during thie 1/ears 1829 -SO. 151 



General Notice of the present state of the Geographical Society, 



— I have not to speak to j'^ou of any modification in the laws of 

 our society. Eight j^ears of an existence, honoured by the most 

 distinguished support, and very recently (August 15, 1830,) 

 confirmed by the august protection of a Prince, who, before the 

 voice of France had named him the " king of a free people," 

 had already signified his approval of your labours ; — these eight 

 years, I say, have allowed of all the improvements being made 

 in the regulations which experience has successively suggested. 

 However, if the results do not yet answer your wishes, — if we 

 have not yet commenced to collect materials which may sooner 

 or later be employed in the preparation of an indispensable work, 



— I speak of a true and conscientious Geographical Dictionary^ 

 which is wanted by the civilized world, — we would hope that 

 the instructions lately addressed to our correspondents in the 

 different parts of the globe, will direct their attention towards our 

 important design ; and that the leisure of the numerous mem- 

 bers of this society* will be devoted to the accomplishment of 

 this work. But such happy results can only be expected, when 

 the disquiet, which at present harasses the social body, giving 

 place to the securit}^ afforded by the establishment of peace, 

 shall no longer turn the mind from that progressive movement, 

 which has, for some years, so successfully extended the limits 

 of useful knowledge. 



The idea which presided at the foundation of the Geogra- 

 phical Society, is itself but a corollary of this proper direction 

 of the mind. It tends to associate the illustrious men of a:ll 

 countries, admitting them to its bosom, and leading them, by 

 this fraternal bond, to communicate, from all points of the earth, 

 their projects, their observations, and their discoveries. This 

 society, of which Paris is the centre, and which is the elder 

 brother of a young and splendid rival, recently established on 

 the banks of the Thames, cannot behold, without a lively satis- 

 faction, coadjutors of a royal race assisting by their endeavours 

 the advancement of its labours ; and it is rejoiced to number 

 amongst its correspondents a prince who will eventually inherit 

 one of the most ancient crowns of the North. f 



Our relations with the learned societies and academies of the 

 old and new world, are not diminished; they continue to be 

 reciprocally useful. In exchange for the memoirs and other pub- 

 lications of the society, their transactions enrich our library ; and 

 we thus, in our turn, obtain important information on countries 

 distant from France. The banks of the Ganges, of the Dela- 

 ware, and the St Lawrence, as well as those of the Thames, the 

 Spree, and the Neva, Copenhagen and Turin, Mexico and the 

 Havannah, contribute to form this bond of intellectual union ; 

 and, when we consider these marks of good will amongst learned 



* From its foundation to the present day, the Geographical Society of Paris 

 has enrolled the names of 650 members on its list, 

 f Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark. 



