1883.] 



President's Address. 



71 



consequently, that the various miseries and trials of this frail life 

 may be, by as many various expedients ready at hand, remedied or 

 alleviated, and wealth and plenty diffused in just proportion to every 

 one's industry, that is, to every one's deserts." It was the wish of 

 King Charles the Second that all patents for inventions should be 

 examined by the Royal Society ; and, so late as the reign of George 

 the Second, the Society actually performed this duty. The steam- 

 engine itself may be said to have made its debut before the Royal 

 Society, when Savery exhibited his working model to the Fellows 

 in 1699. 



But the subsequent history of natural knowledge has shown that, 

 as in the moral world, those who seek happiness through well-doing 

 are less likely to obtain that reward than those who try to do well 

 without thinking what may come of it ; so, in the world of science, those 

 whose vision is fixed on useful ends are often left poor and bare, 

 while those who strive only after the advancement of knowledge, 

 scatter riches along their path, for the whole world to pick up. The 

 Royal Society has chosen the latter course, and I trust it may never 

 swerve from it. But I think that our warmest sympathy is due to the 

 efforts of those who translate the language of the philosopher into that 

 of the workshop ; and by thus ameliorating " the miseries and toils of 

 this frail life," and " diffusing wealth and plenty," are executing that 

 part of the first design of this Society, with which we, as a body, 

 have long ceased to occupy ourselves. 



It was not as your President, but as one of the Special Commis- 

 sioners appointed by the Government, that I had some slight share 

 in another considerable undertaking directed towards the improve- 

 ment of industry. But the future of the fisheries is so closely 

 connected with the advancement of certain branches of zoological 

 science, that I may be permitted to advert to the great success of the 

 International Fisheries Exhibition ; and to express my belief that, in 

 accordance with the intimation contained in the speech of H.R.H. the 

 Prince of Wales at the closing of the Exhibition, there will grow out 

 of it an organisation which will provide for the application of science 

 to the improvement of the fisheries. 



In conclusion, Gentlemen, I think that it is proper on my own 

 behalf, as it is certainly due to you, that I should advert to the excep- 

 tional circumstances which have brought about my present occupa- 

 tion of the Presidential office. 



The eleventh section of the sixth chapter of the Statutes provides 

 for the occurrence of a vacancy in the Chair, whether by death or by 

 resignation, as follows : — 



" Upon any vacancy in the President's place occurring in the 

 intervals of the anniversary elections, the Treasurer, or in his absence 



