The Sun. — London, England, 1859-10-12 00:00:00

----- THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS AT BRADFORD. BRADFORD, TUESDAY. The third annual congress of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science was opened here yesterday. The first meeting was held at Birmingham in 1857, under the presidency of the veteran Lord Brougham, who may be said to be the founder of the Association; and the second at Liverpool, when Lord John Russell was elected president. The Earl of Sbaftesbury is the president for the current year; the chiefs of the other departments being—Jurispru dence and Amendment of the Law, Vice-Chancellor Sir W. Page Wood ; Education, the Right Hon. C. B. Adderley, M.P. ; Punishment and Reformation, Mr. Monckton Milnes, M.P. ; Public Health, the Right lion. W. Cowper, M.P. ; and Social Economy, Sir J. K. Shuttleworth. The association has been recruited this year by a junction with the International Association. for Obtaining a Uniform Decimal System of Measures, Weights, and Coins. Lord Brougham, whose reception in Bradford is of the hearty and genial description for which the East Riding is famous, is the guest of Mr. Wickham, of Kirkless Hall. The noble president is sojourning with Mr. Rand, of Brad ford. The attendance of members and associates is highly satisfactory, and applications for tickets continue to be nu- merous. Lord BROUGHAM then delivered his annual address. The noble and learned lord spoke as follows :—Ladies and gen tlemen, —In addressing you upon the present occasion of our third meeting, there are so many subject which claim our attention that a selection must be made of those most press ing for consideration, and theSe very far indeed from being the only ones of great importance. This affixes one limit to the choice of topics ; but another is prescribed by the maxim of always looking forward, the maxim which must guide us and all practical men— " Thinking nought done while aught remains to do." We are therefore bound chiefly to regard the things proposed to complete what has already been begun, or the things which have not yet been brought under our consideration. It is impossible in any institution like ours that disappoint ment should not arise from the comparative slowness of the progress made in giving effect to the proposals offered, the changes suggested. This arises in part from the hopes and expectations of sanguine men. But it is chiefly owing to the wide difference between proposing and executing. " Proposal," as Lord Bacon said long ago, "has wings, but execution leaden feet." In the course of our speculations we meet no obstruction ; our plans are more or less theories. We move foniard at a rapid pace ; the world of action flows slowly, its course broken by rocks, even its currents often striking against the banks. It is ever moving, like time, but at a pace so different from that of the speculative reformer hurrying along the side, that it mocks his impa tience, and he is apt to think nothing done, nay even to fancy that society is not merely stationary but retrograde, because its rate of movement is so different from his own ; just as when travelling with great speed along a river side, it sometimes appears stagnant and not to flow at all—nay, even you are under the deception of its seeming to flow backwards. But reasonable men are reconciled to the post ponement of the things they so anxiously desire by the re flection that all change to be safe must be gradual ; and to be an improvement must be the result of experience, the great teacher, but the sovereign corrector, too, which not only must preside over the formation of our plans, but guide us in their execution. Let ns first cast an eye abroad before dwelling upon our hon.e concerns, and we find reason to be satisfied even with the progress, begun at least, in countries very far from heretofore moving even at the slow rate complained of here. In the Russian empire our pro ceedings in this association have been watched with great interest. The accounts of them both in 1857 and last year have been most fully given in the St.. Petersburg journals. Our corresponding members in that country assure us of the great attention given to them ; and we shall have proofs of it in papers now communicated from thence. But the Government has happily undertaken the great measure of emancipating the serfs, conducting it upon sound and moderate principles ; and what might still less have been expected, a greater freedom of discussion, upon. all subjects, has been allowed to the press. Surely we may well lament that other countries which have no serfs to liberate, but have a press to set free, show no such tendencies. Who would have thought but a little while ago of the Russian Government being held up to the French for imitation, and the people for envy, in anything relating to public liberty. Of Austria it may not be possible to speak in the same terms. Yet an important step has been made even there in favour of religious liberty. In those parts of her domi nions heretofore most oppressed by ecclesiastical tyranny and bigotry, in their usual and natural alliance, it is under stood that the .Protestants are now secured in the full en joyment of their rights. It is most gratifying to observe these indications of the progress which social science is - making in its most important branches. But we must now bring our view homeward ; and first of all we are bound to acknowledge the kind terms in which the president of the sister institution has, at its last meeting, referred to the Natioesal Association. His royal highness presiding for the year, in a most able address, distinguished by its learning as well as by its sound sense, was pleased to express his good wishes towards us, and confidence in the success of our labours, and to intimate a desire (in which I am sure we all most heartily join) that our endeavours may be directed, as much as possible, to make our works answer to our designation, giving our various inquiries a scientific substance as well as form. And now, as there may be some doubt about the order in which to take the subjects selected for summary mention, let us, in deference to our noble president, begin with the public health department, which he so ably [superintended last year. At that meeting it appointed a committee to consider the im portant subject of the means of preventing the adul teration of food ; and the council made an elaborate re port, referring Mr. Scholefield's bill to the committee, which approved the bill, suggesting some material amend ments. It was, however, unfortunately dropped in the Commons ; but the committee's report will be of great ser vice to Mr. Scholefield in preparing the measure for rein troduction. The same department took into its considera tion the unsatisfactory footing upon which the responsibi lity of Government, as well as that of the local authorities, for the sanitary state of the country, had been left by the Public Health Act of 1857, and especially by the want of system, which inevitably resulted from the act being only temporary. The council entirely agreed in this view, and presented an elaborate petition to both houses, through Lord Shaftesbury and Lord J. Russell, setting forth in de tail the evils complained of, and strongly urging the making the act permanent, with some few alterations. This appli cation to Parliament was attended with success, and the Act of 18.57 is now perpetual. Great progress has been made in the investigation which was instituted as to the effects of the qnarantine laws, and their proposed abroga tion. A sub-committee of the department was charged with this subject, and queries in great detail were circu lated among our governors and consuls, the answers to which furnish important information, as will be found in the report about to be presented. In prosecuting this in quiry we heve been greatly indebted to the Foreign and Colonial Secretaries b ,th of the present and the former Government, as well as to the valuable papers read at our last meeting. But the most remarkable papers in this department at that meeting were unquestionably those of Florence Nightingale, in which she communicated in a most striking manner the results of her experience upon the construction and economy of hospitals. The council, deeply impressed with the importance of these papers, had them printed in a separate form and sent copies to all the hospitals in the United Kingdom, and to many medical officers. There is every reason to believe that the best effects have followed from this proceeding, and that this great benefactor to her suffering fellow-creatures will not much longer have to lament, with a feeling of shame, our free country being left behind those u nder despotic Governments in this material branch of sanitary policy. Let us pause for a moment to declare that the choicest notes warbled by the "solemn bird of night" never sounded more sweet to vulgar ears than now sounds to the philanthropist's the name consecrated to undying fame by the wise beneficence and generous self-sacrifice of her who bears it—a fame far less precious in her estimation than the delightful reflection on pain assuaged and sorrow averted. When we consider how many thousands of the poor are unfortunately inhabitants of the workhouse, we at once perceive the importance of its better regulation, both as regards its economy, its arrangements, and the labour of its inmates. But the tendency of the governors to exclude • the public, and to prevent a full examination of what goes on within the walls, has been found to prevent the improve ments which humane and well-informed persons have repeatedly urged. Iwo most valuable papers from Miss Louisa Twining were read at our meetings at Birming ham and in Liverpool ; and at the former an im portant discussion led to the appointment of a sub-com mittee on the proposition suggested by her experience and full knowledge of the whole subject, namely, the for mation of workhouse visiting committees. This received the entire approval of the Poor-law Board. The consequence has been the institution of a system of regular visiting of workhouses, especially of their schools and sick wards. It would be difficult to narrate the importance of this reform, or the merits of Miss Twining, whose time, and care, and great abilities have long b een d evo t e d t o the subject. There can be no doubt that the plan thus happily begun will be carried further, with the benefit of the suggestions which have resulted from above a year's experience. The various subjects connected with the amendment t the law require a more detailed contVuerabetionfutuhyancothelei=of this address n of by the permit ; but they eminent person who presides over the departmentupo prudence. On one most important matter we may remem ber ber the able paper of Mr. Leone Levi, and the discussionsm to which it gave rise the year before last on Judicial Statistics, and a very beneficial effect has been produced by th at dis cussion. There has been to a certain extent a removal of the defect s o o ften c o mplained of, and for which I have fs , repeatedly pressed bills upon the Law Amendment Society and the House of Lords. The position is of manifest truth, that judicial legislation can never become an inductive science until a record is kept in minute detail of all causes tried and the results of the trial, so that the effects of each change in the law may at once be seen A considerable im provement, by an extension of the returns, has been made under the able superintendence of Messrs. Redgrave and Fonblanque ; and the object of my resolutions, moved in 1856, and supported at our first meeting, has to a certaih extent been attained. So that we may hope for such com plete and replar information upon this subject as has long been given in the French annual statement of the Ministers of Public Justice, and that the principles which guide our judicial legislation may better deserve the name of inductive science. The bulk of the community, the working classes, have much that concerns their comfort, and conduces to their improvement, in their own power. But not a little ers. The progress of the mide depends upon their . employ ciaese , i n acquiring knowledge naturally - gives it a greater value in their i.stireation as regards themselves and those be - neat there. Thir at tentio . n,.too, has o f late years been turned general ly to th egr e t a question of social science, and the condi tion in al l respects of those in their employ up haft occupied their former times. But in nothing thoughts far more than distingui s h e d themselves, both for good have they more sense and disinterested benevolenc.e than in the efforts made wing besides a half-holiday, torestrict the hours of labour, gi the entire benefit of the Sabbath rest. The grievous effects of over-working on the health both of body and mind have been strikingly shown upon the authority of medical men and other experienced persons. It has also been satisfac torily proved that the sacrifice which employers make is much over-rated ; that in many cases it amounts to nothing (the work being better done, or the shop better attended by those who are not exhausted) ; and in all cases the loss, might, by judicious arrangements, be avoided. It is highly satisfactory to find that the early closing movement, which began about 20 years ago, when it was confined to the drapery business, soon after became general, so that now there is in all branches of trade, and also in the public de partments, a very great improvement. But we had a description at our first meeting from Mr. Lilwall, in his able and painfully interesting paper, of the dreadful condi tion of those working in some trades still unreformed ; and it is devoutly to be hoped that the same considerate kind ness of employers may be extended to these. This is mani festly an evil to which, great as it is, the law cannot, except perhaps in a very few instances and to a very limited extent, apply a remedy.* It becomes the more ne cessary to direct the attention of employers still further to the subject, and to call upon them to communicate with each other, and make such arrangements as the experience of any may suggest for completing, with as little sacrifice as possible, the good work already, much to their credit, begun. Of a truth, what they have done is highly to be praised, and their conduct is worthy of all acceptation ; nor could we easily point to any work of philanthropy in our day better entitled to public gratitude. It has, indeed, merits of a peculiar kind ; for while other plans operate indirectly and gradually, the benefits of this are direct and immediate. The health, the instruction, the morals of the community, are directly improved by the action applied—and improved at • once. The class, too. thus benefitted is the most important r of the children of toil—those in whose work the mind is most employed. But it comprises, also, our artisans — those whose talents and industry make England the great capital of manufactures ; whose exquisite skill and admi rable dexterity bear the fame of our arts into every sea that 6 ship can plough, teaching envy to the proudest of our rivals, and veneration to every tribe, however remote, as soon as its existence becomes known. Of the working classes at large, if not the besetting pernicious failings, are impro v idence and intemperance ; sins,. cer tainly the most as there can be no greater evils than what proceed from these sources, it is fortunate that a remedy can be applied certainly to mitigate, possibly even to effect an absolute cure. The two failings are no doubt closely . connected ; but it is fit that they be apart,conside a r x ed tena re spects they are not co-extensive, materialhaving the v i a m s p i r n ovid o rn e ce wider n e id r scope Clarke, akned, in more general very usefulgeneraloratpioanpaltis at w th e a ll c s a ai n d gr b e y a l‘ a l a r f . E help the working people to keep themselves with 1857, that "the great proble m of social economyteir own - now to money" (in other words, to teach them provident h a bit s ) and the plan which he strongly presses, and which Mr. Akroyd, in an able and important paper last year more fully illustrated, is the establishment of penny savings banks. The great step made 50 years ago, and which we owe to a most wise and pious pastor of the Scotch Church, my . re vered friend Dr. H. Duncan, was the institution of savings banks which received all deposits of a shilling and upwards. These very soon extended almost over the whole island. By the last returns there have been deposited above £32,000,000 by 1,340,000 contributors. But in this, as in all• other institutions for promoting popular improvement, it has been found that they do not at first reach the class for whose benefit they are chiefly designed, but a class somewhat above them ; and the proportion of very small deposits clearly showed the tendency of the humbler classes to avail themselves of the banks as far as their rules allow ; for 85 per cent. of the amount which has just been mentioned was for sums of an average not exceeding £l2. It thus became manifest that sums below Is. ought to be received, and Dr. Chalmers proposed the penny bank, which completely succeeded. Without the knowledge of his sug gestion and its success, the same thing was tried, and suc ceeded perfectly, at Birmingham, Halifax, Derby, Hull, and many other places. In Birmingham, in 1856, 84,000 accounts were opened for sums of ld. and upwards, £11,600 being paid in, of which- £10,700 were drawn out, clearly showing that the banks are used as they were intended, for a temporary deposit, and for keeping the money till wanted, but without the banks the pence would be squandered in providing some indulgence, probably drink. The great ob ject is teaching the working man to begin saving—once beginning he will add to the little hoard, an when it reaches a certain amount he will keep it, unless driven by bad times, by disease, or other accident to encroach upon it. But we may safely affirm that a most salutary change is made in a man's habits, perhaps in his character, by his beginning to save for whatever purpose, and that providence in this one and very material particular will become the habit generally of his mind. It is to be hoped that our at tention may be called during this meeting to the proposal of Mr. Sikes, for applying money-order offices in the Post office department to the purposes of savings banks, or, pos sibly in some cases, as a substitute for them. Of intempe rance, the baneful effects need not be dwelt upon in de tail. It is the smallest part of the evil that at the very least ten times as mnch money is spent upon drink as upon publications of all kinds, newspapers included. The learned and enlightened Recorder of Birmingham makes this abundantly evident in his valuable charges to the grand jury. But the far worst effects of this propensity in pro ducing disease both of body and mind, and in filling our gaols with criminals and our workhouses with paupers, are so dreadful as loudly to call for the application of repressive measures. The connection of intoxication and of drunken habits with crime is demonstrated in the clearest manner—" Every one acquainted with criminal courts," says Mr. Hill, "must admit the truth of what our judges state day by day and year after year, that by far the greater number of all offences committed have their origin in the love of drink." The chaplain of Preston House of Correc tion, Mr. Clay, a name never to be pronounced without the greatest respect for his truly virtuous and useful life, chews that in Lancashire the proportion of offences traced dis tinctly to this cause was about 40 per cent. in years of full employment and good wages, having been only 17 per cent. in the years of distress, and this difference manifestly arose from the facility of indulging dissipated propensities in the prosperous times. In the United States we find a judge of Maine, the strenuous adversary of absolute prohibition, yet urging the necessity of restrictions upon the sale of liquors. He declares that nine-tenths of all crimes attended with vio lence arise from intoxication. In another State, Rhode Island, 60 per cent. of all offences appear to be caused by drunkenness, and 20 per cent. of insane persons is the pro portion of those whose 'malady had this origin. That re pressive measures are loudly called for in this country it is difficult to deny r but if there are objections to these, chiefly from the public mind not being prepared for them, at least we can cease to encourage intemperance by treating it as venial, and by suffering pernicious customs to be continued apparently for its ,protection. Not only do these greatly err, but they are positively criminal, who treat the subject lightly, and yet more to be condemned are those who re gard intemperance as an extenuation of guilt, of which it is rather au aggravation. How much more criminal are per sons in authority who sometimes consider it in meting out the inflictions of the police, or even of the penal law. But those are not to be forgiven who indulge in light talk upon that which is the fruitful parent of the worst offences, even of murder itself. What shall we say then of customs being maintained directly promoting intemperance, ,and which have neither antiquity to plea in their defence, nor any necessity to require their continuance, nor even the fact of their universality to allege in their favour ? The existence of statute fairs is a disgrace to the police of this country. In some of the most extensive and populous counties they are unknown, and not the slightest inconvenience is expe rienced from the want of them. Wherever they are held all the best authorities among the magistrates and police officers are agreed in representing them as a great cause of drunkenness and every species of immoral indulgence. This important subject was fully treated by Mr. Nash Stephenson at our last meeting, and the _progress was de scribed of a remedy, by way of a substitute, in the registry of farm servants, which many persons have of late desired to see extended to all servants ; and a society has been formed in London with this view. As it is clearly not enough that we should cease to encourage intemperance, and as positive repression is attended with great difficulty, there is every reason to rejoice in the exertions which have been made by individuals to apply a remedy, or at least a palliative, by such proceedings as may bo taken without le gislative aid. The formation of temperance associations has been highly beneficial • and , these have spread over many parts of the country. ! Not only have these bodies published works admirably conducted, and several newspapers, besides circulating cheap tracts to a vast amount—the Temperance League 300,000 a week—but they encourage their members to take the pledge, which, though often broken, is kept by many. The services of the Grand Alliance, and of its able and learned secretary, Mr. S. Pope, are truly above all praise, A very important step was made in this direction at the last meeting of the National Association. Mr. C. Melly (to whose brother George's zealous and indefatigable exertions at Liverpool our gratitude is most justly due) read a paper describing the fountains which he had erected in that town, with the happiest effect in lessening the prevail ing drunkenness. The council allowed a separate edition of the tract, with the print of a fountain as a model to be pub lished ; and it was extensively distributed during the con gress. The effect has been to spread the establishment of fountains over the whole country, so that there is hardly a great town without one or more. It cannot be doubted that the gratuitous supply of good water, at convenient places, has a tendency to lessen intemperance by diminishing the temptation, and preventing the resort to public-houses and it is certain that the benefit thus derived has been en tirely owing to the services of the association. It may, however, well be contended that these measures being only in the nature of palliatives, the enormous mischief must be attacked by more effectual operations ; and it is painful to admit that we must reckon education itself as among pal liatives only. Its tendency to lesson criminal propensi ties by affording other occupations, as well as by strength ening right principles to divert from criminal courses, is unquestionable. But there cannot be a greater fallacy than to set its effects in repressing crimes against that of intemperance in producing them, and it is a dangerous fallacy, for men rely upon the improvement in character and its effect in controlling the passions as suffi cient to counteract the direct tendency of intemperance, and they answer the call for repressive measures by bidding us trust to education. The humanising influence of instruc tion in preventing offences attended with violence is pro verbial, and is admitted. We have a striking illustration from the proportion of crimes committed with violence pro ceeding from drunkenness. The influence of education is indirect and of gradual operation. The action of intem perance is direct and immediate. We may so far trust to the improvement produced by the former as to expect from it a diminution in the number of offences, but the latter adds to their number and increases their malignity as certainly and far more powerfully. To rely upon popular improve ment alone, and take no measures for removing the great cause of crimes, would be to lull ourselves into as perilous a• security as theirs who should trust to the effects of diet and regimen when the plague was raging ; or in that con fidence, before it broke out, should take no precaution against its introduction. So, training the people to arms is a wise policy in any country ; and our insular position does not exempt us from this duty. But he would be an unsafe counsellor who should bid us rely on the martial habits of the people, and not repel invasion by our fleets, or meet it with regularly disciplined troops. Intemperance is the com mon enemy, ic attacks even persons of cultivated minds, spreads havoc widely among the multitudes of our inferior orders ; and fills our workhouses and our gaols. To lessen its force and contract its sphere, no means must be spared if we really mean to stay the progress of destitution and of crime. The philanthropist has no more sacred duty than to mitigate, if he cannot remove this enormous evil. The lawgiver is imperatively bound to lend his aid, when it appears manifest that no palliatives can avail. Certainly we have the example of the United States to prove that repression is practicable, and their experience to guide us toward it. That no legislative interference can be contem plated until the public mind is prepared, we must admit. Such was the course jn America, and our palliative mea sures tend to afford the required preparation. The evil of drunkenness had reached such a height, that in the state of Maine, 35 years ago, associations to promote temperance were formed ; they spread through the country ; they in fluenced by degrees the whole community; they induced * The overworking dresi►akers night and day, and of bakers, has been mentioned by some as calling for and Justi fying legislative interposition. the magistrates to refuse licences • and finally they obtained a law of rigorous prohibition. Six other States, having a population of seven and a-half millions, have made consi derable progress towards the same end, more or less rigor ously discouraging the sale of intoxicating liquors ; and the greatest benefits have resulted to those portions of the Union. But the most important fact is the attempt to re peal the law in Maine, and its signal failure. Like all sub jects in a country which, from the nature of the govern ment, and the changes in the holders of all offices, is under the influence of perpetual canvass, this of temperance be same a party question, and governors were chosen and removed upon it. Four years ago its supporters were de feated, and a stringent licensing system was substituted in its place. For two years and upwards this plan was tried, with every disposition of the authorities to favour its suc cess. Pauperism and crime, which under the prohibitory law had been reduced to an incredibly small amount, soon renewed their devastations ; the public voice was raised loudly and with rare concert against the licensing plan ; a resolutien was passed at the State Convention that the liquor law should no more be treated as a party question,. and the repealing act was, without opposition, itself re pealed. Another effort was made to restore the repeal ; but the resolution of the State Convention was referred to, which stood imrescinded, ; and all attempts to get rid of the liquor law wore abandone d h e nceforth as hopeless. w t hi he oh crimes which same ha d Tdihmeinhuatapopny breostttofhapsaub;oernisma c an on d tm o u f an en c .m e followed upon the original enactment of the law. Upon this very remarkable passage in the history of social science it may be observed that at least it affords proof of the experiment having been made, and successfully made, of dealing rigorously with the evil ; and if the same prepara tion of the public mind which led to the experiment being tried and secured its success takes place in other countries. the great example may then be followed safely and success fully. Then the philanthropist would no Tonger complain with the Recorder of Birmingham, that into whatever path of benevolence we may strike, the drink-demon starts up before him and blocks his way, or, comparing what is cheer fully squandered upon the fuel of intemperance with what is grudgingly bestowed upon the means of mental improve ment, lament to find tenfold the price of food to the mind paid forspoison to the body ; but would delight t o hear our poor, reclaimed from the worst excesses, free from tho yoke of the cruel though perfidious tyrant, declare as they did to the American missionary, that the law must have come from heaven, for it was too good to be the work of man.* In opening this national association at Birmingham two years ago I adverted to the intimate connection of the sciences, natural, moral, and political, each with the other ; but the reference was not sufficiently detailed to that topic, equally fruitful and important, of inexhaustible fertility, of paramount importance. There is no greater encouragement than is thus afforded to the cultivation of every branch of knowledge, the great teachers of mankind, the improvers of science and of art, by their discoveries in the one, their in ventions in the other ; for they are thus taught to hope that benefits may result from their labours far superior to any which they had designed and expected toproduce. Let rue add that the same contemplations may afford the greatest encouragement to our labours in this association. It is fit that the illustration by examples formerly omitted should now be supplied- But the instances are so numerous and so varied that one hardly knows where to begin, and must feel a difficulty where to end. A few only need be selected, and such may be taken as show results that might be the least expected from the particular steps made. When Gal vani observed the contortions of muscle in a dead frog, or even when Volta gave an explanation of them, how little could it be foreseen that the discovery would lead not only to the decomposition of bodies which had resisted all at tempts to ascertain their constituent parts, and make us ac quainted with substances wholly unlike any before known, as metals that float in water and took fire on exposure to the air; but, after having thus changed the face of chemi cal science, should also impress a new character upon the moral, judicial, and political world I . Yet this has unde niably been the result of the discovery made by Volta of an influence passing under Galvani's name, by an error similar to that which gives the name of Vespucci instead of Colum bus to the New World. The power of the magnetic tele graph extends to the comfort of families, the cure of diseases, the transactions of business, the administration of justice, the operations of government in all its branches, civil and military, domestic and foreign; establishing an almost in stantaneous communication between the remotest regions. But physical science has given us the means of personal in tei course, as well as correspondence, with remote places. How little could Watt, when employed as a common me chanic to repair a model engine, foresee that from the happy inventions which arose out of his deep reflection upon the agencies submitted to his studies there would follow such a change in our relations with the material world as now sets winds, and tides, and currents at defiance, and excludes in a great degree the consideration of space and time from our calculations, and a yet greater revolution in our social sys tem. Little did he think that the work ho was thus begin ning would, before another generation passed away, not merely change the whole course of commercial dealings, the communication dell countries one with another, and of all men among themselves in each, but affect the whole policy of nations,their relations inpeace, and their operations in war. When he introduced into this eountryethe happy invention of Berthollet for bleaching by cholrates, little did either of these great men (satisfied as they were with that important step) forsee that, by the combination of the one with another, such a victory over pain would be gained as should not only afford relief in almost all cases, but change the whole course of surgical operations ? And now let it be added that the process has lately been applied to save those insects whose marvellous architecture affords the most striking of all the proofs of Divine action, according to the Newtonian doctrine of instincts. I can vouch for the entire success of the experiment, having lately performed the operatioret The security of ships and buildings by Sir W. Snow Harris's lightning rods has saved many lives and much property. Still more beneficial, because the risks from shipwreck are far greater than those from lightning, has been Sir David Brewster's happy application of the science of which he is so great a master, to the construction of the dioptic light house 4 But let us observe how vast an improvement of social life, and how valuable an addition to our power of executing the law has been another optical discovery by which we have made the sun our fellow-workman. It would have been deemed a romance had any one foretold from observing the effect of light in discolouring certain substances such a consummation as obtaining the most ac curate portraits in a second ; portraits, the minute accuracy of which hours and days of tho painter's labour could not approach; and the consequent power not only of preserving the features of those most revered and beloved, but of pre venting the escape of criminals, the commission of number less frauds, and the defeat of the injured in seeking the re covery of their rights. Nor let us forget the less important benefit of improving both our manufactures and the public taste by multiplying perfect copies of all the great pictures in the world ; so that for a few pence may be obtained the exact duplicates of Raphael's cartoons, and every other re nowned masterpiece—an application of the art which we ewe to the liberal and discerning patronage of the Prince Consort.. My illustrious friend and colleague of the Insti tute, Arago, was so impressed with the vast importance of photography in all its relations, that the last years of his life were chiefly occupied with whatever belonged to this subject. But the progress of geology, the discoveries re specting the strata whereof our globe is composed, and the history of their formation, have led to a yet more un expected and far more sublime result than any we have been surveying—a resource which is the source of the most delightful contemplation. A period of time in the revolu tion of ages has been ascertained before our species existed, and a succession of races discovered inhabitants of our earth and of the ocean, all specifically different from any that we now know to exist. The act of croationis thus demonstrated from phenomena, independent of tradition, to have been performed by the Almight and all-wise Creator ,• the forma tion of man after His own image and at a period later than that at which He formed other and less perfect creatures. While the great discoveries of La Grange and La Place de duced from those of Newton exhibit the law by which the system of the universe is maintained eternal in its present state, all deviatione being necessarily confined within freed limits, the wonderful researches of easier upon the struc ture of our planet have shown the origin of its inhabitants; proved that at a remote period, though not far removed from the era of history, one species did not exist, and thus given conclusive evidence of the awful. Being's powers " whose temple is all space whose altar, earth sea, skies, and of His relation to ourselves; proving as clearly that we are His creatures as if one had risen from the dead. But from these more remote contemplations we must turn to nearer objects, and objects not coming within the scope of the caution which warns us against tho optical delusion that makes near things appear great; for the object now to be regarded both touches us nearly, and is of vast dimensions, no less than our free constitution in its administration, the rights and privileges which we enjoy under it, our whole social system as connected with it and depending upon it, and the perils to which it is exposed. There can be no greater or happier exchange than that nation has made which, replacing a despotic by a constitutional government no longer lies at the:mercy of an arbitraryruler, is protected by fixed laws, and exercises a control over the management of its own affairs. The condition of a people subject to un limited power resembles that of an enslaved individual in this, that all freedom of action is extinguished in the com munity as in the slave; -like him, it is actuated by mo tives exterior to itself; has no will of its own; is not merely sacrificed to the interests, but to the caprices of a master, and can express no opinion nor give vedat to any -feeling, or even utter a complaint without his leave. This thraldom is not more detrimental to the well-being of the people than degrading to their character ; and the debase ment of the subject extends to the tyrant, whom uncon trolled dotninion renders more wanton and more intolerable, affording, however, this poor consolation to the sufferers, that he is haunted himself by terrors greater thanhe inspires. The unspeakable blessing of being delivered from a lot so grievous forbids us to scrutinise_too narrowly the means by which the rescue has been effected, or to inquire too severely into the manner in which the unwonted gift of freedom has been enjoyed. The most stern and unscrupulous censor would perhaps only condemn such excesses as might lead to the tyranny being restored. But thrice happy those nations which have never known such alternations of enslavement and emancipation, of subjection and license ; whose constitu tion, like ours, was never despotic, but grew up from a less regular system of freedom to a more and mom exactly defined scheme of government, till it attained the form of monarchy limited by law, precluded all oppression, whether of one or of many by the union of the several branches of which it is com posed, and the different interests which are represented. And if it be certain that under such a system alone can tyranny of every kind be prevented, its gradual growth, if not its great virtue, is certainly the cause of its excellence. Laws are made, constituencies grow, at least if they aro of any value; they have roots, they bear, they ripen, they endure. Those that are fashioned resemble painted sticks planted in the ground, as I have seen in other countries what were called " Trees of Liberty," they strike no root, bear no fruit, swiftly decay, and ere long perish—" Nature, indeed," as Bolingbroke says, beautifully translating abeautiful passage of Lord Bacon, " throws out altogether, and at once, the whole system of every tree, and the rudiments of all its parts, Vitt she leaves the growth to time." Cherished by wmprouorstebd consult the breeze, strengthened by the ' sun, expanded by the shower.* a n S o ut hurtful, h c thehr removing e s nmpd t ao h sv iat e nta c gen o nwd u t rahsttaeiatykoei take experience process.n a e H B a n y t i m ng an to m d us ea t l addingwiththis s h a u f 0 a what a n n d beings, d g as busea,elnhoepe foundr possesses ationw a no noutrfi gift of foresight; he neslstto chanceembehe au f sm o n : egb r o h en i s s what. formedhi B d a e y s , in the course of ages; its progress occasionally slow, some times even for a season suspended ; rarely sustaining any llill's Repression of Crime pp. 325, 3SB, 130.—There has not of late years been so important an addition made to our practical jurisprudence and our social science as this work. Mr. 11. relies for his statement of the comparative expendi ture upon drink and literature upon the high authority of Charles Knight, a distinguished benefactor to literature and social science. t Mr. Bayard, of Dundee, furnished the instructions, having himself made the experiment upon several beehives. ) , nme absurd attempts have been made to represent, Mr. Fresnel as having anticipated Sir D. Brewster. He probably was ignorant of what Sir 1). Brewster had done long before, - and therefore I►is originality as the second inventor may he admitted on that supposition. But Sir D. Brewster published_ in 1812, Mr. Fromel in 1822. AS early as 1816 Sir D. Brewfter pressed upon the lighthouse engineer in Scotland the use of his method_ "Muleent aurae, format sol, educat amber." THE SUN, LONDON WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 1859. violent check ; and so little broken by forcible concussion that all the permanent improvements have been effected 'peacefully, and only short-lived changes have been the work of force. The distinguishing characteristic of our constitution is not confined to the manner and process of its formation. The felicity has, indeed, been inestimable of our having obtained its blessings without paying the price in public calamities and crimes. But the acquisition we have made is greatly increased in value by the manner of making it. The structure is much better than if it had been formed in any other way. Even in providing a habita tion, as well as in framing a constitution, comfort and con venience may be better secured by altering and improving a house already built and•inhabited than by raising one on an entirely new plan. The prudent thus find the risk little, the benefit great ; while others erect fine mansions which they don't care to use ; and give rise to the proverb that fools build houses for wise men to live in. So we feel the utmost confidence in all the principal parts of our system because they are the result of actual experience and mutual concessions where a conflict of opposing parties has arisen. Thus, then, has been framed, and thus we possess, the Bri tish constitution—a combination of different interests and one, and against error in the action of the whole ; uniting one, at once providing against the encroachment of any in itself the characteristic qualities of all other Governments —regal, patrician, republican ; and endowed with their re spective virtues, borrowing vigour from monarchy, stability from aristocracy, popular freedom from democracy. The people possess by their representatives a voice in the ma nagement of their own affairs, a real •control over the con duct of their rulers, and a sensible weight in the selection of the public servants. The o wners of property, the possessors of rank, and the representatives of all kinds of personal emi nence, have a power and authority sufficient to check the excesses of popular violence. The Sovereign can influence the conduct of affairs as far as is compatible with the delibe rate will of the other branches of the Government. Above all, the unspeakeable blessing of a pure and impartial admi nistration of justice is secured by the absolute independence of the judges, and their exclusion from all share in party or even in any political proceedings. The structure of the constitution has been likened to a pyramid, of which the broad base supporting the whole is formed of the people ; the middle portion is the aristocracy of rank, property, talents, and acquirements ; and on the narrow summit rests the Crown. The judicial power, pure and unsullied, calmly exercised by men independent of all the other Osiers and removed from ail faction, partaking neither of its fury nor its delusions, forms a mighty zone which girds the pyramid round about, connecting the loftier and narrower with the humbler anel broader layers, binding the whole compactly together, and repressing the encroachments and smooth ing the ruggedness of axy of its parts. But the essen tial part of the aristocratical element must never be forgotten or overlooked Nothing else can protect liberty from an arbitrary Sovereign, or from the more insupportable tyranny of the multitude, more insupportable because pervading the whole community, while the single despot affects only certain classes. Sodeeply impressed with this truth are some friends of liberty, advocates of popular government, that they deem a landed aristocracy the indis pensable condition of a free constitution. But whether one kind of aristocracy alone can prevent the usurpation both of an individual and of the multitude, our mixed monarchy is safe on either supposition. To admit that this great poli tical structure has imperfections, or that into its adminis tration abuses have found their way, is only to confess that itis the work of man, and by men administered ; nor can any rational admiration which it calls forth be for a moment allowed to preclude further improvements, or to be urged as a reason against considering fully any proposal conceived in a wise and reflecting spirit, and tending to amendment, not to subversion. But we are to regard in the first place the inestimable advantages which it at present secures to us, even if no further improvement be effected ; and if none of the existing administrative abuses be removed. Thus let it be granted that the representation is defective, and that classes are excluded whose admission is required both by considerations of justice and by the public interests. Still see what a prodigious benefit the existing state of things confers upon the people in their rights and their interests of every description. The business of the State is conducted in public ; in public every matter is discussed by the two houses; and there is hardly any restraint by law, certainly none whatever in practice, upon the complete discussion both at popular meetings and through the press. Then, be side the security of life, liberty, property, and reputation under the law, there is this further protection from oppres sion or abuse of any kind to even the humblest person in the community, that without his having recourse to the law he can make his grievance known td Parliament and to the public —a protection which almost always pre vents any cause of complaint. Contrast the security from injury thus enjoyed by our follow-citizens with the exposure to oppression and injury . of various kinds of which the in habitants of other countries complain—countries where there is no Parliament, no public meetings, no press, or what is worse than none, a fettered, partial, corrupt press —and you will readily believe that the people of those countries would be glad to exchange their fine climate, fer tile territory, and slight taxation, if they might with our darker sky, reluctant soil, and heavy burdens, have a par liament and a public press which should make the sacrifice of their lives and fortunes to the caprice of a ruler and the ' malversation and oppression of his servants an impossibi lity. I have singled out the most remarkable practical advantage of our situation; but I am fully aware of that which was specified by the illustrious captain and states man whose loss we deplore each succeeding day, and to what quarter soever we turn our eyes, whether to peace or war, to foreign or domestic affairs. That great man was wont to dwell upon this as a peculiar felicity of English men, that with all the distinction of rank, the exclusive privileges of some classes, the unequal distribution of poli tical power, there is no man so humbly born, nor in so un fortunate a condition, who may not rise by the exertion of his industry and his talents to the highest station under the Crown. This, then, is that mighty system of govern ment which bestows such unspeakable blessings upon our country, and has truly been called the envy of the world. It is melancholy to contemplate the perils that surround it, and which have of late years been greatly upon the in crease—perils mainly arising from the conduct of those for whose highest interests it provides, and the conduct even of those who share in the exercise of its functions. Its open enemies abroad, its doubtful friends and con cealed adversaries among ourselves, regard this danger with more or less of satisfaction ; they all consider con stitutional government, the scheme of representation, as upon its trial. The ignorance, the fickleness, the intemperance in all its forms of the electoral body, is dwelt upon with great exaggeration, and they rely still more upon the corruption, probably exaggerated also, of candidates as well as voters. Now it is a great, though a very common error, when exaggeration is found in any charge, to suppose therefore that there is no foundation for the charge. The parties accused never fail to seize upon this ground of defence, and too often with success. But sober reflection must be applied to sift the matter, and, when the subject is of great impor tance, it is absolutely necessary to ascertain what portion of the charge is groundless, how much remains probable, and how much is proved. After making all deductions, it is quite manifest that there prevails in very many town con stituencies an inveterate practice of bribery, whether direct or by shifts. In some boroughs money is given directly for votes. In others, under pretence of purchasing some com modity, 10 times its value is given the seller being a voter, agent. In not a few cases voters of carrying messages, or doing are h t r h e e e enormous number being so hired, and in one instance above 40 0 on each side, all of whom hbr trifling e d r thed work, candidates v rr pretence' . n re ceive payment from the candidates or their agents. Now to all moral intents, and to all legal also, these are mere acts o f b r ib er y, and the disguise attempted only adds to the moral offence, though the legal remains unaggravated. It is thus manifass that the franchise is regarded by a great body of persons not as a trust to be exercised for public pur poses, but as a private property to be used for individual gain. Those persons, no doubt, are aware that this use of it it is unlawful, and hence they who so act, and they who seduce them, are conscious of an infraction of the law, and s habit of doing unlawful things is thus widely produced, to the great detriment of the public morals and leading to a breach of other laws also. Nor is this all. Whoever takes a bribe is liable on tendering his vote to have the bribery oath administered. Such persons are aware of this. The bribed voter, therefore, who goes to the poll knows that the oath ma y be offered, and in 99 - cases in 100 ho is prepared to take it—that is, to commit perjury. Even if it be not tendered, and the perjury is not committed, can he be acquitted of moral guilt? A foatpad goes out to rob, armed with his pistol. If resisted ho is resolved to use it, or at any rate if recognised, he is prepared to destroy the evidence against him. He has upon his con science the moral guilt of murder, even if he escapes being tempted to commit the crime. Can the voter who takes a bribe be deemed less guilty of intended perjury than the highwayman of intended murder? Those who offer bribes ought to reflect how nearly they commit the crime of subornation of perjury. From such crimes all mon would shrink, possibly oven from the lesser crime of bribery unac companied with the dreadful aggravation of false swearing. B those are guilty of both the lesser and the aggravated riag offence who employ an agent to bribe and supply him with the means of bribery. It is said that they only • e Le t money to bo expended in a lawful manner ; that they gtv have, confidence in their a g ents; a n d th at they even direct them on no account to practise corruption. But the existence of the practice is question is no notorious, and they reason to doubt the zeal, the activity, and the unscrupulous nature of those they; employ; the jobbing atterey known for an electioneerin g agent as othrs . of his craft a ra s we ll known tae are known formoney-lendingagents ,• thepublic an , who b • bargains that his house shall be u se d ; whose accounts, the bill of the one and the score of the oth er are pa i d without any e ut . ny These things cloak from the candid a t e ' s eyes the particularar* course pursued in spending his money, but that the corrupt deeds have been done, he m us t b e t a k en to know as well as t he knows how much they h ave cos t hi m, ased the state of the poll which is the result. Let him not doubt, then, his own criminality, or flatter himself that he has not spread corruption among his fellow-creatures, sapped th • their morals, produced fraud and f a l se h oo d, aye, even perjury, merely ' because he has wilfully shut his eyes to the acts of those by whom he has done the deed. Men, especially when en gaged in evil courses, are prone to discover differences ; and self-love, the great source of the blindness, is itself quick sighted to descry nice distinctions that may screen from the stern judge whom Providence has appointed in the breast—distinctions which may leave the guilt doubtful by concealing it from our own eyes. An Eastern tale which most of us has read illustrates this. A tyrant was minded to put two of his family to death; but even his relent less nature recoiled from witnessing the murder ho had commanded, according to the accustomed solicism, as Lord Bacon calls it, of arbitrary power, desiring the end but disliking the means. The same repugnance was shared by the officer entrusted with the commission of the crime'; and thinking he could divide the guilt by dividing the in strumentality, he employed one ignorant of the criminal purpose. This unsuspected and unsuspicious agent was taken to a cave w h ere a rope t h at entered the ground was made fast to an iron ring, and he was told to sever it with a hatchet. On the blow being struck the rope instantly disappeared with great force ; and being carried to a cham ber in the adjoining palace, he saw two persons who had been crushed to death by the descent of a marble canopy under which they had been fast asleep, and which had been suspended by the rope. The tyrant, and even his officer, would have recoiled from the sight of the slaughter which they scrupled not to perpetrate, and of which they I were as guilty as if they had with their own hand plunged a dagger into their victims, and been' sprinkled with their blood. With the full approval of the illustrious friend whom I have already mentioned, I once referred to this apologue in illustration of their guilt, who invested their capital in slave-trading adventures, and who would have shrunk back from the sight of horrors iu that infernal traffic ; but who were really as much pt guilty of • racy and murder as the wretches actu a lly engage in it. These aro greater crimes than the propagation of immorality and er jury throughout th o commun i ty; but thel) relation ofthe principal and the agen t i s th e same • andthe former is equally guilty though of a somewhat lesser offence • I say somewhat lesser, for I never shall forget the f an honest and experienced judge,thel exclamation c. Williams, in conversation with Lord Dennalatet Mr ci. Justice that he felt a horror at seeing perjury commitlteadibliryelti; eyes only to be surpassed by the sight of •d min er. On our expreSsing a doubt whether he did not rate too high a de gree of guilt unhappily too often incurred, " No," said he " and that only increases my horror of it ; but were it con- fined to n, single instance, what shall we . say of his crime who deliberately calls upon the Almighty Judge Of all the world to witness and to punish his false hood ?" What would this honest and learned judge have felt on seeing scores of men who had already voted driven 4tp by the zeal of an unscrupulous election agent, and again tendering their votes with the solemn oath that they had not polled before, and all for the purpose of gaining time that expected voters might arrive before the close—the books ofthe poll clerks making it certain that their second votes could not be received ; or what would have been his feelings had he seen the inhabitants of a town filled with his old Yorkshire clients, generally and habitually selling their votes for a price, and with their minds made up, after having received it, to swear upon the gospels of God that they had got neither reward nor promise of reward, from any person whatever. The effect of the prevailing corrup tion upon the upper classes, as well as upon the humbler, the candidate, as well as the voter, in spreading those prin ciples, and giving a lower moral tone generally, has been noted. The tricks resorted to, and, among others, the want of good faith, much more of high and delicate feelings of honour which have recently been disclosed, clearly indicate the , extreme anxiety to obtain that which is equivalent to political power. There seems no bound to this desire, no labour which men will not undergo, no suffering they will not endure to grasp it. A great poet has described the honest arts by which men may strive to reach this summit— " Of genius emulous, to soara s high ; With noble souls in noble acts to vie ; On worthy toils to see suns set and rise— The strifeis arduous, but the world's the prize." But a vile, grovelling, unprincipled ambition, a thirst o power at any price to be staked, despicable as it is, proves equally uncontrolled in its victims— " Whom neither fear of God, that devils binds, Nor laws of man that commonweals contain, Nor bounds of nature that wild beasts restrain, Can keep from outrage and from doing wrong, Where they may hope a kingdom to obtain." And we preposterously think to restrain such an appetite for power by the mere risk of losing it, the chance of the pur suit being fruitless. The loss of the seat is all the penalty that we denounce to deter the great malefactors. I speak here from some experience of the inefficacy of such penal ties. While the African slave trade was only punished by the forfeiture of the ships it mocked the law, because the profits of a successful voyage covered the loss of many fail ures. The wrong-doer was content to run the risk in the eager quest of great gain. So the candidate and his agents in their eager desire of a seat will run the risk of defeat, and encounter any cost in money. But when I made slave trading felony, the pirate who had cheerfully run all pecu niary hazards would not expose-himself to be transported as a felon, and the execrable traffic ceased. So it is clear that candidates and tdeir agents, whom no dread of defeat or ex pense can restrain, will shrink from the hazard of an infa mous punishment when they see the tread-wheel as well as the House of Commons at the end of the path which leads from the hustings. It may be objected that the severity of the infliction would preveat the execution of the law ' • and, no doubt, as long as the enforcement of it is left to a tribu nal like the Election Committee - this result is-to- be appre hended. But how much longer are we to continue the only nation which leaves the execution of its penal laws to pri vate individuals, inflicting upon the party injured by an offence the additional injury of prosecuting the offender. Instances continually occur of a criminal escaping because he is wealthy, and can pay the forfeiture of the party bound over to prosecute. An individual who had committed for grry some years ago escaped in this way. A charge of manslaughter was thus stopped on its way to the grand jury very recently, because the culprit at one of the public schools belonged to a distinguished family, whose feelings, as well as the credit of the scool, would have suffered if the law took its course. An attempt to destroy a will by which property of near a million in value had been devised away from the testator's heir (bribes to any amount being offered to obtain possession of the instrument) escaped altogether through the mistaken tenderness of a professional man. Those instances are given, many more of which came before Phillimoro's committee. But rio facts are required to prove what the least reflection shOws to be the in evitable tendency of this great defect in our criminal procedure, subjecting the execution of the law to every kind of accident, and protecting —even encouraging—cor rupt bargains in some cases, oppression in others. In no instance is the defect more grievous than in that which relates to electoral corruption ; for, unhappily, the offence of bribery is treated too lightly .both by parties and the public. It seems to be taken for granted that all men would bribe if they could; the only shame is being found out, and that sits very lightly. In a late newspaper discus sion of the sutject, the comparison between drunkenness and bribery in this respect was very ingeniously and very soundly treated, and as crowds flock to see an actor play the drunken man, so do they flock to an election committee, to hear of a kitten sold for £5O, and a £2O bank-note found in the teapot of a voter's wife. But serious, truly serious, nay tragical, are the consequences of the one fault and of the other. They who laugh at the mimic exposure of in temperance would be shocked to witness the real midnight orgies of the gin palace ; and would perhaps shed tears over the wretched house, forlorn wives, and starving children of its frequenters. And they who have made themselves merry at the committee, with the gibes of counsel, or the tales of witnesses may shudder to reflect on the conse quences of electoral corruption, itself a grave offence, and leading to dishonest courses that end in still greater delin quency. Nevertheless the fact is undeniable that the pre vailing insensibility to this renders a provision absolutely necessary for securing the prosecution of such corruption, if indeed we really and sincerely intend its extirpation. That an improvement in the mode of dealing with election committees would have a salutary effect, even without the appointment of a public prosecutor, may be admitted. There cannot be the shadow of a reason why the House of Com mons should stand upon its privileges to exclude all inter ference, after the important but wholly insufficient remedy provided by the Grenville Act for the old and utterly in defensible course, and why they should not go a step further, and make the tribunal one really deserving the name of a court of justice, or, in other words, a tribunal constituted of members all appointed without regard to party, sitting not occasionally but permanently, well in formed in the law, acquainted with the rules of procedure, competent to examine and to weigh evidence, guided by the decisions of other courts, and pronouncing its own in each case with the authority which may secure its being followed in other cases. The illustrious statesman to whom I have more than once referred engaged me to work with him upon a plan the main principle of which he suggested, when a bill came from the Commons fdr dealing with charges of general corruption in boroughs and it was applicable to all proceedings upon private bills. When moulded into shape, and after alterations and additions, it , was of this nature—a jury of twelve, selected from both houses, seven Commoners and five Lords, were to examine the evidence, sitting under the presidency of a judge, and to find a verdict which should be binding on all parties as to the facts, and also upon both houses, who might enact on those facts as they pleased. The proposal elaborated it its details was fully adopted by the committee to whom the bill had :been referred, and as thus amended, indeed totally changed, it was reported to the house, and approved without a dissenting voice. The Commons had no answer to offer, they admitted the merit of the alterations we had made, and indeed highly approved of our plan. But as it had become a new bill rather than the original bill amended, they post , pond the further proceeding to another session, and it has , unfortunately never been resumed. A few years after, when it became necessary to change the whole course of proceed ing upon private bills, I pr o p ose d a set of standing ordrs which were referred to a select committee. The duke urged me to bring forward our plan of 1834 ; and on Iryexpress ing an apprehension th a t we s h ould not carry conse quence of the generality o f t h e orders, they being tiu,g in applica ble - ble to all cases, and no t con fi ned to those e ofhOTOu i e•hs charged with corruption, as the bill of 1834 had been, he said, " At least let us try it, there being no doubt of its su perior efficacy; and if we are defeated we can retreat upon your orders." W e ma d e the attempt, and were . defeated by a large majority i n t h e committee; but we carried the lesser plan through with some difficulty, and the house adopted it without a dissentient voice. It forms the stand ing orders now in force, and, after much delay, the Commons reluctantly adopted them, with some amend ments. Now, of course, a joint committee of the two houses would not be applicable to election peti tions ; but the most important part of our plan, the commit tee sitting under the presidency of a judge, would be an im mense improvement upon the presen t system, and a still greater would b e the sending 141 the allegations of pe titioners and their a d versar i es to a perm anen t court of judges, irr?- teovable, who sho u ld repor t to the house. With their opi nions, the report to be binding as to the facts only. The house would, in almost all cases, th ou gh not bound, yet voluntarily accede to the opinion expres sed. institu tion of a publi c prosecutor would be the. consummation The of this plan, for the extirpation of all corruption, besides being a very valuable addition to our criminal procedure in gene ral. But even without this important change, the estab lishment of a tribunal such as has been described would have a powerful effect in checking the c p and so justly complained of. It is ea y e l 1 t manifest ien s e that mue if h everything remains on its present footing, and election con tests can only be carried on at a cost ruinous i o n_o e u e s eur to in al g l but the most wealthy, if no means are afforded ! punishment to the practisers of corruption, and the only risk incurred is the loss of a seat, thoeneetxiitsuttingn, to ev render must continue to eat into tie vi tals of our c i o nder what is in mockery called free elecio t it ea choicef arce,t of f m th ak e ethe House of Commons only by accidente peo ple, to con vert the election of members into the means of subverting the independence and destroying their constituents, and to raise a grave doub t the whether m eral s thee of coun try would not be injured by an extension of the fran chise, if it did not beget a furtherd.douptt e a e b oi o u e, t n t h d e e ebde, but of the franchise as already enjoy too probable that the prevalence of ieoe rightsrruption will as a reason again st granting I tv with the b-e used c eat tached duties to those who a a r r i e ee e no of t a t t his present s al iou low d l e t i o l possess them. The adverosf the great body of the people, much upon the ignp and not merely their imp d b u er c u a t t i i o o n n . but t t i h s ei t r ru h e a t v h m ey g no habits of reflection t a nrn cpee nq e c d t e sted with a voice upon measures would be unfit to be entrusted with a voice upon measures of policy foreign or domestic. But upon the question of policy foreign c however, other who shall be deputed to represent them in Parliment. to be taken into the account, they might perhar be trusted. There are, things besides their ignorance e themselves and a grave doubt arises whether men deserve the franchise t the will nt depriv who value it so little tha acquired it. If renting a £lO of any indulgence in order to . house gives it, a man occupying a £6 house might have it by saving 20d. a week in beer. It is but too certain that of those who aro loudest in their call for the right of voting, a very great number would refuse to pay this very small price to obtain it. But the disposition to regard the vote as bribed, as enabling them to com a thing which maiiibbeeitnugrned to profit, in a word, as con ferring t reasoners do, that it a crim he e for the lucre of . gain, offers a still stronger reason with the franchise will raise them in against granting it To imagine, as some clothing these men their own est imation and in that of 2thors, and impress of their importance ii'AT executing a great them with a sense public *us; is altogether too roinahtio a view for any prac tical man to take. Ruth © is certain that if corruption be effectually put down, greatest obstacle to their admis sion among the number of electors is removed. But while the law continues so lamentably defective both in its sub stance and upon prom uro, there is some satisfaction in finding that the leading men at ono or two places, from a the fear of disfranchisement , have been de sense of duty or wising local measures for checking corrupt practices. Thus at Bridgwater and at Norwich, vigilance committees have embers of the Town Council, and other been formed by pers ons of authority, for the puiposeof keeping strict watch over their fellow AN msruen in then elections recently held. praiseworthy pry something may be From these ; the evil is too deep-rooter to be thus extirpated, hoped can hardly be doubted that in. the places where cor and it t 'prevails and where the practice of it is of long ruPti° ll n" less f aci li t ie s " • 7*ll be found for adopting suc h a standing,„Luse. Whil e some reasoners contend that the people are dls qualified for the exercise of the franchise, in'other for the possess ion of p olitical power, by want of words, 3 II WTI/ la r ft lid some would withhold it be cause o f th e i r evil habits, there, hasbeena t all times, but ne ver so muc h as of late yea rs, a disposition in a large and important body to-assume power by acts, sometimes of doubtful lega lity, :ilia always leading by their almost unavoidable con:. I sequ one es to a breach of the law . I allude to combinations for raising wages, accompanied with a resolution not to work either for more than a certain time or for less than a certain remuneration: If the proceeding is connected with any plan of preventing others from working, either by ac tual violence or by threats, it is manifestly an offence and severely punishable; but, without any violence or menaces, the raising a fund to keep one class idle by supporting them when they refuse to work, except on the terms prescribed by the body,. terms to which their employers cannot or will not yield, and the waylaying another class coming from the country, offering to pay the journey back if they join in the refusal, approaches very near au unlawful conspiracy ; or, if it be not absolutely illegal, it is in the highest degree oppressive to the employers, because it deprives them of the ordinary advantages of competition. placing the whole relations of labour in a false and unnatural position. (Hear.) That which regulates all prices, whether of commodities or of labour, is the higgling of the market ; and there is a kind of indisidual instinct by which dealers in labour, as well as dealers in other things, adjust their demands. A. com bined action of 100 or 1,000 substitutes for this individual instinct a fixed rule, conceived without the least regard to the rate of supply and demand, to the circumstances of the party offering and the party accepting or refusing, and en forces that rule in an arbitrary manner, and by no natural appliances. The fallacy is enormous by which the la bourers complaining of machinery as throwing hands out of work, hold that they ought to share directly with the employer in the gains which the machinery enables him to make. They do share in those gains, bat not directly. The capital saved must always be employed in paying for labour; and the machinery that saves labour in ono line to the capitalist enables him to employ more labour in other lines; the great probability being that he will em ploy it in the line to which he and his workmen are ac customed. (Hear, hear.) The combination of masters is the inevitable consequence of the combination of men ; and, as they have capital to draw upon, which is a far more cer tain and secure resource of supply than the contributions of the men, such a conflict must always end in a great loss to both parties, but dreadful to poor men, whose families suffer severely in the meantime, and who, after they have been de feated, are sure to find a great diminution of employment frog} the injury inflicted upon the masters. It is needless to observe that the immediate tendency of such combinations is the very reverse of the influence of the establishment of guilds in the middle ages, which were the parents of skill in all the arts. The inevitable effect of strikes is to level all merit, to benefit the lazy and incapable at the expense of the industrious and skilful, and to rob all concerned in them for the profit of a few agitators and mob-seekers. (Hear.) But though the employers have an unquestionable right to combine in self-defence against the tyranny of their combined workmen, and though they are secure of success in the end, it is only to be gained by patience, at some sacrifice, and by joint and prudent action. It is sure to be lost by any imita tion of the unjust and violent course pursued by the men; and it is most especially at a season of indiscreet and unscru pulous combination among the latter, that the masters ought more than ever to beware of encroaching upon the just rights, and rather to give them more freedom, than to curb them in any manner of way. It must be observed that all the errors into which one of the parties fall, and which are the cause of their unreasonable and unreasoning pro ceedings, and which furnish the enemies of an extended franchise with the most powerful arguments, come from ignorance. If care were taken to teach them the plain, easily learnt and easily understood principles which of all men they have the greatest interest in understanding—the relation between prices, including that of labour and sup ply and demand, between capital and wages, between machi nery and profits as well of masters as of workmen—between rights and duties, between the enforcement of tho law and the interests of all—if these principles were ever pre sent to their minds, the course of conduct which they oftentimes pursue to their own great detriment quite as much as to the injury of others, would be next to impos sible. (Hear, hear.) But other branches of political know ledge., highly important for them to possess should be added; nor is it doubtful that these can be taught just as easily as reading, writing, or ciphering, with the little of geography and history now given. An ale and very useful paper was read at our last year's meeting by Mr. Templar, showing that those branches of knowledge were successfully taught in the Manchester Model School, of which he is head mas ter, and Dr. Hodgson also urged the same improvement in an excellent paper. The necessity of taking this course, if we mean that education should be more than a name, has long • b ee n strenuously inculcated by Mr , W. Ellis, whom it is impossible to name without expressing a doubt whether the soundness of his views or his noble genercsity in promoting the great work of popular education is most to be admired. It is with the most heartfelt satisfaction that I learn the wise course pursued by the Education Committee of the Privy Council. They have called upon this excellent person to deliver lectures upon political economy to the working classes, and I have the pleasure of announcing that his that lecture is given this day. Some most important branches from ro of industry are, from these circumstances, exempt the possibility of the mischiefs, which, with the means of e e v a e r n , t h i n e g, a r . w ) e F h a a e v t o o r y been f u o r r , t a .r m m otmh thee n r t e c a o t o t n e s mpl a betweenti ng. (H master and men, can scarcely ever give rise to combina tions on the one part or en the other. But there is a most serious evil to which it is exposed, a n d th e moral influence upon a great portion of those employed can never be too closely watched, or, where necessary, too carefully counter acted. The effects of promisc uous association without due superintendence are most unhappy upon the young of both ec w ia o l m ly en to eke out upon femal their income too,sex est,ebniupttmnioraerreisedp o k h in i d dr o e f n wo a r t k a , avnedryle.aevaerltyheir children unattended to; these s' restrictingage are themselves drawn into the same employ. The Legislature the hourshas o i interfered, t e w r f o e r r k e d, where not mere than enough, i n the young are concerned, nor much more than was justifi able in certain cases of adult workmen. But the worst part by far of the ev il rema i ns beyond the reach of legislation, and a remedy for it has not been attempted, except in a few individual instances. The good feeling and good sense of master m anu f acturers can alone interpose to rescue th e numerous and important class, especially of the female hands, from th e contamination to which they are exposed, and which is spreading the worst kinds of dissoluteness over the working classes. Nor will all the care of the masters suffice unless they are assisted by the generous and truly rational co-operation of women in the middle and upper classes of society, moved by pious zeal and acting upon a well-considered plan, for the good of their fellow-creatures in by far the most important of human concerns. ( Hear.) The Sisters of Ch ar ity in France bear comfort into the hos pitals, they render invaluable help to the physician in dis arming disease of its pains, and lend a most valuable aid to the pastor in disarming death of its terrors. They have earned the united blessings of a people that hardly ever agree in respect for any existing institution. They have made their name revered by all. A worse disease than ever filled the wards of hospitals, a moral plague, des olates the haunts of our most gainful industry. Let the spectacle or report of it call into existence a sist erhood that may meet i u the enormous evil, to prevent which is far better a.dndlofad r easier than to cure. The noble lord concluded am cheering, having occupied more than two hours in the reading of the address. Vice-Chancellor Sir W P. Woos lec ture on Jurisprudence, after W. whiehththeeAn s d so e c li i v a e ti r o e n d a sepa: rated into the various departments. FROM THE GAZETTE OF LAST NIGHT FOREIGN -OFFICE, SEPT. 30. Tho Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint Wil liamnow British Vice - Consul at Haul ed herlo v e WAR OFFICE, PALL-MALL, OCT. 11. burg, W to a b d Majesty's Consul at Ham bur g . The next examination of candidates MEM ointments to ORANDUM.— . t APP Chelsea, the Army, will be held at the for direct ' I Ch e l se a, on Monday the 21 st of November R o yal Hospita , next, and following days. ADMIRALTY, OCT. 7. Corps of Royal Marines — First Lieutenant Theo p hil us Vaughton to be Captain, vice Dowell, appointed Instructor of Musketry; L i eutenan t Robert Patrick to be First Lieu tenant, vice 'Jull, resigned. COMMISSION'S BY LORDS-LIEUTENANT. Montgomeryshire Yeomanry Cavalry—Richard Robert Wingfield, Gent., to be Cornet, vice Veorge William Adair, promoted ; Thomas Bulkeley (late Captain Ist Life Guards) to be Cornet, vice Tripp, promoted. Exeter and South Devon Volunteer Rifle Battalion— James Thorne George to bo Captain; Frederick Cooke to be Lieutenant ; Berkeley Craven Saint John to be Ensign, Royal Flintshiro Militia—Charles William Shackle, Gent., to be Ensign.' let Subdivision of Suffolk Rifle Volunteers—Charles Foote Gower, Gent., to be Lieutenant; Henry Howard, Gent., to be Ensign. sth or Royal Elthorne Light Infantry Regiment of Mid dlesex Militia —Ensign Octavius Weld to be Lieutenant, vice Hitchcock. resigned; Arthur Bristow, Gent., to be Ensign, vice We ld, p romoted. Memorandu m — The Queer_ has been graciou sl y p leased to acce p t th e resignation of the . commission held in this regiment by Lieutenant Robert B. Hitchcock. 2d Company of Lancashire Rifle Volunteers—Thom as Lund, Esq., to b e C a p tain ; Ar thur Ingram Robinson, Gent., to be Lieutenant; James Johnston, Gent., to be E ns ign. 3d Company of Lancashire Rifle Volunteers— John Gerald Potter , E s q ., to be Captain; William Harri son, Gent., to be Lieutenant; John Eccle s , Gent,, to be Ensign. 11th Company of Lancashire Rifle Volunteers— Henry Newshaui Fodder, Esq., late Captai n i n th e 3d Re giment of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Militia, to be Cap tain ; James Catterall, Gent., to be Lieutenant • - , Hugh Dawson, jun., Gent., to be Ensign. City of Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Corps—Joseph Nool Paten, Gent., to be Ensign ; the Hon. Bouverie Francis Primrose to be Captain; John Cay, en G t to be Lieutenant; William Arthur Peterkin, to be Ensign. BANKRUPTCIES ANNULLED. Nathaniel Taylor, linen draper, Kingston-upon-Hull. Owen Evans, innkeeper, Liverpool. BANKRUPTS. Charles Bolton, upholsterer, Pimlico, to surrender, Oct. 25, at half-past two, and Nov. 22, at two, at the Court of Bankruptcy. George clearn, grocer, Truro, Oct. 20 at one, and Nov. 16, at twelve, at the Exeter District Court. John Barrs, chemist, Sedgley, Staffordshire, Oct. 22 and Nov. 11, at half-past cloven, at theßirmingham District Court. John Jackson, cattle dealer, Digby, Lincolnshire, Oct. 25 and Nov. 15, at half-past eleven, at the Shirehall, Not tingham. Michael Williams Bawden, share broker, Liskeard, Oct. 20, at one, and Nov. 16, at twelve, at the Exeter District Court. Edward Postill, druggist, York, Oct. 28 and Nov. 18, M eleven, at the Leeds District Court. Edwin Hodges, boot and shoe dealer, Shrewsbury, Oct. 22 and Nov. 11, at half-past eleven, at the Birmingham District Court. Thomas Harper, cooper, Sheffield, Oct. 29, and Nov. 26, at ten, at the Council-hall, Sheffield. James Haigh and Joseph Haigh, brush makers, Moss- Manchester L District Court Oct. 21 and Nov. 11, a t twelve, at the SCOTC BANK Daniel WEillop, bake H r, Glasgow.RUPTS. Alexander Newlands, flesher, Rothes, El g i ns hi re. John M'Parlan e , grocer, Dumbarton. James Dunlop, spirit merchant, Glasgow. [ADVERTISEMENT.] Holloway's Pills and Ointment always serviceable.—These remedies have been styled by grateful patients " The Household Treasures ;" and they always prove really and faithfully all that cherished name implies. They possess the inestimable advantag,e of never doing harm, Throughout the vegetable and mineral king dom the beneficial influence of Holloway's preparations can not be surpassed. From every affliction they are pres.erva fives ; in every case they will be serviceable, and in ino6t diseases they must prove curative. They are applicable to all alike, young and old, robust or delicate. They always do good. To Hollciway's Pills and Ointment may guardian and nurse with confidence turn, without fear or anxiety. To them may sufferers resort for ease, and the sound to confirm their health. COtr., BRISTOL—OcT. 11. "G .71:f. At our market to-day - there was a fair attendance of the trade, and more inquiry for wheat, at fully is per qr. more money. Good sweet grinding barley inquired after. Beans and peas at last week's prices. Oats a shade dearer, and a fair demand. LIVERPOOL—OcT, 11. The arrivals from Ireland and coastwise daring the past week have been fair. From foreign ports we have received only 450 qrs of wheat, 1,690 qrs of beans, 1,370 qrs peas, 7,652 qrs of Indian corn, and 768 sacks of flour. From Canada 915 qrs of peas, and 449 barrels of flour. The ex ports in the same time comprise 410 qrs of wheat, 520 qrs of eats, 326 loads of oatmeal, 450 sacks and 454 barrels of flour. The weather has been very fine and mild of late. There has been much activity in the trade during the past week, and an improved business doing in wheat, flour, and Indian corn. Our market this morning had a fair attend ance of the town and country trade, and some buyers from ki distance. A limited sale was experienced for wheat and , flour, but prices were advanced 4d per 1001 b and is per sack and barrel: Oats in rather better request, but oatmeal met with a slow sale, at late rates. Barley, beans, and peas pretty well supported, at former quotations. Indian corn advanced is in the sales made. SHEFFIELD—OcT. 11. The show of wheat was rather small, but the trade was more buoyant. Fine samples sold moderately well at last week's quotations, and in some instances at a trifling ad vance ; for inferior qualities little demand. Old oats un changed, and new declined , is per qr. Red wheat, par load of 3 imperial bushels 16s Od to 17s 6a White 7/ )/ lBs Od to 23s OJ New red 7/ ), l6s Od to 17s 6d New white „ /I lBs Od to 19s Od Beans ;. .77 )3 l6s 6d to 208 Od Peas, per qr 44s Od to 50s Od Grindmg barley, per qr 33s Od to 35s Od Malting ditto, „ 3Bs Od to 40501 Oats » 24s Od to 32s Od Millers' prices for flour—ls 6d, is Bd, and is 10d per 1 141 b. LEEDS—OcT. 11. We had a good supply of new and old wheat ; and fiae qualities sell readily at late rates, obtaining in some casco a slight advance. The prices of good barley nominally the same as before, but the ordinary runs were is lower. Beans, peas, and other articles unchanged. NEWCASTLE—OcT. 11. We had a fair supply of wheat from the country to-day, which met a rather slow demand, but prices were is o ver the currencies of last market day. Superior barley a small show, and high in price ; inferior barley little asked for. Beans in limited demand at late rates. Oats in moderate request, at late rates. Wheat ..40s to 48s I Oats.... 24s to 30e White do .44s to 50s Beans 44s to 48i Barley .36s to 42s Peas ....—s to --0 'NORWICH CATTLE—Ocr. 8. A large supply of store catle to •day, comprising Scots, shorthorns, DOVOTIS 7 and Irish. A fair attendance, amd um inactive business done. Scots, 4s 6d to 5s ; shorthorns, 4s Od to 4s 6d ; Irish, 38 6d-to 4s 6d ; Devons, 4s Gd to 5s (estimated weight when fat). _ _ Fat beasts dull, 8s Od to 8s 6d per stone, without a clear' anco. Sheep—The pens were tolerably well filled. The best sheep in demand 'at 38s to 42s per head. Fat sheep, 8s to 8s 6d per stone. Pigs—A good supply. Store pigs 30s to 355; fat pork, 7s Od to 7s 6d per stone. COURSE OF EXCII.ANGE.—YESTERDLT. Amsterdam 'Ditto Rotterdam — 11 16i • 11 17 Antwerp Brussels — 25 27f 25 321 Hamburgh Paris Ditto 12arseilles — 25 35 25 40 Frankfort on Maine — 1171 117 k Vienna Trieste Petersburgh — 341 341 Madrid Cadiz — 501 —50 f l' Leghorn Genoa 30 11 25 471 30 in 25 52/ Naples Palermo Messina 4o 122 f 123 40t 123 123 k Lisbon Oporto Rio Janeiro • • .. Now York — • • .. Foreign Gold in Bars (Standard) ....per os. S 8 17 9 Mexican Dollars Silver in Bars (Standard) FOREIGN MAIL PACKET LIST. In the following table E signifies that letters are despatohe t by evening mails from London, and M by morning Ne , c,t DESTINATIONS. Despatch Po r t o f Mail of Mails. Despatch. de. Australia and Mauritius, via • Southampton e Oct —, M Southamp. overd ,l Ditto, via Marseilles Bahamas and Havana via New York2l Oct. 28, E Liverpool.. Oct. Canada, &c. (by Canadn. pckt ) Oct. —, E Li ver p oo l.. Oc • Cape of Good Hope, Ascen sion, 1' sion, and St. Helena N ov 5, E D evonport Nov. 1 China, Penang, and Singa pore, via Southampton Ditto, via Marseilles Gibraltar, via Southampton .. O c t . —, M Southamp. over due , Honduras and Blewtlelds .... Oct. 17, M S ou th amp. Oct. 16 India (Calcutta) and Ceylon, via Southampton Oct. 20, M Southamp. Oct. 1 9 Ditto, via Marseilles ... . Oct. 26, E India (Bombay), via South ampton Ditto, via Marseilles Lisbon, Brazils,Buenos Ayres, and F. Islands 1 - 8 . : 3 E I Southamp. overdu e Lisbon, Vigo, and Oporto Oct. 17, M Southamp. Oct. U Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Oct. —, M Southamp. overdu e Ditto, via Marseilles Mexico and Havana Nov. 2, M SOUtharnp, Nov. 1 Newfoundland Oct. 14, E Galway ... . United States and British N America (by British packet) Oct. 14, E Liverpool.. Oct. 1 9 Ditto (by U. S. packet) West Coast of Africa, Ma- Wz d el e si l et r i t an : d an ica d hc T ilia 7 if e po ri re ff nru e ia: . . Grey town, .. e.reu 0 ct. 24, E Liverpool.. overdo ° town, New Granada, &c. ~ Oct. 17, II Southamp. Oat 16 ,-,_ PRICE OF GOLD. —The quotation of gold at Pat is about 1 dis. and the short exchange on London is 25. 14 e per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the Eng; lish Mint price of £3 17s. 101-d. per ounce for standsr': gold, it appears that gold is at about 1-10th per cent. deare r in Paris tha n i n L ondon. By advices from Hamburg Lo price of gold is 423 per ma r k , and the short exchange 011 En ndon is 13 , 1 . per £1 sterling Standard gold at th e in glish Mint price is th ere f ore a t about the same price London as in Hamburg. The course of es' change at New Y or k on London for bills at 60 days' sigTh is about 110 per cent., which, when compared with th t, Mint par b e t ween the two countries, shows that the OS' change is in favour of England ; and, after making allowance for charges of transport and difference of inte rest, the present rate leaves a small profit on the imports' tion of gold from the United States. PITT'S DEATII-BED.—Pitt died at his house on Putney Heath, near the sp o t w h ore C ann i ng an d Castle reagh fought their duel, and in a very neglected state, n on : of hi s f am i ly being with him at the time. One, was sincerely attached to him, hearing of his illness, rode from London to %eo him. Arriving at his house he rang the bell at the entrance -gate, but no one came. Dismount ing, he made his way to the hall-door, and repeatedly rang the bell, which no one answered. He then entered the house, wandered from room to room, till at last he dis' covered Pitt on a bed - -dead and entirely neglected. It 0 supposed, that suc h was hiss poverty, ho had not been able to pay the wages of his servants, and that they had al,' sconded, taking with them what they could.— Once a Week. : VDVERTISEMENTI—The difficulties and dangers el bringing up infants by hand or wet nurses hare been entirell overcome by Du Barry's delicious Revalenta Arabica Fooat and which feeds, strengthens, a n d removes a ll the little pain s irregularities infants are so subject to. The following letter speaks volumes :—" Grammar School, Stevenage, 16th Dec., 1850. Gentlemen,—l think it but common. justice to you to state that I have used Du Barry's Rev lenta for the last four months, during which time our in; fant has never had disordered bowels, from which it had suffered much during the previous six months, whilst beinE nursed, though every care was taken to prevent it. Had I known of your valuable food sooner, it would have saved my infant much pain, and me also the heav9, expense of a wet nurse.—l am, &c, ROBERT AMBLER: In tins, at la. 6d. ; 11b., 3s. ; 21b., ss. 9d ; 61b., 125.; 12113.9 265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on receipt of poet' office order. D u B arry and Co., 77, Regent-street, London' Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182, Piccadilly; Abbis, 60, Gracechurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 63, and 150, O x ford' street ; 330 an d 451, Strand ; 49 and 60, Bishopsgare' street ; 85, Tottenham -court-road. Also at Dublin, Bewley and Draper ; at Edinburgh, Raimes and Co. at Liverpool, Nix on an d Th ew; at M anchester, Sharp ana Scott ; at York, Raimes, Blanchard, and Co. ; at South ampton. Randall and Son. BIRTHS. GILL. --On the sth inst., at 23, Russell-place, Fitzroy' square, W., the wife of the Rev. William Gill, of a son. HIDE.-013. the 7th inst., at Mornington•road, Bow, the wife of Thomas C. Hide, Esq., of a son. HUGHES. —On the 7th inst., at Southcoto Lodge, Reading, the wife of Henry Hiighes, Esq., of a son. MARKIIAIII.—O n the 4th inst., at 21, Eccleston-squaro, the wife of Clements R. Markham, Esq., of a daughter. MARRIAGES. Firtint - -Cnuncn.—On the Bth inst., at St. Botelph's, Kedgy,' - in Hoskins Fryer, Esq., solicitor, Gloucester, to Hannah, daughter of the late Charles Church, Esq., of Gloucester. LEAR Y — BOUSFIELD,.-011 the Bth inst., at Holy Trinity Church, Uppin. Tooting, James Bryad, eldest son of Cor nelius Leary, Esq., of Clapham-common, to Ada Maria, sixth daughter of the late George Bousfield, Esq., of Upper Tooting. DEATH S. BEDFORD. —On the 11th inst., Henry Bedford, Esq., soli citor, 4, Gray's-inn -square, aged 61. B LACKMORE.—On tho 9th inst., William Bennett Black mon, Esq., aged 90. D RXKEFORD.—On tho 9th inst., suddenly, at 3, New Grove, Milo-end, Mr. C. Drakeford, aged 58. E LBOROUGH.—On tho 9th inst., at 25, Cloudosley.street, Islington, Thos. Elborough, Esq., aged 81. FAWCETT.—On the 10th inst., at Hastings, Colonel Win. Fawcett, aged 74. HOLY.—On .the 9th inst., at 3, Suffolk-place, Rear• Adm iral Wm. Holt, aged 69. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOuNo, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Suva Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the comity of 14iddlesex, Wednesday, October 12, 1859,