61 



come strictly within the province of the geologist : and which are so 

 essential to the prosperous management of landed property, that a 

 geological map may perhaps with truth be considered as not less 

 necessary to the country gentleman, than the topographical plan of 

 his estates. 



I am fully aware, that much of what I have just said is obvious ■ 



and even familiar, to the greater part of those who hear me : — But 

 my object is to be useful ; and 1 believe that some of those whom 

 these remarks are likely to reach, are not sufficiently acquainted with 

 the practical advantages derivable from our pursuits ; — and that others 

 are unconscious of the means within their own power for advancing 

 them. 



I shall conclude, Gentlemen, by congratulating you on the good 

 feeling by which the proceedings of this Society have always been cha- 

 racterized '; and on the self-command that renders both agreeable and 

 instructive the conversations, (I will not call them discussions — much 

 less debates) with which it is now our practice to follow up the reading 

 of memoirs at our table 5 and which have given to our evening 

 meetings a character more like that of social intercourse in a private 

 circle, than of the formal proceedings of a public body. This practice, 

 I know, has been a subject of doubt, to many who wish well to our 

 institution, and do not undervalue the personal character and dispo- 

 sition of our members. But, so long as our conversations are car- 

 ried on with the urbanity by which they have hitherto been dis- 

 tinguished, — while it is the wish of those who share in them to 

 give or to receive information, and not to shine, — and the object is 

 not victory but truth, — there seems to be no reason to apprehend 

 any very serious injury from the continuance of our geological war- 

 fare. 



There is still another train of thought connected with our meet- 

 ings, on which I confess I have sometimes delighted to dwell. The 

 spirit in which they have been conducted has been so kind, — so little 

 tainted with, or rather so perfectly free from, any admixture of the 

 leaven with which from interest or ambition most of the pur- 

 suits of life are embittered ; — and our duties here have been asso- 

 ciated with so many offices of cordiality and friendship • — that when, 

 in after life, the cares and chances of the world may have dispersed 

 those whom I have now the happiness to see around me, I am fond to 

 believe that the remembrance of these evenings will be called to mind 

 with pleasure : — And I feel confident, that, as many of us already de- 

 rive the chief part of our enjoyments from the friendships to which 

 congenial pursuits have led, the Geological Society will continue to 



