PROCEEDINGS FOR 1917 XXXIX 



it unnecessary for me to say anything with regard to it. In his own 

 person we have the unity of parent society and daughter society, for 

 Dr. Macallum belongs to both. (Applause.) 



It falls to me, however, to speak for the Conference of the Uni- 

 v^ersities; and, as Dr. Macallum has already said, it is not out of place 

 that these two gatherings should meet in Ottawa and hold a banquet 

 in common, for virtually they are two portions of the same stream of 

 intellectual life in this country, the universities being the broad 

 channel for general commerce, and The Royal Society the smaller, 

 possibly the deeper, channel, for — shall I say heavier draft ? — 

 heavier perhaps in more than one respect. (Laughter.) 



However, I shall confine my attention to-night, for a few moments, 

 to the influence of the universities in Canada and their place in the 

 Confederation. On the history of the universities of this Dominion 

 various crises in our political life have been deeply engraved. Begin- 

 ning in the far east and going even to the west, we can read in our 

 universities many of the most vital changes that have taken place in 

 the life of our people, and the names of not a few of our most distin- 

 guished men in this country have been connected with our universities. 

 Of Quebec I need only mention Laval. What a history is wrapped 

 up in that name! What a history is wrapped up in that university! 

 1 shall not linger upon the names of others in the far east, in Ontario 

 or in the West. To do so, as I have said, would be to recapitulate 

 a great deal of the history of our country and to bring forward manv 

 of its most distinguished names. 



But that history has also been a history of struggle. Our people 

 from the beginning were resolute that we should have higher education. 

 These beliefs, these convictions, were brought with those who came 

 across the sea, and in a period of great poverty this clear light burned 

 before our fathers, and much of the best work of this country was 

 done in small places, on their small and narrow resources. (Hear, 

 hear.) That struggle went on for years, and much of the best of our 

 life lies behind Confederation. W'hat did we do in those days? We 

 set standard^ of education; we set ideals of attainment, great for those 

 times, because born out of self -sacrifice and carried through by energ> 

 and by the devotion, in many, many cases, of men of great scholarship 

 and very profound devotion to duty. And after all, it is the ideal 

 suitable to its own -time that is the real contribution to any period, 

 and before Confederation the ideal was as clear in the minds of those 

 people who went before us as it is in ours; in fact, we may hope and 

 pray that those of us who to-day are carrying on tliis lighted torch 

 shall be able to keep its light burning as brightly as it was in the hands 

 of our fathers in those distant days. (Applause.) 



Proc, .Sig. 4 



