Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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8 TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD him many hidden horizons and opened up a wonderland that awaits everyone with eyes to see. Johnson also first introduced Osler to a famous old book, Sir Thomas BroWne's, Religio Medici , The Religion of a Doctor . The English in which it is written is almost the most stately music which has ever been fashioned from the words of our tongue. It is a difficult book and a scholar's book. It must have been an extraordinary man who could interest a boy in that book. It must have been an extra- ordinary boy who was fascinated by its language and its teaching. Nevertheless, that miracle happened in this School, and when Osler left for the University of Toronto, his boyish plan became a man's purpose. He made up his mind to become a scientist. a doctor, and a teacher. Johnson rests in the Churchyard at Weston. I hope that his monu- ment is cared for and that the trustees and masters and boys of this School will always keep fresh the grass upon his grave. During Osler's time at this School, and after that at Toronto, another great teacher, a visitor to Trinity College School and a Professor at Trinity College, James Bovell, brought his wonderful influence to bear upon the moulding of Osler's life. At McGill, Dr. Palmer Howard, the most famous medical teacher of his day, in Canada, possessed the last strong hand that fashioned the pattern of Osler's dedication to the service of mankind. Throughout his days, Osler continually said and wrote that the purpose of his life, the direction of his toil, and the success of his labours were due to these three noble teachers. When he wrote his own greatest book he de- dicated it to them. His speeches and his letters were full of their grateful memory and I am sure that before the last darkness closed his eyes, their faces passed before him in the proud procession of his life's unforgettable love. I can almost hear them saying to Osler, and Osler saying to those whom he taught in his turn, the Words that have always lurked unspoken on the lips of those whose high

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD T pranks. As a matter of fact, he left his school at Dundas at the request of the management. When he was at school at Barrie he was known somewhat playfully as one of Barrie's bad boys . And even when he was at this School he once spent a few hours in what is called the custody of the law, because of some merriment carried a little too far, I expect that during the time he was at school he was most famous amongst his fellows because in his last year he was first in the hurdle race of 200 yards, and of 400 yards, first in the 100 yards hop race Cwhatever that isjg Hrst in the mile steeplechase and in throwing the cricket ball. I think he was the sort of boy you would have all liked. At least, he was the sort of boy that people kept on liking for seventy years. But his boyhood was not all mischief and laughter and the playing of games, although both work and play were to him the best of fun. When he looked back, he always said that three wonderful things came to him while he was a boy at this School. He thought their coming the most important happening in his life. The three things were, a man, an instrument, and a book. You have all heard of the Reverend W. A. Johnson, who was the first warden of this School. Johnson was the godson of the great Duke of Wellington, and had been a soldier and then became a parson and teacher. He was one of those men who had a genius for teaching, especially for teaching the things he liked to the boys he liked. He loved books, and above all was interested in the wonders of the world around him--in the way of a bird in the air, in the beauty of a flower in the woodland, in the delicate tracery of the moss on the stone. He was one of those pilgrims of whom the nrst great English poet said gladly would he learn and gladly teach . A glad teacher likes to meet no one as much as a glad learner, and a glad learner welcomes nobody more than a glad teacher. And so Father Johnson became Osler's friend, teacher and hero. He gave him his first microscope. What Osler saw through that microscope brought near to

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD Q calling it is to prepare the young for their highest destiny: My boy, wherever you are, work for your sou1's sake, That all the clay of you ' And all the dross of you May yield to the fire of you. Till the fire is nothing but light, Nothing but light. When Osler left this School he passed through the universities of Toronto and McGill and of Europe, to the Work of his life. He came back to North America to teach, to inspire, and to make real in action the things which he had learnt at the feet of his Masters. Osler was a great and a good man. In many respects I think he was the greatest man whom this country has produced. It is difficult to define a great man. We all know, don't we, that many men are often called great for reasons which do not appeal to all of us. Those reasons sometimes do not agree either with the judgment of time, for riches and power and military glory, and many other things of the World, fade as the years go by. But I think we can say that that man is a great man who first discovers new truths, who crystalizes old truths and new truths into .a great religion or philosophy which guides men towards wisdom and fills their hearts with the sense of the brother- hood of man and the Fatherhood of God, in which alone human progress can find a firm foundation. A great man too is one who makes great discoveries or inventions, and thereby enlarges the happiness and comfort of mankind. There is, too, the artist who enriches human life with beauty, with enduring works of music, of literature, of painting. There is another man who by his character, his work and his example, so impresses the men and women of his own time that he lives thereafter in the hearts of mankind as a lasting influence for good. I think Osler was that sort of a man. The things which he did and which I have already recited to you are themselves evidence of