The Express.
London, England, 1867-02-04 00:00:00

[STAMPED, ld. ADDITIONAL.]

MR. J. S. MILL, M.P., AT ST. ANDREW'S.

(ram( ouit OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
ST. ANDREW'S, SArtranAr.

The highest expectations which had been formed
of the personal effect which would be produced by
, the great philosopher whom the students of this
university elected as their lord rector have been
verified by the result. To those accustomed to
demonstrations in favour of public favourites, the
i heartiness of the welcome accorded to Mr. Mill by
those over whom he now exercises nominal juris-
: diction was as striking as it must have been gra-
! tif)ing to all concerned. It has been laid to Mr.
Mill's charge as a reproach that he is a non-aca-
demic man, and one of the most bitter critics of his
last work has thought it a valid objection to his
adverse criticisms on Sir William Hamilton's phi-
losophy that, Ix-cause Mr. Mill owes nothing to
the * •ensity training, therefore he is incompe-
teitt to refute the statements of an influential pro-
fessor at a notable university. Others, again, have
dreaded the presence in a decorous and ancient
city like St. Andrew's of one who is suppmed to
be a firebrand or a visionary. In short, Mr. Mill
has recently been exposed to so many unjust imputa-
tions at the hands of these who appear to be inca-
pable of estimating his character and comprehending
his philosophy, that those who are most desirous to
be*nupartial have not unnaturally looked forward
with impatience, dashed with apprehension to
the appearance of the man who has the boldness
to proclaim speculativeopinionsand views of human
life and of the arrangements of human society which
some regard as questionable and others stigmatise
as crotchets. It cannot be said that the experience
of a few hours has sufficed to extirpate the errors
of a lifetime. But it is certain that among
those who yesterday listened to the masterly
address of Mr. Mill few, perhaps hardly
' one, failed to acquire a vety different im-
pression of the man than that to which they had
been accustomed. When a polished gentleman
• like his predecessor tells his hearers pleasant
things in a pleasant way every one is gratified.
When a man like his contemponoy, Mr. Car-
lyle,
holding a corresponding post, tells the &seem- I
bled students in unstudied and natural terms
what his views are on the topics which
chiefly concern university men, he but reap-
pears in a part which, with certain important
variations, he had filled in his younger days.
Again, when Brougham in his prime, and en-
joying the reputation of the first of contemporary
orators, inculcates on his hearers the importance
of striving to become great orators, and assures
them that in no way Lan they better accomplish
their end than by studying the masterpieces of
Demosthenes, the lesson is taken as a matter of
course, the precepts are accepted with thankfulness
but without surprise. In like manner when
Macaulay crystallises in an academic address the
historical lore which suited the occasion, the plea-
sure is great, but is not unexpected. Moat of these
men, and many others who have filled honorary
posts like the one which is now filled by Mr. Mill,
had this qualiication for discharging the great duty
of delivering an inaugural address, that they had
been accustomed to speak to popular assemblies,
and were selected, not only because their writings
were so well known, but because their rhetorical
powers were acknowledged. To this rule Edmund
Burke is a striking exception. When he first ap-
peared before the students at the Univer-
sity of Glasgow as their lord rector, "he
faltered and remained mute," to quote the
words of Macaulay, and, to state the case
in the words of contemporaries, he returned thanks
fluently for five minutes, then becoming confused,
stopped short, alleging as an excuse that be had
never before addressed so learned an assembly.
One of his successors, who, in some nmpects, most
nearly approaches Mr. Mill, made no effort to re-
turn thanks fur the honour he had received ; but the
silence of Adam Smith has, fortunately, proved no
precedent to Mr. Mill. By the latter has been
proved that fitness for discussing in the seclusion
of the study the most important problems which
can occupy the human intellect may be combined
' with the capacity of rivetting the attention of a
mixed and critical assembly to the exposition of
doctrines of human culture to which very few
could listen with patience for many minutes unless
they were adorned and expounded with the choicest
language and in the most engaging style.
In truth, the spectacle was one which can be
seldom witnessed during the longest life of the
' busiest man. The room was the university library :
no more appropriate spot could be chosen
for the delivery of an accademical address.
The major portion of the audience consisted
of students clad in their scarlet gowns ; this
sight was strange to those who associate the colour
with the barrack-yard rather than with the univer-
sity. Many among them were much more youthful
in appearance than men in their position ge-
nerally are ; some, indeed, being school-boys in
: look, if not in fact. Others, again, had the look
of years much more advanced than what might be
• expected in students still acquiring training at an
university, thus illustrating the system which pre-
vails in Scotland, in accordance with which those
who can afford to incur the outlay, no matter how
many their years or low their position, flock to the
seminaries of learning with a view to acquire the
knowledge by which they may rise in the world.
All those who form the educated public of St.
Andrews were grouped in the seats allotted to the
non-members of • the university, while the ladies
tilled and diversiqrd the galhilier, ergCr to ace and
ready to hear the man who, among his other alleged
faults, has been charged with the fantastic crime of
regarding women as entitled to exercise poli-
o tical rights. The purely formal part of the
ceremony was very brief. Principal Tulloch
began the proceedings with the Latin prayer
commonly employed on such occasions. He de-
parted front the custom of those who think that
a prayer may be slurred over, as a charity school-
boy repeats a few lines by rote, and enunciated the
words with a distinctness which made them easily
caught by ears unaccustomed to the Scottish
method of pronouncing the Latin tongue. The
usual oath wits then administered to the Lord
Rector, and taken by him without hesitation. All
this may be in accordance with ancient custom.
• There is a doubt, however, whether or not the powers
transmitted from one dignitary to another under
the old system have survived the passing of the
recent act tinder which this, among other of the
Scottish universities, has its lord rector elected by I
the vote of the students. It may be as well that
the duties now discharged are almost trifling, other-
wise
men of position whose time is fully occupied
;
' in the engrossing pursuits of politics, literature, or
science, could not respond to the all made upon I
. them, and consent for &stated period to become the
recognised heads of an university. In addition to i
taking the oath and putting on the handsome gown
connected with his office, Mr. Mill accepted the
document denoting the honorary degree which had
been conferred upon him.
To say that his appearance in his new capacity
was the signal for loud applause would be to say
nothing more than may be expressed about ally one
who has done honour to a corporation or learned
body by accepting the honorary post which has
been conferred, because his acceptance would, in
turn, reflect lustre on the fountain of honour.
Another feeling than that of simple, yet real grati-
fication seemed to animate the assembly. The
boy-student and the venerable professor appeared
megajualorlitydweaoi7ildussatyo hatthetheeniGgichonimeea of the
had been passed upon him by impartial critics, and
refute the insinuated disparagement of Philistinism
tioeajniustil;y.
It is unnecessary to answer this question by refer-
ring in detail to the address then delivered, and
of which your readers have already formed their
own opinion. Yet, comprehensive as is the grasp
of the difficult subject therein treated, lucid as is