we sometimes annoy other people by the almost pharisaicag

complacency of our transports. But equally, I. think, when

we are diagnosing our faults, are we apt almost to revel in

the superior quality of our transgressions. There is, in fact,

a certain cant of self-depreciation as well as of self-lauda*

tion. I say to myself, therefore, in the first place, is it pos-
sible, and is it likely, that we have been; for years, teaching

hundreds and thousands of young men,^-even if the imme-
diate object be the passing of an examination, and the
winning of a degree, — a literature which contains invaluable

lessons for character, and for life, and a science^ which is

•

founded upon the reverent contemplation ^f Nature and her
truths, without leaving a permanent impress upon the moral
as well as the intellectual being of many who have passed
through this course ? (Applause). 1 then proceed to ask the
able ofHcials by whom I am surrounded, and whose
trained assistance makes the labour of a Viceroy of
India a relaxation rather than a toil, whether they have
observed any reflection of this beneficent influence in the
quality and character of the young men who enter into the
ranks of what is now known as the Provincial Service. And
when I hear from them almost without dissent that there
has been a marked upward trend in the honesty and integri-
ty and capacity of the native officials in those departments
of Government, then I decline altogether to dissociate cause
and effect ; I say that knowledge has not been altogether
shamed by her children ; and grave as the defects of our
system may be, and room though there^may be for reform, I
refuse to join in a wholesale condemnation which is as
extravagant as it is unjust. (Applause). But, gentlemen,
when I admit the existence of imperfections, you may say
that, as head of the Government, it is my duty to define



THE CALCUTTA CONVOCATION ADDRESS. JOj

them, and still more to find a remedy. 