THE CANADIAN JOURNAL. 



NEW SERIES. 



No. VIII.— MARCH, 1857. 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



BY THE HON. CHIEF JUSTICE DRAPER, C. B. 



Bead before the Canadian Institute, January 10th, 1857. 



My first duty in assuming the Chair of the Canadian Institute, is 

 to thank you for the honour you have done me in electing me to fill 

 a position which has been previously occupied by men justly dis- 

 tinguished, and with such special claims to the honour. "Without 

 assuming a forced humility, or that tone of self-depreciation which 

 is ever akin to vanity, I cannot but recognize my own deficien- 

 cies, and wish myself better qualified for the duties I ought to 

 discharge. If I have felt hesitation in undertaking these duties, it is 

 from no want of regard for the Canadian Institute, or of desire for its 

 welfare ; still less is it from undervaluing those who have assigned 

 to me so conspicuous a place in a body associated together for objects 

 at once so honorable, and so indispensable to the highest interests 

 of this Province. But in accepting the office of President I comfort 

 myself with the assurance that I am surrounded, in the Council, by 

 those selected by you, and well qualified to relieve me of the grave 

 responsibilities which the high aims of this Institute would other- 

 wise impose on me ; while I can only assure you that I yield to no 

 member of this Society in earnest zeal for the promotion of its best 

 interests, or in the high estimate of what it is capable of accom- 

 plishing for Canada. 



VOL. II. — F 



