Royal Society of London. 331 



for denying the divinity of the sun ; and it will be sufficient to 

 mention the idolatry or utter ignorance of the other great nations 

 of antiquity with regard to the laws and motions of the heavenly- 

 bodies. Take," said the President " the simplest view of the sci- 

 ence as it now exists, and what a noble subject for exultation ! 

 Not only the masses and distances of the sun, planets, and their 

 satellites are known, but even the weight of bodies upon their sur- 

 faces ascertained, and all their motions, appearances, and changes 

 predicted with the utmost certainty for ages to come, and even car- 

 ried back through past ages, to correct the chronology and fix the 

 epochs in the history of ancient nations : even attempts have been 

 made to measure the almost inconceivable distances of the stars ; — 

 and with this what sublime practical results — the pathless ocean 

 navigated, and in unknown seas, the exact point of distance from 

 known lands ascertained — all vague and superstitious notions 

 banished from the mind, which, trusting in its own powers and ana- 

 logies, sees an immutable and eternal order in the whole of the uni- 

 verse, intended, after the designs of the most perfect Beneficence, 

 to promote the happiness of millions of living beings; and where 

 the whole of created nature offers its testimony of the existence 

 of a Divine and supreme intelligence !" 



The President then put the Copley medal into the hands of Mr. 

 Baily, who undertook to transmit it to Dr. Brinkley. 



The Society then proceeded to the election of the Council and 

 Officers for the year ensuing ; the statute relating to these elections 

 was read, and Messrs. Baily, Raper, and Thompson, having been 

 appointed Scrutators, the Members gave in their lists — on examin- 

 ing these the following was found to be the state of the elections: 



The Members of theOld Council re-elected for the ensuing year, 



were 



Sir H. Davy, Bart., 



W, T. Brande, Esq., 



Samuel Goodcnoii^'li, Lord Bishop 



of Carlisle, 

 Major Thomas Colby, 

 John Wilson Croker, Esq., 



Z2 



Davies Gilbert, Esq., 

 Charles Hatchett, Esq., 

 Sir Evcrard Home, Bart. 

 John Pond, Esq., 

 W. IT. Wollaston, M.D., 

 Th. Young, M.D. 



