LINNEA>' SOCIETY OF LONDON. IX 



the President opened the business of the Meeting with the follow- 

 ing Address : — 



GrENTLEMEN, 



The return of our Anniversary claims from me this accustomed 

 recognition of oiu' mutual relation to each other, and I gladly 

 commence my brief address by the expression of the feeling which 

 is naturally uiDpermost in my mind on this occasion, of the warmest 

 gratitude for the continued confidence and kindness which the 

 experience of the past year has again exhibited on the part of the 

 Society towards me, and which, I ma}^ well be proud to say, has 

 never sustained a single check, or been shadowed by a single cloud, 

 since the day when you fii'st unreservedly confided to me the re- 

 sponsible and honourable occupation of this chair. If I know my 

 own heart, that confidence, far from engendering on my part an 

 indifference to the welfare of the Society, wiU only render me the 

 more anxious to deserve it, by an unremitting watchfuhiess over 

 your interests, and a constant endeavour so to fulfil the duties of 

 my office, that when I shall finally resign it into your hands, I 

 may still be able to congratulate myself on the continuance, usque 

 adfinem, of the same uninterrupted good feeling and hearty trust. 



Like its predecessors, the past year has been chequered by light 

 and shadow. The general brightness of our career has not been 

 without its clouds, nor can we reasonably expect, in so large a 

 body as ours, that a year could pass away without some event to 

 cause us sorrow, and to qualify our exiiltation at the increased 

 prosperity with which we have been favoured. 



When alluding to the darker phase of our year's experience, 

 your thoughts will at once be directed with my own to the tem- 

 porary removal from amongst us of one who for twenty years has 

 been the Life of our Society. The merits and services of Mr. Ben- 

 nett require no eulogy from me in this place. They have been too 

 long known and are too duly appreciated for anything that I can say 

 to add one throb to the gratitude and affection which fill the heart of 

 every one who has had the opportvmity of observing the unwearied 

 constancy, the rare judgment, the extensive and varied knowledge, 

 the devotion to our interests, and the affectionate attachment, which 

 have all been brought to bear iipon the welfare of a Society of which 

 Mr. Bennett has for so long a period been the stay and ornament, 

 the decxm et tutamen. These ser\dces, as modestly as efficiently 

 conferred, have been requited by the gratitude and affection of 



