been preached in the British Ambassador’s Chapel in Paris in the years 1774, 1775, 1776, and in this volume by an oversight, that has sometimes happened in other cases, two or three sermons which he had transcribed from other authors were reprinted.”
Mr. Maty found a more appropriate field for his tastes and talents. The death of his father having necessitated a re-arrangement of the staff of the British Museum, he was appointed as Assistant Librarian in December 1776, and he was promoted to bean Under-Librarian or Keeper of a Department in July 1782 — the department assigned to him being Natural History and Antiquities. On 13th February 1772, he had been made Foreign Secretary to the Royal Society, of which he was elected a Fellow, and on 30th November 1778, he succeeded Dr. Horsley as Principal Secretary. In 1782 he began to publish a periodical entitled, “The New Review, with Literary Curiosities and Literary Intelligence. By Henry Maty. Sequitur patrem von passibus oequis.” It was continued till 1786, and consists of nine respectable octavos.
Unfortunately, in the Royal Society, he forgot the neutrality which is almost incumbent on a Secretary, and in its debates he both spoke and voted (the mere voting might have signified little, as it was by ballot). A series of disputes arose in which he took a prominent part, and even (it is believed) printed an anonymous pamphlet. His distinguished friend, Dr. Hutton, the Foreign Secretary, had been covertly censured on 20th November 1783 by a resolution of the council, and his resignation was accepted. Mr. Maty disliked the President, Sir Joseph Banks, whom he considered guilty of canvassing and using undue influence as to the election of Fellows, and the exclusion of the unsuccessful candidates for that honour. The Royal Society, however, refused on 26th February 1784 to inflict any covert censure on Sir Joseph Banks, though notice of such a motion had been signed by Samuel Horsley, Nevil Maskelyne, William James, Henry Maty, Charles Hutton, John Hyacinth de Magellan, Francis Maseres, Thomas Brand Hollis, and Richard Paul Jodrell. That motion had “originated in some words spoken by Sir Joseph Banks to Mr. Maty, expressive of his dissatisfaction at finding that gentleman usually in opposition to him.” On 25th March 1784, Mr. Maty resigned his secretaryship; and on 5th May Dr. Blagden was elected his successor. Dr. Kippis, from whose pamphlet[1] I have taken my information, says:—
“I cannot but express my wish Mr. Maty could be induced to abate something of the warmth of his disposition. For his general integrity, and for the particular proof he hath displayed of it in a striking instance, by which he sacrificed his interests and prospects in life, he is greatly to be respected. Nor will the praise be denied him of abilities and learning. But certainly, in the exercise of his free and independent spirit, he might have preserved a greater moderation of temper. If, as is commonly understood, he is author of the History of the instances of exclusion from the Royal Society, the violence of it cannot be approved; and the time will probably arrive, in which he himself will acknowledge that the language of his indignation hath gone beyond all reasonable limits.”
Mr. Maty continued in his post at the British Museum, and devoted his leisure to literary work and a useful study of the Royal Society’s Transactions. He published in 1787 a translation, in three volumes, of Baron Riesbeck’s Travels through Germany. He also translated from Latin into French Bryant’s Gemmae Marlburienses (an account of the collection of gems in Blenheim), for which the Duke of Marlborough gave him £100. About the same time he brought out “A General Index to the Philosophical Transactions from Vol. I. to Vol. LXX.” He died on 16th January 1787, leaving a widow (daughter of Joseph Clark, Esq. of Weatherfield, in Essex) and a son, who died young.
In his “New Review” he characterised the English translation of Saurin’s Sermons as unworthy of the justly-admired orator, and gave suggestions for a nearer reproduction of them. The following is Mr. Maty’s version of Saurin’s grand apostrophe to Louis XIV. (in a sermon preached in Holland):—
- ↑ Observations on the Late Contests in the Royal Society. By Andrew Kippis, D.D., F.R.S,, and A.S. London, Printed for G. Robinson, No. 25 Paternoster Row, 1784. Page 144.
