352 



he was here so short a time, he was regarded as a friend by all who 

 knew him. 



You have heard no doubt with sincere pride, that British valour, 

 and British perseverance, have at length solved the problem of the 

 north- w^est passage. A question of great geographical interest has 

 thus been settled, and an important fact has been added to the data 

 of terrestrial physics. In all future inquiries relative to the oceanic 

 currents, the tides, the variations of temperature, the winds, and 

 meteorological phenomena generally, it will no longer be a doubtful 

 assumption, that the sea flows freely around the northern coast of 

 America. 



It now only remains for me to state, and I have the greatest plea- 

 sure in doing so, that your Society is prosperous. The publication 

 of your Transactions proceeds regularly, and they continue to be, 

 as they have been for two centuries, the records of every important 

 addition to British science. There is no indication of a diminished 

 anxiety to share in your Inbours, the candidates for admission are 

 numerous, and your Council have had no difficulty, though acting 

 under a heavy responsibility, in pointing out to you the required 

 number of persons in every way worthy of the Fellowship. 



So far the present system of election appears to me to have worked 

 extremely well. The Fellowship is sought for as a high honour, and 

 here, as at the Universities, the claims of the respective candidates are 

 tested by responsible persons. 



In this, the Royal Society differs from every other Society ; and 

 I think upon the preservation of that distinction, the welfare, the 

 position, perhaps the existence of our Society depends. For 150 

 years the Royal Society stood alone ; unaided it bore the whole 

 labour of wielding the power of Association, in the cause of pro- 

 gressing science. Recently other Societies were formed to meet more 

 fully the wants of individual sciences ; not as rivals to the Royal 

 Society, (in all of them our Fellows have held very prominent places) 

 but as the most friendly allies; not dependent on the Royal Society, 

 but fully admitting its pre-eminence. 



These Societies have rendered important services; much has been 

 effected through their means which otherwise would not have been 

 attempted. Science has been carried out by them in the utmost 

 detail. Besides, it is a law of human nature, that we usually form 

 a high estimate of the importance of the pursuit we are engaged in ; 

 and in a Society limited to one science, that feehng will necessarily 

 predominate, and will act as a stimulus to exertion. Under its in- 

 fluence, labour will be cheerfully borne, from which under other cir- 

 cumstances vv^e should recoil with disgust. That feeling, however, 

 w^ould proceed too far were there not here a power to restrain it : 

 you hold that power : you exercise a presiding influence over all the 

 Societies. The leading members of the scientific bodies have their 

 places here, and science is fully represented. 



You look at science as a whole, and you weigh the value of every 

 new discovery as adding to the mass of human knowledge. The 

 honour of contributing to your Transactions is eagerly sought for. 



