| Description | Present at the Council: Lord Bishop of Salisbury in the Chair; Earl Marshall; Earl of Dorset; Lord Strafford; Sir John Lowther; Mr Daniel Colwall; Mr Abraham Hill; Mr Henry Oldenburg
The Secretary reported what he had found in the Council Book concerning Mr Povey's business, namely on 18 May 1664, when an Order was made that the Treasurer should reimburse Mr Povey for his expense in the Society's service, and it was ordered that Mr Colwall should subtract from Mr Povey's arrears to the Society the sum for his expenses, and then receive from him the remainder of his arrears.
Ordered that the Treasurer Mr Colwall send the Fellows in arrears the new regulation the Council is making to firmly establish the Society, and that the arrears are to be collected forthwith; also a legal Obligation to be subscribed by those who wish to continue as Fellows to better secure the weekly contributions for the future. The Treasurer to ask every Fellow in arrears either to send in the sum due by St Andrew's Day (30 November 1673) or to give a Bond to pay in 6 months from the date of this order, and to declare if he wishes to continue as a member of the Society.
The Council discussed with the Lord Marshall concerning removing their weekly assemblies to Gresham College and of meeting there again on the next anniversary Election Day, as they wished to have the convenience of making their experiments in the place where their Curator dwells and the apparatus is at hand, also by the invitation of the City of London and the Professors of Gresham College, and their hope of meeting some considerable benefactors at that end of the City. Should the Society decide to move back to Gresham College it was hoped that the Lord Marshall would continue to support them as he had done hitherto if they moved from his house to the College. The Lord Marshall generously agreed to do so, as the Council considered it really necessary to return to Gresham College for the service and good of the Society. The Council was so moved by the Lord Marshall's declaration that they asked the Lord Bishop of Salisbury to give thanks on their behalf for his extraordinary good favour and generosity towards the Society, including receiving them into his house after the Fire of London, and the magnificent gift of the Arundelian Library. The Bishop of Salisbury was also asked to aquaint the whole Society with this whole matter, and they were to present themselves in a body to the Lord Marshall and make the same acknowledgements with the Council. This was done, as is recorded in the Journal Book for this day. |