hold the rank of pupils. However, as in their examination, those of them who have obtained places in the honor classes, have exhausted the subjects entering into the academic curriculum, they are subjected to no after-test in Arts for the attainment of the higher degree. Such is not the case in our Indian Universities, and in my humble opinion we have reason to rejoice at the circumstance. Each degree with us will represent an intelligible fact, the exhibition of a certain amount of knowledge. But, it is not to this consideration I wish to direct your minds so much as to the conclusion that, if the degree of Bachelor of Arts be held an imperfect one in Europe, where it may and often does represent the acquisition of a very wide circle of knowledge, much more must it possess that character here, where it indicates a comparatively contracted circle. Hence it is incumbent upon you to look forward, and with your eyes set on the wide field lying open before you, to put your hand to the plough in an earnest and determined spirit, glancing at the furrows already traced only to gain courage for additional exertions; thus using the past simply as a stimulus to the future, and not permitting yourselves to subside into indolence, delusively fancying that enough has already been accomplished. That such may be your course, and that some years hence you may again come forward to claim from the University still higher honors than those that have been conferred upon you to-day, is, you may be assured, the earnest desire of the Right Hon'ble the Chancellor, and of all the members of this Senate. That you will have great difficulties to contend against in carrying your studies to the point requisite to secure a higher degree,-is undoubted; no regular sources of assistance lie open to you, such as are at the command of students in the different countries of Europe; you will have to rely almost entirely upon your own industry and ability, without possessing the great advantage of pursuing a daily career of study, under teachers specially devoted to the work of smoothing your path, of testing your progress, of shaping and correcting your views, and of stimulating you when your efforts flag, now by a word of kindly encouragement, and now by a warning sentence. But if your difficulties will be great, equally great will be your merit if successful; even failure under these circumstances may well be honorable: and what a beneficial influence upon your character must manly, self-relying course of study produce! How many virtues must necessarily be developed by pursuing such a career! Surely, when you reflect, you cannot but feel that the real reward of a true student's labour is not the admission to a degree, is not the recog

nition of his success by his countrymen, but is the mental and moral improvement that takes place within him.

The duty of teaching others.

There is one point more on which I wish to say a few words. You are perhaps acquainted with the sketch of the Clerk of Oxenford in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. After a graphic description of the Clerk's personal appearance, and a brief notice of his limited pecuniary success in life, which Chaucer explains by the following reference to his tastes,

For him was lever have at his beddesheed
Twenty books, clothed in black and reed,
Of Aristotil, and of his philosophie,
Than robus riche, or fithul or sawtrie,
But although he were a philosophre,

Yet hadde he but litul gold in cofre.

The Father of English Poetry gives his last touch to the portrait in the line,

And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.

That a student should "gladly lerne" is no more than every one would expect: but does a scholar always feel that his character is defective unless it can be said of him that he is also glad to "teche?" Irrespective of times and circumstances, it may be asserted that an individual should be ready and even anxious to communicate to others the knowledge which he has himself acquired. But if such, as a general rule, be the duty of every educated man, how much more is it your duty to assist in spreading enlightenment among the population of the Madras Presidency We all feel how odious a character he possesses, who, having his granaries full of corn, looks with an unpitying eye on his starving countrymen. Be assured, he who has imbibed knowledge himself, and feels its powerful influence in the juster appreciation of all events which his cultivated intellect bestows upon him, in the more elevated moral standard, that is the natural accompaniment of judicious training, and in the additional sources of happiness which are opened up to him, cannot refrain from endeavouring to impart these blessings to others without committing a gross dereliction of duty, and placing himself on a level with the selfish hoarder of grain, who thinks only of his own necessities. The most direct mode of assisting to dispel the ignorance and the concomitant prejudices which unhappily prevail to so great an extent in this country, is to become Teachers. The profession of a schoolmaster is that which has been adopted by the most successful of this year's Bachelors, and I trust

* The late Mr. T. Gopal Rau, afterwards a Fellow of the University.

others of your number, as well as of those who may follow in your steps year after year, will embrace the same profession, and distinguish themselves as much in the imparting of knowledge as in its acquisition. Of those however who graduate in Arts, the probability is only a comparatively limited number will seek a livelihood by teaching; the majority will, it is likely, enter other walks of life. These last must recollect that it may lie within their power to contribute to the improvement of their countrymen quite as much or even more than if they were professed instructors. In the revenue and judicial branches of the Government service, as pleaders, as medical men, as merchants, as landed proprietors, it may fall to their lot to possess far greater influence than would belong to a mere schoolmaster, and many of the prejudices and evils existing among the Native community can be attacked with effect only by distinguished members of that community, acting in their several social circles. Let each educated Native, then, regard himself as a Teacher, either directly or indirectly, of his less fortunate countrymen. As he meets with success in his path of life, and his sphere of influence consequently widens, let him exert himself the more strenuously to secure to others the advantages which have placed him in the position he occupies. And, above all, let him keep guard over his own conduct, that those around him may learn to attach additional weight to the measures he recommends, from seeing how beneficial his education has been in forming an energetic, intelligent, and honorable member of society.

THIRD CONVOCATION.

(BY J. D. MAYNE, ESQ., B.A.)

Gentlemen, I feel peculiar pleasure in being chosen to address you on this occasion, since I have been personally acquainted with almost all of you, ever since my arrival in this country. In my capacity as teacher, I have had the opportunity of watching your progress in various branches of study; and as few can be better acquainted with the zeal and energy which you have displayed, so I am sure that none can more sincerely and heartily congratulate you upon the success which you have won. And it is no empty compliment when I speak of this The Degree Degree as a success. In England the mere Degree of Bachelor of of Bachelor of Arts has been so eclipsed by the Honor Examinations, that it has become little more than a matter of form, and as it may be attained with very slight merit, so its attainment carries very little weight.

Arts.

Here the reverse is the case. It has been wisely considered that an infant University, like that of Madras, which has still got its name to make, should commence by only acknowledging realmerit. It has been determined that as far as can be, her stamp should only be impressed upon sterling gold, and not upon tinsel or pinchbeck. And accordingly the Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts has designedly been made very arduous both from the number of subjects, and from the high standard of answering required. It is the unanimous opinion of the Examiners that it is fully as difficult to obtain a first rank among the Bachelors of Arts in Madras, as to obtain a second Honor in England, and those who receive the diploma of this University will go forth into the world, stamped as the possessors of knowledge far more extensive and accurate than would be evinced by the acquisition of a similar diploma at home.

But, gentlemen, while I congratulate you upon this high distinction, I must still, ungracious as it may school and suc- appear, warn you against assuming that this

Success in

cess in after-life.

success will ensure a similar measure of success through life. I know it is common enough to tell those who have gained prizes as students, that the same qualities which placed them before their fellows in early life, will procure them equal prominence in their after-career. This is partly true, but it is not the whole truth. It is partly true, for industry and talent will always bear a market value; but it is not the whole truth, otherwise we should not see so many instances of clever school boys and brilliant University men who turn out utter failures in after-life. Every one who has watched the career of their own contemporaries, will know how often this happens. I believe the fact to be, that distinguished success in practical life calls for qualities, mental and moral, which you have not been required to display as students, and that it is upon the possession and exertion of these qualities that it depends, whether you will ever emerge from the rank of respectable mediocrity. Not only is this so, but there are habits of mind engendered by a long course of study which are in themselves unfavourable to active exertion in real life. It is only in proportion as you guard against the one and develop the other, that you will maintain your present position in after-years.

I have seen it remarked, I forget by whom, that reading is often only a form of indolence, where we study what others have thought, in order to save the trouble of thinking for ourselves. Now this is a form of indolence into which successful students are very

Why some men of great learning fail.

apt to fall. As long as you are learners, reading is the end. When you come to be doers, reading is only the means. Hitherto your success has depended upon the extent to which you could remember what others have written. Henceforward your success will depend upon the extent to which you can apply it. Knowledge is like good food. It is always pleasant, but it will only make you able to work if you digest and assimilate it. Before it can be of any service to you, you must have made it your own, and learnt how to employ it. And this is the reason that men of great learning are often beaten, even in their own pursuits, by others of inferior acquisitions. The man who has only one weapon which he can use, will always conquer the man who has a dozen which he cannot use. And therefore I would warn you against trying to keep up your knowledge on too diffuse a scale. There have been men, like Pascal, Voltaire, Lord Brougham, and Lord Macaulay, who seemed capable of grasping and using every species of learning. But such men are rare, and you can hardly expect to be of the number. Select that knowledge which will be of use to you, and make accuracy in that your first object. Take care not to be brilliant smatterers, just sufficiently acquainted with every subject to make mistakes in it. Hitherto your education has been intended to fit you for every path of life, but you can only travel along one. Make up your minds which that one is to be, and then sedulously collect every scrap of information which will fit you for it. Do not be content with reading, or even with remembering what you read, but think it into shape; so that when an emergency arrives, you may be found with principles of action, and not merely with a chaos of facts at your command.

But, gentlemen, a mere knowledge of principles is not sufficient without that skill in their application which is Combine experience with only to be acquired by experience. The daily knowledge. problem of real life is how to produce some effect. For that purpose you require not only an acquaintance with the principle, but also with the subject-matter to which it is to be applied. The former can be obtained from books, the latter only from experience. You can acquire the theory of swimming to perfection, without seeing more water than would fill a basin. But if you were to rely solely upon this, you would be drowned the very first time you ventured out of your depth. And so it is in every profession. A Medical student may be acquainted with the use of every drug in the Pharmacopoeia. He may be perfect in describing the symptoms of every disease; but the first time he is taken to a sick bed, and told to ascertain from the languid eye, the feeble pulse and incoherent answers of the patient what his