xlii 



lin, perhaps contributed more than any 

 other cau-e to induce men in whom brain-, 

 leisure, and education were combined, not 

 to keep their opportunities and tfJents hid- 

 den "under a bushel/^ 



The example of Sir John Frank- 

 lin has led Tasmaniane to seek, 

 bv scientific investigation, hoAv to 

 extract from mother earth, from the sky, 

 and from the waters around us, ever- 

 increasing returns of comfort, security, 

 and enjoyment for present and future 

 generations. Insularity is also an im- 

 portant factor in the early utilisation of 

 leisure for a g:od purpose; Hisitory, the 

 beet analyser of huiman natruire, indicates 

 taaat islanders have, as a rule, been in- 

 tensely devoted to the land oi' their 

 hirtlh. As a consequence of being circum- 

 scribed, islanders aie more ready to be 

 resourceful, and therefore to investigate. 



In the early history of the Avoxld's civili- 

 sation (as nowadays ia the Pacific islands, 

 or in Central Africa) there was no leisure, 

 no capital, no- cultivation o: sMeiiLe, b-£- 

 oau'Se individuals in primitive ccmmnni- 

 ties have to wo:k so hard to live f:om 

 hand to miouith that they cannot pause to 

 investigate the causes of things. Leisure 

 is not always reproduorive; in fact, it is 

 usual Iv an incentive to waste; neverthie>- 

 iess, it will appear on refteJtion that 

 without leisure iihe cuttivation of science 

 is impossible, and it is well that the man 

 devoted to science as well as tiiie humbl- 

 est worker j^'hould realise this fact. The 

 m.an who works with his han.is dees not 

 always grasp the assisitance given to him 

 by the man who works with his bnain.s, 

 and whoje board and lodging is provided 

 from previous accu^mulatioas of the re- 

 sults of manual labour. On the other 

 hand, the man of scier^e is inclined to 

 be stoical, and the word ""Leisure" on 

 first reaching his ears often arouses his 

 Sfcom rather than gratitude for that very 

 leisure which is tae ^m^ydiate cause of 

 his being at ail possiole. It is only with- 

 in recent history that any other perman- 

 ent imvestment bes-ides la'nd has been 

 called into existence. jBefore th:s period 

 landowneris were tihe only class able to 

 give siome attention to eoience. The 

 monks who lived in the g; eat medifeval 

 monasteries may be regiarded as a com- 

 munity of land-own:ng bachelo:s; bwt 

 the individual monks, who ccca^ionalJy 

 cultivated profane learning, ran risks of 

 being misunderstiood, if tth.^y were either 

 too asisiduous or t:o suc:e-is:ul; in fact, 

 the blunders of tue Inquiisition ottered 

 but poor encouragement to tiiose who, 

 for instance, proved that the Sun does 

 not go round the world. If anyone in 

 Tasmania still believes the ^vx)r d is flat, 

 the Koyal Society will, at the worst, hesi- 

 tate to^ invite him to read a paper. 



It is remarkable that Literature, Poetry, 

 and Art were raiised to a high standard 

 bv the leisured classes during centuriee in 

 which natural sciences were neiglecited; 

 it might be expected that medicine would 

 have commanded in early history all th.& 

 attention that cou'ld be concentrated on 

 it by wealth, and the anxiety to prolong, 

 life; nevertiheless, medicine was not treat- 

 ed scientifically, but by rule of thumb, 

 and the sysl'em of trial and error up to 

 OUT own times. The discovery of the art 

 of printing did not do mucih for natural 

 sciences, until science had made printing 

 com.raercially successful, and until tex^ 

 books were brougtht within i each of the 

 miany. A great factor in modern pro- 

 gresis has been the development of ac- 

 curacy in the mechani'jal arts. This has 

 placed instruments of precision for weigh- 

 ing, tes'ting, and measuring in the hands- 

 of many investigatars, and we should not 

 be slow to reccgnise that tJie mediaeval 

 monks were without these advantages, 

 and without easy accesiS to books of reier^ 

 ence. 



Modern clubs have been likened to 



the monasteries of the Middle Ages, but 

 the parallel is not en "all toais," because 

 olub men are not always ba ihelors, nor 

 do they generally profes-; to devote "^heir 

 leisure to tnat scientific investigation 

 whieh is the bond of urtion among the 

 membens of these Royal Societies in Tas- 

 mania and in other parts of the Empire. 

 To these free, mo.lern associations is com- 

 mitted, for future ages, the pursuit and 

 development of reproducvtive le'siire, in 

 the isaone way that the staving off of 

 ignorance and confusion was a function 

 for wkich the monasienes deseiYed credit 

 in the dark ages. 



The "Royal Society of London for 

 improving natural knowledge" is an 

 "asi?ociation of men interes.t^'d in the 

 advancement of maithemati' al and p!hysi- 

 cal culture." It is tihe oldest in Europe, 

 and was founded in 1660. 



- The Royal Society of Tasmania. 

 The Royal Society of Tasmania 

 was founded in 1843, and ito lead- 

 ing objects are "to inve»stigate the 

 phvsical character of the island and 

 to illustrate its natural h story and pro- 

 ductions." The offi.ial designation adopt- 

 ed in 1814 is "The Roval Society of Van 

 Diemen's Land for Horticulture, Botany, 

 and the advancement of Science." A 

 hundred years ago a Society such as tliia 

 would have been impossible in Tasmania. 

 Five bundled years ago (and five hundred 

 years is but a short period in the life of a 

 nahion) it was hardly po.-isible in Eng- 

 land. A thousand years as«. outside the 

 iwonasteries, men cf leisure and ability 

 seldom knew how to read or write; the 



