The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-01 00:00:00

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bleSseel_wittliko rays of Christ" ''. - - isa- `'--'l\ 114
e F. -
ant to you,, for that task do - - - ' '-`-';,:::;--;41., 4
speak with far greater weigh i' -4---- -.."1;(4
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It refer to tie fact—for yoseeturtie. t- '',.:
,A consolation that QuintiliateneirkWeei s
—that you, in the hour of, bereavement, may lOokfar- -7
warerto a happy reunion, which the blessed truths of
~1
ReVelation have pointed out toyou: Still, While holding
fast by this, by, far the most important aid in sorrow, do I
net, at the soli() time, in a lower sphere, despise that aid ,
which study and literature can supply. (Applause.) '
What I have said of sorrow may also be applied with
equal truth to periods of sickness, The difference in this '
case may be observed in all ranks and conditions of so-
~
citty. We of:En see a labourer barred by sioknets front ,
his usual labour. How great the differentia between
man and man here ! The illiterate labourer will . turn
aside if you offer him a book, and will tell you he is no
rse.ethuorina:r
g;
aazni
ndg he
into
oy
theby day, till
ot lilt
whoisndeetrg a
rinengtlat
the state of the weather outside his cottage; while .the intelligent mechanic or labourer to whom you may have •
the pl-asure of lending some agreeable book will find in
it a source of consolation, and it will wile away-the time
till health and strength are restored. And in thole of
higher Education, how often do we find their sentiments
expressed in vivid terms of the inestimable advantage
thus supplied by subjects of Study when health admits,
and by lighter literature when the mind is incapacitate-al
for that. I fed tempted on this subject to read same
sentences to you from an American author :of • the.
highest genius—Washington Irving—(cheers)_who -
says this in -praise of one of whom you are justly - '
proud in Scotland, I -mean Sir Walter Scott.
(Cheers.) See how :Washington Irving sums up
his visit to Abbotsford :—"For my own part, in
periods of dejection, when everything round me was -
joyless, I have hailed the announcement of anew work
from his pen as an earnest of certain pleasure in store for
me, and have looked forward to it. as- a traveller on a
waste looks to a green spot at a distance, where he 'feels
assured of solace and refreshment. When I consider
now much he has thus contributed to the better hours
of my past existence, and how independent his works
still make me, at times, of all the world tar my enjoy- :
went, I bless my stars that cast my lot in his days, to
be thus cheesed and gladdened by the outpourings of his
genius." (Applause.) That, gentlemen, is a tribute
that any American may be proud to offer, and that any
Scotciunan, may he proud to hear. (Cheers.) Gentle.
men in the scenes of active life that are opening before
you, the choice of study is, in a great measure, indicated
by the nature cf the profession you may choo'e. It is
char you need no admonition to show that your first ef-
forts must be directed to those studies upon which your
professional skill and success depend. That, of course,
must be your first aim, but I think that you will find it
no unprofitable counsel if I advise you, so far as leisure
&indite, to take some subject of study subordinate to
your professional studies—some other subject to which
taste may incline you, and to devote to the acquisition
of information on that favourite subject whatever hours
of lest r? you can command. I am inclined to think
that you wi.i find this in the tang run more interesting
,
than general reading—that is reading a hieh passes in
succession from one subject to another. Those who pur-
(-tie such a course will be apt to find themselves
"In wandering meza3 lost."
I am inclined to think you will find more real pleasure
and improvement if—subordinate to your professional
studies, as I said before—you select some point of fur-
ther study to which your fancy Trade, and then read upon
that subjeca :o that everything that comes forth upon it
will he an addition to your own knowledge, and you will
know precisely bow much is known upon it, and how
much remains unknown. (Cheers.) I am inclined to think
by a more vagrant style of reading—if I may so call it—
reading so many subjects you will feel interest in none.
By concentrating your attention upon one, you will se-
cure by that greater interest and pleasure to your future
than you can attain by any other means. (Cheers.) In
fact, gentlemen, when we look around us, and see the
multiplicity of subjects to which attention may be draws,
you will feel that even, as I have now put the question,
the choice before you is vast indeed. Sae how the field
of human knowledge is extended. Within the last 50
years there is scares a branch of knowledge, even is
those which have been explored for hundreds of years—
classical learning, for example—which has not reoeivcd
some new and important additions. But not only this :
it way be said that new sciences have been discovered.
Who, 70 or SO years ago, thought or heard of the name
ef Geology ? or of men like Cuvier, who by their genius
have hr ,tglit back to us the forms of long extinct ani-
mals, and the state of the earth as it might Lave existed
thousands of years ego. (Cheers.) Who could have
imagined that in art such vast- resources should have
been opened up to us, as, for instance, the now familiar
science of photography supplies I IVho would have
imagined that railways, which have enabled us at so
quick a rate to have communication with all parts of the
cauetry, would become a study of well-regulated cur ie-
sity, or that the instantaneous power of transmission
which we possess in the electric telegraph should be im
parted to the whole of the people who now crowd those
buoy shores I (Applause.) Therefore, gentlemen, you
have reason to congratulate yourselves upon the advance
of human knowledge in the present age. Yet let me
advise you not to look back to the age which preceded
this with feelings of scorn. That age contained men
who—though many of their opinions were erroneous,
had that zsal and energy, and that faith in their own
( pinions which entitle them to your lasting respect.
When, therefore, you think in your own (lay cf the
eminent philosophers who have done so much to
raise the scientific character, and extend the scien-
tific powers of England and Scotland, remember
that in the last age—much as we may differ
from their erroneous opinions, we are not to speak
without re-poet of the gallantry and devotion which
glowed in the beartsof a Glengarry and a Lochiel. (Loud
applause.) Depend upon it, many of your own country
men in the last century deserve respect for their ardour
and perseverance in carrying out these opinions, even
though erroneous—in suffering exile, imprisonment, and
death, rather than relinquish them. And, in saying
this, I cannot but remember t at the name of the col-
lege in which I have the honour to address you suggests
chrit of the last Earl Marshal. (Applause ) Teat ac-
complished man—the kinsman ef your founder—rather
than renounce his opinions, or be urtfaitbful to them,
endured 40 years exile, and the confiscation of his pro-
perty ; cheer d at last by the friendship of the King of
Pruaria, and with the returning respect of his country-
men at a later time (Applause.) Therefore, in admit-
ting how much scientific progress has been made, I yet
warn you against undervaluing that Spirit of your coun-
trymen which, though it flowed in a wrong direction,
was yet directed to a high, and noble, and chivalrous
object, such as Scotchmen, though they may differ from
it, must acknowledge to be worthy of esteem and vene-
ration, (Applause.) And I have often thought that, in
referring to those times, it is not merely the great chief-
tain that deserves especial recollection ; but that a
greater meed of pity still is due to those followers who
found no favour and no patrimony abroad to cheer them,
but only an unfriendly exile. In the words of one of
them—

" Now all is done that man could do,
And all is done in vain."
With that melancholy feeling many of them left these
shores. How happy are we in these days when no such
causes of difference exist—when all join in one cordial
feeling of respect, reverence, and allegiance towards the
iI ustrious lady who now fills the throne of these resin's.
(Loud cheere.)
,Gentlemen, you are now, or sOOD, going
forth into active lif-. There is always something
thoughtful—something that disposes to earnest rtflec•
tion—in the communion of mind, as now between those
who are entering the verge of manhood, and one who
has already passed its meridian prime. It is natural
natural at my age that ma„y things shall be looked at
than at
more seriously—l might almost say more sadly.—
yours. Yet I confess tbst, in estimating your future pro.
o when see around me so many
coserica:ds,enlday as you can d m disposed to view them as hopefully and as
stalwart frames and ardent spirits--so many young men
trained with so much care fur the commonweal—for the
service in after years of their Sovereign and country.
Ar,,y, in these future endeavours, all success attend you
May the name of Scotchmen, in your keeping, continue
to be held in high honour amidst all the nations of the
world, as up to this time it has been ! And if, in the days
f }our matured success, your thoughts ever wander
back to this day, and to him who, through your favour,
fills the principal place in it, think of him—by that free
erhaps passed away from this mortal scene—as of one
who, while he lived, never cea.,:el to entertain a warm
sense of your kindness, and a lively interest in your
pr,sperity and welfare ! (Loud applause.)
principal DEIViAIt having pronounced the benediction,
the assembly gradually dispersed. _ _

In eie afternoon the htudenls entertained Lerd Stan.
hope at a banquet is the County-room, which was largely
at ended.

On Friday tale lordship was presented with the freedom
.f the city.

nOLIDATS AT THE LAW 0/FlCE6.—Today, (Thurs•
day), ❑ the cle,ing of the Judg"tii' Chambers arid other
law offices of the Common Law Courts. the holidays
commenco, Tho (aces will reopen cn Wednesday next.