During this year a series of lectures was begun at the Institution by the Rev. Sydney Smith, which for fashionable attraction surpassed any courses that have ever been delivered there.
Mr. Horner thus wrote to Mr. J. A. Murray:
The Temple, November 15, 1804.I suppose you know that Smith begins to lecture on Moral Philosophy next Saturday at the Royal Institution? You would be amused to hear the account he gives of his own qualifications for the task and his mode of manufacturing philosophy; he will do the thing very cleverly, I have little doubt, as to general manner, and he is sufficiently aware of all the forbearances to be observed. Profound lectures on metaphysics would be unsuitable to the place; he may do some good if he makes the subject amusing. He will contribute, like his other associates of the Institution, to make the real blue-stockings a little more disagreeable than ever and sensible women a little more sensible. It seems to me, for the interest of general conversation, that these subjects should not be quite so unknown to them as to be thought unintelligible pedantry if mentioned in their company; and the impertinence of those who set up as adepts is the price we must pay for this important acquisition. Your chemists and metaphysicians in petticoats are altogether out of nature—that is, when they make a trade or distinction of such pursuits—but when they take a little general learning as an accomplishment they keep it in very tolerable order. Tell me if I take this rightly. I know it is not well settled, and men of letters usually lean too much on one side. Good afternoon.
The Temple, November 15, 1804.
I suppose you know that Smith begins to lecture on Moral Philosophy next Saturday at the Royal Institution? You would be amused to hear the account he gives of his own qualifications for the task and his mode of manufacturing philosophy; he will do the thing very cleverly, I have little doubt, as to general manner, and he is sufficiently aware of all the forbearances to be observed. Profound lectures on metaphysics would be unsuitable to the place; he may do some good if he makes the subject amusing. He will contribute, like his other associates of the Institution, to make the real blue-stockings a little more disagreeable than ever and sensible women a little more sensible. It seems to me, for the interest of general conversation, that these subjects should not be quite so unknown to them as to be thought unintelligible pedantry if mentioned in their company; and the impertinence of those who set up as adepts is the price we must pay for this important acquisition. Your chemists and metaphysicians in petticoats are altogether out of nature—that is, when they make a trade or distinction of such pursuits—but when they take a little general learning as an accomplishment they keep it in very tolerable order. Tell me if I take this rightly. I know it is not well settled, and men of letters usually lean too much on one side. Good afternoon.
Mr. Horner wrote another letter to Mr. Thomas Thompson:
The Temple, November 21, 1804.Our friend Sydney gave his first lecture on Saturday. I was not there, but all the accounts I have collected from different sorts of people agree in its favour, and that it took extremely well.
The Temple, November 21, 1804.
Our friend Sydney gave his first lecture on Saturday. I was not there, but all the accounts I have collected from different sorts of people agree in its favour, and that it took extremely well.
During the second course Mr. Horner wrote to Lady Mackintosh at Bombay:
The Temple, April 18, 1805.We have all this winter had but two topics of conversation—Young Roscius and the lectures of the Right Reverend our Bishop of Mickleham.[27]His Lordship’s success has been beyond all possible conjecture—from six to eight hundred hearers; not a seat to be found, even if you go half-an-hour before the time. Nobody else, to be sure, could have executed such an undertaking with the least chance of this sort of success; for who else could make such a mixture of odd paradox, quaint fun, manly sense, liberal opinion, striking language? You must have had more than enough of the other great delight of the public—the Roscius. As it is the propensity of all superior minds to admire, I am sorry that this occasion has added another to my own proofs that I must place myself on a very low form; there never was such a rage except that for Sydney.
The Temple, April 18, 1805.
We have all this winter had but two topics of conversation—Young Roscius and the lectures of the Right Reverend our Bishop of Mickleham.[27]His Lordship’s success has been beyond all possible conjecture—from six to eight hundred hearers; not a seat to be found, even if you go half-an-hour before the time. Nobody else, to be sure, could have executed such an undertaking with the least chance of this sort of success; for who else could make such a mixture of odd paradox, quaint fun, manly sense, liberal opinion, striking language? You must have had more than enough of the other great delight of the public—the Roscius. As it is the propensity of all superior minds to admire, I am sorry that this occasion has added another to my own proofs that I must place myself on a very low form; there never was such a rage except that for Sydney.
In the ‘Life of Sydney Smith’ Lady Holland mentions that Mr. Bernard obtained these lectures for the Institution. She says:
He obtained considerable increase of reputation by a course of lectures on Moral Philosophy, which Sir Thomas Bernard, who interested himself much about the Royal Institution, proposed to him to give. He continued to lecture for three successive years.
He obtained considerable increase of reputation by a course of lectures on Moral Philosophy, which Sir Thomas Bernard, who interested himself much about the Royal Institution, proposed to him to give. He continued to lecture for three successive years.
On May 17, 1804, a new proposal was made for the advancement of science at the Royal Institution. A special meeting of the managers and visitors was held, and an address to the proprietors and subscribers was read and approved, and ordered to be circulated, respecting the formation of a mineralogical collection and an assay office on a large scale for the improvement of mineralogy and metallurgy.
The Hon. G. F. Greville, Sir J. St. Aubyn, Sir A. Hume, proposed to raise a fund of 4,000l.to arrange a collection in a manner which should exhibit all the interesting series of mineralogical facts; and they proposed to establish an assay office, to be exclusively employed for the advancement of mineralogy and metallurgy. They thought that the whole time of a mineralogist of considerable talent would be employed; and that the continued attention of a chemist of approved abilities would be required.
It was proposed that a mineralogical institution like the library institution should be united to the Royal Institution.
The address relating to the formation of this economic museum ended thus: ‘The proprietors and subscribers may be assured that the managers and visitors will never consider their labours as finished, while there remains any effort to be made for the diffusion and useful application ofpractical sciencein this country. They would indeed have deemed themselves extremely culpable if there had been any delay or neglect on their part in submitting to the consideration of their members, and of the public, a plan which promises essentially topromote the prosperity of the Royal Institution, and at the same time to contribute to the extension of useful science and to the increase of our national resources.’
A plan was drawn up. There were to be hereditary patrons, paying 100l.and upwards, and patrons for life, paying 50l., and subscribers of smaller sums might unite when they had subscribed sixty guineas and select one of themselves as patron. The patrons were to elect a chairman, a deputy-chairman, a treasurer and a secretary, committees and sub-committees.
In 1804 Lord Dartmouth gave 200l.worth of minerals, and Mr. Hatchett gave the cases for them.
In 1805 Davy gave his own collection of minerals, valued at 100 guineas.
The committee rooms were made into the mineral room, and 250l.was spent in fitting it up. Davy went to Wales and Ireland to collect minerals, and the following year he again went to the west and north of Ireland, and took with him William Payne, the boy belonging to the laboratory.
At the end of 1805 the rooms for the mineralogical collection were ready, and the arrangement of the mineralogical and geological specimens was made under the directions of Mr. Davy. The minerals and fossils were removed from the model room, where they had been deposited, and in consequence the models were arranged to more advantage.
On June 9, 1806, a report was made by Mr. Bernard on the total failure of the subscriptions to the mineralogical collection. Thereupon the managers resolved that the three original proposers should receive back theirsubscriptions, and that thanks should be given to them ‘for the benefits which they had conferred upon the Institution by suggesting the idea of a mineralogical collection, and by showing that it will be practicable to establish and to support it out of the funds of the Institution.’
In their answer the proposers said:
We concur in your opinion that the space allotted for minerals and the plan pursued by the managers, according to the funds which the Institution can supply, will be found equal to the illustration of very interesting courses of mineralogy and geology, and it is bare justice to Mr. Davy to state that his activity and intelligence in bringing to notice the important facts of the natural history of Great Britain and Ireland, with the aid of the managers to make his assays keep pace with his discoveries, will ensure much credit to the Royal Institution and great benefit to the public.We are still of opinion that, when the importance of a general collection and of a laboratory of assay in constant activity is felt as it ought to be, the influence of the Royal Institution will not be exerted in vain. The plan, which the managers have limited to the present scale of their building and to the funds of their Institution, has obtained general approbation. Its success will give a bias to public opinion favourable to the progress of mineralogy and chemistry, and enable the managers at a future time to extend their buildings, establishments, and plan to the scale which unsuccessfully we ventured to suggest to be better proportioned to their importance.
We concur in your opinion that the space allotted for minerals and the plan pursued by the managers, according to the funds which the Institution can supply, will be found equal to the illustration of very interesting courses of mineralogy and geology, and it is bare justice to Mr. Davy to state that his activity and intelligence in bringing to notice the important facts of the natural history of Great Britain and Ireland, with the aid of the managers to make his assays keep pace with his discoveries, will ensure much credit to the Royal Institution and great benefit to the public.
We are still of opinion that, when the importance of a general collection and of a laboratory of assay in constant activity is felt as it ought to be, the influence of the Royal Institution will not be exerted in vain. The plan, which the managers have limited to the present scale of their building and to the funds of their Institution, has obtained general approbation. Its success will give a bias to public opinion favourable to the progress of mineralogy and chemistry, and enable the managers at a future time to extend their buildings, establishments, and plan to the scale which unsuccessfully we ventured to suggest to be better proportioned to their importance.
The original proposal was too scientific and not sufficiently fashionable to agree with the management of Mr. Bernard at this time.
During this year another proposal was made for the good of science at the Institution. This is to be seen in a letter from Mr. Davy to Mr. Bernard, written on June 2:
Dear Sir,—I have reflected on our conversation at Brighthelmstone with regard to the utility of some new arrangements that may be made in the chemical department of the Royal Institution, and I still entertain the same opinions on the subject.In all universities and places of public scientific instruction it is, I believe, usual for the professors or teachers to admit into their laboratories a certain number of private or operating pupils, who give their aid in the processes that are carried on, and at the same time gain practical information and are of use to the experimenter. I have several times been applied to by subscribers to the Royal Institution who wished to assist in the experiments carried on in the laboratory; but, as I have had no instructions on this point from the managers, I have been unable to give them permission. I do not think any inconvenience could arise from the admission of private pupils in the chemical department of the Institution. Such a plan would gratify many persons, would tend to facilitate the execution of such operations as are carried on, and would coincide with the ends of the establishment without burthening it with any new expense. If you should think that the idea would not be disagreeable to the managers, perhaps you will have the goodness to mention it on Monday.I enclose a sketch of some regulations for Mr. Sadler and for myself; perhaps similar ones or better ones might be framed for the other persons in the service of the Institution.I have been thinking upon the lectures of which you furnished the title, and I shall be very glad to give them at the end of the next season.I am, dear Sir, with the warmest respect, your obliged and gratefulH. Davy.
Dear Sir,—I have reflected on our conversation at Brighthelmstone with regard to the utility of some new arrangements that may be made in the chemical department of the Royal Institution, and I still entertain the same opinions on the subject.
In all universities and places of public scientific instruction it is, I believe, usual for the professors or teachers to admit into their laboratories a certain number of private or operating pupils, who give their aid in the processes that are carried on, and at the same time gain practical information and are of use to the experimenter. I have several times been applied to by subscribers to the Royal Institution who wished to assist in the experiments carried on in the laboratory; but, as I have had no instructions on this point from the managers, I have been unable to give them permission. I do not think any inconvenience could arise from the admission of private pupils in the chemical department of the Institution. Such a plan would gratify many persons, would tend to facilitate the execution of such operations as are carried on, and would coincide with the ends of the establishment without burthening it with any new expense. If you should think that the idea would not be disagreeable to the managers, perhaps you will have the goodness to mention it on Monday.
I enclose a sketch of some regulations for Mr. Sadler and for myself; perhaps similar ones or better ones might be framed for the other persons in the service of the Institution.
I have been thinking upon the lectures of which you furnished the title, and I shall be very glad to give them at the end of the next season.
I am, dear Sir, with the warmest respect, your obliged and grateful
H. Davy.
It was resolved by the managers ‘that Mr. Davy have permission to admit six subscribers as private pupils in the laboratory in the manner proposed in his letter.’ The regulations drawn up by Mr. Davy were read, as well as a draft of the duties of the Professor of Chemistry and the experimental operator at the Institution.
In 1805 the endeavour of Mr. Bernard to make the Royal Institution fashionable was persevered in with zeal and success. Early in the spring he announced eighteen courses of lectures for the following autumn and spring. The visitors reported that ‘the success of the Royal Institution was a matter of public notoriety,’ that ‘all the debts which were owing from the Institution have been paid, and there is every prospect of future surplus. The investments directed by the bye-laws have been continued; these amount to 1,334l.4s.The engagement of lecturers of talent and reputation has given increased interest and effect to the Institution, and with little additional expense. Even if otherwise, no contraction of scale ought to be admitted in this most interesting part of the Institution, which furnishes not only an abundant source of amusement, but also the solid materials of instruction and improvement.’
‘Though the mineral collection has not proceeded with the same rapidity of success as the library of reference, yet a considerable advance has been made. The subscriptions and the minerals presented already amount to the value of about 1,500l.The managers have laudably given up their board and committeerooms in order to prepare suitable apartments for the collection, and have resolved to hold their committees in the library on the days when it is not open to subscribers in general. Notice has been given that the laboratory of assay is ready for that useful and essential part of the plan the analysis of ores and mineral substances.’
The report said that, ‘with a view to the permanent success of the Institution, as the popularity of the lectures was so much increased, the terms of subscription were altered and a supplementary list was made of ladies subscribing three guineas and gentlemen six guineas.’ The ordinary subscription being two guineas and four guineas, the ladies and unmarried daughters of proprietors were required to subscribe only one guinea, ‘as, by relinquishing the transferable right of one of their tickets, they had contributed to the success of the plans which the managers had formed for the improvement of the Institution.’
The visitors ended thus: ‘The great degree of improvement and advancement under the auspices of the present managers is shown by this report relating to the accommodation and convenience of those who attend the Institution, instead of dwelling upon the means by which the members might be increased.’
The number of proprietors at this time was four hundred, and the qualification was raised to one hundred and fifty guineas.
A committee of proprietors, managers, and visitors was appointed to revise the bye-laws.
The Rev. Sydney Smith began his second course of lectures on March 23.
He thus wrote in April to Francis Jefferey, Esq.:
Doughty Street, April 1805.My lectures are just now at such an absurd pitch of celebrity that I must lose a good deal of reputation before the public settles into a just equilibrium respecting them. I am most heartily ashamed of my own fame, because I am conscious I do not deserve it, and that the moment men of sense are provoked by the clamour to look into my claims it will be at an end.
Doughty Street, April 1805.
My lectures are just now at such an absurd pitch of celebrity that I must lose a good deal of reputation before the public settles into a just equilibrium respecting them. I am most heartily ashamed of my own fame, because I am conscious I do not deserve it, and that the moment men of sense are provoked by the clamour to look into my claims it will be at an end.
Mr. Landseer gave three lectures on Engraving. From some personal allusions the managers resolved ‘that it is their earnest wish that no allusion of a personal nature be ever offered on any account at the lectures of the Institution.’ The next year Mr. Landseer was engaged to give six lectures on Engraving, including the substance of those already given, on the same terms as those of the preceding year. In the announcement of the engagement it was said, ‘He will endeavour to add a few lectures of a more general nature on the Philosophy of Art.’ The lectures were given early in 1806, and on March 17, after the fourth lecture, the minutes of the managers state that Mr. Landseer was called in and informed that the managers understood that his two last lectures, particularly the last, were exceptionable from the personal allusions they contained, and, he having admitted that they were intended as personal allusions, although introduced with a view to vindicate and support the art, and it appearing that Mr. Landseer had before introducedpersonal allusions in his lectures, notwithstanding notice last season from the managers, it was resolved ‘that Mr. Landseer be informed that it is with great regret that the managers feel themselves obliged to direct that his lectures be discontinued.’ The steward was ordered to pay Mr. Landseer 30l., the sum he was to receive for his course of lectures.
On March 25 Mr. Bernard reported to the managers ‘that Mr. Davy will give three courses of lectures in the ensuing season—the first in November, December, and January, upon that part of Practical Chemistry that relates to the Experimental History of Water, the Atmospheric Heat, and Electricity; the second in February and March next, upon the Chemical History of Water and the Atmosphere; and the third in April and May, upon the Modern History of Science.’
On April 1 the clock in the gallery was ordered.
Mr. Dibden agreed to give ten or twelve lectures on the Use and Progress of English Literature.
At the first meeting in May the following professors were proposed for election at the meeting of managers: Professor of Chemistry, Mr. Davy; Natural Philosophy, Mr. Allen; Poetry, Rev. W. Crowe; Belles Lettres, Rev. John Hewlett; and Moral Philosophy, the Rev. Sydney Smith.
The proprietorship was raised to 150 guineas, and at the end of the year to 200 guineas. The mineralogical room was fitted up for the minerals. The laboratory was opened for analyses for persons paying 10l.at most. Ventilators were placed in the roof and under the gallery of the theatre. It was impossible tokeep out the wet because of the settlement in the foundations, so the roof was new-leaded; and Mr. Soane, the architect, advised that the roof should be examined twice yearly.
On May 29 Mr. Bernard reported to the managers ‘that he had been requested by Sir Francis Baring to inform them that a plan similar to that of the Royal Institution was intended to be adopted in London, with a view to the same laudable and beneficial effects as have been produced with such extraordinary success in Westminster under the auspices of the managers of the Royal Institution; that the gentlemen who had taken the active part in the proposed establishment had no other object in view but that of promoting, concurrently with the Royal Institution, the prevalence of science and literature in the metropolis, and in this they have flattered themselves that they shall receive the approbation and assistance of the managers of the Royal Institution.’ It was resolved unanimously ‘that Sir Francis Baring be informed that the managers view with great satisfaction the exertions of him and the other gentlemen to extend the beneficial effects of science and literature in the metropolis, and that the managers will be ready to give them any aid and assistance which they can with propriety in the execution of their plan, conceiving as they do that the two institutions will not interfere with each other, but will rather increase the public interest in favour of their objects and promote the success of both by the mutual assistance and beneficial co-operation which they may be enabled to render to each other.’
In October Sir Francis Baring invited Sir Joseph Banks to become a vice-president. This he declined by a letter written on October 14. He, however, expressed his wish to purchase a share in the Institution. He said:
I confess, however, I do not at present foresee the period at which the utility of your new Institution is likely to commence. The Royal Society was set on foot by a number of persons well versed in those matters which its constitution was intended to promote. The Royal Institution was at first wholly under the direction of persons entirely addicted to science, and has not improved since the management of it has passed into other hands. The Athenæum at Liverpool has been formed, I may say, wholly under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Roscow and Dr. Currie. All this I can understand, but how the very worthy and most respectable men you at present look up to as managers of your new Institution will be able to guide it into the paths of science and literature is not to me quite so evident as I sincerely wish it to be.
I confess, however, I do not at present foresee the period at which the utility of your new Institution is likely to commence. The Royal Society was set on foot by a number of persons well versed in those matters which its constitution was intended to promote. The Royal Institution was at first wholly under the direction of persons entirely addicted to science, and has not improved since the management of it has passed into other hands. The Athenæum at Liverpool has been formed, I may say, wholly under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Roscow and Dr. Currie. All this I can understand, but how the very worthy and most respectable men you at present look up to as managers of your new Institution will be able to guide it into the paths of science and literature is not to me quite so evident as I sincerely wish it to be.
In 1806 Sir James Mackintosh, writing from India to his friend Mr. Sharp, also shows how fashion, rather than science, had become the characteristic of the Royal Institution.
Your account of the London Institution has delighted and tantalised me. I wish I were a professor! But the printed paper is too general to admit of any discussion. You do not say how many and who are to be professors. It may surely be a little more solid than the fashionable nerves of Albemarle Street could endure without ceasing to be popular.
Your account of the London Institution has delighted and tantalised me. I wish I were a professor! But the printed paper is too general to admit of any discussion. You do not say how many and who are to be professors. It may surely be a little more solid than the fashionable nerves of Albemarle Street could endure without ceasing to be popular.
In 1806 ‘the attempt to make the Institution fashionable’ by means of the number and quality ofthe lectures seemed to attain the success that Mr. Bernard desired. There was an increase of nearly 3,000l.in proprietors’ shares and in subscriptions. The debt of 2,000l.formed in 1802 was paid off, and the sum in the funds amounted to nearly 4,000l.The library was completed by a separate subscription; this amounted to nearly 7,000l., of which about 5,000l.was spent in books.
With the exception of the Professor of Moral Philosophy the same professors were this year re-elected.
In the report of the visitors in 1807 the following statement of the lectures and of the general result of the management in 1805-6 and in 1806-7 is made:
‘Nothing,’ the visitors said, ‘seems necessary for substantiating and promoting the interests of the Institution but that the managers should proceed in the track which they have hitherto pursued, and should continue to receive that approbation which has so fully rewarded their former labours.’
On May 26, 1806, Mr. Bernard reported to the managers that Mr. Davy would in November next begin a course of twenty lectures in the higher departments of experimental chemistry, on Vegetable and Animal Analysis and on the Experimental History of Heat, Light, and Electricity; and that in the spring he would begin another course of twenty lectures on the Chemistry of Nature, containing elucidations of the design, order, and harmony of the chemical arrangements in the globe. In the first course he proposed to give two lectures a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and in the second course one lecture a week, on Wednesdays; the hour of the lecture to be two o’clock. The ventilation of the lecture room was considered this day.
Mr. Bernard later reported that Mr. Coleridge would give two courses of eight lectures on the Principles Common to the Fine Arts for 120l.; to commence in November, every Thursday at two.
Mr. Lawrence, the surgeon, proposed to give a course of lectures on the Animal Economy. These were not accepted. The Rev. Sydney Smith proposed to give a fifth course of eight lectures in the ensuing spring for a compliment of 90l.; ‘and, in case it should be in his power, he would give some additional lectures, not exceeding six, for a compliment of 10l.a lecture.’ These lectures circumstances obliged him to give up. He was paid 120l.for his third and fourth courses, which he gave in 1806. His lectures were not printed until after his death.
But it was not by the success of the lectures that this year deserves to be remembered in the historyof the Institution. Lectures, indeed, are the support of the Institution, but discovery constitutes its great success; and this year is famous for the first of those great discoveries on which the credit of the Institution depends. The union of chemistry and electricity was established by Davy.
Volta sent the first account of his discovery of the voltaic pile to Sir Joseph Banks. His paper was printed in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1800—on the ‘Electricity Excited by the mere Contact of Conducting Substances of Different Kinds.’ Davy, on October 20, 1800, wrote, ‘Galvanism I have found, by numerous experiments, to be a process purely chemical,’ and on June 18, 1801, the first paper Davy sent to the Royal Society was on a galvanic combination of a single metallic plate and two fluids. In May 1802 he says, ‘A battery of immense size has been made for the Institution, and I am now examining the agencies of it upon certain substances that have not been decomposed.’ His lectures on Agriculture, Mineralogy, and Geology so occupied his time that very little remained for original research, and it was not until this year that a close examination of the decomposition of water by electricity led him to investigate the action of the voltaic battery, and to establish the union of electricity and chemistry. For this and his former work the name of Davy ought for ever to be inseparably united with the discovery of chemical electricity. But the honour at that time paid to Davy was not for establishing the production of electricity by chemistry, but for endeavouring to prove that allchemical action was caused by electricity. He received no praise as the founder of chemical electricity, but he was looked on as the discoverer of electro-chemistry—that is, of the theory that the electrical condition or polarity of each element determined its chemical action.
The following year (1807) is still more memorable in the annals of the Institution on account of the originality of the discoveries made in the laboratory. No year in the life of the Institution has equalled this in the magic novelty of the results that were obtained. Davy (æt. 28) proved that the bases of the alkalies were solid metals. He called them potassium and sodium, and he showed that they made potash and soda when united with oxygen.
The year 1831 was a noble year for the Royal Institution. In it Faraday (æt. 40) discovered that the magnet produced electricity and founded magneto-electricity.
Great discoveries in different sciences made at different periods do not admit of any accurate comparison. It may, however, be said that in unimagined novelty the results of Davy far surpassed the results of Faraday; for the discovery of magneto-electricity had been foreshadowed by the discovery of electro-magnetism; but in its telegraphic and other applications the discovery of magneto-electricity will keep the name of Faraday for ever in the remembrance of the world.
How much the prosperity of the Institution depended upon Davy was made very evident by his illness, which occurred soon after his discoveries were made. In the early part of the year the managers had not recognisedthe fact that original discovery belonged to him, and that their committees were useless for investigation. They did give Davy early in the year a new assistant;[28]but on March 9 they resolved that, in consequence of the completion of the chemical laboratory, which was furnished with the necessary utensils and materials for carrying on operations and experiments, ‘the chemical professor, besides his regular annual courses of lectures delivered in the lecture room, shall make, direct, superintend, and explain as far as may be necessary all chemical experiments, or courses of experiments, which the managers from time to time shall direct to be made in the laboratory, and give his assistance in all committees appointed by the managers for the purpose of scientific investigation which may require his aid or stand in need of the use of the laboratory for prosecuting their experiments or researches.’
In May the visitors said ‘the Institution continued to afford every prospect of realising in their fullest extent those results which its original promoters had in view.’
On July 13 the lectures of Mr. Davy were announced to the managers. In the autumnal session, which was to begin the first week of December, he intended to give twenty-six lectures on the General Elements of Chemistry, and in the spring sixteen lectures on Chemistry in its Connexion with Physiology and the Phenomena of Animated Nature. The same day Mr. Davy informed the managers that he proposed going into Cornwall for five weeks, with a view to collectspecimens for the collection of minerals, and that he wished William Payne, the attendant on the laboratory, to accompany him. It was resolved that William Payne’s expenses in the journey, and those incurred by Mr. Davy in collecting the specimens, should be defrayed by the managers.
In October Davy made his great discoveries,[29]and the last week of November he was laid low with fever, caught whilst disinfecting Newgate Prison.
On December 7 the following notice was ordered to be sent round to the proprietors and subscribers: ‘Mr. Davy having been confined to his bed this last fortnight by a severe illness, the managers are under the painful necessity of giving notice that the lectures will not commence until the first week of January next.’
The lectures began on January 13, but Davy did not lecture until March 12.
This interruption of the lectures stopped the income of the Institution in the autumn. The difficulties regarding the finances became urgent. From the time when Davy’s support was temporarily removed until the reign of Faraday was far advanced the Institution remained in a state of great poverty.
In 1808 the visitors made the following report on the state of the Institution:
‘Since 1803 the bills of each preceding year have been paid out of the subscriptions received in the beginning of the succeeding year. The amount has varied in different years, and is now about 2,000l.This was not attended with inconvenience until this year,when, by some disappointment as to lectures and by the postponement of the autumnal course in consequence of the lamented illness of their excellent Professor of Chemistry, the subscriptions have been diminished and their payment postponed.
‘The expenses have increased. The library required 520l.There was some extra expense—about 166l.—in the laboratory, so honourable to the Royal Institution and so beneficial to the interests of science in every part of the world. The fitting up and forming the mineralogical collection has cost 404l.
‘It is proposed that 1,461l., to be paid by the representatives of Mr. Edward Gray for renewing his lease of one of the adjoining houses, should be spent, and that the cost of the proprietors’ shares should be reduced.
‘Mr. Soane, the architect of the corporation, and Mr. Harris, the librarian, have made a valuation of the Institution property.
‘With such a property, exempt from any mortgage or encumbrance, and with views directed to the great and important advantages which science, literature, and morality are deriving and may derive from thisroyal and public establishment, the anticipation of a part of the next year’s income will not be deemed of much importance.
‘When it is considered that in the last five years the library of reference and the mineralogical collection have been formed and newly completed, the laboratory very greatly enlarged and improved, and money invested, we trust there will be no one disposed to think unfavourably of the progress of the Institution.
‘An anticipation of a part of the next year’s income under circumstances from which a more considerable deficiency might have been expected will not make the friends of science and literature doubt of the Royal Institution being now established on a solid and permanent basis.’
The income was stated to be 1,929l., and the expenditure 1,917l.
The draft of this report was read by Mr. Bernard to the managers, and they referred it to a sub-committee, who approved it. The Committee of Visitors was then introduced, consisting of Lord Berkeley, Dr. Glasse, Mr. Hammersley, who considered and approved it.
Mr. Dibden was requested to read his opening lecture on Literature on January 13. He began with a short statement of Davy’s great discovery and of his illness. Probably Davy was at this time ill in bed; for the managers did not buy him a sofa, for which they paid three guineas, until January 25.
On February 22 Mr. Davy attended the meeting of managers at their request, and said he would commencehis course of lectures on Electro-Chemical Science on Saturday, March 12, at two, and those on Geology on Wednesday evening, March 16, at eight.
At the end of the previous year Mr. Bernard had reported that Mr. Coleridge would give in the ensuing session five courses of five lectures each on the Distinguished English Poets, in illustration of the general principles of poetry arranged under the following heads: 1. Shakespear. 2. Spencer and Allegorical Poetry. 3. Milton. 4. Dryden and Pope, and the fifth course Modern Poetry. These lectures were to begin immediately, one or two weekly, as might be convenient, for a compliment of 140l., of which 60l.was proposed to be paid in advance.
In February Mr. Bernard paid Mr. Coleridge 40l.in advance. The lectures were still delayed.
At the end of April Mr. Bernard reported that Mr. Coleridge had offered gratuitously to give a lecture on Education on Tuesday, May 3, proposing it to be twice the length of his other lectures.[30]
On June 13 the steward, Mr. Savage, laid before the managers the following letter from Mr. Coleridge:
Dear Sir,—Painful as it is to me, almost to anguish, yet I find my health in such a state as to make it almost death to me to give any further lectures. I beg that you would acquaint the managers that, instead of expecting any remuneration, I shall as soon as I can repay the sum I have received. I am, indeed, more likely to repay it by my executors than myself. If I could quit my bedroom, I would have hazarded everything rather than not have come, but I have such violent fits of sickness and diarrhœa that it is literally impossible.S. T. Coleridge.
Dear Sir,—Painful as it is to me, almost to anguish, yet I find my health in such a state as to make it almost death to me to give any further lectures. I beg that you would acquaint the managers that, instead of expecting any remuneration, I shall as soon as I can repay the sum I have received. I am, indeed, more likely to repay it by my executors than myself. If I could quit my bedroom, I would have hazarded everything rather than not have come, but I have such violent fits of sickness and diarrhœa that it is literally impossible.
S. T. Coleridge.
‘Ordered,—That Mr. Coleridge’s lectures be discontinued, and that Mr. Savage make out an account of the number of lectures that Mr. Coleridge has given, in order that a proportional payment may be made.’
On June 20, 2,000l.being wanted for the payment of the tradesmen’s bills and salaries, the managers and visitors subscribed it as a loan without interest. The tradesmen were paid to December 1806.
The terms of subscription to the Institution were altered thus: Annual, four guineas; and life subscription, forty guineas; the qualification for proprietors was reduced to a hundred guineas.
The position of the Royal Institution is well seen in the following report, which the Committee of Managers made to the Committee of Visitors, on the deficiency of the income of the Institution, &c., on March 20, 1809.
They begin by stating ‘that the 700 transferable tickets of the proprietors stopped the annual income from subscribers. In January 1803 the corporation were 3,000l.in debt. A subscription was made; transferable rights were reduced one-half, so as to allow of a greater number of annual subscribers.
‘The effects of the measures were soon felt. The income was more than doubled and public interestattracted to a very great degree. The debts were discharged and near 3,000l.invested.
‘The additions that have been made to the Institution by the library of reference, the mineralogical collection (which, by the assistance and exertions of the Professor of Chemistry, has been made at an expense which bears no comparison to its use and value), the laboratory, the seat of his interesting and extraordinary discoveries, the increased variety of the lectures far exceeding anything in contemplation on the forming of the Institution, have frustrated every attempt to keep the scale of expenditure within the average amount of income.
‘The annual expenditure, including 1,055l.for professors and lectures, is 3,295l.To meet this there is 133l.dividends, and life and annual subscriptions of not more than 2,000l.It is for the interest of the proprietors that some early and decisive measures should be taken for the preservation of their hereditary property, either by new modelling the constitution, so as to make their life and annual subscriptions more productive, or by reducing the expenditure, or by the proprietors and life members paying some annual sum. The proprietors now enjoy much greater advantages than they originally had from the libraries, collections, lectures, and laboratory, and from that in which all Englishmen, and particularly the proprietors of the Royal Institution, must glory, that in our laboratory those discoveries have been made, and are now making, which excite the surprise and admiration of the scientific in every part of the civilised world.
‘For the present support of the Institution, and for the discharge of their bills up to January 1808, some of the managers and visitors have advanced on loan without interest 2,300l.The sale of the stock and the fine for the sublease will pay the debts of the corporation. The proprietors must decide what it will be prudent and practical to adopt for the support of the Institution.
‘If the support of scientific men is to be obtained, something must be done to give the Institution more the form of a public establishment than of private and hereditary property. The managers have no doubt that the friends of science will come forward when the Institution interests the country at large, and they believe the body of proprietors will make any sacrifice of personal interest and advantage to erect a public, national, and permanent establishment devoted to the cultivation of science and to the promotion of every improvement in agriculture, manufactures, and the useful arts of life that may be conducive to the happiness and prosperity of the British Empire. The important researches which have distinguished the laboratory of the Royal Institution, are not only honourable to the proprietors but to the kingdom at large.
‘The managers trust that an active co-operation of the proprietors in increasing the number of life and annual subscribers, and a moderate annual subscription for the transferable ticket of each proprietor, will be adequate to secure the stability and prosperity of the Institution, and to continue and extend its influenceby the promotion of science and literature, and by the supply of innocent and useful sources of intellectual pleasure.’
The visitors made their report to the proprietors, April 18, thus:
‘The circumstances attending our present situation seem to call for much consideration and reflection, and it would become our duty to state what reasonable expectation could be entertained of more income or less expenditure. But the managers have done this, and therefore we forward their report.
‘Upon inspection there seems no deficiency of anything which could contribute to the success or general utility of the Institution, and our financial state alone leads us to concur in the necessity of resorting to new measures for the support of so valuable an establishment.
‘The visitors heartily concur with the managers in their recommendations.’
In May a committee of the proprietors, with the managers and visitors, was appointed to consider the general state of the affairs of the Institution. The first step was to request Mr. Davy to prepare a plan for the future management of the Institution, and every member of the committee was asked to lay before the committee in writing his ideas or plan. One proposal was to put an annual tax on the transferable tickets; another to get a new charter; another to get an Act of Parliament; and another to shut the Institution at six o’clock daily. By the end of the year the joint committee had formed a plan which was in the following year proposed to Parliament.
The whole of the stock possessed by the Institution, amounting to 4,058l., was sold; the managers and visitors were paid their loan of 100l.each without interest, and the bills of 1807 and 1808 were paid.
A communication was made to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and other public boards, suggesting the employment of the Royal Institution laboratory for analyses and reports.
In November the managers decided to publish a statement regarding the Royal Institution. This was probably written by Davy.
The objects of the Royal Institution in it were said to be ‘the advancement and diffusion of useful knowledge and the application of experimental science to the purposes of life.’
Regarding the laboratory it said: ‘In the laboratory, which is under the direction of the Professor of Chemistry, and which is open to any scientific persons who may propose important chemical investigations, series of experiments are continually carried on. Minerals and substances likely to be useful in agriculture, arts, and manufactures are analysed and researches tending to the progress of useful discovery prosecuted. Of the results of these many have been already published, particularly researches upon tanning; the principles of electrical decomposition; and the nature of the alkalies, earths, inflammable bodies, and acids. In this laboratory there is constructed, in consequence of the liberal contributions of a few individuals, a voltaic apparatus of great power, which will be exhibited in the lectures,and many new experiments will be performed with it and applications of it made to new scientific researches.’
Regarding the lectures it said: ‘There are two terms for lectures, one from December 10 to March 1, and the other from March 10 to July 7.’
On November 13 Mr. Hatchett and Mr. Davy reported that Mr. Dalton proposed to give twenty lectures: 3 Mechanics, 2 Pneumatics, 1 Hydrostatics, 2 Steam Engine, 2 Electricity, 2 Meteorology, 2 Astronomy, 6 on Heat and Elementary Principles, to be delivered immediately after Christmas, in the course of six weeks, for a compliment of eighty guineas. Twenty other lectures were to be given by Mr. Allen and Mr. Pond. An evening course on Electro-Chemical Science, to consist of twelve lectures, was to be given by Mr. Davy, to commence in December. A morning course on General Chemistry and its Applications to Nature and to Art, to commence after Easter, and to continue through the session, was also to be given by him.
At the commencement of the year 1810 the managers refused lectures on Physiology and Comparative Anatomy, ‘because they could not convince themselves that scientific lectures can be given on these subjects without offence to a part of their audience.’
A few facts will show what the difficulties of the Royal Institution at this time were. Mr. Allen, the Lecturer on Natural Philosophy, was in February paid a hundred guineas for his lectures in 1807. The fine to the city of London for the lease of the house was due at Michaelmas 1809. The lease lapsed becauseno payment was made. It was not until April that the Institution could arrange the payment. In the spring Mr. Easingwood, the Steward and Clerk of Accounts, left the Institution without notice. The sum he misappropriated was said to be 179l.10s.10d.; it was more than 300l., and may have been much more. His successor in the office afterwards robbed the Institution of a much greater amount. Temporary relief from some debts was gained by the payment of a fine of 1,500l.from the tenant of the corner house in Albemarle St.
The proprietors met early in the year, and agreed to an immediate application to Parliament for an Act for altering and amending the charter, and for enlarging and more effectually promoting the objects of the Institution.
Great expectations of the permanent prosperity of the Institution were formed, in consequence of the proposed conversion of the Institution by Act of Parliament from a private into a public body. Sir John Sinclair took charge of the Bill and conducted it through the House of Commons. It received the royal assent, April 23. The visitors, in their report, said: ‘There is every reason to believe that the establishment on its new foundation will at once contribute to our national prosperity and glory. The conduct of the proprietors upon this occasion has been honourable both to themselves and to their country. A fund has been proposed to be raised on the plan of a loan for three years without interest, and payable by instalments of 10 per cent., for carrying the new schemeinto effect.’ 12,500l.was subscribed, but a small part only was wanted, as very few proprietors accepted the composition which was offered to them. The actuary of the Westminster Life Office estimated the value of each life proprietor’s share of 100l.at 42l.
On March 3 Davy gave a lecture on the ‘Plan which it is proposed to adopt for improving the Royal Institution and rendering it permanent.’ It was printed by desire of the managers. As a record of the Institution in its earlier and in its existing state, and as a reflection of Davy in his full power, this lecture is of surpassing interest. He said:
‘The first plan of the Royal Institution was that of a school for promulgating the knowledge and use of important mechanical inventions, for connecting the views of men of science and artisans, and for the application of the sciences to the arts of life. The great feature of the establishment was to be a collection of models of things used for the common purposes of life, and to teach their use and relations to science by lectures. Hence the instruction of manufacturers and workmen was of equal importance with the promotion of the useful arts.
‘Soon after the foundation of the Royal Institution, a request was made to one of the greatest practical mechanical philosophers of the age[31]that he would examine the details of the establishment, and become in some way connected with the body. His refusal was prompt and his expression of disapprobation strong. “Your object,” says he, “is one that every practical inventor ought to discountenance. You would destroy the value of the labour of the industrious; by laying open his invention you would take away the great stimulus to exertion. Suppose a man, by a great devotion of time and of labour, by skill and ingenuity, has made an important combination in chemistry or mechanics, your object is to publish the details of his labours, to enable every speculator to profit by his knowledge. This, could it happen, would be ruinous to individuals, and would ultimately interfere with the commercial prosperity of Britain; for your enemies would profit by such disclosure more than your countrymen, and it would be absolutely throwing away your superiority. Were I persuaded such a plan of models could be executed, I should be seriously alarmed for the manufacturing interest of the country; but I am convinced, from the nature of this part of the scheme, that it will be ephemeral and that it will die even in its cradle.” I am not sure that these were the very words of this able reasoner, but I am sure that they convey his sentiments, which were expressed in my hearing.
‘The object which at first was only secondary—that of teaching the principles of the sciences by courses of public lectures—soon became the prime object. The only difficulty resulted from the nature of the audiences. To afford satisfaction to all by one series of subjects was impossible. Numerous courses were consequently established. A great library of reference was added, and a mineral collection has likewise been formed. An object which I hope I shall be pardonedfor being partial to is the laboratory, which, though formed upon a small scale and supplied with a small apparatus only, may yet, by its effects, tend to demonstrate the importance and uses of such a foundation in the metropolis.
‘It would be indelicate for me to be the historian of the whole of the progress of this part of the establishment, nor should I have entered upon it at all except in consequence of the circumstance that though it is generally known that some new philosophical facts have been ascertained here, yet it is not generally known that the chemical apparatus of the Royal Institution has given aid upon several occasions to the useful arts, and that assistance has been afforded to various great public bodies.
‘There is another object on which I can dwell with more pleasure and more propriety; I mean the voltaic apparatus, which has been formed in consequence of a fund raised by subscription. Without a public establishment like the Royal Institution this great light of new science might have been lost to us, and it is not the less honourable to the character of the nation that the efforts of private individuals have effected what in other countries flows only from the Government.
‘The new plan of the Royal Institution is intended to exalt and enlarge all those parts of the establishment which are acknowledged to be useful and profitable, so as to create a permanent foundation and means which can never be misapplied for the advancement of every species of useful knowledge.
‘Besides the diffusion of knowledge by popular philosophical lectures, and by other more elementary and more scientific lectures, the new plan will also embrace a design for the promotion of knowledge by experiments and original investigations. It is proposed that the members of the body shall meet at least once every week for the purpose of inquiry and discussion. At these meetings any new facts that have arisen in the progress of science will be stated, any important hints for experiments pursued, and in the progress of investigation those subjects will be most particularly attended to which promise to increase the perfection of arts and manufactures.
‘That the diffusion and improvement of science may not be limited to those persons only who can personally attend the Institution, it is proposed to publish Journals at least quarterly.
‘Having described the philosophical objects, it may be necessary to say something of the manner in which it is conceived the income of the Institution may be made permanent.
‘In the original plan, as the prime object was the founding a collection of models and the diffusing the knowledge of useful mechanical inventions, it was but strict justice that these models should be regarded as private property, and belong to the persons by whom they were originally purchased or their heirs, and that this property, being of the nature of common property, might be also transferred by sale.
‘But, this idea being found impracticable, and new and more exalted objects having arisen from thisfoundation, and the Royal Institution having fortunately taken the form of a body for promoting experimental science and for diffusing every species of philosophical knowledge, it is obvious that the principles upon which its funds are to be raised and its members elected will require considerable alteration.
‘On the new plan it is proposed upon a compensation, which, after long discussion, has been regarded as the most equitable, to do away entirely the saleable and hereditary rights, so as to leave no vestiges of them in the constitution of the body, and to elect new members, properly recommended, only by ballot.
‘The original scheme, by making the proprietary interest perpetual, left no means for the renovation of the funds, except by adding new burdens to the establishment.
‘In giving up their private interests for the purpose of founding what may be called a national establishment, the proprietors of the Royal Institution have a right to expect the support and encouragement of their countrymen; and though they will be promoting a general benefit, yet they may perhaps make a particular appeal to some of the most distinguished classes of society—to the great landed proprietors. Whatever specimens they send will be carefully examined and reported upon. The simple truth will be stated by men whose character, as well as motives, will secure them from any suspicion of inaccuracy; and, if a general system of this kind is pursued, much error and disappointment, and even dishonesty, will be prevented.
‘On the attention of the statesman and the politicianwe have likewise no inconsiderable claim. The Royal Institution is able to offer assistance in investigations of great interest connected with public works and the promotion of arts and manufactures.
‘Our doors are to be open to all who wish to profit by knowledge; and I may venture to hope that even the female part of our audiences may not diminish, and that they will honour the plan with an attention which is independent of fashion or the taste of the moment, and connected with the use, the permanence, and the pleasure of intellectual acquisitions. It is not our intention to invite them to assist in the laboratories, but to partake of that healthy and refined amusement which results from a perception of the variety, order, and harmony existing in all the kingdoms of nature, and to encourage the study of those more elegant departments of science which at once tend to exalt the understanding and purify the heart.
‘The leisure of the higher female classes is so great, and their influence in society so strong, that it is almost a duty that they should endeavour to awaken and keep alive a love of improvement and instruction.
‘Let them make it disgraceful for men to be ignorant, and ignorance will vanish, and that part of their empire founded upon mental improvement will be strengthened and exalted by time, will be untouched by age, will be immortal in its youth.
‘Even in the common relations of society how much must be referred to the conduct of the female mind. The mother gives, or ought to give, most of the early impressions to the child, and his future habits maydepend in some measure upon her influence. It may in some measure depend upon her whether he become an honour or a disgrace to his country. Her power of enforcing instruction is the most effectual, as flowing from love. We know that without feeling the human being is mere clay, the dust of the earth without the living soul. Whatever is to be permanently infixed on the understanding must be associated with hope, or with joy, or with passion. How much more efficacious must instruction be when communicated by an object beloved and venerated, and in infancy almost adored, and when, instead of being afforded with an effort of pain and of labour, it is carried into the heart by kindness and made delightful by caresses and smiles.
‘It has been supposed by some persons who are little acquainted with the nature of the plan and the general objects of philosophical associations, that there is a tendency in them to lessen the importance of our elder establishments for education, and to diminish the love of ancient literature. But nothing is further from the truth. The maxim of improvers is, “Promote whatever can tend to assist the progress of the human mind,” and letters will always be the greatest, the most powerful engine to this effect; it is one that all can employ, the strong and the weak, in solitude or in the world. That which is beautiful, that which is pathetic, that which is sublime, can never lose its effects. There is one course of passion and feeling in all times and in all countries; we should never cease to consider with admiration and gratitude those models of excellence which have been happily preserved amongst the wrecksof cultivated nations to be our guides in the Middle Ages, to be our shelter in the storm, and our light in the darkness, the beacons to guide us to pure taste, to correct our wanderings, to bring us to nature and truth. Let us regard them with all respect, but let not our veneration for them be exclusive; let us admire them as we admire the works of art of antiquity. The Apollo Belvidere or the Venus de Medicis were designed by their artists to be objects of adoration; let us wonder at them as statues, as models of perfection, but not worship them as deities, nor even make them our only household gods.
‘Greek and Roman literature will always maintain their importance, always exert their influence; but let us not neglect that basis on which the greatness of modern times and of our own country so peculiarly rests—experimental philosophy and the experimental arts. Let their merits be justly estimated and set forth with dignity and truth; let not the countrymen of Bacon, of Newton, and of Boyle neglect those pure springs of knowledge from which those great men drew such copious supplies both for profit and for glory; and let it not be forgotten that science has its moral and intellectual as well as its common uses, that its object is not only to apply the different substances in nature for the advantages, comfort, and benefit of man, but likewise to set forth that wonderful and magnificent history of wisdom and intelligence which is written in legible characters both in the heavens and on the earth.’
On May 1, at the annual meeting of the proprietors, itwas resolved unanimously that the election of managers and visitors should be for one year only. Notice was given of alterations of the bye-laws on June 4, for the election of members in accordance with the new Act of Parliament.
The first monthly meeting ofmemberswas held on Monday, May 7. A committee of members was appointed to act with a committee of managers and visitors in drawing up bye-laws.
On June 4 the bye-laws were read, and on July 2 they were proposed to the members chapter by chapter and article by article, and their consideration was continued on the 4th and 5th. On the 6th the election of thirty-two members took place; among them was Davy.
On August 6 ‘Humphry Davy, Esq.,’ the first of the newly-elected members, ‘having paid his admission fee and given his bond for his annual payments, was admitted a member of the Royal Institution.’ Dr. Wollaston was this day proposed as member.
On November 29 a special general meeting of members was held to ballot for three scientific and literary committees. The ballot lasted for ten minutes. For mathematics, mechanics, and mechanical inventions, twenty-five members were elected; the same number for chemistry, geology, and mineralogy twenty-five for general science, literature, and arts.
At the December meeting of the members Mr. Auriol signified his desire of resigning the secretaryship.
This year, by order of a committee of the House of Lords, the clerk of the House wrote to the secretary ofthe Institution, to request him to attend with any gentleman belonging to the Institution who might give advice and assistance to the committee on the subject of warming and ventilating their House. In this roundabout way Davy was asked to give his advice. He made a report and his plan was adopted, without success.
At the monthly meeting of managers in February 1811 the following letter from Sir T. Bernard, who, by the death of his brother, had become a baronet, was read:
It has been for some time my desire and intention to resign my place in the Committee of Managers, but the state of the Institution has made me apprehensive of some inconvenience from withdrawing before the new constitution was formed and the primary difficulties surmounted.Nothing more, I conceive, is now wanting except a continuance of that union and friendly co-operation by which it has been established; and, as I can no longer continue a regular attendant, I resign my situation as a manager of the Royal Institution. At the same time I beg leave to add that if the annual meeting should hereafter elect me a visitor, I will with great pleasure continue my services in that situation. I beg you will communicate the above to the next monthly meeting, and have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, your obedient and very faithful Servant,T. Bernard.
It has been for some time my desire and intention to resign my place in the Committee of Managers, but the state of the Institution has made me apprehensive of some inconvenience from withdrawing before the new constitution was formed and the primary difficulties surmounted.
Nothing more, I conceive, is now wanting except a continuance of that union and friendly co-operation by which it has been established; and, as I can no longer continue a regular attendant, I resign my situation as a manager of the Royal Institution. At the same time I beg leave to add that if the annual meeting should hereafter elect me a visitor, I will with great pleasure continue my services in that situation. I beg you will communicate the above to the next monthly meeting, and have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, your obedient and very faithful Servant,
T. Bernard.
The managers resolved ‘that they could not avoid on this occasion expressing their deep regret at the prospect of losing the assistance of a gentleman whose zeal, abilities, and indefatigable industry had so eminently contributed to the prosperity of the Institution. They therefore unanimously expressed their wish that Sir Thomas Bernard would consent to defer his resignation till the annual meeting in May.’ Thenext week Sir T. Bernard confirmed his resignation, and Lord Darnley was elected in his place.
At the annual meeting in May Sir Thomas Bernard was not nominated as a visitor, but the following November he was unanimously elected. In 1815 he was again elected a manager, and he was re-elected until his death in the autumn of 1818.
In February the energy of the committees of the Institution gave some signs of activity. The Committee of Chemistry and Geology, &c., chose Humphry Davy chairman, Charles Hatchett chairman, and James Laird, M.D., secretary. The Committee of Mathematics, Mechanics, and Mechanical Inventions elected the Earl of Stanhope chairman, the Hon. R. Clifford chairman, and John Day, Esq., secretary. The Committee of General Science, Literature, and Arts elected Daniel Moore, Esq., F.R.S., L.S., chairman, John Disney chairman, and John Hinckley, Esq., secretary. For eleven months Mr. Hinckley had acted as ‘honorary secretary assistant,’ and he wished to be elected ‘honorary secretary’ of the Institution; but in May Mr. Guillemard was elected secretary in the place of Mr. Auriol, who for nine years had apparently taken very slight care of the records of the Institution.
In March it was proposed at the monthly meeting of members that a professorship of astronomy should be created. Reports from the Committee of General Science were read.
This year all the bills due for 1807, 1808, 1809, and 1810 were paid.
Very few managers attended the meetings; so few, thatat the end of the year it was necessary to call a special meeting, stating that it was impossible to announce the lectures for the ensuing year. This brought twelve managers to the first meeting of 1812, and they decided that the lectures were to begin on January 25.
Mr. Lawrence the surgeon, Dr. Birkbeck, Dr. Wollaston, and Mr. Campbell were asked, but declined, to lecture.
At the monthly meeting in April it was moved that a scientific journal should be published. The question of having a Professor of Astronomy and other sciences connected therewith was again discussed. Dr. Jenner was proposed as member by Sir H. Davy and three others. On April 5, at an adjourned general monthly meeting, a report from the Committee of Mathematics and Mechanics was read and referred to the managers as proper to be printed.
On April 20 the first report of the visitors since the passing of the Act of Parliament was made.
They say ‘only fifteen proprietors withdrew, and received compensation amounting to 630l.12s.6d.The rest remained with the enlarged view of rendering the establishment more eminently what it was designed to be—a great national laboratory and theatre for the improvement and promulgation of science in all its branches.
‘Five per cent. only of the intended loan was required.’
The Committee closed their report by congratulating their brother members on the promotion, progress, and diffusion of science, particularly of chemical discovery,owing to the experiments carried on and the lectures delivered at the Royal Institution. ‘And they hope, from the energetic spirit of its members, that it will continue to flourish and tend in its progress to improve arts and manufactures, increase the resources, and exalt the scientific glory of the country.’
On May 6, at the monthly meeting, a professorship of astronomy was established, but no appointment was made. Three fresh committees of twenty-five members each were formed. The resolution for publishing journals was carried, but no journals were published.
On June 8 the election of chairmen and secretaries to the committees was reported to the members.
In 1812 a great change was about to come over the Royal Institution. Sir Humphry Davy, by his splendid discoveries, had made the Institution famous, and, by his attractive lectures, had brought it most material support. How little it could afford to lose his help is seen by the balance to December 31, 1811. This was only 3l.9s.11d.Early in 1812 a committee was formed for the publication of a journal, and in April Mr. Wyatt presented a plan for a proposed new theatre. Davy was married on April 11; the day previous he gave his last lecture. The new theatre was no longer needed.
On May 11 Mr. Hatchett reported ‘that Sir H. Davy, though he cannot pledge himself to deliver lectures, will be willing to accept the offices of Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Laboratory and Mineralogical Collection without salary.’ It was immediately resolved ‘that the managers hear with great regret the notification which they have just received that SirHumphry Davy cannot pledge himself to continue the lectures which he has been accustomed to deliver with so much honour to the Institution and advantage to the public; but, at the same time, they congratulate themselves on the liberal offer which Sir Humphry Davy has made to superintend the chemical department, and to assist and advise any lecturer the managers may be pleased to appoint.’ The managers immediately appointed him Director of the Laboratory and Mineralogical Collection, and expressed their high sense of his past services, gave him their thanks, and ordered a special general meeting to be called to nominate him Professor of Chemistry. He was elected Professor of Chemistry on June 1. On the same day twenty-five members were also elected on each of the committees.
A quarrel in the Institution must here be mentioned, because it shows that the changed circumstances of Davy led to the engagement of Faraday. The apparatus and models of the Institution had been under Davy’s care; they were now placed under the care of Mr. Pepys, and he was made Honorary Inspector of the Models and Apparatus, and Mr. Newman, the instrument maker, was put under him. Soon after the managers ordered that William Payne, originally the laboratory boy, should be employed in cleaning and repairing the apparatus in conjunction with Mr. Newman.
In December Dr. Smith was appointed to lecture on Botany; Dr. Roget on Comparative Anatomy; T. Campbell on Poetry; Mr. Brande on Chemical Philosophy;Rev. J. Powell on Natural Philosophy; Mr. Thompson on Sculpture.
Before the lectures began in 1813 Mr. Edmund Davy, chemical assistant in the laboratory, resigned; and, at the beginning of the year, Payne’s salary was increased to 25s.weekly. He had had a room in the house for nearly six months. On the increase of his salary his duties were thus laid down by the managers, and five weeks afterwards they became the duties of Mr. Faraday: ‘To attend and assist the lecturers and professors in preparing for and during lectures. Where any instruments or apparatus may be required, to attend to their careful removal from the model room and laboratory to the lecture room, and to clean and replace them after being used, reporting to the managers such accidents as shall require repair, a constant diary being kept by him for that purpose. That in one day in each week he be employed in keeping clean the models in the repository, and that all the instruments in the glass cases be cleaned and dusted at least once within a month.’