Common Prayer') with power to suggest any alterations, 'improvements, or amendments with respect to such matters, or any of them as you or any ten or more of 'fit to recommend.'

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you may think Such language leaves no doubt as to the range of powers confided to the Commission, amply justifying the remarks which we have made. Whether the Commissioners themselves will shrink from the exercise of those powers, it is not for us to say. But we rejoice to observe that neither in their primary report, nor in any formal resolution to which they have come, have they resolved to confine their operations to the narrow field of Ritualistic controversy; and we cherish the hope that while passing under review every rubric, order, and direction' contained in the Prayer-Book, as we believe is their present intention, they will not disregard those which most of all affect the interests or trench on the convictions of the mass of the English people.

They have shown great tenderness towards the Ritualists; and we do not blame them for it: every form of genuine conviction, however fantastic it may appear, deserves to be treated with respect. But let them not incur once more the charge of one-sidedness by disregarding the honest scruples of a robuster form of belief. They have well drawn and well applied the principle of dealing with things not deemed 'essential' yet causing grave offence. Let them not be blind to offences which for three hundred years have divided Christian England; nor erect into essentials rules unprescribed in Scripture, and unknown to parts of the ancient Catholic Church. They have initiated the principle of the rights of parishioners as against their pastors. Let them not deny those rights in matters far more sacred to conscience, and of far closer personal application; when all that need be asked of a clergyman in return is to respect the scruples of his people, and not to press upon unwilling recipients that part of his ministrations which they show themselves unable to appreciate.

VOL. CXXVI. NO. CCLVIII.

M M

ART. VII.-Memoirs of Thomas Drummond, R.E., F.R.A.S., Under-Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1835 to 1840. By JOHN F. M'LENNAN, Advocate. Edinburgh: 1867.

MR. GOLDWIN SMITH has truly remarked, that in consequence of her peculiar condition, a broader field is opened in Ireland for treating social and political problems than is possible in the cases of England or Scotland. The observation applies not only to measures involving principles of politics; it holds good with respect to the practical details in which the function of government consists. To genius and energy Ireland affords large scope in conducting affairs of State, and nowhere perhaps does the public service offer fairer opportunities to ambition. And it must be admitted that, in this respect, supply has responded to the demand, and that the Irish Executive, in our day, has been amply furnished, in its different departments, with men of the highest ability and character. It is needless to say how Larcom and Twisleton, Trevelyan and Senior, Power and Griffith have been eminent in public life in Ireland, and how, through their efforts, and those of others, the administrative system of that country has become remarkable for its good arrangements and its accurate and complete machinery. The subject of the volume before us was conspicuous among this company of worthies. In Thomas Drummond speculative thought was combined with singular mechanical talent and political capacity of a very high kind; and these great gifts were made doubly valuable by intense industry and an earnest nature. A mathematician of no common powers, he contributed largely to the success of a vast national work of engineering. His inventions in this province may lead to important results even yet undeveloped. Having afterwards embarked in politics, and gained distinction as a subordinate, he became an honoured and prominent member of the first Administration which, since the Revolution, treated Ireland with real generosity and justice; and in this position he displayed a genius for organisation and the art of government, and an appreciation of the requirements of the country, that entitle him to rank as no ordinary statesman. Nor is it too much to say that his life was sacrificed in his patriotic labours, for he fell a martyr to his unceasing efforts, to his enthusiastic and self-imposed toil, in the cause of the land he had made his own. Such services deserve to be fitly recorded; and we are happy to say that this biography of Drummond is not

unworthy of the interesting subject. Mr. M'Lennan has placed the scientific achievements of Drummond fairly before the public; and he has given us an intelligent estimate of his career when Under-Secretary of Ireland. His sketch, however, of the Normanby Administration, although in its general outlines correct, is not sufficiently vivid and striking, on account probably of want of experience in the details of Irish political life.

Thomas Drummond was born in 1797, a scion of the ancient house whose name has been long distinguished in the annals of Scotland. He was the second son of Mr. James Drummond, the representative of the three families of Invermay, Drummondernoch, and Comrie, who, though a Writer to the Signet by profession, lived chiefly on his paternal estate, and is still remembered as the last laird of Comrie.' Mr. Drummond impaired a moderate fortune by the country-gentleman's passion for improving; and, dying young, in 1800, left his widow and children in extreme poverty. One hundred and twenty pounds per annum was all that remained to Mrs. Drummond after the sale of Comrie and its effects; and with this pittance she was compelled to maintain herself, three sons, and a daughter. With the aid, however, of a mother-in-law, and of friends she had known in better days, she contrived on this sum to keep up her station; and she devoted to the education of her children a small addition that by accident was made

afterwards to her scanty income. From the earliest age Thomas gave signs of the qualities that marked his disposition in manhood. He was apt in arithmetic and calculation, had a decided turn for mechanical invention-it was said he was always making things'-and was exceedingly studious and self-reliant. Though not fortunate in his first school-days, for he was cruelly treated by a village pedagogue, he was at eleven put into the hands of competent teachers, who soon discovered that he was a lad of no common promise. Jardine, Professor of Logic at Glasgow, declared that Drummond and John Wilson were the cleverest boys he ever knew;' and Leslie and Playfair, whose classes Drummond attended from 1810 to 1812, expressed a high opinion of his talents. Drummond at thirteen was a fair classical scholar; and he had attained a proficiency great for his years in mathematics and physical science. In 1813, he entered Woolwich as a cadet, and, in a few months, after a series of examinations, in which he at once attracted notice, he passed from the sixth to the first academy, a rise almost unparalleled for its quickness. The circumstances connected with his first examination illustrate the

energy and perseverance that were prominent features in his character. After a tedious passage of thirteen days, he was landed from one of the Leith packets, to find himself, on the morning of the trial, just too late for the only coach that could reach his destination at the appointed time. But, though the distance was sixteen miles, he contrived to make good his way to Woolwich; and he presented himself at the gate of the academy five minutes before the examination began. The porter at first refused him admittance; but one of the examiners interfered; and the result was a most successful entrance. How few boys of sixteen would display such determination and firmness of purpose!

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He

In 1815, Drummond entered the corps of Royal Engineers. For some time he served on detachment, and in this period of comparative leisure he cultivated military studies assiduously, with Greek, Latin, and general literature.' joined head-quarters in 1817; and at Chatham, in Sir Thomas Larcom's words, a new world appeared to open to him, in the varied and almost universal knowledge brought by Pasley in aid of military science.' Here he devoted himself to mathematics and physics, especially in their application to the art of war, with even greater diligence than before; and he gave proof of his mechanical skill by designing a model for a new kind of pontoon, said to have been of considerable merit. The scientific acquirements of Drummond at twenty-one were of a high order; his general accomplishments were also great; and his fine talents and high character were fully appreciated by his brother officers, among whom he had made some lasting friendships. Yet he was not contented, for he felt himself kept down' by a faulty system of promotion; and for some time he seriously meditated adopting the profession of the Bar, the chances of which he had carefully scanned, as we see from several letters in this volume. An accident opened to him a career well fitted to bring out conspicuously his best parts and most thorough knowledge. Since 1783 a general survey of Great Britain and Ireland had been projected by several governments. The work had been committed to the Royal Engineers, and, notwithstanding interruptions and delays, it had progressed considerably by 1819. At that time a large part of England, about two-thirds of the whole area, had been carefully measured and observed; several base-lines had been laid down in Scotland; and, after tedious and trying efforts, a series of triangles had been thrown from peak after peak far north to Caithness. In 1820, Colonel Colby-a name to be held in honour by all interested in

this important national undertaking-became the chief superintendent of the survey; and he proposed to Drummond to take part in the work, having formed a good opinion of his abilities. The young engineer after this time gave up the idea of leaving his profession; and from 1821 to 1823 he was employed constantly upon the survey in different places in England and Scotland, taking observations, ascertaining distances, and occasionally performing those feats of climbing which give this service a touch of the romantic.

Colonel

Drummond soon was to play a part in this work beyond that of a mere subordinate. In 1824 the general survey of Ireland was commenced, in order to determine the areas of local taxation in that country; and the Government was desirous that the task should be executed with peculiar accuracy. Colby, who had quickly perceived the industry and abilities of Drummond, took care that he should be employed in this service, and it is not too much to say that he became the directing genius of the Irish survey. The work was more than one of mensuration; it embraced minute topographical researches and interesting meteorological experiments; and it forms a cadastral chart, perhaps unrivalled for its fulness and beauty. Drummond was associated in this performance with several young men of no common powers -we may especially mention Larcom and Portlock-but, though all laboured diligently and well, his contributions to the general result were, by many degrees, the first in importance. When engaged in this survey, he designed and perfected the remarkable improvements in the appliances for mensuration known by his name. The ranges and the climate of Ireland being very unfavourable to taking observations, Drummond lessened this difficulty, to a great extent, by the ingenious contrivance of the heliostat, an instrument by which the rays of the sun are continuously reflected at immense distances. The heliostat, as he finally adjusted it, was used in Ireland with complete success; it enabled measuring lines to be drawn from Precelly in Wales to Kippure in Wicklow, and from Keeper in Tipperary to Cullagh in Fermanagh; and it has ever since been prized by engineers as an instrument of the greatest value. Nor was this the only expedient by which Drummond overcame the obstacles to his art afforded by space and a dark atmosphere. The ordinary lamps used in the survey having often proved insufficient in strength, he conceived the idea of evolving a light of extraordinary brilliancy and force by the application of gas to lime, and he brought it to a practical solution. The Drummond Light, as it has ever since been called, was first employed in the Irish survey; and