294 Presidentship of Dalies Gilbert 1828 



the new Treasurer, was a barrister who had given up his legal 

 practice and become a noted horticulturist. He was one 

 of the original fellows of the Linnean Society and became 

 F.R.S. in 1799. Thomas Phillipps was elected into the Royal 

 Society in 1820. Joseph Smith has already been mentioned 

 in the foregoing chapter (p. 262) as the praise worthy Treasurer 

 of the Club who in 1836 collected Daniel Moore's separate 

 papers, which might otherwise have been lost, and entered 

 in due order in the register the Minutes of the weekly meet- 

 ings of the Club for a period of nine years and a half. He 

 was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1808 at the age of 

 thirty-three, and from that time till the end of his long life 

 he continued to reside within the precincts of the Inn. 

 He was not entirely engrossed, however, in the pursuit 

 of the law. He took an interest in science and is said to have 

 been well acquainted with British plants. He became a 

 Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1811. Eight years later 

 he was admitted into the Royal Society and was a constant 

 attendant at its meetings. He must have been regarded 

 with respect and esteem by the members of the Club, for 

 in 1830 they elected him Treasurer, an office which he 

 filled with success for the long interval of a quarter of a 

 century. 



The resolution of the Club to cancel the meetings from 

 the ist of August to the ist of October was extended in 

 actual practice into November. The members appear to 

 have been in such a hurry to enjoy their long vacation 

 that, although on July 3 ist dinner was provided for six, 

 no one came to partake of it. The meetings of the Club, 

 as appears from the register, were in fact not resumed until 

 20th November. Another indication of a falling away from 

 the Spartan regime of the early days of the Club is seen 

 in relation to Yuletide. In the reign of Josiah Colebrooke 

 Christmas Day and New- Year's Day were not allowed to 

 interrupt the even tenor of the ways of the Royal Philo- 

 sophers who, when these festivals happened on Thursday, 

 met together at the Mitre as usual. This year no dinner 

 was arranged for Christmas Day, while for January ist, 



