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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmis en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iliustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, se^on le CBs: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ". le symbols V signifie "FIN ". Les csrtes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmfo i des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est film6 i partir de I'angle supirieur gauche, da gauche d droite, et de haut en b&s, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. rata >elure. Id □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ADDRESS DBIilVEREO BY The Hon. Joseph Ho SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE PROVINCES, WE, BEffORE THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, OTTAWA, FEBRUARY Z7, 1872. OTTAWA : I. B. TAYLOR, PRINTER, 20, 31 & !», RIDEAU STREET. 1872. \ r-iJ-^;:««aaa*i'«i«IBi<«Wll*** - .» ■ ■:- -■■ A- ^^'4 wi^fXWl ADDRESS DBLIVBBfD BY The Hon. Joseph HowE] SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE PROVINCES, BBFOBB TUB YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, OTTAWA, FEBRUARY 27, 1872. -»-IM>» — OTTAWA : t ^ TAyLoR, printer, 29, 31 & 33, RIDEAU STREET. 1872. ADDRESS. \ Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:— When a Veteran, in the decline of Tfe, undertakes to address a body of young men just entering upon its active duties, his heart is apt to be too full for utterance. The past comes rushing by, as the impetuous tides of Fundy roll rouxid the base of Blomidon, and the mind's eye vainly endeavors to " look through the blan- ket of the dark " and estimate, for others, the nature and extent of those perils, which youths are sure to encounter, and which, by the goodness of God, rather than by any skill or wisdom of his own, he may have happily escaped. But how rare the instances where experience has been gained without hazard— where the helping hand of Providence has always been stretched out— where the battle of life has been fought without a wound ; and it is this conviction that makes me tremble at the task I have assumed to-night, however gladly I would make it a labor of love. To me the battle of life has bean no boy's play, and I address you with a vivid impression of the work that lies before you, and of the dangers which beset the paths you are to tread, however they may be fenced by a mother's prayers or a father's watchful forethought. But let us brush aside these depressing feelings, in which memories of the past and apprehensions for the 4 future are strangely interwoven, and face the duties of the hour, that it may not be wasted. By you the battle of life must be fought. Why should I discourage you ? Believe me I would not. Nay, if permitted, I would fight it all over again. There is no strength where there is no strain, seamanship is not learned in calm weather ; and, bom of the vicissitudes and struggles of life, are the wisdom, the dignity and the consolations, which in all, your cases I trust may distinguish its decline. In addressing sucii a Society as this I am relieved from many apprehensions. Your organization protects you from much evil and many dangers. I take it for granted that the Young Men's Christian Association of Ottawa is a worthy and fruitful branch of that wide spread and in- valuable Association, which is to be found in full activity, not only in all the large cities of this continent, but within the mother isles, and almost all the provinces of the British Empire. This Association, if I comprehend aright its history and its objects, is neither sectarian nor political. It ex- cludes no man on account of his creed, his origin or his party leanings. It is neither Monarchical, Republican, nor Aristocratic. It will live and flourish though Dynas- ties decay and Cabinets be overthrown. Its limits are not defined by geographical lines, nor its resources afiected by financial convulsions. It has no secrets like masonry. Its aims and its objects are distinct and above board. Its regalia are the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit. It recognizes the Creator and the Saviour, and seeks to throw around young men, as they grow up, the restraints and the protection of mutual encouragement and watchful- ness, that the snares of life may be avoided, and that reverence and respect for the higher principles of morality may be intei-woven with its daily duties. These Societies live and flourish ou the voluntary principle. Their taxes are self-imposed. There is no jobbery or con'uption. No sacerdotal or ministerial dis- tinctions to aspire to — no high salaries to njoy — no patronage to divide — no uniform, by which its members can be distinguished from the rest of the communities, in whose midst they live and labor for the common good. Looking into your young faces, I am disarmedof half my fears for the future, by the strength and vitality of those relations to each other which you have already formea, and by the high standards of moral obligation and christ- ian duty everywhere recognized by the wide spread Association to which you belong. To make its Members moral and respectable are the chief objects of this organization. But pardon me if I venture to suggest, that, without weakening these main springs of action, you should aim at even a wider range of thought, and cherish aspirations that may fit you for the noblest fields of action. I would have the young men of Ottawa not only dutiful and good, but refined, accomplished, and intellectual — ambitious to make the political Capital of the country the home of the Arts, the literary centre of the Confederacy, the fountain head of elevated thought and laudable ambition. She can only attain this rank by the combined and persistent efforts of the men who come here to claim citizenship, or who have been bred within her limits. Nature has been very bountiful to Ottawa. Built upon ititifliiltiMM 6 a dry limestone formation the site is elevated and healthy. At the head of navigation on the River from which it takes its name, the City commands free water communication with tlie St. Lawrence ; and, by the aid of its Canals, with the great Lakes above, and with the Gulf below. The Rideau Canal gives \'- easy access to the country through which that work has been con- structed, with Kingston and with Lake Ontario ; and the main River, with its twenty tributaries, draining a coun- try of vast extent, brings into the City's bosom not only the boundless wealth of tiiose great plantations which God has given her as an inheritance, but the agricultural products, won from a fertile soil, to which the tide of immigration is being annually attracted as the forest recedes before the axe of the lumberman. The Canada Central Railway and the Ottawa Navigation Company give you easy access to this region for 150 miles, and the time is rapidly approaching when the whole Country around Lake Nipissing will be enlivened by population, whose business must ebb and flow through this city, following the line of the great water communication which nature has already provided, or of that national highway, which, before long, will connect the Atlantic with the Pacific. Though Ottawa, in point of natural scenery, cannot com- pare with Quebec, which has no rival on this continent, and although I prefer my native City of Halifax, with its varied aspects, and fine sea -"dews, still, for an inland town, it is richly endowed and not unattractive to the eye. The Laurentian range gives it a fine bold back- ground, a little too far rem- ved ; but the two rivers. winding round and through the city, afford glimpses of water in endless variety, that relieve the eye w^iere the land is most level and monotonous. The looks-out from Kingston, over the harbour and surrounding forts, and from the table land, behind Hamilton, over Burlington Bay, are fine; but are scarcely surpassed by those up and down the river, from the cliffs behind the Parliamtmt house ; or the view, which one catches of a summer evening, from the Sapper's bridge, with the spires of the Cathedral on one side and the Public Buildings on the other, the canal at your feet, and the river and the mountains beyond. With waterfalls Ottawa is richly endowed. The twin falls of the Rideau give us those of the Genessee and of the Minnehaha in our very midst; and the Chaudiere, where the main River tumbles over the rocks to a lower level, would perhaps impress us more if it were not so near and so familiar ; and if the skill and enterprize of our great Manufacturers had not trans- formed a scene of natural beauty into one of such varied industry, that what man has supplemented to nature's handy work appears to be the most wonderful part of the turbulent combination. Here is the centre of that great inuastry which maintains an army of men in the woods all winter, and in the mills and on the water courses all summer, which has already built a city where there was but a scattered hamlet within the L aiory of the present generation, and which ia destini. J, with the aid of the government expenditure, to ensure the growth and prosperity of Ottawa for many years to come. When I first saw this city, ten years ago, the weather was bad, the public buildings were in course of construc- tion, unsightly and unfinished. The materials required for their completion, were being dragged through the streets, cut up into ruts and mud-holes, or were lying abont the banks in most admired disorder. The impres- sion left was urfavorable, and was often frankly expressed, during the animated political discussions which followed that visit. Since then the public buildings have been finished, and are certainly not inferior to any to be fornd on this continent. The streets are improved, and the city doubled in size ; and a three years residence has enabled me to make myself familiar with its scenery, its climate and resources, and it gives me pleasure now to correct any hasty prejudices or prepossessions that I may have formed in a single afteiiioon. But apai"t from the attractions of its scenery, or the extent of its industrial resources, Ottawa presents to young men advantages that are rarely found in any other cit}'^ of its size on this continent or anywhere else. The administration of the government requires the presence, in your midst, of some three hundred persons who are, or ought to be, gentlemen. I will not venture to assert thai they all are. The Civil Service of the Dominion, like all other services, has perhaps ts black sheep, men who have found their way into it with but slight appreciation of the high spirit, gentle manners and jjrudent conduct, so em'nently required of public ofiicers in all the Depart- ments ; but, taken as a whole, it constitutes a valuable addition to the society of a growing city like Ottawa. I speak not now of the mmisters, who come and go, but o^ 9 the permanent officers who reside here, who must, live and die among you, be, your exemplars, companions and guides; and I am gratified to know that the Ci A Service includes men of wide experience, of varied accomplish- ments, of profound erudition, and stern integrity — men who it is a privilege to live with, and whose examples I advise you to imitate. But you. have other advantages. Once a year, at least for eight or ten weeks, Parliament issembles here, and the young men of Ottawa can see, hear and associate with the picked and prominent men of all the Provinces, gathered from the highest ranks of social and political life in the wide expanse of territory that lies between the Islands of Cape Breton and Vancouver. The sayings and doings of these men, filtered through the newspapers, in telegraphic or condensed Parliamentary reports, con- vey, even *o their own constituents, but faint and shadowy outlines of the scenes in which they wrestle and debate. But to you, who can sit above their heads mork every gesture, vibrate with every tone, to whom the sarcasm comes with a flash as vivid as lightning, and the bursts of eloquence are as voluble as thunder — to you the nightly debate brings reality and distinctness, intensely to be enjoyed and never to be forgotten. Even where debates are fully and correctly reported, they are read at a distance with a calm pulse and are rarely long remembered. You or I would find Henry the YIII, played at the Princess's Theatre, with all the ad- vantages of brilliant elocution and line scenery, a very difFejent affair from the same play read in the closet. Rebecca, looking out of the casement at Torqulstone hearing every battle cry, and seeing every blow struck 10 would never forget the seige, that you or I, charmed for the moment by Scott's marvellous word painting, throw aside' when the last page of Ivanhoe has been read You have the political arena before you night after night — the combatants, who are myths and shadows to people at a distance, are realities to you. Men who are moulding the future, and perhaps are to figure in history, are there, at your feet, making sport for you, as Sampson did for the Philistines, often as blind perhaps, but fortunately, with no power to pull the structure about your ears. The Houses of Parliament, then, are great Schools of Oratory for the young men of Ottawa. They are something more. They are halls where the great in- terests of the Country, its resources, wants, and devlop- mjnt, are talked over and explained by the most capable and intelligent men that the six Provinces can produce ; and, if you are wise, my young friends, you will, as often as you can, vdthout neglecting other indispens- able duties, avail yourselves of the privileges, which youths at a distance may Qnvy you, but can very rarely enjoy. To be a flueut and easy speaker is a great accomplish- ment. The man who can think upon his legs, and express his thoughts with energy and ease, doubles his power for good or evil in the community in which he lives, and canies with him abroad a passpoit to culti- vated and intellectual society of the utmost value. Almost every winter night the young men of Ottawa can take lessons in oratory, in the Commons or in the Senate. Their own good sense will teach them to 11 distinguish what is grotesque and absurd, from what is impressive and worthy of imitation ; and my advice to you is, not to neglect opportunities w lich circum- stances so favorably present, and even if politics never attract you into t'^e National arenas, you will find that the graceful elocution which gives animation and wins , deference at the festive board or at the fireside, gives power and influence at those gatherings where men must congregate to transact the business of life. But Ottawa has, for its crowning glory and advantage, the custody of the Parliamentary Library which the liberality of the Nation has provided, and which has been selected and arranged by Alpheus Todd, one of the most amiable and accomplished men to be found on either Continent. The great Libraries of London and Paris are of course more extensive and complete than our own. The City Library at Boston, and the Astor Library at New York, admirably selected and most spiritedly sustained, are creditable to those great cities, I need not weary you with comparisons, but when I say that oar Parliamentary Library includes 70,000 volumes, that it exhausts the classics and current literature of France and England — that every book worth reading, ever pub- lished in America, is to be found upon its shelves — that the best works of Continental Europe, and of the Eaai are there, either in the original, or in the most approved translations — that all the periodicals, from the first number to the last, invite i;s to sharpen our critical taste and store our minds v/ith information; and when I add, that, so soon as the new wing of the Parliament Buildings is completed, this 12 great collection will be housed with a magnificence, and displayed with facilities for reference, worthy of all praise, I shall but convey to intelligent strangers abroad a feeble idea of the intellectual aids and advantages which the youth of Ottawa enjoy, superior as they are to those within the reach of the studious within hundreds of other cities of larger population. To the Giver of all Good the young men of Ottawa should daily ofter up thanks and praise for the mercies and advantages by which they are surrounded. They have a healthy climate, and occupy the centre of a wide tract of country, drained by great rivers, and filled with natural resources. They have a body of trained and accom})lished men, and their families, to associate with — they have the two branches of the Legislature for schools of instruction, and they have the Parliamentry Libraiy in their midst, a great store house from whence to draw intellectual life without effort or expense. Now, my young friends, let me say that the worst return you could make for these blessings, would be to show a callous indifference to the bounties of Pro- vidence, and net to acknowledge and illustrate them in your daily lives and conversation. When Ottawa was selected for the seat of Government, other cities, of older gi"ov/th, and of larger population, Montreal, Quebec, Kingston and Toronto, weie compelled to make sacrifices for her benefit ; and now that Con- federation has been established, Halifax, Fredericton and Victoria, have been somewhat shc^'n of influence and advantages which they formerly enjoyed. The pop- ulation of those cities may reaaonably demand, not only p II that the youth of Ottawa shall not be unmindful of those sacrifices, but that they shall rise to the level of intel- lectual life, and vaned accomplishment,, which ought to distinguish the Federal Capital of the TJn: on. They may be reasonably patient while the elements of sociaty, thrown in here by new political combinations, fiise, assimilate and assume new forms of developement, but they will not be patient, if, ten years hence, it should be discovered that their contributions have been thrown away — that Ottawa is, after all, but an outside Bcetian region, where lumber is manufactured, where books are not read or written, which produces no princely merchants, no orators or artists, no learned professors or divines; which draws pecuniary resources and ii ellectual life from all the other cities of the Confederacy, and gives nothing in return. Now, my young friends, you must see to it, and others like you, that Ottawa does not incur the great misfortune of losing the crown that she has won. Trust me her glories will pass away if they are proved to be undeserved. If, when the Confederacy comes to take stock, as it will every eight or ten years, it discovera, that not only is Ottawa far behind, in material growth and business activity, but in the culture, refinement, broad views and cosmopolitan spirit, which ought to distinguish the Capital of a great nation. The Jew went up to Jerusalem, and the Mahomedan turned his face towards Mecca, because those cities were the fountain heads of the spiritual life and soul-stirring theology upon which they relied for their salvation. It remains to be seen whether Ottawa can take rank as the u ■ I M foremost city of the Dominion, worthily advancing its banner and upholding its reputation, where good work is to be done, a good example is to be set, or sound prin- ciples require advocacy and illustration. The beautiful piles of masonry on the cliffs above will not save her from abandonment if her sons fail to make her what she ought to be — the fountain-head of intellectual life for half a continent — the model city, to which men's eyes will turn for inspiration and guidance ; where elegance of manners and simplicity of attire shall be woman's highest distinctions ; and where a man, in the lowest grade of the Civil Service, or in the humblest walk of life, can challenge respect by the culture which marks the gentleman — the broad views which include the great interests of the whole Confederacy, and by that hearty sympathy with the feelings, and even the prejudices of all the Provinces, which can alone reconcile them to the sacrifices they have made, and unite them round a common centre by ties more enduring than the clauses of an Act of Parliament. Before passing to other topics, I may be permitted to say that if Ottawa is to take the rank that it ought to hold, its ratepayers and municipality must evince more enterprise and circumspection. The debates in their City Council and in their School Boards should be redeemed from puerility and bad language. The city should be drained and cleansed or cholera will scourge it ; flanked as it is on boi,h sides by square miles of piled lumber, the fate of Chicago is in store for it, if an efficient supply of ws.ter is not speedily introduced ; and the streets should be planted without delay, that the 15 present generation may enjoy the luxury of shade in the hot summer months, and of shelter fi-om the biting blasts of winter when they come. \ In almost all our northern cities we are far behind our Republican neighbours in arbori-culture. For the first fifty years, in the settlement of a new country, trees are regarded as man's natural enemies. Th y shelter the savage and they cumber the land, and, as in the " forest primeval" they protect each other, and grow spindling ajid tall, they are of little use when the groves are broken, and are rarely preserved. To cut them down and burn them up seems a labor of love. The old States and Provinces passed through this iconoclastic period a century in advance of us. They commenced to replant trees about the time when 7e seriously began to cut them down, and, now, nearly . U their cities and towns are planted. " A thing of beauty is a joy for ever," and what more beautiful than a fine shade-tree ? An old gentleman, three parts of a century ago, planted three or four elms on the front street of Windsor, the shire town of the county I represent. They have shaded and embellished it for fifty years, and I never pass under them without blessing the old man's memory. Ho'"^ prettily are all the towns and villages around Boscoii shaded. What debts of gratituJe do the people o^ New Haven, Salem, Richmond, Portland and Cleve- land owe to the liberality and forethought of the wise old men who embellished their streets, disarmed the winter winds, and have endowed, with a luxuriance of umbrageous beauty, the retreats of erudition and the busy marts of trade. Ottawa must be planted. Colonel By, who laid it out, evidently meant that it should be. The streets aie straight and wide. There is room enough every where for trees, and for an abounding commerce and a busy population, Ottawa must be planted, drained, protected from fire, and then, when the Dominion Government has enclosed and ornamented the public grounds, as it must do without delay, the city will, in outward semblance at least, begin to wear the aspects which strangers expect to see when they come to visit the Capital of a great Confederacy. In the promotion of these objects, of proved utility and municipal concern, the members of this Society can greatly aid, as they bring their cultivated minds to bear upon the masses around them ; but they must not stop short at city limits, nor allow their mental horizon to be circumscribed by the boundaries even of the capital of their country. They must think in wider circles, and, rising to the height of the main arguments upon which the Confederation Act was based, they must regard British America as a whole, and demand that, equitably and honorably, its population shall be dealt with as brethren having common rights and one nation- ality. The miserable sneer about "Parish Politics," applied to the smaller provinces by a Canadian some time ago, was inspired by a spirit the very opposite of that which the young men of Canada should cultivate, if this Confederacy is to be kept together. It was for- gotten, let us hope, as soon as uttered, and ought never to be repeated. A province should not be judged by size, but by the mental calibre of the men who represent I 17 her. Ontario should get credit for an idiot, if she prefers to send him to Parliament instead of to a lunatic asylum ; and British Columbia, if she ha? got an able man, should not have his value estimated by the extent of her population. I have said, that to meet the requirements of your position you must endeavour to grasp the whole Domi- nion ; and, let me add, that in no country that I have ever heard or read of, in ancient or modem times, was the strain on the mental and bodily powers of the whole population greater than it is in this Dominion. We citnnot afford to have a laggard, an idler, or a coward. There are not four millions of us, all told, and we have undertaken to govern half a continent, with forty millions of ambitious and aggressive people on the other side of a frontier three thousand miles long. If each British American could multiply himself fivefold, we should not have more than half the brain power and physical force necessary to keep our rivals in check, and to make our position secure. To enable us correctly to estimate our true position, it will be only necessarj'^ to enquire into the reasons why France, with a warlike population of thirty millions, studded with fortresses, and with its Capital elaborately protected by the highest engineering skill, was, during the last summer, overrun, beaten down, and amersed in hundreds of millions of pounds by the victorious Prussians. What is the secret, the explanation, of the extraordinary military phenomena which have startled the whole world in the year 1871 ? Why, simply that the Prussians con- trived to have one man and a half, and sometimes two to 18 one, on almost every battlefield where they met their enemies. Whether they were better prepared, whether their combinations were more scientific, or their strategy was more perfect, may be matter of controversy ; but, as far as I have been enabled to study the aspects of the war, the French were simply overpowered because they were outnumbered. Now, in any contest with our neighbours, assuming that we are united to a man, if the enemy knows his business, and the Republicans have had more experience than \/e have had in the art and practice of war, we must expect to have ten men to one against us — ten needle-guns, or Snider's, or Enfield's, whatever the weapons may be, so that you will perceive that we must face at least five or six times the odds by which the French were over- powered. But this is not the worst of it. Ten children are bom on the other side of the line for one that is born on this ; and, however, we may change the proportions by increased energy, five emigrants go to the United States for one that comes to Canada, so that at the end of every decade, the disproportions with which we have to wrestle now, will be multiplied to our disadvantage. We may disregard this state of things, overlook these inequalities, and live in a fool's paradise of imaginary security ; but, if we are wise, we will face our dangers, and prepare for them, with a clear appreciation of their magnitude. But, it may be said, are we not part and parcel of a great empire upon which the sun never sets, which con- tains three hundred millions of people, whose wealth defies estimate, whose army is perfect in discipline; i 19 whose great navy dominates the sea. "What have we to fear when this great empire protects us ? This was our ancient faith, and proud boast under every trial. In the full belief that they were British subjects, that the allegiance which they fireely paid to the Crown of Eng- land entitled them to protection, our forefathers helped to conquer, overrun and organize these Provinces. Every settler who broke into the forest, every mariner who launched his bark upon the ocean, every fisherman who dropped his lead upon the banks, toiled with a sense of security that never wavered. For more than a century our people have sung their national anthem, and turned their faces to the sea "with that assured look faith wears," and have never doubted of their destiny, or fal- tered in their allegiance to the British Empire. But of late new doctrines have been propounded in the Mother Country. The disorganization of the Empire has been openly promulgated in leading and influential organs of public sentiment and opinion. Our brethren within the narrow seas have been counselled to adopt a narrow policy, — to call home tL3ir legions, and leave the outlying provinces -without a show of sympathy or protection; and, under the influence of panic, and im- aginary battles of Dorking, troops are to be massed in the British Islands, and their shores are to be surrounded by ironclads. One Cabinet Minister tells us that British America can not be defended, and another, that he hopes to see the day when the whole continent of America will peacefully repose and prosper under Kepublican institutions. And a third, on the eve of negociations which are to involve our dearest interests, strips Canada mm 20 of every soldier, and gathers up every old sentry box and gun carriage he can find, and ships them off to England. I do not desire to anticipate the full and ample discussion which Parliament will give to England's recent diplomatic efforts to buy her own peace at the sacrifice of our interests, or of that Comedy of Errors into which she has blundered ; but this I may say, that the time is rapidly approaching when Canadians and Englishmen must have a clear and distinct understanding as to the hopes and obligations of the future. If Imperial policy is to cover the whole ground, upon the faith of which our forefathers settled and improved, then let that be understood, and we know what to do. But if " shadows, clouds and darkness " are to rest upon the future — if thirty millions of Britons are to hoard their " rascal counters " within two small islands, gather round them the troops and war ships of the Empire, and leave four millions of Britons to face forty millions, and to defend a frontier of three thousand miles, then let us know what they are at, and our future policy will be governed by that knowledge. No Cabinet has yet dared to shape this thought and give it utterance. Leading nowspapers have told us that our presence within the Empire is a source of danger, and that the time for separation is approaching, if it has not already come. Noble lords and erudite commoners have sneer- ingly told us that we may go when we are inclined. As yet, neither the Crown, the Parliament, or the people of England have deliberately avowed this policy of dismemberment, although the tendency of n English thought and legislation daily deepens the con- viction that the drift is all that way. We must wait, my young friends, fo* further developmentH, not without anxiety for the future, but with a firm reliance on the goodness of Providence, and on our own ability to 30 shape the policy of our country as to protect her by our wit, should Englishmen, unmindful of the past, re- pudiate their national obligations. In the meantime, let us pray that our women may be fruitful, that our numbers may increase, and let every young Canadian feel that his country has not a man to spare for the follies that enervate and the vices that de- grade. Sef» to it thht the hardy exercises of the country do not decline. Work is the univei-sal strengthener of those who live by manual labor; and those whose occupa- tion are sedentary, should counteract the tendency of such pursuits by tiie habitual resort to those pastimes which give vivacity to the spirit and energy to the frame. To ride well, to row, to swim, to shoot, are essential parts of a gentleman's education in eveiy country ; and to skate, to fence, to spar, and to handle the racket knd the cricket bat with skill and dexterity, are not only accom- plishments which young men should cultivate for the pleasure they yield, but for the health and vigor they infuse, when our muscles ara relaxed and our minds en- feebled by the indoor employments which sap the springs of life. But brains are not less required for the development and elevation of this great country than physical force. Canada cannot afford to have one drone in the intellectual hive. There never was a country with so many natural 22 m resources flung broadcast before so limited a population. Forests of boundless extent — a virgin soil to be measured by millions of square miles — the richest fisheries in the ■world — mines the value ol which no man can esUmate — and water power running to waste everywhere, but in a few favored spots where the vacrrant streams have been harnessed to machinery and turned to profitable account. The Inland Provinces are enlivened by great Iiakes and Rivera, and the Maritime are surrounded by the sea, whtre the carrying trade of the world invites to enterprizG and adventure, and where, as the argosies multiply in numbers and value, a hardy population are nurtured, that if England knew how to train and handle them, would not only defend their headlands but man her Ironclads, and help her to maintain the dominion of the seas upon which her insular security depends. That the most may be made of these great natural re- sources, British America requires the active intellects of all her ch'ldi-en, aided by the highest mental culture. The idler and the vagrant are t;imply traitors to the Country of their birth. I do not linger to indicate the directions in which any of you should think and labor. Kind parents and guardians have already placed the Members of this Society on the paths of duty, aiid on the roads to knowledge. I may be permitted to say this, however, that whatever ma)'- be the chosen pursuit, work will be found' the secret of success, and that he \/ill be most successful who takes the highest style of minds that have elevated and adorned his particular walk of life for examples to guide and cheer him on his way. Young men who devote their encigies m 23 to trade should study the biographies of" those Mer- chant Princes, who, in all ages have wtdded commerce to literature and the arts, founded or embellished Cities, and have become benefactors to the race. Young men intended for the professions should, in like manner, aspire to be something more than Quacks and Drones and Petifoggers. The highest names in Medicine, the great sages of the law, the pulpit orators who have rivalled the proph.^ts of old by their elevation of thought and luxuriance of illustration, should be hung around their chambers and be ever present to their minds. With respect to manners and deportment but little need be said. I assume that you will conduct yourselves like gentlemen, and in conclusion, have only to say, in the language which Shakespeare putsjnto the mouth of Wolsey^ " Let all the ends you aim at " Be your country's, your God's and Truth's," that the parents who dearJy love you may be honored by your behavior, and that the rising generations who come after you may be inspired by your example.