77 



" Annual Report of the Brighton and Sussex ■> c ,, „ . . 

 xt x t ,,. . o, • , „ Cfrom the Society. 



Natural History Society ) 



"Annual Report of the East London Natur i ,, „ . . 



,. ,, o, . . „ " {• the Society, 



alist s Society J 



" Microscopical examination of certain mineral » ,, . ,, 



waters," by D Campbell and Jabez Hogg ) 



" The American Naturalist " in exchange. 



" The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science" by purchase. 

 The thanks of the Club were voted to the Donors. 



The President then said that it had become his mournful duty to communicate 

 to the Club officially an event of grave and peculiar significance which had 

 occurred since their last meeting, of which the members were doubtless well 

 aware privately, and would understand that he thus intended to inform them 

 of the death of their Treasurer, Mr. Robert Hardwicke. The relations of this 

 gentleman to the Club were so many and so various, and he fulfilled them all 

 with such ability, that the loss to the Society might truly be said to be irre- 

 parable. He was one of the founders of their Society, and was always ready 

 to promote its objects, and his great tact and talent in doing so would be 

 acknowledged by all. As their Treasurer, he discharged his duties with upright- 

 ness, and in a manner which gave offence to none. As a member of Committee 

 he was never absent from his place unless from unavoidable cause, and greatly 

 would they miss from the accustomed seat his pleasant face and portly form. 

 As their publisher, his services to the Society were very great, for in all times 

 of difficulty his valuable technical experience was readily placed at their service, 

 and his loss to them in this respect could hardly be overrated. As a mau of 

 intellect, his acquirements were far above the average, and it was ever his 

 pleasure to collect around him men of science, by whom it might fairly be said 

 he was held in high appreciation. As a publisher of scientific works he showed 

 great discrimination, and to his judgment many valuable and popular books of 

 this class owed their existence. He (the President) could personally testify to 

 the geniality and evenness of temper ever displayed by Mr. Hardwicke, and he 

 felt sure that all who knew him were able to bear similar testimony to his 

 worth. Another way in which Mr. Hardwicke had been of invaluable service 

 to the Club arose from the circumstance that he had placed his office at all 

 times at their disposal, he received their letters, transacted their business with 

 diligence and propriety, and whilst his assistants were ever ready to afford 

 help or give information to inquirers with cheerful courtesy, his rooms were 

 always at the service of the Society, when special meetings or special business 

 required. For any one of these kindly offices and traits, he would have deserved 

 their thankful remembrance, but when they were all united in one man, they 

 might well honour his memory ! A cynic of old had said that gratitude was a 

 feeling largely composed of memory of past and expectation of future benefits, 

 and even on this principle they might surely be grateful to one who had given 

 them so much, and who always led them to expect that he would do still more 

 for them upon future opportunities. Certainly no one regretted his loss more 

 deeply than those members of the Committee with whom he so harmoniously 

 worked. Several of the leading members of the Club, Mr. By water, Mr. Cooke, 

 and the Secretary, together with himself, had attended Mr. Hardwicke's funeral, 

 and upon no occasion could it be said that there gathered around a grave more 

 real mourners. He would ask them, therefore, as members of the club to unite 

 with the Committee in ondeavouring in some way to express their sympathy 



