Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/329



on still and never wLets his scythe. Whereas with th.e learned man it fares otherwise, that he doth ever intermix the correction and amendment of his mind with the use and employment thereof."

Our words, then, to you, gentlemen, are "Onward and Upward;" and permit me to remind you that immediately in front of you there is a height which has never yet been reached, a prize never yet won by any of your countrymen in this Presidency, the degree of M.A.

I pause here for a moment to name, with the respect which is due to his exalted rank and still more to his enlightened liberality, one of the Fellows of this University, His Highness the First Prince of Travancore, whose public spirit and love of learning have led him to hold out to you an additional inducement to advance to that degree, and whose presence here this day we hail with sincere gratification.

But whilst we urge you to further progress, be on your guard, gentlemen, also, I pray you, against another temptation to which at your age, and surrounded by admiring friends, you are now more than usually exposed, the temptation to think of yourselves more highly than you ought to think. Be not boastful nor too proud of your own doings; bear your success with modesty, which is ever the companion of real merit, and avoid all appearance of arrogance and self-conceit, which are both offensive to others and injurious to yourselves—serious obstacles in the way of usefulness and self-improvement. To this end it is only necessary that you should "descend into yourselves" as Bacon has it, and call yourselves to an account by comparing the little you know with the more which others know, and the much more which remains to be known. Depend upon it, you will find cause enough for modesty, as well as for continued and strenuous application.

But, now, gentlemen, a few words as to your duty towards others. You are well aware that, in the matter of national education, it is still very early dawn with us in this country. The sun has hardly begun to gild the hill tops, but we desire to see its light and warmth shed into the lowest valleys; and in no way can you so well show how highly and justly you appreciate the real value of the education which you have received (for the value does depend upon the use you make of it), as by endeavouring to extend as far as you can the like advantages to others. This you may do by devoting yourselves directly to the work of teaching as the business of your