LECTURE I. 

 THE AIMS AND IDEALS OF THE CAWTHRON INSTITUTE. 



By THOMAS.HILL EASTERFIELD, M.A., PH.D., F.I.C., F.C.S., 

 Professor of Chemistry, Victoria' College, Wellington. 



Let me express to you my deep appreciation of the honour which 

 has been conferred upon me by the Cawthron Trustees in inviting me 

 to make the first public statement as to the manner in which it is 

 proposed 10 carry out the wishes of the late Thomas Cawthron, in 

 whose memory this lectureship is founded. 



For years I have held the view that in New Zealand there is great 

 need of an institution the special object of which shall be the carrying 

 out of scientific investigations, but I scarcely expected to live to see 

 the fulfilment of this ideal. I therefore rejoice to announce that by 

 the munificent bequest of a great benefactor such an institution will 

 be erected in your city. It is to be called the Cawthron Institute of 

 Scientific Research. All truly great men are lovers of the country 

 of their birth, but it is peculiarly characteristic of the British to 

 develop an equal love for the countries which they colonise. Thomas 

 Cawthron was an outstanding example of such great men. Coming 

 to New Zealand as a weakly boy, he eventually became 

 a strong man and developed an equally strong character. 

 Frugal in his habits and shrewd in business, he was very 

 liberal in regard to all matters which make for the 

 public welfare. This city is rich in evidence of the catholicity 

 of his civic ideals. The Cawthron Park, with seven thousand acres of 

 mountain and forest, the Nelson Institute and Library Building, the 

 School of Music, the imposing flight of Cathedral Steps, need only 

 be mentioned as objects of his generous care during his lifetime. By 

 his will an estate of the value of 240,000 has been left for the 

 material and intellectual advancement of the city and district which 

 lie so dearly loved. 



In this time of stress our natural desire is "to honour those who are 

 risking their all in fighting on behalf of the ideals for which the 

 British Empire stands ; but let us not forget that patriotism may be 

 of many kinds, and that to live for one's own country may be a still 

 harder task than to die for it. To every patriot a meed of praise is 

 due. The work of the Cawthron Institute will, we trust, be a per- 

 petual memorial of the patriotism of its founder. I have already 

 stated that the Trustees have decided that the Institute shall be 

 primarily an Institution for Scientific Research. They recognise that 

 the value of research work has been too little appreciated throughout 

 our Empire, and that this defect has greatly retarded national 

 efficiency. It is indeed surprising how little the general public is 

 aware of the debt which it owes to the scientific workers of the past, 

 and how little it appreciates the extent to which the future of our 

 Empire may depend upon the organisation of. our resources and the 

 submitting of them to systematic scientific investigation. 



