208 Centenary Commemoration, 1799-1899. [June 6, 



has accomplished without Governmental aid, and simply by private 

 enterprise and individual effort, and hope for it a continuance of that 

 beneficent activity which has never flagged from the days of Eumford 

 down to those of Eayleigh and Dewar. 



The addresses are most gratefully received and will be published 

 in the Proceedings of the Institution. 



The Duke of Northumberland moved a vote of thanks to the 

 Prince of Wales for presiding. 



The Duke of Devonshire, in seconding the motion, said that the 

 Eoyal Institution had contributed in no small degree to the extra- 

 ordinary advance of science that the century had witnessed. It was 

 entirely in accordance with the principles that guided his Royal 

 Highness in public life that he should have taken a prominent part 

 in the celebration of the Institution which had become a national 

 one. It was obvious that such an Institution as that could not per- 

 form all the work of which it was capable unless it met with a large 

 share of public support, and no small element in obtaining that 

 support was the countenance of his Royal Highness. 



The Prince of Wales said : I am deeply sensible of the kind words 

 which have fallen from the lips of the Duke of Northumberland and 

 the Duke of Devonshire. I need hardly assure them, nor any of you 

 ladies and gentlemen present, that I shall always look back with the 

 deepest pleasure and gratification on the fact that I have taken part 

 in the Centenary of the Royal Institution. Having been acquainted 

 with it from my earliest years, and having had the advantage of 

 listening to many of the great scientific men who have given their 

 lectures and shown their experiments in this room, I am glad to 

 think that I have been present on this occasion to hear the interest- 

 ing, able and exhaustive lecture which Lord Rayleigh has so kindly 

 given us with his excellent experiments. He has been able to go 

 over much ground in a very limited space of time. The interest that 

 I take in this Institution, I assure you, will never be diminished. It 

 has, as the Duke of Devonshire has said, become a national one. It 

 is self-supporting, and during these hundred years has, no doubt, 

 acquired an amount of scientific knowledge which has been appreciated 

 not only by this country but by every part of the world. Amongst 

 the most pleasant of my duties here to-day I count my having been 

 asked to personally deliver the diplomas to the many distinguished 

 gentlemen who come across the water to join with us in this Centen- 

 ary Festival. As a Member and a Vice-Patron of the Institution, I 

 beg to acknowledge our gratitude to them for having so kindly given 

 us their cordial greetings and presence on this interesting occasion. 

 I regret that I have not time for more. Let me again express my 

 sincere thanks to you. I leave here with feelings of the deepest 

 gratification at having been present on this occasion. 



A vote of thanks was passed to Lord Rayleigh on the motion of 

 Lord Lister, seconded by Lord Kelvin. 



