Address / by his Royal Highness the Prince Consort.

  • Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Date:
[between 1850 and 1859?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address / by his Royal Highness the Prince Consort. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ADDRESS BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT. Gentlemen of the British Association, Your kind invitation to me to undertake the office of your President for the ensuing year could not but startle me on its first announcement. 1 he high position which Science occupies, the vast number of distinguished men who labour in her sacred cause, and whose achievements, while spreading innu¬ merable benefits, justly attract the admiration of mankind, contrasted strongly in my mind with the consciousness of my own insignificance in this respect. I, a simple admirer, and would-be student of Science, to take the place of the chief and spokesman of the scientific men of the day, assembled in furtherance of their important objects! — the thing appeared to me impossible. Yet, on reflection, I came to the conclusion that, if not as a contributor to, or director of your labours, I might still be useful to you, useful to Science, by accepting your offer. Remembering that this Association is a popular Association, not a secret confraternity of men jealously guarding the mysteries of their profession, but inviting the uninitiated, the public at large, to join them, having as one of its objects to break down those imagi¬ nary and hurtful barriers which exist between men of science and so-called men of practice—I felt that I could, from the peculiar position in which Providence has placed me in this country, appear as the representative of that large public, which profits by and admires your exertions, but is unable actively to join in them ; that my election was an act of humility on your part, which to reject would have looked like false humility, that is like pride, on mine. But I reflected further, and saw in my acceptance the means, of which necessarily so few are offered to Her Majesty, of testifying to you, through the instrumentality of her husband, that your labours are not un¬ appreciated by your Sovereign, and that she wishes her people to know this as well as yourselves. Guided by these reflections, my choice was speedily made, for the path of duty lay straight before me. If these, however, are the motives which have induced me to accept your