Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/77

 four Masters of Arts only six obtained honours in the first class, and of twenty-five who have obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws there have only been five who have obtained first class honours. Similarly, of ten Licentiates of Medicine only five have obtained the first class, while of those who have obtained the degree of Licentiate of the College of Civil Engineers, not one has obtained first class honours. Now, what has been the result of this? Why, that the Forbes Medal, founded in 1868 in connection with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, has never in the course of four years been awarded to a single student, and the gold medal, which it was a pleasure to me to offer to the University, and which the University did me the honour of accepting, in connection with the degree of Master of Arts, that again for the second year has not been awarded. Now I argue from this, and I think it may be fairly inferred, that those who come to this University are content to look to the first honour they obtain as the only object for which they come to the University. They look upon the honour as a sort of certificate which will enable them to obtain preferment and emolument, and do not seek to obtain University honours for the sake of learning and intellectual culture. Now I think that this is a source of very serious regret to everybody who has the interests of this University at heart. A very illustrious citizen of the city of London, in days long gone by. Sir Thomas Gresham, erected a fountain near the residence of the chief magistrate, with a stone shelf upon which the weary porters could lay their loads while resting, and upon this stone was inscribed the legend "Rest and be thankful." Now it appears to me that the junior members of the University treat the learning they acquire pretty much as the overloaded porter treats his load. They are content to be relieved at the earliest moment from their labours and be at ease, and think the sooner this is obtained the better; and then, like the weary labourer, their motto is "Rest and be thankful." Now I would impress upon my young friends not to look on the honours they may gain in what I may call a sordid light; not to regard the honours of the University merely as an introduction or a certificate of character or competency, and desirable only from what may be termed their commercial value; to do this is to introduce into the Temple of Learning the spirit of the market and the exchange. I would have them consider that the honours which they here obtain are but the first step on the ladder of learning. Their first course here is really their probation, a training that will fit them for greater efforts and for higher culture, which, if steadily and earnestly continued, will develop