522 [Assembly 



my, and industry which belong to his early life still cling to him 

 and amid the cares of business and the desire to accumulate wealth, 

 the luxuries of the great emporium of fashion and art have little 

 lure for him ; but he is rsaring a family who are gradually becom- 

 ing entangled in its web ; they grow up satisfied with the name 

 and talents of their father, they enshrine themselves in the fortune 

 he has made and J'est their greatness upon that. Not knowledge, 

 but wealth with them, is power, and on the scale of intellect they 

 .degenerate faster than their father rose, till in the next generation 

 their greatness, and alas! too often the wealth they had boasted of 

 is gone, the high places that knew them, know them no more, they 

 are swept away in the current that is passing and their places are 

 again filled by the men of energy and industry fropi the rural dis- 

 tricts. I know that there is here and there an exception to this 

 rule that only more strongly proves the rule. There must be an 

 incentive to talent. Genius and talent pine away beneath v»^ealtli 

 and luxury. Do we ask for proof of this ; look back at the ages 

 past and see the hero men of the world. Not in the sunshine of 

 prosperity did they rise to glory's height, the storms of life gather- 

 ed thickly over them ; obstacles that would have seemed to pre- 

 sent insuperable barriers have been met and overcome, dark hours 

 of trial have been passed through and the mind gathering strength 

 in its course has like a mighty giant triumphed over all. But it 

 is ijot talent and genius in their mightier manifestations that we 

 are most concerned with here, these are the exceptions, not the 

 rule in men. But there is a quiet talent, a quiet genius that 

 makes but little noise or show in the world. I mean that every- 

 day talent, that is ever lending its aid to build up the great fabric 

 of society. Like the busy little ant it works by slow but sure de- 

 grees until its daily labors cover a vast field. It is that talent up- 

 on which society is dependant for its numberless blessings. This 

 may not be generally felt and acknowledged, yet it is nevetheless 

 true ; the working man whether in the capacity of lawyer, doctor 

 or divine, whether in the capacity of farmer, mechanic or trader, 

 is indispensible to the welfare of a nation. We are all parts of a 

 great whole, weak when taken alone, strong when united in the 

 bonds of social brotherhood. Let no man therefore laud his own 

 calling above that of another, still if any one occupation or mode 



