ADDRESS. XXXiil 
fraught with consequences very important to science, and the necessary ten- 
dency of them to encourage a taste for science. Upon all these I will 
abstain from offering any observations. There is, however, one consequence 
of these meetings, to which, if you will permit me to detain you a moment 
longer, I will just advert. 
It has been remarked by a modern traveller of considerable depth of ob- 
servation, that he had always found in the children of the fields a more de- 
termined tendency to religion and piety than amongst the dwellers in towns 
and cities, and that he conceived the reason to be obvious—that the inhabit- 
ants of the country were less accustomed to the works of man’s hands than 
to those of God. May not the observation be of more extensive application 
than at first sight appeared? and if it be true that where we dwell con- 
stantly in large cities the mind is liable to be led astray by the habitual con- 
templation of the works of man, forced upon it imperceptibly by the con- 
tinual succession of ideas—all of the same character—all originating in ob- 
jects which have been shaped and fashioned by man, may it not also be true 
that it is equally liable to be led astray where it concentrates its whole atten- 
tion, and exerts its whole energy without relaxation in the contemplation of 
the greatest of all human works, that which the labour of so many centuries 
has raised up—the structure of the abstract sciences? And if that be so, 
what more calculated to unbend the mind, and to divert for a season the 
current of ideas into other channels, than these periodical meetings, where, 
in the proceedings of every section, matter will be found of the deepest in- 
terest to every true philosopher; and where, however dissimilar the facts, 
however varied the inferences, the result will everywhere be still the same— 
that of putting forward more prominently in bold relief the wonderful works 
of creation? It appears to me, if I may presume to offer an opinion on such 
a subject, that the continual progress of discovery is destined to answer 
objects far more important than the mere improvement of the temporal con- 
dition of man. Were there a limit to scientific discovery, and had we reached 
that limit, we shouldbe in the condition of a man who, with the most splendid 
landscape before him, was insensible of its beauty because the charm of 
novelty had passed away. Each successive discovery, as it brings us nearer 
to first principles, opens out to our view a new and more splendid prospect, 
and the mind, led away by its charms, is carried beyond and far above the 
petty and ephemeral contests of life; but the more rapid the discoveries are, 
the more powerful the charm, and therefore great is the motive for exertion ; 
and in labouring in this cause there is this gratifying reflection, that our 
labours cannot injure our successors, for the region of discovery is rich be- 
_ yond the powers of conception; and however much we may draw from it 
we shall not leave its treasures exhausted—no, not even diminished, because 
they are infinite. This Association has already accomplished much; I feel 
persuaded it will accomplish much more; but of this we may rest assured, 
that however long it may endure, and I see no principle of endurance which 
_ other societies have that is here wanting, it will find an ample and an en- 
larging field of useful employment. 
