ADDRESS.
 

Mr. Vice President, and Gentlemen of the Academy,

We have all of uSj Gentlemen, very much
to regret that our venerable President has
been compelled by domestic calamity to re¬
linquish the performance of that duty, which^
at our request, he had taken upon himself. If
he could have addressed you, a^ was his inten¬
tion, you might have received from one who
unites the character of a distinguished artist
to that of a man of letters, those views of the
philosophy and the history of his profession^
which can only be given by one who combines
practical skill with extensive and critical ob*
servation.