i88o-i88i.] ^.I 



Still less in proportion ; yet it was a time when Belfast was 

 foremost among the towns of the kingdom, for its intellectual 

 activity, and the successful establishment of its literary and 

 scientific societies, which, no doubt, had a direct influence in 

 promoting the material prosperity of subsequent times. The 

 intellects of that day were not turned from their purpose because 

 of the difficulties they had to encounter. They manfully faced 

 their difficulties, and failed to realise their full purpose because 

 they were far in advance of their time. In a circular issued to 

 the public at the opening of the Museum on the ist of January, 

 1834, the promoters referred to the intention of having a library 

 attached to the building, also provision for a series of lectures 

 on different branches of natural history, a chemical laboratory, 

 and a hope was expressed " that the fine arts might, at no very 

 distant day, find under the roof of the Belfast Museum an abode 

 worthy of their refined and elevated spirit." Forty-six years 

 have passed, and this programme has yet to be carried into 

 practice ; forty-six years of boasted progress and accumulated 

 wealth ; forty-six years of material prosperity, and a convincing 

 experience of the value and importance of promoting the culti- 

 vation of literature, the arts, and sciences. Surely, if we are 

 worthy followers of our worthy leaders, we should to-day 

 endeavour to meet the acknowledged requirements of our time. 

 Many collections, public and private, all over the kingdom, are 

 enriched by stone and bronze objects of antiquarian interest, 

 purchased from the County Antrim, while we have no means of 

 competing to prevent the permanent loss of those things from 

 the country. As there are no funds at present available, it is 

 fortunate that we have so many private collections of objects 

 illustrative of the natural history and antiquities in our locality. 

 Let us hope that many of those collections will ultimately find 

 their way into the Belfast Museum, following the example of 

 the Benn Collection of Antiquities. When we complete our 

 collections of local fauna and flora, a very wide range of 

 objects is still admissible into even a provincial museum, 

 all more or less illustrative of some department of biological 



