A LAWYER, EDITOR AND COLLEGE PROFESSOR.

MEMORIAL DISCOURSE ON WILLIAM G. GODDARD, LL. D. DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OF THE FACULTY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY.

FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D.

PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY.

IRISE to perform one of the saddest duties to which I have been appointed. My colleagues have requested me to deliver a discourse, in commemoration of the life and services of one very dear to us all, but, if I may be allowed to say it, specially dear to me. He was the first officer of this institution with whom I had the honor to become intimately acquainted. Our friendship has continued, without interruption until the day of his death. During the whole period, within which we were associated as officers of instruction, we were in the habit of meeting daily, and many times in the day. The various plans, which, since my knowledge of this institution, have been laid, for the improvement either of its course of education or manner of discipline, have all received the benefit of his wise and thoughtful consideration. The principles on which they depended were developed by mature reflection, and the measures which resulted from them were carried into effect by our mutual labor. And when, in consequence of ill health he retired from the duties of that chair which he had filled with equal honor to himself and advantage to the University, we all considered his separation from us to be rather in form than in fact. We unanimously invited him to be present at all the meetings of the faculty, assured that his interest remained unabated in the prosperity of the institution, on whose reputation his labors

had conferred so much additional lustre. We felt that his talents, and labor and fame, were as much as ever the property of the university. For myself I may truly say, that, for nearly twenty years, I have taken but few important steps the reasons for which I have not discussed in the freest manner with him, and in which, also, I have not been in a great degree either guided by his counsel or encouraged by his approbation. There is scarcely a topic in religion or morals, in literature or social law, on which either of us has reflected, that we have not discussed together. Neither of us was fond of disputation, but both of us loved exceedingly the honest and unstudied interchange of opinions. It so happened, that our views upon the most of the subjects were, in an unusual degree, identical. The very last conversation in which we were engaged related to those great truths, revealed to us by Jesus Christ, in the belief and love of which, all his spiritual disciples are one.

In a moment, and all this interchange of thought, and all this concert of action, have ceased, and, so far as this world is concerned, have ceased for ever; and while the living image of our associate and friend seems yet to walk among us, in all its freshness, I am requested to commemorate the services of the dead. You will all, I I very well know, sympathize in the emotions with which I undertake this solemn service. It is almost as if he of whom I speak were in the midst of us, to be the hearer of his own eulogy. We have been so long accustomed to his presence on every collegiate occasion; so few days have elapsed since he occupied his wonted seat in this sanctuary; that we are unable to realize the melancholy truth, that we shall see his face no more. And besides this, the deep feeling, which pervades every bosom, leads us instinctively to distrust our own judgments. On the one hand, we fear lest the full utterance

of our sentiments should seem like panegyric; and on the other, we are troubled lest eulogy, too much chastened, should do injustice to the memory of the dead. And yet more is this embarrassment increased by the recollection, that the occasion necessarily awakens, of those inimitable delineations of character, which so often flowed from the pen of him whose sudden departure we are now assembled to deplore.

Under such circumstances, I know full well that I must fail to present the portraiture of the late Professor Goddard, as he now reveals himself to your memory, and stands embodied before you in your conceptions. I know, however, that I am surrounded by his friends, who will readily complete the sketch, no matter how imperfectly executed, which I may offer for their contemplation. I know, moreover, that you will all appreciate the difficulty of my task, and pardon the indistinctness with which my thoughts reflect the beauty and the symmetry which you have so frequently admired in the honored and beloved original.

While the principles of social and constitutional law were always among the most interesting subjects of study to Mr. Goddard, the practice of the legal profession could never have been congenial to his tastes. Permanently enfeebled by sickness, he was unfitted for the labors of the forum ; while his soul was too sensibly alive to the beautiful, to become wedded to an intellectual pursuit of which the pervading element is logic. He, therefore, relinquished the practice of the law, and chose the profession of an editor, and, at the time of his death, was Professor of Pulpit Eloquence in the Theological Seminary at Newton, Mass.

He had formed very just conceptions of the moral and social obligations devolving upon the conductor of a public press. He believed it to be the duty of an editor

not merely to abstain from outraging the moral sentiment of a community; but still more, by holding forth examples of pre-eminent virtue, and inculcating the principles of everlasting truth, to elevate the standard of public manners, and teach the wayward passions of men obedience to conscience and reverence for law. He believed, that by constantly presenting, to the cyc of the public, images of beauty, the press might exert a powerful influence in forming and purifying the national taste. He thought it incumbent upon him, on all suitable occasions to rouse the spirit of the state, to combine together good men of every name, in the promotion of every enterprise by which the ignorant might be enlightened, or the vicious reclaimed; by which vice might be deprived of its means of fascination, or virtue endowed with new elements of attractiveness; by which the intelligent and the wealthy might be excited to beneficence, and the poor and uncultivated be encouraged to self-dependence.

His editorial writings were remarkable for the high spirit of individual and social morality, which breathed in every line, no less than for the pure, yet sparkling and epigrammatic English, in which every sentence was clothed. Though he espoused with youthful ardor the political opinions he ever afterwards professed, yet, as I have been informed, he never in a single instance forfeited the personal respect of his warmest opponents. To every judicious effort to promote the welfare of his fellow citizens, he gave his willing and carnest support; and some of our most valuable public charities owe their origin to the editorial labors of this portion of his life.

His success as an instructor excelled in unfolding such general views as illustrate the principles of a science, by tracing their effects upon the condition and changes of society, and by exhibiting their influence in the forma

tion of individual character.

He labored to enkindle in

the bosoms of his pupils a love of truth, of virtue, and of goodness.

He was a diligent and profound thinker upon all subjects of religion, morals, general politics, and human civilization. But even here, he appeared to arrive at the result in which he rested, rather by a moral intuition than by any process of reasoning. His spiritual discernment scemed to indicate to him what the law should be, and, upon investigation, he found his opinions confirmed by the highest authorities. Hence, in his reading, he rather sought for the truths which our great teachers have discovered, than for the processes by which their discoveries have been effected. To theological controversy he paid but little attention; but of sermons, or other religious writings, which lay bare the human heart, or reveal to us the precepts of duty, or present the scriptural motives for well doing, he was a diligent and earnest student. Of the various theories of social order, he knew but little, and he cared even less. Let a case, however, be presented, which involved the essential principles either of individual or social right, and he would seize upon it in an instant; and it would not be long before he had formed a definite and earnest opinion in respect to it. IIe might not be able to give a logical reason for his opinion; but the opinion would be, with singular certainty, correct, and he would so present it to the public as to leave an impression which no argument could readily efface.

During the political agitations a few years since, he stood forth the unwavering advocate of justice and truth, of liberty and law. His essays for the daily press, during this period alone, would fill a moderately sized volume. Day after day, he explained to his fellow citizens the principles of rational liberty; he laid bare, with a mas