— 44-- 



coetera neque tem'porum sunt, neque cetatum omnium, 

 neque locorum ; sed hoec studia adolescentiam alent, se- 

 nectutem ohlectant, secundas res ornant, adversis per- 

 fugium ac solatium prcehent ; delectant domi, non im- 

 pediunt fores ; pernoctant nohis cum, peregrinantur , 

 rusticantur." 



I am confident that you, gentlemen, will agree 

 witli me that your efforts should not be confined to an 

 Eesthetic cultivation of Art and Science. It should be 

 the object of all of us to encourage the formation in 

 Mauritius of Mechanics' Institutes, reading rooms, 

 public libraries for the instruction of all classes of our 

 mixed population. The interest which I take in the 

 institutions of this kind is founded on the conviction 

 that without moral and mental culture, the fabric of 

 domestic life is unsecure, and the apparently finest 

 guarantees of political institutions are of little avail. 

 The most formidable impediments of civilization and 

 national progress are ignorance and the evil which 

 ignorance induces. The mass of crime and suffering 

 directly traceable thereto is appalling, while, therefore, 

 it will always afford me sincere pleasure to meet you, 

 gentlemen, on the neutral ground of high Art, Science 

 and^Litorature. I trust that I shall have your support 

 and aid in my efforts to establish gradually in this as 

 in the Australian colonies popular libraries and read- 

 ing rooms, calculated to raise the moral and intellec- 

 tual tone of all sections of the people, and to breath a 



