206 Anniversary Address. 



one who always, by his kindness of heart, cheered their bed of 

 sickness, if he could not alleviate their sufferings. 



In the discharge of his duties as a public man, he was " sans 

 peur et sans reproche." Uncompromising in whatever was mean 

 or disingenuous, he courted no clap-trap popularity, nor feared 

 any obloquy that might be cast upon him, conscious of the in- 

 tegrity by which his actions were governed. Thrice he filled 

 the highest municipal office ; and so efficiently did he perform 

 the duties, and carry out the hospitalities connected with it, that 

 his grateful townsmen presented him with a handsome testi- 

 monial in commemoration of the manner in which he discharged 

 his duties during the meeting of the Highland Society's Show 

 at Berwick in 1841. 



In regard to his merits as a naturalist, I would fain be silent ; 

 his works speak for themselves. But great as his fame is, and 

 widely known as his name is, I think both would have been 

 much more so had his works been of a more general nature and 

 less local. As a botanist, his works are purely local ; but the 

 happy mixture of scientific with popular knowledge has led many 

 to cultivate the science of botany, by showing them that there is 

 something more in its study than a few hard names and dry 

 descriptions ; and his last published work, ' The Flora of the 

 Eastern Borders/ has been well designated as one of the most 

 interesting botanical works that has ever been written. As a 

 zoologist, especially a British naturalist, he has had no equal in 

 the Invertebrate kingdom since the days of Montagu. His 

 descriptions are excellent, and possess a charm about them, 

 which render them readable to all, without losing their scientific 

 value. His work on conchology is the most general of all his 

 works, and contains an immense mass of materials; but this 

 work, as a matter of course, is less original than any of his 

 others, being necessarily in great part a compilation ; but the 

 attractive style in which it is written cannot fail to arrest the 

 attention of all who read it, and is well deserving the honour it 

 has received of being translated into German ; and I believe it is 

 acknowledged by all practical naturalists, that he has left few 

 behind him who are his equals in the study and knowledge of 

 the habits of the Invertebrata of Great Britain. 



In his character as a man, every thing about him was clear 

 and genuine — it was easily understood. Frankness, simplicity, 



