Page:Passages from the Life of a Philosopher.djvu/114

98 My much-valued friend, the late Sir Benjamin Hawes, had also been consulted, and it was agreed that the draft of a letter to Lord Derby, who was then prime minister, should be prepared; in which I should make this offer. Lord Rosse proposed to place my letter in Lord Derby's hands, with his own statement of a plan by which the whole question might be determined.

Lord Rosse's suggestion was, that the Government should apply to the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers to ascertain,

1st. Whether it was possible, from the drawings and notations, to make an estimate of the cost of constructing the machine?

2ndly. In case this question was answered in the affirmative—then, could a Mechanical Engineer be found who would undertake to construct it, and at what expense?

The Institution of Civil Engineers was undoubtedly the highest authority upon the first question. That being decided in the affirmative, no other body had equal power to find out those mechanical engineers who might be willing to undertake the contract.

Supposing both these questions, or even the latter only, answered in the negative, the proposition, of course, fell to the ground. But if they were both answered in the affirmative, then there would have arisen a further question for the consideration of the Government: namely, Whether the object to be obtained was worthy of the expenditure?

The final result of this eminently practical plan was communicated to the Royal Society by their President, in his address at their anniversary on the 30th November, 1854. The following is an extract:—