1S54J 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



143 



of the future, we must uot forget to make allowance for the 

 advantages which we have lost in the departure from the Province 

 of our late President, whose active and zealous services in behalf 

 of the Association, have been so instrumental in bringing it to 

 its present state. 



It is not merely that his familiarity with rather a wide range 

 of scientific subjects qualified him for taking much more than 

 an ordinary part in the proceedings of the Institute ; but his 

 eager thirst for knowledge, his ardent devotion to the interests of 

 science, his indefatigable industry, his strong religious sense of 

 the obligation which we all lie under to( the common family of 

 mankind ; and as much as all these, his hopeful turn of mind 

 which made it always difficult for him to believe that any thing- 

 would be found to be impracticable by which a great public 

 good might be attained ; — these all made him an invaluable 

 fellow-worker with you, especially in laying the foundation for 

 your future system of proceeding. Some portion of his spirit 

 inevitably communicated itself to those with whom he was 

 associated, and thoroughly unselfish, and disinterested as he was 

 seen to be in all his aims, he proved to be an efficient applicant 

 on behalf of the Association whenever an occasion offered, 

 being a suitor whom all were reluctant to disappoint, and all 

 willing to oblige. 



I need offer you no excuse, I am persuaded, for not suffering 

 myself to be restrained by the domestic tie which exists between 

 Capt. Lefroy and myself from paying this just tribute to his 

 services — That circumstance has but given me a better opportu- 

 nity than I should otherwise have had of appreciating his 

 disposition and exertions. It can hardly, I believe, lead me to 

 take a more affectionate interest in his reputation than will always 

 be felt by those whom I am addressing. 



It is abundantly evident, gentlemen, that the Canadian Insti- 

 tute, from the zealous efforts of several able and efficient sup- 

 porters, is occupying at this moment a more considerable place 

 in public estimation fhan it could have been expected to attain so 

 early ; but if we stop for a moment on the vantage ground that 

 has been gained — to look round us, and to glance at the past as 

 well as at the future, I believe we may come satisfactorily to the 

 conclusion that if it shall be the good fortune of this Association 

 to work out any important good for Canada, it still need not be 

 seriously regretted by us that it did not begin its work sooner, or 

 rather that such an Association was not sooner formed. 



Many things seem to have occurred to render the time chosen 

 for its commencement an auspicious starting point, and it will be 

 more favorable perhaps to its future success that the Institute has 

 had from the first a vigorous growth, and has occupied early a 

 position recommending it to public countenance and favor, than 

 that it should have been forced into existence before it could have 

 found adequate support. It could only then have lingered in a 

 sickly state, not attracting much attention nor giving rise to any 

 sanguine hopes ; — and it would have been more difficult to have 

 infused life and energy into such an Institution, than at a fitting 

 time to create a new one. Less competent, as I am, in other 

 respects to form an opinion upon this point than many others 

 who are present, I have the advantage of being able to judge 

 perhaps more clearly, from actual observation, of the past condi- 



tion of Upper Canada; and I do not believe that much time has 

 really been lost, (if any has been,) in making this kind of effort 

 for the advancement of science. 



This is pretty well proved, I think, from the small success 

 which was found to attend some exertions of a similar description, 

 though less comprehensive in their character, which have, from 

 time to time, been made in Upper Canada. 



And here we may naturally ask ourselves whether it is, or is 

 not, to the discredit of this country tbat up to this period more 

 has not been clone by voluntary efforts for the promotion of 

 science, and more distinction gained in its pursuit? I should 

 be glad to be able to prove, quite satisfactorily, that we lie under 

 no peculiar reproach in that respect. At all events let the facts 

 be fairly stated. 



Two generations have passed away since a civilized people 

 began to occupy Upper Canada; — our own Journal, in a late 

 article full of interesting matter, informs us that for twenty years 

 of that time we have had a population over 300,000 — for ten 

 years exceeding 500,000, and we may be certain that at present 

 our numbers are beyond a million. — Upon the first impression it 

 would seem, on a comparison with other countries, that, under 

 such circumstances and in all this time, some native Canadian 

 might have been expected to start from the canvas more dis- 

 tinctly than any has done ; — that some one gifted with peculiar 

 powers would have gained for himself a name likely to endure, 

 and would have conferred celebrity upon the country of his 

 birth, by some striking discovery in art or science, or at least by 

 a proficiency in some liberal pursuit, that would have attracted 

 general attention, and established even abroad a deference to his 

 name as an authority. 



We might refer to some other countries, particularly in the 

 North of Europe, where, in communities not so populous, there 

 have, from time to time, arisen men so distinguished by the 

 gifts of genius, and by the use they made of them, that their 

 names have been handed down from age to age, and are regarded 

 now with a veneration scarcely diminished by the splendid 

 modern discoveries which have disproved some of then theories, 

 and rendered useless many of their inventions. 



But we must consider, on the other hand, that these men have 

 generally flourished in older communities than ours; that the 

 discoveries made, and the distinction obtained by many of them, 

 were the fruits of a " learned leisure," which in Upper Canada 

 hitheito scarcely any have enjoyed; and, besides, that these 

 shinino- lights have commonly appeared at distant intervals in the 

 course of centuries, with larger spaces of time perhaps between 

 them than would cover our whole history as a people. 



The more rapid and general spread of knowledge, too, has 

 had the effect in our time of placing educated men upon more 

 equal ground in regard to their attainments ; so that a striking 

 elevation is not so easily gained. And there has been another 

 more formidable impediment peculiar to our condition as a new 

 country, for Upper Canada may still be called such, though it is 

 fast losing any claim to particular allowance upon that score — I 

 refer here to the fact that among the million who now inhabit 

 this upper portion of the Province, even those who came hither 

 in mature years from other countries, with minds highly culti- 

 vated, have, with very few exceptions, been unavoidably engaged 

 like the multitude around them, in the anxious labor of some 

 profession or employment, by which their daily subsistence was 

 to be earned. Those born in the country have had their time and 

 their thoughts equally engaged by efforts to gain for themselves 

 a competency which few have had the fortune to inherit from 

 their fathers. And so it has happened, (though I think not 

 entirely so) that Upper Canada, if I may assert this without 



