Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/193



Gentlemen of the Senate,—On the occasion o£ your last assembling herein Convocation, I find, by a reference to his address, that my predecessor in office almost promised you that on this occasion you should be adressed by His Excellency the Governor of Bombay. It must be a subject of deep regret to you as it certainly is to me, that His Excellency has been unable to fulfil on this occasion that engagement, if engagement it can be called, but that wish and desire certainly. He was unable to realize it, owing to his other public duties, which have called him to another part of the Presidency over which he rules. And with him unfortunately for us has also departed from Bombay for a time that lady, who fulfils so graciously and so gracefully her part in the not unimportant domestic duties which devolve on the Governor of Bombay. "We regret the absence of both of them very much, and it only remains for me to discharge as well as I can, however imperfectly, the duty which His Excellency and the exigencies of the situation have cast upon me. I will begin by what claims a word of tribute from a Vice-Chancellor of this University— from any one who standing here feels the interest which I do, and which you do in the welfare of the institution,—a tribute of kindly memory and regard to one who stood here on many occasions and addressed many who are sitting here now, always to your gratification and always with a deep interest in the welfare of this University, I mean the late Honorable Mr. Gibbs. He, although not a profound scholar himself, always manifested a deep interest in the advancement of learning and scholarship in this Presidency, and, as Vice-Chancellor for many years of this University, he devoted himself to the institution with steady, regular, and unfailing interest and industry. He will never perish from the memory of those—and they are many—who have experienced his personal kindness, and I trust these few words of tribute will long remain recorded in the archives of this institution. Since I had the happiness of addressing the members of the Senate about four years ago, this institution has been daily, almost hourly, extending in its importance and its influence. If we compare the numbers of those who aspire to its degrees and who come up to the earlier examinations, which lead to those degrees now, with what they were four years ago, we observe a very vast increase. But more than that, the studies have been extending, and as we hope improved, new institutions have been affiliated to the