Geological Society : — Anniversai^y of 1839. 239 



coating, and count its stones, before his Parent removes him to 

 some other destination. 



And now, Gentlemen, T approach the close of my task, and of 

 the office which has imposed it upon me ; an office which has 

 been to me a source of unmingled gratification. The good opin- 

 ion implied by your selection of me, the good opinion of such a 

 body of men, was an occasion of sincere and earnest self-congrat- 

 ulation, — a self-congratulation hardly damped by my conscious- 

 ness of an imperfect acquaintance with your science ; — since I 

 trusted that you, though not unaware of my defects, had judged 

 that good will, and a disposition to look at the subject in its 

 largest aspect, might in some measure compensate for them. 

 And if I needed other grounds of satisfaction in the employment 

 which I am thus bringing to its close, I might find them in the 

 reflections I have just been led to make in the progress and pros- 

 pects of the science with which you are concerned. For it has 

 ever been one of my most cherished occupations, and will, I trust, 

 long be so, to trace the principles and laws by which the progress 

 of human knowledge is regulated from age to age in each of its 

 provinces. To have had brought familiarly under my notice, in 

 a living form, the daily advance of a science so large and varied 

 as yours, has been, as it could not but be, a permanent and most 

 instructive lesson ; — perpetually correcting lurking mistakes, and 

 suggesting new thoughts. And if, while I have looked at your 

 science in this spirit, you have thought me worthy to be called 

 to preside over your body for two years ; and if, during that time, 

 you have not repented of your choice, as I have not found my 

 views inapplicable to the subjects which have come before you j 

 I may, I would beheve, find in this some ground for confiding in 

 the trains of thought which have thus led me to such a position ,• 

 and may hope that, however arduous be the task of framing a 

 philosophy of science suitable to its present condition, and of 

 using such a philosophy as a means of furthering knowledge in 

 general, still, that in this task, to which our age is so manifestly 

 called, I too may be a helper, 



I trust that you will excuse these few words uttered with ref- 

 erence to my own peculiar pursuits, since these include yours 

 also, and are my only claim to your indulgence. And now, Gen- 

 tlemen, that I may trespass upon that indulgence no longer, I 



