The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, ,NDAY EVENING, ,MAY 21, 1860.

• 1 OUNTRY A PARTMENI S.—To be LET
A Furnished, THREE BED ROO3IS, a Sitting Room,
and use of a Kitchen, near a healthy village twelve miles
from London. The house stands in a very extensive garden
and is dose to Bushy Park, at au easy dist nce from two
stations. Omnibuses p tss within a few minutes' walk to and
from London, and the stations several times during the day.
To those seeking rural retirement and quiet comfort this ad-
vertisement offers unusual advantages. Address, M. E.,
Hampton Wick, Middlesex.

OYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF
I 1, ENGLAND.
The GENERAL MEE PING of MEMBERS will be held,
at the Society's House, No. 12, Hanover-square, London, TO-
MORROW, TUESDAY, the 22d May. at Twelve o'clock.

By Order of the Council.
London, May, 1860. H. HALL DARE, Sec.

Office of the Gas Light and Coke Company,
liorseferry-road, Westminster,
19th May, 1860.
IDO HEREBY GIVE NOTICE, That the
following proprietors, viz.:—

: -
Francis Lysons Price. Esq.,
Jonah Smith Wells, Esq., and Directors,
William Chippindale, Esq.,
have severally given me notice, in writing, of their intention
to offer themselves for Re-Election as Directors, at the
Election which will take place at the Company's Gas Works,
Iforseferrylroad, Westminster, on FRI LAY, the Ist day
of June next, at 12 o'clock at noon precisely.

who, under the same master, gained those accomplishments
which made them the or: aments of society, the solid learn-
ing and practical knowledge which made them its benefac-
tors, ministering at the altars of their country, administer-
ing her laws, atrending her institutions, improving her
literature, and taking their station among the best friends
of mankind, the peerless, the consistent apostles of pitty,
humanity, freedom—and all have now passed away, leav-
ing their memory for our comfort, their example for our en-
couragement; the Dunzans, Lundies, Gillespies, Thomsons,
Birkbecks, Reeves, the Mackenzies, Scotts, Cranstouns,
Moncrieff, Erskine, Kiunaird, Seymour, Grant, Cockburn,
Browne, Homer, Jeffrey, and latest, not least of our losses,

Murray—
" Claudite jam, parce, nimium reseratur sepulchre .
C laudite I plus justo jam d omus ista patet."
I can dwell no longer on the retrospect. It is our duty, in-
stead of indulging in unavailing regrets over the past, to
cast our eye forwards and bestir ourselves that we may be-
come the worthy successors of those who have gone before
us. My revered kinsman, our great Principal, the last time
the silver tones of that voice were heard on a public occa-
sion, when the foundation of the new building was laid,
justly extolled the University as attracting students, net
only from all parts of the British dominions, but almost
from every country inEurope, and from every State in Ame-
rica. Long may this intercourse continue, so advantageous
to all parties. While we gather hints for our improvement
from others, we greatly benefit them, and the interests, the
blessed interests of pease are promoted, not only by the in-
terchange of benefits, but by the natural tendency of men's
feelings to look back with satisfaction, even with tenderness,
upon the residence of their early years, and to cherish the
remembrance of the lessons then. taught. Thus, upon the
memory of our nearest neighbours in Europe, there will
remain impressed the great truths that popular rights can
exist and be respected without the tyranny of the populace;
that liberty does not necessarily degenerate into licentious-
ness, and that abject slavery is not the only refuge from
anarchy. Our kinsfolk of the New World may, in after
life, recollect having known a community in which a church
is established without the existence of a single civil disquali-
fication attached to religious belief, a community in which
the most enlightened and respectable citizens do not abstain
from taking their share in public proceedings, in which the
interference of the multitude with the administration of
justice is a thing unheard of, nay, regarded as incredible ;
and in which the irresponsible mob •tyrant, the instant that
one of his many heads appears, is at once put down by the
ordinary action of the law ; above all, our American friends
may reflect with satisfaction on having been educated in a
city famous for being the first to declare, by its judges,
the great law that a slave's fetters fall from him the mo-
ment he touches British ground. The natives of Southern
Europe—but none such will be suffered by the despot to re-
sort hither; and they must learn without our instruction,
if experience has not already taught them, the nature of a
tyrant—" Non ullum monstrum, nec foedius, nee tetrius,
neque dis hominibusque magic invisum. terra genult, quam
qui, forma hominis, tamen immamtate morum vastissimas
vincit belluas." But even our English neighbours may profit
not only by our teaching but by the principles upon which our
sy: tem is founded. The question of extramural instruction
(on which, however, I agree entirely with our Lord Rector)
may be left untouched ; and the vexed question between the
tutorial and the professional methods may also be put on one
side; but it is subject to one observation, which whoever
considers the matter without the exclusive partiality arising
from local prejudice is pretty sure to make, that the blending
together of the two methods is preferable to the adoption of
either alone. But the great benefits that attend our plan of
home instead of college residence can hardly be doubted ; and
it should always be kept in mind that the English plan
originated entirely in the accidental circumstance of Oxford
and Cambridge being mere villages when the Universities
were founded, and all the pupils being strangers come from
remote districts. It can hardly be doubted
.that had either
been founded in a great town that plan would not have been
followed. In a small place good reasons may certainly be
given for it ; but in such cities as Edinburgh and Glasgow
the residence of students under the paternal roof is a great
benefit accessible to at least the whole inhabitants. When
the London University was established (now called Univer
sity College) this important consideration entered into our
views quite as much as the bringing the advantages of an
academical education within the reach of those who could
not afford the expense of the old Universities. Taught in
this school, and trained to the capacity whether for specu-
lation or for pursuits of active life, strangers from other
lands as well as our fellow-subjects have made our Univer-
sity worthily known by its fruits; nor can there be a doubt
that it will continue under its new constitution to prefer the
same claims to general respect and gratitude. But I should
not discharge the duties of the high office to which the
kindness of the body has raised me if I did not avail my-
self of this occasion for offering such suggestions and advice
as I deem of useful tendency to those by whom I have the
honour of being surrounded. They may be of little value,
and may possess no other merit than that they result from
the reflection of many long years and of a somewhat various
experience ; but they are delivered with feelings of respect
only surpassed by those of affectionate kindness. First of
all it is to be observed, though the acquisition of general
knowledge is a primary duty, and the confining our study
within the narrow limits of one or two branches enfeebles
the mind, impairing its powers, and even preventing an
entire mastery of the selected branches, yet it is on every
account highly expedient, indeed all but absolutely neces-
sary, to single out one branch as the main object of atten-
tion. This selection is required by the impossibility of
thoroughly mastering different unconnected kinds of know-
ledge, and the risk of distraction which passing from ore sub-
ject to another occasions, the danger even of the greatest
evil occurring, that of superficial learning, the rule being
inflexible that no one subject or part of a subject must be
studied without going to the very bottom, fully and
accurately, of what he would learn—not proposing to our-
selves, it may be, to go beyond a certain length, but as far
as we profess and purpose t o go, becoming thoroughly master
of the subject. There is, however, another reason for select-
ing one especial branch ; we thus draw as it were a meridian
line to which all our steps in other directions may be re-
ferred. The acquisitions thus made derive additional in-
terest from their connection with the principal and prevail-
ing pursuits; the attention to these is kept awake, and the
memory in proportion retentive of the accessory or subor-
dinate matters, while they lend help and illustration to the
main abject of our study. That object is of engrossing
though not exclusive interest ; it does not preclude a mo-
derate attention to others ; but this selection, this single-
ness of entire absorption, is absolutely necessary to avoid
this dispersion of the faculties caused by intemperate devo-
tion to several subjects, whereof the certain tendency is to
produce mediocrity in all, making ordinary capacity, even
when united to great industry, yield but little return of
value, and from the rarest endowments, which temperately
and judiciously used might render the most important ser-
vice, only obtaining the exhibition of varieties more won-
derful than useful, like the displays of the mocking-bird,
which can warble all the notes that make the grove vocal,
but
.has no song of her own. That genius is of universal
application cannot be denied ; but the interests of science,
and generally of mankind, as well as of the individual, re-
quireo of
th et hwaot r
lidt sahffooWr
dd
fne owt beif s
ao
nayp, pel
xi eecle.p t i To
uhse
tog e et great
s lightrules.
Had Barrow's profession'al studies and his attention to the
eloquence of the pulpit not interfered with his mathemati-
cal pursuits, he would probably—Fermal, but for his offi-
hcpleaaeditesdom
nearlyfa dutiesrdoem and
the
thapproached.
eg
rh i
hes oaglt
dedni
seeernoaavl
es
happy
discovery
pchopufayl
What
theti
noi i
calculus,nsgh
conjectures, t won'
oud t
h t certainly—
haveaoovfwe
hFbereaehonh kot
el
xi both
under the guidance of the inductive method, so familiar to
him in all its rigour, had he not devoted his life to the more
important cause of his country and her liberties ? Priestley's
discoveries, all but accidental, however important, were con-
fined in their extent and perversely misapprehended in their
results by the controversies, religious and political, which
engrossed his attention through life. Descartes, instead of
the one great step which the mathematics owe him, was de-
stined tomake vast progress in physical science, and not to
leave his name known by a mere baseless hypothesis, had he
not been seduced by metaphysical speculation; and Lieb-
nitz, but for the same seduction, joined to his legal labours,
would assuredly have come near the Newtonian system in
dynamics, as he had preferred a just claim to share in its
analytical renown. On the other hand, mark the happy re-
sults of concentrated power in Bacon wisely abstaining from
the application of his own philosophy when he found that
previous study had not fitted him for physical inquiries;
Newton, avoiding all distraction, save when he deemed his
highest duties required some intermission of his habitual
labours ; nay, had Leonardo do. Vinci indulged in the inves-
tigations of natural sciences, for which he possessed so re-
markable a talent and has left such felicitous anticipations,
his name as one of the first of artists would have been un-
known ; and had Voltaire prosecuted the study of chemis-
try, in which he was so near making two of the greatest
discoveries, we should never have had the tragedies, the ro-
mances, and the general history, the foundations of his
fame. But the same principle applies as well to active
life as to the pursuits of science and letters. Every one
should have a special occupation, the main object of his
attention, to which all others are subordinate, and all
more or less referable. With most men this is inevi-
table, because they are engaged in some professional em-
ployment ;" but all ought to single out some pursuit, whe-
ther speculative or active, as the chief occupa-
tion of life. Nothing conduces more to comfort and happi-
ness—nothing is a greater safeguard against the seductions
of indolence, or of less innocent, perhaps not less hurtful
indulgence. Nothing gives a greater relish and zest to the
subordinate pursuits. He who has professional duties has
no right to call any hour not earned by the discharge of
those duties his own, for other occupations whether of re-
laxation or even of mental improvement. His business is
his master ; but where there is no such servitude I strongly
recommend the voluntary forming of the relation between
master and slave by the choice of a pursuit, and submitting
to its claims upon our time and our attention as paramount.
After the ery general advice which I have offered, it may
lys thoiight that there are some particular subjects descry •
ing consideration ; but these may safely be left to the care
of the learned and excellent'persens who, in various depart-
ments, are charged with the duties of this University. On
one or two matters I would ask their and your permission
to dwell, and but for a few minutes ; not that I can sup-
pose these subjects to be neglected by the teachers, but that
I would earnestly join my voice to theirs, and inculcate the
closest attention to them. The stuns* A Attic oratory is
one matter which cannot be too strongly pressed upon the
pupil ; that of the ancient analysis is another. The ten-
dency of mathematical studies in the present day is to dis-
regard the Greek geometry ; that of classical studies is
well to cultivate Greek learning, but rather to exalt the
poe's above the orators, The immeasurable superiority of
the Greek to the Roman oratory is not only evinced by the
devotion of the greatest master of the la, ter to the Attic
models, by his constant study of them, by his not ceasing,
even in advanced life, to practise Greek declamation, by his
imitating—nay, translating from them, in his finest passages,
but one consideration is decisive on this head—the Greek
oratory is incomparably better adapted to our modern
debating, business-like habits ; and while it may be truly
affirmed that, with all this excellence, hardly one of Cicero's
orations could even in parts. ever be borne either by the
senate or the forum in our times, there is hardly one of the
Greek wisielinsight net Ot circumstances like those for which

they were ssomposed, with a few alterations, be delivered be-
fore our tribm,sels or our public assemblies. Some of De-
mosthenes' very iltsiest orations were th se in private causes,
and composed to be dOivered by the parties, one of them by
himself. They are ver? Jiltle studied now, but they v ell
deserve ample attention both for the matter and the com-
position. The example of the encient masters is ever to be
kept before you in one important particular, their extreme
care in preparing their speeches. • Of this th 3 clearest proofs
remain. Cicero having a book of passages to be used on
occasions is well known; indeed, we have his own account
of it and of the mistake he on. e made in using it (Ad. Att.
xxi. 6), but the book of prminia which Demosthenes had
has come down to us, the only doubt being-raised (though I
hardly think•there can be any), whether they were, like.
Cicero's passages, kept ready for use, or passages prepared
of speeches the preparation of which on the whole he had
not time to finish. One thing is certain, that he was
very averse to extempore speaking, and most reluctantly,
as he expressed it, " trusted his success to fortune ," and
his orations abound in passages, and even parts of pas-
sages, again and again used by him with such improve-
ments as their reception en delivery or subsequent reflec-
tion suggested. There is even seen great parsimony in pre-
serving small portions unchanged when the right compo.
sition had been attained. I have examined this subject
very fully on different occasions, and I find the views takev
are approached by Attic seholars both in England and
France. But I dwell upon the subject at present in order
to illustrate the necessity of full prepartion and of written
compo ition to those who would attain real excellence in
the rhetorical art. In truth, a certain proficiency in public
speaking may be acquired by any one who chooses often to
try it, and can harden himself against the pain of frequent
failures. If he is a person of no capacity his speeches will
be very bad ; but even though he be a man of genius they
will not be eloquent. A sensible remark or a fine image may
open. ; but the loose, and slovenly, and poor diction, the
want of art in combining and disposing of his ideas, the ina-
bility to bring out many of his thoughts, and the incom-
petency to present any of them in the best and most effi-
cient form, will reduce the speaker to • the level of an ordi-
nary talker. His dictioh is sure to be clumsy, incorrect, un-
limited in quantity, and of no value. Such a speaker is
worth hearing, "Sine lame quidenz conscientia" (says Quin-
tilian, speaking of written composition) "ipso illa exteiz-
pore dicendi facultas inamen modo loquacitatena dabit et
verba in labris nascentia" (xliii.) It is a common error
to call this natural eloquence; it is the reverse; • it is
neither natural nor eloquent. A person under the influence
of strong feelings or passions, pouring forth all that fills his
mind, produces a powerful effect upon his hearers, and often
attains without any art the highest beauties of rhetoric.
The language of the passion flows eas ly, but is concise
and simple, and the very opposite of the wordiness just de-
scribed. The untrained speaker who is also unpractised,
and utters according to the dictates of his feelings, now
and then succeeds perfectly ; but in these rare instances
he would not be the loss successful for having studied
the art, while that study would enable him to succeed
equally in all he delivers and woo d give him the same
control over the feelings of others whatever might be the
state of his own. Herein indeed consists the
value of the study ; it enables him to do at all times
what nature teaches on rare occasions Nor is there a
better corrective of the faults complained of in the
eloquence of moder times than the habitual contemplation
of the ancient models, more especially the chaste beauties of
the Greek compositions, and the diligent practice of severe
written preraration. It is the greatest of all mistakes to
fancy that even a carefully prepared passage cannot be de-
livered before a modern assembly. lonce contended on this
point with an accomplished classical scholar, and no incon-
siderable speaker himself, Lord Melbourne, who at once un-
dertook to point out the passages which had been prepared
and those which were given offhand and at the inspiration
of the moment. He was wrong in almost every guess he
made. Lord Denman on a more remarkable occasion, at the
bar of the House of Lords, in the Queen's case, made the
same mistake upon thepassage delivered before the adjourn-
ment in the middle of the first day of the defence. The ob-
jection made that prepared passages are artificial and dis-
close the preparation is wholly groundless. In the first place
nothing can be more artificial than a speech must in almost
all cases necessarily be that is anything beyond mere con-
versation. Next it is the manner, not the substance which
is prepared ; and, finally, if the art used is shown and not
concealed the artist alone is in fault. The ancient analysis
or Greek geometry the other subject specified, well deserves
diligent attention. The preference of the modern analysis,
justified by its far greater power, has been found not
only to supersede, but unnecessarily to exclude all study
of the ancient. This is very unfortunate ; for the Greek
geometry has eminent and in some respects peculiar
merits. Its elegance is the object of admiration even
with those most devoted to the methods that have sup-
planted it. The exercise which it gives to the reasoning
faculties is as peculiar to its investigations as the ele-
gance by which they are distinguished. At each step the
preceding steps are kept present to the mind ; and the result
is arrived at, not by a mechanical operation, but by a sus-
tained chain of reasoning. That it is incomparably less
powerful than the algebraic geometry, which we owe to the
happy suggestions of Descartes and the subsequent disco-
very of Newton and Liebnitz, cannot be denied.- But that
its powers have been much underrated is manifest from the
extraordinary success of Matthew Stewart in solving pro •
blems before deemed beyond its reach—Kepler's problem
and the inverse problem of centripetal forces—although it
may well be questioned if he could by mere geometrical
analysis have pursued these investigations had Newton's
demonstration not been known to him. In one respect,
however, the ancient analysis has a singular merit, the dis -
cussion of limits. Its careful exhaustive process of examin-
ing all the cases in which any solution is possible, and thus
preventing any oversight, is invaluable, and might furnish
suggestions of importance to the modern analyst. The re •
markable error into which Newton fell in his solution of
the problem justly termed by him longe oinnium
di, cili-
mum (of finding the comet's trajectory from three observa-
tions) could never have occurred under the ancient method,
for in discussing the limits it would have been found that
the 16th Lemma has a prismatic case, and that it is the case
of the comet—a matter never observed until V. Boscovitch
hit upon it in 1739, all which was before known being that
the Newtonian solution must be erroneous, because it threw
the comet of that year on the wrong side of the sun.
Though these merits unquestionably belong to the ancient
analysis, nothing can be more inaccurate than the view
sometimes taken by its admirers, that it is more strict in its
demonstration than the modern. There can be no degrees
of certainty, and the proofs are absolutely certain in both.
When the study of the Greek geometry is recommended to
those whose rule must be with the Principia,nocturna ver-
sate manu, versate diurna, it should be borne in mind how
highly the author of that immortal work prized the ancient
method of investigation, as we learn both from the internal
evidence of the book itself, and from the statement of his
friend rnd follower Haley, himself a diligent student of
the Greek geometry. Let the high authority of Mr.
Chasles be added, himself a great master of the most recent
improvements of the calculus; and in this place it would be
wrong to pass over the distinguished names of Wallace And
Ivey, both deeply imbued with the principles of the modern
analysis and expert in their application, but diligently cul-
tivating the ancient also. They were great analysts in all
respects, and the latter the most eminent mathematician
that has appeared in this country since Sir Isaac Newton.
But these studies are less connected with the business of
active life than others; the Greek geometry not at all, and
the Attic oratory only important as refining the taste and
being subservient to the perfection of our own. Eloquence,
however, can only in these times be worthily employed in
furthering objects little known to, and if dimly perceived
little cared for, by the masters of the art in ancient days—
the rights of the people, the improvement of their condition
their advancement in knowledge and refinement—above all,
in maintaining the cause, the sacred cause, of peace At home
and abroad. Suffer me to dwell somewhat upon the intimate
connection of this last-mentioned important subject with the
education of youth, the formation of their opinions, the che-
rishing of right feelings, upon the merits of those whose
history is taught, or who are known as contemporaries, at
least as having flourished intimesnear our own. Historians
and political reasuners, the instructors of the people, have
ill-discharged their duty in this most important respect; par-
taking largely of the illusions of the vulgar which they were
bound to dispel, dazzled by the spectacle of great abilities,
and still more of their successful exertion, they have held
up to admiration the worst enemies of mankind, the usur-
pers who destroyed their liberties, the conquerors who shed
their blood—men who in the pursuit of power or fame made
no account of the greatest sufferings they could inflict on
their fellow creatures. The worst cruelty, the vilest falsehood
has not prevented the teachers of the world from bestowirig
the name of great upon these scourges, as if themselves be-
longed either to the class of ambitious warriors and intrigu-
ing statesmen, or to the held of ordinary men whom suc-
cessful crimes defrauded at once of their rights and their
praises ; and to this must be ascribed by far the greater part
of the encouragement held out to unprincipled, profligate
conduct in those who have the destinies of nations in their
hands. It is not, however, by merely abstaining from in-
discriminate praise, and by dwelling with disproportionate
earnestness upon the great qualities and passing over the
bad ones of eminent men, and thus leaving a false general
impression of them, that historians err and pervert the feel-
ings and opinions of mankind. Even if they were to give a
careful estimate of each character, and pronounce just judg-
ment upon the whole, they would still leave by far the most
important part of their duty unperformed, unless they also
framed their narrative so as to excite an interest in the
worthies of past times; to make us dwell with delight on
the scenes of human improvement, to lessen the pleasure
too naturally felt in contemplating successful courage or
skill, whensoever these are directed to the injury of man-
kind ; to call forth our scorn of perfidious designs, however
successful, our detestation of cruel and 14000 d-thirsty pro-
pensities, however powerful the talents by which their in-
dulgence was secured. Instead of holding up to our ad-
miration the "pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious
war," it is the historian's duty to make us regard with un-
ceasing delight the ease, worth, and happiness of blessed
peace. He must remember that

" Peace hath her victories
No loss renowned than war's ; "

and to celebrate these triumphs, the progress of science and
of art, the extension and security of freedom, the improve-
ment of national institutions, the diffusion of general pro-
sperity—exhausting on such pure and wholesome themes
all the resources of his philosophy, all the graces of his
style, giving honour to whom honour is due, withholding
all incentives to misplaced interest and vicious admiration,
and not merely by general remarks on men and events, but
by the manner of describing the one and recording the
other, causing us to entertain the proper sentiments, whether
of respect or interest, or of aversion or indifference, for the
various subjects of the narrative. Consider for a moment
what the perpetrators of the greatest crimes that afflict
humanity propose to themselves as their reward for over-
running other countries and oppressing their own. It is the
enjoyment of power, or of fame, or of both.
" He can requite thee, for he knows the charms
That cull fame in such martial acts as these,
And he can spread thy name on lands and seas,
Whatever clime the sun's broad circle warms."
Unquestionably the renown of their deeds, theirnames being
illustrious in their own day, and living after them in future
ages, is, if not the uppermost thought, yet one that fills a
large place in their minds. Surely if they were well• assured
that every writer of genius, or even of such merit as secured
his page from oblivion, and every teacher of youth would
honestly hold up to hatred and contempt acts of injustice,
cruelty, treachery, whatever talents they might display,
whatever success they might achieve, and that the opinions
and the feelings of the world would join in thus detesting
and thus scorning, it is not romantic to indulge a hope that
some 43.rac4cal dimurogement might be 14ivon to the wor et