id="pgepubid00006">Lord High-Chancellor of England,
and President of the Royal-Society.

My Lord,

T he Idea and Plan of the Royal-Society having been firſt conceiv'd and delineated by a Great and Learned Chancellor, which High Office your Lordſhip deservedly bears; not as an Acquiſition of Fortune, but your Intellectual Endowments; [pg] Conſpicuous (among other Excellencies) by the Inclination Your Lordſhip diſcovers to promote Natural Knowledge: As it juſtifies the Diſcernment of that Aſſembly, to pitch upon Your Lordſhip for their Preſident, ſo does it no leſs diſcover the Candor, yea, I preſume to ſay, the Sublimity of your Mind, in ſo generouſly honoring them with your Acceptance of the Choice they have made.

A ¹Chancellor, and a very Learned Lord, was the Firſt who honoured the Chair; and a no leſs Honorable and Learned Chancellor, reſigns it to Your Lordſhip: So as after all the Difficulties and Hardſhips the Society [pg] has hitherto gone through; it has thro' the Favour and Protection of its Preſidents, not only preſerv'd its Reputation from the Malevolence of Enemies and Detracters, but gone on Culminating, and now Triumphantly in Your Lordſhip: Under whoſe propitious Influence, I am perſwaded, it may promiſe it ſelf That, which indeed has hitherto been wanting, to juſtifie the Glorious Title it bears of a ROYAL SOCIETY. The Emancipating it from ſome Remaining and Diſcouraging Circumſtances, which it as yet labours under; among which, that of a Precarious and unſteady Abode, is not the leaſt.

This Honor was reſerv'd for Your Lordſhip; and an Honor, permit me [pg] to call it, not at all unworthy the Owning of the Greateſt Person living: Namely, the Eſtabliſhing and Promoting Real Knowledge; and (next to what is Divine) truly ſo called; as far, at leaſt, as Humane Nature extends towards the Knowledge of Nature, by enlarging her Empire beyond the Land of Spectres, Forms, Intentional Species, Vacuum, Occult Qualities, and other Inadequate Notions; which, by their Obſtreperous and Noiſy Diſputes, affrighting, and (till of late) deterring Men from adventuring on further Diſcoveries, confin'd them in a lazy Acquieſcence, and to be fed with Fantaſms and fruitleſs Speculations, which ſignifie nothing to the ſpecifick Nature of Things, [pg] solid and uſeful knowledge; by the Inveſtigation of Cauſes, Principles, Energies, Powers, and Effects of Bodies, and Things Viſible; and to improve them for the Good and Benefit of Mankind.

My Lord, That which the Royal Society needs to accompliſh an entire Freedom, and (by rendring their Circumſtances more eaſie) capable to ſubſiſt with Honor, and to reach indeed the Glorious Ends of its Inſtitution, is an Eſtabliſhment in a more Settl'd, Appropriate, and Commodious Place; having hitherto (like the Tabernacle in the Wilderneſs) been only Ambulatory for almoſt Forty Years: But Solomon built the Firſt Temple; and what forbids us to hope, [pg] that as Great a Prince may build Solomon's Houſe, as that Great Chancellor (one of Your Lordſhip's Learned Predeceſſors) had deſign'd the Plan; there being nothing in that Auguſt and Noble Model impoſſible, or beyond the Power of Nature and Learned Induſtry.

Thus, whilſt King Solomon's Temple was Conſecrated to the God of Nature, and his true Worſhip; This may be Dedicated, and ſet apart for the Works of Nature; deliver'd from those Illuſions and Impoſtors, that are ſtill endeavouring to cloud and depreſs the True, and Subſtantial Philoſophy: A ſhallow and Superficial Inſight, wherein (as that Incomparable Perſon rightly obſerves) having [pg] made ſo many Atheiſts: whilſt a profound and thorow Penetration into her Receſſes (which is the Buſineſs of the Royal Society) would lead Men to the Knowledge, and Admiration of the Glorious Author.

And now, My Lord, I expect ſome will wonder what my Meaning is, to uſher in a Trifle, with ſo much Magnificence, and end at last in a fine Receipt for the Dreſſing of a Sallet with an Handful of Pot-Herbs! But yet, My Lord, this Subject, as low and deſpicable as it appears, challenges a Part of Natural History, and the Greateſt Princes have thought it no Diſgrace, not only to make it their Diverſion, but their Care, and to promote and encourage it in the midſt [pg] of their weightieſt Affairs: He who wrote of the Cedar of Libanus, wrote alſo of the Hyſop which grows upon the Wall.

To verifie this, how much might I ſay of Gardens and Rural Employments, preferrable to the Pomp and Grandeur of other Secular Buſineſs, and that in the Eſtimate of as Great Men as any Age has produc'd! And it is of ſuch Great Souls we have it recorded; That after they had perform'd the Nobleſt Exploits for the Publick, they ſometimes chang'd their Scepters for the Spade, and their Purple for the Gardiner's Apron. And of theſe, ſome, My Lord, were Emperors, Kings, Conſuls, Dictators, and Wiſe Stateſmen; who amidſt the most [pg] important Affairs, both in Peace and War, have quitted all their Pomp and Dignity in Exchange of this Learned Pleaſure: Nor that of the moſt refin'd Part of Agriculture (the Philoſophy of the Garden and Parterre only) but of Herbs, and wholeſom Sallets, and other plain and uſeful Parts of Geoponicks, and Wrote Books of Tillage and Husbandry; and took the Plough-Tackle for their Banner, and their Names from the Grain and Pulſe they ſow'd, as the Marks and Characters of the higheſt Honor.

But I proceed no farther on a Topic ſo well known to Your Lordſhip: Nor urge I Examples of ſuch Illuſtrious Perſons laying aſide their Grandeur, and even of deſerting their Stations; [pg] (which would infinitely prejudice the Publick, when worthy Men are in Place, and at the Helm) But to ſhew how conſiſent the Diverſions of the Garden and Villa were, with the higheſt and buſieſt Employment of the Commonwealth, and never thought a Reproch, or the leaſt Diminution to the Gravity and Veneration due to their Perſons, and the Noble Rank they held.

Will Your Lordſhip give me Leave to repeat what is ſaid of the Younger Pliny, (Nephew to the Naturaliſt) and whom I think we may parallel with the Greateſt of his time (and perhaps of any ſince) under the Worthieſt Emperor the Roman world ever had? A Perſon of vaſt Abilities, Rich, [pg] and High in his Maſter's Favour; that ſo Husbanded his time, as in the Midſt of the weightieſt Affairs, to have Anſwer'd, and by his public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@15517@[email protected]#note-2" class="noteref pginternal" id="noteref-2"