Graduation Address

"Address to the Graduating Class" University Monthly 39, 7 (May 1920): 196-198. (UA Case 67, Box 1)

The University has allotted to me, on this Encaenial day, the pleasing duty of warmly congratulating you upon the completion of your undergraduate curriculum. Diligent application has been required to satisfy the standards and now you are passing out from the University; as loyal sons and daughters, you are not leaving her, but will surely, in the future, manifest that interest and affection in her welfare to which she is fairly entitled.

The steadfast aim of our venerated and honored institution has ever been to offer a training thorough and sound. Amid the peaceful surroundings of the College Hill, without ostentation she has sought to impress upon her students whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.

You have enjoyed the advantages of University life; of receiving under the supervision of a staff of able and earnest men, invaluable instruction and mental training and, not least of all, of forming fast friendships. You have studied with diligence, which no doubt varied with the individual, but all, I am satisfied, have worked to a substantial degree. Max Muller once said that Oxford would be Paradise regained if the long vacation lasted the whole year. You have not harbored such a thought. This was not the utterance of an undergraduate, as one might assume. Here amidst my present surroundings let me say, but only sotto voice, it was said by a professor. To be fair, however, it will be admitted that Muller's wish was for an opportunity for uninterrupted work and thought.

Given good health, the future is in your own hands for the making, the responsibility is placed squarely upon your shoulders, there is no skidding; and so, with full appreciation of the difficulties before you, with courage in your hearts, you will gladly and proudly pass on.

You may be assured that the University will follow your progress with keen interest; your welfare will be her hope, your distinction will be her glory.

Character Is Essential

I would that I might say something helpful to you today—a word of wisdom. Much can be done to cultivate wisdom. The ancient philosophers, according to Cicero, defined wisdom to be the knowledge of things human and divine, and the causes by which these things are regulated; a study that if any man despises, what can he think deserving of esteem? As a guide to wisdom, I urge upon you the contemplation of the lives of eminent men.

It is striking, though not surprising, how frequently it occurs that with great professional attainments and splendid scientific capabilities there is associated nobility of character. It is hardly so much an association as that the possession of a noble character is an important factor and assists so much in the full achievement of a successful vocational life.

Character is essential in bringing out and making the most of literary, scientific and all other attainments.

It is but a few years since I had the privilege of being shown the Bodleian library and having had its treasures pointed out to me by the regius professor at Oxford, the late Sir Wm. Osier. Osier was one of the most eminent physicians of his time with remarkable literary gifts. From his intense humanitarianism and qualities of heart and mind, he has been described as the best loved man in the world. He filled professional chairs successfully in four Universities—Montreal, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Oxford—and termed himself a University tramp. His addresses on academic occasions are memorable.

One of his ideals was to cultivate such a measure of equanimity as would enable him to bear success with humility, the affection of his friends without pride, and to be ready when the day of sorrow and grief came to meet it with the courage befitting a man.

To the students of Toronto University he told the secret of life. "The master word," he said, "I propose to give you in the hope, yes in the full assurance, that some of you at least will lay hold upon it to your profit. Though a little one, the master word looms large in meaning. It is the open sesame of every portal, the great equalizer in the world, the true philosopher's stone which transmutes all the base metal of humanity into gold. Not only has it been the touchstone of progress, but it is the measure of success in every life. And the master word is Work. Write it on the tablets of your hearts and bind it upon your foreheads."

For our peace of mind we should never forget the deep conviction he had of the hatefulness of strife, of its uselessness, of its disastrous effect and the still deeper conviction of the blessings that come with unity, peace and concord.

Lord Roberts' Patriotism

In the autumn of 1914, a few weeks before his end, there came to see the Canadian Overseas Forces then in Salisbury Plain, an old man, the greatest British soldier of his day and yet his grandest work, though ineffectual as it proved, was done at the age of eighty, when, perceiving the danger of the Empire stood in from unpreparedness, he carried on his glorious campaign against the ignorance, the apathy and the long standing prejudice of the country, declaring that the tendency to forget the lessons of past events as soon as those events are over seems to be almost irresistible. Nothing apparently but absolute disaster is likely to cure us of the inveterate 'belief which somehow or other we are exempt from all the laws which have governed the rise and fall of nations, and can always rely upon some miraculous inter-position of Providence to see through the hours of danger. Throughout the country, he dared to urge his conviction, which fell for the greater part upon unwilling and hostile ears. Like Cassandra's his words of warning wisdom were unheeded and were soon followed by those dire consequences which the whole world now realizes. Yet his brave independent spirit and patriotism and the complete vindication of his appeal should surely cause the British nation to be proud and thankful for such a man as Lord Roberts.

Think of the motto of our University, Sapere aude—Dare to be wise. Be dauntless in acquiring wisdom. It means in pursuing one's course in life diligence, application, independence, resolution, abnegation, an open mind, steadfastness of purpose. Write it upon the tablets of your hearts and bind it upon your foreheads.

The motto of the University of Aberdeen, chosen from the Book of Proverbs, gives the guidance to the basis of wisdom—Timor Domini, initium Sapientiae.

When visiting Aberdeen, the granite city of the North, in 1917, I saw inscribed on the walls of Marischal College the quaint words placed there in 1593 by its founder, the fifth Earl Marischal, "They have said What say they? Let them say." There is in them a breath of Boreas. Yet the spirit of the saying is that we should not be carried away by popular clamor or prejudice but courageously pursue the path of wisdom. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. Sapere Ade.

This is the work that year by year,
While in her place the school is set,
Every one of her sons must hear,
And none that hears it dare forget
This they all with joyful mind
Bear through life like a torch in flame,
And falling fling to the host behind—
Play up, play up and play the game.

And now, graduates, on behalf of the University, I bid you farewell and God-speed.