JTJLY, 1899. 



UNVEILING A PORTRAIT OF 

 JAMES AGNEW. 



SIR 



THE WEST COAST MINING FIELDS. 



His Excellency the Administrator 

 (Hon. J. S. Dodds, C.M.G., Chief Justice) 

 presided on Monday evening, July 10, at 

 the monthly meeting of the Royal Society 

 of Tasmania, and at which tliere was a 

 large attendance, including Mrs. Dodds, 

 His Honor Mr. Justice Clark, Mrs. and 

 Miss Clark, Hon. Alfred Dobson, Hon. 

 Adye Douglas, P.L.C., Hon. C. H. Grant, 

 M.L.C., Dr. and Mrs. Bright, and others. 



Apologies were read by the Secretary 

 (Mr. Alex. Morton) from the Senior Vice- 

 President (Sir James Agnew, K.C.M.C.), 

 the Bishop of Tasmania, and Colonel Legge, 

 R.A. 



His Excellency said a very pleasing 

 duty devolved upon him. He had been re- 

 quested to present to the Society a large 

 platinotype photograph of Sir James 

 Agnew, the senior vice-president. He was 

 glad to be entrusted with the duty, because 

 it gave him the opportunity of paying his 

 tribute of respect to a gentleman who had 

 done so much for the Society. (Applause.) 

 He did not know that anything he could 

 say to them about Sir James Agnew would 

 be new. They all knew how long he had 

 lived amongst them, how great and valuable 

 had been his services, and what an 

 estimable colonist he had been in every 

 respect. (Applause.) Probably it was 

 in connection with the work of the 

 Society that they knew him best. When 

 he reminded them how much Sir James 

 had done, how long he had been coimected 

 with the Society, how liberal he had 

 been in giving of his wealth to do 

 what was necessary in furthering the 

 objects of the Society, and the ruany otiier 

 works he had encouraged, he would be 

 only repeating household words. Sir 

 James had been a member of the Society 

 nearly 60 years. He was a member 

 of the old society, which, as they knew, 

 was founded by Sir John Franklin 

 in 184L And when the present Society 

 was founded by Sir E. Wilmot, in 1843, 

 Dr. Agnew continued his membership, and 

 in 1851 he was elected a member of the 

 Council, and at that date his arduous 

 work for the Society commenced. When 

 they looked back to the year 1851 

 and remembered they were now in 1899, 

 and that during all those years Sir James's 



work had been untiring in every respect, 

 they could forui some idea of how much 

 they owed him. (Applause.) In 1861,10 

 years later, he accepted the jiosition of 

 honorary secretary,and from that time to ] 893 

 continued to discharge his duties as such 

 with unabated zeal and increasing inter- 

 est. (Applause.) As regai'ded his public 

 career, they were aware that for a certain 

 time Sir James occupied the position of head 

 of the Government of the colony, and for 

 many years was a highly esteemed and 

 respected member of the Legislature. Dur- 

 ing a short period of his (the speaker's) 

 political career he had the honour of 

 being associated with Sir James, and 

 with another esteemed and respected 

 colleague, the late Mr. Justice Giblin. 

 They were together in the same 

 Cabinet, and he could not imagine a 

 more happy and harmonious (^abinet. At 

 all events, he could not recall a more 

 pleasurable time in connection with his 

 public life than that. It would probably 

 surprise a great many present to hear 

 that in 1888 Sir James Aanew expended 

 the large sum of £800 in importing salmon 

 ova to stock the waters of this colony. (Ap- 

 j^lause. ) This was, however, but one of the 

 instances of the manner in which he had 

 done good by stealth and how noble he 

 had been in all his actions. During the 

 long period of which he had spoken, Sir 

 James had occupied the position of a most 

 upright, honourable man in all relations of 

 life, and had borne " witliout abuse the 

 grand old name of gentleman." (Applause.) 



The Union Jack was then slipped off the 

 elegantly-framed portrait. 



His Excellency, in doing this, said he 

 might add that Sir Jauies " ore on his 

 breast the decoration which his Queen had 

 conferred upon him for a life well spent. 

 (Warm applause.) He moved a vote of 

 thanks to Mr. Stephens a d Mr. Beat tie, 

 which was passed amid applause, and the 

 proceedings terminated. 



Hon. Adye Douglas, President of 

 the Legislative Council, who was re- 

 ceived with applause, said His Excellency 

 had eloquently spoken of a certain period 

 in the life of their noble friend ; but 

 he (the speaker) had liad the pleasure 

 of knowing him long before that period. 

 They met as far back as nearly 60 years 

 ago, in Victoria, on an excursion 

 to Mount Abrupt, one of the Grampians. 

 From that period to the present time they 

 had been friends, and he (Mr. Douglas) had 



