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The Horticultural Society has been ridden almost to death, and is
now rousing itself; but its constitution seems to have been
somewhat impaired. There are hopes of its purgation, and
ultimate restoration, notwithstanding a debt of 19,000L., which
the Committee of Inquiry have ascertained to exist. This, after
all, will not be without its advantage to science, if it puts a
stop to HOUSE-LISTS, NAMED BY ONE OR TWO PERSONS,— to making
COMPLIMENTARY councillors,—and to auditing the accounts WITHOUT
EXAMINING EVERY ITEM, or to omitting even that form altogether.
The Medico-Botanical Society suddenly claimed the attention of
the public; its pretensions were great—its assurance unbounded.
It speedily became distinguished, not by its publications or
discoveries, but by the number of princes it enrolled in its
list. It is needless now to expose the extent of its short-lived
quackery; but the evil deeds of that institution will long remain
in the impression they have contributed to confirm throughout
Europe, of the character of our scientific establishments. It
would be at once a judicious and a dignified course, if those
lovers of science, who have been so grievously deceived in this
Society, were to enrol upon the latest page of its history its
highest claim to public approbation, and by signing its
dissolution, offer the only atonement in their power to the
insulted science of their country. As with a singular inversion
of principle, the society contrived to render EXPULSION* the
highest HONOUR it could confer; so it remains for it to
exemplify, in suicide, the sublimest virtue of which it is
capable. [* They expelled from amongst them a gentleman, of whom
it is but slight praise to say, that he is the first and most
philosophical botanist of our own country, and who is admired
abroad as he is respected at home. The circumstance which
surprised the world was not his exit from, but his previous
entrance into that Society.]
CHAPTER IV.
STATE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY IN PARTICULAR.
As the venerable first parent of English, and I might perhaps
say, of European scientific societies; as a body in the welfare
of which, in the opinions of many, the interests of British
science are materially involved, I may be permitted to feel
anxiously, and to speak more in detail.
SECTION 1.
MODE OF BECOMING A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.
I have no intention of stating what ought to be the
qualifications of a Fellow of the Royal Society; but, for years,
the practical mode of arriving at that honour, has been as
follows:—
A. B. gets any three Fellows to sign a certificate, stating that
he (A. B.) is desirous of becoming a member, and likely to be a
useful and valuable one. This is handed in to the Secretary, and
suspended in the meeting-room. At the end of ten weeks, if A. B.
has the good fortune to be perfectly unknown by any literary or
scientific achievement, however small, he is quite sure of being
elected as a matter of course. If, on the other hand, he has
unfortunately written on any subject connected with science, or
is supposed to be acquainted with any branch of it, the members
begin to inquire what he has done to deserve the honour; and,
unless he has powerful friends, he has a fair chance of being
blackballed. [I understand that certificates are now read at the
Council, previously to their being hung up in the meeting-room;
but I am not aware that this has in the slightest degree
diminished their number, which was, at the time of writing this
note, TWENTY-FOUR.]
In fourteen years’ experience, the few whom I have seen rejected,
have all been known persons; but even in such cases a hope
remains;— perseverance will do much, and a gentleman who values
so highly the distinction of admission to the Royal Society, may
try again; and even after being twice blackballed, if he will a
third time condescend to express his desire to become a member,
he may perhaps succeed, by the aid of a hard canvass. In such
circumstances, the odds are much in favour of the candidate
possessing great scientific claims; and the only objection that
could then reasonably be suggested, would arise from his
estimating rather too highly a distinction which had become
insignificant from its unlimited extension.
It should be observed, that all members contribute equally, and
that the sum now required is fifty pounds. It used, until lately,
to be ten pounds on entrance, and four pounds annually. The
amount of this subscription is so large, that it is calculated to
prevent many men of real science from entering the Society, and
is a very severe tax on those who do so; for very few indeed of
the cultivators of science rank amongst the wealthy classes.
Several times, whilst I have been consulting books or papers at
Somerset House, persons have called to ask the Assistant-secretary the mode of becoming a member of the Royal Society. I
should conjecture, from some of these applications, that it is
not very unusual for gentlemen in the country to order their
agents in London to take measures for putting them up at the
Royal Society.
SECTION 2.
OF THE PRESIDENCY AND VICE-PRESIDENCIES.
Why Mr. Davies Gilbert became President of the Royal Society I
cannot precisely say. Let him who penned, and those who
supported this resolution solve the enigma:
“It was Resolved,
“That it is the opinion of the Council that Davies Gilbert, Esq.
is by far the most fit person to be proposed to the Society at
the approaching anniversary as President, and that he be
recommended accordingly.”
To resolve that he was a FIT person might have been sufficiently
flattering: to state that he was the most fit, was a little hard
upon the rest of the Society; but to resolve that he was “BY FAR
THE MOST FIT” was only consistent with that strain of compliment
in which his supporters indulge, and was a eulogy, by no means
unique in its kind, I believe, even at that very Council.
That Mr. Gilbert is a most amiable and kind-hearted man will be
instantly admitted by all who are, in the least degree,
acquainted with him: that he is fit for the chair of the Royal
Society, will be allowed by few, except those who have committed
themselves to the above-quoted resolution.
Possessed of knowledge and of fortune more than sufficient for
it, he might have been the restorer of its lustre. He might have
called round him, at the council board, those most actively
engaged in the pursuits of science, most anxious for the
improvement of the Royal Society. Instead of himself proposing
resolutions, he might have been, what a chairman ought to be, the
organ of the body over which he presides. By the firmness of his
own conduct he might have taught the subordinate officers of the
Society the duties of their station. Instead of paying
compliments to Ministers, who must have smiled at his simplicity,
he might have maintained the dignity of his Council by the
dignity of knowledge.
But he has chosen a different path; with no motives of interest
to allure, or of ambition to betray him, instead of making
himself respected as the powerful chief of a united republic,—
that of science,—he has grasped at despotic power, and stands
the feeble occupant of its desolated kingdom, trembling at the
force of opinions he might have directed, and refused even the
patronage of their names by those whose energies he might have
commanded.
Mr. Gilbert told the Society he accepted the situation for a
year; and this circumstance caused a difficulty in finding a
Treasurer: an office which he had long held, and to which he
wished to return.
Another difficulty might have arisen, from the fact of the late
Board of Longitude comprising amongst its Members the PRESIDENT
of the Royal Society, and three of its Fellows, appointed by the
President and Council. Of course, when Mr. Gilbert accepted the
higher situation, he became, EX OFFICIO, a Member of the Board of
Longitude; and a vacancy occurred, which ought to have been
filled up by the President and Council. But when this subject
was brought before them, in defiance of common sense, and the
plain meaning of the act of parliament, which had enacted that
the Board of Longitude should have the assistance of four persons
belonging to the Royal Society, Mr. Gilbert refused to allow it
to be filled up, on the ground that he should not be President
next year, and had made no vacancy.
Next year Mr. Gilbert wished again to be President one other
year; but the Board of Longitude was dissolved, otherwise we
might have had some LOCUM TENENS to retire at Mr. Gilbert’s
pleasure.
These circumstances are in themselves of trifling importance, but
they illustrate the character of the proceedings: and it is not
becoming the dignity of science or of the Society that its
officers should be so circumstanced as to have an apparent and
direct interest in supporting the existing President, in order to
retain their own places; and if such a system is once discovered,
doubt immediately arises as to the frequency of such
arrangements.
SECTION 3.
OF THE SECRETARISHIPS.
Whether the present Secretaries are the best qualified to aid in
reforming the Society, is a question I shall not discuss. With
regard to the senior Secretary, the time of his holding office is
perhaps more unfortunate than the circumstance. If I might be
permitted to allude for a moment to his personal character, I
should say that the mild excellencies of his heart have prevented
the Royal Society from deriving the whole of that advantage from
his varied knowledge and liberal sentiments which some might
perhaps have anticipated; and many will agree with me in
regretting that his judgment has not directed a larger portion of
the past deeds of the Councils of the Royal Society. Of the
junior Secretary I shall only observe, that whilst I admit his
industry, his perseverance, and his talents, I regret to see such
valuable qualities exerted at a disadvantage, and that I
sincerely wish them all the success they merit in situations more
adapted for their developement.
There are, however, some general principles which it may be
important to investigate, which relate to the future as well as
to the past state of the office of Secretary of the Royal
Society. Inconvenience has already arisen from having had at a
former period one of our Secretaries the conductor of a
scientific journal; and this is one of the points in which I can
agree with those who now manage the affairs of the Society.
[These observations were written previous to the late
appointment, to which I now devote Section 6. Experience seems
to be lost on the Council of the Royal Society.] Perhaps it
might be advantageous to extend the same understanding to the
other officers of the Society at least, if not to the members of
its Council.
Another circumstance worthy of the attention of the Society is,
to consider whether it is desirable, except in special cases, to
have military persons appointed to any of its offices. There are
several peculiarities in the military character, which, though
they do not absolutely unfit their possessors for the individual
prosecution of science, may in some degree disqualify such
persons from holding offices in scientific institutions. The
habits both of obedience and command, which are essential in
military life, are little fitted for that perfect freedom which
should reign in the councils of science. If a military chief
commit an oversight or an error, it is necessary, in order to
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