Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/263

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
248
University of Bombay.

worked so unobtrusively, though the only life which has had any charm for him has been the quiet life, yet he has now, by common consent, attained to that position of eminence which clearly marks him as worthy of the honor which we, as a University, are empowered by the Legislature to confer. It is now my duty, Mr. Chancellor, on behalf of the Senate, to present Mr. William Wordsworth to your Excellency, and to ask you, in the presence of this assembly, to meet our wishes by conferring on him the degree of Doctor in the Faculty of Law, on account of his great and distinguished merit.


His Excellency Lord Harris said:—

Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen of the Senate,—It is a coincidence that on this day of the month six years ago, on the 18th December 1884, the first and the latest special Convocation for conferring the honorary degree of LL.D. was held, and on that occasion my hon'ble and distinguished colleague, and for three separate periods your Vice-Chancellor. Sir Raymond West, in the course of a most eloquent and graceful tribute to the character and career of the Marquis of Ripon, remarked that the Syndicate of this University is bound to establish well in the light of day, and in the face of the public, the right of every recipient to such a distinction—that the recipient ought to stand forth as a representative either of learning which will give illustration to this institution, or else as one distinguished for eminent public services which make us proud of him who receiving our humble honour thus associates himself with us. How jealous this University has been of the honour which lies in its power to confer, how distinguished it has made that honour by its trustful guard of it, requires no descriptions from me; the mere fact that six years have elapsed since the first and the latest honorary degree was conferred is in it-self sufficiently significant. It must be a gratification to you, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, that in selecting you for this degree there was in the end complete unanimity not only amongst those who have the power to confer this degree, but also as regards the fitness of the selection in the public voice, which by its numerous expressions of regard and esteem for yourself and gratitude for the services you have rendered to India has perhaps brought a contentment and pleasure to your breast, which no honorary distinction could arouse. I have used the expression "that in the end there was complete unanimity" advisedly; for at first there was one voice that did not readily join the swelling chorus; and those who know you best will readily understand, Dr. Wordsworth, that the consent which was neces-