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Proceedings of the Pioyal Society 
“(2.) If not, what further provision is needed, and what measures 
should be taken to secure it? ” 
At the meeting of the Association in 1869 that committee 
reported— 
“(1.) That the provision now existing in the United Kingdom 
of G-reat Britain and Ireland is far from sufficient for the vigorous 
prosecution of physical research. 
“(2.) That, whilst greatly increased facilities for extending and 
systematising physical research are required, your committee do 
not consider it expedient that they should attempt to define how 
these facilities should be provided.” 
In explanation of this last finding, the committee observed 
that— 
“ Any scheme of scientific extension should be based on a full and accurate 
knowledge of the amount of aid now given to science, of the sources from 
which that aid is derived, and of the functions performed by individuals and 
institutions receiving such aid. Your committee have found it impossible, 
with the means and powers at their command, to acquire this knowledge. 
Moreover, as the whole question of the relation of the State to science, at pre¬ 
sent in a very unsettled and unsatisfactory position, is involved, they urge 
that a Royal Commission alone is competent to deal with the subject.” 
The Association approved of this report, and appointed applica¬ 
tion to be made to her Majesty’s Government to appoint a Koyal 
Commission to consider the whole subject. This application was 
successful; for, in May 1870, the Gazette announced the names of 
nine Commissioners, with power “ to make inquiry with regard to 
Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to 
inquire what aid thereto is derived from grants voted by Parlia¬ 
ment, or from endowments belonging to the several Universities 
in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether 
such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the pur¬ 
pose.” 
The importance of this measure I need not dwell upon. The 
backwardness of the British Government to aid institutions and 
individuals devoted to scientific investigations, and the miserable 
amount of any pittances conceded to them, affect the credit and 
prosperity of the country quite as much as the interests of science. 
Great Britain, whose influence in the world depends almost more 
on moral than on physical power, ought not to be behind other 
