THE DARWIN MEMORIAL. 535 



objects proposed. A " Darwin Fund " has been created, which is to 

 be held in trust by the Royal Society, and is to be employed in the 

 promotion of biological research. 



The execution of the statue was intrusted to Mr. Boehm ; and I 

 think that those who had the good fortune to know Mr. Darwin per- 

 sonally will admire the power of artistic divination which has enabled 

 the sculptor to place before us so very characteristic a likeness of one 

 whom he had not seen. 



It appeared to the committee that, whether they regarded Mr. 

 Darwin's career or the requirements of a work of art, no site could be 

 so appropriate as this great hall, and they applied to the Trustees of 

 the British Museum for permission to erect it in its present position. 



That permission was most cordially granted, and I am desired to 

 tender the best thanks of the committee to the trustees for their will- 

 ingness to accede to our wishes. 



I also beg leave to offer the expression of our gratitude to your 

 Royal Highness for kindly consenting to represent the trustees to-day. 



It only remains for me, your Royal Highness, my lords and gen- 

 tlemen, Trustees of the British Museum, in the name of the Darwin 

 Memorial Committee, to request you to accept this statue of Charles 

 Darwin. 



We do not make this request for the mere sake of perpetuating a 

 memory ; for, so long as men occupy themselves with the pursuit of 

 truth, the name of Darwin runs no more risk of oblivion than does 

 that of Copernicus or that of Harvey. 



Nor, most assuredly, do we ask you to preserve the statue in its 

 cynosural position in this entrance-hall of our National Museum of 

 Natural History as evidence that Mr. Darwin's views have received 

 your official sanction ; for Science does not recognize such sanctions, 

 and commits suicide when it adopts a creed. 



No ; we beg you to cherish this memorial as a symbol by which, 

 as generation after generation of students of Nature enter yonder 

 door, they shall be reminded of the ideal according to which they must 

 shape their lives, if they would turn to the best account the opportuni- 

 ties offered by the great institution under your charge. 



The following reply was made by his Royal Highness the Prince 

 of Wales : 



Professor Huxlet and Gentlemen : I consider it to be a high 

 privilege to have been deputed by the unanimous wish of my col- 

 leagues, the Trustees of the British Museum, to accept, in their name, 

 the gift which you have offered us on behalf of the Committee of the 

 Darwin Memorial. The committee and subscribers may rest assured 

 that we have most willingly assigned this honorable place to the statue 

 of the great Englishman who has exerted so vast an influence upon the 



