Another eminent quality which illustrated the whole life of Judge Gaston was the constant love of order and a devoted and almost sacred regard for the Constitution and laws of his country. In all his precepts, wheresoever and to whomsoever uttered, in all his conduct, whether in public or in private, he inculcated and enforced obedience to the law, observance of order, and the support and maintenance of our fundamental institutions in all their integrity. His views and opinions upon this subject are expressed in an address which he delivered at Princeton in September, 1835, before the "American Whig" and "Cliosophic" Societies of the College of New Jersey. It is difficult to find anywhere, within the same compass, the duties of an American citizen, in relation to the laws and institutions of his country, so clearly expressed and so powerfully enforced. The address was much admired at the time, and received on two occasions a compliment of which any man might be justly proud. In a charge to the grand jury of his Court, Chief Justice Cranch, of the District of Columbia, read several pages from the address, accompanied by remarks of the highest commendation. And shortly afterwards, Governor Vance, of Ohio, on an occasion so solemn as his inauguration, quoted largely from it, after speaking in the most flattering terms of the author, as one of the most eminent statesmen and profound jurists of our country.
If the qualities which we have considered excite our admiration and command our respect, that to which I would now call your attention is well calculated to inspire love and win affection. I mean his kind regard for the young. To them he was ever accessible, kind and communicative; always ready to give advice, or to impart instruction. Among them it was his delight to unbend, after the severity of his official labors, and to engage in their innocent amusements. Often have I seen him in such moments of relaxation; and as I saw, I could but admire and love a wisdom which, while it could instruct senates, disdained not the sports of the young, nor even the frolics of infancy; which, while it could one moment expound the gravest of laws, could the moment after explain an apothegm for the instruction of youth, or solve a riddle for the amusement of childhood. His regard for the young extended from the earliest to the latest period of that time of life. For those just approaching the verge of manhood he has often given signal proofs of his solicitude. In 1832 he was invited to deliver an address before the two Literary Societies of this institution, and in 1835 he received an invitation to perform a similar duty before the Societies of Princeton College in New Jersey. In both instances, though at much personal inconvenience, he complied with the request, and delivered the addresses to which I have had occasion to allude. On the merit of these productions the public has already decided. It remains only for me to say that no young man can read them, as they ought to be read, with care and attention, without profit and advantage; and the best return I can make for your kindness to me on this occasion is to advise each of you to procure copies of them, and to "attend to their admonitions, treasure up their counsels and obey their injunctions."