780 
MR. MAYER’S ORATION. 
ation. We should indeed, seek truth, feel its importance, and 
act as the dictates of reason direct.” 
Obtain clear and definite ideas upon every thing that is pre- 
sented to your minds, by which means you may grasp and 
grapple with the most abstruse subjects in nature. Never con- 
sider any thing too trifling to be beneath your notice. Follow it 
out in all its bearings : for it was the simple fact of an apple fall- 
ing from a tree which led the great Sir Isaac Newton to demon- 
strate satisfactorily that it was the principle of gravitation which 
preserved this globe of earth, and all the innumerable worlds by 
which it is surrounded, not only in perpetual motion, but also 
poised and preserved them in their respective orbits, each pursu- 
ing its destined course till time shall be no more — and all in that 
beautiful and harmonious order which excites our deep-felt 
wonder, and our awe and veneration for the great and beneficent 
Author of all. 
A young man, destined for our profession in the present day, 
should have not only a liberal English education, but a classical 
one too. At all events, the usual education of the veterinary 
pupil for too many years past will no longer satisfy the expecta- 
tion of the public, or establish his own 'reputation and success. 
He should also be made acquainted with the elements of 
mathematics. Let him cultivate sound, religious, and virtuous 
principles; let those principles be his pole-star through life, in 
the hour of prosperity as well as in adversity. Cultivate high, 
independent, and honourable principles, and the generous and 
best feelings of man will respond accordingly. They will secure 
the esteem and respect of all around you; and, when your sun is 
setting in the horizon of this vale of mingled pleasure and sorrow, 
its parting beams will shed a radiant lustre around those you 
leave most dear to you. 
The independence which a young man should also pursue is 
the ability of honestly providing for his pecuniary wants, of 
ceasing to be a burthen to his friends, and of obtaining by his own 
exertions a respectable rank in society. This sort of indepen- 
dence necessarily includes industry, fidelity, attention, obliging 
manners, and all the modest virtues in its train. 
Too many, I fear, pursue an opposite course when they are first 
launched out into life. They consider it indispensably necessary 
to curry a connexion by stooping to habits beneath a gentleman 
and a man of business. Never was an idea more erroneous. It 
defeats its own end : and actually the very parties who have 
benefitted by your indiscretion (if I may use such a term in this 
instance) are the first to treat you with contempt so soon as you 
have lost your caste and grade in society. 
I am sure you will not consider me out of place if I recommend 
