54 Rkport 8.A.A. Advaxckmknt of 8cikx(ik. 



on this occasion, iecei\'ed the fieedom of tlie Tuiuei's Company an(? 

 of i:lie City of London, and was admitted a re]lo\\- of the Geok>gicuV 

 Society, and Honorary Corresponding Secretary of the Royal Colonial 

 Institute. In the colony, however, his services were scantily recog- 

 nised, although in 1888 the combined Kimberley companies — the De 

 Beers Co., the Kimberley Central, the Consolidated Bultfontein, and 

 the Griqualand West Diamond INIining Co. — clubbed together and pre- 

 sented him with a 4-carat diamond in recognition of his services. In 

 1881 he was elected to the Legislative Council, but the vigour of life 

 was on the wane, and the schemes for which he had worked in his 

 earlier years were irrevocably wrecked, and no new ones presented 

 themselves. In 1892 he writes, "I feel now how my life has been 

 misspent by absence from the great centres of scientific and educational 

 discoveries. JVfy first practical lessons Avere from Faraday in science 

 and Graves and .Stokes in physiology and medicine, and afterwards by 

 my years residence in Paris, where I attended lectures by the most 

 advanced scientific men of the day — French, German and American. 

 ... I now feel how my life has been Axasted, no one to exchange 

 ideas with except on paper, no one to confide in for scientific research,, 

 and none to appreciate new ideas and views. Nothing hut fads and 

 conventualism — gossip and social schemes for selfish ad\ancement and 

 I'ivalry ; nothing worthy of tlie attention except for the hour or day." 

 Such were the thoughts in the evening of his life, but they are the 

 same as those of all great men who do not themselves see tlie Aarious 

 channels into which their life's endeavours ha^e run, but which, never- 

 theless, can be traced and appreciated by those who care to look into 

 the origins t)f our institutions and ideas. In the colon}' we ha\"e been 

 to(.> much accustomed to let success come t© us by the interaction of 

 circumstances over which we exercise no control ; that there was one 

 man at least in the colony who definitely looked forwaid into the 

 future, saw clearly the tendencies of events, and consciously prepared 

 for and would have moulded events to his will, has been to the lasting 

 benefit of this country, and establishes Dr. Atherstone's place in historj' 

 as one of our great men. 



I must ask lea^e to (juote, in conclusion, tlie following ajipreciation 

 I have just received from Mr. E. J. iHuui, the director of the Geological 

 Survey of Victoria : — 



"Dr. Atherstone was a man brimful of ()riginal ideas, energetic 

 to a marvellous degree, and he had the knack of imparting enthusiasm 

 to all aV)out him. No one excelled him in patriotic feeling; he loved 

 South Africa and everything in it. In science he was an enthusiast : 

 no toil was too great, no task too hea\ y that would ad\ance the work. 

 Geology was his particular branch, and his obser\ations were keen and 

 practical. \Miile at the Cape in the early seventies there were few 

 who understood the bearing of our science on economics, but Dr. 

 Atherstone fully appreciated the importance of energetically unravel- 

 ling the geological problems of the country and thus assisting iii its 

 development. He was ever foremost in and out of Parliament in 

 having such work carried out, and I owi- much to him for the warm 



