INAUGURAL 7VDDEESS 



OF 



HIS EXCELLENCY SIR GEORGE F. BOWEN, G.C.M.6., 



TO THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, AS ITS FIRST PRESIDENT. 4ih AUGUST, 1868. 



GrENTLEMEN, — 



Seventeen years — a period of great changes and of rapid progress in ' 

 this coimtiy — Lave elapsed since my able and accomplisLed predecessor Sir 

 Greorge G-rey, in 1851, opened, as its first President, tLe New Zealand 

 Society. TLat Society may be regarded as tLe precursor of tLe New Zealand 

 Institute, wLicL Las now been founded and endowed by tLe wisdom and 

 liberality of tLe Colonial Legislature, TLe Board of Grovernors, over wLom 

 I Lave tLe Lonour, by virtue of my office, to preside, Laving conveyed to me a 

 wish tLat I sLould deliver tLe Inaugural Address at tLe first public meeting 

 of tLis Institute, I felt mucL satisfaction in complying witL tLeir request. 

 In a colony possessing all tLe powers and privileges of parliamentary 

 government, tLe representative of tLe Sovereign sLares in tLat " dignified 

 neutrality " wLicL belongs to tLe Crown itself. I assure you tLat it will 

 always be one of my LigLest pleasures, as well as one of my most important 

 duties, to meet, as on tLe present occasion, members of all religious com- 

 munions, of aU social classes, and of all political parties, on tLe common 

 ground of education, science, and literature. 



I will begin by briefly explaining tLe cLaracter and objects of tLe 

 Association wLicL we now inaugurate. Those objects are concisely stated in 

 tLe preamble of tLe Act of tLe Session of 1867, (31 Victoriee, No. 36), wLicL 

 recites tLat "it is expedient to make provision for carrying out tLe 

 geological survey of tLe colony, and to establisL and incorporate a public 

 institution in tLe City of "Wellington, to be called 'TLe New Zealand 

 Institute,' wLicL Institute sLall comprise a public museum and laboratory, 

 and a public library;" and tLat "it is also expedient, by means of lectures, 

 classes, and otLerwise, to promote tLe general study and cultivation of tLe 

 Various brancLes and departments of art, science, literature, and pLilosopLy." 

 Moreovei', provision Las been made by law for tLe appointment of a 

 director to superintend and carry out the general purposes of tLis Institute 



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