"Build on resolve and not upon regret
The structure of thy future: do not grope
Among the shadows of old sins, but let
The light of truth shine on the path of hope
And dissipate the darkness: waste no tears
Upon the blotted record of lost years;
But turn the leaf, and smile, oh smile, to see
The fair white pages that remain for thee."
At the conclusion of Dr. Robertson's address a brief paper was read by Sir James Grant on some of the literary products of Canada. Following this paper Professor John Macnaughton, of McGill university, delivered an address on "The value of literature." He protested vigorously against the present day tendency toward pure utilitarianism in education and pleaded for a large place for the great and ennobling literature of the past in our educational systems.
The CHAIRMAN: I have the pleasure of asking Sir Wilfrid Laurier to serve the Canadian libraries and librarians in presenting a little gift to the president.
SIR WILFRID LAURIER: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am entrusted with a very pleasant duty. The Canadian members of the American Library Association are desirous of presenting to its president some expression of their respect and esteem, and they have chosen to convey it in the shape of a gavel which they want to present to you, Madam President. It is of Canadian wood and Canadian silver, and I hope you will carry it with you as a token adding pleasure to your sojourn here, pleasant at all events for all of us, and, I hope, for you also.
President ELMENDORF: Sir Wilfrid. Mr. Chairman and Canadian friends: This beautiful gift to the association is made, I am told, of Canadian wood inlaid with Canadian silver. Of course Canadian wood means the wood of the maple and how does that wonderful close fiber come into being? The maple leaf reaches upward into the free air and there it gathers sunshine and the gases of the atmosphere and combining, converting and solidifying these impalpable things into fiber stores them away as this beautiful wood.
What is literature and how does it come into being? By means of the printed leaf, out of human life, are gathered individual knowledge, experience and emotion and combined and converted these individual contributions pass as wisdom into the race mind there to be stored forever to
"Help such men as need."
You have thus given us fit symbol indeed of our profession.
Just one thought more. I come from the border line where there is much hope that some permanent memorial of the hundred beautiful years of peace may be built. In the same spirit, I hope that this gavel may be the only weapon ever raised to enforce order between Canadians and Americans.