LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. xi 
before presented themselves in my long intercourse with the 
Society, that I have the greatest difficulty in bringing myself to 
the expression of any of those ordinary topics which have, on pre- 
vious occasions, formed the subjects of my annual address. 
When on this day 46 years—then a very young man—I was ad- 
mitted into the Society by its estimable founder, how little could 
I anticipate that I should have to look back upon so long a period 
of intimate and happy intercourse with many of the most eminent 
and distinguished naturalists and other scientific men who have, 
during that time, adorned this country ; that I should have formed 
somany close and pleasant friendships which have constituted one 
principal charm and solace of the intervening portion of my life ; 
and, above all, that, after an eight years’ tenure, I should now be 
resigning a Chair which had been previously occupied by men 
whom it is indeed an honour to have succeeded, and my own occu- 
pation of which has been rendered so uniformly happy by the 
kindness and consideration and forbearance of those who placed 
me there! 
It is, indeed, with no ordinary emotion of gratitude that I look 
back upon this latter and most important period of my fellowship 
with the Linnean Society. Called, most unexpectedly to myself, 
to succeed my late revered friend on his retirement, 1 might well 
have shrunk from the responsibility of the office, the arduous nature 
of its duties, and especially from the disadvantageous comparison 
between my illustrious predecessor and myself. But having once 
felt assured that my deficiencies (and no one could, I assure 
you, be more painfully aware of them than myself) might be, in 
some measure, obviated by an earnest endeavour to master the 
difficulties of the position, and an assurance, derived from past ex- 
perience, that I should receive the warm support of the officers 
and Council, and that every allowance would be made by the 
Fellows at large for my inevitable shortcomings, I would not allow 
my misgivings to prevail against the expressed desire of so many 
of the Fellows. If, as I am assured, I have fulfilled those 
duties in any degree to their satisfaction, | most thankfully attri- 
bute it to the wise counsels, the cordial co-operation and support, 
and the lenient judgment with which I have at all times been 
favoured. Still the retrospect of the last eight years cannot but 
leave a mixed impression on my mind. The recollection of many 
mistakes (I fear but imperfectly rectified), of opportunities of use- 
fulness neglected and of duties only partially fulfilled, must and 
ought to cause some regret, especially when it is considered that 
