Reception by Sir John Boivr'ing, 373 



pursuits, so that eacli one of us could consult with the gentle- 

 man best able to advise him in his own department, and thus 

 attain in the shortest time the most satisfactory results. Sir 

 John, moreover, as President of the China Branch of the 

 Royal Asiatic Society, admitted the members of the Expedi- 

 tion to the honours of an extraordinary session. He welcomed 

 the Austrian naturalists in the heartiest manner, and expressed 

 the most flattering anticipations from their visit. Very de- 

 serving of remark was the speech made on this occasion by 

 the Lord Bishop of Hong-kong. In his capacity of a digni- 

 tary of the Church, he too bade us welcome in the warmest 

 manner, and expressed his conviction that Christianity had 

 nothing to fear, but only to hope, from the study of natural 

 sciences ! What would certain ultramontanists, had they been 

 present, have replied to this remark of a high ecclesiastical dig- 

 nitary ? — they who consider government impossible without 

 restricting the study of the natural sciences ! 



Among the various subjects discussed at this meeting were 

 several of great interest, which sufficiently evidenced what a 

 thorough disposition to mental activity the English show, even 

 in a place where material interests are necessarily the main 

 objects of attention, and where they, moreover, are continu- 

 ally exposed to great personal danger. 



One of the communications received by the Society was a 

 memoir by Mr. W. Alabaster, who had accompanied ex-govern- 

 or Yell to Calcutta as interpreter, treating of the Chinese 

 population there, and its influence on the state of society. 



