r
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS
 
 THE BIRTH-TIME 
 OF THE WORLD 
 
 and other Scientific Essays. 
 
 By J. JOLY, M.A., Sc.D., F.R.S. 
 
 With 28 Plates and 15 Illustrations. 
 Cloth, los. 6d. net. 
 
 "Professor J. Joly, in his volume of brilliant 
 essays . . . has given us a volume of extra- 
 ordinary interest and suggestiveness in which 
 he brings before us many of the deepest things 
 of modern physical science in a prose setting 
 that it is a literary joy to possess." The 
 Contemporary Re-view. 
 
 T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD. LONDON
 
 CORNELIUS DREBEL (1572-1634), THE INVENTOR AND 
 BUILDER OF THE FIRST SUBMARINE. 
 
 (From an old work by Drebel in the British Museum,) 
 
 Frontispiece.
 
 REMINISCENCES 
 ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 J. J,OLY, M.A., Sc.D., F.R.S. 
 
 PROFESSOR OP GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OP DUBLIN j 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN; HON. I.L.I)., MICHIGAN: VICE- 
 PRESIDENT ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY J WARDEN OP ALEXANDRA 
 COLLEGE; COMMISSIONER OP IRISH LIGHTS. 
 
 WITH NINE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 T. FISHER UNWIN LTD 
 LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
 
 First published in 1920 
 
 All rights rtservtd
 
 PREFACE 
 
 ONE tacitly recognised use of a Preface is to provide the 
 diffident author with an opportunity of fastening the 
 blame for the appearance of his book upon somebody 
 else. In the present case I think I am correct in saying 
 that this book owes its existence to the suggestion of 
 certain of my friends who, after the appearance in 1915 
 of a volume of scientific essays and addresses, counselled 
 me to issue a corresponding collection of lay essays 
 i.e., such as are not specially directed towards scientific 
 subjects. This volume contains a selection of essays of 
 this kind. 
 
 Towards the conclusion of the war I was in the States 
 on an educational mission. Facts regarding American 
 educational institutions and ideals of which I had been 
 ignorant, or which I had failed to realise, then came to 
 my knowledge. This occasioned two of the essays con- 
 tained in this book that on the British Educational 
 Mission and that on " International Education." These 
 are in point of date the latest written. There are many 
 anticipations in those essays. My desire to spread, in 
 any way in my power, the doctrines preached by the 
 
 5
 
 PREFACE 
 
 British Mission in the States proved an additional in- 
 centive to the issue of this volume. 
 
 Of the other essays, two are holiday reminiscences 
 the " Visit to the Foze Rocks " and the Tour of the 
 Lighthouses. The Edgeworth essay is a vindication of 
 the claims of a man who is now only remembered as the 
 parent of a very distinguished authoress and lovable 
 woman. But his claims to fame are clear and undeniable. 
 The fact that he was an ancestral relative of my own 
 has not, I hope, biased my judgment on that point. 
 
 The reappearance of the account of the defence of 
 Trinity College during the Sinn Fein Rebellion calls, I 
 think, for no justification. So far as I know, it is the 
 only account of that incident written by one who lived 
 within the College walls throughout those terrible days. 
 It is accurate in every particular so far as it was in my 
 power to make it so. 
 
 The essay on " The Origin of the Submarine " is, 
 of course, a product of war-time thoughts. In it, too, 
 are many anticipations, some of which, although written 
 down many generations ago, have been, in our day, 
 realised in a remarkable manner. The earliest of the 
 essays is the discussion on "Perpetual Motion." The 
 topic is indeed scientific, but it is science in a very 
 popular garb. 
 
 6
 
 PREFACE 
 
 I have to thank the Royal Dublin Society for permission 
 to reprint the paper on the British Educational Mission; 
 and Mr. George Blackwood for his kind consent to the 
 reissue of " The Origin of the Submarine " and " The 
 Defence of Trinity College during the Sinn Fein Re- 
 bellion," both of which originally appeared in BlackwoocTs 
 Magazine. The representatives of the late Captain 
 Deane formerly the valued Inspector to the Irish 
 Lights Board kindly supplied the photographs (taken 
 by Captain Deane) illustrating the paper on the Irish 
 Lighthouses. Messrs. Hely of Dublin were so good as to 
 contribute the photographs appearing with the Defence 
 of Trinity College. The fine view of the entrance gate of 
 the Washington University of St. Louis is borrowed by 
 kind permission from the handbook to that splendid 
 
 institution. 
 
 J. JOLY. 
 
 IVEAGH GEOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
 TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. 
 April, 1920.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 FAGB 
 
 PREFACE - 5 
 
 I. PERPETUAL MOTION - - - - 13 
 
 II. A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS - - - 22 
 
 III. WITH THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION IN AMERICA 5! 
 
 IV. A CRUISE OF INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES - QO 
 V. RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH ... jy) 
 
 VI. INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION - - - 1 73 
 
 VII. THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE ... jg6 
 
 VIII. IN TRINITY COLLEGE DURING THE SINN FEIN REBELLION 21 8
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CORNELIUS DREBEL (1572-1634) - Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE FOZE ROCKS - 50 
 
 ENTRANCE GATE OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY - facing 66 
 
 VIEW FROM CLARE ISLAND - 108 
 
 CLARE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE - IIO 
 
 TORMORE ROCKS - 124 
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 150 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND BANK OF IRELAND - 224 
 
 SACKVILLE STREET AFTER THE REBELLION - 258 
 
 II
 
 REMINISCENCES AND 
 ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 PERPETUAL MOTION 
 
 IN 1897 a Scientific Conversazione was organised by the 
 Royal Dublin Society and held in Leinster House. On 
 this occasion there appeared in the descriptive catalogue 
 of the exhibits the following item under the name of the 
 present writer: " Perpetual Motion: The sphere hanging 
 in the glass shade is retained from falling by the silk 
 thread to which it is attached. This is the only function 
 of the thread. The ball is, nevertheless, moving in a 
 most complicated manner and with great velocity at 
 a rate, in fact, of many thousands of miles per hour." 
 
 In the actual exhibit the glass shade was omitted. A 
 brightly polished brass sphere, about 4 inches in diameter, 
 hung from the lofty ceiling of the room by a fine wire, 
 and was so located over the centre of a large table as 
 to be well out of reach of spectators standing around the 
 table. 
 
 The comments on this exhibit were instructive and in 
 some cases amusing. A locally well-known and effective 
 
 13
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 lecturer on popular science was heard to explain to a 
 select audience that the sphere was in point of fact 
 rotating at a high velocity, a fact which was artfully 
 concealed by the high polish of its surface. He suggested 
 a magnetic arrangement moving beneath the table. His 
 audience agreed with him as to the facts, and some 
 declared that they could plainly detect the spinning of 
 the sphere. At intervals during the evening similar 
 statements were heard, and at all times investigators 
 were to be observed staring long and fixedly at the ball. 
 It is probable that not one in a hundred understood the 
 real nature of the exhibit, obvious as it was. For, in 
 truth, it was just what it claimed to be perpetual 
 motion, pure and simple, and without deceit of any kind. 
 Our ancestors for many generations looked for this 
 thing perpetual motion. They linked wheels and 
 springs and weights so that the falling weight wound up 
 the spring or turned the wheel, and was in turn carried 
 up to its original position by spring or wheel endlessly. 
 They connected water-wheels and reservoirs so that the 
 reservoir supplying water to the wheel not only kept this 
 turning, but was replenished by pumps or impossible 
 siphons worked by the wheel. They invoked every force 
 in Nature of which they had cognisance; and many 
 of their devices were, on paper, most promising. But 
 when the contrivances came to be tested, friction, the 
 demon, invariably spoiled all. Or, again, the demon 
 disguised himself in other forms. Sometimes he was 
 
 14
 
 PERPETUAL MOTION 
 
 pure " stiction," so that the machine would not start 
 at all; or he was capillarity or surface tension in some 
 unlooked-for form, so that the baffled inventor, outwitted 
 by the evil essence, inevitably found that his wheel really 
 turned for a longer time if stripped of the clever devices 
 intended to perpetuate its motion throughout eternity. 
 So our forerunners for generations struggled with the 
 problem and got no nearer to its solution. And even in 
 our own younger days we felt the fascination of the 
 subject, and longed to find "something" which, once 
 set going, might be put under a glass shade and would 
 then go for ever. 
 
 Was this work all in vain ? Far from it. Man has 
 never tried after any intellectual ideal without benefit 
 to himself. It is not alone that by the mere exercise of 
 his faculties he lifts himself to a higher level, but that 
 by his mistakes alone can he learn. All knowledge 
 and truth are founded in ignorance and error. It 
 matters not that he seeks to turn lead into gold, or 
 endeavours to find the elixir of life, or seeks to foretell 
 his own future. He is fulfilling his destiny in the mere 
 putting of the question to Nature. Sanity and dominion 
 ultimately lie in that direction. In alchemy chemistry 
 had its foundations, and in astrology astronomy sought 
 to find itself through ages of darkness. Medical science 
 began in the search for endless life. And so also the 
 dupes of perpetual motion set men thinking about the 
 laws of mechanics and hydrostatics. 
 
 '5
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 So far back as Galileo's time the problem of perpetual 
 motion was actually solved. In the Principia Newton 
 gives the solution as follows: 
 
 Lex I. Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiesccndi 
 vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus illud 
 a viribus impressis cogitur statum suum mutare. 
 
 (Every body continues in its state of rest or of uniform 
 motion in a straight line, except in so far as it may be 
 compelled by force to change that state.} 
 
 It follows on the truth of this law that, so far from 
 perpetual motion being difficult to realise or of rare 
 occurrence, it really represents the general state of 
 Nature. It is the state of rest which is of rare occurrence 
 and is difficult to realise: if, indeed, it exists at all among 
 material systems. And strange perversion of all pre- 
 conceived ideas if a body is set in motion it will go on 
 moving unlesswe in some way restrain it. Perpetual motion 
 is all around us, and is only obscured to our view when we 
 specially invoke the exploits of the above-mentioned 
 demons of friction, capillarity, etc., by trying to realise it 
 within a machine. These demons exclusively influence 
 and haunt mechanical contrivances wherein we seek to 
 restrain matter by matter, and cause solids or liquids to 
 partake of differential motions. For then, indeed, we 
 cause the momentum we wish to conserve to degrade into 
 molecular movements, and through the actions of 
 friction, viscosity, or collision, to become dissipated as 
 heat; so that the initial store of energy drains away and 
 
 16
 
 PERPETUAL MOTION 
 
 leaves the parts of our machine mutually at rest final 
 end of all our hopes. 
 
 But if the moving body be cast into space so that it 
 travels in the free aether, the true law of motion is revealed. 
 The body moves for ever, exactly in the direction of its 
 final impulsion and with neither gain nor loss of energy. 
 Its motion may be rectilinear or it may be a spin or 
 rotation. Unless the aether reacts upon matter in some 
 undefined manner, after eternal time it will still be 
 travelling rectilinearly or still be spinning. And if we 
 divide the equator of the rotating body according to 
 its rate of revolution, we possess in it a clock which will 
 keep perfect time and tell us of the flight of seconds or 
 of millions of years. Such a timepiece might serve the 
 Deity to mark the birth, growth, and death of solar 
 systems, its dreadful spin continuing unchanged after 
 thousands of such transitory events have come and 
 gone. 
 
 But returning to the philosopher it is evident that 
 he is not in a position to cast forth his wheels or spheres 
 into interstellar space, and we get back to the question 
 whether the first law of motion will help us to find that 
 " something " which may be placed under the glass 
 shade and will go for ever. The answer is in the affirma- 
 tive, although the contrivance may in some particulars 
 be disappointing. Nevertheless, philosophically, it is 
 perpetual motion and, to boot, is very instructive. 
 
 Take the simplest case the spinning sphere. We 
 
 I 7 B
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 support the sphere by the finest wire or thread imaginable 
 say, by a quartz fibre. The upper end of the fibre is 
 attached inside to the top of the covering glass shade. 
 The shade rests on a stand which can be rotated, by 
 clockwork or otherwise, with a perfectly uniform motion 
 and velocity. Difficulties must not stand in our way 
 at this stage. 
 
 Suppose, now, we start the rotation of the stand, 
 carrying with it, of course, the shade which is supported 
 upon it. Immediately a torque or twist is transmitted 
 through the fibre to the suspended sphere. This begins 
 to rotate. As it gathers momentum the torque dies out 
 of the fibre. The air beneath the shade is also rotating, 
 and may help forward the sphere until the rate of rotation 
 of the sphere is the same as that of the shade and stand. 
 We can make sure that the torque tending to turn the 
 sphere is finally eliminated by slowing down the motion 
 of the shade by a little. The sphere is now turning faster 
 than the shade, and the torque is exerted the opposite way 
 and tends to carry energy from the sphere to the shade. 
 If we leave the clockwork set to this slower rate, we are 
 assured that we are not driving the suspended sphere 
 by any supply of energy from outside. The sphere is, 
 in fact, spinning in virtue of the First Law of Motion. 
 It will do so at its present rate for ever or so long as we do 
 not interfere with it by air currents, effects of terrestrial 
 magnetism, or retarding or accelerating force transmitted 
 through the fibre. Every one of these interfering causes 
 
 18
 
 PERPETUAL MOTION 
 
 may, however, be guarded against. We have true per- 
 petual motion under our glass shade. We gave the sphere 
 its initial store of energy, and we simply guard it from 
 such material encounters as must waste this energy, 
 and as the result we have realised perpetual motion. 
 The energy expended in realising the conditions within 
 the shade is not in the smallest degree spent upon the 
 turning body within. We might easily assure ourselves 
 of this by providing a sensitive optical arrangement 
 which would indicate the presence of even the smallest 
 torque in the fibre. We may also vary the pressure of the 
 air down to the most perfect vacuum attainable. The 
 apparatus is a demonstration of perpetual motion and 
 of the First Law. 
 
 What is the difference between this experiment of ours 
 and the mechanical contrivances of our ancestors ? Just 
 this: The ancients wished to make a self-contained 
 machine which of its own self would eliminate the 
 resistances which arise in friction, viscosity, etc. They 
 were really seeking to create energy. They had realised 
 neither the First Law (or at least had not grasped its real 
 significance) norHhe law of the conservation of energy. 
 We only keep the sphere going in our machine by 
 jealously conserving the energy originally imparted to the 
 sphere. In order to do this effectively we have to guard 
 rigorously against differential material motions, such as 
 inevitably generate those impressed forces which result 
 in changing the state of the moving body. We know 
 
 19
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 perfectly well that from nothing comes nothing, and 
 that to expect the energy to remain undiminished in the 
 turning sphere and at the same time to call upon it to 
 ward off external constraints is to demand impossibilities 
 so far as the laws of Nature are concerned. It matters 
 not how small a demand we make upon the store of 
 energy in the sphere. The conditions of perpetual motion 
 vanish immediately we take anything at all. The ancients, 
 then, failed in not recognising their limitations. The 
 progress of science may be described as the ascertainment 
 of what can and what cannot be done. 
 
 When we have got to the length of estimating the cost 
 of this machine and the amount of use it will be to us 
 apart from its educational value, in which respect it 
 quite ranks with Atwood's machine we are naturally 
 gratified to find that an equally effective contrivance is 
 realisable at trifling expense by taking advantage of the 
 conditions under which we, as dwellers on a moving 
 planet, live and move and have our being. It is true 
 that terrestrial motion labours under the disadvantage 
 of not being quite perpetual owing to tidal and other 
 causes of retardation. But it is perpetual enough; 
 and, besides, its want of permanence may, philosophically, 
 be regarded as accidental and not inherent in the funda- 
 mental conditions. 
 
 Accordingly I suspended the brass sphere in the middle 
 of the large exhibition room. What was the sphere 
 doing ? It was travelling round the centre of the earth 
 
 20
 
 PERPETUAL MOTION 
 
 at the rate of about one thousand miles per hour, and it 
 was travelling at the same time round the sun at a rate 
 about sixty-four times as fast. To these must be added 
 a velocity through space, along with the sun, which 
 probably equals or exceeds the orbital velocity of the 
 earth. And these extraordinary velocities are in no way 
 conveyed to it by the suspending wire. The role of the 
 wire is merely to keep it from falling under the attraction 
 of terrestrial gravity. It is easy to prove this. For if 
 the wire is pulling the sphere along against resistances, 
 the sphere must continually lag somewhat behind the 
 point of support of the wire. But we know that the 
 most delicate tests would show no such lag. Again, the 
 motion of the sphere is not imparted to it by the air in 
 the room. If we established the most perfect vacuum 
 in the exhibition room the motion of the brass sphere 
 would be quite uninfluenced. 
 
 The fact must be faced. The sphere is moving of 
 itself. It is, indeed, guided in space, in common with 
 the earth, by the gravitational attractions which are 
 carried to it through the aether or in some other manner ; 
 but its motion is perpetual motion, for it conserves 
 the momentum which it possesses as part of the earth, 
 and which was imparted to the matter of which it is 
 composed when a world was in the making and energies 
 of various kinds were concentrating into the spinning of 
 the new-born celestial vortex. 
 
 21
 
 II 
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 ON the south and south-west coast of Ireland fiord-like 
 inlets admit the Atlantic far into the land. The origin 
 of these geographical features, to which the coast owes 
 its diversified character anid supreme beauty, is not far 
 to seek. A glance at the geological map reveals the 
 secret. The mountainous peninsulas which separate the 
 fiords and project into the ocean are composed of hard 
 grits, slates, and conglomerates. On the other hand, 
 where the waters now prevail at one time were softer and 
 more soluble materials. These in part still remain at 
 the head of the fiords. Into these materials the ocean 
 cut its way during many thousands of years of denudation, 
 and by their removal the fiords came into existence. 
 The hard and durable mountains which have successfully 
 withstood the sea and the weather are of ancient Devonian 
 sediments; the materials which have been excavated 
 were of the succeeding Carboniferous period, and mainly 
 calcareous in character. The whole great structure 
 finds herein the simplest explanation. 
 
 The fiord of Dingle is the most magnificent of these 
 inlets. Its southern shores are walled by mountains 
 
 22
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 which rise from the sea to heights of over 2,000 feet, 
 Valencia Island forming part of their most westerly 
 extension. The northern wall of the fiord consists of 
 the chain of the Dingle mountains, of which Brandon, 
 attaining a height of 3,126 feet, is monarch. This 
 peninsula is terminated by Eagle Mountain, a graceful 
 cone about 1,700 feet high ; but it is continued beneath the 
 sea, and reappears in the form of islands for yet another 
 10 miles to the west. The width of the noble fiord 
 between these mountain walls is from 6 to 12 miles, and 
 its length nearly 20 miles. 
 
 The outermost islands of all are the Foze Rocks. 
 They are, in point of fact, the most westerly land of the 
 United Kingdom. They lie at about 10 miles from the 
 end of the Dingle peninsula. Between them and the 
 mainland intervene the islands of Vickillane, Nabro, 
 Tearaght, Tooskert, and Blasket. It seems certain that 
 this chain of islands is simply the work of countless years 
 of denudation. If the surface of the ocean could here 
 be lowered some 300 or 400 feet, an exposed ridge would 
 extend right out to the Foze. But no one who has seen 
 these islands stand out one beyond the other into the 
 west and glow red-hot, as it might seem, in the sunset 
 can deplore the effects of time. They constitute in every 
 change of sky and weather one of the most beautiful 
 features of the scenery. 
 
 The Foze include two islands separated by about one 
 mile. The Great Foze is great only by comparison with 
 
 23
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the Little Foze; for it is but a speck upon the chart 
 a rock some 120 yards long and rising to 92 feet over the 
 sea. The Little Foze is really a group of partially sub- 
 merged rocks, the highest of which is but 26 feet above 
 sea-level. 
 
 The coast of this part of Kerry is a land of wonders, 
 of which the passing traveller sees little or nothing. 
 Inland of the head of the fiord of Dingle the richly 
 coloured bogs sweep back to the wild and majestic ridge 
 of the McGillicuddy Reeks. The sands of the dunes of 
 Inch and Rossbehy glitter in their green-grey silver and 
 gold. Along their far-stretching strands the waves 
 tumble in the sunlight, revealing beneath their white 
 crests the burning green heart within. Sea birds soar 
 in the blue above, uttering their wailing cries. And the 
 mountains ! To-day they are sethereal blue beneath 
 the open sky; to-morrow, under a threatening heaven, 
 when the seagull's call is louder, they are a rich purple; 
 and yet a day later they are of the grey of steel. Then 
 come the rains, and a shaft of light striking down into 
 the hollows of Drung Hill or Knocknadober reveals to 
 you that their real colour is like that burning green you 
 saw in the breaking wave; and all the blues and purples 
 are but illusions colours of the atmosphere, not of the 
 mountains. 
 
 He who has, upon a blue day, or, it may be, upon a 
 day of drifting lights and showers, looked from the road 
 above Kells, northward across the level floor of the sea 
 
 24
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 towards the mountains of the Dingle range, is ever after 
 haunted by the recollection of its divine beauty. It is a 
 revelation which cannot be forgotten. The traveller 
 must return and look again. And I have seen it at sunset, 
 a caldron, as it were, of incandescent clouds, islands, and 
 mountains: a Holy Grail of blood-red fire to worship 
 devoutly ever after. 
 
 Yes ! the traveller sees but little of these things. 
 Whether at Doaghs (Dooks), on the hills above Kells, or, 
 most impressive of all, on the outermost sands of Inch, the 
 hourly and daily changes of sea, sky, and mountain must 
 be observed if the scenery is to be fully realised. It is 
 of such mobility of light and colour as to respond to 
 every passion of the sky, and on some days of rapid change 
 it might seem almost to throb in waves of beauty. We 
 can imagine some wanderer from the western sea, when 
 the world was younger, thinking that this land he had 
 reached must be a dream or the creation of magic, sent 
 to beguile him from his thoughts of heaven. 
 
 To those who have not seen the reality my words may 
 appear fanciful. To those who have seen it they will 
 still appear inadequate. Just now from my tent at 
 Doaghs I have been wondering at the delicate shades 
 of blue which serve to define one mountain from another 
 in the long vista of the Dingle range. Fainter and yet 
 fainter grow the successive shades till the form of Eagle 
 Mountain has become almost part of the azure itself and 
 the union of earth and sky is consummated. This 
 
 25
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 morning these same hills wore the rich purple of the 
 pansy; and then a shower came, dropping down like 
 some delicate curtain, and one after the other the 
 mountains vanished illusive spirits that they are. 
 And again had earth responded to the passion of heaven. 
 
 Only by pure good fortune can the passing traveller 
 see these things, and the essence of it all is revealed to 
 him alone who watches day after day at early morning, 
 at midday, or at fading twilight. 
 
 Such is the land which called us to see once again its 
 charms in the summer of 1908. My party consisted of 
 three. We had many times been mutual sharers in 
 yachting adventures, and when we found ourselves at 
 Valencia and learned that a spell of unusually calm 
 weather had for some time prevailed upon the coast, we 
 seriously discussed the possibility of attempting a 
 long-contemplated visit to the Foze Rocks. The reasons 
 for undertaking such an expedition and the peculiar 
 difficulties attending it will be gathered from what 
 follows. 
 
 If you look at the geological map of this region you will 
 find that, while the several larger islands mentioned 
 above are carefully coloured to show the particular kind 
 or age of the rock of which they are composed, the Foze 
 Rocks are discreetly left untinted. Why ? Because 
 their nature and age were not certainly known to the 
 geologists who industriously compiled the information 
 from which the map was prepared. 
 
 26
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 Herein we find one very good reason for visiting these 
 islands. Nothing but an actual landing can determine 
 the nature of the rock, and some interesting questions 
 will be answered if this information can be ascertained. 
 Why, then, has this not already been accomplished ? 
 The reason is found in the difficulty of effecting a landing 
 upon these remote islands. 
 
 There are no good landing-places upon them. A bad 
 or indifferent landing-place is simply useless when the 
 prevailing swell of the Atlantic has to be reckoned with. 
 The difficulties encountered in such cases are well known, 
 and often represent a formidable obstacle to lighthouse 
 construction. Indeed, many of the island lighthouses can 
 in ordinary weather only be visited by aid of the derrick 
 provided for the purpose. This is erected high on the 
 rock, and from it a rope is let down till it dangles just 
 above the boat containing the landing-party. On to a 
 loop provided at the extremity of the rope the adventurous 
 visitor steps, just as the boat rises to the top of the great 
 Atlantic swell. As he does so he finds his boat gone 
 from under him, sunken down into the hollow of the sea. 
 Then the windlass ashore is worked by a couple of men, 
 and the visitor is hoisted into mid air. He hangs dizzily 
 suspended for a minute or two, and, when he is brought 
 to the right altitude, he is pulled round by a guide-rope 
 and steps from his giddy conveyance on to the rocks. 
 In rough weather this performance may be quite im- 
 possible. 
 
 27
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Now, on a rock unprovided with this sort of artificial 
 help the difficulties of landing are, of course, enormously 
 increased; for it is not safe to bring the boat up to the 
 rocks lest it be dashed to pieces or swamped. If it 
 touches the rocks in the downward fall of the wave it will 
 assuredly be either broken up or capsized. Or, again, 
 if it cannot be got away quick enough when the wave is 
 sinking, the mass of water pouring off the ledges of the 
 rock may swamp it. A vertical rock with good foothold 
 and good handhold may enable a landing to be effected 
 in moderate weather. Or, if above such a rock there is 
 a] shelf at just such a level as the boat reaches at the 
 top of its swing, a landing may be made. Failing these 
 conditions, landing cannot be attempted if there is any 
 appreciable oscillation of the sea. And as the Atlantic 
 is only rarely without some swell upon these rocky coasts, 
 it follows that rocks like the Foze may be approached 
 again and again in the finest weather, and the would-be 
 explorer has to retire baffled. Indeed, these very Foze 
 Rocks have to my certain knowledge been approached 
 repeatedly with all the advantages of steam navigation, 
 and the landing-party has had to give it up. Season 
 after season has the adventure been attempted, and 
 from no lack of skill or courage, but simply from the 
 weather conditions, has the enterprise been abandoned 
 of necessity. This is the explanation of the blank space 
 upon the map of the Geological Survey. 
 
 Many years ago the Great Foze was under consideration 
 
 28
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 as a lighthouse station. The importance of its position 
 is obvious. The whole of the group of islands to landward 
 of it might be guarded by a light placed upon it ; and as 
 the rock itself is steep-to with nothing outside it to the 
 westward, a ship keeping its light in view would be 
 clear of all dangers, assuming that the light was screened 
 over the inner islands. A landing was at that time 
 effected on the Great Foze, but, on account of an alleged 
 uncertainty as to the stability of the island, the scheme 
 was abandoned, and the more northerly island of 
 Tearaght selected instead of it as a lighthouse station. 
 There are rocks immediately outside of this latter island; 
 these rocks and the Foze lying to the south of it must 
 be reckoned with by the mariner who approaches near 
 this light. I have found only scant record of this former 
 landing upon the Great Foze, and the only information 
 arising out of that visit as to the nature of the rock is 
 the statement that the rock was a " trap." This landing 
 on the Foze took place forty- five years ago. 
 
 In discussing our chances of effecting a successful 
 landing we had fully in mind the several factors con- 
 cerned, and were well aware that many similar attempts 
 had met with failure. We possessed no artificial means 
 of propulsion, and as the needful weather conditions 
 rendered sailing unreliable, the labour of rowing the whole 
 way out to the rock and back about 30 miles had to be 
 faced. But this should be easily accomplished in day- 
 light, supposing we maintained a rate of 3 miles per hour. 
 
 29
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 We accordingly hired a four-oared boat, and engaged 
 the services of three native boatmen to assist in rowing it. 
 Now, if the only difficulty in getting to the Foze 
 consisted in pulling 30 miles in calm water, it would be 
 hardly worth while to say anything more about our 
 journey out and back. Unfortunately, a very much 
 more serious difficulty beset our enterprise. The per- 
 sistently calm weather, which alone can render a successful 
 landing probable, is on this coast usually attended with 
 fog. And the present weather is no exception. Day 
 after day the fog lay upon the sea, and the larger and 
 nearer islands remained invisible from the coast. Now, 
 if the fog was really dense enough to hide the small 
 rocks of the Foze from view at a distance of a few 
 hundred yards, there was, evidently, a very grave risk 
 that we might miss them altogether and have all our 
 labour for nothing. In such a case the compass alone 
 can guide us; and with a good compass and in the absence 
 of tidal currents, wind drift, etc., astonishingly accurate 
 courses may be run. In the present case the only 
 compass available was a small pocket instrument of the 
 usual fixed-card construction. It was, in short, not 
 a mariner's compass, and in consequence was much more 
 difficult to use and more liable to error. We had also 
 to reckon with tides which, according to the chart, 
 attained rates of a knot and a half, and set transversely 
 to our course. This last factor was the most disconcerting 
 of all; for accurate allowance for the effects of these 
 
 30
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 currents in taking us from our course was not possible. 
 Their effects upon us must vary not only with the state 
 of the tide, but with our position. When all was con- 
 sidered, and when on the morning of our departure 
 the 3rd of August we found the fog as thick as ever, 
 we made up our minds to very probable failure. We 
 started, therefore, with but little of the stimulus which 
 proceeds from hopeful anticipations. Moreover, we were 
 aware that the enterprise was not free from risks other 
 than that of mere disappointment, for rapid weather 
 changes are frequent on this coast. However, the glass 
 was fairly steady, and the probabilities of continued 
 calm were in our favour. 
 
 We left Valencia at about 8 a.m. on the 3rd of August, 
 1908. We took the oars for spells of twenty minutes at 
 first. As there were six of us the strain was not severe. 
 Our course was, accurately, N.W. and half a point W. 
 
 No land of any kind was now visible. Indeed, our 
 vision probably penetrated less than a quarter-mile. 
 Our course would take us within about 3 miles of Vickil- 
 lane, a position we might reach in from three to four 
 hours. Till then there was no prospect of sighting any 
 land whatever; and, indeed, even when nearest to 
 Vickillane, with the present weather conditions, it was 
 certain we would see nothing of it. All the conditions 
 therefore pointed to the probability that the first land 
 visible to us would be the Great Foze rock if we were so 
 fortunate as to hit it off. 
 
 31
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 A very light wind sprang up a couple of hours after 
 we had left the harbour, and, as it appeared we could 
 hold it, we ran up a sail. At first it helped us a little, 
 but presently it went ahead, and we must tack to it 
 if we were to use it at all. This procedure I did not 
 like, for it lessened our chance of attaining an object. 
 However, there was a general wish to keep the sail up, 
 and we began taking short legs, carefully adjusted to 
 our course and of equal duration. This temporary 
 relief was justified; for, in point of fact, unless some 
 clearing came in the fog our chance of finding the Foze 
 was, in any case, infinitesimal. But we had not long 
 been consoling ourselves with this reflection when the 
 wind entirely dropped. The sail fell flat against the 
 mast, and mast and sail were lowered. The rowing then 
 was steadily continued. 
 
 Towards midday we reckoned that the island of 
 Vickillane should be at a distance of about 4 miles on the 
 starboard bow. A careful lookout was kept for it. 
 Another half-hour and it should be on our beam. Sud- 
 denly it was sighted, but only the upper part of it. This 
 island, which is nearly a mile in length, rises abruptly 
 out of the sea, attaining a height of about 400 feet. 
 It is therefore conspicuous in clear weather at a con- 
 siderable distance. The fact that we now saw its upper 
 rocks hazily through the fog showed that the fog was 
 densest near the surface of the water. The sight greatly 
 increased our hopes, for we ran a good chance of seeing 
 
 32
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 the highest summit of the Great Foze at a distance of 
 about a mile if the condition of the fog did not again get 
 worse. But presently the fog closed over Vickillane, 
 and we were left to our speculations as to the limits of 
 visibility. 
 
 With a white shimmer of reflected light, but coal black 
 in colour, the Atlantic stretched to our little horizon. 
 Looking over the side of the boat, one might fancy 
 oneself floating above some world of night and darkness 
 in which the eye sees nothing because there is nothing to 
 see. And, indeed, this idea is no mere fancy. The 
 beautiful phenomenon of the coal-black sea is referable 
 to the perfect purity of the water. There is nothing 
 beneath its surface to reflect the light from above. 
 It possesses, in fact, many of the optical properties of a 
 void; and as it sends back to the eye not the feeblest 
 trace of light, it presents just such an appearance as 
 would space itself if viewed from a world without an 
 atmosphere. Clouds and blue sky are atmospheric 
 phenomena. Outside the atmosphere the sky would look 
 inky black save where one's eyes encountered the white 
 and naked disk of the sun, or the brilliant, dimensionless 
 points of the stars. Into the black water beneath us we 
 actually see to astonishing depths; but there is nothing 
 to tell us of the depth to which our vision plumbs. The 
 living inhabitants are hidden from us. The smaller are 
 mostly transparent, and their spheres, disks, or streamers 
 float in the water unseen by our eyes. Only when drawn 
 
 33 c
 
 up in the silken net, washed into water and regarded in 
 suitable illumination, can we appreciate the wealth of 
 life and beauty of the plankton which inhabits that 
 translucent region. And again, the larger life, fish 
 of every sort, by the remorseless action of natural 
 selection, have acquired such a blackness over those 
 parts of their bodies which are exposed to the keen 
 eyes of enemies regarding them from above whether 
 in the upper waters or in the air that they, too, are 
 invisible to us. 
 
 We discourse on these matters, partly to pass the 
 time; partly, no doubt, to conceal from ourselves the 
 sense of failure which is growing stronger in us every 
 minute. For we have now been out about five hours, 
 and as we estimate our progress as not less than 3 miles 
 to the hour, we ought to be at the Foze already. But 
 it remains shrouded from view. Our vision may now 
 extend about one quarter-mile, we think. Quite possibly, 
 then, we have missed the tiny islands we are seeking, and 
 are now pulling steadily out into the ocean, leaving them 
 further astern every moment. If this has happened 
 we are indeed doomed to complete failure, for we know 
 not how to mend our course. Have we passed the rocks 
 on the port or on the starboard ? There is nothing to 
 tell us, and no other land is visible from which any idea 
 of our position can be obtained. There is no use specu- 
 lating upon the cause of our failure. It is, indeed, pretty 
 certain that it is to be ascribed to the strong tidal currents. 
 
 34
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 In considering the effects of these we had been in hopes 
 that they would in a great degree correct one another's 
 effects, owing to their changes with the tide. But it 
 seemed to us now that in this we were disappointed. 
 
 It was during a moment of anxious silence that we 
 first became aware of a melancholy sound of wailing 
 proceeding from the fog somewhere far ahead. Simul- 
 taneously we paused upon our oars and listened with 
 feelings of the most indescribable astonishment, not to 
 say alarm. And, indeed, the sounds were so eerie, and 
 so startling in their mere existence in such a place, that 
 fear was a very excusable sensation. Then there was 
 a pause in the dreary sounds, and we asked each other 
 what the sounds could possibly be. Not one of us could 
 hazard a probable guess. The boatmen alone had a 
 theory. It was a banshee, they said, for certain. But 
 there they are again. Long-drawn moans such as might 
 be emitted by some weak soul condemned to death 
 without reprieve. Now they stop, dying away, and now 
 they break out afresh. The same conviction, wild as 
 it might appear, came simultaneously to us all. There 
 must be shipwrecked people on the Foze. Our visit 
 may be providentially timed. 
 
 This explanation is, of course, quite possible, especially 
 in view of the weather conditions which have now for 
 many days prevailed on the coast. But, unless we were 
 listening to the near moans of people on the verge of 
 death, the sounds are not such as would be made by men 
 
 35
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 seeking help. We were, however, very sure now that we 
 were going straight for the Foze. Physical explanations 
 were, of course, discussed. It is known that a peculiar 
 formation of caves in the rocks may, under the action 
 of the ocean swell, cause strange moaning noises, as the 
 air is driven in, and again sucked back, through openings 
 in the rock. But, again, as we listen, this theory is 
 abandoned. There are plainly many voices concerned 
 in this melancholy chorus. 
 
 There was now considerable danger that our crew 
 would absolutely refuse to go forward. With minds 
 a prey to every form of superstition, overmastering 
 fears might well lead to positive mutiny. Underlying 
 my own feelings of apprehension was, of course, the 
 conviction that a perfectly natural explanation must 
 exist for the mysterious sounds. But the men who 
 made up our crew could have no such reassuring belief. 
 Their faces plainly expressed their thoughts. They 
 watched us sulkily, repeating their conviction that all 
 was not right. We asked them if they had ever heard 
 such sounds before. They said they had not. Upon 
 this we said there might be many simple explanations of 
 such sounds; and as there was at least the possibility 
 that they proceeded from beings in distress, it was plainly 
 our duty to get forward as fast as we could. 
 
 This was not altogether a wise speech, addressed to 
 such an audience. There is a strange and dreadful 
 belief among the seafaring natives of this coast that 
 
 36
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 it is a fatal act to rescue those whom the sea claims as its 
 victims. The idea seems to rest upon a pagan personi- 
 fication of elemental forces. The sea must be satisfied; 
 and if the struggling wretch is picked from the water, his 
 rescuer will surely be required as an expiatory offering. 
 So I have heard this dreadful superstition explained. 
 Certain it is that deplorable and frightful results occa- 
 sionally follow. It is now but a few years since a mackerel 
 boat overladen with fish was swamped on this very coast, 
 at the entrance to Valencia Harbour, where a heavy 
 ground swell frequently prevails. This occurred near 
 midnight upon a dark night. There was an accompanying 
 fishing-boat which could easily have picked up the 
 drowning men, but it proceeded upon its way into the 
 harbour fled the spot, in fact, every ear closed to the 
 cries of the rictims of the sea. The keeper and assistant- 
 keeper of the lighthouse listened with horror to the 
 despairing sounds quite close to them ; but they could do 
 nothing, being in accordance with lighthouse regula- 
 tions unprovided with any sort of boat. The part 
 played by the surviving crew only came to light some 
 days later, in the bar-room of the public-house. In the 
 chapel, I am glad to say, the senselessness and cowardliness 
 of the crime were the subject of severe condemnation on 
 the ensuing Sabbath. With such a superstition in their 
 minds our crew may have been affected by our exhor- 
 lation in precisely the opposite manner to that which 
 we intended. 
 
 37
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 As we advanced, now pulling with increased speed, 
 the sounds grew in loudness, still ever preserving 
 their human tone and sorrowful character. Some voices 
 there were which keened more loudly than the others, 
 and there were variations of key; some were a little 
 higher or a little deeper than others, but no accent of 
 hope ever mingled in the chorus. 
 
 Fancy might well run wild with us. It is fog, fog, 
 fog, nothing but fog all around. I think for an instant 
 that the whole thing is a nightmare. The fog has entered 
 into our souls. We are back in the world's history 
 3,000 years. These are the Syrens of Ulysses, and they 
 are singing to our destruction. Or we are hearing the 
 wailing of Stygian souls wrested from the Guardian 
 Monster of the tomb and permitted for a brief spell to 
 proclaim their sorrows to the light of day. Or, perhaps, 
 we are now about to discover some unknown creature 
 of the sea ! 
 
 And now the sounds seem strangely near. We look 
 round continuously from our oars, for we are near the 
 solution of the mystery. Someone cries out, " What is 
 that ?" It is a vast blackness looming right ahead, 
 coming down on us through the fog like the bow of a 
 great vessel. Yes, it is indeed the Great Foze which 
 we have hit off as by a miracle. And look ! Man-like 
 beings swarm upon its black rocks and gaze upon us with 
 large startled eyes. Syrens ? Mermaids ? No, but 
 seals (Phocida) the beautiful mammals which inhabit 
 
 38
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 these wild coasts. And now they fly our presence. They 
 slide and waddle down the steep rocks. A splash and 
 they are gone, vanished like a vision. The barren 
 island stands desolate and alone before us, and the only 
 sounds we hear are those of the water running in and 
 out of the gullies in the rocks. There was no doubt of it. 
 We actually heard their voices die away as they sighted 
 the terrifying apparition of our boat. The explanation 
 was found. 
 
 We hold water with our oars and look upon each other. 
 Why had we not thought of this simple solution of the 
 mystery ? We had, in fact, actually once before heard 
 such sounds in the remote waters of an inlet on the 
 west coast of Mull, and at that time made sure that seals 
 were responsible for it. No other animal makes such a 
 weirdly human sound. Off the sands of Doaghs they 
 appear in a colony with every fall of the tide. Many a 
 time since then we have heard them making moan to 
 the booming of the distant Atlantic, when waters are low 
 and the night is dark. Strange creatures, almost human 
 in intelligence ! persecuted by man because he and 
 they seek the same prey, although we may be sure the 
 seal is guilty of none of the wanton waste of life which 
 attends man's depredations. 
 
 As we approach yet closer to the rocks many of the 
 seals return to our neighbourhood, swimming round the 
 boat. Some of them swim on their backs beneath the 
 water, and look up at us with their dog-like eyes. One 
 
 39
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 would conclude that they had never seen man or boat 
 before. The pace and power of their swimming is a 
 joy to watch. Although they are air-breathers, they 
 possess enviable powers of diving, and their strength is 
 extraordinary. We once tried to capture a baby seal 
 in a Scottish loch. The tiny thing, although we had it 
 hunted into shallow water, was quite impossible to hold, 
 and made a triumphant escape into the depths. 
 
 The cause of the strange moaning of the seal has, so 
 far as I am aware, never been explained. Whenever the 
 seal finds himself on land he appears to indulge in this 
 sad music. The sounds may well be described as musical. 
 The note is rich and full, and carries a considerable dis- 
 tance, certainly over 3 miles. And yet it does not appear 
 to be a very loud sound when heard near-by. It seems 
 hard to imagine that the musical gift is confined to 
 either sex, for, listening to the crying of a seal colony, 
 it always seems as if every individual must share in the 
 performance. 
 
 During the recent summer (1916) we had an opportunity 
 of observing this habit of the seal at fairly near distance. 
 We happened to be one afternoon at the very extremity 
 of the Rossbehy dunes. Beyond this point, with a deep 
 and rapid arm of the sea intervening, lies, at a distance 
 of about three-quarters of a mile, a bank which uncovers 
 at low water. This is the regular basking-place of one 
 or more seal colonies, and has been so now for several 
 years. Sure enough, a colony of some fifteen or twenty 
 
 40
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 individuals of various sizes were to be seen reclining 
 
 on the sloping sands or waddling about, apparently at 
 
 play. The melancholy sounds came to us in fitful 
 
 bursts : indescribably mournful they were. After listening 
 
 some time we lay down upon the sand at the water's 
 
 edge and did our best to howl across the intervening strip 
 
 of water in the same weird fashion. For some little 
 
 time there was no effect. Presently they were all looking 
 
 across at us. We howled more dismally than ever. Now 
 
 they were thoroughly roused. Simultaneously they all 
 
 disappeared off their bank. The next thing we saw, 
 
 after a remarkably short interval, was the appearance 
 
 of a grey and shiny head looking at us from the water 
 
 quite near-by. Others then appeared, each with placid 
 
 head, inspected us for a few seconds, probably made up 
 
 their minds that we were a fake, and disappeared into the 
 
 secrecy of the sea. They are very human in their 
 
 subjection to feelings of curiosity. 
 
 To return to my narrative. The romance of the 
 mournful music being now quite ended, we turn our 
 attention to the rocks. A glance strengthens the sus- 
 picion that we are dealing with a lava, and that the 
 whole island is indeed composed of this variety of rock. 
 But it is necessary to land in order to make sure of this 
 inference. 
 
 In spite of the dead calm, this is by no means easy. The 
 eternal breathing of the Atlantic is not really quieted. 
 The black water rises slowly upon the rocky walls draped 
 
 41
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 in olive-brown weed, lifting every tendril, and again 
 descends, followed by showers of white foam, where the 
 water runs back from pools and ledges. Landing on 
 such ledges means a wetting at least. We explore the 
 coast of the tiny island, and even discuss the possibility 
 of swimming ashore. But at one place, where the swell 
 at this state of the tide just mounts to the top of a smooth 
 weed-covered wall of rock, but leaves the ledge above 
 uncovered, we discover a likely spot. The boat is backed 
 in stern on to the rock. Four rowers stand by with 
 oars ready to pull off at a signal. Then, just as the stern 
 rises to the ledge one of the party jumps from the stern 
 seat. The signal is given, and a simultaneous pull on the 
 oars removes the boat from the risk of crashing down 
 on possible dangers concealed beneath the weeds. Two 
 of us land in this manner. To leave the boat in sole 
 charge of hands of whom we know nothing does not 
 appear to be a prudent course, apart from other con- 
 siderations. 
 
 Climbing the smooth black rock, we find everywhere 
 the same materials. It is undoubtedly a dense and 
 compact lava. To all appearance it was formed as an 
 injection or as the base of a deep submarine flow. For 
 there is no sign of the porous structure or layers of ashes 
 which generally characterise surface outflows of volcanic 
 lavas. A botanical examination, with but poor results, 
 is made by one of the party. There are nothing but 
 algae to reward the search . Some of the rock-pools high on 
 
 42
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 the island are brackish, and, plainly, are partly filled 
 with rain-water. All appearances suggest that in winter 
 the sea makes a clean breach over the entire island. No 
 more wild and exposed position exists in the world. We 
 each land in turn, and remove with the aid of hammer and 
 chisel a considerable number of rock samples. That 
 the rock had indeed been visited in former years is proved 
 by finding the rusted remains of an iron stanchion em- 
 bedded in it. This is doubtless a relic of the time when 
 its availability to serve as a lighthouse station was 
 being investigated. 
 
 We had attained the island at about 1.30 p.m.; it was 
 now a little after 2 o'clock. We returned to the boat and 
 rowed for the Lesser Foze. Upon it I landed. The rock 
 was similar in character to that of the larger island. 
 Most of it was only just above the highest wash of the 
 swell, and I paid for my visit the trivial penalty of wet 
 feet. I splashed about among rock- pools filled with 
 gorgeous sea- anemones and often lined with the dark 
 purple sea-urchins. Everywhere was abundant oar-weed. 
 We had now been absent from Valencia more than 
 six hours. It was necessary to have some consideration 
 for those we had left behind, and who would be anxious 
 if darkness fell before our return. So we said farewell 
 to these rocks, immemorial outposts of a continent, and 
 left them to their loneliness. A moment later and they 
 were lost in the fog. We had settled down to our task 
 of rowing back to Valencia. 
 
 43
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 When nearing the coast we saw the not very unusual 
 
 sight of one of the great Basking Sharks enjoying a siesta 
 
 upon the surface of the sea. These fish are sometimes 
 
 termed Sun Fish, although the name is more correctly 
 
 applied to a relatively small animal which, however, 
 
 possesses the same curious habit of " basking." The 
 
 larger fish (Selache maxima] which we now saw is, in fact, 
 
 the largest fish in the North Atlantic, attaining a length 
 
 of 30 feet or even more. It is hunted for its oil in the 
 
 manner of whale-fishing, by harpooning. As much as 
 
 from i to 1 1 tons of oil is taken from a single fish. This 
 
 shark is said to be harmless to unaggressive man, as its 
 
 teeth, although numerous, are small; but when hunted 
 
 it has been known to stave in the sides of a large boat 
 
 by a blow of its powerful tail. Its habit of basking renders 
 
 it conspicuous at a considerable distance; for clouds of 
 
 gulls then hang above it or perch upon the partly exposed 
 
 body, feeding, it is said, upon crustaceans, etc., adhering 
 
 to the skin of the somnolent monster. On nearer 
 
 approach the large and conspicuous dorsal fin may be 
 
 recognised projecting high out of the water. This rocks 
 
 to and fro as the fish is swayed by the swell. It is a 
 
 strange sight. The true Sun Fish (Orthagoriscus mola] 
 
 presents a very similar appearance at some little distance. 
 
 Its much less dimensions easily distinguish it when seen 
 
 closer. It is commercially valueless. 
 
 If another brief digression be excused, the following 
 adventure with one of these great fish may be worth 
 
 44
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 recording. Some few years before the date of my narra- 
 tive we were making a passage from Bearhaven to 
 Valencia in a lo-ton cutter, the Woodcock, a sturdy and 
 seaworthy boat if ever there was one. Light and 
 baffling winds held us up, and the heavy swell which 
 prevailed did not serve to accelerate our pace. Such 
 were the conditions when we found ourselves under the 
 frowning cliffs of Bray Head cliffs which receive the 
 Atlantic waves on the south coast of Valencia Island. 
 Here we rolled for some time with only enough wind to 
 keep the main sheet taut. It was not a comfortable 
 position, for there appeared to be an indraught with the 
 swell which continually set us inwards towards the 
 rocks. If the wind completely failed we might have 
 trouble. 
 
 Suddenly a flock of gulls was observed between us and 
 the shore, suggesting either a Sun Fish or a Basking 
 Shark, or, possibly, a shoal of fish. Then we saw the 
 great fin flapping to and fro, which plainly told us it 
 was one of the former. It happened that my skipper was 
 an ambitious man as well as a bold and dexterous one. 
 He asked leave to have a try at catching the fish, re- 
 presenting the matter as of possible monetary advantage 
 to the crew in general and to himself in particular. 
 He stated that the fish before us was certainly the kind 
 containing the oil, and that he knew of as much as four 
 or five pounds being obtained for the oil of a single fish. 
 Of course we consented, although it was not plain to 
 
 45
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 us how the thing was to be done, with the appliances 
 available on board. 
 
 Mat Ward that was my skipper's name informed 
 us that he proposed lassoing the animal, and stated that 
 the spinnaker brace a new galvanised wire rope with 
 a manilla fall for securing on board was just the thing. 
 Upon this he fashioned a running noose and proceeded 
 to climb from the bowsprit on to the bobstay. 
 
 I had the tiller at the time, and filling her on the star- 
 board tack we were now between the shark and the 
 land stood out seawards towards the drowsy monster. 
 The assemblage of gulls screamed and flew away at our 
 approach; but the big fin was still there, flapping on the 
 swell as before. Bringing the Woodcock into the wind, 
 as if we were about to pick up a mooring buoy, it was 
 easy to give her just so much way as to very slowly 
 approach the shark. I could not see what went on 
 forward, but my friends relate that Mat got the loop 
 right over the head and body of the animal, almost down 
 to the great dorsal fin. If he accomplished this feat 
 the fish was very securely roped, for the lower fins of the 
 animal, which are nearer to the head, would have pre- 
 vented the rope from readily slipping forward. What- 
 ever he actually accomplished, he succeeded in thoroughly 
 awakening the monster. Then something happened. 
 
 There was a cry of " He is sounding !" and lo ! we were 
 taken in tow. Control of the Woodcock's course had 
 left my hands. Mat shouted to me to keep her to star- 
 
 46
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 board, but I was helpless. The tightly strained rope 
 slipped along the rail of the starboard bow, and as it did 
 so the yacht began to heel over. This was decidedly 
 alarming. We knew nothing of the strength of the fish 
 to which we were attached. There was no means at 
 hand for cutting adrift. More and more we heeled 
 under the struggles of the huge animal. Then blessed 
 and hoped-for relief ! there was a loud crack and the 
 fish was gone. 
 
 It was fortunate for the curtailment of our period of 
 anxiety that Mat had made the manilla fall fast on the 
 mast. The brace had gone at the manilla. I lost a new 
 brace and the shark, doubtless, suffered from tight-lacing 
 for some time. It is not always prudent to attempt 
 the unknown. 
 
 At about 7 o'clock we sighted the Valencia lighthouse, 
 appearing like a white ghost out of the fog. No breath of 
 wind assisted to lighten our labours. We had again made 
 a very straight course. We landed at 7.30 o'clock. 
 
 This is not designed to be a record of scientific in- 
 vestigation, so I will only say here a word as to the 
 geological aspect of our expedition. 
 
 The rocks which occur upon the westerly headlands of 
 the Dingle peninsula pre-eminently at Clogher Head 
 are well known to geologists as being of exceptional 
 interest. Here are found plentiful fossils of Silurian 
 age and, intermingled with them, lavas and volcanic 
 ashes. Now, this indicates that these lava flows occurred 
 
 47
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 in Silurian times. They must have flowed out upon the 
 floor of the sea upon which the dead remains of Silurian 
 life were accumulating. There are only two other 
 localities known in the United Kingdom where there is 
 similar clear evidence of volcanic activity during Silurian 
 times. 
 
 This paucity of volcanic activity during this great 
 epoch of the world's history is all the more remarkable 
 because the preceding age that known as the Ordovician 
 period was characterised by very abundant volcanism. 
 In South and North Wales, in the Lake District, in South 
 Scotland, in County Dublin, in Wicklow and Waterford, 
 etc., contemporaneous Ordovician volcanic materials 
 have been abundantly found. This period has been in 
 consequence described as an Age of Fire. The cessation 
 of volcanic activity in Great Britain and Ireland during 
 the ensuing period is remarkable. Any evidence for its 
 continuance is therefore of special interest. The rocks 
 of the Dingle peninsula furnish such evidence, contrary 
 to the general testimony of Silurian rocks in the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 As I have said, the Dingle peninsula is undoubtedly 
 prolonged in the outlying islands. Of these, Vickillane 
 shows an association of fossils of Silurian age and volcanic 
 materials not very different from that upon the main- 
 land. The northern promontory of this island is rich 
 in Silurian fossils. The main body of the island is 
 composed of lavas, some of which are highly vesicular;
 
 A VISIT TO THE FOZE ROCKS 
 
 some of them are banded. There is every appearance of 
 cooling under surface conditions. Part ot the lava is 
 indeed a pumice, which is always a surface product of 
 volcanism. The fact now ascertained that the Foze 
 Rocks are formed out of lavas probably belonging to the 
 same great series of flows brings up the Silurian volcanic 
 area of this remarkable district to a total of not less 
 than 10 miles in westerly extension, most of this being 
 concealed beneath the Atlantic. 
 
 What vicissitudes these island-forming lavas may have 
 undergone since they originally solidified we cannot say. 
 But they probably cooled down when the world was not 
 less than some 90 millions of years younger than it now 
 is, and it is certain that their sculpturing into their 
 present form by the patient attack of the Atlantic waves 
 took many scores of thousands of years to accomplish. 
 
 Till late that night, after our fatigue had disappeared, 
 we recalled reminiscences of the years which one by 
 one had slipped away. Such talk has always a prevailing 
 tone of melancholy. Perhaps as the result of our long 
 experience of the day, perhaps as partly inherent in the 
 subject of our conversation, a sense of drifting, of drifting 
 on a shoreless sea, seemed to take possession of me and 
 to pervade all my thoughts. There was the feeling of 
 groping and uncertainty, of being borne along in bright 
 but baffling light above some unfathomed region of 
 darkness. These feelings would not be shaken off. 
 
 49 D
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Perhaps we all felt them. Our talk died away into 
 silence. I think we were then hearing an echo of the 
 strange music with which our outward journey had 
 ended. 
 
 Then we went out for a little under the stars. The 
 sky had cleared. Midnight had long passed, but the 
 dawn was not yet. We heard afar the booming of the 
 Atlantic, and the sounds seemed to harmonise with the 
 mystery of the night. 
 
 THE FOZE ROCKS.
 
 Ill 
 
 WITH THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 IN AMERICA 
 
 AN ESSAY DIRECTED TOWARDS IRISH 
 RECONSTRUCTIONAL PROBLEMS* 
 
 WITH the downfall of German influences on Anglo- 
 Saxon higher education, and more especially the 
 weakening of those influences on American University 
 ideals, the need for more intimate mutual understand- 
 ing between American and British Universities came 
 into being. This was early recognised in America. 
 And it was in response to the invitation of the American 
 Council of National Defence that the Foreign Office 
 recently sent representatives of the British Universities 
 to the States to visit the leading American Universities 
 and to discuss with American educational experts the 
 steps proper to the development of a more intimate 
 association of the academic life of both countries, the 
 interchange of students and professors being more 
 especially kept in view. 
 
 It is evident that the object is one of international 
 importance; not only with respect to the advancement 
 
 * Lecture delivered before the Royal Dublin Society, February 
 the 5th, 1919. 
 
 51
 
 of learning and the benefit to research which must 
 attend an intermingling of the University life of the 
 two countries, but because an even more important 
 result may confidently be expected to arise: the 
 strengthening of the bonds binding together the two 
 great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 
 We may be sure that no League of Nations, no Entente, 
 can either equal in effectiveness or replace sympathetic 
 mutual understanding and the possession of similar 
 ideals. Alike in origin and language, with a great 
 literature in common, with similar democratic aspira- 
 tions, it only remains for the free intermingling of the 
 British and American peoples to cement the whole 
 into a great world influence on the side of truth, justice, 
 and peace. 
 
 By the migration, more especially, of young Univer- 
 sity students is this supremely important result to be 
 most certainly achieved. In his boyhood the man 
 can effect this wonder. It is then he receives impres- 
 sions most readily. It is then he makes his lifelong 
 friendships. And, given a sustained migration of 
 University students in both directions, an ever-in- 
 creasing sympathy between the peoples must arise. 
 These influences permeate rapidly in democratic com- 
 munities. Increased circulation in other ranks of society 
 must follow. Mutual distrust, founded upon ignorance 
 and want of sympathy, will disappear, and an over- 
 whelming influence on the side of peace will ensue. The 
 
 52
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 boy has won the world's salvation on the battlefield: 
 it is for him now to win the world's peace on the 
 playground. Such is the great idea underlying the 
 Balfour Mission, the reticence of official diction not- 
 withstanding. 
 
 And our quest had also a curious archaic aspect 
 which was many times vividly before me, more espe- 
 cially when our train was running hour after hour 
 through the primeval forests and more remote regions 
 of the American continent. Then, especially when twi- 
 light came on, the endless receding panorama, as seen 
 from our observation car, suggested some strange journey 
 into the past. What were we out for ? To put back 
 the hands of the clock. In the Middle Ages the student 
 travelled from one University to another. He traversed 
 the long and adventurous roads separating the studium 
 generate of his city from some similar place of learning 
 elsewhere. Surely the Angel of Peace was by his side 
 and guided his footsteps ! With the intensified religious 
 rivalry attending the Reformation that beneficent custom 
 ceased from Europe. The Angel veiled her face and 
 withdrew to a better world. The wandering student 
 disappeared, the long highways knew him no more, and 
 this sacred bond between the young of all civilised lands, 
 instead of growing in strength, was destined to dissolve 
 and disappear. Yes ! the purpose of our mission is to 
 put back the hands of the clock, to restore the old con- 
 ditions, and to invoke once more if it might be that 
 
 53
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 departed Angel to a world weary of war and longing for 
 the blessings of enduring peace. So great an ideal 
 might well transform the melancholy landscape with 
 " the light that never was on sea or land." 
 
 We left the Mersey on September the 28th, 1918. 
 A large convoy of returning transports along with several 
 destroyers accompanied us for a couple of hundred 
 miles. We were thereafter alone on the ocean. We 
 reached New York on October the gth. There is not 
 time in this lecture to tell of our wanderings. I must, 
 however, bear testimony to the generous hospitality 
 which was everywhere extended to us; to the perfect 
 organisation which spared us all the trouble of travel, 
 and provided us with a recognised educational expert 
 as a travelling companion; to the honour which was 
 accorded to us. We were received and most hospitably 
 entertained by President Wilson at the White House 
 a building which, as the President reminded me, is 
 architecturally similar to this Leinster House in which 
 we are now assembled. In Canada we were graciously 
 received by His Excellency the Governor-General and Her 
 Excellency the Duchess of Devonshire. I would much 
 like to tell you of the kindly and high-minded men 
 Presidents, Deans, and Professors of the Great Univer- 
 sities whom we met: men, very often, of world-wide 
 reputation. But I must pass on, because not only 
 must I keep before you the object of the mission as being 
 bound up with the reconstruction of the world, but I 
 
 54
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 must also dwell upon the subject of the educational 
 reconstruction of Ireland. 
 
 I had been to the States rather more than twenty years 
 ago. The changes in the great cities which had arisen 
 in the interval between then and now were strikingly 
 apparent. But I soon came to see that the changes 
 were not confined to material development. If I do 
 not err, the people themselves have advanced towards a 
 more idealistic civilisation and towards higher aspirations. 
 And the idealism of modern America is largely directed 
 to educational aims of the wisest and most far-reaching 
 kind. This is the sanest- outcome of a democratic 
 civilisation. And the more thoughtful Americans clearly 
 recognise that only in this direction is democracy assured 
 of a great future. But I think a large number of Americans 
 derive their zeal in the cause of education simply from 
 the fact that they are child-lovers. 
 
 We had only been a couple of days in New York when 
 we were taken to visit a privately built and endowed 
 elementary school some thirty miles up the Hudson. We 
 ran out on motors through the autumn glories of scarlet, 
 green, and gold, past exquisite glimpses of the beautiful 
 river and its lofty overhanging cliffs, till we reached 
 Mr. Vanderlip's home. He himself took us over his 
 school. It is perfect in every respect within and without. 
 Why had he built it, and why does he spend a fortune 
 upon its excellent teaching staff ? He wished the 
 children, poor and rich, of his locality to have a really 
 
 55
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 good school in which they might learn to become good 
 men and women. His own little children attend it. 
 There was no mistaking the sincere enthusiasm which 
 governed his actions. I believe Mr. Vanderlip to be a 
 type in modern America. We are not without such men 
 here. Witness the beneficent play centre of St. Patrick's 
 Park in this city. Witness St. Stephen's Green, and 
 much private effort over the country. 
 
 Lest you should think I am possessed with exaggerated 
 ideas on the subject of American ideals of education, 
 I shall quote here from a very staid report issued some 
 years ago by the English Board of Education: "The 
 cause at which the nation is at one from the Washington 
 Senate to the slum settlement in New York or Chicago is 
 that of the education of the people. Public education 
 is felt to be of the art of nation-building; it is for this 
 that at the present moment the flag of the nation stands 
 rather than for Imperialism or any other purely political 
 development." 
 
 This was written eighteen years ago. It is even more 
 true to-day. 
 
 The high value placed on education in America is shown 
 in many ways by the large sums spent by the several 
 States on the State Universities and on the primary 
 and secondary schools; by the completeness and elaborate- 
 ness of all those institutions ; and, above all, the generous 
 multiplication of splendid schools everywhere, even in 
 quite remote regions. Some States of but a couple 
 
 56
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 of million inhabitants spend more money on their colleges 
 and technical institutes than the entire income of all 
 the Universities and colleges of the United Kingdom. 
 The enthusiasm for education is also shown in the great 
 and increasing literature on the subject. The general 
 interest in it is soon perceived by the visitor. Speak on 
 the subject to the average frequenter of the city club, 
 to your neighbour at dinner, or in the railway carriage, 
 whether man or woman, interest is instantly awakened. 
 You get new ideas and often details of information with 
 which you were unacquainted. The vast number of 
 educational experiments it is an experimental science 
 is another witness of the trend of national thought. 
 Finally, you have the unanswerable evidence of the 
 munificent donations given by private individuals 
 often anonymously or in memory of friends to the 
 schools and Universities. 
 
 The American ideal of school and University educa- 
 tion is one of democratic equality. There exist, indeed, 
 class schools, and to some extent class Universities, 
 but these are privately endowed. Co-education is 
 general in the public schools, and it exists in varying 
 degrees in most of the Universities. Another broad 
 principle prevails in school and University education. 
 No sectarian distinctions are permitted. In short, 
 the unifying principle is recognised as primary in the 
 American scheme of education. The varying national- 
 ities which flock to America can never develop into 
 
 " 57
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 good citizens if either religious or political differences 
 are allowed to prevail in school life. The child is taught 
 self-abnegation and subordination to the interests of 
 the State. In other words, he is brought up to the 
 highest ideal of citizenship. And the school is designed 
 to be in the words of a United States Commissioner of 
 Education " the symbol of an eternal unifying spirit." 
 But don't let it be thought that there is no religion 
 in the land; that the Bible is not read; that the churches 
 are empty. This would be an error. Those who desire 
 evidence on this point should read the able Report on 
 Moral Education in American Schools (from which I 
 have already quoted) issued by the British Board of 
 Education in 1902. My own experience is that religion 
 in the Universities is carried into everyday life 
 in a manner uncommon in this country. We were 
 received at Illinois with an allegorical representation 
 of the friendship between Britannia, Illinois, and Canada. 
 It was made the occasion of a solemn religious 
 ceremony, closing with prayer and the Benediction. 
 A couple of thousand people, at least, took part. The 
 churches attached to the Universities or associated with 
 the students are well filled on Sundays. The Y.M.C.A. 
 is active everywhere, and all religious denominations 
 are represented. Handbooks are issued, and handsome 
 settlement houses are open to the students. I have 
 here one of these handbooks. The Preface is written 
 by the president of the University. 
 
 58
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 The Bible is read in most of the public schools. Some- 
 times this is definitely enjoined by law of the State, as in 
 the case of the City of New York, with its five million 
 inhabitants, where the rule stands: "Sect. 134. All the 
 schools of this City under the jurisdiction of the Board of 
 Education shall be opened with reading a portion of the 
 Holy Scripture without note or comment." The Lord's 
 Prayer, too, is very often recited. But public money will 
 be denied to any school which teaches the tenets of any 
 particular religious sect. 
 
 There are many Universities associated with special 
 creeds eg., the fine Catholic University of America, at 
 Washington ; the Boston (Catholic) College, Chestnut Hill. 
 Others are essentially Protestant e.g., the Boston Uni- 
 versity. Such institutions are not supported by the State. 
 
 The American child is born into a world which in 
 many social particulars differs from our own. He, as 
 a social unit, claims equality with all his little fellow- 
 citizens. His eyes may first see light in a garret; the 
 complaints of poverty may be the first sounds to reach 
 his ears; but the moment he enters on his school life 
 perhaps at three and a half years when he is brought 
 to the Kindergarten or to the Montessori school, he is, 
 in virtue of his sacred humanity, a being having claims 
 upon the State equal to those of the child of the million- 
 aire. At six he enters the Elementary School. In these 
 early years he is taught side by side with other little 
 citizens of every grade of society. 
 
 59
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 I would like at this point to give you some idea of 
 the spirit which underlies American and Canadian 
 education. In addressing the Canadian teachers, the 
 President of the Winnipeg Normal School makes this 
 beautiful appeal : 
 
 " Would you hear your country's call ? I bring you 
 here those who are my hope. I bring you the children 
 of the wealthy and the children of the poor. I bring 
 you those who differ in race and in language, in custom 
 and in tendencies. I bring you the physically strong and 
 the physically weak; the mentally sound and those to 
 whom Nature has not given a full measure of strength. 
 I bring you my boys and my girls who are to be the 
 fathers and mothers in this great land. Will you accept 
 them all ? Out of this heterogeneous combination can 
 you bring unity ? Can you reconcile wealth and poverty 
 so that the feeling of a common brotherhood will prevail ? 
 Can you teach British, French, Germans, Scandinavians, 
 Icelanders, and Poles that in this free land all are equally 
 worthy if unreservedly they accept the honour and 
 perform the duties of true citizenship ? Can you rise 
 above distinctions in creed so as to forget that we have 
 Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant ? Can you, 
 in recognising to yourself distinctions of every kind, so 
 order your work that these will not be a source of 
 separation and contention, but the very elements of 
 strength in a nation in which the ideal of brotherhood 
 prevails ?" 
 
 60
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 In the Elementary School the boys and girls are 
 taught together. They learn English, mathematics, 
 Nature studies, writing, physical culture, and singing, 
 throughout the eight years. For lesser periods history 
 and drawing are taught. During the last two years 
 the boys learn carpentry and the girls household arts. 
 These are very popular subjects. Latin is optional. 
 I cite the curriculum in the public Elementary Schools 
 of Chicago. 
 
 When the child attains fourteen years the parent 
 may terminate his school education just as here in 
 Ireland. This is admittedly a blot on State education 
 in America, a blot which I was told would probably 
 soon be removed. The Fisher Act has lately removed 
 it from English school education. 
 
 If the boy's education is continued after his time in 
 the Elementary School is accomplished, he passes into 
 the Secondary or High School, and spends four years 
 there. 
 
 In the High School English and Latin are taught 
 for the whole four years, but a modern language may 
 be substituted for Latin. Physical culture, music and 
 drawing, also run for the four years. Algebra and 
 geometry and other sciences are taught for lesser periods. 
 There are many optional subjects. And very often 
 the career in the High School is replaced by one in a 
 School of Commerce or some other vocational institution 
 which combines general education with some bread- 
 
 61
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 winning subject of instruction. I believe I am correct 
 in adding that courses in civics or " citizenship " are now 
 included in all, or nearly all, American public school 
 curricula. To teach the relation of the individual to the 
 State and the supreme importance of the interests of the 
 latter are the objects in view. 
 
 The High Schools of America are wonderful wonder- 
 ful in accommodation, in equipment, and in the spirit 
 which appears to prevail between teacher and pupil. 
 The relations of pupil and teacher are, according to our 
 ideas, peculiar. The teacher is on a footing of equality 
 with the pupil to an extent which we would deem in- 
 jurious. Some claim for this the advantage that the 
 pupil in consequence reveals his defects more readily. 
 It need hardly be said that more than this is aimed at 
 by the laxness of the American system. Pages might be, 
 and have been, written about what is intended. Briefly, 
 it is to treat the child as a reasonable being; to train him 
 to self-control under the guiding influences of the teacher's 
 personality and the public opinion of the class. In 
 short, the aim is " character-building." The personality 
 of the teacher is admittedly the most important factor, 
 and this factor cannot have full play if there is a formal 
 relationship between teacher and pupil. The want of 
 ceremonial diffidence towards the school-teacher, coupled 
 with the mixing of all grades of society, would appear 
 to impose a heavy burthen on the teacher. And so they 
 do. It is said that European teachers almost invariably 
 
 63
 
 fail to handle an American school class. There is no 
 corporal punishment or at least it is very rare. An 
 unruly child is sent home and his attendance suspended 
 for a period. Whatever be the defects of the system, 
 it certainly sends up to the colleges boys and girls equal 
 to our best. And the events attending conscription in 
 America seem to show that a great law-abiding and 
 patriotic middle and labouring class exists in the United 
 States. 
 
 I was anxious to obtain an insight into American 
 methods of school-teaching. At Houston, in Texas, 
 I asked to be allowed to take lessons in the Junior High 
 School. This was gladly granted. My first lesson 
 was in Hygiene. The teacher was a lady. There were 
 about twelve boys and as many girls between, say, 
 fourteen and sixteen years of age. The boys and girls 
 sat on separate benches. The teacher sat at a table on 
 which were bell-glasses covering preparations of gelatine 
 which bore evidence of bacterial infection. The children 
 had, evidently, on a previous occasion, themselves made 
 these cultures. The questions ran like this: Q. What did 
 you do to this plate ? A.I put my finger on it. Q. Why 
 did you do that ? A . To see if there were bacteria on 
 my finger. Q. Are there other sources of bacteria ? 
 A. Oh yes, lots. My saliva, the air, objects lying about. 
 And so on, the boys doing most of the answering. 
 
 My next lesson was a Nature-study. The subject was 
 common rocks a subject I have myself sometimes en- 
 
 63
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 deavoured to teach. The teacher was an elderly gentle- 
 man. He seemed pleased to have a contemporary pupil. 
 I sat in the back row. A couple of dozen boys, or rather 
 more, made up the class. The rock specimens came 
 round, and the boys said what they were and where 
 they had*come from. I gathered that the children had 
 themselves collected the specimens. One came to me. 
 A sweet little fellow on my right thought I was " stuck." 
 " Sandstone," he said in a whisper. And so it was. 
 May the Good Angel whose privilege it is to look after 
 little children protect and reward him ! For the years 
 of life, the long years, fell from me, and I had risen from 
 the grave. My school friends in their angelic youth 
 were by my side. The dream lasted but a moment . Then 
 it was broken; it faded and was gone. 
 
 These children were probably derived from various 
 nationalities. Some were Jewish in features. All were 
 spotlessly clean and nicely dressed. Their faces were 
 frank and open. The boys were manly little fellows. 
 My presence seemed to make no difference; I was just 
 greeted with friendly glances. To say the truth, I 
 rather envied teachers who seemed in such perfect 
 sympathy with their pupils. 
 
 The College or University receives the boy when he 
 is about eighteen. Between a College and a University 
 there is often but little distinction. Generally the 
 University is associated with the graduate school of 
 research leading to the higher degrees i.e. t to the 
 
 64
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 M.A. and Ph.D. and with the schools of the older 
 professions, Divinity, Law, and Medicine. The College 
 course is typically for four years, leading to a bacca- 
 laureate in Arts or Science, the B.A. and the B.S. A 
 large number of the Universities are State Universities. 
 These are supported by the several States, often by 
 means of a land-grant made to the University. Such 
 institutions generally possess a Faculty or School of 
 Agriculture. The endowed Universities such as Har- 
 vard, Yale, Johns Hopkins have nothing to do with 
 Agriculture. Some of these are fabulously wealthy, 
 and their graduate schools constitute the finest educa- 
 tional achievement of America. 
 
 In all the great Universities there is a most lavish 
 provision of equipment. Nothing is wanting either for 
 study or research, so far as money can supply it. The 
 health physical and mental of the students is con- 
 scientiously provided for. In some cases e.g., Pennsyl- 
 vania the boy is under medical supervision the whole 
 time, and the sports he takes part in depend on the 
 restrictions imposed by the University Medical Staff. 
 He must get credit for a couple of hours' gymnastic 
 training per week, and must learn to swim in his first 
 year. 
 
 The teaching staff are more numerous than in our 
 Universities. There may be twenty or more teachers 
 of English, for example, and the study of that subject 
 may be subdivided into ninety or more courses. And 
 
 65 E
 
 so for other subjects. It must be remembered that 
 the numbers of students dealt with are very great, up 
 to 8,000 in one University, or even more. A study of 
 any one of the great Universities e.g., Yale, Harvard, 
 Michigan, Pennsylvania, etc. is most impressive, not 
 only on the score of accommodation and equipment 
 and, very often, the high order of architectural beauty 
 attained by the buildings, but because of the sterling 
 qualities of the men who conduct these great institutions, 
 and, indeed, of the students who attend them. The lads, 
 so far as I met them, were just like the best of our own. 
 If I had a boy to send, I would gladly give him if only 
 for his own sake a session in one of these great Uni- 
 versities. It would be an education in itself. It is no 
 wonder that the alumni of these great institutions later 
 in life, if fortune smile upon them, return to their parent 
 and lavish their wealth upon her. 
 
 Such University benefactors have often been poor 
 indeed in their student days. Here, in a book of Students 1 
 Aids, issued by Harvard, the most select of the Univer- 
 sities, we have a list of the means by which a boy may 
 supplement his income. He may be a janitor, a waiter, 
 a professional shopper, etc., and even a " man to personate 
 Santa Glaus." The latter was poorly paid; he earned 
 but half a dollar. The family cows have been driven to 
 the college campus and the milk sold to fellow-students. 
 Goldsmith and Linnaeus had the like experience 
 in their day. In this land of right-thinking and divine 
 
 66
 
 ENTRANCE GATE OF A GREAT UNIVERSITY OF THE MIDDLE WEST 
 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS, MO. 
 
 To face page 66.
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 charity such students are honoured because of their 
 efforts. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great work which American 
 education has accomplished and the excellent material 
 it turns out, there are many American writers who 
 criticise their system on two points, which it is pro- 
 fitable for us to consider. It is said that purely infor- 
 mational teaching in contradistinction with cultural 
 teaching prevails to too great an extent in the schools. 
 It is an old belief of my own that one generation cannot 
 educate the next. Hence giving information to the 
 boy is of less importance than training his intellect 
 so that he may later in life take a clear and correct 
 view of the environmental factors of his time. The 
 second point is that too much is sacrificed to the demo- 
 cratic ideal. For on this, in America, is based the 
 idea that segregation of the clever boys and girls is 
 unfair to the less clever ones. Hence there are no 
 honour courses in the Universities and colleges. Now, 
 the evil here is that we fly in the face of that great law 
 prevailing throughout Nature the law of the survival 
 of the fittest, Nature's seemingly most merciless but 
 really most beneficent law. We in Great Britain are 
 unquestionably right in favouring the clever boy; he is 
 of more value to the State than the stupid lad. And 
 besides, it is very doubtful if we injure the latter by the 
 segregation of intelligence. 
 
 We have not yet in Ireland risen to the idea of a 
 
 67
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 University in really close touch with the life of the people. 
 The State University of America seeks by every means 
 to get into touch with the life of the State. It most 
 effectively does this by its many-sided educational 
 functions. There is a strong and increasing influence of 
 the University on the Schools. It aims at becoming the 
 real head of the whole educational system. It trains a 
 large part of the Secondary School teachers; it co- 
 operates with the public authorities in determining their 
 standards; and it offers free education to students residing 
 in the State. Let us consider the relation between State 
 University and Public School in Illinois, for example. 
 
 By a law of the State of Illinois, passed in 1911, it 
 is possible for the voters in the State to organise a High 
 School in any compact and contiguous territory of over 
 1,000 inhabitants. In consequence of this the Township 
 High Schools, 16 in number in 1900, rose to 263 in 1916. 
 It is believed that there will be 1,000 of them before 
 very long. The University of Illinois influences these 
 schools through its inspections, matriculation examina- 
 tion, and bulletins. The moment a student enters the 
 High School his acquaintance with the University begins. 
 He finds the syllabus laid down to meet the University 
 requirements; his teachers are in communication with 
 the Educational Faculty of the University; and the 
 School is periodically paraded before the University 
 inspector. The University holds an annual conference 
 which the teachers attend (Kevins' "Illinois"). In 
 
 68
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 all this there is much for us to ponder on, here in 
 Ireland. 
 
 But there is another direction in which the American 
 State University gets into touch with the wants of the 
 people: by its agricultural teaching and research. We 
 may, again, illustrate this by the case of the University 
 of Illinois. 
 
 At Illinois the work done for the State by the College 
 of Agriculture attached to the University falls under 
 three general heads: activity in research; dissemination 
 of advice and information by correspondence; teaching 
 in the College and in other institutes. 
 
 An extensive physical and chemical analysis of the 
 soil of Illinois has been made by the University. It is 
 a general State soil survey. A detailed one, even down 
 to 5-acre lots, is being carried out. These investigations 
 are a necessary basis for scientific methods of agriculture. 
 Important results have already been arrived at. Experi- 
 ments are being made on crop-production, milk-production, 
 and meat-production. The saving of millions of dollars 
 is said to have been effected by these experiments. 
 
 In the Nutrition Laboratory of the University experi- 
 ments have been conducted on the influence of different 
 kinds of feeding stuffs on the growth, fattening, and 
 nutrition of beef, cattle, swine, and lambs; and these 
 have established the best rations for such animals. These 
 experiments were extended to human diet. Conclusions 
 of the greatest importance were arrived at by these well- 
 
 69
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 known investigations. It would be impossible here to 
 go into the work on experimental entomology or on the 
 very different subject of fuels. Enough has been said 
 to show the practical spirit which animates much of the 
 work of the University. 
 
 That such undertakings would not be suited to our 
 older Universities in these countries will be held by many. 
 Still, I think we are steadily moving in that direction. 
 The older Universities of America were at first equally 
 slow to embark on practical technology and such sub- 
 ects as Commerce, Journalism, etc. Thus Columbia 
 University, although supported and urged by influential 
 business men, hesitated for a decade before she embarked 
 on Commerce, fearing an injurious reaction on the older 
 faculties. Yet to-day many Universities give degrees in 
 such subjects, and we have not thought it derogatory 
 te the dignity of Trinity College to encourage the subject 
 of Commerce. Nor have we stopped at Commerce. We 
 have pursued the descensus Averni so far as Agriculture. 
 While, however, willing to follow in the steps of the 
 young institutions of America so far, it is probable that 
 so long as our educational system in Ireland from bottom 
 upwards remains as it is, any further steps to follow 
 American precedent in its completeness must be attended 
 with difficulty. The educational hold which the State 
 University has on the community is largely due to the 
 Secondary or High School system of the country. We 
 have no such organised High Schools here in Ireland. 
 
 70
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 Of course, our class distinctions and religious denomina- 
 tional distinctions would, in any case, render it impossible 
 to establish any unifying University influence at the 
 present time. Still, I think there is room for much 
 valuable University influence on the Secondary Schools 
 of this country; not only on private schools, but on public 
 schools. It constitutes an important branch of re- 
 constructional work, needing much thought, knowledge, 
 and experience to successfully develop. For I am con- 
 vinced it is the sort of influence which should be invited 
 and developed, not enforced or created. It would 
 ultimately result in the several Universities of this 
 country getting into touch with such larger Secondary 
 Schools as were in sympathy with the ideals of the 
 University. The bond need not amount to affiliation, 
 but might involve advice, inspection, and the training 
 of teachers, and even in some cases the teaching of the 
 more advanced pupils by University teachers in scientific 
 subjects more especially. Then, too, the University 
 might conduct examinations and endorse leaving certifi- 
 cates Such a friendly alliance would benefit all parties 
 the students, the schools, and the Universities and 
 I think it would be welcomed by many masters of 
 Secondary and Intermediate Schools. 
 
 When we come to consider the agricultural functions 
 of the State Universities of America with reference to 
 our own country, we must refrain from suggestions 
 or conclusions till we have studied a different type 
 
 7*
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 of institution which in the United States and in Canada 
 has done splendid work for Agriculture. I refer to the 
 Agricultural College. 
 
 We may take as example the Iowa State College of 
 Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, the headquarters 
 of which are at Ames. I have here a report specially 
 prepared for the British Educational Mission by the 
 Director. We shall confine our attention to the Division 
 of Agriculture. 
 
 The work of the Agricultural Division includes three 
 major lines of organisation. These are 
 
 1. The College. 
 
 2. The Experiment Station. 
 
 3. The Extension Service. 
 
 We must again curtail our studies by confining our 
 attention to the work of the Experiment Station. 
 
 The Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station has for 
 its object to study the agricultural problems of the State. 
 These it summarises thus: 
 
 1. Improvement of crops and live stock by breeding. 
 
 2. Improved methods of growing and marketing 
 
 farm crops. 
 
 3. Maintenance of the fertility of soils. 
 
 4. New and better methods of feeding and handling 
 
 live stock. 
 
 5. Manufacture and marketing of dairy products. 
 
 6. Growing and marketing of fruit and truck crops. 
 
 72
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 7. Control of insect pests and plant diseases. 
 
 8. The housing of live stock and storing of crops. 
 
 9. Systems of farm management. 
 
 10. Social surveys of rural committees. 
 
 A large staff is employed. The projects of investiga- 
 tion at present under way number about one hundred. 
 A project has to be considered and approved by the 
 Director after being outlined by the members of the 
 staff. 
 
 The creation of an experimental farming station of 
 similar scope in this country would be the best of all 
 reconstructive acts. There can be no doubt of its use- 
 fulness and of the need for it, for there is really nothing 
 like this in Ireland. There is much good work of agri- 
 cultural propaganda going on, but a properly organised 
 and properly staffed experimental farming station does 
 not exist here. 
 
 Many years ago this project was very carefully con- 
 
 ^ 
 
 sidered by the Council of the Royal Dublin Society. 
 It was deemed to be, financially, within the ability of 
 the Society to carry through. We got valuable encourage- 
 ment from Sir Alfred D. Hall, then Director of Rotham- 
 stead, who considered such a station, as apart from 
 the work of Rothamstead, desirable, owing to the dif- 
 ferences in agricultural and climatic conditions in Ireland 
 and England. The matter fell through at the time. 
 To-day we might perhaps hope for Government support. 
 jt is a scheme which must affect the wealth of the 
 
 73
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Empire. I believe it is again under consideration. I 
 think we ought to stop considering it, and get it done. 
 
 Much of the value of such an Experimental Agricul- 
 tural Station would be lost if it was not made available 
 for agricultural instruction. It is in this connection 
 it comes, properly speaking, within the scope of my 
 remarks. The opportunities offered by it would be of 
 inestimable service to all those institutions in Ireland 
 which offer teaching in Agriculture. All alike should be 
 allowed, under certain conditions, to enter students for 
 practical instruction. 
 
 There are two other branches of education in the 
 States to which we here in Ireland should pay special 
 attention Commercial and Technical. 
 
 The establishment of Commercial Schools taking 
 the place of the High School and receiving boys who 
 have finished with the Elementary School is a com- 
 paratively recent development. I inspected a beautiful 
 institution of this kind at Boston. It held some thirteen 
 hundred boys, all under eighteen years of age. There 
 is, of course, a general educational course as well as 
 a business course. The boys are given opportunities 
 in the great business houses of Boston to acquire a 
 practical knowledge of their profession. They may 
 even earn considerable sums of money in this way. 
 The Director told me that last summer under the pre- 
 vailing war conditions his boys earned a total of over 
 70,000 dollars. He had a table showing the earnings of 
 
 74
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 the different grades. While such Commercial High 
 Schools are comparatively recent, the commercial or 
 business course in the High School is an older institution. 
 
 The first University of America to found a School or 
 Faculty of Commerce was Pennsylvania. This was 
 in 1881, by a private endowment. University Schools 
 and Colleges of Commerce are now everywhere, and 
 enormous numbers of students attend them. Fifteen 
 years ago there were over 190,000 commercial students 
 in the States. I have no recent figures. 
 
 The completeness of the curricula and the choice of 
 courses open to the student are well deserving of study. 
 In some colleges elaborate counting-houses, reproducing 
 all the fittings and trappings of a large commercial 
 house, are provided, and fictitious paper money is 
 dealt with. Business correspondence is carried on 
 with other schools or among the pupils. The Amanu- 
 ensis Course (Shorthand, Typewriting, etc.) is largely 
 patronised by women. Pennsylvania offers a four 
 years' course in Finance and Economy leading to the 
 B.E. Economics, and shorter courses in Commerce and 
 Industry, in Social Work, Business Practice, Banking, 
 Diplomacy, and International Law. 
 
 It is impossible to go further into the subject here. 
 The study of the scope and methods of commercial 
 teaching in the United States would be most profitable. 
 If we did things in this country the way we ought to 
 do them, we would send an expert in commercial educa- 
 
 75
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 tion to America to study its recent developments. I 
 believe the Royal Dublin Society would do good by 
 taking such a step. A full report would benefit the 
 whole country, and would help our Irish University 
 and School authorities to decide on the curricula best 
 adapted to Irish needs. 
 
 Turning to the subject of technical training, we are 
 again in the difficulty of having to dismiss in a few 
 words a subject on which volumes might be written. 
 When all is said, the most wonderful educational 
 feature of America is the Technical Laboratory. Yet, 
 strange to say, it is just possible that before many years 
 are out the University laboratory may no longer hold a 
 first place in the estimation of the engineer or electrician. 
 There appears to be a tendency towards teaching the 
 pupil by actual experience in the shop or factory. At 
 Cincinnati this is carried out, and very successfully 
 carried out. The student works for a fortnight in the 
 shops and then studies for a fortnight in the University 
 alternately. He is paid for his work in the shops at 
 current rates. But, of course, not every University 
 is so placed as to be able to offer its students the requisite 
 number and variety of engineering workshops. A half- 
 way " proposition " as an American would say is 
 for the works to supply to the University the latest 
 machines on loan. The object in both cases is to get 
 over the recognised difficulty of always providing up-to- 
 date machinery and appliances. One thing is worth 
 
 76
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 noting. There seems to be always the most cordial 
 desire on behalf of the big works to help the University 
 and the student. 
 
 The scale on which the Technical Laboratories are 
 built and equipped cannot be realised by any descrip- 
 tion. At Illinois I saw one of the great railway loco- 
 motives bodily brought, into the laboratory on a siding 
 for testing and experiment by the students. At Michigan 
 there was a full-sized naval design tank, and experiments 
 were going on upon wax models of submarines, etc. 
 I envied this more than anything I saw. At Yale 
 the engineering shop is just like a large works, with 
 travelling crane traversing the entire shop, so that the 
 heaviest machines could be carried about and grouped in 
 any way. This is a favourite feature. I have seen in 
 the larger institutions separate laboratories for experi- 
 ments on reinforced concrete, for stone-testing, concrete- 
 testing, metal and timber testing; and separate labora- 
 tories for steam engines, internal combustion engines, 
 for hydraulic machinery, electric generators, electric 
 motors; all manner of lathe work and metal work; 
 foundries for casting; and these all leading up to the 
 finer work of the physical laboratory, where, with delicate 
 instruments, furnace temperature, spectroscopic work, 
 electrical measurement, etc., were dealt with. And 
 from these one passes finally into the endless research 
 resources of the great physical and chemical depart- 
 ments. All are open to the student. Nothing too good 
 
 77
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 for education ! Of the many great Institutes of Tech- 
 nology and Schools of Technology of America I have 
 no time to speak. The Massachusetts Institute is recog- 
 nised as the largest of its kind in the world. 
 
 When are we going to reconstruct our methods and 
 opportunities for teaching technical science in Ireland ? 
 We have municipal schools here and there. Our College 
 of Science in Dublin is a credit to us. But the whole 
 subject requires to be handled in a broad way, on quite 
 a different scale. The first thing would be to get the 
 schools. And I believe they should be graded in the 
 matter of equipment. A comparatively inexpensive 
 equipment would do for boys of, say, fourteen to sixteen. 
 Such schools would teach the elements of mechanical 
 training along with a course in English, Mathematics, etc., 
 and they should not be segregated in the big cities. They 
 should be scattered over the small towns of Ireland. 
 When the boy had run, say, a two-year course in this 
 technical school, I would if he proved suitable draft 
 him into a larger city training school. That school should 
 endeavour to obtain the support of local manufacturers, 
 who would accept for instruction, in return for such 
 help as the lads could render, a small number of the older 
 boys. The final step would be the College of Science, the 
 University, or apprenticeship in the works. 
 
 There is ample material to feed such a training system. 
 The " one too many," instead of leaving his native land, 
 would become a help and a support to her. Money 
 
 78
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 spent on the building and equipment of a hundred such 
 schools in Ireland would be well invested. If only we 
 could get our authorities to see that herein that is, 
 in matters educational is the saving of this country ! 
 It is customary to talk of the temptations of the towns. 
 The temptations of the country are far worse. Few 
 not naturally ballasted with strong common sense or 
 good education can stand the loafing at country fairs, 
 or the holiday and there are plenty of them spent 
 sitting on a wall, in the lamentable occupation of nursing 
 one's grievances, reviving old ones and imagining new 
 ones. 
 
 Upon the subject of Primary Education in Ireland 
 it is difficult to say much. It is hedged round with 
 controversial questions. It is said that difficulties have 
 been raised in the way of the extension of the excellent 
 Fisher Act. Any radical improvement must involve 
 continuation schools; for the greatest evil of all in this 
 country is the early age of withdrawal of the children. 
 It is quite true what a recent writer has stated that 
 the vast majority of our youth receive no education 
 after thirteen or fourteen. The figures speak for them- 
 selves. In the last Report of the National Board we 
 read: "The average number of pupils over three and 
 under fifteen years of age, the limits of age defined in 
 the Act of 1892, Sec. 18, Subsec. (5), in daily attendance 
 was 483,732. The total average attendance of those who 
 were fifteen and above was 10,586, or 2-1 per cent, of 
 
 79
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the total number in average daily attendance." The 
 teaching is, I do not doubt, good. The fault is there is 
 not enough of it. 
 
 What becomes of a child withdrawn at fourteen years 
 of age ? He is put to herd cattle, weed the fields, run 
 messages, etc., and what should be the most important 
 years of mental growth are given over to mental atrophy. 
 The consequence is arrested mental development and a 
 useless citizen, or, possibly, one worse than useless. 
 I believe a large part of our troubles in this country are 
 due to this great sin of omission by the State. We 
 seldom consider how much of our troubles is due to our 
 own acts. There is no such thing as equilibrium in 
 animate communities of any sort. There is continual 
 unrest. There is nothing in itself unhealthy in such un- 
 rest. On the contrary, rest means stagnation and decay. 
 The danger is of such unrest finding vent in acts injurious 
 to the community. The American is quite aware of this 
 when he teaches his children subordination to the interests 
 of the State citizenship, in other words. The child 
 should be kept in school till he learns something of these 
 things. 
 
 In Ireland the poor parent will tell you that he wants 
 the wages or the assistance of the child. He cannot 
 afford to keep him at school. This is, doubtless, very 
 often true. When it is, the State should devise means 
 of recompensing the parent. The child is too valuable 
 an asset to be let go adrift. 
 
 80
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 I have suggested elsewhere a palliative something 
 not so good as a continuation school, but better than 
 nothing; something which, in many cases, would give 
 the child opportunities for good reading in his home 
 after he is withdrawn from school. I would endeavour 
 to accomplish this in two ways. I would have a juvenile 
 lending library hi every National School, and I would 
 issue a Juvenile Journal every week, to be delivered 
 gratis at the parents' cottage. On this weekly I would 
 spare no expense. Good paper, good pictures, good 
 stories, short instructive articles, simple problems to be 
 worked, and prizes to be won prizes worth having. In 
 order to get the child into the way of reading this Journal, 
 I would begin its issue before his retirement from school, 
 and then influence him to read it and win prizes. Such a 
 paper might influence the parent also and lighten the 
 darkness the unspeakable darkness of the winter 
 evening in the country cabin. Neither politics nor de- 
 nominational religion would find a place in its pages. 
 A Catholic and a Protestant Censor might sit with the 
 editorial staff if desired. 
 
 I know of a parish in Co. Kildare, and of a Vicar who 
 once lived there and who is now sixty years dead. He 
 established, at his own expense, a lending library for the 
 poor of his parish. There was a considerable children's 
 library. Vicar and Parish Priest worked this library 
 in concord, desiring simply to brighten the lives of the 
 people; and till death closed the labours of the moving 
 
 81 F
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 spirits of this simple charity, these little books, which 
 I have before me, circulated among the villagers. Of 
 the good that was done I have no record. That it has 
 left no record I do not believe.* 
 
 Is there anyone here who wants evidence of the defect 
 of primary education in this country ? To him I would 
 say, Go into their cabins. Do you really believe that 
 these people are unteachable ? Do you believe that 
 girls kept in school till they had learned something of 
 housecraft would live in such surroundings ? It is 
 little use teaching housecraft or hygiene to children 
 leaving at fourteen. They leave, not only before they 
 understand these things, but while they are still too young 
 to have any voice in home affairs. 
 
 Yes, we suffer in every way for our sins of omission. 
 There is no better invested money than money spent 
 on education. Our American cousins have recognised 
 this long ago. It is the biggest lesson to be learned 
 from America. If you won't spend money on educa- 
 tion, you have to spend far more in trying to curb the 
 
 * Perhaps I should finish this story of an unrecorded life. 
 The Vicar died young, while still almost a boy. Yet he had time 
 to do a good deal. For one thing he trained the village boys to 
 form a band; the Irish have a natural gift for music. He died 
 in Co. Dublin, and the coffin was brought by rail to Kildare. 
 There were many dreary miles between the railway station and 
 the village churchyard. It was winter, and snow was on the 
 ground. The parishioners carried the coffin the whole way, the 
 priest taking his turn with the others. Eleven years later I 
 know these people still remembered. And yet it is often said the 
 Irish are ungrateful. 
 
 82
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 evils of ignorance. Neglect the dwellings of the poor, 
 and your children catch the fevers of the slums. Neglect 
 the educational needs of the people, and the unrest of 
 life, which ought to be a healthful unrest, marking 
 progress onwards and upwards, turns to bitterness and 
 strife. 
 
 The last purely educational question I shall touch 
 upon is the starvation of the Universities in this country 
 that is, in Great Britain. We are no worse off here 
 than in England. The financial provision made by our 
 Government for University, medical, and higher technical 
 education in the United Kingdom is about 500,000 
 annually (England and Wales get 300,000; Scotland, 
 84,000; and Ireland, 100,000). The total annual 
 income of all the Universities and University Colleges in 
 the British Isles, including the Universities of Oxford 
 and Cambridge, is about 2,000,000. The income of 
 the Universities and Colleges of the United States is 
 20,000,000. This does not include benefactions, which 
 are much in excess of donations in England. The purely 
 Agricultural and Technical Colleges of the United States 
 receive an annual income of 7,000,000. The population 
 ratio is about 4 to 10. 
 
 What are the primary consequences of this national 
 parsimony ? In America there were in 1914, 34,000 
 students in Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts; 
 in Britain the corresponding number including all 
 technical students was 4,000. 
 
 83
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 The first Report (1915-1916) of the British Advisory 
 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research pointed 
 out that the primary conditions of success for its opera- 
 tions was a largely increased supply of competent 
 researchers. But you cannot get your researchers unless 
 you increase the number of the University students 
 from which the researchers come. And again, unless 
 you endow the Departments of Research in the Univer- 
 sities, you cannot expect high efficiency. There is another 
 reason why it is hard to get research students in this 
 country, and that is because we have not yet got over the 
 examination fetish. In America all manner of valuable 
 appointments are won by ability in research. This has 
 frequently been pointed out by writers on American 
 education. 
 
 The primary evil here is want of financial provision 
 for young researchers to use the new word in our 
 Universities. This is a subject on which I could say so 
 much that it seems better to say nothing. 
 
 In America the education of the teacher takes a 
 more important place than it has hitherto done in this 
 country. This is, of course, work of the most funda- 
 mental importance. The physiological psychology of 
 the child has been a prominent study for the last twenty 
 years in the States, as well as the study of the develop- 
 ment of the instincts of childhood and stages of mental 
 growth. When pedagogical teaching and training were 
 more recently introduced as graduate subjects in the
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 American Universities, pedagogy assumed the place of an 
 experimental science. In the Universities of Chicago and 
 of Columbia what has been called a Laboratory of Educa- 
 tion has been long established with very valuable results. 
 The monographs issued from the former school by 
 Professor Dewey are well known. This is work of which 
 but little seems to have been done in Ireland. 
 
 Our University schools of education are not what 
 they should be. They are laudable in design, but they 
 are understaffed. They are, in fact, starved. They 
 do not take the position they are entitled to occupy 
 among the other schools of the University. As a science 
 for University study and research of the first importance, 
 education has nowhere in Ireland received adequate 
 recognition, so far as I am aware. The College of Teachers 
 in Columbia University had a staff of more than seventy 
 special teachers some years ago. The School of Educa- 
 tion in the University of Chicago has seventy- five in- 
 structors to-day. Well staffed and highly organised 
 Elementary and High Schools are associated with the 
 University, in which the practice of teaching and the 
 experimental work are carried out. 
 
 It will be quite obvious that similar University develop- 
 ments in this country are out of the question so long 
 as the existing financial restrictions continue. 
 
 In thinking over our distressful educational state it 
 has sometimes seemed to me that an Irish Educational 
 Conference or Convention might do good. It might at 
 
 85
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 least lead to a clear statement of our wants in practical 
 or technical education. For there is always the danger 
 and I have felt it a good deal in writing on the subject 
 that no one individual is competent to look at the 
 extremely complex questions arising in connection with 
 education from all points of view; for, really, no one 
 person can hope to know enough about them. A Con- 
 vention gathered from North, South, East, and West 
 might remedy this. 
 
 I have taken you to America, but told you nothing 
 about the many cities we saw there, the kindly and 
 great men we met, the triumphs of science and art 
 which were shown to us. My own deep impression 
 coming away is that a wonderful future lies before 
 that great land a destiny of which its people are well 
 deserving, for they are winning it for themselves. They 
 have built up their nation on the sure foundations of 
 wise and sane education. 
 
 If the great object of the British Educational Mission 
 is to be accomplished, it is to this land we should send 
 our boys for a portion of their academic career, so that 
 they will get to know those cousins of theirs. Only 
 good can come to them by paying such a visit. They 
 will make friends with lads as worthy and as high- 
 minded as themselves. They will see for themselves 
 something of the great educational and social work 
 being done on the other side of the Atlantic. But, above 
 
 86
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 all and before all, it is through their agency alone that 
 enduring peace can be secured for the world. Get the 
 lads to mix, and leave the rest to time. The day will 
 come when these men will grow into professional and 
 commercial influence. Some will sit in Parliament or in 
 Congress, and the other land will be to them shrined in a 
 thousand personal memories. Thus only will peace 
 be assured to the world. It is no unreal dream. It is the 
 making of history in the light of human nature. No 
 greater cause has ever been committed to the University. 
 Leagues, Ententes, are but " scraps of paper " when the 
 supreme test comes. One thing only can make peace 
 permanent: mutual understanding and respect. What is 
 true of individuals is true of nations. Therein is the 
 reconstructive policy of the world. 
 
 Those who never will grow old who never will grow 
 old because they gave their golden years to England 
 claim from us that we carry this great thing to its fruition. 
 It is well with the world so long as we remember this. 
 The only danger is " lest we forget." 
 
 How are we to accomplish this important end ? The 
 Americans are enthusiastic on its behalf. They will 
 do their part of that be assured. How are we to do 
 ours ? I have little doubt that best of all would be 
 Travelling Scholarships, founded in our Universities, to 
 pay the cost of the lad's journey and extra expenses in 
 the other country such scholarships to be founded in 
 the name of those who have fallen. And in this way 
 
 87
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the memory of the great sacrifice will be perpetuated, and 
 the object for which it was made be realised. Will those 
 who have lost near relatives in the war support this 
 cause, supreme above all others ? Could any greater 
 monument be raised to the fallen ? Can we who are old 
 do any better thing ? 
 
 And it applies to the women of the Empire as it applies 
 to men. We should have Edith Cavell Travelling 
 Scholarships in every Woman's College or Co- educational 
 Institution in the Kingdom, enabling a girl to go to Bryn 
 Mawr or Holyoke or other Women's College in the 
 States. She would go to win honour for the institution 
 which sent her; to play her part in strengthening the 
 bonds between the Nations; to accomplish the work for 
 which some young brother gave his life his all. 
 
 Is not this the true way of accomplishing the great 
 end in view ? Not by Treasury grants, but by voluntary 
 offerings from the heart of the Nation, the very names 
 of the Scholarships telling our successors for all time 
 that they must not forget. 
 
 Yes, as we sail away from New York, we have many 
 things to think upon. The Statue of Liberty looms 
 darkly through the wet December twilight. The torch 
 held aloft is hidden in obscurity. But it needs little 
 imagination to see its clear shining. It shines over a 
 whole vast continent. It shines over mighty cities and 
 over humble log huts remote in virgin forests. And by 
 its light we see a great people intent upon their work,
 
 THE BRITISH EDUCATIONAL MISSION 
 
 never pausing, never doubting, never tiring, still ever 
 striving after their high ideals. 
 
 What are those ideals ? Pre-eminently these these 
 which are, and ever will be, inseparably associated 
 the wise upbringing of the little children and the peace 
 of the world.
 
 IV 
 
 A CRUISE OF INSPECTION OF IRISH 
 LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 THE rumble of the anchor chain brought me on deck 
 in the early dawn of the I2th July, 1918. The s.s. 
 Alexandra was just beginning to move. Sleeping 
 Knightstown* was being slowly left astern. The dawn 
 was a late one, for mists lay on every hilltop and the 
 sky was heavy above. Yet it was dawn, and the shadows 
 of night were melting away. There was a fresh but 
 silent wind, so that the only sounds were the murmur 
 of our engines a gentle sound at this speed and the 
 lapping of the little harbour waves against the ship. 
 Mystery and gloom were over all, but there was a grateful 
 sense of peace. 
 
 And now we near the two blinking lights which guard 
 the Harbour Rock and, turning till they are in line, make 
 for the harbour entrance at half speed. The light on 
 Cromwell Point is burning, but hidden from us in this 
 position. Then the last of Beginnis Island its seaward 
 
 * Valentia Harbour, Co. Kerry, at which port I joined the 
 Tour of Inspection. The coast from Dublin to Valentia had 
 already been inspected when my cruise began. 
 
 90
 
 basaltic cliffs is passed, and Doulus Head beyond lies 
 stretched away to starboard, a dark and sinister monster 
 crouching between sea and sky; for the clouds are on his 
 summit. Nothing of the islands without is seen. They 
 are hidden in gloom and mist and still prevailing night. 
 The coast we are leaving astern dwindles to a dark 
 outline ere Inishnabro and Inishvickillane become 
 visible shadows. Of the further and smaller Foze Rocks 
 nothing is visible. 
 
 In the increasing light the two islands become separ- 
 ately and more clearly visible, and by taking bearings 
 from the chart the Great Foze is picked up, looking like 
 a dark vessel dimly seen through the gloom. We are now 
 making for the channel between Inishnabro and Inish- 
 vickillane, a passage in which there is anchorage, safe 
 from many winds, far out in the Atlantic. Of the two 
 islands, Inishvickillane deserves a moment's attention. 
 
 Inishvickillane is a remarkable island. It rises steep-to 
 from the sea, save on the side facing Inishnabro, where 
 landing may be effected and a somewhat precipitous 
 path found to the desolate plateau some 300 or 400 feet 
 above. On this rocky and, in places, grassy plateau 
 a lonely couple formerly dwelt, winter and summer, 
 inhabiting a rude hut built under the shelter of a rock. 
 Their livelihood was obtained by trapping the lobsters 
 which frequent the weed-covered rocks below, an occupa- 
 tion which must often have been attended with no little 
 danger both from precipice and wave. The lobsters were 
 
 91
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 fetched away by passing fishing-boats anchoring in the 
 sound between the islands. These visitors, in exchange 
 for the lobsters, left behind the necessaries of life. It is 
 said that this couple lived thus for half a lifetime. Then 
 the man died, and his wife still inhabited the desolate spot 
 for yet a few more years. When first I visited this island, 
 on geological matters intent, now many years ago, no 
 trace remained, save the ruins of the hut, of the only 
 inhabitants Inishvickillane had known in the memory 
 of man. 
 
 But it is the geological structure of the island that 
 will most attract the visitor. The western end up which 
 you climb is composed of a soft, yellowish rock filled with 
 fossil remains of a very remote fauna that of the old 
 Silurian epoch. Reaching the summit and traversing 
 the island longitudinally, one soon comes on the ancient 
 lava which composes the greater part of the island, and 
 which undoubtedly forms its foundations far beneath the 
 ocean. This lava is surprisingly fresh in appearance. 
 It is of the same age as the fossils, which it probably 
 overflowed in some eruption beneath the Silurian sea. 
 Part of it is so sponge-like in structure as to present but 
 little difference from modern pumice. This is not easily 
 reconcilable with the fact that it must have been exposed 
 to many thousands of years of subaerial influences, as 
 well as to those changes sometimes not easily defined 
 which affect every ancient rock. The denser part of this 
 lava is of the same general character as that forming 
 
 92
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 the Foze Rocks far to the south-west, and is not essen- 
 tially different from the lava of Clogher Head on the 
 Dingle peninsula. There is, therefore, continuity of 
 structure between the islands and the promontory of 
 Dingle, showing that the islands are but the submerged 
 spur of a former mountain range which at one time 
 carried the fiord-like structure of Dingle Bay many 
 miles further into the Atlantic. 
 
 The heave of the Atlantic is smoothed away in the 
 shelter between the islands. The frowning rocks rise 
 at either side to meet the vapours which wreath their 
 summits. The sound converges to the north-west, and 
 presently we emerge from the narrows and the object of 
 our visit Inishtearaght comes into view. It, too, 
 is a cloud pillar, a supporter of the heavens. In shape, 
 colour, and geological age, it differs from the neighbour- 
 ing island. It is of another kind of rock, and shows no 
 sign of igneous origin. On the south-west end is congre- 
 gated the group of small buildings which constitute the 
 entourage of the lighthouse, the very top of which is 
 alone seen from this point of view. 
 
 Our vessel comes to rest. We emit a prolonged 
 blast from our whistle and hoist the yellow and red 
 signal flags, which say, "Is landing practicable?" For 
 a little time there is no answer. Then Lieutenant 
 Keppel, lowering his glass, says, " Good landing on 
 north side." 
 
 This is a landing-place seldom used by the Com- 
 
 93
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 missioners. It is a wild spot. A spur of the island 
 extends northwards. It reaches high into the heavens, 
 but beneath it is pierced by a tunnel through which 
 the Atlantic surge boils, swaying back and forth among 
 rocks projecting from beneath. A cold and powerful 
 blast of air now blows through thi tunnel over these 
 agitated waters and bears right upon the landing-steps. 
 Around us the scene is grand in the extreme. The 
 island cliffs stretch up and up to giddy heights into the 
 drifting vapours above. Those white dots far up are 
 goats which, oblivious of the depths beneath, seek their 
 livelihood in places where the foot of man cannot tread. 
 The colouring of the precipices is beautiful: olive-green 
 and old gold with lichen-like incrustations of grey and 
 brown which but a short time ago must have been glorified 
 by the exquisite tint of the sea-pink, for its faded remains 
 crowd every cranny and in countless numbers cover 
 this vertical garden of the Atlantic. These variegated 
 rocks end beneath in black precipices, against which 
 the indigo-black waters rise and fall, whiten into snowy 
 loveliness, and again turn to blackness. We look into 
 those depths, so very black, so exquisitely pure. Life 
 is there, but life without hope and without love, without 
 pity, without memory of the past or dreams of the future. 
 Why the strange difference between the two worlds ? 
 We float above a world of nightmare. These thoughts 
 arise, and in some way seem in harmony with the 
 melancholy and despairing cry of the seagull, which all 
 
 94
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 the time never ceases to call to the echoing, reverberating 
 heights above. 
 
 Up the steep and winding stairs, cut in the tough 
 conglomerate of which the island is composed, we take 
 our way. Some 300 steps bring us to the col connecting 
 this spur of the island with the main body of the rock. 
 We pass over the col, and then descend a little in order 
 to reach the lighthouse. From this height we look over 
 a great expanse of ocean. The Foze lie out beyond in 
 the loneliness of the Atlantic, forgotten and abandoned 
 vestiges of a mighty continent; for they are in truth 
 the most westerly land of Europe. To the left a giddy 
 track skirts the precipice, a track which in former years, 
 not without shrinking, I trod. It is said that now it is 
 no longer practicable. 
 
 The lighthouse on the Tearaght should never have 
 been built where it is. The proper site was, as I believe, 
 the Greater Foze. But some not well-founded appre- 
 hensions as to the stability of the hard and seamless 
 lava of the more westerly island led to the selection of 
 the Tearaght. The result is that the Foze remains as 
 an outlying danger which the Tearaght light cannot 
 guard. 
 
 Here we are in the midst of the curious assemblage 
 of engine-house, oil-stores, dwelling-houses, etc., which 
 form part of the appurtenances of a modern first-class 
 light station. Three oil-engines stand ready to compress 
 air, by means of rotary blowers, for the consumption of 
 
 95
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the foghorn. In a neighbouring house is the battery of 
 tall, green-painted oil-tanks, suggesting the tragedy of 
 All Baba on a modern scale. Through a shelter passage, 
 roofed in, we pass to the lighthouse. The light is a group- 
 flashing one two flashes and then forty-five seconds of 
 darkness, and then two flashes in the next fifteen seconds. 
 The principal landing-place is on this, the western, side 
 of the island, and here a derrick serves to land supplies, 
 machinery, etc., and occasionally the visitor. Other 
 derricks located further up enable heavy goods to be 
 carried still higher. 
 
 Having, along with the Inspector, Commander Davis, 
 investigated some matters of dispute among the keepers, 
 and seen to the perfect order of the machinery, we pre- 
 pare to quit this curious place of exile. Here on the 
 way we notice a level patch carpeted with the leaf of the 
 sea-pink, where in more lax times children of the light- 
 keepers were allowed to play at every stage of unthinking 
 childhood: death, by fall over the giddy heights, lurking 
 within a few feet of the playground. Now, wives and 
 children must live ashore in the comfortable and civilised 
 dwellings built by the Commissioners on Valencia Island, 
 where schooling and medical attendance, etc., are 
 available. 
 
 Presently we are back on the Alexandra, after the 
 usual scramble aboard for our ship is most generally 
 boarded in a seaway and await breakfast with appetites 
 whetted by four and a half hours of exercise. 
 
 96
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 At this early stage of our cruise the reader should 
 become acquainted with the nature and objects of the 
 voyage upon which he has embarked. 
 
 The lighthouses of the United Kingdom are under the 
 management of three separate Boards. English light- 
 houses are controlled by the Elder Brethren of Trinity 
 House; Scottish lighthouses are controlled by the Com- 
 missioners of Northern Lights; and Irish lighthouses 
 by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. The duties dis- 
 charged by these Boards include matters relating to the 
 erection of new lighthouses, the installation of new 
 lightships, the alteration of existing lights, the continual 
 care of the same, and of the various sound or fog signals 
 round the coasts. Harbour lights and signals are in 
 general not under their control, but are managed by 
 local harbour Boards, who must obtain the sanction of 
 the Commissioners to the erection or alteration of local 
 lights, etc. The well-being of the crews which man 
 the various lighthouses and lightships also comes under 
 the care of the Light Boards. It is part of their 
 duty, also, to enforce discipline. An annual inspection 
 has to be carried out, when the efficiency and perfect 
 order of every station must be inquired into. In the case 
 of the Irish Lights, the Inspecting Committee which is 
 selected from the more experienced members of the 
 Board must, on their tour of inspection, visit some 
 seventy-five lighthouses and eleven lightships. A fast 
 and able ship is required to take round the Committee 
 
 97 G
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 in order that so extensive a tour may be completed 
 in a reasonable time. The s.s. Alexandra discharges 
 other important duties also, such as shifting buoys, 
 transporting stores, etc. In these last duties she is 
 supplemented by a couple of lesser steamers, also be- 
 longing to the Commissioners. The Alexandra is a vessel 
 of 618 tons, and attains a speed of 14 knots. She is a good 
 sea-boat, and is surprisingly steady in rough water. 
 Seaworthiness and handiness are essential qualities in a 
 boat which may have to meet heavy weather and has to 
 negotiate small harbours and narrow channels. The 
 officer in charge must possess an intimate knowledge of 
 the entire Irish coast, a qualification which her present 
 commander Captain Hill possesses in a quite ad- 
 mirable degree. The landing-parties are in command 
 of one of the senior Commissioners. 
 
 Life on board is very comfortable. Each Commissioner 
 possesses his own cabin. But the real charm is not in the 
 creature comforts, but in the endless dream of the tossing, 
 limitless ocean; the sky, the islands, the changing scenery; 
 the wild and beautiful Irish weather; the sun and the 
 wind; the clear diaphanous distance and the drifting 
 vapours; the clouds weeping down in rain, forming and 
 vanishing among the mountains which guard the coasts; 
 the sea-bird flashing his snowy whiteness in the blue. 
 All these things, part of the mystery and poetry of our 
 relations with Nature, together make up the dream of 
 the sea: to some more than to others, doubtless, but in 
 
 98
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 no little degree to all. And mingled with this pageantry of 
 Nature comes the interest of the landing-party: the rock 
 climb, the human interest of the work we are doing. 
 And, to come to more material considerations, there is 
 no lack of exercise where four or more lofty light stations 
 have to be scaled in the day. There is quite enough to 
 cause some of us to reflect on the sad passage of the 
 years. 
 
 And what about the lives of the men who inhabit the 
 lighthouse ? The question may well be asked with 
 interest, for these are indeed valuable men. Well, to 
 some extent, it depends upon the kind of station to which 
 for the time being the keeper is attached. There are 
 mainland stations i.e., coast lighthouses; then there 
 are island stations, where the lighthouse is on an island 
 having some inhabitants; lastly, there are rock stations, 
 where the light-keeper and his companions are com- 
 pletely isolated, with only the waves and sea-birds for 
 company. Inishtearaght, which we have just visited, 
 is a typical rock station. The lightships constitute a 
 separate category. 
 
 The nature of the several stations will be better under- 
 stood as our journey progresses. Here something should 
 be said, however, as to the system of promotion in the 
 service and the pay attached to it. There are several 
 grades of seniority: Probationary Keepers, Super- 
 numerary Keepers, Assistant Keepers, Assistant Keepers 
 of five, ten, and fifteen years' seniority, Principal Keepers, 
 
 99
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Principal Keepers of five years' standing. The value of 
 these posts in salary, clothing, pension, sick pay, life 
 assurance, house, garden, and coal, amounts to from 
 128 to 268 per annum at the present time. These 
 incomes compare favourably with the earnings of a 
 mechanic or fitter, which may be taken as amounting to 
 from 157 to 194 per annum. An engine fitter may 
 earn as much as 230 per annum. Nor in the building 
 trade would such high wages be obtainable. (I quote 
 from Sir John P. Griffith's Report, recently drawn up at 
 the request of his brother-Commissioners.) 
 
 The work is monotonous, and although it is not 
 hard work, there may be considerable exposure to the 
 weather. Then there is the drawback of isolation. All 
 must take their turn of the rock and island stations. 
 Separation from wife and family is involved for some 
 weeks at a time. The man's home is far out on the sea, 
 on the rock. The children and the mother live ashore 
 in special buildings, and the education of the former 
 is one of the cares of the Commissioners. In the course 
 of his promotion the light-keeper must at intervals 
 officiate at all the several sorts of stations for stated 
 periods. During his residence on rock stations there are 
 compensatory allowances which render these stations 
 desired by thrifty men. The relief steamers of the 
 Commissioners pay periodical visits, weather permitting, 
 and land fresh provisions, letters, newspapers, literature, 
 etc. The light-keeper is not permitted to keep a boat 
 
 100
 
 of any kind. If he wants medical help he signals to the 
 shore, when the local medical man, in the pay of the 
 Commissioners, attempts the passage to the rock and the 
 operation of landing on the same. In the depth of winter 
 this may prove a trying adventure. 
 
 Upon island stations women are allowed to dwell 
 under certain circumstances. In such stations the 
 official dwellings attached to the lighthouse may present 
 the appearance of comfortable and happy homes. The 
 walls are hung with the photographs of relatives or with 
 coloured prints from the public journals. All is clean 
 and bright and shipshape. There may be even evidence 
 of considerable culture: good books, piano, flowers, and 
 not a little endeavour after decoration. 
 
 And the men themselves ? Quiet, diffident, responsible 
 fellows, they at once inspire respect. On the whole it 
 seems a desirable existence; the turmoil of life to some 
 extent replaced by the tumult and restlessness of the 
 sea. They ought to become philosophers, poets, natu- 
 ralists, etc., but fortunately they do not. A dreamy 
 temperament would probably result in dismissal. In- 
 attention while on duty is a capital crime in this service. 
 The keeper whose duty it is to attend to a light for so 
 many hours and who falls asleep at his post or neglects 
 to keep watch on the weather or to rewind the heavy 
 clock-work which drives the rotating lenses may, and 
 probably will, if reported, find himself dismissed from 
 the service. He is fortunate if loss of seniority is the 
 
 101
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 only punishment inflicted upon him. If this is deemed 
 severe, let the reader reflect on the other side of the 
 picture the vessel and its living freight heading to 
 destruction while the keeper takes his nap ! 
 
 The voyage along the north shore of the Dingle penin- 
 sula commands some of the finest scenery of the kind in 
 the United Kingdom. First come the graceful and more 
 lowly summits of the Seven Sisters, guarding the entrance 
 to that treacherous shelter, Smerwick Bay, wherein many 
 years ago it was my fate to be trapped by a change of 
 wind. Then, in preparation for Brandon, higher hills 
 appear, and finally Brandon himself lifts his 3,200 feet 
 out of the Atlantic. He carries upwards his velvety 
 heights and hollows, his green robe nourished by the 
 Atlantic mists, high into the heavens. The play of 
 chequered, shifting sunlight is now exquisite. The giant 
 seems to have donned a mood of shyness, and to wish to 
 conceal his vast mass among diaphanous vapours through 
 which his verdant heights glow with evanescent colour, 
 a colour near that most lovely of all the glorious company 
 of the colours, the fluorescent green which uranium gives 
 to glass. His green fire lightens and again fades as we 
 recede from him, and when, opposite Tralee Bay, we look 
 back, he is still intermittently showing his shy beauty. 
 To whom ? To the sea-bird only ! How lavish Nature is ! 
 
 Here, near-by, is the spot so fatal to the false and 
 disloyal Casement, whose arrest, when landing near 
 Tralee from a German submarine, saved Ireland from evils 
 
 102 

 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 even far more calamitous than those that befell her in the 
 Rebellion of Easter, 1916. And now we pass Kerry Head, 
 and stand across the mouth of one of the finest bays in 
 Ireland, that which receives the waters of the Shannon. 
 Far within we see three M.L. boats at work in their search 
 for the elusive submarine. How gladly, many years ago, 
 we made that bay after an 8o-mile voyage from Valencia 
 through shifting fogs, high winds, and big seas, in our 
 lo-tonner, almost without help of chart. We slept sound 
 in Tarbert Harbour that night ! 
 
 The coast from Loop Head to Aran Island where next 
 we are to stop is almost uniformly precipitous and dan- 
 gerous to the sailor. Small villages at long intervals 
 show their straggling houses where the cliffs give place 
 to sandy shores. Of these, Kilkee is the most frequented. 
 The cliffs of Moher are well known. They rise perpen- 
 dicularly from the sea to a height of over 600 feet. But 
 we are at such a distance from the coast that their 
 impressiveness is lost to us. 
 
 This coast reminds one of the Normandy coast, where 
 villages nestle in the hollows opening to the sea. But 
 here the villages are fewer and the sense of loneliness 
 more prevailing. Nor can we lament this difference, 
 for we have not the art of building beautifully. Kilkee 
 seen from the sea is hideous, a settlement of monotonous 
 lodging-houses, rectangular and dispiriting. There is 
 yet another difference. The ever presence of a vast, 
 receding ocean, reaching westward, is absent from the 
 
 103
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Norman coast. La Manche is a channel and nothing 
 more. Here the cliffs mark thu meeting of ocean and 
 continent, and gain from this a dignity entirely wanting 
 to the French coast. 
 
 It is this feeling of vastness of sea and land which, 
 doubtless, subconsciously underlies our thoughts as we 
 gaze on the land coming to us out of the mists and slowly 
 passing into obscurity sternwards. The geographical 
 reality leads the mind along the track of far-reaching and 
 unending things : the sorrowful lot of man, although 
 dwelling in a world of beauty. The sun might rise and 
 set everywhere upon his happiness, but greed will pre- 
 vail. There is enough and more than enough for all, but 
 each will take beyond his share, as if the fell laws of the 
 organic affected the very soul of man, making the world 
 the battlefield, the hell, it has now become. 
 
 The lighthouse on Inisheer, the South Aran Island, 
 which would be classed as an island station, is easily 
 reached from the south landing-place. The luminous 
 beam is carried round by reflection from a rotating mirror 
 which floats on mercury. The light which is in the focus 
 of the mirror is derived from three incandescent mantles 
 giving a total luminous radiation equivalent to 4,500 
 candles. This type of construction is one which till 
 recently might be classed as somewhat out of date. It 
 has now been revived, and a lighthouse giving a light of 
 very exceptional power has recently been described at the 
 French Academy which contains reflecting mirrors to the 
 
 104
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 entire exclusion of glass. It has been erected off the 
 coast of Tunis. There is a red sector on the Aran light 
 guarding a rock in the channel between the island and 
 the mainland. The coloration of the light is effected by 
 nitration through a sheet of glass tinted by colloidal gold 
 dissolved in the glass. After many trials, Mr. C. W. 
 Scott, the engineer of the Irish Lights Board, decided on 
 this form of light filter as the least wasteful of light. 
 Having inspected this installation, we sail for Galway, 
 where we are to replenish our store of coal. 
 
 Tuesday, the 3oth of July, is passed in coaling, never 
 a very clean job; and as it is preferable to be ashore than 
 on board, we spend some time visiting or sight-seeing in 
 the town. It is a town which is almost without natural 
 beauty of outlook, but which boasts of much historical 
 interest and the finest salmon river in Ireland. The 
 University College, the Western College of the National 
 University of Ireland, is a very fine building. I have 
 spent many quiet days in its examination halls and 
 museum, and, naturally, take this opportunity of revisiting 
 it. The feeling dominant in one's mind on entering this 
 beautiful structure is wonder at its location in this obsolete 
 and decadent town. 
 
 Of the town itself I shall not speak save to call the 
 attention or awaken the memory of the reader respecting 
 the wild and terrible story attached to the Lynch Stone. 
 It would be hard to find a tale surpassing it in dramatic 
 force. The circumstances appear to be well authenticated . 
 
 105
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 The Lynch Stone is a small stone built into a wall, high 
 up, behind the cathedral. It bears a skull and cross-bones 
 and this inscription: 
 
 1524 
 
 REMEMBER DEATHE VANITI OF VANITI 
 AN ALL IS BUT VANITI. 
 
 A modern entablature placed near-by explains the 
 dreadful significance of these dreary words: they com- 
 memorate the stern execution of an only son at the hands 
 of his own father. James Lynch Fitzstephens was Mayor 
 of Galway. He had much business traffic with Spain, 
 and on one ill-omened occasion brought the only son of 
 his Spanish host back with him from Spain on a visit to 
 Ireland. Fitzstephens also had but one child a wild, 
 uncontrolled, but far from graceless youth. The Spaniard 
 unfortunately gained the affections of a lady of high estate 
 who was already beloved by young Fitzstephens. The 
 assassination of the Spaniard was the result. Then, after 
 full trial, and despite the entreaties of the townsfolk 
 who idolised the guilty youth the just magistrate, 
 failing to find any other executioner, hanged from that 
 window high up, with his own hand, his unfortunate, 
 erring, and well-beloved boy. 
 
 One other tale of Galway before we go on our way. 
 D. C. Heron was the author of A Constitutional History 
 of the University of Dublin, a somewhat dreary work 
 having a distressing tone of complaint about it. The 
 author was a keen angler, and frequented Galway to 
 
 106
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 enjoy the wonderful salmon-fishing. One day he hooked 
 a very large fish just above the bridge in Galway town. 
 At the same moment he fell to the ground and expired 
 of heart disease. Next day the Galway Chronicle gave a 
 full account of the sad affair. It reviewed the life of the 
 deceased, and recounted his merits as father, as husband, 
 and as a distinguished author, and ended thus: " However, 
 we are sure our readers will be glad to learn that our 
 respected fellow-citizen, Mr. Cornelius O 'Flaherty, who 
 happened to be an eye-witness of the sad occurrence, with 
 great presence of mind, seized hold of the rod, to which the 
 fish was still attached, and after an exciting struggle suc- 
 ceeded in landing a splendid salmon of 15 pounds weight." 
 The fact is a Galway audience would never pardon the 
 loss of a fish, whatever other calamities might befall. 
 
 The operation both of entering and leaving the dock in 
 Galway harbour for a vessel of our size was one of extreme 
 difficulty. There were only a few inches to spare at the 
 sharp turn which has to be made within the gates. It 
 was managed with consummate skill by the local pilot, 
 who, all the time, looked and talked as if nothing par- 
 ticular was happening. 
 
 July 3is/. We leave Galway after a red sunrise and 
 threaten of rain. The weather grows more sombre as 
 the town fades from view, and with glass falling and 
 considerable swell from the west and a strong wind, the 
 prospects are not favourable. The only bad result, 
 however, is our failure to land at the light of Eragh, 
 
 107
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 on the outermost Aran Island. And so we turn from 
 the inhospitable island and, altering course a little to 
 northward, make for Slyne Head. This is reached at 
 about 12.30, and on the north side a landing is effected. 
 The lighthouse stands side by side with another and 
 now disused structure of like character. In former 
 years the erection of two lighthouses was a method of 
 duplicating a light. The light is fixed white towards 
 the sea and red towards the land. 
 
 Nothing more sublime in coastal scenery than the 
 rolling in of the great masses of water upon the surround- 
 ing rocks can be imagined. The mountainous black 
 rollers become lit with a deep heart of green, then turn 
 to snow-drifts through which the rocks, iron black, 
 emerge. From the balcony around the lantern the wild 
 chaos attending the break up of the advancing armies 
 of billows is impressively seen. It is a really magnifi- 
 cent and enthralling spectacle. 
 
 The day now settles down into one of oppressive heat. 
 We are in a world of islands, among which the swell of 
 the Atlantic rapidly dies. Low rain-clouds come far 
 down over the mountains. Little by little the intricacies 
 of the coast become unravelled. We pass High Island 
 and stand towards Inishbofin. This is a low and fairly 
 extensive island, and one of particular interest. Many 
 years ago I paid it a visit. The King of Bonn Mr. 
 Allies then reigned supreme. His low wooden house, 
 lined with valuable furs, hospitably received us. He 
 
 108

 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 lived the year round among his unsophisticated subjects, 
 save for an annual holiday of six weeks, which was 
 generally spent in London. It is a really extraordinary 
 kingdom. Peace reigns within it. Life flows on mono- 
 tonously in the mere toil of living. Fish are caught, 
 sold, or eaten. Sheep supply wool, from which the 
 clothes of all are manufactured by the women-folk. 
 And so from cradle to grave. 
 
 Inishturk comes next a more mountainous island 
 than Bonn, with cliffs to seaward of well-known magni- 
 ficence. A few fisher-folk dwell on this remote spot. 
 
 The island of Clare is now in view. The lighthouse 
 is on the north side, at the most northerly extremity of 
 the island. From it the view is exquisite. To the north, 
 across a narrow sea, rise the graceful summits of Achill, 
 monarch of all the western isles. Eastward lies the 
 deeply cut recess of Clew Bay, and beyond this the main- 
 land and the beautiful cone of Croaghpatrick. Westward 
 the ever-present infinity of the Atlantic. How steeped in 
 history and tradition is all this region ! Grana Uaile's tomb 
 U on this island, and the strange personality of the 
 Elizabethan heroine haunts the tower that once was hers. 
 It is a vain endeavour to call up the image of the Queen 
 of the Isles, but certain it is that qualities of rare power 
 and fascination must have been combined in one who 
 could create a name which has survived the obliterative 
 influence, the historic denudation of the centuries. 
 
 The light on Clare Island is placed too high. It stands 
 
 109
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 at an elevation" of 341 feet. It is the highest in the 
 service. The advantage of greater visibility is more than 
 annulled by its frequent total invisibility in the fogs and 
 mists which hang round the summits of the hills. It is 
 interesting to note that this light was an early one in the 
 annals of Irish lighthouses. It dates from the year 1806. 
 The point on which the lighthouse stands is by no means 
 the highest point of the island, which rises to 1,500 feet 
 on its westerly coast, sheer from the Atlantic. Such 
 is the stupendous breakwater which, receiving the on- 
 slaught of the wildest waters of the earth, gives shelter 
 to the beautiful bay within. There is no doubt that this 
 island of Clare is one of the sweetest isles of the West. 
 It is at once fertile and untamed. It is a little kingdom 
 to itself, having its own traditions. Indeed, the 500 or 
 600 inhabitants, who cultivate its fields and fish on its 
 shores, might very logically claim that same self-deter- 
 mination for which a considerable number of the dwellers 
 on the neighbouring island clamour. 
 
 Leaving Clare, our course is towards the land, and 
 leads us to the remarkable archipelago which fills the 
 eastern or landward side of Clew Bay. The scene is like 
 none other. Sometimes called the Bay of the 365 
 Islands, the name seems hardly an exaggeration. The 
 most remarkable feature is the exact resemblance of the 
 islets one with another. All expose to seaward a protect- 
 ing beach of large rounded boulders. Arising from this 
 is a verdant mound, abrupt upon the seaward face, 
 
 no
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 more gently inclined to landward. All are about of an 
 equal height from 80 to 100 feet. Alike in length and 
 width, all are elongated east and west. The resemblance 
 to the eye is bewildering. The map reveals differences 
 which the eye fails to appreciate. The navigation to the 
 towns of Newport or Westport would, to a stranger, be 
 very difficult. The structure of these strange islets 
 appears to be alike. The elevated mound is of stiff 
 boulder clay, and the foundation is a very fossiliferous 
 limestone of Carboniferous age. The remarkable and 
 confusing similarity is due to the uniformity of the 
 conditions attending their formation. A uniform sheet 
 of boulder clay resting on limestone was cut into from 
 the west by oceanic denudation. The progress of denu- 
 dation proceeded alike everywhere. Channels were cut 
 landward. The falling rock boulders were washed away, 
 and the channels deepened till the present considerable 
 depths were attained. This action is still progressing, 
 but the attack is delayed by the resistance of the heaped- 
 up boulders protecting the remains of the originally 
 uniform sheet of boulder clay. It is surprising that such 
 breakwaters should permit of so steep a descent into the 
 sea. Our vessel lies quite close to the shore of Inishgort. 
 One might toss a pebble on to the beach. We have 
 ample water, nevertheless. 
 
 The lighthouse on Inishgort guards the approach to 
 the little town of Newport, an approach which winds in 
 and out among these bewildering islands. 
 
 in
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 August ist. Leaving Inishgort at about 8 o'clock, 
 we round the wild rocks of Achill Head an hour later. 
 Mists hang over the higher mountains inland. The 
 colouring is all in the most sombre tints. The black 
 water, heavy grey clouds, dark rocks, represent the pre- 
 vailing tone. Alone the sheen of sodden verdure here 
 and there among the receding hills relieves the mono- 
 chrome. There is sufficient swell to render the landing 
 at the next light station Blackrock Island doubtful. 
 Accordingly we await the answer to our signal with some 
 anxiety. The answer is favourable: the steps are said 
 to be available. But nearer approach renders it evident 
 that they are not available or, at the least, not available 
 to a party such as ours. The roll of the sea rises some 
 10 or 12 feet upon them, swamps the whole landing- 
 place, and falls in a snowy cataract over the vertical 
 side and down the very steps we are expected to climb. 
 This occurs so frequently as to render the operation 
 clearly unsafe. There only remains the use of the derrick 
 fixed on the rocks far above our heads. 
 
 This giddy method of locomotion consists in lifting 
 by rope the passenger, who stands with one foot in a loop 
 of the rope, right out of the boat and winding him up 
 to the level of a rocky plateau far above. When thus 
 brought to a level some 70 or 80 feet above the sea, the 
 derrick is swung round and the traveller brought verti- 
 cally over his landing-place. He is then let down till he 
 is in a position to step out of the rope and stand on terra- 
 
 112
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 firma. It is not without risk of knocks and scrapes and 
 possibly of a ducking, and, of course, it is essential to hold 
 on. The depth looks a giddy one, and the victim swings 
 through the air with appalling freedom. He spins, too, 
 and is, in fact, reduced to the state of a human spider. 
 For the time being the most important thing in the 
 universe is the rope to which he clings. Safety from a 
 bad bumping when just about to land entirely depends 
 on the skill of those who man the windlass. As this is 
 not infallible, it happens on the present occasion that one 
 of the party is landed on his back, and but for the timely 
 aid of members of the party already landed the conse- 
 quence might have been more serious. 
 
 The way to the lighthouse is then upwards by steep 
 and giddy steps cut and built in the rock. The elevation 
 of the light is 283 feet, and it can be seen in clear weather 
 a distance of 22 miles. Its chief function is to guard the 
 entrance into Blacksod Bay. The light, which is occulting, 
 is supplied from a 5o-millimetre mantle. It shows white 
 to sea, and red landward. The rock on which the light- 
 house stands is gneissic granite, with rather remarkable 
 veins of yellow quartz. 
 
 The operation of regaining the boat is apparently an 
 easier one than that of leaving it. But in reality it is 
 attended by risks of a more insidious nature. For 
 instance, cases are known in which an inexperienced 
 traveller has let his foot slip through the loop of the rope 
 in his efforts to free himself from the same. His position 
 
 113 H
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 is then not enviable. The boat into which he expected 
 to step has fallen away from him in the hollow of the sea, 
 and he remains hanging from one foot and head downwards, 
 so that his head may be battered by the boat when this 
 mounts on the top of the next wave, or if the boat has 
 shifted from under him he has the experience of being 
 helplessly ducked. 
 
 Our next stopping-place is at a lesser light, that at the 
 inner entrance to Blacksod Bay. It is a shore light, and 
 of relatively feeble power. An interesting feature of this 
 place is the granitic exposure to seaward, near the light- 
 house. At first sight one sees an evenly bedded rock, 
 the beds sharply differentiated and of uniform thickness. 
 The unwary would certainly diagnose a bedded sandstone. 
 Nearer inspection shows it to be a very beautiful granite 
 with yellow and pink felspar a rock that should prove 
 valuable for architectural as well as for paving-sett 
 purposes. 
 
 Our course, leaving this station, is again west- 
 ward. But before attaining the distance of Blackrock 
 we turn northward, and, passing between the main- 
 land and the off-lying islands, we make for Eagle 
 Island. 
 
 This island is, on the present occasion, fairly easy of 
 access. It is only a matter of stepping from the stern of 
 the boat just at the moment when it rises to the very 
 summit of the swell. There is an upright rod at the boat's 
 stern to steady the traveller, and as he grasps a rope 
 
 114
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 thrown to him from the shore, assisting himself thereby, 
 stout hands seize him and safety is assured. The light- 
 house stands some 200 feet over the sea-level. It is near 
 the edge of the cliff, but in spite of this great elevation 
 green seas may actually attain its altitude. In 1895, 
 during a storm, a row of lighthouse dwellings and offices 
 were demolished by these tremendous seas. And to-day 
 the large blocks of cut granite coping-stones of walls now 
 demolished lie about in every direction. It takes such 
 evidence to render the fact credible. The testimony of 
 the resident keepers is that green seas at times actually 
 break over the lighthouse dwellings and fall into the 
 shelter- yard enclosed by them. The difficulty of explain- 
 ing so great an elevation of the water remains. The 
 particular slope of the gneissic granite, of which the island 
 is composed, towards the incoming seas is doubtless 
 involved. A careful examination of the conditions 
 would be interesting. 
 
 The light is occulting with certain groups of flashes in 
 the minute, and shows red over certain sectors. It would 
 be designated as a group occulting light. The red sectors 
 deal with particular dangers. The burners consist of 
 six concentric wicks of circular form fed by paraffin. 
 This type of burner in Tyndall's day was the best available, 
 and received much praise from the great Irish scientist 
 (" Recent Experiments on Fog Signals," discourse at 
 Royal Institution, 1878), and in its final form was due to 
 Sir James Douglas, of Trinity House, whose brother,
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Mr. William Douglas, was builder of the Fastnet. To-day 
 it is out of date. 
 
 I would have liked to linger in this spot for a time 
 longer than our business permitted. The petrological 
 interest of the locality was obviously considerable. The 
 off-lying island and the mainland display the same com- 
 plex of gneissic granite and parallel interpenetration of 
 basic veins. The latter are often of lustrous black mica 
 separated by layers of white felspar. The folded structure 
 of these veins is often beautifully delicate. We are, of 
 course, now in the region of Dalradian rocks, and such 
 materials extend along the coast for many miles. 
 
 A small and very beautiful little bird was handed to me 
 by the principal keeper. It had reached the island that 
 morning pursued by three hawks. The keeper had killed 
 it with a stick. As none of our party could name it 
 even with the help of Morris's British Birds, which we 
 had in the ship's library we sent it to Professor Patten, 
 of the University of Sheffield, who has for many years 
 studied our Irish birds, residing for that purpose in our 
 lighthouses during certain periods of the year. The bird 
 turned out to be an immature starling. Professor Patten 
 adds that starlings are among the commonest birds at 
 light stations. 
 
 Six o'clock that afternoon sees us at Broadhaven Bay, 
 where, after inspecting the small harbour light, we 
 return to our ship for dinner and our evening's rest. 
 
 On the next morning our intention of starting for 
 
 116
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 Killybegs is frustrated by a dense fog, which hangs with 
 obstinate persistency over land and sea. Although at 
 intervals it lifts locally, its rapid return seems to show 
 an extensive fog-bank. The more pessimistic spirits 
 predict a three-day fog. At 2 in the afternoon, however, 
 the weather has so far cleared as to permit of a start. 
 The Stags a formidable and remarkable group of off- 
 lying rocks huddled together, black and sinister are 
 picked up a little later. We then stand down the foggy 
 coast, opening one misty headland after the other, till 
 at 4 o'clock Downpatrick Head is reached. The course 
 from this to Killybegs is across Donegal Bay to Carigeen 
 Head. The visibility is small, about one mile, and 
 although occasional gleams of sunlight reach us, we 
 might have been on a shoreless sea. There is but little 
 swell. What there is seems to pass the ship from stern 
 to bow. The little sea-parrot, swimming in the water, 
 hurries away in wild alarm at our sudden appearance, 
 and, like Satan in Paradise Lost, 
 
 " With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way, 
 And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies." 
 
 Gannets, too, are frequently passed. They behave 
 with more sense and dignity, swimming quietly aside as 
 we glide past. 
 
 Carigeen Head and the stupendous cliffs of Slieveleague 
 are sighted at about 7.30, and by 8 o'clock the lighthouse 
 of St. John's Point and its buildings seem to stand far 
 off, high in the sky, gleaming through the fog, a celestial 
 
 117
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 vision of perfect whiteness an optical illusion well known 
 to sailors. Rounding the dangerous shoals extending 
 from the headland, we land on the west side of the Point, 
 stepping on to mighty beds of limestone. 
 
 The lighthouse is, by order of the Admiralty, closed and 
 reserved for war purposes. It is much crowded by coast- 
 guards and coast-watchers. At the date of the publica- 
 tion of the second edition of Alan Stevenson's book, 1831, 
 we read: "The Commissioners of the Ballast Office, 
 Dublin, have resolved upon the erection of a lighthouse 
 upon St. John's Cape, on the coast of Donegal, on the 
 north side of Donegal Bay. It is intended to be a 
 stationary light, and will appear like a star of the first 
 magnitude." It was established that same year, and still 
 retains its original character. In passing, it may be new 
 to some of my readers to hear that the Alan Stevenson 
 referred to was one of a family of very distinguished light- 
 house engineers, and that Robert Louis Stevenson was 
 born of the same stock. 
 
 It is but a short distance from St. John's Point to 
 Killybegs Harbour. Here our mails, from which we have 
 been separated for several days, await us. We are along- 
 side the jetty. To-morrow coaling begins early. 
 
 The 3rd of August saw us visiting the sights of Killybegs. 
 First there is the carpet factory, where very handsome 
 and durable carpets are manufactured. Most of the 
 employees are girls. It is not running at its best just now, 
 war conditions having cut down sales and reduced the 
 
 118
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 number of hands. Then there is the industrial school, 
 conducted by clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 Just now it, too, is not at its best, although the practice 
 band makes a very deafening row. From this racket 
 we gladly get away. It is very hot (it always appears so 
 when you come ashore), and I make my way to the once 
 hospitable White House, now closed since the lamented 
 death of Sir Charles Ball, Bart. The gardener, an old 
 friend, insists on sending a bouquet of flowers to decorate 
 our dinner-table. At lunch the Commander of the port 
 joins us. We start, in hazy sunshine, at 3 in the after- 
 noon, for more northern regions. 
 
 We again pass under the cliffs of Slieveleague, rising 
 steeply from the sea to a height of 1,950 feet. It is the 
 bisection of a mountain. Landslips appear to be not 
 infrequent. What seems to be a recent one is even now 
 visible, the Atlantic having not yet succeeded in washing 
 away the fallen debris. These great heights are less 
 vertical than they appear to be as seen from the sea. 
 Tracks far up permit of the natives traversing their slopes. 
 
 Turning northwards out of Donegal Bay, we head for 
 a very beautiful green islet Rathlin O'Birne. It is a 
 rocky plateau about 100 feet over the sea. Scaling the 
 granite cliffs, we find ourselves on a level sweep of green 
 verdure from which the lighthouse rises at the seaward 
 edge. The view shorewards is beautiful, although 
 obstructed somewhat by the haze. At foot of the light- 
 house I pick up a little hedge warbler, a lovely little bird. 
 
 119
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 What care and love were once expended on the tiny, 
 perfect creature! The keepers tell us that hundreds of 
 Mother Carey's chickens (stormy petrels) are sometimes 
 killed in a single night by the fascination and dazzle of 
 the light. 
 
 By 5.30 our inspection is concluded, and we steer for 
 Aranmore. Headlands in unending procession we are 
 still passing. Then at length we leave the land where 
 deep Boylagh Bay recedes, and for a couple of hours we 
 traverse landless regions, because of the low visibility, 
 watching for the first shadow of Aranmore or Aran 
 Island. 
 
 An outlier of fantastic and precipitous form first appears, 
 and then the island, which is a considerable one, and which 
 rises to a height of some 700 feet. We land at the extreme 
 north-west headland in a minute natural harbour, which 
 is continued through the rocks in one of those run-through 
 caves arising from marine denudation . It is a savage spot, 
 and to the music of the seagull's cry we ascend the steps 
 which lead to the lighthouse above. The lighthouse shows 
 a lower light guarding outlying rocks, and a top light at 
 an altitude of 233 feet and visible for 22 miles in clear 
 weather. Both lights are derived from incandescent 
 mantles. 
 
 It has been arranged that some of us cross the island 
 on foot, joining the ship in Aran Roads on the other side, 
 our anchorage for the night. The walk of 4^ miles across 
 the island traverses the wildest region imaginable. Not 
 
 120
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 a human dwelling is within sight once the lighthouse and 
 coastguard stations are left behind. Our journey takes 
 us some 500 feet above sea-level. We pass high up a 
 lonely tarn Lough Shore. What must these desolate 
 and treeless moors be like when the winter gales from the 
 Atlantic sweep across them ? a suitable setting for some 
 tale of sorrow and revenge formed in the brain of a Bronte ! 
 
 Suddenly there bursts upon our view a panorama of 
 island and sea having elements of mystery and beauty 
 such as I have never seen excelled. We seem to look over 
 endless islets, and beyond them mountains appear to 
 float in the sky. We ask ourselves which is land and which 
 is cloud. The one has taken on all the semblance of the 
 other. The sad evening sky has, in fact, folded away 
 in celestial distances visions of sea and land of ethereal 
 beauty. We pause, rendered dumb by the holy peace 
 of the scene. It is sin to speak, for the silence seems part 
 of the heavenly vision. 
 
 The cottages inhabited by the few inhabitants of 
 Aranmore now appear beneath us, scattered over the hill- 
 side. The people gaze curiously upon us. A handsome 
 race they are, both in face and figure, more especially in 
 their early years. The very few trees on the island are 
 gathered here. Descending to the little pier, we are met 
 by the pinnace and taken aboard. We can see from the 
 bridge that Aran Roads is formed by the off-lying island 
 of Calf, and cannot be sheltered in northerly gales. 
 
 A night of rain and thunder-storm ushers in the 
 
 121
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 4th of August. The air is limpid this morning from the 
 night's precipitation, and the scenery is exquisite. But 
 to the eye of the sailor the defective shelter cannot be 
 forgiven. Even now the ship heaves to the roll of the 
 Atlantic. We lie opposite the small pier from which we 
 embarked last night. Leabgarrow village straggles up 
 the slopes behind. In the sea around us the various 
 dangers are marked by beacons of various pattern. 
 Everywhere, save northward, low rocky shores enclose 
 the harbour. There is an endless profusion of shoals and 
 islets around us. 
 
 It is a beautiful Sunday morning. The only sounds 
 are the lapping of the waves and the cries of the gulls. 
 The usual bustle on board has died away. Apparently 
 everyone is either washing or shaving . Presently a search- 
 party is formed to look for a church, and our ranks are 
 thinned by the departure of a boat-load . There is nothing 
 to do for those who are left save to enjoy the quiet peace 
 and charm of our surroundings. Thus Sunday morning 
 passes. After lunch we fit the Evenrude to the dinghy, 
 and explore the most extraordinary coast structure I have 
 ever seen. It is a perfect maze of deep water-ways 
 penetrating the granite in every direction, twisting and 
 turning, but all carrying water which under tidal influence 
 is now flowing rapidly. A difficult place for a sailing- 
 yacht, but safe enough for a motor-boat. Amidst this 
 archipelago there is a hotel. Villas, too, have been 
 planted on some of the islands. 
 
 122 

 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 August 6th. We start at 6.30 for Tory Island, which we 
 reach some two hours later. This island is one of the most 
 remarkable on the Irish coast. It may be said to mark 
 the north-west corner of Ireland, standing some 7 miles 
 off the nearest shore. Shelter to passing vessels it offers 
 none, but has played a sad and terrible part in this war. 
 To many unfortunate crews it has been the first place of 
 refuge. The open bay in which we land is strewn with 
 the flotsam and jetsam of the sea. Broken ships' boats; 
 fragments of barrels and of floatable objects of all kinds 
 are on the beach. We are informed that many hundreds 
 of barrels of valuable oil have been washed up intact 
 an asset of much value to the inhabitants, for here fuel 
 ranks among God's choicest blessings. Oil worth 7 IDS. 
 per barrel is gladly used to render the cold of winter more 
 tolerable. The fact is, the sole fuel found on the island 
 is the shallow turf stripped from the sandy fields. As I 
 write I have one of these sods before me. It is 90 per cent, 
 freestone and 10 per cent, grass-root. Nothing more. 
 But soaked in oil it will serve to warm the cabin. As we 
 walk from the beach to the lighthouse we see the wretched 
 sods which are here called turf, piled in heaps to dry ere 
 winter comes on. 
 
 This island is full of interest and has very distinctly 
 a " history." The inhabitants pay no rent. A gunboat 
 the Wasp was in 1884 sent to enforce payment, but 
 the ship was lost, with all hands save six, on the savage 
 coast. Since then the island has become a " Nation," 
 
 123
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 and helped by the Congested Districts Board and by doles 
 of fuel from the mainland, as well as supplies of food, the 
 inhabitants have gallantly maintained their rights; an 
 example to all who do not choose to pay their debts. But 
 it was always a place of lawlessness. In remotest times 
 of Irish history piratical races doubtless forerunners 
 of the present inhabitants are said to have inhabited it. 
 Its present population may number some 300 or 400 souls. 
 To do them justice, they certainly are bold and hardy 
 fishermen, and make their livelihood in the face of dangers 
 and hardships untold. There is some agriculture, but it 
 cannot amount to much. At the lighthouse the principal 
 keeper complains that milk is almost unprocurable. He 
 has to divide i pint daily among his five children ! Meat, 
 too, cannot be had. It is questionable if this station 
 should not be treated as a rock station under all the 
 circumstances. 
 
 The manufacture of kelp or rather its burning goes 
 on extensively. The seaweed is heaped on the shore and 
 fired when dry. The slaggy product is filled into sacks 
 and sent away. Its principal value is for the extraction 
 of iodine. There is nothing in Nature's Kingdom of 
 Wonders more curious than the fact that while it is 
 difficult or impossible to detect this substance iodine 
 in seawater, the algas, notably kelp, have the power of 
 extracting it and accumulating it in large quantities. Its 
 abundance in kelp is fairly astonishing. Heat a little 
 of this burnt kelp in a retort, and in a few minutes the 
 
 124
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 violet-coloured vapour of iodine fills the flask. When cold 
 the glass is sparkling within with the glittering crystals 
 of the element. What is the good of it ? Look in Thorp's 
 Dictionary of Applied Chemistry and you will see. We 
 find, then, that this little island, so primitive that sleigh- 
 carts are still used to transport potatoes, kelp, etc., and 
 which is a law unto itself, is yet a feeder to the great 
 world without, one small member of the body corporate 
 of civilisation. 
 
 The lighthouse displays its light about 130 feet over 
 sea-level. The form of the light system is peculiar. 
 There are three radiants placed one above the other. 
 Each has its own lens system, and the three lens systems 
 revolve together. The light is obtained from batswing 
 burners in great numbers, which flare up at intervals. 
 The system is due to the late Mr. Wigham. It is wasteful 
 and necessitates an unwieldy lantern, which seems to 
 have escaped destruction from winter storms by miracu- 
 lous intervention only. There is a foghorn fed by blowers 
 driven by a gas-engine. 
 
 Returning towards the mainland, and now going 
 eastward for the first time, we reach the mouth of Lough 
 Swilly a little after midday. The light at Fanad Point 
 is of modern pattern. The radiant is an incandescent 
 mantle. The installation is compact and workmanlike. 
 There is a small side-light low down in the tower looking 
 west and guarding the Limeburner Rock. 
 
 All travellers in these parts know of the magnificent 
 
 125
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 proportions and splendid scenery of Lough S willy. It 
 would be hard to find a more impressive marine landscape 
 than that which is presented to the view at the entrance 
 of this Lough. The vista of wide smooth water extending 
 far into the land and the stately hills thrown back from 
 the eastern shore afford a soul-satisfying scene. But to-day 
 the greed and cruelty of man are here in evidence at every 
 turn. Nature cries "Peace!" where there is no peace. 
 We are approached by a police ship and given a signal 
 number admitting us to the Lough. Crossing to Dunree 
 Head, we are told that big guns are everywhere concealed 
 above and around us. The little lighthouse is as a symbol 
 of the truthfulness of peace amidst the deceit of war. It 
 is only a pretty cottage with a lantern built out as a sort 
 of bow- window from one of the rooms, but it shows a 
 light powerful enough to be seen a distance of 13 miles in 
 clear weather. The radiant is simply a strong two-wick oil 
 lamp. Our next objective is Buncrana Pier. But in order 
 to attain to this point, which is far up in the Lough, we 
 must pass the great anti-submarine boom which crosses the 
 Lough from side to side. At one point this boom is open, 
 and here there are two Gate Ships trawlers, to whom 
 it is left to open or close the boom. Our signal number 
 procures us admission, and soon after we land at Buncrana. 
 There is here an unwatched flashing light. It is quite a 
 simple affair. It can run for six months without attention, 
 burning night and day. At this station the circumstances 
 enable the light to be cut off during daytime. The little 
 
 126
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 harbour is crowded with lifeboats which have reached the 
 Lough from submarined vessels, and which exhibit various 
 devices to keep them afloat. What scenes of misery and 
 terror they tell of ! 
 
 Retracing our way, we are subjected to some delay at 
 the Gate Ships owing to necessary formalities exacted by 
 the Admiral in command. The important lighthouse of 
 Inishtrahull was to have been our next point of call, but 
 the visit was destined never to come off. The glass was 
 falling rapidly as we left Buncrana, and rain coming on. 
 These symptoms of bad weather increase as we stand out 
 to sea. The visibility soon becomes so diminished that 
 during the showers it can be no more than a quarter of 
 a mile at best. For a time it was hoped that we could 
 effect a landing before the conditions grew too bad, but 
 while yet some 3 or 4 miles from the lighthouse this hope 
 had to be abandoned, and it was decided to turn back and 
 make for Lough Foyle. During a clearing the coast is 
 again picked up. Proceeding some distance up the 
 Lough, we anchor for the night at Moville. 
 
 Next morning (the 6th of August) we inspect Inishowen 
 Lighthouse before breakfast, on Dunagree Point. It has 
 an east and a west light about 150 yards apart. Both are 
 fixed. There is a powerful fog-signal giving a low and 
 a high note of two seconds' duration each, and separated 
 by an interval of three seconds. This is repeated once 
 in the minute. Clockwork, of course, regulates this 
 automatically. 
 
 127
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 We have been warned by signal on leaving Lough 
 Swilly that we must not attempt Rathlin Sound at low 
 water because of the mines located therein by the 
 Admiralty. At Portrush we say good-bye to our Chairman 
 Mr. George Thompson, the Senior Commissioner of the 
 Service and, with the feeling of naughty boys bereft 
 of the wise control of their guardian, pursue our way. 
 At a little after noon we land on Rathlin Island, to which 
 the remainder of our day is to be devoted. 
 
 This island, as all travellers know, is rich in traditions 
 in which the long story of Irish invasions is involved. 
 The wild sound between it and the mainland has been the 
 scene of many boating accidents and of the loss of many 
 ships. At Church Bay we see the upturned bottom of 
 the Drake, a British war-ship recently torpedoed, which 
 sank and turned turtle while endeavouring to run aground 
 in the shallows of the bay. She now lies, one bilge keel 
 exposed to view, a piteous sight and probably a total 
 loss. But our present object is not concerned with war 
 nor yet with archaeology and history, but with the practical 
 examination and study of lighthouses. No place on the 
 Irish coast affords to-day a better opportunity of pursuing 
 this study than does Rathlin Island. For here we have 
 a lighthouse embodying the latest advances in lighthouse 
 engineering, and furthermore have the advantage of being 
 conducted over it by the engineer Mr. Scott who has 
 been concerned hi its design and erection. This light- 
 house is intended to lead into and guard the western 
 
 128
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 entrance to Rathlin Sound, a sound of the utmost im- 
 portance to shipping. It is accordingly located at Bull 
 Point. The completion of the structure has been delayed 
 by the war, and the light has not yet been actually lit. 
 But the installation possesses features which are deserving 
 of special attention. 
 
 I have already referred to the doubtful advantage of 
 installing lights at high altitudes. Bull Head, although 
 a very commanding position, offers a site open to serious 
 objection on the score of being too elevated. The 
 engineer has accordingly constructed the new lighthouse 
 low down on the face of the cliff. This, however, has 
 involved many engineering difficulties. The rock is a 
 basalt which, for a considerable depth, is weathered 
 and rotten and liable to continued downward move- 
 ment. A vast concrete glacis at a slope of 45 degrees 
 has been applied to the steeply sloping face of the rock. 
 This glacis surrounds and protects the lighthouse and its 
 out-offices from the dangers of landslip and the deeper 
 denudation of the cliff. Steps in the glacis enable the 
 slopes to be easily traversed. The fog-signal apparatus is 
 placed at the top of the glacis; the lighthouse has been 
 placed at its lowest point. The dwelling-house which 
 houses the staff is a four-story building. We enter it 
 from above, and, descending through its neat and orderly 
 apartments, find ourselves, when we reach the lowest 
 story, actually in the lighthouse. The lantern is located, 
 in fact, at the base of the building. This is an original 
 
 129 I
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 feature, for the disposition is the reverse of that which 
 is customary. 
 
 The light installation is of the most recent type. For 
 those who know little on this subject I shall presently 
 say a few' explanatory words. There is a four-sided 
 revolving focal system of glass prisms and lenses. In 
 the centre of this great cylinder is the light which 
 emanates from an incandescent mantle on the whole 
 the best radiant yet invented. Every detail of the 
 apparatus before us is of the best that technical skill can 
 produce. 
 
 ,The sound-producing machinery is not less perfect. 
 At a level considerably above the top of the dwelling- 
 house already referred to a diaphone is located. Of this 
 instrument a little must be said further on. Beneath 
 the diaphone-house is the oil-storage house, which can 
 be enlarged at will by the use of screens made of thin 
 ferro-concrete. The oil gravitates downwards through 
 a copper pipe till it reaches the oil-engines three in 
 number which compress the air required for the diaphone, 
 and which is led upwards along the slope of the glacis by 
 a large wrought-iron pipe recessed in its surface. A 
 branch pipe from the descending oil-supply feeds the 
 lighthouse burners. 
 
 A visit to a station such as this is very impres- 
 sive, and should make the critic hostile to scientific 
 education if such exists think, and think gravely. 
 Science, however much it may appear " abstract," or 
 
 130
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 however much it may be " applied," is still only the art 
 of helping ourselves. And with that self-help are bound 
 up ambitions which are the noblest actuating mankind: 
 the search for truth, truth for its own sake, and truth for 
 the alleviation of suffering. Much of our practical 
 philanthropy, all of our great physical concepts of the 
 universe, emanate from the workshop and the study of the 
 scientist. He who has never entered into the ethics of 
 science fails to look beyond the laboratory, beyond the 
 mathematical analysis. The body is perceived plainly 
 enough, but not the soul which dwells therein. He is 
 like some visitor to this great lighthouse who perceives 
 only the oil-engines and the lenses and the burners and 
 the sleeping diaphone. These things in themselves 
 appear no more than curious and perhaps interesting. 
 But now on some dark and stormy night place him on a 
 vessel battling its way through the waters of Rathlin 
 Sound the Caldron of Brecain and ask him what he 
 thinks of that merciful light which leads him from afar, 
 a veritable star of hope. Or, even more insidiously 
 dangerous, expose him to the horrors of a deep fog among 
 the rushing tides of this narrow channel, and ask him if 
 ever he heard music to equal the marvellous note which 
 the siren cries to the baffling atmosphere. Nor will 
 even such an experience endow him with the vision 
 which perceives the soul that animates the body. Still 
 the most beneficent factors in Man's upward progress 
 displease him. Still his opposition to science continues.
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 But this is just because he himself has missed that 
 education which science alone can impart. 
 
 Rathlin Island is bare and dreary on its upper reaches, 
 and for the most part it consists of an elevated plateau 
 rising on steep cliffs from the sea. Around Church Bay 
 the most fertile tracts are gathered. Less than a mile 
 from this is situated the remains of Bruce's Castle, 
 wherein the national hero of Scotland saw the spider. 
 As seen from the south side, the island is composed of the 
 same basalt which extends from the Giant's Causeway 
 right up northward to Jura and even to Iceland. It is 
 possible that the deep waters dividing the outcrops of 
 this lava are, in fact, entirely due to marine denudation 
 acting on a single lava sheet of some thousands of square 
 miles in area, such as now constitutes the Deccan in 
 India or the basalt plain of Idaho. Mingled with and 
 intruded by this lava we see, on the south cliffs of Rathlin, 
 the remains of the Cretaceous chalk which forms so much 
 of the cliff scenery near the Giant's Causeway. The 
 mingling of basalt and chalk boulders on the beach at 
 Church Bay produces an extraordinary appearance, the 
 one being so intensely black and the other so purely white. 
 The whole of Rathlin strongly reminds one of the rock 
 features of Jura, Mull, Eigg, and much of Skye. 
 
 In the afternoon we inspect the temporary light and 
 sound signal at Rue Point. This has been put up by the 
 Commissioners at the command of the Admiralty, pending 
 the erection of a more permanent structure. The light 
 
 132
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 is an acetylene unwatched light, blinking automatically, 
 such as we saw at Buncrana. The sound signal is of 
 more- 4nterest. It is an acetylene gun, a comparatively 
 recent invention. The explosive mixture of air and acety- 
 lene is made up in the explosive chamber of the gun by an 
 automatic and very ingenious mechanism which regulates 
 the proportions of the two gases. When the mixture is 
 formed in the closed chamber a spark fires it, and a very 
 sharp and loud report is produced, carrying a distance of 
 from i to 5 miles, according to weather conditions. It 
 is a sound of excellent quality, and the ensuing night 
 being foggy we have ample opportunity of judging of it. 
 The location of this temporary installation is open to 
 criticism, for in bad weather seas sweep around the light 
 scaffolding supporting the apparatus, and, owing to the 
 great quantities of floating wreckage now in these waters, 
 the survival of the structure must be regarded as purely 
 providential. 
 
 Our final inspection on Rathlin is of Rathlin Lighthouse, 
 on the north side of the island. To reach this we have to 
 land at the beach in Church Bay, passing close to the 
 upturned wreck of H.M. warship Drake, already referred 
 to. A walk of if miles brings us to the lighthouse. 
 
 Rathlin Lighthouse is an old institution, having been 
 established so long ago as 1856. It is placed at Altacarry 
 Head, and does good service to shipping. At present, 
 by order of the Admiralty an order which may denote 
 wisdom, but to ordinary intelligence is inscrutable the 
 
 133
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 light is reduced in strength by various devices, so as to be 
 invisible save at quite near distances. Normally it is 
 a modern incandescent-mantle light, occulting, and visible 
 in clear weather at a distance of 21 miles. There is a 
 fog-signal consisting of the antiquated signal gun fired in 
 the open. At this gun the gunners must stand hour after 
 hour, through rain and storm, loading and firing at the 
 regulated intervals. Arrangements are being completed 
 whereby this system will be replaced by the detonation of 
 high-explosive cartridges. This is effected from a weather 
 shelter which keeps the operator fairly comfortable. 
 The operation of firing involves placing the cartridge in a 
 sling, which is done within the shelter, then turning a 
 handle which carries the cartridge clear of the shed and 
 sufficiently above it. A circuit is then closed within the 
 shed, and the explosion follows. In the intervals of 
 firing the keeper may possess his soul in peace. I fail 
 to see why the whole operation could not be conducted 
 automatically. Quite a simple mechanism would suffice 
 to feed and fire at regulated intervals the high-explosive 
 cartridges. 
 
 August jib. At 7 a.m. we start, and at 7.30 are turning 
 round Fair Head. We have at length arrived on the east 
 side of Ireland. To the north-east there is a gleaming, 
 hazy sea, through which, like a shadow, appears the land 
 of the Mull of Cantyre. This place is a high-road to many 
 memories, at least to one of our little party memories 
 of conditions which never can be restored in " future times 
 
 134
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 or years unborn." Youth plays its magic part, trans- 
 muting by its alchemy earthly to heavenly substance. 
 Will old age do as much ? In those mists which lie over 
 the far-stretching waters there steals a little cutter. On 
 her deck the young adventurers await the wind. But the 
 light airs only just shake the topsail a very little. The 
 spinnaker hangs limp. And now on deck they find some 
 pleasant sailor's job to beguile the time, and every moment 
 has its pleasures; for youth, heedless of its mortality, 
 reigns supreme. Inscrutable mystery of flowing time 1 
 The difference between then and now ! For see, the little 
 vessel grows fainter and fainter in the distance now she 
 is but a shadow, and now she is gone, and I know not 
 whether to be glad or sorry that I have seen her once again. 
 The dangerous rocks known as the Maidens are reached 
 a few hours later, and we drop anchor in the rapid tide 
 race which swirls between these islands. The depths are 
 considerable, some 80 fathoms quite close to the rocks. 
 This group of granite islands stands some 3 miles from the 
 shore, and constitutes a very serious danger to shipping. 
 The lighthouse formerly there were two, but the inner 
 one is now dismantled is lit by an incandescent mantle. 
 Many changes must have taken place in this installation 
 since its establishment in 1829. To-day it is a flashing 
 light of sufficient power to be visible some 13 miles. The 
 principal keeper showed us a tern, two snipe, and a cuckoo 
 killed the previous night by striking the dazzling glass 
 lantern. 
 
 135
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 At noon we are at Mew Island, the outer Copeland 
 Island. Here there is but an old-fashioned Wigham 
 burner. The siren is worked for our benefit. It is a 
 double siren, and may be heard many miles under good 
 conditions. The coast is hidden in fog for the most part. 
 It is familiar to sailors as a foggy region. To meet bad 
 weather between the Copelands and Dundrum Bay, 
 whether fog, strong winds, or high seas, was my general 
 expectation in my yachting days. One of the worst 
 nights I ever spent was on a passage from Belfast Lough 
 to Ardglass. The booming of the gun of the Southrock 
 Lightship is vividly present in my memory as we now 
 approach the most northerly of the two lightships which 
 guard this very dangerous coast. 
 
 As we approach the Skullmartin Lightship the tide is 
 ebbing so strongly that our boat is dropped some couple 
 of hundred yards to the south of the lightship in order 
 that we may more easily make her. Those who have not 
 been aboard a lightship would find it hard to conceive of 
 men dwelling in such a place. Here is a little vessel, 
 chained out in the open sea, of necessity taking all that 
 conies. She has neither sails nor engine. (In American 
 waters the lightship is very often provided with the latter.) 
 The most she can do, and the best she can hope for, is to 
 stay where she is. And to secure this result she carries 
 in reserve a mighty anchor and chain which can be let 
 go at a moment's notice, should any disaster befall that 
 which now holds her up to the seas. A few lashings only 
 
 136
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 have to be severed and the reserve anchor falls from her 
 port bow. 
 
 Cleanliness and tidiness characterise the little ship. 
 Her decks, both upper and lower, are spotless. The men 
 eat and sleep forward. The principal keeper or skipper 
 sleeps aft. He calls the roll when we are assembled on the 
 deck. Each man salutes as his name is called. At the 
 names of absentees the skipper himself salutes. 
 
 The lantern is constructed of plain glass, and is fixed 
 on top of a stout mast. We ascend to it by an iron ladder 
 from the deck. It is lit by ten burners. The main-mast 
 carries two half globes for purposes of identification during 
 daylight. In time of fog or thick weather she explodes 
 a fog-signal twice in quick succession every ten minutes. 
 For our benefit one is exploded, during which operation 
 everyone covers his ears. The explosive is carried in a 
 small cartridge, and is swung out on a sling and exploded 
 after the manner already described on the occasion of 
 our visit to Rathlin Island. 
 
 There is not much to do aboard in time of fair weather. 
 At night the machinery which keeps the light system 
 rotating (it turns once in two minutes) has to be kept 
 wound up. But this is a trifling labour. On the other 
 hand, it is not a pleasant place in dirty weather, and 
 the fog-signal work is exacting. 
 
 A little later we visit the Southrock Lightship, which is 
 anchored a few miles further south. Her light, which also 
 is white, flashes twice in forty-five seconds. 
 
 137
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 It is a puzzle to thinking people how the unthinking 
 manage to pass their lives. Here are eight men, including 
 the skipper, marooned on a lonely vessel. Books are 
 delivered to them periodically by the Board's steamers, 
 but they are not in evidence. They possess none of the 
 resources which exist for the illiterate who live ashore. 
 It results that they really have nothing to do for the 
 greater part of the time. They may drop a cast overboard 
 in hope of catching a fish . They smoke and, perhaps, they 
 whistle. Off duty I do not doubt they play cards. But 
 what a life ! Mental atrophy must soon set in and render 
 mental exertion impossible. One would think that they 
 would like to better themselves by study of the signal 
 books, the one book I noticed on board. But no. A 
 question addressed to the skipper by Commander Davis 
 appeared to elicit no response. These eight men inflict 
 voluntarily upon themselves all the horrors of imprison- 
 ment under conditions which might attend a life of interest 
 as well as of relaxation. 
 
 We passed St. John's Point late in the afternoon, and 
 as this station had already been inspected from the land, 
 we stand on for Carlingford Lough. The wind was fresh 
 and the sea rising when at 7 o'clock we turned into the 
 Lough. The entrance to this beautiful Lough is narrow 
 and tortuous, but it is well marked out by buoys, some of 
 which are lit. We pass on the starboard hand the wrecks 
 of the ill-fated steamers, the Connemara and the Retriever, 
 which collided here not many months ago with loss of all 
 
 138
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 lives save one. Half an hour later we drop anchor opposite 
 Greenore. 
 
 The beauty of the view was only made apparent when 
 at sunset the sky cleared to the west and a flood of light 
 fell over the distant mountains which surround Newry. 
 To the left all was gloom. The limpid glory of sunset led 
 the eye into the far distance. The sky was barred across 
 by golden bars, and from between these emanated tints 
 which words can never recall. For they flow from tint 
 to tint with infinite variation. The burning green slowly 
 changes to a forget-me-not blue and, attending the chang- 
 ing vision, the cloud-bars, which were gold a little time 
 ago, take on a rose-red colour. It was one of those sunsets 
 which one tries to remember, but vainly. The colours 
 can be only inadequately recalled 
 
 " For they are of the sky, 
 And from our earthly memories fade away." 
 
 The next day the 8th of August is to be our last day. 
 We start at seven in light windy weather. Dundalk could 
 not be visited under the conditions. Rockabill that 
 strange most northerly exposure of the great mass of the 
 Leinster granite was reached before 10 o'clock. There 
 is here a flashing light with a red sector landward. Our 
 chief interest was in the diaphone. This is a siren having 
 much novelty of construction. Before we part company 
 I shall say a little about this instrument to the reader. 
 
 An inspection of the Kish Ligntship, some 10 miles off 
 Kingstown Harbour, completes our labours, and brings 
 
 139
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 to an end a tour throughout which both in my comrades 
 and in my duties I was indeed singularly fortunate. 
 
 It seems just possible that a very few of my readers may 
 be sufficiently interested in what they have read to desire 
 to know a little, in a general way, of the marvels of the 
 modern lighthouse. It will have been gathered that there 
 are two distinct branches of lighthouse work the pro- 
 duction of the light signal for the mariner's direction in 
 clear weather, and the production of sound signals to serve 
 his needs in foggy or thick weather. 
 
 The modern lighthouse bears little resemblance to the 
 Pharos of our grandparents. Both in the methods of 
 light-production and in the means by which the light is 
 concentrated and distributed there is but little in common 
 between the old and the new. Some ninety years ago the 
 Howth or Bailey Lighthouse is thus described : " This 
 light is stationary, appearing like a star of the first magni- 
 tude at a distance of four or five leagues, or at lesser 
 distances in a hazy state of the atmosphere " (Alan 
 Stevenson's British Pharos, 1831). Now, what is the 
 Bailey like to-day ? On the Commissioners' Chart of 
 Irish Lights we read this description of it: " Wh. Fl. 30 
 sees.; P. 950,000; S.F.S. i min." This written in full, 
 is: "White; flashing every thirty seconds. Power 
 950,000 light units. Siren fog-signal sounding every 
 minute." This light is seen at a distance of 17 miles, 
 which means an enormous increase of power over the 
 fixed light of 1831. One asks with very natural curiosity 
 
 140
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 as to what this installation was like in the early times 
 when it was first established that is, in 1671. But of 
 this we know little. Lighthouses lit by fire-signals date 
 back to remote antiquity.* 
 
 A flashing light is one which lightens for a short time 
 and remains obscured for a much longer time. The 
 interval between the flashes supplies the sailor with the 
 means of identifying the station. It is of vital importance 
 that the light should be visible as far as possible in thick 
 weather; hence every effort is made to increase the 
 penetration of the beam. 
 
 The penetration of the light is increased in two ways 
 by providing the most powerful radiant, and by concen- 
 trating this into a seaward-reaching, parallel beam. 
 Large incandescent-mantle burners fed by oil-gas provide 
 what is perhaps the most powerful and at the same time 
 practical light yet devised. Several mantles may combine 
 to increase the light. Such relatively large radiants are 
 found to penetrate a foggy atmosphere better than smaller 
 radiants such as the arc light. 
 
 Science has not only given these splendid modern 
 radiants, it has provided the means of collecting the rays 
 with but little loss into a parallel beam. This is done by 
 use of lenses or by reflectors. There is some loss of visible 
 rays attending the use of lenses, and this is in favour of 
 
 * The old name for a lighthouse Pharos is derived from an 
 island of that name off Alexandria where a beacon was main- 
 tained in remote times (about 300 B.C.). 
 
 141
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 reflectors. At the present time the majority of lighthouses 
 are fitted with lenses. But the lenses are quite peculiar 
 in construction. The use of one large lens, sufficiently 
 big to collect the greater part of the rays, would be very 
 inconvenient. For if the beam is to flash it must be caused 
 to sweep round the horizon, reaching the sailor, wherever 
 he may be, but only being seen by him during the time 
 the beam travels past his vessel. This necessitates 
 carrying the lens round the light. The genius of Fresnel 
 surmounted the difficulty of making a lens which should 
 at the same time be both large and light by building up 
 a skeleton lens of concentric prisms. The prisms surround 
 concentrically a small central lens, and they are so formed 
 and oriented as to combine with the central lens in bending 
 the beam into a parallel sheaf of rays. In very many 
 lighthouses four such optical systems surround the light, 
 enclosing it completely, so that four divergent beams 
 making right angles one with another radiate from the 
 lighthouse. When this system is rotated the sailor sees 
 four flashes for one complete turn. 
 
 In such a modern lighthouse we see a great rotating 
 house of glass, built up of limpid prisms. It is sufficiently 
 large to allow of three or more people standing and walking 
 round within it. We climb up a little iron ladder, and 
 squeezing ourselves through an opening in the floor of the 
 glass house, we find ourselves in what, by daylight, looks 
 like a house of fairy prismatic lights. A key is turned, 
 and this house begins to rotate around us, uniformly and 
 
 142
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 without noise or vibration. When we examine as to 
 how so smooth a motion is brought about we will find that 
 the whole prismatic house is floating on mercury, with 
 only some roller guides to stop any lateral movement. 
 In the centre is the burner. This the keeper lights, and 
 now we feel like a moth under the shade of a lamp. The 
 light is insufferable. And if it is insufferable here, where 
 the rays are divergent, what must it be like without the 
 house of prisms where the rays are focused in a parallel 
 beam ? Perfect order and perfect precision of workman- 
 ship are required if this wonderful combination of an 
 unfailing light and unerring mechanism is to possess 
 a degree of reliability commensurate with the grave 
 functions it must perform. Not for one hour in the 
 year, not for one minute, must the light fail. And storms 
 must be countered. Look at the heavy sheets of plate 
 glass which house the whole delicate structure, and you 
 will understand how storms are defied on these wild and 
 elevated positions. 
 
 A more powerful light than the Bailey is in the service 
 that of the Bull Rock, off Co. Kerry, having a power of 
 1,150,000 units. The Fastnet Light shows a beam of 
 750,000 candle-power. A few months after my trip as a 
 Commissioner came to a close I was in a liner approaching 
 the coast of Ireland from the States: at 3 o'clock in the 
 December morning I was up to see this beautiful light 
 flashing afar off. No star of the first magnitude ever 
 equalled it for brightness. It seemed to come up out 
 
 143
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 of the utter darkness, grow to burning brightness, and 
 pass away like a note of swelling music. 
 
 Wonderful and deafening are the fog-signals. The 
 visitor has to be cautious how he exposes his ears to the 
 sound of the explosive signal or to the soul-shattering 
 cry of the siren at close quarters. The nervous effect 
 may be felt long afterwards as a mild form of shell shock. 
 Their voice is intended, not for the near listener, but to 
 carry for miles, and to shout down the roar of the storm. 
 
 As I have related, at Rockabill we listened to the 
 performance of a diaphone lately installed at that station. 
 It emits four blasts close together every minute. The 
 diaphone is a comparatively recent invention. It was 
 originally developed in Canada just before the war. It 
 is a modified siren having, in many respects, advantages 
 which the siren does not possess. 
 
 Sound-signalling is attended with many difficulties 
 when it is desired to transmit the sound through the 
 atmosphere. Signalling through the water is both more 
 economical and reliable, but then the sailor requires to 
 have his ship fitted with special apparatus for hearing 
 the submarine sounds. This is a drawback which at the 
 present time is steadily diminishing, but which still must 
 be reckoned with. Sound-signalling through the air can 
 be heard by all if it is heard at all. Although the loudest 
 sounds may, under certain weather conditions, refuse to 
 carry, still it must be a primary object to make the signal 
 as loud as possible. 
 
 144
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 The diaphone gives a very loud sound, and the note 
 emitted is, at a little distance, a very pure tone i.e., free 
 from upper harmonics. After re-embarking from Rocka- 
 bill, we cruised in the neighbourhood in order to judge 
 of the penetrating quality of the blasts. They end with 
 a very characteristic grunt, which is advantageous for 
 purposes of identification. The note was, otherwise, 
 beautifully pure and penetrating. 
 
 It might be thought that nothing would be easier than 
 to generate a sound as loud as one desired. It is quite 
 otherwise. The loss of power in generating sound is 
 enormous. Only quite a small part of the expended 
 energy goes to form sound waves: in many musical 
 instruments little more than one part in a hundred. 
 Hence it comes about that when it is desired to generate a 
 sound which will be heard a distance of, say, 10 miles, 
 the siren will be consuming power at the rate of 100 horse- 
 power while it is emitting the blast. Up to as much as 
 600 horse-power have been used to generate the siren 
 blast at certain British signal stations. The difficulty 
 of meeting this large output of work is, of course, greatly 
 lessened by the fact that it is required but for the few 
 seconds during which the sound is being generated. An 
 oil engine of 8 or 10 horse-power continually running, and 
 storing compressed air in a sufficiently large and strong 
 reservoir, would work such great sirens if the blast be 
 short enough; for the accumulated work of the engine will 
 be concentrated into this brief period. This is just how 
 
 145 K
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the diaphone is worked at Rockabill. The power of a 
 continuously running engine is stored for the blasts. 
 
 A siren, as many know, consists of a fixed disk with 
 many small perforations. A movable disk, also carrying 
 small perforations, rotates over this fixed disk and con- 
 centrically with it. When any of the perforations coin- 
 cide, the air which is stored under high pressure behind 
 the fixed disk rushes out with great violence, almost 
 explosively. The note is produced by the rapid succession 
 of such puffs. The perforations are so sloped that the 
 air rushing out both generates and maintains the rapid 
 rotation of the movable disk. As the rate of rotation 
 rises from slow to fast, the note ascends in pitch. This 
 is what gives to the siren its wailing character. In some 
 cases the siren is given the form of one cylinder rotating 
 within another. 
 
 In the diaphone the construction is very different. 
 There is no rotating disk or cylinder. The instrument 
 consists of one cylinder oscillating or reciprocating within 
 another. The compressed air surrounds the outer cylinder. 
 Slots cut transversely to the axis of the cylinders penetrate 
 the walls of each. When these slots coincide the air rushes 
 into the hollow space within the inner cylinder. This 
 space is, at one end, open to the air. The puffs, entering 
 the inner cylinder with great force and at rapid intervals, 
 cause sound waves to issue from the mouth of the inner 
 cylinder. They are received into a trumpet carefully 
 designed to strengthen the note being emitted. It is 
 
 146
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 only necessary to add that the vibration back and forth 
 
 of the inner cylinder or hollow piston is maintained by the 
 air-flow on the same principle as prevails in the ordinary 
 siren. 
 
 Mr. Louis V. King has recently shown that the note of 
 this instrument is by no means pure when heard at close 
 quarters. The overtones die out, however, at a little 
 distance from the mouth of the trumpet. There is much 
 wasted sound in these overtones. King's measurements 
 have demonstrated that the output of purely acoustic 
 energy by the diaphone was as much as 8 per cent, of the 
 energy of the compressed air used in driving this instru- 
 ment, a result probably unsurpassed by any other sound 
 producing instrument. That Mr. King whom I subse- 
 quently had the pleasure of meeting at Montreal is on 
 the right track in investigating fog-signal apparatus by 
 scientific evaluation of efficiency I am convinced. 
 
 And how endlessly marvellous is Nature ! Sound, as 
 all know, consists of small pressure variations transmitted 
 through the atmosphere, the particles of air vibrating 
 back and forth in the direction of propagation. In the 
 case of a just audible sound the change of pressure will 
 be only about the ten-millionth part of an atmosphere, 
 and the back and forth displacement of the particles 
 about the two-millionth of a centimetre, a distance less 
 than the wave-length of yellow light. These figures are 
 for a note of about 180 vibrations per second, a deep note. 
 A middle C of 256 vibrations per second would have yet 
 
 147
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 smaller characteristics. Our ears can pick up these 
 minute differences of pressure and amplitude of motion. 
 We can hear and we can distinguish the note. Let us 
 now turn to the sense of sight that other sense to which 
 the lighthouse station is designed to appeal. Lord 
 Rayleigh has shown that the stream of energy entering 
 the eye from a candle flame seen from a distance of 2 miles 
 is just about equal to the stream of energy entering the 
 ear when the sensation of sound is awakened. The just 
 audible note and the just visible light require about the 
 same energy expended on nerve stimulus. Our senses 
 are refined to a degree which almost staggers compre- 
 hension ! Truly we are one with Nature ! 
 
 And the future of the lighthouse ? Wonderful things 
 are in store for it. It shall speak to the mariner by voices 
 which neither storm nor fog can silence. Under- water 
 signalling by morse code or by telephony, and wireless 
 telephony in the aether, are to-day accomplished facts. On 
 the other side of the Atlantic there is in operation even 
 now a lighthouse which cries to the mariner while he is 
 yet afar off the name of the station he is approaching, 
 and if he comes too near warns him of his danger, the 
 mariner hearing these voices in his telephone. But more 
 than this has been accomplished. By sending through 
 the water and through the aether signals simultaneously 
 emitted the sailor can determine his distance from the 
 land by a simple measurement of the lag of the submarine 
 signal on the aethereal. And this is information most 
 
 148
 
 INSPECTION OF IRISH LIGHTHOUSES 
 
 precious to him. He becomes, in fact, possessed of powers 
 which transcend those conferred by his senses alone even 
 in the clearest daylight. All this is for the lighthouse 
 and the lightship in the near future. But Science, serene 
 goddess, wears these new and priceless jewels in her diadem 
 with meekness, and keeps her steady eyes fixed on the sky 
 where this is growing red in the sunrise. 
 
 149
 
 V 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH* 
 
 THE traveller from Dublin to Sligo by the Midland Great 
 Western Railway passes the small station of Edgeworths- 
 town some few miles before he comes to the town of 
 Longford. 
 
 The county of Longford is a remarkable county. In it 
 was born Oliver Goldsmith, and in it Maria Edgeworth 
 spent almost her entire life and wrote her exquisite novels. 
 
 Edgeworthstown is only a small place a neat, plain 
 village. Edgeworthstown House, wherein Richard Lovell 
 Edgeworth and his daughter Maria lived, is still there and 
 in possession of the family. And here this same family 
 have lived since 1583. They have given their name to the 
 village. Indeed, this family seem to have a remarkable 
 gift of locally impressing their influence. It is said that 
 Edgeware Road in London is named from another branch. 
 The first of the family who came to Ireland became Bishop 
 of Down and Connor. He left his property to his brother, 
 and from him the succeeding generations descended. 
 
 Not many miles from Edgeworthstown House is a 
 
 * A discourse delivered before the students of the Royal 
 College of Science, Dublin. 
 
 150
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH (l8l2), THE INVENTOR OF THE 
 MODERN SYSTEM OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 To face page 1 50.
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 residence called Firmount, where, at one time, resided 
 the celebrated Abbe Edgeworth, the prelate who attended 
 the unfortunate Louis XVI. to the scaffold and received 
 his last confession. 
 
 But it is not my present purpose to speak of the charm- 
 ing and lovable novelist Maria Edgeworth, nor yet of her 
 relative, the learned and faithful Abb6; but of one of the 
 most remarkable inventors and engineers which the 
 United Kingdom has produced, Richard Lovell Edgeworth. 
 
 Richard Lovell Edgeworth is known to a few as the 
 father of Maria. His claim to fame as the most advanced 
 road engineer of his time has been long ago forgotten by 
 the public, and is known to a limited number only of that 
 expert part of it who ought to know of his work. What 
 he accomplished I shall endeavour to show. But first 
 a brief sketch of his life. 
 
 He was born at Bath in the year 1744. His father was 
 a lawyer. His mother was the daughter of a Welsh judge. 
 She was a woman of worth and intelligence who, according 
 to Richard Lovell Edgeworth 's own account, did much to 
 save him from himself; for he was by temperament some- 
 what ungovernable and subject to violent outbreaks of 
 passion. At the birth of Richard Lovell his mother, by 
 some mismanagement, became paralysed upon one side 
 and remained so till her death, which occurred while he 
 was yet a child. 
 
 In his autobiography he gives us two scenes from his 
 childhood which I am tempted to reproduce because of
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the educational moral contained in them. The first was 
 an incident which occurred in his seventh year. A gentle- 
 man a Mr. Deane was delayed by the sickness of his 
 wife at a wretched inn at Edgeworthstown. The mother 
 of Richard Lovell attended to the sick lady and invited 
 her to her house. Mrs. Edgeworth subsequently called 
 upon the Deanes in Dublin. Mr. Deane was a man of 
 scientific tastes, and was at the time constructing a working 
 model of the solar system. He was also experimenting 
 upon the effects of electricity upon paralysis. In grati- 
 tude to Mrs. Edgeworth he desired to try his treatment 
 on the afflicted lady. Young Edgeworth, after much 
 entreaty, obtained leave to be present. There was a short 
 circuit which baffled Mr. Deane. The youthful spectator 
 found it, and Mr. Deane was so pleased with him that he 
 invited him to see his workshop next morning. There he 
 saw some of the mysteries of machinery for cutting the 
 teeth of clock wheels, and was shown his first globe of the 
 world. Also he saw a siphon in operation, and had the 
 construction of an organ bellows explained to him. " He 
 bestowed praise upon my attention and upon what he 
 was pleased to call my intelligence, so that from the 
 pleasure I received and the impression made upon my 
 mind that morning I became irrevocably a mechanic." 
 
 Now, this is one picture, and having looked upon it we 
 will look upon another. 
 
 The boy had come to be nine years old. A clergyman 
 of the neighbouring village was engaged to teach him 
 
 152
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 Latin. This man in former years had led Oliver Gold- 
 smith over the threshold of learning. " He put into my 
 hands, without any previous inauguration, that universal 
 book of knowledge, Lilly's Grammar. Never can I forget 
 the amazement, or rather the stupor, which overwhelmed 
 my mind when I read and attempted to learn by heart 
 the first definition in this learned manual. By pure dint 
 of reiteration, I got my lessons with tolerable success; but 
 I am satisfied that my pedagogue augured ill of the young 
 squire. I, however, like other boys, drudged on through 
 thick and thin. I got through Tristts (sad) without any 
 misfortune; but the first and only punishment I ever 
 suffered in the cause of classical literature was occasioned 
 by Felix (happy), and I well recollect the cause of my 
 failure and disgrace. While I learned my lesson by rote, 
 I had the trick of standing upon one leg, buckling and 
 unbuckling my shoe. When I came to repeat my lesson, 
 my master insisted upon my standing still and on both 
 my legs. My memory was directly at a fault. My associa- 
 tions were broken, and I could not go on through hie hcec 
 hoc et felix without taking up my forbidden foot. A good 
 whipping, as it is called, cured me of the trick, and of 
 what appeared to be obstinacy or stupidity." Richard 
 Lovell Edgeworth, who later became one of the most 
 clear-sighted exponents of education of his time, had 
 evidently much in his own youthful experience to reflect 
 upon. After this preliminary teaching he was sent to 
 school in Warwick, where his Irish brogue made him an 
 
 153
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 object of ridicule. Later he was transferred to Drogheda 
 School, where his English accent made him equally an 
 object of ridicule. 
 
 He entered Dublin University when nearly seventeen 
 years of age as Fellow Commoner. It was not then the 
 custom to plague Fellow Commoners with lectures. His 
 residence in Trinity was passed in dissipation of every 
 kind. He was removed and entered at Oxford after six 
 months. 
 
 While at Oxford he made a runaway match, of which, 
 as he admits, he subsequently repented. This union 
 resulted in the birth of Maria Edgeworth. His first wife 
 died young, and subsequently he married three times and 
 had a total of twenty-two children. Some of these died 
 in childhood. One gathers the impression in reading his 
 life that Maria was the angel of his household. By her 
 all the successive stepmothers were treated with affection 
 and devotion, and as they passed one by one to the grave 
 she became as a mother to their little children, giving to 
 each one the benefit of her patient and enlightened in- 
 struction and a share of her boundless affection. But 
 Richard Lovell Edgeworth was himself, in spite of his 
 somewhat too numerous matrimonial ventures, an amiable, 
 lovable man. Maria bears eloquent testimony to all her 
 father did for her and for her literary work. It is recorded 
 that the system of education which he and his gifted 
 daughter evolved, and which finally received publication 
 in two bulky volumes, had the happiest results at home. 
 
 154
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 In a household as large as a school and consisting of children 
 of every age, the voice of discontent was not once heard 
 for months at a time. I may remark here that much of 
 the practical turn which father and daughter gave to their 
 methods forestalls certain features of the Montessori 
 system, so deservedly popular to-day. 
 
 Richard Lovell Edgeworth was intimate with many of 
 the most remarkable men of his time. Between him 
 and Thomas Day, more especially, an enduring friend- 
 ship existed. This high-minded but quite extraordinary 
 man is remembered as the author of Sand ford and Merlon. 
 Richard Lovell and Maria were in some part the originators 
 of that delightful book, having written a tale on practical 
 education called Harry and Lucy, which suggested to Day 
 the idea of Sand ford and Merton. 
 
 As I have already said, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, 
 so far as the general public is concerned, is known only 
 for the fact that he was the father and literary associate 
 of Maria Edgeworth. But his claims to fame as inventor, 
 scientist, and engineer are beyond dispute. His genius is 
 sui generis. He is neither a Rennie, a Brunei, nor a 
 George Stephenson. He is himself, and his work possesses 
 characters which make it unique. He was not trained to 
 engineering as a profession, nor yet to science. And, 
 indeed, in those days schools of engineering were unthought 
 of. His pursuits were matters of taste, for he was a well- 
 to-do man, a rich country squire. But his work is marked 
 throughout with a foresight and with an originality which 
 
 155
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 placed him ahead of his contemporaries in the subjects 
 which he handled. 
 
 His first practical work was in civil engineering. It 
 would appear that he was, partly for matrimonial reasons, 
 a sort of exile in France after his first marriage. The 
 Rhone was then being diverted at its point of juncture 
 with the Saone. The idea was to give the beautiful city 
 of Lyons more room for expansion. Edgeworth seems 
 to have given valuable advice to the French engineers, 
 and in consequence found employment as a helper in the 
 undertaking. He was then in his twenty-ninth year. 
 His success in this work probably gave him self-confidence. 
 He must have soon, of necessity, recognised that he was 
 superior to most other men in intelligence. When he 
 returned to his own country he settled down to the im- 
 provement of his estate (his father having died), to the 
 civilising of his tenants, and to a continuous succession 
 of mechanical and scientific experiments and publications. 
 It was characteristic of his genius that he regarded 
 nothing as perfect, but endeavoured to improve upon his 
 own work all his days. 
 
 He spent intermittently many years on a system of 
 telegraphy which was finally adopted and applied by the 
 Government in Ireland ; and the then marvellous feat was 
 accomplished of sending a message from Dublin to Galway 
 in eight minutes. This was long before the time of the 
 electric telegraph, and, curiously enough, philosophically 
 speaking, Edgeworth's system was in many respects 
 
 156
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 identical with the wireless of to-day. Edgeworth proposed 
 to erect a succession of gigantic pointers or semaphores 
 at distances of about 20 miles, and within view of one 
 another. The arms at each station were to be three in 
 number, and by their positions to indicate one of the 
 eight figures, o to 7. A vocabulary was worked out in 
 detail whereby these numbers in their countless combina- 
 tions might convey any idea which it was desired to 
 telegraph. Now, if when the first station which we 
 may call A moves one or more of its pointers, B imme- 
 diately imitates these motions, and as B moves its pointers 
 C also makes the same movements, and so on, it is evident 
 that a message may be sent with astonishing rapidity over 
 very long distances. 
 
 At night-time these pointers were distinguished by 
 attached white lights. Thus the Government, at a time 
 when the fastest mode of transit was by post-horses, at 
 a rate of perhaps 10 or 12 miles per hour, might find itself 
 at any hour of the day or night able to transmit its behests 
 all over the country in a few minutes. I think you will 
 admit that this was a very clever idea and deserving of 
 more success than the blundering laxity of the Govern- 
 ment would permit to it. 
 
 Edgeworth first tested his telegraph near Edgeworths- 
 town in the year 1794. He then, having found it to be a 
 perfect success, endeavoured to induce the Government 
 to take the matter up. But the Government would not 
 listen to him. He offered to connect Dublin with Cork 
 
 157
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 by fourteen stations erected at his own expense, but still 
 the Government would have none of it. Two months 
 after this final rebuff the French were reported off the 
 Irish Coast and threatening invasion. Then the Govern- 
 ment would very gladly have had Edgeworth's system of 
 telegraphy at their disposal. There was such confusion 
 in the military higher command that cannon and cannon- 
 ball of different calibre were hastily sent off to repel the 
 French invasion. A change of wind, and not the cannon- 
 balls which would not fit the cannon, saved Ireland from 
 the horrors of invasion. After this Richard Lovell Edge- 
 worth again offered his invention to the Government, and 
 the lesson being now learned, there was established 
 between Dublin and Galway the telegraphic connection 
 to which I have referred above. Some of the signal 
 stations were fortified as, for instance, the third one 
 from Dublin at Cappah. Maria Edgeworth thus speaks 
 of her father's actions in this matter: " In 1803 my father 
 was again intent upon an object in which he had formerly 
 met with disappointment sufficient to have damped the 
 ardour and disgusted the patriotism of most men." We 
 feel inclined when we read of all this to ask if the 
 Government of those days was very different from the 
 Government which rejected the recent patriotic offers 
 of the Brothers Wright. After a hundred years the 
 attitude towards science has remained much the same. 
 
 At various times during his long life he worked at the 
 important subject of springs applied to carts, and the best 
 
 158
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 conditions for easy cart and carriage traction. In 1788 
 a memoir on the subject from his pen appears in the 
 Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. The celebrated 
 Dr. Hooke, contemporary of Sir Isaac Newton, in the time 
 of Charles II., showed that the effect of springs was to 
 make travel in carriages much easier to the traveller. 
 But this distinguished philosopher seems to have over- 
 looked a matter of not less importance viz., that springs 
 applied to carts and carriages reduced the effort required 
 for traction. The reasons for this statement are simple 
 enough, but people a hundred years ago were not so much 
 in the habit of asking the why and wherefore of things 
 as we, under the increasing influence of scientific modes 
 of thought, are to-day. Edgeworth's way of representing 
 the matter was simply that, whereas the carriage without 
 springs must suddenly rise to the full height of the obstacle 
 encountered by the wheel, the carriage with springs is 
 not thus suddenly compelled to rise against the influence 
 of its inertia, but the spring is compressed, and by its 
 change of shape allows the obstacle to be surmounted 
 with comparatively little upward displacement of the 
 carriage. It is true that other questions are involved 
 if a complete account of the matter is sought. Thus we 
 have to consider the resilience of the spring and the 
 consequent lesser loss of energy resulting from the bending 
 and unbending of a spring compared with the loss of 
 energy which attends percussion and strains set up in an 
 inelastic carriage frame. Much of Edgeworth's work on 
 
 159
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the subject was experimental, and many and very 
 ingenious are the experiments he describes. He un- 
 doubtedly established his case. He found that a carriage 
 with springs, moving at 4 miles per hour, had in ease of 
 traction an advantage over one without springs, moving 
 at the same pace, as 5 to i. 
 
 There was no subject to which Edgeworth gave so 
 much thought as this of carriage construction and traction. 
 He saw clearly the great waste of time and money in- 
 volved in the shocking roads and clumsy carriages of the 
 period. Absurd ideas were prevalent as to the shapes, 
 sizes, and positions of carriage wheels; the proper direction 
 in which to apply the tractive force ; and the best mode of 
 enlarging the carrying capacity of stage-coaches. Again 
 and again he appeals for national experiments, offering 
 to spend his own money in the cause, and urging that the 
 economy of millions must attend experiments costing 
 thousands or hundreds. His pleading was to a large 
 extent in vain. He suffered the usual fate of men who 
 are in advance of their time, and who live in a badly 
 educated community. 
 
 This subject was naturally bound up with the subject 
 of road-making. Here we touch on the chief and most 
 successful advances made by Richard Lovell Edgeworth. 
 At a time when road-making and mending were relegated 
 to quite ignorant men, and in consequence were without 
 the slightest claim to any scientific basis, Edgeworth 
 formulated a thoroughly scientific procedure, based on 
 
 160
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 correct first principles. He stands as one of the most 
 far-seeing and scientific road engineers of all time. True, 
 his methods may have been independently developed by 
 others at about the same period. But of Edgeworth's 
 complete originality of ideas and independence there 
 can be no doubt; and, in point of fact, so far as I have 
 been able to ascertain, actual priority of publication rests 
 with him. And I may add that while Macadam may have 
 independently arrived at the proper and scientific theory 
 of road-making, his general procedure is not that which 
 is practised to-day, whereas Richard Lovell Edgeworth's 
 is in every particular. 
 
 It is necessary to acquire some impression of the state 
 of the public roads in Edgeworth's time. The roads in 
 Ireland were then on the whole better than they were in 
 England. This was due to the fact that the roads of 
 Ireland were managed by the Grand Juries, who appear 
 to have paid some little attention to them. But they were 
 exceedingly bad according to our modern views. 
 
 The well-known Arthur Young, in his Six Months' Tour, 
 published in 1770, writes of the roads in the North of 
 England : 
 
 " To Wigan, by Turnpike. I know in the whole range 
 of language no terms sufficiently expressive to describe this 
 infernal road. Let me most seriously caution all travel- 
 lers who may accidentally propose to travel this terrible 
 country to avoid it as they would the devil, for a thousand 
 to one they break their necks or their limbs by over- 
 
 161 L
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 turnings or breakings down. They will here meet with 
 ruts which I actually measured 4 feet deep and floating 
 with mud only from a wet summer. What, therefore, 
 must it be after winter ? The only mending it receives 
 is tumbling in some loose stones, which serve no other 
 purpose than jolting a carriage in the most intolerable 
 manner. These are not merely opinions, but facts; for 
 I have actually passed three carts broken in those 18 miles 
 of execrable memory." 
 
 Law and Clarke well-known authorities give striking 
 diagrams to illustrate the methods of road-formation 
 prevailing in about the year 1809. To these the reader 
 is referred. 
 
 The original road was taken across country with little 
 or no preparation of the land. Not only so, but there was 
 no thought as to limiting the gradient or inclination. In 
 point of fact as Edgeworth points out the gradient 
 did not much matter, for the badness of the roads in any 
 case called for teams of horses even on the flat. 
 
 Of course a track which was only prepared by flinging 
 a few stones of any size or shape on the surface of a field 
 soon fell into ruts. Then, when the ruts became quite 
 impassable the road was " indicted " by the Parish Sur- 
 veyor, and steps were taken to mend it. The method of 
 mending was to give to the road such a circular convexity 
 that water must run off. But the convexity was so over- 
 done that all traffic had to run just on the top of the curve, 
 the sides being positively dangerous for a loaded vehicle. 
 
 162
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 The result was the rapid formation of fresh ruts, which, 
 of course, the convexity completely failed to drain. 
 
 The Parish Surveyor was now left with a surface such 
 as can only be described as complete chaos. Repair 
 had become practically impossible. The deep ruts filled 
 with mud and water were dealt with by throwing into them 
 clods, rushes, stones great and small, which were soon 
 swallowed up. It is well known that travellers in those 
 days made their wills previous to undertaking a long 
 journey by stage-coach or post-chaise. To the danger of 
 " overturnings and breakings down " was added that of 
 thieves, against which all passengers carried blunderbusses. 
 
 Such was the state of road engineering when Edgeworth 
 began his study of the subject. He appears to have first 
 stated his views on road-making to a Government Com- 
 mittee on the 1 4th of March, 1808. I have seen this state- 
 ment. The use of a deep layer of broken stone of various 
 sizes and of fine gravel applied at the top to fill interstices 
 is specified. In 1813 his book entitled An Essay on the 
 Construction of Roads and Carriages appeared. It reached 
 a second edition in 1817. I have before me the first 
 edition. It is now a scarce book. In the Preface the 
 author states that the subjects dealt with had occupied 
 his attention for nearly half a century. In this work a 
 complete account of the modern method of making roads 
 by stones broken to a uniform size, known as " mac- 
 adamising, ".is described. The theory is simple enough, 
 but it is one which may well have escaped the attention 
 
 163
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 of early road-makers. If a sufficiently deep layer of 
 small angular stones are exposed to the action of wheels 
 passing over it, the angular stones bit by bit tend to settle 
 together, surface to surface that is, the flat faces tend 
 to move into juxtaposition. There is a principle at work. 
 The volume of the whole layer tends to become the smallest 
 possible in yielding to the passing weight. This necessi- 
 tates the disappearance of interstices. Accordingly the 
 flat faces must work into contact either by movements 
 or by fracture. But by this contact of the flat faces the 
 whole road becomes more nearly to the condition of one 
 uniform sheet of stone, and the layer loses its original 
 looseness of structure and binds together into a homo- 
 geneous mass. Edgeworth undoubtedly recognised this 
 principle, and thus describes the construction of a road 
 according to his views: 
 
 " When the substratum of a road is unsound it should 
 be covered with faggots of brushwood, with the branches 
 of fir-trees, or with furze and heath. Flat stones, if they 
 can be had, should then be laid over the faggots, and 
 upon these stones of 6 or 7 pounds weight, and lastly a 
 coat of 8 or 10 inches of pounded stone. The pounded 
 stone for all such roads should be broken by weight or 
 measure. . . . The depth of broken stone here mentioned 
 is sufficient for any road : two-thirds of the quantity will 
 make an excellent road at a distance from any great 
 town. No covering of any sort should be laid on the 
 pounded stone, except clean angular gravel that may 
 
 164
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 insert itself between the interstices of the stones, but no 
 more should be used than will thus sink to a level with the 
 surface. No stones larger than an inch and a half in 
 diameter should be suffered to remain on the road; where 
 much inaccuracy in this respect is suspected, an iron ring 
 may be employed as a gauge." 
 
 That Edgeworth is here giving his own ideas seems 
 certain. For one thing, they differ in important particu- 
 lars from those of Macadam, as we shall presently see. 
 A little further on in his book he states that he repaired 
 and kept in order for two years 8 miles of road in his 
 locality according to the procedure he describes. His 
 views were not, therefore, untried at the date of publica- 
 tion of his book. With respect to the methods of breaking 
 the stone Edgeworth recommends hand labour, but dis- 
 cusses the possibility of effective machinery. The book 
 is tersely written and filled with sensible, practical sugges- 
 tions throughout. As regards the question of the proper 
 curvature to confer on a road, Edgeworth is of opinion 
 that it should be only such as will keep the road from 
 being worn hollow in the intervals between the times of 
 repair. Those who know something of modern road- 
 making will recognise that Richard Lovell Edgeworth 
 describes, in short, the modern procedure in every detail. 
 What is the reason for the use of angular gravel applied 
 as a dressing to the newly made road ? It is this I The 
 void space between the broken stone or " metal " (as it 
 is termed) is at first very considerable not less than some 
 
 165
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 30 per cent, of the entire volume. Now, this space will, 
 under the pressure and impact of the wheels, be filled to 
 a large extent by pieces broken off the metal, or by parts 
 of it which have actually been reduced to powder. Edge- 
 worth's procedure has for its object the preservation of 
 the original metal from this source of destruction. He 
 supplies the angular fragments, which must come from 
 somewhere. The shaip gravel fills the larger interstices, 
 and serves to lock or bind the metal together. It does 
 this not only by filling the spaces, but by the influence 
 of its sharp corners and projections. 
 
 The question then arises, Why should world-wide fame 
 be accorded to Macadam and the name of Edgeworth be 
 left in obscurity? We cannot consider this point, of 
 course, without entering into Macadam's position in the 
 matter. 
 
 John Loudon Macadam, who was born in 1756 and 
 was therefore junior to Edgeworth was a road engineer 
 or surveyor by profession. He passed his youth in 
 America, and returned to Scotland his native land- 
 in 1.783. He became manager of the roads in Ayre, and 
 in 1815 became surveyor of roads in Bristol. It was at 
 this place that he first practised on a large scale the system 
 of road-making known by his name. Aitken one of 
 the chief living authorities on road engineering states 
 that Macadam had previously put his methods in opera- 
 tion in Ayre. But he quotes no authorities for this state- 
 ment. I can find no earlier publication of his views than 
 
 166
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 the report of the Government Committee of 1811, to which 
 he communicated his views under date of the I3th of May, 
 1811. This is quoted by Edgeworth in his synopsis of 
 reports of the various Government Committees which at 
 that time were appointed to consider these matters. Here 
 is Edgeworth's epitome of Macadam's evidence: 
 
 " The object is to have a road smooth, hard, and flat. 
 A road of small broken stone to a depth of 10 inches will 
 be durable. Stones should be broken small, in general 
 not exceeding a cubic inch. Road to be quite flat. 
 Broken stone to be alone used." The last sentence finds 
 amplification in Mr. Aitken's book, wherein it is stated that 
 Macadam strongly condemned the use of binding material 
 of any sort for filling up the interstices. Macadam's 
 methods therefore involve a considerable divergence from 
 modern practice. 
 
 Now, as to the date at which Macadam may have first 
 used broken stone for making roads it is probably impossible 
 to arrive at any reliable information. In his evidence 
 he refers to experimental roads of short lengths upon 
 which he had tested his methods. One thing is, however, 
 certain. The method of metalling was unknown to 
 Telford in 1802. This engineer, who in all his work is 
 distinguished by the most minute and painstaking atten- 
 tion to detail, issued a specification for the Highland roads 
 in 1802 in which he defines: "On a dry bottom ground 
 gravel of a proper quality and from which all stones above 
 the size of a hen's egg shall have been previously taken 
 
 167
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 shall be laid to a depth of 14 inches at the centre and 
 9 inches at sides." It seems quite incredible that so 
 thorough-going an engineer as Telford undoubtedly was 
 should not have made himself acquainted with the 
 principles of metalling with broken stone, if these had been 
 known at the time. Later, in his detailed specification 
 for the great road connecting Glasgow and Carlisle, Telford 
 uses very different words: "The metalling to consist of 
 two beds, or layers viz., a bottom course of stones 
 each 7 inches in depth to be set by hand. . . . The top 
 course to be 7 inches depth, and to consist of broken 
 stones not more than 6 ounces weight, and to pass 
 through a ring z\ inches diameter. These to be hard 
 whinstone." But this specification was written in 1816. 
 
 Road engineers have taken divergent views on the 
 question of priority involved. Thus, Law and Clarke 
 in their excellent treatise claim unreservedly for Edge- 
 worth's priority. They also point out that Edgeworth's 
 use of filling material is now adopted by the best surveyors, 
 whereas it was condemned by Macadam. Aitken supports 
 Macadam's priority, but not on any citation of priority 
 of publication. 
 
 While there is no doubt that Macadam's influence did 
 much to introduce the use of metalling, and that from his 
 professional position he had many more opportunities than 
 Edgeworth had of demonstrating its utility, Macadam's 
 practice departed in important details from that of modern 
 engineers: he condemns filling materials, and he wants 
 
 168
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 quite flat roads. On the other hand, Edgeworth's practice 
 is identical with modern ideas. Again, we have publica- 
 tion by Edgeworth of the essential features of the method 
 at a date before Macadam had said anything on the matter. 
 That is a brief statement of the case. Similar cases of 
 posthumous injustice are by no means uncommon. 
 Hadley's sextant was invented by Newton. The Crooke's 
 tube was anticipated by Varley. J. J. Waterston was 
 the originator of the kinetic theory of gases, but others 
 got the fame. I believe that no quite fair-minded person 
 can acquiesce in the silence which hangs over Edgeworth's 
 work on the modern theory and practice of road-making. 
 Honour to whom honour is due. 
 
 We see from all this what an interesting place is Edge- 
 worthstown. And I believe those who go there will still 
 see the village church with the spire which Richard Lovell 
 Edgeworth erected. I do not think that any other spire 
 in the United Kingdom was erected in the same manner. 
 For in fact the spire was built upon the ground and within 
 the tower which now supports it. It is a structure of 
 iron framing, slated and painted to represent stonework. 
 When the spire was completed the whole countryside 
 assembled to see it hoisted up into its place. A bugle 
 announced the beginning of the ascent. There was 
 breathless silence. Men stationed above slowly turned 
 the windlasses. Gradually the spire rose into view, 
 emerging from the top of the tower. First came the gilt 
 arrow and ball which tops the spire, then the slates 
 
 169
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 appeared, and in eighteen minutes from the start the spire 
 stood in full view. It was then secured in its place and the 
 connection with the lightning conductor completed. 
 That night there was a violent storm of wind, rain, and 
 thunder. The family eagerly looked forth next morning 
 to see if the tower had survived the elements. The only 
 unconcerned person was Richard Lovell, who, it is said, 
 was inclined to reprove his family for their fears. A 
 prophet is not always honoured as he should be in his 
 own home. The spire after one hundred years is said to 
 be still sound and unmoved. 
 
 Edgeworth was not only public-spirited ; he was a man 
 of indomitable energy. A Commission to inquire into 
 the nature and extent of the bogs of Ireland and to 
 determine whether they could or could not be reclaimed 
 was appointed by Parliament. One of the Commissioners 
 sought Edgeworth's aid. Although much reduced by 
 illness at the time, Richard Lovell said he could only die, 
 and he would rather die doing something than doing 
 nothing. He took over the survey and examination of 
 34,500 English acres of bog. In wet autumn weather he 
 tramped those deep and wet bogs, often going for fifteen 
 hours without food. He was then in his sixty-fifth year. 
 Instead of killing him, it did him a lot of good. His 
 report on the bogs was published in 1810. He believed 
 in the possibility of reclamation, and endeavoured to 
 carry out some of his ideas. He was stopped by the legal 
 expenses involved. Endless litigation arose on questions 
 
 170
 
 RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH 
 
 of boundary, and Edgeworth had to give up his scheme of 
 reform. 
 
 To the end of his life he worked with unremitting zeal. 
 Now it was in the interests of his tenants, by whom he was 
 beloved, now it was at literary work, in which he was 
 joined by his talented daughter, or he was experimenting 
 still on new forms of carriages and wheels. He wrote 
 an essay on Irish Bulls, which recounts many curious 
 examples of Hibernian wit. It is said that the secretary 
 of an English agricultural society bought the book with 
 a view to learning the writer's views on cattle-breeding, 
 and was greatly disgusted when he opened the book and 
 found what was in it. We find Richard Lovell Edgeworth 
 as late as 1815 and 1816 making experiments on wheeled 
 carriages for the Royal Dublin Society. 
 
 He was then dying of an incurable disease, and he knew 
 it, but still he worked on with undiminished cheerfulness 
 and activity. The end came on the i3th of June, 1817. 
 
 There is no doubt that Richard Lovell Edgeworth 
 possessed not only something of the imaginativeness of 
 genius, but that " capacity for taking infinite pains " 
 which has been defined as the essence itself of genius. And 
 with all he had a vein of strong common sense, a quality 
 often denied to genius, and a quality which is absolutely 
 essential to the successful engineer. It was the combina- 
 tion of suggestiveness with common sense which enabled 
 Edgeworth to do his life's work. The inventor's ideas 
 come from his imaginativeness and suggestiveness. The 
 
 171
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 power of being able to say whether this or that idea will 
 " work " or will not " work " is simply a matter of common 
 sense. I do not think any other estimate of Edgeworth's 
 place in the annals of science is required : he was at once 
 a highly sensible and an imaginative man. His ideas 
 impelled him to work. Men work either because of their 
 ideas or because of their greed. 
 
 The noble words of Maria Edgeworth which close one 
 of the chapters added by her to his autobiography may 
 well conclude this short study of a good man and in many 
 ways a great man : 
 
 " In Science it is not given to man to finish; to persevere, 
 to advance a step or two, is all that can be accomplished, 
 and all that will be expected by the real philosopher. . . . 
 It is tempting to human ingenuity, and still more to vanity, 
 to raise, each man after his own fashion, a little pyramid 
 of human knowledge; but not only will he be more useful 
 to science, but the memory of his labours will be the more 
 likely to endure, who has been content to work humbly, 
 along with others, even if he have added but one stone, 
 one morsel of cement, to the great solid edifice." 
 
 172
 
 VI 
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION* 
 
 THAT " there is no new thing under the sun " is a much- 
 abused saying. It has the authority of the wisest of 
 men, so it must be true. But it is run away with, more 
 especially by those who are most profound in all manner 
 of book-learning. Within the scholastic soul it wells up 
 as something which is at once consolatory, self-exculpatory, 
 and at the same time condemnatory of those foolish ones 
 who would endeavour to disturb the landmarks of human 
 knowledge and advance its boundaries. " What is the 
 use of your researches ?" said a learned classic once, in 
 my hearing. " You can find out nothing that is not 
 already known." And then followed the narration of 
 an incident in the career of a certain learned and hard- 
 working Provost of Trinity College, to point his remarks 
 and confirm his argument. But not only is the classic 
 prone to run away with it: the unamiable scientific critic 
 makes even a worse use of it. Your claim to some great 
 work , after years of labour, is to be forfeited for all time 
 because some aimless suggester of possibilities once upon 
 a time perhaps one hundred years ago cursorily hints 
 
 * An undelivered address to Alexandra College, Dublin. 
 173
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 at the principle involved. Only when death has removed 
 the personality of the envied is the voice of envy silenced, 
 and, very often, not even then. 
 
 Having in common with other seekers after Science 
 suffered much in this direction, I hasten to state that there 
 is nothing whatever new in this humble essay. I make 
 no claim whatever to originality. I am as the reed which 
 bends to the blast. So far as this essay goes, Solomon 
 is quite in the right. It is all as old as the hills. I 
 endeavour here only to crystallise into system what is now 
 desultory practice. 
 
 We must go back a long way to find the origin of 
 International Education in fact, to the Middle Ages. 
 Interterritorial, not to say international, freedom of 
 transfer from one studium generate to another then pre- 
 vailed. The roaming student saw life in various Uni- 
 versity institutions before his culture was completed and 
 he himself might aspire to become a teacher. The custom 
 expired under the influence of the mutual jealousies 
 following on the Reformation. Thereafter the boundaries 
 of creed limited the field of the University's influence. 
 A wandering student might contract pernicious heresy 
 if his wanderings took him outside these boundaries. 
 Actual prohibitions against attendance at foreign Uni- 
 versities were not uncommon. And thus a custom which 
 we to-day must regard as a most beneficent one came to 
 an end. Not finally, for in the post-University travels 
 of the young man of rank the custom long survived. 
 
 174
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 But in this form it was confined to the wealthy, to whom 
 neither the cost of the journey which must have been 
 considerable, especially when a tutor-companion accom- 
 panied it nor the expenditure of time were matters of 
 importance. More effectively, perhaps, was the early 
 custom preserved in the wanderfahr of the German 
 student, and often of the poor student. The wander jahr, 
 in the aggregate, must have done good service to civilisa- 
 tion even when it came as a period of exile to the traveller 
 and he " dragged at each remove a lengthening chain." 
 It is an episode which enters picturesquely into the life 
 of many a German writer of distinction. The educational 
 benefit must have been considerable. 
 
 Now, the sort of culture wl:ich was derived from this 
 international wandering of the student is just what I 
 mean by International Education. Its value is so great 
 in its every aspect that I think it should be and will be 
 restored (and possibly in our own time) as a feature of 
 University education. And when it comes I believe it 
 will be regarded as the crowning benefit to the student 
 of a University career. But it has even a higher claim 
 to support, as we shall see. 
 
 The recent British Educational Mission to the United 
 States has opened up the subject. The purpose of the 
 Mission was to consider the steps proper to the closer 
 approximation of the academic life of the two countries, 
 more especially by interchange of teachers and students. 
 A new and fresh conception of International Education 
 
 175
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 is the chief outcome of that Mission. After many scores 
 of conferences, private discussions, and public debates, 
 what I term " International Education " has emerged 
 as a practical aim which involves consequences so im- 
 portant that it must either be carried into effect or serious 
 blame must rest somewhere. 
 
 The central and supreme reason for the migration of 
 students in both directions across the Atlantic is the 
 increased mutual sympathy and understanding between 
 the peoples which may be expected to follow. To anyone 
 who knows the conditions prevailing on both sides of the 
 Atlantic this result must seem inevitable. The student 
 who crosses, going westward, will find many false concep- 
 tions swept away before he is very long among the 
 Americans. Now, this result will affect the future of the 
 world. 
 
 Imagine a few hundred British boys migrating to the 
 States each year and an equal number of American lads 
 coming to us, and consider what the effects must be after 
 a decade. We find these students grown into manhood. 
 They are rising into influence in professions or in business. 
 Some may later on sit in Parliament or in Congress. In 
 the mind of each is the recollection of a year a happy 
 year spent in the Other Country. The friendships of 
 boyhood are the longest lasting of all. They are those 
 which are made in the playground, in the lecture-room, 
 in the campus. Each one of these men is an influence 
 on his surroundings. The Other Side ceases to be so 
 
 176
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 far away, and a people already allied by many ties, by a 
 literature in common, by like democratic ideals, by long 
 extending historical associations, with the passing of 
 each year must grow into deeper and truer understanding 
 and friendship. Such men, bound to the Other Country 
 by a thousand recollections of boyhood, will each one be 
 an influence for peace when international difficulties 
 arise, and it will be just so much the harder for whispering 
 tongues to poison truth. 
 
 In the unanimous recommendation of the members 
 of the Mission and in the warm approval which this inter- 
 change of students has received in America we have, I 
 believe, a promised realisation of International Education. 
 The student at some time in his University career per- 
 haps in the last year of undergraduate life, or perhaps in 
 a post-graduate year and while he is studying for his pro- 
 fession or for a higher degree takes ship and spends an 
 academic year in the States, entering one of the great 
 Colleges or Universities; pursues his reading under the 
 instniction of American professors; mingles in American 
 University life; travels in the States during the Long 
 Vacation, and returns to finish his work in his own Uni- 
 versity. This is the best form of International Education. 
 
 We must assume that only a relatively small fraction 
 of the students in any University attain this advantage. 
 But, observe, it involves necessarily a certain lesser degree 
 of International Education for those who remain at home. 
 For the American students come to us. Perhaps some 
 
 177 M
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 20 per cent, of our college rooms will be occupied by those 
 cousins of ours. Our stay-at-home students chum with 
 them; play with them; in the College Club fraternise with 
 them ; in the debating societies and scientific associations 
 discuss all manner of things with them. Here is a 
 second-rate but very excellent and valuable portion of 
 International Education for those of our students who 
 do not go abroad. 
 
 It is, of course, not intended to convey the idea that 
 International Education must involve interchange with 
 America only. Other Allied Nations might be invited 
 to send their students to our Universities, and we might 
 send our students to theirs. But when all is said and 
 there is much to be said in favour of such migration, 
 the fact remains that the interchange of students with 
 America far transcends in importance any other scheme 
 of migration which may be suggested. 
 
 Several considerations contribute to this conclusion. 
 Among these may be mentioned the fact that many here 
 possess erroneous views about our cousins. This has 
 come home to me with special force, and, I may add, in 
 some cases with special pain, since my return from the 
 States. In pleasing contrast are the opinions expressed 
 by our young officers who have met the American boys 
 at the Front. They know them. Not many days ago 
 one of these officers wearing that little bit of white and 
 purple ribbon on his breast said to me of the " Yanks ": 
 " I found them very nice every one of them, but very 
 
 178
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 reckless: most of their casualties arose from their reck- 
 lessness. No; I never heard any boasting." Now, here 
 is the opinion of one who knows. When more of us know 
 as much about them the world will be a safer and a 
 happier place to live in. At this stage in the democratic 
 growth of the world we find herein the leading reason 
 for International Education. 
 
 Yes, International Education will make the world a 
 safer place to live in. Such a disaster as recently befell 
 our poor lads all over the world will become more and more 
 improbable as the peoples know each other better. 
 Leagues of Nations, Ententes, never can and never will 
 replace sympathetic mutual understanding. 
 
 We may now profitably consider the place of Inter- 
 national Education as part of the scheme of the student's 
 mental development. 
 
 The great educationists have taught us that for each 
 stage of young life there is an appropriate educational 
 need. The little child at first belongs to the home 
 to the mother, we may say. Later he belongs to the home 
 mainly, but partly to the State. At this stage the need 
 for his contemporaries for the first time arises, and this 
 need is satisfied at the Montessori School or at the Kinder- 
 garten. There, unknown to the child, he nestles under 
 the brooding love of some of the world's greatest bene- 
 factors: Pestalozzi, Froebel, Montessori. Later still the 
 little student enters the Elementary School. There his 
 contemporaries If the teacher is wise play a great part 
 
 179
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 in his life; and the Selbstthatigkeit, which Nature has 
 implanted in him, is permitted to call out his faculties, 
 and development proceeds from within outwards. This 
 is continued into the High School I am now following the 
 course of American education. In the High School the 
 blessed effects of liberty still are given full play. But 
 ever more and more the home gives place to the State. 
 The fourth stage is the University. The teaching is now 
 widened and deepened in scope. His contemporaries 
 play the chief part in his development. The boy begins 
 to read the newspaper with intelligent interest. He is 
 led to think and act for himself as a young citizen. The 
 sin and sorrow of life are brought home to him in many 
 ways. Interest in the events of the day occupy him more 
 and more. His earlier views are modified, and the great 
 real educational influences of his generation are hard at 
 work telling him about the social world in which he lives. 
 But if the University does no more for him, it leaves his 
 cosmos essentially bounded by the frontiers of his own 
 country. University education as now pursued leaves him 
 at that. 
 
 International Education should be, and I believe will 
 be, the fifth stage. A good citizen should know other 
 people than his own. The educational value of this is 
 greater, in a sense, than all he has previously learned in 
 his University. It is not alone what he learns, but what 
 he unlearns. There are other social ideals and social 
 institutions, other modes of government, other systems 
 
 180
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 of education, other views on what human relations ought 
 to be, than his own. Contact with another people 
 daily, hourly contact, dwelling with them, alone can give 
 him real, living knowledge of all this. When this has 
 sunk into him and become part of his outlook on life, 
 then is he prepared in the highest sense. He has become 
 a responsible citizen of utmost value to his country. 
 And this must ever be the true test of the work of the 
 University. He has received the crown of citizenship. 
 
 We notice that the history of the boy's education is, 
 or should be, all along directed against that day when he 
 receives the call of the State that call which is the highest 
 thing which happens in a man's life. His country wants 
 him. And whether it be to fill some responsible post or 
 to vote as a citizen, she wants his wise judgment in 
 questions of justice between man and man; on questions 
 of national education; of internal politics; of economics; 
 but above all she requires his guidance in her dealings 
 with other nations, and, in his knowledge of other peoples, 
 to help her to preserve the peace of the world. Whether 
 his work be for Science, for Literature, or for Art ; whether 
 he work to enrich human knowledge or to discharge any 
 of the thousand duties which the complexity of modern 
 civilisation has created, his country relies on him, above 
 all, when the fateful hour arrives, to help her to deal 
 with some great people to help her as only one filled 
 with sympathy, with brotherly feelings towards that 
 people, can help her. For this supreme call he should 
 
 181
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 make ready while he is still young, for the day of the call 
 will surely come. 
 
 His answer to that summons can never be what it ought 
 to be unless the University does its duty towards him 
 whose preparation for it has been confided to her care. 
 
 How does our University of to-day leave the clever boy ? 
 He takes honours in his undergraduate years and then he 
 graduates, and if he wants anything more we offer him 
 what ? A higher degree say, in the humanities. The 
 young man responds to the offer. He retires into the 
 library, spins himself into a cocoon of learned books, and 
 after a longer or shorter period emerges as "a ripe 
 scholar." This is the history of many of the best of our 
 students. After this he looks for a Chair or a Mastership. 
 My contention is that in this process we neglect to put 
 the real coping-stone on the edifice we have been building 
 mp so patiently. The higher degree is very good in itself, 
 but something has been left undone that ought to have 
 been done. 
 
 In short, it should be a function of the University to 
 hold open to the more able student the opportunity of 
 seeing the world from the standpoint of another people. 
 Public money or private endowment expended on this 
 object would be the best conceivable investment. The 
 boy holds the future in his hand. We really cannot and 
 do not educate (in the higher meaning of the word) the 
 next generation. Each generation educates itself. All 
 we can do is to see to the development of mind and body, 
 
 182
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 and open to the boy the opportunity of free contact with 
 his generation; And manifestly his " generation " is 
 not a local thing. The millions of Americans now rising 
 into manhood are just as much part of the generation of a 
 lad in Trinity College as are the young men of his own 
 country. They may, as regards the Selbstthdtigkeit of his 
 times, be even more important than his own countrymen : 
 for it may be that the effects of their thoughts may emerge 
 triumphant in the social development of his race. 
 
 Another aspect of the importance to the State of Inter- 
 national Education is presented by the foregoing argu- 
 ment ; for in it we see the special reason for knowledge of 
 other peoples apart from the question of friendly relations. 
 If we are to keep our place in the progress of civilisation 
 such problems as are presented to us by American civilisa- 
 tion should be in the minds of all responsible citizens. 
 Government Educational Reports are all very well : they 
 never can present the complete case. Neither newspapers 
 nor books can bring it home like the spoken word the 
 ideas gathered from contemporaries holding various 
 opinions in matters ethical or political. 
 
 The most interesting thing in America to-day is that 
 great fruition, now plainly displayed, of the national 
 labours expended in education; the consequences of the 
 application of the democratic ideal to education at every 
 stage. On this matter the coming generation in Britain 
 will probably be called on to declare their views one way 
 or the other. This alone constitutes a reason, and a 
 
 183
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 pressing reason, for International Education. Its im- 
 portance can only be understood when we survey the 
 nature of the problem involved. 
 
 The fundamental question is entirely a practical one 
 one of procedure : How far may the democratic ideal pre- 
 vail in education ? The American has answered this in 
 his own way; we have answered it in ours. Who is in the 
 right in this matter America or England ? Is it wise 
 and right to send our children to a High School where they 
 meet every class of society, or is it better to segregate the 
 classes as we do in this country ? A few years ago I 
 would, unhesitatingly, have voted for the latter practice. 
 To-day I hesitate. 
 
 Education is an experimental science. Alone the 
 results of this or that system can be trusted to show 
 whether it be good or whether it be bad. And, even then, 
 the good and the bad may be so slightly differentiated 
 during a reasonable period of observation that the truth 
 may be hard to attain. 
 
 Our school system, we may claim, has worked well. 
 The test of the war was a severe one, and the schoolboy 
 came out of it with credit. Again, we produce great men 
 in every branch of human endeavour. Why not leave 
 well enough alone ? True ! but is our system going to 
 bear the test of the coming more advanced democratic 
 relations of Society ? How does the matter stand in the 
 States ? Exactly what is said above for our system might 
 be said of the school system of America. And in addition 
 
 184
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 we might point to some things I think good things 
 which may reasonably be ascribed to the school system 
 of that country. 
 
 The idea of brotherhood is abroad between all classes 
 of society in America. It is the earliest lesson learned in 
 the schools. It is carried into College life, and is an 
 integral part of social life. I came home on a White Star 
 Liner full of American Y.M.C.A. workers. Some were 
 motor-drivers; some were wealthy business men; some 
 were University Professors. I attended their debates 
 and their entertainments. I met them everywhere. 
 There was no condescension on the one hand, no self- 
 assertion on the other. Neither the one attitude nor the 
 other was, I believe, even thought of. I was continually 
 thinking how much better these different classes must 
 understand one another in America than they do in 
 England. 
 
 In the Universities of the States even at Harvard 
 the student who works for his bread and puts himself 
 through by his own exertions, even if it be by waiting 
 at table on his brother-students, by gate-keeping, etc., 
 so far from being despised or shunned, is respected for 
 his toil. He is admitted to the Fraternities on a footing 
 of perfect equality. Surely this is as it should be. 
 
 And, again, whence that beneficent and wise interest 
 in education all through the States ? Is it not founded 
 on that democratic ideal pervading school life ? Rich 
 and poor meet to drink at the same fountain. And the 
 
 185
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 fountain is for the rest of life a holy thing and a precious 
 memory as the well-spring of the life-giving waters of 
 freedom, equality, and mutual sympathy. The interest 
 in education is so deeply ingrained in all that it seems the 
 one topic in which everyone is interested. It reveals itself 
 practically in all manner of ways which must have the 
 most far-reaching influence on the future of the country. 
 I take the following from a financial journal just issued. 
 It refers to the estate of Joseph Raphael de Lamar, who 
 died recently a resident in New York. He was a native 
 of Holland, who ran away from home for a life before 
 the mast. Going into mining, etc., in the States he made 
 a large fortune. He bequeaths ten million dollars to be 
 divided between the Medical Schools of Columbia, Johns 
 Hopkins, and Harvard. His will dictates certain emi- 
 nently important subjects for medical investigation, and 
 the results are to be published " not only in scientific 
 journals for physicians and scientists, but also and this 
 I more especially enjoin on the legatees by popular 
 publication, public lectures, and other appropriate 
 methods, to give to the people of the United States 
 generally the knowledge concerning the prevention of 
 sickness and disease, and also concerning the conservation 
 of health by proper food and diet." How did this man 
 acquire his wondrous and wise enthusiasm for education ? 
 The answer is, I think, evident. He found himself, after 
 a rough life, received as one of a vast brotherhood, all 
 animated with devotion to that great educational system 
 
 186
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 which had founded their solidarity. Small wonder that 
 he acted as he did. The humane and enlightened will of 
 Mrs. Russell Sage was noticed in the same journal. Every 
 direction of human benevolence, but primarily education, 
 finds recognition in this great testament: for great it is. 
 Education sinks deep in America. I shall brave the risk 
 of being accused of vanity and tell you of an incident 
 that occurred at Detroit. Sir Henry Jones one of my 
 fellow-Commissioners one day told me that a man wished 
 to speak to me : I would find him cleaning the large glass 
 doors of the hotel. When I got to the great swinging 
 entrance doors I found an elderly man, in his shirt-sleeves 
 what we here would call, to our shame, a " common " 
 man rubbing away at the glass. He surprised me by 
 telling me he had read a book which I had written. And, 
 although it is a rather advanced book, I found he had 
 indeed read it and, I believe, understood it. 
 
 The English student going to the States will find this 
 enthusiasm for education brought home to him in other 
 ways than by the splendid Universities with their fine 
 buildings and lavish equipment. In Cincinnati, if he 
 studies engineering, he will spend a bi-weekly period 
 alternately in the University and in the engineering shops 
 of the city. He will be paid at current rates for his work 
 in the shops. If he is a medical student, by a somewhat 
 similar arrangement with the General Hospital, he is 
 likely to find paid work. Everywhere the student 
 receives sympathy. The great Universities and Colleges 
 
 187
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 vie with one another in providing the most educational 
 and healhtful surroundings for the student. In the 
 Fraternities he finds himself in an atmosphere not of 
 idleness and dissipation but in one of ambition for such 
 University honours as will bring credit to the House. 
 Much of this devotion to the student's interests irre- 
 spective of wealth, ability, or rank is founded in the 
 democratic creed of the American. The historical 
 development of this creed is instructive. 
 
 The educational ideal and we must always bear in mind 
 that the American ever seeks to find a practical outcome 
 of his ideals originated in the difficult social problems 
 which confronted the States since the Declaration of 
 Independence. The attraction of a real and whole- 
 hearted democracy developing under favourable economic 
 conditions drew millions of the enterprising, the oppressed, 
 the discontented, the poverty-stricken, the failures, if you 
 like, from all parts of the earth. How unite this hetero- 
 geneous horde into a homogeneous commonwealth ? 
 Either by means of the education given to the rising 
 generation or not at all. The alternative to wise fra- 
 ternal education was a rabble. 
 
 There must be no politics and no sectarian religion in the 
 schools, or dissension will result. The American, in short, 
 of necessity developed the system which has proved so 
 successful. Quick to learn, he soon realised the precious- 
 ness of the thing he had created. " Nothing too good for 
 education " became the national watchword. Let us 
 
 188
 
 pursue this history to our own day. It is sufficiently 
 wonderful. The reason why America entered the war is 
 clearly and directly traceable to her educational system ! 
 What overwhelming spiritual force urged her to so serious 
 a step ? Her whole-hearted devotion to the great ideal 
 of brotherhood, the opposite pole of German civilisation. 
 For that ideal is something infinitely precious in the eyes 
 of the American. And must we not honour him for it ? 
 It is something which has grown up on American soil; 
 and the rains which have watered it and the sunshine 
 which has warmed it are of his own sky, a sky spread like 
 a watching heaven over the little children of the land. 
 
 I have not wandered from my theme. My point is that 
 in the democratic ideal of American education we find 
 much to reflect upon and much to study to study on the 
 spot. Herein is an argument for International Education 
 which, again, is unanswerable. For the alternative is to 
 shut our eyes to the evolution of the great world outside. 
 Talk to the average British University man on this topic 
 and you will find either ignorance of the facts or erroneous 
 deductions based on them. The real greatness, the real 
 humanity, which are behind it all, he has never thought 
 about. 
 
 Pursuing our consideration of International Education 
 from our own British standpoint, the personal educational 
 advantages to the student of a sojourn in the States next 
 claim our attention. On this subject, again, the ignorance 
 of the average Briton is encyclopaedic. To one returning 
 
 189
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 from the States, with a memory filled with what he has 
 seen in the Universities and Colleges, there is, in this, an 
 element of the ludicrous, if it was not for its very serious 
 influence on any united action respecting student 
 migration. 
 
 To-day the States offer to the student his choice of 
 some 120 Universities and Colleges, every one of which 
 attains the high standard imposed by the Association of 
 American Universities and recommended by that body 
 for the acceptance of their Bachelor's degrees by foreign 
 Universities. Many of these institutions are world- 
 renowned. All may be relied on for good teaching and 
 careful attention to the student's well-being: some are 
 absolutely lavish in the laboratory and library facilities 
 which they offer. Everything that money can supply 
 is offered to the research student. It is easy for the student 
 to place himself under men of well-known ability and even 
 of world-wide fame. And a curriculum is presented to 
 him which surpasses both in scope and detail that of our 
 British Universities. As an example, in one University 
 we find the subject of Engineering divided into the 
 following courses of four years' duration : Civil Engineering; 
 Architectural Engineering; Electric Engineering; Mechani- 
 cal Engineering; Mining Engineering; Municipal and 
 Sanitary Engineering; Railway Civil Engineering; Rail- 
 way Electric Engineering; Railway Mechanical Engineer- 
 ing. The student can read in advance the curriculum 
 for each of these College careers, and judge for himself 
 
 190
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 of its thoroughness and completeness. It is not alone in 
 the Professions we find this careful specialisation. It is, 
 for instance, optional for the graduate student to study 
 his own language and literature along special lines under 
 special teachers, and he may combine these studies with 
 such allied subjects as will conduce to his progress. On 
 the subject of Pedagogy it is safe to say there are no such 
 schools elsewhere in the world. The schools of post- 
 graduate research have been justly described as the crown 
 of American University education. It is difficult to form 
 any idea of what these great institutions will be like in a 
 few years, for their present rate of growth is astounding. 
 Those of our students who are fortunate enough to work 
 in those schools will return to their country with a realisa- 
 tion of the spirit of advance which animates education 
 in the New World. 
 
 And what about the social life of the American Univer- 
 sity or College ? Judging by the young men who con- 
 tribute to it, the British student will find himself quite at 
 home. The provision for club life and for gymnastics and 
 athletics leaves so far as a visitor can judge nothing 
 to be desired. Nor is the ethical influence of beautiful 
 grounds and beautiful buildings wanting in many cases. 
 
 Among the six score Universities and Colleges accredited 
 by the American Association of Universities the student 
 will find a choice which is embarrassing. American 
 student life on a large scale is best experienced at the 
 greater institutions, such as Columbia, Harvard, Yale, 
 
 191
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Princeton, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Chicago, etc.; 
 and in these Universities he will often find special resources 
 which may be absent in lesser institutions. There will 
 be a more numerous staff, permitting of greater specialisa- 
 tion. And, of course, some of the professors will stand 
 very high in the academic world. The latter feature 
 will often decide the choice of the student. 
 
 But there are many who would rather elect to live in 
 less populous communities. To these the Colleges offer 
 a most attractive choice. Such places as Amherst, or 
 Haverford for men, or Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, or Holyoke 
 for women, present a picture of sylvan retirement most 
 inviting to the student. And it must not be thought that 
 the more pensive life will be purchased by sacrifice of 
 thoroughness in teaching, of extensive curricula, or of 
 provision for research. A study of the catalogues of such 
 Colleges soon relieves one of such a fear. Indeed, many 
 Colleges specially provide for post-graduate work and 
 confer the higher degrees. Excellent laboratories, 
 museums, libraries, and beautiful dormitories and frater- 
 nity houses, will be found, as well as the most complete 
 provision for the student's training in gymnastics and 
 athletics. And in these smaller institutions, also, the 
 visitor frequently finds himself face to face with men whose 
 fame has crossed the Atlantic. Such are the advantages 
 which the higher education of America offers to students 
 seeking International Education on her shores. 
 
 But, it may be asked, what about the American ? 
 
 192
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 What inducement has he got to come to our Universities ? 
 What can he learn from our civilisation which will benefit 
 him ? The answer may be given as it was often given 
 to me when I asked these very questions in the States. 
 He comes to us primarily to work under our great teachers 
 and great investigators. Often it happens that in coming 
 he enters into the tradition of his Race. For his pro- 
 genitors were here long ago. Perchance they were 
 British College boys. The same Halls may have received 
 them. Those portraits which look down on him 
 portraits of men whose greatness alone is remembered 
 and whose frailties are forgotten looked down also on 
 his progenitors. And, beyond the University, England's 
 hills and villages whisper to him names he has venerated 
 since his childhood. In estimating so great an ethical 
 influence we must remember that often these things are 
 his as they are ours. His fathers, too, played their part 
 in the travail of the Nation's spiritual birth. Roundhead 
 or Cavalier they must have been.* 
 
 His social studies will not be fruitless. We, also, have 
 our good things, and we, too, have originated much that 
 has been beneficial to mankind. The Rhodes Scholar 
 will tell you how highly he prizes the educational value 
 of his sojourn in England. 
 
 One topic, only, remains for consideration. How may 
 International Education be realised on this side of the 
 
 * The ancestors of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison are 
 said to have been Royalists I 
 
 193 N
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 Atlantic as an important part of the University career ? 
 It is a question of ways and means. The student who 
 goes to the States and who lives economically in a Univer- 
 sity must be prepared to spend about 100 in the academic 
 year of nine months. To this travelling expenses will 
 add, say, 50. We may take the entire outlay as 150. 
 But the normal expenses of the student must be deducted. 
 We may take the balance as 80. This must be the value 
 of a travelling scholarship. If the State undertook the 
 travelling expenses or the student were carried in a 
 Government vessel, half this sum would suffice. In this 
 country the Universities are not in a position to increase 
 their outlay. They are badly enough off as it is. 
 Unless the public or the Government take up the matter, 
 nothing really effective can be done. I think the most 
 desirable way of all would be by the foundation by the 
 relatives of those who have fallen and by the public of 
 Memorial travelling scholarships. In what better manner 
 could our heroes be commemorated ? Not only would 
 their sacrifice be thus for ever held in memory, but the 
 object for which it was made would be promoted. 
 
 Although I am addressing a woman's College, I have 
 hitherto left unsaid the bearing of International Education 
 on such an institution as ours. Many of our girls pass 
 to Universities. In them let us hope there will be travel- 
 ling scholarships both for men and for women. And, 
 of course, they might be founded here in Alexandra 
 College; I would prefer this if I had the choice. If you 
 
 194
 
 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 saw Bryn Mawr, if you saw Holyoke, if you saw Wellesley, 
 you would long to go. I earnestly hope you will get the 
 opportunity. If I were electing from your number to such 
 a scholarship I would preferably choose one who had lost 
 some dear relative in the war. She, more than another, 
 would feel that every American friendship she made was 
 a contribution a spiritual contribution towards that 
 great object for which the sacrifice was offered up. For 
 it is in very truth one more bond and deem it not a little 
 or a feeble thing uniting those great peoples in whose 
 hands reposes the future of the world. 
 
 February 1919 
 
 195
 
 VII 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 ALTHOUGH the development and final success of the sub- 
 marine has been rendered possible only by the discoveries 
 of recent years, the building of a ship to navigate beneath 
 the surface of the sea is an old event. The invention 
 dates back not much less than 300 years, to a time when 
 the practical realisation of the idea might seem impossible. 
 For how build such a ship out of timber ? And how 
 propel it when no form of engine was available ? Again, 
 how dwell within it when death from suffocation must so 
 very soon put an end to the voyage ? It might appear as 
 if there was no escape from these difficulties. And yet, 
 in spite of all, the idea was made a reality by the genius 
 of one forgotten man. Let us follow the clues which the 
 writings of the seventeenth century extend to us in our 
 search for the true and first inventor. 
 
 A small calf -bound volume, which shows not a little 
 of the wear and tear of time and usage, lies before 
 us. On the title-page is the comprehensive title of the 
 period : 
 
 Mathematical Magic : or the Wonders that may be 
 performed by Mechanical Geometry. In Two Books. 
 
 196
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 Concerning Mechanical I we ? & Being one of the most 
 
 easy, pleasant, useful (and yet most neglected) parts of 
 Mathematics. Not before treated of in this Language. By 
 J. Wilkins, late Ld.Bp. of Chester. 
 
 London : Printed for Edw. Gellibrand at the Golden Ball 
 in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1680. 
 
 Opposite the title-page appears: Effigies Reverendi ad- 
 modum viri Johannis Wilkins nuper Episcopi Cestriensis ; 
 beneath a portrait of the Bishop. He wears canonicals 
 and the contemporary wig. It is a thoughtful, sensitive 
 face. This man is not our looked-for inventor. But in 
 his book are many strange thoughts on the submarine, 
 and from it we learn to whom we must pay the tribute 
 of discovery. 
 
 The time-stained leaves are rilled with rude prints of 
 impossible machines. The learned Bishop takes his 
 reader in hand with all the enthusiasm of the dreamer. 
 If we doubt, he appeals to the ancients, and authority is 
 used to enforce the logic of his endless arithmetic. We 
 have levers and pulleys and geared wheels multiplying 
 effort to the uprooting of huge trees, the motive power 
 being a gentle breeze issuing from the lips of a cloud- 
 encircled cherub. Nay, he tells us how we may add up 
 geared wheels to the point of moving the world itself. 
 The only trouble is that the naughts accumulate to such 
 an extent that the numbers become unreadable. Each 
 time we count up the naughts we get a different result. 
 
 197
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 The book is " a most easy, pleasant, and useful " reductio 
 ad absurdum of mechanical principles. 
 
 And yet John Wilkins (1614-1672) was no small man. 
 In his day he ranked high as theologian and natural 
 philosopher. He was one of the eight men who founded 
 the Roj'al Society; and it is said that, far more than 
 any one of the other seven Seth Ward, Robert Boyle, 
 Sir. W. Petty, John Wallis, Jonathan Goddard, Ralph 
 Bathurst, and Christopher Wren our learned Bishop 
 was the actual founder. It is most profitable to contem- 
 plate the writings of this man. They convey an idea of 
 the scientific atmosphere of the times. Bear in mind that 
 we are dealing with the thoughts of a prominent man of 
 his day. Let us look at his pages a little closer. We 
 arise from them with the predominant thought: "How 
 did Newton escape all this ?" 
 
 Here are learned comparisons of the Catapultae of the 
 ancients and " the gunpowder instruments now in use." 
 Here we have the subtlety of an inquiry as to how we may 
 contrive a machine which will move just as slowly as the 
 heavenly bodies are swift. Through page after page of 
 such ideas there runs that effort of the mind which is 
 never manifest but with the higher spirits, and is always 
 pathetic to get free from the limitations of the senses. 
 " It is certain," he says, " that our senses are extremely 
 disproportioned for comprehending the whole compass 
 and latitude of things." 
 
 With such matters as pertain to the lever, the wedge, 
 
 198
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 and the geared wheel, the first part of the book is occupied. 
 The Second Book goes into more diversified problems. 
 Here in the first chapter we have the " Wind Gun." This 
 is nothing more nor less than an air-gun. " The force 
 of it in discharge is almost equal to our powder guns." 
 And the Bishop ends his reflections on the subject by 
 suggesting what is essentially a machine-gun ! The 
 sailing chariot follows. Clocks subject ever fascinating 
 to the mechanician come next, and we are told of a 
 watch so minute "as to be contained in the form and 
 quantity of a jewel for the ear, where the striking of the 
 minutes may constantly whisper unto us how our lives 
 do slide away by a swift succession." Which is surely 
 worthy even of Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 From these discourses we are led to the subject with 
 which the present essay is concerned. For in Chapter V. 
 we are confronted with a disquisition, in many respects 
 startling, on the possibilities of the submarine. But the 
 Bishop makes no secret of the fact that the invention is 
 none of his, but belongs to a yet earlier pioneer. Here are 
 the heading and opening words of Chapter V.: 
 
 " Concerning the possibility of framing an Ark for Sub- 
 marine navigation. The difficulties and conveniences of 
 such a contrivance. 
 
 "It will not be altogether impertinent unto the dis- 
 course ... to mention what Marsennus doth so largely 
 and pleasantly descant upon, concerning the making 
 of a ship, wherein men may safely swim under water. 
 
 199
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 " That such a contrivance is feasible and may be 
 effected is beyond all question, because it hath been 
 already experimented here in England by Cornelius 
 Drebbel; but how to improve it unto public use and 
 advantage, so as to be serviceable for remote voyages, 
 the carrying of any considerable number of men, with 
 provisions and commodities, would be of such excellent 
 use as may deserve some further inquiry." 
 
 Two names are here mentioned in connection with the 
 genesis of the submarine. We shall first inquire into the 
 part played by Mersennus. 
 
 F. Marini Mersenni was a French theologian and philo- 
 sopher who was born in 1588 and died in 1648 . He started 
 life with the disadvantage of humble birth, but he lived to 
 be the author of many profound books. Finally he fell 
 a victim to that ignorance of science which he spent his 
 life in combating. An ignorant doctor, letting the blood 
 of the philosopher, opened an artery instead of a vein, 
 the result being death from exhaustion in a few days. 
 In his will he left his body to the furtherance of medical 
 science. 
 
 Of his many works one only concerns us: the Cogitata 
 Physico Mathematica, which was printed in Paris in the 
 year 1644. This treatise covers the whole ground of 
 contemporary science, inclusive of music and navigation. 
 
 In that section of Mersenni's book which deals with 
 navigation there is a subsection entitled Navis sub aquis 
 natans. It is apparently written in complete ignorance 
 -* 200
 
 of any prior work experimental or conjectural on the 
 subject. It is entirely speculative. As we read it we 
 find it difficult to escape the conclusion that Bishop 
 Wilkins's couple of references to Mersenni are scarcely 
 sufficient to satisfy the claims of literjjry morality. With- 
 out any notable exception, every idea put forward by the 
 Bishop is to be found in the Cogitata. But let us be 
 charitable. The earnest which the life of Wilkins gives of 
 high thoughts and deeds, the esteem in which he was 
 held by contemporaries whose names stand high even 
 among the most venerated of his times, are sufficient 
 reasons for discarding the first impression of plagiarism. 
 Frailties, physical rather than moral, will account for 
 such things. However, the reader must bear in mind, 
 when later in this essay he resumes the chapter penned 
 by Wilkins, that the ideas are those of Marini Mersenni. 
 But it is time now to turn to the second name mentioned 
 by Wilkins, that of Cornelius Drebbel. Who was this 
 man who is credited with actually making and working 
 a submarine early in the seventeenth century ? Cornelius 
 Drebbel, we are informed by the Dictionary of National 
 Biography, was born in Alkmaar in Holland in the year 
 1572, of a family of good position. He seems to have 
 begun life as an artist and engraver. In 1604 he came to 
 England, probably with Constantin Huygens, father of 
 the great mathematician, and himself a man of no small 
 fame. In England Drebbel was taken into favour by 
 James I. and given residence in Eltham House, near 
 
 201
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 London a royal residence long since demolished. These 
 favours were in return for the many inventions presented 
 to the King by the young Dutchman. 
 
 Among these inventions was a " perpetual motion " 
 which won European fame, and which seems to have had 
 a really long run for a thing of the kind. The Hon. Robert 
 Boyle refers to it, and expresses his opinion that it was 
 worked by a thermometer that is, by the thermal 
 changes of volume from day to day of some large volume 
 of liquid or gas. And so it well might be, for the repre- 
 sentation of this machine which survives shows the work- 
 ing parts a sort of floating orrery carried upon a 
 pedestal capable of holding concealed a considerable 
 volume of the working substance. Of course, such a 
 contrivance was no more perpetual motion than would 
 be a wheel kept rotating by the winds or by the tides. 
 Whether Boyle's conjecture is correct or not, we are sure 
 that the thing was something in the nature of a trick. 
 
 Drebbel went to Prague at the invitation of the Em- 
 peror of Germany, Rudolph II., himself an ardent 
 student and patron of science. He returned to England, 
 probably in 1512, after the death of the Emperor. But 
 being appointed tutor to the son of the Emperor Ferdinand 
 II., he again took up his residence in Prague. This was 
 a responsible and honourable post, and sufficiently indi- 
 cates the high status of Drebbel among his contemporaries. 
 Unfortunately for Drebbel, the Thirty Years' War broke 
 out, Prague was besieged and captured by the Elector 
 
 202
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 Palatine, Frederic V., and the inventor was thrown into 
 prison and ruined. James I. of England, however, pro- 
 cured his release, and England remained thereafter his 
 home till his death in 1634. He is mentioned as being 
 present at the funeral of his august Master, and in later 
 life it is recorded that he took charge of certain fire-ships 
 sent by Buckingham against the besieged forces of La 
 Rochelle. Again he is referred to as being concerned with 
 a company formed to drain the fens of Eastern England. 
 
 There is no doubt that Drebbel enjoyed among his 
 contemporaries a wide reputation for scientific attain- 
 ments. He was, indeed, credited with much which he 
 could not legitimately have claimed. He was, for instance, 
 reputed to possess such control of the weather as to be 
 able to produce rain and cold from the sky at his will. It 
 is said that he on one occasion practised these powers to 
 the confusion of his royal master when the latter expressed 
 some scepticism. It is certain that he discovered a 
 valuable dye and invented something of the nature of a 
 mine or torpedo, which was operated by a new explosive. 
 According to Pepys, Drebbel's son, many years later 
 in 1662 tried to induce the Admiralty to take up this 
 invention. We may be sure, unsuccessfully. 
 
 Drebbel's standing among the men of science of his 
 time sufficiently appears from the terms in which Robert 
 Boyle speaks of him. Boyle lived among and with his 
 contemporaries in a remarkable degree. He held Drebbel 
 in high esteem. He refers to him as a " deservedly famous 
 
 203
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 mechanician and chymist." This should be ample vindi- 
 cation of the charge of charlatanism which is said to have 
 been directed against him by some few of his contem- 
 poraries, for Boyle was both a wise and a just man. 
 
 The precise date of Drebbel's invention of a submarine 
 boat is not forthcoming from surviving references to the 
 subject. But we appear safe in concluding that it was 
 between the years 1610 when he returned to England after 
 his first visit to Prague, and 1623. As regards the earlier 
 limit, the Prince of Wurtemberg came to England in 1610 
 and inspected the " perpetual motion " machine. His 
 secretary's account of the visit is extant. It refers to 
 the perpetual motion, but says nothing about a sub- 
 marine boat. So interesting a matter could hardly have 
 been passed over if the boat had existed at the time. 
 More especially is this probable in the light of the interest 
 shown in Drebbel. Cornelius is thus described by the 
 secretary of the Prince: "The inventor's name was 
 Cornelius Trebel, a native of Alkmaar, a very fair and 
 handsome man, and of very gentle manners, altogether 
 different from such like characters "(!). As regards 
 the later limit, two letters are known, dated the 2ist 
 December, 1622, written by the eminent French philo- 
 sopher and antiquarian, Peiresc (1580-1637). Peiresc 
 had shortly before quitted England, and now writes to 
 his friends Camden and Selden as to the truth of the 
 inventions of Cornelius Drubelsius, who is in the service 
 of the King of Great Britain, and residing in a house 
 
 204
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 near London. He refers to the perpetual motion, the 
 submarine boat, and the telescope and microscope. The 
 mention of the telescope and microscope refers un- 
 doubtedly to a belief, then current, that Drebbel had 
 invented these instruments. The truth seems to be that 
 he merely brought them for the first time into England, 
 from Holland. These letters fix the date of the inven- 
 tion of the submarine as prior to 1623. 
 
 We know little about the details of Drebbel's sub- 
 marine boat. A Dutch writer C. van der Woude 
 writes about Drebbel in 1645 : " He built a ship in which 
 one could row and navigate under water, from West- 
 minster to Greenwich, the distance of two Dutch miles, 
 even five or six miles, or as far as one pleased. In the 
 boat a person could see under the surface of the water 
 and without candle-light as much as he needed to read in 
 the Bible or any other book. Not long ago this remark- 
 able ship was yet to be seen lying in the Thames or 
 London river." 
 
 Of importance is the evidence of the Hon. Robert 
 Boyle. In his New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall 
 (Oxford, 1660) he mentions that Drebbel " is affirmed by- 
 more than a few credible persons to have contrived for 
 the late learned King James a vessel to go under water, 
 of which tryal was made in the Thames with admired 
 success, the vessel carrying twelve rowers besides pas- 
 sengers, one of which is yet alive, and related it to an 
 excellent mathematician that informed me of it. Now 
 
 205
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 that for which I mention this story is, that having had 
 the curiosity and opportunity to make particular enquiries 
 among the relations of Drebbel and especially of an in- 
 genious Physician (Dr. Kuffler) that marry 'd his daughter 
 concerning the grounds upon which he conceived it feasible 
 to make men unaccustomed to continue so long under 
 water without suffocation, or (as the lastly mentioned 
 person that went in the vessel affirms) without incon- 
 venience, I was answered that Drebbel conceived, that 
 'tis not the whole body of the Air, but a certain Quint- 
 essence (as Chymists speak) or spirituous part of it, that 
 makes it fit for respiration, which being spent, the re- 
 maining grosser body or Carcase (if I may so call k) of the 
 Air, is unable to cherish the vital flame residing in the 
 heart ; so that (for ought I could gather) besides the 
 mechanical contrivance of his vessel, he had a chemycal 
 liquor which he accounted the chief secret of his sub- 
 marine navigation. For when from time to time he 
 perceived that the finer and purer part of the Air was 
 consumed or over-clogged by the respirations and steams 
 of those that went in his ship, he would by unstopping 
 a vessel full of this liquor, speedily restore to the troubled 
 Air such a proportion of vital parts as would make it 
 again for a good while fit for respiration, whether by 
 dissipating or precipitating the grosser exhalations or by 
 some other intelligible way I must not now stay to 
 examine." Boyle then states that Drebbel kept the 
 nature of the liquor a close secret, and justifies his own 
 
 206
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 inquiry because of " the man and his invention being 
 extraordinary." 
 
 Much of the foregoing information respecting Drebbel's 
 submarine is to be found collected in W. B. Rye's England 
 as seen by Foreigners in the Days of Queen Elizabeth and 
 James the First (London, John Russell Smith, 1865). It 
 leaves us with little doubt that, failing equally good 
 evidence for some yet earlier candidate for the honour, 
 we must adjudge Cornelius Drebbel the inventor of the 
 submarine. He more especially claims this acknow- 
 ledgment on the well-attested fact that he actually put 
 the invention to the test of trial, and for the times 
 successful trial. He may have got the idea from some 
 previous writer. It is one which must come to the mind 
 of a thoughtful man who looks out over the sea and re- 
 flects on the life which freely moves therein : just as from 
 remote times man yearned for the wings of the dove. 
 But had anyone ever before the courage and skill to go 
 down into the sea in a ship ? True, the diving-bell 
 appears to have been a yet earlier accomplishment. 
 But we cannot regard the bell as anticipating the boat. 
 The difficulties to be overcome in the construction of the 
 bell are quite different and relatively trifling. We may 
 not, indeed, assume that in all cases of invention the fact 
 of accomplishment confers priority. But in the case 
 which we are considering the merit of successful trial 
 so far exceeds the mere conception that our attitude 
 undoubtedly satisfies the claims of equity. We must 
 
 207
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 accordingly adjudge Cornelius Drebbel, the Dutchman, 
 to be the inventor of the submarine. 
 
 Of the genius of Drebbel there can be no doubt. There 
 is the repeated testimony of his wise and just contem- 
 porary, Robert Boyle. He writes of him: " It is certain 
 that Drebbel, that great, singular, learned mechanician, 
 did by help of this instrument [the thermometer] make 
 a dial continually to move of itself regularly showing 
 both the time of the day and the motions of the heavens." 
 Boyle's endeavours to learn the chemical secrets of Drebbel 
 are also testimony to his opinion of him. It was custom- 
 ary in those days to preserve secret new discoveries 
 more especially those of chemical nature. We see some- 
 thing of this even in the case of Newton's discoveries. 
 It is said by Rye that Drebbel published little of value. 
 He wrote on the nature of the elements a book which 
 was reprinted in Dutch, in Latin, and in German. The 
 book is very scarce. There is a portrait of Drebbel in some 
 of the editions, revealing a head and face of rare power.* 
 Drebbel appears to have preserved his chief discoveries 
 secret transmitting them, probably, as heirlooms. 
 
 We may well ask what were the chemical discoveries 
 which enabled Drebbel to accomplish the feat of sub- 
 marine navigation. It is quite certain that no closed 
 vessel of reasonable dimensions could have contained 
 sufficient air for the respiration of twelve hard-worked 
 men during a journey from Westminster to Greenwich, 
 
 * See frontispiece. 
 208
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 at the fastest pace we may ascribe to the vessel. Almost 
 nothing as to the chemistry of the air was known at the 
 time. It was 150 years before the researches of Priestley 
 and Lavoisier. And although Van Helmont (1577-1644) 
 had got so far as to recognise the existence of different 
 kinds of gas, he regarded air as an element. Hooke, in 
 1665, attempted a theory of combustion which approxi- 
 mated, although vaguely, to the facts. John Mayow, 
 in 1681, published the conclusion that respiration and 
 combustion are analogous phenomena. But these ad- 
 vances were not available to Drebbel. We can only 
 suppose that, either by accident or by research, Drebbel 
 had discovered the property of certain substances e.g., a. 
 solution of quicklime in water of removing from respired 
 air its poisonous properties. It is to be regretted that 
 Boyle did not penetrate Drebbel's secret; but he leaves no 
 doubt that Drebbel had divined the complex nature of 
 the atmosphere, and had attained to an idea of what 
 his liquor accomplished. That being so, we must accord 
 Drebbel a high place among the pioneers of chemical 
 science. The absorption of the carbon dioxide would 
 have enabled the voyage to be much prolonged. Com- 
 pressed air may have been carried. Pipes going to the 
 surface, assisted by circulating fans or pumps, would, of 
 course, also have enabled the voyage to be accomplished. 
 But if this is the explanation, we must suppose Boyle 
 to have been quite deceived, and the information given 
 to him untruthful. As we shall presently see, Wilkins 
 
 209 o
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 (that is to say, Mersenni) also discusses the difficulty of 
 respiration in the submarine. He wrote at a later date, 
 and there is reference to the supposed discovery, by a 
 French diver, of a liquor potent to rejuvenate the air 
 rendered poisonous by usage. It is plain that Drebbel's 
 success in overcoming this difficulty was considered by 
 his contemporaries as not the least remarkable part of his 
 accomplishment. 
 
 As regards other details, the recapitulation of Mersenni 's 
 views contained in Bishop Wilkins's extraordinary book 
 may help us. It is not improbable that some of the 
 suggestions put forward had actually been carried out by 
 Drebbel. Thus the method of propulsion was probably 
 that described in the Mathematical Magic. But in com- 
 pleting our interrupted extract from the Bishop's work 
 we must not father on the great inventor of the sub- 
 marine the absurdities of the philosopher. 
 
 The Bishop proceeds: 
 
 " Concerning which there are two things chiefly con- 
 siderable 
 
 ( many difficulties with their remedies, 
 great conveniences. 
 
 *' The difficulties are generally reducible to these three 
 heads. 
 
 " r. The letting out, or receiving in any thing, as there 
 shall be occasion, without the admission of water." This 
 first difficulty is to be overcome thus: " Let there be 
 certain leatheren bags made of several bignesses ... for 
 
 2IO
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 the figure of them being long and open at both ends. 
 Answerable to these let there be divers windows, or open 
 places in the frame of the ship, round the sides of which 
 one end of these bags may be fixed, the other end coming 
 within the ship being to open and shut as a purse. Now 
 if we suppose this bag thus fastened to be tyed close about 
 towards the window, then anything that is to be sent out 
 may be safely put into that end within the ship, which 
 being again close shut, and the other end loosened, the 
 thing may be safely sent out without the admission of 
 water. 
 
 " So again, when any thing is to be taken in, it must be 
 first received into that part of the bag towards the window, 
 which being (after the thing is within it) close tyed about, 
 the other end may then be safely opened. It is easy to 
 conceive, how by this means any thing or person may be 
 sent out, or received in, as there shall be occasion; how 
 the water, which will perhaps by degrees leak into several 
 parts, may be emptied out again, with divers the like 
 advantages. Though if there should be any leak at the 
 bottom of the vessel, yet very little water would get in, 
 because no air could get out. 
 
 " 2. The second difficulty in such an Ark will be the 
 motion or fixing of it according to occasion ; The direction 
 of it to several places, as the voyage shall be designed, 
 without which it would be very useles, if it were to remain 
 only in one place, or were to remove only blindfold, 
 without a certain direction; And the contrivance of this 
 
 211
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 may seem very difficult, because these submarine Naviga- 
 tors will want the usual advantages of winds and tides for 
 motion, and the sight of the heavens for direction. 
 
 " But these difficulties may be thus remedied; As for 
 the progressive motion of it, this may be effected by the 
 help of several Oars, which in the outward ends of them 
 shall be like the fins of a fish to contract antf dilate. 
 The passage where they are admitted into the ship being 
 tyed about with such leather bags (as were mentioned 
 before) to keep out the water. It will not be convenient 
 perhaps that the motion in these voyages should be 
 very swift, because of those observations and discoveries 
 to be made at the bottom of the sea, which in a little space 
 may abundantly recompence the slowness of its progress. 
 
 " If this Ark be so ballast as to be of equal weight with 
 the like magnitude of water, it will then be easily moveable 
 in any part of it. 
 
 " As for the ascent of it, this may be easily contrived, 
 if there be some great weight at the bottom of the ship 
 (being part of its ballast) which by some cord within may 
 be loosened from it; As this weight is let lower, so will 
 the ship ascend from it (if need be) to the very surface 
 of the water; and again as it is pulled close to the ship, 
 so will it descend. 
 
 " For the direction of this Ark the Mariners needle may 
 be useful in respect of the latitude of places; and the 
 course of this ship being more regular than others, by 
 reason it is not subject to Tempests or unequal winds, 
 
 212
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 may more certainly guide them in judging of the longitude 
 of places. 
 
 "3. But the greatest difficulty of all will be this, how 
 the air may be supplied for respiration. How constant 
 fires may be kept in it for light and for the dressing of 
 foods. . . . Eight cubic feet of air will not serve a Diver 
 for respiration above one quarter of an hour: the breath 
 which is often sucked in and out, being so corrupted by 
 the mixture of vapours, that nature rejects it as unservice- 
 able. Now in an hour a man will need at least 360 re- 
 spirations, betwixt every one of which there shall be ten 
 second minutes, and consequently a great change and 
 supply of air will be necessary for many persons and any 
 long space." One way out of the difficulty is to make 
 the vessel itself " of large capacity, that as the air in it 
 is corrupted in one part, so it may be purified and renewed 
 in the other; or if the mere refrigeration of the air would 
 fit it for breathing, this might be somewhat helped by 
 bellows, which would cool it by motion." And we are 
 further treated to the suggestion that " it is not altogether 
 improbable " that the mere circulation of air around a 
 lamp or fire maintained in the boat might serve to purify 
 the air as in the " first and second Regions " (of the 
 atmosphere). Finally, the Bishop refers to Mersenni 
 for a reported discovery by " one Barricus, a Diver." 
 whereby a man " might easily continue under water for 
 six hours together." From the discussion of this diffi- 
 culty by Mersenni and Wilkins it is evident that they 
 
 213
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 knew nothing of Drebbel's methods of encountering it. 
 We gather, too, from their remarks how intense was the 
 prevailing ignorance on the subject of respiration, and 
 how far in advance of his times was the inventor of the 
 submarine. 
 
 But " the many advantages and conveniences of such 
 a contrivance," as set forth by the Bishop and Mersenni, 
 are the most extraordinary part of the whole matter. 
 They are carefully enumerated as follows: 
 
 " i. 'Tis private; a man may thus go to any coast of 
 the world invisibly, without being discovered or pre- 
 vented in his journey. 
 
 "2. 'Tis safe; from the uncertainty of Tides and the 
 violence of Tempests, which do never move the sea above 
 five or six paces deep. From Pirates and Robbers which 
 do so infest other voyages ; from ice and great frosts 
 which do so much endanger the passages towards the 
 Poles. 
 
 "3. It may be of very great advantage against a Navy 
 of enemies, who by this means may be undermined in 
 the water and blown up. 
 
 " 4. It may be of special use for the relief of any place 
 that is besieged by water, to convey unto them invisible 
 supplies, and so likewise for the surprisal of any place 
 that is accessible by water. 
 
 " 5. It may be of unspeakable benefit for submarine 
 experiments and discoveries, as, The several proportions 
 of swiftness betwixt the ascent of a bladder, cork, or any 
 
 214
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 other light substance, in comparison to the descent of 
 stones or lead. The deep caverns and subterraneous 
 passages where the sea water in the course of its circula- 
 tion doth vent itself into other places, and the like. 
 The nature and kinds of fishes, the several arts of catching 
 them, by alluring them with lights, by placing divers 
 nets about the sides of this Vessel, shooting the greater 
 sort of them with guns, which may be put out of the ship 
 by the help of such bags as were mentioned before, with 
 divers the like artifices and treacheries, which may be 
 more successively (sic) practised by such who live so 
 familiarly together. These fish may serve not only for 
 food, but for fewel likewise, in respect of that oyl which 
 may be extracted from them; the way of dressing meat 
 by lamps, being in many respects the most convenient 
 for such a voyage. 
 
 "The many fresh springs that may probably be met 
 with in the bottom of the sea, will serve for the supply of 
 drink and other occasions. 
 
 " But above all, the discovery of submarine treasures 
 is more especially considerable, not only in regard of 
 what hath been drowned by wrecks, but the several 
 precious things which grow there, as Pearl, Coral Mines, 
 with innumerable other things of great value, which 
 may be much more easily found out, and fetcht up by 
 the help of this, than by any other usual way of the 
 Urinators (divers). 
 
 "To which purpose the great Vessel may have sorce 
 
 215
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 lesser cabins tyed about it, at various distances, wherein 
 several persons, as Scouts, may be lodged for the taking 
 of observations, according as the Admiral shall direct 
 them. Some of them being frequently sent up to the 
 surface of the water, as there shall be occasion. 
 
 " All kinds of arts and manufactures may be exercised 
 in this Vessel. The observations made by it may be both 
 written, and (if need were) printed here likewise. 
 Several colonies may thus inhabit, having their Children 
 born and bred up without the knowledge of land, who 
 could not chuse but be amazed with strange conceits 
 upon the discovery of this upper world." 
 
 Some part of this might be regarded as the lively wit 
 of an amusing essayist. But there is nothing in the solemn 
 Mersenni or learned Bishop Wilkins to suggest mere 
 joking. The standpoint of seventeenth-century science 
 must be borne in mind. Authority and superstition still 
 held dominion over such thinkers as Mersenni and Wilkins. 
 They are so accustomed to accept mere hearsay that their 
 world becomes filled with ideas the most grotesque, which 
 pass for facts. The Bishop, indeed, introduces many 
 of his statements without even the sanction of any identi- 
 fiable witness. Something is " storied " and forthwith 
 becomes worthy to enter into the category of the possible 
 or the probable. He is, for instance, endeavouring to 
 establish the thesis that flying might become a possible 
 human accomplishment if only it were sufficiently prac- 
 tised. This is how he backs up his theory: "And, "he says, 
 
 216
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMARINE 
 
 " it is storied of a certain young man, a Sicilian by birth, 
 and a Diver by profession, who had so continually used 
 himself to the water, that he could not enjoy his health 
 out of it. If at any time he stayed with his friends on 
 the land, he should be so tormented with a pain in his 
 stomach, that he was forced for his health to return back 
 again to the Sea, wherein he kept his usual residence; 
 and when he saw any ship, his custome was to swim to 
 them for relief, which kind of life he continued till he was 
 an old man, and dyed." This yarn is good enough to 
 prop his argument ! And there was no one to laugh at 
 them. The lesser minds were in still worse plight. To 
 them the distinction between fable and fact was even 
 more indefinite. Wilkins and Mersenni were learned men 
 and stood far uplifted above their fellows; but still they 
 had not risen clear of the mists and seen the light which 
 to-day is shed even upon the humble in life. 
 
 217
 
 VIII 
 
 IN TRINITY COLLEGE DURING THE SINN 
 FEIN REBELLION 
 
 BY ONE OF THE GARRISON 
 
 EASTER MONDAY, the 24th of April, 1916 not yet one 
 fortnight old as I write looked a day of peaceful thoughts 
 if ever there was one. It was cool, bright weather. The 
 Dublin hills stretched away to the south-west, a picture 
 of immovable repose in the afternoon light. 
 
 Down the Dundrum road a band of the Veteran Volun- 
 teers the " G.R.'s " came swinging along at a steady 
 pace, their faces towards the City. An officer on horse- 
 back led them. As he passed us, we recognised in him 
 Major Harris, of the Officers' Training Corps of the 
 University of Dublin. He stopped us. " Have you 
 heard that the Sinn Feiners have risen in Dublin, and 
 seized the General Post Office and Stephen's Green, and 
 shot several of the police?" The Veterans passed on 
 their way to the City, leaving us bewildered. Some of 
 them were to meet death within an hour of that instant ! 
 
 Peace indeed ! Rather madness and bloodshed this 
 fine holiday afternoon. To a change so astounding the 
 mind at first refuses to adapt itself. The blessed isolation 
 
 218
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 from the horrors of invasion, for which we daily give 
 thanks, suddenly replaced by that worst of all forms of 
 strife civil war. For the danger of the Sinn Fein is 
 known to all in Ireland save, apparently, to the authorities. 
 It is not only a danger in itself, but it possesses all the 
 potential danger of the spark amidst the gunpowder. 
 And now at last it is at hand, and to each one comes the 
 same thought to seek his duty and to do it. To him 
 who has not the great obligation of defence of wife and 
 family during the unknown dangers of the coming night 
 the cause of law and order and of the institutions which 
 he holds dearest may appeal for all he can give. In the 
 minds of each one of us the same question is being de- 
 bated, and the claims upon him weighed one against the 
 other. And to each the littleness of a few years of life 
 speaks with the same quieting voice. 
 
 I was in Trinity College by four o'clock. I had already 
 been in the City that same morning visiting a sick friend. 
 There were then no signs of the fatal events proceeding 
 elsewhere. The Post Office was actually being seized at 
 the time I was sitting by my friend's bedside. But now 
 how different ! Carriage traffic had almost ceased, and 
 crowds hurried, partly in terror, partly in curiosity, about 
 the streets. An occasional shot was heard. But it 
 soon became evident that the Rebels were virtually in 
 possession of the City. 
 
 I left Trinity cautiously by one of the side gates of which 
 I possessed a key. I was anxious to ascertain, if possible, 
 
 219
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the magnitude of the movement and to get some idea of 
 the numbers engaged in it. I visited the General Post 
 Office, the central building in Sackville Street. It was 
 a wreck. Glass littered deeply the path and pavement 
 in front of it. Armed men stood behind its shattered 
 windows. Useless barricades had been piled up within 
 mail-bags, evidently filled with letters, to keep out 
 bullets ! Chairs and tables through which bullets would 
 pass almost as easily ! And, peering out from their 
 defences, the unhappy warriors threatened with their 
 rifles the scared crowd which alternately approached and 
 ran away. At one window a mere boy was still knocking 
 out the glass with the butt of his rifle. Above the 
 building floated a huge green banner with the inscription 
 in white letters, "Irish Republic." Truly Der Tag had 
 come 1 But oh, how pitiful ! A fantastic chimera, and 
 death the sure and certain wage ! 
 
 The Rebels were moving about freely in the streets. 
 All seemed armed with rifles. The police had entirely 
 disappeared. They had done all they could, and some 
 had offered their lives in a vain endeavour to save the 
 City. St. Stephen's Green, which I next visited, was 
 closed. A sort of barrier had been placed within the 
 large gate facing the foot of Graf ton Street. Behind it 
 stood, with set face and in Sinn Fein uniform, an armed 
 man. He held his rifle at the ready. But neither military 
 nor police contested his supremacy. A couple of lads 
 of seventeen or eighteen years of age lay on the grass near 
 
 220
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 by. They, too, were armed and equipped with rifle and 
 bandolier. A man in a small crowd remarked to me on 
 the juvenile appearance of these Sinn Feiners. What, 
 indeed, could they know of right and wrong ? What 
 could they do to save themselves even if they knew the 
 truth ? It was a pitiful sight. One formidable-looking 
 man of maturer years lay stretched in the most approved 
 attitude, with rifle immovably directed towards Grafton 
 Street. I estimated that if the distribution of men around 
 the Green was everywhere such as it was at this point, 
 400 or 500 men might be within. One comforting 
 inference could be drawn. No German officer was re- 
 sponsible for such strategy. For no officer in his senses 
 would shut his men in an enclosure commanded by tall 
 buildings on every side, from any one of which almost 
 every corner of the Green could be reached. And as it 
 turned out, this was just what the Sinn Feiners found to 
 their cost a few days later. 
 
 I returned to the College but little wiser than I had 
 left it. From the first the gates had been closed, and no 
 unknown person allowed to enter. What force was 
 within ? I had come in almost direct from the meeting 
 with Major Harris, and as he must moderate his pace to 
 that of his men on foot, and as I was on a bicycle, it 
 seemed unlikely that even by this time he could have 
 returned. Inquiry confirmed this view. At the Head- 
 quarters of the Officers' Training Corps I heard that 
 several officers in khaki had been fired on, and it was 
 
 221
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 believed to be doubtful if Major Harris would ever reach 
 the College. In point of fact he never did. Approaching 
 the town, the Veterans divided into two parties. One 
 of these was under command of Major Harris. The 
 other, under command of Mr. Browning, was ambushed 
 and badly cut up by the Rebel fire. The survivors of 
 both parties were finally driven to take refuge in Beggar's 
 Bush Barracks, then in a state of siege, and into which 
 they only penetrated by climbing over a back wall. The 
 " G.R.'s " had gone on their route-march, as was their 
 wont, totally unprovided with weapons of defence. 
 
 Thus it happened that Trinity College seemed almost 
 without defenders. Major Tate, the C.O., was unfor- 
 tunately away. But Captain Alton, of the O.T.C.; 
 Lieutenant Luce, of the Royal Irish Rifles, who was home 
 from the front on sick leave; and Lieutenant Waterhouse, 
 were fortunately at hand. A few boys in khaki were 
 about. There was no doubt of the seriousness of the 
 position Help from military or police was not to be 
 expected for some time possibly for some days. That 
 the College had not already been captured was most 
 inexplicable. It was obviously the most central and 
 commanding position in the city. There was the additional 
 attraction of the military stores of the O.T.C. depot. 
 In this were kept some hundreds of service rifles and 
 many thousands of rounds of ammunition. The loot of 
 the buildings would supply many requirements of those 
 in possession. And once captured, nothing but the whole- 
 
 222
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 sale destruction of buildings, containing the most precious 
 heirlooms of the ancient University, would suffice to 
 dislodge the enemy. I visited the Provost He faced 
 the position with which he had been so suddenly con- 
 fronted with calmness. Then I left for home by the 
 Lincoln Place gate, having first received promise of a 
 rifle when I returned. It was highly probable that no 
 daylight attack would now be made, so there was ample 
 time for a bicycle ride to the suburbs to inform my small 
 household of my intention to remain in the College during 
 coming events. 
 
 It was about six o'clock by the time I got back to the 
 College. The ride in proved an anxious one. I had 
 rather thoughtlessly put on a Swedish leather jacket which 
 bore somewhat the appearance of a uniform. I had a 
 pistol in my pocket. Several groups of the enemy 
 seemed on the point of challenging me. It was evident 
 I had made myself an object of suspicion, and capture 
 was the best I could hope if I was stopped and sear hed. 
 But at length I got back to the Lincoln Place gate and 
 was admitted. A message had been got through to 
 Beggar's Bush Barracks, and we knew that help from that 
 quarter was no longer possible. By great good luck 
 eight Anzacs, who had been on leave in the city, had 
 taken harbourage in the College. The total number of 
 defenders amounted to forty-four. 
 
 Sentries had, of course, already been posted at the gates, 
 and others were stationed at important points of obser- 
 
 223
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 vation. After my arrival I spent some time on the roof 
 of the Physical Laboratory, with a view to its utilisation 
 as a point of observation during hours of daylight. Then 
 came orders to sandbag the back windows of the O.T.C. 
 Headquarters. This was laborious work, but the younger 
 men made light of it; filling the bags below and carrying 
 them up the stairs. After this a little time was left me 
 in which to practise the use of the service rifle. The 
 pattern was new to me, but in half an hour, and under 
 the instruction of one of the Cadets, I was sufficiently 
 familiar with it to feel confidence that I could fire and 
 refill with fair rapidity. To rank as a good shot with a 
 rifle to which one was unaccustomed, under conditions 
 when probably the sights could not be seen, was, of course, 
 out of the question. But on the other hand, there was 
 the comforting reflection that if attacked the fighting 
 must necessarily be at close quarters and accurate 
 shooting would not be required. Evidently under such 
 circumstances the principal matter was to master the 
 , purely mechanical conditions of quick loading and hand- 
 ling. With these comforting thoughts I practised 
 myself upon the rifle till I felt at home with it. I was 
 also so fortunate as to get a dozen cartridges for my 
 pistol, for which I had but one cartridge on entering the 
 College. 
 
 The geography of the College ground requires some 
 description for the benefit of those unacquainted with 
 Dublin. The grounds of Trinity College cover about 
 
 224
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 35 acres, and form a roughly quadrangular area having 
 a width of about 900 feet and a length of about 2,000 feet. 
 This area is surrounded by the most important thorough- 
 fares of Dublin. The quadrilateral extends its greatest 
 length in, approximately, a west to east direction. The 
 principal buildings of the College the magnificent 
 Library, the Examination Hall, the Dining Hall, the 
 Provost's House, the School of Engineering (building 
 beloved by Ruskin), as well as the fine Belfry and the 
 living-rooms of the students and of the staff lie in the 
 western half . The splendid frontal buildings of the College, 
 with their exquisite pavilions, command a city view 
 unsurpassed by any in the United Kingdom, the broad 
 thoroughfares of Westmoreland Street, Dame Street, 
 and Grafton Street converging to the spacious pavement 
 fronting the fa9ade of the College. 
 
 At the eastern end of the Park are placed the modern 
 buildings housing the various Schools of Science, many of 
 which have been recently built by the Chancellor of the 
 University, Viscount Iveagh. The Headquarters of the 
 O.T.C. are placed along the extreme eastern boundary 
 of the College grounds, and thus lie outside, as it were, 
 the group of the Science Schools. Between the group 
 of buildings lying to the west end and that lying to the 
 east end of the Park there intervenes an open space 
 devoted to the recreation of the students in normal times. 
 Just now the existence of this area constitutes an added 
 difficulty in the defence of the College. And it is an aggra- 
 
 225 p
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 vation of the difficulties that telephonic connection 
 between the west and east ends of the Park does not 
 exist. For the City Exchange is closed to us, and this 
 was the normal means of communication. Even to a 
 novice this evil was at once apparent, and I thought of 
 searching the Physical Laboratory for a telephone, 
 which might be installed as a field telephone, but I feared 
 that the requisite leads would certainly fail us. This 
 want involved a serious degree of isolation of the main 
 points of defence of the College. 
 
 The difficulties of the defence were obvious even to an 
 unskilled observer. The railings and walls which bound 
 the south and north sides of the Park are scalable at any 
 point. The wall on the northern boundary is skirted 
 by a lane, which may be in the enemy's hands. It is. 
 moreover, commanded by the rear of the houses of 
 Brunswick Street, which also he may hold. The railings 
 separating the south boundary of the Park from Nassau 
 Street are by no means unscalable. So much for the 
 College Park. 
 
 As for the practice-grounds of the O.T.C., in which my 
 first sentry duties lay, on the east side they are separated 
 from a lane by a high wall surmounted by barbed wire. 
 But this would not be a serious obstacle, and the lane is 
 open at both ends to the entry of the Rebels. Moreover, 
 the houses of Westland Row from their rear overlook 
 almost the entire grounds from this eastern side. If 
 they harboured the enemy and he knew how to shoot, it 
 
 226
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 would render existence difficult for the garrison. The 
 north end of the O.T.C. grounds is further overlooked 
 by the high embankment of the Loop Line from Westland 
 Row Terminus. And there was ocular evidence that the 
 Sinn Feiners held the railway and patrolled the embank- 
 ment. Under such conditions we began our watch of 
 the College on the night of Easter Monday. This estimate 
 of our difficulties must be read as that of one unacquainted 
 with the art of war, and who had no share in planning 
 the defensive steps actually taken. 
 
 My beat extended from the small side door leading into 
 the Chemical Laboratory (and so into the College Park) 
 to the large gate opening near the main Lincoln Place 
 entrance of the College Park. The inner gate, which 
 limited my beat, had for better security been barricaded 
 with a military waggon. Without, the couple of sentries 
 watching the Lincoln Place gate could be observed and 
 were within hail. It was part of my duties to keep in 
 touch with these sentries, and to convey to Headquarters 
 any alarm they might transmit to me. I had also to keep 
 under observation the wall separating this part of the 
 grounds from the lane, and to observe the rear of the 
 houses overlooking the grounds. 
 
 Night now slowly closed in. The City without was 
 plainly in a state of chaos. Shots rang out every now 
 and again. Distant shouts and challenges were heard. 
 Sometimes a more rapid succession of shots suggested 
 more serious fighting. Slowly the precincts around 
 
 227
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 became indistinct. Impending dangers, unknown dis- 
 asters, seemed to fill the gloom. Was this indeed to 
 be, perhaps, the last night of our ancient University ? 
 The question is no mere extravagance of the imagination. 
 For so much of the very existence of so venerable a 
 foundation is bound up with its century-old buildings, 
 with its literary and artistic treasures, that sack and con- 
 flagration in a single night might obliterate practically 
 all but its memory from the earth. So might perish 
 Ireland's most priceless treasure the University of 
 Berkeley, Goldsmith, Burke, Hamilton, and Lecky. 
 
 A sentry must not indulge in imaginings. I endeavoured 
 to banish gloomy forebodings from my mind and to school 
 my attention entirely into the immediate present. The 
 thought of what might or might not happen, either to 
 my College or to dear ones passing the night exposed, 
 perhaps, to serious dangers, I drove from my mind. And, 
 indeed, there was enough to claim immediate attention. 
 There was constant coming and going through the now 
 dark passage leading from the side door into the Park. 
 Each individual must be challenged and recognised. 
 In intervening moments the walls and buildings opposite 
 must be watched. There were now only the City lights 
 without, reflected from the cloudy sky, to shed any light 
 in the space around me. A cause of uneasiness soon 
 became apparent. Two adjoining windows just over- 
 looking my beat, I discovered, had been recently opened. 
 No lights were within. If the enemy was in possession 
 
 228
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 of these windows, not 60 yards away, he might cover me 
 at his leisure, and having disposed of me, then pick off 
 anyone entering through the side door. He could from 
 his position shoot right into the latter, and it was possible 
 he had enough light to do so. But for these evils there 
 was no remedy. The strict order given to all sentries 
 and patrols was, " No firing till attacked." And, of 
 course, even if an individual did show himself at the open 
 windows, he might be only a curious observer. And 
 presently I became aware that the hypothetical individual 
 had become a reality. Someone was within a man, 
 apparently, with white shirt-sleeves. I strained my eyes 
 to discover what he was doing, and when I did so he drew 
 back and vanished in the darkness within. Obviously 
 he held the whip hand, and there was nothing for it but 
 to trust to luck. 
 
 Slowly the hours passed. I kept this post for four 
 hours, during the latter half of which time I had the 
 company of a second sentry. Then I was relieved; and 
 as my dinner had consisted of a single sandwich, I was 
 glad to look for something to eat at Headquarters. It 
 was cold enough to make a hot drink very desirable. 
 
 Bright lights are not permissible at Headquarters. 
 In the kitchen only a feeble lamp dispels the gloom and 
 reveals the incessant but quiet bustle which prevails. 
 Cadets in their great-coats are pushing in and out. The 
 sounds of eating and drinking are mingled with ques- 
 tions and opinions as to what is happening. There is an 
 
 229
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 atmosphere of expectancy which is not allowed, save 
 inferentially, to reveal the anxiety which all most certainly 
 feel. The talk is all in a low tone, as if the Sinn Feiner 
 was listening without. It is reported that the Castle has 
 been captured by the Rebels, and is strongly held. The 
 office of the Daily Express, and both Guinness's brewery 
 and Jacob's biscuit factory are believed to have also been 
 taken. There are but few military in the city, and they 
 can barely hold their barracks. It appears, then, that our 
 own chances depend entirely on the speed with which 
 troops can be brought up from the Curragh or from Belfast. 
 Some think that the capture of the General Post Office 
 means that telegraphic communication with England is 
 cut, and that assistance from the other side of the Channel 
 must consequently be long delayed. It is certain that- 
 the railway termini, or some of them, have been taken 
 by the Rebels. Of this we have good evidence. Rebels 
 have been seen patrolling the embankment overlooking 
 our little territory. I myself, riding past the previous 
 evening it is now past midnight saw heaps of barrels 
 thrown over the high walls of Harcourt Street terminus, 
 apparently with a view to making barricades in the 
 street beneath. The porters expelled from the station 
 crowded the steps. What might the object of all this 
 be? There was only one answer: to delay the arrival 
 of troops in the City. These matters are discussed. The 
 Anzacs listen; they say but little. They are magnificent 
 of physique and lithe of figure. How keen of eye 
 
 230
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 and what unerring shots they were we soon came to 
 know. 
 
 On the fire a huge pot holds water for making cocoa 
 and for washing plates. There is bully beef and bread, 
 and there is a sack full of apples. You dip your cup 
 someone else has just been drinking out of it into the 
 hot water; you shake a little cocoa powder into it, and 
 you drink when the beverage is cool enough. Nearly 
 everyone smokes, and few smoke anything but cigarettes. 
 I am offered so many that I feel as if we were back in 
 those apostolic days when men had all things in common. 
 
 I have just prepared a cup of cocoa and got some bully 
 beef. The word " alarm " is said in a low voice at the 
 door, and the speaker hurries off. Almost immediately 
 we are without in the cool night air listening. 
 
 A violent fusillade can be heard in the direction of the 
 front gate of the College. The immediate alarm, however, 
 is said to have come from our men posted on the roof of 
 one of the Westland Row houses. They had been given 
 a signal lantern red light for danger, white for safety. 
 It now seemed certain that the apprehended attack was 
 about to be delivered. Concerted attacks at several 
 points were probable. But at this stage it was impossible 
 to say at what point our defence might first have to be 
 directed. With rifles on cock we stood for about a 
 quarter of an hour awaiting orders. The City lights 
 reflected from the clouds dimly showed us the walls, but 
 no foe appeared. Our patrols were out, and it was prob- 
 
 231
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 able that the first call to action would come in the form 
 of a shot fired at an invading enemy. But no further 
 alarm came. The distant firing was directed not against 
 the College. And the attack was not on us. 
 
 The guard was to be relieved immediately. The 
 selected men, of which I was one, marched off. We went 
 round the Park relieving sentries. Finally, I was given a 
 post of observation over the lane-way without the eastern 
 boundary- wall of the O.T.C. grounds already referred to. 
 This lane can be observed for a considerable distance up 
 and down through chinks in a great rolling door opening 
 into it. It was an irksome duty, for the chinks must be 
 carefully investigated at each turn of one's beat. With- 
 out, the lane remains silent and empty, as seen by the 
 light of an electric lamp which burns at one end of it. 
 
 All things come to an end. Grey dawn slowly breaks. 
 Objects insensibly become more and more distinguishable. 
 At about 3.30 o'clock I am relieved, and return to Head- 
 quarters. Those off duty are lying down on the floor of a 
 large store-room almost in darkness, for the light of dawn 
 is as yet but feeble. Alongside forms lying prone, with 
 rolled-up coats for pillows and one blanket serving as 
 mattress and covering, sleep comes soon. But before 
 yielding to oblivion I could not help brief thoughts on 
 matters psychological. I had lately been worrying a 
 good deal about various things, and often dreaded, rather 
 than courted, a comfortable bed. I was now a more 
 contented individual than I had been for weeks. And 
 
 232
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 it may be, I thought, that this is just the reason why 
 so many return healthy and cheerful from the Front. 
 The life of action is perhaps, after all, the happiest. I 
 have been making a grand mistake all along. That 
 boyish instinct for the Navy was perhaps the truest 
 wisdom. But now it is too late a day. This present 
 episode can only be a late farewell to what might have 
 been. But let me sleep while I can. There is only a feeble 
 flicker of candle-light in the room, and one of the shrouded 
 warriors snores soporifically. I am off 
 
 " Turn out ! We are going to evacuate this bally 
 place, and all the stores are to be removed." Alas ! 
 I had been but fifteen minutes asleep ! But it is a wise 
 decision. The quadrangles of the College we might 
 indeed hold for some time. This open and almost 
 defenceless courtyard must, in the event of attack, 
 simply become a shambles. Shots, mostly revolver shots, 
 fired from Nassau Street into the College Park, as reported 
 by patrols, warned us what to expect. 
 
 The sandbags are brought down from the windows, 
 for they will be wanted elsewhere; the rifles are carried 
 off on field stretchers, and, along with the ammunition, 
 are transported to the quadrangles. Finally, every 
 article which might prove of use to the enemy, such as 
 clothes, provisions, blankets, culinary vessels, china, etc., 
 is heaped upon one of the great military waggons in the 
 yard and dragged away to the Front Square of the 
 College by a train of men. Someone suggests leaving a 
 
 233
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 few dummy men in the windows. The idea is obviously 
 good. A few caps are judiciously arranged on props 
 in partial concealment, the building is locked up, and we 
 evacuate our fort with such a brilliant exemption from 
 casualties as marked the retreat from Gallipoli. 
 
 Daylight has now fully come, and the more concen- 
 trated garrison is to be distributed in various coigns of 
 vantage in the quadrangles. One of the great windows 
 on the stairs ascending to the Regent House is assigned 
 to me, in company with Sergeant-Major B . 
 
 These front windows of the College command a view 
 which extends the whole length of Dame Street. In the 
 farthest distance is visible the corner-house, the office of 
 the Daily Express, which is held by the Rebels. Opposite 
 to it is the City Hall, which may be regarded as an out- 
 lying part of the Castle premises. In the foreground is 
 the wide pavement, having the Bank of Ireland on the 
 right and beyond it the Royal Bank. To the left the 
 buildings form a curved facade, which flows into Grafton 
 Street. Here are some of the finest offices in Dublin. 
 Grattan's statue and the equestrian statue of King 
 William of Orange stand in the midst of the pavement. 
 These regions are now empty. Neither friend nor foe 
 appears the former because not strong enough to march 
 the streets, and the latter because of the rifle-fire from the 
 College. 
 
 The Anzacs had been above on the roof of the College 
 since an early hour. Owing to the strict order received 
 
 234
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 from the Irish Command not to fire until attacked, many 
 chances of " potting '? Rebels had been missed. But 
 later in the morning this order had been withdrawn. 
 Already before daylight a despatch-rider of the enemy 
 had been brought down by the fire of the Anzacs. It 
 was wonderful shooting. He was one of three who 
 were riding past on bicycles. Four shots were fired. 
 Three found their mark in the head of the unfortunate 
 victim. Another of the riders was wounded and escaped 
 on foot. The third abandoned his bicycle and also 
 escaped. This shooting was done by the uncertain light 
 of the electric lamps, and at a high angle downwards 
 from a lofty building. The body was brought in. 
 
 Later I saw him. In no irreverent spirit I lifted the 
 face-cloth . He looked quite young ; one might almost call 
 him a boy. The handsome waxen face was on one side 
 concealed in blood. Poor boy ! What crime was his ? 
 That of listening to the insane wickedness and folly 
 preached by those older arid who ought to be wiser than he. 
 And was not he, after all, but one of those who carry to its 
 logical conclusion the long crusade against English rule 
 which for generations has kept peace from Irish hearts ? 
 More honest than many of his teachers, he has been led 
 into crime and now pays the penalty. It is true, if truth 
 exists at all, that this life cut short and the rancour and 
 bitterness with which it was filled are as much the handi- 
 work of the " constitutional " agitator as of many who 
 are doomed to summary execution for this night's work. 
 
 235
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 When will England appreciate the Irish temperament ? 
 When will our rulers learn that these rash and foolish 
 sons of the Empire require quiet and resolute government, 
 sane education, and protection from the fanatic and the 
 agitator, to whose poison they are at present exposed from 
 their earliest years ? 
 
 Tuesday, the 25th of April, was now a new day. The 
 events of the past night seemed folded away, as if but a 
 troubled dream. What would the new day bring forth ? 
 When might help be expected ? With advancing day 
 the numbers in the streets increased. It was evident 
 that the public even yet had not realised the dangers of 
 the streets. Shots from roof and windows did not seem 
 to deter the curious from risking his life. Not a few were 
 aimed from the roof and windows of the College at snipers 
 lurking in surrounding buildings. One window in the 
 top storey of a large insurance office was an object of 
 special suspicion. A man and a woman had shown 
 themselves at it more than once. They had been seen to 
 fire into the streets beneath. The shooting from the 
 College was undeniably good. The window was turned 
 away at a sharp angle from the College, and was distant 
 about a hundred yards. Nevertheless, spirts of lime and 
 powdered stone were sent flying from its embrasure at 
 every shot. Whoever was within was certainly either 
 very foolhardy or very stupid. To look forth even for 
 the fraction of a second under such conditions was 
 courting death. 
 
 236
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 There can be no doubt that the accurate fire maintained 
 from the College was an important factor in the salvation 
 of the City. The Bank of Ireland (formerly the Irish 
 House of Parliament) was otherwise unprotected, but no 
 hostile being could have approached its doors. Its whole 
 front was in view of the College. The sentries, which in 
 ordinary times never cease to guard its doors, were absent, 
 but the building was safe. An attempt was, in fact, 
 made to take possession of its roof, but it was frustrated. 
 The many important and stately buildings banks, 
 insurance offices, business premises of Dame Street 
 and Grafton Street were protected from the Rebel or 
 from the looter in the same manner. The whole length 
 of Westmoreland Street was kept clear by the College 
 rifles ; and even the strongholds of the enemy in Sackville 
 Street were assailed from the northern end of the College. 
 Regarding the position as a wholt, the grounds and build- 
 ings of Trinity College filled the function of a loyal nucleus, 
 dividing the forces of the Rebels and keeping open to the 
 troops some of the principal thoroughfares of the Cityi 
 
 After being relieved, I joined the Anzacs on the roof. 
 They were undoubtedly men fashioned for the enjoyment 
 of danger. And certainly it would be harder to find nicer 
 comrades. Alas for the thousands of these fine soldiers 
 who have left their bonea on Gallipoli ! 
 
 Breakfast was at length to be had in the College 
 kitchen. Thither we repaired according as we got off 
 duty. There was bully beef, with bread and tea, admin- 
 
 237
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 istered by the amazed but indefatigable French cook. 
 Those who were silly enough to criticise the menu had 
 something more to grumble about later on. The fact 
 was, we were in a state of siege, and no preparations had 
 been made even for the small garrison requiring support. 
 
 Later in the day troops began to come into the City. 
 They had, in fact, been marched direct from the Curragh 
 to Kingsbiidge. Others came from Belfast. Within 
 the College it was, of course, impossible to find out what 
 was happening without. But every hour, as the day wore 
 on, the sounds of firing in the City increased in volume. 
 Troops of khaki-clad men, too, occasionally passed the 
 College. For us the situation was evidently more hopeful. 
 The Rebels would now hardly be in a position to under- 
 take fresh conquests; they must hold their own if they 
 could. Moreover, our garrison had somewhat increased 
 in numbers. Partly the additions were refugee soldiers 
 sent over by the Dublin Metropolitan Police, whose 
 newly erected premises stand facing the Brunswick 
 Street entrance to the College. Partly our recniits were 
 O.T.C. men who had made their way in mufti to the help 
 of their College. 
 
 The great event of Tuesday was the recapture of the 
 Daily Express offices by the military. We were at the 
 time in ignorance of what was actually happening; for 
 we were possessed with the idea that the Sinn Feiners 
 held the Castle. When, therefore, we saw at the head of 
 Dame Street men in successive waves rush across the 
 
 238
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 street from the City Hall towards the Express offices, 
 we thought they represented the enemy in process of 
 expulsion from the Castle. As a matter of fact the 
 waves of men were composed of the troops. From our 
 position in front of the College we could see that a terrific 
 fire was being directed against the Daily Express building : 
 plaster and powdered brick were flying in showers from 
 its fasade. This fire was to cover the advance of our 
 soldiers. But in spite of this we saw, more than once, 
 one of the running figures pitch forward and fall. It was 
 expensive tactics; and later a better method of dealing 
 with the Rebel strongholds was found when the artillery 
 came into the City. The fight seemed to last a con- 
 siderable time about an hour at its greatest intensity 
 before the firing began to wane. Not till later did we 
 learn that the final phase of the struggle took place, under 
 deadly conditions for the soldiers, in the narrow passages 
 of the newspaper office. But they were not to be withheld, 
 and the Rebels were ultimately bombed out or captured. 
 
 This event took place on the afternoon of Tuesday. 
 Shortly after a small body of troops entered at the front 
 gate of the College a welcome sight. But it was not 
 certain if they were to remain for the night. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon it became necessary, in 
 view of certain operations to be undertaken by the 
 Regulars, to ascertain if Butt Bridge, which spans the 
 Liffey near the notorious Liberty Hall, was occupied or 
 not. The necessary scouting was assigned to me. Two 
 
 239
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 of our O.T.C. cadets in mufti were to accompany me. 
 We agreed that it was best not to remain together. I 
 accordingly went by Tara Street, and my colleagues 
 proceeded by Hawkins Street. My route being the 
 shorter, I reached the bridge first. It was unoccupied. 
 Being anxious to ascertain if Liberty Hall was occupied 
 and in a state of defence, I crossed the bridge and traversed 
 the pavement in front of the Hall. The building looked 
 empty, but I noticed that some of the windows of the 
 basement had been broken out. This, of course, might 
 betoken the presence of inhabitants, and suggested 
 sniping. As I could not turn back in front of the building, 
 I walked past it, and turned when near the railway 
 arches, crossing the street lower down. It was unwisely 
 done. I had probably been seen from the Hall, for as 
 I again passed in front of it two rifle shots were fired in 
 rapid succession from one of the lower windows. I saw 
 the smoke, so there was no doubt whence the shots came. 
 If the intention was to hit me it was quite extraordinary 
 they did not succeed, seeing that only some 30 or 40 yards 
 intervened, and I was walking slowly. Two men just 
 behind me, who seemed the only other pedestrians present, 
 took to flight and ran across the bridge. This course I 
 did not imitate, for 1 reasoned that as the bridge was 
 commanded right across from the windows of Liberty 
 Hall, flight might have the actual effect of drawing the 
 fire of the Rebels. No more shots were fired, and I 
 met my O.T.C. supports on the bridge. 
 
 240
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 On the ensuing night, in spite of our better position, no 
 precaution appeared to be relaxed by Captain Alton. My 
 own duties lay at the railings and gate in the New Square, 
 near No. 40. This house is at the end of the bay, and 
 overlooks the entire central area of the Park. The rail- 
 ings beneath it commands a view reaching across to 
 Nassau Street. Here I passed two very cold hours 
 peering across the lawn. I was to shoot anyone seen 
 beyond the railings: none of our men were to quit the 
 quadrangles. 
 
 When relieved, my brother-sentry and I sought repose 
 on the boards of the first floor of No. 40. But things 
 were not so bad as they looked. Some mattresses were 
 available, and I got half of one on which to sleep. My 
 companion, however, deprived for so long a time of the 
 pleasures of the cigarette, must have a preliminary smoke. 
 He fell asleep with the weed unfinished. I was again 
 unfortunate, for I had hardly dropped asleep when I was, 
 by a mistake, summoned to duty. This time my business 
 was to watch from the open window of the room in which 
 we were. It was unpleasant work, for a very cold wind 
 blew straight in, and, of course, there was no way of 
 sheltering from it. Hour after hour passed. There was 
 darkness within the room by express orders; even the 
 dying fire had been screened from view of the window. 
 Strange revolution of circumstances ! Many an hour 
 I had sat in this very room along with that kindest and 
 most courteous of men, the late Dr. Benjamin Williamson. 
 
 241 Q
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 His gentle spirit would, indeed, have viewed his old 
 apartment with wonder the academic furniture all 
 gone, and the floor closely covered by sleeping soldiers. 
 Danger and strife where, for years without number, the 
 only contests were those of wit against wit, and the only 
 victories those which the mathematician claims when the 
 refractory problem yields to investigation. Less than a 
 year ago I was here with him. 
 
 Towards morning, as the objects in the Park were 
 becoming distinguishable in the strengthening daylight, 
 I became aware that a party of five or six men were 
 stealing from the trees at the remote side of the Park. 
 I was on the point of firing. Indeed, it was while sighting 
 that it seemed to me they were in khaki. This might be 
 a ruse, and I confess to some moments of agonising inde- 
 cision. I hastily roused a brother-sentry who had fallen 
 into a state of well, mental abstraction, and asked him 
 to use his eyes. He agreed with me that the invaders 
 of the Park were in khaki. They were going eastwards, 
 away from the residential part of the College, and had 
 apparently entered from the Fellows' Garden. Their 
 movements confirmed me in the idea that they were our 
 own men; for they seemed to be avoiding detection, not 
 from my side, but from the Nassau Street side of the Park. 
 They were, to all appearance, inspecting the railings 
 bordering that side of the grounds, and taking cover 
 behind the shrubs which grow along this border. Pre- 
 sently they passed behind the pavilion at the east end 
 
 242
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 of the cricket-ground, and a moment afterwards I heard 
 a rifle-shot fired from near by, followed by a second shot. 
 The sentries in No. 38 had evidently opened fire. This 
 was serious. The next moment there was a party running 
 towards us. Even then I was not quite sure of my ground. 
 I threw the window further open and shouted, " Who are 
 you ?" The leading runner waved and called to us to 
 cover them against fire from the railway. I now recog- 
 nised one of our officers. It appeared that his party had 
 really a narrow escape from a danger to which actors in 
 this sort of warfare are peculiarly liable. The bullets 
 which went near to hitting them were, in point of fact, 
 from our own boys and they made tolerably good 
 shooting. A very small misunderstanding may give rise 
 to such incidents. It is certain that similar incidents were 
 not uncommon in Dublin in the days which followed. 
 The sharpshooters had acted strictly on injunctions; but I 
 suppose, with the evidence before me, my failure to do so 
 was excusable. 
 
 I spent the rest of the night on this duty. When 
 Wednesday the 26th of April at length came, I was glad 
 to get away from that window. There was now no bread 
 in the College and no sugar, and the hardness of the ship's 
 biscuits was something of scientific interest. But for all 
 that I have never had a more delightful breakfast than I 
 had that morning. The kitchen was filled with men 
 trying to eat the biscuits. The interesting historical 
 narratives of current events made it difficult to remember 
 
 243
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the duty of reporting oneself. I was again stationed at 
 one of the front windows of the College. 
 
 There were adventurous people to be seen in the streets 
 as the day got older. The impelling force of curiosity 
 would appear to rank with the strongest passions of man- 
 kind. Here were bullets flying about, death lurking at 
 every corner, and yet troops of foolish people running 
 about the streets. There had been looting already in 
 some of the shops, and in the midst of the broad pavement 
 in front of the College a small ragged boy was rejoicing 
 in a toy motor-car which was certainly value for three 
 or four guineas. It was rather small for him, but he 
 managed to sit in it and to pedal himself round Grattan's 
 statue. Bullets were nothing to him. For the nonce 
 he was of the fortunate ones, and a lordly toy was his to 
 play with. In after-years this trivial sport will stand for 
 the Great Rebellion in his memory. So it is with us all, 
 if only we could see our actions and thoughts in the light 
 of history. 
 
 Troops were now coming into the College in large 
 numbers. It was arranged, with the consent of the 
 Provost, that the military in Dublin should take up 
 Headquarters in the College. There was no doubt as to 
 the mutual benefits to be derived from the arrangement. 
 The weather had held out, and in the Park fresh young 
 grass was found for the horses. The Examination Hall, 
 the Engineering School, and part of the Dining Hall, 
 were thrown open to the men. Owing to the absence 
 
 244
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 of students, a very large number of chambers could be 
 placed at the disposal of officers as well as of the rank and 
 file. These rooms were all in part furnished, and contained 
 good sleeping accommodation. But in truth the Tommies 
 off duty had little to do with rooms. They lay about 
 and slept in the open all day, rejoicing in the sward of 
 the College courts and in the brilliant sunshine. The 
 senior officers enjoyed the hospitality of the Provost. 
 
 The immediate safety of the College was now assured. 
 Our escape from utter destruction had indeed been mar- 
 vellous. I heard the view commonly expressed among 
 the officers that had the Sinn Feiners taken possession of 
 the College buildings in force, nothing but shell-fire 
 would have dislodged them. Having regard to the great 
 strength of the place, no other course but one which must 
 probably involve the ruin of the buildings would be 
 justifiable. Nor would any policy of starvation have 
 availed to save the priceless treasures of the College from 
 the same fate which befell every public building in Dublin 
 into which the Sinn Feiner entered. With the Library, 
 enriched at the voluntary expense of soldiers, the most 
 precious heirlooms of ancient Irish civilisation would 
 perish ; with the exquisite School of Engineering, the most 
 beautiful structure of the kind in the world would disap- 
 pear; with the Provost's House, a treasury of art would 
 vanish. 
 
 Early on Wednesday Liberty Hall received its quietus. 
 Two i8-pounders and the guns of H.M.S. Hclgi brought 
 
 245
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 up the Liffey, were used to demolish it. The noise was 
 tremendous. To the general din was added the spitting 
 of a machine-gun placed high on the tower of the Fire 
 Brigade Station. When next I saw Liberty Hall its 
 empty shell alone remained. Every floor had been blown 
 out of it. It was stated that none of the Rebels had 
 remained to face the attack. A few weeks ago I saw 
 armed men keeping guard within this building to keep out 
 the police: and this was known to, and suffered by, the 
 authorities. It was known to, and noticed in, the Press. 
 But nothing was done. 
 
 Early in the day I went on duty at the Brunswick Street 
 gate. This is the main entrance and exit for troops and 
 others communicating with the east and north sides of the 
 City. I soon found myself busy. A sentry was, of course, 
 given to me. I was to deny or grant admission or exit 
 according to circumstances. Every precaution had to be 
 taken. The smaller door was opened only in face of 
 fixed bayonet and after preliminary parley as to who was 
 without. There appeared to be one evident oversight 
 in the military precautions at this point. The large 
 business premises of Messrs. M'Kenzie & Co. overlook 
 this entrance and command it, more especially from the 
 inner side. The building was apparently deserted. But 
 if the enemy by any means gained access to it the gate 
 would obviously be untenable. As we were still none too 
 strong, and the numbers and intentions of the Rebels 
 were unknown, it seemed prudent to occupy the building. 
 
 246
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 Accordingly thirteen Regulars were put into it later in 
 the afternoon. Its occupation continued till the Rebellion 
 was substantially put down. 
 
 Casualties began to come in. No. 15, a house in the 
 College quadrangle known as Botany Bay and near the 
 Brunswick Street gate, had been fitted up as an emergency 
 hospital. It proved to be of the greatest value, not only 
 for dealing with wounds, but for administering to the 
 ailments of the soldiers within. The treatment of sore 
 feet, for instance, was continually proceeding. A staff 
 of Red Cross volunteers and members of the R.A.M.C. 
 were available day and night. 
 
 At one o'clock on Wednesday night, or rather on Thurs- 
 day morning, I got off duty. The orders were that after 
 midnight no one was to be allowed in or out. The custody 
 of the gate became, therefore, a matter of sentry duty. 
 I resigned it accordingly to the sentry and a night porter 
 of the College a trustworthy man who had formerly 
 served in the Army. 
 
 I now looked for a place of repose. I had not had a 
 total of two hours' sleep since Sunday night. Moreover, 
 I was going lame from keeping on my boots for so long 
 a time. This was the most imperative of my troubles. 
 First I sought sleeping accommodation in No. 40. But 
 the room was already full, and there were neither blankets 
 nor mattresses for anyone. The fire was by order not 
 lighted, and open window and door permitted a cold wind 
 to blow upon the unprotected sleepers. From these 
 
 247
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 forbidding conditions I recoiled; and being too tired and 
 footsore to go much farther, I retired to one of the labor- 
 atories near by, and, spreading a College gown on the 
 floor, slept till morning. I awoke so stiff from the effects 
 of my hard bed that it took me about ten minutes to rise 
 to a sitting attitude. 
 
 We had now reached Thursday, the 27th of April. 
 The quadrangles presented an extraordinary appearance. 
 Some 4,000 troops were stationed in the College. Horses 
 tied to the chains which enclosed the grass plots gave the 
 place the appearance of a vast open-air stable or horse fair. 
 Men stood in ranks or sprawled on the pavements or on 
 the doorsteps anywhere sometimes closely packed and 
 fast asleep in every conceivable attitude. Many of them 
 had put in a hard night's work. A large number were of 
 the Sherwood Foresters and of the South Staffordshire 
 Territorials. Many of these men were very young, and 
 most of them had but recently joined the Colours. Look- 
 ing now at their sleeping forms and tired faces, one must 
 remember that the work of rounding up and hunting 
 down the Rebels is not only arduous, it is in the highest 
 degree dangerous. Not a few of the officers and men 
 who had been through these nocturnal and diurnal opera- 
 tions told me that they would prefer being at the Front. 
 At the Front, they said, you know the direction from 
 which you may expect a bullet. Here the enemy is all 
 round you. He lurks in dark passages and among chim- 
 ney-stacks, and when at last you think you have hunted 
 
 248
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 him down, you find yourself in possession of a peaceful 
 citizen who gives some plausible reason for his presence. 
 That these young fellows should be wearied after their 
 night of peril and strenuous exertion was not to be won- 
 dered at. 
 
 On this day a dead soldier was brought in. He found 
 burial in the Fellows' Garden, service being said by the 
 Army Chaplain. This was not the only interment within 
 the College grounds. Later, another soldier whose 
 grave is now inscribed " Private A. C. Smith, 2373, 
 loth Cavalry Res. Regt., killed 2Qth April, 1916 " 
 was buried in the College Park. The boy despatch-rider 
 was laid to rest at an earlier date. 
 
 Then a little boy was brought in on a stretcher. He had 
 been shot through the hand on Monday, and there was 
 fear that the wound had become septic. The father 
 accompanied him, but even in these circumstances was 
 not admitted to the quadrangles. He told me that none 
 of the family had tasted food since Monday night. The 
 child looked very ill too ill to cry or to complain and 
 on hearing this I left the man in charge of the sentry and 
 made my way into No. 15 to suggest the application of 
 internal as well as external remedies. Hot tea was given 
 to the little patient. There was rapid revival. He 
 thanked us in a voice which never rose above a whisper. 
 The manners of these little Irish children are sometimes 
 lovely, and this child had all the confiding and appealing 
 way about him which constitutes their special charm. 
 
 249
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 And it was quite true. The people were starving. 
 Food-supplies had early been exhausted or the shops 
 had been closed. Wages had ceased, for there were no 
 employers and no work to do. But wages would not have 
 helped; there was nothing to buy. Relief of the starving 
 was begun by the officers of the O.T.C. Later, on the 
 Thursday, the Military Authorities humanely and wisely 
 took the problem in hand. Stores were commandeered 
 and warehouses opened, and the food distributed to the 
 starving families. I heard that the people were so 
 grateful they would do anything for the soldiers. 
 
 But I was yet to see a more terrible tragedy. There 
 was the sound of the ambulance bell without. The van 
 was admitted. It seems that the horse had been shot and 
 a riding-horse substituted, and they had difficulty in 
 getting the van farther than the College. Accordingly 
 they sought first-aid at our Red Cross station. 
 
 A woman was lifted out. The stretcher dripped with 
 her blood. A glance showed that death was not far 
 from her. It was a face without hope. A shocking 
 wound was hers. Shot through the lower part of the 
 abdomen, the infernal bullet used by the Sinn Feiners 
 had done work which must surely be fatal. They tried 
 to plug the wound. A little later she was brought on to 
 hospital, where she died. 
 
 This woman had done no wrong. She was probably 
 seeking food for her six little children when death met 
 her. There will be no one to sing her sorrows in modulated 
 
 250
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 verse. The guilty " Countess " may possibly one day 
 evoke the strains of the bard. But this woman's anguish 
 of farewell to her little children will be absorbed unnoticed 
 save by these poor words in that great total of human 
 sorrow which the mind cannot evaluate or even conceive. 
 
 Two i8-pounder field-guns were now in the College. 
 To-day they were used to break up an enemy stronghold. 
 The Sinn Feiners had seized and fortified a fishing-tackle 
 and ammunition shop overlooking Carlisle Bridge. 
 From this they maintained a fusillade upon everyone 
 within reach. The iS-pounders were brought out into 
 Brunswick Street and anchored to the pavement by lifting 
 some of the setts. They were trained on Kelly's shop 
 (the stronghold referred to), the shells traversing the 
 length of D'Olier Street. Eleven shells were put into the 
 brick walls of the premises. What the effects were within 
 we could form no conception, but great holes were torn 
 in the walls. The shells (shrapnel), we afterwards heard, 
 penetrated into the adjoining house beyond and damaged 
 a valuable photographic stock. The story that these 
 field-guns were brought to the top of the College is, of 
 course, absurd. They could be neither maintained on, 
 nor fired from, a foundation of slates and rafters, nor 
 would it be a simple matter to hoist them up. 
 
 Fires were now raging in the City. With the approach 
 of night the flames lit the sky. In the lurid heavens the 
 planet Venus shone with extraordinary brilliancy. 
 
 As the struggle between the Military and the Rebels 
 
 251
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 became more and more a series of isolated combats, 
 the streets grew ever more dangerous. Even at my 
 post at the gate bullets were constantly singing overhead. 
 Whence they came it was impossible to find out. The 
 only risk here, however, was from a ricochet. A case 
 of an i8-pounder shrapnel shell, emanating from an un- 
 known source, fell in the Provost's garden. All this 
 Thursday night firing continued, sometimes breaking 
 out in one direction, sometimes in another. The vicious 
 rattle of maxims, and the tap, tap, tap of some quick- 
 firer wickedest sound of all mingled every now and 
 again with the crash of bombs, filled the night with a 
 sense of horror and danger. The streets were in many 
 places barricaded and no one was permitted to pass. 
 Indeed, only the Military were now to be seen on the 
 streets. Even the police, if a message had to come to the 
 College, crossed the street at the double. 
 
 An hour past midnight on Thursday I left the gate in 
 charge of the night watchman and the sentry and retired 
 to rest on a sofa in the Fellows' Common-Room. This 
 was a most luxurious indulgence. 
 
 Conditions suggesting famine reigned in the College 
 on Friday. And but for the plucky exertions of a mes- 
 senger from the Junior Army and Navy Stores in D'Olier 
 Street, even the Fellows' table might have been reduced 
 to the ship's biscuits and bully beef which constituted 
 the universal ration elsewhere. But the soldiers had 
 known worse times and did not grumble. The lack 
 
 252
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 of cigarettes alone disturbed Tommy's equanimity. 
 There was a tobacconist nearly opposite my gate. This, 
 being near the D.M.P. Office, felt, I suppose, under 
 special protection, and opened to-day. On this becoming 
 known, a deputation reached me from some of the 
 Tommies to the effect that I would confer a great favour 
 on them if I would buy them 10 ounces of cigarettes. 
 They entnisted me with a one-pound note. I was pleased 
 with this mission, for as janitor I discharged very un- 
 popular duties. There was no conceivable excuse they 
 did not urge to get out of barracks, and I pitilessly listened 
 to none of them. One poor lad who had escaped by 
 another gate, I hope was carried in on a shutter 
 drunk ! Tommy is a forgiving creature. I got the 
 cigarettes, and returned absolved and popular. 
 
 If you want to study human nature that human nature 
 which constitutes your fellow-countrymen mix with 
 Tommies. There is no shade of affectation about them. 
 " It is every one for himself in the Army," said one of 
 them to me. And this is true of the lesser things. But 
 Tommy hates really unfair dealing, and if selfishness leads 
 to it he condemns it. He has a tender heart. I have 
 seen a big man relieve of rifle and kit a footsore youngster 
 on the march. And of his fine deeds in the field all know. 
 Of course there are black sheep, but even the black sheep 
 is, I suspect, not so black as he is painted. A handy 
 article will be "pinched" by the black sheep. But he 
 looks at things from a standpoint at which the theft is 
 
 253
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 insidiously refracted into the joke. It is not the less 
 wrong. But in any case we may forgive the few un- 
 righteous for the sake of the many righteous. Moreover, 
 I hold the theory that, essentially, the humbler classes 
 are more honest than the educated part of the com- 
 munity. This theory is founded on observation, and 
 I think it applies to the Army as it does to the rest of 
 society. And then you must think of the things Tommy 
 has to suffer hunger and cold and danger. Just realise 
 what he has done for the terrified citizens of Dublin. 
 After my few days with him I like him very much indeed. 
 Perhaps the most taking feature of Tommy is his 
 childishness. " Have you got aw lead, Guv'nor ?" 
 " A what ?" " Aw lead." " He means a pencil," says 
 a neighbouring interpreter. Well, I had not got the 
 desired article, but I had a pen, which I lent him. A letter 
 was being written, for a makeshift postal service had just 
 been established. He showed it to me with evident 
 pride. It began, " Dear Mother, I write these from 
 here hoping they will find you as they leave me in the 
 pink. . . ." After all, this is no divulgence of confidence. 
 I give no names. I was consulted as to the address. 
 Having assured him as to the perfect nature of the writing, 
 T was asked by a young fellow near by to " vet " a letter 
 of a more sentimental character. With stiff and difficult 
 fingers, but with no shyness whatever, he was writing to 
 " Dear Sweetheart." Every other line began with this 
 address. The whole thing was the perfectly naive pleasure 
 
 254
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 of the child in showing his accomplishments. It is 
 impossible not to feel drawn to these fine men. Human 
 nature is naturally beautiful to us, just as are the other 
 phenomena of Nature. It is only when it is sullied by 
 sins against the peace and goodwill of social life that it 
 becomes ugly. 
 
 I fear the rule that the sentry is not to speak was 
 occasionally broken by me who ought to know better 
 when in the dead of night we watched the gate together. 
 I heard then the simple narrative of how home and occu- 
 pation had been left for service of King and Country. 
 Some were anxious as to what might be happening in 
 their absence. But there was no boasting, no display of 
 sacrifice, never a word of regret. They had only done 
 what a brave man should do. 
 
 Several instances occurred which well showed the 
 effrontery of the enemy. He was evidently anxious to 
 know what was going on within the College. More 
 especially he was probably anxious to ascertain th mili- 
 tary force within. On the Thursday two men thrust 
 themselves in among a body of soldiers entering at the 
 small door under my charge. They were, of course, 
 instantly seized. One shammed a deadly enmity to the 
 other man; refused to stand near him, and, declaring 
 that he was himself an old soldier who wished to help us, 
 accused the other individual of every wickedness. A 
 bottle of whisky was found on this voluble person. The 
 other man declared he had never before 4et eyes on his 
 
 255
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 accuser. I put a stop to the dispute by placing them 
 each in one of the deep doorways of Botany Bay, under a 
 guard. I was anxious that they should not see what was 
 going on. The departure of the guns at this moment 
 called me away. When I returned I found the two 
 prisoners had been taken to Headquarters in the Front 
 Square. Later, I heard they had been allowed to leave 
 the College. They had probably ascertained everything 
 they came to find out. Annoying as the incident was, 
 it was impossible not to feel that the cool courage of these 
 visitors deserved the success it met with. 
 
 It was, I think, on the Thursday that a strange demand 
 was made on the hospitality of the College. An operatic 
 company, of well-known excellence, unaware of the 
 extraordinary conditions prevailing in the City of Dublin, 
 had reached the City on Wednesday. They found all the 
 hotels closed and no possibility of getting accommodation. 
 Eighteen members of the company took refuge with the 
 Police. The Police sent across to my gate to know if 
 hospitality mere housing within the College could be 
 extended to them. Under the conditions, to grant this 
 request was clearly impossible. Accordingly the stranded 
 actresses and actors had to abide in the premises of the 
 D.M. Police. 
 
 Then a change came over that house of retribution. 
 Strains of clever song and sounds of pleasant laughter 
 reached my gate, mingled with the crack of distant rifles 
 and the crash of bombs. Cheerful faces peered from door 
 
 256
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 and window. Inexorable duty brought me across to the 
 D.M.P. barracks that afternoon. The scene within was 
 worthy of Gilbert and Sullivan at their best. The gigantic 
 uniformed Inspectors grey of hair and upright of bearing 
 beamed with parental indulgence upon the graceful 
 forms which tripped down the stone stairs or laughed and 
 sung in groups in the hall. Among all the experiences 
 of a week of novelties this was not the least novel. It may 
 safely be predicted that such a scene of mingled gaiety and 
 tragedy will never again visit the halls of that building. 
 The trite saying that laughter and tears are near together 
 seemed exemplified. I was carrying on a conversation 
 with one of the huge Inspectors. It was about the battle 
 of Tallaght in 1867 the last Irish Rebellion. I was 
 surprised to find that the Inspector was unacquainted 
 with some of the most interesting facts of that extra- 
 ordinary contest. I told him of how a dozen of the Con- 
 stabulary captured some hundreds of armed Rebels, and 
 to keep them from running away had cut their braces 
 a clever ruse which might well be matter of instruction 
 to a police force, and which, I hear, has been used at the 
 Front in the case of German prisoners. 'But no, he had 
 never heard of it, and was in great delight at the idea. 
 Nor had he any reluctance in imparting it to the assem- 
 bled company. " Mister Finnigan, Mister Finnigan," 
 he shouted to a distant Inspector just as gigantic as 
 himself, and just as paternal of countenance, " do you 
 hear what says ? How they kept the Rebels 
 
 257 R
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 from running away ? They cut their braces. Ho, ho 
 ho I" Then followed shrieks of laughter from giddy 
 youth. 
 
 There were some strange happenings, also, within the 
 College. There were two cases of sudden lunacy: one 
 among our own O.T.C.; the other case was that of a Sinn 
 
 Fein prisoner. Lieutenant X gave us a horrifying 
 
 account of the treatment dealt out to the latter, who was 
 violent. " It took four of us to hold him down. We 
 tied his hands behind his back, and we tied his feet 
 together. Then we laid him on a table and wound ropes 
 round him and the table. Finally we wrapped a blanket 
 round his head." " I suppose," said one of the Fellows 
 of the College, whose remarks are generally worth listen- 
 ing to " I suppose you call that ' First Aid.' " The 
 strangest part of the story was the effects on the prisoner. 
 He was left in the mummified state for six hours. At the 
 end of that time he was found to be quite sane except 
 with regard to his political convictions. 
 
 A feature of these curious times was the prevalence of 
 extraordinary rumours as to what was going on in the 
 world outside. The tendency to imagine the worst 
 was consistently manifested in these reports. Verdun 
 had fallen ; there had been a great naval battle disastrous 
 to British supremacy; there had been a landing of Germans 
 on the East Coast of England. With such items of news 
 we were regaled, and on the most conclusive evidence. 
 Nor were events nearer home more favourably reported. 
 
 258
 
 tij O 
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 2 3 
 
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 X 
 
 a u
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 The number of risings in the Irish counties and the strength 
 of the Rebels were alike exaggerated. All this did not 
 conduce to our peace of mind. Fortunately, the imme- 
 diate surroundings were too engrossing to permit us to 
 reflect on the calamities which appeared to be crowding 
 upon Great Britain during our temporary sequestration 
 from the newspapers. 
 
 For, in point of fact, all postal connection with the 
 outer world was cut off. Such local papers as appeared 
 at first contained only the Military Proclamations. These 
 were brought in by the soldiers, and proved disappointing 
 reading. In the City the first (and last) number of the 
 extraordinary Irish War Ntws had appeared on the 
 Tuesday morning, a small and very seditious sheet, price 
 one penny, and headed, " Vol I., No. i." It contained 
 the proclamation of the Rebel leaders. 
 
 On Friday the Military appear to have finally disposed 
 of the Rebels in the General Post Office. It was only 
 carried through by the all but complete destruction and 
 burning of the building, the outer walls alone remaining. 
 Fires were now increasing in number on the north side 
 of the river. It was related that looting was going on on a 
 most disgraceful scale. Shops of all sorts were broken 
 open and the goods freely distributed to the citizens of 
 the Irish Republic. Men stripped off their old clothes 
 and dressed themselves anew in the open streets, donning 
 fashionable suits. Women selected jewels for their 
 personal adornment, and rich and rare were the gems they 
 
 259
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 wore on toil-stained fingers and grimy wrist. Watches 
 were carried off heaped in aprons. Toys were given to 
 the young. Fruit and champagne and other expensive 
 luxuries were freely partaken of. The wines were in 
 some cases retailed for a few pence the bottle. Book- 
 shops only were immune from attack. It is related that 
 some officers captured by the Rebels on Monday were 
 conveyed by the enemy to a tobacconist's shop, and with 
 true Irish hospitality were treated to the best cigars, the 
 owner of the shop having fled. 
 
 I myself engaged in looting operations. Barbed wire 
 was required by the Military Authorities. As there 
 should have been plenty of it in M'Kenzie's stores near 
 the gate, I suggested a raid on these premises. But, 
 in spite of a fairly complete search, none of the desired 
 wire was to be found. We could only conclude that 
 either the enemy had been before us or the owners had 
 secreted it. All uncivilised organisms are thieves. A 
 proclivity so natural must be attended in its gratification 
 with pleasurable sensations. I can vouch for the very 
 enjoyable nature of looting operations. 
 
 On this Friday night I ventured on a cycle ride out 
 to my house. The desire for a bath and a change had 
 become a mania. I got a pass, and although strongly 
 urged not to go, 1 traversed the dark streets in safety. 
 Within the City all lights had been extinguished. Only 
 an occasional shot or the challenge of a sentry showed 
 that the City was inhabited. I carried a bicycle lamp 
 
 260
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 as I most feared the attentions of our own men, who might 
 well conclude I was an enemy despatch-rider. I was 
 frequently challenged. I confess I was glad when I got 
 into the lighted area outside the canal. I returned to the 
 College early the ensuing morning. The streets were in 
 a most dangerous state, and few ventured abroad. 
 House-top fighting was specially lively in the neighbour- 
 hood of Upper and Lower Mount Street. I had to call 
 on a relative living in the former street. Bullets had been 
 fired through her window, but, contrasted with many of 
 the inhabitants of Dublin, she had but little annoyance. 
 
 Saturday the 2Qth was to be my last day at the gate. 
 There were now available many better fitted for such a 
 duty. I was given leave for Sunday. In the'streets 
 Saturday was marked by a certain liveliness. Prisoners 
 were coming in or passing in batches all day. A poor 
 and pitiable lot they looked. Surrenders were taking 
 place all over the City: surrenders accepted on uncon- 
 ditional terms only. The leaders were now in the hands 
 of the authorities, and the Sinn Fein Rebellion was in a 
 fair way to be a thing of the past, and to take its place 
 in Irish history as one of the many insane rebellions which 
 constitute its principal episodes. 
 
 Late that night I accompanied Captain Alton to the 
 top of the lookout tower of the Fire Brigade Station. 
 The view northward was sublime and terrible. Acres 
 of flame and red-hot buildings stretched across the middle 
 distance. The lurid light, reflected on rolling clouds 
 
 261
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 of smoke, rose and fell as roof and walls toppled over. 
 Fresh fires appeared to be springing into existence at a 
 point to the north-east, and it really looked as if we were 
 witnessing the wholesale destruction by the devouring 
 flames of the entire northern side of the City. The night 
 was still or the damage had been far greater than it was. 
 The Brigade was said to be overwhelmed with the mag- 
 nitude of the work assigned to it as well it might be; 
 but undoubtedly it did invaluable service. And its work 
 was in some cases done under the fire of the Rebels. 
 Two and a half million pounds' worth of property were 
 destroyed during the rising. 
 
 And from this tower, looking over unhappy Dublin, 
 stretching like a map beneath us, we seem to be reviewing 
 the whole miserable story: the growth of lawlessness, 
 dating back to days of cattle-driving and boycotting. 
 To the landlords every evil was to be traced. Settle 
 the land question and you would have a peaceful and 
 prosperous Ireland. Well, the landlords are gone and 
 now you have rebellion. The long, pernicious Aberdeen 
 regime, year by year bringing authorit}' more and more 
 into contempt ; the laxity towards the Larkinite 
 movement; the folding of the hands, no matter what 
 might be done in Liberty Hall. "We serve neither 
 King nor Kaiser, but Ireland," stood for months writ 
 across the face of that house of sedition; but still all 
 was well. Then we have the pressure of Home Rule, 
 leading to the arming of the North. Next comes the arm-
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 ing of the South. Finally arises the usual rift between 
 the " constitutional " and the unconstitutional. All 
 these long series of ominous events mishandled, or not 
 handled at all, by a helpless Government. 
 
 Hundreds of the untimely dead lie beneath us in the 
 stricken City. Upon hundreds of others the shades of 
 death are even now closing. The ruined, unhappy 
 leaders are there now at length seeing all their own mis- 
 chance. The pitiful dupes who took their word for the 
 future of the "Irish Republic"; and now only look 
 forward to death or penal servitude ! Others, just as 
 guilty, lurking in hourly fear of detection ! The orphaned 
 children crying for mother and father ! Ruined lives 
 and ruined business ! All this and far, far more make 
 up the tragedy at our feet. 
 
 And the future ? Nothing can be more gloomy save 
 the miserable present. Does anyone believe that this 
 is indeed the end of madness in this unhappy land ? 
 A bloody and desperate war to claim for its victims all 
 we have most brave and most loyal. And when that is 
 past our wretched domestic politics all over again, with 
 the certainty that sacrifices for King and Empire will 
 count for nothing. Is this sea of lambent flames, this 
 harvest of death, a hopeful augury for the future of self- 
 governing Ireland ? Who will be found to educate my 
 fellow-countrymen to that self-control which accepts 
 the victory in the Senate as the final verdict ? Who will 
 be found wise and strong enough to waken them from 
 
 263
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANTICIPATIONS 
 
 the phantasmagoria of vain and foolish dreams to the 
 sober light of day ? Be very sure that till that measure 
 of self-mastery is attained, and till that awakening is 
 accomplished, this is not the end of violence. To-day 
 you deal with the Sinn Fein: to-morrow you deal with 
 Whom ? 
 
 Truly our future is as lurid as those rolling clouds which, 
 rising around us into the night, dissipate in space the 
 hard- won wealth of the loyal citizens of Dublin. 
 
 BILLING AND SONS, LTD,, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, ENGLAND
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
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