" On the Decline of Science in England" 355 



guished for candour and urbanity, should have thought fit to 

 make a severe attack on the Royal Society, to which, as a 

 man of Science, he owes much good-will ; and to cover this, 

 which appears to be the main object of this work, by a title 

 which communicates little of its real nature and design. The 

 harshness of his strictures he represents as absolutely neces- 

 sary to cure the deep-rooted maladies of that body; but yet 

 the discipline employed by him, very much resembles that of 

 an ardent and inexperienced son of Galen, who, in his eager- 

 ness to display a supposed manual dexterity, overlooks, en- 

 tirely, the constitution with which he has to deal, and the 

 mode by which a permanent cure is most likely to be ef- 

 fected. 



It is not dignified in Mr. Babbage, to decline in his title- 

 page, the designation of Fellow of the Royal Society. It is much 

 beneath him to affect to despise a title, which his friend Wol- 

 laston invariably employed; and which it is not very likely 

 that he would have ventured to put aside, during the life-time 

 of that great man. This is a petitesse unworthy of Mr. Bab- 

 bage: — it is only, however, a petitesse; but his charge against 

 the Secretaries of the Royal Society, of wilfully suppressing an 

 important document of the Council; and his fancied detection 

 of their guilt, involve his candour, or his judgement, in a way 

 which has excited much surprise. The circumstances of this 

 charge have been sufficiently discussed by Dr. Roget and 

 Mr. Babbage, in some of your former Numbers ; and I would 

 now ask, whether it was consistent with the usual courtesy of 

 society, to bring forward a serious accusation, in the face of 

 the world, without taking the trouble to inquire of the ac- 

 cused party, whether there was any ground for mistake, or 

 misapprehension, on the subject ? 



In the privacy of the study, a man may come to an unim- 

 peachable conclusion, in the exact sciences, from his own in- 

 ternal resources. But in the affairs of the world, and parti- 

 cularly in matters involving character, he must recollect, that 

 there are two sides of a question ; and that, in determining 

 guilt, there is not only a necessity of rigidly ascertaining facts ; 

 but also the animus connected with them, on which alone 

 their real tendency depends. 



Mr.Babbage's criticisms on the mode of entering the minutes 

 of public meetings may to a certain degree be in point ; and 

 would, I have no doubt, have received respectful attention, 

 if submitted in a friendly manner ; but to think of founding, 

 as he has done, a charge of bad faith on any thing which he 

 has been able to elicit, relative to the transaction in question ; 

 to consider himself justified in applying innuendoes of tam- 



2 Z 2 pering 



