II.] UNIVERSITIES : ACTUAL AND IDEAL. 25 



dence that, less wise than the Armourer of Perth, I 

 have not yet done with soldiering. 



In fact, if, for a moment, I imagined that your 

 intention was simply, in the kindness of your hearts, 

 to do me honour ; and that the Kector of your Uni- 

 versity, like that of some other Universities, was one 

 of those happy beings who sit in glory for three years, 

 with nothing to do for it save the making of a speech, 

 a conversation with my distinguished predecessor soon 

 dispelled the dream. I found that, by the constitu- 

 tion of the University of Aberdeen, the incumbent of 

 the Eectorate is, if not a power, at any rate a potential 

 energy; and that, whatever may be his chances of 

 success or failure, it is his duty to convert that 

 potential energy into a living force, directed towards 

 such ends as may seem to him conducive to the wel- 

 fare of the corporation of which he is the theoretical 

 head. 



I need not tell you that your late Lord Kector 

 took this view of his position, and acted upon it with 

 the comprehensive, far-seeing insight into the actual 

 condition and tendencies, not merely of his own, but 

 of other countries, which is his honourable character- 

 istic among statesmen. I have already done my best, 

 and, as long as I hold my office, I shall continue my 

 endeavours, to follow in the path which he trod ; to do 

 what in me lies, to bring this University nearer to the 

 ideal alas, that I should be obliged to say ideal of 

 all Universities ; which, as I conceive, should be places 

 in which thought is free from all fetters ; and in which 

 all sources of knowledge, and all aids to learning, 



