Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/322



To the Graduates in Arts, of course I have nothing so special to say as their brethren of the other Faculties, but I Cannot pass on to my general remarks without pausing to Congratulate two of their number more especially on their present success, and dwelling for a moment on the lesson which it inculcates. I have heard indeed of instances in this University of young men being so disheartened by a single failure, that they have never had the courage to try again; they have felt, it seems, a morbid sense of disgrace, and have not ventured to appear a second time in the Hall of Examination. But how much nobler it is to triumph over this feeling and to resolve to make up for past ill-success by continued industry and perseverance—that this determination may be crowned by success in the end, you have a proof to-day, and I trust that those who were unfortunate enough to fail in the recent examination will be animated by your success, and in their turn come to be numbered among the Graduates of the University.

And now, gentlemen, addressing you all and congratulating upon the distinctions you have attained, the question naturally arises. What is expected from you? The University has tested your abilities, has set as it were her seal upon you, and now sends you forth, as sterling coin, fresh from her mint. What then does she expect from you? that you will acquit yourselves like men, that you will do your duty. Some unmerited praise no doubt is attributed to Englishmen by themselves, and some unmerited blame perhaps cast upon them by others, but this much, I think, I can assert without fear of contradiction, that Englishmen are animated above other nations by a pervading sense of duty; and a glorious result it will be of England's mission in the East, if she succeeds in any degree in impressing upon the minds of the countless millions of this land, over whom she has been called to bear rule, some portion of the feeling which animates her sons. It is this consciousness, that in any circumstances he is expected to do his duty, that nerves the Englishman in the hour of trial; it is this that has so often carried him along the road that leads to victory, it is this that has consoled him as often under the certainty of danger and death. This last sacrifice to duty, it is very improbable that you or any of us here to-day will ever be called upon to make; but you will and must be called upon, over and over again, to make to duty sacrifices of inclination, of pleasure, or of profit. And who will undertake to say that this obligation is an easy one at all times to fulfil? There are however other ways and other senses in which you are expected to do your duty, and it is to