172 



NA TURE 



[June 23, 1904 



the realms of engineering practice and of pure science 

 should have been lost to the world in his prime. 



Vol. i is prefaced by a memoir written by his son — 

 the present fitting holder of the chair of engineering 

 at Cambridge — and this memoir, which even filial love 

 and reverence have not made too flattering, forms the 

 best review of the life's work of Dr. Hopkinson. 



W. E. Ayrton. 



REMINISCENCES. 

 Notes from a Diary. By Sir M. E. Grant Duff. 

 Vol. i., pp. 317; vol. ii., pp. 326. (London: John 

 Murray, 1904.) Price i8s. 



SIR MOUNTSTUART GRANT DUFF tells us in 

 his preface that in these two, as in the previous, 

 volumes of his diary he has " resolutely kept to the less 

 serious side of life." They contain no thrilling adven- 

 tures, no sensational revelations, no acrimonious at- 

 tacks, no profound metaphysical discussions. They 

 give, however, an interesting picture of the life of a 

 distinguished and cultivated man, with side glimpses 

 of many of the most eminent of our contemporaries 

 both in this and other countries. 



For this Sir Mountstuart has had unique oppor- 

 tunities. When he was going to his Governorship of 

 Madras his friends gave him a farewell dinner. It 

 was a gathering of which any man might be proud, 

 and in returning thanks for the toast of the evening, 

 he said with no less truth than good feeling that, when 

 he was young, his ambition had been to make friends 

 of the best and highest of his contemporaries, and 

 that, looking round him, he felt that in this object he 

 had succeeded beyond his most sanguine hopes. 



It is probable that many of those who read the 

 diary will fancy that some pieces might have been 

 omitted. I remember at one of our modest X club 

 meetings we all thought that the dinner might be 

 shortened, so as to give us more time for talk after- 

 wards. But when we came to details we could not 

 agree. One suggested to omit the soup, another the fish, 

 a third the joint, and a fourth the pudding. Finally 

 we remained as we were : so I fancy from the present 

 volumes one would omit the botany, another the per- 

 sonal details, a third the theological hints, and so on. 

 But if anyone is disposed to regard some of the 

 details as hardly worthy of record, let him remember 

 how interesting it would be now if Mecaenas had left 

 us similar details of his everyday life ! What a light 

 it would throw on Roman society and Roman history ! 



He gives us glimpses, moreover, which show the 

 " art of conversation " at its best. He does not con- 

 descend to scandal, or attract attention by ill-natured 

 remarks, or while away time by remarks on the 

 weather. As Mr. Norton says in a typical case, 

 " Flaubert's correspondence, a new edition of ^schy- 

 lus, the Chanson de Roland, the management of the 

 London Library, Bayreuth, the Euryanthe of Weber, 

 were only a few of the many subjects which came up 

 during our conversation." 



The book is admirably adapted for a railway jour- 

 NO. 1808, VOL. 70] 



ney, a holiday, or a sick room. It is full of bright 

 sayings, of good stories, of interesting reminiscences 

 of interesting people. It carries us from one country 

 to another, from one society to another : from London 

 to Switzerland and Greece, from politics to theology, 

 from The Club to the Athenaeum or the Literary 

 .Society. 



Sir Mountstuart thinks, and I should not be dis- 

 posed to differ, that the late Lord Derby was the wisest 

 statesman of his generation. At any rate, probably 

 it would be safe to say that of those who took a 

 leading part, probably none made fewer mistakes. 



The botanical notes are numerous. He mentions, 

 for instance, on the authority of Lord Plunket, that 

 Westminster Hall is roofed with oak from the forest 

 of Shillelagh. 



The references to zoology are less frequent. 



On p. 193 he tells us that Prof, (afterwards Sir 

 William) Flower " gave a very interesting account of 

 the shell of a tortoise which stands in one of the 

 passages. Its original owner was a pet of Laud's, 

 and lived in his garden at Fulham. When he became 

 Archbishop he took the creature to Lambeth, where it 

 lived from 1633 to 1753, when it came by its death, 

 thanks to the folly of a gardener, who dug it up in 

 the middle of winter." 



He quotes .'\ubrey de Vere's happy saying that many 

 people mistake downrightness for uprightness, and 

 again that some people seem to " think they serve 

 God but by serving their neighbour right." 



Among other amusing bits are Sydney Smith's 

 dream, " I had a very pleasant dream ! I dreamt 

 that there would be in future thirty-nine Muses and 

 only nine articles"; the description of the French 

 coinage of 1S48 by a Royalist: "Libert^ — point. 

 Egalit^— point. Fraternit^— point " ; which was thus 

 varied : " Libert^ de faire du mal. Egalit^ de mis^re. 

 Fraternity de Cain et Abel "; the story of an English- 

 man who " was being driven by a carman through 

 some town, when he saw in front of the Post-Office 

 what he supposed to be the Nine Muses. ' What are 

 those?' he asked his driver. 'The twelve Apostles,' 

 was the answer. ' The twelve Apostles ! ' he re- 

 joined ; 'I can only see nine.' 'Oh,' said the man, 

 ' the other three are inside sorting the Epistles : ' " 



Bradlaugh's saying with reference to the old and 

 new trades unionism : " The motto of the old Trade 

 Unionists was ' We will ! ' The motto of the new 

 Trade Unionists is ' You shall ! ' " 



One of the most beautiful of epitaphs, that written 

 by Wordsworth (Bishop of St. Andrews) on his wife : 



I nimium dilecta : vocat Deus ; I bona nostrae 

 Pars animae ; moerens altera disce sequi. 



The names of Gladstone, Disraeli, Salisbury, Lowe, 

 Coleridge, Newman, Stanley, Tennyson, Browning, 

 Dufferin, Matthew Arnold, Hu.xley, and Flower are 

 among those which flit through the pages. Sir Mount- 

 stuart says that he has dealt only with the less serious 

 side of life. In saying so he meant, no doubt, that he 

 does not deal argumentatively with politics, science or 

 theology. The diary brings out, however, clearly his 



