390 Presidential Address. [Sess. 
part they excel in grace and beauty even Solomon, who in all 
his glory was not arrayed like one of them. 
To ambitious men, and especially to those whose dreams 
have not yet been realised, let me say, the best specific for 
their disappointment, and its consequent depression, is to 
“behold the birds of the heavens ”—“ye gentle birdes! the 
world’s fair ornament and heaven’s glorie ”—-soaring upwards 
on untrammelled wing, sweetly singing with glad unburdened 
hearts, rejoicing in the beauty and freedom of their very 
existence; life to them, in such circumstances, being really 
worth living. 
A spider may be a small and insignificant item in this vast 
universe, but even it finds its home in kings’ palaces; as one 
did in what could be called a palace simply because, for the 
time being, the place gave shelter to a distressed and baffled 
king. Was it not to that historic spider, and to the observa- 
tions thereon of an unconscious naturalist, that we Scots owe 
our freedom and independence as a nation? Because King 
Robert the Bruce read from the book of nature—observing the 
perseverance of that difficulty-overcoming spider—and was 
thereby encouraged to strike his final but successful blow for 
freedom, we in Scotland were able to join with heart and soul 
in those lou and loyal acclamations of joy which burst from 
a great patriotic nation and empire—greater than the world 
had ever seen—when, less than three months ago, in that 
brilliant assembly in Westminster—Scotsmen occupying 
uppermost seats—and on the Scottish Stone of Destiny, was 
crowned King Edward I. of Scotland and VII. of England, 
who wears his crown to-day by right of his descent from that 
royal Scottish naturalist of six centuries ago! 
A careful observer has recently had to go to natural 
history to find an adequate description of what, in his opinion, 
are the qualifications necessary to fit one to become a Member 
of Parliament. These, he says, are “the constitution of an 
elephant or an ox, the digestion of an ostrich, and the jawbone 
of an ass”—and he must know, for he is not only himself 
a member, but he has several relatives in the House of 
Commons. 
Where would be our trade and commerce, our supremacy 
on the seas, but for the observations of naturalists? Britannia. 
