Gentlemen,—Allow me in the first place to thank you most sincerely for the honour which you have conferred upon me, in electing me President of the Actuarial Society for this Session. A consideration of the long list of those who have been my predecessors in the Chair, makes me all the more sensible of the honour, and it is therefore with diffidence though with great pleasure that I accept the post. While my residence out of Edinburgh will prevent me from presiding at as many ordinary meetings of the Society as I should like, I think I may assert with confidence, that no one takes a deeper interest in its progress. I have been a member of it for thirty-three years, and have experienced the varied benefits which a Society conducted as yours has been, is able to bestow, and to which many here are largely indebted for assistance in their career. The main benefits to which I refer are (first) the stimulating effect of intercourse with men desirous to raise the standard of our profession, founded as it is on the threefold basis of exact science, true benevolence, and honest business principles—a combined foundation which few professions are able to claim; (second) the information and culture which are gained from the perusal and study of the papers read to the Society; and (third) what is perhaps more valuable than either of the other two, and which therefore I would more emphatically impress upon the younger members—the training which is obtained in preparing papers for a Society like this.