The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-31 00:00:00

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will, all of you, in whatever positions you may be called
upon to be, to the best of your endeavours, faithfully per-
form your duty. (Loud cheers.) Well, gentlemen, I stand
here before you to perform a duty which you have imposed
upon me, and which custom imposes on those who fill this
office, namely, that of addressing to you some few remarks
upon the subject of ycur education. You are now all of you
in that period of life which, by common parlance, is devoted
to what is usually and in a limited sense called education
You are now at that lime when the mind is moat open to
instruction—when the precepts which are afforded to you
sink deepest into your plastic intelligence, and when the
impressions which are made are not only made more
easily, but impress the mind most deeply and produce the
most lasting convictions. I say that that period of instruc-
tion which is afforded to young men between the time when
their minds are most open to km wledge, and when they are
called upon to enter into the busy scenes of active life, is
technically and in a limited sense ealled education. But the
real truth is that the education of a sensible and intelligent
man continues to the latest day of his existence—(cheers)
—for there is no day in a man's life—there is no time of his
existence in which, if his mind is alive—if he keeps his ears
and his eyes open to impressions and observations, that he
will not be cont nual.y adding to the stock of his ideas and
thoughts, and in which he will not add to the store of his
knowledge, and increase that information which is useful
to him both here and hereafter. (Cheers.) But we are talk-
ing now about that ed Lcation which is given to young men
when they have more leisure to attend to it than they can
have when they engage in the pursuits of life; and let me
not lead you astray by the observations which I have made
to induce you to think that the omissions of to-day—the
omissions of your youth, can be made up for by exertions of
a later period of life, because, depend upon it that if you ne-
glect those ample opportunities which your present oourse
of studies afford, you will bitterly, but too late, repent. You
will be like the crew of a ship entering upon a long voyage,
which has neglected to provide sufficient means of subsis-
tence, and while in the middle of the storms and tempests
which they may encounter in their passage will find their
strength failing them and their means inadequate in conse-
quence of their want of foresight before they quitted the
port. (Cheers) Well, gentlemen, it has been said that the
proper definition of education is, that it is an art which
teaches man to live ; and if that be a true definition, it con-
firms what I have just stated, that man learns better
and better how to live by the experience cf every
day which passes over his head. But beginning with
that which ought to be taught to youth, the first learn-
ing which you ought to acquire is self-discipline and
self-control. That is essential in every period of your life ;
it will be an assistance to you in whatever pursuit you may
be engaged. But it is a knowledge and an art which must
be acquired early, for it is difficult to obtain it afterwards,
and when the years of youth have passed away—Provi-
dence has given to man lively passions and a strong will,
which, when properly used, are of the utmost advantage to
him, but which, if allowed to run riot, may lead him into
nany difficulties and dangers. They may be compared to
a high-spirited courser, which, if he is made obedient to the
will of his master, will carry him safely through the longest
journey, ever the greatest difficulties and obstacles, and
carry him to whatever height it may be the aim and object
of his journey. But if that high-spirited courser is allowed
to take the mastery over his rider, he will carry him into
brakes and brambles, into bogs and morasses, and ten to one
but at the end of the journey he will hurl him down some
frightful precipice. Therefore I say, gentlemen, bear in
mind the well-known precept :
" Animum rege ; hic nisi pant imperat
Huno frenis ; hunc to compesse co.tenis."

Well, gentlemen, there are two gifts which we enjoy—two
instruments which we use which are of daily and most
important application, but which it is too much the prac-
tice of mankind, turning their attention to higher objects,
to neglect and treat with indifference—l mean speech and
writing. They are the means by which we communicate with
each other upon everything that relates to the transactions
and the business of life, It is by them that we deprecate
anger; that we endeavour to conciliate love and friendship;
—it is by them that we promote our interests—that we
endeavour to propagate our opinions. In short, there is
no hour of any day of our lives in which one or other of
those instruments—thought and intelligence—are not called
upon to do us service. Now, with respect to speech, lam
not going to give you any precepts so far as delivery goes.
So far as adapting the voice and manner of speaking, so as
to render them most agreeable and persuasive, you have
within your city models most worthy of imitation to which
if you attend, and try to follow by your practice, you will
require no other precept or admonition. With respect to the
substance of speaking—the arrangement of ideas, and the
selection of words, I refer you to that most admirable ora-
tion which was delivered to you some years ago by that
great and eminent, and I will say wonderful man, Lord
Brougham—(cheers)—a man of whom it may be said that
although engaged during the whole period of his life actively
either in professional or political occupations, he contrived
by the variety and great comprehensiveness of his mind to
store that mind with a greater extent of various knowledge
and information than perhaps ever fell to the lot—and which
certainly never more fell to the lot—of any distinguished
man. (Cheers.) Well, then, I exhort you to read again that
oration, to impress on your minds avery weld it contains;
for depend on it in every word there is wisdom. (Cheers,)
Well, gentlemen, the foundation, I may say, of all orna-
mental education—of all education—must be found in the
classical works of Greece and Rome. (Cheers.) They contain
more precept of sentiment, more elegance of style, more con-
densation and thought than perhaps the writings of almost
any other age, and they have this remarkable in their nature
that they were the productions of a period when man of
literature and science had not many of the means which we
possess for the diffusion of knowledge and for the acquire-
ment of knowledge. They had not the art of printing;
they had not many of those modes of communication which
now enable men to acquire, with comparatively small
labour, the results of the labours of others, and to refine
their taste by easy access to the works of those who have
written with most taste and judgment themselves. (Hear,
hear.) The study of the classics may no doubt to some be
painful and irksome at the beginning, but it will be a source
of perpetual enjoyment to you in every period of your life,
and that which in the beginning was a matter of labour
will in its result be a source of relaxation and a pleasure.
(Loud cheers.) Relaxation and pleasure remind me that
he little would be able to guide the actions of youth who
were to tell them never to enjoy relaxation and pleasure.
(Hear, hear.) The man who is perpetually on the stretch
sinks under its own weight—(a laugh)—and, therefore, well
regulated relaxation and pleasure of a proper kind, mixed
with knowledge, with labour, tends only to refresh the
faculties, and to make that labour more easy and effectual.
(Cheers.) But these relaxations must bo rational, they
must not corrupt the mind, they must not undermine those
faculties which ought to be applied to nobler and more use-
ful purposes. (Cheers.) Well, gentlemen, the study of the
works of antiquity ought not to divert you from giving due
attention, and from bestowing well-merited admiration on
the classical works of your own language and your own land.
(Great cheering.) In recommending you to make yourselves
acquainted with the poets and the historians of ancient times,
would be wanting towards you if I did not urge you to be-
come familiar with the great masters of English literature
—with Milton, with Shakapeare, with Pope, and with other
distinguished writers whose works form the standard of
our language, and whose works also teach you how to con.
dense your thoughts, and how to express them in appro-
priate and adequate language. (Loud cheers.) Well,
gentlemen, don't think I am pointing out to you exertions
beyond the strength of any individual, and advising you
to studies for which the brief period devoted to your edu-
cation would be insufficient. You are all of you probably
destined to some one particular profession. Make every-
thing that belongs to that profession the object of your
intense and preferent study, but do not, on that account,
omit Requi eing general information upon other mat-
ters whenever opportunities may present themselves
to you for doing so. (Applause.) Whatever may be the
profession which a man enters into, he will prefer the duties
of that profession better by having general knowledge, and
that generality of knowledge will not interfere with the
successful study of what is necessary for the particular line
which he determines to enter. Don't be discouraged by
people who say it is absurd to have a smattering of different
things—

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

A little knowledge is better than no knowledge at all.
(Cheers and laughter.) Learn a little of everything of which
you can learn anything. (Renewed laughter.) it will be
useful hereafter ; in your own line it may be the foundation
upon which you will build up as you go along through life.
But tear one thing in mind. Be content, in reference to
many things, with mere rudimentary information, but what
little you know know it well. (Applause) Don't accept the
jingle of words for reality of things. (Applause.) Go to
fundamental principles ; know accurately that which you
are desirous of knowing, and however little that may be,
depend upon it that upon that basis you will more easily be
able to build up a future superstructure. (Applause.)
Many people are contented with words, and don't give
themselves the trouble of inquiring into the principles and
the reality of things. Don't fall into that mistake. Well,
gentlemen, after the clas3ics of ancient times, and after
the most approved literature of your own country and in
your own language, there are other departments of intellect
to which naturally you will direct your attention. It cannot
be supposed that in the country of Reid and Stewart—(loud
cheers)— the philosophy of mind should not form an object
of attractive study—investigations which will tend to
open the mind, to enlarge the faculties, and to improve
that understanding of which you are studying the theory
and the philosophy, (Applause.) Well, gentlemen, I speak
not now to those to whom any exhortation would be required,