78 THE LIFE OF JAMES D. FORBES. [CHAP. 



be more definitely taken, and there a line of coast along 

 which a voyage of discovery should be made. ... I am 

 not aware that in executing such a plan we should 

 intrude on the province of any other institution. Consider 

 the difference between the limited circle of any of our 

 scientific councils . . . and a meeting at which all the 

 science of these kingdoms should be convened, which 

 should be attended by deputations from every other society, 

 and in which foreign talent and character should be 

 tempted to mingle with our own. With what a momen- 

 tum would such an Association urge on its purpose ; 

 what activity would it be capable of exciting ; how 

 powerfully would it attract and stimulate those minds 

 which either thirst for reputation or rejoice in the sun- 

 shine of truth ! " 



' Blended with such stirring appeals did Mr. Harcourt 

 unfold his intended constitution of this new " Parliament 

 of Science," as it has since been happily termed. Their 

 echoes seem still to vibrate through the long interval of 

 five-and-thirty years, the interval of one entire generation 

 of man. Yes, gentlemen, they still seem to vibrate, for I 

 myself, then little older than some of the senior students 

 whom I now address, was an attendant at that meeting, 

 and a profoundly interested auditor of this inaugural 

 discourse. Year after year without intermission, from 

 1831 to 1866, has the British Association held on its 

 course, visiting town after town, university after 

 university, from Oxford in the south to Aberdeen in 

 the north, and from Cork in the west to Newcastle in 

 the east, carrying everywhere with it the prestige due to 

 its founders and supporters, and developing in compara- 

 tively remote districts local talent and enthusiasm, which 

 the advent of so renowned and comprehensive an Associa- 

 tion is sure to excite/ 



To this first meeting at York, Scotland sent a 

 numerous and powerful contingent. Forbes set out in 

 September 1831, along with Sir D. Brewster, Sir John 

 Kobison, and others. The success of that meeting more 

 than fulfilled the expectation of its founders. During the 



