8 Anniversary Address. 



whole division of Prince Charlie's army defiles before us on 

 its way to the Border rendezvous. 



Fifty years pass in uneventfulness, and there is not 

 much to arrest attention in those two young men who 

 trudge the highway together, blithe of heart and free of 

 care. But one of them is Walter Scott, who is to do more 

 for his country's fame and glory than all the kings and 

 knights who have passed in panorama before us. 



Gentlemen, T have missed a hundred reminiscences, know- 

 ing that recapitulation must fatigue you. The face of 

 Selkirkshire teems with association, and I pray you to bear 

 in mind that I have not made one reference that is not 

 absolutely historical. Every incident might have been wit- 

 nessed by a s))ectator standing where we planted him at first. 

 I leave out of reckoning the stories called to mind by points 

 distant, but yet visible — the black tips of Trimontium, the 

 massive ramparts of Rink, the broch at Torwoodlee, and 

 countless others. And all this richness of reminiscence is at 

 the disposal of him who will rightly use his privileges as a 

 member of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club. Truly it 

 needed no vindication ; but I trust I have laid before you 

 some reason wh}^ we should be proud of our brotherhood, 

 and do what we can to promote its objects. It helps to make 

 life richer and fuller, whether we study by the winter fire, or 

 roam over the hills in summer sunshine. Its delights are 

 various and evident. 



Some there are to whom such delights do not appeal. " If 

 such there be, go mark them well." 1 do not say that for 

 them no minstrel raptures swell; nor do I predict for them 

 that " doubly dying they shall go down unwept, unhonoured, 

 and unsung to the vile dust from whence they sprung." I 

 reserve for them a more awful fulmination — let no such 

 man be pressed to intrude his unsympathetic soul upon the 

 genial fellowship of the Berwickshire Naturalists. (Loud 

 applause.) 



