The Sun. — London, England, 1858-10-14 00:00:00

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. PUNISHMENT AND REFORMATION. On the return of the members from their visit to the . Akbar reformatory ship the Earl of Car lisle proceeded to deliver his address to the members of this department. He said—As I did not invite myself into the place which I have now the high honour to fill, and which. confers upon me at once the.privilege and duty of presiding over the coun elk of the Punishment and. Reformation Section of the present meeting of the association, I will not enlarge upon the inadequacy of my pretensions to such a distinction. This responsibility must wholly rest with those from whom the invitation oii s inally proceeded. It appears to me that I shall last enter into the spirit of the functions which asis devolve upon me in now offering some renxtrks of my own, I entirely forbear from meddlLg either with the history or the philosophy of the reformatory movement or system. The history has become matter of general notoriety ; and several of those who are now here have been among its most pro minent actors. As to she philosophy, I do not doubt that this will also meet with very admirable exponents during our Approaching session, attended, as I perceive it to be, by many reformatory wor thies, with Mr. Adderley to head them—one who has practically and legitimately taken the lead on the subject : it may, at all events, suffice that I feel myself unequal to such high argument, and I think that it will be a more acceptable, as I am sure it will be a politic course, for me to confine myself, as much as I am able, to such points connected with this all-important s ubject as happen to have in some measure fallen under my own personal ex perience and observation. It has so occurred that I have been brought into some contact with refor matory processes, as applied both to adult and to juvenile criminals ; to the adult, during the period of my holding . the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland ; to the juvenile, at my own Yorkshire home. I begin, as would seem more decorous, with the vice-regal experience. My task, however, upon this head is materially lightened, and might indeed have been almost wholly superseded by the very full and very able statement which was delivered at the last meeting of the association by Mr. Hill, the learned recorder of Birmingham, who is justly esteemed a foremost authority upon the whole sub ject of prison discipline. It appears that Mr. Hill thus pre-eminently adapted to the office by his talents, his experience, his zeal, and his benevo lence, had been induced, by what had reached him respecting the system in the Irish convict prisons, to inspect minutely the different establishments in that country, and to test the soundness of the prin ciples adopted by what he could ascertain of their actual operation. It was inexpressibly gratifying to the friends and well-wishers, but above all to the founders and originators of this system, to find that a man like Mr. Hill should have thought him self warranted to declare, as the result of his in vestigations, that the board of directors of Irish convict prisons had practically solved the problem which had so long perplexed our Government and our Legislature—" What shall we do with our con victs ?" To such a verdict I can have little indeed to add beyond the slight supplement which the in tervening period may furnish, and the small glean ings derived from my own personal opportunities of approach. The opening of my recent term of admi nistration in Ireland;was nearly contemporary with the first experiments in the system of convict dis cipline which has excited so much attention in that country. Whatever may be the merits of that sys tem in the main features of its conception, and whatever the success obtained in its practical work ing, the credit, as the responsibility, must princi pally rest with the chairman of the board of direc tors, Capt. Crofton. He has been largely aided by the practised experience and intelligent zeal ,sue eesssively of Capt. Knight and Capt. Whitty, and throughout by the benevolent ardour of Mr. Len taighe ; he has been perseveringly seconded, as I know he will be most ready to admit, by the different members of the Irish executive, and by the exertions and adaptability of some of his officers and agents. NO one., however, who has watched the progress of the proceedings, will fail to acknowledge the per vading influence and inspiration which have . been derived and caught from the perseverance, the enthusiasm, the. deterinination to succeed, the dis belief in the possibility of failure, which have dis s tinguished the administrator in chief; and looking back, as I now can do, to, the series of our con ferences and expeditions in connexion with this object, as among the most gratifying recollection's of -my official career, I feel most happy in having this opportunity of publicly recording my admira tion, my regard, and 14 gratitude. It can hardly be 4 secret to those who have taken an interest in matters relating to prison discipline,- that state-, ments of rather a controversial character have re cently. been put forward by Colonel. Jebb .= and Captain Crofton upon the - respective _merits _und tendencies of the English. and It LAI ,3t c m Speaking upon general grounds, and under thc% influence of old official associations, I should haves' been naturally inclined to deprecate any disposition to bureaucratic imgnacity, a cross-firing between departments ; but upon a field of inquiry so wide, so-important, so imperfectly defined, as this whole new philosophy of prison or reformatory discipline, forced too upon our attention, in part by our growing population, in part by our stationary insular limits, in part by our colonial and geographical relations, and next of all probably by the increased spirit of conscientious and reasoning benevolence which happily distinguishes our age, I think -it is a ground for satisfaction that there should be such athorough sifting of opinions, and even if requisite such a col lision of a uthorities as to leave the least risk of prepossession, partiality, or mistake, and the best chance of ascertaining and adopting truth. Colonel Jebb comes into these honourable lists, recom mended by a long series of active and meritorious exertions ; Capt. Crofton flushed with the achieve ment of a recent and brilliant success. Assuming, indeed, for the moment, that the Irish experiment has been entirely satisfactory, I have always felt persons entrusted with the responsibilities of Eng lish or Scotch administration must decide upon the moment or extent for similar experiments in Eng land and Scotland. It is certainly not impossible that there may be circumstances in the condition of these countries, or even in the national character which would yet ensure corresponding results from the same methods. My own means of observation have been almost wholly confined to Ireland, and it "re mains for me to state, as succinctly as I can, the mpressions left upon my own mind. Mr. Hill, in the able paper- already referred to, has suffici ently explained the successive s t a g es or gradations of , imprisonment now subsisting in that country, and which- constitute a sort of criminal or convict hierarchy, beginning with Mountjoy Prison, in Dublin, fox the early periods of every sentence, and for the f ur ther detention of the wholly unpro mising and unelastic classes; thence passing to Spike Island for the - able-bodied, to Philip's Town for- those better a d a pt e d f or h an di cra ft, b ot h being appropriated to associated labour and cel lular dormitories ; ascending from Spike Island. to Camden Fort, at the entrance of Cork Har bour, where a . greater deg ree of r e li ance on good behaviour exhibite d, as, for instance, in allowing some of the men to form the crews of boats despatched about the harbour upon the busi ness a constructing the fortifications; and, finally, culminating in Smithfield Prison, in Dublin, or on the ooramons of Lusk intended to form the inter _ _ mediate stations and - transitional periods before emerging into the outer Woild - ttnd entire freedom. Smithfield Etlgkrin 'fact; constitute the distin- B.'nishink ii*OVeltiei f ortheTri:sli Systems and it is with Smithfield mainly that the neighbourhood of my own residence naturally brought me into most fre quent contact: 'As I know that too great reliance ought not to be placed upon the mere outward de meanour of prisoners - , oil any superficial symptoms that may attract the eye, it may be well just to re capitulate,-in passing, the dry actual results which it has yet been possible to obt a i n of the working of the recent origin. It app e a r s, system since its very then, that from the month of Ja n ., 1856, up -t o t h e latest date to which accounts have been made" up, the number of the discharged from the intermediate Prisons is 1,327, of wliom 511 were discharged un conditionally, and 816 on tickets of l icense. Of the 511 uncoriditionnaly discharged, only five h ave beep re-cothmitted to- convict prisons. Of the 816 discharged' on license, 45 have had their licenses revoked, out of whom 15 were so dealt with for keeping bad company, drunkenness, or failing to report themselves ; the re-convictions amounted to 30, Which i s nnder 4 per cent. The majority of these last 816 cases have been made the subject of speoial reports from the police. charged with the supervision of Prisoners discharged on license, and th er efore, so far, th e whole truth is known con cerning them. Captain Crofton augurs most favourably of the effects of thi s system of pollee supervision, as it has been tested in Ireland in the cases of prisoners discharged on license, and would evidently wish to apply it in great measure equally to those discharged unconditionally. On th e fi rs t blush our p re p oss essions might naturally b e rat h er against such a proposition as militating against the freedom of the subject then under no sentence of law. However, I think that society is clearly entitled to give the full benefit of its scru ples on the side, .of its honest members a iainst those who, by the ascertained commission 0 1 crime, have rendered themselves legitimate objects of suspaeion ; and Capt. Craton insists very powerfully th at thi s supervision, when rationally and discreetl y exercised, has, within his own expe rience,-proved to b e , and in the nature of things is calculated to be, of real qexViRR to the,well-dispoied convict himsert„ as both coming between him and temptation, and as affording confidence 'to those who might be disposed to give him. employment. Of the palpable repugnance of the ill-dispused con vict I think we are bound to take little heed. On this head I will 'quote a passage from his recent notes in answer to Col. Jebb : " When I further add that front 50 to 60 discharged coax icts are un der constant notice in the city of Dal lin, and that amongst them are those whose evil and daring deeds have formerly made them but too notorious to the police ; tbst many of these have for upwards of two years ken in daily work ; that I am in the habit of constantly and regularly, communicating with the police - for the purpose of checking and correct ing any report I may receive, it will, I think, be evident how much the intermediate system and its training have accomplished, not alone, but in con junction with the firm, judicious, and not inquisi torial use of the police. " The proportion of crimi nals reckoned capable or profiting by admission to the intermediate prisons is still considered, by Capt. Crofton, to amount to about- 75 per cent. of the whole. The improvement adverted to by Mr. Hill, in the bodily health of the prisoners, as hav ing decreased, in two years, from a mortality of 8 per cent. in 1854, to one of 2 per cent. in 1856, still happily subsists, or rather advances. The last annual report of the directors for the year 1857 states that the mortality has been 45 deaths in 2,442 prisoners, averaging 1.8 per cent. on the entire prison population. Feeling, then, a right to be thus encouraged and corroborated by actual re sults, and by dry figures, I may the more safely seek to convey the impressions derived from ocular ob servation. I never made a visit to Smithfield dur ing the hours allotted to the evening schooling and lecture without being most pleasantly impressed by the propriety and alertness of demeanour, and by the general absence of all sulkiness or sullenness of either countenance or manner, which distinguished the prisoners. I may here perhaps mention that, although I stood among them on these occasions with the full power of giving immediate pardon and freedmil to any or all of them, and although occa sionally anything particularly striking in the bear ing or expressions of some among them might have tempted me to an exercise of partiality in their behalf, I never once allowed myself to interfere with any sentence except in the regular routine, upon the recommendation of the responsible authorities. I almost feel compunction at having proceeded so far without having made mention of the lecturer at the Smithfield and Lusk Reformatories, Mr. Organ. I am quite confident that he is one of the privileged number who will have left a mark on their age, not perhaps in the ordinary records of fame or preced ence, but in the extent and amount of the quiet, unnoticed good he has accomplished, and the whole some and healing influences he has wrought upon the dispositions and destinies of his fellow-creatures. Accustomed from his youth to pursue the occupa tion of a teacher among the humblest and the pooregt, he has now given his whole heart to the work of instruction and .reclaiming the crimi nal ; and, in addition to the higher qualifications of benevolence and zeal for such an office, he possesses, I believe, I should say beyond any person I have ever met with, the faculty of interesting the atten tion and of making a subject clear to the most obtuse apprehensions. lam quite willing to believe that the system now adopted in Ir eland rests upon principles so sound and so true to human experience as to make it in a great degree independent of individual quali ties, provided that it be steadily upheld ; but I think it would be singularly ungrateful not to admit that for its early and rapid success it was largely in debted to the capacity of Mr. Organ to make power .ful impressions upon the minds, sometimes sluggish and - sullen, sometimes quick and impUtsive, with which lie was brought into contact, as well as to the .whbily voluntary and disinterested tenacity with which he clung to the discharged prisoiler in his subsequent career, diminishing its risks and shield ing him from its temptations. "With respect to the general conduct of the prisoners, it is pleasing to find this testimony given by the superintendent of Smithfield, Mr. Good, who had been master of works in the same prison for ten years under the old .System, and whom I know to be a vely deserv ing public servant. He says :—" With reference to the conduct of the prisoners, it is gratifying to find that the best feeling exists among them ; and since the introduction of the license system "only five Belt bavaches- of discipline occurred. Mo ( st remark- Able is lhe.contrast between the men now placed in this establishment and those who were confined win* this was an ordinary convict prison. thes‘ evince a kind obliging disposition, And a .doelle spirit ;they take advice in good part ; they go te , ..work with alacrity, are ready to volunteer 9feir a4siStance Wherever they think it may be re ,quired ; they seem to have got a new spring of ruing, and constantly talk over and ask, advice with respct' fo4heir future prospects and " destinations. three times the amount of work is obtained itttleret.tifcire from the same number Of prisoners." .I,ll4;y4airprrcd. to the hold . which . Mr. Organ Z - r t y,c,s -t4 upon tho after" enrecro of e pr isoners.. The law provided map of tlre4e:ttuty of Dublin, upon which are' marked the valipu4 stations where they are employed, or where . tifere.i; a:likelihood of employment being procured for' them. _He visits these stations frequently, either for.th.e purpose of inquiring into conduct and position of the men, or of securing fresh em ployment. Of 60 discharged prisoners now in the city of Dublin, not one has been out of employment for more than a few days, except from the failure of health. .In many cases, as might hive been antici- pated, the labour has been of a description not much sought after by those whose previous lives en title them justly to greater latitude of choice, such as vitriol works and the like. This however speaks volumes for those who prefer even such labour to dis honesty and a recurrence to crime ; it speaks surely not a little for the system which has thus trained and reclaimed them. As a mark of the influence Mr. Organ has been enabled to obtain over the men, even after their period of confinement is over, he has generally induced them to place or put £1 or £2 in the hands of their employers as a security, not so much for their honesty as for their regularity and continuance at work; and in the case of the man having no earnings, or next to none, to his credit, then to consent to a corresponding stoppage, for a certain time, from his wages. With the men who are further removed Mr. Organ endeavours to keep up frequent correspondence. I may very briefly mention one or two of their statements. One man tells him :—" I must let you know that I am what you will like to hear, and that is a non-com missioned officer, lam full corporal, and very soon to be platoon sergeant. lam doing very well. I hope you will tell all the men in Smithfield to do as Mr. Organ will tell them." Another tells him : " I am earning from 14s. to 16s. a week." Another, whom he mentions, " is also doing well, and turns out very well dressed, and earns plenty of money in the coal pit ; he is earning from 3s. 6d. to 4s. a day, and wishes you long life and good health." Another asks for some of his gratuity money that he may get a kit. Another is going to Corfu. The parish priest writes of one :—" I am glad to be able to make a favourable report of him. He is well con ducted and industrious, and has even purchased a boat, in which he works himself at present." A housebreaker writes :—" Words cannot express the gratitude I felt when I received your • kind letter with the favourable lines contained in it. I sin cerely hole -I shall never belie the character you were pleased to entertain of me. I have been working at hay this short time back.". The hay reminds'me that I perceived on one occasion a dis eharged prisoner forming one of a gang of haymakers on my own grounds in the Phoenix-park. - He was pointed out to me by the • contractor for the job, who gave a good account of him, but I distinctly saw, on my approaching him, that he did not wish for mu c h con versation—he felt anxious that his antecedents should not be,known to his fellow-workmen, and, for my part, I felt quite resigned, all victory as I was at the moment, to be cut by a convict. • I will only cite one more comment, which, among other things, shows that the supervision of the police is not necessarily considered irksome by _ discharged prisoners themselves. This is from a man convicted of larceny, it being his seventh conviction :—" I am living with my father ever since, and I am going on very well. The constabulary are doing everything in their power for my welfare. Your lectures and advice are as fresh in my .mind as when I sat there listening to your fatherly expressions, and I will always think of the advice you gave before we left you. No matter who returns you ingratitude after all your trouble, you will always find me grateful, because yon acted a father to every one as well as to ine. I conclude for the present, thanking God and you for my deliverance from bondage; and may the Almighty reward you, and every benevolent man who in the course of time will be an aid in the works of mercy." My remarks have hitherto chiefly applied to male prisoners. The treatment of female prisoners will probably be rendered more systematic when the large metropolitan prison at Mountjoy, specially intended for them, shall have been completed. It can never become so easy , in their case to apply the same number of progressive stages which public works out of doors makes available for the men ; but the system of drafting off the best behaved and most promising female pri soners into refuges has been tried with the happiest results. The government have been fortunate enough to find establishments where this pious office has been voluntarily ,- undertaken both in the Protestant and Roman. Catholic communities of Dublin. Of the Protestant establishments, beyond rendering a just tribute to the conscientious care with which they appear to be manafed, I need say but little, for a reason which certainly ought not to give anyumbrag e to that community—l mean the very small number of prisoners which i it eve belonged to - that persuasion. The care of the Roman Catholic prisoners of this class has been undertaken by the ladies of the Sisterhood of Mercy at'Calder Bridge. Feeble and wholly inadequate, indeed, would be any words of mine to do justice to - the unremitting self-devotion and cheerful alacrity with which the manager of refuge, herself well born and refined (I ought, I sup pose, to confine myself to her assumed name of Sis ter Mary Magdalen), withher coadjutors, discharges this labour of great love. To prove that lam not using the langtage of mere complithent, an idle sentiment, I may present the following results, which, I believe have never yet been given in sa complete a form, at least from the first opening of the St. Vincent's Reformatory in April, 1856, down to the present month :-152 have been received; 67 are at present there ; 85 have been disposed of— you will remember that these were women, for the most part reared and steeped in crime, and from general experience if discharged in ordinary course, would have given no hope of reformation ; 21 have been sent to situations in Ireland, and are all ascer tained to be doing well ; 26 are in the colonies ; 24 have returned to their homes ; 16 were married, an .d are now living respectably; 8 were received by their parents ; 5 have been received into an asy aun ; 3 have been married in Ireland, and are we— reported of ; 6 have been sent back to prison. So that out of the whole 85 there are only 6 to whom subsequent misconduct can be traced. I should be inclined, then, to sum up somewhat thus the principles which pervade the system of convict discipline in Ireland, and which form the ground work of whatever success it has obtained :—At the outset, the strictest form of penal discipline, the least amount of communication, except 'ith the few privileged persons, and the lowest scale of diet consistent with health ; subsequently progressive stages of employment and treatment, giving scope to hope, stimulus to exertion, and room for the dis play of meritorious habits and trustworthy quali ties ; finally, at the last stage (intended to form the transition to freedom), actual tests of obedience and honesty, and what I certainly should be dis posed to put the chief stress upon, the sur rounding of their prisoners, by the choice of agents adapted and qualified for, the purpose, with an atmosphere of sympathy, encouragement, and bene ficent influences ; thepower of individualising them, and bringing the battery of advice and persua sion to bear upon their special cases ; the causing them to feel that there are those in the world who care for them and will watch their course, and glory in their good conduct. The proper agents for such a ministry of reformation may be difficult to find, but I am confident they are to be found; in deed I may say in Ireland they are turned up for us ready for use as soon as they are wanted. To give proper verge for such a system to work, sen tences of imprisonment ought to be of adequate length ; I believe that the discretion of remitting the later periods of actual imprisonment, upon the condition of strict supervision and liability to re imprisonment, might be advantageously extended. From all I can hear of the results of the experi ment in Ireland, the supervision of discharged con victs by the police works extremely well, both as a guarantee to the public and a protection and pre ventive to the late criminal. The mode in which this - very difficult and. momentous subject has been dealt with in Ireland has now, for the second time, been brought under the notice of,the National Association. It has been the subject of distinct in quiry from foreign Governments; and I sincerely trust that its benefits wilt, before any long lapse of time, be extended to other communities and over wider fields. I now turn to the subject of the refor matories established for criminals in England. The establishments in. Scotland, to a great extent, have more the character of ragged or industrial training schools, but about these L. have no details to give. The act authorising institutions in Ireland corres ponding clearly with those now existing in Eng land, was only passed in the late session of Parlia ment. The first report of the Inspector of Reforma tory Schools in Great Britain has recently been issued; and it is of happy omen for these institu tions that they are placed under an overlooker who brings to the work so much congenial experience, and so much genuine benevolence as Mr. Sydney Turner. We learn from his report that 40 English certified reformatories have come under his inspec tion, and he gives a brief but interesting and sug gestive summary of their respective conditions. I have the less need, however, to dwell upon the contents, as they are probably in all your hands, and especially in Liverpool, where Mr. Turner states that the Reformatory Act has been more exten sively applied than in any other place. I have as yet only had the opportunity of seeing four refor matories, and three of these only very cursorily ; these three are Calder Farm, near Mirfield, estab lished by the thoughtful benevolence of Mr. W. Balme, most happily situated in a meaded range of hills, overlooking the valley of the winding Calder, and. happier in the more important elements of kindly and. efficient management ; next, one still in its infaue . , ill, Ado, nuar Ecccle y -Trhcrc the latle arc still employed in the rougher parts of the build ing work, and in reclaiming a piece of stony moor land, with an obvious will , and vigour, which pro mises as well for their'health as it speaks well for the wholesome moral influences of the master set over them ; another, at Market Weighton, is ap propriated to Roman Catholics ; it now contains 85 boys, and ultimately will have accommodation for 200 ; it is built with more attention to architectural effect than any of the kind I have yet seen, and is managed by a staff belonging to one of the con fraternities of the Roman Catholic Church, appa rently with a devotedness which so often distin guishes these bodies. The remaining school to which I have referred is nestled among my own meads at Castle Howard, and I can say with truth that I regard it as one of the chief attractions of a place not deficient in its adornments. The main cause of the success which the institution has hitherto obtained, for it must be remembered that with respect to all of them, we are as yet speaki ng only by the light of very early experience, as well as of its special attraction for myself, is undoubt edly to be found in the character and qualities of the superintendent chaplain, Mr. Fish. I have already borne my testimony to the merits of Mr. Organ, and I should wish to dwell for a moment on those which exhibit a large amount both of corre spondence and contrast with them. I feel the less hesitation to indulge in this line of remar k, f rom my thorough conviction that the speedy success of all reformatory influence, whether up on th e adult or youthful .criminal, must under the divine blessing be mainly dependent upon the men who are employed as its conductors and agents. The same single-minded devotedness to duty, the same straightforward simplicity of character, the same tenderness of sympathy for the working classes; amongst whom they have both sp en t their young years of toil, distinguish alike the Chu rc h o f England chaplain and the Irish Roman Catholic teacher. But the appearance and the disposition of the Englishman have that mild, mellow, pensive character, which would. seem to have retai ne d something of the sadness which familiarity with the scenes of suffering, and contact with rude and bit ter. tempers, might naturally have imparted ; while the moods of the Irishmen were so impulsi ve an d racy of his own soil, ofits quick-witted humour and gleaming pathos, as to make one of his common grammar lessons as entertaining as any play. I think it not unimportant to show that minds of various texture may be drawn into this service of mercy, provided there be the indispensable ingre dients of earnestness and discretion. Whether there be good reason or not for indulging in the hope of a large amount of adult reformation, there is every ground for expecting- palpable and extensive re sults in the matter of juvenile reformation. I be lieve it will be found that all those who have most considered the subject, as well as have been most engaged in its practical operations, entertain • the conviction that, in by far the greatest number of cases of youthful crime, the training of the chil dren has been such as to give a criminal direction to their habits, and they 'have thus become what their parents or their . ' circumstances have made them. The distinguished president of the first pro vincial meeting of the National Reformatory Union, held at Bristol, in 1856 (Lord Stanley), put the case of 100 criminal children thus : Born of dishonest parents „ profligate honest and industrious The Castle Howard Reformatory statistics nearly confirm these proportions. Sixty-four have passed through the school, and are now inmates. Of these there are : . . 30 . . . 22 Born of dishonest parents . „ profligate .... ~ honest and industrious . . 12 I will adduce one local illustration, which, I think, throws considerable light upon more than one branch of reformatory inquiry.- It shall be that of the very first they committed to the Castle Howard School. He had been a worker in a cotton mill, the - foreman of which apparently discovered special aptitudes in him extending beyond his work, so he kept him when the other hands were dismissed, and taught him to pick pockets. For two years our boy Tom regularly picked pockets on the pier of Hull and the High Church, giving the proceeds to his instructor. In return he was comfortably lodged and fed, and often taken to the theatre. Ike remembers instances of robbery from the person, the aggregate proceeds of which exceeded £2OO, all of which were perpetrated before he was convicted at all. When once he had been caught, convictions followed in rapid succession until they had reached seven, at which point the Castle Howard School was opened, in his person. After the treat ment of two years, partly there, and partly at Cal der Farm, he is now pursuing an industrious and honest career. From this short narrative I would rHE- - SUN,- LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 14, 1858. deduce the following points :—The exposure of young children to corrupting influences • the great expensiveness of even the most youthful crime, as evidenced both in the amount of undetected plunder, and the cost of repeated prosecutions and convic tions ; and, most important of all, the hopefulness of the reformatory process, which I should have felt myself less emboldened by this single instance to lay stress"upon, if I had not the authority of the superintendent for stating that the large majority of cases already completed, of which he has been cognisant, have been equally satisfactory. lam aware that many of the farmers in my neighbour hood are not only willing to avail themselves of the labour of the boys, while they are still inmates of their school, but are ever anxious to take them into permanent service upon their discharge. There have been some verfpleasing instances of boys making restitution after their discharge to per sons whom they had previously robbed. The chaplain of the gaol at Hull writes—" The effect of the reformatory movement on the juvenile criminals of Hull has, I think, been of the most beneficial character; some weeks ago we had not a single boy in gaol." I believe that similar satisfactory testimony can be given from other dis tricts, but I have deemed it best to confine myself to my own. There are several points connected with reformatory tactics which must be considered, so to term it, as still afloat, and upon which I am willing to hope that our present gathering may be destined to shed light. A prominent one is the amount of reformatory accommodation which ought to be sup plied. This, however, for its adequate solution, hinges upon another, probably the most important and the most difficult of all that await decision— What ought to be the condition of admission ? Ought the once convicted, ought the twice convicted, ought; in any case, the wholly unconvicted to be admissible ? It certainly appears to me that, with a a view both to the due protection of the money, partly at least received from the State, and to the inadequacy of the accommodation as yet provided for the criminal class, it would not be right to allow any admission except of an actual convict. Then, with respect to the once convicted, though I can conceive cases where it might be so desirable to remove a child from evil influences and companion ships, as to overcome all other scruples, yet, as it is, the duty which the reformatory owes to the state to - operate, preferentially, upon the most har dened and abandoned classes, and as there also may •be many cases where a boy or girl may have lapsed or been led into the commission of some isolated fault or act of lawlessness without any . such perversity of temper or will as to make them fit associates of the thoroughly depraved, but yet] which some short, sharp punishment would probably be the best method of cure ; it seems to me that, at all events, till there is more than sufficient room for the aggravated cases, it would be 'advisable to make• a plurality of con victions the general condition of admission. On this head the chaplain of the gaol at Hull has re marked, in a letter addressed to our superintendent, "It has always appeared to me unreasonable, as well as unnecessary, to send a boy to a reformatory for a first offence, except in extreme cases, where such cunning or depravity is exhibited, is mani fested, as indicates a most depraved disposition." In our case we manifestly want increased accom modation in any view of the case. It app,mrs from some returns we have obtained from East Riding House of Correction at Beverley, and from the Hull Borough Gaol, that of boys convicted during the last three years under 16 years of age, there are— Convicted once Twice, not included above More than twice 275 58 42 Of these 50 have been sent to reformatory schools. The total number convicted more than once is just 100 ; so that, supposing none to have been sent to reformatories who had not been twice convicted, 50 would still remain at large in the riding. In like manner Mr. Shepherd, the Governor of the Wake field prison, has recently said that he knew of more than a hundred West Riding cases for which he could not find room in a reformatory. I believe that different opinions are entertained respecting the best sources of supply for the maintenance of the schools. In some cases local rates have been already resorted to. It is obvious that such a resource cannot be called in without some sacrifice of independence on the part of managers and superintendents. Probably different methods may be suitable to different places ; time and experience will develop their own exigencies, and I am not aware that they are yet ripe enough for any further appeal to legislative. provisions. I feel that no doubt can be entertained either of the pro priety or expediency of - the aid of the Govern ment being given to meet voluntary ' efforts and subscriptions. Whether the withdrawal of the grants hitherto made by the Committee of Privy Council is justified on the ground of the anomaly of two separate streams of supply pro urcding from the State I will not take upon my self to decide ; but I think that in any case there has been reason to regret the abruptness of the de termination. It behoves the managers and friends of the schools all the more to strain every nerve to make them as independent as they can of all ex trinsic aid beyond the still remaining grant from. the Home Department. I cordially embrace con clusions of which I believe the collective thought and wisdom which have been exercised on this sub ject had already arrived, that the relations of the State to the reform t rip. e3lablished shoull embrace inspection, but exclude interference, ex cept, of course, in case of patent and obvious abuse ; and that it would be inexpedient to lay down any rigid or undeviating exact grauclet scheme ofmana of rewardsgement, such, a f n o d r instance, as any punishments, to what extent corporal punishment should be applied, and the like. The great essen tial condition is to procure the right men for super intendents or masters ; the interior details will best be confided to their discretion, acting upon the ma terials with which they are called upon to deal. It appears to me most desirable that the powers of i levying contributions from the parents of children placed in reformatories should be enforced as ex tensively as possible. A most important and preg nant subject for consideration is the after disposal of the' pupils. Their ever best security against relapse to evil courses and dangerous associations would probably be found in emigration. Could the State be properly called upon to contribute to this end, at all events, in aid of private effort ? Boys may in many cases be fitted to go out as emigrants before it would be safe to discharge them at home, within reach of old haunts and comrades, so that a more than corresponding saving in the State contribution to their maintenance would be thus effected. Some of the inmates will unhappily continue unfitted either for emigration abroad or for employment at home. I think it well worthy of reflection whether, for the thoroughly incor• rigible and unmanageable, it might not be de sirable to have a more exclusively penal reforma tory. lam informed that Mr. Sydney Turner has recommended the employment of the prison at Parkhurst for this purpose. Consideration must, of course, be given to the lawful duration of sentences ; but it clearly would be conducive to the general welfare that the periods of detention should be suf ficiently long to admit of the full process of refor mation, and that as few as possible should be let loose anew on society till it has been thoroughly accomplished. I may sum up what I have thus imperfectly said on both branches of my subject by stating that the same principle of treatment appears to me to apply alike both to adults and juvenile re formation, as might have been expected when human nature supplies the material to be worked upon in either case, with whatever modification of degree and circumstance. The almost indispensable condition of success seems to be that the criminals. of whatever age or description, should be brought together in such numbers, and under such arrange ments, as admits of their being, to use a term which I believe, is now understood, individualised ; of their being each, in their own person, the subject upon whom influence, argument, advice, sympathy, are brought to bear ; that before they ar e r e stored to a world which would naturally look upon them with distrust and suspicion, they should have had the opportunity of submitting to some trustworthy test their altered resolutions and dispositions, and that throughout this whole recuperative process the machinery upon which, under the blessings from above, we can mainly rely, is one human heart acting upon another human heart. fLoud and protracted cheering.) [ADVERTNEMENT.]-A most interestini reCOVery,from a vast complication of diseases, such as indigestion (d3 ,. .- pepsia) l flatulency, constipation, nervous, bilious, and liver complaints, cough, asthma, consumption, - and debility, without the aid' of medicine, by Du Barry'delicious Reva lenta Arabica Food, is recorded in the following letter : Cure 52,422. Bridgehouse, Frimley, April 3, 1854.—Thirty three years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derange ment, deafness, singing in the ears, constipation, debility, shortness of breath, and cough, have been removed by your Revalenta Arabica. My lungs, liver, stomach, head, and ears are all right,-my hearing perfect, and my recovery is a marvel to all my acquaintances.—J. Roberts, wood merchant. Supported by testimonials from the celebrated Professors of Chemistry, Dr. Andrew Tire, Dr. Harvey, Dr. Shoreland, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Gattiker, Dr. Wurtzer, Dr. Ingram, Lord Stuart de Decies ; Major-General Thomas King, and many other respectable persons, whose health has been restored by it, after all other means of cure had failed. Suitably packed ,with full - instructions. In canisters, - lib. 2s. 9d. ; 21b. 4s. 6d, ; Sib. Ils. ; 121 b. 225. The 121 b ca nisters are sent carriage free on receipt of a Post-office order. Barry Du Barry, & Co., 77, Regent-street, London, and through all chemists and grocers in town and country. Important caution against the fearful danger of spurious imitations : The Vice-Chancellor Sir William Page Wood granted an injunction on the 10th March, 1854, against Alfred Hooper Nevill for imitating " Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food." PROT !ANCE. Some causes cannot afford to stand still. Those who advocate them must advance that they may not retrograde. Motion to them is life ; like the skater they fall prostrate if that motion is inter rupted. Such a person was the great Napoleon, who had brought himself to believe that to him tranquillity was certain destruction, that he must be for ever astonishing France by some new ex ploit, and that the moment he left off conquering others he would himself be conquered and over thrown. Upon the example of this great man the French School of Prohibitionists have formes themselves. Napoleon is once reported to have said, if an empire was formed of granite political economists would reduce it to powder, and the prohibitionists seem determined that in their day, at least, this process of macadamisation shall not take place. Granite is their beau ideal, a substance out of which nothing can be got, and into which nothing can enter— hard, homogeneous, barren, and worthless, without elasticity, development, or life. We have to notice, however, to-day, two excur sions of the spirit of Prohibition in France into regions whither it has not hitherto ventured. We have long ago been accustomed to hear the most frantic complaints against everything that is im ported by foreigners —to hear arguments in favour of native sugar that does not sweeten against foreign sugar that does—the praises of wood as against iron, shoddy against wool, and everything in the world against calico or flannel. We have heard the sighs of Amiens and the lamentations of Lyons, and have become well aware that the empire of the French is divided between the Emperor Napoleon and the French manufacturers, and that if he can rule they can tax the nation as they please. But we certainly were not pre pared for the advance which the French Prohi bitionists have just made. The colour which the principle of Protection has assumed among us, and hitherto among the French, is that of an intense desire to promote the grandeur and dignity of the country by shielding it and its manufactures from the unequal competition of foreign producers. We say the colour, for we have always held this talk of nationality to be a transparent pretext to veil the selfishness of men whose whole and sole desire was to make money out of the public to which the merits of their industry did not entitle them. France is the land of logic, and we have no reason, therefore, to be surprised to find the principle of Prohibition stripped of the veil of patriotism behind which she lurked, and produced in all the naked deformity of her native selfishness. The object of attack is not now the production of any foreign country, but the work of French capital, to which the empire is mainly indebted for the surprising progress which has been made in the last few years. The complainants are the Canal Proprietors of France, and the objects of their complaint the Railway C om panies. To be sure, these much injured men do not approach the throne of the Emperor with a request that he will command a sufficient number of Sappers and Miners to go forth and level to the ground the railway works which now traverse France in all directions. They do not even request that the ac cursed English iron with which these anti-national enterprises have dared to construct their rails should be torn up and Last into the sea, and that, instead thereof, a contract at their own prices should be given to the distressed forgerons of St. Etienne or the Limousin. They will permit railways to exist, they only ask to be delivered from their competition. Nay, they are mag nanimous ; passengers they abandon to the rail ways. They do not require that France should be traversed in barges, or that the Indian mail should be carried down the Rhone in a steamer ; but over goods they have a sovereign right—a right which they are prepared to assert to the uttermost. The Canals of France—almost all of which, if our memory serves us, have been made with public money—reproach the railways, the concessions of which have not been by any means gratuitous, with having received public support. and thus involving them in an unfair competition. It appears that these heartless innovators have actually lowered their tariff for carrying goods, whenever they have had to compete with water communication, to a point with which the canal owners find itimpossible to compete. This is intolerable, and the modest re quest of the canal owners is, that for their benefit the railways shall be compelled to charge a sum for the carriage of goods so high as to enable the canals successfully to compete with them. They ask the Emperor, in fact, to employ his power in compelling' the railway companies to regulate their charkes, not with a view to their own interest, but to that of their opponents. The public, of course, who will have to pay these extra charges, go for nothing in the matter ; or, rather, the Emperor is asked to pro tect them against the effects of their own folly. The public, say the French monopolists, are not sufficiently alive to the benefits of competition. With an ignorant impatience of high charges— which they ought to know are beneficial to them— they fly to the railway . because they ask least, and if things are allowed to go on in this way the canals will be shut up altogether, and then there will be no competition at all. In our eyes the French public are excusable for not appreciating the value of a competition the result of which is to make things dear instead of cheap, and for thinking little would be gained by establishing a legal monopoly for fear the superiority of railways should create a virtual one. The request, as we have said, does not appear to us very reasonable, but it is, at any rate, logical and consistent. Once admit the principle that the interests of the consumer are to be systematically sacrificed to those of the producer, and we can se3 no reason why the weaker producer should not be allowed to invoke the aid of Government to pro tect him against the competition of his stronger and more fortunate fellow-countrynien. Why should a barge be subject_to the competition of a steamer, or a punt to the competition of a b arge P Wh y should human labour be displaced by that of bullocks, bul locks by horses, or horses by the steam-engine P On the principles of Protection we cannot say, and we strongly recommend to the perusal of the Canal in terest of France the petition against the light of the sun suggested by M. Frederick Bastiat as the pro per exposition ofthe griefs of the afflicted manufac turers of lamps, candles, and girandoles. We have left ourselves but little room to expa tiate on the second development of the spirit of Prohibition. It appears that the Basqups of the Pyrenees have not studied under Mr. Bright's direction. They have man's blessings positive and negative. Among the former may be enumerated Universal Suffrage, Vote by Ballot ; and among the latter the total absence of a powerful aristocracy, entails, and the law of primogeniture. Yet, even with all these aids and appliances for happiness, they are as anxious to emigrate as the Glasgow weavers themselves. They are. the Swiss of France —keen, active, and iniustrious, • and particularly well fitted to push their fortunes in foreign coun tries. Perhaps they are disposed to think that even the good things they enjoy would not be ill ex changed for a moderate amount of personal and political freedom, for permission to buy cheap and sell dear, for emancipation from the extortions which-their protected manufacturers conceive them selves born to practise upon them, and for a state of law which permits and encourages the employment of capital and skill on land, and thus favours the improvement of agriculture and the remuneration labour. However this may be, many Basques have emigrated to Buenos Ayres, have acquired fortunes there, and many others, stimulated by their success, are preparing to follow their example. The Minis ter of the Interior is horrified that the people should think of leaving the paradise which Protection, Prohibition, Conscription, and Subdivision have made for them. " Must I :believe," says the dis consolate Minister of the Interior, " that the agri cultural labourers do not receive sufficiently high wages ?" The Prefect replies, "On the - one hand, the moderate salary paid to daily labourers, parti cularly.during' late years, on the other hand the insufficiency of the produce of patrimonial portions of land for the small cultivators, which is sub- divided at every inheritance, constitute the prin cipal causes of the Basque emigration." Again he says, Insufficiency of means to live on their native soil in consequence of the minute subdivi- sion of property is among the principal causes." The remedy is characteristic- , ---to refuse passports to all persons under age. This makes the whole circle complete. The State deprives every one of right of disposing of his property at his death, and substitutes for that right an enforced subdivision by which it ruins agriculture. It forces every one to pay an enormous tribute to a number of greedy monopolists, thus depriving him of the natural right to buy and sell where he pleases • and when, reduced to extremity by suc h t r eatment, the peasant proposes to carry the only commodity which the mischievous meddling of Government has left him to a better market, his native country is converted into a gaol, from which, for the benefit of the protected interests, he is on no ac count to be allowed to escape.---Times. DEPARTURE OF THE SWALLOWS. —A large num _ ber of swallows assembled yesterday morning, on the south side 'only of Lincoba's-inn-flelds ; a few were also see n in the square of Lincoln's-inn, and attracted consider able attention. About two o'clock, when a steady rai n set in, they collected on the roof of the College of Sur geons, where by their incessant twitting - thoy appeared to be holding a council, after which they suddenly disappeared, and were not Rem for, the remainder of the day. Mr. Yar rell states, inVOhis " 'Natural History of Bi r d s ," th a t a b ou t the middle of October martins generally leave this country in large flocks, having previously assembl e d on h ouse -t o p s , about churches, and lofty trees. It was supposed that this gathering was preparatory to a general migration. AN AMERICAN DUEL. The - San Francisco correspondent of the New York Herald, writing on the 6th ult., describes a duel which took place on-the 21st August, on Angel Island, in the' Bay of - San Francisco, between George Penn Johnston, Clerk of the United States Circuit - Court and editor of the National, and Wm. I. Ferguson, State Senator from Sacramento county, in the presence of a large crowd collected for the occasion. It appears that Ferguson took ground, months ago, against the Kansas policy of th e ad ministration, and that Johnst on is an ardent sup porter of Mr. Buchanan. The correspondent writes : " Ferguson was on a visit to this city, and met Johnston accidentally about midnight at the Bank Exchange. The difficulty which followed occurred in this manner. During the conversation Ferguson remarked that Johnston belonged, body and soul, to Dr. Gwin. A Mr. Westmoreland, who was present, then repeated a few lines which appeared in the Butte Record in reference to a despateh over the Atlantic Telegraph, announcing the safe arrival of Mrs. Gwin and family in England, Johnston re quested the speaker to cease, remarking that no gentleman would mention the name of a lady in a bar-room. Westmoreland desisted, but Ferguson repeated the lines, which were in truth harmless in themselves. Johnston remonstrated, and went on to assert that he (Ferguson) was the last man in the State who should attempt to fling ridicule or bring discredit to the door of any one, for he had violated his pledged word made to him (Johnston) at Sacramento, where he promised that if the Administrative Convention did not no minate Congressmen, he (Ferguson) would use all his exertions to prevent the anti-Lecomptonites from so doing. Ferguson replied by pronouncing, in unmistakeable terms, the statement untrue, and made a demonstration towards Johnston. Johnston drew his pistol, but parties present interfered, stat ing that Ferguson was unarmed. Upon being in formed of this fact Johnston put up his weapon. Other words passed between the parties, when mu tual friends interfered, and both left. But before leaving the place Ferguson called to all persons present that the quarrel . between him and John ston did not arise about a lady, and asserted that he had said nothing disrespectful of Mrs. Gwin. The next morning (Aug. 21) Johnston sent Fergu son a peremptory challenge, which was promptly accepted. The time and place were fixed after some preliminaries were settled. " The meeting took place on Angel Island, about five miles from the city, but fully within view. The principals, with their seconds, physicians; and a number of friends, arrived on the ground at two o'clock in the aftern oon . U n til five o'clock nothing was done save talking, obtaining refreshments and indulging in pistol p rac ti ce , f or i t was well known neither party had much experience in the use of the weapon. At the last-mentioned hour about 80 per sons were present, including several federal officers. The parties were brought to the spot selected, the pistols (duelling ones) loaded, the agreement being on the first fire 10 paces, or 30 feet ; the second and subsequent fires 20 feet. " Both appeared cool and collected, coming on the ground with overcoats. ' They were presented with pistols by their seconds, the latter exhibiting more nervousness than the principals. A reporter from the Morning Call, who witnessed the fight, gives the following account of it, which is consi dered correct :—They stripped off their overcoats, buttoned up their coats, and turned up the collars thereof, Ferguson at the moment giving vent to one of his characteristic jokes. The moment was an ex citing one to the spectators, many of whom were never participants in a similar affair. Mr. Johnston was placed standing to the west; Mr. Ferguson standing to the east, facing south. The former wore a sack coat, buttoned at the top ; the latter a frock. The word was to be given by demanding, Are you ready P—Fire !' At the latter word, both fired, Fer guson a little the first; but no damage was done— Johnston's bullet striking the ground about a foot in front of his adversary, and Ferguson's passing close to Johnston to the north, lodging in the earth.. All the spectators gave a relieving breath, and sup posed that some steps would be taken to effect a reconciliation ; but such hopes were dispelled on seeing the weapons reloaded. On the second fire, the distance being reduced 10 feet, both discharged their pistols simultaneously without effect, the shots _being line ones, and the bullets lodging in the ground near each contestant's feet. On the third :attempt Ferguson fired first, Johnston reserving his _fire. At this moment, when the life of his adversary - was in his hands, the excitement was intense, and every spectator expected a deadly issue. After discharging his weapon, Ferguson gave one of his characteristic shakes of the head, and braced him self to receive the fire, which was given deliberately, but missed, passing to the south of the latter. The result was a great relief to all present, who could not but admire the coolness and courage of both parties, and strong hopes were entertained that the affair would then be 'terminated, as it looked like butchery to see two men coolly shoot at each other at such a short distance ; but Johnston's seconds demanded another shot, which of course was granted. On coming to the ground for the fourth shot, the excitement among the spectators had somewhat abated; the three piff paffs interchanged having somewhat familiarised them with the code of honour, and the sentiment was universal, Go in, and get killed'—the outsiders considering it rather forcing the matter in requiring another shot. During the interval Johnston talked freely with his friends, and Ferguson, after throwing his over coat around him, for the wind commenced to blow sharply, walked to and fro with Dr. White. 44 The parties prepared for the fourth fire and the word was given, but Mr. Dameron, one of John ston's seconds, stopped the fire on account of some informality. After a short parley between the se conds the word was again repeated, and both fired —Ferguson firing first, Johnston having reserved his fire. On the report of the pistol being heard, Ferguson was seen to fall. It was expected that he was killed, - but on examination it was ascertained that Johnson's shot had taken effect midway in his right thigh, breaking the bone. Ferguson's shot passed through Johnston's coat, ploughed up the front of his pants and grazed his left wrist and hand, and inflicting a trifling wound, "On the result of the fourth fire being made known, a feeling of relief was manifested amongst all present. Mr. Ferguson's surgeons attended to his wound promptly, and availed themselves of a mattress and stretcher, which had been brought to the ground. Whilst in the surgeon's hands the ruling passion of Ferguson predominated, for he joked in'the best spirit, and said if he was a poor shot, he had sufficient, pluck to face the music. On receiving his wound Mr. Ferguson asked if John ston had been injured, and sent a friend to inquire, which civility was reciprocated by the Johnston side ; and afterwards Mr. Johnston, accompanied by his seconds, after having inquired if a visit was permissible, visited Mr. Ferguson, and shook hands, passing but the usual set phrases incident to such occasions. " Ferguson's wound is serious, and he has since been confined to his bed. At first he thought that his life was in jeopardy, and that the limb would have to be amputated. These fears have been re- moved, and the gentleman will escape, probably with a halting step for the balance of his existence. The regret for the injury is felt by his political opponents almost as much as by his friends. Fer guson is a man of generous qualities, though not as careful in his mode of living as those who know him would desire. Johnston was but slightly wounded—he was on the street the day after the duel. Ferguson stays at the same hotel with Mr. Broderick, where he was directly conveyed from the field. Both gentlemen displayed unflinching courage and extraordinary coolness during the time occupied with the fight. There are few duels of which we have any record where four shots were exchanged and so much fearlessness and-noncha lance exhibited." BELGIAN:RIFL PRACTICE.- - =-At the late r ifl e . presence ng.— of the King, the following "As far as concerns the 11 100 of which Civic Guard the following are the facts :-2,220 men, with guns n rayes, fired , balls , . 1,115 touched wpTeretitcheearteßsulratssseolsal6 firing . the - target . N° They s,,i o t b h t a a t i n l e o d 1 p e 2,s r 3 c o e p n o t m . t o s f ; the ma made balls 50 s blanks, tk The average the mark. 200 men - armed with muskets- fired 1,000 balls, of which 220 struck the target. ' They obtained 2,660 points ;thead 16 blanks. The average 22 per cent. _As to army, 78 men armed with the carbine a tige fired 290 balls, of which one-third, that is to say 130, touched the target. They obtained 1,625 points and made -10 blanks. On the average 33 per cent. of the balls hit the mark. 384 shooters used the rifle gun. The result was 1,920 balls fired; 584 balls hit the mark ; 6,250 points were obtained ; 33 blanks. The average of balls hitting the object was 28 per cent ; 156 shooters with non -rifled guns. They fired 780 balls; 122 hit the target. They obtained 1,385 points ; made 11 blanks. The average of balls that hit the mark wasil6 per cent. The shooters served with armes de precision were numerous; 254 took part in the match at the fixed target. They fired 2,540 balls, of which 2,257 reached the target. They made 416 blanks, being the enor mous average of 88 ou t o f every 100 touching the mark." These results appeared to mterest his Majesty greatly. They showed the enormous advantage of armes de precision over the ordinary arms. The Ministers of the Interior and of War added their congratulations to those which the King addressed to the president of the committee. A FLYING MACHINE.—Lord Carlingford, in a ounces letter dated ‘ Swift's Heath, September 17, to the public that he has " clearly established th alin. of i aerial navigation," that the aerhedon, or aeri al y in ea t rs k i e t ‘ on ch ltiti vin c g tio fi n perfection of its • ' e al p cha c ri p o l t e- , oowfnwhiancdh his principle, and of the -manner in r s e l v o e r d_ dsh_ h ip e has pe spent several a company for the pur whicth it has been carried out, it is now a question of forming ht . k g-soug-for pea() of bringing it gilt, and then f scovery, adv anc i ng 'discovery, the whole wo r ld t o witness at last th e l o ciNillisation, am? administering to the happiness and pro sp4rity of nations." - : .' r A FEARFUL BALLOON _VOYAGE. The Toronto (Canada) Globe , of Sept. 27th, con tains the f o ll ow i ng account f a fearful balloon ascent :--‘, A gloom is suddenly thrown over the sympathising public by a sad termination to the balloon ascension at Adrian yesterday. We learn the facts from a gentleman who has seen and con versed with most of the persons interested. The balloon, with Messrs. Bannister and Thurston in the ear, arose from the enclosure at about half-past 8 o'clock. It went up steadily and beautifully, taking a south-east direction, and soon became lost to the sight of the multitude assembled at Adrian- After the aeronauts had been up what they consi dered a sufficient length of time, they let the gas escape slowly, and made a handsome descent near Knight's-station (Riga Post-office), a few miles from Sylvania. The aeronauts stepped from the car, and immediately proceeded to unfasten it, and to re move the netting from the balloon, which gradually turned over, finally resting with the neok upward. Mr. Thurston got astride of the main valve, which was a circular w oo d en b ox or frame,. fixed in the top of the gas sack (which was very large, con taining 25,000 cubic feet of gas), and was engaged in forcing back the valve, which opened inward, at the same time requesting Mr. Bannister to untie the neck of the bag. The latter Mr. 8., who was busy with the netting, neglected to do. The mo ment the netting was off, the sack suddenly arose, and Mr. T. still clinging to the valve, Mr. B. in stantly grasped for the ascending balloon, but Thurston exclaimed, Hold on, Bannister, she will soon come down aga i n ; ' f or he supposed' that his - companion had untied the neck of the sack, which would, of course, soon relieve it of gas, and, there fore, of its upward tendencies ; but he was doomed to a terrible disappointment. Up and up the bal loon ascended with its precious burden of human life, and when last seen by the horrified Bannister was full two miles high, and sailing rapidly to the northward. Mr. Bannister, sick at heart, and dreadfully alive to the extreme danger of his com rade, hur rie d t o S ylvania, arrivingin time for the up train from Toledo, 11.25 a.m., on which, he soon arrived at Adrian with the unhappy tidings. Mr- Thurston resided at Adrian, and had a daughter ' there, his w if e b e i ng dead. Hopes are yet enter tained of his having landed in safety somewhere in the interior, by perforating the sack with his knife, or some other means. Nothing further has been heard from him up to a late hour this morning." COUNTRY MARKETS. ROCIIDALE—OcT. 11. The trade in most articles is stationary, but, holders of oatmeal conceding a reduction of ls, a fair quantity changed. hands. In the provisio n mar k et there was a large show of potatoes, and the best sold for more money, the top price being 9s 6d per 2521 b. NEWCASTLE—OcT. 12. There was only a moderate quantity of wheat on offer this morning, and on all good saleable descriptions there was an improvement of is per qr. Flour has advanced 6d per sack. Barley and oats were is per qr. lower. HULL--OcT. 12. At the market to-day the supply of English wheat sold readily at an advance of is per qr. Foreign met more in quiry, but the quantity offering was only limited. Barley for malting neglected, but grinding in fair request at labs rates. Beans steady, with a better sale for good dry new samples. Peas unaltered. Oats maintained last week's • prices, with more demand for fine old horse corn. Wheat.... Old white„ ...per qr .. 445. Od to 48s Od Old red . ... ~ New white .. „ New red. . Dantzic, Konb., tic. old white 50s Od to 63s Od Dutch, Belgian, and French 47s Od to 48s Od Baltic and Hamburg, red ... 458 Od to 47 8 Od St. Petersbur g and Riga, old 4os Od to 42 s Od ' Barley.... English malting32s 04 to 36s Od Grinding 3os Od to 32s Od. Saal and Oderbruck Holstein and Danish O3B Od to 31s Od Grinding 27s Od to 29s Od • Oats English, old Archangel and Riga, per st is odto is lci Friesland a n d D utc h is 1 d to is 2d Swedish and Danish. Beans ....English, old, per qr •468 Od to 48s Od ' New pigeon Old tick Egyptian Peas Foreign break ers 8 Od to 44s Od Grinding 4OB Od to 41s Od Tares .... Winter B5B Od to 90s Oil , Indian Corn Linseed,. feeding crushing Linseed cakes Tull) - £9 12 6to £9 15 0 L roreign BlO oto 9 0 13 ' Rape cakes 6 7 6to 610 0 Bones IPSWICH—OcT. 12. The supply of wheat to-day was small, and the millers were more inclined to take it at the extreme rates of last week. Barley very abundant, and the low qualities found more buyers at 26s to 28s. Wheat, white 46s to 48s Beans, Mazagan..4os to 41s red 40s to 45s . Middle & small 44s to 45s Barley 26s to 28s White peas 4ss to 46s Rye 348 to 35s Grey.. 7 -s to —0 BELFAST—OcT. 11. • At this:morning's market there was very little doing in grain, and prices remained without much change. CORK—Oer. 12. The following were 'the quotatiOns this morning :.—Red wheat, 16s to 21s Od; White, 18i to 24s 0d; barley 108 to 16s Od ; oats, 108 9d td 13s; •Trade slow. ' D UBLIN--0ur..12. . We had a very briik market to day, and wheat sold at an advance of 6d. Oats sold at 3d to 6d dearer than on Friday. Grinding barley 3d higher ; malting as before. Indian corn was a slow sale, at reduced ra t es. s. d. • ei Wheat, white 22 6to 24 6 Do., new ... , . 11 3to 12 9 Do., red 2l 6t022 6 Bere ll 6to 12 6 Do., new..... 21 6to . 24 6 Rapeseed Barley Oats - 6 Do., black ll oto 13 0 Indian corn .. 30 0t032 0 COAL MARKET-Oar. 13. (Prices of Coal per Ton at the close of the market.) Middle's West Hartley, 15s. 9d. • West Tanfield, -s. Howard's _W es t Hartley Netherton, 15s. 9d. ; Tanfield Moor, -8. Od. ; Tanfield Moor Butes, -8 Od. Wylam, 14s. 6d. Earsden Hartley, -s. ; Byass's Bebside West lrartley,-•-s.; Walker Primrose 12s. 6d.; H o l ywe ll ,l4s 6 d ; Birohgrove Vrralgola, -a. Nixon's Merthyr, 21s. Od.; Davison's West,Hartley, 15s. 9d. Haswell Gas, 13s. Od.; Morpeth West - Hartley, - s. 04 Tyne Main, 138. Od. ; Whitridge's Hartley, -s Od ; Lambert's W. Hartley, 153 9d; Powell's, Duff:Fyn Steam, 21s. Od. Walla End,-.A.corn Close, -s. Od. ; Benson, -8. Od. ; Hunwick, -s. 9d; Whitworth,l4B. 6d.; Shincliffe, --8. Od.; Haswell, 19s. 0d.,; Od. • Cassop, 18s. Od; Northumberland, -s. Od; Lambton, 18s. 6d. • Wharn cliffe, -s. Od. ' • Kepier - Grange --8. Od. ; Bell,' -s. Od. ; Russell's Hetton, .17s. 6d. ; Harton, 16s. 9d. ; Dry, burl' • Grange, -s. Od ; Heugh Hall, 17s. 9d. • Riddell, --s. Od. ; BradylPs, 17s 6d ; 178. 9d. ; dtewart's, 18s. 6d; South Hartlepool, 17 8 3d. _ - - rnatket, 44—sold, 42. A RELIC OF THE EMPEROR- NAPOLEON I. AT A DI SCOUNT. — Messrs. Debenham and Storr offered for sale on Monday, at their rooms, King-street, Covent-gar.. den, a curious old military t reasure chest; fornierly the pro perty f'of the' First Napoleon, and which was left at Acre after the siege. The chest- was- of iron, and the locks and keys were very curious. The works of the principal lock, which had eleven bolts fitting into a ledge all round the interior, extended over the whole lid, and this was further secured by two padlocks. There was verrlittle 'competi tion, and the "lot" waaknocked down for VT only. THE SUNDAY QUESTION 'IN SCOTLAND.---On Friday deputations from the Established and Free Presby teries of Edinburgh,•the former consisting of Drs. Muir, Nisbet, Hunt e r, M ac f ar l ane, and Veitch ; and the latt er o f the Rev. Sir H. W. Monerieff, Drs. Begg, Candli s h, an d Clason, and the Rev. Mr. 'Davidson, waited on the Lord Provost and magistrates to eall their attention to the "great and increasing" amount of petty trading carried on in that city on the. Sabbath. A lengthy conversation took place on the subject, in the course of which a question was raised as to the parties whose duty it was to prosecute in, cases of Sunday trading. As' considerable uncertainty prevailed on. this point, it was finally. agreed that the magistrates should take the opinion of counsel on the matter. B.IRTH S. BnENmEn.--On the 12th inst., at 14, Studley-road, Stock well, Mrs. Charles Brenmer, of a daughter. DARE. —On the 10th inst., at 88, Piccadilly, the wife of Mr. N. A. Dare, of a•son: • ROBERTSON.—On the 12th inst. at Blackheath, th e w i fe of Dr. Robertson D.C.L:,* of a daughter. . . YONGE.—On the 11th inst,, at Eton College, Mrs. John Eyre Yonge, of a son. MARRIAGES. BOYLE—HOLE.—On•the 12th inst., at St. Mary's Church., Tenby, the Hon. Robert •Francis Boyle, R.N., second son of the late Earl of Shannon, to •Elizabeth the only daughter of Captain W. H o l e, R .N., of Bideford, Devon, and Tenby, South Wales. WADE—BARBER.- On the 12th inst., at Great Yarmouth, Mr. John Wade, of York-street Westminster, to Alm a Lydia, second daughter of R. D. Barber, Esq., of the former place. ( A . inE say an, for day ten of% troi Pos Wil Cap It Lie mai tare Bona oft; , ta , Ta Erni SU Sam Joh, DEATHS. ANDERSON.—On the 21st . Aug., at Mount Aboo, Lieut.- Jodhpo Colonel W and in. Anderson aged 56. 59th 8.N.1., Political Agent of ATKINS.On the 6th inst., suddenly, John Elias Atidnet Esq., banker, Portsmouth, and J.P. for Portsmouth and H an ts, aged 56. or Sero CHArmAw.—On the 12th inst., Sarah, relict of John Hood Chapman, Esq., - of Atherstone, aged 90. DoYLE.—On the 12th inst., at Margate, Emily, wife of Mr. Edward Doyle, o f 87 , Camden-road Villas, Camden town, and 2, Verulam-b u ildi ngs, Gray's-inn. RANDeLPR.--.on the 12th inst., suddenly, at 6. Victoria squares Pimlico, Caroline Mary Victoire, wife of Lieut.- - G Cor. Randolph, Grenadier G uards, and eldest dau g ht er . of General Sir Robert Gardiner, K.C.8., K.C.H. STEELE.—On the 7th inst., at 84, New-read, GraTatend, Mr. Chas. Steel, aged 69. , ONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, , Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of Wddlesex, Thursday, October 14, 1858.