Privileges and Responsibilities of Colonial Youths.

I would not, however, have it understood that I have been unaccustomed to take an interest in matters connected with the general education of the community, and more especially with that self culture, for which ordinary scholastic education is but a necessary preliminary. On the contrary, I have always deemed it a luty and a privilege to declare—as circumstances might permit—my conviction of the extreme importance of cultivating, among the younger members of the population of the Colony, a sound taste and judgment in Literature and Art, and to impress upon young men the special importance, in a new but rapidly progressing society like ours, of the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon them, as well as the privileges they enjoy; and to remind them, sdemnly, of the countless interests depending upon the formation of their character, and their habits, personal, social and domesic; their tastes and amusements—their intellectual, moral, and social tone.

I have always thought that young men—(and I almost asume that the majority of the members of your societies are young men)—should be encouraged, on all legitimate occasions, to consider how much influence each one of them may have for good or eil on the future welfare of the country in his own sphere of life; and should be assured that efforts in self culture—in the equisition page 4 of knowledge, in the formation and expression of sound opinion, and in the development of healthy tastes in Literature and Art—will be certainly rewarded, not merely by internal satisfaction and personal enjoyment, but also by the estimation in which the aspirants will deservedly be held, and the respect and honour which will be conferred upon them, by their fellow citizens.