xvi 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



tian clergyman ought to do, that that religion is an imperfect 

 one which stops short of exhibiting the great Object of our wor- 

 ship as the beneficent Creator of all that is pure and beautiful 

 around us. His own love and enjoyment of nature was intense, and 

 his benevolence was such that he could not be satisfied without 

 enabling others, and especially the poor and children, to enjoy the 

 same pleasure with him. There was, too, a remarkable unity and 

 consistency, and, if I may so speak, a keeping in his character 

 which is very rare. " The elements were so mixed in him," that 

 whilst there was no excessive preponderance of any one quality 

 at the expense of others, so there seemed to be no deficiency in 

 any of those qualities which deserve and ensure universal respect 

 and love, and which are essential to the completeness of the 

 manly and Christian character. 



I need not detain you by any detail of our scientific proceedings 

 during the past year, as they are already, or will shortly be in your 

 hands. It is sufficient for me to appeal to our publications and to 

 your experience of the character of our meetings, to show that 

 neither in regard to the scientific value of the papers read, nor to 

 the interest of our conversational discussions, has there been any 

 falling off from the progress which we have for a long time been 

 enabled to record ; and I believe that the Society has never evinced 

 a more sound and healthy vitality than at the present time. 



With regard to our financial position, which is so important an 

 element in our prosperity, it is peculiarly gratifying to me to state 

 that we have never been in a more satisfactory condition. At the 

 last Anniversary, I mentioned that the last item of our bonded 

 debt had just been paid off, but that payment had occurred too late 

 to be included in the yearly account. It is therefore only in the 

 Auditors' Report of the present year, that we have been able 

 to announce our absolute immunity from the incubus of debt ; 

 whilst the balance in our hands is so considerable, that the Council 

 has determined upon adding to the funded capital by the purchase 

 of £200 in the Consolidated Fund. This is the first instance in 

 which any sum has been funded by us, irrespective of legacies or 

 other adventitious aid; and when this fact is considered in con- 

 junction with the paying off* of the only remaining item of our 

 bonded debt, to which I have; alluded, I cannot but heartily con- 

 gratulate you upon so auspicious a fact, because there appears 

 every probability that, in future years, the whole of the sums re- 

 ceived in composition for annual payments may be similarly in- 



