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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmAs en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dee symboles suivants apparattra sur la derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — »> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre filmte it dos taux de reduction diff«rents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour Atre reproduit en un seul clich«. il est film6 d partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de heut en bee. en prenent le nombre d'imeges nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^5?? -V' ; ,.\ .'v'f'; .' ■. ■. • 'i f.* ■ ■. . , ■- ^ - -■- ■;."■< "' \ > V'-''.'ti-, . J \m-^ us i^:: ■ , ^ >''^ V / ^^ — BY — > .' ■ REV. J. J. FILLATRE, O.D., O.M.I. iei ■:' > ■ ^^: ■■■ ,• .■>■ -■ ■ ■'. '.' ^ "',1 ^'Pi ■■:^-; 1 »■■.,. vf ■ :'i/' *- \^ u~ « / v".»A*i 'iS^' ^'^, 1 , / -^' V 'V v^»^ V .' - ' -1;) ^ -■* V - ■'-•! ^ !> ,'^ .>* ,^' > '. r,.' : r"' '. .1 i ' i. J -Ir., •-v. -i <• '^ 4; f ■'«^ -4! mmk rngm^Mimmmmimmtm ■*r' •.'.>■'., THE CAT I roue UNIVERSITY. ■^. L- . '■• ■ '^ :?T' A LKCrUUE ULI.IVKKlil) IN ACADEMIC HAI.L ON MARCH 29 IH., 1889, HY REV. J. J. FILLATRE, D.D., O.M.I. >^VEN before Jiat solemn and sublime, " In the beginning," whereby openeth the story of Genesis, God reigned, alone in Himself — self-sufficient in His Infinite Perfection and enjoying in His immense un- broken repose, as Lammen- ais hath it, a limitless hap- piness. No creature had as yet troubled the silence or disturbed the solitude of the deep. But behold on the day appointed in His eternal purposes, obedient to that great law which proclaims that all good tends to expand and diffuse itself. " Je- hovah," as the French poet expresses it, " bounds forth from the depths of eternity. Sleeping chaos awakes in His prer,ence to be quickened by His virtue while His Ommipotence reposes on immensity." Thus the universe came into being, with its harmonious variety of creatures, ani- mate and inanimate — all subject to man, but having God for their first and final cause, and the universe of which Pascal has said that its centre is everywhere and its circumference nowhere, reflected that majestic unity which shines forth in its Creator. Hence did man — as a rational creature — having contemplated its har- mony call it by excellence Order or Beauty. * In the Middle Ages, just as Europe began to breathe freely after the irruption ot the Northern hordes, she na- turally turned her thoughts to her own condition, which she found to be truly chaotic, as well from the political and social, as from the scientific standpoint. The echoes of the great schools of Athens reached her ear only in broken and feeble accents. The voices of the Origens and of the Clements of Alexandria, heard by but few even in the happiest days were completely overwhelmed by the din of arms, and gave a little incomplete enlight- enment fallen from the lips of some un- known scholar, treasured up by the pupils of the monastic establishments; the rays of learniii{; s sun were lew and weak — giving neither joy, nor life to an indiffer- ent world. Then it was that the Church founded universities, even as God had created the Universe. Grouping into one harmoni- ous whole all the truths left by the anci- ents and preserved by her monks, she purified them from the stains inflicted by contact with the sensuality of paganism, and superadded all those natural truths which Revelation supposes or implies. Taking, then, this body of knowledge, this scientific universe which she had called forth from chaos, she raised it to God the Redeemer, whence applying it to human society she made it the force and the prop of Christian peoples. The spirit of Christianity which had built those worlds called Gothic Cathedrals, and inspired the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas, raised up Catholic Universities. The very mention of Paris, Bologna, Oxford and Cologne, recalls glorious stages in the Catholic science's conquest of the world. It had, ladies and gentlemen, been for me a task at once easy and agreeable ta sketch the history of the famous Catholic Uni- versities, and to find shelter beneath the shadows of their past and prfe;spnt great- ness for the last born of these fonnda- ti-jns. Those whom our smallness alarms might thus find ground for hopes for our future — remembering that where God giveth life and vigor little things grow to greatness and from greatness achieve re- nown. Never has the benediction of a Pope fallen in vain upon any institution ; never have the favois of a church prelate been fruitlessly spent, and unheard of is it, that a work watered by tears of sacrifice has failed even in ungrateful soil to take deep and healthy root. The tree that rests most solidly on the bosom of the earth is always that which has risen in the midst of tempests. Well, then, may we have confidence. A much more serious subject, however, must this evening fiA our attention. Let us begin by a reply to the question so often askfcd in Ottawa, during the last few months. What is a University ? This question answered, we shall, in general terms, set forth the character of a Catho- lic University. I must necessarily be concise and, at times, somewhat dry, but crave, with confidence, from your intelli- gence and your sympathy that degree of attention and that extent of patience which my limited gifts call for, to enable you to bear with me till I have done. I. A college and a University are two things as different as the elementary school and the college. It cannot but be useful here at the very doors of the American republic, when so much cc.i- tusion, as well in thought as in language, prevails on the subject of education, to recall and to establish this distinction. Their end is not the same, their methods are unidentical, and quite diverse must be the results expected from each by man- kind. The student at college, as one of my brethren hire lately said, simply learns how to learn ; at the University he learns in the true sense of the term. The best method to follow in a college is that which calls into play all the faculties uf a young man; m a University, that whereby the leading faculty rules in such a manner, as to make of all the others developed under its action, supple instruments for the work- ing out of the special end that the student has in view. The effects of a college on human society are but limited and super- ficial, while from a University proceeds, by means of those learned professions which it nurtures, all the intellectual life of which society can boast. We shall the better convince ourselves of these radical differences by following the student in his ascensional progress begun at the thres- hold of the University. The student is no longer a mere pupil, he must have bidden farewell to childish days and ways. All his faculties have been already brought into action, beneath the rays of science and the fertilizing dews of elementary training. The gram- mars of the classic tongues have now no mysteries for him ; he is versed in all the great principles of literature ; nature has already unveiled for him the prodigious wealth concealed in her bosom ; the his- torian and the geographer have taught him to overcome the distances of time and of space, while under -the guidance of masters, learned and devoted, he has already, by means of algebra, geometry and trigonometry, penetrated into the very vestibule of the higher mathematical sciences. At this moment, the University ojjens unto him her portals and shows him, just as he emerges from the plain he has hitherto traversed, the summits that he must now needs ascend. At first gaze — appears near enough to earth to depend . upon its movements, but also, perchance, dimmed by its mist-.-the chain of natural sciences with its two lofty but clearly cut peaks. Physics and Biology. Many, of a truth, in our days, are the men capable of describing the grand phenomena of the physical world; in nearly all our schools this instruction is freely given ; but how rare, indeed, are those qualified to ex- plain the laws governing these phenomena? In the University two sciences to-day treated as sisters, but evidently destined with the progress of knowledge to form but one, viz.. Physics and Chemistry shall put the young man in intimate relation- ship with the forces of nature, and teach him to control them for his own proper use. There is not, most assuredly, a man of intelligence and of heart who does not view with enthusiasm the immense pro- gress made in our century — the ocean conquered, the air enchained, the earth made subject, and distance annihilated. It is, however, too often forgotten that all these triumphs have been, save in a few providential instances, won through studies performed and through labors pro- longed. The very names of a Chevreul, an Edison and a DeLesseps prove my thesis and establish the necessity of a high scientific training. "Oui, le sceptre du globe est a I'intclligence L'homme s'unit a I'homme et la terre a son roi, II se donne des sens qu'oublia la nature, Jette un frein sur la vague au front capricieux. Lance la mort au but que son calcul mesure, Sonde avec un cristal les abiines des cieux, II ecrit et les vents emportent sa pensoe, Qui va dans tous les lieux vivre ei s'entretenir."' Not truly without a certain hesitation, did I name Biology as the only summit overlooking the long chain of sciences treating of living things. If any of my hearers, familiar with works published under this name, should for a moment think that I endorse the fundamental error which they proclaim, in denying all essential distinction between the life of — 3 — plants and the life of animals — not except- ing life of man himself, they have com- pletely misapprehended my meaning. I here take Biology such as it should be, and not as it is taught. I desire to regard it as spiritualistic and not as materialistic — in a word a true description of life — as given by God and not as mutilated and misunderstood by man. What a new world unfolds itself co the astonished gaze of the student, and above all what order and what harmony must he not here con- template ! Armed with his microscope, aided by Chemistry and enlightened by the observations anteriorly made in Botany, Physiology and Geology, he may, in this universe, ascend to the heights from which he can view the laws — after all so very simple in themselves — which govern it, and then like unto a Pasteur, from these acquirements deduce for the good of society the most precious applications. To me it has been ever pasp'ng strange, that men calling them- selves intelligent have been able to affect disdain for science. All men are not, it IS true, called to devote themselves thereto ; but a society, without learned men is a society doomed to degradation and to misery; to degradation, for nothing elevates man as does true science; to misery, for without science, everything remains sterile, and the greatest natural riches remain valueless. Here in Canada and especially in this Valley of the Ottawa, wherein nature has lavished her richest treasures, it is quite undeniable that a serious scientific training would soon pro- duce enormous results for good ; our mines discovered and devoloped ; our agriculture improved ; our industries augumented ; our commerce extended ; C'lr acts elevated to their true relative dignity ; our whole life, in a word, light- ened and gladdened — I had almost said rendered more happy. If I do not say so it is because there is no happiness here below, for were there happiness on earth science had bestowed it. To return to our subject. In college the moral world has already unfolded it- self to the student. Granting him a certain faculty of observation, he has already seen, on recreation grounds, in class, in refec- tory, everywhere, human passions arise, struggle, threaten, and come into conflict with each other, and thanks to this ex- perience in miniature, has been able to understand something of the teachings of history. Let us, however, hare state that memory has a much larger part to play than reason in this preliminary work. What will the professor in the University do ? He will follow through the ages from Adam to Leo XIII the grand drama of human liberty, now in conflict with human passion, again at variance with the infallible will of God ; he will reduce to one vast whole all the incidents and vicis- situdes of the long combat between good and evil; he will set forth and make clear as the noon-day sun, the great laws which govern the nations. Then directing his eyes and those of his pupils to those modern nations for whose advantage only the study of the past must be made, he will show with certainty how these nations have, like their predecessors a part to play in regard to Christ living in His Church; how, too, justice raises and sin depraves them. Through inability to seize upon the divine grandeur of the world's story so many contemporary historians have been really ignorant of their sublime mis- sion, and have not in this branch of human knowledge even realized the ideal of the pagan Cicero. While we mourn their failure let us rather condemn the circumstances in which they lived than deny their genius. Careful, however, must we be not to imit- ate them — and if ever any student of our University undertakes a History of Canada or of Ireland, indefatigable work- er that he must be, he will seek for light in ethnology, ethnography, numismatics, national archives and authenticated docu- ments, but true to the principle that " man proposeth, but God disposeth," he will in each historical event, happy or unhappy, recognize the fulfilment of the designs of that Providence which rules and guides mankind. We have now, ladies and gentlemen, cast a bird-like glance on two of the heights that the student of a University is obliged to painfully ascend if he desire to know the physical and moral world. Advancing, I =• ,e a third arising plainly befoie my eyes, amid the heights of the ideal world. The clouds that cap its summit, the lightnings that at times illu- mine its lofty front, the precipitousness of the narrow way leading thereto, and the whitened remains of the many victims who attempted its ascent but fell from its f 4 — declivities, all combine to recommend the greatest prudence and must minutiuus precautions. This lofty fastness is, as you have already divined, that of literary studies. Examine it briefly let us from its difTerent stand points. It is but a small acquirement, after all, to be able to write one's own language correctly. Heaven knows, however, the fewness of those who can lay claim to this merit. A small thing too, is it to write it with elegance, although those who do so, or think they can do so, are ridi- culously vain of the accomplishment. The College professor does not bind him- self to push his pupils any further, in this branch of learning, and if he succeed in arriving even there does he not merit the hearty congratulations of every man of experience ? The professor of an Univer- sity must aim at something much higher and extend far beyond this limit the field of his labors. He will no longer content himself with setting forth the rules of lite- rature, nor will he satisfy himself and his pupils by showing their happy application in some select passages of the great masters, or even yet with guiding the still unsteady hand of his pupil in his first literary essays. No, he will take from the shelves of his library the Iliad of Homer, the iEneid of Virgil, the Divine Comedy of Dante, the Dramas of Shakespeare, the Tragedies of Corneille and Racine, and of these he will communicate to his hearers the plan, the procedure, the style and the grandeur — expose their general purpose, explain the play of the passions which there meet in conflict, indicate with firm hand their beauties and their defects, and thus form his students to the mould of high literary criticism. Who can depict to us the joys reserved to the fortunate young man to whom God reserves such pleasures, to associate with the intellectual life of genius, ascend with it to the regions wherein the ideal is felt and seen, and create by contact with that genius those grand thoughts that stir whole generations. Those are, indeed, intellectual joys that fill the soul of man in its every faculty. The utilitarian, the dull and narrow spirit accustomed to measure all things from the standpoint of dollars and cents, will, no doubt, toss his head with disdain crying out : " This is all bosh— folly— utter folly." Let us pass him by in the silence of heart- felt pity. For us, who believe in intelli- gence, who know what an important role thought must play in a society of ra- tional beings, who recognize, perhaps by some experience, the danger of being cast without a critic on the mercy of realistic, pantheistic or vicious writers — cannot but desire to see the new generation more favored than ourselves. In literature, as in all things else, to have men of mediocre we nmst have men of supreme merit. And these • latter cannot, as a general rule, be had but by means of a finished superior education. Genius itself requires a master. Perchance have you thought, ladies and gentlemen, that in this imperfect sketch I have gone over with you the whole circle of subjects which constitute that which is to be termed — to contra-distin- guish it from professional education, — high scholastic training in a University. This thought will come to you all the more naturally as since the Renaissance, the limit has been there quite naturally fix- ed. Disfigured by Descartes and Locke, Philosophy had no longer in fact that elevation and that certitude which in the Middle Ages gave it uncontested supre- macy. In the tyes of even some of its adepts it was and unhappily is yet but one of the branches of natural sciences, gov- erned by the laws of mechanics or of chemistry, or perhaps a vaporous cloud suspended in the heaven of science to reflect the empty phantoms of a delirious brain. For those men Philosophy is but a meaningless term, and the philosopher himself a dreamer. They imagine that they have already done too much for this science if, for lucre's sake, they consent to its teachings or give it in their curriculum a very modest place below that accorded to literature. But for the Catholic Church, for the great Leo XIII, for us — Philosophy is a quite different thing. It is a queen that covers with her royal robe and presses to her warm and life giving heart all human sciences ; it is a vast estuary into which all the great rivers, the torrents, the rivulets and the very brooklets of human knowledge flow to mingle their waters ; it is, to follow out the metaphor with which we commenced, a lofty peak — higher than all the rest, the Mont Blanc in the Alps of science — towards whose summit the plateau raises itself and the mountain heights all seem to turn. Philosophy is, i;. — 5 — in a word, among human sciences the beacon hght that absorbs all their brilli- ancy to redistribute it amongst them, that all may reach the haven of security. To the learned physicist it explains that which is the world, and what are the laws that govern it ; removing from him all peril of error, if he, on his side, be true to its teaching. To the chemist it is the sure guide, by its offering the grand doctrine of matter and form, whereby he can safely keep to his own sphere without hazarding vain search after those problems outside his domain, lo the one and the other, and through them to all who study under their direction the mysteries of nature, it offers a definition of truth and the means for its attainment. Between them all it will establish unity, because of its indicating the truth and proving that the truth is one. In the moral world. Philosophy likewise establishes unity. Thanks, indeed, to it, every faculty of man brought into fuller light will follow the lead of right reason, the'will in the one hour will overcome passion and, in the other, follow con- science, and thus without failure, repug- nance or divergency, man will in a direct course tend towards the end indicated by Philosophy, the sovereign and absolute good. The true idea of the beautiful will exercise no small influence on the arts in general — or on literature in particular. A sound Philosophy will prevent their seeing in man a simple material organism, or a pure intelligence. Thus, also, will it _ remove itself from a revolting realism or an excessive idealism, and present to man the beautiful as God hath placed it in nature, from the very beginning, both sen- sible and intellectual, soul and body, matter and form. Wherefore is it that Philosophy elevates truth above the physical, the good above the moral, and the beautiful above the ideal world. Its love of unity leads us still further. In analysing the true, the good and the beautiful, it will see that all these are really but one under different aspects, and in seeking the cause whence they emanate will soon discover truth, goodness and beauty by excellence, in God Himself. Then, taking the student by the hand, the University will point out to him written in characters of fire on each of the beings in the universe he has investigated : — "There is a God." " One Ood ! cne Maiesiy ! There is no (lod liut I'hcc ! Unl)uun(lc'(l, unvxtcndcd Unity ! Unffthomeil Sea ! All life is out of Thee, And Thy life is Thy Blissful Unity." That the University presents this idea of God to earth and makes it forever bright above it as a ceaseless star, and causes reason to shine more brightly than ever, is, ladies and gentlemen, the thought that I am prepared to develop — that from its development we may have a full idea of the Catholic University. Whatever may beor may seem to us to be, the altitudes which, in our vigorous bounds from one summit to another, we have already reached, a world altogether new now unfolds itself to our view — a world the grandest and noblest of all. Between this new world and that we have just explored there is such a distance that reason in its boldest flights cannot traverse it, and it is so lofty that no human will has ever been able to ascend thereto. This world — you already take the word from my lips — is the supernatural world, to which faith and grace have brought and in which faith and grace keep us. There God presents Him- self to us, not alone as a Sovereign Master, but, above all, as a Father ; there we know that He not only exists, moves and reigns, but also that He enjoys an ineffable life in a Trinity of persons : then we may not only hope to know and love, but also see and possess Him, through the merits of His Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. It is not reason, but faith that discovers us this world ; but reason withdraws the veil with which human passion hides its vision, and once entered upon that vision, reason rising on the wings of faith explores it with avidity and assurance. From this alliance between Reason and Faith, springs the science known as Theology — a science so certain that it surpasses the most evident demonstrations, so useful that, without it, every other science is valueless for man ; so agreeable that it fills the loftiest souls with enthusiasm ; so grand and so noble that Philosophy itself, proud mistress of the natural sciences, is highly favored to be called its handmaid ; so profound and so simple, at one and the same time, that the greatest geniuses con- fess themselves unable to penetrate beyond its vestibule while the youngest child may from its fountains drink long and / — (J — refreshing draughts. Without Theology there is no true science, for it is 'rhcology that spcaketh the last word in the order established by God Himself. vVithout Tlieology there is no University possible, for without it, there were lacking not only that universality of sciences implied by the very name of University, but even the very unity required by the nature of a University would be wanting. Hence are those sincerely to be jjitied, who, ignorant of the grandeur and admirable logic of Christianity, believe in a science without faith, in a morality without religion, in an instruction without Theology. Evident then it is that in the Catholic University, Theology must reign supreme and respected. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, soon we may hojjc that Ottawa will have her school of Theology flourishing and numerously attended. There, the student, like Moses on Sinai or like the Apostles on Thabor, shall hear the speech of God Himself, shall raise himself on the wings of faith and reason to the very summits on which an Augustine, a Thomas of Aquin and a Bossuet tasted true science, and when he descends therefrom it will be to hold up to his fellow men these burning and brilliant lights that will enable them to see the Divine Truth. In our days of infidelity and negation, whose prevalence is so un- fortunate for the peace and the depth of the world's knowledge, the theologian must buckle on the armor of the soldier. Hence, must this school extend to a pro- digious degree its field of action. Faith is attacked in the name of reason ; the student will then have recourse to philo- sophy ; it is assailed in the name of natural sciences ; these the student must master ; it is attacked in the name of philology ; to the study of linguistic science the student must devote himself ; it is attacked in the name of history — of history the student must acquire amplest knowledge. Our school will, step by step, follow modern error, in all its evolutions, pursue it from every side at the same time, aye, and overcome it ; emerging from each triumph like the Chnrch her mother, more youthful and radiant than ever — ready to move on to new battles and greater victories. A learned clergy will be the first fruit borne by the Catholic University, and to a serious course of Theology must this fruit he ascribed. Uiit a j^r.ivc error would it be to suppose that this result, great as it is, should be the sole product of divine science. Theology is the Sun of the super- natural world : whence, of necessity, since Christ on the cross has to Himself dra-vn everything, our Christian society must be altogether supernatural, at the risk of failing to be even rational. What [)ower- ful light does not Theology cast upon all the liberal professions? You will, I am sure, permit me to ra|)idly develop this idea, through a glance at each of the Faculties that ordinarily fall within the province of a Catholic University. When on a lovely springtide morning the first ray? of auroral splendor strike the summit of ti.e mountain, everything, trees, rocks, valleys and precipices present them- selves more and more clearly to the eyes of the observer. So also, as soon as T'aith has shed her floods of golden glory on the superior faculties of the soul wherein it resides — everything participates in the brilliant light it casts forth. Reason kneels, as we have pointed out, to receive it. Then Faith enlightens it upon an hundred questions — such as the creation of the world, the origin of evil, the mystery of man's internal struggle with himself, and many others of which neither the intuitive genius of a Plato, nor the analytic talent of an Aristotle could find the solution. On other philosophic problems such as the personality and the nature of the soul, its union with the body, the relation of the accidents with the essence of bodies. Reason, thus enlightened, arrives at a cer- titude otherwise unattainable. What may we not, indeed, expect from a young man whose soul is clarified by this brilliancy ? As to ideas he will ascend as high as human ambition could dream of — as to style he will attain that supreme perfection wherein, like a compact marble, his thoughts will require no varnish to shine and to captivate. Were I permitted to here give mention to names, I should in the front rank place two illustrious men, who bear with the robe of St. Thomas, the sublime character of Christian philo- sophy. Cardinal Zigliara in his Luce Intel- letiuale, and Father Monsabre in his Con- ferences. Style we now hear it often said, is deteriorating ; men no longer know how to write — but if they know not how to write, it is because they no longer know how to think : / — 7 — " Cu (|iu> Ton e hierarchy, enjoy an immense influence. Besides guiding them in an infallible manner in the interpretation of natural law the source of all other laws. Theology will open to their view and investigation other branches of this complex science. Men to-day ignore, though the ignorance in this respect was greater half a century ago — that the Church, a society divine and perfect, has herself a code of laws more complete than that of any other organisation, more matured because it is the work of centuries, and more venerable because it comes from a higher authority. Wherever the Church Catholic enjoys her liberty of existence and of action, she demands the application and avails herself of the privileges wherewith that code jealously surrounds and guards sacred persons and tbi.igs. Hence, to be a Catholic lawyer, or to throw oneself into the discussion of political interests, without knowing at least the fundamental prin- ciples of ecclesiastical jurisprudence, is to expose oneself to come into conflict with the most solemn laws or compromise the most sacred interests of the Church. With reason then did a certain publicist declare, that the modern heresy — known as Catholic Liberalism, so called — was due to ignorance of Canon Law. The Catholic University therefore must have its chair of Canon Law. But this will not be the only way whe eby Theology will reach this important class of students. On a multitude of special points, too numer- ous here" to indicate, such, for instance, as the transmission of inheritance, the re- spect due to the priest in the discharge '^f his ever delicate duties, the imposition of taxes on property consecrated to God's ser- vice- -divorce, the maintenance of order in our temples. Theology advances with a fixed and precise teaching, recalling what must be rendered to Caesar as Coesar's ; and above all what must be given to God as God'ti. With a truly Catholic training, given by the faculty of Law, the faithful will be for the future spared the scandal and humiliation of seeing men upon whom tbey thought they could count, espousing the cause of the enemies of the Church, and mal ing regrettable concessions to the spirit of party or to offensive prejudices. In Parliament, on the judicial bench and at the bar, in great public assemblies, or in ihemidst of legal and scientific societies, in reviews and in journals, their lawyers and public men will ever assume an atti- tude truly and firmly Catholic, and if tlicy succeed not in every case to bring about the triumph of right and of justice, they will place on record against oppression and tyranny indignant protestations of which living generations will be proud and future generations enjoy the benefit. Such is the Catholic University ; near to God, through Divine Faith, it draws those truths by which it vivifies and elevates the highest social positions. To the priest it af- fords that divine science which saves and sanctifies ; to the philosopher and to the learned man it presents a light ever brilliant to enlighten and direct them; to the physi- cian it secures a training, guiding and en- nobling him; to the lawyer as such, and as a public man, it makes gift of p'inciples augmenting his usefulness and his in- fluence. When in any social organization these classes have been enlightened by these fires and animated by such a spirit, all portions of the body politic soon feel the effects. Truth has its irrosislible logic ; if a ball of snow starts from a mountain height it will not slop until it has reached the plain below. One of the greatest consolations of a professor amid the trials and vexations of his life of seclusion and of study is the thought that not one particle of those truths that he has placed in the souls of his pupils will be lost. One man makes ten others recipients of truth, each of these ten communicates it to ten others — and then, one day without any violent transition, arrives a complete transformation in the social body at which all men will wonder; the author thereof — this man who passes along our streets, un- known and unrecognized, but having under control a force greater than that of guns, more extended than that of kings — for to him it is given to convince and persuade. If you now kindly cast a glance back on the road we have followed, you will see that we have rapidly pursued the student of the University from the time he leaves College to that when, his course complet- ed, he comes to offer his services to so- ciety. The thougiits that I have too cursorily laid before you this evening, have not the merit of novelty, thty are in truth very old. They are, if I mistake not, identical v.'ith those which Origen sought toacclima- tize^in the schools of Alexandria, and that Albertus Magnus submitted to the Middle Ages with all the authority of his genius and of his long experience. Since that time many evolutions have taken place in ideas ; many changes in methods ; Hie Renaissance came and went, to be follow- ed by the Reformation so called, and that in turn to be succeeded by the Revolution; and each of these levelled one by Oiie the stones of the grand edifice raised by the church, and known as the Catholic Uni- versity. Theology was dethroned, Phil- sophy reduced to a secondary role. To find Christian order in the teaching of the sciences, we must now go to Rome when the Popes have preserved it in its grandeur and its integrity. From Rome has the Catholic University of Ottawa re- ceived its crown, upon Rome will it model itself— to Rome will it ever turn with its whole heart and soul. Because k will be Roman, it will ever be essentially Catholic, Catholic in teach- ihg. Catholic in discipline. Catholic through its professors. Catholic through its siudents. For this University no pre- ference of persons, race or people. Al- ready has it had on its escutcheon inter- twined beneath the cross,the maple leaf,the shamrock, the thistle and the rose. Al- ready in its classes and on its grounds it has had since its very origin, bound in sincere friendship, the first born son of Canada, the chivalric child of old Scotia, the patriotic descendant of green Erin, and the favored young American. In its teaching body it has ever possessed tal- lents matured in various climes. In fu- ture, this unity in variety will make itself more and more felt after the example of the great universities which have ever re- garded genius as cosmopolitan. If now you ask me when we expect to realize tliese great', projects, I will say that for my part it will not be in the very early future. Bologna was lor two cen- turies without any other course but a faculty of Law ; it took three centuries to bring Paris to full- maturity ; the Univer- sity of Ottawa will in less time attain its end, because it commences on higher ground aiid in a country where every- thing moves more rapidly ; because it is favored with sympathy, and secured by protections that cannot fail it. Hope then may we in fullest confidence, that He who by the hands of His Vicar on earth hath vouchsafed to bless, may like- wise, grant it life, strength and activity, for his own glory, the honor of the Holy Church and the prosperity of this "Canada of Ours."