Welcome to my first blog

On the other hand, debates respecting the affairs of the Society

should never be entered on at the ordinary meetings, as they

interrupt its business, and only a partial attendance can be

expected That the conduct of those who have latterly managed

the Royal Society has not led to such discussions, is to be

attributed more to the forbearance of those who disapprove of the

line of conduct they have pursued, than to the discretion of the

party in not giving them cause



The public is the last tribunal; one to which nothing but strong

necessity should induce an appeal There are, however,

advantages in it which may, in some cases, render it better than

a public discussion at the anniversary When the cause of

complaint is a system rather than any one great grievance, it may

be necessary to enter more into detail than a speech will permit;

also the printed statement and arguments will probably come under

the consideration of a larger number of the members Another and

a considerable benefit is, that there is much less danger of any

expression of temper interrupting or injuring the arguments

employed



There were other points suggested, but I shall subjoin the Report

of the Committee:--



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONSIDER THE BEST MEANS OF

LIMITING THE MEMBERS ADMITTED INTO THE ROYAL SOCIETY, AS WELL AS

TO MAKE SUCH SUGGESTIONS ON THAT SUBJECT AS MAY SEEM TO THEM

CONDUCIVE TO THE WELFARE OF THE SOCIETY



Your Committee having maturely considered the resolution of the

Council under which they have been appointed; and having

satisfied themselves that the progressive increase of the Society

has been in a much higher ratio than the progressive increase of

population, or the general growth of knowledge, or the extension

of those sciences which it has been the great object of the

Society to promote, they have agreed to the following Report:--



Your Committee assume as indisputable propositions, that the

utility of the Society is in direct proportion to its

respectability That its respectability can only be secured by

its comprising men of high philosophical eminence; and that the

obvious means of associating persons of this eminence will be the

public conviction, that to belong to the Society is an honour

Your Committee, therefore, think themselves fully borne out in

the conclusion, that it would be expedient to limit the Society

to such a number as should be a fair representation of the talent

of the country; the consequence of which will be, that every

vacancy would become an object of competition among persons of

acknowledged merit



From the returns which have been laid on your table, of the

Fellows who have contributed papers, and from the best estimate

they can make of the persons without doors who are engaged in the

active pursuit of science, your Committee feel justified in

recommending that those limits should be fixed at four hundred,

exclusive of foreign members, and of such royal personages as it

may be thought proper to admit



As many years must elapse before the present number of seven

hundred and fourteen can be reduced to those limits by the course

of nature, and as it would be prejudicial to the interests of the

Society and of science, that no fresh accessions should take

place during that long period, your Committee would further

recommend, that till that event takes place, four new members

should be annually admitted



With respect to the manner of admission, your Committee are of

opinion, that there are several inconveniences in the present

mode of proceeding to a single ballot upon each certificate,

according to its seniorityIf the above limitation should be

adopted, it may be presumed, that for every vacancy there will be

many candidates; from amongst them, it must be the general wish

to select the most distinguished individuals; but to accomplish

this, if the present system were to be continued, it would be

necessary to reject all those candidates whose certificates were

of earlier date than theirs; a process not only extremely

irritating, but probably ineffectual from the want of unanimity

Your Committee, therefore, most earnestly recommend, that one

general election should take place every year towards the end of

the session, and that this should be conducted on the same

principles as the present annual election of the Council and

officers; VIZby having lists printed of all the candidates

(whose certificates had been suspended for the usual time,) in

which lists each Fellow would mark the requisite number of

persons



As the charter, however, requires the concurrence of two-thirds

of the Fellows present, your Committee suggest, that after the

choice has been determined by the plurality of votes by ballot in

the above manner, the successful candidates should be again

submitted to a general vote, in accordance with the enactments of

the said charter



In concluding this part of the subject, your Committee beg leave

to remark, that by the method now proposed, the invidious act of

blackballing would cease, and with it all feelings of resentment

and mortification; as the result of such an open competition

could only be construed by the public into a fair preference of

the superior claims of the successful few, and not into a direct

and disgraceful rejection of the others



Your Committee are fully aware, that such a reduction in the

usual admissions would materially affect the pecuniary resources

of the Society; but they are at the same time convinced, that by

a vigorous economy its present income might be rendered adequate

to all its real wants, and the aggregate expenditure might be

considerably diminished by many small but wholesome

retrenchments



It appears, from the accounts of last year, that although 1200L

was received for compositions, in addition to the standing

income, and usual contributions,

Welcome to my first blog

" there is a story in ""Hanshu"" telling of a rich man, who being a lover of s and had a large collection. Among them was a rare vase made of jade. The vase of exquisite workmanship and of historical value and he loved it dearly. One night he noticed a mouse passing near the precious vase. The mouse jumped into the vase and was trying to eat some food which the man had carelessly left there. The sigh infuriated the man and in a fit of rage he threw a stone at the mouse. For sure, the mouse was killed, but the precious vase was broken also. The loss of the vase pained the man GREatly and he deeply regretted his own thoughtlessness, which bought him this unrecoverable loss. He now realized that any one, who cares for the present and overlooks consequences is apt to bring disasters upon himself. So he exclaimed to warn people by saying do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse.
"

Congratulations, your blog is created !
To access the different options of your Blog, click on « Connection » : Connect yourself with the username : Admin and your password (the one you chose at the blog creation).
Once you're connected, a toolbar will be placed automatically at the top of the page, managing you to access the administration panel.

(This text is an example of an article, you can delete it as soon as you wish)