62 Presidentship of the Earl of Macclesfield 1757 



first mission to England with the view of representing their 

 views and of coming to an understanding with the Govern- 

 ment on the subject. He landed in this country on 27th 

 July, and a fortnight thereafter he was one of the guests 

 at the dinner of the Royal Philosophers. He remained in 

 England for five years and sailed again for America in 

 August 1762. During this prolonged sojourn here he became 

 a much valued friend of many Fellows of the Royal Society 

 and members of the Club. He has put on record in a letter 

 to his son the circumstances in which, as he learnt, he had 

 been elected into the Royal Society. Though the letter 

 properly belongs to the time of his second mission to Eng- 

 land in 1766, the particulars which it gives may be appro- 

 priately quoted here. He tells that, having occasion to 

 be a good deal at the rooms of the Society, " I had then an 

 opportunity of looking over the old Council-books and 

 Journals of the Society, and having a curiosity to see how 

 I came in, of which I had never been informed, I looked 

 back to the Minutes relating to it. You must know it is 

 not usual to admit persons who have not requested to be 

 admitted, and a recommendatory certificate in favour of 

 the candidate signed by at least three of the members, is 

 by our rule to be presented to the Society, expressing that 

 he is desirous of that honour, and is so and so qualified. 

 As I never had asked or expected the honour, I was, as I 

 said before, curious to see how the business was managed. 

 I found that the certificate, worded very advantageously 

 for me, was signed by Lord Macclesfield, then President, 

 Lord Parker and Lord Willoughby ; that the election was 

 by a unanimous vote ; and the honour being volun- 

 tarily conferred by the Society, unsolicited by me, it 

 was thought wrong to demand or to receive the usual 

 fees or composition ; so that my name was entered on 

 the list with a vote of Council that I was not to pay any- 

 thing, and accordingly nothing has ever been demanded 

 of me. Those who are admitted in the common way pay 

 five guineas admission fees, and two guineas and a half 

 yearly contribution, or twenty-five guineas down in lieu 



