Royal Society, 133 



from a Committee of their Members : as the persons who are 

 selected for this duty are frequently veterans in their respective 

 sciences, who have earned by their labours an European reputation, 

 the Reports which are thus produced prove often more valuable than 

 the original communications upon which they are founded, and the 

 collections of them, as is well known, form a most important part of 

 the stock of modern science. Many other advantages also have 

 been found to result from the adoption of this practice. The deci- 

 sions of men who are elevated by their character and reputation 

 above the influence of personal feelings of rivalry or petty jealousy, 

 possess an authority sufficient to establish at once the full import- 

 ance of a discovery, to fix its relations to the existing mass of know- 

 ledge, and to define its probable effect upon the future progress of 

 science. They thus operate as a powerful stimulus to the exertions 

 of the genuine cultivators and lovers of science, who feel assured 

 that their labours will be properly examined and appreciated by 

 those who are most competent to judge of their value ; whilst, at 

 the same time, they tend to keep under the obtrusive and turbulent 

 pretensions of those who presume to claim a rank as men of science, 

 for which they possess no just title or qualification. 



It was from a conviction that many similar advantages would re- 

 sult from such a system of Reports in the Royal Society, that the 

 Members of the Council were induced to agree to its adoption ; and 

 it is to be hoped that, when a longer experience has given to such a 

 plan a more complete organization, and has shown the practical ex- 

 tent to which it can be conveniently carried, it will then become 

 a permanent law of the Council. 



In order, however, to secure its full advantages, it will be neces- 

 sary that the Council should, in all cases, include men eminent for 

 their proficiency in all those branches of science which usually come, 

 or are likely to come, under the notice of the Society. That such 

 men may be found, I feel satisfied, both from my past experience 

 and from my knowledge of the many distinguished persons who 

 adorn the lists of this Society ; and that such men would generally 

 be ready to undertake the performance of a duty, requiring the occa- 

 sional sacrifice both of time and labour, I cannot venture to doubt, 

 without imputing to them a charge of indifference to the interests 

 and the usefulness of the Royal Society, and even a want of proper 

 sympathy with the scientific honour of their country. 



I think myself justified in using such strong language, Gentlemen, 

 because I believe the scientific character of this country to be most 

 intimately associated with the scientific character and estimation of 

 the Royal Society. One of the most illustrious of modern mathe- 

 maticians and philosophers, himself a foreigner, has said that the 

 Royal Society has contributed more to the progress of science than 

 the combined labours of all other similar institutions ; and though it 

 would be unfair to interpret too literally the language of a compli- 

 ment, yet it would not be very difficult to vindicate its general truth 

 and justice. 



It was this Society which fostered and encouraged the early labours 



