104 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
ago a few of those present that day were at a meeting held at Mr. Buxton's
house at which the plan was mooted and discussed, but the time had not
come. Then they had a meeting in February, 1894, at which a number of
scientific gentlemen were present, and also some residents and others, and then
it was discovered that the time had come, and they made arrangements for
starting that Museum, and a Committee was appointed to carry it out. In
arranging a small Museum of this kind two requisites seemed to be necessary.
First of all there must be a sufficient amount of local interest taken in the
subject ; there must be a sufficient number of students of natural history,
scientific gentlemen, and those interested in one or more branches of natural
history in the place who would come and make use of this Museum for study.
Then the second requisite was that they must have a good arrangement in the
Museum He ventured to suggest they would have a sufficient number of local
students to make the Museum successful, and they ware sure to have satisfactory
arrangements while they had Mr. Cole and his brother to help them. He asked
Mr. Halse and the Committee not to criticise too severely the arrangements that
the Museum Committee had made. The Museum had simply been begun ; it
was not completed, and they would not be able to complete it until they had
sufficient funds in hand and until they had a sufficient number of exhibits lent
or given. The purpose of the Museum was to promote an intelligent interest
in this forest neighbourhood, and, therefore, was a purpose well worthy of the
support of the great Corporation of the City of London. It was to them they
owed this Forest as an open space, and therefore they asked them to help maintain
and support this Museum by every means in their power, and their presence that
day was an assurance to the Committee of their cordial co-operation and support
in this matter.
Sir William Flower said he was glad to have an opportunity of expressing
his cordial sympathy with this movement. He had always felt that local
Museums, scattered in various parts of the country, might do a great deal for
promoting an interest in natural history, and he thought that a growth of
interest in natural history, would tend very much to elevate and refine and
make more agreeable the life of our people. He did not want to point out in
any way whatever the practical utility of natural history studies, but in every
sense he was sure they were most beneficial. They had, in going through lite,
so many cares, so many troubles, and so many disagreeable things, that he thought
to be brought in contact with nature, to see and admire the beauties placed before
us by the Creator, in many ways must be a great source of enjoyment, a most
legitimate source of enjoyment, for he thought they all ought to feel that any
enjoyment that they could have passing through the world should be cultivated.
The love of natural history really did give the power of enjoyment and the
power of raising themselves above the petty cares and troubles and worries which
they all had, that no one could appreciate but those who had experienced it. He
had experienced it, and for that reason should like to see that taste spread as
much as possible amongst the community, and there was no such way of spreading
that taste as by Museums. He was glad to know that it was not only natural
history but also the human history and archaeological history of the district
that they were going to take up. There were a number of things that might
be lost by being scattered about in private hands, which, if collected together in
such an institution as this, would convey an idea of the history of the inhabitants
of the district in the past time. He believed in this Museum they were going