Page:Reflections on the decline of science in England - Babbage - 1830.pdf/94

 The representation made by the Council was not calculated to produce much effect; but the Secretary of the Admiralty, who knew well the stuff of which Councils of the Royal Society are composed, might have spared the bitter irony of making their Lordships say, that they recommended this plan "as a mark of respect to the Society," and "as a pledge to the public of the qualifications of the persons chosen," whilst he delicately hints to them their dependent situation, by observing, that the "Resident Committee is also annually appointed."

The Secretary knew that, practically speaking, it had been the custom for years for the President of the Royal Society to nominate the Council, and consequently he knew that every scientific adviser must first be indebted to the President for being qualified to advise, and then to the Admiralty for deriving profit from his counsel. Thus then their Lordships, as a "mark of respect for the Society," confirm the dependence of the Council on the President, by making his nomination a qualification for place, and establish a new dependence of the same Council on themselves, by giving a hundred pounds each year to such three members of that Council as they may select. "The pledge" they offer "to