166 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles, 



nomination as a right of the President, to which Sir Humphry Davy 

 replied, that he did ; and then nominated Mr. Children." 



It is likewise stated by Sir John Herschel (Phil. Mag. Jan. 1865, 

 p. 78), that "the President was distinctly asked by Dr. Wollaston 

 [at the Council of the Royal Society, Nov. 23, 1826] whether he 

 intended to use the privilege, by courtesy accorded to him, of 

 naming the Secretary, to which no one would object, or fairly to throw 

 it open to the Council. His answer to the former part of the alter- 

 native was susceptible of any sense that one might choose to put 

 upon it ; to the latter, it was both in Dr. Wollaston's opinion and 

 my own a negative.' 



You and I were present at that Council from the commencement 

 to its end. 



May I be permitted to ask you whether you remember having 

 heard any conversation such as that which has been stated by Sir 

 John Herschel and Mr. Babbage ? 



I assert, that no such conversation took place. 



May I also be permitted to ask you, as a then member of the 

 Council, whether you ever heard it even surmised, that Sir Humphry 

 Davy had promised to appoint Mr. Babbage to the office of Secre- 

 tary of the Royal Society, and had then violated that promise ? 



I am, my dear Mr. Gompertz, 



Yours sincerely, 



Benjamin Gompertz, Esq., F.R.S. J. South. 



Mjr respected old friend lost not a moment in replying to it, as 

 follows : — - 



Kennington Terrace, Vauxhall, 

 January 2, 1865. 



My dear Sir James, — In reply to your letter of the 2nd inst., 

 I beg to state that I never heard the conversation alluded to by 

 Sir John Herschel and Mr. Babbage, at the Council of the Royal 

 Society, on November 23, 1826 ; and I never heard that Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy had promised the Secretaryship to Mr. Babbage. 



I write this with the wish that, if you think it necessary, you 

 should publish it. Yours very sincerely, 



To Sir James South, F.R .S. Benjn. Gompertz. 



There are, however, some additional facts which in my opinion 

 establish that your late brother, Sir Humphry Davy, did not, either 

 directly or by implication, promise that he would appoint Mr. Bab- 

 bage to the Secretaryship of the Royal Society, and consequently 

 that Sir Humphry was not guilty of the mala fides of which he has 

 been so recklessly accused. 



On November 14, 1826 (the Council of the Royal Society Was 

 held on the 23rd of November), I received a letter from Sir John 

 Herschel (then Mr. Herschel), of which the following is a copy \— 



Sloane Street, 

 Tuesday, Nov. 14, 1826. 

 Dear South, — I am sorry not to have met with you, as I wanted 

 to have had some- talk with you about the Secretaryship of the Royal 



