﻿ANNIVEESAEY 
  ADDEESS 
  OP 
  THE 
  PEESIDENT. 
  XXXV 
  

  

  branch 
  of 
  human 
  knowledge. 
  I 
  have 
  often 
  been 
  struck 
  with 
  the 
  

   vigorous 
  manner 
  in 
  which, 
  conversing 
  with 
  men 
  of 
  science, 
  he 
  used 
  

   to 
  master 
  all 
  the 
  salient 
  points 
  connected 
  with 
  any 
  new 
  discovery 
  or 
  

   adaptation 
  to 
  new 
  purposes 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  one. 
  Eager, 
  earnest, 
  and 
  

   simple 
  in 
  his 
  demeanour, 
  without 
  affectation 
  or 
  show 
  of 
  needless 
  

   patronage, 
  every 
  one 
  he 
  conversed 
  with 
  felt 
  not 
  only 
  at 
  his 
  ease, 
  

   but, 
  however 
  eminent, 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  also 
  in 
  the 
  society 
  of 
  his 
  intel- 
  

   lectual 
  equal; 
  and 
  the 
  manly 
  independence 
  of 
  his 
  character 
  was 
  

   never 
  more 
  strikingly 
  manifested 
  than 
  in 
  a 
  circumstance 
  mentioned 
  

   by 
  Sir 
  Eoderick 
  Murchison 
  in 
  his 
  Anniversary 
  Address 
  of 
  last 
  year 
  

   to 
  the 
  Geographical 
  Society, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  states, 
  " 
  when 
  all 
  his 
  friends 
  

   in 
  the 
  Government 
  had, 
  as 
  his 
  co-Trustees, 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  

   that 
  it 
  was 
  expedient 
  to 
  break 
  up 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  by 
  severing 
  

   from 
  it 
  its 
  natural-history 
  contents, 
  Lord 
  Lansdowne, 
  then 
  in 
  the 
  

   last 
  year 
  of 
  his 
  valuable 
  life, 
  qualified 
  his 
  unwilling 
  assent 
  in 
  a 
  

   letter, 
  expressing 
  his 
  regret 
  that 
  an 
  adequate 
  expenditure 
  could 
  not 
  

   have 
  been 
  obtained 
  to 
  keep 
  united 
  those 
  memorials 
  of 
  art, 
  letters, 
  

   and 
  science 
  in 
  the 
  one 
  great 
  and 
  unrivalled 
  national 
  repository 
  

   which 
  he 
  had 
  so 
  long 
  admired." 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  Mr. 
  John 
  Tayloe, 
  which 
  took 
  place 
  on 
  Easter 
  

   Monday 
  last, 
  in 
  his 
  84th 
  year, 
  we 
  have 
  lost 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  oldestFellows 
  — 
  

   one 
  whose 
  long 
  and 
  useful 
  career 
  has 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  

   been 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  objects 
  and 
  the 
  actual 
  working 
  of 
  our 
  

   Society. 
  Mr. 
  Taylor 
  joined 
  the 
  first 
  founders 
  of 
  our 
  body 
  in 
  1807, 
  

   and 
  filled 
  the 
  responsible 
  office 
  of 
  Treasurer 
  from 
  1816 
  to 
  1843, 
  

   contriving 
  to 
  devote 
  to 
  our 
  interests 
  no 
  small 
  portion 
  of 
  his 
  time, 
  

   which 
  during 
  that 
  period 
  was 
  closely 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  charge 
  of 
  

   numerous 
  and 
  great 
  undertakings 
  in 
  British 
  and 
  foreign 
  mining- 
  

   districts. 
  

  

  Born 
  at 
  Norwich, 
  and 
  exhibiting 
  as 
  a 
  boy 
  a 
  strong 
  inclination 
  for 
  

   scientific 
  pursuits, 
  Mr. 
  Taylor 
  was 
  introduced 
  to 
  the 
  mines 
  of 
  the 
  

   west 
  by 
  the 
  accident 
  of 
  being 
  taken 
  by 
  some 
  intimate 
  friends 
  to 
  

   visit 
  the 
  copper-mine 
  of 
  Wheal 
  Friendship, 
  near 
  Tavistock. 
  On 
  this 
  

   occasion 
  his 
  aptness 
  and 
  energy 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  proposal 
  from 
  the 
  share- 
  

   holders, 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  which, 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  19, 
  he 
  was 
  installed 
  

   there 
  as 
  superintendent, 
  with 
  the 
  special 
  object 
  of 
  reforming 
  abuses 
  

   which 
  had 
  crept 
  into 
  the 
  administration. 
  His 
  judgment, 
  upright- 
  

   ness, 
  and 
  firm 
  but 
  considerate 
  management 
  of 
  the 
  men 
  under 
  his 
  

   charge 
  soon 
  achieved 
  success, 
  and 
  within 
  the 
  next 
  few 
  years 
  he 
  was 
  

   entrusted 
  with 
  the 
  conduct 
  of 
  other 
  enterprises, 
  especially 
  of 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  tin-mine 
  called 
  Drakewalls, 
  on 
  the 
  Cornish 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Tamar, 
  

   and 
  of 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  a 
  canal 
  from 
  Tavistock 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  river, 
  

   which 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  carried 
  by 
  a 
  long 
  tunnel 
  through 
  Morewell 
  Down, 
  

   the 
  various 
  difficulties 
  of 
  which, 
  in 
  a 
  branch 
  of 
  engineering 
  then 
  so 
  

   little 
  practised, 
  were 
  all 
  to 
  be 
  overcome 
  by 
  his 
  own 
  ingenuity 
  and 
  

   perseverance. 
  A 
  description 
  of 
  this 
  work 
  was 
  written 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Taylor 
  

   for 
  our 
  ' 
  Transactions 
  ' 
  (1st 
  ser. 
  vol. 
  iv. 
  p. 
  146), 
  shortly 
  after 
  he 
  had 
  

   contributed 
  another 
  paper 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Economy 
  of 
  the 
  Mines 
  of 
  Corn- 
  

   wall 
  and 
  Devon 
  " 
  (vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  308), 
  

  

  