No better proof of this could have been given than by the particular method of celebration decided upon: the dedication of the most historic building in Queensland for the purposes of a university. As was cheerfully put in one of the speeches, it had been the center of social and political life. But a few days earlier he had taken the reins of government from the hands of the lieutenant governor, Sir Arthur Morgan.
As befitted the occasion and the interest they had shown in the question of the University, Sir Arthur and Mr It was not merely an official or exclusive meeting, but one which fully represented the democratic character of the people of Queensland . On the clear summer day, the well-tended grounds and rich foliage of the adjacent gardens presented a picture of rare color and beauty.
Among them were many wearing their university suits, which rivaled the ladies' dresses in color and variety. They were there for the dual purpose of providing a choir and increasing the representative character of the meeting. Once again the children's help was called in and under the leadership of Mr.
The business of the afternoon was now concluded; the first step towards the founding of the university had been taken; the future home of the university had been dedicated.
THE SPEECHES
KIDSTON,
I believe, though it is difficult to trace these things, that it was the work of these men of the Extension Council of the University, and their influence upon the public and upon men in public life, that really laid the foundations of that meeting, and caused the Government of the day to establish the University. I would like to say that in consecrating this building for university purposes, those of us who are born and bred as Queen Slenders, not of the first but even of the second generation, must feel some interest in the transformation that such a building endures. It was the seat of the social and political life of the country, and through its various inhabitants it performed its duties well.
It must be said that in the past people of such character lived in it as there will be in the future - people who had qualifications that also adapted them to live in this building in the future and in its new surroundings as they were they are qualified to have inhabited it in the past. Let me think for a moment about some of the people who made this building historic. At last we come to the last occupant of the building, our present Governor, Sir William MacGregor, and no happier example can be found of what a university education can do to produce an empire-builder and a stern man of the world, than is found in the person of his Exoellent.
In university life, one of the most important and valuable characteristics is the camaraderie, the common citizenship with the other members of the university, the participation in athletic sports, the esprit de corps that comes from belonging to such an institution. I have apologized here to the Chancellors of the Universities of Melbourne and Tasmania as I regret that they cannot be with us today. It is one of the pleasant features of this celebration: the kind and friendly manner in which the universities of sister states have received the arrival of their younger sister, the University of Queensland.
The University is having this magnificent building, with such beautiful memories of the past, dedicated to its uses. In the matter of the founding of our Old World universities, you will remember that these universities were founded through the Crusaders. The Crusaders were brought into contact with the learning of the Eastern World, and thus Learning and Faith were united in the foundations of those old Universities of Paris and Oxford.
Your Excellency, Mr. Prime Minister, and ladies and gentlemen, my first duty is to extend my hearty thanks to the Queensland Government, on behalf of the University of Adelaide, for the kind invitation to represent it. or an occasion sure to be a memorable episode in the future annals of this great and prosperous country. My second and chief duty is to offer the hearty congratulations of the University which I represent, to the Government of Queensland, and through it to all the people, that now, after many years, the foundation stone has finally been laid. arch of the edifice of the educational system of this country. Then, even in adapting the work of the University, the eternal debate that His Excellency has already initiated today will undoubtedly be repeated. regarding the relative importance of culture in the educational system as opposed to material science.
It is certainly a desirable, even necessary, function of a nation's chief seat of learning. Your Excellency, I am commanded to be brief in my remarks and, as interesting as many of the thoughts that arise.
University of O!!eensland
10th DECEMBER, 1909
