President of the Royal Society

“ The men of science who have signed these resolutions are the first chemists and natural philosophers of the country, with the President of the Royal Society, the most illustrious body in Europe, at their head. ”

“ He declined to enter parliament as the representative of the sister university, and refused a proposal that he should succeed the Duke of Sussex as president of the Royal Society, but was elected in 1842 lord rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and acted as president of the British Association at Cambridge in 1845. Almost every learned society in Europe and several in America placed his name on their lists of members ”

“ On the other hand, if the noble first President of the Royal Society could revisit the upper air and once more gladden his eyes with a sight of the familiar mace, he would find himself in the midst of a material civilisation more different from that of his day, than that of the seventeenth was from that of the first century. ”

“ In 1878 he was elected president of the Royal Society of Literature, and in 1879 vice-president of the Society of Arts. He was a graceful and effective public speaker, and took a lively interest in social questions. ”

“ The Secretary knew that, practically speaking, it had been the custom for years for the President of the Royal Society to nominate the Council, and consequently he knew that every scientific adviser must first be indebted to the President for being qualified to advise, and then to the Admiralty for deriving profit from his counsel. ”

“ Young’s life, when he was between fifty-one and fifty-six years old, he ceased to be a practising physician, and occupied himself with science and literature only.
In 1827, at the anniversary of the Royal Society, after the resignation of the presidency by Sir Humphry Davy, the claims of Dr. Young were too strong to be altogether neglected.
Writing to his sister he says:
I find there has been pretty general conversation about making me President of the Royal Society, and I really think if I were foolish enough to wish for the office, I am at this moment popular enough to obtain it ”

“ Lord Rosse seems to imagine that the minor Societies themselves transfer their best papers to the Royal Society; that if, for instance, the Astronomical Society were to receive from A.B. a paper of unusual merit, the Society would transfer it to the Royal Society. This is quite wrong: any preference of the Royal to another Society is the work of the contributor himself. But it shows how well hafted is the Royal Society's claim, that a President should acquire the notion that it is acknowledged and acted upon by the other Societies, in their joint and corporate capacities. ”

“ In 1886 he became president of the Royal Society of British Artists (a title at which afterwards he scoffed) ; and he took a leading part later in founding the International Art Society, of which he was the first president. ”

“ Fully conceding that the Royal Society is entitled to preeminent rank and all the respect due to age and services, I could not, nor can I now, see any more obligation in a contributor to send his best to that Society than he can make out to be due to himself. This pretension, in my mind, was hooked on, by my historical mode of viewing things already mentioned, to my knowledge of the fact that the Royal Society—the chief fault, perhaps, lying with its President, Sir Joseph Banks—had sternly set itself against the formation of other societies ”

“ It is still doubtful whether the Royal Society, in the present advanced state of science, can derive advantage from possessing in its President, a philosopher actively engaged in any one branch of experimental enquiry. ”

“ It may be right also to state, that whilst many of the inconveniences, which have been experienced by the President of the Royal Society, have resulted from the conduct of his own supporters, those who were compelled to differ from him, have subsequently offered no vexatious opposition: they wait in patience, convinced that the force of truth must ultimately work its certain, though silent course ”

“ Of the three appointments of 100L. a-year each, which have been instituted since the abolition of the Board of Longitude, the President is supposed to have the control, thus making him quite sure of the obedience of his Council.
Besides these sources of patronage, there are other incidental occasions on which Government apply to the Royal Society to recommend proper persons to make particular experiments or observations; and, although I am far from supposing that these are in many instances given to persons the second or third best qualified for them, yet they deserve to be mentioned. ”

“ He was a member of every committee, regulated every undertaking, guided every negotiation, drew up nearly every report. By his judicious action the society was, in 1834, put in possession of spacious apartments in Somerset House, and on the death of George IV raised to an equal footing with the Royal Society on the visiting board of the Royal Observatory. He was four times elected its president (for terms of two years) , eleven times vice-president, and invariably sat on the council. ”

“ The president of this society is the Earl of Shaftesbury; the vice presidents are twenty gentlemen of the most influential position. Besides this there is a committee of ladies, and a committee of gentlemen. At the head of the committee of ladies stands the name of the Duchess of Sutherland, with seventeen others, among whom we notice the Countess of Shaftesbury, Countess of Ellesmere, Lady Robert Grosvenor, and others of the upper London sphere. The subscription list of donations to the society is headed by the queen and royal family. ”

“ At the same time, he thought it would be for the good of the Society if the President was changed as often as possible;—that every working member should have an opportunity of looking forward to occupying the chair which he (Judge Gillies) considered it an honour for anyone to hold. He had always attributed the reluctance which many evinced to taking the office of President to the practice hitherto followed of the President delivering an opening address. ”

“ He was also president of the National Union of Conservative Associations, and was president of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1888, when the meeting was at Nottingham; he joined the society in 1869. ”

“ In 1855 he was elected president, and remained in office until 1874. For many years the society met in his rooms in Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. On 4 June 1868 he became a fellow of the Royal Society. ”

“ On the other hand, it may be urged with some force, that the Presidency of the Royal Society should be reserved as the fair reward of scientific 181 labours, and not as an appendage to rank or to wealth:—that in England, we may in vain search amongst the aristocracy for one who feels a dignified respect for the sciences, and who is willing to afford that time which the faithful discharge of its duties would require. ”

“ At the same time, it must be allowed that, although it may not have directly advanced the progress of science, it has materially assisted its cause, by perpetuating the spirit of philosophical enquiry, and the love of scientific glory—by keeping alive upon the altar the sacred flame that genius may have kindled.
In the present state of science, the Royal Society imparts an inspiring principle to its various branches, by affording a rallying point, a centre of communication, to the philosophers of all nations, to whom kindred pursuits may render personal intercourse beneficial ”

“ The Royal Society, and its history under the rule of Sir Joseph Banks. The possessor of such manifold distinctions and of such habits of mind seemed, to most men, marked out as the natural head of a great scientific institution. Such a man would be sure to reflect honour on the Society, as well as to derive honour from his headship. ”

“ There are certain duties which the Royal Society owes to its own character as well as to the public, which, having been on some occasions apparently neglected, it may be here the proper place to mention, since it is reasonable to suppose that attention to them is within the province of its Secretaries. ”

“ Sir Thomas Brown, Wallis, Hook, Newton, and Boyle, together with a brilliant constellation of luminaries who adorned every department of our general literature. Science alone stagnated, and the construction of public works was chiefly conducted by foreign aid. The establishment of the Royal Society in 1660, however, gave promise of that improvement which has steadily gone on year by year to the present day. ”

“ In a new country like this—I think you have touched upon it in your address—there is a great tendency to further one's material wants, to promote trade and commerce, and to put aside, as it were, literature and the sciences; but here the Royal Society has stepped in and done good work by uniting those who were scattered by distance and who find in the meetings of our Society a convenient opportunity of coming together for the exchanging of ideas and renewing of those friendships which, though perhaps only yearly meetings permit, are nevertheless enduring. ”

“ Children, who has been on the Council of the Royal Society, and who was, a few years since, one of its Secretaries, pressing one of his friends to become, and actually insisting on proposing him as, a Fellow of the Royal Society. ”

“ In imitation of our Royal Society, it comprises not only the sciences, literature, and the arts, but also arts and trades, mechanics, inventions, &c. Its members are not idle, and they are a useful body, as they excite emulation by medals, civic crowns, premiums, and rewards. Their number is considerable and unlimited; a condition which is an evil in the last-mentioned society, and a good in this, whose nature is not so much to shine as to encourage industry. ”

“ During his presidency of the Royal Society, from 1777 to 1820—a long time for one man to occupy the principal place in the most distinguished learned body in the world—he not only encouraged, but promoted and directed, a remarkable radiation of research work, and was the accessible friend of every man of ability concerned in extending the bounds of enquiry into phenomena. ”

“ We have—I name it first, though, I am sorry to say, it is last in influence—the body consisting of the Royal Academy, with the Institute of Architects, and the schools at Kensington, and their branches; teaching various styles of fine or mechanical art. We have, in the second place, the Royal Society, as a central body; and, as its satellites, separate companies of men devoted to each several science: investigating, classing, and describing facts with unwearied industry. ”