THE DARWIN MEMORIAL.
June 9th, 1885.
As one of the Trustees of the British Museum, the Prince of Wales was requested to represent them on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Charles Darwin, in the entrance-hall of the Museum of Natural History, now at South Kensington. The ceremony of unveiling was performed by Professor Huxley, whose address, after brief reference to the high claims of the author of 'The Origin of Species,' and other works of enduring fame, gave a statement as to the history of the memorial statue. Then addressing the Prince as representing the Trustees, he was requested to accept the statue from the Darwin Memorial Committee.
The Prince, in reply, said:—
"I consider it to be a high privilege to have been deputed by the unanimous wish of my colleagues, the Trustees of the British Museum, to accept, in their names, the gift which you have offered us on behalf of the Committee of the Darwin Memorial. The Committee and subscribers may rest assured that we have most willingly assigned this honourable place to the statue of the great Englishman who has exerted so vast an influence upon the progress of those branches of natural knowledge, the advancement of which is the object of the vast collection gathered here. It has given me much pleasure to learn that the memorial has received so much support in foreign countries, and it may be regarded as cosmopolitan rather than merely national; while the fact that persons of every condition of life have contributed to it affords remarkable evidence of the popular interest in the discussion of scientific problems. A memorial to which all nations and all classes of society have contributed cannot be more fitly lodged than in our Museum, which though national is open to all the world, and the resources of which are at the disposal of every student of Nature, whatever his condition or his country, who enters our doors."