ON my return to London at the end of June, 1828, the meetings of
the Useful Knowledge Society were approaching their termination for the season. Parliament
was prorogued. The members of our committee had mostly left town; lawyers were on circuit;
members of Parliament were looking after their local interests. But I had to keep up a
tolerably active correspondence with some who took an especial interest in the works upon
which I was occupied—with none more unremittingly than Mr.
Brougham. Whether contending in friendly rivalry for the leadership of the
Northern Circuit with Mr. Pollock, or enjoying the
delicious quiet of his family home in Westmoreland, his mind was ever occupied with
thoughts of the society which he had founded, and which was daily growing more important.
Mr. Hill writes to me from Ambleside on the 30th
of August:—“I came here with Mr. Brougham, from Lancaster,
to-day. Scenery glorious of course. But I fear we talked more about diffusion of
knowledge than anything else. Mr. B. is delighted with all you
have done.” It was very pleasant to know that my preparations for the
“Library of Entertaining Knowledge” were
approved. I was chiefly engaged in writing “The Menageries,” which was a sufficient task
for my faculties; for I had to learn a good deal
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In looking back at some correspondence of September, 1828, I am enabled to
form an accurate conception of the technical difficulties of producing a cheap book with
excellent wood-cuts. I had arranged to have my “Menageries” illustrated with representations
of animals drawn from the life. I was fortunate in securing the assistance of several
rising young men, who did not disdain what, some
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 115 |
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At this time my duties in connection with the “Library of Entertaining Knowledge” were simply those of author and
editor. I had retained a proprietary interest in the Almanac and Companion, although it was published for two years by Messrs. Baldwin. But the new series was a large undertaking, from
the risk of which I shrank. Again, Mr. Murray, as a
publisher, was to have been associated with my labours. In November, 1828, Mr. Tooke, the treasurer of the society, informed me that
Mr. Murray desired that I should send him “the form of a
reduced advertisement, descriptive only of the intended volume.” The
“Menageries” was
then sufficiently advanced for me to comply. Before the volume was ready for publication
the
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 117 |
The sub-committees of the Society are once more in active work when the long
vacation had come to an end. The monthly meetings now regularly take place. At these
periodical gatherings there is a dinner at five o’clock—a plain English dinner, at a
moderate fixed charge, to which each present contributes. There is a subscription for wine.
On these occasions the organisation of the Society is fully developed. The subcommittees
report their proceedings; the general committee confirm them. Questions are asked;
suggestions are made. The chairman conducts the proceedings with the least possible parade
of words. The members express their opinions in the same quiet conversational tone. I never
heard but one oration in that assembly of which so many eloquent statesmen and lawyers
formed a part. That display came from a president of the Royal
Academy, whose rhetoric is as forgotten a thing as his “Rhymes on Art.” Let me look back upon
those pleasant meetings, at which I had generally the happiness to
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The dinner is over in an hour. There has been pleasant gossip and occasional fun. A few cordial greetings have passed in the old form of the wine-pledge, which we of a past generation regret to find almost obsolete. The cloth is cleared. Mr. Coates, the secretary, moves to the side of the chairman, and there are then two hours of solid business. Subjects of science, of art, of literature, having to be discussed, the talk is sure to be improving, and occasionally amusing. The chair is generally filled by Mr. Brougham, and, in his rare absence, more frequently by the treasurer, Mr. William Tooke, than by Lord John Russell, the vice-chairman. Other members, however, are occasionally called to take the chair. Mr. Tooke was one of the founders of the Society, and was for some years an active member. He was somewhat ambitious of literary distinction, priding himself upon being one of “the family of Tooke,” his father having been known as the author of some valuable works on Russia; his brother Thomas being the eminent political economist, the historian of “Prices.” Our treasurer had somewhat harsh treatment from the critics as the biographer of Churchill. I always regarded him as a kind-hearted man of moderate abilities—somewhat fussy, not altogether disinclined to a job, and always disposed to be patronizing.
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 119 |
Where shall I begin with those who did not fill the offices of the Society amongst the sixty members of its committee? I cannot classify them according to their professional pursuits; for in this gathering, statesmen, lawyers, physicians, professors, not only clubbed their technical knowledge, but their various acquirements in science, in history, in art, in ancient scholarship, in modern literature. I must take the individuals somewhat at random, as they crowd upon my memory in connection with my own experience.
James Mill. I see the historian of British India, sitting near Mr. Brougham, listening to his opinions with marked attention. It always appeared to me a signal tribute to the intellectual eminence of the great orator, that the writer who, of all others, aimed most at terseness and perspicuity, should exhibit such deference to one whose reputation was built upon broader foundations than logical profundity or metaphysical subtlety. Yet so it was. Their minds were not certainly cast in the same mould; yet there must have been deep sympathies between them—as is perhaps often the case when two men of apparently opposite temperaments, and pursuing very different paths to eminence, are brought into friendly contact for a common object. Mr. Mill was too soon removed from us. To me he rendered valuable aid in the early numbers of the “Companion to the Almanac.”
Henry Hallam was one of the original promoters of
the Society, of which, during many years, he was an active member. That the historian of
the “Middle Ages,” was an
authority in the committee cannot be doubted. He was a sedulous attendant
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I turn to a man eminent in a pursuit not less useful than that of the
historian—to Francis Beaufort, the hydrographer to
the Admiralty, under whose especial superintendence the Atlas of the Society attained a
perfection never before realised in this country. His design of producing the most
trustworthy maps at the cheapest rate, would have conferred an honourable distinction upon
this Association, if it had accomplished nothing else. But Captain
Beaufort (afterwards Admiral Sir Francis) did not
confine himself to the duties of this great undertaking. I could always rely upon his sound
judgment in discussing any project that I offered, or in the correction of proofs. No
member of the committee wrote purer English. Of his unremitting kindness I had ample
experience. The frankness, almost bluntness, of the sailor was never offensive, for it had
the true ring of the sterling metal of an honest mind, and the unvarnished courtesy of a
gentleman. Shall I place by the side of this worthy plain
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 121 |
In the present instance, as in others that will constantly occur, I find it
exceedingly difficult to speak with the same freedom of the living as of the dead. Yet,
looking back for more than a generation upon
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I have already, several times, mentioned Matthew Davenport Hill as a member of the committee; and it is therefore unnecessary that I should here dwell upon the energy of his character as a diffuser of knowledge. He was one of the earliest members of the Society. His brother Rowland was elected when it was fully in action. Of modest demeanour; courteous but independent; expressing his opinions with a prudent brevity,—few could have given him credit for that unwearied industry in following out all the ramifications of a complicated question; for that power of marshalling all the possible details of a great theory which in practice resolved itself into the most complete organisation. The inventor of the Penny Postage made no eager rush to the display of an imperfect project. He felt every step of his way, and when he had ceased to have any doubt of the certainty of his convictions, he put them forth with the confidence of genius, and was ready to do battle for them with the courage which is the best pledge of victory. The young schoolmaster of Hazelwood became one of the greatest of public benefactors.
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 123 |
Amongst the founders of the society, Dr.
Roget was, from his accepted high reputation, the most eminent of its men of
science. He wrote its treatises on Electricity and on Magnetism. He was a diligent
attendant on its committees; a vigilant corrector of its proofs. Of most winning manners,
he was as heloved as he was respected. I met him in 1863, at an evening party, and had much
talk with him about our old intercourse. Full of animation,—with undimned intelligence—his
age was “as a lusty winter, frosty but kindly.” In his beaming face
there could scarcely be found the traces of that hard work—made up of professional
practice, of scientific writing, of secretaryship of the Royal Society, of lecturer at the
Royal Institution,—which he had gone through since he graduated in medicine at Edinburgh in
1798. Upon all questions of Physiology, Peter Mark Roget and Charles Bell are the great authorities in the Useful
Knowledge Society. No higher service could have been rendered to the association in its
early stages than Mr. Bell’s contribution to its treatises. His
“Animal Mechanics” is a
model of popular writing upon subjects which demand high scientific knowledge. This
charming production was published in 1828. At that time there was another member of the
medical profession—one, however, unconnected with our Society—who also contributed most
effectually to disperse the belief that science could only be taught in the use of
technical language;—that the uninitiated in the technicalities had better not attempt to
comprehend the mysteries of that temple where there was scant room for the worship of the
multitude. Dr. Neil Arnott, in 1827, published the
first portion of his
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The Useful Knowledge committees, as I have looked upon these monthly
assemblages, present the aspect of something higher than toleration—a cordial union of men
of very different persuasions in religion, who have met upon a common platform for the
advancement of knowledge, to which religion can never be opposed. Let me group three
representatives of opinions that appear as far removed as possible from amalgamation.
Dr. Maltby, a great classical scholar, the
preacher at Lincoln’s Inn, the future bishop, first of Chichester, and then of
Durham, is a dignified representative of the Church of England. He is zealous for the
welfare of the Useful Knowledge Society, of which he was one of the earliest members. He
will do its work assiduously and carefully. He will not insist upon religious topics being
thrust in amongst secular. He will not stickle for the due honour of the Established
Church. How can he do either? By his side, it may be, sits Mr.
Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, the wealthy Jew, whose ambition, as that of the
Rothschilds and of other men of large property and unimpeachable
loyalty, is to have a voice in the British Parliament.
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 125 |
There was perhaps no society in England, with the exception of the Royal
Society, which could present such a knot of young men of high promise as were assembled at
our committees in the earliest stages of their organisation. Mr. John William Lubbock, the only child of the eminent city banker,
assiduously followed his father’s calling, whilst he was attaining the highest
reputation as a mathematician. In 1825 he had graduated as M.A. at Cambridge. In 1828 he
was rendering me the most important assistance in the preparation of the “British Almanac.” For several years he
worked
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The University of London (as the College was then called) numbered amongst
its Professors some of the ablest members of our committee. Amongst the first of those who
joined the Society was Mr. George Long. In subsequent
“Passages,” I shall have so frequently to mention his name, as one of the most
important of my associates, that it will be scarcely necessary for me here to do more than
allude to his unequalled
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 127 |
Mr. Leonard Horner was the Warden of the London
University, when he became a member of the Useful Knowledge committee. In their early
stages the new preparatory institution “for affording to young men adequate
opportunities for obtaining literary and scientific education at a moderate
expense;” and the new society for “imparting useful information to all
classes of the community,” were considered by many to be engaged in a
co-partnership for the political and theological corruption of youths and adults. In some
arrangements prescribed by a rigid economy in the finances of each, they did appear to
carry on their operations in concert. Thus, when I first attended in Percy Street to read
manuscripts and proofs, I had to thread my way up a staircase, on the walls of which
Dr. Lardner was hanging models for the
illustration of his approaching Lectures on Mechanics. As a necessary consequence, the
council of the University, and the committee of the Society, had several members in common.
Mr. Horner was not only surrounded with the reflection of his
eminent brother’s fame, but had that brother’s testimony, in
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I am still hovering round the remembrance of the earlier members of the
Society, whose literary or scientific qualifications gave the assurance that no publication
would go forth, deformed by the inaccuracies of superficial information. In a volume
written by me ten years ago, I have expressed my opinion upon the system pursued in our
committees:—“From the time when the Society commenced a real
‘superintendence’ of works for the people—when it assisted, by diligent
revision and friendly inquiry, the services of its editors—the old vague generalities
of popular knowledge were exploded; and the scissors-and-paste school of authorship had
to seek for other occupations than Paternoster Row could once furnish. Accuracy was
forced upon elementary books as the rule and not the exception. Books professedly
‘entertaining’ were to be founded upon exact information, and their
authorities invariably indicated. No doubt this superintendence in some degree
interfered with the free course of original composition, and imparted somewhat of the
utilitarian character to everything produced. But it was the only course by which a new
aspect could be given to cheap literature, by
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 129 |
|
* “The Old Printer and the Modern Press.” Murray. 1854. |
| 130 | PASSAGES OF A WORKING LIFE: | [Ch. VI. |
We had many lawyers on the committee. I have mentioned several who were
distinguished for their remarkable scientific qualifications. Others of the bar were
accomplished scholars. But no one displayed a more elegant taste than John Herman Merivale. His translations from the Greek Anthology, and from
the minor poems of Schiller, have not been condemned
to that oblivion which attends the greater number of poetical attempts. The purity and
elegance of the whole mind of Mr. Merivale is reflected in his poems.
Courteous and sympathizing, I look back upon my occasional intercourse with him with
respect almost bordering upon affection. Mr. George Cornewall
Lewis brought his various high qualifications to the service of the Society
at a later period, when he became a contributor to its publications. I mention him among
the lawyers, for before he joined the Useful Knowledge committee he had been called to the
bar. Of the elder lawyers, no one was more valuable to the society than Mr. James Manning—perhaps the most profound of the
historical and antiquarian lawyers of his time. His accurate information upon many abstruse
legal matters was amply displayed when he became one of the most important contributors to
the “Penny Cyclopædia.”
Mr. David Jardine was also a most useful
contributor to the legal department of the Cyclopaedia, and was the author of “Criminal Trials,” published in the
Library of Entertaining Knowledge—a valuable contribution to our constitutional history.
Let me not omit to mention the youngest of the lawyers amongst us—Mr. Thomas Falconer, who was called to the bar in 1830. He
inherited literary. tastes, and was an acute as well as a modest critic
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 131 |
Mr. John Wood (afterwards chairman of the Inland Revenue) was at the bar. He was skilful in financial and statistical matters, and greatly assisted in a vigilant administration of the Society’s pecuniary affairs. Of a higher character of mind was Mr. James Loch, the auditor for the management of the vast properties of the Duke of Sutherland and Lord Francis Egerton. He had a hard battle to sustain against that class of philanthropists who contended that the removal of a wretched cottier tenantry by emigration, to make room for the influences of capital, was harsh and unfeeling. Mr. Loch vindicated his measures with signal ability. The time was to come when the Irish famine would teach us what a happiness it was for the Highlands, that there was a man who had the courage to carry out his just conceptions of the duty of a great landed proprietor. Some years of cordial intercourse with Mr. James Loch satisfied me that a sound benevolence, combined with a clear intellect, was the basis of his character.
I have finally to turn to a knot of men, eminent in the political annals of
our country. They might at first view be regarded as the Corinthian capitals of our
edifice. But this would only be a half-truth. Lord John
Russell, Lord Auckland, Lord Althorp, Mr. Denman,
Mr. Spring Rice, Sir Henry
Parnell, were always ready to work as members of our committee, even after
they had been called to the highest offices of the State. After the Reform era I have sat
at the monthly dinner with five Cabinet Ministers, to whom it appeared that their duty was
| 132 | PASSAGES OF A WORKING LIFE: | [Ch. VI. |
“Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.” |
It was not only in the meetings of our committees that I had the advantage,
for my editorial guidance, of the opinions of men of accurate minds and sound information;
but I was frequently also in correspondence with those who took a more than common interest
in particular works. Such a work was that well-known contribution to the “Library of
Entertaining Knowledge,” which first established the reputation of
Mr. George Lillie Craik as a sound thinker and
an accomplished writer. To myself, individually, the recollection of that autumn of 1828 is
especially dear, for it saw the commencement of an intimacy which ripened into the unbroken
friendship of six-and-thirty years. In the preliminary stages of discussion on the objects
and mode of treatment of a book such as this, which was to embrace a vast number of
illustrative anecdotes of the love of knowledge overcoming the opposition of circumstances,
there were necessarily different estimates of the value of scientific and literary studies,
whether “for
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 133 |
“Our concern, it appears to me, is neither with individuals who
have in any way been exalted from one region of society to
another, nor even with such as have been chiefly the authors of their own
exaltation,—for the fact of their exaltation is not at all the one upon which we wish
to fix attention, even although we should make it out to have been in every case the
consequence of their abilities and attainments. What, then, is our subject? Not the triumphs of genius, nor of perseverance, nor even of
perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge, because it is not the success of the effort, at least in a gross and worldly sense, we would point
attention to; nor is it by any means what is called genius to
which we are exclusively to confine ourselves, while we still less mean to include
every species of perseverance. But we want a category which
shall embrace, for example, the cases at once of Lady Mary
Wortley Montague, of Franklin, of
all, in short, who, whether in humble or in high life, have pursued knowledge with
ardour, and distinctly
| 134 | PASSAGES OF A WORKING LIFE: | [Ch. VI. |
Mr. Craik had written a preliminary dissertation, in
the sound views of which Mr. Brougham expressed himself
to me as generally coinciding. But in a portion of a letter, dated from Westmoreland in
September, 1828, (and I judge, therefore, to have preceded by a month or two the letter
from Mr. Craik which I have quoted,) Mr. Brougham
takes a different view of the range of such a work as that proposed: “His
(Mr. Craik’s) idea of the line to be drawn as to
self-educated men in modern times, is also quite correct; but we must, nevertheless,
confine the examples to cases which are quite plainly those of men who have greatly
altered their situation by force of merit. As Watt, Arkwright, Franklin, Burns, Bloomfield, Mendelssohn—making the ground of division or
classification self-exaltation rather than self-education,
though they often will coincide. This field is quite large enough for one book; but the
work might be followed by another comprehending the rest of it, and including all
self-taught
| Ch. VI.] | THE SECOND EPOCH. | 135 |
This interesting discussion was continued between Mr. Brougham, Mr. Hill, Mr. Craik, and myself, till it was seen how the opposite views could be resolved into a general agreement. I have before me Mr. Brougham’s proof of Mr. Craik’s first volume. To Mr. Brougham is to be assigned the merit of giving to the book in this proof the title which has come to be one of the commonest forms of speech:
“The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.”
The title originally stood,—
“The Love of Knowledge overcoming Difficulties in its Pursuit.”
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