574 Mon, G. Brodrich on the Land System of Ireland. [May 6, 



remedies for the improvement oi Ireland, and puts into the mouth of 

 the other the following reply : — 



" Marry, so there have been divers good plots devised, and wise 

 counsels cast already about reformation of that realm ; but they 

 say it is the fatal destiny of that land, that no purposes, whatsoever 

 are meant for her good, will prosper or take good effect ; which 

 whether it proceed from the very genius of the soil, or influence of the 

 stars, or that Almighty God hath not yet appointed the time of her 

 reformation, or that He reserveth her in this unquiet state still for 

 some secret scourge which shall by her come into England, it is hard 

 to be known but yet much to be feared." 



It would be difficult to express in language more pathetic or appro- 

 priate the anxieties and misgivings which still oppress the most hope- 

 ful minds in legislating for Ireland, after the lapse of three hundred 

 years. But despair can have no place in the counsels of statesmen. 

 It cannot be that Ireland is eternally doomed either by the genius of 

 her soil, or by the influence of the stars, or by the decrees of an in- 

 exorable Providence, to brood helplessly over her ancient wrongs, an 

 unprofitable and irreconcilable member of the European family. 

 There must surely be a happier and better future reserved for her too 

 in the fulness of time, and this future may be expected to date from 

 the day on which Parliament shall accomplish, — not a provisional and 

 one-sided adjustment, but a comprehensive, just, and permanent 

 settlement, — of the Irish land system. 



GENERAL MONTHLY MEETING, 



Monday, May 9, 1881. 

 George Busk, Esq. F.R.S. Treasurer and Vice-President, in the Chair. 



The following Vice-Presidents for the ensuing year were 

 announced : 



William Bowman, Esq. F.R.S. 



Frederick Joseph Bramwell, Esq. F.R.S. 



Sir W. Frederick Pollock, Bart. M.A. 



William Spottiswoode, Esq. D.C.L. Pres. R.S. 



George Busk, Esq. F.R.S. Treasurer, 



Warren De La Rue, Esq. M.A. D.C.L. F.R.S. Secretary. 



Frederick Arthur Crisp, Esq. 



Ernest Gye, Esq. 



Samuel Armstrong Lane, Esq. F.R.C.S. 



were elected Members of the Royal Institution. 



