REGINALD BATEMAN
TEACHER AND SOLDIER
A MEMORIAL VOLUME OF SELECTIONS
FROM HIS LECTURES AND
OTHER WRITINGS
PRINTED FOR
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN,
SASKATOON, CANADA
AND PUBLISHED FOR THE UNIVERSITY BY
HENRY SOTHERAN AND CO.
LONDON
1922
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.
CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND GRIGGS (PRINTERS), LTD.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
PREFATORY NOTE
The purpose of this volume is tocommemorate the life and death of ReginaldJohn Godfrey Bateman, first Professor ofEnglish at the University of Saskatchewan.It was felt by the Governors and Faculty ofthe University that his friends and old studentswould value a representative selection fromthe lectures delivered by him within theUniversity and to the outside public. Includedin the selection are a few poems which werefound among his papers. The lectures andessays which are published here, being writtenfor popular audiences or literary gatheringsinside the University, were never intended by theirauthor for publication as the original andconsidered critical work of a Professor of English;doubtless, if such had been his purpose, muchthat is printed here, originally hurriedlyprepared during the busy rush of a college session,would have been altered and recast.
While originality was one of ProfessorBateman's most marked qualities, the membersof the committee entrusted with thepreparation of this volume for the press have not,in every case, regarded originality of thoughtas a necessary qualification for inclusion.In making their selection they have ratherbeen guided by the desire to give to hisfriends and old students what, whether originalin thought or not, appeared to be in treatmentand presentation most characteristic of theman and teacher.
War—and herein lies its greatest tragedy—alwaystakes heavy toll of the promise andlatent greatness of a nation, its youth andvigorous young manhood. Like many otherswho risked all and gave all in the Great War,Reginald Bateman was cut off in his prime.
He was born in Ireland some thirty-eightyears ago. His schooldays were spent underDr. Biggs, often called the Irish Arnold, atPortora Royal School, perhaps the greatestof Irish public schools, with a tradition ofscholarship which is centuries old. On leavingschool he entered Trinity College, Dublin,where he graduated with the Highest Honoursin Modern Literature. In college his activitiesand interests were wide, and he was anoutstanding example of the student who combineswith distinction in scholarship, prominence inathletics and a broad and human outlook onlife. In this as in other respects he was aworthy representative of the spirit of hisUniversity. After a few years' experience ofteaching in Ireland, he was appointed to thechair of English at the University of Saskatchewan,being one of the original four professorswho, with President Murray, launched theUniversity on its educational career in 1909.When a peaceful and unsuspecting worldwas plunged, in August 1914, into the horrorsof the most stupendous war in its history,Professor Bateman quickly decided that hisplace was in the fighting line, and he enlistedin the 28th Battalion in September 1914, incompany with another professor and manymembers of our student body. His abilityto handle men, quickly became apparent; heso