406 British Association, 



the most exclusive and aristocratic city of the empire ; .mticI him- 

 self chosen by the most illustrious men of this nation, assembled 

 in the classic halls of Oxford, to succeed to a dignity vacated 

 within the past week by the august Consort of the Queen. How 

 different from the day when Dalton first intimated to the world 

 without, that Manchester was not a mere cotton ball ! The whole 

 world of science will ratify the choice of Mr. Fairbairn for the 

 Presidential chair. 



The week which began with the Prince's speech, and which 

 has closed, under the auspices of Lord Wrottesley, with the no- 

 mination of Mr. Fairbairn, has been eminently useful, various and 

 agreeable. Since Friday, the air has been soft, the sky sunny. 

 A sense of sudden summer has been felt in the meadows of Christ 

 Church and in the gardens of St. John's ; many a dreamer of 

 dreams, tempted by the summer warmth, has followed the Cadiz 

 proverb, and stealing from section A or B, has consulted his ease 

 and taken a boat. To say that the meeting has been held in Ox- 

 ford, is to say that it has been held in the midst of objects of the 

 highest human interest and of the most delightful associations — 

 in a city of students and professors — within reach of libraries, 

 museums, philosophical instruments, observatories, collections of 

 natural history, such as no other provincial city in England, — or 

 in Europe, — can boast. The hospitality has been limitless. The 

 colleges, the private houses, have been full. The splendid and 

 piquant New Museum, has been open day and night. An un- 

 usual flutter of silk and muslin has warmed with a brighter glow 

 the old caves of the Bodleian. Groups that Watteau would have 

 loved to paint have been daily seen under the elms of the Broad 

 Walk or in the shades of Magdalen. Exeter chapel, which Mr. 

 Scott has transformed into the likeness of the Sainte Chapelle in 

 Paris, has had its hosts of pilgrims. Every morning has brought 

 its charming breakfast parties, every evening its charming early 

 dinners, closed by its no less charming receptions. A splendid 

 lecture has been given by Prof. Walker on the present state of onr 

 knowledge of the Sun ; two admirable sermons have been preached 

 at St. Mary's by Mr. Temple and Mr. Mansell, on the Religious 

 Aspects of Science ; and on Saturday night, when there was no 

 reception at the New Museum, Dr. Daubeny received a select 

 portion of the savans of both sexes in his tent at the Botanic 

 Gardens. A batch of new Doctors of Civil Law has been added 

 to the illustrious roll, amongst whom Prof. Sedgwick was the un 



