Page:Reflections on the decline of science in England - Babbage - 1830.pdf/167

some questions, and one of them might be employed, from its station in society, to check any that might be proposed by others.

With these ingredients, added to the regular train of the party, and a star or two of science to shed lustre over the whole, a very manageable Council might be formed; and such has been its frequent composition.

The duties of the Secretaries, when well executed, are laborious, although not in this respect equal to those of the same officers who, in several societies, give their gratuitous aid; and their labours are much lightened by the Assistant Secretary and his clerk. The following are their salaries:

The Senior Secretary			105l.
The Junior Secretary, 105l.		$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	110l.
5l. for making Index to Phil. Trans.
The Foreign Secretary			20l.

Now it is not customary to change these annually; and as these offices are amongst the "loaves and fishes," they are generally given by the President to some staunch supporters of the system. They have frequently been bestowed, with very little consideration for the interest, or even for the dignity of the Society. To notice