A WONDERFUL DAY

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 144, 21 June 1922, Page 4

A WONDERFUL DAY

GALAXY OF INTELLECT AT ST. ANDREWS

EMINENCE IN MANY SPEECHES

NEW: ZEALANDER ON THE NEXT

iWARi

(FROM OUR OWN COKBBSPOSDMT.)

LONDON, sth May.

In the annals of St. Andrew's University, 3rd May, 1922, will for ever be a red-letter day. Field-Marshal Earl Haig.was installed as Chancellor and Sir James M. Barrie as Lord Rector. The j latter made what he described as his " first and last public appearance." A famous figure upon whom the honorary degree of LLJ). was conferred was Miss Ellen Terry, who showed considerable emotion. Others similarly honoured were: Sir Squire Bancroft; Mr- John. Galsworthy, " a privileged observer of particular phases, with a genius for the sincerities and implications"; Mr. E. V. Lucas, -'■' who has discovered and can communicate the charm of what is out of the way or old-fashioned in letters or in life"; Sir James Guthrie (exprcsident of the Royal Scottish Academy) ; Mr. Thomas Paxton (Lord Provost of Glasgow); Lieut.-Colonel Bernard Cyril Freyberg, of New Zealand, V.C., (who had an enthusiastic reception from the students); General Sir H. A. Lawrence; Sir Douglas Shields (the wellknown surgeon); Mr. Charles Whibley, and Lord Wester Wemyss (Admiral of' the Fleet). Honorary degrees in absentis were also conferred on Mr. Thomas Hardy, described by the Dean as" the greatest living man of letters, Sir Sydney Colvin, and Sir W. Robertson Nicoll. ; Earl Haig's carriage was drawn through the streets by scarlet-gowned students, and he was greeted by large cheering crowds., Originally he was in a motor-car, but the lively : students transferred him to the carnage. Earl Haig unveiled a war memorial in the university chapel to the members of the university who fell in the war. He spoke of the importance of character such as was formed in the universities. When the next war came, he said, the men of that university would learn from ,that memorial where the path of duty lay. After leaving the chapel, a group of the principal people were photographed. Seeing cinema men trying to get a picture, Sir James Barrie and MisS Ellen Terry gave them / assistance by striking dramatic attitudes, of which the operators took the fullest advantage. YOUTH AND COURAGE, The installation ceremony took place in the afternoon, and the reception given to the Chancellor and the Lord Elector was characterised by the boisterous^ood humour which burst forth from 'all undergraduates in all universities on such an occasion? '•:■• '■

Sir James Barrio delivered his rec-1 tonal address, that crowning 'incident in the career of the Lord Rector of a Scottish university—" his first and last pub-! lie appearance," he said. It was a message to youth. Its theme was courage, and its diction was framed with all the literary charm of which he is a master. " You must excuse me," he said., "if I talk a good deal about courage to you to-day. There is nothing else worth speaking about to undergraduates or ■ graduates, or white-haired men and women. It is a'lovely virtue, the rib of Himself that God sent down to His children." __,■.' This was the keynote of a noble address in which the Lord Rector appealed to youth, on the threshold of its ambitions. It, is studded with many wise remarks, put in an epigrammatic way. "There is a form of anaemia that is more rotting than even an unjust war." " The end will indeed have come to- our courage and to us when we are afraid in dire circumstances to refer the final appeal to the arbitrament of arms. "Beware .your betters bringing1 presents; what is wanted is something run by yourselves." " You ought to have a league, of youth as your great practical beginning. I sound it as if I were advocating a rebellion." And so on. SCOTT AND FREYBERG, As a sample of courage, Sir James read a letter written to him by Captain Scott, of Antarctic fame, and found by his body. "We are in a desperate state, feet frozen, etc., no fuel, and ai long way from food, but it would do' your heart good to be in our tent, to hear our songs and our cheery conversa-! tion." " Courage," said the Lord Rec- j tor, " courage.is the thing. All goes if courage goes. The greatness of a people is founded on their moral principles; but what says our glorious Johnson of! courage :• Unless a man has that virtue he has no security for preserving any other.' Be not merely courageous, but light-hearted, also gay. "Some people have odd ideas' of what gaiety is. There is an officer who was the first, of our army to land at Gallipoli. He was dropped overboard to light docoys on the shone, so as. to doccive the Turks ac to where the laffdiing was to be. Ho pushed a raft containing those in front of him. It was a frosty night, and he was naked, and paintedi black. Firing from the ships- was going on all around. It was a two hours' swim in pitch, darkness. He did it, crawled through the scrub to listeD to tli'e talk of the enemy, who were so near that he couldi have shaken hands with, them—: lit Ms decoys, and swam back. He seems to look at thia as a gay affair. Be is a V. 0. now,. and you wouldn't think to look at him that be couldi eyer have' presented such a disreputable appearance. Would, you (Colonel Freyberg) ?■ Those men of whom I ha.ye been speaking as the kind: to fill the fife could all be light-teartedi on occasion. I remember Soott by Highland streams trying to rouse me by maintaining that haggis is boiled bagpipes; Henley in dispute as to whether, say, Turgenieff or Tolstoi could hang the other on his watchehain; he sometimes clenched the j argument by casting- his crutch: at you. Stevenson responded in th» came gay spirit by giving that crutch to John Silver; you remember with what adequate results'. You must cultivate this light-heartedness if you are to hangi your betters on your watch-chains. Dr. Johnson—let us have him again—does not seem to have discovered in his travels. | that tha Soots are a light-Reartedi nation. Bcswell took him to task for saying that the d_eath of Garrick had eclipsed the gaiety of nations. 'Well, sir/ Johnson said, 'there may be occasions when it is permissible to,' &c. But Bos-woll would not let go. 'I cannot see, sir, how it. could, in any case, have eclipsed' the gaiety of nations, as England was the- only, nation before whom -lie-had ever played.' Johnson was really stymied, but you would never have known it. 'Well, sir," he said, holding out, 'I understand that Garrick once played in Scotland, and if Scotland: has any gaiety to eclipse; which, sir, I d'eiiy- ' " A VERY GALLANT-GENTLEMAN. Great interest and cniinisiiwm was created by the presentation of' Lieuten-ant-Colonel Bsrmml C." Freyberg, V.0., twid the (simply tocounting liy, Prokowt W«bstar of his notable'war record ■ was .

hi itself a moving andl arresting narrative. The outstanding example of lieu-tenant-Colonel Freyberg's, shining valour was used by Sir James Barrie in his address as an illustration of the "lowly virtue" of courage, for which, he pfcaded so eloquently. STUDENTS' SERENADE. At night there was a, torchlight procession through the city. Thiiee hundred) students in fantastic costumes serenaded Sir Jamse Barrie from the grounds, of Univensity House. The new rector, when he was asked to speak, jumped! upon a balustrade, and said that the students could not think how much good they had done him.. He recalled) that in. Edinburgh he was himself dragged into a torchlight procession, and that they earned twelve policemen on their heads. The, speech was interrupted .at this point by tihe : students, who eaag a, »^? rus r^* a recurriDg line running, Now I am in quod." Sir James, resuming, said that they afterwards got to the theatre, a place he never went to in those days'. The bearers of torchos seemed inclined: to question the speaker's veracity on this point, and their credulity was further taxed a moment later when Sir James announced that be inteadad to speak to them to-morrow about Mr. Maconachie. After th© speech the crowd sang the | Pirates' song from "Peter Pan," and Sir James Barrie was photographed among the students. 3STEW FREEMEN. Yesterday the ceremony of conferring the1 Freedom of the City of St. Andrew's on Admiral Lord Wester Wemyss and Sir James Baxrie was performed! to-day in th a Town Hall. ■ i Lord Wemyss said it waa not only valiant deeds that won the war; it was co-operation, and) there were hundreds and thousands of men in the Navy and Army without whose work they could never have won the war, bnt whose names were never mentioned. Such services as he had rendered could never halve fructified if it had not been for the loyal co-operation of those gallant offi- i cere and fawn. (Cheers.) It was, there- i fare, understandable that, when he I stood in the proud poeitioa in which' they had placed him that day, he should regard the honour, not only from the pemonad point of view, but as on« conferred upon him as the representative of the great service to which he had the honour to belong,. (Cheers.) Tradition, was the very breath of their nostrils. Jt was tradition that had carried them through the danger points, and it would) Be toaditaon that would heh- them asain over any oUier point. (Cheers.) LUSTRE TO SCOTTISH LITEEATUBE. The minute conferring the honour upon Sir James Barrie stated that it was m recognition of his distinguished services to-, literature and the drama, which he had enriched by forms of creative and imaginary art peculiarly his own, while through his rare and sympathetic understanding "and delineation of Scottish scenes and character he has added lustre to the national literature and thus has done much to make Scotland known and loved." As he signed the burgess roll the orchestra played the Pirates Chorus" from "Peter Pan." ZEEBRUGGE "HOLE IN ONE." In acknowledging the honour, Sir James ,made an amusing speech, in which ho said that Lord Wester Wemyss j knew a great deal more about most things than he did, but there was one ! thing he knew more about than did Lord Wemyss. It was not a nautical matter, though he wished it were. In the train coming up he was reading an old book about St. Andrew's, a hundred years old, and a very good book, published in Cupar, and it told a story which: was, no doubtf familiar to many, of them, but which he was perfectly sure was unknown to Lord Wester Wemyss. (Laughter.) He would be happy, therefore, to complete his. lordship's education, (Laughter.) It was a story about a ■ charter having been granted by Malcolm 11. about 1000 years ago to St. Andrew's, and when it was granted he made use of the phrase, "I command that no ■ one exact anything unjustly from theße burgesses." (Laughter.) "I feel it would be unfair," said Sir James, "nofc.'-.to, me, but to those who have heard me talking over twenty-four hours on end —(laughter)—if I were to make many remarks to-day, but I see Lord Wester Wemyss leaning forward to hear me tell the rest of the story. Well, it is a reply to that story of the Provost about Fifeshire having once managed to burn a Forfarshire man. We don't do these things singly in Forfarshire when we take them on. (Laughter.). Malcolm was assassinated soon after, he had given St. Andrew's the charter, and the murderers fled into Forfarshire. When they came to Forfar Loch they raced across the ice. It was in winter time, and the chronicler remarked that' the ice was not strong enough to bear such a weight- of guilt, and so those t Fife men were drowned. (Laughter.)

"Now, I will tell you some more about Lord Wester -Wemyss. (Laughter.) This is more by way of exposure this time. I remember meeting him in a certain place just after the* Zeebrugge affair, and I said to him, using' the vocabulary of the dreadful game you play in this neighbourhood—(laughter)— that it seemed to me that' he and his Navy had taken that hole in one. (Laughter.) He replied, 'Oh, a neat little v affair.' Afterwards, when he and Foch had that rather remarkable meet-, ing with the German delegates—-I don't know what he thought about it, but, again, in the vocabulary of the links, it seemed to me that what he and Foch said to the Germans in effect was that they must replace the divots. (Loud laughter.) I do not know what he thought of that meeting, but for my own part, and I' think you will agree with me, I thought it was-quite 'a neat little affair.' " (Laughter and cheers.) THE NEXT WAB. N Responding to the toast of the Imperial Forces, at the subsequent luncheon, Bear-Admiral Sir John Green, for the Navy, said they heard a great deal about economy, but there was such a. thing as false economy. Washington ; and Genoa Conferences were no doubt very fine and high ideak, but it seemed to him that they iguored human nature, and human natwe being what it wav, i*»ey knew, all of them, that the time would come sooner or later when they wouhi be forced to fight, whether they wanted it or not. He did not want to preach militarism, or anything like -that, but let them be prepared. (Cheers.) Lieutenant-Colonel Freybeig, V.C.^ replying for the Army, said "the riext wav" was "a phrase which had become I very distasteful to them at the present time. Their safeguaixl was that there were some millions of men in Europe who knew what the modern battle was like.' As their numbers became fewer' and fewer there would be another generation who would prefer to buy their own experience rather than take it from us. Politics formed no part of the equipment of soldiers, but they had two very definite duties to perform: The iirst was to guard the security of the British Empire, and the second was to equip and train up to the standard of the great Expeditionary Force that fought at Mons, so that the next generation might not have to buy its experience too dearly. (Cheers:) _ 'NOT A MORAL BARRIER. Lord Wester Wemyss told the company that he had long known Sir James Hume and, enjoyed lik buolts. und ha little thought that hu would be iv the

position presented that day of wishing he was farther away from Sir James. (Loud laughter.) However, he had one advantage over Sir James, and that was that he came from the St. Andrew's side of the Tay, while Sir James came from the other.. (Laughter.) The Tay was a physical barrier, but it was no moral barrier, and the experience they ; had had during the-iast few .years had shown them that all the counties of Scotland were welded into.one. (Cheers.) Three nights ago he opened an old book—a diary, dated 1667—and in it he read: "This day the Hollands fleet, under the command of Mynheer Admiral Geyt, did attempt to invade Burritisland. We beat them off with the loss of no men." (Laughter.) That diary was written by an ancestor of his, who at the moment was Admiral of the Firth of Forth, and was afterwards Lord High Admiral of Scotland. The German fleet did not attempt to invade, and they did not have to beat them off; but the German, fleet; did come into the Firth of Forth, but as captives in such a guise' as made a German fleet for the future impossible That was a tradition which would not help the German naval service at all (Cheers.) INIMITABLE BABRIE—A DUAL PERSONALITY. Sir James Barrie said Admiral Sir John Green seemed to have been much struck by a remark about what was the best way to begin a speech, not to speak of ending one. "I have had practically no experience o£ speeches siiice I came to St. Andrew's"—(laughter)—he said, "but now I feel that without any doubt, the best way to begin a speech is with tho name of Wester Wemyse, and the best way to conclude a speech is with the name of Wester Wemyss—(laughter)— and I don't think that/ in a perfect speech, there would be anything in the middle. (Laughter.) Well, I have really got nothing to say. I remember the first letter I ever had from Louis Stevenson. He wrote to me, and he said that two men who had entered through, the dreadful prisonlike ..portal of Edinburgh.- University could never be absolute strangers,* andl I feel and hope that none of us can ever be absolute strangers again. As a citizen of St. Andrew's I feel that I no longer need to,speak about it or even of you, but about us. (Hear, hear.) With regard to Lord Wester Wemyss—(loud Jaughter)—l noticed an hour or so ago, when the provost was speaking so delightfully, if I may say so, about Wester Wemyss, he happened to make some remarks about various individuals as 'Fife men,' but they always seemed to have been born in ' Edinburgh. (Laughter.) Happening at that moment to look across at Wester Wemyss, I saw him turn deadly pale. (Loud laughter.) I felt that I had got the skeleton out of the cupboard—that he had not even been born in' Edinburgh, but further south. I won't give him away. I won't say where. (Laughter.). He spoke about the pride of having been born on the south side of the Tay. 'I think it is splendid the way all you. people stick to this side of the Tay and make the' best of it. (Loud laughter.) In conclusion, I must wind up with Wester Wemyss. (Laughter.) When I have been nasty about anyone, when I like anyone,' I generally talk in rather a scurvy way about them if I love them.' I just want to-say about him something which I have written down while he was speaking about divots. (Laughter.) I say, and you will agree with me, that Wester Wemyss is a divot that new could be replaced. (Loud laughter.)' 1 have had a telegram from another city. thiß morning saying: 'We are all excited about M'Connachie. (Loud laughter.) Why did you choose that name?' L had no particular/reason for. selecting that name, and I beg now to give it up —(laughter)—and in honour of oi»r illustrious fellow-citizen henceforth the name of M'Connachie is to be changed to Wester Wemyss." (Loud laughter and cheers.) ■ "I WANT TO BE LOVED." Later in the day, Sir James was ■welcomed by. the Women Students' Union of St. Andrew's, -who gave him a great reception. Standing in the middle of a crowd of enthusiastic girl undergraduates, he .said: " You know what a Scotsman said: ' Man wants but little here below, but wants that little strong.' I want very little too, but I want it strong. I want to be loved." ("Oh, oh.'V arid cheers.) . Long ago, he continued, he went to a women's college in the United -States, and asked the students to ctioose for him —as he was quite unable to make the choice—the nicest girl in the place to ask him to go to tea. "They had a committee meeting," he said, "and decided upon ,a most delightful girl. I have almost liked women since then."

Addressing the Men Students' Union, Sir James said that if any of them were going in for literature or journalism, they should know that it had a hundred times the possibility that it used to have. It.had been a great delight to meet them all s , .