readable. Many of his _dicta_ and opinions will doubtless be more and
more called in question, especially in those of his works which are
more directly of a didactic than a narrative character, and in regard
to subjects which he was by habit, by mental constitution, and by that
prejudice from which the greatest can never wholly free themselves,
incapable of judging broadly or soundly,--such, for instance, as the
scope and functions of painting and the fine arts generally, the value
of modern poetry, or the working of Constitutional and Parliamentary
institutions.

RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD.

_Chelsea, June, 1881_.

ON THE CHOICE OF BOOKS.

[Illustration]

ADDRESS
DELIVERED TO THE
STUDENTS OF EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY,
APRIL 2, 1866.

GENTLEMEN,

I have accepted the office you have elected me to, and have now the
duty to return thanks for the great honour done me. Your enthusiasm
towards me, I admit, is very beautiful in itself, however undesirable
it may be in regard to the object of it. It is a feeling honourable
to all men, and one well known to myself when I was in a position
analogous to your own. I can only hope that it may endure to the
end--that noble desire to honour those whom you think worthy of
honour, and come to be more and more select and discriminate in the
choice of the object of it; for I can well understand that you
will modify your opinions of me and many things else as you go
on. (Laughter and cheers.) There are now fifty-six years gone
last November since I first entered your city, a boy of not quite
fourteen--fifty-six years ago--to attend classes here and gain
knowledge of all kinds, I know not what, with feelings of wonder and
awe-struck expectation; and now, after a long, long course, this
is what we have come to. (Cheers.) There is something touching
and tragic, and yet at the same time beautiful, to see the third
generation, as it were, of my dear old native land, rising up and
saying, "Well, you are not altogether an unworthy labourer in the
vineyard: you have toiled through a great variety of fortunes, and
have had many judges." As the old proverb says, "He that builds by the
wayside has many masters." We must expect a variety of judges; but the
voice of young Scotland, through you, is really of some value to
me, and I return you many thanks for it, though I cannot describe my
emotions to you, and perhaps they will be much more