Decline of Science in England | Page 6

use it, I hope, temperately; and having no personal feelings myself, but living in terms of intercourse with almost all, and of intimacy with several of those from whom I most widely differ, I shall not attempt to heap together all the causes of complaint; but, by selecting a few in different departments, endeavour to convince them that some alteration is essentially necessary for the promotion of that very object which we both by such different roads pursue.
I have found it necessary, in the course of this volume, to speak of the departed; for the misgovernment of the Royal Society has not been wholly the result of even the present race. It is said, and I think with justice, in the life of Young, inserted amongst Dr. Johnson's, that the famous maxim, "DE MORTUIS NIL NISI BONUM," "appears to savour more of female weakness than of manly reason." The foibles and the follies of those who are gone, may, without injury to society, repose in oblivion. But, whoever would claim the admiration of mankind for their good actions, must prove his impartiality by fearlessly condemning their evil deeds. Adopt the maxim, and praise to the dead becomes worthless, from its universality; and history, a greater fable than it has been hitherto deemed.
Perhaps I ought to apologize for the large space I have devoted to the Royal Society. Certainly its present state gives it no claim to that attention; and I do it partly from respect for its former services, and partly from the hope that, if such an Institution can be of use to science in the present day, the attention of its members may be excited to take steps for its restoration. Perhaps I may be blamed for having published extracts from the minutes of its proceedings without the permission of its Council. To have asked permission of the present Council would have been useless. I might, however, have given the substance of what I have extracted without the words, and no one could then have reproached me with any infringement of our rules: but there were two objections to that course. In the first place, it is impossible, even for the most candid, in all cases, to convey precisely the same sentiment in different language; and I thought it therefore more fair towards those from whom I differed, as well as to the public, to give the precise words. Again: had it been possible to make so accurate a paraphrase, I should yet have preferred the risk of incurring the reproach of the Royal Society for the offence, to escaping their censure by an evasion. What I have done rests on my own head; and I shrink not from the responsibility attaching to it.
If those, whose mismanagement of that Society I condemn, should accuse me of hostility to the Royal Society; my answer is, that the party which governs it is not the Royal Society; and that I will only admit the justice of the accusation, when the whole body, becoming acquainted with the system I have exposed, shall, by ratifying it with their approbation, appropriate it to themselves: an event of which I need scarcely add I have not the slightest anticipation.
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CONTENTS.
PREFACE Introductory Remarks CHAP. I. On the Reciprocal Influence of Science and Education. CHAP. II. Of the Inducements to Individuals to cultivate Science. --Sect. 1. Professional Impulses. ------ 2. Of National Encouragement. ------ 3. Of Encouragement from learned Societies. CHAP. III. General State of learned Societies in England. CHAP. IV. State of the Royal Society in particular. --Sect. 1. Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society. ------ 2. Of the Presidency and Vice-Presidencies. ------ 3. Of the Secretariships ------ 4. Of the Scientific Advisers. ------ 5. Of the Union of several Offices in one person. ------ 6. Of the Funds of the Society. ------ 7. Of the Royal Medals. ------ 8. Of the Copley Medals. ------ 9. Of the Fairchild Lecture. ------ 10. Of the Croonian Lecture. ------ 11. Of the Causes of the Present State of the Royal Society. ------ 12. Of the Plan for Reforming the Society. CHAP. V. Of Observations. --Sect. 1. Of Minute Precision. ------ 2. On the Art of Observing. ------ 3. On the Frauds of Observers. CHAP. VI. Suggestions for the Advancement of Science in England. --Sect. 1. Of the Necessity that Members of the Royal Society --------- should express their Opinions. ------ 2. Of Biennial Presidents. ------ 3. Of the Influence of the Colleges of Physicians and --------- Surgeons in the Royal Society. ------ 4. Of the Influence of the Royal Institution on the Royal --------- Society. ------ 5. Of the Transactions of the Royal Society. ------ 6. Order of Merit. ------ 7. Of the Union of Scientific Societies. CONCLUSION. APPENDIX NO. 1. ------- NO. 2. -------