1849 Thomas B. Macaulay; Delane of the "Times" 357 



The guests at the ordinary dinners of the Club this year 

 included some prominent men of the time. On 6th 

 December Thomas Babington Macaulay dined on the 

 invitation of Sir Robert Inglis. He had the year before 

 published the first two volumes of his history, which were 

 received with extraordinary popular favour. In this year 

 he was elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University. At the 

 same dinner " Monsieur Dumas " was present. There is 

 no indication as to which of the eminent men of that 

 name this guest was. Not improbably he was Jean 

 Baptiste Andre Dumas, the distinguished French chemist 

 who at this time held the portfolio of Agriculture and 

 Commerce in the French Ministry, and who took an active 

 part in organising the French contributions to the first 

 Great Exhibition of 1851. Another prominent Frenchman, 

 M. Milne-Edwards, was also present at the same dinner. 

 As already stated, he had been a visitor to the Club in 

 1836. 



Sir Francis Thornhill Baring, who dined on March 8th, 

 had been in the House of Commons for more than twenty 

 years, during which period he filled a series of important 

 public offices. At this time he was first Lord of the 

 Admiralty. He was afterwards raised to the peerage 

 as the first Baron Northbrook. The "Mr. Delane" who 

 dined with the Club for the first time on November 

 22nd was doubtless the great editor of the Times. 

 He dined frequently during the next few years, usually 

 on the invitation of John Dickinson. Professor John 

 Phillips, who was the guest of Professor Wheatstone on 

 January nth, had advanced in his career since 1835 

 (ante, p. 317). He was still the active and beaming 

 assistant-secretary of the British Association. The Geo- 

 logical Society had awarded to him its highest honour 

 the Wollaston Medal, and he had been for several 

 years professor of geology in Trinity College, Dublin. 

 Four years had still to pass before he was finally trans- 

 ferred to Oxford, where he spent the last twenty years of 

 his life. 



