INAUGURAL ADDRESS 3 



author, and also impressed with a very deep sense of the impor- 

 tance of those great problems which are presented here to the 

 student, and the merchant, to the politician, and the philan- 

 thropist. 



The establishment of such a journal in a young' Colony, such 

 as the Straits Settlements was in the year IS 1-7, was a bold en- 

 terprise for a single individual to undertake. But Mr. Logan 

 was very ably supported. It is surprising, and most encoura- 

 ging, to find how much of local talent and information came to 

 light, as soon as he had provided the opportunity for it to do so. 

 It was evidently a time of great scientific power, and of much 

 literary activity in the Siraits. Contributors from all classes 

 came forward. There was the Governor of the Straits for the 

 time being, and other Government officers. There were Eccles- 

 iastics, including Clergymen of the Church of England, Roman 

 Catholic Priests, and Ministers of various Protestant commu- 

 nions. There were Military men and Naval men. There were 

 Lawyers and Doctors, Merchants and Planters. There were 

 Frenchmen and Germans, Dutchmen and Swiss, and, I am 

 pleased to add, as a promise for the future, one Chinaman. Of 

 these only too many have passed away. Some are bringing 

 their lives to a close elsewhere. Some remain among us, and 

 have given the prestige of their names to this new undertaking, 

 and will, we may hope, contribute to the publications of our 

 Society some of the stores of knowledge and experience which 

 they have been gathering since the old days. Some are repre- 

 sented by their descendants, as in the case of the leader and chief 

 of them all, whose son, Mr. D. Logan, you have elected to be 

 the Vice-President of the Society in Penan g. 



And before bringing this reference to Mr. Logan's coadjutors 

 to an end, I cannot help remarking with great pleasure, that in 

 the list of them are to be found, not only the names of those 

 whose connection with these countries was more or less tempo- 

 rary, but also of some, who, for generations, have made their 

 family home here. When I come across such names as Baum- 

 garten, and Neubronner, and TVesterhout in connection with the 

 advancement of science in the Straits, I cannot help hoping that 

 some of those who bear those names, and other like names, in 

 the present generation, may be stirred up by the example of 

 those who have gone before them, to use the great advantages 

 thev have, such as their familiarity with the language of the 

 place, and their inherited power of enduring its climate, in seek- 

 ing knowledge for its own sake, not merely for the purpose of 

 applying it to their own personal and material benefit, but in 

 order to contribute something to the common stock. 



