Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras/Part 2/E. B. Powell, Esq., M.A.
CONVOCATION ADDRESSES
OF THE
University of Madras.
SECOND CONVOCATION.
(By E. B. Powell, Esq., M.A.)
[1]My Lord,—The Senate of the University having decided that a portion of this day's proceedings shall consist of the delivery of an Address by one of their body to the newly-admitted graduates, and your Lordship having thought fit to appoint me to discharge this duty, I betake myself to the execution of my task, which would be far from a disagreeable one, were it not for the conviction that its performance will suffer from the feebleness of the hands to which it has been entrusted.
Gentlemen, you who have just received degrees, have you reflected on the signification of your Diplomas and on the obligations which they carry along with them? Do you regard them as the "be all and the end all," or do you view them as an introduction, an honorable introduction, to a career of intellectual and moral progress? It is probable that on these points, and indeed on most others connected with this day's ceremonial, your notions are vague and indefinite. Universities are of long standing in the West, but here they are novelties: and moreover the differences that must necessarily exist between them,—where they have for centuries formed part and parcel of the social and religious framework of a nation,—and where they have been newly introduced in what may be called an exotic form, are so great, as to leave all minds more or less in a state of incertitude regarding their character and operation in India. Taking the Universities of Europe, though they always played an important part, and on some occasions a prominent one, still their nature and influence are but slightly brought before the student of general history; to natives of India their constitution must be almost unknown, and the terms connected with them can be little more than mere sounds. Such being the case, I think it will not be amiss for me to say a few words upon the origin and progress of European Universities,—keeping in view more especially those of England,—before I proceed to the immediate object of this Address.
On the overthrow of the Western Empire and the settlement of the barbarian conquerors in the different countries of Europe, Rise and progress of Universities in the West. Literature and Science, sadly mutilated, took refuge in the Christian Church, which successfully resisted the convulsion that overthrew almost every other institution of the past. After a certain interval, a new position of equilibrium was found within each nation: retrogression ceased, and progress re-commenced. The first advances were, like the incipient development of a seed, almost imperceptible. We may point to Charlemagne in France, and Alfred in England, as pre-eminent; but too thick a darkness rests over their times to allow of our measuring the efforts of those great men. Schools or Studia, as they were called, were from time to time established in different places, most frequently in connection with cathedrals and monasteries, and mainly, if not entirely, for the education of the clerical order: combinations of these Studia founded in favorable localities, acquiring eminence from the patronage of monarchs, nobles and bishops, and from the successful teaching of individuals, came at length to be formed into Universities. The 12th century is commonly held to be the period when this development took place, although particular Universities lay claim to a much earlier origin. The University of Paris, while not absolutely the first in time, was undoubtedly the most celebrated; Englishmen, among other foreigners, resorting to it, in preference to their own seats of learning, Oxford and Cambridge. There were then two courses of study, the one rudimentary, the other more advanced: the former bore the name of the "Trivium" or triple road to knowledge, and comprised the elements of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric; the latter was called the "Quadrivium," or quadruple road, and included Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Music,—or, at least, the portions of Science so denominated in those days, There is a notion prevalent that the English Universities in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries retained the same intimate connection with the Church which belonged to them at their foundation. Undoubtedly there still existed within them many traces of their clerical origin. But when we turn to the records of those ages, we find these institutions frequently involved in contests with the Carmelites and other orders of Monks, who claimed peculiar privileges on the occasion of their being admitted to degrees. The bishops, too, in whose dioceses the Universities stood, were sometimes engaged in disputes with them; the latter pleading the Bulls of Popes as grounds for exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. These circumstances are interesting, inasmuch as they shew that Oxford and Cambridge were even then, to a certain extent, centres of independent thought and action. In France, during the wars carried on by Edward III, Henry V, and the Regents in the minority of Henry VI, the University of Paris almost constituted a distinct estate of the realm : it is true its interference in politics was often far from beneficial, either in regard to the interests of learning, or to those of religion. It cannot be said that the Universities made any striking progress from the 12th century to the middle of the 15th, so far as the improvement of their curricula is concerned; at the same time Theology, Metaphysics, and Logic were, if not judiciously, at least energetically studied by considerable numbers, and served to sharpen the intellects of the students. National literatures, also, were in the course of formation throughout Europe, to which the alumni of the Universities were naturally almost the sole contributors; and all things were preparing the way for an accelerated advance. After the fall of Constantinople, the Platonic philosophy invaded the realms, which had previously bowed in profound submission to Aristotle; and a struggle ensued, that was highly beneficial in evoking and fostering free and discursive thought. The study of the Greek language and Greek literature, which now began to be fashionable, exerted a peculiarly liberalizing influence: and the invention of printing, which, as it has been remarked, seems to have been permitted to take place exactly at the time when it was most required, and when its efficacy would necessarily be the greatest, lent its powerful aid in breaking the fetters in which ignorance had enthralled the bulk of the populations of Europe. Here it is important to note that the changes in religion, and in the constitution of society, which occurred in the 16th century, co-operating with the Printing Press, modified in a very great measure the action of the Universities in England and other countries. In earlier times knowledge had to be obtained mainly by oral communication, and just as in this country an ardent Hindu scholar, desirous of studying a particular work, would travel far to sit at the feet of some famous Pundit, so, in Europe, thousands resorted from distant regions to a seat of learning, where an eminent Teacher explained a particular science, or commented upon a favorite author. This was now altogether modified; and while the concourse of students became far less numerically, and individual Teachers no longer captivated vast multitudes by their eloquence and other gifts, centres of instruction of a less ambitious character were established in different localities. In England, for example, numerous Grammar schools were set on foot, a course devised by the celebrated Wolsey before the Reformation, but carried out during the progress of that change and after its completion. In later times the two great English Universities have constituted an agency for finishing the education of the higher classes, and more especially of those among them intending to enter some of the learned professions. At this moment they may be regarded as in an unsettled state, many considering that with the progress of the age the constitution and aims of the Universities should undergo some changes, and that a wider range of studies should be embraced in their curricula. It is unnecessary for me to dwell upon this topic ; and I allude to it only to complete the brief and very superficial sketch of the rise and progress of University education in the West, and more especially in England. You will observe that the time-honored Universities of Europe are places of educational training, as well as institutions for recognizing and proclaiming degrees of proficiency in Literature and Science: not so our Indian Universities, which, as now constructed, are intended merely to present a standard of education to the Public, and to stamp with honor all such as prove that they have reached that standard. Perhaps the chief difficulty with us will be to secure the appreciation of Degrees by the Natives of this country: but we are entitled to hope that every year which passes away will see this difficulty rendered less by the general spread of intelligence, until at length we shall find the same feelings excited in the breast of an Indian graduate, that quicken the pulse of an English youth when he secures a place, however humble, among the ranks which in past ages contained Chaucer, Bacon, Milton, Newton, and a host of others, the master minds of their times.
Here I must recur to the question which I put to you at the commencement of this Address. Have you reflected on the nature of your Diplomas, and the obligation which they carry along with them ? You have this day been stamped with honor; you have by your industry, ability and good conduct, won the right to be presented to your countrymen as persons worthy of respect and fit models for imitation. This is undoubtedly a high, a most gratifying position; but allow me to remind you it is also a most responsible one. We all know the higher the station of an individual, the more incumbent upon him it is to walk circumspectly. But beside this, you are assisting to inaugurate a great change, and if in any way you give cause for reproach, your errors will be quoted as arguments against the propriety of that change.
Dr. Flynn, in speaking more immediately to you, I remember with pleasure the honorable testimony Qualifications of a medical man. that has been borne to your merits by those best qualified to be judges. I feel it is almost unnecessary to call to your recollection that other qualifications are looked for in a medical man, beside the mere knowledge of his profession. The situation of a medical adviser is one of the most delicate and confidential in this world. Perfect uprightness, moral courage, kindness of heart and of demeanour, a readiness to sacrifice personal comfort, and other qualities of a similar stamp are all required to be united with knowledge, to constitute a genuine member of your noble profession. But then, what a reward attaches to the discharge of the duties of that profession! See the medical adviser enter the sick chamber to examine the state of his patient: see that patient's wife watching his every movement, and hanging breathless upon the words that are about to fall from his lips; see the children, too, partially ignorant perhaps of the condition of their father, but still looking upon the Doctor with silent awe! Now, after a careful examination, observe the visitor's cheerful eye anticipating his mouth in the announcement of the departure of all danger: and watch the silent, but how expressive gratitude of a whole family ! Surely the power thus to ease the overstrained heart is one of the most delightful possessions that man can have. Dr. Flynn, I will say no more than that I sincerely trust your future career will be as creditable as your past, that your success in your profession will be commensurate to your merits, and that you may often enjoy the heartfelt gratification which I have just endeavoured to describe.
As for you, gentlemen, who have this day been created Bachelors of Arts, Mental and moral improvement. I have to call your attention to the fact that your Degree is, in the phraseology of the middle ages, an imperfect one. Honorable as it is, you must regard it merely as the public acknowledgment of your having entered the outer court of the temple of knowledge, and not that you have penetrated into the inner chambers. At Oxford and Cambridge, and I believe at some other European Universities, Bachelors of Arts occupy a somewhat anomalous position: strictly speaking, they are, as it is termed, "in statu pupillari," i.e., they still hold the rank of pupils. However, as in their examination, those of them who have obtained places in the honor classes, have exhausted the subjects entering into the academic curriculum, they are subjected to no after-test in Arts for the attainment of the higher degree. Such is not the case in our Indian Universities, and in my humble opinion we have reason to rejoice at the circumstance. Each degree with us will represent an intelligible fact, the exhibition of a certain amount of knowledge. But, it is not to this consideration I wish to direct your minds so much as to the conclusion that, if the degree of Bachelor of Arts be held an imperfect one in Europe, where it may and often does represent the acquisition of a very wide circle of knowledge, much more must it possess that character here, where it indicates a comparatively contracted circle. Hence it is incumbent upon you to look forward, and with your eyes set on the wide field lying open before you, to put your hand to the plough in an earnest and determined spirit, glancing at the furrows already traced only to gain courage for additional exertions; thus using the past simply as a stimulus to the future, and not permitting yourselves to subside into indolence, delusively fancying that enough has already been accomplished. That such may be your course, and that some years hence you may again come forward to claim from the University still higher honors than those that have been conferred upon you to-day, is, you may be assured, the earnest desire of the Right Hon'ble the Chancellor, and of all the members of this Senate. That you will have great difficulties to contend against in carrying your studies to the point requisite to secure a higher degree,—is undoubted; no regular sources of assistance lie open to you, such as are at the command of students in the different countries of Europe; you will have to rely almost entirely upon your own industry and ability, without possessing the great advantage of pursuing a daily career of study, under teachers specially devoted to the work of smoothing your path, of testing your progress, of shaping and correcting your views, and of stimulating you when your efforts flag, now by a word of kindly encouragement, and now by a warning sentence. But if your difficulties will be great, equally great will be your merit if successful; even failure under these circumstances may well be honorable: and what a beneficial influence upon your character must manly, self-relying course of study produce! How many virtues must necessarily be developed by pursuing such a career! Surely, when you reflect, you cannot but feel that the real reward of a true student's labour is not the admission to a degree, is not the recognition of his success by his countrymen, but is the mental and moral improvement that takes place within him.
There is one point more on which I wish to say a few words. The duty of teaching others. You are perhaps acquainted with the sketch of the Clerk of Oxenford in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. After a graphic description of the Clerk's personal appearance, and a brief notice of his limited pecuniary success in life, which Chaucer explains by the following reference to his tastes,—
Twenty books, clothed in black and reed,
Of Aristotil, and of his philosophie,
Than robus riche, or fithul or sawtrie,
But although he were a philosophre,
Yet hadde he but litul gold in cofre.
The Father of English Poetry gives his last touch to the portrait in the line,
That a student should "gladly lerne" is no more than every one would expect : but does a scholar always feel that his character is defective unless it can be said of him that he is also glad to "teche?" Irrespective of times and circumstances, it may be asserted that an individual should be ready and even anxious to communicate to others the knowledge which he has himself acquired. But if such, as a general rule, be the duty of every educated man, how much more is it your duty Co assist in spreading enlightenment among the population of the Madras Presidency. We all feel how odious a character he possesses, who, having his granaries full of corn, looks with an unpitying eye on his starving countrymen. Be assured, he who has imbibed knowledge himself, and feels its powerful influence in the juster appreciation of all events which his cultivated intellect bestows upon him, in the more elevated moral standard, that is the natural accompaniment of judicious training, and in the additional sources of happiness which are opened up to him, cannot refrain from endeavouring to impart these blessings to others without committing a gross dereliction of duty, and placing himself on a level with the selfish hoarder of grain, who thinks only of his own necessities. The most direct mode of assisting to dispel the ignorance and the concomitant prejudices which unhappily prevail to so great an extent in this country, is to become Teachers. The profession of a schoolmaster is that which has been adopted by the most successful*[2] of this year's Bachelors, and I trust others of your number, as well as of those who may follow in your steps year after year, will embrace the same profession, and distinguish themselves as much in the imparting of knowledge as in its acquisition. Of those however who graduate in Arts, the probability is only a comparatively limited number will seek a livelihood by teaching; the majority will, it is likely, enter other walks of life. These last must recollect that it may lie within their power to contribute to the improvement of their countrymen quite as much or even more than if they were professed instructors. In the revenue and judicial branches of the Government service, as pleaders, as medical men, as merchants, as landed proprietors, it may fall to their lot to possess far greater influence than would belong to a mere schoolmaster, and many of the prejudices and evils existing among the Native community can be attacked with effect only by distinguished members of that community, acting in their several social circles. Let each educated Native, then, regard himself as a Teacher, either directly or indirectly, of his less fortunate countrymen. As he meets with success in his path of life, and his sphere of influence consequently widens, let him exert himself the more strenuously to secure to others the advantages which have placed him in the position he occupies. And, above all, let him keep guard over his own conduct, that those around him may learn to attach additional weight to the measures he recommends, from seeing how beneficial his education has been in forming an energetic, intelligent, and honorable member of society.