SCHOOL IDEALS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 172, 24 July 1933, Page 3

SCHOOL IDEALS.

VALUE IN AFTER YEARS

LORD BLEDISLOE'S VIEWS

The influence in life of ideals learnt at college were stressed by the Govor-nor-Gci:eral, Lord Bledisloe, in an address at King's College yesterday morning. His Excellency was present at the special services held in the chapel on the occasion of the old boys' annual reunion. "When 1 lasted visited King's College I ventured to remind the boys whom I was addressing that the greater their educational advantages the greater their responsibility in after life," said Lord Bledisloe, in the course of his address. "I have had a growing conviction since I have represented His Majesty the King in this favoured Dominion that the future of this Dominion depends very largely upon the human output of such schools as King's College, Auckland, Christ's College, Christchurcli, and the Wanganui Collegiate School, and the use which they make of their educational equipment and the extent to which they maintain their school ideals in after life. "The world to-day appears to be in a state of chaos. We flatter ourselves that the democracies of the great nations of the world are ruling their own destinies and those of the world; but one cannot look around upon the world to-day without being conscious —perhaps bitterly conscious—of the herd instinct in the nations. Whether we look at such countries as Germany, Italy, or even at the great English-speaking democracy of America, one cannot help feeling that it is not so much democracy which is influencing their fortunes as some powerful personality who is capable of moulding democracy for good or evil. It is leadeiship of the right kind for which civilisation is yearning ardently to-day, and the determination of men of character to truide their fellow countrymen aright within the ambit of their influence, rather than follow weakly and thoughtlessly the unthinking herd. It is the human output of the leading puolic schools which can best point the way, and it is their duty to do so. . . . "Appalling Temptations." "I believe that you leave King's College with the determination to do something for your country and for your Empire, as well as tor yourself," said Lord Bledisloe. "Well, old boys, liow difficult it is, is it not, to adhere to this determination, to pursue those ideals i when we are brought in contact with the rough and tumble of the world? We know, all of us, whether wo be young or old, the appalling temptations that meet us almost at every step; and those of us who are old enough know that every time we are strong enough to resist temptation our sticngth to meet the next temptation is enormously increased. What when you come away from school .are your basic principles in life? Surely from a school like this they are faith in God —and I was asked this morning to read to you a chapter emphasising the enormous importance and efficacy of faith in God love of truth, and love of your country and your Empire. In these days, when opinion upon every imaginable subject is unsettled, necessarily and inevitably attacks are made upon the foundations of our faith. "I will ask you if you are tempted to remove your anchorage from the surest rock, upon which, after all, the great British Empire has been built, to look around upon those who still have their anchorage in that rock, and ask yourselves whether their lives are not on the whole happier and more useful to the community than those who have drifted away from that anchorage. I cannot help feeling that love of truth and all that truth means will enable all the great problems of the world to be solved much more rapidly. We talk glibly of our liberties and our rights, but they are worthless unless they are founded upon truth and honesty in thought, word and deed. "We none of us can achieve the best in ourselves, and certainly none of us can achieve the best we can do for others, unless we are conscious that we are all members one of another. If you would make the great structure of our Empire noble and gracious you must do your best to maintain it on the good foundations laid in such an institution as King's College. So will you do your part not only to make the British Empire great, but the world a much happier and better place in consequence of your coming into it. . .