Page:History of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923).djvu/51

 1820-30] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 35 the Lees for seven hundred years. Part of the house is of very old date, but I believe it was almost entirely rebuilt in the seventeenth century. One fact will always add greatly to its interest : from 1809 to 1814 Hartwell was the abode of Louis XVIII., the exiled King of France, and his queen, who died there ; with them came about 180 persons belonging to their household and Court. Many distinguished names, such as those of the Royal Dukes of Berry and of Angoulme, also those of Duras, de Gramont, de Servant, de Blacas, that of the Archbishop of Rheims, etc., became well known in the neighbourhood. Indeed, several of the monarch's companions died at Hartwell and are interred in the little churchyard belonging to the place. I have read in Ditchfield's Memories of Old Buckinghamshire how " the halls, gallery, and larger apartments were often divided and subdivided into suites of rooms for the use of the members of the French Court and household, in some instances to the great disorder and confusion of the mansion. Every outhouse and each of the ornamental buildings in the park that could be rendered capable of decent shelter was densely occupied. It was curious to see how some of the occupants stowed themselves away in the attics of the house, converting one room into several by the adapta- tion of light partitions." Moreover, I have been told that a garden was laid out on the roof, where, besides shrubs and flowers, vege- tables were grown for the use of the inmates. PLACE OF MEETING From the Minutes quoted we see that the preliminary meeting was held at Freemason's Tavern,and others followed in the hospitable rooms of the Geological Society. In 1820 November the Society moved into rooms in Lincoln's Inn Fields, paying an annual rent of fifty guineas to the Medical and Chirurgical Society, who allowed them, besides the room for meeting, the use of an attic. It was not, however, until 1828 that the Society availed itself of this luxury : in that year a difference with the printers caused them to remove their stock of publications from their care, and the attic became a storehouse. Meanwhile, many attempts had been made to find a more suitable and more permanent home. In 1823 a large room in the Scottish Hospital, Crane Court, Fleet Street, was reported, but on enquiry was found to have been already let. In 1824 March a possible house in Lincoln's Inn Fields was found to be priced at 6000 guineas, and judged, therefore, too large and expensive. In 1824 May the Council resolved That the Secretaries do insert an advertizement in The Times and Morning Chronicle Newspapers for a House containing at least one room of about 30 feet by 20 feet in dimensions as a meeting- place for the Society ; such house to be situated between Tottenham