The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-12 00:00:00

TILE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 12, 180.

Chancellor of the Exchequer
:by my predecessor at this
Board, under date 26th of February,. 1839.
From the rapid extension of its collections, partly
from the geological survey, partly from foreign sources,
and very considerably, I may add, from individual con-
tributions, the present building has, for some time past,
become unsuited to the exigencies of the institution; and
a larger building, and another site, have at length be-
come indispensable.
To meet these exigencies, propositions of various
kinds, and applying to various localities, have within the
last two years been brought under my consideration, but
until now none have been suggested which would, at
any reasonable cost to the public, have provided the ac-
commodation required. A property, however, belong-
ing. to her Majesty, lying between Piccadilly and
Jermyn-s treat, will be out of the lease on the sth April
next ; and some of the shops and houses of which it
consists being in a very dilapidated condition, it has
been recommended to pull them down and to occupy
the ground with new buildings. The site has a frontage
of about 70 feet to each street, with a depth between the
two of about 150 feet. It a ould afford ample accommo-
dation for houses and shops in both frontages, and for a
museum in the centre, arranged in the manner shown
in the accompanying plans. By these, as your Lord-
ships will perceive, the museum would consist of nine
large galleries, with the requisite supply of rooms for
offices, a laboratory, and a workshop for the construc-
tion of mining and other needful models. According to
estimates which have been prepared, and very care-
fully considered by the professional officer of this de-
partment, the cost of erecting the six houses and shops
shown on the plan would be about 9,0001. ; that of the
museum, 20,0001.
I state these details thus generally in the first in-
stance, as in the event of your Lordships approving in
principle of my suggestions, the whole subject of these
buildings, in connexion with the estimates and the pur-
poses to which every portion would be applied, will, of
course, be brought again under your Lordships' notice.
The whole of these buildings, I would submit to
your Lordships, should be erected at one and the same
time, under the superintendence of this Department ;
and, as the site is part of the hereditary property of
the Crown, at the charge of its accruing land re-
venues. According to the estimates at present before
me, the letting to private tenants should contribute to
the Exchequer rents amounting altogether to 7401. a
year ; the museum not less than 8001. For this second
sum it would be necessary to make provision, in the esti-
mates annually submitted to Parliament by your Lord-
ships' Board, for rents of offices and public buildings.
Looking to the peculiar character of the larger portion
of this return—viz., that it should be exempt from the
liabilities to which property in the hands of a private
tenant is ordinarily subject, and looking also to the in-
creased value which such institution may reasonably be
expected to confer on other and extensive property be-
longing to the Crown in the same vicinity, your Lord-
ships will, I think, concur with me in opinion, that the
arrangement proposed is as consistent with a due ad-
ministration of the lend revenues of the Crown as any
other that could be adopted.
In order, however, to render the museum efficient in
its twofold object of aiding and receiving aid from the
geological survey of Great Britain, it will be neces-
sary that the department upon which the illustra-
tion and practical application of its resources
are so much dependent, should be strengthened
by the services of a sound chemist. The duties of
chemist and curator are at present united in the per-
son of Mr. Richard Phillips, whose skill in the depart-
ment of mineral analysis is held in high and deserved
estimation, but whose time, it may be sufficient to ob-
serve, is already engrossed, either with his engagements
at the museum, or in making analysis for the excise and
other public departments. The branch which I should
assign to this new officer of the institution would be that
of chemistry in its application to agriculture, to manu-
factures, and to certain important branches of geological
inquiry connected with the prosecution of the survey,
for which no adequate provision is to be found in the
existing arrangements of the museum. The gentleman
whose services I think it most desirable to secure for
this appointment is Dr. Lyon Playfair, the pupil of Pro.
fessor Liebig, and the representative of his opinions in
this country in the department of agricultural chemistry.
The entire range and character of Dr. Playfair's in•
vestigations are in accordance with the objects and
interests of the museum ; and his appointment, I feel
assured, would be regarded with great satisfaction by
agriculturists, by manufacturers, and indeed by all
classes who attach importance to its proceedings.
From communications which I have had with Dr.
Playfair on this subject, I have ascertained that, although
at the present moment having reference to other engage-
ments which he must abandon, the acceptance of this
appointment would subject him to some pecuniary loss,
ho would be prepared to transfer his services to the
museum for the sum of 2504 per annum ; upon the under-
standing, however, that if, upon the death or resignation
of Mr. Phillips, he shall have succeeded in organising a
body of competent pupil assistants at the museum, he
shall undertake the department allotted to Mr. Phillips,
in addition to that which would now devolve upon him,
at a salary of 4001. per annum. I feel assured that it
will be suifieient for me to state them, to ensure your
Lordships' nacquiescence in these very reasonable pro-
posals.
Of the commencement, the progress, and the ultimate
suspension of the geological survey of Ireland the parti-
culars are already before your Lordships, in a report
addressed to Sir Robert Peel, in 1843, by Mr. Young,
Capt. Boldero, and Lord Adare, subsequently printed
and laid before both Houses of Parliament.
In conformity with the views that suggested its sus-
pension, Captain James of the Royal Engineers, an officer
attached to the Irish trigonometrical survey, was directed,
in 1840, to place himself under and take part in the ope-
rations of Sir H. De la Beche, with the view to the
establishment of a system of practical uniformity
between the surveys of Great Britain and Ireland.
From inquiries I have instituted, it appears that the first
object of Captain James's mission has been accomplished;
but that the geological survey of Ireland, with
its several kindred branches of iaquiry, is substantially,
at this moment, in the condition in which I find it repre-
sented to be in the report of 1843.
If I am right in this assumption, and it be your Lord-
ships' desire that the survey should be now proceeded
with upon the basis of and simultaneously with that of
Great Britain, I can then have no hesitation in recom-
mending to your Lordships that the direction of both
surveys should be committed in the first instance to one
and the same person; that person being, of course, the
director of the British survey, Sir H. Dc la Beche. At-
taching the highest value to his qualifications for the
duties which such an office necessarily imposes (of which
duties not the least in importance is that of educating
and bringing forward a body of zealous and highly-
qualified assistants on the survey), I attach still
greater importance to the principle of establishing that
unity of action, of eliciting that uniformity of results,
and of insuring that reciprocity of benefits between the
surveys of the two countries which can only be effected
by placing the executive in both cases under the direc-
tion of one authority ; and it is upon a concurrence, I
presume, in the same views, that, after hearing evidence
from parties of various opinions and of high authority
on all branches of this inquiry, the Commissioners of
1843 recommended that the topographical geology of
Ireland should be committed to Sir Henry De la Beche,
as general director of the geological department of the
whole empire."
If your Lordships should concur in this opinion, and
Sir H. De la Beche should be appointed, it will fellow
that his time and attention must be divided between the
two countries, and that there must be in each a local
head, to take the lead under his direction. From the
testimony of several parties with whom I have commu-
nicated (and I may especially state Sir 11. De la
Beebe himself), I fully concur with the commission, that
" Captain James, of the Royal Engineers, should be em-
ployed as chief in Ireland."
This appointment, it is true, would be at variance with
the principle which I understand to have been so forcibly
urged by the Master-General of the Ordnance, and fully
assented to by your Lordships' Board, in regard to the
detachment of military men from the proper duties of
their station to others of a purely scientific character.
In the present instance, however, seeing that Captain
James has already qualified himself for the survey in
direct communication with Sir 11. De la Beche, and the
services proceeding under his direction, I think that the
exception to the rule would be less injurious to the public
service than its observance ; and your Lordships, there-
fore, will prevail, I trust, upon the Master-General, under
the circumstances, to permit Captain James to be
seconded, and his services upon the survey to be made
available.
For the immediate assistant to, and occasional substitute
for Sir H. De la Beche on the English survey, I propose
that your Lordships should authorise me to appoint Mr.
Andrew C. Ramsay, at present one of the assistant geo-
logists on the survey of Great Britain, upon a salary of
2001. a year. Mr. Ramsay, lam informed, joined the
survey in April, 1841, and has distinguished himself by
the extent of his information and the accuracy of his
views ; he is a fellow of the Geological Society of Lon-
don, and is engaged, in connexion with Prefes!or
Forbes, upon a new edition of the Rev. Mr. Conybeare's
" Geology of England and Wales ;" a work esteemed
of the highest authority in its day, and the revision of
which has been especially committed to him by its
author. The improvement in his position would call
for no increase in the amount already suggested to your
Lordships for the general purposes of the survey, and in
itself would involve an addition to his present salary not
exceeding 1001. per annum.
With Mr. Ramsay as his assistant in Great Britain, I
have no doubt whatever that Sir IL De la Beche would
be enabled to devote an appropriate Alm of his time
and attention to the Irish surrey ; and, as far as may be
dependent upon his exertions, that both services will
proceed with corresponding regularity and dispatch.
In order, however, as regards the Irish survey, that
these exertions may be duly supported, I should recom-
mend that a vote of not less than 1,5001. should be taken
in the estimates of the following and every future year,
until the survey of Ireland shall he completed.
le,tstoeori. fisrosmtateSdirtoHb.eOn re-
ferencel to the appendix of the Report of 1843, I find a
le ai e
nt
fr Beche,t h i ns
service,a i h t
al s sumumi
nogf
Desuffi
the survey to be extended over a period of ten years
from the date of its resumption.
I enter entirely into the viewswhich
have suggested
your Lordships' minute of the
27th
ultimo, as to the es-
tablishment of a museum of economicl feel assured not only that the ex geology in Dublin.
in-
stitutions in London and in Dublinstellel of separate
many positive advantages to both, butw h
be a source of
such institutions is very mainly
dependenttat the utility of
extension into different localities, the expansion upon their
stores from local sources, the discovery of new of their
and the interchange of views and opinions, whether of
local origin or otherwise ; the existence of which of
cannot
fail to elicit general results, and to promote the cause of
general seieuce.
It is upon these grounds that, looking to the institu-
tion already established in London as the model of that
propcaci to be founded in Dublin, I should, nevertheless,

desire to see it placed under a superintendence in a great
measure separate and distinct.
Amongst the men of science in Ireland whose
opinions were consulted by the Commissioners of 1843,
the subject of geology, in its application to the de-
velopment of mineral wealth, to agriculture, to the
arts and manufactures, and in short to the general
purposes of life, appears to have chiefly engaged the at-
tention of Dr. Kane, a member of the Royal Irish
Academy, and a chemist, as lam informed, of high
and admitted authority in his profession. He attaches
" the highest importance to the establishment in Dublin
of a Central Museum of Economic Geology, like that in
London ;" and his views, as detailed in paper 8, appen-
dix 4, of the report above referred to, point him out as
the person apparently best fitted to take charge of such
a collection. I would suggest, therefore, that Dr. Kane
should be consulted as to his willingness to take upon
himself the chemical section cf the geological survey,
under the direction of Sir H. De la Beche ; that he
should perform the same duties in Ireland as I propose
that your Lordships should devolve conjointly upon Dr.
Play fair and Mr. Phillips in this country ; and that for
his services he should be paid a salary not exceeding
3001. per annum.
In order to obviate, however, the possibility of any
misunderstanding hereafter upon points which may
affect not only the personal interests of Dr. Kane, but
those higher interests which, in the event of his ap-
pointment, would be committed in great measure to his
keeping, I would suggest that your Lordships should
authorise me to communicate with him, forthwith, as to
his position, his duties, and his emoluments under their
proposed arrangement. It is indispensable, in fact, that
I should be afforded the advantage of communicating
with some person of scientific authority in Dublin (and
with none, of course, could I so properly confer in the
first instance as this gentleman,) before I can in any
way advise your Lordships as to the probable expense
of maintaining an institution in that city ; which,
though founded upon the basis of the museum in
Craig's-court, may, from local causes only, require a
somewhat different treatment.

It would afford me sincere pleasure,l need scarcely say,
to be enabled, in these communicators, to lay the basis
of an arrangement for the working of the respective in-
stitutions in London and in Dublin, in accordance with
each other and with the great public objects which have
suggested their establishment; and I trust that I shall
be enabled to signify to your Lordships Dr. Kane's ac-
ceptance of the appointment of chemist and curator upon
that basis : subject, of course, to the approval of your
Lordship' board.
It would then become expedient to make provision for
the specimens already collected on the Irish geological
survey, which are at present deposited in Dublin, in
charge of the Master- General and Board of Ordnance ;
and which, of course, should be transferred to the cus-
tody of this department, as soon as a proper building
can be provided for their reception.
Although your Lordships inform me that you are pre-
pared to defray the expense of providing a building for
this purpose in Dublin, I would suggest that, among the
public buildings in that city, there might be found
accommodation that would suffice, for at least some
period to come, for the collections already in store, and
for any contributions that might accrue, either from the
survey, from the Museum in London, or from private
sources.
Your Lordships will probably see the expediency of
instituting such inquiries in Dublin as may elicit full and
specific information on the point to which I have
adverted• I feel, indeed, that until this information
shall have been acquired, and I shall have had an
opportunity of communicating with Dr. Kane, with
respect to the Museum and its appointments, it would
be of little avail for me to occupy your Lordships'
attention with suggestions as to this portion of the
larg©r subject referred to me by your Lordship's mi-
nute of the 27th ultimo. In finally adverting, however,
to that minute, and to the confidence which your Lord-
ships have been pleased to repose in myself and the
future Chief Commissioner; of this Board, in reference
to the direction and control of the services which form

the subject of this letter, I may be permitted, perhaps,
to suggest to your Lordships that our duties should be
restricted within their limits ; and that the receipt and
issue of monies, the examination and payment of all de-
mands, and the preparation of such general account at
the end of the year as may be required by the Commis-
sioners of Audit, should devolve, in the usual course,
upon the Board. I have, &c.,
(Signed) LINCOLN.

LETTER FROM C. E. TREVELYAN, ESQ., TO THE COM-
MISSIONERS OF WOODS, &C.
Treasury Chambers, Jan. 31, 1845.
My Lord and Gentlemen—The Lords Commissioners
of her Majesty's Treasury, having had under considera-
tion a letter from the Earl of Lincoln, dated the 13th
instant, suggesting measures for the prosecution of the
geological surveys of Great Britain and Ireland, and for
making the collections resulting from those surveys more
generally and extensively available for the public benefit,
I am directed to inform you that my Lords have com-
municated to the Earl of Lincoln their approval of his
Lordship's suggestions, and have been pleased to give
authority for carrying them into effect. lam desired at
the same time to state, that their Lordships have caused
copies of their minute, dated the 27th of December
last, and of Lord Lincoln's reply, to be communicated to
the Master-General and Board of Ordnance, with the re-
quest that they will co-operate with his Lordship in
carrying this important object into effect ; and I am at
the same time to intimate that in the execution of official
details, as regards especially the receipt and issue of
monies, and the examination and payment of accounts,
it is their Lordships' wish that the board's assistance
should be afforded in conformity with the usual course
of the business of your department.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) C. E. TREVELYAN.
I'.S.—A copy of' the Earl of Lincoln's report of the
13th inst., together with a copy of their Lordghips'
minute of the 27th ult. on this subject, are herewith
transmitted for your information and guidance.

fast.sailing qualities turn out to be all moonshine), and cense.
quently one of the pets of the Navy-office. She was taken into
dock yesterday, to have her bottom coppered and to be fitted for
commissioning.

The Active, 36, at Chatham, is progressing very fast in build-
ing, and is expected to be launched in July next.
The Speedy cutter, Lieut. Commander George Spong, has left
Sheerness for Glasgow:.

The Emerald tender has returned to Portsmouth from Sheerness.
The Duck lighter arrived at Devonport on Wednesday, with
stores from Sheerness, and the Quail lighter, from Pembroke.
The Juno, 26, is fitting at Sheerness, for commission. The St.
Lawrence, 46, Alarm, 26, and Brilliant, 20, are in dock there.
The Vulture, steam-frigate, Captain Macdougal, is progressing
in her fittings for sea, in Sheerness Basin. She is waiting for some
iron work, the smiths being very busy, werking from 5 A.M. to
7 P.M., including the dinner hour.
The Medea, steam-sloop, Commander Warden, called at Sheer-
ness, on her passage to Woolwich, on Tuesday, with some super.
nurneraries from Portsmouth.
The Jackall, steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander Paseo, at
Devonport, has had first-class engineer John Hetherington, and
second-class engineer George Cookley, appointed to her.
The Retribution, steam-frigate, was taken into dock at Chatham,
on Thursday, to complete her fittings for sea services.
The Sampson, steam-frigate, is fitting in Sheerness Basin for
commission.

THE JANUai.—This steam.aloop made another attempt yesterday
forenoon to work her engines. After trying all in their power,
without effect, they were forced to give up, and the Ruby, steam.
tug, took ber in tow and proceeded with her to Gillingham. She
is regarded as a failure by scientific men at Chatham.

gave him a blow. He hoped, therefore, the Court would
admit that a sufficient amount of provocation had been
committed to justify a lenient decision.
Mr. Hardwick said under all circumstances he could
see nothing in the way of mitigation. The assault was
proved, and quite unjustifiable ; and he felt that the
case ought not to have come before him, but ought to
have been referred to another tribunal. However, if the
parties chose to have the charge disposed of in his court,
all he had to do was to go to the extent the law per-
mitted, to impose the paltry penalty of 51. ; and in addi-
tion, call on the defendant to enter into his own recog-
nizances in 1001., and to find two good sureties in 501.
each, to keep the peace.