The Press.
London, England, 1855-10-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

LORD STANLEY ON EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS
AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.
AT a gathering of the Borrow Mechanics' Institute
last week, to celebrate the opening of more conve-
nient premises, Lord STANLEY, who presided, addressed
the meeting at some length, adverting to the parti-
cular circumstances of that institution and to the use
of such societies in general. Two courses were, he
conceived, open by which the objects of these insti-
tutes might be raised and rendered more definite :
They ought to be, in fact, provincial colleges for those
who want the leisure and the means to complete their
education elsewhere than in their own neighbourhood ; and
with a view to make them so, two plans have been sug-
gested, both of which deserve consideration, and one, at
least, may be received at no distant date. The first—l
should mention that it originates with Lord Alfred Harvey,
president of the Bury St. Edmund's Athenaeum—is to the
effect that on requisition made by a certain number of
educational societies in any part of the country, and on
their undertaking to pay a proportion—say, halt—of the
cost, educated and trained men should be sent down by the
universities to deliver a series of lectures, forming thus a
connected and consecutive course of teaching, on any
selected subject. That is a plan to which, I believe, no
objection would be raised—l sin sure none reasonably can
be—by the university authorities ;it is, in fact, merely
proposing that those who cannot go to Oxford or Cambridge
shall have Oxford and Cambridge brought to them ; and of
the importance of the sugggestion no one can doubt who
knows, as most of us do, the difficulty of getting educated
and accomplished persons to give for the benefit of these
societies the time and labour requisite to prepare even one
valuable and thoughtful lecture. ( Hear, hear.) There
are scores of young men at the universities who have taken
high degrees, who are fully qualified as instructors, who
are not yet absorbed in the business of any professiou.and
who would gain as much by being brought into contact
with the industrial part of the community as their hearers
would gain from them. ( Hear, hear.) The other plan
named—one for which we are not fully ripe, but which I
throw out for future consideration—was originated by Lord
Eglinton, and, I think, discussed some time ago by the
Society of Arts. It is to this effect,—that wherever a cer-
tain number of students, boys or young men, with a certain
degree of attainments, can be brought together at no great
distance from their homes—say, for instance, to the chief
town of each county—competitive examinations should be
held in the various branches of study, and conducted by
competent persons, to the intent that those who have pro-
fitted by the teaching given in these institutions may carry
with them into the world a certificate of proficiency which
they will find useful in after life. ( Hear, hear.) That is
a proposition requiring some thought and previous arrange-
ment before it can be practically worked out ; but it is, I
believe, sound in principle, and at least worth notice.
There was a principle—connected with politics—
so closely associated with institutions like the present
that he could not pass it by :
I mean the principle laid down by the first Napoleon—
than whom no man applied it more largely, and to whose
marvellous success it contributed in no small degree—that
of an open career offered to merit and talent. (Loud
cheers.) I mean that principle which has equality and
justice for its basis, not an impossible and a tyrannical
equality of social status as between man and man, but
equal chances given, equal opportunities afforded, equal
favour shown to all whose ambition or patriotism aspires
to distinction in the service of England. (Great
cheering.) I mean that principle which admonishes the
wealthy and the powerful that in the career of open intel-
lectual competition neither riches, nor influence, nor con-
nection will avail them anything, and which says to the
poor and friendless candidate—friendless, but conscious of
abilities which demand only scope for action, " Rely nei•
ther on the patronage of the powerful, nor yet on that
popular favour which is so often 111-bestowed ; but trust to
the keenness of our own intellect, to the strength of your
own will, to the perseverance which, shrinking not from long
and monotonous labour, endures to the end; and be sure
that those qualities—their existence in you once proved
under a system framed expressly to develop and call them
forth—will be duly recognised and amply rewarded."
(Cheers.) That is the principle set forth by those who have
of late years taken in hand to reform the civil administra-
tion of this country. No doubt, there are difficulties in the
way of its application—difficulties exaggerated by preju-
dice and by the natural dread of what is new and untried—
but still difficulties needing to be well weigbed and care-
fully considered. But in the admission and recognition of
the principle itself—and you don't require to be reminded
that the House of Commons has, within the last year, by
express resolution, recognised and adopted it—there is,
apart from the details, which may be necessary for its suc-
cessful working, an actual present gain to society, and a
glorious promise of future progress. No nation can be
politically safe, no community can be said to rest on a
sound social basis, where intellect and ambition—legitimate
ambition—fail to find a free upward course. (Cheers.)
The strongest mind must always rule ; the question is only
whether it, shall rule by means allowed or by means for-
bidden. Trouble and discontent, in all ages and in all
countries, have arisen far less from the physical sufferings
of the masses than from the thwarted and baffled desires
of an aspiring few. Those desires and that ambition are
to be guided, not depressed. They are useful—they are
nationally honourable ; they are a public benefit where a
channel has been provided for them to flow in ; and only
in the absence of such a channel—only when they are left
to find or make their own course—do they become dan-
gerous. I say, then, on every ground, whether of indivi-
dual or of national advantage—as a matter of justice—for
the sake of education—for the sake of political stability—
it should be the policy of those who govern to stimulate by

SATURDAY,

inducements and to reward by employment the acquisit►on
and display of mental power in whatever class. (Loud
cheers.)

His lordship concluded by saying thateven though
the knowledge gained at those institutions led to no
positive benefit, it would, from its mere possession,
amply reward the pains taken to acquire it.

ehituarg.

DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM MOLESWORTH.
To the public the death of Sir William Moleswortb
must have the effect of a sudden shook. It was not
generally known that he was ill until Saturday last,
and he expired on Monday at noon. It is now stated
that his physical powers had been declining for some
weeks past, and the drowsiness which in Parliament
often provoked a laugh at his expense is attributed
to constitutional defect. Sir William died at his
town residence in Eaton-place; his disease is said to
have been gastric fever. As his position as a Cabinet
Minister rendered it necessary that he should be
near London, he had lately resided at Brighton.
One journal, in a very eulogistic notice of him, says,
that he forbore " the enjoyment of his autumnal
vacation, and of his magnificent country seat and
estate at Pencarrow, in Cornwall, that he might
discharge his public duties at the present critical
period in the history of Europe and Asia—in a word,
that he might do his duty in the councils and
Cabinet of his Sovereign." But most persons will
think that an October at Brighton is not a severe
penalty to pay for the honours and emolument of
the position of a Cabinet Minister. There does not
appear any good reason to suppose that Sir William
fell a martyr to the responsibilities and duties of his
office.

From the biographical notices published of his
career it appears that he was born in London, iu
Upper Brook-street, on the 23rd Al ay, 1810. He be-
longed by birth to the real nobility of England—the old
landed gentry. The first baronet, a former Governor
of Jamaica, was created by William 111. Sir William's
father died in 1823, when the heir was only 13. The'
liberal turn of his mind was early indicated. At
Cambridge he was rusticated for sending a challenge
to mortal combat to his tutor ; thence he was sent
to Edinburgh, and in the University of " Modern
Athens " was early initiated in classics, mathematics,
and metaphysics by an Italian refugee. Afterwards,
under the care of an attached and faithful foreign
servant, he passed to a German university. Re-
leased from collegiate study, he made the usual tour
of Europe, and was still in his minority when ho re-
turned home in 1831. His first appearance in
public was at a Cornish county meeting, on the
agitation of Parliamentary Reform in 1831, when he
warmly advocated "the Bill." The local Liberals
marked his promise, and he was returned for the
eastern division of Cornwall in the first reformed
Parliament, in 1832.
He was again returned for Cornwall in January,
1835, but subsequently his opinions became so un-
popular, that he foresaw it would be useless for him
to contest the representation again. Sir William
made no secret of the freedom of his views on reli-
gious subjects, and in a gay company on one occa-
sion he expressed himself in a manner which excited
a strong prejudice against him. He further, we
have heard, proved the sincerity of the opinions he
professed, by preferring rather to sacrifice a first at-
tachment than to conceal his sentiments. The friends
of the young lady were indignant, but Sir William
was firm ; and from that time he became more
ardently addicted than ever to his political and philo-
sophical pursuits.
Among his associates Sir William's character was
easily seen through. Charles Buller was one of his
intimates, and was accustomed to tell him that his
reserve and want of dash and readiness would ever
prevent his making a figure in public life. " Without
half your solid ability," said the confident wit, " and
notwithstanding your advantages of fortune, I shall
outstrip you." And it is probable that the predic-
tion would have been fulfilled but for the early death
of one of the brightest spirits of his day.
Sir William's taste led him to ponderous subjects.
At the commencement of his career he took great
interest in periodical literature. He became the
proprietor of the Westminster Review, where, pro-
bably, some of his most elaborate performances in
the shape of critical essays are to be found, but they
do not seem to have excited much notice ; and it is
observable that in these days of republication, the
" Philosophical and Political Essays " contributed to
the Westminster Review by the Right Honourable
Sir William Molesworth, &c. &c., have never been
thought worth republication. The Westminster
Review hobby proved expensive, and after a time was
prudently got rid of.
The edition of Hobbes was Sir William's greatest
literary undertaking. We find it stated:—
He long devoted his leisure to the collection of materials
for a life of the "Philosopher of Malmesbury." In 1639
he commenced, and afterwards completed, at a Goat of

OCTOBER 27, 1855.

many thousand pounds, a reprint of the entire miscella-
neous and voluminous writings of that eminent, but
sceptical and unpopular, author. He printed the Latin
and philosophical works in five handsome Bvo. volumes,
including all the " obsolete mathematics "; and subse-
quently he also printed and published, uniform, the
4, English Works," in eleven volumes—all accompanied
with numerous expensive plates and engravings. His
intended biography of Hobbes, we believe, was far ad-

vented, but it rem aina in manuscript uncompkled. For
both classes of Hobbes's works the editor compiled with
groat labour excellent and curious indexes, invaluable to
the scholar and philosophical mquirer.
Another of his panegyrists in the daily press speaks
of him as the "munificent editor of the only com-
plete edition of the works of Hobbes," and asserts
that his labours conferred " lasting benefits on ow
national literature." His labours were of that kind
which are doomed to find their only reward in them-
selves. Hobbes failed to become more popular
through Sir William's championship of him, and his
devotion to the " Philosopher of Malmesbury " ex-
cited some ridicule. But a gentleman of Sir Wil-
liam's large estate, who chooses to devote himself to
the rising side in politics, may always fairly presume
on gaining some distinction.
Belonging to the advanced section of philosophical
Radicals, Sir William made one of a party who be-
lieved that it was reserved for them to revolutionise
our political system and government in a perfectly
regular and scientific manner. Their immediate ob-
jects were professed to be household suffrage,
triennial parliaments, and vote by ballot. The
Reform excitement gave prominence to this class,
among whom, with Sir William, may be enumerated,
Mr. Grote, Mr. Leader, and perhaps Mr. Roebuck.
But one by one the men of theory dropped off, leav-
ing the stage to the men of action ; and Sir William
is noted as one of the last of his class, if indeed be
could be said to belong to it lately. He still talked
on the hustings of household suffrage, and voted in
Parliament for the ballot ; but he seems in both
cases rather to have had his eye on the uncontested
representation of Southwark than to have cared for
the succesi of the principles to which he still
nominally adhered.
He distinguished himself in Parliament principally
by his elaborate speeches on colonial policy. His
memory was excellent, and the practice which he
took up in early life of first writing his speeches and
then acquiring them by rote he retained to the last.
He never had the faculty of speaking without long
preparation ; and the last time when he was pro-
minently before the House of Commons—and he was
called on to vindicate there the charge of faction
against certain members which be had made on the
Southwark hustings—he became so embarrassed that
the anger of his opponents was lost in pity for his
evident confusion.

On the dissolution in 1837, Sir William got re-
turned for Leeds, but did not again coma forward
for that borough in 1841. He remained four years
out of Parliament, engaged in political studies, but
when he again appeared in the house, as member
for Southwark, in 1845, he was scarcely so active as
he had been previously. His most elaborate speeches
were delivered while he sat for Leeds. The repre-
sentation of Southwark, after he had once fought •
the battle in 1845, and proved the strength of his
supporters, was not again contested with him. To
metropolitan constituencies must be accorded the
credit of being generally faithful to their choice,
when to station and ample fortune is joined the pro-
fession of radical opinions.
Sir William married, in 1844, the only daughter of
Mr. Bruce Carstairs. The lady was a widow, having
previously married Mr. Temple West. Well calcu-
lated to shine in society, she probably stimulated Sir
William's ambition. But for the fortunate accident
of this marriage, it is probable that his reserve would
have conquered his desire for distinction, and that
like many of the friends with whom he commenced,
political life, he would have withdrawn to the seclu-
sion of learned leisure, and have completed his life
of the " Philosopher of Malmesbury."
The formation of Lord Aberdeen's Coalition
Government was the great epoch in Sir William
Molesworth's life. It was the object of that Coalition
to include all parties; and, as Mr. Gladstone was
the representative of the High Tories, and Lord
John Russell of the Old Whigs, Sir William was
chosen as the fittest representative of Radicalism.
We have since learned that his political friends re-
garded his accession to the Government almost in
the light of a desertion of them; and, according to
the parliamentary explanations, Sir William stated
at the time that he regarded Mr. Cobden as the re-
presentative of the political section to which be
belonged. Sir William, however, seems to have
thought the opportunity a fair and honourable one of
entering upon official life. He was made First Com-
missioner of Public Works, with a seat in the
Cabinet, and thenceforth shared in all the delibe-
rations of the Coalition Cabinet.
The part he took has never been much com-
mented on. It is understood, however, that he gave
a cordial support to Lord Aberdeen. The ouly

THE PRESS.

member of that Cabinet who appears to have thought
that the management of the war was not quite satis-
factory was Lord John Russell, but even he saw no

occasion for withdrawal until the storm was about
to burst. Sir William—so far as can be learnt—re-
mained a contented member of Lord Aberdeen's
Cabinet, seeing nothing to disapprove in its constitu-
tion or proceedings until it was violently dissolved by
the vote of the Commons at the commencement of

last session. When Lord Palmerston formed his
Cabinet Sir William was content to resume his old
place at the head of the Board of Works, though his
friends always feigned indignation at his capac►ous
ability having no wider field for its exercise. But
when Lord John Russell reluctantly yielded to the
hostile demonstration of his party, Sir William was

promoted to the Colonies, and suddenly became, not-
withstanding his evident want of administrative
vigour, "the right man in the right place." Sir
William must be a loss to the Cabinet. From the
time when he determined to abandon theoretical
politics for practical ends, he seems to have played
his part in a steady, business-like manner, which
must have been perfectly satisfactory to his party.
The reasons which rendered him ineffective in Par-
liament, perhaps, made him acceptable to his
colleagues, and had he remained in office it is
probable that his time would 'have passed in labo-
riously devising schemes for Colonial government
never destined to see the light.
Sir William left no issue. He is succeeded
in his estates and title by a cousin, the Rev. Hugh
Henry Molesworth, rector of St. Petherick Minor, in
Cornwall. One of his sisters is married to the
accomplished Mr. Richard Ford.

LORD WHARNCLIFFE, formerly President of the
Board of Trade, and a nobleman of high scientific
attainments, died on Monday last at his seat,
Wortley-hall, near Sheffield, in the fifty-fourth year
of his age. His lordship bad for a long time past
been labouring under disease of the lungs, and for
change of climate passed the last winter in Egypt, but
unfortunately on his arrival in England he caught cold,
and about a month since became seriously affected.
The family medical advisers were in constant atten-
dance upon him until he gradually sank and expired.
The entire of the family and relatives of the noble lord,
including the Hon. James Wortley, the Recorder of
London, who had left town specially, were present at
his death. The deceased baron is succeeded by his
eldest son, the Hon. Edward Montagu Granville.
The noble lord was the cause of that useful clause
known as the "Wharncliffe Clause" being introduced

into the Railway Consolidation Act.
MR. FREDERICK LUCAS, M.P. for Meath, after a
lingering illness, died on Wednesday last, at the
hou°e of his brother-in-law, Mr. Ashby, at Staines.
Frederick Lucas, the second son of Mr. Samuel Lucas,
a member of the Society of Friends, was called to
the bar of the Middle Temple in Easter Term, 1838,
and in the following year became a member of the
Roman Catholic Church. The grounds of his con
version he gave to the world at the time, in the
shape of a pamphlet, called " Reasons for becoming
a Roman Catholic," especially addressed to the
' Society of Friends. As a Roman Catholic barrister
he took an active part in the proceedings of the
Catholic Institute, and started the Tablet newspaper
in London in 1840, for the purpose of disseminating
the most ultramontane doctrines of his Church. He

also was a frequent contributor to the pages of the
Dublin Review. In 1849 he removed the Tablet
newspaper to Dublin, and has continued to conduct
it there since that time. He was also one of the
secretaries of the Irish Tenant League during the
brief period of its existence. In 1852 he was
elected, through the influence of the Roman
Catholic priesthood, as member for the county of
Meath, in the place of Mr. Henry Grattan, who had
represented it for many years. He has always lived
a life of political and religious strife; and having
advocated in the Tablet the right of the Irish
priesthood to interfere in politics, and being rebuked
by the Irish Roman Catholic bishops, he went to
Rome early in the present year to prosecute his ap-
peal against Dr. Cullen's decision. The appeal was
decided against him, and the result was the entire
prostration cf Mr. Lucas's physical system, and
his premature death at the early age of forty-
thiee. Mass was offered on Wednesday morn-
ing in all the Roman Catholic chapels of the
metropolis for the repose of Mr. Lucas's soul. In
private life he was a most worthy character. He
leaves behind him a widow, the daughter of the
late Mr. William Ashby, of Staines, and an only son.

PROJECTED SUBMARINE RAILWAY
BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE.
STARTLING as the project of a submarine railway—
by means of a tunnel—between the coasts of England
and France may appear, the project has been
seriously set on foot. For several weeks past some
able hydrographers and engineers have been em-
ployed in surveying the coasts in the neighbourhood

1023

of Boulogne and Calais on the French side, and of
Dover and the South Foreland on the English side
of the Channel, and taking soundings, with a view of
reporting as to the feasibility and advantage of form-
ing a communication between the two countries by
means of a submarine tunnel and railway.

M. L. Fevre (Niort, department of Deux Sevres),
the distinguished French engineer), has published
the details of his extraordinary project. He states :
Our project consists in a tunnel of about thirty kilo-
metres in length, formed under the sea, and offering as
much security as a railway under the open sky.

I. The tunnel will be pierced in a manner so that the
bed of earth which will divide it from the sea will never be
less than twentriive metres, even at the greatest depth of
the Straits.

2. The tunnel will be lined with a double arch, the first
to be of granite and of impermeable cement, the second of
thin iron plate, pierced in different places in order to dis-
cover the least. filtration.

WELLS OF THE ruinirs.
We now come to the consideration of an important
question in connection with our project. The difficulties
which appear insurmountable in a work of this kind consist
not only iu the extent of the tunnel, in the tediousness of
the operations—which, however, can be undertaken at both
ends at the same time—but also in the clearance of the
dibria, which would seemingly have to be carried to the
opening at either side.
In order to surmount these obstacles we have established
in our project " wells " constructed at different parts of
the Channel, which will divide the subterranean works
into sections of tunnels of less than a myriametre in length.
These maritime wells will facilitate the formation of the
tunnel at many different places at once. The works, there-
fore, can be carried on at the same time in the gallery at
the coast of France, in the gallery at the coast of England,
and in the galleries of the wells. Besides, they will afford
the means of casting the incumboring earth into the sea,
and of forming little islands around these wells.
It is to-day demonstrated that the sea has no percep-
tible action upon the massive rocks, covered with huge
blocks, underneath the sea at low tide. Above this point
will be built up a construction to form powerful blocks,
capable of resisting the force of the waves. It is then pos-
sible to construct these wells, which are, we confidently
say, a new idea in connection with our project—an ides,
however, which will secure the easy realisation of the
tunnel. With these wells we can give to the works that
celerity with which it is so desirable to carry them on; we
can also ventilate the tunnel, and create islets along the
coast. With the aid of this system it would only take five
years to complete the tunnel.
As to the cost of construction, I will now give what I
consider a minute calculation :

Franca.

30 kilometre s of tunnel under the sea 60,000,000
4 kilometres of tunnel under the shore 8,000,000
5 maritime wells 5,000,000
4 kilometres of trenches 2,000,000
2 stations 2,000,000
Extraordinary and unforeseen expenses 23,000,000

100,000,000
" Shafts " would, we imagine, better render the
meaning of M. L. Favre in the above extract than
"wells." M. L. Favre then discusses the probabili-
ties of traffic ; the course to be taken by the tunnel,
which he thinks should be in a direct line from Cape
Gris Nez to Dover; the strata of the bed of the
Channel, and the mode of locomotion, which he pro-
poses should be the atmospheric. The journey
between England and France by means of this rail-
way might then, he says, be made in twenty-five
minutes. He concludes :

We are impressed with the conviction that we hare
proved, not only that this project is possible, but that it
will be comparatively easy to construct a railway under the
Channel. We have now developed our system of maritime
wells, which would divide the subterranean tunnel into
different sections. Our plan of a double vault would give
as ample securities as any of the ordinary railways pos-
sessed.
The tunnel of Pas-de-Calais would set aside the arm of
the sea which separates France from England. It would
bind upon the most solid foundation the Continent with
Great Britain, which is at present isolated from the rest of
Europe. It would unite the two peoples in the most inti.
mate and familiar relations—peoples who are to-day placed
at the very head of civilisation, and who, according to the
current events, seem,by the community of their itentimenta
and their interests, to form but one great nation.
Our project has been received everywhere with the
most lively sympathies, and an Anglo-Freneh company
will be immediately organised upon the most powerful
' basis to execute the railway of Passie-Calais.
1... FAIRE.

The esperience we have bad in this country of
the Thames Tunnel is not favorable to the success
of so gigantic an enterprise, especially when it
is
considered how far greater must be the pressure of
water at the deepest part of the Channel. This
enormous pressure would, we imagine, form the
greatest difficulty in the way of the enterprise, but
much would depend on the geological formation of
the bed of the Channel. The increasing communi-
cation between the two countries, the evident utility
of the project, and the advanced state of engineering
science, recommend M. L. Favre's plan to favorable
consideration. Should its practicability be demon-
strated, the capital would ad doubt be easily raised.

1024