VI PREFACE. 



of punishment which he could not escape. Such are his trials ; but 

 " Doth not a meeting like this make amends " 



for a host of them ? Am I not abundantly rewarded in the unwaver- 

 ing belief in your approbation ? And do not you individually feel a 

 pleasure akin to my own in thus meeting him in whom you have for 

 the year vested a stewardship over your literary labours ? 



Let us take a hasty glance at the year about to close. Let us exa- 

 mine what progress we have made. The great event of the year, that 

 which will distinguish it from all other years, is the gathering of na- 

 tions in London to gaze on the industrial produce of the world. Not 

 one of us can outlive the influence of that Exhibition. It will not 

 merely become an era in the past of individual life ; but, in future 

 ages, will stand out in bold relief as a land-mark of time ; and will 

 evoke the heartfelt homage of generations yet unborn, as just tribute 

 to the memory of that gracious Queen, and that wise and good Prince, 

 who so cordially assisted in carrying out a scheme which had the en- 

 nobling of man for its glorious end and aim. Its influence upon our 

 own science may perhaps be small, may perhaps disappoint the san- 

 guine ; but it would scarcely be compatible with the pure catholicity 

 of the design, that physical science, the history of unreasoning things, 

 should compete with the triumphant achievements of reasoning man. 



No portion of the Exhibition was set apart for specimens of Natu- 

 ral History, yet a number of such appear here and there, scattered 

 among the produce of the different nations. In this way Canada, the 

 United States, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Great Britain, 

 have contributed ; and, with a few exceptions of insects and mam- 

 mals, the contributions have been confined to the feathered tribes. 

 In this department, Wurtemburg stands unrivalled. In this country 

 the art of bird-stuffing has, in a limited number of hands, attained 

 great excellence, and the modest aim of our greatest artists has been 

 to represent repose : in this no one has surpassed Henry Doubleday ; 

 there is a quiet truthfulness in his birds that defies criticism ; it con- 

 sists not in mere smoothness of feather, but in a faithful version of the 



