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occupy the chair which has been filled by Kirwan, by Brinkley, and by 

 Hamilton, might indeed well nigh overwhelm me, did I not know that 

 there were other merits, more humble than theirs, upon which you set a 

 value — other qualities less dazzling, which may find here their employ- 

 ment and their use. An institution such as this has been compared to the 

 House of Solomon, in Bacon's philosophical fiction, the New Atlantis, 

 in which the investigation of Truth is carried on by labourers of various 

 kinds, to each of which he has assigned a separate task. We have had, 

 in this Academy, the representatives of each of these classes : we, 

 too, have had our ' Miners,' our * Lamps,' and our ' Interpreters of 

 Nature.' I am content to enrol myself in the lowest class ; or if, by 

 reason of the high trust which you have now reposed in me, other tasks 

 should fall to my lot, I am proud to accept a new station among the 

 Intellectual Workmen, and to perform the part of one whose oflBice 

 it is to harmonize and give efifect to the labours of all, 



" There is another personal consideration, to which I cannot refrain 

 from alluding ; and yet it is one upon which I hardly trust myself to 

 speak. Among my predecessors in this high oflSce, was one whom 

 I am still more proud to follow : — my nearest relative filled this chair. I 

 know how he was valued here ; and I cannot but feel that much of 

 the indulgent estimation which you have formed of my fitness for the 

 same station, has come to me reflected from his memory, and that you 

 hope to find in the son some of these qualities for which the father 

 was loved and honoured. 



" But, Gentlemen, whatever qualifications I may want, there is one 

 to which I lay claim : I mean that of deep interest in the welfare of 

 this Body, and zeal for its service. Here I will yield to none ; and I 

 console myself with the hope that it may make some amends in your 

 estimation for the many wants which you will hereafter have occasion 

 to observe. 



" Gentlemen,— My predecessor in this chair, upon an occasion 

 similar to the present, laid before you some of his views respecting the 

 constitution of the Academy, and the means by which its future interests 

 might be promoted. I am sure that you will permit me to follow this 

 precedent, and to offer a few xQmaxks— firstly, upon the mixed nature 



