Q-C-Q-C Club

I shall post the most recent (top of the page) and a defining post on this page for a joint venture with Professor Walter Blackstock in which we have transcribed and begun to illuminate the minute book of a Victorian Gentleman's Club that grew out of the early days of the British Chemical Industry. The archive can be found here and will remain available indefinitely.

The Last Post

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March 27th 1871

Meeting at Mr H. Brunner’s house

Present. Messrs. H. Brunner, L. Mond, E. Carey,

Mr A. Watts, J.L.Muspratt, J.T. Brunner.

Words. Charity, Sympathy, Philanthropy.

Definitions proposed

Charity is a feeling which tends to do the best

for & think the best of others Nemo

Charity is the desire to alleviate the sufferings

of others Unversagt

Charity is a feeling with or for others accompanied

when necessary with action on their behalf.

Paulatim

Charity is that quality which prompts an

individual to benefit others at a sacrifice to

himself. Palmam qui meruit ferat

Charity is doing that which we desire to be done

[to one] Erin go Bragh

Charity is kindness of feeling

Onward & upward

Charity is good will to mankind

Gradatim

(recorded in absentia)

March 27th 1871

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Definition agreed to

Charity is a quality which prompts one to do

the best for & think the best of others.

———————————— Unanimous

Definitions proposed Sympathy

Sympathy is feeling for or with the feelings

of others. Nemo

Sympathy is the power of sharing the feelings

of others. Unversagt

Sympathy is feeling with others. Paulatim

Sympathy is the act of feeling with others as if

in the same circumstances. Palmam (qui meruit ferat)

Sympathy is the act of feeling with others.

Erin go Bragh

Sympathy is the act of feeling with others.

Onwards & upwards

Sympathy is a feeling which depends upon &

varies with the feeling of some other person or object.

(recorded in absentia) Gradatim

Majority. Sympathy is the act of feeling with others.

Onward, Palman, Erin, Paulatim

Minority. Sympathy is feeling for or with the

feelings of others. Nemo, Unversagt

March 27th 1871

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Definitions proposed.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy is love of human kind.

Nemo

Philanthropy is the feeling that prompts

self-sacrifice for the general well-being

Unversagt

Philanthropy is [world wide] charity

Paulatim

Philanthropy is love for fellow men

Palman qui meruit ferat

Philanthropy is active charity

Erin go Bragh

Philanthropy is the feeling which leads one

to help suffering humanity

Onward & upward

Philanthropy is love for the human race

Gradatim (recorded in absentia)

March 27th 1871

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Definitions agreed to

Philanthropy is the feeling which prompts

[devotion to the welfare] of the human race.

Proposed by Erin go Bragh

Agreed to by Onward & upward, Unversagt

Philanthropy is love for the human race.

Proposed by Palmam qui meruit ferat

Agreed to by Nemo, Paulatim

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March 27th 1871

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The first post! 

The "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Club

  January 26th 1870 - March 27th 1871

Dramatis Personae

Walter Angus Watts 

of 7, Kaludah Terrace, Widnes. 

Chemist  John Hutchinson's

Eustace Carey

of 117, Mill Brow, Widnes. 
Partner Gaskell Deacons'

James Liebig Muspratt

of 141, Belvidere Road, Toxteh Park, Liverpool.
3rd Generation Muspratt Lawyer

Henry Brunner

of 118, Cliff House. Mill Brow, Widnes.
Works Manager, Hutchinson's

John Tomlinson Brunner

of 4, Kaludah Terrace, Widnes.
Office Manager, Hutchinson's

Ludwig Mond

of 32, Sea View Row (The Hollies), Widnes.
German Chemical Engineer

James Raven

of 34 Sea View Road (Grammar School House), Widnes.
School master

The Times

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Club
January 1870 - March 1871

Franco_Prussian War

July 1870 - May 1871

The Town

Widnes, Lancashire

19th Century "Northern Powerhouse"
Leblanc Soda Production since 1823

The "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Club, short in duration, only nineteen meetings between 1870 and 1871, plays an unremarked role in the foundation of one of Britain's largest  industries by John Brunner and Ludwig Mond in 1873 on £20,000 borrowed capital. That the meetings took place in the shadow of European turmoil and the Franco-Prussian War is not without interest. The cessation of the war with its unexpected military outcome may have redrawn alliances and sowed the seed for major conflict ahead, but to those meeting in Widnes, it signalled markets re-opening, demand for soda-ash increasing and opportunity to be seized. It is our intention to post and transcribe in full the hand-written minutes of the "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Club on the days the meetings occurred, and annotate them as an on-going project. Aware that we are not professional historians, we ask for your help and forbearance.

As the Zen master, Shunryu Susuki said,

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few".

We proceed with "Beginner's Mind".

The first transcript will appear January 26th, the second February 4th.