SPLENDID RESULTS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
creation, and the wisdom by which the 
universeof matter was accommodated to 
the universe of mind. He alluded es- 
pecially to Astronomy, as leading us to 
reflect on the Omniscience 
'I'hat had framed such laws. 
Which blit to eiiei;S a Newton made immortal- 
Every true philosopher was a religious 
man ; and he who was not religious, 
was pro tanto not a philosopher. He 
need not recommend the foreign mem- 
bers to the attention of the citizens of 
Bristol : the natal place of Sebastian 
Cabot was already too well acquainted 
with the advantages to be derived from 
commercial intercourse with distant 
lands. He should, however, try to 
enlist the ladies in the service of the As- 
sociation ; they already possessed great 
influence ; he would rather see it in- 
creased than diminished ; he wished that 
they could persuade their husbands and 
lovers that science was as beauteous 
as themselves. Seriously (said his 
Lordship) much is in their power : 
the lessons taught by maternal love 
cling to memory with a fond tena- 
city which no future instructions 
can ever attain : they linger there 
when other lessons have been effaced by 
worldly cares, or removed by more ur- 
gent interests : and who shall say that 
it was not the maternal affection point- 
ing out the beauties of a shell a butterfly 
or a flower, that first lighted up the 
sparks of genius in many an infant 
breast, which now is shining gloriously 
forth, the pride and wonder of the 
world ? 
Dr. Daubeny, the Secretary, then 
read the following 
REPORT. 
Gentlemen, — The practice of the 
three preceding Anniversaries has pre- 
pared you to expect, Rt the first Gene- 
ral Meeting that may be held, a short 
address, explanatory of the nature of 
those scientific objects which had chiefly 
occupied the Association on the former 
occasion, and, in particular, of the con- 
tents of the last published Volume of 
Transactions, in which the results of 
your labours are recorded. This it has 
hitherto been usual for the Local Secre- 
taries of the year to prepare ; and it 
seemed but a fair division of labour 
that such a task should, in the present 
instance, be allotted to the one on whom 
from unavoidable circumstances, the 
smaller share in the other duties of the 
5ir 
office had devolved. It was this con- 
sideration, indeed, which reconciled me 
to the undertaking ; for had I not felt 
that the framing of this Address was 
only part of the functions of the Secretary 
that could be discharged at a distance 
from the intended place of meeting, and 
that the time of my colleague would be 
engrossed by the preparatory arrange- 
ments, in which from my absence, I 
was unable till lately to participate, I 
should have shrunk from the responsi- 
bility of a task which involved the con- 
sideration of questions of a high and 
abstruse character, to several of which 
I feel myself but ill-qualified to do jus- 
tice. It is therefore with extreme dif- 
fidence that I enter upon a task which 
has, at former meetings, been executed 
by men so eminent in science and pre- 
sume, though one of the humblest 
members of this great body, to exhibit to 
you a brief sketch of the labours of some 
of those individuals, whose presence 
amongst us sheds a lustre over our 
proceedings, and has contributed, more 
than any other circumstance, to draw 
together this great concourse here 
assembled. 
There is, indeed, one circumstance, 
and one only that gives me some claim to 
address you I mean that of my having 
attended at all the meetings of this As- 
sociation up to the present time, and 
hence having traced its progress through 
all its various stages, from its first small 
beginnings at York, up to this period 
of its full maturit)’’, and having thus 
been enabled, by an actual participation 
in the business of all meetings, to form a 
juster estimate of the ’real condition of 
the Association, and of the services it 
has rendered to science, than could 
have been collected by the public at 
large. 
Thus circumstanced, I have become 
sensible of results, flowing from the 
meetings of this great body, which can 
scarcely figure in a Report, or find ex- 
pression in the accounts transmitted by 
the periodical press, — I have been struck 
by the enthusiasm elicited by the con- 
course of congenial minds — the friend- 
ships formed and cemented — the trains 
of experiment first suggested, or prose- 
cuted anewafter being long abandoned ; 
above all, the awakening of the public 
mind to the just claims of Sciences by 
the celebration of these Anniversaries. 
