568 Geological Society : Anniversary Address^lS'^'i. 



directed by men of scientific discernment and zeal, who can well de- 

 scribe and appreciate the value of such a collection. 



I rejoice in the formation of these provincial societies, being con- 

 vinced that they will work out details of great ultimate value ; and 

 whatever may be the objections to free trade among nations, I have 

 no hesitation in proclaiming the benefits of free trade in geology, 

 because I know that our own volumes have risen in value, and 

 our ranks have swelled in numbers, Avith the birth and growth of 

 our younger friends and rivals. 



FOREIGN GEOLOGISTS — PRUSSIAN SCHOOL. 



Let us now consider the progress which our science has been re- 

 cently making on the continent of Europe. 



Tiie visit of the King of Prussia to our country upon the auspi- 

 cious occasion arising out of the birth of our future Sovereign, Avas 

 marked by an event most gratifying to our feelings. To testify to 

 His Majesty your sense of his gracious and warm patronage of the 

 cultivators of geology, and " to prove that EngUsh geologists can 

 never forget the deep obligations they owe to the land which has 

 produced a Humboldt, a Von Buch, and an Ehrenberg*," you elected 

 His Majesty a Fellow of the Society. The condescension with which 

 His Majesty subscribed our obligation book, and the interest with 

 which He examined our collections within these walls, will be remem- 

 bered by us with just pride. Attended by the great philosophical 

 traveller whose researches have opened out the widest fields to the 

 inquirers in every department of Natural History, we who have drunk 

 at the fountains of knowledge poured forth by Humboldt, must in- 

 deed rejoice in the day when our veteran associate appeared in our 

 halls as the chosen friend of the Prussian monarch. Honour be to 

 the King who has the wisdom and discernment to attach such a man 

 to his person and his fortunes ! Any effort of mine to do justice on 

 this occasion to the eminent services which Baron A. von Humboldt 

 has rendered to science, would be both presumptuous and misplaced ; 

 but I must seize this opportunity to assure you, that if his valuable 

 life should be prolonged for a short term, the public will be fur- 

 nished with convincing proofs that his brilliant mind can yet 

 confer on us the choicest gifts. Let others more competent to 

 the task dwell on the high merits of his inquiries into the distribu- 

 tion of terrestrial magnetism and various branches of physical sci- 

 ence which have already appeared, or are nearly ready for the 

 press, in a stupendous work embracing nearly all natural know- 

 ledf^e ; be it for us, however, to estimate the skill with which he 

 has developed, and the power with which he has applied the laws 

 of climatology and physical geography to explain many problems in 

 the earth's structure. 



Having myself been favoured with the perusal of some pages of 

 a work on the distant parts of the Russian empire, which will very 

 shortly be published, I venture (however incompetent to offer an 



* The above words were spoken by the President in admitting His Ma- 

 jesty as a Fellow of the Geological Society. 



