and Proceedhigs of the late President of the Royal Society. 1 G7 



formed, he made no eminent attainments. A friend of mine had 

 an opportunity, a few years ago, of ascertaining tht opinion of a 

 very competent judge, one of the most eminent members of the 

 Linnaean Society, as to this point. The following is an account 

 of what passed between them. 



Q. Will you allow me, sir, to ask what is your opinion of Sir 

 Joseph Banks as a man of science ? 



A. I should conceive, sir, there cannot be much need to ask 

 such a question. You know he is called the patron of sciefice. 



Q. Yes, I know he is : but that docs not prove that he pos- 

 sesses it. /have some doubts about the matter, and take the 

 liberty to inquire of you, as one who knows him well. Is he 

 really eminent as a natural historian ? 



A. He has a very extensive and valuable library in the de- 

 partment of natural history, 



Q. So I have always understood : but pardon me, sir, this 

 does not meet my question. Allow me to ask again, Is he really 

 eminent as a natural historian ? 



A. Natural history is a very comprehensive classification of 

 knowledge ; what department of it do you principally allude to? 



Q. Really, sir, I scarcely know how to direct my inquiries to 

 a narrower point, as I am but little conversant with these mat- 

 ters. I have understood, however, that he is an eminent bo- 

 tanist : what is your opinion on that head ? 



A. Why, tliat if he be so reckoned, it must have been in a 

 company of washenvomen ! 



Thus terminated the inquiry. 



Well, but, say some. If Sir Joseph was not a man of profound 

 knowledge in any one department, or of an excursive turn of 

 mind which made him at least speciously acquainted with several, 

 we presume he was a man of address, and probably one with 

 some pretensions to eloquence. We presume he trod in the 

 steps of his predecessor with regard to the anniversary oration on 

 assigning the Copleian medal. No such thing. For some vears 

 Sir Joseph made no attempt of the kind : but it having been insi- 

 nuated in the course of the discussions of which I shall presentlv 

 have to speak, that he wa?j incompetent to prepare and deliver 

 a set discourse on any subject, — to put to silence these impudent 

 calumniators, he delivered an address at the anniversary, Novem- 

 ber 30, 17S-1. In that year the medal was assigned to Dr. 

 Waring, for one of his papers On the Summation of Series. Of 

 the address delivered on tiiat occasion I have the happiness to 

 possess a copy, probably the only one now in existence: to gra- 

 tify the natural curiosity of the public on so interesting a matter, 

 I here present the speech, retaining buna fide, the original or- 

 thography, punctuation, d;c. 



Sir 



