FORMER STUDENT'S APPRECIATION

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21376, 19 January 1935, Page 7

FORMER STUDENT'S APPRECIATION

TEACHER AND BENEFACTOR Mr H. F. von Haast, a member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand, who was a student under Professor Macmillan Brown and a close friend until his death, has written the following tribute:— "My recollection of Professor Macmillan Brown goes back to his arrival in New Zealand. He was one of my father's oldest friends, and the oldest of my own friends. When more than half a century ago I went to Canterbury College, like the majority of the students of those days it was Professor Brown to whom I went for advice as to my college career. There was no rector in those days—there was no need of one, for Professor Brown was by virtue of his influence and manner in the college its virtual uncrowned head. And in those days in the competition for scholarships between Canterbury College and Otago University it was not so much our superior ability as his supreme generalship that gave us the victory. In those days the professors were remunerated not only by salary but by fees, and Professor Brown's training power was such that he had to repeat his English lectures on Saturday to large classes who,came long distances to listen to his expositions on tne great works of Shakespeare and the masters of English literature, and his explanations of how to write the English language. "Himself an untiring worker, whose work was his life's occupation, he inspired a tradition of hard work among his students, he gave them an enthusiasm for English literature and a background against which to set the great writers and the great figures of history. There exist to-day a large body of old pupils who must be eternally grateful to him for having guided their faltering and uncertain pens to a sure and confident style. There is a certain school which asserts that the writing of English cannot be taught. The answer is that Professor Brown did teach it, and effectively. "There was a reciprocal loyalty between him and his old students. When there was an appointment to be made or a task to be done, how often did he say to me, 'They should have got one of my old students,' and he meant it. In his earlier days he was no mean poet and among his papers will be found some sketches for a historical novel, which, together with his Utopias 'Limanora' and 'Riallaro,' more highly appreciated abroad than in his adopted country, and with his travel records, make some of us regret that his devotion to ethnological studies left him so little time for literary composition. Writings and Benefactions "A great traveller and keen observer, his articles from time to time in the New Zealand papers enable me to recall how often lie accurately predicted the trend of world cvenls. liir reminiscences, which he was writing. and which, unfortunately, he was not spared to finish, should prove full of interest. "When the provisions of his will are made public it will be realised how hi: whole heart was wrapped up in his beloved Canterbury Coilege, and that if his industry, his thrift and his business acumen enabled him to accumulate a fortune, sadly depleted by the depression, it was from no mere motive of personal gain, but for the purpose of giving the bulk of his iortunr to that college which he had served so long and faithfully during his life. "Many of us feel that he and the University over which he presided, and which he helped to found, should haw been honoured by some titular distinction; but to us, his old students no further title is needed to enshrine him in our memories than that of 'Professor Brown.'" FOUNDING CANTERBURY COLLEGE APPRECIATION OF MR C. T. ASCHMAN "The passing of Professor Macmillan Brown, Chancellor of the Univcrsi'y of New Zealand, will be widely regretted," said Mr C. T. Aschman, chairman of the Council of Canterbury University College, last evening. "In nearly every part of the Dominion," Mr Aschman continued, "and in many parts of the world, there are those who, as students, came under his powerful influence at some '.i.r.e during the years that he occupied the chair of English at Canterbury College. His deep scholarship, his enthusiasm for his work, his power of stimulating thought and effort, and above all his personal interest in the individual members of his large classes, left an impression on his students that remained with them through life. In that respect he was the ideal teacher. "Canterbury College owes much to his devoted efforts. As a member of the first small professorial staff he had visions of its future and the place it would occupy in the educational life of the country; and for that reason the standard he set was high. Although 30 years have passed since he retired from active work at Canterbury College, his interest in its' welfare continued till his death. "The college has lost a friend and a generous benefactor, the university a capable administrator, and the Dominion a powerful educative force."