A Note on the History of the Statutes of the Society. 101 



Majesty's Privy Council, may be propounded and put to the vote the 

 same day. And Sec. 3 of the same chapter provides that " the name 

 of every person propounded as a Candidate, together with the name 

 of the Fellow proposing, shall be entered in the Journal-book;" by 

 which it appears that " propounding" by one Fellow was sufficient. 

 A 1682 ^ n l *^' now ever, the following was proposed on August 2, 

 and passed 011 August 5 : 



" The Statute for Election of Fellows having by long Experience 

 been found insufficient for bringing in persons qualifyed for the ends- 

 of the Institution of the Royal Society, few balloting in the negative 

 and presuming the person to be well known to the Member that Pro- 

 poseth the Candidate, it is thought requisite by the Councell to 

 propose this Statute following, 



" Every person that would propose a Candidate shall first give in 

 his name to some of the Councell, that so in the next Councell it may 

 bo discoursed viva voce whether the person is known to be so qualified 

 as in probability to be usefull to the Society. And if the Councell 

 return no other Answer but that they desire further time to be 

 acquainted with the gentleman proposed, the Proposer is to take that 

 for an Answer. And if they are well assured that the Candidate may 

 be usefull to the Society then the Candidate shall be proposed at the 

 next meeting of the Society and ballotted according to the Statute in 

 that behalf, and shall immediately sign the usual Bond and pay his 

 admission money upon his Admission." 



(Neither the Statutes of 1663, nor the Edition of 1752, make any 

 mention of the " 13ond for the payment of the contribution ; " the words 

 first occur in the Edition of 1776, but the actual Bonds preserved in 

 the Archives of the Society date from January 1, 1674, onwards.) 



Ann 1728 In 1 728 ' Januarv 4th ( 1727 old st J le )' the following Statute 



was passed, that of 1682 being apparently repealed : 

 " Every Person io be Elected Fellow of the Society shall first at a 

 Meeting of the Society be propounded as a candidate to be approved 

 by the Council, and shall be recommended by three members, one of 

 which at least shall be a member of the Council, and one of them shall 

 at the same Time mention and specify the qualification of the said 

 Candidate. And afterwards such Person shall at another meeting of 

 the Society (whereat there shall be a competent Number for making 

 Elections) be referred back from the Council if approved, and shall then 

 be propounded and put to the Vote for Election Saving and Excepting 

 that it shall be free for every one of his Majesties Subjects who is a 

 Peer or the son of a Peer of Great Britain or Ireland, and for every 

 one of his Majesties Privy Council of either of the said kingdoms to 

 bo propounded by any single Person and to be put to the Vote for 

 Election on the same Day, there being present a competent Number 

 for making Elections." 



