I certainly thought that the Bosnian cause was worth fighting for and worth defending, but I could not take myself seriously enough to imagine that my own demise would have forwarded the cause. If the two new doctors of law were delighted with the afternoon’s performance, no less delighted, surely, was the man who had stage-managed it all, Cyril James.“In Sarajevo in 1992, while being shown around the starved, bombarded city by the incomparable John Burns, I experienced four near misses in all, three of them in the course of one day. James told his diary that Roosevelt wanted to keep his gown and that Churchill had requested a copy of that so-hastily written presentation speech. … He found in his heart the splendid words that expressed the unconquerable spirit of his people.”Īfter the ceremony, as cameras clicked and whirred at the press conference to wrap up their summit, Churchill and Roosevelt continued to wear their red and white McGill gowns, giving the university wonderful exposure around the world. Churchill, he said, was “of that company of immortals who have rallied England in the great climacterics of her history. In his speeches of presentation, James praised the confidence, courage, vision and humanitarianism of the U.S. James noted how everyone, especially Mackenzie King, was in excellent spirits but was shocked by how ill Roosevelt looked (he would be dead in seven months). In addition to McGill dignitaries, those present in the main were participants in the military conference, 150-odd reporters, Churchill’s wife in dark glasses and, at Roosevelt’s feet, the president’s dog Fala. Churchill’s hand, the cigaret in its long holder in that of the president.” Characteristically without such a prop was the third leader, Prime Minister Mackenzie King. … Characteristic props were the cigar in Mr. “In sharp contrast were the three leaders in dark conventional lounge suits sitting in a row facing the press. “Flags of the United States, Britain and Canada flew from the ramparts, the president’s personal flag was hoisted at the terrace mast, the brilliance of academic dress and uniforms added to the colour of an historic scene,” The Gazette reported.
The outdoor ceremony, in sparkling weather on the Citadel’s terrace high above the St. Somehow, the obstacles were all overcome, even though James was still revising his tribute to Churchill as the Saturday-morning train pulled into the Quebec City station. Dorothy McMurray, his secretary and a stickler for proper form and procedure, was shocked that McGill precedent was to be flouted and degrees awarded away from Montreal, however august a location the residence of the governor-general in Quebec City might be. James had to get the approval of the McGill senate for what had already been arranged, see to the preparation of the necessary diplomas and gowns, book a private railway car to Quebec City and – not the least of his challenges – write speeches to be delivered in the presence of two of the English language’s greatest orators. Suddenly, the university administration was thrown into a flurry of activity bordering on panic. 14, when the conference opened, he still had heard nothing and assumed that, once again, his hopes were to be dashed. Undaunted, he then suggested that McGill’s leadership could go to Quebec City to do the honours there. Again, James was disappointed such a visit, he was told, could not be fitted into the two men’s itineraries. James proposed that after the conference, Churchill and Roosevelt should journey to Montreal, where both would receive honourary degrees. James immediately contacted the earl of Athlone who, as governor-general, held the ceremonial position of McGill’s visitor. (The two leaders had also conferred at Quebec in August 1943.) There matters lay until early September 1944 when James learned that a Churchill-Roosevelt summit at Quebec City, to discuss the war against Japan now that the Normandy landings had been safely accomplished, would be held that month. president, though delighted, said he was unable to come to Montreal and so was obliged to decline.
In 1942, he proposed that an honourary degree be conferred on Roosevelt in recognition of the Herculean war effort he was inspiring in his countrymen. Cyril James, who in 1940 had become McGill’s 11th principal. The driving force behind the unlikely ceremony was F. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.