THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID ANNALS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY CLUB MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA • MADRAS MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO ANNALS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY CLUB THE RECORD OF A LONDON DINING-CLUB IN THE EIGHTEENTH y NINETEENTH CENTURIES BY SIR ARCHIBALD GEIKIE O.M., K.C.B., D.C.L. PAST-PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY WITH CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1917 COPYRIGHT GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLKHOSE AND CO. LTD. PREFACE THE Royal Society Club has been living and active for at least a hundred and seventy-four years. It has been pre- sided over by a succession of eminent men whose names and work are held in honour. Its members have included not only leaders in many departments of scientific investi- gation and of applied science, but also representatives of literature and art, of the Navy and the Army, and of every branch of public life. From the beginning it has invited to its table visitors from all sections of society, devoting special care to the entertainment of distinguished foreigners who have from time to time landed on our shores. Of its meetings, its dinners and its guests it has kept ample records from the very beginning until now. These docu- ments, while they afford glimpses of habits and customs that have passed away, throw light also on some of the social relationships of not a few of the prominent men of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The first attempt to put this history into writing was made by Admiral William Henry Smyth, F.R.S., who in the summer of the year 1858 was requested by his brother Members of the Club to undertake the task. He prepared a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Society Club which was printed for the Club in 1860. It forms a thin quarto volume of 84 pages, with An Additional Word of ten pages more, appended in the spring of the following year. As its title denotes, this work was merely a sketch, based almost entirely on the minutes of the Annual General Meetings. But, full of the spirit of good-fellowship, it gave a pleasing picture of the life of the Club. M375033 vi Preface After the lapse of nearly fifty years, during which some important incidents had occurred in the Club's experience, a desire arose among the Members that a continuation of Admiral Smyth's narrative should be prepared. Accordingly the late Mr. Robert H. Scott, who had been Treasurer for seventeen years, and was about to retire from office, was asked if he would supply such a continuation But his health had already begun to fail, and he was never able to undertake the task. Meanwhile the stock of Admiral Smyth's volume was nearly exhausted. The opportunity seemed to the Members to be favourable for the preparation of a new and possibly fuller history of the Club, and they honoured me by the proposal that I should take the work in hand. As I had given a good deal of attention to the history of the Royal Society, I was naturally attracted by the subject of the Society's Dining Club ; but to enable me to judge of the nature and extent of the material available for literary treatment, the Senior Treasurer at the beginning of last year put into my hands the whole of the Archives of the Club. I soon saw that the material was abundant and possessed sufficient interest to be worthy of being treated in considerable detail. And I thereupon embarked on the work. After full deliberation it appeared to me that the most satisfactory way of dealing with the records would be to take them year by year in the form of annals. In such a procedure certain repetitions would obviously be unavoidable, and might sometimes be a little irksome. But this defect would, I thought, be more than compensated by the greater scope that would be afforded in tracing the progress of the Club, in following the careers of its individual members, and above all, in doing justice to what has all along been a dis- tinctive feature of the Club — its hospitality. From the very beginning the Club has invited to its table representatives, both native and foreign, of every department of public life and every branch of scientific enquiry. In its remarkably varied gallery of guests, the same individual sometimes Preface vii appears at intervals of years, and we seem to see the succes- sive stages of his progress from the outset of his career up to the full renown of his fame. The life and activity of the Club are thus connected with the statesmen and politicians, the sailors and soldiers, the navigators and explorers, the men of science, of letters and of art, the engineers, inventors and discoverers of each successive generation, not of this country only, but of many foreign lands. As a mere list of names would have had comparatively limited interest for most readers, I have sought to enliven my narrative by inserting brief biographical sketches of the more eminent jilembers of the Club, and of the more pro- minent among their guests. For the details given of these worthies I have availed myself of such contemporary records as those of Lord Chesterfield, Horace Walpole, James Bos- well, Madame D'Arblay, Sir Henry Holland and others, as well as the volumes of the Annual Register, Gentleman's Magazine and similar j ournals. I have been largely indebted to the admirable Dictionary of National Biography, which we owe to the sagacity and enterprise of George Smith. For the foreign visitors I have chiefly availed myself of the com- prehensive Nouvelle Biographic Generate, published by Firmin Didot Freres, and the Obituary Notices of the Royal Society. To add to the interest of the volume I have inserted portraits of some of the persons mentioned in the text. The Royal Society possesses a vast collection of engraved portraits of its Fellows and eminent contemporaries, from the beginning of its existence down to the present time. I have gone through this collection, and have selected the engravings here given, which have been reproduced from the originals at the rooms of the Royal Society by the Swan Electric Engraving Company, under the careful supervision of the managing director, Mr. D. Cameron-Swan. In the List of Plates such information is given as has been obtainable regarding the painters and engravers of the original portraits. Like all such documents, the records of the Royal Society Club bring vividly before us some of the habits and customs viii Preface of our fathers. We learn from them that in the middle of the eighteenth century men sat down to dinner at the hour when they now take luncheon, and supped when they now dine. We can trace the slow retreat of dinner in steps of half an hour or an hour at a time, each pause lasting for some years before the next move was made. We see that our great grandfathers showed little of that passion for holidays which is now the vogue. There was no general annual migration of a large portion of the community in summer and autumn to country quarters and foreign lands ; hence, as the patients did not leave town, the fashionable physicians remained there also. The long summer vacation and the recesses now enjoyed at Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas were unrecognised by the Club, and were ulti- mately adopted only after a struggle lasting for many years. One of the most curious features of the Club records is to be found in its dinner-registers, where a detailed bill of fare is given for every dinner, week by week, in the course of more than forty years of the eighteenth century, affording to the deipnosophist a lively picture of the gastronomic art of the time in England. It should be added here that this volume has been pre- pared, first of all, for the present and future Members of the Club of which it relates the history. The question was considered whether it should be printed only for private circulation, but the feeling prevailed that as its subject was so intimately bound up with the history of the Royal Society there would probably be Fellows of the Society who, although not Members of the Club, might wish to possess the book, while it might even find some readers in the world outside. The decision was accordingly made in favour of publication. SHEPHERD'S DOWN, HASLEMERE, 26th April, 1917. CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF PORTRAITS - xi CHAPTER I EARLY SOCIAL LIFE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY - i II PRESIDENTSHIP OF MARTIN FOLKES, 1747-1752 - 20 III PRESIDENTSHIP OF THE EARL OF MACCLESFIELD, 1752-1764 - 45 IV PRESIDENTSHIPS OF THE EARL OF MORTON, 1764-1768, AND OF JAMES WEST, 1768-1772 - 86 V PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOHN PRINGLE, 1772-1778 - 114 VI PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS, 1778-1789 - 144 VII PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS— CONTINUED, 1789-1810 . - !86 VIII PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS — COMPLETED, 1811-1820 ..... 236 IX PRESIDENTSHIPS OF WILLIAM HYDE WOLLASTON, SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, AND DA VIES GILBERT, 1820-1830 268 X PRESIDENTSHIPS OF THE DUKE OF SUSSEX AND THE MARQUESS OF NORTHAMPTON, 1831-1848 - - 303 x Contents CHAPTER PAGE XI PRESIDENTSHIPS OF THE EARL OF ROSSE, BARON WROTTESLEY, AND SIR BENJAMIN COLLINS BRODIE, 1848-1861 - 355 XII PRESIDENTSHIPS OF SIR EDWARD SABINE, SIR GEORGE BlDDELL AlRY, AND SlR JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, 1861-1878 - 388 XIII PRESIDENTSHIPS OF WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY, AND SIR GEORGE GABRIEL STOKES, 1878-1890 - 423 XIV PRESIDENTSHIPS OF LORD KELVIN, LORD LISTER, AND SIR WILLIAM HUGGINS, 1890-1902 - - 455 INDEX .... - - - 488 LIST OF PORTRAITS TO FACE PAGE 1 Sir JAMES BURROW, F.R.S. (1737),* Barrister ; original member of the Club. Engraving by I. Basire, after the painting by A. Devis, 1780 [pp. 10, 100)] t - 16 2 Sir WILLIAM WATSON, M.D., F.R.S. (1741) ; original member of the Club. Engraving by Thornthwaite, after a painting by Abbot [pp. 9, n, 177] 24 3 MARTIN FOLKES, F.R.S. (1714 ; Pres. 1741-52). Engraving by Robert Hart, from the painting by Hogarth in the possession of the Royal Society [pp. 12, 14] - -32 4 JAMES BRADLEY, D.D., F.R.S. (1718), Astronomer Royal (1742-62). Engraving by E. Scriven, from the painting by Richardson in the possession of the Royal Society [p. 30] 40 5 THOMAS BIRCH, D.D., F.R.S. (1734 ; Sec. 1752) ; original member of the Club. Engraving by I. Faber (1741), after the painting by J. Wills [pp. 9, u] - 48 6 GOWIN KNIGHT, M.B., F.R.S. (1745), Principal Librarian of the British Museum. Painted and etched by B. Wilson, 1751 [p. 13] - - 56 *The figures placed after F.R.S. indicate the date of election into the Royal Society. fThe figures within square brackets refer to the pages of the text where the indi- viduals are more specially mentioned. For further references see Index. xii List of Portraits TO FACE PAGE 7 NEVIL MASKELYNE, D.D., F.R.S. (1758), Astronomer Royal (1765-1811). From an anonymous Plate to the European Magazine, 1804, [pp. 77, 96] - 64 8 The Honourable HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S. (1760). Engraving by C. Rosenberg of a drawing by W. Alex- ander in the Print-Room, British Museum [pp. 71, 233] 72 9 CHARLES MARIE DE LA CONDAMINE, F.R.S. (1748). From a French engraving of a drawing by Cochin [p. 83] 80 10 CLAUDE ADRIAN HELVETIUS, M.D., F.R.S. (1755) ; author of the treatise De I'Esprit. Lithograph by Delpech, after Mauris [p. 88] 88 11 FRANCIS MASERES (aetat. 83), F.R.S. (1771). Engraving by P. Audinet of a drawing by C. Hayter [p. 112] 96 12 Captain JAMES COOK, Circumnavigator, F.R.S. (1776). Engraving by E. Scriven, after N. Dance [p. 113] - 104 13 ALEXANDER AUBERT, F.R.S. (1772). Engraving by J. Chapman, from a painting by S. Drummond [p. 116] 112 14 Sir JOHN PRINGLE, Bart., M.D., F.R.S. (1745 ; Pres. 1772-78) . Engraving by W. H. Mote, after the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds jn the rooms of the Royal Society [pp. 42, 114] - - 120 15 Sir CHARLES BLAGDEN, M.D., F.R.S. (1772 ; Sec. 1784). Etching by Mrs. Dawson Turner, after the painting by T. Phillips [p. 148] - - 128 16 Right Hon. Sir JOSEPH BANKS, Bart., G.C.B., F.R.S. (1730 ; Pres. 1778-1820) ; seated in the Presidential Chair of the Royal Society. Engraving after the painting by T. Phillips [pp. 108, 144, 236] - 144 17 Professor JOHN PLAYFAIR, F.R.S. (1807). Engraving by R. Cooper, after the painting by Sir Henry Raeburn - 152 List of Portraits xiii TO FACE PAGE 18 SAMUEL HORSLEY, D.D., Bishop of St. Asaph, F.R.S. (1729 ; Sec. 1773). Engraving by S. W. Reynolds (name of painter not stated on the plate), [pp. 96, 174, 220] - - 160 19 Major JAMES RENNELL, F.R.S. (1781). Engraving by W. Ridley, after a drawing by Scott ; Plate to European Magazine, 1797 [p. 202] - 176 20 JOSEPH JEROME DE FRAN^AIS DE LALANDE, F.R.S. (1763). Engraving by Jouannin, after the painting by Ely [pp. 82, 183] - - 184 21 COUNT RUMFORD, F.R.S. (1779). Engraving by W. Ridley ; forming a Plate in the European Magazine, 1797 [p. 202] - 192 22 Sir EVERARD HOME, Bart., Surgeon, F.R.S. (1787). En- graving by W. Sharp, after a portrait by Sir William Beechey [p. 209] - - 208 23 PHILIPPE D'AUVERGNE, Due DE BOUILLON, Admiral in the British Navy, F.R.S. (1786). Engraving by Ridley, from a miniature. Published in 1805 [p. 198] - - 216 24 THOMAS YOUNG, M.D., F.R.S. (1794 ; For. Sec. 1802-29), Phvsician, physicist, chemist, Egyptologist. Engrav- ing by C. Turner, after the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence [pp. 205, 226] - 224 25 CHARLES HATCHETT, F.R.S. (1797), Chemist and mineralo- gist. Engraving by H. C. Lewis, after a drawing by T. Phillips [p. 214] - 240 26 WILLIAM MARSDEN, F.R.S. (1783 ; Treas. 1802-10 ; Treasurer of the Club, 1788-1804). Name of artist not ascertained. - - 256 xiv List of Portraits TO FACE PAGK 27 WILLIAM HYDE WOLLASTON, M.D., F.R.S. (1793 ; Pres. 1820). Engraving after a drawing by Sir Thomas Lawrence [p 212] -- 264 28 JOHN BRINKLEY, D.D., F.R.S. (1803), First Royal Astro- nomer for Ireland (1792) Engraving by H. Cook, after a painting by F. Parsons [p. 222] 272 29 Sir HUMPHRY DAVY, Bart., F.R.S. (1803 ; Pres. 1820-7) ; seated in the Presidential Chair of the Royal Society. Engraving by Worthington, after a painting by J. Lonsdale. Published March 1827 [pp. 225, 270, 290] - 288 30 JOHN G. CHILDREN, F.R.S. (1807 ; Sec. 1826). Litho- graph by W. D., after a drawing by E. U. Eddis, Athenaeum Portraits No. 9 [p. 231] ' - 304 31 Sir JOHN BARROW, Bart., F.R.S. (1805), Secretary of the Admiralty. Engraving after the painting by J. Jackson [p. 229] - 320 32 Right Hon. Sir ALEXANDER JOHNSTON, P.C., F.R.S. (1810). Engraved by T. Woolnoth, after a drawing by W. M. Craig [p. 235] - - 336 33 Sir JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM HERSCHEL, Bart., F.R.S. (1813 ; Sec. 1824). Engraving by W. J. Ward, after a painting by H. W. Pickersgill [p. 275] - - 352 34 Admiral WILLIAM HENRY SMYTH, F.R.S. (1826). Name of artist not given on the engraving [p. 310] - 368 35 General Sir EDWARD SABINE, K.C.B., F.R.S. (1818 ; Sec. 1827 ; Pres. 1861-71). Engraving by J. Scott, after the painting by Stephen Pearce in the rooms of the Royal Society [p. 388] - 384 36 Captain Sir DOUGLAS STRUTT GALTON, K.C.B., R.E., F.R.S. (1859), Treasurer of the Club 1867-1878. From a photograph in the possession of his daughter, Mrs. Gascoigne [p. 382] - - .--,.*• - 400 List of Portraits xv TO FACE PACK 37 Right Hon. Sir WILLIAM ROBERT GROVE, Judge, F.R.S. (1840) ; one of the most active founders of the Philo- sophical Club ; author of the treatise on the Correlation of the Physical Forces ; after a daguerrotype by Claudet. Published February 1849- -416 38 Lord LISTER, O.M., F.R.S. (1860 ; For. Sec. 1893 ; Pres. 1895-1900). From photogravure in the Record of the Royal Society - - 448 39 ROBERT HENRY SCOTT, F.R.S. (1870), one of the Trea- surers of the Club from 1885 to 1902. From a cliche lent by the Royal Meteorological Society - - - 464 CHAPTER I EARLY SOCIAL LIFE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY IN the first half of the seventeenth century the group of remarkable men, who in 1650 laid the first foundation of the Royal Society, were in the habit of assembling weekly for the purpose of discussing questions in physics and other parts of human learning, and of making experiments in the spirit of the New or Experimental Philosophy. These meetings were most frequently held in some tavern, particularly the Bull Head in Cheapside, but sometimes at the lodging of one of the company, and in term time at Gresham College, or other place not far distant. When the organisation of the Royal Society was completed by the grant of a Royal Charter from Charles II. on I5th July 1662, the movement in favour of the active prosecution of scientific enquiry re- ceived a great impulse. The meetings for discussion and experiment were held regularly at Gresham College, where a suite of apartments was provided as the home of the Society. The philosophers, thus launched on their career of observation and experimentation, were, however, con- vivial Englishmen who, associated as fellow-workers in scientific pursuits, became personal friends. The intimacy thus created could not be restricted to the meeting-room or the laboratory, but would necessarily demand the genial intercourse of the table. It was the Age of Taverns. Men felt then, as Johnson felt a century later, that " there is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well, as at a capital tavern," and that there is " nothing 2 Early Social Life of Royal Society which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn." * Accordingly the philosophers of the seventeenth century, following the universal practice of the day, repaired to these places of entertainment, where they dined or supped, but where at the same time they would often engage in the dis- cussion of subjects in science, and would then do so with greater freedom and vivacity than at their more formal assemblies in Gresham College. It would appear that from the beginning these convivial gatherings were of two kinds. In the first place, the Fellows as a body dined together in celebration of their anniversary on St. Andrew's Day (3oth November), to which they went, each with a St. Andrew's Cross fastened on his hat, for the purpose of electing their Council and office-bearers for the ensuing year. The dinner came after the election, and could be attended by every Fellow who so desired. These festivals, which still survive, were of a more or less formal character when personages of consequence in the community, as well as private friends, were invited. In the early daj^s of the Society they were held at the noted tavern in Abchurch Lane, City, kept by a Frenchman named Pontac. More than thirty years after the start of the Royal Society, John Evelyn records, on 3Oth November 1696, that after the Anniversary Meeting with its elections, " we all dined at Pontac's as usual." 2 1 Boswell's Life of Johnson (Birkbeck Hill's Edit. vol. ii. p. 451). Mr. Wheatley in his Pepysiana (p. 191) gives a list of more than a hundred taverns referred to by Samuel Pepys as having been visited by him. In this list it is noteworthy how often the same favourite name for a Tavern was repeated in different parts of London. Thus there are four Taverns with the sign of " The Cro\vn," six with that of " The Sun," seven with that of " The Swan," and seven with that of the " King's Head." 2 See Evelyn's Diary under date soth November 1680 ; 29th November 1688 ; 3oth November 1693. On i3th July 1683 he states- — " I had this day much discourse with Monsieur Pontac, son to the famous and wise prime President of Bordeaux. This gentleman was owner of that excellent vignoble of Pontac and O'Brien, from whence come the choicest of our Bordeaux wines." The best French claret was named after Pontac. Thus Matthew Prior in his Hind and Panther transvers'd : Drawers must be trusted, through whose hands convey'd You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade : For sure those Honest Fellows have no knack Of putting off stum'd Claret for Pontack. "Dialogues of the Dead," etc., Waller's Edit. p. 20. Samuel Pepys and Club-suppers 3 In the second place, besides these more stately annual dinners, there arose the informal, and often improvised, dinners and suppers, when, after a meeting of the Society for ordinary business, a few of the Fellows would adjourn for friendly intercourse to some tavern in the neighbourhood. Such social gatherings were much enjoyed by Samuel Pepys, who has left his impressions of some of those which he attended. On the day of his admission as a Fellow of the Royal Society (i5th February 1664-5) ne attended the meeting at the College and heard a discussion with experi- ments on the nature of fire. " After this being done, they to the Crown Taverne behind the 'Change, and there my Lord [Brouncker, President] and most of the company to a club supper ; Sir P. Neale, Sir R. Murray, Dr. Clerke, Dr. Whistler, Dr. Goddard and others of most eminent worth. Here excellent discourse till ten at night, and then home." Again, on 4th June 1666, Pepys records : — " To the Crown behind the 'Change, and then supped at the Club with my Lord Brouncker, Sir J. Ent and others of Gresham College." The entry under date 2ist November 1667 was fuller and more enthusiastic than ever. " Took coach to Arundel House where the meeting of Gresham College [that is, the Royal Society] was broke up ; but there meeting Creed, I with him to the taverne in St. Clem- ent's Churchyard, where was Dean Wilkins, Dr. Whistler, Dr. Floyd, a divine admitted, I perceive, this day, and other brave men." Dean Wilkins, who next year became Bishop of Chester, was one of the most illustrious among the original band that founded the Royal Society. On this occasion he appears to have been the life of the company, with his fund of anecdotes and his circumstantial account of an experiment about to be performed by the Gresham College philosophers, when the blood of a sheep was to be trans- fused into the body of a poor debauched man. Pepys must have been beyond measure delighted with such a recital. He adds : " Their discourse was very fine ; and if I should be put out of my office I do take great content in the liberty I shall be at, of frequenting these gentlemen's company." 4 Early Social Life of Royal Society On 2nd April 1668, after attending the meeting of the Society and being induced to contribute £40 towards the building of a College as the future home of the Royal Society, Pepys states that " thence with Lord Brouncker and several of them to the King's Head Taverne by Chancery Lane, and there did drink and eat and talk and, above the rest, I did hear of Mr. Hooke and my Lord an account of the reason of concords and discords in musique, which they say is from the equality of vibrations ; but I am not satisfied in it, but will at my leisure think of it more, and see how far that do go to explain it. So, late at night, home." These and other passages in the journal of the great Diarist show that, for some years after the foundation of the Royal Society, it was a common practice for the Fellows to dine or sup together, not merely on St. Andrew's day, the anniversary of the Society, but at all times of the year, and that these social gatherings were known as " Club- suppers/' In one of the entries just quoted allusion is made to a " Dr. Floyd, a divine admitted this day." No one of the name of Floyd or Lloyd belonged at that time to the Royal Society. The " admission " must therefore have been to the convivial union at the tavern. It would thus seem that some degree of care was taken to keep the company select by imposing some formality in the case of outsiders who were not Fellows, such as requiring them to be introduced by the President or one of the Fellows who usually formed the social company. That at the beginning of the eighteenth century there was a recognised convivial club connected with the Royal Society may be inferred from a scurrilous anonymous volume which then appeared with the title — " A compleat and humorous Account of all the remarkable Clubs and Societies in the Cities of London and Westminster, from the R 1 S y down to the Lumber-troop etc." The author was afterwards ascertained to be the notorious Edward (or Ned) Ward, keeper of a London tavern, who published a number of pamphlets in prose and verse, dis- tinguished above all for their extraordinary coarseness and The Vertuoso's Club 5 indecency, and who had the distinction of being put in the pillory for an attack on the government. Not only does the name of the Royal Society, slightly veiled, appear on the title-page, but the Account begins with a description of the Vertuoso's Club,1 from which a few passages may be quoted. It commences thus: — "This eminent Club was at first establish' d by some of the principal Members of the Royal Society, and held every Thursday at a certain Tavern in Cornhill, where the Vintner that kept it, has according to his Merit, made a fortunate Step from his Bar to his Coach, and has surrendered his House to so diligent a Son, whose prudent Management, winning Deportment, and indefatigable Industry, have made him a singular Example to the whole Fraternity, and will, undoubtedly, be attended with the like Prosperity that has so fully rewarded the Pains and Vigilance of his generous Father. The chief Design of the aforementioned Club, was to pro- pagate new Whims, advance mechanic Exercises, and to promote useless, as well as useful Experiments. . . . No sooner were the patched Assembly met together on their Club-Night, but every Man, in hopes to advance his Repu- tation would be so wonderfully busy about one Experiment or other, that the very Elements could not rest for 'em ; And the whole Company divide themselves into so many several Cabals, that they sat like Train Band-Men at a Captain's Treat, where there are four or six appointed to a Bottle. Some by those hermetical Bellows, called an JEolipile, would 1 This term " Virtuoso," originally employed as a not uncomplimentary designation for natural philosophers, came in the end to acquire a de- preciatory implication — a result largely attributable to the vagaries of mere curio-hunters who collected all sorts of " rarities " in natural objects and antiquities, often with little knowledge or discrimination. The pursuits of such men in the eager acquisition of what the world in general regarded as in great part rubbish, laid them open to the satire of the literary critics, who classed these collectors with the philosophers as " Virtuosi." The craze for collections of this character was not confined to Britain, but was rife also on the Continent. It was recorded in 1763 that "the folly of the French Virtuoso's at Paris is arrived at a great pitch. Collecting natural curiosities is in high vogue and to that degree that no one is esteemed du bon ton who has not a collection. . . . The collections seem more like raree shows than like anything of a scientific nature." Gentleman's Magazine for 1763, p. 230. 6 Early Social Life of Royal Society be trying with an empty Bottle whether Nature would admit of a Vacuum. Others, like busy Chandlers, would be handling their Scales to nicely discover the Difference in the Weight between Wine and Water [etc., etc.]. Thus Vertuoso's make a Pother About their Whims to please each other ; And wondrous Maggots will advance ye That have no Being but in Fancy." The oldest surviving document in the archives of the Royal Society Club bears the date of 27th October 1743. But there can be no doubt that a recognised organisation of members, subscriptions and regular meetings existed before that date. In the " Sketch of the Rise and Pro- gress of the Royal Society Club " by Admiral W. H. Smyth, there is appended " An Additional Word/' containing a memorandum from the manuscript collection of the Rev. Sir Richard Kaye, preserved in the British Museum, which affirms that the Club began about the year 1731 under the auspices of the illustrious Dr. Halley. This memorandum is here reproduced, but, as will be shown, its historical value is hardly so great as the Admiral believed it to be. " Institution of the Philosophical Club, from Sir Joseph Ayloffe, an original Member, communicated July 26, 1776. " Dr. Halley used to come on a Tuesday from Greenwich the Royal Observatory to Child's Coffee-House, where literary people met for conversation, and he dined with his sister, but sometimes staid so long that He was too late for Dinner, and they likewise at their own home. " They then agreed to go to a house in Dean's Court between an Ale-house and a Tavern, now a Stationer's shop, where there was a great Draft of porter, but not drank in the House. It was kept by one Reynell. It was agreed that one of the Company should go to Knights and buy fish in Newgate Street, having first informed himself how many meant to stay and dine. " The Ordinary and Liquor usually came to half-a-crown, and the Dinner only consisted of Fish and Pudding. Dr. Halley never eat any Thing but Fish, for he had no Teeth. " The number seldom exceeded five or six. Sir Joseph Ayloffe and Dr. Watson were original members. It began to take place about 1731. " Soon afterwards Reynell took the King's Arms in St. Paul's Origin of Royal Society Club j Church Yard and desired Dr. Halley to go with him there. He and others consented and they then began to have a little meat. On Dr. Halley's Death, Martin Folkes took the Chair. " They afterwards removed to the Mitre for the convenience of the situation with respect to the Royal Society, and as It was near Crane Court and numbers wished to become Members, It was neces- sary to give it a form. " The number was fixed at Forty Members, one of whom was to be Treasurer and Secretary and three official Members, Secretaries of the Royal Society. TOASTS. The King King of Poland l The Queen The President (if absent) Arts and Sciences Lord Charles Cavendish Royal Philosophers." In printing for the first time this communication of Sir Joseph Ayloffe made in 1776, Admiral Smyth pointed out that it contains some obvious inaccuracies, yet he was disposed to accept it as substantially trustworthy and to regard the Royal Society Club as having been actually established by Dr. Halley. The document purports to have been communicated by its writer in 1776, that is, some thirty or forty years after the occurrence of the incidents to which it refers. It was obviously written from recollection, and without reference to authorities by which lapses of memory could be checked. The meetings of the Royal Society took place on Thurs- day and not on Tuesday. Sir Joseph Ayloffe styles himself " an original member." But the Club minute-book clearly shows that he was elected on 23rd August 1744 and subse- quently lost his membership from non-attendance, his place being rilled up on 27th July I749-2 He says in his memo- randum that the meetings " began to take place about 1731." But the evidence quoted above shows that there were dinners and suppers of the Fellows of the Royal Society long before that year. Sir Joseph Ayloffe was elected into 1 How this monarch in particular came to be one of the Club's toasts is suggested in the record of the year 1754. 2 He was afterwards balloted for and re-elected into the Club on 25th July 1771. 8 Origin of Royal Society Club the Royal Society on 27th May 1731, and he may about that time have taken part in some of the social gatherings of the Fellows. His weak memory seems to have led him to believe that the organised Dining Club began then, and that his much later connection with it went back to the same period. Admiral Smyth cites convincing evidence that the dinners which drew Halley on Thursdays to Child's Coffee- house were attended by him many years before he became Astronomer Royal and lived at Greenwich. There are extant letters of Flamsteed to Abraham Sharp, in one of which, dated as far back as 1712, allusion is made to Halley and his associates at the gatherings in that tavern. The Admiral pronounces a well-deserved eulogium of Halley when he describes him as "at once proudly eminent as an astronomer, a mathematician, a physiologist, a naturalist, a scholar, an antiquary, a poet, a meteorologist, a geographer, a navigator, a nautical surveyor and a truly social member of the com- munity." But when he claims that this illustrious man was also the founder of the Royal Society Club his enthusiasm has undoubtedly carried him further than the evidence warrants. The truth would appear to be that informal dinners or suppers, such as took place in the time of Pepys, still con- tinued in the first half of the eighteenth century. These were attended not only by Fellows of the Royal Society, but by friends whom they brought with them, and even sometimes by intruders who chose to dine or sup at the same tavern and, without any introduction, thrust themselves into what they recognised to be a varied and pleasant company. If the President of the Society was present he would naturally be asked to take the chair, if in such im- provised gatherings any chairman were desired. But the miscellaneous character of these assemblages coming at last to be too inconvenient, the need would be felt for some organisation that would allow a small number of men of congenial tastes and habits to come into closer touch with each other, and would exclude undesirable visitors. The earliest trace of such an attempt to obtain more privacy is to be found in the document of 27th October The first Founders of the Club 9 1743 already alluded to. But some kind of organisation would appear to have been tried before the fresh start recorded in that document. In the Club's first Minute- book, under date January 3rd, T-75O,1 in the presidentship of Martin Folkes, the following minute occurs : — " At this meeting it was proposed that David Papillon Esq. [F.R.S. 1720] who had been an ancient member of this Club, before the present Establishment (of which he was the first proposer), and Jie method of standing the Ballott as a Candidate being uncertain, he desired to be admitted a Member on paying the old fine and an arrear of two shillings ; and in consideration of services done this Society his request was complyed with, and it was resolved that this election should not be a precedent for the future." In a subsequent minute in the same volume reference is made to Phillip Miller [F.R.S. 1729] as "an ancient Member of this Society" (postea, p. 46) It would seem probable that some attempts had been made before October 1743 to organise a Club, but that these had fallen into abeyance. The first distinct evidence of the formation of an organised company which could develop into a Club is to be found'" in the document of 27th October 1743 which records the result of a meeting of eight gentlemen on that day. It is written on a page of now much foxed foolscap paper which has been preserved by being carefully pasted into the beginning of the first Minute-book of the Royal Society Club. Its contents are these : Oct. 27th 1743. Mr. Postlethwaite - 6s. Mr. Birch - 6s. Mr. Colebrooke - 6s. Mr. Dixon 6s. Mr. Watson 6s. Captn Middleton 6s. Mr. R. Graham - 6s. Mr. Burrow - - 6s. Paid for a month. ^2 8s. paid to Mr. Colebrooke, Treasurer. A dinner to be ordered every Thursday for 6 at 1/6 per Head Eating = gf certain. 1 Minute-book No. i, p. 13. This date would be 1751 new style. io The Founders of the Club As many more as come, to pay 1/6 per Head, Each. If fewer than 6 come, the Deficiency to be paid out of this Fund of £2 8/: and ye Remainder to be divided, at the end of ye month, amongst the 8 subscribers. A pint of Wine for every one that dines ; Whether the number comes short of six, or exceeds six. To be added Mr. Cooksey - 6s. Dr. Lawson - 6 Mr. Bell - 6 Novr. 24 - --; 18 Original Fund - £2 8 This memorandum, evidently an original document, drawn up on the date which it bears, and thus the oldest piece of manuscript among the archives of the Club, has no title nor any indication of the object which brought the company together, beyond the mention of " dinner/' "eating" and "wine." Not only is there no allusion to any connection of the diners with the Royal Society, but of the eight original number two did not then belong to the Society, and neither of them became F.R.S. until in one case eleven, and in the other twelve, years afterwards. Again, the three names added a month later were not those of Fellows of the Royal Society. One of them was elected into that body six years thereafter, and another eleven years, but the third was never so elected. It is remarkable that neither the President nor any one of the Officers of the Royal Society was included in the list, and that none of the individuals who made their arrangements for a month of weekly dinners were at that time men of outstanding emi- nence in science or in the ranks of the Society. The Rev. Thomas Birch, afterwards Secretary of the Royal Society, held a succession of clerical livings, and was an antiquary and a writer on historical subjects. In the early days he was often chairman at the dinners. James Burrow, after- wards knighted, was a barrister by profession and a man who became of such consideration in the Royal Society as to be twice chosen by the Council to be temporarily Presi- The Club's first six years 1 1 dent, when a vacancy in the Chair took place in the interval between two anniversaries. William Watson rose to high distinction as a physician in London, and was for many years one of the most honoured Fellows of the Royal Society and one of the staunchest supporters of the Club. He was knighted in 1786. Com- mander Christopher Middleton, naval commander and Arctic voyager, had become F.R.S. in 1737. Josiah Colebrooke, a worthy apothecary in Budge Row, but not yet F.R.S., was chosen Treasurer at the meeting on 27th October 1743 —a position which he held in the subsequent development of the Club for the long period of nearly thirty-one years. Of him much will be said in subsequent pages of this volume. Another record of later date forms a prominent feature at the beginning of the same Minute-book. It is entitled "Subscribers' Names," and contains a chronological list of the members that had been successively added each year, beginning with those of the little group of 27th October 1743. It is in the handwriting of the Treasurer, and must have been transcribed by him from minutes which he kept, but which have now unfortunately disappeared. It is thus the only record now remaining of the earliest elections previous to the year 1749. The handwriting and ink indicate that the earlier part of the list was written out pro- bably about the year 1750, the subsequent elections being entered consecutively year by year from the Minute-book. From this document the list of the members that con- stituted the Society or Club of the " Royal Philosophers" during the first six years of its existence, together with the several dates of their election, may be inserted here. 1743- Oct. 27. James Postlethwaite. Nov. 24. Dr. Lawson. Rev. Thos. Birch. Rev. John Cooksey. Wm. Dixon. George Bell. Wm. Watson. Feby. 9. Daniel Wray. Captain Middleton. Peter Newcome. Richard Graham. George Lewis Scott. James Burrow. Mr. Pawlet. Josiah Colebrook, Treas. 23. James Lever. 12 The first forty Members 1744. Deer. 18. April 19. Mr. Maud. June 7. Conway Whithorne. March 5. Wesby Gill. 1747. 14. Dr. Colly er. April 16. July 5. Dr. Barker. April 23. August 23. Sir Joseph Ayloffe. 1745. Oct. 22. Nov. 21. Jonathan Richard- 1748. son. Jany. 23. Feby. 13. Rev. Dr. Squire. Lord Willoughby of Parham. March 6. Mr. Ellicott. 1746. March 27th. Richard Roderick. Sept. i. Rev. Edmd. Morris. April 10. Benjn. Robins. 8. Dr. N. Munckley. Jerem. Dyson. Benj. Prideaux. Sir James Creed. Martin Folkes, Presi- dent. Charles Stanhope. Wm. Freeman. James Gibbs. John Colebrooke. Dr. Wm. Battie. Dr. Charles Feake. Dr. Mitchel. Peter Da vail. George Graham. Dr. Gowin Knight. / A scrutiny of this list shows that the great majority of the early members were already Fellows of the Royal Society. Of those who were not Fellows, eight were ulti- mately elected into the Society, and eight do not appear \ to have been ever so elected. It is a matter of some interest S to enquire into the qualifications, scientific, literary or social, of this original nucleus of the Royal Society Club. They included several accomplished antiquaries, such as Daniel Wray (F.R.S. in 1728), who figured among the writers that have been identified with " Junius"; Peter Newcome (F.R.S. 1742), who became prebendary of Llandaff, and in his later years published a history of St. Albans Abbey ; Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Bart., one of the Keepers of State papers, whose recollections of the early days of the Club have been already referred to ; and Martin Folkes, who became President of the Society of Antiquaries in 1750 and was at the time of his election into the Club (1747) President of the Royal Society. Other members were noted mathematicians, such as the barrister George Lewis Scott and Benjamin Robins the military engineer, to whom the Copley Medal was — -awarded in 1746. Faithful to the traditions of the Royal Society, the Club did not forget to honour the mechanician and inventor George Graham, whose skill and ingenuity The first forty Members 1 3 contrived and constructed instruments which enabled Halley and Bradley to make their astronomical observations, and which were fully appreciated by the French Academy. Then there was a notable band of medical men, in- - eluding some leaders of their profession. Besides Dr. Wil- liam Watson, already mentioned, there were Drs. William Battie, Charles Feake, and Gowin Knight. The last- named received in 1747 the high award of the Copley Medal. The Church was represented in the Club by Thomas Birch, already alluded to and by Samuel Squire, who inc after years became the Bishop of St. David's. The interests of geography and maritime exploration were doubtless looked after by Captain Middleton, who had seen service in the Hudson Bay region and among the Arctic seas, and in after years in home waters of the Scottish and Flemish coasts. Members of Parliament were likewise included in the • original list of the Club. Baron Willoughby of Parham was for some years one of the most frequently present at the weekly dinners and was often voted into the chair at these gatherings. Charles Stanhope, who had sat in the House of Commons for several constituencies in succession, was another strong supporter of the Club. The Arts were not neglected, for James Gibbs, one of the foremost architects of the day, who has left his record in many public build- ings and monuments in London, Oxford, and Cambridge, elected F.R.S. in 1729, became a member of the Dining- Club in 1747. A place was found, too, for a representative of literature in the person of Richard Roderick, Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, an accomplished critic and writer of light verse who in 1750 was honoured with the Fellowship of the Royal Society. Of the members who, though active supporters of the Club, were never elected into the Royal Society, the most prominent was Jeremiah Dyson. This amiable and versatile man, politician, civil servant, and pamphleteer, had in his youth studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he formed a life-long friendship with Mark Aken- side the poet, who was likewise then a student of 1 4 The. first forty Members medicine there. In later years, when the poet was un- successful in his medical practice at Hampstead, where Dyson had bought a house for him, the same benefactor, " with an ardour of friendship that has not many examples/' as Dr. Johnson has remarked, secured a small house for his friend in Bloomsbury Square, and allowed him £300 a year, until he did not require other aid. Dyson had the satisfaction of seeing Akenside secure a prominent and lucrative place among the medical practi- tioners in London, and there can be little doubt that he was the means of procuring the poet's introduction into the Dining Club of the philosophers, of which he continued for some years to be an assiduous member. / To this company the accession of the President of the Royal Society on 23rd April 1747 was an incident of prime importance, for it officially connected them with the great Society to which most of them belonged, and practically x recognised them as its Dining Club. Martin Folkes (1690- 1754), who filled this high office, was rather antiquarian and literary than scientific in his studies, though he wrote on astronomy and other physical subjects. As far back as 1723 he had been appointed by Sir Isaac Newton one of the Vice-presidents of the Royal Society, and on the retirement of Sir Hans Sloane from the Presidential Chair on 3oth November 1741, Folkes was elected as his successor. He held the office for eleven years until he relinquished it from failing health. He was also President of the Society of Antiquaries from 1749 till his death in 1754. Accom- plished in many branches of knowledge, mild and courteous ; such was the President under whose gentle sway the Club passed rapidly from infancy to virile youth. An admirable portrait of him, painted by Hogarth, hangs on the walls of the Royal Society's apartments, and a monument to his memory was in 1792 erected in Westminster Abbey. At the time of his entry into the Dining- Club he was fifty- seven years of age. No record of the Club previous to the year 1747 appears to be now extant save the two documents above cited from Minute-books and Dinner-registers 1 5 the beginning of the first Minute-book. But from 1747 onward the chronicle of the weekly meetings is continuous up to 1855. There is then a gap of some twenty-four years of which no dinner record has survived. The register of the ordinary meetings begins again in November 1879 and is complete up to the present time. The reports of the Annual General Meetings or Anniversaries, on the other hand, have been preserved for every year from 1749 up to the present day. The history of the Club is thus recorded in two series of volumes — the Minute-books and the Dinner- registers. I. The Minute-books. These are four volumes in folio and quarto, kept by the successive Treasurers, in which the busi- ness transacted at each Annual General Meeting and at every Special Meeting are duly recorded from the begin- ning up to the present time. The various changes in the rules and arrangements adopted at different times are there narrated, together with the name and date of election of every member of the Club down to the present day. II. The Dinner-registers. Those for the period from March 24th 1747 (old style) up to July 24th 1788 consist of eight small octavo volumes full bound in crimson leather with gilt edges, gilt tooling on the back and sides, and closed with brass clasps. The style of these dainty books, which is hardly what would have been looked for in the chronicle of a Dining Club, was doubtless set by the taste of the antiquarian, Josiah Colebrooke, the first Treasurer. The first and slightly smallest volume of the series is more especially remarkable as a specimen of the bookbinder's art. It is not only elaborately gilt on the back and sides, but on the centre of each side the leather bears a diamond- shaped device of elaborately interlaced work with winged boys blowing trumpets and two wreathed and winged heads flanking a central space which bears the Christian symbol J.H.S. This volume may be conjectured to have been originally intended for notes, possibly of a religious or ecclesi- astical nature. The rest of the series, though plainer in decoration, have continued the binding in full crimson 1 6 " The Royal Philosophers " leather and gilding. The Dinner-registers were afterwards kept in a series of much more homely pass-books, which record the names of the members and guests, sometimes with notes of the more important regulations adopted at the Anniversary or other meetings. They extend without a break up to June 2ist 1855. From that date onward several volumes of these weekly registers have been lost. Every effort to recover them has as yet proved fruitless. The gap in time represented by the missing volumes extends from June 1855 to November 1879. After the latter date the dinner chronicle is continuous to the present time. Up to the end of December 1785 the Dinner- registers record not only the names of the members and guests pre- sent at each dinner, but also the several dishes that were set before them, thus supplying an interesting picture of the culinary art in England for nearly fifty years of the eighteenth century. / At first the group of men who agreed to dine together in the autumn of 1743 assumed no name or title for their company. They could not call themselves a Club of the Royal Society, for some of them did not belong to that body. But when they were joined by the President of the Royal Society, who was by acclamation made their President, they chose as their designation that of " The Royal Philo- Nysophers." Their Treasurers for nearly fifty years, in the documents which have come down to us, seldom speak of the company as a Club, but as " the Society " ; though now and then, as if by a slip of the pen, they do refer to it as " this Club." The record of the first general meeting which has been preserved begins thus: — "At a General Meeting of the Royal Philosophers." The full title would appear to have been " The Society of Royal Philosophers." This appellation, however, would have been too long for common ; use, at least among the landlords and waiters at the tavern where the dinners were held ; it was accordingly shortened there into simply " The Royals." It is noteworthy that in his minute of the Annual General Meeting of the year SIR JAMES BURROW, F.R.S., 1737. PLATE I To face page 16. Name of the Club 1 7 1774, which was the last he wrote, Josiah Colebrooke con- tinues to speak of " the Society " ; but at the very end he is betrayed into the use of the word " Club " where he has to allude to " Binding the first volume of the Memoirs of this Club, when a Preface is wrote." But obviously the Royal Philosophers were now being called a club, and the word appears in the handwriting of the Treasurers from 1787 onward. The title of " Royal Society Club " is first met with in the Account-book of 1794-5, in which an enumer- ation of the membership is thus designated — " List of the Members of the Royal Society Club subsequent to Annual Meeting on the 2d July 1795." The title is continued in subsequent Account-books. I purpose in the following Chapters to present a succinct account of the proceedings of the Club during each year from its foundation onwards. The business transacted at the Annual General Meeting, when new regulations were made and new members were elected, will naturally come first in the account of each year. As this meeting has always been held in the summer, its purview extends over the first half of the current year and the second half of the previous year. There can be no doubt that much of the interest in this history lies in the record of the guests who have been entertained at the dinners. I have selected in each year a few of the more conspicuous or representative visitors, and given a brief biographical notice of them, thus con- necting the Royal Society Club with the social, political, and scientific life of the time In perusing the records of the Royal Society and of the Dining- Club connected with it throughout the course of the eighteenth century, one is apt to lose sight of the fact that during that period Great Britain was almost constantly at war in some part or other of the Old world or the New. Hardly ever in these records do we meet with an allusion to the stirring events that marked the rapid rise of the British Empire beyond the seas. The social intercourse of the scientific men of the day is chronicled week after 1 8 Contemporary Historical JLvents week and year after year, as if they were living in a time of profoundest peace. We may be sure, however, that at the Club dinners the exciting events of the time were often the subject of the conversation. Some of the members of the Club and many of their guests had been actors in the great world-wide drama. A number of them had shared in the suppression of the Jacobite up-risings of 1715 and 1745. At least one of them had seen the final collapse of the rebellion on the field of Culloden. Others had played a notable part in the struggles of the American colonies against Indians on the one side and Spanish and French rivals on the other. There were naval and military men who had been in the continental wars and could tell unpublished details of battles in which the English navy and army had been engaged. At intervals too there came times of peace when men of science from this country could revisit France and renew their intimacy with the philosophers there, or when these philosophers crossed the Channel and received in this country the cordial welcome which no international disunion could chill. And after such short interludes of peace there would again come times of war, when the men who had met in friendly concourse at the meetings and dinners of the Royal Society were once more separated into hostile camps, and the same navigator who had been dis- cussing here plans for the discovery of the North-west Passage might be embarked in the French fleet under De Grasse, while our naval men who had enjoyed his society might be ranged in the opposing navy under Rodney or Hood. In the latter half of the century, the revolt of the American colonies and the long series of consultations and conferences which preceded it must have been a frequent subject of anxious discussion, for at least one of the fore- most delegates of the colonies at the conferences in London was an honoured Fellow of the Royal Society and a frequent guest at the Dining Club. And lastly there came the con- vulsion of the French Revolution and the long wars which ensued until a reign of peace was reached in 1815. That the meetings of the Royal Society should have been regularly Continuity of the Club's Life 1 9 held all through these strenuous years is a strong testimony to the devotion with which English men of science could continue their researches (vitai lampada tradunt] ; and that the social gatherings of the Club should likewise have been carried on with similar persistence proves, not that the Ro3'al Philosophers were wanting in patriotic concern, but that in their broad view of life they could turn their meal- times into seasons of unconstrained relaxation and enjoy- ment with their associates, and avail themselves of such opportunities for showing cordiality to others outside, and especially to the foreigners who from time to time visited this country. CHAPTER II PRESIDENTSHIP OF MARTIN FOLKES, 1747-1752 ON entering upon the detailed history of the Club we dis- cover that no record has survived of the meetings and dinners which were held during the four years that followed the meeting on October 27th 1743. That these dinners took place, however, is shown by the first entry, in the first weekly register, which states that on March 24th 1747 (O.S.) there was in the Treasurer's hands a balance of £5 153. 5d. On that day the earliest recorded dinner was held, and thenceforward the chronicle was kept week by week with scrupulous fidelity by the same Treasurer during the long space of nearly thirty-one years. Here at the outset let me say that to the memory of this first Treasurer, Josiah Colebrooke, the Royal Society Club owes a debt of cordial appreciation for the unflagging zeal and tact with which he piloted the Club through the dangers of its infancy, until he saw it firmly established in the mature vigour which has enabled it to maintain itself in healthy activity through fully a century and a half since he passed away. We cannot begin the review of our past history more appro- priately than by devoting a few pages to the memory of one to whom the Club is so much indebted. For some twelve years Colebrooke conducted the business of the Club before he himself belonged to the Royal Society. It was not until I3th March 1755 that he was elected a Fellow. His certificate of qualifications, preserved among the archives of the Society, records the opinion of his The Club's first Treasurer 2 1 claims entertained by his colleagues in the Club who had enjoyed the best opportunity of judging them. It is worthy to be quoted here. It bears that " Mr. Josiah Colebrooke of Budge Row, Apothecary, a gentleman of great merit and curiosity, well versed in several parts of Natural History and other branches of useful knowledge, being desirous of offering himself a Candidate for election into the Royal Society, is recommended by us from our personal know- ledge of him, as meriting the honour he desires." The first of the signatures is that of the North American merchant, antiquary, and naturalist, Peter Collinson, the helpful friend and correspondent of Benjamin Franklin. Then follow the signatures of the Earl of Macclesfield, at that time President of the Royal Societ}^ to whom was mainly due the change effected in 1752 from the Old Style to the New in the com- putation of the year ; 1 Anthony, fourth Earl of Shaftes- bury, who had been elected into the Royal Society in the previous year ; Lord Willoughby of Parham already referred to ; John Ward, Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College ; the Rev. Thomas Birch, D.D., who had now been elected Secretary to the Royal Society ; William Watson, M.D., and other Fellows. Colebrooke was more especially antiquarian in his studies. He formed one of the original members of the Society of Antiquaries and at the time of his death was Treasurer to that Society. He wrote papers on antiquarian subjects, and contributed to the Philosophical Transactions an account of some interesting experiments conducted by himself to elucidate the art of Encaustic Painting in use among the Ancients. It is impossible to peruse the register of the weekly dinners and the minutes of the General and Special Meet- ings, so long and so continuously kept by him in his own handwriting, without obtaining a more or less definite im- pression of the Treasurer's personality. He seems to have enjoyed good health up to the close of his life, if we may judge from his assiduous attendance, and from the bold, firm 1 It must be borne in mind that the records of the Club previous to 1752 follow the old style, which made the legal year begin on March 25. 22 Presidentship of Martin Folkes calligraphy which he kept up from beginning to end of his long tenure of office. He was evidently of a strongly con- servative disposition, maintaining up to the last the charac- teristic habits with which he began. In his large round, lawyer- like and clearly legible handwriting every letter was leisurely formed when he transcribed his rough notes of the previous evening into one of his sumptuous gilt-edged crimson-leather volumes. Every member and every visitor present at each dinner, together with every dish that was placed before them are carefully, one might almost say lovingly, recorded. He was an accomplished deipnosophist, but manifestly also a thorough Englishman, with a rooted conviction that for him and his fellow-countrymen strong meat was indispensable. He provided that at every dinner the diet should mainly consist of solid joints, roasted or boiled. Soups, made-dishes, vegetable courses, and anything savouring of French cookery were for many years rigidly excluded. It might be all very well for Dr. Halley and his friends to dine on the " fish and pudding " which Ayloffe tells us sufficed for their fare, but Josiah Colebrooke took care that the philosophers under his charge should sit down to repasts worthy of men with robust appetites, such as he no doubt himself possessed. His bill of fare generally began with two kinds of fish, followed by several joints, such as a boiled leg of pork, roast beef, leg of mutton, roast turkey and boiled fowls, with a pudding of some kind and an apple pie or other tart, and butter and cheese to conclude the repast. So much was he attached to plum-pudding that hardly ever was there a dinner without one or some- times two or even three of these satisfying efforts of the English cook. Out of the 52 weekly dinners in the year there were in general more than forty at which this national dish appeared on the board. It is astonishing to find that week after week and year after year Colebrooke was seldom absent from his post. Punctually as the day came round he was there, chatting with the members, making acquaintance with the visitors, and quietly jotting down the name of everyone who Characteristics of Josiab Colebrooke 23 attended. He was likewise careful himself to invite suitable guests to the Club. It will be recounted in later pages how he was often the means of introducing some distinguished stranger from abroad or some rising philosopher who had not yet been elected into the Royal Society. On occasions when he could not attend, he would depute one of the mem- bers to take the required particulars for his register, and his request usually appears to have been- attended to, for the narrative of the dinner is given in his own handwriting, with the omission of his name from the list of those present. When, as sometimes happened, the record was not taken or was lost, he noted the fact on the page where the missing information should have come, leaving it otherwise blank in case the information should be recovered, or, if not, as a memorial of the delinquency. As a further indication of his conservative tendencies, it may be mentioned that the worthy Treasurer had certain views as to the spelling of English words which he main- tained with unbroken persistence throughout his life. If there were two ways of writing a word he preferred the more ancient and now obsolete form. Orthography of course had not then become so fixed as it is now. Lord Chesterfield, indeed, who was a contemporary of Colebrooke, writing to his son on igth November 1750, was somewhat in advance of his time when he laid much stress on correct spelling. " Orthography," he said, " in the true sense of the word, is so absolutely necessary for a man of letters, or a gentleman, that one false spelling may fix a ridicule upon him for the rest of his life, and I know a man of quality, who never recovered the ridicule of having spelled wholesome without the w." " Reading with care will secure everybody from false spelling, for books are always well spelled, according to the orthography of the times. Some words are indeed doubtful, being spelled differently by different authors of equal authority ; but these are few." x Josiah Colebrooke would probably have contested this assertion. It was from no slip of the pen, but from deliberate choice that he 1 Chesterfield's Letters, Lord Mahon's Edition (1845), ii. 64. 24 Presidentship of Martin Folkes observed certain spellings which would assuredly have drawn down on him the witty earl's " ridicule." But he generally remained faithful to the orthography which he had adopted. Like some of his more prominent literary contemporaries he always spelled plum (the fruit) with a b at the end of the word. Thus he persistently wrote plumb-pudding, and this dish, of which he and his associates appear to have been so appreciative, carries its superfluous b triumphantly through his Dinner-registers from beginning to end over a period of thirty years. Colebrooke had likewise a fondness for double consonants where a single one is now thought enough, and this parti- ality occurs so frequently in final syllables as to suggest that he was in the habit of pronouncing these syllables with some emphasis. Thus he writes turbutt, mackerell, holly- butt, rabitts, fillett, etc.1 He retained the archaic fondness for the vowel y. He always wrote pye rather than pie, and when a word ended in y and he had to put it in the plural, he liked to retain the y and put an s after it. Again and again, when he had to record a small attendance at a Club dinner which necessitated a demand on the general Fund, he noted the number of deficiency^. He does not seem to have been familiar with the French language, and the names of foreign visitors were apt to be written by him as they seemed to him to sound, so that it is not always easy to make out what the names really were. Towards the end of his reign also, French cookery, no doubt much against his will, was creeping apace into the dinners under his charge, and as if in revenge for their appearance he gives to the foreign names a strange English garb. Thus "petty pattys " is doubtless his phonetic rendering of " petits pates " z Even with English personal names it took him 1 Some other of the Treasurer's spellings are worth preservation : Scotched callops [Scots collops ?], Collyflower, Salmon and Soals, Rasberrys, Boyled fowles, Pidgeon-pye, Fowles and oyesters, minced pyes, Sweet breads and Pallats, Sallad, Skate and Place, Dutch Plaise, ballance. 2 In the Annual Register for 1758 (p. 373) there appeared a " Remon- strance of the Mob of Great Britain against the importation of French words." One cannot help conjecturing that Josiah Colebrooke sympathised SIR WILLIAM WATSON, M.D., F.R.S., 1741. PLATE II To face page 24. The Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street 25 some time to master the spelling which their owners used and preferred. Thus when the astronomer Maskelyne first appeared as a visitor at the Club, the Treasurer, unfamiliar with the name, of which he could only catch the sound as pronounced, wrote it down in his register as " Mr. Mas- culine." This spelling he varied on subsequent occasions into "Mascarline," "Mascaline," &c., and not until the dis tinguished physicist became, as Astronomer Royal, an ex officio member of the Club, was his name generally written correctly, though still with occasional lapses. As long as the Royal Society held its meetings at Gresham College the social dinners and suppers of the Fellows took place in some of the taverns in the City within easy reach of that centre. When in November 1710 the Society moved to Crane Court, Fleet Street, it was more convenient to dine or sup in quarters nearer to the new meeting-place. The place chosen by those Fellows who laid the foundation of the Royal Society Club was " The Mitre Tavern, in Fleet Street over against Fetter Lane " — one of the most noted resorts in London, especially famous as the favourite supper- house of Johnson and his associates.1 In this house the Royal Philosophers continued to dine from their first gather- ings for nearly forty years until 2ist December 1780. Their dinner hour, which had once been at what is now the time for luncheon, had been slowly made later. Previous to 1784 it was fixed for 4 p.m. In that year it became 4.30, which was successively altered to 5, 5.30, 6 and 6.30, as in later pages will be shown from the minutes of the Club. with the movement. Certainly he succeeded in keeping both the cookery of the Club and its language fairly free from French contamination until towards the end of his long reign. 1 Pepys mentions four Mitre taverns in London : " The Mitre," Cheap- side, " The Mitre," Fenchurch Street, " The Mitre," Fleet Street, and " The Mitre," Wood Street. It was the Fleet Street house that Johnson and Boswell have made famous. Possibly to some of the more literaiy among the Royal Philosophers or their guests when they went to the Mitre, Matthew Prior's distich might now and then occur : Thus to the place where Johnson sat we climb, Leaning on the same rail that guided him. 26 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1747 1747. In the records of the first ten dinners, from March 24, 1747 (O.S.) to May 26, 1748, no distinction is made between subscribers and visitors, and no one is specially named as chairman, though, as the name of Lord Willoughby is usually placed at the top of the list of the company, it may be inferred that he generally presided. The following list is that of the first dinner of which the record has been preserved : March 24, 1747. Lord Willoughby. Dinner. Mr. Cambridge. 2 dishes fresh Salmon, Lobster Mr. Burrow. sauce. Dr. Munckley. Cod's Head. Mr. Davall. Pidgeon Pye. Mr. Lever. Calves Head. Mr. Ellicott. Bacon and Greens. Mr. Birch. Fillett of Veal. Mr. Nixon. Chine of Pork. Mr. Edwards. Plumb Pudding. Mr. Charleton. Apple Custard. Mr. Gibbs. Butter and Cheese. Mr. Postlethwaite. Mr. Freeman. Mr. Wray. Mr. Roderick. Mr. Newcombe. Mr. Colebrooke. No Demand.1 On May igth the second Duke of Richmond heads the list, followed by Martin Folkes, the President of the Royal Society. A fortnight later, when Folkes is again one of the diners, his name stands at the top, with President appended to it. And he continues to fill the chair every time that he is present. A beginning was then made to distinguish visitors from subscribers in the register. The dinners were evidently becoming increasingly attractive, for the number of visitors rapidly rose. Thus on nth August in the same year, out of 22 who dined the half were not subscribers, and 1 This note, frequently appended by the Treasurer to the dinner-list, signifies that the number of diners was such as to obviate any call upon the Fund of the Club. 1748 Presents for the Table 27 next week the outside element numbered 18 and the subscribers only 8. It is amusing to see how the careful Treasurer took measures to prevent, as far as he could, this inroad of outsiders from depleting the Fund of the Club. A practice was arising among the members to present venison or other viands to the Company, and when this was done the health of the donor was toasted, while at the same time the Treasurer was empowered to pay the gamekeeper's fee, cost of carriage, and other incidental expenses out of Club funds. 1748. On 4th August 1748 the following resolution was adopted : " The Company having this day been entertained with venison by the Hon. Mr. Yorke, it was agreed nem. con. that his health should be drank in claret, and thanks to him for his present, and four bottles were ordered in accordingly. But as there were many gentlemen present who were not Subscribers it was thought proper to collect the whole reckoning, including the keeper's fee of io/6 and 3/- for carriage, from the company present and not to charge this over-reckoning on the Fund." The Treasurer records on each occasion that the claret ordered was paid for there and then by the company present, so as not to appear in his books as an expenditure from the Club's resources. It appears from various allusions in the chronicle that at this time and for long afterwards each visitor paid for his own dinner. He was invited by the President or one of the other members, and during the first few years in the register an indication was inserted in the dinner-register opposite his name that he was a visitor, but without any indication by whom his invitation had been given. As will be seen in the records of later years, it was found desirable to keep a note in the register at whose instance any visitor came to the Club. It can be readily understood that unless special precau- tions were taken, some difficulty might be found in pre- venting the ordinary frequenters of a tavern from sometimes straying into the room of the Royal Philosophers, where 28 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1748 they were always sure of a good dinner and might hear interesting conversation. The intrusion became so serious that the members drew up the following order : x " We whose names are underwritten, members of this Club think it proper that the undermentioned notice be fixed up in the Club- room : viz It is thought proper to inform all gentlemen who dine here that according to the original Establishment all gentlemen who are not subscribers themselves, must be introduced by a subscriber present each time they dine here." [Signed in the Dinner-register by the PRESIDENT and twenty -one subscribers.] A month later it was found necessary to define more precisely the limit of number of members in the Club, the time and manner of voting, and the penalty to be exacted for non-attendance. The following resolution was then drawn up and agreed to : " Resolved that the number of Subscribers to this Club shall not exceed forty for the future ; that the Election of Members to supply any Vacancy that shall happen by Death or otherwise, be made annually on the last Thursday in July by Ballott by the Members then present ; and that no Person be deemed chosen who hath five Negatives ; that those Gentlemen who have not attended for 12 months, nor sent an Excuse, be deemed no longer members, and that their places be filled up out of those gentlemen that are Candi- dates, whose names are to be put to ballott according to their pre- cedence on the list which is ordered to be kept for that purpose." [Signed in the Dinner -register by the President and twenty-eight subscribers.] Even after all these precautions there would seem to have been still some difficulty in rigidly excluding strangers, for next year (March ist 1749) a Special Meeting was called to consider the procedure that should be adopted. It was then resolved, " That no Strangers be admitted to dine here for the future except those Gentlemen introduced by the President, and that this order be written and fixed up at the door/' We may now glance over the list of visitors during the first year of which the record is complete. At the second 1 Dinner-register, 25th August 1748. 1748 [Sir] John Hill 29 dinner, held on 315! March 1748, the name of " Mr. John Wilkes " occurs. There is no evidence to show who he was. But we know that the famous politician of that name was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on April I3th in the following year, and it appears not unlikely that some of his friends among the Royal Philosophers anticipated his election by inviting him to their board. Among the other guests who dined with the Club in the summer and autumn of this year the name of Mr. Hill occurs some half-dozen times, sometimes placed next to that of the President in the list of the company. This was the notorious "Sir John" Hill, M.D., who was then being be- friended by Martin Folkes and Henry Baker, the founder of the Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society. It was probably to the President's kindness that he owed his first introduction into the Society of the Royal Philosophers. Clever, ambitious, and unscrupulous, he counted on being elected into the Royal Society by the influence of his two powerful patrons, but when the honour was not forthcoming he employed his facile pen in writing a quarto volume of some 265 pages in which, under cover of criticising papers published in the Society's Philosophical Transactions, he gave vent to his ill-humour in most offensive terms, directing his abuse in unmeasured and contemptuous language against the Society in general and Martin Folkes and Henry Baker in particular. The volume seems to have been written with energetic rapidity when he realised that his hope was not to be fulfilled, for it was published in 1751, only three years after he had been the guest of the Club. He was in his youth an apothecary in London. Having some acquaintance with botany he was employed by the Duke of Richmond in the arrangement of his gardens and collection of dried plants. He went on the Stage for a time with no success, and returned to his business of apothecary. In 1746 he published an English translation of Theophrastus' treatise "Concerning Stones," and then embarked on the career of a prolific author on all manner of subjects. His most ambitious and costly work on " The Vegetable System," in twenty-six 30 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1748 folio volumes, was begun in 1759 and completed in 1775. He presented a copy of it to the King of Sweden, who acknowledged it by conferring on him the Order of Vasa. Thereafter he called himself " Sir John Hill," and purchasing the degree of M.D. from the University of St. Andrews, posed as a medical man. Among his multifarious under- takings he wrote stage-plays which no manager would accept, and he avenged himself by publishing acrimonious pamphlets against these officials. Garrick, who came in for his share of the vituperation, replied in the famous epigram : For physic and farces, his equal there scarce is ; His farces are physic, his physic a farce is. In the preface to his attack on the Royal Society he declared that he had " the honour not to be a Member of the Royal Society of London." The Society took care that he should retain that negative distinction.1 The Duke of Richmond, the second holder of the title, who, as already mentioned, was a guest of the Club on 19 th May, no doubt came there by invitation of the President. When staying with the Duke at Goodwood in the pre- vious year, Folkes wrote of him that he loved " all sorts of natural knowledge," and was " the most humane and best man living " — a character borne out by the testimony of other writers of the day. He had seen some service in the army, was present at the Battle of Dettingen, and took part at Carlisle in the expedition against the Jacobite rebels of 1745. The most notable English man of science whose name appears among the guests this year was James Bradley, D.D. (1693-1762), who so early showed his astronomical powers as to be elected into the Royal Society at the age of five and twenty. Although he entered the Church and had received several ecclesiastical appointments, he resigned these when he accepted the Savilian professorship of astronomy at Oxford in 1721. He became Astronomer 1 The Annual Register for 1775 contains " A short Account of the Life, Writings and Genius of the late Sir John Hill," which makes out the best it can for his record. 1748 Lord Baltimore ; William Hogarth 3 i Royal in 1742. The Copley Medal of the Royal Society was awarded to him in 1748 for his discovery of the nutation of the earth's axis. Not living in London he never became a member of the Club, but he often dined there as a guest. Lord Baltimore, who came to the Club on 30th June, was an interesting guest, inasmuch as he had himself personally governed for a year (1732-3) his Colony of Mary- land. He was an Elder Brother of the Trinity House and Surveyor General of the Duchy of Cornwall at the time of his death. Another of the visitors at the same dinner was likewise connected with the western colonies- Sir William Young, first baronet, who was Governor of Dominica. Welbore Ellis, who also appears in the list of guests, was frequently welcomed to the table of the Club in subse- quent years. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, he had seven years before this date entered the House of Commons as Member for Cricklade. He took an active part in parliamentary politics, was created Baron Mendip in 1794, and died in 1802 in his Sgth year. Among the visitors in the month of December the name of " Mr. Hogarth " occurs twice. There is no indication of who he was. But it is allowable to believe that this was the great artist who was then rising rapidly to the full height of his reputation as a painter and satirist of the highest order. He painted the admirable portrait of Martin Folkes, already referred to, and he may have come on the special invitation of the President. It has always been the practice of the Royal Society Club to entertain strangers of distinction from abroad who visit London, especially those who have any scientific reputation. Among the foreigners invited to the Club- dinners in 1748 two or three of note can be recognised. Jean Jallabert, appointed to a Chair of experimental physics specially created for him in 1737 at Geneva, had travelled extensively over western Europe, including England, where 32 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1748 in 1740 he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. More remarkable and more frequently to be seen at the table of the Club was Juan y Santacilla, more commonly known as Don Jorge Juan, a Spanish mathematician born in 1712. His energetic nature led him at the age of scarcely 23 to take command of a small vessel with a single sail in which he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and examined a long extent of the American Coast-line. He was one of a commission (which included La Condamine) sent in 1736 to measure terrestrial degrees in equatorial America, during which operation he determined the heights of the ground barometrically. He remained some months in London in 1748-49, often dining with the Club, and being on gth November of the latter year elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Another visitor, Johann Nicholaus Sebastian Allamand, Professor of philosophy and natural history at Franeker in the Netherlands, had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1746. The Cavaliere Ossorio, who dined with the Club on i6th February of this year, had been made F.R.S. in the preceding April, and Nicholas de Montaudouin, who was a guest at the Club on 2Oth and 27th October 1748, was chosen into the Royal Society in the following spring. 1749. It has been remarked in the previous chapter that in the Minute-books and Dinner- registers allusions to contem- porar}? events, either at home or abroad, are almost entirely absent. The Club records of 1745 and 1746 if they had been preserved, would probably not have contained any reference to the Jacobite rebellion and invasion of England, to its sanguinary suppression, or to the trials of the unfor- tunate leaders at Carlisle and in London. In 1749 at the meeting of the Club on 27th April it is recorded, " This being the day the fireworks for the Peace of Aix la Chapelle were played off, only three members attended." 1 The three heroes who preferred their duty to the Club were the two divines, Mr. Birch and Mr. Squire, and the never-failing Josiah Colebrooke. The latter, perhaps foreseeing that 1 Dinner Register No. i. MARTIN FOLKES President of the Royal Society, 1741-1752. PLATE III To face page 32. 1749 The Club's first General Meeting 33 the company would be small, reduced the bill of fare to unwontedly diminished proportions. His menu runs : Fresh Salmon and Soal. SirLoin of Beef, roast and pickles. Asparagus. and the smallness of the number of those who partook of this repast involved an additional entry, always unwelcome to the careful Treasurer : — " Paid out of the Fund 13/6." The members who went to see the fireworks had the satis- faction of witnessing a gorgeous display of the pyrotechnic art. An engraving of the architectural facade of scaffolding which was prepared for it forms the frontispiece of the London Magazine for the year, with the further information that the Sun erected on a pole that springs from the crest of the Royal Arms " is 32 feet in diameter and will burn some hours." The first General Meeting of which the record has been preserved took place in the sixth year of the existence of the fraternity and is thus entered in the Minute-book : At a General Meeting of the ROYAL PHILOSOPHERS, Thursday July 27, 1749 Present, Martin Folkes Esq. President. Mr. Geo. Graham. Peter Daval Esq. Mr. Ellicott. Dr. Knight. Benjamin Robins Esq. The Rev. Dr. Squire. Mr. Peter Newcome. Daniel Wray Esq. Dr. Charles Feake. James Burrow Esq. Mr. Wm. Watson. The Rev. Mr. Birch. J. Colebrooke, Treasurer. Mr. Professor Coulson, Dr. Moss, Paul Whichcot Esq. visitors.1 The Treasurer reported that he had received £7 175. 5d., that he had paid out £i us., and that there remained in his hands a balance of £6 6s. 5d. He further announced that three members had died in the course of the year, Dr. Barker, Richard Graham and James Lever, and that 1 For the first few years visitors were allowed to be present at the Anni- versary Meeting, which was held in June or July ; but the inconvenience of the practice led to its abandonment. c 34 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1749 those who had not attended for 12 months and had there- fore forfeited their membership l were five in number, viz. Messrs. Pawlet, Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Mr. Maud, Dr. Collyer and the Rev. Edmond Morris. The two last-named were not Fellows of the Royal Society. Six new members were elected, viz. William Fauquier (F.R.S. 1746), William Tem- pest (F.R.S. 1712), William Heberden, M.D. (F.R.S. 1749), Joshua Iremonger (F.R.S. 1747), John Clephane, M.D. (F.R.S. 1746), and William Hall. Of these new members the most notable in his day was the physician William Heberden. He attained high distinction in his profession, and proved to be one of the most genial and influential members of the Club. He is likewise memorable for his generous and sympathetic treatment of his patients, so pleasantly portrayed by the poet Cowper : Virtuous and faithful Heberden ! whose skill Attempts no task it cannot well fulfill, Gives melancholy up to Nature's care, And sends the patient into purer air.2 The name of William Hall, the last of the group of newly elected members, does not occur in the Royal Society's List of Fellows, and there is no evidence that he ever was elected into the Society. He had repeatedly dined as a visitor at the Club and was probably a favourite among its members The visitors who dined with the Club during 1749 included some names of interest. There was a distinguished company at the Mitre on 6th April of this year when the President was supported in the chair by sixteen members and twelve visitors. Earl Stanhope, the second bearer of the title, who was present, was known as a mathematician, and had been elected into the Royal Society in 1735. He manifested 1 It will be seen in the records of later years that the enforcement of the regulation for the exclusion of absentee members came to be much more laxly observed. But the Club began well. 2 In his poem of Retirement. " When Samuel Johnson, in his last illness, was asked what physician he had sent for, ' Dr. Heberden,' replied he, ' ultimus Romanorum, the last of the learned physicians.' " Seward, quoted by Birkbeck Hill in his Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. vi. p. 399. 1749 ^r- John Pringle^ General Oglethorpe 35 a generous concern for scientific progress, as was shown by the liberality with which he bore the expense of the post- humous publication of Robert Simson's papers, and by his will wherein he bequeathed a sum of £500 to the Royal Society. Don Jorge Juan was also at this dinner, likewise the Hon. Philip Yorke who continues to appear from time to time in the Registers as the donor of venison. The Swedish naturalist Gustav Brander was likewise of the com- pany. He had settled in London for commercial pursuits, but at the same time cultivated natural history, devoting himself more especially to the collection of Tertiary and Secondary fossils, which were described by Solander and presented to the Royal Society's collection now in the British Museum. He was made F.R.S. in 1754. Later in the year the Club entertained some visitors destined to be among its most valuable and honoured members. , Conspicuous among them was Dr. John Pringle, who in the course of three years was elected a member, and ultimately became President of the Royal Society. Another man of note who for many years enjoyed the weekly meetings, first as a guest and subsequently as a member, was Mark Akenside, the poet and physician, who dined for the first time with the Philosophers on 2Oth July. One of the most attractive personalities that appeared at the Club the same year, but never became a member, was General Oglethorpe, the well-known friend of Samuel John- son and his circle. This charming veteran had passed a singularly varied life, and he possessed the happy gift of being able to describe his experiences with graphic vivacity. At the age of fourteen he obtained a commission in the army and saw some service on the continent in his youthful years. He had matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford ; when six and twenty he entered parliament as member for Haslemere and retained the seat for thirty-two years. He carried on many philanthropic efforts in this country, and threw himself with ardour into the foundation and develop- ment of the Colony of Georgia, where he had many thril- ling encounters with the Spaniards. His career made so 36 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1749 romantic a story that Johnson might well press the old soldier to write his autobiography, and might affirm that if he had the materials he would be glad to write the life himself. Pope has immortalised his philanthropy in the lines : One driven by strong benevolence of soul Shall fly, like Oglethorpe, from pole to pole.1 And Bos well has preserved for us a sample of the anecdotes with which he could amuse and delight a dinner table. " The General told us that when he was a very young man, I think only fifteen, serving under Prince Eugene of Savoy, he was sitting in a company at table with a Prince of Wirtemberg. The Prince took up a glass of wine and, by a fillip, made some of it fly in Oglethorpe's face. Here was a nice dilemma. To have challenged him instantly, might have fixed a quar- relsome character upon the young soldier : to have taken no notice of it might have been considered as cowardice. Oglethorpe, therefore, fixing his eye upon the Prince, and smiling all the time, as if he took what his Highness had done in jest, said 'Mon Prince,' — (I forget the French words he used, the purport however was,) ' That's a good joke ; but we do it much better in England/ and threw a whole glass of wine in the Prince's face. An old General who sat by, said ' 77 a bien fait, Mon Prince, vous I'avez commence' and thus all ended in good humour/' 2 Another of the guests in the same year, Admiral Isaac Townsend, had a few weeks before he dined with the Club been elected into the Royal Society. He had seen varied service in the Navy for more than half a century, both in European and American waters. The year before he was invited to dine he had been promoted to be Admiral of the Blue. In 1754 he was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and he held the post as long as he lived. On the death of Lord Anson in 1762 he became senior admiral on the list. 1 Imitations of Horace, II. 2. 276. zBoswell's Life of Johnson (Birkbeck Hill's Edit.), vol. ii. p. 180. General Oglethorpe was elected into the Royal Society on 9th November 1749, 1750 Annual General Meeting 37 St. Andrew's Day, 3Oth November, happened this year on a Thursday. The Royal Philosophers accordingly held no dinner of their own that day, but left the members of their fraternity free to attend the anniversary dinner of the Royal Society, which, as usual, took place at Pontac's famous hostelry. This custom of pretermitting the Club's dinner when the anniversary of the Royal Society happens on a Thursday has been continued ever since and is faith- fully observed still. 1750. The Annual General Meeting in 1750 was held on July 26th, when there were present : Martin Folkes, President. Rev. Thomas Birch. Dr. William Heberden. George Graham. Peter Davall. Jonathan Richardson. William Watson. Daniel Wray. Peter Newcome. William Fauquier. William Hall. James Burrow. John Ellicott. Dr. Gowin Knight. George Bell. Charles Stanhope. James Postlethwaite. Josiah Colebrooke, Treasurer. The Treasurer made his financial statement, which showed that his disbursements had amounted to only fourteen shillings, leaving in his hands a balance of fjj 145. 5d. From his weekly register it appears that 933 persons had dined at the Club during the year, consisting of 738 members and 195 visitors.1 The list of the members was read, and there being only one vacancy but seven candidates, it was agreed to have no election until next year. 1 Josiah Colebrooke and his immediate successors, though they furnished at each Annual General Meeting an account of their receipts and expenditure, did not include also a statement of the number of persons who had dined at the Club during the year, and of the relative number of members and guests. This information can with some little trouble be obtained by a careful scrutiny of the dinner-registers. I have compiled it for every fifth year beginning with 1750. As the list of those present at these anniversary Meetings varies but little from year to year, to save space it is inserted only every fifth year. The gradual change in the membership of the Club will thus be more distinctly perceptible. It will be observed that the Club dined as a rule every Thursday throughout the year, and continued to do so during the rest of the century. 3 8 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1750 At a special meeting on May 3rd, the President in the chair and fourteen members present, it was resolved : " That any Nobleman or Gentleman complimenting this company annually with venison, not less than a Haunch, shall during the continuance of such annuity be deemed an Honorary Member and admitted as often as he comes, without paying the fine which those members do who are elected by Ballott." 1 This resolution remained in force for nearly thirty years until it was formally rescinded in 1779. While it was in operation the following donors of game were entered on the books as Honorary Members : August 4th, 1748. The Hon. Philip Yorke (afterwards Viscount Royston and Earl of Hardwicke). July 26th, 1750. Henry Read. June 27, 1751. William Hanbury. August 15, ,, Marquis of Rockingham. ,, 27, 1752. Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh. March 22, 1753. The Earl of Morton. July n, 1754. The Earl of Shaftesbury. Oct. 31, ,, The Earl of Marchmont. August 7, 1755. James West. 5, 1757. The Earl of Chesterfield. Dec. 8,1768. The Earl of Huntingdon. Aug. 17, 1769. Lord Cadogan. In further extension of this objectionable practice, as time went on, the presentation of other dainties besides venison was regarded as a qualification for Honorary Membership of the Club. On October 4, 1750, the following resolution was entered in the Dinner- Register : "Andrew Mitchell Esq. [a visitor then present] proposing to com- pliment the company with a Turtle which he expects very soon from the West Indies : It was resolved nem. con. that any Gentleman giving a Turtle annually should be considered an Honorary Member during the payment of that Annuity." Still more extraordinary was the resolution adopted on 3d January 1750 : " William Hanbury Esq. having this day entertained the com- pany with a Chine of Beef which was 34 inches in length and weighed 1 Minute-book No. i. 175° Increase of Entrance Fee 39 upward of 140 Ib, it was agreed nem. con. that two such Chines were equal to half a Buck or a Turtle, and entituled the donor to be an Honorary Member of this Society." At the General Meeting of 1750 it was formally " ordered that the Treasurer do pay Keepers' fees and carriage for all Venison sent to this Society and charge it in his account," and that " the annual gratuity of 2/6 each to the under-cooks be paid out of the Fund." There was sometimes, however, a slip betwixt the cup and the lip in regard to these promised donations. On the day (i2th October 1750) when Mr. Mitchell's Turtle was expected the following note was chronicled by the indefatig- able Colebrooke : " Andrew Mitchell Esqr's Turtle happening to die as the ship came up the Channel, the company dined as above." And here is the Bill of fare wherewith he comforted the spirits of the disappointed bon-vivants : Turkey boiled and oyesters. 2 dishes Herring. Calves head, hashed. Tongue and udder. Fowles and bacon. Leg of Pork and pease. Chine of mutton. Sr Loin of Beef. Apple pye. Plumb Pudding. Butter and Cheese. The " fine " or entrance subscription to the Club was originally fixed at six shillings for each member. But the gradual increase in the cost of living, and in particular the expenses involved in connection with the numerous presents of game and turtles, made it desirable that the common fund should be augmented. Accordingly, at a meeting on 25th October 1750 presided over by Martin Folkes with fifteen members and three visitors present, " A motion was made by Daniel Wray Esq. that for the future all Gentlemen who shall by Ballott be elected Members of this Society shall upon such election pay into the hands of the Treasurer for the time being the sum of twenty one shillings for the use of the Society instead of the former fine. The Question being put it passed in the Affirmative, nem. con." 40 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1750 Among the recorded visitors of the Club in the year 1750 the name of Sir Francis Dashwood is found under the date of 2ist February. He was perhaps in his day the most curious compound of drunkenness, profligacy, profanity, aesthetic taste, and political ambition. He must have pos- sessed no little attractiveness, however, for Oxford had made him a D.C.L. in 1749, and the Royal Society had elected him one of its Fellows in 1746. He was one of the founders of the Dilettanti Society, for membership of which at that time, according to Horace Walpole, " the nominal qualification was having been to Italy and the real one being drunk." He played his cards so astutely that in 1762 he became for a short time Chancellor of the Exchequer under Bute. He said of himself at the time " People will point at me and cry, ' There goes the worst Chancellor of the Exchequer that ever appeared/ ' He seems to have had the reputation of being " a man to whom a sum of five figures was an impenetrable secret." J But the most no- torious incident in his chequered history was his institution of the Hell-fire Club or " Monks of Medenham Abbey " — a small company which indulged in orgies of unexampled and indescribable debauchery and blasphemy, an exploit which he achieved about five years after he dined with the Royal Philosophers, when he was no longer a youth, but was not far short of fifty. 1751. This year the Annual General Meeting was held on July 25th and was attended by thirteen members. Sir James Creed took the chair, and there were present also as visitors the Hon. Charles Yorke, Rev. Mr. Jortain, Rev. Mr. Garnett and Rev. Dr. Bradley. From the statement by the Treasurer it appeared that the expenses during the past year had amounted to £4 8s. 6d., and that there remained a balance in his hands of £3 I2s. 5d. The list of members was read, and there was only one vacancy. It was resolved to postpone till next year the filling up of this place. 1 Walpole 's Memoirs of the Reign of George III., i. 172, 250. JAMES BRADLEY, D.D., F.R.S. Astronomer Royal, 1742-1762. PLATE IV To face page 1751 Lord Charles Cavendish 41 The autumn of the year 1751 was saddened for the Club by the illness of its esteemed President, Martin Folkes. The following record occurs under date 28th November : " The Treasurer acquainted the Society that the President's illness which prevented his coming abroad, was not likely to be soon re- moved and as it was necessary to have some gentleman take the Chair, he believed it would be agreable to the Rt. Honble. Lord Charles Cavendish (who was and acted as Vice President of the Royal Society) to take the same office here, if he were a Member of this Society. But as the usual time for electing Members was not till July, and this being an extraordinary occasion, he moved that the Rt. Honble. Lord Charles Cavendish be now elected a Member of this Society. This was seconded by Dan. Wray Esq. and passed by acclamation nem. con, and the Treasurer was ordered to wait on his Lordship, and acquaint him with his election and desire his company at dinner next Thursday." Lord Charles Cavendish was the third son of the second Duke of Devonshire. Possessing a strong bent towards science he quietly and successfully pursued certain lines of original chemical and physical research, though he modestly refrained from publishing the results of his studies. Benjamin Franklin wrote of him : — " It were to be wished that this noble philosopher would communicate more of his experiments to the world, as he makes many, and with great accuracy." * He was elected into the Royal Society as far back as the summer of 1727. In his house in Great Marlborough Street he had a laboratory where he carried on his researches. He was the father of Henry Cavendish, one of the most original men of science that Britain has ever produced, of whom much will be said in the following pages. Lord Charles frequently presided at the dinners of the Club, and up to the time of his death in 1783, continued to take an active interest in its welfare. A notable guest of the Club this year was the well-known politician Charles Watson- Wentworth (1730-1782), who the year before had become Marquis of Rockingham. In his youth he had served against the Jacobite insurgents, but 1 Works, Boston 1856, vol. v. p. 383; quoted by J. Clerk Maxwell in The Electrical Researches of the Hon. Henry Cavendish, 1879, p. i. 42 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1751 most of his life was devoted to parliamentary work. He became premier of the Coalition Cabinet of 1765 at the early age of thirty-five, and after he had been leader of the opposi- tion in the House of Lords for some thirteen years, he was again charged with the office of prime-minister in the spring of 1782, the year of his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1751. Having sent half a buck to the Club in August of this year he was elected an Honorary member, and dined twice in that capacity. Another visitor, Sir George Savile, Bart., was also a parlia- mentarian, and, like so many of his contemporaries, had in his youth fought against the Scottish rebels. Having been given a Captain's commission he raised his company of fifty Yorkshire men in three or four days. Thereafter he went to Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. and LL.D. in 1749. He began a successful parliamentary career in 1759 as member for Yorkshire, and continued to represent that constituency to the end. He was a resolute Whig, with a high character for integrity, liberality, and public spirit. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1747. 1752. The Annual General Meeting took place this year on July 30, and was attended by fifteen members and one visitor. Lord Charles Cavendish presided. The Treasurer reported that the expenses during the year had amounted to £3 I2S. iod., and he had in hand a balance of £2 i6s. 4d. The list of members having been read over, it appeared that two members had not attended during the preceding twelve months : "" they were deemed no longer members." Together with the vacancy left over from the last election there were three places to be filled. On a ballot Dr. John Pringle, Dr. Mark Akenside, and Francis Fauquier were elected. It should be noted that at this time only one of these three new members — Dr. Pringle — was F.R.S., though the two others were elected into the Society in the following February. John Pringle, whose name will come frequently into later pages of this chronicle, was one of the noteworthy 1752 Dr. John Pr 'ingle , Mark Akenside 43 men of his time. A Scot by birth, and of good family, he, like so many of his fellow-countrymen, had completed his medical studies at Ley den. He settled first in Edinburgh, where for ten years he was professor of metaphysics and moral philosophy in the University. His known medical attainments led to his being selected in 1742 as physician to the Earl of Stair, commanding the British Army on the Continent, and to his receiving in 1744 the appointment of Physician-General to the army in Flanders. In 1745 he accompanied the Duke of Cumberland into Scotland and was present at the battle of Culloden. In the autumn of 1748, on the conclusion of peace, he settled in London, where he soon gained an influential position, not only in the medical profession, but among the scientific circles of the metropolis. A baronetcy was conferred on him in 1766 and he became physician to George III. His reputation was high as an authority on military medicine, and his writings on this subject are still held in esteem. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1745 and was President of the Society for six years from 1772 to 1778, during which period he was an active and effective chair- man of the Club. At the time of his election into the Club he was in his forty-fifth year. Mark Akenside, besides being a popular poet, was also a trained physician. His " Pleasures of the Imagination " had appeared in January 1744 when he was only three- and- twenty years of age, and made him at once famous. There must have been some marked attraction in his per- sonality, for during three years before his election into the Club he was constantly being invited as a visitor by one member after another. The dinner-register shows that between 2ist April 1751 and the date of his election into the Club, an interval of about sixteen months, he dined with the members no fewer than thirty-three times. He had at first a hard struggle to gain a livelihood as a medical prac- titioner in London, and, as already mentioned, it was mainly through the generous help of a member of the Club, Jeremiah Dyson, that he surmounted his difficulties and secured a 44 Presidentship of Martin Folkes 1752 large practice. He became F.R.S. on 8th February 1753, at the age of thirty-two. In some years the presents of venison and other viands for the table poured in upon the Club both from members and outsiders. The summer of 1752 was one of these seasons of plenty. Venison arrived in abundance, followed by the customary election of the donor as an honorary member and the drinking of his health in claret, which, as the Treasurer continued to record, was paid for by the company who consumed it. The Honourable Philip Yorke, Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh, Dr. Heberden, Mr. Stari- hope, and the Marquis of Rockingham are duly chronicled for their gifts. There were likewise presents of water-melons from Spain and Portugal. But all the good things that arrived at the Mitre were not destined for the Royal Phil- osophers. There is a significant entry in the Register for 2nd July. " The Company were this day forced to dine in a room different from what they used to dine in, by a Turtle being dressed in the house which weighed 400 Ibs." No share of this delicacy came to them : on the contrary, as it happened, the Treasurer had provided for them a some- what less formidable dinner than usual. As there was peace with France between the years 1748 and 1755 opportunity was given for an exchange of visits between men of science in that country and in England. Among the Frenchmen who came to London and received the hospitality of the Royal Society perhaps the most noted was M. Clairault, one of the illustrious geometers of France, who in later years made some remarkable deductions re- garding the time of the return of Halley's Comet. He dined three times with the Club during the winter of 1752-3, and again in the spring and early summer of 1754. He was one of a mission (which included Maupertuis) sent to Lap- land to measure a degree of the meridian with a view to determine the figure of our planet. CHAPTER III PRESIDENTSHIP OF THE EARL OF MACCLESFIELD, 1752-1764 ON account of the state of his health, Martin Folkes, on 30th November 1752, retired from the Presidency of the Royal Society, and the Earl of Macclesfield was chosen to succeed him. The Earl had been elected one of the Royal Philosophers on 6th February preceding, and had repeatedly dined with the Club in the course of the spring and summer. He attended at the first dinner after St. Andrew's Day and took his place as President of the Club. As second Earl of Macclesfield he was at this time a prominent member of the House of Lords. He took a keen interest in scientific subjects, was himself a mathematician and astronomer, and had erected an observatory in which, with the assistance of Bradley, he had instituted the finest in- strumental equipment then in existence. He there carried on a series of personal observations from 1740 up to his death in 1764. He deserves to be remembered also as being virtually the author of the "Bill for regulating the Com- mencement of the Year," and consequently as being mainly instrumental in procuring the change from the Old Style to the New in 1752. 1753. The Annual General Meeting of the Club in the year 1753 was held on July 26th, when sixteen members and five visitors attended, the chair being filled by James Burrow. The Treasurer stated that his disbursements since last election day amounted to £i 75., and that he had a balance in hand of £4 igs. 4d. 46 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1753 One member had not attended any meeting during the past twelve months, and " it was unanimously agreed that he should no longer be deemed a member/' The Minute states that " A list of the candidates being read over, and it appearing that Mr. Phillip Miller, having been an antient member of this Society, but being out of Town when the regulation of the Society was made in 1749, and having applyed as a Candidate ever since June 1752, it was unanimously agreed that the present vacancy should be supplyed by him, and that he should pay only the original fine of six shillings, but that this should not be a precedent for the future, and he was accordingly elected." None of the guests entertained by the Club this year need be specially referred to. The Treasurer has recorded that on I4th June " an extra Mitre/' that is, a special Club- dinner, was held at Dagenham Breach, an angling resort in Essex, on the north side of the lower Thames. On this entry in the dinner-register Admiral Smyth remarks : " This was no doubt an excursion trip of the Club to scrutinise the effects of the singular and destructive inundation which had breached the ancient embankment to nearly twenty feet in depth, laid open a buried forest and blown up the sluice ; or perhaps the party went to fish in the well-known pool which it left." 1 As an indication of the change of social habit between then and now, it should be remarked that not only did the Club meet every week, but the dinners in the autumn were oftejl almost as well attended as at any other time of the year. The Royal Society might adjourn for a summer vacation, but the Club made no interruption in the sequence of its weekly meetings. In 1753, for in- stance, the average attendance at the dinners between Juty and November was 14, usually including one or more guests. During the previous months of January and Febru- ary, in the full height of the winter, the average attendance was 20. There was obviously at that time no extensive 1 Rise and Progress of the Royal Society Club, p. 24. The Treasurer appears to have been an angler (see p. 101). 1754 A punctilious Treasurer 47 migration in summer or autumn from London to foreign parts, nor even to quarters inland or to retreats by the sea. 1754. At the Annual General Meeting held on July 25, 1754, with the Earl of Macclesfield in the chair, there were sixteen other members present, together with two guests, one of whom was Professor Bradley. The Treasurer re- ported that his disbursements since the last Annual General Meeting had been £2 133. 6d., leaving in his hands a balance of £2 145. rod. Although Lord Macclesfield had taken the chair at the first Club-dinner after his election as President of the Royal Society, and for more than eighteen months had presided over all the meetings at which he was present, the punctilious Treasurer took occasion of the death of the late President to have the Chairmanship of the Club formally sanctioned by a vote of the members, and submitted to the Annual General Meeting the following statement, the Earl being at the time actually in the chair : " The Treasurer acquainted the Societ}^ that Martin Folkes Esq. our late worthy President was dead, and that this being Election-day, the Society should chuse some other Gentln for that office, accordingly the Right Honble The Earl of Macclesfield was desired to accept of that Office, which he did in a very Genteel manner." At the same meeting two members who had not attended during the previous twelve months were declared to be no longer members of this Society. Two new members were elected to fill the vacancies thus caused, together with a third to fill the vacant place arising from the death of the late President, viz. Paul Whichcote, Dr. Robert Watson (F.R.S. 1750), and Dr. Charlton Wollaston (F.R.S. 1756). It may be remarked that one of the two ejected members, who had belonged to the Club since 1748, was never elected into the Royal Society, that Dr. Wollaston was not so elected until two years after he joined the Club, and that Paul Whichcote, one of the new members, never became F.R.S.1 1 There was a baronet of the same name who became F.R.S. in 1674. 48 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1754 It may be remarked here that at the end of each minute of the business transacted at the Annual General Meeting the Treasurer carefully records that " Josiah Colebrooke was continued Treasurer and thanks were ordered him for his care." .This entry concludes the minute, but as years go on it grows shorter, until at last it becomes merely " Colebrooke, Treasr with thanks," but it is never omitted even up to the last minute in his handwriting. The year 1754 was another year especially marked in the annals of the Club by gifts for the table. The Earl of Marchmont, who was not infrequently present as a visitor, had a special dainty to bestow in the shape of " pickled sal- mon," which is duly recorded by the Treasurer as having been found " most excellent." It was apparently so good and the company of the donor so agreeable that his health was toasted and he was made an honorary member of the Club. This Marchmont fish appeared at successive dinners, and was continued from time to time for a number of years, until the Earl forfeited his membership by non- attendance for twelve months. Gifts of venison came from Lord Royston, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Marquis of Rockingham, Mr. Charles Stanhope, Sir Matthew Feather- stonehaugh, and Dean Lyttelton. So great was the supply of venison that an additional dinner was called for. The Treasurer's minute on nth July is to the following effect : " The Company being this day entertained with venison from Rt. Honble. Viscount Royston his health was drank in claret and the Extra reckoning paid by the Company present and not out of the Fund. The Earl of Shaftesbury having sent halfe a Buck to entertain this Society, it was agreed to meet on Saturday next the 13 of July to eat the same and ordered that his Lordship be regis- tered an Honorary member." Accordingly, on the day appointed the dinner is recorded as "an extra Mitre on account of venison sent in by the Earl of Shaftesbury and Vise* Royston." On the 5th September the Club partook of a turtle sent for its entertainment by the First Lord of the Admiralty, the illustrious Admiral Lord Anson. Josiah Colebrooke, with his accustomed care, records that this turtle weighed 115 Ibs. Later in the same month James West, who had THOMAS BIRCH, D.D. Sec. R.S., 1752. PLATE V To face page 48. 1754 Turtles and Chine of Beef 49 been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1726 but had not joined the dining club, sent a turtle which, the Treasurer states, weighed 60 Ibs. The donor came as a visitor to partake of the good cheer, and next week sent another turtle (weight 70 Ibs.) and again attended. Next year, when he repeated his benefaction, the Club made him one of its honorary members. He was a prominent barrister of the Inner Temple, member of Parliament for more than thirty years, and a Fellow of considerable influence in the Ro}ral Society, of which he was chosen President in 1768. The member of the Club whose gigantic chine of beef had been faithfully recorded in the annals of the Club for 1751 is not mentioned among the donors of 1753. But at the beginning of next year the following minute was made on January 2nd : " The Chine of Beefe was presented by Wm. Hanbury Esq. who having been a little deficient with regard to annual payments of Chines of Beefe added three brace of very large Carp by way of Interest." It is satisfactory to know that the donor of the gift was present at the dinner. His donation was termed by the Treasurer " a mighty Chine of Beefe of 112 Ibs. weight/' Of the foreign guests entertained by the Club during 1754 the most interesting and memorable was Count Ponia- towski, who dined on July 4th. He seems to have been invited by the President, the Earl of Macclesfield. Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, born on I7th January 1732, was a young man of two-and- twenty when he paid a visit to London. He was one of the sons of Count Poniatowski, a Polish nobleman who married the Princess Constance Czartorysky, belonging to one of the most powerful families in Poland. At the time of his birth an Italian astrologer is said to have predicted he would be a king, and his family, perhaps to aid the fulfilment of this prophecy, gave him a patronymic of the royal house of Poland. He grew up singularly hand- some, had great charm of manners, and was everywhere a 50 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1754 welcome guest.1 Moreover, he early showed a taste for literature, which gave him an added attraction in cultivated societj^. After having served for some years in the Russian army he came into the possession of considerable wealth in 1752, a good deal of which he dissipated in Paris and London. The year after he dined with the Club at the Mitre he was induced to go to St. Petersburg with the English Envoy Extraordinary, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, by whom he was introduced at the Russian Court. His good looks and pleasant address captivated the Princess Catharine, who afterwards became Empress. Eventually, largely through her potent influence and that of his mother's family, and with a unanimity that was rare in the annals of Poland, he was made King of that country, and ascended the throne on 7th September 1764, by the name and titles of Stanislaus Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The King of Prussia profited by the occasion to indite with his own hand a letter to the new King, in which he lectured him on his future, pointing out with patronising insistence that "as he enjoyed a crown by election and not by descent, the world would be more observant of his actions than those of any other potentate in Europe. From a man exalted, by the voice of his equals, from a subject to a King, from a man voluntarily elected to reign over those by whom he was chosen, everything is expected that can possibly deserve and adorn a crown." Frederic seems to have thought that some apology was required for the need- less " warmth " of this moral discourse, which he declared to be " the effusion of the sincerest regard." 2 Poor Stanislaus Augustus was helped, neither by the great potentates around him nor by the harmonious support of his own people, to achieve what in more favourable conditions he might have accomplished. During the earlier years of his reign he strove to introduce reforms into the 1 Horace Walpole, writing on May 14, 1754, asks " Have you seen young Poniatowski ? He is very handsome." The young Pole kept up his relations with friends whose acquaintance he made at the time in England. 2 Annual Register, 1764, p. 14. 1754 The last King of Poland 5 1 government of the country, but his efforts were thwarted by the machinations of the surrounding greater powers. Slice after slice was cut away from his territory. When at last the Poles rose in resistance under Joseph Poniatowski and Kosciusko, the King, though he had sworn to defend the constitution even to the death, refused to join the patriots who raised the standard of independence. He was ignominiously compelled to denounce Kosciusko as a criminal, while he himself remained in Warsaw, where, surrounded with Polish traitors and Russian agents, he continued to retain the regal state which he had so greatly enjoyed for thirty years. When the final partition of Poland was determined on, Stanislaus Augustus received from Catharine in January 1795 an order to leave his capital and betake himself to Grodno, where on the following St. Catherine's Day (25th November) he was compelled to sign his abdication. After a stay of about two years in Grodno he was summoned to St. Petersburg by Catharine's successor. But he did not long enjoy the pension of 200,000 ducats assigned to him by the robber powers. He was cut off by an attack of apoplexy on I2th February 1798 at the age of sixty-six. To the end Stanislaus Augustus retained his liking for England and the English. The Royal Society, soon after he came to the throne, had elected him a Fellow, partly no doubt in remembrance of his visit to London, and pro- bably in part also out of sympathy with his unfortunate country amid the troubles out of which it was hoped that he might help to deliver her. Among his plans for the improvement of his native country he designed to form an art gallery in Warsaw, and many pictures for it were pur- chased in England. But, as will be narrated on a later page, the design fell to the ground and the pictures still remain in England. With them is preserved at the picture gallery of Dulwich College a touching letter from King Stanislaus written only a month before he had to sign his abdication. It is addressed to the Envoy of Eng- land at Grodno who was about to leave a country which 52 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1754 had no longer any independent existence. The King seems to cling to the last link that connected him with England, and is anxious to have one more talk with the English representative. It will be remembered that in the list of toasts enumerated by Sir Joseph Ayloffe (p. 7) as having been proposed in his time at the dinners of the Royal Society Club, the health of the King of Poland was given. Sympathy with the fate of that unhappy country might perhaps have suggested this inclusion. But if the toast ever became customary it more probably had a personal relation to the fact that the last King of Poland had been a guest of the Club when he was Count Poniatowski, and had left behind him pleasant recollections of his visit. M. Clairault, already referred to (p. 44), again dined with the Club four times in the spring. One of the guests this year was Lord Cadogan, whose family name as well as that of his father-in-law are attached to a number of street-names in the south-west of London. Entering the army in 1706 he served in some of Marl- borough's campaigns, and also in 1715 against the rebellious Scots. He succeeded to his father's barony in 1726, and married a daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, whose manor of Chelsea thus came into his possession. It is interesting to know that some of the familiar thoroughfares that have been driven through the estate which Sir Hans Sloane purchased, such as Sloane Street and Hans Place, are reminiscent of one who was a noted personage in his day. Sloane was an enthusiastic naturalist, and in the course of his life amassed extensive collections. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on January 21, 1684-5, was Secretary of the Society from 1693 to 1712 and succeeded Sir Isaac Newton in the Presidential Chair, which he filled for fourteen years from 1727 to 1741. He was the first of the long line of English physicians to be made baronet — an honour conferred on him by George I. in 1716. He died in January 1753, at the great age of 92. Next year, which was that where- with we are now concerned in the history of the Club, 1754 The third Earl of Marchmont 53 his large museum and library were purchased by the State and formed part of the nucleus of the British Museum. Another guest of the Club, Hugh Hume, Earl of March- mont, to whom reference has already been made (p. 48), had, like many other Scotsmen of good family, received part of his education at the universities of Holland. In his youth, when he was Lord Polwarth, he entered Parliament as member for Berwick and gained a high reputation in the House of Commons. When he made his first appearance there he was described by Smollett as a " nobleman of elegant parts, keen penetration, and uncommon sagacity, who spoke with all the fluency and fervour of elocution." In 1740 he succeeded to the peerage as third Earl of Marchmont. This change removed him for a time from Parliament and active politics, but he devoted his energies to agriculture, forestry, gardening and horsemanship. He was a friend of Bolingbroke and Pope, and one of the poet's executors. He was also acquainted with Johnson. Eventually in 1750 he re-entered Parliament as one of the representative Peers of Scotland and retained that position until he retired from public life in 1784. He was a man of generous char- acter and attractive manners, which were evidently fully appreciated by the Royal Philosophers, who, as already stated, this year made him an honorary member of their Club, while he on his side enjoyed their company and continued for many years to dine with them and to send his presents to their table.1 An Englishman whose name appears frequently in the Register about this time as a guest of the Club was Charles Lyttelton (1714-1768), who began as a barrister of the Middle Temple, but soon exchanged that profession for the Church, in which his family influence procured him rapid 1 Boswell records, as an instance of the Earl's good humour, that he used to tell that " the master of a shop in London, where he was not known, said to him, ' I suppose Sir, you are an American ? ' « Why so, Sir ? ' (said his Lordship). ' Because, Sir, (replied the shopkeeper,) you speak neither English nor Scotch, but something different from both, which I conclude is the language of America/ " Life of Johnson, ii. p. 160. Pope tells that " the bright flame was shot through Marchmont's soul." 54 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1755 advancement. At the end of 1747 he was appointed Chap- lain to George II., next year he became Dean and subse- quently Bishop of Exeter, and finally Bishop of Carlisle. He appears to have been of a genial disposition, and a favourite visitor at the Club. He was elected F.R.S. in 1742. Dr. Bradley continued to dine from time to time at the Club. On October loth of this year he was accompanied by his associate, the Rev. Nathaniel Bliss, the Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford, who used to assist him at the Observatory, where he ultimately succeeded him. Bliss became F.R.S. in 1742. For some time during the year 1754 the attendance at the dinners had continued to be so full that on 3ist October it was deemed expedient to order provision for a company of eighteen at each dinner. Such crowded tables, however, could hardly be counted on as a permanence. Moreover, a good deal of outlay had arisen from the fees and other ex- penses connected with the presents of venison, turtle and salmon, and the Treasurer at last found his Fund so de- pleted as to necessitate a demand for fresh contributions. Accordingly at a special meeting called for 2Qth May 1755, in order to consider this matter, the following decisions were made : 1755. " Resolved nem. con. that a call should be made on each Member of five shillings for support of the Fund and that the Treasurer do collect the same as he sees the Members. It was moved and seconded that each Member absenting himself from the Club for two months or longer should forfeit five shillings for the Use of the Society and that this order should not interfere with the Former one of excluding those who had been absent twelve months : the Question being put it was carried in the affirmative. Ordered that the Treasurer do write to those Members who are absent to acquaint them with the above resolutions." These resolutions were not only entered in the Minute- book by the Treasurer in his own handwriting but also in the Dinner-register, where he procured the signatures of the members present. Hence under the date of 29 th May of this year the book shows a group of autographs including those of the President, Lord Charles Cavendish, Mark Aken- 1755 Replenishment of the Club Fund 55 side, Gowin Knight, Thomas Birch and others. The effect of these precautions is shown in the subjoined Minute of November 27, 1755. " The Treasurer informed the Society that the Members having paid five shillings each for the Supply of the Fund pursuant to the resolution of the 29th of May, he had a sufficient sum in his hands to make good any deficiency that should happen for a long time to come, and therefore moved that so much of the order of May 29 as related to the fining each Member who absented himself for two months should be repealed ; The Question being put, it was carried in the Affirmative." The Annual General Meeting of 1755 was held on July 31, when there were present : James Burrow in the Chair. Charles Stanhope. Dr. William Watson. John Cooksey. Dr. William Heberden. Dr. Squire. Dr. Thomas Birch. Paul Whichcote. Phillip Miller. Richard Roderick. Dr. Mark Akenside. Peter Newcome. George Bell. Dr. Charlton Wollaston. Dr. Nicholas Munckley. Peter Davall. William Hall. Daniel Wray. Jeremiah Dyson. John Ellicott. Josiah Colebrooke, Treasurer. The Treasurer reported that his disbursements had amounted to £6 75. nd., and that a balance of £8 8s. nd. remained in his hands. From his register it appears that the total number of persons that dined at the Club since the last Anniversary was 904, composed of 742 members and 162 visitors. Several resignations having been received, the meeting proceeded to elect new members, and after a ballot of the Candidates according to seniority of proposal, the following gentlemen were elected : — Isaac Hawkins Browne (F.R.S. 1770), Robert More (F.R.S. 1729), Samuel Clarke (F.R.S. 1735) and Joseph Warner (F.R.S. 1750). Gifts for the table continued to be furnished in abundance by members and well-wishers outside. Lord Marchmont 56 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 17 '55 provided his approved pickled salmon. The Earl of Shaftes- bury, Lord Royston, Dr. Heberden and Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh presented venison, and their healths were duly honoured in the customary bumpers of claret, " paid for by the company." On one occasion half of the venison appeared on the table, and the claret was duly quaffed in recognition of the gift, while the other half was reserved for the following week when the worthy donor's health was again drunk, but whether in claret does not appear. The painstaking Treasurer, after having with a flourish written at the end of his record of a dinner " No Demand " from his Fund, adds with a feebler hand, "but for a china plate broke at Dinner, i/n." On another occasion, after a record of the thanks of the Company to a donor of venison and the health-drinking in claret, there is a penitent-looking addition of " a water-glass broke, gd." The attendance this year during August and September, while on the whole good, somewhat fluctuated, though it seldom fell below the number provided for, so as to involve a demand on the Fund. But it must be confessed that the prospect of a turtle-dinner had a marked effect in attracting a large company. Mr. James West presented a turtle on 7th August and another on i8th September. On the first occasion there came twenty-three members and seven guests. The turtle was served in four dishes and the donor was admitted an Honorary Member of the Club. At the later dinner, when the numbers were eighteen members and four guests, the Register records that the President (Earl of Macclesfield), "having been absent for more than two months paid the fine of 5/." Both these dinners were attended by Dr. Heberden, Dr. Knight, Dr. Pringle and Dr. Akenside — a medical phalanx which is a further indica- tion that no large exodus of the civilian population had taken place in London during the autumnal months. Not many foreign guests are recorded in the dinner lists for this year. The two most notable are the Comte d'Estaing and M. de Bougainville, who were both present at the dinner on I2th June. The family of Estaing was GOWIN KNIGHT. M.B., F.R.S., T745- PLATE VI To face page 56. J755 Comte d'Estaing ; L. A. de Bougainville 57 an old and distinguished one in France. If, as is probable, the representative of it who dined with the Club was Charles Hector who was born in 1724, his career was strenuous but troubled. He served at first in the French army in India, was wounded and taken prisoner at the siege of Madras. Subsequently he entered the French navy and carried out some successful attacks on the forts in British India. On his way home he fell into the hands of an Eng- lish cruiser. Accused of having broken his parole at Madras he was brought to England, where he had no difficulty in disproving the accusation. Subsequently he took an active part in helping the naval plans of the infant United States. When the French Revolution came he was brought before the revolutionary tribunal, where he boldly confined himself to recounting his services to his country, concluding with the words : " When you shall have made rny head fall at the guillotine send it to the English ; they will pay you well for it." Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1814) had also a varied history both on land and sea. He came to England in 1754 as Secretary of the French Embassy in London. On the outbreak of war with France in North America during the summer of 1755 he was recalled and was sent as a Captain of Dragoons to join the French forces in Canada, where he was appointed aide-de-camp to Mont calm. His valour in the fighting was remarkable, but when peace came he resolved to quit the army and take to a sailor's life. He became a famous navigator and explorer, being the first French captain who circumnavigated the globe. Besides his peaceful voyages of discovery in arctic latitudes and on the vast Pacific Ocean, he was engaged in naval encounters with the British fleets in the West Indies. His scientific merit was recognised by the Royal Society which elected him into its membership in 1756, and it is averred that the British Arctic expedition of Captain Phipps in 1773 was based on plans which M. de Bougainville had submitted to the Society. The English guests this year included a few who may be mentioned here. The Earl of Morton, who was to play an 58 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1756 important part in the history of the Club, dined as a visitor on i6th January, Charles Lyttelton, Dean of Exeter, was again an occasional guest, as were also Lord Cadogan and Lord Aberdour, son of the Earl of Morton. Dr. Bradley, the Astronomer Royal, came from time to time. Among the members who most frequently attended were Lord Willoughby of Parham, Lord Charles Cavendish and Mark Akenside. 1756. The price of the dinner at the Mitre had remained without change for some years. But the cost of provisions had risen and the landlord of the tavern in the spring of 1756 proposed that the price should be raised. The matter was discussed at a meeting of the Club on 8th April in that year when the subjoined Minute was made : " The Treasurer was desired to acquaint Mr. Cole that the Members of the Society are willing to pay for the future three shillings per head for Dinner and wine, provided they be better attended, but that the Commons for absentees should still remain at 1/6 as usual and report Mr. Cole's Answer." Next week " The Treasurer reported that Mr. Cole willingly accepted the proposal of April 8th and would take care to have an extra Waiter to attend the Company on that account. The question being put it passed in the Affirmative." Again the cautious Treasurer transcribed this agreement into his dinner-register, and had it signed by the members present, with " Macclesfield, President " at the top and " M. Akenside " at the foot. The dinners included the usual gifts of venison. Mr. West supplied his turtle. Mr. Hanbury, in Colebrooke's fervid language, " entertained the Company with an Homer- ian Chine of Beef and his health was particularly drank and thanks returned him for it." It should be added that Mr. Hanbury was there in person to receive the plaudits of his colleagues. Among the guests entertained this year a number of noblemen were included. Besides the President, there came the Earl of Marchmont, whose gifts of pickled salmon still 1756 Troubles of the Treasurer 59 flourished on the Club's table, the Earl of Morton, a future President of the Royal Society, Lord Royston, staunch friend and supporter of the Club, the veteran Lord Willoughby and Lord Cadogan. The Annual General Meeting in 1756 was held on 2Qth July and was attended by sixteen members and one visitor, the chair being taken by James Burrow. The Treasurer's financial statement showed that the charges connected with venison and other dainties presented to the Club had during the interval since the last General Meeting amounted to £i 145. gd., and that the deficiencies arising from non- attendance came to £5 2s. gd., leaving a balance in his hands of £8 75. 5d. As there were only two vacancies in the membership, and eight candidates for admission, it was agreed to postpone election until next year. The Treasurer's expectation in the autumn of 1755 that his last call for subscriptions had replenished the Fund to such a degree that he felt he could meet all claims for a long time to come appeared to justify the Club in ordering the weekly dinner for eighteen, and this was accordingly done on soth October of that year. The arrangement appears to have continued through the winter and spring till the middle of July 1756, when the number was prudently reduced to twelve. When, however, the Club mustered to the number of nineteen on 4th November, with the President in the chair, it was boldly resolved to return to the provision for eighteen. But immediately thereafter came a marked falling off in the attendance, entailing a concomitant drain on the Fund. A fortnight after the increased provision had been decided upon, a deficiency of three was registered, next week this number rose to five and the following Thursday to nine. At most of the dinners the required limit was not reached. 1757. By the end of March 1757 the Treasurer was com- pelled to announce to the Club that " the Fund grew so low that a Supply would be absolutely necessary before the Veni- son Season." To meet the expenses which the gifts of that season entailed he had only in hand the sum of £i 45. 5d. 60 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1757 Another levy of 55. from each member of the Club was accordingly ordered, and as deficiencies in attendance had been so serious the number for whom commons were to be provided at each dinner was reduced to twelve. At the Annual General Meeting held on 28th July 1757 there were seventeen members present, but no visitors, and the chair was again taken by James Burrow. According to the statement submitted by the Treasurer it appeared that the disbursements in connection with the gifts for the table amounted to £L 8s. 6d., and that those caused by deficiencies in the attendance of members came to £g los. 6d., leaving in his hands a balance of £5 135. nd. Five vacancies in the membership were declared, Dr. Robert Watson and Richard Roderick had died ; Francis Fauquier and Jonathan Richardson, unable to attend frequently, wished to retire in favour of candidates who could give more constant attendance, and Jeremiah Dyson, not having been present for more than a year, had forfeited his membership. As the result of the ballot the members elected were Welbore Ellis,1 Arthur Pond, Taylor White, Lord Cadogan and Dr. Noah Thomas. Mr. Ellis (ante, p. 31) had been elected into the Royal Society in 1745, Mr. Pond in 1752, Mr. White in 1725, Lord Cadogan (ante, p. 52) in 1718, and Dr. Thomas in 1753. The last-named member was a physician of some eminence in London. He was knighted in 1775. A fine portrait of him by Romney hangs in the hall of St. John's College, Cambridge. It was the practice of the Club, as it was of the Royal Society, to have at its meetings from time to time the repre- sentatives of foreign Governments. This year M. Mello e Castro, the Ambassador from Portugal, who had shortly before been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, was a guest of the Club. He seems to have been an amiable and un- obtrusive member of the diplomatic body. When he left London, Horace Walpole wrote to Lady Mary Coke " Our loo parties are receiving a great loss by the departure of 1 Mr. Ellis being out of England, it was decided at the General Meeting next year that his election should be void. 1757 Thomas Pennant; Benjamin Franklin 61 Mello, who is suddenly recalled to fill a chief place in the ministry." x In the list of the company on March loth there occurs the name of " Mr. Pennant." There can hardly be any doubt that this was Thomas Pennant, the careful and obser- vant traveller and naturalist to whom we owe some of the earliest descriptions of the scenery, natural history, and antiquities of large areas of the British Isles, and whose works on zoology stand out as landmarks in the progress of science. He was elected F.R.S. in 1767. At the time he first dined with the Club he was thirty-one years of age, and had not yet published the series of volumes which have made him famous. But undoubtedly the most conspicuously eminent visitor to the Club this year was the illustrious Benjamin Franklin. In recognition of the value of his contributions to science the Royal Society had awarded to him in 1753 the Copley Medal, its highest honour, which was " delivered to be transmitted to him by the care of his worthy friend Peter Collinson." In making the presentation the President said, " This mark of distinction is doubly due to Mr. Franklin. It is due to him as a philosopher ; it is due to him as a man. The successful experiments of this philosopher have given us probable hopes of being one day able to secure ourselves from the dreadful effects of lightning. And the public spirit, the modesty, the goodness and benevolence of the man have been long conspicuous, and the effects of them long felt in the country where he resides." 2 On April 29th 1756 the Society further testified its appreciation of his work by electing him one of its Fellows. Not only was he a brilliant man of science, he showed that he was like- wise a keen-sighted politician and ardent patriot. Among our Colonists of North America opposition to the representa- tives of the home Government and the first beginnings of the agitation for independence had arisen. Franklin was sent by his fellow citizens in the summer of 1757 on his 1 Letters, Mrs. Toynbee's Edition, vii. 340. 2 Gentleman's Magazine, 1753, p. 587. 62 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1757 first mission to England with the view of representing their views and of coming to an understanding with the Govern- ment on the subject. He landed in this country on 27th July, and a fortnight thereafter he was one of the guests at the dinner of the Royal Philosophers. He remained in England for five years and sailed again for America in August 1762. During this prolonged sojourn here he became a much valued friend of many Fellows of the Royal Society and members of the Club. He has put on record in a letter to his son the circumstances in which, as he learnt, he had been elected into the Royal Society. Though the letter properly belongs to the time of his second mission to Eng- land in 1766, the particulars which it gives may be appro- priately quoted here. He tells that, having occasion to be a good deal at the rooms of the Society, " I had then an opportunity of looking over the old Council-books and Journals of the Society, and having a curiosity to see how I came in, of which I had never been informed, I looked back to the Minutes relating to it. You must know it is not usual to admit persons who have not requested to be admitted, and a recommendatory certificate in favour of the candidate signed by at least three of the members, is by our rule to be presented to the Society, expressing that he is desirous of that honour, and is so and so qualified. As I never had asked or expected the honour, I was, as I said before, curious to see how the business was managed. I found that the certificate, worded very advantageously for me, was signed by Lord Macclesfield, then President, Lord Parker and Lord Willoughby ; that the election was by a unanimous vote ; and the honour being volun- tarily conferred by the Society, unsolicited by me, it was thought wrong to demand or to receive the usual fees or composition ; so that my name was entered on the list with a vote of Council that I was not to pay any- thing, and accordingly nothing has ever been demanded of me. Those who are admitted in the common way pay five guineas admission fees, and two guineas and a half yearly contribution, or twenty-five guineas down in lieu 1757 Henry Cavendish 63 of it. In my case a substantial favour accompanied the honour." l It is deserving of record that on the loth of November 1757, Lord Macclesfield, President of the Club, proposed the Honourable Henry Cavendish as a Candidate for admission. The proposal was made at a dinner where his father, Lord Charles Cavendish, was present, probably sitting next to the President. The young man had never yet been a guest of the Club, but he was known to be interested in physical science, and we may surmise that the design of electing him a member was the outcome of a conversation between the two noblemen on this occasion. It has been insinuated that the relations between father and son were not altogether harmonious, owing to parental dissatisfaction with the youth's refusal to enter upon public or professional life. Clerk Maxwell, however, has shown that this insinuation is at variance with the evidence supplied in the papers left by Cavendish, which prove that for years Lord Charles was occupied conjointly with his son in carrying on electrical and other researches in his laboratory in Great Marlborough Street, where Henry lived with him under the paternal roof.2 The ill-founded assertion is now further negatived by the testimony of the records of the Royal Society Club. It is there manifest that Lord Charles introduced his son into the Club and went there with him again and again during the interval that elapsed between Lord Macclesfield's proposal and Henry Cavendish's election. It was on I5th June 1758 that the young philosopher first sat at the table of the Club as a visitor, and on July 3ist 1760 he was admitted to membership. The longest entry in the weekly Register this year has reference to an amusing satirical " petition " written by Lord Chesterfield and apparently circulated privately among his friends. On August 25, at a meeting where 1 Letters to his son, William Franklin, from London, igth December 1767. Life, vol. i. p. 554. 2 The Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish, Introduction, p. xxviii. 64 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1757 the President was in the chair, and Benjamin Franklin a guest, " A Petition from the Earl of Chesterfield to the King desiring a Pension, and giving reasons why it should be granted him, com- municated by Mr. Stanhope, was read, with which the Company were so well entertained that the President [the Earl of Macclesfield] moved that his Lordship should be chosen an Honourary Member for the year ensuing, which was accordingly done by Acclamation, nem. con. : his Lordship's health was drank as a Benefactor and Mr. Stanhope was desired to inform his Lordship of it." At the meeting in the following week " Mr. Stanhope reported that he had informed the Earl of Chester- field of his Election and that his Lordship returned the Society thanks for the Honour they had done him. The Treasurer, being absent the 25th of August when the Earl of Chesterfield was Elected an Honourary Member on account of the Petition, wrote to Mr. Stanhope desiring a copy of the Petition to be inserted in the Records of the Society." At the dinner on the 8th September it was recorded that " Mr. Stanhope produced the Treasurer's letter, but as he was under an obligation to Lord Chesterfield not to give a copy of the Petition to any one, he could not comply with the request, but desired the letter might be read, and the same being read accord- ingly, on the motion of the Chairman [Mr. Burrow] it was unani- mously ordered by the Company present that the said letter be transcribed into the records and that a sufficient space be left for inserting the Petition when they shall obtain a copy of it." The scrupulous Treasurer consequently with his own hand transcribed his letter at full length in the official Register of the dinners, and as it is the only sample of his epistolary style which has been preserved in the archives of the Club, it seems to deserve a place in any detailed narrative of the Club's history. It is here given verbatim et literatim. Hond Sir, When Men are under difficultys of any kind, it is most natural for them to apply to such of their Friends as have power to remove them ; this makes me take the liberty of applying to you to extri- cate me from a perplexity the minutes of the meeting at the Mitre on the 25th past have involved me in. I Flatter myself that your wonted goodness will forgive my giving you this trouble, but as ye minute stands on Dr. Birch's Paper, it requires a comment to explain it. NEVIL MASKELYNE, D.D., F.R.S. Astronomer Royal, 1765-1811. PLATE VII To face page 64. 1757 Josiah Colebrooke as letter-writer 65 His words are, ' The Earl of Chesterfield's petition to the King, communicated by Mr Stanhope, whose health was drank as a bene- factor ' ; and in the next Paragraph he adds, ' The Earl of Chester- field's health was drank as a Benefactor on account of the Petition above-mentioned, and being proposed by the President was by Acclamation chosen an honourary Member for the year ensuing.' The great difficulty I labour under is, how this minute may be interpreted by some future Philosopher into whose hands this manu- script may possibly fall ; A Nobleman chose a Member of a Dining club, for communicating a Petition to the King, will appear very abstruse, unless a description further than the word Petition implys, be added ; every one knows the meaning of the words Venison, Turtle and Chine of Beef, the things are objects of our senses, we know the tast of them, but when a higher entertainment is offered to our understandings, unless the Ingredients that compose it are specifyed, Posterity will be at a loss, to know whether this petition &c. was not a name given to some new dish of that Nobleman's invention. You will pardon my taking up so much of your time, but as my records have hitherto taken notice of Substantial forms only, such as may be tasted, Tho' Wit and Humour entertain the mind, yet as it will be very difficult to express them in a bill Fare without giving them at full length, I must beg the favour of you to furnish me with a Copy of this Petition to be inserted in the Annals of the Mitre Club, and assure you that it shall not by my means go out of my own hands, but with the records of the Society when they shall be transmitted to some future Treasurer. I have the more reason to urge this, as it will be a precedent, and may serve as well for a Standard of Wit as the trial peices of Gold and Silver kept in the Exchequer do, for the Standard of our Gold and Silver Coins. Should it be known abroad that the Mitre Club admitted Honourary Members for peices of Wit and Humour exhibited at their meetings, we should find so many Candidates for that honour, that the Club would be much embarrassed, and altho we could without any diffi- culty impannell a jury of Criticks to Assay their performances, yet it would be impossible for them to give a verdict without having such a certain Standard (as this Petition is) to try them by. I will therefore take the Liberty to wait on you some morning the beginning next week and Am with Great Respect Sr Your most Humble Serv* Josh Colebrooke Budge Row To Chas Stanhope Esq. Sept 2 1757 E 66 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 17 '57 The Treasurer's appeal did not succeed in procuring the document for his records, and the five pages which he kept for it have remained blank ever since. But the Petition has not been left unpublished. It was authentically given to the world in 1845 by Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope) in the fourth volume of his edition of the Chesterfield Letters, whence it was copied by Admiral Smyth in his " Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Society Club." x As it made such a sensation in the Club, and as this narrative would be incomplete without it, the text is here given. To THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. The humble Petition of Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Sheweth That your Petitioner, being rendered, by deafness, as useless and insignificant, as most of his equals and contemporaries are by nature, hopes, in common with them, to share your Majesty's Royal favour and bounty ; whereby he may be enabled either to save or spend, as he shall think proper, more than he can do at present. That your Petitioner, having had the honour of serving your Majesty in several very lucrative employments, seems thereby en- titled to a lucrative retreat from business, and to enjoy otium cum dignitate ; that is, leisure and a large pension. Your Petitioner humbly presumes, that he has, at least, a common claim to such a pension ; he has a vote in the most august assembly in the world ; he has an estate that puts him above wanting it ; but he has, at the same time (though he says it), an elevation of sentiment, that makes him not only desire, but (pardon, dread Sir, an expression you are used to) insist upon it. That your Petitioner is little apt, and always unwilling, to speak advantageously of himself, but as, after all, some justice is due to one's self, as well as to others, he begs leave to represent : That his loyalty to your Majesty has always been unshaken, even in the worst of times ; That, particularly, in the late unnatural rebellion, when the Pretender advanced as far as Derby, at the head of, at least, three thousand undisciplined men, the flower of the Scottish nobility and gentry, your Petitioner did not join him, as, unquestion- ably, he might have done, had he been so inclined ; but on the contrary, raised sixteen companies of one hundred men each at the public expense, in support of your Majesty's undoubted right 1 But an abbreviated form of it had appeared in the Annual Register for 1774, p. 215. 1757 Earl of Chesterfield's Satirical Petition 67 to the Imperial Crown of these Realms ; which distinguished proof of his loyalty is, to this hour, unrewarded.1 Your Majesty's Petitioner is well aware, that your Civil List must necessarily be in a low and languid state, after the various, frequent, and profuse evacuations which it has of late years under- gone ; but, at the same time, he presumes to hope, that this argu- ment, which seems not to have been made use of against any other person whatsoever, shall not, in this single case, be urged against him ; and the less so, as he has good reasons to believe, that the deficiencies of the Pension-fund are, by no means, the last that will be made good by Parliament. Your Petitioner begs leave to observe, That a small pension is disgraceful and opprobrious, as it intimates a shameful necessity on the one part, and a degrading sort of charity on the other ; but that a great one implies dignity and affluence on one side ; on the other, regard and esteem ; which, doubtless, your Majesty must entertain in the highest degree, for those great personages whose respectable names stand upon your Eleemosynary list. Your Petitioner, therefore, humbly persuades himself, upon this principle, that less than three thousand pounds a-year will not be proposed to him ; if made up of gold, the more agreeable ; if for life, the more marketable. Your Petitioner persuades himself, that your Majesty will not suspect this his humble application to proceed from any mean, interested motive, of which he has always had the utmost abhorrence. No, Sir, he confesses his own weakness ; Honour alone is his object ; Honour is his passion ; Honour is dearer to him than life. To Honour he has always sacrificed all other considerations ; and upon this general principle, singly, he now solicits that honour, which in the most shining times distinguished the greatest men of Greece, who were fed at the expense of the public. Upon this Honour, so sacred to him as a Peer, so tender to him as a man, he most solemnly assures your Majesty, that, in case you shall be pleased to grant him this his humble request, he will grate- fully and honourably support, and promote with zeal and vigour, the worst measure that the worst Minister can ever suggest to your Majesty : but, on the other hand, should he be singled out, 1 " A satirical allusion to the conduct at that period of the Dukes of Bedford, Bolton and Montagu, Lords Harcourt, Halifax and many other Peers. Horace Walpole gives the following account of it in a note to Sir C. H. Williams's ballad The Heroes — ' In the time of the Rebellion these Lords had proposed to raise regiments of their own dependents, and were allowed : had they paid them too, the service had been noble ; being paid by Government obscured a little the merit ; being paid without raising them would deserve too coarse a term. It is certain that not six regiments ever were raised, not four of which were employed.' " Note by Lord Mahon. 68 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1758 marked, and branded by a refusal, he thinks himself obliged in Honour to declare, that he will, to the utmost of his power, oppose the best and wisest measures that your Majesty yourself can ever dictate. And your Majesty's Petitioner will ever pray &c. 1758. The Annual General Meeting for 1758 was held on July 27th, and was attended by twenty members, James Burrow in the Chair. The Treasurer stated that the expenses connected with venison and salmon had amounted to £i 73., and that the Fund had paid £6 us. 8d. for deficiencies in the attendance of members, while there remained in his hands a balance of £2 i6s. id. It was further announced that George Bell had died since the last Anniversary and that Welbore Ellis, elected at that Anniversary, was believed to be out of England, as he had never attended nor paid his admission fee. It was decided by a majority that his election was void, and a further resolution was adopted that members who propose candidates must inform them when they are elected. To fill the two vacancies thus caused John Hyde (F.R.S. 1752) and Samuel Dyer were elected. The latter was not at that time a Fellow of the Royal Society, but was elected on March 6th 1760. He was a remarkably able man of letters and an esteemed friend of Samuel Johnson, who had the greatest respect for his scholarship. He was the first addition to Johnson's Literary Club, after the original nine, and, as Johnson boasted, was in constant attendance there. Dyer was described by Edmund Burke as " a man of profound and general erudition." x He had dined frequently with the Royal Philosophers before they made him a member of their fraternity and he continued faithful in his adherence. The last dinner he attended was held on July 9th 1772, and he died on September I4th of that year. 1 Boswell's Life of Johnson (Birkbeck Hill's Edition), iv. p. n note. Sir Joshua Reynolds and Malone both believed him to have been the author of the " Letters " of Junius. 1758 The Club ' s first Commemorative Dinner 69 One of the first entries in the Treasurer's Register for this year (23rd January 1758) is as follows : " At an extra Mitre held in commemoration of the Club's having met here weekly for fourteen years past : Present, Earl of Maccles- field, President ; Earl of Morton, Lord Willoughby, Lord Charles Cavendish, Mr. Burrow [the Treasurer and other nine members and three guests]. Veale Soup. Soup and Bouille. Fresh Salmon and smelts. Cod and Smelts. 2 dishes of Chickens. Ham. Boiled Turkey & oyestrs Rump of Beef, Lamb pye with Cocks-combs aladobe [a la daube], &c. Haunch of Venison. RIDERS. 2 dishes fruit. 2 jellys and syllabubs. 2 Almond leach and Olives. 2D COURSE. 2 dishes Teale and Larks. Tansie. Pear pye Creamed. Lobsters. Hare. Marrow pudding 2 dishes Asparagus and loaves. The Company were this day entertained with the above dinner by Mr. Cole at 5/ per head eating, and drank to the prosperity and continuance of the Society in claret." The visitors this year again several times included Ben- jamin Franklin. In connection with the history of the Club the most notable of the strangers now introduced to the company was the Honourable Henry Cavendish, then a youth of seven and twenty, who appeared for the first time at the dinner on June I5th. The party numbered seventeen members and twelve visitors. Among the members were Lord Macclesfield, Lord Charles Cavendish, Dr. Pringle, Dr. Birch, Dr. Gowin Knight, Dr. Watson, and Mr. Burrow, while the guests included Dr. Bradley, Mr. Dyer, and Henry Cavendish. It may be added that on each of the four occasions when the younger Cavendish dined this year with the Club his father was also present. jo Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1759 1759. On July 26, 1759, the Annual General Meeting was attended by thirteen members, James Burrow being in the Chair. The Treasurer reported that the expenses had been £3 75. 6d., leaving in his hands a balance of £2 55. id. Two vacancies were announced owing to the death of Dr. Clephane and Arthur Pond, and a third arose from the non-attendance of William Tempest. These places were filled by ballot, and the Rev. Erasmus Saunders, D.D., the Rev. John Ross, D.D., and the Earl of Marchmont were elected. Dr. Saunders was a divine of Jesus College, Oxford, and prebendary of St. David's, who had been elected into the Royal Society in 1759. Dr. Ross, of St. John's College, Cambridge, after holding various preferments, be- came Bishop of Exeter in 1778. He was made F.R.S. in 1758. The Earl of Marchmont, who has already been men- tioned in these pages as a frequent visitor and a donor of salmon to the Club, was now chosen to be one of its members. The war with France, waged on land in North America, and at sea in various regions, from 1755 to 1763, cut off all intercourse of a friendly kind between the natives of the two countries, and its effects are marked in the annals of the Royal Philosophers by the general absence of foreign guests from their dinners during this interval. Among the English guests the name of the Earl of Huntingdon occurs this year more than once. It was of him that Lord Chester- field wrote that next to his own son, he was " the truest object of my affection and esteem and who (I am proud to say it) calls me and considers me as his adopted father. His parts are as quick as his knowledge is extensive." x In later years he was a frequent visitor, sometimes contributing venison to the good cheer of the Club. Another peer among the visitors was the Earl of Rosebery of that day, whose name is found in the Register under that of Lord Willoughby on 5th April. Lord Charles Cavendish dined twice with the Club and on each occasion his son Henry accompanied him. Benjamin Franklin likewise continued to appear at intervals among the philosophers. 1 Chesterfield Letters (Lord Mahon's Edit. 1845), vol. ii. p. 38. 1760 Election of Henry Cavendish 71 1760. The Annual General Meeting held on July 315! 1760 was attended by the following members : James Burrow, in the Chair. Samuel Clarke Dr. William Watson Dr. Gowin Knight Philip Miller Dr. Nich. Munckley Daniel Wray Rev. Dr. Birch Rev. J. Cooksey Peter Davall Dr. Mark Akenside William Hall J. Colebrooke. Treasurer. Revd. Dr. Bradley, and Dr. Alexander Russell, visitors. The Treasurer stated that the ordinary expenses had amounted to £i 145. and that £3 us. had been paid for deficiencies in attendance, leaving a balance of ,£8 45. Qd. His register of the dinners shows that the total number of those who had dined since the last Anniversary was 682, of whom 533 were members and 149 visitors. It was announced that since the last Anniversary Isaac Hawkins Browne, Paul Whichcote and Charles Stanhope had died, and further, that Dr. John Kidby wished to resign his membership. Three new members were thereupon elected by ballot : — Samuel Wegg, who became F.R.S. in 1753, Matthew Raper, F.R.S. in 1754, and the Honourable Henry Cavendish, who had been elected into the Royal Society on ist May preceding. At the same meeting it was determined that henceforth the occurrence of three negatives should exclude anyone put to the ballot. As the election of Henry Cavendish was one of the most memorable incidents in the history of the Club, some account of this remarkable personage may be appropriately given in this place. Grandson of the second Duke of Devonshire and son of Lord Charles Cavendish, an active member of the Club, he would in any case have been sure of a friendly welcome from the other members, but he was known to share his father's scientific pursuits, and gave promise that he would make his mark in any lines of investigation which he might undertake. Few however could at this time have surmised that the shy, reserved and modest new-comer among the 72 Presidentship of the Earl of Mac c lesfie Id 1760 philosophers would, ere many years had passed, be recog- nised as one of the master-minds in physical and chemical science. Cavendish in his mature years must have presented a strikingly picturesque figure as he moved through the streets of London and took his place under the roof of the Mitre Tavern. From the narratives left by his contemporaries it is possible to form some conception of his appearance and manner. Persistently retaining throughout his life the costume of a bygone generation, he at once arrested the attention of the passers-by. His slim body was wrapped in a greyish-green or faded violet coat that rose high round his neck and allowed his frilled shirt- wrists to project from its sleeves. A quaint three-cornered cocked-hat crowned his head. This garb remained the same from year to year, no matter what changes might be transpiring in the fashions of the society of the day. He is said to have calculated " the advent of his tailor to make a new suit of clothes, as he would have done that of a comet, and consulted the almanac to discover when the artist should appear." He had a shrill and somewhat disagreeable voice, a shy, nervous and awkward manner, a remarkable dislike to encounter strangers and a habit of silence in company, save when the conversation specially interested him, and then his range of knowledge and depth of thought would flash a fresh light on the subject that was being discussed. For the first half of his life he lived on limited resources, during the last half he was one of the wealthiest men in England. Yet the change from comparative poverty to affluence made little or no difference in his manner of living, which was extremely simple. Though he became constant in his attendance at the dinners of the Club he seldom invited anyone to his own house, whether at Clapham, where he had a pleasant abode in what was then largely open country, or in town near the British Museum, where he formed a good scientific library to which any serious student could have access. His biographer has recorded that Cavendish lived comfortably but made no display. THE HON. HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S., 1760. PLATE VIII To face page 72. 1760 Henry Cavendish 73 His few guests are said to have been treated on all occa- sions to the same fare, which was by no means sumptuous, being invariably a leg of mutton. Once when three or four scientific men were to dine with him, and his housekeeper came to ask what was to be got for dinner, he said, ' a leg of mutton ! ' ' Sir, that will not be enough for five.' ' Well, then, get two/ was the reply.1 Cavendish's biographer remarks that " the most striking of his prominent peculiarities at a first glance, was a singular love of solitariness, and a reluctance to mix with his fellows, which I may perhaps best denote by saying that Cavendish was one of the most ungregarious of beings." 2 This judg- ment was undoubtedly founded on good evidence. Never- theless the record of his relations with the Royal Society Club shows that it must not be accepted too absolutely. Proofs will be given in the following pages from the hitherto unpublished registers of the Club that for many years he was unquestionably the most constant and regular in his attendance of all the members who have ever belonged to the fraternity. To say that he dined with the Club every Thursday does not convey to the mind a full appreciation of the true measure of his assiduity, which can only be properly expressed in a numerical statement. At first he seems to have restricted himself to about two dinners in the month, but in the course of ten years his attendance rose by successive increments until it sometimes included every week in the year, for in his time the Club con- tinued its meetings during the Royal Society's vacation and recesses. From 1770 onwards to the end of his life, that is for some forty years, his record was never lower than 44 attendances in the year, and was usually about 50. In 1784, January began on a Thursday, the meeting day of the Club, and December ended on a Friday, thus giving in all 53 weekly gatherings and he was present at every one of them. In the slack months of the year, when most of the members of the Club were away on holiday, sometimes not more 1 G. Wilson's Life of Cavendish, p. 164. 2 Ibid. p. 165. 74 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1760 than two made their appearance at a meeting, but one of these was pretty sure to be Henry Cavendish. In 1809, the last complete year of his life, he attended 51 times and in the succeeding January and February he was in his accustomed place every week until little more than a fortnight from his death, which took place on loth March, 1810, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. It is thus obvious that he was but little away from London during the last forty years of his life, and that he must have had remarkably good health to be able to make his appearance so regularly, in spite of inclemencies of weather and the complaints which accompany them. That he was the creature of habit was shown in many little ways, such as his always hanging his cocked hat on the same peg, and having his stick placed in one of his boots and always the same boot. But probably his relation to the Royal Society Club is the most signal illustration of this feature of his character. Brought at first by his father into the company of the philosophers he, naturally so shy and silent, soon got used to it, and he must have found a solace in it, seeing that for so many years he could not dispense with his weekly sitting at the Club. It was the custom among the members when a " clubbable " visitor appeared among them, that others than his first introducer invited him again and again, and this was done more par- ticularly with regard to men who were proposed as candidates. Cavendish seems to have overcome his timidity and to have observed this custom by inviting prospective candidates whom he liked, though he may have had few interests in common with them. For the first twelve years he did this good-natured service somewhat sparingly, but from 1772 onwards he became more hospitably inclined. Thus in 1779 he had altogether 19 guests throughout the year, sometimes two at the same dinner. Most of them were no doubt candidates, but some were probably invited by him as more especially his own friends. There can be little doubt, for example, that the Rev. John Michell, who from 1767 was from time to time his guest, and who was not a 1760 The Author of" Tristram Shandy " 75 candidate for admission into the Club, was asked by Caven- dish as one whose friendship he valued and with whose scientific studies he had the warmest sympathy. But as time passed, his zeal for hospitality to outsiders dwindled until for five or six years in succession he ceased to invite any visitor. In the years 1800 to 1802 there was a slight revival. He appears to have taken a special interest in the election of Charles Hatchett, whom he asked to dine at the Club no fewer than six times in those three years, and he had the ulti- mate satisfaction of welcoming that Candidate as a member. The details of Cavendish's life have been most imperfectly preserved. It is fitting, therefore, that any fresh particu- lars regarding him which can be recovered should be put on record. One cannot but look back with profound in- terest on the pathetic figure of the great philosopher who sought in the meetings of this Club a relaxation from his studies and a relief from the solitude in which most of his days were spent. Shrinking from contact with general society, seemingly so indifferent to the plaudits of his con- temporaries, and so careless about his own fame in the future, he found in these meetings some at least of that human interest and sympathy of which he stood so much in need. All members of the Royal Society Club are proud of his connection with their fraternity, and they may well remember with gratitude the unremitting attention which for half a century Henry Cavendish gave to its affairs and prosperity. After this long digression let us return to the record of the Club during the year 1760. The list of guests includes a few well-known names. On 3rd April the entry occurs " Mr. Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy." The registers up to and beyond this date do not state by whose invitation each visitor was present. From the position of the names of Dr. Watson and Dr. Squire opposite to that of Sterne in the dinner-register it may be conjectured that one or other of these gentlemen had the pleasure of introducing the illustrious creator of " My Uncle Toby " to the table of the Royal Philosophers. j6 Presidentship of the "Earl of Macclesfield 1760 Sir Thomas Robinson, or " Long Sir Thomas," as he was familiarly called, dined with the Club on I2th June. He had in his youth travelled in Europe and devoted much of his attention to architecture, which became a dominant taste all through his life. In 1727, when under thirty, he had entered parliament as member for Morpeth. He was created a baronet three years later, and thereafter became a commissioner of excise. He indulged his tastes and dim- inished his fortune by extravagance in entertainments in London and in enclosing and laying out his estate of Rokeby, which he left in the state in which Walter Scott found and described it. His finances were so reduced that he was glad to accept the colonial appointment of Governor of Barbados. But his management of the colony made him so unpopular that after a few years he was recalled in 1747. He had acquired shares in Ranelagh Gardens, and after his return to London he became director of the entertainments at that fashionable resort. His financial difficulties compelled him in 1769 to part with Rokeby, which then became the property of the Morritts, with whom Scott was on terms of such in- timate friendship. " Long Sir Thomas " was so remarkably tall that when he asked Lord Chesterfield for an epigram that witty peer could not resist the temptation to allude to this personal feature when he complied with the request in the following couplet : Unlike my subject I will make my song, It shall be witty, and it shan't be long. Nor could the same wit refrain in his last illness from saying to his tall friend, " Ah, Sir Thomas, it will be sooner over with me than it would be with you, for I am dying by inches." l Sir Thomas became blind in his old age and died in 1777. Another of the Club's guests this year was Lord Auchin- leck, the father of James Boswell, who in his biography of Samuel Johnson has given so good a sketch of him and so many incidents that reveal his idiosyncrasies. He was 1 Croker quoted in Birkbeck Hill's Edit, of Boswell's Life of Johnson,. i- 434- 1760 Bradley r, Maskelyne, Boscowicb 77 upwards of fifty years of age when he dined with the Philo- sophers. Like not a few Scottish students of the time, he had taken his degree at Leyden, practised with success at the Scottish bar, and in 1754 had been raised to the bench, where, after the custom of the country, he took his legal title from his Ayrshire estate of Auchinleck. On 3rd July of this year a remarkable galaxy of leaders in physical science appeared at the Club's table. It included the veteran Dr. Bradley, Henry Cavendish, who appeared then for the last time as a guest, and Nevil Maskelyne. The last-named illustrious man in a few years from this time was appointed Astronomer Royal, and in that capacity became ex officio a member of the Club. During these inter- mediate years he dined frequently with the Royal Philo- sophers as an honoured visitor. By no means least eminent of the men of science who dined at the Club's table this year was one already mentioned who had been an occasional guest for some years, the Rev. John Michell — a modest and retiring student of science, but gifted with no common faculty of original observation and reflection. He was elected into the Royal Society on June I2th this year, and his name on the Society's roll of membership occurs immedi- ately below that of Henry Cavendish. These men were to become friends and fellow-workers in research in after years, and some particulars concerning the less known of the two will be given in a later chapter. The only foreign guest of note recorded as a visitor this year was Father Boscowich (1711-1787), an Italian mathe- matician and astronomer who entered the order of Jesuits and taught in Rome, Milan and Pavia. He travelled over Europe and came to London, where the Royal Society en- gaged him to go to California to observe the transit of Venus, but the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain prevented the mission. The Padre attained such a high reputation that a kind of rivalry arose among the crowned heads of Europe in their efforts to secure his services. He finally accepted the offer of Louis XVI. to settle in Paris, where he was placed at the head of the Optique de la Marine. When 78 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1761 he was in England he had a discussion in Latin with Samuel Johnson, who maintained " the superiority of Sir Isaac Newton over all foreign philosophers, with a dignity and eloquence that surprised that learned foreigner." 1 He dined with the Club on 5th and 26th June and again on nth December. 1761. This year seems to have been uneventful in the Annals of the Club. The Annual General Meeting on July 3oth was attended by only eleven members, one of whom was Cavendish, and the Chair was taken by Peter Davall. No vacancies were reported either from death or from non- attendance. The Treasurer intimated that the expenses connected with gifts of venison, salmon and beef were £2 45., and that the deficiencies which had to be made good for absentees at dinner amounted to £6 us. He further stated that the balance in his hands (£3 8s.) was insufficient for the outlays of the ensuing year. It was accordingly agreed that each member should pay five shillings to the Treasurer for the supply of the Fund. The customary presents of venison continued to arrive during the year, but there is no mention of turtles in the register. The Earl of Marchmont, however, did not fail to supply his preserved salmon, sometimes " pickled after the manner they pickle it to send to the East Indies." The fish course in the weekly dinner now frequently included one or more Cod's heads and the Treasurer specially notes of one of these that it was " large and good." He also chronicles in his characteristic way that on April i6th " the company were entertained with a mighty Chine of Beef and 2 brace of large Carp by Mr. Hanbury, arid drank his health in claret." He has, however, omitted to give the measurement and weight of this joint. The next week, Thursday " being St. George's Day, the Society of Anti- quaries dined in this room and Mr. Cole through mistake did not provide a Dinner for the Club, of which only four met." Few guests of note are this year recorded as having been present at the dinners. One of them, John Smeaton, the 1Boswell's Life of Johnson (Birkbeck Hill's Edit.), ii. 125. 1762 Henry Ellis ; Dr. Alexander Russell 79 famous engineer, then in the prime of his vigour, was a few years afterwards elected a member of the Club. Governor Henry Ellis, who dined on June nth, had made his reputation by taking part, as hydrographer, surveyor and mineralogist, in an expedition sent out in 1746 to search for a north-west passage. The expedition definitely ascer- tained that no such passage existed from Hudson's Bay. For his share in the work he was elected into the Royal Society in 1749. In later years he received the appointment of Governor of Georgia and thereafter of Nova Scotia. He died at Naples in 1806. 1762. The Annual General Meeting on 2Qth July was again thinly attended, there being only fourteen members present. James Burrow presided. The death was announced of Sir James Creed and James Postlethwaite. Three mem- bers desired to resign their places in the Club — Samuel Dyer on account of his absence abroad on public service, Dr. Feake by reason of his feeble health, and the Bishop of St. David's (Dr. Samuel Squire), because of the many claims of his See, while other three members, Dr. Akenside, Robert More and Taylor White had not attended any meeting during the previous twelve months. The Club resolved to declare six places vacant, Samuel Dyer, Dr. Feake and the Bishop being retained as members. As the result of a ballot there were elected, Dr. Alexander Russell, John Hadley, M.D., Rev. Lewis Crusius, D.D., Rev. Samuel Chandler, D.D., Earl Verney and Dr. Jean Louis Petit. The Treasurer stated that the expenses had amounted to £6 i8s., of which £6 55. 6d. were owing to payments for deficiencies in dinner attendances. A few biographical facts may be given here about the new members. Dr. Russell, after completing his medical education at Edinburgh and Glasgow, went to Aleppo in 1740 as physician to an English factory, and there learnt to speak Arabic, which gave him much influence with the native population. He published in 1756 a volume on the Natural History of Aleppo — a work of great merit. The same year he was elected F.R.S. He did not long enjoy 8o Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1762 his membership of the Club, for he died in 1768. Dr. Hadley was Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge, and Fellow of Queen's College. He became F.R.S. in 1758. Dr. Crusius, who had frequently been a guest of the Club, was headmaster of Charterhouse School. He was elected F.R.S. in 1754. Dr. Chandler was a nonconformist clergyman who had written theological pamphlets and sermons. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1754. Earl Verney had been elected into the Royal Society in 1758 and had often dined with the Club as a visitor. J. L. Petit belonged to the medical profession and had been elected into the Royal Society in 1729. As already referred to (p. 74), it would seem from the weekly dinner-registers to have been a common practice among the members of the Club to invite to the dinners candidates for admission into the Royal Society. The approval and comradeship of the members would no doubt be useful in promoting the success of their candidature. And it would appear to have been also customary for different members in succession to invite a candidate for admission into the Club during many months previous to the election day, as if to test his " clubbableness " before adopting him as a member. It is interesting to notice in these registers the evidence that Henry Cavendish was gradualty throwing off his timidity in the Club. In the first year after his election he attended sixteen times. In this, the second year, he was present at twenty-eight dinners and at two of these the names of his father and him are placed together on the register. Few guests of distinction dined with the Club this year. It is deserving of note that Nathaniel Bliss, the Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford, who was not an infrequent guest during the summer, was this year appointed successor to Bradley at the Royal Observatory. His tenure of this office, however, proved brief, for he died in 1764. It should be mentioned that the two visitors at the Anniversary Meet- ing of the Club this year were the new Astronomer Royal and the eminent astronomer who was so soon to succeed CHARLES-MARIE DE LA CONDAMINE. For. Memb. R.S., 1748. PLATE IX To face page 80. 1763 The Due de Nivernais and Peace 8 1 him in that high appointment. They are recorded by Josiah Colebrooke as " Mr. Professor Bliss " and " Mr. Mascaline." 1763. The Annual General Meeting was held on July 25th, and was attended by fifteen members, with James Burrow in the Chair. The Treasurer's statement showed that the expenses amounted to £6 ios., of which £5 os. 6d. was due to deficiencies in the dinner attendance. The death of Dr. Charles Feake and Peter Davall was announced. The two vacancies thus caused were filled up by the election of Samuel Mead (F.R.S. 1738) and Israel Wilkes (F.R.S. 1760). On the loth February 1763 the Peace of Paris between Britain, France and Spain was signed, and peaceful inter- course was once more resumed with our neighbours on the opposite side of the Channel. The event, though not alluded to in the Dinner-register or in the Minute-book, is clearly indicated by the appearance of an unwonted number of foreigners as visitors to the Club. After the misfortunes of the Seven Years' War, France sent as its Ambassador Extraordinary to London Louis Jules, Due de Nivernais, to negotiate the conditions of peace.1 It is interesting to find that he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and also dined with the Club on the very day when the final treaty of peace was signed. This eminent nobleman was born in 1716 so that he came to London in the full vigour of manhood. He married when only fifteen, and in an age and country where marital relations were somewhat loosely held, he proved a model of conjugal affection. He had been French Ambassador at Rome, where his influence prevented the condemnation of Montesquieux' " Esprit des Lois " by the authorities of the Index. Lord Chesterfield, writing on 6th July 1749 to his son, who was then in Rome, urged him to cultivate the acquaintance of the Duke. " He is in my opinion," said the Earl, " one of the prettiest men I ever knew in my life. I do not know a better model for you to form yourself upon ; pray observe and frequent him as 1 He presented his credentials in London on 24th November 1762. 82 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1763 much as you can. He will show you what manners and graces are." l Horace Walpole, who saw a good deal of the Duke when he was in England, and received much kindness from him afterwards in Paris, describes him as " thin and small," " with one wrinkle more than I have." 2 Among the members of the Club whom the Duke met at the Club dinner were the Earl of Macclesfield, who pre- sided, the Earl of Morton, the Earl of Marchmont, Earl Verney, Lord Willoughby, Lord Lyttelton, Henry Cavendish, Dr. Watson, James West, the Bishop of St. Davids, Dr. Birch and a few more. A month later (March 17) the Royal Philosophers enter- tained another company of notable foreigners. Chief among them was Sigr.or Lorenzo Morosini, the Ambassador Extra- ordinary from Venice, who had been elected into the Royal Society the week before. There were present also Count Simone Stratico, who was also made F.R.S. at the begin- ning of the following year, and Joseph Jerome le Fran$ais de Lalande. The latter, a noted astronomer of the day, made his name widely known by his researches on comets, and particularly that of Halley, and subsequently by the construction of an ingenious astronomical chart on which the precise time of the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769 were shown for all countries on the globe. His cleverness in promptly publishing the results of observations made through- out the world, which his extensive correspondence enabled him to generalise, added much to his popularity. He was elected into the Royal Society on 24th November this year. He returned to England in 1788 and again dined with the Club. The English visitors at this feast included Maskelyne, Mr. (afterwards Sir James) Porter, the Bishop of Carlisle and seven others. In honour of the assemblage Josiah Colebrooke ordered a more voluminous dinner than usual, and has recorded that " the eating was 2/6 each, and they drank claret." It may be of interest to present, as the 1 Chesterfield Letters, I. p. 286. 2 Walpole's Letters, Mrs. Toynbee's Edit. vol. v. pp. 259, 330. 1763 Sir James Porter; C.-M. De La Gondamine 8.3 Treasurer records it, the bill of fare for this repast as a sample of an English menu of the time. Cod's head and whitings Fresh Salmon 2 dishes boiled Fowles A Ham Tongue and Udder Calves head hashed Turkey Roast Chump of Beef Fricasie of Lamb 2 dishes Hot Lobsters Coast of Lamb and mint 2 dishes Minced pyes 2 boiled puddings 2 apple pyes Marrow pudding Butter and Cheese At an earlier dinner one of the guests included in the foregoing list of visitors is briefly termed by the Treasurer " Mr. Porter, Emb." As the contraction after the name was the way in which Colebrooke wrote " Ambassador," there can be little doubt that the person in question was Sir James Porter, who had been our Ambassador at Constan- tinople from 1748 to 1762, and was now on his way to take up the post of Minister Plenipotentiary at Brussels. It was while in London at this time that he received the honour of knighthood. He had become F.R.S. in 1749. During the summer of this year, when French men of science, whom the Peace now allowed to visit this country, began to arrive in London, an eminent group of them dined with the Club on May i2th. One of these philosophers, Charles-Marie De La Condamine, had many years before this time gained a world- wide reputation as a mathematician and a cultivated traveller. During his journeys he had ex- plored the Mediterranean coasts of Asia and Africa, and was the author of important observations on the attraction of mountains on the pendulum in South America. As far back as 1748 he had been made F.R.S. He dined four times with the Club during the months of May and June of 1763. Horace Walpole gives a thumb-nail sketch of him as he appeared on the streets of London : " We have got another curious Frenchman — La Condamine qui se donne pour philosophe. He walks about the streets with his trumpet and a map, his spectacles on, and hat under his arm. To tell you the truth he is absurdity itself." 1 1 Letters, June 5 and 30, 1763, vol. v. pp. 340, 344. 84 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1763 His deafness, perhaps his most outstanding peculiarity, was of old standing. When in 1760 he was received by Buffon into the Academic Franchise (and he was one of the first members of the Academy of Sciences to attain that honour) the following epigram was made about him : La Condamine est aujourd'hui Re9u dans la troupe immortelle ; II est bien sourd ; tant mieux pour lui, Mais non muet ; tant pis pour elle. While he remained in London M. De La Condamine un- fortunately made himself notorious by publishing in the newspapers an appeal to the English Nation of which the first paragraph ran as follows : "M. de La Condamine, Knight of St. Lazare, one of the forty of the French Academy, member of almost all the Academies of Europe, particularly of the Royal Society of London, lately arrived in London, took a lodging at a milliner's, the sign of the Golden Angel. He had lived in this house for about eight days, when on Friday the 26th instant, returning home at nine o'clock in the evening, he perceived he was followed by two men, shabbily drest, one of which was armed with a stick. They both entered his chamber and seized him, at the same time presenting him with a paper, and threatening by word and gesture, making a sign for him to follow them." He goes on to narrate that he had taken the opinion of counsel as to what he should do, and to his surprise was informed that he could hope for no justice or satisfaction, and that the best thing he could do was to keep silence. So he makes this appeal to the English public to know if it is agreeable to the laws, in which they glory, that a stranger should be exposed to an insult such as he had never suffered amongst the many barbarous countries through which he had travelled. An answer to this appeal promptly appeared in the news- papers. It averred that the two men of whom he complained, and whose language and errand he, in his deafness and ignorance of English, obviously did not understand, were legally engaged in serving on him a writ granted by Mr. Justice Garnon upon a deposition on oath by one of the 1763 C. E. L. Camus 85 servants at his lodgings whom he had assaulted and who went about in bodily fear of him. Therefore the counsel to whom he had applied very properly advised him to make no further stir in the matter.1 Charles Etienne Louis Camus, another French mathe- matician and astronomer who was one of the party on May 1 2th, was entertained thrice by the Club during this summer. He and his companions at the dinners, Charles Duclos and Ferdinand Berthoud, were elected into the Royal Society at the beginning of the following year. The Dinner-register contains no record of changes in the Regulations or demands for further supply. There are indications, however, that while the bill of fare still con- tinued to display mainly the solid and thoroughly English dishes which had distinguished it from the first start of the Club, traces of French influence in the cuisine begin to be more distinctly perceptible. This may perhaps have arisen out of compliment to the foreign and especially the French guests. The Treasurer, however, gets rather mixed between the two languages in drawing up his menu. He compensates this yielding to foreign taste by having next year his fav- ourite " plumb-pudding " at no less than forty-four dinners out of the normal fifty- two. 1 The appeal and the answer to it will be found in full in the Gentleman's Magazine, xxxiii. p. 305. It is given also in the Annual Register (1763, p. 166), with an editorial comment in reference to the recently liberated French prisoners, that " thirty thousand of M. De La Conda mine's country- men are gone home to refute the charge of barbarism against us." CHAPTER IV PRESIDENTSHIPS OF THE EARL OF MORTON, 1764-1768, AND JAMES WEST, 1768-1772 1764. THIS year was somewhat more eventful in the history of the Club than the immediately preceding years had been. The President, the Earl of Macclesfield, failing in health during the latter half of 1763, had not attended any dinner of the Club after the 28th of April of that year. His place in the Chair was supplied by Lord Willoughby or by Mr. Burrow, sometimes by Dr. Watson, who was also one of the original group of members in 1743. The Earl died on I7th March of this year after having filled the office of Presi- dent with genial efficiency for more than twelve years. The Earl of Morton was chosen to succeed him at the Society, and likewise at the Club. Treasurer Colebrooke's entry in his Dinner-Register under date April 5th is as follows : " The Earl of Morton having been elected President of the Royal Society was this day elected a member of this Club in the room of the Earl of Macclesfield, and attending, paid his Admission Fee & i/." The Treasurer and the Club somewhat anticipated the choice of the Royal Society, for the Earl of Morton was not formally elected President by the Society as a body until the 3Oth November following. James Douglas, fourteenth Earl of Morton [1702-1768], was M.A. of King's College, Cambridge. As a representative peer of Scotland he had a seat in Parliament, and the administration of his large estates in Scotland occupied much of his time. He 1764 The Earl of Morton 87 had a strong bias for scientific pursuits, especially in astronomy, and was the friend and associate of the scientific men of the day in Scotland. With them he took a large part in the foundation of the Philosophical (afterwards the Royal) Society of Edinburgh. He held the position of one of the Commissioners of Longitude, and largely assisted in the preparations for observing the transit of Venus in 1769. He was one of the first Trustees of the British Museum and was also Keeper of the Records of Scotland. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society when he was Lord Aberdour, as far back as 1733, and he contributed papers, chiefly astronomical, to the Philosophical Transactions. On the death of the Earl of Macclesfield, the Earl of Morton was chosen to succeed him as one of the eight foreign members of the Academy of Sciences in Paris. The new President having been a frequent guest of the Club in the past, was on terms of pleasant intimacy with the members. At the Annual General Meeting held on July 26th, when twelve members and two visitors attended, and the Earl of Morton presided, the Treasurer reported that his expenses had amounted to £9 35. iod., of which £4 135. arose from deficiencies at dinner, and that the balance re- maining in his hands was £3 143. The only death among the members during the past year was that of the Earl of Macclesfield, whose place in the Club had been immediately filled up by the election of the Earl of Morton. It was then resolved " in consideration of the dearness of Provisions and the Good dinners Mr. Cox gives the Company, that 6d. per head be added to the Reckoning on account of wine, but that deficiencys should pay 1/6 as usual." During the autumn months of this year the weekly dinner went on as usual, but the attendance was sometimes so small as to make a serious demand on the Fund. Thus on 3oth August the faithful Treasurer was supported by only four other members, and he had consequently to pay los. 6d. for the seven absentees. This falling-off in the attendance con- tinued into October ; on the i8th of that month the Treasurer had only three companions and one of them was a visitor, 88 Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1764 so that his dwindling resources were further mulcted in I2s. Hence at the next meeting he was compelled to send the hat round once more, and the Club then ordered that 55. be collected from each member. The guests of the Club this year included some notable men. In the month of March two foreigners of very different characteristics appeared at its table. Louis Marie Joseph d' Albert d'Ailly, Due de Picquigny (afterwards Due de Chaulnes), a young French nobleman, had come to London, but slanderous tongues had apparently preceded him, for Horace Walpole, always on the outlook for social gossip, describes the alarm of a lady who saw this duke enter her assembly, and how she forbade her daughter to speak to " such a debauched young man." He was then 23 years of age and in the army, which he soon quitted in order to devote himself to scientific studies. The Royal Society elected him into their body on the i5th of this month and the Royal Philosophers entertained him twice at dinner. Further reference to his honourable and useful career will be found again in the record of the Club for 1783. The other foreign guest was Claud Adrian Helve tius, the famous philosopher whose work De VEsprit, published in 1758, had created so much sensation as to be translated into most European languages. In France it aroused such wide- spread opposition that it was ordered by the Parliament of Paris to be publicly burnt. The advent of this friend of Voltaire to London was thus chronicled by Horace Wal- pole : " Helvetius, whose book has drawn such persecution on him, and the persecution such fame, is coming to settle here, and brings two Miss Helvetiuses, with fifty thousand pounds apiece, to bestow on two immaculate members of our most august and incorruptible senate, if he can find two in this virtuous age who will condescend to accept his money." 1 The persecuted French philosopher arrived in London, as Walpole duly records, on I2th March 1764. He probably called at the rooms of the Royal Society a few days thereafter, for he was invited to the Club dinner on the 1 To Sir Horace Mann, lyth October 1763. CLAUDE ADRIAN HELVETIUS, 1715-1771 For. Memb. R.S., 1755. PLATE X To face page 1764 E/ie de Beaumont ; Marcbese Caraccioli 89 29th of the month, when both the Due de Picquigny and he attended. Walpole, though he disagreed with the philo- sophy of Helvetius, came to be on terms of friendly acquain- tance with him, which was renewed and strengthened two years later in Paris when the English man of letters paid a visit to France. Another notable Frenchman who dined with the Club on November 8th of this year was Jean Baptiste Jacques £lie de Beaumont, a barrister, and man of letters who made a great reputation as a forensic orator by his defence of Jean Galas, a Calvinist, executed on a false charge of murder. We get a vivid picture of him as a tourist in England from Horace Walpole, who, writing to the Earl of Hertford on gth November 1764, says of him : " He breakfasted here [Strawberry Hill] t'other morning and pleased me exceed- ingly : he has great spirit and good humour. It is in- credible what pains he has taken to see. He has seen Oxford, Bath, Blenheim, Stowe, Jews, Quakers, Mr. Pitt, the Royal Society, the Robin Hood [an oratorical club in Essex Street], Lord Chief- Justice Pratt, the Arts and Sciences, has dined at Wildman's [the Opposition club in Albemarle Street], and, I think, with my Lord Mayor, or is to do." The personal appreciation of £lie de Beaumont on the part of the Fellows of the Royal Society was shown by their electing him into the Society on 25th April 1765. It is deserving of remark that seventy years later a second £lie de Beaumont, who had made an European reputation as a geologist, was similarly honoured. Towards the end of the year two prominent foreigners were entertained by the Club. The Marchese Domenico Caraccioli, born in Naples (1715), became a diplomat and economist, and was successively Ambassador from Naples to Turin, to England and to France. In 1781 the government of Sicily was entrusted to him, a duty which he discharged with enlightened and upright firmness. It was said of him that though at first sight his features looked heavy, almost suggesting stupidity, yet no sooner did he begin to speak than his eyes grew animated, his face brightened and he 90 Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1764 often displayed a vivid and luminous imagination. He en- joyed the friendship of D'Alembert, Diderot, Condorcet and other Encyclopedists. The Royal Society next year elected him a Fellow, and also the other foreign guest, Conte Giovanni Battista Carburis, who was one of the foremost physicians of his day, and taught for twenty years in the faculty of medicine at Turin. With the view of making the acquaintance of the most eminent men in his profession he visited France, Holland, England and Finland. Having acquired an European reputation he wished in 1770 to return to his native Cephalonia, when the King of Sardinia's daughter, who had married the Comte d'Artois, prevailed on him to accompany her to France as her physician, and Louis XVI. adopted him as physician to the whole royal family. He came to London and dined with the Club on the same evening with the Neapolitan Ambassador. Next spring he again appeared. Returning eventually to Italy he became Professor of Physiology at Padua, where he died in 1801. Among the English visitors at the dinners may be men- tioned the second Earl of Egmont, who, having sat first in the Irish and then in the British House of Commons, during a period of more than thirty years, had been raised to the peerage and was now first Lord of the Admiralty. His father had been a Fellow of the Royal Society, and he was elected to the same position on 2ist June of this year and the week following dined with the Club. Another Fellow elected on I3th December and entertained by the Club next week was the fourth Lord Trevor, a Fellow of All Souls College, who had been minister at the Hague. It may be noted that Dr. Mark Akenside, who, as already men- tioned, had for years been a frequent guest and then an assiduous member of the Club, but had been balloted out for non-attendance during twelve months, dined once again this year as a visitor. 1765. The Annual General Meeting of the Club was this year held on July 25th, when the following members were present : 1765 John Smeaton ; Benjamin Franklin 9 1 James Burrow, in the Chair. William Hall Samuel Dyer Dr. William Watson Dr. Gowin Knight John Ellicott Dr. W. Heberden Henry Cavendish Dr. Nich. Munckley Josiah Colebrooke, Treasurer and James West, Henry Boult Cay and Dr. Baker, visitors. It was reported by the Treasurer that the expenditure for the past year had amounted to £6 is., whereof £4 173. 6d. had been due to deficiencies in the attendance at dinner, and that the unexpended balance in his hands was £5 I2S. 6d. The total attendance at the dinners since the last Anniversary was 673, composed of 473 members and 200 visitors. It was announced that by the death of the veteran member Lord Willoughb}' of Parham, of Dr. Charlton Wollaston and of Dr. John Hadley, three vacancies had arisen. These were filled by the election of John Smeaton (F.R.S. 1753), George Eckersall (F.R.S. 1761) and Thomas Wood (F.R.S. 1761). All these new members had already been visitors to the Club. Smeaton's reputation as a great engineer was increasing every year. In 1759 he had completed his achieve- ment of the erection of the Eddystone lighthouse — the most stupenduous work of the kind which up to that time had ever been erected in the midst of a stormy sea. Not only had his scientific merit been recognised by his election into the Royal Society, but the Society had bestowed its Copley Medal upon him in 1759. There were still many triumphs of engineering skill to be won by him in the years that were to come. The names of no distinguished foreigners are to be found in the dinner lists for this year, except that of the Conte Carburis, who was entertained again by the Club on i8th April. His election into the Royal Society had taken place on the 2ist of the preceding month. The most illustrious guest was Benjamin Franklin, who towards the end of 1764 had returned to England on his second mission to this country. He dined with the Club on 24th January this year. 92 Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1765 There is now perceptible in the dinner-registers a more marked falling-off in the attendance of members during the months of August, September and October. Thus in the first of these months this year deficiencies are recorded in four out of five dinners. In September all the dinners had less than the twelve for whom commons were ordered. October began well, but the next four dinners fell short of the full company provided for. There was still, however, no diminution in the generous contributions to the cuisine of the Club. The Earl of Shaftesbury, the Hon. Philip Yorke (now Earl of Hardwicke), and Dr. Heberden con- tinued their presents of venison, and Dr. Heberden and Dr. Watson contributed each a turtle, the Earl of Marchmont sent his salmon, and the President from his hot-houses supplied to successive dinners a dessert of pine-apples, grapes and pears. Nevertheless the general character of the menu remains, under the Treasurer's supervision, funda- mentally of the same solid kind as at the beginning. There is perhaps a perceptibly increased appearance of vegetables, but the two courses of fish, the roast or boiled joints of beef, pork and lamb, still flourish, together with fowls and geese, sweetbreads, calves'-head and hashes of various kinds, and the seldom-failing " plumb-pudding/' On one occasion a new sweet makes its appearance which the deipnoso- phistical Treasurer calls a " crocant of pears," and he ex- plains, in a footnote to his record of the dinner, that " crocant is a tart or fruit pye with an open lid." [Croquante in French cookery.] 1766. The Annual General Meeting this year took place on July 3ist, when there were present thirteen members, the Earl of Morton in the Chair. The Treasurer stated that the expenses for the past year had been £6 6s. 6d., of which £5 55. was required to pay for the deficiencies in attendance, leaving in his hands a balance of £2 145. He intimated the death of the Rev. Dr. Birch (one of the small group of original members) and the Rev. Dr. Chandler. The two vacancies thus caused were filled by the election of Robert Burrow and Dr. 1766 Regulations for Admission of Strangers 93 George Baker. Both these new Members had become Fellows of the Royal Society in 1762. Dr. Baker was a physician in London, who afterwards was appointed physician to the King and Queen and received a baronetcy. In the Minutes of the General Meeting this year there would seem to be an indication of a recrudescence of the old trouble about the intrusion of strangers into the Club's meetings. Nothing is distinctly visible by way of explanation in the dinner-register,1 but the General Meeting adopted the following new regulations : " Ordered that no Strangers except such as are invited or intro- duced by the President be admitted without leave being obtained from the President, or, in his absence, from the majority of the Members present. " That no Member ask for the introduction of more than two Strangers on any one day. " That no Stranger be introduced into the Room till it be signifyed to him that leave hath been obtained for his Admission. " That the Treasurer be desired to enter in his Book the name of each Stranger and that of the Member who introduced Him. " That the Treasurer be desired to read aloud each day as soon after dinner as conveniently may be, the names of the Company present as entered in his Book. "That these Resolutions be transcribed fair, and that, a copy of them be hung up on the Outside of the door of the Room in which The Company meet every Thursday by halfe an Hour past two. " That a list of the Members be delivered to the Serv* who usually waits upon the Company. " N.B. These resolutions were agreed to by Ballot, nem. con. " Ordered that notwithstanding the number of Members is re- strained to Forty, the President and the two Secretarys of the Royal Society (if not already of that Number) be additional Members during their continuance in their respective offices." In accordance with the resolution that the two Secretaries of the Royal Society should be ex officio members of the Club, Charles Morton, M.D., and Matthew Maty, M.D., who were at this time the two Secretaries, were now added to the membership of the Club. Dr. Maty practised for some 1 At some of the dinners in the earlier half of the year the proportion of strangers was exceptionally high. On April loth, for example, there were five hosts and nine visitors. One or two Members may have been exceed- ing the legitimate number of guests whom they might invite. 94 Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1766 years in London as a physician, but when the British Museum was organised he in 1753 received the appointment of under- librarian in that institution, of which he became in 1772 principal-librarian. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1751, was chosen Foreign Secretary in 1762 and one of the two secretaries in 1765. He died in 1776. Dr. Morton's career was not unlike that of his colleague. He first practised as a physician in London, but in 1756 he was appointed under-librarian in the British Museum, and when Dr. Maty died he succeeded him as principal- librarian. He was elected into the Royal Society in January 1752, and became one of its secretaries in 1759. He con- tinued to take an active interest in the Club for many years. So far as relates to the detailed history of the Club, the most interesting feature in the new regulations adopted at this time is the provision that a record shall henceforth be kept not only of the name of each visitor but also that of the member by whom he was introduced. Up to this time the register affords no clue to the several hosts of the invited strangers. But henceforth, as each member would usually sit beside the person whom he had introduced, some indication is furnished of the grouping of the company at table, and in course of time it can be seen how friendships arose or were cultivated by the frequency wherewith a member invites the same outsider. This year the Club welcomed a larger number of foreign guests than in any previous year in its history — French, Russian, Italian and Polish men of note. Reference may here be made to some of these visitors. Louis George de Brequigny, a French historian and anti- quary, was sent over to England by his Government after the Peace of 1763 to examine documents, preserved among our records, bearing on the history of France. He passed three years here amid a chaos of papers " covered with a damp and malodorous dust/' Padre Paul Frisi, an Italian mathematician and physicist, had been appointed in 1755 Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics at Padua. He travelled in France, Eng- 1766 Comte de Verri ; Comte J. M. de Brubl 95 land and Holland, establishing personal relations with the mathematicians in these countries. At the dinner of the Club (3ist August) he was the guest of Dr. Maty. Comte de Verri of Milan, economist and man of letters, was an associate of Frisi, with whom and other friends he got together a group of writers who began in 1764 to publish a journal called // Caffe, consisting of essays after the model of those in Addison's Spectator. He made the acquaintance of Laurence Sterne and of Charles Fox. Finally he settled in Rome. On the occasion when he dined with the Club he was invited by Dr. Morton. Comte Jean Maurice de Briihl had been sent by Stanislaus Augustus, formerly Count Poniatowski, now King of Poland, as Ambassador to Paris and afterwards to London. Fond of Astronomy, he improved some astronomical instruments. He became a favourite in London Society. Lord Chester- field, writing to his son on 26th February 1865 said : " Count Briihl is much in fashion here ; I like him mightily ; he has very much le ton de la bonne compagnie " ; and two years later he could report : " Count Briihl is either actually married or very soon to be so to Lady Egremont. ... I am very glad of it, for he is a very- pretty man." 1 On October 2d a company of Russian notabilities were entertained by the Club. They included M. Mousin Puschkin, the Russian envoy, M. Schouwaloff, Chamberlain to the late Empress of Russia, and Count Rasumouski, the President of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. The same dinner was attended by Benjamin Franklin, Henry Cavendish, Dr. Watson, Dr. Heberden, Dr. Maty, Samuel Dyer and others. A month later Count Briihl again appeared on the invi- tation of the President, and there were also present Count Mneisnick senior, Count Mneisnick junior, M. Bertrand and M. Michefisky. Among the English visitors mention may 1 Chesterfield's Letters, vol. iv. pp. 397, 453. The Earl showed his power of shrewd observation and inference, for a footnote to the passage above cited states that the widow of the Earl of Egremont married Count Briihl shortly after the date of his letter. 96 Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1767 be made of Sir James Naesmith, Bart., who had some reputation as a botanist, having been a pupil of Linnaeus. He is said to have been among the first in Scotland to plant silver firs. 1767. The Annual General Meeting in 1767 was held on July 30th, when there were fourteen members present and the Earl of Morton was in the Chair. The Treasurer stated that the expenses had amounted to £4 173. 6d., of which £4 los. were due to deficiencies in the attendance, and a balance of only los. remained in his hands. An order was accordingly made for a contribution of 55. from each member. Two deaths had occurred during the past year — those of William Hall and Samuel Clarke. The former was one of the early members of the Club (August 3rd, 1749), who had never been elected into the Royal Society. The two vacancies thus caused were filled by the election of the Rev. Samuel Horsley and Dr. Wilkinson Blanchard. Dr. Horsley had been elected into the Royal Society in April of this year. He was. a writer on mathematical and theological subjects. He became one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society in 1773. In later years, disagreeing with the Presi- dent and others in the management of the Society, he resigned his membership in 1784. He was an able and eloquent man, and filled a series of high ecclesiastical appoint- ments, including in succession the bishoprics of St. David's, Rochester, and St. Asaph. Dr. Wilkinson Blanchard was a physician, elected F.R.S. in 1759. These two additions to the Club were good illustrations of the practice, already alluded to, of inviting candidates for admission during many months previous to the day of election. At this General Meeting it was also ordered that for the future the Astronomer Royal should be ex officio a member of the Club. Consequently Dr. Maskelyne, who had often dined with the Royal Philosophers, but always by invitation, could now take his place there by right of membership. This eminent philosopher, after a brilliant career at Cambridge, crowned by a Fellowship at Trinity College, took the degree FRANCIS MASERES, F.R.S., 177! . (Aetat. 83). PLATE XI To face page 96. 1767 Nevil Maskelym; Joseph Banks; A. Chamier 97 of Doctor of Divinity and entered the Church. But his energies were ultimately devoted to physical science and especially to astronomy. He had been appointed Astrono- mer Royal in 1765. At the early age of twenty-six he had in 1758 been elected into the Royal Society, and the Copley Medal was awarded to him in 1775 for a remarkable paper containing " Observations on the attraction of Mountains." The year 1767 was marked by some singular variations in the attendance of members at the meetings of the Club. On April 23, being St. George's Day, the usual meeting- room was given up to the Society of Antiquaries for their annual dinner, and dinner was ordered by the Treasurer for only six that day. When the 23rd came only one member of the Club appeared, bringing with him a visitor. The host was Henry Cavendish and his guest was Nevil Mas- kelyne ! The Treasurer has left no record of what bill of fare had been prepared for that day. A similar incident happened on 23rd September, but with another member and another guest. In this case, however, dinner had been provided for twelve, so that the Fund had to pay for ten absentees. The diminution in the attendance during August and September, to which reference has already been made, still continued this year. At no dinner during either of these two months was the full number present for which provision had been made. A few Englishmen of note appeared this year among the Club's visitors. Foremost of these came Joseph Banks, who three years afterwards was elected a member, and subsequently for more than a generation played a large part in the history both of the Royal Society and of the Club. Sir James Porter dined with the Club more than once. Sir John Cope was a frequent guest in anticipation of his elec- tion as a member, which took place in the course of three years. Dr. Pringle now appears on the dinner lists as Sir John, having had a baronetcy conferred upon him in the previous summer. Mr. Chamier dined on 4th June. This was doubtless Johnson's friend Andrew Chamier, on whose judgment the sage greatly relied. He was of Huguenot 98 Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1767 descent and had been a stockbroker, acquiring such a fortune as enabled him, though young, to quit business and cultivate literature and politics. In 1775 he was appointed Under Secretary of State. He was selected to be the "Professor of Commercial Politicks " in the visionary College which Johnson and Boswell, when at St. Andrews, amused themselves by imagining. He deserves also to be remembered as one of the signatories to the famous round- robin presented to Johnson about his Latin epitaph on Goldsmith.1 The records of this year afford pleasing evidence of the growth of the friendship between Sir John Pringle and Benjamin Franklin. On the i8th June Pringle invited his colonial friend to the Club, at the same time asking his helpful correspondent, Peter Collinson, to meet him. To- wards the end of August Sir John and Franklin set out on a short trip into France. A brief account of their journey is given in a letter from Franklin to Miss Stevenson, dated Paris, September 14. At Versailles, where they were presented at Court, " the King talked a good deal to Sir John, asking many questions about our royal family, and did me too the honour of taking some notice of me : that is saying enough ; for I would not have you think me so much pleased with this King and Queen, as to have a whit less regard than I used to have for ours. No Frenchman shall go beyond me in thinking my own King and Queen the very best in the world and the most amiable." 2 It was an anxious time for Franklin and he needed all the relaxation which he enjoyed at the Club, and in such excursions as that which he took to France. He had been 1 Boswell's Life of Johnson (Birkbeck Hill's Edit.) i. 478. 2 Life of Franklin, 4th Edit. i. p. 542. His loyalty continued not- withstanding the political antagonisms amidst which he moved. Thus on ist January 1769, for the opening of the Royal Academy of Arts, he wrote some congratulatory verses in which he described his muse joining the throng of jubilants as Tho' poor, yet willing, and tho' rude, sincere ; To praise the Sovereign whom her heart approves, And pay this tribute to the Arts she loves. Ann. Register, 1769, p. 214. 1768 Benjamin Franklin ; Claude N. le Cat 99 examined at length before the House of Commons in the previous year and his examination, which was published without the name of either printer or publisher, had greatly enchanced his reputation. In an appreciative article in the Gentleman's Magazine for July it was said that " the questions in general are put with great subtilty and judg- ment, and they are answered with such deep and familiar knowledge of the subject, such precision and perspicuity, such temper and yet such spirit, as do the greatest honour to Dr. Franklin and justify the general opinion of his char- acter and abilities.'' Few foreigners were entertained at the Club in this year. Count Verri appeared in January ; Count Sarsfield in June. In August Dr. Maty brought " Mr. Le Cat/' possibly the noted French surgeon, who had made himself famous with his pen as well as with his surgical implements, and was now in his sixty-seventh year. He died next year. John Obadiah Justamond, probably of French extraction but long established in London as a surgeon, was likewise a guest. He had published translations into English of various French works. A series of his own papers was issued after his death with the title of " Surgical Tracts." He became F.R.S. in 1775. 1768. This year opened auspiciously at the Club. The Earl of Morton had never been more assiduous in his attend- ance at the dinners. Out of twenty-one meetings from I2th November 1767 to 2ist March 1768 he had only been absent from two. He often invited two guests, mainly men of distinction, and continued to " compliment " the Club, as Josiah Colebrooke would say, with the choicest fruits from his hot-houses. At the General Meeting in July he was again unanimously re-elected President, and though absent on that occasion he was in his place at the next dinner. The last time that he presided was on 6th October. He died on the i2th of that month. The Annual General Meeting for 1768 was held on 28th July and was attended by twelve members, James Burrow taking the Chair. The Treasurer's statement showed that ioo Presidentship of the Earl of Morton 1768 the total expenditure for the past year had been £g 55. 3d., of which sum £7 8s. 6d. was owing to deficiencies, and that a balance of £2 75. id. remained in his hands. The Treasurer further reported that Lord Cadogan, Thomas Wood and Philip Miller had not attended the Club meetings since the last audit. These members were accord- ingly declared to have forfeited their seats from non-attend- ance. To fill their places a ballot was taken and Henry Boult Cay, Dr. Richard Warren and Dr. Richard Jebb were elected. Mr. Cay, Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, has been already mentioned as a guest on July 25th 1765. He was a barrister of the Middle Temple. His name does not appear in the List of Fellows of the Royal Society. It would appear therefore that the Club did not yet consider the title of F.R.S. to be indispensable in any candidate for its membership. Richard Warren, M.D., was a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, who rose to eminence as a physician in London. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1764. Richard Jebb, M.D., was at the date of his election physician to St. George's Hospital. He became prominent in the medical profession and was created a baronet in 1778. His connection with the Club, however, was brief and inglorious, for at the Anniversary in 1770 he was declared to have vacated his membership by non-attendance. He had been elected into the Royal Society in 1765. The Minute of the Anniversary Meeting concludes thus — " The Earl of Morton, continued President ; J. Colebrooke, Treasurer with thanks." At the end of this Minute the Treasurer subsequently inserted the following addition : " The Society having the misfortune to lose the Earl of Morton, their President, James West, Esqre, being chose President of the Royal Society, was this ist of December 1768 elected a Member and President of this Society, in the Room of the Earl of Morton ; The Presidentship between the Death of the Earl of Morton and the Election of Mr. West, was supplyed by James Burrow Esqre." Mr. West accordingly took the Chair on 8th December. Mr. Burrow, as one of the original members of the Club 1768 Josiab Golebrooke and Angling i o i and one of the oldest and most respected Fellows of the Royal Society, was naturally chosen to fill the Chair, both at the Society and at the Club, until in the course of a few weeks the Society would at its anniversary on St. Andrew's day elect a new President. The same compliment was paid to him in 1772 when the Presidency of the Society again became vacant between two anniversaries. Among the points of interest secured by the ruling of the General Meeting in 1766, that the names of the visitors should be recorded together with those of the members by whom they were invited, is the revelation of the hospitable assiduity of the zealous Treasurer. Year after year, besides looking after the general well-being of the Club, he was one of its most devoted members in the invitation of acceptable strangers. At most dinners he provided one visitor, often two. The dinner-lists for this year show that he entertained sixteen guests, some of them several times. They included the Earl of Huntingdon, the Bishop of St. David's, the Bishop of Carlisle, Mr. James West, F.R.S., Mr. Joseph Banks, and a number of the candidates for admission into the Club. He had again this year the satisfaction of chronicling the continued generosity of the friends who so liberally con- tributed venison, turtles, and other comestibles. He notes now and then that he himself was a contributor. Thus on one occasion when the two fish courses consisted of " Pike and Soles," he adds at the foot of the list of dishes " the Pike by the Treasurer." At another dinner " A Carp and Tench by the Treasurer," and at a third " Potted Charre by the Treasurer," are duly recorded. On all three occasions he had been absent from the previous dinner. The idea naturally occurs that he sometimes escaped from Budge Row to have a few days angling on inland waters. But when he presents a " Turbutt," it is difficult to believe that he included deep-sea fishing among his recreations. His appreciation of fish as an article of diet continued marked up to the end of his treasurership ; he hardly ever failed to provide two kinds of fish at the beginning of each dinner. The Club's bill of fare, which had retained its original 102 Presidentship of James West 1768 substantial character for fully twenty years, now begins to show further symptoms of the gradual change in the fashions of diet which had been spreading through Society outside of the conservative walls of " The Mitre." This modifica- tion is shown in the more frequent appearance of vegetable dishes during the summer months. Beans, peas, artichokes, asparagus come in their seasonal order. Potatoes may all along have been on the table though not inserted on the menu, but they are definitely mentioned in the record of the dinners this year. The vegetables drop out of the list of eatables during winter. Brocoli appears for the first time on 3rd May 1770. Potatoes and French beans are recorded on I3th September in the same year. There were few foreign guests at the table of the Club this year. Count Briihl appeared twice in the winter and spring. On the second occasion he was invited by Dr. Maty, who as Secretary of the Royal Society saw that hospitality was shown to foreigners. At the same time he had another foreign guest, Count Zinzendorff, whom Lord Chesterfield describes as " a very pretty man, well- bred, and with a great deal of useful knowledge, for these things are very consistent." 1 It is said of him that he liked to live well, and that at his own table " with a true Apician eloquence he generously instructed all the novices in good living. As Solomon discoursed of every herb, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall, so he began with a champignon no bigger than a Dutchman's waistcoat- button, and ended with the wild-boar, the glory of the German forests." The Earl of Huntingdon dined many times with the Club in the course of the year. Mr. West was likewise a guest until his election as President. Benjamin Franklin came again by invitation of his friend Sir John Pringle. Joseph Banks, Thomas Pennant, Howard of Graystock, Daines Barrington, the Bishops of Oxford and St. David's, Sir Thomas Robinson and others were among those who dined with the Philosophers at the Mitre. 1 Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, vol. ii. p. 310. 1768 The Wilkes Rioting 103 Although matters went on peacefully as usual at the Mitre, there was much political commotion in London in the earlier half of this year. In April and May a series of riots led to much injury of property, and much anxiety on the side of the peaceable part of the community. Franklin, who was in London at the time, has left a graphic picture of the condition of things in the metropolis as he himself witnessed it. Writing on April i6th he recounts that he has seen " the mob requiring gentlemen and ladies of all ranks, as they passed in their carriages, to shout for Wilkes and liberty, marking the same words on all their coaches with chalk and No. 45 on every door. I went last week to Winchester, and observed that for fifteen miles out of town there was scarce a door or window-shutter next the road unmarked, and this continued here and there quite to Winchester." Again, on May I4th he wrote : " This capital is now a daily scene of lawless riot. Mobs patrolling the streets at noon-day, some knocking all down that will not roar for Wilkes and liberty ; courts of justice afraid to give judgment against him ; coal-heavers and porters pulling down the houses of coal-merchants that refuse to give them more wages ; sawyers destroying saw-mills ; sailors unrigging all the outward-bound ships, and suffering none to sail till the merchants agree to raise their pay ; water- men destroying private boats and destroying bridges ; soldiers firing among the mobs and killing men, women and children." * Throughout this turmoil the philosophers met and dined as they had been wont. When Franklin and Pringle dined with them on 2nd June their several experiences during the previous weeks would doubtless form the subject of not a little of their talk. But at the dinners of the Club tin's year a more agreeable topic of conversation would be found in the preparations that were being made for the observation of the transit of Venus, which was to take place in 1769. The Royal Society had taken the lead in these preparations, and in 1 Memoirs of Franklin, iii. 307, 315. 104 Presidentship of James West 1769 addition to the assistance afforded by the Admiralty, had collected a considerable sum of money towards financing the scientific part of the expedition. One of its youngest Fellows, Joseph Banks, had proposed to accompany Captain James Cook on the voyage to the Central Pacific Ocean, and his offer had been accepted by the Society and the Government. His wealth enabled him to make extensive arrangements for collecting objects in natural history, and to take with him a competent staff of assistants and artists. With the vigour of youth (he was then only five-and- twenty) and with the whole ardour of his enthusiastic nature, he worked hard to secure that his preparations should be well- considered and complete down to the smallest detail. It must have been with no little pride and hope that the Fellows of the Royal Society and members of the Club witnessed these labours, and finally bade farewell to the Endeavour, which under Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth on the 25th of August. 1769. The Annual General Meeting, held this year on July 27th, was attended by eleven members and presided over by James Burrow. The statement by the Treasurer showed that he had paid out £7 is. 6d., which included a sum of £6 135. 6d. for deficiencies in attendance, leaving in his hands a residue of no more than 33. 7d. He naturally appealed for an addition to the Fund, and the meeting ordered that a contribution of 55. should be levied on every member. One vacancy arose from the death of Dr. Alexander Russell. Dr. Crusius not having attended for more than a year had lost his place, and thus a second vacancy was caused. The places were filled by the election of Dr. Richard Huck and William Man Godschall. Dr. Huck entered the army in 1745 as surgeon, served abroad and in America, was promoted to be physician to the army, and went through the whole of the Seven Years' War. Thereafter he settled in London as a practising physician and became physician to St. Thomas' Hospital. In 1777 he married the niece CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, F.R.S., 1776. PLATE XII To face page 104. 1769 Due de La Rochefoucauld 105 and heiress of Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, with whom he acquired a large fortune, and he then took the name of Saunders in addition to his own. He became F.R.S. in 1768. Mr. Godschall was elected into the Royal Society in 1758. The number of the company for which commons were provided continued to be twelve. This year, however, at more than half of the dinners this number was not reached. On two occasions in August and one in December only three diners made their appearance. The Treasurer would need all the supply which had been voted to him, for not only had he to disburse for the deficient attendance, but there would come all the game-keeper's fees, charges for carriage and cooks' perquisites connected with the venison that the Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Cadogan or the Earl of Hardwicke might present. With a touch of humour he records on 26th October another unexpected demand on his Fund : " Ordered that the Treasurer do pay for a bad shilling taken in the last Reckoning." The foreign visitors this year included two interesting personages from France who dined with the Club on 2nd March. Louis Alexandre Due de La Rochefoucauld D'Enville, representing one of the oldest and most dis- tinguished families of his country, at first followed the profession of arms, but he eventually devoted himself to liberal and enlightened scientific studies, assisting with his ample fortune the prosecution of science. In 1782 he was elected into the Academy of Sciences. At the time of his visit to England he was only six-and-twenty. During the troublous years which preceded the French Revolution he took an active and liberal part in public affairs, being one of the first nobles to join the Tiers-fitat. He was treacherously stoned to death in 1792 before the eyes of his mother and his wife. Benjamin Franklin and he were friends, and doubtless they had many intercommunications when the Duke was translating into French the " Constitu- tions of the thirteen United States of America " (1783). The Duke's kinsman who was with him as a visitor to 106 Presidentship of James West 1769 the Club, the Due de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, was nearly four years younger. Horace Walpole, who met him in Lon- don, wrote of him to Sir Horace Mann : " Do you know this young Duke. He is very aimiable and worthy — much more worthy than his ancestor." His main object in the visit to England was to enquire into English agricultural methods. On his return to France -he founded a model farm, also an educational institution for the children of poor soldiers. He led an active and distinguished career through the stormy times of the Revolution. Loyal to the King, he was for a time trusted by the popular party. When the monarchy was doomed he received a hint to make his escape from France. He crossed to England in a fishing-boat, and was welcomed by Arthur Young, but went on to the United States. In 1799 he returned to France and lived for a while in strict retirement. When he revisited his estates he found all his undertakings as he had left them, the various authorities that sprang out of the Revolution having preserved them though they proscribed him. He resumed his philanthropic works, and took his place eventu- ally as a peer of France. He died on 23rd March 1827, at the age of eighty, universally respected and esteemed. Perhaps the most interesting of the home guests of the Club this year was James Burnett, one of the judges of the Scottish Court of Session, commonly known as Lord Monboddo, a courtesy title derived from his estate of that name in Kincardineshire. Educated first at the Univer- sities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, he had, like so many of his contemporaries in Scotland, completed his training at a Dutch seat of learning. Walter Scott described him as " a devout believer in the virtues of the heroic ages, and the deterioration of civilised mankind ; a great condemner of luxuries, insomuch that he never used a wheeled carriage/' He published a treatise on the Origin of Language and another on Ancient Metaphysics, but he is perhaps best remembered for his belief that the earliest men had tails which were by degrees worn off by the habit of sitting. Four years later than this dinner he received Samuel 177° Baron Dims d ale ; Absentees eliminated 107 Johnson and James Boswell at Monboddo, of which visit so pleasant a description is given by Boswell. Another notable visitor was the physician Thomas Dims- dale, who had served under the Duke of Cumberland in 1745 and had afterwards gone to Russia, where, having inoculated the Empress Catharine and various Russian princes against small- pox, he received the hereditary title of a Russian baron. He was familiarly known as Baron Dimsdale. 1770. The Annual General Meeting in 1770 was held on July 26, and was attended by James Burrow, in the Chair. Dr. William Watson Hon. Henry Cavendish Dr. Huck Rev. Nevil Maskelyne Dr. Baker Samuel Dyer George Eckersal Josiah Colebrooke, Treasurer and by one visitor, Benjamin Franklin. The Treasurer reported that the expenditure for the past year had been £10 45., of which £9 2s. 6d. had arisen from deficiencies in the attendance, leaving a balance of nd. against the Club. The total attendance at the dinners since the last Annual General Meeting was 519, comprising 399 members and 1 20 visitors. Dr. Wilkinson Blanchard and Dr. Nicholas Munckley had died since the last anniversary. The Earl of Marchmont, Rev. John Cooksey, Dr. Jebb, Samuel Mead and Rev. Dr. Saunders were declared absentees, and were thus struck off the membership of the Club ; the regulation for non-attend- ance being still at this period enforced with promptitude and impartiality. Even the generous gifts of pickled sal- mon from the Earl of Marchmont were not regarded as screening him from the strict application of the rule. Seven new members were now elected by ballot from the list of candidates. These were the following : John Cuthbert, who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1765 ; William Russell, who became F.R.S. in 1777, and in 1782 succeeded Dr. Solander as Treasurer of the Club; Sir John Mordaunt Cope, Bart., elected F.R.S. in 1765 ; Edward Hooper, elected F.R.S. in 1759 ; Sir James io8 Presidentship of James West 1770 Porter, to whom reference has already been made (ante, p. 82); William Watson, jun., M.D. (F.R.S. 1767), son of one of the original members of the Club, the veteran Dr. William Watson ; and Joseph Banks, who entered the Royal Society in 1766. As the last-named new member was to play so notable a part in the history both of the Royal Society and of the dining Club, a few biographical facts about him may be appropriately inserted here. Banks was born in 1743, and educated at Harrow, Eton and Oxford, but left the Uni- versity without taking a degree, though not without having gained the reputation of being an enthusiast in natural history pursuits. This deserved reputation led to his being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society when he was only three-and- twenty years of age. The considerable fortune which he inherited enabled him to lend powerful financial aid to the advancement of science. At the time of his election into the Club he was absent with Captain Cook on the Pacific Ocean, engaged in amassing those extensive collections which for the first time revealed some of the natural history features of many new lands. The voyage lasted two years, and when Banks returned he found him- self famous. He would fain have accompanied Captain Cook in his second voyage, and had made considerable preparations fpr the undertaking, when some official hin- drance led him to abandon the design. Not to lose altogether the use of what he had prepared, he fitted out a vessel and sailed to Iceland in 1772, where he again made botanical and other collections, visiting on the way the then unknown isle of Staff a, the singularly impressive aspect of which he first revealed to the world.1 When only thirty-five years of age he was elected President of the Royal Society in 1778, and he held this position till he died in 1820 — a period of forty- two years. He was thus probably the youngest man who ever filled the chair, and certainly his tenure of the office 1 In a communication to Thomas Pennant, who published it (together with a selection of sketches from Banks' portfolios) in his " Tour in Scot- land " (1774) — a volume which he dedicated to Banks. 177° Joseph Banks ; Colebrooke s economy 109 was far longer than that of any of those who have held it either before or since. His influence in the scientific society of his time was powerful and was always directed towards the advancement of knowledge. He was universally respected as a sympathetic and munificent Maecenas of Science. At the same General Meeting of the Club the Treasurer called attention to the serious deficiencies in the attendance since the last Anniversary and moved that " commons should be pro- vided for eight only during the Recess of the Royal Society." The Meeting accordingly " Ordered, that it be left to the Discretion of the Treasurer to give directions on ye account," and it was further resolved that a contribution of 55. 3d. should be levied on each member. In spite of the lowering of the number for which dinner was to be ordered, in the following month of August, at three dinners out of four, the attendance was less than that number. On the gth of the month only four members came to partake of the Earl of Hardwicke's venison, and of these four two, Dr. Watson and Dr. Heberden, were among the earliest members of the Club. The Treasurer does not record himself as having attended any of the dinners in August. In September matters were reversed, for only at one dinner in that month was the full complement of eight diners not reached or surpassed. The Treasurer was evidently perplexed by such vagaries. He seems to have economised, not only by reducing the number of dinners to be provided for, but by diminishing the bill of fare during the autumn months. The two courses of fish are reduced to one, and fish is sometimes absent altogether. In the early summer of this year soup begins timidly to appear at two dinners, with a month's interval between them. Whether or not its appearance was welcomed by the members, it does not occur again in the bills of fare until near the end of the following year, when after " Stoved Carp " and " Cod/' come " Soup and bouilie." Again a fortnight later, the " Soup and Bouilie " succeed " Salmon and Smelts " and " Skate." At the second dinner of 1772 the fish-course is followed by " Knuckle of Veal and Soup," and at the third 1 10 Presidentship of James West 177° dinner " Soup and Veal " come below the " Cod and Stoved Carp/' At last, on February 13th, " Pease Soup " heads the list, but immediately thereafter the old prioritjf of the double fish-course reasserts itself. Some foreign guests of note were entertained by the Club in the course of this year. The Prince of Masserano, Spanish Ambassador to Great Britain, dined on the loth May. He had been resident in London for some years. Horace Wai- pole says of him : " The three great ambassadors danced at Court ; — the Prince of Masserano, they say, well ; he is extremely in fashion, and is a sensible, good-humoured man, though his appearance is so deceitful. They have given me the honour of a bon mot, which, I assure you, does not belong to me : that I never saw a man so full of orders and disorders." *• The poor Ambassador's " disorders " in- creased on him as time passed. Walpole wrote some years later : " The Prince of Masserano is set out, so ill, that I question if he will reach Calais." 2 " M. de Bougainville " is chronicled as a guest on 24th May. There were two distinguished brothers of the name. Louis Antoine the navigator has been already referred to (p. 57). As the guest on this occasion was invited by the President, who was not scientific but antiquarian and a collector of prints, coins and rare books, we may conjecture that the M. de Bougainville now in question was Jean Pierre, who would be a congenial messmate to James West, for he was Secretary of the Academic des Inscriptions at Paris, and a correspondent of Lord Chesterfield's. On 13 th September M. de La Condamine reappeared at the Club as the guest of Dr. Morton. Sir John Pringle was chairman and Henry Cavendish was there. No record appears to have survived of any special oddities of the eminent Frenchman on this visit. 1771. The Annual General Meeting in 1771 took place on July 25th, and was attended by sixteen members, James 1 To Earl of Hertford, 8th June 1764. 2 To Sir Horace Mann, igth September 1777. The Prince died on the 1 5th November following. I771 Variable attendance; increase of vegetable dishes 1 1 1 Burrow presiding. Among those present were Sir John Pringle, Henry Cavendish, Joseph Banks, Nevil Maskelyne, Samuel Dyer, and Dr. William Watson. The Treasurer announced that the expenses (including £5 8s. 6d. for deficiencies in attendance) amounted to £6 IDS. nd., leaving a balance of £8 155. 2d. in his hands. Two vacancies were reported, caused by the death of George Eckersall and John Hyde. The vacant places were filled up by the election of Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Bart., and John Darker. Sir Joseph Ayloffe, as already mentioned (p. 7), was elected into the Club as far back as 1744, but lost his membership in 1749 for non-attendance. John Darker had been elected into the Royal Society in 1768. The attendance at the dinners this year continued to be as variable as ever and to give the Treasurer no little trouble to make his provision and avoid too serious a demand on the Fund. The numbers during the last three months of the previous year having been good, he availed himself of the liberty allowed to him and raised the provision of commons from eight to twelve. Anticipating, however, a falling-off in the attendance during the autumn months he appears to have arranged with the vintner that the provision should then be again for eight. But, for some reason that is not obvious, the attendance during August and September continued to be generally much above the provision and never fell below it. And this improvement was maintained to the end of the year, hardly any of the dinners necessitating a demand on the Fund. In regard to the bill of fare a noticeable feature is the increasing recognition of the importance of vegetables in addition to the solid joints of roast or boiled. In winter and spring " greens " generally appear on the table, with the addition of carrots, turnips or potatoes. As the summer months come on French beans, peas, artichokes, asparagus and radishes oftener find a place, followed by currant-tart and " gooseberry pyes/' while at the same time made-dishes are occasionally intercalated among the joints. A few names may be selected from the list of guests 1 1 2 Presidentship of James West 1771 during this year. One which occurs more frequently than any other is that of the Dutchman John Ingenhousz, M.D., who from the 2ist of March to the 28th of November dined no fewer than eighteen times, and usually on the invitation of Sir John Pringle, who being also a medical man, and hav- ing been partly educated in Holland, would naturally befriend him. After practising medicine for some years in his native town of Breda, Ingenhousz came to England, where his talents soon attracted notice. Sir John Pringle more especi- ally helped him forward. When the Empress Maria Theresa, in despair over the loss of two children from small- pox, appealed to Pringle to send her an able doctor for the purpose of inoculating the Imperial family, he despatched Ingenhousz, who acquitted himself with success, for which he received various honours. Besides being a trained physician he was also a man of science, and made some interesting and important discoveries in plant-life. He must also have possessed some social gifts, for he became a much appreciated guest at the Club. He had been elected F.R.S. in 1769. Thirty years later he died in England. Another medical visitor this year and afterwards was John Belchier, Surgeon to Guy's Hospital, who had con- tributed papers to the Philosophical Transactions, and had become F.R.S. as far back as 1732. That he was a man of some nerve and resolution is shown in the following anecdote of him, preserved in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1743. " One Stephen Wright who, as a patient, came to Mr. Belchier, being alone with him in the room, clapt a pistol to his breast, demanding money. Mr. Belchier offered him two guineas which he refused ; but accepting six guineas and a gold watch, as he was putting them in his pocket Mr. Belchier took the opportunity to seize upon him and after a struggle secured him." Francis Maseres, who often dined with the Club, was of Huguenot descent, his family having come to England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He took his degree at Cambridge and became a barrister of the Inner Temple, but subsequently moved to Canada, where he was appointed ALEXANDER AUBERT, F.R.S., 1772. PLATE XIII To face page 112. 1771 Return of Captain Cook 1 1 3 Attorney-General. Returning to England he eventually became Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer. He wrote on mathematics, politics, economics and history. His interest in the history of mathematics led him to produce a laborious work, Scriptores Logarithmici, in six volumes quarto. He was a cultivated and large-minded bachelor, who lived to be past 92. In his old age he would sometimes forget that he had a party in the evening, but if his mind were led back to the details of some distant period, his memory seemed to be as clear and full as ever. The classical studies of his youth continued to delight him to the last. He was a staunch Whig. Of the wealth which he inherited he made a generous use, especially in helping charities and the poor. He became F.R.S. on May 2nd this year. The Hon. Constantine John Phipps, who dined on De- cember 1 2th on the invitation of Banks, joined the Navy in 1760 when he was 16 years of age. Afterwards he entered Parliament as member for Lincoln. But he continued on the active list in the Navy. Two years after he dined with the Club he commanded the Racehorse in the Arctic expedi- tion already referred to (p. 57). He succeeded to his father's title in 1775 and became Lord Mulgrave. Three years later, commanding the Courageux, he distinguished himself in the action off Ushant. Captain James Cook, fresh from his great voyage and universally hailed as one of the greatest navigators that the Navy had ever possessed, dined with the Club on 2ist November on the invitation of Dr. Maskelyne, and next week as the guest of Banks. The latter had lost no time in reporting himself at the Club and paying his admission fee. The Endeavour cast anchor in the Downs on I2th July and Banks dined with the Club on the 25th of that month. He would have a warm welcome from James Burrow, the Chairman, Sir John Pringle, Henry Cavendish, Maskelyne, Dr. Watson, Dyer, and the other members then assembled. CHAPTER V PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOHN PRINGLE, 1772-1778 1772. THE year 1772 was marked by changes in the Presi- dency of the Royal Society and consequently in the Chairman- ship of the Club. By the death of James West on 2nd July both offices became vacant. The Council of the Society again elected James Burrow to fill the chair temporarily until the Anniversary on 3oth November. And the Club likewise chose him to preside at their dinners until a new President was found for the Society. In his absence Sir John Pringle usually took the chair, or if he too were absent Henry Cavendish was chairman. On November 30, being St. Andrew's day, the Royal Society chose Sir John Pringle as the President, and during the last weeks of the year he always presided at the Club. In the twenty years that had passed since he became a member of the Club his reputa- tion as a physician and man of affairs had been steadily increasing. His great work " Observations on the Diseases of the Army," which was published in 1752, attracted atten- tion not only in this country but all over the Continent, and became a classic in military literature. His high position among the physicians of his day gave him great influence in Society and enabled him to advance the progress of science. His kindness of heart led him to befriend many of the younger scientific men of his time. His devotion to the interests of the Royal Society Club continued unfailing all through his tenure of the Presidentship. No previous President had be^n so constant in his attendance at the 1772 Daines Barrington ; Alexander Aubert 1 1 5 meetings, and even Sir Joseph Banks was not more active and successful in bringing eminent men, native and foreign, as guests to the dinners. The General Meeting, held on July 30, 1772, was attended by eleven members, James Burrow in the chair. The Treasurer reported that the expenses had come to £5 45., including £2 175. for deficiencies in attendance, and that there remained in his hands unexpended the sum of £6 i6s. lod. He announced that by the death of James West, the President, of John Ellicott and of Dr. Gowin Knight three vacancies arose ; that Lord Charles Cavendish had intimated his desire to resign his membership ; that Earl Verney had not attended since May 10, 1770, and Israel Wilkes had been absent from the meetings since October 4, 1770. The list of Candidates having been read six vacancies were declared. These were filled by ballot, when the following Candidates were elected : — the Honour- able Daines Barrington, Dr. John Turton, Rev. Francis Wollaston, John Walsh, Alexander Aubert and Thomas Astle. It was further resolved that the President of the Royal Society should be deemed a member of this Club ex officio, if not already a member. A few biographical facts about the new members may be inserted here. Daines Barrington (1727-1800), son of the first Viscount Barrington, had often in past years been a guest at the meetings of the Club. He was a barrister of the Inner Temple, keenly interested in antiquarian and natural history pursuits. He held successively various legal appointments. About this time he was much concerned in furthering Arctic exploration, and was largely instru- mental in prevailing on the Admiralty to dispatch two exploring vessels to the northern coasts of North America in 1773, when Captain Phipps, as already mentioned, com- manded the Racehorse. Perhaps his chief claim to remem- brance is that he was one of the privileged correspondents of Gilbert White, and that he is credited with having suggested to that naturalist to put together the materials 1 1 6 Presidentship of Sir John Pringle 1772 that form his immortal " Natural History of Selborne." Barrington had been elected into the Royal Society on June 4, 1767. The Rev. Francis Wollaston, senior wrangler, of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, wrote on astronomical subjects. After holding various ecclesiastical appointments he became in 1779 Rector of St. Vedast, Foster Lane, London, and retained that office until his death in 1815. He was elected F.R.S. in 1769. He was the father of William Hyde Wollaston, whose name will often appear on later pages of these Annals. Alexander Aubert, a wealthy merchant, Director and Governor of the London Assurance Company, was fond of astronomy. He built a private observatory near Deptford and another at Islington. He was made F.R.S. on the 9th of January this year, and took so much interest in the affairs of the Society that he was spoken of as a possible successor to Sir John Pringle in the Presidency. He proved a most useful member of the Club. John Turton received his education at Oxford, where he took the degrees of M.A. and M.D. He became physician to George III. and the Royal Family. His election into the Royal Society dated from 1763. John Walsh had been paymaster of the troops at Madras and private secretary to Clive. Returning to England he in 1771 purchased a property in Berkshire. He became F.R.S. in 1770. Thomas Astle was an eminent antiquary who, having shown skill in the deciphering of manuscripts, was appointed royal commissioner for the methodising of State-papers at Whitehall. This office he held at the time of his election into the Club. Afterwards he became chief clerk of the Record Office at the Tower. He wrote many papers on antiquarian subjects, and published a work on the " Origin and Progress of Writing." He was elected into the Royal Society in 1766. In anticipation of a diminished attendance during the months of August and September it was ordered that 1772 King of Poland and Dulwicb Gallery 1 17 provision should be made for eight dinners only instead of twelve, which had been the stipulated number since the previous year. The most conspicuous foreign guest this year was Prince Michael Poniatowski, brother of the King of Poland, who no doubt brought to the Club kindly greetings from their former guest of 1754. During this visit to London the Prince saw Mr. Desenfans, well known as a picture dealer, who at his suggestion was made Consul-general for Poland in England, and was given a commission to purchase pictures for the proposed gallery of art at Warsaw, to which reference has already been made (p. 51). A large number of pictures was bought in the course of years and paid for by the pur- chaser. The disturbances in Poland and the crash of the French Revolution prevented the collection from being sent abroad. Through the generosity of Mr. Desenfans and Sir Francis Bourgeois the collection now forms a valuable part of the art treasures of Dulwich College. Prince Michael Poniatowski was elected into the Royal Society on March 3ist 1791. A little group of Scandinavian men of science who were in England at this time were entertained at the Club. Fore- most among these was Dr. Solander, the favourite pupil of Linnaeus and the constant companion and assistant of Joseph Banks. He became a member of the Club next year, and a brief notice of him will be given in the enum- eration of those elected in 1773. There were likewise John Christian Fabricius, another pupil of Linnaeus, specially distinguished for his entomological studies, and who greatly helped Banks with the insect part of his extensive collec- tions ; Uno von Troil, who accompanied Banks to Iceland and ultimately became Archbishop of Upsala, and Dr. Gahn, possibly the well-known Swedish mineralogist. On the I4th of May Sir John Pringle brought to the Club a real live Baron Miinchausen, not, however, the military hero whose marvellous adventures were the delight of boyhood a generation or two ago, but the Minister who represented Hanover, and who had taken liberties with the 1 1 8 Presidentship of Sir John Pringle 1772 name of the Duke of Cumberland, for which he received a severe reprimand from the Duke. The career of the writer of the once highly popular " Adventures of Baron Miinchausen " will come before us in the record of the year 1775. The Earl of Dartmouth, second holder of the title, who attended the dinner on 2Oth February, had filled various offices of state and this year was made Colonial Secretary. Dartmouth College, at Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S.A., was named after him. Various naval officers were brought by Banks to the evening meetings of the Club, including Captain Phipps, already mentioned, and Captain Bentinck, who then had his station at Portsmouth. Maskelyne had as his guest Colonel Roy of the Royal Engineers, of whom more will be narrated in later pages. Of the non-professional visitors the " Mr. Boswell," in- troduced by Sir John Pringle on March 26th and again on April 30, was doubtless the biographer of Samuel Johnson.1 On the first occasion the company numbered twenty-one. Mr. Burrow was in the chair, and there were present also Sir John Pringle, Henry Cavendish, Maskelyne, Joseph Banks, Solander, Colonel Roy, Captain Bentinck, Dr. Watson, Josiah Colebrooke and others. At the second dinner Pringle was Chairman and had two guests, Boswell and Dr. James Mounsey, an old Fellow of the Royal Society who had never joined the Club. There were likewise Henry Cavendish, Rev. Samuel Horsley (who this year was elected one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society), Maskelyne, Dr. Morton, Josiah Colebrooke, Alexander Aubert, the amateur astrono- mer, John Belchier, the surgeon from Guy's Hospital, John Walsh, Matthew Raper, and W. Russell. The talk on both evenings would be sufficiently varied and animated to please Boswell's taste, unless possibly his nerves may have been tried at the second party if he discovered that it numbered exactly thirteen. Benjamin Franklin dined frequently at the Club, especially 1 We know from the Life that at this time he was on terms of intimacy with Pringle. 1773 Athenian Stuart; Daniel C. So lander 119 in the later months of the year, usually on the invitation of Pringle. The same active host had Dr. Joseph Priestley as his guest on loth December, when Franklin was also present. Priestley was then nine-and-thirty years of age, and had shown himself to be a brilliant and original genius. The Royal Society had recognised his merit by electing him into its body in 1766. 1773. At the Annual General Meeting held on July 29, 1773, there were sixteen members present and one visitor. James Burrow presided. The Treasurer's statement showed that the expenses for the past year had amounted only to £2 75. 6d., of which £i 75. was incurred by deficiencies in attendance. The unexpended balance was £10 175. 4d. The Treasurer intimated the death of Samuel Dyer, and reported that two members had been absentees, the one for one year, the other for two years. The Club decided that there were only two vacancies to be filled, but no direct information is given in the Minutes as to which of the two delinquents was excluded. The vacant places were filled by the election of James Stuart and Daniel Solander. Both the new members had for some years been Fellows of the Royal Society. James Stuart, commonly known as " Athenian Stuart," was an architect and painter, who after visiting Rome and Greece published in 1762, in con- junction with his friend and fellow-traveller Revett, their " Antiquities of Athens," a work which introduced Greek architecture into London. Daniel Charles Solander, M.D., born in Sweden, came to England in 1760, with recommendations from Linnaeus, as his " much loved pupil," to John Ellis, F.R.S., and Peter Collinson, F.R.S. On the advice of the latter he was asked to catalogue natural history collections in the British Museum, and he was in 1763 appointed an assistant-librarian in that institution. Five years later, when Banks decided to accom- pany Captain Cook in his first circumnavigating voyage, he had influence enough to obtain acceptance for his proposal to make provision for a deputy to fill Solander's place at I2o Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1773 the Museum, while he took that naturalist with him on the voyage. Banks had recognised the remarkable mental powers, range of knowledge and pleasing character of the gifted Swede, and their experience on this long enterprise made them fast friends. On their return to England, Solander was installed in Banks' house in Soho Square as secretary and librarian, a position which he held as long as he lived. He accompanied Banks on his trip to Iceland. In 1773, the year with which we are now dealing, he was made keeper of printed books at the British Museum. Early in life he had gained a singularly sound acquaintance with the English language, which, added to his quiet un- assuming manner, and the range of his acquirements, made him a general favourite in society.1 Next year after his election into the Club he was unanimously chosen to be its Treasurer in succession to Josiah Colebrooke. His busy and useful career was unhappily cut short on i6th May 1782 by an apoplectic seizure, from which all the skill of Blagden, Hunter, Pitcairn and Heberden could not recover him. The attendance at the dinners continued to be remark- ably good. In the first half of the year there were only four occasions in which the company fell short of the number provided for, and the total demand on the Fund amounted only to nine deficiencies. What is equally noticeable is the recovery in the attendance during the autumn months. In August there were no more than three deficiencies and a similar number in September, while for the last three months of the year only three deficiencies had to be made good out of the Fund. These occurred in the week between Christmas and New- Year's Day, when members might reasonably have been expected to have other engagements. A few foreign guests were this year visitors to the Club. Since his acquaintance with Solander, Banks had come in 1 Fanny Burney, who saw a good deal of Solander, wrote of him in 1780 : " my father has very exactly named him, in calling him a philosophical gossip." Madame D'Arblay's Diary, i. 305. SIR JOHN PRINGLE, BART., M.D. Pres. R.S., 1772-1778. PLATE XIV To face page 120. 1773 Swedish Guests ^ Eskimos 121 contact with a number of Swedish men of science, and he availed himself of their presence in London to invite them to the Club dinners. He had frequently invited Solander as his guest, who now would come by right of mem- bership. He this year entertained a " Mr. De Geer." The name of De Geer is that of a well-known noble family in Sweden. Probably the individual in question was Charles, Baron de Geer, a noted and wealthy naturalist who especially studied insects and published a fine work upon them. His cabinet of natural history is preserved at Stockholm. Banks also again brought to the Club Fabricius and Gahn. The Royal Philosophers were not wholly above the weak- ness which Trinculo attributed to their fellow-countrymen who " when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, will lay out ten to see a dead Indian." The sensation this year was the appearance of two Eskimos at dinner by name Etujak and Tuklavinia, introduced by Mr. Walsh. In what garb they came, what language they spoke, which of the dishes on the table they partook of and what they thought of them have not been recorded in Josiah Colebrooke's carefully detailed record of the guests and the fare.1 The Count de Salis appeared at dinner together with Earl Stanhope and Benjamin Franklin, as guests of Sir John Pringle. Solander lost no time in exercising his rights as a member. On 4th November he had as his guests Count Briihl, who had not dined at the Club for some consider- able time, and Deluc, the Swiss geologist who this year came to settle in England. Dr. Turton invited a " Monsr Poissonier " on I7th June — possibly the eminent French physician and chemist to whose process for obtaining fresh water by distilling that of the sea Bougainville attributed the health of his crew in their voyage round the globe. 1 A party of Esquimaux, consisting of two men with their wives and a child, made a popular exhibition in London during the winter of 1772-3. In the end both of the men died from fever, and the wives and child returned to their northern home. 122 Presidentship of Sir John Pringle 1774 Of the English guests the most frequently present was Benjamin Franklin. He dined no fewer than eighteen times, generally on the invitation of the President, Sir John Pringle. The " General Prevost " who occasionally appeared at the Club was perhaps the officer in command when d'Estaing was repulsed from Savannah. Dr. Blagden, to whom further reference will often be made in later pages, dined several times in the autumn and winter. 1774. At the Annual General Meeting on 28th July 1774, which was attended by fifteen members, with Sir John Pringle presiding : The Treasurer informed the Society that there was no vacancy this year either by Death or Absence. He likewise desired the Society would excuse him from the office of Treasurer for the future, which office he had been honoured with for upwards of 30 years ; but as his state of health would not permit him to do the Duty of that office any longer, in order to clear his Successor from any immediate demands, desired he might pay the undercooks for the s. d. present year - 76 which being deducted from £10 73. id. [the Balance in the Treasurer's hands] there remains the neat sum of ^9 is. id., which was accordingly paid to D1 Dan1 Solander who was elected \ moirs of this Club 1 Treasurer. when a preface is Fee etc. for Venison from the Earl of Hardwicke - 13 6 For binding the ist volume of the Me- Sr Jn° Pringle, President wrote - This minute in his own clear and bold handwriting was doubtless written not without some regret by the venerable Treasurer. The Club had been the object of his fondest regard and of his most assiduous care. He had seen it grow from its first feeble beginning on 27th October 1743, when he and seven other friends agreed to subscribe six shillings each for a month's trial of the proposal to establish a weekly 1 This reference is to the first volume of the Minutes of the General (Anniversary) and Special Meetings, extending from the beginning of the Club to 2gth June 1809. The Preface desiderated by the Treasurer was never inserted. 1774 Retirement of Josiab Colebrooke 123 dinner at which congenial men interested in science might meet in pleasant social union. He had tended it through its early years with unremitting zeal, husbanding its finances, catering for its entertainment and sedulously taking his part in the invitation of guests. He had watched it become increasing^ linked with the Royal Society as a pleasant and useful appendage, to which admission was desired by the Fellows, and which supplied them with an opportunity not only of meeting each other, but of showing hospitality to outsiders in a more intimate and friendly way than was possible at the formal meetings in the rooms at Crane Court. He had every reason to retire with the consciousness that he had done his duty, and with the assurance that his labours had been rewarded by the most gratifying success. Of the eight friends who met together at the start only two besides himself now survived — Sir James Burrow and Dr. William Watson. It is interesting to compare Josiah Colebrooke's latest with his earliest bills of fare. They show but little change in their general character. Their solidity and "John Bull " aspect remain. There are still two kinds of fish at the top followed by joints of beef, lamb, veal or pork, with calves' head, brawn, bacon and greens, fried trype, wild ducks, lobsters, one or more " plumb-puddings," several apple tarts and ending off with butter and cheese. But one marked alteration is visible : vegetables are much more prominent and varied. Throughout the winter and spring these gener- ally consist only of " greens," but in spring radishes and parsnips occasionally appear. Asparagus is on the table three or four times in May and June, cherry or currant tarts are succeeded in later weeks by peas, beans, and cauliflower, and these in autumn by artichokes, until the " greens," which have seldom wholly disappeared, come back again as the standard vegetable diet, mingled with potatoes or flanked with turnips and pickles. Another difference between the earlier and later bills of fare consists in the increasing appearance of French words indi- cative of the advent of a kind of cookery that the Treasurer 124 Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1774 probably regarded with little favour. Having, however, to write down the names of the new dishes he contented himself with spelling them after his own phonetic usage. That the general character of the food which he provided remained at the end of his reign essentially what it had been from the beginning will be readily seen by comparing the last menu which he prepared with the first, which has already been quoted (p. 26). On July 2ist 1774 he gives the following bill of fare in his own handwriting : Dinner. Haddock Skate and soles Stoved eels Boiled Beef 2 Plumb puddings Greens and Collyflower Beans and bacon Venison Pasty Knuckle of Veal fore quarter of Lamb 2 Ducks 2 dishes pease 2 Cherry tarts Lambstones &c. Butter and Cheese. Dr. Solander, now become Treasurer, was this year active in his introduction of foreigners to the Club. On June loth he brought the famous Corsican general and patriot, Pascal Paoli. At another dinner his guests were Count Fersen and Mr. Boleman. The former belonged to an ancient Livonian family and had played a conspicuous part in Swedish politics. Again, Solander introduced M. Damashneff from St. Peters- burg and Herr von Biilow from Mecklenberg. He several times entertained the Count de Visconti, probably the eminent Italian antiquary to whom the study of Greek art owed so much. Pringle showed attention to two members of the Dutch nobility, Messrs. Meerman and Erb, whom he invited to the Club in summer and again in the winter months. Banks had a trump-card to play in the way of sensation when on 25th August he brought to the Club dinner Omai, a real live young chief from Otaheite, who had been brought back in one of Captain Cook's vessels. This youth was so good-looking, had such gracious manners, and showed so much intelligence that he rapidly became a great favourite in London Society. Boswell has recorded 1774 Omai from Otabeite 125 that Johnson was struck with the elegance of Omai's be- haviour, and accounted for it thus : " Sir, he had passed his time, while in England, only in the best company ; so that all that he had acquired of our manners was genteel. As a proof of this, Sir, Lord Mulgrave and he dined one day at Streatham ; they sat with their backs to the light fronting me, so that I could not see distinctly ; and there was so little of the savage in Omai that I was afraid to speak to either, lest I should mistake the one for the other." Fanny Burney wrote that "his manners are so extremely graceful and he is so polite, attentive and easy that you would have thought he came from some foreign court." He was painted in artistic robes by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and engravings of him were in demand all over the country. He dined again twice at the Club this year, the President and Treasurer being in turn his sponsors.1 Among the English guests Benjamin Franklin was again by much the most frequently seen at the Club and, as before, almost always on the invitation of his close friend, the President. The Marquis of Carmarthen and the Earl of Seaforth dined one evening in company with Franklin, Pringle, Burrow, Cavendish, Banks, Horsley and Solander. Thomas Pennant was a visitor in March and April, and Colonel Roy came more than once in the first half of the year. Dr. Blagden too appeared in the spring and summer. Sir George Shuckburgh was invited to the dinner on June 30, and he was elected into the Royal Society at the close of the year. Another visitor, who was also a prospective F.R.S. — the Rev. Sir John Cullum, sixth baronet, antiquary and vicar of Great Thurlow, was elected into the Society on March 2 in the following year. 1 The poet Cowper, in apostrophising Omai, seized the occasion to satirise the public that made so much of him. Gentle savage ! whom no love of thee Or thine, but curiosity, perhaps, Or else vain-glory, prompted us to draw Forth from thy native bowers, to show thee here With what superior skill we can abuse The gifts of Providence, and squander life. The Sofa, 633-638. "X 126 Presidentship of Sir John Pringle 1775 1775. The Annual General Meeting on July 27th 1775 was attended by Sir John Pringle, Bart. President. Sir James Burrow Samuel Wegge Sir Joseph Ayloffe Rev. Samuel Horsley D.C.L. Daniel Wray Richard Warren M.D. Charles Morton M.D. John Walsh Edward Hooper John Turton M.D. Nevil Maskelyne M.D. William Russell James Stuart William M. Godschall Robert Burrow Hon. Henry Cavendish William Watson M.D. Daniel C. Solander. Treasurer Alexander Aubert The Treasurer stated that the expenses since last audit had amounted to £16 I2s. 8d., which included £13 173. 2d. for a stove in the Club-room and £ i 145. 6d. for deficiencies in attendance, leaving in his hands a balance of £i 8s. nd. The total attendance since last Anniversary had been 864, the number of members being 558 and of visitors 306. For a second year in succession it was announced at this meeting that during the past year no vacancy had arisen in the membership either from death or absence. The following resolutions were passed : " Dr. Solander was desired to wait upon Mr. Colebrooke and acquaint him that the members of this Society are truely sensible of his many great services to the Society during the long time he has favoured them with officiating in the office of Treasurer, and that They hope he will still continue to give his kind assistance whenever his health will permit. Resolved : That for the future the Landlord of this house be allowed 4 shillings for the ordinary, including Wine, and 2 pence to the waiter. Ordered : That no strangers be admitted two successive Thurs- days. Sir John Pringle Bar* President Dan. Ch. Solander. Treasurer." The hope that Josiah Colebrooke might still be able to give his assistance was not fulfilled. His name does not appear in any dinner list after his resignation, and he pro- bably never again attended. That he was able to use his J775 The President invites thirteen guests 1 27 pen for some months is shown by his last published paper (" On a coin of Robert, Earl of Gloucester "), which is dated from Budge Row, I4th February 1775. He died on the i6th August following. The new Treasurer was evidently encountering the same difficulties as his predecessor in calculating for how many it would be most convenient and economical to provide dinner. Sir John Pringle must have astonished the members by the party which as President he invited to the dinner on I2th January 1775. It consisted of no fewer than thirteen guests, who included the Count de Salis, Wang a Tong, a Chinese, Lord Seaforth, Thomas Pennant, Lord Mahon, Charles Greville, Dr. Blagden and others. Banks brought Omai, Dr. Solander had Colonel Roy, and Dr. Morton introduced Sir Lucius O'Brien. There were alto- gether thirteen members and twenty visitors. The Treasurer found that although the numbers who attended up to August continued to be satisfactory they rapidly diminished thereafter. The number of diners provided for was twelve, but with a constant demand on his Fund he was constrained on I4th September to order commons for ten only during the rest of the recess of the Royal Society. And yet no sooner was this change made than the numbers went up beyond the new limit, and no demand on the Fund was required until almost the end of December. An agreeable collocation of guests and members took place on May 4th, when the President invited among his guests Boswell and Blagden; Solander brought the Count de Clary and Charles Greville, and William Russell introduced Alexander Tytler the historian, and when among the mem- bers present were Henry Cavendish, Joseph Banks and Dr. Horsley. Captain James Cook dined twice with the Club in the course of the year. Another guest, a familiar figure in the society of his day, was John Paradise, son of the English consul at Salonica in Macedonia, where he was born. He was educated at Padua, but received the degrees of M.A. and D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. He lived most of his life in London. He was one of the circle 128 Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1775 of Samuel Johnson's friends and a member of the little evening club established by the sage in 1783 at the Essex Head in Essex Street. According to Boswell's account of him he was " distinguished not only by his learning and his talents, but an amiable disposition, gentleness of manners, and a very general acquaintance with well-informed persons of almost all nations." A foreigner familiar with England, who dined with the Club this summer, was the Portuguese Jean Hyacinthe de Magalhaens or Magellan, descendant of the navigator who discovered the Straits of Magellan. He pursued researches in physics, and had some skill in the invention and improve- ment of philosophical instruments. His familiarity with the languages of southern Europe led to his being chosen as travelling companion to young men of wealth. He appears to have come to England in 1764 and to have spent much of his later life in England. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1774. He died at London in 1790. The most interesting foreign visitor this year, and indeed one of the most remarkable men that ever appeared at the table of the Club was Rudolf Eric Raspe. His career formed an almost incredible romance, the main outlines of which may appropriately find a place in this volume. Born in Hanover in 1737, he studied at Gottingen and Leipzig with such success that he was early known as a versatile scholar, with a strong bent towards some branches of natural history and the study of antiquities. He wrote with ease in Latin, French and English, and published translations of the Philosophical works of Leibnitz, of part of Macpherson's " Ossian," and of Percy's " Reliques." His refutation led to his appointment in 1767 as Professor of Archaeology at the Maurice College, Cassel, and keeper of the valuable collection of coins, antique gems and minerals belonging to the Landgrave of Hesse. Being fond of mineralogy and the geognosy of the day, he employed his pen on these subjects. Thus in 1769 he sent to the Royal Society of London a Latin essay in which he was the first to suggest that the elephants whose bones are found in boreal climates » SIR CHARLES BLAGDEN, M.D. Sec. R.S., 1784. PLATE XV To face page 128. 1775 Rudolf Eric Raspe 129 actually lived there, being specially fitted to withstand cold — a conclusion which has long been acknowledged to be well-founded. The Society printed his essay in the Philosophical Transactions, and on ist June 1769 elected him one of its Fellows on the foreign list. After Raspe had been commissioned to travel in Italy for the purpose of collecting gems and antiques for the Hesse-Cassel cabinet', it was found that he had abstracted valuable objects from the collection of which he had charge and sold them, receiving more than 2000 rixdollars for his thefts. Before legal proceedings were taken against him he absconded. An advertisement was issued for the arrest of Councillor Raspe, " a long-faced man with small eyes, crooked nose, red hair under his stumpy periwig and a jerky gait, wearing sometimes a scarlet coat enbroidered with gold, sometimes suits of black, blue or grey/' Traced to the Harz he was caught there in March 1775, but escaped from custody and fled to Britain, where he lived till his death nineteen years later. He probably reached London early in August. In those days news travelled slowly, and as his case had not come before a public court, he could probably count on a good start before tidings of his doings could arrive. He appears to have gone boldly to the rooms of the Royal Society and claimed the privileges due to a Fellow of that illustrious body. Sir John Pringle, the President, as in duty bound, treated him with courteous hospitality and invited him as his guest to dine with the Royal Philosophers on August loth. He there met Henry Cavendish, Maskelyne, Dr. Watson, Solander with two Swedish guests, Aubert and some others, making a party of thirteen in all. Again on the 3 ist of the month Pringle brought him to the Club, and no doubt showed him many other marks of attention of which no record remains. No further trace of his presence has been found in any of the dinner-registers. Though the tidings of his misdeeds might be slow in reaching England, they could not fail to arrive at last. On the 7th December 1775, " authentic information " came 130 Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1775 before the Council of the Royal Society in the form of " undoubted documents " that " divers frauds and gross breaches of trust " had been committed by one of the foreign members, lately librarian to the Landgrave of Hesse. The President and Council came to the formal resolution " that it would be highly reproachful to the Society, that he should any longer continue a member thereof ; and there- fore do recommend to the Society that the said Rudolf Eric Raspe be ejected/' This recommendation was carried out by the Society at the ordinary meeting of the same date, before the admission of the strangers of the day. And yet, strange to say, the officials neglected to efface Raspe's name from the printed list of members. It has remained there ever since and still appears in the last revised edition of the Society's " Record " published in 1912. It has been stated that the delinquent threatened to retaliate by exposing blunders in the Philosophical Transac- tions, in the spirit of John Hill already mentioned (p. 29). But he does not seem to have gone further than a threat. He did not leave London for some years, probably con- sidering that he had a better chance of making a livelihood there than anywhere else now open to him. His expulsion from the Royal Society and his acts that led to it do not appear to have become widely known ; at least they did not prevent him from obtaining a certain amount of occupation for his pen, on the slender profits of which, together with what he could earn by giving lessons in Ger- man, he eked out a precarious living. The year after his arrival in London he published in English a little volume entitled " An account of some German Volcanos and their Productions," which, though somewhat crude, was in advance of the general opinions of his fellow-countrymen, who, fol- lowing Werner, regarded basalt as a rock of aqueous origin, and volcanic phenomena as due to the subterranean com- bustion of seams of coal, so that no volcanoes could arise until after the appearance of vegetation on the surface of the globe. Raspe likewise translated some German mineralogical works. But the sales of such books would 1775 Raspe and Horace Walpole 1 3 i be small, and the sums to be paid him for them by the enterprising booksellers would be in proportion. During the years which he passed in London he devoted some time to an enquiry into the history of oil-painting, and visited various places in England where the earliest paintings in the country were preserved, among others the collection of the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton House and that of Mrs. Gordon at Rochester. He in April 1779 con- sulted the libraries at Cambridge, and while there he dis- covered a manuscript of Theophilus, a German monk who probably wrote in the tenth century. He learnt that Horace Walpole had written on the history of painting, and as the MS. contained matter on this subject which could not but interest that dilettante, he found means to obtain an introduction to him. Writing in January 1780 to his friend Mason, Walpole referred to the manuscript, written, he says, " in infernal Latin," but containing statements which strongly supported opinions which he himself had publicly expressed; — "there is a Dutch sgavant come over, who is author of several pieces so learned that I do not know even their titles ; but he has made a discovery in my way, which you may be sure I believe, for it proves what I had suspected and hinted in my Anecdotes of Painting, that the use of oil-colours was known long before Van Eyck. Mr. Raspe, the discoverer, is poor, and I shall try to get subscriptions to enable him to print his work, which is sensible, clear and unpretending." Three months later he wrote to the same correspondent : " I had begun to gather subscriptions, but poor Raspe is arrested by his tailor. I have sent him a little money and he hopes to recover his liberty, but I question whether he will be able to struggle on here." x In the end the idea of subscriptions was given up and the work was pub- lished at Walpole's own expense. It appeared in London in the year 1781 as a single quarto, containing not only the author's own essay but the text of two MSS. probably of 1 Mrs.Toynbee's Edition of Walpole's Letters, xi. pp. 107, 151, 336, 363, 381, 433- i 32 Presidentship of Sir John Pringle 1775 the thirteenth century which he had unearthed at Cam- bridge. It is a learned treatise and shows a remarkable range of acquaintance with the literature of the subject. The general scope of the volume may be gathered from the title-page, which is given below.1 We learn no more from Walpole of the learned and in- dustrious but unfortunate author. He probably obtained little or nothing for the copyright of his manuscript. Liter- ature proving an unremunerative occupation, he seems now to have bethought him of turning his mineralogical skill and experience to some account as a means of livelihood. He wandered down to Cornwall, and eventually obtained there a situation as store-keeper and assay-master at the mines of Dolcoath. How long he remained there is not known, but he appears during his Cornish time to have taken up his pen once more and to have struck off the most successful of all his writings, one which under more favour- able circumstances would have yielded him fame and a competence for life. He wrote in English a little jeu d' esprit, embodying and expanding the extravagant boastings of a certain Baron Munchausen of Bodenwerder, near Hanover, on the Weser, of whom he had doubtless heard much in his younger days in Germany. With the title of " Baron Mun- chausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia," it was published in London in 1785, without the author's name. In three years no fewer than five editions were issued in this country, a considerable addition of inferior merit being added to Raspe's original text. We can hardly suppose that in those days he would receive more than a modest sum from the booksellers who disposed of the book in such numbers. In 1787 it was translated into German and published under the auspices of the poet Burger. This and other translations into the various 1 " A critical Essay or Oil-Painting, proving that the art of painting in Oil was known before the pretended discovery of John and Hubert Van Eyck ; to which are added Theophilus de Arte Pingendi, Eraclius de Artibus Romanorum, and a re/iew of Farinator's Lumen Animae, by R. E. Raspe, London : printed for the Author, by H. Goldney and sold by T. Cadell in the Strand. MDCC.LXXXI." 1775 Raspe in Scotland 1 3 3 languages of Europe passed through innumerable editions. The name of the writer whose little volume had attained such world-wide popularity was never known in his life- time. Only in 1824 was its authorship by Raspe divulged by Karl von Reinhard, the friend of Burger and editor of his works, who doubtless had his information from Burger himself. From Cornwall Raspe migrated to Scotland. He spent several years at Edinburgh, where he was engaged to write a detailed Catalogue of James Tassie's extensive collection of pastes and impressions from ancient and modern engraved gems.1 This elaborate work, filling two quarto volumes with 57 plates, was published in 1791, and is by far the most important of Raspe's writings. The introduction, written in English and French on opposite pages, is a learned treatise, showing a remarkably wide knowledge of the history of the subject, and valuable for its bibliographical references. One cannot but regret that a writer who was capable of such an effort should have lost the opportunity of devoting his life to steady research. He concludes with a modest estimate of the worth of his performance : " It is a work rather of labour and good eyes than of genius. I propose no reputation by it and I hope I shall lose none." That he had some to lose is shown by the occurrence of his name as that of " a foreigner of merit and reputation " in a " Cata- logue of 500 celebrated authors of Great Britain. London, 1788," and by his inclusion in the list, of people of note whose portraits Tassie had modelled and cast in " his beauti- ful hard white enamel paste." During his sojourn in Edinburgh Raspe was able to make excursions into the Highlands, where he had the opportunity of turning his knowledge of mineralogy to account. He detected traces of various ores and useful minerals, and in the Scots Magazine for October 1789 (p. 576) there is 1 The title-page may be quoted here : — " A descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection of Ancient and Modern engraved Gems, Cameos, as well as Intaglios, taken from the most celebrated Cabinets in Europe, and cast in coloured Pastes, white enamel and Sulphur by James Tassie, Modeller : Arranged and Described by R. E. Raspe and illustrated with copper-plates. Unde prius multis velarunt tempora Musae. London 1791." 134 Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1775 the following notice of his researches, from information doubtless supplied by himself : " Mr. Raspe, the German mineralogist, after having examined the greater part of the Western Highlands and Islands, has at last begun his survey in Caithness. He has been very successful in discovering mines of copper, lead, iron, cobalt, manganese &c. and he will probably publish an account of these discoveries. It must give the greatest satisfaction to every friend to the prosperity of the High- lands to understand that the marble of Tiree, belonging to the Duke of Argyll, the lead in the property of Lord Breadalbane, and the iron on the estate of Glengarry, are likely to turn out of great value and importance. From Sutherland he has brought specimens of the finest clay, and there is reason to hope that this country will yet make a figure as a mining district, there being every symptom of coal, and a very promising vein of heavy spar having been dis- covered. On the whole, it is believed that the tour of this ingenious traveller will turn out of great public, as well as of private utility, and will do credit to those who have promoted it." There is evidence that Raspe continued his examinations of the Highlands.1 When he extended them into Caithness he was not long in presenting himself to Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, a most excellent philanthropic and patriotic country gentleman who was all his life engaged in further- ing enterprises that offered a prospect of advantage to Scotland, and who believed that even on his own land some useful minerals might yet be found. He gave Raspe a hospitable welcome and employed him to make trials at a place where indications of mineral veins had already been found. Installed at Thurso Castle the German pro- spector traversed the district in search of ores, while at the same time, by his wide range of knowledge and experience . and his lively sense of humour he gave pleasure to his host and the family circle. " For a time the investigation gave the proprietor good hopes. Masses of a bright heavy mineral were brought to Thurso Castle as foretastes of what was coming. But in time the bubble burst, and it was fully concluded by Sir John Sinclair that the ores which appeared were all brought from Cornwall and planted in the places where they were found. Miss Catherine Sinclair, his accom- 1 Scots Magazine, January 1791, p. 43. 1775 Raspe and the Adept in Scoffs "Antiquary " 135 plished daughter, used to say that she had often heard her father relate the story, but never with the slightest trace of bitterness. On the contrary, both he and Lady Sinclair always said that the little loss they made on the occasion was amply compensated by the amusement which the mineralogist had given them while a guest in their house/' 1 These Caithness doings were of course well known all over Scotland, and as Robert Chambers has pointed out, " they correspond with those of Dousterswivel in the Antiquary. There is every reason to believe that Raspe gave Scott the idea of that character, albeit the baronet of Ulbster did not prove to be so extremely imposed upon as Sir Arthur Wardour, or was in any other respect a prototype of that ideal personage." 2 But the author of the Waverley Novels could have known nothing of the real standing of Raspe, who was a singularly gifted and widely cultivated man, albeit not quite honest, while the Adept in the Antiquary was a vulgar and ignorant cheat. Of Raspe's subsequent career little has been recovered. He appears to have continued to practise his calling of mining expert, and to have gone to try his luck in Ireland. It was there at Muckross that he was carried off by scarlet fever in the year 1794. I have been at some pains to collect such information concerning him as can now be gathered. He was unquestionably a singularly accomplished man, with an undoubted love of science, an insight which led him to anticipate some of the geological discoveries of later times, and withal a keen sense of humour, but unhappily without the moral ballast that would have enabled him to make the full use of his many gifts. I make no apology for narrating at length this episode in the Annals of the Club regarding a man whom the Royal Society thought worthy of receiving its Fellowship and the Royal Society Club welcomed to its table. 1 Robert Chambers in his Book of Days, vol. ii. pp. 85, 86. 2 Scott in his Preface to the Antiquary says with regard to Douster- swivel and his doings, " the reader may be assured that this part of the narrative is founded on a fact of actual occurrence." 136 Presidentship of 'Sir John Pringle 1776 1776. At the General Meeting on July 25, 1776, which was attended by twenty members, with Sir John Pringle in the Chair, the Treasurer reported that the expenses for the past year amounted to £3 ios., which included £2 8s. for deficiencies in attendance, leaving a balance against the Club of £i 6s. id. He announced the death of Josiah Colebrooke. He stated also that the Hon. Daines Barrington and Josiaji Warner had not attended the Society for more than a year. Three vacancies were accordingly declared and these were filled up by the election of the Rev. Richard Kaye, Rev. Michael Lort and Dr. Patrick Russell. Dr. Kaye, afterwards a baronet, and Dean of Lincoln, was elected into the Royal Society in 1765. The Rev. Michael Lort, B.D., became F.R.S. in 1766. He was an accomplished antiquary, and as Senior Fellow of Trinity College, and Regius Professor of Greek at Cam- bridge, he held an important position in the University life of the day. He was appointed Prebendary of St. Paul's in 1780. Dr. Patrick Russell was not F.R.S. at the time of his election into the Club, and he did not attain that position until 27th November 1777. Born in Edinburgh and re- ceiving there a medical education he went out to the East as a young man, became physician to the English factory at Aleppo, where he succeeded his brother (ante, p. 79). After making important observations on the plague he returned to this country in 1772 and settled in London as a physician. In 1781 he again went to the East, and in November 1785 was appointed botanist or naturalist to the East India Company in the Carnatic, where he made large natural history collections. In 1791 he published an important " Treatise on the Plague " in two quarto volumes. Five years later he began the publication of a large folio work on Indian Serpents, and he likewise pub- lished two folio volumes of descriptions and figures of two hundred fishes collected by him in Vizagapatam. After his return to the East India Company's service in 1781, when he found that his stay abroad would be prolonged, he desired 1776 Tavern Arrangements 137 to resign his membership so as to make way for some one who could attend. Eventually this desire was complied with. When he finally came back to England he applied to be readmitted a member, and this request was also con- ceded at the annual general meeting in 1789. At the General Meeting in 1776 a Committee was appointed to consider the question of the number to be provided for at the dinners. This Committee met on 22nd August and drew up a Report which was adopted at a special meeting of the Club on iQth September, at which Mr. Cox, the vintner, being called in, expressed his acceptance of the terms proposed. It was then ordered that the recom- mendations of the Report should take effect from the 7th November next. The Report recommended : " That a dinner be provided for such a number as the Treasurer shall order from time to time ; and if the number of the company shall exceed the number provided for, the dinner shall be made up with the best beef-steaks, mutton-chops, lamb-chops, veal-cutlets or pork-steaks, instead of made-dishes or any dearer provisions. That three shillings per head be allowed for each person in company for Eating, strong and small beer. That two pence per head be allowed for the Waiter. That Mr. Cox shall buy such wine for the use of the Society as the Treasurer shall think proper, at a price not exceeding £45 per pipe or Eighteen pence a bottle, which shall have a particular seal upon the cork ; and that Mr. Cox may charge for what shall be drunk at the rate of two shillings and sixpence a bottle, and may also charge in the Bill for any other wine or spirituous liquor that may be called for." The attendance at the dinners was remarkably good throughout this year. Even during the autumn months, when the number to be provided for at each dinner was fixed at ten, there was never once a deficiency from nth July to 26th September. During that interval gifts of venison came in rapid succession, and there would seem to have been always a company sufficiently large to do justice to the fare. In accordance with the regulations Joseph Planta, who was elected Secretary of the Royal Society on 3oth Nov- ember this year, became ex officio a member of the Club. 138 Presidentship of Sir John Pringle 1776 He was born in the Grisons (1744), came with his father to London, and eventually succeeded him as assistant librarian at the British Museum. He was this year promoted to be keeper of manuscripts in that institution, and in 1799 became principal librarian. He had been elected into the Royal Society in February 1774. No foreign guests of special distinction appeared at the dinners of the Club this year. Omai, still an object of interest, came several times in the first half of the year. The President, who obviously had a liking for what have been called " sensational exhibits/' brought with him on 28th March Thayendanegea, a Mohawk chief. Sir James Porter introduced Baron Neny, probably the eminent Belgian minister at whose house the literary society met out of which grew the Royal Academy of Brussels. A fortnight later Boswell met this foreigner, whom he describes as " a Flemish nobleman of great rank and fortune," and whom he intro- duced to David Garrick. The English guests were numerous and varied in their quality. Captain Cook dined eight times in the first half of the year. The second Viscount Palmerston dined with the Club on 29th February and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in the following November. On the i8th April General Paoli and his enthusiastic admirer Boswell were guests. Sir James Hall, the father of Experimental Geology, and the intimate friend of Hutton and Playfair, was twice brought to the Club by the President. Among the other visitors may be mentioned Sir William Hamilton, of Neapolitan, Vesuvian and Etnean reputation ; Robert Mylne, the well-known architect and engineer ; Dr. John Roebuck, who among his other inventions founded the Carron iron-works, famous for their manufacture of ordnance and iron-work of all kinds ; Colonel Charles Vallancey, antiquary and officer of engineers, who became F.R.S. in 1786 ; Sir Robert Barker of the East India Company's service, who had been provincial commander-in-chief in Bengal and was a member of Parliament ; Lord Hampden, formerly Minister at the Hague, subsequently Commissioner 1777 Alexander Dalrymple ; General Roy 139 of Revenue in Ireland, and elected into the Royal Society in 1764. 1777. The Annual General Meeting in 1777, held on July 3ist, was attended by twenty-one members, Sir John Pringle, President, presiding. The Treasurer's financial state- ment showed that the expenses incurred since the last audit amounted to £6 6s. 7d., of which £4 i6s. 7d. were due almost entirely to deficiencies of attendance. The Treasurer reported the death of Sir James Porter and Dr. Matthew Maty, and mentioned that Mr. Fauquier and Mr. Iremonger had not attended for more than a year. As Dr. Maty was an ex officio member, his death caused no vacancy in the ordinary membership. The meeting declared that three vacancies had arisen. These were filled up by ballot, when the following candidates were elected : Alexander Dalrymple, Sir William Musgrave, Bart., and Colonel William Roy. Alexander Dalrymple, son of Sir James Dalrymple, Bart., of Hailes, began as a writer in the service of the East India Company. When he had shown his cartographic skill by constructing a chart of the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, he was appointed by the Company to be its Hydro- grapher. In 1795 he was made Hydrographer to the Admiralty. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1771. Sir William Musgrave, Bart., was made F.R.S. in March 1774. Colonel (better known by his subsequent title of General) William Roy had served under the Duke of Cumberland in Scotland in 1746, and having shown remarkable powers as a cartographer, was employed in the construction of a military map of Scotland. After filling various military appointments he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Coasts, and Engineer of Military Surveys for Great Britain. His promotion to be major-general took place in 1781 and he was made Director and Lieutenant-Colonel of Royal Engineers in 1783. For his work in connection with the determination of the relative positions of the Observatories of Paris and Greenwich, the Royal Society awarded its Copley Medal to him in 1785. His great treatise on the 140 Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1777 " Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain," with all its careful plans of camps and other relics of the Roman occupation of the country, is one of the classics in its subject. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767. As this was the last continuous year of the presidency of Sir John Pringle reference may be appropriately made here to the extraordinary assiduity with which he discharged the duties of chairman of the Club. He was hardly ever absent from a dinner and he almost always brought two or three guests. We have seen that on one occasion he intro- duced no fewer than thirteen, thus boldly setting at naught the rule that had been made a few years before to the effect that no member should introduce more than two guests at a time. Moreover his guests were often men of marked distinction in rank or in achievements. As shown in the foregoing pages he liked to bring now and then some unlooked-for human rarity to the Club — a Pacific island cannibal, or an Indian chief or a Chinese mandarin, but above all it was evidently his greatest pleasure to introduce a thoroughly clubbable and accomplished man. His solicitous friendship for Benjamin Franklin deserves lasting remembrance. Pringle being a Scot, his heart naturally warmed towards his fellow-countrymen. He liked to have from time to time beside him at the table a Scottish laird, or a judge from the Court of Session, or a Professor from one of the northern universities, or an advocate who could converse well and give him the latest information about the trend of affairs north of the Tweed. The attendance of the members at the dinners continued this year to be so well maintained that from the beginning to the end of the year only ten deficiencies had to be made up out of the fund. But the Treasurer having fixed Christ- mas day as one of the dates for the weekly dinner there came to the Club only three members, and he himself was not one of them. He had consequently to make good out of his Fund no fewer than nine deficiencies from a single dinner. Of the three who appeared, Henry Cavendish, as. might be expected, was one. About this time he and the I778 Attendance at the Club 141 President ran a kind of neck-and-neck race in regard to the number of their weekly attendances, but Cavendish always kept slightly ahead. During this year the President was present at 48 meetings, Cavendish at 49. It should also be noted that some of the older, and even two of the original members were remarkably assiduous in their duty to the Club. Thus the average annual attendance of Sir James Burrow for five years from 1773 to 1777 was 26 and that of Dr. William Watson for the same period was 22. The foreign guests of the Club this year included no names of great note. Most of them appear to have been Scandi- navian friends of Solander. One of these, Mr. Alstrcemer, may have been the Swedish botanist of that name, a pupil of Linnaeus, who named after him a Peruvian plant (Alstrce- meria), the seeds of which he had been able to send to the great naturalist. John Alstrcemer was elected into the Royal Society on 24th December in 1778. M. de la Chapelle, in- vited by the President, may possibly have been the French mathematician Jean Baptiste de la Chapelle who was made F.R.S. as far back as 1747 and who would now be not far short of 70 years of age. Of the English visitors many have already been noticed in the records of previous years. The President brought his friend and Berwickshire neighbour, Sir James Hall, three times to dinner. Sir William Hamilton of the Campi Phlegrczi again appeared twice in the winter months. General Paoli, the exile, was hospitably entertained several times. The new names do not include any that call for special notice. 1778. The yearly General Meeting, held in 1778 on 3oth July, was attended by seventeen members, Sir John Pringle, Bart., in the Chair. It was announced that since the last anniversary there had been no death of any member nor had anyone forfeited his place by non-attendance, but the Fund was once more depleted and a debt of upwards of £6 was due to the Treasurer. It was accordingly resolved that a contribution of 55. should be made by each member. Sir John Pringle was continued as President, but in the 142 Presidentship of Sir John Pr ingle 1778 course of the summer he let it be known that he contemplated soon resigning his Presidency of the Royal Society, and consequently would no longer fill the chair at the dinners of the Club. He retired from the Presidency on St. Andrew's Day this year, when at the annual election Joseph Banks was chosen to succeed him. Another change in the mem- bership of the Club arose from the election of Paul Henry Maty as one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society. Mr. Banks, already a member of the Club, took the Chair as its President on December 3rd, and Mr. Maty was introduced on the 15 th of the month as one of the e% officio members. Among the foreign guests entertained at the Club during this year were Prince Gonzaga di Castiglione, Count Colonna, and Baron Nolcken the envoy from Sweden, who had been elected into the Royal Society on 8th May 1777. Dr. Ingenhousz reappeared in the winter and dined several times. Mr. Alstrcemer, also, was again a guest. But per- haps the most interesting visitors from abroad were two Italians who had been sent by their Government on a mission to study museum arrangements and other scientific matters. The elder, Padre Felice Fontana, noted as a naturalist, was Professor in the University of Pisa and author of various contributions to physiology. It was on his appointment as Director of the Museum of Natural History at Florence that he was deputed to gain information in France and England. His companion, the Baron Fabroni, was then a young man of six-and-twenty. He was commissioned by the Grand Duke Leopold to study the discoveries which in the west of Europe were so augmenting the domain of science. Though not himself a discoverer, he made himself conversant with the state of different branches of science, and had such a faculty of exposition that he could at any time discourse with clearness and charm upon any subject to which he had given attention. Among the English visitors James Boswell again appears. There occurs also the name of Admiral Campbell. He was probably the same who was this year promoted to be vice- admiral, and who had sailed round the globe with Anson 1778 Charles Hutton ; James Lind 143 and had been in constant service for more than thirty years. He was made Governor of Newfoundland in 1782 and held the appointment for four years. Another English guest was Charles Hutton, eminent as a mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at Woolwich and Copley Medallist. He became F.R.S. in 1774 and was elected Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society at the beginning of 1779. He was the ostensible subject of violent dissensions in the Royal Society a few years later. It may be mentioned that among the visitors this year the name of James Lind, M.D., occurs. As a young Edinburgh physician of promise, with strong scientific tastes, especially towards astronomical pursuits, he was taken by Banks as one of his companions in the expedition to Iceland in 1772. Subsequently he settled in Windsor as a medical man, and was appointed physician to the Royal household there. He became one of the pleasant social circle which Fanny Burney gathered around her when she lived at the Court in Windsor. In the early days of her acquaintance with him that lively diarist thus described him. " He is married and settled here, and follows, as much as he can get practice, his profession ; but his taste for tricks, conundrums, and queer things, makes people fearful of his trying experiments upon their constitutions, and I think him a better conjurer than a physician ; though I don't know why the same man should not be both." x Dr. Lind was elected into the Royal Society on the i8th December 1777, and on the 8th of the following January dined with the Club on the invitation of the Astronomer Royal. 1 Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay, vol. ii. p. 359. CHAPTER VI PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS, 1778-1789 1779. THE reign of Sir Joseph Banks at the Royal Society extended over the long period of nearly forty- two years — by far the longest tenure of the Presidency in the history of the Society. Though not a man of the first rank in science, he showed an intelligent interest in every branch of research and a keen desire to promote scientific progress. This desire he put into constant practice, his wealth enabling him to give efficient financial aid to many investigations. He was proud of the position in which the choice of the Royal Society had placed him, and he certainly showed his apprecia- tion of the honour done to him by devoting his whole energies, which were immense, to the furtherance of its interests. He had in the course of years accumulated vast collections in natural histo^, and gathered together an extensive librar}/, both of which were always at the service of students. He kept open house in his mansion in Soho Square and made it an intellectual centre in the metropolis where the latest discoveries and inventions were exposed to the visitors.1 He took an active part also in the affairs of the Royal Society Club, though without emulating the extraordinary assiduity 1 Even the bitterly censorious Mathias could not bring a railing accusa- tion against the President. " Sir Joseph Banks," he remarked, " has instituted a meeting at his house in Soho Square, every Sunday evening, at which the literati and men of rank and consequence, and men of no consequence at all, find equally a polite and pleasing reception from that justly distinguished man." Pursuits of Literature, i6th (quarto) Edit, p. 298, note. RIGHT HON. SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BART., G.C.B Pres. R.S., 1778-1820. PLATE XVI To face page 144. 1779 Paul Henry Maty 1 45 of his predecessor. He took special care to invite to the Club-dinners distinguished men of science from abroad who came to London, also men of mark in every walk of life in this country. By this ample hospitality he did much to sustain the prestige of the Royal Society and its Dining-club. Paul Henry Maty, who now entered the Club as an ex officio member, was the son of Dr. Matthew Maty, and suc- ceeded him in the same positions in the Royal Society and in the Club. After a successful career at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was appointed Chaplain at the English Embassy in Paris. Following in his father's steps he ob- tained the appointment of assistant librarian at the British Museum in 1776. He had been elected into the Royal Society in 1771 and was chosen Foreign Secretary in the following year, and, as mentioned in the last chapter, was elected one of the two principal Secretaries on 30th Novem- ber 1778. A few years after that time he took an active part in opposition to Sir Joseph Banks. When this opposi- tion was quenched by the votes of a large majority of the Fellows, Maty resigned his Secretaryship and together with Dr. Horsley, the ringleader of the rebellion, severed his connection with the Club by abstaining from attending its meetings. The General Meeting in 1779, held on July 29, was attended by seventeen members, Joseph Banks, President, being in the chair. The Treasurer's statement showed that the total expenses of the past year had amounted to £15 175. id., leaving a balance of £2 75. 9d. due to the Treasurer. It was resolved that each member of the Club should con- tribute five shillings to the Fund. Two vacancies were announced owing to the death of Matthew Raper and Sir John Mordaunt Cope. These were filled by the election by ballot of Matthew Duane and Sir Robert Barker, Kt. The former, by profession a conveyancer, had antiquarian tastes, and was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He had become a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1763. Sir Robert Barker spent some years in India in the employ- ment of the East India Company. Having served as 146 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1779 captain of artillery at Chandernagore and Plassey, he was made provincial commander-in-chief in Bengal in 1770. Returning to England, he entered Parliament as member for Wallingford. He had been knighted in 1763. He became F.R.S. in 1775. The same meeting at which these members were elected passed a resolution " That no person in future be admitted a member of this Society in consequence of any Present he shall make to it." The roll of Honorary Members had gradually diminished, partly from a lessening number of presents of game, and partly, we must hope, from a growing perception that this method of introduction into the Club was objec- tionable. The only name still retained on the books was that of the Earl of Hardwicke who, ever since, as the Hon. Philip Yorke, he headed the Honorary list, had continued to take an active interest in the prosperity of the Club. The foreign visitors this year included the Padre Font ana and Baron Fabroni, who were still in this country pursuing the objects of their mission. Dr. Ingenhousz likewise re- appeared and was a frequent visitor throughout the year. General Paoli and Baron de Geer were also occasionally guests. A new face was that of Giuseppe Poli, who dined on 2ist January. He was brought up among the Jesuits, studying especially the natural sciences and medicine at Padua. During a tour of the larger towns of Europe, he everywhere made acquaintance with the more prominent men of science. Returning to Naples, he was appointed to teach the cadets and to be tutor to the hereditary Prince who became Francis I. He was elected into the Royal Society on May 6th of this year. Count de Marshall dined several times during the summer. In the winter months there came Baron Podmanctzky and Dr. Czenpinsky ; the former was elected into the Royal Society during the follow- ing summer. The English visitors included Lord Palmerston, who next year was elected into the Club, Lord Balgonie, Mr. Paradise, the Hon. Robert Greville and " Mr. Professor Stewart." The last-named gentleman was twice invited during the 1780 John Be Ic bier ; Paul Jodrell 1 47 summer by the Treasurer. It would be gratifying to believe that the guest on these occasions was the young man who eventually rose to distinction as the philosopher Dugald Stewart. But though he had been engaged in assisting in the teaching at the University of Edinburgh, the future Professor had not yet obtained a chair. On the loth of June Henry Cavendish invited two guests, Mr. Belchier, the Surgeon of Guy's Hospital whose nerve and courage have already been illustrated (p. 112), and " Mr. Joddrell," as he is styled in the register, who may be conjectured to have been Paul Jodrell, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, eleventh wrangler, who was elected F.R.S. in 1781, took the degree of M.D. in 1786, was knighted the following year, and went to India, where he became physician to the nabob of Arcot. He died at Madras in 1803. 1780. At the Annual General Meeting held on July 27, 1780, there were present Sir James Burrow, in the Chair. Dr. Richard Warren Rev. Michael Lort Sir Joseph Ayloffe William Russell Sir George Baker Paul H. Maty Dr. Charles Morton Dr. Russell Alexander Dalrymple Edward Hooper Matthew Duane Hon. Henry Cavendish Joseph Planta Dr. N. Maskelyne Robert Burrow Thomas Astle Henry B. Cay Daniel Wray Sir William Musgrave, Bart. Samuel Wegg Dr. D. C. Solander, Treasurer. The Treasurer announced that the expenses since last audit amounted in all to £14 33. iod., and the receipts to £12 8s. 2d., showing a balance of £i 155. 8d. due by the Club. It was ordered that each member should pay ten shillings and sixpence towards a supply for the Fund. The total attendance of members and visitors since the last Anniversary was 713, comprising 531 of the former and 182 of the latter. One member, John Lewis Petit, died during the past year. Four members had not attended for more than a 148 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1780 year ; of these, two, the Bishop of Exeter and Dr. Turton, had sent no excuse. The meeting decided that there were three vacancies. These were rilled up by ballot, and Dr. Charles Blagden, the Rev. Dr. Anthony Shepherd, and Henry, Viscount Palmerston, were duly elected members. Charles Blagden, M.D., took his degree of medicine at Edinburgh in 1768, and settling in London acquired a high reputation as a physician. He was evidently a pleasant companion. Boswell records that Johnson, " talking of Dr Blagden's copiousness and precision of communication, said, ' Blagden, Sir, is a delightful fellow/ " 1 He was elected into the Royal Society in 1772, and became one of its secretaries in 1784. He was knighted in 1793. His posi- tion as Secretary of the Royal Society made him ex officio a member of the Club. But no advantage was taken of this appointment to keep up the full number of elected members. Anyone who, being already an elected member, was appointed to an office that entitled him to be an ex officio member practically filled two places in the Club and thus kept out a candidate who might otherwise be admitted. Probably through inadvertence, this position was not realised until 1794, when Dr. Blagden surrendered his place as an elected member. He is alluded to by the sarcastic Mathias as the Secretary of the Royal Society, burdened with the preparation of the Philosophical Transactions : While oer the bulk of these transacted deeds Prim Blagden pants, and damns them as he reads.2 The Rev. Anthony Shepherd, D.D., Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge in 1760. He became F.R.S. in 1763. The second Viscount Palmerston was at this time member for Hastings, and had been a .Lord of Admiralty and a Lord of the Treasury. He was fond of travel in Europe and was also eminently sociable, so that he made his house in London a great centre of attraction for the society of his time. 1 Boswell's Life of Johnson, iv. 30. 2 Pursuits of Literature, i6th 4to Edit. p. 83. 1780 The Gordon Riots in London 149 In the summer of this year the meetings of the Club must have been held amid somewhat exciting scenes. It was the time of the protestant riots led by Lord George Gordon, when London was for a short while in the hands of an infuriated mob. Samuel Johnson in a letter to Mrs. Thrale, written on Qth June, has given a vivid picture of what he himself witnessed. " An exact journal of a week's defiance of government I cannot give you. On Tuesday night they pulled down Fielding's house and burnt his goods in the street. They had gutted on Monday Sir George Savile's house, but the building was saved. On Tuesday evening, leaving Fielding's ruins, they went to Newgate to demand their companions, who had been seized, demolishing the chapel. The keeper could not release them but by the mayor's permission, which he went to ask ; at his return he found all the prisoners released and Newgate in a blaze. On Wednesday I walked with Dr. Scott to look at Newgate, and found it in ruins, with the fire still glowing. As I went by, the Protestants were plundering the Sessions-house at the Old-Bailey. There were not, I believe, a hundred ; but they did their work at leisure, in full security, without sentinels, without trepidation, as men lawfully employed, in full day. Such is the cowardice of a commercial place. On Wednesday they broke open the Fleet, and the Kings-Bench, and the Marshalsea, and Wood -Street Compter, and Clerkenwell Bridewell, and released all the prisoners. At night they set fire to the Fleet, and to the Kings-Bench, and I know not how many other places ; and one might see the glare of conflagration fill the sky from many parts. The sight was dreadful. Some people were threatened : Mr. Strachan advised me to take care of myself. Such a time of terrour you have been happy in not seeing. June 1 2th. All danger here is apparently over ; but a little agitation still continues. We frighten one another with 70,000 Scots, to come hither with the Dukes of Gordon and Argyll, and eat us and hang us, or drown us, but we are all at quiet." 1 Of this turmoil outside there is no trace in the records of the Royal Philosophers. They dined together at " The Mitre " in their usual numbers, and entertained their guests as of old. On the evening of the 8th June fourteen members and three visitors formed the company. One of the latter appears on the dinner list as " Dr. Scott. " Though there 1 Boswell's Life of Johnson (Birkbeck Hill's Edit.), vol. iii. p. 429. 150 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1780 is no indication of who he was, he may have been the emi- nent lawyer, afterwards known as Baron Stowell, who walked with Johnson next day to see the ruin wrought by the Gordon rioters, and whom Johnson esteemed so highly as to make him one of his three executors and to leave him a little memento of his friendship.1 Few foreigners appeared at the table of the Club during 1780. The Baron de Nolcken dined there twice in May. He was active this year in his efforts on the part of Sweden to mediate between Great Britain and the States General of the United Provinces. Baron Manteuffel and M. Tiemand dined in the spring, and Herr Wield of Berne and Mr. Bridgen in the autumn. Towards the end of the year a French naturalist appeared, Pierre Augustus Broussonet, who at the early age of 17 had made his mark by the pro- duction of a thesis on the respiration of plants. He was only 19 when he arrived in England, where he remained for more than a j^ear engaged upon a treatise in ichthyology. He was a frequent guest of the Club during his stay. The friends whom he made here must have watched with keen interest his subsequent career : — how first he taught at the College de France as the deputy of Daubenton and was elected into the Academy of Sciences ; how during the time of the Revolution he entered the National Assembly and under the Convention was charged with being a Girondist and forced to escape from France ; how he lived successively at Madrid, Lisbon and Morocco ; how under the Empire better days dawned for him and he was appointed French Consul at Morocco ; how driven thence by the plague, he 1 Sir Henry Holland, who knew Lord Stowell in his later years, has de- scribed evenings passed with him in his house in Graf ton Street : " The whimsical roll of Lord Stowell's shoulder, when uttering some interlocutory phrase of dry humour, was worth more to the eye than any amount of speech to the ear. His house curiously illustrated the habits of the man, in its utter destitution of all the appliances of luxury or comfort. The furniture was never either changed or cleaned. Year after year I wrote prescriptions there with the same solitary pen — the single one, I believe, in his possession, and rarely used by him after his retirement from public business. I believe the anecdote to be mainly true that Lord Stowell visited most of the shitting sights of London, but did not go beyond this price." Recollections of Past Life, p. 194. 1780 "Mitre" exchanged 'for "Crown and Anchor" 151 found his way back to his native Montpellier, where the professorship of botany was conferred upon him, and where at the early age of 46 he died. The Royal Society made him one of its foreign members on I4th February 1782 while he was still living and working in London. The English visitors this year included Sir Richard Worsley, the seventh holder of his baronetcy. Having filled several appointments in the army, he was made a privy- councillor, and was sent to Venice as British resident there. Travelling extensively in the East, visiting Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, and the Crimea, he spent much time and energy in gathering antiques of all kinds as he went along. He in this way formed a remarkably valuable collection, of which he published a luxuriously printed and illustrated account with the title of Museum Worsleyanum. He owned property in the Isle of Wight, was for some years governor of the island, and wrote a history of it. He was made F.R.S. in 1778. Other guests were Dr. David Pitcairn, a physician with a large practice in London ; " Mr. Wedgwood," probably the famous Josiah, the potter. Lord Monboddo again dined with the Club and many other former guests reappeared. The most serious event in the arrangements of the Club this year was the need to choose another meeting-place. The Royal Society were leaving their house in Crane Court, Fleet Street, where they had been established for seventy years, to apartments in Somerset House, placed at their disposal by the Government. The Society's Anniversary was held in these rooms on November 30 this year. " The Mitre " was felt to be inconveniently distant from Somerset House, and at the meeting on December I4th, to which no guests were invited, the question of shifting to another meeting-place was discussed. It was then resolved that the Club for the future should meet at " The Crown and Anchor Tavern " in the Strand, that the hour of dining should be 4 o'clock precisely, and that the Treasurer should arrange with the master of that Tavern to have the dinner there on the following Thursday. The last two dinners of this year were accordingly held in the new quarters. 152 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1781 1781. The Annual General Meeting in 1781, held on 26th July, was attended by twenty-five members, under the chair- manship of Sir Joseph Banks, who had now been created a baronet. The expenses for the past year were reported to amount to £19 6s. 5d., leaving in the hands of the Treasurer a balance of £6 i8s. 8d. The death of Sir Joseph Ayloffe was announced. Two members had not attended for more than a year — John Cuthbert and Rev. Francis Wollaston. The meeting resolved that there were three vacancies. These were filled by the election of the Rev. Samuel Hemming, Robert Banks Hodgkinson and William Seward. The first of these new members became F.R.S. in 1776 ; the second in 1778. William Seward was an accomplished man of letters, a friend of Samuel Johnson and the Thrale circle, and mingled in the best literary society of the time. He published a valuable work with the title " Anecdotes of some distinguished Persons." He would introduce into the Club a beneficial literary element. He had become a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1779. At the same General Meeting it was resolved that the price to be paid by the members for each dinner should be five shillings,1 that the Treasurer should settle with the Master of the Tavern what proportion of this sum should be given to the waiters, and that the gratuity to the cooks should be discontinued. It was further resolved to rescind the order of July 27, 1775, providing that no stranger should be admitted on two successive Thursdays. The foreign visitors this year included several who were shortly before or shortly afterwards elected into the Royal Society. Anthony de Wevelinchoven, who dined with the Club on nth January, became F.R.S. on the 5th April. Charles Maria Lewis, Count of Barbiano and Belgiojoso, was made F.R.S. on 3rd May and was a guest of the Club a fort- night afterwards. Baron Grothusen, M. Cederberg, M. Hey- denstam, M. Meuret and others whose names, as written in the registers, cannot be clearly deciphered, were likewise xlt was four shillings in 1784 and had previously been three (pp. 162, 171, 182). PROFESSOR JOHN PLAYFAIR, F.R.S-, 1807. PLATE XVII To face page 152. 1781 Son of Linnaeus ; M. St. Germain 153 visitors. Of some interest is the occurrence of the name of Professor Charles von Linne on five different occasions in the course of the year. He was the son of the great Linnaeus, whom he succeeded in 1763 as Professor of Botany in the University of Upsala. Less gifted than his father, he had the disadvantage of being hampered with feeble health. He died in 1783 at the age of 42. Among the foreign names there occurs also that of Monsieur St. Germain, with no in- dication of where he came from or who he was. There was at that time in Europe a notorious personage of this name who in the course of his career is known to have visited London. In the days of Louis XV. he created a great sensa- tion in Paris by his detailed descriptions of scenes and persons that had passed away long before his time, descrip- tions so vivid and realistic as to lead many people to believe that he must actually have seen and known what he de- scribed ; while some of those who met him were even con- vinced that, though he looked hale and hearty and about forty years of age, he must be at least two thousand years old ! He was credited with possessing an elixir which gave him continuous life and health ; also untold riches which he would at times partially reveal in the form of a wonderful display of precious jewels. He was even believed to have a secret way of making pearls grow, thereby adding at pleasure to his wealth. Travelling over Europe and putting himself in evidence, he everywhere attracted attention, though nowhere to such an extent as in the French capital. He died in Schleswig in 1784. A number of eminent Englishmen sat at the Club's table this year. Thus Sir Henry Charles Englefield, the antiquary, dined twice. He became President of the Society of Anti- quaries, and he had been elected into the Royal Society early in 1778. He is remembered by geologists for the excellent and artistically illustrated volume on the Isle of Wight which he published. The Mr. Braithwaite who dined on January nth was probably the same individual who was elected into the Royal Society in the spring of the following year. Boswell records that at a dinner given by 154 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1781 Mr. Dilly on May ijih 1781, besides Johnson, Colonel Vallancey and himself, " there was also Mr. Braithwaite, of the Post Office, that amiable and friendly man, who with modest and unassuming manners has associated with many of the wits of the age." l On four occasions it is chronicled that " Mr. Stevens " was a guest. He was invited twice by the President, once by the Treasurer, and once by Joseph Planta, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum. He had probably a literary rather than scientific reputation, and he may perhaps have been George Stevens, the Shake- spearian editor and friend of Samuel Johnson. William Ogilvie, who was Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen, must have spent most of his autumn holiday in London and been appreciated by the Royal Philosophers, for in August and September he was invited four times to dinner by different members, one of whom was Henry Cavendish. But the most illustrious of all the visitors was William Herschel. In March this year that admirable astronomer discovered the planet Uranus, to which he gave the name of Georgium Sidus. The Royal Society hailed him as one of its Fellows and conferred on him the Copley Medal. Henceforth he appeared frequently at the Club, until in the course of four years he was elected a member. Of visitors who had in previous years accepted invitations there came this year Francis Maseres, Admiral Campbell, Major Rennell and others. 1782. The General Meeting on 25th July 1782 was attended by fifteen members and Henry Cavendish presided. The Trea- surer, Dr. Solander, having died suddenly on the i6th of the preceding May, the President of the Club had asked William Russell to undertake the duties of the Treasurership until the time of election in July. It appeared that Dr. Solander had in his hands a balance of £14 55. 5d. which his executors transferred to the temporary Treasurer, who had a further sum of £2 is. 6d. received from over-reckonings, so that he started with a balance in hand of £16 6s. nd. Two vacancies were caused by the death of the late 1 Life of Johnson, iv. 278. 1782 Anxieties of War-time 155 President (Sir John Pringle) and Dr. Solander. These were filled by the election of Welbore Ellis Agar (F.R.S. 1781), and Sir George Shuckburgh, Bart. (F.R.S. 1774). Sir Joseph Banks was continued as President and William Russell was elected Treasurer. There were no vacancies arising from non-attendance. The year 1782 was one full of anxiety for Great Britain. Her armies in North America, after six years of conflict, had been generally unsuccessful, the colonists there were in open revolt and had declared their independence of the mother-country. A motion was carried in the House of Commons declaring that all who opposed the termination of the attempt to coerce the colonists into submission were enemies to the King and country. The ministry of Lord North was compelled to resign. That of Lord Rockingham, which replaced it, held office for little more than two months, to be succeeded on the Prime Minister's death by the Cabinet of Lord Shelburne. The country was at war, too, with France and Spain, and France had taken the side of the revolted colonies. There were indeed some gleams of success in the midst of the prevalent gloom. The French fleet under de Grasse had been beaten by Rodney and Hood at Martinique, and the united land and sea forces of France and Spain around Gibraltar had been unable to vanquish the brave Elliot and his valiant garrison. It was time to negotiate for peace, and this was happily accomplished early in the following year. It was in the midst of this tumult abroad and at home that the Royal Philosophers pursued their accustomed peaceful pursuits, doubtless not without much earnest con- ference among themselves on the state of the Empire. But they went on with their weekly meetings, observing an un- broken regularity and continuity, as if in a time of profound peace. One of the most important incidents in the history of the Club during this tragic year was the death of its second Treasurer, Daniel Charles Solander. This earnest and loyal officer had been eminently assiduous in looking after the prosperity of the Club. He had been especially 156 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks i782 indefatigable in seeking out and inviting to the dinners any scientific foreigners who came to London. His own reputation among Scandinavian naturalists could not fail to draw to him all the northern men of note who came to England. And he invited many of them to the Club. It was perhaps owing to Solander's influence that the solidity of the Club's diet, which his predecessor had estab- lished and kept up for so many years, became somewhat relaxed. The bill of fare grew shorter and simpler. Soup was more often seen on the table. In Solander's last complete year about a third of the dinners began with soup, sometimes of two sorts. Two kinds of fish generally appeared, as before, but the number of joints was curtailed, though beef and mutton still usually accompanied each other. Made-dishes took a more conspicuous place, and vegetables were seen in increasing variety. The " plumb- pudding " which used to be so rampant in Colebrooke's days, was gradually diminished to such a degree that in Solander's last year it made its appearance only at one dinner. These changes were hastened by the transference of the Club to a new habitat, where the use and wont of the Philosophers was not known, and where the accustomed cuisine was probably of a more modern type than it had been at "The Mitre." The most eminent foreign guest this year was Alessandro Volta, the great Italian physicist, whose reputation had now spread far and wide, attracting students from all parts of Europe to listen to his expositions in the University of Pavia. He was at this time in his thirty-seventh year and had undertaken a tour among the countries of central and western Europe for the chief purpose of coming into per- sonal relations with the men of the day by whom the study of physics was most successfully pursued. He was brought to the Club on May gth by Joseph Plant a ; Banks presided, and there were present Henry Cavendish, Lord Palmerston, John Smeaton, Charles Blagden, Alexander Aubert, Sir Robert Barker, Sir George Shuckburgh and others. The great electrical discoveries of Volta's career were still to be made. 1782 Count Zenobio ; Count of Barbiano 1 57 Sir Joseph Banks continued to be indefatigable in the discharge of what he regarded as one of the important duties of his office — showing hospitality to distinguished strangers from abroad. Early in this year he introduced the Count Zenobio, a somewhat erratic Italian, born in Venice about 1757, and the representative of an ancient and noble family. To escape from the tyranny and extortion of the Venetian Inquisition, the Count came to England at an early period of his life and invested a great part of his wealth in the English funds. Here he took part in public meetings for any popular object. During the war with France he used to visit the Continent, but meeting with many difficulties in France, he finally betook himself to Portugal in 1806, only to be there suspected, seized, imprisoned and bundled off to Africa. At Tangier he was befriended by the English Consul, and on regaining his liberty returned to France. But he was immediately expelled from that country. Mak- ing for Germany he obtained at last an asylum at the Court of the Duke of Brunswick. After the disastrous battle of Jena, the British Government gave him leave to return to England, but by this time he seems to have been soured by his various trials and especially by the sequestration and spoliation of his paternal property by Buonaparte, against whom he fulminated pamphlets in strongly- worded English. He is described as always good-natured, inoffensive in his manners, and ever ready to do a kindness. He died in London in December 1817. In December the President brought again to the Club the Count of Barbiano and Belgiojoso, and renewed friendly relations with Poland by inviting the Baron de Jeszenak and his brother. In November he entertained a Scandi- navian party which included the Swedish Ambassador, Mr. Noring, Mr. Cederberg, Mr. Dryander, and Sir William Herschel. Professor Linne and Dr. Broussonet, being still in the country, were guests again and again in the course of the first half of the year. A few words may be added here with regard to Jonas Dryander, who from this time onward was destined to play a considerable part in the 158 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1782 daily life of the President. He was a Swede, already settled in London, and well-known to Sir Joseph, who chose him to replace Solander in the charge of the large library in Soho Square. Sir Benjamin Brodie has put on record that " this library was to Dryander all in all. Without being a man of science himself, he knew every book, and the contents of every book in it. If anyone enquired of him where he might look for information on any particular subject, he would go first to one shelf then to another, and return with a bundle of books under his arm containing the information which was desired." x He prepared a detailed catalogue of this natural history library in five volumes which were published in 1798-1800. The non-foreign visitors included no men of special prominence who had not dined with the Club before. The Dr. Chelsum invited by the Treasurer on I7th January was probably James Chelsum, D.D., rector of Droxford, Hamp- shire, who was best known for his attacks on Gibbon's presentation of Christianity in the " Decline and Fall." Sir Abraham Hume, the second and last baronet of that creation, was a collector of minerals, precious stones and old masters. He had been in Parliament and while in that position had in 1775 been elected into the Royal Society. When the Geological Society was founded in 1807 he in- terested himself in its success, and was chosen one of its vice-presidents. He lived till 1838 and died in his 8gth year. Among the guests this year who had already en- joyed the Club's hospitality were Robert Mylne, Major Rennell, Dr. David Pitcairn, Sir Henry Englefield and William Herschel. One name often appears in the dinner lists between the middle of March and the first week in August— that of the "Rev. Mr. Playfair." Under this modest designation may be recognised one of the great leaders of geological science in the early decades of last century. When he first entered the Club he was in the thirty-fourth year of his age, had succeeded his father as minister of the sequestered country parishes of Lift and 1 Autobiography, vol. i. p. 45 ; London 1865. 1782 Visit of John Play fair 159 Benvie in Forfarshire, and was known at the Universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh as an accomplished mathe- matician. His interest in physical researches led him in 1774 to visit Dr. Maskelyne on the mountain Schiehallion in Perthshire, and to share in the labours of that philosopher who was there engaged in his classical experiments on the deflection of the plumb-line. A life-long friendship was there formed between the distinguished Astronomer-Royal and the quiet country clergyman. It happened that in the early part of the year 1782 Playfair was able to spend some months in London, where his first care was to wait on Dr. Maskelyne, who introduced him into the scientific circles of London. He had already published some mathe- matical papers ; but it was not until some years later, after he had resigned his living in the Kirk and had become Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh, that he was engaged with James Hutton in geological excursions in Scotland, and gained that personal acquaintance in the field with the phenomena of geology which enabled him to grasp the bearings of Hutton's conclusions, and to write that master- piece of scientific disquisition, his " Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth," which did so much to place modern physical geology on a sound basis. The intimate friend of Hutton, Joseph Black and James Hall, he was a singularly genial and universally esteemed member of the remarkable group of men who at this time held up the lamp of science in Scotland.1 After his return to the north from this visit to London he wrote an account of what he had seen, from which an extract descriptive of his experience of the Royal Society Club may be appropriately given here. " I was carried by Dr. Solander to dine with the Club of the Royal Society at the ' Crown and Anchor.' Though I met here with many people whom I wished much to see, yet I could not help re- marking that there was little pains taken to make the company very agreeable to a stranger ; and I had occasion to pity two or three foreigners that I saw there, who, as well as myself, had some- times less attention paid to them than their situation required. xlt was when Playfair became, in 1783, mathematical professor in Edinburgh University that he joined this group of eminent men. 160 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1783 However, this Club improved much on better acquaintance, and during my stay in London I frequented it very much. Here, for the first time, I found some advantage from having written, two years before this, a paper in the Philosophical Transactions. I was considered, at least, as a man of some industry, and perhaps the title of a ' Dissertation on Impossible Quantities, ' conveyed to many people there an idea of depth much beyond the reality. " Here I found Mr. Smeaton and Mr. Aubert, the latter a very polite man, and a great consolation to a stranger, amid the inatten- tion of the English philosophers. He is of a French family, a great lover of astronomy, and possessed of the best set of astronomical instruments that belongs, perhaps, to any private man." . . " Mr. Cavendish is a member also of this meeting. He is of an awkward appearance, and has certainly not much of the look of a man of rank. He speaks likewise with great difficulty and hesita- tion, and very seldom. But the gleams of genius break often through this unpromising 'exterior. He never speaks at all but that it is exceedingly to the purpose, and either brings some excellent in- formation, or draws some important conclusion. His knowledge is very extensive and very accurate ; most of the members of the Royal Society seem to look up to him as to one possessed of talents confessedly superior ; and, indeed, they have reason to do so, for Mr. Cavendish, so far as I could see, is the only one among them who joins together the knowledge of mathematics, chemistry and experimental philosophy." 1 1783. The General Meeting of the year 1783, held on July 3ist, was attended by nineteen members, Sir Joseph Banks presiding. The expenses since the last Anniversary were stated to be £4 ios., of which sum £3 12s. was due to absentees, and there remained in the Treasurer's hands an unexpended sum of £26 ios. i id. The death of Sir James Burrow was announced. He had heen knighted in 1773 in recognition of his public services. His decease left Dr. William Watson as the sole survivor of the little band which in 1743 started the Club and had watched so assiduously over its prosperity. The vacancy caused by Sir James's death was filled by the election of Peter Holford. This gentleman 1 Works, vol. i. Appendix Ixxxii-lxxxiv. Mr. Playfair dined twelve times with the Club this summer. He was introduced first by Solander, next by Smeaton, five times by the Treasurer, W. Russell, four times by Dalrymple and once by Aubert. It was obviously the desire of these members to show him every attention. The foreigners whom he met during the year were Dr. Hollingburg, Professor Linne, M. de Vigneulle, and Dr. Dryander. SAMUEL HORSLEY, D.D., BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH. Sec. R.S., 1773. PLATE XVIII To face page 160. 1783 Henry Cavendish ; Due de Picquigny 1 6 1 had been elected into the Royal Society as far back as the year 1746. He had occasionally dined at the Club, and must have been well known to all the members. The attendance at the weekly dinners continued good throughout this year. On the part of one or two of the members it was extraordinarily continuous. In this respect Henry Cavendish still stood far ahead. In 1782 he had only been once absent ; in 1783 only three times ; but next year, as has been already stated (p. 73), he attended every weekly dinner, and there were no fewer than 53 of them in the twelve months. Foreign visitors were more numerous than usual this year. In January the two Polish noblemen of last year reappeared on the invitation of the President. Next month Sir Joseph Banks brought a diplomatic triad to the Club in the persons of Francesco d'Aquino, Prince of Cara- manico, Neapolitan statesman and ambassador to London, Christopher William de Dreyer, the envoy from Denmark, and Baron Nolcken, the well-known ambassador from Sweden. The Venetian and Danish representatives were both elected into the Royal Society in the following June. The President had as his guest on August 7th another foreign nobleman whom many of the members must have been interested to meet again — no other than the Due de Picquigny, now the Due de Chaulnes, whom they had met in March 1764. His career in the interval had been worthy of praise. He had retired from the army at the age of 24 and instead of giving himself up to a life of gaiety, as the English dowager, who had misjudged him, would have anticipated, betook himself to practical and useful work in science. In 1775 he proved that the mephitic air in the vats of breweries owes its poisonous qualities to carbonic acid. He made experiments in regard to the rescue of asphyxiated persons by means of volatile alkali, and he tried his remedy on him- self. He instructed his valet to carry him out of the cham- ber when he saw him fall and apply the remedy, in the use of which he had previously been initiated. The brave experimenter was saved in time from becoming a martyr 1 62 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1783 to science, and practically demonstrated the efficacy of his discovery. He died in 1793 at the age of 52. The other foreign visitors included the Marquis de Bien- court, Marquis Durazzo, Professor de Luino of Pavia, and some who were already well-known guests at the Club, such as Count Briihl and Baron de Geer. Among the British guests were two Irish bishops, those of Clonfert and Killaloe, Alexander Tytler, historian, in 1802 appointed to the Scottish bench with the title of Lord Woodhouselee ; the Earl of Aldborough, Robert Mylne, architect and engineer, Mr. Frere, probably John Frere, F.R.S., antiquary, who was one of the pioneers in the study of prehistoric flint-implements, Aime Argand, a Swiss who invented the lamp that bears his name, and others whose names appear for the first time in the dinner lists. Of those who had already been visitors, the Club this year welcomed the return of Thomas Pennant, William Herschel, Sir James Hall, Sir Henry Englefield, and John Paradise. 1784. The year 1784 was ushered in to the Club by repre- sentations from the Master of the " Crown and Anchor " Tavern that the arrangements which had been made with him were found by him not to be satisfactory, and he suggested that in order to enable him to give such dinners as the company expected of him some additional charge was necessary. After his interview with the President, the subject was taken into consideration by the Club on 2Qth January. A small Committee was formed to which the interest of the Society was entrusted and which drew up the following Report : " Mr. Simkin has made promises of mending the commons so greatly that no person will in future complain of his dinners." It was accordingly recommended : — " i st. That he find dinner every Thursday at four shillings for every person that dines, being always allowed to charge for ten, though not so many are present ; strong and small beer, cheese, butter and dressing venison included. 2d. That for gentlemen who come too late to dine on what he has provided, he be allowed to charge for what is dressed for them, when fewer than ten are present. 1784 Progressive retardation of Dinner-hour 163 3d. That when gentlemen bring servants, he be allowed to charge one shilling for each servant for dinner, and a pot of porter for each, as proposed by Mr Simkin to the Treasurer. 4th. That when toasted cheese is called for, he be allowed to charge it. " The Committee recommend that Mr Simkin do fix on a com- fortable room that the Club may have every Thursday, and not be moved about from room to room on frivolous pretences ; it being understood that, on very extraordinary occasions, the Club will not obstruct his business, but put up with another room for a day on his asking leave." At the meeting of the Club held two days afterwards, this Report was unanimously agreed to and the new regulations were ordered to come into force on March 4th following. This rearrangement was finally confirmed at the General Meeting on July 29th. At this meeting the Treasurer reported that he had disbursed £12 los. 6d. during the past year and had a balance of £20 2s. nd. in his hands. Two vacancies were announced owing to the death of Daniel Wray, who had been a member since 1744, and that of John Darker. On a ballot John Topham was elected, the second vacancy remaining unfilled. At the same meeting it was resolved : " That the time for having dinner put on the table every Thursday be altered from four o'clock to half an hour after four, but to be served up precisely to the time, as usual." The new member of the Club, John Topham, had been elected into the Royal Society in 1779. He was Deputy- Keeper of State Papers, Bencher of Gray's Inn, Treasurer of the Society of Antiquaries, Librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury and author of various antiquarian papers. The foreign visitors this year formed a numerous and varied company. Taking them in chronological order, Baron Nolcken, the envoy from Sweden, and the Chevalier de Dreyer, the envoy from Denmark, again appeared on the invitation of the President. Sir Joseph also brought a number of new faces from abroad. In June he had at two successive dinners " M. Polteratzky," probably the Russian, Dmitri Poltoratzky, who took a keen interest in agriculture 164 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1784 and introduced into Russia the newest methods of cultiva- tion. In July the President introduced MM. Duzach, Roland, Deu and Lanthenas ; in August MM. Bertier de Sauvigny, de Chateau, and Flandrin. Louis Benigne- Francois Bertier de Sauvigny was intendant of the Division (Generalite) of Paris. The outbreak of the Revolution found him at his post, but he was not allowed to remain there. The mob accused him of practices of which he was entirely innocent, seized him at Compiegne, marched him with every form of insult and indignity to the Hotel de Ville where, defending himself with desperation, he fell pierced with wounds. Tearing out his heart and cutting off his head, they carried these bloody trophies on the point of a cutlass through Paris. Dr. Broussonet of Montpellier reappeared at three dinners in August and September. But the most remarkable assem- blage of foreigners this year met at the dinner on Thursday, August I2th. They included some who have been already mentioned- — Bertier de Sauvigny, Flandrin, and Broussonet. Of special note in the history of the Club was the presence of Faujas de Saint Fond, the enlightened explorer of the geology of the Vivarais, who had come to this country mainly to visit the basaltic tracts of Scotland, and above all to see Staffa, the marvels of which had been described by Sir Joseph Banks a few years before. He wrote an account of his journey through England and Scotland, and in his narrative gave a graphic description of the dinner of the Royal Society Club which will be cited on a later page at the close of the record of this year. He was accom- panied at the dinner by his two travelling companions, Count Andreani of Milan and Mr. Thornton. The autumn visitors included Count Castiglioni, Dr. Groschke, M. Frogoart and Vincenzo Lunardi. The last- named was one of the Secretaries of the Neapolitan legation in London, and suddenly rose to fame by ascending and travelling some distance in an air balloon ; of whom more anon. The home visitors this year make a long and varied list 1784 Rev. John Michel! 165 largely composed of those who have already appeared in the records of previous years. Among the fresh names are those of Dr. Ussher of Dublin (probably the astronomer who died in 1790), John Hunter, the eminent surgeon and anatomist, the Rev. William Tooke (probably the author who wrote a History of Russia), Lord Kinnaird and Professor Anderson of Glasgow. The last-named guest had been in earlier days an officer in the corps raised to resist the march of the Jacobites from the Highlands under Prince Charles Stuart. He was now Professor of natural philosophy in the University and an active pioneer in educational methods. This liberal-minded man had been elected into the Royal Society as far back as 1759. He entertained Johnson and Boswell on their way back from the Hebrides in 1773. But probably the guest in whom members of the Club to-day will take most interest was the Rev. John Michell, already alluded to. As far back as 1758 he had been in- vited by the President and other prominent members, and he usually dined with the Club at least three or four times in the course of the year, especially in the early months, when some engagement appears to have annually called him to London. Fourth wrangler and Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, he took the degree of B.D., entered the Church and held several preferments in succession. Being Hebraist, Grecian, mathematician, astronomer and geologist, he lec- tured at the University on the several subjects in this wide range of acquirement. In the spring of 1760 he communi- cated to the Royal Society a remarkable essay on " Earth- quakes," which was far in advance of its time, seeing that it was the first treatise to throw light on the nature of seismic movements. It was probably this epoch-making paper which led a few months later to his election into the Royal Society and to his appointment as Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge in 1762 — a post, however, which he resigned after two years. His astronomical studies were no less original. He wrote some valuable papers on stellar problems. He was likewise the author of the bold and original invention of the torsion 1 66 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1784 balance by which the density of the earth could be deter- mined. This apparatus he did not live to put to practical use, but after his death it passed into the hands of Henry Cavendish who, making slight modifications in it, ascertained by its means that our planet is 5.4 times heavier than a globe of water of the same dimensions would be. Michell was no dryasdust philosopher and unsociable recluse. Fond of music he gave entertainments to his friends, at which it is said that William Herschel in his youth played the violin. These gatherings were sometimes attended by Henr}^ Cavendish. In later years, when Herschel had risen into fame as an astronomer, he and Michell were associated in astronomical studies. Though he never joined the Club as a member, Michell seldom failed to appear at its dinners when, quitting his Yorkshire rectory, he could spend a few weeks in London. During the summer of 1784 he dined seven times with the Club. Two years afterwards, when he passed the months of May and June in the capital, he dined at the " Crown and Anchor " every week, and similar hospitality awaited him as long as he lived. There would almost seem to have been a sort of competition among the members for the pleasure of securing him as a guest, and in this friendly rivalry Henry Cavendish was not infrequently successful. Western Europe in the year 1784 was greatly excited by the efforts in ballooning which were carried out with partial success in France and England. In the summer of the previous year the brothers Montgolfier at their native town of Annoncy in the Ardeche, had filled a balloon with hot air, and allowed it to rise into the atmosphere, where it reached a height of some six thousand feet and travelled a distance of 2700 feet from where it started. The inventors at first attributed its flotation to the peculiar smoke produced by a mixture of straw and carded wool which they kindled below the opening. It was soon shown, however, that the virtue lay not in the smoke but in the heating and con- sequent rarefaction of the air inside the balloon by the blazing fire at its orifice. There was obviously always the 1784 The First Balloons 1 67 serious risk of the balloon catching fire, and several accidents from this cause occurred. Such risks, it was pointed out, could be obviated by filling the balloon with hydrogen, the lightest of gases, the properties of which and the method of its preparation having been accurately described for the first time by Henry Cavendish in 1766. Lunardi, then a man of only five-and-twenty years, after some trials, made a successful ascent in a gas-filled balloon from the Artillery grounds, Moorfields, on I5th September 1784, and descended near Ware in Hertfordshire. It was exactly a fortnight after that date that he dined with the Royal Philosophers. It is difficult now to understand the fury of enthusiasm which this success roused throughout the British Isles. As Horace Walpole expressed it : " balloons occupy senators, philosophers, ladies, everybody." Wigs, coats, hats, bon- nets were named after the Italian aeronaut, and a popular bow of bright scarlet ribbons, which had previously been called a " Gibraltar/' from the heroic defence of that fortress, was now termed a " Lunardi." He subsequently made a number of ascents in Scotland. He has been credited with the honour of being the first to make an aerial voyage in this country. He was, however, preceded by a poor man, James Tytler by name, who at Edinburgh, before Lunardi's first ascent in London, made use of the Mont- golfier method and the rudest materials. When he found it impossible to carry up with him the source of his heat, he jumped into his car, knocked over his fire stove, rose three hundred feet into the air and travelled a distance of half a mile.1 Writing towards the end of the year, Horace Walpole thus describes the state of London in regard to ballooning : " This enormous capital that must have some occupation, is most innocently amused with those philosophical play- things, air-balloons. But, as half a million of people, that impassion themselves for any object, are always more childish than children, the good souls of London are much 1 Chambers, Book of Days, II. 346. Readers of Burns will remember his ode to the insect on " Miss's fine Lunardi." 1 68 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1784 fonder of the airgonauts than of the toys themselves. Lun- ardi, the Neapolitan secretary, is said to have bought three or four thousand pounds in the stocks by exhibiting his person, his balloon, and his dog and his cat, at the ' Pantheon/ for a shilling each visitor. Blanchard, a Frenchman, is his rival, and I expect that they will soon have an air-fight in the clouds, like a stork and a kite." These words of the owner of Strawberry Hill enforce the contrast between the London of his day and the London of ours. The citizens of the great metropolis are again keenly interested in the navigation of the air. But it is no longer in mere " innocent amusement." The " philoso- phical playthings " at which Walpole smiled have been succeeded by vessels of war that can be guided through the air as easily as ships can be piloted on the sea — aeroplanes, airships, Zeppelins and the rest. The " air-fight," which he half in jest predicted, is a daily feature of the vast war in which the most powerful nations of Europe are engaged. Even London has been visited by hostile aircraft, which have dropped bombs upon it, with loss to life and property. And from its streets some of the huge airships of the enemy, attacked by British defenders, at heights of many thousand feet, have been seen to descend in sheets of flame to earth or sea. In Walpole's time it was a Frenchman who was looked upon as the natural rival and enemy, but happily French and English are now close allies, leagued together in battle on land, sea and air against an empire which when Walpole wrote had not yet come into existence. The description given by Faujas de Saint Fond of the Club dinner at which he was present is of special interest as it appears to be the only detailed account by a guest which has survived of a dinner of the Royal Philosophers in the eighteenth century. It may therefore be appro- priately quoted here. As an introduction to the Frenchman's narrative it will be of service to quote from the Dinner- register the record which has been preserved there of the Company and of the fare provided for them. The follow- ing is an exact transcript of the page on which this record 1784 Faujas de St. Pond's Narrative 169 was inscribed in the somewhat shaky but quite distinct handwriting of William Russell, the Treasurer. AUGUST i2th, 1784. r. Blazer, Count Andreani ) , Mr. Faujas de St. Fond . . / y Sr. Henry Englefield ... by Dr. Lort Dr. Usher . "| , Mr. Thornton ) by Dr. Maskelyne Professor Anderson, of Glasgow \ , , , ^ Dr. Broussonet, of Montpelier )by Mr' Russe11 Mr. Lloyd \ , , , _ . Mr.Mylne | by Mr. Dalrymple Mr. Stephens by Mr. Astle Mr. Aubert THE PRESIDENT. Dr. Morton Mr. Hooper Mr. Astle Mr. Topham Dr. Maskelyne Mr. Cavendish Dr. Blagden Dr. Lort Mr. Dalrymple Mr. Aubert Dr. Shepherd Mr. Russell DINNER. Soals Chickens Boild Pye Bacon and Greens Cold Ribs of Lamb Veal cutlets Potatoes Rabbits and Onions fruit Pye Sallad A Lambs head and minced Collyflower Chine of Mutton R'. Pye Soals The following is a translation of the narrative of Faujas de St. Fond : Dinner at the Academic Club. " About forty members of the Royal Society have been, for more than twenty-five years, in the habit of dining together sociably in one of the taverns of London. Each member has the right of bring- ing two guests, whom he chooses, among foreigners or friends of his own acquaintance in the Royal Society. The President may bring a greater number, and can select whoever he pleases for guests. " We sat down to table about five o'clock. Sir Joseph Banks presided, and filled the place of honour. No napkins were laid 170 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1784 before us ; indeed there were none used ; the dinner was truly in the English style. " A member of the Club, who is a clergyman (I believe it was the astronomer Maskelyne), made a short prayer, and blessed the com- pany and the food. The dishes were of the solid kind, such as roast beef, boiled beef and mutton prepared in various ways, with abun- dance of potatoes and other vegetables, which each person seasoned as he pleased with the different sauces which were placed on the table in bottles of various shapes. " The beef -steaks and the roast beef were at first drenched with copious bumpers of strong beer, called porter, drunk out of cylin- drical pewter pots, which are much preferred to glasses, because one can swallow a whole pint at a draught. " This prelude being finished, the cloth was removed, and a hand- some and well-polished table was covered, as if it were by magic, with a number of fine crystal decanters, filled with the best port, madeira and claret ; this last is the wine of Bourdeaux. Several glasses, as brilliant in lustre as fine in shape, were distributed to each person, and the libations began on a grand scale, in the midst of different kinds of cheese, which, rolling in mahogany boxes from one end of the table to the other, provoked the thirst of the drinkers. " To give more liveliness to the scene, the President proposed the health of the Prince of Wales : this was his birth-day. We then drank to the Elector Palatine, who was that day to be admitted into the Royal Society. The same compliment was next paid to us foreigners, of whom there were five present. " The members of the Club afterwards saluted each other, one by one, with a glass of wine. According to this custom, one must drink as many times as there are guests, for it would be thought a want of politeness in England to drink to the health of more persons than one at a time. " A few bottles of champagne completed the enlivenment of every one. Tea came next, together with bread and butter, and all the usual accompaniments : Coffee followed, humbly yielding preference to the tea, though it be the better of the two. In France we com- monly drink only one cup of good coffee after dinner ; in England they drink five or six of the most detestable kind. " Brandy, rum, and some other strong liqueurs, closed this philo- sophic banquet, which terminated at half-past seven, as we had to be at a meeting of the Royal Society summoned for eight o'clock. Before we left, however, the names of all the guests were written on a large sheet of paper,1 and each of us paid seven livres four sols French money : this was not dear.2 1 This piece of paper has survived and is preserved among the archives of the Club. 8 Six shillings for such a repast was certainly not dear. The practice of making foreign guests pay for their dinner was not abolished till 1831, 1785 Increase of Expenses iji " I repaired to the Society along with Messrs. Banks, Cavendish, Maskelyne, Aubert, and Sir Henry Englefield ; we were all pretty much enlivened, but our gaiety was decorous. " Doubtless, I should not wish to partake of similar dinners, if they were to be followed by settling the interests of a great nation, or discussing the best form of government ; that would neither be wise nor prudent. But to meet in order to celebrate the admission of an Elector Palatine, (who has, besides, much merit) to a learned Society, is not a circumstance from which any inconvenience can result."1 1785. The Annual General Meeting for 1785 was held on July 28th and there were present : Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., President Dr. Maskelyne Sir George Shuckburgh, Bart. Dr. Morton Sir George Baker, Bart. Dr. Warren General Roy Dr. Agar Mr. Banks Hodgkinson Dr. Watson Mr. Dalrymple Dr. Lort Mr. Holford Mr. Kaye Mr. Aubert Mr. Russell, Treasurer The Treasurer reported that his disbursements during the past year had amounted to £31 6s. 6d., leaving a balance against the Club of £10 2s. 7d. He explained that this considerable debt arose from the payment of four shillings instead of the former three for each person that dined. The meeting unanimously decided that a call of half a guinea should be made on each member. Since the last Anniversary the total attendance at the meetings had been 675, consisting of 541 members and 134 visitors. The death of Mr. Duane and Dr. Huck-Saunders was intimated. Dr. Patrick Russell, being still in the East Indies, desired to resign his place in the Club which he hoped to be allowed to resume at some future time when, when a formal resolution of the Club on the subject was passed. But this resolution was rescinded ten years later. More hospitable treatment, however, has now for a long time prevailed. 1 A Journey through England and Scotland to the Hebrides in 1784, by B. Faujas de Saint Fond. Revised edition of the English Translation, edited with Notes by Archibald Geikie, Glasgow 1907, vol. I. p. 46. 172 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1785 after his return, there might be a vacancy. Including the vacancy left over from last year, the meeting decided that four vacancies might be filled up. The Minute then proceeds as follows : " The list of Candidates having, for some years past, not been read (for some reason), but the Candidates put to the ballot in the order in which they stood on the List, it was resolved that the whole List of Candidates be always read previous to the election ; which being done the election was proceeded in and the following gentlemen were by ballot duly elected Members, viz. Lieut. -Col. William Calderwood and William Herschel, Eqre." The former of these new members had been proposed by General Roy. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1776. Herschel's activity as an original genius in the pursuit of astronomical studies had shown no pause since he first came as a visitor to the Club. In this year the King, who had made him Court Astronomer in 1782, furnished him with a grant which enabled him to begin the construction of his great forty-foot mirror, with which when completed on 28th August 1789 he discovered the sixth satellite of Saturn and was enabled to march on to further important discoveries in the stellar universe. There were comparatively few foreign visitors at the Club dinners this year. The most interesting personage was the elder of the two brothers Montgolfier who have already been referred to in their connection with the earliest attempts in aerial navigation. Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, born in 1740, was five years older than his brother Jacques- Etienne. Their efforts with hot air were soon eclipsed by the introduction of gas into ballooning. They worked well in the endeavour to devise means of controlling the course of a balloon through the air, for they were ingenious mechanicians ; but they were poor ; the funds supplied to them by friends and admirers were inadequate ; they could get no real assistance from the government of their country and the outbreak of the Revolution put a final stop to their labours. When Buonaparte came into power he bestowed the decoration of the Legion of Honour upon the elder 1785 Montgolfier ; Professor Camper 173 brother as one who had contributed to the advancement of national industry. At a later time Joseph-Michel Mont- golfier was appointed administrator of the Arts et Metiers. He received a place in the Institute of France and took a large share in the establishment of the Societe d'Encourage- ment pour I'lndustrie Nationale (1802). He was the author of several ingenious mechanical inventions. He died in 1810. In October and November of this year a certain " Pro- fessor Dr. Camper " and his son dined several times with the Club. It may be inferred that this was the eminent Dutch physician and anatomist who had made himself an European reputation. He was born in 1722. Two years after he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine he travelled in France, England and Switzerland, visiting everywhere the scientific institutions and the art collections, making acquaintance with the most eminent men, and contending in disputation for the prizes proposed by foreign Academies. He occupied successively chairs in medical subjects at different seats of learning in Holland, and found further scope for his energies by becoming a Deputy in the Assembly of the States of the Province of Friesland, and a member of the State Council of the United Provinces. Notwith- standing these multifarious demands on his thought and time he continued his studies and was able to produce masterly contributions to philosophy, art, and various branches of medicine, above all to anatomy. The course of political events in his native country in 1786 is said to have greatly affected him. He died of pleurisy in 1789. There do not seem to have been many English visitors of special note this year. They included Major-General Rainsforth, F.R.S., who after an active career in the army had gone into Parliament ; George, Earl of Morton, F.R.S., invited several times by Sir Joseph Banks, was the grandson of the Earl who had been so staunch a supporter of the Club in its earlier days ; Matthew Boulton and James Watt, the two partners in the famous Birmingham firm, who came on the invitation of the President ; Lord 174 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1786 Spencer, Colonel Miranda and John Hunter. The Dinner- registers of the Club of this period enable us to make a slight correction in Wilson's admirable Life of Cavendish where it is stated that Cavendish and Watt " met in August 1785 [at Birmingham] for the first time after their rivalry in 1784." 1 They were both present together with Boulton at the Royal Society Club's dinner on the 24th February 1785, with Sir Joseph Banks in the Chair. We can well believe that at this dinner the first steps were taken towards the re-establishment of friendly relations between them, and that the way was paved towards the visit which Cavendish paid to Watt later in the year. 1786. Although no trace of discordance appears in the records of the Royal Philosophers, the years 1783-1784 witnessed an unfortunate schism within the Royal Society. It arose ostensibly out of a complaint that the duties of the Foreign Secretaryship, to which a gentleman had been appointed who resided at Woolwich, could not be properly discharged unless the holder of it lived in London. But there were underlying personal antagonisms which led to much heat and ill-feeling. The President and Council, however, were supported in their action by an overwhelming majority of the Fellows. Some of the discomfited leaders showed their vexation in a manner more likely to injure themselves than the Society. The chief of them, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Horsley, had been a Fellow since 1767, and had taken an active part in the business of the Society, of which for some years he was Secretary. He appears to have been particularly arrogant and bitter in his opposition to the policy of the President, and when he found himself completely defeated, he resigned his connection with the Society. The Secretary, Paul Henry Maty, was hardly less restrained in the con- troversy. Boldly refusing to obey the ruling of the Presi- dent in the chair at the meeting on 25th March 1784 he in a sensational manner threw up his office and withdrew. It may be believed that the echoes of this angry warfare could not fail to reverberate in the Club, for each side had 1 Op. tit. p. 162. 1786 Continued Increase of Expenses 175 powerful and much respected representatives at its table. The leaders of the defeated party felt so keenly their dis- comfiture that they gave up attendance at the Club-dinners, thereby exposing themselves to the probable loss of their membership. It was at the Annual General Meeting on July 27th 1786 (which was attended by fifteen members, Sir Joseph Banks presiding) that the matter first came formally before the Club. The Treasurer having stated that his disbursements amounted to £47 8s. 7d., and that there was a balance against the Club of £25 i8s. id., it was unanimously resolved that a call of one guinea from each member should be made. He announced the death of the Rev. Samuel Hemming. The Treasurer further reported that certain members had not attended any of the meetings during the past year. They were leaders in the opposition to the President and Council. A ballot was then taken upon each of these mem- bers severally, and it was thereby determined that Dr. Horsley, Mr. Stuart, Sir Noah Thomas and Mr. Maty had vacated their seats in the Club. Their names accord- ingly henceforth disappear from the list of the member- ship. As the result of the ballot only two vacancies were filled up, by the election of the Earl of Leicester and the Earl of Morton. The Earl of Leicester had received this title in 1784. On the death of his mother in 1770, who was a peeress in her own right, he was summoned to parliament as Baron Ferrars de Chartley. In his youth he had been in the army but he soon went into official life. In 1781 as Lord Ferrars he was elected into the Royal Society. In 1784 when he received his earldom he was chosen President of the Society of Antiquaries. He was appointed Master of the Mint in 1790, an office which he exchanged for that of joint Post- master-General in 1794. He became Lord Steward of the Household in 1799. He was also a Trustee of the British Museum. In 1807 he succeeded his father as Marquis Townshend. He died in 1811. ij6 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1786 George, Earl of Morton, grandson of the former President of the Royal Society, succeeded to the title on the death of his father in 1774. He was a representative peer of Scotland. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on February 24th 1785. An abrupt, and in some respects regrettable, change took place in the Dinner-registers of the Club at the end of the year 1785. The Treasurer, William Russell, had evidently aged a good deal during the year. With his own hands, however, he continued the chronicle of the dinners up to the last meeting in December, and had received the sanction of the Club to have a fresh book prepared for preserving the weekly record of the dinners, and likewise to procure a box to hold the volumes containing the annals of the Club from the commencement in 1743. He completed volume VII., but his writing at the last is plainly that of a failing hand. He did not himself begin volume VIII. , but he was able to attend the weekly meetings during the greater part of 1786 and probably made his memoranda at the table which were transferred by an amanuensis to the new book. The chronicling of the bill of fare at each dinner seems however to have been too much for the increasingly feeble fingers of the devoted Treasurer. These menus now disappear and were never resumed. It was not yet the fashion to put the bill of fare into type, and to place a print of it before each member of the dining party. As a piece of historical evidence, therefore, in the progress of gastro- nomy and change of taste, it is well to have in these crimson- bound volumes a complete record of the fare provided for a company of cultivated men every week during forty years of the eighteenth century. A considerable number of foreign visitors dined with the Club this year, and as usual they were for the most part introduced by the President. In the spring he invited President Virly, M. Le Breton, Dr. Vigaroux, and Dr. Brussinet. Next month he brought Captain D'Auvergne, in August Mr. Krantzenstein and Professor Thorkelin. He was thereafter absent from the dinners for some weeks, MAJOR JAMES RENNELL, F.R.S., 1781. PLATE XIX To face page 176. 1787 Foreign and Home Visitors i JJ but on his return in November and December he led in a fresh cohort of foreigners— the Baron de Vaij, Count Revisky, Baron Nolcken, Mr. Kuittner and the Abbe Gruber. Some of the other members likewise took their share in the enter- tainment of foreign visitors. Dr. Maskelyne brought M. Arriani, Dr. Blagden invited Dr. Testa and M. de Virly ; Mr. Aubert, Count Oginsky and Count Soderini ; and Dr. Shepherd the Prince Rezzonico. The list of English visitors for the year contains a few fresh names. The Mr. Cardonell, invited by Sir William Musgrave, may be conjectured to have been the antiquary Adam Cardonell who lived in Edinburgh, and helped Francis Grose with information for his " Antiquities of Scotland." The Earl of Buchan, the guest of Dr. Watson,1 was the eleventh who bore the title and was a familiar figure in the society of his day, political, social, and literary. Sir William Fordyce, who came on the invitation of the Presi- dent, was one of a group of brothers born in Aberdeenshire. He chose the medical profession and rose to eminence in it as a London practitioner. Among the faces now familiar to the Club there appeared again this year those of Sir James Hall, Josiah Wedgwood and his son and Sir Henry Engle- field. 1787. The Annual General Meeting for 1787, held on 26th July, was attended by only ten members, the President being in the Chair. The Treasurer, unable through feebleness to be present, sent his financial statement, which showed a balance against the Club of £22 os. id. The meeting agreed to call upon each member for a contribution of one guinea to the Fund. Mr. Hooper owing to the state of his health resigned his membership. The Earl of Leicester, not having attended any of the weekly meetings of the Club during the last year, nor paid his admission fee, was declared upon ballot to have vacated his election as a member. The number of vacancies was then fixed at five. After the list of candi- 1 It may be remarked in passing that this staunch supporter of the Club the only surviving member of the original company who started it, this year received the honour of knighthood. M 178 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1787 dates had been read, a ballot was taken when the following four gentlemen were declared to be duly elected : Philip Stephens, William Marsden, Edmund Turner and Matthew Raper. Although the Treasurer had been for more than six months too ill to attend to the duties of his office, the Club were unwilling to make any change, and their customary vote of thanks to him was recorded with unusual fulness : " the thanks of the Club were voted to Mr. Russell for the care and attention which he had paid to the interest of the Club, and the great trouble which he had taken therein/' He died in less than a fortnight after this meeting. A few words may be inserted with regard to the standing of the new members. Philip Stephens, now in the 62nd year of his age, was Secretary to the Admiralty and member of Parliament for Sandwich. He became F.R.S. in 1771 and was created a baronet in 1795. William Marsden, after serving under the East India Company, returned to London where in 1804 he became Secretary to the Admiralty. He published in 1783 a " His- tory of Sumatra," followed by other works. In the course of his life he accumulated a valuable collection of coins which before his death he gave to the British Museum. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1783, and became one of the most active and useful members of that body, being elected its Treasurer in 1802. In 1788 he was chosen Treasurer of the Club. He reached the age of 82 and died in 1836. Edmund Turner, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, sat for a short time in Parliament. He had strong antiquarian proclivities and published several works on antiquarian subjects. He was made F.R.S. in 1786. Matthew Raper may be conjectured to have been the son of the member of the same name who was elected into the Club in 1760. He became F.R.S. in 1783. This year there passed away the last of the original little group of eight by whom the Club had been started in 1743 — Sir William Watson. He was able to attend four dinners in the early months of the year, but he died before its end 1787 Sir William Watson; Professor Pictet 179 at the age of 72. The knighthood bestowed upon him in 1786 was a tardy recognition of his distinction as a physician and of the remarkable gentleness, courtesy and kindliness which endeared him to so wide a circle of friends. Dr. Pulteney has preserved a typical example of his calm and sympathetic nature. " Not many years before his death he was waked one morning very early by his servant, who came to inform him that his house had been broken open, and that his plate (which was of considerable value) was stolen. ' Is that all/ said he, coolly — ' I was afraid you had brought me some alarming message from Mr. concerning whose dangerous situation I have been very uneasy all night/ " 1 The foreign guests this year though not numerous were of some eminence. The " M. Buchetti," invited by Joseph Planta on May 24th, may have been the Italian Jesuit and man of letters who made translations of Moschus, Bion and Theocritus. He travelled far and wide through Europe and died at Venice in October 1804. Professor Pictet, the guest of Mr. Aubert on May 3ist, was probably the young friend and companion of De Saussure whom he succeeded in the chair of philosophy at Geneva, — a position which he retained till his death in 1825. When, after its incorporation into France, Geneva regained its independence as a part of Switzerland, and scientific studies could be resumed, Pictet devoted himself more especially to the pursuit of meteorology and actively promoted the establish- ment of meteorological stations on some of the mountain tops of his native country. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1791. He published in 1793 an account of his tour of three months through England, Scotland and Ire- land. He deserves to be remembered as the founder of the periodical publication — the Bibliotheqite Universelle. M. Tenon, introduced by Sir Joseph Banks, together with M. Colomb on 7th June, was a distinguished French surgeon. Commissioned by the Academic des Sciences to visit England 1 Historical and Biographical Sketches of the Progress of Botany in Eng- land, vol. I. 180 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1787 for the purpose of studying hospital management in this country, he returned to France with much fresh knowledge which would have enabled him to institute important reforms in the hospitals of Paris. But the Revolution had broken out. In 1793 he withdrew to a country-house which he had in the village of Massy and devoted himself to serious research in anatomy. Immersed in his studies and taking no heed of public affairs, he was for a time afraid to accept the honour of election (1795) into the Institut National, which he feared was only another political club. When the allied troops came in July 1815, the Russian soldiers pillaged his library and collections. Thus driven back to Paris he died there a few months later at the great age of 92. On the 22nd November Dr. Blagden, carrying out one of the agreeable functions of his office as Secretary of the Royal Society, introduced to the Club a trio of distinguished Frenchmen — Jaques Dominique, Comte de Cassini, Adrien Marie Legendre, and Pierre Francois Andre Mechain. The Comte de Cassini, the son and grandson of astronomers, carried on the renown of the family. He succeeded his father as Director of the Paris Observatory and he completed the great topographical map of France which his father had begun. Born in 1747 he outlived the trials and terrors of the Revolution, though he was arrested as a royalist and brought before the revolutionary tribunal. He died in 1845 at the remarkable age of 98. He was elected into the Royal Society on 3Oth April 1789, at the same time as Laplace, Legendre, Mechain, and Berthollet. Mechain, another noted French astronomer, first made his mark by detecting a number of comets and calculating their orbits. He was employed in measuring the portion of the terrestrial meridian between Dunkirk and Barcelona. Having com- pleted the task assigned to him he wished to continue the measurement as far as the Balearic Isles, but on this journey he was carried off by yellow fever. The third of the trio, Legendre, one of the most eminent of the famous mathe- maticians of France, had been associated with Cassini and 1788 Sir John Sinclair ; Dr. Burney \ 8 1 Mechain in the operations of connecting the observatories of Paris and Greenwich. The English visitors who this year dined for the first time with the Club included a few of general interest. One of these was Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster in Caithness, who has been already referred to in connection with the mis- deeds of Eric Rudolf Raspe. He was one of the most active-minded and philanthropic Scotsmen of his day who among his various undertakings conceived the idea of having a statistical account of Scotland drawn up for each parish by its resident parish minister and edited by himself. This important work, begun in 1791 and completed in eight years, was the first fairly complete detailed account of the statistics of the country. He had received a baronetcy the year before Sir Joseph Banks introduced him to the Club. Dr. Burney, likewise invited by the President, was doubt- less the musician who is as well known for being the father of the lively Frances, as for his " History of Music/' " Mr. Piozzi " who was the guest of Dr. Shepherd on 8th November was probably the Italian musician whom Mrs. Thrale married. After that unpopular alliance she and her husband retired to Italy, but they returned to London this year to find that the social world was now willing to receive them. 1788. The Annual General Meeting on July 3ist 1788 was attended by thirteen members, Sir Joseph Banks presiding. It was then reported that on the death of Mr. Russell, the late Treasurer, in the month of August of the previous year, Mr. Topham had been requested by the President and members present at the meeting on the i6th of that month to undertake the duties of the office until the next election. He now announced that in consequence of Mr. Russell's illness the entries in the Club's books had not been made since the end of the year 1785, but that he had himself continued these entries " in the several books, namely the weekly Register, the annual Minute-book and the Account-book down to the present time." It appeared that a balance of £21 193. was owing by the Fund to him i8a Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1788 and it was resolved that a call should be made for one guinea from each member to pay off this adverse balance and meet the expenses of the current year. Mr. Topham stated that being prevented from attending the meetings as often as the interest of the Club required of the Treasurer he desired to be excused from continuing in the office. At this Meeting " it was agreed with Mr. Simpkin, the Master of the Crown and Anchor Tavern, that from the first Thurs- day in August till the last Thursday in October, both in- clusive, the Dinners shall be provided for seven only instead of ten, at 4/- per head, as at present, and subject to the same regulations in other respects as subsist at present." The number of vacancies was declared to be five and on a ballot the following candidates were elected — Major James Rennell, Dr. Samuel Foart Simmons, Richard Moles- worth, William Parsons and Sir George Leonard Staunton, Bart. William Marsden was chosen Treasurer for the ensu- ing year. The President, Sir Joseph Banks, was re-elected as usual. The new members had all frequently dined with the Club. Major Rennell [1742-1830] was one of the ablest geographers of his day. As surveyor-general of Bengal he had the charge of the first survey of that province, and his Bengal Atlas is a lasting monument of his scientific ability. His great map of India placed him in the front rank of cartographers. Having never wholly recovered from wounds inflicted by a party of fakirs when in the field, he retired from active service in 1777 and came to London, where he devoted himself to the consideration of problems in comparative geography, to the study of African geography and to the investigation of the currents of the Atlantic Ocean. The Royal Society elected him a Fellow in 1781, and in recognition of the great value of his researches awarded to him the Copley Medal in 1791. For many years he was regarded as the leader of the geographers in this country, and his house became a centre to which travellers from all parts of the world repaired. Miss Burney's little sketch of him may appropriately be quoted here. 1788 Major Rennell ; Sir George Staunton 183 " Major Rennell, whose East India geographical erudition you must have heard of from Captain Phillips, was full of characteristic intelligence, simply and clearly delivered ; and made us all wiser by his matter, if we remembered it, and gayer by his manner, whether we remembered it or not. I hope to meet him often. He is a gay little wizen old man in appearance, from the eastern climate's dilapida- tions upon his youth and health ; but I believe not old in years, any more than in spirits/' x Dr. Simmons, a physician of good standing in London, was made F.R.S. in 1779. Richard Molesworth became F.R.S. in 1786 and William Parsons in 1787. Sir George Staunton, Bart., M.D., graduated in medicine at Montpellier. Finding little opening in his profession in this country, he went to the West Indies, where he practised for some years. Before he quitted England he had made the acquaintance of Samuel Johnson, who in 1762, on the eve of his departure, wrote to him thus : "I cannot but regret that a man of your qualifications should find it necessary to seek an establishment in Guadaloupe, which if a peace should restore it to the French, I shall think it some alleviation of the loss that it must likewise restore Dr. Staunton to the English." 2 Subsequently he went to the East Indies and entered the service of the East India Company. Retiring from this service on a pension, after accomplishing some difficult diplomatic negotiations, he was made an Irish baronet in 1785. Two years later he was elected into the Royal Society. In 1792 he went out again to the East as Secretary to Macartney's Embassy to China, of which he published an account. He died in 1801 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. No fresh visitors from abroad appeared at the Club this year, but a welcome was given again to Lalande who after the lapse of a quarter of a century had come back to Eng- land. He was evidently the same man of the world as 1 Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay, vol. V. p. 269 (December 1791). Rennell was 49 when this picture of him was drawn. * Boswell's Life (Birkbeck Hill's Edit.), vol. I. p. 367. 184 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1788 before, but this time we have a sketch of him from the pen of Fanny Burney who was a shrewd judge of character and had an admirable gift of expressing her judgments of it. He was brought to be introduced to her, at Windsor where she was in attendance on the Queen, and this is the account she wrote of the interview: " M. de Lalande ad- vanced to meet me — I will not be quite positive it was on tiptoe, but certainly with jerk and strut that could not be quite flat-footed. He kissed his hand with the air of a petit-maitre, and then broke forth into such a harangue of eloges, so solemn with regard to its own weight and importance, and so fade with respect to the little personage addressed, that I could not help thinking it lucky for the planets, stars and sun, they were not bound to hear his comments, though obliged to undergo his calculations." His " figure corresponds no better with his discourse than his scientific profession, for he is an ugly, wrinkled old man, with a fine showy waistcoat, rich lace rufHes and the grimaces of a dentist. I believe he chose to display that a French man of science could be also a man of gallantry." " I suppose in going, he said, with a shrug, to the Canon, * M. le Docteur, c'est bien genant, mais il faut dire des jolies choses aux dames.' " 1 The same clever but sarcastic journalist has left a slight sketch of the President of the Club, who somehow found himself in a fashionable company, in March of this year. " In our first journey to Windsor this month the party was Miss Planta, Colonel Welbred, Mr. Fairly, Sir Joseph Banks and Mr. Turbulent. Sir Joseph was so exceedingly shy that we made no sort of acquaintance at all. If instead of going round the world he had only fallen from the moon he could not appear less versed in the usual modes of a tea-drinking party. But what, you will say, has a tea- drinking party to do with a botanist, a man of science, a President of the Royal Society " ? 2 There were few new-comers of note from the United 1 Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay, vol. iv. p. 243. 2 Ibid. p. 128. JOSEPH-JEROME LE FRAN^AIS DE LALANDE, F.R.S., 1763. PLATE XX To face page 184. 1788 Joseph Black ; John Sibthorp 185 Kingdom at the Club's table this year. By far the most eminent of them in science was Dr. Black, the President's guest on 7th August, if we may believe the guest to have been the illustrious Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh, a great original discoverer and one of the founders of modern Chemistry, who was linked also with the earliest stages of Geology in this country, as the helpful and sagacious friend and counsellor of Hutton and Playfair. Among the other names on the register of the meetings occur those of the Earl of Fife, the Earl of Glasgow, Sir Henry Englefield, Sir Thomas Dundas and other visitors who had previously dined with the Club. Of those who came for the first time one of the most interesting was Dr. John Sibthorp, if we may identify the person so named with the eminent botanist, son and successor of the Professor of Botany at Cambridge. Before this time he had been much in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin, studying the flora of the islands and the coasts of the mainland — regions which he revisited in later years. He published a Flora of Oxford and left the MS. of a Prodromus to the Flora of Greece which was issued after his death. He was elected into the Royal Society on 6th March of this year. He died in 1796 at the early age of thirty-eight. CHAPTER VII. PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS, continued 1789-1810 1789. AT the Annual General Meeting on soth July 1789, when there were twenty members present, with Sir Joseph Banks in the Chair, the financial statement of the new Treasurer was submitted, from which it appeared that a balance of £11 los. 6d. was due to him. It was accordingly resolved that each member of the Club should contribute a guinea to make good the deficiency and provide for the expenses of the ensuing year. There were no vacancies in the mem- bership to be filled. A resolution was passed which brought the meetings of the Club into still closer relation with those of the Royal Society — " that the future anniversary meet- ings of the Club shall be held on the Thursday next succeed- ing the last meeting of the Royal Society previous to the long vacation." Though the number of the company to be provided for at each dinner during the autumn months had in the previous year been reduced to seven, the atten- dance in September and the first half of October of that year had been generally much below the required number, in- volving a considerable drain on the Fund. This year saw no improvement. The last two meetings in September were attended respectively by five and by four members without guests, while at the first meeting in October only three mustered, and at the second only two. The most steady attendant was as usual Henry Cavendish. On the 8th Octo- ber he and Dr. Simmons had the whole of the provender as well as the conversation at their own disposal. The change 1789 Visitors from Portugal 187 of habit which led to a general exodus of society and of pro- fessional men from London in autumn was obviously gaining ground, but there were doubtless some members of the Club who either from choice or necessity preferred to remain in town, and to whom the cessation of the weekly dinner would have caused a serious blank in life. There was one member who had not attended during a whole year and who according to the regulations was liable to be declared no longer a member. It is interesting to know that his case was put to the ballot and that there were ten balls in favour of his retention and nine for his exclusion. It was thereupon resolved that the member " be still con- sidered a member of the Club." It would thus appear that, on occasion, the rules could be set aside to such an extent that the exclusion of a member by ballot required an absolute majority of black balls. There were no vacancies this year in the membership. Among the foreign visitors there came a group of Por- tuguese diplomats. On 23rd July Francisco-Jose-Maria, Chevalier de Brito, and Araujo de Azevedo, Count of Barca dined with the Club. M. Brito had filled various diplomatic functions including that of Envoy-extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court of Portugal to the King of France. He was a friend of the Count of Barca. The latter was now on his way to the Hague as the Minister Plenipotentiary from Portugal, but he had halted in England, where he made the acquaintance of Sir Joseph Banks. After filling the anxious post given to him in Holland he was transferred to Berlin, where as usual he took pains to cultivate the society of the most prominent philosophers of the day. He was fond of science and litera- ture and devoted his leisure to their pursuit. When he was called off from Europe to undertake duties in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, he signalised his stay there by forming a large botanic garden and introducing the cultivation of tea into the country. One of the employments of his leisure was to translate into Portuguese, and among the poems which were thus introduced to his fellow-countrymen 1 88 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1789 was Gray's Elegy. He likewise revised his translation of Horace's Odes. To his taste and energy Rio Janeiro owed the foundation of a School of the Fine Arts. Later in the year a third Portuguese was entertained by the Club — the Marquis de Souza. He also had a strong sympathy for literature, and when resident in France published at Paris a sumptuous edition of the Lusiades of Camoens. The English visitor with the most varied career who appeared at the Club this year was Colonel Robert Morse, who came on the invitation of Joseph Planta. He was of the same age as the Club, being born in 1743. From the time when he was twenty he had been engaged in fighting the French by sea and land. He had taken part in landings on the coast of France and had fought in the Westphalian campaign. His appointment as assistant quartermaster- general allowed him a short stay in England. But in 1773 he was sent as commanding engineer to the islands in the Caribbean Sea which had been ceded by the French at the end of the Seven Years' War. On his return he was employed in constructing defences along the coasts of this county and in 1788 he received promotion to Colonel. Two years after he dined with the Club he was despatched to Gibraltar and remained there for five years as commanding royal engineer. In the succession of his several promotions and appointments he was made Inspector-general of fortifica- tions in this country and rose to the rank of General. He retired from the service in 1811 and died in 1818 at the age of 75. 1790. The Annual General Meeting in 1790 was held on July ist when the following was the attendance : Sir Joseph Banks, President Earl of Morton Lord Palmerston Sir George Baker Dr. Charles Blagden Hon. Henry Cavendish Major Rennell Alexander Aubert Alexander Dalrymple Dr. S. F. Simmons Philip Stephens John Smeaton John Walsh Dr. Richard Warren Dr. Nevil Maskelyne William Marsden, Treasurer 179° Continued rise of Expenses 189 The Treasurer's financial statement showed that his dis- bursements to complete the payment of tavern bills had amounted to £41 133. 3d. and there was a balance of £13 55. Qd. due to him. In order to clear off that debt and provide for the expenses of the next year it was resolved that a call of two guineas each should be made on the members. The total number of members and guests who had dined since the last anniversary was 565, of whom 444 were members and 121 were visitors. The death of two members, Sir Robert Barker and General William Roy, was announced. One member who had not attended for more than a year was declared by ballot to have forfeited his membership. In the case of the Rev. Sir Richard Kaye, Bart., Dean of Lincoln, who was also a defaulter, the ballot affirmed that he should still be considered a member. The number of vacancies to be filled was declared to be four and the list of candidates was duly read. As the result of the ballot only one member was elected — Dr. Patrick Russell, who had been a member of the Club for some }7ears from 1776 onwards, but when he went to the Carnatic under the auspices of the East India Company, had resigned his membership. Having now returned to England he made application to be readmitted a member (p. 136) . His election was unanimous. Advantage was taken of the occasion to make a rule for such cases in future, and it was unanimously resolved : " That a member of the Club who resigns his seat on account of leaving the kingdom, shall upon applica- tion to be re-admitted, have a preference in the order of ballot to other candidates." Among the rare references to contemporary events out- side the Royal Society and the Club there occurs on the Dinner-register of I2th August 1790 the following addendum: " Being the birthday of His Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales, his health was drunk by the members of the Club." l 1 The Prince's health was also toasted in 1784 (ante, p. 170), and may often have been at other times, though in the registers reference is hardly ever made to any toasts. 190 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1790 There was a goodly number of foreign visitors at the Club in the course of this year. Of these were the Marquis de Souza, the Baron Vay de Vaja, M. Patricot and Dr. Ingenhousz invited by the President ; M. iSpivent, M. L'Evesque and M. Ungeschiek, guests of Maskelyne ; Colonel de Mestral, Professor von Marum from Haerlem, M. Rochon, M. L'Huillier and M. Possett, Professor of History from Prague, introduced by Blagden, and Herr Herrenschneider, Professor of Astronomy at Strasburg, the guest of Dr. Simmons. M. Rochon was a French astronomer and physicist then about fifty years of age, who had voyaged over the Indian Ocean, making many hydrographic observations. He devoted so much attention to the construction of optical instruments that the French government made him astronomical optician to the Navy. He had been sent to England this year in connection with the adoption of a new system of weights and measures. In the midst of the internal troubles of his country he was two years later deprived of all his posts. He then retired into Brittany and occupied himself with different works of public utility, while at the same time he had the satisfaction of being able to save a number of victims from the scaffold. One of these, his own cousin, rewarded him by bestowing her hand on him. In 1796 he was appointed Director of the Observatory which at his suggestion the Government had established at Brest. In 1805 he obtained permission to reside in Paris where he continued to write papers on optics and other branches of science. He died in 1817 at the age of 76. John Louis Alexander Herrenschneider was a French meteorologist who at the University of Strasburg pursued at first law-studies, but his real bent being towards science, he was allowed to carry on the mathematical teaching of his uncle who had died. In the end he was appointed Professor of Astronomy, and undertook a journey through Europe in order to visit the observers and observatories of most renown. When an imperial university was set up at Strasburg he obtained the chair of physics which he 179° Sir Joshua Reynolds ; Lord Hailes 191 held until 1829. He especially distinguished himself by the series of detailed meteorological observations which he carried on day by day for more than forty years. He died in 1843 at the age of 83. The most famous name on the list of guests from the United Kingdom this year was the illustrious President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, then in his sixty- ninth year. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society as far back as 1761. On the present occasion he was the guest of the President (i6th December) and the only stranger in the company, which numbered twelve and included Henry Cavendish, Dr. Blagden, Alexander Dal- rymple, John Smeaton, Dr. Simmons, Alexander Aubert and William Marsden, the Treasurer. Of the other visitors to the Club during the year one or two may be briefly mentioned. The " Mr. Fred. North " who by invitation of the President dined on 4th February, may have been the famous Oxford Grecian and lover of Greece, who is said to have been able to write and speak with ease French, Spanish, Italian, German and modern Greek and to write a Pindaric ode in the language of Pindar. After being in Parliament for two years he resigned his seat on being appointed comptroller of customs in the Port of London. In 1798 he was made Governor of Ceylon and conferred signal benefits on that island. After some years spent in travelling through Europe he returned to England and on the death of his brother in 1817 became the fifth Earl of Guilford. Sir David Dalrymple, better known by his judicial title of Lord Hailes, of the Scottish Court of Session, dined on I2th August on the invitation of his brother Alexander, member of the Club. As a historian and lawyer he had a wide reputation in his own day and his works are still of value. He was an esteemed friend of Johnson, who, as Boswell tells, on one occasion " drank a bumper to him ' as a man of worth, a scholar, and a wit.' ' There must have been a little excitement in the Club on the i8th of March when the President was able to produce 192 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 179° at the dinner-table Captain Bligh, the hero of the " Mutiny of the ' Bounty/ ' Sir Joseph, always glad to bring a social " lion " to the dinners, deserved the warm congratula- tions of his fellow members on the rapidity and energy of his movements that enabled him to catch this celebrity only four days after he returned from his memorable voyage. William Bligh was a Cornish seaman who had served under Captain Cook in his second voyage round the world. He was known as " Breadfruit Bligh " from the fruit discovered in Otaheite in the course of that voyage. He became lieutenant and showed such skill in cartography and navigc.- tion that in the autumn of 1787 he was sent out in the Bounty to bring home plants of the bread-fruit tree, for the purpose of acclimatising them in the West Indies, as an additional source of food. The plants having been obtained and successfully packed in his vessel, he left Otaheite on 4th April 1789, and had made some way on his homeward voyage when on the 27th, without any warning, a majority of the crew -mutinied. He with eighteen of the officers and crew who remained loyal were put into an open boat, with a scanty supply of food. Turning back to the Friendly Islands to obtain more provisions he was there, after two days, driven off by the natives, who killed one man and wounded several others. It was then resolved to make for Timor which they estimated to be some 4000 miles away. Early in June they came in sight of the coast of New Holland and collected a small supply of shell-fish. Eventually after a voyage of 46 days in a crazy boat in squally wet weather the party reached Timor. Here they remained to recruit until 2Oth August, when they got a vessel to take them to Batavia, which they reached on 2nd October. Leaving the rest to follow, Bligh and two of the crew took ship for the Cape, and thence obtained a passage to England, where he arrived on the evening of the I3th March and reached London next day. Next year he was appointed to the Providence on another voyage to the Society Islands. In later years he commanded ships of war on the North Sea. At the Battle of Copenhagen he was in command of COUNT RUMFORD, F.R.S., I77Q. PLATE XXI To face page 192. I791 John Thomas Stanley ; George Best 193 the Glutton, and was personally thanked by Nelson for his services there. In 1805 he was appointed Captain- general and Governor of New South Wales, and in 1814 he became Vice-admiral of the Blue. He died towards the end of 1817. 1791. In 1791 the Annual General Meeting, held on 2ist July, was attended by seventeen members, with the Presi- dent in the chair. The Treasurer's statement showed that the disbursements amounted to £56 us. 6d. and that there remained in his hands a balance of £23 35. 6d. The con- tribution of members for the ensuing year was fixed at one guinea each. The number of members and guests who had dined since the last anniversary was 659. It will be observed that the former custom of making a call upon the members for a subscription at any time of the year when the Fund was becoming too small, is now giving place to a larger subscription at the beginning of the financial year to meet the expenses that would arise in the course of that year. In 1791 there was an actual balance in the hands of the Treasurer which, in the earlier history of the Club, would have been sufficient for a time, so that no further call would then have been necessary. But the ordinary expenses were now increasing, and it was much more satis- factory to the Treasurer to have the subscriptions paid at the beginning, even if further calls in the course of the year should be required. The death of Dr. Michael Lort was reported. It was stated that two members had not attended for more than twelve months. Henry Cavendish mentioned that he had received a letter from Mr. Kaye in which on the ground of infirm health he desired to resign his membership. There were five vacancies to be filled and the number of candidates was four. Each of these was separately balloted for, with the result that two new members were elected — John Thomas Stanley (F.R.S. 1790) and George Best (F.R.S. 1791). In the case of the two who were not successful, the one had fourteen votes in his favour and three against him, the other thirteen and four. These figures gave rise to 194 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks I791 some discussion which the Treasurer briefly summarised thus : " Several members being of the opinion that the rule of admission to the Club is too strict as it now stands, a motion was made that an alteration do take place in respect to the number of negatives that shall hereafter exclude a candidate ; and the same being put to the ballot, it was resolved (n to 6) that an alteration should take place. " A difference of opinion arising on the question whether the negatives excluding should be an absolute number (as heretofore) or should bear a proportion to the number of members present at the ballot ; it was resolved (n to 6) that they should bear a pro- portion to the numbers present. " A ballot being then taken on the question whether the propor- tionate numbers constituting an election should be three-fourths or two-thirds of the members present, it was (12 to 5) resolved that from henceforth, when the number of affirmatives upon ballot for a candidate shall be to the number of three or more to one, and not otherwise, the person balloted for shall be duly elected. " A motion was made and it was resolved (n to 4) that the hour of dining be in future at 5 o'clock, instead of half-past 4 of which the Treasurer is desired to give notice to the Master of the Tavern." 1 John T. Stanley who was one of the members now added to the Club succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1807. He was raised to the peerage in 1839 with the title of Baron Stanley of Alderley. In 1802 he was " discontinued " as a member of the Club for non-attendance, but was afterwards re-elected. The attendance still continued good. Henry Cavendish remained at the head of the company in having attended 51 times, that is, he was present at every weekly dinner throughout the whole year. Next to him came the Treasurer with 40 attendances, A. Dalrymple with 37, the President and A. Aubert with 36 and Dr. Blagden with 31. Lord Palmerston found time to dine frequently with the Club, sometimes taking the chair, and even the veteran Dr. Heberden, in spite of his eighty years, joined his old associates at the " Crown and Anchor " several times in the course of the summer and autumn. It may be remarked that the attendance at the end of August suddenly dropped from 1 At this meeting, perhaps in anticipation of some difficulty about the voting, Mr. Aubert presented to the Club a set of balloting balls. I791 J* F. Elumenbach ; Davies Giddy (Gilbert) 195 15 to 3, and only once rose to as many as n until the second week in November, when it mounted at once to 16. To promote the circulation of the wine Sir Joseph Banks pre- sented to the Club this summer two pairs of bottle-coasters. The foreign visitors this year included Baron Scheffer, Chevalier St. Michel, Baron Weltheim and Dr. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach of Gottingen, the great naturalist and physiologist who first placed natural history on a scientific basis of comparative anatomy. At this time he was in the full vigour of manhood. His renown as a craniologist was gained in later years. In 1814 he was visited at Gottingen by Sir Henry Holland who saw his collection of crania, then the most complete in Europe, and has recorded " the energy and clearness of his mind, little impaired by years. He was not a phrenologist in the later sense of the term ; but he saw the ethnological value of those distinctions which only large and well-classified collections of crania can afford." x One of the English visitors was Davies Giddy (subsequently Gilbert), who was destined to play a conspicuous part in the Royal Society and at the Club. As a Cornish squire he devoted himself to the interests of his native county in which he had inherited landed property. He was elected into the Royal Society on iyth November of this year, six months after he had been the guest of the Club. He represented first Helston and then Bodmin in the House of Commons from 1804 to 1832, and proved a most assiduous member, giving most of his time to public business, and being universally respected for his sound sense and capacity. In 1808 he married the only daughter and heiress of Thomas Gilbert, and thereby came into possession of an extensive estate in Sussex. He then took the name of Gilbert instead of Giddy. He contributed several papers on scientific subjects to the Philosophical Transactions and advocated the interests of science and art in and out of parliament. In 1819 he was chosen Treasurer of the Royal Society and on the resignation of Sir Humphry Davy in 1827, was elected President. His tastes being largely literary and antiquarian, he busied himself 1 Recollections, p. 118. 196 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks I792 with the elucidation of the history of Cornwall and the pre- servation of such fragments as remain of Cornish literature. The most notable representative of the Navy at the Club's table this year was Captain Edward Riou. After a varied service at sea, including the brilliant exploit of saving a 44 gun ship, which was badly damaged against an iceberg, and piloting it with a load of stores, cattle and convicts to Table Bay, he was appointed to the Augusta in which he carried Sir Hyde Parker and Nelson to reconnoitre the defences of Copenhagen before the Battle of the Baltic (April 2, 1801), and took charge of the frigates and small craft. Though severely wounded, he was encouraging his men when he was cut in two by a cannon ball. Nelson wrote : " In poor dear Riou the country has sustained an irreparable loss," and Thomas Campbell in his " Battle of the Baltic " commemorates him together with the other " brave hearts " On the deck of fame that died With the gallant good Riou. Among the guests who had previously been entertained by the Club there appeared again this year Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Hailes, Mendoza y Rios, Lord Midleton, Lord Loughborough, and others. 1792. The Annual General Meeting of 1792 took place on 5th July, and was attended by eighteen members, the Presi- dent in the chair. The Treasurer stated that his disburse- ments to complete payment of tavern bills since the last audit had amounted to £35 95. 7d., and that a balance of £28 135. i id. remained in his hands. It was then determined that the call upon each member for the expenses of the Club in the ensuing year should be one guinea. The number of members and guests who had dined since last Anniversary was 550. The Treasurer reported that no vacancy had occurred either from death or non-attendance and that three vacancies remained from last anniversary. Mr. Aubert, who had at the previous Anniversary presented to the Club a set of balloting balls, now completed his donation by making a gift of a ballot-box. But it could not be used on 1793 Lieut.-General Komazewski; Lord Sheffield 197 this occasion, for there were no candidates on the list and the three vacancies stood over unfilled for another year. Among the foreign visitors the most eminent was Professor Blumenbach, who dined seven times in the first three months of the year. Professor Seyffer, Signer Selvaggi, the Abbe Mann, and Lieut.-General Komazewski were also enter- tained. The last-named guest was a Pole who had dis- tinguished himself by his skill in deciphering the codes of secret despatches. King Stanislaus Augustus had made him Lieutenant-General and had also chosen him as his own aide-de-camp, employing him on several diplomatic missions. He remained for some time in this country, for he dined at the Club three times between the beginning of February and the end of March, twice in May, and once again in October. It was an anxious time for the Poles between the peace of Jassy, which followed the defeat of the Turks by the Russians, and the second partition of Poland. And Komazewski was not improbably engaged in trying to obtain some support for his country. The only English guest this year about whom a few words may be said here was Lord Sheffield. As John Baker Holroyd he had raised and commanded a dragoon regiment, devoted attention to commerce and agriculture, purchased the estate of Sheffield Place in Sussex and entered Parlia- ment in 1780. He was raised to the Irish peerage in 1781, and thereafter to the British peerage with the title of Baron Sheffield of Sheffield. He is chiefly remembered as the most intimate and devoted friend of Edward Gibbon, whom he met first at Lausanne in 1764. 1793. The Anniversary in 1793 took place so early as the 27th June, when Sir Joseph Banks presided over a company of nineteen members. The Treasurer announced that the disbursements on account of tavern-bills since last mid- summer amounted to £41 155. 3d., leaving in his hands a balance of £26 i6s. 8d. The annual subscription was then fixed at one guinea. Two vacancies were reported, occa- sioned by the death of Robert Banks Hodgkinson and John Smeaton. There were now five vacancies to be filled. As 198 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1793 the result of the ballot the following gentlemen were elected members : Sir William Young, Bart., Frederick Augustus Barnard, Charles Townley, Dr. John Hunter and Captain Philip d'Auvergne. Sir William Young the second baronet, son of the Sir William Young already referred to (p. 31), sat in the House of Commons from 1784 to 1806 and was then appointed Governor of Tobago. He became F.R.S. in 1786. Frederick Barnard was elected into the Royal Society in 1790. Charles Townley was noted for the valuable collection of classical antiquities which he had gathered together in Italy, and which after his death was purchased by the British Museum. He was made F.R.S. in 1791. Dr. John Hunter was an Edinburgh M.D. who for a few years was superintendent of military hospitals in Jamaica, afterwards practising in London, where he was chosen Galstonian and Croonian lecturer. He became F.R.S. in 1786. Captain Philip d'Auvergne, born in Jersey about 1745, was educated in England and entered the royal navy as midshipman. He claimed to belong to one of the old ducal families of France. And the claim was allowed by the Due de Bouillon, who chose him as his heir and left him his valuable estates in France. At the peace of Amiens he went to France where he soon discovered that his presence was not liked by Buonaparte. He consequently quickly quitted the country without having recovered the estates, but George III. authorised him to assume the ducal title. When in 1803 he again dined with the Club, he took his place there as a member, with the title of Due de Bouillon, and he had now risen to the rank of Admiral. He died in London in November 1816 about 70 years of age. He had been elected into the Royal Society in 1786. The continent of Europe was at this time in a ferment from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. France had abolished its Monarchy, beheaded its King and proclaimed a Republic, and at the same moment was waging war against Spain, Holland and Great Britain. Many of the upper classes in that distracted country, who escaped the violence of 1793 Edward Gibbon 199 the mob or the organised executions of the revolutionary committees, found refuge in England. The whole male population of France capable of bearing arms was called out, opening a vista of years of pitiless war. It was with these surroundings that the Royal Society and its dining Club carried on their meetings during this memorable year of the Reign of Terror. The weekly dinners took place as usual, but there were hardly any foreign visitors and a smaller number than usual of guests from the home country. The total attendance from the Anniversary of last year to that of this year was the smallest for some time before and after, the total number including guests and members being 497. The Club was honoured this year with the presence of Edward Gibbon, author of the immortal " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." The Royal Society, then wider in its range of sympathies than it has since become, had elected him a Fellow in 1788. His health was now failing, but he had been leisurely preparing to come to England mainly for the purpose of returning a visit which his friend Lord Sheffield had paid him at Lausanne, when on the 26th April he received news of Lady Sheffield's death. Resolving at once to hasten his journey and join his friend without delay, he reached England at the beginning of June and went to Sheffield Place, Lord Sheffield's Sussex home. It was while staying there that the two friends received from Sir Joseph Banks a joint invitation to dine with the Club on nth July. They accepted and their names appear on the dinner list, Mr. Gibbon on the President's right and Lord Sheffield on his left. The company numbered fourteen and included Henry Cavendish, A. Dalrymple, Dr. Maskelyne, Dr. P. Russell, and W. Marsden. This was probably one of the last appearances of the great historian in public. He came again to London for a short visit, returning to Sheffield Place for Christmas. Early in the following year he was again in London. But his health was now so seriously impaired as to necessitate an operation. He grew gradually feebler, and died in London on i6th January 1794. zoo Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1794 Earl Spencer, Matthew Boult on, James Watt, John Playfair, Captain Bligh, Lord Frederick Campbell, Don Carlos Frujo, and Joseph Mendoza y Rios were among the visitors. The last-named guest was a Spaniard who wrote some works on astronomy. This year the Royal Society elected him a Fellow and he continued to reside in England. 1794. The Anniversary Meeting for 1794, held on I7th July, was attended by fourteen members, and the President took the chair. The Treasurer reported that his disbursements amounted to £54 55. 4d. and that a balance of £17 43. 4d. remained in his hands. The Fund for the expenses of the ensuing year was provided by a call of one guinea from each member. The number of members and guests who had dined since last Anniversary was 601. There were no vacancies in the membership. The Trea- surer, however, stated that Sir Charles Blagden had intimated to him that, with the approbation of the Club, he proposed to resign his situation as an elected member and retain the ex officio membership to which the Secretaryship of the Royal Society entitled him. This proposal was accepted with thanks. Whereupon the President observed that the circumstances attending his seat as an elected member being similar to those of Sir Charles Blagden, he also desired to resign it. This proposal being also accepted, two vacancies arose. These were at once filled up by ballot at the same meeting, and the Hon. Robert Fulke Greville and Bryan Edwards were elected. These new members had become Fellows of the Royal Society only a few weeks before, the former on 3rd April and the latter on 22nd May. Bryan Edwards was a Jamaica merchant who while living in the colony took a prominent part in the business of the local Assembly. When he settled in England he entered Parliament as member for Grampound. He wrote a History of the British Colonies in the West Indies and other works. There were hardly any foreign visitors this year. One of the names recorded is that of " M. de Saussure," invited by the President. The owner of this much respected name 1795 M. de Saussure ; John Leslie 201 was probably Nicolas Theodore, son of the illustrious Horace Benedict de Saussure, born in 1767. He accompanied his father in some of his journeys and ascents of the Swiss mountains. He inherited scientific tastes and devoted him- self to physical science, especially to chemistry and vegetable physiology. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1820. He lived till 1845. There were no specially outstanding personalities among the fresh visitors from Great Britain at the Club during this year. Lord Sheffield dined quietly with the President at two small dinners on January gth and 23rd, probably when he was called to London by the condition of Gibbon, who died between those two dates. Major Alexander Dirom, who dined twice in the spring, had been Deputy Adjutant-general in the second Mysore war and published an account of the campaign against Tippoo Sultan. He was elected F.R.S. in July of this year. The " Mr. Lysons " whose name appears on the list for May 22 may be pro- bably identified with the well-known antiquary and Keeper of the Records at the Tower of London, who was elected into the Royal Society in 1797 and became Treasurer of the Society in 1810. " Mr. Leslie," who was brought to the Club by Dr. Maskelyne this year, was possibly the able mathematician and natural philosopher John Leslie, who a few years later published his Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Properties of Heat. He became Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh in 1819, and in recognition of his services to science he was knighted in 1832. 1795. In the year 1795 the Annual General Meeting, held on 2nd July, was attended by the following company : Sir Joseph Banks, President Earl of Morton Viscount Palmerston Hon. Henry Cavendish Samuel Wegg Sir Charles Blagden Frederick A. Barnard Richard Molesworth Dr. Nevil Maskeline George Best Dr. Samuel F. Simmons Alexander Aubert Alexander Dalrymple Major James Rennell Sir Philip Stephens Joseph Planta William Marsden, Treasurer 2O2 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1795 The Treasurer's statement showed that his disbursements to complete payments of tavern bills since the previous Anniversary had amounted to £41 145. and that a balance of £22 45. 4d. remained in his hands. A call of one guinea from each member was ordered. From the official account- books it appears that the total number that dined at the Club since the previous Anniversary was 532, made up of 473 members and 59 visitors. By the death of John Walsh a vacancy arose in the membership, which was filled by the election of John Sym- mons. The new member had become a Fellow of the Royal Society in the summer of the previous year. A noteworthy incident deserves to be mentioned here. For the first time in its own records the Club was this year called by the name which it now bears. In the Account- book for 1794-5 a list of members is thus designated by the Treasurer " List of the Members of the Royal Society Club subsequent to Annual meeting on the 2d July 1795." The name is continued in subsequent Account-books. Up to the end of the Treasurership of William Russell, that is until 1787-8, the Account-book was that of " the Club of Royal Philosophers/' There are no foreign visitors of note in the records for this year. Of the home guests one or two may be mentioned. The President introduced " Mr. Petrie " — perhaps the anti- quary, Henry Petrie, who afterwards succeeded to the keepership of the Tower Records. Henry Cavendish invited Henry Penruddock Wyndham who, having been mayor of Salisbury and Sheriff of Wiltshire, had devoted much atten- tion to the antiquities and topography of the county which he afterwards represented for some years in Parliament. Moreover he had travelled in France and Italy and — a more unusual feat — had climbed Etna. Count von Rumford towards the end of the year dined twice with the Club, the first time on the invitation of Sir Charles Blagden, the second time on that of the President. This remarkable man, Benjamin Thompson by name, was born in Massa- chusetts in 1753. When the colonists were contending 1796 Count Rumford 203 with the mother-country, he showed such scant sympathy with them that he was put in prison. In the end he came to England, obtained a post in the Colonial Office, and de- voted himself to scientific pursuits with such industry and success that he was elected into the Royal Society in April 1779. Next year he was appointed under-secretary for the Colonies and reappeared in his native country as a royalist and lieutenant-colonel in George III.'s American Dragoons. After this interlude in his career he appeared in Bavaria, in the employment of the Elector, under whom he was enabled to institute useful reforms and to confer such benefits on the population that when he left the country, after a residence in it of more than ten years, they raised a monument in his honour, and the Elector made him Count von Rumford. After he returned to England this year he soon began a course of useful activity such as he had shown on the Continent, made practicable suggestions for the improvement of domestic economy, and returned with renewed vigour to scientific research. He had acquired a fortune, and he was generous in the donations which he made towards furthering the cause of science. In this country he founded the Royal Institution, and he gave £1000 to the Royal Society for the purpose of instituting a medal to be given every second year as a premium for " the most important discovery or useful improvement in heat or light, preference being always given to such dis- coveries as shall tend most to promote the good of man- kind." 1796. At the Annual General Meeting on 23rd June 1796, which was attended by eighteen members, the President pre- siding, the Treasurer's financial statement showed that his receipts amounted to £65 53. 4d. and disbursements on tavern bills to £55 35. 6d., leaving in his hands a balance of £10 is. lod. He reported that owing to the increase in the duties levied upon wines it would be necessary to increase the annual subscription of the members of the Club. The sum fixed upon was a guinea and a half. It was further reported that Mr. Edmund Turnor owing 204 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1796 to his inability to attend the meetings desired to withdraw from the Club, and that Dr. Heberden also " on account of his advanced age and the infirmity occasioned by an accident is deprived of the satisfaction of attending the meetings of the Club, and desires to withdraw his name." These resignations were accepted. It must have been with no little regret that the venerable Heberden severed his connection with a society with which he had been intimately associated for not much less than half a century ; nor could the members view without concern the disappearance of the last of the old band who did so much in the early days of the Club to give it vitality and success. The two vacancies thus arising were at once filled by the election by ballot of John G. Walker (F.R.S. 1794) and John Ord (F.R.S. 1780). Foreign visitors continued to be few. The only one that need be recorded here is a " M. de Rossel," whom we may with some confidence identify as a scientific French sailor, the Chevalier de Rossel, who took part in the sea- fights of the Comte de Grasse with the English fleet. He joined the expedition sent out by France to discover traces of La Perouse, and at the end of many vicissitudes, became the head of that expedition. After a long stay in Batavia he embarked there in a Dutch vessel, taking with him all the papers containing the record of the expedition. He was captured, however, by one of our cruisers among the Shetland Isles, and taken to London in October 1795, re- maining in this country until the Peace of Amiens in 1802. He was thus at this time a prisoner of war on parole, but so far from being interned in an insanitary camp, more Teutonico, he was evidently at large and free to accept the invitation to dine with the Club, under the kindly auspices of Alexander Dalrymple, the Hydrographer to the Admiralty. He spent the seven years of his exile in this country on the preparation of his narrative of the voyage in search of La Perouse, and his work in two quarto volumes with a folio atlas appeared in 1809. On March loth the President had as one of his guests 1797 Thomas Young 205 " Mr. Young." By this time Thomas Young, when only twenty years of age, had flashed his brilliant genius upon the world. He had sent to the Royal Society in 1793 a paper on the crystalline lens of the eye, so original and important that on the igth of June 1794, that is six days after his twenty-first birthday, he was elected F.R.S. We may believe that it was he who appeared at the Club this year for the first time. He was now only on the threshold of his marvellous but all too brief career, in which he ranged with the march of a giant through unexplored domains in science and literature, illuminating every subject on which he touched. Another guest invited by the President was the eleventh Duke of Somerset who had succeeded to his title three years before at the age of eighteen. He became F.R.S. in 1797 and in later years took part in the affairs of the Linnaean and other Societies. He became President of the Royal Institution and for more than thirty years presided over the Royal Literary Fund. Other visitors in the course of the year were Captain Riou, Captain Vancouver, Mr. Shaw Lefevre, Admiral Dalrymple, Lord Valentia and Mr. Giddy (Gilbert). 1797. The Annual General Meeting for 1797, held on I3th July, was attended by the President and eighteen other members. The Treasurer reported that his disbursements, which, as usual, were almost entirely for the completion of the payment of tavern bills, amounted to £68 6s. 6d., leaving an unexpended balance of £6 175. 4d. He pointed out that in consequence of the augmentation of the duties on wines, and also of the rise in the price of provisions, the expenses of the Club exceeded the sums hitherto voted, and that it was desirable that an addition should be made to the allowance which the landlord received. It was con- sequently agreed that an increase of two shillings for each member should be made to the sum of four shillings at present paid to him for dinner, and that of this increase " one shilling should be allowed to the landlord and one shilling should be applied towards the discharge of the 206 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1797 exceedings on Tavern bills." It was further resolved that an additional contribution of one guinea each should be collected from the members. The death of Dr. Warren was announced, making a vacancy in the membership of the Club. The list of candidates, four in number, having been read, the names were severally put to the ballot, and they were all declared not elected. It was resolved that a Rule of the Club should be enforced by which a Member who introduces a visitor is required to write down the name of such visitor at the time of intro- duction. The dearth of foreign visitors continued through the present year, nor do any names of special note appear among the English guests. Lord Dundonald, invited by Sir Joseph Banks, was the ninth earl. After serving in the army and navy, he succeeded to the earldom in 1778, but being unfor- tunate in his attempts to turn chemistry to practical pur- poses, came to be in greatly reduced circumstances. He lived till 1831 when he was succeeded in the title by his son, the tenth earl and famous admiral. Other guests were Earl Spencer and Mr. Hatchett, who were soon to become members of the Club ; Captain Salisbury, Dr. Pulteney, the botanist, Daniel Lysons and Captain Symes. Matthew Boulton was once more a visitor, introduced by Henry Cavendish, and Captain Riou likewise reappeared. 1798. At the Anniversary of 1798, held on 5th July, when the President and twelve other members were present, the Treasurer stated that his disbursements had come to £37 i6s. 3d., leaving a balance of £10 75. id. in his hands. The subscription for the ensuing year was fixed at a guinea. A vacancy which had remained over from last year was filled by the election of Charles Wilkins. This new member, proposed by Major Rennell, had been elected into the Royal Society ten years before. He was specially noted for his acquaintance with oriental languages. He was the first European to study Sanscrit inscriptions, and he published translations from the Sanscrit. He was knighted in 1833. Among the foreign visitors this year was a Danish student 1798 B. G. Niebubr; Captain Mudge 207 of two and-twenty who had been given leave to quit for a time his post of secretary to the Royal Library of Copen- hagen and come to England. This was no other than the future famous historian and scholar Barthold Georg Niebuhr. He spent three months in London and thereafter a year in Edinburgh, prosecuting with eager ardour the natural sciences and the studies which prepared him for the researches and speculations on which his reputation rests. He was brought twice to the Club in the summer by A. Dalrymple. On the 8th November Sir Philip Stephens brought to the Club " M. Devaynes " — possibly the French literary man who made his salon in Paris a centre that attracted the society of the old regime, noblesse, men of letters, politicians and financiers, and who was nominated to the Institute of France a few weeks before his death in 1803. Mr. Aubert introduced M. Pictet, possibly the Swiss agriculturist and diplomat, who wrote papers on English agriculture in the Bibliotheque Britannique. The home guests this year included a number who have already been mentioned — Count Rumford, M. Boulton, Captain Bligh, Lord Sheffield and others. Among the fresh names were those of Lord Walsingham, Lord Egremont and Captain Mudge. The last-mentioned visitor, born in 1762, was a godson of Samuel Johnson who, it is recorded, when the youth was a student at the Royal Military College, Wool- wich, paid him a visit and gave him a guinea and a book. Showing great capacity as a mathematician under Dr. Hutton, he was selected in 1791 for appointment to the Ordnance Trigonometrical Survey, of which in the course of seven years he became Director. He was one of the most efficient heads which that institution has ever had. He took a personal part in the extension of the measurement of the meridian through the whole length of Scotland up to the furthest point of the Shetland Isles. He likewise did good service in his guidance of the education of the cadets at Woolwich and Addiscombe. 1799. On 2oth June 1799 the Annual General Meeting was attended by fifteen members with William Marsden in the 2o8 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1799 chair. The Treasurer announced that the disbursements for the past year had amounted to £49 I2s., leaving an un- expended balance of £3 i6s. id. The annual contribution from each member was again fixed at one guinea. Three vacancies were reported to have arisen from the death of William Seward and the resignation of Richard Molesworth and Sir George Baker. There were two candidates on the waiting list— Gilbert Blane, M.D. (F.R.S. 1784) and John Lloyd (F.R.S. 1774), each of whom was separately put to the ballot and elected. Sir Joseph Banks, as usual, was con- tinued as President and W. Marsden as Treasurer. No notable foreign visitors appeared at the Club this year, nor do any names of distinction occur among those of the home guests who have not already been mentioned. The " Mr. Chalmers " who dined on 7th February may have been George Chalmers, the antiquary, biographer, and historian, chiefly remembered for his valuable " Caledonia " — an uncompleted work full of diligently collected material regarding the antiquities of Scotland. Another guest was Sir Charles Warre Malet, who had seen much active service as administrator and diplomatist in India, having been Resident at Poona and acting Governor at Bombay. He was created baronet in 1791 and after his retirement and return to England he was elected into the Royal Society in 1806. It may be mentioned that Henry Cavendish, for the first time during a quarter of a century, was this year present at only forty-six dinners of the Club, having been six weeks absent in February and March. 1800. The General Meeting in the year 1800 was held on loth July when the following company was present : Sir Joseph Banks, President Hon. Henry Cavendish Alexander Dairy mple John Symmons Thomas Astle F. A. Barnard Dr. P. Russell Major Rennell Dr. Blane Dr. Samuel S. Simmons Dr. Maskelyne George Best Alexander Aubert Charles Wilkins William Marsden SIR EVERARD HOME, BART., SURGEON, F.R.S., 1787. PLATE XXII To face page 208. i8oo S. Lysons ; E. Home; J. Towneley 209 The Treasurer's statement gave the receipts as £51 is. id. and the disbursements as £56 8s., showing a balance against the Club of /5 6s. nd. The annual contribution was again fixed at one guinea. The total number of diners since the last anniversary was 620, comprising 557 members and 63 visitors. Three vacancies in the membership were announced. One of these remained over from the previous year, the second arose from the death of Sir William Musgrave and the third from the resignation of Sir William Watson, who had been knighted in 1796 and had now retired to the country.1 Three candidates were nominated for election and separately balloted for and were all elected, viz. Samuel Lysons, Everard Home, and John Towneley. Samuel Lysons, barrister of the Inner Temple, was more particularly noted for his antiquarian proclivities and his authorship of a valuable work on the Romano-British antiquities of England. He became F.R.S. in 1797. Everard Home, eminent as a surgeon, and created bar- onet in 1813, had been elected into the Royal Society in 1787. He was summoned to Clapham when Henry Cav- endish was dying, and gave an account of the last hours of the philosopher to Sir John Barrow.2 John Towneley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1797. A few fresh visitors of note were entertained by the Club this year. Among these was the Chevalier de Bray, brought by Sir Charles Blagden. The President introduced Sir Richard Pepper Arden, a barrister of the Middle Temple, with a good University record, who entered parliament in 1782. In 1788 he became Master of the Rolls and in 1801 Lord Chief Justice, being then called to the House of Lords as Baron Alvanley. He is said to have possessed such wit and charm in conversation, that Pitt always insisted on sitting next to him when they met at the same dinner. But he is also reported to have had a quick temper which 1 Son of Sir William Watson who died in 1787. 2 Sketches of the Royal Society and Royal Society Club, 1849, p. 153. 2io Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1800 at times would get the better of him, not only when sitting as a judge, but even at family worship in his own home. On one occasion, when he was conducting the service, one of the servants, who had stayed behind, amused himself by playing a violin. When his lordship heard the noise he suddenly paused and called out " will no one stop that fellow's d d fiddling ? " Lord Henley, who dined on February I3th, had a singularly varied life as a diplomatist. Beginning as a Commoner, by name Morton Eden, he filled a succession of posts in the embassies to different countries of Europe — Bavaria, Copen- hagen, Dresden, Saxe-Gotha, Berlin, Vienna and Madrid, and with so much satisfaction to the government that his services were further employed in 1794 by his being recalled from Spain and sent again as envoy extraordinary to Vienna, where he remained on duty for five years more. His merit had been recognised by his being created a Knight of the Bath and on his retirement in November in 1799 he was given an Irish peerage with the title of Baron Henley. He was elected into the Royal Society in the spring of 1800. Henry Cavendish this year invited twice as his guest " Captain Huddart." This was probably Joseph Huddart whose history is noteworthy. He was a Cumberland lad who took to a sea-faring life and after some years so spent, entered the service of the East India Company. In 1778 he was appointed to the command of a merchant-ship in which he made four voyages to the East. He had shown early in life a liking for mathematics and surveying. In the course of his voyages he constantly took advantage of his opportunities to chart the harbours he visited and the coasts along which he sailed, constructing, among others, charts of Sumatra and the coast of India from Bombay to the mouth of the Godavery. When in 1788 he retired from the Company's service, he took to surveying among the Hebrides. His hydrographical qualifications and ex- perience at sea led to his being appointed an Elder-Brother of the Trinity House (1791), and on November 17 in the same year he was elected into the Royal Society. He i8oi /. Huddart; J. C. Hippisley; Admiral Young 2 1 1 invented a new and greatly improved method of making cables and ship-ropes, and this invention yielded him a considerable fortune. Such a career might well interest the recluse philosopher who brought him to the Club. Sir John Coxe Hippisley, another of the President's guests, was a barrister of the Inner Temple who had performed diplomatic duties for the government and, for his services in negotiating the marriage of the Princess Royal with the Duke of Wiirtemberg, had been created a baronet. Admiral Young, invited by the Treasurer, after varied service in the North American Coast and among the Lee- ward Islands was for some time commander on the West African Station and had then the opportunity of being one of the explorers of the ancient burial-places on the Peak of Teneriffe. Thereafter he did duty in the East Indies, became commander of the Royal Yacht and after the action on the Dogger Bank in 1781 was knighted. He became rear-admiral and ten years later admiral. In 1792 he gave evidence against the slave trade before the bar of the House of Commons, and he was associated with Sir Joseph Banks in his efforts to establish a colonv in New South Wales. 1801. At the General Meeting held on 2nd July 1801, Sir Joseph Banks, President, in the chair, and seventeen members present, the Treasurer submitted his accounts, from which it was shown that the expenses amounted to £63 os. 2d., the receipts to £40 195., leaving a balance of £22 is. 2d. due to him. To clear this liability off and to provide funds for the ensuing year it was resolved that the annual con- tribution of each member should be for this year two guineas. The entrance fee on election was raised to £2 2s. Three vacancies were reported, two arising from the death of Sir George Staunton and Bryan Edwards, and the third from the resignation of Master Holford. They were filled by the election of Owen Putland Meyrick, Viscount Lewis- ham, and John Lloyd Williams. The first of these new members had been elected into the Royal Society in 1776 ; the second in 1781, and the third on 2ist May of this year. 212 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1801 Viscount Lewisham had been some years in the House of Commons and this year he succeeded his father as third Earl of Dartmouth. Three years later he was appointed Lord Chamberlain. The most notable visitor to the Club this year was the accomplished and original William Hyde Wollaston, M.D., who came on the invitation of Henry Cavendish. He was then in his thirty-fifth year, and had retired from medical practice the year before in order to devote himself to scientific research, especially in the domain of chemistry and miner- alogy. To his inventive genius we owe the reflecting goniometer that bears his name, the camera lucida, and the method for making platinum malleable. He was the first to notice the dark lines in the solar spectrum. He discovered the metals palladium and rhodium. The Royal Society, into which he had been elected in 1793, chose him as one of its Secretaries in 1804 and when the Presidency became vacant in the summer of 1820 by the death of Sir Joseph Banks he was elected by the Council to fill the Presidential chair until the anniversary election on 3oth November. He was generous in the disposal of his wealth. The Royal Society owes to him the establishment of its valuable Donation Fund. To the Geological Society, of which he was one of the earliest supporters, he bequeathed the fund that established the highest prize which the Society has to bestow — the Wollaston Medal — and also provided an annual income which has been so usefully employed to assist younger geologists in their labours. Sir Henry Holland has left his impression of Wollaston as he used to see him at Sir Joseph Banks' Sunday evening receptions in Soho Square — " Wollaston, sternly logical and sceptical, listening to others as if ever ready to refute or rebuke ; and generally doing so by pungent questions to which few could venture to reply. I have often known a plausible theory, uttered by some one unconscious of Wollaston's presence, suddenly upset by two or three of these abrupt questions or com- ments/' ! 1 Recollections of Past Life, 2nd Edit. 1872, p. 213. An Anonymous Letter 2 1 3 Dr. Charles Burney, musician and traveller, father of Madame D'Arblay and friend of Samuel Johnson, was again one of the Club's guests this year. Many other visitors of former years also reappeared — Sir William Hamilton, now back from Naples, Count Rumford, Captain Bligh, Captain Huddart (again invited by Cavendish) , Lord Valentia, Charles Hatchett, Sir Henry Englefield and others. 1802. The Annual General Meeting for 1802 was held on I5th July, presided over by Sir Joseph Banks and attended by nineteen other members. The Treasurer reported that his receipts had been £85 is., his disbursements £79 js. 2d., leaving in his hands a balance of £5 133. lod. The sub- scription for the ensuing year was fixed at a guinea and a half. Reference may be made here to an anonymous letter addressed to Marsden the Treasurer which he preserved and which has survived among the Club's papers. The reader has doubtless noticed the marked rise in the expenses of the Club, and possibly the document suggested one source of this rise. It will at least be seen that next year the Treasurer had an unwontedly large balance in hand. The letter, which bears the impress of the twopenny post and the date May 3rd 1802, is as follows : A Hint to the Wise If you make an observation what wine is drank at The Crown and Anchor Tavern, you will find Two, four and sometimes six bottles charged more Than is drank by the Company, each day they dine. Q in the Corner. At this Annual General Meeting two vacancies were announced, one caused by the death of Viscount Palmerston (who had been a staunch supporter of the Club) ; the other by the non-attendance of John Thomas Stanley.1 These vacancies were filled by the election of Charles Hatchett and Earl Spencer. 1 The " discontinuance " of John Thomas Stanley was perhaps rather precipitate. He was re-elected seven years later and continued to be an active and useful member of the Club till he retired on account of age and infirmity in 1844. 214 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1802 Charles Hatchett wrote papers on chemical and miner- alogical subjects, some of which found a place in the Philosophical Transactions. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1797. He would appear to have been possessed of great personal charm. Sir John Barrow, who knew him well in the Club, records that if a novelist were required to draw " the portrait of a person who, from the age of boy- hood to that of an octogenarian, maintained under all circumstances the same uniform character of fun and frolic, good humour, good sense, kindness and benevolence, Charles Hatchett might be offered for the original." This lively and kindly being would seem to have thawed the icy reserve of Henry Cavendish who was so keenly interested in his election. The second Earl Spencer had been made F.R.S. in 1780 when he was Viscount Althorp. He sat in the House of Commons from 1780 to 1783 when, on succeeding to his father's title, he entered the House of Lords. Appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in 1794, he held that responsible office for more than six years — the most famous time in the history of the British navy. He was Home Secretary in 1806-7 and thereafter devoted himself to county business and to literary and scientific studies. His wife was one of the most famous hostesses of her day. Owing to the long continuance of the war with France there were for some years few continental visitors to the Royal Society or its Club. This year, indeed, witnessed the conclusion of peace and the signing of the Treaty of Amiens on March 27th. The political horizon, however, seemed still too cloudy to permit the current of foreign visitors to begin to flow once more towards London. A few official French- men crossed the Channel and were straightway captured by Sir Joseph Banks for the Club. He invited for the I2th August three eminent men who occupied important official positions in their own country. Two of them — Antoine Augustin Parmentier and Jean Baptiste Huzard, members of the lately organised Institute of France, were noted agriculturists who had rendered important service to their fatherland in the troublous times through which France 1802 A. Erongmart; Lord Webb Seymour 215 had passed since the overthrow of the Monarchy. The third guest, Charles Etienne Coquebert de Montbret, was a naturalist who, having served in various consular employ- ments, was now sent to this country as consul-general specially charged with the affairs of the French prisoners of war in England. He was appointed to the Legion of Honour in the following year and in 1809 the title of Baron was conferred on him. On four subsequent occasions this year he dined with the Club. Besides these more or less official personages one notable man of science found his way to England this year — the famous chemist, geologist and mineralogist Alexandre Brongniart, who besides his contributions to science did so much to improve the ceramic arts in France. He dined with the Club twice in the autumn. More than twenty years later he was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. The home visitors this year included a few who had not previously been entertained. One of these, Lord Webb Seymour, son of the Duke of Somerset, was elected F.R.S. on nth November this year. He settled in Edinburgh where he became the intimate friend of Playfair, Hall and the other members of the little group of geologists who were contending against the Wernerian doctrines espoused and promulgated by Robert Jameson from the natural history chair in the University. He took part with Playfair in the examination of the classic sections of intrusive granite veins in Glen Tilt which had so delighted Hutton, whose interpretation of them had been contemptuously rejected by the followers of Werner. Lord Webb Seymour prepared the important conjoint memoir embodying the results of their examination which was published in 1816 in the seventh volume of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Lord Webb dined twice with the Club, the first time just before and the second immediately after his elec- tion into the Royal Society. Among the familiar faces that appeared at the Club's table were those of Sir William Hamilton, Captain Bligh, Sir James Hall, Mendoza y Rios and others. 216 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1803 1803. At the Anniversary of the Club on 7th July 1803, which was attended by eighteen members, William Marsden being in the chair, the Treasurer made the welcome announce- ment that the amount of his disbursements had fallen to £25 195., less than half of what they had been in the previous year, while his receipts amounted to £68 I2s. iod., so that the balance remaining in his hands amounted to so large a sum (£42 135. iod.) that he considered it adequate to the probable expenses of the Club during the year and that it was therefore not necessary to call for any contribution from the members. He reported that two vacancies had arisen in the membership owing to the death of William M. Godschall and Samuel Wegg, and that a third would be caused by the desire of Thomas Astle, on account of the state of his health, to resign his place in the Club. This resignation having been accepted, the only candidate brought forward was Mr. Aylmer Bourke Lambert, who on a ballot was elected. He became F.R.S. in 1791. One of the original members of the Linnean Society, he continued to be one of its vice-presidents for nearly fifty years up to the time of his death. He was a good botanist, and, besides separate papers, he published a monograph in three volumes on the genus Pinus. The peace of Amiens did not last long, for the war with France broke out again in the early summer of this year and any social intercommunication with the continent was once more cut off. M. Coquebert de Montbret dined again with the Club on I3th January, but he must have quitted England not long after that date. Charles Towneley brought on 26th of May the Prince Bailli Ruspoli to dine and the President introduced Olaus Warberg, who in 1805 was made F.R.S. But the foreign element was almost wholly absent from the symposia of the Philosophers for more than a dozen of years from this time. Several peers who were this year elected into the Royal Society were invited to the Club — the Earl of Glandore, Viscount Charleville, and the Baron de Blaquiere. Another fresh F.R.S., Sir George Thomas Staunton, whose father had ADMIRAL PHILIPPE D'AUVERGNE, DUG DE BOUILLON, R.N., F.R.S., 1786. PLATE XXIII To face page 216. 1804 Play fair ; Webb Seymour ; Jameson 217 been so long an active member of the Club, was likewise entertained. Other new guests were William Lax, Loundes Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at Cambridge ; Richard Chenevix, chemist and mineralogist, who had been elected into the Royal Society two years before ; and Vis- count Castlereagh, who had been made F.R.S. in the previous year. Captain Philip d'Auvergne, now Due de Bouillon, took his place as a member on 28th July. Dr. Wollaston dined several times with the Club, once on the invitation of Cavendish. Professor Playfair of Edinburgh reappeared at a succession of dinners in August and September and his intimate friend Lord Webb Seymour came twice a little earlier in the year. A " Mr. Jameson " appears twice on the dinner lists, but there is no certain evidence that this was the redoubted pupil of Werner who had returned from Freiberg to preach the Neptunist creed of his master in opposition to the Vulcanist views of Hutton, Playfair and Hall. He had by this time published his " Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles/' wherein he threw down the gauntlet to the Scottish school, and in the following year he was appointed to the chair of natural history in the University of Edinburgh. 1804. The Annual General Meeting in 1804 was held on 28th June, and was attended by twenty members, Sir Joseph Banks in the chair. The Treasurer's financial forecast last year proved correct. His expenses were -£26 i6s. gd. and he still had an unexpended balance of £17 195. id. The balance remaining in the Fund, though much less than last year, was considered to be sufficient to warrant that no call should be made on the members for a contribution. One vacancy on the list of membership was caused by the death of John Topham, but as there was no candidate on the list, no new election took place. William Marsden intimated that the pressure of his official duties would prevent him from continuing to fill the office of Treasurer. Matthew Raper was requested to undertake the duties of the office, and the thanks of the members were tendered to the retiring Treasurer for his care of their accounts 2 1 8 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1804 during the sixteen years in which he had taken charge of them. There were no fresh names of special note among the visitors this year. On March ist " Mr. Constable " dined with the Club. He was probably the Edinburgh printer, friend of Walter Scott and publisher of the Waverley Novels and of the Edinburgh Review. The " Mr. Roscoe " on May 3rd we may believe to have been the well-known historian of Lorenzo def Medici and Leo X. The Professor Robertson invited by Maskelyne was doubtless Abraham Robertson, Savilian Professor of Geome- try at Oxford. His history was a remarkable example of success in the face of extraordinary difficulties. Born of poor parentage in Berwickshire he came to London, where he received his schooling at Westminster and returned to the north as a schoolmaster. When about four-and-twenty years of age he came again to London, but failed to obtain there the appointment which he was seeking. He then made his way to Oxford, where, by dint of his own abilities and industry, he succeeded in matriculating at Christ- church and obtaining in due course the degrees of B.A. arid M. A. After taking orders he became one of the chaplains of his College. In 1792 he published a treatise on Conic Sections which may have led to his election into the Royal Society in 1795 and to his appointment to the Savilian professorship of geometry in 1797. When the Savilian Professor of Astronomy, who early recognised his merit and had befriended him in his career, retired from that chair in 1810, Robertson was appointed to succeed him and held the professorship until his death in 1826. The eleventh Duke of Somerset, another visitor noted for his interest in literary and scientific pursuits, was next year elected a member of the Club. Other titled guests were Lord Kirkwall, Lord de Blaquiere, Sir Gounod Knatch- bull, Sir Thomas Hanmer, Sir George Lee, and Sir J. P. Dalrymple. Professor John Playf air, whose admirable volume of " Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory " published in the spring of 1802 was now arresting the attention of 1805 An Anniversary Meeting z 1 9 students of the history of the globe, was again brought to the Club by his friend Maskelyne on September I3th, when Maskelyne himself took the, chair, supported by Henry Cavendish, Everard Home, Alexander Aubert, and Charles Hatchett. 1805. The Annual General Meeting in 1805 was held on nth July and the following company was then present : Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. President Samuel Lysons Alexander Dalrymple John Symmons Nevil Maskelyne D.D. Frederick Barnard Hon. Henry Cavendish John Towneley John Walker Dr. S. F. Simmons Charles Hatchett Major Rennell Everard Home William Parsons Charles Wilkins Dr. Gilbert Blane William Marsden Dr. John Hunter Matthew Raper, Treasurer The new Treasurer made his first financial statement which showed that the disbursements to complete payment of tavern bills amounted to £38 los. 3d. and that the Fund had to meet a deficiency of £20 us. 2d. To clear off this debt and to provide for the expenses of the ensuing year a call on the members was made for one guinea. An examina- tion of the Dinner-registers shows that during the year since the last anniversary the number of persons who dined at the Club was 711, and that of these 68 were visitors and 643 members. The death of Dr. Patrick Russell, Sir George Shuckburgh Evelyn and Charles Towneley was announced. As three places were left unfilled at the preceding election, the total number of vacancies now existing amounted to six. There were four candidates on the list. Their names being put separately to the ballot, they were all elected, namely Henry Penruddock Wyndham (F.R.S. 1783), Colonel Roger Elliot Roberts (F.R.S. 1801), Edward Adolphus, eleventh Duke of Somerset (F.R.S. 1797), and David Pitcairn, M.D. (F.R.S. 1782). The visitor most interesting this year to the members 22O Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1805 of the Club at that time was probably the Bishop of St. Asaph. Under that ecclesiastical title this guest was none other than their old associate Dr. Samuel Horsley. It will be remembered that in the years 1783-84 he was one of the leaders in opposition to the President and Council of the Royal Society, and that by the votes of the general body of the Fellows he was decisively worsted ; that he thereupon resigned his connection with the Society, and by absenting himself from the meetings of the Club lost his place there and was formally removed from the list of members. Twenty years had slipped away since that schism, and Dr. Horsley had never once been again at the meetings of the Club. These were years of great activity on his part, however, though not in the scientific procedure of the Royal Society. He threw himself with all his vigour into the ecclesiastical field, occupy- ing successively the bishoprics of St. David's, Rochester, and now of St. Asaph. Besides the duties of his see, he took part in the debates in the House of Lords, plunged into public controversy, such as that with Priestley, and yet found time to edit and publish a collected edition of the works of Sir Isaac Newton. On 20th of June this year the Bishop was introduced to the Club by the President, and there were present, besides Sir Joseph Banks, some of those who had most vehemently opposed the Reverend Doctor in his contest with the Presi- dent and Council, and resented the arrogance and truculence of his attack. In the records of the Club there is no mention of what led to his reappearance ; whether the long- deferred reconciliation came about on his suggestion or on that of Banks or another member of the Club. We can well believe that his separation from the Royal Society, and all that its membership meant for a man of science, had probably been a subject of regret to him all these years, and the recollection of the painful circumstances which attended that rupture would make his regret all the keener. He was now past seventy years of age, and it may have been his own wish not to go down to the grave without an effort at reconciliation. As we shall 1806 Samuel Vince ; Henry Beeke ; Dr. Wave I I 221 find in the records of next year he reappeared once more at the Club. The visitors this year included the Comte de St. Amand ; the second Baron Henniker ; Lord Kirkwall ; also Samuel Vince, who in 1796 had succeeded to the Plumian pro- fessorship of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge, which he held till his death in 1821. It is an odd coincidence that by mere chance two men, each of whom had brought to notice a new British mineral which had been named after him, should both have dined with the Club on different days in the month of May this year — Dr. Henry Beeke, Fellow of Oriel, Professor of Modern History at Oxford and afterwards Dean of Bristol, and Dr. Wavell. In compliment to the former, a chalcedonic chert from the New Red Sandstone of Devonshire, to which he first called attention, was named Beekite ; while an inter- esting subphosphate of alumina which Dr. Wavell discovered in the same county was named Wavellite. 1806. The Anniversary in 1806 was held on 3rd July and was attended by nineteen members and also the Bishop of St. Asaph, Sir Joseph Banks taking the chair. The Treasurer announced that his disbursements on account of tavern- bills had amounted to £34 175., leaving a balance against the Club of £13 8s. 2d. It was agreed that each member should contribute a guinea to clear off this deficiency and provide for the needs of the ensuing year. Two members had died since the last Anniversary — Welbore Ellis Agar and Alexander Aubert. Two had not attended nor paid their contributions for two years, but the Club was now less rigorous in enforcing the regulation against non-attendance, and these defaulters were not yet stnick off the list of members. The Duke of Somerset, however, had not attended any meeting since his election nor paid his admission fee. He had thus neglected to qualify himself and he was declared to have forfeited his membership. Five vacancies remained to be filled and there were four candidates for election. On being sever- ally put to the ballot they were all elected, viz. the Rev. 222 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1806 Stephen Weston (F.R.S. 1792), Viscount Kirkwall, eldest son of the Earl of Orkney (F.R.S. 1804), Thomas Murdoch (F.R.S. 1805), Dr. Charles Burney (F.R.S. 1802). Stephen Weston was born in Exeter, of which his grand- father had been bishop, and was educated at Oxford, where he became a Fellow of Exeter College. He is remembered for his letters from Paris during the time of the Revolution, and for his antiquarian papers and oriental translations. The Rev. Charles Burney, son of the musician, was reputed to be one of the best Greek scholars of his day in this country. He formed a large and valuable library of classical authors which, on his death in 1817, was pur- chased for the nation and placed in the British Museum. Although it had now become the settled practice that visitors did not attend the annual General Meetings, Dr. Horsley presented himself this year, and we may be sure that he received a friendly welcome. Indeed, the cordiality of his reception seems to have led to a curious misunder- standing on the part of the new Treasurer, as will be seen in the proceedings of the next Anniversary. The Bishop was not a member of the Club, and yet he could hardly be looked upon as a visitor from the world outside. There was a pathetic interest in his presence among his old associates that day — Banks, Maskelyne, Cavendish, Dalrymple, and others — for the impression may have been more or less definitely present to his mind, if not to theirs, that it was probably the last time he would be with them. He may have felt that his end was near and that it was well worth while to make the effort to meet them once more at their yearly festival. He lived only three months longer and died on the 4th October following. The visitors this year included a few fresh names of some note. On gth January Maskelyne introduced his friend the Rev. John Brinkley, a distinguished Cambridge graduate and first Smith's prizeman, who after assisting for some years in the work of Greenwich observatory was on Maskelyne's recommendation appointed in 1792 the first Astronomer Royal for Ireland, and put in charge of the 1806 John Erinkley ; Wm. C. Wells; A. Carlisle 223 College observatory at Dunsink. With much energy he raised this observatory from a position of insignificance to one of first importance in the study of the heavens. His success was much appreciated in Ireland where he received a succession of ecclesiastical preferments, ending in 1826 with the bishopric of Cloyne. He had been made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1803 and received the Society's Copley Medal in 1824. But the duties of his bishopric, to which he devoted himself with as much zeal as he had shown in his astronomical career, left him little time for continuing his scientific pursuits. William Charles Wells, who dined twice with the Club, first on the invitation of the Astronomer Royal and then on that of the President, was born in South Carolina of Scottish parents who had emigrated to that state, and who sent him to Edinburgh for his education. He studied medi- cine there, also in London and Leyden, and eventually settled as a medical practitioner in London. But though he never acquired a large practice and was obliged to live frugally, he made a name which will never be forgotten in the records of meteorology, for he first solved in 1814 the problem of the origin of Dew. He had already in 1793 been admitted to the fellowship of the Royal Society, and the Society promptly testified its appreciation of his remarkable " Essay on Dew " by awarding to him the Rumford Medal. The name of " Mr. Carlisle " on the dinner lists this year and subsequently, year after year, is probably that of Anthony Carlisle, a noted surgeon in his day, and most clubbable man, who is remembered for some of the useful improve- ments devised by him in surgical implements and methods. He was knighted in 1820, and was for sixteen years Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy. Another name, that of " Mr. Davy," occurs for the first time in the Dinner-register of this year. On the 2Oth March Sir Joseph Banks introduced the future Sir Humphry Davy to the Club. Already in his 28th year he had made his mark as an original observer and a popular exponent of science at the Royal Institution. 224 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1807 Among the guests were Lord Mahon, afterwards Earl Stanhope, who next year was made F.R.S. ; Lord Carrington, who as Robert Smith sat in the House of Commons as Member for Nottingham, and in acknowledgment of his political services to Pitt was raised into the peerage ; the fifth Earl of Selkirk, specially notable for his life-long efforts to promote emigration from Scotland to the North American Colonies ; and Lord John Thynne. In May and again in June the President had Sir James Hall and Professor John Playfair to meet each other at the Club. 1807. The Annual General Meeting was held in 1807 on 25th June and was attended by twenty-four members, the President, Sir Joseph Banks, in the chair. The Treasurer's statement showed that his disbursements were almost exactly the same as those of last year, but that instead of an adverse balance, he had come to the end of the financial year with fourteen shillings and twopence in hand. The contribution for the ensuing year was fixed at one guinea. The Treasurer reported that the Earl of Dartmouth (formerly Viscount Lewisham), the Due de Bouillon, the Rev. Sir Richard Kaye, Bart., John Lloyd, O. P. Meyrick and John Ord "had not attended any meeting since the last anniversary nor sent any excuse for not having done so." It was resolved that all these members, with the exception of Lord Dartmouth and Mr. Lloyd, " are no longer members of the Club and in consequence that there are five vacancies, one having remained from last year." There were two candidates on the list, one of whom, after a ballot, was declared to be duly elected. This new member, Arthur Annesley, eighth Viscount Valentia, had in previous years dined as a guest from time to time. He had been elected into the Royal Society on 24th November 1796. One paragraph in the Minutes of this Anniversary which calls for a remark may be inserted here : " The Treasurer reported the death of the Bishop of St. Asaph, but he being a member ex officio, no vacancy was created thereby." The Treasurer, Matthew Raper, who had been elected into PLATE XXIV THOMAS YOUNG, M.D., F.R.S., 1794- Foreign Secretary, R.S., 1802-1829. To face page 224. 1807 Humphry Davy 225 the Royal Society when the cabal against Sir Joseph Banks was gathering force, and who joined the Club in 1787 when the recollection of the dispeace was still fresh, cannot have forgotten that the Bishop had been formally " discon- tinued " by the Club, and for twenty years had been no longer a member. The Club records contain no trace of any proposal for his re-election, and such re-election would have been necessary before he could take his place as a member. It is conceivable that the cordiality with which he was received may have led the Treasurer into the assump- tion that he had been practically taken back into member- ship. But it is difficult to account for the deliberate insertion of the mistake in the Minutes and for the failure to have it corrected if the statement was read to the Club at this Anniversary. Another ex officio member now entered the Club owing to a change in the official staff of the Royal Society. On the 22nd January 1807 Humphry Davy was elected one of the Secretaries of the Society. By the brilliance of his chemical discoveries and his remarkably attractive powers of exposition this young man had rapidly gained a place among the foremost men of science in the country. The Royal Society had elected him into its ranks in 1803 when he was only twenty-five years of age and had awarded him its greatest prize, the Copley Medal, in 1807, on the same day on which it chose him as one of its Secretaries. Yet he was only on the threshold of his remarkable career of discovery and invention. Upwards of twenty strenuous and fruitful years were before him until, worn out with toil, he died when only in the fifty-first year of his age. Sir Henry Holland, who watched him in his early years, has left a recollection of him as he appeared at Sir Joseph Banks' assemblies and at the lecture theatre in Albemarle Street. " At those parties, the youthful and more elastic genius of Davy came in striking contrast to the inflexibility of Wollaston and the umbratilis vita and hereditary taciturnity of Cavendish. His early successes in science had embold- ened a mind naturally ardent and speculative ; and I well 226 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1807 remember the eagerness with which men clustered around him to listen to his eloquent anticipations of future pro- gress, many of these now more than fulfilled. His lectures at the Royal Institution, novel and earnest in manner, and invigorated by the succession of discoveries they re- corded, brought crowds of admiring hearers." 1 It was on the 26th February, just a month after his election to the Secretaryship, that Davy availed himself of his right to assume his place as an ex officio member of the Club, and he continued for many years to take an active interest in its affairs. The visitors this year included some men of marked distinction in different branches of science. Foremost among them was Dr. Thomas Young, the trained physician, brilliant physicist and pioneer Egyptologist. Probably no man in the history of English science has possessed a wider range of acquirement or shown a greater originality alike in physical and physiological research and linguistic studies. After going through a complete medical training in London and Edinburgh he took a medical degree at Gottingen and again at Cambridge, and for some years practised the profession of a physician. But he was able to devote him- self also to the prosecution of research in different branches of science. His remarkable paper on the structure of the crystalline lens of the eye led to his election into the Royal Society in 1794 when he was only twenty-one years of age. In 1801 he was appointed Professor of Natural Philo- sophy at the Royal Institution, but soon resigned the post to carry on the series of investigations on the theory of light and colours, and on capillary action, on which his high reputation in physical science mainly rests. Thus on the one side he might appear to be a philosopher absorbed in original research, on the other side he was known to be a physician engaged in the daily calling of his profession and in lecturing on medical subjects at the College of Phy- sicians. Yet there was still another avenue along which his amazing industry led him far ; he found time to work 1 Recollections of Past Life, p. 213. 1807 Thomas Young 227 at Egyptian hieroglyphics and to discover the key to their interpretation. Helmholz has recorded of him that " he had the misfortune to be too greatly superior in sagacity to his contemporaries. They gazed at him with astonish- ment, but they could not always follow the bold flights of his intellect, and thus a multitude of his most important ideas lay buried and forgotten in the great tomes of the Royal Society of London, until a later generation re-made his discoveries, and convinced itself of the accuracy and force of his inferences." With all this weight of learning and this wide range of scientific and literary activity Dr. Young preserved his youthful simplicity and gaiety of manner. Sir Henry Holland has left an interesting picture of this side of his nature. " His profound and very varied knowledge was concealed under a certain spruceness of dress, demeanour and voice, which strangely contradicted his Quaker origin, and perplexed those who had known him only from his scientific fame. I have seen the discoverer of some of the grandest and most occult laws of Light, loitering with ladies in a fashionable shop in Bond Street, helping them in the choice of ribbons and other millinery. But what might be deemed affectation was in Dr. Young not really such, but genuine courtesy and kindness of heart." l This genial and gifted philosopher was chosen by the Royal Society in 1804 to be its Foreign Secretary, but he did not at once join the Club. Dr. Maskelyne brought this year some young men of science to the Club who became famous in later years. On 8th May he introduced his friend John Pond, who in a few years succeeded him as Astronomer Royal and also as an ex officio member of the Royal Society Club, of whom more will be said on a later page. On the 4th of June Maskelyne had as his guests two Scotsmen destined to attain a high position in physical science — David Brewster and John Leslie. Brewster was at this time only six-and-twenty and had not begun that scientific life which raised him into eminence. 1 Recollections of Past Life, 2nd Edit. p. 214. 228 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1807 He was educated for the Church, had now actually passed all his examinations and had been licensed as a preacher in the Scottish Kirk ; but finding himself, owing to a nervous disability, debarred from continuing in the ministry, he gave up the clerical profession and took to physical science, for which even from boyhood he had shown special apti- tude. Devoting himself to the study of light and the pro- blems of optics he achieved before many years a world-wide reputation as an original investigator and one of the most energetic advocates of the cause of science. Besides his purely scientific papers, he became a prolific writer of reviews, articles and other contributions to scientific and literary publications. It is to be remembered also that he was one of the original founders of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He will appear again in these pages when the main part of his active life had passed and when he was universally respected as one of the notable philosophers of his day. Maskelyne's second guest, John Leslie, has already been referred to (p. 201) . He like Brewster had been meant to enter the Church of Scotland, but his bent towards mathematics and natural philosophy was so strong that he abandoned a clerical calling and spent ten years in an investigation of the nature and properties of Heat. The work which he pub- lished on this subject in 1804 gave him at once an European reputation. The Royal Society promptly recognised the importance of his research by awarding him the Rumford Medal, and his name occurs immediately after that of Count Rumford at the head of the brilliant list of Medallists. He became Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh when John Playfair exchanged this chair for that of Natural Philosophy, and when Playfair died in 1819 Leslie was with general approbation appointed successor to that dis- tinguished man. He was the author of many treatises, papers and articles, and in 1832 he received royal recognition by being knighted. On the 8th October Humphry Davy introduced to the Club George Bellas Greenough — a name held in veneration 1808 G. B. Greenough ; Davies Gilbert 229 by English geologists as that of the most strenuous of the founders of the Geological Society of London. He was mainly instrumental in bringing that Society this year into being, in spite of the opposition of Sir Joseph Banks and other prominent members of the Royal Society, who thought that the rise of a new scientific body would damage the prestige of their venerable institution unless made subordinate to it. He was naturally chosen the first Presi- dent of the infant Society, and for more than forty years continued to watch over its progress with paternal interest. This year Henry Cavendish, who had for some time had no guests at the Club, introduced the Spanish astronomer Mendoza y Rios (already mentioned, p. 200), who was now settled in London. 1808. The Annual General Meeting in 1808 was held on July I4th and was attended by nineteen members, Sir Joseph Banks presiding. According to the Treasurer's statement the disbursements to complete payment of tavern-bills amounted to £42 6s. 6d. and an adverse balance of £5 45. 8d. remained to be cleared off. The contribution for the ensuing year was fixed at a guinea and a half. The death of Alexander Dalrymple was announced. Five new members were duly elected, viz. Davies Giddy (Gilbert), Benjamin Hobhouse, John Barrow, John Rennie and Sir James Hall. Davies Giddy (Gilbert, F.R.S. 1791) has been already mentioned (p. 195). Benjamin Hobhouse (F.R.S. 1798), barrister of the Middle Temple and member of Parliament, retired from political life in 1818 and devoted his attention to the affairs of the societies and institutions with which he was connected. He had been from time to time a guest of the Club, and it may be mentioned that Henry Cavendish seems to have been so desirous to see him become a member that in the spring of this year he twice invited him to the dinner. This new member proved to be one of the most efficient in the Club. John Barrow (F.R.S. 1805), accompanied Lord Macartney's embassy to China in 1792-4 and came into public notice 230 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1808 as the author of an account of his visit to China and South Africa. He received in 1804 an appointment in the secre- tarial department of the Admiralty, and for forty years he continued to serve in that branch of the public service, becoming eventually chief secretary and devoting his whole energies to the duties of his office. But he took keen in- terest in naval and geographical questions outside strictly official lines. To him was due the first proposal that the Admiralty should endeavour to discover the much discussed North-west Passage, and this proposal opened the way for the long series of Arctic and Antarctic voyages of discovery. Barrow was a prolific writer of articles and reviews.1 To members of the Royal Society Club his volume of " Sketches of the Royal Society and Royal Society Club " is of special interest, with its personal impressions of some of the more eminent of the members. He died in 1848 at the age of eighty-four. John Rennie (F.R.S. 1798), an accomplished civil and mechanical engineer who gained a wide reputation as a constructor of canals and bridges. London Bridge and Waterloo Bridge are examples of his taste and skill in architectural design. He likewise built the great break- water at Plymouth. The public respect entertained for him was shown in 1821 when he died ; he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. Sir James Hall, Bart I, of Dunglass, has been already referred to as a frequent guest of the Club of which he now became a member. When he found that Hutton would not countenance his experiments in proof of some of the disputed parts of that great master's Theory of the Earth, he laid aside the efforts which he was disposed to make in that direction. But after Hutton died in 1797 he took up the subject again, and by a series of ingeniously devised experiments not only confirmed Hutton's asser- 1 It is said that Mr. Murray his publisher surprised him one day by presenting him with ten portly and handsomely-bound volumes containing Essays of his own composition, selected from the Quarterly Review, and comprising at least one-fourth part of that periodical, as it then existed. Barrow's Sketches of the Royal Society, 1849, p. 211. 1809 Sir John Thomas Stanley; J. G. Children 231 tions, but became himself the true founder of Experimental Geology. The list of visitors this year contains no fresh names that need be recorded here. 1809. At the Anniversary Meeting for 1809, which was held on 2gth June and was attended by twenty-six members, with the President in the chair, the Treasurer reported that as there remained in his hands a balance of £20 133. 4d. he did not propose to make any call on the members for a contribution to the Fund. He announced the death of Dr. Hunter and Dr. Pitcairn. As the result of a ballot of the candidates, Sir John Thomas Stanley, Bart., and John George Children were declared duly elected. Sir John Stanley had already been elected a member of the Club in 1791, but he lost his membership in 1802 by non-attendance. In the interval he had succeeded to a baronetcy and he now proved an assiduous and useful member. In 1839 ne was created the first Baron Stanley of Alderley. Mr. Children became F.R.S. in 1807. He was interested in mechanics, mineralogy and chemistry. He made experiments in chemical research with a larger galvanic battery than had previously been used. Among his results was the discovery of a new method of extracting silver. He had much liking also for entomology. He assisted in the foundation of the Entomological Society and became its president. In 1826 he was elected one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society. No prominent names appear in the list of visitors during this year. Everard Home frequently brought to the Club William Thomas Brande, the chemist, who on I3th April this year was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1813 he succeeded Sir Humphry Davy as Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution. " Mr. Brodie " who appeared twice as the guest of Everard Home was probably the future Sir Benjamin, who has given in his autobiographical memoir such pleasant sketches of eminent men whom he knew. The " Mr. Cadell " who was introduced twice in 232 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1810 November by Humphry Davy may be conjectured to have been William Archibald Cadell, a Scottish advocate with a landed estate and antiquarian tastes, given to travel, and yet anchored to the valley of the Forth, where he was one of the founders of the successful Carron Ironworks. He was a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, who promoted his election into the Royal Society, which took place in the summer of the following year. A number of former guests reappeared in the course of the year. Among these may be mentioned Mr. Carlisle, Sir George Staunton, Lord Dundas, John Playfair, Dr. Edward Knatchbull and Dr. Latham. On 22nd June Henry Cavendish, who was present at every meeting of the Club throughout the year, for the last time invited a guest, whose name appears on the list for the day as " Mr. Cockshutt." 1810. The Anniversary Meeting of the Club in 1810 took place on the igth July and was attended by the following members : Matthew Raper, Treasurer Everard Home William Marsden Charles Wilkins John Symmons William Parsons Dr. S. F. Simmons Samuel Lysons Stephen Weston Dr. Nevil Maskelyne Thomas Murdoch Frederick Barnard Hon. Colonel Robert F. Greville John Walker Major Rennell Dr. William Hyde Wollaston The Treasurer had to announce that his decision of last year to levy no contribution from the members had left him at the end of the financial year with a deficit of £31 i6s. 8d., the disbursements to defray the balance of tavern-bills having mounted up to £58 53. 6d. To clear off this adverse balance and to provide for the expenses of the coming year a contribution of two guineas was levied on each member of the Club. The expenses now began to increase rapidly year by year and the contribution from each member was proportionally augmented. The number of diners at the Club since the last Anniversary was 904, of whom 779 were members and 125 visitors. i8io Henry Cavendish and his guests 233 The death was announced of Henry Cavendish and Sir Philip Stephens. These two vacancies were filled by the election of Samuel Goodenough, Bishop of Carlisle, and Lord Dundas. The Bishop of Carlisle had the reputation of being a good botanist, a scholar and a preacher of considerable eminence. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1789. It was one of his sermons to the House of Lords which called forth the epigram : Tis well enough that Goodenough Before the Lords should preach ; But sure enough, full bad enough Are those he has to teach. The Bishop proved an assiduous member of the Club as the weekly registers for the succeeding years fully show. Henry Cavendish, who had attended every dinner, 51 in all, during 1809 continued to take his accustomed place at each meeting in January and the first half of February in the following year. He did not appear on the 22nd of that month nor on March ist or 8th. He died on the loth. Evidently he retained his health and was able to pursue the accustomed ways of his life up to about a fortnight before the end. Before passing on from the narrative of his career we may look back at one feature of it on which the records of the Royal Society Club throw some little light — the friendships or at least acquaintanceships which his austere and lonely nature permitted him to cultivate. The members of the Royal Society Club saw far more of him than any other of his contemporaries, but they have left somewhat meagre recollections of his personality. The weekly journals so sedulously kept by the Club throughout the whole of his lifetime record his presence at the meetings and give the name of every guest whom he introduced throughout the whole course of his membership, extending over half a century. Allusion has already been made (p. 74) to the testimony of these records as to Cavendish's selection of guests, but it may be well to look a little more closely into the whole evidence to the end of which we have now come. 234 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1810 Putting aside the candidates for admission into the Club for whom Cavendish good-naturedly did his part in inviting them to the dinners, we come upon a number of names of guests whom he asked to come to the Club, evidently for their own sakes and the interest he took in them or in their pursuits. As already pointed out he evidently enjoyed the companionship of the Rev. John Michell, who for some years dined frequently at the invitation of different members, and whom Cavendish again and again had beside him as his own guest. He chose to invite such men as Daniel Solander, General Roy, Benjamin Franklin, Count de Salis, Captain Phipps, Francis Maseres, Dr. Ingenhousz, Baron Fabroni, Abbe Fontana, William Hyde Wollaston, Dr. Charles Hutton, Professor William Ogilvie, John Belchier, Mr. Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton, Captain Riou, Captain Huddart, and others. Sometimes he had two guests at a time, as for example, Solander and Geissler, Roy and Solander, Franklin and Comyns, Belchier and Hawkins Brown, Maseres and Hemming, Duane and Fabroni, Ingen- housz and Fontana, Belchier and Jodrell, Fabroni and Maseres, Holford and Ogilvie. These doubles were most frequent in the years 1778-1781, after which they ceased. If we may judge of Cavendish from the personality of his guests we see that he must have had sympathies and interests a good deal wider than those of the laboratory in which he spent so much of his time and thought. He chose as his companions at the table not only mathematicians and men of science, but politicians, manufacturers, medical men, engineers, surgeons, explorers and many more. He would seem to have had a special regard for seamen and their exploits. He more than once had Captain Phipps at his side, who could tell of the work of the Navy and the excite- ment of Arctic discovery. Captain Riou was his guest on i6th November 1797, four years before his death at the battle of Copenhagen. The philosopher was evidently interested also in Captain Huddart, whom he invited three times to the weekly dinner. These gleanings from the records of the Royal Society Club are but trifling incidents, i8io Sir Alexander Johnston; James Smith son 235 but they seemed to be worthy of being extracted and pub- lished as a slight addition to all that is known of the daily life of one of the most illustrious philosophers that England has ever had. Of the visitors entertained by the Club during the year 1810 little need be told. One of the most important of them was Sir Alexander Johnston, who, having been taken early in life to India, acquired a knowledge of several of the various languages of the country and a strong sympathy with the natives. In 1805 he was appointed Chief Justice of Ceylon and afterwards President of the Council. He reorganised the government of the island and introduced a career of prosperity to the colony. When he returned to England his love of the East impelled him to take a main share in the creation of the Royal Asiatic Society, of which he was chosen Vice-president. He was knighted for his public services and was afterwards made a member of the Privy Council. He was elected into the Royal Society Club in 1819 and proved to be a valuable member, for his wide acquaintance with the official world at home and abroad enabled him to introduce many eminent and in- teresting guests. James Smithson, who was introduced on 23rd August by Humphry Davy, studied at Oxford, and published a number of papers on chemical mineralogy. He was admitted into the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1787, one of his sponsors there being Henry Cavendish. He is chiefly remembered as the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. He will be further noticed in the account of the Club's guests in 1825. The " Mr. Pepys " of the weekly register was probably William Hasledine Pepys, an ingenious inventor and im- prover of scientific apparatus. He was fond of geology and mineralogy, and one of the original founders of the Geological Society of London. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1808. CHAPTER VIII PRESIDENTSHIP OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS, continued 1811-1820 1811. SIR JOSEPH BANKS, having enjoyed robust health, had led a singularly active life from his youth up to the time at which this narrative has arrived. But as he approached his grand climacteric he became increasingly a sufferer from gout and other ailments. He gradually lost the use of his lower limbs and could only move about from place to place on wheels. Yet his mental energy and undaunted spirit triumphed over his bodily disability. He continued to take his place at the meetings of the Royal Society, to which he was wheeled in his easy chair, presiding there with his accustomed alertness and dignity. He likewise attended the weekly meetings of the Club, to which he invited his guests as freely as he had done before the failure of his locomotive powers. In some years during the first two decades of the nineteenth century he was present at from thirty to nearly forty Club dinners in the course of the year, seldom at less than twenty and only once at as few as nine. His friend Sir John Barrow, who often watched him as he presided both at the Society and at the Club, has recorded that Sir Joseph had " lost the use of his lower limbs so completely as to oblige him to be carried, or, as the case might require, wheeled by his servants in a chair : in this way he was conveyed to the more dignified chair of the Royal Society, and also to the Club — the former of which he very rarely omitted to attend, and not often i8n Sir Joseph Banks and his Parties 237 the latter ; he sat apparently so much at his ease, both at the Society and in the Club, and conducted the business of the meetings with so much spirit and dignity, that a stranger would not have supposed that he was often suffer- ing at the time, nor even have observed an infirmity, which never disturbed his uniform cheerfulness." x So too at his gatherings in Soho Square, though ( unable to stroll among his guests as he had been wont to do, he was wheeled to and fro through their midst, giving a kindly welcome to every one around him, and with an ear as eager as ever to listen to an account of the latest research in science, the newest tidings of botanical exploration, or the last news of geographical discovery. Sir Henry Holland, who attended these assemblies, has left an interesting picture of the impression they left on his memory, which may be appropriately quoted here : " Sir Joseph Banks himself was necessarily a very conspicuous personage in these parties at his house. Seated and wheeled about in his arm-chair — his limbs helplessly knotted with gouty tumours, speaking no other language than English, and carrying his scientific knowledge little beyond the domain of natural history, — he neverthe- less looked the governing power of the Royal Society, and was such in reality. His massive eyebrows themselves were an element of weight. I had frequent occasion to notice the strong impression his aspect and demeanour made upon foreigners, — men of science and others, — who came over to England at this period of renewed Continental intercourse. It is less paradoxical than it may seem, to say that this impression was strengthened by the very fact of his not speaking any foreign language. Silence often carries more weight with it than speech, and especially when the latter is encumbered by the effort to find words for its object. Sir Joseph Banks, silent in his Chair, was more imposing than he would have been if exchanging imperfect phrases, whether of science or of courtesy, with the strangers who came to visit him." 2 At the Annual General Meeting on July nth, at which twenty members were present, Sir Joseph Banks, the Presi- dent, in the chair, the Treasurer submitted his financial statement, which showed that the disbursements on account of tavern-bills amounted to £57 8s., and that there was a 1 Sketches of the Royal Society, p. 41. '2 Recollections, pp. 215-6. 238 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks i8ir balance due to him of £3 2s. 8d. He called attention to the price of wine having been raised sixpence a bottle, and the consequent increase in the cost of the dinners. It was agreed that the contribution of the members for the ensuing year should be two pounds. The Treasurer reported the death of the Earl of Dart- mouth, Dr. Maskelyne and Sir William Young, also that Mr. Williams desired to resign his place in the Club. There were three vacancies to be filled, and on the candidates being successively put to the ballot, Roger Wilbraham, Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton, Bart., and Richard Chenevix were declared duly elected. As the late Astronomer Royal was a member ex officio, his demise caused no vacancy in the membership, his place in the Club being taken by his successor in the Royal Astronomership, John Pond, who now became ex officio a member. Of the members thus added to the Club, Roger Wilbraham was a man of letters with a great love of Italian literature and the possessor of a valuable library. He had been elected into the Royal Society in 1782. Admiral Sir Richard Bicker- ton entered the navy as far back as 1771, and after an active career at sea and on shore became admiral in 1810. Between 1805 and 1812 he had duties at the office of the Admiralty in London, and it was during that interval that he chiefly attended the meetings of the Club. He became F.R.S. on 22nd February 1810 and was made K.C.B. in 1815. Richard Chenevix, of Huguenot descent, was born in Ireland, but resided chiefly in France, where he wrote papers in French publications and also in English journals on chemical and mineralogical subjects. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1801. As he did not attend the meetings and lived abroad, it was decided at the anni- versary of 1814 that he was no longer a member of the Club. John Pond had in his youth shown an extraordinary grasp of astronomy, even detecting errors in observations made at Greenwich Observatory. When about thirty years i8n John Pond; Sir Sidney Smith; J.W. Croker 239 of age he constructed an observatory for himself in Somerset where he made observations which proved that the Green- wich instruments had become defective. He was aged forty when he first appeared in the Club. Four years later, on Maskelyne's strong recommendation, he was appointed to succeed him as Astronomer Royal in 1811. The Royal Society had recognised Pond's scientific claims by electing him a Fellow in 1807. He was indefatigable in inventing improvements for increasing the delicacy and accuracy of astronomical instruments, and he raised Greenwich Observa- tory to a standard of excellence such as it had never before attained. He had a modest and unobtrusive character, which led him after some years to slacken in his attendance at the dinners and finally to cease to appear. A few of the guests this year may be briefly noticed. " Sir Sidney Smith," who dined thrice, was no doubt the courageous admiral who successfully defended St. Jean d'Acre against the French in 1799. " Professor Hope," invited by Humphry Davy, may be identified with the emi- nent chemist who for more than forty years was the Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. Sir Francis Milman was a conspicuous physician of the day, President of the Royal College of Physicians, who had been made a baronet by George III. some years before. On 7th November John Barrow invited " Mr. Croker," who may be confidently regarded as John Wilson Croker of Quarterly Review renown, who had recently been rewarded for his political services by being made Secretary to the Admiralty. Barrow's position in the Admiralty and his connection with the Quarterly would prompt him to introduce the brilliant editor to the Royal Philosophers. The fourth Earl of Aberdeen, who dined with the Club on November I4th, was then a young man of seven-and-twenty, on the threshold of that distinguished career in which he rose through a succession of important offices at home and abroad to become Prime Minister. At this time he sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer, but had hardly entered the political arena. He was known to have classical 240 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1811 tastes, to have travelled through Greece and to have founded the Athenian Society — a reputation which brought him the distinction of being put at the head of the band of Scotsmen whom Byron pilloried in the English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. First in the oat-fed phalanx shall be seen The travell'd thane, Athenian Aberdeen. He was elected into the Royal Society on 28th April 1808, and became a member of the Club in 1820. Many former guests of the Club reappeared this year. Dr. Thomas Young dined in January and again in November. The veteran seaman Bligh, now become an Admiral, was welcomed three times to the table. Professor Playfair and Lord Webb Seymour were also guests. 1812. The Annual General Meeting of 1812, held on 25th June, was attended by twenty-one members, Sir Joseph Banks taking the chair. The Treasurer stated that his dis- bursements had been £69 143. 6d., and that he had a balance on hand of £17 los. iod., sufficient in his opinion to justify him in proposing that the contribution from each member should this year be one pound. It was resolved that as Sir James Hall and Penruddock Wyndham, on account of their distant avocations, were not likely to attend the Club in future (each of them having been absent for two years), their names should be withdrawn from the List. Two vacancies were thus created. Thereupon the list of candidates was read and each name was successively put to the ballot, when, as a result of the voting, Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bart., was declared to be duly elected. Sir George Staunton has been already referred to as an occasional guest. He was the son of George Leonard Staunton who for many years was so active a member of the Club. He was taken by his father in the Embassy to China in 1792, and thenceforth became a successful student of Chinese. Settling at Canton he remained there for nine- teen years, in which time he was employed as interpreter and became chief of factory. Returning to England he mm CHARLES HATCHETT, F.R.S., 1797. PLATE XXV To f ace page 240. 1812 Dr. Holland; John Cam Hobbouse 241 eventually entered Parliament and represented several con- stituencies in succession from 1818 to 1832. He was the first to translate into English and publish a Chinese work. Elected into the Royal Society in 1803 he was also one of the original founders of the Royal Asiatic Society. A few visitors who appeared for the first time at the dinners this year may be noticed here. The " Dr. Holland " introduced by Humphry Davy on i6th January was doubt- less the future Sir Henry Holland who had graduated M.D. the year before at Edinburgh. While he rose to an extensive and lucrative practice and became probably the leading physician of the day in London, he would never allow his professional duties to usurp the two months which he from the first resolved to devote each year to travel abroad. It was natural that when he had acquired an adequate fortune he should retire from medical practice, and give free rein to his passion for visiting foreign countries. Early in the year 1815 he was elected into the Royal Society. He was made a baronet in 1853. From 1865 to 1873 (in which latter year he died on his birthday at the age of 85), he was President of the Royal Institution. In 1872 he published the volume of " Recollections " from which quotations have been given in the foregoing pages. He was born at Knutsford in Cheshire, and his eldest son, when raised to the peerage, took the title of Viscount Knutsford. Dr. Charles Henry Parry was another successful physician who, after studying at Gottingen and Edinburgh, took his degree at the latter University and ultimately settled in London. John Cam Hobhouse, son of one of the members of the Club, Benjamin Hobhouse (who this year had a baronetcy conferred on him for his political services), bore a name now familiar to every reader of Byron, for he lived and travelled in the closest intimacy with the poet, who in dedi- cating to him the last magnificent Canto of Childe Harold, described him as " one whom I have known long, and accompanied far, whom I have found wakeful over my sickness and kind in my sorrow, glad in my prosperity and Q 242 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1812 firm in my adversity, true in counsel and trusty in peril, a friend often tried and never found wanting." After a varied parliamentary and official career Hobhouse was raised to the Peerage with the title of Baron Broughton de Gyfford, but it will be by his commoner's name that he will be best remembered. Sir Abraham Hume, Bart., has been already mentioned (p. 158). He was elected into the Royal Society as far back as 1775, and when he died in 1838 at the age of 89, he was the oldest Fellow on the Society's list. Sir John Sinclair, Bart., was several times invited by Sir Joseph Banks this year Lord Redesdale (John Freeman Mitford), another of the President's guests, after a successful career as a barrister and member of Parliament, rose in 1801 to be Speaker of the House of Commons. Next year he was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland and raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Redesdale. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1794. 1813. The Anniversary Meeting, held on I5th July 1813, was attended by twenty members. In the absence of the President the chair was taken by the Treasurer, who informed the meeting that the disbursements since last Anniversary amounted to £88 us. 6d. and that there was an adverse balance of £30 i8s. 8d. It was resolved that the contribution should be one pound from each member. The death of Dr. Samuel F. Simmons and John Towneley was reported. Including the vacancy left unfilled at the last annual General Meeting there were now three vacancies. The list of candidates having been read and each name having been put separately to the ballot, William Thomas Brande, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Bart., and Samuel Davies were declared to be elected. The names of four members were given out by the Treasurer as not having attended since the last Anniversary, and one of them not for the last two years, none having assigned any reason for his absence. But the Club had become much more lenient in this matter. No action was taken with 1813 Increased Cost of Dinners 243 regard to these defaulters, and the Treasurer, having made the announcement, passed on to propose that as some alteration seemed to be necessary in regard to the mode of paying the Tavern expenses, which were steadily mount- ing up, a Committee should be formed and asked to meet at the "Crown and Anchor" on the following Thursday a little before the hour of dinner to consider the matter. The minute of this Committee, as entered in the principal Minute- book of the Club, for the Anniversary of 1814, runs as follows : " That the members shall in future pay 8/ instead of 6/ at each meeting, and that the landlord do charge 6/6 instead of 5/ per head for eating." The financial condition of the Club at this time cannot be clearly understood from the meagre record contained in the weekly registers. The contri- bution of one pound levied at the Anniversary was paid at the time by most of the members present, and obtained from the other members as they appeared at the dinners during the last half of the year. But on 3oth December the follow- ing minute appears in the register : " resolved that each member do pay £3 for defraying the expenses of the present year." The raising of the Tavern prices appears to have been coincident with an increased demand on the Fund. The poor attendance in the months of autumn this year would cause a heavy expense in making up for deficiencies. William T. Brande, who had often been a guest of the Club and now became a member, was a laborious chemist and lecturer. By his lectures at the Royal Institution and elsewhere, and by his writings he did good service in pro- moting the spread of knowledge concerning the aims and achievements of science. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1809. Sir Robert Inglis for many years represented Oxford University in Parliament. He was an upright Tory country- gentleman with pleasing manners, who from his high char- acter rather than from his talent acquired no little influence in his day. He joined many societies, including the Royal, into which he was admitted on March 4th of this year, and the Club lost no time in showing its appreciation of his 244 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1813 genial company by electing him into their body at the first opportunity. Samuel Davies became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1792. There were no guests of special prominence among those entertained for the first time this year. The " Mr. Skene " invited by Lord Kirkwall on 29th April may be conjectured to have been Sir Walter Scott's friend James Skene, an advocate at the Scottish bar, father of the Celtic scholar and historian W. F. Skene. " Mr. Dollond " appears as the guest of John Pond on i8th February. There were then living two active members of this noted race of opticians. The first and most eminent of the family, John Dollond, was elected into the Royal Society, which awarded the Copley Medal to him in 1758 for his invention of achromatic telescopes. He died in 1761. His son Peter maintained the scientific renown of the firm till he died in 1820 at the age of ninety, greatly regretted by a wide circle of friends who enjoyed his society, and by a numerous group of poor persons whom his generosity relieved. George Dollond, his nephew (1774- 1852), who fully kept up the reputation of the family, was much esteemed among scientific men and was elected into the Royal Society towards the end of 1819, and into the Club in 1833. On the i6th December Barrow invited " Mr. Brunei " as his guest. There can be little doubt that this was the future Sir Marc Isambard Brunei, the well-known engineer who came to England in 1799, and among other under- takings constructed the Thames Tunnel. 1814. The Anniversary on I4th July 1814 was attended by twenty-two members, the President occupying the chair. The Treasurer reported that on the Tavern bills since the last General Meeting he had disbursed £107 I2s. and that he had a balance in hand of £11 155. 4d. It was agreed that the contribution from each member for the ensuing year should be £2. There was a single vacancy which was by ballot filled up, and the Duke of Somerset, on the proposal of the President, was declared to be elected a member. 1814 Duke of Somerset; John Bostock 245 It will be remembered that the Duke was elected into the Club in 1805, but was " discontinued " in the following year, not having duly complied with the rules. Edward Adolphus Seymour, eleventh Duke of Somerset, was noted for his interest in both scientific and literary pursuits, and wrote some mathematical papers. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1797, and in later years was chosen Presi- dent of the Linnean Society, of the Royal Institution and of the Royal Literary Fund. He was also a useful member of other Societies. An additional ex-officio member was added to the Club this year in the person of Taylor Combe, who on soth November 1812 had been elected one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society. He was introduced to the Club and took his place at the dinner on 24th February 1814. He was Keeper of Coins and Antiquities at the British Museum, and became F.R.S. in 1807. The paucity of notable guests which has been marked in the last few years is still maintained in the records of this year. Dr. John Bostock, who was invited by Charles Hatchett, was a physician who had graduated at Edinburgh and ultimately settled in London, where he became Lecturer on Chemistry at Guy's Hospital. He was one of the early members of the Geological Society and its first elected President after the reception of its Charter of incorporation in 1826. He became F.R.S. in 1818. The " Mr. Allan," guest of Wollaston on May igth, was probably Thomas Allan, possessor of the finest collection of minerals in Scotland, which his trained mineralogical ability and his financial resources enabled him continually to augment. He was elected into the Royal Society next year. Another visitor was Lord Amilius Beauclerk, third son of the fifth Duke of St. Albans, who joined the Navy in 1782 and after varied service in European and Atlantic waters was appointed Admiral and Commander-in-chief at Plymouth. He had been elected into the Royal Society in 1809. Among the visitors of former years who now reappeared the 246 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1815 names may be mentioned of Dr. Thomas Young, Mr. Brunei, Dr. Brinkley, Admiral Bligh, Mr. Brodie, and Mr. Watt. 1815. The Annual General Meeting of 1815 was held on June 22nd and was attended by the following company : Right Hon Sir Joseph Banks Bart. K.B. President Sir Everard Home Bart. John Pond John Symmons Sir John T. Stanley Bart. Roger Wilbraham Sir Gilbert Blane, Bart. Samuel Lysons Charles Wilkins Robert H. Inglis George Best John Walker Dr. Charles Burney Samuel Davies Charles Hatchett Dr. W. H. Wollaston Sir Benjamin Hobhouse Bart. Matthew Raper, Treasurer The Treasurer announced that he had disbursed £90 8s. in payment of Tavern bills and that he had in hand a balance of £32 I2s. 4d. It was agreed that the contribution for the year should again be two pounds. The number of persons who dined at the Club this year was 540 of whom 458 were members and 82 visitors. It appeared from the registers that three members had been absent during the whole of the past year. The meet- ing, however, no longer stringent in the enforcement of the regulation about attendance, found an excuse for one of the defaulters that he had been " much indisposed "; for another, that he had been engaged in China. For the third, however, they could find no palliation, and his name was accordingly balloted out of the list of membership. On the motion of the Treasurer, seconded by the President, Mr. William Smith was balloted for and was declared to be duly elected a member. The death of Mr. Lloyd was announced by Charles Hatchett, but no person being pro- posed as a candidate, the vacancy was left over to be filled at another time. There is no clue in the records as to the identity of the new member. Two persons of the name of William Smith were at that time Fellows of the Royal Society, one elected on 25th April 1805 and the other on February I3th 1806. i8p> Canova ; Sir James E. Smith 247 The attendance at the Club in the autumn months had now become remarkably small. The records do not show for what number of persons commons were provided during that season, but it is fairly evident that for weeks together the actual attendance must have fallen short of that number, thus entailing a considerable demand on the Fund. This year from the end of August till the 26th October, the largest number present at any dinner was five, and this number was reached only once. On most occasions there were only two or three, once only one, and once none at all. Yet, when we think of the strain of the long wars on the Con- tinent and at sea, the heavy taxation, the rise in the cost of food which reduced the poorer part of the population almost to starvation, the destructive outbreaks of the Luddites and the dangerous food riots in many parts of the country, we may be surprised that the Club should have kept up its meetings as it actually did. At last, however, the year of the final fall of Napoleon had now arrived, and with the coming of peace an era of calm national development might be looked for. As a welcome variation in the prolonged absence of foreigners from the meetings of the Club two strangers from over-sea made their appearance this year. On Nov- ember Qth Sir Humphry Davy brought Canova to the " Crown and Anchor." The great Italian sculptor had been sent from Rome to France to endeavour to reclaim for Italy some of the priceless works of art which had been transferred from that country to Paris. He took occasion of the opportunity to pay a visit to England. M. Jaume-Saint-Hilaire who dined with the Club on March Qth was a French botanist who devoted himself to improving the agriculture of his native country, and was the author of a large number of papers, tracts and volumes on botanical and agricultural subjects. On May 4th Sir Joseph Banks introduced to the Club " Sir James Smith." There can be little doubt that this was Sir James Edward Smith who had studied medicine at Edinburgh, but with the encouragement of Banks gave 248 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1815 himself up to the pursuit of botanical studies. Having some wealth he purchased the whole of the library and natural history collections left by Linnaeus, and sug- gested the foundation of the Linnean Society. When that Society was inaugurated he was chosen as its first President, and he continued to be re-elected annually until his death in 1828. His collections and library, including those of Linnaeus, were then purchased by private sub- scription for the Linnean Society, in whose keeping they now remain. Another fresh guest was James Millingen the antiquary, who, born in London of Dutch parentage and educated at Westminster School, was taken to France by his father about the time of the French Revolution. He was employed for a while in the Paris mint, and there acquired a taste for studying coins and medals. But by a decree of the Convention he with other British residents was arrested and kept in prison until the end of the war. On being set at liberty he joined one or two of his fellow country- men in setting up in Paris a bank which in a few years had to be wound up. He then betook himself to turn his knowledge of numismatics to practical use, and eventu- ally acquired an European reputation as an expert dealer in coins and medals. His weak health obliged him to live mostly in Italy, but he reappeared from time to time in Paris and London. He compiled a number of useful works dealing with h'.s favourite subject. The value of these publications was acknowledged by his being elected not only into our own Society of Antiquaries but into many similar institutions abroad. He was granted a civil list pension. He died at Florence in 1845. Sir George Warrender, Bart., a landed proprietor in East Lothian, dined twice with the Club in the course of the year, and between the two dinners he was on 8th June elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Lord Charleville, Dr. Thomas Young, Mr. Croker, Admiral Bligh, Mr. Brodie and Mr. Watt were among the former visitors who came again this year to dine. 1816 M. Dubuisson; Lord Erskine 249 1816. The Annual General Meeting for 1816 took place on nth July and was attended by twenty- three members, the Earl of Morton in the chair. The Treasurer announced that the expenses for the year had amounted to £108 75. and that there remained in his hands a balance of £2 75. 4d. The meeting resolved that the contribution from each member for the ensuing year should be three pounds. There were two vacancies, to fill which a ballot was taken and Henry Browne (F.R.S. 1797) and Daniel Moore (F.R.S. 1810) were declared duly elected. The attendance since the last Anniversary showed remark- able fluctuations, and the falling-off in autumn was more pronounced than ever. Thus on 4th April there were 22 persons, comprising 14 members and 8 visitors ; on the following Thursday there were only two — Sir Everard Home and his guest. In the autumn of 1816 from i8th July to I7th October on most days only two came to dine, twice only one, and once none. This year again a few foreign visitors came to the Club. On January nth the President had as one of his guests " Mons. du Buisson." If we may identify the name with that of Francois R. A. Dubuisson of Nantes, he was one of the fortunate French naturalists who escaped execution when arrested by the minions of the Revolution. Brought before the tribunal, he was dismissed when the public prose- cutor could only say of him that he was " a poor man without influence of any kind, busy only with science, and whose labours might one day be useful to the country." He was an enthusiastic naturalist, especially skilled in geology, and became Director of the Natural History Museum of Nantes, which he greatly enlarged, bestowing on it whatever he could discover in the region. He published some works on the geology and mineralogy of his native region, and was the friend of many of the foremost naturalists and mineralogists of France. Another foreign name is written " Mr. Vallee " and a third appears as " Mr. Boetiflower." The most notable of the homeland guests this year was undoubtedly Lord Erskine, whom the President invited to 250 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1816 dine with the Club on 27th June. This remarkable man was the youngest son of the tenth Earl of Buchan. He began his varied career at the age of fourteen by entering the Navy, much against his own inclinations, and he served as a midshipman for four years (1764-1768) in the West Indies. He escaped from this mode of life by using up all his patrimony in purchasing a commission in the army in 1768, and when stationed for a time in Minorca devoted his time to an earnest course of reading in English literature. After he returned to England in 1772, he happened to attend an assise court, and appears to have been impressed with the conviction that he was himself more fit to be a barrister than a soldier. On the advice of Lord Mansfield he then resolved to take up the law as his profession. In the spring of 1775 he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. Next year he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a gentleman commoner and took an honorary M.A. in 1778. In the same year he was called to the bar and at once attained unprecedented success by his defence of a client against a charge of libel brought by the first Lord of the Admiralty. It is related that on the close of this case he was surrounded by attornies, to the number, he used to say, of sixty-five, all with their retainers to secure his future aid. He increased his reputation by subsequent splendid displays of forensic talent. He entered Parliament in 1783, and took an active part as a debater in the House of Commons. In 1806 he was appointed Lord Chancellor and raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Erskine of Restormel. But he soon thereafter retired from public life. His wife had long predeceased him, and he gave the last touch of romance to his career when he was about seventy, by marrying again at Gretna Green, the second wife being a Miss Mary Buck.1 He died in 1823. 1 Sir Henry Holland, who knew him in his later years, records that " his mind was then clouded with little foibles and superstitions. I well recollect a dinner at Sir S. Romilly's, where his agitation was curiously shown in his reluctance to sit down as one of thirteen at table, and by the relief he expressed when the fourteenth guest came in. His life had been one of meteoric kind throughout, vanishing in mist, as such lives are prone to do." Recollections, p. 244. 1817 Sir T. Makdougal I Brisbane; C. D. E. Konig 25 i Another of the President's guests was Sir Thomas Mak- dougall Brisbane, a distinguished soldier, who after serving in the West Indies, in the Peninsula, under Wellington, and in Canada, was in 1821 appointed Governor of New South Wales — an office which he held with advantage to the Colony for four years. The memorial of his Aus- tralian residence is perpetuated in the name of the Brisbane River, which was discovered under his auspices, and in that of the town of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, where he planted a penal station. Being a keen astronomer he took advantage of the clear Australian skies to erect an observatory where he catalogued no less than 7385 stars. On his return to Scotland he built an observatory at Makerston in Roxburghshire, and eventually equipped it for magnetic and meteorological as well as astronomical work. The valuable detailed magnetic observations there made have been published. Sir Thomas took a keen interest in the welfare of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which, in succession to Sir Walter Scott, he was President from 1833 to his death in 1860. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1810. At the end of the year Sir Humphry Davy introduced Charles D. E. Konig, a native of Brunswick, who in 1800 had been invited to this country in order to arrange Queen Charlotte's mineral collection. Thereafter he was employed for some years under Dryander, Sir Joseph Banks' librarian, until, probably with Sir Joseph's active support, he was appointed assistant-keeper of the natural-history collections of the British Museum, and eventually had charge of the mineralogical portion. He was elected into the Royal Society in January 1810. 1817. At the Annual General Meeting on July 3rd 1817 there were present twenty-three members, and the President took the chair. As reported by the Treasurer the receipts for the past year amounted to £145 us. 4d. and the expenses to £140 us., leaving in his hands a balance of £5 os. 4d. Thus the tavern bills amounted to more than five times what they had been twelve years before. As the balance 252 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1817 was so small the meeting resolved that a contribution of three pounds should again be called for from each member. As there were no vacancies no election took place, but the names of two candidates were recorded against the next voting. The meeting took into consideration the serious number of deficiencies in the attendance during the autumn months and resolved " that the meetings of the Club be suspended during the ensuing months, August, September and October, and resumed the first Thursday in November." The flow of visitors from the Continent, which had for so many years been checked by the continued state of war, now gradually began once more to move. This year on November 6th the President was able to present to the Club a remarkable trio — Arago, Biot and Humboldt. At the time of this visit to England Francois Jean Domi- nique Arago was thirty-one years of age and together with Biot, who was twelve years his senior, had come here for the purpose of making geodetic observations on our coasts. These two eminent physicists were associated in the laborious task of continuing the measurement of an arc of the meri- dian from Barcelona to the Balearic Isles. They had their station for some months in winter on one of the higher summits of the Eastern Pyrenees, where the younger man was indefatigable day and night in repairing the damage done by the furious gales to which they were exposed. When the principal operations had been completed he crossed to Majorca, where he was taken for a spy, and after going through an almost incredible series of misfortunes, lasting altogether about two years, he succeeded in returning to France in the summer of 1809. He was received with acclaim in Paris, where the Academy of Sciences departed from its regulations in order to enrol him among its mem- bers, though he was still only three-and- twenty, while the Emperor Napoleon named him professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, where he taught in the most brilliant way. His original researches lay chiefly in optics, magnetism and astronomy. But his greatest contribution to the diffusion 1817 /. B. Biot; Alexander von Humboldt 253 of science was probably the remarkable attractiveness of his lectures and the eloges which he pronounced as Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. He was not only a conspicuous man of science, but also took a prominent part in the public affairs of France during the successive parlia- mentary changes through which the country passed from the fall of the first empire to the coup d'etat of 1852, which he did not long survive. Jean Baptiste Biot, distinguished among the French physicists, had come to England chiefly to make observa- tions along the British arc of the meridian, in pursuance of which design he penetrated into the Orkney Islands. His researches on the polarisation of light were of great value, which the Royal Society acknowledged by awarding to him in 1840 the Rumford Medal. He died in 1862 at the great age of eighty- eight. Biot, Alexander von Hum- boldt, and Gay-Lussac, had been made Foreign Members of the Royal Society on April 6th 1815. Baron Alexander von Humboldt enjoyed during his life- time the reputation of being the greatest naturalist of his age. He had early conceived broad views of nature as a whole and he had the art of placing these views before the world in a connected, if not always attractive form. He was an experienced traveller, visiting vast regions of the world of which little was then known, and accumulating large stores of information regarding their physical features, products and natural history. His great work on Central America, which took him twenty years to prepare, is a colossal monument of his genius. Besides the renewed advent of foreign visitors, the native guests invited by the Club this year seem to present a greater variety of interest than had appeared for some time past. The most conspicuous of their number was Sir Stamford Raffles, who dined eight times in the first half of the year. This famous governor spent nearly twenty years in the East, during which time he explored many of the islands, learning their languages and natural history and making extensive collections. To his sagacity and 254 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1817 foresight the British Empire owes the possession of that im- portant centre — the island of Singapore. His visit to England at this time may have been in connection with his work on the " History of Java," which was published this year. The Royal Society availed itself of the occasion of his being in this country to elect him a Fellow on 26th March. When in 1824 he finally quitted the East, the vessel in which he was returning home took fire, and all his papers, maps and immense collections were destroyed. He did not long survive this irreparable loss. Living in retirement he yet interested himself in the foundation of the Zoological Society, of which he was chosen the first president. He died in 1826 at the age of only forty-five. His patriotic services were com- memorated by the placing of a statue of him in Westminster Abbey. Charles Babbage, at this time only twenty-five years of age, dined twice with the Club in the course of the spring. He took his M.A. degree at Cambridge this year, but his mathematical genius had already manifested itself, and he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on March 14, 1816. He was for eleven years Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, but did not lecture. He will be remembered as a laborious mechanician who spent thirty- seven years and most of his fortune in trying to perfect and complete his calculating machine. Francis Chantrey, the eminent sculptor, dined with the Club this summer, appeared frequently afterwards, and was eventually elected a member. He was evidently a favourite not only at the Club but with the Fellows of the Society at large, for he was elected into their number in the spring of 1818. William Scoresby and his son, both of Arctic renown, were the guests of the President on i8th December. The father went to sea when he was twenty, was taken prisoner by the Spaniards, but eventually engaged in the Greenland whale-fishery, and by his success and the knowledge he acquired of the northern regions, led the way in Arctic ex- ploration. The son, who had the same name, inherited a 1817 William Score sby ; Lord Me faille 255 predilection for the sea, and as an apprentice used to accom- pany his father in his annual voyage. But he had the advantage of an education which included attendance at the lectures on Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, where Professor John Playfair showed him kindness. He prosecuted the whale-fishery year after year in larger vessels, and with an increasing desire to investigate the natural history of the Arctic regions and the physical problems presented by them. He had made the acquaintance of Sir Joseph Banks, on whom he urged the importance of sending an expedition for the express purpose of the scientific exploration of these northern lands and seas, and in 1818 he had the satisfaction of seeing his desire carried out when Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry sailed in the Isabella and Alexander. Still continuing his annual whaling voyages, he published in 1820 his inter- esting work giving an "Account of the Arctic Regions and northern Whale-fishery," which may be regarded as the basis whence the truly scientific investigation of these regions took its start. From 1823 his plan of life was completely changed. He resolved to qualify himself for the Church by a residence in Cambridge, and spent his remaining years in clerical labours, while also writing scientific papers and several books. He died in 1857 at the age of sixty-eight. He was elected into the Royal Society on I7th June 1824, and his name is entered on the List as the Rev. William Scoresby. Lord Melville, invited by the President, was known when a commoner as Henry Dundas, and had led a stirring politi- cal life in and out of parliament. He was three years Home- Secretary, seven years Secretary of War, and for a brief period First Lord of the Admiralty. He was raised to the peerage in 1802 as the first Viscount Melville of Melville and Baron Dunira. Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, introduced by the President on 26th June, had seen service in his youth with the army in Holland, of which he had some pleasant as well as stirring recollections. He used to tell how on one 256 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1818 occasion he and some brother officers, thinking the town of Alkmaar quite safe from the enemy, entered it and ordered dinner at an inn. While the meal was in preparation he began to make notes in his journal, but an alarm being given that the French were close upon them he started off, leaving his papers and pocket-book on the table, and was just in time to take his place with his regiment. In the action which followed he was dreadfully wounded. A con- siderable time afterwards being back in Alkmaar he called at the inn, and there had his papers and purse returned to him which, with scrupulous care and honesty, had been preserved. Basil Hall, son of Sir James Hall of Dunglass, was a captain in the navy and the author of many volumes of travels and voyages which were popular in their day. He became F.R.S. in 1816. At the last dinner of the year Captain Sabine was one of the guests. He was destined to occupy an important place in the history both of the Club and of the Royal Society, of which he was for ten years the distinguished president. 1818. On June i8th the Anniversary Meeting for 1818 was attended by twenty-three members, with Sir Joseph Banks in the chair. The Treasurer reported that the expenses since the last General Meeting had amounted to £109 133. 6d. and the receipts, including the balance from the previous year, to £119 4s., leaving a balance in hand of fy 6s. iod., to which would doubtless be added the unpaid contributions of six members amounting to £23. In order to provide a fund for the following year it was resolved to levy a con- tribution of £4 from each member, the largest subscription ever called for in the history of the Club up to this time. There was one vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Burney, and another was made by Mr. Brande consenting to become an ex-officio member, he having been elected one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society on 3oth November 1816. The two vacancies thus arising were filled by the election of Dr. William George Mat on and Thomas Lister Parker. r WILLIAM MARSDEN. Treas. R.S. , 1802-1810; Treasurer of the Club from 1788 to 1804. PLATE XXVI To face page 256. i8i8 The Question of Dinners in Autumn 257 It was " resolved that for the future, in the absence of the President, the senior Vice-president of the Royal Society shall take the chair ; and in case no one of them should be present that the Treasurer do as usual preside." But the most important decision arrived at by this meet- ing had reference to the question of the attendance at the Club in autumn. It was decided to reverse the decision of the previous year, and a resolution was carried " that in future the meetings of the Club be continued through the year without intermission in the same manner as before the last Anniversary." At the same time the dinner-hour was once more made a little later — " resolved that in future the dinner-hour be half-past five o'clock instead of five." Sir Joseph Banks was as usual re-elected President, but Mr. Raper, the Treasurer, resigned his office, which he had held for fourteen years. Mr. Daniel Moore was chosen to replace him — an unfortunate choice, as will appear in later pages. Some comments are required on the minutes of the Anniversary. First, in regard to the new members it may be remarked that Dr. Maton was M.A. and M.D. of Oxford, became a physician of good standing in London, and was elected into the Royal Society in 1800. T. L. Parker of Christ's College, Cambridge, was an antiquary who became F.R.S. in 1815. The prompt rescinding of the resolution of the previous anniversary to hold no meetings during the autumn months hardly appears in itself to be consistent with the financial experience of the Club during the last few years, and could only be justified by some strong steps being taken to prevent the serious diminution of attendance from the end of July to the middle or end of October. That some such steps were now adopted appears evident from the record of the autumn meetings of this year. There were probably always a few " stalwarts " who did not regularly migrate from London in the autumn, and who in that dull season liked to have it in their power to meet each other now and then at the " Crown and Anchor " ; and we can well believe that these non-migratory residents would organise a strong 258 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1818 canvass of the members for the purpose of having the obnoxious resolution repealed. Unfortunately the minutes of the proceedings at the meetings are tantalisingly brief. They do not reveal whether there was any opposition to the resolution of 1817 intermitting the autumn dinners, or to the resolution of 1818 restoring them. A perusal of the dinner- lists affords grounds for a surmise as to who the most active members were likely to have been in the movement for the renewal of the dinners. But without attempting to discover how the Club should have been led to reverse the policy which it had adopted twelve months before, we must admit that those members who favoured the return to the old practice of continuing the meetings throughout the year took good care to ensure that their action should be justified by the attendance during the August, September and October of this year. They must have beaten up every member who could be in London during these months, with the result that whereas the total average attendance from the end of July to the beginning of November during the five years that preceded the Anniversary of 1817 was 56, in 1818-19 it rose at one bound to 101. Considerable effort must have been required on the part of those who worked for the restitution of the dinners to gather so large a com- pany. Some faces appeared that had never been seen in the autumn before. The venerable and invalid President did his duty most manfully in carrying out what appeared to be the desire of the majority of the Club, for out of the thirteen meetings in the three autumn months, in spite of his infirmities he presided at eleven. Writing on 24th August to his friend and medical adviser, Sir Everard Home, he reported " The Club prospers. Till last Thursday we had not mustered less than nine. On the last club-day we were seven : agreed to reduce the number from twelve to seven. . . . Murdoch never misses, Barrow is a good atten- dant. Of my attendance you are quite sure, as I have no other dinner on Thursday when in London." 1 1 Edward Smith's " Life of Sir Joseph Banks," p. 281. This quotation reveals, what the dinner register no longer recorded, that the minimum 1818 Cuvier; Berzelius 259 The effect of the " whip " for attendance continued to be felt for the next few years, but with gradually decreasing force. The numbers present during the autumn months slowly fell back, until in the course of seven years they became smaller than they had been before. Some eminent foreign men of science dined with the Club this year. On June 4th the President introduced the Baron George Cuvier — the most illustrious comparative anatomist of his day, and the most eloquent and appreci- ative critic of the work of men of science. In 1806 his honoured name had been placed in the list of Foreign Members of the Royal Society, and advantage was taken of his visit to London at this time to obtain his signature in the Society's Charter-book, where it stands boldly in- scribed on the page which contains the signatures of the Fellows elected in 1818. Another notable guest brought by Sir Joseph Banks on August 6th was Berzelius of Sweden, one of the founders of modern inorganic chemistry, who achieved a series of dis- coveries in the detection and isolation of elementary bodies such as would have made the reputation of half a dozen chemists of the first rank. Every mineralogist, too, who has learnt to work with the blowpipe looks up to him with reverence and gratitude. The Royal Society chose him as one of its Foreign members in 1813 and awarded him the Copley Medal in 1836. Arctic exploration, which was at this time engaging much public attention and not a little activity at the board of Admiralty, was well represented at the dinners of the Royal Society Club, by three of the naval heroes who were about to begin the career of investigation which has made them famous. The vessels Isabella and Alexander were being fitted out to sail under the command of Captain John number for whom commons were to be provided was twelve, and that on August 2oth 1819 it was reduced by the Club to seven. The quotation also suggests that Sir Everard Home was prominent among those who wished to have the autumn dinners retained, and that the President, his patient, contributed his help. 260 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1818 Ross and Lieut. Edward Parry for the main purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and discovering if possible a north- west passage into the Arctic Ocean and Behring Strait. These two pioneers were guests of the Club in the spring of this year. Ross was introduced first by Barrow, who at the Admiralty was engaged in furthering the naval prepara- tions for the departure of the Expedition. The President brought him twice to the " Crown and Anchor " during the winter. The Expedition sailed in April and returned in November. Parry was again Barrow's guest in December, and we may be sure that there was much talk at the Club that evening over the details of the voyage. The greatest of all the Arctic explorers, John Franklin, likewise dined this year with the Club. He and Captain Ross were both guests on the evening of November igth. Franklin, then thirty-two years of age, had already seen some rough service in the Navy. He was present at the battle of Copenhagen, and thereafter was engaged for some years, under the skilled navigator Flinders, in exploring and charting Australian coasts. After suffering shipwreck there he returned to England, acted as signal-midshipman on board the Bellerophon at the battle of Trafalgar and after- wards, promoted Lieutenant, played a courageous part in the attack on New Orleans. He had this year commanded the Trent under Captain Buchan in the Dorothea, in the search for a north-west passage by way of Spitzbergen or to reach the North Pole. Owing to the Dorothea being seriously damaged by ice she had to be brought back closely attended by her companion vessel. But though this expedition was not successful, it prepared the way for the brilliant part which Franklin was yet destined to play in Arctic investi- gation. Captain Kater, who dined twice with the Club during the winter, on the invitation of Dr. Wollaston, had seen service with the army in India, where he had taken part in the triangulation for a survey of the country. He had to return to England on account of ill-health, and was ultimately in 1814 placed on half pay. He then devoted himself with 1818 Kater ; Euckland ; Leake 261 ardour and success to scientific pursuits. Being a skilled mechanician, he made great improvements in various scientific instruments. Especially important was his work in connec- tion with the construction of a pendulum vibrating seconds, in which he obtained an instrument of extraordinary delicacy, a matter of practical importance in the establishment of standard weights and measures for the country. This laborious research, which extended over several years, gained for him the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1817. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1814, gave the Bakerian Lecture in 1820 and for three years from 1827 to 1830 was Treasurer. He was elected into the Club in 1821. Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart., was an eminent diplomatist. While rendering valuable service to British power in the East he made himself an accomplished scholar in oriental languages. He returned to England in 1815, and was elected into the Royal Society in 1817. Sir Christopher Pegge, an Oxford graduate in medicine, in 1801 became Regius Professor of Physic at his own university and held the appointment till his death in 1822. He became F.R.S. in 1795, and was knighted four years later. William Buckland, invited by Sir Everard Home on 2nd April, was one of the early fathers of geology in England. By the eloquence of his writings, the attraction of his lectures and excursions, and the charm of his character he did much to spread a recognition of the interest and value of geological studies. He became Professor of Mineralogy at Oxford in 1813 and Reader in Geology in 1819. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society only a few weeks before he dined with the Club. In 1822 he was awarded the Copley Medal. His inaugural discourse, vindicating the subject and the aims of geology, attracted much attention, and he became thereafter a frequent guest at the Club. William Martin Leake, who dined with the Philosophers on April 9th, was widely known and esteemed for his re- searches as an antiquary and historian of Asia Minor and 262 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1819 Greece. He began as an officer of artillery, in which capacity he assisted in training a part of the Turkish army, and he then took the opportunity of travelling far and wide in the East. His wonderful eye for topography, combined with his interest in classical geography, enabled him to identify ancient sites, and to* throw so much light on the Greek and Roman classics that his works form one of the most valuable sources of information on the subject. 1819. The Annual General Meeting of 1819 was held on 8th July and was attended by twenty-three members, with Sir Joseph Banks in the chair — the last Anniversary at which he appeared. The Treasurer announced that the expenses since the last General Meeting amounted to £m 8s. and that there was a balance in his hands of £72 as. lod. The con- tribution for the ensuing year was fixed at £2 from each member. The increasing unwillingness of the Club to put in force the regulation as to absentees was again markedly evident on this occasion. There were five members who had not appeared at the Club for more than twelve months, one of them for more than five years. On behalf of the greatest defaulter the meeting was glad to accept the state- ment that " serious indisposition " accounted for his absence, and no action was taken in regard to the others. Two members had died in the course of the year — Samuel Davies and Samuel Lysons. To fill the two vacancies thus caused Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Sir Alexander Johnston were balloted for and elected. One of the resolutions passed at the previous Anniversary was modified, so as to run as follows : " For the future, in the absence of the President, the senior Vice-president of the Royal Society, being a member of the Club, shall take the chair, and in case no one of them shall be present, that the Treasurer do, as usual, preside." It is the duty of the writer of this volume to animadvert on the singularly negligent manner in which Mr. Daniel Moore kept the records of the Club during his tenure of the office of Treasurer. But for the pious care of one of his successors, Joseph Smith, these records for more than 1819 A negligent Treasurer 263 nine years, from 1818 to 1828, might have been entirely lost. It is' due to the memory of this benefactor, who was elected Treasurer at the Anniversary of 1830, to quote here his account of what he did : " At the Anniversary Meeting on the 18 June 1818, Mr. Raper resigned the Treasurership and Mr. Daniel Moore was elected in his room, who continued in the office until his death which took place on the 6 January 1828. During Mr. Moore's time no entries were made of the weekly meetings of the Club in a book, but were merely written on slips of paper at the table after dinner. " On the election of Captain Edward Sabine at the Anniversary of 1828, he entered the weekly meetings in a book which he pro- cured for that purpose, and when upon his leaving England to join his regiment in Ireland, I was elected Treasurer at the Anniversary on June 10, 1830 I continued to enter the weekly meetings as he had done. Still, as during the period of Mr. Moore's Treasurership, from June 1818 to January 1828, no entries had been made, and as I was very desirous to hand down to my successor the records of the Club as complete as circumstances would allow, I obtained leave of the Club at the Anniversary Meeting on June 23rd 1836, to have this omission supplied. My first intention was to put these loose papers into the hands of some competent person in order to have them regularly entered, but as I should have had to in- struct and supervise continually, during the progress of the work, it appeared to me that perhaps I should find little more trouble in copying these papers myself, than in having to look after the work when performed by another. I therefore purpose, Deo volente, to undertake the business myself, and gradually, as time and oppor- tunity permit, to bring up this arrear of nine years and a half, which will make an unbroken series of records of Club meetings from March 1748 to the present day. " I commence this day (Sept. 6, 1836), and if life and health should be graciously continued, hope to complete the same." Joseph Smith Grays Inn. But it would seem that the omission to enter the record of the weekly meetings in the volume provided for the purpose is not the only fault which has to be charged against Daniel Moore. The Minute of the Anniversary of 1819 was the first which he had to prepare, and it might have been anticipated that he would take special pains that it should be accurate. Sir Joseph Banks was in the chair, and he 264 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1819 continued to preside at most of the weekly meetings for eight months afterwards. He was still President of the Royal Society and continued to fill that office until his death next year. Yet the Treasurer concludes his minute thus : " Resolved that Sir Humphry Davy be President and Mr. Moore Treasurer, and that the thanks of the Club be given to the latter for his care of the Accounts." In the Minutes of the Anniversary of 1820 it is stated that " the minutes of 8th July 1819 were read and confirmed." It is hardly conceivable that this blunder of substituting the name of Sir Humphry Davy for that of Sir Joseph Banks could have been read aloud without at once being pointed out by the audience.1 The suspicion arises that his minutes of the Anniversaries, like those of the weekly meetings, were written on slips of paper, not always during the pro- ceedings, or immediately after, but when his recollection was not always clear as to details, and that at some sub- sequent time they were neatly copied by an amanuensis into the Minute-book, where they remain without alteration. As will be pointed out in the narrative of later years, the Minutes of the Anniversaries during this Treasurer's tenure of office after 1824 were not copied into the book kept for the purpose, and have only been imperfectly recovered. Regarding the two new members added to the Club at the anniversary of 1819, a few words may here be inserted. H. T. Colebrooke had spent many years in India, where he not only held several legal posts in succession, but made himself an able Sanscrit scholar. He published among other works an " Essay on the Vedas," and a Sanscrit grammar and Lexicon. He returned to England in 1814 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1816. Sir Alexander Johnston has been already referred to (p. 235) as frequently dining with the Club, and he now proved an assiduous and active member. He became F.R.S. in 1810. 1 This Anniversary in 1820 was presided over by Dr. Wollaston, who was elected by the Council of the Royal Society to fill the vacant office of President till the election of officers on next St. Andrew's Day. WILLIAM HYDE WOLLASTON, M.D., F.R.S., 1793. President, Royal Society, 1820. PLATE XXVII To face page 264. 1819 De la Beche ; Robert Brown ; Colby 265 The visitors this year who appeared at the Club for the first time included some men of note. The scientific side was represented by Henry Thomas De la Beche, another of the founders of English geology. To his energy and skill in dealing with governmental officialdom we owe the establishment of a School of Mines in this country, and the creation of the Geological Survey, which is the parent of all the geological surveys since established by the civilised nations of the world. He likewise created the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street, which was the first institution wherein the geological history of the country is illustrated by specimens arranged in stratigraphical sequence, and in which a systematic collection of rocks and minerals is brought together in reference to their economic uses. He was, moreover, the author of some valuable papers and text-books which did much to advance the cultivation of geology in this country. He came to the Club on May 27th, invited by Sir Everard Home. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 23rd December of this year. Another famous leader in science, Robert Brown, one of the best botanists of his age, and one of the most modest and tender-hearted of men, came to the Club twice during the summer. Captain Colby, also a visitor, was a distinguished engineer officer, for forty-five years attached to the Ordnance Survey. In that service his high ability led to his being appointed Director in 1820, on the death of General Mudge. He filled this post with great success for twenty-six years. In the same year on which he received the appointment he was elected into the Royal Society. The public services were further represented among the visitors. Thus, Lord Glenbervie furnished another illustra- tion of how a man may pass through more than one profes- sion before he discovers for what he is best fitted. As Sylvester Douglas he was educated at Aberdeen University and like so many other Scottish students completed his studies and took his degree at Ley den. He first entered 266 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1819 on the practice of medicine, but he soon found that law would suit him better, and he became a barrister of Lin- coln's Inn. But his ambition sought a wider field in politics. He first entered the Irish, then the English parliament, and filled a succession of public offices, for his services in which he was raised in 1800 to the Irish peerage, but with the Scottish title of Baron Glenbervie of Kincardine. Thereafter he was appointed successively joint Paymaster-general, Surveyor-general of Woods and Forests and finally Surveyor- general of the land revenue as well as of the Woods and Forests. In the spring of 1795, in the midst of his parlia- mentary career, he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died in 1823, and his title then became extinct. The Navy, had a worthy representative in Sir Murray Maxwell. He entered the service in 1790 and took part in much active work, greatly distinguishing himself by his skill, boldness and success. On his way back from China, with Lord Amherst on board, his vessel, in navigating the little-known and badly-charted Straits of Caspar, ran on a rock and sustained fatal damage. The officers and crew, however, were soon rescued by an East India Company's ship. Arriving in England in August 1817, Maxwell had of course to be court-martialled, but he was entirely ex- onerated from blame, and received warm praise for his conduct at the wreck. He was knighted in the following year. These events were fresh in the recollection of the public when he dined with the Club on nth March of this year. He had been made a Fellow of the Royal Society three weeks before. Another naval officer who has already been mentioned (p. 256) and whose name will appear on subsequent pages, Captain Basil Hall, dined several times at the " Crown and Anchor " in the last weeks of the year. Two foreigners were among the guests this year, Prince Walkouski and Count Dallier, the Sardinian ambassador. Before passing on to the record of the following year we may note that before the next anniversary Sir Joseph Banks, who for so long a period presided over the 1819 Death of Sir Joseph Banks 267 Royal Society and the Club, had passed away. In spite of the advance of age and the severe bodily disablement under which he had for so many years courageously done his duty, he continued to take his wonted place up almost to the very last. He presided at twenty-seven dinners of the Club in 1819 and at five during the early months of the following year. His last appearance was on March i6th 1820. He died on June igth. His was a long and great career. If he contributed little original work to the temple of science, no man of his generation did more than he to advance its building, by his ceaseless activity in providing materials for others to work on, by the generous use he made of his wealth, and by the magnetic influence of his character and his example. CHAPTER IX PRESIDENTSHIPS OF WILLIAM HYDE WOLLASTON, HUMPHRY DAVY AND DAVIES GILBERT, 1820-1830 1820. SIR JOSEPH BANKS died a fortnight before the Anni- versary of the Club in 1820. The Council of the Royal Society, in accordance with their statutes, met ten days after his death and elected Dr. William Hyde Wollaston to be the President until the Society's next anniversary on St. Andrew's Day, 3oth November following, when the Council and Officers would be chosen by the general body of the Fellows. Dr. Wollaston accordingly became also President of the Club until St. Andrew's Day. The Anniversary Meeting in 1820 was held on 6th July when the following company was present : Dr William Hyde Wollaston, President Sir Everard Home Matthew Raper John Barrow Baron Best Thomas Murdoch Aylmer B. Lambert Sir Alexander Johnston Dr. William G. Maton Henry Browne Charles Hatchett Sir Humphry Davy Charles Wilkins Sir Gilbert Blane William Thomas Brande Taylor Combe Henry Thomas Colebrooke Robert H. Inglis Sir Benjamin Hobhouse Davies Gilbert Daniel Moore, Treasurer The Treasurer announced that the expenses since the last Anniversary had amounted to £97 35. 6d. and that there remained in his hands a balance of £57 73. 4d. But i82o Dr. William Hyde Wollaston 269 to this balance there were due to be added £2,2 from eleven members for the past year and £32 from five members for more than a year, so that if these arrears were paid the available balance would be raised to £m 73. 4d. It was resolved that the contribution for the ensuing year should be £2, which when received from the 45 members composing the Club would make a fund of £90. The attendance at the dinners since the last Anniversary amounted in all to 820 diners, of whom 678 were members and 142 were visitors. It will be seen that in subsequent years the numbers were usually much smaller. The list of absentees this year showed that eight members were in default, half of them for the preceding year and the rest for longer periods. It was decided that two of the defaulters should be removed from the list of members. As the result of the ballot three vacancies caused by the death of Lord Dundas, and the discontinuance of two absentees, were filled by the election of the Earl of Maccles- field, the Rev. .Charles Parr Burney, and the Earl of Aberdeen. The last paragraph of the minutes is as follows : " Re- solved that Sir Humphry Davy Bart, be President, and Mr. Moore, Treasurer, and that the thanks of the Club be returned to the latter for his care of their accounts." Here again a statement has been inserted in the Minute-book which was contrary to fact. Dr. Wollaston was elected President of the Club at the weekly meeting on 2Qth June. He took the chair both at the Anniversary and at subse- quent meetings of the Club up to St. Andrew's Day. At six of these meetings Sir Humphry Davy was present as an ordinary member, and Dr. Wollaston occupied the chair. It is difficult to account for such misstatements, unless on the supposition, already suggested, that the Treasurer's minutes were written some time afterwards from rough and imperfect notes which a treacherous memory failed to keep accurate. The three new members elected this year all belonged to families which had already contributed to the member- 270 Presidentship of W. H. Wollaston 1820 ship of the Club. Lord Macclesfield was the grandson of the second Earl, for so many years President of the Royal Society and of the Club. He was thus the fourth holder of the title. He became F.R.S. in 1818. The Earl of Aberdeen had already dined with the Club (p. 239) and he now frequently attended the weekly meet- ings. Since he first came as a guest he had taken a promi- nent part in the political history of the time, for he had been Ambassador-Extraordinary at Vienna in 1813 and British representative at the fruitless Congress at Chatillon, where the attempt was made to come to peaceable terms with Napoleon. His services were rewarded by the grant of a peerage of the United Kingdom, and he thereafter sat in the House of Lords as Viscount Gordon. Throughout the strenuous parliamentary life of more than thirty years which still lay before him, he never lost his interest in the progress of science and literature. The presidency of the Society of Antiquaries, to which he was elected in 1812, he continued to hold till 1846. The Rev. Charles Parr Burney was the son of the Greek scholar and grandson of the musician. He was elected F.R.S. in 1814. At the Anniversary of the Royal Society on St. Andrew's Day this year Sir Humphry Davy was elected President. Accordingly he took the chair at the first meeting of the Club thereafter. Since he came to London in 1801 his rise into world-wide fame had been steady and rapid. Installed in the laboratory of the Royal Institution he advanced from one triumph to another. Demonstrating the existence of a series of new metals in the alkalies and earths, proving chlorine to be an element, investigating the nature of fire-damp, inventing the safety-lamp for miners, and lastly recognising the genius of Faraday and starting him on his path. The originality and brilliance of his discoveries were amply acknowledged at home and abroad. The Royal Society promptly bore its testimony to the value of his work by electing him a Fellow in 1803, bestowing on him its Copley Medal in 1805, and now in 1820 by electing him i82i Henry Ha I lam ; Thomas Young 271 to be its President. He was knighted in 1805, and created a baronet in 1818. Most of the learned societies in this country and in all civilised lands vied with each other in bestowing their honorary membership upon him. It is sad to reflect that this fertile and energetic intellect was cased in a body too weak to stand the strain to which it was subjected. He passed away at the comparatively early age of 51. Among the visitors to the Club this year was Henry Kallam, the historian, who appears to have found the company congenial, for he returned in successive years and in 1826 joined the Club as a member. " Capt" Napier " was perhaps the future Admiral, affectionately called by his sailors " Charlie Napier," who led a stirring life marked by some heroic incidents. In his later years he entered Parliament, but at the time of the Crimean war he took to sea again, and commanded the fleet in the Baltic. In the early part of the year, while Sir Joseph Banks was still able to attend the Club, he continued to invite guests of some note. Thus on February 3rd he brought Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, Governor and Commander- in-chief of Mauritius, where he had succeeded in suppressing the slave-trade ; also Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, who had retired from the navy in 1808 and was now a member of Parliament. On the I7th of the same month his guest was " Mr. Hume," not improbably the famous radical politician, who had been elected into the Royal Society at the beginning of 1818. Among other visitors who had dined before with the Club were Charles Babbage, Francis Chantrey, Captain Basil Hall, Thomas Young, Professor Buckland and Captain Parry. 1821. On 28th June 1821 the Club held its annual General Meeting, when twenty-three members were present, and the President, Sir Humphry Davy, occupied the chair. Accord- ing to the statement made by the Treasurer the expenses since the last anniversary amounted to £123 2s. and the balance in hand to £53 93. 4d. The contribution for the following year was fixed at £2. Although several members 272 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1821 had not attended during the past twelve months and one or two for still longer periods, the regulation as to absentees was not put in force against any of them. One member, Mr. Greville, had resigned. The vacancy thus caused was filled by the election of Captain Henry Kater, about whom some particulars have been given (p. 260). It has been already remarked how seldom any reference to outside contemporaneous events is to be met with in the chronicles of the Club. This year one such allusion occurs. At the date July igth the whole entry consists of three lines : " Coronation of George 4th. No atten- dance." Had the event happened on any other day of the week but Thursday there would probably have been no mention of the coronation. But the festivities would interfere with the usual routine at the " Crown and Anchor/' not to speak of the illuminations and fireworks which, as at the time of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (p. 32), even philosophers liked to behold. The attendance at the dinners throughout the first half of this year continued remarkably full. It was seldom below ten, often above twenty. On one occasion (8th February) it rose to thirty-one, but this number included eleven guests, among whom were two foreigners, MM. Mirebec and Picaut. Later in the spring Mr. Davies Gilbert introduced M. Rigaud, and the President brought M. Reimker. The most noted stranger at the dinners of the Club this year was the distinguished geometer and statistician Charles Dupin, introduced by Sir Humphry Davy. From 1816 to 1821 this enlightened Frenchman was engaged in making an exhaustive enquiry into the organisation of the army and the administrative and political institutions of Great Britain. The results of his labours were published at Paris (1820-1824) in six quarto volumes with three folio atlases. He was so filled with admiration for what he saw here that he could not conceal his sympathies. When the first part appeared in 1820, however, the French Government insisted on his suppressing the encomiastic passages and when he refused, his work was interdicted, especially to JOHN BRINKLEY, D.D., F.R.S. First Astronomer-Royal for Ireland, 1792. PLATE XXVIII To face page 272. i82i Baron Dupin; George Peacock; James South 273 the Army and the Fleet. But the repression was brief, for the great success of the book and the stir which it made compelled the authorities to withdraw their futile attempts to stifle it. The author was awarded the cross of the Legion of Honour, and was afterwards created a baron. He was made much of in Britain by politicians and learned societies. Many years later he took an active part in furthering French interests in the preparations for the great Exhibition of 1851. The visitors from the British Isles and the Colonies in- cluded a number of notable men. Among them there appears on the January dinner-lists the name of " Sir George Cockburn." It happened at this time that there were two knights of this name, one in the Navy and one in the Army. No indication is supplied by the register as to which of the two Sir Humphry Davy invited. The representative of the army was a General who had been aide-de-camp to Eliot t, the brave defender of Gibraltar, and in later years had journeyed through Sicily and published notes of his travels. The naval man was an Admiral who had seen much active life in the Mediterranean, the North Sea and North America, but who will be best remembered for having conveyed Napoleon to St. Helena in 1815. " Mr. Peacock " was probably the Rev. George Peacock, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a distinguished mathe- matician, who became Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and afterwards Dean of Ely. " Mr. James South," a guest of the President on April 1 2th, was doubtless the astronomer who had engaged in observational work with the younger Herschel in London and with Laplace in Paris, and was one of the founders of the Astronomical Society. He was knighted in 1830. " Dr. Ure " may be identified as Andrew lire, Professor of Chemistry in Anderson's College, Glasgow, and widely known for his useful dictionaries of chemistry, and of arts, manufactures and mines. He was elected F.R.S. on I3th December this year. " Dr. M'Culloch," invited by Sir Humphry Davy on June 2ist, may have been John Macculloch the geologist, 274 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1821 who was at this time much in evidence. He had been President of the Geological Society in 1816-18, had published in 1819 his now classic volumes on the Western Isles, and issued this year his treatise on the Classification of Rocks, while three years later he gave to the public four volumes of letters to Sir Walter Scott on the Highlands and Islands which roused the wrath of the West Highlanders to fever- heat. He was elected into the Royal Society on i8th May 1820. Another friend and correspondent of Scott, William Sotheby, dined with the Club on several occasions about this time, and was elected a member next year. Some particulars about him are given in the record of 1822. " Dr. Somerville," the guest of Dr. Wollaston, was pro- bably the husband of Mary Somerville, whose writings in science, and especially her " Connection of the Physical Sciences/' made her one of the most eminent women of her day. He married her in 1812. Towards the end of 1817 he was elected into the Royal Society, and two years later he became physician to Chelsea Hospital. A large number of former visitors dined again with the Club this year. They included Lord Melville, Charles Babbage, Professor Buckland, Captain Parry, Captain Sabine, Henry Holland, Henry Hallam, Francis Chantrey, Sir Thomas M. Brisbane, Sir Sidney Smith, Captain Basil Hall, Zachary Macaulay, Mr. Croker, and Dr. Young. 1822. At the Anniversary on 6th June 1822, over which the President presided and which was attended by twenty- six members, the Treasurer's statement of the financial posi- tion of the Club showed that the tavern bills had amounted altogether to £127 6s. 6d., leaving in hand a balance of £16 6s. iod., to which there should be added £32 of unpaid arrears due from several members. It was decided that the contribution from each member for. the ensuing year should be £3. The death of John Rennie was reported. The names of six members were announced who had not attended for more than twelve months, including one who had not appeared for five years. The patience of the Club 1822 F. Chantrey; W. Sotheby; J.F.W. Herschel 275 had now reached the utmost limit of toleration, and three of these offenders were struck off. The other three were old and valued members against whom no action was taken. Four vacancies were accordingly declared, and on a ballot these were filled by the election of [John ?] Walker, William Sotheby, John Frederick William Herschel, and Francis Chantrey. It was resolved that the Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society should henceforth be an ex-officio member of the Club, thus giving an official place in the Club to Thomas Young, and that in future the Anniversary should be held on the first Thursday in June after Whitsun-week. Of the new members Francis Chantrey, the eminent sculptor, has been already mentioned as a visitor (p. 254). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1818, and being now a member of the Club he attended the meetings, not infrequently introducing a guest. William Sotheby, though his name is mainly associated with his renderings of Homer and Virgil into English verse and with some rather weak original poems and plays, had in his youth been in the army. During the spring of 1805 he was introduced to Sir Walter Scott, who immediately said that it was not the first time that he had had the pleasure of seeing him ; for he well remembered, when he was a boy in the High School of Edinburgh, being punished for having left his class in order to follow a troop of the Tenth Dragoons who were advancing up the street, headed by Mr. Sotheby, to quell a mutinous Highland regiment, then in temporary possession of the Castle. Sir Walter related this with his usual animation, adding : " Had the Highlanders fired down the street, we poets might both have been swept away." Sotheby had been elected into the Royal Society in 1794 and he took an active part in the Dilettante Society. He translated the Iliad and Odyssey when he was past seventy years of age. John F. W. Herschel, brilliant son of a distinguished father, was now thirty years of age and had already entered on a career which proved as fruitful as it was strenuous, 276 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1822 marked not only by masterly contributions to physical science but by a literary distinction seldom found in men of science. After a brilliant opening at Cambridge, where he was senior wrangler and first Smith's prizeman, he was promptly elected into the Royal Society when only twenty-one. Eight years later the Society awarded him its Copley Medal. In the Club, which he now joined, he con- tinued for nearly half a century to take a personal interest. He had dined several times as a guest in the first half of the year ; at the first meeting after the Anniversary he took advantage of his right as a member to invite Charles Babbage as his guest, and he repeated the invitation again and again before the end of the year. The effort to secure a good attendance at the autumn dinners had now become feebler each year. In 1822 from the beginning of August to the middle of October the average number for each dinner was 4.5. At one dinner there were only two, and at another nobody appeared. The list of guests this year supplies a good example of the wide range of interests which the members recognised in their invitations. Thus, with so active a coadjutor as the Bishop of Carlisle the Church was not likely to be overlooked. He invited younger clerics to the dinners, perhaps with the liberal intention of showing them by practical experiment that the Philosophers were really a social and interesting company, with whom even the most orthodox churchman might fraternise without injury to his principles or his usefulness. Now and then another high ecclesiastical dignitary was invited, and this year the Bishop of Salisbury came. The two great military services, which until only a few years before had for so long been fighting for their country in all parts of the world, were seldom unrepresented. This year from the Navy there came some typical sailors. Among these were Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, who had fought at Trafalgar, and had still twenty years of active service before him ; Franklin, who again dined with the Club on 2ist November, having come back from his great expedition 1822 Major Colby; H. Holland; Sir T. Lawrence 277 through the intricate water-ways of Arctic America to receive promotion for his services, and to be elected into the Royal Society ; and Lieutenant Back, present at the same dinner, who had accompanied Franklin in his recent expedition in North America, and was yet to win renown by his own independent explorations in the Arctic regions. William Scoresby, too, was once more a visitor at the Club's table. Another name connected with the Navy may here be in- cluded, that of Sir Robert Seppings, the naval architect, who dined on May i6th. He had done so much to improve the construction of ships that at this time he was Surveyor of the navy. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1814, received the award of the Copley Medal in 1818, and was knighted in 1819. The Army was well represented in Major Colby, the able officer of engineers, now at the head of the Ordnance Survey. General Phipps was the guest of Sir Humphry Davy on November lyth. Colonel Drinkwater, who dined on April i8th, was probably the graphic historian of the siege of Gibraltar, through which he had himself served. He had now retired from active service, but held the office of Comp- troller of army accounts. He lived to be an octogenarian and died in 1844. With such men in the Club as Sir Everard Home and Sir Gilbert Blane the medical profession was sure to be looked after in the matter of invitations. Among the visitors from that profession this year were Sir Henry Halford, a physician of eminence who attended George IV. and in later years William IV. and Queen Victoria, Dr. Henry Holland, not infrequently a visitor, and Dr. Marcet, who dined on May 2nd. The election of Francis Chantrey into the Club showed an appreciation of art as well as of the personal attraction of the artist. The President invited Sir Thomas Lawrence, the President of the Royal Academy, on March 7th. The political world always furnished a relay of guests to the Club. One of the most prominent politicians this year was Lord Holland, nephew of Charles James Fox, 278 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1822 from whom he received his training in politics. When only an infant he had succeeded his father as third Baron Holland in 1774. He led an active life in the House of Lords as a liberal peer. His brilliant wife and he made their residence in London a centre in which all the wits, men of letters and prominent politicians of the day met each other. He was invited to the Royal Society Club by Lord Aberdeen, who at this time was not so immersed in parliamentary duties as to be unable now and then to dine with the Philo- sophers. Another political guest this year was Nicholas Vansittart, who dined the same evening as Lord Holland. He entered parliament in 1796 and filled various depart- mental posts until he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1812. He retained that office until 1823, when he was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Bexley. Science was of course fully recognised in the invitations to the Club. This year Professor Buckland, Charles Bab- bage, James South, Edward Sabine, and others of lesser note were again present at the meetings, sometimes several evenings in succession. It may be noted that on one of the occasions when Buckland dined, he was the guest of Chantrey, who, now a member, lost no time in beginning to exercise his rights of hospitality. 1823. The Anniversary of 1823 took place on 5th June and was attended by twenty-seven members, with the President in the chair. The Treasurer announced that the expenses since the last Anniversary amounted to £123 75. 6d., leaving a balance in hand of £53 75. 4d., to which arrears from two members amounting to £6 would fall to be added. The contribution for the ensuing year was fixed at £2 from each member. The deaths of Baron Best and Sir William Herschel were reported. The two vacancies thus caused were filled by the election of Lord Darnley and Charles Babbage. Succes- sive generations of the Earls of Darnley have been enrolled in the fellowship of the Royal Society. Edward the second Earl was elected into the Society in 1737 ; John, fourth Earl, was elected a Fellow in 1810, while Edward, the fifth 1823 Charles Babbage ; H. C. Oersted 279 Earl, became F.R.S. in 1833. Charles Babbage, who has been already noticed, was elected into the Royal Society in 1816. The autumn attendance, though slightly better than last year, was still below the limit for which in August 1818 it had been agreed that commons should be provided during the months of August, September and October (p. 257). As Sir Joseph Banks was no longer available, Sir Everard Home took great pains to attend during the autumn. This year he presided at every dinner between the end of July and the middle of October. But even this assiduity did not gather a sufficient company. On one occasion he had only as companions Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Barrow, who were quoted to him by Sir Joseph as staunch supporters of the autumn dinners. At another time only Mr. Symmons appeared, and on August I4th there was no attendance, so that if Sir Everard Home looked in on that evening he probably departed and dined elsewhere. When in 1786 the Treasurer who then took office gave up the practice of preserving a record of the table of fare at each dinner the custom of acknowledging in the dinner register the gifts of venison, dessert and other presents for the table was likewise abandoned. We may suppose that the gifts did not wholly cease, but no record has been preserved of them. For the first time for many years there is now an entry in the dinner-register under date December i8th in the following words : " Resolved that the thanks of the Club be given to Lord Darnley for a very fine haunch of venison. Moved by the President and seconded by Sir Everard Home." One thinks of the days of Josiah Cole- brooke, when the health of the donor was proposed in claret, with perhaps a unanimous resolution to make him an honorary member of the Club, and when the Treasurer was careful to see that the wine as well as the carriage and the cooking of the venison were paid for by the company then present. A few eminent foreigners were visitors to the Club this year. The great Danish physicist, Hans Christian Oersted, founder of the science of electro-magnetism, was in London 280 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1823 for some months in the summer of this year. He had been elected into the Royal Society in 1821, and advantage was taken of this visit to England to have his signature entered in the Society's Charter-book. He dined six times with the Club, being successively the guest of Humphry Davy, Wollaston, Babbage and Kater. The last of these dinners (July 31) was attended only by Oersted, Babbage and Herschel, with the last-named as chairman. On June I2th Mr. Children introduced as his guest " M. de Beaumont/' It is fairly certain that this was the illustrious £lie de Beaumont, who for some forty years stood at the head of French geologists and, as the successor of Arago in the secretaryship of the Academic des Sciences, was closely connected with the progress of science in France. At the time of this visit to England he was only five-and- twenty, and having completed his studies at the £cole des Mines was now sent with Dufrenoy under the direction of Brochant de Villiers to make a report on the mineral in- dustries of England and Scotland. This report, one of his earliest papers, appeared in 1827 as a " Voyage Metallurgique en Angleterre." The " M. Brochant " who dined at the same time with the young geologist as the guest of Sir Everard Home was no doubt the Brochant de Villiers just referred to. He was then about fifty, and it was in his capacity not merely of Professor of Geology, but of Inspector-general of Mines, that he had been sent by his Government on this mission of enquiry. It may be presumed that he came to Britain in order to make the necessary arrangements with the autho- rities in this country and start Elie de Beaumont and his colleague Dufrenoy on their enquiries. In later years these two associates produced after years of labour a magnificent geological map of France. Other foreigners have not been identified. Thus, on March 6th Mr. Children introduced Prince Cimetili ; the week following Dr. Wollaston brought M. Nordenskjold ; in October Mr. Colebrooke twice invited M. Schlegel, and on December 4 the President had as his guest Count Rudolph. 1823 F. Baily; T. A. Knight; W.D. Conybeare 281 A few scientific fellow-countrymen of note were included among the visitors this year. Baden Powell of Oriel College, Oxford, who next year was elected into the Royal Society, was in 1827 appointed to the Savilian professorship of geometry, which he held till his death in 1860. Francis Baily, successful stockbroker and accomplished astronomer, retired from business in 1825, when he was little over fifty, and devoted himself to the revision of star-catalogues and other astronomical studies, and to a fresh measurement of the weight of the globe by the method of Michell and Caven- dish. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1821 and in 1835 became its Treasurer. Having been one of the foun- ders of the Astronomical Society, he was elected four times its president. He lived till 1844. Thomas Andrew Knight, a distinguished vegetable physiologist and horticulturist, was elected into the Royal Society in 1805, and next year was the recipient of the Copley Medal. Professor Buckland came to dinner six times in the course of the year, being the guest successively of the President, Sir Robert Inglis, Dr. Wollaston, Mr. Murdoch and the Bishop of Carlisle. The Rev. William Daniel Conybeare, Buckland's close friend and his associate in geological research, dined with the Club for the first time on June 12 as the guest of Captain Kater. Conybeare's name has been enshrined in the list of those early leaders by whom the infant science of geology was established in this country. In the previous year (1822), in conjunction with William Phillips, he had published his classic volume " Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales," which did so much to advance the study of the science in this country. Another now less known but in his day effective cultivator of science, Lewis Weston Dillwyn, was Wollaston's guest on February 27. He was a naturalist in the old sense of the word, but more especially a botanist, and had published many years before this time his " Natural History of British Confervae." He was member of parliament for Glamorganshire from 1832 to 1841 and took an active part in public affairs, especially those of his own county. 282 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1824 Captain Franklin and Captain Basil Hall were again to be seen this year at the Club's table. Literature was represented once more by Henry Hallam and John Wilson Croker. Chantrey invited John Soane, the Professor of Architecture to the Royal Academy who was gathering together the miscellaneous assemblage of works of art which he bequeathed to the nation and which is still to be seen in his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. The peerage was this year abundantly represented at the Club's table, including some peers who had not before been guests — the Duke of Somerset, Lords Aberdeen, Brownlow, Bexley, Cawdor, Darnley, Dartmouth, Macclesfield, Melville, Minto, Morton, and Spencer. 1824. The Anniversary of 1824, held on I7th June, was attended by twenty-one members, with the President in the chair. It was reported by the Treasurer that the expenses since the corresponding meeting in the previous year had amounted to £128 and that there was a balance in hand of £20 us. 4d., to which there would be added £7 due from two members. It was resolved that the subscription from each member for the ensuing twelve months should be £3. One vacancy was announced owing to the death of Mr. Walker, and another arising from non-attendance. The member who was now put out of the Club had attended twice during the year before. He was a statesman of the highest position, so immersed in public affairs as to be unable to give much attendance at the Club. It is difficult to understand on what grounds the regulation should have been at once put in force in his case, when other members who were several years absent were allowed to remain in the Club. As the result of the ballot the two vacancies were filled by the election of Lord Bexley and Jesse Watts Russell. With reference to the resolution of 2Qth September 1748, " that those gentlemen who have not attended for twelve months, nor sent an excuse, be deemed no longer members," it was now " Resolved that in future the attendance of a member on the day of the Anniversary shall not be con- 1824 Lord Bex ley; Faraday; G. B. Airy 283 sidered an attendance within the meaning of the said Resolution." It was further agreed to appoint a special committee to revise the rules of the Club, that such rules when revised should be printed and that the list of the members should be annually printed. The new member, Lord Bexley, who had been raised to the peerage since he was proposed for the membership, but is best remembered as Nicholas Vansittart, was elected F.R.S. in 1822. He was one of the peers who voted against the Reform Bill of 1832. He lived till 1851 and died in his eighty-fifth year, when, as he had no children, his title became extinct. Jesse Watts Russell was elected F.R.S. in 1821. The attendance of the members during July, August and September sank lower this year than it had ever yet been. On two days no one came. The average attendance was less than three. The most distinguished visitor of the year was Michael Faraday, who dined on January I5th as the guest of Sir Everard Home. He had become Davy's assistant twelve years before at the Royal Institution, where his genius had at last an opportunity to develop its marvellous powers. Whilst rendering great service to Davy, he showed himself to be an original discoverer who would strike out his own path. The Royal Society had discerned his merit by electing him a Fellow on the 8th of January of this year and a week thereafter he dined at the Club. The " Mr. Airey " who dined on January 15 th as John F. W. Herschel's guest -was no doubt George Biddell Airy, the future Astronomer Royal. At this time he was a young man of three-and-twenty, senior wrangler and Smith's prizeman the year before, and now this year to gain his fellowship at Trinity. A brilliant scientific career followed this auspicious opening. Another eminent man whose name was destined to become a familiar word in geological literature, but was still unknown outside the circle of his own acquaintance, dined 284 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1824 with the Club for the first time — Roderick Impey Murchison. He had served under Wellesley and Moore in the Peninsula, and been present at the Battle of Corunna. But after the conclusion of the war, when prospects of advancement in the military profession seemed to him dubious, he had sold out of the Army and had taken, among other employments, to fox-hunting. At Rokeby when staying with the Morritts he met Sir Humphry Davy, who urged him to turn his atten- tion to science. He followed this advice, sold his horses, and began a diligent attendance on Brande's early morning lectures at the Royal Institution. He was at this time in his thirty-fifth year. The president invited him to the dinner on November 4th. The retired soldier had many curious experiences of warfare with which he could amuse and interest his auditors, while at the same time contact with the leaders of science, in the friendly converse of the " Crown and Anchor/' would tend to stimulate him to perseverance in the new career on which he had entered. Sir John Malcolm, the great administrator who spent so many strenuous years in India, having come back to England, was now engaged on some of the writings which will remain as a permanent memorial of his literary ability and his grasp of Eastern history. He dined with the Club on January I5th and again on March 25th. Among the visitors who had previously attended the Club a considerable number were invited again this year. Pro- fessor Buckland's " clubbability " was as warmly welcomed as ever, for he again dined six times. His friend W. D. Conybeare came thrice. Captain Franklin, Captain Parry, Captain Basil Hall, Francis Baily, Sir Stamford Raffles, and Dr. Somerville also reappeared. 1825. The Anniversary in 1825 was held on June 2nd, but no minute of its proceedings has been entered in the Minute- book, and we should be ignorant of any business then transacted had it not been that among the separate papers left by the Treasurer a memorandum of some at least of the business was fortunately found. It appears from this document that the following was the company present : 1825 Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac 285 Sir Humphry Davy, President Sir Everard Home John Barrow John Symmons Charles Wilkins Sir Gilbert Blane William Marsden Sir R. H. Inglis Henry Browne Davies Gilbert H. T. Colebrooke Charles Babbage William T. Brande John F. W. Herschel Charles Hatchett Dr. Thomas Young Daniel Moore, Treasurer No statement of the expenses for the past year or of the amount of the contribution for the following year has been preserved. We learn, however, that one vacancy arose from the non-attendance of a member and that Major Colby (p. 265) was elected to fill the place. There is a further memorandum that " it was determined that the sum to be collected at table should remain as before at 8/." It had been suggested that the sum in question should be raised to i os. This suggestion was discussed at a subsequent meeting, but no decision was then reached, the matter being deferred for consideration at the Anniversary this year, when the proposition was negatived. The total attend- ance at the dinners since the last Anniversary was 471, composed of 350 members and 121 visitors. The attendance at the autumn meetings showed this year a further diminution, which set in much earlier than usual, for while the two dinners in the latter half of June were attended the one by only five and the other by only four persons, on July yth no one came to the meeting. From the middle of June to the middle of November the twenty-one meetings mustered in all only fifty-nine diners. On five occasions only one member put in an appearance. The most famous visitor this year was the French chemist and physicist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, who dined on April I4th as the guest of Sir Humphry Davy. He was then in his forty-seventh yoar, but his most important discoveries and researches had already been completed, and his reputation was world- wide. He and his colleague Biot 286 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1825 had been elected Foreign Members of the Royal Society on the same day in the year 1815. Biot placed his signature in the Society's Charter-book on the occasion of a visit which he paid to London in 1817, and now Gay-Lussac subscribed his name in the same venerable volume. Another prominent man in a totally different field of intellectual activity was " Professor Bopp," introduced to the Club later in the year by Sir Alexander Johnston, if we may identify him with the noted philologist, Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Berlin and author of the great " Comparative Grammar." On May 5th Sir George Staunton introduced Mr. Smithson, who has been already mentioned (p. 235). He was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Northumberland. Though born in France he was educated at Oxford, and showed marked ability in the study of mineralogy and chemistry. At first he bore the name of James Lewis Macie, and under this appellation he was elected into the Royal Society in 1787. He after- wards changed his name to Smithson, which was that of his father before he succeeded to the dukedom. He lived mostly on the continent of Europe, but maintained a correspondence with some of the most eminent men of science in England. When he died at Genoa it was found that by his will he had bequeathed a sum of more than £100,000 to the United States of America to found at Wash- ington an establishment " for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Hence arose the beneficent Smithsonian Institution which has so ably carried out its founder's intention. At the same table with Gay-Lussac there dined on April I4th a notable Englishman, William Henry Fox Talbot, whose name is imperishably connected with the earliest stages of the art of photography. He was introduced by Sir John Herschel. Captain Francis Beaufort, another guest, had already shown great skill in the coast survey of parts of South America and of Asia Minor, and a fewr years after this time he was made Hydrographer to the Admiralty, a post which he held for more than a quarter 1826 Henry Hal lam ^ member of the Club 287 of a century. He became Admiral and K.C.B. He had been made F.R.S. in 1814. Among the other guests of the year most of whom had previously dined with the Club may be mentioned Francis Baily, Sir Stamford Raffles, William Buckland, W. D. Conybeare, Sir Richard Vyvyan, Sir William Eden, Duke of Marlborough, Sir Abraham Hume, Archdeacon Robert Nares, and L. W. Dillwyn. 1826. At the Anniversary of 1826, held on ist June, when twenty-one members attended and the President took the chair, it was announced that the expenses since the previous Anniversary amounted to £92 75. and that there was a balance in hand of £15 95. 40!., to which there remained to be added unpaid arrears amounting to £12. The subscrip- tion to be paid by each member for the ensuing year was decided to be two pounds. One member's name was removed from the list for non-attendance. Only one vac- ancy had arisen, and Henry Hallam was duly elected to fill it. The accomplished historian had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 8th March 1821, and he had been frequently a guest of the Club. There was a marked decrease in the attendance this year at the weekly meetings. Between the middle of March and the end of October there were six dinners at which only one member appeared, and seven to which nobody at all came. Curious irregularities occurred in the summer and autumn. Thus for four weeks from the middle of July to the middle of August no one appeared, but in the second half of the latter month and in the second half of September the attendance was on the whole better than usual. On September 2ist, however, Sir Everard Home had the dinner all to himself — an experience which might have brought home to him the inutility of upholding these meetings during the Royal Society's vacation. He evidently made a strong effort to secure a company for the following week. He not only invited three guests himself but seems to have appealed to Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Barrow as tried supporters of the autumn dinners. Both these members obeyed his appeal 288 Presidentship of Sir Humphry Davy 1826 and each brought a guest, so Sir Everard secured a party of eight in the dull season. There are indications, moreover, of the rise of a custom among the philosophers to take a short recess at Easter and even also at Whitsuntide, for during those weeks the meetings were now beginning to be but thinly attended. The Baron Domenique Jean Larrey, one of the greatest military surgeons of the age, accompanied by his son, dined with the Club on September 28th on the invitation of Sir Everard Home. He had served through Napoleon's cam- paigns and distinguished himself, not only by his great surgical skill and faculty of organisation, but by the superb bravery which he showed in succouring the wounded on the field of battle. At Wagram Napoleon was so struck with his devotion that he created him Baron on the spot. Taken prisoner at Waterloo he ran great risk of being shot by the Germans, but being brought to Blucher, whose son he had once saved, he was set at liberty and protected by an escort. After the war he continued to devote himself to the improvement of the medical arrangements in the French army and military hospitals in France and Algeria, and wrote many valuable contributions to military surgery. He lived until 1842 and died at Lyons at the age of seventy- six. Sir Alexander Johnston took much pains to search out foreign visitors and to introduce them to the Club. On the I3th April he brought Count Einsiedelen and a fortnight later " Mr. Bertolacci." The latter was probably the son of the president of the supreme court of Corsica, and had been employed by the British Government as administrator of Ceylon. His hard work there, combined with the enervat- ing influence of the tropical climate, compelled him at last to return to Europe. He lived for a time in this country and wrote here some works on political economy, and also in 1828 after the battle of Navarino a chivalrous little tract, in which he strongly advocated the closest alliance between Britain and France — a " terrae marisque connubium," in which the two great powers, continental and maritime, SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, BART. Pres. R.S., 1820-1827. PLATE XXIX To face page 28 1826 F. P. . .• ^ r> , <- • ^ Mr Hulke 1 I RePresenimS the Royal Society , ' \Treasurers, \ Club. Mr. Scott, Prof. Judd, Treasurer, The Committee held two meetings. At their first meeting they decided that, in their opinion, it was desirable that a Dinner should take place on each evening of an Ordinary Meeting of the Society, but that each Club should retain its own individuality and peculiar rules and customs. Further, that any change that might be made should be first tried as an experiment for one year. At their second meeting they came to the conclusion that if the Members of either Club were allowed to dine at any Ordinary Meet- ing of the other Club, the average attendance need not be anticipated to exceed 20, and that consequently a uniform subscription of £2 would probably suffice to meet the cost. The Committee agreed finally to submit to the two Clubs the following conclusions at which they had arrived : 1. That it is desirable that the number of Dinners be divided, as nearly as possible, equally between the two Clubs. 2. That each Member should pay for his Dinner ios., as at present. 3. That every Member of the Clubs shall pay the same annual subscription. 4. That in the case of those who belong to both Clubs, half of the subscription should be paid to the Treasurer of each Club. 5. That each Club be requested to suspend the operation of its rules for the Session, so far as these interfere with the carry- ing out of the, experimental scheme, above intimated, for the Session 1892-93. The following resolution, which was originally proposed by Sir William Bowman (who to the deepest regret of the 1892 Proposed Union with Philosophical Club 46 1 Club died on 2Qth March) , had been notified at two ordinary meetings of the Club in accordance with the Rules and was now formally moved by the Senior Treasurer : " That the Joint Committee of the Royal Society and the Philo- sophical Clubs be requested to carry out for one year the scheme which has been submitted by them ; and that the operation of any rules of the Royal Society Club which would interfere with the carrying out of the experimental scheme be suspended during the ensuing Session 1892-93." After some discussion this resolution was put from the chair to be voted on by a show of hands, when eleven voted for it and fourteen against. The Chairman accordingly declared the motion to be lost. The Treasurers reported that a parcel containing 125 copies of Admiral Smyth's " Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Society Club " in sheets had been discovered stored in Burlington House, and that they had had them bound and were issuing them to members at 55. per copy. Their action was approved. They further intimated to the meeting that, by per- mission of the President and Council of the Royal Society, they had deposited at the Society's rooms in Burlington House the old Ballot-box containing the records of the Club since its establishment. At the same time they read a list of the documents contained in the box, all which are still (1917) extant. The action of the Treasurers in this matter was approved and the box has since remained in the custody of the Royal Society. At the end of 1915 it was removed by the Senior Treasurer and brought to the residence at Haslemere of the writer of this volume, who, when the volume is completed, will return the box and its contents to the custody of the Royal Society at Burlington House. To the vacancy caused by the death of Sir William Bowman there was to be added that which was left unfilled at last Anniversary. There were nine candidates. After several successive ballots only one candidate was elected — Andrew Ainslie Common, who had become F.R.S. in 1885. The meetings for the following session were fixed to be 462 Presidentship of 'Lord Kelvin 1892-3 twelve in number and to be distributed one in each of the months of November, December, January, April and May, two in March and June, and three in February, the Anniver- sary being fixed for the June meeting. Lord Kelvin was re-elected President and R. H. Scott and J. W. Hulke were continued as Treasurers. Among the guests of the year reference may be made to Dr. Norman Moore, historiographer of St. Bartholomew's Hospital and most learned and genial of physicians, and to Professor Angelo Mosso, the eminent physiologist of Turin. 1893. The Anniversary in 1893, held on June 22nd, was attended by twenty-nine members, Lord Kelvin presiding. The Treasurers reported that the expenditure during the past session had been £61 155. 7d., and that they had in hand a balance of £61 gs. 9d. The contribution for the following year was fixed at £i. The twelve dinners arranged for had been duly held, and had been attended by 154 persons, comprising 136 members and 18 guests. Three vacancies were declared and there were nine candi- dates. As the result of several successive ballots only two of the places were filled by the election of Rev. William Henry Dallinger and William Chandler Roberts-Austen. W. H. Dallinger entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1861 and became Principal of Wesley College, Sheffield, but resigned that office in 1888 in order to devote himself to biological research. He established a microscopical labora- tory near London for the purpose of studying the life- history of the minuter forms of life. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1880. He died in 1909. Professor Roberts-Austen distinguished himself when a student at the Royal School of Mines in London and thereby attracted the notice of Thomas Graham, Master of the Mint, who took him into his staff and engaged with him in impor- tant researches. On Graham's death in 1869 he was made Assayer to the Mint, and in 1882 was appointed Queen's Assay-master. He also held from 1880 the Chair of Metal- lurgy in the Royal School of Mines. He wrote some valuable papers on metals in the Philosophical Transactions and other 1893 Celebration of\ $otb Anniversary of the Club 463 publications. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1875. He was created K.C.B. in 1899. Among the guests at the ordinary dinners this year the only foreigner recorded was Professor Dr. Theodor Liebisch, the German mineralogist and petrographer, who was intro- duced by the Keeper of the Mineral Collection in the British Museum. Dr. David Gill was again a visitor to the Club in March and April. On the i6th of November this year the Club met at Limmer's Hotel to celebrate the I5oth Anniversary of its foundation. It was arranged that the Bill of Fare and the price of the Dinner (is. 6d.) should be the same as were usual for the Club at the date of its foundation, and the oldest menu which had been preserved, that of March 24th 1747 (which has been given on p. 26), was followed as closely as might be. The attendance was large ; out of the total number (sixty-one) of members of the Club only seventeen were absent and many of these (including Lord Kelvin, the Marquess of Salisbury, Sir Richard Quain, Sir Andrew Noble, Prof. Clifton, Prof. Thorpe, Captain Abney and Prof. Adams) sent apologetic letters explaining the cause of their absence. The following is the list of the company, which numbered sixty-seven in all. The names in italics are those of guests, and in each case the guest was invited by the member whose name occurs immediately above : Sir Douglas Galton, in the Chair The Astronomer Royal Andrew A. Common H. H. Turner H. A. Gore Browne Sir John Evans Captain E. W. Creak Prof. Michael Foster William Crookes Sir Archibald Geikie Joseph Crookes J. J. H. Teall W. H. Dallinger Lord Rayleigh Prof. James Dewar Sir Frederick Abel Dr. Ludwig Mond M. Carteighe L. Fletcher Wollaston Blake W. Bewsher Rev. Professor Bonney A. W. Franks Dr. W. T. Blanford Sir H. Howorth Dr. T. Lander Brunton Francis Galton Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt General Richard Strachey Prof. George Darwin Dr. J. H. Gladstone 464 Presidentship of Lord Kelvin A. G. Vernon Harcourt Dr. Bonamy Price Dr. G. Harley Dr. W. Playfair V. Harley Prof. A. Reinold Admiral Sir John D. Hay Admiral Sir G. H. Richards Canon Blackley Professor Roberts-Austen Dr. J. Hopkinson C. H. Davies General Festing Sir Frederick Bramwell J. W. Hulke, Treasurer Dr. Garrard Prof. J. W. Judd Prof. A. W. Riicker Alfred B. Kempe Arnold Foster Prof. G. D. Liveing Dr. W. J. Russell J. Norman Lockyer Prof. J. S. Burdon Sanderson F. Elgar A. D. Waller N. Story Maskelyne P. L. Sclater Dr. Hugo Miiller W. L. Sclater Admiral Sir E. Ommaney R. H. Scott, Treasurer Dr. W. Pole Major J. S. S. Barker Captain Wharton Sir Charles Wilson Prevented from attendance by illness, Sir Andrew Noble, in memory of old times, sent a haunch of venison, for which thanks were voted by the Club. The three customary toasts were given, and in consonance with the habits of the founders of the Club, some " Huff- ale " from Winchester College was supplied by one member, which proved so potent as well as pleasant that one of the chemists present was requested to carry away a small quantity of it to test it for the percentage of its alcohol.1 1894. At the Anniversary Meeting held on June 28, 1894, twenty-nine members were present and Admiral Sir George H. Richards was in the chair. The Treasurers' statement reported that the expenditure had been £76 I2s. 8d., leaving in their hands a balance of £47 is. id. The contribution of £i for the ensuing session was again agreed upon. The twelve usual dinners of the year (excluding that of Novem- ber i6th) had been attended by 208 persons, of whom 169 were members and 39 were guests. Sir Joseph Lister, having been elected Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society and having expressed his willingness 1 This fine old ale had been ten years in bottle. An elaborate analysis of its composition was made at the Government laboratory which proved it to be the strongest ale that had ever been examined there. It contained a percentage of 11.72 by weight of absolute alcohol. ROBERT HENRY SCOTT, F.R.S., 1870. One of the Treasurers of the Club from 1885 to 1902. PLATE XXXIX To face page 464. 1894-5 Samuel Henry Butcher 465 to join the Club, was unanimously elected an ex-officio Member. No vacancies in the ordinary membership had occurred during the year, nor were there any absentees. The most eminent guest whose name is recorded in this year's register was Samuel Henry Butcher, Member of Parliament for Cambridge University, and one of the finest classical scholars of his day, who came on the invitation of the kindly old Admiral Sir John Dalrymple Hay. Edu- cated at Cambridge and obtaining high honours with a Fellowship at Trinity College, he was for some years Classical Lecturer at Oxford till in 1882 he was elected to the Pro- fessorship of Greek at the University of Edinburgh, where he remained till 1903. In 1906 he was elected for Cam- bridge University, and became an active and valuable representative of education in the House of Commons. His classical essays and translations were marked by great distinction and charm. To the serious loss of the cause of higher education and to the great sorrow of all who knew him, he was unexpectedly cut off by a short illness in 1910. 1895. The early part of the year 1895 was darkened for the Club by the unexpected death of its junior Treasurer, J. W. Hulke, from an attack of pneumonia. He had been seven years in office and during that time, by his gentle courtesy and apti- tude for business, he had gained the respect and esteem of all the members. The vacant Treasurership was filled on March 7th by the election of Professor Thomas Edward Thorpe. The Anniversary Meeting this year was held as usual at Limmer's Hotel on zyth June, when the following company was present : Admiral Sir George H. Richards, K.C.B., in the Chair Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.B. Alfred B. Kempe Sir J. H. Gilbert A. G. Vernon-Harcourt Sir Richard Quain, Bart. H. Wollaston Blake Rear Admiral Wharton Professor Liveing Professor A. W. Riicker L. Fletcher William Crookes J. Norman Lockyer Professor Roberts-Austen Dr. Lauder Brunton Dr. George Harley Dr. W. J. Russell Professor Clifford-Allbutt R. H. Scott \T Dr. Hugo Miiller T. E. Thorpe J 1 2G 466 Presidentship of Lord Kelvin 1895 The statement submitted by the Treasurers showed the expenditure to have been £62 us. 8d., leaving an available balance of £43 i6s. 5d. to be carried forward. It was resolved that the contribution for the ensuing year should be £i. The usual twelve dinners had been duly held and were attended by 181 persons, of whom 158 were members and 23 guests. The smallest number at any dinner had been six. Two members of the Club died during the year : J. W. Hulke and Sir William Savory. Three members had reached the age of fourscore and were therefore entitled to be placed in the Honorary List — H. Wollaston Blake, Admiral Sir Erasmus Ommanney, and Dr. W. Pole. There were therefore five vacancies, and the list of candi- dates contained five names. As the result of the voting Professor Charles Vernon Boys, Major Percy Alexander MacMahon, R.A., Professor Oliver Lodge, and Professor William Ramsay were duly elected. Twelve dinners were sanctioned for the ensuing session, to be held on dates similar to those of recent years. Of the four new members only one has since passed away— William Ramsay. This distinguished and much regretted chemist, born in Glasgow in 1852, was educated at the University there and at Tubingen under Fittig. In 1880 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry in University College, Bristol, and Principal of that institution in the following year. He became Professor in University College, London, in 1887. Of his many original contributions to chemical science the most widely known was his investi- gation in conjunction with Lord Rayleigh which led to the detection of the new element Argon in the atmosphere. In continuing this research he subsequently discovered other gaseous elements in the air — helium, neon, crypton. Ramsay received many honours from all parts of the world in recognition of the value of his labours. He was made K.C.B., was awarded the Nobel Prize, and received the Prussian order Pour le Merite. He was cut off by a painful illness in 1916 in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 1895 C. V. Boys ; W. F. R. Weldon; J. B. Pettigrew 467 Charles Vernon Boys, Associate of the Royal School of Mines, was for some years Demonstrator and Assistant Professor of Physics at the Normal School of Science, South Kensington. He is one of the most inventive members of the Club and one of the most successful experimenters of the day. He is the author of some valuable contributions to science on soap-bubbles, quartz-fibres, radio-micrometers, the measurement of the Newtonian Constant of Gravitation and other subjects. He repeated the torsion-balance measurement of Michell and Cavendish with a delicacy and accuracy never before attained. The guests this year included William Ramsay, who dined on the invitation of William Crookes on 3ist January, six months before his election into the Club. It is recorded in the dinner-register that after the three usual toasts had been given J. W. Hulke, the Junior Treasurer, took advan- tage of the presence of one of the discoverers of Argon to propose as a further toast — "The infant Argon, and may his future surpass the most sanguine expectations of his parents." The toast was drunk with enthusiasm, and Professor Ramsay said a few words in reply. Another distinguished visitor came to the dinner on May 9th as the guest of Francis Galton — Professor Walter Frank Raphael Weldon. This accomplished naturalist had passed with great distinction in the Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge and after some busy years, devoted chiefly to morphological work, had turned to the investigation of the problems of the variation and correlation of living things. He became F.R.S. in 1890. He died in 1906 worn out with the incessant ardour of research, when only forty- six years of age. J. Bell Pettigrew, another of the visitors this year who are no longer living, was Professor of Medicine and Anatomy and Dean of the Medical Faculty in the University of St. Andrews. He wrote much on the subject of animal locomotion in walking, swimming, and flying, and made careful studies of the physiology of wings in Insects, Birds, and Bats. His volume on " Animal Locomotion " passed 468 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Lister 1895 through more than one edition and has been translated into several foreign languages. He became F.R.S. in 1868. On 30th November, according to the understanding which the Council of the Royal Society adopted a few years before, that the tenure of the Presidentship should not exceed a period of five years, Lord Kelvin resigned his office and Sir Joseph Lister, Foreign Secretary, was chosen as his successor. Thus two changes were brought about in the Club, which were considered at the meeting on December 5th. The Treasurer was then able to announce that the new President was willing to accept the Presidency of the Club, and he was accordingly at once elected by acclamation. The name of Lord Kelvin, as that of a past President, was transferred to the Honorary List. Professor Edward Frankland was elected Foreign Secre- tary of the Society in succession to Lord Lister. He had expressed his wish to rejoin the Club, of which he had resigned the membership in 1867. There was a difference of opinion at the meeting as to whether the Foreign Secretary could be immediately admitted under Rule I. or must wait until the next Anniversary Meeting. An equal number of members voted for and against immediate election, and the Chairman (Sir John Dalrymple Hay) gave his casting vote against it. Whereupon notice was given to be circulated among the members that at the next meeting it would be proposed " that Rule I. shall be interpreted to mean that the Officers of the Royal Society are entitled to join the Club at once on expressing their intention to take advantage of the privilege conferred by that Rule." At the next meeting (January 16, 1896) the Senior Trea- surer reported that he had consulted one of the members, Alfred B. Kempe, a counsel learned in the law, who was of opinion that the resolution proposed at the previous meeting could not be considered as a suggested change in the rules of the Club, but that any person entitled ex-officio to be a member of the Club must be immediately admitted on the intimation of his wish to join. Professor Frankland was consequently with unanimity admitted as a Member. 1896 Prof. G. Gary Foster; Prof. V. Hors/ey 469 1896. The Anniversary Meeting of 1896 was held on 25th June and was attended by twenty-seven members with Sir John Dalrymple Hay as Chairman. The Treasurers' l statement gave the expenses to have been £64 75. and the balance in hand to be £45 175. 5d. The contribution for the coming session was fixed at £i, which had now become the usual sum. At the twelve dinners in the course of the year the attendance was 204, made up of 169 members and 35 guests. General Pitt-Rivers resigned his membership on account of the state of his health, which prevented him from coming to London. Including the place that was not filled up last year there were two vacancies. Out of the five candidates on the list the choice of the meeting fell upon Professor G. Gary Foster and Professor Victor A. H. Horsley, who were declared duly elected. Professor Gary Foster was the distinguished Professor of Physics in University College, London, from 1865 to 1893 and Principal of the College from 1900 to 1904. He has now retired from active life. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1869. Professor Horsley (F.R.S. 1886), Emeritus Professor of Clinical Surgery and Consulting Surgeon at University College Hospital, gained a high reputation in his profession and made some important discoveries, particularly in regard to the functions of the thyroid gland. He was knighted in 1902. He took a keen interest in all movements which he thought would advance the welfare of the community. He was one of those medical men in large practice who generously went to France early in the War to give their services to the sick and wounded. In this noble effort he lost his life. 1 Only the senior Treasurer was present on this occasion, his junior colleague having met with a slight bicycling accident. The incident gave rise to the following motion which was proposed and carried at this meet- ing : " That while expressing profound sympathy with its absent Treasurer, the Club would suggest that in future its Treasurers should not indulge in the folly of bicycling, particularly in the use of feminine bicycles." 47° Presidentship of Sir Joseph Lister 1896-7 Two notable foreigners visited the Club on June nth- Henri Moissan, a distinguished French chemist, author of researches among the metallic oxides and on the origin of the diamond. When he detected minute diamonds in the Canon Diablo meteorite he shrewdly divined that the carbon must have been originally dissolved in the liquid iron and that by the sudden cooling of the outer portion of the meteorite great pressure resulted on the still molten portion inside, the carbon segregating into grains that assumed a crystal- line form. To test the \alidity of this explanation he experimented with his electric furnace and produced true diamonds. The Royal Society in recognition of the value of his contributions to chemical science elected him one of its foreign members in 1905, and awarded him the Davy Medal in the following year. In 1906 he was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He died in 1907 at the age of only fifty-five years. Dr. Wilhelm Ostwald is an eminent German chemist, an honorary graduate of several universities in this country, and well-known among scientific men in England. One of the home guests this year was Sir Herbert Maxwell, whose presence at the Club was no doubt more immediately due to the personal friendship between him and his host, Sir John Dalrymple Hay, both neighbours and owning estates in Wigtonshire. Sir Herbert is the most versatile of Scottish lairds. He was sixteen years in Parliament, is a Privy Councillor and has been chairman of more than one Royal Commission. Antiquary, historian, naturalist, sportsman, skilled gardener and forester, and fond of open-air life, he is also gifted with literary skill, and has published many volumes which make pleasant reading. 1897. In 1897 the Anniversary Meeting, held on 24th June, was attended by twenty-nine members, and Sir Frederick Abel took the chair. The Treasurers' balance sheet showed the expenditure since last Anniversary to have been £63 2s. 9d., leaving an available balance of £40 8s. 8d. The contribution was again continued at £i. The appointed twelve dinners had been held as arranged 1897 Rule as to admission of Visitors 47 1 and were attended by 183 persons, consisting of 152 members and 31 guests. It was noted that of the octogenarian honorary members one had dined thrice in the course of the year and two had each dined once. The Club lost three members by death during the past year — Sir George H. Richards, Dr. G. Harley, and Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks. Two members, Sir Richard Quain and Sir Joseph H. Gilbert, having attained the age of eighty were put into the Honorary List. Professor Riicker having been elected Secretary of the Royal Society was now transferred to the Official List. Hence six vacancies had arisen in the ordinary membership. There were nine candidates. After three ballots in succession had been taken five candidates were elected — Sir John Wolfe Barry, Professor Andrew Russell Forsyth, Sir William White, Frank McClean, and Professor Alfred George Greenhill. The sixth vacancy was not filled. A motion, of which ample notice had been given, to alter Rule XII was brought forward at this meeting, and after discussion it was unanimously agreed that henceforth this Rule should read as follows : " Every Member bringing a visitor shall write his name under his own, to be laid on the table ; and no visitor shall be allowed to dine till this Regulation shall have been complied with. ' ' The last clause of the Rule had previously been : " and no Visitor can be admitted into the room till this regulation shall have been complied with." The usual twelve dinners were appointed to be held, one in November, December and January, two in February, May and June, and three in March. Of the five new members a few words may be said here. Sir John Wolfe Barry, a Civil Engineer in large practice, has interested himself in educational matters, more especially in the organisation and administration of the City and Guilds' Technical Institute, Imperial College of Science and Technology, King's College, London, and also in the National Physical Laboratory. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1895 and was created K.C.B. in 1897. 47 2 Presidentship of Lord Lister 1897 Andrew Russell Forsyth is now Chief Professor of Mathe- matics in the Imperial College of Science and Technology, an appointment which he accepted after resigning the Sadlerian Professorship of Pure Mathematics in the Univer- sity of Cambridge. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1886. Sir William White, trained in the Admiralty's School at the Devonport Dockyard, was chosen one of eight ship- wright apprentices as students at the time when the Navy was about to be reconstructed by the replacement of wooden by iron ships. He obtained the highest diploma, and was thereafter appointed to the Admiralty Staff for the design and construction of ships for the Navy. In 1875 he was promoted to the rank of Constructor and in 1881 Chief Constructor. After a short interval, during which he was engaged as war-ship designer and manager of the war-ship building branch of the firm of Armstrong, Whit- worth & Co., at Elswick on the Tyne, he returned to the Admiralty as Assistant-Controller of the Navy and Director of Naval Construction. He introduced new ideas into the building of war-ships and built many vessels of all grades. The strain of the work, into which he threw all his energies, began to affect his health and compelled him to retire from the public service in 1901. But thereafter he found ample scope for his energies in the many societies and institutions to which he belonged. He was a valued member of several of the Committees of the Royal Society, of which he became a Fellow in 1888. His public services were recognised by his being made a Knight Commander of the Bath. He died suddenly on February 27, 1913. Frank McClean was an engineer by profession. After studying at Glasgow under Sir William Thomson he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. When later in life he had leisure to devote to science he studied the spectra of the stars and the spectrum of the high and low sun and the absorption lines due to the earth's atmosphere. He was likewise a collector of manuscripts, early printed books, coins, enamels, and ivories. In his lifetime he was a liberal 1897-8 A.G.Greenhill; W.R.Dunstan; J.A.Ewing 473 benefactor to science, and at his death in 1904 he left many generous bequests to universities and societies. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1895, and he bequeathed to the Society a legacy of £2000 for general purposes. Alfred George Greenhill, formerly Professor of Mathematics in the Artillery College, Woolwich, has now retired. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1888 and was knighted in 1908. 1898. The Anniversary Meeting of the Club in 1898 took place on June 23rd, when there were twenty-nine members present, and the President, Lord Lister, presided. The financial statement submitted by the Treasurers showed an expenditure of £65 I2s. and a surplus of £43 us. 8d. The contribution for the year was fixed at £i. The attendance at the twelve dinners was 181, comprising 157 members and 24 guests. Two members had become octogenarians in the course of the year — Sir Frederick Bramwell and the Rev. Dr. Bartholomew Price — who were now placed on the Honorary List. A vacancy was left unfilled last year, and Professor Oliver Lodge desired to resign his membership. Thus four vacancies were created, and there was a list of seven candi- dates. At the first ballot no candidate obtained three- fourths of the votes. At the second ballot Wyndham Rowland Dunstan, James Alfred Ewing, and Henry Alex- ander Miers were elected. Two subsequent ballots were taken, but as no one of the remaining candidates obtained the requisite number of votes the vacancy was left unfilled. W. R. Dunstan, now Director of the Imperial Institute, has from time to time at the request of the Colonial Office or of Colonial Governments visited colonies and dependencies to report on their agricultural or mineral resources and has presented reports of value for the industrial development of the regions visited. He was elected F.R.S. in 1893. Professor Ewing, Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, was Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics in the University of Cambridge from 1890 to 474 Presidentship of Lord Lister 1898 1903, when he was appointed Director of Naval Education. This important office he resigned in the summer of 1916 to become Principal and Vice-Chancellor of his Alma Mater, the University of Edinburgh. He became F.R.S. in 1887 and was created K.C.B. in 1911. Professor Miers, Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, spent some years on the staff of the mineralogical department of the British Museum. In 1898 he was appointed Wayn- flete Professor of Mineralogy at Oxford, and held this chair till in 1908 he was chosen Principal of the University of London. He is now Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester. He was elected F.R.S. in 1896 and knighted in 1912. A few foreigners of note dined with the Club in the course of the year. On January 27th General Ferrero, Italian Ambassador, was entertained. On June 9 Professor Frank- land introduced Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleeff. This illus- trious Russian chemist was the seventeenth and youngest child of his father, Director of the Gymnasium at Tobolsk in Siberia. After finishing his education at St. Petersburg he became privat-docent at the University there, and in 1866 was appointed Professor of General Chemistry. His name is above all connected with the great Periodic Law in Chemistry which he formulated, but there is hardly any department of chemistry which has not been enriched by his researches. He extended his enquiries also into the mineralogical and geological domain. He was much interested in the origin of petroleum, and was sent by his Government to report on the working of the oil wells at Baku and in Pennsylvania. It was then a prevalent opinion that the petroleum which comes to the surface at these and other places arises from the decomposition of organic remains in the rocks below. Rejecting this explanation Mendeleeff showed that the production of mineral oil could be accounted for on the supposition that in the interior of the globe there is much metal, especially iron, in an intensely heated condition, and that this material contains carbon in solution. He held that water gaining access to such 1898-9 Alexander Agassiz, 475 molten masses would give rise to the production of hydro- carbons which would distil from the lower into the upper layers of the crust as oil and gas, leaving oxides of the metals below. Alexander Agassiz, son of the Swiss naturalist already referred to (p. 329), was one of the most accomplished oceanographers of his time, and also a naturalist of great distinction. He carried on the excellent Museum estab- lished by his father at Harvard University, and enriched it with the treasures which he was able to accumulate in his numerous expeditions into the basins of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. His wealth enabled him also to further scientific progress in many directions. In 1891 he was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. His personal charm as well as his scientific standing were much appreciated in this country. He died in 1910 on his voyage back from a visit to Europe. 1899. At the Anniversary Meeting held on 22nd June 1899 there were present thirty-two members, and the chair was taken by Sir Andrew Noble in the absence of the President. The balance sheet submitted by the Treasurers showed an expenditure of £63 i6s. 8d. and an unexpended balance of £44 1 6s. The usual contribution of £i for the ensuing year was levied. The customary twelve dinners during the session were attended by 186 persons, comprising 157 members and 29 guests. The largest attendance was 29 at the Anniversary, and the smallest two on 2nd February. The death of three members of the Club was announced — Sir Douglas Galton, the Father of the Club ; Rev. Bartho- lomew Price, and John Hopkinson. At the last election of the Royal Society Mr. Alfred Braye Kempe had been chosen Treasurer in succession to Sir John Evans, who retired after twenty years' service. The transference of the new Trea- surer to the ex-officio list made a vacancy in the ordinary membership of the Club. Four vacancies were declared, and there was a list of ten candidates. As the final result of the voting Joseph John Thomson, Ernest Howard 476 Presidentship of Lord Lister 1899-1900 Griffiths, and Walter Frank Raphael Weldon were elected. The fourth place was not filled. Lord Lister was re-elected President. As Professor Thorpe desired to retire from the Treasurership, Major P. A. MacMahon was proposed for the office, and he, together with R. H. Scott, were chosen Treasurers for the ensuing year. Of the new members one was the present distinguished Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics in the Univer- sity of Cambridge, Sir Joseph Thomson, who is now President of the Royal Society and also President of the Club. He obtained the Fellowship of the Society in 1884. Dr. Griffiths is the able Professor of Experimental Philo- sophy in the University College of South Wales who became F.R.S. in 1895. Professor Weldon, who died at a comparatively early age, has been already alluded to (p. 467) . The most interesting visitor of the year was Sir Henry E. G. Bulwer, G.C.M.G., who dined with the Club on January 26. After an active life in which he had successively been Receiver-General of Trinidad, Administrator of Dominica, Governor of Labuan, Consul-General in Borneo, Lieutenant- Governor and afterwards Governor of Natal, and Special Commissioner for Zulu affairs and High Commissioner in Cyprus, he retired in 1892, and even after he had become an octogenarian he continued to frequent the Athenaeum, where he had many friends. 1900. At the Anniversary Meeting on 28th June 1900 the following company was present : Lord Lister, President Sir John C. Dalrymple Hay, Bart. Professor Weldon Sir W. J. Wharton Dr. W. J. Russell Sir William Crookes Professor T. Clifford Allbutt Sir J. Norman Lockyer E. H. Griffiths Sir Erasmus Ommaney Alfred B. Kempe Professor H. Debus Frank M' Clean Professor A. G. Greenhill A. A. Common Sir Archibald Geikie Wyndham R. Dunstan Professor James Dewar Professor Odling Captain E. W. Creak Professor H. A. Miers J. H. Gladstone Robert H. Scott, Treasurer Final Steps for union with Philosophical Club 477 The Treasurers' balance sheet showed an expenditure of £61 iSs. nd. and a balance in hand of £46 i8s. id. The usual contribution of £i was agreed to. The twelve dinners provided for during the session had been held and had been attended by 173 diners, comprising 146 members and 27 guests. The largest attendance was 32 at the last Anni- versary ; the smallest was six on January 25th and March i . Professor Thorpe having been elected Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society was eligible for transference to the Official List, causing a vacancy in the Ordinary membership, which, together with the place left unfilled last year, made two vacancies which were now open for election. There were eleven candidates on the list. As the result of the voting Professor Henry Edward Armstrong and Professor Edward Bagnall Poulton were elected. The question of the fusion of this Club and the Philo- sophical Club was once more seriously discussed at this meeting. As the result of the discussion a motion was made " That this Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society Club is desirous that steps shall be taken to effect an amalgamation between the Philosophical Club and this Club." This motion on a show of hands was declared by the President to be carried. A further motion was then proposed : :< That the Trea- surers be requested to communicate the foregoing resolution to all the members of the Club, in order to ascertain whether they are or are not in favour of it." This motion was also declared by the President to be carried. Lord Lister was re-elected President of the Club, and the two Treasurers were also re-elected. Prof. Armstrong, elected into the Club at this Anniversary, is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the City and Guilds College, South Kensington. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1876 and was awarded the Davy Medal in 1911. Professor Poulton since 1893 has been the Hope Professor of Zoology in the University of Oxford. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1889. He has been President of the Entomological Society and of the Linnaean Society, and 478 Presidentship of Lord Lister 1900 is the author of many memoirs on zoological subjects as well as separate volumes of essays. Two foreigners of note were visitors to the Club this year. On I4th June Dr. J. H. Gladstone introduced the distin- guished Italian chemist Giacomo Ciamician, Professor of General Chemistry in the University of Bologna, and on the same day Professor William Ramsay brought as his guest Dr. Raffaello Nasini, who was Professor of General Chemistry in the University of Pisa and Professor Ciami- cian's son-in-law. Among the English visitors the name of Sir Martin Conway appears on the list of 22 February. At a special meeting of the Club on I5th November, attended by twenty members, with Admiral Sir John D. Hay in the chair, the Treasurers reported that they had carried out the instructions given to them at the last Anniversary Meeting with regard to the question of amalgamation with the Philosophical Club. To their circular addressed to the members of the Royal Society Club they had received forty replies, of which twenty-five approved of the proposed union and five disapproved. Professor W. G. Adams, Treasurer of the Philosophical Club, who was present, stated in general terms the results of the discussion on the subject at the Philosophical Club. It was then moved : " That the Philosophical Club be requested to join with this Club in appointing a Committee to consider what steps should be taken to effect an amalgamation of the two Clubs." This motion was unanimously adopted, and should the Philosophical Club agree to the proposal, it was decided that the Royal Society Club would appoint as their repre- sentatives on the Committee Sir F. Abel, The Astronomer Royal, Sir John Evans, Dr. R. H. Scott, Prof. W. G. Adams, and Major MacMahon. As provided by the Rules, the Club at its ordinary meeting on December 6th elected, as member and President of the Club, Sir William Huggins, who had been chosen President of the Royal Society on St. Andrew's Day, and who, having been invited to join the Club as its President, had signified his consent. Union with the Philosophical Club 479 1901. The Anniversary Meeting in the year 1901 was held on 27th June and was attended by twenty-eight members, with Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., in the chair. The Trea- surers submitted a financial statement which showed that the expenses since the last Anniversary had amounted to £77 us. 2d., leaving at the bank a balance of £36 75. nd. The number of dinners had been eleven, that appointed for 3 ist January having been cancelled on account of the death of Queen Victoria. The total number of persons who dined was 192, composed of 159 members and 33 visitors. Sir John Dalrymple Hay having attained the age of eighty now entered the Honorary List, but the election of an Ordinary member to fill the vacancy thus caused was deferred. The death of two Honorary Members was reported — Lord Armstrong and Dr. William Pole. The senior Treasurer gave a summary of the proceedings of the Joint-Committee, by which a series of draft rules for the union of the two Clubs had been drawn up. The Committee was constituted as follows : Three members representing both Clubs, viz. Sir F. Abel, Sir John Evans, and Prof. W. G. Adams ; three representing the Royal Society Club, the Astronomer Royal, R. H. Scott, and Major MacMahon ; and three representing the Philosophical Club, Dr. W. T. Blanford, Professor Judd, and Professor Meldola. This Committee had held three meetings and had drawn up a series of proposed Rules. These having been put into type were submitted to the Philosophical Club at its Anni- versary meeting on May 2nd, and were then adopted by that Club with certain verbal modifications. The proposed Rules, as thus modified, had been distri- buted among the members of the Royal Society Club for consideration at this Anniversary Meeting. The Rides as finally adjusted were as follows : RULES OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY CLUB WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE PHILOSOPHICAL CLUB. Established in 1743. I. THE Club shall consist of sixty -six Ordinary Members, who must be Fellows of the Royal Society, in addition to the following 480 Presidentship of Sir William Huggins 1901 who shall be Members ex-officio, viz. : the President, the Treasurer, the two Secretaries, and the Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society ; and the Astronomer Royal ; and also of the Honorary Members. Upon any Fellow becoming entitled, from his official position in the Royal Society, to be a Member of this Club, the Treasurers of the Club be instructed to ask him, whether it be his intention to take advantage of such privilege, and to become permanently a Subscribing Member. II. The President of the Royal Society on joining the Club shall be its President. Three Treasurers shall be elected by ballot at each Anniversary. No Treasurer shall hold office continuously for more than three years, the Senior Treasurers shall retire each year, but a retiring Treasurer shall be re-eligible for election after the space of one year. The Treasurers shall order and arrange the time and place of meeting of the Club, and summon Special Meetings when deemed necessary. They shall receive the subscription of Members, and keep the accounts of the Club ; they shall prepare and issue all notices, regulate the dinners, and the Senior Treasurer present shall act as Vice-Chairman. It shall also be the duty of the Trea- surers to keep a register of all Meetings of the Club, and make a minute of all resolutions which may be adopted. III. The Anniversary Meeting at which the Annual Election of Officers and Members shall take place shall be held on the Thursday in the week on which the Royal Society Meetings close for the Vacation. IV. At the Meetings the chair shall be taken by the President of the Club. If he should not be present the senior Member of the Club shall preside. It shall be the duty of the Chairman to regulate and control all ballots and discussions in the Club, and to bring forward, or to invite Members of the Club to bring forward, any correspondence or scientific subject worthy of consideration. V. Candidates for election shall be proposed, in writing, by three Members. The proposal shall be transmitted to one of the Treasurers of the Club, and read at the next Meeting. VI. The mode of election of Members shall be as follows, viz. : the President having declared the number of vacancies, each Mem- ber, being supplied with a list of Candidates, shall write on a slip of paper the names of those he desires to vote for, which shall be read out by the President. VII. No person shall be deemed elected as a Member, unless he shall have at least three-fourths of the Votes of those present in his favour. At the Anniversary Meeting sixteen Members shall form a quorum. VIII. Any Member who has not attended the Club at least once in any year shall be reminded of the circumstance, and if in the course of the succeeding year he do not once attend, he shall no 19°* Rules of the united Club 481 longer be a Member of the Club, unless the Club shall otherwise order. It shall still be open to the Club to re-elect him a Member, provided that he be duly proposed. IX. Any Member of at least twenty-five years' standing, or who has attained the age of eighty years, may, on his request in writing, have his name transferred from the list of Ordinary Members of the Club to that of Honorary Members, and shall not be called upon for any Annual Subscription. X. Any Member going abroad, and declaring his intention to that effect, shall be considered as an Honorary Member during his absence, without paying his Annual Contribution ; but his absence shall cause a vacancy which may be filled up. On his return he shall be admitted to the Meetings of the Club on the usual terms, and be readmitted without an Entrance Fee as an Ordinary Mem- ber on the first Vacancy, on his signifying a wish to be so readmitted. XI. The Meetings of the Club shall be held on such days as shall be appointed for the ensuing year at the Anniversary Meeting.1 XII. The Treasurers shall submit their accounts to the Club at the Anniversary Meeting, when the amount of the succeeding, year's Subscription shall be fixed ; and it is expected that every Member will pay his Subscription as soon as possible. XIII. Every Member of the Club on his first admission shall pay an entrance fee of Two Guineas, in addition to the annual Contribution. XIV. Every Member of the Club shall have the privilege of in- troducing one Visitor ; but the President shall not be so limited. XV. The name of every visitor shall be written opposite to that of the Member introducing him. XVI. The Treasurers may invite in the name of the Club any dis- tinguished Foreign, Indian or Colonial man of science not permanently resident in this country. XVII. No Visitor shall be admitted on the Anniversary of the Club. XVIII. No change shall be made in these Rules, nor any new ones added, except at the Anniversary Meeting by Resolution, notice of which must be given at least at two Meetings of the Club previously. NOTE. — Recommendation. Honorary or Supernumerary Members of either Club shall be Honorary Members of the Royal Society Club. As the result of the discussions at this Anniversary Meeting the Club decided that the Rules as now finally 1 A card of the Meetings is issued annually to each Member. 2H 482 Presidentship of Sir William Huggins 1901 amended and adopted should be transmitted to the Joint- Committee with the request that this Committee would carry out the details of the arrangements required for the amalgamation of the Clubs. It was further decided that in the coming session the meetings of the Club should be on the days of meeting of the Royal Society, with the addition of one meeting in October. The subscription for the coming session was fixed at £i los. The two Treasurers of the Royal Society Club, R. H. Scott and Major MacMahon, were reappointed. To them was added the Treasurer of the Philosophical Club, Professor W. G. Adams, so that henceforth the united Club would have three Treasurers. Thus, after ten years of consideration the two Clubs were at last joined into one. The name of the older Club was retained as the ordinary designation of the united body, but with the addition, when desirable, of a line with words expressing that it includes the younger institution incor- porated with it. The united membership was thus greatly increased in number and in strength. It consisted of sixty-five ordinary members, nine ex-officio members, in- cluding the President, and seventeen honorary members. Not only were the two Clubs united to each other, they were also in some respects more closely bound up with the pro- ceedings of the Royal Society. The arrangement that members of the Club should dine together on the evening of every afternoon when an ordinary meeting of the Society takes place at once removed the long-standing inconvenience of the difficulty of remembering whether a meeting-day of the Society happened also to be a day on which one or other of the Clubs was to meet. Henceforth there would always be a Club dinner to follow the meeting of the Society. Moreover, these dinners which had once been held every week in the year but had in course of time dwindled down to twelve in the year, now immediately rose to twenty- one. The number has since been augmented, so that in the year 1916-17 it is now twenty-six, exactly half the number which 1901-2 First Anniversary of united Club 483 was maintained during three-fourths of the first century of the Club's history. The first meeting of the conjoined Clubs took place on 3 ist October, when a company numbering thirty-eight members with five guests sat down to dinner in Limmer's Hotel. It included many eminent men now no longer living — Lord Lister, Sir William Huggins, Sir J. Burden Sanderson, Sir Charles W. Wilson, Admiral Sir John D. Hay, Admiral Sir William Wharton, Sir Henry Roscoe, Sir Lauder Brunton, Francis Galton, Professor Riicker, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, Sir William C. Roberts- Austen and others, as well as some of distinction who still happily attend the meetings. No record has been preserved of this meeting beyond the list of those present. 1902. The first Anniversary of the united Club was held on igth June 1902, when the following company assembled : Sir Frederick Abel, Chairman in the absence of the President Lord Rosse Prof. C. V. Boys Sir G. G. Stokes Sir Andrew Noble Sir Archibald Geikie Prof. Reinold Sir Charles Wilson Dr. W. J. Russell Sir William Crookes Prof. J. Larmor Sir Frederick Bramwell Prof. Liveing Sir William Wharton Captain Creak Dr. P. L. Sclater Mr. A. A. Common Prof. J. W. Judd Prof. J. H. Gladstone Dr. W. T. Blanford Prof. Henry A. Miers Prof. E. B. Poulton Dr. Hugo Miiller Mr. Lazarus Fletcher Mr. Frank M'Clean Mr. A. B. Kempe Prof. Raphael Meldola Sir J. T. Thornycroft Mr. R. H. Scott ] Prof. Cliff ord-Allbutt Major MacMahon ^Treasurers Dr. A. G. Vernon Harcourt Prof. W. G. Adams J Prof. A. G. Greenhill The balance sheet submitted by the Treasurers showed an expenditure of £109 153. and a balance at the bank of £41 us. i id. The subscription for the ensuing year was fixed at £i los. The number of dinners since the previous Anniversary had been 21. These had been attended by 267 members and 29 guests, making a total attendance of 484 Presidentship of Sir William Huggins 296. The largest company was that which assembled at the beginning of the session on 3ist October ; the smallest attendance was on 2oth February, when only four members appeared. The dates of twenty-one meetings in the coming session were fixed to coincide with the meeting-days of the Royal Society. The death of Sir Joseph H. Gilbert was announced. Sir William White, on account of the state of his health, had resigned his membership. Professor Larmor having been appointed one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society was eligible for the ex-qfficio list. There were likewise three vacancies which remained over from last year. There were thus five vacant places to be filled. As the result of the voting the following candidates were elected : Professor Richard Tetley Glazebrook, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., Director of the National Physical Laboratory ; Captain Henry B. Jackson, F.R.S., now Admiral, K.C.B., and lately Chief of the War Staff ; Professor Herbert Hall Turner, D.Sc., F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford ; Frank Evers Beddard, M.A., F.R.S., Prosector of the Zoological Society and George Matthey, F.R.S., an eminent metallurgist. Mr. R. H. Scott resigned the office of Treasurer which he had held for seventeen years. On the proposal of Sir Andrew Noble a small committee was formed for the pur- pose of presenting to him a souvenir as an expression of the Club's appreciation of his long and valuable service. The testimonial ultimately took the form of a silver inkstand bearing a suitable inscription. The small number of foreign visitors to the Club this year included the Privat-Docent Claude Du Bois-Reymond who was teaching physiology at the German Medical School at Shanghai, thus following in the footsteps of his illustrious father in the University of Berlin. He was the guest of Dr. Lauder Brunton on ist May. Professor William Ramsay brought as his guest on 2Oth March Professor Abegg from Breslau. Among the English guests were Sir Benjamin Baker, the designer of the Forth Bridge, the Right Hon. 1902 First Membership of united Club 485 Horace Plunkett, the well-known Irish administrator ; and Sir Lewis Morris, author of the Epic of Hades. The membership of the Club at this Anniversary is shown on the subjoined List, which was issued to each member together with a notice of the dates of the meetings for the ensuing session. LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY CLUB. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE PHILOSOPHICAL CLUB. 1902-3. PRESIDENT. 1870. Huggins, Sir W., K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., P.R.S. HONORARY MEMBERS. 1874. Bramwell, Sir F. J., Bart., 1879. Lister, Lord, M.D., D.C.L., D.C.L. LL.D. 1867. Buckton, G. B. 1881. Newton, Prof. A., M.A. 1870. Foster, Sir M., K.C.B., 1889. Ommanney, Adm. Sir E., LL.D. C.B. 1866. Galton, Francis, M.A., 1871. Salisbury, The Marquess of, D.C.L. K.G. 1873. Gunther, A. C. L., M.A., 1862. Sclater, P. L., Ph.D. Ph.D. 1866. Simon, Sir J., K.C.B., 1864. Hay, Adm. Rt. Hon. Sir D.C.L., LL.D. J. D., Bt, G.C.B., 1855. Stokes, Sir G. G., Bart., D.C.L. LL.D. 1847. Hooker, Sir J. D., G.C.S.I. 1865. Strachey, Sir R., G.C.S.I. 1890. Kelvin, Lord, D.C.L., 1860. Williamson, Prof. A. W., LL.D. D.C.L., LL.D. EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS. 1884. Christie, W. H. M., C.B., 1874. Rayleigh, Lord, M.A., M.A. D.Sc. 1868. Evans, Sir John, K.C.B., 1886. Riicker, Sir A. W., M.A., D.C.L. D.Sc. 1890. Geikie,SirA.,D.Sc., LL.D. 1886. Thorpe, Prof. T. E., C.B., 1889. Kempe, A. B., M.A. D.Sc., LL.D. j 1900. Larmor, J., M.A., D.Sc. ORDINARY MEMBERS. 1888. Abney, Capt.SirW.de W., 1900. Armstrong, Prof. H. E., R.E., K.C.B., D.C.L. LL.D. 1889. Adams, Prof. W. G., 1860. Avebury, Lord, D.C.L., D.Sc. LL.D. 486 Presidentship of Sir William Huggins 1902 1897. Barry, Sir J. Wolfe, K.C.B. 1900. 1902. Beddard, F. E., M.A., 1891. F.Z.S. 1885. 1886. Blanford, W. T., LL.D. 1 88 1. Bonney, Rev. Prof. T. G., 1895. D.Sc. 1895. Boys, Prof. C. V. 1873. 1887. Brunton, Sir T. Lander, 1902. M.D. 1897. 1890. Cliff ord-Allbutt, Prof. T., 1898. M.D. 1898. 1886. Clifton, Prof. R. B., M.A. 1892. Common, A. A., LL.D. 1895. 1889. Creak, Capt. E. W., R.N., 1875. C.B. 1871. 1882. Crookes, Sir William. 1868. 1893. Dallinger, Rev. W. H., 1900. LL.D. 1895. 1894. Darwin, Francis, M.A. 1874. Debus, Heinrich, Ph.D. 1891. 1 88 1. Dewar, Prof. James, M.A., 1893. LL.D. 1898. Dunstan, Wyndham R., 1880. M.A. 1898. Ewing, Prof. James, B.Sc. 1875. 1890. Fletcher, L., M.A. 1897. Forsyth, Prof. A. R., M.A., 1879. D.Sc. 1874. 1896. Foster, Prof. G. Carey, B.A. 1881. Gladstone, Prof. J. H., 1880. D.Sc. 1902. Glazebrook, R. T., M.A. 1900. 1889. Godman, F. D., D.C.L. 1898. 1897. Greenhill, Prof. A. G., M.A. 1898. 1899. Griffiths, Principal E. H., 1897. M.A. 1902. 1881. Harcourt, A. G.'Vernon, 1881. LL.D. 1899. 1890. Horsley, Sir Victor, B.S., M.D. 1886. 1892. Hudleston, W. H., M.A. 1902. Jackson, Capt. H. B., R.N. 1887. 1886. Judd, Prof. J. W., C.B. Langley, J. N., M.A., D.Sc. Liveing, Prof. G. D., M.A. Lockyer, Sir J. Norman, K.C.B. MacMahon, Major P. A., D.Sc. Maskelyne, N. Story, M.A. Matthey, G. McClean, F., LL.D. Meldola, Prof. R. Miers, Prof. Henry A., M.A. Mond, L., Ph.D. Miiller, Hugo, LL.D. Noble, Sir A., Bart., K.C.B. Odling, Prof. W., M.A. Poulton, Prof. E. B., M.A. Ramsay, Sir W., K.C.B., D.Sc., LL.D. Reinold, Prof. A. W., M.A. Roberts-Austen, Prof. Sir W., K.C.B. Roscoe, Sir H., D.C.L., LL.D. Rosse, the Earl of, K.P., D.C.L., LL.D. Russell, W. J., Ph.D. Sanderson, Sir J. S. Bur- don, Bart., LL.D. Scott, Robert H., M.A., D.Sc. Teall, J. J. H., M.A. Thomson, Prof . J. J., M.A., D.Sc. Thornycroft, Sir J. I. Tilden, Prof. W. A., D.Sc. Turner, Prof. H. H., D.Sc. Tylor, Prof. E. B., D.C.L. Weldon, Prof. W. F. R., M.A. Wharton, Rear-Adm. Sir W. J. L., K.C.B. Wilson, Col. Sir C. W., K.C.B. Prof. W. G. Adams, Major MacMahon, and Prof. C. V. Boys, Treasurers 1902 Future Prospects 487 Having brought the story of the Royal Society Club from its earliest beginnings down to the time of its union with the Philosophical Club, I have reached the limit at which it seemed to me most fitting that my narrative should end. The Club's varying fortunes during more than a century and a half have been followed in the foregoing pages, and at the end of that long period it is found to have lost none of its early vitality, but has a larger membership than ever before, with an ample number of candidates for admission, and with its affiliation to the Royal Society more firmly established. That a future lies before the Club even more successful than its past may be confidently anticipated. Already fifteen years have slipped away since the date at which the present history comes to a close, and these years have furnished fresh tests of the vigour and usefulness of the Club. They have supplied opportunities of which the Club has promptly availed itself, to show its hospitality on a wider field than was ever before open to it. The Royal Society has celebrated the 25oth year of its corporate existence with a large concourse of eminent representatives from the Universities and learned academies both of the Old World and of the New. It has also on different occasions been visited by the foreign delegates of several international associations for purposes of co-operation in scientific under- takings. At each of these times the Club has borne a willing and effective share in the hospitable welcome of the visitors. It has thus more fitly than ever earned the name of the Dining-Club of the Royal Society, and its prosperity is still more closely linked with that of the venerable Society whose name it bears. Vivat, crescat, floreat ! INDEX Abegg, Professor, 484. Abel, F. A. 399, 400, 470, 478, 479, 483. Aberdeen, fourth Earl of, 239, 270, 282. Aberdour, Lord, 87. Abney, Captain W. de W. 450. Academic Franchise, 84. Acland, Sir Henry W. D. 347, 374, 380. Adams, John Couch, 359. Adams, Professor W. G. 451, 478, 479- Agar, Welbore Ellis, 155, 221. Agassiz, Alexander, 475. Agassiz, Louis, 329. Airy, G. B. as a visitor to the Club, 283 ; elected President of the Royal Society, 404 ; retirement of, 407. Aix la Chapelle, Peace of, 32. Akenside, Mark, 13, 35, 42, 43, 58, 79, 90. Allamand, Johann N. S., 32. Allan, Thomas, 245, 292. Allbutt, Sir T. Clifford, 452, 453. Alstrcemer, Mr. 141, 142. Althorp, Viscount, 214. Alvanley, Lord, 209. Amiens, Treaty of, 214, 216. Anderson, Prof. John, Glasgow, 165. Andreani, Count, 164. Anniversaries or Annual General Meetings of the Club, always held in summer, 33, 37, etc. Anniversary, celebration of the Club's isoth, 463. Anson, Admiral Lord, 48. Ansted, Professor, 346. Antarctic Exploration, 327, 338, 340, 343, 408. Arago, F. J. D. 252. Arctic Expeditions, 57, 113, 115, 259, 341. 36o. Arden, R. P. 209. Argand, Aime, 162. Argyll, 8th Duke of, 371. Armstrong, Lord, 380, 383, 404, 452, 479- Armstrong, Professor H. E. 477. Arnott, Dr. Neil, 325, 360, 375. Arriani, M. 177. Astle, Thomas, 115, 116, 216. AstronomerRoyal.made an ex-officio Member of the Club, 96, 275. Aubert, Alexander, 115, 116, 160, 194, 221. Auchinleck, Lord, 76. Audubon, J. J. 307, 309. Avebury, Lord, see Lubbock, Sir John. Ayloffe, Sir Joseph, 6, 7, 12, 34, in, 152. Babbage, Charles, 254, 271, 278, 303- Babington, Dr. W. 289, 308, 309, 312. Bache, A. D. 323. Back, Admiral Sir George, 277, 321, 358, 367- Baily, Francis, 281, 284, 291, 342. Baker, Sir Benjamin, 484. Baker, George, 93, 208. Baker, Henry, 29. Balgonie, Lord, 146. Ballooning, early beginnings of, 166, 172. Index 489 Baltimore, Lord, 31. Banks, Joseph, as a guest, 97 ; accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 104 ; elected into the Club, 1 08 ; biographical account of, 108 ; elected Pres. R.S. 142, 144 ; Fanny Burney's sketch of, 184 ; physical disability of, in his later years, 236, 237. Barbiano and Belgiojoso, Count of, 152, 157- Barca, Count of, 187. Baring, Sir Francis T. (Lord North- brook), 357. Barlow, Sir Thomas. 448. Barlow, Rev. J. 374. Barker, Dr. 12, 33. Barker, Sir Robert, 138, 145, 189. Barnard, Frederick A. 198. Barrande, Joachim, 359. Barrington, Hon. Daines, 115, 136. Barrow, Sir John, 229, 236, 239, 258, 312, 318, 322, 326, 330, 340, 355- Barrow, John, 342, 343, 373. Barry, Sir David, 310. Barry, Sir John Wolfe, 471. Bateman, J. F. 390. Battie, Dr. Wm. 12. Batty, Lieut.-Col. 337, 339, 351, Beauclerk, Lord Amilius, 245. Beaufort, Admiral Sir Francis, 286, 293. 317. 367- Beddard, Frank E. 484. Beeke, Dr. Henry, 221. Belchier, John, 112, 147. Bell, George, 10, n, 68. Bell, Sir I. Lowthian, 418, 419, 435. Bell, Thomas, 324, 353, 354, 369, 384- Bennett, J. J. 362, 375. Bertier de Sauvigny, M. 164. Bertolacci, M. 288. Bertrand, M. 95. Berzelius, 259. Best, George, 193, 278. Bexley, Baron, 278, 282, 360. Bickerton, Sir Richard H. 238. Biencourt, Marquis de, 162. Biot, J. B. 253, 285. Birch, Rev. Thomas, 9, 10, 13, 32, 92. Bishop, George, 367, 375. Black, Joseph, 159, 185. Blagden, Sir C. 120, 125, 127, 148, 200. Blake, H. W. 407, 466. Blanchard, French balloonist, 169. Blanchard, Dr. Wilkinson, 96, 107. Blane, Dr. Gilbert, 208, 313. Blanford, Dr. W. T. 479. Blaquidre, Baron de, 216, 218. Bligh, Admiral (of the mutiny of the Bounty), 192, 213, 240, 248. Bliss, Nathaniel, 54, 80. Blumenbach, F. 195, 197. Boase, Dr. H. S. 323. Boleman, Mr. 124. Bonney, Professor T. G. 440, 443. Bopp, Professor, 286. Boscowich, Father, 77. Bostock, Dr. John, 245. Boswell, James, as a guest of the Club, 118, 127, 138, 142; his Life of Johnson quoted, 2, 34, 36, 53, 68, 76, 98, 107, 125, 128, 138, 148, 153, 183, 191. Bougainville, J. P. no. Bougainville, L. A. 57, 121. Bouillon, Due de, see D'Auvergne, P. Boulton, Matthew, 200. Bovill, Sir Wm. 396. Bowman, Sir Wm., Bart. 341, 376, 377, 448, 449, 457, 460. Boys, Charles V. 466, 467. Bradley, James, 30, 40, 47, 54, 71, 77, 80. Braithwaite, Daniel, 153. Bramwell, Sir F. J. 409, 473. Brande, William Thomas, 231, 242, 243. 351- Brander, Gustav, 35. Brandreth, H. H. 342, 343, 351. Bray, Chevalier de, 209. Breadalbane, Marquess of, 321. Bre"quigny, Louis George de, 94. Brewster, Sir David, 227, 365. Brinkley, Rev. John, 222, 246. Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall, 251- British Association for the Advance- ment of Science, 311, 329, 334, 346, 388, 431. British Museum, 53, 94, 119, 138, 145. 3°7. 326, 407, 417. 49° Index Brito, Chevalier de, 187. Brochant de Villiers, M. 280. Brodie, Sir B. as a visitor to the Club, 231 ; as a member, 360, 37°» 372 > as President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 378, 386 ; death of, 390 ; quoted 158- Brongniart, Alexandre, 215, 320. Bronsted, Chevalier, 329. Brooke, Charles, 376, 424. Broughton de Gyfford, Lord, 242. Broughton, R. E. 340, 341, 380. Broussonet, P. A. 150, 157, 164. Brown, Robert, 265, 290, 300, 376. Browne, Henry, 249, 303. Browne, Isaac Hawkins, 55, 71. Brownlow, Lord, 282. Briihl, Comte de, 95, 102, 121, 162. Brunei, Sir Marc, 244. Brunton, Sir T. Lauder, 446, 447. Brush, Prof, of New Haven, 445. Brussinet, Dr. 176. Bryce, Viscount, 459. Buchan, R.N., Captain, 260. Buchan, Earl of, 177. Buchetti, M. 179. Buckland, William, 261, 271, 281, 289, 290, 329, 337, 338, 355, 407. Biilow, Herr von, 124. Bulwer, Sir Henry E. G. 476. Burchell, W. J. 310. Burke, Edmund, 68. Burlington, Earl of, 322, 323, 340. Burmeister, Dr. 333. Burney, Dr. 181, 213. Burney, Dr. Charles, 222. Burney, Charles P. 270, 309, 374, 376. Burney, Fanny (Madame D'Arblay), cited 125, 143, 182, 184. Burnett, Sir William, 319, 367. Burrow, Sir James, 9, 10, 45, 59, 68, 7°, 7*. 79, 81, 86, 91, 99, 100, 104, 107, in, 114. Burrow, Robert, 92. Busk, George, 389, 390, 415. Butcher, Samuel Henry, 465. Byron, Lord, quoted 240, 241. Cadell, W. A. 232. Cadogan, Lord, 52, 58, 60, 100. Caillaud, M. 317. Caithness, Earl of, 396, 424. Galas, Jean, 89. Calderwood, William, 172. Campbell, Admiral, 142. Campbell, Thomas, quoted 196. Camper, Dr. 173. Camus, C. E. L. 85. Canino, Prince of, 332. Canova, 247. Caraccioli, Domenico, 89. Caramanico, Prince of, 161. Carburis, G. B. 90. Cardonell, A. 177. Carlisle, Anthony, 223, 232. Carmarthen, Marquis of, 125. Carpenter, W. B. 402. Carrington, Lord, 224. Cartwright, Sir T. 346. Cassini, Comte de, 180. Castiglione, Count Gonzaga di, 142. Castlereagh, Viscount, 217. Catharine II., Empress of Russia, 50, 51, 107. Catlin, George, 359. Cautley, Sir P. T. 344, 346. Cavendish, Hon. Henry, proposed as member of the Club, 63, 69 ; as a guest, 70, 77; elected a member, 71 ; biographical notice of, 71-75 ; attendance of, at the Club, 80, 95, 97, 140, 147, 154, 161, 186, 194, 202, 208, 210, 229, 232, 233 ; Playf air's account of, 160 ; his friendship with Michell, 166 ; his work on hydrogen, 167 ; his relations to James Watt, 174, to Boulton, 206 ; his guests, 74, 97, 147, 154, 202, 210, 229, 233, 234 ; his death, 233 ; * Sir Henry Holland on, 225. Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 41, 70. Cay, Henry Boult, 91, 100. Cawdor, Lord, 282. Cederberg, M. 152, 157. Challenger, Expedition of the, 1872-6, 415, 434, 444. Chalmers, George, 208. Chambers, Robert, cited 135. Chamier, Andrew, 97. 1 The date of his death given in the text on the authority of Sir John Barrow's Sketches of the Royal Society is inaccurate ; it should have been 24th February, 1810. Index 491 Chandler, Rev. Samuel, 79, 92. Chantrey, Sir Francis, 254, 271, 275. 277, 334. Chapelle, J. B. de la, 141. Charleville, Viscount, 216. Chartist scare of 1848 in London, 353- Chaulnes, Due de, 88, 161. Chelsum, Dr. 158, Chenevix, Richard, 217, 238. Chesney, Capt. 312. Chesterfield, Lord, cited 23, 38, 70, 76, 81, 95, 1 02 ; his satirical Petition, 63. Children, John George, 231, 290, 362. Chinese guest at the Club, 127. Chodzko, Alexander, 335. Christie, Sir W. H. M., Astronomer Royal, 478, 479. Christie, S. H. 317, 322, 323, 329, 370. Christmas recess, not recognised by the Club for many years, 140, 294, 329» 343 i established by the middle of the nineteenth century, 356, 359, 36i. Ciamician, Giacomo, 478. Clairault, M. 44, 52. Clarke, Samuel, 55, 96. Clephane, J. 34, 70. Clifton, Prof. R. B. 443, 444. Clonfert, Bishop of, 162. Cockburn, Sir George, 273. Codrington, Admiral Sir Edward, 276, 290. Coffin, Admiral Sir Isaac, 271. Colby, Thomas F. 265, 277, 285, 331- Cole, Viscount (Earl of Enniskillen) 327- Colebrooke, Henry T. 262, 264, 303. Colebrooke, John, 12. Colebrook, Josiah, first Treasurer of the Club, 9, n, 15 ; character- istics of, 20-25 ; elected into Royal Society, 21 ; his letter about Lord Chesterfield's satirical Petition, 64 ; his conservatism in cookery, 85, 92, 123 ; his hospi- tality, 1 01 ; possibly an angler, 1 01 ; retirement of, 122 ; death, 127. Colladon, D. 333, 339. Collinson, Peter, 21, 61, 98. Collyer, Dr. 12, 34. Colonna, Count, 142. Combe, Taylor, 245, 290. Common, A. A. 461. Constable, A. 218. Con way, Sir Martin, 478. Conybeare, W. D. 281, 284, 324. Cope, Sir John M. 97, 107, 145. Cook, Capt. James, 104, 113, 127, 138- Cooke, E. W. 396, 429. Cooksey, Rev. J. 10, u, 107. Cooper, Sir Astley, 330. Coquebert de Montbret, C. E. 215, 216. Cowper, William, cited 34, 125. Creak, Commander E. W. 451. Creed, Sir James, 12, 40, 79. Croker, John Wilson, 239, 282. Crookes, Sir William, 433. Crown and Anchor Tavern, Fleet Street, Club moved to, 151 ; threatened removal from, 291 ; finally relinquished after an occu- pation of 68 years, 352. Crozier, Captain, 338, 340, 341, 343. Crusius, Rev. Lewis, 79, 80, 104. Cullum, Sir John, 125. Cumberland, Duke of, 118. Cumming, Professor, 314. Cust, Sir Edward, 334. Cuthbert, John, 107, 152. Cuvier, George, 259. Czenpinsky, Dr. 146. Dagenham Breach, 46. Dallinger, W. H. 462. Dallier, Count, 266. Dalrymple, Alexander, 139, 204, 229. Dalrymple, Sir David (Lord Hailes) 191. Dalrymple, Sir J. P. 218. Dalton, John, 314. Damashneff, M. 124. Daniell, J. F. 303, 305, 329, 342. Darker, John, in, 163. Darnley, Lord, 278, 279, 303. Dartmouth, second Earl of, 118. Dartmouth, third Earl of, 212, 224, 238, 282. 492 Index D'Artois, Comte, 90. Darwin, Charles, 361. Darwin, Sir George, 448. Dashwood, Sir Francis, 40. Daubeny, C. G. B. 301, 331, 332, 407. D'Auvergne, Capt. P. 176, 198, 217, 224. Da vail, Peter, 12, 78, 81. Davies, Samuel, 242, 262. Davis, Hart, 342, 367. Davy, Sir Humphry, his first entry into the Club as guest, 223 ; elected Secretary of Royal Society and ex officio member of the Club, 225 ; elected Pres. R.S. and President of Club, 270 ; his fail- ing health and death, 290. Debus, H. 417, 457. De la Beche, Sir Henry, 265, 326, 353- Delane, J. T. 357. De la Rue, Warren, 374, 429, 434, 437. 443. 45°- Deluc, J. A. 121. Dewar, Sir James, 435. Dickinson, John, 345, 397, 410. Dillwyn, L. W. 281. Dimsdale, Baron, 107. Dirom, Major A. 201. Disney, John, 351, 375. Dixon, William, 9. Dolland, George, 244, 312, 362. Dolland, John and Peter, 244. Donkin, General Sir R. S. 289. Dove, Heinrich W. 368. Dreyer, William de, 161, 163. Drinkwater, Col. 277. Dryander, Jonas, 157. Duane, Matthew, 145, 171. Du Bois-Reymond, Claude, 484. Dubuisson, F. R. A. 249. Dulwich College and the King of Poland, 51, 117. Dumas, B. A. 357. Dundas, Lord, 232, 269. Dundonald, Lord, 206. Dunstan, W. R. 473. Dupin, Charles, 272. Durazzo, Marquis, 162. Duzach, M. 164. Dyer, Samuel, 68, 79, 119. Dyson, Jeremiah, 12, 13. Easter, struggle in the Club for and against a recess during, 288, 297, 301, 308, 316, 319, 332, 335, 345, 347 ; dinners at last cancelled, 353, 356- Eastlake, Sir Charles, 360. Eckersall, George, 91, in. Eden, Morton, 210. Edwards, Bryan, 200, 211. Egerton, Sir Philip, 328. Egmont, Earl of, 90. Egremont, Lord, 207. filie de Beaumont, J. B. A. L, L. 280. filie de Beaumont, J. B. J. 89. Ellicott, John, 12, 115. Elliott, Charles, 340, 341, 373. Elliot's defence of Gibraltar, 155. Ellis, Governor Henry, 79. Ellis, Sir Henry, 326. Ellis, Welbore, 31, 60, 68. Elphinstone, Baron, 430. Englefield, Sir Henry C. 153, 177,213. Enniskillen, Earl of, 327. Epivent, M. 190. Erb, Herr, 124. Erichsen, Captain, 289. Erie, Sir Wm. 396, 405. Erskine, Lord, 249. Eskimos at the Club, 121. Estaing, Comte d', 56. Evans, Sir Frederick, 410. Evans, Sir John, 345, 410, 475, 478, 479- Evelyn, John, cited 2. Everest, Col. George, 368. Everett, Edward, 336. Ewing, Sir J. Alfred, 473. Exhibition of 1851, 273, 357, 361. Fabricius, J. C. 117, 121. Fabroni, Baron, 142, 146. Fairbairn, Sir William, 380, 382, 401. Falconer, Dr. Hugh, 344. Faraday, Michael, 283, 306. Farre, Dr. A. 375, 440. Farquhar, Sir Robert, 271. Faujas de St. Fond, M. 164, 168. Fauquier, Francis, 42, 60. Fauquier, Wm. 34. Feake, Dr. Chas. 12, 13, 79, 81. Featherstonehaugh, Sir Matthew, 38, 44- Index 493 Featherstonhaugh, G. W. 333, 341. Ferguson, Robert, 313, 314, 331. Fergusson, James, 391. Fergusson, Sir William, 378, 418. Ferrars, Baron, 175. Ferrero, General, 474. Fersen, Count, 124. Ferussac, Baron, 298. Fife, Earl of, 185. Fitton, W. H. 295. Fitzroy, Admiral Robert, 361, 368. Flandrin, M. 164. Fletcher, Sir L. 452, 453. Folkes, Martin, President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 12, 14, 26, 41 ; retirement of, 45. 47- Fontana, Padre Felice, 142, 146. Forbes, J. D. 326. Forchhammer, G. 323, 345, 346. Fordyce, Sir Wm. 177. Forsyth, Professor A. R. 471, 472. Foster, Professor G. Carey, 469. Frankland, Sir Edward, 384, 386, 395> 468. Franklin, Benjamin, quoted 41, 103; elected into Royal Society, 61 ; as a guest at the Club, 61, 69, 70, 9*. 95. 98, 102, 107, 118, 122, 125 ; his friendship with Sir John Pringle, 98 ; visits France, 98 ; his loyalty, 98 ; examination before House of Commons, 99. Franklin, Sir John, 260, 276, 282, 284, 299, 317, 319. 34°. 341. 343. 360, 380, 420. Franks, A. W. 417, 471. Freeman, Wm. 12. Frere, J. 162. Frisi, Padre Paul, 94. Frogoart, M. 164. Gahn, Dr. 117, 121. Galloway, Thomas, 345, 362. Galton, Sir Douglas S. 380, 382, 395, 421, 463, 475. Galton, Sir Francis, 394, 459. Garrick's epigram on [Sir] John Hill, 30. Gassiot, J. P. 336, 362, 418. Gay-Lussac, J. L. 285. Geer, Baron de, 121, 162. Geikie, Sir Archibald, 452. Geological Society, 229, 245, 295, 306, 308, 310, 329, 335, 346, 357, 400. Geology, Professorship at Oxford, 357, 416 ; Professorship at Dub- lin, 357 ; Murchison Chair of, at Edinburgh, 402. George IV., Coronation of, 272. Gibbon, Edward, 197, 199, 201. Gibbs, James, 12, 13. Giddy, see Gilbert. Gigioli, Professor, 434. Gilbert Davies, invited to the Club as visitor in 1791, 195 ; elected a member in 1808, 229, 290 ; elected Pres. R.S. 291 ; resigned, 300 ; death of, 328. Gilbert, Sir Joseph H. 418, 419, 471, 484. Gill, Sir David, 458, 463. Gill, Wesby, 12. Glaciation of Britain, investigation of the problem of, started by L. Agassiz, 329. Gladstone, Dr. J. H. 432. Glandore, Earl of, 216. Glasgow, Earl of, 185. Glazebrook, Richard T. 484. Glenbervie, Lord, 265. Goderich, Viscount, 295. Godschall, W. M. 104, 216. Goodenough, Edmund, 291, 342. Goodenough, Samuel, Bishop of Carlisle, 233, 276, 293. Gompertz, M. 289. Gordon riots in London, 149. Gould, Professor, 437. Graham, George, 12. Graham, Sir James, 312. Graham, R. 9, 33. Graham, Thomas, 367, 368, 401. Grant, Robert, 339. Gray, Dr. Asa, 408. Gray, John Edward, 292. Greenhill, Sir A. George, 471, 473. Greenough, George Bellas, 228. Gresham College, i, 2, 25. Greville, Hon. Robert, 146, 272. Greville, Hon. R. Fulke, 200. Griffiths, Prof. E. H. 476. Grimm, M. 348. Grothusen, Baron, 152. Grove, Sir W. R. 345. 494 Index Grubb, Sir Howard, 437. Gruber, Abbe, 177. Guillemard, J. L. 300, 342. Hadley, John, M.D. 79, 80, 91. Hague, Arnold, 430. Hailes, Lord, 191, 196. Halford, Sir Henry, 277. Hall, Basil, 256, 266, 282, 297, 313. Hall, Sir James, 138, 141, 159, 177, 215, 224, 230, 240. Hall, William, 34, 96. Hallam, Henry, 271, 287, 301, 327, 337- Halley, Edmund, 6, 7, 8. Hamilton, Professor, 311. Hamilton, Sir William, 138, 141, 213. Hampden, Lord, 138. Haiibury, William, 38, 49, 58, 78. Hanmer, Sir Thomas, 218. Harcourt, A. G. Vernon, 432. Hardwicke, Earl of, see Yorke, Hon. Philip. Harley, George, M.D. 446, 447, 471, Hatchett, Charles, 71, 206, 213, 214, 321, 346. Hawkins, Edward, 334, 335, 373. Hawkshaw, Sir John, 396, 457. Hay, Admiral Sir John Dalrymple, 392, 451, 468, 469, 470, 478, 479. Head, Sir E. W. 391. Heberden, William, 34, 44, 92, 95, 194, 204. Helmholtz on Thomas Young, 227. Helvetius, Claude Adrian, 88. Hemming, Rev. Samuel, 152, 175. Henley, Lord, 210. Henniker, Baron, 221. Kenwood, William Jory, 330. Herrenschneider, J. L. A. 190. Herschel, Alexander, 448, 449. Herschel, Sir John F. W. 275, 313, 324- Herschel, Sir William, 154, 157, 166, 172, 278, 373, 389. Heydenstam, M. 152. Hill, John, 29. Hill, Sir Rowland, 376, 429. Hippisley, Sir John C. 211. Hirst, T. A. 398, 437. Hobhouse, Sir Benjamin, 229, 300. Hobhouse, John Cam, 241. Hodgkinson, R. B. 152, 197. Hodgson, Joseph, 391, 399. Hogarth, William, 14, 31. Holford, Peter, 160, 211. Holland, Charles, 356, 399. Holland, Lord, 277. Holland, Sir Henry, on Lord Stowell, 150 ; on J. F. Blumenbach, 195 ; on W. H. Wollaston, 212 ; on Thomas Young, 227 ; on Sir Joseph Banks at his receptions, 237 ; on Lord Erskine, 250 ; on John Dalton, 314 ; a guest at the Club, 241, 277 ; elected a member, 392 ; made Honorary Member, 399- Holroyd, John Baker, 197. Home, Sir Everard, 209, 231, 258, 279, 287, 308. Hooker, Sir J. D. his first visit to the Club, 327 ; 338, 405 ; elected President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 407; 413, 414; retirement of, 421. Hooker, Sir William, 327. Hood, Admiral, 155. Hooper, Edward, 107, 177. Hope, Professor Thomas C. 239. Hopkins, Wm. 312, 336. Hopkinson, Dr. John, 443, 475. Horner, Leonard, 346. Horsley, Rev. Dr. Samuel, 96, 145, 174, 175, 22O, 221, 222, 224. Horsley, Sir Victor, 469. Huck [Saunders] Dr. Richard, 104, 171. Huddart, Capt. 210, 213. Huggins, Sir William, elected Presi- dent of the Royal Society and of the Club in 1900, 478. Hulke, J. W. 437, 448, 465, 467. Humboldt, Alexander von, 253, 291. Hume, Mr. 271. Hume, Sir Abraham, 158, 242. Humphry, Sir George M. 435, 450. Hunt, T. Sterry, 433. Hunter, Dr. John, 198, 231. Hunter, John, 165. Huntingdon, Earl of, 38, 70, 102. Hutton, Charles, 143. Hutton, James, 138, 159, 215, 217, 230. Index 495 Huxley, T. H. first appearance at the Club, 361 ; elected F.R.S. in 1851,362; Professor at the Royal School of Mines, 384 ; elected a member of the Club, 399 ; be- comes ex officio member as Sec- retary of the Royal Society, 406, 412, 433 ; elected Pres. R.S. 436, 440 ; resignation of, 441, 443. Huzard, J.B. 214. Hyde, John, 68, in. Inglefield, Admiral E. A. 366. Inglis, Sir Robert H. 242, 243, 370. Imperial College of Science and Technology, 386. Ingenhousz, John, M.D. 112, 142, 146, 190. Institut de France, 180, 214. Iremonger, Joshua, 34. Jackson, Admiral Sir Henry B. 484. Jacobi, Professor, 329. Jacobite rebellion, members and guests of Club engaged in sup- pressing, 30, 41, 42, 43. Jallabert, Jean, 31. James, Col. Sir Henry, 371. Jameson, Robert, 215, 217, 295. Jaume-Saint-Hilaire, M. 247. Jebb, Richard, M.D. 100, 107. Jeffreys, J. Gwyn, 401, 418, 439. Jennings, Dr. P. 315, 358. Jenkins, Sir Richard, 333. Jermyn Street Museum, 400. Jeszenak, Baron de, 157. Jodrell, Paul, 147. Johnson, Dr. George, 446. Johnson, Samuel, i, 14, 34, 68, 76, 78, 107, 125, 128, 148, 149, 153, 165, 183, 191, 207. Johnston, Right Hon. Sir Alexander, 235, 262, 264, 288, 334. Jones, Dr. H. Bence, 374, 377, 389, 399- Jones, John Viriamu, 453. Juan y Santacilla (Don Jorge Juan), 32, 35- Judd, Professor, J. W. 479. Kater, Capt. Henry, 260, 272, 315. Kaye, Rev. Sir Richard, 6, 136, 189, 193, 224. Kelvin, Lord (Sir Wm. Thomson), elected F.R.S. in 1851, 362 ; first appearance at the Club, 363 ; as Bakerian Lecturer dines with the Club, 373 ; elected a member of the Club, 409, 413, 424 ; resigns membership, 454 ; becomes Pres. R.S. and of the Club, 455, 463 ; retirement, 468. Kempe, Sir Alfred B. 448, 450, 468, 475- Kew Gardens, 327, 408. Kew Observatory, 336. Key, Sir A. Cooper, 424, 433. Keyserling, Count A. de, 335. Killaloe, Bishop of, 162. Kinnaird, Lord, 165. Kirkwall, Lord, 218, 221, 222. Kirby, William, 312. Knatchbull, Dr. E. 232. Knatchbull, Sir G. 218. Knight, Dr. Gowin, 12, 13, 115. Knight, Henry Gaily, 301. Knight, T. A. 281. Kohl, J. G. 339. Komazewski, Lieut.-Geheral, 197. Konig, Charles D. E. 251, 300, 301, 362. Korniloff, Capt. 348. Kosciusko, 51. Krantzenstein, Mr. 176. Kuittner, Mr. 177. La Condamine, C.-M. de, 32, 83, no. Lalande, J. J. F. de, 82, 183. Lambert, A. B. 216, 334. Lardner, Dr. D. 291. Larmor, Sir Joseph, 484. La Rochefoucauld-d'Enville, Due de, 105. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Due de, 106. Larrey, Baron D. J. L. 288. Latham, Dr. 232. Lawes, Sir J. B. 419. Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 277. Lawson, Dr. 10. Lax, William, 217. Leake, General W. M. 261, 303, 305, 380. Le Breton, M. 176. Lecambre, M. 323. 496 Index Le Cat, 99. Lee, Sir George, 218. Lefroy, Sir John J. H. 361, 398, 403, 409, 421, 432, 433, 446, 450. Legendre, A. M. 180. Leicester, Earl of, 175, 177. Lentkoffsky, Capt. 348. Lepsius, Dr. 336. Leslie, Sir John, 201, 227. L'Evesque, M. 190. Lewisham, Viscount, 211, 224. Lever, James, n, 33. Liebisch, Dr. Theodor, 463. Limmer's Hotel, Conduit Street, where the Club dined from 1890 onwards till after the incorpora- tion of the Philosophical Society in 1901, 451. Lind, James, M.D. 143. Linnaeus, 117, 119, 153. Linne, Charles von, 153, 157. Lister, Sir Joseph (Lord Lister), awarded a Royal Medal in 1880, 404 ; as For. Sec. R.S. became an ex officio member of the Club in 1894, 464 ; elected President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 468, 473, 476; retirement on 3oth Nov. 1900, 478. Liveing, Prof. G. D. 457, 458. Lloyd, John, 208, 224, 246. Lockyer, Sir J. Norman, 440, 442. Lodge, Sir Oliver, 466, 473. Logan, Sir William, 433. Lort, Rev. Michael, 136, 193. Loughborough, Lord, 196. Louis XVI. of France, 77, 90. Louis-Philippe, King, 333. Longman, William, 341. Lubbock, J. W. 300, 301, 315. Lubbock, Sir John (Lord Avebury), 384, 385, 395- Lunardi, V. 164, 167. Lysons, Samuel, 201, 209, 262. Lyttelton, fourth Baron, 340, 377, 379, 415. Lyttelton, Dean, 48, 53. Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 357. Macclesfield, second Earl of, elected a member of the Club in 1752 and succeeded to the Presidency later in the same year, 45, 82 ; his death, 86. Macclesfield, fourth Earl of, 270, 282, 324. Macgillivray, William, 325. MacMahon, Major P. A. 466, 478, 479- Magalhaens or Magellan, J. H. 128. Mahon, Lord (Earl Stanhope), 66, 224. Malcolm, Sir John, 284, 303, 305. Malet, Sir Charles W. 208. Mann, Abbe, 197. Manteuffel, Baron, 150. Marcet, Dr. 277. Marchmont, third Earl of, 48, 53, 55, 7°, 78, 92, 107. Maria Theresa, Empress, 112. Marsden, William, 178, 182, 216, 217, 292, 312, 322. Marshall, Count de, 146. Marshall, John, 406, 450, 457. Martius, F. P. von, 289. Marum, Professor von, 190. Maseres, Francis, 112, 154. Maskelyne, Nevil, D.D., Astronomer Royal, 77, 81, 96, 97, 159, 219, 222, 227, 238. Maskelyne, N. S. 406, 407. Masserano, Prince of, no. Mason, H. J. Monck, 326. Mathias, T. J., quoted 144, 148. Maton, Dr. W. G. 256, 257, 315. Matthey, George, 484. Maty, Matthew, M.D. 93, 139. Maty, Paul Henry, 142, 145, 174, J75- Maud, Mr. 12, 34. Maxwell, Sir Herbert, 470. Maxwell, Sir Murray, 266. Mayo, Dr. H. 292, 315, 316, 322, 337, 390. McClean, Frank, 471, 472. McClintock, Sir Leopold, 380. McCulloch, Dr. 273. Mead, Samuel, 81, 107. Mechain, P. F. A. 180. Meerman, Herr, 124. Meldola, Professor R. 479. Mello e Castro, 60. Melville, Lord, 255, 274, 282. Mendeleeff, D. I. 474. Mendip, Lord, 31. Index 497 Mendoza y Rios, Joseph, 196, 200, 229. Merewether, Dr. J., Dean of Here- ford, 341, 342, 358. Mestral, Colonel de, 190. Meuret, M. 152. Meyrick, Owen P. 211, 224. Michefisky, M. 95. Michell, Rev. John, 74, 77, 165. Middleton, Capt. Christopher, q, 13. Middleton, Lord, 196. Miers, Sir Henry, 473, 474. Miller, Phillip, 9, 46, 100. Miller, Win. A. 384, 386. Miller, William Hallowes, 330. Millingen, James, 248. Milne-Edwards, Henri, 320. Mines, Royal School of, 347, 353, 367, 378, 384, 399, 400, 462. Minto, Earl of, 282. Mirebec, M. 272. Mitchel, Dr. 12. Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street, first dining-place of the Club, 25 ; frequented for thirty-seven years, 151- Mneisnick, Count, 95. Moisson, Henri, 470. Molesworth, Richard, 182, 208. Molesworth, Sir William, 321. Monboddo, Lord, 106, 151. Montaudoin, N. de, 32. Monteith, General William, 367, 389. Montesquieux' Esprit des Lois, 81. Montgolfier, the brothers, 166, 172. Moore, Daniel, 249, 257, 262, 263, 291. Moore, Dr. Norman, 462. More, Robert, 55, 79. Morosini, Lorenzo, 82. Morris, J. Carnac, 355, 356, 375. Morris, Rev. E. 12, 34. Morse, Col. Robert, 188. Morse, Professor, 437. Morton, Charles, M.D. 93, 94. Morton, George, Earl of, 173, 176, 282. Morton, James, Earl of, as a guest at the Club, 57 ; elected President, 86, 92, 96 ; his death, 99, 100. Moseley, Prof. H. N. 443, 444, 450. Mosso, Prof. Angelo, 462. Mudge, General, 207, 265. Mudge, Lieut. -Col. 330. Mulgrave, Lord, 113, 125. Miiller, Dr. Hugo, 414. Miinchausen, Baron, 117. Munchausen's "Travels and Cam- paigns in Russia," author of, 132. Munckley, Dr. N. 12, 107. Murchison, Sir R. I. 284, 291, 306, 312, 341, 346, 359, 370, 372, 379, 401, 402, 405. Murdoch, Thomas, 222, 258, 337. Murray, John, junior, 321. Murray, John, F.R.S., of the Challenger, 434. Musgrave, Sir William, 139, 209. Musignano, Prince de, 323, 332. Mylne, Robert, 138. Naesmith, Sir James, 96. Napier, Capt. 271. Napier, Sir Joseph, Bart. 361. Nasini, Dr. Raffaello, 478." Nayler, Sir G. 289. Neny, Baron, 138. Newcome, Peter, n, 12. Newton, Professor Alfred, 438. Newton, Sir Isaac, 14, 52, 78. Niebuhr, B. G. 207. Niemcewicz, J. U. 306. Nivernais, Due de, 81. Noble, Sir Andrew, 403, 464, 475, 479, 484- Nolken, Baron, 142, 150, 157, 163, 177. Noring, M. 157. North, Mr. Fred. 190. North, Lord, 155. Northampton, second Marquess of, elected Pres. R.S. and of Club, 325, 328 ; retirement of, 353. Odling, Dr. William, 398. Oersted, Hans Christian, 279, 345. Ogilvie, Prof. W. 154. Oginsky, Count, 177. Oglethorpe, General, 35. Oil-painting, Raspe's volume on history of, 132. Omai, from Otaheite, 124, 138. Ommanney, Admiral Sir Erasmus, 418, 419, 421, 450, 451, 466. Ommanney, Admiral Sir J. A. 348. Index Ord, John, 204, 224. Orsi, Signer, 317. Ossorio, Cavaliere, 32. Ostwald, Dr. W. 470. Ouseley, Sir Gore, 261, 303, 315. Owen, Sir Richard, 316, 344. Oxmantown, Lord, 313, 353. Palmerston, second Viscount, 146, 148, 213. Palmerston, third Viscount, 365. Panizzi, Sir A. 306, 312. Paoli, Pascal, 124, 138. Papillon, David, 9. Paradise, John, 127, 146. Paris, J. A. 347, 375. Parker, T. L. 256, 257, 315. Parmentier, Antoine A. 214. Parry, Dr. Charles Henry, 241. Parry, Sir Edward, 260, 271, 284, 290, 299. Partridge, Richard, 396, 406. Parsons, William, 182. Pasley, Sir Thomas Sabine, 368. Patricot, M. 190. Pattison, Mark, 434. Pawlet, Mr. n, 34. Peacock, Rev. G. 273. Pegge, Sir Christopher, 261. Penn, Richard, 300, 373. Pennant, Thomas, 61, 108, 125, 127. Pepys, Samuel, cited 2, 3, 25. Pepys, W. H. 235, 293, 375. Percy, Dr. John, 367, 371, 389, 450. Petit, Dr. J. L. 79, 80, 147. Pettigrew, J. B. 467. Phillips, John, 317, 357, 416. Phillipps, Thomas, 293, 342. Philosophical Club, formation of, 350 ; proposals for union of, with Royal Society Club, 452, 454, 456» 457, 460 ; the project de- feated, 461 ; renewed discussion, 477, 478 ; Rules for the union of the Clubs, 479 ; union effected, 482. Phipps, Hon. Capt. C. J. 57, 113, 115, 118. Photozincography and Ordnance Survey maps, 371. Picaut, M. 272. Piccolomini, Comte, 329. Pictet, Prof. 179, 207. Picquigny, Due de, 88, 161. Piozzi, Mr. 181. Pitcairn, Dr. D. 151, 219, 231. Pitt-Rivers, General A. H. Lane Fox, 433, 469. Planta, Joseph, 137. Playfair, John, 158, 217, 218, 224, 232, 240. Plunkett, Right Hon. Horace, 485. Podmanctzky, Baron, 146. Poissonier, M. 121. Poland, last King of, 49, 50, 95, 117, 197- Pole, Dr. William, 414, 466, 479. Poli, Giuseppe, 146. Poltoratzky, D. 163. Pollock, Sir Frederick, 356, 398. Poniatowski, Prince Michael, 117. Poniatowski, Joseph, 51. Poniatowski, Count Stanislaus Au- gustus, King of Poland, 49, 95, 117, 197. Pond, Arthur, 60, 70. Pond, John, 227, 238. Pontac's Tavern, 2. Pope, Alexander, cited, 36, 53. Porter, Sir James, 82, 83, 97, 108, 139- Postlethwaite, James, 9, 79. Powell, Rev. Baden, 281, 315, 380. Poulton, Professor E. B. 477. Prestwich, Sir Joseph, 416, 443. Prevost, General, 122. Price, Prof. Bartholomew, 424, 473, 475- Price, Prof. Bonamy, 436. Prideaux, Benj. 12. Priestley, Joseph, 119. Pringle, Sir John, M.D. 35 ; as member of the Club, 42, 97, 98, no, 112; as Pres. R.S, and of the Club, 114, 127, 139, 140, 141 ; retirement of, 142 ; death of, 154. Prior, Matthew, cited 2, 25. Pulteney, Dr., quoted 179, 206. Puschkin, Mousin, 95. Quain, Sir Richard, 410, 471. Quetelet, Professor L. A. J. 359. Raffles, Sir Stamford, 253, 284, 290. Rainsforth, Major-General, 173. Ramsay, Sir Andrew C. 353, 431. Index 499 Ramsay, Sir William, 466. Ranelagh Gardens, 76. Raper, Matthew, 71, 145. Raper, Matthew [? son), 178, 217, 290. Raspe, Rudolf Eric, career of, 128- 135- Rasumouski, Count, 95. Raumer, Prof, von, 319, 320. Rawlinson, Sir Henry C. 380, 381, 384: Rayleigh, Lord, 410. Redesdale, Lord, 242. Rees, G. O. 406. Reimker, M. 272. Reinold, Professor A. W. 457, 458. Rennell, Major, 182, 296, 300. Rennie, George, 313, 345, 384. Rennie, John, 230, 274. Rennie, Sir John, 315, 316, 406. Revedin, Count, 317. Revisky, Count, 177. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 125, 191, 196. Richards, Admiral Sir George H. 372, 399, 400, 421, 464, 465, 471. Richardson, Sir John, M.D. 299, 360. Richardson, Jonathan, 12, 60. Richmond, second Duke of, 26, 30. Rigaud, Professor, 272, 326. Riou, Capt. Edward, 196. Rioting in London, 103, 149, 353. Ripon, first Earl of, 295. Roberts, Col. Roger E. 219. Roberts-Austen, Sir W. C. 462. Robertson, Abraham, 218. Robins, Benjamin. 12. Robinson, Thomas Romney, 302, 3i7- Robinson, Sir Thomas, 76. Rochon, M. 190. Rockingham, Marquis of, 38, 41, 44, 155- Roderick, Richard, 12, 13, 60. Rodney, Admiral, 155. Roebuck, Dr. John, 138. Rogers, Henry D. 352. Roget, Dr. P. M. 292, 344, 398. Rose, Sir George, 334, 345. Rosebery, Earl of, 70. Roscoe, Sir Henry E. 411. Roscoe, William, 218. Ross, Sir James Clark, 314, 327, 337. 338. 34°. 341* 343, 3«9. Ross, Rev. Dr. John, 70. Ross, Capt. John, 260. Rosse, Laurence, fourth Earl of, 398, 432. Rosse, William, third Earl of, Pres. R.S. and of the Club, 353, 358, 360, 362, 363, 366 ; resignation, 368 ; on ex officio list, 384. Rossel, M. de, 204. Roy, General William, 118, 125, 127, 139, 189. Royal Institution, 226, 284, 292, 306, 435. Royal Society, early social life of, 1-6 ; President and the two Secretaries to be additional ex- officio members of the Club, 93; Foreign Secretary added to this list, 96, 275 ; members of Council granted the right to dine with the Club, 308 ; this right rescinded 318; origin of the Gassiot Trust Fund and Scientific Relief Fund, 336 ; reform in election pro- cedure, 348, 427 ; 25oth anni- versary of, 426 ; further reform proposed, 428 ; hour of meeting changed to afternoon, 430 ; offi- cers of R.S. entitled to join Club at once on election to their re- spective offices, 468. Royal Society Club, earliest begin- nings of, 9 ; archives of, 15, 16, 1 7 ; these deposited with Royal Society, 461 ; original name of, 16, 33 ; adoption of present name, 202 ; Admiral Smyth's Sketch of His- tory of, 6, 377, 380, 384, 441, 461 ; contemporary historical events seldom alluded to in records of, 17, 32, 81, 103, 149, 155, 170, 189, 214, 216, 272, 324, 352. Election of members at first by ballot in order of application of candidates, 28 ; change to voting slips adopted in 1852, 362 ; this change made the law in 1860, 380 ; five negatives to exclude, 28 ; number reduced to three, 71 ; three or more affirmatives to one 500 Index Royal Society Club, continued, : negative, 194 ; at least three - fourths of the votes of those present required for election, 380, 480. Membership at first not entirely restricted to Fellows of the Royal Society, 10, n, 13, 34, 42, 47, 68 ; Ordinary, limited at first to forty, 28; in 1867 increased by five, 396 ; in 1874 increased to fifty, 409 ; in 1901 augmented to sixty-six on the incorporation of the Philosophical Club, 479 ; Honorary, at first conferred on donors of venison, turtles, etc., to the dinner-table, 38 ; this practice abolished after lasting twenty-nine years, 146 ; Honor- ary membership revived in 1868 in favour of octogenarians, 397 ; and in 1886 in favour of every one who has filled the President- ship of the Royal Society, 444 ; Ex-officio, created for the Presi- dent and Officers of the Royal Society and the Astronomer Royal, 93, 96, 200, 275 ; mem- bers of this class when no longer holding office in the Royal Society were transferred to the Ordinary List, 377 ; Supernumer- ary, created to include members having to go abroad for a time, 311, 313 (see pp. 189, 304). Treasurership held by a single person from the beginning up to 1858, when two Treasurers were appointed, 377 ; a third added on the incorporation of the Philo- sophical Society, 480. Entrance-fee, originally six shil- lings, raised in 1 750 to a guinea, 39; increased in 1831 to two guineas, 211, Treasurer's Fund at first small and replenished by occa- sional levies of 55. and upwards during the year, 54, 55, 59, 78, 88, 147, 177; establishment of the present practice of levying a variable annual subscription at the Anniversary Meeting, 182, 1 86, 189, 193 ; Four pounds, the highest annual contribution, reached twice, 256, 307. Absentees forfeit membership, 28, 282, 373, 441, 446; disin- clination to enforce this rule strictly, 262, 272, 363, 373, 379, 380. Meetings held every week throughout the year for the first sixty years. Annual General Meetings or Anniversaries, always held in summer, 33, 37, etc. For the stages in the gradual diminu- tion of the number of ordinary meetings by the encroachment of holidays, see under Easter, Whit- suntide, Christmas and Vacation. Steps taken to exclude strangers from the meetings, 27, 28, 93, 304, 322. Dinners, bills of fare at, 22, 26, 33. 39. 69, 78, 83, 92, 102, IOQ, in, 123, 124, 169; slow intro- duction of vegetables into, 92, 1 02, in, 123; gradual advance of hour of, 25, 163, 194, 257, 364, 409 ; eighteenpence the original price of, 9 ; gradual increase of cost of, 58, 82, 126, 137, 152, 162, 182, 205, 243, 335, 337, 384, 390 ; dessert at dinner first provided by the Club, 334. A Frenchman's account of a dinner, 169 ; John Playf air's de- scription of another, 159. Decrease in the numberof meet- ings in the course of the year, 425 ; fewer foreigners as guests of the Club, 426 ; change in the composition of the membership, 26-8; proposed reforms, 428. Visitors to the Club not at first distinguished from members in the dinner-registers, 26 ; for many years paid for their dinner, 27. In 1831 a rule was made that foreigners should not be called upon to pay, 304 ; this rule re- scinded in 1841, 331 ; visitors sometimes " invited by the Club," 298 ; visitors' names to be written down by members who introduce them, 206, 471. Index Royle, J. F. 331, 337. Royston, Lord, see Yorke, Philip. Riicker, Sir A. W. 444, 445, 471. Rumford, Count von, 202, 207, 213. RuspoH, Prince B. 216. Russell, Dr. Alexander, 79, 104. Russell, Jesse W. 282, 283. Russell, Dr. Patrick, 136, 171, 189, 219. Russell, William, 107, 154, 155. 176, 181. Russell, Dr. W. J., ^4. Sabine, Sir Edward, as a guest at the Club, 256 ; as a member, 263 ; 292 ; as Treasurer, 328, 345, 372, 384 ; as President, 387, 388, 392, 393.- 394. 397' 399, 4°2 > retires from the Presidentship, 404 ; in absence of the Pres. R.S. con- tinues to be chairman at the Club, 405, 406. Sabine, Joseph, 293, 313. Saint Andrew's Day, 2, 4, 37, cl passim. St. Amand, Comte de, 221. St. Germain, M. 153. Saint James' Hall, Club moved to, in 1862, 389. Salis, Count de, 121, 127. Salisbury, Marquess of, 403, 423, 437, 446, 463. Sanderson, Sir John S. Burdon, 409, 412. Sars field, Count, 99. Saunclers, Rev. Erasmus, 70, 107. Saussure, H. B. de, 179, 201. Saussure. M. de, 200. Savile, Sir George, 42. Savory, Sir W. S. 452, 453, 466. Schafer, Sir Edward, 453. Schlagintweit, A and H. 359, 368. Schlegel, A. W. von, 309. Schonbein, Professor, 345. Schouwalofi, M. 95. Sclater, P. L. 417. Scoresby, William, 254, 277. Scott, George Lewis, n. Scott, Robert H. 372, 429, 478, 479, 484. Scott, Sir Walter, 76, 106, 135, 218, 251. Scrope, George Poulett. 289. Seaforth, Earl of, 125, 127. Sedgwick, Professor Adam, 301. Selkirk, Earl of, 224. Selvaggi, Signer, 197. Seward, William, 152, 208. Seyffer, Professor, 197. Seymour, Lord Webb, 215, 217, 240. Shaftesbury, Earl of, 48. Sharpey, Dr. W. 364, 389, 420. 429. Shaw-Lefevre, Sir J. G. 205, 313, 314. 373- Shee, Sir Martin, 313, 355. Sheepshanks, R. 310. Sheffield, Lord, 197, 201. Shelburne, Lord, 155. Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 334. Shepherd, Rev. Dr. Anthony, 148. Shuckburgh-Evelyn, Sir George, 155. 219. Sibson, Francis, 393, 395, 418. Sibthorp, Dr. John, 185. Siemens, Sir C. William, 404, 437. Simmons, Dr. S. F. 182, 183, 242. Simson, Robert, 35. Sinclair, Sir John, of Ulbster, 134, 181, 242. Skenc, Mr. 244. Sloanc, Sir Hans, 14, 52. Smeaton, John, 78, 91, 160, 197. Smith, Archibald, 344. Smith, Henry J. S. 405, 435. Smith, James, of Jordanhill, 330. Smith, Sir James E. 247. Smith, Joseph, Treasurer of the Club from 1830 to 1855, 263, 293. 294, 300, 322, 339, 345, 370. 375- Smith, Dr. Pye, 330. Smith, Sir Sidney, 239. Smith, Right Hon. W. H. 432, 446. Smith, William, 246, 315. Smith, Dr. William, 323. Smithson, James, 235, 286. Smithsonian Institution, Washing- ton, 286. Smollett, Tobias, quoted 53. Smyth, Admiral W. H. 6, 46, 66, 310, 315, 328, 334, 380, 390. Smyth, Sir Warington, 347, 378. 439, 452. Smythe, General, W. J. 397, 443. Soane, John, 282. 502 Index Sodorini, Count, 177. Solander, Dr. D. C. 117, ng, 124, 154. *55- Somerset, Duke of, 205, 218, 219, 221, 245, 282. Somerville, Dr. 274, 284. Sotheby, William, 274, 275, 313. South, Sir James, 273, 292. Souza, Chevalier de, 190. Spence, William, 312. Spencer, Earl, 200, 206, 213, 214, 282, 315. Spineto, Marchese, 309. Spottiswoode, Wm. as guest at the Club, 363 ; elected a member, 384, 386 ; elected Treasurer of Royal Society, 403 ; President, 422, 423, 433 ; his death, 436. Squire, Rev. Dr. 12, 13, 32, 79. Staffa, Isle of, first brought to notice by Sir Joseph Banks, 108. Stanhope, second Earl, 34, 121. Stanhope, third Earl, 224. Stanhope, Charles, 12, 13, 44, 64, 7.x- Stanley, Sir John Thomas (Baron Stanley of Alderley), 193, 213, 231. 324. 34°- Staunton, Sir George L. 182, 183, 211. Staunton, Sir George Thomas, 216, 232, 240, 351, 373. Stephens, Philip, 178. Stephcnson, Robert, 370, 380. Sterne, Laurence, author of Tris- tram Shandy, 75. Stewart, Balfour, 412, 431. Stewart, Dugald, 147. Stevens, G. 154. Stokes, Sir George G. elected into the Royal Society in 1851, 362 ; declined membership of the Club when he became Sec. R.S. in 1854, 369 ; Professor in the Royal School of Mines, 384 ; elected President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 441, 442 ; retirement of, 454. Stowell, Baron, 150. Strange, Lieut. -Col. A. 399, 401,415. Strangers, regulations as to exclu- sion of, to meetings of the Club, 27. 28, 93, 304, 322. Stratico, Simone, 82. Struve, Professor, 437. Strzelecki, Count, 378, 409. Stuart, James (" Athenian "), 119, 175- Sturm, J. C. F. 333. Sussex, H.R.H. the Duke of, Presi- dent of the Royal Society and of the Club, 300; resignation of, 324 ; his death, 337. Swainson, William, 312. Sykes, Col. W.-*L 346, 367, 373. Sylvester, J. J. 375/415. 437. 44°- Symmons, John, 202. Talbot, W. H. Fox, 286. Taverns in London, in which Fellows of the Royal Society and the members of the Club have held their social meetings : Bull's Head, i ; Pontac's, 2 ; The Crown, behind the Change, 3 ; in St. Clement's Churchyard, 3 ; King's Head, by Chancery Lane, 4 ; a Tavern in Cornhill, 5 ; the Mitre, Fleet Street, 25 ; the Crown and Anchor, in the Strand, I5I» 35 l > Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, 352 ; Thatched House Tavern, St. James's Street, 376 ; St. James's Hall, 389 ; Willis's Rooms, King Street, St. James', 451 ; Limmer's Hotel, Conduit Street, 451. Tassie's " Catalogue of Engraved Gems, Cameos, etc." 133. Tchitchagof, Admiral, 319. Teignmouth, Earl of, 314, 318, 376. Tempest, Wm. 34. Tennyson, Charles, 299, Tenon, M. 179. Testa, Dr. 177. Thatched House Tavern, 376. 385, 389- Thayendanegea, Mohawk Chief, 138. Thomas, Edward, 417. Thomas, Dr. Noah, 60, 175. Thomson, Sir Joseph John, 475. 476. Thomson, Sir William, see Kelvin, Lord. Thomson, Sir Wyville, 402, 415, 433. 434- Thorkelin, Prof. 176. Index 5°3 Thorpe, Sir T. Edward, 444, 465, 476« 477- Thynne, Lord John, 224. Tiemand, M. 150. Tilden, Sir W. A. 448. Toasts at the Club, 7, 170, 189, 441. Tooke, Rev. W. 165. Topham, John, 163, 181, 217. Torrens, Sir Henry, 255. Towneley, John, 209, 242. Townley, Charles, 198. Townsend, Admiral Isaac, 36. Trelawny, J. E. 334. Trevor, Lord, 90. Tristram Shandy, author of, at the Club, 75. Troil, Uno von, 117. Turner, Dawson, 330. Turner, Professor H. H. 453, 484. Turner, Edmund, 178, 203. Twiss, Travers, 342, 343, 373. Turton, John, 115, 116, 148. Tyndall, John, 380, 384, 386, 417, 441- 452. Tyrconnel, Earl of, 314. Tytler, Alexander, 127, 162. Tytler, James, an early aeronaut, '167. Ungeschick, M. 190. Ure, Dr. Andrew, 273. Ussher, Dr. 165. Vacation in summer, not recognised by the Club for many years, 46, 56 ; about 1764 diminishing at- tendance during the months be- tween June and November began to be noticeable, 87 ; the diminu- tion continued during the rest of the century until in 1817 the meetings were suspended during August, September and October, 252 ; a strong party in the Club had the meetings resumed next year, 257 ; in 1828 they were again suspended, 293 ; but were resumed in the following year, 297 ; after continued failure to secure adequate attendance, a proposal was adopted in 1833 to hold only one meeting in each of the months of the long vacation, 312 ; after some forty years longer two meetings still con- tinued to be held, one near the beginning and the other near the end of the vacation, 414 ; after 1878 these meetings appear to have been finally given up, as no mention of them is found in the records, 421. Vaij de Vaja, Baron, 177, 190. Valenciennes, A. 298. Valentia, Viscount, 205, 213, 224. Vallancey, Col. Charles, 138, 154. Vancouver, Captain, 205. Vansittart, Nicholas, 278. Vaughan, Sir Charles, 341. Verney, Earl, 79, 115. Verri, Comte de, 95, 99. Vigaroux, Dr. 176. Victoria, Coronation of Queen, 324 ; her death, 479. Vince, Samuel, 221. Virly, President, 176, 177. Visconti, Comte de, 124. Vogel, Professor, 333. Volta, Alessandro, 156. Walker, James, 329, 390. Walker, J. G. 204. Walkouski, Prince, 266. Wallich, Dr. N. 299. Walpole, Horace, quoted, 40, 60, 82, 83, 88, 106, no, 132, 167. Walsh, John, 115, 116, 202. Walsingham, Lord, 207. Warberg, Olaus, 216. Ward, E. a scurrilous versifier, quoted, 4. Warner, Joseph, 55. Warren, Dr. Richard, 100, 206. Warrender, Sir George, 248. Wartman, Professor, 333. Watson, Kobert, 47, 60. Watson, Sir William, 9, n, 13, 86, 92, 95, 141, 160, 177, 178. Watson, Sir William (junr.), 108,209. Watt, James, 200. Wavell, Dr. 221. Webster, Thomas, barrister, 376, 414. Webster, Thomas, architect and geologist, 306. Wedgwood, Josiah, 151. 5°4 Index Wegg, Samuel, 71, 216. Weld, C. R. 341. Weldon, Professor W. F. R. 467, 476. Wells, Dr. William Charles, 223. West, James, as a guest of the Club, 48 ; made an Honorary Member, 49 ; elected President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 100, 102 ; death of in 1772, 114, ii5- Weston, Stephen, 222, 300. Wetherell, Sir C. 289. Wevelincho ven , Anthony de, 152. Wharton, Admiral Sir W. J. LI. 438, 439, 444, 445. Wheatstone, Sir Charles, 316, 324, 329, 408, 415. Whewell, W. 309, 329, 340, 348. Whichcote, Paul, 47, 71. White, Gilbert, of Selborne, 115. White, Taylor, 60, 79. White, Sir William, 471, 472, 484. Whitsuntide recess, slowly observed by the Club, 288, 308, 343, 353, 356, 361. Whithorne, C. 12. Wield, Herr, 150. Wilbraham, Roger, 238, 295. Wilkes, Israel, 81, 115. Wilkes, Lieut. 320. Wilkes, John, 29. Wilkins, Sir Charles, 206, 318. Williams, Sir Chas. Hanbury, 50. Williams, John L. 211. Williamson, Alex. W. 389, 409, 459. Willis's Rooms, King Street, St. James', Club removed to, about the year 1867, and continued there for at least twenty-three years, 451. Willoughby of Parham, Lord, 12, 13, 26, 86, 91. Wilson, Sir Charles W. 446, 447. Wilson, Professor, 314. Wollaston, Charlton, 47, 91. Wollaston, Rev. Francis, 115, 116, 152. Wollaston, William Hyde, 212, 217 ; chosen President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 268 ; his death, 296. Wood, Thomas, 91, TOO. Worsley, Sir R. 151. Wray, Daniel, n, 12, 163. Wrottesley, Baron, President of the Royal Society and of the Club, 368, 369 ; retirement from office, 378. * Wyndham, H. P. 202, 219. Wyattville, Sir J. 295. Yorke, Lieut.-Col. P. J. 375, 414. Yorke, Hon. Philip (Viscount Roy- ston, Earl of Hard\vicke), 27, 35, 38, 44, 48, 92, 146. Young, Admiral, 210. Young, Thomas, 205, 226, 240, 246, 248, 271, 296. Young, Sir William, 31 ; his son, 198, 238. Younghusband, Capt. C. W. 348, 366, 376. Zenobio, Count, 157. Zinzendorff, Count, 102. Zoological Society, P. L. Sclater's Secretaryship of, 417. GLASGOW I PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY I'RES3 KV ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. ^s&s&S-SZz. GENERAL LIBRARY - U.C. BERKELEY This label must not be removed from this book, nor the figures thereon altered. e when issued an extra.