Preface vii 



appears at intervals of years, and we seem to see the succes- 

 sive stages of his progress from the outset of his career up 

 to the full renown of his fame. The life and activity of the 

 Club are thus connected with the statesmen and politicians, 

 the sailors and soldiers, the navigators and explorers, the 

 men of science, of letters and of art, the engineers, 

 inventors and discoverers of each successive generation, 

 not of this country only, but of many foreign lands. 



As a mere list of names would have had comparatively 

 limited interest for most readers, I have sought to enliven 

 my narrative by inserting brief biographical sketches of the 

 more eminent jilembers of the Club, and of the more pro- 

 minent among their guests. For the details given of these 

 worthies I have availed myself of such contemporary records 

 as those of Lord Chesterfield, Horace Walpole, James Bos- 

 well, Madame D'Arblay, Sir Henry Holland and others, as 

 well as the volumes of the Annual Register, Gentleman's 

 Magazine and similar j ournals. I have been largely indebted 

 to the admirable Dictionary of National Biography, which we 

 owe to the sagacity and enterprise of George Smith. For 

 the foreign visitors I have chiefly availed myself of the com- 

 prehensive Nouvelle Biographic Generate, published by Firmin 

 Didot Freres, and the Obituary Notices of the Royal Society. 



To add to the interest of the volume I have inserted 

 portraits of some of the persons mentioned in the text. 

 The Royal Society possesses a vast collection of engraved 

 portraits of its Fellows and eminent contemporaries, from 

 the beginning of its existence down to the present time. 

 I have gone through this collection, and have selected the 

 engravings here given, which have been reproduced from 

 the originals at the rooms of the Royal Society by the 

 Swan Electric Engraving Company, under the careful 

 supervision of the managing director, Mr. D. Cameron-Swan. 

 In the List of Plates such information is given as has 

 been obtainable regarding the painters and engravers of 

 the original portraits. 



Like all such documents, the records of the Royal Society 

 Club bring vividly before us some of the habits and customs 



