419 
In 1802, His Majesty King George LII. granted 
to the Linnean Society a Charter of Incorporation; 
and in 1811 the late King, then Prince Regent, ho- 
noured the Society in becoming its Patron. 
It has been the custom from the time of its first 
institution to celebrate the birth-day of Linnzus by 
an annual dinner, when a large proportion of the 
English members assemble on the 24th of May to 
commemorate the event. 
On the twentieth anniversary the President ad- 
dressed the Society at their annual feast, in the 
following words, which are here transcribed from a 
MS. found among his papers. They have not be- 
fore appeared in print. 
“JT cannot take this chair for the twentieth time 
of my being in so unanimous and flattering a man- 
ner chosen to fill it, without saying a few words, 
not merely to express my gratitude and attachment 
to the Society, which I trust would be superfluous, 
but to congratulate all its members, and particularly 
those who with me have watched over its infant 
growth, on the eminence it has now attained. I 
have another motive for choosing the present oc- 
casion for this purpose. 
“This is the hundredth anniversary of the birth 
of Linnzus ; and as we have chosen to commemo- 
rate his birth-day by our general annual meeting, 
the centenary revolution of it should certainly not 
be passed over in silence. 
“I cannot but compare the obscurity of his birth, 
and the struggles of his youth, with those of our 
infant Institution ; and the sanction and protection 
2E2 
