Herbert Mills Birdwood

“ To-day it is on one who is already a member of this University, who indeed for more than a quarter of a century has done work of a very high order for this University, and for the most important of the Government colleges affiliated to it, and who this day holds office as our Vice-Chancellor, that we seek to confer this honor. We seek it for one who, though he has never sought publicity or personal advancement, has yet, by force of character and great merit, attained to that eminence which the Act recognizes as a proper ground for the bestowal of an honorary degree. ”

“ It is the parting word of the University to the youth who has equipped himself for the battle of life under her guidance. It tells him to be a "hero in the strife," and never, by idle word or corrupt conduct, to bring dishonour on himself and his country. ”

“ Though the University does not itself enter upon the practical work of education — though it has no professors or teachers, yet, by prescribing the subjects for examination for degrees, it necessarily controls all liberal education in the Presidency. ”

“ An honorary degree may be conferred on the recommendation of the Syndicate, if supported by a vote of the majority of the Senate, and confirmed by the Chancellor, on any person on the ground of his eminent position and attainments. Such a degree, if it is to possess any value, will necessarily be bestowed only on rare occasions. Accordingly we find that during the period of nearly seven years that the Act has been in force, this is the second occasion only on which this University has thought it fit to exercise its powers under the Act. ”

“ Wordsworth has always worked so unobtrusively, though the only life which has had any charm for him has been the quiet life, yet he has now, by common consent, attained to that position of eminence which clearly marks him as worthy of the honor which we, as a University, are empowered by the Legislature to confer. ”

“ The fees which we take from candidates at the several examinations do not suffice for the adequate remuneration of the examiners and our other expenses. We are at present receiving from the Government an annual grant of Rs.15,000, for our general expenses, and a special grant, in the Public Works Department, of Rs.2,000, for the maintenance of the Garden. Now I am sure that it is your earnest desire that this University should be a self-supporting institution, just as the Universities at Calcutta and Madras are self-supporting. ”

“ The task before us will be lightened if men of wealth, who wish to help the cause of education in this Presidency, will only remember that at the present moment an Endowment Fund, for meeting the general expenses of the University, is likely to be more useful than any addition to the endowment list of scholarships and prizes. ”

“ I hope to hear that they are always going along the straight line, that in having before them the virtues—and I am sorry to say the vices—of two civilisations. Western and Eastern, they reject the vices of both and blend the virtues of both. Then and then alone can they lead happy and pure lives. ”

“ Wordsworth's friends, members of our society at large, who, though they have never been brought under his immediate personal influence, still know him as a man of genius and a man of letters, a thoughtful and philosophic writer, not merely of fragments of matchless verse, but of weighty comments also on great events which have stirred the hearts of men in the history of the past 25 years. ”

“ Well there can be no question that this examination which every year assumes larger proportions, and every year presents increasing difficulties for those of us who have to carry it out is, in the judgment of many who are well able to form a sound opinion on the point, a gigantic failure. ”

“ We have now scattered throughout the Presidency, in large towns and remote villages, men who owe their position in the public service to the excellent training they received at school and college. A large proportion of these men were educated at the Deccan and Elphinstone Colleges, with both of which institutions Mr. Wordsworth has been connected during the greater part of his Indian career. These men know well what they owe to him ”

“ Schoolboys who have passed the Matriculation in order to enter a college not nfrequently find themselves unable to understand the lectures which they attend. The Matriculation Examination, in short, furnishes a very insufficient test of a knowledge of English, and again the examination hall is crowded with many candidates who come up for examination long before they are properly prepared, and who thus add to the perplexities of examiners. ”

“ A satisfactory solution of the question might perhaps be arrived at by the transfer of the management of the school to the University. The matter is one which affects not merely the education of our law students, but the interest of the people of the whole Presidency. It is from the ranks of our successful law students that the ranks of our Judicial Service are largely recruited. ”

“ Wordsworth has been connected with the Educational Department of the Bombay Government, a very gi. change has come over the public service — a change with which his own position in the department has distinctly associated him. The ranks of the service are now filled largely by men who have received a liberal education in the Government colleges and in private colleges. ”

“ Of the candidates who have qualified themselves for admission to degrees to-day, 130 are Bachelors of Arts, 6 are Masters of Arts, and one is a Bachelor of Science, 34 are Bachelors of Laws, 22 are Licentiates of Medicine and Surgery, one is a Doctor of Medicine, and 2 are Licentiates of Engineering. To sum up, 137 candidates have qualified themselves for degrees in Arts, 34 in Law, 23 in Medicine, and one in Engineering. ”

“ Besides the changes in progress in connection with the administration of this University, there are other changes also in prospect which concern us deeply.We are all deeply interested in the Matriculation Examination, which looms so largely in the view of every schoolboy, whether he intends to enter a college and to read for a degree, or whether he wishes only to qualify for employment in the Government service. ”

“ Such a process cannot be without its effect on the community at large. It means, or it ought to mean, a steady and progressive improvement in the conduct of all kinds of public and private business for which educated men are wanted. I say it ought to mean this, because this University has never been content that its degrees should imply only that the holders of them have reached a certain standard of intollectual fitness and nothing more. ”

“ It is a society representing many classes, therefore, and not a mere clique or section of our varied community that now asks your Excellency to confirm and ratify its vote. And then, again, I think it will be as well if we try to realize to ourselves, for a moment, some of the grounds of the very general approval with which our action to-day is certainly regarded. ”

“ Most of all have they profited by the example ever set before them of plain living and high thinking. It is not to be wondered at if these students, now that they have grown to men's estate and occupy positions of trust and influence in all parts of the country, should carry with them, and communicate to others, the feelings of admiration for their teacher and friend by which they are animated. ”

“ As the Government receives fees from the scholars who attend the lectures of the law professors, and as the maintenance of the professorships cannot, therefore, impose any serious burden on the taxpayer, a circumstance which was made very clear in the Committee's report, it is greatly to be desired that this question may be dealt with soon by the Government. ”

“ In the current year, it will enable the new constituency which the Government will constitute to supplement the recently Gazetted list of Fellows, which is a shorter list than was Gazetted either in 1889 or 1890, and a much shorter list, unhappily, than that of casualties by death and retirement which we have had to deplore during the past year. About 11 or 12 of our European Fellows have left India, the greater part of them probably with no intention of returning. ”

“ There are objects besides the provision of scholarships for deserving students which are worthy the attention of philanthropists. We want, for instance, fellowships on the English principle, like the Manguldas Nathoobhoy Fellowship, to enable students to prosecute their studies after they have taken their degrees. Again we want money to make our library a good working library, where every member of the University may find the book he seekSj and receive that aid from books which the present library does not afford. ”

“ It was thought to be a distinct advantage, to be set against any additional expense that might fall on undergraduates or any other possible inconvenience, that they should remain for the lengthened period of 4 years under the influence of academical associations and surroundings. So far as in us lies, therefore, we endeavour to minimize any possible defects of our system, and to fit our graduates as efficiently as may be for the work that may be before them. ”

“ Its main feature is that it insists on a properly graduated course of study extending over three years, two of which are to be undergone after the law student has taken the intermediate degree or B.A. or B.Sc. His progress is to be tested by two examinations, and provision is also made for an examination in Honours. Closely connected with the reform of the Law Course is the reform of the Law School. Indeed, the Committee which proposed the new scheme for the Law Course made proposals also for putting the Government Law School on a proper footing. ”

“ They know and appreciate still more the kind sympathy and zeal for their welfare which led him to give up much of his leisure time for their benefit — precious hours, when they sought and received from him friendly counsel and guidance. ”

“ These figures show that 1892.— The Honorable Mr, Justice Birdwood. 26l the afiiliated colleges and institutions are annually sending out into the world, in increasing numbers, a body of men who have been making full use of the opportunities they have had for preparing themselves for the public service and the liberal professions. ”