348 
PRESIDENT BERGh’s ADDRESS. 
close relations with those dumb servants of mankind, have already 
demonstrated to you the truth, that, by their physical power, in¬ 
telligence, docility, and inappreciable utility, and devotion to the 
interests of our race—they have quite as much to do with the 
existence and progress of civilization as man himself. 
Can you think of a single relation in life, where in some de¬ 
gree they are not represented ? 
What would become of agriculture, architecture, and nearly 
all of the mechanic arts without them ? Who drag the plow, 
nourish the soil, and spare us the pains of locomotion while they 
live; and when dead feed us and clothe us with the products of 
their bodies ? 
We are told, that witli the creation of Eve, the Almighty 
Maker of all rested from His labors. 
Well, let us contemplate for a moment a beautiful woman. 
Let us begin with the tiny shoes upon her feet; the robe of daz¬ 
zling silk; the minion gloves upon her hands; the pearls which 
hang around her alabaster neck; the plumes which ornament her 
hair; the costly India shawl, and cold-defying furs, and some¬ 
times even the ruby color of her cheeks, and tell me whence do 
they all come? 
And then again, when the fatigues of the day are over and 
weary nature seeks repose, is it not upon feathers, wool, and hair 
that aching limbs recline ? 
In their moral characteristics too, man’s arrogant assumption 
of superiority is conspicuous; and this truth, gentlemen, your 
daily experience and observation must confirm. 
In their affection and defence of their young—nay, their 
skilful and admirable strategy in circumventing the cruel schemes 
of their great adversary, man, frequently they astonish and con¬ 
found us. 
The lioness, for example, robbed of her whelps, causes the 
wilderness to ring with the proclamation of her wrongs ; and the 
little bird whose nest lias been invaded, fills the groves with notes 
of sad complaining. 
To evade the pursuit of the sportsman, the partridge covers 
up its young with the grass of the field; and even when no other 
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