George Ferguson Bowen

“ It has been powerfully argued, moreover, that if we look to what should be the grand object of all study, the formation, namely, of the mind and the character, it will be found that there is scarcely any mental or moral faculty which science cannot develop and discipline. It was said of old that "there is no royal road to knowledge;" and it has been said of late, with equal truth, that "there are no false keys to the book of Nature." ”

“ Behind us lies a night of fearful gloom, unillumined by the light of written records, of picture memorials, of aught which can give a certain idea of the past. A few stray streaks of light, in the form of tradition, of oral poetry, of carved records, are the only guides we have. ”

“ Fertile and well watered alluvial plains are there awaiting the enterprising settler; a virgin soil, on which he founds a new home; a land blessed with the most genial climate, where he has hut to battle with and subdue the wilderness to reap the never-failing fruits of his labours. [2]
Next to Geology, botanical research will command the attention of the Institute. Here we have an admirable model for our guidance in Dr. Hooker's "Handbook of the New Zealand Flora," a work which proves how much cordial co-operation furthers the advancement of science. ”

“ Co-operation is the secret of success in all scientific pursuits; and the New Zealand Institute, while leaving its affiliated Societies unfettered in the performance of their separate functions, will publish their chief transactions on a uniform plan, thereby concentrating the information collected by local observers throughout the country, and providing for the preservation, in a permanent and accessible form, of the result of their labours. ”

“ I have now glanced, in these imperfect remarks, at the practical advantages of the study of Greology, Botany, Zoology, and of the Physical Sciences. I firmly believe that the New Zealand Institute contains within itself a sure principle of vitality, because it contains a sure principle of usefulness. ”

“ When such a variety of valuable minerals has been presented to our view, almost without design or exertion on the part of the earliest discoverers, what rich harvests of knowledge, what vast practical aid to the industrial arts, may be expected from the systematic exploration of the geology and mineralogy of this country! ”

“ Let us consider, moreover, the interest which was excited throughout the civilized world by the discovery in New Zealand of the remains of a gigantic race of wingless birds, which appear to have become extinct only in modern times. It is the opinion of the highest authorities on this subject that at no distant period it will be impossible to procure a collection of many species even of the common birds now found in this country. ”

“ The indigenous vegetation is fast disappearing before the progress of settlement, and it is alike the interest and the duty to their successors of the present generation to replace it by a new and remunerative growth. And here it is to be observed that the establishment of a botanical garden in connection with the Institute would much facilitate its operations.
In respect to Zoology, though New Zealand is generally deficient in animal life, there are many interesting fields open to the observer, especially with regard to the marine fauna of our coasts. ”

“ But the reward is great; above all, for those who "look through Nature up to Nature's God." An able writer has remarked that "at the close of all labour a man must ask to what good end he has given himself. There are few who will find the answer so easy as those who have contributed even the smallest help in widening our knowledge of the order of Nature, and in revealing for our adoration the Divine ideas which are at the basis of all things. ”

“ How eagerly the poet, the painter, the sculptor, would seek to recover some traits of their terrible lineaments, or of their softer outlines when they related to scenes of the gentler passions or of domestic life!—that either a stern grandeur or the romantic glow of a primitive state of existence might be imparted to some work of art. ”

“ And, in the gloom of that night, are fast fading out of view, although dim outlines of them are still visible, some of the most fearful spectres which have ever stalked amongst mankind in the hideous shapes of idolatry, human sacrifice, and cannibalism, mixed up with which, in uncouth unison, is much of real poetry and of actual grace of fancy. ”

“ Still, in common with the foremost philosophers, scholars, and statesmen of the present day, I am convinced that it is no longer wise, or even politically and socially safe, to cultivate exclusively those branches of learning. The intellect of the existing generation appears to be most progressive in the physical and natural sciences ”

“ And now, gentlemen, I congratulate you on already possessing, in this Public Museum and Library, facilities for that moral and intellectual culture without which no advantages of genius or of wealth can confer personal happiness, and no political privileges can secure immunity from national decay. ”

“ It should never be forgotten that, while the gold discoveries have accelerated by at least a hundred years what without them would have been the comparatively gradual progress of the Australasian group of colonies, they have also powerfully facilitated the removal of commercial restrictions and the advancement of social improvement in the parent State, adding immensely at the same time to the general trade and wealth of the British Empire and of the entire civilized world. ”

“ Still, let me remind you that the main object of the Legislature in founding this Institute was not merely to make provision for healthy intellectual recreation, but rather to provide guidance and aid for the people of New Zealand in subduing and replenishing the earth,—in the "heroic work" of colonization.
The field of science may be compared to a clearing in one of our primeval forests, where the more trees a settler fells, the greater appears the expanse of wood around him ”

“ It will be our duty, as members of the Institute, to contribute to the general stock of knowledge, not only of terrestrial magnetism, but also of geodesy, or the exact measurement of the form of these islands, upon which many problems of high interest depend. ”

“ Several of our shells and fishes present singular anomalies, and represent forms of life found in other parts of the world only in a fossil state. The progress of acclimatization, already so successful, will gradually replenish this portion of the earth with every domestic animal and bird profitable and useful to man. ”

“ Future generations will almost doubt that such gloomy forms of thought have haunted their highly cultivated and civilized homes, or that a people debased by such barbarities could yet have felt and cherished so much of the poetic and good ”

“ For example,—the first discovery of the mineral treasures which are now fast yielding up their riches to us,—of our coal, our gold, our copper, and our iron,—is due, not so much to scientific research, as to chance, if that term can be properly applied to any of the great dispensations of Providence. ”

“ The geological survey of New Zealand, in addition to the practical advantages thereby secured to the existing settlers and their successors, will assist materially in solving many important and interesting problems in general science. ”

“ The irregularities of the seasons, the oscillations of the level of the coast line, the connection between the variations of magnetic currents and volcanic force, as manifested by earthquakes, all these and many other kindred subjects are of great scientific and practical interest at the present day, while our transactions respecting them will afford valuable materials for future philosophers and historians. ”

“ Still, much remains to be done by the help of botanical research, especially in comparing the various kinds of timber supplied by our forests, and in ascertaining the qualities of the fibre-bearing plants of our valleys, for which there is a large and growing demand on the part of British manufacture. ”