Office Archives by a London journalist after the "Lesseps " canal had become a declared success. In reference to his report, General Chesney thus writes in 1868, in his narrative of the Euphrates Expedition :"The practical question, however, appeared then as now to be one of expenditure; and considering the enormous cost on the one hand, and the certainty of a speedy overland communication being established across the narrow desert between Cairo and the Red Sea on the other, the possibility of constructing a ship canal to Suez did not long continue to occupy my thoughts. They were now turned to the alternative route through Syria and Mesopotamia, the exploration of which had next to be entered upon." The narrative of his journey through Palestine, Syria, the region of Decapolis, and the Mesopotamian desert, is full of incident and interest. It was on the 2nd of January 1831 that, all preliminary difficulties having been surmounted, Chesney found himself at last afloat on the great historic river, the Euphrates. The history of these explorations has been given to the world in a volume begun in the 77th year of the author's life, at the request of the Government; and the narrative of the Euphrates Expedition, published in the year 1868, is one of the most interesting on record. The name of General Chesney is associated with the exploration of the Euphrates even more indissolubly than that of Franklin, M'Clure, and M'Clintock with the great and well-known expedition in the Polar Seas, or that of Livingstone with Southern Africa. "From an ordinary position as an unknown regimental officer, he stepped at once into fame in consequence of his discoveries; and though never destined to see the full accomplishment of his hopes in the completion of a mail route down the Euphrates, he devoted many years of retirement to its advocacy, with unshrinking faith in the advantages of the scheme his energy had first made possible. Chesney returned to England in 1832; and in 1834, the House of Commons having granted L.20,000 for the purpose of what is known as "the Euphrates Expedition,'" was undertaken "a task, as has been remarked, made difficult, not only by physical obstacles, but by the opposition of the Russian Government, the timidity or prejudices of some of our own Indian politicians, and the ignorance of our mechanical engineers as to the possibility of building flat-bottomed vessels for steam. The aid of a scientific friend, 'a mere theorist,' the late Professor Narrien, overcame the last obstacle; and the energy of the projector, favoured by the royal countenance— William IV. who took a warm personal interest in the design-did the rest." On the 10th of February 1835, Chesney, with the rank of Colonel on a particular service, and a staff of his personal selection, sailed from Liverpool for the East. After many difficulties and delays, which occupied nearly nine months, the two steamers, the "Tigris" and the "Euphrates," were transported across the desert bit by bit, and finally launched on the great river, on the 16th of March 1836. One of these ships, the "Tigris," with all her instruments, surveys, and journals, was sunk by a violent typhoon, and when Chesney, who was on board, with difficulty escaped, his two lieutenants and most of the crew perished; but the undaunted voyagers held on their way, and reached the Indian Ocean in safety on the 19th of June, and Chesney reported himself to the Indian Government at Bombay. Hurrying back

to England in triumph, he found on his arrival at Leghorn on the 24th of July that he had lost, by the death of William the IV., his, and the expedition's best friend and supporter. Having arrived in London on the 8th of August, a busy period ensued, attendant on the winding-up of all the affairs of the expedition. Early in October Colonel Chesney was busily occupied in moving, through Lord Glenelg, who had succeeded Sir John Hobhouse as President of the Board of Control, to obtain promotion for the officers of the expedition. In November he laid the completed maps before the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, who encouraged him to look for the assistance of Government in bringing out his intended work on the expedition, and the countries through which it had passed. Early in 1838 the three naval officers, Charlewood, Fitzjames, and Eden, received their promotion; but that of Lieut. Cleaveland was delayed until he should fill up his sea-time. The promotion of these officers, and the payment of their expenses, was owing to the patient remonstrance of Colonel Chesney. By the beginning of the new year the maps were far advanced, and a complete account returned to the Treasury, when Chesney had the satisfaction of hearing that the Lords of the Treasury considered some mark of approbation due to the commander of the expedition. The hope of such a recommendation gave Colonel Chesney great satisfaction, the more so as it happened that the Government Minute had only been in part carried out by conferring on him the brevet of Lieut.-Colonel from April 27, 1838, instead of the previous date of November 27, 1834. But in this, as in many other matters, he was doomed to disappointment; owing to a change of Government, and his own employment for some years in a distant regimental command, his eminent services remained unacknowledged, and the subject of a special pension was allowed to fall through. He was requested by the Government to undertake the history of his labours in the East, and in the year 1852 he published in two volumes an account of some of the results of the Euphrates Expedition, including an historical and geographical survey of the regions traversed by the Euphrates. In this work the author intended to have included a full narrative of his first exploration of the rival routes through Egypt and Syria, as well as a detailed account of the subsequent survey. In the prospectus of the proposed work, published in 1852, this design was sketched out and given to the public; but it appearing to the department, under whose auspices this publication was conducted, that the completion of such a design would be attended with what then seemed undue expense, the author consented to limit the work to the incomplete form in which it afterwards appeared. After the lapse of sixteen years, however, it was thought advisable by Her Majesty's Government, having regard to the greatly increased importance of the Overland Route question, that it would be for the public advantage that the materials of information remaining in Colonel Chesney's hands should be rendered accessible, he received commands to proceed with the work, which he afterwards gave to the public in one volume in the year 1868. To this we have already referred. The expenses attendant on the production of Chesney's first work were very considerable, and notwithstanding the earnest representations oí the late Prince Consort, Sir Robert Inglis, Baron Humboldt, and

others, he found considerable difficulty in recovering the full amounts expended in his undertaking, and was still soliciting the Treasury for final justice in the matter when his health broke down. He died at his residence in the county Down, on the 30th of January 1872, at the advanced age of eighty-three, having served successive sovereigns through a period of sixty-seven years. He received such honours as Universities and Royal Societies can bestow, and lived to refuse, as coming thirty years too late, the honour which would have amply repaid him had it been bestowed when first he returned from the East. Of his military life it has been well remarked, that he was an earnest student of the theory of his profession, and an ardent reformer of our artillery, when all reform was counted dangerous, and all reformers were obnoxious. But though his work on artillery was once a standard book, the science has long advanced beyond it. In 1852 he published his "Observations on the Past and Present State of Fire-arms," and on the probable effects in war of the new musket, a work which in the history of military science in this country will be referred to as a remarkable example of prescience and sagacity.

He commanded the artillery in China as Brigadier-General, in 1843-47, and held the command of the artillery in the south of Ireland from 1848 till 1852. He attained the rank of Major-General in 1855. His reputation, however, rests on another and more lasting foundation than that of his military services. "Other men have entered into his geographical labours, and grown great by following them up; but to him still remains the credit of the undaunted efforts which opened to modern civilisation the great river of ancient history." Ireland may indeed be proud to count him among her sons, and the kingdom at large will long recognise in him one of its most truly loyal and welldeserving members.

SIR MICHAEL O'LOGHLEN, BART.

BORN OCTOBER 1789-DIED SEPTEMBER 1842.

The Right Hon. Sir Michael O'Loghlen, born on the 1st of October 1789, was the fourth and youngest son of Colman O'Loghlen, a Justice of the Peace, who resided at Port, county Clare, and traced his blood through royal veins to the "Princes of Burren." In 1811, he was called to the Irish bar, and for several years remained without practice. It is said that he owed his first success to O'Connell's unfortunate duel with D'Esterre. He was the junior counsel in a case of importance, and in the absence of his leader, who was engaged elsewhere in a trial of a very different kind, he was unexpectedly obliged to take upon himself the sole advocacy of his client's case. Though embarrassed at first by natural diffidence and inexperience, he gradually warmed to his work, and after a masterly address of two hours, he resumed his seat amidst the astonishment of the bench and senior bar, and the audible approbation of his brother juniors. From that time his reputation was established, and business flowed in so rapidly, that in a few years he reached a position of wealth and

eminence. As Mr Sergeant O'Loghlen, he contested the borough election of the city of Dublin; his opponents being Mr Shaw (afterwards Recorder of Dublin) and Lord Ingestre. In 1834, he was appointed Solicitor-General, by the Melbourne administration. In 1835 he entered Parliament, and in a short time attracted the avourable notice of the House as a most efficient law officer, and most successful debater. On the elevation of Mr Perrin to the Court of Queen's Bench, at the close of the year 1835, Mr O'Loghlen became Attorney-General for Ireland. He filled this high office for a period of two years, and gave entire satisfaction to the legal and general public. He was next promoted to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland, but in a few weeks resigned that position, and accepted the Mastership of the Rolls, which had become vacant by the death of Sir William M'Mahon. He was afterwards created a baronet. As a judge, he gave the highest satisfaction to the bar and the suitors who came before him. In September 1842, he died in England, to which he had repaired for the benefit of his health. The bar of Ireland erected a statue to his memory in the hall of the Four Courts, Dublin. In private life, he was esteemed and beloved; in his public career, he ever approved himself able, courteous, and just. Sir Michael married, on the 3d of September 1817, Bidelia, daughter of Daniel Kelly, Esq. of Dublin, and left issue eight children, of whom the eldest, Colman, succeeded him in his title and estates.

LORD MONTEAGLE.

BORN FEBRUARY 1790-DIED FEBRUARY 1866.

The Right Hon. Thomas Spring-Rice, Lord Monteagle, of Brandon, county Kerry, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, F.R.S., F.G.S., &c., was the only son of Mr Stephen Edward Rice, of Mount Trenchard, by Catherine, only child and heiress of Thomas Spring of Ballycrispin, county Kerry. He was born in Limerick on the 8th of February 1790, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his degree in 1811. On the 11th of July 1811 he married a daughter of the Earl of Limerick; and in 1820, he entered Parliament as one of the members for his native city, which he continued to represent in the Whig interest down to the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, when he was chosen for Cambridge, and sat for that borough until his elevation to the Peerage in 1839. Mr Spring-Rice was the fast friend of O'Connell, and as such took a prominent part in the great Catholic question, and lent his support to all the other liberal measures proposed by his party.

He was made under Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1827; and when at length the Whigs came fully into possession of their power, he became successively Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary for the Colonies, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The first of these offices he shared at one time with Mr Edward Ellice, and afterwards with Sir Charles Wood; the second he held for a very short period; the third he filled for five years, and it was in the discharge

of its duties that he gained celebrity. In 1839, he resigned the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and succeeded the late Sir J. Newport, as Comptroller-General of that department, being at the same time raised to the Peerage.

He was a capable man of business, and as the mouthpiece of a powerful Irish interest, he acquired with his party great influence in the House of Commons. Though his abilities were not considered as of a very high order, he managed to discharge the duties of the several important posts which he filled most creditably, and fairly earned the confidence of his friends. The Whig ministry was sorely ridiculed in those days, and no one came in for a greater share of the satire they provoked than Mr Spring-Rice. The smallness of his stature was made the most of by his savirists, and turned into a very serious cause for public ridicule and contempt. He was a dull and tedious speaker, and was frequently accused of jobbing. To quote the words of a candid reviewer of his life,* "If we must not speak of Lord Monteagle as either a very strong or a high-minded man, we must do him justice as a shrewd one, and a good partisan. If he was not a brilliant minister, he was at least a useful one; and if he failed as a financier in a time of great difficulty, it must be remembered in his favour, that while Irish affairs were all important, he did good service, and fairly earned the confidence of his friends." After his retirement from the Cabinet, he may be said to have almost retired into private life, only that about six years before his death, when Mr Gladstone's famous budget was announced, he led the attack upon it in the House of Lords. Mr Gladstone and his friends naturally spoke with contempt of an attack upon the budget led by a Whig financier, who, as they said, had been laughed out of the Exchequer; but this did not necessarily invalidate the criticism of Lord Monteagle; and it was no small tribute to his prudence that, twenty-one years after he had resigned the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, a considerable party in the legislature-Whig and Tory-were willing to regard him as an authority on a question of finance. That was his last appearanco on the great stage to which he had been so long accustomed.

His Lordship frequently acted as a member of Royal Commissions on matters of taste and art, and bestowed considerable pains on the work of examining and reporting upon the decimal coinage question. He took a prominent part in the discussion of monetary and commercial subjects in the Upper House-such as the Limited Liability Bill, &c and also in those relating more particularly to Irish affairs. In 1861, he opposed unsuccessfully the abolition of the Paper Duty; and he was a Commissioner of the State Paper Office, a Trustee of the National Gallery, a Member of the Senate of the London University, as well as of the Queen's University in Ireland.

He died on the 7th of February 1866, at his residence, Mount Trenchard, near Limerick, aged 76 years, all but one day.

*The Times of Feb. 9th 1866.