208 Address of the President. 



under a milder sky, or was it the command of the wealth of 

 a rising country, or was it the lofty thoughts or the proud 

 feeling of the southern ancients to stand pre-eminent in 

 power and civilisation, -which called forth those early develop- 

 ments of the human mind ? Was that the source from which 

 that antique grandeur sprang — that touching language of 

 the poet, recited to the present day — that irresistible power 

 which, in the words of the orator and philosopher, have 

 lasted to our period ? And may we not reflect on this, when 

 we see the sons of the North raising the standard of 

 high intelligence in a country where also the sunny, -trans- 

 parent sky, the never fading-foliage, and nature's virgin 

 beauty, leave on the mind those deep impressions which 

 render it susceptible to the exaltations of a classic age, and 

 which, to imitation of grandeur, excite the rising genius ? 

 The field of science is unbounded, and it is fruitful everywhere. 

 Still, at no distant period, we shall be envied for having 

 lived in the era of Australian discoveries, for having enjoyed 

 the opportunity of applying the sum of knowledge ac- 

 cumulated by lengthened experiments, and by the toilsome 

 studies of the past, at once to our immediate advantage ; and 

 to have brought, first of all, to bear, that sum of knowledge 

 in a country which, although the oldest in the scale of the 

 Creation, remained the latest in the development of 

 human faculties and enterprise. The veil of morning dew, 

 which involved Australia since the creation day, has been 

 dispersed as yet but partially by the rays of the dawning 

 civilisation. But its beams shall have burst forth soon every- 

 where in brilliant light. Where is a country to be found in 

 which such novelty of nature, inexhaustible resources, ample 

 space for occupation, and a salubrious clime are equally in- 

 viting industry to settled happy homes, activity to successful 

 enterprises, and philosophy to the most promising research ? 

 A universal system of the types of vegetable and animal life 

 should — as tbe result of our inquiries — initiate with ease the 

 student into nature's wonderful arcana. Ascending from its 

 lowest forms, which only the microscope reveals, through 

 divisions of higher development of organic life, there is no 

 branch devoid of novelty, and more than one not even drawn 

 as yet within the circle of elucidation. The isothermal lines, 

 as yet unfixed, should circumscribe the zones of vegetation ; 

 the curves of terrestrial magnetism be patiently traced, and 

 the climatic annals be completed. From fossil vestiges, 

 buried in almost unknown rocks, from remnants of organic 



