4 Inaugural Address. 



one thing to admire what may be exalted in Philosophy, and 

 another to admit it as a subject for discussion. It is one thing 

 to respect the method by which a logical argument is to be 

 maintained, and another to defend the introduction of investi- 

 gations which, however interesting, are often based on conjecture, 

 and are altogether speculative. "We ought to be labouring for the 

 development of the Physical character of the country we live in, 

 and the illustration of its Natural History and Productions, since 

 this appears to be now admitted as the especial object of our 

 researches. 



The title, therefore, which this Society has hitherto borne 

 (as well as many others of like kind in Europe) is a misnomer. 



Pew who assemble here would, perhaps, claim the rank of 

 Philosophers. Already wearied with the necessary occupations 

 of their daily life, many would prefer the relaxation of their 

 minds in less aspiring pursuits than in refined and difficult 

 inquiries as to final causes, or the structure of the human mind. 

 Already, perhaps, the word " Philosophical" has tended rather 

 to the decrease than to the increase of our supporters. A dis- 

 cussion on a question which is capable of general comprehension, 

 or which bears on the relations of Colonial Industry, is certainly 

 more likely to gratify the public taste, at this early period of 

 our history, than deep meditation on such a pursuit as Seneca 

 describes, when he says of Philosophy : " Animnm format et 

 fabricat, vitam disponit, actiones regit, agenda et omittenda demon- 

 strate a work which, in these days, is reserved for the Pulpit 

 rather than for the Lecture-room. 



Nor, if we seek in later times for a character of Philosophy, 

 shall we meet with one which carries with it any high conviction 

 of its usefulness. Locke himself tells us : "a man may find an 

 infinite number of propositions, reasonings and conclusions in 

 books of Metaphysical school-divinity, and some sort of Natural 

 Philosophy ; and, after all, know as little of God, spirits, or 

 bodies, as he did before he set out." 



And, if we consult Mr. Lewes, who has devoted his whole life 

 to the study of Philosophy and has written a very able and 

 searching Biographical history of all its systems from the 

 beginning to the present tine, we shall find him declaring that 

 Philosophy is " a Desert, whose only semblance oi vegetation is 



