Treasurer's Report of Income and Expenditure during the Year ending July 22nd, 1873. Life Compositions Ladies' Tickets sold at Exeter PAYMENTS. Deposited at Interest in Torquay Bank £ 20 Brendon & Son, for Printing "Transactions" (1872) 135 Postage and Carriage of Parcels Donisthorpe and Brodie, for Printing Programmes Hon. General Treasurer, for Petty Expenses Hon. General Secretary Hon. Local Secretary Advertising in 1872 ditto ditto Balance in Treasurer's hand July 22nd, 1873 24 0 6 10 13 6 3 1 12 6 0 36 0 18 0 3 18 0 Ditto ditto 1866 0 9 0 We have compared the Books and Vouchers presented to us, and find them correct, EDWARD VIVIAN, TREASURER. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. BEFORE entering upon the subject of my address, I am sure I shall be pardoned for referring to the tragical end of one who was the life and soul of this Association, as well as of many good and interesting works in this county. It is through his invitation, indeed, that I am here to-day, and sorely do I miss his welcome and counsel. None saw "the vain struggle, the parting agony" of that chill autumn day, but many will long remember how the little carriage was sadly led back to the desolate parsonage, no longer to be the home of the bereaved family. He has been taken from us by that mysterious Providence which for some wise purpose cuts off so many in their career of usefulness, leaving others who might, humanly speaking, have been much better spared. "They are vanished from their place Let their homes and hearths make moan; Varied as were Mr. Kirwan's attainments, great as was his knowledge, what groping in the dark must it all appear to him now, in the full light of truth. As the poet says: "Death leads to the highest knowledge, And being of all things the sole thing certain, At least leads to the surest science." I find myself with the task set before me of pronouncing what may be called in classical phrase a trilogy on the three great pursuits which have so long exercised enormous influence, whether for good or for ill, upon the human race. I feel deeply my incompetence to do justice to my subject, having unfortunately come into the world before it was the fashion to give so wide a scope to the education of the youthful mind. I need scarcely say that during the twelve or thirteen years passed at school and college, Science meant Plato and Aristotle; Literature was confined to the dead languages; while Art was represented, I am afraid, by cartoons which did not receive such encouragement from the authorities as would induce the artist to develop into a Raffaelle. mention this in order to bespeak the indulgence of the Association, because a subsequent active life, many years of which have now been occupied in passing laws which require frequent amendment, or in endeavouring to prevent the passage of those which no amendment can improve, has not enabled me to make up for lost time. Any observations, therefore, which I can offer must be of the most ordinary and superficial character, the crude jottings of a busy man. Science stands first on your title page. I do not quarrel with the precedence; but does not this indicate the change wrought by the last few years? When art and literature had already grown grey, science was still a little child. Was it not in the era of Milton and Vandyke that the inventor of a steam engine was consigned to a lunatic asylum for his pains? But what is science? Science is organized knowledge, and we mean by it that which is exact in opposition to that which is speculative. Whether abstract or physical, it insists upon proof, and does not admit of faith. It believes nothing it does not understand and cannot prove. Hence science has unfortunately been ranged in antagonism to religion, and a warfare has raged, disastrous to both, which some day perhaps may be concluded by peace, and even alliance. For if certain truths we accept cannot be known without revelation, then what is rejected because contradicted by science ought probably to be received also, the contradiction being only apparent, and the agreement of the two being a matter of certainty, requiring only patience. In our present state we must be content to take much for granted. I once heard a very eminent surgeon say, "We know by experience that certain results ordinarily follow certain treatment; but when we attempt to theorize upon this, we find our theories so constantly upset by fresh cases, that I for one have left off trying to give reasons for many of the effects produced." "Wait, nor against the half-learned lesson fret, Nor chide at old belief as if it erred, An old divine said well, "We have much enquiry after knowledge in these latter times. The sons of Adam are now as busy as ever himself was about the tree of knowledge of good and evil, shaking the boughs of it, and scrambling for the fruit." Those who are weak and wavering, and those who have an interest in maintaining things as they are, naturally view the bold attacks of scientific men on their fortress with alarm. They see the plaster with which the misplaced labour of generations has coated the walls crumble under the fire of the enemy, without perceiving that, when this is swept away, but little impression will have been made on the solid structure. Galileo was imprisoned, not because the authorities of the Inquisition cared whether the sun or the earth moved, but because they dreaded the spirit of enquiry. The opinion, however, is gaining ground that God's truth cannot suffer by the extension of man's truth. We may, indeed, enquire diligently what is the truth; but it argues a very weak faith to suppress enquiry because it may militate against what we may have been in the habit of regarding as the truth. The Roman Proconsul, when told that the Christians were destroying a temple, merely replied, "Let the gods defend themselves." There was deep meaning in the answer. I for one have no fear of the result; but much harm may be done by misguided zeal. The assailants are men of world-wide reputation, giants in intellect, and their arguments cannot be confuted by mere generalities or platitudes. Those who enter the lists should be well acquainted with the turns and changes of the contest, and the way in which new ground has been taken from time to time; and they should especially be well versed in the language of the books under review. Even educated Hindoos have lately been accusing our divines of condemning their sacred books without being able to read them. Nothing is easier than to pour out indignation against setters forth of strange doctrines, and to demolish them amidst the cheers of an unanimous meeting; but weapons of a far different temper and calibre are required in a contest with such antagonists. It was once said at a trial, "I thought the defendant's case unassailable till I heard his counsel's speech." So much for the polemical literature of science. But science is the handmaid of art; and in those branches of art which may be termed useful or mechanical, what strides have been made since Archimedes invented the lever, and, with that confidence which has descended to his successors, declared that he would move the world. They have been moving the world ever since. Nothing seems too hard or too daring for our engineers. We often hear in their evidence before parliamentary committees that nothing is impossible; it is only a question of expense. And when we contemplate what has been done within our own recollection, we must |