Bucknell University - L Agenda Yearbook (Lewisburg, PA)

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higher help was so affectionately bestowed; and practical advice was sought and heeded by many. The peculiar temptation of college students, then as now, is to dis- couragement. The universe partakes of the coloring of the despondent spirit. The student loses confidence in himself, in his prospects and possi- bilities. Doors, which seemed about to open to his touch, now seem locked and double-bolted. Fortunate the student who remembered, in such a crisis, that Professor Tustin would be glad to see him! The kindly reception, the cheerv optimism, the hopeful reassurance of those interviews sent forth many a discouraged youth to battle more heroically, with fresh conviction of the worth of the fight, and the certainty of victory. It was a high and holv service to have been the encourager of so many needing help, soon to become, in turn, the helpers of their fellows. Professor Tustin was a conservator of the early traditions of the Uni- versity in the period of change, when the old order yielded place to the new. He prized the men and the methods of the early epoch. He was in close fel- lowship with the spirit of the founders, the aims and hopes of the good men who did so much hard work for God and humanity in these material founda- tions. No wonder that the spirit of conservatism possesses so strong a grasp on men who were acquainted with the greatness of beginnings. Hero-worship is spontaneous and genuine where the heroic abounds. But one element of this greatness is the hope that sees, afar, the ideal al- ready realized. Dr. Tustin had large visions of the importance of college work, and of the place this College was destined to hold in the Common- wealth, the denomination, and the national life. He cherished liberal plans for its development. In times of doubt he was thankful if he could aid in keeping the vantage gained: but he always looked beyond the difficulty to the future. He believed profoundly in the desirability of denominational administration of the higher education, because that meant Christian nurture for the educated youth of the land. Professor Tustin ' s valuable services in building the church-home for the great majority of the students likely to attend the University deserve the gratitude of all. He was the financial agent of the undertaking, and for years gave his leisure to caring for the accounts, the interest, and the indebtedness. He was an expert bookkeeper, and his services to the church were invaluable. To President Loomis is due the chief praise for the erection of an edifice, to which he gave, in royal fashion, time, thought, toil, and money. But Professor Tustin was his Secretary of the Treasury. - - n

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We see in tlie new Professor tlic resultant of the forces at work in tlie first decade of tiie University. To judge tlieir work by his education, tliey must liave aimed at developing- an exalted type of consecrated manhood. Their cidture was no varnish or -enecr, but the evoking of all native powers, antl the (|uickening- of the whole man with lofty ideals. If the curriculum was not so full and elastic as that enjoyed by the student of the ' 90s, it was manifest that, as Aristotle says, Man ' s intellect is not formed so much b)- knowledge as l)v exercise. The voung Pro- fessor of the 60s had been trained in the classic languages and literatures by a teacher of profound linguistic attainments, and of peculiarly sensitive genius for interpretation and expression. But additional to the informa- tion and the discipline imparted in the class-room was the beautiful ]ier- sonality of the teacher, intluencing every student of open heart and mind, the daily life of the scholar and the gentleman, who reminded them of the divine man of Nazareth more than of Menelaus. No less marked was tlie training in Natural Sciences received from his illustrious predecessor in that Chair. The sciences have greatly developed in specialization, and in concrete methods of presentation in the last forty years; yet, for purposes of collegiate instruction, it may be honestly ques- tioned whether their use in the early Lewisburg class-room could be ex- celled. An acknowledged authority in Geology, a trained expert in Chem- istry, a devoted student of I hysiology, who had written text-books of wide use and celebrity, made his Chair distinguished by his masterful analysis, his .sublime generalization, and his powerful personality. Our young Professor ' s mathematical training was received from an instructor of remarkable talent and rare aptness to teach. There must be task-work in problems, and grind in formulae in any mathematical class- room; but there was much more in this one. Such claritv of demonstra- tion, such cogency of reasoning, such eloquence of exposition made many an impressible youth glow with the joy of discovery and the sense of achievement. .And these subjects. Languages, Sciences and Mathematics, were the field of his future instruction in his Alma Mater. Thus equipped, and thus ushered into the faculty of instruction. Pro- fessor Tustin, from the first, formed a link between the students and the Faculty, and between the Faculty and the Alumni. This intimate asso- •tion with the students, maintained throughout his thirtv years of instruc- tion, grew to be a veritable i)astoral office in its earnest moral and spiritual aim and result. Temporal interests were sure to claim consideration, where 13

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As a Councilman and Scliuol Director, Professor Tustiii accomplislied miicli to link together the interests of the town and tlie University. In the matter of streets and paxements, culverts and grades, rendering the Institution accessible from the townward side, we owe him much. He also brought the good-will of the townsfolk to the University. He was much loved by them for his neighl)orliness, and for his active interest in the peo- ple, their children, their churches, their schools. He frequently supplied neighboring pulpits of all denominations, and always ministered to the reali- zation of practical religion. In the house of mourning lie was a welcome visitor, whose comfort came from experience of its worth. Professor Tustin was a clear and forcil)le writer. His lectures were prepared with great care, and represented his mastery of the subject in hand. It was not the day of uni ersity presses, or his reserve might have been overborne, and ' olumes of lectures, bearing his name, might have seen tlie light. How ' aluable a A ' olume might now be gathered from his papers! When L ' Acexda boards tire of biography, let them seek these treasures, and give the older alumni a grateful surprise as they read a lecture by their old Professor. The newer men and undergraduates mav be pleased to see a specimen menu of Aliiia Mater ' s earlier table. Dr. Tustin was a man of faith and prayer. He believed, therefore he taught. His words were singularly free from cant. Pie was a man of tender emotions, easily stirred; yet he was reticent when their expression could produce no good effect. He regarded the Church of Christ as the highest institution on earth. The Christian college was dear to him, as a child of the Church. His work for both was work for his risen Lord. The Tustin Gymna.sium fittingly memorializes the first Alumnus Pro- fessor, because he helped to give final shape to the project as the contribu- tion of the Alumni to Ahiia Mater. He was the newly appointed Chair- man of the Committee, entering enthusiastically into his work, when he was stricken down in his harness. Almost spontaneously the plan of the gym- nasium took on the memorial character. His interest in the physical well- being of students was second only to his interest in what he considered higher values. Thiis, the Tustin Gymnasium speaks to the youth of after times about the mens sana in sano corpore, and recalls the good and true guide of former students to ways of high self-development, and of conse- crated Christian learning. 15