459 



ciple may be, who would not think it a most rash proceeding to 

 apply it to the reconstruction of a Society such as ours, which has 

 been steadily advancing in its career, and which is now, after the 

 lapse of 200 years, more active and vigorous and useful than at any 

 former period of its existence. 



The best inducement to the cultivation of science is the love of 

 knowledge, combined with that desire of honourable distinction "that 

 last infirmity of noble minds " of which we must not complain, as it 

 has led to such grand results ; and experience shows that these are 

 all-sufficient for the purpose. If any worldly advantage ever 

 accrue to those who are thus engaged, that may be regarded as 

 almost an accidental circumstance, which no one could have antici- 

 pated in the beginning. 



Such being the state of things among us, I feel bound at the same 

 time to say, that I cannot join with those who complain that the 

 interest of science has been neglected by the Government. The 

 Fellows of the Royal Society have never wished to forfeit their 

 independence, by claiming, in their capacity as Fellows, any personal 

 benefit for themselves. The connexion of the Royal Society with 

 the Government has been simply that of a mutual interchange of 

 good offices. On the one hand, the Society has always been ready 

 to assist those who are intrusted with the management of public 

 affairs with its opinion and advice ; and the occasions on which such 

 assistance has been required have been sufficiently numerous. On 

 the other hand, it has rarely, if ever, happened that any representa- 

 tion made by the Royal Society in the interests of science has not 

 received the attention which it required. A sum voted annually by 

 Parliament for the purpose of assisting those who are engaged in 

 scientific investigations has been placed at the disposal of the Royal 

 Society, to be distributed at the discretion of the Council. The ex- 

 tensive suite of rooms which we now occupy are the property of the 

 State, and a similar accommodation has been afforded to four other 

 of the chartered scientific societies ; while another more popular 

 institution has an annual grant from the public treasury, in order that 

 it may be the better enabled to carry out the objects for which it was 



established. 



There is nothing by which the pursuit of science in the present 



day is more signally distinguished than the greater accuracy and 



