University of Toronto - Torontonensis Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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of practical service has been vastly developed. The culture you have gained you hold as a trust for the benefit of the community. I believe you have been wise in finishing your courses. You will be all the better fitted, whatever call may come to you, for service in the Active Forces, in industry, or in the necessary daily occupations of life. The inevitable background of all your study and your recreation has been the War. The men have cheerfully taken their military training and the women have formed their own organizations to fit them for possible calls in connection with the war effort or in maintaining the ordinary business of the country. Public lectures have set before you the fundamental issues of the War. In Cromwell's phrase, we ought to know why we are in this business . Many university departments are carrying on special researches on war problems and giving special instruction to fit men for posts which require advanced knowledge and high skill. Hundreds have already enlisted in every branch of the service. There has been abroad a spirit of seriousness and growing determination. And yet there are some things which we need to realize more keenly. QD The Battle of Britain is really the Battle of the World. We are not fighting for territory or wealth but for our own continued existence as a free peopleg we are not fighting for ourselves alone, but for nothing less than the defence of the principles of truth, justice and liberty upon which the noblest way of life is based and which in turn are ultimately dependent upon religious belief and practice. We are striving to maintain the fundamental human decencies. 122 The material power of the enemy is still appallingly great. We must act on the belief that nothing less than entire unity of material effort and devotion of our resources to the limit will suffice to meet the demands of the situation in the present scenes of action. We expect our Governments to give a lead in economy and in the curtailment of unnecessary or postponable expenditures. f3J We are fighting for democracy, not as a form of government, but as something based on the supreme value of the individual in the sight of God. The late Lord Lothian said shortly before his death: f'The root disease of modern society is its dethronement of religion as the governing motive in societyf, If worthy character fails, democracy will be in danger. We must purify the democracy for which we fightg and we must prevent the civilization we are defending from rotting within, from being de-civilized by materialism, selfishness, injustice and softness. Remember Emerson's warning: The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization. Q41 We must maintain our morale, our spirit, our faith, our confidence. At long last wars are won both by the fighting forces and by the resolution of the whole people. We pay tribute with all our hearts to the courage, cheerfulness and endurance of the civilian population of Great Britain. They are suffering vicariou.sly for us and for the world. We read the daily record of their persistence through suffering, with agony, amazement and hope. Your country needs you, each one, the utmost you can be, or give, or do. For such a time as this you have enjoyed your opportunities and received your training. To whom much is given, of him shall much be required. Wherever you find yourself, do your utmost in the task immediately before you, whether it seems small or great. Take an active part in the public life of your community. Think, speak, serve, vote. Give leader- ship to worthy causes. Keep high the standards of conduct, thinking and character. Always hold in your heart remembrance and affection for your University. You owe her muchg she trusts you muchg she expects much. This may be a time of almost breaking strain, but, by the blessing of God, there will come the day of victory, peace, and new opportunity. I leave with you Kipling's words from his Hymn of Breaking Strain : Oh, veiled and secret Power We know Thy ways are true- Whose paths we seek in vain, In spite of being broken, Be with us in our hour Because of being broken, Of overthrow and paing May NSG and build HHGW, That we-by which sure token Stand up and build anew! 2 of President.

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X 1 I E ff-N il - 4 la liipjf 'XXX' X For such a time as this A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT To the Members of the Graduating Classes: N one of the great crises in the world's history, you will receive your university degree. Perhaps before this book is printed, the Fuehrer of the powers of darkness may have launched his most desperate attack upon our Motherland, the outpost of humane and Christian civilization in Europe, or he may have thought it wiser to consolidate his evil gains in a further enslavement of Europe, in any case, you know that you leave your Alma Mater at an hour when your country and the continued freedom of the world are struggling to survive. Our primary war aim is to win the war and rescue the enslaved. Through these nerve-racking days you have carried on your studies and now receive the outward sign of your own achievement. The University wishes you well, wherever you go. The best contribution she can make to the nation is to send forth a goodly company of men and women, such as you are, whose minds have been disciplined, whose powers of discernment have been sharpened, whose judgment has been trained, whose sympathies and outlook have been widened, whose characters have been enriched, and whose capacity

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