378 SIR RODERICK I. MURCHISON'S ADDRESS. [May 25, 1857. 



rules, limiting the presidential duties to two years, led to liis retire- 

 ment, so we have now to grieve over his demise, at the com- 

 paratively early age of 57. 



Educated at Eton, and distinguished at Oxford, Lord Francis 

 Egerton soon took a high place in the House of Commons, and 

 served with ability both as Secretary for Ireland and Secretary at 

 War. As he advanced in years he seemed to care less and less for 

 political distinction ; and as it is not my calling to dwell on his 

 ministerial or parliamentary career, let me briefly remind you how 

 he occupied many hours of his well spent life in cultivating and 

 cherishing letters, science, and art. 



I will first speak of those anonymous writings which, as they 

 have exercised a salutary influence on society, ought to be made 

 known, both to render justice to the man, and to indicate the great 

 variety of his acquiremei#s. 



My auditors, who may have only known Lord Ellesmere as a 

 member of either House of Parliament, or as our President, may 

 not be aware that between the ^^ears 1834 and 1854 he was the 

 contributor of not less than fifteen articles to the ' Quarterly Ee- 

 view ;' and that about one-half of them were connected with the 

 development of geographical research. Eschewing the troubled 

 arena of party strife, he left no trace behind him of political 

 acrimony even in those essays which touched upon disputed ques- 

 tions; whilst all of them, which did not bear upon the science 

 we cultivate, were devoted to the fine arts, of which he was a true 

 connoisseur, or to biography, and those military exploits which 

 have raised the glories of Britain. 



On geographical subjects he began by such attractive accounts of 

 the works of the Dutch authors Meiglan, Fischer, andDoefl', that any 

 one who will peruse his ' Sketches of the Manners and Usages of the 

 Japanese ' will find in them a most vivid picture of the life of that 

 curious people, who, inhabiting a region separated from either con- 

 tinent, are apparently destined to remain longer an unbroken unit 

 than the colossal empire of China. Of the Japanese he humorously 

 wrote that he " left them to the complacent enjoyment of the con- 

 viction that they are the first of nations, and the eldest descendants 

 of the Deity."* 



Turning to the Eastern Archipelago, he has consigned to us a 



* Quarterly Review, vol. lii. p. 317 ; vol. Ivi. p. 438. 



In his recent translation for the Hakluyt Society, of the P^re d'Orle'ans' * History 

 of the Tartar Conquerors who subdued China,' Lord Ellesmere was largely assisted 

 by his accomplished daughters. 



