Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/233

218 and the history of diplomacy. The king unfortunately diverted the funds to his favourites. My friends Mr. Bryce and Mr. Oscar Browning have taken up the subject at their respective Universities, and Professor Lorimer has not ceased to insist on its consideration in Scotch University Reform. I should have given prominence to it in the London Teaching University movement with which I was closely connected in its initial stages, and which has made considerable progress, mainly due to the untiring efforts on behalf of that cause of my friend Sir George Young. The last development of political education in England which has been brought to my notice is that of starting precocious young orators on platforms, to while away the time until the guest of the evening arrives. If we substitute "parler" for "penser" in the following sentence, we may apply Sainte Beuve's harsh criticism of de Tocqueville, as a mild criticism of such oratorical efforts : "il a commence a parler avant d'avoir iren appris : ce qui fait qu'il a quelquefois parle creux." I cannot conceive a worse political school than the platform for immature politicians. Rather let us exact from them an essay on the causes of instability of government in France as a test, not a competitive examination. On the other hand, I fully admit that the platform as a means of downward filtration of the ideas of those who have mature experience is indispensable. I have been a cordial supporter of the movement organised by my right hon'ble friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer for extension of University lectures. There is some risk that Universities, when they start such movements, lose sight of their proper duties, but the risk is counterbalanced by the good results of such lectures and their sobering influence. In countries where a practical turn of mind prevails and suspicion of academic thought is widespread, it behoves those who represent academic ideas to deal gently with Philistinism. Matthew Arnold, whose untimely death all University men deeply regret, has left us a precious legacy in his writings on this subject. In India, as in Germany and in Italy, this danger is not very great. India has always had in the Brahmin element of its society an essentially academic element, which only needs development in the right direction to raise the standard of higher education. In the development of these Universities the educated classes of India will find a much more congenial and useful sphere than in other pursuits. It is through the Universities that they can obtain their highest reward and become directly associated with their fellow-workers of the Universities in Europe. Indian and English Universities can assist each other in various ways, and their relations will be closer according to the measure in which they both raise the academic standard and extend their influence. The