298 president's address. 



they give, the thoughts they inspire, the tempers they cherish 

 and communicate, gratifying to ourselves, are wholesome to indi- 

 viduals and to society. 



We may aspire to higher things ; — some are blessed with lei- 

 sure and ability to attain them ; — we may desire to scan the glo- 

 ries of the heavens, and dive into the deep recesses of the earth. 

 • LunsDque labores : 



Unde tremor terris : qua vi maria alta tumescant, 

 rursusque in se ipsa residant : 



to penetrate, as Newton did, the mysteries of the universe, and 

 look with him beyond the stars ; to store up with Solomon all 

 natural knowledge, " from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on 

 the wall, and animals and fish and reptiles ; " and fortunate and 

 illustrious we may account him to be who boasts such vast 

 acquirements, and grasps and masters these things- 

 Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, 

 Sin, has ue possim 



if this be beyond our reach ; if time or power or genius be 

 wanting to us, there are humbler paths, not less honourable, 

 not less safe, not less engaging, of pleasure and improvement 

 within our reach. 



Eura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes ; 

 riumina amem sylvasque inglorius. 



Despise not such quiet satisfactions. Cultivate these simple 

 tastes, these unobtrusive habits. Separate yourselves from time 

 to time, and as your engagements may allow, from the busy world 

 its cares and its perplexities : 



Talk with high objects, with enduring things, 

 With life and nature, purifying thus 

 The elements of feeling and of thought. 



Every step you take in your field-walks may be, with God's 

 blessing, a step in the way of wisdom and cf peace ;. every object 

 you behold, the fertile glebe, the wild moor, the sea, the skies of 

 heaven, the living creatures which adorn them, pour forth to the 

 thoughtful mind ; — as to our own poet Wordsworth, nature's 

 true child, who like the bee drank copiously, as the naturalist 



