146 THE PEESIDENCY OP THE KOYAL SOCIETY 



to England, although they were spending 30,000 on the 

 explorations of the four Schlagintweit brothers, they would not 

 give a shilling to pay the printing even of the ' Flora Indica,' 

 nor subscribe for copies. And at this very time they had sent 

 an Indian officer who was actually using Hooker's MSS. which 

 he placed at his disposition on full pay and on service time 

 to Kew, to publish a Forest Flora of the N.W. Provinces, 

 instructing him to prepare it * under Dr. Hooker's advice and 

 directions/ 



Here were services given freely to India for which, had 

 Hooker cared to do so, he could quite properly have claimed 

 a mark of official recognition. But he had no personal 

 ambition in such a direction : he did not covet the C.S.I, 

 either as a vanity or as a reward of scientific eminence. 

 So far as he could be said to covet such at all, it would be 

 as a recognition of actual services rendered by his science 

 or himself, a recognition that he could accept if offered, but 

 would never ask. 



Thus to the offer of 1869 he replied by return of post, 

 accepting the C.B. for services and declining knighthood. 



The latter [he tells Darwin on November 14] I did on 

 various grounds, partly because it signifies nothing, whilst 

 the C.B. recognises services, which is the only recognition 

 I care for and because if they wanted to knight me (and I 

 do not wish for Knighthood) they might have offered it in 

 an order that indicates special services. 



His friends, however, were eager that he should be offered 

 such a recognition. His services in India were at least as 

 noteworthy as those at home. Murchison and Lyell therefore 

 approached the Duke of Argyll at the India Office, recommend- 

 ing Hooker for the Star of India. 



The Duke replied more than once that he had set his sub- 

 ordinates to seek official information on which to act. Little 

 were they likely to find, for the East India Company had con- 

 sistently ignored Hooker, and refused him countenance and 

 assistance ! 



On hearing what was afoot, Hooker begged that he might 



