Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/70

Rh river valleys, which were once the seats of ancient Indian power and empire. Let Lahore, with its sturdy and determined races, deal with the whole country and its environs, of the Panchanada, now the Panjab, so often referred to in the most ancient Indian song. Let Bombay, with the irrepressible power of its people, occupy itself with the fair provinces of the Maharashtra, in the fullest sense of the word, whether under European or Native government, the fertile lands of Gujarat, the less productive Sindh, the country of the lower Indus; and let Madras have the whole of the Dravidian provinces to the south, so separated by language from the Northern provinces, and in which it has already accomplished no small measure of good. Let us every-where provoke one another to zeal and good works. Let us be friends of India to its farthest extent, asking the blessing of God on all our endeavours as an empire, as a people, and as supporters of educational, philanthropic, and divine enterprize, to promote its well-being. Let us who are Britons, particularly remember the providential obligations imposed upon us by our wonderful, and, to a great extent, unsought acquisition of power in this great and wondrous land. Let the diffusion and maintenance of light, life and love be our endeavour, and continuous and bliss-giving work. Be these thy trophies, Queen of many isles, On these high heaven shall shed indulgent smiles. First by thy guardian voice to India led. Shall truth divine her tearless victories spread; Wide and more wide, the heaven-born light shall stream. New realms from thee shall catch the blissful theme.

 

Gentlemen of the Senate,—It is, I am sure, a subject of sincere regret that the pressure of important business in the Northern part of this Presidency has detained His Excellency the Chancellor, and prevented him from presiding over the present Convocation. It is an absence we the more regret, as the interest he takes in the education of the people over whom he rules has been manifested on so many occasions, while his thoughtful care for this University is shown in the foundation of that which it is hoped will be its highest prize, the Chancellor's Medal—a distinction which was offered for the 