Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 3.djvu/65

 enthusiast has hoped, the nations of the world would conclude to lay aside politics and concentrate attention and energy on education. The truth is, however, being made increasingly clear, for all the obsessions of the passing hour, that the sovereignty of arms and armaments is short-lived, and that the future chiefly belongs to culture and character. Hence the paramount importance of all problems of educational reconstruction. It is the duty as well as the privilege of every educated person to participate, with understanding and zeal, in this glorious work of national renaissance.—Now, ladies and gentlemen, I deem it an honor as I feel it a pleasure to offer to you—to each member of this fraternity—the most cordial congratulations of the University—might I add, of this assembly and of the whole South Indian Community?—on the respective degrees which you have won through tested capacity and acknowledged merit. As the eye dwells with delight on this thrice happy sight and the heart feels braced as if by an elixir of life, the memory spontaneously recalls that charming scene where, invited by a richly-ornamented friend