THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 67
drawback consists in the much increased labour devolving on our
Secretary and Editor, Mr. W. Cole, in the preparation of twelve
monthly parts instead of a single yearly one. And there are various
circumstances that oblige me to dwell for some moments on this
point and others connected with it.
All who know anything of the working of societies like ours, are
aware that their prosperity depends very much more on the personal
qualities of the secretary than on those of all the other officials put
together. It is needless to point out how much this society owes to
its secretary and founder, Mr. W. Cole, or how desirable it is that
we should do our utmost to retain his services. But the labours of
a secretary tend to grow in proportion as the society to which he
belongs flourishes, and in our own case, Mr. Cole has found his work
in connection with the Field Club increasing, while, on the other
hand, the time at his disposal for attending to our affairs, has very
much diminished. Having, through his energy and willingness to
work, gradually assumed the character of general servant, he has for
some time found himself almost overburdened by the various duties
thrust upon him in addition to those properly his own. It therefore
becomes absolutely necessary for me to take this opportunity of
urging our most active and zealous members to endeavour to
relieve our secretary of some portion of his load before it becomes
unbearable.
Much has been done during the past seven years towards the
formation of a museum and library, but we are still as far from
"having in one building our collections, library and meeting room,"
as we were at the date of Professor Meldola's address. Delay in this
matter, however, has not been dangerous. We have developed
during the interval from the Epping Forest into the Essex Field Club;
and it would have been extremely rash to have fixed upon a per-
manent habitation before we had thoroughly ascertained what locality
would best suit the great majority of our members. In the case
of a Norfolk society, Norwich would be unanimously chosen as the
only suitable head-quarters. But in the case of Essex, to consider
the respective claims of Chelmsford and Colchester, and to ignore
the populous districts near London, would be as though a Northum-
berland society should put aside Newcastle-on-Tyne, and discuss
the merits of the more central towns of Alnwick and Rothbury. A
glance at the latest list of our members shows that while a large
majority of them come from the Epping Forest district, a much