OPENING OF SESSION AT ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE. 747 
can assume that social status which it ought to be the ambi¬ 
tion of every man to occupy. 
Apart from these considerations, the pursuit of general 
literature has much to recommend it. With a good book in 
hand no man can ever be lonely ; and with the love of 
reading comes the desire for home life and the avoidance of 
vicious companionship. By reading our tastes are refined, 
our knowledge increased and extended, and our conversa¬ 
tional and other social qualities developed. 
In this institution there has long existed, and there still 
exists, an association at the meetings of which essays on 
professional subjects are read and discussed ; it is to be 
hoped that the time is not far distant when, after the week’s 
labours are over, you will meet together for the purpose of 
reading and hearing read extracts from standard works on 
general literature. Should you think it desirable to establish 
a society for effecting this purpose, you may rely at least on 
my willing support and hearty co-operation. 
Men who lead studious lives need physical recreation, in 
order that both mind and body may be maintained in a 
healthy condition. Were proof of the truth of this obser¬ 
vation—which is as old as the hills—wanting, I would refer 
to Mr. Gladstone’s axe, Lord Sherbrooke’s bicycle, the Lord 
Chief Justice’s yacht, &c. 
I contend that it is a good and wholesome thing for every 
man leading a sedentary life to participate in some sort of 
physical exercise; the nature of the exercise must depend, 
of course, on the means, opportunities, and tastes of the 
individual. 
If ever the time arrives when the almost-national Saturday 
half-holiday is extended to our pupils, I would encourage, 
providing your previous week's work has been properly 
attended to, the development of walking, cricket, foot-ball, 
rowing, and similar pastimes. 
On the principle that “ brevity is the soul of wit,” I 
think you are more likely to profit by a short address than 
a long one. I will therefore conclude by stating that every 
professor, without exception, will .at all times be most 
willing to aid you in every way in his power; by reminding 
you that attention to work must be your first consideration, 
and by exhorting you to be ever seeking to climb to the 
topmost rung of the professional ladder. 
“ If I were a cobbler, I’d make it my pride 
The best of all cobblers to be ; 
If I were a tinker, no tinker beside 
Should mend an old kettle like me.” 
