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MEMOIRS AND
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CORRESE ONDENCE
OF
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MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE
OF
LYON PLAYFAIR
F/A2S7" ZOAC/O PLA PFAIR OF ST. AAWDACE WS
P.C., G.C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., &c.
BY
W E M Y S S R E I D
WZZTHZ 7"WO PORTRAZZTS
CASSE L L AND COMPANY, LIMITED
LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE
I899
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

;
I DEDICATE THESE MEMOIRS OF HER HUSBAND'S LIFE AND
WORK TO EDITH, LADY PLAYFAIR, IN GRATEFUL
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE ASSISTANCE SHE HAS GIVEN
IN THEIR PREPARATION.
LONDON, October, 1899.
280573
C O N T E N T S .
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
PAGE
St. Andrews Seventy Years ago—Its Primacy among Scottish
Seats of Learning—A Home for Retired Officers and
Officials—The Record of Scotsmen in Indian Administra-
tion—Principal Playfair and His Four Sons—George
Playfair, Father of Lyon—Lyon's Connection with St.
Andrews—Characteristics—His Autobiography—His Life
Penetrated by Patriotism—A Pioneer of Sanitary and
Educational Reform—As Political Economist.—As Poli-
tician—As Man . e º e & e & tº gº
CHAPTER II.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. —I. MY RELATIONS.
The Playfairs: Professor Playfair and the Commander-in-Chief:
Principal Playfair : Mrs Macdonald and Her Doubts: Sir
Hugh Lyon Playfair: James Playfair and His Romance:
Praying for My Conversion : A “Token": The Sin of
Walking on Sundays: I introduce Myself to My Father:
Dr Macvicar and His Definition of Water: My Brothers.
Playfair's Earliest Extant Letter—Mrs Macdonald on His
Disposition as a Child . © ge & I2
CHAPTER III.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—II. MY EDUCATION.
I825 to 1838.
My Governesses: At School: Holidays at Glamis Castle :
Entering St. Andrews University: Beginning a Business
Career: Discomfiting Nocturnal Marauders: Studying
Medicine: Friendship with Andrew Ramsay, the Geologist:
A Chance Meeting with Sir Charles Lyell: Studying
Chemistry: Friendship with David Livingstone: James
Young, Founder of the Paraffin Oil Industry: Studying at
Edinburgh University: A Voyage to India: In a Calcutta
Office: Home again: Studying under Liebig at Giessen :
“Doctor of Philosophy”: Appointed Chemical Manager.
viii
CONTENTS.
of Print Works: Punctuality Handsomely Rewarded :
Among the Philosophers of Berlin. Correspondence with
Liebig—Chemists and Chemistry * © Ç e
CHAPTER IV.
PAGE
28
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—III. MY LIFE IN LANCASHIRE.
I84I to 1844.
Settled at Clitheroe: Parleying with Labour Rioters: A Lesson
in Ventilation: Lecturing at the Manchester Royal Institu-
tion: Anecdote of Dalton : An Offer from Faraday: Sir
Robert Peel : An Inquiry into Charcoal Iron Furnaces: A
Mishap to Bunsen : Edwin Chadwick and His Argument
from Satan: Appointed a Member of the Royal Com-
mission on the Health of Towns: Researches into Agri-
cultural Chemistry: Earl Spencer (Lord Althorp): Dean
Buckland : Through England and Scotland: Mr Crosse
and the Wood-louse: Appointed Chemist to the Geological
Survey: An Evening with Stephenson : Recollections of
Joule: Impressions of Manchester. Dean Buckland and
Sir H. de la Beche urge Peel to give Playfair an Appoint-
ment—Peel's Esteem for Playfair—Letters from Liebig
53
CHAPTER V.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—IV. BEGINNING OF MY
LONDON LIFE.
I845 to 1850.
Settled in London: A Call from Sir James Clark: Sir Henry
de la Beche: Distinguished Colleagues: Inquiring into the
Sanitary Condition of Buckingham Palace: Reporting
upon the Best Coals for Steam Navigation : Mining Acci-
dents: The Potato Famine in Ireland: Effect of Emigra-
tion upon Potato Production: Marriage : Oersted : A
Letter which led to the Foundation of the Petroleum
Industry: Inquiring into the Cholera : The Duke of
Wellington and the Chartist Demonstration : Sworn a
Special Constable: In Paris during the Revolution of 1848:
Louis Blanc and Louis Napoleon te te w * *
CHAPTER VI.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION.
Becoming a Publicist—Playfair's Work as a Special Com-
missioner of the 1851 Exhibition. AUTobiographY: Intro-
duced to the Prince Consort by Sir Robert Peel: Sir Henry
Cole : Preparing a New Classification for the Exhibition :
A Tour through the Manufacturing Districts: Sir Joseph
Paxton : The Exhibition opened : Superintending the
Awards of the Juries: The Exhibitor and the Queen: The
9I
CONTENTS. ix
º PAGE
Commissioners received by Louis Napoleon: Appointed
a C.B. and a Gentleman Usher to Prince Albert: The
Crystal Palace: An Episcopal Objection to Undraped
Statues. Correspondence with the Prince Consort—
Investing the Exhibition Surplus—Playfair's Part in the
Negotiations—The Scheme described—Appointed Secre-
tary of the Science and Art Department—Organising the
Royal College of Science—A Member of the Athenaeum . Io9
CHAPTER VII.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM.
Attending the Royal Children at the Exhibition—Arranging
for the Prince Consort's Visit to Birmingham. AUTO-
Biography: Lecturing for the Society of Arts: Inquiring
into Technical Education on the Continent: Organising
the “Food Collection” for the South Kensington Museum:
Establishing a National Museum in Edinburgh : Dr
George Wilson and his dying Epigram : Crusading in the
Cause of Technical Education: The Duke of Wellington's
Funeral: Sir Charles Wheatstone: Reading Ciphers in
the ‘Times’: Acquaintance with Babbage: Lord and Lady
Ashburton : Mrs Norton : Lord Granville: Lord Palmer-
ston and the Cipher: Inventing Shells: Lord Dundonald’s
Scheme for Reducing Fortresses: Appointed a Com-
missioner of the International Exhibition of 1855 : Ac-
quaintance with French Savants : Missing the Mastership
of the Mint: Second Marriage. Faraday on the New
Lucifer Matches—Playfair's Contempt for Misplaced
Humanitarianism in War—Liebig on Scientific Agri-
culture . e tº tº e gº e tº (g e • I45
CHAPTER VIII.
LIFE IN EDINBURGH.
Playfair “the Man Behind the Scenes.”—Scientific Honours—
Place in Society—His Passion for Scientific Research—
Appointed Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh University
—Resigning his Post as Gentleman Usher. AUTo-
BIOGRAPHY: Chemical Theories and their Exponents in
Edinburgh University: Sir Robert Christison: Sir James
Simpson and Experiments in Anaesthesia : Reforming the
University: Declining the Office of Principal: Giving the
Prince of Wales Lessons: Royal Students at the Univer-
sity: Death of the Prince Consort: President of the Royal
Commission on the Herring Fishery: Appointing the Jurors
for the International Exhibition of 1862 : Lord Stratford
de Redcliffe : Honours from Foreign Princes: A Member
of the Royal Commission on the Cattle Plague: Anecdote
of the Princess Alice: A Visit to Coburg: Dr John Brown:
the Marquis of Tweeddale: Lady Ruthven : Leaving
Edinburgh. Playfair's Professorial Zeal—His Work for
the Exhibition of 1862—The Prince of Wales and the
CONTENTS.
Cauldron of Boiling Lead—Playfair and the Edinburgh
Memorial of the Prince Consort—His Unpopularity in
Connection with the Cattle Plague Report g e e
CHAPTER IX.
I N P A R L I A M E N T .
Beginning a Political Career—Member for Edinburgh and St.
Andrews Universities—Political Convictions—Appointed
one of the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition. AUTO-
BIOGRAPHY: Liberal Member for a Conservative Constitu-
ency: Maiden Speech: Appointment of a Liberal Leader
in the House of Commons: President of the Midland
Institute: The Prince Consort's Superiority to Jealousy:
Opposing the Cry of “Over-Education ”: Supporting a
Bill for opening Trinity College, Dublin, to Roman
Catholics: Attitude towards the Irish University Bill:
Mr Gladstone's Magnanimity: Appointed Postmaster-
General: President of the Civil Service Commission :
Opposing the Anti-Vivisectionists: Reforming the Scottish
Universities. Playfair the Introducer of the Halfpenny
Post-Card—Reception of his Pamphlet on “Teaching
Universities and Examining Boards”—His Popularity at
the Post Office–The Tichborne Case—The Election of
Liberal Leader in the Commons—Averting a Disastrous
Schism . ſº $ &
CHAPTER X.
PARLIAMENTARY WORK.
Playfair's Domestic Affections—Death of His Second Wife.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY: The Dundonald Case: The Victory
Won at Last: A Visit to the States: Emerson and
Longfellow : Chicago: A “Typical American " from
Paisley: Adopting a Young Lady: At Washington: A
Visit to the Lunatic Asylum : Attacking the Indian Salt
Tax: Presiding over the Manchester Water Supply
Committee : The International Exhibition of 1878 :
Another Visit to America: Reception at Montreal:
Curious Experiences in a Rough District: Dining with the
Canadian Cabinet: A Talk with Lord Dufferin. Play-
fair's Relations with the United States—His Letters from
America and Elsewhere—His Correspondence with Miss
Russell and Her Family prior to His Marriage—His
Social Charm—His Passion for Public Work & e
CHAPTER XI.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER.
Playfair's Liberalism becoming More Pronounced—His Seat
in Danger— Letters from Edinburgh. AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
Appointed Chairman and Deputy-Speaker: Irish Obstruc-
PAGE
171
2O5
234
CONTENTS. - - xi
PAGE
tion: Suspending the Obstructionists: Resignation: Letters
from Mr Gladstone, the Speaker, and Sir Stafford North-
Cote: A Reaction: , Made a Knight Commander of the
Bath: In Defence of Vivisection and Vaccination: Grand
Committees. Why Playfair refused the Office of Chief
Whip—His Suspension of Irish Obstructionists—A Corre-
spondence with Mr Chaplin—The Absorbing Character of
His Duties as Chairman—His Loyalty as an Independent
Member—His Personal Popularity with the Irish Members
—Securing a Knighthood for Professor Owen . e . 285
CHAPTER XII,
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
Playfair's Ties with America—Why he never became a
Cabinet Minister—His Acceptance of Home Rule—
Appointed Honorary Secretary of the Commission for the
1851 Exhibition—His Views on the Functions of a Minister
for Scotland–Decides to retire from the Representation
of Edinburgh University—His Candidature for South Leeds
—The Constituency described—His Brilliant Victory—His
Connection with the “Hawarden Kite”—Appointed Vice-
-President of the Council. AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Celebration
of the Tercentenary of Edinburgh University: With the
British Association at Montreal and at Aberdeen : At
Glamis Castle again : Reform of the Medical Profession:
Re-election for South Leeds to g & ſº g . 330
CHAPTER XIII.
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE AND INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY: The Jubilee Service in Westminster Abbey:
Progress of the Nation during the Queen's Reign : Foreign
Royalties: Representing England at the Centenary of the
Declaration of American Independence: A Memorial to
President Cleveland in favour of Arbitration : Opposing
“Fair Trade '': A Plea for Technical Education: The
future Fiscal Policy of the United States. Legalising the
Sale of Margarine & g 354
CHAPTER XIV.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREws.”
A Touching Incident. AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Opening of the Glasgow
Exhibition: Mistaken for a State Prisoner: Death of the
Emperor Frederick of Germany: The Widowed Empress
and Prince Bismarck: Resigning the Honorary Secretary-
ship of the Exhibition Commission: A Presentation:
Supporting a Royal Grant: The General Election of
1892: Raised to the Peerage: Farewell to South Leeds.
The South Leeds Election—An Interesting Colloquy—
xii CONTENTS.
Appointed a Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen—Letters from
Windsor Castle—Work on the Aged Poor Commission—
Grand Cross of the Bath—In Canada
CHAPTER XV.
PLAY FAIR AND THE UNITED STATES.
Playfair's Sojourn at Nahant—Almost a Citizen of the United
States—Letters to Lady Playfair's Family—The Venezu-
elan Crisis—Negotiating Peace—Correspondence with Mr
Chamberlain and Mr Bayard—Playfair's Share in the
Settlement of the Dispute ę g sº & g
CHAPTER XVI.
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.
Scientific Appreciation of Playfair by Professor Crum-Brown—
Sir Edward Frankland on his Investigations into the Best
Coal for the Royal Navy—Playfair on Health and Disease
—On Vivisection—On the Applications of Science to
Commerce—On the Connection between Man's Necessities
and the Industrial Arts—Playfair's Work as an Exhibition
Commissioner—The National Buildings at South Ken-
sington His Monument—Initiator of “The Victoria and
Albert Museum ” .
CHAPTER XVII.
THE END.
Adjudicating in the ‘Statist’ Competition—Speech at the
Jubilee Banquet of the Cobden Club—Failing Health—
Residence at Torquay—Death—Letters of Condolence to
Lady Playfair—Burial at St. Andrews
PAGE
373
405
427
457
MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE
OF
LY ON PLAYFAIR.
CHAPTER I.
I N T R O D U C T O R Y.
St. Andrews Seventy Years ago—Its Primacy among Scottish Seats of
Learning—A Home for Retired Officers and Officials—The Record of
Scotsmen in Indian Administration—Principal Playfair and His Four
Sons—George Playfair, Father of Lyc-—Lyon's Connection with St.
Andrews—Characteristics—His Autobiography—His Life penetrated
by Patriotism—A Pioneer of Sanitary and Educational Reform—As
Political Economist—As Politician–As Man.
THE grey old city of St. Andrews, with the ruins of its
great cathedral facing the waters of the German Ocean, its
ancient university buildings and its historic golf links, has
become in recent times familiar to a large proportion of the
inhabitants of Great Britain. It is now a fashionable
watering-place, crowded for three months every year by
visitors from all parts of the country; whilst the game of
golf, which has been played at St. Andrews without inter-
mission for centuries, draws every summer to the city an
increasing number of the votaries of that most healthful
and enjoyable recreation. But in the days when golf was
almost unknown beyond the breezy Fifeshire links, and
when the railway system had not yet annihilated distances,
St. Andrews was altogether different from the gay and
bustling city of the end of the century. Seventy years ago
it was probably the sleepiest little town in Great Britain.
B
2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
In many respects it was little better than a fishing village.
For a few months every year a scanty muster of red-
gowned students gave passing animation to the Scene; but
as a rule its wide streets were silent and grass-grown, and
the only sound that indicated the existence of any form of
human activity was the whirr of the loom or the sharp
crash of the shuttle as it caught the ear of the wayfarer
when he passed the cottage of some busy weaver.
Yet even then, in its period of decay and desertion, St.
Andrews had certain claims upon the respect of the outer
world. Although its university had vigorous rivals at
Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, it took precedence of
any of them, and as the most ancient seat of learning in
North Britain, its children claimed for St. Andrews the
name of the Scots Oxford. It was not its academic fame,
however, which was its only title to special distinction.
Living and house rent were both cheap in the old city. It
was free from the more aggressive intrusions of modern
trade. Its university gave the little town a microscopic
social circle of cultivated people, some of whom had repu-
tations that were national rather than local. Its keen
health-giving air and its delightful golf links added to its
attractiveness. In short, it combined the advantages of
Oxford and Leamington, and, as was not unnatural, it
became, in consequence, a favourite place of residence for
retired officers of the army and navy, and for a class not
less important, retired East Indian officials. During the
first half of the century, indeed, those whom the world at
that time designated as “nabobs" were a common feature
in the life of St. Andrews.
It has been the good fortune of the Scottish people of
the cultured classes for many generations to furnish a liberal
supply of recruits to these three branches of the public
service, and more particularly to the last named. Students
of Indian history know how the names of Scotsmen abound
INTRODUCTORY. 3
in every department of the administration of India during
the last hundred years. And Scotland has no reason to
feel ashamed of the record which these sons of hers have
left behind them. Somehow or other they seem to have
possessed in a peculiar degree the qualities which are of
greatest value in the man who undertakes the duties of the
public service. Caution combined with enthusiasm, shrewd-
ness of judgment allied to steadfastness of purpose, great
powers of work, simplicity of life, a natural frugality, and
above all an unassailable devotion and loyalty—these
seem to be the qualities which may be confidently looked
for in that order of Scotsmen to whom the service of our
country has owed so much. Many of the men who, in the
early years of the nineteenth century, settled down in the
quiet streets of St. Andrews to pass their closing days
On its links and in its simply furnished drawing-rooms,
were men who, in distant lands, had done great deeds for
Britain in days when the newspaper had not yet become
the trumpeter of contemporary fame. -
Among the many families in St. Andrews connected by
various links with our ever-growing empire in the East,
there was none better known than that of the Playfairs.
The name was one that had long been familiar in the
annals of the ancient city. If one does not find Playfairs
taking part in those stormy Scenes which once gave St.
Andrews a place of importance in the political and
ecclesiastical affairs of Great Britain—if no Playfair, for
example, is to be found in the company of Cardinal
Beaton, John Knox, Andrew Melville, or Archbishop
Sharpe—the name rises into notice almost as soon as the
days of storm have passed, and St. Andrews, after the
long strife of contending kirks and rival dynasties, has
turned itself to the occupations of peace. In 1738 a
certain James Playfair was born at Bendochy, in the
county of Forfar. In 1773 he married One Margaret Lyon,
4. MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
a kinswoman of the family of the Earls of Strathmore ;
and in 1799, having won distinction as a writer of
historical and geographical works, he became Principal of
the United Colleges of St. Leonards and St. Salvator.
The reader will learn more of Principal Playfair and of his
pedigree by and by. Here it is only necessary to say that
just a hundred years ago this worthy man, as Principal of
the University of St. Andrews, was at the head of the
society of the city, and the father of a numerous family,
all of whom played a useful and honourable part in life,
and one of whom became the father of the subject of
this memoir. Three of Principal Playfair's four sons had
careers in the public service. The eldest, George, was a
surgeon in the employment of the East India Company;
the second, William, and the third, Hugh, were officers in
the Indian army. Only one son, the youngest, took to a
commercial life, and became a merchant at Glasgow. The
Playfairs consequently furnished a striking example of
those Scotsmen of culture and social position who devote
themselves to the public service, finding in the duties
and the honours of that service a more satisfying
compensation than that which attends the mere pursuit
of wealth. Like all their order, they turned with
instinctive affection from the distant lands in which
they did their life's work to the grey old city which
had been the cradle of their race. George Playfair
sent his children, of whom Lyon was the second,
from the dangers of childhood in India to spend their
youth in St. Andrews. The other sons of the Principal
themselves came back to their native place to end their
days, and one of them, Sir Hugh, commonly known as
“the Provost,” became, about the middle of the present
century, the benevolent despot and ruling power in the city.
Lyon Playfair, though born at Chunar, in the province
of Bengal, passed his youth at St. Andrews. At St.
INTRODUCTORY. 5
Andrews he first tasted the joys of learning, and at St.
Andrews, at the close of his long and busy life, his remains
were laid to rest in the burial-ground that surrounds the
ruins of the old cathedral. If one desired to find a typical
example of that class of Scotsmen of which I have spoken,
it would not be easy to find one more striking than that
afforded by Lyon Playfair. The man, the story of whose
life is to be told in these pages, never rose to that dazzling
eminence which justifies the world in describing a human
being as supremely “great.” He did not pretend to the
genius which lifts a few men high above their fellows. It
cannot be affirmed that he was one of the great figures
of his generation. Yet his life, though it was lived
without ostentation and without parade, was undoubtedly
one of the fullest and most useful lives of his time.
It was emphatically a life of work, and of work not
for the accumulation of wealth or the achievement of
fame, but for the acquiring of truth and for the service of
his fellow-men. That he won what the world regards as
a brilliant personal success is not to be denied. He, the
son of a surgeon on the Bengal establishment, beginning
life as a student of Science, and compelled to look almost
entirely to his own exertions for his advancement, rose
to be one of the acknowledged counsellors of successive
Governments upon questions that affected the most im-
portant interests of the people, one of the most influential
leaders and teachers in the education of the nation, and
One of the most active of those men who, “behind the
scenes,” exercise so great a control over public affairs.
That he won for himself honours varied and distinguished
need not be told. Their record will appear in due time.
But his most conspicuous success was not in the winning
of stars and titles, but in the actual accomplishment of
work which has not only benefited his own generation,
but must benefit many generations to come.
6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
We have to tell here the story of how the young Scotch
student, who had hardly emerged from his boyhood when
he began to feel the passion for public service, worked in
that service throughout a long and laborious life, and
achieved in it triumphs that the world will not lightly
forget. It is, most fortunately for his biographer, a story
that is told partly in Lyon Playfair's own words. The
chapters of autobiography of which this memoir will in part
consist were not prepared for publication. In the first
instance they were jotted down at irregular intervals for
the benefit of his family. They were never revised by
their writer, and as they advance they lose something of
continuity. At the best, they are a plain, unvarnished
record, in which many incidents of interest in the life with
which they deal are either omitted altogether or passed
over hurriedly. They consequently require not a few
additions in order to make the narrative complete;
whilst here and there the meaning of a particular passage
needs elucidation. But wherever it has been possible I
have left Lyon Playfair to tell the story of his life in his
own way. All that I ask of the reader at the outset is
to remember that this is emphatically a story not of
adventure, but of work. The character of the man whose
life it tells will be gathered in part from the tasks he
accomplished, in part from his own letters and from the
reminiscences of his friends, and in part from a knowledge
of that side of the Scotch character which is specially
noticeable among the men of the class to which he
belonged. I have thought it right to touch upon this last
subject at the outset of my task; for rightly to understand
the character and the life of Lyon Playfair one must under-
stand something of the spirit which has led so many young
Scotsmen to devote themselves to the service of their
country in the arts of peace with a patriotic fervour as
intense as that which ever inspired one of the heroes of
INTRODUCTORY. 7
arms. To Lyon Playfair the good of his country was a
thing to be pursued not merely in the Senate, or on con-
tested fields, but in the laboratory and the council room, in
social intercourse, and in the humdrum round of daily life.
It was a thing never to be lost sight of, no matter how in-
congruous with public work the scene or the circumstances
might be. It was something calling not so much for
isolated deeds of heroism as for a patient and unremitting
care, extending even to the most trivial tasks and incidents.
The reader will see how conscientiously he gave effect
to this conviction as the story of his life is unfolded in
these pages. -
In one respect Playfair was exceptionally fortunate.
That was in the period over which his life's work ex-
tended. Born when his country was slowly beginning
to recover from the severe exhaustion of the Napoleonic
wars, and when the extension of personal freedom and
constitutional rights engaged the attention of the great
majority of the population, he began his own public
work after the excitement of the struggle for Parlia-
mentary reform had died away, and at a time when
questions affecting the social and economic condition of
the people were coming to the front. He may be said
with accuracy to have been present at the birth of
sanitary reform, not only in this country, but in modern
Europe. The very first office which he held in the
service of the State was in connection with that Royal
Commission of Inquiry into the Health of Towns which
laid the foundations of sanitary science, as we now know
it, and which was the first step in the revolution that
has changed the conditions of urban life throughout the
civilised world. The reader will learn later on some-
thing of the conditions which prevailed in our towns
before Playfair and his colleagues began their labours,
and something also of the marvellous benefits which
8 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
those labours have conferred upon mankind. It was
Playfair's great happiness to be enlisted in this work of
sanitary reform in its very earliest stages. He threw
himself into the battle against dirt and disease with as
great an ardour as that which any soldier ever dis-
played upon the field of battle; and to the end of his
days he remained what he had been in his youth, the
most earnest and most energetic of Sanitary reformers.
Even more fortunate was he in the fact that almost
simultaneously with this new effort on behalf of the
health of the people, there arose in England the great
educational movement which has been one of the chief
national glories of the nineteenth century. A student,
with a student's devotion to science, Playfair was
naturally attracted to the scientific or technical side of
the educational problem, and, most fortunately for his
country, he was enlisted almost at the outset in that
great national undertaking out of which was destined
to spring the whole system of scientific and technical
instruction which, before the century reached its close,
had been brought into existence. No wise man will lay
much stress upon luck—the mere chances of fortune—
in judging of any human life. But it is impossible to
ignore the chapter of accidents, and in writing of Play-
fair one cannot but recognise the fortunate character of
that accident which placed such a man, with his special
intellectual sympathies and aptitudes, in close communi-
cation with Prince Albert at the time when that illustrious
Prince was taking the first steps towards introducing an
efficient system of art and science training into the
country of his adoption. No better instrument could
have fallen into the hands of the Prince, and no task
more perfectly suited to Playfair's special sympathies
and talents than that entrusted to him by his eminent
patron, could possibly have been found. It was, indeed,
INTRODUCTORY. 9
a rare stroke of good fortune for Playfair himself—and,
as I think, for his country also—that he was thus intro-
duced in his early youth to two such fields of labour as
those connected with the health and the education of
the community. When the historian comes to deal
with the story of Great Britain during the latter half of
the nineteenth century, he will have more to say of the
great Social and intellectual advancement in the con-
dition of the people which that term has witnessed, than
of the struggles of contending parties in Parliament, or
even of our armies on foreign soil. In the chapter which
history devotes to the social progress of our century,
Playfair's name must always hold a place of honour.
He was fortunate again in beginning his public career
at the moment when steam, as applied more particularly
to ocean travel, was being pressed into the service of
mankind. In his early youth Great Britain was indeed
an island, isolated in many important respects from the
rest of the world. He lived to see its insularity destroyed,
and the ocean, which once separated it from the rest of
the world, converted into the highway which unites it
with every other portion of the globe. He lived to see
the whole earth converted into one huge market and
emporium, and the food supplies of the working-men of
London brought to their doors from the plains of North-
Western Canada, the fields of India, and the spurs of
the Andes. A close student of that branch of science
which deals with the economic conditions of life, Play-
fair was a watchful and intelligent observer of the
startling developments which these conditions under-
went. To the new order of things he sought to apply
the old economic truths. In those truths he believed as
firmly as he believed in the accuracy of the multiplica-
tion table. He was, indeed, unswerving and inflexible
in his adherence to the political economy which he had
IO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
learned as a youth. As time passed, new schools arose
in political economy as in other branches of intellectual
study, and men who thought that even the multiplica-
tion table was open to reform, girded at the older
students who, like Playfair, recognised the fact that in
economics as in mathematics there are certain axioms
which cannot be called in question. It was Playfair's
good fortune to be able to draw the true economic les-
sons from the new conditions of human life with which,
in the process of the suns, he was brought in contact.
Few men of our time have done more than he did to
show the bearing of new industrial facts and of fresh scien-
tific discoveries upon the old laws of Supply and demand,
the old axioms upon the observance of which depends
the wealth of nations and the prosperity of communities.
But while he was thus devoting his best energies through-
out a prolonged life to the service of his fellow-men in
fields which lay apart from the contentions of political
parties, he was not without his record in purely political
affairs. The story of his career in the House of Commons
will be duly set forth in these pages. He was always more
of a philosopher among politicians than of a politician
among philosophers. Yet he achieved one or two rare
successes even as a politician, and to him must ever be
ascribed the honour of having been one of the two or three
men who, at a moment when the two branches of our
English race seemed to be drifting towards an inevitable
and ruinous collision, were able to intervene in the cause of
peace, and to avert a disaster that would have wrecked the
cause of human liberty.
It is possible that the reader who intends to follow the
story of Playfair's life would wish to form a mental
picture of the man himself before he sets out on his task.
Lyon Playfair was notable in any company, in part because
of his rather diminutive stature, and in part by reason of
his fine head, the massive moulding of which formed a sure
INTRODUCTORY. II
index to his intellectual powers. Slightly below the
common height, he was notwithstanding a man who never
gave even to the casual observer an impression of weak-
ness. There was dignity as well as power in his glance;
above all, there was the saving sense of humour. No one
really knew or understood him, however, who had not the
good fortune to meet him on Some occasion when his
conversational gifts were made apparent. His vast stores
of knowledge of every conceivable kind, the strange
experiences through which he had passed in his long career
of labour, the stories, humorous and interesting, of which
he was so admirable a raconteur, and the sympathetic
temperament with which he was so lavishly endowed, all
helped to enrich his conversation and to give it a character of
its own that may fitly be called unique. Nobody who met
him in casual society for the first time could have dreamed
of the work he had done and the great things he had
accomplished in his busy life. Few, possibly, would have
imagined that one who bore his load of learning so lightly
and easily was the master of stores of knowledge such as it
is given to few amongst us to possess. But no one, even if
he were but the chance acquaintance of an hour, could be
brought in contact with him without feeling something of
the fascination which he exercised upon all around him, in
virtue of his unfailing gaiety of heart, his inexhaustible good
nature, and the charm of an intellect that seemed to
illuminate every topic which came within its radius. I
have to tell the story of a great worker, who laboured for
pure and unselfish ends; but at the outset the reader ought
to realise the fact that Lyon Playfair was one of those men
of exceptional personal and social gifts, before whose tact
difficulties that to others would prove insurmountable
seem to melt away, and whose bright spirits create
around them an atmosphere of good-will and confidence
which is recognised by all with whom they are destined
to be brought in contact.
CHAPTER II.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. —I. MY RELATIONS.
The Playfairs: Professor Playfair and the Commander-in-Chief :
Principal Playfair : Mrs Macdonald and Her Doubts: Sir Hugh
Lyon Playfair: James Playfair and His Romance: Praying for My
Conversion: A “Token " : The Sin of walking on Sundays : I
introduce Myself to My Father: Dr Macvicar and His Definition
of Water: My Brothers. Playfair's Earliest Extant Letter—Mrs
Macdonald on His Disposition as a Child.
As my family and intimate friends desire that I should
leave for their information some recollections of my life,
I comply with their wish, so far as it can be done by one
who has never kept a diary or a journal. If they are ever
published my only apology is that they may form some
encouragement to others who, like myself, have had in
early life few friends and no influence, to believe that their
future position depends upon themselves, and not upon
their surroundings.
My family name in old records is often written Playfere,
and doubtless originally meant playfellow, the word “fiere.”
being used in Burns's ‘Auld Lang Syne' as “companion.”
In much older poems it is employed in a like way.
Thus in the Scottish ballad ‘The Jew's Daughter, pre-
served by Bishop Percy in his “Reliques, the word
occurs in this sense : -
“Then out and cam the Jewis dochter,
Said, ‘Will ye cum in and dine P'
‘I winna cum in, I canna cum in
Without my play-fieres nine.’”
Although this was doubtless the origin of the name, the
first time that the name is mentioned to my knowledge
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. I3
the spelling is more like the modern version. In 1290
“William Playfayre" brought letters to Edward I. from
Sir John Comyn “intimating the arrival of the Maiden of
Norway.” He seems to have been the Earl of Orkney's
letter carrier, and if I am his lineal descendant it seems all
right in the process of evolution that I should have become,
in 1873, Postmaster-Generall All through the few records
that remain of my family they seem to have been emi-
nently respectable, hard-working citizens, without ever
rising to any high rank or position. The name frequently
appears in civic records from the fifteenth century to the
nineteenth in the list of magistrates in the Scotch burghs,
or among those of Scotch ministers of a Radical turn of
mind who were punished for keeping conventicles. In the
genealogical “Memoirs of the Family of Sir Walter Scott'
(pp. xxix. and xxx.) “Margaret Playfair” is referred to
with honour as being “remarkable for her knowledge, ,
memory of the Scriptures, and gift of prayer.” She seems
to have died in Rotterdam in 1685, so perhaps she had to
leave the country for her opinions, or because her husband,
Mr. Halyburton, had been denounced in 1662 by the Privy
Council for his Covenanting principles. However, some
persons of my name have been sufficiently orthodox to
hold offices in the English Universities. In 1596 Thomas
Playfair was made D.D. and Margaret Professor of Divinity
in Cambridge, and later he was appointed Chaplain to King
James. He is celebrated by Phineas Fletcher thus:—
“Who lives by death, by death in death is lying;
But he who living dies, best lives by dying,
Who life to truth, who death to sorrow gives,
In life may die, by death more surely lives.
My soul in heaven breathes, in schools my fame,
Then on my tombe write nothing but my name.”2
Occasionally one of my family name appears with
distinction in Academic ranks, but more usually the
members constituting it follow occupations requiring solid,
1 ‘Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland,' by Joseph Bain, Edin,
1884, Vol. II., p. 107.
* ‘Athenae Cantabrigiensis,” Vol. II., p. 513.
I4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
though not brilliant, brain power. The highest example
of the former is the case of Professor Playfair, the eminent
mathematician, who was born in 1748, and died in 1819,
author of a charming work, the ‘Illustrations of the
Huttonian Theory.' He was so celebrated for his clear
and eloquent power of exposition that he rarely trusted
himself to make a speech, lest he should injure his fame as
a writer. On one occasion, however, he was forced to
preside at the founding of the Royal Observatory on
Calton Hill, Edinburgh, of which I also became chairman
many years later.
Professor Playfair, at the dinner celebrating the laying
of the foundation stone, contented himself with proposing
toasts in the form of short epigrams, such as “May this
Observatory be as permanent as the rock upon which it is
founded and the science upon which it is based.” The
Commander-in-Chief for Scotland had a profound admira-
tion for the professor, and rose to propose his health, but
he could get no further than the statement, “I say,
without the least fear of contradiction, that Professor
Playfair is a man—I repeat that Professor Playfair is a
man—” The audience, which had no doubt on the
Subject, began to laugh, and the irate Commander Con-
cluded by asserting, “Professor Playfair is a man to go to
h—l with.” The decorous company was disconcerted
at this abnormal way of proposing the toast, and consider-
able curiosity was shown as to how the learned professor
would acknowledge his health in an epigrammatic form.
He was equal to the occasion, and replied, “I thank the
gallant officer for his warmth, because there is only one
other instance of an equal devotion to friendship, that in
which Pylades offered to accompany his friend Orestes
to a place which shall not a second time be mentioned
in this assembly.” -
Although Professor Playfair belonged to a collateral
branch of Our family, I gladly claim the kinsmanship
of its most illustrious member. He flourished in
Edinburgh University when the names of Black, Leslie,
and Hope drew the attention of all Europe to the
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. I5
scientific discoveries of that university, of which in later
years I was student, graduate, professor, and Member of
Parliament for seventeen years. Professor Playfair, the
mathematician, never married, though rumour says that
he, as well as Leslie, was a candidate for the hand of
the fascinating Mrs Apreece, who married Sir Humphry
Davy. Playfair's fame lasts in America to the present
day, as I once found in an amusing way. In 1877, on
visiting America, I was anxious to see and hear a
telephone which then excited much interest. Being on a
visit to a house near West Point, on the Hudson, I found
that a telephone could be seen there. It had one of its
ends in the room of the Professor of Mathematics, who, I
was warned, might resent a communication. However, I
ventured, and explained through the telephone that I was
an Englishman who had never seen the instrument. I
was asked my name, to which I replied “Playfair.” The
answer then came, “Oh, I know all about you ! I
learned my first mathematics out of your “Euclid.’” I
disclaimed with modesty, by stating that that book came
out in the last century. My unknown conversationalist
replied, “Your voice is so squeaky, I thought you must
be a hundred years old "l --
From this digression—the type, I fear, of many digres-
sions, as I write just as recollections arise in my memory
—I come to my grandfather. He was for some time a
minister in Newtyle, and then in Meigle; and though
repeatedly urged to preside as Moderator of the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, he persistently
declined the honour. He was appointed to the office of
Principal of the University of St. Andrews in 1800. The
Principal was a man of much industry and of respectable
talents. He produced a large work in six quarto volumes
on geography. Of this he was so proud that he changed
the crest of his family to a globe with the vainglorious
motto, “AVon sic te widimus olim.” He forgot that
geography was a rapidly progressive science. Before the
last volume of his big work was out, the former volumes
were out of date. I never met any human being who had
I6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
read the magnum opus of my grandfather. Besides this
work, he published a ‘System of Chronology’ in 1784, and
a ‘Statistical Description of Scotland' in two volumes.
He was historiographer to the Prince of Wales (the Prince
Regent). As my grandfather died in the year of my
birth, I did not know him. His widow was, however, a
devoted grandmother to me. Her maiden name was
Lyon, and she belonged to the Lyons of Glen Ogle, who
form a collateral branch of the Lyons of Glamis, now
possessing the title of Earl of Strathmore. This explains
my Christian name.
Principal Playfair had four sons; the eldest was my
father ; the second, William, was a retired Colonel in
the Indian service when I first knew him ; the third was
Hugh, a Major in the Indian Artillery, and the fourth
James, a merchant in Glasgow. All of them had an in-
fluence on my life. On being sent from India, where I was
born,' to St. Andrews as a mere infant, Colonel Playfair
became the guardian of my brother and myself, and dis-
charged his functions with much kindness and judgment.
He placed us in the house of his widowed sister, Mrs
Macdonald, a lady of remarkable ability. She had been a
beauty in her youth, and had married a clergyman, who
died soon after their marriage. Mrs Macdonald was an
ardent naturalist, and, I believe, discovered and described
several new species of marine animals which abound among
the rocks of the sea shore at St. Andrews. No person could
have discharged her duties to her two nephews more
lovingly or judiciously than this accomplished aunt. She
died at eighty-six years of age, when I was professor in the
Edinburgh University, in 1864. I recollect a curious
conversation on her deathbed which shows how much
needless anxiety is produced to good Christians by the old
Scotch belief in the literal interpretation of Bible stories.
She expressed great anxiety lest her faith in the Bible
should not be sufficient to secure her salvation. Knowing
that she had been educated in a narrow Presbyterian circle,
I asked whether her doubts were connected with verbal
* At Chunar, Bengal, May 21st, 1818.
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. 17
inspiration, or with the fundamental truths of Christianity,
assuring her that I could not believe that they related to
the latter, as I had never known a person of such a pious
and devout Christian life. The old lady clutched the bed-
clothes and said with energy, “I do not believe that
Balaam's ass ever spoke.” Neither did I; so I thought
it best to throw the disbelief into insignificance by
putting to her the question : “Are you going to heaven
trusting in the merits of your Redeemer, or are you going
into heaven riding on Balaam's ass?” The dear old lady
realised the absurdity of her fears, and spoke happily
for the few remaining hours of her life. -
My uncle, Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair, to whom I have
alluded, retired from the Army as Major of Artillery, but
though he subsequently became Colonel he was always
affectionately spoken of as “the Major.” He brought with
him to his native city an unexhausted energy which at first
was expended in odd ways. He bought a house on the
site of the old college of St. Leonard. He had a large
garden through which flowed a mill stream. For some
years this garden was the Major's hobby. He built a tall
pagoda over the stream, and used its power for moving
dancing puppets and all sorts of mechanical absurdities.
The wheel moved by the stream had the figure of a man
attached to it, who bent laboriously as he appeared to
turn the wheel. All round this extensive garden a border
of wood, painted white, was placed upon supports. It
contained the history of the world, from the time of Adam,
our first parent, to the Reform Bill of 1832. All of this
extensive history was painted upon the boards by the
Major's own hands. The history of England, according to
this singular record, ended at the Reform Bill in 1832,
because then England, having reached the pinnacle of its
greatness, began to decline, and was no longer worth the
attention of the historian. No need to say that “the
Major,” like all my other relatives, was an ardent Tory.
After a few years the surplus energy of Sir Hugh Playfair
was diverted from his garden to the adornment of the city
of St. Andrews. He was elected Provost of the city, and
C
I8 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
retained this office to his death. When he undertook these
civic duties the city was little better than a dirty fishing
town, with a couple of streets of better houses for pro-
fessors and retired Indian officers. The grand ruins of
the cathedral and the ancient castle were neglected and
crumbling, while even the university was in a decaying
state. The broom of the civic reformer soon produced a
marvellous change, though scarcely in a constitutional way.
Ancient stairs which projected from the houses into the
streets, so as to block the thoroughfares, were removed
during the darkness of night, and the Occupants had to
devise new modes of entrance to their homes. The
Major put a side way of good pavement all up the
streets about twelve feet from the houses, the inhabitants
of which soon found that they had to fill up the
interval, so that St. Andrews became celebrated for
its broad and luxurious side walks. The old church-
yard surrounding the venerable cathedral was planted
and beautified, and then the Government was obliged
to maintain the ruins and prevent their further decay.
New college buildings were extorted from Parliament,
and the University Library was rebuilt on condition that
it should be open to the public.
The “links” upon which the game of golf is played,
and which now forms one of the most attractive features
of the ancient city, was then being washed away by
encroachments of the sea. The “Major" even fought
against the Sea, and, by judicious selections of places for
shooting rubbish, extended the famous links, and built a
club house for the players upon a spot reclaimed from the
sea. He laboured in his improvements with the will and
authority of an autocrat, and forced money by subscrip-
tions with the audacity of a highwayman. Naturally, he
constantly gave offence ; but, as his reforms were always
justified by good results, the Major's tyrannies were
condoned, and the name of Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair is
now cherished in his native city as its greatest benefactor.
He found it a dull, sleepy, antiquated town, and he
left it a bright little watering-place, with all the venerable
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. I9
antiquities much better cared for than when he began his
rather Philistine reign. How much of my knowledge was
got from my uncle's wooden history of the world in his
gardens I do not know, but he certainly inspired me with
the love of work, and with a sense of the duty of working
for others rather than for oneself. -
My youngest uncle, James Playfair, was a Glasgow
merchant of probity and philanthropy. His wife had
fallen in a faint over a slow fire, which burnt out her eyes
and destroyed her face, so that she always wore a mask.
Her husband devoted himself to her with all the ardour
and affection of a young lover. I stayed in his house for
two years when I had left St. Andrew's College as a lad,
for my father destined me to be a merchant, and put me
into my uncle's office as a clerk. Both this attempt to
make me a merchant and a subsequent one in India failed,
as I felt I was wholly unsuited to succeed in a mercantile
career. I certainly did not acquire much mercantile
knowledge in my uncle's office, but I did learn to respect
probity, and to work for subjects connected with the
welfare of the people. So my uncle James probably did
produce a lasting impression on my character. He was
an eminently religious man of the school of arid Scotch
Orthodoxy, which was a repulsive rather than an attractive
form to me. Accordingly, I was treated as one of the
unconverted, and prayers for my conversion were some-
times offered. A good man, Mr Kettle, used to come and
offer up hugely long prayers in the evening, during the
course of which I generally slept. But on one occasion
the fervour of his prayer awoke me, and I found him
wrestling with God for my conversion. My uncle
apologised afterwards, and said he did not approve of my
being denounced as a sinner in my own presence, but he
hoped that the seed sown might fall upon fertile ground.
I am afraid the ground was rather stony, though I agreed
“to go to the tables”; or, in other words, to take the
Communion. Accordingly I was examined by an Elder,
who gave me a leaden “token" to present at the table.
This awful “token" frightened me out of my wits, and
2O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
impressed me with the fact that I was a sinner indeed,
and unworthy of mercy. Somehow or other I lost it
before the time came for using it. This admission
by “token" acts as a repulsion instead of attraction
to religion, and I hope it has disappeared from Scotch
Services. But I am not sure of it, from the follow-
ing anecdote. When my youngest child was a baby,
during my stay in Edinburgh as professor, she had a
Shrewd Scotch nurse who desired to take the Communion.
She applied to her Elder, who asked how often she
attended church services. The answer did not satisfy
him, although she pleaded that she could not leave the
baby, and so the “token" of admission was refused. She
urged that she lived with a worthy master, Professor
Playfair, who had ordered all his grates from the Elder's
shop at her recommendation. This altered the religious
aspect of the case entirely, and, turning to the deacon, he
Said, “Give her a token. She is an eminently respectable
woman l’’
In St. Andrews, as children, we were encouraged to walk
in the beautiful links or by the sea-shore every Sunday;
but when I studied in Glasgow as a youth, I still remember
with remorse being caught in the deadly sin of taking a
walk on the park or “green" on a Sunday afternoon, and
being considered as an irreclaimable sinner afterwards.
But in spite of all this strait-laced orthodoxy I loved my
Uncle James and his suffering wife, who were daily
examples of practical Christianity.
I have not yet spoken of my father, for until I was
grown up and resident in Manchester I scarcely knew him,
as he resided in India, and only once came home on a
year's visit to my mother, while I was a child at school.
He was in the Medical Service of the East India Company,
and rose to the highest position, that of Member of the
Medical Board in Calcutta. He was chief physician to the
invading army of Afghanistan, but being attacked with
ophthalmia, fortunately retired before the destruction of
that army. My recollections of my father are therefore
few. He was full of kindness and consideration in his
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. 2 I
correspondence, encouraging my scientific studies, and
supplying me freely with money to prosecute them. My
mother was devoted to him, and constantly talked of his
kindness of heart and of his ability. He introduced into
medicine some native Indian remedies, especially Mudar,
which I believe still holds its position in the Indian
Pharmacopoeia. My first real acquaintance with my father
was when he retired from the service in 1842. He
returned from India in a sailing vessel, accompanied by my
mother, and I joined them at Southampton. At that time
my mother had been in India for many years, and my
recollection of her features was faint. I took a boat to go
out to the ship which had been signalled, but as it was in
motion when I reached it a rope was thrown out from the
stern, and my boat followed the ship. At the stern
window a sweet motherly-looking lady was writing, and I
fancied that she might be my mother, but I was afraid to
ask her. When I got on board I asked a stout elderly
gentleman if he could point out to me Dr Playfair. He
replied that that was his name, and I then introduced
myself as his son Lyon. The old gentleman was com-
pletely overcome, and taking my hand, led me down
to the cabin, where I found that the lady whom I had
admired from the boat was in fact my mother.
Next morning my father and I went to London, leaving
my mother to wait for the luggage. At the station I
learned how long my father had been absent from England,
and how many changes had occurred in his absence. The
railway was to him a singular novelty. As the locomotive
went puffing backwards and forwards on the line to get
into position, he suggested that we should engage it and
go up to London, just as we should now hail a hansom
cab. He was full of delight and astonishment at every-
thing he saw. Soon after his arrival I took him to the
annual meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society at Derby.
I had been elected an honorary member of that Society,
and had to acknowledge the honour in a speech at the
great dinner in the pavilion. My father was not on the
platform, and did not know my position in the society, so
22 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
he was amazed and delighted to see his son rise among the
magnates who had to respond to a toast. After the dinner
I was to meet him at a certain door, but failed to do so.
In going to my hotel I had to pass some caravan-shows,
and on the platform of one of these I observed my father
paying for all the boys and girls who desired to see the
show ! He had passed in about fifty or sixty when I
arrived and disturbed his generosity. In fact my father
had all the simplicity and kindness of Colonel Newcome in
Thackeray's novel, and I never think of him without this
connection in my mind. Already his constitution was
broken up by his long tropical residence, and very soon our
short acquaintance was but a memory, as he died in 1846.
Now that intercommunication between India and the
United Kingdom is so easy, families are not so separated
as they were in the past. There used to be frequent
instances, as in my case, where a father did not see his son
after infancy until he was settled in life. *
My mother' had much more direct influence on my life
than my father. Her abilities were of a high order, and
she had cultivated them by extensive reading. She was a
favourite among the professors of the university at St.
Andrews, who frequently passed the evening at her house.
Among the most constant visitors was the Rev. Dr
Macvicar, not a professor, but a temporary lecturer at
the university. He had singular originality, a boldness of
thought regarding the atomic constitution of matter, and
shared in the belief in the complex molecular structure
which now began to prevail. Dr Macvicar gave popular
lectures on science, the first which I had heard. But he
was singularly unsuited for this work. I recollect copying
his description of water, and being much puzzled by it.
“Water,” said the philosopher, “is composed of two
abysmal elements, possibly of Only one in fundamental
differentiation of molecular construction. It is a fluid of
exquisite limpidity capable of solidification on one side and
gasification on the other. In the Solid state it belongs to
the hexagonal system, and is a double six-sided pyramid
* Janet, daughter of John Ross, Esq., of Edinburgh.
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. 23
with one axis of double refraction. Solid, liquid, gaseous, it
is a type of matter.” I was profoundly impressed with the
description, and used to repeat it till in the course of time
I began to understand it. From Dr Macvicar were received
our earliest ideas of science, for he taught us the use of the
microscope, and showed us how to open our eyes to
surrounding objects. To my mother and her surroundings
I owe all my early knowledge, precious little of which I
derived from the grammar or classical school to which
I was sent at a later period. -
My elder brother, George, was about two years older
than myself, but he was the protector and guide of my
boyhood. He had the same exquisitely simple and
affectionate character as my father, and I do not recollect
that we had a single difference or quarrel in boyhood or
manhood. He became a medical man, acting as Surgeon
in the Chinese War on board the Phlegethon. He then
received an appointment in the Medical Service of the
East India Company, and ultimately became President of
the Medical School at Agra. He was loved in every
station to which he went, and died in London in 1881,
after retiring from the Service. My second brother,
Lambert, now Colonel Sir Lambert Playfair, K.C.M.G.,”
has seen very varied service. The gallant Outram
was much attached to him, and also Sir Bartle Frere.
Though in the Indian Army, his services have been chiefly
diplomatic. He was for a long time Assistant, and then
Acting, Governor at Aden, Political Resident at Zanzibar,
and is now Consul-General of Algiers and Tunis. -
My third brother, William, is now an eminent physician
in London, and is well known by the originality and
success of his practice. My fourth brother, Octavius, was
for a short time in the Royal Engineers, but, on his marriage,
emigrated to Buenos Ayres, where he soon died. I
had three sisters and one adopted sister, who added to
the happiness of our home life. That was of a simple
character, but impressed upon all of us our future habits
and tastes. Our Social gatherings on Sunday evenings,
* Sir Lambert Playfair died at St. Andrews in February, 1899.
24 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
at a banquet of Spartan simplicity, are among the most
delightful recollections of my life. Those days are long
past, and since then I have dined and supped with monarchs
and royal princes, but the pleasure and gratification of these
entertainments has never equalled the Sunday suppers of my
childhood. The good mother died in 1862, when I was a
professor in the University of Edinburgh, and her sons
and daughters placed a memorial window in the old
College Church of St. Andrews, with the inscription,
“Her children rise up and call her blessed.”
The St. Andrews of to-day is still a simple city, but it is
unlike that of my boyish days. Then it had not been
shaken up and swept by the reforming broom of “the
Major.” I remember the Sedan chairs which used to be
brought inside the house to carry my mother and sisters
to evening parties. If the nights were fine, either a
Servant or one of the children would accompany them
with a lantern. Society has not increased in pleasure by
the greater demands made for its enjoyment.
So far as can now be ascertained, it was in 1820 that
young Lyon Playfair and his elder brother George left
India for St. Andrews, in order to remain under the care
of their aunt, Mrs Macdonald. Six years later Mrs
Playfair, whose family was now more numerous, parted
from her husband in Bengal, and brought her younger
children to Scotland, where, as will be seen in the next
chapter, she remained with them for several years, watch-
ing over their health and education. In their tenderest
childhood, however, both Lyon and his brother George
were left to the exclusive charge of Mrs Macdonald. The
earliest letter of Lyon Playfair which is now extant, and
probably the first he ever wrote, was the following,
addressed to his father in 1824, at a time when the writer
was six years old. As the production of a child of that
age, it is not unworthy of notice.
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. . 25
(Dictated ..)
MY DEAR PAPA, I hope our sisters are well. When
will our sisters come home 2 We have sticks, and guns,
and pencils, and mells [golf sticks]. Cousin Jessie is away
at six o'clock to-day, home to Glamis. I can sing
Johnny Cope. Are our sisters to bring our swords and
guns, or is Papa 2 When will you send an answer to this
letter 2 I am second Dux in my class. I am reading in
the Collection, and it is about Caesar–Caesar is a Man.
Our Market day is on first Thursday, and I am going to
buy a penknife, and I will send something to Papa. I
will give you a guess. “As I went o'er St. Andrews Brig,
I met wi' George Buchanan, I took off his head and drank
his blood, and left his body stan'ing.” Here's another
guess : “Anne Queen Shevy built a ship, an' on the deck
her daughter sate, an' for her name I’m not to blame, for
three times have I told you.” Guess the name. I have a
great heap more guesses. I'll tell you two more. “I
went between two woods, and came back between two
waters,” “As I came o'er London Bridge, London Bridge
broke, and a' the Men of London could not mend it.”
That guess is Ice. I will tell you no other names of the
guesses. All the school was calling me Merryman, and
George too, because I once got my highland stockings on,
and because I had a tartan dress, tippet and sleeves and
a white tippet below, and they called me Lassie and a
Merryman, my dress is tartan trowsers. Tom Burns who
lives in Argyle, he went to the Merryman, and there was
two sticks as long as ten feet high, as long as Chunar
house from the floor to the roof. The Merryman had a
kind of Tambourine and he jump'd thro' it, and when he
jump'd thro' it, a great heap of fire came out of it, and
nobody could touch the place, it was so hot like fire. He
did the same thing twice and a new thing. Tom Burns is
a great big boy, and he is reading Robinson Crusoe with
George. He comes at Seven o'clock every night, and he is
getting finely on with us. We were twice playing at his
house at Argyle, and he made a ball with leather and a
26 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
ball of black worsted. May be I'm going to see the fool
to-night, and he jump'd upon his horse and put his knees
on the horse, and put his arms like buckSoo, and he said,
“I preach, I pray the auld Manny Grey, he got cauld
porridge in a cauld day.” Our uncle has got a bairn, and
I think it is to be christened William. I have seen the
bairn, and it is like me. Maggy has a fine picture about
the battle in London, and I saw it. How are you ? I
send a kiss to our sisters and Mamma and you. The Cat
has got two kittens. All our cousins are quite well, but
the little baby is not quite well. When is your Market 2
For LYON PLAYFAIR.
April 20th.
Mrs Macdonald accompanied this effusion with the
following letter to her sister-in-law, Mrs Playfair —
You will see by the above that Lyon is in spirits. He
reads pretty well now, and likes the school as much as at
first. As no children can be perfect, I would require to
give you the shade with the sunshine of their characters, if
I could do so in a way to make you know them
thoroughly. As to temper, an instance may suffice. Lately
Lyon came to me and said there was something to say,
but he would not say it, as I would be angry; but as he
would not say it, I had better go up to Charlotte, and she
would tell me. I went up, and George was crying and
sulky because Charlotte had made him sit down to his
lesson after his trifling away half of the hour which Tom
Burns gives him. . . . To-day, when we were at our
usual morning chapter, Lyon and I waited for some
time for George, who ran off in the middle of his
reading. When he came back I found he had found a
hoop on his way, and got so engrossed with it that
he forgot we were waiting. On such occasions Lyon
is too ready with his admonitions, yet so correct in his
opinions that we cannot always advise him rather to help
George out of a scrape than tell upon him.
April 25th.-George was trying to make prose out of his
ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS. 27
psalms, and I have written down as he gave me his ideas.
e So much for George. . . . Lyon is still auld-
farrant 1 in his remarks, more correct in his conduct than
George, and too apt to tell on George when he has got
into a scrape. Lyon does not see a subject in reading or
relating nearly so quick or accurately as George, but come
to action and George is behind Lyon. I would say, were
I a phrenologist, that Lyon must have the bumps of
veneration and observation, and George the bump of clear
understanding (were there such a one).
Lyon has been Dux for ten days both in reading and
spelling, and he is in great fear lest he is trapped down,
and says his lesson over and over to anyone who will hear
him. The more I examine my two charges the more I
observe the moral principles deep in Lyon's mind and
Carried constantly into action, and that it is mere theory,
in comparison, with George. Yet do I hope he will not
grow up worse than the general run of correct people.
I wish their heads examined, and shall send you the
result when I can meet with a good phrenologist.
1 Old-fashioned.
CHAPTER III.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—II. MY EDUCATION.
1825 to 1838.
My Governesses: At School: Holidays at Glamis Castle : Entering St.
Andrews University : Beginning a Business Career : Discomfiting
Nocturnal Marauders: Studying Medicine : Friendship with
Andrew Ramsay, the Geologist : A Chance Meeting with Sir Charles
Lyell : Studying Chemistry: Friendship with David Livingstone:
James Young, Founder of the Paraffin Oil Industry: Study at Edin-
burgh University: A Voyage to India : In a Calcutta Office: Home
again : Studying under Liebig at Giessen: “Doctor of Philosophy”:
Appointed Chemical Manager of Print Works: Punctuality Hand-
somely rewarded : Among the Philosophers of Berlin. Correspon-
dence with Liebig—Chemists and Chemistry.
WHEN my mother returned from India to superintend
the education of her family, an old-fashioned governess
was employed. Miss Douglas was a curious old-world
specimen of a Scotch governess, and always wore a sort
of high crown of brown silk worked into castellated peaks.
This crown seemed never to be renewed in the years
which she remained in our family. She had a singular
method of teaching, but not a bad one. Every word
had to be spelt according to the number of syllables
by touching one finger for each syllable ; while the one
upon which the accent lay had to be repeated twice
and touched twice, the whole word with the accent being
given at the end. I have never seen since then this
system, but I owe to it my distinct enunciation, which has
served me so much in my public speaking. Unfortun-
ately, however, Miss Douglas had a strong Scotch
pronunciation, and her accents were not unfrequently
EDUCATION. 29
placed on the wrong syllable. Thus she would pronounce
lunatic as lunătic, and manure as mānūre, so that what
we gained in one way we lost in another. And, to this
day, I find that I sometimes astonish my audiences by a
distinctly false quantity. But I retain a warm sense of
gratitude to my first governess for her thorough teaching.
Miss Douglas was succeeded in our family by a handsome
young Scotch lady, who afterwards went to India when
my mother returned with some of my sisters. She married
a colonel in the Indian service, and was massacred in the
Mutiny at Cawnpore. She continued her journal every
half-hour on that fatal day, the last entry being, “The
steps of the mutineers are on the stairs. Good-bye,
my dear children.” This precious journal was concealed
by a native servant, and forwarded to her children
in England.
At six years of age I went to the parish school. At
that time every class of society used to attend the parish
school, and the effect of this admixture of classes was
excellent. Often in after life, when I visited St. Andrews,
a working man would stop me in the street to shake
hands and congratulate me on my public position, claim-
ing as his right to do so that he had been at school with
me. No more hearty congratulations or more accept-
able have I ever received in my public career. Our
schoolmaster was Mr Crichton, an admirable teacher. He
afterwards became a Scotch minister, for it was true then
that every teacher in a school had his eyes fixed upon the
steeple of the church. The education in his school was
broad and thorough, and I attribute much of my future
success to it. I was a diligent Scholar, and was only once
punished, by being locked up alone in the schoolroom
between the meetings. This is a bad sort of punishment
for boys. My fault was making an unsuccessful experi-
ment. Mr Crichton was particularly anxious that there
should be no blots in our writing-books. A boy assured
me that the scraped bone of the cuttle-fish would remove
blots, and I applied it freely to a fresh wet blot, with the
result that I spread it nearly over the whole page.
30 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
Unfortunately, I was taken away too soon from this
excellent school, and put into the old grammar School of
the city. Other men have told me that they obtained
advantage from their education in that school, but I
cannot recollect a single gain that I made in my many
years' attendance at it. I know that I lost much of my
former knowledge, and that my Latin when I entered the
University was of the most miserable description. We
had a great show day every year, and a month of our
time was wasted in preparation for that day. Each boy
was drilled in one single sentence, and the professors and
examiners were duly impressed with our familiarity with
it. On one of these days the second boy in our class took
a panic, and the whole school was startled by hearing that
David had become truant, and could not be found. His
absence deranged the whole of the sentences, so the boys
were sent to scour the town and bring in David before the
professorial examiners arrived. We were unsuccessful in
finding him, and our masters were in despair. I was third
in the class, and from the continued drilling knew David's
sentences as well as my own, so I volunteered to do
both, and received the gratitude and future kindness of
my teacher.
Latin, in its most unattractive form, was the only
subject taught in this school. I certainly did not dis-
tinguish myself as a scholar. But I presume that I
must have been popular, for there was a peculiar
ceremony Once a year, at which the scholars, with the
approbation of the masters, elected a “king” of the
school. The king, when elected, was crowned with an
iron crown decorated with ribbons supplied by the family
of the boy. He was then carried on the shoulders of the
elder boys, accompanied by the whole school, in a
procession through the city. Most of the houses had
their doors opened as the procession passed, and gifts of
gingerbread and raisins were received as a tribute by the
king, who distributed them among his subjects. I was
elected king of the School for three successive years.
The last year of my reign was the final one of this curious
EDUCATION. 3I
custom, and the iron crown remained for a long time
in the attic of our home.
My holidays while at school were passed with my
grand uncle, the Rev. Dr Lyon, in his manse at the gate
of the ancient Castle of Glamis, where Macbeth murdered
King Duncan. The old manse is a comfortable minister's
house, surrounded by a garden containing one of the
oldest of Scotch monuments. The church itself was close
to it, in a primitive churchyard without beauty, and then
kept in a careless way. At that time the fine old castle
was not inhabited by Lord Strathmore. The whole estate
was under the management of trustees, of whom my uncle
was one, and so the castle and grounds were open to me
without risk of being considered an intruder. I naturally
busied myself with trying to discover the famous secret
chamber, and the awful mystery connected with it. I
drew my own conclusions, which were probably as
erroneous as those which have been made by others in
regard to this mystery. Although my uncle had the same
name as the Earls of Strathmore, he belonged to the Glen
Ogle Lyons, a collateral branch of the family. At that time
the two branches had become close in the line of descent,
though now they are again widely divergent.
The park round Glamis Castle is extensive, and has a
Small stream running through woods. A deep pool, in a
sequestered spot, was my favourite haunt, at which I spent
many hours of meditation, for I had no playfellows at the
old manse. I believe that this lonely pool, surrounded by
trees, taught me to feel that happiness depends upon one-
self as much as upon one's surroundings. The family of
my uncle consisted of his wife and two daughters. The
old minister himself was simple and worthy. Daily I
would drive out with the grey-haired old man, in a gig
drawn by a horse which could not go beyond five miles an
hour, but was believed by the owner to be one of the best
and fastest horses in the kingdom. The good old man
went at the same relative pace in his parochial duties.
The minister's wife, my dear old aunt, lavished upon me
the love of a mother to a child. Two charming young
32 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
ladies, my cousins, made my stay at the manse as agree-
able as possible, and I returned with gladness at each vaca-
tion. They are all dead long since, but my memories of
their love and kindness live fresh within me.
For nearly sixty years I never saw Glamis again. Last
year (1885) we were staying in its neighbourhood at
Kinnordy with Mr and Mrs Lyell.] My wife and I
desired to see Glamis, and Lady Strathmore asked us
to visit the scenes of my boyhood. It was all wonder-
fully changed and beautified, but it was the old Glamis
still. We went to the top of the castle, and I explained
to my wife all the points of interest connected with
my life as a boy at this place. Lady Strathmore was
full of sympathy with my memories, and insisted on
being my guide to see the manse, which I found very
little changed, my reflecting haunt by the old pool, and
the other objects which I remembered so well. She
even showed me a secret chamber, though not the Secret
chamber which has defied so many keen inquirers. It
was delightful to me to see the castle again inhabited by
an Earl of Strathmore, who has restored it so as to make
it worthy of its great history. In the old hall of the castle
we witnessed an operetta written by a son, and acted by
the sons and daughters, of our hosts, and most admirably
it was performed.
At fourteen years of age I was enrolled as a “Bejant,”
or first year's student in the University, and had to pay
my tax of several pounds of raisins to a senior boy in
recognition of my inferiority. My three professors were
Professor Gillespie for Latin, Professor Alexander for
Greek, and Professor Duncan for mathematics. All were
excellent teachers and did their best for me, but I was
miserably prepared for a university course. Of Greek I
Scarcely knew the alphabet, though I had acquired it by
myself without a pronunciation of the letters. I remember,
the professor, to test my knowledge of Greek, asked me
before all the class what “basileus” meant, and I answered
that I had not yet reached the verbs. However, I worked
* Now Sir Leonard and Lady Lyell.
EDUCATION. 33
hard, and made as much progress as I could under the
circumstances of absolute ignorance in Greek and mathe-
matics, and very imperfect preliminary education in Latin.
The Professor of Latin encouraged boys, in their long six
months' holidays, to read certain classical authors, and
“profess” them for examination before him. I was so
elated by my progress that in the second year I
“professed” all Horace, and several books of Livy. I
expect my “professions” were as unsubstantial as those
made by most persons of their own attainments, for the
certificate given by the professor stated that I “ had been
diligentin the recess, and had made extensive professions,”
without a word of compliment as to the result. In Greek
my professor thought that I made good progress, but I
never learnt sufficient to make Greek authors a pleasure to
me in their own language. I had not yet found the kind
of knowledge for which I was best suited. Mathematics
pleased me much, and I soon got beyond the slow pace of
my class by private study. Professor Duncan knew his
subject thoroughly, but he had not the faculty of explaining
difficulties, and his class was called “the slough of
despond.” Although I was not entered in the class of
Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, I delighted, when I
could do so with decency, to steal in with the other
students and listen to the lectures. I did fairly well in the
class of logic, but much regret that I did not attend Moral
Philosophy, which was then taught by the great divine,
Dr Chalmers. My elder brother, George, and I were
beginning to find out for ourselves the studies best fitted
for us. We were occupied one afternoon in the kitchen,
when my mother, displeased at our remaining so long with
the servants, came downstairs, and was appeased by the
cook telling her “that Master George was boiling a sparrow
to make a skeleton, and Master Lyon was trying to get
sugar out of beetroot.” George was laying the basis for
becoming, as he did, President of a Medical College, and I,
for my future career as Professor of Chemistry.
Our dear family home was now broken up, as my mother
had to take her daughters to India to rejoin my father.
D
34 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
My brother George went to Edinburgh to enter on the
study of medicine, and I was sent to my Uncle James in
Glasgow to be made a merchant. My uncle had only one
clerk in addition to myself, as his business was in Canada,
and there was little work in the Glasgow office. He
frequently went to Canada, and the office was left in our
charge, with not half an hour's work in the day to perform.
My fellow clerk, Ramsay, was the brother of Sir Andrew
Ramsay, the distinguished geologist. In our abundant
leisure we amused ourselves by inventing instruments by
which we could compete with each other in telling the
true time by the shadows of the lamp-posts in the streets.
This idleness disgusted me with mercantile life, which I
thought was of the same character everywhere. I passed,
however, a happy time with my aunt (whose disfigurement
I have already mentioned) in her villa and surrounding
grounds at Woodside on the Kelvin, then wholly outside
Glasgow. It is now covered with terraces and crescents.
At that time it was quite remote from houses and very
lonely.
I recollect on One occasion that my inventiveness was of
service. My aunt had a beautiful nursemaid. We received
an anonymous letter stating that the maid was really the
wife of a neighbouring collier, and that next night the collier
would attack the house and take her away by force.
My uncle was then in Canada, and I was the only apology
for a man in the house. I took the letter to the police,
who laughed at it as a hoax, and would give no assistance.
From the terror of the maid I felt it was no hoax, and pre-
pared myself for an attack. I dressed up the figure of a
man and put him close to an upper window, with a gun
resting on the shutters opposite, and a candle burning so as
to show him obscurely, yet to the best advantage. At one
the next morning I saw by the moonlight four or five men
crossing the lawn. They came to the door and rang the
bell violently. I opened it “on the chain,” and asked
what they intended to do. The professed husband said he
wanted his wife, and would have her. I acknowledged his
right to his wife if he could establish his claim, but that
EDUCATION. 35
must be done in a court of law, as she denied being
married. I told him that the police knew of this intended
visit, and were probably watching the place, and then said
we had a watchman in the house. They went back,
examined my stuffed figure in the dim light, with his gun
ready for action, and disappeared as quickly as they came.
I had won a bloodless victory ! -
On my uncle's return he was much pleased with my
defence of his mansion, and agreed that my terms of
engagement as a clerk should be cancelled, and that I
should enter upon a course of study for medicine. I went
to board at the house of Mrs Ramsay, a widow, the
mother of my fellow clerk. She received about half a
dozen students as boarders, and was an admirable woman
in every respect. Her husband had been a chemical
manufacturer, and I believe was the first person to
manufacture bichromate of potash; but his commercial
success was not equal to his scientific aptitude. The
inheritance of the latter passed to his children and grand-
children, one of whom is professor of chemistry in
University College. His son, Andrew Ramsay, was one
of the greatest friends of my youth, and ultimately
became Sir Andrew Ramsay, the head of the Geological
Survey. No one could have had a better friend, and we
used to spend our vacation in the island of Arran, which is
admirably fitted for geological study.
In one of my annual trips to Arran, in 1836, I carried
with me the first prize of the chemistry class. The book
was a handsomely bound copy of Lyell’s “Geology,’ which
I read on my way down the Clyde. A charming lady sat
next me in the steamer. We entered into conversation,
and she asked me the name of the book which interested
me so much. I explained to her that Lyell, the author of
the book, had established geology on a new basis, for he
ascribed to natural and continuous causes the formation of
rocks, which formerly were supposed to be produced by
cataclysms and special deluges. The lady seemed to be
amused, and said that she was glad Lyell had such an
enthusiastic admirer, because she was his wife, and that
36 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
gentleman on the other side of the boat was Lyell himself.
My hero-worship had its reward, for she beckoned to the
great geologist and introduced me to him. When we
remained at Arran, Lyell used to go into the interior ;
while I, knowing more about conchology than geology,
assisted Mrs Lyell in getting shells on the seashore. This
was the basis of a friendship which lasted till the death of
Sir Charles and Lady Lyell. Last year (1885) I asked
the sisters of the latter to look at their correspondence for
1836, and they found a letter from Lady Lyell telling
them that she had the good fortune to sit next an
enthusiastic Glasgow student in the steamboat, who
pointed out to her various objects of interest.
I return from my digression to the beginning of my
medical studies in 1835. As chemistry was my favourite
study, I determined to enter the Andersonian College
rather than the Glasgow University. It is true that the
Professor of Chemistry at the latter was the famous Dr
Thomson, whose ‘System of Chemistry’ was long the text-
book of the science. The Andersonian College had a
younger man, Professor Graham, one of the most original
investigators of his time. His researches on “Water of
Crystallisation, the diffusion of gases, and the ‘Modifica-
tions of Phosphoric Acid, were deemed to be classical
examples of investigation. Accordingly, I enrolled myself
as a student at his lectures and in his laboratory.
There were two other youths there at that time, whose
friendship I then made, and retained till their death. One
afterwards was widely known as Livingstone, the great
African traveller. Livingstone was five or six years older
than myself. He was then too poor to attend the
laboratory as a regular student, but he did enter Graham's
class of lectures, and also that of Dr Buchanan, another
medical professor. At both these classes I naturally
cultivated the friendship of this earnest student. In after
years, when the name of Livingstone became a household
word, it never occurred to me that he might be the shy
lad whom I knew in 1836. When the well-known
traveller, with the gold band round his hat, visited me in
EDUCATION. - 37
1857, it seemed natural that he should do so, because he
had occasionally written me letters on subjects of Scientific
interest during his absence; but he had now to explain
that he was identical with my fellow-student in Glasgow.
After that we saw a good deal of each other, and it was
easy to see in the man the natural development of the
simple, earnest, and energetic youth of early years.
When his wife returned to Scotland, early in 1859, she
came direct, and without notice, to my house in Edin-
burgh. There happened to be a large dinner party when
Mrs Livingstone, whom I had never seen, was ushered
into the dining-room in, naturally, a travel-stained dress.
The announcement of her name assured her the warmest
reception from everyone. Mrs Livingstone was most
anxious to join her children that night, but did not know
their address, although she thought they lived in One of
the longest streets of the city. I immediately got two or
three porters to divide the street between them, and call
at every house. In time we discovered the address of the
lady to whom the children had come on a visit, and the
anxious mother was able to join them. I am afraid Mrs
Livingstone found the situation more strained than we
did, though it was somewhat difficult to reconcile the
duties to dinner guests with those due to the wife of my
friend. But people who knew the wonderful resources of
Mrs Livingstone, and her admirable character, will not be
surprised that she was the most calm and collected of the
large party among whom she suddenly appeared.
Another fellow-student was James Young, the founder
of the paraffin and paraffin oil industry. Young was a
carpenter by trade, and, like Watt, was employed to repair
some of the instruments in the laboratory, and ultimately
was engaged as an assistant. He was a raw youth when I
first knew him, but he made a large fortune, and was a
most intelligent companion. He always ascribed his success
in the world to a suggestion which I made to him in 1847
that he might manufacture useful oils from a natural spring
of petroleum which was found in one of the coal mines
belonging to my future brother-in-law, James Oakes, of
38 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Riddings in Derbyshire. This oil, when cold, deposited
shining crystals which I recognised to be the paraffin of
Reichenbach. I suggested that it might be made into
candles, and with much difficulty he got enough to make
two candles, which I exhibited in a lecture at the Royal
Institution, placing them lighted on each side of my desk.
Young kept the remains of these original candles as a
memorial of the origin of one of the largest of the chemi-
cal industries of modern times. Young made a large for-
tune by the manufacture of artificial petroleum and its
products. When he died he made me one of the execu-
tors of his extensive estates. The manufacture was new in
the form in which it was introduced, though natural petro-
leum has been used certainly since the time of Cyrus. I
believe that it was known in ancient Biblical history, where
it is described as “the salt of the earth.” When such salt
loses its savour “it is only fit to be trodden under the
foot” of man, because on losing its volatile essence it be-
comes asphalte, which was used for pavements both in
Nineveh and Babylon. Occasionally it is spoken of as
“thick water,” as in the remarkable chapter in Maccabees,
ii. 1, where it is described as being used in burnt offerings:
“And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as
much as to say a cleansing.”
Livingstone, Young, and I were Graham's favourite
pupils. Graham, our teacher, was a profound philosopher
and original discoverer. He was a singularly plain man,
though his expression was full of intelligence. As a pro-
fessor, he was unable to keep discipline among his stu-
dents, and his expository powers were not of a high
order. To earnest students his lectures were full of
matter, but to the ordinary attendants at his class they
were obscure.
After spending two years at several medical classes,
though chiefly with Graham, the latter was called to Uni-
versity College, London. The chief attraction of Glasgow
for me was thus gone, and I went to complete my studies
in the University of Edinburgh. My anatomy and surgery
had been neglected by too exclusive attention to chemistry.
EDUCATION. 39
I at once made friends with students, my seniors in study,
who adopted me into their set on account of my scientific
tastes. Among these were two who honoured me by their
friendship till their death. The first was the great anatomist
Goodsir, afterwards Professor of Anatomy in the University.
He was a perfect type of a student and an ardent lover of
Science. The second was a man who exercised extreme
powers of fascination over everyone with whom he came
in contact, Edward Forbes, afterwards the Professor of
Natural History in Edinburgh. He lived in lodgings at the
top of a house, and the sloping roof was covered with
molluscs and star-fish drying in the sun. Many happy
hours were spent with him in watching his labours.
Forbes was an artist, a poet, and a philosopher. He was
a tall man with a bright, intelligent face, and was a leader
among the students both in work and fun. He founded
an order of brotherhood, to which access was difficult. It
had a badge of red silk ribbon with three letters worked
into it—“M. E. O.”—the initials of the Greek words
signifying Learning, Love, and Wine. I am afraid the
latter was represented in our gatherings by whisky toddy,
in which however we never exceeded. George Wilson,
the author of the charming book, ‘The Five Gateways of
Knowledge,’ was one of our brotherhood, and in many
respects was as charming and lovable as Forbes. I fear
that I am now the only surviving brother of this order,
which was the legitimate parent of the famous dining-club
called “The Red Lions,” which still holds high festival at
the meetings of the British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science. While Forbes lived, he and I were con-
stant members of this club. No one was allowed to cheer
at its meetings, for lions could only roar and wag their
tails in approval. Forbes could not sing, but he chanted
in a droll way his original songs. He generally had a new
one for each meeting. In 1845 I was sent over to Ireland
as a Commissioner to ascertain the extent of the famine
produced by the potato disease, and Forbes gave at one
of the dinners a poetical version of my report which
concluded thus:— - -
4O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
“We state these, My Lords, as our opinions,
'Tis bad for the British Dominions ;
As for the Solanum tuberosum,
It is a horrible thing for him as grows ‘em.”
With such companions, to whom I should add Page, a
well-known geological author, my studies in medicine were
very pleasant. We formed a special scientific society of
our own and produced original papers, a few of which
have since been published.
Among the professors at the University I became ac-
quainted with two, Sir Robert Christison and Professor
Syme, who remained my life-long friends. Unhappily,
however, my medical studies had to be abandoned, be-
cause the atmosphere both of the dissecting rooms and the
hospital produced on me a violent eczema, which was
uncontrollable, and much to my grief my medical advisers
ordered me to discontinue the study of medicine. Stranded
in my profession, my father advised me to look, like the
rest of my relatives, to India for a career, and this advice
was backed by my physician. who thought that a long Sea
voyage might alter my constitution. Accordingly, in the
autumn of 1837 I embarked in a sailing ship for Calcutta
by the old route of the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage
was pleasant, for at that time numerous young ladies went
out to India to look for a career also. The captain of Our
ship was not only an irascible but a naturally cruel man.
The crew consisted of Lascars, and once or twice a week
he had these miserable wretches tied up and severely
flogged. We remained for a fortnight at the Cape of Good
Hope and I took the opportunity of studying the geology
of the Table Mountain, of which I had already had full
descriptions. My sobriquet on board the ship was always
“the philosopher,” and residents at Cape Town interested
in Science made my acquaintance, so, without a single
introduction, I was invited out almost every night. I have
never been at the Cape since then, but have always felt a
warm interest in its welfare. By the time we reached
Calcutta my collection of Sea-birds, including an albatross,
was inconveniently large. I had taken lessons in prepar-
EDUCATION. 4 I
ing skins and mounting them before leaving England. Our
ship was occasionally overrun by centipedes and Scorpions,
especially after the anchor chains had been drawn up from
below. On one occasion the surgeon came into my cabin
in great agony. One of the creatures had been his bed-
fellow. As the wound was in his back he could not treat
it, so I became surgeon and freely lanced the wound, apply-
ingra water bandage. In about two hours complete relief
was obtained. One morning, as I was putting on my shirt,
I noticed a scorpion of respectable size inside the sleeve.
I shook it into a bottle of alcohol and preserved it for
many years afterwards.
On reaching Calcutta! I found that my father had
arranged that I should follow a mercantile career in the
house of Cantor, Low and Co., with an understanding that
I should become a partner in due time. I lived with Mr
Low on the opposite side of the Hooghly, rowing over
every day to my palanquin which waited at the landing.
Though I was treated with the utmost kindness by both
partners of the firm, my duties were inexpressibly irksome
to me. As junior clerk it was my duty to waste hours
at the Custom House waiting for my turn to clear the
imported goods. Whenever I had leisure I used to go to
the College to see the Professor of Chemistry, Sir W.
O'Shaughnessy. I gradually made the acquaintance of all
the scientific men in Calcutta. McClellan, author of the
“Geology of Kamaon,' Prinsep, Wallich and others, were
considerate to the youth whose scientific longings were
greater than his mercantile aspirations. Without my
knowledge several of them wrote to my father advising
him to send me back to Europe to finish my chemical
studies, and pledging themselves that I should find a good
career in England, while my prospects as a merchant were
not great. I do not know whether the position of the
firm, in which I was ultimately to become a partner, was
known to them, but it is fortunate that I left it, for in a 2.
year or two afterwards it failed. My father was in the
* This was in the year 1837, when Lyon Playfair was in his nineteenth
year.
42 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Upper Provinces, which at that time could only be reached
by dak, i.e., by palanquin carried by bearers, and as the
visit to my parents would have occupied some months, my
father wrote, telling me of this correspondence, and urged
me to go back to London in order to join my old teacher,
Graham, who was then Professor at University College.
I was too glad to do so, though sorry to leave India
without seeing my parents, who had always been so kind
to me, and one of whom I only knew by correspondence.
I need say nothing of the voyage back except that we
touched at St. Helena, where the volcanic rocks interested
me greatly, in addition to the associations connected
with the life and death of Napoleon in that lonely island.
During the voyage we signalled a ship which told us
of the coronation of the Queen (1838).
Graham was delighted to receive his former pupil in his
laboratory. He appointed me private assistant in his
researches and declined to treat me as a pupil. James
Young was still his lecture assistant, and the students were
as badly kept in order as those in Glasgow. I never
understood this want of discipline, for Graham's lectures
were admirable, and his lecture experiments exceedingly
well prepared and performed. I attended Professor
Sharpey's lectures on Physiology and Dr Pereira's on
Materia Medica, as I still hoped that I might take my
medical degree.
Next year, 1839, Graham strongly advised me to go to
Giessen, in Germany, to study under the great chemist
Liebig, the founder of organic chemistry, and one of the
most acute and remarkable philosophers of the age. On
presenting myself to Liebig I was much struck by his
handsome appearance and classically cut face. I men-
tioned my name, and told him that I was a pupil of
Graham's, and he laughingly said, “You might have added
that you are the discoverer of iodo-sulphuric acid,” which
I had recently described in short papers. Finding that I
was not a mere tyro in chemistry he welcomed me
warmly, and at once asked me to help him in some re-
searches upon the fatty bodies. Before, however, I
EDUCATION. 43
entered on this inquiry, he pitted me against one of his
most careful assistants to make an organic analysis of an . . . ."
unknown substance. Our two analyses came out identical
to the first decimal place, and I became a favourite pupil.
At that time Liebig had the best laboratory in Europe,
and among the pupils were Ettling, Will, Warrentrapp,
Knapp, Kopp and others, all of whom rose to profes-
Sorial rank, and some to great distinction as discoverers.
We were almost all engaged in the repetition and exten-
Sion of Chevreul's discoveries on fatty bodies, a masterly
research for the time at which it was made. I was fortu-
nate in finding a new fatty acid in the butter of nutmeg,
which I called “Myristic Acid,” and a new crystalline
substance in cloves, “Caryophylline.” Liebig at this time
was writing his great book on agricultural chemistry, and
he invited me to translate it into English from the manu-
Script. I arranged with English publishers to do this for a
hundred pounds, the first money which I had yet earned.
My knowledge of German was not good, but I had a
motive to work hard, and my translation progressed.as fast
as the manuscript. It was thought desirable that Liebig's
agricultural views should be announced in a general way
at the meeting of the British Association in Glasgow.
Liebig was unable to go, and persuaded me to be his repre-
sentative. Several of the young chemists, among whom
were Ettling, Will and Warrentrapp, joined in the trip.
When we reached Glasgow I found that I had been
appointed Secretary to the Chemical Section. At this
meeting I made friends with several men who afterwards
exercised a considerable influence upon my life. One
of these was Dr Buckland, the great geologist, and the
other, Sir Henry de la Beche, the head of the Geological
Survey.
My student days were soon to be over, so I returned to
Giessen and took a degree as “Doctor of Philosophy.”
The visit to Glasgow had made me known to various
chemical manufacturers, and in the spring of the following
year (1841) I received an offer from Mr Thomson, of
Clitheroe, to become chemical manager of his large print
44 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
works. His letter was peculiar, and made the condition
that I should meet him at Spring Gardens, in London, that
day week at twelve o'clock. Those were coaching days,
and I went down the Rhine, when the ice was breaking up
and the villages were flooded. In one of these I passed
the greatest part of the night in a boat, helping the
villagers to get out of their houses, and placing them on a
neighbouring hill. However, I got to London in time, and
reached Spring Gardens at a quarter to twelve on the day
appointed; walking up and down the street till two
minutes to the hour, I presented myself in the room just as
the Horse Guards clock struck twelve. Mr Thomson, a
gentlemanly-looking old man, sat with a watch in his hand.
He said, “You are very punctual,” and explained the
nature of the work. He then stated that his intention had
been to offer me £300 a year, rising to £400, but On
account of my punctuality on the day and hour named, he
would make his offer £400, rising to £600. This was an
excellent reward for punctuality, so I accepted the terms
offered, and my student days were at an end. It appears
that my employer had consulted both Graham and Liebig
as to how he should obtain a trained chemist, and both
had recommended me.
On returning to Giessen to wind up affairs I determined
to visit Berlin before going back to England. At that time,
being only twenty-two years of age, I could Scarcely
expect to have the advantage of knowing the distinguished
philosophers who then made the University of Berlin SO
celebrated. On arriving in Berlin, to my surprise, the
professors received me as a colleague, not as a student.
The results of some of my investigations made at Liebig's
laboratory seemed to be well known in Berlin. Heinrich
Roze, the great analyst, Mitscherlich, the discoverer of
isomerism, Magnus, the eminent physicist, Dove, the
meteorologist, Schonheim, the author of the great work on
technical chemistry, Rammelsberg the mineralogist, all
vied with each other to make my stay in Berlin agreeable.
Heinrich Roze was especially hospitable, and kindly asked
many of his colleagues to meet me at dinner and supper.
EDUCATION. 45
He was a man of sunny temperament, and had a happy
home. My English notions were a little disturbed at
finding that he had married his deceased wife's sister, but
the happiness of his home made me a convert on this
contested question, not even now settled in England.
Dove, whose labours in meteorology had been so great,
reminded me of my friend Edward Forbes, on account of
his fun and jollity. He gave a supper in a restaurant one
evening, and this was more like a “Red Lion dinner”
at the British Association than any other festivity.
Original Songs and grotesque speeches kept us up to a late
hour. I made a speech in German which was well
received, and I fancy was appreciated more from its zeal
than for its philological accuracy. Mitscherlich was too
dignified to join in such entertainments, but he had a
formal evening reception at which I met all the leading
men in Berlin. The hospitality which I then received
in Berlin I have tried to repay with interest to young
foreigners in this country. -
By far the most important event of Playfair's life up to
this moment had been his introduction to Professor Liebig.
This was indeed the turning-point in his life, for it brought
him, whilst still a youth, into contact with the first chemist
of his day, and gave him a position in the scientific world
which his own work and abilities, great though both were,
could not have secured for him so quickly or so easily. It
was his old friend and teacher, Professor Graham, who
gave Playfair an introduction to Liebig.
- 9, TorriNGTON SQUARE, LONDON,
Professor Graham to Playfair. September 30th, 1839.
MY DEAR SIR,--I lose no time in forwarding the note
to Liebig which you desire, and congratulating you upon
the agreeable prospect which you have before you. The
Professor, I have no doubt, will be most happy to receive
you. At present I shall take advantage of your kind offer
46 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
to do me service in Germany only so far as to trouble you
with a copy of the part of my book just published for
Liebig, which, with copies for yourself and Richardson,
shall be forwarded to Baillières’ agents in Newcastle. You
will find that I have made room for a short notice of your
discoveries.
Most faithfully yours,
THOMAS GRAHAM.
Playfair has told us how cordially he was received by
Liebig, and how the great man was able to pay him a
pretty little compliment upon his early discoveries. He
has not, however, said anything of the warm friendship
which sprang up between them. It was this friendship
which led Liebig to entrust the young Scotch chemist with
the important duty of translating his great book into
English. One or two of Liebig's letters will, however,
suffice to show the terms on which the two stood.
(Translation.)
Professor Liebig to Playfair. GIESSEN, August 14th, 1841.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Forgive my having so long
delayed answering your kind letter. I have been ill for a
fortnight, and am still suffering, though better, but can
get through very little work, owing to constant visitors.
In the first place, my dear friend, let me express my
sincere delight at the fine and pleasant post which you are
taking up at Primrose—one which suits alike your talents
and your inclinations. In all that you do, do not forget
Science, and keep fresh and vigorous your taste for mental
work, for unless a man is making progress in that which
gives nourishment and life to industry he is scarcely in a
position to fulfil the demands of his times. You must
never stand still, but go ever forward. You ought to let
no discovery pass unnoticed, but endeavour to turn every
one to account. After satisfying the claims which Mr
EDUCATION. - 47
Thomson makes on your attainments for his business, you
ought not to trade on your experience and your chemical
knowledge, but to give advice and help where they can be
useful, without caring about receiving any reward. All
this will bear rich fruit in the future. Never neglect to
make some research every year. You will have sufficient
time for this, and it will raise you higher in the eyes of
sensible men, and be more really beneficial to your inter-
ests than if you tried to make money. Be true to yourself
and true to science—this is all that I wish to ask of you.
As regards our book, we will give something on the
nature of the soil, not in the book itself, but as an
appendix. This will come best at the end of the book.
You know I did not wish to write an “Agricultural
Chemistry,' but a ‘Chemistry of Agriculture.' I must
avoid anything bearing on practical agriculture. All that
we can say of the constitution of the soil, all that analysis
can teach us on the subject, does not enable us to make a
bad soil into a good one. With all our nostrums, we
cannot alter the nature of the soil, except at immense
cost. We must be content if we restore to the soil that
which we take from it, and the latter we can ascertain
precisely through our knowledge of the constituents of the
débris of the plants we grow upon it. This is the task of
the agriculturist. In consequence of my observations on
the amount of calcium and soda which should be
contained in all soils in which cereals thrive, Kuhlmann, in
Lille, has made the remarkable discovery that all
secondary chalk formations contain calcium. This dis-
covery has been confirmed by Professor Wöhler for the
chalkstones of Hameln and Göttingen. I will send you a
number of analyses of soils, and list of the plants which
flourish best thereon. -
Professor Adrian tells me that you are engaged to be
married. You must tell me whether this is true, for my
wife and I are deeply interested.
Farewell, my dear friend. Write to me again soon.
Your most affectionate friend,
... • J. V. LIEBIG.
48 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Same to the same. GIESSEN, November 6th, 1841.
MY VALUED FRIEND,--I have received the five last
sheets of our ‘Agricultural Chemistry, and am delighted
to see how cleverly you have adapted your additions to my
modes of description. Accept my sincere thanks for the
care and conscientiousness which you have devoted to the
new edition. The book is rendered thereby much better
and more useful. Your style is excellent, and leaves no-
thing to be desired; all your explanations are clear and
easily understood. In short, I am exceedingly pleased and
satisfied. I have kept the sheets here instead of returning
them, because I had considerable alterations to make ;
when this is necessary you should always wait eight or
nine days (reckoning from the day they are sent off from
London), and then if the proofs have not been returned,
let the printing be continued. . . . You make me
greatly wish to come to England next spring, in order
to help with your experiments. . . .
Accept my best thanks for the gooseberries and for the
excellent Cheshire cheese. English cheese is the only kind
which my weak stomach can digest. No doubt an oppor-
tunity will present itself of sending to Giessen; there is
no hurry. º
Acting on my principle this summer, in the neighbour-
hood of Frankfort, apple trees have been manured with
the residue squeezed out by the cider press, and the results
have been extraordinary. Thus many things may be found
useful which have been regarded as worthless. M.
Dumas has given a lecture in the Sorbonne which is pub-
lished in the ‘Journal des Débats,’ in which he has impu-
dently seized upon my theory of the development of plants,
rotation of crops, manures, etc. What is to be done I
think it is not worth while to trouble about it. The prin-
cipal thing is that the truth should pass into the very
heart's blood of the nations.
My dear Playfair, write again soon. With my love as ever,
Yours,
Kind regards from Dr Will. J. v. LIEBIG.
EDUCATION. 49
Same to the same. GIESSEN, April 22nd, 1842.
My DEAR FRIEND, -Whilst in Darmstadt I received
your kind letter inviting me to attend the meeting of the
British Association in Manchester. Having returned
yesterday from my short journey, I hasten to tell you
how deeply I regret being unable to be present at the
meeting at the time fixed. You know that no professor on
the Continent can undertake so long a journey in June.
I cannot reconcile it to my conscience to desert my pupils
for weeks when they have come to Giessen for the express
purpose of hearing my lectures. Were it not for this
moral impediment it would give me the greatest pleasure
to spend a few weeks with you, and so many good friends.
But what is the idea of holding the meeting in June instead
of in the autumn as usual 2 Do represent to the com-
mittee that by fixing their meeting in the middle of
the Summer all professors and investigators of the Con-
tinent are excluded. It is my opinion that in such
important Scientific meetings the general interest should
be considered before that of the geologists, who, of course,
need good weather for their excursions. But is it intended
to attempt discoveries at the meeting 2 Of course not ;
discoveries are to be communicated and interchanged, and
in Germany we have always found bad, especially rainy,
weather more favourable to our object than fine clear
weather. There is more temptation in fine weather to
wander off in different directions, but bad weather keeps
the party together. This is no joke, dear Playfair, but
the simple truth. I don't mean to say that I wish the
assembled Society bad weather in the autumn for their
own good, I merely mean that such does not injure their
main object. I and several of my friends intend to go to
England if the meeting can be postponed until September
Ist. I should then start from here about August 24th, and
should be able with my English friends to attend the
meeting at Mainz beginning on September 18th. If the
British Association cannot postpone its meeting till Sep-
tember I shall probably come to England after the Mainz
E
50 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
meeting. I am anxious to become acquainted with some
of the agricultural districts.
Graham, Gregory, and all British investigators of natural
history wish for a postponement till autumn. Do speak to
Dr Ransom and Dr Henry, and apply to the Committee.
I much wish that you may be successful.
My ‘Animal Physiology’ is now finished. Gregory will
translate it. I am full of apprehension and anxiety as
regards my conclusions, because they are obvious only to
chemists and not to physiologists. There will doubtless
be endless misunderstandings.
With my most cordial regards,
Yours very sincerely,
DR. J. V. LIEBIG.
Liebig came to England as he promised in the foregoing
letter, and Playfair was able to do something to make his
visit a pleasant one, thus cementing the friendship which
already existed between them.
Same to the same. GIESSEN, October 23rd, 1842.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--The day before yesterday I arrived
safely home after my long journey, feeling better than ever
before. I met my wife and Agnes at Lille in the best of
health. Pelouse came from Paris, and we spent a very
pleasant week. From Lille we returned home vić Brussels,
Liège, Aix and Cologne. I have before me now the
pleasant duty of thanking you, my dear friend, for the
many kindnesses which you have shown me during my
visit ; I can never forget how pleasant and useful that visit
has been. I have made the acquaintance of kind and
excellent men, and collected a rich store of new experiences.
That my journey has been so successful I owe in a great
measure to your friendship. After my return to London I
spoke to Messrs Taylor and Walton about your journey to
Giessen; they are willing to provide the funds for it, so
I am looking forward to the pleasure of seeing you here.
EDUCATION. - 5 I
I shall now begin at once on the preparation of our
‘Agricultural Chemistry,’ and should be very glad to have
a copy of the notes which you—more careful than I—have
collected, if it would not be giving you too much trouble.
I will write again to Mr Pusey, giving him my views on
the condition of agriculture, and the aids to its perfection
which chemistry offers. This I will have printed, and will
send you a copy. I found awaiting me a diploma of
Honorary Membership of the Royal Agricultural Society.
I will send our journal published in Darmstadt to Mr
James Hudson, the Secretary of the Agricultural Society
in London, and shall hope to receive the English journal in
exchange. - -
The Laboratory is very full this winter, in fact it is
overcrowded.
In May, 1893, Playfair delivered the Hoffmann Memorial
Lecture before the Royal College of Chemistry, and in
doing so gave some interesting personal reminiscences with
regard to the great chemists with whom he had been closely
associated in his earlier days. “In the present century,”
he said—
“I have to begin with Dalton, for it was my good fortune to know
him intimately, and I can never forget his venerable figure, supported
on the arm of Dr Joule, coming daily to hear my lectures at Man-
chester on the new organic chemistry which had arisen in then
recent times. Dalton, Davy, Faraday and Graham, indeed, stand
out as shining lights in our century. Davy and Faraday were
brilliant investigators, and both of them had a singular charm and
eloquence as lecturers. To them we owe largely the popularity of
chemistry in this country; but none of these chemists, except
Graham, thought of opening their laboratories for the training of
students in the methods of research. That was reserved to my own
master, the celebrated James Graham. I was a student in his lab-
oratory in Glasgow in 1835 and 1836, and followed him to London as
his private laboratory assistant in University College. At that time
organic chemistry was little known or studied in this country, and
all of us who had means to go abroad used to flock either to the
laboratory of Liebig at Giessen, or to that of Wöhler at Göttingen.
I need not point out that Baron Liebig exerted an enormous in-
fluence on the progress of organic chemistry, both by his own
52 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
discoveries, and by those of his pupils from all countries, who were
t ained to do researches in his celebrated laboratory. In 1840
Liebig published his celebrated work, ‘Chemistry of Agriculture and
Physiology.” It is difficult to-day to realise the effect that work had
in promoting the study of chemistry. It greatly increased the
demand for laboratory teaching, and even the older universities
found it necessary to provide means for laboratory training. Two
years after its publication, in 1842, the illustrious Baron Liebig
made a sort of triumphal tour in this country. He visited the Prime
Minister, Sir Robert Peel, at Drayton Manor, and paid other visits
to the great agriculturists of the day—Lord Spencer, Lord Ducie,
Lord Fitzwilliam, Mr Pusey and many others, as well as to most of
the chief towns. At all places meetings were held, and Liebig, with
his travelling companion, the genial and celebrated geologist, Dr
Buckland, had opportunities of disseminating his views on the im-
portance of chemistry to mankind. The tour was a personally
conducted one, like Cook's tours in the present day. The conductor
and interpreter of the party in fact was a young man called Lyon
Playfair, who took care that the effects of the tour should be felt in
all the chief centres of Great Britain. The immediate effect of
Liebig’s tour was to make chemistry a popular science, and to
induce colleges to open laboratories for teaching it. The School of
Mines was opened in Jermyn Street with, for the time, an excellent
laboratory, which was always filled with students; still its purposes
were chiefly limited to the professional objects of the college.
University College and King's College gave much attention to lab-
oratory teaching. The popular wave of 1842-43 did not soon expend
its force, and in 1845 the Royal College of Chemistry arose.”
CHAPTER IV.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—III. MY LIFE IN
LAN CASHIRE,
f
I841 to 1844.
Settled at Clitheroe: Parleying with Labour Rioters: A Lesson in
Ventilation: Lecturing at the Manchester Royal Institution: Anecdote
of Dalton : An Offer from Faraday: Sir Robert Peel: An Inquiry
into Charcoal Iron Furnaces: A Mishap to Bunsen : Edwin Chad-
wick and His Argument from Satan : Appointed a Member of the
Royal Commission on the Health of Towns: Researches into Agri-
cultural Chemistry : Earl Spencer (Lord Althorp) : Dean Buckland:
Through England and Scotland: Mr. Crosse and the Wood-louse :
Appointed Chemist to the Geological Survey: An Evening with
Stephenson: Recollections of Joule: Impressions of Manchester :
Dean Buckland and Sir H. de la Beche urge Peel to give Playfair an
Appointment—Peel's Esteem for Playfair—Letters from Liebig.
IN the summer of 1841 I found myself established in
Clitheroe with my future work to learn ; for, though I had
some knowledge of chemistry, I had none in relation to
its applications to calico printing. The works belonging
to Mr Thomson at Primrose, near Clitheroe, were of a
high class. He manufactured for the upper hundreds, and
not for the millions. I soon learned that this was an
error; for, as expensive prints and mousseline de laine
were going out of fashion, so the demand for higher
products was decreasing. Still, the proprietor of the
Primrose Works would not change the character of his
products, which were of the highest excellence. Mr
Thomson was a man of singular talent and cultivation.
Had he gone into Parliament he would have been a
successful and distinguished politician. His house was
54 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
large and luxurious, and his library excellent. His eldest
son had already distinguished himself by excellent
mathematical treatises; but he did not reside at Clitheroe,
and had no connection with the works. None of the
children had the talents of the father. I did not look for
much support from them. Although they were invariably
kind and courteous to me, they saw the mistake of their
father in adhering to a declining trade, and thought the
new chemist would support him in his mistaken views.
There were two daughters in the family, one a confirmed
invalid; the other, who was about ten years older than
myself, was perhaps the most cultured woman whom I
have ever met in my life, and to her artistic tastes and
cultivated intellect I largely owe my wider habits of
reading, which had hitherto been chiefly restricted to
scientific authors. She was an excellent classical scholar,
as well as an accomplished artist. When I joined the
works, Miss Thomson was engaged in translating a rare
Greek work, and illustrating her translation with exquisite
etchings. I never heard of its publication. She after-
wards married Mr Braun, the well-known antiquarian of
Rome, and assisted him in his researches. To me she was
a delightful friend, and made my stay in Clitheroe
instructive as well as agreeable. I was not treated as an
employee, but as a friend of the family, with whom I
dined several times in each week.
I had not been in these works above a year when I saw
that they were doomed, unless Mr Thomson entirely
changed the character of his works, in order to produce for
the million instead of for the few. But he was inexorable.
His products were known all over Europe for their high
excellence, and he could not bear to lower their character
or quality. On all other subjects my employer would
listen to my advice, but he would not permit me to speak
on this subject. There were other print works in the
neighbourhood—the Oakenshaw works, superintended by
Mr Mercer, a man who would have been a Dalton or a
Faraday had he been differently placed. He had been a
handloom weaver, but taught himself chemistry, and
LIFE IN LANCASHIRE. 55
revolutionised the calico printing of his time by his
practical discoveries. Already he was an old man. I
formed with him a warm friendship, and we managed to
meet constantly, either at his own house or at a little
scientific society which we formed for philosophical talk.
An interesting account of Mercer's life, by E. Parnell, was
published by Longman in 1886. Mercer's language was
powerful, though necessarily provincial. I confided to my
friend my fears as to the stability of the Primrose works
on their system of manufacturing for a declining demand,
and he was convinced that the system was all wrong.
In August, 1842, the great labour riots were passing over
Lancashire. Almost every mill had been forcibly closed
by the rioters. The only two which remained open were
those at Primrose and Oakenshaw. The Government
were anxious that they should not succumb to the rioters,
and furnished us with a good supply of muskets for Our
defence. The workmen were drilled, and appeared
willing to resist. We had scouts on horseback over the
country to watch the movements of the rioters. One of
these reported that many thousands were marching upon
Mercer's mill, at Oakenshaw, so I drove over to join my
friend, and had scarcely reached his house when the mob
appeared in irresistible numbers. I offered to parley with
them in the first instance, so as to keep Mercer, as the
employer of labour, in the background. I told the rioters
that though we had shut the gates of the mill, we knew
their force to be irresistible, and were quite sensible that
they could stop the works. Instead of going down in
crowds, and doing much mischief by their large numbers,
they might send a deputation to remove the plugs from
the boilers, and thus secure the stoppage of the works
with the least damage. They had no objection to this
proposal if it did not mean treachery. I offered myself as
a hostage, and walked into their midst, while they sent a
few of their number to secure the stoppage of the works,
and this they did without any permanent damage.
During my detention the leaders explained the nature of
their demands, many of which were reasonable, and were
56 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
afterwards conceded. After receiving a couple of
sovereigns to buy food, the rioters went away cheering
heartily, and telling us they intended to march upon Mr
Thomson's works at Clitheroe; though, instead of this,
they went to Blackburn. At that town the rioters were
met and dispersed by troops. The works at Primrose
were never closed, and thus these famous labour riots
ended.
Finding it hopeless to stay the fall of the Primrose
Calico Printing Works as a commercial concern, I gave
six months' notice of my intended resignation, and I
and my accomplished friends the Thomsons parted with
mutual regret and goodwill. I derived the greatest
advantage from my stay at Clitheroe, for it gave me the
manufacturing experience which has stood me in good
stead all my life. As I had foreseen, the famous Primrose
Works were stopped soon after my departure, and on the
death of Mr Thomson the family dispersed.
During my stay at Clitheroe I gave several scientific
lectures in Manchester, and I was there gratified by an
offer from the “Royal Institution ” of that town to make
me their “Honorary Professor of Chemistry.” In accept-
ing this office I determined to fit up a teaching laboratory
in that town, and the Institution offered me its cellars rent
free for that purpose. They were large and commodious,
but were inefficiently ventilated, as I soon learnt to my
cost. Pupils came to me in numbers greater than could
be accommodated, and I had to secure the services of
assistants, one of whom was Dr Angus Smith, so well
known afterwards for his researches on air and disinfec-
tants. I had one afternoon three or four organic analyses
in operation, the tubes being heated with charcoal. I felt
ill and Out of sorts, and went to my lodging. Soon after-
wards a cab came to take me back to the laboratory. I
found to my dismay two of the pupils lying insensible in
the area outside, and at Once saw they had been poisoned
by the fumes of charcoal, as indeed I also had been.
Recollecting that the guide at the Grotto del Came uses his
dog continuously by dragging the insensible body out of
LIFE IN LANCASHIRE. 57
the cave, which contains carbonic acid in its lower layer,
and immersing it in cold water, I instantly dashed a pail
of water over each of my prostrate pupils, and to my joy
found that they revived. This was a practical lesson in
ventilation which I never forgot. -
My lectures at the Royal Institution were certainly
popular, and attracted crowded audiences. There were
many men of sympathetic tastes then living in Manches-
ter, among whom was the great philosopher Dalton, the
discoverer of the atomic theory. Dalton was a frequent
visitor to my lectures. He was then an old and venerable
man, with grey hair and a face much resembling that of
Newton. He knew that he was thought to be like New-
ton, and was proud of the resemblance. He had his Bos-
well in a gentleman called Peter Clare, a Quaker, as Dalton
also was. Clare always gave his arm to the old philo-
sopher, either when he came to my lectures or attended
the meetings of the Literary and Philosophical Society.
Dalton's mind was then on the wane, and his biographer,
Dr Henry, thinks that an incident which I am about
to relate could not have happened when he was in full
mental strength. The old and venerable philosopher sent
for me one day to go to his house, and told me that he was
anxious to present me with a copy of all his works, if I
would give him a copy of mine. I told him that I would
value, as above all price, a presentation copy of his works,
but that mine were few and not worth having as an exchange.
However, he insisted that I should put an appraisement
on what I had to give, and hand over the difference in
money, which I think amounted to a little over twenty
shillings. I gladly paid this amount, and now possess the
works of the greatest of English chemists, with a record
in each volume that they had been presented to me as his
friend. I thought at the time that this was an example
of his simplicity as a Quaker, but I am now inclined to
agree with Dr Henry that it was an eccentricity of his
failing health. For soon after this we had our annual
meeting of the Philosophical Society to elect our President,
who of course was always Dr Dalton. On previous occa-
58 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
sions the ballot had invariably one vote against him, and
it was well known that this dissentient vote was that of
the philosopher himself, who used to vote that his friend
Peter Clare should be President. At the last annual
meeting before his death, the dissentient vote was as usual
found in the urn, but, to our amazement, we found that
Dr Dalton had voted for the doorkeeper | When Dalton
died, on the 27th July, 1844, Manchester gave him the
honours of a king. His body lay in state, and his funeral
was like that of a monarch.
It is well known that Dalton was colour-blind, and he
was the first person to investigate this defect of vision.
He always ascribed it to a peculiarity of structure
in the retina. When he died his medical man, Mr
Ransome, took out one of his eyes and brought it to
my laboratory. I took two powders, chrome green and
Scarlet potassic bichromate, as being the colours which he
could not distinguish, but we saw them of the natural
colours when Dalton's eye intervened. Ransome, who
was a most accomplished physician and a great friend of
Dalton, assured me that the philosopher, when alive,
would have approved of this experiment being made at
his death. .
In 1842 Faraday was in the zenith of his glory as a
discoverer. I do not think at this time I had ever
seen this illustrious philosopher. I was therefore much
gratified at receiving from him a letter, which, as it proved
the turning-point of my life, I here insert.
Roy AL INSTITUTION.
Michael Faraday to Playfair. October Ioth, 1842.
MY DEAR SIR,-Will you allow me to hope I shall not
give you offence if I ask whether the following offer would
be worth your consideration — the Professorship of
Chemistry in the University of King's College, at Toronto,
in Upper Canada? The remuneration would be about £450
per annum, with a house and garden and the usual college
advantages. The Professor would be on the Council of
the University, of which the Bishop is President. He
LIFE IN LANCASHIRE. 59
must reside at Toronto. There would be a sum of money
allowed by the Council for laboratory outfit, etc. Now I
am called upon to advise in the matter, and if you are
inclined to consider the offer seriously, and are able to go
out, I would put you in communication at once with His
Excellency the Governor. If not, have the goodness to
drop me a line here. Graham mentioned your name to me;
and believe that in writing to you, though the offer may
be unworthy your attention, still I meant, as far as I am
empowered to make it, to testify my respect for you and
your attainments.
Ever dear Sir,
- - Very faithfully yours,
Dr Playfair. - M. FARADAY.
The offer was very tempting, as I was a professor in
Manchester without a salary and had considerable difficulty
to make both ends meet. I therefore went up to London,
saw Faraday, and intimated my intention to accept the
proposal. On describing my appointment to my various
scientific friends in London I found that, instead of con-
gratulating me, they censured me for want of faith in an
English career. A few days after, to my great surprise, I
received an invitation from the great Sir Robert Peel, then
Prime Minister, to visit him at Drayton Manor. As I had
not then the honour of his acquaintance, I was inclined to
believe that some one was playing a practical joke upon
my vanity. The letter had undoubtedly the post office
stamp of “Tamworth,” and the seal was that of Sir Robert
Peel. So I took the letter for identification to Dr Buckland,
and found not only that it was genuine but that he also
was invited for the same date. Why the great statesman
should care to see a young man like myself was to me an
insoluble mystery, but I accepted the invitation with much
pleasure.
At Drayton Manor I found Lord Lincoln (afterwards
the Duke of Newcastle), Dr Buckland, Smith of Deanston,
then the great authority on deep drainage for farms, Mr
Pusey, the editor of the “Agricultural Societies Journal,' and
6O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
several other people. On the 18th October, the day pre-
ceding my departure, Sir Robert Peel asked me whether I
felt surprise at his invitation to Drayton Manor. I assured
him that my surprise was only equalled by my gratifica-
tion. He then stated that he wished to know me person-
ally because several men of science had written to him
expressing their regret that I had accepted a colonial
professorship, and he coincided with them in this regret
now that he knew me. I bowed to the great Prime
Minister and thanked him for taking an interest in my
personal affairs. I was at once censured by being informed
that it was his interest in public affairs, and not in my
personal affairs, which moved him to take action. This
was puzzling, and I waited for the development of the
interview. Sir Robert Peel then suggested that when a
Prime Minister and other powerful friends desired me to
remain in this country, I might have confidence in my
future career in England, and might resign the colonial
professorship. He then tendered me a memorandum to
the effect that if I would abandon the idea of going to the
colonies he would make it his duty to obtain for me
employment if any vacancy occurred which he might
think suitable to my abilities. At the same time he said
that this was the first time in his long career that he had
ever made an implied promise of this kind. I expressed
my deep sense of the honour which he conferred by his
good opinion, but I positively declined to accept the
memorandum, because his personal appreciation of my
capacity to be useful in this country was all that I could
desire. This refusal gratified the Prime Minister. He
said he would not destroy the memorandum but would
give it to Dr Buckland to keep, as I declined to receive it.
After Buckland's death his son, Frank Buckland, searched
for this memorandum and gave it to me, with various
letters relating to it.
Sir Robert Peel never forgot me after this visit, and I
may say with pride that he continued to treat me as a
friend, notwithstanding the disparity of our ages. The
impression which he made upon me is very different from
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. . . 6I
that which is generally entertained of the great Prime
Minister. Usually, he is represented as stately, reserved
and unbending. I always found him dignified, frank,
courteous, and full of kindness. It is true that even in his
own house he was the statesman, absorbed in his work
during the hours which he devoted to it. But when these
were over he was the most genial of hosts and the most
delightful of companions. His fund of anecdote was
inexhaustible, and his retentive memory brought it to bear
in all conversations. After my first visit I often went to
Drayton Manor, and not infrequently visited at Whitehall
Place. In the last years of his life he encouraged my
visits to him there, and told me never to accept an intima-
tion at the door of “not at home” without sending up my
card. I had been with him nearly an hour on that fatal
morning, the 29th June, 1850, when he was thrown from
his horse. -
It is needless to say that after the conversation which I
have recounted as to the Toronto chair, I withdrew my
acceptance and resumed my duties in Manchester. The
British Association had voted a grant of money to inquire
into the chemical operation of blast furnaces for the
manufacture of iron. Professor Bunsen, of Heidelberg,
had already made an important research into charcoal iron
furnaces, but as it was obvious that coal and coke furnaces,
both in hot and cold blasts, would give different results, an
exhaustive inquiry in England became necessary. The
British Association therefore invited Professor Bunsen to
undertake such an inquiry in this country in conjunction
with me. After corresponding with various iron manufac-
turers I found that Mr Oakes, of Riddings, near Alfreton, in
Derbyshire, was the person most likely to give us ample
facilities for the research. Bunsen at that time was well
known as a chemist, and now is the most distinguished
chemist in Germany. His researches along with Kerchoff
established spectrum-analysis, and his modes of gas-
analysis have been universally adopted. He came on a
visit to me in Manchester in 1844, and we arranged the
* Professor Bunsen died August, 1899.
62 MRMOIRs OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
method of investigation, and made the necessary pre-
liminary preparations. We went by coach to a small
town called Ripley to spend the night before arriving at
Riddings. The coach carried away our two hats, which
we never saw again. Next morning we went to various
shops in Ripley to obtain new hats, but we were told that
we had not got “Ripley heads,” and certainly we found
none large enough ; but we ultimately got disgraceful-
looking wide-awakes, which made us, with our two German
blouses, look like tramps rather than professors. How-
ever, we were cordially received and entertained at
Riddings House, the seat of Mr Oakes. It was to be a
familiar place to me for the rest of my life, because two
years later I married the youngest daughter of our host.
The investigation which we had undertaken was
peculiarly difficult. The iron furnaces were about fifty feet
deep, and from the top there belched a huge flame which
lit up the sky at night. Our object was to ascertain what
changes took place in the fuel, limestone and iron ore, at
every foot, from the top where they were introduced until
they reached the hearth where molten iron and slag ran
out when the furnace was tapped. We erected a support
at the top for malleable iron pipes which were to sink
into the furnace with the materials. These pipes being
connected, I had their length marked every foot with
white paint, so that it was apparent from what part of the
furnace the gases were streaming. These gases were
collected in glass collecting tubes, which were hermetically
sealed by a lamp and duly labelled. This did very well,
and answered our expectations, until the iron pipes
descended to the hottest part of the furnace, where the
air enters by the blast, and there they melted and we had
new devices to make. Mr Oakes, the proprietor, was not
to be defeated, and by separate gangs of men and great
labour, he tapped the sides of the furnace so as to let us
draw off the gases by the insertion of lateral tubes. Bunsen
was engaged below and I was occupied above passing the
gases through water to collect any soluble products, when
I was alarmed by being told that my friend had become
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 63
suddenly ill. I ran down and saw white fumes coming out
of a lateral tube, and Bunsen apparently recovering from a
fainting condition. I applied my nose to the orifice, and
smelt the vapours of cyanide of potassium, which gave an
entirely new light to the processes of the furnace, because
this poisonous substance is an excellent reducer of metals.
The results of this investigation were important, and have
since led to the introduction of great improvements into
the staple industry of this country, although probably the
suggestors of them have long been forgotten by the iron
trade. The report of the research published in the annual
volume of the British Association for 1845 may still be
consulted with advantage. It established the startling fact
that in iron furnaces worked with coal 81% per cent. of the
valuable fuel escaped from the mouth of the furnace and
was wasted. In this particular furnace fourteen tons of coals
were daily used, and of these eleven and a quarter tons
escaped in the form of gases still capable of being used as
excellent fuel. We described how this might be led away
and utilised for the various purposes of the works. In
about six years after the date of our report, this economy
began to be practised in various works, and is now all but
universal. - - -
We also showed that as all the upper part of the furnace
was “a region of distillation and not of combustion,” a
valuable amount of ammonia might be collected from the
gases by condensing it with acids. No less than two cwt.
of sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) could be obtained
daily from a furnace of this kind. It has taken forty years
for the iron manufacturers to carry out this recommenda-
tion, but they are now doing it. .
To scientific men, as well as to iron smelters, the most
interesting part of the inquiry was the anatomy of the
furnace. By the simple expedients adopted it was shown
to be possible to dissect a fiery furnace so as to show the
operations in progress at its various parts with the same
accuracy as if it had been a small object on the table of a
laboratory.
In 1843 I received a letter from Sir Robert Peel stating
64 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
that a Royal Commission was about to be issued to inquire
into the state of large towns and populous districts, and
offering me a seat upon it. The president was to be the
Duke of Buccleuch, and among its members he mentioned
Lord Lincoln (afterwards Duke of Newcastle), Sir H. de
la Beche, Prof. Richard Owen, Stephenson, the engineer,
Cubitt, the well-known builder, and Smith of Deanston.
I accepted the nomination, which was at the time criticised
on account of my youth; but it was soon justified in the
eyes of the public, as I took the most active part in the
inquiry. As, to this day, the reports of that Commission
are consulted as the chief authority on questions of sanitary
legislation, it may be useful to explain why it was formed.
A veteran Sanitary reformer, Edwin Chadwick, had issued,
in his capacity as Secretary of the Poor Law Commission,
a remarkable report on ‘The Sanitary Condition of the
People.' Chadwick's revelations were so startling that a
Royal Commission to ascertain their truth was deemed to
be necessary. It was not thought expedient that Chadwick
should be a member of the Commission, which was to
inquire into his statements, but he was present at our
meetings and gave us the benefit of his experience.
Chadwick was a remarkable man, and is the father
of modern Sanitary reform. He had the faculty of
seizing upon an abuse with the tenacity of a bull-
dog, and never let it go till the abuse was worried to
death. But this self-absorption in a subject carried him
into extremes, and he failed to see both sides of a
question. Thus, seeing the evils which had arisen in local
Self-government, he could not recognise its benefits, and
magnified the power and capabilities of centralised govern-
ment. I recollect, on one occasion, trying to argue with
him as to the need of throwing greater responsibilities on
localities, and lessening the functions of central government
So as to make them supervisory rather than administrative.
My arguments were met with this stern rejoinder—“Sir,
the Devil was expelled from heaven because he objected to
centralisation, and all those who object to centralisation
oppose it on devilish grounds !” Edwin Chadwick and I,
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 65
however, became firm friends, and I gladly recognise him
as the great sanitary reformer of the age. He afterwards
became the active administrator of the Board of Health,
which did excellent work, though it ultimately perished
because it could not adapt itself to local organisation.
Edwin Chadwick, Rowland Hill of the penny postage,
John Stuart Mill, Dr Neil Arnott, and a few other congenial
Spirits, of whom I was one, formed a small society called
“Friends in Council,” who dined at each other's houses to
discuss questions of political economy during the progress
of this Royal Commission.
To return, however, to the Royal Commission. I asked
for and obtained the large towns in Lancashire as the field
for my work, both because they were the most densely
populated, and as I could best work the inquiry with my
chemical duties in Manchester. I secured the aid of Dr
Angus Smith as an assistant commissioner, and a very able
One he proved to be.
My Report on the state of large towns in Lancashire is
a proof how earnestly I entered into the inquiry. The
effects of bad sewerage, defective or intermittent instead of
constant water supply, overcrowded tenements, bad con-
struction of streets, and the abuse of opiates among the
working-classes, were traced to their sources. In 1844
the sanitary condition of the kingdom was deplorable.
Lancashire, which was allotted to me, as a Royal
Commissioner, was especially bad. One-tenth of the
population of Manchester and one-seventh of that of
Liverpool lived in cellars. In the streets occupied by
the working-classes two rows of houses were often built
back to back, so that there could be no efficient ventilation;
the Supply of conveniences was altogether insufficient, and
their condition and drainage were shocking. The water
supply of all the towns was on the intermittent system, and
both the supply and the quality of water were defective.
Civic powers were split up into a number of discordant
and often conflicting authorities, constantly overlapping
each other in their duties. Darkness and dirt was the
heritage left by the Window Tax, which had recently been
F
66 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
abolished. The mortality was great, and the average age
at death was low in manufacturing towns. Thus, if we
take Kendal as representing a healthy agricultural town,
and compare the average of death in the Lancashire towns
at the date of my inquiry, the difference becomes apparent.
Average Age at Death in 1844.
Kendal . . . . . . 36 years.
Liverpool . . . . . 20 ,
Manchester . . . . . 22 ,
Ashton . . . . . . I6 ,
Preston . . . . . . I9 ,
Rochdale . . . . . 2I ,
The death rate of all England was then 22:07 in 1,000
living; in the last decade it was 19:62. The diseases, such as
fever, arising from filth—the zymotic diseases—were 4.52
per 1,000 in 1841-50, while in 1880-84 they had been
reduced to 2.71 per 1,000. The saving of life in the
population, contrasted with the first decade, is about
IO2,000 persons annually.
I think that the Royal Commission may fairly be
credited with having made a thorough exposition of the
defects of Sanitary appliances in town, and with having
laid the basis of that progressive legislation in public health
which has produced such a marvellous economy of public
life in this country. The construction of streets and houses
is now largely improved. Overcrowded and cellar dwellings
are prohibited. The common lodging houses are Con-
trolled, and an efficient and generally pure water supply is
brought into the houses of all towns. Infantile mortality,
which was so excessive in 1844 that more than one-half of
all the children born in the large manufacturing towns
perished before they reached five years of age, is now
enormously reduced. Intemperance, which was largely
caused by depressing conditions in home life and by over-
crowding, has been greatly lessened owing to the improve-
ment of the physical and moral conditions of life.
While residing in Manchester (1844) the important
chair of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh
became vacant by the death of Professor Hope. Though
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 67
I was too young a man to aspire to such a valuable chair,
I was encouraged to become a candidate by some of the
leading professors of that University. There were several
candidates, but ultimately the contest lay between Professor
Gregory and myself. At that time the patrons of the
chair were the Town Council of Edinburgh, a singular body
for academic patronage, although they generally exercised
it with good judgment. After a hard contest, and a good
deal of bitterness between our supporters, my friend
Professor Gregory was appointed by a small majority, and
I returned to my duties in Manchester.
At this time I published a careful paper in an obscure
journal in Edinburgh (the ‘Northern Journal of Medicine').
This paper has been little noticed, as the journal died after
a few numbers had appeared, but I still think it deals with
its subject in a comprehensive way. The title of the paper
was “On Sleep, and some of its concomitant phenomena.’
The cause of sleep was shown to be diminished oxidation
of brain substance. The conditions which lead to this
lessened oxidation were fully described, and the relations
of wakefulness, dreaming, etc., were discussed. The
following quotation from the paper will show its scope :—
“If we now admit the cause of sleep to be a diminished supply of
oxygen to the brain, we must admit certain forms of disease, such
as congestive apoplexy, syncope, perhaps even catalepsy, to be due
to the increased operation of the same cause, not directly but in-
directly—a circumstance attested by the diminished temperature of
the body in this class of diseases. If, then, we know the effects to
be due to a want of oxygenation of brain substance, we are in a
position more completely to regulate our practice in the treatment
of such diseases.”
This paper is republished in a collection of my popular
essays, “Subjects of Social Welfare.’
Whilst the inquiry into the sanitary condition of
England was in progress, I still pursued my chemical
work in Manchester, and published various papers on
agricultural chemistry. Two lectures ‘On the Applica-
tion of Chemistry to the Feeding of Cattle' were given
to a meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, and were
68 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
published in its Journal. These lectures were successful,
and made me various influential friends. The then Earl
of Ducie was a leading agriculturist, and became much
interested in my inquiries. I frequently visited him at
Tortworth Court, in Gloucestershire, and when in London
I usually dined with him on Sundays. Another agricul-
turist, still more famous, treated me with kindness. This
was the Earl Spencer, better known as the famous Lord
Althorp, long Leader of the House of Commons. When
I knew him he had retired from politics, and devoted
himself to the breeding of cattle. I frequently paid him
visits at Althorp, and enjoyed its magnificent library.
I recollect on one occasion being considerably startled
by a midnight visitor while I was engaged in reading some
valuable books which I had taken to my bedroom. I sat
up late, long after the other inmates had gone to bed.
Suddenly the door opened, and a stout man with a dark
lantern and a big cudgel appeared in my room. Naturally
I thought he was a burglar, and looked round for a
weapon of defence. I was soon relieved by being in-
formed that he was the night watchman, who had instruc-
tions to go into any room where a light was seen burning
after midnight. Lord Spencer was a charming old man
when I knew him, looking much more like a farmer than
an eminent statesman. The anecdotes of his past Parlia-
mentary life were amusing. He had never been an Orator,
but his integrity of character gave him wonderful influence
in the House of Commons. Agriculture now absorbed
all his attention. He kept careful records of his cattle-
breeding, and obtained curious results by his careful
entries. He believed that the length of time between
impregnation and birth depended more on the bull than
the cow. He had one bull which always delayed
gestation from three to four days beyond the average.
Even Sir Robert Peel, who had all the cares of the State
on his shoulders, was bitten by this agricultural revival.
On one occasion he invited his tenants and neighbours to
meet at breakfast to listen to speeches from his scientific
friends. Smith of Deanston addressed them on deep
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 69
drainage, Buckland on agriculture, and I spoke on agri-
cultural chemistry. I think that it was on this visit to
Drayton Manor in 1845 that the Deanery of Westminster
became vacant. Buckland came into my room while I
was dressing for dinner, and was anxious for my advice
as to whether he should accept it if the Prime Minister
offered it to him. He was doubtful whether his devotion
to science might not unfit him for this important office.
I did my best to remove his doubts by stating that the
office was not parochial but chiefly administrative. After
dinner that evening Sir Robert Peel offered him the
vacant deanery, which was accepted. Buckland was a
remarkable man, full of eccentricity; he generally carried
with him some,curious small animals, such as green frogs
or lizards. On this visit his pet was a chameleon, which
used to catch flies on the window panes, to the amuse-
ment of the ladies. At the Deanery I have dined with
him when a monkey, seated on the gas-bracket, used to
stretch himself down and grab a dainty morsel from the
plate of a guest just as he was about to transfer it to
his mouth. Dean Buckland was especially fond of ex-
perimenting upon new viands: one could not be sure
that a particular dish at his table might not be a hedge-
hog, a bit of crocodile, or even a slice of rhinoceros. His
son, Frank Buckland, possessed this love of experiment
and passion for animals in after years. The Dean was
so active in mind that he loved all branches of scientific
knowledge, though geology was the science in which he
excelled and which he enriched by his discoveries. He
was to me always a warm friend and delightful com-
panion, and I mourned deeply when the dark cloud
obscured his bright mind and obliged him to withdraw
from the society that he both loved and adorned.
In 1844 I made a pleasant excursion throughout
England and Scotland with several delightful companions.
Baron Liebig offered to pay me a visit if I could arrange
afterwards to travel with him. Buckland and Professor
Daubeny of Oxford joined our party. We began our
excursion by going to see the coprolite beds. Buckland
7o MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
had proved that the coprolites were really the ancient
excrement of saurians and other extinct animals, but they
had not been analysed. Liebig at once suggested that
if this were true they ought to contain phosphate of lime
or bone earth, and I sent some specimens to my labora-
tory at Manchester, where they were found to contain
abundance of this valuable manure. Liebig's delight was
unbounded, for he saw that the exhausted fields of
England might be restored by the use of these ancient
remains. This was the beginning of that great industry
which continues to the present day.
On this trip we visited various celebrated farms.
Among these I was anxious that Liebig should see Lord
Ducie's famous model farm in Gloucestershire. Accord-
ingly, I wrote to his lordship and offered a visit, though
our party was large. We found that Lord Ducie was in
Scotland, but he at once placed Tortworth Court at our
disposal, and asked me to fill his place as host. We
passed several days at this hospitable mansion, and Liebig
was much struck with this visit as a proof of the kindly
interest taken in him by the English. We then went to
stay with Mr Crosse in Somersetshire. At that time he
had much celebrity, for he asserted that animal life could
be formed by passing slow currents of electricity through
mineral matter, and many persons believed that he had
experimentally established this vastly important fact.
Mr Crosse lived in a world of his own making. He had
a large electrical laboratory, into which electricity was
conducted during storms by wires from the high trees of
his park, and concentrated in Leyden jars and a prime
conductor, upon which as a warning was printed, “AWoli
me tangere.” The servants had been warned not to touch
this ; but a new housemaid thought she understood the
words to mean “No danger to me,” and, in dusting it, was
nearly killed. At one end of this electrical laboratory
was an organ, which was played in accompaniment to the
storms 1 We Soon found that Crosse was an enthusiast,
though at the same time a man of admirable simplicity
and honesty of character. In speaking, his eyes were
LIFE IN LANCASHIRE. 7I
raised as if addressing space, and he conveyed the
impression of a truthful and unworldly mind. We asked
to see the experimental development of animals out of
mineral matter. He conducted us to a room very unlike
his laboratory. No servant was allowed to enter it, so
it was in a dusty, untidy condition. Slow currents of
electricity were passing through solutions of soluble
silicates, but we looked in vain for any sign of life.
Crosse then began to examine the table around the
solutions, and produced a living animal from under one of
the jars. This he declared to be an electrical production,
while I unhesitatingly, and, I fear, irreverently, pronounced
it to be a woodlouse living in the decaying wood of the
table ! Our faith in these celebrated experiments, which
then agitated all England, was thus rudely shaken, though
not our faith in the truthfulness of the man, who was too
much of an enthusiast to be an accurate experimentalist.
Another visit interested Baron Liebig. This was to
Wentworth, the seat of Lord Fitzwilliam. The magnitude
of this residence was startling to a German philosopher,
especially when he was handed as a joke a small box of
wafers, with a suggestion that he should drop them on his
way to his room to assist him in finding his way back.
During our stay at Wentworth there was a large evening
meeting held at Leeds, to give its inhabitants an oppor-
tunity of listening to the addresses of the philosophers
staying at the castle. Lord Fitzwilliam took us to Leeds
in state with his yellow liveries, the carriages having four
horses and outriders. On entering Leeds, large four-poster
bills, like those for Wombwell's Menageries, attracted our
attention; and upon these we found our names in large
capitals, as if we were animals in a show. At the meeting
Baron Liebig made an admirable speech in German,
which was certainly not understood by the people; but
after he sat down I repeated as much of it as I could
recollect in English. I little thought, in my first visit to
Leeds, that I should years later represent that great
manufacturing town in Parliament.
The Health of Towns inquiry was drawing to a close,
72 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
when Sir Robert Peel offered me an appointment as
Chemist to the Geological Survey, vacant by the resigna-
tion of Mr Phillips. The Museum of Practical Geology
and the offices of the Survey were then in Craig's Court,
Charing Cross. As there was no room for a proper
laboratory in these premises, one was fitted up in Duke
Street, Westminster. I now left Lancashire, and began
my life in London. Before commencing my new labours,
Sir Robert Peel, with that great kindness which he always
showed to me, invited me to meet some of my future
chiefs at Drayton Manor. The Duke of Newcastle, who
was head of the Board of Works, under which the
Geological Survey was administered, formed one of the
party. My immediate chief, Sir Henry de la Beche, the
head of the Survey, was another. Stephenson, the
inventor of the railway system, Follett, the great lawyer,
who unhappily died still young in the following year, and
Buckland, were also visitors at Drayton Manor. On this
occasion occurred that curious incident which is told
rather imperfectly in the biography of George Stephenson.
As all the world knows, he was originally a coal miner,
and spoke with a strong Northumbrian accent. It used
to be Sir Robert Peel's amusement to promote discussion
among the philosophers after dinner. Stephenson spoke
of locomotives, and how their power was obtained. He
offered what was then a daring speculation, that the
original Source of power in steam-engines was the Sun,
which conserved its force in the plants of which coal is
the residue. This is now known to be a truth, but at that
time appeared to be inconceivable folly. As the geologists
laughed at the theory, Stephenson abandoned the con-
troversy. Next day Sir Robert Peel asked me what I
thought of Stephenson's view, because he noticed that I
did not take part in the discussion. I told him that the
idea was not absurd, and could be supported by good
arguments. He then desired me to explain these to
Follett, and he would ask him to be Stephenson's advocate
at dinner on that day. Follett entered into the spirit of
the joke, and readily comprehended the explanations of a
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 73
possible correlation of forces. Accordingly, when the
discussion was again raised after dinner, Follett turned the
tables on the geologists and completely defeated their
arguments. Stephenson looked on in amazement, and
exclaimed, “Of all the powers in Nature, the greatest is
the gift of the gabl” Stephenson often reminded me of
my friend Mercer, the calico printer. Both were men of
humble origin, and preserved their simple character in
future life. Both were men of genius, and of daring
speculation on matters of science. I would much like
now, when science has so far progressed, to have notes of
my evening talks with both these men of genius, in Order
that I might ascertain whether opinions which I then
thought simply audacious are not now supported by
modern discoveries. &
Before finally taking leave of Manchester I should say a
few words as to the state of intellectual society when I
resided there. It had long been a town celebrated for its
able men. Henry the chemist, Dalton the philosopher,
and Fairbairn the engineer had been shining lights.
In addition to Dalton, Joule, the discoverer of the
mechanical equivalent of heat, was then in Manchester.
He was the son of a brewer in that town, and was partially
deformed. Perhaps the following letter to Professor
Dewar, of Cambridge, an old pupil of mine at Edinburgh
and now successor to Faraday and Tyndall in London, will
best explain our relations.
Playfair to Professor Dewar. LONDON, January 20th, 1890.
MY DEAR DEWAR,-You ask for some of my memories
of Joule from 1842 to 1845, when I was Professor of
Chemistry at the Royal Institution in Manchester. The
great Dalton died in the autumn of 1844, and had been
long President of the Manchester Philosophical Society.
He naturally gave an impulse to the study of Science in
that town, where there was an active band of young
workers in research. Joule was, even then, foremost
among these, and the names of Binsey, Williamson, Schunk,
Angus Smith, Young, and others, show that the spirit of
74 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
scientific inquiry was active. We were also stimulated
by the fact that Baron Liebig and Bunsen came to pay
me visits during that time; they were men to excite
research.
Joule was a man of singular simplicity and earnestness.
We used to meet at each other's houses at supper to help
the progress of our work by discussion. Joule was an
earnest worker, and was then engaged with his experi-
ments on the mechanical equivalent of heat. He took me
to his Small laboratory to show me his experiments, and I,
of course, quickly recognised that my young friend the
brewer was a great philosopher. We jointly worked upon
questions of far less importance than his great central
discovery, but he was equally interested. I was very
anxious that he should devote his life to science, and
persuaded him to become a candidate for the Professorship
of Natural Philosophy at St Andrews. He was on the
point of securing this, but his personal slight deformity
was an objection in the eyes of one of the electors, and St
Andrews lost the glory of having one of the greatest
discoverers of our age. When Joule first sent an account
of his experiments to the Royal Society, the paper was
referred among others to Sir Charles Wheatstone, who was
my intimate personal friend. Wheatstone was an eminently
fair man and a good judge, but the discovery did not then
commend itself to his mind. For a whole Sunday after-
noon we walked on Barnes Common discussing the
experiments and their consequences, if true, to science;
but all my arguments were insufficient to convince my
friend, and I fear that then the Royal Society did not
appreciate and publish the researches. I write from
memory only, for I know that later no society or institu-
tion honoured Joule more than the Royal Society and its
members. Not for one moment, however, did Joule
hesitate as to the accuracy of his experiments or his
conclusions.
He once suggested to me that we might take a trip
together to the falls of Niagara, not to look at its beauties,
but to ascertain the difference of the temperature of the
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 75
Water at the top and bottom of the fall. Of course, the
change of motion into heat was a necessary consequence
of his views.
No more pleasant memory of my life remains than the
fact that, side by side, at my lectures in the Royal Institu-
tion, used to sit the illustrious Dalton with his beautiful
face, so like that of Newton, and the keenly intelligent
Joule. I can give no other explanation than the fact of
Organic Chemistry being then a new science that two
philosophers of such eminence should come to the lectures
of a mere tyro in science. I used to look upon them as
two types of the highest progress in science. Newton had
introduced law, order, and number into the movements of
masses of matter in the universe : Dalton introduced the
Same into the minute masses which we call atoms : and
Joule, with a keen insight into the operation and correla-
tion of forces, connected them together and showed their
mutual equivalence.
I do not know whether these memories are of any use
to you, but, such as they are, they are at your disposal for
your lecture on the friend of my youth.
(Signed) LYON PLAYFAIR.
Prof. Dewar, F.R.S., Cambridge.
“So far I have left Playfair to tell the story of his
career in his own way. The reader will see, however,
that although he gives a brief summary of the facts of his
career in these early years, he is silent as to all those
personal questions by knowledge of which alone a sound
judgment of a man's character can be formed. We see
him playing a distinguished part in the company of not
a few eminent men, recognised by them as their equal,
and sharing with them in important labours for the public
good. But nothing is said that calls attention to the fact
that when Playfair was offered the important professorship
at Toronto, and when he paid his first memorable visit
to Drayton Manor, he was still a mere youth. The young
76 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
chemist who was occupying a comparatively humble post
in a manufacturing establishment in Lancashire is suddenly
transformed into the scientific expert, whose opinions are
heard with respectful attention by the Prime Minister.
But no clue is given to the secret of this remarkable
change. As it is my desire to interest my readers quite
as much in Playfair's personality as in his work and his
achievements, I must in this chapter supplement his own
condensed narrative with some particulars gathered from
other sources.
It was thoroughly characteristic of a man who was
“practical" from his earliest to his latest years, and who
always preferred doing to dreaming, that he no sooner
returned from Giessen, at the close of his University
career, than he looked out for some kind of work which
would make him independent of his father—whose means
were moderate—and give him the satisfaction of earning
his own living. That work he obtained, as he has himself
told us, in the calico-printing works at Clitheroe. Mr
Thomson, the proprietor, needed a chemist to superintend
the dyeing processes in the establishment, and young
Playfair was fortunate enough to obtain the post at a
salary that was a handsome one, considering his years and
the task entrusted to him. Few things were more charac-
teristic of the man in later life than that business-like
punctuality which impressed Mr Thomson so favourably
at their first interview that he voluntarily made a con-
siderable addition to the sum he had originally proposed
to offer to the young chemist.
But for an explanation of Playfair's early success we must
look beyond his aptitude for business. The simple fact is
that the young Scotch chemist had made a remarkable
impression upon nearly all those who were brought in Con-
tact with him. Young as he was, he had already done
work in chemistry that had made him known to the
LIFE IN LANCASHIRE. 77
greatest chemists of the day. His translation of Liebig's
great book had made his name a familiar one to men of
Science generally, whilst, above all, his own personality
had secured for him a place in the esteem of many eminent
men which few so young have ever reached. In plain
English, before Playfair had been many months in his first
official post at Clitheroe, he was generally regarded, not
only by the distinguished men of science who at that time
lived in Manchester, but by many leading men in the
Scientific world, as the most promising of all the younger
students of his day. In proof of this assertion, the narrative
—barely alluded to in his own autobiography—of his intro-
duction to Sir Robert Peel, in 1842, must be given at some
length. It is a story equally creditable to the statesman,
the young student, and those generous workers in the field
of Science who—to use the words of one of them—were
determined, if they could, to “save Playfair for England.”
The story of this episode in Playfair's life may fitly
begin with the following letter from Dr Buckland, the
eminent geologist and Dean of Westminster, to Sir Robert
Peel.
Dr Buckland to Sir Robert Peel. April 26th, 1842.
I rejoice in common with a host of scientific friends at
the well-merited honour which has been recently conferred
on Sir Henry de la Beche. I was pleased to find, at an
interview I had with him and Mr Pusey, at the office of
Lord Lincoln, last Friday, that his lordship is anxious to
find means of carrying into effect the wishes now so pre-
valent amongst scientific men and agriculturists to urge
forward in this country the inquiry which has begun in
France and Germany, but hitherto has been much neglected
in England, as to the extent to which a knowledge of
organic chemistry may be applied to the improvement of
agriculture. There seems to prevail at this time a general
expectation of great results likely to arise from the applica-
78 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
tion of science to agriculture, and a disposition on the part
of farmers, unknown till now, to adopt experiments which
the practice of their landlords and most intelligent neigh-
bours has shown to be beneficial. At such a moment, One
man only has arisen in this country, in the translator of
Liebig, who has specially devoted himself, with great
Success, to the very difficult and most important subject of
Organic chemistry in its connection with agriculture. I am
not personally acquainted with Dr Playfair, but have seen
in the hands of Sir H. de la Beche such a certificate in his
favour, given when he was recently a candidate for a
vacant professorship in Scotland, that in ordinary chemistry
he must have few that surpass him, whilst his translation
of Liebig shows his pre-eminent fitness for investigations
connected with agriculture. I therefore feel confidently
that great results would follow from a series of experiments
Systematically conducted by such a man; and as I am told
he has a full knowledge of geology, he might institute
experiments upon the selected specimens of each of the
principal formations that occur in England, which would
serve as pattern or example of the experiments, showing
their defects and the means of ameliorating such portions
of each formation from which the subject matter of his
Several experiments may be selected.
Believe me, etc.,
W. BUCKLAND.
This was Dr Buckland's first, but by no means his last
attempt to bring the young chemist under the notice of the
Prime Minister. There are indications in the correspond-
ence of Playfair during the following months which show
that the great geologist had taken up the young man's
cause with enthusiasm. He had done so at the instigation
of Sir Henry de la Beche, to whose estimate of Playfair's
ability reference is made in the foregoing letter. But Peel
was not at that time disposed to assist in the creation of a
School of agricultural science in this country. The times
Were not propitious, and he doubted whether Parliament
LIFE IN LANCASHIRE. - 79
would be prepared to grant money to agriculturists,
except on condition that similar grants were made to other
industries. Still Buckland did not despair of bringing Peel
and Playfair into direct communication. In the month of
October, Playfair received through Faraday the offer of the
professorship at Toronto. He naturally communicated at
once with his friend De la Beche. The latter felt, to use
his own words, that “if Playfair is to be saved for England,
there is no time to lose ’’; and he wrote an urgent letter
to Buckland.
Ross, HEREFORDSHIRE.
Sir H. de la Beche to Dr Buckland. October 12th, 1842.
MY DEAR BUCKLAND,-This morning's post has brought
me information of which I am sure you will join with me
in regretting most cordially the cause, at least if the matter
takes the turn which it so readily may. Dr Playfair has
been offered an American professorship, with £450 per
annum, house, garden, and college fees. Neither you nor
I would ever regret any good which could befall so talented
or worthy a man as our friend Playfair; but to see him
thus Snatched from us in England when he has, as you
know, been so well received and properly appreciated by
our leading agriculturists, is deplorable. Here we are at
the Museum of Economic Geology, with all things ready
to bring Playfair to bear so successfully upon the agriculture
of this country. I have a plan to provide for Richard
Phillips efficiently, doing real service to the country. I
mean in connection with the Fine Arts Committee, their
stuccoes, colours, etc.; so that the frescoes (in the Houses
of Parliament), if there should be any, may be permanent,
and the colours not fly off in half a dozen years. Upon
this subject I have already written to Lord Lincoln, who
Seems, apparently, to have a good opinion of it; indeed,
the outlook is clear. The objection to two chemists at
the Museum—certainly a very good one—could thus be
removed. In point of fact, all seems ready to bring
Playfair to bear; and in precisely this state of things comes
8o MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
this offer from the other side of the Atlantic, sweeping him
away. -
At least there is only a fortnight (now two or three days
less) for his answer, which can scarcely be expected to be
otherwise than an acceptance, seeing that there is nothing
certain in connection with the Museum of Economic
Geology moving. That he would prefer England to
America I know full well, and that we have no one at all
equal to him for agricultural chemistry we both know well
also. Could others do the same 2 To move through the
usual official channels there is no time, so that Sir Robert
Peel may be acquainted with the probable loss we may
sustain by Playfair moving to the other side of the Atlantic.
Having never corresponded with Sir Robert Peel on this
subject, it might be considered out of place if I did so now.
As you have, I believe, would you, if there should be time
after you receive this letter, mention the matter to Sir
Robert Peel ? A breath from him would put all straight.
Playfair's present address is : Primrose, Blackburn, Lanca-
shire. Pray write to him, and see how matters stand, for
round about by me here the time may be lost.
Very sincerely yours,
H. DE LA BECHE.
It is unnecessary to comment upon the singular earnest-
ness of this letter. Evidently De la Beche was desperately
afraid that Playfair's departure for Canada—or, as he
vaguely describes it, America—would mean a grave loss to
the intellectual capital of Great Britain. Nor was Buck-
land less anxious to act for the purpose of retaining
Playfair in this country. He communicated at once with
Sir Robert Peel, with the result that Playfair received from
the Prime Minister the letter which at first puzzled him so
greatly.
DRAYTON MANOR,
Sir Robert Peel to Dr Playfair. October 13th, 1842.
MY DEAR SIR,-Will you give me the pleasure of your
Company at Drayton Manor for as long a time as you can
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 8I
spare me 2 If you will come to dinner on Wednesday
next, you will, I trust, meet Buckland and De la Beche.
Very truly yours,
ROBERT PEEL.
In the preceding chapter of Reminiscences, Playfair has
given a brief account of this visit to Drayton Manor. The
explanation of the reason which led the Prime Minister to
address such an invitation to a young and little known
chemist is, of course, to be found in the urgent advocacy of
his claims by eminent men like Buckland and De la Beche.
No record exists of the conversation which took place
regarding Playfair during the visit to Drayton; but it is
clear that Buckland urged his claims with persistency, and
that he adopted the suggestion of Sir Henry de la Beche
that a place should be found for Playfair at the Museum
of Economic Geology by the removal of Mr, afterwards
Sir, Richard Phillips to another post. Nor was Peel
altogether disinclined to adopt this suggestion, as the
following memorandum in the Prime Minister's own
handwriting seems to prove.
DRAYTON MANOR, October 18th, 1842.
We, that is Lord Lincoln and Sir Robert Peel, under-
standing that unusual decision is required, are ready to
consent to this —If Mr Phillips can be induced volun-
tarily to relinquish the appointment he holds, and shall
signify by a letter to Lord Lincoln his willingness to resign
it, Dr Lyon Playfair shall be appointed to a corresponding
office at the annual salary of £400. We cannot take any
step for the purpose of inducing Mr Phillips's retirement.
It must be voluntary on his part. -
This, it will be admitted, was a remarkable document
to come from a Prime Minister under the circumstances.
When Peel handed it to Playfair, he told him that during
G
82 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
his whole official career he had never entered into such an
understanding before with an applicant for office. Mr
Phillips, however, was not disposed to retire voluntarily,
and the ardent De la Beche, still intent upon retaining
Playfair in England, tried to devise some means for inducing
Mr Phillips to make way for his protégé.
The subsequent story of the negotiations for this purpose
is a curious one. De la Beche, writing on October 19th to
Buckland, makes the following suggestion for the purpose
of procuring the retirement of Phillips:—
He (Phillips) now gets £200 per annum, with some
little advantages for analyses, which I do not think amount
to £40 or £50 more. He has also private chemical
engagements. His office hours at the Museum interfere
with the latter. To induce Phillips to resign, something
equivalent at least will have to be offered : something
equal to £250. It is quite clear that Sir Robert Peel will
keep himself clear of all inducements to the resignation of
Phillips; and in this he is most perfectly right. If he did,
it might be made the handle for misstatements. The
movement for Phillips to resign must therefore be made on
the part of those who desire to see agricultural chemistry
properly treated for the benefit of the agriculture of this
country. It appears to me that it would be most credit-
able to the English Agricultural Society, and greatly to the
interest of its members, that the present opportunity
should be seized. Taking your view that £200 per
annum might be given by them to Phillips for the analysis
of mineral manures and of SubSoil rocks, the state of things
would stand thus:—An opportunity of greatly advancing
the agriculture of the country by a proper and judicious
application of chemistry to agriculture, aided by geological
investigations, now presents itself. Will the English
Agricultural Society avail themselves of it at a cost of £200
or £250 per annum ? The total Salaries of the competent
parties are required to be £600 or £650 per annum.
Government seems willing to place a highly competent
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 83
chemist in an office where this matter can be proceeded
with, provided the present holder of that office voluntarily
resigns it. Now, though the holder of that office is not
skilled in agricultural chemistry as a whole, parts of the
general subject he is highly competent to investigate.
Would the Agricultural Society, by taking the present
holder of the office into its pay at a rate of salary equiva-
lent to the present salary of that office, enable the other
party, highly skilled in organic chemistry and the general
subject, to enter into that office 2
This proposal on the part of De la Beche did not meet
with the approval of the Royal Agricultural Society.
Mr Pusey, the secretary of the society, expressed his
earnest desire to advance Playfair's career; but on con-
Sultation with the leading members of the society it
became clear that they were not prepared to confer upon
Phillips the appointment suggested by Sir Henry de la
Beche.
Even then De la Beche refused to give up the hope
of securing Playfair's services. There was no place in
the country, he declared, where chemical and geological
agriculture could be carried out at all equal to the
Museum of Economic Geology, if a properly qualified
chemist could be found. Such a man they had in
Playfair—one who possessed all the requisites, and who
was approved of by the Prime Minister himself. He now
proposed that Playfair should be at once taken into the
public employment at a salary of £200 a year, and that
he should be asked to report upon the state of British
agriculture as regarded agricultural chemistry, practical
farming, the variety of soils, and other similar matters,
he being allowed at the same time to use the laboratory
at the Museum of Economic Geology. Phillips was of
course to be retained under this proposal in his old place
at his old salary, though as a matter of fact the chieſ part
84 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
of the work which was required would be done by Playfair.
It was an ingenious scheme, but it failed to meet with the
approval of Sir Robert Peel, though in writing to Dr
Buckland the Prime Minister once more expressed his
desire to help Playfair. “We are all,” he wrote—“that
is, all official men—inclined to do whatever we can,
consistent with our duty, and therefore with the true
interests of Dr Playfair, to procure his services for the
public.” -
I have told the story of this important episode in
Playfair's life with sufficient fulness in order to show how
high was the place he had already secured in the esteem of
distinguished men of science, and how fortunate he had
been in attracting the attention and securing the goodwill
of Sir Robert Peel. Before I close this chapter, and
this record of the failure to procure for Playfair a post
in which he would unquestionably have been able to do
good Service to the cause of English agriculture, it may be
well to set forth at length the letter to Dr Buckland, in
which, at the request of the latter, he indicated the work
he was prepared to undertake if he had secured the
appointment of agricultural chemist.
Playfair to Dr Buckland. October 16th, 1842.
MY DEAR DR BUCKLAND,-A few days since, I
received through Dr Faraday the offer of a professorship
in Toronto from Sir C. Bagot. The salary offered is £450
per annum, besides a house, garden, and fees of students.
As 1 am required to give my final answer before Tuesday
next, I should esteem it a great favour if you were to lay
before Lord Lincoln the reasons which compel me to ask
his lordship for a decision with respect to the negotiations
alluded to by Sir H. de la Beche. I beg, also, to describe
Some of the objects which I think are desirable in the
event of an agricultural chemist being appointed in
connection with Government.
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 85
The great object which should be held in view by
an agricultural chemist connected with Government
is to promote the general interest of English agricul-
ture, and not the particular interest of its individual
cultivators. x-
There are many laws which must be discovered before
agriculture can be rapidly advanced on scientific principles.
Analyses of the manures used in England have to be
executed in connection with the economic geology of the
country. Above all, it is necessary to ascertain the Sub-
stance which plants take from soils; for, without this
knowledge, we do not know what to return to the soil
as manure. Analyses of the food of cattle are requisite
in order to show us wherein their nutriment consists,
and thus enable us to economise our food. No such
analyses are extant, and it is thorough and accurate
analysis that is needed. Such an analysis, to be properly
performed, requires five days' work. By fixing the
above rate, those only would send soils for analysis
who wanted some important question solved. But as
this working for individual interest would be taking
away the labours of the chemist from those of general
interest, it should be permitted to the Director of the
Museum and to the chemist to refuse such analyses, if they
found that no good could arise by their execution.
It is a great complaint that there is no place in England
where students of agriculture may acquire a thorough
knowledge of agricultural chemistry, and of its mani-
pulations, in order that they may conduct their own farm-
ing on scientific principles. I therefore think it would be
very valuable to admit a few laboratory pupils, at a very
moderate fee, such as £20 each per annum, to the chemist,
besides the cost of materials to the Museum (the usual
fee in London is £50).
Such are my opinions of the duties of an agricultural
chemist—duties, as I conceive, well fitted for the advance-
ment of agriculture. Unless he is put above the necessity
of making money, he can be of little use to general.
agriculture.
86 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Feeling convinced on this subject, I may mention the
conditions on which I should accept the appointment in
the event of his lordship doing me the honour to put it in
my power.
1. That I should receive a fixed salary from Govern-
ment of £400 (four hundred pounds) per annum.
2. That I should receive the fees for those private
analyses which it was thought expedient to make,
and also for the lectures and private pupils. (The
fee for the lectures will, of course, depend upon their
number, but the fee for the analysis of a soil not to be
below £5.)
3. That I should not be required to undertake any
general analysis of English soils. Understanding that this
has been suggested, I must strongly state my opinion that
no benefit could accrue for the present from such a course,
and that the usefulness of an agricultural chemist, in such
a case, would be destroyed. -
As my great desire is to be useful to scientific agriculture,
I have made these stipulations in order that time might
not be wholly employed in working for individual benefit.
By doing so I certainly could obtain more money, but it
would be at the sacrifice of general good, and I feel Con-
vinced that the plan I have proposed is one which will
prove of real utility to agriculture.
I am,
My dear Dr Buckland,
Yours very sincerely,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
That Peel valued his friendship with the young chemist
and attached value to his advice, is proved by the corre-
spondence of the great statesman himself. Thus, in writing
to Prince Albert on December 17th, 1844, Peel says: “I
have some very distinguished scientific men on a visit here
—Dr Buckland, Dr Lyon Playfair (the translator of Liebig),
Professor Wheatstone(theinventor of the electric telegraph),
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 87
Professor Owen, of the College of Surgeons, Mr George
Stephenson, the engineer. . . . I invited yesterday
all my principal tenants to meet them at dinner and
acquire information, which was most kindly and liberally
given by all the philosophers on points connected with
vegetation, manure, the feeding of animals, draining, etc.”
Again, in December, 1845, Peel writes, at the crisis in the
history of the Corn Laws : “The accounts from Ireland
in the month of October, from the Lord Lieutenant, from
the constabulary, from the men of science whom we sent
there to investigate the facts—Dr Lyon Playfair and Dr
Lindley, the first chemist and first botanist—were very
alarming. The worst account was from the men of
science.” - -
The part which Playfair had subsequently in bringing
Sir Robert Peel to his momentous decision with regard to
the duties on food will be dealt with in a later chapter;
but it is worth while to give the foregoing extract from
Peel's letter to the Prince Consort at this point, in order to
show how high was the position which he assigned to
Playfair in the scientific world. -
The first Government appointment which Playfair
received was, as he has told us, the post of a Member
of the Royal Commission to inquire into the Health of
Towns. On April 21st, 1843, Sir James Graham, then
Home Secretary, wrote to Playfair to express his gratifica-
tion at his having accepted this appointment, and to state
that his work would not in any way interfere with his post
at Manchester. There is little that one need add to the
brief account which Playfair has himself given of the work
of that memorable Commission. It marked the real
beginning of sanitary science in the United Kingdom.
Many eminent men had paved the way for its operations,
including both Chadwick and Dr Southwood Smith. When
it began its work it is hardly an exaggeration to say that it
88 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
found every English town little better than a vast cesspool.
Before its recommendations had been fully carried out, our
towns had become practically what they are to-day. The
death-rate had been diminished everywhere, and the con-
ditions of life had been made infinitely more wholesome
than they had ever been before. It is not surprising to
find that from the beginning of his connection with this
great Commission, Lyon Playfair became absorbed in the
question of the improvement of our sanitation. The
youngest member of the Commission, he was naturally not
the least ardent, and threw himself with his whole heart
and soul into the work which had been entrusted to
him. Before long he became the recognised leader of
national enterprises for the improvement of the public
health. º
J. von Liebig to Playfair. GIESSEN, November 15th, 1842.
MY DEAR FRIEND,-Many thanks for your kind letter
of October 30th, and the important news contained therein.
I hasten to say how heartily I wish that all our desires
may be fulfilled. I have read in the papers that you went
with Buckland to see Sir R. Peel, and I hope the best from
this visit. I hear that Sir R. Peel also intended to send
me an invitation ; if I could have his note I should value
it for the sake of the autograph. May Heaven give you
the needful courage for your first lecture. You have
a natural gift of eloquence, and for the rest I have not
much fear.
The new edition of ‘Agricultural Chemistry’ will receive
many alterations, but I cannot yet quite define them. I
cannot therefore leave to you the preparation of the first
sheets, much as I should like to do so. I have to add a
new chapter on Sulphur, and this must come quite near
the beginning.
I will consider your proposal to add a chapter on
fattening of cattle. It might be useful.
You have at Lord Ducie's the best opportunity of
LIFE IN LAN CASHIRE. 89
determining on a large scale the constitution of the débris
of straw, potatoes, and roots. Do not neglect this
opportunity, as it will be useful to us in ‘Agricultural
Chemistry.' It will doubtless be easy for you to arrange
for the drying of the roots, etc. tº
I will answer the rest of your letter more fully after
your return to Primrose. In any case I shall hope to sée
you here in the spring.
Yours most cordially,
J. V. LIEBIG.
Same to the same. GIESSEN, March 3rd, 1843.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--I have not yet answered your
last letter, as I have been very busily engaged on the
preparation of our ‘Agricultural Chemistry.' The book is
now ready, and you will have already received two sheets
of it. I have added five new chapters; on the origin of
arable land, on the formation of ammonia, on the part
taken by nitric acid in the nourishment of plants, and on
fallow ground. The chapter on cultivation and rotation or
crops is quite new. Thus, you see, this edition is practically
a new book. Will you be so good as to bring the English
version into line with the German at once 2 I am very
anxious that the book should not lose its scientific character;
it is not intended solely for agriculturists, but for the
general public. It is specially necessary for those people
who desire to understand the book to gain first some
elementary knowledge of chemistry; this I do not wish to
bring into the book, which is thereby differentiated from
Johnston's and other books for farmers. r
I must tell you that Dr Will intends to apply for the
post of chemist to the Agricultural Society of Scotland.
Will is fond of England, and is quite the right man
to carry out the researches desired by the society.
Should you have any opportunity of assisting him in this
direction, he will be very grateful. We have discovered
here some excellent new methods for the analysis of
ashes.
90 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Write to me again soon, and tell me a little about the
post you applied for in London. I hearthat you gave two
lectures in London with great success, and am surprised
that they did not lead to the desired result.
Farewell, my dear friend.
Ever yours,
DR J. V. LIEBIG.
CHAPTER V.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—IV. BEGINNING OF MY
LONDON LIFE.
1845 to 1850.
Settled in London: A Call from Sir James Clark: Sir Henry de la Beche:
Distinguished Colleagues: Inquiring into the Sanitary Condition of
Buckingham Palace: Reporting upon the Best Coals for Steam
Navigation: Mining Accidents: The Potato Famine in Ireland:
Effect of Emigration upon Potato Production: Marriage: Oersted :
A Letter which led to the Foundation of the Petroleum Industry:
Inquiring into the Cholera: The Duke of Wellington and the Chartist
Demonstration : Sworn a Special Constable: In Paris during the
Revolution of 1848: Louis Blanc and Louis Napoleon.
ON going to reside in London, I took rooms together with
my friend Andrew Ramsay (now Sir Andrew Ramsay) in
York Road, Westminster. The house belonged to a most
respectable middle-aged woman, who had a brass plate on
the door : “Mrs P-, Dressmaker and Milliner.” Soon
after our arrival there a handsome carriage with brown
liveries stopped at the door, and a tall, attractive man was
shown to our sitting-room. He told us that he was Sir
James Clark, the well-known Physician to the Queen.
After a few friendly remarks, he explained that one object
of his visit was to tell us that the street in which we lived
was of doubtful fame, while the brass plate on the door
increased the appearances against us. We took his
friendly advice, and changed our lodgings to Brompton,
near the Consumption Hospital. This was the beginning
of a friendship with Sir James Clark which I much
valued for many years, and which I continue by descent
92 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
to the present day in the person of his son, Sir John
Clark. Sir James Clark was a man of admirable
character, and was justly esteemed by the Queen and
Prince Consort, not only as a physician but also as a
confidential friend. Indirectly, he did much for science,
for it was he who founded the Royal College of
Chemistry, and brought over Hofmann to this country
to carry out those splendid researches which have made
him so famous. -
I have already said that before the Museum of Geology
and Geological Survey were transferred to Jermyn Street
I had a temporary laboratory in Duke Street, West-
minster. Here I continued, in association with Joule,
researches into the atomic volume of salts. We
is established that the water in crystallised salts has the
same atomic volume as ice. We also showed that in
hydrated salts the volume of the acid disappears, the
volume of the base and of the water as ice making up the
whole volume of the salt. In highly hydrated salts, such
as carbonate or phosphate of soda, the volume of the Salt
is only that of the solid water, the dry salt occupying no
appreciable space. Following these observations into
solutions, we proved that the increase in the bulk of a
solution, when a highly hydrated salt is dissolved, is only
that due to the water of crystallisation becoming liquid,
the salt itself occupying no appreciable volume. All this
is now accepted as common knowledge, but when these
papers were first published they encountered keen
opposition.
Another research . I made in this little laboratory in
Duke Street. This resulted in establishing the existence
of an entirely new class of salts named the “nitro-
prussides.” They are obtained by acting upon potassium
prusside with nitric acid. They are beautiful crystalline
salts, and are now a favourite preparation for pupils
engaged in laboratory practice. But the most productive
fruit of my laboratory at that time was the discovery of
two able men, who have added much to the science of
their time. One of my assistants was a young German
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. 93
named Kolbe. He had a true chemical genius, and I
encouraged him, instead of wasting his time as a mere
assistant, to make original researches for himself, and he
became afterwards the great chemical professor of the
University of Leipsic, and was well known by his
numerous works. The other was a young student,
Frankland, now Sir Edward Frankland," whom I had
afterwards the pleasure of seeing as my successor in
the School of Mines. He has enriched chemistry by
many discoveries. I may claim with some pride that
many eminent chemists have been evolved from my
teaching, among whom Professor Dewar; of Cambridge,
is conspicuous. -
In the new building for the Geological Museum and
its kindred subjects we found every means for developing
the institution. The director, Sir Henry de la Beche, was
a man of remarkable ability. He was a well-known
geologist, and author of the work, ‘How to Observe
Geology. As an administrator he was admirable. He
had brought the Geological Survey into a state of
efficiency, and was now occupied in forming a School of
Mines. He drew around him a staff of enthusiastic and
able workers. Andrew Ramsay, my old Glasgow friend,
had charge of the Geological Survey. Edward Forbes,
the great naturalist, my college friend in Edinburgh, was
Professor of Palaeontology. Dr Percy, the author of an
important work on metallurgy, was professor of that
subject. Warrington Smyth was Professor of Chemistry,
furnished with an excellent laboratory. To visit the
school became a fashion among men of leisure. Besides
my regular pupils, I had in one year the late Duke of
Marlborough, afterwards Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord
Arthur Hay, who became the Marquis of Tweeddale,
several Members of Parliament, and two officers of the
Guards. The mining students were not numerous, but
were excellent in quality. The professors gave courses of
lectures to working men in the evening, always attended
to the full capacity of our lecture theatre. This school
| Sir Edward Frankland died August, 1899.
94 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
still continues under the name of the “Normal School of
Science,” and is now transferred to South Kensington. It
has had a continuation of able professors, among whom it
is only necessary to mention Huxley, Frankland, Guthrie,
Lockyer, Thorpe, Rücker, and Japp.
From my first joining the Museum of Economic
Geology at Craig's Court, till the close of my connection
with its developed School of Mines in Jermyn Street, my
laboratory was not a haven of rest for a scientific man.
Unfortunately, my reputation as an inquirer into public
questions continually interfered with my scientific career,
for there was scarcely a month in which the Government
did not demand my services. On arriving in London, the
first demand made upon me was to report on the state of
Buckingham Palace, and also on the condition of Eton
College. The former inquiry was specially important, as it
involved the health of the Queen and her young family.
The condition of the palace was then so bad that the
Government never dared to publish my report. At that
time a great main sewer ran through the courtyard, and
the whole palace was in untrapped connection with it.
To illustrate this, I painted a small room on the basement
floor with white lead, and showed that it was blackened
next morning. The kitchens were furnished with
batteries of charcoal fires without flues, and the fumes
went up to the royal nurseries. To prove this, I mixed
pounded pastilles with gunpowder, and exploded the
mixture in the kitchens. The smell of the pastilles
pervaded the whole house, and brought down, as I
wished, the high court officials to see what was the
matter. The architect was immediately called upon to
prepare plans for putting Buckingham Palace into a
proper condition, at a considerable outlay, and although
Parliament tried to get my report, it was considered too
frank and brutal for production, as I treated the sanitary
º, condition of the palace just as I would have done that of
* any other house. However, the evils were remedied.
After this inquiry I was incessantly employed by public
departments. The Board of Health required me to report
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. 95
on graveyards, and to analyse all the water proposed for
the supply of towns. The Admiralty placed a sum of
money at my disposal to determine the best coals suited
for steam navigation. This was a heavy inquiry, for not
only had all the chief coals in the kingdom to be analysed
and their calorific values determined, but we also had to
determine their evaporative values under steam-boilers.
During this inquiry I held a second professorship in the
College of Civil Engineers at Putney, and the practical
experiments with boilers were made at that place under
the Superintendence of Mr John Wilson, who afterwards
became Professor of Agriculture in Edinburgh. The
report of Sir Henry de la Beche and myself on the coals
Suited for steam navigation, for a long time, and perhaps
even now, formed the basis of selection for fuel for
the Navy. * -
At this time accidents in coal mines were common and
serious. Lyell and Faraday were appointed Government
Commissioners to inquire into their causes, and made a
report. Their inquiry was a short one, but it drew attention
to the recklessness of the miners. As one instance of this,
Faraday used to relate that he and Lyell were waiting to
See how the coal was blasted by gunpowder, and they sat
down, with naked candles stuck in a lump of clay between
their legs, until the taphole was finished. Faraday asked
where the gunpowder was kept, and the miner replied,
“Maister, that be the bag of powder which you are
sitting on.” Faraday told me that of all the delicate and
responsible experiments which he ever made, the raising
of that candle steadily between his legs, shaded with his
hand to prevent sparks reaching the gunpowder, was the
most anxious one. I once encountered a case of like
recklessness. I had inspected a mine apparently quite
free from gas, and congratulated the owner on its
condition. His conscience was pricked, for he confessed
he had shown me only the good parts of the pit, but had
not taken me to the dangerous “goafs' or cavities where
the fiery gas accumulated. Into one of these he took me,
first extinguishing my candle, and dragging his own close
96 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
to the ground. We both sat down, while the owner of
the mine slowly raised his candle till the flame elongated
and a blue flickering of fire-damp burned round its edges.
Holding it perfectly steady, he calmly said, “One inch
higher, and you and I would be blown to the devil | "
Needless to say that I steadily depressed his arm and
retreated as quickly as possible to a purer air.
Soon after the publication of Faraday and Lyell's report
a terrible explosion took place at Jarrow, resulting, I
think, in forty deaths. The Government asked De la
Beche and myself to visit the mine to report upon the
causes of the explosion. De la Beche was unable to go,
so I went alone. It was a very deep mine, with many
miles of underground passages, all of which were then full
of fire-damp. There was only one shaft, and the
brattices, or wood lining, had been destroyed by the
explosion, so that neither a platform nor a basket could
be lowered. There had been no ventilation since the
accident, and therefore there was no possibility of clearing
the air-passages from the fiery gas. The viewer, or
manager, of the mine, while expressing his willingness to
descend, put the responsibility upon myself and upon one
of the geological surveyors, Mr Williams, who volunteered
to join me. After consultation, a stream of water was
turned into the shaft to send down air by its descent. I
Confess that my courage required screwing up, when a
rope with two loops was produced, and I was asked to
put one leg through the lower one, while the viewer put
his through the one above. This is a mode of descent
well known to miners, but I had never seen it, and was
not comfortable in its use. However, we were pushed off
the bank, and were very slowly lowered down the mine,
which was about twice as deep as the height of St. Paul's
Cathedral. The brattices were much shattered, and we
had to turn our lamps on these to see that the rope did
not slack on an obstruction, which would have sent us
down with a run. . *
It was a dreary downward journey, with a cascade of
Water dashing over our heads, and the darkness made
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. 97
more dense by the feeble light of our two Davy lamps.
However, every journey has an end, and we reached the
bottom in safety. Mr Williams and a volunteer miner
followed, and joined us at the bottom of the pit. All the
passages were filled with an explosive atmosphere of fire-
damp mixed with air, so we had to regulate our pace by
that of the current of air driven down by the cascade of
water. There was no difficulty in doing this, because
when we went too fast the fire-damp burned inside the
Davy lamps. The effect of the explosion had been
terrific, and the flame must have burnt some time in the
passages, for their walls were coked to a depth of a
quarter of an inch. Even during our inspection the
hissing of the fire-damp from the pores of the coal was
an unpleasant sound. An inspection under such circum-
stances could not be exhaustive, but we made it as
complete as possible. On returning to the shaft we were
again drawn up by the loops in the rope, the most
uncomfortable saddle on which I ever rode. At the top
we found three miners in working dress, who told us
that they had made ready to search for our bodies, as
they did not expect us to come up alive. This was an
uncomfortable assurance, but it was made in a brave
and kindly spirit.
At that time the composition of fire-damp was not
accurately known, so I determined to collect specimens of
it from various mines after making the necessary apparatus
on my return to London. I succeeded in obtaining a
good many specimens, and published the analyses of them
in the ‘Records of the School of Mines.' The main part
consisted, as was well known, of hydrogen carbide, but it
is always mixed with nitrogen, a small proportion of
carbonic acid being occasionally present.
As I shall not have occasion to speak of mines again, I
may as well say that the knowledge of them thus acquired
stood me in good stead many years afterwards. A great
strike of colliers was imminent in the Newcastle district in
a period of depression, when its effects would have been
serious to the poor miners. Masters and men agreed to
H
98 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
submit the dispute to my arbitration. At that time I was
in Brittany, but I at once returned, and had the happiness
to make an award which averted the strike,
It will be seen that my work was drifting into applied
science. Public work with little reference to science was
constantly forced upon me. Thus I had to report on the
foul state of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, and to suggest
emedies. A more important inquiry, and one which
proved to be the last straw to break the back of the
protective duties on corn, engaged my attention. In the
autumn of 1845 the potato rot spread rapidly in Ireland,
and engaged the anxious attention of Sir Robert Peel's
Government. The Prime Minister wished to consult me
upon the chances of the famine, and invited me to pay a
visit at Drayton Manor. On the day after my arrival we
walked in the garden and discussed the chances of a
Serious famine. I gave a gloomy opinion, as the Irish at
that time lived chiefly on the potato, and there was little
variation of crops to take its place. He told me that he
shared my apprehensions, and desired to know the true
Condition of the potato disease, in order to concert proper
measures for the relief of the people. He asked whether
I would go over to Ireland, and desired me to name two
men in whom I had confidence, to act on a Commission of
Inquiry. At luncheon I named Professor Lindley, the
eminent botanist, and Sir Robert Kane, the head of
Queen's College at Cork, author of the ‘Industrial
Resources of Ireland.' I went up to London the same
afternoon to see Lindley, and next day we started for
Ireland. I told Sir Robert Peel before leaving Drayton
Manor that I had no hope of suggesting any remedy for
the disease, and that all I really expected to attain was a
true estimate as to its magnitude, and as to its future
consequences on the population. He stated that he did
not expect more, but desired that I should write to him
daily as to the information which we collected. It is
clear now why this was urgent.
It was impossible, if a famine were imminent, that high
protective duties on the food of the people should be
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. 99
maintained, and Sir Robert Peel was then in the act of
forming that high resolve, the crowning glory of his life,
that he would abandon all the old traditions of the
Conservative party of which he was the leader, and
accept the views of the Anti-Corn Law League that the
bread of the people should be untaxed. The Commission
of Inquiry did little to stay the progress of the disease,
although the constabulary reported that our recommenda-
tions for storing the potatoes led to a lessening of the
rapidity with which they were attacked. But we
obtained too full confirmation of the disastrous character
of the famine, and held out no hope that the results on
the population would be less severe than had been
anticipated. Indeed, these anticipations were too
sanguine. I attended a committee of the Cabinet on
my return, and I mentiomed my fears that the gravity
of the situation was scarcely realised by its members.
Sir James Graham, the Home Secretary, interrupted me
by saying, “The gravity not realised I believe that
Ireland will be decimated by the famine !” I replied,
“Your estimate justifies my remark, for if you add forced
emigration to actual deaths by starvation and disease, deci-
mation does not represent the loss of population which
will be the result of the famine.” Unhappily, this
was not exaggerated. The population of Ireland was
then 8,250,000, and by the census of 1851 it had fallen
to 6,552,385. -
It has often been brought as an accusation against Sir
Robert Peel that he was slow to recognise the magnitude
of the calamity. The following letter to me before I left
Ireland shows that he did not lose a single day after the
facts were established.
Sir Robert Peel to Playfair sº WHITE HALL, 29th October, 1845.
MY DEAR SIR,--I am indeed sorry that you are
compelled to make so unfavourable a report, but the
knowledge of the whole truth is one element of security.
I lost not a moment in directing that by the first
opportunities instruction should be given to the effect you
IOO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
suggest to the several consular authorities in the Mediter-
ranean, Portugal, Spain, etc.
* - Very truly yours,
Dr Lyon Playfair. ROBERT PEEL.
One week later, the 6th of November, Sir Robert Peel
proposed to his Cabinet to open all the ports for the
admission of grain at a small duty. The Cabinet rejected
his advice, and the responsibility of delay rests upon the
other Ministers.
The famine was not an unmixed evil to Ireland. A large
portion of the population then lived mainly on potatoes,
and in such a diet there was not a sufficient supply of
flesh formers for a full day's work. Four ounces of flesh
formers are required for that purpose, and to obtain it
from potatoes alone nearly Io lb. must be consumed. In
bulk this is beyond the capacity of the human stomach.
At the most 5 lb. formed a full diet, and thus an
Irishman's labour, fed on potatoes, was worth only half
the wages of a well-fed workman. In reality their wages
then did not exceed one shilling per day. The famine
destroyed their reliance on the potato as a staple food,
and compelled the Irish to live on more nutritious kinds of
diet. Then they became capable of giving more labour,
and their wages rose in a corresponding degree. As the
population lessened, the production of potatoes per acre
decreased. Before the famine I constantly found the
produce to be six or seven tons per acre, and perhaps the
average produce was about five tons. At the present day
the average produce of potatoes in Ireland is only half
that, or 2% tons. . The reason for the decline is curious.
It is a canon in agriculture that the best manure for any
crop is the refuse of the animal which lives upon it, because
all the mineral ingredients taken away by the crop are
returned in due proportion to the soil. When the Irish
lived on potatoes they manured the land with their
household refuse. But when the people emigrated they
took their manurial value with them, and the diminished
population did not supply sufficient manure for the crops.
^4 + \º ſº.
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a *, *. * * #
*: & ... *.*
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. IOI
In Great Britain the deficiency is supplied by the
importation of foreign manures, but in Ireland this is not
done. Consequently, though the crop of potatoes in Great
Britain remains as large as it was before the year of famine,
that of Ireland has lessened to half the former amount.
In the year 1846 I was married to Miss Margaret
Oakes, the daughter of Mr Oakes of Riddings House, near
Alfreton, at whose works Bunsen and I made our in-
vestigation into the chemical operations of blast furnaces
for the production of iron. Unhappily, my wife died a
few years after our marriage, leaving two children. The
younger of these is now Major George Playfair of the
Royal Artillery, and the elder, Jessie, first married Captain
Peel, who was the son of Mr Peel, long Member of Parlia-
ment for Tamworth. He was cousin to Sir Robert Peel,
the Prime Minister, to whom I have had so many occa-
sions to refer. Some years after Captain, Peel's death my
daughter married Colonel, now General, Robert Macgregor
Stewart, C.B., A.D.C. to the Queen.
The British Association met at Southampton this year
(1846), and was attended by the illustrious Danish
philosopher, Oersted, who divides with Faraday the glory
of establishing the science of electro-magnetism. Oersted
made the original discovery, which he announced in the
following words:–“There is always a magnetic circula-
tion round the electric conductor, and the electric
element, in accordance with a certain law, always
exercises determined and similar impressions on the
direction of the magnetic needle, even when it does not
pass through the needle, but near it.” In this pregnant
sentence lies the origin of the electric telegraph. Oersted
was a man of peculiar fascination, being a poet as well as
a philosopher. He was forty-two years older than
myself, but we formed a warm friendship, and he
corresponded with me during the few remaining years of
his life. He invited me to visit Copenhagen, so as to take
part in his jubilee in November, 1850, for the celebration
of his fiftieth year in connection with the University, and
he died in the spring of the following year.
IO2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
It may be interesting here to quote a letter which I
wrote to Mr James Young in 1847, because it led to the
establishment of one of the greatest of industries—that of
petroleum and its products.
26, CASTELNAU VILLAs, BARNES, SURREY.
Playſair to Mr J.ames Y.oung. 3rd December, 1847.
MY DEAR YOUNG,-You know that mineral naphtha
is a rare natural product, no spring of it occurring in this
country, all being imported from the Continent or Persia.
Lately a spring of this valuable product has been
discovered on an estate belonging to my brother-in-law
(Mr Oakes), near Alfreton, Derbyshire. It yields at
present about 300 gallons daily. The naphtha is about
the consistence of thin treacle, and with one distillation it
gives a clear, colourless liquid of brilliant illuminating
power. It dissolves caoutchouc easily. My brother
intends to set up stills for it immediately; but, as they are
iron masters, this would be a separate industry, so I have
advised them, if possible, to sell the naphtha in the crude
state to chemical manufacturers, and thus avoid carrying
on an industry foreign to their occupation. Does this
possibly come within the province of your works If it
do, I will send you a gallon for examination. Perhaps
you could make a capital thing out of this new industry,
and enable my friends to do the same. You are aware
that naphtha is now largely used for adding to the
illuminating power of gas, and that the tar residue is a
valuable product.
Mr Young contracted to take all the product of this
spring, out of which he manufactured illuminating oils and
lubricating oil. One cold day Mr Young brought to me
the oil in a turbid condition, to ask the cause of the
cloudiness. It was obvious that it was due to the then
rare substance called paraffin. He extracted enough, at
my suggestion, to make two candles, with which I lighted
my desk at the Royal Institution during a lecture on
petroleum and its products. These two candles, which
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. IO3
then cost about twenty shillings each, are the fathers of
the great paraffin industry, and of the cheap candles now
found in every house, just as the small spring of naphtha
in Derbyshire became the parent of the gigantic petroleum
industry all over the world. At the Glasgow Exhibition of
1888, Young's Paraffin Oil Company had a large display,
in which they showed the original letter given above, with
a bust of myself by Brodie in paraffin I My friend Young
made—as he richly deserved to do—a large fortune out of
the industry.
From 1847 to 1849 my life was that of a professor in
the Royal School of Mines, with little incident. It is true
that even in these years the Government required my
services on Royal Commissions. In 1848-9 a serious
epidemic of cholera prevailed in the United Kingdom. I
offered myself as a volunteer to the overworked Board
of Health, and went to several large towns to organise
house-to-house visitations. After putting the town as
much as possible in a good sanitary condition, the civic
authorities were induced to divide the town into districts,
and to visit each house daily to ascertain whether there
were any premonitory symptoms of diarrhoea. The
visitor was entrusted with simple medicines to check
diarrhoea, and then reported the cases to the Health
Officer. Where these precautions were carried out the
cholera made little headway, and was shown to be a
disease which could be largely prevented, though it was
difficult to combat if it took root in a locality.
In 1848 I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, an
honour which is always appreciated by workers in Science.
This year, 1848, will be remembered for the revolutionary
disturbances in Europe. At one time it appeared as if
England would be drawn into the revolutionary whirlpool.
The great Chartist demonstration on the Ioth of April,
1848, was formidable. The Chartists assembled in
enormous numbers to march to the House of Commons
across Westminster Bridge, but the Duke of Wellington
had made such skilful arrangement of the troops,
although they were chiefly concealed from public view,
IO4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
that the Chartists recognised the fact that they were
defeated.
The late Lord Salisbury was then Aide-de-Camp to the
Duke, and he told me that when the Chartists began their
march he galloped in great anxiety to the Duke at the
Horse Guards, and found him reading the morning paper.
He lifted his head for a moment, and said, “How far are .
they now from the bridge 2 ” (Westminster Bridge).
Lord Salisbury replied, “One mile and a half, sir.” The
great Duke said, “Tell me when they are within one
quarter of a mile,” and he became absorbed in his paper.
The Marquis of Salisbury went back to observe. When
the procession reached the appointed distance he galloped
back to the Horse Guards, and again found the iron Duke
quietly reading. “Well ?” said the Duke. Lord Salis-
bury reported that the procession was breaking up, and
that only small detached bodies of Chartists were crossing
the bridge. “Exactly what I expected,” said the Duke,
and returned to his paper. Immense preparations,
however, had been made for that day. Many thousand
civilians were sworn in as special constables, and furnished
with batons. Even the future Napoleon III. was enrolled
as a private constable. Sir Henry de la Beche and I
were ordered to patrol Whitehall, and to pass through
Scotland Yard to the Strand. We felt the absurdity of
having to take charge of the headquarters of the police, so
we concealed our batons under our coats. Our orders
were peremptory that we were to take into custody
any persons carrying arms. We met a pretty nursemaid
with a child of four years of age carrying a drum and tin
sword, and, much to the amusement of the former, as well
as of the police, we took them into police headquarters.
After that we received permission to withdraw from our
absurd patrol.
In 1848, and for some years previously, I eked out a
small income by writing leaders for various newspapers,
and used to write for the ‘Morning Chronicle,' the ‘Daily
News,' and the ‘Athenaeum.' The ‘Daily News’ was an
energetic paper, and had acquired much celebrity for its
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. IO5
early Continental news. It had already an efficient
correspondent in Paris, but its editor thought I might be
useful in gathering information during the great week of
insurrection and hard fighting in June, 1848. The fighting
had been going on for two days before I started for Paris
with some friends. We were stopped at Amiens, as all
, trains were taken up by troops hastening to Paris.
However, we made friends with a general, and went up
with a long train filled with troops, who sang patriotic
Songs all through the day. On approaching Paris we
heard rumours that the station was in possession of the
insurgents, and that artillery was in position to fire on the
train. The train, therefore, proceeded cautiously until the
rumour was found to be false. Strangers could get little
view of the fighting during its course, because the sentinels
would not let them approach near the contested parts of
Paris. In fact, my visit would have proved without
incident had it not been for an accident. I had gone
across the Seine in the afternoon to inquire of an English
lady, who was married to a French officer, whether she
had news of her husband, who was attached to the staff of
General Cavaignac. As it became dark before my return,
the sentinels at the bridge refused to allow me to pass.
Ultimately, an officer of high rank gave me the requisite
permission. I had heard musketry firing in the Place
du Carrousel, which I had to traverse on my way to
the Hôtel Meurice. The cellars of the Tuileries had been
overcrowded with prisoners, who were being removed,
when they seized the piled-up muskets of the soldiers and
tried to escape. The former were soon shot.
All the streets leading out of the Place had lines of
sentinels across them, and in trying to pass one of these I
was arrested and taken to the guardhouse. The officers
there were polite, and brought me coffee, and stated that
they would represent my detention to the general on his
arrival. The latter, however, was more suspicious of my
intentions than his officers, and was inclined to treat me
as an insurgent. I was told to shut my hands, and then
to open them, but they did not smell of gunpowder.
Ioé MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Fortunately, I had a letter in my pocket from Lord
Palmerston to the English Ambassador which I had not
delivered. I handed this to the general, who, luckily,
could not read English, for the subject of the letter was to
ask the ambassador to assist me in finding out what was
the composition of the “boulet asphyxien.” of the French
army. The letter was viewed as a credential, and a guard
was given me to take me in safety to the hotel.
For the week that we were in Paris the only meat at
the hotels consisted of horseflesh, though I do not think
any of the guests knew this at the time. Except that I
got a good knowledge as to how barricades are built, and
how excited a population becomes in an insurrection, I
learned few lessons in Paris.
In the year 1848 I used frequently to meet Louis Blanc,
and, like all who knew him, admired his honesty and
simplicity of character. One day I found him highly
excited. He had been summoned to Brighton by
telegraph to See an important person who might be
able to do good to France. With him he had a very
satisfactory interview, and engaged to meet him that
night in Leicester Square at the hotel of the “Prince de
Galles.” This personage was Louis Napoleon.
On going to the hotel, considerable delay was shown in
admitting Louis Blanc to the room of the Prince, and
during the period of his waiting many persons saw and
conversed with the well-known Republican. At last, on
his being admitted, the Prince talked vague generalities
altogether different from the conversation at Brighton.
Louis Blanc saw that he had been duped, because the
purpose of this public visit was to show that there was an
understanding between the Prince and the leaders of the
active Republicans, so as to secure the votes of the latter
in the pending election of the President. Louis Blanc
told me that he expressed his indignation in no measured
terms, but the astute Prince simply smiled at the success
tº of his trick.
Little of any interest took place in 1849 to which I need
allude, but in 1850 circumstances occurred which plunged
BEGINNING OF LONDON LIFE. Io/
me again into public work, and ultimately withdrew me
from my position as a professor.
Very few additions need be made to this chapter of
Playfair's Reminiscences. He had entered upon the full
service of the State, and was now, as he has told us,
constantly employed in connection with public inquiries
relating either to the practical application of science to
agriculture or other national industries, or to the improve-
ment of our sanitary system. Even at the Museum of
Geology he discovered that he could render service in the
latter field, and we find him in correspondence with Sir
Henry de la Beche on the subject of the water supply of
Liverpool as early as 1846. --
“The whole matter of the supply of water,” wrote De
la Beche, “is the application of geology and chemistry to
the useful purposes of life, and we could prevent much
public loss by attention to it. This inquiry (the water
supply of Liverpool) is precisely the thing that the
combined efforts of the Geological Survey and the
Museum may be brought to bear upon ; and if it be
altogether rejected by us, the power of showing the good
that we could effect in this way may be long postponed.”
Every day made it clearer to Playfair that his work
lay in this practical application of science to the manifold
wants of the community. -
During Playfair's visit to Ireland, for the purpose of
collecting information with regard to the potato famine,
he received several letters from Sir Robert Peel, all
written throughout by Peel himself, and affording proof of
the intense interest which the Prime Minister felt in the
condition of the distressed country. The letter in which
Peel accepted Playfair's advice as to the action to be
taken has been printed on a previous page. Peel was,
however, anxious to have a personal conference with him.
Io8 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
Sir Robert Peel to Playfair • WHITEHALL, November Ioth, 1845,
MY DEAR SIR,-Will you be good enough, on the
receipt of this letter, to see Sir Thomas Fremantle, and
ascertain whether it is the wish of the Lord-Lieutenant
that you should remain in Dublin for any longer period.
If it is not, I think you had better repair to London
without delay for the purpose of reporting to Sir James
Graham, or to me, for the information of the Government,
the result of your observations in the country parts of
Ireland, and your latest impressions with regard to the
present state of the potato crop, and the prospects for the
future. We are to have an interview with Professor
Lindley this day. Mr Twistleton will not leave London
before Saturday next, and you may, therefore, unless the
Lord-Lieutenant wishes you to remain in Ireland, have the
opportunity, by returning to London, of personally
communicating with me on various matters before his
departure. *
Believe me, my dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,
ROBERT PEEL.
CHAPTER VI.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION.
Becoming a Publicist—Playfair's Work as a Special Commissioner of the
I851 Exhibition. AUTobiography : Introduced to the Prince Consort
by Sir Robert Peel : Sir Henry Cole : Preparing a New Classification
for the Exhibition: A Tour through the Manufacturing Districts:
Sir Joseph Paxton: The Exhibition opened : Superintending the
Awards of the Juries: The Exhibitor and the Queen: The Com-
missioners received by Louis Napoleon : Appointed a C.B. and a
Gentleman Usher to Prince Albert : The Crystal Palace: An Episcopal
Objection to Undraped Statues. Correspondence with the Prince
Consort—Investing the Exhibition Surplus—Playfair's Part in the
Negotiations—The Scheme described—Appointed Secretary of the
Science and Art Department—Organising the Royal College of
Science—A Member of the Athenaeum.
IN the year 1850 Playfair entered definitely upon that
which was to be, in many respects, the leading work of his
lifetime. Up to this point, although he had been brought
into contact with men so eminent as Sir Robert Peel, as
well as with the leading men of science of his time, his
work had been confined to his own special branch of
study, and it was as a man of science only that he was
known to the public. But the impression he had made
upon Sir Robert Peel was not that of the mere student
and investigator of scientific facts. The great statesman
had discovered that Playfair was, above all things, a
practical man ; that he possessed tact in a degree quite
unusual, not only among men of science, but among men
of the world; that he was clear-headed, industrious, a
master of detail, and an enthusiast in any task he
I IO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
undertook. Above all, Sir Robert Peel had found that
Playfair possessed a wonderful power of surnaounting
difficulties that would have proved formidable to most
men. It was these qualities, even more than his
undoubted learning in chemistry, that brought Playfair,
in the year 1850, into the full service of the public.
This was the year when the Great Exhibition of 1851–
in many respects the greatest of all exhibitions—was in
active preparation. In the next instalment which I shall
give of Playfair's own Reminiscences, the story of that
Exhibition and of his connection with it will be told by
himself. But the narrative is incomplete in many
respects. Above all, it is incomplete in its failure to do
justice to the extent of the services which the writer
rendered in bringing the great enterprise to a successful
issue. The Exhibition of 1851 was not an incident that,
having attracted the attention of the world for a few
months, passed forthwith into oblivion. It was the
starting-point in the modern history of English manufac-
tures and arts. Even more was it the starting-point in
scientific education in this country. Not only did it give
an enormous impetus to the movement in favour of the
reform of our industrial methods, but it furnished means
by which that movement has since been carried forward
with a success that has revolutionised our system of
technical instruction. “The Commissioners of the 1851
Exhibition” is a phrase which is now familiar to every-
body, and it is one that is associated with the origin and
development of some of our most important institutions
for practical teaching. The 1851 Commissioners may
almost be called the “good fairies" who have secured for
English industry and English art the position which they
now hold in the world. From 1850 down to 1895
Playfair was constantly associated with the labours of this
body. More than almost any other man, he represented
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. III
its spirit and helped on its work. Before the story of
his life is brought to a close, the reader will see how
important and valuable were the services which he
rendered to the Commissioners, and through the Commis-
sioners to the public at large. It is no exaggeration to
say that after 1850 this was, upon the whole, the most
useful of all the tasks to which Playfair devoted his
superabundant energy and his unique talents.
I shall leave him to tell for himself the story of the
manner in which he first became connected with the
project of the Great Exhibition. It is only necessary at
this point to touch upon its important bearing upon his
own career. The first consequence of his new position as
a member of the Commission for the Exhibition was to
bring him into close contact with the Prince Consort.
Playfair has done justice in his own writings to the
exalted mind of a prince whose character and services his
adopted country has not even yet fully appreciated. But
it was not only with the Prince Consort that Playfair was
brought in contact by his work in connection with the
Exhibition. Lord Granville, who, as President of the
Board of Trade, played a conspicuous part in the great
enterprise, was thrown into close association with him, and
between the two men a warm friendship sprang up, which
only ended with death. Many eminent politicians of both
parties were associated with the preparations for the
Exhibition, and Playfair's circle of acquaintances in 1850
thus became greatly enlarged. In short, he emerged from
the relative obscurity of a man of science engaged in the
work of a public department, and came into the full blaze
of light that beats upon those men who are actively
engaged in national affairs of the widest interest. It
is time, however, to give Playfair's own account of the
Great Exhibition, and his share in its success.
II 2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—V.
1850 to 1851.
GREAT preparations were now being made for the Great
Exhibition, which was to open in May, 1851. I had
nothing to do with the inception or original preparations
for this undertaking. Various persons claim the merit of
suggesting that an Exhibition which was at first started as
one for national industries should be made international,
and embrace the manufactures of all nations. My own
belief is that the suggestion originated with the Prince
Consort in consultation with Sir Henry Cole. The
Society of Arts organised a committee to carry it out, the
active members being Sir H. Cole, Sir Wentworth Dilke,
Mr Fuller, and Mr Scott Russell, the eminent naval
architect and engineer. It was soon found that the
undertaking was too great for management by the Society
of Arts, and a Royal Commission was issued containing
the most eminent statesmen of both political parties.
Outside this Commission there was an executive com-
mittee, chiefly composed of the men already mentioned
as having been selected by the Society of Arts. I was not
a member of either body, and only interested myself in
the great undertaking as one of the general public. The
industrial classes hung back, and did not give it that
Support which was absolutely necessary for its success.
The Government became anxious, as the Prince Consort
was deeply pledged for its success, and the Queen was
naturally uneasy. The Prime Minister, Lord John Russell,
had anxious consultations with his colleagues, and Lord
Granville was deputed to enter into negotiations with me
to become “Special Commissioner” and a member of the
Executive Committee.
The purpose of this appointment was to have a member
of the Executive in attendance at the meetings of the
Royal Commission, so as to keep the Consultative Com-
mission and the Executive en rapport. I pointed out how
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. II 3
difficult it would be to work under such an arrangement,
as it would lead to perpetual jealousies. I had another
objection, that it would remove me for two years from my
scientific duties, and would probably change my whole
course in life, by making me a public man rather than a
scientific professor. These objections received the support
of Sir Henry de la Beche, my immediate chief, and of all
the body of professors at the School of Mines, who did
not wish their educational course to be weakened by my
withdrawal. Lord Granville, whom I then knew for the
first time, but who afterwards became my valued friend,
was much disappointed at the failure of his negotiations.
Sir Robert Peel, who was a general supporter of the
Government, and very anxious for the success of the
Exhibition, then urged that he had a claim upon my
services, on account of our past relations. This was an
argument which I could not resist, as I owed everything
to his kindness. He then took me to the Prince Consort,
expressing his entire confidence in me, and assuring the
Prince that he would find me able to carry out the
duties which were proposed. I had only on one previous
occasion seen the Prince Consort. His Royal Highness
had invented a method of infiltration for sewage, so as to
keep back the fertile ingredients and allow the effluent
water to pass away. Sir Robert Peel had advised
the Prince, before publishing this invention, to explain
it to me, and to be guided by my opinion as to
its merits. This interview had taken place before these
negotiations about the Exhibition, and I fancy now
that this reference to me was chiefly to let the Prince
See the man who, the Government and Sir Robert
, thought, should be engaged to co-operate with him in
the difficult task of carrying out a great International
Exhibition.
At our second interview the Prince explained all the
difficulties which were then experienced, and his con-
fidence that they could be surmounted if the Royal
Commission had the aid of a member of the Executive in
whom they had entire confidence. I again pointed out
I
II4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR
how difficult it would be for me to be in a different
position from the other members of the Executive, but
placed myself at the disposal of the Royal President.
I made a condition with Sir Robert Peel that if I
accepted office he would permit me to consult him in
any serious difficulties. Many of these occurred, and he
encouraged me to visit him. Some of them were with the
large manufacturing communities, which desired their own
conditions, not always in the interests of the public. On
these occasions Sir Robert Peel and Lord Granville used
to be present at the deputations, and aided much by their
tact and sagacity in meeting or refusing these requests.
On the morning of the 27th of June, 1850, I had a long
interview with Sir Robert Peel on the affairs of the
Exhibition, and in the afternoon all England knew of the
accident which led to the speedy death of that great man,
perhaps the greatest Parliamentarian that England ever
had. I mourned with the public, but I had also to mourn
the loss of one who had long honoured me with his
friendship. -
The mainspring of the Exhibition from first to last was
Sir Henry Cole. He was a man of remarkable energy
and ability, and had no other object in regard to any work
in which he was engaged than the best method of ensuring
its success. He has often been accused of working with
selfish motives. Never was an accusation more un-
founded. The public good was always the uppermost—I
might almost say the only—motive in his mind. He was
constantly misjudged, because his modes of work were not
always on the surface. If he came to an obstacle, it was
his delight to tunnel under it in secret, and unexpectedly
come out at the other side. His purposes were, therefore,
not unfrequently misunderstood, and when I joined the
Executive there was much want of confidence between it
and the Royal Commission. This was unjust to Cole,
with whom I was constantly associated to the end of
his life, and for whom I had a sincere respect.
When I joined the Executive of the Exhibition, Sir
Henry Cole scarcely knew me, and, like the other
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. II5
members, was naturally displeased that I was placed in a
position of confidence superior to theirs. On the second
day after my appointment, I met Sir Henry Cole in
Whitehall, at the door of the Home Office. He told me
frankly that he was going to see the Secretary of State to
resign his connection with the Exhibition, and that his
letter of resignation was then in his pocket. I took his
arm, and walked up and down Whitehall. On asking him
whether he believed the ship was sinking, and that the
Exhibition would be a total failure, he frankly admitted
that he did, as the state of indifference of the manu-
facturing districts rendered failure almost certain. I then
urged that as he was the real pilot of the vessel, it was a
wrong act to desert the sinking ship. The country could
be aroused to the importance of the undertaking, and my
work could be well separated from his, for I intended to
visit the chief manufacturing centres, in order to create
a public opinion in its support. Our conversation was
mutually satisfactory, and we walked to the Exhibition
office together, and his letter of resignation was destroyed.
Had the accidental meeting not taken place, the Great
Exhibition would never have been held, for its mainspring
would have been broken. After this interview, if
jealousies still continued, none were ever shown, for all
the members of the Executive worked loyally to bring the
undertaking to a successful issue. - -
The classification of the intended Exhibition when I
joined it was the following:—
1. The Raw Materials of industry.
2. The Manufactures made from them.
3. The Art employed to adorn them.
The philosophical mind of the Prince Consort held
tenaciously to this classification. I, however, strongly
urged that, though it was philosophical, it was not
practical, and that its theoretical character was, perhaps,
the chief cause of the want of sympathy between the
promoters and the manufacturers. All the classes of
objects to be displayed ran into each other in every
II6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
manufacture. Iron ore, for instance, was the raw material
for cast iron, while the latter was the raw material for all
industries in iron. I prepared, with great labour, a new
classification by dividing manufactures into twenty-nine
classes, each of which were subdivided into subsections
representing the distinct industries. This classification
was submitted to leading manufacturers in all the classes,
and was revised according to their criticisms. By it we
were enabled to see, as the work progressed, whether
the Exhibition was deficient in certain industries, and
the gaps were filled up by writing to producers.
This classification, the first attempted of industrial work,
met with great success, and had the good fortune to be
highly commended by Whewell and Babbage, both masters
in classification. Ultimately, it was thoroughly adopted
by the Prince Consort and the Royal Commission. It had
still to be approved by the foreign Commissions. France
alone made some objections, as the French Commission
had drawn out a logical and philosophical classification for
itself. In discussing the two classifications with the
French Commission, I pointed out that the best must be
the one which the manufacturers could most readily
understand, and I suggested that we should fix upon any
common object, and see who could most quickly find it in
an appropriate division. My French colleague had a
handsome walking-stick in his hand, and proposed that
this should be the test. Turning to my class of “Miscel-
laneous objects,” under the subsection “Objects for
personal use,” I readily found a walking-stick. The
French Commissioner searched his logical classification for
a long time in vain, but ultimately found the familiar
object under a subsection, “Machines for the propagation
of direct motion.” He laughed heartily, and agreed to
work under the English classification.
The new classification was sent to all the leading
manufacturers in the United Kingdom, and produced a
marked change in favour of the Exhibition. They now
* knew the nature and the objects of the undertaking, and
began to prepare for taking part in it. I followed this
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 117
up by making an extensive tour through all the manu-
facturing districts. I used to call on the leading manu-
facturers, and, after having secured their co-operation, a
meeting was summoned of the civic authorities, the
Members of Parliament for the district, and the manu-
facturers, to give a full explanation of the purposes of the
Exhibition, and to remove the difficulties which they
might experience. Lancashire hung back, but Cobden
came to my rescue, and was of material assistance in
producing a better feeling. This was my first introduction
to this great statesman, of whom I used to see a good deal
in the remaining years of his life. Like everyone who
knew him, I was much impressed by his singleness of
purpose and his tact in overcoming difficulties. These
conferences soon created the public support so necessary
for the success of the Great Exhibition. :
Innumerable difficulties had yet to be removed, in spite
of the personal attention which the Prince Consort gave
to the work of the Royal Commission. The Government
provided no funds, and the amount of subscriptions was
ridiculously small. Sir Henry Cole proposed a guarantee
fund of a large amount, to enable us to erect the necessary
buildings and to meet the large expenses of preparation.
Mr Morton Peto (afterwards made a baronet) commenced
the fund by a bold signature for £50,000. We then took
this paper to the Prince Consort, who said that he would
sign for £20,000 if the members of the Executive
individually showed their faith in the undertaking by
attaching their signatures, which we did for £1,000 each.
After that the guarantee fund grew so rapidly that there
were no further difficulties in the way of finance, for the
Bank of England supplied us with money on the security
of the signatures.
I am not writing, however, a history of the Exhibition,
but only an account of my personal connection with it.
One of our difficulties was in regard to the building. Sir
Joseph Paxton had been called into consultation, and
proposed a palace of iron and glass. There were,
however, difficulties as to this, the main one being that in
II.8 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the centre of the ground in Hyde Park devoted to the
building there were three large trees which the Commis-
Sioners of Woods and Forests would not allow to be cut
down. I had spent the greater part of the day at
Buckingham Palace with the Prince Consort, examining
the plans for the building, when Paxton proposed to
obviate the difficulty of the trees by throwing a gigantic
dome over them. The question arose whether this would
kill the trees, and I offered to drive to Turnham Green,
where Lindley, the botanist, resided, to obtain his opinion.
This was distinctly favourable to Paxton's proposal, and
on returning in the evening to the Palace this great
feature of the Exhibition building was finally arranged.
It was reared with wonderful rapidity, and people began
to believe that the Great Exhibition would be at last
realised. - -
But even then the croakers would not cease to frighten
the public. Alarms which now seem puerile and absurd
were seriously entertained, and had to be dissipated.
The great influx of people frcm abroad was to produce
frightful epidemics — perhaps black death, certainly
cholera. The large immigration of foreigners, on the
pretence of seeing the Exhibition, was to be used as a
conspiracy to seize London and sack the great capital.
Our industries were to be destroyed by a taste for foreign
goods being created, and England's future greatness was
to be imperilled to gratify the wish of the foreign Prince
who had married the Queen. When the Prince Consort
should have been most popular for his unremitting
exertions to bring his great conception to a successful
issue, he had to encounter the hostility of the aristocracy
and the absurd alarms of the middle classes. A literary
squib which appeared in a provincial paper helped to allay
these foolish fears. The Exhibition was far advanced, the
objects were being arranged in their cases, and a few days
only had to elapse before the State Opening, when a new
scare arose. This was that the three large trees in the
dome harboured so many sparrows that all the rich goods
displayed would be spoiled by them. The provincial
THE GREAT ExHIBITION. II9
journal to which I alluded gave the following amusing
Satire on the final scare :-
“The Prince Consort was in the breakfast-room at Buckingham
Palace, moody and unhappy, when the Queen asked the cause of
his woe. He explained that after innumerable difficulties had been
removed, the sparrows had appeared in such numbers in the
Exhibition as to destroy all hope of displaying valuable goods.
The Queen then asked whether the Prince Consort had consulted
Playfair, and was assured that he had no advice to offer. There-
upon she suggested that Lord John Russell should be sent for. On
his arrival at Buckingham Palace, the Prince Consort explained the
difficulties in regard to the sparrows, and his lordship at once
suggested that her Majesty's Guards should be sent into the
building to shoot them. The Prince pointed out that this was an
unpractical suggestion, as the result must be that the palace of
glass would be destroyed. Lord John Russell then suggested that
Lord Palmerston should be called into consultation. When that
great statesman arrived he smiled at the difficulty, and proposed
that birdlime should be put on the branches of the trees. The
Prince Consort observed that this proposal was equally useless,
because the sparrows no longer roosted on the trees, but preferred
sitting on the iron girders of the building. Lord John Russell and
Lord Palmerston now withdrew for a consultation, and finally
recommended that the Duke of Wellington should be summoned.
A messenger was accordingly despatched to Apsley House, and
found that great warrior and statesman in the act of leaving home
for the Horse Guards. The Iron Duke was annoyed at being
summoned for such an object, and wrote the following letter:—
“Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington presents his humble duty
to her Majesty. The Duke of Wellington has the honour to be
Commander-in-Chief to her Majesty's Forces, but the Duke of
Wellington is not a bird catcher.” The Duke had no sooner sent
the letter than he repented, and, mounting his horse, overtook the
messenger, and, taking back his letter, presented himself at
Buckingham Palace. The Queen received him with effusion, and
the Prince Consort recovered from his despondency. The three
Privy Councillors withdrew for a consultation, and on their return
the Duke of Wellington oracularly uttered the word, “Sparrow-
hawks.” In the meantime the sparrows had sent out Scouts.
When they heard that Lord John Russell had been summoned they
twittered, and seemed to be amused. When Lord Palmerston
went they showed signs of anxiety, but ultimately flew about as
usual. When their scouts informed them that the Duke of
Wellington had gone to the Palace, all the sparrows congregated in
the tree nearest to the door, and as soon as the advice of sparrow-
I2O. MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
hawks was communicated they flew in a body out of the door, and
the Exhibition was never again troubled with their presence.”
This jeu d'esprit was the end of our panics, and in a few
days the Great Exhibition was opened in state. -
There are still many living who recollect that magnifi-
cent ceremony. The dais upon which the Queen and
Royal Family stood with their suite was behind the
crystal fountain. The trees in full leaf under the high
dome, the brilliant uniforms of the Commissioners of all
nations, and the vast crowd which filled the entire
Exhibition, formed a 'sight not to be forgotten by those
who witnessed it, and familiar to the present generation
from numerous engravings. A large choir led by Dr
Wylde sang “God Save the Queen’’ and the “Hallelujah
Chorus.” The latter was most impressive, and during it
a strange incident occurred. A Chinaman, dressed in
magnificent robes, suddenly emerged from the crowd and
prostrated himself before the throne. Who he was
nobody knew. He might possibly be the Emperor of
China himself who had come secretly to the ceremony,
but it was certain that he was not in the programme of
the procession, and we who were in charge of the
ceremony did not know where to place His Celestial
Highness. The Lord Chamberlain was equally perplexed,
and asked the Queen and the Prince Consort for instruc-
tions. We were then told that there must be no mistake
as to his rank, and that it would be best to place him
between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Duke of
Wellington. In this dignified position he marched
through the building, to the delight and amazement of all
beholders. Next day we ascertained that this Chinaman
was keeper of a Chinese junk that had been sent over to
lie in the River Thames, and which anyone could visit on
payment of a shilling ! . - -
There have been many Exhibitions since 1851, and all
have been opened with State pageants, but none has
ever impressed me with the magnificence of this first
Exhibition. Of course, it had the charm of novelty, and
this may have been the chief cause of the difference in
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I2 I
effect. My principal work after the opening of the
Exhibition was to superintend the awards of the juries. I
was entrusted with the organisation of the juries, which
consisted of men of all nations. The classes were
distributed into groups. A chairman was appointed to
each class, and a separate, distinguished chairman to each
group. The Chairmen of the Groups formed a Council,
which revised the decisions, and was a Court of Appeal.
The system worked easily, and there were few serious
difficulties, although there were necessarily some from the
conflicting national interests. I reserved to myself the
right to attend the meetings both of the juries and the
Council, but only did so when disputes arose, so that I
got nicknamed the “Stormy Petrel,” my presence in-
dicating that there was difficulty, which, however, was
always removed by tact and judgment.
The Queen and Prince Consort, with the Royal children,
were constant visitors to the Exhibition. Numerous
incidents of their visits are recalled to my memory. I will
only mention One of them. An engraver on glass had
spent two or three years on a jar which was divided into
compartments. He constantly asked me to draw the
attention of the Queen to his magnum opus. On one
occasion the Royal party passed his stall without stopping.
I saw that the exhibitor was in despair, and I asked Her
Majesty whether she would kindly go back, which she
graciously did. But the exhibitor had now lost all self-
possession, and was confused in explaining the meaning of
his engravings. To help him, the Queen pointed to a
compartment which represented a boy jumping out of a
boat to the land, while a large eye peered out of an
overhanging cloud. The Queen desired him to explain
what was meant. The reply was startling : “The boy,
madam, is the Prince of Wales, and the eye is the Eye of
God looking out with pleasure for the moment when His
Royal Highness will land on his kingdom and become the
reigning Sovereign l’’ The gentlemen in attendance were
aghast, but the Queen preserved her countenance till we
left the stall, when both she and the Prince Consort
I 22 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
laughed heartily. The latter told me that he only knew
one parallel incident. George IV had taken a fancy to a
beautiful but silly young lady, and had her frequently near
him. On asking her whether she was pleased with the
Court festivities, she replied that she was, but that she was
dying to see a coronation.
The children of the Royal Family were sent constantly
to the Exhibition as a place of instruction, and their visits
were so arranged that they should acquire some general
knowledge of manufactures. The present Empress
Frederick of Germany was then a particularly bright child,
and enjoyed her visits, and profited by them. The Prince
of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh were also constant
visitors, and took interest in what they saw. Perhaps the
lessons learned while a child have helped the Prince of
Wales to achieve his great success as President and
organiser of the various succeeding Exhibitions which
have been brought out under his direction.
In August (1851) the French Government invited the
Commissioners to Paris, where we were splendidly
entertained. The President, Louis Napoleon, gave a fête
at St. Cloud, when a singular incident occurred. The
Orangery was converted into a refreshment room, and the
guests, being hungry, were anxious that it should be
opened. Suddenly, and in breach of all discipline, the
soldiers broke into it and consumed the viands. I made
friends with one of the soldiers, and he handed me a fowl,
a bottle of champagne, and bread. I was returning with
this booty to share with some friends, when I met Lord
Granville, who told me it was all arranged, and that a
new lunch would be provided for us. I returned my
capture, and in due time another lunch made its
appearance. This was a singular bid for popularity among
the soldiers by the President, who before the end of the
year was to use the army in the coup d'état. The ſéte
was a brilliant one, and was scarcely marred by an
incident which at one time appeared to be destructive of
its success.
The visits of the Royal children to the Exhibition
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I23
naturally brought me into constant contact with them,
and laid the basis of that courteous and kindly feeling
which they have always since shown me. -
It is well known that the Great Exhibition was a
financial success, and that the surplus was about £180,000.
This was wisely invested in land at South Kensington
by the advice of the Prince Consort. It has increased
enormously in value. This land is still vested in the
Royal Commissioners who carried out the Exhibition, and
they have given sites on it to numerous public buildings.
Upon the land are built large galleries for museums and
pictures, and in addition to these are now built the South
Kensington Museum, the Natural History Museum, the
Government Schools of Science and Art, the Royal Albert
Hall, the Royal College of Music, the Imperial Institute,
the Alexandra Home for Female Students, the City and
Guilds of London Institute, the School of Art Needlework,
and other institutions.
When the Great Exhibition closed, the Government
offered me a Knighthood or the Companionship of the
Bath. I selected the latter. The French Government
also offered to make me Officer of the Legion of Honour,
but this honour I at that time declined, as I was in the
employment of the English Government.
The Prince Consort wrote the following letter:-
WINDSOR CASTLE.
The Prince Consort to Playfair. October 15th, 1851.
MY DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,--I had meant on this day to
present you with a gold medal as a remembrance of our
labours for the Exhibition which has this day been so
happily closed, but the medallist has disappointed me. I
have accordingly to do what you had to advise the
Commission to do with their prize medals—viz., to
announce that it will be forthcoming.
Colonel Reid has, upon his appointment to the governor-
ship of Malta, resigned the office of Gentleman Usher
which he held in my household. It would be very
pleasing to me if by your accepting the office my personal
I24 MEMOIRS OF LYON "PLAYFAIR.
connection with you should be continued. There are no
duties attached to the office, except occasional attendance
at the Queen's Levées and Drawing-Rooms, and the salary
is insignificant. You, therefore, must look on my offer
only as an expression of my sense of the ability and zeal
with which you have performed very important and
difficult duties.
Ever yours truly,
ALBERT.
I accepted this office in the household of the Prince
Consort. The duties were almost nominal, but the
attachment to his service gave me the privilege of being
frequently associated with this illustrious Prince in many
of the works which he undertook to promote education,
Science, and art. It was most agreeable to me to retain
an official connection with the Prince Consort, for whom I
entertained a sincere affection, as well as a profound
respect. In all my future intercourse with the Prince, I
never on any occasion saw him animated by a single
desire that was not connected with the public weal of that
country which he had thoroughly adopted as his own
when he married the Queen. I have been with him when
he was pained by his temporary unpopularity with the
nation, which has always shown itself intolerant of foreign
princes; but even then he never murmured against his
detractors, and felt confidence that the public would
ultimately do him justice. His memory is now held in
sacred esteem by all classes, but only those who had
the honour of his confidence can fully know the purity,
nobility, and simplicity of his character.
After the close of the Exhibition, very lively discussions
took place as to what should be done with the building.
A pamphlet appeared by “Denarius” strongly urging that
it should be kept in Hyde Park as a palace for the people.
It was obvious that the author of the pamphlet was Sir
Henry Cole, and while it was being discussed in the Royal
Commission, Lord Derby, the translator of the ‘Iliad,'
turned to me in the most innocent way, saying, “Playfair,
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I25
my classical education has been neglected. Could you
tell me whether ‘Denarius' is the Latin for coal *" In
spite of Sir Henry Cole's advocacy, the building was taken
down and transferred to Sydenham, where it formed the
materials for the Crystal Palace. That was built with
wonderful rapidity, and was opened in 1854. Although I
am advancing beyond the limits of date of this chapter, I
may say a few words in regard to the State opening.
Both the Queen and the Prince Consort took the liveliest .
interest in the new Crystal Palace. In carrying it out,
much attention was paid both to art and science. Copies
of the great statues all over the world were procured, and
in contrast with these beautiful forms an ethnological
collection of effigies of savages was distributed in various
parts of the building. Of course, in both cases the figures
were nude, and just before the opening a memorial,
signed by most of the bishops, was sent to the Queen
stating that they could not attend the State ceremony
unless all the nude statues and ethnological figures were
properly draped. The difficulty was formidable, on
account of the short period at the disposal of the
managers, so the Prince Consort asked me to call on
him, in order to get my advice as to whether the desires
of the bishops could be carried out within the time. I
ventured to suggest that the bishops might be asked for a
loan of their aprons during the ceremony . However, by
considerable exertion the statues in the line of the
procession were put into the primitive costume of Adam
and Eve, while others were dragged into obscure corners,
and the Crystal Palace was opened with a brilliant State
ceremony, in which the archbishops and bishops joined
without offence to their sense of modesty.
In order fully to understand Playfair's part in a memor-
able chapter of English history, it is necessary to supple-
ment his narrative by certain letters which indicate the
character and extent of his work as one of the main
agents in the management of the Great Exhibition. At
the outset he was brought, as I have already said, into close
I26 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
contact with many politicians of eminence, including Lord
Granville. His correspondence with Lord Granville was
in 1850 voluminous. There was hardly a point connected
with the constitution of the juries, the preparation of their
reports, and the manner in which their services were to
be recognised, that was not submitted by Lord Granville
to Playfair. But even more intimate and more constant
was the correspondence that was carried on between
Playfair and the Prince Consort. As he tells us in his
Reminiscences, part of his work in preparing for the
Exhibition was to visit the English manufacturing towns
in order to remove the misapprehension which prevailed
as to the purpose and scope of an enterprise which was at
that time wholly novel.
Colonel Grey to Playfair. OSBORNE, May 24th, 1850.
MY DEAR SIR,--I yesterday received your letter, and
you could understand on your return to London that the
removal of the Court was the cause of my delay in
answering it.
His Royal Highness completely concurs in all you say
—both as to the necessity of your completing your visits
to the principal English manufacturing towns, where the
greatest misapprehension exists as to the views of the Royal
Commission, previous to your going to Ireland; and also as
to the propriety of having Colonel Lloyd with you for a
week or two, before he is charged with any separate mission.
H.R.H. has been much gratified by your reports from
Leeds and Birmingham to myself and Lord Granville, and
desires me to congratulate you on the eminent success
which appears to have attended your visits to so many
important towns. -
We shall be here till the 18th of June, and I shall
hope to hear from you from time to time of your further
progress. . . Believe me,
n Yours very truly,
C. GREY.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I27
Of the substantial character of Playfair's share in mould-
ing the machinery of the Exhibition, the following corre-
spondence furnishes proof. -
. I, PALACE YARD,
Playfair to Colonel Grey. May 28th, 1850.
DEAR SIR,--Before leaving for Liverpool, I am anxious
to call your attention to the most important and delicate
subject still unresolved in connection with the Exhibition
of 1851. I allude to the constitution of a central Jury of
Appeal and Award. I think we must determine that this
jury shall have both these important duties to perform.
The feeling of the country is so decidedly in favour of the
representative system that it is expedient to start with
this principle. The Exhibition being of so vast and varied
extent, it is absolutely necessary to have juries of very special
qualifications. To procure these, I would suggest the
following system for the consideration of His Royal High-
ness, not as being the best which could be devised, but
as being that which would best chime in with popular
feeling.
The Commission to issue a letter addressed to all
Local Committees, both in England and in foreign coun-
tries, requesting them to transmit to the Commission the
names of those whom they would select as being adequate
representatives of the special trades carried on in their
several localities. This nominal list would then be classi-
fied into a subject-list. Thus all those skilled in silk would
be brought together : those skilled in brass-founding, etc.
etc. This being done, the Commission is to select six or
more names from this list to act as a Special Jury on the
particular class of manufacture. Thus in silk the names
would comprise the sub-divisions of that trade—as those
skilled in silk dresses, silk fringes, silk velvets, etc., the
towns having recommended representatives of their
peculiar manufacture. - g
Classifying the trades, about thirty Special Juries would
thus have to be created. Fewer would scarcely do with-
out speciality being sacrificed. But as 180 men could not
I28 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
act together, and acting separately could not preserve
uniformity of action, or procure sufficient respect for their
decisions, it is necessary to devise a plan to obviate these
difficulties. The plan I would propose is this:—Each
Special Jury is to elect a Chairman. The Chairmen of
the Special Juries are to associate themselves with repre-
Sentatives or nominees of the Royal Commission, and this
joint body forms a General Council. All decisions of Special
Juries are to be submitted to and ratified by this Council
before being considered final. In fact the Special Juries
represent skill—the General Council, common sense.
This General Council would not exceed 35 in number.
Such a Council would command the respect of the
public, and confidence in its decisions would follow. I
need not point to the numerous advantages which would
arise from our securing the goodwill of the public in the
matter of Juries of Appeal and Award. I submit this plan
with all possible deference. It is the best I have been able
to think of in endeavouring to unite the popular and aris-
tocratic elements, which I think are essential. But I am
by no means confident that it is the best system which
could be devised. It is by far the most difficult question
We have had to deal with, and I am sure His Royal
Highness will excuse the liberty I have taken in venturing
to draw his attention to so important a subject.
Dear Sir,
I have the honour to be
Your obedient Servant,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
Colonel Grey to Playfair. Ossorse, May 29th, 1850.
MY DEAR SIR,--I have this morning received your
letter, and have lost no time in submitting it to the
Prince. *
His Royal Highness thinks your plan, will be an
admirable one for constituting a Central Jury of Appeal
for this country. But there are strong reasons against
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I29
giving to the same body the duties both of a Jury of
Appeal and of Award. -
In the first place a Jury of Appeal is not required
for foreign countries. The Commissions, or other central
authorities, appointed by foreign Governments will take
upon themselves the responsibility which at home would
attach to a Jury of Appeal, of selecting, according to the
space allotted to them, the articles to be exhibited by
their respective countries. Such a jury, however, is
required with us to exercise the control over our Home
Contributors which the Commissions appointed by foreign
Governments exercise abroad. And the plan you suggest
for its constitution seems very good.
When this jury has executed the duty entrusted to it of
controlling and selecting the contributions from home, we
shall then be in the same position as foreign countries,
where a similar control and selection will already have
been exercised under the authority of their respective
Governments.
And then will come the consideration of the best mode
of constituting the Juries of Award.
This is a very important point. It is not only necessary
to ensure a fair and impartial decision as far as practicable,
but it is also necessary that your fairness and impartiality
should be evident to the world. The Juries of Appeal,
Constituted as you propose, will probably form as good a
basis as can be devised from which to select your Juries of
Award. But to give to other countries perfect confidence
in your impartiality, it will be requisite that a certain pro-
portion of their numbers should be foreigners. If you refer
to former minutes you will find that such a promise has in
fact been given, and that an announcement has also been
made that no person should be placed upon such a jury
who was himself an exhibitor. -
On these, and other points connected with this subject,
H.R.H. would be glad to have an opportunity of talking
fully with you before any decision is come to. Perhaps
after your return from Liverpool you might be able to run
down here; and I shall be glad if you will tell me, with
J
I30 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the view of fixing some day for your doing so, and also
of arranging that Lord Granville should meet you here,
what your present arrangements may be.
- Believe me,
- " - Yours very truly,
- C. GREY.
It was when the success of the Exhibition had been
assured and it was drawing to a close, that the most serious
of the questions connected with it forced themselves upon
the consideration of the Prince Consort and his advisers.
The Exhibition had resulted, as we have seen, in a very
large pecuniary profit, amounting in round figures to
two hundred thousand pounds. How to dispose of this
surplus was the problem that occupied the attention of
the Prince Consort and his little band of assistants. That
it should be devoted to educational work for the benefit
of the public was the fixed determination of the Prince.
But many schemes passed in succession through his
mind, and many were suggested to him by his advisers,
before a solution of a most difficult and delicate problem
could be arrived at. Upon one point there seems to have
been from the first a pretty general agreement. This was
that the surplus fund, instead of being sunk in Consols,
should be invested in land. The land, it was believed, if
the site were properly selected, might be used for a double
purpose. Part of it could be regarded as an investment, .
and employed for the development of a residential estate,
whilst part could be reserved for the erection upon this
estate of buildings devoted to the purposes which it had
been the object of the promoters of the Great Exhibition
to advance. It happened that at this time a most desirable
piece of ground in the immediate neighbourhood of the
spot on which the Exhibition Buildings stood, was for sale.
This was the extensive tract of land lying south of Hyde
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I31
Park and Kensington Gardens, now familiar to everybody
as South Kensington. The site attracted the favourable
notice of the Prince Consort, and it commended itself
to Playfair's practical judgment. Early in the month
of August, 1851, the Prince stated his first rough ideas
on the subject of the disposal of the surplus in the
following memorandum :—
I would buy that land, and place on it an Institution
embracing the four great sections of the Exhibition, i.e.
raw materials, machinery, manufactures, and plastic art.
This Institution I would devote to the furtherance of the
industrial pursuits of all nations. If I examine what are
the means by which improvement and progress can be
obtained in any branches of human knowledge, I find
them to consist of four.
First : Personal study from books.
Second : Oral communication of knowledge by those
who possess it to those who wish to acquire it.
Third : Acquisition of knowledge by ocular observa-
tion, comparison, and demonstration.
Fourth : Exchange of ideas by personal discussion.
Hence I would provide there in special reference to
the wants of each of the four great-sections :—
(1) A library and rooms for study;
(2) Lecture rooms; - -
(3) A convenient area covered by glass for the pur-
poses of the Exhibition;
(4) Rooms for conversazioni, discussions, and in-
dustrial meetings. *
The surplus space might be laid out as gardens for
public enjoyment and instruction, and be so arranged as
to admit of the future erection of public monuments
according to a well-arranged plan. -
As this scheme is founded upon the presumed necessity
of affording instruction to those engaged in the prosecu-
tion of arts and manufactures, it may be desirable that
the necessity for this should be shown to be real. The
I32 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
many important discoveries of modern times have tended
to the cheapening and to the ready acquisition of the raw
materials on which manufacturers depend. The improve-
ments in locomotion, the increased means offered by
science for the extraction, preparation, or culture of the
raw material, have lessened the peculiar local advantages
of certain nations, and thus have depressed the relative
value of the raw material as an element in manufacture ;
while they have immensely increased the value of skill
and intelligence as the other great element of production.
The nations most likely to afford a public recognition of
this fact are those whose fuel and raw materials are chiefly
derived from other lands, and who can therefore only carry
on a successful competition by continually economising
and perfecting production by the applications of Science.
It is accordingly in those countries, as in France and Ger- "
many, that we find entire systems of education devoted to
those who are charged with industrial pursuits. In France
this want has been so strongly felt that, in the midst of
free Government Institutions liberally endowed, industry
has raised for itself a self-supporting College, L’École
Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, which sends annually
three hundred highly educated men to impart this science
and intelligence to the manufacturers of France. So much
is the practical value of this special technical education
appreciated by manufacturers, that the certificated pupils
of this school are in great demand, not only in France, but
in Belgium, and latterly are found in the management of
some of our large manufactories in England.
But as in England the progress of science is daily
equalising more the distribution of raw materials, and
depriving us of those local advantages upon which we may
have been too much accustomed to depend, it is an obvi-
ously growing necessity that it should afford to its manu-
facturers the means of acquiring that knowledge without
which they cannot long keep foremost in the struggle
with nations. But it must not be forgotten that the funds
with which the new Institution is to be founded are the
contribution of all nations, and the establishment of an
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I33
educational institution must not be merely national,
but its advantages must be open to men of all nations.
It is obviously unnecessary in a preliminary proposal
to define those branches of knowledge which such an
Institution should embrace, but I would propose to confine
it to education of a technical and practical character, and
thus be supplementary to, and not a substitute for, the
other educational institutions of this country. I would in
all cases bear in mind its international character, and, with
this view, would bring into close connection with it those
societies for the promotion of science, abstract and applied,
which in their very nature are cosmopolitan. I find that
in England the separate pursuits of industry are repre-
sented by a variety of public societies struggling for
existence, unconnected with each other, and either unpro-
vided with suitable locations or exhausting in providing
them those funds which should be applied to the
promotion of their respective objects. Could not such
Societies—or most of them—containing as they do all that
this country possesses of talent and experience in their
branches, be united in this Institution, reserving to each
its individuality and self-supporting and self-maintaining
character, but bringing them together under a general roof,
and so far asking them to extend their popular influence as
to place them in a relation of reciprocal influence with
public opinion ? The centralisation of these societies is a
want much felt even by many of themselves, and still
more by the public, but can only be effected by showing
that the facilities offered by this Institution would tend to
their own advantage, and certainly to the promotion of .
those objects for which they are established. As it might
be convenient in matters affecting their common interest
to have a council consisting of their respective chairmen,
such a body might be entrusted with the duty of
collecting for the civilised world that general and
statistical information, and a collection of the materials
from which alone those general laws can be abstracted,
guided by which we can hope safely to progress in all
branches of civilisation. r
I34 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
This document calls for no apology on the part of those
who hold that the Prince Consort was a great and original
labourer in the field of education. I embody it here,
however, not merely because of its striking merits, but
because it was the germ out of which sprang those great
institutions with which Playfair throughout the remainder
of his life was so closely connected. The scheme drafted
by the Prince Consort, despite its undoubted merits, had
obvious defects. Its very catholicity told against it.
Whilst everyone was prepared to admit that science is
cosmopolitan, there were many who declared that this
country was entitled to derive special benefit from the
success of an exhibition which had been carried out, not
only on English soil, but by the labours of English
statesmen and men of action. Long and weary months
were spent in discussing the manner in which the Prince's
good intentions could be carried into practical effect. A
few of the letters of this period will show Playfair's part
in the discussion of a most momentous question.
Playfair to Sir Henry de la Beche. August 20th, 1851.
- (Conſidential.)
DEAR SIR HENRY,-At my urgent solicitation at
Osborne on Monday, the Prince has consented to post-
pone the publication and development of the scheme.
It was not sufficiently matured for public adoption, and
Overlapped our own as well as other institutions, and
would have committed him to a course which, opposing
other institutions, would have been much criticised. . . .
The plan I shadowed out was this:–The schools of
design throughout the country might be made centres of
education, to which other branches were to be attached.
These were to be united with a University of Mines and
Manufactures, in London, empowered to grant degrees and
diplomas; and our museum, as representing mines and
metallic manufactures, was to be considered one great
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 135
Central college; and the new central college, principally
for the textile manufactures, might be considered the
other great central institution. That they were not to be
in any way allied more than going before the same Board
of Examiners for diplomas, and that in management and
education they were to be as distinct as University
College and King's College. I said it was obvious you
could take no step now, but that when the scheme was
really ripe for execution you might be disposed to enter
into negotiations. He repeatedly asked me “what Sir
Henry said,” and so I will send your letter; but I think
you should not do more than appear a friendly watcher
now, for the ideas are still practically crude, and must be
much modified to take with the public; though, as they
are certainly founded on truth, they will certainly be the
ultimate ones adopted, and they are not very far from
being practical.
BALMORAL,
Sir Charles Phipps to P layſair. September 27th, 1851.
MY DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,--I beg to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 26th, which I have submitted
to His Royal Highness the Prince. H.R.H. thinks that
there would be no harm in endeavouring to ascertain the
disposition of the leading members of the learned societies
to some system of combined action and centralisation.
But it should be carefully provided that neither their
assent should be considered in any way to bind to the
adoption of any particular plan, nor the objections enter-
tained by any of these bodies to present any bar to the
carrying out of any project independent of them.
The longer the Prince considers and weighs the subject
of the disposal of the surplus, the more convinced he
becomes that no arrangement for its appropriation can be
satisfactory that does not include the interests of all the
world. The original agreement with the public, which
must be adhered to, was that the surplus, if any, should be
expended upon objects strictly in unison with the inten-
tions and objects of the Exhibition. The distinguishing
I36 * MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
feature of this Exhibition over all others was that it was
för all nations, and both in maintenance of this principle,
and for the ultimate benefit of this country, this great dis-
tinction ought to be scrupulously adhered to.
All plans that have in view the application of the surplus
to introducing a system of founding an establishment which
already exists in Some other countries and not in this, for
the benefit of England, are national and not cosmopolitan
plans; and so far diverge from and fall short of the great
intention of the Exhibition. -
The surplus has, in fact, been collected from all nations,
and justly and honestly claims a proprietary not less ex-
tended. In projecting, therefore, modes for the disposal of
the surplus, the object must not be so much the founding
of institutions through which Great Britain may be raised
to an equality, or maintain her superiority over other
nations, as the foundation of some establishment in which,
by the application of science and art to industrial pursuits,
the industry of all nations may be raised in the scale of
human employment; and where, by the constant inter-
change of ideas, experience, and its results, each nation
may gain and contribute something. There is no doubt
that in such an interchange England would ultimately be
the greater gainer. She would have the advantage of the
use and the results of the acquired science, and would
indeed become the headquarters of the skilled industry of
the world. Sincerely yours,
* C. B. PHIPPS.
Playfair was in the very heart of the negotiations re-
lating to the development of the Prince Consort's scheme,
and once more he gave evidence of his capacity as
a mediator between conflicting sections. But he had
other work to do besides that of helping to bring about an
agreement at headquarters. Part of the business to which
he devoted himself was the creation of public interest in
the budding schemes of the Exhibition Commissioners. He
was full of enthusiasm, and it was not unnatural that he
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. - I37.
should under-estimate the difficulties of the task which lay
before him in moving an inert public opinion in favour of
a grand scheme of practical education. The delicate,
diplomatic tact which served him so well when he was
dealing with individuals was not so useful when he was
brought into contact with masses of the people. He had
not yet acquired the experience which afterwards enabled
him to deal as successfully with bodies of the public
at large as with individual men and women ; and in his
zeal he sometimes ran into difficulties, as he did towards
the close of 1851, when his advocacy of a scheme of
practical instruction was resented by some friends of
education because of its omission of all reference to
religious education. -
WINDsor CASTLE,
Colonel Grey to Playfair. November 18th, 1851.
(Private.)
MY DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,--I have submitted your
letter of this morning to the Prince, and will take an
opportunity of calling his attention to the report and the
proceedings of the meeting of the Sunderland Local
Committee, which you enclose. You know the interest His
Royal Highness takes in this question, and that he is as
anxious as you can be that the present movement in favour
of the extension of science to productive industry should
not be allowed to fall dead. But the mode of best effect-
ing this object requires most careful consideration.
What has just happened to you shows the great danger
to be apprehended if any suspicion or alarm should arise
in the mind of the religious world. Eager as the desire
for instruction and knowledge may be, with all the in-
creased force which that desire has acquired from the
results of the Exhibition, I doubt whether it could enable
you successfully to resist a cry of “godless instruction.”
Already you have been brought upon your knees; and the
question is whether your repentance, however deep and
sincere, will avail you. The note of alarm has been
I38 MEMOIRS OF. LYON PLAYFAIR.
sounded, and you will now have to be doubly on your
guard in any scheme which you may propose which
avowedly involves “National Education.” To do any
good, you must carefully shun the vexata quaestio of “by
whom " such education is to be conducted. Once get into
that troubled sea, and you are swallowed up in the vortex
of contending parties. On this question the ground is
already occupied. Everyone (some in one sense, some in
another, but all equally doggedly) has made up his mind,
and is wedded to the particular system by which alone he
thinks any good can be effected. Look at the fate of all
attempts up to this time—of all measures introduced into
Parliament that have connection with this subject. Look
to your own late experience, and consider the danger, if
an “educational” system is inconsiderately urged forward,
of provoking an opposition which may be carried success-
fully beyond the particular system against which it was
first directed, to any system which has for its object to
extend the application of science and industry. I like
Mr Moodey's speech much, and what he says seems to me
to tally with the practical course which, as I understand it,
the Prince advocates. “Carry out,” he says, “the objects
of their Mechanics' Institute with greater force. They
had already a museum, a sort of raree show, which had
yet served no practical purpose ; connect it with the pro-
posed Institution, furnish it with suitable specimens of our
four staples, get scientific gentlemen to attend, say from
seven to nine in the evenings, not to give finely-framed
lectures, but to take out specimens and explain them so
that the hearers may thoroughly understand and never
forget them.” However, my object was not to enter
upon what ought to be done, but to point out by His
Royal Highness's desire the danger of alarming the reli-
gious world by any avowed educational scheme which
might stir up a storm in which both his plan and yours
would be equally wrecked.
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
C. GREY.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I39
It is not merely for its bearing upon the threatened
theological opposition to technical education that I have
quoted the foregoing letter. In the few words of practical
advice with which it ends may be found the germ of one
section of the great scheme eventually adopted by the
Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition—the establishment
in local centres of branch schools of technical and practical
training.
The work of preparing the Report of the 1851 Com-
missioners fell largely to Playfair, and during its progress
he was in constant communication not only with the
Commissioners of the Exhibition but with the Prince
Consort.
Colonel Grey to Playfair. March 22nd, 1852.
I hear from the Executive Committee that the Report
and Appendices are all about ready, with the exception of
the Jury Reports. I write a line by desire of His Royal
Highness Prince Albert to remind you that the month
of March is nearly over; and that he will be much dis-
appointed if anything should occur to delay the appearance
of the Report by the 1st of May.
Yours truly,
C. GREY.
Same to the same. RENSINGTON PALACE, May 19th, 1852.
DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,-Your draft winding-up, I am
afraid, will not do. In the first place, His Royal Highness
thinks it too long, and that where it merely repeats what
has been already said, it should be much shorter. A simple
résumé, in fact, of the various points which have been already
treated of little more, indeed, than the Prince's memo-
randum, which gave the heads from which Baring compiled
the Report. Where you get to new matter, you go too
quick, and enter into a detail with your scholarships, etc.,
that is quite premature ; and the Prince thinks therefore it
will be better to reconsider this part of the Report.
I40 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYEAIR.
There are many other letters of similar purport, showing
how close was the attention which the Prince bestowed
upon the details of the great scheme, and how anxious he
was to secure for it a favourable reception from the public.
When at last it appeared, the Press received it coldly, and
it was openly attacked in some quarters. Yet out of it
grew, as has already been pointed out, the greatest of all
educational movements which this century has witnessed
in England. It is time that I should briefly indicate the
character of the scheme that was finally adopted by the
Commissioners—a scheme which both in its conception
and development received the most active assistance from
Lyon Playfair.
The actual surplus from the Exhibition of 1851, after
allowing for all expenses, including the presentation of
medals to the numerous jurors, was £186,436. Large as
this amount was, it was soon found to be insufficient for
the purpose of carrying out the plan which had been
finally adopted by the Prince Consort and his confidential
advisers. Application was made to Parliament, and a grant
of £150,000 was made by the House of Commons. With
this sum, two estates and a portion of a third in South
Kensington were purchased. The Gore House estate
consisted of twenty-one acres, and extended from the
Kensington Road about a quarter way down the present
Exhibition Road. The Villiers estate of forty-eight acres
comprised the land upon which the greater part of Queen's
Gate has since been erected, as well as the site of Cromwell
Road, the existing Natural History Museum and the
Science Museums. The Harrington estate, seventeen
acres of which were purchased, included the site of the
Art Museum which now faces the Brompton Road. At
the time when the purchase was made, these valuable
properties consisted of little more than fields intersected
by narrow lanes. A few houses—one or two of consider-
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I4 I
able pretensions, but many little more than farmhouses
or cottages—were scattered over the ground. In the
year 1851, partridges were shot on the ground where,
the Natural History Museum now stands. But the keen
business eyes of those who were advising the Prince,
Consort in this matter had detected the possibilities of the
estate which was formed by the purchase ; and the con-
sent of Parliament had been secured for this portion of the
Scheme. The desire of the Prince was that the great
existing institutions of London, including the National
Gallery and Royal Academy, should be brought together
on the site which was now for the first time formally
denominated “South Kensington.” Around these insti-
tutions were to be raised a new Museum of Art, and
another devoted to Science. Such was in brief the original
proposal of the Prince and the Commissioners. It was
carried out only in part. The removal of the National
Gallery from Trafalgar Square to South Kensington was
Successfully resisted; but where it was first proposed to
place the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum
has since been erected ; whilst all who know the South
Kensington of to-day are aware of the number of import-
ant public institutions which have been established upon
the site secured by the Exhibition Commissioners. Yet it
may be said with truth that the housing of these specific
institutions on the South Kensington site has been the least
important part of the work accomplished by the Com-
missioners of 1851. The central feature of the Prince's
scheme was the establishment of a practical institution for
the application of science and art to productive industry.
This was the beginning of the two great institutions, one
long known to the world as the South Kensington, and
now as the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the other as
the Royal College of Science.
In March, 1853, the Science and Art Department was
I42 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAYFAIR.
formed. Under it was combined the existing School of
Design with the schools established in local centres in
different towns of the United Kingdom, the Museum of
Practical Geology, and its associated Schools of Mines.
The Museum of Irish Industry and the Royal Dublin
Society, both of which were supported by Parliamentary
grants, were associated with the new Department, whilst
provision was made for the establishment of a School or
College of the highest class in Science and Art for the
instruction of students and the education of teachers for
the local institutions throughout the country. In the first
sketch of the scheme, Mr Cole, who already filled the
office of Superintendent in the Department of Practical
Art, was made Secretary of the Art Department, whilst
Playfair received a similar appointment in the Department
of Science, his salary being £1,000 a year, and an allow-
ance of £350 for travelling expenses. It was very soon
found, however, that this arrangement was not a good
one, as there was no provision for the joint working of the
two Departments. Accordingly, Mr Cole, in 1855, was
appointed Inspector-General, and Playfair Secretary, of
the united Departments, no alteration being made in their
respective emoluments. The Science and Art Depart-
ment, having been formally created, was taken out of
the control of the Board of Trade, which had previously
been the governing authority of the School of Mines, and
transferred to the charge of the Education Department of
the Privy Council.
The first building operations began towards the close
of 1856, when an edifice of corrugated iron, long
familiarly known to the people of London as “the
Brompton boilers,” was erected on that part of the site
which lay to the east of Exhibition Road. Here the
first museum of industrial art which had been formed in
England was temporarily housed. The origin of the
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. I43
museum was a grant which had been made by the
Treasury in 1851 for the purchase of exhibits from the
Great Exhibition that had practical value as specimens of
Art and Manufacture. The amount of this grant was
£5,000, and from this grain of mustard Seed has grown
the splendid collection which is now housed in many
galleries and buildings in South Kensington, and which
before long is to have a stately home on the historic
site. -
The organisation of the Royal College of Science
naturally fell heavily upon Playfair's shoulders. A great
national institution had to be founded, and the task was
not a light one. It was not without many a struggle and
many a feud that the Science and Art Department at last
took shape. It would never have been brought into
existence if it had not been for the enlightened and
elevated public spirit of the Prince Consort—a man to
whom England owes more than it does to any other
human being for the development of scientific training.
It is not less certain that in the initial stages of the work
Playfair's enthusiasm and wonderful capacity for labour
were of invaluable service. If to Sir Henry Cole belongs
the credit of having placed the Art Department upon the
lines on which it was subsequently developed, to Playfair
no less belongs the honour of having given form and
substance to that part of the scheme which was specially
related to the establishment of a national system of
scientific instruction. Under the Prince Consort, he may
be said to have been the father of the Science Depart-
ment; and it was his happy lot not only to continue his
connection with it for more than forty years, but at a date
long subsequent to that of its foundation to rescue it from
a state of financial depression into which it had been
allowed to fall by those immediately responsible for its
management, and thus to save it from a crisis which well-
144 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
nigh threatened its very existence. This part of the story
belongs, however, to a later period in Playfair's life. For
the present I have merely sought to set forth those facts
which throw light upon his close association with the
beginnings of the new Department, and upon the nature
of the labours which he had to undergo in connection . .
with its foundation. * *
It was whilst he was busily engaged in the preliminary
labours of the Exhibition Commissioners that he received
a compliment which he valued highly. This was his
election by the committee of the Athenaeum Club as a
member of that institution. A characteristic story is told
in connection with this election. The rule requires that
the committee shall be unanimous in its choice of the
member upon whom it confers the honour of special
election. Playfair heard that there was one member of
the committee, and one only, who had expressed some
feeling of hostility to him. He wrote to this gentleman,
and, telling him that he knew he was to be nominated
for election, asked him to do him the honour of being his
proposer. The election, it need scarcely be said, was
unanimous.
CHAPTER VII.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM.
Attending the Royal Children at the Exhibition—Arranging for the Prince
Consort's Visit to Birmingham. AUTOBIOGRAPHY : Lecturing for the
Society of Arts: Inquiring into Technical Education on the Continent:
Organising the “Food Collection” for the South Kensington Museum :
Establishing a National Museum in Edinburgh : Dr George Wilson
and his Dying Epigram: Crusading in the Cause of Technical Edu-
cation: The Duke of Wellington's Funeral : Sir Charles Wheatstone :
Reading Ciphers in ‘The Times': Acquaintance with Babbage: Lord
and Lady Ashburton: Mrs Norton : Lord Granville: Lord Palmerston
and the Cipher: Inventing Shells: Lord Dundonald's Scheme for
Reducing Fortresses: Appointed a Commissioner of the International
Exhibition of 1855: Acquaintance with French Savants: Missing the
Mastership of the Mint: Second Marriage. Faraday on the New
Lucifer Matches—Playfair's Contempt for Misplaced Humanitarian-
ism in War—Liebig on Scientific Agriculture.
I MUST anticipate Playfair's own account of his life
between 1851 and 1858, in order to touch upon some
incidents that ought not to be omitted from his biography.
The reader has seen from letters published in the last
chapter how close had become the connection between
Playfair and the Prince Consort. His appointment as
Gentleman Usher to His Royal Highness gave him free
access to the Prince. The office was little more than a
nominal one, and if it had not been for the fact that the
Prince found in Playfair a congenial colleague and assistant
in the development of his cherished educational schemes, it
is probable that they would not have seen much of each
other. As it was, Playfair's advice and assistance were
constantly sought upon all matters that bore in any way
K •
I46 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
upon the scientific and educational subjects in which the
Prince took so deep an interest. During the time when
the Exhibition of 1851 still remained open, it had been
Playfair's duty to attend the Royal children on their
frequent visits to the Exhibition.
Colonel Grey to Playfair, windsor Castle, October 19th, 1851.
DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,--The Royal children are anxious
to present you with their portraits as a slight expression of
their sense of the attention they met from you during their
visits to the Exhibition. The Prince desires me therefore,
in their name, to send you the accompanying prints in
remembrance of those visits.
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
C. GREY.
There were many matters connected with the develop-
ment of the system of scientific education which engaged
Playfair's close attention during the years that followed
the inception of the South Kensington scheme.
Colonel Grey to Playfair. Windsor Castle, January 5th, 1853.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have written to Lord Gran-
ville to know if he can be here on Saturday next at
five o'clock. Perhaps you would communicate with him,
and find out if he can come, and in that case, the Prince
would be glad if you could come too, that you might talk
over the proposed School of Practical Science. Your letter
from Sheffield was very satisfactory, but I had a letter
from Owen the same day from the neighbourhood of
Wolverhampton, giving a very different account of the dis-
position of the ironmasters. I had a long and interesting
letter from Bowring to-day, who begins to be anxious for
Mr. E. A. Bowring had been appointed secretary to the Commissioners
for the Exhibition of 1851 -
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I47
Some positive step in advance. I am just as much so as he
is, but I see the impossibility of doing anything till all the
land difficulties are cleared away. I was in hopes that
we should have heard from Cubitt ere this that he had
brought Lord Harrington to terms.
One of the principal educational events of 1855 was the
visit of Prince Albert to Birmingham for the purpose of
taking part in the laying of the first stone of the Birming-
ham and Midland Institute. This was regarded at the
time as one of the most striking results of the new move-
ment for scientific training. The address of Prince Albert
at the luncheon after the ceremony has been quoted in
recent years' as “the charter of the new system of
teaching.” Some idea of the labour laid upon those who
had charge of the arrangements for the Prince's visit
to Birmingham, and of the extent of Playfair's duties in
connection with the Prince's household, may be gathered
from the following letters :—
Colonel Grey to Playfair.
WINDSOR CASTLE, November 19th 1855.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have just talked the pro-
gramme over with the Prince. It might possibly be
expected that he would give the toast of the Midland
Institute, etc., the proposer of which I see is left blank;
but His Royal Highness means to say all he wishes to say
on the subject in returning thanks for his own health, and
as there is a great deal of singing put down to follow each
toast, which would make it a long business, he thinks it will
be better that he should leave as soon as the toast of “The
Army and Navy" has been drunk. This will be none too
soon to enable him, to get back to Windsor in good time.
He would be much obliged to you if you would go, as you
propose, to Birmingham the night before to see that all is
! By Sir Norman Lockyer.
I48 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
perfectly arranged. The chorale after his own health he
wishes not played or sung till after he has returned thanks,
otherwise he says it would put him out. Pray take care of
this. Also arrange that the different addresses shall be
all presented on the railway platform—the Corporation
Address being the only one read and answered. H.R.H.
would prefer half-past twelve as the time for his arrival,
otherwise he will hardly get to luncheon by two, and his
return would be too long delayed.
I write in haste.
Ever yours truly,
C. GREY.
Same to the same. WINDsor CASTLE, November 26th, 1855.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR)—The Prince cannot but be
gratified by the accounts sent him on all sides of the
success of his speech. He is anxious that it should be
correctly printed in the separate form, and would there-
fore wish that the proof might be sent to me for correction
before it is struck off. There were one or two mistakes—
in one instance a rather important one. Did I tell you
that I got a message from M- wishing the Prince to wait
for his speech 2 (at least so I understood the message).
Everything went off as well as possible, and the people of
Birmingham would indeed have amply atoned for any
offence, even if such had existed, but the Prince is quite at
a loss to know what can have given rise to such a notion.
Ever yours,
C. GREY.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—v1.
§ 1851 to 1858.
After, the close of the Exhibition the Society of Arts
organised a term of lectures for the purpose of drawing
public attention to the lessons which should be drawn from
the Exhibition. At that time England was in a very
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I49
backward state in regard to technical education both in
science and art. My two lectures were devoted to this
subject, and, at the time, they awakened considerable public
interest. This was the beginning of the efforts to arouse
public attention to the need of reforming our education so
as to fit it for the increasing competition of the world.
The improved methods of locomotion both by sea and
land had altered the whole conditions of manufacturing
industry. The possession of raw materials, such as coal
and iron, had long given to a country like Great Britain
a Supremacy in manufactures, because economy of produc-
tion was the most important condition for success. When
science offered new and economical production through
improved machinery, and when the demands of an increas-
ing civilisation required the best forms of art to adorn the
products, it became obvious that a nation which cultivated
Science and art must have a great advantage over a country
which depended too exclusively on the more practical
aptitudes of its people. Raw material had now become
a decreasing factor in production, while intellect, trained
in the application of science and art, became an ever-
increasing factor.
I therefore determined to visit the leading countries
of Europe in order to become acquainted with their
system of education, especially in relation to their
systems of technical instruction. Accordingly I went to
France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the
Scandinavian States, everywhere meeting the most cor-
dial reception from the Ministers of Education and other
authorities. The Great Exhibition had brought me into
contact with the leading manufacturers of these countries,
so that my educational tour, though in no sense official,
met with the same facilities as if it had been a Government
inquiry. -
On returning to London I gave the results of this
tour in an introductory lecture to the School of Mines,
under the title, “Industrial Instruction on the Continent.”
This lecture was attended by several of the members of
the Government, and by some leading statesmen of both
I 50 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
political parties. It was afterwards published in the
‘Records of the School of Mines.’ It certainly gave a
considerable impulse to technical education in England.
Soon after this, in 1852, the Government determined to
establish the “Department of Science and Art,” and offered
me the position of “Secretary for Science,” and Sir Henry
Cole that of “Secretary for Art.”
The Prince Consort took a warm interest in this out-
come of his Great Exhibition. In fact the organisation of
the Department was largely owing to his advice, and was
the result of many visits to Windsor Castle by Lord
Granville, Cole and myself. - * -
Many valuable objects had been presented to the Com-
missioners of the Great Exhibition with the view of
founding a museum, and these became the nucleus of
that wonderful collection which owes so much to Sir
Henry Cole's energy, and is now known as the South
Kensington Museum, probably the greatest museum of its
kind in the world. In the presents referred to there were
numerous specimens of raw materials, especially of grains
and other alimentary substances. These were used to
form “the Food Collection,” which has been so much
visited by the working classes. It is now at Bethnal
Green. It would have been useless to display the analyses
of various foods in statistical tables which no one would
read, so I tried the experiment of showing the actual
ingredients in a pound of food. Thus I lb. of maize was
divided into so much flesh-forming materials, so much
woody fibre, water, fat, sugar, gum, starch, etc., so that
the eye could at once observe the quantities, while the
results of the printed analysis could easily be copied if
the visitor desired to do so.
This system of instructional display is now followed
in every museum, but at that time it was novel.
When a working man was told that Ioo lb. of potatoes
contained only 2 lb. of flesh-formers, while the same
quantity of beans contained upwards of twenty pounds,
he scarcely grasped the difference. But when in the
same show-case he saw the small amount of flesh-
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I5I
formers in a pound of potatoes sprinkled over the bottom
of a box, and the large amount heaped up in a correspond-
ing box for beans, peas, or lentils, he learned a practical
lesson through the eye and never forgot it. The temper-
ance societies took up this subject warmly. Thus, when
we showed how much water and spirits were in a gallon of
alcoholic drinks, and how insignificant were the nutritive
materials even in beer, the cause of temperance received
more support than from any number of lectures. Ultimately
this food museum led to a demand for schools of cookery,
which have proved beneficial to the working classes. This
collection of food was, however, a mere appendage to the
South Kensington Museum, which was intended for art,
and not for science. The Science Museums in connection
with the Department were not at South Kensington. The
Museum of Practical Geology was in Jermyn Street,
and a Museum of Industry, under Sir Robert Kane,
was in Dublin.
At this time there was no national museum in Edinburgh.
I went down to that city and negotiated with the Uni-
versity and the Town Council for establishing a museum in
the metropolis of the north. The municipality offered free
land for building, and the University agreed to hand over
its splendid collections of natural history. On reporting to
Government the result of these negotiations, an applica-
tion was made to Parliament, which voted the necessary
Sums for building and supporting a national museum in
Edinburgh. : -
In 1855, my old friend and fellow-student, Dr. George
Wilson, was appointed curator of this museum. Let me
say a few words about this remarkable man, who is now
best known to the world by his ‘Life of Cavendish, and by
his charming book, ‘The Five Gateways of Knowledge.’
He was always in delicate health, so much so that no
insurance office would accept the risk of his life. In spite
of this he was an indefatigable worker, and was so much
beloved that contributions to the new museum were freely
given from all parts of the kingdom. To him is largely
due the increase and popularity of the Edinburgh Museum.
I52 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
George Wilson never had an enemy. His mind was culti-
vated, a vein of humour like that of Edward Forbes
running through all his work. Some years later (Novem-
ber, 1859), when I was Professor of Chemistry in the
University of Edinburgh, George Wilson died, and the city
gave him a public funeral. In his last illness he was
attended by two medical colleagues, Professor Bennet and
Dr Laycock, who as usual took opposite opinions as to the
nature of his malady. George Wilson was amused at this
professional dispute, and asked for paper in order to write
his own epitaph, which ran as follows:–
“Here lies George Wilson o’ertaken by Nemesis ;
He died of Haemoptysis not of Hematemesis.”
George Wilson was one of the legitimate successors in
literary faculty to Scott, Jeffrey, and Wilson of ‘Black-
wood's Magazine,' though his scientific tastes led him
aside from pure literature.
The art section of the new Government department
progressed more rapidly than that of science. Already
there were various “schools of design " in London and the
provinces, so these could readily be adapted to schools of
art. But there was then not a single school or college of
science except Owens College in Manchester and the
Andersonian College at Glasgow.
Having great faith in the education of public opinion, I
began a crusade in favour of technical education. It was
weary and dreary work. My voice sounded to myself as
the voice of one preaching in the wilderness. At first there
was no response, except a few schools of navigation in the
seaports. But I hope and believe that these efforts were
not thrown away. Now there is scarcely a large town in
Great Britain that has not a college of science; and my
successor in the department, Colonel Donnelly, has been
able, under the improved public demand, to organise an
extensive scheme of scientific education for the working
classes. Several of these colleges of science have asked
me to open them to the public, in recognition of my earlier
labours to educate public opinion. -
t
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I53
It may be instructive to point out how slowly and yet
how Surely public opinion responds to a movement in
favour of reform if that be founded on public needs. In
1851 I lectured to the Society of Arts in favour of changes
in our educational system adapted to the practical needs
of the country. In 1852 the Department of Science and
Art was formed. On the 15th May, 1867, I issued a new
warning to the country in a letter addressed to Lord
Taunton, the Chairman of the Public Schools Inquiry
Commission. In this letter occurs the following passage :
“That as an inevitable result of the attention given to
technical education abroad and of its neglect in England,
Other nations must advance in industry at a greater rate
than our own country; . . . this result has already
arrived for some of our staple industries.” The Public
Schools Inquiry Commission circulated this letter to the
leading manufacturers and men of science, and a Parlia-
mentary report was published of communications sent to
the Commission. In the same year a public meeting,
presided over by Lord Granville, was held at the Society
of Arts to promote technical education, the first resolution
being proposed by me and seconded by Lord John Russell,
afterwards Earl Russell. -
In 1887 another public meeting was held at the same
place, presided over by Lord Hartington, at which I again
proposed the first resolution, which was seconded by the
Right Hon. John Morley. I now feel that this work
may be left to younger men, but I hope they will not
take their hands from the plough till England has
adapted its system of education to the changed conditions
of competition.
In September, 1852, the great Duke of Wellington died,
and I was present at the State funeral in attendance on
the Prince Consort. The 18th of November, 1852, was a
day of mourning throughout the United Kingdom. The
Department of Science and Art had been instructed to
prepare designs and to secure the construction of a State
funeral car. It was made of bronze, and was quickly
executed by Messrs Tyler. But, though a beautiful work
I54 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
of art, it was altogether a mistake. It would have better
suited the great military hero had his coffin been placed on
a gun-carriage instead of on this ponderous car. Its great
weight interfered with the progress of the procession, for
it broke down a sewer in St. James's Park, and by this
accident the royal procession was delayed for one or
two hours. A million and a half of people had lined
the streets from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's Cathe-
dral as early as seven o'clock in the morning, and though
the procession began to move at that hour the royal
carriages only reached St. Paul's about two o'clock. The
million and a half spectators really mourned the death of
the illustrious hero; they were not gathered together
merely to see the stately pageant of a great military
funeral. Outside as well as inside the cathedral the pomp
and glitter of military and civil uniforms was as nothing to
the mourning of a whole people. When at three o'clock
the coffin was lowered to its last resting place amidst the
mournful dirge of the choir, there were few dry eyes in
that great assembly of mourners. I have only once been
so deeply moved at a public funeral ceremony, and that
was in 1861, when I had to join in the obsequies of the
Prince Consort.
My house at this time was on the Surrey side of
Hammersmith Bridge, and on the other side lived my
friend Sir Charles Wheatstone. He, as is well known,
was the chief inventor of the electric telegraph. Sir
Charles was a man of remarkable inventive faculty, and at
the same time a scientific discoverer as well as an inventor.
Sir Charles Wheatstone, though older, was, like myself,
small of stature, and we both wore spectacles. We were
constantly mistaken for each other, and we must have
been alike, for once Lady Wheatstone addressed me as
her husband. On Sundays we generally walked together,
and used to amuse ourselves by deciphering the cipher
advertisements in ‘The Times.’ An Oxford student who
was in a reading party at Perth was so sure of his cipher
that he kept up a correspondence with a young lady in
London. This we had no difficulty in reading. At last
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I55
he proposed an elopement. Wheatstone inserted as an
advertisement in ‘The Times' a remonstrance to the lady
in the same cipher, and the last letter was, “Dear Charlie,
write no more, our cipher is discovered 1" One cipher
appeared each month in ‘The Times, but it was so short
that it was difficult to read. At last we made it out to
be, “‘The Times’ is the Jeffreys of the Press.” Anyone
acquainted with cipher will see that the key to this short
advertisement was the frequent repetition of the letter
“e " and of the word “the.” On telling Delane, the editor
of ‘The Times,’ that his paper was publishing its own
condemnation as the wicked judge, he was angry instead
of being amused at the trick played.
In speaking of Wheatstone I may mention my presence
at a curious concert given to the Queen and Prince Consort
at the Polytechnic Institution on the Ioth of May, 1855.
This is often quoted as proving that Wheatstone invented
the telephone, although it had nothing in common with
this invention. Wheatstone had helped Professor Pepper
to arrange rods of wood passing from the cellars of the
Institution to a small lecture room on the upper floor.
Each of these rods was connected with a separate musical
instrument played in the cellar, while the music, being
conducted to the room above, reproduced itself on the
sounding boards of three harps. It had a curious effect
to hear tunes played in a room without the appearance
of performers. -
Another philosopher whom I frequently visited was
Babbage, the inventor of the calculating machine. He
was in chronic war with the Government because it
refused to furnish supplies for his new machine, the ground
of refusal being that he never completed the first.
Babbage was a man full of information, which he gave in
an attractive way. I once went to breakfast with him at
nine o'clock. He explained to me the working of his
calculating machine, and afterwards his methods of
signalling by coloured lamps. As I was engaged to lunch
at one o'clock, I looked at my watch, which indicated
the hour of four. This appeared obviously impossible,
I56 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
So I went into the hall to look for the correct time, and
to my astonishment that also gave the hour as four.
The philosopher had in fact been so fascinating in his
descriptions and conversation that neither he nor I had
noticed the lapse of time.
Babbage always considered himself a badly treated
man, and this feeling at last produced an egotism which
restricted the numbers of his friends. The following
anecdote is a curious instance of this :—Having been at
Osborne, I accompanied the Prince Consort to London.
During the journey I strongly urged the desirability of
the Crown bestowing honours on men of science. I
pointed out that while the Army, Navy, and Civil Service
received titles and decorations in profusion, the Crown
bestowed few on men of learning. The consequence was
that they ceased to look on the Crown as the fountain of
honour, and created titles for themselves, so that such
letters as F.R.S. became more esteemed than those like
K.C.B. This separation of the Crown from learning was
not wise in the interests of Monarchy. The Prince
Consort readily admitted this, and asked what I would
ecommend. I suggested that it would produce a favour-
able impression if one or two men of undoubted position
were made privy councillors, mentioning Faraday and
Babbage as two men entitled to this honour. Shortly
after this conversation I was commissioned to sound the
philosophers and ascertain whether they would like to be
appointed to the Privy Council. Unfortunately I first
went to Babbage, who was delighted with the suggestion,
but made it a condition that he alone should be appointed,
as a reparation for all the neglect of the Government
towards his inventions. Even the association of such a
distinguished man as Faraday would take away from the
recognition which was due to him. This condition was
naturally disagreeable to the Prince Consort, and no
further steps were taken to open the Privy Council to
men of science.
I must not forget the names of two friends who then
and until their death showed me great kindness and
A
- EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I57
hospitality. They were the Lord and Lady Ashburton so
often mentioned in the Life and letters of the Carlyles.
Lord Ashburton was the most amiable of men. He took
a warm interest in promoting scientific and artistic
education. We co-operated with Lady Burdett-Coutts
in promoting “a knowledge of common things” in
elementary schools, and had frequent conferences on this
subject. The purpose of this movement was to systematise
object lessons in schools, and so lead to elementary in-
struction in science. We also brought out together a
school book on ‘Political Economy.’ This was really
written by Mr Ellis, who had tried to establish secular
schools, though he feared that his name as author would
interfere with its popularity among denominational schools.
In these efforts Dr Dawes, the Dean of Hereford, gave
his cordial assistance. - - -
The character of Lady Ashburton has been so charmingly
delineated by Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton) that I
would not refer to her had she not been so caricatured in
Mrs Carlyle's descriptions of her. Carlyle himself knew
the merits of Lady Ashburton and appreciated her at her
proper worth. To me she was always the kindest and
mostgracious of friends. Her wit was sparkling, frequently
satirical, but never ill-natured. Her hospitality, both at
The Grange and in London, was admirable, and I never
found it marred by any of those peculiarities which Mrs
Carlyle describes. A far better account of The Grange
and its guests than is to be found in the letters of Mrs
Carlyle is contained in the biography of Taylor, the poet,
although, perhaps, I think so because I am almost the
only man whom he treats with civility in his descriptions
of a week at The Grange.
In London Lady Ashburton's dinners were charming.
At one dinner I have met at her house Dickens, Thackeray,
Carlyle, and Tennyson. I remember at that dinner
sitting next a remarkably handsome lady whose name I
did not then know. She was a brilliant conversationalist,
and took as her theme that no man of real talent had ever
been in love. I quoted in opposition Abelard and Héloise,
I58 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Petrarch and Laura, Dante and Beatrice, and various other
cases, but she classed them all as instances of illusion or
passion, not of love. At last, turning round her chair,
she said, “Tell me who you are and I will tell you
who I am.” To my pleasure I found that she was the
authoress, Mrs Norton. * *
Another house at which I was a frequent guest was that
of Lord Granville, in Carlton House Terrace. His guests
were chiefly public men, and the dinners differed from
those at Lord Ashburton's, but they were equally charming,
as Lord Granville himself was admirable in anecdote and
in his power of drawing out conversation among his
guests. At one of these dinners in January, 1854, a curious
discussion arose. Lord Granville had invited his colleagues
in the Cabinet to dine with him, but discovered before
dinner that thirteen would be at the table. Lord Palmer-
ston would never dine with the fatal number, and I as
an outsider, not then in politics, was invited to make an
even number at this Cabinet banquet. After dinner Lord
Palmerston produced a letter which had been written by
a Bristol schoolmaster, remonstrating with the Prince
Consort for injuring the English language by Careless
expressions in his speeches. The Prince had used the
word “either ” as covering more than two alternatives,
and the schoolmaster contended that it should be confined
to two. Lord Palmerston was singularly interested in
this philological attack, and triumphed in the draft
answer which the Prince proposed to send, and which
he then read. The Prince Consort quoted Shakespeare,
Beaumont and Fletcher, and other authors to prove that
“either” covered any number of alternatives.
At this dinner I explained to Lord Palmerston Wheat-
stone's newly-discovered symmetrical cipher, which I
thought might be of use in the Crimean War then
pending. It consists in taking a key word such as
“Palmerston,” and writing the remainder of the alphabet
symmetrically under it. The cipher to be sent consists
of the letters at the opposite angles of the nearest rect-
angle. I told him that I had gone with Wheatstone to
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I59
the Foreign Office and explained it, but the Under
Secretary objected to it as being too complicated. We
proposed that he should send for four boys from the
nearest elementary school in order to prove that three
of them could be taught to use the cipher in a quarter
of an hour. The reply made to this proposal by the
Under Secretary was complimentary to our diplomatic
service. “That is very possible, but you could never
teach it to attachés / " I constructed an alphabet hastily
with the key word “Palmerston,” and showed to Lord
Palmerston and his colleagues how it could be used.
The next day I went to Dublin, and while there I re-
ceived two short letters in cipher, one from Lord
Palmerston, the other from Lord Granville, showing that
they had readily mastered the cipher.
It was fortunate that the Department of Science and Art
was founded in 1853, because the Crimean War broke out
in the following year and heavily taxed the country. At
the beginning of the war I wrote a letter to the Prince
Consort which he forwarded to the Master of the Ordnance,
suggesting one or two applications of Science to the pur-
poses of war. One was a hollow brittle shell containing
phosphorus dissolved in bisulphide of carbon for the
purpose of producing conflagration of the enemy's stores
or property. The shell contained antimony, so as to make
it break on a hard surface. It then scattered the liquid
over the objects to be burned, and each drop, on drying,
started a new centre of conflagration. As the fumes of
phosphorus are apt to put out their own flame, a little
beeswax or petroleum was added to prevent this. The
Ordnance Department reported against this proposal, and
I did not care to push it further; but ten years later the
plan with exactly the same materials was adopted, and the
inventor, who was an officer, received promotion, and I
think a decoration. The Fenians have lately used this
method of setting property on fire, and tried its effects on
one of the Cunard ships.
The other proposal in my letter was to have a hollow
brittle shell containing cyanide of cacodyl. This is an
I6o MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
intensely poisonous substance, a few drops of which in
a room would poison the occupants. Such a shell going
between decks of a ship would render the atmosphere
irrespirable, and poison the men if they remained at the
guns. This suggestion was considered inadmissible by
the military authorities, who stated that it would be as
bad a mode of warfare as poisoning the wells of the
enemy. There was no sense in this objection. It is
considered a legitimate mode of warfare to fill shells
with molten metal which scatters among the enemy, and
produces the most frightful modes of death. Why a
poisonous vapour which would kill men without suffering
is to be considered illegitimate warfare is incompre-
hensible. War is destruction, and the more destructive
it can be made with the least suffering the sooner will
be ended that barbarous method of protecting national
rights. No doubt in time chemistry will be used to lessen
the suffering of combatants, and even of criminals con-
demned to death. Hanging is a relic of barbarism,
because Criminals might be put to death without physical
torture. -
Soon after I had written the letter to the Prince Consort,
Lord Dundonald, better known as Lord Cochrane, probably
the greatest of naval heroes except Nelson, offered to
Government his secret plans for taking fortresses without
the usual methods of siege. Lord Dundonald felt con-
vinced that he could take Sebastopol or Cronstadt in a
few hours by his destructive agencies. He wrote to Lord
Palmerston, then Prime Minister, offering to submit his
plans to any two persons nominated by the Government.
The Government appointed my former teacher, Graham,
then Master of the Mint, and myself, to receive the secret
communications from Lord Dundonald and to report on
their probable efficacy. At that time Admiral Sir Charles
Napier expected to receive, and did afterwards receive, the
command of the Baltic Fleet, while Lord Dundonald fully
hoped to obtain command of the Black Sea Fleet. Napier
knew the Secret plans, so the two old naval heroes used to
come to my office, which was then at Marlborough House,
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I6 I
now the residence of the Prince of Wales, to discuss them.
I still possess two rude sketches drawn by each of these
admirals, one by Napier as to how he proposed to attack
Cronstadt, and the other by Lord Dundonald as to how he
intended to attack Sebastopol. At that time I had an
acquaintance with Admiral Napier, but a still better One
with Lady Napier. They spoke of each other with
affection but did not live together, except for one or two
weeks in the year, when they entertained their friends
to show that no quarrel existed between them.
Lord Dundonald was then to me a new acquaintance,
but our intercourse speedily ripened into a friendship,
although he knew perfectly well that I reported unfavour-
ably as to the chief part of his invention, while I thought
that the minor part, to which he did not attach much
importance, was susceptible of extensive application. Lord
Dundonald was, even then as an old man, a person who
inspired great confidence in his ability, dash and daring.
He was of commanding stature, and full of vigour. It was
easy to understand how the men under his command
had unlimited faith in his resources and prowess. He
scarcely ever failed in a naval engagement, although when
one reads his biography his plans appear to be wild and
extravagant. Whether he would have succeeded with
his secret methods, had he received command of the Black
Sea Fleet, it is impossible to say, on account of his won-
derful personal influence with sailors. But the Master of
the Mint and I did not feel justified in recommending the
Government to adopt them, and Lord Palmerston coincided
with our views. Lord Dundonald, in spite of our unfav-
ourable report, conceived for me a warm friendship, and
continued to correspond with me to the end of his life. In
the year 1886 I gave to his grandson, the present Lord
Dundonald, all the papers relating to his grandfather's
inventions, so that they are not likely to be lost to the
world by my death, if my estimate of their value was not
a COrrect One. - g
In the year 1855 there was the first great International
Exhibition in Paris, and I was appointed one of the
L
I62 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Commissioners, Sir Henry Cole being the executive
English officer. A new feature in this Exhibition was an
international collection of pictures. The building allotted
to, them was so unsafe that Cole would not accept the
responsibility of allowing English pictures to be displayed.
A feeling of irritation arose between the French and
English Governments on that account, and threatened to
weaken our co-operation in the Exhibition. I was sent
over to Paris by the Government to act as peacemaker,
and after interviews with Fould, then Minister of the
Interior, I persuaded him to erect party walls, which cut
off the picture galleries from the rest of the Exhibition.
This was useful to me a few months later, when I went
to Paris to look after the Jury work of the Exhibition.
I already knew the leading scientific men of France, Milne
Edwards, Dumas, Chevreul, Beron, Thénard, Regnault,
Balard, Pelouze, Pehoot and others, and frequently enjoyed
their hospitality. But I was not acquainted with the poli-
ticians or public men. The fact that the English Govern-
ment entrusted me with the duty of overcoming a practical
difficulty formed an introduction to the leading French
Commissioners, and led to my becoming acquainted with
French society in another aspect. In 1851 I had been
introduced to Napoleon III. as President at St. Cloud, and
now attended, at his command, a Sunday reception, in
addition to the festivities which the Emperor gave to the
foreign Commissioners. At that time the sanitary condition
of Paris was under discussion, the sewerage being in a bad
condition. The Emperor wished the advice of English
sanitarians, and from my work on the Health of Towns
Commission, thought my opinion might be of use. He
also sent for our veteran sanitary reformer, Edwin
Chadwick, who prepared a short speech for the occasion.
It was epigrammatic in its brevity: “Sire,” said Chadwick,
“Caesar found Rome built with brick and left it built of
marble : it will be a great thing for you, sire, if posterity
can say that you found Paris stinking and left it
sweet !” The Emperor, who spoke English perfectly, was
much amused.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I63
Among my intimate friends in Paris I should not forget
Arles Dufour, the Cobden of France. Our acquaintance
began in a singular way. Arles Dufour was stranded
at an inn in the Trossachs during a Highland tour, with
his son, on account of some miscarriage of his remittances.
I was breakfasting at an adjoining table, and he told me
of his difficulty. He looked eminently respectable, so I
offered him £20, and gave the name of my banker in
London. On my return there I found the loan duly
paid, and a letter asking me to visit him in Paris. This
I did, and he gave me an interesting dinner at which Père
L'Enfantin and other Socialists of the Fourier school were
present. The venerable L'Enfantin used afterwards to
write to me on subjects of public interest, especially about
the Suez Canal. Arles Dufour himself was a man full of
enthusiasm for public reforms, and had great influence on
the educational progress of his time.
My old master, Professor Graham, continued to teach at
University College, and I naturally saw a good deal of
him. In 1855 the Mastership of the Mint became vacant.
The office had been once filled by Newton, and was
attractive to men of science. Graham asked whether I
wished the office, in which case he would not compete
with me, but if I did not he would become a candidate.
I did not tell him that I ardently desired and intended to
apply for it, but I felt that his scientific claims were much
superior to mine, so I offered to use all my influence in his
favour, and he was appointed Master of the Mint. It is,
however, doubtful whether it was a happy office for a man
of Graham's temperament. He was frequently exposed
to public criticism, and felt it keenly. In my first year
of Parliamentary life, in 1869, his administration of the
Mint was attacked in the House of Lords, and I was
able to defend it in the House of Commons.
My defence so pleased the Master of the Mint that he
struck a special medal of an alloy of palladium and
hydrogen, containing 900 volumes of that gas, to com-
memorate my aid. Graham died in the autumn of this
year, leaving an unsigned will, in which I was named
I64 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
as his executor. My old ambition to become Master of
the Mint revived, and both Mr Gladstone, the Prime
Minister, and Mr Lowe (afterwards Lord Sherbrooke),
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, encouraged me to apply
for the vacant office. But just at that time Lord Justice
Clerk Patton died, and Mr Moncrieff, who represented
Glasgow University, succeeded to his seat on the Bench.
Had I also taken office, both Scotch University seats would
have become vacant, and would have passed over to the
Tories. This would have been too severe a blow to the
Liberal party, so I withdrew my candidature for the
Mastership of the Mint. .
In 1857 I married Miss Jean Ann Millington, a lady of
Some fortune, by whom I had a daughter, Ethel Mary
Lyon, now married to Major Bloomfield. By this marriage
I was no longer wholly dependent on the income derived
from work, so I desired to obtain time for scientific re-
search, and made an arrangement with the Government
to give only half my time as an Inspector of Schools of
Science. It was fortunate that this arrangement was made,
for in 1858 the Chair of Chemistry in the University of
Edinburgh became vacant by the death of Professor
Gregory, and I was appointed to that much coveted
professorship.
With regard to the suggestion of an Order of Merit,
of the collapse of which Playfair gives so amusing an
account in the preceding chapter of his Reminiscences,
the following letter is of interest:- - g
Colonel Grey to Playſair. Buckingham PALACE, March 8th, 1856.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have read your letter to the
Prince, as you desired. His Royal Highness was called.
away directly afterwards, and I am not in a position to
say what his opinion may be. For myself, I have a
feeling (I can call it no more, not having given my
consideration to the subject) against the extension and
Playiair's first wife had died in 1855.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I65
multiplication of British orders. Nor can I quite see as
strongly as you do the danger of fostering a democratic
feeling, if men of science and industry are to continue to
look, as they have hitherto done, to Societies, medals,
and the letters which speak the members of such societies,
for the public evidence of their position in the scientific
and industrial world, instead of to honours received at the
hands of the Queen. I could wish that they had not gone
so far in my own profession, where such distinctions are
become almost worthless ; and the difficulty of discrimi-
nating between conflicting claims has there been found so
insuperable that officers commanding troops in any action
for which a distribution of such honours is thought right,
are actually forced, as the only way of solving the difficulty,
to name every man holding a particular rank in such affairs.
The Duke of Wellington, well knowing this difficulty, and
the impossibility of giving satisfaction, always wisely set
his face against the system of medals and decorations; and
I believe he was right. But I need not argue the question
with you. This matter will not depend upon any opinions
of mine, and I have already this afternoon more writing to
do than I can well get through before dinner-time.
Ever yours truly,
C. GREY.
Playfair in 1855 sent Professor Faraday a box of the
new matches which were just being introduced to replace
the evil-smelling sulphur match that had hitherto been
in use. In view of subsequent experiences in English
match-making the answer of the great Scientist is
interesting.
ROYAL INSTITUTION,
Professor Faraday to Playfair. October 30th, 1855.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I was very sorry to miss you
this morning, but inexorable time stole you away, and I
know so well the value of it to an occupied man that I
cannot but allow to others the power I am often obliged
I66 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
to reserve to myself. Many thanks for the box, which is
very curious, and apparently good. I have seen them
before. Do you think they will come into use 2 I was
much struck by an observation Liebig made to me the
other day when he was here, and we were talking over
just such a box. “But your match-makers have not
the phosphorus disease in the jaw,” said he ; “it only
occurs in Germany.” And when I asked him the reason
for that, he seemed to give it in the bad ventilation
and closeness of the German shops, combined with the
presence of phosphorus vapour. *
Ever your obliged
M. FARADAY.
MERCHISTON,
Admiral Sir Charles Wapier to Playfair. April 12th, 1855.
MY DEAR SIR,-Many thanks for your note. I shall
be in town on Saturday and Monday, and I hope Soon to
have the calculation. I suppose the iron vessels will be
launched next week, or one of them at least. They appear
to me to have committed a great error with the mortar
vessels. They have not engines in them, which I look
upon as of great importance. Should they be placed at a
proper distance from a battery and had engines, when the
enemy got their range all they would have to do would be
to go ahead or astern a little, and that they could do
without it being observed, and the enemy be thrown out.
And although firing their mortar, they could keep moving
a little to the right or left, the chances are they would
never be hit; but without an engine we must employ a
steamer to move them, which would be observed by the
enemy, and that would be two chances of damaging us.
We are fated to do everything that is wrong.
Yours very truly,
CHARLEs NAPIER.
This letter bears upon a side of Playfair's indefatigable
industry to which he has made reference in his auto-
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. 167
biography. His attempts to induce the military authorities
to employ new agencies in war were not successful. He
himself regarded his failure with some impatience, and
attributed it to the stupidity of the authorities. Thus he
endorsed in his own hand the formal reports of a certain
department upon experiments made, in accordance with
his suggestions, with materials for setting fire to the sails
of an enemy's fleet : “Absurd report. To make experi-
ments in absence of the inventor is foolish. The objections
here made could easily have been removed.” Throughout
his life he hated red tape, and though so much engrossed
in official work, was the implacable enemy of the official
temperament. When he saw that a thing needed to be
done he set about doing it, perhaps without too much
regard to the strict rules of official procedure. In a similar
spirit, although a man of exceptional kindness and tender-
ness, he put aside as ridiculous the humanitarian objections
to the use of warlike appliances of excessive efficiency.
Was not the object of war to destroy an enemy as quickly
as possible, and the more speedily and painlessly that
could be done, the better 2 Playfair's intensely practical
spirit, it will be seen, displayed itself on many different
fields of action.
Baron von Liebig to Playfair. Munich, September 17th, 1856.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--Dr Daubeny, who was good
enough to visit me on his journey to Vienna, informed me
that you had given your intended lecture on Agriculture in
July, and that it was very interesting. This leads me to
beg of you kindly to send me a copy of it, as it may
perhaps be useful to me in the new edition of my “Agri-
cultural Chemistry’ which I am now preparing.
Meanwhile, my answer to Lawes and Gilbert has ap-
peared in the ‘Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society,'
No. XXXVII. You may perhaps have read it. If so, I
should like to hear your opinion on it. I have firmly
I68 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
resolved to carry this fight through to the end, and shall
not lay down my pen until the laws of Nature, which
we are defending, have carried the day. At present my
fixed idea is to devote myself entirely to practical agri-
culture, and to found a school for teachers of agriculture,
as thirty years ago I did for practical chemistry. I con-
sider that such a school is the greatest necessity of our
time, and that there is nobody who could carry out such
an enterprise so well as I. I have no doubts about its
success. On the other hand, it seems very foolish to
give up a position such as no other man of Science in
Europe holds. I have so far cherished no wish which
the King has not granted, but I am weary of playing the
schoolmaster and giving lectures which others could give
as well as I. All my thoughts are devoted to the spread
and profitable application of scientific principles in agri-
culture. I regret that my friends three years ago were
too hasty in giving me a testimonial recognising my
services. If this matter were now brought before Par-
liament by the Duke of Argyll, it is not quite impossible
that Parliament would grant me a pension of £300 to
A 400, which would suffice to enable me to resign my
professorship, and to live three or four months in the year
in England or Scotland, and devote myself entirely to
agriculture. With the great resources which the Royal
Agricultural Society possesses, very much might have
been done, but they do not know how best to employ
their money, and much is wasted with no results. Some
Americans have proposed that I should go to America,
assuring me that the United States would certainly pro-
vide me with all the land and money I required. But
first I should like to take a trip there and see more of
the prevailing conditions.
It would give me great pleasure if you would pay us
a visit in Munich. I was four weeks at the baths of Gastein,
in Salzburg, and am staying here during the holidays.
Farewell, dear Playfair; let me hear something of
you soon. - Most sincerely yours,
J. V. LIEBIG.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM. I69
Same to the same. - MUNICH, March 30th, 1857.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--I have just received the report
of the meeting of the members of the Royal Institution,
Part VI., and find in it your lecture on the principles
involved in agricultural experiments, which I have read
with great pleasure. You have set forth in it in a clear
and lucid manner the principal object of such experiments,
and estimated those of Lawes at their real worth ; your
examples and illustrations are so simple and so easily
grasped that every farmer must understand them. Faraday
had already written to me about your lecture, which he
thought must put an end to the long controversy which
is still going on in Germany. I am at this moment
engaged in writing a fresh pamphlet against Stockhardt
and Co. The so-called nitrogen theory leads to such
absurdities that all reasonable people must unite in
opposing it. Stockhardt maintains, for instance, that
Ioo lb. nitrate of soda are equivalent to 2,800 lb. of stable
dung, because they contain the same quantity of nitrogen ll
Walter Crum wrote to me about a project which he
had discussed with Young, and which has also been laid
before you. They wish to make up a sum of money by
subscription to enable me to carry out in England my
ideas on agriculture. I have, therefore, written to Crum
and asked him to let this matter entirely drop ; it looks as
though my only object was to make money, whereas
really I never thought of it. In the heat of the con-
troversy with Lawes, I eagerly seized the idea of founding
an agricultural School, in order to have an opportunity of
putting my principles into practice. But now I see that
progress cannot be forced, but must develop gradually
like a plant. I can do a greater and more widespread
work through teaching than through example, and
by endeavouring that those experiments which I deem
most important should be carried out in many places
simultaneously. This opportunity is now within my
grasp ; German agricultural associations and chemical labo-
ratories are numerous, and are inclined to carry out any
I7o MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR.
suggestions of mine. Thus I have the means practically
in my own hands, and it is, therefore, unnecessary to give
up my present position. It would have been a foolish
thing to do, as it brings me in £500 to £550 a year,
which, added to my other resources, makes my income
about £ I, Ioo, which enables one to live very comfort-
ably in Germany. I could never have consented to
accept a sum raised by subscription by private indi-
viduals. Such an arrangement would probably carry
with it obligations and expectations which could not be
ſulfilled. It is well meant by Crum and Young, but not
practicable.
Always, my dear friend,
Sincerely yours,
J. V. LIEBIG.
CHAPTER VIII.
LIFE IN E DIN B U R G H .
Playfair “the Man Behind the Scenes"—Scientific Honours—Place in
Society—His Passion for Scientific Research—Appointed Professor of
Chemistry in Edinburgh University—Resigning his Post as Gentleman
Usher AUTOBIOGRAPHY : Chemical Theories and Their Exponents in
Edinburgh University: Sir Robert Christison: Sir James Simpson
and Experiments in Anaesthesia: Reforming the University ; Declining
the Office of Principal : Giving the Prince of Wales Lessons: Royal
Students at the University: Death of the Prince Consort: President of
the Royal Commission on the Herring Fishery: Appointing the Jurors
for the International Exhibition of 1862 : Lord Stratford de Redcliffe :
Honours from Foreign Princes: A Member of the Royal Commission
on the Cattle Plague : Anecdote of the Princess Alice: A Visit to
Coburg: Dr John Brown: The Marquis of Tweeddale: Lady Ruthven :
Leaving Edinburgh. Playfair's Professorial Zeal—His Work for the
Exhibition of 1862—The Prince of Wales and the Cauldron of Boiling
Lead–Playfair and the Edinburgh Memorial of the Prince Consort—
His Unpopularity in Connection with the Cattle Plague Report.
IN the year 1858 Playfair entered his fortieth year.
Nearly half his life had been spent in England, first in
Lancashire, and subsequently in London. He had com-
pressed into that comparatively short period an amount of
work which it is given to few men to accomplish in a
lifetime. He had advanced from obscurity into public
fame. He had become the personal friend and trusted
adviser of many of the greatest in the land, beginning with
the Prince Consort. Above all, he had been the powerful
instrument by means of which a great revolution in our
educational system had been accomplished. The public,
it is true, did not then understand how large a part he
had played in the formation of the Science and Art
Department, and in the establishment of the new system
I72 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
of technical education. Still less did it know of his early
labours in the field of national sanitation, or the share,
significant though limited, which he had in influencing
Sir Robert Peel in his resolve to break down the import
duties upon food. Nobody save those who had been the
associates of Playfair in his labours really knew what
the extent and importance of those labours had been.
To the world at large he was then, what he remained
largely to the end, the man behind the scenes.
But certain visible signs of his success had been ac-
corded to him. He held an office in the Household
of the Prince Consort, and a post of importance in
the public service. He had received the Companionship
of the Bath, and had been offered many foreign orders;
he had been President of the Chemical Society, of which
he was one of the founders; was a fellow of the Royal
Society, and had secured most of the honours which are
recognised in this country as the rewards of Scientific
eminence. Above all, he had gained a special place of
his own in the cosmopolitan society of London. Everybody
who knew him at all, knew that a dinner-table was made
the brighter by the presence of a man who wore so vast
a load of learning “lightly as a flower,” who not only
possessed immense stores of knowledge, but had the art
of imparting that knowledge in the easiest and pleasantest
fashion to others, and who had, beyond most men, the
gift of winning the confidence and good will of all who
were brought in contact with him. It seemed to his
friends that his place in life was now definitely fixed, and
that he would remain upon the great stage of London,
an eminent public Servant, whose talents and energies
would continue to be devoted to that branch of national
work which lies outside the range of party politics. The
Science and Art Department, and the development of the
practical work of Scientific teaching of which he was
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I73
to so large an extent the founder, seemed likely to
absorb his energies for the remainder of his days.
But Lyon Playfair's original passion for scientific re-
search had never left him. He looked back with yearning
to the days when he had been a student in the laboratory
at Edinburgh, and had made those original investigations
which first secured for him the good will of the great
Liebig. He looked forward from the busy days which he
had to spend in the company of princes, great noblemen,
and Ministers of State, to the time when he could return
to his first love, and, withdrawing from the glare and bustle
of public life, find the task that best suited him in the
tranquil labours of a professorship. It is necessary to
touch upon this point, because men of Science are tra-
ditionally censorious in their treatment of those of their
number who abandon the pursuit of science in the abstract
for the practical work of life, even when that work is
more or less directly connected with progress in scientific
knowledge. Playfair did not during the course of his
long and busy life escape the criticisms of some of his
more censorious fellow-scientists. Up to the end of
his days there were those who were inclined to look
upon him in the light of “a good man who had gone
wrong.” Ignoring the immense services which he had
rendered to his fellow-countrymen and to the State, they
deplored the fact that he had ever been induced to
abandon his original work as a student of chemistry,
and professed to believe that nothing he had done in the
way of public service could compare with what he might
have accomplished if he, the friend and pupil of Liebig,
had devoted his life to original research. It is only fair
that it should be known that when Playfair was drawn
out into public work it was by a force which seemed at
the time to be irresistible. When a public duty was to
be done, and he knew that he was the man who could
I74 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
do it, nothing—not even his intense love of learning and
research—could prevent his undertaking the task. But
when it was accomplished, and there was an opening for
his return to his first love, he availed himself of it with
an eagerness that was almost touching. -
Thus it came to pass that in the year 1858 he went
back to the Scotland which he had left as a boy, in order
to take up the dignified and important post of Professor
of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. His bio-
grapher must leave Playfair himself to describe the con-
ditions of his life in his new post at Edinburgh, and his
Surroundings at the University. It was unquestionably
a great trial to him to leave London, with all the intimate
friendships he had formed there, and to sever the links
which bound him to great and beneficent public enter-
prises. Let those rigid scientists who seemed sometimes
inclined to regard him as one who had been false to the
higher ideals of scientific work, give him credit for the
resolute courage with which he made this sacrifice when
it became possible to do so.
His eminence, both as a chemist and as a public servant,
ensured his success in his candidature for the Edinburgh
chair. Testimonials of the ordinary kind were hardly
needed by him, but with the thoroughness which
characterised him in every work he undertook, he made
it his business to secure them.
- 34, CLEVELAND SQUARE,
Playfair to Professor Frankland. May 22nd, 1858.
MY DEAR FRANKLAND,-Very much against my own
wish, I am forced into having some testimonials as a
reserve in case of necessity, and as a reply to the assertion
that I am unable to procure any. Every chemist seems
to have given to every candidate testimonials, and if they
have any chemical virtue in them, they should have only
neutral effects. If you can, could you embody the
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I75
following points in a letter to me 2 You will see they
relate to the specific points of my continued attention
to chemistry, and will therefore steer clear of general
testimonialisation.
(1) As to my general Scientific position in London.
(2) As to the fact that I continue laboratory practice,
and have not abandoned chemistry.
(3) That as President of the Chemical Society I have
shown that I study chemistry. *
(4) That I have some powers as a lecturer.
I am sorry to bother you, but my friends in Edinburgh
insist upon my being provided with testimonial letters,
to be used only in case of necessity.
St. BARTHOLOMEw's HOSPITAL,
Professor Frankland to Playfair. May 25th, 1858.
MY DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,--It is with no inconsiderable
pleasure that I hear of your intention to become a candi-
date for the vacant chair of chemistry in Edinburgh. The
deep interest which you have continued to take in the
progress of chemical Science, and the fact that you did
not abandon even laboratory pursuits during a period when
the Onerous duties of your appointment in connection with
the Board of Education must have severely taxed your
time, caused me to feel little surprise at your seeking so
eligible an opportunity of again devoting yourself ex-
clusively to the pursuits of our Science. Your high
scientific position in London, and the admirable way in
which you have filled the office of President of the
Chemical Society, are sufficient guarantee that your
official duties have not been allowed unduly to interfere
with your chemical studies. In the teaching of Science,
like that of chemistry, the power of placing the chief facts
and generalisations before students in a striking and lucid
manner cannot be over-rated; and as I know from ample
personal observation that you possess this power in a very
rare degree, and as at the same time you have always won
the regard and esteem of your pupils, I have the greatest
confidence that the mantle of your renowned predecessor
176 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
in the Edinburgh chair would worthily rest upon your
shoulders should you succeed in obtaining the appoint-
ment.
Trusting that chemistry will thus soon again have the
advantage of your undivided attention,
Believe me, etc.,
E. FRANKLAND.
Roy AL INSTITUTION,
Professor Faraday to Playfair. May 25th, 1858.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--That such a question should
arise ! I cannot give—i.e. volunteer-—a certificate for
circulation ; it is against my rule; but if any one asks me
whether you are able to expound the truths of experi-
mental science to a large number of persons in a clear,
logical, audible, and, to me, Satisfactory manner, I should
have no need to consider, but must from my own ex-
perience say “Yes” at once. Anyone concerned in the
matter may write to me, or you may show them this note,
which contains what would be my answer.
Ever truly yours,
M. FARADAY.
On June 29th, 1858, Baillie Blackadder, the acting chief
magistrate of Edinburgh, officially notified Playfair of the
fact that he had on the previous day been appointed
Professor of Chemistry in the University, “in room of the
late Dr Gregory.” So, after nearly twenty years of
absence, he returned to the capital of his native land to
occupy a position of exceptional dignity and influence.
The first step which his appointment imposed upon him
was the resignation of his office as a member of the Prince
Consort's Household. Writing to General Grey, imme-
diately after the appointment had been made, Playfair,
after asking him to announce the fact to the Prince
Consort, said:
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 177
“I found my scientific knowledge rapidly slipping away
from me owing to my public duties, and I could not resist
taking the only chair which was worth having in order to
enable me to devote myself more exclusively to science.
My lectures occupy from November to the end of April.
I still intend to spend May, June, and July in London. I
believe that I could perform the duties of the office which
I have the honour to hold in the Household of the Prince
Consort, by an occasional interchange of duties with my
colleague, such as we have been hitherto accustomed to
make for each other. But although I am very unwilling
to break a connection which has given me so much
pleasure, and to dissever myself from service with a
Prince who has given me so many reasons to be attached
to his person, at the same time, as there might be some
irregularities in that service, I think it right to place my
resignation in your hands, and to beg you to convey to His
Royal Highness the profound sense of gratitude and
affection which I feel for the many kindnesses which he
has bestowed upon me.”
Sir Charles Phipps to Playfair. OSBORNE, July 9th, 1858.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Grey is away, and I have
opened your letter of the 7th, and stated its purport to the
Prince. His Royal Highness commands me to say, in
reply, that he should be very sorry to lose you from his
Household, and that he thinks, by arrangement with
Admiral Blake, your duty might be easily provided for.
For instance, if he were to take March and April, and you
May and June, all the occasions upon which the attend-
ance of a Gentleman Usher is required might be provided for.
It would only be in the event of its proving impossible
that your two duties could be made compatible that His
Royal Highness would accept your resignation.
The Prince commands me to forward to you his hearty
Congratulations upon your appointment to a post for
which you are so eminently fitted.
Sincerely yours,
C. B. PHIPPS.
178 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
A few months later Playſair found that, in spite of the
kind consideration of the Prince, he could not discharge
even the modified programme of his duties as Gentleman
Usher, and in January, 1859, he finally resigned his post.
The Prince, in accepting it, expressed the very sincere
regret with which he lost him from his Household.
Even in his own country a prophet may not be without
honour. Playfair was still remembered by his old friends
in St. Andrews and other Scots towns, chiefly as the boy
who had shown so great a fondness for study and so keen
a knowledge of how to get through his work in the
shortest possible space of time. Now he had come back
to them in a position which in Scotland has always been
regarded as one of peculiar honour. One of his old
acquaintances wrote as follows to his mother upon the
Occasion of his appointment:-
MANSE of MoEFAT, july 5th, 1858.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--I learned from Mr Lindsay, who
kindly came up to me in church yesterday, that you are in
St. Andrews, and so I write to-day, though really I have
nothing to say but only to inquire after your welfare, and
to express my hope that you are pleased with Dr Lyon's
appointment to Edinburgh. No doubt his life in Edin-
burgh will not be so splendid as his life in London. But I
should suppose that the pleasures of Court favour are not
without much trouble and loss of time, which a studiously-
disposed man must grudge, and besides, he has had that
sort of pleasure. The future could be little more than a
repetition of the past, which is always more or less weari-
some. In Edinburgh he will take his place at the top of
society, and will be able to command much of his own
time. He will also be the head of chemical philosophy,
for the Edinburgh chair is looked upon in Europe as higher
than any other, and he will have the pleasure of finding
himself surrounded by a school of young chemists who will
not be long in recognising him as their master. As to
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. * 179
emolument, happily he is not dependent upon that, but I
remember the day when the chemical chair in Edinburgh
was worth £2,000, and doubtless under your son it will
revive fast. I don't know whether you ever heard Lyon
lecture to a scientific auditory. I had that pleasure at the
School of Mines. Nothing can be finer. His fluency is
perfect as it is in social conversation. His hearer feels that
he is speaking to him, which is an immense matter, though
rare in Scientific men, who are apt merely to discuss their
subject and hold communion with it or their own thoughts,
which never fails to make them dry and uninstructive. I
am delighted with the appointment, because I think your
son has deeper insight into the philosophy of chemistry and
the economy of matter than any other body; and now that
his time will be his own I am sure he will go on making
great discoveries. So much interested was I that I went
to the Council chamber, and though too late for the vote,
I succeeded in forcing a seat beside a councillor, from
whom I asked the result. He did not know me, nor do I
know who he was; but you will be pleased to hear what he
said. “I did not vote for Dr Playfair myself,” said he,
“but I could not but admire him when he called upon me,
for he said: ‘Well, if you will not vote for me I can
assure you you will do well to vote for Professor Anderson.
Of course I don't mean to say but that I should like you to
give me your vote, but if not, Anderson is a first-rate man
in every respect.'”
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—VII.
1858 to 1868.
AT this time I was President of the Chemical Society,
and once more I succeeded in breaking away from
public life to enjoy the quiet of an academic office.
The Chair of Chemistry in the University of Edin-
burgh has always been the chief ambition of scientific
chemists. My predecessor, Professor Gregory, was
an accomplished man of science, and had a thorough
knowledge of modern chemistry. He had not been
able to found a teaching laboratory on a scale com-
I8O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
mensurate with the importance of the chair. This I
determined to do, so far as the limited accommodation
then in the University would permit. Before entering
upon my duties as a professor, a considerable sum had to be
spent in equipping the laboratories and chemical museum
with the full appliances for teaching.
My introductory lecture was attended, as is usual,
by all the professors, and by many residents of the
city interested in science. The subject of the address
was “A Century of Chemistry in the University of
Edinburgh.” It was interesting to observe how entirely
chemistry had changed during that century, and how
well the profession in Edinburgh had represented the
changing periods. At the beginning of that epoch the
theory of phlogiston held universal belief. Phlogiston was
the principle of heat, and it was believed that as it was
present or absent from bodies their fundamental charac-
teristics changed. Cullen taught this from the chair which
I now occupied. It was a theory that was fitted for the
time, because it brought within itself a vast number of facts
hitherto disconnected. An ore was heated in the fire and
it produced a metal, because the principle of fire entered
into it. The ore was in fact metal minus phlogiston, while
the metal was the ore plus phlogiston. The use of the
balance upset this famous theory, and no one did more
than Black, Cullen's successor, to apply weight and measure
to all experiments. When a metal was burned it pro-
duced a calx which weighed more than the metal, and
when the latter was reproduced by calcination in a furnace
it became lighter. How can this be explained 2 said the
doubters of the phlogiston theory, for if phlogiston pass out
of the calx and go into the metal the latter should increase
in weight The upholders of the theory boldly answered
that phlogiston is the principle of lightness as well as of
fire, so when it enters a body that body becomes lighter.
Thus lightness is not a negative quality—the absence of
weight, as darkness is the absence of light—but it is a
positive entity. My predecessor, Black, who discovered
the laws of latent heat, and the nature of the air which we
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I8I
now know as carbonic acid, and who experimented with
the balance in his hand, felt that the grand edifice of
phlogiston was giving way, though he was too old and
timid to abandon it. We now know that an ore becomes
a metal because it loses oxygen, and that a metal burning
in air becomes heavier because it absorbs oxygen. Phlo-
giston gave a beautiful picture of nature, though it was
nature turned upside down, and like a negative photograph
it showed all the black white and the white black. Hope,
the successor of Black, renounced the theory of phlogiston,
and taught the theories of Lavoisier and the French School,
and made chemistry an attractive study by the care which
he bestowed on the lecture table. His successor, Gregory,
represented the great changes which had passed over the
science by the discoveries in organic chemistry, while I,
who now lectured as his successor, was a sort of missionary
to bring chemistry into relation with the industries of
the country, which had too long been carried on by the
rule of thumb. -
There were several remarkable men among my
colleagues in the Senate of the University. My old
college companion Goodsir was in feeble health, though
still Professor of Anatomy. My friend Edward Forbes,
who had been Professor of Natural History, died before
my arrival, and had been succeeded by the excellent
naturalist, Professor Allman. The most active members
of the medical faculty on my arrival were Sir Robert
Christison, Professor Syme, Sir James Simpson, Professor
Laycock, and Professor Bennett. It was natural, with my
capacity for public business, that I should take part in the
affairs of the Senatus Academicus, which met weekly and
administered the affairs of the University. Formerly the
Town Council had complete control over the University,
but that had recently ceased. I was disappointed to find
that many of my medical colleagues were in a state of
chronic war with each other, and it required considerable
tact on my part to keep myself clear of these professional
disputes, and at the same time to remain friends with the
disputants in my own faculty. I do not know whether
I82 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Edinburgh now continues to be the theatre of professional
disputes, but it long had a bad reputation in that respect,
for Franklin in his Autobiography says, “Persons of good
Sense . . . seldom fall into it [professional disputa-
tion], except lawyers, university men, and generally
men of all sorts who have been bred in Edinburgh ' "
The Nestor of the University was Sir Robert Christison.
He was a tall and handsome man, even in his old age as
straight as an arrow, with an elastic gait which showed
how carefully he had preserved his physical condition.
He scrupulously protected the finances of the University,
and was willing to support reforms and to improve its
condition. To me he was a kind and courteous friend,
although our political opinions were absolutely opposite,
So that at a future period, at the time of a parliamentary
election, our friendship became somewhat strained.
Professor Syme, the eminent surgeon, was a short man
of keen expression and of blunt honesty of character,
though with strong prejudices. His students highly
valued his lectures and clinical instruction. He was
greater as a professor than as a Member of the Senate,
where calm consideration of questions was required,
uninfluenced by personal antipathies.
Sir James Simpson was a man of great personality and
power. He had the body of a Bacchus, with the head of
a Jupiter. His mind ranged over a great variety of
Subjects—medicine, antiquities, history, and politics—and
this diversity of interest made him sometimes negligent of
his professional practice. As the introducer of chloroform
into surgery he is universally known. In Scotland there
used to be an antipathy to objects not mentioned in the
Bible. On this account, potatoes were only slowly
adopted by the Scotch. Simpson had many struggles
before chloroform was adopted. Not only was it un-
known as a Biblical noun, but it positively was in direct
contradiction to the curse upon woman that she shall
endure sorrow in bringing forth children I Simpson
adroitly answered the religious objections to chloroform
by saying that God, when He performed the operation of
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 183
taking out one of Adam's ribs, first put him into a deep
sleep such as chloroform produces ! -
Simpson was constantly experimenting with new anaes-
thetics. On one occasion he came into my laboratory to
ask whether I had any new substance likely to produce
anaesthesia. My assistant, Dr Guthrie, had just prepared a
volatile liquid, bibromide of ethylene, which I thought
worthy of experiment. Simpson, who was brave to
rashness in his experiments, wished to try it upon himself in
my private room. This I absolutely refused to allow, and
declined to give him any of the liquid unless he promised
me first to try its effects on rabbits. Two were procured,
and under the vapour quickly passed into anaesthesia,
coming out of it in due course. Next day Simpson
proposed to experiment upon himself and his assistant
with this liquid, but the latter suggested that they should
first see how the rabbits had fared. They were both
found to be dead This has always appeared to me to be
an excellent argument for experiments on living animals.
By the sacrifice of two rabbits the life of the greatest
physician of his time had probably been spared. Simpson
was a keen academic reformer, and, though naturally not
of a quarrelsome temper, he was in a state of chronic war
with his medical colleagues. Christison and Syme were
bosom friends, but always at war with some of the other
professors. Both, however, would unite with Bennett,
Laycock, and others in opposition to Simpson. I was
always on terms of intimacy and friendship with the latter,
and, probably because I was outside the medical pro-
fession, retained my friendship with the others also.
At this time the University required considerable reform.
The old tradition of classes prevailed. The numbers of
students were too large in each class for effective teaching.
I introduced into the class of chemistry a tutorial system
like that of répétiteurs in France. The tutors followed my
course of lectures, and drilled the students in practical
exercises upon the subjects which I had discussed. The
system of examinations prevailing at the University dis-
couraged the students, because only two or three of them
I84 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
could carry away the prizes, while those forming the
remainder of the class became discouraged, and ceased to
attend the examinations. I made each separate examina-
tion of the value of Ioo, and enrolled all students who
obtained 75 per cent. or upwards of the marks in the first
list of honours, and gave to each a bronze medal, while
those who obtained between 50 and 75 per cent. received
certificates in a second class of honours. This gave great
life to the class, and sustained a general competition all
through the session. Formerly the marks at each examina-
tion had been an arbitrary number. The simplicity of the
percentage system was very useful, as the parents of
students understood it, and they consequently took an
interest in the results of each examination, and encouraged
their sons to work. This has now become general in the
University of Edinburgh, and has extended itself to other
educational institutions. I have found it to prevail in .
American colleges, perhaps from imitation, though more
probably from initiation.
The next step was to produce a feeling of pride among
graduates, so as to interest them in the future of the
University. Ceremonials of graduation had fallen into
abeyance, and academic costume had almost ceased to be
worn. The professors did wear gowns, but had no hoods
to indicate their special degrees. In the efforts to restore
academic dignity to the University there were many
willing workers. Professor Campbell Swinton and Pro-
fessor Lorimer in the faculty of Law, Professors Wilson,
Killand, and Fraser in the faculty of Arts, joined heartily
in the new movement. The conditions for graduation were
revised, and graduation itself was made a stately ceremony,
every graduate having to appear in academic dress with
appropriate hoods invented for classification. This
gave a great impulse to graduation, and the number of
graduates in each faculty increased largely. This was
followed by a Royal Commission under the presidency of
Lord Justice General Inglis, now the Chancellor of the
University. By his influence the House of Commons
increased the annual vote to the University, leaving it to
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 185
the Executive Commission to distribute these funds in the
most effective way. The Act founded a General Council
of all graduates, so as to maintain their continued interest
in the University. This Council is consultative and
advisory, while the Senatus Academicus still remains the
executive, subject, however, to a University Court con-
sisting of the Chancellor, Lord Proctor, Principal, and
other representative members. These reforms, to which I
gave a hearty co-operation, introduced a new academic
life, and have led to the present remarkable prosperity of
the University.
Soon after I entered the University as professor, the
great philosopher, Sir David Brewster, was appointed
Principal. He had already filled a similar office in the
ancient University of St. Andrews. Brewster's scientific
fame and his natural dignity of demeanour made him
specially fitted for such an important post. He was a
man of polished manners, which conveyed the impression
of a suave and gentle disposition. But he had the serious
drawback of being singularly litigious, and he little under-
stood the art of compromise and conciliation. He had no
sooner entered on his duties than a lawsuit between
Brewster and Forbes became imminent. Professor Forbes,
the distinguished physicist and author of an important
work on glaciers, had been appointed to the office of
Principal in the University of St. Andrews, vacated by
Brewster's promotion to Edinburgh. Disputes arose about
the emoluments divisible between the outgoing and the in-
coming Principal. Forbes was a tall, stately man, upright
and honourable in character, though stern in demeanour,
and unbending on a question involving his rights. It was
pitiable to contemplate a quarrel and lawsuit between two
such distinguished philosophers as Brewster and Forbes.
One morning both of them called upon me, and asked
whether I would act as umpire in the dispute, agreeing
absolutely to be bound by the terms of my award. I
accepted the office, but intimated my fear that I was
certain to displease one of them, and that I valued much
the friendship of both. Happily, however, my award
I86 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
gave complete satisfaction to both disputants, and I had
the pleasure of receiving copies of all their works, and a
grateful letter of thanks from each as an acknowledgment
of my services. Brewster thus learned the usefulness of
arbitration, and on two occasions after this asked my aid
to settle his controversies. One of these was to determine
his claims to discovery in lighthouse illumination, and this
proved a heavy undertaking.
When Brewster died (February, 1868), the succession to
the office of Principal produced considerable bitterness.
Sir James Simpson desired to have this dignity, and his
eminent scientific position entitled him to become a
candidate. But this was intolerable to his medical
colleagues. Sir R. Christison, who was the most respected
and in administration most useful of all the professors,
thought it necessary to save the University from the
difficulties likely to follow Simpson's success, by intimating
that he was willing to accept the office of Principal.
Professor Syme had also come to the conclusion that he
should oppose Simpson, and he also desired to be a candidate.
The two life-long friends, Christison and Syme, thus came
into collision at an advanced period of their life, and found
it necessary to extricate themselves from this dilemma.
They both came to me and offered to withdraw their
claims in my favour if I would accept the office of
Principal. No doubt I could easily have obtained it with
this backing, but I could not oppose Sir James Simpson,
for whom I had so much friendship and esteem. The
difficulty was ultimately removed by the appointment of
an outsider, Sir Alexander Grant, the author of a work on
Aristotle. This proved to be an excellent appointment.
Grant has left the new buildings of the University as a
monument of his devotion and zeal in its interests. At
his death I was again invited to become Principal, but I
declined, as my parliamentary life interfered with the
proper discharge of the duties of the office.
Among the pupils whom I had at my class in Edin-
burgh, there are two whom I Ought to mention. I had a
correspondence with the Prince Consort, informing me
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 187
that it was considered desirable to send the Prince of
Wales to the University of Edinburgh, and asking me
what should be his course of study. I thought that,
considering the future position of the Prince, it would be
best that I should give him a special course of lectures on
the chief manufactures of the kingdom, and that, after
studying the scientific processes involved in a manufac-
ture, we should visit some mill or factory to see it in
practical operation. The Prince of Wales came to
Edinburgh, and resided at Holyrood Palace during the
time that this practical course of instruction was carried
out. The natural quickness and intelligence of the young
Prince made it easy to carry out this course of study. I
believe that it was appreciated by him, and it certainly
was by the Prince Consort. To prevent the course of
instruction being too tedious, various excursions were
made. -
On one occasion we went through Rob Roy's country,
the Trossachs and Loch Lomond. The Prince was accom-
panied by his governor, General Bruce, a man of sterling
character, and his tutor, the Rev. Mr Jarvis, the most
agreeable of men. As the rooms at the hotels were
engaged for Professor Playfair and his pupil, the Prince
tried to travel incognito, so that we could go on coaches
and steamboats without inconvenience. But not a single
day passed without discovery of the interesting traveller,
and then the inconveniences dependent on an exalted
position became apparent. -
The success of the experiment with the Prince of Wales
induced the Queen and the Prince Consort to send their
second son, Prince Alfred, to the University. In his
ease a more systematic course of science was desirable,
and the Duke entered into his studies at several classes
with much diligence and intelligence. As he resided at
Holyrood Palace and entered with enjoyment into the
Social life in Edinburgh, he became intimately acquainted
with the city, which was afterwards taken as the title by
which he is now known, the Duke of Edinburgh. -
The exiled French Princes also sent their sons to
I88 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
Edinburgh for part of their education. I received the
commands of the Queen to place my services at their
disposal. The Duc d'Aumale, Prince de Joinville, and
the Duc de Nemours came with their sons. With
the view of introducing them to the leading people
in Edinburgh, I had a dinner-party, to which their
Royal Highnesses came, and in the evening there was
a large reception attended by the young Princes, the
Duc d'Alençon, the Prince de Condé, and the Duc de
Penthièvre. They were then too young to attend the
University, so they entered the High School, and also
another school, for scientific instruction. The people
of Edinburgh were much interested in the young Princes,
and afterwards gave them ample hospitality. The
Prince de Joinville took a lively interest in the scientific
institutions of the city, and for some time honoured
me with correspondence. I possess a long and interesting
letter from him about Lynch Law in America, which
he had thoroughly studied as a rough and ready Sup-
plement to common law when defectively administered
in unsettled States.
The 14th December, 1861, was a day of mourning for
all the United Kingdom. I was at church on Sunday, the
I5th, when a whisper went round that the illustrious
Prince Consort was dead. To me this was a source of
real sorrow. He had allowed me to co-operate with him
in many of his measures for improving the condition of the
people. The difficulties of his position as Prince Consort
made it necessary for him to be reserved in intercourse
with many persons, but to those whom he had once
honoured with his confidence he was singularly affable
and lovable. His letters to Baron Stockmar, published in
the Life of the latter, show how thoroughly open and frank
he was in communication with his advisers. He had one
attribute most valuable to a Prince ; that was that he was
pleased by an honest opposition to his views, and
discussed objections with perfect fairness. Even when in
the royal household, I never was a courtier in the
ordinary sense of that word, and I believe that my
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 189
opinion was valued because it was openly and honestly
given, without courtly flattery. At his death I received a
letter from one who knew him better than I did, and
whose opinions are worth preserving. Sir Charles Phipps,
the writer of this letter, was confidential Secretary to the
Queen, and was necessarily in daily intercourse with the
Prince Consort. His letter, which fully expresses my own
sentiments, is as follows:–
Sir Charles Phipps fo Playfair. OsBORNE, December 28th, 1861.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I think there were few who
appreciated and valued our beloved master better than
you. It required minds like yours fully to know all his
worth. You could not only mourn him from personal
regard, but you were capable of knowing what the country
has lost. It mourns him now as he should be mourned,
but the full cause for sorrow will be better and better
known each passing year. Even if I were a flatterer,
which I never have been, there would be no profit in
flattering dead princes, but I can safely say now that I
never met so good and so truly great a man.
I mourn him as my master and my friend, but I mourn
him now, far more, because I feel that in every relation
in life, every department of good, every step of progress
in good, one has been torn from us who cannot be
replaced—has been torn from us just when his usefulness
and his benevolence were at their zenith, when he
had lived through calumny, and all were acknowledging
his virtue and were inclined to look upon him in the
future as a patron and guide.
It is almost too hard to bear, but God's will be done. I
hardly dare to write of my own grief from the house of the
poor, desolate, widowed Queen. But her calm, Sorrowful,
tranquil grief is a most touching, elevating sight. It is
hardly possible to believe that a high sense of duty can
bring out such a glorious condition of mind as hers. She
does indeed deserve the love of her people.
Sincerely yours,
C. B. PHIPPS.
I90 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
By the gracious desire of the widowed Queen I had an
opportunity of paying the last tribute of respect to my
beloved master at the State funeral, which took place at
Windsor. Then all classes had realised the heavy loss to
the kingdom. Brave men sobbed like children, and even
the choristers broke down when they had to sing the
requiem. But this grieſ was small in comparison with
that of the widowed Queen and of the children who adored
their father. That grief was too deep and too sacred to be
fathomed by the public.
Although I was pursuing a quiet academic life in Edin-
burgh, the Government had not forgotten my existence
when they were forming Royal Commissions for inquiry
on important public subjects. A Royal Commission was
issued to examine and report on the herring fishery of the
British coasts, and of this I was appointed president. The
chief member of this Commission was the well-known
naturalist, Professor Huxley. After a thorough inquiry the
Commission came to some startling conclusions which have
laid the basis of modern fishery legislation in regard to sea
fish as distinguished from river fish. Herrings had been
allowed a close time like partridges and grouse, the close
time not being uniform, but varying at different parts of
the coast. The object of this was to protect the fish
during their spawning, and so to keep up the supply.
During the close time herrings could not be caught for bait,
and the result was that cod and ling, their natural enemies,
had a close time also, and devoured shoals of herrings at
their leisure. We could not tell how many cod and ling
were in the Sea, but we had a return of the quantity salted,
and supposing that they had remained in the sea with a
diet of only four or five herrings daily, they would have
caught more herring than all the fishermen of the United
Kingdom and 600 added. The laws thus instituted for the
protection of the herring led to their destruction, for close
time multiplied their natural enemies and shut out the
fishermen, who really reduced the latter.
The Royal Commission had been issued on account of
the agitation of certain classes of fishermen for increased
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I9 I
protection, but, like Balaam, though called upon to curse
the open sea fishermen, we blessed them altogether, and
the close time was repealed.
In 1862 another great International Exhibition was held
in London. I desired to keep out of this work, but I was
much pressed to undertake the charge of the administration
of awards, and to appoint the 600 jurors who were requi-
site on account of the large scale of the Exhibition. As
Some dissatisfaction was shown in 1851 as to the constitu-
tion of the juries, I asked all the exhibitors in each class to
Send me a list of six persons in whom they had confidence,
and we appointed the jurors according to the number of
votes. In this way we got together a remarkable collection
of jurors. The foreign jurors were nominated by their
respective commissions. The most eminent men were
willing to serve. Mr Gladstone became a juror, as well
as many leading statesmen of all countries. I took a
house in London for the season, and had the pleasure of
entertaining many distinguished foreigners. Among my
most constant visitors was Michel Chevalier, the French
political economist, a charming man, the Duc de Luynes,
the French ambassador at Pekin during the war, the
Marchese di Cavour, brother of the great Italian states-
man, and many others. Lord Taunton was the chairman
of the Council of Juries, and managed his task with great
adroitness. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the prince of
English diplomatists, had lately returned from the Turkish
Embassy, and was chairman of one of the juries connected
with decorative art. I had appointed Owen Jones, then
the chief authority on decorative art, to be secretary of the
jury, but the great diplomatist had never heard of him, and
asked me why I did not give him somebody who knew ,
something of the subject. Upon this Owen Jones made a
remark which has often struck me for its truth: “In what
a little circle we all live Some of us think that we are
famous; but it is only inside our little circle, and outside
that the world knows nothing of us.”
, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe aided me in showing hospi-
tality to the foreign jurors by agreeable dinners, at which
I92 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
he took the top and I the bottom of the table. He was
then in good health and vigour, but soon afterwards his
long services told upon his constitution ; yet when I last
saw him, shortly before his death, his intellect was as keen
and vigorous as ever. At the close of the Exhibition I
received various honours from foreign sovereigns. From
Austria I obtained the decoration of Commander of Francis
Joseph, from Sweden that of the Polar Star, from Portugal
the Order of the Conception, and from Wurtemberg
another decoration. The King of Prussia presented me
with two large porcelain vases representing the recovery
of Achilles' armour from the Sea.
Another onerous Commission was issued in October,
1865, in consequence of a heavy calamity having come
upon the country. In this year the Cattle Plague broke
out in England, and threatened the extermination of Our
herds and flocks. The panic among the farmers was great,
and it was necessary to issue a strong Royal Commission
to devise means for arresting the terrible plague. I was
travelling on the Continent when I received a letter from
Lord Granville asking me to return immediately and serve
on the Commission. I was desirous that there should be
another member upon it besides myself who should repre-
sent sanitary science, and I suggested the name of Dr
Parkes, of Netley College. At that time Dr Parkes was
little known to public men, but he afterwards laboured
so much to promote public health that he wore himself
ou thy his exertions, and died prematurely. The Com-
mission was a strong one. The President was Lord
Spencer, who in recent years has won so much fame by
his firm administration of Ireland during its most disturbed
period. Among the other members were Lord Salisbury,
now Prime Minister and Mr Robert Lowe, now Lord
Sherbrooke, who was one of the bravest and most far-
seeing of all the Commissioners. The Commission made
a thorough inquiry into the nature of the plague, its means
of propagation, and the suggested remedies. Scientific
men were employed to report upon all branches of the
inquiry, but, though they threw valuable light on the
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I93
nature of the disease, no suggestions were made for staying
its progress. Ultimately we made bold and sweeping
recommendations that markets should be shut up in
infected districts, all transit of cattle prohibited, and
diseased cattle ruthlessly slaughtered and buried or burned.
We saw that there was no other method than to stamp
out the plague with an iron hand. Never was the report
of a Royal Commission received with such indignation and
contempt. Every newspaper in the country ridiculed the
report, and attacked those Commissioners who were
known to constitute the majority in favour of extreme
measures. I published a pamphlet containing a history
of the Cattle Plague from the earliest times, and gave
the reasons for the conclusions of the Commission. This
pamphlet had an extensive sale, and did a good deal to
allay public indignation. Finally, Parliament became
convinced that there was no other method of combatting
the plague than that of stamping it out, and local authori-
ties were required to follow our recommendations. The
disease was then quickly stayed, and before long stamped
out altogether. Twice in my life I have had to go
through a season of great unpopularity. One was after
the report on the Cattle Plague, and the other at a later
period, after the reorganisation of the Civil Service on
what is called “The Playfair Scheme.” As I felt in both
cases that I had acted to the best of my judgment, and
believed in the wisdom of the recommendations, this
temporary unpopularity did not trouble me.
The Cattle Plague Commission was issued in the autumn
of 1865. In the summer of that year I was in Germany,
and paid a visit which much interested me. This was to
Kranichstein, the hunting seat of the Grand Duke of
Hesse, in the Black Forest. The Grand Duke was
absent, and Prince Louis and Princess Alice were then
staying there. I had known the Princess since she was a
child, and I much admired her many excellent qualities
and cultivated mind in later years. Kranichstein is a
simple little place, and so thoroughly in the forest that
wild boars sometimes drank from the water under the
N
I94 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
windows. I arrived on Sunday morning. The Prince
and his visitors having gone to the chapel, and also the
servants, Princess Alice kindly remained behind, in order
to welcome me on my arrival. While we were conversing,
a note came from Prince Louis to say that he would bring
the Lutheran Minister to the mid-day dinner. This
seemed to disturb the Princess, who told me that her table
was Small, and that there was absolutely no room for an
additional guest, and as all the servants were at church
the table could not be relaid. I reminded her that she
used to entertain me at the Swiss Cottage at Osborne
when she was a child, and that I knew she could lay a
table better than servants. She was pleased with the
suggestion, and we went to the dining-room, took all the
things from the table, put in a new leaf, and rearranged
everything before the party returned to the house. It is
probably in allusion to this that she refers to me so
pleasantly in her letter to the Queen of the 17th July,
published in her correspondence.
Princess Alice was a noble woman, who has not been
unduly extolled by her biographers. As a child she was
frank and charming ; as a woman, gracious and amiable.
Her nervous force was weakened by her labours during
the war, and by her family bereavement. The last time I
saw her, at Windsor, she broke down completely, because
my presence brought the loss of her father to her recol-
lection. When I heard of the diphtheria in the ducal
palace, I felt convinced that this noble woman would die.
In this year (1865) I paid another visit which was full
of interest to me. The Queen was staying at Coburg,
where she intended to be present at the State unveiling of
a statue of the Prince Consort, who, as is well known,
was a brother of the reigning Duke. Her Majesty directed
the Duke of Edinburgh to write to me and command my
presence, not Only at that ceremonial but also at various
receptions which were to take place during the week.
The Queen resided at a small palace where there was not
sufficient room for her suite, and the invited guests had to
be distributed in different places. Lord Granville was the
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I95.
Minister-in-waiting, and kindly offered me accommodation
in a house which had been appropriated to him. When I
waited on the Duke of Coburg he received me very
graciously, as having taken part in the education of his
heir and successor, the Duke of Edinburgh. It was a
new experience to me to see Court ceremonials in one
of the German Duchies. I never saw State functions
better carried out, either in point of display or in ex-
cellence of taste. The inauguration of the statue was in
itself a stately ceremonial, and it was made touching by
the enthusiasm of the people, and by their love for their
lost Prince. The Queen was obviously much touched by
the sympathy shown to herself, and by the love displayed
for the Prince Consort. The Princess Royal, and, indeed,
almost every other member of the family, were present. I
think it was here that I saw for the first time Prince
Christian, who afterwards married Princess Helena. I
mention this because in later years he has allowed me
to co-operate with him in public work, and has extended
to me many proofs of friendly interest, both in public work
and in private correspondence. -
I do not recollect anything else in the last two years of
my life in Edinburgh that deserves special mention, except
perhaps that I published a memoir ‘On the Food of Man
in relation to his Work.’ There were views in this that
have not been generally received, although they were in
support of those entertained by my great master, Baron
Liebig, in his work on Animal Physiology. But, inde-
pendently of theoretical views, I gathered together and
tabulated the experience of mankind in various countries
of the world as to the amount of food required for man in
different kinds of work, and these tables are now adopted
as a basis in physiological works, both at home and abroad.
In consequence of them Dr Pavy kindly dedicated to me
his important work on food.
There were many men of interest in Edinburgh and its
neighbourhood to whom I have made no allusion. I do
not wish to forget one for whom I formed a strong
affection, Dr John Brown, author of ‘Rab and His
I96 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
Friends,’ and many delightful essays which are still
popular among reading men. It was impossible to know
John Brown without loving him. His marked individu-
ality is in all he wrote. Who can read that prose poem of
Rab, the dog, and his master, the carrier, without feeling
the deep pathos of the author, and recognising his loving
nature towards man and beast 2 John Brown was a
frequent visitor at my house till ill-health parted him
from his friends.
Another marked character who frequently came to
Edinburgh to see me, and to whose residence in the
country I occasionally went, was the old Marquis of
Tweeddale. He was a man of varied experience, having
been in the army under Wellington, and afterwards
Governor of Madras. He was one of the first men to
introduce the steam plough into agriculture, but paid the
penalty of being before his time by losing money in his
farming operations. He had a bright, active mind, and
made his home at Yester agreeable to visitors. Several
of his daughters were then unmarried, and were bright,
intellectual women.
Who that knew Edinburgh at that period can forget
Lady Ruthven and her beautiful old house near Edin-
burgh The old lady was stone deaf, and could only be
communicated with by writing on a slate. She was
most hospitable, and had always pleasant people to stay
at her house, in which was quite a museum of Grecian
vases and other antiquities collected by her husband.
Lady Ruthven possessed a monkey, which chattered and
seemed able to converse with the deaf lady, who made
suitable replies. Much as I liked this fine old lady, the
process of writing one's thoughts on a slate was tedious.
Her sister, Lady Belhaven, was on one occasion ill, and I
desired to inquire how she was, but I found the same
question, “How is Lady Belhaven 2" already written
twelve times on the slate, so I had to invent a more
original observation 1
On my leaving Edinburgh, the University passed a
minute of appreciation of my services during my ten years'
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I97
residence in the city, and perhaps I may best conclude
this chapter by inserting it.
Extract from the Minutes of the Senatus Academicus of
the University of Edinburgh, dated November 6th, 1869.
The Senatus desire to record in their Minutes the high .
sense of the valuable services rendered to the University
by their late colleague, Dr Lyon Playfair, who, by the
able manner in which he conducted the work of his
classes, by his earnestness in the advancement and in the
practical application of science, by his admirable powers of
organisation, by his efforts to obtain scholarships and
endowments and to render the University more directly
useful in guiding the general education of the people, and
by his affable deportment, did much to promote the well-
being of the University of Edinburgh.
This minute, and the conferring of an honorary degree
of LL.D., brought my academic connection with the
University of Edinburgh to a pleasant conclusion.
The editor may here not unfittingly subjoin another
extract from the Minutes of the Senate of the University—
that which was passed nearly thirty years later, at the
time of Playfair's death.
Extract from the Minutes of the Senatus Academicus of
the University of Edinburgh, of date 24th june, 1898.
The Senatus desire to put on record their sense of the
loss which Science, especially applied science, has sustained
by the death of Lord Playfair. Lord Playfair was a mem-
ber of the Senatus from 1858 till 1869, and not only dis-
charged the duties of the Chair of Chemistry with great
Zealand ability, but was of special service to the University
in the organisation of the System of Degrees in Science.
His influence and example did very much to extend and
improve the practical teaching of science, and the Senatus
recall with special admiration his success in creating a
I98 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
teaching laboratory in the only rooms which the Uni-
versity could give him for the purpose, rooms altogether
inadequate in extent and arrangements.
Although there now remain only two professors who
were colleagues of Lord Playfair, every member of the
Senatus knew him as an active helper of the University,
and most as a personal friend.
He represented the Universities of Edinburgh and St.
Andrews in Parliament for seventeen years, and was thus
brought into constant contact with the Senatus. He had
often to defend the interests of the University, which he did
with ability and success, arising from his intimate knowledge
of the affairs of the University and of the educational systems
of Europe and America. The Senatus would especially
refer to the important part which he took as Vice-President
of the Privy Council in securing the rights of the University
in the Medical Act of 1886.
The Senatus record their sense of personal loss, desire
to express the sympathy they feel for Lady Playfair and
the members of the family, and instruct the Senate to send
copies of this minute to them.
(Signed) L. J. GRANT,
Sec. Sen. Acad.
Playfair's account of his life in Edinburgh as Professor of
Chemistry by no means conveys to the reader an adequate
idea of the work which he undertook, and the varied part
he played, not only in university life, but in other spheres
of usefulness. It may be doubted whether anyone holding
a Scotch professorship has, either before or since the time
of Playfair, united with the faithful discharge of his pro-
fessorial duties So much hard work in connection with the
public life of the country. The Professor of Chemistry at
Edinburgh was, at the same time, the trusted adviser of
Her Majesty's Ministers on questions of grave public im-
portance, and the Counsellor of the Queen and the Royal
Family on matters in which they were personally interested.
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. I99
One of the first public tasks assigned to Playfair after he
took up his abode in Edinburgh was that of organising the
Jury Department in the second International Exhibition—
that of 1862. No greater tribute could have been paid to
the success with which he had done his share of the work
in connection with the Exhibition of 1851, than his appoint-
ment, with a free hand, to the responsible position which
he undertook in connection with the Exhibition of 1862.
The following letter speaks for itself:-
LONDON,
Sir Francis Sandford to Playfair. February 1st, 1862.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-The Commissioners, at their
meeting yesterday, desired me to write and request that
you would undertake the superintendence of the Jury
Department, with plenary powers. In the hope that you
would be willing to do so, they further instructed me to
forward copies of the original decision as to juries, the proof
of the decisions which were drawn up when you were
last in London, and the proof of the general paper of in-
structions for jurymen discussed at the same date. Neither
of these last forms has yet been made public, and the
object of this letter is to ask you to have the goodness to
send me back either corrected in the form which you wish
to be adopted as the final decisions in the matter. .
In sending me your decisions, perhaps you will have the
goodness to let me have a sketch of any circular letter
which you would wish to go out with them to the foreign
commissioners.
Believe me,
Yours very faithfully,
F. R. SANDFORD.
This letter makes it clear that Playfair received absolute
powers and an unfettered discretion with regard to the
composition and classification of the juries in the Exhibi-
tion of 1862. It is a striking proof of the exceptional
position which he had made for himself that such powers
2OO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
should have been conferred by the Government upon a
Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh.
Reference has been made by Playfair himself to one
portion of the duties which he undertook outside his
professorial work whilst he resided in Edinburgh. This
was the advice and assistance which he gave in Connec-
tion with the education of the Prince of Wales, the Duke
of Edinburgh, and other princes more or less nearly
connected with our own Royal Family.
Playfair to Colonel Grey. EDINBURGH, July 15th, 1859.
DEAR COLONEL,~Since I received Sir Charles Phipps's
letter, I have reflected on the best means of giving to the
Prince of Wales such scientific instruction as he could best
receive in the short time that he will be here, without
demanding too much time from other objects of study.
It appears to me that the best course would be to teach
him through manufactures. There are several large objects
of manufacturing industry upon which our prosperity as a
nation to a great extent depends—especially those relating
to iron and cotton. I would suggest that he should spend
three hours weekly in my laboratory, studying the prin-
ciples upon which these manufactures depend; and when
he has mastered them theoretically and experimentally,
that we should make one or two excursions to Glasgow to
see works on a large Scale with a view to his understanding
their national importance, and the application of science to
industry. Two days in Glasgow at different times would
probably suffice. One day would be devoted to iron, both
as regards its production and application to machinery;
another day would be well spent on cotton, commencing
with cotton-spinning and ending with calico-printing. The
third great object-lesson, on textile fabrics, would be best
learnt in Edinburgh, in the application of linen rags to
paper-making. I would also suggest a similar lesson on
coal, commencing with gas-works. You will readily under-
stand that I select these staples of our industry as a means
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 2OI
of giving permanent scientific instruction, while at the
same time information will be acquired of great importance
to a Prince destined to fill such an important position in
this country. Finally, I think it would gratify the Glasgow
people much if the Prince visited their city as part of his
educational course.
Playfair has told us in the preceding chapter of his
Reminiscences of the success with which he carried out
this programme for the instruction of the Prince of Wales
in the practical application of Science to industry. It was
whilst the Prince was living in Edinburgh as Playfair's
pupil that an incident occurred which has already, I
believe, been published. The Prince and Playfair were
standing near a cauldron containing lead which was
boiling at white heat.
“Has your Royal Highness any faith in science 2''
said Playfair.
“Certainly,” replied the Prince.
Playſair then carefully washed the Prince's hand with
ammonle to get rid of any grease that might be on it.
“Will you now place your hand in this boiling metal,
and ladle out a portion of it 2 " he said to his distinguished
pupil.
“Do you tell me to do this 2 ” asked the Prince.
“I do,” replied Playfair. The Prince instantly put his
hand into the cauldron, and ladled out some of the boiling
lead without sustaining any injury. It is a well-known
scientific fact that the human hand, if perfectly cleansed,
may be placed uninjured in lead boiling at white heat,
the moisture of the skin protecting it under these conditions
from any injury. Should the lead be at a perceptibly lower
temperature, the effect would, of course, be very different.
It requires, however, courage of no common order for a
novice to try such an experiment, even at the bidding of
a man so distinguished in Science as was Playfair.
2O2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
One of the subjects that engaged Playfair's attention
during his residence in Edinburgh was the erection of the
Scottish Memorial to the Prince Consort. There were
wide differences of opinion, both as to the character of the
memorial and the site where it should be placed. Play-
fair, as a citizen of Edinburgh, naturally took a warm
interest in the discussion. But it was as one of the
personal friends of the Prince Consort, and as the adviser
of the Queen, that he played the most prominent part in
settling the questions at issue. The monument, as Scottish
readers are aware, was finally placed on a site in Charlotte
Square, but Playfair recommended a more commanding
one between the old and new towns.
General Grey to Playfair. OSBORNE, February 2nd, 1863.
DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have submitted your letter and
the photographs to the Queen, and with the aid of the
explanations which my knowledge of Edinburgh has
enabled me to add, I think she has formed a very fair idea
of the comparative merits of the two sites. She is much
disposed to prefer that which you suggest; and without
expressing any positive wish on the subject—which per-
haps she ought not to do until more officially appealed
to—Her Majesty is decidedly of opinion that it would be
expedient to bring your suggestion more prominently
forward. For myself, I have no hesitation whatever in
saying that I think the site you propose is infinitely the
best. I know the site well, and, independently of its con-
nection with the two institutions dedicated to science and
art, I cannot imagine a finer or more commanding position
for a memorial to the Prince. But the platform or terrace
on which it should stand, as well as the flight of steps
leading up to it, should really be what you say—mag-
nificent, and worthy of their object. . . . On such a
site as you suggest, I think (if funds admitted of it),
architecture would come in with great advantage to the
assistance of sculpture.
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 2O3
I hope, if anything ever brings you south, you will let
me have the chance of seeing you.
Ever yours most sincerely,
C. GREY.
Same to the same. WINDsor CASTLE, May 1st, 1863.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I am left behind here in small
health, in the hope of being well enough to go with the
Queen a fortnight hence to Balmoral. The Queen would
be very glad to see Mr Noel Paton's design for the
Edinburgh Memorial, and also wishes to take the oppor-
tunity of speaking to you upon other matters; and Her
Majesty desired me to say that if you can make it
convenient to go down to Osborne any day in the
beginning of next week, she would be glad to see you—
probably Monday or Tuesday next. Perhaps you will write
a line to Sir Charles Phipps to say when you may be ex-
pected. I am very sorry to miss you by not being there. . .
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
C. GREY.
At the beginning of 1864, Playfair was appointed by
the Queen a member of the Committee charged with the
duty of selecting the design and the site for the Scottish
Memorial to the Prince Consort, and in that capacity he
had a full share in deciding both the character of the
Memorial and the spot where it was to be placed.
In 1865, the extra University work in which he took a
part was of a more serious character than this discussion
as to the site of the National Monument. He has
referred briefly in his Reminiscences to the storm of
Opprobrium that raged around the Royal Commissioners
who were appointed to consider the best means of dealing
with the cattle plague which in 1865 caused such terrible
injury to the graziers and cattle-breeders of the United
Kingdom. He has not, however, laid emphasis upon the
fact that he was the leading object of this feeling of anger.
204 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
This distinction he owed to the circumstance that it was
by his advice more largely than that of any other man
that the Commissioners were guided in arriving at their
recommendations. His correspondence for that year with
Lord Spencer, Lord Granville, Sir James Simpson, Mr
Bence Jones, and many other persons of importance,
shows to how large an extent his time and energies must
have been absorbed in this work of fighting the cattle-
plague. Great use was made in Parliament and elsewhere
of his name and his opinions, both by the friends and the
opponents of the Royal Commission. He himself stood
sturdily to his guns, facing the storm without flinching,
and affording proof that his remarkable tact in dealing
with awkward questions and solving difficult problems was
not inconsistent with a strong moral fibre and absolute
fearlessness in facing the condemnation of the public when
he felt convinced that he was in the right. Such work as
that which was laid upon him in connection with this
cattle-plague inquiry made a heavy demand upon his time
and reserves of strength and energy. His only reward
was his knowledge that, thanks to the final adoption of
the course which he had suggested, the plague was stayed,
and a great Calamity averted.
I may close this chapter, dealing with Playfair's varied
experiences during the years of his professorship at Edin-
burgh, with a reference to his journey on the Continent in
1865, when he had his pleasant meeting with Princess
Alice at Kranichstein, and attended the inauguration of the
Prince Consort's monument at Coburg. In a letter to the
Queen, dated July 17th, Princess Alice says:–“Dr Lyon
Playfair lunched with us yesterday; he is so charming.”
This was on the occasion recorded in the Reminiscences,
when Playfair and the Princess relaid the dinner table
in order to provide for an additional guest, who had been
unexpectedly invited by the Prince.
CHAPTER IX.
I N P A R L I A M E N T .
Beginning a Political Career—Member for Edinburgh and St. Andrews
Universities—Political Convictions—Appointed one of the Commis-
Sioners of the 1851 Exhibition. AUTOBIOGRAPHY : Liberal Member
for a Conservative Constituency: Maiden Speech : Appointment of
a Liberal Leader in the House of Commons: President of the Midland
Institute: The Prince Consort's Superiority to Jealousy: Opposing the
Cry of “Over-Education " : Supporting a Bill for opening Trinity
College, Dublin, to Roman Catholics: Attitude towards the Irish
University Bill: Mr. Gladstone's Magnanimity: Appointed Postmaster-
General : President of the Civil Service Commission: Opposing the
Anti-Vivisectionists: Reforming the Scottish Universities. Playfair the
Introducer of the Halfpenny Post-card—Reception of his Pamphlet
on ‘Teaching Universities and Examining Boards' — His Popu-
larity at the Post Office—The Tichborne Case—The Election of
Liberal Leader in the Commons—Averting a Disastrous Schism.
THE year 1868 witnessed another change in the position
and occupations of Playfair. We have seen him as an
active public official holding important offices under the
State, and we have also seen him engaged in fulfilling the
duties of the Professorship of Chemistry at Edinburgh.
When he himself undertook that office in 1858, it was in
the belief that the remainder of his days would be given to
scientific work; but scarcely had he been settled in his
chair at the University, when his services were called for
by his country, and during the whole term of his residence
in Edinburgh, he was subject to repeated demands for his
assistance on matters of public importance. In 1868 he
entered upon a new career. Doubly interested in every-
thing that concerned the University, he was anxious in
that year that the Reform Bill, which was then passing
2O6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
through Parliament, should provide for the representation
of the Scotch Universities, and he communicated with Mr
Gladstone on this subject. In the end, his wishes with
regard to this matter were gratified. The new Reform
Bill provided two members for the Scotch Universities—
one for the united Universities of Edinburgh and St.
Andrews, and the other for the Universities of Glasgow
and Aberdeen. It was suggested to Playfair that he should
become a candidate for Edinburgh and St. Andrews, and
after Some hesitation he consented to this proposal.
In his Autobiography he explains some of the peculiar
conditions of the constituency to which he had to appeal,
and that for many years he continued to represent in the
House of Commons. It was essentially a Conservative
constituency, and it would certainly not have chosen
Playfair as its representative if it had not been for his
personal popularity with the constituents, and for the
great value that was set upon his public services. Play-
fair himself was, as he had been throughout his public life,
a convinced and confirmed Liberal; but he had learnt, as a
member of the Civil Service, how to subordinate his own
political opinions to the general welfare; and in entering
Parliament as the representative of a University con-
stituency, and that a constituency which was largely Con-
servative, he found that he was to some extent in the
same position as that which he had held when in the
Civil Service. He could hold his own opinions, and hold
them as strongly as he pleased, but he could not become
an active and open participator in the conflicts of parties.
It followed that during the years when he sat in the House
of Commons as member for the University of Edinburgh
he was chiefly known to the House and to the world in
connection with questions of social reform, and was but
little involved in partisan controversies.
Yet, although he felt compelled by the peculiarity of the
IN PARLIAMENT. 2O7
position he held to refrain from using his opportunities as
a member of Parliament to embark in merely partisan
struggles, he was far too honest to conceal his opinions
from his constituents or the world. The General Election
of 1868 turned largely upon the question of the Irish Church.
It was known that Mr Gladstone, if he secured a majority
in the new Parliament, intended to propose the dis-
establishment of that Church. Playfair, in appealing to
the electorate in the summer of 1868, did not conceal the
fact that in this respect he was a warm supporter of Mr
Gladstone's policy. The declaration brought down upon
his head many remonstrances from influential members of
the University, and caused him to lose a large number of
votes. It may be well to quote one of the letters which
he received at this time, as it will suffice to clear away any
doubt that may have existed as to the character in which
he made his first appeal to the constituency for election to
the House of Commons.
27, INVERLEITH Row, EDINBURGH,
Professor Balfour to Playfair. June 23rd, 1868.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I was not a little annoyed to
find by your manifesto that you advocated the disestab-
lishment of the Irish Church. That, with me, is a vital
question, and I do not feel that I can conscientiously
support anyone who espouses this view. It is one of my
great objections to Gladstone. I believe that the measure
involves virtually the national ignoring of Protestantism in
Ireland, and that it will lead to the worst consequences
not only there but in Britain. You say that it will advance
Protestantism. The Roman Catholics do not think so,
and they are far wiser than any of our rulers. They
support the measure because it will certainly lead to the
advance of Romanism. I regret much that you have
become so thoroughly Gladstonian, and that you are
supporting Gladstone as Chancellor. You know that he
has no good feeling towards our University, and that he
208 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
has done nothing for us. . . . I have been a Whig all my
life, and I am so still, but I think that University interests
are above mere party politics, and I therefore leave party,
and support a man as member from whom I differ politi-
cally. In all the circumstances of the case, I must with-
draw my pledge to vote for you, and must leave myself
free to adopt any plan of voting I may think best fitted to
advance the cause of the University and of Protestantism.
Yours truly,
J. W. BALFOUR.
It is only fair to Playfair to publish this specimen of the
letters which he received at the time of his candidature for
the University. In his Reminiscences he explains to how
large an extent he stood aside from party politics in the
House of Commons; but, in justice to him, it must be
noted that he not only gained his seat as an avowed
Gladstonian, but faced the loss of a large number of his
supporters when doing so. When the election took place,
his opponent being Professor Campbell Swinton, Playfair
was returned by a majority of 260 votes.
The Parliament elected in 1868 was the first which had
been returned under the Household Suffrage Act. It gave
the Liberal party the support of a large majority in the
House of Commons, and Mr Gladstone took office as
Prime Minister at the head of an Administration that
was destined to leave an indelible mark upon the history
and institutions of the country. Very soon after the new
Government had been installed in office, Playfair received,
through Lord Granville, an appointment which was very
gratifying to him. In June, 1869, he became one of the
Commissioners for the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was a
post which he had certainly earned by his services to that
Exhibition and to the Commissioners in earlier days, and
his return to a close connection with the work of the
Commissioners restored him to a field of labour which he
IN PARLIAMENT. 209
had made, in a sense, peculiarly his own. A new Member
of Parliament is not, as a rule, a man of much importance.
He has to serve an apprenticeship usually of more than
seven years' duration before he really begins to make his
mark among his fellow-members. But Playfair entered
the House of Commons in 1868 with so great a reputation,
both as a man of science and a public servant, that from
the first he took a position very different from that of the
ordinary new Member. What that position was may be
gathered from the fact that barely two years after he
entered Parliament it was generally reported that he had
been offered the post of Vice-President of the Council.
The report, as it happened, was untrue, but the mere
fact that it should have been circulated, and should
have been believed by many of his friends, affords striking
testimony to the place which he had secured in the public
eSteem.
I must now leave Playfair himself to resume the thread
of his narrative.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—VIII.
1868 to 1877.
IN the year 1868 the Conservative Government passed
the Representation of the People Act, and considerably
extended the area of representation. During the passing
of that Act, the Scotch Universities made considerable
efforts to have representation extended to them in the
same manner as it has long been enjoyed by the Universi-
ties of England. Professor Campbell Swinton, a leading
Conservative in Scotland, went up to London to urge
these claims upon the Government, and I accompanied
him in order to act upon Mr Gladstone and the Liberal
party. Our efforts were successful to the extent of
obtaining two Members for the four Scotch Universities.
Edinburgh and St. Andrews Universities received one
O
2 IO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Member, a similar representation being given to Glasgow
and Aberdeen.
The elections took place at the end of the year. The
constituency of the Universities is the General Council of
graduates in each University. In the case of Edinburgh and
St. Andrews it amounts to about 5,000. Almost all the
graduates are men engaged in professions, chiefly ministers,
lawyers, doctors, and schoolmasters. They are scattered in
every town in the United Kingdom, and form a constituency
difficult to canvass and necessarily costly, as it involves a
large amount of correspondence as well as of agency. The
two candidates for the first representation were Professor
Campbell Swinton and myself. Each of us was assisted by
committees in all the large towns, as well as by central
committees in Edinburgh. After a severe contest, Con-
ducted, however, with good humour, I was elected as the
first University representative by a majority of about 250.
I resigned my chair at the University, and returned to
London for permanent residence.
It is always wise for new members to take little part in
the House of Commons till they understand its habits and
modes of work. I therefore occupied myself for the first
year in acquiring this knowledge, and in serving on com-
mittees. My position was peculiar. All University seats
are Conservative. I was, in fact, an advanced Liberal
representing a Tory seat. I had won it chiefly from two
causes: first because my public work had made me better
known to the constituents in England and Ireland than my
learned opponent, who was much esteemed in Scotland.
The second point in my favour was that I always had large
classes, and between my former pupils and myself there
was a strong bond of attachment. After graduation, my
former pupils still supported their professor, regardless of
politics. The second was perhaps the chief cause of my
success, as I learned more distinctly in after years, for
although I continued to represent the University in Parlia-
ment for seventeen years, in each successive contest my
majorities lessened, because a new race of graduates arose
“who knew not Joseph,” and the Conservative character of
IN PARLIAMENT. 2 II
the constituency began to assert itself. All through my
University representation the fact that I was a member for
a Tory constituency weighed upon me. I could not take
an active part in party politics, and was obliged to limit
myself to neutral subjects connected with science, educa-
tion, public health, and social welfare.
My first speech in the House of Commons (1869) was
upon the abolition of religious tests in the English Uni-
versities. Tests had long been abolished in Scotland, but
in England the places of honour and emolument in the
Universities could only be obtained by members of the
English Church. My speech was a distinct success, and
was well received by both sides of the House. Speaker
Denison sent for me to offer his congratulations, and
several of the leaders on the Conservative side were
generous enough to Cross over, not to express approval
of my views, but to tell me that I had secured the ear
of the House for the future.
In 1870 I urged the adoption of the system of open
halfpenny letters, now known as post-cards, and the idea
commended itself to Lord Hartington, who was then Post-
master-General, and was quickly accepted by the Post
Office. In this year W. E. Forster introduced his great
measure for a national system of education in England,
and upon such a subject I was bound to take an active
part. Forster much appreciated my aid in passing his
Bill, and we remained warm friends to the end of his life.
Forster was a tall man of marked features, and rather blunt
in manner, though he really possessed a tender and affec-
tionate nature. His speeches in the House were courteous
to friends as well as to opponents; but his blunt talk in the
lobby sometimes gave offence. When his peculiarities were
understood, it was impossible not to love and admire him.
“Oh I honest, stalwart man, whose earnest face
Mirrored the soul within, whose every deed
Made answer to thy word; who gav'st no heed
To foolish babble or the lust of place.”
His Education Act offended the Nonconformists, and
did not satisfy the denominationalists. The dislike of the
2 I 2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
former prevented him being elected leader of the Liberal
party in 1874, when Gladstone suddenly threw down the
bâton of leader. At that emergency I was asked by
Lord Granville to sound the Liberal party as to whether
Lord Hartington or Forster should become leader. The
post brought letters daily showing an equal division of the
party, although with this difference, that the Noncon-
formists were bitter against Forster, while the supporters
of the latter were simply indifferent as to Lord Hartington.
After a long consultation at Lord Granville's house we
determined to support the latter, and I drove down to
Eccleston Square to see Forster, who was then ill, in order
to ask him to withdraw his claim. He furnished me with
a letter to this effect, which was immediately sent to
the evening papers—just in time, for Hartington, with his
usual modesty, desired that afternoon to withdraw in
favour of Forster.
Outside the House, the year 1870 was one of consider-
able activity. Birmingham had founded “The Midland
Institute,” at the birth of which I aided, when the founda-
tion stone was laid by the Prince Consort. The Midland
Institute was in the habit of changing its presidents
annually in order to obtain new addresses, and in this
year, Charles Dickens having died during his period of
office, I was elected to be his successor. The title of my
address was the “Inosculation of the Arts and Sciences.”
In a busy manufacturing town like Birmingham it was
important to show the mutual dependence of both, for just
as two arteries inosculate and pour their contents the One
into the other, so do the arts and sciences, to their mutual
nourishment. The audience at Birmingham filled every
part of the great Town Hall, and seemed to be pleased
with the subject, and I hope with the exposition. A few
days earlier I had given at Newcastle an address “On
National Education,” in my capacity as President of the
Educational Section of the Social Science Association,
Both these addresses are published in the volume “Subjects
of Social Welfare.’
I have stated that the Midland Institute was inaugurated
IN PARLIAMENT. 2 I3
by the Prince Consort, who then gave one of those broad,
comprehensive speeches which were beginning to attract
the attention of the public to his great capacity. I may
mention an incident in regard to this speech which will
show how superior he was to petty jealousy. As one of
his suite I had handed a copy of the speech to the
reporters. An obscure literary journal, long since dead,
wrote a series of articles in which it pointed out some
fancied resemblances in my printed lectures to the
speeches of the Prince Consort, contending that I was
the author of the latter also. The journal was so obscure
that I hoped it would not attract the observation of the
Prince. On the next occasion when it was again necessary
for the Prince Consort to make an important speech, he
sent for me as usual to hear him read it, and to ask for my
criticism, which I always gave in a frank manner. This
time I said that I had no criticism to offer. The Prince
laughed and said significantly—“I am glad that you like
it, because it may bring you credit !”
In 1871 the educational subjects for discussion in the
House of Commons were numerous. The Endowed
Schools Act of 1869 was operating too well to please the
Church and the Tories, so assaults were made upon it.
The old fear cropped up that there was to be “over-
education” of the people. Cardinal Cullen vehemently
opposed the high character of popular education. In
evidence before a Royal Commission on Irish Education
he used these words:—
“Too high an education will make the poor oftentimes discon-
tented, and will unsuit them from following the plough, or from
using the spade, or from hammering iron or building walls.”
His Eminence, therefore, strongly objected to having
higher subjects than reading, writing, and arithmetic taught
in schools, in order, as he expounded it, “to cultivate the
talent of a miserable minority.” I took the occasion of
one of these discussions to defend the opposite view. No
nation had ever too much of an intellectual fund, and it is
the highest duty of all public schools, whether elementary
2I4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
or secondary, to find out youth of talent, and to develop
such talent by higher instruction. As Sir John Lubbock
and I have had to fight for this view continually in the
House, I may quote the last sentence of a speech delivered
by me on July 21st, 1871 :—
“If the educational endowments of this country were not to be
freely opened ‘to the miserable minority' of the talented poor, let
them give in the elementary schools such instruction as would
enable the pupils to know what was the object and purpose of the
elements there taught, so that they might not fling away these
elements like their worn-out boyish small clothes as soon as they
began to win their daily bread, but that they might use the know-
ledge acquired in school to further their advancement as intelligent
beings in whatever position and occupation they might be placed "
(‘Hansard’s Debates,’ coviii., p. 128).
This view I have steadily maintained in after years, and
as chairman of an important Select Committee on Endowed
Schools in the years 1886-7, I had the satisfaction to see
that the promotion, not only of secondary but also of
technical education, received the distinct recognition of
the House of Commons. The conditions of industrial
and commercial competition with foreign countries have
awakened the public mind to the truth that the com-
petition of industry has now ceased to depend on the
possession of cheap raw materials or other local advan-
tages, but has become actually one of intellect among the
producers of this kingdom and of foreign nations.
About this time I became intimately associated with
Professor Fawcett, who was totally blind, but did not
allow this disability to interfere with his work. Fawcett
was admired by all his political colleagues for the activity
of his intellect and his unswerving integrity. He brought
in a Bill for opening up Trinity College, Dublin, to Roman
Catholics, and I gave him hearty support. The following
extract from his speech in introducing the Bill shows how
much he appreciated my co-operation :-
“If, turning to this side of the House, Liberal members were
appealed to, and asked to name the man who, from his University
experience, from his great ability, from his position in this House,
from his representing a University constituency, is best qualified to
IN PARLIAMENT. 2 I5
deal with this subject of University Education, should we not all, in
a candid moment, say it was the hon. member for the University of
Edinburgh (Dr Lyon Playfair)?” -
The Bill introduced by Fawcett was supported by the
authorities of Trinity College, who had always encouraged
the attendance of Roman Catholic students, although they
had no powers to admit them to fellowships or professor-
ships. The Bill was eminently reasonable, but it was
opposed by Gladstone as likely to interfere with a larger
Scheme of University Education for Ireland which he then
had in contemplation. Fawcett and I knew nothing of
his views at this time. Had Gladstone frankly taken us
into his counsels our action would probably have been
different, and the subsequent difficulties of the Government
would have been avoided. The Bill for the reform of
Trinity College was well received by the House, which
passed its second reading by a majority of 73. Its success
Seemed to be assured; but on the morning of April 25th,
I872, when it was to go into the Committee stage, all the
Liberal newspapers received notice that a Parliamentary
crisis was imminent, because the Ministry would resign
and dissolve Parliament if the Bill were prosecuted to its
Subsequent stages. An extract from my speech on that
day will show the surprise of the promoters of the Bill —
“We suddenly find our little Bill, which we thought to be a star
of the sixth magnitude, blazing up into a fierce sun which was
scorching friends and foes alike. . . . That is a turn of the
Ministerial screw that can only be made very rarely and carefully
without the Ministerial machine going to pieces” (“Hansard’s
Debates,’ cox. p. 1824).
Our majority melted away under the threat of
dissolution. -
During the autumn of this year, I published an elaborate
pamphlet under the title of ‘Teaching Universities and
Examining Boards,’ in order to defeat the intention of the
Government to introduce a Bill for the reform of Irish
Universities upon the type of the University of London,
which is a mere examining Board. This pamphlet excited
much notice, and rapidly went through several editions.
2I 6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
I was informed by members of the Cabinet that when
Gladstone prepared his draft Bill of 1873, he circulated
with it a copy of my pamphlet to each of the Ministers, so
that they might judge whether he had met my objections
to a mere examining system. At last the Government Bill
was introduced. It was carefully prepared, and worthy of
the great talents of its author, except in a few important
points. It tried to conciliate the priests by excluding
mental philosophy and modern history from the new
University, and it abolished Galway College by throwing
it as a sop to the Clerical party. I attacked the Bill
On Several grounds, among which was the abolition of one
of the Queen's Colleges. In this I was supported by the
fact that I31 out of the I41 students of Galway College,
both Protestants and Catholics, memorialised me to be
their advocate ; while at the same time all the students of
the Roman Catholic University of Dublin desired me to
represent their view that philosophy and history should
not be excluded from the curriculum of their studies.
While the Roman Catholics thus showed their confidence
in my educational views, the stronghold of Protestantism,
Trinity College, Dublin, published a special edition of my
pamphlet, and circulated it extensively. Gladstone, seeing
that I had much moral support behind me, was anxious to
secure my adhesion to his Bill, and in the course of the
debate put up Cardwell to state that my objections “were
not of the essence of the Bill, and would be conceded in
Committee.” Accordingly I voted for the Second Reading.
For this I was much blamed by the Press at the time,
but I think that I was right not to help to throw out a
Liberal for a Conservative Government when the former
consented to adopt my views at a later stage. I strongly
objected to the exclusion of philosophy and history from
the University, as the following passage from my speech
will show :-
“This Bill limits, if it does not exclude, metaphysical and ethical
subjects, and thus forces the student to be one of two things—either
a bigot or an infidel. I object to this exclusion of subjects, to this
tongue-tying of professors, and to the encouragement of academic
dissent on the part of the students; and I do so because science,
IN PARLIAMENT. 217
whether mental or natural, can only breathe and flourish in an
atmosphere of liberty. Science must grow in the light which comes
direct from the Creator; it is dwarfed and dies if the light be
intercepted by a Church, and thus be feebly reflected upon it . .
The Bill has been framed with a view to conciliate the Ultramon-
tane party. It has failed to do this, and it has not satisfied the
Liberal Catholics of Ireland. Ultramontanism always appears to
me to be ecclesiastical communism. Communism is the reduction
of property to a common level, and Ultramontanism is the
reduction of religious spirit and intellectual thought to a common
level.” -
Count Bismarck seems to have hit on the same idea, for
in a speech at a date subsequent to this he speaks of
Ultramontanist priests as being “black-robed communists.”
Dean Stanley accepted my definition, and headed a
pamphlet, “Ultramontanism is Ecclesiastical Communism.’
Robert Lowe (now Lord Sherbrooke) was put up to
answer my speech. Lowe's speeches were always full of
pungency and close reasoning when they were carefully
prepared. He had given ample pains to demolish my
arguments, but he thought that the speech would be a
repetition of my pamphlet, and I had carefully avoided
that line of argument. Mr Lowe made a good speech, but
it was no answer to mine. It was very different in the
case of Mr Gladstone's closing speech a few days later.
He devoted himself with all his power and eloquence to
upset my arguments. I had gone up into the gallery to
hear him better; and, not seeing me in my place, his keen
eye quickly detected me in the gallery, and he addressed
his speech to me in my lofty perch—the only time that I
have ever seen this done. I happened to be sitting not far
from the Prince of Wales, and His Royal Highness sent
sympathetic smiles to console me in my demolition 1
The Bill was defeated by a majority of three, and the
Government resigned, although they came in again on the
failure of Disraeli to form a Government.
All my friends assured me that I had made an irre-
concilable enemy of our great Liberal chief, who largely
attributed his defeat to my speech. How unjust this was
to his generosity is shown by the fact that in the autumn
of that year he asked me to join his Government as Post-
2 I 8 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
master-General. It is true that, in the interview preceding
my acceptance, he intimated a doubt as to whether I could
run in harness, as I was apt to form strong views of my
own. This was the only allusion he ever made to my two
years of opposition to his University measures for Ireland.
On accepting the office of Postmaster-General, I went to
Windsor with Sir W. Harcourt, Sir Henry James, and
others, to kiss hands on appointment, and to be sworn a
Privy Councillor. The Queen was very gracious on this
occasion. After I had taken the oath as Privy Councillor,
she made a remark showing how constantly the memory
of the Prince Consort is in her thoughts. It was, “How
much he would have been pleased 1" No need to tell me
who he was. The Queen commanded me to return on a
visit, and to dine with her that evening.
The administration of the Post Office was of a character
entirely to my liking, and I had been just sufficiently long
in the saddle to feel that I could propose some important
reforms, when, early in 1874, without the least notice,
Parliament was dissolved, and Gladstone's Government
came to an end, because the country returned a Conser-
vative Parliament.
I now hoped for some leisure, as the Tories were in
power. But the month after the meeting of the new
Parliament an appeal was made to me by Mr Disraeli's
Government. The increasing cost and decreasing efficiency
of the Civil Service of the country were causing consider-
able anxiety. The Government had resolved upon issuing
a Commission to consider whether it should be reorganised
on a better system, and determined, although I was in
opposition to them, to ask me to preside over the inquiry.
I was naturally unwilling to undertake such heavy work,
but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford North-
cote, represented that he had aided the Liberal Govern-
ment by going to America on the Alabama claims, and the
Conservatives thought that this established a title for
Liberal aid. This was a fair way of putting the case, so I
consented. The inquiry was a wide one, and likely to be
prolonged. The subjects referred were :—
IN PARLIAMENT. 2 IQ
I. The method of selecting Civil Servants in the first
instance.
2. The principles upon which men should be transferred
from office to office, especially when redundant.
3. The possibility of grading the Civil Service, as a
whole, so as to obviate the inconveniences
which result from the difference of pay in
different departments.
4. The system of employing writers for duties of a
subordinate or temporary character.
The Commission was dated April 25th, 1874, and our
first Report was issued in January, 1875. It established a
completely new system, which since then has received the
official title of the “Playfair Scheme.” This title implies
too much personality to the President. The Commission
consisted of the most eminent permanent officers of the
Civil Service—Sir R. Stephenson, Sir Francis Sandford, Sir
T. Farrer, The Hon. C. Fremantle, Sir R. Hamilton, Mr
Walrond, Mr Joyce, and Lord Claud Hamilton. The
essence of the “Playfair Scheme" was to divide the Civil
Service into two branches, one of which was to consist of
men who passed a high competitive examination for the
purpose of doing work requiring intellectual ability, and
the other of mere clerks who could do routine work of an
inferior order. In both divisions, however, merit, and not
mere seniority, was to be the condition of promotion.
The scheme was received with much hostile criticism,
which fell naturally on the supposed author, and gave to
me a large amount of temporary unpopularity. As its
effect was a large economy in the estimates, it gradually
became popular. But the writers and inferior clerks never
ceased to attack it, and in this year (1886) a new Royal
Commission was appointed to report upon its working.
The Government asked me to act upon this Commission,
but I declined, as I am at the present moment a member of
three other Commissions, which I thought quite sufficient
to engage my attention. Whether the “Playfair Scheme"
will survive this ordeal I do not yet know.
22O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
In the year 1874 I made an effort to obtain the appoint-
ment of a Minister of Education instead of the anomalous
System of having education managed by a Committee of
the Privy Council. But, though I was strongly supported
by Mr Forster, the Government of Mr Disraeli opposed
the motion and defeated it. Disraeli had formerly intro-
duced a Bill for the same object, but he had changed his
mind. In the autumn of this year I acted as president of
the section on Public Health at the meeting of the Social
Science Association at Glasgow. My address on this
Occasion was one of the most successful of my many
public addresses, if I may judge from the general attention
which it received from the Press.
In the years 1875 and 1876, there was not much to which
I need allude in Parliamentary work, although in both of
them subjects of educational reform were often before the
House. I had introduced a Bill to regulate experiments
on living animals, so that no operation involving pain
should be made without an anaesthetic. The Government
referred my Bill to a Royal Commission, which made some
slight modifications in it, and it was afterwards brought in
and passed as a Government measure. Societies were
established for the total abolition of vivisection, and im-
mense efforts were made to secure the repeal of this Act.
Hitherto these efforts have fortunately failed. At last, on
the 4th April, 1883, a determined effort was made to repeal
the Act which I had taken so much pains to carry. I was
successful in resisting this attempt, and ever since have
been the bête noire of anti-vivisectionists. The concluding
passage of my speech will show its general tenor :—
“Much of the out-of-door agitation against this Act has been got
up in a spirit of unthinking and aggressive ignorance. I assert that
physiologists are actuated by a higher humanity than that of the
opponents of vivisection. The aim of the former is to mitigate the
sufferings of men and animals by studying the processes of life and
of disease. The only way in which they can prosecute this aim is to
experiment on living beings, not on dead corpses. This Bill is to
repeal an Act under which the official inspectors tell us that scarcely
ten animals in the year suffer sensible pain; but it takes no account
whatever of the torture or cruelty perpetrated on animals either for
IN PARLIAMENT. 22 I
domestic purposes, for agricultural uses, for pleasures as in hunting
or fishing, or even that inflicted out of the most wanton and pur-
poseless malignity. [Mr Reid: That is a crime already.] It is not
a crime already, because Martin’s Act, to which the hon. member
refers, applies only to domestic animals, while all other animals are
liable to torture. It would be a complete defence under this Bill to say
that the torture of a rabbit or a rat was made out of malignity, with-
out any reference to the promotion of physiology, medicine, or
science. But as soon as the motive is high and noble, and has for
its purpose the relief of the ills of suffering humanity, you purpose to
brand those who experiment as criminals.”
The anti-vivisectionists have not again attacked the
regulating Act, and in their annual meetings are now
content to attack me. This is a small matter if they do
not succeed in retarding the progress of science. No legis-
lation, however mischievous, can possibly ultimately stop
its progress. Even the burning of the Alexandrian
Library did not stop the growth of literature.
In the year 1876 a Royal Commission was issued to
recommend reforms in the Scotch Universities. Huxley
the biologist, Froude the historian, and I, were sent down
from London to act upon it. Our report seemed to be too
“thorough" for adoption, for little reform has yet taken
place. We recommended a free selection of subjects as
alternative courses for granting degrees in arts and science.
We recollected Shakespeare's educational formula:—
“No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en;
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.”
Oxford and Cambridge, which used to be behind the
Scotch Universities in this respect, are now in advance
of them. Our Commission was only a recommendatory
one, but an Executive Commission was formed by an
Act in 1889, and will no doubt give effect to our
labours.
During the early years of his Parliamentary career,
Playfair's time was still given very largely to the affairs of
his University, and he lost no opportunity of advancing its
interests in different directions. Amongst other works in
222 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR.
the accomplishment of which he had a share, was the
foundation of the Chair of Geology in the University, by
the liberality of Sir Roderick Murchison.
FOLKESTONE,
Sir Roderick Murchison to Playfair. November 27th, 1870.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Your letter of the 24th inst.,
anent the desideratum of a Geological Chair in the
University of Edinburgh, came to me at the same moment
as one from Geikie on the same subject, which I enclose.
The reasons you both employ are so precisely what I feel
myself (and have felt for a long time), that I have resolved
to do now what would have come forth on my death, as
settled by my will, in which I leave £6,000 to the
University of Edinburgh to found, or aid in founding, a
Geological Chair, certain conditions being complied with.
In the present state of Science, it is quite absurd to unite
geology with natural history in the same professorship. I
confess that it would be highly gratifying to me to have
my name connected with this new Chair (as Geikie puts
it); for I do not think—without vanity—that any living
man has worked harder in developing the true geological
structure of Scotland than myself. Geikie ought certainly
to be the first professor to succeed Jameson. As the M.P.
for Edinburgh, you must induce the Government to help,
which, as I understand you, they are ready to do. I am
here getting braced up for the Liverpool meeting, and
writing out my address to the Geological section.
Ever yours sincerely,
RODERICK MURCHISON.
Playfair has mentioned in the preceding chapter of his
Reminiscences his early Parliamentary connection with
Post Office reform. He was, in fact, the leader in the
movement for the introduction of the halfpenny post-card
into this country.
IN PARLIAMENT. - 223
Lord Hartington to Playfair. Post Office, May 26th, 1870.
MY DEAR SIR,--I am glad to be able to inform you
that the Government have decided to introduce a half-
penny card postage, as advocated by you and a deputation
of Members of Parliament with whom I had the pleasure
of an interview some time ago. I had intended to announce
this yesterday in introducing the Post Office Bill, but it
was too late for me to be able to make any statement. I
should be much obliged to you if you would, by putting a
question to me either to-day or to-morrow, enable me to
inform the House of our intention.
Yours faithfully,
HARTINGTON.
Reference was made by Playfair in his Reminiscences to
his pamphlet published under the title of ‘Teaching
Universities and Examining Boards.' Its publication
brought him many expressions of gratitude and goodwill
from different quarters. Only two of them need be
quoted. ~.
DUBLIN,
The Hon. David Plunket to Playfair. February 1st, 1872.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Many thanks for the copy of
your address which you were good enough to send to me.
I have read it with the greatest interest. I think you have
completely demolished Lowe's Halifax speech, so far as it
dealt with the Universities question ; and have, besides,
made a case on the other side that he, and those who
would gladly take his views, for the present will find it
hard to dispose of. Allow me to thank you warmly, on
behalf of those whom I represent, for the yeoman service
you have done for our cause. There is an abstract of your
address in to-day's ‘Daily Express, our chief Dublin
Conservative newspaper, and I doubt not that it will
appear in some of the others later; but, unfortunately,
Lady Spencer held her first drawing-room last night, and
so the space of our Dublin local press was very much
224 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
occupied with lists of ladies who were presented, and of
the dresses they wore. So there was no room for more
weighty matters.
Yours very truly,
D. PLUNKET.
EDINBURGH,
Professor Blackie to Playfair. February 3rd, 1870.
MY DEAR M.P., I return you my most sincere thanks
for your lecture, which shall be treasured up amongst my
cherished valuables. The French testimonies are of the
utmost consequence in the question, and were new to me.
Bob Lowe is a “Philister,” and must be suppressed, only in
a polite way, as you did. Bain, Grote and Co. taught a very
low moral philosophy, such as may suit a nation of shop-
keepers, the modern Carthaginians that can never produce
any noble result. A man ought to feel truth like a well of
living waters growing up out of his Soul, not merely gather
it with his fingers. I shall send you my manifesto in a few
days. I intend to send copies to Some of our most notable
M.P.'s, though I have no doubt the majority of them are
Carthaginians, believing mainly in Supply and demand. I
lecture in London on Friday the 26th, at Albemarle Street,
on which occasion I hope to see you and other friends.
Ever yours,
JOHN S. BLACKIE.
Playfair's appointment as Postmaster-General in 1873
came as a Surprise to himself as well as to his friends.
After less than five years of Parliamentary life he was pro-
moted to one of the greatest offices in the Ministry outside
the limits of the Cabinet. But for the unfortunate break
which occurred in his official life by the defeat of Mr
Gladstone's Government less than three months after he
received his appointment, it is probable that Playfair would
have advanced steadily to a front rank in political life. It
was in this manner that he had advanced in every other
branch of labour that he had followed. But his loss of
THE RIGHT HON. SIR LYON PLAYFAIR.
(1888)
Paoro, Eurotr & Fay, Barºn St., W.
|-

IN PARLIAMENT. 225
office almost before he had taken full possession of his
post gave to this first appointment of his something of the
character of a false start. His political career, which had
been begun under auspices so favourable, was not destined
to enjoy the brilliant success which had attended his
labours in other fields. For this fact different reasons
may be alleged. Undoubtedly, his detachment from
party politics had something to do with his failure to
secure that recognition in Parliament which he had ob-
tained outside. Something, too, must be attributed to
the circumstances which attended his term of office
as Chairman of Committees—an episode in his career
which will be fully dealt with later on. But the first
check, and, I believe, the most serious, to his Parliamen-
tary advancement, was the fact that, having secured, at
an unusually early date in his life as a Member of the
House of Commons, one of the most important posts in
the Administration, he was, through no fault of his own,
removed from that office almost immediately after he had
obtained it. Nevertheless, short as was his tenure of office
as Postmaster-General, it enabled him to win the con-
fidence of the eminent public servants with whom he
was brought in contact at St. Martin's-le-Grand.
In the early seventies one of the subjects which created
the greatest interest in the public mind was the trial of the
famous cause raised by the fraudulent “Sir Roger
Tichborne” against the rightful owner of the Tichborne
estates. The question of the identity of the Claimant was
one that, for a season, excited greater interest in all classes
of society than any problem in politics. The nation was
for a time ranged into the friends and the opponents of the
ingenious knave who had so successfully imposed him-
self upon many honest persons, and the exposure of whose
fraudulent claims was the greatest triumph won by the
late Lord Coleridge during his brilliant career at the bar.
P
226 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR.
Science came to the aid of truth and justice in this as it has
done in many more important matters; and Playfair, as a
man of science, made a suggestion to Sir John Coleridge
which might have been of use if the other evidence against
the pretensions of the Claimant had not been so over-
whelming. This was in respect to a slight malformation
of the ear of the genuine Roger Tichborne, the lobe of that
organ having been attached to his head instead of being
pendant as in most cases.
OTTERY ST. MARY,
Sir J. D. Coleridge to Playfair. August 6th, 1871.
MY DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,-Many thanks for your
kind and interesting letter. It is not the first I have
heard of this curious fact. Indeed, some gentleman, whose
name I cannot read, and who has not dated his letter, so
that no doubt he thinks me a most uncourteous man for
not answering, has sent me a couple of the photographs,
with the measurements, and most careful remarks on this
very point. I will not forget it, you may depend upon it;
and I will ask you some day to give me Professor Lay-
cock's address, that, if necessary, we might call him. . . .
Yours very sincerely,
J. D. COLERIDGE.
There have been few episodes of greater interest in the
history of the Liberal party than the election of a successor
to Mr Gladstone as leader in 1875. Playfair has briefly
related the facts of the case, and has indicated with equal
terseness the part which he played in connection with the
crisis. In this, as in many other cases, the simple and
direct language of his Reminiscences may suggest to those
who are ignorant of the facts an assumption on his part of
greater activity and a more potent influence than he really
possessed. No idea could possibly be more unjust to
Playfair. The correspondence in his biographer's posses-
sion, and knowledge acquired from other quarters, con-
IN PARLIAMENT. 227
clusively establish the fact that when Playfair—writing, be
it remembered, for his family rather than for the public—
states in his Reminiscences that he took a certain part in
some public transaction, he invariably understates rather
than overstates the share which he had in it. The
question of the election of Mr Gladstone's successor in
1875 is a case in point, and the interest which attaches to
that curious episode in the history of the Liberal party
justifies an amplification of the story that Playfair has told
so briefly. From the biographer's point of view such an
amplification is specially justifiable, because it throws light
upon the position which Playfair had secured in the inner
councils of his party, and shows that here, as elsewhere, he
had become a moving spirit “behind the scenes.” -
Mr Gladstone's announcement of his determination to
retire from the leadership, and from active participation in
political life, at once let loose many passions which had
been simmering beneath the surface of the party. By
common consent, the man who, next to Mr Gladstone,
had shown the greatest capacity for leadership among the
occupants of the front bench in the House of Commons
was Mr Forster. But the very success which Mr Forster
had Secured as an administrator and statesman had raised
up against him powerful enemies on his own side of the
House. His Education Act, which was, after all, the
greatest of all the measures passed by the Government of
1868, had aroused against him the passionate anger of a
large section of the Nonconformists and of the members
of the well-known Birmingham Education League. He
had been sneered at as a trimmer; he had even been
denounced as a traitor. To those who really knew
Forster these charges seemed to be too contemptible to
call for refutation. No one who had been brought into
close contact with him had failed to recognise that honesty
of purpose and strength of conviction which won for him
228 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the admiration of Playfair. But jealousy and calumny
are, unfortunately, among the most formidable of all the
weapons used in political warfare, and Forster had exposed
himself to both. Playfair, like most men who were not
moved by the passions of a clique, recognised in Forster
the proper successor to Mr Gladstone. But no sooner was
the name of the author of the Education Act mentioned in
this connection than a series of desperate intrigues were
set on foot against him. The representatives of the
Birmingham League, having no one in their own party
whom they could set up in opposition to Forster, were
shrewd enough to nominate a man who was not in special
sympathy with their views, and who, in addition to high
rank, great social influence, and more than considerable
abilities, possessed the valuable qualification of being
positively obnoxious to no section in the party. Lord
Hartington himself, it need scarcely be said, had no share
in the intrigues which were carried on against Forster.
He was as innocent as Forster himself of seeking to
obtain a post which, if one of high honour, was at the
same time one of great difficulty. But those who
supported him were ardent and not over-scrupulous, and
they were inspired by many different motives. If some of
them desired Lord Hartington rather than Mr Forster
because they honestly believed that the latter was not
sound in his Liberalism, there were others who saw in
Lord Hartington one conspicuous merit. This was the
fact that he was the heir to a peerage, and that conse-
quently in the course of nature he must before very long
be removed to the House of Lords, thus leaving the
leadership in the Commons open to some younger man,
for whom the prize was not yet ripe. The result was that,
although at the beginning of the struggle Lord Harting-
ton's supporters were in a distinct minority, as time passed
they gathered recruits, and it became increasingly apparent
IN PARLIAMENT. 229
that Forster's election might lead to a dangerous Schism
in the party. With this preamble, I may leave the
correspondence which Playfair received to speak for itself.
It is, perhaps, superfluous to remind the reader that Lord
Granville, by Mr Gladstone's retirement, had become the
leader of the party as a whole.
SAVERNAKE FOREST, MARLBOROUGH,
Earl Granville to Playſair. January 16th, 1875.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have received your letter of
the 15th. Pray assure Mr Fawcett, and the other inde-
pendent members to whom you allude, that I am aware of
no intention or wish to nominate any leader of the House
of Commons without consultation of the whole body of
the Liberal party.
The efforts of the meeting held at my house on the 14th
were concentrated on the attempt to prevent Gladstone's
resignation, and no allusion was made to the future,
farther than a general agreement to the effect that, if the
decision was final, it was better to publish it without delay,
in order to give the Liberal party time to consider their
position before the meeting of Parliament.
I am not authorised to speak for Lord Hartington, but
I know no one more impressed with the difficulty of any
One taking Mr Gladstone's place. I cannot answer for his
acceptance if the choice were made of him, but I am
certain that he would refuse unless the proposal was made
with the hearty concurrence of the party.
I cannot take upon myself to summon a meeting, but I
have written to Adam (the chief Liberal Whip) to say that
I presume if he receives a requisition to that effect from a
few of the leading independent members he will actupon it.
Yours sincerely,
GRANVILLE.
P.S. Conſidential.—I suppose that what Fawcett is
afraid of is rather Granby, Herries, and Dizzy than G.
Bentinck and Dizzy. For George Bentinck, with all his
230 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
inferiority in ability, had a will of iron. I believe that I
have given a perfectly accurate statement of Hartington's
feelings, and that he would require a full assurance, not
only of the support of his late colleagues in and out of the
Cabinet, but of such leading and honourable men as
Fawcett, to induce him to undertake a task the inherent
difficulty of which will be immensely increased by —'s
restless ambition. Pray show Adam our correspondence.
I have written shortly to him.
12, CARLTON HousE TERRACE,
Lord Wolverton to Playfair. January 18th, 1875.
DEAR PLAYFAIR,--Thanks for the enclosed. If Adam
calls the meeting, which I think with Granville he should
do if he has a requisition, no time should be lost, and I
think it should not be later than the Wednesday in the
week after next. The notice of the meeting will help to
the solution of the question as to who is “the favourite.”
It seems very dark now, and difficult for anyone to form
an accurate opinion. I hardly think Lord Granville could
act as chairman. Could Bright 2 I think he might if he
would undertake it.
As a matter of fact the meeting was called by Mr Adam
in the manner suggested by Lord Granville, and Mr Bright
presided over it.
(Confidential.)
- e BowooD, CALNE, WILTS.,
Earl Granville to Playfair. January 19th, 1875.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have received your two notes
of yesterday. I shall consider the second as absolutely
personal and confidential. Your letter of Friday had
made me think you were in favour of Hartington. I have
perfect confidence in both him and Forster; but our late
chief would, I think, be more cordial in support of the
former, which is an element not to be put out of sight,
as also the acquiescence of all his Cabinet colleagues in
* Lord Wolverton, as Mr Glyn, had been Mr Adam's predecessor as chief
Liberal Whip.
IN PARLIAMENT. 23i
Hartington last year. But at that time Forster was sup-
posed to be intolerable to the Nonconformists. e
Yours, G.
BROOKSIDE, CAMBRIDGE,
Mr Fawcett to Playfair. January 20th, 1875.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I think the general tone of the
Press is very encouraging, and it is certainly very hopeful
that ‘The Times’ has not yet pronounced in favour of
Hartington. I believe the Nonconformists are to have a
conference at Crewe to-day, and the Birmingham League, I
see, meets to-morrow to consider the leadership. I expect
they will praise Gladstone at Forster's expense, but cer-
tainly all Forster's colleagues in the Cabinet were responsi-
ble with him for the parts of the Education Act which gave
offence to the Nonconformists. If they put forward a
claim to have a leader who is in favour of Disestablishment,
it may be fairly replied that only a minority of the Liberal
party in the House—not more than one-third—supports
Disestablishment, and, until a majority of the party
supports it, it is unreasonable to expect the leader to do so.
On the other hand, the great majority of the party voted
last session in favour of the extension of County Franchise,
and therefore we may fairly claim that we should have a
leader who will go with the majority on this question.
Hartington, you will remember, walked out of the House,
whereas Forster not only voted but spoke in favour of
Trevelyan's Bill. It will, of course, be very important to
arrange beforehand that at the meeting Forster should be
proposed by some very influential member of the party.
My sole motive in saying last week that, if no one else
proposed him, I would, was that I thought it would show
we were in earnest. . . . Yours very truly
y
HENRY FAWCETT.
Same to the same. CAMBRIDGE, January 23rd, 1875.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Many thanks for your letter.
From all that I hear, and I have made very careful
inquiries, I take a much more hopeful view of Forster's
232 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
chances than you do. The hostile attitude of the Non-
conformists is already beginning to produce a strong
reaction in his favour, and I believe this feeling will
grow. Of one thing I feel certain, that nothing that
could possibly happen would be so disastrous to the
future of the party as if Forster were to withdraw before
a general meeting has been summoned. It would create
an impression which nothing could remove that he had
been induced to withdraw under influential pressure, and
under these circumstances the choice, on whomsoever
it might fall, would at once be strongly and openly re-
pudiated. Nothing that could be done would so effectually
break up the party. I am extremely obliged to you for
writing to me.
Yours very truly,
HENRY FAWCETT.
ALTHoRP, NORTHAMPTON,
Earl Granville to Playfair. january 25th, 1875.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Many thanks. Can you lunch
at two at Carlton Terrace on Saturday ? We must devise
something to save the party from the depth of ridicule
which squabbling debating society speeches on Wednesday
may produce.
Yours, G.
As Playfair has already stated, something was devised at
this Saturday luncheon. It was recognised, even by those
who had been entirely favourable to Mr Forster's nomina-
tion for the leadership, that if his candidature were persisted
in there would be a disastrous “split” in the party, and to
Playfair—who was Forster's warm personal friend and
admirer—was entrusted the task of conveying this opinion
to that eminent man. Forster, as has already been told
elsewhere, when he saw that the interests of his party
seemed to demand the sacrifice of his candidature, did not
for a moment hesitate to adopt the view which Playfair
had put before him. He called on Lord Granville, and, to
IN PARLIAMENT. 233
use his own words, “came away with the leadership given
up.” By his generous self-sacrifice he thus prevented his
party from falling into that “depth of ridicule” which
Lord Granville anticipated and deplored. When the
meeting was held, under the presidency of Mr Bright,
Lord Hartington's was the only name submitted to it,
and he received that appointment of Leader of the
Opposition in the House of Commons which he con-
tinued to hold until, barely five years afterwards, Mr
Gladstone was summoned back to power and resumed his
old position. Most of this story is already known to the
world; that portion of it which will be new to all my
readers is the part that Playfair had in preventing a
disastrous Liberal schism.
CHAPTER X.
PARLIAMENTARY WORK.
Playfair's Domestic Affections—Death of his Second Wife. AUTOBIo-
GRAPHY : The Dundonald Case: The Victory won at Last: A
Visit to the States: Emerson and Longfellow : Chicago: A “Typical
American " from Paisley: Adopting a Young Lady : At Washington :
A Visit to the Lunatic Asylum : Attacking the Indian Salt Tax:
Presiding over the Manchester Water Supply Committee : The Inter-
national Exhibition of 1878: Another Visit to America: Reception
at Montreal : Curious Experiences in a Rough District : Dining
with the Canadian Cabinet : A Talk with Lord Dufferin. Playfair's
Relations with the United States—His Letters from America and
elsewhere—His Correspondence with Miss Russell and her Family
prior to His Marriage—His Social Charm—His Passion for Public
Work.
VERY little has been said of Playfair's domestic life since
his marriage in 1846 to Miss Oakes. In his chapters of
autobiography he confines himself almost entirely to those
public affairs in which he was so deeply engaged, and the
reader is left almost in the dark on the subject of his
personal and family history. As a matter of fact, no man
was more dependent for his happiness upon his personal
surroundings and social environment than Playfair. But
he had to some extent the reticence of his race, and
during the period of intense and unremitting labour, which
extended from his youth until he had passed his sixtieth
year, his family life was kept strictly apart from public
affairs. His love for those of his own household was deep
and tender; and his sympathy with his children was
unfailing. But they had to pay the penalty of being the
children of a public man, the demands upon whose time
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 235
were so great that he could not enjoy the unfettered
domestic leisure which falls to the lot of those who are not
absorbed in unselfish labours for the general good. In
later years, though Playfair's work did not diminish as it
should have done in consideration of his age, he was able
by changed circumstances to combine devotion to duty
with those domestic pleasures which he relished so keenly.
His first wife, Margaret Eliza Oakes, had died in 1855.
Some two years later he was married to Jean Ann
Millington. This lady died in the spring of 1877. The
following chapter of autobiography dates from this time.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—IX.
1877 to 1879.
IN April, 1877, I took an active part in moving for a
Committee to carry into effect the will of the great naval
hero Lord Dundonald, in favour of his grandson, Lord
Cochrane. This will was written in the year of his death,
and I read in the House from the autograph will the
following words:—
“I leave exclusively to my grandson, Douglas, all the
sums due to me by the British Government for my im-
portant services, as well as the sums of pay stopped (under
perjured evidence) for the commission of a fraud on the
Stock Exchange. Given under my trembling hand this
21st day of February, 1860, the anniversary of my
ruin.”
Time passes so quickly and events fade so soon in its pas-
sage that few persons recollect now to what the old man
alluded. Lord Dundonald is better known as Lord
Cochrane, when he was the greatest, as well as the last, of
the old clan of British seamen renowned for dash and
daring before steam altered naval tactics. Early in the
century Lord Cochrane sat in the House of Commons as a
Radical Member for Westminster; in 1814 he received the
236 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
command of a vessel which was about to leave London,
when he heard, as all the public did, that on the previous
day a fraud had been committed on the Stock Exchange.
A man called De Berenger, dressed in the uniform of volun-
teers, and wearing the Cross of St. Louis, landed at Dover
in a small boat, and announcing a great victory, posted
immediately with the news to the Stock Exchange in
London, causing a great rise in the price of Consols. Upon
that rise Lord Cochrane made a few thousand pounds, while
his uncle, Admiral Cochrane, obtained a much larger sum.
De Berenger, after delivering his false news at the Stock
Exchange, entered his carriage, in which was a carpet bag,
drew down the curtains and drove to Lord Cochrane's
house. He was admitted by a servant, who swore that he
was in plain clothes. Much of the evidence turned upon
the truth of this statement. Had the false messenger
arrived in his uniform and changed his clothes in Lord
Cochrane's house, the latter must have known there was
Something wrong in the visit, which had for its professed
object to obtain some berth in his new ship. But if the
man changed his uniform in the carriage for plain clothes,
there was no reason to suspect that Lord Cochrane knew
anything of the conspiracy on the Stock Exchange. It
was proved beyond doubt that weeks before he had
instructed his stockbroker to sell consols when they reached
a certain figure, and that the latter had acted on past
instructions.
Lord Cochrane was tried before an extreme Tory
judge, Lord Ellenborough. The verdict went against him,
and a new trial was refused, although Lord Chancellor
Campbell remarked that the verdict was “palpably contrary
to the first principles of justice, and ought immediately to
have been reversed.” As a result Lord Cochrane was fined
A 1,000, was sentenced to stand in the pillory, was dismissed
from the Navy, was expelled from the House of Commons,
was stripped of his orders of Knighthood, and had his banner
torn down from his stall as a Knight of the Bath. It was
actually kicked out of Westminster Abbey by the public
executioner. The only portion of the sentence remitted
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 237
was that the gallant hero should stand in the pillory, and
this was remitted not from mercy but for fear of an insur-
rection among the people. His fine of £1,000 was paid by
subscriptions not exceeding a penny by working men,
and the Bank of England note for this amount, with
an indignant protest in Lord Cochrane's writing, is now
framed and preserved in the Bank. This happened in the
year 1814, but it was not till 1832 that he was restored to
his rank in the Navy, without back pay. The decoration
of the Bath, which he had won in battles which were the
glory of his country, was not restored till 1847, and the
order to restore his banner to the stall in Westminster
Abbey only arrived when the hero was dead, on the 31st
October, 1860. -
My present effort was to carry out the will of Lord Dun-
donald by getting his back pay as an acknowledgment
from the nation that he had been treated with great
injustice. I read in the House the last letter which the
old admiral wrote to me on his death-bed. It is as
follows:–
12, QUEEN’s GATE, SouTH KENSINGTON,
Lord Dundonald to Playfair. October 25th, 1860.
MY DEAR FRIEND,-My health was improving so fast,
a couple of months ago, that I had formed the intention of
spending the remaining portion of my life in my native
land. Since then the progress has not warranted the
attempt, as I am still unable to subject myself to the
slightest agitation—even when the horses walk with the
carriage. In the spring (D.V.) I may be able to avail
myself of the kind offer you make.' I send you the
second volume of my Autobiography, which I hope is
written with sufficient plainness to enable you to see
how I have been treated by the Political Varlets whose
administration will be the ruin of our country unless
* Lord Dundonald had written to ask whether I would receive a visit
from a dying man, as he wished to see and to die in Scotland, and I had
replied that I would go to London to bring him down, not to die but to
reCOVer. -
238 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Some Garibaldi steps forward and rescues it. Excuse
brevity, as I am much indisposed, and believe me,
Most truly yours,
DUNDONALD.
As the whole world by this time had come to the con-
viction that Lord Dundonald was entirely innocent, the
House could not refuse an appeal for a Select Committee,
the members selected being excellent men, among whom
were Spencer Walpole, Russell Gurney, Whitbread, etc. I
declined to go upon it, as my feelings of friendship were
too keen to make me a fair judge. The Committee felt
perfectly satisfied of Lord Dundonald's innocence, but they
hesitated as to the report from lack of evidence. At the
critical point an interesting event occurred. In 1814 Lord
Dundonald and Lady X. were in love, and, though they
did not marry, always held each other in great esteem for
the rest of their lives. Old Lady X. was still alive in 1877,
and she sent me a letter, through young Lord Cochrane,
the grandson, authorising me to use it as I thought best.
The letter was yellow with age, but had been carefully
preserved. It was written by Lord Dundonald, and was
dated from the prison on the night of his committal. It
tried to console the lady by the fact that the guilt of a
near relative of hers was not suspected, while the innocence
of the writer was his support and consolation. The old lady
must have had a terrible trial. It was hard to sacrifice the
reputation of her relative : it was harder still to see injustice
still resting upon her former lover. Lord Dundonald loved
her, and had received much kindness from her relative,
so he suffered calumny and the injustice of nearly two
generations rather than tell the true story of his wrongs.
I had long suspected the truth, but I never heard it from
Lord Dundonald. The brave old lady tendered this letter
as evidence to the Committee, but I declined to give it in,
knowing that had my friend been alive he would not have
allowed me to do so. At the same time I showed the
letter to the members of the Committee individually, and
it had a great effect upon their minds, and no doubt helped
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 239
to secure the report recommending that the Treasury
should pay the grandson the back salary of the Admiral.
The interesting letter itself I recommended should be put
in the archives of the Dundonald family, and this I believe
has been done. -
In the autumn of 1877 I visited for the first time the
United States, the first of many subsequent visits to that
country. On arriving at New York, I found an invitation
to spend a week at Nahant, near Boston, at the house of
Mr Russell. Mr S. H. Russell, with his wife and two
daughters, had travelled in Europe in the summer of 1875,
and I accidentally became acquainted with them at a table
d'hôte in an hotel at the Hague. This acquaintance ripened
into a friendship, and three years later (1878) the eldest of the
daughters, Miss Edith Russell, became my wife. Through
this family I at once became acquainted with the highly
intellectual society of Boston. Longfellow, Emerson,
Wendell Holmes, Lowell, Tom Appleton, and other men
of light and leading I met at their house, forming many
pleasant friendships for the future. Emerson I had known
before, although my introduction to him had been singular
and irregular. One night he came to a debate in the
House of Commons and sat under the gallery. The door-
keeper of the House was a man of literary tastes, and was
distressed to observe that Emerson received no attention
from members, so he asked me to speak to him. Having
introduced myself, I pointed out to the American philo-
sopher the leading politicians. The next evening I had a
dinner party of clever men, so I asked Emerson to join
us. Having an edition of his works bound in red morocco,
I placed them in the drawing-room, and the author was
particularly pleased to see them in this attractive form, so
he inscribed his name in them, with the date.
Emerson now eagerly renewed our acquaintance, and
returned my small hospitality. He invited me to Concord,
and it was charming to drive with him over the ground
where the first collision in the great War of Independence
occurred, even though I had to remember the defeat of
British troops in a bad cause. Emerson, at this time, was
240 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
in full possession of his great faculties. At a later period
he found great difficulty in expressing his thoughts, though,
so far as I observed, his mind was never lost, notwith-
standing that in his latter years the words which he desired
refused to come at his call."
In 1877, however, Emerson was every inch the philo-
sopher whose writings I had so long enjoyed and knew so
well. In the Saturday club dinners at which I have been
a frequent guest, I am pleased to remember that I have
met Longfellow, Emerson, Wendell Holmes, Lowell, Park-
man, and many other illustrious Bostonians in the zenith
of their fame. Longfellow, in his old colonial house at
Cambridge, formerly the headquarters of Washington, was
the most genial and delightful of hosts. He was too
amiable to refuse anyone who called, however obtrusive
they might be. On one occasion I went to lunch with
him, and observed a number of chairs in the library, so I
remarked that he seemed to have had many visitors.
“Yes,” said the old poet, “countrymen of your own who
had a leader called Mr Cook” (?Cook's excursions). “They
sat there staring, without conversation, till a fat old lady
opened it by saying: ‘Now, Mr Longfellow, explain to
us your views on the immortality of the soul.' This I
positively declined to do.” Longfellow used to tell with
glee that, on one occasion, an English gentleman called
upon him without an introduction, apologising by Saying:
“Mr Longfellow, as there are no ruins in this country for
a traveller to look at, I have come to see you” Long-
fellow, and I should add Emerson, were poets without
being egotists. I have known many poets in my life
whose very personality made them egotists; yet their
egotism was delightful, and an essential part of their
character. In the United States the strong personality of
dear old Wendell Holmes, the autocrat not only of the
* A touching story illustrating this infirmity on the part of the great
writer has been recorded. On the day when Longfellow, with whom he
had been for many years on terms of the most intimate affection, was
carried to the grave, Emerson, after attending the funeral, said to his
daughter, “I do not remember the name of the gentleman who was buried
to-day, but he had a sweet soul.”— ED.
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 24I
breakfast table but of every other table, brings him into
this clan. Yet his egotism is always exercised in giving
pleasure to others, for he is the Soul of geniality and good-
fellowship, and there is not one among his many friends
who would desire any change in his character.
In a first visit to the United States it was desirable to
get a general impression of it as far as the time would
permit, so after visiting the White Mountains and the
Lakes George and Champlain, I went to Chicago. That
wonderful city has often been described. But what sur-
prised me more than its mushroom quickness of growth,
after the great fire, was the state of intellectual development
among the citizens. On the morning (it being Sunday) after
my arrival I went to the public theatre, to hear a sermon
by Professor Swing. The large theatre was crowded in
every part, and I was glad to get a seat on One of the steps.
The audience was singularly well dressed, much better than
one in the Royal Institution in London. The clergyman
advanced on the stage with a lady, and handed her respect-
fully to a seat. She was the chief Soprano. The sermon
was remarkable, the subject being “The Darwinian law of
development applied to the coming of the Kingdom of
God.” The preacher was thoroughly acquainted with
the views of Darwin, Spencer, Huxley, Tyndall and
others; but what surprised me most was that the audience
seemed also to be. I was so struck with the breadth
and eloquence of this sermon that I sent the newspaper
containing a full report of it to Darwin, who afterwards
expressed his interest in it. -
It was a thorough change from my first mental impres-
sion of Chicago to go next morning to the pig-killing
establishment and listen to the boasts of how many
pigs a minute could be carried by rail past the butcher's
knife and dropped into a cauldron of boiling water.
I expressed my conviction that the pigs were not dead,
but only in a faint from loss of blood, when they entered
the cauldron. The owner fairly replied—“Examine
for yourself and see whether there is a quiver denoting
pain,” and this I could not see. But he admitted at the
Q
242 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
same time that I was right, for Occasionally, though
very rarely, a pig got out of its ſaint and would leap out of
the cauldron. An expression of the owner was suggestive :
“My pigs are incarnated Indian corn.” A glowing Sun and
illimitable land grow vast crops of this nutritious corn, too
much for foreign export; but it is concentrated into meat
and fat, and in the condensed form of bacon and ham the
working men of Europe, especially in the colder regions,
are warmed by the sun conserved in the fat and flesh, and
are nourished by the products of the soil of the far West.
I do not like to part with my recollections of Chicago
without referring in grateful terms to the hospitality I
received there. I had not one letter of introduction, but
immediately on my arrival the excellent clubs of the city
were opened to me, and hospitality abounded. General
Sheridan and the British Consul made my stay one
of pleasant memories. An absurd mistake of nationality
caused much amusement at the time. My travelling com-
panion, Colonel Holmes, M.P. for Paisley, was surprised
that we never saw a typical American—typical in the sense
of the John Bull in English caricatures, and of the Brother
Jonathan in American illustrated papers. At Chicago, how-
ever, my Scotch friend found his typical American outside
the hotel. He was tall, lank, lantern-jawed, had a straw
hat, and a semicircle of tobacco juice around him. I was
immediately fetched to inspect this true type. We asked
him how many generations his ancestors had been in
America, and in what Western State he had been born.
The reply astonished the two Scotch M.P's. “Hoot man,
I'm no an American. I cam frae Paisley laist year !”
After this experience we discontinued our researches for
American types |
It is needless to describe the usual tour to St. Louis,
Louisville, and other places so well known. The Mammoth
caves in Kentucky naturally interested me much, but even
they have been made familiar by repeated descriptions.
Cincinnati is like Chicago both in the rapidity of its growth
and in the character of its industries, while its houses, with
their beautiful gardens, render it singularly attractive. On
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. - 243
travelling from Cincinnati to Washington I curiously had
to adopt a young lady as my daughter for a single night.
We had met a Scotch shipbuilder from the Clyde who was
travelling with his daughter, a young lady of about twenty
years of age. On crossing one of the rivers the conductor
asked us to go to the rear car in order to see from it the
high tressle bridge. About an hour and a half later, while
sitting in the drawing-room car, the young lady expressed
to me her surprise that her father did not appear, and I
then noticed that my travelling companion, Colonel
Holmes, was also absent. The conductor was asked to
tell the missing gentlemen that their continued absence
caused some anxiety, and he returned looking pale, for he
found they were no longer on the train. I told him that I
had left them smoking in the rear car. It turned out that
this had been unhooked from the train after passing the
bridge. It was now getting dark, and I was nearing an
hotel where I had engaged rooms for the night. On asking
the young lady whether she intended to go on by the night
train to Washington, I found that she had neither ticket nor
money, as her father carried both. She therefore stopped
with me at the hotel, and was registered as Miss Playfair,
and by telegraph I was able to assure the anxious father
of her safety. Next morning he joined us, and we went
on to Washington.
The day was most boisterous, as one of the heaviest
gales of the Equinox was passing over the country.
Towards evening we were playing at whist, when the
train came to such a sudden stop that we were thrown
out of our seats. The conductor would, as usual, give
no explanation, but I had been on the engine and
made friends with the driver by giving him half a dozen
cigars, so I went forward. We were on a high tressle
bridge, some 150 feet above a flooded river, and three of
the arches had been carried away. The driver had luckily
seen lights which were being frantically waved from the
other side, and had succeeded by the steam brake in
stopping the train just at the edge of the chasm. It was
the exact condition of the disaster on the Tay Bridge, but
244 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
with this happy difference, that the train was stopped
in time. We had to back the train and go round to
Washington by way of Baltimore.
My first visit to Washington was during the recess, and
so I have little to record except that I made the acquaint-
ance of President Hayes and various members of his
Cabinet, several of whom in after years became pleasant
acquaintances. The National Museum, the great library,
and the Education Department, naturally interested me
much. One of my days was spent in the great Lunatic
Asylum near the city, and I received a rebuke to my
supposed knowledge there which has rendered me less con-
fident ever since. I have always been interested in lunacy,
and constantly visit asylums, so that I believed I could
detect a lunatic by outward signs, and especially by the
expressionless character of the hands of a patient. Left
alone for some time in the female ward, as the physician
was called away, I noticed a young lady sitting at a window,
working at needlework, both her face and hands being in
full expression with her work, so I presumed she was an
attendant, and not a lunatic. She pushed aside her work
and came quietly to me, remarking, “You, sir, are an
English gentleman; will you represent my case to the
English Minister 2 for I am not insane, and am kept here
from interested motives by my relatives.” I assured her
that I would cause an inquiry to be made, if she were an
English subject. She replied, “I am an American lady.” I
then explained that it was impossible for me, under these
circumstances, to interest the English Minister, but I pro-
mised not to leave Washington without mentioning her
case to Secretary Schurtz. The lady curtsied in a dignified
way, and declined my interference. A few minutes after,
she again approached me, and said, “I have been studying
your face, and there is kindness in it; will you sit beside
me till I state how badly I have been used ? To make my
case quite clear to you I must first explain that all the
telegraph wires in the United States centre in my body,
and I am subject to perpetual electric shocks . " I had
become so thoroughly convinced of her sanity that I had
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 245
no reply ready, so I merely said: “Why, you are an
electric phenomenon l’” “Yes,” said the poor lady,
“those two words exactly represent my condition.” I
left the asylum a humbler but a wiser man.
The year 1877 and the following year have little to
record in my Parliamentary life beyond the usual activity
in questions of education. My efforts to reduce the Salt
tax in India were again renewed. Salt is a necessary of
life as much as air, water, and food. Ten pounds of Salt
per head of the population form the lowest limit for public
health. A salt tax is, therefore, in the nature of a poll tax,
for it affects every person in the whole population. In a
country like India, where the wants of the people are few,
it is difficult to find commodities for taxation, so a tax
upon salt is always the resource of Indian financiers. But
such a tax is especially heavy on a population like that of
India, which chiefly lives on starchy food. Less salt is
necessary with an animal diet than with one which has for
its staple rice or potatoes. When the Irish lived on the
latter, they consumed much salt, and so must the rice-
feeding peoples of India. Taxation, of course, lessens
consumption. Before the Revolution in France, the salt
tax was onerous, and partly led to the general upheaval of
the nation. In the districts of France which purchased
immunity from the grande gabelle, the consumption of salt
rose to 18 lb. per head; whilst in the heavily taxed
districts it scarcely reached 9 lb. The same has been the
experience in India. Formerly, when the salt tax was
low, the consumption in India, is said to have been 15 to
I6 lb.; whereas in Bengal (1877) it is only Io lb., and in
Bombay 9.7 lb.
The salt tax is essentially unfair, for it does not
take into account the ability of the consumer to pay.
The beggar must pay just as much as the highest
rajah or the richest trader. You might tax food of any
kind, and the consumer might live on untaxed diet: he
might subsist on herbs, slugs, or caterpillars, and still
preserve life. But salt he must have, as it forms more
than fifty per cent. of the mineral ingredients of the blood.
246 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
My attacks on the salt tax of India did not procure its
abolition, but, I hope, partly caused its large re-
duction ; and, as a consequence, consumption rose, and
recouped the Indian Government for the reduction of
the tax.
During the session a private Bill was introduced into
Parliament empowering Manchester to take water from
Lake Thirlmere, in Cumberland. This produced much
public excitement, the utilitarians promoting the Bill, the
lovers of beautiful scenery in the Lake district vehemently
opposing it. The House took the matter into its own
hands, by appointing what is termed a hybrid Committee,
partly consisting of members to represent public, and
others to represent local, interests. Of this Committee I
was appointed Chairman, and pretty heavy work it was
with the array of numerous counsel learned in the law to
protect the several interests. The Committee reported in
favour of the Bill, but took special care that the beauty of
the district should be enhanced, and not deteriorated.
This was easy, for formerly the lake was larger, but the
water had worn away a natural dam and partially emptied
itself. We gave power to restore the natural dam in a
picturesque way, and thus increased the size of the lake.
I presume that my judgment was good, for public
excitement was calmed, and I have never since heard a
word against our decision.
This year (1878) there was an International Exhibition
in Paris, and a Royal Commission was issued in England
to exhibit English products. The Prince of Wales became
President of the Commission, and at his request I acted as
Chairman of the Finance Committee. Sir Cunliffe Owen,
who has a genius for displays of this kind, was a most
efficient executive officer; but he is not an economical
administrator, and it was only through his friendship for
me that he restrained himself to a reasonable expenditure.
The Exhibition, particularly the English section, was
eminently successful. The Prince of Wales acquired much
reputation for the attention and skill which he bestowed
on the management. At the close of the Exhibition,
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 247
President Grévy promoted me from the rank of Officer to
that of Commander of the Legion of Honour.
In this year (1878) I repeated my visit to the other sid
of the Atlantic. On this occasion the object was of great
personal importance, for during the visit I was married, on
October 3rd, to Miss Edith Russell, of Boston, who has
been to me a constant source of support and sympathy,
both in my private and public life. Probably few
marriages have had so many literary celebrities as
“assistants,” for all the poets and philosophers to whom I
have formerly alluded were present. -
On the occasion of this American visit, I went to
Canada previous to my marriage. I reached Montreal at
night without my luggage, which was to follow by
railway. As it contained my letters of introduction, I felt
the sense of loneliness that one experiences on arriving in
a large town without knowing a single soul, and in this
state of mind I went out to see the cathedral. On
returning to the hotel, I was amazed to see my table
covered with visiting cards, all from medical men. The
landlord explained that there was a congress of all the
medical men in the Dominion ; and, as a biography of
myself had appeared in the Montreal papers that morning,
he supposed that was the cause of the numerous callers.
Accordingly, I went to the sitting of this medical congress,
which was open to the public. I had scarcely been there
ten minutes, knowing no one, when the President
announced that I was in the Hall, and proposed a
Suspension of the rules, that I might be made an honorary
member. He then further proposed that I should be
received “with standing honours,” an American ceremony
quite new to me. This consisted in two members coming
solemnly to the back form, on which I was sitting, and
taking me into custody by flanking me on each side, and
then conducting me through the upstanding assembly to
the platform, where I was at once asked to make a
speech. I have mentioned this incident because it
profoundly impressed me at the time with the fact that
every public man in England, if he has tried to be useful,
248 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
is welcome in every part of the Empire. Though my
letters of introduction arrived the next day, I had never
occasion to present them. The hospitality was boundless,
and I found it was supposed that I could eat two dinners
and two suppers every night. Since then I have always
been a warm friend to what is called the federation of the
Empire. Political federation may be in the dim and
distant future, but unity of interests and of sentiment
already exists, and can be readily promoted. I am not a
prominent politician, and at best am only a humble
reformer of the social condition of the people; yet, in
spite of that, Canada was as much a home to me as my
mother country. r
I may give one or two other illustrations of this com-
munity of country. I went up the river Liévre, a tributary
of the Ottawa, to see some deposits of phosphate of lime.
In 1878 it was, and still may be, a rough district. The
hotel in which I slept was primitive, and the bedroom had
all the appearance of belonging to some rough customer, to
judge by the coats, gun and pistols hanging on the walls.
At three in the morning my door was violently shaken and
I was summoned to give up the room, as its owner had
returned. On opening the door I pointed to the bed from
which I had beat a speedy retreat, and offered it to the
owner, saying that I was content with three chairs in the
centre of the room. My fellow-occupant of the room was
an Englishman, jolly and pleasant, though leading the
rough life of a mining adventurer, and, as neither of us
would risk the bed again, we sat up for the remainder of
the night, and he gave me much useful information.
The next day, with some friends, I went further up the
Liévre to see some mines of mineral phosphate. The
manager of these was a Scotchman, tall, big-boned, with
the strongest Glasgow Doric in his tongue. At first he was
obdurate, and desired us to leave the ground and to drop
the specimens which we had taken before he appeared.
At last I addressed him in good Scotch, and asked him
whether he thought I was a mining adventurer—“Ay!
that's just what ye are.” “No,” I replied, “I am a Scotch
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 249
professor.” “Then if ye are, ye'll be havin' a name.”
“My name,” I said, “is Playfair.” “Man 1" said my
Scotch friend, “are ye Lyon Playfair 2 " I assured him
I was, but expressed surprise that he knew the name, to
which he replied, looking from his six feet two inches with
compassion on my five feet four inches, “Hoot man, yer
name's travelled further than yer wee legs will ever carry
ye.” After that nothing was too good for us. He took us
down the mine, gave his best specimens, and produced a
good leg of mutton “and a drap of raal Scotch whisky"
for our refreshment. I had given a small present to his
little daughter, but as it was in money he would not allow
her to keep it, asking in exchange for my photograph. So
even at the mines in this rough district one was welcomed
as a friend. -
On going up the Liévre I had sent my luggage to an
hotel at Ottawa, with a letter stating that I should arrive
by the steamer on the following Wednesday evening. On
reaching the wharf the private secretary of Mr McKenzie,
then Prime Minister, met me and said that he had asked
his Cabinet to dine with him that night to meet me
and that I had just time to dress for dinner. This was true
hospitality, for I had not even a letter of introduction to
Mr McKenzie, and he could only have heard of my
intended arrival through my letter to the hotel. It was
most pleasant to meet the Canadian politicians in this way.
Mr McKenzie was originally a stonemason, and still
retained the Scotch accent which few Scotchmen care to
lose. I found him to be a most intelligent politician,
worthy to be the leader of a party. He lost that position
in the following year, and breaking health prevented him
from regaining it. On the occasion of this visit, while at
Toronto, I became acquainted also with the Conservative
leader, Sir John Macdonald, whom I have, since then, had
many opportunities of meeting. He, still more than
McKenzie, had the qualities of a leader of men, and has
certainly done much to develop the industries of his
country, in spite of his love for a protective tariff. -
Before leaving Canada I went to Quebec to pay my
250 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
respects to Lord Dufferin, whom I had known for many
years.
The Governor-General was going that night to Montreal
to take his final leave of Canadian public men before
Sailing to England. In spite of that his hospitality was, as
usual, munificent, and he managed to compress into his
final day a picnic to the falls of Montmorency and an
afternoon reception of ladies at the Citadel, as well as a
pleasant Small dinner before he went on board the steamer
which was to take him to Montreal. Perhaps my unex-
pected visit was useful, as he wished much to talk with a
public man upon a pressing invitation from the Govern-
ment that he should assume the government of Victoria for
a year or two. This was a proposal clearly incompatible
with Lord Dufferin's great success as Governor-General of
Canada, and I strongly urged that he should accept no
office lower than that of Viceroy of India if he were to
continue in a similar career. He may recollect that in the
long walk at the top of the Citadel in Quebec my apprecia-
tion of his position at the time was higher than that which,
from his own modesty, he himself felt inclined to form.
Playfair's visit to the United States marked the begin-
ning of a new epoch in his personal life. Not only did it
lead to his marriage to the wife who survives him, but it
opened up for him a host of pleasant friendships on the
other side of the Atlantic, and secured for him a position
in the United States enjoyed by few of his contemporaries
among the public men of England. During his later years,
his visits to America became annual events; and with his
happy faculty of making himself at home wherever he
might be, he very quickly learned to appreciate America,
without losing any of his patriotic devotion to his
own land. Scarcely any Englishman of our time had a
wider range of acquaintanceships among the American
people. With the public men and men of letters of
Washington and Boston he speedily came to be on familiar
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 25 I
terms. To the study of American politics he brought a
close and sympathetic attention, and in due time it was his
happy lot to be able to render great services both to Great
Britain and the United States under circumstances of
exceptional gravity. It is too early in this narrative to
speak of the work he did in connection with the Venezuela
crisis, when the peaceful relations of the two countries
were, for a time, seriously threatened; but it may be said
here that this work could not have been accomplished if he
had not prepared himself for it by his repeated visits to
America, his close study of American institutions and
affairs, and his friendship with many of the most dis-
tinguished persons on the other side of the Atlantic. For
these reasons it seems desirable to supplement his own
brief narrative of his first visits to the States by extracts
from his correspondence at the time.
- ſº S.S. Germanic, NEAR SABLE ISLAND,
Playfair to his Daughter. August 30th, 1877.
MY DEAREST JESSIE,--So far we have had a remark-
ably prosperous and fine voyage, and we hope to reach
New York about ten o'clock to-morrow (Friday) night.
If we do, it will be the quickest voyage on record. On
only one day we had a gale, which split two sails, and Con-
fined me to bed till lunch time. For the rest it has been
like a yachting excursion. The passengers are a merry lot
of people. Last night we had a solemn trial, before a judge
and jury, of a passenger who had proposed marriage to six
young ladies. The counsel did their part very cleverly.
The culprit was found guilty, but recommended to mercy
on account of his age. I thought the whole thing a piece
of excellent nonsense ; but two of the lady witnesses
assured me that he had actually proposed to them, although
he is notoriously a married man. To-night we are to have
charades. The study of character is amusing. I have
formed no pronounced friendships with anyone, for the
sort of chaff which goes on is too prononcé for me; but I
have made friendly acquaintances.
252 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
The Germanic is a superb vessel, and the officers
excellent. They are anxious that I should return with
them on the 13th October. My present intention is to
sail with the twin vessel, the Britannic, on the 3rd
November; but if I feel homesick, I may sail on the
13th October, for I should much like to return with this
ship. Mr Holmes, the M.P. for Paisley, is on board, and
is a very genial, pleasant man. I think that it is likely we
shall join together after eight or ten days, during which he
makes a visit, as I do also. It will be pleasant to have a
travelling companion. I will add to this letter when we
are in sight of New York, for the mail starts in the
morning, and we will just be in time to catch it. . . . We
shall not reach New York till twelve at night, and this
letter will be sent off at once on board the Richmond,
which starts at eight to-morrow morning. Our average
speed since we started has been 18% miles per hour,
so we have had a glorious passage. I cannot give you
any other address than the Russell's at present. I go
there on Tuesday, and probably shall stay four days.
When you get this I expect to be at Niagara, and shall
then go to Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec, and return to
the States after a short tour in Canada.
LAWRENCE HOTEL, MonTREAL
September 13th, 1877.
MY DEAREST JESSIE,--I am not sure whether it is your
or Ethel's turn for a letter, but in any case I fancy you
circulate. My last was from the White Mountains to
Lucy. Now I am in a city, the great mercantile capital
of Canada. I have seen the first of the great American
rivers, the St. Lawrence, and yesterday I shot the rapids
of Lachine. That certainly is a most astounding per-
formance. The steamer at full speed goes into the boiling
waters, three stalwart men and an Indian pilot at the
helm, with faces of intense anxiety, for they know that
with one false turn the ship will be in pieces. You feel the
ship actually fall under you as it descends. Rocks every-
where, ahead, and to right and left, not distant, but so
Same to the same.
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 253
close that contact seems inevitable. Then a turn of the
wheel, and the steamer winds between them, only to face
another rock. In this way for fifteen minutes the steamer
tosses on a violent sea, so that you have to hold on to
rails and spars, with rocks everywhere apparently touching
the sides. I would not have missed the Sensation for
anything. Very few wrecks take place now, as the old
Indian pilot has such nerve and keenness of eye.
I arrived in Montreal without a single letter of intro-
duction and alone, for Colonel Holmes is visiting some
friends for a few days. I felt desolate in this huge hotel,
and thought how sad it was to be in a great city without a
friend. Early on the following morning (Saturday) I went
to the post for letters, and found two, from Edith and
Alice. On my return I found my table covered with cards
and invitations. Though I only arrived at 9 p.m. the
previous night, the papers had got hold of my arrival, and
published accounts of my life. The hospitality has been
overwhelming. Including a heavy lunch at 12 o'clock, I
had to go to three dinners and a supper yesterday. The
President of the Board of Trade gave me a lunch and one
dinner, and the President of the Bank a supper, with thirty
guests—a most elaborate affair, from which I returned at
1.30 ; no end of speeches and compliments. To-day I am
to dine with the medical men of the city, and have a very
hard day of sight-seeing before me. There is something
strange in finding when you cross the Atlantic that your
name is as familiar among strangers as in your own land.
Instead of exultation, I feel deep humiliation that I have
done so little to deserve all the kindness and attention
which is shown me in America. My little private secre-
tary, Edith, writes me that letters have come from you
and George, but she has forwarded them to Niagara, and I
shall not get them for four or five days. I was afraid of
losing them en route. To-morrow I go to Ottawa by the
river of that name. It is a thousand miles long. On
Monday I hope to be in Toronto, and on Wednesday at
Niagara. Montreal is a fine city with its churches and
public buildings, and its splendid frontage on the St.
254 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Lawrence. The domes and roofs are covered with tin,
and glitter strangely in the fierce sun. Its people seem
almost the most hospitable on earth from my limited
experience of them. -
Playfair to Mrs Oakes. WASHINGTON, October 7th, 1877.
MY DEAR MARION,+I have intended frequently to
write to you; but my intentions have relegated them-
selves to the region of postponed good deeds. I do not
know whether Jessie and George have kept you acquainted
with my wanderings, but, in American parlance, I have had
an uncommonly “good time" of it. In the first place, I
have never felt so well in travel as I have in America. In
fact, I have rarely felt as well. Then everybody has con-
spired to spoil me. The kindness and hospitality of the
people is unbounded. The fact of being English is a pass-
port in itself; but the additional fact of having any kind of
reputation as a public man opens all doors. At Washington
the President and all the Ministers have been especially
civil, and I have enjoyed this place much. But nothing
more than last night, when the astronomers invited me to
look at Saturn and Mars through the great 26-inch tele-
scope which lately discovered the two satellites of Mars.
Saturn was absolutely glorious with his belt and moons.
Mars showed his lofty, snow-clad mountains at the Pole,
and that wondrous black spot to the right of his centre.
I thought of you at the mammoth caves of Kentucky,
and wished you were there to enjoy them. You might not
have liked the entrance swarming with bats, but the
interior is marvellous. In the eighteen miles' walk under-
ground there is perpetual change. Lofty caverns, then
more passages through which you must walk nearly double,
rivers and waterfalls, make such delightful variations that
you forget the fatigue of the excursion.
The Alleghany Mountains form, at this season, the most
exquisite scenery one can imagine. They are wooded to
their top and base, and with such wondrous tints of green,
brown, Scarlet, bright yellow, and ochre, that continual
bursts of pleasure escape from you. At the foot of the
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 255
Alleghanies we nearly lost our lives in a hurricane and
flood; and I am sorry this incident mars my impression of
the exquisite scenery through which we passed. It was a
dark night, and had our train gone a few yards further
before noticing distant danger signals on the line, we
should have been precipitated into a chasm IIo feet deep,
for the supports of the bridge had been swept away by the
floods.
I am waiting for a carriage to call to take me to church,
where 7oo lunatics of Washington will be present. The
Government have detailed the Minister of Education,
General Eaton, to look after me; and he is the most
energetic of human beings, and never lets me rest a
moment without sightseeing. I have never time for
dulness, and my nice American family, the Russells, do
not allow me to feel away from home, for I have daily
letters from some of them. Love to Sarah and Tom.
Ever affectionately yours,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
Playfair to his Son. WASHINGTON, D.C., October 7th, 1877.
My DEAR GEORGE,--I wrote Ethel a long letter
describing my arrival, and how you were within one
minute of losing your father. I also told her, I think, how
kindly I was received by the President of the United
States, and by his various Ministers; but now, while it is
fresh in my mind, I want to tell you what a strange
Sunday I have passed. The State Lunatic Asylum sent
me an invitation to dinner to-day, with a request that I
would attend evening service. St. Elizabeth Asylum is
beautifully situated on a hill on the other side of the
Potomac from Washington, which spreads in a grand
panorama before it. There are 700 patients of all classes,
but the bulk consists of old soldiers, most of them—in
their own estimation—of exalted rank. One German
came up to me and told me he was a General
Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and Surgeon to
the Metropolitan Police. I enclose his card which he
256 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
handed me. He told me he wrote poetry in four
languages, and presented me with a French “Ode on
Winter,' which I enclose. Another mighty gentleman was
strutting about in a flowery dressing-gown, and welcomed
me to America because he was perpetual President of the
United States, elected for life at the last Census. He was
in doubt whether he should welcome me, or order my
head to be cut off in punishment of the English war of
1812, but, seeing I wore spectacles, he determined to
pardon me. The religious service was conducted with
great decorum, and the music was good.
In coming back from the Asylum, I passed a negro
camp for worship, and I got out of the carriage and joined
the congregation. It looked like a sort of fair, with
booths and eating and drinking going on ; but in One part
was a tent where the religionists performed, one side being
open to the congregation, which sat on benches, or stood
in the open air. About seven or eight hundred negroes
were present, some well and Smartly dressed, and others
very like our street minstrels. The sermon, probably
No. 50, for the affair had been going on all day, was
ending as I entered—indeed, it was ended by a stalwart
negro woman beginning to jump frantically. Each leap
seemed to be a yard in height, and she continued at this
Saltatory exercise for about five minutes without uttering
a Sound. The congregation became excited, and swayed
sideways like a pendulum, with a monotonous cadence.
The jumping woman at last fell down exhausted, and then
began to groan horribly. The lot of darkies knelt round
her, and began to sing at the top of their voices, “The
Lord is God, let Him raise her : the Lord lift her up,
Hallelujah The Lord Him very strong and mighty, He
will raise her, Amen. Hallelujah 1” This went on for a
long time, and ultimately the fat woman got up; and, as
a respectable and quiet negro who saw me interested ex-
plained, “Because the devil kept her down; but the mighty
Lord overcame the devil, and she stood straight.” This
was a triumphant moment, and made about a dozen negroes
intensely mad. They began to jump and sing and clap
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 257
their hands with frantic violence, shouting out religious
ejaculations. All that I could distinguish were the
following:—“The Lord is mighty to save the nigger,
Hallelujah The Lord Christ saves the nigger, Amen
The Lord don't differ between white and black, Hallelu-
jah He strikes the devil with a bang, Hallelujah 1” and
so on. But the effect was extraordinary. These lunatics
went dancing and clapping their hands all through the
congregation. Some of the old negroes looked on with
solemn faces of profound interest, others joined in the
dance and whirled about Screaming and gesticulating, until
the whole camp became so excited that I thought it better
to be off, as some of the negro women looked as if they
would favour me with their ecstatic embraces. The whole
affair is the dancing epidemic of the Middle Ages still
existing among the negroes. I thought all this had died
out, but it is still to be found among the old slaves.
Many of the negroes now deprecate this excited worship,
and have become quiet and orderly citizens. You See as
well-dressed black men and women in Washington as
among the whites; but, as this city was a great Centre of
the slave trade, there is the residue of negroes demoralised
by slavery, and this camp had been set up by this class.
LAFAYETTE College,
Playfair to his Daughter. October 12th, 1877.
MY DEAREST JESSIE,--I have had such a busy day.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railway gave me an
express train all to myself for about 170 miles in all, to
enable me to see the anthracite coal region, and to bring
me here. At the coal mines they had a champagne
dinner to welcome me, and I was much interested in
seeing their mines. I reached the college about seven
o'clock, had supper, and was introduced to about twenty
professors. About eleven o'clock I heard a drum out-
side, which was soon followed by a band. About 300
students had formed a torchlight procession to give
me a welcome and Serenade. The band had lamps in
their caps, and these, with torches, made a pretty display.
R
258 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
They played several tunes, and sang college glees, and I
was obliged to go out and make a speech. The President
and professors knew nothing about this Serenade, which
they assured me the students had got up extemporaneously
on hearing of my arrival. You will see that if I am not
spoilt, it will not be the fault of the Americans, who heap
all sorts of kindness upon me. I was much touched by
the students' welcome, as it reminded me so much of my
college days in Germany. This is a sort of typical college
where Americans of moderate means can study at about £60
or £70 per annum. They know how to cheer as well as
the English do, and at the end of each cheer there was a
sort of refrain of “La-fay-ette” converted into an additional
cheer. You may form some idea of the students' procession
by the enclosed vignette of the students in front of the
college on another occasion. I also enclose an excellent
likeness of my host, President Cottell. He once breakfasted
with us in Edinburgh. He is as pleasant as he looks
in his portrait. I was so pleased yesterday to hear of
Lucy. I hope by this time the dear girl has recovered.
The reference at the close of the foregoing letter was to
the wife of his son, Major, now Lord, Playfair. Within a
few hours of writing, Playfair received the sad intelligence
of her sudden death.
- ALBANY, NEw York County,
Same to the same. October 19th, 1877.
MY DEAREST JESSIE,--The brief news of dear Lucy's
death upset me much, and I look with great anxiety for
your next telegram.
I really scarcely know what has happened to me since
this day week, when I got the telegram of Lucy's death,
for I have been so stunned by it. I know only that for
the last three days I have been staying with some good
Samaritans, the Sargents, on the Hudson River, which is as
beautiful as the Rhine. They are friends of the Russells',
who wrote to them to take me to their house, and they
were exceedingly kind and sympathetic with me. They
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. *
259
took me to see the celebrated Ladies' College at Pough-
keepsie. Here three hundred young ladies are going
through a regular University education. At the Observa-
tory I found six really beautiful girls working with the
telescope, which they manage excellently. I lunched at
the College, and as some of the young ladies took a fancy
to me, I was invited to their rooms, and saw the whole
economy of the establishment. The Lady Principal assured
me that no visitor had ever been invited by the young
ladies in this way on any previous occasion. The medical
attendant was a Dr W , a nice-looking widow, and it
was funny to hear her always addressed as “Dr.” The
lady teachers were called “Professor”—Professor M--,
etc., being all in petticoats. The teaching and its results
were very good, and I did not see a single prig among the
young ladies. To-morrow I go to the Russells', and shall
probably stay with them till it is time to join my steamer
at New York on the 3rd November.
Immediately on his return to England from this first event-
ful visit to the States, Playfair found himself involved in the
public labours which engrossed his attention. Having been
appointed a member of the Universities Commission, he
had to go to Edinburgh in the company of Huxley and
Froude, to transact business in connection with it. From
Edinburgh he had to travel to Liverpool to address a great
meeting on the subject of Female Education, and from
Liverpool he was called back to London by his duties as
Chairman of the Finance Committee of the English Com-
missioners for the Paris Exhibition. The reader has seen
how fully his position as a useful servant of the public was
recognised, even in remote places in Canada and the United
States. At home also he met from time to time with
similar recognitions that touched him deeply. The follow-
ing letter referring to the Liverpool engagement of which I
have spoken, is a specimen of the rewards he occasionally
received for his life-long services in the cause of education.
26O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
I8, PRINCE'S GARDENs, LONDON,
Mr Rathbone to Playfair. }anuary 18th, 1878.
DEAR DR PLAYFAIR,--I hope a couple of small boxes
of “entre-actos” (excuse my deficiency in Spanish) will
reach you in safety, and hold me in fragrant remembrance
with you, as you certainly will be held in grateful remem-
brance in Liverpool without any such reminders, especially
by the poor girls whose cause you have assured. I am
writing to the Secretary of the Council to confirm what I
hinted at the meeting. I have told him that I will give
this year, next year and the year after, a Scholarship for
girls, each to be held for three years, and to be called “The
Playfair Scholarships; ” and if they are found as successful
as I hope they will be, I shall hope to continue them
should life and prosperity last. Once commenced, I have
no doubt they will be followed up by others, so in this you
will have some material guarantee that your very great
kindness in coming to us at such a busy time will not have
been thrown away.
- Believe me,
Yours faithfully,
W. RATHBONE.
The work connected with the Paris Exhibition took him
to the French capital more than Once during this year,
1878. He was as usual one of the leading spirits in con-
nection with the business of the English section. His
experience, greater than that of any other man in the
management of these huge international shows, was laid
under contribution, not only in Connection with the purely
English portion of the Exhibition, but by outlying parts of
the Empire; and the following letter from the Canadian
Prime Minister, Mr McKenzie, shows that his visit to
Canada, and the hospitalities showered upon him there,
quickly bore fruit in the shape of work for the Canadian
Dominion.
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 26 I
The Hon. A. McKenzie to Playfair. Ottawa, May 12th, 1878.
MY DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I duly received your very
welcome letter written from Paris concerning our work at
the Exhibition. I hope you will not be displeased at my
giving your letter to the Press. I knew it would afford
our people so much pleasure to know what you thought of
their efforts to make a creditable appearance at this gather-
ing of nations, that I was tempted into publishing your
note. The “trophy” was a second thought, consequent
On His Royal Highness's invitation to Canada to occupy
that particular space. I could not refuse the invitation of
So good a friend as he has always proved to Canada since
his visit to us eighteen years ago. We had too little time,
however, to do what we would have liked to do, and I am
all the more gratified to know you like its appearance. I
had a good map made of British America for the Exhibi-
tion, which you have not yet seen, as it would only reach
Paris after you wrote. I would be glad if you would see it
on your next visit. It is the first really good map we have
had made, and I hope it may attract some attention at
least to the size of Canada.
I trust that the danger of immediate war (with Russia)
is over. The political situation causes us much anxiety
here, as the hordes of idle Irish Fenians in the United
States are only waiting the outbreak of war to make a
series of raids over our long frontier. We are compelled
even now to make much silent preparation in moving
munitions of war to convenient places, and also in making
arrangements for calling out our active militia. I need
not say how much I shall be gratified to hear from you
when convenient. Yours truly
y
A. McKENZIE.
Playfair to his Daughter. ATHENAEUM CLUB, June 1st, 1878.
MY DEAREST JESSIE,--I had a charming dinner last
night at Dean Stanley's. The Crown Prince and Crown
Princess, Mr Kinglake, George Eliot, Mr Morley, Mr
262 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Froude, Lord and Lady Ripon, Mr G. H. Lewes, Anthony
Trollope, Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley, Captain Burnaby,
Mr and Mrs Goschen were of the party. You will see I
was charmingly placed next the Crown Princess, and had
long talks with her, as well as with George Eliot, whom I
took down to dinner, and with the Dean, who is always a
delightful companion. The Crown Princess continually
broke into ejaculations, and said she thought I was little
older than I was in 1851—a very comfortable assurance,
for I am just turned sixty. I enjoyed my dinner ex-
ceedingly. I would put a white chalk mark against the
day had there not been so many disasters in it. Three
men died whom I knew well: Russell Gurney, Mr W.
Martin (who died actually within the House of Commons),
and Mr Tait, a son of the Archbishop, whose acquaintance
I made in the Russells' house at Nahant. I start by the
Baron Osy for Antwerp to-morrow, and hope to get to my
destination, Duren, at the base of the Eiffel mountains, on
Tuesday.
It was in the autumn of this year that Playfair, who
had been working with his usual energy at his public and
private business throughout the summer, proceeded to
America on a more important errand. He was married
on October 3rd to Miss Edith Russell, of Boston, to whom
he had become engaged since his former visit. I am per-
mitted to make some extracts from his correspondence
with Miss Russell and her family prior to his marriage.
House of CoMMONs, January 18th, 1878.
As I am waiting for a division likely to come on at
I a.m., I may as well write to you from this place, which
outsiders call “the best club in London.” My regular
hours are ended now for the season, I fear. My Liverpool
visit was a great success. St. George's Hall was crowded.
In the evening the Mayor gave me a State dinner in the
Mansion House, and, besides the Council, had about
seventy of the leading citizens. The bill of fare and toasts
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 263
at the dinner may amuse you, so I send it. But what
pleased me most of all was that after my advocating
scholarships for girls, the Member of Parliament for Liver-
pool arose and founded three scholarships of £20 a year
each, to be called “The Lyon Playfair Scholarships.” This
was a real delight to me, for I think women are very
hardly treated in their chance of intellectual advance-
ment. I stayed three days at Mr Rathbone's very
pleasantly, only we had forty at dinner each day, and I
had to make three speeches on the Eastern Question besides
the educational one.
January 23rd, 1878.
We are in great tension here as to the chances of peace.
The Russian Emperor's courier is expected to arrive to-night
with the conditions to be accorded to the Turks, and upon
this will depend the position which England takes in the
Eastern complication. You are happy in being outside
those influences which are ready to plunge all Europe into
war if Gladstone does not inspire wisdom in the rulers of
our different nationalities. My American mania still lasts,
and is kept up by my friend, the American Minister, Mr
Welsh, coming up frequently to my rooms, while several
Members of Parliament smoke cigarettes, although he is
too virtuous to join. In my hotel we have nearly a dozen
Members of Parliament, several of whom I know exceed-
ingly well—the others only slightly. I spent last Saturday
and Sunday with my friend Grant Duff, in a quaint old
house in Twickenham, where Queen Anne was born, the
great Lord Clarendon lived, and the Comte de Paris dwelt
for twenty years. I do not know whether Queen Anne's
ghost visited me or not in the night, but I certainly felt
something moving under my pillow, and on striking a light
I found a big black cat. This may have been a trans-
mogrification of Her Majesty, so I treated it with great
respect, and politely opened the door for its escape. Sir
James Stephen, the celebrated historical lawyer, was at
York House, and we had many stories, some of which you
would have enjoyed. -
264 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
January 30th, 1878.
Since I last wrote my private life has been uneventful.
Last Sunday I spent with Sir John Lubbock at High
Elms. . . . We had two very agreeable days, for I am very
fond of the Lubbocks, and I think they like me. The
Spottiswoodes were there, and Mr Minto, editor of ‘The
Examiner.' But private affairs are very trifling in import-
ance Compared with our great political crisis. The
country seems to be drifting into war, and I am very
unhappy. I believe all this might have been avoided had
our rulers been more wise. There seems to be a marked
apprehension of the aggressiveness of Russia. I wish
England could pluck out the beam from her own eye
before looking for the mote in her brother's eye. It is true
that Russia in the last hundred and thirty years has won
by Conquest I,200,000 square miles of territory, containing
15,000,000 of inhabitants. But England during the same
period has won by conquest 2,300,000 square miles, con-
taining 250,000,000 of population. I have supplied these
figures to Bright to-night, and I hope he may use them
with effect in his speech. For myself, I confine my
speeches to subjects connected with the social progress of
the people. And though tempted on occasions like this to
go out of my self-restricted circle, I do not do so. . . .
I wish that I had imitated Mrs C.'s example, and stayed at
the Brunswick instead of coming home. For all the good
I am doing to any human being, I might have pleased my-
self to this extent, although I fear my Bostonian friends
would have become disillusioned in regard to me, and have
found out that I was no better than the most ordinary clay
of which all men are said to be fashioned, though in a
chemical sense I do not know where the clay is.
BUCKINGHAM PALACE HOTEL, February 6th, 1878.
I have been very lazy this morning, for I did not get
home till 1.30, and I am punished, for instead of having
only twenty letters as usual to answer in the morning, my
bad luck has brought me forty-six, so you see I cannot
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 265
write to you at much length. Gladstone gave last night
one of the most eloquent speeches I have ever heard, even
from him, but I fear it will have little effect in producing
harmony. All the best speaking in this debate has been on
our side, but the division will be 120 at least of a majority
against us. My own impression is that the Liberals will
not come into power again for eight or ten years. We
have too many divided opinions to form a solid party.
For myself, I have no wish to enter into office, as this is a
Severance from a great amount of useful work which one
can render to the public in the ordinary routine of duty.
Would you like, for instance, to know the callers who have
been with me already this morning and their objects 2 It
is now II.30 a.m.
(a) Two persons called before 9.30, but I was not up,
and they postponed till to-morrow.
(b) The accountant of the French Exhibition, to go over
the accounts for January and the estimates for
February. I signed a cheque for £500.
(c) The secretary of the Royal Albert Hall, to discuss
the general policy, and to arrange for the annual
meeting of shareholders next week, at which I
- take the chair. -
(d) The solicitor of the City Companies, to consider
proposals for advancing Technical Education in
the City.
(e) Sir John Lubbock, to persuade me to go on the
Direction of the Telephone Company (I had
already declined to be Chairman).
This will give you an idea how a Member of Parliament
must not be idle, even if he is not in office. I find my
hours quite few enough to get through one's duty credit-
ably. But I always find time for pleasant memories of my
friends in Boston, and never forget them.
February 14th, 1878.
In about an hour I am going to the hotel to put on my
blue and gold uniform, to dine with the Speaker. He gives
a dinner to-night to all the members of the late Ministry,
266 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
and afterwards has a full-dress reception. Last night I
dined with Mr Goschen, late First Lord of the Admiralty.
We had various officers there who had just come from the
Dardanelles. As our fleet is said to have received orders
to force its way to Constantinople in spite of the Turks
firing on the ships, their information was very interesting.
Of course, long before this reaches you, the telegraph will
tell you what has happened. Here, we are intensely
anxious, and fear that war now can scarcely be avoided.
Alas ! this will render our bad commercial state much
worse, and our people suffer already very much. I do not
know how people with very narrow incomes stand the
depressed state, for all our regular incomes are now nearly
one-third below their usual amounts. There are some
hundreds of coachmen unemployed in London, where for-
merly there was difficulty in getting one, and houses will
not let at all. However, luxury was too great in London,
and a more economical style of living may be an ultimate
advantage. . . . I like to hear of all your club books
You are reading much more than myself at present, for I
cannot find time for it. My two last books might be too
prosy for you—Sir Erskine May's ‘Democracy in Europe,
and Lecky's ‘History of England in the Eighteenth
Century.’
February 17th, 1878.
Our anxieties are still great in regard to Russia, but I still
fervently hope that two great countries will not be so idiotic
as to go to war. But when two over-grown lads stand
opposite each other, shaking their fists in each other's faces,
a blow may come at any time. I fear that there is a large
population in both countries that would welcome war. I
am sorry to say that the House has decided to impose upon
me the hardest and most responsible work of the Session
connected with our domestic matters. Manchester has a
large scheme for bringing the Lake Thirlmere from Cum-
berland to Lancashire for the purposes of manufacture. It
is supposed that it will cost at least twenty-five millions
of dollars. All the lovers of art are wild at the alleged
desecration of the Lake District, which Wordsworth and
TPARLIAMENTARY WORK. 267
Southey have made dear to the country; but Manchester,
having spent already half a million dollars in preliminary
arrangements, insists on her views being carried out. We
had one day's discussion on the subject in the House,
which is excited about it as well as the public. It was
resolved to refer it with powers to a committee of nine.
Four of the committee are obliged to support or oppose
the scheme—that is, four on one side and four on the other.
The House had to find a chairman who could act as judge,
and give the casting vote, after full investigation of the
case, with strict impartiality. I am sorry to say that it has
fixed upon me to be that unhappy individual. You can
fancy me sitting for the next two months, day by day,
from twelve till five, in a committee room crowded to
Suffocation. Probably twenty counsel with gowns and
wigs will be there, examining and re-examining witnesses.
During these sittings, every man is trying to find out from
looks, expressions, or questions asked, to which side the
unhappy chairman leans. As honesty is punished in this
way I think I shall become dishonest and partial, and then
I may be allowed to go my own wonted way. As there
are some warm hearts at 135 that will think, “How will
his health stand this close and anxious work 2 " I promise
while it lasts to run down on Friday night to the Granville
Hotel at Ramsgate, so as to get three nights of sea air,
which always keeps me up to any amount of work.
Besides, the whole thing is interesting and amusing. The
most eminent counsel are employed on each side, and the
unhappy witnesses give one an unceasing fund of amuse-
ment. I have already become as close as an oyster.
Bright, Forster and others, who are intensely interested
on opposite sides, Bright for the Manchester scheme, Forster
violently against it, have been trying to open my shell to
find out my leanings; but as the oyster is a stupid animal,
they have not been able to discover whether he has any
conceptions.
February 21st, 1878.
The House has given me a splendid committee to work
with, so I am in good spirits, notwithstanding the prospect
268 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
of the work and responsibility. The committee consists
of Sir John Lubbock, Lord Eslington, T. Brassey, Hon.
T. Bruce, Mr Rodwell, Q.C., Mr Knowles, Sir Ughtred
Shuttleworth, and Mr Salt, Secretary of the Board of
Trade. It is usual only to put two men of such calibre on
a committee, but every man on mine is a strong one. I
hope that my hand is strong enough to drive such a team.
Last night we had our great dinner (Edinburgh University)
to the Marquis of Hartington. I was in the chair, and
about one hundred and thirty Edinburgh graduates were
present. I send you our bill of fare, to see what a Scotch
dinner is composed of. It went off very well, and every-
body seemed pleased. Froude, the historian, and Huxley
made capital speeches. Lord Hartington quite entered
into the spirit of it when I proposed his health as “our
Rector Magnificus.”
P.S.—I have just got your nice long letter of the 5th
and 7th, enclosing the sketch of the snow-blocked house.
I can scarcely conceive Boston in that sort of guise, for I
associate it with its Smiling gardens, and ponds with the
Swans and boats. Our peace prospects look considerably
better. I have always thought that if there is a peace,
Disraeli will bring on a dissolution by Easter in order to
get another lease of power. If my constituents choose to
elect me without a contest, as they have hitherto done,
or carry on a contest at the expense of my party, I
would stand again ; but I have no vehement desire at all
to remain in Parliament, and I certainly will not spend
£2,000 in a contest if one is forced upon me. It would
be a great relief to find that one could go anywhere when
a little change of air is required, instead of being tied to
London by incessant engagements.
THE GRAN VILLE, ST. LAWRENCE-on-SEA, RAMSGATE,
Sunday, March 3rd, 1878,
This will not go till Thursday; but, as my heavy work
begins on Tuesday, I must be satisfied with sending you a
postScript by the latest post. I came down here on
Friday, and have had two such glorious days. The Sun
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 269
has been so warm that it was impossible to put on the
lightest overcoat. My persistent cold has all but gone,
and my cheeks are what the ‘Montreal Gazette’ called
“extremely florid.” The old head waiter, who has just
brought this paper, claims an old acquaintanceship. He
knew me at an eating-house where I used to lunch twenty
years ago; but he said he did not recognise me for some
time, because I looked so much younger and better than I
did in those days l There is some comfort for one's self
and one's friends.
I have just returned from seeing a wrecked vessel
hauled in by a Ramsgate tug. It was wrecked in that
gale in which I was in the Britannic. The crew
abandoned her in boats—why, I do not know. She is a
magnificent three-masted vessel, a German ; and, beyond
having lost her top masts, seems little the worse of her
wrecking. It was difficult to haul her off from the shore,
but here she is in the harbour all snug. We gave the
wreckers three cheers on their success as they came into
the harbour. Ramsgate is Ramsgate, and in itself not
inviting. The shops seem all for shrimps and bread and
butter with washy tea, a cup of which I tried.
Sunday evening. Instead of going to the church behind
the hotel, I thought I would like to walk to Broadstairs,
about two and a half miles to the left, fancying, as proved
true, that I would get a quiet, rural church there. What a
glorious walk it was The Sea quite smooth, the sky blue
with only a white cloud here and there, the whole sea
studded with ships, and the cliffs along which one walked
going sheer down to the Sea, so that you could have
dropped a plummet into it. Broadstairs is a quaint old
place in a pretty bay. The church first meets your eye
above the houses with a genuine cock as a weather-cock—
none of your mere gilt arrows. Is it true that this is only
the third of bleak March 2 There are children at
Broadstairs in full summer enjoyment. About twenty of
them have made a circular fortress of sand, in which they
sit to resist the advance of the inexorable tide. The sand
of the walls crumbles away, and one by One the gallant
27o MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
boys are swept out. I think that I must be young again,
as the waiter says, for I enjoy So keenly the struggles of
one boy, who heaped sand upon Sand on his walls long
after the others had given up, and when the Sea was all
round him. At last, down came his structure, and his
little brother burst into tears, while the sea-warrior took
up a huge flint and cast it at the Sea in rage. That is a
fellow to put on board a man-of-war like the Revenge of
Sir Richard Grenville, when he fought the fifty-three
Spanish liners.
March 6th, 1878.
I sit daily as Chairman of the Committee on the
Manchester and Thirlmere scheme, and have some hopes
that we may get through it in a month, instead of two
months, as we expected. All the room is hung round
with huge maps of the districts affected, each ten feet
square. The counsel, Sir Edmund Beckett, has just
finished his opening speech, and as yet only two witnesses
have been examined. There are two camps, one
utilitarian, the other aesthetic. One argues that the warm
winds of the Atlantic, striking the high mountains, get
chilled, and deposit I 50 inches of rain yearly in the Lake
District, and that surely these great Lakes are destined for
the use of man, and ought to supply the large towns.
The Atlantic winds are common property, and the
accident of this deposition of rain cannot make it belong
to a single locality. The others say beauty is so rare it
should be preserved, and is the property of all who visit
the Lakes, and that utility has nothing to do with it.
The Lakes were destined to minister to the sense of the
beautiful, and those who would touch them are Goths and
Vandals. The excitement is intense, and the lawyers are
reaping a noble harvest. All of them look to the poor
Chairman only, and, if his attention wander for a moment,
become silent till he listens. The strain, therefore, is
heavy. The room is incessantly crowded with comers and
goers, who come in, stare at the Chairman, and speculate
as to which way he leans. The one side assume that he is
a utilitarian, and cognisant of the wants of modern
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 27I
civilisation. The other side recollect that he was once
Secretary of the Department of Art, and feel sure that his
love of the beautiful will prevent his having low-born,
base, mechanical views. Ruskin was the leader of this
section, but he is seriously ill, and cannot as yet attend
the Committee. The Chairman is a goose, and has no
opinions, but cries, “Order l order 1" occasionally, and
puts a few questions, first on one side and then on the
other, so that each party claim me as a supporter, and nod
their heads approvingly to the audience sitting behind the
counsel. He is not a man to be envied, and wishes
himself at Jericho. As to his leanings, he has never told
me, So I cannot tell you. All I know is that there is a
jolly Parliamentary fight, and that some time or other he
must throw up the glove.
March 8th, 1878.
I must begin my letters, at least, when I have odd
moments, for I am a slave at the galley just now. I
am head and ears over in Lake Thirlmere, and may be
found drowned in it some day. As I suspected, all my
Committee have betrayed their proclivities; but mine—if
I have any—are still a mystery, so the counsel only care
for me, and won't give me a moment of respite. The
room becomes insufferable, and I turn everybody out for
ten minutes at two o'clock, and open every window. In
this way I get it tolerably healthy. . . . I have little
news of the outer world, as I am never beyond the walls
of my Committee Room.
BEACH House HoTEL, WESTGATE-on-SEA,
March 17th, 1878.
I came down here yesterday as an experiment. It is
about twenty minutes' walk from Margate, and about a
quarter of an hour by train from Ramsgate. I arrived
yesterday in a bleak east wind, with occasional snow
showers. My friend Colonel Bolton, who recommended
the hotel to me, advised me not to go without telegraph-
ing to see if there were rooms, as it was such a favourite
hotel. I determined to risk it, and found myself the only
272 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PI, AYFAIR.
occupant of the large hotel. A man, however, came in to
lunch. He had a hobby, which I soon found out, and set
him on a trot. He was honorary secretary of a Society
for introducing falconry into this country again. What a
glorious sport this was And the nation could not be
happy till it again became the national sport. He had
come here to look at the marshland to see if there were
herons enough to justify him in bringing down his hawks.
Sea-gulls there are in abundance, and they give good sport,
for the sea-gull (he informed me) is a dodgy bird, and
when the hawk is just over him he closes his wings, drops
fifteen feet, and the hawk misses him. He had been at
the Curragh hawking magpies. That is fine sport indeed,
for the magpie takes to a furze bush, and the hawk hovers
over it in perplexity. Then the hawker goes up and
cracks his whip, the magpie flies out, and the hawk
pursues him. Then you get rabbits: you kick one up,
and the hawk generally gets him after a short run. “Like
all Londoners, I know you by sight, Dr Playfair. Why
do you waste your time as you do 2 Education, sanitary
matters, and Savings Banks, and such subjects as you take
up, are all very well, but any novice can work at these.
Come and be vice-president of our society for spreading
the noble sport of falconry, and you will leave a name
behind you. Now do. We have six earls and four
baronets on our committee, but I am sure they will
welcome you.” But I thought of the poor magpie and
the crack of the whip, and I was ignoble enough to decline
the proffered honour. e
For my friends at home and for a few dear friends over
the sea, I have good news, namely, that the Manchester
and Thirlmere Committee ends this week. The Man-
chester people have squared most of their opponents, and
a week of speechifying on the part of counsel will exhaust
the subject. I think the Committee will pass the Bill.
Lake Thirlmere is a small lake which once was much
larger, but it wore away Some rock, and the waters
escaped. These degraded parts Manchester intends to fill
up again, and thus restore the lake to its old condition. I
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 273
believe this can be done with an increase of beauty, and
yet the waters which you send us—for it is the water of
the Atlantic coming from America which is condensed on
these islands—may be rendered useful for a great city.
At least such, I think, will be my judgment, unless the
speeches alter my views of the facts. .
On arriving to-day I got your nice long letter of the 5th
March. Tell Mrs Sargent that both your and Alice's
letters are charming, and that I enjoy them exceedingly.
They refresh a poor Londoner with good, wholesome,
American air. I was interested to hear that Mrs —— has
joined the Church. Not that I think God cares at all to
what church we belong, or that we are the better or worse
for professing any creed. But the Church of England has
a service admirably fitted for keeping up our spiritual life,
and therefore I love it beyond all other churches, except,
indeed, when it becomes fantastic, and tells you that God
can only be worshipped by orientation—that you must
look in a particular way when you say the Creed. At this
my old Scotch Presbyterian training rises up in rebellion,
and I find that I have a good deal of the Puritan left in
me. ‘The World' which you got is a paper which has
established itself by its witty personalities in “Under the
Clock.” They have become vulgar lately, but formerly
they were intensely witty. Once I spoke from below the
gangway, sometimes addressing the Government, which I
was opposing, and sometimes turning round to address the
Irish members behind me. ‘The World 'wittily remarked
that “this little man, midway between England and Ire-
land, looked like the Isle of Man lecturing Great Britain
and Ireland.”
HIGH ELMs, March 24th, 1878.
This Sunday I am spending with Sir John and Lady
Lubbock, who are always glad to have me as I am glad to
visit them. They live on a beautiful estate with lovely
woods. This afternoon we had a charming walk with
violets and primroses thick under our feet. It was a
perfect spring day. Now, at five o'clock, everything is
changed. It is blowing a strong gale, and Snow is falling
S
274 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
so fast that I have to write by candle light." This is the
only real snowstorm we have had this year. I have fled
from the drawing-room to escape double acrostics, which
try my intellect and temper vexatiously. When I last
wrote you, I congratulated myself that the famous Com-
mittee would last only a week. The week is past, and
the minimum time of hope is now a fortnight more. I
had hoped we might conclude by the 14th, when our Easter
holidays begin. Of course, if we do not, it will be post-
poned till these are over. New evidence has come on,
and the case for Manchester is worse than it was. Yester-
day I lunched with Lord Granville. He tells me that
Lord Beaconsfield states to Lady B . . ., to whom he
entrusts all his secrets, that if he betted, he would say the
chances of war and peace were quite even. This is idiotic
when there is nothing to fight about. But if war ensue, it
will serve the country right for having such a man as
Prime Minister. On expressing this sentiment to a dis-
tinguished supporter of the Government in the House, he
remarked, “Come, now, that is too bad; we prefer our
scoundrel to your maniac.”
- PARIs, April 29th, 1878.
To-day the Prince of Wales asked me to breakfast with
him at 12 o'clock at the Café de la Paix. The Duke of
Sutherland and some French dignitaries and artists were
also there—twelve in all. It was a very pleasant party.
I made them laugh very much by reciting my experiences
in the Washington Lunatic Asylum. After breakfast,
about 3, the Prince dismissed his guests, and asked me to
join him in the carriage, and go with him in his round of
calls. He had a one-horse brougham, and no servant, so
we got round very quickly without his presence being
known. We have only two days in which to get the
Exhibition in order—that is, to convert chaos into order.
England will be most creditably ready. America, I am
Sorry to say, is far behind. Belgium and Holland stand
next to us in readiness, but France and the other States
* It was in this gale that Her Majesty's ship Eurydice foundered off
the Isle of Wight.
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 275
are nowhere. I put on the screw very hard when I came ;
but the Prince, Mr Owen (the Executive Commissioner),
and even the exhibitors, all now admit that my arbitrary
proceedings have produced the desired results.
PARIs, May 2nd, 1878.
Your letter of the 15th April reached me to-day, and I
was very glad to get it amid the excitement of the Exhibi-
tion. There has been little rest for me. Some nights I
have been up till three in the morning, and up again at
work at seven. Yesterday the Exhibition opened with
about the most ill-arranged ceremonial I ever witnessed.
In the middle of it, a thunderstorm with deluges of rain
came down, and the ladies' dresses were frightfully damaged.
Our party was out of all this, for I had asked the R . . . s
to the Prince of Wales's pavilion, and we were under
cover. When the procession of the Marshal and Royal
people came past, followed by the disorderly suite, they
saw everything excellently out of a window appropriated
to them. I took Miss R . . . for a walk in the building,
and I think her little Republican feeling was astonished
by finding all the sentinels and policemen salute us as we
passed. She could not make it out. It was in reality in
compliment to the decoration of Officer of the Legion of
Honour which, among others, I wore. The Exhibition
will be a fine One when it is finished—indeed, the English
section is very fine already. The pottery especially and
the Indian collection are magnificent.
PARIs, May 5th, 1878.
This is the last letter from Paris, for I intend to leave to-
morrow, thoroughly tired out with the work and gaieties.
On Saturday we had a splendid dinner given by the ex-
hibitors to the Prince of Wales. It was in the Grand Room
of the Louvre Hotel. There was a cross table at the top
for the dignitaries, and three long tables down the hall.
The flowers, plate, and decorated company really made it
a splendid repast. I had pleasant neighbours—the Prefect
of Police, Sir Richard Wallace, the great art collector, and
276 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the Duke of Sutherland. Lord Granville presided, and the
Prince of Wales made an excellent speech. The only
unofficial speakers were the Prince, Lord Granville, and
your obedient servant. I proposed the British exhibitors,
who, in fact, were also our hosts. I do not like public
dinners generally, but this one I did like, for the Prince
did his part so admirably, partly speaking English and
partly French. . . . I took Princess Louise and Lord
Lorne through the Exhibition to-day. She was very
pleasant and agreeable.
May 31st, 1878.
I have just returned from the most charming dinner
at Mr Goschen's, the late First Lord of the Admiralty.
The dinner was given to the Crown Prince and Princess of
Germany. I got into the most animated conversation
with the Princess on German politics. I found her full of
her old Liberal sentiments, but frightened at the growth
of Socialism. I tried to convert her by pointing out that
Socialism began in France but it has nearly died out, and
I begged her to read Harrison's article on the subject in
the last ‘Fortnightly. She was most pleasant and friendly.
We had many friendly reminiscences, and I enjoyed the
dinner much. Though I took George Eliot down to dinner,
she never found out my name till the end. Then she
became gushing, and said she had lost the evening, and
asked me to go and see her often. However, we had
spoken a good deal, and she was quite as clever and agree-
able as I expected to find her from her novels. She was
much interested with some of my American experiences,
especially with the lunatic lady at Washington who took
me in so completely.
HôTEL DE SUKDE, BRUSSELs, May 3rd, 1878.
I started yesterday by the Baron Osy from St. Katharine's
Wharf at 12 o'clock. I am very fond of a sail down the
river with its forests of masts. Your “New York Herald'
telegraphed that the centre of a great cyclone was to pass
PARLIAMENTARY work. 277
over the British Islands to-day, but we had a lovely
passage. All steamers spoil me. I had a beautiful state
cabin reserved for me at the usual fare of 24s. There
seemed to be various nice passengers, but I devoted myself
to an old lady, who seemed to me to need protection. It
turned out afterwards that she was not alone, for her
daughter and maid were both ill in the cabin below. A
very handsome young lady appeared this morning at
6 o'clock, when we reached Antwerp, and thanked me for
my attention to her mother. She was the Hon. Mrs
S , so I suppose belonged to the ducal family. I
sometimes make mistakes in taking compassion on
neglected ladies. Once at a party I saw an old lady on a
sofa, apparently shunned by everybody, so I went and sat
down beside her, and we got quite friendly. I found that
the lady upon whom I had taken compassion was the
Dowager Duchess of B– ! On arriving at Antwerp,
I took a walk before breakfast, saw the cathedral, which
they are repairing excellently, the Calvary, the Church of
St. Paul with its fine wooden carvings, and the house of
Rubens, with some good Vandykes, one of which—the
Virgin and Child—pleased me most. Then I went to the
hotel to breakfast, and taking up a newspaper was shocked
to see of the new attempt to kill the German Emperor.
I think I told you how sad the Crown Princess was about
, the state of things. She said there were two great causes
of anxiety, and they were undermining the situation—(1)
Socialism, and (2) the dependence of all Germans on the
State. This attempt at murder seems to have come from
both causes. The assassin was disappointed because he
did not receive an appointment from the State, and he
attended Social Democratic assemblies.
AschERSLEBEN, June 11th, 1878.
I had a most charming excursion in the Hartz mountains
after early Service on Sunday. We took a carriage and
drove fourteen miles into the chief valley of the mountains.
Nothing could be more smilingly beautiful than the drive.
278 MEMOIRS OF LYON PILAYFAIR.
The whole valley is carpeted with green, and the mountains
on each side are wooded to the tops. Birds Carol right
and left of you, and huge falcons poise over the forests,
watching for their prey. On the top of the hills an
occasional castle belonging to Some Graf or Herzog just
pushes its roofs above the woods. As the valley proceeds
there are resting-places where large inns have grown up,
and in one of these we dined at a table d'hôte of about
forty people. I sat next a queer old man, who proved to
have resided thirty-five years in the valley as modeller to
some ornamental iron works. Well, this old German
artist was delighted that I knew his modelling through
the iron work at my friend's home, so off he went to
the Herr Direktor of the Works, and that great per-
sonage asked us to take coffee with him. His wife and
children were very nice; the latter, two boys and a girl,
took possession of me, and showed me all their treasures.
There was a young lady who talked very pleasantly,
and was apparently the sister-in-law. An hour later
I was surprised to see her behind the counter of the
shop selling their iron wares. Then we drove in the Herr
Direktor's carriage further up the valley through some
charming Scenery until we came to a Cur-Ort, or congre-
gation of hotels and Saloons—a sort of miniature Homburg.
It was amusing to see the patients and the lovers. One
tall, handsome girl was walking deliberately through the
grounds with her arm around her betrothed's waist, while
he satisfied himself with resting his elbow on her shoulders
and Smoking a huge pipe. Another young lady, in green
velvet and very open dress, with an “idiot fringe” on her
brow, was Smoking a cigarette while her adorer lay at her
feet playing with the huge buckles of her shoes. The
whole scene was very German, and amused me exceedingly,
and so I send it you, with much love to my Nahant friends.
WoFILFAHRT, June 15th, 1878.
I am here on the top of a mountain 2,500 feet high,
altogether unapparelled for such work. I knew that I had
to go by rail for four hours, then by carriage for two hours,
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 279
then by climbing for one and a half hours. But it can rain
in the Eifel. In five minutes my shoes were squeezing out
streams of water, and I arrived like a drowned rat at the
top of the mountain. Here, however, I found wonderfully
good quarters in a house built by the Company. However,
the manager, his wife, and a nice daughter of nineteen,
were full of kindness, and they managed somehow, with
miners' clothes, etc., to give my friend Mr Schmidtman
and myself dry clothes till our own were put on the
stove and dried. To-day it is raining worse than ever,
and I have struck work and remained in the house
while Schmidtman has again gone down the mines. . . .
The manager of the mines has only £150 a year. He is
a model man for his position. Now he is comfortably
housed, but when he came here his quarters were awful.
But his wife finds happiness in everything, and confers
it on all around her—even the weather contents her.
She has four children. The eldest, twenty-one, is a
teacher of French and German in some German town.
The Second, the Fräulein here who waits on us, is a
neat, pretty, happy girl of nineteen, who speaks English
schlecht, but French worläufig. The two boys of six-
teen and twelve are at school in Belgium. All this
out of £150 a year is marvellous. Everything around
you is neat if not elegant, and scrupulously clean. As if
they had not enough to do with their money, they have
adopted two children of a brother-in-law who died here
three months ago, I fear from the hardship of getting the
works in order, for he had to be for whole days up to his
waist in water. The two little orphans came in to me this
morning. A little girl of four took hold of my hand and
said, “Mein Water ist gestorben.” “Ja. Das macht mich
traurig.” “Aber du wein'st nicht für meinen Water.”
“Nein, Liebchen, ich wilrde für ihren Water weinen wenn
ich ihn zu leben bringen könnte.” The other, a year older,
told me her mother had gone to see some relations, to see
whether God, in His great goodness, had sent a message
from heaven that they should help those who were left
when God called their father to heaven. They wanted to
28O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
know why God had called him. Had He any mines there
which He wished to be worked 2 And would the father
have drier gangways to work in than he had at Wohlfahrt
I told her that God would give him plenty of work, for
though hell might be a place of idleness, heaven must be
one of work. I thought, however, that he might have less
hard work than as a miner. However, I found that I had
not brought consolation, for when I suggested that possibly
he was not working in mines in heaven, the little child
became sad, and said, “Ach Gott denn ist er nicht mehr
glūcklich.” I gave it up, feeling that religious consolation
was not my forte. . . . I think you may like to hear that
on representing the case of the orphans to some of my co-
directors, I have got up a subscription of $150 for them—
nothing very great, but which the mother will think
much of.
LoNDoN, July 7th, 1878.
To-day I had a delightful afternoon with the Hookers
of Kew. Sir Joseph and Lady Hooker are giving three
large garden parties at the Royal Gardens. They received us
in a tent where refreshments were served. All the scientific
notables were there. When I told him that I had taken
my passage for America, he envied me very much, and
said that he would like to visit the kind Russells at
Nahant. . . . There was a phonograph in one of the
rooms in the house, and there was a good deal of fun
in making it speak. This morning I spent two hours
with Lord Granville. He was rather dismayed at my
going to America, and is not at all sure that there will
not be a dissolution in my absence, but I quieted him by
the assurance that I would try to be back early in October.
July 26th, 1878.
Yesterday I dined at the St. Stephen's Club with Mr
Raikes, the Chairman of Committees. After dinner I went
in to the Dean of Westminster's. There I found a very
small party, but they appeared to be all clergymen, and I
found myself like a fish out of water. Looking about for a
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. - 28 I
layman, I saw a desperately black negro, with superb white
teeth. So I thought I might get something out of him.
He spoke perfect English, and was quite a gentleman. He
told me he had been a fortnight in England, and enjoyed
visiting it very much, for his own country, Bonny, was
very uncivilised. I asked him if he were a missionary, on
which he smiled and said he employed missionaries.
“Then,” said I, “have I the honour of speaking to a native
Bishop 2" Upon which he said with perfect courtesy,
smiling, “Dr Lyon Playfair's name is familiar in Bonny,
but mine does not seem to have reached England.”
“Excuse me, sir,” I said, “but I addressed you as a
stranger, and I have not the advantage of knowing your
name.” Upon that my cultured negro replied, “I am the
King of Bonny, and I have come over here with my Prime
Minister to furnish myself again with a little of your civili-
sation.” So I had a long talk with him. He said that to
cultivate the society of English gentlemen was, after all,
more pleasant than having his subjects crawling up to him
on their stomachs, for he found it both dangerous and
difficult to introduce civilisation too fast in his extensive
kingdom. He asked me about the microphone and the
phonograph, and was obviously a most enlightened poten-
tate. His age seemed about twenty-eight. In another
part of the room I saw another negro, quite as black as my
shoe, and apparently as well polished. So I went to him.
He, I found, was the Bishop of Hayti. He told me he
had gone to Hayti with a hundred American negroes.
The climate did not agree with them. In a year he buried
forty, and, grinning with his white teeth in a way that
looked like a Smile, but I suppose it was not, “five of them
were my own family.” He told me he had eight churches
and four hundred communicants. He was quite a culti-
vated man, having been educated in an American Uni-
versity. So having been successful with two negroes, I
tried a third. He proved to be the Prime Minister, and
talked good English also. He was not so polished as
His Majesty, but gave me interesting information about
Bonny.
282 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
SEAcox HEATH, HAwKHURST, July 29th, 1878.
I am staying here with Mr Goschen, who has the most
lovely place in Sussex, not far (three miles) from Hastings.
The scenery is the perfection of English landscape, with
undulating hills and wide plains richly wooded. The house
is quite palatial in the size of the rooms, and the central
hall is square, with two galleries, one above the other,
running right round. I am in a bedroom on the upper
gallery, and have an English landscape from my window
from which I have always fresh enjoyment. Sir Rowland
Blennerhasset, a Catholic landlord, is the only guest besides
myself. He is very learned in foreign politics, but I fear
from my trivial character I enjoy more romping with the
children than talking politics with the two politicians. I
am Sorry that Goschen has abandoned the idea of going
to America as I could not promise to travel with him.
Besides, the rumours of a dissolution revive again, and he
thinks it hazardous to leave even till early in October.
On Saturday I dined with about two hundred doctors at
Greenwich. Many of them were Conservatives, and my
friends among them doubted whether I should be well
received. They were certainly a frigid assembly, and
drank “The Queen" and other toasts in silence. I became
frozen, and when my health was drunk I had congealed.
But, to my amazement, the whole audience started up and
gave me three times three cheers. The chairman, an
ardent Conservative, then whispered, “All right; your
seat won't be contested.” However, even the cheers did
not thaw me, and I made a very bad speech, but I agree
with the president that my reception was very encouraging
for the next election.
After his marriage to Miss Russell, Playfair and his bride
returned to England from New York by the Germanic.
To Miss Alice Russell. S.S. Germanic, November Ioth, 1878.
We expect to get into Queenstown to-night about
Io p.m., but as the Sea is heavy and the ship rolling much,
PARLIAMENTARY WORK. 283
Edith cannot write home. I fancy that her letter from
Liverpool will reach you as soon as this from Queenstown.
Our voyage has been prosperous though slow. Nearly all
the winds have been favourable, but there must have been
a serious N.E. storm in advance of us, for the Sea was
heavy against us for two days, and we had a good deal of
pitching. Now it is with us, and gives the agreeable
diversity of heavy rolling. In all seas the Germanic is
a splendid vessel, rising and falling without jars or shocks,
very much like a yacht.
I have purposely made free extracts from the corre-
spondence between Playfair and the family of which he
was about to become a member, because these letters cast
a light upon his character and individuality which is
hardly supplied by the records of his working life. To
understand the secret of his success as an organiser and
administrator, it is necessary to understand Something of
the lighter side of his character, the unfailing buoyancy of
spirits which made him a welcome visitor in every home,
the frank charm of manner which enabled him to win his
way even into hearts that did not naturally incline towards
him. Those who enjoyed his friendship knew what this
charm of manner was ; but it is only in such letters as those
from which I have printed extracts that any traces of this
characteristic are to be found by those who knew him not.
In his business relations he was always intensely business-
like. But in his social relationship, and even in the casual
meetings with the chance acquaintances of the dinner-
table, the severity of public life absolutely vanished, and
he won his way into the goodwill of those with whom he
came in contact, not merely by his admirable skill as a
raconteur, but by that unfailing gift of sympathy which
made everybody feel that he was a friend in much more
than the conventional meaning of the word.
Playfair's marriage with Miss Russell in 1878 may be
said to mark the commencement of the third term in his
284 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR.
life. From this time forth he went out more into general
Society, he entertained more largely in his own house, and,
whilst as unremitting as ever in his devotion to public
work, he became gradually more and more of a figure
in the social as well as in the political and scientific life
of London. He was still a man with many cares. He
always had many irons in the fire. With all his devotion
to his duties as a public man, he had also to fight his own
personal battle with the world. Never wealthy, he was
never able to dispense with the necessity of augmenting
his income by his own exertions. His task of earning his
own living he discharged with characteristic thoroughness.
But it was always regarded by him as a secondary task.
The best of his talents, the most conspicuous of his
services, were freely rendered to his country. A passion
for public work seemed to have possession of his soul,
and, though he could enter into all the affairs of private
business with which he had to deal with the thorough-
ness that characterised him in every department of
labour, it was into those enterprises in which he was
working not for his own but for the general good that
he threw himself with the greatest enthusiasm. No one
who knew him could doubt that these were the things
which appealed most strongly to his heart. His marriage
to Miss Russell provided him with a companion who
shared all his enthusiasms, and who not only aided but
encouraged him in his public ambitions. Through her he
was brought into contact with the strenuous public and
individual life of America; and, as has been said already,
from the time of this marriage he combined with his
English modes of thought and action much of the quickness
and receptiveness which are the distinguishing marks of the
best class of public men on the other side of the Atlantic.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER.
Playfair's Liberalism becoming More Pronounced—His Seat in Danger—
Letters from Edinburgh. AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Appointed Chairman and
Deputy-Speaker: Irish Obstruction : Suspending the Obstructionists :
Resignation: Letters from Mr Gladstone, the Speaker, and Sir Stafford
Northcote: A Reaction: Made a Knight Commander of the Bath :
In Defence of Vivisection and Vaccination : Grand Committees. Why
Playfair refused the Office of Chief Whip—His Suspension of Irish
Obstructionists—A Correspondence with Mr Chaplin—The Absorbing
Character of His Duties as Chairman—His Loyalty as an Independent
Member–His Personal Popularity with the Irish Members—Securing
a Knighthood for Professor Owen.
THE political situation from 1876 onwards till the General
Election was anxious and disturbed. The great struggle
between the foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield and that
of Mr Gladstone was at its height. The country was
passing, in Eastern Europe and in Asia, through successive
crises which on more than one occasion brought it to the
very brink of war. At home men's minds were disturbed
by the fierceness with which the conflict between the two
great leaders of the day was maintained. Playfair,
although he had stood carefully apart from the ordinary
struggles of parties, in obedience to his conception of his
duties as member for the Universities of Edinburgh and
St. Andrews, did not conceal his warm sympathy with Mr
Gladstone's views on the Turkish Question. It may be
gathered, indeed, from the letters published on previous
pages, that his Liberalism was becoming more pronounced
with the passage of time. It was always a Sane and Sober
Liberalism, moving upon the old historic lines, and
286 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
conspicuously free from any sympathy either with the
Socialism which was making itself felt in certain advanced
democratic circles, or with the “fads” of organised cliques,
who were at this time very busy, more especially in the
ranks of the Liberal party. But although he was then,
as he continued to be to the end of his days, the object
of the bitter hostility of Socialists, anti-vaccinators, anti-
vivisectionists, and many active and powerful sections of
the Liberal party, he made it clear to the world that on
the great questions of the time he was in full sympathy
with the doctrines of Liberalism as he had known them
from his early manhood upwards, and as they were now
represented by Mr Gladstone.
During 1878 and 1879 rumours of an impending dissolu-
tion were constant, and, along with these general rumours,
others more particularly affecting himself reached Play-
fair's ears. He learned that his Liberal opinions were
becoming increasingly distasteful to many of his con-
stituents, and that his seat for the University was seriously
threatened. With his usual alacrity he set himself to the
task of measuring and meeting the opposition which he
had thus to face. He went to Edinburgh in April, 1879–
as it happened, just a year before the dissolution took
place—in order to grapple with the situation on the spot.
Playfair to his Wife. EDINBURGH, April IIth, 1879.
I have little to tell you. I found, as I suspected, a good
deal of irritation among the medical men here. They
thought that I was not earnest enough about the Medical
Bill. Why, I know not, unless the Tory M.D.'s have
been making capital out of this feeling; for the Bill has
not yet been introduced into the Lower House, and in the
Lords it was not my business to interfere. However, I am
smoothing their ruffled feathers fast, and the M.D.'s have
asked me to dine with them on Monday at six, so I hope
to complete the pacification. I have interviews all day
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 287
long, so have no general news to tell you, as you would
not care for précis of conversations on conjoint boards and
on vivisection. The general impression is that my seat
will not be attacked. I am just going out to return Calls ;
but it is now 3.30, and I have had no air or “Good
Friday,” for I have been interviewed all day by M.D.’s
and advocates.
Same to the same. - ST. ANDREws, April 12th, 1879,
I arrived here all right about the middle of the day.
Then I went to lunch with Bob Mitchell, and spent the
afternoon calling on professors. They are all angry
because, as a University Commissioner, I did not raise all
their salaries to £600 a year. I said that truly I was a
Commissioner, but I was only one of many. Besides,
twenty professors at £600 per annum from the State meant
600 × 20= £12,000, and that divided by their 150 students
meant that they asked the State to pay £80 for each
student out of Imperial funds ! However, they are very
cross, and think I could remove mountains, and that I did
not fight for them enough. However, I have laughed and
quizzed, and hope they are a little ashamed. . . .
I intend to have a little fun to-night. There is at the
“Cross Keys” a Gaudeamus or farewell dinner of the
“Classical Society"—that is a debating Society of Students.
I used to belong to this society, and when I left college I
was made an “Honorary Member" of it. So I intend
after dinner to offer to drink a tumbler of toddy with my
old Society, and beg to be admitted. They do not know
that I am in the hotel, and will be astonished. So far as I
can find out there is no real purpose of opposition here,
though the professors are rather grumpy at me because,
as a University Commissioner, I did not make an ass
of myself. -
Same to the same. ST. ANDREws, April 13th, 1879.
I have just come from church, and rushed here for shelter
from the most pelting snowstorm and bitter easterly wind.
The sea is raging finely in front of the windows, and makes
288 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
me feel gruey at the thought of having to cross the Firth
of Forth to-morrow morning. Last night I spent with
about fifty or sixty students at the Gaudeamus of the
Classical Society. They were greatly pleased at my offer
to go down. After my speech, they rose and sang
“For he's a jolly good fellow,
For he's a jolly good fellow,
Which nobody can deny.
Hip, hip, hurrah !”
I sat with them till ten, then proposed the health of the
chairman and departed. All stood up as I left, and gave
me three times three. There was capital fun—good songs
and an excellent sermon by one of the students to the text
of “Old Mother Hubbard.” Remind me to tell you of
this sermon, which kept me in a roar of laughter all
through its delivery.
I have seen but few people yet. The professors either
keep out of the way or they do not know where to call,
and the weather is too inclement to find them outside. I
dine with the Graces to-night, and shall probably have
Principal Shairp or some other dignitary there.
Same to the same. April 15th, 1879.
I should reach you about a quarter to eight on the same
day that you receive this. Yesterday I dined with about
seventy medicals from all parts of Scotland. When my
health was proposed there was strong thumping from a few
devoted adherents, but an ominous silence in the body of
the hall. I made a long speech, and at the end everybody
was enthusiastic, and I found that I had won. It is quite
clear that the enemy has been persuading the M.D.'s that
I am an opponent of their views about the Medical Bill,
while in reality I am a strong supporter of theirs. The
meeting last night did me much good. The Principal still
seems grumpy, for he has not been to see me. I went
yesterday to call on his wife, but she was not at home.
However, I have done my work pretty well, and am in a
much better position than when I came here. I have
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 289
found out that the two men, Prof. Lister and Dr Matthews
Duncan, whom the Conservatives asked to oppose me at
their expense, have positively declined.
Having done what he could to make himself secure
in his seat, Playfair waited patiently until the actual
dissolution came, and he found himself in the field con-
fronted by a formidable opponent who had the support
of the Conservatives and of those medical men who
were displeased with their old member's attitude towards
certain measures affecting their profession. He went to
Edinburgh in March, 1880, prepared to fight to the end for
his seat in the House of Commons. He was soon joined
by his wife, who remained with him during the contest.
Before she arrived in Edinburgh, he had written a letter to
her, which affords a passing glimpse of the historic episode
of the Midlothian campaign. The letter is written from
Dalmeny, where Mr Gladstone was staying with Lord
Rosebery.
Same to the same. DALMENY, March 21st, 188o.
I wrote you a short letter from Silverknowe to-day, and
now must tell you about my Sunday stay here. We had
twenty-two to dinner yesterday—Gladstones, Moncrieffs,
the Youngs, and various barristers and their wives, also Mr
Donaldson, who wrote those letters in my favour addressed
to teachers. Lord and Lady Rosebery were very pleasant.
I took young Mrs Moncrieff in to dinner, and she sat next
Mr Gladstone, so we had a pleasant conversation together.
Gladstone looked jaded, but his work has been immense.
To-day he looks much better. The Gladstones went in to
church, and I took a five-mile walk with Lord Rosebery,
and we made satisfactorily to ourselves the new Cabinet, if
the Liberals get into power—no doubt widely different from
that which will really be formed. Then he drove into
town, and I went to the – 's, expecting lunch l But
T
290 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
they live in such a primitive fashion in the winter, with
one woman, that they could only give me a biscuit and a
glass of sherry, so that I am now looking with interest to
the dinner, which will be in half an hour. I had a long
talk with Gladstone this afternoon, and he is full of hope
for the Liberal party.
Don't you think you could join me for a week 2 I dare
not leave the field of battle. The enemy is looking round
in all directions, and it would be utterly unsafe to rely on
my strength until it is absolutely secure. The voting papers
will be posted at the end of this week, and I must myself
see to all this being done well. The nomination is a mere
formality, but the issue of the voting papers and the return
of them is a stern reality. Until 2,600 voting papers are
actually in the safe, I am not absolutely safe. Of this
number 2,300 are promised, but I have to get the promises
in and 300 more votes somehow.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—X.
I880 to I882.
I NOW come to a stormy period of my Parliamentary
life. In the spring of 1880 there was a General Election.
I was again returned as member for the Universities of
Edinburgh and St. Andrews, after a hard contest with Mr
Bickersteth, a medical man from Liverpool. The result of
the election was that Mr Gladstone had a large Liberal
majority. In forming his Government, Mr Gladstone was
anxious that I should become Patronage Secretary of the
Treasury, and Lord Granville and Lord Wolverton were
deputed to induce me to accept this office. Its duties are
better known by the conventional phrase of “first Whip,”
though that really does not explain them. He is an
intermediary between the supporters of the Government
and the Prime Minister, and must be in constant touch
with both. It has always been a characteristic of Mr
Gladstone that if he is convinced of the honesty and
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 29I
straightforwardness of his first Whip, he is perfectly unre-
served, and places the most entire confidence in him.
The party as a whole are, therefore, much interested as
to the person who is to obtain this post. I was much
surprised that it was offered to me, because my relations
with Mr Gladstone, though always polite and courteous,
had never been intimate. It was impossible that he
should forget how often I had been in opposition to his
measures. Lord Granville and Lord Wolverton, however,
assured me that Mr Gladstone was anxious that I should
accept the office. But as I did not think myself adapted
to fulfil its duties, I positively declined, and Lord Richard
Grosvenor was appointed. Soon afterwards I was offered the
office of “Chairman and Deputy-Speaker of the House of
Commons,” and, in an unhappy hour for my own peace of
mind, I accepted it. The Chairman presides technically
over “Ways and Means,” but also over the whole House
after a Bill has passed the Second Reading and goes
into the Committee stage. He is not subordinate to the
Speaker, who has no control over him. If he rule
wrongly, there may be an appeal to the House, but
not to the Speaker. In his capacity as Deputy-Speaker,
the Chairman takes the Speaker's chair during the latter's
absence, and exercises all his power. .
When I assumed office Ireland was in a disturbed
state, and Irish Members had elaborated their tactics of
obstruction to all Government measures. This was
effected by endless discussion on trivial clauses of Bills and
by incessant motions for adjournment. These obstructive
tactics were used whether the Speaker or the Chairman
presided. The Speaker holds an office of great dignity,
sits on a throne dressed in a robe and court dress, wearing
a large wig, and having before him the mace of the House,
a mace which has remained there ever since Cromwell
said, “Take away that bauble !” Though the Chairman
exercises the authority of the Speaker, everything shows
his minor importance. The Chairman sits beside the
clerks, dressed in plain clothes ; while the mace,
denoting the authority of the House, is placed under the
292 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
table whenever he presides. The two presiding officers
of the House are, therefore, placed under very different
conditions of dignity, and, although equal in power, are by
their surroundings differently situated for its efficient
exercise. At this time, Mr Brand, now Lord Hampden,
was Speaker, and filled the office in the most dignified
and efficient manner.
As Irish obstruction increased during the progress of the
Parliament, both the Speaker and the Chairman received
the constant censure of the Press for not being more
arbitrary in the exercise of their power. The work, how-
ever, chiefly fell upon me, because obstruction generally
was carried on in Committee of the whole House. The
Chairman was more easily attacked than the Speaker, and
he became the subject of incessant attack by the Press,
which no doubt represented the indignation of the country
at the friction of the Parliamentary machine. My censors
were varied in their attacks. Sometimes I was supposed to
be too lenient, and at one time it was even alleged that I
had a secret understanding with the Irish members." At
other times, I was censured for being too arbitrary, for it
seemed clear to the newspapers that I was trying to drive
the members from Ireland into open rebellion against the
rules of the House. It never seemed to occur to our critics
that the rules of the House were at fault, because of their
insufficiency to meet obstruction, and that the Speaker and
the Chairman had no power to make rules, but could only
administer them according to precedent.
The work of a Chairman may be understood when I state
that at that time I had to be in the House every morning
at eleven o'clock to preside over the Private Bill Legis-
lation of Parliament, and that I rarely left it till between
two and three o'clock next morning. When the “Pro-
tection of Person and Property (Ireland) Bill” was under
1 The origin of this belief was that during a division I was seen to be
in conversation with Mr Parnell and other Irish members behind the
Speaker's chair. The fact was that Mr Parnell had asked me whether I
considered the repeated motions for adjournment were an infraction of the
rules of the House, and I replied that I did so, and would suspend those
members who continued them. He then abandoned them.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 293
discussion in February, 1881, obstruction rose to a height
which required the full powers of the Speaker to suppress
it. Hitherto the rule regarding obstruction had been
applied to individuals only, but not to a combination of
members acting in concert. Both Mr Brand and I agreed
that we might give to it this extension, and the former
announced from the Chair on the 1st February that he might
be compelled to act against the whole body of obstruc-
tionists. On that occasion there was a whole night sitting,
and the Speaker, being exhausted with the previous day's
labour, left me to preside as Deputy-Speaker during the
night. I promised him that I would not act under this
new interpretation of the rule till he returned to the Chair
next morning. The Conservatives tried to force my hand
all through the night, and because I would not suspend the
offending members en bloc, the Opposition rose in a body
and left the House to show their disapprobation of my
conduct. Next morning the Speaker returned as arranged,
and suspended the whole body of Irish obstructors. The
first application of this new interpretation of the rule ought
clearly to have been made by the Speaker, as the presiding
officer of the highest dignity. Even then it was thought
to be an unconstitutional proceeding, but it was absolutely
necessary to prevent Parliament being made the laughing-
stock of the country. The action of Mr Speaker was
challenged in the House, but was confirmed. (Hansard,
cclviii., 2 I.) -
In the following year, July, 1882, it became my duty to
carry out this extended application of the rule against
obstruction, when the “Prevention of Crimes (Ireland)
Bill” was under discussion in Committee.
The House had become most impatient. The Home
Secretary (Sir W. Harcourt) and the Leader of the Opposi-
tion (Sir Stafford Northcote) had been pressing me to close
the discussion by the application of the rule for some time
before I did so. The House was sitting continuously night
and day, apparently with the hope of tiring out the
Chairman by physical exhaustion, for Irish members went
away in what were called “sleeping gangs,” to return
2.94 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
refreshed for the continuation of obstruction. I gave three
distinct warnings that I must suspend the whole of the
Irish obstructive members if these tactics were continued.
At nine on the morning of the second day, Mr Biddulph
rose and asked “whether the time had not come to bring
this farce to an end?” To this I replied as Chairman: “I
have been painfully impressed for some time past with the
manner in which this Committee has been conducted for
twenty-three days, and on this particular clause for nineteen
hours. The House has committed to it the examination
and amendment of the Bill, but a limited number of mem-
bers have systematically frustrated the progress of business
by a mass of amendments, some of a practical and fair
character, but by far the greater number only intended to
raise under new forms questions which had already been
decided by large majorities of the Committee. These
amendments were made the occasion for endless repe-
tition of the same arguments, and for irrelevant talk,
deliberately planned to waste time. I think that the
period has now arrived when, if the Committee is to
carry on rationally and fairly the duty entrusted to it,
the Committee must protect itself by the rule of the
House intended to meet obstruction. I must express
the sense of the Chair that deliberate and planned obstruc-
tion exists in the Committee, and I may soon have to
indicate the names of members who, in my opinion, are
engaged in systematic obstruction.”
Notwithstanding this distinct warning, the game went on
as before, and at last I rose and named sixteen of the most
prominent obstructionists, who were accordingly suspended,
and by five o'clock on the same day the Bill finally passed
through Committee. Though I had followed carefully to
the minutest particulars the precedent established by the
Speaker in the previous year, and had certainly displayed
continued patience and command of temper, I was assailed
by the Press in unmeasured terms for my arbitrary conduct.
The Cabinet said they could no longer support this inter-
pretation of the rule; although it was Mr Gladstone him-
Self who moved the suspension of twenty-eight members
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 295
in one resolution the preceding year. Curiously enough,
the members who were most kind to me on this occasion
were the very men whom I had suspended. Both by
private letter and by speech in the House, the Irish mem-
bers expressed their strong confidence in my fairness,
patience, and impartiality. My action certainly Scotched
obstruction, and it has never again since then manifested
itself in this acute form. But my position as Chairman had
become intolerable, and after receiving warning from a
Serious illness that I could not safely continue such heavy
work, I privately intimated to the Prime Minister that I
would resign at the end of the Session. As much criticism
of the performance of the duties which devolved upon me
in these troublous times of Parliamentary history has been
made, it may be useful to give the opinions of the three
most competent witnesses, the Prime Minister, the Speaker,
and the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Stafford Northcote.
The first letter is from Mr Gladstone.
Mr Gladstone to Playfair. Downing street, %uly 4th, 1882.
MY DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I had hoped to speak to
you in the House, but as you are wisely kept at home
I cannot refrain from writing you a line of sympathy
and just acknowledgment. I am not surprised that you
should to-day find a little rest to be necessary. I am
only astonished that you have been able to bear the
strain so long.
With an office of less authority than the Speakership,
you have had to discharge duties (all things taken together)
perhaps more difficult, certainly more harassing. It can be
no wonder if disputes at length arise upon some point in
the proceedings. The marvel to me has been the calm
temper, the indefatigable application, the close and acute
discernment which you have applied to your work.
* It seems to me that, apart from considering this man or
that, the burdens of your office are becoming such as to
pass beyond human endurance. Only the most drastic
and searching reforms in the rules for transacting business
296 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
can, in my opinion, save either it or the Chair, or the House
itself. On no account trouble yourself to answer this, but,
believe me, with sincere regard,
Faithfully yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
The above letter was written soon after the suspension
of the Irish members, and still warmer letters were sent
when in August I intimated my intention to retire ; but
these are marked “Private and Confidential.” As there
was an autumn Session the public were not let into the
secret till February in the following year (1883), and then,
in the usual courtesy, I told the Leader of the Opposition.
The following is his reply :—
20, St. JAMEs's PLACE,
Sir Stafford AWorthcote to Playfair. February 23rd, 1883.
DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,-Many thanks for writing to
me. I shall take care to be in my place when you make
your announcement. I am sure there never has been a
Chairman upon whom harder or more unthankful tasks
have been imposed than those which have fallen to your
lot; and I hope that the House will duly express its
appreciation of your labours.
Believe me,
Yours very faithfully,
STAFFORD H. NORTHCOTE.
The Speaker and I were cordial friends all through
this difficult period. He invariably supported me in the
House, and in communications to the Cabinet and to the
Opposition. The following letter is the last of many
which I received from him :—
GLYNDE, LEWES,
Mr Speaker Brand to Playfair. January 5th, 1883.
DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I hear from Mr Gladstone that
he has it in view to nominate Sir A. Otway to the Chair
which you have so well filled in difficult times.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 297
I cannot let the occasion pass without once more saying
how sorry I am, both on personal and public grounds, to
lose so efficient a helpmate. I still hope to see you serving
the State in some higher and more congenial position.
Yours truly,
H. BRAND.
On my resignation the House passed with its usual
kindness a complimentary motion, but I have little doubt
that it, as well as I, was relieved by my resignation at that
time. A curious reaction followed my retirement. For a
considerable time I became one of the most popular
members in the House, for whenever I rose in the course
of a debate I was warmly cheered by all parts of the
House, including the Irish section. This might be ex-
plained in two ways, either that the House felt it had done
me scant justice when I sat in the Chair, or that it felt
relieved by the absence of my arbitrary rule. In either
case I simply record a fact which was a good deal noticed
at the time.
This year the Queen, on the recommendation of Mr
Gladstone, appointed me to be a Knight Commander
of the Bath. As a mark of Royal favour, in order that I
might wear the decoration and assume the rank of Knight
on her birthday, the Queen conferred the honour by
Royal Warrant and without the usual accolade.
As soon as I was released from the duties of the Chair I
again took an active part in social questions. In this year,
I883, there were two determined attacks on vivisection and
vaccination. I have already referred to the former subject
in mentioning the Bill introduced by me in 1876 to regulate
vivisection, which it was now sought to repeal. The attack
on Compulsory Vaccination was still more determined, and,
on the 19th June, 1883, the Government were so alarmed
by the opposition that the Cabinet decided to leave it an
open question. The epidemic of 1871 had been pandemic,
probably as a consequence of the Franco-German war,
and this weakened confidence in the protective power of
vaccination. It is quite true that the Vaccination Acts are
298 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
not sufficient to resist a great epidemic wave, but they act
as a breakwater and lessen its force. Great epidemics are
like huge tidal waves, which may roll over any Ordinary
embankment.
It must be borne in mind that these embankments are
never wholly continuous, for the unvaccinated are like
holes in them, through which the flood of disease finds
its way. Vaccination is, under ordinary conditions, a suffi-
cient protection, but in the presence of a great epidemic
it is overtopped, and small-pox spreads over a country,
attacking the unvaccinated, and those whose protection has
been worn out by age. As it increases in volume the vacci-
nated, too, are carried away by it, but vaccination is their
life-belt, and they rarely perish. It was so in Scotland in
the great epidemic of 1871. When such an epidemic strikes
a population they become terrified, and they rush in crowds
to be vaccinated. At that time the compulsory law had
only existed for eight years in Scotland, and only the infant
population had come under its influence. But still the
people of Scotland, not being cursed with anti-vaccination
Societies, rapidly extended vaccination among themselves,
and stamped out the epidemic. Since then small-pox has
Scarcely existed in that country. For the last few years
the total number of deaths have not exceeded ten per
aIlllllſ]].
In examining the state of vaccination we must compare
the mortality from small-pox with that of the last century,
This, Dr Farr tells us, was 3,000 per million of the popula-
tion annually for the whole country. For the first forty
years of this century vaccination was promoted among the
people by charitable agencies, and the mortality had fallen
to 600 per million by 1840, or was then only one-fifth the
rate of last century. Still, 600 per million is a high rate
of mortality, and Parliament began in 1841 to give funds
for gratuitous vaccination, so as to spread it more rapidly
among the people. This continued till 1853, and the
mortality was now 305 per million, so that gratuitous
vaccination by the State reduced the mortality to one half.
Then, in 1853, Parliament passed an obligatory law, which
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 299
remained without administrative means of enforcing it till
1871; but still, during this period of obligatory vaccination,
the mortality fell to 223 deaths per million. In that year
a law was passed making it compulsory on Boards of
Guardians to appoint vaccination officers, and since that
time the average mortality has been 156 per million.
Every successive step, then, in promoting vaccination has
been followed by a great reduction in the rate of mor-
tality. Voluntary efforts reduced the mortality of the last
century from 3,000 to 600 per million, gratuitous vaccina-
tion by the State reduced it to 305, obligatory law
inefficiently administered reduced it to 223, and the same
law under vaccination officers further reduces it to I56.
Against such facts as these the opponents of vaccination
asserted that the compulsory laws were a violation of
personal liberty. To this I replied in my speech as
follows:– -
“We have many laws interfering with personal liberty. We
restrict hours of labour to working men, although many of them
think our restrictions unjust. We punish the rash traveller who
jumps into a train in motion, although it would injure no one but
himself. If small-pox affected an adult individual only, his right to
take it could scarcely, however, be disputed. We do not punish a
man for burning down his own isolated mansion if no one is injured
but himself. But we do punish him if he risk a neighbour's pro-
perty by his act. Every case of small-pox is a new centre of con-
tagion. A man may exercise his own personal taste for any disease
which he chooses, provided he does not injure his neighbours by his
idiosyncrasy. But when he produces omissional infanticide of his
own and his neighbours' children by neglect of duty, the State may
intervene to protect the young population from a fatal and mutila-
tive disease. This disease is just as fatal and hideous as it was in
the last century, but it has been controlled by wise and beneficent
laws. Will you allow the country to slip back to the period of
voluntary vaccination, and disseminate many thousands of new
centres of contagion among the community? That is the question
which you are asked by the vote to-night to determine.”
The result of this speech on the House of Commons
has often been quoted as a proof how much effect may
be produced on the votes upon a question in which
political differences are not involved. The Government,
3OO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
which expected the anti-vaccinators to be victorious, were
surprised at the success of the amendment. It was as
follows:—“That in the opinion of this House the practice
of vaccination has greatly lessened the mortality from
Small-pox, and that laws relating to it, with such modi-
fications as experience may suggest, are necessary for the
prevention and mitigation of this fatal and mutilative
disease.” In fact, nearly the whole House walked into
the division lobby with me, for the votes were :—
For Mr Taylor's motion against vaccination e . I6
For Sir Lyon Playfair's amendment . Ç e . 286
Majority § gº in . 270
Though the victory was crushing, the anti-vaccination
societies never accepted their defeat, and tried to make my
life miserable by incessant personal attacks. These attacks
pleased them, but did not hurt or even annoy me.
At the end of 1882 a resolution had been passed appoint-
ing Grand Committees to consider non-contentious Bills.
These had been long in contemplation, because the con-
sideration of such Bills by a Committee of the whole House
practically resolved itself into a Committee of persons
specially interested in the subject-matter of the Bill. This
devolution of business was, in Mr Gladstone's opinion,
one of the most important measures of procedure which
the House could adopt. Two Grand Committees, one on
Trade and the other on Law, were appointed in 1883 to
examine and report on all Bills referred to them, and a
panel of half a dozen of the most experienced members of
the House was appointed from which a chairman should be
selected to preside over the deliberations of the Grand
Committee upon each separate Bill. Over this panel of
chairmen I acted as president. The experiment of these
Grand Committees was fairly tried in 1883 and 1884, and
gave such encouraging results that when Parliament re-
sumes its legislative functions by getting rid of this Irish
difficulty, it will doubtless use them more frequently as a
means of devolving detailed work upon competent bodies
outside the House.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 3OI
Playfair always regarded it as one of the less fortunate
incidents of his life that he had been induced to accept the
office of Chairman of Committees at a time when the
duties of that post were of peculiar difficulty. To some,
indeed, it is a surprise that he should have refused the
post of chief Whip, which was offered to him by Mr
Gladstone in the Ministry of 1880. It is true that from
the official point of view, the Patronage Secretary to the
Treasury holds a lower position in the Ministerial hierarchy
than the Postmaster-General, and Playfair was certainly
entitled by his services to a much higher office in the
new Government. But there have been many cases in
which men have made a heavy sacrifice in nominal position
in order that they might take the office which, next to that
of the Prime Minister or Leader of the House, is of greatest
party importance in the House of Commons. All who
knew Playfair must have felt that he was exceptionally
well-equipped for the duties of chief Whip. It is hardly
an exaggeration to say that from 1850 onwards he had
always been discharging a Whip's duties in one position or
another. From the time when he was brought in contact
with the Prince Consort during the preparations for the
Exhibition of 1851 he was always one of those who were
employed behind the scenes, and was always engaged in
that work of organisation and manipulation which is the
chief task laid upon a Parliamentary Whip. His brilliant
success in conducting many difficult negotiations to a
successful issue justified his friends in believing that
in his hands the duties of the chief Whip would be dis-
charged in the most effective manner.
It might indeed be difficult to understand why
Playfair should have hesitated to accept a position for
which he was so eminently qualified, if it were not for
one reason—that is the fact that the chief Whip is
essentially a party man. His whole work is devoted
3O2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
to the advancement of the interests of his own party,
and it is for that object that he may be said to live.
Playfair, as the reader has seen, abstained as a matter of
principle from any keen partisanship whilst he remained
member for the University of Edinburgh. This was the
reason which led him to turn aside from the proposal, and
to accept an office for which, as it turned out, he was not
so well equipped as he was for that of chief Whip. The
story he has told of his occupancy of the Chair during the
stormy Sessions of 1880 and 1881 does bare justice to the
work he accomplished and the sacrifices he had to make
during his tenure of office. Upon him even more fully than
upon the Speaker himself fell the brunt of that terrible battle
with Irish obstruction in the course of which Parliamentary
procedure nearly suffered shipwreck. It was the most
trying crisis in the history of the House of Commons since
the days of the Stuarts, and though it cannot be claimed for
Playfair that in that stormy epoch he achieved one of the
notable triumphs of his life, his friends may justly demand
that he should receive credit for the tenacity with which he
clung to his post and discharged his duty to the historic
assembly whose fortunes were momentarily committed to
his keeping, without regard to the sacrifices which his
devotion entailed upon himself.
As the suspension of the Irish members in 1882 was an
incident of grave importance in the history of the House of
Commons, it may be well to supplement Playfair's state-
ment in the foregoing chapter of Autobiography with some
of the documents in which the points at issue are stated
with greater fulness.
68, ONSLow GARDENs,
Playfair to Mr Speaker Brand. }uly 17th, 1882.
DEAR MR SPEAKER,--I enclose a memorandum on
the action taken by me in naming members on July 1st.
You do not require to be assured that I carefully followed
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 3O3
precedents upon that occasion, but the memorandum may
be useful to Mr Gladstone in considering the course to be
pursued in relation to Mr Gorst's notice of a vote of cen-
sure on the Chairman. That notice, and the two amend-
ments on it by Mr Dillwyn and Mr Anderson, are founded
on the error that the standing order is limited to the
Suspension of individuals, and does not apply to a combi-
nation of members to obstruct. I consider it to be of
extreme importance that they should be met by a Counter
motion that the Chairman acted in accordance with prece-
dent when he applied the standing order to a combination.
A vote of the House in this sense will give to that standing
order a most important disciplinary force. To the personal
censure I attach very little importance, but to Mr Gorst's
interpretation of the standing order I see very grave
objections. In the view of our future procedure I should
be glad if an opportunity were given to discuss it, and
meet it by a resolution which would confirm the Speaker's
and Chairman's interpretation of the rule.
Yours sincerely,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
MEMORANDUM as to the action of the Chairman in naming Members
on Saturday, july 1st, 1882.
To understand the ruling of the Speaker and precedents estab-
lished for the enlarged action of the rule of 28th February, 1882,
Standing Order 173a, it is necessary to refer to last year's proceedings
during the protracted sittings.
(I) On the Ist February, 1881, Sir Richard Cross appealed to the
Speaker to rule whether, “taking into consideration the speeches of
honourable members, and the whole course of debate, that this mode
of carrying on the debate is not, in the terms of the rule, persistent
and wilful obstruction of the business of the House.”
Upon this the Speaker gave a clear ruling, all of which bears on
the point, but of which the following extract is sufficient for explana-
tion: “If I found that there was a distinct and clear combination
on the part of members of this House wilfully and persistently to
obstruct the business of the House by combination, I should consider
that this Standing Order should apply.” *
The Speaker left the chair, and Mr Playfair, as Deputy Speaker
took the chair. Early in the morning of Wednesday, 2nd February,
3O4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Sir Stafford Northcote pressed him to apply the rule as interpreted
by the Speaker, and Mr Childers promised the support of the Govern-
ment if the Deputy Speaker would so enforce the rule. The debate
went on, the Irish members protesting against such an application
of the rule, and some English members desiring that it should be
so enforced.
After hearing these observations the Deputy Speaker again read
the ruling of Mr Speaker, given before he left the Chair, and then
spoke as follows:—“Agreeing with Mr Speaker that what has
occurred in the debate would go far to bring some of the members
who have taken part in it within the scope of the Standing Order if
they individually persisted in obstruction when called upon to desist,
I shall watch with great care that no waste of the time of the House takes
place on Motions of Adjournment.”
The House, which was of course ignorant that the Speaker
ntended next morning to close the debate, strongly manifested
disapproval that I did not at once name the members obstructing,
and the Conservatives in a body rose up and left the House with a
certain number of Liberal members. A division on the question of
adjournment soon followed. As I left the Chair for the retiring
room I found Mr Parnell and the leading Home Rulers waiting for
me behind the Chair; and they asked me to explain what I meant
by the portion of the ruling which I have underlined. I stated that
while the rule had hitherto been applied to individual cases of
obstruction, it was now extended to combination ; and while I would
apply the rule to individuals in the old way, I should consider con-
tinued dilatory motions for adjournment as a proof of combination,
and I would apply it to all members taking part in them. The Home
Rulers then made no more such motions, but spoke on the main
question till the Speaker resumed the Chair next morning and ended
the debate. That they fully understood this interpretation is shown
by the fact that they did not then, nor have they ever since,
obstructed by continued dilatory motions.
(2) Up to this time there had been no precedent for applying the
Standing Order to more than one member, a separate vote being
taken on each. On the 3rd February the double action of the rule
was enforced. Three members (Dillon, Parnell and Finigan) per-
sisted in motions that Mr Gladstone be no further heard, which Mr
Speaker ruled were evidence of wilful and persistent obstruction,
and they were individually named and suspended. Then twenty-
eight members defied the authority of the Chair, although admonished,
and the Speaker named the whole twenty-eight members to the
House as defying the authority of the Chair. Thereupon Mr
Gladstone moved in a single resolution that the twenty-eight
members (naming them) be severally suspended.
Note.—This action of Mr Speaker and of Mr Gladstone in naming
and moving the suspension of the twenty-eight members in a single
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 305
resolution was challenged at the time by Mr A. J. Balfour and Mr
Gorst, and was over-ruled.
(3) Mr Playfair acted on these precedents with great care. The
Committee had lasted for twenty-three days, and the debate on the
I7th Clause for nineteen hours, when he acted. On the previous
evening, 30th June, an appeal was made to the Chair whether the
time had not come to put an end to these proceedings. Mr Playfair
then said, “The time has come when I must seriously call the
attention of the Committee to the very prolonged mode in which
these debates are being carried on, and I trust that the Committee
will support me in my efforts to confine the speeches of members
directly to the amendment.” The Home Secretary (Sir William
Harcourt) said: “On a Clause of secondary importance, a Clause
which involves no constitutional principle, time has been expended
equal to two whole working days of the House of Commons, to the
enormous inconvenience of individual members and to the scandal
of the country. It has been done deliberately; it has doubtless
been done in an adroit manner, but it has been done intentionally,
and the adroitness has not in the least degree concealed the deliber-
ate intention of blocking and impeding a measure for the prevention
of crime in Ireland. This is a course of proceeding which I ask the
House and the country to take note of, because in view of the terrible
condition of Ireland, the time has come when this House should
adopt some method of putting an end to this course of proceeding.”
Sir Stafford Northcote then spoke as follows:—“The Home Secre-
tary spoke in the name, not of the Government nor of himself in-
dividually, but of the whole House generally. The House is well
aware of the real situation, and it is an insult to our common sense
to divert us from the real situation by such flimsy pretexts as have
been put forward during the time I have been in the House. Do
hon. gentlemen suppose that those who have been away for some
hours are not perfectly aware of the tactics intended to be pursued P”
Mr Playfair had left the Chair at I a.m., but he never left the
House. He was up from his sofa at 6 a.m. trying to gather all the
information of the proceedings during his few hours' absence, and
he had a careful précis of the above speeches made for him by Mr
Shaw Lefevre, who was in the Chair. At 9 a.m. Mr Playfair resumed
the Chair, and found the Committee fully engaged in discussing
obstruction and not the clause. Unwilling still to act, he brought
the Committee back to the clause, but the House was in no humour
to continue. Repeated appeals were made to him to exercise the
authority of the Chair. Mr Biddulph rose and asked whether the
time had not come to bring this farce to an end. Thereupon Mr
Playfair spoke as follows”:—
sº #: # §: #
*Playfair's reply has already been given in his Autobiography on p. 294.
—EDITOR. -
U
306 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
The warning of the preceding night and this express warning
were followed by no results. Mr Redmond continued the debate
with the same irrelevance, and had to be repeatedly called to order
for irrelevant talk. Finding the warning of the Chair treated with
contempt, and the sense of the House strongly expressed, the Chair-
man named to the Committee sixteen members. To meet combined
obstruction the rule had to be applied with sufficient force, and these
names were selected after careful consideration of the number of
times they had spoken and voted in dilatory amendments. That
some members were absent at the time in relays, did not exclude
them from a rule applying to combination. I conclude by stating
that I acted strictly according to precedent and to the sense of the
Committee. When, a few hours later, more members were sus-
ended, I followed the same precedents, and did not act till after
due warning, and till I had ascertained the general sense of the
House, as explained by the leaders on both sides, and by unmis-
takable evidence from the body of the House. If the Speaker's
view and my own of the extent of the rule be right, there certainly
was no impatience shown in acting upon the sense of the Com-
mittee, and every part of the precedent was followed to the minutest
detail.
Lyon PLAYFAIR.
I have quoted this memorandum at full length because
Playfair is entitled to have his defence of an act which was
severely criticised at the time placed before the world. No
one now will question the extreme difficulty of the position
in which he was placed, nor will anyone deny that he did
not merit the harsh judgments which it pleased certain
politicians of both parties to pass upon him. He was in
the unfortunate position of having to wield great and
exceptional powers, whilst holding an office to which the
House of Commons did not attach great or exceptional
authority. The House had bowed to the ruling of the
Speaker in the previous year, when he had executed a coup
d'état in the interests of freedom of debate. The majority
of its members were desirous that a similar stroke should
be dealt at obstruction in 1882 by the Chairman of Com-
mittees; and Playfair, Seeing clearly that the vital interests
of Parliamentary debate and his own duty as Chairman
demanded this action, was courageous enough to take it.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 307
He acted, as his memorandum shows, with the strictest
regard to precedent. He certainly did not act hurriedly or
under the influence of any mental excitement. He bore
with provocations which the leaders of both parties had
declared to be insufferable, and he turned a deaf ear to the
taunts and gibes of those who, forgetting the difficulties of
his position, believed that he was neglecting his obvious
duty as Chairman by not putting a speedier end to the
obstruction practised by the Irish members. When at last
he acted he did so with thoroughness and efficiency. The
barrier of obstruction which had been reared was swept
away, and the Bill was enabled to proceed through Com-
mittee. But no sooner had this step been taken than he
became the subject of the severe criticisms of which he has
spoken in his chapter of Autobiography. Many of the men
who had been loudest in denouncing obstruction now
turned round, after the easy fashion of Parliamentary
politicians, and denounced the agent by whom the ob-
struction had been overcome. Playfair, who had been
blamed in the first instance for his imagined weakness,
was blamed now on the ground that he had overstrained
his authority. It is a story with which most men who
have been mixed up with public affairs are only too
painfully familiar. I do not say that Playfair was to any
unusual degree a victim of the tendency of Parliamentary
parties to oscillate between one extreme and another.
All that I claim for him is that his plain exposition of
his own action should have due weight given to it, and
that the censures to which he was exposed at the time
by those who proclaimed that his Chairmanship of Com-
mittees was a failure should be treated as being worth just
what they were. -
Nevertheless, it is idle to conceal the fact that Playfair's
chairmanship was wrecked upon that rock of the Irish
question which has proved fatal to so many Parliamentary
308 MEMOIRs of LYON PLAYFAIR.
reputations. He had to stand in the breach, as I have
already said, at a most critical moment in the history of
the House of Commons. He did his duty manfully, and
the world knows now that to him and to Mr Brand
the House of Commons is indebted for the fact that its
freedom of action and debate was not submerged under
the flood of revolutionary obstruction. It was the au-
thority which these two men exercised, the one as Speaker
and the other as Chairman of Committees, that brought
the whole question of obstruction to a head, and compelled
the unwilling Government—or one ought rather to say, the
unwilling leaders of both political parties—to recognise the
fact that circumstances imperatively demanded some altera-
tion in the old rules of the House of Commons. Whatever
else may be denied to Playfair in connection with his
Chairmanship of Committees, it is hardly possible to
deny to him the credit of having had a substantial
share in that amendment of the rules of Parliament
which has once more made debate possible despite the
tactics of deliberate and intentional obstruction.
The letter marked “Private and confidential,” to which
Playfair alludes in his Autobiography as having been
received by him from Mr Gladstone after his announce-
ment of his intended retirement from the Chairmanship,
is as follows:–
Io, Down ING STREET, WHITE HALL,
Mr Gladstone to Playfair. August 4th, 1882.
MY DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I receive your letter with
much regret. When you come to act upon the inten-
tion you describe as formed, it will not be an easy matter
to fill your place. There is certainly a point at which
domestic calls must begin to assert themselves against
Parliamentary engagements. I am very glad, however,
that you do not contemplate any early step, and that you
propose to keep your determination secret until the time
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 309
for acting upon it shall come near. It would be disastrous
were either the act or the promulgation to be so timed as
to stand in any apparent connection with the late struggle
to maintain the authority of the Chair. Unquestionably
the burdens of your office have been beyond all common
measure ; but it is (as they say) upon the cards that they
may be prospectively lightened by an effective measure of
devolution, if the House can muster sufficient courage to
adopt one. Should such a thing happen, there will be
nothing so far as I am concerned to hinder your recon-
sideration of the subject of your letter.
Believe me,
Most faithfully yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
Same to the same. HAwardEN CASTLE, january 3rd, 1883.
MY DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I lose no time in informing
you that we have decided on proposing Sir Arthur Otway
as your successor in those offices of Chairman of Com-
mittees and Deputy Speaker which you have discharged
with so much ability in such difficult times. It is almost
superfluous for me to bespeak your interest on behalf of
Sir Arthur Otway, who will, I have no doubt, at once
apply his very considerable Parliamentary abilities to the
work of acquiring the special knowledge necessary for the
office for which he will be, I hope, a successful candidate.
Believe me,
Most faithfully yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
26, Low ER BELGRAVE STREET,
Sir Arthur Otway to Playfair. February 17th, 1883.
MY DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I thank you for affording
me a perusal of your able memorandum relative to the
suspension of the Irish members in July last.
I have no doubt that the effects of your action will be
beneficial should unhappily a similar state of things arise.
3IO MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
I must offer you a word of Congratulation on the
“evident sense of the House ’’ on your taking the Chair
last night. It would have pleased you to know the
observations which reached my ears, sitting at the end
of the Opposition benches near the Chair.
I am,
Very truly yours,
ARTHUR OTWAY.
Before I leave this question of the suspension of the Irish
members, and the consequent amendment of the forms of
the House with a view to the prevention of organised
obstruction, I may quote the following correspondence
which passed between Playfair and Mr Chaplin as a con-
sequence of a speech in which the latter had cast some
doubt upon the principles on which the former had acted.
Playfair to the Right Hon. Henry Chaplin.
November 14th, 1882.
DEAR MR CHAPLIN,+I observe in reading your speech
that you asked me the specific question as to whether
I accepted the interpretation of the Speaker that “the
general sense of the House " meant the sense of the House
at large. Had I been in my place during your speech,
I would gladly have answered your question. Before
doing so, let me remind you of a precedent which I tried
to establish on the 1st of July last. The suspensory rule
was then to be applied to combined obstruction. That
rule leaves the initiative to the Chairman. But no Chair-
man could act under Such circumstances without believing
that he did so in accordance with the general sense of the
House. The Chair during the night had repeated appeals
from individual members to put an end to the obstruction.
My own view of the position had been expressed on the
preceding day by an emphatic warning. It was not, how-
ever, until the Home Secretary made a solemn protest
against obstruction, and till Sir Stafford Northcote stated
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 3II
that this protest expressed the opinion, not only of the
Opposition but of the House at large, that I considered
the time had come to apply the rule in the large sense
laid down by the Speaker in the previous year. Upon
this belief I acted in taking the initiative to suspend the
first list of members. Later in the day obstruction again
appeared, and individual members once more appealed to
the Chair to apply the suspensory rule. I replied that my
own opinion as to the existence of obstruction was decided ;
but before taking the initiative I waited to see whether
the general desire of the House was with me. When Sir
Richard Cross, then in charge of the Opposition Front
Bench, and Mr Gladstone, in charge of the Government
Front Bench, both expressed their view that obstruction
prevailed, I felt that I had gathered the general sense of
the House, and that I was justified in taking the initiative.
Having thus tried to establish a precedent that the sus-
pensory rule as applied to combined obstruction should
only be exercised as an expression of the House at large,
you can have no doubt as to my full accordance with the
interpretation which the Speaker has given of a rule
which expressly enjoins that the Chair shall only take
the initiative when it has ascertained the general sense of
the House.
The Right Hon. Henry Chaplin to Playfair.
STAFFORD HousE, November 15th, 1882.
DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,--I have to thank you for your
letter which I have received to-night, and for your very
courteous reply to my inquiry. I raised the question in
the House of Commons regarding your opinion, in common
with many of my friends, upon the interpretation to be
placed upon the first resolution, as of the first importance;
and it is gratifying to find from your letter that our antici-
pations and hopes are equally fulfilled. I do not know
how far I may be justified in making it known, or whether
you would wish it to be public, but under any circum-
stances I should be glad, with your permission, to make it
known among the members of the party who have looked
3I2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
with so much aversion upon the first resolution in its
present form.
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
HENRY CHAPLIN.
The battle between the authorities of the House and the
forces of obstruction has been dwelt upon already in this
chapter at sufficient length. That Playfair had to take an
important part in that struggle I have endeavoured to show,
nor can he be denied the credit which I have claimed for
him of a not inconsiderable share in the ultimate triumph
of Parliamentary procedure over Parliamentary lawless-
ness. There was, however, another side to Playfair's life
as Chairman of Committees upon which he has touched
but lightly in his Reminiscences. The outside world has
but a limited conception of the labours which fall to the
lot of its public servants. Above all, it has little knowledge
of the strain which is thrown upon members of a Govern-
ment during their term of office. “Flesh and blood cannot
stand more than five years of official life at a stretch,” are
the words said to have been uttered by a distinguished
Minister of the Crown. The burden laid upon flesh and
blood in all the offices of the State is undoubtedly a heavy
one, and Playfair had to bear his full share of that burden
during his Chairmanship of Committees. Some idea of its
weight will be gathered from the subjoined extracts from
letters to his wife, who had preceded him on their annual
visit to America, at this period of his career. These letters
deal only with the proceedings of a few days, and yet they
furnish the reader with a startling glimpse of what passes
behind the scenes at times when the outer world sees only
the public aspect of the questions at issue. It was the
cruel pressure of this burden far more than the difficulty
of deciding upon the nicest questions of Parliamentary
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 3I3
procedure at a moment's notice, that led Playfair to retire
from his post of Chairman of Committees. Whilst he held
that post all his other occupations were of necessity brought
to a standstill. Even with all his immense power of work,
he could not combine with his official duties his usual course
of study and labour. As for his domestic peace, and the
possibility of enjoying the repose and happiness of his own
home, it was, for the time being, absolutely destroyed.
These were the urgent reasons which led him to retire
from his office after the Session of 1882 had come to an
end; and that they were substantial reasons the letters I
subjoin will conclusively prove.
Playfair to his Wife. August 18th, 1880.
The Session shows no sign of drawing to a close. Last
night we passed only 14 votes out of 68, and we had
calculated on passing 42, so the prospect is bad enough. I
fear that we shall sit till the first fortnight of September. I
am right glad that you are out of it, and will get some
summer. The very first day I am at liberty will see me on
board, though I fear the voyage will be uncomfortable
with Equinoctial gales. The poor Baltic was run down
yesterday in the Mersey, and has to go into dock, so there
is one ship less for the traffic. To-night I dine with Lord
Granville, so there will be a little break in the monotony
of work. *
Auntie says, “Fly to good E as quickly as possible.”
No need to counsel me to do this, as it is the only pleasant
waking dream I have amid the chatter of the obstruc-
tionists. - -
Same to the same. August 19th, 1880.
I am So kept up to the collar just now that I positively
have not a moment to write. I was home at 4 a.m.
to-day, and now at I2 am just going into the Chair, with
five minutes to eat something. But I do not like to let
you be without a line. I am wonderfully well, though
3I4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
how I shall stand Saturday and the great Irish attack on
Monday and Tuesday, when we are threatened with forty-
eight hours' consecutive sitting, remains to be seen.
Hartington spoke yesterday of the 4th for prorogation,
but I think that too sanguine. In that case I could sail
on the 2nd.
Same to the Samté. Saturday, August 21st, 1880.
Still no surety of the end of the Session, but I have faint
hopes that I may get away on the 2nd, if the House
adjourn that week. Everything will depend on the Irish
row on Monday and Tuesday. They still threaten a forty-
eight hours' sitting; I have stipulated in that case for a
chairman to take my place for six hours on the second day.
I am quite up to twenty-four hours on a stretch. If this
breaks down with a single day of twenty-four hours we
may finish by the 4th. I am now going upstairs to pack
up for Brighton. I thought of Tunbridge, but I wish some
sea air and some cheerfulness to prepare me for Monday.
“Order, Order,” “The ayes have it,” “Strangers must
withdraw,” become very monotonous duties of a Chairman,
and require some alleviation.
Same to the same. BRIGHTON, Sunday, August 22nd, 1880.
To-morrow is to be the great trial of physical strength
between the Irish and ourselves, so I may have no time to
write for two or three days. Their tactics are to prevent
Irish Estimates being passed, and to keep me in the Chair
as long as physical endurance permits. Of course some
amateur chairmen must be provided to help me. So I
have come here to lay in a stock of health and sleep, and
the weather is glorious, and the result much better than at
Henley. I have been Sunning myself all day. I sat down
On the pier beside a queer-looking man, who, when he
stood up, was nearly eight feet high, and then I recognised
him as the Norwegian giant, who has been exhibiting at
the Aquarium in London for 1/-. As my stature did not
contrast favourably with his I quickly got out of proximity
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 3I5
to him. I had hoped your telegram would have reached in
time yesterday, but when I left at two it had not arrived,
nor could it before post-time, 5.30, as I told them to send
it on. You must therefore have had rather a slow passage.
But I think with so much pleasure that you are now, at
least, with your father, and you may even be in the act of
taking the II o'clock train on Sunday for Nahant—for
though it is three here, it is earlier with you.
I hope that my eyes will be cheered with the news of
the arrival of the ship in the ‘Times’ to-morrow. “Eyes”
remind me that I should not be writing even to you
to-day, as they require all the nursing I can give them
for the long sitting in prospect.
Same to the same. Tuesday, August 24th, 1880.
I am so pleased to think that as I am writing (12.30)
you are probably in the act of going down to your first
breakfast in the dear home. I am so rejoiced that you
went, and that you will have some summer weather at
Nahant. Last night was to be the first of our forty-eight
hours' fight with the Irish. They were very excitable, and
determined that we should not get a single vote in supply.
About II.30 I found that the Government had failed to get
any reason out of them, so I asked Lord Hartington to let
me try my powers of conciliation. Accordingly, as the
Speaker was in the Chair and likely to be kept all night—
for their tactics were to prevent me getting into it—I laid
myself in the way of the more moderate and influential
men, and pointed out how much their motives would be
misconstrued by the country. I then suggested that they
might take the non-contentious votes in supply that night,
and take the constabulary vote to-day. Most of the Irish
laughed at me, and told me I should not succeed, as they
had held a meeting and determined on obstruction. How-
ever, after a little I talked them over, and at one got into
the Chair and passed twelve votes, greatly to their own
surprise and that of the Government, who have asked me
to take the management of affairs to-day also. So instead
of sitting up forty-eight hours I got to bed at three. To-day
3I6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the job is more difficult, but the Irish like me, and will do
a good deal to please me.
I have some hopes that I may sail in the Adriatic on
the 7th. This is by no means sure, and will depend
much upon our progress to-day.
Same to the same. August 26th, 1880.
Still uncertain news as to my chance of leaving. It all
depends on to-night's battle. Hitherto we have shirked
fighting the Irish, but we have determined to sit up to-
night. So I have brought razor and toothbrush My
purpose is to sit up all through the night till 6 a.m., and
then ask relief till 12. I shall get five hours' sleep, a wash,
and some breakfast—of course not going home but sleeping
in the House, so that if the amateur Chairman cannot keep
order I may be called in. If we break the neck of this
senseless obstruction in one night's sitting, I may be able
to get away in the Adriatic on the 7th, presuming that I
can get a passage in her.
Same to the same. August 30th, 1880.
I have had a very heavy week of it. I give you a diary.
Thursday—Chair 5 p.m., continued in it to 6.20 a.m.
Friday, then slept one and a half hours; rested
On couch three-quarters of an hour, dressed,
breakfasted, and consulted Speaker again.
Io a.m. in Chair, continued till I. Went home, had
four hours' sleep, returned to House and took Chair
9 p.m. till 3.20 a.m. Saturday morning. Went
home, got five hours' sleep, and took Chair–
(Saturday). -
12 a.m., and continued with ten minutes' intermission
for lunch at 3 till II.30 p.m. I got hold of two
ham Sandwiches during a division, and munched
them secretly in the Chair about Io.
On Sunday I had my revenge, and did not rise till 12.
I went out in the afternoon to the Grant Duffs', who
had the Osborne Morgans with them. They wished me
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 317
to stay for the night, but I longed for my own bed and no
need for rising early. I am as fresh as a lark still, but the
poor Speaker looks jaded and worn. I fancy it must be
worse sitting up doing nothing than being actively engaged.
At 9.30 on Friday morning, when I was shaved, dressed,
and breakfasted, I found the Speaker sitting in a very dusty
Court dress, unshaven and battered, in his armchair. He
was asleep, but uncomfortably so. He told me he had
passed most of the night in Mrs Brand's gallery, pitying
me being badgered by the Irish obstructives, while I
enjoyed the fun. The House has certainly been much
pleased at my endurance, for they always cheer me
loudly as I leave the Chair. I have taken my passage
in the Adriatic for the 7th—or rather have written for
One—so I shall soon join my lassie and her and my
dear ones over the water. -
Playfair returned from America at the close of 188o
completely restored to his usual state of vigorous health.
Same to the same. December 15th, 1881.
Count Bismarck and I left [Walmer Castle] at 11 to-day
and returned home. Yesterday we had two Engineer
officers from Dover who joined our party, but they were
strangers to Lord and Lady Granville, and were shy, so
they did not add to our entertainment.
I enjoyed my visit much, and got to like the children,
especially the heir, Lord Leveson. He is nine, but singularly
intelligent, and we had nice walks together. He told his
mamma that he had never seen such a man, for stories ran
out of my brain as fast as he asked for a new one And
he asked me to write a book for children I
I went up to the School-room, which no visitor had ever
done, and told the girls about the habits of animals, and I
think was popular with all the young ones.
When I came to the hotel I found your two dear letters.
I am so glad that you got on so comfortably, and that you
enjoy yourselves.
318 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
From the correspondence which Playfair maintained with
the family of his wife, I make the following extracts:–
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. February 22nd, 1879.
Our politics just now are very uninteresting; both Lords
and Commons feel that the Parliament is old and nearly
moribund, and there is little interest felt in our discussions,
either inside or outside the House. The Zulu war is a sad
affair, but inevitable. Our colonies in South Africa have no
natural boundaries, and it is cheaper to conquer border
savage tribes than to make regular boundaries to keep
them out. This is really the secret of Russia's great exten-
sions and of England's annexations. I see in the future
that England must fight every few years till she gets to the
great Lake regions of Victoria Nyanza; and it is possible
that we may meet Egypt stretching out her arms into the
same region. Ultimately we may have to swallow Egypt
also, and the English future will be to civilise Africa when
perhaps we have lost our hold on India. Of course I shan't
live to see all this accomplished, but I daresay Edith will.
The Anglo-Saxon has certainly a future greater than the
Latin race, and will some day be dominant in three out of
four quarters of the globe.
Same to the same. LONDON, April 6th, 1879.
MY DEAR RUSSELL,~I have not written to you for a
long time, but by the time my business letters are ended I
get such a dislike to writing more that I easily reconcile to
my conscience to postpone private correspondence.
The Government are having a bad time of it with their
little wars—Afghan, Zululand, and Burmah in prospect.
And yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer does not add
one penny to the taxes. He takes the easy way of saying,
“If we have a surplus in the three following years we can
pay our debts out of that.” So his Budget will be popular,
for people do not like to pay increased taxation, and
postponing one's creditors is an easy, if not honest, policy.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 3I9
WINDSOR HoTEL, NEw York,
Playfair to Miss Alice Russell. November 8th, 1879.
I fancy that I must be a simpleton in my looks, for twice
have I been beset by “confidence” men since I started.
Once was in the cars, where a Western, in a huge, broad-
brimmed hat, tried to get me to take some shares in a gold
mine; and to-day an innocent youth spent five cents to
get into an omnibus to find out whether I was the Rev.
Mr Dodds of San Francisco. The same innocent, with a
much sharper-looking companion, dogged me down Broad-
way and the Fifth Avenue, and tried to entice me into
conversation. A policeman appeared, and I suggested that
it would be interesting to me to find out whether there was
any law in New York to protect strangers from impertinent
intrusion; and they vanished like greased lightning.
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. january 15th, 1881.
Politically we are in a sad state. We see no end to the
obstruction of the Irish members. They have already had
nine days' talk on the Queen's Speech, and all next week
we expect a flow of Irish garrulity before the measures of
coercion are even introduced. ‘Punch's' cartoon this
week well illustrates the situation. Gladstone as Don
Quixote on a charger is charging through a fog with huge
rocks of obstruction in the foreground. Yet what can we
do 2 If we introduce new rules on debate they must be
passed, and it would probably take ten days, sitting night
and day, to put them through the House. Nothing will
do but cléture, that is, the House having power to stop
debate when it has exceeded fair proportions. But neither
side of the House likes the idea. It is foolish not to pass
it, for a majority responsible to the public will never so
abuse rules as an irresponsible minority do against a majority.
In France Guizot says that since an experience of cláture
began in 1814, there has never been an instance when free
and ample discussion has been prevented by it. The state
of Ireland is indeed desperate. The Queen's Courts are
powerless to administer justice, for no witnesses can be got
32O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
to testify to crime, and no juries can be got to convict.
But the Land League Courts flourish when the Queen's
Courts are in contempt, and these self-constituted courts
are merciless. Take an instance : A priest spoke against
the prevailing lawlessness. An edict went out from the
Land League Court that no dues were to be paid him at
Christmas beyond one shilling. A well-to-do farmer sent
him as usual 20/-. That same night all the farmer's ricks
were burned to the ground. Within the last few weeks the
outrages have diminished, but that is because the system of
terrorism is so complete. For the decrees of these self-
constituted courts are no longer disobeyed.
Already Fenian movements are springing up in England.
Yesterday an attempt was made to blow up barracks at
Salford, though luckily only two people perished. The
anger of the English and Scotch is rising so much that I
fear the Government may be forced into imprudent action.
I have difficulty in explaining to others the American
action. Most of the funds for this agitation come from the
United States: when, coupled with this, an insolent and
defiant motion is made in Congress with a prospect of being
carried, it is not surprising that the English do not know
how to separate the Americans from the Irish and the
Democratic Congress. Our statesmen, like Gladstone,
Granville and Forster, know that there is no real American
sympathy with the Irish agitators. But the general
public see in the Davitts, Devoys and others sent over by
‘The Irish World' newspaper from New York, agents of
American agitation. If we get the Habeas Corpus Act
suspended, short work will be made of them, but this may
produce complications with your Government until your
new Republican Congress comes into operation. As yet I
have not had much to do, but I should not be surprised if
after next week we may sit night and day, in which case
the Speaker and Deputy-Speaker will have to sit alternately.
Luckily my Private Bill legislation will not occupy me
much till the middle of February, so I hope to get through
work without too great a strain upon me. We all look
with so much interest to letters from Boston, as they keep
us well up with our dear American home.
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 32 I
Same to the same. + February 28th, 1882.
Sometimes I feel inclined to rebel at my ungrateful work,
and feel disposed to throw it up, and wait for something
more congenial to my taste and head. For my work is
really no better than that of a master in a badly-behaved
School. Our political condition is not encouraging. Troubles
in Colonies, troubles in Ireland, and general dissatisfaction
with our Parliamentary paralysis, have given the Govern-
ment a bad time, and have not increased its support in the
country. Your “Skirmishing Fund.” in America keeps us
in constant watchfulness. One day Windsor Castle is
threatened; another day the Docks; a third day West-
minster Abbey is supposed to be the subject of dynamite
and petroleum. We outsiders laugh, but the Govern-
ment do not, and constantly surround the places threatened
with detectives and police. Even the Volunteers cannot
have the use of their arms lest they should be seized by
the Fenians. Yet the “Skirmishing Fund” collected in
America does not appear to be more than $100,000.
Certainly it seems to be enough to send over lots of very
suspicious passengers by the steamers. Last week double
the number of suspicious characters arrived in London that
have come in any week since our troubles began. Sir
Edward Thornton is well-informed, and keeps the Foreign
Office fully advised, and singular precautions appear to be
taken at the houses of our public men. Notwithstanding
my unpleasant fights with Irish members, I have not even
had a threatening letter, and feel in perfect security, what-
ever, others may do. I was once threatened on leaving
the House by a huge, half-drunken fellow, who wished to
punch my head in the snow; but he thought that I was an
Irish obstructive, and wished to teach me what English-
men thought of obstruction. Our suspension of the Habeas
Corpus Act is now nearly passed, and the steamers to
America are being filled with ruffians, so we may soon
hope to escape these periodical scares. -
y
322 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Playfair to Mrs Russell. . BATH, December 11th, 1882.
This will probably reach you at Christmas time, and I
wish you all happy returns of the season. We are likely
to spend it in a more lonely though not less happy way
than you, for Edith and I are perfectly alone together,
not knowing one human being in this town. But we are
quite happy and contented. Edith has been a capital
nurse during my illness. The coming year will, I hope,
restore more of family life to me. I have no intention of
being so much of a Parliamentary man next Session,
whatever happens. I may, or what is more probable, may
not have other official work to do; but in any case I do
not intend to spend fourteen or fifteen hours daily away
from home, as formerly.
The history of the House of Commons between 1883,
when Playfair quitted office, and 1885, when the dissolution
took place, was a troubled one. Cross currents—to use a
phrase which has since attained notoriety—were the order
of the day. The Liberal party, was struggling with two
great questions—those of Ireland and of Egypt—and was
witnessing the gradual spread of those rifts within its own
borders which by-and-by were to reduce it to something
like impotence. No one in those years clearly foresaw
the future; few dreamed of the course which the Home
Rule question was about to take. Fewer still realised the
fact that this Parliament of 1880, which had been elected
on the crest of a great wave of enthusiasm, was to be the
last Parliament in which the historic Liberal party would
act unitedly and serve under a common leader. Playfair,
by his retirement from the post of Chairman of Com-
mittees, had secured a position of personal independence in
the House. He found himself one of a small company of
distinguished men who, like himself, had been relieved
through their own action from the fetters of office. Mr
Bright, Mr Forster, and Mr Goschen were of their number.
It was natural that when men of so much weight in Parlia-
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 323
ment, belonging to the party then in office, had taken up
an independent position, the spirit of criticism should be
rife in the House. Probably the acts of no Ministry were
ever more severely criticised from its own side of the
House than were those of the Ministry of 1880 during the
last two years of its existence. It was known that even in
the Cabinet divisions existed. It was believed that there
was a party in the Government, strong in its influence if
not in its numbers, which wished to come to terms with
Mr Parnell and the Home Rulers of Ireland. Events in
Egypt had done much to discredit Ministers in the eyes of
their fellow-countrymen ; and there was no question upon
which they were more unpopular than upon those asso-
ciated with the names of Khartoum and General Gordon.
If Playfair had been a man in whose soul any rancour was
harboured, if he had been one to whom personal advance-
ment was everything, it can hardly be doubted that he
would have found, during 1883 and the two following years,
an ample opportunity of distinguishing himself in the
House by his hostile criticisms of the proceedings of the
Ministry. But he was the last man in the world to seek
shelter in any Cave of Adullam. That sweetness of temper
which characterised him in private life was not less con-
spicuous in his public career. The political principles he
professed were dear to him as sacred things. He had left
office; he was independent; he saw Ministers floundering
deeper and deeper in the quagmire in which they had
become involved; he knew that he could secure the
enthusiastic support of the majority of his own con-
stituents if he turned upon the falling Government and
enrolled himself among the band of relentless critics who
hung upon its flank. But he absolutely refused to take
this course, and when the great moment came for arriving
at a decision upon the gravest political question that had
been submitted to Parliament and to the country during
324 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
his lifetime, he unhesitatingly took the unpopular side upon
the question of Home Rule, and by doing so cut himself
adrift from the majority of his old personal friends and
political associates. -
These facts must be borne in mind by those who wish to
estimate Playfair's character aright. It would have been
so easy and, in a certain measure, so natural for him to
have joined the band of malcontents after his retirement
from office, that only an unflinching loyalty to principle,
and to what he regarded as the truth, allied with a
temper of more than common equanimity, could have
enabled him to resist the temptation. During these
years of the 1880 Parliament, he worked with as much
industry and enthusiasm in the House as though he were
still in office. He maintained his independence as he
had done throughout his Parliamentary career, but it was
an independence which displayed itself in his devotion to
causes which, though important in themselves, could not
command the support of recognised political parties. He
stood during these years, as he had stood so long, as the
spokesman and representative of interests great in them-
selves but devoid of that Parliamentary influence which
goes for so much in the eyes of politicians. He never
stopped to weigh the popularity or unpopularity of the
cause he espoused, but flung himself fearlessly into the
breach when battle had to be waged on behalf of scientific
truth or the moral and material welfare of the people.
He has told us something of what he did on the subject of
vaccination. More than any other man in Parliament he
was responsible for the defeat of the movement against the
Vaccination Laws, and to the end of his days he was justly
proud of that achievement. -
Another cause in which he had to face a still stronger
current of unpopularity was that in which is involved
the right of men to perform experiments upon living
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 325
animals in the interests of scientific truth. Playfair, as
all who were acquainted with him knew, had a heart
that was always open to the appeal of suffering, and
a mind that was singularly sensitive upon questions of
moral responsibility. But his humanitarianism led him
to believe that, after all, the greatest good of the greatest
number was the object to be pursued in public life, and
he did not hesitate to stand forth boldly in defence of
those who claimed the right to further the interests of
humanity, and to widen the bounds of medical knowledge
by means of experiments on living animals. He became,
as was but natural, an object of intense dislike to the
opponents of vivisection. There is no need to argue the
question of vivisection in these pages—it is not even
necessary to touch upon the notorious exaggerations which
are used for the purpose of prejudicing an ignorant public
against those who dare to run counter to the views of the
Anti-Vivisection Society. Playfair's opinions on this
question must be left where he himself would have had
them left—to the judgment of the men who know : his
fellow men of science and the medical profession. But
his biographer must call attention to the fact that in the
House of Commons he was in these years of unfettered
independence what he had been during his whole Parlia-
mentary career—a courageous advocate of causes which he
believed to be true, and from the defence of which no
amount of unpopularity could drive him.
Nor was it only in the advocacy of unpopular causes of
supreme interest to the health of the community that Play-
fair showed his stern loyalty and courage at this period of
his career. He was just as little afraid to espouse the cause
of an unpopular man as that of an unpopular truth. He
himself has noted the fact that at the very time when he
was compelled by his official position to wage war against
the Irish members, he enjoyed amongst these gentlemen a
326 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
remarkable degree of personal popularity. Whilst they did
everything in their power to obstruct him and embarrass
him in his Chairmanship, they took all possible means of
showing that personally they regarded him with sympathy
rather than with antipathy, and he himself, far from being
soured by his conflicts with the Irish party in the House of
Commons, was large enough and magnanimous enough to
regard their action from a purely impersonal point of view.
It was in 1885 that he took a step which, whilst it caused
some surprise to his ordinary political associates, endeared
him to the great body of the Irish members. During one
of his visits to the United States he had met Mr John
Boyle O'Reilly at Boston. Mr Boyle O'Reilly was an
Irish rebel who had once served in the English army. He
was proscribed by the British Government, and forbidden
leave to return to his native country. Playfair met him in
mixed company in Boston, and found him to be a man of
culture, refinement, wide knowledge and gentle disposition.
Whatever might be his position in Irish politics, Playfair
came to the conclusion that he was an honest and honour-
able man ; and when, in the heat of the struggle over the
Irish question, his name was mentioned in debate in the
House of Commons, Playfair at once rose, and facing a
hostile audience of Englishmen and Scotchmen, bore his
testimony to Mr O'Reilly's character, and urged that the
Government should withdraw its refusal to allow him to
return to his native country. It was a characteristic act,
the courage and magnanimity of which can only be fully
recognised by those who remember the height which
national passions and animosities attained in that bitter
period of political warfare in the United Kingdom.
Mr Boyle O'Reilly to Playfair. Boston, February 18th, 1885.
DEAR MR PLAYFAIR,-Allow me, though still under
ban, to send you my most sincere thanks for your kindly
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 327
interest in my request to your Government to be allowed
to visit Canada and Great Britain. The Home Secretary,
as you probably are aware, has refused the request. Mr
Bagenal sent to me your letter (copy) to the Irish Secretary.
I shall always remember it with pleasure and gratitude.
I had no intention of meddling with politics in any way
had I gone to either country, so that your word would
have been quite safe on my account. I trust that when
you visit America again I may have the great pleasure of
thanking you in person.
I am, dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.
As one of the few men of science in the House of
Commons, Playfair found constant opportunities of ad-
vancing the interests of science in that assembly. Nor
was science in the abstract the only matter for which he
cared. He was for years the recognised guardian of the
interests of scientific men in their dealings with the Govern-
ment, which has not even yet fully recognised their claims
to public support and approval. It is strange to think that
in the year 1883 there should have been any hesitation on
the part of a Prime Minister, and especially of one so
enlightened as Mr Gladstone, as to the desirableness of
conferring a mark of honour upon so eminent a man of
science as Professor Richard, Owen. Yet the following
correspondence appears to establish this fact:-
BRITISH MUSEUM, CRomwell Road,
SouTH KENSINGTON,
Professor Owen to Playfair. %une 28th, 1883.
DEAR LYON PLAYFAIR,--I have received a private
letter from an official friend, informing me that “the
K.C.B., vacant by the demise of Sir Edward Sabine,
which was given for scientific services, ought to fall to
your share.” It would not have occurred to me, nor was
328 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
I aware of the alleged relation. I have never entertained
any personal wish on the subject, and on the verge of
entering upon my eightieth year, such indifference may be
condoned. The chief satisfaction I should feel by such an
instance of Her Majesty's gracious recognition would be in
regard to the relation of my own to that of other countries
in the estimate which has been allotted to me. This con-
sideration has led to the enclosed memorandum, which it
might be proper to submit to the Prime Minister, and there
is no friend to whom I could have confided it for that
purpose except one with whom of old I had the pleasure to
be associated in the application of science to the public good.
Believe me, dear Playfair,
Most truly yours,
RICHARD OWEN.
The memorandum which accompanied the above letter,
and which Playfair lost no time in placing in the hands of
Mr Gladstone, is a document of so remarkable a character
that it may well find a place in these pages. For the fact
that men of science no longer have to suffer the neglect
which was so long their lot at the hands of those with
whom rests the recommendation of suitable recipients of
the Royal favour, the country is indebted more largely to
Lyon Playfair than to any other man.
MEMORANDUM.
At the period when Sir Edward Sabine was elected correspondent
of the Académie des Sciences, Paris, I was chosen one of the eight
foreign members of the Institute (on the death of Robert Brown,
justly esteemed the greatest botanist after Linnaeus).
About the same period, the King of Prussia decreed that a certain
very limited number of the Cross of the Order for Merit should be
conferred on discoverers in science, and confided this application of
the Order to Humboldt. I was early honoured by being selected for
its reception.
Of every Academy of Science of Europe and America I have been
elected member. - -
These may be the best testimonies to a status in science of a
contemporary and countryman that a Minister may deem worthy of
CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER. 329
consideration; but a large proportion of my working time has been
devoted to improved and extended applications of national institu-
tions for scientific progress. The Hunterian Museum of Physiology,
purchased by Government in 1789, remained until 1830 uncatalogued
—i.e. devoid of any adequate manuscript or printed description of
its contents and aims. In 1826 I was chosen by the Council of the
Royal College of Surgeons, to whom in 1800 the Hunterian Museum
had been confided, to assist in the formation of the catalogues which
Hunter's executor, Sir Everard Horne, had promised to prepare, but
did not. My first catalogue in quarto appeared in 1830, and was
followed by successive volumes, which in 1855 supplied the long-
felt need.
In 1856 I was honoured with my present appointment in the
British Museum. The state in which I found the collections of
natural history led to the Report ordered by the House of Commons
to be printed in 1859. The main requisites therein defined have
been attained for the benefit of both the scientific and general public
in the British Museum of Natural History, Cromwell Road.
These public duties have precluded my acceptance of any re-
munerative scientific office elsewhere, such as the Secretaryship of
the Royal Society, etc. I have not, however, deemed it proper to
refuse such services as might be required by Government in re-
lation to commissions or inquiries needing scientific knowledge.
The Commission on the health of towns was followed by that on the
health of the Metropolis, which led to a third on Smithfield Market
and the meat supply of London. The only name which would be
found on these three Commissions is that of the present writer,
RICHARD Owen.
No one will question either the sufficiency of the
claims set forth by Professor Owen or the modesty of the
statement in which they are named.
- Io, DownING STREET, WHITEHALL,
Mr Gladstone to Playfair. %une 29th, 1883.
DEAR MR PLAYFAIR-Though I cannot make a
promise about Professor Owen, I will consider your sug-
gestion very carefully, and it will give me much pleasure if
I find I can comply. Most faithfully yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
Playfair's application to Mr Gladstone was not un-
successful, and Owen received the Knight Commandership
of the Bath which he so richly merited in January, 1884.
CHAPTER XII.
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
Playfair's Ties with America—Why he never became a Cabinet Minister
—His Acceptance of Home Rule—Appointed Honorary Secretary of
the Commission for the 1851 Exhibition—His Views on the Functions
of a Minister for Scotland–Decides to retire from the Representation
of Edinburgh University—His Candidature for South Leeds—The
Constituency described—His Brilliant Victory—His Connection with
the “Hawarden Kite"—Appointed Vice-President of the Council.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY : Celebration of the Tercentenary of Edinburgh
University : With the British Association at Montreal and at
Aberdeen : At Glamis Castle again : Reform of the Medical
Profession : Re-election for South Leeds.
THE chapters of Playfair's Autobiography which follow
that which I have last quoted are brief and fragmentary.
As I explained in the opening chapter of this work, the
Autobiography, which was commenced in 1882 and chiefly
written during his visits to America, was never revised, and a
great part of it was written somewhat hurriedly, the writer's
intention having been to produce something more detailed
and satisfactory if time and his strength permitted. This pur-
pose he never accomplished, and we are consequently without
that connected story of Playfair's life after 1880 which he
gave us prior to that date. This fact is the more to be
regretted, because the closing years of his public career
form, in many respects, the most interesting and important
period of his life. Happily, he has left behind the means
of forming a correct judgment upon his character and
action during these years. His marriage to Miss Russell
had led to what he playfully described as his adoption of
a second country. Those annual visits to Boston and
Nahant, of which the reader has already learnt something,
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 33 I
were not only a bright feature of Playfair's life as it drew
towards a close, but the means of establishing a bond of
affection between himself and his wife's family in America,
which led to the interchange of a correspondence from
which may be gathered those details of his life that are no
longer recorded in his Autobiography. His letters to his
wife's father, Mr Russell, have a special interest, because
of the light that they throw upon a side of Playfair's
character that does not appear either in his Autobiography
or in his official correspondence. They are full of revela-
tions, slight in themselves, but nevertheless convincing, of
the warmth of his affections, the gaiety of his temper, and
the sweetness of his disposition. His relations with his
wife's family, from the time of his marriage down to the
day of his death, were indeed of a peculiarly intimate and
affectionate kind. He entered into the life of the house-
hold at Nahant with the ardent interest of a boy. He
became a real member of the American family into which
he had been admitted by marriage, and he was never So
happy as when, turning aside from the engrossing cares of
public life in London, he sat down to chat on paper with
those relatives in the United States to whom the English
official world was a closed book. For their sake he ex-
plained many things which Englishmen are supposed
instinctively to understand. The fashions and customs of
our political world; the ceremonial of great functions; the
little personal touches which enable one at a distance to
understand the character of a public man, were matters
upon which he loved to dwell, in order that he might give
pleasure to friends to whom he was devoted on the other
side of the Atlantic. -
I propose to bring together a number of Playfair's letters
to the members of the Russell household, not merely
because of their intrinsic interest, but because of the light
which they throw upon a side of his character that was
332 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
hidden from the outer world. For the present, however, I
recur to his life during the later years of the 1880 Parlia-
ment. It was, as the reader has seen in the last chapter, a
very busy life, though the cares of office did not enter into
it. Recognising the fact that his tenure of his seat at
Edinburgh was coming to an end, Playfair felt free to
throw himself more unreservedly than he had hitherto
done into the battle of politics. It had been his personal
misfortune to become known in the House of Commons as
a member for a University. In that capacity he had
served his country well in connection with the advance-
ment of Science and of education. He had spoken, as
upon the questions of vaccination and vivisection, for the
cultured classes. He had been one of the most powerful
agents in promoting the growth of technical instruction.
He had been an arbitrator to whose judgment many grave
questions affecting the welfare of the community had been
unhesitatingly submitted by successive Governments. But
through it all he had been compelled to feel that he was
in a certain sense an outsider in the political arena. He
had distinguished himself so greatly on the non-contentious
side of politics that the statesmen of his own party seemed
to have come to the conclusion that he was in no sense a
party man. But for this fact it is probable that Playfair
would have taken a very different position in the political
world from that which he secured—honourable and dis-
tinguished as that position was. But the political leaders
on both sides seemed to regard him as a man whose
enormous power of work, whose learning, and whose
intelligence were to be devoted solely to the service
of the public in those fields which offer little scope for the
gratification of political ambition. -
This is not the place in which to enter upon a disquisi-
tion as to the comparative value of public work of a non-
partisan character, and of that which is done within strict
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 333
party limits. Playfair's life is itself a sufficient vindication
of the importance and value of the services which can be
rendered to the community and to the world by a public
man who stands outside the narrow limits of mere par-
tisanship ; but it is not to be denied that a man who,
conscious of his own ability, seeks to become a distinct
power in the Senate, is more likely to attain his object by
throwing himself unreservedly into the arms of a party,
than by confining himself to that class of work which lies
outside the region of party conflicts.
Playfair would unquestionably have received a Cabinet
appointment but for the disadvantage under which he
laboured as member for a University in which a
majority of the voters were Tories. As the Parliament
of 1880 drew to a close, he found himself being gradually
emancipated from the bonds that had hitherto fettered
him ; and whilst he continued to take a special interest in
those questions of education and of scientific inquiry which
had always absorbed so large an amount of his time and
thought, he did not neglect those purely political topics
which were the subject of party controversies. A great
convulsion, which was destined to bring about something
like a revolution in the condition of parties in the House of
Commons, was approaching, whilst Mr Gladstone's Ministry
of 1880 was slowly drawing near to its appointed end.
This is not the place in which to tell the history of the
Home Rule movement, nor indeed can that history as yet
be told to its end. When Mr Gladstone, breaking away
from the policy of a lifetime, boldly resolved to attempt to
settle the great question of Ireland in the interests of the
United Kingdom as a whole, he drew with him on his
perilous and difficult path many men of eminence and high
principle, though he had to part from some of those who
had been his most faithful colleagues and followers in his
previous career. Playfair was one of the men who, in that
334 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
great crisis, stood by Mr Gladstone. The very fact
that he had occupied a position of quasi-independence
strengthened the importance of his adhesion to the Glad-
stonian policy at a time when so many of the Liberal
leader's devoted personal adherents were falling from him.
The letters I shall presently quote will throw some light
upon this step on Playfair's part. But all who knew him
will need no evidence to convince them that it was a Step
taken under the pressure of strong conviction, and from
the highest of personal motives.
Many public duties occupied Playfair after his resignation
of the Chairmanship of Committees, but none was more
important than that which devolved upon him in connec-
tion with the Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. He
had come back to the body with which he had been
officially connected in his early career. He came back to
find that its affairs had become involved, that its finances
were embarrassed, and that its prospects were gloomy. He
set himself with characteristic resolution to the task of
setting the house of the Commission in order, and one of
the first steps which he took was that of becoming hono-
rary Secretary. It was a post of great labour, and of great
responsibility, but there was no one better qualified for it
than the man who, in 1851, had been one of the ablest
instruments of the Prince Consort in carrying out the
beneficent scheme of that year.
CUMBERLAND LODGE,
H.R.H. Prince Christian to Playfair. March 26th, 1884.
DEAR SIR LYON PLAYFAIR,--I have received your
interesting statement with resumé of the position of
affairs of the Commissioners of 1851. Having read that
statement, it seems to me that there can be no doubt
that it will be impossible for us to secure the services of a
paid Secretary. The question remains, therefore, whether
you will be able—if you should be inclined—to undertake
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 335
for another year the duties of an honorary secretary. I feel
that it is hardly fair to ask you to do so, or to sacrifice so
much of your valuable time for the sake of extricating Her
Majesty's Commissioners out of their difficulties. At the
Same time, I venture to express the hope that you may be
able to carry on the business of an honorary Secretary for
another year, as I do not know how we shall get on in the
present state of affairs without your valuable assistance. I
have sent your letter to Mr Knollys, and asked him to lay
it before the Prince of Wales as soon as he returns.
Believe me,
Yours sincerely, -
CHRISTIAN V. HOLSTEIN.
The post which Playfair had accepted of honorary
secretary he retained for several years afterwards, and the
reader will presently have an opportunity of seeing how
great was the work which he accomplished in that
Capacity.
Among the measures contemplated by the Government
of Mr Gladstone in the Session of 1885 was one for
creating a Minister for Scotland. Playfair held strong
views as to the duties which such a Minister ought to
discharge. He was not personally favourable to the
creation of this office, but he was clear in his own mind
as to the functions which ought to be exercised by its
holder. -
SOUTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to Mr Gladstone. December 8th, 1884.
DEAR MR GLADSTONE,--I am anxious to put before
you some points regarding the Bill which will come before
us next Session, creating a Minister for Scotland.
(1) If a Scotch Minister had merely Home Office work
to perform, the natural thing would be that the Lord
Advocate should look after his work in the House of
Commons, and that the Scotch Minister should generally
be in the House of Lords.
336 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
(2) But the Scotch municipalities wish to re-organise the
office, and feel that the Minister would have small func-
tions as a Home Minister. They therefore desire to attach
Scotch Education to his office. No such desire has been
shown by the School Boards. This combination would
completely alter the nature of the Minister. He would
then be chiefly Scotch Minister of Education with Home
Office duties attached.
(3) In this altered position the Minister must not
generally be in the House of Lords. You could not put
the education of the people in charge of a Minister not in
the House of the people. The Lord Advocate could not
be his proper representative in the lower House, for he
would have the functions of Attorney-General in England.
(4) Education in Scotland is the essential source of pros-
perity in a country which has scarcely any natural sources
of wealth. The junction, therefore, of education with
Home Office duties would entirely alter the conception of
a new Scotch Minister. The Prime Minister, who selects
for the office, would have to bear in mind the educational
qualifications of his Minister as much as if he were appoint-
ing a Vice-President of the Council.
(5) I have never been in favour of a Scotch Minister,
but if he is to be appointed, his function should be wide
enough to justify his appointment, and in this point of view
there are arguments for giving him the charge of Scotch
education.
(6) But I think this would be a disastrous combination
for Scotland, unless he were a House of Commons Minister,
able to watch over the education of the Scotch people.
(7) This will be all the more necessary, because if you
sever English from Scotch education (a policy of which I
entirely disapprove), the differences between the two will
raise many enemies in the House to the peculiarities of
Scotch education established in relation to the higher sub-
jects taught under the elementary grant. Unless, therefore,
you have the Minister in the House of Commons, Scotch
education, instead of gaining, will be materially deteriorated.
I wish, with these convictions, merely to point out that the
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 337
proposed combination of education with Home Office
duties in the new Ministry profoundly alters its original
Conception, and must be borne in mind in any Bill which
the Government intends to bring forward.
As 1885 advanced, it became clear that the Ministry was
not likely to survive the Session, but before the final catas-
trophe which led to Mr Gladstone's defeat and the
accession of Lord Salisbury as Prime Minister took place,
Playfair's views, set forth in the foregoing letter, upon
the appointment of a Minister for Scotland had led to a
Crisis in his own affairs.
SOUTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. May 20th, 1885.
I write to tell you that I have finally broken off with
my constituency of the Universities, and have formally
announced that I will not seek for re-election. My reason
for this is that the Government has introduced a Bill for
separating Scotch and English education, and putting the
former in the hands of a “Scotch Secretary" about to be
created. This I highly disapprove, as I think it will be
ruinous to Scotch education. But as many of my Liberal
supporters approve of this step, it is clear that I cannot
stand for a University when the Liberal voters are not
united on an educational question. No doubt I shall be
much censured for this step, but I do not feel bound to
stand for a constituency that gives me a contest every time
after seventeen years' service, when no other Universities
disturb their members if they do their duty. I am already
offered several seats, but I shall bide my time, and only
take one which will both be safe and less expensive than
that which forced a contest upon me at each election.
Leeds and Dundee both wish to have me, and are nego-
tiating with me. There are plenty of towns looking for
candidates, so I do not intend being hasty, as it would not
break my heart if I did not get into Parliament again; but
this I do not think is likely. The old University members
W
338 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
are much distressed, as they think my practical expulsion
from my seat will sound the knell for University representa-
tion. I hope it will not have this effect.
No sooner did it become known that Playfair had
finally resolved to retire from the representation of Edin-
burgh, than he was overwhelmed with applications from
constituencies in different parts of the country, anxious to
secure him as their representative. His choice for some
time, as the foregoing letter indicates, fluctuated between
Leeds, Dundee, and Birmingham, but eventually he decided
in favour of the first place; and in the autumn of 1885
was formally accepted as the Liberal candidate for South
Leeds. The constituency represented the most Radical
element of a Radical borough. South Leeds is inhabited
almost entirely by working men, the artisans employed in
the great engineering shops, and their foremen and over-
lookers, most of whom have themselves risen from the
ranks. It would, in short, be difficult to find anywhere in
the country a more democratic constituency than South
Leeds. But democratic and advanced in opinion as it is, it
represents the best elements in the working classes. The
voters are a hard-headed and intelligent lot, and they
are capable of appreciating Superior intellectual qualities
whenever and wherever they meet with them.
There could hardly have been a greater contrast between
any two constituencies than that which existed between
South Leeds and the Universities of Edinburgh and St.
Andrews. Many of Playfair's friends felt somewhat dubious
as to the wisdom of the choice he had made when he
resolved to fight South Leeds as a Liberal candidate; but
never were doubts more brilliantly dispelled than by the
result of this experiment. No sooner had Playfair appeared
among the electors of South Leeds than he won from them
an almost enthusiastic appreciation, which quickly developed
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 339
into a feeling of warm confidence and affection. They
recognised his wide knowledge, his experience, his great
capacity for work; they rejoiced in his power of lucid
exposition, in the homely arguments and illustrations by
means of which he enforced his views; above all, they
valued the sobriety and seriousness with which he dis-
cussed with them the great questions of the day. Clap-
trap was something that was hateful to Playfair through-
out his life; and playful and gay as was his spirit in his
moments of relaxation, he never allowed himself to be
flippant or shallow when dealing in public with public
affairs. He made it his business when about to address a
meeting of working men in Hunslet (the district of Leeds
which constitutes the Parliamentary division of South
Leeds) to prepare himself as thoroughly for the duty as
though he had to appear before a company of philosophers
in Edinburgh or Albemarle Street. 4.
Nor was this all. Whilst he took full advantage of the
freedom he had now secured in order to give expression to
those political opinions which he had firmly held through-
out his life, he did not forget those less contentious ques-
tions which had absorbed so many of the years of his man-
hood. He spoke out with clearness and freedom on the
political topics of the day, and left his auditors in no doubt
as to the robustness of his political creed. But from time
to time he diverted their attention from the burning topics
of the hour in order to address them upon such questions
as the future of English industry, the need for technical
instruction of the English working men, and the economic
doctrines upon which our commercial prosperity depends.
To an outsider, accustomed to the ordinary course of a
contested election in this country, it might have seemed
that Playfair was making a great mistake when, instead of
treating the working men of South Leeds to the flowing
rhetoric and easy platitudes of the ordinary politician, he
34O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
called them together in order that they might listen to
closely reasoned arguments, crammed full of facts and
figures, on such questions as those I have named. Yet the
end justified the means, and from personal observation I
can testify that in the fierce electoral struggle of 1885
there were no meetings more densely crowded or more
appreciative and enthusiastic in all the wide county of
Yorkshire than those which Lyon Playfair addressed in the
Mechanics' Institution and similar buildings in the manu-
facturing district of Hunslet.
This, it should be borne in mind, was the first occasion
on which the redistribution of seats that followed the
passing of the County Suffrage Bill was carried into effect.
South Leeds was thus, to all intents and purposes, a new
Constituency. It was no longer a mere section of the
great constituency of the united borough of Leeds. It
had entered upon a new political life. Its candidate, soon
to become its member, was in the same condition. He,
too, had entered upon a new political life. No more
interesting election took place in England during that year
of 1885. It was not by any means a typical election.
The reader has seen how small a degree Lyon Playfair had
in him of the arts and practices of the ordinary candidate.
There was something quaintin the spectacle which this man
of years and learning presented when he stood up to appeal
to a great working-class constituency, and sought to win
their sympathies by instructing them upon topics which
even in cultured Society are regarded as too grave and
serious to be tolerated unnecessarily. Yet, as I have said,
the experiment succeeded. Playfair had found a con-
stituency which suited him admirably, which he could
influence and control as effectually as if he had been one of
the born masters of oratory; and South Leeds had found a
member whom it regarded with mingled pride and affection,
and in whom it reposed a confidence which it never with-
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 34 I
drew from him during the remainder of his life. To many
of us it seems a pity that Playfair was not permitted to
enter upon this phase of his public life at an earlier stage.
If he had done so, his career might have been still more
remarkable than it was.
The struggle of 1885 was a severe one in Leeds as else-
where. In the towns, the verdict given was adverse to the
Liberal party, and if it had not been for the way in which
the newly enfranchised voters in the counties rallied to the
standard of Mr Gladstone, an overwhelming defeat would
have been incurred. In Leeds, as in most of the great
towns, the Liberal party received a severe check. Three
of the five seats were won by Conservative candidates; but
in South Leeds Playfair achieved a brilliant victory, and
had a majority of 2,339 votes over his opponent. Those
who were present in the Leeds Town Hall on the night of
the election can still remember the calmness and dignity
with which Playfair received the announcement of this
signal victory. It was his first battle in the open, the first
occasion on which he had taken part as one of the princi-
pals in an appeal to a popular constituency. Most men
would have been excited and elated by the victory he had
achieved ; but Playfair was calm and collected, and his first
thought was not for himself but for those comrades in the
fight who had been less successful. One of these, as it
happened, was an eminent scientific man, an old friend of
his own. This gentleman, Professor Rücker, had stood in
the Liberal interest for North Leeds, and had been defeated
by a narrow majority. The present writer remembers the
warm, almost tender, sympathy which was shown by
Playfair to Professor Rücker, and the coolness and sound
judgment with which he forecast the result of the General
Election as a whole. His own personal victory, highly as
he esteemed it, did not for a moment blind his eyes to the
fact that the tide of battle was turning against his party, or
342 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
blunt his sympathies with those who had been less
fortunate than himself. -
Not many days had elapsed after the close of the General
Election, when the country was startled by the news of Mr
Gladstone's conversion to Home Rule. It is only neces-
sary here to note a small incident which associates Playfair
indirectly with the promulgation of this news. No man
knew more accurately than he did all that was passing
behind the scenes in different political circles. He was
quick to observe, in December, 1885, certain movements
among the leaders of the Radical section of the Liberal
party, which seemed to him to portend something out of
the common. He made it his business to ascertain what
had passed at certain mysterious conferences between Mr
Chamberlain and some of his political associates; and it
was the communication of the knowledge he acquired on
this subject that led directly to the publication of the
statement in the newspapers commonly called at the time
“The Hawarden Kite.” This statement was the first
intimation given to the public of Mr Gladstone's changed
position with regard to Home Rule.
When the new Ministry was formed, under the presi-
dency of Mr Gladstone, Playfair was offered the post of
Vice-President of the Council—the position being in reality
that of Minister of Education. It seems strange that he
should have had to wait so long for a post for which he was
so eminently qualified. Years before, his friends had con-
gratulated him upon a rumour of his appointment to this
office. The rumour was false, but the readiness with which
it was accepted among members of all parties afforded
evidence of the fact that public opinion had already pointed
him out as the ideal Minister of Education. After all these
years of waiting and of work, the prize which had once
seemed so desirable was placed within his grasp. But the
times were changed, and it was with unfeigned reluctance
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 343
that Playfair now consented, under the strong personal
pressure of Mr Gladstone, and of his old friend, Lord
Granville, to accept the post of Vice-President of the
Council. He realised clearly that the Ministry, of which
he thus became a member, was destined to have a short
and stormy life. Convinced that the Irish question had
reached a stage in which justice demanded that a large
measure of concession should be made to the views of the
Irish people, he was earnest and loyal in his support of
the general policy of Mr Gladstone. But he cherished
no illusions. The sobriety of judgment and keenness of
apprehension which always distinguished him in his
dealings with public affairs did not desert him now ; and
he realised that the Parliament of 1885 could never settle
the Home Rule question. Nor was he blind to the fact
that those who entered the Ministry of Mr Gladstone had
to confront difficulties such as no previous Government of
modern times had been called upon to face. Yet, under
the pressure which was put upon him, and with a loyal
obedience to the voice of duty, he accepted the office of
Vice-President, and went sturdily to work, as was his wont,
to Snatch some good for the public from the stormy sea of
political controversy.
The six months' Parliament of 1885 did little that was
remarkable beyond shattering itself upon the rock of Home
Rule. But one imoortant Bill at least became law during
its brief existence. This was the Bill for the organisation
of the medical profession, which Playfair succeeded in
carrying as Vice-President of the Council. Looking back,
it seems strange that any measure could have been passed
during that time of indescribable political tumult and
agitation. But it was no surprise to his friends that,
if such a success were to be attained, the man who
attained it was Playfair.
344 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—XI.
1884 to 1886.
IN the spring of 1884 the University of Edinburgh held
its tercentenary. This was the best celebration of its
kind which I have ever attended, and I have taken part in
similar demonstrations in Emmanuel College, Cambridge,
and at Harvard University, Massachusetts. Eminent men
of science, literary men and jurists, came from all parts of
the world and formed a gallant array in their academic
robes, varying in colour from canary yellow and light blue
to the sober black of our Scotch robes. There were three
days of festivity during which there was ample opportunity
of showing any defects in the organisation of the proceed-
ings, but none were manifest. The students behaved
with perfect decorum, which was a new feature in their
gatherings.
There was some difficulty in getting a Royal recognition
of this celebration on the part of the Queen, on account
of her strong objection to vivisection, which she believed
was carried on by the medical faculty of the University.
The original charter of James VI. of Scotland (James I. of
England) directed that the Edinburgh University should be
called “our University,” and as such should be specially
recognised by the King and his successor. I wrote to the
Queen's Secretary to this effect, and ventured to suggest
that Her Majesty should send a message of welcome to the
distinguished foreign savants gathered together to celebrate
the tercentenary of her University. The Queen in reply
said that she would gladly do so if I could assure her that
no experiments on living animals were carried on within its
precincts. It was easy to explain that we were celebrating
the foundation of the University, not that of the Medical
College, which was not even in contemplation when the
former was founded. But the explanation was not deemed
to be satisfactory, and, on the chief day of the celebration,
the Queen started from London to Coburg without any
recognition of the celebration from Her Majesty being sent
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 345
to the Chancellor. During the whole day I received tele-
grams from different parts of the Royal journey, asking
for further explanations, which were sent by telegram in
advance of the journey, and ultimately the Royal welcome
was read at the great banquet in the afternoon. The Prince
of Wales, to whom I had also written, remembered that
he had been a student, and was then a graduate, of the
University, and sent warm congratulations.
While on this subject it may be stated that two years
later (1886) I attended, as delegate from the Edinburgh
University, the celebration of the 150th year of Harvard
University, which has done such signal service for higher
education in America. The exercises on this occasion were
simple and impressive, but without the splendour of the
Edinburgh celebration. I had the pleasure to receive the
degree of LL.D., which made my sixth doctorate. The
admirable decorum of the Harvard students struck me as
much superior to that of English and Scotch students.
In the year 1884 the British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science met at Montreal under the presidency of
Lord Rayleigh. The occasion was important, as it was
the first time that the meeting was held beyond the seas.
The charter of the Association uses designedly the words
“British Empire.” Science is catholic, and embraces the
universe, but British science has a wide extension to
colonies and dependencies covering 8% million square
miles, inhabited by 300 millions of people. This was
the first attempt to federate science. Canada had a
just claim to invite the British Association to meet at
Montreal. There has been an active study of science in
Canada. The Geological Survey, under the direction of
Sir William Logan, had done excellent work. He was no
longer alive, though his memory was bright to many of us.
Logan came frequently to England, and co-operated with
our scientific bodies. I think it was in 1855 that he came
over to the French Exhibition in charge of a splendid
collection of the mineral resources of Canada. It occurred
to me that this would be a fitting occasion to recognise
colonial science by conferring upon him a Royal honour,
346 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
and accordingly I wrote to the Prince Consort asking him
to move the Queen to confer a knighthood on Logan, and
this was graciously bestowed.
This was the first occasion on which colonial science
received an honorary recognition. The people of Montreal
subscribed for a commemorative piece of plate to celebrate
the honour, and entrusted me with its execution. The
plate was decorated with fossil flora and fossils discovered
by Canadian geologists. A whole generation had passed
since that event, and successors to Sir William Logan still
laboured in illustrating the geology of Canada. Sir William
Dawson and Mr Sterry Hunt were no mean representa-
tives of that science at the Canadian meeting. I recollect
that an important fact in science was communicated to
the President of the Natural History section in an amusing
way. He, with his wife, had been travelling by the
Canadian Pacific Railway, and returned in time for the
meeting at Montreal. Here he found telegrams from
England awaiting his arrival, announcing the serious ill-
ness of his son. He telegraphed for the latest news, and a
return message was put into his hands, which he gave to his
wife that she might have the first pleasure of assurance
that her son was better. She opened it and read: “The
Duck-billed Platypus is oviparous” This was telegraphed
from Australia by an investigator, who had been sent to
that country by the Royal Society in order to study the
habits of the Ornithorhyncus paradoxicus. At that time I
was President-Elect of the Association for 1885, and to
show our appreciation of Canadian science, Sir William
Dawson was elected President for 1886, when the meeting
was to be held at Aberdeen. This federation of science
should be extended to all the Anglo-Saxon countries of the
world. Our great men are their great men. In literature,
Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, and Tennyson ; in science,
Newton, Dalton, Faraday, and Darwin, belong to them
as much as to us. A common possession and mutual
sympathy should induce international gatherings of
the investigators and promoters of science among the
great Anglo-Saxon nations of the world. Before leaving
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 347
Montreal the McGill University gave some of us a
pleasing memorial of our visit by conferring upon us the
degree of LL.D. .
In 1885 the British Association met at Aberdeen in
September, when I acted as President for the year. It
had met in that city in 1859 under the presidency of the
Prince Consort, who then gave one of his admirable
addresses on the relations of science to the State. This
was made the subject of my address, with the advantage
that science was now generally acknowledged as a hand-
maid of the State, its objects and purposes being far wider
than those of statecraft. The meeting at Aberdeen was
successful and enjoyable. The President has the least
enjoyment of a meeting of this kind, because his duties
occupy every moment of his time. During the week the
Queen invited Lord Rayleigh (the President at Montreal)
and myself to pay a visit to Balmoral. We arrived shortly
before dinner, and found, in addition to the Queen and
Royal Family, my old friend, Sir Stafford Northcote (after-
wards Lord Iddesleigh), as Minister in attendance. After
dinner the Queen spoke to me chiefly about the Prince
Consort and his interest in science, but she did not intimate
any desire to renew the conversation on the following day.
Accordingly, as our presence was necessary in Aberdeen,
Lord Rayleigh and I left the castle at six in the morning
on our return to the duties of the Association. At eleven
the Queen sent for us to attend at her rooms, and was
astonished to find that we had departed, as she had
intended to present us with copies of the various works
which she has written on her Highland home. However,
two days later the Queen sent Mr. Profeit, her land
agent, to Tillypronie, the seat of Sir John Clark, which is
about twenty miles from Balmoral, with whom I was
then staying, and the prized volumes were delivered,
each volume being inscribed with our names and with
the Queen's signature.
The meeting in Aberdeen will be long remembered, by
those who attended it, for its pleasant hospitality. The
neighbourhood of Haddo House, where Lord and Lady
348 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Aberdeen are such genial hosts, was used for both private
and public hospitality. It was too distant for me to live at
Haddo House, as I had to perform my duties as President,
but we spent some days there. Our hosts in Aberdeen
were Lord Provost Matthews and Mrs Matthews, and we
could not have been better entertained.
My wife and I took the opportunity of being in Scot-
land to pay many long-promised visits among our friends.
Our headquarters were with our friends Mr and Mrs Lyell
(now Sir Leonard and Lady Lyell), of Kinnordy, the
former seat of Sir Charles Lyell, the founder of modern
geology. Lord and Lady Strathmore showed us the hos-
pitalities of Glamis Castle. It was a delight to me, under
the guidance of Lady Strathmore, to visit all the haunts
about the estate which were dear to me nearly fifty years
ago as a boy, when I spent my vacations with my uncle,
Dr Lyon, the minister of Glamis." Another friend, the
Dowager Countess of Airlie, who then lived at Cortachy
Castle, though she now lives “at the bonny house of
Airlie,” added to our enjoyment by her hospitality in both
houses. Lady Airlie is often mentioned in the Memoirs of
the Carlyles. She is a woman of much culture and charm-
ing manner. To my wife she has been long a devoted
friend. The late Lord Airlie died in the United States,
which he frequently visited, as members of his family
resided there. When we could we made arrangements to
cross the Atlantic together, and I have always regretted
that we were not companions in his last illness.
There was a General Election in the autumn of the year
1885. Ever since 1868 I had been the Parliamentary
representative of the Universities of Edinburgh and St.
Andrews. I had to fight for my seat at each election, and
the cost of the contests, always very heavy, was making
serious encroachments on my modest fortune. This fact
made me desirous to give up my seat. There was
another fact which rendered this inevitable. All University
seats are essentially Tory. I had represented the two
Scotch Universities for a long period, as a Liberal, partly
See ante, p. 32.
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 349
because I was intimate with the needs of my constituents,
but chiefly on account of the excellent relations which
always subsisted between me and my past pupils. When
they graduated and became University voters, they still
supported their old professor, regardless of his politics. In
the course of seventeen years a new race of students
had arisen, and they exercised a preponderance of voting
power which eliminated the personal part of the equation
in my favour.
I therefore felt that my chances of re-election in
1885 were hopeless, and declined to fight the seat
again. Having been a representative of Universities
for so many years, no popular constituency was likely
to ask for my services, so I believed that my Parlia-
mentary life had come to an end, and we departed to
spend some months on the Continent. We had not got
further, than Paris when we were re-called, as no less than
thirteen large towns in different parts of England, Scotland
and Ireland offered to make me their representative. For
some time. I hesitated between Birmingham and Leeds,
both of which towns sent influential deputations to London
to offer me liberal support. Ultimately I fixed on the
South division of Leeds, which was a manufacturing con-
stituency of highly intelligent artisans. I feared that my
academic style of speaking would be unsuited to popular
gatherings, but it appeared that my constituents had made
their selection because I attended to subjects of social
welfare, such as public health, education, labour and trade,
and they preferred that their member should represent
them on these subjects rather than as a combative
party politician, for which I never was suited by nature.
The Tories started an opposition, but after a hard,
though fair contest, I was elected by the large majority
of 2,339 votes.
In the Parliament of 1886 Mr Gladstone appointed me
to the office of Vice-President of the Council, practically
the Minister of Education in the House of Commons,
though he has miscellaneous duties to perform. There
was little movement in education during this year, and my
350 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
chief work consisted in carrying through a Bill for the
reform of the medical profession. Already between twenty
and thirty Bills had been brought forward for this purpose,
though all of them had been defeated by the jealousies of
the numerous licensing medical examining boards. Nobody
seemed to believe that my Bill would be more successful
than its predecessors. It gave direct representation to the
great body of medical practitioners upon the General
Medical Council, and it abolished all partial licenses,
making every medical man in future obliged to pass
examination in the three subjects of medicine, surgery, and
midwifery. By adequate firmness, combined with a spirit
of conciliation, the Bill was steered through both Houses
without a single amendment on its main principles, and
by becoming law it settled the angry controversies of the
medical profession.
In July, 1886, there was a General Election, owing to the
failure of Mr Gladstone's Home Rule Bill for Ireland.
Again I was returned for South Leeds, by the diminished
majority of 1,741. A Parliament met in which a new Tory
Government, under Lord Salisbury, was kept in power for
six years by Liberal Unionists. This new Government
Soon forgot its promises at the General Election that a
Coercion Bill was unnecessary for the government of
Ireland. A Coercion Act of much severity was passed,
and made perpetual. It was administered by Arthur
Balfour with ability, though it was followed by the im-
prisonment of Irish members under circumstances of
humiliation which roused the anger of the country, and
ultimately led to its disuse. As Liberal Unionists were
supporters of the Government and determined their
majority, various Liberal measures, such as free education,
local government for Great Britain, and allotments of land
to the poor, were passed during the six years of Tory
Administration. They were naturally Liberal measures
daubed with Tory paint, and will give a future Liberal
Government much trouble to rub off the paint and present
them to the country in a more Liberal form.
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 35I
Alayſair to his Son. HoTEL Live RPool, PARIs, May 31st, 1885.
MY DEAR GEORGE,-. . . I do not know whether you
have noticed that I have given up my seat for the Uni-
versities. I felt the absence of active support, and did not
care, under the circumstances, to spend my whole time in
fighting for a seat that I was not likely to win. If they felt
me indispensable to victory, I ought to have received more
Support, and a contribution to my expenses. Since my
letter of resignation appeared, I have been much gratified
by finding myself so much in request. I have received
already invitations to represent Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield,
Birmingham, Dundee, Paddington, Aberdeen, and Lanark-
shire. Most likely I shall accept Birmingham as the most
important town. I had nearly fixed on Leeds, but the
Liberal Association has not fulfilled two of my conditions:
(I) unanimity in nomination ; (2) invitation from the two
hundred selected Liberals. I therefore wrote at once to
Say I was quite free, and by next post Birmingham came
in competition. Bright, Chamberlain, Broadhurst, and
Schnadhorst are the other Liberal candidates there. The
Committee wrote to me that they knew I was not a keen
party politician, but that they selected me in honour of my
efforts to mitigate the ills and to promote the well-being
of the people by long labours in social reform. This is
exactly the position which I occupy in the Universities,
and its recognition by a large city like Radical Birmingham
is a compliment which I much appreciate. By the time
you receive this letter, you will probably see in the papers
whether I have definitely settled with Birmingham.
As the reader already knows, it was not Birmingham
which in the end secured Playfair as candidate. The South
Leeds Liberals complied with his conditions, and he
forthwith accepted the candidature which they had pressed
upon him. -
Playfair's correspondence with Mr Russell during 1885
and 1886 adds something to the story told in his Auto-
biography.
352 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
SOUTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. December 5th, 1885.
Your watch arrived safely, and has been much admired
by us all. I shall value it exceedingly. We are getting the
arms and monogram engraved on it, and inside, “To Lyon
Playfair, from S. H. and Louisa Russell, 1885.” It will be
to me a precious memorial of the affection which both of
you have given to me. I am about to get some more
copies of my address, and will send you a small packet of
them. We are in a thorough fix as to our political position.
The Liberals are progressing firmly, but are only recovering
their losses in the towns by the new voters in the counties.
Still, we cannot expect more than seventy or eighty majority
over the Tories. If we get the last number we should still
be five under the Tories and Parnellites combined ; and this
makes Parnell master of the situation. Gladstone is much
excited, and wishes to form a Government. This is, I
think, a great mistake, for Chamberlain and the Radicals
are not in an accommodating spirit. It would be better to
remain in opposition, and let the Tories disgrace themselves
by the alliance, and then go back to the country in another
year for a new election. In any case the political situation
is most critical. Some sort of Home Rule will have to be
given to the Irish, but in their present temper they will
accept none compatible with Imperial interests.
Same to the same. SouTH KENSINGTON, january 27th, 1886.
Gladstone is again busy to-day, no doubt forming his
Ministry. I do not think he appreciates me, or perhaps
he measures me better than the House generally does. I
doubt whether he will offer me office, and I am not inclined,
if he does, to accept office, unless I were tempted by
the Post Office, which I really like as work. But before
this reaches you the telegraph will tell you all about the
results of the change of Ministry.
Same to the same. ATHENAEUM CLUB, February 4th, 1886.
You will have heard to-day that I am Vice-President of
the Privy Council. I was offered it yesterday but declined
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. 353
it. I met Mr Gladstone at dinner at Marlborough House,
and he told me how deeply he was grieved, and entreated
me to reconsider my refusal. Lord Granville and Lord
Spencer pressed me also very strongly. To-day I Saw Mr
Gladstone, and was received first by Mrs Gladstone. She
told me that he was very poorly, and that I was the cause,
for he was quite upset by my refusal. The G.O.M. then
expressed his disappointment. He said that he knew I
was in sympathy with him, and could not understand my
reasons for refusing to join him ; that as I had taken little
interest in party politics he could not put me in the
Cabinet, but that anyone who stood by him in his emer-
gency had a right to look to that soon. Of course I had to
yield, and so I am Minister. I made the condition that I
should have a free hand in debate.
WINDSOR HOTEL, NEW YORK,
Playfair to Mr and Mrs Russell. November IIth, 1886.
MY DEAREST PATER ET MATER,-A bright day and
calm sea give us promise of a fair start, though we both
leave America with heavy hearts. You both have been so
Supremely kind during our stay with you that we must
have hearts of stone if we left you without great regret. I
have enjoyed every moment of my time during my stay,
and never felt even the sensation of dulness in quiet Nahant.
You have adopted me so completely into your family that
I feel as if I were leaving home for a strange country.
When we reach home many duties will occupy both of us,
though they will not exclude our thoughts of you.
Ever yours lovingly,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE AND INTERNATIONAL
ARBITRATION.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY: The Jubilee Service in Westminster Abbey: Progress of
the Nation during the Queen's Reign : Foreign Royalties: Represent-
ing England at the Centenary of the Declaration of American
Independence: A Memorial to President Cleveland in favour of
Arbitration: Opposing “Fair Trade” : A Plea for Technical
Education : The future Fiscal Policy of the United States. Legalising
the Sale of Margarine.
THE following chapter of Playfair's Reminiscences does
not call for much either in the way of introduction or of
supplement from his biographer. It deals almost exclu-
sively with the year 1887, with the Queen's Jubilee, which
was the great event in home affairs, and with Playfair's
visit to the United States in the autumn, when he was
enabled to take an important part in connection with the
movement in favour of a system of International Arbitra-
tion. About his own life at home during this year Playfair
is almost entirely silent. It was, however, a life of work.
The Jubilee celebrations laid a load of labour upon him in
his position as Deputy-Chairman of the Commissioners of
the Great Exhibition; whilst he was at the same time
actively employed on a Royal Commission which had been
appointed to inquire into the state of our endowed schools.
His Parliamentary duties, though not at this time severe,
were faithfully performed. He kept up his close connec-
tion with his constituents in South Leeds, and was as
active as ever in promoting the cause of scientific and
technical education in different parts of the country. In
the early part of the year, Mr Stanhope, the Secretary of
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE. 355
State for War, invited him to preside over a small depart-
mental Committee which was to be appointed to inquire
into the alleged deficiencies in the cutlasses supplied on
board our men-of-war. It seemed a curious subject upon
which to enlist the assistance of Playfair; but the very fact
that he was asked to undertake this minor though not
unimportant task bespeaks the position which he had
gained in Parliament as a general referee on all questions
connected, however remotely, with science. For once
Playfair was unable to comply with a request of this kind :
and he declined to take part in this cutlass inquiry on the
sufficient ground that he was already engaged in a much
more laborious inquiry instituted by the State, and that
his spare time was absolutely limited.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—XII.
1887.
TUESDAY, the 21st of June, 1887, will be long remembered
as the Jubilee of the Queen, who ascended the throne in
1837. The ceremonial of thanksgiving was held in West-
minster Abbey, which had been elaborately prepared for
the occasion. The sum of £17,000 had been voted by the
House of Commons for the purpose, and certainly was well
and economically expended. There was no jarring effect
by the galleries and the upholstery upon the venerable and
impressive character of the Abbey. Every available space
was filled, the galleries almost touching the roof; but when
filled by persons in uniform, military, naval, civic and
diplomatic, and by ladies in semi-state dresses, the picture
was one of great beauty. To do honour to the Queen
there were four Kings—viz. those of Belgium, Saxony,
Greece, and Denmark; two Queens, one of Belgium, one
from the Sandwich Islands. The choir, transepts and
sacrarium were occupied by princes, members of the two
Houses in Court dresses, judges in their scarlet robes,
356 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
diplomatists covered with orders, and a general public in its
best attire, forming a resplendent ten thousand. The dais
was placed under the lantern, and was carpeted with crim-
son cloth ornamented with the Cross of the Bath. In the
middle of this was the Coronation chair, covering the old
gray stone brought from Scotland, upon which so many
monarchs have been crowned. That, however, was con-
cealed by cloth of gold thrown over it. When the Queen's
procession came in, headed by the clergy in their gorgeous
copes made in the time of Charles I., and only worn at
great State ceremonies, the scene was most imposing. The
foreign kings and princes sat facing the throne, while the
Royal princes related to the Queen either by descent or
marriage stood on her right and the princesses on her left.
My seat, as a Privy Councillor, was the second row next
to the dais, so that I had an excellent place from which
to witness the ceremony. Among the princesses, the
Princess of Wales, exquisitely dressed in white, eclipsed
all others by her grace and beauty. The Queen was
visibly moved. The musical part of the religious service
began with the Te Deum Laudamus of the late Prince
Consort. This had been naturally selected by the Queen,
though much doubt was felt as to whether it was suited
for such an important occasion. It was originally written
for soli, chorus and orchestra, but had been adapted to
organ and brass instruments. It is in the key of C, and
had a solemn, devotional, and impressive effect.
After the religious service had been completed a scene
very unusual in a church took place. The Prince or
Wales approached, bent low, and kissed the hand and then
the cheek of the Queen. Then the Imperial Prince of
Prussia and the Duke of Hesse, her sons-in-law, knelt and
kissed hands, but were not saluted on the cheek. All the
Royal Princes and Princesses followed in turn to receive
the double salute. The Queen then seemed to remember
that she had not shown this mark of favour to the Prince
of Prussia and the Duke of Hesse, who were recalled and
saluted on the cheek. The repetition of this gracious act
might seem to have a curious effect in a church, but it was
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE. 357
done with so much dignity that it simply appeared to be
a befitting act of love and recognition on both sides.
Beautiful as the Abbey was on this occasion, I fancy that
the state of the streets and houses in the line of procession
must have been still more interesting. To me the whole
celebrations of the day were full of memories. All the
sons and daughters of the Queen I had known as children,
and it was interesting to see her grandchildren nearly as
old as I was when I first knew their parents.
The Queen must have had many recollections of love,
sorrow, and pride in this day. Her kingdom is much more
advanced in well-being and in intellect than it was in 1837.
When I returned from the Abbey I tried to make com-
parisons of the advance in civilisation by taking several
subjects as indices of progress. My old scientific master,
Baron Liebig, used to say that progress was best shown by
the consumption of soap, inasmuch as cleanliness is next to
godliness. If that be a true index, progress has been small
in this country, for each head of the population consumed
73 lb. of Soap in 1837, and in 1887 it has only increased to
Io lb. per head. The price of rags is a truer measure of
civilisation, because, when converted into paper, it gives the
measure of intellectual diffusion. The comparison is very
favourable to the fifty years of the Queen's reign ; in 1837
Only Ił lb. of paper was consumed by each person in the
population, whereas now 12 lb. are consumed. Even as
regards other countries England stands at the head of this
index of civilisation in 1887:
The United Kingdom - - 12 lb.
United States - - - - Io ,
Germany - * - - - 9 2 3
France - - - - - 8 , ,
Italy - tº- - - - 4 × 2
Switzerland would stand high, but the figures are not
available. If further statistics are required in corroboration
of the intellectual advance, it may be mentioned that in
1837 each person of the population spent annually less
than two shillings per head on books and newspapers; now
nine shillings are spent. When the Queen ascended the
358 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
throne nine letters were posted by each individual : now
thirty-eight stand to the credit of each. It would be
absurd to ascribe the amelioration in the physical, moral,
and intellectual condition of the people to the immediate
action of the throne. The marvellous progress of science
and the abolition of class privileges have been the main
causes of improvement. The Queen has deserved the love
and gratitude of her people by her constitutional action
as a Sovereign, and by her concern for the welfare of her
subjects. The Court influences social life, and it is well
for the country that throughout her long reign she can
appropriate Tennyson's lines:–
“. . . . . thro' all this tract of years,
Wearing the white flower of a blameless life,
Before a thousand peering littlenesses,
In that fierce light which beats upon a throne.”
The Jubilee week did not pass over without the usual
jealousies and misunderstandings. The Queen certainly
did her part of the hospitalities without stint. Buckingham
Palace was filled to overflowing, and Buckingham
Palace Hotel had its sign taken down, and became a
dépendance of the Palace for the occasion. It was said
that one official in the Royal kitchens was so over-
whelmed with his work that he threw himself into the
Serpentine, but was fished out alive by the police.
Holkar, great as an Indian prince, found himself only
a Small prince in London. The only person who found
herself greater in England than in her own dominions
was the Queen of the Sandwich Islands. This potentate
refused a guard of Hussars, and said she would not leave
the hotel unless Life Guards were sent to her as a crowned
head, and she got her way. Another story was that the
actual kings struck, and refused to give their arms to the
Sable queen at the State balls, so the Duke of Edinburgh
and the Duke of Connaught had to discharge this duty.
It was surprising how well this island queen maintained
her royal dignity. I waited upon her majesty one evening,
and she received me and conversed through an interpreter
in excellent style.
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE. - 359
One of my most pleasant recollections of the Jubilee
week was an evening at the house of the Duc d'Aumale.
He had invited only six English friends in all, including my
wife and myself, but his house was full of the French and
Spanish princes who had come over to attend the Jubilee.
Among the most delightful of these was the Infanta Eulalia
of Spain, sister to the late king. She spoke English per-
fectly, as in fact do all the younger generation of Con-
tinental Royalties. The King and Queen of Portugal
were at the party, the latter being a daughter of the
Comte de Paris. We again met them on the following day,
when we dined with the Portuguese naval attaché, the
Count de Sena, at a banquet given to the King and Queen
of Portugal. Their Majesties were as agreeable as they
had been the previous evening. -
The Queen founded a Jubilee medal as a memorial
of her fifty years' reign, to be worn as a decoration. I
received one in memory of my relations with the Prince
Consort. * *
I had occasionally opportunities during my autumnal
visits to America to show my friendly feelings for the
people of the United States. In this year (1887) I found
occasion to forward an idea which I have long entertained,
that there should be an intimate union of heart and
interests between the English-speaking people throughout
the world, and more especially between England and the
United States. The centenary of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence was held at Philadelphia on the 17th September,
1887. It was celebrated with great rejoicings in the
presence of the President, the Governors of the States, and
about 25,000 troops sent to take part in the celebration.
The Centennial Commission, over which Mr Kasson pre-
sided, were desirous to have England represented at this
great festival, and they invited Mr Gladstone and Mr John
Bright, who both declined on account of their age and
occupations. Failing these great men, the Centennial
Commission invited me to take part in the ceremonies.
At first I declined, as I did not think myself of sufficient
importance to act as a representative of England, but when
360 MEMOIRS OF LYON PILAYFAIR.
I found that no other Englishman would be present to
answer for the sentiment of “England, our Mother
Country,” I yielded to a second pressing invitation, and
went to Philadelphia, where I was received with much
kindness as a guest of the Commission. The celebration
lasted three days, and was interesting throughout, but my
own part in it was limited to the last day, when the great
meeting and banquet were held. Behind the Hall, in
which the independence of the United States was declared,
and the Constitution framed with such consummate
wisdom, an immense platform had been built. President
Cleveland, supported by the chief officers of his Cabinet, by
the Governors of the States, by the judiciary and by the
invited guests, sat among a circle of people which made
this centennial celebration more remarkable than any that
can be held in future times. For on the platform around
the President were the grandsons of nearly all the men
who built the constitution and signed the famous charter.
When another centennial celebration comes round this
link between the past and the present will have
disappeared. Beyond the platform in the Square was an
immense concourse of people who patiently waited for the
conclusion of the orations, not one word of which could
have reached their ears. The whole surroundings made
the ceremony most impressive.
A little incident occurred as I left the platform which
showed the good temper prevailing among the crowd. As
I was trying to push my way through, an American
working man addressed me good-naturedly as “John Bull,”
and asked me to shake hands. “Well,” he said, “if our
two countries would only feel as friendly to each other as
I do to you as an Englishman, the peace of the world
would be preserved.” This gave me courage for my part
of the work of the day. The great banquet to celebrate
the event was held in the Academy of Music. The tables
were classified; thus there was a table for Governors, one
for Congress, one for Science, one for Senators, and so on.
My place was at the Science table, where I found my
University friends. The galleries were filled with ladies,
THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE. 36 I
conspicuous among whom was the beautiful and graceful
Mrs Cleveland, wife of the President. The acoustic
properties of the Hall, that night at least, were bad, and
few of the speeches were audible at my table. I felt, if I
spoke from my seat, not a word would be heard throughout
the Hall, so when the toast of England was about to be
proposed I went up to the Senators' table, at which I was
warmly welcomed, and spoke from that place. The toast
of “England, our Mother Home,” was proposed by the
Chairman, and most warmly received. I had been told
that it was a critical sentiment to answer, as there was a
good deal of irritation in regard to the Fisheries question,
and I had been advised to avoid all thorny points. If
there were any such feeling it was not manifested in the
slightest degree, for the whole of my speech was received
with the warmest acclamations.
Next day I received from Professor Pepper, the Chair-
man of the banquet, the following letter :—
“I am sorry that I did not have the chance of telling
you how delighted I was with what you said on Saturday
evening. It was the opportunity of the evening, I think,
and I am sure you took advantage of it. Everyone was
So greatly pleased with your speech.”
The speech itself was as follows:–
It is impossible for an Englishman to reply without emotion to a
toast such as this, or without mingled feelings of pride, humiliation
and confidence. With pride, because this celebration is the triumph
of the principles of political liberty, and of constitutional govern-
ment of a people by the people, in entire accord with the great
traditions which have made England the cradle of political liberty.
With humiliation, because England, in the reaction which followed
the Cromwellian revolution, and which lasted until the close of the
reign of George III., forgot many of its old traditions, and in its
relation to the American colonies tried to suppress, instead of to
foster, the growth of government by the people. With confidence,
because England and the United States now know that they are the
chief guardians of political liberty and constitutional government
throughout the world, and that they ought to be linked for evermore
by the bonds of friendship and kinsmanship.
On such an occasion as this you will not desire that I should refer
to the political blunders of England which led to the wars of
362 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
independence and of 1812. In our present mood you would rather
acknowledge the benefits which you have received from the mother
country in laying the foundations of constitutional government.
Your ancestors brought with them, as their most precious birthright,
the principles of constitutional liberty. The Magna Charta, the
Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of Rights and the common law are
your safeguards for liberty as they are our safeguards in England.
Cromwell was the political father of Washington, because both
were champions of individual and constitutional liberty, and they
both taught kings that government can only secure permanent
obedience when it consults the safety and happiness of the people.
The Acts which led to the outbreak at Lexington and the battle of
Bunker's Hill were in themselves not very oppressive, but they were
a continuation of slow and constant interference with the natural
growth of constitutional liberty. The whole country uprose after
the final Tea Party which was given to the British at Griffin's
Wharf in Boston, because the people knew, though they had scarcely
felt the tyranny, that the mere exposure to it was the destruction of
freedom.
For what avails the plough or sail,
Or land or life, if freedom fail
How I wish that either of those whom I am proud to call my
friends—William Gladstone or John Bright—were here to-day to
reply to the toast now given. I am only a humble Englishman,
half scientist, half politician, with no other claim to address you
than the fact that while I ardently love my own country, I warmly
love yours also. I speak in a city which framed the Declaration of
Independence and built the constitution. If Boston may claim the
credit of infusing fresh blood into the young commonwealth, it was
in Philadelphia that its brain was nurtured and matured.
The occasion of this celebration, the place and all its environ-
ments, inspire thoughts, but do not fit them for condensation into
an after-dinner speech. I shall say nothing more as to your war of
independence beyond this, that without it you would never have
become a great nation. Great nations must have a history, and
that war created history for you, and gave you illustrious traditions
and ancestors of your own to whom you can point with pride as
the founders of your fatherland.
This day we are celebrating your second, though peaceful revolu-
tion. It is true that the thirteen States had become a nation by a
loose confederation. But that nation, though of one promise, had
thirteen performances, and no nation has ever preserved its unity
with even two executives. It was therefore a veritable revolution
when the convention of 1787 framed that marvellous production of
human genius, political foresight and practical sagacity—the consti-
tution of the United States. Its first words: “We, the people of
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE. 363
the United States,” not “We, the States,” show the greatness of
the revolution. It was as if the people had instructed the conven-
tion in the words of Shakespeare: “We must have liberty withal,
as large a charter as the wind.”
The Anglo-Saxon spirit breathes through every word of the con-
stitution. Notwithstanding your boundless and continuous territory,
its framers recollected that great free nations only succeed when
they are composed of smaller States, because there is a longing
among men of our race for local independence as opposed to
centralisation. With what skill and wisdom were the execu-
tive powers given to the nation while all the essentials of local
government were reserved to the States. Ah, there were intellectual
giants in those days. When will you, or the lovers of liberty
throughout the world, ever forget the names of the master-builders
of the constitution—Washington, Hamilton, Sherman, Madison,
Pinckney and the aged Franklin P It does not lessen, but it
enhances the value of the constitution that the best parts of
English constitutional law are preserved in it, set like jewels in a
golden casket. Hamilton gloried in this fact at a later time. And
so the constitution, both in its inception and execution, even in your
last terrible struggle for unity, has remained the bright polar star of
liberty. When I think of it I feel inclined to exclaim, in the words
of Shakespeare: “How beauteous mankind is . . Oh, brave new
world that has such people in't.”
But in speaking of the object of this celebration, I have left but a
few moments to reply to the sentiment of the toast, “Our Mother
Country.” The people of the United States, as well as the people of
the United Kingdom, are the joint and common possessors of their
respective glories and traditions. Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon and
Locke, Burns, Scott and Moore are your great authors, as they are
ours. When I see their statues in your parks or museums I think it
quite as natural as when I see the monument of Longfellow in
Westminster Abbey. As you grow older in history our great
Walhalla in London will claim its right to possess a record and
share in the illustrious men born on this side of the Atlantic. Even
now, Emerson, Longfellow, Wendell Holmes and Whittier are the
cherished inmates of every cultivated English home. Hume and
Macaulay teach history to your schools, just as Prescott, Motley
and Parkman extend historical knowledge in England. Science has
no country, though its investigators have birthplaces. In Phila-
delphia I, as an ex-professor, cannot forget that one man, to whom
all my life I have given hero-worship, lived and laboured in this
city. In his old age he co-operated with Washington to humble
King George III. But before that he had actually swept out of the
universe a much more powerful prince. When Benjamin Franklin
drew down lightning from the clouds he freed religion from a
degrading superstition. Till then the “prince of the power of the
364 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR.
air" troubled the world with thunderstorms, and Popes blessed
bells and set them ringing to frighten the turbulent prince.
Franklin was more powerful than the Pope, for he knocked the
prince on the head. “Eripuit caelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis.”
Another of your great Americans, Benjamin Thompson (Count
Rumford), taught mankind the correlation of forces and founded
the Royal Institution in London, which has produced a Davy, a
Faraday, and a Tyndall. It was right that an Englishman should
found your great Smithsonian Institution at Washington.
Long may we cherish our common possessions and national
sympathies When America rejoices, England is glad. When you
mourn a great national calamity, we join in your grief. When
Lincoln and Garfield fell by the acts of assassins, the colours of
English ships all over the world were lowered “half mast” in
honour of their great names. At the death of your great general,
Grant, I felt I was with you in body and spirit when I, with some
thousand Englishmen, attended the solemn services at Westminster
Abbey in commemoration of his services to your country, and to the
cause of liberty throughout the world. When Ireland, unhappy
Ireland, suffered from famine, we do not forget that the United
States sent over a frigate laden with provisions for the starving
people. Your acts of sympathy with us in our joys and Sorrows
have been many. Let us continue to cherish our common glories
and past traditions, and never cease to aim at a community of
interests and pride in our national prosperity. It is no insignificant
evidence of the friendly feeling now existing between England and
the United States that a memorial signed by more than two hundred
Members of Parliament is about to be presented to the President,
urging that any political differences which may from time to time
arise between the two countries should in the last resort be settled
by arbitration. This memorial is the actual outcome of the work-
ing men of England, who have pressed it upon their representatives.
I know that I have been far too long, but you will forgive me,
because the toast unites two great nations in one sentiment. The
small islands in the northern seas, from which your ancestors came
to found this great nation, even now contain only 36,000,000
of people, while already you have 60,000,ooo, and have in your vast
continent an immense potentiality of growth. We know that you
must become our big brother, and we ask you to cherish in the
future that feeling of pride in our common ancestry, and that
sympathy for an allied people, which we now possess. If we do so
the great Anglo-Saxon race throughout the world will become a
security of peace, and a surety for the continued growth of constitu-
tional liberty. -
On the 31st October, 1887, a remarkable memorial in
favour of a treaty of arbitration between Great Britain and
THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE. -- 365
the United States was presented to the President (Cleveland)
at Washington. It was signed by 233 members of the
House of Commons, or by more than one-third of its
whole number. Originally this memorial was promoted
by the Peace Society of Working Men, and was taken up
by the Labour representatives in the House of Commons
much more warmly than that society could have antici-
pated. Some of the working-men representatives in Parlia-
ment desired to join in the presentation of the memorial
Signatures, and came over for that purpose. I fancy that
funds were provided for them by Mr Carnegie, the liberal
iron manufacturer of Pittsburg. Other Members of Parlia-
ment came over at their own cost. As none of them had
official Parliamentary rank, they desired that, as I was then
in Boston, I should come to Washington and head the
Parliamentary deputation. A telegram urging me to do
this was sent by the British Minister, Lord Sackville. Mr
Carnegie made all the preliminary arrangements for our
reception by the President. The memorial was then
presented to the President by me with the following
remarks:—
Mr President : I have the high honour to represent a deputation
of twelve Members of Parliament who present to you, as the head of
this great nation, and through you to Congress, a memorial in
favour of the arbitration of political differences when diplomatic
agencies have failed to adjust them. This memorial has been
signed by 233 members of the House of Commons, or by more than
one-third of its whole number. It is really the outcome of an ardent
desire on the part of the working men of the United Kingdom to
perpetuate the friendship and peace which now happily exists
between the kindred people on both sides of the Atlantic. The
representatives of the people have given expression to this feeling
among the constituents by signing the memorial. Even if it do not
effect an immediate or proximate treaty of arbitration, you will, Mr
President, recognise that the memorial is a remarkable expression
of the brotherly feeling which our working classes entertain for their
kinsmen in the United States. International arbitration, if estab-
lished, would only be one step further in the history of civilisation.
When individuals quarrel, society does not permit them to settle the
dispute by violence, but it refers them to courts of equity or law, in
order that the differences may be composed. Why should not this
principle be extended to nations, especially when, as in the case
366 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
of the United Kingdom and the United States, they are allied by
blood and knit together by love 2 We are both the common
inheritors of the traditions and glories of the Anglo-Saxon race from
which we have obtained the spirit of conciliation, a spirit that has
so aided the national development of both countries.
The time is favourable for a consideration of the question, because
the whole world is startled at the new aspect of war, which the
progress of science is making a huge engine for the brutal butchery
of men and the wanton waste of property. Its increasing cost
threatens the basis of national credit, and even of national solvency.
In ten years the cost of European armaments has increased by at
least twenty-five per cent., while it amounts to three per cent. of the
whole earnings of Europe. The United States almost alone among
nations can keep down its combatant expenditure, because it does
not consider it necessary to anticipate war with foreign nations. It
is here, therefore, rather than in Europe, that the proposals for
treaties of arbitration might naturally be made. At all events we
might devise a treaty of arbitration between the United Kingdom
and the United States. That would be a glorious example to other
nations, and might lead to the two great Anglo-Saxon nations being
the peacemakers of the world. That is the feeling which has
induced so many Members of Parliament to offer their co-operation
to Members of Congress in settling political differences by arbitra-
tion. If our two countries succeed in doing so, it will give an
eminent illustration that nations as well as individuals can compose
their differences without violence, by adherence to the principles of
equity and of international law.
President Cleveland admitted to me in private conversa-
tion that his feelings in favour of international arbitration
were warmer than those expressed by his speech. The
Presidential Election was impending, and he had not
viewed with favour the presentation of the English
memorial, because he feared that the deputies might
make some compromising remarks. In this fear he was
agreeably disappointed, and he promised to submit the
memorial to Congress. This was done, and in April, 1889,
a joint resolution of the House of Representatives and the
Senate adopted the principle of international arbitration,
authorising the President to make treaties with friendly
Powers for carrying it into effect. An article by me in the
October number (1890) of the “North American Review’
discussed the subject in detail.
THE QUEEN's JUBILEE. 367
Undoubtedly the Government of the United States is
best fitted among all nations to promote the cause of inter-
national arbitration. It is strong in its resources, and is
free from the national jealousies which prevail in Europe.
But the democracy is divided into parties, and the need of
parties to secure votes causes a fickleness in its policy and
an undue susceptibility to supposed insults. This makes
Europe afraid of the continuance of its friendship. All this
will disappear when there is increased consolidation of
interests in its vast area. When we are struck by the un-
wisdom of legislation in the United States we forget its
youth. England not long since, in the time of Walpole,
had Parliamentary faults far greater than those we lament
in the Congress of the United States. The British Parlia-
ment has purged itself of many political errors, and so will
the Congress by the light of time and experience.
On returning from America in the autumn of 1887, I
found that there had been a gathering of delegates of
Conservative Associations at Oxford. The chief subject
discussed was “Fair Trade,” which is nothing but Protec-
tion disguised in a domino. A resolution which, if it meant
anything, indicated taxation of food and foreign imports,
was passed at a meeting of a thousand delegates, only
twelve hands being held up against it. The resolution was
as follows:—
“That the continued depression in trade and agriculture, the
increase.in the scarcity of employment, and the consequent distress
among all classes, render speedy reform in the policy of the United
Kingdom as regards foreign imports and the influx of indigent
foreigners a matter of vital necessity.”
Little notice of this meeting was taken by our leading
politicians, as they found that the constituencies cared only
for speeches relating to Ireland. I felt the danger of letting
the Tories sow tares in our fields while the Liberals were
asleep, so I went to Leeds and addressed my constituency
“On Fair Trade and the Depression in Agriculture.” This
speech attracted much attention, and was printed and
largely distributed, to the extent of 40,000 copies, by the
Cobden Club. About 1oo,000 copies were quickly sold by
368 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the publishers. Among many letters which I received,
thanking me for “having pricked the bubble of Fair
Trade,” the following one was from the great apostle of
Free Trade, John Bright.
John Bright to Playfair. January 15th, 1888.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have a copy of your speech,
sent by you, I suppose. I thank you for it, and for the
speech itself, which I think one of the best, if not the best,
spoken on the question. I do not know anyone but your-
self who could have dealt so admirably with the subject
of it.
Yours sincerely,
JOHN BRIGHT.
The purport of my speech was to show that depression
in modern times had nothing to do with the fiscal arrange-
ments of nations. They were universal and synchronous
in all machine-using countries, and depended upon the
revolutions in manufactures and commerce which had been
produced by modern inventions. The world had not yet
adapted itself to the new applications of science, which had
dislocated all forms of labour, lowering the value of labour
of quantity, which is little more than brute animal force,
and heightening the value of labour of quality, guided by
skilled and trained intelligence. The depressions due to
this dislocation of labour and to the cheapness of all com-
modities have occurred in all countries, whether they be at
peace or war, whether they have Protection or Free Trade,
whether they have a gold or a bimetallic currency. A
universal result must have a universal cause, and that is the
rapid interchange produced by the electric telegraph, the
facilities of distribution through improved steam communi-
cation by sea and by land, and the substitution of machine
for manual labour. It was necessary to follow up the Free
Trade speech by a series of proofs of the major proposition.
Accordingly I made a speech on the dislocation of labour
at the City Liberal Club in London, and enlarged it into
THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE. 369
an article for the “Contemporary Review' of March, 1888.
Shortly afterwards I addressed a meeting of the National
Liberal Club “On Industrial Competition and Commercial
Freedom.” This address also was largely circulated by the
Cobden Club, and produced the following letter from Mr
Gladstone :—
HAwardEN,
Mr Gladstone to Playfair. May 28th, 1888.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I cannot sufficiently thank you
for your admirable tract; so comprehensive, clear, simple
in statement, rich in illustration. I hope it will draw
attention, and I feel bound to send this copy to our
Reading Room here. In two points I should like to
strengthen a little what you have said, from the recollec-
tions of my youth. You speak of seven or eight months as
the term of the double passage to India. My father sent
the first private ship to India. He built the largest high
class ship that had ever sailed out of Liverpool, the Duke
of Lancaster. He also built (I mean owned, for the actual
builder was Wilson) the fastest ship known in the long
voyages of the time, the John o' Gaunt, which used to get
Ios. to 20s. per ton extra freight from China because she
was pretty sure to arrive first. She would certainly have
performed the double voyage in the time you name. But
earlier, say in 1820, four months was the quickest voyage
from Liverpool to Calcutta, five months being more
common ; and from the absence of postal arrangements,
the ordinary return of post from India was near twelve
months. I write from memory, but memory of earlier
events is for an old man clearer and safer than of later
ones. Then as to manning. The John o' Gaunt was about
420 tons, though I do not recollect her complement of
men. The Duke of Lancaster was 560 tons (found too
large as things then went), and the crew all told were
thirty-three—you may say six men per Ioo tons; so the
number you give as forty per thousand tons in 1873 would
have been a short time further back sixty.
At that time, in the glorious days of the Navigation
Law, the American liners carried everything worth having
• *,
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tº º pº * * *
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* * * * i.
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370 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
between the two countries, and the English had only the
Scum and refuse of the trade. How beautiful they looked
Sailing out of the Mersey with all their canvas spread, and
their light brown hulls | We cannot meet with that sight
now. Again thanking you, and with our best compliments
to Lady Playfair,
I remain,
Sincerely yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
In all of these addresses relating to industry the necessity
was enforced for increased technical education of the
people. The following is an extract from the address to
which Mr Gladstone refers :—
You will readily comprehend from my argument in what manner
we must prepare to keep our position in the increasing struggle of
nations. We must give more of a trained intelligence to our pro-
ducers, intelligence to the rank and file, high technical education to
the officers of our industrial armies. What is technical education ?
It is simply the rationale of expert empiricism. We must convert,
as much as we can do, labour of quantity into labour of quality.
We now know with tolerable certainty the conditions which produce
low wages, and those which produce high wages. Our interest as a
nation is to aim at the latter. What class of labourers produce
dear things 2 They are ignorant labourers with faint ambition,
who are badly housed, badly clothed and fed, who have few
pleasures of the mind, and who trust to the Poor Law to stand
between them and starvation. These are the labourers who are
content to work for low wages, but the product of their labour is
low and its cost is high. What class of workmen produce cheap
things 2 They are the working men of technical skill and trained
intelligence, who seek more education for themselves and children,
because they know that it both dignifies and fructifies their labour.
They are men who, by combination, have raised their position and
shortened their hours of labour, so that they may enjoy some of the
pleasures as well as take their share in the toil of the world. They
hate the workhouse as much as they hate that kingdom over which
the devil is supposed to reign. Their wages are high, but so is their
productiveness, and consequently they give us our cheap things.
They are the men who are the props of our industries. Though
their wages are high they are cheap at the price. Protection is not
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THE QUEEN's JUBILEE. 37I
a force to raise wages. If it were they should be high on the
Continent of Europe. The interest of a labourer is to sell his labour
dear and to buy his commodities cheap. Protection enhances the
price of the latter; but how can this benefit the labourer P Though
the labourer does not gain by Protection, the monopolist does, and it
is he who is encouraged and over-remunerated by high tariffs.
England has abolished monopolies, and refused to support
privileged classes by taxation. She is a country small in area
and limited in population, but great in productive energies. She
is a world-wide trader, because her manufacturers can barter on
advantageous terms with other nations which seek her free ports for
the disposal of their commodities, and are forced to accept English
goods in exchange. The industrial prosperity of England is as
much due to commercial freedom as her social condition is due to
her political liberties.
Of course my visits to the United States enabled me to
give ample illustrations of the effects of Protection in that
country. At the present time (1889) that country is on
the top of the wave of Protection : it will ere long be in
the trough of the sea. It will take many years before the
United States can pursue the wise policy of moderate tariff
duties for revenue. When it reaches this point England
will find its greatest competitor in the foreign markets of
the world; though I have such profound conviction of the
benefits of Free Trade that I believe the ultimate result of
its adoption by the United States will be to benefit the
trade of England also. At present the United States has a
large area of internal Free Trade, inasmuch as there is no
tariff line between the boundaries of its separate States.
When its manufactures have grown into a surplus beyond
the demand, a clamour will arise for freedom of commercial
intercourse with the outside world. The first efforts will
be for reciprocity between the United States and Pan-
American markets, and in course of time these will extend
to trade on fair terms with all foreign countries. I was
much blamed by the American Press for writing an article
on the Presidential Election, in which I stated that the
next election would be carried out upon a platform of Com-
mercial reform. Perhaps I may live long enough to
witness one more General Election of this kind in 1892,
and then I shall see the fulfilment of my prophecy.
372 MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR.
It is hardly necessary to say that Playfair's hope was
gratified. He lived to see not only the Presidential
Election of 1892, but that which came four years later;
and with regard to both, his prediction of the character
which political contests in the United States were likely
to assume was amply realised.
Playfair makes no mention in his Autobiography of
one of the incidents of the Session of 1887. This was
the passage of a Bill which, under certain conditions, legal-
ised the sale of margarine as a substitute for butter. With
that severely practical turn which distinguished him in
most things, Playfair strongly advocated the cause of
margarine. Though it was not butter, it was a harmless
and palatable substitute for it, infinitely to be preferred
to butter of an inferior quality or in bad condition. This
was Playfair's contention, and though it was hardly a
popular one, it was not the less stoutly maintained on
that account. His share in making “the poor man's
butter,” or, to be strictly accurate, substitute for butter
easily procurable was not a small one.
CHAPTER XIV.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.”
A Touching Incident. AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Opening of the Glasgow Exhibi-
tion: Mistaken for a State Prisoner: Death of the Emperor Frederick of
Germany: The Widowed Empress and Prince Bismarck: Resigning
the Honorary Secretaryship of the Exhibition Commission: A Pre-
sentation : Supporting a Royal Grant: The General Election of 1892:
Raised to the Peerage : Farewell to South Leeds. The South Leeds
Election—An Interesting Colloquy–Appointed a Lord-in-Waiting to
the Queen—Letters from Windsor Castle—Work on the Aged Poor
Commission—Grand Cross of the Bath—In Canada.
PLAYFAIR's Reminiscences in a connected form may be
Said to have come to an end with the chapter in which he
dealt with the Jubilee of 1887. He himself lived to take
part in the Diamond Jubilee ten years later, and to set
on foot in connection with that great celebration the
movement for its national commemoration which was sub-
sequently adopted by Parliament. But after 1887 the
demands upon his time and strength were such that he
had but little leisure for continuing his autobiographical
work. In this chapter I propose to include the two final
instalments of the Reminiscences, and their fragmentary
character sufficiently indicates the fact that they cannot be
regarded as a complete record of his life during the term
with which they deal. Yet the ten years which remained
to him of public labour after 1887 formed by no means
the least useful or important stage in his history. From
first to last they were years of unceasing activity, and they
included some of his most valuable services to his country
and his fellow-men. The story will be gathered more from
374 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
his correspondence and the concluding chapters of this
work than from his own Reminiscences.
SANDRINGHAM, NORFOLK,
Playfair to his Sister-in-law. January 15th, 1888.
It is curious that there are two people here—the Turkish
Ambassador, Rustem Pasha, and Sir Edward Bradford—
who have been maimed by wild beasts. The latter had
the whole of his left arm up to the elbow joint munched
away by a tiger; and the Turkish Ambassador has half
his right hand and part of his left torn away by a bear.
Both tell me that they felt no pain during the mutilation,
and they suppose that their intense desire to defend them-
Selves prevented them from feeling the pain. Livingstone,
the African traveller, when his arm was munched by a lion,
told me the same thing—that he could not recollect having
suffered any pain.
It was during Playfair's visit to the United States in
the autumn of 1888 that a touching incident, referred
to in the following letters, took place. He visited the
Perkins Institute for the Blind at Boston, and was
greatly interested in the case of one of the children, a
little girl named Edith Thomas. This child had been
deaf, dumb, and blind from birth. When Playfair saw
her, she had on one of her fingers a little brass curtain
ring, the possession of which seemed to afford her much
satisfaction. Always fond of children and full of sympathy
with the afflicted, Playfair's heart was moved by the
condition of the child. He returned to the Institute
next day, carrying with him a pretty finger-ring, which
he left for the child, who received it with delight.
- KINDERGARTEN, PERKINS STREET,
Isabel Greeley to Playfair. Boston, U.S.A. November 8th, 1888.
SIR LYON PLAYFAIR,--The little deaf, dumb, and
blind child was very happy over the ring you so kindly
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 375
sent to her, and she has written you the enclosed, which
can scarcely be called a letter, but it is her second
successful attempt at writing one. The first was written
to Mr Anagnos about a week ago. -
I am,
Sincerely yours,
- ISABEL GREELEY.
Edith Thomas to Playfair. r
DEAR SIR LYON PLAYFAIR,-Sir Lyon Playfair Sent
Edith ring in box. Edith thank Sir Lyon Playfair for
ring. Sir Lyon Playfair come to see Edith.
Good-bye,
EDITH.
During his first visit, the child had examined him
closely, feeling his hands, wrist, arm, and face, the sense
of touch being, as is so often the case, abnormally
developed in the absence of other means of observation.
In the following year, Playfair, during his visit to Boston,
went to the Institute once more in order to see Edith
Thomas. The child remained in the afflicted condition
in which he had first found her. When Playfair arrived
she was merely told that a gentleman wished to see her,
her teacher being anxious to know if she would recognise
her former friend by touch. At first the girl felt Playfair's
hands rather indifferently, but on touching the skin on
his wrist under the shirt cuff, her face suddenly lighted
up, and, becoming greatly excited, she spelt rapidly on
her fingers, “It is the Englishman who gave me the
ring; ” and then she flung her arms about his neck,
seeming delighted to meet again one who had done her
a kindness. During the whole of his visit to the
{nstitute, the poor girl clung to him with every demon-
stration of affection, constantly stroking his face and
hands. •
376 MEMOIRS OF LYON PIAYFAIR.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—XIII.
1888 to 1890.
IN May (9th), 1888, the Great International Exhibition
of Glasgow was opened by the Prince and Princess of
Wales. They stayed with Lord Hamilton of Dalziel, who
had invited a party to meet them. Unfortunately Home
Rule politics were too strong to make this house party of
the mixed character which it should have been, and which
Lord Hamilton of Dalziel desired. Political pressure was
put upon the Scotch Secretary, Lord Lothian, the Duke of
Buccleuch, and others to decline the invitation to Dalziel.
The only Conservatives who resisted this pressure were the
Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Mr Cochrane Baillie.
The other guests were Lord and Lady Herschell, Lord and
Lady Rosebery, the Commander-in-Chief for Scotland, and
ourselves. Whether the Prince and Princess and their
suite knew of this political difficulty I do not know ; at all
events they were as usual charming, and made the visit a
very agreeable one. -
The opening day, Tuesday, the 9th of May, was Sunny,
unlike the usual Glasgow weather. The Exhibition Build-
ings were erected on a commanding site near the University.
Glasgow distinguished itself by the preparations made, and
all the streets were gaily decorated. Of the many public
receptions of this character which I have seen, this
one was among the most brilliant and successful. The
Royal procession, in twelve carriages, passed for several
miles through a dense mass of people, the volunteers and
military keeping the route clear. After lunching with
Lord Provost King, who lived close to the Buildings, the
Prince and Princess opened the Exhibition with the usual
ceremonies. On the return procession to the railway a
droll accident happened to myself. Being anxious to see
the chemical exhibits I separated myself from the Royal
party and found that it had started on the return route,
leaving a carriage for me to follow. When I entered it,
the guard of mounted police, about twenty in number, who
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 377
were to form the rear of the procession, came behind and
at the sides of the carriage. The people in the crowded
streets could not understand this, and, Seeing a single person
in a carriage closely guarded by mounted police, obviously
thought I was a State prisoner, and, for the several miles
which I had to pass through the crowded streets, gave the
poor captive signs of sympathy and applause. It was
impossible to keep a grave countenance when I saw all the
occupants of the windows anxiously consulting their pro-
grammes to find out who this strongly guarded individual
could be. Luckily I reached the railway just as the train
was starting for Dalziel, and amused the party with an
account of my accidental adventure.
On the 15th of June, 1888, the Emperor Frederick died.
I received the information from Prince Christian in the
following letter.
CUMBERLAND LODGE,
H.R.H. Prince Christian to Playfair. June 15th, 1888.
DEAR SIR LYON PLAYFAIR,-We have received to-day
the sad news of the Emperor's death, and though we had
been prepared for it for a long time, still it is impossible not
to feel deeply moved and grieved at such a sad fate. I
personally have lost the truest and best friend I had, whom
I had known for thirty-seven years. I leave to-morrow for
Berlin, and shall, of course, not be able to attend to any
business for the present, nor can I tell when I shall be back.
Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
CHRIS. V. HOLSTEIN.
The universal sorrow and sympathy for the Empress and
our own Queen exhibited by all classes was very striking.
I went the following day to Dollis Hill, the country house
of Lord Aberdeen, to a gathering of foreign missionaries
who at present are holding a convention in London. At
least five hundred missionaries were present, two hundred
being from America. Mourning was almost universal,
and the feelings of Sorrow were touching. Gladstone was
378 MEMOIRs of LYON PLAYFAIR.
present, but he declined to address the assembly as he
feared that he might be misunderstood, especially as a
telegram had just reached us of the great Liberal victory at
Ayr, and he did not desire that any manifestation should
be made by his followers. I wrote an account of the
sorrow shown by this assemblage of missionaries to Prince
Christian at Berlin, and the Prince of Wales afterwards told
me that he took this letter to the widowed Empress, who
appreciated the sympathy shown on that occasion.
I had not seen much of the Emperor in late years, but
when he was Crown Prince and visited this country, I
occasionally dined with him and the Princess. It was
impossible not to admire the manly character and simplicity
of the Prince. Full of natural intelligence, he never pro-
fessed knowledge when he did not possess it, and was
always anxious to obtain information. His kindliness of
disposition endeared him to this nation as well as to
Germany. He once said sadly that the political conditions
of Europe had undergone such profound changes since he
had been educated as a successor to the throne, that he
doubted his powers to adapt himself to, the new conditions.
No one else doubted his ability, or his desire to sustain the
peace of Europe, had his health been preserved. In the
Jubilee procession of 1887 he was the noblest-looking man
in that great array of Kings and Princes. I was within a
few feet of him during the celebration at Westminster
Abbey. I knew then that the best medical opinion in
London was that he suffered from cancer, and that before
many months he must pass away. This conviction made
the ceremony of rejoicing for the Jubilee one of melancholy
to me. A few days afterwards his devoted wife asked me
to tell her the prevailing feeling among medical men, but
I thought it was best to profess ignorance, especially as I
had no professional judgment of my own. I have a
memento of the late Emperor which I much value. It
consists of two large vases in Berlin porcelain, which were
given to me by the Emperor William upon the recommenda-
tion of the Crown Prince.
In January, 1889, the widowed Empress came over to
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 379
England and visited Sandringham. She expressed a wish
that Lord and Lady Granville and my wife and myself
should be invited to meet her in memory of old acquaint-
ance when she was Crown Princess of England. The rest
of the party consisted of her three daughters and the
family of the Prince of Wales.
The whole party were in deep mourning, though the
Empress did her best not to cast a gloom over the young
party of her nephews and nieces. She discussed with me
quite openly and frankly the difficulties and unpopularity
which came upon her after the death of the Emperor.
I was particularly struck with her defence of Bismarck
when I remarked that his behaviour to her did not indicate
love for England. She assured me that as a statesman he
fully valued the alliance and friendship of England, and
always worked to maintain it. The newspapers blamed
her for the publication of extracts from the Emperor's
diaries, showing that it was the Emperor, and not Prince
Bismarck, who had desired the unity of Germany. She
told me that she was pained by this publication, and had
nothing to do with it. On the death of the Emperor she
had found his journal in a carefully sealed packet, with
instructions outside that it was to be deposited in the State
archives. This she did the day after his death. The pre-
mature publication of extracts the Empress attributed to
the over-zeal of a friend of the Emperor, possibly Professor
Geffcken, employed by him to copy parts of the journal
written on the field of battle in pencil notes. His friend
had probably kept the original pencil entries, or copies of
them, in the hope of some day giving full credit to the
Emperor's share in the achievement of national unity. It
will be remembered that Prince Bismarck must have
thought So also, as he took steps to prevent any further
publication of the diary by Professor Geffcken. *
In May of 1889 I received a presentation of plate from
the Prince of Wales at Marlborough House. The occasion
was my resignation of the Honorary Secretaryship of the
Royal Commission of the Exhibition of 1851. This Com-
mission administered the landed property bought out of the
38o MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
profits of that Exhibition, the value of the estate having
largely increased since the date of the purchase. The
object of this purchase was to find sites for public buildings,
and to promote education in science and art. The South
Kensington Museum, the Natural History Sections of the
British Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, the Imperial
Institute, the Royal College of Music and other institu-
tions are built on this property. When General Scott, the
Secretary of the Commission, died, I found that a long
course of over-building had brought the affairs of the Com-
missioners to a financial crisis, and I volunteered to act as
Honorary Secretary until they were restored to a sounder
position. The debts of the Commissioners were then
£180,000, and the annual deficit near £2,000. When
I resigned, the debt had been reduced to the comparatively
Small amount of £26,000, and there was a substantial
surplus income.
But the age of seventy years had arrived, and I thought
it prudent to give up some of my work. The Commis-
sioners in their private capacity subscribed a sufficient
sum to buy a service of old silver plate of the time of
George II., and this was given to me in a very gratifying
way at Marlborough House. The Commissioners attended,
and the presentation was made in a friendly speech by the
Prince of Wales in the presence of the subscribers, among
whom were Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales,
the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Connaught, Prince
Christian ; the Duke of Teck and the Marquis of Salisbury
(Prime Minister), Mr Gladstone, Earl Carnarvon, Earl
Granville, Earl Rosebery, Lord Cranbrook (President
of the Council), Mr W. H. Smith (First Lord of the
Treasury), Lord Herschell and Lord Selborne (two past
Lord Chancellors), Lord Thring, Mr Goschen (Chancellor
of the Exchequer), Mr Childers, Mr Mundella, Mr Plunkett,
Sir W. Hart-Dyke, Sir Sidney Waterlow, Admiral Sir A.
Milne, Sir Dighton Probyn, V.C., Sir G. Bruce (President
of the Institution of Civil Engineers), General Sir T.
Biddulph (Treasurer to the Queen), Sir F. Leighton (Presi-
dent of the Royal Academy), and General Ellis.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 38I
Not a single member of the Commission declined to sub-
scribe, though many of them were my political opponents;
indeed, the first subscription sent in was that of Lord
Salisbury, the Prime Minister. The secret had been so well
kept that I only knew of it by being summoned to attend
a meeting at Marlborough House a few days before the
presentation. In replying to the Prince of Wales's speech,
I alluded to this circumstance :—
The secret was so well kept from me that it was only within
the last few days I knew of the purpose of presenting me with
any token of recognition. I receive with pride and pleasure, at
the hands of your Royal Highness, this gift from my colleagues
on the Commission. Its original purpose of offering sites for
public institutions is now nearly completed, but there is a future
before it in the improved condition of its finances which will extend
its object to the promotion of education in sciences and arts to the
provincial towns as well as to London. This development of its
original intention will make it a national memorial of the Great
Exhibition of 1851, carried out by your illustrious father the Prince
Consort under great difficulties. That Exhibition had an enormous
influence on the industries of the country, and it has been by the
exertions and example of your Royal Highness that this influence
has never been allowed to die out.
The purpose indicated in the latter part of the speech
has since been accomplished. Scholarships in all the
leading colleges throughout the country and the Colonies
have been established. Their annual value is £150, and
they are tenable for two or three years. As they are
only bestowed on graduates, who have shown capacity
for research, it is hoped that they may be of use in
encouraging promising students to devote their lives to
the advancement of science. Huxley, Sir William Thom-
son, Roscoe, Lockyer, and other men of Science, gave me
willing aid in framing a scheme for these scholarships.
A proposal to increase by £40,000 the annual vote to
the Prince of Wales as a means of providing for his family
produced much discussion in the House of Commons at
this time, though it was ultimately carried. The division
list showed that the Liberals as a party were strongly
against it, and Mr Gladstone and I were almost the
382 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
only members of the party who voted for the grant.
This vote astonished my constituency at South Leeds,
and I immediately went down to defend my action.
The meeting was crowded, and though I received an
attentive hearing, the feeling was at first decidedly against
my support of the increased royal grant. I pointed out
that every great nation must have a Head to represent
its greatness and dignity. It mattered little whether the
Head was called a King or a President, provided that
both are surrounded by constitutional safeguards against
the abuse of their high position.
It is only a question of expediency whether the head
of the State should be appointed by hereditary succession
or by election. By the former method the head of the
State represents the dignity of the whole people; by
election he represents only the majority, and naturally
favours that at the cost of the minority. The United
States forms the best example of an Electoral Head of
the State, and its experience has now covered a century.
But this system has grave inconveniences. The President
is elected for four years, during only two of which he does
effective administrative work. The first year is practically
wasted in fulfilling the electoral promises made during
the contest; and the last of the four years in preparing
for the next election.
The relative cost of a King by succession and a President
by election is much in favour of the former. In the case
of the United Kingdom our monarchs have royal property
administered by the Government, and its revenues largely
diminish the need of taxation. In fact, the whole taxa-
tion of the people for the support of the Queen and Royal
Family is less than a penny a head per annum, while
the cost of electing a President of the United States is
estimated at half a dollar, or two shillings per head,
every year.
Politically, the Sovereign of the United Kingdom has
much less power than the President of the United States,
whose Cabinet is personal, and not within or accountable
to Congress. This independence by the Executive of
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 383
Parliamentary control takes away much power from the
people. In England the Sovereign can never practically act
without the consent of Parliament, for the Ministers are
responsible to it, whereas in the United States they are
responsible to the President.
The splendour which surrounds our throne does not
mean that the Guelphs are great in themselves, but that
they reflect the greatness of the people. If they were
compelled to lessen the glitter of the throne by petty
economies, they would lessen the lustre of the empire
which represents all that is brilliant as well as all
that is good, earnest, and true. It is well for the
people that they should pay a sensible sum to represent
the dignity and glory of the nation, and I look with
apprehension to the rapid improvement of the Crown
revenues, which will before long suffice as an endowment
for Monarchy, and render it independent of the con-
tribution of the people. It is certainly not much that
is asked from the population of the United Kingdom
that each person should contribute one penny yearly for
the maintenance of the Head of the Empire.
As I continued to speak in this vein, I saw that
the feeling of the large meeting was coming round to
my views, and at the end of the speech I challenged a
vote as to whether I still preserved their confidence.
Out of a meeting of about 1,000, three hands were held
up against me, and all the others in my favour.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.—XIV.
I892.
IN 1892 the Government of 1886 came to an end, leaving
behind it both good and bad records of legislation. The
former consisted in establishing representative Local Govern-
ment in Great Britain, including a London County Council.
It is customary to discount these measures on account of
their incompleteness, but it was a considerable feat in
legislation to have established them at all. Logically a
like measure should have been passed for Ireland, but the
384 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Bill for this purpose was brought in amid the last groans of
an expiring Government, and was obviously framed for
show and not for use. The Tory Government also passed
a measure which to a large extent gave free education in
elementary schools. No doubt the measure was halting
and imperfect, but it is surprising that it received the
support of the Conservative party. The late Government
had been kept in power by the Liberal Unionists who
deserted Mr Gladstone in 1886, and the Conservatives had
to pass some Liberal measures to satisfy their allies.
Ireland during these six years has been under a Coercion
Act, administered by Mr A. Balfour, the Irish Secretary.
Mr Balfour is a man of great ability, but he had to win his
experience as an administrator. For some years he thought
excessive firmness was requisite to keep down discontent in
Ireland, and he imprisoned Irish Members of Parliament
for speeches which would have been perfectly legal in
England. This severity might have been tolerated had he
not committed the error of treating these political offenders
against the Coercion Act as common criminals, who should
be obliged to wear prison dress and subsist on prison diet.
A reaction followed this rigour, and as the General Election
approached the Coercion Act was disused. At last, in
June, Parliament was dissolved, and a General Election
followed. I had a short though sharp contest at South
Leeds with Mr Neville, who reduced my majority of 1,700
in 1886 to about 1,530 in 1892. The seat was known to be
a safe one for me, and perhaps we were over confident, as
I spent part of the election in aiding candidates in the
surrounding Constituencies, including some in Lancashire
and Cheshire.
The result of the General Election was that Mr Gladstone
had a narrow majority of forty above Conservatives and
Liberal Unionists combined. The interest of the country
was greater than in previous elections. The ‘Daily
Graphic’ published daily the returns in the form of two
ladders placed side by side. On the right-hand ladder
Lord Salisbury started high up with his large majority,
while Gladstone was at the bottom. Day by day the
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREws.” 385
Grand Old Man was seen slowly creeping up to his rival,
and ultimately passing him. At the final poll Gladstone
was shown at the top rung sitting down, and mopping his
brow, obviously perplexed as to what he should do next.
This graphic representation of the Election was a great
Success, and established the ‘Daily Graphic' as a paper.
In the clubs, during the Election, members sat up all
through the night to see the records of the elections posted
up on large screens as the telegraphic records arrived from
the provinces.
Lord Salisbury met the new Parliament, and was defeated
by the majority of forty. Mr Gladstone had to form a
new Government, and met with some difficulties. His
former colleagues were advancing in age, and the younger
politicians were afraid that they would not be included in
the Government if the old politicians came back. There
was therefore a dead set in the newspapers against the
veteran politicians. Of his late colleagues, I was, though
ten years younger, still the next oldest to Gladstone him-
self, and then Stansfeld came next to me. It was obvious
that the chief set of the younger Radicals was against us on
account of our age, and there was much that was reason-
able in this feeling. Accordingly I did not make the least
effort to be included in the new Government, and, in fact,
felt relieved that I should not be called upon to undergo
the fatigues of a Cabinet Minister in the House of
Commons. I therefore watched the formation of the
Government with equanimity. I was surprised one morn-
ing to receive a letter from Mr Gladstone, which I presumed
was to ask me to join the Government. Its object, how-
ever, was of a different character. The letter was as
follows:–
I, CARLTON GARDENs,
Mr Gladstone to Playfair. August 13th, 1892.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I recognise, and am confident
the nation would recognise, your fitness to receive an offer
of Cabinet office on the present occasion, were it not for
the operation of an inexorable law, by which I ought to be
, the first person proscribed. But as I am not permitted to
Z
386 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
profit by what at my age would be simply a favour, I have
only the painful duty of recognising that a public opinion,
not upon the whole unreasonable, deems us, the members
of the last Liberal Government, too old to resume our
charges as a body. I fear, therefore, it is not within the
scope of my present commission to make any proposal
which would give us the benefit of direct assistance from
your high character and your great knowledge, experience,
and ability. There is, however, a mode in which a marked
acknowledgment might be given to your services, and if it
is agreeable to you I should have sincere pleasure in sub-
mitting your name to Her Majesty for a Peerage.
Believe me, with much regard,
Sincerely yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
Playfair to Mr Gladstone. - August 13th, 1892.
DEAR MR GLADSTONE,--I fully recognise the diffi-
culties of age in my own case, though not in yours, and I
determined not to make the least effort to obtain office.
Had you resolved, without any mark of favour, to fill up
the Ministry without me, I would have written to assure
you of my loyal Support as a member of your party. The
offer which you make I fully recognise as a high expression
of your esteem, which I am proud to possess. Allow me
twenty-four hours to consider it. It is not impossible, as
my three children happen to possess independent means
and are richer than their father. But I hope you will not
consider it unreasonable if I ask till to-morrow before I
give a definite reply. In the meantime, with sentiments of
profound appreciation for your friendly communication,
Believe me,
Sincerely yours,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
Same to the same. A ugust 14th, 1892.
DEAR MR GLADSTONE,-Having considered your kind
proposal to submit my name to Her Majesty for a peerage,
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 387
I place myself at Her Majesty's commands should Her
Majesty be graciously pleased to confirm your kind re-
commendation. Yours, etc.,
LYON PLAYFAIR.
Playfair to Sir Henry Ponsonby. LONDON, August 23rd.
I do not know whether it is proper for me to express
through you to Her Majesty my feeling of profound grati-
tude for the dignity which Her Majesty has been pleased
to confer upon me. But I do not like to Sail for America
without showing my great appreciation of this high mark
of Her Majesty's favour, and I leave it to you to express
my sentiments of devotion and gratitude if you think it
right to do so.
In thanking Mr Gladstone for this mark of his favour-
able regard, I asked for a short delay in order to consult
my family. Personally I am too poor to accept a peerage,
but my three children have independent means. My son
is in the Mauritius, as an artillery officer, with his wife and
my only grandson, Lyon. Unfortunately I could not
consult the person most interested in the hereditary
succession to the peerage, but as the rest of my family
urged me to accept the offer I did so. The Queen, I
understand, was pleased with Mr Gladstone's request to
make me a peer, and consented to it in terms of gracious
'kindness. In acknowledging my letter of thanks General
Sir Henry Ponsonby, Her Majesty's Secretary, wrote to me
as follows:–
Sir Henry Ponsonby to Playfair. Osborne, August 28th, 1892.
DEAR SIR LYON PLAYFAIR,-When I showed the
Queen your letter of thanks, she said it gave her great
pleasure to confer a peerage on One of her old friends.
Yours very truly,
HENRY PONSONBY.
The title which I selected was “Baron Playfair of St.
Andrews.” In that ancient city my ancestors had lived for
388 - MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
several generations, and my father, mother, and uncles, as
well as my grandparents, are buried in the old churchyard
of the ruined cathedral. The authorities of the City and
University expressed their satisfaction that I had associated
St. Andrews with my barony.
The newspapers of both parties were favourable to my
elevation to the peerage, but there was one circumstance
which gave me so much pain that it was a long time before
I derived any pleasure from the peerage. I allude to the
fact that I had to separate myself from the constituency of
South Leeds. This is essentially a working man's con-
stituency. The electors largely consist of skilled mechanics
and coal miners. They have always shown the warmest
friendship for me, and I have reciprocated that friendship.
I believe that it was nearly as much pain to them as to
myself that our official connection was severed. As it is a
thoroughly Radical constituency I feared that they would
think I had treated them with scant courtesy. But at the
first meeting to consider the vacancy caused by the peerage,
they unanimously passed the following resolution:-
Having heard the letter of the Right Hon. Sir Lyon Playfair, this
meeting reciprocates the feeling of pain and, in some measure, the
pride and satisfaction at the recognition by Her Majesty the Queen
of the services of the right hon. gentleman by his elevation to the
peerage of the United Kingdom, and expresses the hope that his life
may be long spared to add to a life made noble by a record of un-
tiring efforts in promoting the social and intellectual advancement of
the people; and also records its thanks for the able and disinterested
manner in which he has represented this constituency for the past
seven years.
I hope that the new member for South Leeds will
appreciate the merits of the constituency as much as I
have done.
I may as well mention here that on the 23rd of February,
1894, the South Leeds constituency invited Lady Playfair
and myself to an entertainment at Leeds, and presented
her with a silver blotting case and envelope case, and my-
self with a beautiful illuminated address, congratulating me
on the peerage and expressing their warm friendship.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 389
It is unnecessary to dwell upon Playfair's political
position during the years covered by the last fragmentary
instalments of his Reminiscences. It remained very much
what it had been during the whole of his Parliamentary
career. He was active in support of the Liberal cause
during the years which preceded Mr Gladstone's return
to office in 1892; and not only at Leeds, but in many
other great centres of industry and population, he addressed
meetings on those economic and political questions in
which he took so deep an interest. His exclusion from
the Cabinet of 1892—an exclusion due entirely, as Mr
Gladstone stated, to his age—did not prevent his being
engaged in serious political work, first as a supporter
and subsequently as a member of the Ministry. The
event which he felt most was, as he has stated, the
severance of his connection with the South Leeds con-
stituency. The peerage which Mr Gladstone offered to
him, and which he accepted, was no compensation to
him for the loss of his position as representative of a
body of men whom he had learnt not only to respect,
but to love. Yet the weight of years which prevented
his taking a leading part in the deliberations of the new
Ministry made it desirable that he should be relieved
from the wear and tear of life in the House of Commons.
He left that House with deep regret, and it may be
said with confidence that he left behind him not a
single man who was other than his friend. To his son,
who was at that time stationed at the Mauritius, where
he passed through the terrible experience of the great
hurricane of 1892, he addressed the following letters:—
Alayſair to his Son. ONSLow GARDENs, May 23rd, 1892.
We have received your telegram to Mr Hickman telling
us that you are safe, and we were intensely relieved.
Your kind letter arrived on my birthday, and your
390 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
telegram also, only a few hours later than the news of
the disaster. We suppose that Jerningham was Acting-
Governor when the disaster occurred, and his activity
seems to have been admirable. I suppose that all of
you had to work hard to help the poor people, who
had suffered severely. We trust that little Lyon was
not made worse by the fright. In our moderate climate
it is difficult to realise your position in being kept
perhaps twenty-four hours shut up in the house, and
unable to help even your nearest neighbours. I hope
that your men did not suffer, but it must have been an
anxious time for you at a considerable distance from
the troops.
I send you to-day a speech which I delivered at Leeds.
I had for the first time some difficulty, because I voted
against the eight hours' labour day by Act of Parlia-
ment. However, only from ten to twenty of a very
crowded meeting voted against me, and even they came
up to me afterwards, and said it was only a demon-
stration, and that they would vote for me at the election.
We expect the dissolution about the 25th June or there-
abouts. What the result will be no one can tell; probably
the Gladstonians will get in by a small majority. At
present I have no opponent.
Same to the same. ONSLow GARDENs, July 25th, 1892.
My election was pretty hard work, as so many candi-
dates wanted my help. I spoke for seven candidates in
Yorkshire and Cheshire, besides my own work. Some-
times I made three speeches daily—always two. My
opponent, Neville, was a mice young fellow. He fought
hard, and I could not neglect the fight, though I had a
majority of I,535. I got the Support of sixty per cent.
of the voters, and he of forty per cent. Edith came to
Leeds, driving about in a landau, the horses and coachman
gaily decorated in yellow, and Edith's dress brilliant with
the same colour of the party. She was in the gallery of
the Town Hall during the counting of the votes, and when
the result was thrown upon a screen by a magic lantern,
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 39 I
Playfair . g wº e * tº º 4,829
Neville . * ſº g 3. & • 3,294
Majority . te e e I,535
Edith accompanied me to the front of the platform to
receive the cheers of thirty or forty thousand people,
who, of course, did not hear one word of my speech of
thanks. As I was going into the hall a clergyman,
obviously belonging to the High Church, put his hands
to his mouth and groaned at me. Unfortunately for
him, my chairman, Alderman Gilston, was behind me,
and he went up to the clergyman and said, “I do not
know who you are, but I will find out. My name is
Alderman Gilston, and I tell you you are a disgrace to
your cloth and your profession.” The poor cleric slunk
into the crowd as far as possible. Another election story
may interest you. I had been speaking in the Colne
Valley division for the Liberal candidate, Sir James Kitson
(now M.P.), and in coming back by the train I went
into a smoking carriage where a gentleman was having
a cigar. The following colloquy took place —
Stranger: Are you from Leeds 2
L. P. : I am going there.
Stranger: Do you belong to Leeds 2
L. P. : I am a candidate for a seat there.
Stranger: You are Lawrence Gane. I know all about you.
L. P. : No, I am Lyon Playfair.
Stranger: You do not know how interested I am to meet you.
You and the poet Burns have made me what I am. I owe every-
thing to you. Sir, my father was the drunkard of the village, and I
was brought up as the street Arab. When my father died he called
me to his bedside and implored me to keep off drink, which had
ruined him and his family. I went to school and learned to read;
and I got hold of a copy of Burns, who opened my mind. Then
I happened to see in a newspaper a speech by you on technical
education and the dignity of labour. This made me join a
Mechanics' Institute at M--, and now I am its President. Every
scrap that I see of a speech by you I read with eagerness, and
you have formed my life, next to Burns.
L. P. : That is very gratifying to me. Seed sown broadcast
comes up after many days in places least expected.
392 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
This stranger had so far profited by Playfair's advice
that he was himself one of the candidates for Parlia-
ment in the General Election of 1892.
ONSLow GARDENs,
Playfair to his Brother. February Ioth, 1893.
MY DEAR LAMBERT, We are all eager to hear about
the Irish Bill on Monday. There never has been such a
rush for places as on this occasion, probably the greatest
effort, and perhaps the final one, of the G.O. M. I met him
two days ago at dinner at Marlborough House, and we left
together. The night was bleak, and my brougham was at
the door, so I offered to drive him home. But, no the
brisk youth said a walk stimulated circulation, and he went
off jauntily, while his juniors put up their collars and
jumped into carriages with closed windows. Yet you
Tories have nothing but abuse for this wonderful specimen
of humanity. -
During the autumn Playfair was surprised to receive a
communication from Mr Gladstone, inviting him to accept
the post of Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen.
Private.
HAWARDEN CASTLE, CHESTER.
Mr Gladstone to Playfair. October 20th, 1892.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--It would, I think, gratify the
Queen if I could persuade you to let me propose your name
to her as a Lord-in-Waiting. You are, I dare say, aware
that you would find on the list of colleagues one very
distinguished name, that of Lord Acton, and it would, I
think, be in your option to take charge of Scotch business
in the House of Lords, which may be much more than
formal. - -
You are aware, I dare say, that we were obliged to cut
off the political appointments in the Lords almost wholly
outside the Cabinet, and that the Lordship-in-Waiting,
unlike most of the Household appointments, facilitates
the maintenance of personal relations with the Queen.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 393
I do not know if you are aware that the French Pro-
tectionists promised an increase of £8,000,000 from the
new tariffs, and that the result is likely to be a deficit !
With our kind regards to Lady Playfair,
I remain,
Sincerely yours,
W. E. GLADSTONE.
Playfair's work as Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen, though
valued by him as keeping up his connection with the Royal
Family, a connection which had extended over the greater
part of his life, was made specially congenial because it
placed him in intimate relations with more than one
department of the Government of which he had to act as
the representative in the House of Lords. From his
letters to his wife during his “waits” at Windsor a few
extracts may be made.
WINDSOR CASTLE,
Playfair to his Wife. Sunday, june 25th, 1893.
I had better write, as there is some doubt as to whether
I go to London to-morrow to the levée. The Queen holds
a Privy Council to-morrow, and wishes me to be present as
one of her Privy Councillors, so Ponsonby is telegraphing
to see if they can get a Lord-in-Waiting to supply my place
at the levée.
Last night arrived the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess
Victoria, and Princess Alexandra ; and also Lord Wolseley
and Admiral Hoskyns. I dined with the Queen, and send
you the plan of the dinner, which had more of State than
usual. You will see that the Duchess of Edinburgh was on
the right of the Queen, then I came between the Duchess
and her very agreeable daughter, Princess Victoria. They
were both very affable, the Queen frequently joining in
our conversation. After dinner there was “a reception ”
Of the ladies of the Household.
To-day the Queen kindly sent to say that she was to
attend a service in the Mausoleum of the Prince Consort,
and she thought I might like to join it. Accordingly I
394. MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
walked through the grounds to Frogmore, I should think
about a mile. The walk through the Home Park is lovely.
This Mausoleum to me was very touching. Over the altar
is a large picture of Christ coming out of the tomb, and the
Roman soldiers falling down under their shields, overcome
by this triumph over death. On each side of the Mauso-
leum are two large pictures, one of the Crucifixion and the
other of the Disciples' Visit to the Empty Tomb. In the
middle is the sarcophagus of the Prince Consort, with
bronze angels supporting it, and the recumbent figure of the
Prince in white marble. In a recess is an exquisite monu-
ment in pure white marble to Princess Alice. You recollect
that she died of diphtheria, after nursing her child through
its illness, and the child lies beside her, clasped to her
breast. I had just time to go round the Mausoleum when
the Queen arrived. There were three rows of chairs. In
the first row sat the Queen, the Duchess of Edinburgh,
Princess Beatrice, and Princess Leiningen. In the second
row Lady Antrim and the three Edinburgh Princesses, one
a little girl. In the third row two Ladies-in-Waiting, Miss
Macneill and Miss Cadogan, Sir John Macneill, Sir F.
Edwards and myself. The music was hidden, but the choir
was good. The Dean of Windsor and a Bishop, unknown
to me (though he came up and talked with me), officiated.
The whole service was pleasing, and I felt touched, as it
was the first time I had seen the Prince Consort's tomb. I
walked back in a roundabout way with Edwards and
Macneill, and saw all the beauties of Frogmore. The
Queen goes there every morning and does her work upon
the Government despatches in a pleasant tea house,
attended by her secretaries. After the service at the
Mausoleum she went to the tea house to get through
her morning work, which follows her on Sundays as on
other days.
Same to the same. WINDSOR CASTLE, December IIth, 1893.
To-day we have had a most eloquent sermon from the
Bishop of Ripon (Dr Boyd Carpenter), and I did not go
out at all, as the weather was so inclement.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREws.” 395
Yesterday I had a pleasant walk with Bishop Barry, and
he took me over the ecclesiastical precincts of St. George's
Chapel. In the garden there is a blighted willow tree. It
was planted from a cutting of the willow tree which I saw
growing over Napoleon's tomb at St. Helena. It grew and
waxed to be a goodly tree, growing on the ashes where the
last martyrdom by fire took place at Windsor. On the day
of the battle of Sedan, when the power of Napoleon III.
fell, there was a heavy storm at Windsor, and a stroke of
lightning knocked the chief branch from the willow tree.
Still it stood, and was stunted, not blighted. Years after
there was another heavy storm, and lightning again struck
the tree and carried off the second great arm. It was
afterwards ascertained that this accident happened just at
the hour in which the Prince Imperial was killed in Africa
by the Zulus ! There is a wonderful Napoleonic story
for you !
Same to the same. WINDSOR CASTLE, July 16th, 1894.
Yesterday I went to the private chapel in the morning
(12 o'clock) and to St. George's Chapel in the afternoon
(5 o'clock). The singing there is beautiful, and the whole
surroundings make the service most attractive.
At nine I dined with the Queen. Princess Alix was on
one side of me and the Dean's wife, Mrs Elliot, on the
other. Occasionally the Cesarevitch joined in our con-
versation, and then it became general at the top of the
table—the Queen, Princess Beatrice and Bishop of Ripon
joining. The bishop is a capital raconteur, and is a good
guest at a Royal table. I liked Princess Alix and found
her very agreeable when we did talk together. After
dinner I had a long talk with the Cesarevitch, and found
him singularly well read. It required all my knowledge of
geography to keep up with him in his talk about the
Kurile Islands, which stretch from Yezo to Kamschatka.
During the whole term of the existence of the Govern-
ment of 1892, first under the premiership of Mr Gladstone,
and subsequently under that of Lord Rosebery, Playfair's
396 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR. .
services were in constant requisition. Whenever any one
of those questions with which he had been associated
during his life was on the tapis, Ministers applied to him
for advice and assistance. How varied and how Onerous
were the demands thus made upon his time and attention
may be gathered from the fact that during the Session of
1894, he received in succession the following offers of posts
of a more or less laborious character :—The Chairmanship
of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education ; the
post of Representative of Great Britain at the International
Colonial Conference at Ottawa; and the Chairmanship of
a Commission to inquire into the education given in our
Naval Schools. He was at the time engaged in the heavy
work of the Aged Poor Commission, and was compelled in
consequence to decline the appointments thus offered to him.
Playfair to his Son. Onslow GARDENs, April IIth, 1894.
You may be interested to know that the Government,
having been asked to send an Imperial representative to a
conference to be held in June and July at Ottawa, in the
interests of Canada and Australia, have asked me to attend
on the part of this country. Had it been in autumn I
would have accepted, but liberties with my health, at my
age, are not permissible, and I was afraid of the effects of a
month of the Canadian summer. So I have refused.
Before he left for his usual visit to the United States in
the autumn of this year, Playfair took some steps to secure
a place of burial for himself and his family at St. Andrews.
The old burial ground attached to the ruined cathedral
had been closed. It was here that Playfair's ancestors
of several generations were buried, and he would have
been glad to think that when his own time came, he
would be laid to rest beside them. But this ancient
burial ground had been closed for sanitary reasons, and
he was much too earnest in his regard for the public
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 397
health to desire that it should be re-opened merely to
gratify his own natural wishes. Happily, the new ground
adjoined the old.
His work on the Aged Poor Commission became more
absorbing than ever towards the close of 1894. The
history of that Commission is already well known. Its
purpose was to devise if possible some means by which
the dream of Old Age Pensions for all who stood in
need of them could be realised. The Prince of Wales
occupied a seat on the Commission, and attended its
meetings with great regularity. It was a powerful body,
containing the representatives of different schools of
thought. Its President was Lord Aberdare, between
whom and Playfair a warm feeling of friendship and
mutual confidence had been maintained for many years.
Mr Chamberlain and the late Dr Hunter, one of the
members for Aberdeen, were also members of the Com-
mission. It gathered a vast amount of useful information
with regard to the condition of the aged poor, and to
the proposals of different kinds which had been made
for the provision of some system of Old Age Pensions.
But when the time came for the consideration of the
Report, serious differences of opinion were found to exist
among the members, and it became apparent to Lord
Aberdare, who was then in failing health, that he was
being thwarted by some of the younger men, who looked
upon the whole question from a political rather than an
economic point of view. Lord Aberdare was in constant
communication with Playfair during the anxious months
when the Commissioners were engaged in a fierce
struggle over the terms of their Report; and when
increasing illness compelled him to retire from his duties
as Chairman, it was Playfair who took his place, and
carried on the work to its conclusion.
398 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
DUFFRYN, MoUNTAIN ASH,
Lord Aberdare to Playfair. SouTH WALEs, October 31st, 1894.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I am very sorry to hear of
your anxiety for Mr Russell, and your inevitable detention
at Boston. Brown will have told you of my corre-
spondence with Chamberlain, and of the lines I have
taken. . . . I am certainly better—physically as well
as any reasonable octogenarian could desire—but I find
my head incapable of continuous close attention for even
a short hour, and therefore avoid all my usual public
work—college, university, etc.—and am rapidly arriving
at the conclusion that at this present rate of progress, I
have no chance of being able effectually now, without
injury probably permanent, to perform the duties of the
chair. For these I, and I believe the Commissioners
generally, look to you, and I hope that no official duties
will stand between you and them. -
Ever sincerely yours,
ABERDARE.
Same to the same. December 6th, 1894.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Your letter has greatly relieved
me, for I came to the conclusion that my presence on
the IIth would be rather embarrassing than helpful, and
anything but agreeable to myself. I shall depend upon
you for making the necessary explanations. I know by
certain tests I have applied that I cannot give that
amount of close, continuous attention to the discussions
on the Report which are expected from the Chairman.
If it were merely a question of peril to my health, I
might venture, but I am convinced that after the lapse
of a year I should prove myself unequal to the task.
Nor have I any ground for supposing that I should be
substantially fitter in February next. . . . As for the
chairmanship, I am convinced that you are not only
the best man, but the only one. I earnestly hope that
you may succeed in persuading the majority to meet on
the 15th January for the purpose of finishing the Report.
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 399
I anticipate some difficulty and many objections, but I
hope that you will persist, and if necessary divide.
Ever sincerely yours,
ABERDARE.
Lord Aberdare did not long survive the writing of the
above letter. He died on February 26th, just one day
before the Report of the Royal Commission was sub-
mitted for signature. But for some months his work
had been discharged by Playfair, upon whom had rested
the burden of revising the Report. A very heavy burden
it was. The diverse elements of which the Commission
was composed were not to be reconciled even by the
most adroit and conciliatory of presidents. Playfair did
his best, and strove to induce Mr Chamberlain to fall
into line with his colleagues, and to agree to a Report
upon which practical action might have been taken ; but
he failed to do so. The majority Report, for which
Playfair was mainly responsible, refused to recommend
Mr Chamberlain's scheme for voluntary assisted insurance.
It reported strongly in favour of an extension of outdoor
relief, and the improvement of workhouse accommodation.
It declined to recommend any of the schemes which
had been submitted to it for giving State assistance to
the aged poor. A memorandum, drawn up by Playfair
himself, appeared at the end of the Report of the Royal
Commission. It was a succinct summary of the history
of that body. “The Commission began their work in
February, 1893, under the presidency of Lord Aberdare,
who was in the chair during the examination of nearly
all the witnesses. He drafted the Report, and presided
at the meetings at which it was discussed until the
adjournment at the end of July, 1894. The Commission
re-assembled on the IIth December, 1894, but the state
of Lord Aberdare's health prevented him from being
400 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
present at that or subsequent meetings, although he con-
tinued to take a deep interest in the progress of their
work to within a few days of his death. At the meeting
On the IIth December, 1894, I was unanimously elected
to act as chairman during Lord Aberdare's inability to
attend. Some of the Commission, present and absent,
desired that further proceedings should be deferred until
the opening of Parliament, while others were in favour
of an earlier resumption of the deliberations, which had
already been greatly protracted. By way of compromise,
it was agreed, with the practical unanimity of those
present, that meetings should be resumed on the 29th
January, 1895.”
The actual summary in which the conclusions of the
Report were lembodied, was written by Playfair, and sub-
mitted to Lord Aberdare, who saw and approved it a few
days before his death. Mr Chamberlain and some other
members of the Commission signed an independent report,
describing the recommendations of the chief report as
“inadequate.” The solution of the problem of our aged
poor was not reached during Playfair's lifetime—has not,
indeed, been arrived at to the present hour; but the work
of the Royal Commission which reported in 1895 will
always remain on record, because of the thoroughness with
which it investigated the great question with which it had
to deal, and of the frankness and courage with which Lord
Aberdare and Lord Playfair vindicated those doctrines of
political economy upon which the wealth of nations
depends. This Royal Commission was, of course, only one
of many in which Playfair took part during his public career.
If it achieved no practical result, it was not on that account
a less laborious piece of work in the service of his country.
On the Queen's birthday, in 1895, Playfair was the re-
cipient of an honour which came to him most unexpectedly,
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 4OI.
and which he valued all the more highly because it was the
spontaneous and unsolicited recognition not only of his life-
long services to the country, but of the work which he had
been doing in the public service since his accession to the
Peerage. The announcement that he was to receive the
honour of the Grand Cross of the Bath was conveyed to
him in the following letter from the Prime Minister:-
Io, DownING STREET, WHITEHALL,
The Earl of Rosebery to Playfair. May 12th, 1895.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I propose on the occasion of
the Queen's birthday to recommend you for the honour
of the G.C.B. I have no time to explain why I do this,
because the record of your single-minded services to the
public is too long for a letter. I will only say that you
have never been deaf to the call of duty, however arduous,
or fallen short of its requirements. That is a great thing
to say, and of few can it be said. I must add, however,
the expression of my personal gratitude for the valuable
work that you are doing for the present Government in
the House of Lords. -
Believe me,
Yours very sincerely,
ROSEBERY.
No recognition of his work could possibly have been
more gratifying to Playfair than this cordial acknowledg-
ment, by a statesman for whom he entertained a warm
admiration, of the value of his services to his country.
The Liberal Ministry resigned on its defeat in the House
of Commons in the following June, and Playfair of course
ceased to hold the office of Lord-in-Waiting.
Before leaving for his annual visit to the United States,
Playfair went to Osborne to be invested with the insignia
of his new honour. It had been discovered by the Heralds'
A. A
4O2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
College that a curious mistake had been made with regard
to his previous promotion to the Knight Commandership
of the Bath, which the following letter explains:—
Playfair to his Daughter (the Hon. Mrs R. M. Stewart).
- ONSLow GARDENs, August 6th, 1895.
Many thanks for your letter of affectionate farewell. I
hope that you and Stewart will have a very pleasant
autumn, and that all will go well with you in our absence.
My visit to Osborne on Friday was very pleasant. You
will have seen that I was knighted, as it appears that I
was never legally “Sir Lyon.” When made K.C.B. in
1885, the Queen thought I would like to wear the decora-
tion on her birthday a few days after being gazetted, and
so under the sign-manual had given me a dispensation from
knighthood “ until such time as Her Majesty can con-
veniently confer it.” This I had not observed, and so
I was never knighted. This was discovered by the
Heralds' College, and accordingly I had to get the accolade
as well as the G.C.B. The official termination of my
position as Lord-in-Waiting has ended very graciously.
The Queen sent to me an engraved portrait of herself,
and desired me to send for her album a cabinet portrait
of myself. . . . With much love to you both,
Yours lovingly,
PLAYFAIR.
In the autumn of 1895, when paying his usual visit to
Boston, Playfair took the opportunity of making, with
his wife, a short tour in Canada. His reception in the
Dominion was more cordial than ever.
- I35, BEAcon STREET, Boston,
Playfair to his Son. October 18th, 1895.
We have come back from Canada, where our trip was
very successful. The hospitality of the Canadians is un-
bounded, and we might have lunched and dined three
“BARON PLAYFAIR OF ST. ANDREWS.” 403
times at least daily. A beautiful banquet was given to me
by the bankers, or rather by the president of one bank, to
enable me to meet the other bankers of Montreal. At
Quebec, which Edith had never seen, the same hospitality
was shown us—rather more of it, because the British
Ambassador to the United States, Sir Julian Pauncefote,
came there after us, and we joined forces, and did every-
thing together. The artillery gave His Excellency a
parade in the Citadel, and we dined at the mess in the
evening. Since I was there last a splendid hotel has been
built on the platform, with a glorious view. Our sitting-
room was in the turret, and had thirteen windows, so we
commanded every side. The owners of Montmorency
Falls asked us to an afternoon party, and the glorious
Falls, twice the height of Niagara, though much less in
volume, were under our windows. The President of the
Union Pacific sent his car to the Ambassador, so we
returned in delightful comfort, with an excellent cook and
good wines. In ten days we leave Boston, and on the
3oth sail in the Majestic.
During his visit to Canada, in a conversation with a
newspaper reporter at Montreal in October, 1895, he
delivered himself of some of those sentiments with regard
to imperial affairs, and the union of Great Britain and her
colonies, which he had always held. Referring to the
complications which existed at that time in Eastern
Europe, and the menacing position of Russia, he said to
his interlocutor :— -
“I do not think European peace will be disturbed at present through
these complications; but, at any rate, as far as England is concerned,
you may have noticed that in some way, whatever the difficulty,
England has come out all right in the end.” His lordship will not
allow that the Liberal party is disheartened. “We are as reso-
lute as ever, though we do not see the possibility of getting back
to power for another five or six years. The majority against us
is overwhelming, but this is not because the people are against
Liberal principles, but because we went to the country with too
many questions. We should have had one or two well-defined
measures, which we should have offered to the people, who,
4O4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
on the contrary, were mystified by a long and indefinite programme.
We had Local Option, Disestablishment, Home Rule, Registra-
tion, and other matters, which bred confusion and uncertainty
in the mind. We needed definiteness, and, not having it, we
lost.” . . . To the suggestion that the Liberal party has been
accused of lukewarmness towards the Colonies, whereas it was
the policy of the Conservatives to bind them closer to the Mother
country, his lordship said that it was to be remembered that
Lord Rosebery was the chairman of the Imperial Federation League,
whose object was to unite the whole Empire in closer bonds. “I
myself was an active member of the Society, which unfortunately
has been disbanded, but I can assure you that there is a strong feel-
ing in favour of Imperial Federation, and that the Society did good
work in fostering it. We do indeed desire closer relations, though
we would never consent to bring them about by taxation (as was
proposed at Ottawa at your recent conference) of foreign produce,
which is so much greater than all our trade with the Colonies at
present. That would be disastrous for us, and no Government
would think of entertaining such a question. The Colonies will
grow, and our trade with them will increase, but England will never
go back to Protection principles, even for the purpose of making a
bond between the scattered members of her family.”
CHAPTER XV.
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES.
Playfair's Sojourns at Nahant—Almost a Citizen of the United States-
Letters to Lady Playfair's Family—The Venezuelan Crisis—Nego-
tiating Peace—Correspondence with Mr Chamberlain and Mr
Bayard—Playfair's Share in the Settlement of the Dispute.
IT seems desirable to say something about what may be
fittingly called the American side of Playfair's life, and
those visits to the United States which occurred so re-
gularly during the last twenty years of his life. His
letters to his American friends and relatives sufficiently
prove the affectionate intimacy of his intercourse with
them ; but they do not convey any idea to the reader
of the importance which these annual visits to the
United States assumed in Playfair's life. The reader
has probably noticed that after his marriage with Miss
Russell he invariably left England at the earliest pos-
sible moment after his release from the labours of the
Parliamentary Session, and spent some months of the
recess either in Boston or at Nahant, the beautiful
watering-place which is so well known to all visitors to
New England. His father-in-law, Mr Russell, had a
summer residence at Nahant, and here Playfair spent
many weeks almost every year from 1879 onwards.
The climate and the scenery of Nahant were both to
his taste. From the heights of the little peninsula on
which the village stood, the visitor looks across the
Atlantic upon an expanse of water that stretches from
his feet to the shores of Spain. Beautiful walks and
406 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
drives are to be found at every turn ; whilst Nahant
has happily remained free from the features of the
fashionable watering-place, and from the dissipations of
summer resorts better known to the outer world. It
was not, however, merely the beauty and quietude of
Nahant that constituted its charm in the eyes of
Playfair. The society of the place, although limited,
was of no ordinary kind. In the old days it was the
summer residence of Prescott, the historian; of Long-
fellow, Motley and Agassiz; and these men naturally
drew to it many friends of distinction from all parts
of the United States as well as from Europe. When
Playfair became a yearly resident in his father-in-
law's cottage, some of the eminent men I have named
had passed away; but others, not less eminent, remained.
Among these were Longfellow and Wendell Holmes, and
with them Playfair's friendship became intimate. It was
at Nahant that Longfellow had written some of his finest
poetry, and it was the scenery of the watering-place that
had inspired not a few of his seaside poems. It was a
delight to Playfair to be able to enjoy, frequent inter-
course with the venerable and illustrious poet. Agassiz
he did not know, as death had removed him from the
Scene; but the widow of the great naturalist survived,
and with her also Playfair was on terms of intimate
friendship.
It was characteristic of him that just as he had en-
tered into the life of his wife's family as fully and frankly
as if he had been one of them by birth, so, during his
Sojourn in America, he became almost a citizen of the
United States, taking the keenest interest in all public
affairs affecting the Republic, and discussing American
politics with as much interest and intelligence as he
brought to bear upon the politics of his own land. He
was, of course, specially interested in the public schools
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 4O7
and charitable institutions of the United States, and he
never paid his annual visit to Boston without going to
See Some School or public charity or prison. It often
happened that one who was received with honour as a
distinguished public man from the Old Country was called
upon to take some public part in his visits to these institu-
tions, and it is probable that he never went to America
without having to make a number of speeches to audiences
varying from School-children to Ministers and statesmen.
One notable incident during these American visits has
already been dealt with. That was the occasion when
Playfair took part in a remarkable meeting that was held
at Boston for the purpose of receiving a deputation from
Great Britain, who had crossed the Atlantic in order to
appeal to the President and people of the United States
in favour of a Treaty of Arbitration. At this meeting
Playfair was introduced to the audience as one who had
more reasons than some to love Boston, for his wife was a
Bostonian, and the daughter of an honoured citizen who
was present on the platform. He spoke with his accus-
tomed plainness and clearness upon the subject that the
meeting had been called to consider, concluding his speech
with these words:—
“Let us look at the peculiarities of John Bull and Brother
Jonathan, and see if there is anything to prevent the proposed
treaty. John Bull is a man full of honest purpose, but he was
born on an island and is steeped in insular prejudices. He has
a sincere conviction that he is always right and that everybody
else is always wrong. Brother Jonathan has the greatest intoler-
ance of discussion, and there is underneath this intolerance a
spirit of sweet reasonableness. Now, why should not this honest
purpose of John Bull and this sweet reasonableness of Brother
Jonathan work in harmony, and form a union which would exer-
cise a power for good which would be felt throughout the length
and breadth of the world P’’
This homely appeal was made long before Lord Salis-
bury attempted to frame in concert with the American
408 MEMOIRS OF LYON PIAYFAIR.
Government a Treaty of Arbitration, and it represents one
of the strongest sentiments in Playfair's heart during the
last years of his life.
He had long been an advocate of a system of arbi-
tration for the settlement of international disputes. In
this year, 1887, as he has told us in his Reminiscences,
he took part in the movement which was started by the
friends of peace in Great Britain in favour of the establish-
ment of arbitration between England and the United
States. He visited Washington as a member of the
English deputation, and was there received by the
President. His speech to the President (Mr Cleveland)
has been given on an earlier page. In replying to it,
the President spoke in conciliatory and friendly terms.
He gave no hint of that future when the relations of
England with the United States became so strained
that war between the two countries seemed to be
imminent; and Playfair himself, when he addressed
President Cleveland, can have had no inkling of the fact
that a few years later he was to be engaged in devising,
not a general scheme of arbitration, but arbitration upon
a particular and specific question, in order to save the
world from the calamity of a fratricidal struggle between
the two great branches of the English-speaking race. His
interest in this question of arbitration never failed, and
in 1890, under the title of “A Topic for Christmas,” he
contributed to the ‘North American Review' an essay
in which he set forth the whole case in favour of a treaty
of arbitration, and appealed to the people of the United
States to come forward as the champions of that method
of settling the disputes of nations. How strongly he felt
upon the subject may be gathered from the closing passage
of his contribution to the ‘North American Review’:—
“While Continental countries in Europe groan under these
burdens, it is the privilege and duty of English-speaking people
|PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 409
to preach and to practise the doctrine of peace. Every Sunday
morning the prayer arises in England—‘Give peace in our time,
O Lord.’ This prayer is national, but it is followed by another—
catholic and unique, applying to all nations, that they may have
“unity, peace, and concord.” A few hours after these prayers have
been made in the churches of England, they are repeated in those of
the United States, and pass with the rising light till they girdle
the whole world. The realisation of these prayers is within the
power of the Anglo-Saxon race. They are animated by the spirit
of love, liberty, and order, which has already done so much to
ameliorate humanity; and in the triumph of their mission will
there be the maintenance of peace between nations.”
But whilst his visits to the States were thus associated
to some extent with public purposes, and whilst they
undoubtedly gave Playfair, as a member of the House
of Commons, an almost unique position, owing to the
extent and thoroughness of the knowledge which he had
acquired of American party politics, his chief desire in his
yearly visits to Boston and Nahant was to enjoy himself
in the midst of a family life which seemed to be peculiarly
Suited to his own temperament. I have had occasion
already to speak of his relations with Mr and Mrs Russell,
the father and mother of his wife. I now bring together
a few letters which not only illustrate, more fully than
any comments of mine could, the character of his friend-
ship with them, but which have an interest of their own.
South KENSINGTON,
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. January 3rd, 1887.
You will see that the Government has been in a political
crisis, which I am glad to say has not broken it up, as
we were not ready to take advantage of it, and did not
want another dissolution. Goschen has been the cement
to fill the crack, but it will not much longer hold together.
Still it may last through this Session, but it may not. I
am very busy just now helping to start the Imperial
Institute, which is to be the offering of love and loyalty
to the Queen on the fiftieth anniversary of her reign. All
4IO MEMOIRS OF LY ON PLAY FAIR,
the Lord-Lieutenants and Mayors meet at St. James's
Palace on the 12th. It depends a good deal upon the
Prince's speech at that meeting whether it will start well.
He is a good speaker, and I am sure will distinguish himself
on that occasion. At present we have only £10,000
out of £500,000. Every district wishes its own little
testimonial, so it is difficult to get money for a great
object. The latest proposal is to make the great Jubilee
offering a gold cup for the best Cheddar cheese ! That
manuscript [his Reminiscences], which I was engaged in
writing at Nahant, has now got to the year 1878—a year
very dear to me, and one for which I am grateful every
day of my life.
WINDSOR HOTEL, NEw York,
Playfair to Mr and Mrs Russell. October 28th, 1890,
(On leaving America after his annual visit.)
MY DEAREST PATER ET MATER,-If a million mi-
crobes can inhabit with comfort and liveliness the point
of a needle, why is it necessary that the great Atlantic
should divide people who wish to live together ? Our
heart is sad because of this need of our existence, but
we have so many things to be grateful for that there
should be no room for sadness. Mater's guests have
departed, but she will soon forget her cares in love for
the absent child and son-in-law, who she knows fully
appreciated all her love and tenderness. Pater will have
no one to instruct with his wide and great knowledge
of history. And so it is all over for a few months, and
bright memories remain for us of all your love and
goodness to us, and I hope pleasant memories to you
of those who have left.
* SANDRINGHAM, NoFFOLK,
Playfair to Mrs Russell. November 23rd, I890.
You will see by the above address where I am, though
Edith unfortunately could not accompany me. Our party
is not very large—the Danish Minister and Madame de
Bille, Lord Herschell, Archdeacon Farrar, Sir Frederick
PLAY FAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 4II
Leighton (the President of the Royal Academy), Sir F.
Abel, and myself. The two young Princes are on their
travels, so only the Princesses Victoria and Maud are here.
Archdeacon Farrar gave us a most interesting Sermon,
abounding in illustration. He brought in quotations from
Goethe, and Rabelais even, with a good deal of Science
to show that little things make up a man's life, and that
these, being done properly, constitute human happiness.
SOUTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. January 26th, 1891.
I have just finished an article on American finance,
which will appear in ‘The New Review' for February.
It is entitled ‘The Demas Invitation to substitute Gold
for Silver in the United States.' If you wish to be re-
minded who Mr Demas was, look up your “Pilgrim's
Progress,’ and you will find Christian's last temptation
before entering the Golden City was by Demas tempting
him to abandon the Gold and join “the Silver Fraternity.”
It is a capital skit on the bi-metallic views which Bunyan
must have known in his time. I have made it the
apologue of my article. You are sure to have the
* Review' in your Club, but in any case I will send you
a Copy.
Same to the same. July 19th, 1892.
It is still possible we may sail on the Ioth August. I
must stay to vote my want of confidence in the present
Government in any case, but that should be determined
by, say, the 8th. Lord Salisbury sticks to office till
Parliament meets, which is not till the 4th. Three days
will be required for swearing in and electing a Speaker;
and after that, two days, the 8th and 9th, will be required
for the vote. It is doubtful whether we can catch the
steamer on the Ioth, and we prefer to sail by the large
steamers, either the Majestic or the Teutonic. So it
may, and probably would, be the 24th before we could
sail. The Radicals think me too moderate, and do not
wish me in the Government.
4I2 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
SouTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to Mr and Mrs Russell. February 1st, 1893.
Edith was at the ceremony in the House of Lords
yesterday, and for the first time took her seat in the
Peeresses' Gallery. The House of Lords was en grande
tenue for the occasion, the ceremonial entrance for Peers
being opened, and servants in Scarlet being in attendance.
I suppose this was done in honour of the unusual number
of Peers introduced. The Lord High Chamberlain, the
Earl Marshal (Duke of Norfolk), the Garter King at Arms
(Sir A. Woods), and the Black Rod (Admiral Drummond),
dressed in their gorgeous costumes, conducted each peer in
succession through the queer ancient ceremonial of which
We Send you a programme. I was seventh in the list,
and each presentation took ten minutes. The procession
consisted of seven :—
I—Black Rod, in black clothes; 2—The Earl Marshal, Duke of
Norfolk; 3—Lord Ancaster, Hereditary Lord High Chamberlain;
4—Garter King at Arms; 5, 6 and 7–Lord Brassey, Lyon, Lord
Monkswell, in Baron's robes.
Garter wore a crimson velvet robe, embroidered all over,
both before and behind, with golden lions. The Duke of
Norfolk's Scarlet robes were like a priest's—much embroi-
dered. The Lord High Chamberlain was in the robes of
an earl—Scarlet, with deeper ermine than the baron's. They
filed up in Indian file to the Lord Chancellor, where Garter
gave me my Patent: a large roll of parchment, illumi-
nated on the margin with arms, thistles, etc. This is the
Warrant for future generations. This patent I, kneeling,
handed to the Lord Chancellor, who gave it to the senior
clerk, who read it aloud at the table, the peers in the
procession standing round. Then I handed the writ of
summons to the House, which was also read. Then, after
taking the oath of fealty to the Queen, I signed the roll.
Again the procession forms, and files down the spiritual
side of the House, and the peer, with his supporters, was
taken to the upper bench, where Brassey, Monkswell,
and I sat down, putting on our cocked hats, and rising
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 4I3
and bowing solemnly three times to the Lord Chancellor.
Then the procession was re-formed, and filed out of
the House.
SOUTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to Mrs Russell. February 26th, 1893.
I am exceedingly busy with work, but it seems to suit
me. Two Royal Commissions, one on a university for
London, and the other on the Poor Law, occupy me four
days in the week. With my companies also these engage-
ments occupy all my days till dinner time. The House of
Lords is not exacting, for it occupies generally only one
and a half hours. Later, it will give me some work, as I
represent three Government departments—the Board of
Trade, the Post Office, and Scotland—and have to answer
all questions relating to these, and carry through their Bills.
At the Commission on the Aged Poor the Prince of Wales
attends, and we often have luncheon together.
MYNDE PARK, HEREFORD,
Playfair to S. H. Russell, Esq. May 22nd, 1893.
I suppose that Edith has told you all about this beautiful
place, so I will go back to my visit to Windsor. I arrived
at the Castle just in time to get fifteen minutes for my
dressing, but with a capital valet I managed to get into the
Windsor uniform—dark blue coat with red collar and
red cuffs, trousers buttoning close at the ankles, stockings
and pumps. My decorations required most time to put
on. Then I went into the long State corridor, where the
rest of the party, except the Royalties, were assembled.
} took the Lord-in-Waiting's place (who dined with the
Maids-of-Honour). There were only eight or ten at
table. After dinner we again went to the long corridor,
where the Queen sent for her guests in rotation. I
enjoyed a talk with her about old times, and her im-
pressions at the late ceremonial of opening the Institute.
After about half an hour the Queen left with the Princess
Beatrice, and I had a long talk with the Princess's husband,
after which I joined the ladies of the Household in their
drawing-room, and had a pleasant time till II o'clock.
4I4 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
SOUTH Kensington,
Playfair to Mrs Russell. May 13th, 1895.
MY DEAR MATER,--In your country honours are
difficult to understand, and therefore you may be puzzled
to know how I became C.B., then K.C.B., and now, on
the Queen's birthday, become G.C.B., or Grand Cross of the
Bath. Instead of wearing the riband round my neck, it
goes across the body; and where the riband used to be,
a collar of gold and enamel is substituted on “collar
days.” Dear Mr Russell, had he been alive, would have
been much gratified. . . You will, when you receive
this, be in Nahant; and though your return will be full
of sadness, I hope the change will do you very much
good. You can associate every rose and flower with him
whom you loved so well." *
In many ways, the most important and interesting
feature of Playfair's connection with the United States
was the part he played at a time when President Cleve-
land's actions with regard to Venezuela brought the two
countries into a state of dangerous antagonism. When
the storm of passion aroused by President Cleveland's
message swept over the surface of the United States, no
one in this country was filled with deeper anxiety as to the
ultimate issue of the dispute which had been raised so
gratuitously than Playfair. The warmth of his friendship
with many eminent Americans, and his sympathetic in-
terest in the political development of the United States,
gave a peculiar poignancy to the grief with which he saw
the outburst of a hostile feeling on the part of the Americans
towards his native land, the existence of which had hardly
been suspected. His view of the action of President Cleve-
land was that of most Englishmen, but his whole desire
was for peace, and, with characteristic courage and enthu-
siasm, he had no sooner realised the fact that the diplomacy
* Mr Russell had died during Playfair's visit to the United States in the
previous autumn.
PLAY FAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 4I 5
of the two countries had fallen into a state of deadlock
than he set about to devise some means by which the
difficult knot might be disentangled. Immediately after
Mr Cleveland's message he received many communica-
tions from his friends in the United States discussing the
position of affairs, pointing out its gravity, and imploring
him to take some action in the interests of international
peace. One eminent American, wrote to him as follows,
On Christmas Eve, 1895 –
“We are young—England is old, and as the young
feel a veneration for those who are older, so we have a
feeling of regard for England that is ill-concealed by our
often-assumed tone of perfect equality. The term ‘mother
country’ not only means a great deal, but it carries with
it an influence which begets filial feeling. And notwith-
standing all this, the people of the United States are
roused, and in mood for war, because they look upon
the action of Great Britain as a menace to our integrity
and to our institutions. I have never known the people,
North and South, so united and so much in earnest: so
ready to suffer any consequences rather than permit
unjust aggression against a sister republic. They will
await the result of the investigation by the Commission
appointed by the President, and if that result unfavour-
ably to the claims of Lord Salisbury, I fear the worst.
This is the reason I write. I cannot persuade myself
that the English can meditate injustice. It is necessary
that our people should be made to see this, that they
may touch and feel it, that they may recognise on the
part of England a delicacy with regard to the rights of
Venezuela which would cause her to recede the moment
she sees she is wrong. We hoped to have this come about
through arbitration. That hope has deceived us, and the
concert of accord with England on the part of the Con-
tinental Press makes it doubtful in the minds of many
whether any Government in Europe would act with
impartiality in the matter. Calmness, justice, and, as
4I6 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Mr Gladstone says, common-sense, must preside over the
decision of this disputed question, and it must be made
clear that there is nothing in the whole matter which
threatens the integrity of Venezuela; and indirectly (as
we understand it) the integrity of the United States.”
Partial and inadequate as this expression of the American
point of view may be, it deserves to be noted because
of the extent to which it prevailed on the other side of
the Atlantic. Playfair, who did not forget that the
dignity and the integrity of Great Britain had just as
good a right to be respected as those of Venezuela or
the United States, clearly realised that President Cleve-
land's action in abstaining from any reply to Lord Salis-
bury's despatches, and in nominating a Commission to
deal with a question in which the sovereign rights of
England were concerned, made straight for war. For
the moment the appointment of the Commission delayed
the catastrophe. But unless some steps were taken to
extricate the two great nations involved from the pre-
dicament created by Mr Cleveland's undiplomatic diplo-
macy war, it was morally certain, must ensue.
It was in these circumstances, and stimulated by the
appeals he received from American friends, that Playfair,
at the request of Mr Chamberlain, took action. On the
12th January, 1896, after a conversation with the Colonial
Secretary, he saw the American Ambassador, Mr Bayard,
with whom he was on terms of intimate friendship, and
handed to him a memorandum which, in his own opinion,
might furnish the basis of an equitable agreement between
the two countries. The memorandum began by pointing
out that the fact that the President of the United States
had sent no reply to the last two despatches of Lord
Salisbury seemed to offer an opening for private negotia-
tions, by means of which the two Governments might
again be brought together. It then proceeded —
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 4I 7
“2. The Monroe doctrine, which essentially is ‘that European
nations having interests in America shall not seek to extend their
influence in that hemisphere,' and which is not now accepted inter-
nationally, might be made international between the countries
now having colonies in America. If the United States Govern-
ment were to propose a conference of these nations to this end,
England would accept the Monroe doctrine.
“3. It might or it might not be wise to submit to this conference
the question whether the dispute as regards the Venezuela boundary
comes within the Monroe doctrine. -
“4. Venezuela.-In Mr Olney's despatch there was an admission
that the United States would not interfere with the friendly arrange-
ment of the boundary between the two nations. Of course Vene-
zuela at present will not do anything without the approval of the
United States. Could not some such friendly arrangement or
arbitration be made in this way ?–
“A. There are no Venezuelan settlements inside the Schom-
burgk line. -
“B. There are no English settlements beyond the Schomburgk
line.
“Irrespective of that line, could not the general condition be
accepted that all English and all Venezuelan settlements be
excluded from arbitration, but that all the country between the
settlements be settled by a Court of Arbitration, and a line be drawn
by that court which shall be accepted by both countries 2 It would
be possible to add English and Venezuelan Commissioners to the
Commission already appointed by the United States, but that would
be too large and cumbrous a Commission. Would it not be better
to appoint two or three from the United States Commission to
represent the knowledge they have acquired, two or three from
England, and two or three from Venezuela P. If the principle were
accepted that the districts already settled by the English and
Venezuelan Governments or people should not be arbitrated upon,
there would be no difficulty in settling a line on a friendly arbitra-
tion. I believe the English Government would accept such a
proposal coming from the United States Government.”
This important memorandum was undoubtedly founded
upon communications which had passed between Playfair
and members of Lord Salisbury's Government. It indi-
cates roughly, as the reader will perceive, the settlement
which was eventually arrived at ; but when he read it to
Mr Bayard on that Sunday afternoon in January, 1896, the
two countries were still far from being ready to come to
terms, and a prolonged correspondence—in the first place
B B
418 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
private and confidential, and subsequently official—had to
pass between the representatives of both before an agree-
ment was come to. Mr Chamberlain has kindly permitted
me to include in this narrative his own letters in the
following correspondence. It need only be said by way of
introduction that Mr Bayard was as keen to bring about a
pacific solution of the difficulty as anyone in this country
was, and that, whilst safeguarding the rights and dignities
of the United States, he was eager to assist Playfair in the
work in which he was now engaged.
EMBAssy OF THE UNITED STATES, LonDoN,
Mr Bayard to Playfair. : }anuary 13th, 1896.
DEAR LORD PLAYFAIR,--I return with thanks the
memorandum enclosed in re Venezuela which you handed
me yesterday. I cabled the purport (confidential) to the
Secretary of State, and believe the candid and friendly
acceptance by this country of the Monroe doctrine, and
non-extension of European holdings in the Americas, will
be promotive of a better feeling, by dispelling an indefinite
apprehension of European intervention and control in
Transatlantic local Governments, which has been fostered
by a party of foes to the international peace. I sent over
also your project of disregarding the Schomburgk line, but
reserving actual “settlements” from the scheme of arbitra-
tion. While I anticipate good results from non-insistence
in advance of the Schomburgk line, yet I do not know
how far the actual occupation of the disputable territory
has progressed on either side of the dispute. The con-
cession of mining rights has been very reckless and vague
and corrupt, as a consequence of leaving the boundary so
long an open question ; and a great deal of fictitious
purchase and Sale and unscrupulous manufacture of title
has no doubt followed. If we can initiate the disposition
to settle in good temper, it will rapidly progress; and
I am not willing to doubt that good feeling and good
sense will prevail. Sincerely yours,
T. F. BAYARD.
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 4I9
On January 17th Mr Bayard informed Playfair that
his Government was indisposed to assent to a conference
being called to deal with the Monroe doctrine.
The Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain to Playfair.
HIGHBURY MooR GREEN, BIRMINGHAM,
%anuary 19th, 1896.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--Surely the Americans would be
wrong not to accept a conference to adopt the Monroe
doctrine. Such an international confirmation would tend
to clear the air, and remove from the minds of all the
American people the idea—so extraordinary to us—that
either we or any other European nation covets one
additional inch of soil on the American continent.
Besides this advantage, this plan would in our eyes
appear to be more regular and more in accordance with the
proceedings of diplomacy. However, if Mr Bayard does
not like it, I am not inclined to press for it strongly.
I think there would be no objection to introducing an
article to some convention establishing a general arbitra-
tion between Great Britain and the United States for all
cases of (1) disputed boundaries in unsettled territories,
(2) complaints by nations of one side alleging injury by
officials of the other. (This is a very common case,
involving much correspondence, and admirably suited for
arbitration.) .
The above would of course include the Venezuelan case,
in regard to which, however, it would not be enough
merely to provide that the disputed boundaries should be
“taken into account.” In my view, occupied places and
districts ought to be mutually excluded. Mr B. is wrong
in thinking that Venezuela has few settlements. On the
contrary, I believe her settlements come nearer to the
Schomburgk line on her side than ours do on our side
of the line. -
Assuming that there was agreement on this point, which
is a point of principle, it would remain to define “settle-
ments" and to decide on the Commission. My own idea
is that Venezuela must be represented, and I should have
42O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
thought that a Boundary Commission like the Commission
for the Pamirs or for Delimitation of Frontiers of the Gold
Coast would be the most practical way of dealing with the
business. In all the cases quoted, the Commissioners have
been able to agree among themselves, or in exceptional
cases they referred a point to their respective Govern-
ments, who have at once come to an understanding.
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
On January 20th Playfair had another interview with
Mr Bayard, and learned from him that the American
Government was exceedingly anxious to provide for the
exclusion of all bogus claims of settlement. This he
reported to Mr Chamberlain.
: - CoLonIAL OFFICE,
Mr Chamberlain to Playfair. #anuary 23rd, 1896.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have received your two last
letters. Of course no concession without serious occupa-
tion would be considered a settlement. I think five years'
bond ſide occupation would be a fair definition. I do not
think there is any reliable map or book showing accurately
the lines of such settlements on either side the Schomburgk
Boundary, but I am telegraphing for information.
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
Mr Bayard to Playfair. . January 29th, 1896.
DEAR LORD PLAYFAIR,--I have a communication to
make to you, and will see you at 3 p.m. to-day, or to-
morrow at Io.30 a.m. at my residence, or will await your
decision as to time and place. To-night I am tied by an
engagement. Sincerely yours,
T. F. BAYARD.
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 42 I
At the interview which followed, Mr Bayard read to
Playfair the telegrams which he had received from
Washington with regard to the suggestions made in Play-
fair's memorandum. In all the communications which had
been made from this side of the Atlantic, the exclusion of
the settled districts from any arbitration had been insisted
upon. Mr Bayard himself had fully understood this,
and had impressed it upon his Government. Playfair
found to his disappointment that the Executive of the
United States seemed disposed to pass this condition
by. He reported to Mr Chamberlain accordingly.
HIGHBURY MooR GREEN, BIRMINGHAM,
Mr Chamberlain to Playfair. February Ist, 1896.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I have to acknowledge your
letter of yesterday, and feel sure that my request for
information from the United States Government will be
favourably considered. In regard to your previous letter,
of 29th ultimo, I have to point out to you that although
the necessity and practical advantage of confining any
inquiry by a Commission, or Tribunal of Arbitration, to the
unsettled lands on both sides has formed a prominent part
of every representation you have made to Mr Bayard, yet
there is no allusion to it in the suggestions which come
from Washington, although Mr Bayard says that this con-
dition is, he believes, understood and desired.
In my view it is an essential condition of any settlement
on the lines you have been following. In this controversy
Great Britain has been contending for men, and not for
territory; for the rights of settlers whom we have en-
couraged to take up residence, and to invest their fortunes
in the colonies, and not for a mere question of so many
acres more or less of land. -
I think, therefore, that the time has come when the tacit
understanding on which you have proceeded should be
formally confirmed; failing which, I fear there will be no
advantage in our continuing our private Conference to find
422 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
a satisfactory and honourable solution. If, however,
this point is accepted on both sides, I believe there
will be no difficulty on other heads.
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
Mr Bayard to Playfair. February 23rd, 1896.
DEAR LORD PLAYFAIR,--I am grieved to learn of your
being so much indisposed, and that we shall be deprived of
the expected pleasure of having Lady Playfair and yourself
to dine on Tuesday next. Pray get well; you are needed.
And now let me say a word about Venezuela. During the
long pause in our informal but earnest colloquies, it is
evident that a strong and most wholesome public Sentiment
has proved its existence on both sides of the Atlantic; and
while it encourages the efforts of co-operative international
amity, it also notifies the enemy, so that it behoves us to
clinch our arrangements without loss of time, and thus pre-
vent the question from being cast into the furnace of the
political canvass upon which the people of the United
States will enter in a few short months. Surely the
practicable remedy contained in the suggestions I last made
to you, and upon which, when we last met, I conceived we
were in substantial accord, ought not to be imperilled or
lost because of the conjectural or possible transfer of
property rights in the terra incognita of Guiana from one
political jurisdiction to another ?
The phrase in Mr Chamberlain's note to you of February
1st, and through which you ran your pencil, that the object
in view of Her Majesty's Ministers was “men, and not
territory,” surely does not state the case as it actually
exists; because, if the native occupation and possession of
the land is held irrevocably to tie the land to the owner,
the land equally with the man would be excluded from the
proposed submission to arbitration. I need not say to you
that respect for the law, its moral principles and conscience,
is equally shared by both branches of our race, and that
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 423
Spanish-American methods of dealing with property and
personal rights would be as little likely to find favour, or
have influence, with the commissioners on the part of the
United States as with those selected here. So that if there
should turn out to be some “hard cases” of honest pro-
prietorship in the disputable region, in which honest
purchasers without notice would suffer, and over which
the application of equitable principles favourable to the
protection of vested rights need not, in the face of the clear
facts, be extended, surely provisional arrangements for
compensation and indemnification for such cases could
be made without serious difficulty.
I must say to you that I am impressively instructed
to urge co-operation by those in authority here without
loss of time; and with such a spirit as now exists, with
a Commission such as is contemplated, containing such
elements of legal learning, justice, equity, and amicable
patriotism as would be entrusted, together with the
(possible, but not probable) resort to the ultimate decision
of the highest two judicial officers of the respective
countries, it seems humanly impossible that serious wrong
should be done to any man. If with such methods and
such machinery justice should not be evolved, where in
the range of human nature can it be found 2
Believe me,
Sincerely yours,
T. F. BAYARD.
40, PRINCEs GARDENs, S.W.,
Mr Chamberlain to Playfair. February 25th, 1896.
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,--I now return you, according to
your request, the letter from Mr Bayard of February 23rd.
I am sorry that I cannot but regard its contents as
unsatisfactory.
I think it well at this stage to remind you of the course
of our informal negotiations. When I first saw you, I
pointed out that the message of the President appeared
to place the two countries in direct antagonism, and
424 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
that accordingly the object of all friends of peace should
be to find some third course which both Governments
could accept without going back on their previous declara-
tions. I observed that while successive English Govern-
ments had uniformly refused an unlimited arbitration, it
might be possible to arrange for an arbitration under con-
ditions which might be acceptable to both parties; and
I suggested inter alia that if settled districts on both
sides of the Schomburgk line were excluded, there would
probably be no difficulty in arriving at a boundary to be
drawn by a competent tribunal, between the settlements
in either country. This suggestion was submitted by
you, and on the 17th January a telegram from Mr
Olney was received, which suggested that in the reference
to arbitration specific provision should be made that long-
continued occupation should be taken into account. -
On January 19th I replied that the exclusion of the
settled districts was a matter of principle, and that the
words, “be taken into account,” did not seem to me to
be sufficient. -
On the 20th January you gave me an account of your
interview with Mr Bayard, in which you reported that
he was anxious that in the definition of settlement bogus
claims should be excluded ; but he stated that he quite
understood that the principle of exclusion underlay our
proposal. -
On the 23rd January I suggested five years' bond-ſide
occupation as the definition of a settled district.
On the 29th January you forwarded to me a definite
proposal from Mr Olney, in which, however, no reference
was made to settled districts. You stated that you had
pointed this out to Mr Bayard, who said that he believed
that the principle was understood and desired. On the
same day I replied to you, pointing out that the exclusion
of settled districts was stated to be the essence of the
arbitration. Mr Bayard explained that Mr Olney in-
sisted on bond-ſide as contrasted with snatch settlements;
and you suggested the words “effective occupation ” as
meeting the case.
PLAYFAIR AND THE UNITED STATES. 425
This being substantially the history of the negotiation,
I am surprised to find that in Mr Bayard's last letter, of
February 23rd, he goes back to the original proposal for
an open and unconditional arbitration, and ignores the
continued insistence by both you and me on the principle
of exclusion. To surrender this principle now would be
to cut away the ground on which we have sought an
amicable compromise, and would stultify the repeated
declarations of the British Governments, from Lord
Aberdeen to the present day.
As the abstract which I have given of our correspondence
shows that this point has from the first been steadily kept
before Mr Olney, I must express my great disappointment
that the United States Government should apparently
desire to withdraw from the position which I think we
both understood they originally accepted. In this case
I can only hope that some other compromise may be
found in the course of the negotiations, and as I under-
stand that these are now officially in progress, I think
no object will be served by continuing the informal dis-
cussion, which has unfortunately failed to bring about a
complete understanding.
Sincerely appreciating the efforts which you have made,
and trusting that although at present they have led to
no practical result, they may have had the effect of
clearing the ground for further negotiations,
I am,
Yours very truly,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
Mr Chamberlain's summary, admirably clear and concise,
sufficiently indicates the part which Playfair had in the
inception of the earliest negotiations that followed the
unfortunate rupture occasioned by President Cleveland's
message. The negotiations which, on the strength of his
personal knowledge of American politicians and politics,
Playfair had initiated, did not, it will be seen, result in the
definite settlement of the question at issue. But the official
426 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
negotiations which followed, and which advanced along
the line first indicated by Playfair in his memorandum of
January 12th, brought about that happy result. In the
autumn of 1896 a Court of Arbitration was agreed upon,
and it was accepted by both Governments as an essential
point that settled districts were to be excluded from arbitra-
tion. For the definition of settled districts, it was agreed
by the two countries that the same lapse of time which
protected natives in civil life from having their title ques-
tioned should also protect the English colony in the
disputed district. The reader will not, I trust, think that I
have occupied too much space in telling this story of Play-
fair's intervention in the great dispute. The phase of that
question with which he had to deal has now passed into
the domain of history, but it is impossible to forget that for
several anxious months Great Britain and the United States
seemed to be drifting towards a fratricidal war, the worst
of all the calamities which could now overtake the civilised
world. No man who had any part in averting that catas-
trophe could fail to feel justly proud of his share in the
work; and Playfair, during the remainder of his life, was
glad to know that his own efforts had in this respect been
of some service, not only to his fellow-countrymen, but to
the people of a country with which he had become con-
nected by so dear a tie.
After the successful conclusion of the official negotiations
for the setting up of the Court of Arbitration, Playfair had
a friendly note from Mr Bayard, referring to various private
matters, in which the following lines occur :-“I think you
and I can shake hands over the settlement of the Vene-
zuelan matter, which has passed the stage of inflamation,
and healing is almost accomplished. (I believe there are
two “m's' in inflamation, but I drop one as some English-
men might drop an ‘h,') but de minimis mom curat, and we
can stand together in the main result.”
CHAPTER XVI.
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.
Scientific Appreciation of Playfair by Professor Crum-Brown—Sir Edward
Frankland on his Investigations into the Best Coal for the Royal
Navy—Playfair on Health and Disease—On Vivisection—On the
Applications of Science to Commerce—On the Connection between
Man's Necessities and the Industrial Arts—Playfair's Work as an
Exhibition Commissioner—The National Buildings at South Kensing-
ton his Monument—Initiator of “The Victoria and Albert Museum.”
PLAYFAIR's position in the world of science can, in the
nature of things, only be determined when sufficient time
has been allowed to elapse to bring him and his contempo-
raries in scientific work into their true focus. The reader
has seen how full and busy his life was, and how from first
to last he was ever striving to give practical application
to the successive discoveries of Science. Throughout his
career his chief object seemed to be to bring all the stores
of knowledge which he had at his command, all the teach-
ings of experience, to the service of his fellow-men. It was
in Parliament, on Royal Commissions, as the active spirit
in a hundred different agencies for advancing our social
welfare, that he played his most conspicuous part; and
naturally enough, it is as the practical man who turned to
good account the labours of the scientific men of his time
that he made his greatest mark upon his own generation.
But amid the incessant pressure of this practical work in
legislation and social reform, Playfair never ceased to be
more or less of a student, and his mind was never free from
the study of questions which belonged to the region of
science rather than to that of politics. Of his position in
428 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the scientific world no better account has been given than
that which I am permitted to quote from the pen of
Professor Crum-Brown. It is a lucid and brief, but not
incomplete survey of his career as a man of science, and
as it brings within short compass the whole of Playfair's
labours in this domain, it will not be without interest to
the readers of this biography.
“Lyon Playfair,” says Professor Crum-Brown, “came home for
his education from India to St. Andrews, where his grandfather had
been Principal of the united College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard,
and where his uncle, Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair, after a distinguished
career in the Indian Army, retired in 1834, not to repose, but to new
battles against dirt, disease, and ruin—battles the result of which we
see in the clean, prosperous, and healthy city of St. Andrews. We
may well believe that Lord Playfair derived some of his enthusiasm
for sanitation and order from his uncle, ‘the eccentric and energetic
soldier who begged, bullied, and wheedled away the filth and
ruinous neglect which bade fair to entomb the ancient city.’
“After some years in St. Andrews, he went to Glasgow to study
medicine, but was attracted to chemistry by the teaching of
Graham, then Professor of Chemistry in the Andersonian. After
a short visit to India, he resumed his chemical studies under
Graham, in the University College, London. In 1838 he went to
Liebig’s laboratory at Giessen, where he worked at organic chemis-
try, and produced his first scientific paper “On a New Fat Acid in
the Powder of Nutmegs.” Liebig was not only his teacher but his
friend, and when Liebig, on the invitation of Prince Albert, came to
this country to lecture on agricultural chemistry, Playfair acted as
his assistant and interpreter, and was thus introduced to the Prince
—an introduction which had an important effect on his subsequent
life." For two years he managed the chemical department of
Messrs Thomson’s Printing Works at Clitheroe. In 1843 he was
appointed Professor of Chemistry in the Royal Institution at
Manchester. In 1844, on the recommendation of Sir Robert Peel,
he was appointed a member of a Royal Commission for the exami-
nation of the sanitary condition of large towns and populous
districts. This was the beginning of what was to be a large part of
the work of his life. In 1845 he was one of the Commissioners on
the Irish Famine, and from that time till his death there was no
year during, which he was not appointed to serve on a Royal
* This is a mistake, Playfair's introduction to Prince Albert having,
as told on a previous page, been made through the instrumentality of
Sir Robert Peel.
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 429
Commission or a Select Committee of the House of Commons, in
very many cases as chairman. Among the Commissions on, which
he served, besides those already named, may be mentioned the
Exhibition of 1851, the Exhibition of 1862, the Cattle Plague, the
Reorganisation of the Civil Service (the Report of which is still
known officially as the Playfair Scheme), Pensions for the Aged
Poor, the University of London, the Herring Fisheries of the United
Kingdom, Coal for the Navy. In 1846 he was appointed Chemist to
the Museum of Practical Geology, and Professor of Chemistry in
the Government School of Mines.
“As Special Commissioner in charge of the department of juries
at the Great Exhibition of 1851, Playfair had an entirely new task
before him. This was the first international exhibition ; he had no
precedent to work upon. What he did was quite original, and it
was so well done that it became the model for all succeeding inter-
national exhibitions. There can be no doubt that the success of the
1851 Exhibition was to a great extent due to Playfair's clear view of
what ought to be done and of what could be done, and to his
untiring energy in doing it and getting other people to do it. The
value of this work was recognised in the highest quarters, and
Playfair became a Companion of the Bath and Officer of the
Household of the Prince Consort. A more striking proof of the
value set by others on his services was the fact that he was asked to
undertake the same duty in connection with the Exhibition of 1862,
as also that of the Paris Exhibition in 1878. The Prince of Wales,
who was President of the British Commission, appointed him
Chairman of the Finance Committee. *
“The 1851 Exhibition led in 1853 to the foundation of the
Department of Science and Art, and Playfair and the late Sir
Henry Cole were appointed joint secretaries. In 1856 Playfair
became Inspector-General of Government Museums and Schools of
Science. These offices he held till 1858, when, on the death of
Professor Gregory, he was appointed to the Chair of Chemistry in
the University of Edinburgh. In Edinburgh he created, practically
out of nothing, a really useful teaching laboratory. The rooms then
available were very ill-suited for the purpose, and the funds quite
inadequate; but he made the most of the former, and supplemented
the latter, spending on the department the whole of his professorial
income during the first year, and a large part of it during sub-
sequent years of his tenure of office. Playfair was an original
member of the Chemical Society of London, over which he presided
in 1857–59. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1848,
and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1859. He was President
of the Chemical Section of the British Association in 1855 and in
1859, and of the Association in 1885.
“Playfair had a truly scientific mind, and was always busy; and
yet we do not find a great deal of original scientific work recorded
43O MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
under his name in the ‘Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific Papers.’
His work lay mostly in another direction, and as he belonged not
only to the world of science, but also to that of practical business,
he was specially fitted to act as an interpreter between them. Such
an interpreter is needed. The man of science does not always
know what the business man wants, and the business man often
does not understand what the man of science tells him. Such
services are, perhaps, appreciated more highly by the man who
immediately feels the benefit of them—the statesman, the manu-
facturer, or the merchant—than by the man of science. But we
should remember that if science takes a higher place now than it
took fifty years ago, if the opportunities for the genuine study of
science and for the prosecution of scientific investigation are greater
now than they were then, if science is taking more nearly its right
place in the education of the country, that is due to a large extent
to Playfair's wisdom and hard work. Of Playfair's contributions to
pure chemistry, the most important is the discovery and investiga-
tion of the nitro-prussides; and to applied chemistry, the report on
the work undertaken by him, along with Bunsen, on the gases
evolved in iron furnaces. But besides what was published in
scientific journals, or in the Transactions of learned societies
Playfair did a great deal of original scientific work—how much,
no one can now tell—incidentally in the course of the investigations
of the numerous Commissions of which he was a member.”
No competent person will question the accuracy or
Professor Crum-Brown's summary of Playfair's labours
as a man of science ; and the tribute which he pays to
the part that Playfair had in bringing science and states-
manship, science and industry, into close and practical
alliance, will be endorsed by all men of science and all
practical workers who knew the story of his career.
Sir Edward Frankland, one of Playfair's many pupils
who attained distinction in the scientific world, has
favoured me with an account of his investigations into
the best coal for use in the Royal Navy—one of the
many inquiries conducted by him in connection with
those Royal Commissions to which Professor Crum-Brown
alludes in the foregoing paper. In Sir Edward Frankland's
opinion, this particular investigation was a typical
example of Playfair's mode of work, and furnishes a
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 43 I
model for all engaged in similar inquiries. It occupied
many years of Playfair's life—all the time he could
spare from his regular avocations being devoted to it.
He himself has passed by the whole of this vast
amount of labour with little more than a casual mention
in his Autobiography. Sir Edward Frankland declares
that for plan of procedure, Scientific accuracy, and thorough-
ness of execution, Playfair's reports on this investigation
will bear favourable comparison with any ever presented
to Parliament by command of Her Majesty. -
The ordinary reader will obtain the best idea of the
extent of Playfair's knowledge, and of the peculiar place
which he occupied in the world of Science, from a perusal
of the little book, published in 1889, entitled “Subjects
of Social Welfare.’ In this book Playfair brought together
a number of the papers and addresses which he had
delivered upon different occasions, not merely to Scientific
but to popular audiences. The subjects dealt with are
various, ranging from the Public Health and the Phenomena
of Sleep to Bimetallism and the Relations of the Uni-
versities to Professional Education. But whatever the
subject, it is always treated by Playfair in a manner that
illustrates his special standpoint as a man of Science. His
great object throughout his life was to bring scientific
knowledge and discovery into direct relationship with the
practical work of life. The Fates had made it impossible
that he should pursue his early path as a Scientific in-
vestigator. He had been drawn away from the fascinating
delights of that path by his absorption in public business.
For many years he was the man of affairs, dealing either
in the Council Chamber or in Parliament with those
questions which directly affect the welfare of society. But
he never forgot his first love; and whenever he had
1 Whilst these pages were passing through the press Sir Edward
Frankland died (July, 1899).
432 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the opportunity he strove to impress upon those with whom
he was brought in contact the virtues of science as a great
ameliorating influence of life, and its uses in the develop-
ment of the resources of a people, and in the removal of
the evils to which society is a prey. His style, both in
speaking and in writing, was at once delightfully simple
and delightfully picturesque. The illustrations by which
he sought to enforce the truths he was teaching were
drawn from the commonest objects, and were made
effective by the ingenuity with which they were applied
to the subject in hand. He was one of the few men
who could make even an oration upon Bimetallism in-
teresting to the uninformed. In turning over the pages
of ‘Subjects of Social Welfare,' I find many passages
illustrating his peculiar method in dealing with abstruse
questions, and the remarkable ability with which he was
able to make complex problems intelligible to the ordinary
mind. I find also in the book some of those master-
strokes which made Playfair one of the great practical
teachers and pioneers of our time. Other men dug more
deeply into the soil in search of abstract truth, but he
had at least a wonderful knack of laying his hands upon
the nuggets in the mine in which others wrought, and
of bringing them to the light of day.
The first paper in the volume of which I am speaking
consists of an address which he gave as President of
the Health Section of the Social Science Congress at
Glasgow; and some extracts from it will show, not only
the clearness with which he pursued any line of argu-
ment, but the poetic fancy which enabled him to bring
it home in its most picturesque form to those whom
he addressed. -
Comparing the body politic to the body of the individual
man, he pointed out that the latter was composed of
distinct particles, and that disease meant that some of
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 433
these particles were being wasted more rapidly than they
were being restored.
“So in the body politic, when the rate of mortality is too high—
that is, when the individuals of its population which constitute the
particles of the State, waste too rapidly—the State suffers from
public maladies. Hence the State medical officer and the private
physician work on like principles; for to the former the community,
to the latter the individual, is the patient. This relation of the indi-
vidual to the community, and the reflex action of the community on
the individual, give a double motive for sanitary action. For the
community, depending as it does on all the moments of health of
individuals, requires to watch and cherish them ; while each indi-
vidual must feel that it is his interest to watch the health of his
neighbour, upon whose soundness rests the foundation of his own
well-being. So that the common law of health is the Christian law:
‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' . . . The more we
study the question of public health the simpler does the problem
become in theory, though its attainment is difficult in practice. All
that we need aim to secure is purity, air, cleanliness in the house,
the air and the water, and genuineness in the food and clothes. In
fact a great part of sanitary Science can be comprised in that one
word, “cleanliness.” No epidemic can resist clean houses, clean air,
and clean water. Disease, like the evil demons of old, shuns cleanly
places. In olden times, as among the Jews, evil spirits dwelt in filthy
places, especially loving tombs and ordure. Every private closet
contained a special demon of its own, and it is so to the present day,
in a different sense. I am quite sure that the chamber of Sara, the
daughter of Raguel, as described in the Book of Tobit, must have
overlooked a dung-hill, otherwise she would not have been so griev-
ously afflicted by the unclean spirit, Asmodeus, who, out of love for
her, strangled her husbands. But Tobias, her eighth husband, for
whom his father-in-law considerately dug a grave as soon as the
marriage was performed, obviously knew that there might be smells
even too bad for a demon ; for on the bridal night he threw the
powdered heart and liver of a fish on some burning embers in her
chamber, and, as the narrative tells us, ‘the which smell when
the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the uttermost parts of Egypt.”
To my mind the Book of Tobit is a distinct hygienic allegory. The
good Tobit had a craze for burying dead bodies, and had all his
troubles in consequence of his hygienic propensities. Sleeping in a
vile place, the sparrows muted filthy dung into his eyes, and ren-
dered him blind; but Raphael (that name by interpretation means
‘the medicine of God’) comès as an angelic guide to his son Tobias,
and puts all things right by his hygienic knowledge, conquering even
the foul demon, Asmodeus, and curing Tobit of his ophthalmia—
acquired, as our workhouse children now get it, by foul air.”
C C
434 MEMOIRs of Lyon PLAYFAIR.
There is a picturesque force in this illustration, drawn
from the Apocrypha, which everybody will acknowledge.
Nor is the same quality lacking in the following passage,
describing the demon of filth as it was to be encountered in
our own Middle Ages:–
“It is not a pleasant task to dwell on the habits of the population
even in our country in past times. Go back only to the time
; previous to the Reformation, and you can have no difficulty in
understanding why luxury and squalor produced the plagues of the
times of the Tudors and the Stuarts. High above. all other dwel-
lings were the castles and the monasteries, but the cabin of the
peasant was worse than any to be now found in the furthest islands
of Scotland. It was made of reeds and sticks, plastered over with
mud. In these wigwams lived an ague-stricken population. In the
towns the mechanics lived in rooms without glass windows, slept on
straw beds, and worked in workshops unheated by coal fires. Even
in well-to-do houses rushes covered the earthen floors, and got satu-
rated with scraps of food which remained to putrefy under a new
layer of rushes scattered over it, so that the petremen came to dig
saltpetre out of the floors. Filth, instead of being abhorred, was
almost sanctified. The monks imitated the filthy habits of the her-
mits and saints of early Christian times, for the early Fathers com-
mended them. Even St. Jerome used to praise the filthy habits of
hermits. He especially commends an Egyptian hermit, who only
combed his hair on Easter Sunday, and never washed his clothes
at all, but let them fall to pieces by rottenness. . . . . But this
association of filth with religion was unhappy in its consequences,
for men ceased to connect disease with uncleanness, and resorted to
shrines and winking virgins for cures of maladies which were pro-
duced by their own physical and moral impurities. Even the
palaces of kings were filthy, according to the Duchess of Orleans
memoirs of the splendid Court of Louis XIV. Under all these in-
fluences plagues were very destructive in England. Men first began
to connect them with filth by some striking examples. Thus in 1665,
when the Court and Parliament assembled at Oxford, it had an immu.
nity from plague; and the reason of this immunity was traced to
the thorough cleansing which the magistrates gave to the city to fit
it for its distinguished guests. The Great Fire of London also
taught Englishmen a wholesome lesson, for it came as a great sani-
tary agent to extirpate the foul nests of disease in the metropolis;
and so at last the moderns learned what the ancients knew very
well, that public health can only be assured by cleanliness, and that
filth is the parent of disease, both among individuals and communi-
ties. . . . We forget the experience of our forefathers, that every
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 435
cesspool has its own particular evil spirit residing within it, and we
are surprised when the demon emerges, especially at night, and
strikes down our loved ones with typhoid fever or other form of
pestilence. Perhaps we go a step further in the hygiene of moderns,
and do throw the foul matter into drains, which empty themselves
into our once beautiful rivers, that in many cases are still used as a
beverage by people lower down in the stream. And when they
remonstrate with us we surly wolves growl at the poor innocent
lambs because they object to drink our abominations. This country
once gloried in her beautiful rivers, but they are now mere open
ditches, which pollute the districts through which they flow. Rivers
in their normal state contain dissolved air sufficient to oxydise and
destroy any accidental organic contaminations. This purifying
power of air dissolved in water is essential, because no water, either
in rivers or springs, could otherwise be pure. All sources of water
are ultimately obtained from rain, and that is never pure, because
it washes out organic impurities from the atmosphere. At the same
time, it carries down air in solution, so that it presents, with the
poison, its natural antidote. The air-purifying process is very
limited, and is altogether insufficient for streams polluted with town
sewage and manufacturing refuse.”
This was the practical gospel which Playfair proclaimed
when dealing with questions relating to the public health.
In discussing those questions before popular, or even before
scientific audiences, he brought the whole subject back,
as will be perceived, to the simplest first principles. Men
of science may possibly regard this teaching, and the
illustrations by which it was enforced, as being so simple
as to be positively puerile. But Playfair knew what he
was about; and made it his business to state the practical
conclusions at which he had arrived, in such a fashion
that he who ran might read. It was in this way that
he was enabled to do more than the most eminent of
pure men of Science in impressing upon men of affairs
their duty with regard to the public health. Nor did
he lack, that fine moral courage which enables a man to
speak the truth, even though he knows that by doing
so he has to face unpopularity and misrepresentation.
He has spoken in his Autobiography of the part he
436 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
played with regard to the question of compulsory vaccin-
ation. It was a part in which the spirit of compromise
was not to be found.
No less uncompromising was his language upon a
subject which has excited even keener controversies than
compulsory vaccination—the question of vivisection. The
justification of vivisection, he declared, was that man's
duty to man was greater than his duty to beasts. “If I
thought,” he said in the House of Commons, “that a
comparative argument as to cruelty had much force, I
could allude to the continued sufferings of the horses,
mules, and camels in the Afghan and Egyptian wars, in
terms which would be too horrible for this House to
listen to. Even in the relation of man to man, how
otherwise than by a common or national benefit could
we justify the sacrifice of whole battalions in assaulting
fortified positions; or how could we justify the frightful
suffering which a surgeon inflicts when he excises a joint,
or cuts out a huge tumour 2 How otherwise could we
justify a parent when he corrects a child, or the State
when it flogs a garotter It is not the mere, or even
the continuous, infliction of pain which is an offence
against the moral law, but the unnecessary infliction of
pain without an adequate motive to benefit mankind by
the act. It is not the mere act, but the motive for that
act which either makes it an offence against morality or
gives to it a justification.” -
In the same speech there occurred a striking passage
which deserves to be preserved, on another aspect of this
much vexed question.
“Nothing is more short-sighted than the utilitarian cry of the
ignorant against investigators in science. It is as superficial as
the remark of Savarin, when hé said, “He who invents a new dish
does more for humanity than he who discovers a star.” But exactly
* See ante, p. 297.
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 437
as navigation is the outcome of astronomy, or as bleaching or
dyeing is the outcome of chemistry, or as engineering is the applica-
tion of mathematics, so is medicine the outcome of the sciences of
physiology and pathology. To strangle these sciences by refusing
to them the only modes of research which render their progress
possible, would be to relegate the medicine of the future to em-
piricism and quackery. Indeed, nothing is more certain than that
every abstract truth given to the world constantly leads to the most
unexpected and most useful applications to humanity. Thus when
Galvani put a copper hook through the spine of frogs, and hung
them on the iron rails of his balcony at Bologna in order to study
the muscular contractions which were thus produced, who could
have predicted that this experiment was to originate the science
of Galvanism, and lead to the discovery of the electric telegraph,
to the electric light, to new motors for our machinery, and to the
important use of electricity in the cure of disease and relief of
human suffering P So it is with other discoveries in physiology,
which, even when they appear remote from practical application,
constantly lead to the most important benefits. When Pasteur and
Lister made experiments on the minute organisms' which appear
during fermentation and putrefaction, who could have predicted
that the experiments of the former philosopher would have opened
up a wide field of promise in the treatment of diseases which afflict
our flocks and herds; or that the observations of Lister would give
us that admirable method of antiseptic treatment which now ranks
as one of the greatest improvements of modern surgery 7 And yet
Lister had to go abroad to perform a few experiments on animals,
as the present Act was too restrictive for him to perform them in
this country, though the pain inflicted was not greater than the
healing of some slight wound. When you recall the horrible pain
which used to be inflicted after a surgical operation by burning
the bleeding vessels with a red-hot iron, the successive steps in
surgery which have attended experiments in the healing of wounds,
and which have culminated in the antiseptic treatment of Lister,
have surely justified the small amount of brute suffering by giving
comparative safety to the most formidable surgical operations in
the case of man.”
All through his addresses and speeches upon these
questions affecting the welfare of our race, Playfair found
opportunities for impressing facts upon those whom he
addressed by means of novel views and illustrations. Thus,
discussing with his Leeds constituents the question of
agricultural depression, and of the proposed adoption of
what is known as Fair Trade in order to remedy that
438 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
depression, he pointed to one cause which had been
overlooked by the advocates of Fair Trade.
“There was a deeper cause at work than the temporary failure of
our crops. The economical applications of science in the vast
improvements of the telegraph, the railroads, and the steamships
have changed the whole system of commerce. The effect of this
has been to destroy local markets, and to consolidate all into one
market—the world. If our landlords and farmers want to know the
names of the three persons who have knocked out the bottom of our
old agricultural system, I can tell them. Their names are Wheat-
stone, Sir Henry Bessemer, and Dr Joule. The first, by telegraphy,
has changed the whole system by which exchanges are made; the
second, by his improvements in steel, has altered profoundly the
transportation of commodities by sea and by land; and the third,
by his discoveries of the mechanical equivalent of heat, has led to
great economy of coal in compound engines. By these changes the
United States, Canada, India, and Russia have their corn crops
brought to our doors. The effect of these discoveries upon the
transport of corn will be realised when I state that a small cube of
coal which would pass through a ring the size of a shilling, when
burned in the compound engine of a modern steamboat, would drive
a ton of food and its proportion of the ship two miles on its way
from a foreign port. This economy of coal has altered the whole
situation. Not long since a steamer of 3,000 tons going on a long
voyage might require 2,200 tons of coal, and carry only a limited
cargo of 800 tons. Now, a modern steamer will take the same
voyage with 8oo tons of coal, and carry a freight of 2,200 tons.
While coal has thus been economised, human labour has been
lessened. In 1870 it required 47 hands on board our steamships for
every 1,000 tons capacity. Now (1887) only 28 are necessary. All
these changes going on in the economy of fuel and of labour have
led to increased production at a small cost. Four men in the
United States, working for one year in the growing, milling, and
transportation of wheat, could produce flour for a year's consump-
tion of 1,000 other men, allowing one barrel of flour to each adult.
I need not elaborate this point further, for you will all see how this
has acted upon agriculture. It has made the grain market one
all over the world.” w
One of the most important of Playfair's addresses
gathered together in the volume from which I am
quoting, is that entitled “The Inosculation of the Arts
and Sciences,” an address which, as he has himself recorded,
he delivered as President of the Midland Institute at
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 439
Birmingham in 1870. One striking passage I must quote
from this address as a further illustration of his method
of treating his subjects.
“The industrial arts spring clearly out of the necessities of man.
Man is peculiarly helpless as regards his own personal and physical
belongings. With an intellect which, when developed, approaches
that of an angel, he has a naked, unprotected body like that of an
earthworm. Covered neither with chitine like the lobster, nor thick
hide, nor with fur nor feathers, he looks as helpless at his birth as
the unfledged gosling, but, unlike it, never gets a better protection
from wind or weather as he grows older. The earthworm can mine
and tunnel, so as to seek protection underground; but even this is
denied to man. Every lower animal has within itself admirable
tools for work. The tailor-bird can sew, the fishing-frog can throw
out lines and bait, the beaver can build bridges, the silkworm can
Spin, the spider can weave, the bees can manufacture sugar, the
ants can construct storehouses for their corn—all of them self-
provided with admirable tools for the purpose, existing within
themselves, and capable of being renewed by themselves when
wasted by work. Man has neither in hands nor feet tools sufficient
for his protection or sustenance. We know of no race of savages so
absolutely wild as to possess no arts. . . . Nakedness and want of
tools form the stimulant to man's industry, and the arts grow slowly,
and at first almost imperceptibly, from his necessities. The experi-
ence which he thus acquires becomes an inheritance of common
knowledge. Science is the evolution of that knowledge, and the
mode of it is worthy of your consideration. Accumulated facts are
necessary for science, but do not create it; for that arises only when
man's reason acquires dominion over his senses, and teaches him to
verify the impressions conveyed by them. In savage life science is
not developed, because the gratification of the senses and subordin-
ation of everything to them are incompatible with the evolution of
Science from any number of facts. Even in civilised life it is long
before men learn how to subdue their senses to their reason. If
you doubt it, look to the lamentable hold which spirit-rapping and
table-turning got upon our communities. The believers in such
phenomena tell you that they saw them with their own eyes, or
heard them with their own ears. So they did, but they do not
understand that to see rightly and to hear with accuracy are about
the last things a man learns. When an experimental philosopher
thinks that he has made a discovery, he does not rely even on his
trained faculties of observation, but spends months—sometimes
years—in testing and looking at his discovery in every possible light
before he announces it to the world. Yet an untrained observer, if
he see a table turn round, or listen to a physical rap on the floor or
440 - MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
ceiling, believes that he is justified in ascribing it to some odylic or
spiritual influence.” -
I have perhaps quoted too many passages from ‘Subjects
of Social Welfare, but no biography of Playfair would be
complete which did not afford the reader some knowledge
of the manner in which he treated those great scientific
truths which it was his mission in life to impress upon the
world. Nor was it only with practical science that he
dealt in this fashion. He was a Political Economist of the
orthodox type. To him the laws of supply and demand
were as true as the multiplication table ; and as a politician
he made it his business to instruct his constituents, and
other bodies of British voters, in those truths of political
economy in which he had so firm a faith. He was always
sane and clear-headed in his opinions. He abhorred fads
and popular superstitions with all his heart. Above all, he
was an individualist, and one of the great objects for which
he wrought in Parliament, on the platform, and in the Press
was the widening of the bounds of that human freedom
upon which he constantly maintained that human progress
itself depended.
When I turn from this side of Playfair's labours to
the practical work which he did in furthering those great
interests connected with the scientific and technical instruc-
tion of the people, I am naturally confronted at once by the
task he accomplished as a member of the Royal Commission
of the 1851 Exhibition. In a previous chapter the story has
been told of the beginnings of the Science and Art Depart-
ment at South Kensington, and of the part which Playfair
had in founding the world-famed Museum and the Royal
College of Science. His official connection with the Science
and Art Department was brought to a close by his appoint-
ment to his professorship at Edinburgh in 1858; and for a
time it was only as an outsider that he promoted the
objects which the Exhibition Commissioners had in view.
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 441
In 1869, the year following his election to Parliament, he
returned to the Commission—no longer as one of its ser-
vants, but as a Commissioner. It need hardly be said
that he quickly became one of the most active members
of that body. Soon after he joined the Commission a
Series of exhibitions was given by the Commissioners in
new permanent galleries which had been erected for the
purpose. In all of these Playfair took a very active
part, his vast experience in organising such exhibitions
being of the greatest service to the Commissioners. But
the Commission, as a whole, was in a somewhat unsatisfac-
tory state at that period; and in 1874 a special Inquiry
Committee was formed for the purpose of reorganising
the Commission. The members of this Committee were
Lord Granville, Lord Ripon, Lord Carnarvon, Lord Spencer,
and Playfair. The Committee practically undertook the
management of the affairs of the Commission until 1883,
when General Scott, the secretary, died. Playfair was
then induced by the Prince of Wales and his fellow-
Commissioners to become honorary secretary temporarily,
until another paid secretary could be appointed. He
undertook to fill this position for six months : he actually
held it for six years. From 1883 to 1889 he was engaged
in the important work of reorganising the financial posi-
tion of the Commissioners. When he began his duties as
honorary secretary there was a serious annual deficit on
the accounts, and the work of the Commissioners was, in
consequence, greatly hampered. When he gave up the
honorary secretaryship in 1889, he had already converted
the deficit into a surplus of £5,000 a year, and had placed
the management upon such lines that this surplus revenue
has since been more than doubled.
From 1889 to 1891 he was engaged in a task almost as
important as that of bringing the finances of the Com-
mission into a state of solvency. This was the elaboration
442 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
of a plan for disposing of these surplus funds in such a
manner as to make them of the greatest benefit to the
cause of scientific education. He had long seen that what
was required in this country in order to give students an
opportunity of acquiring scientific training as good as that
to be obtained on the Continent, was the foundation of a
number of science scholarships, which would enable
students, when they had finished their ordinary educa-
tion, to devote two or three years to research work in the
great laboratories and teaching institutions both in this
country and on the Continent. He had never ceased to
advocate the foundation of these scholarships, and when
the finances of the Commissioners had been put in order
he felt that his time had come, and that he might fairly
appeal to the Commission to employ the surplus funds
which they now had at their disposal for this purpose. In
the Report of the Commissioners to the Crown in 1889,
they announced that they had directed the preparation of a
Scheme for assisting the promotion of scientific education
by devoting a sum of not less than £5,000 a year to the
establishment of scholarships, to enable the most promising
students in provincial colleges of science to complete their
studies, either in those colleges or in the larger institutions
of the metropolis. A committee was appointed to act in
conjunction with Playfair in drawing up a scheme for these
scholarships. Playfair, who acted as chairman, invited the
different members of the Committee to formulate proposals
with regard to the scholarships, and eventually selected
a scheme which had been drawn up by Professor Sir
Norman Lockyer. The scope of this new and most
important departure in our educational system will be
gathered from the Report of Playfair's Committee to the
Exhibition Commissioners in June, 1890.
“The Committee have had their attention drawn to the fact that
there is a large number of scholarships in the country; and if the
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 443
Commissioners act on the same lines as those already occupied, it
is possible that education will gain little by their action, as the
endowment of the Commissioners may interfere with the establish-
ment of new scholarships by private liberality. Hence it is desir-
able that the scholarships with which this Committee have to deal
should be of a higher order than most of those now existing ; in
fact, their functions should begin where the ordinary educational
curriculum ends. This system has been adopted with excellent
effects by the French École Pratique des hautes Études.
“The Committee propose:—(1) That the scholarships shall be of
£150 a year in value, and shall be tenable for two years, but in rare
instances may be extended to three years by special resolution of
the Commissioners. The continuation each year after the first
shall depend upon the work done in the previous year being satis-
factory to the Scientific Committee, which it is suggested shall be
appointed by the Commissioners.
“ (2) That the scholarships shall be limited to those branches of
science (such as physics, mechanics, and chemistry) the extension of
which is specially important for our national industries.
“(3) That the Commissioners shall from time to time select a
certain number of provincial and colonial colleges in which special
attention is given to scientific education, and give to each the power
of nominating a student of not less than three years’ standing to a
scholarship, on condition that he indicates high promise and
capacity for advancing science or its applications.
“(4) That the Commissioners shall appoint a Committee of
Advice, who will consider and report upon the reasons for which the
nominations are made by the respective colleges; and the Com-
missioners will appoint to the scholarships upon the report of their
Committee.
“(5) That the scholarships, when awarded, shall be tenable in
any University, either at home or abroad, or in some other institu-
tion to be approved of by the Commissioners. The holder of a
Scholarship must give an undertaking that he will wholly devote
himself to the object of the scholarship, and that he will not
hold any position of emolument during its continuance.”
This was the basis of a scheme which has proved to be
of the greatest practical importance in the educational
work of this country. Even within a year of the estab-
lishment of these scholarships, the Commissioners were
able to speak with great satisfaction of the results attained;
and now that the scheme has been tried for nearly ten
years, it is evident to all cognisant with the subject that
444 - MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the progress of the nation in scientific instruction, and its
consequent ability to meet the fierce competition of other
countries, have been materially increased by its operation.
The Commissioners, in their successive Annual Reports,
have borne testimony to the remarkable character of the
results which have been already attained. The holders of
the scholarships have been qualified not only to hold
posts of importance in our great workshops, but to act as
teachers of science in our technical schools and Colonial
universities; and small as was the seed originally sown,
the plant has attained such a growth that there is reason
to believe that the reproach which so long attached to
this country of doing nothing in a systematic way to
further the growth of technical and science teaching will
soon be entirely removed. To Playfair, more than to any
other single man, the credit for this beneficent revolution
must be given. He it was who first, in far distant days,
advocated the establishment of science scholarships. It
was through his labours in reorganising the finances of the
Royal Commission that the necessary funds for the endow-
ment of these scholarships were obtained. And, finally, it
was he who, in conjunction with a band of trained col-
leagues of high scientific repute, selected a scheme which
has since worked so admirably. In the Report of the
Royal Commissioners issued in July, 1898, the Science
Scholarships Committee, after dwelling with satisfaction
upon the fact that seventy-nine students had already re-
ceived scholarships under the scheme, of whom no fewer
than thirty-nine were engaged as teachers in science
colleges or other educational institutions, whilst twenty-six
had obtained engagements in manufacturing firms or in
public departments, proceed to say:-
“The Committee cannot pass from this branch of the Report
without reminding the Commissioners that the idea of the science
scholarships originated with the late Lord Playfair; that he made
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 445
the carrying out of the scheme, which has proved so successful in
its working, his particular care ; and that for the five years to which
this portion of the Report relates he took, as chairman of this
Committee, almost the entire burden of its management. The
Committee think that this work will hereafter be allotted a high
place amongst the many services which that eminent man rendered
to his country.”
These words, though warmer than most official state-
ments, will not strike those who knew what Playfair did in
this connection as being extravagant. As a matter of fact,
if he had done nothing else than the accomplishment of
this task he would have been entitled to live among the
great benefactors of his country.
I have said that in 1889 Playfair retired from the post of
secretary to the Commission, which he had held for six
years. His retirement from that arduous office drew forth
expressions of deep regret from his eminent colleagues, and
from the illustrious chairman.
MARLBorough Hous E,
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to Playfair. May 6th, 1889
MY DEAR PLAYFAIR,-Your letter of the 6th reached
me to-day, and I lose no time in assuring you how deeply
I regret your determination to resign the honorary secre-
taryship of the Royal Commission of 1851. We are indeed
most grateful to you for the valuable time you have been
able to give to the many difficulties which beset the Royal
Commission during the six years which you have devoted
to its interests. Nobody but yourself could have got us
out of the serious pecuniary embarrassments in which we
found ourselves placed.
I am,
Yours very sincerely,
ALBERT EDWARD.
The Commissioners did not confine their expressions
of approval to such warm and generous words as the
446 MEMOIRs OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
foregoing. As he has told us in his Reminiscences, they
subscribed to procure a valuable service of plate, which
was presented to him by the Prince of Wales, at a meeting
of the Royal Commission at Marlborough House, and
acknowledged by Playfair in words which have already
been quoted. His retirement from the honorary secretary-
ship did not, however, mean that Playfair took a less active
part in the proceedings of the body of which he had
become so important a member. From 1889 till 1896 he
acted as vice-chairman of the Board of Management, in
addition to holding the office of chairman of the Science
Scholarships Committee, which he had held from the
formation of that body. The pressure of years compelled
him in 1896 to retire from both these offices, though he
continued to retain until his death his position as member
of the Commission. On his retirement he addressed to
Prince Christian, the Chairman of the Board of Manage-
ment, the following memorandum :—
Playfair to H.R.H. Prince Christian. - June 9th, 1896.
SIR,--I am anxious to draw the attention of your Royal Highness,
as Chairman of the Board of Management of the Royal Com-
missioners for the Exhibition of 1851, to our general policy of the
past in the allocation of our surplus funds. This is desirable, as I
intend to resign my position as (practical) deputy chairman of the
Board, and also that of chairman of the Committee of Scholarships.
My many years of service in these capacities will justify me in
asking this relief.
It may be useful to refer to the financial policy which has enabled
the Board to secure a sound condition for our revenue. That got
into confusion because, under the administration of Mr Bowring
and General Scott, there was too great a tendency to use capital in
the erection of new buildings. This policy got us largely into debt,
and we had for a long time galleries on our hands for which there
was no demand, and which therefore produced no rent. At one
time, in addition to our large fixed debt of about £180,000, we were
yearly creating a floating debt by borrowing from the Bank of
England £2,000 or £3,000 a year to supply deficiencies in revenue
and expenditure. At present, our debt is wholly extinguished, and
there is a satisfactory clear revenue to aid the objects for which we
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 447
act as trustees. It is not yet a safe surplus revenue, and if I felt
myself able to continue for some years more on the Board, I would
counsel the formation of a Reserve Fund of at least £20,000 before
we show much increased liberality to the institutions which we now
aid by annual grants in London, and in the provinces and the
Colonies, by scholarships to their universities and colleges, for the
promotion of research in sciences relating to the industries of the
Empire.
Formerly the provinces and the Colonies were much discontented
with the appropriation of the Commissioners' money; and this dis-
content, manifested by deputations, memorials, and questions in
Parliament, became so grave that means had to be provided to
meet the public desire that the provinces and the Colonies, which
had done so much to ensure the success of the Great Exhibition of
1851, should feel that they had a direct participation in the profits
which they had helped to create. The scheme of scientific scholar-
ships placed at the disposal of the provincial and Colonial universi-
ties, and colleges has removed this discontent, and is working
admirably. New and important discoveries have been made by
our scholars, who are in constant demand for teachers and pro-
fessors, both in this country and in the Colonies and in the United
States. Suppose, for instance, by this system one great discoverer
like Faraday or Stephenson were to appear among the young scholars
thus encouraged by £150 annual grants, a gift would have been
presented to this country which would have been cheap had the
nation contributed a million sterling to his production. This
promotion of research is the reason why Germany is running
us so hard in commercial competition ; and our scholarship
scheme is doing an important work in this country to the extent
of our means by encouraging young scientists with capabilities of
original discovery. -
In reorganising the Board of Management there should be, on
my retirement, a member who should specially devote himself to
this work, which is not light, and requires aptitude and scientific
judgment. Sir Henry Roscoe seems to me the one who could best
step into my shoes for this special work of supervision. I do not
desire to abandon the work suddenly, but at my age, ability to
perform it may at any time abandon me; and I wish your Royal
Highness as Chairman to know the conditions of the case in
advance. As to the administrative ability which you require to
supply the vacancies on the Board, there is abundant talent for
selection in the Commission. The Prince of Wales and your Royal
Highness will readily suggest names. We have already allocated
annual sums for the support of the Royal College of Music,
the Research Laboratory of the Imperial Institute, and for the
provincial and Colonial scholarships held in universities and
colleges. A further considerable annual sum is applied towards
the maintenance of the Royal Albert Hall.
448 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
After competent provision for all the work which we have under-
taken, and with the security of a reserve fund which has already
been begun, which will be a compensation for fluctuating revenue
and secure steadiness in the annual grants, I think a natural use
of our surplus funds would be for the promotion of specific objects
in the work of the Imperial Institute—carefully avoiding their use
for such purposes as rates and taxes, structural additions, lighting
and warming, or the club and pleasure purposes of the Institute.
The recent vote of money to the Research Laboratory was a grant
highly to be commended, and did not produce a note of public
criticism.
I have the honour to be, etc.,
PLAYFAIR.
The Commissioners, in the Report in which the above
memorandum is embodied, state that the Prince of Wales,
after hearing Lord Playfair's statement of his wish to
retire from his offices, on behalf of the meeting expressed
the thanks of the Commissioners for the great benefits
which Lord Playfair had conferred upon the Royal Com-
mission by having willingly undertaken and successfully
carried out for so many years the principal part in the
management of its business.
“The rapid improvement in the financial position of the
Royal Commission,” said the Prince, “which had fre-
quently been a subject of congratulation at these meetings,
proved how valuable Lord Playfair's assistance had been
in that department. But as chairman of the Scholarships
Committee his services had been indispensable. One of
the first persons in this country to point out the necessity
of technical education, the scheme of Science Scholarships
was originated entirely by him. He had proceeded to
work out all the details of the scheme, and since it had
been in operation he had taken by far the most active
part in its practical management. The results showed
that the work is of great public utility, and one the
Commissioners might well be proud of.”
With these gracious words of His Royal Highness, the
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 449
story of Playfair's connection with the Royal Commission
of 1851, and with that splendid work of scientific instruc-
tion in which it still happily plays so prominent a part,
may be fitly concluded. There were, however, other
Subsidiary labours connected with his position on the
Royal Commission in which Playfair had to play a
considerable part. Thus he was one of those to whom
the management of the Royal Albert Hall was for a long
time entrusted. He withdrew from his position as Vice-
President of the Albert Hall Corporation some years before
his retirement from the Deputy-Chairmanship of the Royal
Commission. This step he took in consequence of being
unable to approve of the manner in which the Hall was
being managed. Shortly before the Royal Jubilee of
1887, the idea of celebrating that memorable anniversary
by erecting the Imperial Institute was promulgated, and
met at once with widespread acceptance. A site at South
Rensington was suggested as that most suitable for the
Institute, and the idea was put forward that the Royal
Commissioners of 1851 should not only furnish the site,
but should transfer to the Institute the whole of their re-
sources. This proposal, when it was mooted to Playfair, met
with his strenuous opposition, and most fortunately, as we
know, was not carried further. But Playfair took a keen
interest in the scheme for commemorating Her Majesty's
Jubilee by the erection of an Institute representing and
serving all parts of the Empire, and drew up a memoran-
dum for submission to the Prince of Wales, in which he
embodied his own ideas of the manner in which such an
Institute might be made of greatest service to the Queen's
subjects.
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE,
Sir Francis Knollys to Playfair. November 17th, 1886.
DEAR SIR LYON PLAYFAIR,--I am desired by the
Prince of Wales to express an earnest hope that you will
D D
450 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
have the goodness to afford him the benefit of your assist-
ance in connection with the proposed Imperial Institute,
by consenting to serve on a temporary Committee which
he has formed to advise him as to a scheme. Both His
Royal Highness and the Committee are very anxious to
learn your views respecting the South Kensington site as
soon as possible. Perhaps you will not mind kindly
Sending me a line directly you arrive.
Yours sincerely,
FRANCIS KNOLLYS.
Memorandum for the consideration of His Royal Highness the President
of the Royal Commission of the Exhibition of 1851.
(1) I cannot separate my position as honorary secretary of the
Royal Commission from that of a member of the Committee of
Advice regarding the Imperial Institute, and I therefore desire to
have His Royal Highness's approval of my outline of proposals
dealing with the Commissioners' property.
(2) Subject to the relief of the mortgage on our property, I would
submit the following considerations:—
The property must be considered as wholly in relation to—
(a) The probable claims of the Government for the
development of additional buildings (such as a
Conservatoire des Arts et des Métiers, etc.) already
reported on by a special Committee.
(b) The galleries already rented by the Government.
(c) The Royal Albert Hall. t
(d) The Royal College of Music.
(e) The Schools of Science of the Government and of the
Guilds.
(3) An Imperial Institute may be an important supplement to
these, but it should neither compete nor dispense with them.
(4) It will be necessary to make a road across the property
somewhere about, but perhaps more to the north of, the blue line
Émarked upon a plan enclosed with the memorandum].
(5) The Government should receive the offer of the land to the
south of this road,” for the development of these important ends,
upon such terms as may be agreed on.
(6) The land upon which the Imperial Institute might be built is
to the north of this road, about nine acres being available, without
touching the proposed gardens of the Albert Hall.
* Since sold to the Government, and now allotted to the Science Museum.
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 451
(7) I presume that the Imperial Institute will consist of two
sections—A, the Colonial and Indian ; B, the United Kingdom.
(8) There seems to be no chance of English manufacturers taking
up the proposal warmly, unless it is embodied before them in the
attractive form of a centre for the technical education of the nation.
(9) For this purpose I deem it essential to success that the Com-
missioners should continue to pledge themselves (as they have
actually done in their last Report) not to spend their surplus income
in buildings or endowments, but in the promotion of technical
education, free scholarships and prizes, connecting the provinces
with the scheme.
(Io) The Central Imperial Institute will not have the individual
support of Colonists and of English manufacturers unless there is
associated with it a scheme of
(a) Colonial combined industries or separate Colonies.
(b) United Kingdom; separate industries or separate centres
of industry.
For this purpose the Exhibition galleries will be indispensable.
Thus the Colonies might have the western, and the United Kingdom
the eastern galleries. This, however, assumes that the Government
give up these galleries, of which they are now tenants, by providing
buildings for themselves. At present they are sources of revenue to
the Commissioners. . . . We could not promise to give these
galleries to the Imperial Institute without crippling our resources
in regard to the promotion of technical education, which must be
pushed to the forefront if the co-operation of this country is to be
secured. We can only indicate that there are the galleries, and
that they will probably be available on moderate terms.
(II) These varying exhibitions of separate industries, colonies or
localities will be the life-blood of the Imperial Institute. These
will represent the scientific and industrial resources of the Empire,
but the periodical exhibitions will bring in the co-operation of the
people, and that is necessary to influence the Governments. The
gardens and music of the Royal Albert Hall will add attractions
to the whole scheme, and are an essential condition for its success.
(12) If His Royal Highness the President approves of my
offering, on the part of the Commission, to give co-operation on
these lines, subject of course to the further approval of the Com-
mission itself, I shall know how far to go in agreeing to or helping
to make a scheme for the Imperial Institute. I am obliged to con-
sider the whole interests involved in the property, and can readily
foresee misapprehensions which should be guarded against in
the outset.
LYON PLAYFAIR,
Hoſt. Secretary.
452 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Though this scheme, with the exception of one para-
graph, met with the approval of the Prince of Wales, it
was not that which was eventually adopted. If it had
been adopted, the fate of the Imperial Institute might
possibly have been different; but the scheme is of interest
in itself, not only as showing the practical bent of Play-
fair's mind, and the lessons he had learnt from his pro-
longed experience in connection with Scientific and in-
dustrial exhibitions, but because of the evidence it affords
of the pertinacity with which he fought for the great object
of his public life—the maintenance and improvement of
a system of scientific and technical instruction.
So long as South Kensington continues to exist in its
present state, there will be no need to raise any monument
to the memory of Lyon Playfair. That piece of ground,
stretching from the Kensington High Road to Cromwell
Road, which the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition
found a mere region of dairy farms and meadows, is now
covered with a unique collection of buildings devoted to
great national and Imperial purposes. If we except the
Imperial Institute—shortly to become the home of the
London University—and the Natural History Museum,
all these buildings, and the institutions which are housed
in them, are more or less the offspring of the Great
Exhibition of 1851. The national memorial to the Prince
Consort most fittingly looks down upon this group of
palaces devoted to the advancement of the arts and
sciences, and to the instruction of the British people in the
practical knowledge which is needed to enable them to
hold their place in the world. Prince Albert was the
father of the noble scheme, and to him this country owes
a debt that it can never forget or refuse to acknowledge.
But I do not claim for Playfair more than is his due when
I say that among all the eminent men who served under
the Prince Consort there was none who was able to render
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 453
such efficient service in carrying forward to completion
the original ideas which led to the foundation of South
Kensington, and in developing those ideas in harmony
with our widening knowledge and our growing sense of the
national needs, as that which he supplied. The reader has
been told of the part he took in connection with the
realisation of the “fairy dream” of the Prince Consort.
More fortunate than his illustrious leader, he lived to see
the great scheme of the South Kensington Home of Light
and Learning brought almost to its completion. In his
green old age, when he drove from his house in Onslow
Gardens to the Park, his eye would brighten as he passed
the range of stately buildings where the great schools and
institutions, to the foundation of which he had given so
many years of unselfish toil and thought, have found a
worthy home. Of all the rewards of his life of labour,
there was none dearer to him than the knowledge that in
these buildings were embodied the fruits of his own self-
sacrificing efforts. He had been one of the chief instru-
ments in securing this potential wealth of learning and
enlightenment for the land he loved, and in providing
these noble palaces for the people. To few public servants
has so great a reward fallen ; by none could it have
been more highly valued.
But as his life drew to an end he was ever conscious
of one blot upon the plan, one glaring defect that still
remained to be remedied. In spite of all the appeals that
had been made by himself and others, the two great
institutions which were the first and most direct fruits of
the Exhibition of 1851, and with which he had been
associated from their birth, remained without a fitting
home. The Art Museum was still housed in part in the
old Brompton “boilers,” and in scattered buildings that
were a disfigurement to their stately surroundings; and his
own especial child—truly the child of his love—the Royal
454 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
College of Science, was confined for the most part to a
series of hovels that were almost squalid in their meanness
and inconvenience. He resolved that, if possible, this
discreditable condition should not continue, and that the
South Kensington Museum and the science collections and
class-rooms should be provided with homes worthy of their
importance as great national institutions.
In the summer of 1897 the country was to celebrate
the completion of the sixtieth year of the Queen's reign.
Many projects were suggested as to the best way of com-
memorating this Diamond Jubilee. To Playfair one mode
of celebration seemed to be superior to all others. On
February 8th, having first ascertained that Her Majesty
was inclined to look favourably on the suggestion, he
wrote to the ‘Times’ as follows:–
“The proposals to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee are chiefly
philanthropic or local, and depend upon private subscriptions.
Everyone will wish them success. But, so far as I have observed,
there is no proposal to celebrate the auspicious event by a per-
manent national memorial out of public funds. In the year 1835 a
Committee of the House of Commons was appointed “to inquire
into the best means of extending a knowledge of the arts and of the
principles of design among the people (especially the manufacturing
population) of the country.” In 1837, the first year of Her Majesty's
reign, a vote was taken, and a Museum and School of Design were
opened at Somerset House. This initial effort to promote technical
education has developed into the magnificent art collections and art
instruction at South Kensington. For the purposes of technical
instruction in art these collections are superior to any in Europe.
Berlin and Vienna have avowedly founded new museums on the
English type, while Paris has re-arranged her museums to some
extent in the like way.
“The Museum at South Kensington was opened by Her Majesty,
accompanied by the Prince Consort, on June 22, 1857. It was due
to the constant care and support of the Prince Consort that the
collections assumed their national importance. Parliament sup-
ported the Museum and Schools with liberality, having spent on
buildings upwards of £400,000. Since 1884 the energies of the
nation seem to have been exhausted, for though steps have been
taken at various times to complete the Museum, nothing has come
of the good intentions of the Government. In 1891 a limited
SERVICES TO SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 455
competition of designs for the completion of the façade was invited
by the Office of Works, and the selected plans were exhibited in
the library of the House of Commons, and in the Museum. In the
faith that Parliament would ultimately complete the Museum, the
public have actively co-operated in enriching the collections by
giving or bequeathing to the nation objects of art to the value of
considerably more than a million sterling.
“The position of the Museum at the present time is, that its
collections are splendid; the rooms for exhibition are good, though
inadequate in extent; but the Museum itself has no fitting setting.
In front of it there are bare brick walls, ‘the Brompton boilers,”
shabby railway vans and sheds, and altogether a general squalor
which humiliates the nation in the eyes of foreigners who come in
large numbers to visit the Museum. Is the nation so poverty-
stricken that it cannot complete what Parliament has always
intended to finish as a great national possession ?
“My early official connection with the Museum during its organi-
sation, and my later Parliamentary responsibility for it when Vice-
President of the Council, may perhaps justify me in suggesting that
the completion of the Museum would be a worthy public memorial
of Her Majesty's long reign. There can be no doubt that the Queen
takes a deep interest in the Museum. In January, 1862, Her
Majesty wrote a letter to the Lord President of the Council, then
Lord Granville, in which he is desired to inform the authorities of
the Museum that ‘it is Her Majesty's intention to take the South
Kensington Museum under her special and personal protection.’
The Government might ask Her Majesty's permission to change the
meaningless local name of the “South Kensington Museum’ into
the honoured national name of ‘the Victorian Museum,’ and take a
small supplementary vote this year towards the commencement of
the façade, which would require some years to build. The small
beginning made by Parliament in 1837 has developed by 1897 into a
great Museum, which has done much to advance the arts, the
industry, the technical education and the enjoyment of the Queen's
subjects, and the completion of the Museum would be welcomed by
them as a memorial of the great benefits which they have received
during her long and happy reign.”
It is a great thing to know how to strike, but it is still
more important to know when to strike. Playfair had
chosen the propitious moment. His letter produced an
instantaneous response, not only from the general public,
but from statesmen and leaders in the educational move-
ment. The newspapers supported his proposal; a me-
morial was addressed to the Government on the subject,
456 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIRs
signed by many influential persons; and, as the result of
this happy suggestion, Parliament was induced to grant a
Sum of £800,000 to be spent in completing the Museum.
On the 17th of May, 1899, Her Majesty herself laid the
foundation-stone of the new buildings, and officially
declared that henceforth the institution should be known
as the Victoria and Albert Museum. Playfair had passed
away nearly twelve months before this ceremony took
place, but to his happy and opportune suggestion the
great work thus inaugurated was due. It was his closing
service to the great scheme at South Kensington, his last
contribution to the development of the technical education
of his fellow-countrymen.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE END.
Adjudicating in the ‘Statist’ Competition—Speech at the Jubilee
Banquet of the Cobden Club—Failing Health—Residence at Torquay
— Death — Letters of Condolence to Lady Playfair — Burial at
St. Andrews.
IN the year 1896 Playfair completed a task which had
occupied him for many months. This was the award
of the prize of one thousand guineas, offered by the
proprietors of ‘The Statist’ for the best essay on the
means of drawing the Colonies and the Mother Country
into closer union. Lord Salisbury and Lord Rosebery had
each been asked to nominate a judge to whom the essays
might be submitted. Lord Salisbury had nominated the
Marquis of Lorne, whilst Playfair was the choice of Lord
Rosebery. No fewer than 136 essays were submitted to
the judges, and as each was of considerable length, the
work of selecting the best was no light one. Nor was this
difficulty diminished by the fact that each of the dis-
tinguished judges had his own views upon political and
economic questions. In their Judgment, dated April 20th,
1896, they mentioned eight essays which seemed to them
to be of conspicuous merit. “We had no difficulty,” they
declared, “as judges, in selecting these eight essays for their
conspicuous ability, but we were unable to agree as to
which essay would receive the prize. One of us was
named as a judge by Lord Salisbury, and the other by
Lord Rosebery. Our economical views were known to be
different when we were appointed, and it is natural that we
458 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
should differ as to the lines of policy which would be most
advantageous for a fiscal union of the Empire. We pro-
pose, therefore, that the prize of one thousand guineas
should be divided into two equal sums of five hundred
guineas, and that two prizes instead of one should be given
for two essays best representing among those competing
the two views of taxation which are entertained in the
plans proposed for the fiscal union of the Empire. The
majority of the self-governing Colonies have been in favour
of placing differential duties on foreign goods, and we both
agree that the essay best deserving the prize for this policy
of fiscal union is that signed ‘Defence, not Defiance.’
Legislation in the United Kingdom, on the other hand, is
now based on the system of Free Trade, and does not tax
foreign imports of food and raw materials in favour of a
free importation of like articles from the Colonies. The
most able essay representing the policy of Free Trade is
that with the motto “Scrutator, and we both agree that
this essay should have the other prize.”
This was not perhaps an ideal award, but it fairly met
the merits of the case. Playfair, it need hardly be said,
was the judge who insisted that the policy of Free Trade
should have its representative in the decision of this great
competition.
In the summer of 1896 his most important public
appearance was at the Jubilee banquet of the Cobden
Club, when he was selected to speak in response to the
toast of The Club. No better choice could have been
made. For half a century at least he had been instant,
in season and out of Season, in maintaining the necessity
of Free Trade for the development of the resources of a
country like ours. His simple and unadorned eloquence
had done much to keep the working men of Yorkshire
faithful to the principles of Richard Cobden ; and through
all his writings and in all his political career he had main-
THE END. 459
tained, in spite of temporary discouragements, the triumph
of the Free Trade policy. In his speech, in responding to
the toast of The Club, he offered no apologies for the
principles upon which it was founded. He took his stand,
according to his custom, upon facts and figures, and
demonstrated the truth that under Free Trade English
commerce has grown as it never did before. “There have
been two recent estimates,” he said, “ of the value of the
world's commerce—an official report of the United States,
which places it at three thousand three hundred and one
millions sterling, and the other by Mr Gustav Runnig, of
Vienna, who gives it as three thousand one hundred and
thirteen millions. Either of these will do for my purpose,
which is to point out that the commerce of the British
Empire in the year of our Jubilee is about one-third of the
whole commerce of the world. According to these recent
reports, hardly one-third of the entire world's commerce
furnishes the population with food products, while two-
thirds supply the other necessities and luxuries of life. In
regard to the manufactured goods, three nations—
England, Germany, and France—appropriate between
them sixty per cent. of the trade of the world; and of
this England takes nearly thirty per cent, as her share,
Germany coming next with nearly eighteen per cent., and
France third with thirteen per cent. Upon such a splendid
position for the British Empire in the commerce of the
world we Free Traders may be content to rest our case.
We believe Free Trade and great trade to be synonymous
terms. . . . The demand that England should re-
nounce the freedom of her trade in order to differentiate
in favour of the Colonies requires criticism, because it has
received a sort of conditional support from a responsible
Minister of the Crown. It is a policy which is politically
dangerous, and would be economically disastrous to our
working classes and to our productive industries. We are
460 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
all most anxious to strengthen the bonds which unite the
Colonies with the Mother Country, but there can be no
fiscal union while England is based on commercial freedom
and the Colonies on Protection. The Colonies may be
right in upholding Protection in their own interests, and
England may be right in upholding Free Trade, but both
must be proved to be wrong before we can have a Zoll-
verein. For the last fifty years Free Trade has given Great
Britain a predominance in the world of commerce. She
is now Queen of the realms of commerce and Mistress of
the Seas. By continuing steadily in the principles of
Free Exchange, she will continue to maintain her
glorious supremacy in the trade and navigation of the
world.”
There was, it will be seen, no wavering on the part
of Playfair in his adherence to the doctrines which he had
held so long and maintained so stoutly. Whatever might
be the passing currents of opinion with regard to economic
questions, he remained a Free Trader pure and simple
to the day of his death.
Gradually during this year, 1896, and the following year,
Playfair withdrew from the multifarious appointments
which he had held in the public service. He felt at last
a steady diminution in his powers of work. The machine
which had run so long and so smoothly began to give
signs of failing force, and he was under the painful com-
pulsion of retiring from many positions which he had
held with great advantage to the nation of which he was
proud to esteem himself a servant. His retirement
from his official work on the Royal Commission of the
Exhibition of 1851 has already been recorded. From many
other quarters, as he laid down his arms, he met with
recognition which was deeply gratifying to him, and which
proved that he had not worked in vain. Sir John Simon,
, the distinguished sanitary reformer, writing to him to
THE END. 46I
acknowledge an honour which had been conferred upon
him by the Institute of Public Health, said:
“You remind me that we two are old fellow-workers
for the Public Health. We indeed are now, I believe, the
oldest who have been sharers in that battle, and you
referred to me as two years your senior in life ; but you
pass without note the fact that long before I had given
my serious attention to the cause in which I afterwards
became a worker, you were on the Royal Commission
which in 1843–45 prepared the way for future Officers of
Health ; and you leave it for me to remember, as most
gratefully I do, how you were already a participator; in
the fruit-giving work of that Commission, of which you
are now the one survivor, in days when I was yet a mere
student of pathology and surgery. Believe me that the
honour which has just been conferred on me, whatever
charm it may bring as a tribute from the workers of later
years, has not its least value to me in the fact that you—
the true patriarch of our cause—have been willing to take
part in the gift, and to enrich me by your most kind
of letters.”
These graceful and touching words deserve to be in-
vested with a wider significance than that which was
given to them by Sir John Simon. Playfair was the
patriarch in many other noble causes besides that of labour
for the public health, and it was with keen sorrow that
he recognised the fact that his term of unselfish service
was drawing to a close.
ONSLow GARDENs,
Playfair to Sir Lambert Playfair. December 8th, 1896.
I congratulate you heartily on the warm and friendly
feelings shown to you both on leaving Algiers." Mr Ark-
wright's address to the meeting was in excellent taste, and
not the least over-stated. It represents an appreciation by
* Sir Lambert Playfair had been for many years Consul-General at
Algiers.
462 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
your fellow-countrymen that you have a right to be proud
of. I am glad that the church will have a permanent
record of your services in Algiers. Thirty years form a
long period of public Service at any time, and one quite
remarkable when you recollect in what a low condition
of health you were on your return from Aden, and the
doubts most of us felt whether you would be fit for public
work again. We Playfairs seem to have a latent vitality
in us which comes out with wonderful recuperative force.
In the United States this autumn I thought the close of
my work had come, but now I think I may still be able
to go on for a year or two more, if such a hope is not
too audacious at my age. . . . We propose to go
to St. Andrews for August and September. I am glad to
hear that you have bought a house in St. Andrews. It
is sufficiently near that prelatical chapel to rejoice your
hearts with embroidered robes and genuflections. I had
not my compass with me when I saw it, but I fancied
its orientation was perfect.
During the winter of 1896–7 Playfair's health was by no
means good. His physical strength began to fail, and he
was no longer able to indulge his old love of walking. But
his spirits were as buoyant as ever, and he still retained
that interest in life which may be said to have remained
youthful to the very end. It was not until the winter of
1897–98 that serious alarm began to be felt by his wife and
family with regard to his health. It was believed that the
winter in London would be too trying for him, as he
suffered from attacks of bronchitis, and from a low fever
which refused to yield to any remedies. The Villa Marina
at Torquay was secured as a suitable place in which he
might spend the winter months away from the fogs of
London.
VILLA MARINA, PARKHILL, Torquay,
Playfair to his Son. %anuary 3rd, 1898.
Many happy returns of the New Year to you and
yours. I am so much better and able to take walks in
THE END. 463
our beautiful grounds here that I have no apology for not
personally thanking you for your many presents, so many
that I can scarcely enumerate them—book-rest, box of
cigars, partridges, wild ducks, etc. One of the latter I
had for my dinner to-day. I have appreciated them all
thoroughly. You got a Turkish medal for Christmas, and
the Royal Institute of Public Health has voted me the
Harben Gold Medal “for distinguished services to public
health during the last fifty years.” It has only been
twice bestowed before—on Sir John Simon, so long a Chief
Health Officer of the Government, and on Professor
Pettenkoffer of Munich. The scenery here is absolutely
perfect and our grounds delicious. We are all as happy
as possible, and my convalescence is steady and rapid.
The Harben Gold Medal, to which reference is made in
the foregoing letter, is the highest distinction which it is in
the power of the Royal Institute of Public Health to
confer. The presentation of the medal was made by the
President, Dr W. R. Smith, in a letter in which on behalf
of the Institute he bore testimony to Playfair's services
in promoting during more than half a century all measures
for improving the health and social condition of the
people of this country. In acknowledging the honour on
December 29th, 1897, Playfair wrote :-
“Your letter is peculiarly gratifying to me. It is true
that since 1843 I have taken a keen interest in the pro-
motion of public health, and have endeavoured to the best
of my ability to improve it. In those early days I had
the advantage of the active co-operation of great Sani-
tarians—Sir Edwin Chadwick, Dr Southwood Smith, Sir
Richard Owen, Dr Neil Arnot, Dr Budd of Bristol, Dr
Ransome of Manchester, and others, to back me in my
efforts to lead the Royal Commission on Public Health (of
which I was a member) in the path of progress, and
to overcome the obstacles of uninstructed municipal and
parochial authorities. Without the combination of such
464 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
powerful sanitarians even the Royal Commission could not
have succeeded in amending sanitary law. We met at
stated times at simple dinners in each other's houses to
discuss sanitary progress, and called ourselves ‘Friends in
Council.” Those were days when we had to grope for
truth, as bacteria and their congeners were unknown in
their relation to disease.”
Even during his stay at Torquay he bore the burden of
his fourscore years so lightly that it seemed impossible to
associate him with the idea of advanced age. Nor did he
fail to maintain his keen interest in those public affairs
which had filled his life for sixty years. Although he
knew that his days must necessarily be numbered, he was
still as full as ever of projects of work and of zeal in
the public service.
“The wages of going on ” were still the reward that he
coveted. To live in idleness was abhorrent to the man who
had scarcely known an idle day during all his life. To die
in harness seemed to him then, as it had ever done, to be
the end most to be desired. The stay at Torquay did not
relieve him from the distressing indisposition from which he
suffered—a recurring fever which, raising his temperature,
sapped his strength, and for which his physicians were
unable to discover any remedy. In April, with the return
of spring, he desired to go back to London, in order that
he might take his part in the public engagements for which
The might still have sufficient strength. Of these, one to
which he looked forward with the greatest eagerness was
the dinner to be given to the past-presidents of the Chemical
Society, of which he had been one of the founders, and of
which he was the oldest surviving president.
CHEMICAL SocIETY,
13URLINGTON HousE, PiccADILLY, W.,
Professor Dewar to Playfair. May 9th, 1898.
DEAR LORD PLAYFAIR,-For some time past the
Council of the Chemical Society have had under their
THE END. 465
consideration the measures that should be taken to com-
memorate the fact that you and six other past-presidents
who have rendered conspicuous service to their Science,
this year complete fifty years' fellowship of the Society,
viz. Sir J. H. Gilbert, Sir E. Frankland, Professor Odling,
Sir F. A. Abel, Bt., Dr A. W. Williamson, and Dr J. H.
Gladstone. The Council have now determined that the
event shall be celebrated by a banquet at the Hôtel
Métropole on Thursday, June 9th.
We are desired by the Council and Fellows to express
the hope that you will honour them with your presence on
this occasion, which it is intended to make a memorable
one in the history of the Society.
All the foreign members have been specially invited, as
well as a number of distinguished guests who are interested
in the progress of chemistry in this country.
We are, dear Lord Playfair,
Yours very faithfully,
JAMES DEWAR,
President.
This dinner he agreed to attend, and accordingly, on the
15th of April, returned to town. Before the date fixed for
the dinner he had passed away, and the celebration was in
consequence postponed for several months.
After his return to his house in Onslow Gardens there
was for a time a marked diminution in the fever, and as a
new treatment had been decided upon, both he and his
family felt hopeful as to the future. Unfortunately he got
a slight additional cold early in May, and on the 21st of
that month he had, to his own Severe disappointment, to
spend his eightieth birthday in bed. Many friends sent
kind inquiries and congratulations to cheer him in his
illness, and he evidently looked forward to an early con-
valescence. Mr Gladstone's death on the 19th of May had
affected him profoundly, and on the day after his birthday
E E
466 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
he penned with difficulty the following letter, writing it
in bed in pencil, and giving it to Lady Playfair in order
that she might copy it out for Mrs Gladstone. It was
his last letter.
- 68, ONSLow GARDENs, SouTH KENSINGTON,
Playfair to Mrs Gladstone. May 22nd, 1898.
DEAR MRS GLADSTONE,-During the long illness of Mr
Gladstone I was unwilling to add to your correspondence
by any inquiries as to him and yourself, but now that the
greatest and most true-hearted Englishman of our age has
passed from suffering to a rest of peace in faith, I ask your
permission to express my wife's and my own intense
sympathy with you and your family. I admired and loved
Mr Gladstone, not only for his great qualities, but for his
intense belief in all eternal and temporal truths. Words
fail in showing appreciation of his magnificent character,
but you will allow us not to be altogether silent, but to add
to the expression of universal sympathy with yourself. My
wife writes this for me, as owing to illness I am unable to
do so myself.
On Friday, May 27th, it was discovered that slight
congestion of one lung had set in, and that his strength
was failing. On the following day, that on which his old
chief was buried in Westminster Abbey, his cough became
incessant, and his weakness increased to an alarming
extent. Even then, however, the cheerfulness which had
distinguished him throughout his life was fully maintained.
Thoughtfulness for those around him, and above all for the
wife who watched over him with so devoted a care, was as
marked as it had been at any moment of his life. That
day, though unable to read, he looked over some of the
books in which he had collected newspaper extracts re-
ferring to those great public questions in which he had
taken so deep an interest, and was amused when he came
upon a caricature of himself, describing to his sister-in-law
what it was, and what it meant. On Whit Sunday it was
THE END. 467
seen that the end was rapidly approaching, and the absent
members of his family were summoned to his side. He
himself suffered no pain, and was only conscious of a great
weariness, and of a strong desire to sleep. About nine
o'clock in the evening (Whit Sunday, May 29th) he asked
that the lights should be put out. They were lowered at
his request. When this was done he said: “Now I think
I can sleep. Good night, good night.” And in a few
moments he had passed away without a Sound or a
struggle. Those who were with him throughout his last
illness describe how they never heard him utter an impatient
word or a murmur at the successive disappointments which
befell his hopes of improvement. Not only his cheerfulness
but his keen sense of humour never seemed to forsake him,
and when members of his family visited him in his sick
room he would joke with them as of old, and talk with
tender affection of their domestic affairs. His family life,
for reasons already stated, has not played a prominent part
in this biography. One or two letters dealing with purely
domestic matters have been designedly inserted, not because
they bore upon that chronicle of never-ending work of
which his life chiefly consisted, but in order that some
side-light might be thrown upon his private character,
and the depth of his family affections. “No letter he
ever wrote,” says one of his children, “could give an
idea of his deep and intense sympathy, of his loving
help in any trouble to those dear to him, and even to
strangers. I never in the whole of my life have seen
him Cross, impatient, or known him speak a harsh word
to anyone.” Another of his children has pointed out to
me that his correspondence with them, dealing as it so
frequently did with practical matters of business, afforded
but little clue to his real character. “He made himself
charming to all with whom he came in contact, and was as
interesting to a young person as to the most advanced
468 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Scientist; he had such a faculty of adapting his conversa-
tion to all people and circumstances. Children were par-
ticularly devoted to him, and he delighted in the company
of the young. He was generous to a fault, and gave away
a great deal in charity without anybody knowing about it.
Some years before his death he got a postal order for
17s. 6d. The anonymous person who sent him this sum
wrote, by way of explanation : ‘You may not remember
the circumstance, but many years ago I accosted you one
night in the docks at Liverpool, and begged for assistance.
You found that you had no money, but you took off your
coat and gave me your waistcoat. Since then I have made
a fortune, and now repay you.’” The incident was one
which had passed out of Playfair's mind, and which he had
never mentioned to others.
His death, occurring as it did within a few days of Mr
Gladstone's, took place at a time when the country was so
deeply absorbed in the loss of one great Englishman that
it might have been supposed that it would hardly be able
to take note of the departure of another true and tried
public servant, who had so long been one of Mr Glad-
stone's most zealous and active lieutenants. Yet, when the
news that Playfair had passed away became known, count-
less persons in every rank of life, who had been brought in
contact with him, hastened to bear testimony to his worth,
and to their own sense of the loss which the country had
suffered in his death. From among the many letters
received by Lady Playfair, I select one or two as being
specially significant and noteworthy.
H.R.H. The Prince of Wales to Lady Playfair. May 31st.
DEAR LADY PLAYFAIR,-To-day the sad news reached
me that your kind and excellent husband had “passed
away,” So I do not lose a moment in expressing my
deepest sympathy with you at the terrible loss you have
THE END. 469
sustained. I have had the advantage of knowing your
distinguished husband even before I was ten years old, and
during those many years I was on the terms of the most
intimate friendship with him. In him I have lost a
Master (as I am proud to say I was his pupil), an adviser,
and a friend, and I shall always mourn and regret
him most deeply.
The Princess begs me also to express her most sincere
Condolence with you, and I remain, most sincerely yours,
ALBERT EDWARD.
POSILIPO,
The Earl of Rosebery to Lady Playfair. %une 7th, 1898.
MY DEAR LADY PLAYFAIR,--I see with deep regret
the news of the departure of your husband, and I must
send a line to express my sincerest sympathy.
He was one of the wisest, fairest, and most loyal men
that I have ever known in public life; and his devotion to
work and to duty has never, I think, been surpassed.
With all this, he preserved a perpetual youth which
makes it hard to believe that he has passed away in a
ripe old age.
It must be an unspeakable comfort to you to remember
at this time how you sweetened and brightened his life.
But at such a moment there is no such thing as comfort;
there is only mitigation. Such as it is, may it abundantly
be yours
Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
ROSEBERY.
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN,
Professor Dewar to Lady Playfair. May 31st, 1898.
DEAR LADY PLAYFAIR,--I cannot find words to
express my sympathy with you on account of the Sudden
bereavement that has fallen in the passing of your great
and illustrious husband, Lord Playfair. These words will
not tend to assuage your grief. My excuse must be a life-
470 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
long love and veneration for the great departed. He was
my Master in everything, and I owe all to him. If he had
only been spared a little longer, I wanted so much to have
told him that at last hydrogen had succumbed, and about.
the new work I have in hand. But it was not to be. He
has gone full of years and honours. When will we see his
like again 2 His memory will ever remain with me as one
of the most abiding treasures of my life. Mrs Dewar is
deeply grieved. Lord Playfair was at our marriage.
Wishing you all consolation and peace,
Yours most faithfully,
JAMES DEWAR.
On Saturday, June 4th, Playfair was laid to rest in the
burial-place which had been chosen for him during his life-
time, under the shadow of the grey ruins of the old
cathedral of St. Andrews, and within sound of the sea
beside which he had played as a boy. He was honoured
with a public funeral by the authorities of the city. The
Senatus Academicus of the University, which he had
represented so long in Parliament, attended officially, and
the Queen and Prince of Wales were personally repre-
sented. There was a great gathering of the representatives
of science and the public services, whilst the members of his
own family were there without exception. His coffin bore
the following inscription :-‘‘Lyon Playfair, first Baron
Playfair of St. Andrews, P.C., G.C.B., F.R.S., LL.D. Born
21st May, 1818; died 29th May, 1898, aged 80 years.
‘For so He giveth His beloved sleep.’” The long, sweet
sleep, which comes at the end to all, never followed a
fuller life of work and achievement than that which has
been imperfectly recorded in these pages.
I N D E X.
=º0-
Aberdare, Lord, and the Aged Poor
Commission, 397-400
Africa, Playfair on the probable
British destiny in, 318
Aged Poor Commission, Playfair and
the, 397-400
Agricultural Chemistry, Playfair's
lectures on, 68; Liebig's work on,
43, 88, 89
Airlie, Lord and Lady, their friend-
ship with Lord and Lady Playfair,
348
Albert, Prince (see Consort, H.R.H.
the Prince)
Alexander, Professor, 32-33
Alice, Princess, entertains Playfair at
Kranichstein, Ig3-194; her refer-
ence to him in a letter to the
Queen, IQ4, 204
Anecdotes: Professor Playfair (kins-
man of Lyon) and the Commander-
in-Chief for Scotland, 14; Lyon
Playfair mistaken for the Professor,
I5; Mrs Macdonald (Lyon's aunt)
and her doubts concerning Ba-
laam's ass, I6-17; how Sir Hugh
Playfair improved St. Andrews,
I8-19; Mr Kettle and his prayers
for Lyon, 19 ; Lyon and the Com-
munion “token,” 19-20; the Elder
and the nurse, 20; Lyon intro-
duces himself to his father, 21 ; Dr
Macvicar and his “popular lec-
tures,” 22-23; Lyon and his brother
George, 26; his stratagem for
frightening off marauders at Glas-
gow, 34-35; his accidental meeting
with Lady and Sir Charles Lyell,
35-36; Mrs Livingstone in search
of her children, 37; punctuality
handsomely rewarded, 44; Playfair
parleys with labour rioters and
becomes their hostage, 55-56; a
laboratory accident at Manchester,
56-57; instances of Dr Dalton's
eccentricity, 57-58; one of his eyes
taken out after death for examina-
tion, 58; Professor Bunsen and
Playfair taken for tramps, 62;
Sir Edwin Chadwick’s argument
from the Devil, 64; Follett
and the doctrine of the cor-
relation of forces, 72-73; Fara-
day and the bag of powder, 95;
Playfair and the coal-owner, 95-
96; the Duke of Wellington and
the Chartists, Io9-4; arresting a
nursemaid and her charge, IO4;
Playfair seized in Paris as an
insurgent, IoS-6; Louis Blanc
tricked by Louis Napoleon, Iof ;
Sir Henry Cole and the Great
Exhibition, II5 ; classifying a
walking-stick, II6; a mysterious
Chinaman at the opening of the
Great Exhibition, I2O ; the Queen
and the exhibitor, 121 ; ludicrous
incident at a fête at St. Cloud, I22;
Lord Derby and the meaning of
“denarius;” an episcopal objec-
tion to undraped statues, 125;
Playfair and the hostile member
of the Athenaeum, I44; confu-
sion between him and Sir Charles
Wheatstone, 154; reading secret
ciphers, 155-56; instance of Bab-
bage's enormous egotism, I56; Sir
Edwin Chadwick and his epigram
on the sanitary condition of Paris,
I62; strange beginning of Playfair's
acquaintance with Arles Dufour,
I63; Playfair's generosity towards
a rival, 179; Sir James Simpson's
adroit defence of chloroform, 182-
83; his rashness in trying anaesthe-
tics upon himself, 183; Owen Jones
on fame, Igr; the Princess Alice
and the luncheon-table, 194; the
Prince of Wales and the boiling
lead, 201 ; the Prince Consort's
superiority to jealousy, 213 ; the
romantic story of Lord Dun-
472
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAY FAIR.
donald's disgrace and rehabilita-
tion, 235-39; Longfellow and his
English visitors, 240; Colonel
Holmes and his typical Mexican,
242; temporary adoption of a young
lady as daughter, 243; Playfair's
narrow escape from a railway
disaster, 243-44; Playfair and the
“electric phenomenon,” 244-45;
taken for a mining adventurer in
Canada, 248-49; meets an enthusi-
ast for falconry, 272; Playfair and
the King of Bonny, 281 ; and the
black Bishop of Hayti, 281 ; “con-
fidence” men in New York, 319;
singular communication of a scien-
tific discovery, 346; Rustem Pasha
and Sir Edward Bradford both
maimed by wild beasts, 374; Play-
fair and the deaf, dumb, and blind
child, 374-75; mistaken for a State
prisoner, 376-77; a clergyman re-
buked by an alderman, 391 ; a
colloquy with a stranger, 391-92;
a Napoleonic story, 395; a knight
without being knighted, 402 ;
Playfair gives his waistcoat to a
beggar, 468
Anglo-Saxon spirit, Playfair on the,
363-64
Arbitration Treaty between Great
Britain and the United States,
Playfair on an, 365-67, 407
Arts, Society of, and the Great
Exhibition, II2
Ashburton, Lord and Lady,
Playfair, I57
B.
and
Brand, Mr Speaker, and Playfair, 293,
296-97
Brewster, Sir David, 185-86
British Association, meetings of, at
Southampton, IoI ; at Montreal,
345-46; Playfair's presidency of, at
Aberdeen, 347-48; his presidency
of the Chemical Section of, 429
“Brompton boilers,” The, I42, 453
Brown, Dr John, Playfair's acquaint-
ance with, 195-96
Buckingham Palace, Playfair's inquiry
into the Sanitary condition of, 94
Buckland, Dr, 43; meets Playfair at
Drayton Manor,59-60; his appoint-
ment to the Deanery of West-
minster; his experiments with new
viands, 69 ; presses Playfair's
claims upon Peel, 77-78
Buckland, Frank, 60, 69
Bunsen, Professor, and Playfair, 61-
63
C.
Babbage, inventor of the calculating
machine, II6, I55; his egotism,
I55-56
Balfour, the Right Hon. A. J., and
Irish Coercion, 384
Bayard, Mr T. F., American Ambas-
sador, and the Venezuelan ques-
tion, 416-26
Beche, Sir Henry de la, see De la
Beche
Berlin, Playfair's visit to, in 1841, 44
Birmingham, Playfair invited to con-
test one of the divisions of, 349,
35I
Blast Furnaces for the Manufacture of
Iron, Inquiry into the Chemical
Operation of, 61-63
Bloomfield, Major,
Playfair, I64
Bradford, Sir Edward, attacked by a
tiger, 374
son-in-law of
Canada: Playfair receives the offer
of a professorship from, 58-60 ; his
first visit to, 247-50; and the British
Association, 345-46; Playfair's
visit to, in 1895, 402-4.
Cantor, Low & Co., the Calcutta
house which Playfair joined, 41
Carnegie, Mr, and an arbitration
treaty between Great Britain and
the United States, 365
Cattle Plague, Royal Commission on
the, Ig2-93, 203-4
Cezarevitch (the present Czar), Play-
fair and the, 395
Chadwick, Sir Edwin, and sanitary
reform, 64; and the sanitary con-
dition of Paris, 162
Chairman and Deputy-Speaker, Play-
fair's tenure of the office of, 291-
97, 30I, 3O2-IO, 3I2-I7
Chamberlain, the Right Hon. Joseph,
and the Aged Poor Commission,
397, 398, 399, 400 ; and the Vene-
zuelan question, 416-26
Chaplin, the Right Hon. Henry, and
Playfair, 3Io-I2
Chartist agitation, The, Io9-4
Chemical Society, Playfair President
of, I79; invited to a dinner to the
past Presidents of, 464-65
Chemistry: Playfair's boyish experi-
ments in, 33; wins a first prize in ;
his favourite study at Glasgow,
36; studies it at Giessen under
Liebig, 42-43, 428; is appointed
INDEX.
473
honorary professor of, at Man-
chester, 56; is offered a professor-
ship of, at Toronto, 58-60 ; his
researches into the chemical
operation of blast furnaces for
iron manufacture, 61-63, 430 ; his
unsuccessful candidature for the
chair of, at Edinburgh, in 1844,
66-67; pursues his work in, at
Manchester, 67-68; is appointed
Chemist to the Geological Survey,
72; his researches into the atomic
volume of salts and into the “nitro-
prussides,” 92, 430; his inquiry
into the best coals for steam navi-
gation, and into accidents in coal
mines, 95-97; his election to the
chair of, at Edinburgh, in 1858,
I74-76, 429 ; his address on a cen-
tury of, in Edinburgh University,
180-81 (see also Chemical Society)
Chemists, Playfair's acquaintance
with famous, 51-52
Chicago, Playfair's impressions of,
24I-42
Chief Whip, Playfair's refusal of the
post of, 290-91, 3OI-2
Christian, H.R.H. Prince, friendly
interest of, in Playfair, Igs
Christison, Sir Robert, 4o, I81, 182,
I86
Church of England Service, Playfair
on the, 273
Civil Service Commission, Playfair
President of, 218-19
Clare, Peter, Dr Dalton’s “Boswell,”
57
. Clark, Sir James, Playfair's friendship
with, 91
Cleveland, President, at the centenary
celebration of the Declaration of
Independence, 360; on an arbitra-
tion treaty between Great Britain
and the United States, 366; and
the Venezuelan question, 414-15
Coal for Steam Navigation (see Steam
Navigation)
Coal Mines, Inquiries into the causes
of accidents in, 95-97
Cobden Club, Playfair's speech at the
Jubilee banquet of, 458
Cole, Sir Henry, and the Great Exhi-
bition, II2, II4, II5, II?, I24, I42,
I43; and the South Kensington
Museum, 15o; and the Inter-
national Exhibition of 1855, 162
College of Civil Engineers, Putney,
Playfair a professor at, 95
Commerce, Effects on, of the applica-
tions of science to, 438
Consort, H.R.H.. the Prince, the
originator of the Great Exhibition,
II2, I21 ; appoints Playfair a Gen-
tleman Usher; Playfair's tribute
to, I24 ; and the Crystal Palace,
I25; and the disposal of the
Great Exhibition surplus, 131-33,
I35-36, I37-39, I40, I4I ; and the
organisation of the Science and
Art Department, 150 ; his English
attacked, 158; Playfair resigns
the post of Gentleman Usher to,
I78; death of, 188-89; funeral of,
Igo; the Coburg statue of, 194; the
Scottish memorial of, 202-3; his
Superiority to jealousy, 213; and
the British Association, 347; the
Te Deum of, sung at the Jubilee
service, 356; indebtedness of the
nation to, in connection with the
Great Exhibition and the em-
ployment of the surplus fund,
452-53
Crichton, Mr, master of the St.
Andrews Parish School, 29
Crosse, Mr, and spontaneous genera-
tion, 70-71
Crown Princess of Prussia, see Fred-
erick, German Empress
Crum-Brown, Professor, on Playfair's
Scientific career and position, 428-
3O
Crystal Palace, Opening of, 125
Cullen, Cardinal, an opponent of
higher education, 213
D.
Dalton, Dr, and Playfair, 57-58; 75
Dawson, Sir William, and the British
Association, 346
Declaration of Independence, Playfair
represents England at the centen-
ary celebration of the, 359-64
De la Beche, Sir Henry, 43, 64, 72;
interests Dr Buckland in Playfair,
79-80 ; seeks to procure the re-
tirement of Mr Phillips from the
Museum of Practical Geology in
Playfair's favour, 82-83; an ap-
preciation of, by Playfair, 93; 95,
96, II3
Dewar, Professor, a pupil of Play-
fair's, 93; invites Playfair to a
dinner to the past Presidents of
the Chemical Society, 464–65;
condoles with Lady Playfair on
her husband's death, 469-70
Douglas, Miss, governess of Playfair,
28-29
474
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Dove, the meteorologist, and Play-
fair, 44-45
Ducie, Lord, his model farm, 70
Dufferin, Lord, and Playfair, 250
Dufour, Arles, and Playfair, I63
Duncan, Professor, 32-33
Dundonald, Lord (Lord Cochrane),
scheme of for taking fortresses,
I60-61; character of, I61; disgrace
and rehabilitation of, 235-39
E.
Eastern Question, Playfair's views
on the, 264, 266, 268, 274, 285
Edinburgh, The Duke of, and the
Great Exhibition, I22; a student
in Edinburgh University, 187
Edinburgh Museum, Foundation of,
I5I
Edinburgh University, Playfair a
student in, 38; an unsuccessful
candidate for the chair of Chemis-
try in, 66–67; appointed Professor
of Chemistry in, I74-76; chief
member of the Senate of, in 1858,
181-82; reform of, I83-85; royal
students at, I87-88 ; appreciation
of Playfair's services by the
Senate of, 197-98; representation
of in Parliament, conjointly with
St. Andrews University, 206, 209;
Playfair stands for, and is elected,
207-8, 2Io; Tory character of the
constituents of, 2IO-II ; founda-
tion of a chair of Geology in, 222;
Playfair's seat for threatened,
286-87, 288; his retirement from
the representation of, 338, 349 ;
tercentenary of, 344-45
Emerson and Playfair, 240 ;
Longfellow, ib. (footnote)
Endowed Schools, Playfair President
of a Select Committee on, 2I4;
member of a Royal Commission
to inquire into, 354
and
F.
Faraday, Professor, Story of, about
a bag of powder, 95 ; proposal to
make him a Privy Councillor, I56
Fawcett, Professor, and the Irish
University question, 214-15; and
the election of a Liberal leader in
the Commons, 23.I-32
Fellow of the Royal Society, Playfair
elected a, IOS
Fitzwilliam, Lord, visited by Liebig
and Playfair, 71
Follett, Sir W. W., and George
Stephenson, 72-73
“Food of Man in relation to his
Work,” Playfair's memoir on, 195
Forbes, Professor Edward, a fellow-
student of Playfair's at Edin-
burgh, 39; 93, 181
Forbes, Principal, 185-86
Forster, W. E., and the Elementary
Education Act, 2II-I2; his claims
to the Liberal leadership in the
Commons, 212, 226-33
Frankland, Sir Edward, a pupil
of Playfair's, 93; on Playfair's
investigations into the best coal
for steam navigation, 430-31
Frederick, German Emperor, Death
of, 377; Playfair's impressions of,
377-78
Frederick, German Empress, 378;
defends Bismarck, and disclaims
responsibility for the publication
of the Emperor's diary, 379
Fair Trade, Playfair's arguments
against, 367-7I
Free Trade, Playfair's final tribute
to, 458-60
“Friends in Council,” Society of
Political Economists, 65
G.
Geffcken, Professor, and the publica-
tion of the Emperor Frederick's
diary, 379
Geological Survey, Playfair appointed
chemist to the, 72
George Eliot, and Playfair, 262, 276
Giessen, Playfair studies chemistry
at, 42-43
Gillespie, Professor, 32
Glamis Castle and Manse, 31-32, 348
Gladstone, Mr, and the Irish Uni-
versity question, 215-17 ; his
generosity towards Playfair in
nominating him Postmaster-Gen-
eral, 217-18; offers him the post
of Chief Whip, and then that of
Chairman and Deputy-Speaker,
290-91 ; nominates Professor Owen
for a knighthood, 327-28, 329;
urges Playfair to accept the Vice-
Presidency of the Council, 353;
nominates him for a peerage, 385-
86; his physical hardihood in his
old age, 392; Playfair deeply
affected by the death of, 465-66
Goº, Professor, and Playfair, 39,
ISI
Gore House Estate, Kensington,
INDEX.
475.
purchased by the Royal Commis-
sioners of the 1851 Exhibition,
I4O
Graham, Professor, Playfair's master
in Chemistry, 36, 38, 42 ; as
Master of the Mint, 163
Graham, Sir James, and the Irish
potato famine, 99
Grand Committee's system, Play-
fair's connection with the, 300
Grand Cross of the Bath, Playfair
receives the, 401
Grant, Sir Alexander, appointed
Principal of Edinburgh Univer-
sity, I86
Granville, Earl, and Playfair, III,
II2, II.3, I58-5
Great Exhibition, The (1851), the
leading work of Playfair's life,
Io9 ; the starting-point of techni-
cal education in England, III ; a
Royal Commission appointed to
organise it; early difficulties of,
II2; a system of classification
for, II5-16; Paxton's building for,
II8; Scares concerning, II8-20;
opening of, I2O ; the building of
removed to Sydenham, I25; the
Prince Consort's views as to the
disposal of the surplus of, 131-33;
investment of the surplus of, I40-
4I ; results of the investment, 452
(See also Royal Commission of the
1851 Exhibition)
Gregory, Professor, Playfair's prede-
cessor in the chair of Chemistry
at Edinburgh, 179-80
Grévy, President, and Playfair, 247
H.
Halfpenny post-cards, Playfair's ad-
vocacy of, 2II
Harben Gold Medal of the Royal
Institute of Public Health, Play-
fair receives the, 463
Harcourt, Sir William, and Irish
obstruction, 293
Harrington Estate, Kensington, pur-
chased by the Royal Commis-
sioners of the 1851 Exhibition,
I4O
Hartington, Marquis of (Duke of
Devonshire), Election of as Liberal
leader in the Commons, 212, 226-
33
Harvard University, Playfair and,
345
“Hawarden Kite,” Playfair's con-
nection with the, 342
Hayes, President, and Playfair, 244
Health of Towns, Royal Commission
on the, Playfair's connection with,
64-66, 88-89
Herring Fishery, Royal Commission
On the, Igo-91
Holmes, Colonel, and Playfair, 242-
43, 252, 253
Holmes, Wendell, 240-41
Home Rule, Playfair and, 333-34,
342-43
I.
Imperial Federation, Playfair's sym-
pathy with, 248
Imperial Institute, Foundation of
the, 449-52
Indian Salt-tax, Playfair effects a
reduction in the, 245-46
“Inosculation of the Arts and
Sciences,” Playfair's address on,
438-40 -
International Exhibition—of 1855,
I61-62 ; of 1862, 191, 199; of 1878,
246-47, 260 ; of 1888 (Glasgow),
376-77 (see also Great Exhibition)
Irish members, Suspension of at
Playfair's instance, 292; his popu-
larity with, 297, 325-26
Irish University question, Playfair
and the, 2I4-17
J.
Jones, Owen, and the International
Exhibition of 1862, 191
Joule, Playfair's recollections of, 73-
75; experiments of in association
with Playfair, 92
Jubilee celebrations, Playfair's con-
nection with the, 354-59
K.
Kane, Sir Robert, 98
Knight Commander of the Bath,
Playfair appointed a, 297, 402
Kolbe, Professor, an assistant of
Playfair's, 93
L.
Labour riots at Clitheroe in 1842,
5-56
Lancashire, Playfair's report on the
Sanitation of the large towns in,
65-66
Leeds (see South Leeds)
476
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
JLETTERS, and Extracts from letters,
from—
Aberdare, Lord, to Playfair, on the
Aged Poor Commission, 398-99
Balfour, Professor, to Playfair,
protesting against the latter's
supporting Irish Church Dis-
establishment, 207-8
Bayard, Mr T. F., American Am-
bassador, to Playfair, on the
Venezuelan question, 418, 420,
422-23
Beche, Sir H. de la, to Buckland,
on thesubject of a publicappoint-
ment for Playfair, 79-80, 82-83
Blackie, Professor, to Playfair, on
“Teaching Universities and Ex-
amining Boards,” 224
Brand, Mr Speaker, to Playfair,
on the latter's resignation of the
Chairmanship, 296-97
Bright, John, to Playfair, compli-
menting him on a speech on
Fair Trade, 368
Buckland, Dean, to Sir Robert
Peel, recommending Playfair for
a public appointment, 77-78
Chamberlain, the Right Hon.
Joseph, to Playfair, on the
Venezuelan question, 419-20,
420, 42I-22, 423-25
Chaplin, the Right Hon. Henry,
to Playfair, on the proceedings
taken to combat obstruction,
3II-I2
Christian, H.R.H. Prince, to
Playfair, asking him to retain
the post of hon. secretary of the
Royal Commission of the 1851
Exhibition, 334-35; on the death
of the Emperor Frederick, 377
Coleridge, Sir J. D., to Playfair,
on the Tichborne case, 226
Consort, H.R.H. the Prince, to
Playfair, offering to appoint him
a Gentleman Usher, I23-24
Dewar, Professor, to Playfair, in-
viting him to a dinner as a past-
president of the Chemical So-
ciety, 464-65; to Lady Playfair
on her husband's death, 469-70
Dundonald, Lord, to Playfair,
sending him the second volume
of his Autobiography, 237-38
Faraday, Professor, to Playfair,
offering him a Professorship at
Toronto, 58-59; acknowledging
the receipt of a box of the new
matches, I65-66; undertaking to
act as a reference in connection
LETTERs (continued):—
with his candidature for the
Chair of Chemistry at Edin-
burgh, 176
Fawcett, Professor, to Playfair, on
the election of Liberal leader in
the Commons, 231-32
Frankland, Professor(Sir Edward),
to Playfair, testifying to the
latter's competence for the Chair
of Chemistry at Edinburgh,
I75-76
Gladstone, Mr, to Playfair, on the
latter's services as Chairman and
Deputy-Speaker, 295-96; on his
resignation of the post, 308-9 ;
announcing his successor, 309 ;
on making Professor Owen a
K.C.B., 329 ; on Playfair's
address “On Industrial Com-
petition and Commercial Free-
dom,” 369-70; explaining why
he is not asked to join the Cabi-
net, and offering to nominate
him for a peerage, 385-86 :
offering him the post of a Lord-
in-Waiting to the Queen, 392-93
Graham, Professor, to Playfair, on
the latter's intention to study
under Liebig, 45-46
Granville, Earl, to Playfair, on the
election of Liberal leader in the
Commons, 229, 230-31, 232
Greeley, Isabel, to Playfair, en-
closing letter from Edith
Thomas, 374-75
Grey, Colonel, to Playfair, on the
Great Exhibition, I26, 128-30;
on the organisation of a system
of technical education, 137–38;
on the Report of the Exhibition
Commissioners, 139; sending
portraits of the Royal children,
I46; on the proposed School of
Practical Science, I46-47; on the
arrangements for the Prince
Consort's visit to Birmingham,
I47-48; on the report of H.R.H.’s
speech, I48; on the creation of
an order of merit for men of
science, I64-65; on the site for
the Scottish Memorial of the
Prince Consort, 202, 203
Hartington, Marquis of (Duke of
Devonshire), to Playfair, on the
halfpenny card postage, 223
Knollys, Sir Francis, to Playfair,
asking his assistance in connec-
tion with the proposed Imperial
Institute, 449-50
*
2
INDEX.
477
LETTERS (continued):—
Liebig, Baron von, to Playfair, on
the translation of “Agricultural
Chemistry,’ 46-51, 89, 90 ; on
the writer's work in connection
with agriculture, 167-68, 169-70
Macdonald, Mrs, to Mrs Playfair,
mother of Lyon, 26-27
McKenzie, The Hon. A., Canadian
Premier, to Playfair, on the Paris
Exhibition (1878), and on Fenian
raids, 261
Murchison, Sir Roderick, to Play-
fair, on the foundation of a
Geological Chair in Edinburgh
University, 222
Napier, Admiral Sir Charles, to
Playfair, on iron vessels of war,
I66
Northcote, Sir Stafford (Earl of
Iddesleigh), to Playfair, on the
latter's resignation of the Chair-
manship, 296
Otway, Sir Arthur, to Playfair,
congratulating him on “the
evident sense of the House,”
3IO
O'Reilly, Mr John Boyle, to Play-
fair, acknowledging the latter's
support of his request for per-
mission to visit Canada and
Great Britain, 326-27
Owen, Professor, to Playfair, on
the proposal that the writer
should be made a K.C.B.,
327-28
Peel, Sir Robert, to Playfair,
inviting him to Drayton Manor,
80-81 ; to the Prince Consort, on
the Irish famine, 87; to Playfair,
on the Irish potato famine, 99-
Ioo, Io&
Phipps, Sir Charles, to Playfair,
on the disposal of the Great
Exhibition surplus, 135–36; re-
questing Playfair to withdraw
his resignation as Gentleman
Usher, 177; on the death of the
Prince Consort, 189
Playfair, Lyon, to his father (at
the age of six), 25-26; to Pro-
fessor Dewar, concerning Joule,
73-75; to Dean Buckland, on
the offer of a Canadian pro-
fessorship, 84-86; to James
Young, suggesting the manufac-
ture of petroleum, Io2 ; to
Colonel Grey, on the Great
Exhibition, 127-28; to Sir H.
de la Beche, on the employment
LETTERS (continued):—
of the Great Exhibition surplus,
I34-35; to Professor Frankland,
inviting a testimonial, I74-75;
to Colonel Grey, resigning his
post as Gentleman Usher, 177 ;
to the same, on scientific in-
struction for the Prince of
Wales, 200-I ; to his daughter
Jessie (Mrs Macgregor Stewart),
on his voyage to America, 25I-
52; to the same, on his experi-
ences in Canada, 252-54; to
Mrs Oakes, on his reception in
the United States, 254-55; to
his son, on his visit to the State
Lunatic Asylum near Washing-
ton and to a negro camp for
worship, 255-57; to his daughter
Jessie, on his visit to Lafayette
College, 257-58; to the same, on
the death of his son's wife, and
on the Ladies' College at Pough-
keepsie, 258-59; to the same, on
a dinner at Dean Stanley's, 262 ;
to Miss Edith Russell and her
family, on a visit to Liverpool,
262-63; to the same, on a visit
to Mr (Sir Mountstuart) Grant-
Duff, 263; to the same, on the
feeling against Russia in 1878,
264; to the same, on his engage-
ments as a Member of Parlia-
ment, 264-65; to the same, on
the danger of war with Russia,
265-66; to the same, on the
Manchester Water Supply Bill,
266-67, 267-68, 270-71 ; to the
same, on a visit to Ramsgate,
268–70; to the same, on an
invitation to be Vice-President
of a society for promoting
falconry, on the Church of
England service, etc., 271-73 ;
to the same, on a visit to Sir
John and Lady Lubbock, etc.,
273-74; to the same, on inter-
course with the Prince of Wales.
in Paris, 274-75; to the same,
on the International Exhibition
of 1878, 275, 275-76; to the
same, on talks with the Crown
Princess of Germany (the Em-
press Frederick) and George
Eliot, 276; to the same, on a
trip to Antwerp, 276-77; to the
same, on an excursion in the
Hartz Mountains, 277-78, 278-
8o ; to the same, on a visit to
Sir Joseph and Lady Hooker,
478
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
LETTERS (continued):—
28o; to the same, on meeting
the King of Bonny and the
black Bishop of Hayti at Dean
Stanley's, 280-81 ; to the same,
on a visit to Mr Goschen, a
dinner with medical men, etc.,
282; to Miss Alice Russell, on
the voyage back to England
(1878), 282-83 ; to his wife, on
his prospects of re-election for
Edinburgh and St. Andrews
Universities, 286-87, 287, 288–
289; to the same, on an evening
with St. Andrews students, 287-
88; to the same, on a visit to
Lord and Lady Rosebery at
Dalmeny, 289-90; to Mr Speaker
Brand, enclosing a memorandum
defending his measures against
obstruction, 303; to Mr Chaplin,
on “the general sense of the
House ’’ as to the existence
of obstruction, 3Io-II ; to his
wife, on obstruction and the
probable close of the session,
313, 313-I4, 3I4, 3I4-I5, 315-I6,
316, 316-17 ; to the same, on a
visit to Walmer Castle, 317; to
S. H. Russell, Esq., on the pro-
bable destiny of the British in
Africa, 318; to the same, on
Northcote's budget, ib. ; to Miss
Alice Russell, on his having
been beset by “confidence ’’
men, 319; to S. H. Russell, Esq.,
on obstruction and the state of
Ireland, 319-20; to the same, on
the “Skirmishing Fund,” 321 ;
to Mrs Russell, in view of
Christmas, 322; to Mr Glad-
stone, on the Bill to create a
Minister for Scotland, 335-37;
to S. H. Russell, Esq., announc-
ing his retirement from his con-
stituency, 337–38; to his son, on
his change of constituency, 351;
to S. H. Russell, Esq., on the
prospect of the Liberals at the
end of 1885, 352 ; to the same,
on his being appointed Vice-
President of the Council, 352-
53; to Mr and Mrs Russell, on
returning to England, 353; to
his sister-in-law, relating a meet-
ing with Rustem Pasha and Sir
Edward Bradford, 374; to Mr
Gladstone, in reply to the offer
to nominate him for a peerage,
386-87; to Sir Henry Ponsonby,
LETTERS (continued):—
expressing his gratitude to the
Queen for the honour of a
peerage, 387 ; to his son, on the
disaster at the Mauritius, 389-
go; to the same, describing his
re-election for South Leeds,
390-91 ; to Sir Lambert Play-
fair, giving an instance of Mr
Gladstone's physical hardihood,
392; to his wife, describing a
dinner with the Queen and
service in the Mausoleum, 393-
94; to the same, recounting a
Napoleonic story, 394-95; to
the same, on another dinner
with the Queen, 395; to his son,
explaining why he declined to
go to Ottawa as Imperial repre-
sentative, 396 ; to the Hon.
Mrs R. M. Stewart, on the
discovery that he had never
been knighted, 402 ; to his son,
on his recent visit to Canada,
402-3; to S. H. Russell, Esq., on
the movement for founding the
Imperial Institute, 409-IO ; to
Mr and Mrs Russell, on leaving
America after his annual visit,
4Io; to Mrs Russell, from
Sandringham, 410-II ; to S. H.
Russell, Esq., on his article on
American finance; to the same
on his projected visit to Nahant,
4II ; to Mr and Mrs Russell,
describing his taking his seat in
the House of Lords, 412-13 ; to
Mrs Russell, on his official work;
to S. H. Russell, Esq., on a
dinner at Windsor Castle, 413 ;
to Mrs Russell, on his being
made a G.C.B., 414; to the Times,
suggesting the completion of
the South Kensington Museum,
454-55; to Sir Lambert Play-
fair, on the latter's leaving
Algiers, 461-62; to his son, on
receiving the Harben Gold
Medal, 462-63; to Dr W. R.
Smith,acknowledging the Medal,
463-64 ; to Mrs Gladstone, on
Mr Gladstone's death, 466
Plunket, Hon. David, to Playfair,
on “Teaching Universities and
Examining Boards,” 223-24
Ponsonby, Sir Henry, to Playfair,
acknowledging his letter of
thanks to the Queen for the
honour of a peerage, 387
Rathbone, Mr W., to Playfair,
INDEX.
479
LETTERs (continued):—
announcing the foundation of
Playfair Scholarships for Girls,
26o
Rosebery, Earl of, to Playfair,
proposing to nominate him for
a G.C.B., 401 ; to Lady Play-
fair, on her husband's death,469
Sandford, Sir Francis, to Playfair,
requesting him to superintend
the Jury Department of the
International Exhibition of
I862, Igg
Simon, Sir John, to Playfair, on
their work for the Public Health,
46I
Thomas, Edith, to Playfair, thank-
ing him for the gift of a ring,
375
wº, H.R.H. the Prince of, to
Playfair, on his resignation as
honorary secretary of the Royal
Commission of 1851, 445; to
Lady Playfair on her husband's
death, 468-69
Wolverton, Lord, to Playfair, on
the election of Liberal leader in
the Commons, 230
Liberalism, Playfair's, 206-7, 284
Liebig, Baron von, Playfair studies
chemistry under, 42-43; his work
on Agricultural Chemistry trans-
lated by Playfair, 43 ; visits
England, 49, 50 ; makes a tour
through England and Scotland,
69-71; on phosphorus disease
among match-makers, I66
Lincoln, Lord (afterwards Duke of
Newcastle), 59, 64, 81
Lindley, Professor, 98
Liverpool, Playfair and the water
supply of, Io'7
Livingstone, David, a fellow-student
of Playfair's, 36-37
Livingstone, Mrs David, 37
Lockyer, Professor Sir Norman, 94;
draws up the scheme of scholar-
ships adopted by the Royal Com-
missioners of the 1851 Exhibition,
442
Logan, Sir William, and the Geo-
logical Survey of Canada, 345-46
London University, the Imperial
Institute the future home of the,
452
Longfellow and Playfair, 240
Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen, Play-
fair appointed a, 392 ; his duties
as, 393-95; end of his term of
office as, 401 ..
*
Lorne, Marquis of, adjudicates in the
Statist competition, 457
Louis Napoleon and the Royal Com-
missioners of the 1851 Exhibition,
I22
Lowe, Robert (Lord Sherbrooke), and
the Cattle Plague Commission,
Ig2-93; and the Irish University
question, 2I7
Lunatic Asylum, State, near Washing-
ton, Playfair's visit to, 244-45
Lyell, Sir Charles, accidental meeting
with Playfair, 35-36; 95
Lyell, Sir Leonard and Lady, and
Playfair, 32, 348
Lyon, Margaret,
Playfair, 3-4, I6
Lyon, Rev. Dr, uncle of Playfair, 31
grandmother of
M.
Macdonald, Mrs, aunt of Playfair,
takes charge of him and his
brother, I6; her doubts concerning
Balaam’s ass, I6-17; her estimate
of Playfair's character as a child, 26
Macdonald, Sir John, and Playfair,
249
Macvicar, Rev Dr, and his “popular
lectures,” 22-23
McKenzie, the Hon. A., Canadian
Prime Minister, and Playfair, 249
Manchester, Intellectual society in
when Playfair lived there, 73-75
— Water Supply (Thirlmere)
Bill, Playfair and the, 246, 266-68,
270-71, 272-73, 274
Margarine, Playfair's share in legal-
ising the sale of, 372
Medical Reform Bill,
pilots the, 343, 350
MEMORANDA by
Consort, H.R.H.. the Prince, on
the disposal of the Great Exhi-
bition surplus, I31-133
Owen, Professor, on his claims to
be made a K.C.B., 328-29
Peel, Sir Robert, and Lord Lincoln,
conditionally undertaking to give
Playfair a post at the Museum
of Practical Geology, 81
Playfair, Lyon, defending his
measures against obstruction,
303-6; on the Aged Poor Com-
mission, 399-400; to Mr Bayard
on the Venezuelan question,
417 ; to Prince Christian on the
policy and reorganisation of
the Board of Management of
Playfair
480
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
the Royal Commission of the
1851 Exhibition, 446-48; on the
proposed Imperial Institute,
450-51
“M. E. O.” brotherhood, The, 39
Mercer, Mr, of the Oakenshaw Works, -
54-55, 73
Middle Ages, Playfair on the filthy
habits of people in the, 434
Midland Institute, Birmingham, Play-
fair's presidential address to the,
2I2
Millington, Jean Ann, Playfair's second
wife, 164; death of, 235
Minister for Scotland, Playfair's views
as to the creation of a, 335-37
Mitscherlich, discoverer of isom-
erism, and Playfair, 44-45
Monarchy, Playfair on the cost of,
382
Monroe doctrine, Playfair on the, 417
Montreal, Playfair's reception at, 247
Murchison, Sir Roderick, founds a
Chair of Geology in Edinburgh
University, 222 -
Museum of PracticalGeology, develop-
ment of, under Sir H. de la Beche,
93
N.
Nahant, near Boston, U.S.A., Play-
fair's first visit to, 239; description
of, 405-6; the distinguished men
whom Playfair met at, 406
Napoleon III. and the sanitary con-
dition of Paris, 162
Napoleonic story, A, 395
Negro camp for worship, Playfair's
visit to, 256-5
Northcote, Sir Stafford (first Earl of
Iddesleigh), and Playfair, 293,
296, 347 -
Norton, The Hon. Caroline, I57-58
O.
Oakenshaw Works, Clitheroe, attacked
by labour rioters, 54-56
Oakes, James, brother-in-law of Play-
fair, 38
Oakes, Margaret, Playfair's first wife,
IoI ; death of, 164 (footnote)
Oakes, Mr, father-in-law of Playfair,
6I-62 .
Obstruction, Irish, Playfair and, 291-
97, 302-IO, 3I4-I7
Oersted, the founder of electro
magnetism, IoI -
O'Reilly, Mr John Boyle, and Playfair,
326-27 .
Owen, Sir Richard, 64; bestowal of
a knighthood upon, 327-29
P.
Palmerston, Lord, and the Prince
Consort's English, I58; and
Wheatstone's cipher, I59
Parkes, Dr, and the Cattle Plague
Commission, 192
Peel, Captain, son-in-law of Playfair,
IOI
Peel, Sir Robert, invites Playfair to
Drayton Manor, and dissuades him
from going to Canada, 59-60.,
becomes his friend, 60-61 ; his
interest in the agricultural revival,
68–69; among the philosophers,
72–73; his memorandum under-
taking to give Playfair the rever-
sion of Mr Phillips's appointment,
81; his desire to procure Playfair's
services for the public, 84; his
high estimate of Playfair, 86-87;
commissions Playfair and others
to report on the Irish potato
famine, 98; his prompt action, 99-
Ioo; induces Playfair to become a
Special Commissioner of the Great
Exhibition, II3; is consulted by
Playfair in serious difficulties, II4
Peerage, Playfair raised to the, 386-
88
3
Pepper, Professor, and Playfair's
speech at the Declaration of Inde-
pendence Centenary, 361
Peto, Sir Morton, and the Great
Exhibition, II?
Petroleum, the “salt of the earth''
of the Bible, 38 - -
Industry, The, due t
Playfair's suggestion, IO2-3
Phillips, Mr, of the Museum of
Practical Geology, 81-82, 83
Playfair, Colonel Sir Lambert, second
brother of Lyon, 23
Playfair, Ethel (the Hon. Mrs Bloom-
field), daughter of Lyon, 164
Playfair, George, elder brother of
Lyon, 23, 33, 34
Playfair, George, father of Lyon, 4, 16;
his relations with his son, 20-22;
4I-42.
Playfair, James, uncle of Lyon, I6,
I9-2O, 34.
Playfair, Janet (née Ross), mother of
Lyon, 22, 24, 33
INDEX.
48I
Playfair, Jessie (Hon. Mrs Macgregor
Stewart), daughter of Lyon, IOI
Playfair, Lady (Miss Edith Russell),
makes Playfair's acquaintance in
I875, 239; her marriage to him,
247, 262; her sympathy with all
his enthusiasms and interests, 284;
receives a silver blotting case and
envelope case from the electors
of South Leeds, 388, 391, 405,
407, 412,462, 466; receives letters
of condolence from the Prince of
Wales, Lord Rosebery, and Pro-
fessor Dewar on her husband's
death, 468-70
Playfair, Lyon, first Lord Playfair,
his youth spent at St. Andrews,
4-5; his services to his generation,
6; his work as a sanitary re-
former, 7-8; as an educationist;
his association with Prince Albert,
8; his work as an economist, 9-
Io ; as a politician, Io; his
personal characteristics, Io-II ;
named after his grandmother, née
Lyon ; birth of, at Chunar, Ben-
gal; sent to St. Andrews to be
brought up by Mrs Macdonald,
I6; loses his communion “token,”
I9-20; makes the acquaintance of
his father, 21 ; his governesses,
28-29; attends the parish school,
29 ; is sent to the grammar-school
of St. Andrews, 30; spends his
holidays with the Rev. Dr Lyon
at Glamis, 31 ; enters St. Andrews
University, 32; his boyish experi-
ments in chemistry, 33 ; enters
his uncle James's office in Glas-
gow; his stratagem for frightening
off marauders, 34 ; makes the
acquaintance of Sir Charles and
Lady Lyell, 35–36; studies medi-
cine at the Andersonian College,
Glasgow, 36; has for fellow-
students David Livingstone and
º: Young, 36-38; continues
is studies at Edinburgh Univer-
sity, 38; joins the “M. E. O.”
brotherhood, 39; abandons the
study of medicine and voyages to
Calcutta, 40-41 ; enters a mercan-
tile office there, 41; returns and
studies under Professor Graham
in London, 42 ; becomes a favour-
ite pupil of Liebig at Giessen; is
made Doctor of Philosophy, and
undertakes the translation of
Liebig's work on agricultural
chemistry, 42-43; is appointed
F F
PLAYFAIR, LYON (continued):—
chemical manager of print works
at Clitheroe, 43-44; visits Berlin,
44; his later recollections of great
chemists, 51-52 ; parleys with
labour rioters at Clitheroe, and
becomes their hostage, 55-56;
appointed Honorary Professor of
Chemistry at Manchester ; re-
signs his Clitheroe appointment,
56; comes into contact with Dr
Dalton, 57 ; receives from Fara-
day an offer of the Professorship
of Chemistry at Toronto, 58-59;
is invited to Drayton Manor by
Peel and dissuaded from accept-
ing the offer, 59-60, 80-81 ; refuses
to accept from Peel a memor-
andum undertaking to give him a
suitable post, 6o ; becomes a
frequent visitor of Peel's, 61; co-
operates with Professor Bunsen
in an inquiry into the chemical
operation of blast furnaces for the
manufacture of iron, 61-62; is
nominated a member of the Royal
Commission on the Health of
Towns, 64-66, 88-89; an unsuc-
cessful candidate for the Chair
of Chemistry at Edinburgh, 66-67;
publishes a paper “On Sleep,”
67; visits Earl Spencer at Althorp,
and has a midnight adventure,
68; meets Dr Buckland at Dray-
ton Manor, 69 ; makes an excur-
sion through England and Scot-
land with Liebig and others, 69-
72; visits Mr Crosse, and declares
an “electrical production” to be
a woodlouse, 70-71 ; is appointed
Chemist to the Geological Survey,
and meets his future chiefs at
Drayton Manor, 72 ; Peel's high
estimate of, 86–87; receives a visit
from Sir James Clark, 91-92;
prosecutes his chemical re-
searches, 92-93; his distinguished
pupils, 93; discovers Buckingham
Palace to be in an insanitary
condition, 94; prosecutes inquiries
into the best coals for steam
navigation, the causes of accidents
in mines, and the potato famine
in Ireland, 95-IoI ; marries Miss
Margaret Oakes, IoI ; initiates
the petroleum industries, Ioz-3;
assists the Board of Health to
stay the cholera; is elected F.R.S.,
Ios ; is enrolled a special con-
stable in the Chartist panic, Ioq ;
482
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
PLAYFAIR, Lyon (continued):—
goes to Paris as a special corre-
spondent during the revolution
(1848), IoS-6; meets Louis Blanc,
Ioã; appointed a Special Com-
missioner and member of the
Executive of the Great Exhibi-
tion, II2-14 ; persuades Sir Henry
Cole not to withdraw from the
enterprise, II5; draws up a new
classification for the Exhibition,
II6; organises the juries; calls
the Queen's attention to one of
the exhibits, 121; is entertained by
Louis Napoleon at St. Cloud, 122;
is brought into frequent contact
with the Royal children; accepts
a C.B., but declines the Legion
of Honour, I23 ; is appointed a
Gentleman Usher in the Prince
Consort's household, I23-24; ad-
vises the Prince Consort as to the
employment of the Exhibition
surplus, 136; drafts the Commis-
Sioners' Report, I39; is appointed
secretary of the Science and Art
Department, I42 ; organises the
Royal College of Science, I43; is
elected a member of the Athen-
aeum Club, I44; his association
with the Prince Consort, 145-48;
travels on the Continent to inquire
into technical instruction, I49;
arranges the Food Collection for
the South Kensington Museum,
I50; negotiates the establishment
of the Edinburgh Museum, 151 ;
begins a crusade in favour of
technical education, 152; is pre-
sent at the Duke of Wellington’s
funeral, I53–54; his resemblance
to Sir Charles Wheatstone, 154-
55; his intercourse with Babbage,
I55-56; urges the Prince Consort
to bestow honours on men of
science, I56; his friendship with
Lord and Lady Ashburton, I57;
meets the Hon. Caroline Norton,
I58; is present at a Cabinet
banquet at Lord Granville's, and
explains Wheatstone's symmetri-
cal cipher, I58-59; suggests ap-
plications of science to the pur-
poses of war, I59-60 ; reports
against a scheme of Lord Dun-
donald's for taking fortresses
without siege, 160-61; appointed
a commissioner of the Interna-
tional Exhibition of 1855, and
makes the acquaintance of French
PLAYFAIR, Lyon (continued):—
statesmen and publicists, 161-62;
his friendship with Arles Dufour;
declines to stand for the Master-
ship of the Mint, 163; withdraws
his candidature on a later occa-
sion ; marries Miss Millington,
I64; sends Faraday a box of the
new matches, I65; his contempt
for misplaced humanitarianism in
war, 167; is complimented by
Liebig on his lecture on agricul-
tural experiments, I69; a résumé
of his career up to this point,
171-73 ; his passion for scientific
research, 173-74 ; again stands
for the Professorship of Chemistry
in Edinburgh University, I'74;
receives a testimonial from Pro-
fessor Frankland, 175-76; Faraday
one of his references; receives
the appointment, 176; resigns his
post in the Prince Consort's
Household, 177-78; his style as a
scientific lecturer, I'79 ; his intro-
ductory lecture from the Chair,
I80; a peacemaker among his
colleagues, 181-83; dissuades Sir
James Simpson from a dangerous
experiment, 183; introduces re-
forms into the University, 183
85; arbitrates between Principal
Brewster and Principal Forbes,
185-86 ; refuses to stand for the
post of Principal of Edinburgh
University, 186; receives the
Prince of Wales as a student, I87;
is commanded by the Queen to
place himself at the service of the
exiled French princes, 188; hears
the news of the Prince Consort's
death, 188; is present at the
funeral, Igo; is President of the
Royal Commission on Herring
Fisheries, 190-91 ; appoints the
jurors for the International Ex-
hibition of 1862, and receives
honours from foreign sovereigns,
191-92; serves on the Royal Com-
mission on the Cattle Plague, and
incurs unpopularity, 192-93; visits
Kranichstein, and helps the Prin-
cess Alice to re-lay the luncheon-
table, 193-94; is commanded to
Coburg for the unveiling of a
statue of the Prince Consort, 194
95; publishes a memoir on Human
Food, 195; his intercourse with
Dr John Brown, the Marquis of
Tweeddale, and Lady Ruthven,
INDEX. 483
PLAYFAIR, LYON (continued):—
I95-96; his services to the Uni-
versity recognised by the Senatus
Academicus, 197-98; his plenary
powers in connection with the
International Exhibition of 1862,
199-200; gives the Prince of Wales
an object lesson, 20I ; his advice
as to the design and site for the
Scottish Memorial of the Prince
Consort, 202-3 ; bears the brunt
of the unpopularity of the Cattle
Plague Commission; the Princess
Alice's reference to him in a letter
to the Queen, 204; becomes a
Liberal candidate for Edinburgh
and St. Andrews Universities, 206;
his election; is appointed one of
the Commissioners of the 1851 Ex-
hibition, 208; the position he took
in the House of Commons, 209;
an advanced Liberal representing
a Tory seat, 2 IO-II ; success of
his first speech in the House; the
founder of the post-card system ;
supports Forster's Elementary
Education Bill, 2II ; asks Forster
to withdraw his claims to the
leadership of the Liberal party
in the House, 212 ; delivers an
address at Birmingham as Presi-
dent of the Midland Institute,
2I2; alleged to be the author of
the Prince Consort's speeches,
2I3; defends advanced education,
213-14; supports Fawcett's Bill
for opening Trinity College,
Dublin, to Roman Catholics, 214-
I5; attacks Mr Gladstone's Irish
University Bill, 216-17; is ap-
pointed Postmaster-General, 217-
I8; retires with the Government
a few months afterwards, 218;
presides over the Civil Service
Commission, and draws up the
“Playfair Scheme,” 218–19; ad-
vocates the appointment of a
Minister of Education, 220; op-
poses the abolition of vivisection,
220-2I ; reports upon reforms in
the Scotch Universities, 221 ;
takes part in the movement for
founding a Chair of Geology at
Edinburgh, 222; the downfall of
the Gladstone Government a
check to his political career, 224-
25; suggests evidence in the
Tichborne case, 226; his services
to the Liberal party on Mr Glad-
stone's retirement in preventing
PLAYFAIR, LYON (continued):—
a schism, 226-33 ; his domestic
affections, 234-35; death of his
second wife, 235; effects the re-
habilitation of Lord Dundonald,
235-39; visits the United States,
and forms a friendship with the
Russell family, 239; his inter-
course with the celebrities of
Boston, 239-4I ; visits Chicago,
241-42; travels in a train which
narrowly escapes disaster, 243-44;
visits Washington, 244; goes over
the Lunatic Asylum, 244-45; ad-
vocates reduction of the Indian
salt-tax, 245-46; presides over the
Manchester Water Supply Bill
Committee, 246; acts as Chairman
of the Finance Committee of the
International Exhibition of 1878;
revisits America, and marries Miss
Edith Russell, 247; meets with a
cordial reception in Canada, 247-
5o ; his interest in and relations
with the United States, 250-51 ;
his social charm, 283; his mar-
riage with Miss Russell a new
epoch in his life, 284 ; his sym-
pathy with Mr Gladstone's views
on the Eastern Question, 285 ; his
political views generally, 285-86;
his seat threatened, 286-90 ; his
re-election, 290; declines the office
of Chief Whip, and is appointed
Chairman and Deputy-Speaker,
290-91 ; has to deal with Irish
obstruction, 291-93; names the
leading obstructionists for suspen-
sion, 294; decides to resign at the
end of the session, 295; receives
tributes from Mr Gladstone, Sir
Stafford Northcote, and Mr
Speaker Brand, 295-97 ; the re-
action after his retirement ; is ap-
pointed a K.C.B., 297 ; opposes the
anti-vivisectionists and anti-vac-
cinationists, 297-99; remarkable
effect of his speech on vaccina-
tion, 3oo; presides over the panel
in connection with Grand Com-
mittees, 3oo; why he refused the
post of Chief Whip, 301-2; his
anti-obstruction measures, 302-8;
the exacting nature of his duties as
Chairman and Deputy-Speaker,
312-17; his loyalty when out of
office, 322-24; his support of
vaccination and vivisection, 324-
25; advises the Government to
allow Mr Boyle O'Reilly to visit
F F *
484 MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
PLAYFAIR, Lyon (continued):— PLAYFAIR, LYON (continued):—
his native country, 326; urges Mr
Gladstone to make Professor
Owen a K.C.B., 327; why he
never received a Cabinet appoint-
ment, 333; his acceptance of
Home Rule, 333-34; undertakes
the honorary secretaryship of the
Commission of the 1851 Exhibi-
tion, 334-35; his views as to
the creation of a Minister for
Scotland, 335-37; resolves upon
a change of constituency, 337,
349; is overwhelmed with offers,
and chooses South Leeds, 338;
his suitability for his new con-
stituency, 338-40 ; his brilliant
victory, 34I ; his connection with
the “Hawarden Kite,” 342 ; ac-
cepts the Vice-Presidency of the
Council, 343, 349; induces the
Queen to recognise the tercenten-
ary of Edinburgh University, 344-
45; receives an LL.D. from
Harvard ; attends the Montreal
meeting of the British Asso-
ciation, 345; suggests the first
honorary recognition of Colonial
science, 345–46; presides over the
British Association at Aberdeen;
visits the Queen at Balmoral,
and is presented with a copy of
Her Majesty's works on her High-
land home, 347; visits Glamis
Castle, 348; carries through a
Bill for the reform of the medi-
cal profession; is re-elected for
South Leeds, 350; Mr Gladstone's
urgent desire that he should take
office, 353; his work in Connection
with the Queen's Jubilee, 354;
declines to preside over a com-
mittee on naval cutlasses, 355;
his impressions of the Jubilee
Service, 355-57; meets the King
and Queen of Portugal; receives
a Jubilee Medal, 359; represents
England at the centenary celebra-
tion of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, 359-64; , presents to
President Cleveland the English |
memorial in favour of a treaty of
arbitration between England and
America, 364-67; opposes Fair
Trade, 367-71 ; his forecast of the
Presidential Election of 1892, 371-
72; supports the legalisation of
the sale of margarine, 372; gives
a finger-ring to a deaf, dumb,
and blind child at Boston, who
recognises him by touch a year
afterwards, 374-75; participates
in the opening of the Inter-
national Exhibition at Glasgow
(1888), and is taken for a State
prisoner, 376-77 ; is present at a
gathering of foreign missionaries
at Dollis Hill, 377-78; his recol-
lections of the Emperor Frederick
of Germany, 378; meets the
widowed Empress at Sandring-
ham, 378–79; resigns the honorary
secretaryship of the Royal Com-
mission of the 1851 Exhibition,
and receives a presentation of
plate from the Prince of Wales,
379-81 ; supports the proposal to
increase the grant to the Prince,
and wins over his constituents,
381–83; is again elected for South
Leeds, 384, 390-91 ; is offered a
peerage, and created Baron Play-
fair of St. Andrews, 385-88 ; re-
ceives the congratulations of his
South Leeds constituents, 388 ; is
appointed a Lord-in-Waiting to
the Queen, 392; his life at
Windsor Castle, 393-96; is obliged
to decline several appointments,
396 ; secures a place of burial
for himself and his family at St.
Andrews, 396-97, 412 ; succeeds
Lord Aberdare as Chairman of
the Aged Poor Commission, and
revises the report, 397–400; re-
ceives the Grand Cross of the
Bath, 400-I, 414; is found never
to have been knighted, 402 ; pays
another visit to Boston and
Canada, 402-4; his visits to
Nahant, 405-6; his close relations
with the United States, 406-7 ;
compares John Bull with Brother
Jonathan, 407; his advocacy of
arbitration between the two
nations, 408-9; his affection for
the Russells, 409-14; his inter-
vention in the Venezuelan ques-
tion, 415-16; hands to the Ameri-
can Ambassador a memorandum
as a suggested basis of agreement,
416-18; his correspondence with
the ambassador and with Mr
Chamberlain, 419–25; his share
in the agreement ultimately
reached, 426; Professor Crum-
Brown's survey of his career as
a man of science, 428-30 ; Sir
Edward Frankland's testimony to
INDEX.
485
Pi—AYFAIR, LYON (continued):-
the thoroughness of his investiga-
tions into the best coal for the
Royal Navy, 430-31; extracts from
his “Subjects of Social Welfare,’
43I-40; his work as a member of
the Royal Commission of the
I851 Exhibition reviewed, 440-52;
Crowns his work by suggesting
the completion of the South
Kensington Museum, 453-56; with
Lord Lorne, adjudicates in the
Statist competition, 457-58; his
speech at the Jubilee banquet of
the , Cobden Club, 458-66; his
gradual withdrawal from his ap-
pointments, 460 ; failure of his
health, 462 ; receives the Harben
Gold Medal from the Royal
Institute of Public Health, 463;
winters at Torquay, and returns
to town for a dinner to the past-
presidents of the Chemical So-
Ciety, 464–65; his illness, 465; is
deeply affected by Mr Gladstone's
death, 465-66; his death; the
depth of his family affections,
467; his generosity, 468; is hon-
oured with a public funeral at St.
Andrews, 470
Playfair, Major George (second Lord
Playfair), son of Lyon, IoI
Playfair, Octavius, fourth brother of
Lyon, 23
Playfair, Principal, grandfather of
Lyon, 3-4, I5-16
Playfair, Professor, a kinsman of Lyon,
anecdotes of, 14-15
Playfair, Sir Hugh, “the Major,”
uncle of Lyon, 4, 16; the beautifier
of St. Andrews and preserver of
the links, 17-19
Playfair, William, third brother of
Lyon, 23
Playfair, William, uncle of Lyon, 4, 16
“Playfair Scheme,” The, 219
Piºr Scholarships, foundation of,
200
Playfairs, The, 3-4, 12-16, 23-24
Playfere, old form of the name Play-
fair, I2
Political Economist, Playfair as a,
440
Portugal, Playfair meets the King and
Queen of, 359
Postmaster-General, Playfair's ap-
pointment as, 217-18, 224–25
Potato famine in Ireland, Playfair's
report on the, 98-Too
Potatoes as a diet, Ioo-I
Poughkeepsie Ladies' College, Play-
fair's visit to, 259
Primrose Works, Clitheroe, Playfair
appointed chemical manager of,
43, 53-56 -
Public Health, Playfair on the, 433
Q.
Queen Victoria (see Victoria, Her
Majesty Queen)
R.
Ramsay, Mrs, mother of Sir Andrew
Ramsay, 35
Ramsay, Sir Andrew, and Playfair,
9I, 93
Rathbone, Mr W., founds Playfair
Scholarships, 260
Rayleigh, Lord, and the British
Association, 345, 347
Redcliffe, Lord Stratford de, and the
International Exhibition of 1862,
I91
Rosebery, Countess of, 376
Rosebery, Earl of, and Playfair, 289,
376; recommends Playfair for the
Grand Cross of the Bath, 401 ;
nominates him to adjudicate in the
Statist competition, 457; Condoles
with Lady Playfair on her hus-
band's death, 469
Royal Agricultural Society, The, and
Playfair, 82-83
Royal Albert Hall Committee, Play-
fair Vice-President of the, 449
Royal College of Science, I4I, I43
Royal Commission of the 1851 Exhi-
bition, Playfair a member of, 208,
44I; honorary secretary of 334-35,
44I ; his resignation of the honorary
secretaryship of, 379-8I ; results of
his administration, 380-8I, 44I ;
inquiry into the affairs of, by a
committee, 441 ; adoption of a
scheme of science scholarships by,
442-49; connection of with the
Imperial Institute, 449-52 (see also
Great Exhibition)
Royal Family, Children of the, and
Playfair, I22, 123, 357
Royal Grants, Playfair's defence of,
382
Roze, Heinrich, and Playfair, 44-45
Rücker, Professor, unsuccessful can-
didature of for North Leeds in
I885, 34I
Russell, Miss Edith (see Playfair, Lady)
Russell, Mr S. H. (father-in-law of
Playfair), meets him at The
486
MEMOIRS OF LYON PLAYFAIR.
Hague; is visited by him at Nahant
(near Boston), 239; Playfair's later
visits to, 405, et passim
Rustem Pasha, Turkish Ambassador,
attacked by a bear, 374
Ruthven, Lady, 196
S.
Sabbatarianism at Glasgow in Play-
fair's youth, 20
St. Andrews seventy years ago, I-2;
a favourite place of residence for
retired officers and East Indian
officials, 2.; the abode of the Play-
fairs, 3-4; Lyon Playfair's con-
nection with, 4-5, 16; beautified
by Sir Hugh Playfair, 17-19;
Playfair created Baron of, 387–88;
secures a family burial place at,
396-97; his burial at, 470
St. Andrews Grammar School, Play-
fair a pupil in, 30 ; “king” of,
3O
. Andrews University, its primacy
among Scottish universities, 2 ;
Playfair a student at, 32-33;
secures representation in Parlia-
ment, conjointly with Edinburgh
University, 206, 209; the Senatus
Academicus of attends Playfair's
funeral, 470 (see also Edinburgh
University)
Sandwich Islands, Playfair and the
Queen of the, 358
Sanitary Reform, Playfair's connec-
tion with, 64-66, 87-88, IoS, 432-35,
460-61, 463-64
Science and Art Department, forma-
tion of the, I41-42, I49-50
Science, Playfair's position and career
as a man of, 427-40 (see also Tech-
nical and Scientific Education)
Scotch Universities Commission,
Playfair and the, 22I
Sherbrooke, Lord (see Lowe, Robert)
Simon, Sir John, and the Institute of
Public Health, 460-61 -
Simpson, Sir James, I81, 182-83, 186
“Sleep,” Playfair's paper on, 67
Smith, Dr Angus, 56, 65
Smith, Dr W. R., President of the
Royal Institute of Public Health,
463
South Kensington Museum, I4I ;
origin of, I42-43, I5o; completion
of suggested by Playfair, 454;
foundation-stone of the new build-
ings for (the Victoria and Albert
Museum) laid by the Queen, 456
t
S
t
South Leeds, Playfair's election for,
in 1885, 338-42, 349; his re-election
for in 1886, 35o ; defends his vote
on Royal grants before the con-
stituents of, 383; his re-election
for, in 1892, 384, 390-91 ; Con-
gratulations of, on his elevation to
the peerage, 388; his pain at part-
ing from, 388, 389
Spencer, Earl (Lord Althorp), and
Playfair, 68
Spencer, Earl (the present), and the
Cattle Plague Commission, I92
Statist competition for the best essay
on the means of drawing together
England and the Colonies, Play-
fair adjudicates in, 457-58
Steam Navigation, Playfair's inquiry
into the best coals for, 95
Stephenson, George, 64; his daring
speculation as to , the original
source of power of the steam-
engine, 72-73
Stewart, General Robert Macgregor
(son-in-law of Playfair), IoI
Strathmore, Earls of, and Glamis
Castle, 31-32
— , Earl and Countess of,
348, 376 -
‘Subjects of Social Welfare,’ 431-40
Swing, Professor, Sermon of, on Dar-
winism, 24.I
Swinton, Professor Campbell, and the
representation of Edinburgh and
St. Andrews Universities, 209-IO
Syme, Professor, 40, 181, 182, I86
T.
“Teaching Universities and Examin-
ing Boards,” Playfair's pamphlet
On, 223-24
Technical and Scientific Education,
the Great Exhibition and, IIo; the
Prince Consort's scheme for, I31-
33, 141-43; Playfair and, I34-35,
I37-38, I40, I42-44, I49, I52-53,
2I4, 370-71 ; adoption of a scheme
of, by the Royal Commissioners of
the 1851 Exhibition, 442-49
Thirlmere, Lake (see Manchester
Water Supply Bill)
Thomas, Edith, and Playfair, 374-75
Thomson, Mr, of Clitheroe, engages
Playfair as chemical manager, 43;
his appreciation of punctuality,
44; a sketch of his character, 53-
54; his family, 54; his death, 56
Tichborne case, Playfair and the,
225-26
INDEX.
487
Torquay, Playfair spends his last
winter at, 462-64
Tweeddale, Marquis of, 196
|U.
United States, Playfair's first visit to,
239-45; his second visit to, 247;
his interest in and links with, 250;
his later visits to, 330-31, 359-67;
represents England at the Cente-
nary of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence of, 359-64; presents a
memorial in favour of an Arbitra-
tion Treaty with, 365-66; his belief
in the adoption of Free Trade by,
371 ; his intimate relations with,
405-26; his desire for a Treaty of
Arbitration with, 407-9
University Tests, Playfair's maiden
speech on, 2II
V.
Vaccination Acts, Playfair's defence of
the, 297-300, 324
Venezuelan Question, Playfair's action
in relation to the, 414-26
Vice-President of the Council, Play-
fair's appointment as, 342-43, 349-
50, 352
Victoria, Her Majesty Queen, 94;
her amusement at an exhibitor's
gaucherie, I21 ; her interest in the
Crystal Palace, I25; and the in-
auguration of the Coburg Statue
of the Prince Consort, 194-95; her
graciousness to Playfair, 218; in-
vites him to Balmoral, and pre-
sents him with a copy of her
works, 347; her emotion at the
Jubilee Service, 356-57; how the
kingdom has advanced during
her reign, 357-58; expresses her
pleasure in conferring a peerage
on Playfair, 387; the Imperial
Institute founded as a memorial of
her Jubilee, 449-52; scheme for
completing the South Kensington
Museum as a memorial of her
Diamond Jubilee, 454-56; lays
the foundation-stone of the Vic-
toria and Albert Museum, 456
Victoria and Albert Museum, present
name of the South Kensington
Museum, I4I, 456
Villiers Estate, Kensington, purchased
by the Royal Commissioners of the
1851 Exhibition, 140
Vivisection, Playfair's defence of, 220-
21, 325, 436-37; the Queen's dis-
like of, 344
W
Wales, H.R.H. the Prince of, and the
Great Exhibition, I22 ; studies
manufactures under Playfair at
Edinburgh, I87, 200 ; travels
incognito in the Trossachs, but is
recognised, 187; experiment of,
with boiling lead, 20I ; and the
International Exhibition of 1878,
246; and the tercentenary of
Edinburgh University, 345; pre-
sents Playfair with a service of
plate, 379-81 ; increase of the
annual grant to, 381–83; and the
Aged Poor Commission, 397; testi-
fies to the value of Playfair's
services on the Royal Commission
of the 1851 Exhibition, 448; con-
doles with Lady Playfair on her
husband's death, 468-69
Water supply of towns, Playfair's
inquiry into the, 95, Io'7
Wellington, Duke of, State funeral of,
I53-54
wºme Sir Charles, and Joule's
experiments, 74, I54-55; his sym-
metrical cipher, I58-59
Wilson, Dr George, and the “M.E.O.”
brotherhood,39; appointed curator
of the Edinburgh Museum, 151;
his dying epigram, I51-52
Wilson, Professor John, 95
Y.
Young, James, founder of the paraffin
and paraffin oil industry, 37-38,
42, IO2-3
JUN l 9 1915
PRENTED Er
CASSELL & CoMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE Sauvage,
LonDoN, E.C.
4-309.9
Two Vols., pºice 32s.
THE
LIFE, LETTERS, AND FRIENDSHIPS
OF
RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES,
FIRST LORD HOUGHTON.
By Sir WEMYSS REID.
WITH TVVO PORTRAITS.
Thz's Woré has been several times reprinted to meet the large demand.
THE TIMES :—
“No more agreeable volumes have appeared for many a day than the two which
deal with ‘The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes, First
Lord Houghton.” The author has been singularly fortunate with his subject, and it
will be strange if his work does not attain to the same measure of popular success that
was reached by his ‘Life of W. E. Forster.” The themes, indeed, are widely different.
There is little in common between the career of the strenuous statesman carrying
elementary education through Parliament and then breaking his heart in a struggle
against Irish perversity, and that of the Supreme dilettanțe, the literary and social
epicure, the wit, poet, and conversationalist, Monckton Milnes. But no more perfect
subject for the biographer could well be found in these days. Monckton Milnes was
in no sense a commanding character, though he had a touch, a perceptible strain, of
genius. But he talked, he wrote, he entertained, he read voraciously, he lived long,
he knew everybody, and he kept his letters. Hence the volumes which his biographer
has compiled are a perfect storehouse of interesting things, grave and gay, political,
philosophical, literary, social, witty. At every page we meet with distinguished men
and women; with letters from and to, or conversations with, the men and women
who have played leading parts in the vast and complex history of the past three-
quarters of a century. Politicians, poets, philanthropists, historians, novelists, men of
the world—they all knew Monckton Milnes, were liked and appreciated by him, and
wrote to him, or received from him the letters which have been preserved and which
can be read in these volumes. It gives some notion of the width and range of
Monckton Milnes's life, both in years and in interests, to record that, while he was
one of the most enthusiastic admirers of Mr. Swinburne, not twenty-five years
ago, it was he who, in 1832, introduced the veteran poet Campbell to the rising
young genius Alfred Tennyson ; and that it was literally true to say of him, as
Disraeli said of ‘Mr. Vavasour’ in ‘Tancred,’ that “he had dined with Louis
Philippe and had given a dinner to Louis Blanc.’ His biography is the record of his
contact with a thousand different men and a hundred different interests. Mr. Glad-
stone, Lord Tennyson, Sydney Smith, Mrs. Procter, Mrs. Gaskell, George Eliot,
Edward Fitzgerald, Robert Browning, W. S. Landor, Thackeray, De Tocqueville,
Guizot—these are a few of the names of Milnes’s correspondents, which fill nearly a
dozen columns of the author’s excellent index.” -
THE STANDARD :—
“In his ‘Life of Lord Houghton' the author has performed a very difficult task
with marked success. . . . He was specially qualified to carry out the work upon
which he had been engaged for the last few years. Not even the most exorbitant and
Lord Playfair.
voracious consumer of good things will be able to find fault with either the quality
or quantity of the repast supplied. The book has hardly a dull page in it from
beginning to end.” e- -
THE DAILY NEws:–
“‘The work of two arduous years,’ as the author describes it in his introduction, .
is amply rewarded in the production of a book which, while it well repays “the debt
of gratitude he owes to the kindest and truest of friends,’ is a delightful record of
a striking personality and a most interesting career.”
THE DAILY CHRONICLE:—
“Full of the most varied interest to students of politics, society and literature.
We welcome these volumes as an important contribution to the literary and social
history of the Victorian period.”
THE GLOBE :-
“There are letters here from Matthew Arnold, Miss Berry, John Bright, Lord
Brougham, Mrs. Carlyle, Wilkie Collins, De Tocqueville, Dickens, Disraeli,
George Eliot, Emerson, Edward Fitzgerald (on Keats and Tennyson), Mrs.
Gaskell (on Charlotte Bronté), Mr. Gladstone, David Gray, Guizot, the two
Hallams, Julius Hare, Hayward, Helps, Leigh Hunt, Mr. Kinglake, Landor,
Longfellow, Macaulay, Mill, Montalembert, Motley, Palmerston, Mrs. Procter,
Sydney Smith, Mr. Herbert Spencer, Dean Stanley, Mr. Swinburne (on Landor),
Connop Thirwall, Archbishop Trench, Anthony Trollope (on the prices given to
novelists), Cardinal Wiseman, and Wordsworth. The mere enumeration of these
names, which are fairly representative of the people speaking and spoken of in this
work, will give some notion of the edification and enjoyment to be derived from
its perusal.” -
THE ATHENAEUM :—
“The author has produced an excellent and most entertaining book about
one of the kindest of men, and most really estimable in spite of faults which lay
upon the surface. Lord Houghton is allowed by his biographer to tell his own
tales, and right well he tells them ; and the volumes, which would seem to need
no lightening, are further brightened by some amusing letters from other persons.
It is high praise, but deserved, to say that Houghton’s old friends will be satisfied
with this book, and that those who did not know him, or had but a mere acquaint-
ance with him, will read it feeling it to be fair and truthful, and by reading it will
have their opinion of the man, if they have formed one, raised.”
THE SPECTATOR:—

“These charming volumes are more interesting than most novels, and fuller
of good stories than any jest-book. The author has done his work admirably, has
inserted nothing he should not, and omitted nothing he should retain ; so that for
once we have piquancy without ill-nature, and gossip which will neither raise scandal
nor give pain. The Life is a perfect répertoire of anecdotes, almost invariably of
interest, which turn up in the most unexpected way. . . . Every page is full of
meat—sweetbread be it understood, and not meat from the joint.”
LORD ACTON, in THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
“To the present generation the name of Lord Houghton represents, in the
apt terms of his biographer, a social moderator and leisured literary expert. But
the original Monckton Milnes was known as something more than this, as a serious
and effective writer and a busy and apparently dissatisfied politician. The author
renders full justice to him in his earlier character. Lingering survivors will prefer
the anticipated judgment of posterity, and will be inclined to think less of his
real success in literature, or his supposed disappointment in politics, than of those
qualities which made him the centre of a vast circle of friends, and gave him a
singular and brilliant position at the point where letters, politics, and society
meet.” -
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Books marked thus + can also be had in extra cloth gilt, gilt edges, 5s. each.
Books by Edward S. Eilis. Illustrated. Cloth, 2s. 6d. each.
Scouts and Comradeś,9r
“ºut.h. ºf the
Pontiac, Chie O the
O ottawas. A Tale of the
Si of Detroit.
In the Days of the Pioneers.
The Phantom of the River.
The Øreat Cattle Trail.
Shod with Silence. .
The Path in the Bavine.
The Hunters of the Ozark.
The Camp in the Mountains
Ned in the Woods., A Tale
of Early Days in the West.
Down the Miississippi.
The Last War Trail.
The Rubber E[unters
(formerly Up the Tapajos .
Ned in the Block Piouse.
A Story of Pioneer Life in
Kentucky.
The Young Banchers,
The Lost ºf rail.
Carmp-Jºire and Wigwam.
Lost in the Wilds.
Lost in Samoa. A Tale of
flºure in the Navigator
aIl
Tad; or, “Getting Even” with Eim.
Books by Edward S. Ellis.
Astray in the Forest
Captured by Indians.
Cassell's Picture Story Books. Each containing 60 pages.
Little Talks.
Illustrated Bookſ for the Little Ones. Containing interesting Stories.
Illustrated. 9d, each.
Bright Tales and Funny
ictºur
Clºtil’68,
rry Little Tales.
#; Tales for Little
People. *
Titº, $ºple and Their
C Se
Tales Told for Sunday.
Sunday Stories for Small
People. . . .
3tories and Pictures for
Sunday.
Illustrated.
WWolf Ear the Indian.
was Inaughter of the Chief-
alli.
Taisy’s Story Book.
Dot’s Story Book.
A Nest of Stories.
Good-light Stories.
Chats for Small Chatterers.
Bible Pictures for Boys
and Girls.
Firelight Stories.
Sunlight and Shade.
Bub-a-dub Tales.
Fine Feathers and Fluffy
Fur.
Scrambles and Scrapes.
Tittle Tattle Tales.
Dumb Friends.
Some Farm Friends.
IS. 6d. each.
|
|
The Boy Hunters of Ken-
tucky
Bed Feather,
6d. each.
Auntie's Stories.
Birdie's Story Book.
Little Chimes,
A. Sheaf of Tales.
Dewdrop Stories.
All
Those Golden Sandø.
Little Mothers and their
Children.
Our Schoolday Hours.
Creatures Tarne.
Creatures Wild.
} and Down the Garden
Sorts of Adventures.
Our Holiday Hours.
Wandering Ways.
Shilling Story Books. All Illustrated, and containing Interesting Stories.
Bunty and the Boys.
The Heir of Elmdale.
Thorns and TangleB.
The Cuckoo in the Bobin's
NeBt.
John’s Mistake.
Surly Bob.
The History of Five Little
Pitchers.
The Giant's Cradle.
Shag and Doll.
The Cost of Bevenge.
Clever Frank.
Among the Redsking.
The Ferryman of Brill.
Harry IMaxwell.
Selections from Cassell & Company's Publicationſ.
Righteenpenny story Books. All Illustrated throughout.
Tom Morris’s Error.
$º thrººgh Flood–Through
Yºire.
Th: Girl with the Golded
&
s: of the Olden Tirae.
Wonderful Balloon Ascents,
Picture Album of All Sorts. Illustrated.
The Chit-Chat Album. Illustrated.
Illustrated, as. 6d. each.
Wanted—a King; or, How Merle set the
#.ursery Rhymes to Rights. By Maggie
roºfriº.
Illustrated throughout. Cheap Edition.
The Eastern Wonderland (Japan).
The Land of Temples (India).
The TBles of the Pacific,
Poor Nelly.
In Mischief Again.
Peggy, and other Tales.
The Old Fairy Tales. With Original Itius.
trations. TCloth, 1s.
Cassell’s Swiss Family Robinson. Illua.
trated. Cloth, 3s. 6d. , gilt edges, 5s.
The New “Ilittle Folks” Painting Book.
Containing nearly 350 Outline Illustrations suit.
able for Colouring. Is.
Is, each.
Thomas A. Edison and Samuel F. B. M.orge.
Sir Titus Salt and George Moore.
George and Robert 8tephenson.
Charles Dickens.
Biande
Turner the Artist.
Abraham Lincoln.
Benjamin Franklin.
Dr. Arnold of Rugby. By Rose E. Selfe.
Sarah Bobinson, Agnes Weston, and Mrs.
Meredith.
Mrs. Somerville and Mary Carpenter.
At rs, oftly.
\
Three Wee Ulster Lassies.
Up the Ladder.
Dick’s Hero; and ºther
Stories.
The Chup Boy.
Roses from Thorns.
Faith’s Father.
By Land and Sea,
Jeff and Left.
The Young Berringtons.
Library of Wonders. Illustrated Gift-books for Boys. Cloth, 1s. 6d.
Wonders of Bodily Strength and Skill.
Albums for Children. With Full-page Illustrations. 3s.6d. each.
The Album for Home, flºool. and Play.
My Own Album of Anim
"Wanted—a King" Series.
à
Bobin’s Ride. By Ellinor Davenport Adams.
Cheap Adition.
IFairy Tales in Other Lands. By Julia God-
The “World in Pictures” Series.
1s. 6d. each.
Chats about Germany.
Peeps into China.
The Land of Pyramids (Egypt).
Two-Shilling Story Books. All Illustrated.
8tories of the Tower.
|Mr. Burke’s Nieces.
Little Flotsam.
The Children of the Court.
The Four Cats of the Tip-
§:
Little Folks” Sunday Book.
Books for the Little Ones.
The Sunday Scrap Book. . With . Several
Hundred Illustrations. Boards, Ss. 6d. cloth,
gilt edges,
Cassell’s #3 innon Crusoe.
With roo
ons. Cloth, 3s. 6d. i gilt edges, 5s.
Casaell’s Pictorial Scrap Book. In Six
Books, 6d. each.
The World’s Workers,
John Cassell. By G. Holden Pike.
Biohard Cobden.
chº Haddon Spurgeon. By G. Holden
8,
mºmºmº
General Gordon. º
Sir Henry Havelock and Colin Campbell,
Lord Clyde.
David Livingstone.
*ºmºsº
The Earl of Shaftesbury.
Dr. Guthrie, Father Mathew, Elihu Bur-
ritt, Joãeph Layesey.
George Müller and Andrew Reed.
Fully Illustrated.
A Series of New and Original Volumes by Popular
Authors. With Portraits printed on a tint as Frontispiece.
*** 7 he above Works cars also be had Three in one vol., cloth, & tºº eager, 3r.
CASSEZZ & COMPANY., Zimited, Ludgate Hill, Lomaon .
Paris, New York & Melbourne,
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