ROYAL SOCIETY 



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RUBAIYAT 



son Bay, and on Herschell Island, on the shores 

 of the Arctic Ocean, 2,500 miles from head- 

 quarters at Regina. Regina is the residence of 

 the commissioner and his assistant, who are 

 the executive officers of the force. The per- 

 manent official head, the comptroller, resides 

 at Ottawa. The Royal Northwest Mounted 

 Police, although organized on military lim ~ 

 a civil body, and is under the direct control of 

 the Premier. Both officers and men are en- 

 titled to pensions after twenty years of service, 

 or a shorter period if they are compelled to re- 

 tire on account of ill-health. W.F.Z. 



ROYAL SOCIETY, THE, the oldest scientific 

 society in Great Britain and the most famous 

 in the world. The full title is the Royal So- 

 ciety of London for Improving Natural Knowl- 

 edge. Its members are called "fellows," and 

 the initials, F. R.S., meaning "Fellows of the 

 Royal Society," are generally placed, like a 

 college degree, after their names. The organi- 

 zation was incorporated with the sanction of 

 Charles II in 1662, but it was in existence as 

 early as 1645. In that year weekly meetings 

 of London scientists were held, and their work 

 and discussions were so learned that even in 

 1646 the association was sometimes called the 

 "invisible college." Within a year after incor- 

 poration it was carrying on active correspond- 

 ence on learned questions with the philosophers 

 and scientists of France, Germany, Spain and 

 Italy, and in 1664 began the publication of its 

 famous Transactions. More than 230 volumes 

 of these have been published since that year, 

 and the series constitutes by far the most valu- 

 able record of scientific achievement in exist- 

 ence. 



Within ten years after its incorporation the 

 society published such valuable results of its 

 research work that it was considered as semi- 

 official by the British government, and was 

 given many important scientific commissions. 

 In 1671, the year Sir Isaac Newton was elected 

 a fellow, the association was appointed to direct 

 the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and this 

 duty was followed by such as the correcting of 

 the calendar in 1752, the protection of British 

 ships from lightning, the measurement of a de- 

 gree of latitude, the Antarctic Expedition of 

 Captain Cook in 1772, the Arctic expeditions 

 under Parry in 1819, Sir John Franklin in 1845 

 and Nares in 1874, the determination of the 

 density of the earth, the accurate comparison 

 of the metric and English systems of weights 

 and measures and other noteworthy undertak- 

 ings. The society practically controls the Brit- 



ish Meteorology Department, the National 

 Physical Laboratory, several scientific trust 

 funds and the governing bodies of many British 

 public schools. It is doubtful whether any 

 other scientific association in the world ap- 

 proaches it in scope and power. 



Admission into the society is most difficult 

 to secure, and therefore the right to sign F.R.S. 

 after one's name is a much-coveted honor in 

 the scholarly world. Fifteen new members may 

 be received annually, and each candidate must 

 be vouched for by six members. C.H.H. 



ROYCE, JOSIAH (1855- ), an American 

 philosopher, some of whose works have been 

 widely read because their pleasing style makes 

 them of more interest to the general reader 

 than are most works on philosophy. His Spirit 

 of Modern Philosophy, for instance, has given 

 many people a delightful introduction to the 

 great philosophers of modern times, of whom 

 otherwise they might have remained in ignor- 

 ance. Royce is not, however, a merely popular 

 writer; he is a scholar as well, and The Re- 

 ligious Aspect of Philosophy, The World and 

 the Individual, Psychology and William James 

 and Other Essays on the Philosophy of Life 

 contain real contributions to his chosen subject. 



RUBAIYAT, roobiyaht', an Arabic word, 

 used to designate any collection of quatrains, 

 or four-line stanzas. In English, however, it is 

 applied almost exclusively to one series of such 

 verse that of Omar Khayyam, translated by 

 Edward Fitzgerald (see OMAR KHAYYAM). 

 Several other English versions of the Rubaiyat 

 have been issued, but that of Fitzgerald is by 

 far the most popular, and justly so; for it is 

 more than a translation; it is a genuine Eng- 

 lish poem, exquisite in 'its diction, yet repro- 

 ducing most faithfully the spirit of the old 

 Persian writer. Fitzgerald at times took liber- 

 ties with the wording of his original, but never 

 with its spirit, and the result is unique among 

 translations. The following stanza is no less 

 typical of the philosophy of the poem than of 

 its manner: 



Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring 

 Your Winter garment of Repentance fling: 



The Bird of Time has but a little way 

 To flutter and the Bird is on the Wing. 



The stanza which is most quoted is probably 

 the twelfth: 



A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, 

 A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread and Thou 



Beside me singing in the Wilderness^ 

 Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow ! 



Consult Brown's Literary History of Persia. 



