COUXT EUMFORD. 135 



guineas each. The prelate was the Bishop of Dur- 

 ham. The Committee of Managers was chosen, and 

 they held their first meeting at the house of Sir 

 Joseph Banks on March 9, 1799. Mr. Thomas Ber- 

 nard, one of the most active members of the society 

 from whose committee the first managers were chosen, 

 was appointed Secretary. To Eumford and Bernard 

 was delegated the duty of preparing a draught of a 

 charter; while Earls Morton and Spencer, Sir Joseph 

 Banks, and Mr. Pelham, were requested "to lay the 

 proposals before His Majesty, the Royal Family, the 

 Ministers, the great officers of State, the members of 

 both Houses of Parliament, of the Privy Council, and 

 before the twelve judges." 



On January 13, 1800, the Eoyal Seal was attached 

 to the Charter of the Institution. In the same year 

 was published, in quarto form, " The Prospectus, Char- 

 ter, Ordinance, and Bye-laws of the Eoyal Institution 

 of Great Britain." The King was its Patron, and the 

 first officers of the Institution were appointed by him. 

 The Earl of Winchilsea was President. Lord Morton, 

 Lord Egremont, and Sir Joseph Banks were Vice- 

 Presidents. The managers, chosen by sealed ballot by 

 the proprietors, were divided into three classes of three 

 each; the first class serving for one, the second for two, 

 and the third for three years. The Earls of Bess- 

 borough, Egremont, and Morton, respectively, headed 

 the lists of the three classes. Eumford himself was 

 appointed to serve for three years. The three lists of 

 Visitors were headed by the Duke of Bridgewater, Vis- 

 count Palmerston, and Earl Spencer respectively. That 

 Eumford possessed the power of persuasion, and the 

 infection of enthusiasm, is sufficiently demonstrated by 

 this powerful list. But neither persuasion nor en- 

 thusiasm might have been found availing had not his 



