1 "20 Royal Society. 



advocacy without these walls, yet within them I trust that I never 

 have made, and that I never shall make use of it, either for the pro- 

 motion of party purposes, or for the suppression of the candid, free 

 and unbiassed expression of your opinions. In this Chair I appear 

 as the Official Head of a Society comprising a great majority of the 

 most distinguished men in science and in literature within the Three 

 Kingdoms, and in this character alone I wish to be recognised ; and 

 it is my most anxious desire to witness around me the free expres- 

 sion and interchange of opinions, subject to no restraints but such 

 as are requisite for the regularity and well government of every 

 numerous and mixed society. 



I do not think it necessary. Gentlemen, to apologize to you for 

 thus enlarging upon topics, which, though personal in some respect 

 to myself, cannot be altogether destitute of interest to you ; inas- 

 much as it undoubtedly concerns you to understand distinctly the 

 principles by which I have regulated my conduct hitherto whilst 

 filling this Chair, and to which I shall continue to adhere in case I 

 should be honoured by being re-elected to it. And T am the more 

 anxious that they should be generally known, in consequence of 

 some circumstances which attended my election last year. If any 

 angry or uneasy feelings were called forth upon that occasion, I can 

 assure you that I do not, nor ever did, partake in them ; and it would 

 be a source of the most heartfelt pride to me if I could witness their 

 entire extinction in a cordial cooperation amongst all our members 

 to promote the advancement of science and the common honour of 

 our country ; to fulfil, in short, the solemn obligation imposed upon 

 us individually and collectively by our charter, to promote the good 

 of the Royal Society, established for the advancement of natural 

 knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which it was originally 

 founded. 



Having ventured to say thus much upon a subject of some deli- 

 cacy, though in no respect painful to myself, I trust that I may be 

 permitted to add a few words more upon another topic which is 

 nearly connected with it, and which is to express my respect for the 

 accomplished philosopher to whom I had the honour, I will not say 

 misfortune, to find myself opposed last year. His name has been 

 familiar to me from my earliest years, for it is that of one whom my 

 Royal Father delighted to patronize, and which is inscribed in im- 

 perishable characters upon the great monuments of the universe, 

 the knowledge of which he contributed so greatly to extend. I 

 knew that venerable man when full of years and of honour, and I 

 can well conceive the feelings of placid triumph and pride with 

 which he must have contemplated the rising promise of his son. 

 What the maturer fruits of that early promise have been, it is not 

 necessary for me to state when addressing the members of this 

 Society : it is sufficient to say, that there is no one among the most 

 illustrious men of England whom the concurrent voice of his coun- 

 trymen would have pointed out as more worthy of tlie distinguished 

 and peculiar mark of royal favour and approbation which he has so 



recently 



