XXXIV. THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 



retirement. Lord Eustace Cecil had done the Club an inestimable service by 

 enabling them to bridge over the terrible gap which they all felt was caused by 

 Mr. Mansel-Pleydell's death. Mr. Mansel-Pleydell possessed, among his other 

 great qualities, that indefinable gift which they called charm. Everybody was 

 warmed by his presence. A meeting at which he was present had twice the life 

 jn it that it would have had without him ; and the prevailing feeling in the minds 

 of many of them when they heard of his death was that the Club would collapse, 

 Actum est! they thought. But Lord Eustace Cecil, who was a great friend of 

 Mr. Mansel-Pleydell's, was kind enough to fill the gap, and right well had he 

 filled it. He had thrown himself into the work with all that energy which was 

 characteristic of the great Cecil family ; and they had to thank him for the 

 ability, the energy, and the invariable courtesy and geniality which he had 

 shown. 



The vote of thanks having been carried with acclamation, 

 Lord EUSTACE CECIL, rising in acknowledgment, said : 



He hardly knew how to thank Captain Elwes and Mr. Bosworth Smith for the 

 far too kind and flattering remarks that they had made about his occupancy of 

 the chair. It was true that he took the office at the time with some diffidence, 

 for he felt that he had not that degree of scientific knowledge which he thought 

 that the President of the Club should possess ; and all that he could bring to the 

 performance of the duties was a desire, from a common-sense point of view, to 

 do all that he could as a business man to keep the society up, so that at all 

 events it should not be said, when he left the chair, that it had in any way gone 

 down from the high character and prestige which their dear and lamented friend, 

 the late Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, left as his bequest to the Club. But, in speaking 

 of himself - always a difficult thing he felt bound to say that he could not have 

 done the little that he had done unless he had received the kind support both of 

 the officers and of the members of the Club. One and all, they had given him no 

 trouble. The little matters that he had done for the Club had been entirely a 

 labour of love ; and he felt that any credit that was due was due, not to himself, 

 but to those very active officers under him, who had contributed so much to the 

 success of their meetings both out-of-doors and in that room. He had first to 

 mention their excellent Hon. Secretary, the Hon. Treasurer, the Hon. Editor of 

 the " Proceedings " (who, he was sorry to say, could not be with them that day), 

 and the Assistant Secretary, Mr. Pouncy. All of them had contributed to 

 continue and increase the great success which had attended the affairs of the 

 Club generally and all their meetings. Of course, he knew the difficulties they 

 had had to contend with. Dr. Colley March, as Secretary, had, at considerable 

 sacrifice of time and health, done all that he could, as Mr. Bosworth Smith had 

 said, to " bridge over the gap " caused by the retirement of his able predecessor. 

 And every member, he was sure, appreciated his self-denying services to the 

 Club. He felt warmly, and should treasure as long as his life was spared, the 

 kind expressions that had been uttered about him and the generous vote of 

 thanks to him just passed ; and he should regard them as an earnest that the 



