On Monday, the 30th of April, 1827, his royal highness the duke of
Sussex laid the foundation-stone of the London University. The spot
selected for the building is situated at the end of Gower-street, and
comprehends a very extensive piece of ground. The adjacent streets were
crowded with passengers and carriages moving towards the place. The day
was one of the finest of this fine season. The visiters, who were
admitted by cards, were conducted to an elevated platform, which was so
much inclined, that the most distant spectator could readily see every
particular of the ceremony. Immediately before this platform, and at
about three yards distant from it, was another, upon which the
foundation-stone was placed. The persons admitted were upwards of two
thousand, the greatest proportion composed of well-dressed ladies. Every
house in the neighbourhood, which afforded the smallest opportunity of
witnessing the operations, was crowded from the windows to the roof; and
even many windows in Gower-street, from which no view of the scene could
be any way obtained, were filled with company. At a quarter past three
o’clock, the duke of Sussex arrived upon the ground, and was greeted by
the acclamations of the people both inside and outside the paling. When
he descended from his carriage, the band of the third regiment of
foot-guards, which had been upon the ground some time before, playing
occasional airs, struck up “God save the king.” The royal duke, attended
by the committee and stewards, went in procession to the platform, upon
which the foundation-stone was deposited. The stone had been cut exactly
in two, and in the lower half was a rectangular hollow, to receive the
medals and coins, and an inscription engraved upon a copper-plate:--
DEO OPT. MAX.
SEMPITERNO ORBIS ARCHITECTO
FAVENTE
QVOD FELIX FAVSTVM QVE SIT
OCTAVVM REGNI ANNVM INEVNTE
GEORGIO QVARTO BRITANNIARVM
REGE
CELSISSIMVS PRINCEPS AVGVSTVS FREDERICVS
SUSSEXIAE DVX
OMNIVM BONARVM ARTIVM PATRONVS
ANTIQVISSIMI ORDINIS ARCHITECTONICI
PRAESES APVD ANGLOS SVMMVS
PRIMVM LONDINENSIS ACADEMIAE LAPIDEM
INTER CIVIVM ET FRATRVM
CIRCVMSTANTIVM PLAVSVS
MANV SVA LOCAVIT
PRID. KAL. MAII.
OPVS
DIV MVLTVM QVE DESIDERATVM
VRBI PATRIAE COMMODISSIMVM
TANDEM ALIQVANDO INCHOATVM EST
ANNO SALVTIS HVMANAE
MDCCCXXVII
ANNO LVCIS NOSTRAE
MMMMMDCCCXXVII.
NOMINA CLARISSIMORVM VIRORVM
QVI SVNT E CONCILIO
HENRICVS DVX NORFOLCIAE
HENRICVS MARCHIO DE LANSDOWN
DOMINVS IOANNES RVSSELL
IOANNES VICECOMES DVDLEY ET WARD
GEORGIVS BARO DE AVCKLAND
HONORABILIS IAC. ABERCROMBIE
IACOBVS MACINTOSH EQVES
ALEX. BARING GEORGIVS BIRKBECK
HEN. BROUGHAM THOMAS CAMPBELL
I. L. GOLDSMID OLINTHVS GREGORY
GEORGIVS GROTE IOSEPHVS HVME
ZAC. MACAULAY IACOBVS MILL
BENIAMINVS SHAW IOHANNES SMITH
GVLIELMVS TOOKE HEN. WARBVRTON
HEN. WAYMOVTH IOANNES WISHAW
THOMAS WILSON
GVLIELMVS WILKINS, ARCHITECTVS.
After this inscription had been read, the upper part of the stone was
raised by the help of pullies, and his royal highness having received
the coins, medals, and inscription, deposited them in the hollow formed
for their reception. The two parts of the stone were then fastened
together, and the whole was lifted from the ground. A bed of mortar was
next laid upon the ground by the workmen, and his royal highness added
more, which he took from a silver plate, and afterwards smoothed the
whole with a golden trowel, upon which were inscribed the following
words:--“With this trowel was laid the first stone of the London
University, by his royal highness Augustus duke of Sussex, on the 30th
of April, 1827. William Wilkins, architect; Messrs. Lee and Co.,
builders.” The stone was then gradually lowered amidst the cheers of the
assembly, the band playing “God save the king.” His royal highness,
after having proved the stone with a perpendicular, struck it three
times with a mallet, at the same time saying, “May God bless this
undertaking which we have so happily commenced, and make it prosper for
the honour, happiness, and glory, not only of the metropolis, but of the
whole country.”
An oration was then delivered by the Rev. Dr. Maltby, in which he
offered up a prayer to the Almighty in behalf of the proposed
University.
Dr. LUSHINGTON stated, that he had been chosen by the committee as the
organ of their opinions. He remarked that the London University must
effect good. The clouds of ignorance had passed away, and the sun had
broken forth and dispelled the darkness which had hitherto prevailed. No
man dared now to assert that the blessings of education should not be
extended to every, even the lowest, of his majesty’s subjects. He then
expatiated on the advantages which were likely to arise from the
establishment of a London University, and especially on its admission of
Dissenters, who were excluded from the two great Universities. He
concluded by passing an eloquent compliment upon the public conduct of
the duke of Sussex, who, attached to no party, was a friend to
liberality, and promoted by his encouragement any efforts of the
subjects of this realm, whatever their political opinions, if their
motives were proper and praiseworthy.
The duke of SUSSEX acknowledged the compliments paid to him, and stated,
that the proudest day of his life was that upon which he had laid the
first stone of the London University, surrounded as he was by gentlemen
of as high rank, fortune, and character, as any in the kingdom. He was
quite convinced that the undertaking must be productive of good. It
would excite the old Universities to fresh exertions, and force them to
reform abuses. His royal highness concluded, amidst the cheers of the
assembly, by repeating that the present was the happiest day of his
life.
His royal highness and the committee then left the platform, and the
spectators dispersed, highly gratified with the exhibition of the day.
In the evening, the friends and subscribers to the new University dined
together, in the Freemasons’ Hall. On no previous occasion of a similar
nature was that room so crowded; upwards of 420 persons sat down to
table, with his royal highness the duke of Sussex in the chair.
The cloth having been removed, “The King” was drank with three times
three.
The next toast was “The Duke of Clarence, the Lord High Admiral of
England,” and the rest of the royal family. As soon as the royal
chairman, in proposing the above toast, stated the title of the new
office held by his royal brother, the room rang with acclamations.
The duke of NORFOLK then proposed the health of his royal highness the
duke of Sussex, who, he said, had added to the illustrious title which
he inherited by birth, that of the friend of the arts, and the patron of
every liberal institution in the metropolis. (Cheers.)
The toast was drunk with three times three.
His ROYAL HIGHNESS said, that he received what his noble friend had been
pleased to say of him, more as an admonition than as a compliment,
because it brought to his recollection the principles on which his
family was seated on the throne of this country. He was rejoiced at
every circumstance which occurred to refresh his memory on that subject,
and never felt so happy as when he had an opportunity of proving by
acts, rather than professions, how great was his attachment to the cause
of liberty and the diffusion of knowledge. (Cheers.) He repeated what he
had stated in the morning, that the University of London had been
undertaken with no feelings of jealousy or ill-will towards the two
great English Universities already existing, but only to supply a
deficiency, which was notoriously felt, and had been created by changes
in circumstances and time since the foundation of those two great
seminaries of learning. He concluded by once more repeating, that he had
never felt more proud in his life than when he was laying the
foundation-stone of the new University in the presence of some of the
most honest and enlightened men of whom this country could boast.
(Applause.) He then proposed “Prosperity to the University of London,”
which was drunk with three times three, and loud applause.
Mr. BROUGHAM rose amidst the most vehement expressions of approbation.
He rose, he said, in acquiescence to the command imposed upon him by the
council, to return thanks to the royal chairman for the kind and cordial
manner in which he had been pleased to express himself towards the new
University, and also to the company present for the very gratifying
manner in which they had received the mention of the toast. The task had
been imposed upon him, God knew, not from any supposed peculiar fitness
on his part to execute it, but from a well-grounded recollection that he
was amongst the earliest and most zealous promoters of the good work
they were met to celebrate. Two years had not elapsed since he had the
happiness of attending a meeting, at which, peradventure, a great
proportion of those whom he was now addressing were present, for the
purpose of promoting the foundation of the new University, held in the
middle of the city of London, the cradle of all our great
establishments, and of the civil and religious liberties of this land;
the place where those liberties had first been nurtured; near the spot
where they had been watered by the most precious blood of the noblest
citizens; and he much deceived himself if the institution, the
foundation of which they had met to celebrate, was not destined, with
the blessing of Divine Providence, to have an extensive influence in
rendering the liberties to which he had before alluded, eternal in
England, and to spread the light of knowledge over the world. (Cheers.)
On the day which he had referred to, the circumstances under which he
spoke were very different from those which now surrounded him. The
advocates of the University had then to endure the sneers of some, the
more open taunts and jibes of others, accompanied with the timidly
expressed hopes of many friends, and the ardent good wishes and fond
expectations of a large body of enlightened men, balanced however by the
loudly expressed and deep execrations of the enemies of human
improvement, light, and liberty, throughout the world. (Applause.) Now,
however, the early clouds and mists which had hung over the undertaking
had disappeared, and the friends of the new University had succeeded in
raising the standard of the establishment in triumph over its defeated
enemies--they had succeeded in laying the foundation of the University,
amidst the plaudits of surrounding thousands, accompanied by the good
wishes of their kind in every corner of the globe. (Cheers.) The council
had come to a fixed resolution that in the selection of teachers for the
University, no such phrase as “candidate” for votes should ever be used
in their presence. The appointments would be given to those who were
found most worthy; and if the merits, however little known, should be
found to surpass those of others the most celebrated, only in the same
proportion as the dust which turned the balance, the former would
certainly be preferred. Instead of teaching only four or five, or at the
utmost six months in the year, it was intended that the lectures at the
new University should continue nine months in the year. After each
lecture, the lecturer would devote an hour to examining, in turn, each
of the pupils, to ascertain whether he had understood the subject of his
discourse. The lecturer would then apply another hour, three times in
the week, if not six, (the subject was under consideration,) to the
further instruction of such of his pupils as displayed particular zeal
in the search of knowledge. By such means, it was hoped that the pupils
might not only be encouraged to learn what was already known, but to
dash into untried paths, and become discoverers themselves. (Applause.)
The honourable and learned gentleman then proceeded, in a strain of
peculiar eloquence, to defend himself from a charge which had been made
against him, of being inimical to the two great English Universities,
which he designated the two lights and glories of literature and
science. Was it to be supposed that because he had had the misfortune
not to be educated in the sacred haunts of the muses on the Cam or the
Isis, that he would, like the animal, declare the fruit which was beyond
his reach to be sour? He hoped that those two celebrated seats of
learning would continue to flourish as heretofore, and he would be the
last person in the world to do any thing which could tend to impair
their glory. The honourable and learned gentleman said, he would
conclude by repeating the lines from one of our sweetest minstrels,
which he had before quoted in reference to the undertaking which they
had assembled to support. He then quoted the passage prophetically--now
it was applicable as a description of past events:--
“As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”
The ROYAL CHAIRMAN then proposed “The Marquis of Lansdown, and the
University of Cambridge,” which was drank with great applause.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN, on rising, was received with loud cheers. He
felt himself highly honoured, he said, in having his name coupled with
the University in which he had received his education. He felt the
greatest veneration for that institution, and he considered it by no
means inconsistent with that feeling to express the most ardent wishes
for the prosperity of the new University. (Applause.) He was persuaded
that the extension of science in one quarter could not be prejudicial to
its cultivation in another. (Applause.)
“The Royal Society” was next drank, then “Prosperity to the City of
London,” and Mr. Alderman Venables returned thanks.
“Prosperity to the City of Westminster” being drank, Mr. Hobhouse
returned thanks.
“The health of Lord Dudley” was drank with much applause.
Amongst the other toasts were “Prosperity to the Universities of
Scotland and Ireland;” “Henry Brougham, Esq., and the Society for the
Promotion of Useful Knowledge;” “The Duke of Norfolk;” “The Mechanics’
Institution,” &c.