MR. PRESIDENT, HONORED ASSEMBLAGE,--The esteemed invitation which has been offered to me in this significant hour of the opening of the Congress of Arts and Science to greet the members of this congress, and particularly my esteemed compatriots, I have had no desire to decline. I have been for a fortnight under the free sky of this mighty city--so I must express myself, since enclosing walls are unknown in the United States--and this fact, together with the hospitality offered me in such delightful manner by the Chairman of the Committee on Congresses, Mr. Frederick W. Lehmann, has almost made me a St. Louis man. Therefore I may perhaps take it upon myself to greet you here. I confess that I arrived here with some misgiving--some doubts as to whether the great task which was here undertaken under most difficult circumstances could be accomplished with even creditable success. These doubts entirely disappeared the first time I entered the grounds of the World's Fair and obtained a general view of the method, beautiful as well as practical, by which the treasures gathered from the whole world were arranged and displayed. I trust you, too, will have a like experience; and will soon recognize that a most earnest and good work is here accomplished. And I must remark at this time that we Germans may indeed be well satisfied here; the unanimous and complete recognition which our coöperation in this great work has received is almost disconcerting.