THANSACTIONS OK SKCTION E. 



787 



Section K.— GEOGRAPHY. 



Presipkkt ov the Si:ctio\ — nciu'viil Sir J. U. liiii'itiiY. (M5., K.C.M.G., I-.Ij.I).. 

 F.U.S., F.S.A., Vkv-l'iv^. K.G.S. 



TIIUllSDA y, A ('GUST 28. 



TliP Prksiden'T (Iclivered the followiufr Address : — 



CoxXECTKii ns I wa.s in eiivly life -vvitli this country, ftnd lor wtsvoral years nssneiuted 

 witlioiuHit'it.sscientilic institntion.sandont- ol'it.sscicntilic; societies, 1 ci'Miiot lint feel 

 |,iiiik1 and jj:ratllied to be hononred at tiii.s late day, anil on so memorable an nfcasion, 

 with tile Presidency of this Section. I -will not ask your indulgence for any weakness 

 , (111 may observe in mydisclmrrre of its obliiiatiuns, nor will I jjjead what, luiwever, 

 I feci very stronjily, that the lajise of thirty years since I last had tiu' honour to 

 addrt'ss an audience in ( 'anada, has not been wiiolly advantafieous to my jmsition. 

 I limy, however, make one observation. It is that, whereas the sliort interval 

 ilii])sud since the delivery of an exhaust ivi' summary of Geofirapliical Pro<j:ress hy 

 \h I'resident of the Koyal ( Teoi,'raphical Society makes it at all times dilliciilt for 

 ilicPivsiJent of this Section to lind fresh topics, 1 iiave been made more than 

 usually conscious of tiiat di<advantaf;e by haviiif,' to closer the present address some 

 wtrks earlier than would be necessary at a ineetin<r held in Great JJritain. 



2. Man's acquaintance with the planet he iidiabits, with the earth which he la 

 to replenish and to subdue, lias been a tiling' of frrowth so slow, and is yet so 

 imperfect, that we may look to a far distant day foi' an approacli to a full 

 knowledfie of the marvels it oilers, and the })r(jvision it contains for his well- 

 ln'inaf. lie has seen, as we now jrenerally believe, in silent operation, the balanced 

 Mrces which have rejilaced the jrlaeier by the forest ami the held ; which have 

 carved out our present deliiilitsof hill and dale in many lands, ami clothed tiieiu with 

 lieauty: ami it may be that chaiifres as irreat will pass over the i'ace of the earth 

 More the last paj^-e of its history is written in the books of eternity, ihit it is no 

 !"ii!;er before unobservant eyes that the procession of ages passes. Geoji-raphy re- 

 cords tlie onward march of human families, often by mimes which survive the'in ; it 

 rtarjt'iidiirin<r monuments to great discoverers, leaders, andsullerers ; it is an indis- 

 pcusaide minister to our everv-day wants and inquiries ; but beyond this it satislies 

 "lie of the most widely diil'used and instinctive cravings of the human intelligence, 

 iiiit'wliioh from childhood to maturity, from maturity to old age, invests b'wks of 

 iiiivels with an interest belonging to no other class of literature. If • the proper 

 ■t'ldy of mankind is man,' where else can we learn so mueh about him, or 1 e 

 pvi'seiited with such perpleving problems, such (Uverslty iu unity, >uch almost 

 incredibli! contrasts in the uses of that noble reason, that Godlike apprehension, 

 which our great poet attributes to him; or see the "beauty of the world, the 

 paragon of animals,'^ in conditions so indike his birthright. Geography, then, is 

 far from being justly regarded as a dry record of details which we scarcely care to 

 l;iio\v, and of statistics which are often out of date. 



3. It is scarcely necessary to do more than allude here to the intimate r-latious 

 Mween geography and geology. The changes on the earth's surface eflected 

 within historical times by the operation of geological causes, and enumerated iu 

 geological books, are far more numerous and genei" distributed than most 

 persons are aware of; and they are by no means conh .: to .sea coasts, although 

 ilie presence of a natural datum in the level of the sea makes them more observed 



' llamht. Act ii. sc. 2. 



