1843-44 
DINNER AT PEEL’S 
231 
that under the present registration system the 
instances of people passing a century would be 
much diminished. . . . Before dinner Sir Robert 
informed me that he intended to apply 2,000/. in 
aid of the publication of the Natural History 
collected in the late expedition to the South Seas, 
and that he wished to be favoured with my 
opinion on the best mode of applying it to that 
purpose. ... I shall communicate in writing my 
conclusions.’ 
Not long afterwards, Owen describes to his 
sister Maria the occasion of his meeting the King 
of Saxony at Sir Robert Peel’s : ‘ Sir R. Peel 
will be very popular in Germany when they 
hear of the nature of the party he invited to meet 
the King of Saxony — not the great by birth and 
Wealth, but the representatives of the literature 
and science of the day. It was a proud and 
gratifying event to me, I must confess, to be in- 
cluded in the dinner list. There was a large 
accession to the evening party, which included 
Whewell, with Murchison, Garrett, Sir Wm. 
Hooker, Brodie, and Lawrence [Sir Thomas], &c., 
^c. At the dinner . . . were Rogers, Hallam, 
Sydney Smith, Lord Northampton, P. R.S., 
Bishop of Norwich, P.L.S., Dr. Buckland, Robert 
Brown, and myself ; the rest were composed of 
His Majesty and suite. . . . Brown and I went 
together, and arrived about five minutes after the 
half-hour ; Hallam and another were there, and 
