TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



gopl JSo^rig of 3^ 



Inaugural Address to the Royal Society, delivered at its first 

 meeting, 9th July, 1867, by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, M. A., 

 F.G.S., Sfc., Vice-President. 



Gentlemen of the Royal Society of New South "Wales, — Before 

 I enter upon the more important portion of the Address Avhich 

 I have been requested to deliver to-night, it appears to me only 

 an act of propriety to explain the circumstances under which 

 I have been selected for the duty which has thus been laid 

 upon me. 



Naturally, it was anticipated that we should have the privilege 

 of listening to the more legitimate counsels of our Eight 

 Honorable President. For myself, I can only express regret 

 that we shall be deprived of that privilege. The highly 

 cultivated taste and learning, the tact and accomplishment 

 which mark the public addresses of his Excellency Sir John 

 Young, will find but a sorry substitute in the more humble style 



