Convocation and the Romanes Lecture
Translation of the Latin
THE CHANCELLOR.
The object of this Convocation is, that, if it be your pleasure, Gentlemen of the University, the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law may be conferred on the Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, ex-President of the United States of North America, that the long-expected Romanes Lecture may be delivered by him, when he has been made the youngest Doctor in the University, and that any other business should be transacted which may belong to this Venerable House.
Is it the pleasure then of this Venerable House that the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law should be conferred upon the Honorable Theodore Roosevelt? Is it your pleasure, Reverend Doctors? Is it your pleasure, Masters of the University?
Go, Bedels, and bring in the Honorable gentleman!
The Chancellor to the Vice-Chancellor.
Behold, Vice-Chancellor, the promised wight,
Before whose coming comets turned to flight,
And all the startled mouths of sevenfold Nile took fright!
PRESENTATION SPEECH by DR. HENRY GOUDY.
It has been my privilege to present in former years many distinguished citizens of the great American Republic for our honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, but none of them have surpassed in merit or obtained such world-wide celebrity as he whom I now present to you. Of ancient Dutch lineage, as his name indicates, but still a genuine American, he has long been an outstanding figure among his fellow citizens. He first became known to us in England during the Spanish-American War, when he commanded a regiment of cavalry and proved himself a most capable military leader. Omnivorous in his quest of knowledge, nothing in human affairs seemed to him superfluous or negligible. In the language of the poet, one might say of him—“Non sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo.” Twice has he been elevated to the position of President of the Republic, and in performing the duties of that high office has acquired a title to be ranked with his great predecessor Abraham Lincoln—“Quorum alter servitudinem, alter corruptionem vicit.” May we not presage that still a third time—most auspicious of numbers—he may be called upon to take the reins of government?
With unrivalled energy and tenacity of purpose he has combined lofty ideals with a sincere devotion to the practical needs not only of his fellow countrymen, but of humanity at large. A sincere friend of peace among nations—who does not know of his successful efforts to terminate the devastating war between Russia and Japan?—he has also firmly held that Peace is only a good thing when combined with justice and right. He has ever asserted that a nation can only hope to survive if it be self-respecting and makes itself respected by others.
A noted sportsman and lover of Natural History, he has recently, after his arduous labors as Head of the State, been seeking relaxation in distant Africa, where his onslaughts on the wild beasts of the desert have been not less fierce nor less successful than over the many-headed hydra of corruption in his own land.
Now, like another Ulysses, on his homeward way he has come to us for a brief interval, after visiting many cities and discoursing on many themes.
Nor must I omit to remind you that our guest, amid his engrossing duties of State, has not neglected the Muses. Not less facile with the pen than the tongue, he has written on many topics, and this afternoon it will be our privilege to listen to him discoursing on a lofty theme.
By the Chancellor.
Most strenuous of men, most distinguished of citizens to-day playing a part on the stage of the world, you who have twice administered with purity the first Magistracy of the Great Republic (and may perhaps administer it a third time), peer of the most august Kings, queller of men, destroyer of monsters wherever found, yet the most human of mankind, deeming nothing indifferent to you, not even the blackest of the black; I, by my authority and that of the whole University, admit you to the Degree of Doctor of Civil Law, honoris causa.
Go, Bedels, conduct the Honorable Doctor to the Lectern!
Here follows the Chancellor’s welcome, and the Romanes Lecture.
After the Lecture, the Chancellor to the Vice-Chancellor.
And now, my dear Vice-Chancellor—for it is time—be good enough to dissolve the Convocation!
The Vice-Chancellor.
Exalted Lord Chancellor, at your bidding we dissolve the Convocation.
FINIS
Footnotes
1 The text of this lecture, which is the Romanes Lecture for 1910, is included in the present volume under the courteous permission of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
2 The American Mission at Khartum is under the auspices of the United Presbyterian Church of America. The Rev. Dr. John Giffen introduced Mr. Roosevelt to the assembly.—L.F.A.
3 One of the most distinguished officers of the Anglo-Egyptian Army whose well-known book, Fire and Sword in the Sudan, gives a graphic picture of the conditions England has had to deal with in the Sudan.—L.F.A.
4 Prince Fouad is the uncle of the Khedive, a Mohammedan gentleman of education and enlightened views.—L.F.A.
5 The great Moslem University of Cairo, in which 9000 students study chiefly the Koran in mediæval fashion.—L.F.A.
6 This bit of Arabic, admirably pronounced by Mr. Roosevelt, surprised and pleased the audience as much as his acquaintance with the life and works of Ibn Batutu surprised and pleased the sheiks at the Moslem University two days before. Both Mr. Roosevelt’s use of the Arabic tongue and his application of the proverb were greeted with prolonged applause.—L.F.A.
7 Awarded to Mr. Roosevelt for his acts as mediator between Russia and Japan which resulted in the Treaty of Portsmouth and the ending of the Russo-Japanese war.—L.F.A.
8 See the Introduction.—L.F.A.
9 In the Romanes Lecture at Oxford.—L.F.A.
10 The Cambridge Union is the home of the well-known debating society of the undergraduates of Cambridge University. To the Vice-President, a member of Emmanuel College, the college of John Harvard who founded Harvard University, was appropriately assigned the duty of proposing the resolution admitting Mr. Roosevelt to honorary membership in the Union Society. In supporting the resolution the Vice-President referred to the peculiar relation which unites the English Cambridge and the American Cambridge in a common bond and touched upon Mr. Roosevelt’s African exploits by jocosely expressing anxiety for the safety of “the crest of my own college, the Emmanuel Lion, which I see before me well within range.” There had just appeared in Punch, at the time of Mr. Roosevelt’s arrival in England, a full-page cartoon showing the lions of the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square guarded by policemen and protected by a placard announcing that “these lions are not to be shot.” The Secretary, in seconding the resolution, humorously alluded to the doctor’s gown, hood, and cap, in which Mr. Roosevelt received his degree, as a possible example of what America sometimes regards as the gilded trappings of a feudal and reactionary Europe.—L.F.A.
11 The occasion of this address was the ceremony in the Guildhall in which Mr. Roosevelt was presented by the Corporation of the City of London (the oldest corporation in the world), with the Freedom of the City. Sir Joseph Dimsdale, on behalf of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation, made the address of presentation.—L.F.A.
12 Sir Reginald Wingate, who at the time of this address was both Sirdar of the Anglo-Egyptian Army and Governor-General of the Sudan.—L.F.A.
13 In the Introduction will be found Mr. Roosevelt’s differentiation of sentimentality from sentiment.—L.F.A.
14 Compare the address at the University of Cairo.—L.F.A.
15 The text of this Lecture, which is the Romanes Lecture for 1910, is included in the present volume under the courteous permission of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.—L.F.A.
16 An artistically printed pamphlet, containing, with text in Latin and in English, the programme and ritual here given, was placed by the University authorities in the hands of each member of the audience.—L.F.A.