176 THE rr.ESIDENx's ADDRESS, 



poor tliere are germs of greatness wln'cli — Tvere all the circum- 

 stances favom-able — would cleveloiD intellectual prodigies capable of 

 astonishing the civilised world. The biographies of some of our so- 

 called self-made men testify to the truth of this assumption. 

 These self-made individuals achieved success and overcame the 

 otherwise insuperable difficulties of their j)osition not alone by their 

 high mental and moral qualities. In the first instance, doubtless, 

 these qualities attracted the sympathy or goodwill of benevolent 

 and intelligent persons (higher up in the social scale). The patrons, 

 again — themselves probably possessing sound mental culture — 

 voluntarily promoted their advancement ; but, mark you, success 

 would, even now, never have followed, had not the essential elements 

 of strength been afterwards supplemented by sustained energy and 

 perseverance. Facts of this kind, duly weighed in our minds, 

 inevitably lead to the conclusion, that for every one such favoured 

 individual, ten thousand others, of equal capacity, have intellectually 

 perished. If I may do so without offence, I would add that reflec- 

 tions of this sort, borne out as they are by similar dispensations 

 affecting the welfare and even the existence of every living thing, 

 whether plant or animal, should tend to make us active and diligent 

 in improving the measure of means and capacity we may severally 

 happen to possess. If to rise be difficult, to sink is easy ! Ihe 

 maintenance of a fair level in this struggle is not of ready accom- 

 plishment, especially if the point of departure has been moderately 

 elevated. Certainly, it is a gratifying sight to see a man, however 

 humble his outward position in life, hold his own either in an intel- 

 lectual or moral point of view. It is refreshing to see him bearing 

 down, though it be by painfully slow degrees, all opposition to his 

 progress ; for, rest assured, each individual success is an important 

 contribution to the sum of human advancement, and who can tell 

 that it may not be by such achievements — coupled with the side-by- 

 side growth of a multitude of other social, political, and even reli- 

 gious developments — that the further progress of our race shall be 

 secured, and ultimately precede or actually eventuate in that high 

 destiny which has formed the subject of predication and hope by 

 the most enlightened in all ages ? 



I have casually refei'red to the uncivilised of foreign lands. 

 We all remember the strange effect which the sight of the ocean 

 had upon the Makalolo followers of Dr. Livingstone. In one case 

 the shock was so great that the native leaped over-board and dis 



