4 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 



These conditions gave Sir William an opportunity, for which if 

 he was not actually looking, he was quite ready to accept when 

 it offered. For the rest of his life, he became forthwith, in the 

 most unostentatious manner, "the head and the heart of the 

 Society," as the late Dr. Norton, himself an original Member, 

 and for many years a member of the Council, and Hon. Treasurer, 

 on one occasion aptly described him. That is to say, in the 

 capacity of Hon. Secretary, Sir William, privately and without 

 at any time giving publicity as to the extent of his liberality, 

 even to the Council, took upon himself the responsibility of pro- 

 viding the Society with a temporary home, until it was accom- 

 modated in the Garden Palace; of providing, out of his own 

 resources, for the acquisition of the nucleus of a valuable library; 

 of defraying so much of the office-expenses and of the cost of 

 publishing the Proceedings as the limited income of the Society 

 was unable to meet; and of taking charge of the whole of the 

 executive work, except in the Hon. Treasurer's department. 

 Soon after the conflagration, which completely destroyed the 

 Garden Palace and its contents, in September, 1882, Sir William, 

 at his own expense, placed at the Society's disposal, a more 

 commodious and comfortable, rented house ^than it had ever 

 before occupied; and then, without saying anything about it, he 

 took the lead and contributed the largest share in remedying 

 the damage and destitution caused by the fire, as well as in 

 keeping the current work of the Society going, as if nothing had 

 happened. His next important step was to provide the Society 

 with a permanent home — the building in which we are now 

 assembled — which it has occupied for more than thirty-one years; 

 and also to make provision, of a permanent character, for the 

 oversight of the executive work of the Society under the direc- 

 tion of the Council; meanwhile continuing his generous support 

 in the way of financing the Society, of enlarging the library, and 

 of improving generally its status. This part of his programme 

 having been privately carried into effect, there remained the 

 settlement of the questions of converting temporary into per- 

 manent conditions for securing a firm financial basis for the 



