206 Address of the President. 



of thought) — then, perhaps, the memory of this day and our 

 early struggles may not have fully suuk into oblivion., and 

 future generations, whilst celebrating their scientific tri- 

 umphs on this spot, and measuring their achievements by 

 the standard of our time, will gently judge the labors of this 

 epoch. And is not all which we hopefully foresee commensu- 

 rate with the already gigantic progress of these flourishing 

 youthful colonies ? Let us cast our eyes on the vivid picture 

 which, as the beginning of future decorations of these walls, a 

 friend equally talented and generous has placed before us. 

 We recognise the greatest of Britain's exploring navigators, 

 not bent on warfare's glory, but on the triumphs of more 

 enduring conquests, boldly directing his vessels into waters 

 unfurrowed by a keel before. His eagle eyes in inexpressible 

 delight are glancing, like Columbus's, along the verdant 

 shores of a new continent — a panorama of nature never 

 before beheld by any European's sight, is there expanding be- 

 fore him. His phantasy perceives cities arising on the 

 virgin ground, sees millions crowded in activity where then 

 the solitude of the wilderness prevailed, sees browsing herds 

 and flocks on the then trackless pastures — the " harvest trea- 

 sures " clothing hill and dale, sees anchoring the fleets of 

 commerce in the peaceful waters of that romantic bay. The 

 realisation of what the most vivid imagination brought before 

 the vision of the immortal Cook, has been the work of much 

 less than a century. This presage of Australia's future, we may 

 well imagine, was the greatest reward which crowned his 

 arduous labors — the richest jewel he took with him from 

 these shores. If since that period the gigantic strides made 

 by civilisation have verified the highest expectations of a now 

 bygone time, what marvels may not yet be revealed by the 

 second century of Australia's colonisation ? No longer shall 

 we then remain almost exiled from the northern countries 

 from whence our population sprang ; no longer shall we then 

 regard with mingled feelings of hope and dread the blanks of 

 our geographic charts ; no longer shall the tired traveller 

 then stray waterless through inhospitable wastes ; no longer 

 shall, for many thousand miles, the coast of this great conti- 

 nent remain unoccupied by homesteads and settlements ; no 

 longer tracts of immense extent remain devoid of the harvest 

 grain. Then the electric wire shall have established 

 our contact with all nations, and shall uphold the cordial 

 affections of scattered friends and families. And then, we 

 trust, the elements of life poured forth by numerous artesian 



