When the character of the present era shall be judged by that calmest and most unerring of tribunals-posterity, there can be little doubt that especial glory will be assigned to it, enhancing all its other merits, and doing much toward extenuating all its faults; it will be said that then, for the time in this country, was it practically acknowledged that science, art and literature were no mere appanages of a class, but the common birthright of all; that their mission was not to solace a student's lonely hours, or to sharpen the dulled edge of a rich or a great man's satiety, but, in a word, to make life universally wiser, happier, nobler, more worthy of Him in whose image we are made, and for which lofty object alone religion, philosophy, and common sense, alike teach us such mighty agencies must have been bestowed. The century will probably have much to answer for, but if some such epitaph as this may be inscribed upon its tomb, all else will be ultimately forgiven and forgotten. To mark the progress of the mighty revolution thus accomplished were indeed a task of the highest interest, and for which there were no need to depart from the path marked out by our present subject. We see, for instance, at

literary and scientific

The history of the of these bodies that we select for separate notice, the Royal Society of Literature, is at once painful and interesting. It originated in a conversation between Dr. Burgess, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, and an eminent person of the household of George IV., which took place in , and when it was agreed that among the numerous existing societies seemed to be wanting for the encouragement of general literature. The substance of this conversation soon reached the King, and his conduct on the matter forms of

Come, bright Improvement,

by the publication of inedited remains of ancient literature, and of such works as may be of great intrinsic value, but not of that popular character which usually claims the attention of publishers; by the promotion of discoveries in literature; by endeavouring to fix the standard as far as practicable, and to preserve the purity of the English language, by the critical improvement of English lexicography; by the reading at public meetings of interesting papers on history, philosophy, poetry, philology, and the arts, and the publication of such of those papers as shall be approved of; by the assigning of honorary rewards to works of great literary merit, and to important discoveries in literature; and by establishing a correspondence with learned men in foreign countries, for the purposes of literary inquiry and information.

Celtic Antiquities;

The Pursuits of Literature ;

Todd's Johnson's Dictionary;

King William, on his accession, had too many and urgent claims upon his privy purse to continue the grant; and during the present reign, so friendly to literature and the arts, it has not been recommended, nor has it occurred to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to follow, in this way, the illustrious example of the founder, whose

earnest

endeavour to patronise the literature of England, and conciliate foreign sympathy for pursuits confined to no country, thus, as far as the throne was concerned, concluded with him.

The Biography of the Literary Characters of Great Britain,

It is curious that at the present moment the most important of the works published by the other great and still more useful literary society, that for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, should also be a work of general biography, but not confined to our own country, nor arranged in the same manner. In this, which is intended to rival, if not to surpass, the great Biographical Dictionaries of the Continent, all the important lives are of course on a large scale; but the very universality of the work must still render it unable to discuss at such length as Englishmen must occasionally require the memoirs of Englishmen, consequently the works may with propriety range side by side on the same shelves. Of the other important and admirable works of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, its Almanacks, its Maps, its Libraries of Useful. and Entertaining Knowledge, its Penny Magazines, and Penny Cyclopaedias, all are too well known to require any lengthened comment upon them here. The success of these publications forms an epoch in the history of literature. The society has proved that high excellence and great expenditure in production may proceed simultaneously with an exceedingly low charge on distribution; and the effects of its success on the trade of bookselling generally, and consequently on the state of English literature, have been of the most important character. The founder of the society was Mr., now Lord, Brougham, who called the meeting in . The charter was not obtained till . At the society was supported by the subscriptions of its members; but these were gradually discontinued, as some

Let us now without ceremony pay an Asmodeus-like visit to or of the other societies we have named, stopping with each just so long as we see fit, or think their doings of any interest to us. Here is the Linnsean in , held in the house bequeathed to it by Sir Joseph Banks, and in which Sir Joseph himself resided. The society was formed in by Sir J. E. Smith, and incorporated in , with the object of studying natural history, and more particularly that branch of it for which the great Swede from whom it derives its name was so celebrated. But the society does not possess the name only of Linnaeus, but his library and herbarium also, purchased by Sir James Smith, for The herbarium occupies small cases, and is as valuable for the determination by its means of the synonyms of the writings of the philosopher, as it is interesting from being the personal relic that was of all other relics of him the most desirable to be preserved. But what are the members doing? Admitting new members, or Fellows, as they are called. This over, the essential business of the evening commences. A flying fish is presented by member. Another reads a letter giving an account of a flight of locusts recently witnessed in India, that literally darkened the air, and which, though moving at the rate of miles an hour, took a party travelling in an opposite direction or hours to pass through. A paper follows on the echinidm (sea-eggs, or sea-urchins, as our unphilosophical fishermen call them) of the _Egean Sea, of which, we learn, delights in waters of some fathoms deep, and climbs up the corals by means of its spines alone. But enough of the Linnaean; let us see what they are doing at the Royal Astronomical Society. Nothing, apparently, of great interest this evening, so let us mention a noticeable anecdote connected with it, and pass on to the Royal Geographical. To ensure accuracy in the calculation of some important astronomical tables, separate computers were employed; and when they had performed their task, members were chosen to compare the results, when so many errors were detected, that of the examiners expressed his regret that the labour could not be executed by a machine. The other replied that it possible. The speaker was Mr. Babbage, who, setting to work to develope the idea thus suggested, at last produced of the most remarkable of scientific wonders, the Calculating Machine.

The evening's business of the Royal Geographical Society is of considerable interest, relating chiefly to that land of romance and terror to all travellers, Africa. During some recent explorations on the north-east coast of Africa, a new and important river has been discovered, rising near the foot of the southern slope of the great Abyssinian plateau, and winding through a country of the richest soil,

well cultivated by a

happy

and hospitable race,

Look'd at each other with a wild surmise,

Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

touching electric conduction and the nature of matter,

Davy is a surprising young man, and

one

who, by his unassumingness, his open warmth of character, and his all-promising talents, soon conciliates our affections. He writes me that

two

paralytic patients have been cured by the gaseous oxyd of azote--the beatific gas, for discovering which, if he had lived in the time of the old Persian kings, he would have received the reward proposed for the inventing a new pleasure.

with an income,

of at least

500l.

a-year.

The room was spacious, well ventilated, well lighted from above, and well supplied with water. It was divided into

two

compartments, nearly of equal dimensions;

one

the laboratory proper, the other provided with rows of seats to be used as a theatre for the accommodation of the students of practical chemistry. The apparatus most conspicuous, and most in use, were a sand-bath for chemical purposes, and for heating the room; a powerful blast-furnace; a moveable iron forge, with a double bellows; a blow-pipe apparatus, attached to a table, with double bellows underneath; a large mercurial trough, and

two

or

three

water pneumatic troughs, and various galvanic troughs; not to mention gasometers, filtering stands, and the common necessaries of a laboratory of glass or earthenware, &c.; and not to mention the delicate instruments liable to be injured by acid fumes which were commonly kept in another room, as air-pumps, balances, &c. In brief, in regard to its equipment and appearance, it was altogether a working laboratory, designed for research; there was no finery in it, or fitting up for display; nothing to attract vulgar admiration, no arrangement of apparatus in orderly disposition for lectures, and scarcely any apparatus solely intended for this purpose. It was, indeed, an almost constant scene of laborious research; and the preparation for the weekly lecture, or lectures, was considered not the most important matter, but rather as an interruption to the ordinary course of experimental investigation. In the laboratory, where my brother spent a great portion of every day that he was in town, and at leisure, he was unremittingly engaged in original experiments; and even in his absence the operations were not suspended; they were continued by his assistants, according to the directions which he had given; and, when he returned, he finished the experiments, and examined the results. Nothing was left to memory; an entry was made in a large book, kept for the purpose, of all that had occurred, written either by himself or by an assistant from his dictation; not, indeed, in minute detail, for that would have occupied too much time, but briefly, for aiding the memory, and minutely only in regard to weight and measure, and what was most important and characteristic. In his inquiries there never was any mystery or concealment, but the most perfect openness. The register of experiments was left open; he received his friends in the laboratory, and conversed with them on the objects of inquiry in progress; and however intensely engaged he was always accessible. I can never forget his manner when occupied in his favourite pursuit; his zeal mounted to enthusiasm, which he more or less imparted to those around him. With cheerful voice and countenance, and a hand as ready to manipulate as his mind was quick to contrive, he was indefatigable in his exertions.

He was delighted with success, but not discouraged by failure

; and he bore failures and accidents in experiments with a patience and forbearance, even when owing to the awkwardness of assistants, which could hardly have been expected from a person of his ardent temperament. And his boldness in experimenting was very remarkable: in the operations of the laboratory danger was very much forgotten, and exposure to danger

was an every-day occurrence. Considering the risks run, and the few, if any, precautions taken against accidents, it is surprising how small a number of injuries were received. The only

two

serious wounds I recollect he sustained, were in the hand and eye; the

one

from receiving on his hand a quantity of melted potash; the other from the explosion of a detonating compound. Had his constitution been bad, the use of both hand and eye would probably have been impaired; indeed, the eye ever after retained the mark of the wound inflicted on the transparent cornea, and never perfectly recovered its strength.

Davy gave his lecture in the Institution in the year , the subject being that which from a very early period had most deeply interested him-galvanism; and in connection with which some of his greatest future triumphs were to be achieved. Sir Joseph Banks, Count Rumford, and other distinguished men were present, and highly pleased with the new lecturer. Dr. Paris speaks of his uncouth appearance; whilst, on the other hand, the ladies, it appears, remarked that his

eyes were made for something besides poring over crucibles.

Since the account given by Newton of his

first

discoveries in optics, it may be questioned whether so happy and successful an instance of philosophical induction has ever been afforded as that by which Davy discovered the composition of the fixed alkalis,

to diffuse the knowledge and facilitate the introduction of useful inventions and improvements; and to

teach, by courses of lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life.

From the Royal Institution, where Davy fulfilled so long and so honourably the post of Chemical Professor, to the Royal Society, of which he became ,the President, the thoughts pass by a natural transition. And now, like the traveller who has ascended to the source of some magnificent river, along the banks of which, far away on either side, he has seen the evidences of the fertility that those waters have done so much to create, we rest content, and look upon our literary, as he upon his actual, journey as essentially finished, and resign ourselves to the reflections naturally suggested by such a position. In glancing over the history of the Royal Society, it is this consideration of its relative situation as regards all the other learned bodies of the Metropolis that even more than the intrinsic value of that history, great as it is, makes, and must ever make it most deeply interesting. Boyle, in a letter of the date of , speaks of the Invisible or Philosophical Society, and there can be little doubt but he refers to the meetings from which the Royal Society sprang, and which, being held in all sorts of places, now at the lodgings of of the members, now at the Gresham College, and now somewhere in the neighbourhood of the latter, were practically enough to all but the initiated. Among these members were Dr. Wilkins, afterwards Bishop of Chester, the author of a

Discovery of a New World

society. An address was presented to the king, who gave it a very flattering and promising reception

agreed that records should be made of all the works of nature and art of which any account could be obtained; so that the present age and posterity might be able to mark the errors which have been strengthened by long prescription, to

Seal of the Royal Society.

restore truths which have been long neglected, and to extend the uses of those already known; thus making the way easier to those which were yet unknown. It was also resolved to admit men of different religions, professions, and nations, in order that the knowledge of nature might be freed from the prejudices of sects, and from a bias in favour of any particular branch of learning, and that all mankind might as much as possible be engaged in the pursuit of philosophy, which it was proposed to reform not by laws and ceremonies, but by practice and example. It was further resolved that the Society should not be a school where some might teach and others be taught, but rather a sort of laboratory where all persons might operate independently of

one

another.

suggested that there were several persons of the society whose genius was very proper and inclined to improve the English tongue, and particularly for philosophical purposes ;

who goes before the president with a mace, which he lays down on the table when the society have taken their places.

Take away that bauble.

The room,

where the society meets is large and wainscotted; there is a large table before the chimney, with

seven

or

eight

chairs covered with green cloth about it, and

two

rows of wooden and matted benches to lean on, the

first

being higher than the others, in form like an amphitheatre. The president and council are elective; they mind no precedency in the society, but the president sits at the middle of the table in an elbow-chair, with his back to the chimney. The secretary sits at the end of the table on his left hand; an

4

they have each of them pen, ink, and paper before them. I saw nobody sit in the chairs; I think they are reserved for persons of great quality, or those who have occasion to draw near the president. All the other members take their places as they think fit, and without ceremony; and if any

one

comes in after the society is fixed, nobody stirs, but he takes a place presently where he can find it, so that no interruption may be given to him that speaks. The president has a little wooden mace in his hand, with which he strikes the table when he would command silence; they address their discourse to him bare-headed till he makes a sign for them to put on their hats; and there is a relation given in a few words of what is thought proper to be said concerning the experiments proposed by the secretary. There is nobody here eager to speak, that makes a long harangue, or intent upon saying all he knows; he is never interrupted that speaks, and differences of opinion cause no manner of resentment, nor as much as a disobliging way of speech; there is nothing seemed to me to be more civil, respectful, and better managed than this meeting; and if there are any private discourses held between any while a member is speaking, they only whisper, and the least sign from the president causes a sudden stop, though they have not told their mind out. I took

special notice of this conduct in a body consisting of so many persons, and of such different nations.

wooden and matted benches

an efficient establishment for all the great purposes of science, similar to the college contemplated by Lord Bacon, and sketched in his

New Atlantis;

having subordinate to it the Royal Observatory at Greenwich for astronomy, the

British Museum

for natural history in its most extensive acceptation, and a laboratory founded for chemical investigation, amply provided with all the means requisite for original inquiry, and extending the boundaries and the resources of this most important national science.

almost entire success ;

magnetic observations made by Captain Ross and his officers, with so much assiduity and ability, will be the enduring monument of their fame as long as industry and science are held in honour by mankind. The magnetic maps of the South polar regions will be a result which all philosophers must hail with delight, while the

geographer will rejoice in the advancement of our knowledge so far to the southward of all former navigation, and in our acquaintance with a new polar volcano, compared to which Hecla sinks into insignificance.

At the yearly anniversary to which we have referred, gold medals are conferred upon the authors of the best papers on experimental philosophy, written in the preceding months, and who are often personally present to receive them from the hands of the President, with some suitable remarks on the occasion made in the course of his general address. honourable feature characterises the grant of these medals--they are conferred indifferently on foreigners and Englishmen. At the last anniversary, for instance, M. Jean B. Dumas received for his Researches in Organic Chemistry. In former years we find still more distinguished foreign names, such as MM. Biot and Arago. Among the Englishmen who have received this honour at the hands of the Society may be mentioned Dr. Priestley, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Ivory, and Sir John Herschel. But of all the meetings connected with the Royal Society, those of which the public hear the least are by far the most attractive; we allude to those private re-unions of the members for social enjoyment and conversation. During the presidency of Sir Joseph Banks these were of a very brilliant description; and while Sir Humphry Davy resided in Lower they were continued with no less spirit under his. His brother gives a graphic account of them. Here were

brought together,

not merely men of science, but also literary men, poets, artists, country gentlemen; and they were very attractive to foreigners. The subjects of interest of the day were there discussed, and curious information obtained from the best source, and knowledge exchanged between individuals, as in a great mart of traffic, each giving and receiving according to his acquirements and wants. There the physiologist and naturalist might collect curious particulars from an African traveller, or Arctic navigator, respecting many objects of his particular inquiries, and give hints for further investigation, or solve questions which might have perplexed the original observer. An evening seldom occurred without some novelty in art, science, or nature being brought forward--as the bones from the Kirkdale cave, or a new chemical compound, or a magnetical experiment, or a recently discovered mineral or some new instrument or apparatus; and a great zest was given by the presence, as was generally the case, of the inventor or discoverer, who was always willing to offer explanation, and to give detailed information to those who were desirous of receiving it. And, moreover, a stimulus was thus imparted--a fresh excitement to the mind to continue and perfect useful investigations; and aids were often given which greatly contributed to the successful termination of scientific labours. In these parties the distinctions of society seemed very much to be lost in the distinctions which science and merit confer. Men of the highest rank in the country mingled with men without any claim to notice, excepting that high

one

of superior knowledge; and it was a noble thing

to see how much more attractive it was, and more honoured than the highest nobility destitute of this qualification. I remember

one

evening, when the company was reduced to a small number by the lateness of the hour, and those who remained had collected round the fire,

one

of the party, I believe it was Dr. Young, observed in playful remark,

All I perceive here are doctors;

and so it proved; there being

two

or

three

doctors of physic-

one

, I believe, of divinity, and

three

of civil laws: and of these last,

two

were baronets, and

one

was an earl, who, though distinguished for his high bearing on ordinary occasions, on this occasion seemed [pleased to be considered of the same grade as the rest.

on account of his low circumstances, as he alleged.

remain monuments of all the country has possessed of profound in experimental research, or ingenious in discovery, or sublime in speculative science, from the time of Hooke and Newton to that of Maskelyne and Cavendish.

Of the Society of Antiquaries, which holds its meetings in apartments adjoining those of the Royal Society, and on the same evenings, but at an earlier hour, we need say very little. It was in existence as early as the reign of Elizabeth, when a few distinguished scholars, headed by Archbishop Parker and Sir Robert Cotton, formed themselves into a body for the preservation of our national antiquities. From thence to various attempts were made to obtain a charter of incorporation, but ineffectually, and the society then died away. In a new body was constituted, comprising Peter le Neve, Madox

Archaeologia,

[n.371.1] Edinburgh Review; Royal Society of Literature, Oct. 1843.

[n.375.1] Memoirs, vol. i. p. 256.

[n.377.1] Penny Cyclopedia, article Royal Society.

[n.382.1] Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 133.