FAWCETT, HENRY. 



FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1884. 323 



F 



FAWCETT, HENRY, an English statesman, born 

 in Salisbury in 1833 ; died in Cambridge, Nov. 

 6, 1884. His father was a magistrate in Salis- 

 bury. The boy was educated at King's Col- 

 lege School, London, and at Trinity Hall, Cam- 

 bridge, where he was graduated with high 

 mathematical honors in 1856, and obtained a 

 fellowship. In 1858, while he was out shoot- 

 ing, the shot from a gun accidentally discharged 

 penetrated both of his eyes, and he was totally 

 blind thenceforth. Nevertheless he 

 continued his studies, and scarcely 

 gave up any of the athletic sports 

 to which he had been addicted, 

 but continued to ride, row, skate, 

 and angle as before. He devoted 

 himself especially to political econ- 

 omy, won a reputation by his nu- 

 merous published articles on the 

 subject, and in 1863 was made pro- 

 fessor of that science at Cambridge. 

 He published a " Manual of Political 

 Economy" in 1864 (enlarged edition, 

 1869), "The Economic Position of 

 the British Laborer " in 1865, " Pau- 

 perism, its Causes and Remedies " 

 in 1871, " Speeches on Current Po- 

 litical Questions" in 1873, and " Free 

 Trade and Protection" in 1878. 



In 1867 Prof. Fawcett married 

 Millicent Garrett (born in 1847), a 

 sister of Mrs. Garrett Anderson, the 

 first woman physician in England. 

 Mrs. Fawcett shared in her hus- 

 band's economic studies, was joint 

 author with him of a volume of es- 

 says (1872), and also published " Po- 

 litical Economy for Beginners " in 

 1869, and u Tales in Political Econ- 

 omy " in 1874. She has been active 

 in the movement for the extension 

 of parliamentary suffrage to women. 



After two unsuccessful attempts 

 to enter Parliament, Prof. Fawcett 

 was elected for Brighton in 1865, 

 and re-elected in 1868. In contest- 

 ed elections he was notable for re- 

 fusing to pay any expenses but those that were 

 official and necessary. In 1880 he was appoint- 

 ed Postmaster-General in the new Gladstone 

 administration, and became a Privy Councilor. 

 He held this office till the time of his death, 

 and managed its affairs with great skill and dili- 

 gence. Among his reforms were the money- 

 order system, the savings-bank, annuities, and 

 life-insurance provisions, telegraph service, re- 

 ply postal-cards, and the parcel post. 



He wrote and lectured largely on his favorite 

 topics, gave special attention to the condition 

 of India, and was successful in his efforts to 

 remove some of the oppressive taxation from 



her Majesty's Asiatic subjects. He opposed 

 aud defeated the Irish Universities Bill in 1873, 

 on the ground that it would limit injuriously 

 the range of higher education in Ireland by 

 striking out those branches philosophy, ethics, 

 history in which the Roman Catholics were 

 unwilling to receive instruction from a body 

 composed jointly of Catholic and Protestant 

 members. In 1883 he was elected Lord Rec- 

 tor of the University of Glasgow. 



HENRY FAWCETT. 



FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1884. The financial 

 crisis of May substantially fulfilled the popular 

 superstition that events of this character are 

 decennial in their occurrence, as from the panic 

 of 1873 to that of this year there was a period 

 of ten years and eight months. It was ex- 

 pected in 1883, and doubtless much of the de- 

 pression in that year was due to the fear that 

 it might be precipitated by some accident ; but 

 the fact that it did not then occur, and that 

 the shrinkage in stocks and staples had been 

 so great during the previous two years and a 

 half, led some to believe that the catastrophe 

 might happily be averted. Those who took 



