those instruments is, that to Colby belongs the design, to Drummond the execution. Colby having himself used the previously existing English apparatus, and being familiar with the various instruments which had been used in the measurement of bases elsewhere, considered a new apparatus necessary. He resolved to adopt the compensation principle, and devised the form. He first satisfied himself the principle was sound, and tested the mechanical difficulties, which, he found, were all surmountable. He then devolved on Drummond the duty of superintending the construction, which Drummond, with the invaluable assistance of Troughton, successfully accomplished.

"The grounds on which I rest this statement of the relative shares of Colby and Drummond in the base apparatus are, personal knowledge and daily intercourse with all the parties concerned, having been myself one of the officers of the Tower at the time, and taking part in the early operations in the cold cellar and heated chamber, having been more than once at Troughton's with Colby, and often with Drummond in the evenings at Furnival's, where I also lived. No one at that time thought of Drummond as the inventor of the bars. He never claimed to be the inventor, and I believe, would have been the first to repudiate the idea.

He made

"But that does not derogate from his merit. the bars, was the deviser and planner of the numerous and beautiful contrivances and experiments by which they were brought to perfection, and with his own hand executed most of the experiments. . . . I find among my letters from Colonel Dawson, in October 1840, when I was writing my own brief Memoir of Drummond, the following paragraph:-'Drummond's indefatigable exertions in the construction of the bars, and in the measurement of the base in Ireland, you are yourself aware of. The principle

on which the compensation depends was suggested by Colonel Colby, and the means by which it should be supplied, but great credit is still due to Drummond for the ingenuity displayed by him in mastering many difficulties which were met with during the construction of the apparatus, and for the laborious experiments by which its perfection was at last established. Previous to the construction of the bars, Drummond had entertained the idea of using bands of talc for the purpose, and had made some experiments, which you may remember, at Furnival's Inn; and subsequently, on observing that the thermometers, when laid on the bars, do not immediately take and represent the actual temperature of the bars themselves, he suggested the use of thermometers instead of bars, to be made of a length suitable for the purpose. This idea, however, was, as you know, never worked out.'"

I have so far followed the course of Drummond's life to the close of his professional and scientific career. We now come to his entrance into politics, and his administration of Ireland at one of the most critical periods in the history of that country.

CHAPTER V.

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS.

IN 1831 Drummond met Lord Brougham, the Lord Chancellor, at the house of a mutual friend, Mr Bellenden Ker, a Chancery barrister. Brougham had heard of the Drummond light, and was anxious to see it. Ker arranged a small dinner party to meet the Chancellor, and Drummond was among the guests. After dinner he exhibited the light in the greenhouse, and he has given us a lively description of the scene.

DRUMMOND TO HIS MOTher.

By the way, I dined with the Lord Chancellor the other day, not at his own house, but at the house of an intimate friend of his, a Mr Ker, a Chancery barrister, to whom I was introduced some time ago, and with whom I have become very intimate. Mrs Ker is a pleasant woman, and their society is very agreeable. Well, the Lord Chancellor, it appears, had expressed a desire to see the brilliant light which he had heard of; and Mr Ker told him he dared say that I would show it him with pleasure. Accordingly, the Chancellor fixed a day to dine with him, and I put up the apparatus in Mr Ker's greenhouse, the lamp being directed to the drawing-room. There were only eight persons present, all intimate friends of Brougham's, so that the conversation, at and after dinner, about men and things, more especially the Reform question, was most entertaining and interesting. The

Chancellor was in great spirits, and talked the whole time. After returning to the drawing-room, I displayed the light, at which they expressed great admiration, though the Chancellor seemed greatly afraid of his eye, and could hardly be persuaded to look at it. I spied him, however, peeping at a corner, and immediately turned the reflector full upon him, but he fled instanter. He started immediately afterwards, at eleven o'clock, for Lord Grey's. . . ."

The acquaintance with Brougham ripened into friendship; and when, prior to the introduction of the third Reform Bill in 1832, a Boundary Commission was appointed to mark out the "rotten" boroughs for destruction and fix the new political areas, Drummond, on the suggestion of the Chancellor, was made its chairman.

How he did his work on the Commission may best be gathered from the letter addressed to him by his colleagues when the work was over.

"LONDON, June 6th, 1832.

"DEAR DRUMMOND,-We, who have been your fellowlabourers in the task intrusted to us by the Government, of recommending the proper limits for boroughs under the Reform Bill, entertain an anxious desire, before we separate on the completion of our labours, to express to you in some marked manner our esteem and admiration of your conduct of that work.

"We entertain no doubt that the Government will take the earliest opportunity of adequately discharging the great obligations it owes you, which can be duly appreciated only by considering the consequences if they had found in you anything short of the most perfect integrity, the most active zeal, and the most acute intelligence.

"But something would still be wanting to our own feelings, were we not to contrive some method of denoting

our sense of the sound judgment and amiable manner which have marked your whole intercourse with us, making it a source of pleasure to ourselves, and contributing in no small degree to the perfection of the harassing duty in which we have been engaged.

"After much consideration on the most appropriate method of recording these feelings, we have resolved to request that you will do us the favour to sit for your portrait to one of the best artists of the day.

"We hope this will be preserved in your family as a memorial of the sense entertained of your merits by a number of gentlemen who have acted with you in the execution of a delicate and arduous duty, intimately connected with an important event in the history of our country. -We remain, dear Drummond, your attached friends,

"E. J. LITTLETON.
F. BEAUFORT, R.N.
L. B. ALLEN.

B. ANSLEY.

THOS. B. BIRCH.

H. R. BANDreth.

J. J. CHAPMAN.

R. D. CRAIG.

ROBERT K. DAWSON.

J. ELLIOTT DRINKWATER.

J. F. ELLIS.

HENRY GAWLER.

H. BELLENDen Ker.
HENRY W. TANCRED.
G. B. LENNARD.

W. H. ORD.

JOHN ROMILLY.

ROBERT SAUNDERS.

RICHARD SCOTT.

R. SHEEPSHANKS.

W. EDWARD TALLENTS.
JOHN WROTTESLEY.

W. WYLDE."

Drummond sat to Mr Pickersgill for his portrait, which was finished in April 1835. In the meanwhile he began to take a keen interest in politics. His first political letters were written in 1832, when an election contest was impending in Perthshire, between Sir George Murray, Tory, and Lord Ormelie, Whig; and in Leith, between John Archibald (afterwards Lord) Murray, Whig, and Mr Aitchison of Drummore, Tory. Drummond's brother, John, threw himself with vigour into these contests in support of the Whig candidates. On July 12, 1832,