NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8655, 26 August 1891, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITY.

| AUCKLAND GRADUATES. PRESENTATION OF DIPLOMAS. The presentation of diplomas to the students of the Auckland University College who were successful at the examinations in November lost, took place in the College Lecture Hall yesterday afternoon. There was a large attendance, the hall being crowded, and of those present a large proportion wore ladies. Sir Maurice O'Rorke presided, and the following ladies and gentlemen were also on the platform : —Miss Edger, M.A., Miss Coleman, 8.A., Professors Brown, Aldis, Pond, and Thomas, Colonel Haultain, and Mr. Bourne (headmaster of the Auckland College and Grammar School.) The Chairman said that they had met there that afternoon to do honour to those who had to receive a reward for their learning and industry, the diplomas of their degrees. He hoped the arrangement ho had made whereby they were accommodated in the College premises would be convenient to them all, and that they would not be crowded in consequence of the hall being somewhat smaller than the Choral Hall, in which the ceremony Had previously been held. It had occurred to him that a room in which the students were trained would be a most suitable place for them to receive the rewards of their learning, and that was the reason he had invited them there. If it. should turn out, as no doubt it by and by would, that that room was not sufficiently large, he had always in his mind an unocpied building which he thought would be most suitable for such a ceremony as they had met to perform. It might be that a little feeling would be caused if they were allowed to enter Government House, because in past years it had been devoted to other purposes than the imparting of solid learning, hut he was under the hope that as the College expanded the Council .would be regarded as the heir to that unoccupied building. He never passed the Government House without being struck with that idea, without thinking of what they had read of the olden times, and without believing that even Auckland might revive the glories of the Groves of Academus, the Garden, the Porch, and the Lyceum. He probably would be taking them too far back, ho said, to make further reference to that subject, and he would therefore refer to another matter instead, the matter which concerned them most — namely, the education which culminated in that hall. He was one of those who regarded the whole system of a education— primary, secondary, and university— one system, varying only in degree, and who thought that in this free country there should always be the utmost facilities afforded young people, boys and girls, to pass from the elementary schools into the grammar schools, and thence to the Universities. He held that every colonist worthy of the name should aspire to give his children the highest education New Zealand* could afford, and any student of ambition and of aptitude ought not to be satisfied till he had gone through the whole course of education and received his degree from the University of New Zealand, a degree which was not only a guarantee of learning and ability, but in many cases a passport to positions of honour and independence. (Applause.) Whilst many only looked at the literary value of a degree they all knew that in this colony it possessed a commercial value also, and those who won - degrees obtained thereby recognition in classification if they wished to follow what he called the noble profession of school-teaching. (Applause.) If he were asked to take a retrospective ! view of the successes and failures of the I college, he would naturally like to take credit for everything for which credit was due, but still there were matters in which they had failed, and which it was best to acknowledge. When, some years ago, he had been urging the establishment of the college, he had always imagined that round it there would be a cluster of schools. The first of these which had been tried was a School of Law. Ho regretted to say that it had - not ' been appreciated by law students or not thought to be necessary, for it came to a very untimely end. That having failed, ho endeavoured, with the aid of the Council, to establish what he thought would be a great boon to the city of Auckland, namely, a medical school. There had been serious opposition through the jealousy of an existing school in Dunedin; strong opposition from the Senate of the New Zealand University, and from the Government of the day, the Premier being a Dunedin gentleman. He had not cared in the slightest degree for the opposition from these three quarters ; so far from it being a deterrent to him it had been a stimulant, and he knew it could be beaten down. But after some progress had been made and a lecturer on anatomy secured, the Hospital authorities, to his great astonishment turned round and told the Council point blank that they would not allow the students to attend the hospital to assise in nursing the patients, or to gain instruction from the cases there. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the idea had been abandoned, but if the gentleman whom the graduates had recently elected as their member on the Council would give his assistance, he (the Chairman) would be very glad to return to the charge and try to establish a medical school in Auckland. (Applause). There was another matter, perhaps a small" one, to which he would refer. He had been very anxious to establish a school of astronomy, so as to impart a greater knowledge of the heavens than had hitherto been available. On that occasion the instrument had been on hand, a teacher on the ground, but unfortunately the wherewithal to .erect the telescope had not been forthcoming. Having mentioned these failures he Was glad to say that in one respect the College had .been successful, and he was sure that this success would- be the means of affording a great deal of pleasure to the young ladies of Auckland. A school of music had been established, and so popular had it become that a considerable sum in donations . bad . been received from the citi-zens.-The Amateur Operatic Society bad come to the assistance of the school with [ 'two hundred guineas, and the Countess of Onslow had given further aid towards developing musical taste in Auckland. ' He would now proceed, he said, to give a summary of the successes of the students. • He was sorry that none of the young ladies who had won their diplomas were there to receive the honours to which they were entitled. Of course they were not in the same position as the ladies attending the Cambridge University, who were allowed to compete for the highest honours, bub if successful » were dismissed without receiving them. It seemed to him inexplicable that in a University s such as Cambridge, ladies, having been allowed to compete [for the honours, should be denied the recognition they won.. Besides the young ladies who had been successful, there were seven young gentlemen, but he believed only five of them were present to receive their diplomas. Before calling them up lie -would read a statement showing their attainments. It was as follows : — M.A. Degrees : Mr. Frederick J. Carter (junior Grammar School scholarship, 1886; senior scholarship, Latin and English, 1839 ; second-class honours, 1890) ; Air. George Lippiatt (second-class honours, chemistry, 1890) ; Rev. J. T. Nott (senior scholarship, zoology, 1889, and second-class honours, 1890) ; and Miss S. E. Gifford (junior scholarship, 1886, at the Girls' High School, Dunedin ; senior scholarship in 1889, and second-class honours in 1890, in political science). LL.B. degree; Mr. F. E. Baume. B.A. degrees : Miss Isabel Eccles field, Miss Jessie Knapp (Nelson), Mr. E. D. Austin, Mr. D. H. Jackson (junior Grammar School scholarship, 1887, and senior scholarship, chemistry 1890), and Mr. Richard C. Maclaurin (junior Grammar School scholarship, 1887, and senior scholarship, mathematics, 1890)." With reference to the question of the medical school, he wished it to be generally known that one year of the curriculum of medical study could now be taken in the | College. He also desired to state that of the three students of Experimental Science who had proceeded from the College to Britain, each had there obtained signal distinction. Mr. W. H. Allisoun Tebbs had gained many scholarships and prizes at St. Thomas's Hospital, London, and was now house surgeon in that hospital; Mr. Sinclair Gillies had recently obtained a Science Scholarship at St. Bartholomew's Hospital ; and Mr. T. H. Green, formerly Gillies' scholar here,

recently passed the intermediate examination in the University of Loudon, and wa? the only student from the London hospitals who was placed in the first division. He (the chairman) would not detain his auditors further, but would proceed to present the diplomas. He might be permitted in conclusion, however, to ~ commend the College to the good wishes and sympathy of the peoplo of Auckland, with an earnest prayer from'himself that it might flourish in this city for ever. (Applause The graduates who were present, namely, Messrs. Carter, Lippiatt, Baume, Jackson, and Maclaurin, were then presented with their diplomas, each being congratulated by Sir Maurice, and heartily applauded by the audience.

Professor Pond was called upon to speak by the chairman, and was received with applause. Ho said that when it was first suggested to him that he should have to speak, ho felt a thrill of emotion that was not altogether pleasurable, and that for two reasons. In the first place, that was the first occasion he had had the opportunity of addressing the citizens of Auckland at a public meeting; and, in the second place, it had occurred to him that it would be utterly impossible for him to find anything to say upon • any subject which had not been exhausted in previous years by other speakers. On further reflection ib had seemed to him, however, that there .were some grounds of comfort; the experience he had of the individual hospitality and kindliness of Auckland's inhabitants was reassuring, because he felt that he would receive the same consideration from, them publicly that he had received n private life. Then in selecting a subject upon which to speak, ho had also a comfort, the comfort of knowing that he was in a position to state the estimation in which ! the degrees of the University of New Zealand and the University itself was held in at home. Two or three days before leaving England he had paid a hurried visit to Cambridge to say his farewells, and while there had called upon Dr. Reid, one of the greatest Latin scholars not only in Britain but in the world. Dr. Reid was connected with the University of New Zealand through having boon appointed by the Senate an examiner in Latin, and he was therefore well able to form an opinion upon the proficiency its students attained. While talking about New Zealand, Dr. Reid had said to him that the University of New Zealand had been right from the first in setting high standards for their degrees, because when the standard was high it was. always possible to work up to it, whereas, if it was once set low they could never get beyond it. He had also said that considering the drawbacks that must exist in a country like this, most of the papers he had got were good, and some of them admirable, adding', " They must have soma fellows there who know how to teach, aye, and some fellows as well who know how to learn." He (Professor Pond) considered that a very high compliment, and he had been long enough here to know that for " fellows" who knew how to learn the-Auckland University College were certainly not behind either Canterbury or Otago. (Applause). He supposed Dr. Reid had used the word " fellows" as a noun of common gender, for certainly the ladies here were among those who knew how to learn. It would bo his constant endeavour to gain the reward which he would prize above all others —the reward of having it said that he knew how to teach. It could not be otherwise than pleasant to those who had got their degrees to know that not only were they highly thought of here, but they were very highly estimated at Home by persons who were in a position to know their true worth. These degrees were the reward of constant and lone; continued application, aided by preexisting talent and ability, and those who 'won them had every reason to be proud of their success. " He might be pardoned if on this, the first occasion he had spoken in public, he said a few words on the subject which formed his special province. What he had to say would hardly take the form of a defence of the study of languages a3 a means of education, as he held that with an assembly such as he addressed such a defence was neither desirablonor necessary, nor would it take the form of decrying other means of education. He then proceeded to urge the importance of the study of languages, a branch of education the value of which he very highly estimated. New Zealand, he said, was a young colony which had made many sacrifices for education, but it seemed to him that it would be amply repaid, not only with material advantages, but in many other ways. After all education was only a means of arriving at the truth, and Bacon told them that no other advantage to which they could attain was comparable to standing on the vantage ground of truth. (Applause.) The Chairman intimated that there would be no other speakers, and said he thanked the ladies and gentlemen present very sincerely for having attended. He wished also to express his deep of gratitude to the students of the College for the very orderly manner in which the proceedings had been allowed to be conducted. There had been rumours that probably things would not pass off so quietly, but lie believed the good order had been in a greatmeasure due to an association just formed— the Students' Association—which embraced all graduates and undergraduates of» the books of the College. He thought it was a very great credit to them that there had been no disturbance. Personally, he had no objection to exuberance or buoyancy of spirit, so long- as it was toned with a gentlemanly feeling, and was not calculated to cause unpleasantness to others. He again thanked all for their attendance, and hoped to see them again on the same occasion n&xt year. The ceremony having thus concluded, an adjournment was made to the lower rooms, where th>> company heartily enjoyed the refreshments which Professor Brown, as chairman of the Professorial Board, had i abundantly supplied. [BV TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Chrtstchurcii, Tuesday. The presentation of diplomas to students in Canterbury College took place in College Hall this afternoon. The proceedings were very orderly. A large crowd was present. The undergraduates enlivened the proceedings by singing original songs. Mr. James Hay, Deputy for the Chancellor, presented the diplomas. In his address he said he trusted the day was not altogether distant when, the New Zealand University would send a member to Parliament.