Transcript

of

Dr. Hodgson [Obituary]

Trans. Devon Assoc., 1881, Vol XIII, pp. 64-68.

by

Rev. W. Harpley, M.A.

Prepared by Michael Steer

William Ballantyne Hodgson entered the University of Edinburgh aged 14, and eventually became its first professor of Political Economy. A summary of his professional life is presented in Palgrave’s Dictionary of Political Economy, available online through Google Books.  The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Dr. Hodgson was born at Edinburgh in 1815, and educated in the High School and University of that city, where he took his degree. From the first it was his intention to devote himself entirely to the work of education, and after having been engaged for some years as private tutor and in other capacities in his native town, he went to Liverpool in 1839. Here, at the age of 23, he was engaged as secretary to the Liverpool Institute, of which important establishment he subsequently became principal. In this position he directed three day schools and evening classes, which numbered more than 1,700 scholars. Besides the general direction which he gave to that exacting task, he also acted as head master of the High School, and there he first became known as a successful teacher and an eminent educational reformer. In 1846, in recognition of his labours in the cause of popular instruction, he had conferred on him the Edinburgh degree of LL.D. In 1847 he went to Manchester as principal of the Chorlton High School, and though his influence as a schoolmaster was extraordinary, yet it may be averred that during the four years in which he undertook this duty his services as a public man were even more remarkable; for it was during this period that the Lancashire Public School Association was founded, a society now generally acknowledged as having given an impetus to the movement which resulted in the passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1870. This association was established in the vestry of Lloyd Street Chapel by five gentlemen - Dr. Hodgson, Mr. Jacob Bright, Mr. Samuel Lucas, Mr. A. Ireland, and Mr. Thomas Ballantyne. The outline of a plan of local education was there laid, and this, when it was fully developed, was unanimously adopted at a public meeting in the Mechanics Institution. How sagacious Dr. Hodgson was at that time in council, and how eloquent on the platform, there are many who will remember. In this connection it may be stated that he had long been an intimate friend of Dr. Andrew Combe and other pioneers of popular instruction, and that Mr. Cobden was one of his most cordial colleagues in the movement then initiated at Manchester.

Dr. Hodgson went abroad in 1851, and remained some time on the Continent. He visited, in the course of his prolonged tour, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland; and it is needless to state that during the years he spent there he lost no opportunity of making himself intimately acquainted with the theory and practice of education in those countries. In 1854 he returned to Edinburgh, and for several winters he was actively engaged in extending and improving the then existing system of instruction in schools. To his efforts was mainly due the introduction of economic and what were then called " sanitary " subjects. His friend, Dr. Combe, had long advocated the teaching of physiology in schools as the means of promoting physical health, and Dr. Hodgson was enabled to prove the efficacy of a theory which was then almost an entire novelty. When in 1859 the Royal Commission on primary schools was appointed, Dr. Hodgson's long and valuable services marked him out to the government of the day as one of its members, and his special report on the London district was appended to the Report presented by the Commission to Parliament. Between 1863 and 1870 Dr. Hodgson lived chiefly in London, and for five years he was Examiner in Political Economy in the University of London. He was elected in 1871 to the Chair of Commercial and Political Economy and Mercantile Law in the University of Edinburgh. The appointment was for seven years, and this period having expired, he was appointed for another term. His appointment excited the liveliest expectations, and a most cordial welcome was given to him. These were more than fulfilled, and the welcome accorded was repaid by a devotion to public service seldom displayed by university professors. But he did not confine his labours to the university. He sought to serve the citizens as well as the college. As a practical educationist, his counsel and guidance were freely placed at the disposal of the teachers' associations. The most memorable and stimulative speeches delivered at the meetings of the Educational Institute in Edinburgh were undoubtedly those of which the Professor of Political Economy was the author. The Wate Institute and School of Arts also found him a most helpful and willing friend, and the advocacy of the interests of the People's College was to him a congenial task. The ladies who so gallantly struggled to open the doors of the Medical School to female students likewise found in him a powerful and fearless champion. He was not unwilling to fraternise with the people; for his sympathies and convictions were essentially democratic; but he never fraternised with the toiling masses without giving them a word of encouragement, and seeking to elevate their thoughts and aspirations. His labours as a member of the Chamber of Commerce will not soon be forgotten. He worked for the Chamber of Commerce as though it were a part of his professional duty to serve it, and through it the public, and his exertions were recognised by his elevation to the office of President. About three years ago he was President of the Co-operative Congress in Glasgow.

Throughout his career Dr. Hodgson had always been an active member of the Liberal party. It is more than probable that had he been spared much longer he would himself have had an opportunity of serving his country in Parliament.

As an author and professor, Dr. Hodgson's fame had long been secure. A series of eloquent and suggestive lectures, which he delivered during his residence in Manchester, included not merely social and political, but metaphysical and aesthetic subjects. All these were treated with no less lucidity than insight, and the remarkable power of illustration, which must have struck all who have read Dr. Hodgson's books, was invariably conspicuous in his lectures and speeches. The catalogue of his works includes a Lecture on Education, 1837; a translation of Bastial's, What is Seen and what is not Seen; or, Political Economy in one Lesson, 1852; Classical Instruction: its Use and Abuse, 1853; The Conditions of Health and Wealth, educationally considered , two lectures, 1860; Remarks on Report of Public School Commissioners, 1864; Classical Instruction : Why, When, for Whom? 1866; Exaggerated Estimates of Reading and Writing as means of Education, 1867; a translation of Count Cavour's Ireland, 1868; What is Capital? 1868; two lectures "On the Education of Girls and the Employment of Women of the Middle Classes, 1869; lecture on the True Scope of Economic Science, 1870; lecture on Competition, 1870; and two lectures on Turgot: his Life, Times, and Opinions, 1870. To this list of his writings may be added many contributions to journalistic literature, including some admirable letters, signed "M.E.N.," which appeared in the Manchester Examiner and Times.

Dr. Hodgson's reading was as wide as his criticism was searching and his memory retentive. Few could vie with him in his familiarity with general literature. His mind was stored with the best that has been said or thought, not only by great Englishmen, but great men of every age and every land; and for purposes of illustration, the professor was ever ready to lay them aptly under contribution. In economics the extent of his reading was simply marvellous. Not a work remotely bordering on his subject but he knew it; not an attempt to throw new light upon a doubtful question but he had seen and appraised it; not an addition to the stock of economical fixed ideas but he had assimilated it; not an economist but he knew his theories and his crotchets and could point out the fallacies into which he had fallen. Nor was this close acquaintance confined to English economists only. With French writers on the subject he was equally familiar, and Bastial and Saye were quoted as frequently and freely as McCulloch or Milt

Dr. Hodgson joined this Association in 1867, and in the following year, at the meeting at Honiton, he read the paper mentioned above - " What is Capital?" This was his only contribution to the pages of the Transactions of the Association. The rule which limits the subjects to be treated strictly to Devonshire soon after came into operation, and, although he admitted this rule had been wisely framed, yet it shut him out, as he said, from the list of authors. He did not cease, however, to take a lively interest in the work of the Association, but attended several meetings, and took part in the discussions that arose. At the annual meeting last year he was unanimously elected to the office of President of the Association, and had his life been spared, he would have been here on this occasion to win fresh laurels, and increase, if that were possible, the high estimation in which he was held.

It is, of course, more difficult to refer to the private virtues and the delightful social qualities which endeared Dr. Hodgson to so large a circle of friends. Those who had known him longest, and most intimately, had the warmest regard for him. His nature was kindly and frank; he was generous, high-minded, and disinterested; and both as a public and a private man he took advantage of many opportunities for rendering assistance by counsel, and still more emphatic timely help to those who sought his advice. He was never more happy than in the midst of his friends at his delightful home, Bonaly Tower, on the slopes of the Pentland Hills, once the residence of Lord Cockburn; but, wherever he was, the charm of his conversation made him a welcome guest. With respect to his pupils in his class, he made it an especial object to acquaint himself personally with each of them, and to get nearer to them than could the professor at the head of the ordinary classes. The relation between Dr. Hodgson and his students was thus the more intimate one of friend with friend, than professor with student, and the regard which was entertained for him by them was warmer in kind than in perhaps any other instance, as there was in it something of filial affection in addition to the respect in which professors are usually held. It may, perhaps, be allowed to add one further word without risk of invading the sanctity of domestic life, and this merely to say that Dr. Hodgson was in the truest sense a religious and most reverent man; anyone who was intimate, with him, and anyone who had been his guest, could not doubt of his feelings and belief. He married a daughter of Sir Joshua Walmsley, for some time member for Leicester.

He died suddenly at Brussels, on the night of Tuesday, the 24th of August, 1880, at the age of 65 years.