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resident in London, and of these a large proportion are engaged 

 in occupations which leave only a limited portion of time at their 

 own disposal: The subjects which are brought under consideration, 

 though frequently of paramount importance, are not of that general 

 interest which would attract ordinary persons ; nor, indeed, if we 

 take any one of them, can it be regarded as equally attractive to 

 every individual belonging to our own body. In the progress of 

 knowledge, science has become divided and subdivided into many 

 departments, and the principle of the division of labour has neces- 

 sarily come into operation in these as well as in all other pursuits. 

 A communication, which would be highly attractive to a chemist, 

 would not be equally so to a comparative anatomist or a physio- 

 logist ; nor would the results of the inquiries on the subject of ter- 

 restrial magnetism, which have of late been carried on in almost every 

 part of the world, important as they may eventually prove to be, be 

 well comprehended except by the few who have bestowed their special 

 attention on them. It seems to me, therefore, not reasonable to 

 suppose that the Meetings of the Royal Society should be so 

 numerously attended as more popular assemblies. 



There is another matter as to which I conceive that some misap- 

 prehension has at times prevailed, namely, the relation in which our 

 Society stands, or ought to stand, to the Government of the country. 

 In many of the continental states there is a society of individuals, 

 under the name of an "Academy," engaged in the pursuit of science, 

 limited in number, and each of them receiving an annual stipend 

 from the public treasury. Such a system may be regarded as offer- 

 ing a premium to those who engage in scientific investigations ; and 

 the great results which have been obtained sufficiently demonstrate 

 that where it has been established it has had a very beneficial opera- 

 tion. It would be, however, entirely inapplicable to an institution 

 such as ours, consisting as it does of between 600 and 700 Members. 

 Then the foreign Academies to which I have referred are entirely 

 subjected to the Government, without whose approbation the election 

 of a new member is incomplete. Now, it is plain that a system 

 so inconsistent with the sentiments and habits of the inhabitants 

 of these islands would find little favour here ; and I apprehend 

 that there is no individual among those whom I have now the 

 honour of addressing, whatever his opinions on the abstract prin- 



