QUEENSLAND 
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
ANNUAL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1863. 
(From the Daily Guardian, December 2, 1863.) 
The Annual Meeting of the Queensland 
Philosophical Society was held on Tuesday, 
in the Municipal Chambers, kindly granted for 
that purpose. There was a fair attendance 
of members notwithstanding the inclemency 
of the weather. His Honor Chief Justice 
Cockle, President of the Society, occupied the 
chair. 
The minutes of the last meeting of the 
Society were read and confirmed. 
Three new members were balloted success- 
fully for, namely, Mr. J. Douglas, Mr. N. 
Bartley, and Dr. Lansdown. The 
members of the society present in connection 
with a remark made by Mr. Bartley, thought 
that Government might be disposed to render 
some assistance in collecting the meteorological 
observations from several parts of this large 
colony ; and that gentleman was requested to 
preparea paper on the subject, to be read be- 
fore the next meeting. It was resolved to open 
communications, and when practic tble to ex- 
change papers with similar societies m the Aus- 
tralian colonies, Tasmania, and at home ; — 
namely, the Boyal Society f of Victoria, 
Philosophical Society of Sydney, and 
similar societies in Tasmania and 
Adelaide ; the Royal Society, London, the 
Royal Society, Cambridge ; the Royal Irish 
Academy ; and the Royal Asiatic Society, Cal- 
cutta. 
The following interesting communication 
was read by the Secretary, the Rev. J. Bliss, 
from Sir Redmond Barry : — 
Melbourne Public Library, 
27th October, 1863. 
Sm, — In reply to the enquiries which you 
have done me the honor to address to me 
respecting the nature, constitution, and manage- 
ment of tho Melbourne Public Library, of 
which I am one of the Trustees, it gives me 
much pleasure to afford you all the information 
which I possess ; that consists in this, 
namely, 
The Trustees laid it down, as a first principle, 
that the monies to he employed by them should 
be expended carefully and economically in the 
purchase of standard works (and none other) 
on the most important and useful branches of 
History, Literature, Science, Art, and Polity, 
admitting no works of a trivial or ephemeral 
character, which serve merely to dissipate the 
idle hours of the lounger, or, as far as they 
can be excluded, works having injurious ten- 
dencies. 
Next, the Trustees admit to the Library from 
10 a.m. to 10 p.m., without any necessity for 
introduction or letter of recommendation, all 
classes of the community ; and they permit 
every visitor to enjoy full freedom of action in 
the selection of authors for his study, iu the 
number of works which he may desire to con- 
sult, and in the length of time he may wish to 
retain them in the reading-room. An adhe- 
rence to these simple rules has been, in my 
opinion, the cause of the progress which you 
are pleased to consider as having been so suc- 
cessful ; for experience has abundantly proved 
that there is no greater mistake than to under- 
value the degree of intelligence possessed and 
education attained by the people of thi3 
country (as well as of those adjacent), and their 
ability to appreciate what expands and invigo- 
rates their intellectual powers. And, at the 
same time, that mere formal liberty of ad- 
mission degenerates into a useless and irritating 
obstruction, and that the restraints (common 
elsewhere) upon the free use of books entail 
expense in management and loss of time and 
perplexity to readers, without securing the 
protection to the property, or the other sup- 
