LORD MORLEY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1330, 6 January 1912, Page 6

LORD MORLEY.

.THE UNIVERSITIES AND DEMO. CRACY.

FORMATION OF SOUND OPINION,

Lord Morley, (lie Chancellor of Manchaster University, was the guest of Convocation at n dinner held in the RefeciT University recently. The chairman, in proposing the health of the Chancellor, said that . Lord Morle.y hud associated his name with the progress oi tho Manchester University in mi enduring manner. The University had been fortunate in many things, but especially hail it been fortunate ill 1 regard to its chancellors. They had the great Karl Spencer, their tho Duke oi Devonshire, and to-day, lie ventured to say, one of the most distinguished men ot our time. Lor*! Morley was distinguished aliko in. literature, in politics, and m public life. ' Lord Morley, who was received with loud and prolonged applause, said:— everybody now who makes a speech, whether after dinner or beforo dinner, in f°T ,' ISO Commons, in tho House . Lords, or wherever it is, lias something to tell you about democracy, and I always like_ to be in tho fashion. (Laughter.) • Now, what is .democracy? there are two or three hundred definitions, from the test of Aristotle down to the last morning paper. (Laughter.) But whatever else you say of democracy, democracy means governing by opinion, a properly and wisely selected—if it be selected and not universal—opinion of (ho members of the university.. Therefore all depends upon opinion being sound and upon the institutions of the country concerned striving might and main to .take every measure they can to influence not opinion in this or that direction, but opinion as a founded judgment upon whatever tho occasion of a judgment may be.

The Formation of Sound Opinion- . I think-there aro some reasons for being a little uneasy as to sonio of tho foundations of opinion in this part o the island at all events—l don't mean Lancashire, tiut in .England.. I. am not suro tho evidence is, that it is perfectly, sound in the preparation: But. of this I am sure, that, unsound or sound, one . tho ; greatest of ' all guarantees for opinion being careful and responsible is the habit of mind that' universities tend to foster and aro meant to foster, (Hear, hear.) It is not worth while taking up our time by talking about looseness of attention—ive all know it. Some pooplo used to say that the reading of books is the great thing for steadying opinion and widening knowledgo and so forth. Well, I am the last man to say there is any sin in reading books—(laughter)— certainly not if thoy are well chosen, But the .business and the effect, . tho. splendid effect,; of universities is riot merely to • spread the reading of books, not merely to give' knowledge, but ' to bring students bo form of mind. I wonder liow many peoplo read any book twice? or whether many people—if they aro men—treat the reading of books very differently from smoking. It takes iIUIILEY TWO , ,13 h,1... them out of themselves, it effaces care and trouble, and so forth. But you cannot livo on books alone, and tho aim of universities—l am sure we shall all agree —is not merely to induce people to read books, but to form habits of mind. By habits of mind I mean interest in life, contact with life, contact with men. Books, knowledge, and all is to lead, apart from, the acquisition of tho implements of this .or that specific profession or tl-ade, to forming habits of mind. Iho other day I was rather realising that government depends upon opinion. I saw some words used by a very competent physiologist or biologist—Sir Crichton Browne. He said this: '"fhis country was not without tho stigmata of weakened attention. It was slipshod in much of its work; it fluttered froni- theme to theme; it had no patieuco to sit through tragedy and fell back on musical comedy—(laughter)— it had no stomach tor books and no appetito for a square meal of literature." As to the details of that I do not presuino to give an opinion, but I do think the business of a university is to put in the front place—and 1 am suro it is discharged in this University—concentration, of attention. " The Ability to Judge Correctly. The power of concentration —I dwell upon it for a moment—is the key to power of memory, the key to exactitude of statement, the key to balance of judgment; yes, and it is the koy to vigour of action. 1 am suro any of .your great merchants and manufacturers hero would tell you in their own arena the very same thing. A university, if it is good for anything, enforces the attitude of concentration. A man whom it was my greatest' honour to call, in days long gone by, my friend and teacher, John Stuart Mill, put a question which I respectfully commend. to all of you: What is the principal and most characteristic difference between one human intellect and another?—a very wide question it is —and his answer was: In their ability to judge correctly of evidence—(hear, hear) —wiien is a thins proved and when it is not. If democracy is going to take scaro headlines for gospel, democracy is not in a very good way. (Laughter and applause.). Tho scare, headline is, not always proved. (Laughter,) A very important person who never speaks without thought, the Archbishop of : York, said that "there were plenty of peoplo who discussed and asserted and had opinions, but were they , right, and did they knowwhy'they had those-opinionsf" Most true, and there's tho worst of it. You all remember, I am certain, what in "Bunyan" Christian said to. Hopeful ,in one of their, conversations. He ' said: "Thou talkest ■ like a new-hatched chi'cken; thou talkest like one upon whose head tho shell is to: this ■ day." (Laughter.) The University, has to try to break that little shell off. Democracy and Competence. -

There is a great deal of talk about democracy,'and it is ,said that. democrary worships incompetence or is - indifferent to competence. I do not believe a word of that. If it were so, the facts and emergencies of daily life would soon pull democracy up. But I confess—l hope I shall not be thought over-censorious—l do see occasionally . somo signs of tho fatal heresy that one man's opinion'is as good as another's. (Laughter.) I am ' not groaning under any personal affront. There is no placo I can imagine like a university for testing competence, and no place like it for making competence— whether it bo in chemistry, physics, history, or what not—tho test of the right to lay down the law. Somebody has said, "You may convince the learned man; it is rather harder to convince tho ignorant man; but the man who is halftrained and has got a fixed, idea in his mind you will never convince." I am speaking in the.presence of the Professor of Logic, and I say with all respect to logic, that one of the most mischievous things in the world is .that our good halftrained friends are led astray-by futile, irrelevant logic. They choose tlieir own premises; they argue pretty correellv if you grant their major and minor, they come pretty well on to the conclusion then they will hear no more. Those of you who listen to the common controversies of the street hen.r an nbuso of logic which really makes one despair.' I wish 1 could attend, and what is more important, get my friends to-attend, tho lectures of the Professor of Logic here. 1 am certainly not going to abuse my opportunity to speak to you to-night besetting out a catalogue-of the virtues and objects of university education. I will only say, Do not be afraid of what is called idealism and sentimontalism. It is said that universities make idealists and sentimentalists. I may . borrow the words of a famous man who said lie had lived long and variously, and "in my long and varied life I declare to you that am astonished how often after undergoing the most refrigeratory examination r analysis and all kinds of ratiocinated tests, I am astonished to find how often idealism turned out to bo tho true common sense, and how often sentimontalism was only an uncharitable name for tho best kind of rationalism." I am sure you will not think I am impudent enough to come to Lancashire, of all places in tho world, and advocate idealism or senlimentalism if it means a vague and languid sciolism. I believe Lancashire will have no mercy either for the dilettante or tho pedant. A General View of the World. It is truiy said that besides existing to impart knowledge and to stimulate and shape the habits, of men, universities exist in order to give men a general view of the world and of the life of the world around them. .The thought of the amplitude and diversity of knowledge and apparatus' that .your invn prospectus raises la tho thought to biinit home to

the main who has'got one single fixed idea. He will then soc how wido is the area of knowledge. 1 pictuTO to myself the (lawn of vision in the adolescent mind. To seme of us the dawn has i;ow beeomu noon, and afternoon and twilight, and evening approaches, but l am glad to think: I can still realise 10 myself amongst some of you younger men. with your active brains and your hopeful intelligences, what are your -feelings when you look round and see what the area and range of knowledge is; what a panorama, what a glorious, mysterious, inspiring panorama of knowledge lies liefore you, a panorama Of ideas, creeds-,' faiths, institutions, ' discoveries, insight growing, and constant new insight into tho processes of nature. I say that the thought of all this to a man who will allow his mind in his moments, I Will not call it of leisure, but when lie is away from his own specific subject,, tho thought of all this in a man or woman with a good mental constitution to start with, will try your wliolo strength in the great struggles with the bnttlo of life, and will give you a , background which will enlarge tho scale of your future and make you set a, higher standard to your energy. (Applause.) "Try to Understand." I have only one more bit . to trouble vou with, and this, from a great man long dead. I would not preach you. a Bermon on my own account, but 1 venture to read you this from Snuosa: "When -1 applied my mind to ■ politics so that I examine what Mongs to politics with' . the same freedom of mind'as v.o uso for mathematics. I have taken my best'pains"—that'is tho point—"not to laugh at the actions of mankind, not to groan over fiii-m, not to be angry with them, but to under-' stand them." . Don't laugh, dui't groan, don't curse, but try to understand. And by understanding them lie says he means looking at ailthe motives if human feeling, love, hatred, envy,- ambition, pity— the sovereign emotion, pity—not as vices of human nature but as properties belonging to it, just like lieat, cold, strrm, thunder, belong to the atmosphere, I have detained you a long time. (No.) I hope that''you will bear me in kind memory during the time that is to come. (Loud applause.)