ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. 
233 
Mr. Graham then thanked the President for the allusion he had made 
to his own share in the work, for which this Medal had been awarded, 
and added:— 
“ I have been requested by Mr. Cooper to express his great regret that 
the very short adjournment of the House of Commons for Whitsuntide 
has prevented his attendance here this evening, to offer his personal 
thanks for the high honour conferred upon him. 
“ That regret is increased on account of the two facts that you, Mr. 
President, are connected with the county in which the labour has been 
performed that has elicited your approval, and that this meeting is ho¬ 
noured by the presence of the representative of her most Gracious 
Majesty. 
“ I am also desired to add, that Mr. Cooper has never considered him¬ 
self more than a quarrier of stones or a hewer of wood for the scientific 
temple, but that he cannot deny that he has been anxious for, and re¬ 
ceived far beyond his deserts, encouragement in his pursuits from the 
master-builders of this eminent Academy.” 
The President then called upon Mr. Salmon, and said :— 
“ Mr. Salmon, I have to apologize to Mr. Cooper, and more especially 
to yourself, for the very imperfect account I have given to the Academy 
of your labours. Put you know that for many years my studies have 
been directed to other subjects, and that I have given no portion of my 
time to practical astronomy, or to the higher branches of mathematics, 
in which you have so eminently distinguished yourself. Nevertheless, 
I retain enough of my former knowledge to appreciate very fully the 
merit of your works ; although I confess that, without the kind assistance 
I have received from two of our brother Pellows, I could not have given 
to the Academy even that very inadequate account of your and of Mr. 
Cooper’s researches, for which I feel that I owe you this apology. Accept, 
however, this Medal as a mark of the high approval of the Academy; 
and believe me, that it is no small gratification to myself personally to 
be the official medium of presenting it to you.” 
The President then called upon Hr. Putcher to receive the Medal 
awarded to Dr. Wall, and said :— 
‘ ‘ Dr. Putcher, you, who are so well aware of the intimate friend¬ 
ship (and friendship is too cold a word), which exists between our ve¬ 
nerable Yice-Provost and myself, will easily believe that the gratifica¬ 
tion with which I ask you, on the part of the Academy, to deliver to 
him this Medal, is only alloyed by his own absence. It would have been 
a real pleasure to me, and I think I may say to every Member of the 
Academy, to have seen him receive it in person. It is not often that a 
man who has reached the scriptural limit of human life |is called upon 
before a Society like this, to receive a Medal for his literary exertions; 
but it is still more rare, that a man, after having reached that advanced 
age, should have produced a work of great originality and acuteness,—a 
work of which it is not too much to say, that it opens up new fields of 
thought and of research to all students of Piblical criticism.” 
