760 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
would say to you, let that spirit be a humane and a noble 
one, and remember that character is more lasting than intel¬ 
lect, and if intellect be not associated with industry and 
honour, character is sure to beat it, even in acquirement, in 
the long run. Cultivate humanity in all that you do, and in 
all that you make your patients undergo; and set your faces 
away from cruelty, all through your lives. Do not suppose 
that art and science derive any power for good from the 
hideous practice of dissecting living animals, so frequently, 
and to my mind brutally, had recourse to in some of the 
veterinary schools on the Continent, and with no better plea 
for its justification than that it accustoms the operator to the 
sight of blood and the writhing sufferings of his victim. Do 
not believe, gentlemen, that sound medical knowledge can be 
elicited from animal torture, which there is too much reason 
to fear is also to some extent still tolerated in this country, 
in spite of the very energetic and laudable exertions of the 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Believe, 
on the other hand, that in the cultivation of all that is best 
in your hearts, characters, and lives; in soberness, tem¬ 
perance, and chastity; in the recollection of God above, and 
of the homes from which you have come; of the parents who 
are anxiously and lovingly watching your progress, you have 
sources of power, and skill, and success, which will conduct 
you in happiness to a clear and definite goal, where each one 
of you will enjoy that which is the best preparation for all 
functions—the consciousness of being the right man in the 
right place. 
I should be doing a violence to my feelings were I to 
conclude this address without acknowledging with the 
deepest feeling of thanks the high honour conferred upon 
me by the presence here to-day of many of my professional 
brethren, some of whom have come long distances to listen 
to my imperfect remarks, and to afford me that support of 
which, after more than thirty years' service as a teacher in 
connection with this institution, I still stand so much in need. 
Amongst so many I dare not particularise; but permit me to 
say that your countenance on this occasion, to my mind, be¬ 
tokens a coming good. It is an evidence of an approach to 
that unanimity of action, oneness of thought, and freedom of 
social intercourse, without which we are but as a rope of 
sand, which may by the slightest blast be scattered to the 
winds; but possessing which, we may be likened to a metallic 
coil of strength and persistency, which shall enable us to 
maintain and support ourselves in that position in society to 
which we have a right to aspire, and act as a telegraph of 
veterinary science of future ages. 
