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AND THK nim tti the MntmM Classes AS SUGGESTED BY THEM. gttt (Ovation, Delivekkw jikkokk iHE Associated Alvmm ov Acadia Oolleoe, Junk .5, 1865. • By THE Rev. a. H. MUNRO, Of Halifax, N. S. l(-^ Pnli/is/ied 1)1/ iijicc'ial reqiu-fit of the AHHociafcd Almntti. sr-^? ' ^ > .' HALIFAX, N. S. " CHRISTIAN MESSENGER " OFFICE. . 1865. 's :.'A, &' -• I \ Di ^^t^-- 4- .^Skdfj CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESENT AGE; AND THB itttijs 0f \\t ^h\u\ti ^\u%t% AS SUGGESTED BY THEM. g^tt fflratlou, DeLITERBD BEFOnE THE ASSOCIATED AlVMNI OP ACADIA COLIEOB, June o, 1865. By the Rev. A. H. MUNRO, Of Halifax, N. S. Published hy special request of the Associated Alumni. HALIFAX, N. S. "CHRISTIAN MESSENGER" OFFICE. 1865. j ^o\ . ^\ ST? n Vi, CJ C] th \ c //h^ \ ORATION. tThc following address was delivered at Wolfvillc on Monday evening June 5, before the AsKociatcd Alumni of Acadia College. The Chair- man who presided on the occasion, Dr. McN Parker of Halifax, stated to the audience that the Hon. Judge Johnston had engaged to be the Society's orator for 1865, but his offlcial duties having demanded his presence in Cape Breton, the Rev. Mr Munro, at the urgent solicitation of the Coramittea, had consented to deliver the annual oration, although when he gave his consent to do so, there were but three weeks left for preparation. In further explanation of the Chairman's introductory remarks Mr. Munro would now add that neither when writing this essay, nor since, has he had time to refer to all the authors from whom he may have de- rived aid. Wherever his memory enabled him with certainty to attri- bute anything to its original source he has done it. But in some few instances this would have required an amount of research for which there was not time. Hence some of the thoughts he has expressed must go forth without the sanction of emhient names that might have added authority to their intrinsic worth.] Gentlemen of the Associated Alumni of Acadia College^-^ As a general rule, I believe it is best v^T public speakers to avoid making apologies, if for no other reason than that they are so frequently made, and therefore liable to be re- garded as a mere form, better omitted than observed. But on the present occasion, I think it is necessary and just, both for my sake and on behalf of those, whom this even- ing I not only address, but in some degree represent, that it should be made known, as it has been by the chairman, how brief was the period afforded me to prepare myself for the duty that now devolves upon me. But while a know- ledge of this fact ought to moderate the expectations of my audience, and shield me from much criticism that other- wise would be allowable, I do not desire that it should cause the views I am about to advance to be regarded as crude and hasty conclusions which I would probably with- hold or modify, upon more mature deliberation. The thoughts I shall endeavor to present this evening are some ;2'^3>?f- of tho rcflults of tlio reading and thinking, tho notes anJ reflections of tiie laat 10 years of my life. How many of tliem I owe to others, or have been coined in my own mind, it is now impossible for me to say. On that point you must judge for yourselves. But I am less anxious to impress you with the originality than with the correctness of tho views I am about to piesent, without any attempt at elo- quence or rhetorical cifect, upon what I trust we will all feel to be an appropriate and important subject — The Characteristics of the present Age and the duties of the Educated Classes as suggested by them. Nothing is more common in the present day than to hear tho remark, " We live in an age of progress." Like many a truism, its repetition is apt to be the ill-disguised expres- sion of a serious error. No doubt many persons in using this language wish it to convey their belief that this epoch of the world's history is distinguished, as a progressive one, from all that have preceded it. The sentiment, it i» well to know, is not by any means peculiar to this day and generation. Our ancestors cherished it as firmly as we, and were equally convinced that their own times surpassed all that had gone before, and could be rivalled by none that might follow them. Dr. Johnson had this opinion of his own era, which he thought had brought learning to its highest perfection, and exhausted both discovery and improvement. And this, be it remembered, was before steamships and railways, telegraphs or cheap literature, photography or papier machie were dreamed of. Yes, when gentlemen had to wear their pantaloons without braces and ladies their hoops without crinoline. Dr. Johnson thought that there was nothing to discover and little to improve. This is an age of | rogress. But there is nothing in that assertion to minister to our self- elation if it be rightly understood. It is but the recognition of the fact that this, like every other period of human history, is a link in that mighty chain of providence which has no broken or redun- dant parts. Amid all the changes of the past, its light and darkness, its folly and wisdom, its great crimes and great mistakes, its growth and decay of empires, its revolutions and bloody conflicts, its barbarisms emerging into civiliza- tion, and its civilizations sinking back into barbarism, over- ruling omnipotence has been leading erring, unconscious lis. man, along tlie path of human progress. Stow commences his history by saying: — "Thank (lod old London was burnt." If the old city had not been burnt the now could not have been built. We need not call evil good, nor darkness light ; wo need not give all races and times equal praise for their contributions towards the grand result, to believe that somewhere and somehow, in all the past, amid its direst calamities and darkest intellectual nights, what- ever was sought or suflered, lost or won, mankind were learning some truth, gaining some experience essential to the advancement of the race. This is the spirit in which we should say : — " Ours ii an age of Progress." That which enables us to say it of the day when tha Israelites upon the shores of the Red Sea, with strained eyes beheld the hosts of Pharoah engulfed in the waves, and then for the first time drew the breath of a free people. And equally so, of that period when the long wearied justice of heaven at last smote the idolatrous tribes and scattered them for all time, a remnant among many people. To say it, not only of the age in which Roman power extended Roman law from Arabia to Britain, but also of the time when Groths, Huns and Vandals, Franks and Suevi, poured their desolating hordes upon the fertile fields, vine-clad hills and luxurious cities of Southern Europe. To say it of the time in which vainglorious and superstitious cru- saders fought for the Holy Sepulchre ; — of that in which Charlemagne wept as he saw the barks of the Norsemen in the Mediterraue:m ; — of that in which Danish pirates wasted and Norman William oppressed Saxon England ; and of that in which the nation divided into hostile factions, fought on a score of bloody fields to decide whether a white rose or a red should adorn the crown. When we can thus see that every age has been a progressive one, not always in the same degree nor in the same manner, but really and essentially furnishing its indispensable quota towards the elevation of mankind, then we shall not be injured but benefited by the conviction that this is a progressive age, marked by a civilization that is the nearest approach yet made to that epoch which shall be the product and em- bodiment of all previous history and attainment, " The heir of all ages in the foremost files of Time." 6 Which will 8ec tho huinnn family fiilfilliiifij its doHtiny on earth in the complete realization of all that tho beneficent (•reator has designed, and all it is posHible for man to achieve in the luHt and hi/jhcst phase of eivili/ation. And what in (JiviliHation ? The etymology of the word points plainly enough to the refinement of the citizen con- trasted with the coarseness of tho rusti(?. Its accepted and legitimate signification is, the superiority of man in n state of culture above man in a barbaric condition, (civil- isation then is the degree of advantdtjcouH c'lay/gr. vjf'c.ctvd in the vharader and circvmsfrtnces of innti, and incasnring his distance from snvarje iifv. Its actual value is to be tested by an examination of the kind of benefits it confers and the extent to which they are enjoyed. That civilisa- tion is the highest and best which most successfully elevates the individual and most widcdy diffuses its blessings through- out society and the world. Man's physical, intellectual, and moral nature arc the things with which it has to deal — ministering to the wants, developing tho capacities and remedying the evils belonging to each. The Health, In- telligence, and INIorality of any community or age, are the component elements of its civilisation. Its Health, because it is the sure evidence of the extent to which all classes are properly housed, fed, clothed, employed and enabled to en- joy life. Its Intelligence, because it includes the things known, the numbers who know them and tho uses to which that knowledge is applied. Its Morals, because they are the basis of personal characters, the items that constitute the nature of social life, determining its manners and cus- toms, laws and government, policy and faith. In man's advance towards ideal perfection in connection A\ith these things he has to gain three victories ; First, over Nature. To discover her secrets, learn her laws, enrich himself with her treasures, and avail himself of her resources, to achieve what without them would be gigantic impossibilities, and to reach through them what would else be unattainable enjoyments, is the first great battle of civilisation. It includes every discovery man has turned to practical use, from^ the spark that would kindlo his firo to the electricity that would carry his thoughts, and every invention, from the rude arrow to the ocean steam- ship. Second, over OpprcsHion. While waging his conflict with nature, man has had tu put forth his energies in a more fierce and bloody strife, that with his follow man. It han ever been the dispoHition of 8ome portion of society to lay burdens and impose restraints upon the rest, not for the general good, but for the bcncifit and aggrandisement of a few. The extent to which it has been attempted is less surprising than the degree to which it has been endured at the hands of tyrants, oligarchies and priests. From this thraldom man has had to cniiincipate himself. Long and dire has been the conflict, many the martyrs, but worthy of it all the victory sought. For the question at issue has been this — Shall the powers of man be paralysed, his en- quiries after truth suppressed, his advancement arrested, that a selfish few may be paramolint, or shall he enjoy free- dom of thought and liberty of action to pursue tiiat path of progress for which his Creator designed him ? And in the decision of this question how through successive ages has the tide of conflict ebbed and flowed. One battle field ex- changed for another, one combatant falling, another rising, one weapon having done good service being laid down for another to do better ; till now, most noble army of martyrs, great champions of lleformation, and all who fought in the great fight for human liberty, the tyrranies you resisted unto death, are unknown to us and experienced only by thoso too debased to win or appreciate the blessings of freedom. Third, over Social Evils. The aggregation of large masses of human beings in the same community has always given rise to social anomalies and disorders of suflering, vice and crime, both peculiar in their nature and vast in their amount. In some instances they assume an aspect that is frightful, and a magnitude that is appalling, and at the same time appear to arise inevitably from causes im- possible to remove or counteract, while they threaten the destruction of the whole social fabric. Of all the victories civilisation has to win, the last, the greatest, that which needs most faith in God and help from him, is its triumph over social evils. If these are the elements and aims of civilization, a little reflection upon them will save us from the errors of either too highly exalting, or too much depreciating the civilization 8 111! of the present age in comparison with ♦hcse of past ages. Most of the latter have left us sufl&cient to form a ju-^t. opin- ion of their merits. Assyrias' winged bulls with human faces, typical of deity, and carved representations of king's hunting or slaughtering captives, speak conceptions of the divine nature and human glory, that, independently of the few pages of her history that we possess, tell us that when she ruled the world the human race was in the infancy of its culture and the child- hood of its thought. If Egypt had left us nothing but her pyramids they would be enough to teach what all else she has left confirms. Built in ostentation and by oppression, with reckless waste of human toil and life, they still lift their gray heads in the desert to tell that the wisdom of the Egyptians was not productive of a civilization that either subdued nature or elevated man. But Greece, what shall we say of her, with her Parthenon, poets, orators and heroes ? Are not the relics of her art the priceless treasures of modern museums, the fragments of her literature the models of ours ? Would not an Athe- nian mob applaud a play too intellectual for our most culti- vated audiences, and repeat verbatim an oration it would be an effort for most of us to follow ? Was not that a civiliza- tion most perfect, and as yet unrivalled ? I answer, No. The Greeks knew a few things and knew them well, did a few things and did them well, but they were not the best things for man to know or do. Probably they carried intellectual culture, in some of its departments, to the highest perfection of which it is capable. But, after all, their civilization was like one of their own temples, perfect in its form but monotonous, beautiful, but not sublime, appealing only to the eye, addressing nothing to the heart, Pagan not Christian. The edifice of modern civilization has a wider base, a deeper foundation, loftier heights, and more varied aspcts ; it is Christian not Pagan. By the last remark I mean that the special features and peculiar advantages, marking the civilization of the present age, are those which Christianity has conferred upon it. The traveller in passing the boundary which separates heathen from christian lands is conscious of an entire change in social relations, sentiments and life, the different items bnt tea in!* of which he may enumerate, one by one, but to the whole of which, he would find it difficult to apply any general term. And it is just so in passing the boundary which separates ancient from modern civilization, that which pre- ceded the introduction of Christianity from that which fol- lowed it. The flora and fauna of the frigid zones are not more unlike those of the tropics, than arc the develope- ments of ancient, pagan civilization from modern and christian civilization. And as the student of natural history knows, that the peculiar forms of animated nature he observes in any region are but the external evidences of vital forces, infused into its air and hidden in its soil, so the student of human history knows, that the peculiar aspects of social life, distinguish- ing modern from ancient civilization, must arise from the only adequate cau«e not formerly in operation, namely, the influence of christian doctrine and life. If now, the whole landscape is new, it is because Christianity has fur- nished fundamental ideas and sympathies entirely unlike those out of which pagan civilization grew. If now the social atmosphere is so vastly changed it is because Chris- tianity has impregnated earth and heaven, in man's coD^:ci- ousness, with other thoughts, feelings and hopes. When Christianity imparted to man its sublime, holy and beneficent conceptions of God — when it declared that the immortality of the soul was a truth beyond question, and its value a price beyond calculation — when it pro- claimed the death of the son of Grod for mankind — when it taught that the soul's highest aspiration was that after goodness, its loftiest, most blessed attainment, that of an ascent through an enlightened conscience to communion with its Creator — when it revealed, instead of " the Socra- tic Demon, but at best an intellectual guide," the Holy Spirit, given to create new life in the soul, to lead it in duty, guard it in danger, cheer it in sorrow, along the path to heaven's gate — when instead of the cold abstractions of ancient philosophy, it solved the problem of life by pre- senting the living Jesus as its model — when it pointed to a certain but undated future, in which good should triumph over evil, right over wrong, and truth over error, a reign of righteousness and peace, a moral conquest to be gained through huniaii instrumentality, but assured by divine pro- 10 iiiise and help — it gave to human nature, new dignity, prin- ciples, and aims. The greatest fact in the past history of civilisation, is not the discovery of the magnet, the inven- tion of printing, the French llevolution, nor any similar event, but the advent of Christ into our world ; the grand consummation of its future, to which it is slowly, often un- consciously, but ever surely, advancing, is his second coming Avhen the world shall be filled with his glory — the glory of the universal prevalence of his gospel. This is the meaning of our civilization, let who may be blind to it. Grecian culture did its best for man ; it taught him to re- joice in the present. Its final conclusion was : — " let us eat and drink for to-morrow we- die." Christianity's best gift to man is not so much an enhan'jed joy in the present as a prayer, purpose and hope for a world wide, better, and nobler future. It is not my intention to night to endeavour to fully il- lustrate this view of the subject by attempting to show all that Christianity has done to benefit our world and elevate man. My object is far less ambitious. It is simply to point out some of tlie more important features of our civili- sation, that exist as evidences of the triumphs Christianity has already achieved, or as the victories it has yet to win, after 18 centuries of conflict with human folly and wicked- ness. 1. The first Characteristic of the civilization of the pre- sent age to which I would call attention, is its Progkessive, Aggressive and Diffusive nature, I put all these to- gether, because they must coexist if they exist at all. A civilization may be stationary, like that of Greece, which accomplished all it could, and then passed away. No better temples could be built, or statues carved, or poems written, or orations composed, or speculations invented, than ii gave to the world. What more could it do than it had done? Why then should it live? How could it? Life is growth. Its doom was inevitable ; it must pass away and leave its memory, its dead language, art and literature. The civilization of the present day is a living thing, spreading its roots and branches on every hand. " Rest and be thankful," is not the motto of our age. No wonder its quotation brought so much ridicule upon the nobleman 11 ;n who aass made it famous. He should have left It where he found it, in its a'lpropriate place, the tomb stone of a dead Highlander. The present age cannot rest ; all it has done is but an opportunity and inducement to do more. More it cannot do without aggression high and low, far and near, and these aggressions it cannot make without diffusing its blessings more deeply and widely. If we compare the state of society now with that of 50, a 100, or 200 years ago, it is impossible to say in what department the most improvement has been made, in science or art, in the in- tellectual life or religious spirit of society. Equally diffi- cult is it to say, what part of society the high or low or what portion of the world, the civilised or barbarous, has advanced the most. If, for instance, brutal and turbubnt laboring classes have given place to orderly and intelligent artizans, an insolent and debauched gentry has been suc- ceeded by a refined philanthropic nobility ; and if the Eng- land of to-day is inconceivably unlike the England of the past, the distant portions of the world, over which she has held her sway or exerted her influence, have been more revolutionised than herself ; of which we need only point to India as an illustration. This is a point to which I am desirous of giving special prominence — The expansive cha- racter of the civilisation of the present age. Channing saw and indicated this feature of our age, and if percepti- ble in his day how much more manifest in ours ? The bar- riers, ignorance and bigotry, cowardice and exclusiveness set up, tlie spirit of the age has thrown d :>wn. In all our discoveries, inventions, and improvements, whether min- istering to man's wants or enjoyments, there is a tendency to spread themselves abroad and to make themsilves the common property of every class and nation. Tliore is not an advantage that belongs to our civilisation unniavkod by this characteristic of expansiveness. It is seen in the pre- vailing religious spirit. The Church no longer means the clergy, but the people. The right to teach is tlie conceded prerogative of all who have the ability and can find an audience. The possession of religious truth, by any in- dividual, communion, or nation, is admitted to impose the duty of imparting it to the destitute ; hence the efforts made to permeate every portion of society witli direct re- ligious instruction, and to send the missionary of the cross 12 to every people under the whole heaven. It is seen in commerce. Monopolies belong to the past. The advan- tages of free trade as demonstrated by the experience of Great Britain are too palpable for other nations not to see and wish to enjoy them. Hence protectionist theories are being abandoned, and the shackles of commerce created by restrictive tariffs removed. It is seen in education. No country within the pale of civilisation is now willing to re- main disgraced by the presence of masses of its popula- tion for whose instruction no adequate provision is made. Not many years ago the condition of England in this re- spect was most discreditable ; but so rapid has been the improvement that to day it is said the difficulty is no longer to provide schools for the children, but to bring the children to the schools. It is seen in Literature. Once the learned and men of genius addressed themselves to a small and select class. Their folios were for the shelves of the philosopher ; their tomes for the purchase of the wealthy. Now men of the most profound learning and brilliant genius, such as Ilersehell, Macaulay, Carlyle, Mill, and Dickens, con- tribute their ablest productions to periodicals read by scores of thousands. It is seen in Art. The modern Hogarth, instead of issuing at wide intervals expensive prints, sup- plied weekly for twenty-four years pencillings to a comic pa- per whose name is a household word with millions. The artist who in former times would have painted frescoes in the palaces of kings, or hung his pictures in the galleries of nobles now illustrates shilling magazines with the creations of his genius, and displays his most finished works in exhibitions rendered remunerative by the patronage of the common people. And if this expansiveness manifests itself in con- nection with those features of civilisation common to this and past ages, much more strikingly is it shown in those peculiar to our day. Whoever invented the steam engine it is now the common property of the whole world, and it would be impossible to say what class is the most benefited by its application to locomotion, the poor to whom it has made travelling possible, or the rich to whom it has made it convenient. The Electric Telegraph courts the patron- age of all people and nations. The photographer hangs in his show-case the faithful representation of Bridget Mc- Slughter alongside that of the finest lady in the land. 13 While the delicately nurtured may only with great care re- lieve their pangs by the use of chloroform, in the hospitals to which the laboring poor of large cities are taken, it is freely used to prevent indescribable suffering. The illus- trations in fact of the tendency of all that marks modern civilisation to diffuse itself into universal expansion, are endless. There is only one more to which I shall refer. It is in connection with the tendency of ideas, thoughts, to spread themselves over the whole world. The English Commissioners to China a few years ago, on their journey crossed the desert by railways and omnibus precisely like those they had last seen in London and when at the end of it were astonished to find that the Imperial officials, who had been appointed to negociate with them, were familiar with the names of Cobden and Bright, and could quote recent debates in Parliament. They had taken measures to pro- cure supplies of English papers, and to have them transla- ted. The proverb has been that one half the world does not know how the other lives ; the great wonder of to-day is, that through the ramifications of steam communication, the vast amount of travelling, the sending newspaper cor- respondents to every part of the earth, of permanent or temporary interest, the flashing of intelligence ov-r the wires and the cheapness of newspapers, each half of the world is beginning to know what the other thinks, and both to have much knowledge and many opinions in common. 2. A TENDENCY TO REMOVE ALL UNJUST AB VANTAGES AND ARTIFICIAL DISTINCTIONS. *' We call life a journey," says Sydney Smith, " but how variously is that journey performed. There are those who come forth girt and shod to walk on velvetest lawns and smooth terraces, where every gale is arrested and every beam is tempered. There are others who walk on the Alpine paths of life, against driving misery and through stormy sorrows, over sharp afliictions ; walk, with bare feet and naked breast, jaded, mangled, chilled." Perhaps to some extent so it must be and will be. But society is disposed to try that question^ and there is a marked dispo- sition and tendency to find out what common vantage ground belongs to ally and to remove as far as practicable all the depressing influences and injurious distinctions which ere- 14 ate obstacles in the way of its enjoyment to a large portion of the community. Such obstacles exist on every hand. Not only as the instruments of oppression emplc,ed by the wealthy and well-born towards the poor and lonely, but by man towards woman. Society is beginning to see that its best interests will be most effectually promoted by its offering to all its members the most encouragements and the fewest hindrances to advancement : and that woman, equally with man, should enjoy the right to learn, to speak, to write, to work as God has given her ability, and to receive equal and just reward for what she accomplishes. De Toqueville nays, that, during the last 700 years there has been scarcely any great event which has not tended to equalise the conditions of life. He refers as proof to the Crusades, the wars between England and France and their own civil conflicts, which each and all impoverished the nobility and compelled them to divide and diminish by sale their immense estates. This and the growth of commerce created a middle class. The invention of firearms equal- lised the noble and serf upon the field of battle. The discovery of America, the invention of printing, the teach- ings of Protestantism, the French Revolution, cheap litera- ture. Postal arrangements, and the discovery of Californian and Australian Gold fields have all had the same equallising tendency. " The gradual removal of artificial distinctions and the developement of the equality of conditions of life is therefore a providential fact and possesses all the charac- teristics of a divine decree. It is universal and durable. It constantly eludes all human interference and all events as well as men are contributing to its progress." 3. Diminished dependence upon brute force. Most of tiie great things accomplished iii former times owed their performance to a small amount of mind direct- ing a large amount of brute force. So ancient empires were founded and governed, battles fought, victories won, cities built and monuments erected. Machinery has taken the place of bodily labor in doing the largest part of the work now done in the world. All the men and women on earth have not sufficient muscular power to do the work performed in England alone by steam engines. The his- tory of almost every production of the day, from a pocket M 15 he on watch to an iron clad ship of war, is, machinery made its respective parts and human hands put them togctlier. If tbte were a mere addition to tke brute force of mankind it would be less important in an intellectual and moral point of view. But it is a substitution of machinery for muscu- lar power. Hence the latter will be less and loss in de- mand, and of course of proportionally dituiniahed value. The class of unskilled laborers, valuable only for their pow- erful muscles, and marked by animalism and con.rseness, like tlie English peasants and pit workers, will disappear ; and ah'eody an entirely new order of workers is arising. I may well say arising, for surely the diminished depend- ence upon brute force is a voice saying to the lower orders of society '^ come up hither and do work more fitted to the powers God has given you." The farm-laborer accus- tomed to the use of the steam plough, drilliug, mowing, and thrashing machines, is a very different being from his predecessor, the stolid clod-hopper. A modern gun is a machine, to the use of which the artillerynuin has to be educated. Hence the observable intelligence of that de- partment of tlie service. The use of machinery, as a clever writer has recently shown, has also a twofold moral effect. It diminishes the temptation to display passionate feeling ; a thing very common in connection with labor performed by mere muscular power. It is not only useless but ex- ceedingly dangerous to manifest anger in the use of most machines ; and further employment in connection with them teaches dependence upon law, and habits of method calculation and order. When it is remembered how various callings will stamp their impress upon those en- gaged in them, is it not reasonable to suppose that the vast use of machinery, throughout the civilised world, is producing upon millions, powerful, if yet only dimly per- ceptible, effects. 4. The tendency to association. There is no feature of modern times more marked than the tendency to combine, to associate forces, means, or numbers for attaining any given object. Almost every thing is done by means of companies or societies. Rail- ways, breakwaters, and Great Easterns are built, Atlantic cables laid down, every art and science cultivated, opinions 16 ! 1 advocated or opposed, reforms accoraplislicd and the small and great operations of Benevolence and Christian enter- prise effected, by combinations of men and means for tke purpose. While this renders possible the accomplishment of some of the grandest achievements or projects of hu- man invention, and creates warmth, earnestness, and en- terprise, it is not an unmitigated advantage. Men combine for evil as well as good and unitedlj will advocate or par- ticipate in wrong doing, that separately they would not countenance. Besides this, combination has a tendency to destroy individual independence, to lead men to think in the mass and to reduce society to a dead level. 5. Improved morals. There are few questions relating to the present age more important than the enquiry, What is its moral aspect as compared with tiie past? Concerning the repl^; which should be given to that enquiry there is no little diversity of opinion. Some no doubt take too hopeful a view of the moral condition of society, but there are others who go as far iji the opposite extreme and paint the social morality of the day in the darkest colors. How any one acquainted at all with history can take this view I am at a loss to imagine. Morality no doubt is at a low enough ebb in modern society, but when and where was it better? My own conviction is, that wherever the English language is spoken and English civilisation prevails ; morality ranks higher than in any other country, or at an}-^ previous epoch. There are no better tests of the morality of any country or any age than its amusements and literature. An ex- amination of either of these will support the conclusion I have stated. The brutal sports that are still popular en- tertainments on the continent of Europe, and which are the same as, or similar to, those once common in England, are now indictable offences both there and on this con- tinent. The respectabl©- British or American woikman would scorn to give his countenance to amusements that were extensively patronised by the nobility and gentry of the last century. The favorite recreations of his class are no longer bear and bull baiting and pugilistic encounters, but railway and steamboat excursions, the art gallery, in- dustrial exhibitions and excellent music by the best com- 17 posers and artists. Statistics which can be relied upon prove, that whatever may be the vicious and debasing in- dulgences of many, these, in the great centres of popula- tion are by far the most popular of the amusements, of those, who have money to spend and time to devote to re- creation, both in Great Britain and America. In this con- nection it would be improper to omit the revival of athletic sports both innocent and healthful, which are daily grow- ing in popularity with all classes, and are worthy of en- couragement, not only for their physical beneflts, but as tending to cultivate manliness, kindly feeling, mutual respect and self-government. In speaking of the moral tone of our literature there are two comparisons which may be made — with that of the past and with that of other nations. Sir Walter Scott relates that he borrowed from an old lady some novels which he knew had been the most popular reading of the time of her youth. He de- clares that they were so immoral he could not finish their perusal, but returned them half read. Yet thej' had been the avowed and favorite reading of the Clarissas and Pemellas of the preceding generation. No gentleman of the present day would permit such books to enter his house. In comparing English with Foreign popular read- ing almost as great a contrast is seen. By P^nglish, I wish to be understood as intending, works in the English language, whether published in Great Britain or America, and forming, as so raanj' do, part of the current literature of both. Admirers of Goethe may find in his " Wilhelm Miester," the most widely read of all his works, wonderful mysteries and lofty teachings that others cannot see in it ; but this every one who reads it must see in it, reeking im- purity. If Dickens or Thackeray, Hawthorn or Irving, had introduced into any of his fictions one scene as licen- tious as scores which the great German depicts he would not only have blasted his reputation with his countrymen and women, but have found it impossible to induce any first class English or American publishing house to issue his work. Of French novels I need say nothing. But let us for a moment place the past volumes of the London Punch and Parisian Charivari side by side and see what light they throw upon the respective morals of the two nations. The two periodicals are precisely similar in 18 general character and object. Both are intended to present in a ridiculous aspect, and correct, by the force of ridicule, the faults and follies of the age in every department of life, Political, Social and Domestic. Each has numbered among its contributors men of genius, and been illustrated by the pencil of the ablest caricaturist which his nation has yet produced. Both are immensely popular, are exhibited in the shop windows, are special favourites in the family, and quoted in every circle. But what a dift'erence the two indicate in national morality and taste. There is not a number of Punch which a clergyman might not with pro- priety lay upon the bed of a convalescent, as an innocent and beneficial relief to the tedium of the sick chambei. There is not a number of its Parisian rival that a christian father could permit his wife and daughters to see. Its best picture would probably be representative of the comic aspect of a married woman's intrigue with her paramour, success- fully concealed or awkwardly exposed ; her own child being the agent in cither case. Its best joke, a witticism at which French ladies and gentlemen may laugh together, but which if a lady should not understand a gentleman must not ex- plain to her. Surely this is not one of the things which they do better in France. I would here wish to correct a widely prevalent and mis- taken impression regarding our popular literature. Name- ly, that it is largely composed of that which is pernicious rather than beneficial. I have frequently heard it said both on the platform and in the pulpit, that bad books were more extensively read than good ones, and that infidel and im- moral publications have a circulation that a better class of periodicals cannot attain. This I am happy to say is not" true but the facts are precisely the rever&e. My authority is Baine, and I quote from a work which has been twice recently eulogised by the London Quarterly Review for its trustworthy character. It ^ gives the following statistics. In 1864 the periodicals issued in London were as follows : Monthly.— Religious, scientific, and literary Magazines,. 1E6,900 Temperance, 293,000 Useful and entertaining 337,000 Magazines of a higher class, 244,000 Highly embellished and costly serials, 363,000 Total monthly, 3,609,000 19 Total monthly 8,609,000 Weekly.— RollRfonP, 280,000 Utiefiil niul moral, 734,000 ContiUnin(C novels, 1,0.53,000 Romances li).5,000 (1,094,981 9,7I3,'J8l Free thinklnc literature, 5,000 Immoral and impure, 9,000 14,000 That is to say that out of 9^ niilHons of periodicals issued, only 1 in 700 is of questionable character ; only 1 in 2000 of an infidel nature; and only I in 1100 of an impure cast. Pleasant indeed would a review of society be, and most hopeful its condition if these were the only characteristics of our age. liut alas they are only the bright lights of the picture ; there are dark shadows in the back ground, tell- ing of evils which it is not only unwise but criminal to ignore. There are many social facts that are a disgrace to our civilisation and wear a sad and portentous aspect. Amid all our advance in seience and its application to improved domestic life and social habits, disease holds its fatal sway. We know and practise a great many things conducive to health. Society now eats and drinks less of what it should not, and more of what it should ; has learned to use freely soap and water, and prize pure air ; is every way cleaner and more temperate in its habits ; ventilates its buildings, cleans its streets, drains its cities, opens its parks, buries its dead in cemeteries ; and yet, because of ignorance, vice, poverty, and overwork, disease, which, but for these, could find neither its materials nor its victims, is ravaging with fatal effect on every hand. Maladies that should disappear are perpetuated ; others, whose very •existence is a shame to us, are on the rapid increase. Pauperism, Vice, and Crime, in spite of all our im- provements and reforms, benevolent enterprises and phil- anthropic schemes still maintain proportions which if not what they once were are still of fearful magnitude. We need quote no statistics, urge no proofs it is all too self- evident and too well known to require either. There is an eastern story that runs something like this. In a large city there was once a deep dark well into which no one dared 20 ti to look for it was full of unraentionablo horrors and wa^ oalltHl tho (lovir.s well. And a wiso man had told tho peo- ple tiiat if < vor tho beauiH of the sun should penetrate this well fearful calamity would follow. So tho well waH always kept covered. Hut oi.? night tho cover was removed and not replaced, and in the morning when tho sun shone, the waters of the well rose till they overflowed and filled yard and street, and square and garden, overwhelmed them all, and in a mighty torrent swept on till it reached the sea, leaving not a vestige of tho city nor ought to tell whore once it stood. Is there not, it has been asked, a devil's well in every city of tho civilised world ? In London, in Pans, vi New York ? Yes, and even in little Halifax ? A something full of horrors into which we dare not look, but which may Dot always be kept down ? Vast hordes of sociu! pariahs^ too wretched to fear any worse fate, too vicious to feel any compunctions, are hidden away in tho garrets and cellars of the alleys and slums of all our cities. The wonder of wonders is that they remain there and do not come forth» an army of desperadoes to rob, murder, and destroy. To what does society owe il safety ? To its police and stand- ing armies ? In some amall degree no doubt ; but chiefly to the fact that the vicious are too vicious to unite readily and try their strength with the orderly and well-to-do. If it were not for this, the one half of society would have to arm itself to the teeth against the other. At what a price is such protection as we enjoy purchased ! Mr, Hill, Re- corder of Birmingham, estimated the criminals of England^ the country whose statistics prove it to be the lowest in crime of any in the world, to be 100,000 in number, costing at the smallest calculation 10 millions per j^nrni and proba- bly twice that amount. One of the most unfavorable characi ' . ^a ^larking the opposite extreme of society and of course from it down- wards as far as the imitation is possible, is ostentation, in its lowest form, the lavish display of wealth. The desire "^ l)e rich and to be thought rich is the vulgar ambition C!.> ^ing /modern society. Mammon is its God, money it^ \h.'iO,T good, ai^d the human being who writes, speaks, woiSrs, or doc'^ any possible thing for aught but pay, its solitary miracle. Hence the frauds, forgeries, de- falcations and embezzlements perpetuated by men of edu- 21 cation and retiriomeni, whicli have become »o »li8gracefiilly froquont I'lriug the la^t, few years. fetrango it Ih, but true, tlitt^ amid all the light and know- ledge we enjoy, tbo charge of buferhtition may be brought with justice against all clasHos both in England and Ain« rica. We laugh at the winking Madonnas (tf Italy, th« miracle of Salettc, and the devils of M irziue. But Mor- monisni, the wretched invention of a village swindler and horscthief, has seduced scores of thousands of our well-to- do working people from their homes and sent them to the Salt Jjake. Spirit rappings have their well attended vln Iuh and well paid mediums in almost every city. Wc! thy fools pay a guinea each to attend the seances of those shallow imposters, the Davenport brtthcrs. Dr. Newman publishes to the world his faith in tli li(|uifaction of the blood of St. Januarius, and Dr. Cunuuings makes a for- tune out of interpretations of prophecy based on an eru- dition that identifies Armageddon with ."^ebastopol. These are not all the favorable or \\u 'avorablc features of our age. There are many others I n»(ii;ht mention and some of which you may be surprised at mv omitting. But these appear to me to be most important and suggestive vof the duties the educated classes owe to soci«3ty. And before proceeding to discuss what tl'ese duties arc, permit me to answer the question why I refer specially to the Educated Classes in connection with theii performance ? First, because I am addressing an Associatio » composed of educated men ; and, secondly, because socict v must either be governed by the cultivated and refine :, or by the ignorant and vulgar, so long as those two lasses exist, which is likely to be for some time to come. ^onjointly it cannot be done. If the educated lead, the uneducated must be led. If the uncultivated govern, the cultivated must withdraw and submit. This, as DeTocqueville long ago predicted, has already taken place in the United States, with what result we all know. Throwing aside a ^ unworthy of a moment's consideration theories of abstract ights, be- cause they are all abandoned in the social compac t, I assert that the law of society is that which is for its best interest as a whole ; and the duty it imposes second only to that which we owe to God ; and further that its first claim upon its educated classes is that they shall take upon and secure 22 to themselves tlie direction of its political power and social influence. I know of no country on earth in which this has been done perfectly. Perhaps more nearly in Great Britain than anywhere else, but even there only approximately. Yet it is the duty of all educated men to labor for its realisation. To do this they must be active, earnest mem- bers of society, unselfishly doing much only because the social welfare demands its being done. Not wise merely for themselves ; which kind of wisdom Lord Bacon says is not that of an angel or a man, but the wisdom of the rat, which runs from the falling house. The smallest thing on earth is the man whose education having enabled him to take an expanded view of God's universe ends by centering his vision upon himself. To those of a diiferent spirit I address myself and pro- ceed to indicate a few of the duties which I think the special characteristics of the age impose upon them. 1. To BE EARSTEST STUDENTS OF SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY. The science of the 19th century is not Geology nor Chem- istry, but Social Philosophy. This is the subject of all others thut has enlisted the widest and deepest interest, in connection with which there has been the most discovery and improvement, and which is most rapidly growing in magnitude. It is a trite but nevertheless important remark that the subjects of public discussion in the present day are mostly new, peculiar to our age. In legislative halls, popular assemblies, lecture rooms. Reviews, Magazines and Newspapers, many topics are now most earnestly discussed which are of recent origin. They are the wise or foolish, practicable or impracticable projects and experiments of Social Science. In the category we must include Social- ism, Communism, St. Simonism, Chartism, Education and Temperance, Women's Rights Conventions and Early Clos- ing movements, Factory Labor bills and Emigration, Poor Laws and Criminal Statutes, ^Reformatories and Ragged Schools, Public Libraries and Working Men's Clubs, Baths and Wash houses. Model Lodging houses and Savings' Banks, Parks, Museum's, Galleries of Art and Schools of Design, City Missions, Industrial Exhibitions, and hundreds of other matters. Social Science is continually adding to its list of topics and the number of its ardent votaries. 23 These already include every order of mind, every grade of society, from the statesman in the Cabinet to the artizan at his loom, from the queen in her palace to the shirt- maker in her garret. It is absorbing, and consecrating to its best use all other science and much of art. It has given a new and holier tone to politics, fresh and fruitful fields to religious eflFovt, a new and loftier dignity to the age. It is alleged tliat it has changed the character of our literature. Society now, it is said, has no taste for the tender sentimen- talism of Richardson, the coarse passions of Fielding, or the superb romances of Scott. It does not withdraw its former verdict concerning the geniub of these writers, but it has lost interest in their productions, and prefers fictions that have a meaning and purpose in connection with social life and its evils. Cowley is forgotten, Gray remembered for a single elegy, Young for a dozen lines or so, and the Lake Poets are vanishing out of sight, because they have no words that can speak to the heart of modern society. A writer in a British Review says : " The wild conceptions, the splendid imagery and exquisite melody, with which Lord Byron poured forth the turbid and passionate sensi- bilities of his soul, no longer aifect us, for we, in our generation, are stirred in deeper depths, tried by sterner griefs, moved by more genuine emotions than his." Hood is cherished in our memories not for his exhaustless wit, humourous poems or clever fictions, but because, as is inscribed upon his tomb-stone, — " He sang ' The song of the shirt' " ; throwing the light of his genius upon one of our social wrongs. Tennyson was acknowledged as a true poet, "born, not made" long since; but it was not till society saw his meaning in the Idyls of the King and at what he was pointing in Enoch Arden, Ihat it took him to its heart. Every thing bears witness to the same change. The welfare of society as a whole, the claims and wants of its sections, reforms, preventions, remedies, bear away the palm from every other topic. Society has awoke from the slumbers of the past, and has commenced to grapple in earnest with its gigantic, complicated and appalling social evils and iniquities, too long neglected. It feels that these are the problems which this age must solve, if it would live and prosper, which it can no longer pass by nor leave to the future. Unless our whole theory of civilization is 24 unsound, practical Christianity a fiction, and human progress a fancy, society is wise and right in manifesting this spirit, and every educated man who does not imbibe and actively display it is demonstrating his own narrowness and little- ness, is neglecting a great duty, leaving a large debt unpaid, and doing his best to prove how much men may may know with little advantage. 2. To CAKEFULLY AND ACCURATELY iNrORM THEM- SELVES AS TO WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL FACTS AND FEA- TURES OF THEIR OWN LAND. Most of the illustrations I have used to-night have been taken from the social life of other countries, particularly England and the United States. My reasons for so doing have been that those countries are the most advanced in real civilization, that any statements I made could be more easily tested if referring to them, and also because they are the countries whom socially we ^iost resemble, and by whom we are most influenced. But perhaps my doing this has caused some who have listened to feel that these illus- trations and illusions were wanting in local fitness. Possi- bly this is not the case to the extent they imagine. Let us not live in a fool's paradise and suppose a state of things to obtain here which has no reality, no place but in our own fancy. It would be well for us to enquire. Are we enjoying all the benefits of civilization we might reap ? Are we not enduring social evils of which we might rid ourselves entirely, or which we might at least greatly diminish ? Is it not disgraceful that, with all the advantages of a new country, the worst evils of older states should not only be reproduced among us, but in same cases even exaggerated ? How true this is, many will be startled to know. Pauperism is one of the blots of English civilisation, but the number of paupers is very large in Halifax compared with English towns of the same population. Crime is one of the darkest features of social life in England, but the murder rate is higher here than there. Ignorance among the masses prevails there to a sad ex*;ent, but our last census declares there are 80,000 persons in this Province who ought to be able to write but can not. If we reflect upon these things and the amount' and character of the popular read- ing, the nature of our social amusements, the tone of pub- J& 25 JV lij discussions, the prevalence of a narrow', bitter, party spirit, the condition of many of the laboring, and all the colored population, and the practice of intemperance and commission of infanticide in this land, there is surely enough in its social aspects to demand earnest effort and to answer every educated person disposed to ask " Who is my neigh- bour ?" 3. To SEEK TO GIVE A RIGHT DIRECTION TO BENEVO- LENT ENTERPRISES. Good men are not always wise, and laudable zeal is not always judiciously directed. A social reformer may be a fanatic with a pet project, fanciful and impossible ; or a philanthropist, wisely seeking to accomplish a really good and practicable work. Attempts at doing good have not unfrequently been sad mistakes fraught with evil. Educa- ted men can do much to prevent their repetition by ascer- taining what has been done in other lands and how it may with advantage be imitated in their own. 4. To SET BEFORE THEMSELVES THAT THE GREAT SO- CIAL PROBLEM OF THF FUTURE IS THE ELEVATION OF THE LOW^ER ORDERS. I do not say the only problem, but the great problen: which society must solve. The best thinkers of the age admit that till it is solved not much more can be accom- plished in the way of social progress. The existence in every community in both continents, of large masses, ignor- ant and miserable, degraded and vicious, is an incubus which society may sustain, but with which it cannot advance. Must it remain, wasting the resources, absorbing the ener- gies and discouraging the hopes of society ? Too much has already been done to doubt that infinitely more is pos- sible. Results almost miraculous have arisen from well directed efforts in some quarters where the worst materials had to be dealt with. France has proved that squalid destitution may be prevented. The convict system of Ire- land has solved the problem of dealing with the criminal classes. In the United States the artizan enjoys a social . position that is nearly everything that could be wished. Cannot all these be united without the despotism of France, the democracy of America or the abnormal peculiarities of 26 Ireland ? Were this accomplished the most gigantic of our social evils would assume proportions that need excite no alarm, and would wear an aspect that would encourage the hope of their speedy and entire removal. Surely such an object is worthy of the deepest consideration and most earnest eft'orts of every educated man. 5. Last, but not least, to promote Chkistian Educa- tion OF the highest CHARACTEa TO THE WIDEST POS- SIBLE EXTENT. There may be education highly intellectual, but not Christian. There may be education that is Christian, as far as it goes, but which does not involve mental culture of a very high order. What society most needs is, the presence and preponderating influence of a large class of men and women, whose mental training habituates them to a wide and elevated range of thought, and who combine with it the true spirit of Christian philanthropy. While thankfully acknowledging that we have some such, let us labor that we may have more. What we have are the salt of the earth ; — what wc hope to have shall be as the dew of heaven to our moral deserts, the lights of the world to guide it on its path of progress. If our institutions of learning are not adapted to produce such characters, then let us not abandon them, but give ourselves no rest till they are rendered com- petent to the work. But if this is the kind of education they impart, then they are worthy of our most enthusiastic support, for they are conferring not only upon us and the whole community, but upon generations unborn, the most valuable of social blessings. And now, in conclusion, let me say my purpose to-night has been to appeal to those patriotic feelings which should animate every intelligent Christian man. Patriotism is a Christian virtue taught by our Saviour, when he wept over Jerusalem, and by the Great Apostle when he so patheti- cally lamented his cast-ofi" race. ,It is to me a matter of equal doubt whether one can be a true Christian and not be a patriot, or a true patriot and not be a Christian. The love of country is as real a duty as the love of father or mother, wife or child. But what is our country ? " Not," says Coleridge, " the land in which we were born, or in which we may live, but that to which we are united and be- '^ ^> • 27 long, by the affinities and sympathies of race, lanojuage, lit- erature, faith, interest and rule." If so, then Britain is our country and all her glory is ours. But what is that glory ? Not her victories, conquests, vast dominion, immense pow- er and prestige ; but her healthy, intellectual, social and religious life ; that she is the mother of many nations, re- flecting her civilization, perhaps destined to surpass it, and that after eighteen centuries of history she never before filled so large a place in the world's eye, never was so worthy to fill it, never gave fewer signs of decay or so many promises of a grander, nobler future. What that future may be nono can predict. But let it bo ours to live, think and labor, to build up here a nation, worthy not only of the England of the past, but of the England of the future. As the earth revolves in space the beams of morning call the men of each successive longitude, from East to West, to rise and go forth to their days' work, — and as the world's history has rolled on. Providence has called each generation to labor for human progress. This is our day — may we know its meaning, feel its obligations, and do its work, for verily " The night cometh." Gentlemen, I have spoken to but little purpose to night, what I have said has been sadly wanting in clearness and conclusiveness if you do not see the fitness of my closing with the words of the apostle, " Finally, brethren, whatso- ever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatso- ever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso- ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good re- port, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." CONSTITUTION AND BYE-LAWS OF THE As amended at the Fourth Annual Meeting, held at Wolfvillc, June 2nd, A. D., 1864. CONSTITUT'ION. I. The name of this Association shall be " The Associated Alumni of Acadia College." II. The objects of this Association shall be generally the ad- vancement of Education, in connection with Acadia College, and the Baptist Academies at Horton and Fredericton. III. All persons shall be entitled to become members of this Association, who have been Students either at Acadia College or at the Baptist Academies, at Horton or Fredericton, for the space of one year, and who shall have comjilied with the provisions of Article V. of this Constitution, provided they shall have left the Institution in regular standing. IV. All other persons shall be eligible to be members of this Association, who shall be proposed and duly elected upon their complying with the provisions of Article V. of this Constitution. V. The annual payment of two dollars or upwards a year, shall entitle any person duly admitted according to the provisions of Articles III. and IV. of this Constitution, to become members of this Association, provided that such payment be actually made to the Treasurer on or before the sixth day of June, in each and every year, and if such annual subscription of any such member shall not be paid on or before the said day in any year, such per- son shall thereupon cease to be a member of this Association, until all arrears of subscription shall be paid up, or until such per- son shall otherwise become a member of the Association, under some Article or Bye-law thereof. VI. The donation of ten pounds or upwards at any one time, shall entitle any person duly admitted according to the provisions of Articles HI. and IV., to become»a life member of this Society. VII. The Oflicers of this Association, shall consist of a Presi- dent, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and five Directors, who shall constitute an Executive Committee, all of whom shall be elected annually. VIII. All donations to the Association amounting to ten pounds or upwards, shall be invested under the direction of the Executive Committee as a permanent fund, in the name of the 29 Association, and the interest arising therefrom shall be applied ia such way as the Association shall at any meeting direct or appoint, and in default of such direction and appointment, in such manner as the Executive Committee shall determine, provided always that the Executive Committee shall as far as practicable, carry out the wishes, expressed in writing of any donor. IX. The Annual Meeting of the Association shall take place in the month of June, in connection with the Anniversary of Acadia College. X. The ExecaMve Committee shall present to the Annual Meeting a full report of their proceedings during the year ; and the Treasurer shall at the same time furnish a report of the monies received and expended during the year, and a statement of the pecuniary condition of the Association. XI. Be ides the Annual General Meeting of tl e Association, the Committee, at any time, may of their own accord or on the written requisition of any ten members of the Association, handed in to the Secretary, call a special general meeting of the Associa- tion, lour weeks notice ot such general special meeting being given in some denominational paper of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. XII. The Executive Committee shall meet as often as there shall be occasion, and in such places as they shall appoint, and any three members shall form a quorum. XIII. This Constitution may be altered, amended, or added to at any general meeting of the Association by a two tbirda-vote of the members present. BYE-LAW8. I. The books, accounts, and papers, of the Association shall be at all times open to the inspection of all the members, and the Secretary shall furnish an account of the affairs of the Association whenever required by the Committee. II. Any person entitled to become a member of the Associa- tion under Article IV. and V. of the Constitution, upon applica- tion to the Secretary, and producing a receipt signed by the Treasurer, that his annual fee is paid shall have hi? name enrolled as such, and shall thereupon receive a certificate of membership under the seal of the Association, signed by the President and counter signed by the Secretary. III. A majority shall be required for th*^ election of ofHcers, and the election shall be by ballot. Upon failure of any election the officer of the preceding year shall continue in office until bis successor be appointed. 30 IV. All voting except for the election of officers, shall be open ; but any vote may be taken by ballot, if a majority so determine. V. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to make such arranjiPments for the celebration of the Anniversary as they shall think proper. VI. The President, and in his absence the Vice-Presidenti and in the absence of both, the first Director on the list presenti shall preside at any meeting. VII. The Secretary shall ke«p a record bf the names of all members with the dates of their respective admissions and enroll- ments set against them, and of all votes, resolutions and other proceedings of the Association and Committee ; attend all meet- ings of Association and Committee ; and conduct all correspond- ence and other business, under the direction of the Executive Committee ; call all meetings of the Association and Committee, and issue Certificates of membership, and prepare the Annual Report, subject to the revision of the Committee. VIII. No monies of the Association shall be expended except by vote of the Executive Committee. IX. The Treasmer sh%ll receive all monies of the Association, and cive receipts therefor, signed by himself; enter all monies received into a Cash bonk, distinguishing between Annual sub- scriptions, and fe3s for Life-membership, and Donations. He shall immediately, on receipt of fees for Life-membership, and dona- tions, pay the same into such Bank as he shall be directed by the Executive Committee to the credi^t of the Association, and shall also pay into the Bank, to the same credit, all Annual subscriptions in his bands, when the same shall amo int to the sum of twenty- five pounds. He shall pay by check or otherwise all orders drawn on him signed by the President and counter signed by the Secre- tary of the Society. X. The Association at each regular Annunl meeting, shall appoint an Auditor, and the Executive Committee, an Auditor, to audit the accounts for the year. All accounts against the Asso- ciation shall be presented to tha Secretary at least one week befoi^ the regular Annual meeting. XI. The Executive Committee n^y make such bye-laws and ordinances as from time to time shall be required for the manage- ment of the affairs of the Association, subject to the approval of the Society, at the following meeting. XII. Ten members inclusive of officers shall form a quorum. XIIL These laws may be repealed, added to, or amended, at any regular Annual meeting by a majority ot the members present. \^