The Gradusates Association Tea

The Graduates' Association this year again entertained the new Graduates at a tea at the College. On Friday, 21st June, Mr. G. Watson, the President of the Association, presided over a pleasant gathering of old and new Graduates, most notable among whom were Messrs. F. A. de la Mare and A. E. Caddick, both returned from the front badly wounded, but now fortunately making good recoveries. Thus already, thought our Hall is not yet with ivy grown,

"Back from the field where their work was done,
We gather to cheer them home."

Mr. Waston extended a welcome to the new Graduates, which was gracefully acknowledged on their behalf by Miss K. Mackenzie and Mr. H. D. C. Adams.

Then we had the pleasure of listening to one of the most interesting and thoughtful speeches that has yet been delivered at any of these functions. It emanated, of course, from our old friend "The Frog," and dealt with his impressions to the War, not so page 47 much of the fighting as of its effect upon the character of the fighters.

He commented on the inherent cheerfulness of the soldier when things are absolutely black—in contrast with the constant growl when things are going fairly well. He spoke of the tendency among men to lower their ideals in war time and to drift with the crowd. He had found that the majority of University men over there were in the grip of ideals dynamical enough to enable them to resist this drift, and to him it seemed that it is to the Schools and Colleges that we must look in the future for the regeneration of the people.

From this Mr. de la Mare went on to speak of teachers and their vocation, which he considers to be the very highest. He spoke, too, of the University as teaching the search for truth as a fundamental of life. University Graduates must face facts.

Altogether a clearly though-out and clearly expressed speech, the result of the search for bed-rock on the part of an analytical mind.

After Mr. de al Mare had spoken, Professor Hunter also made a few happy remarks, mostly directed towards refuting some nasty aspersions that had been made upon his age by the last speaker.

This brought a very successful function to a close, except that we think we saw the President remaining behind to deal with a dish of peanuts, which, by disguising itself as a pot-plant, had previously escaped his eye.

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