1880.] 



President's Address. 



75 



that his friends generally by a tacit consent regarded him as a mentor 

 in the scientific world. And yet, notwithstanding this gravity of 

 demeanonr and severity to himself, no one imbibed more thoroughly, 

 nor more liberally contributed to the genial spirit which has always 

 actuated our officers, and even to the good stories which sometimes 

 circulate about a scientific gathering. 



Of Dr. Sharpey I might speak in almost the selfsame terms, except- 

 ing only that more constant intercourse on the business of the Society, 

 and on other occasions elsewhere, drew our ties of friendship some- 

 what more closely than in the former case. Dr. Sharpey's life and 

 work are too well told in the obituary notice by an old comrade of 

 his, he was himself too well known, and too widely esteemed, to need 

 any comment of mine ; and I will not disappoint my own feelings, nor 

 those of my hearers, by any inadequate words on my part. 



The name of Mr. Lassell is one which, whether regarded from the 

 point of view of his scientific work, or from that of private friendship, 

 would be passed over by no one who had the advantage of a know- 

 ledge of the former, or of experience of the latter. His name seems 

 to fall in so naturally with those of Herschel and Lord Rosse, that we 

 are apt to class him with the old school. He was, however, of that school 

 only in the best sense ; he carried the weight, and earned the dignity 

 which we accord to them ; but to his last days, he was as fresh and 

 sympathetic with modern work as the generation which is now suc- 

 ceeding to his. The details of his achievements in instrumental 

 construction, themselves real contributions to science, and of his 

 astronomical discoveries, will be given elsewhere. I will here only 

 add, that in him we have lost a Fellow whose presence was always 

 welcome, and whose assistance and advice were as valuable as they 

 were freely given. 



In Professor Ansted we have lost a familiar face, a pleasant writer 

 on science and its accompaniments, and an active promoter of its 

 applications. 



I turn now to another who has passed away, and find in him 

 another type of character among our Fellows, namely, Lord Belper. 

 From the member of his family best able to judge, I have the 

 following account of the chief occupations of Lord Belper's life. 

 From his early years his attention was engaged in all questions 

 of political and social interest, especially in free trade, law reform, 

 political economy, and the advance of education. He enjoyed the 

 society of Jeremy Bentham, and an intimate and frequent intercourse 

 with James Mill and John Stuart Mill. Among the friendships formed 

 in his youth, and terminated only by their death, I may mention the 

 names of Macaulay, John Romilly, McCulloch, John and Charles 

 Austen, George Grote, and Charles Buller. And, to use his own words, 

 " Days passed in the society of such men can never be forgotten." 



