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europeenne. Parler le francais, meme avec un accent affreux comme le mien, c'est
quelque chose de valuable. On y trouve d'autres facons de penser qui se traduisent
mal en anglais; on y trouve les resources d'une littérature et d'une philosophie
aussi magnifique que chez n'importe quelle autre langue. Pourquoi donc, n'a-t-on

pas le courage de dire qu'une connaissance de la langue francaise est beaucoup plus
qu'un devoir civil or un laissez-passer dans la vie de fonctionnaire? N'a-t-on

Plus la conviction traditionelle qu'une connaissance d'une langue autre que la sienne
est la marque d'un homme l'une femme educé? . °

My argument so far has been that far from being an impractical luxury that should
be cut back in the interests of more practical training, the humanities properly
taught are one way of cultivating that wisdom which makes civilization possible and
human life worthwhile. It is important even in these bad times in which we
live that the significance of the humanities should be made clear to students in
what is said about university.

But what about Thorneloe. What has a small church-related university got to
offer to the Laurentian federation?

Let us be honest that not everyone on this campus is happy that we are alive.
There is an approach to problem solving which one might call the Casablanca method.
Those who have seen the famous film of that name will remember Claude Raines as the
venyal chief of police whose stock approach to any crisis was "round up the usual
suspects." I have the impression that when the usual suspects are being rounded up
at Laurentian it is the federated universities that find themselves going first into
the paddy wagon.

It is sometimes argued that the federated universities — Huntington and Sudbury
along with Thorneloe cost Laurentian money on the grounds that size and centralization
is a guarantee of efficiency. This theory has been disproved by both British Leyland
and Dome Petroleum to the satisfaction of all except their shareholders and those
who feel Laurentian could maintain the same level of services without the federated
colleges should take a closer look.

Again it is sometimes felt that the federated universities draw students away
from other departments; but then the federated universities also draw students to
Laurentian, students who might go elsewhere if the federated colleges disappeared.

However tonight I would like to argue that it is precisely that feature of the
federated colleges that some might feel disqualifies them which enables them to make
a contribution to Laurentian, namely their church affiliation. It is sometimes said
that it is this religious affiliation which is likely to have an unfortunate effect
on the respectability of the teaching offered.

Now in the history of liberal education the church's record has not always been

impeccable, but neither has it been altogether bad. It was under the church's in-
fluence and protection that the universities arose and even in more modern times

Con’ teners