i8io Henry Cavendish and his guests 233 



The death was announced of Henry Cavendish and Sir 

 Philip Stephens. These two vacancies were filled by the 

 election of Samuel Goodenough, Bishop of Carlisle, and Lord 

 Dundas. 



The Bishop of Carlisle had the reputation of being a 

 good botanist, a scholar and a preacher of considerable 

 eminence. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1789. 

 It was one of his sermons to the House of Lords which 

 called forth the epigram : 



Tis well enough that Goodenough 

 Before the Lords should preach ; 



But sure enough, full bad enough 

 Are those he has to teach. 



The Bishop proved an assiduous member of the Club as 

 the weekly registers for the succeeding years fully show. 



Henry Cavendish, who had attended every dinner, 51 in 

 all, during 1809 continued to take his accustomed place 

 at each meeting in January and the first half of February 

 in the following year. He did not appear on the 22nd of 

 that month nor on March ist or 8th. He died on the loth. 

 Evidently he retained his health and was able to pursue the 

 accustomed ways of his life up to about a fortnight before 

 the end. Before passing on from the narrative of his career 

 we may look back at one feature of it on which the records 

 of the Royal Society Club throw some little light the 

 friendships or at least acquaintanceships which his austere 

 and lonely nature permitted him to cultivate. The members 

 of the Royal Society Club saw far more of him than any 

 other of his contemporaries, but they have left somewhat 

 meagre recollections of his personality. The weekly journals 

 so sedulously kept by the Club throughout the whole of 

 his lifetime record his presence at the meetings and give 

 the name of every guest whom he introduced throughout 

 the whole course of his membership, extending over half 

 a century. Allusion has already been made (p. 74) to the 

 testimony of these records as to Cavendish's selection of 

 guests, but it may be well to look a little more closely into 

 the whole evidence to the end of which we have now come. 



