Proceedings of the British Association. 595 



such delusions are swept away, it is impossible that in this maritime 

 country the protection of the State should not in the first instance 

 be accorded to the science which direct her fleets. Even here, as you 

 well know, the labours of this Society have not been wanting nor inef- 

 ficient. Her advice has been followed, the contribution of her friends 

 has been accepted. It is to the suggestion and the actual assistance of 

 this Society that the country owes the reduction of Observations 

 now in progress under Mr. Airy ; and were this the only practical 

 result of which we had to boast, I might ask whether this were a mere 

 trifling benefit conferred upon the nation which has accepted it at your 

 hands. On this particular point, were it in the least degree doubt- 

 ful, I might hereafter find an opportunity of appealing to Prof. Bessel, 

 whose authority was specially quoted on a former occasion, and who 

 will shortly be here in person to support it. Yes ; and the railroad on 

 Monday will convey in one of its carriages a most important freight. 

 Adam Smith says, that of all luggage man is the most difficult to 

 transport ; fortunately the difficulty is not commensurate with the 

 value of the article, weighed in the balance ; but if ever accident is des- 

 tined to happen on the Birmingham and Grand Junction rail-road, I 

 hope it may be spared us on an occasion when two such companions as 

 Herschel and Bessel are trusting their lives to its axles. May they 

 convey to us in health and safety the illustrious stranger, the accuracy 

 of whose observations, and the grasp of whose calculations have 

 enabled him, if I am rightly informed, to pass the limits of our plane- 

 tary system and the orbit of Uranus, to expatiate extra Jtammantia 

 mcenia, and to measure and report the parallax and the distance of 

 bodies, which no contrivance of optics can bring sensibly nearer to our 

 vision — not dangling in ante-chambers, nor wiping the dust from 

 palace staircases. 



I have been speaking of matters for some time past in progress, and 

 notorious to all who have taken an interest in your proceedings. They 

 are gratifying as proofs that the impulse of this Society has been com- 

 municated and felt in high quarters. It is surely desirable that, under 

 any form of government, the collective science of a country should 

 be on the most amicable footing with the depositaries of its power; 

 free, indeed, from undue control and interference, uncontaminated by 

 the passions and influences with which statesmen have to deal, but 

 enjoying its good will and favour, receiving and requiting with usury 

 its assistance on fitting occasions, and organized in such a manner as to 

 afford reference and advice on topics with respect to which they may be 

 required. One more recent instance of the operations of this Society 



