 
 sistance, secession, separation — have become common as house- 
 
52 JUDGE GASTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 hold words, in the wicked and silly violence of public declaimers. 
 The public ear is familiarized, and the public mind will soon be 
 accustomed to the detestable suggestion of Disunion ! Calcula- 
 tions and conjectures, what may the East do without the South, 
 and what may the South do without the East, sneers, menaces, 
 reproaches, and recriminations, all tend to the same fatal end ! 
 What can the East do without the South ? What can the South 
 do without the East? They may do much ; they may exhibit to 
 the curiosity of political anatomists, and the pity and wonder of 
 the world, the '^disjecta membra," the sundered bleeding limbs of 
 a once gigantic body instinct with life and strength, and vigor. 
 They can furnish to the philosophic historian, another melancholy 
 and striking instance of the political axiom, that all Republican 
 Confederacies have an inherent and unavoidable tendency to 
 dissolution. They will present fields and occasions for border 
 Avars, for leagues and counter-leagues, for the intrigues of petty 
 statesmen, the struggles of military chiefs, for confiscations, insur- 
 rections, and deeds of darkest hue. They will gladden the hearts 
 of those who have proclaimed, that men are not fit to govern 
 themselves, and shed a disastrous eclipse on the hopes of rational 
 freedom throughout the world. So'.on, in his Code, proposed no 
 punishment for parricide, treating it as an impossible crime. — 
 Such, with us, ought to be the crime of political parricide — the 
 dtsmemberment of our '• father land." '• Cari sunt parent es, cart 
 y. ntliberi, propinqui, familiares, sed omncs omnium cariiates pa- 
 tria una complexa est ; pro qua quis bonus dubiiet mortem opjjetere 
 si ei sit profuturus 1 Quo est detestabilior istonim immanitas qui 
 Iccerarunt scelere patriam, et in ca funditus delcnda occiipati et 
 sunt cifuert/nt." 
 
 If it must be so, let parties and party men continue to quarrel 
 with little or no regard to the public good. They may mistify 
 themselves and others with disputations on political economy, 
 proving the most opposite doctrines to their own satisfaction, and 
 perhaps, to the conviction of no one else on earth. They may 
 deserve reprobation for their selfishness, their violence, their 
 errors, or their wickedness. The}^ may do our country much 
 hamri. They may retard its growth, destroy its harmony, impair 
 its character, render its institutions unstable, pervert the public 
 mind, and deprave the public morals. These are, indeed, evils,