Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/132

 their opinion, affirm that much of our higher education is superficial where it ought to be fundamental, and airy when it ought to be substantial. I am, as you will be, far from a full admission of such criticism. Still, the prevalence of such a notion does render the employers of intellectual labour less anxious than might have been expected to have recourse to those who belong to this University. It had something to do with the hesitation displayed by civil authorities in respect to obtaining the services of our graduates. Though such an education as that which we secure for our alumni ought to be a passport to high employment ill any profession, yet if an idea gains ground that they become A hat is termed unpractical, and are prone to imagine that after having learnt so much at college they have little or nothing more to learn in life, then they will fail to reap the fruit of their labours at college.

The moral to be pointed is this, that a really good general education should enable a man to apply himself to the acquisition of any sort of knowledge, however novel or alien it may be; to perceive the points and bearings of every case or class of cases which may be presented to him; to assimilate into the mental system the ideas peculiar to any profession he may enter. In a word, general knowledge should be so ordered as to be a key wherewith to unlock the door of any special subject which its possessor may need to approach. If your graduates will act up to these maxims, they will find themselves more competent than heretofore to turn their abilities to profitable account.

It is sometimes remarked that educated young Natives become too apt to discuss fluently all sorts of topics with which they have no mature acquaintance. Consequently, an opinion arises that they are restless and discontented, expecting too much of immediate result from the fact of having passed the University examinations, and inclined to condemn thoughtlessly the Government and the administration under which they live. Doubtless, the Government and the University never take these manifestations of discontent to mean more than is really meant. We all appreciate the freedom of thought, the latitude of expression, that will ever characterize the youth of a nation which is being exercised in new ways of thinking. We know that the existing state of things in this country often invites legitimate criticism, and we desire that the sentiments of educated Natives should be unreservedly made known to us. Such outspoken frankness will never be mistaken by us for disaffection.