STANHOPE. 113 



>nvanlness were the grand features of his statesmanship ; his 

 iews, however, although now entertained by even moderate poli- 

 ticians, were at that time considered extreme, and subsequently led 

 to a separation of the earl from his family. 



But it is chiefly as a man of science, and as an inventor in the 

 field of practical mechanics, that Earl Stanhope has rendered himself 

 celebrated. Shortly after leaving the Continent, about the year 

 1775, he turned his attention to devising some means whereby for- 

 geries in coins and bank-notes might be prevented; this resulted in 

 his publishing a pamphlet on that subject, in which various pro- 

 cesses calculated to prevent forgeries on the mint are recommended. 



In the 'Philosophical Transactions' for 1778, Lord Stanhope 

 gives a full account of experiments performed by him, on a large 

 scale, in presence of the Lord Mayor and members of the Royal 

 Society, showing that wood could be rendered fireproof, by coating 

 it with a species of stucco or plaster of his own invention. The 

 practical efficiency of this was still more decisively shown by a fire 

 which broke out in the earl's mansion at Chevening. Having had 

 occasion to rebuild this some time previously, Earl Stanhope had 

 taken care to make use of his new discovery ; a portion of the offices, 

 however, remained unsecured, and here the fire originated ; but on 

 reaching the protected portion, it was at once arrested, and the 

 mansion saved from destruction. 



Among other works of Lord Stanhope which attracted most at- 

 tention at that time are his experiments on electricity, his improve- 

 ments in shipbuilding and navigation, a calculating machine, and 

 the Stanhope printing-press, which to this day bears his name. He 

 has also been called the inventor of stereotype printing, and had at 

 all events the merit of greatly improving this most important pro- 

 cess, and of introducing it into general use. The application of 

 steam to navigation was another favourite study of Earl Stanhope ; 

 and, in concert with him, Fulton the American entered into an ex- 

 tensive series of experiments to prove its practicability. Although 

 unsuccessful in this last pursuit, canal navigation owes much to the 

 earl ; the value of his improvements in canal-locks being felt to this 

 day throughout the whole land. He lived in constant pursuit of 

 these philosophical enquiries till the age of sixty-three, when he 

 died of dropsy, at his seat in Kent. 



Lord Stanhope was essentially a practical man, of a firm, upright, 

 and independent character ; and it is related of him, that when ad- 

 vising his children to pursue some useful calling, he remarked of 

 himself, that " Charles Stanhope, as a carpenter, blacksmith, or mill- 

 wright, could in any country, or at any time, preserve his inde- 

 pendence, and bring up his family to honest and industrious courses, 

 without soliciting either the bounty of friends or the charity of 

 strangers." He merits the grateful remembrance of posterity, not 

 only for the practical results of his genius, but for the indirect in- 





