The following was published in PDNHAFC vol.26 pp.xxix--xxxiii (1905) and reports proceedings at a meeting of the Club in December 1904.
THE MANSEL-PLEYDELL MEMORIAL FUND. MUNIFICENT GIFT OF LORD EUSTACE CECIL.
The PRESIDENT read the following letter from the ex-President, Lord Eustace Cecil, who, he was sorry, could not be with them that day :
"Lytchett Heath, Poole, December 13th. My dear Mr. Nelson M. Richardson, I grieve to say that, contrary to my expectations yesterday, I do not feel sufficiently recovered from my recent attack of illness to justify me in attending our Club meeting to-day. I cannot tell you what a great disappointment it is to me, and I can only ask you kindly to express to all the Members present my very sincere regret that I am unable to fulfil the engagement I had been so long looking forward to. When the subject of the Mansel-Pleydell Memorial Fund was first mooted two years ago, I think I am not mistaken in saying that there was a general desire to hand down to posterity the memory of our late President in the manner most agreeable to himself and to his family. A sum of money was collected among the Members of the Club and other friends throughout the country, and, after defraying the expense of executing a copy of his portrait, there remained a balance of £83, and the question then arose what should be done with the surplus of the money? And for a time it was decided to allow the fund to accumulate. When I succeeded as President after some consideration it seemed to me that the best mode of applying the surplus was to increase the great utility of the Club in some permanent form ; and, failing any better scheme, I made up my mind to suggest the appropriation of the balance, strengthened by such an additional sum as seemed to me necessary for the purpose, to the further encouragement of scientific knowledge in this county. I have always, I hope, fully recognised the advantages of this Club in the past, holding out as it does the attraction of summer meetings with the gathering together of Members, their friends and families, anxious to know a little more of the beautiful old county they live in, and the antiquities with which they are surrounded ; and, also, I must not pass by our winter debates, replete with quaint knowledge and curious discoveries. But I am still more ambitious as to the future. Though I am not one of those who think that our race is degenerating, or our workmen falling off in skill and workmanship, still none of us can be blind to the fact that competition is increasing abroad, and the struggle for superiority is becoming more and more severe. We have had several warnings during the last few years. The Prince of Wales, it will be remembered, on his return from a voyage round the world, told us we must 'wake up,' and, without going into controversial questions, our trade returns, year by year, are not what we have a right to expect them to be, looking at the experience of former years. But I will not detain you longer, except to say that, if we are to think Imperially in the future, we must commence by thinking scientifically, and that is why I should wish our Club to do its best to promote so desirable an object by any beginning, however humble ; and, in the hope that it will be willing to adopt the scheme I now propose, I beg you to believe me, very sincerely yours, EUSTACE G. CECIL."
Then came the following memorandum of the scheme :
"Lytchett Heath, Poole, December 13th, 1904. The surplus fund of the Mausel-Pleydell Memorial Fund has been invested in £100 New S. Wales Government 3 per cent. Stock. It is now proposed to add to that fund a further sum of £300 Foreign, American, and General Trust Company deferred stock, producing 5 per cent, per annum, taking the average of the last twenty years, say £15. With this sum, added to £3 per annum on the New S. Wales Government stock, a total of £18 would be obtained, with which it is proposed that two silver medals should be given yearly for the best scientific papers at an expense of £5 each the surplus, after defraying the small cost of the medals (say 5s. 6d.), being laid out in books or instruments, at the option of the successful candidate. A further sum of £5 yearly to be reserved for expenses and fees connected with the examination papers, postage, &c., leaving, say, £3 over each year to accumulate. The first medal to be called the 'Mansel-Pleydell' medal, and to be given for the best paper on natural history and archaeology, especially the natural history of Dorset and its antiquities, prehistoric records, and ethnology, and to be open to Members of the Dorset Field Club only of both sexes. The second medal, to be called the 'Cecil' medal, for the best paper on chemistry or electricity, as applied to healing or medicinal purposes, for domestic and farm uses, or motor power generally, and to be open to candidates of both sexes who have been born in the county of Dorset, or who have resided there for not less than one year. The age of candidates at first to be fixed at from 18 to 30, power being reserved to a committee of President and two Vice-Presidents (with power to add to their number) to increase or reduce the limit of age. Schoolmasters or teachers, in their active exercise of their professions, not to be eligible. Examinations to be held yearly under the direction of the committee mentioned above, with such extra assistance as they may require or decide upon, discretion being left to them to fix the subjects for examination, under the proposed heads, and the limit of age, and to carry out such other changes as from time to time may seem desirable, bearing in mind the main objects of the original bequest. Should, in their opinion, the examination papers be judged in any one year to be not of sufficient merit, or not deserving of reward, then no medals are ven that year, and the funds are to be allowed to accumulate for the general objects of the Trust. In the event of further money being subscribed, two or more annual scholarships to be instituted of not less than £10 each yearly, for one or more years, and power given to the trustees and committee to merge the sum of £18 a year already spoken of into a common fund, provided always that sufficient money be first put aside yearly to pay for the cost of the examinations and the medals, Sec. EUSTACE G. CECIL."
The PRESIDENT expressed warm appreciation of Lord Eustace Cecil's generosity and public spirit. His name and that of Mr. J. C. Mansel-Pleydell would be handed down to posterity as those of the first two Presidents of the Club, who had done so much to further the interests of science in Dorset, both through the agency of the Field Club and otherwise. He moved the following resolution :
"This meeting wishes to express its sense of the great generosity and kindness of the Lord Eustace Cecil in making it possible, by his handsome donation of 300 Foreign, American and General Trust Deferred Stock, for the Dorset Field Club to carry out the proposed scheme for the furtherance of natural history, physical science, and archaeology in Dorset in conjunction with the balance of the Mausel-Pleydell Memorial Fund a scheme which will be a lasting memorial of their two first Presidents."
Captain ELWES seconded.
The Rev. J. C. M. MANSEL-PLEYDELL said :
He wished to state how deeply sensible his mother and all the members of his family were of that generous gift of Lord Eustace Cecil's towards making really workable the scheme for his dear father's memorial. Some time ago the committee formulated some such scheme as this to encourage the study of natural science, but their difficulty was that they had not enough funds to carry it out. Now, however, Lord Eustace Cecil's generous gift had made it feasible. He was glad that Lord Eustace would be associated with his father in the memorial, for they were warm friends and admirers, and it was always a great wish of his father that Lord Eustace should take up the work of the Club after him, knowing that he would carry it on in his spirit and mind.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The PRESIDENT said that Lord Eustace wished three trustees to be appointed himself, as President of the Club, and two Vice-Presidents, and had suggested Captain Elwes and the Rev. J. C. M, Mansel-Pleydell, with power to add to their number.
The Rev. W. MILES BARNES seconded, and these three were appointed. It was decided to bank with the Wilts and Dorset Bank. The appointment of a solicitor to draw the trust deed was left to the trustees.
Mr. EVELYN CECIL, M.P., who rose to speak at the President's invitation as the representative of his father, said :
He should be pleased to tell his father of the unanimity and enthusiasm with which the resolution had been passed and the scheme accepted. His father would, he assured them, be very gratified that the Club entered so thoroughly into the scheme, and intended to carry it out in all particulars. He spoke of his father's devotion to the Club and all its concerns, and his earnest desire to increase its membership, promote its success, enhance its influence, and make it a real incentive to scientific research. He paid a fine tribute to the character and attainments of the late Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, and, advocating the pursuit of scientific investigation in all its varied branches, made some thoughtful observations upon the rapprochement of recent years between science and religion and the gradual disappearance of the old estrangement and antipathy between the exponents of both. Exhibiting the first two medals, he explained that his father had always been interested in chemistry and electricity. It was a family pursuit, for his father's brother, the late Lord Salisbury, used to devote his spare moments to it. He hoped that the prizes would encourage the steady study of the subjects in the county.
The Rev. J. C. M. MANSEL-PLEYDELL added that not only had Lord Eustace Cecil given £300 of Stock, but he had also at his own charges had the dies cut for the medals --- a very expensive item.
The PRESIDENT read out the inscriptions on the medals. The first medal bears on the obverse a full-face portrait of the late Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, with the inscription "For Excellence in Natural History and Archaeology. Mansel-Pleydell." The reverse bears the armorial device of Dorset, with the words "Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club." In the second medal, which presented an admirable profile of Lord Eustace Cecil, the inscription was varied to "For Excellence in Chemistry and Electricity. Cecil." Mr. Richardson added that it was Lord Eustace Cecil's wish to keep for himself the first Cecil medal, and that he should hand the first Mansel-Pleydell medal to Mr. J. C. M. Mansel-Pleydell. This he did amid applause. The President added they had listened with interest to Mr. Cecil's remarks, and they hoped that he would convey to his father their appreciation of his great kindness and generosity.