Page:History of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923).djvu/66

 CHAPTER II THE DECADE 1830-1840. (BY J. L. E. DREYER) 1. IN 1830 February, when the Society had existed for ten years, it was generally felt that it ought to obtain a Charter of incorpora- tion in order to secure the property already acquired or which might be acquired, and to insure the appropriation of that pro- perty to the particular uses for which it was destined.* A small committee appointed by the Council to look into this matter, reported the following month that they had learned that the expenses would to a great extent depend on the number of names introduced in the Charter. They had seen some recent charters, in which every necessary object had been fully attained by the insertion of one name only, that of the President, and of very few clauses. The amount of fees would come to about 270 and the law charges would not exceed 50. Subscriptions to cover these expenses were therefore invited from the Fellows, and in a few months nearly 400 were collected. Eventually the expenses only amounted to 268, as Mr. Henry Hoppe transacted the legal business gratuitously .j- In 1830 May the President (South, since 1829 February) was empowered to sign the petition to the King for the grant of a Charter, while a committee was appointed to examine the Bye-laws of the Society and to propose any alterations and additions that might become necessary. The matter dragged on ; in the following November it was reported to the Council that there had been some delay from unforeseen causes. But on January 14, South announced that he had attended the Levee on December 15, when the King inserted his name in the autograph book as Patron of the Society, and that in consequence the Society would now become the Royal Astronomical Society. At the same meeting of the Council the Charter Committee reported that they had settled the draft, and that a clause had betn inserted, providing that no Fellow who had filled the office of President for two successive years was taken. f An unappropriated balance of i 29, 1 8s. i od. was handed to the Treasurer for the general purposes of the Society in 1832 February. So
 * This question had already been raised in 1825, but no effective action