Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras/Part 2/Henry Fortey, Esq., M.A.
FIFTEENTH CONVOCATION.
(By Henry Fortey, Esq., M.A.)
Mr. Chancellor and Gentlemen,—Barely fifteen years have passed away since the foundation of this University, and during that time it has developed from an experiment into a strong and vigorous Institution most powerful for good throughout the length and breadth of the land. It is indeed almost impossible to over estimate its beneficial influence. It determines the course of study in our schools and colleges, and its examinations, so conducted as to deserve and command the respect of the public, are looked forward to as the great events of the educational year. Annually the struggle is renewed, and as the close of the academic year comes round, masters and pupils, who have worked hard before, work harder still, and every faculty is brought to bear on the attainment of the one great object in view. And yet the University is not in my opinion open to the imputation that it encourages what is commonly called "cram." Any one who refers to the examination papers will, I think, come to the conclusion, that a very sound acquaintance with the subjects on which they bear must be possessed by those who would answer them satisfactorily. The difficulty of these examinations has certainly of late years been increased, and therefore it is doubly satisfactory to find, that the number of those who pass them has also increased. The results of the Arts Examination are this year altogether without precedent; and I am sure that no one in this distinguished assembly can have seen the long array of the graduates approach your Excellency in almost endless succession, without experiencing the most lively gratification. And, if such are the feelings of those who have had little or no share in producing these results, how proud must be the satisfaction of the Principals, Professors, and Masters to whom they are in a great measure due. We are all of us no doubt impressed with the value of education, but it is on occasions like these that that impression deepens, and we become truly conscious that the Teacher is a great power in the State.
But I am commissioned by your Excellency to address words of counsel and advice to the graduates, and I proceed therefore, as best I may, to the execution of my task. And now, gentlemen, I entreat you to believe that I speak to you in all humility, for it is indeed from my own errors and short-comings in the past that I have gained that experience, which comes late to me, but which yet may be of timely service to some of you. But, before I proceed to moralise, I have a more pleasing task to perform. In the name then of the Chancellor and Fellows of this University, I congratulate you on your success. I congratulate you also in the name of your fellow-graduates, and of all good and liberal-minded men throughout the Presidency. You are young men of intelligence and fair repute, and when you leave this Hall you will carry with you our good opinion, and our best wishes for your future. I trust that honorable careers are in store for you all, and of so great a number it is not too much to expect that some will attain to eminence, and become men of mark in the country. And now, I will not affront you by dwelling on the ordinary precepts of morality. You have this day solemnly promised that you will, in your daily life and conversation, conduct yourselves as becomes members of this University, and we are bound to believe that, due allowance being made for human infirmity, that promise will be kept. But, gentlemen, the battle of life is a struggle between good and evil, and they who come off victorious are often hard-pressed in the fight. Should therefore, any one of you, at any future time, under stress of great temptation, stand irresolute between right and wrong, his conscience darkened within him, then let him call to mind these words of one of the wisest of men: "What is more heavy than evil fame deserved; or likewise who can see worse days than he that yet living doth follow at the funerals of his own reputation?"
And now let me remind you of your second promise, that, 'to the utmost of your opportunity and ability you will support and promote the cause of true learning.' The acquisition and diffusion of knowledge. The due fulfilment of this pledge involves both the acquisition and the diffusion of knowledge. To those of you who have already chosen your professions, I would say consolidate and extend the professional knowledge you have already acquired. We cannot all be Crichtons,—and having chosen your occupation your first duty is to attend to that, and to learn to do your work thoroughly well. On a review of your past studies, you will find many important subjects of which your knowledge is meagre and imperfect, and many difficulties to clear up. Devote your best energies to these objects, remembering that between the young student, however successful, and the ripe and mature scholar, there is a vast space which can only be passed over by years of patient and laborious toil. Remember also that every profession is both an Art and a Science, and that dreamy theorism and vulgar empiricism are equally to be avoided. But attention to your own professional work will not necessitate the entire neglect of those other liberal studies in which you have been grounded; and I would especially counsel those whose occupations may not involve any severe mental discipline to cultivate some one of those magnificent branches of knowledge which are prescribed for the Master's degree, and to return hereafter, and claim at the hands of this University the highest honor which it has to bestow. Such studies as these will bring you into contact with the greatest intellects of this and former ages, and will fill your minds with a pure and unwearying delight.
And now, gentlemen, I turn to a nobler aspect of your promise. You are thie very van-guard of the great intellectual army which is destined to drive ignorance out of the land, and your responsibilities are co-ordinate with your privileges. It will therefore be your duty, and I am sure it will be your pleasure, to help all those who are struggling towards the light. Dispersed through the country, and surrounded by those less instructed than yourselves, it will be your high privilege to excite in them a thirst for knowledge, to lead them to take an interest in literature and science, to dispel error, and to inculcate truth. There are, as you know, hundreds of Missionaries in this country,—gentlemen, with whose objects you do not sympathize, but whose characters you are bound to respect. And shall these strangers in the land surpass you in their desire to benefit your own race? Or shall the disinterested benevolence of the Great Company which founded this University be rendered fruitless through your apathy? No! a thousand times no! You will go forth as pioneers and apostles of the truth, and will earn the respect and the gratitude of your country. And, when your ranks are counted by thousands instead of hundreds, as they surely will be before this generation has passed away, your knowledge and influence will penetrate to the remotest corners of the land, and you will inaugurate a glorious day, the light of which almost dazzles the imagination. My words are indeed feeble to urge this noble duty, but listen to those of a great modern writer, and let them rouse your enthusiasm: "Add to the power of discovering truth the desire of using it for the promotion of human happiness, and you have the great end and object of existence. This is the immaculate model of excellence that every human being should fix in the chambers of his heart; which he should place before his mind's eye from the rising to the setting of the sun—to strengthen his understanding that he may direct his benevolence, and to exhibit to the world that most beautiful spectacle the world can behold, of consummate virtue guided by consummate talents." Gentlemen, when I read this fine passage I was reminded of an honored friend, who pours such floods of light on every subject he discusses as continually to astonish and delight his hearers : and who, notwithstanding the arduous duties which devolve on him in virtue of his high office, daily adds to the vast store of his learning. To his great erudition it is too much to hope that any of you will ever attain; but in his accessibility to all earnest students, whether European or Native, and in his desire that every one should cultivate to the highest possible degree the faculties he possesses, he sets you an admirable example worthy of all imitation. Gentlemen, I trust I shall not be misunderstood. I do not desire to exalt the office of the professional teacher above other equally honorable employments. I say only that, wherever you may be placed and whatever positions you may fill, it will still be your duty to diffuse around you the light of your knowledge and in the words of your promise," to support and promote the cause of true learning." Nor, in speaking as I have done, has it been my intention to imply that this duty has been hitherto altogether neglected. More, no doubt, might have been done than has actually been accomplished, but I could mention the names of several graduates of this University, who have nobly exerted themselves to benefit their fellows, and whose quiet and unobtrusive labors have been "all for love and nothing for reward."
Gentlemen, you have further promised that you 'will uphold and advance social order and the well-being of your follow-men.' Faithfully interpret aims of Government. Here as always, your true interest and your duty will be found to be coincident. For, if there is any one truth in morals more clear and indisputable than another, it is this : that the highest good of the individual is not only consistent with, but is absolutely inseparable from an earnest desire for the public welfare. Look abroad and see what men are most to be envied, or, since thus you may be deceived with outward shows, look rather within, examine your own hearts, and consider whether the gratification arising from the attainment of any purely self-regarding object is likely in any way to compare with that exquisite pleasure which will stream in on you with-the blessings of all good men, if you nobly devote yourselves to the service of your country. This country is, as you are aware, undergoing a process of transformation, and you will have countless opportunities of aiding in the good work. These I shall not stop to particularize, but I may observe that all reforms are viewed with suspicion and distrust by an ignorant people, and you may do good service in one way by faithfully interpreting the motives and the measures of Government to those with whom you come in contact. Local and Municipal Funds. The provisions of two important Acts lately passed by the Local Legislature for the raising and administration of local and municipal likely, for a long time to come, to be subjects of frequent discussion. Now, many of those who pay these taxes have little or no perception of the benefits they are to receive in return. Steeped in ignorance themselves, they do not desire improved schools for their children, and, accustomed from time immemorial to disregard the laws of health, they attach no importance to sanitation. Now, in cases of this kind you may do much good by pointing out the bearing of these measures on the welfare and progress of the country. As I have alluded to these Acts I will venture to add that whatever objections may be taken to parts of them, they are in principle a vast stride in advance of all previous legislation in this Presidency. By the constitution of these Local Fund Boards, spread like a net-work over the land, the people have been admitted to some share in the administration of their own affairs, and the performance of the duties entrusted to these bodies is the best training that they can have for the right use of a larger measure of political power. But these Acts are, after all, but the skeletons, the dry bones, which the people must infuse with vitality by their public spirit, and if they fail of their due effect the blame will rest, not with the originators of these measures, but with you. Gentlemen, other noble aims and objects will suggest themselves to you which I have not time to discuss. Female education. One of these is Female Education. Beauty of form is fleeting quality, and, when divorced from culture and refinement loses half its charm; and I venture to say that you will never have the faintest conception of the happiness of an English home until the women of this country are so educated as to sympathize in all your pursuits and all your aspirations.
And now let me reiterate a warning which has often fallen from the lips of previous speakers. I trust that you are not all of you looking forward to employment in the Government service, for, if so, many of you are probably doomed to disappointment. Of the Universities in Europe but a small fraction of the graduates are thus employed, and the great majority take to the learned professions, to agriculture, and to commerce. There are many wealthy and respectable merchants in this city and in the provinces, but I fear there are but few who have those enlarged views which follow from a liberal education. I trust that in a few years' time there will be several gentlemen of this class who will take their seats in the Chamber of Commerce and be listened to with respect by the European members. Gentlemen, I have said but little of the profession to which I have the honour to belong, but I do feel that in the present stage of the progress of this country able men and men devoted to the work are urgently needed. And be sure that, if you enter on this profession in an earnest spirit, not actuated by merely mercenary motives, you will meet your reward. There ai'e, as you know, many of your own countrymen and many Europeans now thus employed who have so labored as to gain the respect and attachment of all who know them. Mr. E. B. Powell-a bright example. But if I would single out for your admiration one bright particular example of a long life honorably spent in noble work conscientiously performed, then I must needs speak of him who entered on his labors long before you were born, who educated many of your fathers, and whose stainless purity of character has always been so recognised as to hush even the very whisper of malice. If there is any one of us now living and laboring amongst you who deserves that, after he passes away and returns to his own land, his honored form should remain as an imperishable memorial, pictured to the life or sculptured in enduring stone, then I say advisedly that it is he who was many years since Head Master of the High School and is now your Director of Public Instruction. And now, gentlemen, it only remains for me to thank you for the patience and courtesy with which you have listened to me. With small pretensions to knowledge and none to eloquence, I still could not resist the temptation of His Excellency's kind invitation to address you. For I wished to inspire you with some of my own enthusiasm in regard to the good time coming. Faith in the future makes life worth having, and I trust it will so operate on you that your lives hereafter may be characterized by the same high qualities which have contributed so much to your present success.