General STRACHEY, Delegate of England, stated that if he rightly understood the remarks made by the Delegate of France, Mr. LEFAIVRE, he thought that it was intended to call attention to the ultimate form in which the resolutions of this Congress should be recorded.  He referred to the address which the Secretary of State of the United States (Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN) made to the Delegates on their assembling, in which he said:  “You have met to discuss and consider the important question of a prime meridian for all nations.  It will rest with you to give a definite result to the preparatory labors of other scientific associations and special congresses, and thus make those labors available.”

He added that the object at which they should aim was to put together a series of resolutions which could be presented to the various Governments whose representatives are here present, with a view to inducing them to accept the decision which may be arrived at by this Conference, and, finally, to put that decision in a diplomatic form—­a form which shall be more definite and precise than the mere resolutions which would be adopted by a purely scientific body; this he understood to be the position to be adopted by the Delegates to this Conference.  He then said that it seemed to him that it would be necessary, after settling the original shape of the resolutions, that they should be reconsidered and afterwards put together in an orderly way, in a manner which would give a regular and satisfactory record of the proceedings; that it appeared almost certain to him that the discussions would be desultory in their nature, but that ultimately a revision would be had after the rough-hewing of the blocks out of which the edifice was to be formed; that he had no wish, at the present stage of the discussion, to go into the merits of the question presented; that, for his part, he thought it more prudent to abstain, but that with reference to the remarks of his honorable friends from France, he could not agree that they should set aside what occurred at Rome; that the discussions at Rome were most valuable; they went thoroughly into the whole question, and he apprehended that every gentleman in the Conference was possessed of the records of what occurred there.

He continued by saying that he thought that the Delegate from France, Mr. LEFAIVRE, went a little beyond what was strictly right in saying that we should shut our eyes to what occurred there; that, for his own part, he was obliged to pay attention to what occurred there; that some of the most eminent scientific men to be found in any country met there and fully discussed the questions now before us, and that the Delegates here present were now called upon to revise what occurred there.