EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY 



to remove from Gresham College, gives a precise description 

 of the commodious rooms occupied by the Society in 

 Gresham College. " The great hall, to which the ascent 

 from the court is by a few steps, is 37 feet long, near 20 

 feet broad, and 25 or 30 feet high. This spacious room 

 is a noble entrance to the rest of the apartments of the 

 Royal Society. The next room is about 35 feet long, near 

 20 feet broad, and 13 feet high ; and in this the Society 

 always met upon St. Andrew's day for their anniversary 

 elections. The inner room for their ordinary weekly 

 meetings is about 22 feet long and 18 feet broad. These 

 three rooms are all upon the same floor ; from the last, 

 two or three steps convey you into the gallery, which is 

 140 feet long and 131-2 broad. Beyond is the Repository 

 of their curiosities, which with the two rooms adjoining 

 is about 90 feet long and 12 or 13 feet broad. Besides 

 these rooms within, they have the use of a fair colonnade 

 under the gallery and of a spacious area about 140 feet 

 long and 197 feet broad." 



In 1710, under the Presidency of Sir Isaac Newton, 

 the Society acquired by purchase, with borrowed money, 

 a house of its own in Crane Court, Fleet Street. On the 

 Society taking up its abode there, the President ordered 

 the porter to be clothed in a suitable gown, and provided 

 with a staff surmounted by the Arms of the Society in 

 silver ; and on meeting nights a lamp to be hung over 

 the entrance of the court from Fleet Street. After a time 

 the porter ceased to wear a gown, but early in the last 



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