ADDRESS 



TO THE 



BKITISH ASSOCIATION, 1881. 



IN the name of the British Association, which for the 

 time I very unworthily represent, I beg to tender to 

 you, my Lord Mayor, and through you to the City of 

 York, our cordial thanks for your hospitable invitation 

 and hearty welcome. 



We feel, indeed, that in coming to York we are 

 coming home. Gratefully as we acknowledge, and 

 much as we appreciate the kindness we have ex- 

 perienced elsewhere, and the friendly relations which 

 exist between this Association and most I might even 

 say, all our great cities, yet Sir R. Murchison truly 

 observed at the close of our first meeting in 1831, that 

 to York, ' as the cradle of the Association, we shall ever 

 look back with gratitude ; and whether we meet here- 

 after on the banks of the Isis, the Cam, or the Forth, to 

 this spot we shall still fondly revert.' Indeed, it would 

 have been a matter of much regret to all of us, if we 

 had not been able on this, our fiftieth anniversary, to 

 hold our meeting hi our mother city. 



My Lord Mayor, before going further, I must ex- 

 press my regret, especially when I call to mind the 



B 



