Valedictory Address

“Valedictory Address”University Monthly 31, 7-8. (1912): 329-334. (UA Case 68, Box 1)

Your Honour, Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate, Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Associated Alumni, Mr. Chancellor and Gentlemen of the Faculty, Class Mates, Fellow Students, Ladies and Gentlemen :
“There is nothing new under the sun,” says the proverb. No one, perhaps, is more painfully conscious of this truth than he on whom the duty falls of giving the Valedictory, of uttering the impressions, relating the history, offering the thanks, and bidding the farewells, of each succeeding Graduating Class. And yet the oft repeated sentiments possess a charm for everybody—a charm for the graduate, because it leads him back in spirit through the years to that "magic haze of other days" when his thoughts were our thoughts and his ways our ways—and a charm for the man apart from academic pursuits, when once a year he pauses from the busy cares of life and views for a brief period another quota of men and women, girt for the fight of social service, say farewell to one another and make for the front line of battle. On this intrinsic charm of the valedictory itself, accordingly, rather than on any originality of matter, I rely for your attention and good will this afternoon.

In the olden days, before the prowess of the Phoenician navigator had advanced beyond the Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Asia and Northern Africa, were believed to comprise the whole world. At the extreme East ran the Ganges, while the only outlet from the Great Sea was at its Western end, and did not there stand Gibraltar—or as it was called at that time, the Pillars of Hercules—beyond which all was Cimmerian darkness and eternal night? One of the nations of those days is said to have commemorated this by striking a coin on which the Pillars of Hercules stood in bold relief, and Underneath, the significant inscription: Ne Plus Ultra—“There is no more beyond.” But ere long the Straits were passed, the British Isles were discovered and later the new continents of the West. The old coin was abandoned, and a new one was struck. On it, the Pillars of Hercules remained as before, but the inscription now ran: Plus Ultra—“There is more beyond.” So, I conceive, must be all progress. Four years ago, buoyant with hope and ambition, we entered this College; today as we stand on the very threshold of our Alma Mater and prepare to bid her a fond farewell, we realize that the goal toward which we have been striving for four years has at last been reached. We have looked forward to this day, we have made Encaenia and all that it means an ideal, it has been our ne plus ultra; but now we have achieved it, our deal has been attained: like all other ideals it must be projected anew, and our motto must be changed to plus ultra. We are today passing our Pillars of Hercules, we are setting out for the land beyond, and we are setting out with that clear, definite purpose and those high ideals without which the College graduate is unworthy of his training. But these ideals are not stationary; they advance and broaden with us and still lure us on; and as the ideals advance and broaden and take shape anew, the Individual must pursue and keep pace with the new and broader ideal. Let the memory of this day, and the depth of meaning it possesses for the Class of 1912 keep us on the highway, where no power lies dormant, but all capabilities are working in harmony together toward a definite goal.

But how, it may be fairly asked, is a College course to inspire us in this way? What is it expected to do for us? I have little need to say that one fundamental duty of any institution such as this is to train students to think—to think clearly, broadly and yet deeply. Incidentally, the student gets information, and so the College man is regarded by most people as the educated man. In a certain sense, no doubt, this is true; but it should not be expected that he can grapple with the problems of life like the man with years of experience back of him. Still, certain standards are expected of the graduate—and rightly so. If he cannot do, he can at least learn to do, and when once he has learned how, he should at least do well. For this end, he ought surely to be free from cant, from pretence and from prejudice. The democracy of learning should teach the democracy of life. The fundamental lesson of reverence for the rights of others which the attrition the Freshman receives is meant to impress has been wasted on the College Graduate, who considers himself better than another on account of birth, wealth or education. We should realize, too, in all humility that our education, instead of being completed, is just begun, because education is a life process and the thoughts of men are widened by the process of the suns. Nor should we allow our narrower view points, our partisan feelings or our prejudices to obscure our judgment. All these evils of our social, our educational and, let me say it, our political, life, prevalent to a greater or less extent, the College is called upon to correct. From another side, too, the College owes a duty to society. We are living in a democratic age, but we can neither allow the mob to rule, nor the autocrat to dictate. Our only hope is for the College to take the best out of each class in society, be it high or low, and supply them as leaders to the age.

And does our Alma Mater measure up to the requirements? To answer that question we must consider the nature of Education. Broadly, I define education as preparation for future living; and I submit, as a self-evident proposition, that the best preparation for future living is present living. The effect must be commensurate to the cause. As a man sows, so shall he reap. This being admitted, the next thing to point out is that life in Canada must be broad, must be tolerant, because we are a nation made up of various strains, because look at it as you will, we are a heterogeneous people. We, indeed, men of the fair far North “have the brain and the brawn and the blood, of the Saxon, the Celt and the Gaul,” and our every move must take into consideration all these elements of our population. Since, then, our national life is admittedly heterogeneous, it follows that the best preparation for that life must be such also. That this University offers such a preparation is manifest, when it is remembered first, that College life is as real to the student as national life is to the citizen, and, secondly, that College life at U. N. B. is the prototype of Canadian citizenship, because this is an undenominational institution extending the night hand of welcome to those of all races and creeds. Breadth and tolerance must continue to form the bedrock of Canada as a nation; these must also necessarily be the strongest foundation on which our University could be built. The spirit of unity in diversity is the spirit of U. N. B.; it is the spirit of Canada, youngest of nations. I know of nothing more expressive of the freedom and co-operation which should and does animate both U. N. B. and Canada, than the words of the English poet who loved the French Canadian habitant:

“Frenchman, Scotchman, Englishman,
An' everyone she's free,
An' all shak' nan' and go to work
For mak' de gran' countree.”

On the class of today truly depends Canada's position to-morrow. But we need not all become famous. The greatest deeds are often done in Obscurity. Not every man sets his name beside his achievement; the important thing is to do the work—the credit is a minor matter. Kipling has well expressed the idea:

“Well I know who will take the credit—
All the clever chaps that followed:
Came a dozen men—together,
Never knew my desert fears,
Tracked me by the camps I'd quitted,
Used the waterholes I'd hollowed;
They'll go back and do the talking—
They'll be called the pioneers.”

But the real pioneer goes on in silence. Whether our lot be to blaze out new trails or to follow the beaten track, whether our sphere activity be a broad or a narrow one, let us be a power to be conjured with.

Time permits me to give but a short history of the Class. In the Fall of 1908, fifty of us, endowed with a verdancy which we were inclined to attribute to the depraved imaginations of the Sophomores, our way to the back door with fear and trembling. A few weeks of flaming red neckties and—in the case of the feminine us to their Churches, patronized our activities and overlooked our midnight rackets. Once more, to all, our thanks.

To the Undergraduates a word—Remember what you are here for—to work. Next to that, look after College affairs. Where we may have done well, do better; where we have failed, succeed. Let nothing be neglected, but do not place all the work on a few men.
By making all take part, you will develop a proper college spirit. Play the Game!

To the Graduating Class, much might he said. I must be brief. We have everything before us. Canada is on the threshold of her development: let us grow with the country. Next to our country let us be loyal to our College; finally let us take a legitimate pride in our Class, the largest—and may we not be permitted to hope, one of the best?—that U. N. B. has so far graduated.

“Not in vain the distance beacons, forward, forward, let us range!” We have been taught in what has been handed down to us from the past, we have before us the potentiality of the future, but most of all, let us grasp the very real opportunity of the present, and then, rest assured, the future will take care of itself.

Classmates, a parting word. I am not so sanguine as to believe that when a large class, such as ours, has been scattered like so many seedlings over this broad Dominion, literally from the Atlantic to the Pacific, that we will ever be all together again. Perhaps some members of the Class will never see some others once this day is over. If such is to be our destiny, may the influence for good which we will wield in the world be a fitting memorial to the Class. There-fore, though with regret, yet trusting in the hope and promise of the future, the time has come when last word must be spoken:

“Fare thee well, and if forever,—
Still, forever! fare, thee, well!”