PRESENTATION TO MR. WILLIAM COLE. 133
before, if you only knew how pleasantly cordial were the letters which came with
the subscriptions, you would realize even more how your services and those of
your brothers and sisters have been appreciated.
Mr. William Cole, in reply, said: Professor Meldola, Mr. David Howard,
Mr. Miller Christy, Ladies, and Gentlemen—perhaps, I might say old friends to
all of you. On behalf of my sisters and brothers, as well as on my own behalf, I
thank you most heartily for the kindness which has prompted you to present us
with this beautiful testimonial in appreciation of our services to the Club and our
attempt to cultivate a taste for natural history in the county of Essex.
I feel it difficult to express my feelings of gratitude to so many ladies and
gentlemen, well known in Essex and eminent in the scientific world, for the very
flattering way in which they have spoken of my share in the work of the Field
Club during the last 26 years, I do feel proud and delighted that such a
gathering as this has been held, and thankful for the gracious expressions of
esteem in the letters which Professor Meldola has read. I know that my brothers
and sisters are equally grateful fo you, and they desire me to thank you in their
names. This Address will always be a pleasant memorial of the many friendships
which we have formed during the progress of the Club, and of the interesting
investigations in which we have taken part. Some of these investigations have
added, I cannot help thinking, to the knowledge we possessed of the natural
history and archaeology of Essex, and I hope that, in the future, the Club will
engage in many more enquiries of the kind, I thank you also most sincerely for
this very tangible expression of your goodwill and for your presence on this
memorable evening, and I gratefully accept the flattering memorial and accom-
panying purse. I must add my full appreciation of the services of Mr. Miller
Christy in having promoted this most successful gathering. I know something
of secretarial duties, and I am sure that both he and Mr. David Howard must
have given up a great deal of their valuable time to the friendly work they so
kindly took ill hand.
In accepting this present and memorial, you must not think that I arrogate
to myself the sole credit of promoting the interests of the Club. I have on my
light hand Professor Meldola, the first President—(applause)—and I have the
best means of knowing what intense interest he took in its inception. I well
remember the talks which led to the formation of the Club, and we all recall the
small assembly of supporters held at his rooms in John Street, Bedford Row,
at which the draft cf his excellent "Inaugural Address" was read and discussed.
Whenever people apply to me for advice as to the formation of a Field Club or
similar society, I always refer them to Professor Meldola's "Address," as being,
perhaps, the best paper ever written on what should be the work of a society such
as ours. Not only did Professor Meldola follow up this remarkable programme
with a series of admirable addresses, but, at our meetings during the whole
26 years' existence of the Club, he has always, when present, led the discussion on
subjects brought forward in a way that has elevated the debate and given it a
truly scientific character. All members of the Club owe a very great debt of
gratitude to Professor Meldola for what he has done for the Society
(Applause).
We have always had a very excellent Council. I think that very few societies
of the nature of the Essex Field Club ever had a Council which has met in
such large numbers and whose members took such an intense personal interest