The Sun. — London, England, 1860-09-25 00:00:00

AIM" L SCIENCE ASSOCIATION MEET- ING AT GLASGOW. GLASGOW, SEPT. The annual meeting of the Social Science Asso ciation was opened to-day, most of the distinguished strangers having arrived either on Saturday or this morning. Lord Brougham reached Glasgow on Saturday evening, and is staying with Sir James Campbell, of Stracathro. The Council met in the fore-hall of the University at half-past 12, and concluded the arrangements as far as possible. The Rev. Dr. ROBERTSON, at 2 o'clock, delivered an eloquent discourse before the members and asso ciates in the High Church (Cathedral). Lord BROUGHAM delivered the inaugural address at 8 o'clock p.m. in the City Hall, which was crowded. The following is an abstract of his address In the outset of our proceedings we arematu rally led to mark the progress of social science in past times, as well as its state at this day. The novelty of the name to designate what was before unknown in its various branches proves how little till of late years men had devoted themselves to these inquiries in the aggregate, although Tarticia lar subjects might more or less have engaged the attention of different classes without regard to the relation subsisting among them. But, indeed , we cannot go far back in the history of statesmen and lawgivers and of the community at large without the conviction that the attention of any class fixed exclusively upon one or other of the branches is only to be observed in the more recent period of our social annals. We shall best ascertain the pro gress of our science by casting an eye . over the history of the parties which have divided both the rulers and the people, and observing what attention was given to it, and how far it entered into their controversies. "That men of rare endowment flourished in those times —indeedof the highest qualities ever displayed in public life—is undeniable ; and that their talents fitted them for government in an extraordinaty de gree is as certain as that by their eloquence they were masters of debate. Beside Walpole, there were Cartard and Pultney, of first-rate distinction as ora tors—nay, Bolingbroke, according to all tradition the very first of modern times. But their lives were in council devoted to the intrigues of party, in the Senate to party eloquence, in office to preserving all things as they had found them ; and when Lord Chatham somewhat later was at the head of affairs, either in opposition or in the m'nority, not only were his whole attacks upon hie adversaries con fined to purely party grounds, but his own policy shows him so little in advance of his age, that, as regarded France, it was grounded upon the narrow, antiquated notion of natural enmity ; and as re garded America, upon the equally narrow and anti quated notion of natural sovereignty. To work out those great principles—to attack alt invasion of the one either in alliances or in war, and of the other in government, was the object of his public life. Yet so powerful is habit, such the force of routine, he seemed wholly unable to comprehend that it is our first duty by all means to cultivate peace with our neatest neighbour, as the first of blessings to both nations, each being able to do the other the most good in amity, the most harm in hostility; but he could only see glory, or even safety, in the pie carious superiority grasped by a successful war. In like manner, as often as the idea of American inde pendence crossed his mind, he instantly and utterly rejected it as the destruction of our national exist ence, instead of wisely perceiving that to become the fast friends of the colonies which we had first planted and long cherished under our protection would be nefit both ourselves and them the more by suffering them in their full growth to be as independent as we had always been. Was Lord Chatham singu lar in those feelings ? Not at all; but he was not at all wiser than others. The American war had raged for years before the word separation crossed the lips of any man in either House of Parliament — the mismanagement of the war and ill-treatment of the colonists being the only topics of attack upon the Government from those wnose averred object was to prevent the necessity of separation. " But out of this war and this revolution arose fundamental differences of opinion upon the great questions of allegiance, of popular rights, and ge nerally of civil liberty—opinions carried still fur ther by the greater Revolution (not unconnected with that event) which convulsed Europe a few years later ; and parties became marshalled accord ing to principles thus entertained by many, pro fessed by more ; and at the end of the century was distinguished, as had been the greater part of the century before not by the ale ence of all party . and personal combination, but by important principles on matters of Church and State becoming the giound of attachment or opposition to persons, or of the ties that held parties together. " While the holding certain opinions, and acting upon certain principles, more or less mixed with personal or patty feelings, gives these opinions and principles a weight in the public estimation greater than their intrinsic importance would have pos sessed, they were all, without any exception, of such a description that they lent themselves to the policy of conflicting parties. But, in the couise of time, and the improvement of men's views touching their real interests, their attention was turnedto opinions and principles among the most important of all, but on which the leaders of particular classes could not fasten se as to appropriate them, because they so plainly concerned the whole community, or were of such unquestionable soundness and truth that no dispute could arise respecting them, any diversity of views being necessarily confined to points of de tail, and consequently they were placed beyond the field of party conflict. The duty and the expediency of philanthropic policy in one sense comprises all the subjects belonging to this class ; but even in a more restricted accep tation it embraces some of the most remarkable. One characteristic of these opinions has just been noted, their not lending themselves to party controversy ; another and equally striking is their being held by those who had no special inte rest in them. Their professors might be benefited with the rest of the community, but in any other respect were entirely disinterested. Indeed, some principles were unconnected with any benefit even to the community at large, and might involve a sacrifice of its interest to the higher feelings of duty. The subject belonging to this class, the ear liest in date, is also the one that most truly falls within this description of having originated in just and pure principles, in those of justice and huma nity—the extinction of slavery and the a b ol ition of the traffic in slaves. For the first time statesmen and orators were seen directing their exertions to a suNeet which no party in the State could turn to its account, upon which all men were agreed as to the merits of the question, and could only di ff er re garding th e time and manner of its solution. The subject was first urged upon the attention of the Legislature by men who belonged not to its body, and whose opinions differed from those of the Go vernment; and it was welcomed by members of Parliament firmly attached to the Ministry—nor even during the half century over which the history of the question extends was it mixed in any manner of way with the conflicts of patty, while they raged more fiercely .than in any former period, and the men engaged in them were on all other questions the most lavishly praised, and the most unsparingly assailed. This felicity of the great question has not attended it in the new world ; slavery is not merely a ground of party division, but it 19 the great and paramount, nay, almost the only ground both of conflict between parties in each State of the Union and of the differences between the States them selves. The grand question of the election of the President (now approaching) turns entirely upon the principles professed by the candidates respect ing slavery ; and this ques tion involves all other disputes, inasmuch as, to the unspeakable misfor tune of that great community, the appointment of all public functionaries, from the highest to the humblest, depends upon the election of the chief magistrate, and all may be removed on their party being defeated a t that elec tion." After alluding to the necessity of public educa • tion, his Lordship continued,— There are two subjects of a more general de scription, one of which has often come under-dis cussion, and is not unattended with difficulty; but the other of great importance, and by no means of difficult consideration. A great error was at one time committed, at the establishment of schools 'Fen the principle of Bell and Lancaster. The fa cilities afforded for teaching great numbers under a single master ga ve rise to a prevailing impre ssi on that cheapness of inst ruction co uld best be sec ure d by these means, and there was too great a di s p oe s. tion to make this the ruling principle. But expe rience has proved, what a little reflection might earlier have shown, the great advantage of nume rous teachers. In truth, this is essential, not only for securing thorough instruction, but for maintain ingthat discipline, that influence o f moral autho rity Which is the most important benefit conferred bY attendance upon a school. It is to be hoped that the whole of this subject will be fully consi dered by th e are the resultdepartment, and these facts, w hich otmen's actual experience, be gathered together, and the inferences to which that experi ence leads be distinctly pointed out. But though education and training, imparting sound knowledge, religious and moral, and exalt ing the character, as of rational beings, is the most important of all our duties towards the humbler class of our fellow citizens, it is by no means to supereede the care 9f their temporal welfare, or to be taken as_a substitute :of that other imperative duty. A wide field is this opened to sotialscience, and it is one which only in Modern times has re ceived any cultivation. Count Rumford was a great benefactor to the world in promoting the more im portant of its branches. His plans-, for the most ' part, were well devised to ft tfease the comforts of -the poor, and carried into execution while he held high court and military employment in Bavaria, de serve the greatest of attention ; and the study of his essays, in which they are minutely detailed, is a duty incumbent upon all well-wishers to the pros perity and the peace and order of society. Especially to be considered are his proposals for improving the construction and arrangement of cottages, for the convenient application of heat to culinary and other purposes, for the preparation of cheap, whole some, and nutritious food, for the saving of fuel, and alimentary matter. Much may be done for the substantial bettering of the poor man's condition, f his labour, by attend and the preservation of his health, as well as the saving of his money and o . . a suggestions, in almost every his actual experience, and in i i n n g sta to nc C e o theun t result Rumford e r ' some respects, as in regardto the communication of heat, the corollaries from certain truths which he ascertained by his experiments, although he erred in some points of the theory which he sought to establish upon them. One inference of much im portance which he drew from the improvements effected in the condition of the poor, including the vagrant class, is the salutaiy tendency of increased comforts to lessen the number of crimes, as well as to mitigate their character, both in the civil and military portions of the community. There can be no greater encouragement to our efforts in augment ing the comforts of the people than the high and pure gratification derived from the conviction that increase of happiness is attended Kith increase of virtue, that the good bestowed makes men more worthy to receive and enjoy it. " Nothing can be more gratifying in this, and in every other view, than the success of the great mea sure which the working classes themselves have lately adopted to provide for their comfort, to hus band their resources, and to protect them from im position by the formation of cc operative societies ; and happily these have multiplied. especially in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and Yofic shire. Such societies are of two kinds. The one has for its immediate object to expend the income of each member to the b- , t advantage for himself; the other to enable him to obtain the largest return for his capital and industry. " This most interesting subject will certainly occupy both our general and judicial departments. " At our last Congress great attention we s paid to the important subject of temperance, and especi ally to the necessity of prepeeing public opinion for those repressive measures which experience daily proves more and more clearly to be required for lessening the consumption of spirituous liquors. The great source of pauperism and of crimes has hitherto only been attacked by pe"iatives, and although these have had a certain success, yet if there be any means not expo:ed to serious objec tions by which the evil may be extirpated, the gain to society would be incalculable. No measure of absolute repression can of course be recommended until the public mind has been not only prepared, but strongly inclined for it. But the proposal of the grand alliance well deserves a careful conside ration—the plan of enabling a certain proportion of the inhabitants in every district—a propor lion considerably above the ccmmercial majority, to give the magistrates authority for placing the districts under a general. repressive Act, passed with such modifications as, according to the Act's provisions, may be allowed in the peculiar local circumstances. A very extensive adhesion has been given to the propo3al in the great districts of Manchester and Birmingham, and this besides its intrinsic merits will be quite sufficient to cause a searching exami nation by our departments, sanatory and of juris prudence. That it deeply conceins both need not be added. But which of all our departments does it not most deeply concern? Remember the me morable expression of that great philanthropist, our eminent colleague the Recorder of Birmingham. ' Whatever step I take,' says Mr. Hill, ' and into whatever direction I may strike, the drink demon starts up before me and blocks the way. " But although the different branches of social science and their principles are in this country happily removed from the influence of party as a disturbing force, that influence must of course con stantly interfere with the adoption of the measures which these principles lee d us to recommend. Hence the conduct of the Government and of the Legisla ture becomes a most important subject of conside ration, but we are by the constitution of our body obliged to confine this discussion ssitb'n somewhat narrow limits, more especially avoiding all personal or party topics. It is, nowever, both permitted and required that we direct our attention to those parts of the political system which prove obsti active to the progress of social improvement, or which are more or less shown to have that tendency in the history of our times. Any defects of this description, whether in the power of the Government, or in the uniform course of its practical administration —any such obst , actions arising from the structure or the action of the branches themselves of the Legislate-e, fall within the scope of our legitimate discussion, to be undertaken respectfully as to the manner, cautiously vs to the subject-matters, and temperately and considerately as to suggestions offered, regard being had to the great importance of the interests involved, and to the dignity as well as the power of the authorities, whose constitution i or whose proceedings are in question. "At our last Congress the contrast was held out in strong language, but not stronger than the case demanded, between our Parliamentary constitution and the mockery of popular government presented by the existing system among our nearest neigh bours. 'I he entire freedom of discussion on all public measures which we enjoy, was set in opposition to the utter absence of any thing deserving the name under the form of government which they have chosen as adapted to their character and suited to their circumstances. Nor is it intended now to qualify in the least degree the panegyrics then pro nounced as resulting from the comparison. To the astonishment of all mankind, it has lately been found decent at Paris to extol the French legisla tive proceedings as conducted with a perfect regard to free discussion, and as securing all the liberty which the people can wish to possess. We have no vocation here to dispute this eulogy, or to ques tion the grounds of it, how startling soever it may have proved. But neither are we required to par take of the self-satisfaction, the happy complacency which these praises testify to exist, if not among those to whom they are addressed, certainly in those from whom they proceed. On the contrary, we have much to complain of in our own system, at least in the manner of acting under it, and the ground of complaint is so undeniable that a remedy may be reasonably expected by some neighbours, happy in so perfect a system, andex ulting in it, cannot wi s h f or any improvement. " The greatest objection to the conduct of the business in the two Houses of Parliament, particu larly in the Commons, arises from the reluctance to fetter discussion either by rules binding upon the members, or by restraining the speakers in their addresses. Besides the question before the house, and on the m-rits of which a speech must always be regular, there are many questions in debating which great latitude is taken, so as to introduce topics quite foreign to the subject -matter itself. Thus upon a motion for adjournment, although the only matter in question is whether there shall be an adjournment or not, it is the inveterate habit to in troduce any subject on which any speaker desires to be heard, however foreign to the question of ad journing. Now, the mot 'on to adjourn either the house or the debate may be made at any time, and may be repeated any number of times. Then, as the rule is absolute that except iu committees, no member shall speak more than once in any debate, he may evade this rule by moving au adjournment, and could only be prevented by the general uproar which it would probably occasion from speaking again upon the question under colour of supporting the motion to adjourn. Yet this is really the only abuse of the motion to adjourn, which has hardly ever been com mitted. Upon this motion often repeated speeches are made and divisions had, sometimes for the avowed purpose of defeating a measure supported by a vast majority, sometimes in order to delay its progress. It is to be observed that all obstructions of this kind, indeed of every kind, arise from the rights of a minority, however inconsiderable. If nut a few persons league themselves together, they may occasion as great a delay as if they composed a numerous and power ful body. The mere prolixity of speech is far from being the only cause of ob struction. The number of speakers is a very great cause. There are many members so insig nificant that beyond a few of their own connexions they are wholly unknown except to their consti tuents. But they desire to speak, first, because they would court these constituents, • or impress them with a notion of their theyimportance;speeches. gain general reputation It is, therefore, undeniable that the two cause s of this excessive speaking—the speaking of members whose talents, information, or personal importa nce returgni gives p sth liament by bodies of them no claim to be heard—are their electors, and the repo r t of Parliament their . speeches in the daily papers. Thus the combination of small par ties, the determination to resist whatever proceeds from certain quarters, the Government especially, in whose hands soever it is placed, the desire to make their support of consequence, which, insigni cant in itself, may be of moment when the great parties are equally balanced, and the countless num• bars of endless speeches without any merit, by per.. sons of no mark, have of late times made the House of Commons a byword as a place of talk and not of work, the caricature of a popular assembly— "'haitecifaction has set wrong; all night long IC4 Wlivjahhseeerrteetiribeligohii st 0 bw' ratot y- thresh the floor " ' That yields them chaff and dust, awl nothing more.' Having pointed out the means by which the pro lixity of debates might be prevented, his Lordship said t—" That measures upon the principles of so cial science, with all other real improvements, must gain incalculably by such a change, none can doubt. But if there Were no question of social im provement, no desire of amendment of the law ; if the name of social science were no more heard, and the thing occupied men's minds no more, there is a paramount interest to be consulted, a great catas trophe to be warded off. The cause of constitutional regimen is in jeopardy; the continuance of free, that is of Parliamentary, Government is at stake ; the question is, shall we any longer enjoy the bless ings of a mixed and balanced constitution, or shall we be sunk into the deplorable condition of being governed by an absolute monarch and a mob — suppressing all discussion, whether in assemblies of a mcck Legislature or among the people; and not only rigorously forbidding all objections to the acts of power, all observation on those who wield it, but compelling both the slaves who speak and the slaves who write to labour in panegyrics of the ex tent and according to the pattern set down before them, till, from the scum of the German baths and the sluice of the French pros inces, there .. is compounded a plaster only bearable by those over whom it is spread, to all the rest of mankind being unspeak ably offensive and disgusting. Such a fate could never befall this country ; but, though a despotism in form is impossible here, let us never forget how large a portion of its substance might be inflicted upon us by a not very slow or gradual process. If the obstruction to all business cannot be any longer endured, if anything would be less intolerable than a continuance of the evil, never let the recollection fade from oar memory of how much has been suffered by other countries to prevent the recur rence of es A times. The successive despotisms in France, whether of the multitude or of the oligarchy, or of a single tyrant, have all been ren dered possible, and been even quietly borne, rather than encounter the worse calamity of the Reign of Terror. Let us not be too sure that a regimen differing in little but the name from absolute Government might not be gradually introduced among us under shelter of the cry, ' Anything is better than the session of 1860.' If, however, from that session we have derived little benefit to our great cause of social science, we have at least received the lesser advantages of sanitary warn ings ; and of these, two are of considerable practi cal importance. In the first place, the necessity of a Minister of Justice has become manifest ; what before was deemed highly expedient is now plainly shown to be reqvisite. It can hardly be doubted that any one of the late tenures, of zhich all men now complain, would have been prevented had we possessed the inestimable advantage of a depart ment responsible for carrying the measures judi ciously selected, and with care and skill prepared. No one can deny that, to take the most remarkable instance, the Bankruptcy Bill, dismembered of the provisions which were little more than enactments, but formed a huge, an appalling mass, relieved from the clauses most objected to, and intrusted to those who had no other work, and were answer able for its passing through the Commons, would have reached the Lords in time to be considered and adopted—i f, indeed, it had not, as most pro bably would have been the case, been first brought into the Lords at a period when they had little to do, and the Commons were overwhelmed, or acted as if they felt overwhelmed, with work. The like would have happened with every one of the other law bills, as well those which failed as those which passed in debate, or with an amount of discussion barely decent. But further illustration was given of such a department's importance in conducting the important duty of deciding in the exercise of the high and delicate prerogative of mercy. Does any one now affect to doubt that this should be vested in a lawyer' The whole subject of a de partment of justice has long been in the hands of our able, learned, and excellent colleague, the late Chancellor of Ireland, who indeed obtained the sanction of the Commons to a resolution which he moved; and we may truly affirm that no relecting person now entertains any doubt upon the question, except as to whether the undivided responsibility of a single Minister should not be preferred to the advantage derived from the concurrence of several, and from the greater weight thus possessed, as well as the fuller investigation of difficult questions. "The other warning afforded by the late session relates to the consolidation of the law. Bills care fully prepared by successive committees of the Lords, with the aid of the ablest draughtsmen, and after the fullest discussions attended by experienced criminal lawyers, and after reports of commissions upon all the details—bills which embodied a con solidation of the law upon the most important heads of criirs", were sent down to the Commons, acid it was found impossible toproceed a single step in the consideration of them. But utterly hopeless as any such attempt must have proved in the past session, and with the weight under which it la boured, there was presented to the minds of all re flecting persons in a stronger light than ever the absolute necessity of performing this important work in one way, and the utter impossibility of ever accomplishing it in any other—namely, the Com mons agreeing to repose confidence in those who had prepared the digest—especially the Lords who had examined, considered and approved it, thus adopting the consolidation as prepared, and not dis cussing it in detail. The debate of some hundred clauses of a code, in a house of some hundred mem bers, comprising lawyers in sit her kind, barrister and attorney, recorders of boroughs, corporations, jus tices giving ear to town clerks, chairmen of sessions and other magistrates, connty gentlemen instructed by their solicitors, bankers, and merchants with sons at the bar, dilettante law reformers, presents to the mind such a picture of endless proposal and objection, cavil and comment, that the bare aspect is enough to induce slumbers in the least somnolent, er confuse and turn round the steadiest head. All men are now agreed that the only question is, shall there be a consolidation or not, parcel of and pi e liminary to a complete code or digest of the law ; in other words, shall the Government of this coun try perform its high and imperative duty of bring ing the people under its rule acquainted with the laws made to protect their rights, but also the laws to which it .requires their obedience, enforcing that obedience by the severest penalties. If the affirma tive answer is given, there can be only one manner of working to frame the code. Whoever desires to have it discussed in detail—that is the clauses, merely stating what the existing law is, without proposing any change—whoever insists upon dis cussing the diction adopted in framing these clauses (for that is all) has a shorter and simpler mode of declaring his opinion, or rather of declaring what he means ; his real meaning is that there shall be no consolidation, no digest, no code. It is to be expected that the Department of Jurisprudence will examine these two great subjects, a Depart ment of Justice and the consolidation of the law, with the care which their paramount importance so manifestly prescribes. "At our first meeting, in 1857, the subject of judicial statistics was brought under consideration in the able and useful papers read by Mr. L. Leir ; and, in consequence of the discussion which took place, very considerable improvements were intro troduced into that department of the Treasury, so that at our last Congress hopes were entertained of such complete and regular information being afforded as the annual re p or t o f th e Minister of Justice pre sentseenmade International in that Statistical di rec t c i. o n n n . g. r e T s s h e m has e b e e t e i n n g heldo f theb in France. A mos t i m p or tant step has since un der the presidency of the Prince opening address, marked bythe ac curate informati on , and the general Consort, d ability sense, whose the which distinguish all his Royal highness's the hands of all our members. Havin g exertions, been requested to superintend the Judicial Department , and hav ing afterwards, in his Royal Highness ' s absence, presided at the general meeting, it was a great satisfaction to find the unanimous adoption of the plan which it became my duty to report, embody ing the resolutions in full detail upon the whole subject ; and there was a strong recommendation, unanimously passed, urging the Government to appoint a permanent Statistical Commission. The report has been presented to the House of Lords (where, indeed, I had several years before brought forward the resolutions which formed its ground work this year), and it is now among the printed papers of the session. There were naturally pre sent at this International Congress eminent men from various parts of the Continent, and in announ cing the assembly of the present meeting I took the liberty of inviting those distinguished foreigners, with whose presence I trust we are now honoured. Among others was a negro gentleman of great re spectability and talents, Dr. Delaney, who had at tended different departments, and in his able address had communicated useful information and suggestions. When inviting him to this Congress I informed him that he would have the satisfaction of visiting the country which first declared a slave free the instant he touches British nor ar ound. Dr. Delaney's forefathers were African slaves ; he is himself a native of Canada. It is truly painful to reflect that, although his family has been free for generations, his origin being traced to one whom the crimes of white men and Christians had en slaved, he would be, in the land of transatlantic liberty, incapable of enjoying any civil rights whatever, and would be treated in all respects as an alien, the iniquity of the fathers being inexo- rably visited, not upon their children, but upon the children of their victims to all generations—chil dren whose only offence is the sufferings of their parents, whose wrongs they inherit with their hue. " Connected with statistics is a subject which occupied our Sanitaiy Department last year—the defects in our public records of sickness and mor tality—and the valuable papers of Mr. Kemsey gave rise to much discussion. The Council appointed a committee to investigate the question, and re solutions were agreed to, on which a communica tion was opened with the Government. There can be no doubt that the present system will receive extension and improvement. Unfortunately, as much cannot be said respecting the report of another committee named by the Council on the defects of the Census of 1851, and their valuable suggestions for its improvement in 1861. These were kindly received by the Government, and attention to them was promised ; but the Act as passed does not provide for any material improvement. On one matter there can really be no doubt ; the returns for the three kingdoms ought on every account to be made uniform. It is to be hoped that the suc cess of the National Congress may lead to a still more important international assemblage on the assimilation of commere'al law. On this great subject Mr. L. Leir's lectures delivered both here and in Edinburgh, as well as in Loudon and Bir mingham, contain the most valuable information 1 and suggestions. It has been deemed advisable to take so large and difficult a subject piecemeal ; a beginning is made with statistics, and the Council, as will afterwards be stated, has broached that of uniform general averages. "The subject not to be surpassed in importance, the employment of educated women, was discussed at the last congress, and a society was soon after formed for promoting it. Lest Easter it became connected with this association; and the laudable exertions of Miss Bessie Parkes, whose interesting paper had mainly led to its formation, and of Miss Faithful and other fellow-labourers in this good work have already been attended with marked suc cess. Several. papers upon various views of the sub ject will be read at this meeting. It may now only further be stated that the meeting he'd in last June, presided over by Lord Shaftesbury, wes very numerously attended. The great object of find ing employment suitable to educated women was fully considered, and our secretary, Mr. Hastings, took a prominent and useful part in the discussion. Among other occupations law engrossing, book-keeping, and printing may be mentioned as well fitted for educated women. The printing press. conducted under Miss Faithful's superintendence, hes just been eminently success ful, and since the meeting in June has received the high sanction of the Queen's approval, signified 1 in a gracious letter by her Majesty's commands. It is very gratifying to find that the experience of this press has removed most, if not all., the objec tions which were at first raised ageinst the plan. It is fit to add that the energy, perseverance, and discretion of Miss Faithful have mainly contributed to this happy result. "The subject of trades' societies and strikes en gaged much attention at the last meeting on the discussion of the preliminary r eport of a special committee appointed by the council, and of very able and interesting papers presented by Messrs. liratts, Plummer, Ross, and others. The committee. has now concluded its labours, and the final report, with a large volume of papers, contributed by dif ferent members, has been printed, and will be pub lished here. A very interesting discussion may be expected upon the whole subject ; and this country is peculiarly suited to the calm and dis passionate consideration of it, because happily little of the mischief which has befallen England, from the differences between workmen and masters, hes afflicted Scotland. "It is to be hoped that within either the sani tary:or the 7generalidepartment the subject may be allowed to fall of the great f:equercy of fatal accidents lately to be deplored. Those on railways really urgently demand attention, and their causes cannot be fully investigated without the sugges tion of some preventive. It is remarkable that the evil is confined to Great Britain. In France the greater discipline and more careful administration, even more than the lesser speed and the want of excursion trains, is probably the reason that grave accidents there are all but unknown. The other class of injury to persons, often fatal, is that of careless or foolhardy and adventurous travellers being severely hurt, orien losing their lives in attempts to climb or descend dangerous passes, in neglect or defiance of their guide's advice. The misery thus inflicted on families and the public in jury thus occasioned should be impressed upon men's minds, and the guilt incurred by their care lessness or obstinacy. A life thus thrown away is by self-slaughter, not self-murder; and the crime bears the same relation to suicide that manslaugh ter does to murder. " It may be recollected that at Bradford a very important discussion arose in a branch meeting, over which I had the honour to preside, upon the question of direct or indirect taxation, and I pre sented a report describing the diversity of opinion which prevailed on the general subject, but stating the conclusion at which we had, with great unani mity, arrived in favour of repealing the numerous duties so oppressive to trade and so unproductive of revenue. In consequence of the Bradford discus sion a special committee was appointed by the Coun cil, and will report at this Congress ; but its report will be confined to a statement of the conflicting opinions held embodied in two short papers—one by Mr. Newmarch, the well-known statist ; the other by our secretary, Mr. Hastings. The Com mittee expressly declined propounding any opinion of their own, thinking that the question requires more careful investigation and more dispassionate discussion than it has hitherto received. Our asso ciation, standing aloof from political parties and class interests, and viewing the subject as a problem of science to be solved with prejudice or passion, is the fittest place for such a discussion. " Social science is not confined to our country, and it is a duty, as well as a gratification, to observe its progress in other nations. Unhappily, the num ber is small of European States in which a popular Government affords the security of measures being proposed by the rulers calculated to benefit the people as well as themselves. But the diffusion of knowledge has made so manifest the tendency of an enlightened policy to promote the interests of the community, and thus in the result to serve the Government also, that the attention of absolute So vereigns has been drawn, if not driven, to such courses as must increase the wealth of their sub jects, and consequently their oam resources, and might also promote the comforts of the people, for which they probably cared little, unless as tending to preserve order and quiet without the control of force. Such Sovereigns, too, have facilities for making and moulding laws, and effecting changes in the institutions, as well as the policy of the State—facilities which made the French sect, the (Economists, prefer what they termed a legal despotism to a popular form of Government, and made even Bentham regard such a system with envy, when pressed by the dif ficulty of carrying forward his plans for the im provement of our jurisprudence. It is unnecessary to dwell on the grossness of the delusion arising from such one-sided views of the subject; but we may admit that some compensation is thus afforded by despotism for its great and various evils. " Mightily must the cultivators of social science rejoice, in such noble conduct of the absolute Sove reigns to whom the fortunes of so vast a portion of the world are entrusted, and full well know that their cause mainly rests upon the preservation of peace abroad and the maintenance of order at home. Well may they apply to social science the Roman orator's words, spoken of his own art, for truly she is the offspring of peace, and by a greater than the Roman charity gratefuliy gives her pious support to her parent. Let ns not fear danger to this first of blessings from any quarter, by the pursuit of warlike glory, guilty, and as senseless as guilty, among any of our neighbours. An eminent politi cal economist at our last congress declared that he only dreaded the arts of the fiend enemy of man kind, tempting his countrymen with a laurel, in stead of the apple with which he deceived our first parents. But it is edifying to observe the same person now anrouncing his entire confidence in the pacific tendency of that enlightened policy to which he has so greatly contributed. In his hopes we must altogether share ; in the great part of his con fidence also. But it is no mark of mistrust in others that we trust ourselves more; and we must all heartily rejoice in the spirit of determination to be well prepared which the country universally shows. Let us also rejoice in the training to which it has given rise. As a mere sanitary measure this association has a right to own it and highly to es timate its value. But on far more lofty grounds we are bound to exult in it, for it is the pledge of peace. Here, above all places, such feelings are natural and appropriate. We are in the land- sanc tified by the struggles of religion, and renowned for supporting her sister, Freedom, in the worst of times. Here the martyrs of the cause swore to the Covenant "by the name of the Lord their God" — here, in the next age, the rebels against civil and religious liberty encountered the stoutest resistance —here, in yet later times, was begun the arming of the people for defence of the realm. Is it wonder ful that attachment to religious and civil rights t sh he o m ul , d w k it i h nd h le ea t r h t e an s d ame fire of patriotism, and in the same bosoms ? Those treasures w hich men prize the m os t d ear l y are nearest their hearts Land hand, they will defend." Lord Henry Bentinek will shortly leave his shooting box in the Highlands for the south to oommenos the hunting season. A DINNER IN MOSCOW. TO THE EDITOR OF THE lIMEg. • Sir,—Some time ago the question of how to dine was ventilated in7your columns, and many opinions were expressed thereon. The form of dinner known among us as diner a la Russe was referred to, the term implying but little more than that the dishes should be brought on successively, and not, as was usually done, en masse. I send you an account of a dinner which was lately arranged by a few Russian gourmets for the special purpose of showing two Englishmen how one can dine in " Moscow the superb," and which dinner necessarily involves tout ce qu'il ya de plus Russe. If you should think it worth insertion, it may be interesting to some of your former writers and readers on the subject.. I would premise that the hospitality and warm. heartedness of the Russians is unbounded. The coldness of manner which marked their conduct to us at the time of the coronation, as compared with their behaviour to the French, has completely passed away. They now look with distrust on the future destiny of France, and they certainly draw closer to us. All ill-feeling having disappeared, Moscow society—with, I am told, one, perhan", natural ex ception—is willing to receive any English gentle man with open arms. Hence we have had several opportunities of examining their dinners, both in public and private. A mixture of 1 7 'each or Eng lish usage has been generally observable, but some gentlemen, members of the club here (to which we have been admitted), having heard that we were somewhat of connoisseurs in the matter, determined we should have a dinner purely Russian. Accord ingly the event came off yesterday, and is worth recording. It was arranged that the dinner should take place et Samareera's, the justly celebrated restaurant, and I was to have no voice in the matter, but aban don myself to being taught, instead of teaching. It was also arranged that the hour should be half-past 5 o'clock. The usual hour is 2,3, or 4, but it was rightly thought that M. Samareena would be more free at a later hour and better able to bring the whole power of his establishment to bear on the important point of rivalling the cuisine of England or of France. At 3 o'clock we were conducted to a Russian bath, a long and intricate, but delicious operation. The day was Wednesday, and therefore a jour maigre. On that day, as well on Saturday in every week, the poor are not only not allowed to eat, but they are not even permitted to bathe ! The rich, of course, can bathe and dine. Accordingly we bathed, and, having been duly flogged all over with laurestina boughs, with every leaf steeped in perfume—a most wonderful promoter of appetite—we were enveloped in linen, and, reclining on sofas, were served with quass and lampopo. The quass is a beverage formed of rye flour. The lampopo is an invention of the poct Pucksin, composed of beer, black bread, spices, and citrons cut in two. Each half of these latter is called popolam, which repeated frequently gives lampopo. The object sought is to assist in cooling the skin after the violent perspiration caused by the flogging and the bath. At 5 o'clock we had dressed, and arrived at Sama reena's. We were ushered into two private apart ments overlooking the Palace gardens, and opposite to that rare combination of coloured towers, palaces, cupolas, and domes forming the raised plateau of the Kremlin. We seated ourselves on the divans by the open windows, and after a few minutes, and ex actly 15 minutes before dinner, two trays were car ried roand, the one bearing bread, butter, caviare, and very small salt cucumbers; the other vodka and fruit and cumin d'allasch. he former of these is the native brandy of the country made into liqueur by the mixture of fruit. The latter is a fire-rate liqueur not unlike maraschino with a delicate flavour of caraway seeds. The bread is very white and fine, and particularly light. Everybody took a small piece of bread, about two mouthfuls, buttered it from the tray, placed on it a small piece of caviare, cut open a cucumber, took a slice from the centre, placed that on the caviare, and ate the whole in his fingers. A small liqueur glass from the second tray accompanied this. You are then supposed to have brought your frame into a state fit for dining. These trays were brought in by two servants, who, together with those who waited at dinner, were so unlike anything we have in Western Europe that the eye of the fore•gner rests far more on them than on the contents of their trays. They were, of course, in petticoats,like nice out of ten ordinary men in Russia, but not only the petticoats, but the bodices also, the latter fitting close round the neck, the former hanging to the feet, were of a pure white, with a white sash tied twice round the waist, and hanging down at the side. Of course, it looks very clean, and answers the first great purpose in ser vants. At half-past 5 to a minute we seated ourselves, and dinner was served. As we took our seats, and the landlord, followed by half a dozen white slaves, appeared with the first dish, unseen music arose. Tnis proceeded from a gigantic organ let into the wall of 'the adjoining room, which with its machi nery imitates every instrument of the orchestra from the drum to the fiddle, and can play no less than the best part of a dozen operas. It is the work - of a Russian, and cost 40,000 f. The first air it played was the Kamarinsky, composed by Glinka, combining all the Russian national dances, at each variation of which every Russian becomes almost frantic, and wants to stand up and jump about. The excitement caused by this lively air at public places of amusement is astonishing. Our first dish was rastiagai—open pates of a small trout from•the inland lakes (the best are at Valdai), the fish being cut very fine, and lying in the pate in a White sauce not unlike veloute, only not so delicate. These were cut up by the host before us, in manner known all over Russia, the action of the knife not only cutting the pate, but turning it on the plate ready for the next cut. One pate thus cut and very hot was placed before each guest. When every one had eaten half his pate the p with the remainder was removed to his side, and there was placed before him a soup-plate filled with what is to a Russ the greatest and most expensive luxury of his country; This is ouha (I write as it is pronounced) of sterlite and nalime. The steriite is more like a small sturgeon than anythins , else, and if from the Kama river is much prized and pro portionably dear. The nalime is the eel-pout, a very rich and delicate fish. The stock of the soup is formed from pounded parts of these fish, which are then strained off. An entire sterlite (nearly a yard long) will only make soup enough for half a dozen people. The strength of the fish turns the liquid almost yellow, and the very sight of it gives you an idea of amazing richness. Two small por tions from the thin side of the sterlite, and one long bit of the nalime, are floating in each plate of soup, and when the skin is removed from the former the delicate pink flesh below combining with the yel low soup produces a mixture to gratify the eye and the taste of a Savarin of any nation. You are to eat your soup in conjunction with the remaining pate by your side. The next dish was between a Mayonnaise and chicken cutlets, with a creamy substance like a paste over the whole, and mixed up with sliced apples, gherkins, plums, almonds—a decidedly naive mixture of many good things, This was succeeded by beef pique and stewed in slices, each slice being an enormous hunch of lean and fat, accompanied by a 13auce which, expe rienced as I am, not only utterly defied all my powers of divination, but paved even beyond my attempt at comprehension in English, French, or German, the main elements being so purely . Rus sian that no recognised term appears to exist for them elsewhere. Suffice it to say that one ingre dient in the compound is preserved hips and haws, and another the wild ash berry, with us generally believed to be poison, while a third must be mainly used as a medicine, the host gravely informing us that it was very good in cases of cholera, besides which I much doubt, even were I able to give you the receipt in extenso, whether any one on earth would ever try it. The next dish we had was one perfect in its kind, but sadly misplaced in order—artichaux aux champignons, the whole interior of the artichoke being stuffed with mushrooms which had lain in fried butter so long that you were hardly conscious, but for the taste, that you had anything in your mouth. It was first-rate, but the cream-sauce was a little too sweet—it destroyed the delicate combi nation of flavour of artichoke and mushroom. The above was succeeded by a dish called bitok. On the plate placed before you was a round and flat dumpling of meat. The interior was composed of veal, mutton, ham, and bacon, beat up with the yolk of eggs, and chopped very fine, and made into a flat mass in connection with stewed onions, honey, vinegar, and capers ; the whoie surrounded with fried potatoes, stoned olives, peas, and sliced lemons. Now one would think this was peculiar enough, and I am afraid of boring your readers, but really another dish was so remarkable and so unlike any thing as yet known to science, that you must have it. Take the dregs of several teapots, cut those tea leaves up as fine as possible, mix them with large quantities of pounded sugar; pound a dozen salt cucumbers into a mash ; cut half a dozen more into slices; make as strong soup lits with you can of these ingredients; then m two quarts of quass, and when cold introduce into it large lumps of ice ; and, after er insert ing the tureen in a bedding of ice 11. a saucepan, ) serve the whole (saucepan and a 1 as nearly frozen as it can be made. This remarkably appro priate and delicate dish (being a pale green soup of tea, guess, and iced cucumber s ) is called batoinie, sad delights many a Russian heart. into it on the plate are introduced small square pieces of fish, which is about the only thing wanted to make it more incongruous than before. The Russians say it is very refraichissant, which I undersiand to mean that you can eat the more after it. To an Englishman it seems like beginning dinner again, and that in no pleasant form. It is a medieval state of things, as in the reign of our Anne, where soup came in as the fourth course. There followed after this roasted ryabehicks, with broccoli and cherries preserved in their juice. The - ryabchick is a bird peceliar to Russia, a little larger than our partridge, and like it in flavour, and, when kept long enough, very delicate, white, and good. This was succeeded by raspberries and cream — and a sort of Idancmange-yele pique with straw berries; and the whole wound up with a selection of preserves, preserved stalks of lettuces, candied oranges ia slices, preserved rind of melon, and pre served rose leaves! The wines were Sherry, Medoc, then a richer Bordeaux, Port wine, Burgundy, cherry brandy, and (after dinner) Champagne. Now, to a connoisseur in these matters many things will present themselves as not strictly secundum artern ; but still, if you omit the Batoinie, and the order of the other dishes be somewhat changed, you would have a first-rate composition, and, even as it was, it was an excellent dinner. The great principle of building up until you come to the severest dish, and then down again until you come to the entreerets, is lost sight of. The arti chokes coming in where they did is a great mis take, but this is a common error both in Germany and Russia. I dined the other day at a general's, a short distance out of Moscow, where the same thing occurred. It was, however, the only mistake in the course of a long and elaborate dinner. Again, some of the mixtures were incongruous to British tastes ; but the truth is, that taste changes with climate, as any one may learn who tastes iced salt cucumbers on first arriving in Russia, and is amazed at the avidity with which he will eat them a fortnight after. Every smoker knows that Tur kish tobacco is not the same in London as at Con stantinople, and that the best English cigars have not the same flavour in the East. Hence let none deem harshly of the above dinner till he has lived a month at Moscow and eaten the same. This remark, however, does not apply with equal force to the junction of wine with food. Port wine with the entrees of a dinner (except in sauce) is an equal fallacy from pole to pole; and when wil even France in particular, and Europe generally, learn from England that champagne should be drunk with roast meat, and not be introduced as an incu bus after dinner ? The cherry brandy was first rate ; I tasted some at another dinner in Moscow the other day which was bought at Lord Granville's sale in 1856. It was very good, but a Rassian sample by its side was infinitely better. The main fault of Russian dinners is that they place before you too much of each dish. Your plate fal is that of a giant. A little of each plat, and that little good, is one great secret of dining; but this the Russians will soon alter. They call them selves a new country, but, despite our antiquity, I should be puzzled to go to any public place in Lon don (other than large hotels) and order, among dishes peculiar to England, a dinner that would rival that of the Moscow Philippe. I have dined at the club here—they have a first rate chef—and modified as the tastes are by forms brought from Paris (for they seem to think that except in roast ing we know nothing about it in England), the dinners are excellent. Apart, however, from this, Russian cookery is not inferior to the general cuisine of other countries, and above all, I see ele ments of invention among them, the grand deside ratum which will soon make them formidable rivals anywhere. Our evening closed with two more specialites— one was drinking yellow tea, at 365. a pound, in a tumbler, with a slice of citron (in lieu of milk) float ing in each glass. The want of milk in the Crimea, was loudly deplored by those who were not fortu nate enough to have a goat. It might have been compensated by a few lemons, if any one had sug gested the change, for the roughness of the tea is quite removed, and its taste, especially when smok ing, is better than with milk. The other specialite was hearing the so called Bohemian girls sing. These are the Russian gypsies, but as any one will remember who has read Borrow's account of them, the sphere to which they have attained in Moscow is so far above that in which the remainder of their race pass their lives that it may be considered a phenomenon in gypsy history. This exalted sphere is attributable to the simple power of song, for they have no- education and are infinitely too in dolent to learn ; neither would the personal at tractions of a few among them keep the mass where they are. Their songs are in Russ, but in a dialect of their own. They are profusely intermingled with shrieks, which, though harsh to a foreigner, seem most captivating to a Russian. The novelty, however, of their peculiarities was only on a par with all we had been experiencing for many hours; and when I now calmly recall the entire day the conclusio❑ I can arrive at is, that however 'diffe rent from all we are accustomed to, Moscow is a most enjoyable place, and that every Englishman who has the time, like Caesar, should " Come and see aud—taste."—l am, sir, your obedient servant, Nicolaisky-street- Moscow, Sept. 13. G. H. M. P.S.—I would only add a thing that surprised me much. The whole conversation during dinner (other than such parte as related to the art of dining) was on English modern works of fiction, and each one of our hosts was as thoroughly au courant of every novel, from those of Walter Scott down to Adam Bede, as if he was not or ly an English gen . tleman, but a literary one. Such works and many others are translated into several Russian papers directly they come out, and the club here takes in no loss than 33 Russian papers, 14 in French (be sides German), and five in English, The Times and Punch being two, and a New York paper a third. ,ate CURIOUS EFFEOIB OF LIGHTNING. We mentioned some time ago that a woman, hav ing taken refuge from a storm under the door of a mill at Lappion, Aisne, was thrown down by a stroke of lightning, but received no further injury, except that the figure of a tree ha-d by was found per fectly impressed upon her back, so that the trunk branches, and leaves were minutely distinguish able, the impression being of a reddish tint. Cases of a similar description have been several times recorded. Franklin, for instance, relates that while a man was standing at the door of his house a tree opposite to him was struck with lightning, and he received the impression of that tree on his breast. M. Orioli, who was professor of Natural Philosophy , at Bologna in 1831, at the time the Italian revolu tion broke out, in which he took a prominent part, related a like occurrence at the Scientific Congress of Naples in 1846; a lady of the name of Morosa, at Lugano, was sitting near a window during a storm, when she experienced a violent commotion, and soon became aware that the figure of a flower which stood near her at the time was impressed on one of her legs, a mark which she retained to her dying day. In Sept., 1825, a brigantine was struck with lightning while at anchor in the Bay of Armiro in the Adi iatic ; one of the sailors was killed, and the figure of a horse-shoe which was nailed to the foremast, according to the custom of sailors in those part 3, was found distinctly delineated on his hip. A similar case is recorded of another brigantine at Zante, where a sailor was also killed, and was found marked with the number 44, the very same in size as that cut out in metal, which was nailed to some part of the vessel. On the 9th of Octo ber, 1836, a young man named Politi was killed by lightning at Zante. Upon examination the exact impressions of six pi e ces of gold which he had in his belt were found on his shoulder. In 1841, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, two persons placed themselves under a poplar during a storm. The tree was struck, and both individuals were marked with the impression of a leaf of the poplar. M. Figuier, who enumerates these cases in an article of his in the Presse, endeavours to explain the phe nomenon by supposing that the electric fluid, in siriking a body, carries off with it some particles of the same, which in their progress retain the same outline, and being in a state of ignition, impress it on any other combustible body they may meet o n their way. It is scarcel y safe to reject an expla nation without offering a better one ; still we might ask how the woman of Lappion received the im pression on her back through he n r it e nh lo ea th sbh e e s ol , tul w dw e h or i rcn h , of are not stated to ha ve been burnt through • and cceosuolfdlreneycontainedimpressed o We are evidently as yet in wan t o f rmePirein. : f orma ti o n regardin g thi s cur i ous phe nomenon, sufficient ewearer. the t e h t a e i which appears to us well worthy of being further inquired into. • [ADVERTISEMENT.] Pills and medicine invariably ag r ravate and perpetuate diseases; their annoyance, dis appointment, and expense may be avoided by persona in indifferent health sendin g on l y their address to E . S. Barry, Esq., 77, Regent-street, W., London, and they will receive gratis and free by post the " INVALIDS' OWN GUIDE," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex pense, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and refreshing sleep, to the most enfeebled, insuring the removal of indigestion (dyspepsia), cons ti pation, l i ver com plaints, nausea, epilepsy, paraly s i s, debility, nervousness, Palpitation, cough, asthma, consumption, dropsy, flatulency, di arr hoea, dysentery, bilious ness, fevers, sore throats, ca t a rrhs, colds noises in the e ars, rheumatism, gout, impur iti e s : eruptions, pal Pi. , s hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplesane"' acidity, tation, heartbu rn, headache, despondency , cramps , sPas Sinking, fits . renChitiS." U nques ti on ably the safest Uuide to health." __ its __ • We do not anticipate a much longer popu.larity for ftaeirni teohsu7ess several vr eFrenchirnarla ofmo wui infamous o ip n e hr - c e amdseed may ye s be oe slapsr seen eet hn t e h r o a fit n toian t; g e h r i ogn t b h ta e h i t, r ; muddy waters of the Medway. Our authorities were polite enough, and, they must allow us to) say, stupid enough to accept the French designs in' that case in all their integrity, and we may esteem it a piece of great good fortune that they were not frightened itto a ioieP A h second r servile imitation. What wooden frigate, covered from stem to stern with thick iron plates, a s a protection to a battery of 36 guns, and pro puled by engines of 900 nominal horse power (E n glish), at an average rate of between 12 end 13 knots. English shipbuilders have predicted that, with such enormous weights at the extremities, she would behave badly in a sea. Nothing corrobora tire of this has reached us at present ; time will, however, we are disposed to think, prove the cor rectness of their view. It was partly on account of this suspicion that Mr. Scott Russell's idea of making the ship of iron, and covering only the central part with armour, was viewed with such favour in England. Our iron ships will, however, possess this great advantage over, the French, viz., that the permanence of our costly structure will nu t depend on the duration of perishable timber ma teriabut excepting the accidents of storm and will be as durable as iron itself. B u t i s it true that such a ship as this could, "of battl e is itself confrOn.: - a whole steam fleet ?" In the first place, the moat vital part of all steam ships—the propeller—is as vOnerable in the Gloire as in any other ship ; this dik. , abled, her armour could only embarrass, without do fending her. And further, in what respect would the armour tend to prevent her being carried by hoo'ding—by storm, as it were ? Evidently in no ren.' ect ; the necessity for making the spar-deck shell-pre )f, and therefore for reducing the hatchways as mnc.l as possible, to gether with the want of accommodation for marks men on the decks or in the rigging, would render her capture by this means comparatively easy, so. long as escape by flight were impracticable by de fect in speed, want of fuel, or injury to the pro peller. 'Without high speed this class of ship must fail, and it is not difficult to foresee that the smaller class of iron-cased ships building for our Govern ment will come to grief on this account. It is plain, then, that these ships are more -vul nerable than the French people allow themselves to believe ; arid we strongly suspect that when they come to count ,he cost, they will find that iron cased ships, and especially wooden ones, are not in any sense the mast econom i c al machines of war. We are, however, very pleased to find that the sur plus energy and re-venues of the French Govern ment ale expended iti making experiments which will be as useful to us .as to them. They have not only set themselves to work out the problem, the elements of which are en. ibodied in La Gloire , but they are making an atten.lpt to disco ver a better form for a " floating battery," i.e., an iron-cased vessel with a shallow draught of water and of low speed, calculated for attacking the sea front of for tresses. These vessels, three or four of which must now be nearly complete, are sh orter and shallower, but broader than the origins' floating batteries, that the battery platform may bo steadier. They k have, moreover, twice the engine -power, and may ti therefore be expected to have a speed of nearly six knots instead of four and a half, w hich was all that could ever be got out of the battt,'ries of the Glatton and Trusty models. One remark able fea ture in their construction is, that althouoh they carry a battery of 24 heavy guns under shel. l -proof cover, they do not show more than eight feet. Put of water. These vessels, and others for transport service, of an entirely novel construction, are being built with considerable secrecy, and probably we shall never know exactly what they are like until some un happy rupture with their owners places us at liberty to examine them at pleasure. We shall, however, learn enough of their nature and quali ties from newspape"s and other sources to enable us to see what to choose and what to avoid of the different varieties or maritime constructions with 1 which it is the Imperial pleasure to indulge itself. — Mechanics' Magazine. LOUNTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER. -SEPT. 22. -- - A moderate supply of new wheat to-day, quality and condition very sow. A few dry temples were sold at rather hitter prices. Some samples of new barley were sold at prices from 33s to 44s per quarter. In other grain little alt ration in value. Wheat, white sos to 64s Beans, Maza,gan..4os to 42s red 4 1 s to 54s ! Middle & small 44s to 488 I 36s to 42s Willie peas 3Bs to 4 BarleyQ , i Oats 26s to 28 s Grey, . 4O, to CHELMSFO u Many samples of new whea to-day, most of it so much out saleable, conscquentlythe old at is to 2s advance. Spring re tes. _ _ Wheat. white 47s to 6A 3 red n 6s to 62s Barley 34s to 40s Cheval 4 ef 3ss to 40s ll - SEPT. 21. A were brought into market t of condition as to be scarcely wheat'', are greatly in demand, corn firm, and sold at late Peas, Partridge 428 to 423 W hits 42s to 4EI Boiling 42s to 4E3 Dun 378 to 403 Beans, Tick 39s to 453 Harrow Ticks 40s to 48a llazagan 37s to ^2' -, Grinumg 323 to 363 Dial-, 61s to 67s Chevalier 6ls to 69s Oats 253 to 303 STAMFORD—SEPT. 21. A very good show of wheat at market to-day, for which the trade was film for most samples, at an advance of is to 2s per qr on last week. Barley rai,her dearer. Beans in request, and oats were fi,rn at li_te rates. Wheat 53s to 633 I Oats.. 26s to 3?4 White do 62s to 68s I Beans 43s to 50s Barley 36s to 4's 1 Ditto, old ........46s to 50 4 KIRKALDY-SEPT. 22. We had large supplies of barley to-day, and in good condition, with a ready sale at an advance on last week of is to 2s per qr on fine qualities ; indifferent parcels about late prices. A few parcels of new oats sold quickly at late rates. A smart supply of old wheat and is to 2s higher. No new wheat at market. Wheat Barley Oats First.... 60s Od 29s Od 30s 6d Second.. 66s Od 378 Od 32s Od Third .. —s Od 39s Od —s Od COAL MARI (feces of Coal per Ton at :ET—BEET. 24. the close et the market.) Walls End. Hough Hall 18 6 Kelloe South Hartlepool—. lB 9 Hedley 18 0 Russel's HeUon 18 9 Keiper Grange.... lB 9 S;;ewart's 20 0 CaS6Oll - 19 0 Hartlepool..... 19 6 Carway and Duffryn Malting t, 58 ; sol1,:51. Lambert's West Hart- s. d. ley 15 9 Craghead Hartley.. —l5 0 Holywell Walker Primrose 14 3 Wylani l6 6 Eden Mdin 18 6 Cowpen Hartley 16 0 Walls End; Ha5we11...... 20 0 Shincliffe 18 3 Ships at marker THE 111,11 LS. MAILS DUE. Australia, Ceylon, and Mauritius (via South ampton) • • • . • • • • .. .. Oct. 19. Do. (via Marseilles) Oct. 13. Brazil and Cape Verds .. Oct. 6. Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, &c. Oct. 6. Bahamas and Havana (via New York) .. Sept. 27. C a nada. &c. (via Galway) . • .. Oct. 6. Cape of Good Hope, &c. Oct. I. China, Penang, and Singapore (via S'ampton) Oct. I.* Do. (via Marseilles) Sept. 26. Gibraltar (via Southampton) .. Oct. 2. India (Calcutta), Ceylon, &c. (via S ou th ampton ) O ct. 2 . Do. (via Marseilles) Sept. 26. India (Bombay), (via Southampton) .. • .. Oct. 10. Do. (via Marseilles) .. .. Oct. 4. Lisbon • • • • • . .. Oct. 1. Cuba and Mexico • • Sept. 28. •• •• .• • Malta, Egypt, and Aden (via Southampton):.. Oct. 2. Do. (via Marseilles) .. Sept. 26. Vigo, and Oporto .. Oct. 1. United States, California, ' &c. . . .. Oct. 3. Western Coast of At r i ca, Madeira, Teneriffe .. Overdue. West Indies and Pacific, Carthagena, Cuba, &e. Sept. 28. BIRTHS. ANDERSON. —.On the 21st inst., at 17, Great James-street, Bedford-row, the wife of Robert Anderson, Esq., solici tor, of a daughter. LARKINS.—On the 22d irst. a t Byfleet, Surrey, the wif e lof Lieutenant-Colonel W. L Larkins, late of the Bengal Army, of a daughter. PERCY.—On the 22d inst., the wife of John Lumaden Percy, Esq., 26, Great Tower .street, city, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. CRAVASSE—COGIIILL.—On the 19th inst., at Castle Town send Church, the Rev. Wm. Izon Chavasse, only son of Pye Henry Chavasse, Esq., of Priory House, Birming ham, to Anna Georgina, daughter of the late Vice-Ad miral Sir Josiah Coghill Coghill, Bart., of Belvidere, co. Dublin. HALI.—TREOBALD.—On the 22d inst., at St. George's, Hanover-square, Edward Hall, Esq., 18th Royal Irish Regt., to Ausista, the fifth daughter of James Theobald, Esq., of Hyde Abbey, Winchester. DEATHS. On the 21st inst., at The Birches, Hagley, Er,LWor cestershire,s.— John Utlay Ellis, Esq., formerly of Madras, ag ed 56. G-LE I NNING —On the 22d inst., Willi am Gl en di nn i ng, Esq., sl at his residence, 21, Clapham-road -place, and of 142, Choapside. HoLE.—O M the h ad. 20th inst., Willia m H ole, Esq., Alcom b e Lodge, RoGERs .—On the 19th inst., at Falmouth, Hender Rogers, Esq., solicitor, aged 36. SroeDAnT.—On the 19th inst., Alexander Stoddart, Esq., of Ballendrick, Perthshire. TELFER.—On the 14th inst. at Malta, Buchan Fraser Telfer, Esq., of Edinburgh, and Deputy Commissary- General, son of the late Archibald Telfer, Esq., of Kim mergham. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Jffice, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of billicilesoz, Tuesday, September 2 18"0. HIE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 25, 1860. THE FRENCH IRON-CASED S. 'IPS.