The New Lord Rector of Glasgow University. 127 



natural powers. We have in the instance of Cicero the stately edifice, the 

 monument of intellectual grandeur ; but we learn from the evidence of the 

 illustrious architect by what careful process the foundations were securely 

 laid, and the scaffolding was gradually erected. Our wonder at the perfection 

 of the work may be abated ; but what can abate our admiration and respect 

 for the elevated views, the burning thirst for knowledge and for fame, the 

 noble ambition that ' scorned delights, and lived laborious days,' which 

 engraved on the memory the paternal exhortation to the hero in Homer, 

 ' Atei/ 



"The name, the authority, the example of Cicero, conduct me naturally to a 

 topic which I should be unwilling to pass in silence. I allude to the im- 

 mense importance to all who aspire to conspicuous stations in any depart- 

 ment of public or professional life the immense importance of classical ac- 

 quirements, of imbuing your minds with a knowledge of the pure models 

 of antiquity, and a taste for their constant study and cultivation. Do not 

 disregard the admonition from the impression that it proceeds from natural 

 prejudice in favour of classical learning, or that it is offered presumptuously by 

 one ignorant of that description of knowledge which is best adapted to the 

 habits and occupations of society in Scotland. I want to impress upon your 

 mind, that a wider horizon than that of Scotland is open to you that you are 

 candidates starting with equal advantage for every prize of profit or distinc- 

 tion which the wide circle of an empire extended through every quarter of the 

 globe can include. 



" I need not remind you of the earnest and eloquent exhortations to the study 

 of ancient and particularly of Attic composition, which have been delivered 

 from this seat. I need not remind you of the manifold facilities which that 

 study affords you in the comprehension of the structure of modern languages, 

 and the formation of style on the purest models, or how indispensable it is to 

 the understanding of a thousand allusions to the usages and expressions of 

 classical antiquity, which are scattered with happy prodigality through some 

 of the finest of modern compositions allusions <f>wvavTa avveroiffiv, that have 

 a voice for those, but for those alone, that have been initiated in these delight- 

 ful mysteries. Let me however attempt to bring from the examples of public 

 life a practical confirmation of the truth of these maxims, and the wisdom of 

 these exhortations. I ask you simply to pass in succession the names of those 

 who have stood most conspicuous in the great arena of public competition, 

 and to compare the proportion borne to the total number by those who have 

 been eminent for classical acquirements." 



The Lord Rector here alluded at considerable length to the pur- 

 suits of Fox and Pitt, as contrasted with those of Walpole ; and we 

 think that the conclusion thence drawn was not altogether liberal. 

 With respect to classical studies in general, we are not so confident 

 of their utility as the right honourable baronet; although we have 

 gone through the same academic discipline as himself. 



We proceed to the peroration, which is quite unexceptionable and 

 may be classed among the chef-d'ceuvres of our literature. 



" I have detained you at great length. I am well aware that the observations 

 I have addressed to you have nothing of novelty to recommend them, that 

 the truths to which I have adverted are so obvious that they scarcely require 

 the aid of reasoning to enforce them. But they are truths of vital importance, 

 and it too frequently happens that the ready assent which we give to them has 

 not the practical influence on our conduct which it ought to have. If it had, 

 how many of us would have been spared the painful retrospect that retros- 

 pect which you may avert, but which we cannot, of opportunities lost, time 

 misspent, habits of indolence or negligence become inveterate. 



