INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 02!) 
habits as I have alluded to or been used for improper pur¬ 
poses. 
Let us pass from this gloomy picture to one of a brighter 
aspect, and to which additional lustre is given by a life of 
goodness and usefulness. It is no fanciful picture that 1 
have presented to your view. Nearly twenty years’ experience 
with veterinary students in this institution warrants me in 
stating what I have; it also justifies me in pointing out the 
things to be avoided—as the mariner shuns the sunken rock 
or shallow quicksands, the danger of which is indicated by 
some lighthouse or other friendlv mark. 
cj t ► 
I do not wish to be misunderstood; I have said that in¬ 
stances such as I have just alluded to are too numerous. It 
would be well if none existed, and it w ould be gratifying in¬ 
deed if all could be placed on the bright side of the picture 
—and happily a very large majority deserve such a position. 
In my comparatively short career in this institution, I have 
met with a great many students whose conduct has been 
most exemplary and their progress in every respect satisfac¬ 
tory, who, when the time came to present themselves before 
the board of examiners, felt ready for the ordeal they had to 
pass through. They knew that they had not neglected any 
opportunity of acquiring knowdedge, they felt sure that if 
their memory was not treacherous they should pass a good 
examination; they therefore presented themselves full of con¬ 
fidence and hope. 
On many occasions I have thought it a great pleasure to 
witness the examination of an assiduous, intelligent pupil; 
his answers are not guesses, nor does he evade or equivocate. 
Should he not happen to answer every question, he says that 
he cannot remember, and the experienced examiner at once 
detects the truth of his assertion, and kindly helps him out 
of his temporary difficulty, or turns to some other subject. 
This pleasure has been added to by seeing him receive his 
diploma, accompanied with the congratulations of the chair¬ 
man of the board, and his kind admonitions to keep on in the 
same path of industry, and at the same time telling him to 
consider himself still a pupil, and to endeavour to become more 
perfect in the profession he has chosen, and that if he adopted 
this course he could not fail to succeed in life—that he would 
become an ornament to the profession as well as a good 
member of society. To witness the recipient of a diploma, 
which it had been his highest ambition to obtain, to mark 
his animated countenance, his apparent self-satisfaction and 
determination, which you can almost read in his counte¬ 
nance, to continue in the right course, is most gratifying: 
