119 



Consort," reported that a letter of thanks from the Society for the donation 

 had been transmitted to the proper authority by His Excellency the President, 

 and that the following reply had recently been received from the Rt. Hon. the 

 Secretary of State for the colonies. 



TASMANIA— SErARATE. 



Downing-street, 

 July 24th, 1865. 

 Sir, -I have had the honor to receive, and duly to submit to Her Majesty 

 your despatch, separate, of the 23rd December, 18G4, enclosing the ad iress 

 of thanks from the Honorary Secretary of the Eoyal Society of Tasmania, 

 for the cojjy of the principal speeches and addresses of His Royal Highness 

 the Prince Consort, presented by Her Majesty to that institution. 



I am commanded to express to you in reply that the Queen has been very 

 much gratified and soothed by the expressions of loyalty and attachment to 

 herself, and of veneration for the character of the Prince Consort, which are 

 contained in that address, and in the addresses which Her Majesty has received 

 from so many other distinguished and learned bodies throughout the colonies. 

 You will have the goodness to communicate this reply to the Koyal Society 

 of Tasmania. 



I have the honor to be, 

 Sir, 

 Your most obedient, humble servant, 

 Signed) Edward Cardwell. 



Governor Gore Browne, C.B. 

 &c., &c., &c. 

 At the request of some of the members present, the following letter of 

 thanks, above refen-ed to, was read : 



Royal Society of Tasmania, 

 Hobart Town, December 21st, 1864. 

 Sir, — I have been requested by the Council of the Royal Society to acknow- 

 ledge the receipt from your Excellency of a copy of " The Principal Speeches 

 and Addi'esses of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort," also of a despatch 

 from the Eight Honorable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, by [which 

 we are informed that the volume is presented to the Society by Her Most 

 Gracious Majesty the Queen. 



On opening it we find, affixed to the words of presentation, the autograph of 

 Her Majesty, 



It is difficult to give expression to the feelings of pride and srratification with 

 which we acknowledge the honor thus conferred on vis. And if in the presenta- 

 tion there is a tone of unceasing sorrow, it but deepens our reverence fo a 

 beloved sovereign who, in the midst of her grief, can thus, by an attention 

 to one of the remotest and smallest of her colonies, exhibit for our guidance a 

 shining example of that devotion to dut^y which ever won the approval of His 

 late Royal Highness, and was the great guiding princ pie of his life. 



We, therefore, beg that your Excellency, as President, will be pleased to 

 transmit our thanks to Her Alajesty, not alone as our Gracious Queen, but as 

 Patron of the Royal Society of Tasmania, and to convey our humble assur- 

 ances that this copy of " The Principal Speeches and Addresses of His Royal 

 Highness the Prince Consort" with which we have been honored, will for ever 

 be preserved by us as an invaluable treasure. 



I have the honor to remain, 

 Your Excellency's very obedient servant, 



(Signed) J. W. Agnew, M.D., 



Hon. Sec. 



Mr. Abbott laid on the table an abstract of the Meteorological Observations 

 taken at the Light Houses and other stations in Tasmania for the half-year 

 ended 30th June, 1865. Mr. Abbott also read some notes in reference to 

 rarious phenomena, 'recorded in the abstract. 



A vote of thanks having been passed to Mr. Abbott and to the donors of 

 presentations, the meeting broke up. 



