858 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



liament be applied for, to amend 

 the charter of the Royal Institu- 

 tion, the basis of which shall be 

 the conversion of that body from 

 a private'property into a public es- 

 tablishment. 



The third, that such proprietors 

 as shall agree to the amendment of 

 the charter, giving up the transfer- 

 able and hereditary power over 

 their shares, shall be the first mem- 

 bers, and founders of the establish- 

 ment ; and shall each have the 

 power of naming a person of their 

 family, who shall be admitted to 

 the privileges of a life subscriber, 

 or shall have the privilege of ad- 

 mitting one person to the lectures, 

 collections, and Hbrary of reference, 

 when attending in person. 



The fourth, that such proprietors 

 as do not desire to belong to the 

 new corporation, shall receive the 

 value of their shares. 



The fifth, that a subscription 

 shall be opened (as a loan, for the 

 discharge of which means will be 

 immediately stated) for raising a 

 fund, by which such proprietors 

 may be paid oft". 



The sixth, that new members 

 be admitted by ballot, a certificate 

 in their favour being signed by at 

 least four members, and that they 

 do cither pay fifty guineas as a 

 composition, or four guineas an- 

 nually. 



The seventh, that the present 

 life subscribers may be ballotted 

 for as members, paying, if elected, 

 twenty-five guineas as a compo- 

 sition, or two guineas annually; 

 but if they do not choose to be 

 ballotted for, that tlicy retain their 

 present privileges. 



The eighth, that the present 

 annual subscribers retain their pre- 



sent privileges ; but if they wish 

 to become members, they, like the 

 life subscribers, must take the 

 same steps with respect to form as 

 new members. 



The ninth, that the patrons of 

 the library shall retain all their 

 present privileges for life ; and 

 that the hereditary patrons shall 

 receive a compensation for giving 

 up their right of inheritance, by 

 having the privilege of naming 

 each, a patron for life. 



In the new corporation it is pro- 

 posed, that the members shall be 

 elected upon the same footing as 

 the members of the Royal Society, 

 and the Society of Antiquaries, 

 having neither the power of sale 

 nor of gift, in which case the title 

 of " Member of the Royal Insti- 

 tution " will become honorary. 

 The objects of the Institution will 

 continue as at present, but en- 

 larged and refined, the promotion 

 and diffusion of experimental 

 science and its application to the 

 purposes of life. The members, it 

 is conceived, may have weekly 

 meetings, either as a body or in 

 committees, for the purpose of 

 communicating or investigating 

 any new facts in science, arts, or 

 manufactures. The lectures of the 

 Institution connected with all sub- 

 jects of natural pliilosophy, che- 

 mistry, and experimental science, 

 will be a constant source of inte- 

 rest and information to the mem- 

 bers. The researches carried on 

 in their laboratories for discovery, 

 will be honourable to them as a 

 body; and they will all be partakers 

 in the great work of promoting 

 experimental knowledge, the pro- 

 gress of which is so intimately con- 

 nected with the perfection of our 

 manufact-ures 



