[June, 1886. Elliott society. . 119 



JUNE 24th, 1886. 



The President in the Chair. 



Mr. Schlepegrell exhibited a specimen of Petrified Wood, a frag- 

 ment of the Jaw of a fossil Saurian, and a fine specimen of a meta- 

 carpal bone of a fossil Horse, all from South Carolina. 



President Shepherd of tlie College of Charleston, delivered a brief address 

 in which he explained the law of historic development, exhibiting the pro- 

 cesses of growth in nations, the rise of similar influences at certain eras, and 

 the combination of events so as to produce great historic results. He endeav- 

 ored to trace the unity of growth, by several examples, the "reign of law " as 

 illustrated in our complex modern evolution. 



That " one increasing purpose '■' runs through all the ages, is the impressive 

 lesson conveyed by accurate and philosoiDhic study of History. 



He selected several epochs, in order to make plain his general proposition, and 

 called attention to the fact that Shakespeare and GaUileo were born in the 

 same year, 1564^ Newton was born in the year of Galhleo's death, 1642, the 

 same year that marks the death of Eicheheu, the apostle of absolutism, and the 

 beginning of the great struggle in England, in behalf of constitutional free- 

 dom. Pope, the highest type of the classical and critical style in our poetry, 

 was born in 1688, the year of the Kevolution, which was itself a critical en- 

 deavor to fix in precise forms and definite propositions the limits of the consti- 

 tution. 



Newton's Principia, signalizing so great an epoch in modern science, was 

 published in the preceeding year. Goethe, Sir Walter Scott and Cuvier, each 

 a supreme master in his peculiar sphere, all died in 1832, the year of the great 

 Keform BiU. 



Many similar cases of historic coincidence were cited, the proximity in time 

 of the invention of printing and the overthrow of the Eastern Roman Empire, 

 as one result of which Greek scholarship was introduced into Europe. 



Prof. Shepherd insisted upon the study of History in a purely scientific spi- 

 rit, and urged the discarding of empirical methods of instruction, as he had 

 already done in regard to the study of Philology. 



Members Elected. 



Dr. J. L. Dawson, Jr. Dr. J. J. Edwards. 



