Address in Praise of Founders

A
Commemorative
Oration,
Delivered At
The First Encaenia
In Kings College, Fredericton
June 24th, 1830,
By Edwin Jacob, DD. Vice-President.

Fredericton
John Simpson, Printer To The King's Most Excellent Majesty.

To The Honorable
William Black, D. C. L.
President Of The Province Of New Brunswick,
And
Chancellor Of Its University,
The Following
Oration,
Printed By His Honor's Desire,
Is Respectfully Dedicated;
In Testimony Of The Author's Grateful Sense of His Vigilant
And Assiduous Attention To Every Thing Relating
To The Interests Of The
College.

Commemorative observances have prevailed among all the branches of the human family. They date from the earliest period of time, and are derived from the first institution of the Creator. The sanctification of the hebdomadal sabbath, in remembrance of the day which completed this glorious work of creation, is the great precedent; which has been followed by numerous imitations, some of equally divine, other of human appointment.

These festivals harmonise with our nature, and are therefore established on true principles. connected as we are with the earth and its revolutions, we associate our ideas with place and time; and from this association feelings which most deeply affect us are frequently derived. The days and spots which gave us birth, and those which have been remarkable for any subsequent event concerning us, produce reflections of a solemn, a joyful, or a melancholy character. Such reflections may raise the soul to grateful praise, or lay it low in penitential sorrow, or even lead to purposes and pursuits of the highest moment to our final welfare. And the observation of more general events is equally natural and just; events which concern us, as we find ourselves identified with a nation , a church or any other of the societies, into which mankind may have been divided.

Of the good effects of such commemorations, when properly conducted, it is impossible to doubt. How must the piety of the ancient Jews, as far as the several members of that peculiar community were capable of religious feeling, have been excited by the annual Passover and feast of the Dedication; referring, as these festivals did, the one to the wonderful deliverance of the nation from the oppressive enslavement of the purse service of Jehovah, after the horrid and abominable pollutions with which Anitochus had profaned its sacred soil! The Christian church has derived still greater benefit from the festivals by which it celebrates the nativity and resurrection of its Redeemer, and the effusion of the Spirit of grace and holiness. On these occasions, if ever, the soul holds communion with heaven; rejoicing in that divine mercy which hath condescended to visit erring and lost mankind; aspiring the grave; and pondering in awful meditation those spiritual thoughts, unearthly desires, and "groanings unutterable" in the languages of men, which indicate the influence of that inspirer "whom the world seeth not." A measure of communicable sanctity attaches itself, as it were, to the very days themselves, which we have been accustomed to devote to such recollections. The sun then shines upon us, the recognised and sensible image of the invisible source of light and life; the whole circumambient atmosphere breathes of purity and heaven; the landscape shines in unwonted brightness, and becomes a "Paradise regained;" above all, the congregation of the sacred edifice transports us to that "general assembly and church," by whom the Father of spirits will be eternally adored "in spirit and in truth."

With such examples before them, it might be expected that societies, formed for the especial object of cultivating religious and philosophical knowledge, would have their commemorative seasons. They are indeed of ancient establishment in those venerable Universities, of which this may be considered as an infant offsett. In Oxford and Cambridge, not only the several Colleges commemorate their founders and benefactors; but on one fixed day in the year the whole academical body is convened to celebrate the memory of the great and good men to whose munificent endowments it owes its existence. The Statute, which appoints this present festival, and requires me now to speak in praise of the founders and benefactors of King's College, Fredericton, has been copied from their illustrious pattern.

The task which devolves upon me is far from difficult. To eulogise men whom you have known, whose work is before you, and whom you all, without an exception or a doubt, regard as mostly worthy of commendation, is so easy a matter that it might almost be pronounced superfluous. But young as our institution is, and recent as even the first conception of it might be called, there were those among its earliest and best friends, whose benefits already bear the character of legacies bequeathed.

Of those, whom we thus reckon with our fathers, I know not whom I ought to name before those distinguished persons, who during their occupancy of the highest station in the Province, are remembered and recorded as the successive promoters of education; among whom the names of Carleton and of Smyth must ever be pre-eminent. the former Lieutenant Governor may, I presume, be justly named as the original institutor, if not the actual projector, of a collegiate establishment for New Brunswick. to him, seconded by the enlightened zeal of His Majesty's council, and individuals in high official situations, and supported by the well-directed liberality of the House of Assembly, the sacred cause of religion and literature was indebted, I conceive, for the grant of lands which we now possess, for pecuniary aids from the provincial treasury, and for the building which during some years bore the name of "The College;"--a seminary, in which, to say the least which justice requires, students were prepared with faithful and affectionate care for the ampler provision of instruction for which, with due and serious deliberation, the preparatory measures were taken by General Smyth.

Whom should I next mention but that valuable friend, by whose disinterested labours, guided by a solid judgment, and actuated by the earnest desire of promoting the highest welfare of the rising and of future generations, the draught of our Statutes was prepared? The importance of good laws for the regulation of every society must be self-evident. And as long as this University exists, it cannot cease to be remembered that the original code of its laws, whatever alterations, and possible amendments in was gratuitously furnished by the late Attorney General, Mr. Wetmore.

Others there were, once actively assisting in the great work of which we have witnessed the accomplishment, who now rest from their labours; but to an individual recently departed your memories cannot fail to recur:--I mean the late Archdeacon Best; whom His Majesty had nominated in the Charter (alas, the shortness of human foresight!) as the first President of our College. Of his warm-hearted zeal for its interests, and its efficiency in the great cause to which it is consecrated, I am enabled to speak in some measure from personal observation and knowledge. During my acquaintance and correspondence with this pure-minded and benevolent minister of Christ, I ever found the college lying near his heart; and I had the best reasons for believing that nothing could have given him greater satisfaction, than the employment of all the means in his power in furtherance of its happy and useful establishment. Had it pleased Divine Providence to prolong his days on hearth, and to restore him (according to his own earnest desire) to his station in the Province, lively would have been his interest and his delight in this day's solemnity.

"Quis desiderio sit pudor an modus Tam cari capitis?"

Called home in the prime of his life, and without previous expectation on his own part, we can now only remember him as a friend who "did what he could," and whose early fate admonishes us to make the best and most diligent use of our own, even our earliest days. His bereaved and afflicted Relict has proved her acquaintance with his undeclared wishes, and herself worthy of his respected name, by presenting his collection of theological authors as the fo9undation--a more appropriate foundation could not be laid--of our Collegiate Library.

There remains one most illustrious friend, with respect to whom we are placed at this moment in very peculiar and painful circumstances;--one, of whom I would fain speak as of a living patron, and offer up fervent vows for his long and happy continuance with his people, but of whom it is impossible not to entertain an apprehension that now--

"Stat magni nominis umbra."

But, whether still with the living, or added to the line of departed Kings, the memory of George the Fourth must be ever cherished among those princes whose reign has, under a benignant and merciful Providence, conferred the greatest benefits on the nation to which we have the happiness to belong. Acting on the advice of ministers who understood the interests of the colonial possessions of the crown, and were sincerely anxious to foster and promote them, (among whom Earl Bathurst deserves our especial remembrance) His Majesty became the actual Founder of this College; granting the style and privileges of an University, and endowing it with a liberal portion of the royal revenue derived from the Province.

To recount the more general benefits resulting from a wise and well-conducted government, or even to dilate upon the numerous instances in which His Majesty has stood distinguished for his patronage of religion, literature and education, would be inappropriate to this occasion; but on the too probable supposition that the reign of the fourth prince of the Hanoverian line may have reached its termination, I may perhaps be allowed to introduce a quotation form a discourse which was delivered at the coronation of the first. The preacher of that day was the Bishop of Oxford; whose sermon I have found among the books presented to our library from that of the late Archdeacon. You will not fail to observe how completely the anticipations of the prelate have been verified in the experience of more than a century; and if you cannot allow yourselves to consider his language prophetic, you will at least be disposed devoutly to acknowledge the accomplishment by a gracious Providence of his pious hopes and prayers.

After a spirited view of the dangers from which the church and nation were rescued by the Revolution under William and Mary, and the subsequent succession of the House of Hanover,--

"How great is that blessing then," exclaims the sacred preacher, "which has delivered us from these dreadful apprehensions, and quietly settled a King over us, under whom we may with confidence hope to enjoy securely all our civil and religious rights; to call what we have our own: to sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make us afraid; to have peace established without and within our borders; to see the industry of our manufacturers and labourers encouraged at home, our commerce preserved and extended abroad, and the wealth and prosperity of our nation advanced, till she becomes the joy or envy of the whole earth; above all, to see our pure church and holy religion in a secure and flourishing condition; her doctrines, worship and discipline maintained; her ministers protected; her ordinances and ministrations solemnly attended, and her borders in God's good time enlarged!"

In a similar strain the excellent orator proceeds, honestly setting forth the reciprocal duties of prince and people, until he arrives at the following conclusion:--"Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord! All blessings from God attend the person and reign of him whom His Providence hath set over us! May he long continue the defender of our faith, and the maintainer of our civil rights! May the happy influences of his glorious government extend as widely as those of the sun! May he be not only the joy of his own subjects, but the support of his allies, and the terror of his enemies; the protector of the liberties of Europe; the guardian of the Protestant interest, the refuge of the oppressed, the deliverer of the captives, the restorer of the banished, and a common blessing to mankind! And when, being full of years, and full of glory, he shall be gathered to his fathers, to take possession of an eternal crown, may his temporal crown descend peaceable upon his royal son; and may there never be wanting a succession of princes of his illustrious house, to sway the sceptre of these kingdoms--till Shilo shall come again!"

Standing as we seem to be, near, if not at, the end of the reign of the fourth George, and experiencing in our own persons the benefit which have been progressively communicated to the continually extending dominions of the British sceptre, we can scarcely avoid considering the language which I have quoted as invested with a more than common, with a more than merely human character. Sure I am, that at this distant period, and in this remote colony, every heart will respond to the sentiments expressed at the first coronation of a prince of the Brunswick line. In one respect, indeed, a remarkable improvement has taken place, under the government of the last George, which at the accession of the first, seems scarcely to have been expected by any. At that era, and during a long subsequent period, the protection of the established church appeared, from particular circumstances, to require a somewhat jealous and severe conduct towards the members of the other religious communities. Of the reign of George the Fourth history will record it as one of the most happy and glorious distinctions, perhaps the most happy and glorious of all, that after due consideration it was determined in the national councils to abolish the exclusive system, and conduct the affairs of the state on the liberal principles of that Christian charity which hopeth all things. OF the predominance of such principles in his Majesty's Government, before by which this College was founded might be adduced as a signal document. For from these walls, according to the positive prescription of the Charter, no man can be excluded on account of his religious belief. The administration of the College is indeed secured on the tried and moderate principles of the established church of England. But the benefits, which it may be capable of communicating, are as free as the air, the light, the rain, or any other of "the manifold gifts of God."

Of the living benefactors of our College, who have in various ways rendered valuable services to the institution, it would, in some instances at least, savour of adulation were I to speak particularly. But with regard to an eminent individual, to whom it is impossible for me to say how much we are indebted, his absence leaves me more at liberty. His Excellency Sir Howard Douglas undoubtedly deserves to be denominated the immediate founder of King's College. To his recommendation and influence we are primarily indebted for the permanent support afforded us from His Majesty's revenue and the provincial treasury; to his zeal and energy, for the substantial and elegant structure in which we are assembled; and, not to mention other advantages which he has been or may yet be expected to be, the means of procuring, the Douglas Medal will be a perennial memento to the successions of ingenuous youth, who shall be educated in this institution, of the first Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick. In this country the name inscribed on that medal must ever be cherished with affectionate respect; and at some future day, when these tongues have long been silent, others, far more capable of doing justice to the subject, may be heard to class it, amidst the applause of ampler academical assemblies, with the first founder of the venerable University of Oxford--the ever renowned and illustrious Alfred.

I know not that I could better conclude this discussion this discourse than by presenting you with an outline of the character of that distinguished prince, such as I have found it delineated by our best historians. Worthy of admiration from all, it may be found to contain points of needful and stimulating admonition to some;--those especially, who feel the fire of a generous ambition glowing in their breasts, may be fitly reminded by it, of what kind are the qualities and what are the habits and pursuits of life, which are calculated to obtain the prize of lasting esteem and honor.

"Alfred," says the historian Daniel, "notwithstanding his continual engagements in war against his enemies, was not wanting to provide all things that were necessary for the well-being of his nation; for he first of all collected the laws of his predecessors, and the other Kings of the Saxons, especially those of Offa, King of Mercia, and Ethelbert, the first Christian King of the English, into one body; and by the advice and consent of his states then assembled, made choice of the best, abrogated the useless, and added others, according to the necessity of the time."

"The great admiration and love which he had for learning made him much lament the want of it in himself; accounting it one of his greatest misfortunes to be bred up in the ignorance of it, and to have his kingdom so utterly destitute of learned men as it was, through the long continuance of war with the barbarians. To remedy this defect, he sent into several parts for such as were grown famous for their learning; whom, upon their arrival he highly preferred, encouraged them to teach others, and had them himself in great veneration. All the time he could spare from the important concerns of a confused state, he spent in his studies; by which he made no small progress in learning, and deservedly bears the honor of being the first learned prince we had in England."

"His own illiterate education made him the more careful of that of his children, for whom he provided the best and most diligent masters; and by their example encouraged almost all the nobility of the kingdom to rain up their children in the same way: for the completion of which he either raised or revived public schools in several of the chief cities of the land;" (among which are particularly noticed the University of Oxford, a school at Cricklade, in Wiltshire, for Greek, and another at Lechlade, in Gloucestershire, for Latin.)

"The learning, which by his diligence he had gained in his riper years, he employed, not for shew or his own honor, but for the public advantage; in translating the best authors into the vulgar language, which it seems he laboured much to adorn, and especially affected the Saxon verses, of which he was so elegant a composer, that he gained the name of a Poet (in addition) to that of a King."

"The natural day, consisting of twenty four hours, he divided into three parts; whereof he allotted eight to prayer, study, and writing; eight to care of his body, in eating, exercise and sleep; and the other eight to the affairs of the state."

"His revenues also he proportioned into as good an order, making his liberality equal to all his other expences; in which, that he might not be over-lavish, he took an exact account of all his income, caused a general survey of his kingdom to be made, and had all the branches of his revenue to be registered in a book, which he kept in his treasury at Winchester."

"His whole annual revenue," says Milton "which was his first care should be justly his own, he divided into two equal parts: the first he employed to secular uses, and subdivided those into three; the first to pay his soldiers, household servants, and guard; the second, his architects and workmen, whom he had collected together of several nations--for he was also an elegant builder, above the custom and conceit of Englishmen in those days; the third he had in readiness to relieve or honour strangers according to their worth: the other equal part of his yearly wealth he dedicated to religious uses--those of four sorts; the first to relieve the poor; the second for the building and maintenance of monasteries; the third of a school for the study of knowledge and liberal arts; the fourth for the relief of foreign churches, as far as India, the the shrine of St. Thomas. Thus far, and much more, might be said of his noble mind, which rendered him The Mirror of Princes."