Inaugural Address. 21 



jects discussed, nor to want of sympathy with the direct advance- 

 ment of the community. A new Society solely devoted to Pastoral 

 and Agricultural pursuits has now been announced, and we shall 

 see how far it will succeed. Probably, it will not fare better than 

 the "Agricultural and Horticultural Society" of 1833, which in 

 later years was succeeded by another of the same kind. 



Of the officers of that first Agricultural as of the first Philoso- 

 phical Society, the only survivor is Alexander Berry, then Mem- 

 ber of Council. 



It is certain that we must not anticipate success for ourselves 

 from persons whose leisure is generally given to the frivolities of 

 ephemeral excitement, or whose mental occupation is only exercised 

 by sensational novels or a railway literature. An excellent judge 

 of this question not long ago, in the hearing of some here present, 

 pointed out to the students of the University, that under the 

 effects of undue attraction in a wrong direction, the knowledge of 

 History, Poetry, and Polite Literature which formerly character- 

 ised the young people of our fatherland is rarely to be found 

 among the rising generation of the present day. Such being the 

 case, it becomes necessary to create a taste for these things and 

 for higher pursuits, before we can expect that support which our 

 lucubrations may deserve. 



There may be also still another difficulty in our way. Mankind 

 is gregarious, and clans are not confined to Kelts alone. General 

 society in all nations is made up of clans, or " sets." This kind 

 of segregation, is we]l known even in our English Universities and 

 leading Associations at home ; and it would not, therefore, be 

 surprising to find this influence in any gathering of men from the 

 mixed and amalgamated diversities of a Colonial population. But, 

 if this influence has operated within the bounds of our limited 

 horizon, it is probably owing rather to the diffidence of one class 

 than to the arrogance of another. There are many persons in 

 this community who could materially serve the objects of our 

 Society if they would only lay aside a want of confidence and tell 

 us what they have discovered in the way of mechanical or other 

 practical arts which they cultivate with success. "We ought all 

 to be animated with a mutual desire to add as much as we can 

 (even if the much be really very little) to the common stock of 

 knowledge. Dissociationcanneverserve thepurpose of Association. 



