Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White — Volume 1White, Andrew Dickson
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Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White — Volume 1
White, Andrew Dickson
Cornell University; Diplomats -- United States -- Biography; White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918
Of his intellectual characteristics, foresight was the most
remarkable. Of all men in the country who had to do
with the college land grant of 1862, he alone discerned the
possibilities involved and had courage to make them actual.
Clearness of thought on all matters to which he gave his
attention was another striking characteristic; hence, whenever
he put anything on paper, it was lucid and cogent.
There seems at times in his writings some of the
clear, quaint shrewdness so well known in Abraham Lincoln.
Very striking examples of this are to be found in
his legislative speeches, in his address at the opening of
the university, and in his letters.
Among his moral characteristics, his truthfulness,
persistence, courage, and fortitude were most strongly
marked. These qualities made him a man of peace. He
regarded life as too short to be wasted in quarrels; his
steady rule was never to begin a lawsuit or have anything
to do with one, if it could be avoided. The joy in
litigation and squabble, which has been the weakness of
so many men claiming to be strong, and the especial
curse of so many American churches, colleges, universities,
and other public organizations, had no place in his
strong, tolerant nature. He never sought to publish the
sins of any one in the courts or to win the repute of an
uncompromising fighter. In this peaceable disposition he
was prompted not only by his greatest moral quality:--
his charity toward his fellow-men, but by his greatest intel-
lectual quality:--his foresight; for he knew well ``the
glorious uncertainty of the law.'' He was a builder, not a
gladiator.
There resulted from these qualities an equanimity which
I have never seen equaled. When his eldest son had been
elected to the highest office in the gift of the State
Assembly, and had been placed, evidently, on the way to the
governor 's chair,--afterward attained,--though it must
have gratified such a father, he never made any reference
to it in my hearing; and when the body of his favorite
grandson, a most winning and promising boy, killed
instantly by a terrible accident, was brought into his
presence, though his heart must have bled, his calmness seemed
almost superhuman.
His religious ideas were such as many excellent people
would hardly approve. He had been born into the Society
of Friends; and their quietness, simplicity, freedom from
noisy activity, and devotion to the public good attached
him to them. But his was not a bigoted attachment; he
went freely to various churches, aiding them without
distinction of sect, though finally he settled into a steady
attendance at the Unitarian Church in Ithaca, for the pastor
of which he conceived a great respect and liking. He was
never inclined to say much about religion; but, in our
talks, he was wont to quote with approval from Pope's
``Universal Prayer''--and especially the lines:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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