University anniversaries

Jubilee celebrations 1902

Congratulatory addresses

Letters and addresses of congratulation were received from 96 universities and learned societies of the United Kingdom, Australasia, Canada, South Africa, India, America, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Japan, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Many of the addresses were beautifully illuminated, and conveyed the hearty congratulations of the respective governing bodies upon the completion of 50 years of the University's efforts in the cause of higher education.

With few exceptions they were in Latin, which was still a possible universal means of communication in the world of letters, as French was in the world of diplomacy.

Oxford

Pre-eminent in point of beauty is the comparatively small sheet which contains the short address from Oxford.

With its great initial G in blue and gold and red, its smaller initial letters in gold and red, its pendent seal protected by its gilt metal case, this address easily bears the palm.

Love of learning and common pursuit of knowledge constitute a bond, says the address, which defies distance and the estranging ocean. It ends with a reference to the recent services of the colonies - "the bond between ourselves and the colonies is closer than ever before, for they responded to the call of duty in our hour of peril, and freely threw lives and fortunes into the scale to succour their common mother."

The Latin address:

Universitati Sydneiensi Cancellarius Magistri et

SCHOLARES UNIVERSITATIS OXONIENSIS

S.P.D.

Gratulamur vobis, viri doctissimi, annaim quinquagesimum a prima fundatione vestra celebraturis; nee quidquam nobis iucundius esse potest quam laetitiae vestrae partem capessere, et fausta omnia vobis augnrari. Nos quidem Ozonienses quibus originem antiquissimam et insignium alumnorum seriem perpetuam iactare semper cordi est gratulationes vobis animo propensissimo praetendimus, Academiae vestrae tempestivam maturitatem atque vigorem iuvenilem ultro admirati; quibus speramus fore ut nullus non dies incrementum optabile afferat. Quodsi vos ipsi (ut est confitendum) toto paene orb© a nobis sitis diviad, sunt alia quaedam necessitudinis mutuae vincula, quae neque regionum longinquitate neque oceano dissociabili dirimi pos sunt, inter quae habeatis licet studiorum communitatem et doctrinae amor em sincerum. His tamen praecipue temporibus arctiore quodam vinculo coloniis nostris adstringi videmur, quibus placuerit in discrimine nostro fidem praestare officiosissimam, et vitas fortunasque pacisoi, dummodo Ma&ri suae possent opifculari.

Datum in domo nostra Convocationis die XVII. mensis
Junii, A.S. MDCCCCII.

Cambridge

The address from Cambridge, which stands by the side of that from Oxford, is in most complete contrast, as it is a plain, though beautifully printed, sheet.

The address itself is interesting. A happy use is made of a quotation from Scipio's Dream, where it is said that the old world has no concern with the lands that form the southern girdle of the earth. The address points out how this is no longer true, but that Britons are linked with Britons, both on the battlefield and in the pursuit of the arts of peace.

Allusion is made to the bestowal of the degree of LL.D. upon Sir William Windeyer and upon Sir Edmund Barton.

The Latin address:

Universitati Sydnkiensi Universitas Cantabrigiensis

S.P.D.

Litteris vestiris, viri doctissimi, ad noe hajud ita pridem perlatis, non sine gaudio intelleximus, Universitatem vestram annum quinquagesimum ab origine sua feliciter exactum ante Kalendas Octobres esse celebraturam. Quicquid Universitati vestrae, quicquid vobis omnibus, qui Australiae totius provinciam antiquissimam incolitis curae esse constat, idem etiam nosmet ipsos ipsamque Britanniam tangit; neque ad Britannos pertinent verba ilia Scipionis in Somnio a duce Romano quondam audita: "Australis ille orbis terrarum cingulus, ini quo qui insistunt adversa vobis urgent vestigia, nihil ad vestrum genus." Quamquam enim vestigia, vestra nostris vestigiis sunt adversa, easdem per vias eundem ad finem nobiscum progredimini; quanquam alia sidera suspicitis, caelo mutato animum non mutavistis. Orbe toto a nobis divisi, tamen non modo in pace sed etiam in bello, non patriae tantum sed imperii Britannici totius amore, nobiscum estis coniuncti. Nos certe, etiam studiorum communium vinculis vobis consociati, libenter recordamur, primum unum e Cancellariis vestris, judicem integerrimum, deinde unum e Senatoribus vestri3, Australiae in provinciis nuper feliciter foederatis virum primarium constitutum, doctoris titulo a nobis nuper ornatum fuisse; denique Professorum vestrorum in ordine etiam nunc ut olim alumnos nostros complures numerari. Ergo ludorum vestrorum saecularium in solleni die hae litterae ad vos trans maria perlatae nostrum omnium benevolentdam testabuntur; nos interim urbis vestrae portum pulcherrimum, et Universitatis vestrae aedificia urbi superaddita, mentis saltern oculis e longinquo contemplabimur, caelique nostri sub auctumno vobis omnibus anni in tempore verno exsultantibus, et Universitati vestrae aetatis suae in ipso vere florenti, omnia prospera etiam in posterum exoptabiinus. Valete. Datum Cantabrigiae. Nonis Juniis.

A.S. MCMII.

Owens College, Manchester

The address from Owens College, Manchester, is elaborately illuminated with corner floral designs.

It reminds us that our friends at home are living in the shortening days of the autumn. "To us," it says, "who live in Manchester, with its everlasting pall of smoke, you in Sydney seem almost too blessed. With your crystal atmosphere, your pleasant land, your magnificent harbour, and the buildings which adorn your city, you can claim of right the title 'Athens of the South' (Athenae Australis). Nor is the true Attic culture missing among you who have shown yourselves adapted equally to the pursuits of peace and those of war."

Specific reference is made to the University's work in chemistry and geology.

The address ends with the prayer that the University of Sydney, which for fifty years past has been the "citadel and bulwark of
culture" (arx et propugnaculum verae culturae), may flourish for ages to the confusion of ignorance, the increase of knowledge, and the protection of worth.

The Latin address:

Universitati Sydneyensi Collegium Owknse Apud
Mancunienses
S.P.D.

Qui nostras ferias iubilaeas nuper celebravimus, vobia vestras j ami am celebraturis laeti gratulamur. Separati enim iniquis spatiis maris nihilominus vinculo communis doctrinae communis patriaeamore coniuncti sumus nee obliviscimur unum ex nostris alumnis Georgium Arnoldium Wood, virum doctum, consiliorum senatus vestri participem esse. Et nobis hanc urbem habitantibus caligini fere perpetuae obnoxiam nimium beati videmini. Claritate enim aeris agrorum amoenitate magnincentia portus et aedificiorum urbs vestra Athenae Australes rite vocari potest. Nee vero illam Atticam humanitatem abesse sinitis, qui novam gentem ad pacem et bellum pariter aptam Minervae quoque artium studio imbuitis. Cur autem ref eramus (id quod omnibus notum est) quantum scientia chemica quantum geologica a viris clarissimis apud vos colatur. Et in novo orbi terrarum antiquitatem vos haud quaquam spernere ilia Aegyptia vestra testificantur. Itaque ut per hos quinquginta annos arx et propugnaculum verae culturae Universitas vestra exstitit sic precamur ut permulta saecula ignorantiam et illiberalitam dissipet, doctrinam augeat, virtu tern foveat. Valete.

Datum Mancunii. VI. Id Jul., A.S., MCMII.
Joseph Thompson, Thexaurariw.
Alfred Stephenson, PraeporitUH.

University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham greets the University of Sydney as her elder sister, and refers to the fact that it was from Birmingham that Charles Badham, vir summa doctrina, migrated hither.

Her address concludes with the hope that the Universities of the Empire may ever be united in sentiment.

American universities

Among the addresses from American Universities, that from Harvard is interesting reading. Harvard regrets that she has no delegate to send. "Perhaps," she says, "you would not have regarded him as a stranger, though he came from across the sea, for as you know blood is thicker than water."

Toronto reminds us that the Dominion of Canada (hoc Dominium quod aiunt Canadense) sprang from the labours of Macdonald and Brown, one of whom was an alumnus, the other a stanch supporter of Toronto University. Similarly, she says, our alumnus, Sir Edmund Barton, has been the chief artificer in the work of federation (novae civitatis vestrae fabricandae auctor).

The University of Pennsylvania reminds us that a century ago she held the same position in America as the University of Sydney holds to-day in Australia. The work of both was the adapting of the older European learning and methods to new political conditions (doctrinam disciplinamque Europeam ad usus novarum rerum publicarum accommodate). She expresses the hope that the University may reach its centenary enriched by public and private munificence, and ever be the brightest ornament of New South Wales.

Universities of Germany

The Universities of Germany are largely represented.

From Berlin comes an address which dwells upon the bond of union constituted by our common literary and scientific pursuits. "Here," it goes on to say, "where but a few years ago savages but little removed from animals roamed (homines feri ac paene bestiarum ritu degentes vagabantur) unremitting industry has established the highest degree of culture, and the closest intercourse with the external world. Where once were heard accents hardly worthy of the name of human speech lecture halls (auditoria) stand in which the teachings of literature and science
are open to all."

In a similar strain the address from Heidelberg celebrates in a paragraph of great beauty and rhythm the progress of Sydney, both economic and intellectual. The University, with its beautiful buildings, stands as the citadel and rampart of culture against all that is illiberal, mean, and without permanent value for man.

Fifty years, says the address from Jena, are but a span compared with the antiquity of the older seats of learning, such as that of Jena herself, whose years number nearly ten times as many, but the true comparison is with the space of time that has elapsed since the establishment of the colony. This rapidity of growth, and the excellence of results already attained, makes all the heavier the demands of the next half century.

University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide sends hearty greeting to the Chancellor and Senate of the University of Sydney. Our University of Adelaide congratulates your University, the first in the whole of Australia in point of antiquity and wealth, on having brought the fiftieth year of its existence to a successful close. She does so all the more gladly because, apart from the bond of common studies which unites her to you, several men who have been educated by you are most conscientiously performing the office of teacher with us, and, consequently, we are well aware of the remarkable pains and care with which you instruct young men. We recognise that it was the object of the founders of your University to make their pupils not only more learned, but better men and more useful to the State. And if anyone doubts whether it be possible for one and the same man to do energetic service in both respects, and to advance, not merely the knowledge of students, but the interests of the community, let him remember the notable example set by our professor, the distinguished Charles Badham. What other wish can we express for you at the present moment than that you may always, as now, keep up your high reputation, and that just as the lovely harbor of your city is resorted to by every nation for purposes of traffic, in like manner your University, built in so charming a position, embellished by the liberality of your citizens, firmly established by most salutary regulations, may draw very many of the youth to itself as to a mart of liberal arts? Now, since all who are engaged in University work are likely to derive considerable profit from frequently meeting each other and discussing matters, we return our best thanks for the opportunity of this kind which you have afforded us.

The Latin address:

Universitatis Sydneiensis Cancellario et Senatui
Uniyersitas Adelaidensis
S.D.P.

Academiae vestrae et vetustate et opibus tota Australia praestantissimae annos quinquaginta feliciter peractos gratulatur academia nostra Adelaidensis. Quod non tantum quia communi quodam studiorum vinculo vobiscum coniuncta est sed eo libentius facit cum non nulli ddsciplinis iam. vestris informati apud nos docendi munere adouratissime fungantur compertumque satis inde habeamus industria singulari diligentiaque a vobis iuventutem erudiri. Etenim id conditores ipeoe Academiae vestrae egisse agnoscimus ut discipulos non solum doctiores sed meliores ipsique rei publicae utiliores redder ent. Ac ne quis dubitet eiusdem esse opera in utramque partem viriliter navanda et doctrinam studiosorum et oommoda civium augere insigne omnibus exemplum propoeuit Badhamus ille vester, vir clarissimus.

Quid igitur nunc precemur potius quam ut gloriam vestram semper, ut soletis, tueamini et quern ad modum urbis vestrae portus pulcherrimus ab omnibus gentibus lucri quaestusque causa celebretur sic academia quoque in sede amoenissima exstructa, civium munincentia adornata, legibus nrmata saluberrimis, tanquam ad mercaturam bonarum artium adule centes plurimos ad se trahat?

Cum autem fructum aliquem percepturi vide*antur quicumque in hoc vitae versantur genere si non nunquam inter se sermonea consiliaque contulerint, huiusmodi occasion a vobis benignissime oblata gratias amplissimas reddimus.

S. J. Way, Cancellarius.
William Barlow, Vice- Cancellarius.
Adelaidae Datum a.d. V. Kal. Oct. MDCCCCII.

University of Melbourne

The Latin address:

Universitati Sydneiensi UNIVERSITA8 Melburniensis
S.P.D.

Quinquagesimus iam annus est, viri doctissimi, ex quo vestra civitas, cum urbem istam situ caeloque amoenissimam artium et scientiarum omnium liberalium instrumento exornare decrevisset, Academiam Sydneiensem magna cum spe inauguravit. Incepto, ut temporibus illis, vehementer laudando laudem in dies maiorem prudentia gubernantium, studia et doctrina praeceptorum, liberalitas civium per decern lustra feliciter attulerunt. Quae cum ita sint, scitote nos vobis ferias tarn iusta de causa celebraturis tali gratulari benevolentia "qualem decet esse sororum." Jure enim Universitaa nostra, natu quidem minor prope tamen aequalis, vicinitate proximo artes eisdem inatitutis oolens vobis se omnium conjunotissimam esse iactat. Neque vero immemores sumus facem hanc qualemcumque nostram eo maturius atque ardentius aocensam fuisse, quod ilia vestra iam per triennium ita explendesceret ut non solum viam nostratibus monstraret sed etiam ad aemulationem generosam semper inritaret. Itaque austa hac occasione datai Universitatem vestram toto corde salutantes eis prosequimur votis, quae potissimum nuncppare debet sororis erga sororem integra pietas. Qui n etiam artius foederata iam re publica tesseras per hos dies inter nos permutare vel potius communicare licebit, et sicut nobis in gaudio vestro "mens eadem" quae vobierit, ita ad Universitatem vestram, praeclaram iam et quam maxime spectabilem, in primie pertinere lud "postera crescam laude" persuasissimum abebimus.

Dabamus Melburniae a.d. V. Kal. Oct. MCMII. Scribendoadfuerunt.

John Madden, LL.D., B.A., Caneettarius.
W. J. Wrixon, M.A. VictCancettarius
T. P. McInerney, M.A., LL.D., Praeses Senatus.

University of New Zealand

To The University of Sydney.

Greeting.

We desire to offer you our warmest congratulations on this occasion, when you celebrate the Jubilee of your foundation. During the past fifty years you have worthily discharged the high functions of a University, and held up the torch of learning in these new worlds of the Southern Hemisphere. Other Universities have, in the meantime, arisen in Australasia, whose efforts are now directed towards one common object, the spread of culture and scientific knowledge among the rising nations of the British Empire. To you who led the way in this work, the others now offer their tribute of esteem and veneration; and we, though outside the pale of the great Australian Commonwealth, are one with its members in presenting this tribute to the centre of learning in the parent State.

The individual members of our Senate thank you warmly for your cordial invitation to be present with you on this happy occasion. Many of them have felt a strong desire to go, but are prevented by insuperable difficulties. We ask one of those members - Mr. James Hay, M. A., LL.B. - who is able to respond to your invitation, to read this letter, and convey to you our share in the congratulations and good wishes with which the new and the old worlds greet you.

May success and prosperity attend you in the great work of which you now celebrate the first stage; and may your influence for good grow and expand through the centuries.

Signed on behalf of the University,

James Hector, Chancellor.

J. W. Joyce, Registrar.

Victoria College, Wellington, New Zealand

To the Chancellor and Senate of the University of Sydney.

We, the members of the Council of Victoria College, Wellington, New Zealand, most heartily convey to you our congratulations on the occasion of this your Jubilee. Your Jubilee holds the proud distinction of being the oldest in Australasia. The broad foundations you laid and the noble structure you have reared have been alike an ideal and incentive to those other communities which are seeking in their devotion to higher education one of the most enduring bonds of unity.

In forming the mind and moulding the thought of the past generations of your students, you have helped to make the men who have framed your politics and determined the character of your institutions.

We rejoice that the service you have rendered has been so richly rewarded.

W. A. Evans, Chairman.
Charles P. Powles, Registrar.
Wellington, N.Z., September 20, 1902.

Royal College of Science, London

To the University of Sydney, N.S.W.

The Council of the Royal College of Science, London, offers to the University of Sydney, New South Wales, its heartiest congratulations upon the occasion of the Celebration of the fiftieth Anniversary of its foundation. The oldest of the seats of learning in the Continent of Australia, the University of Sydney has for half a century worthily maintained its character as a centre of teaching and of Scientific Research.

The Council of the Royal College of Science recalls with pleasure the circumstance that several of the Chairs of Science and other responsible offices at Sydney are held by former Students of its own School, and they trust that the University may further develop with the growth of the Colony, so that its teachers and graduates may continue by their original investigations to add new lustre to Science.

John W. Judd, Dean.
Francis Fladgate, Registrar.
April 29, 1902.

Cornell University, Ithica, USA

To the University of Sydney, N.S.W.

Cornell University sends greetings and congratulations on the completion of fifty years of honourable service rendered by the University of Sydney to the World of Science and Letters.

Although the distance makes it impracticable to send a delegate to attend the Celebration, Cornell University joins in the rejoicings and extends cordial good wishes for the continued prosperity of the University of Sydney, and cherishes the earnest hope that she may for generations to come illumine and ennoble the life of the great Commonwealth of Australia.

J. G. Schurman, President.
E. B. McGilvary, Secretary of the Faculty.

University of Missouri

The President and Council of the University of Missouri Congratulate the University of Sydney upon the auspicious occasion of its Jubilee.

We are forcibly impressed by the assertion of freedom of learning along with freedom of politics, as shown by the almost coeval existence of New South Wales and the University of Sydney. When as many years shall have passed as there are leagues between us, you and we might then, as now, praise the wise foresight of the builders of the State and the builders of the University in founding the political fabric on the Higher education of its constituents: a course of action which characterises us both, as branches of a common stock.

With regrets that we cannot be represented personally at your Celebration, we extend our best wishes for the continued prosperity of your University.

R. H. Jesse, President.
Columbia, Missouri, June 4th, 1902.

University of Kyoto

Kyoto, Japan, July 21st, 1902.
Hiroji Kinoshita, President of the Kyoto Imperial University, has the honour to acknowledge receipt of the invitation of the Honourable H. N. MacLaurin, Chancellor of Sydney University, to attend the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of that institution and deeply regrets that it is not practicable for the Kyoto Imperial University to be represented officially on that occasion. He begs that the Honourable Chancellor will extend to the entire Corporation the assurances of the hearty congratulations of himself and his associates.
Kyoto Imperial University,
Kyoto, Japan.

Others which sent addresses

• CANADA:
  - McGill University, Montreal (Latin)
  - University of Toronto (Latin)
• AMERICA:
  - Harvard University, Cambridge (Latin)
  - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Latin)
  - University of Minnesota (Latin)
  - University of Pennsylvania
  - Princeton University
• AUSTRIA-HUNGARY:
  - University of Vienna
  - University of Clausenberg
  - University of Czernowitz
  - University of Lemberg
  - University of Innsbruck
• BELGIUM:
  - University of Brussels
  - University of Ghent
  - University of Liege (Latin)
• DENMARK:
  - University of Copenhagen (Latin)
• FRANCE:
  - University of Paris
  - University of Aix-Marseilles (Latin)
  - University of Besancon (Latin)
  - University of Caen (Latin)
  - University of Clermont-Ferrand (Latin)
  - University of Grenoble (Latin)
  - University of Lille
  - University of Lyons
  - University of Montpellier (Latin)
  - University of Toulouse (Latin)
• GERMANY:
  - University of Berlin (Latin)
  - University of Bonn
  - University of Breslau (Latin)
  - University of Erlangen
  - University of Freiburg (Latin)
  - University of Giessen
  - University of Gottingen (Latin)
  - University of Heidelberg (Latin)
  - University of Jena (Latin)
  - University of Kiel (Latin)
  - University of Leipzig (Latin)
  - University of Munich (Latin)
  - University of Marburg
  - University of Bostock
  - University of Tubingen (Latin)
  - University of Wurzburg (Latin)
• HOLLAND:
  - University of Groningen (Latin)
  - University of Leyden (Latin)
  - University of Utrecht (Latin)
• ITALY:
  - University of Rome
  - University of Florence (Latin)
  - University of Catania (Latin)
  - University of Parma (Latin)
  - University of Pisa (Latin)
• NORWAY:
  - University of Christiania (Latin)
• RUSSIA:
  - University of Charcov (Latin)
  - University of Cracow (Latin)
  - University of Dorpat (Latin)
  - University of Helsingfors (Latin)
  - University of Kiel (Latin)
  - University of Moscow
  - University of Odessa Latin)
  - University of Warsaw (Latin)
• SPAIN:
  - University of Saragossa (Latin)
  - University of Valencia (Latin)
• SWEDEN:
  - University of Lund (Latin)
• SWITZERLAND:
  - University of Berne (Latin)