LI
A Distinguished Educator has Found Contentment in the Simple Life.
“MY life has been very quiet,” said Dr. James Loudon, president of the University of Toronto, which is the largest educational institution in Canada. “When I was graduated from this University in the early sixties I became associated with it as an instructor, and have never had any other professional connection.
“My birthplace was the city of Toronto, and my parents, like those of so many people in this province of Ontario, were Scotch. I might remark, parenthetically, that I think the infant that opens its eyes upon the world with Scotch blood in its veins has already made a pretty fair start in life. The typical Scotchman is shrewd and patient, and is the fortunate possessor of that sense of humor which does so much to smooth the way, both for himself and for those about him, and is so conducive to a sane philosophy. Patience, I have always thought, is a particularly valuable asset for the man who desires steady progress in his life.”
OUT OF DEBT AT LAST
“The truth of this is exemplified in your own career,” I suggested.
“Perhaps so,” replied Dr. Loudon. “I well remember Toronto when it was a comparative village, and I have seen it develop into the present brisk and impressive city. I remember, too, our University when its attendance was very small, and I have seen it steadily expand until now it has over twenty-five hundred students, and its influence has become widespread. I myself have been carried up with the general growth. For many years I was professor of mathematics in the University, and have made a special study of the science of physics. Finally, in 1892, chiefly on the ground of long service, I was made the president.
“Our progress here has been preëminently healthy—a substantial process of construction from the foundations up. If, from my observation of this development, any wisdom for young men can be gleaned, I would say to them, eliminate impatience and haste from your plans in building the structure of your career. Build slowly, keeping a careful eye upon the quality and placing of every beam and stone. It is by this method only that you will be able to construct an edifice that will be permanently satisfactory to yourself and impressive to the world.