1854] 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Ur 



refer to fadts and topics of great public interest, may not (except 

 in their bearing upon questions of political economy) be con- 

 sidered to come within the range of Science, which has been 

 defined to be "Art, attained by precepts, or built on principles," 

 and the)' may not come directly within any of the objects 

 specified in the first section of the regulations of the Canadian 

 Institute, yet information upon them cannot but be useful and 

 welcome to the public, and in disseminating such information by 

 the circulation of the Journal, the Institute will be felt to be 

 rendering a valuable service, and a service to science, in 

 that wider sense by which it may be understood to comprehend 

 every species of knowledge. For valuable papers relating to 

 several of the physical sciences, we shall, I hope, continue to be 

 indebted to a Class of gentlemen who made, indeed, the first 

 movement towards the establishment of the Institute. I mean 

 the Oiv'il Engineers, whose profession compels them, in the study 

 and practice of it, to look below the surface of things ; to devise 

 new applications of mathematical principles, and mechanical 

 powers, and to consider and make allowance for the great laws of 

 Nature : for it is upon her mysterious and unerring laws that 

 many of their operations are founded. We may expect too, that 

 their opportunities of research, and their habits of observation, 

 Will lead to valuable contributions being made to our museum of 

 mineralogy, and to the study of geology among us. Wo can not 

 indeed, presume to say what description of physiological researches 

 may not receive some assistance from the cause I allude to, for 

 there is such an affinity between the several branches of natural 

 Science, that there is always a prospect of good, especially in a 

 large and imperfectly explored country like this, from any circum- 

 stance which sends abroad among the works of Nature a number 

 of men whose minds have been turned and trained to the 

 observation of her laws, and who have been accustomed to reason 

 and to act upon what is known concerning them. 



In connection with some of the speculations and studies of 

 natural philosophers, Canada will always present a very interest- 

 ing field from the circumstance that a large portion of it to the 

 northward, while it is even now easily accessible by m'eans of its 

 numerous chains of lakes and rivers, and is becoming every 

 year more so from the nearer approaches of railways, yet from 

 its inaptitude for cultivation, continues, and is likely to continue 

 in its primitive' state, exhibiting to the lover of nature, and to the 

 inquire'!' into her works, her romantic woods, rocks and rivers, 

 her shrubs, mosses, insects, and all her wonders, animate and 

 inanimate in their aboriginal st'ite, undisturbed and unaffected by 

 the operations of man. 



It will be felt, I think, in future times, to be a great charm of 

 this country that nature, on so rast a scale, can be seen in all her 

 majesty and freshness, by so ready and easy a transition from a 

 contiguous territory, populous and fertile, and abounding in all 

 the comforts and advantages of civilized life. 



It is, perhaps, no disadvantage that I have little space left, 

 without wearying you, to say any thing of the future prospects 

 of the Canadian Institute, for in speaking of the future we must 

 be dealing, more or less, in uncertain speculation. 



The degree of success which has been obtained in so short a 

 period of time, gives at least goo I encouragement ; and as I have 

 already stated, the attempt for gaining some foot-hold for scien- 

 tific discussion, seems to havo been made at a juncture very 

 favorable. 



The public mind is at present little distracted by angry politi- 

 cal discussions — there has been a long period of tranquility 

 which may create stronger Confidence in the stability of our 

 Colonial relation. The greater activity of trade, and greater 

 abundance of capital arising f> om various causes, occasion Canada 



to be more looked to than formerly as a country presenting ad 

 vantages for the profitable investment of money; 



The progress which is being made in the construction of rail' 

 ways (there being now, in Upper Canada, nearly 400 miles of 

 rail-way in use, where ten months ago there was not one mile 

 completed,) must inevitably give to the Province a very different 

 position in the estimation of other countries, and cannot tail to 

 have a great effect in attracting to it men of liberal minds and 

 means. There must be many, no doubt, who not having been 

 under any absolute necessity of emigrating, are yet very sensible 

 that they might find it to their advantage in doing so — but havo 

 been deterred from taking the step so long as they niust have 

 submitted to the many discomforts and disadvantages insepara- 

 ble from bad roads and the consequent difficulty of access to 

 market. Men of cultivated minds, and accustomed to social 

 comforts and enjoyments, will, injuture, hesitate less to disperse 

 themselves freely over all portions of this new country, when a 

 few hours travelling, unattended by fatigue or discomfort, will 

 transport them to and from the large towns. Such persons wi 1 

 soon be able, without subjecting themselves to any severe priva- 

 tion, to make their choice of a place of residence ii Canada, 

 according to their preferences of climate or soil, or proximity to 

 lakes or rivers, or guided by the price of Ian 1, or by the descrip- 

 tion of settlers whom they would choose for neighbors, or by any 

 other predilections — for it will be in their power to consult their 

 peculiar tastes — without condemning themselves to exclusion front 

 what others are enjoying; 



The tendency of this great change, to people Upper Canada 

 more generally, and in more equal proportion, with a class of 

 educated men, is an advantage by which sueh an institution as 

 this can hardly fail to profit. And I believe, without meaning' 

 to disparage any advantages which other colonies may present 

 that we may expect to gain no inconsiderable degree of wealth 

 anil intelligence from a re-action which seems inevitable, of that 

 movement which of late years has been carrying such multitudes 

 to the Australian Colonies. It has seemed as if the sacrifice of 

 the lives, and health and fortunes of thousands were necessary 

 to produce a conviction of the rather obvious truth that the 

 circumstance of gold being among the natural productions of a 

 country, does not ensure the acquisition of wealth, nor even of 

 independence to all who can make their way to it, — but that, on 

 the contrary, it has a tendency to place many, if not most, of 

 those in a false and distressing position, who rush thither in tho 

 eager spirit of adventure. 



Now that so many are 'e'urn'n; with disappointed hopes, 

 many more must be warned by their example not to run so 

 perilous a hazard; and of those who have rational motives for 

 seeking new homes, but may hesitate hereafter to wander to 

 countries so remote, upon ve y doubtful prospects, we may expect 

 to have the pleasure of receiving our fair proportion; a'nd what- 

 ever may be the accession of intelligence that may accrue to the 

 country from til's cause, some portion of that gain, I trust, will 

 be felt by the Canadian Institute. 



In contemplating any extension of the labors and objects of 

 this Association,' and considering in what additional manner or 

 degree it may be made to contribute to the advantage an 1 

 enjoyment of those who have leisure and inclination to indulge 

 in scientific pursuits, we must find ourselves at once emba'rassed 

 by the want of a suitable building belonging to the Institute in 

 which its proceedings can be carried on, and its library an I 

 museum accommodated and arranged with a due regard to order 

 and convenience. This want, too, we must apprehend, may soon 

 press with greater force than at present, since it is uncertain how 

 long we can be permitted, by the kind consideration of the 

 government, to occupy the spacious, and, in some respects, con-' 



