Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/449

 day of your life something that is new. You should compare yourselves not with such of your countrymen as have not had the advantages which you have, but with men of culture in progressive societies. Whilst you thus endeavour to improve and enrich your mind by observation and study, you should also remember that the capacity for sustained mental energy varies with the attention which you pay to your physique, and that bodily health and strength, add in no small measure to the usefulness of a vigorous and well-furnished mind. It is to be regretted that from a desire to secure University honors at a comparatively early age, Hindu parents at times allow the energies of their children to be taxed beyond their strength, and you should, therefore, not only set a better example in this respect in after-life, but also take good care that your own growth into the prime of life is like the growth of a healthy plant into a tree which is rich in its blossoms and fruits.

I would next ask you to endeavour to do in all stations and relations of life, what you consider to be your duty, as well in the hour of disappointment and difficulty as in that of success and hope. In its widest acceptation, duty includes every quality and virtue which men of culture ought to cultivate and cherish, and a strong sense of duty is the keynote of a high moral nature. Let neither insidious flattery nor blind censure; nor the contumely and ridicule of interested prejudice or vanity, turn you aside, even when some personal risk stares you in the face, from the straight path of duty ; and it is only by clinging to it with fidelity and devotion that you will in the long run best help yourselves and serve this University, your Sovereign, and your country. Remember that he who has no force of character, but who suffers himself to be seduced into false principles by the necessities of ambition or of self-interest, or by the partialities of relationship or friendship, cannot respect himself in the sober intervals of reflection, however talented he may be, and whatever success he may secure for a time ; and that he who has no self-respect has no right to expect that others should respect him. Remember also that whilst you firmly and consistently do your duty, your manner should always be modest and unostentatious, and that you should studiedly avoid self-assertion in all its forms.

In connection with the several promises which you have this day made and with your duty in life to the cause of progress I desire to draw your attention to one improtant element of success. All success in relation to national advancement will depend, in the present state of the country, not so much on