112

HISTORY OP

[ 1775 — 80 .

arrangements of which were admirable. Nests ofdrawers numbered consecutively lined the walls; andit was Sir Joseph ’s custom to have two catalogues,descriptive of their contents; one of which alwaysaccompanied him, the other remained at Revesby.Thus, if when in London , he required any paper con-tained in the drawers, he had merely to refer to hiscatalogue, and sending the number to his steward atRevesby, the latter was enabled, by means of theCatalogue in the office, to put his hand in a momentupon the desired document, and forward it to hismaster.

All his letters were preserved in volumes bearingappropriate dates, and placed in regular series. Therooms, three in number 25 , gave evidence of the manof order and business-like habits. I remember beingshowm a book exclusively devoted to the registrationof his gifts of venison, many haunches of which weresent to Fellows of the Royal Society .

In 1778, as before stated, the resignation of SirJohn Pringle took place. A general opinion prevailed,that no one was better qualified to occupy the vacantchair than Sir Joseph Banks . He was, as we have seenalready, on the Council of the Society, and took a warminterest in its affairs. He was accordingly electedPresident, and immediately devoted himself withgreat zeal to the discharge of his duties. How wellhe performed these, we shall have many opportunitiesof showing; indeed, the history of the Society during

25 These, at the period of my visit, were nearly the last vestigesof the old mansion of Revesby. The new proprietor, Mr. Stanhope,was busily occupied pulling down the house, to make way for amore imposing edifice, which has since risen.