SIR ALEXANDER GRANT.
The year 1884 will probably be regarded by the writer who in after-years takes up the 'Story of the University of Edinburgh' as the most memorable and impressive year in the annals of that institution. It is hardly too much to say that it was in that year that the University first became fully conscious that it had a history, and that teachers and students fully realised that the work on which they were engaged was connected by continuous development with that which had been carried on in or near the same place for three centuries. The numbers attending the University, which had been rapidly increasing for several previous years, in that year reached a maximum never previously attained. The year was further memorable for the completion of the new buildings, by which Edinburgh has been provided with a school of science and medicine superior to any in Britain, and second to very few in Europe. And while these results would be dwelt on, as marking the highest point in material prosperity which the University had attained, the great tercentenary celebration of last April might well stimulate the imagination of the writer, and claim to be described with the rich colouring of historic art. But he would probably feel that the true significance of that event is best expressed in the words spoken by the Principal in his address to the students at the opening of the present session.
"When we think," he said, "of the unanimous response, of the most cordial and the most respectful character, which our invitations received from all the great foreign schools; when we think of that notable assemblage of delegates – the greatest inter-academic and international gathering that has ever been seen – marshalled in their varied costumes within the Parliament House; when we think of those hundred addresses jointly testifying that the University of Edinburgh is held in high esteem, that the names of its great men are widely known, and that it is considered to have had a glorious past; and when we recall the eloquent words of so many gifted orators, who from various points of view brought their contributions of sympathy and of praise to decorate the occasion, – we cannot but feel that no university in the history of civilisation has ever been so highly honoured as ours."[1]
And if the writer has the sympathetic discernment through which the characters of men can be read in their writings, he will see that the feeling of pride which prompted these words is entirely impersonal; and if he turns to the actual records of the celebration, he will find that the man to whose imagination, practical sagacity, and affection for his University the conception and realisation of the idea are almost entirely due, did not regard it as an occasion for personal display, but, while performing admirably every duty imposed by his position, kept himself in the background, and left it to the distinguished guests of the University to speak to the assembled graduates and students.
- ↑ Address to the Students of the University of Edinburgh, by Sir Alexander Grant, Bart., Principal of the University of Edinburgh, &c., c., delivered on 28th October 1884. W. Blackwood & Sons.
