The Council appointed a Committee to take Mr. Babbage’s plan into consideration, which was composed of the following gentlemen: Sir H. Davy, Mr. Brande, Mr. Combe, Mr. Baily, Mr. (now Sir Mark Isambard) Brunel, Major (now General) Colby, Mr. Davies Gilbert, Mr. (now Sir John) Herschel, Captain Kater, Mr. Pond (Astronomer-Royal), Dr. Wollaston, and Dr. Young. On the 1st May, 1823, the Committee reported: “That it appears that Mr. Babbage has displayed great talents and ingenuity in the construction of his machine for computation, which the Committee think fully adequate to the attainment of the objects proposed by the inventor, and that they consider Mr. Babbage as highly deserving of public encouragement in the prosecution of his arduous undertaking[32].” This Report was transmitted to the Lords of the Treasury, by whom it was, with Mr. Babbage’s letter to Sir H. Davy, printed and laid before Parliament[33]. In July, 1823, Mr. Babbage had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Robinson (now Earl of Ripon), to ascertain if it were the wish of Government that he should construct a large engine of the kind, which would also print the results it calculated. Unfortunately, no Minute of that conversation was made at the time, nor was any sufficiently distinct understanding arrived at, as it afterwards appeared that a contrary impression was left on the mind of either party[34]. Mr. Babbage’s conviction was, that whatever might be the labour and difficulty of the undertaking, the engine itself would, of course, become the property of the Government, which had paid for its construction. Soon after this interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a letter was sent from the Treasury to the Royal Society, informing them that the Lords of the Treasury “had directed the issue of 1,500_l._ to Mr. Babbage, to enable him to bring his invention to perfection, in the manner recommended.” These words “_in the manner recommended_,” can refer only to the previous recommendation by the Royal Society; but it does not appear from their Report, that any plan, terms, or conditions had been pointed out. Towards the end of July, 1823, Mr. Babbage took measures for the construction of the present Difference-Engine[35], and it was regularly proceeded with for four years.