“That a Society was needed whose sole object should be the promotion and diffusion of that most important and entertaining branch of knowledge—geography; and that a useful Society might therefore be formed, under the name of the Geographical Society Of London: that the interest excited by this department of science is universally felt, that its advantages are of the first importance to mankind in general, and paramount to the welfare of a maritime nation like Great Britain, with its numerous and extensive foreign possessions; that its decided utility in conferring just and distinct notions of the physical and political relations of our globe must be obvious to every one, and is the more enhanced by this species of knowledge being obtainable without much difficulty, while at the same time it affords a copious source of rational amusement; and finally that, although there is a vast store of geographical information existing in Great Britain, yet it is so scattered and dispersed, either in large books that are not generally accessible, or in the bureaus of public departments, or in the possession of private individuals, as to be nearly unavailable to the public.”