210 Address of the President. 



they celebrate the highest triumph of mental power. This is 

 the ideal which, in faint outlines, appears in the morning 

 rays of a promising future. And as the leader to this ideal, 

 stands before us Humboldt — the Aristotle of this century. 

 He stands before us as the type of sterling nobility, great 

 as a man through his philanthropic modesty, a genius of 

 universal knowledge, the brightest ornament and highest 

 ruler of the world of science. With the light of this leading 

 star we are entering this new promising epoch. The present 

 age is also characterised by a much more complete ascen- 

 dancy, which science is gaining over almost every branch of 

 industry, of which she has become the benefactor and the 

 guardian. Does not, therefore, a sphere of unlimited utility 

 lie here before us ? — here, where the field for active life is so 

 extensive, and where the laborers of science are so few ? Our 

 means are great ; may we wisely use them ! And may the 

 value of our work be measured by its influence on the welfare 

 of this country ! Under such anticipations we accept this 

 hall, entrusted to us as a possession in which science should 

 reap its never-faihng harvest. Let us leave it as a heritage 

 to our successors, conscious of having deserved the gift — of 

 having responded to the confidence by which the rulers of 

 this country have patronised all our designs. May the 

 tempest of discord never re-echo from these walls ! may every 

 word resounding here be one expressive of friendly feelings, of 

 philosophic thoughts, of elevated inspiration for all that is 

 noble ; and, in aiming to fulfil the destiny for which we here 

 are called, may our symbols be ' ' Concord and Progress ! " 



