New-York tribune., 1922-05-21
o. Sir lanes M. Barrie

rsr but grimmsr text would be "lf
.s.re had been no Haig." Among the
,tsnsss you might have had rector
., 81. Andrews with German accent.
lard Haig is : man Of Fife. As you
.,v he might have done worse. Yet
81 s,n,e Of your queer ways snd words in
rise rather amuse us in Forfarshire.
The first favor | must ask of YOU
N i, to be lenient If you don't hear me
Il am not accustomed to speaking and
ius. row | hear my own voice with a
horrible resonance. like a peal of bells
10 sn empty house. But | have a sus
,eion that the noise does not travel
and that when all is over. my rectorial
address may still remain secret.
shall do my utmost. but | can assure
those Of you who don't hear me that
you are having much the best Of it lust
row.
Lkens Other Rectors
To Roses in December
No one could be more conscious of
the honor you have done me. You
have had many rectors here who will
shine on after the likes of myself are
dead and rotten and forgotten. They
are the roses in December. You re-
member that someone said that God
gave us memory SO that we might have
roses in December. But | don't envy
the great ones. In my experience. and
you may find in the end it is yours
slso the people I have cared for most
and who have seemed most worth car
ing for my December roses-have
been very simple folk. But | wish
that for this hour could swell into
someone of Importance, so as to do
you credit. suppose you had soft
.nng for me because | was hewn out
o. one of your own quarries, walked
similar academic groves, and have
tudged the road on which you will
soon set forth would that | could
put into your hands staff for that
somewhat bloody march. There is
much about myself that l conceal from
ether people. but to help you I would
expose every Granny of my mind
But, alas. when the hour comes for
the rector to answer to his call he is
unable to enter into the undergraduate
be used to be, and so the only door
INTO you is closed. We, your elders,
are much more interested in you than
you are in us. We are not really i'm
portant to you-l have utterly forgot
ten the address of the rector of nv
time and even who he was. but | re-
call wildly climbing up statue to tie
dis coors round its neck and being
hufled therefrom with contumely We
remember the important things. | can
NOT provide you with that staff for your
Journey But perhaps | can tell you a
h''le about it, how to use it and lose
ano hnd it again and cling to it
more than ever. You shall cut it-so
Is ordaned-everyone of YOU for
"'"sei'' and ITS name is Courage. You
must excuse me if | talk good deal
"'ou' courage to you to-day. There is
"o'hihg else much worth speaking
aoout to undergraduates or graduates
u "hlte-hared men and women. 1t is
'"e ioVeiy vlrtue-the rib of Himself
'"sl 1od sent down to His children.
N! special difficulty is that though
you have had literary rectors bere be.
WE 'ney were the big guns, the his
'V''a"s' the philosophers: you have had
''0"e' think, who followed nv more
humble branch, which NAV be described
~ paying hide-and-seek with angels.
"s puppets seem more real to me than
myself | could get on much more
.s."hgingly if | made one of them de-
'his address. 1t is McConnachie
VINO mas brought me to this pass. Nc
O'""achle, | should explain. is the
name give to the unruly half of nv
Sei-the writing half. We are COM
pemeht and supplement- am the
nall that is dour and practical and
Ne"h?' ne is the fanciful half: my de-
s're Is to be the family solicitor.
's"noihg firm on nv hearthrug among
'"e marsh realities of the Office furni-
'D'e' while he prefers to fly around on
ohe wing. | shouldn't mind him doing
s"a'' out he drags me with him.
nave sworn That McConnachie shall not
'n'eriere with this address to-day. But
mere is no telling. might have done
sh'hss worth while if it had not been
mcoonnachie. My first piece Of
@uVlce to you at any rate shall be
SOUND Don't copy me- good subject
-'f rectorial address would be the
.ness the rector himself has made of
"ie' merely cast this forth as a
suggestion, and leave the working Of
~ out to my successor ! don't think
II has been used yet.
Youth Must Become
Partners of Betters
"s own theme is Courage" as you
s"ou'd use.it in the great fight that
~ ,ehs 70 ME to be coming between
'u'n and their Betters; by Youth
meaning of course, you. and by your
'eers' US. | want YOU to take up this
p'sition-that Youth have for too long
'eit exclusively in our hands the deci-
me IN national matters that are more
Vial TO them th,~ - - rL. .L.,s