Thescientificcollectionsandapparatusofvarioussortsgavehimconstantpleasure。IhadsentfromEngland，France，andGermanyalargenumberofcharts，models，andpiecesofphilosophicalapparatus，andregardingsomeofthemhadthoughtitbesttomakecarefulexplanationstohim，inordertojustifysolargeanexpenditure;
butIsoonfoundthisunnecessary。Hisshrewdmindenabledhimtounderstandanypieceofapparatusquickly，andtoappreciateitfully。Ihaveneverhadtodealwithanymanwhoseinstinctinsuchmatterswasmoretrue。Ifabookorscientificspecimenorpieceofapparatuswasnecessarytotheproperworkofadepartment，hecouldeasilybemadetoseeit;andthenitMUSTcometous，nomatteratwhatcost。Likethegreatprinceofnavigatorsinthefifteenthcentury，hewasaman``whohadthetasteforgreatthings’’——``quiteniagustoencosasgrandes。’’Hefeltthattheuniversitywastobegreat，andhetookhismeasuresaccordingly。Hiscolleaguesgenerallythoughthimover—sanguine;andwhenhedeclaredthattheuniversityshouldyethaveanendow—
mentofthreemillions，mostofthemregardedhimasadreamer。
Ihaveneverknownamanmoreentirelyunselfish。I
haveseenhim，whenhiswealthwascountedinmillions，devoteitsogenerouslytouniversityobjectsthathefeltitnecessarytostinthimselfinsomemattersofpersonalcomfort。Whenurgedtosellaportionoftheuniversitylandatasacrifice，inordertobetterourfoundations，heansweredinsubstance，``Don’tletusdothatyet;Iwillwearmyoldhatandcoatalittlelonger，andletyouhavealittlemoremoneyfrommyownpocket。’’
Thisfeelingseemedneverdiminished，evenundertheworstopposition。He``keptthefaith，’’nomatterwhoopposedhim。
AneminentandjustlyrespectedpresidentofoneoftheoldestEasternuniversitiespublishedatreatise，whichwaswidelycirculated，toprovethatthemainideasonwhichthenewuniversitywasbasedwereutterlyimpracticable;
andespeciallythatthepresentationofvariouscoursesofinstructionsuitedtoyoungmenofvariousaimsandtastes，withlibertyofchoicebetweenthem，waspreposterous。
Itisinterestingtonotethatthissameeminentgentlemanwasafterwardledtoadoptthissame``impracticable’’
policyathisownuniversity。Othersofalmostequaleminenceinsistedthattogiveadvancedscientificandtechnicalinstructioninthesameinstitutionwithclassicalinstructionwasfolly;andthesegentlemenwereprobablynotconverteduntiltheplanwasadoptedatEnglishCambridge。
Othersstillinsistedthataninstitutionnotbelongingtoanyonereligioussectmustbe``godless，’’wouldnotbepatronized，andcouldnotsucceed。TheireyeswereopenedlaterbythesightofmenandwomenofdifferentChristiandenominationspressingforwardatCornellUniversitytocontributesumswhich，intheaggregate，amountedtomuchmorethantheoriginalendowment。
Heearnedtheblessingofthosewho，nothavingseen，haveyetbelieved。Thoughhedidnotlivelongenoughtoseethefundamentalprinciplesoftheuniversitythusforcetheirwaytorecognitionandadoptionbythosewhohadmoststronglyopposedthem，hisfaithremainedundiminishedtotheendofhislife。
Buttheoppositiontohisworkdevelopedintoworseshapes;manyleadingjournalsintheState，whennotopenlyhostiletohim，werecoldandindifferent，andsomeofthemweresteadilyabusive。Thisledtoaratherwide—
spreadfeelingthat``wherethereissmoke，theremustbefire’’;andwewhoknewthepurityofhispurpose，hisunselfishness，hissturdyhonesty，laboredlongagainstthisfeeling。
Iregrettosaythatsomeeminentmenconnectedwithimportantuniversitiesinthecountryshowedfartoomuchreadinesstoacquiesceinthisunfavorableviewofourfounder。Fromveryfewofoursisterinstitutionscameanywordofcheer;andfromsomeofthemcamemostbitterattacks，notonlyuponthesystemadoptedinthenewuniversity，butuponMr。Cornellhimself。Buthisfriendsweremoreafflicted，byfar，thanhe;allthisoppositiononlyservedtostrengthenhisfaith。Astothiseffectuponhim，Irecalloneortwoquaintexamples。Atthedarkestperiodinthehistoryoftheuniversity，I
mentionedtohimthatafinecollectionofmathematicalbookswasofferedusforfivethousanddollars。Underordinarycircumstanceshewouldhaveboughtitforusatonce;butatthatmoment，whenanyadditiontohisburdenswouldnothavebeenadvisedbyanyofhisfriends，hequietlysaid，``Somewherethereisamanwalkingaboutwhowantstogiveusthatfivethousanddollars。’’Iamgladtosaythathisfaithwassoonjustified;suchamanappeared，——amanwhowasgladtogivetherequiredsumasatestimonytohisbeliefinMr。
Cornell’sintegrity:WilliamKellyofRhinebeck。
Anotherexamplemaybegivenastypical。NearthecloseofthefirstcelebrationofFounder’sDayatoneofthecollegebuildings，apleasantsocialdancesprangupamongtheyoungerpeople——studentsfromtheuniversityandyoungladiesfromthevillage。Thisbroughtaverysevereprotestfromsundryclergymenoftheplace，declaringdancingtobe``destructiveofvitalgodliness。’’
Thoughthiswassolemnlylaidbeforethefaculty，noanswerwasevermadetoit;butwenoticedthat，ateverysocialgatheringonFounder’sDayafterward，aslongasMr。Cornelllived，hehadarrangementsmadefordancing。
Ineverknewamanmoreopentorightreason，andneveronelessinfluencedbycantordogmatism。
Tomostattacksuponhiminthenewspapersheneithermadenorsuggestedanyreply;butoneortwowhichwereespeciallymisleadingheansweredsimplyandconclusively。
Thishadnoeffect，ofcourse，instoppingtheattacks;
butithadoneeffect，atwhichthefriendsoftheuniversityrejoiced:itboundhisoldassociatestohimallthemoreclosely，andledthemtosupporthimallthemorevigorously。WhenapaperinoneofthelargestcitiesinwesternNewYorkhadbeenespeciallyabusive，oneofMr。
Cornell’soldfriendslivinginthatcitywrote:``Iknowthatthechargesrecentlypublishedareutterlyuntrue;butIamnotskilledinnewspapercontroversy，soIwillsimplyaddtowhatIhavealreadygiventotheuniversityaspecialgiftofthirtythousanddollars，whichwilltestifytomytownsmenhere，andperhapstothepublicatlarge，myconfidenceinMr。Cornell。’’
SuchwasthewayofHiramSibley。Uponanotherattack，especiallyviolent，fromtheorganofoneofthedenominationalcolleges，anotheroldfriendofMr。CornellintheeasternpartoftheState，aprominentmemberofthereligiousbodywhichthispaperrepresented，senthischeckforseveralthousanddollars，tobeusedforthepurchaseofbooksforthelibrary，andtoshowconfidenceinMr。Cornellbydeedsaswellaswords。
Vileastheseattackswere，worseremainedbehind。A
localpolitician，whohadbeensenttothelegislaturefromthedistrictwherethe``People’sCollege’’hadliveditsshortlife，prepared，withpettifoggingability，alongspeechtoshowthatthefoundationofCornellUniversity，Mr。
Cornell’sendowmentofit，andhiscontracttolocatethelandsforitwerepartsofagreatcheatandswindle。Thisthesis，developedinallthemoodsandtensesofabusebeforethelegislature，wasnextdaypublishedatlengthintheleadingjournalsofthemetropolis，andechoedthroughouttheUnion。Thetimefortheseattackswasskilfullychosen;theCrditMobilierandotherschemeshadbeenrevealedatWashington，andeverybodywasonlytooreadytobelieveanychargeagainstanybody。ThatMr。Cornellhadbeenknownforfortyyearsasanhonestmanseemedtogofornothing。
Theenemiesoftheuniversitywereprompttosupportthecharges，andtheyfoundsomeechoesevenamongthosewhowerebenefitedbyhisgenerosity——evenamongthestudentsthemselves。AtthisIfeltitmydutytocallthewholestudentbodytogether，and，inacarefulspeech，toexplainMr。Cornell’stransactions，answeringthechargesfully。Thisspeech，thoughspreadthroughtheState，couldevidentlydobutlittletowardrightingthewrong;butitbroughttomewhatIshallalwaysfeelagreathonor——ashareintheabuseshoweredmainlyonhim。
VerycharacteristicwasMr。Cornell’sconductunderthisoutrage。Thatsamefaithinjustice，thatsamepatienceunderwrong，whichhealwaysshowed，wasmoreevidentthanever。
Onthemorningaftertheattackinthelegislaturehadbeenblazonedinalltheleadingnewspapers——intheearlyhours，andafterasleeplessnight——Iheardtherattleofgravelagainstmywindow—panes。Onrising，IfoundMr。
Cornellstandingbelow。Hewassereneandcheerful，andhadevidentlytakenthelongwalkupthehilltoquietmyirritation。Hisfirstwordswereajocoseprelude。Thebellsoftheuniversity，whichwerethenchimedatsixo’clock，wereringingmerrily，andhecalledout，``Comedownhereandlistentothechimes;Ihavefoundaspotwhereyoucanhearthemdirectlywithoneear，andtheirechowiththeother。’’
WhenIhadcomedown，wefirstinvestigatedtheechoofthechime，whichhadreallyarousedhisinterest;thenhesaidseriously:``Don’tmakeyourselfunhappyoverthismatter;itwillturnouttobeagoodthingfortheuniversity。Ihavelongforeseenthatthisattackmustcome，buthavefearedthatitwouldcomeaftermydeath，whenthefactswouldbeforgotten，andthetransactionslittleunderstood。Iamgladthatthechargesaremadenow，whileIamheretoanswerthem。’’Wethendiscussedthematter，anditwasagreedthatheshouldtelegraphandwriteGovernorDix，askinghimtoappointaninvestigatingcommittee，ofwhichthemajorityshouldbefromthepoliticalpartyopposedtohisown。Thiswasdone。
ThecommitteewascomposedofHoratioSeymour，formerlygovernoroftheStateandDemocraticcandidateforthePresidencyoftheUnitedStates;WilliamA。
Wheeler，Vice—PresidentoftheUnitedStates;andJohnD。VanBuren，allthreemenofthehigheststanding，andtwoofthempoliticallyopposedtoMr。Cornell。
DuringthelonginvestigationwhichensuedinNewYorkandatIthaca，heneverlosthispatience，thoughattimessorelytried。Variousdisappointedschemers，amongtheseonepersonwhohadnotbeenallowedtomakeanundueprofitoutoftheuniversitylands，andanotherwhohadbeenallowedtodepartfromaprofessorshiponaccountofhopelessincompetency，werethemainwitnesses。
Theonslaughtwasledbythepersonwhomadetheattackinthelegislature，andhehadrakedtogetheramassofhalf—truthsandsurmises;buttheevidenceonMr。Cornell’ssideconsistedofacompleteexhibitionofallthefactsanddocuments。Theunanimousreportofthecommitteewasallthathiswarmestfriendscoulddesire;anditsrecommendationsregardingthemanagementofthefundweresuchasMr。Cornellhadlongwished，butwhichhehadhardlydaredask。Theresultwasacompletetriumphforhim。
Yettheattackscontinued。ThesamepaperwhichhadbeensoprominentinsoundingthemthroughthewesternpartoftheStatecontinuedthemasbefore，and，almosttotheverydayofhisdeath，assailedhimperiodicallyasa``landjobber，’’``landgrabber，’’and``landthief。’’Buthetookthesefoulattacksbytrickydeclaimersandhisvindicationbythreeofhismosteminentfellow—citizenswiththesameserenity。Thattherewasinhimaprofoundcontemptforthewretchedcreatureswhoassailedhimandimputedtohimmotivesasvileastheirownc...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：