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ADDRESS 



TO THE 



llOYAL GEOGllAPIIICAL SOCIETY 

 OF LONDON; 



Delivered at the Anniversary Meeting on the 2Qth Mai/, 1856, 



By Rear-Admiral F. W. Beechey, 

 v.p.r.s., f.r.a.s., &c. 



PRESIDENT. 



Gentlemen, — Before I address you upon the subject of the progress 

 and condition of that science which we more immediately cultivate, I 

 desire to convey to the Vice-Presidents and Members of the Council 

 for the past year, my acknowledgment of the great assistance I have 

 invariably received from them, especially during a long and serious 

 illness. -To them, and to the unremitting attention of our Secretary, 

 is owing entirely the satisfactory conduct of the business of the Society 

 during that period. How well j-our interests have been attended to, is 

 manifest by the Report of the Council, in which you will find that, 

 whilst the sphere of usefulness of the Society has been enlarged, its 

 permanent fund has been increased, and the list of Members has 

 been extended. You will have learned also that our map-room and 

 library have been enriched by the receipt of the valuable collection of 

 maps andbooks bequeathed to the Society by Mr. Greenough; to whose 

 memory the Council have directed a marble bust to be executed and 

 placed in a suitable part of the building, as a justly merited testi- 

 mony of the high regard and respect the Society entertain for this 

 eminent geographer. This extensive collection has been arranged 

 for ready access, and embodied in the general catalogue, under the 

 judicious management of the map-committee and our curator, Mr. 

 Saimders. 



You will have been made aware, by the receipt of the ' Pro- 

 ceedings,' that the Council have cairied into eflfect their determi- 



