PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 25 



and it is hoped that the work will be ready before very long. 

 Such a book is eminently calculated to .foster the enlightenment 

 of a much larger circle of readers than that to which the 

 'Records' can be expected to appeal. 



Whether matters are sufficiently advanced at the present time 

 for the successful inauguration of a movement to commemorate 

 Sir Joseph Banks' eminent services to the nation, is a question 

 not to be settled definitely off-hand. Such a movement would 

 need to be in influential hands, to be initiated at an appropriate 

 time, and to be organised on a very broad basis. Sir Joseph's 

 interest in Australia was many-sided ; and an appropriate 

 memorial, on anything higher than a provincial scale, is a question 

 which concerns not only New South Wales as the Mother-State, 

 but the entire Commonwealth. New Zealand may even claim a 

 sentimental interest at l6ast in such a movement. The erection 

 of a statue in Sydney, as a subordinate feature in such a move- 

 ment, would be an admirable idea as far as it goes. Those who 

 bring a wide outlook to the consideration of the subject, will per- 

 haps decide that whatever else the ' Historical Records ' may be, 

 they certainly promise to be a splendid tribute to the memory of 

 Sir Joseph and of greater import than a statue alone. Ministries 

 rise and fall. Colonial Governors and Officials come and go, but 

 Sir Joseph Banks, the Patron of Australia in the best sense of 

 the term, still remains a central figure of interest throughout the 

 series of volumes so far published. From first to last the State has 

 legitimately expended a large sum of money on the production 

 of the ' Records ' ; and when circumstances permit, it is to be 

 hoped that the publication will be resumed and continued. In 

 the meantime the Government of the State deserves great credit 

 and appreciation for its enterprise in taking the lead in publish- 

 ing historical matters of vital interest, previously inaccessible 

 and unknown except to officials and to those who could obtain 

 access to the English State archives or to private sources of infor- 

 mation. 



Before concluding my remarks, I should like to take upon 

 myself the responsibility of offering the Society's hearty con- 



