Edmund Thompson

“ For instance, there is a duty which you owe to the State. Every citizen of a State is bound to yield a willing and cheerful obedience to the law, and to support, as far as in him lies, the cause of order and good government. And surely this obligation, incumbent as it is upon all, is more especially incumbent on those citizens, who like yourselves have received a superior education. You ought to be above the prejudices and passions which hold unlimited sway over the minds of the masses ”

“ Strive day by day to add to your store of knowledge, and to enlighten and quicken your moral sense; cultivate a spirit of truthfulness, cultivate, aye, and with the greatest care, for it is a tender plant, cultivate a nice sense of honour: beware of everything that is mean, beware of aught that may impair your self-respect. ”

“ It is this consciousness, that in any circumstances he is expected to do his duty, that nerves the Englishman in the hour of trial; it is this that has so often carried him along the road that leads to victory, it is this that has consoled him as often under the certainty of danger and death. This last sacrifice to duty, it is very improbable that you or any of us here to-day will ever be called upon to make; but you will and must be called upon, over and over again, to make to duty sacrifices of inclination, of pleasure, or of profit. ”

“ Add then to the knowledge which you already possess patient study and careful practice, and above all, see that you add to professional ability, the strictest integrity of conduct, without which your career, however brilliant for the time, cannot fail to be attended with disgrace in the end. Recollect the promise which you have just made to maintain on all occasions the purity and reputation of the profession, and never to deviate from the straight path of its honourable exercise. ”

“ I can hardly imagine a more important mission than the one to which you are called. The Native Bar and Bench have hitherto laboured under many disadvantages, and have been exposed to much unfavourable criticism. Your very presence here to-day, and the signs of academic distinction which you wear, prove that you have made considerable progress in your legal studies, and that you are bringing to the practice of your profession, knowledge and ability rarely possessed by those of your fellow-countrymen who have hitherto taken part in the administration of the law. ”

“ But those among you who are not about to become teachers, may still do much to promote education. In the first place you may exert your personal influence with your families, and point out to all connected with you the great advantages to be derived from a liberal education, and in the course of time when sons and daughters are born to you, it will be your duty to see that they do not, to say the least, fall short of the acquirements of their parents. Again, it may well happen, now that so many roads to advancement are open to you, that some of you at least may become wealthy men ”

“ The example of one conspicuous and deeply lamented member of your community, showed how much could be effected even under the old system by consistent industry, modesty, and integrity; the advantages and opportunities you enjoy, far exceed his; take care that they have not been bestowed upon you in vain.
The career of the Civil Engineer is not less important than that of the Barrister. His labours have an immense influence upon the happiness of mankind. ”

“ For you can hardly show your sense of the advantages you have derived from the liberality of the State in a better way than by endeavouring to enlighten the community to which you belong. There are many ways in which you may do this, but a single instance will suffice for the present. It often occurs that the best intentions of Grovernment, the best plans devised by it solely and purely for the good of the people, are misunderstood and misrepresented. ”

“ You may found prizes, scholarships, professorships, and the time may come when even a College may owe its origin to the enlightened liberality of some educated Hindu. It was remarked the other day by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, himself one of the brightest living ornaments of his own University, that to found a College was a means of transmitting to distant posterity the memory of a name which otherwise would soon have passed away. ”

“ I hope that you will be encouraged to persevere in the course on which you have entered, and that you will not merely look upon tuition as a means of livelihood for a time, to be given up when something more attractive offers itself, but as a profession to last your lifetime. ”

“ It is indeed an arduous one, full of anxieties, difficulties, discouragements; it may indeed, (if you persevere, it must) afford you a competence, but you cannot expect much more, and wealth is out of the question ; but it has its bright side too ; it is pleasant to watch the progress of pupils in the school and in the world, and it will be no small consolation in after years to look back upon a well-spent useful life, and to feel that hundreds are indebted to you for some of the purest and highest of earthly pleasures. ”

“ But how much nobler it is to triumph over this feeling and to resolve to make up for past ill-success by continued industry and perseverance — that this determination may be crowned by success in the end, you have a proof to-day, and I trust that those who were unfortunate enough to fail in the recent examination will be animated by your success, and in their turn come to be numbered among the Graduates of the University. ”

“ I have heard indeed of instances in this University of 3'oung men being so disheartened by a single failure, that they have never had the courage to try again; they have felt, it seems, a morbid sense of disgrace, and have not ventured to appear a second time in the Hall of Examination. ”

“ You will probably be called upon at no distant, time to hold a responsible position in the Department of Public Works, notoriously this department has suffered greatly from the gross dishonesty of subordinates and contractors; we trust that you too will bear in mind the promises you have made to-day; that you will not only prove superior to all temptation to wrong doing yourself, but resolutely oppose and frustrate the malpractices of others. ”