The Sun. — London, England, 1858-10-12 00:00:00

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. LIVERPOOL, MONDAY, OCT. 11. • No sooner are the labours of the British Asso ciation for the Promotion of Physical Science brought to a close than those of a younger, but kindred, association commence, promising to throw a flood of light upon that particular branch of science which, from its universal appli cability and special adaptation to the present age, is popularly termed " social." It will be remembered that this association was launched into existence under the presidency of Lord Brougham about this time last year, at Bir mingham, under circumstances which gave pro mise of future success. Its special object was then stated to be " to form a point of union among social reformers, so as to afford those engaged in all the various efforts now happily began for the improve ment of the people an apportunity of considering social economics as a whole." Following the plan of older associations, it is migratory in its character, and Liverpool has the honour of welcoming it on the first anniversary of its birthday. The programme for the week, which exhibits a list of the papers to be read in the various sections, abundantly proves that the ob jects of the society engage the attention of many philanthropic minds, and of much earnest and original thought ; while the large number of tickets already disposed of evinces a general interest in the proceedings. Lord J. Russell is the president for the year. His Lordship, accompanied by Lady John Russell and the Misses Russell, arrived in Liverpool last night, and are the guests of Mr. W. Brown, M.P., at his house, Richmond-hill. Lord Brougham arrived to-day, and is also staying with Mr. Brown. Mr. T. Rathbone entertains the Earl of Carlisle, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and Mr. W. Cowper at Aller ton Priory. Among the gentlemen arrived in Liverpool who are to take part in the proceedings are Sir J. Pak ington, Lord Goderich, Lord Sandon, Lord Ebring ton, Sir J. Stephen, K.C.8., Mr. R. M. Milnes, M.P., the Bishops of Chester, Manchester, and Pennsylvania ; Sir A. Elton, M.P., Mr. S. Whit bread, M.P., Mr. T. Barnard, M.P., the Lord Chan cellor of Ireland, Mr. E. Akroyd, M.P., the Hon. and Rev. W. H. Lyttelton, the Rev. C. Girdlestone, Mr. Sergeant Woolrych, Mr. H. Mann, Mr. J. Symons, Professor Pillans, Mr. H. J. Smith, Rev. Dr. Begg, Sir H. Hastings, Rev. J. G. Lonsdale, Rev. B. Melville, Mr. Gar nett, M.P., Mr. Ayrton, M.P., Mr. Adderley, M.P-., Archdeacon Allen, Mr. J. A. Smith, jun., Mr. H. G. Bohn, Mr. J. P. Gassiot, and others. The Mayor, Mr. J. Holme, had made extensive preparations for the reception and entertainment of the distinguished visitors to the town, but the me lancholy intelligence of the death of his wife, which took place in London on Saturday last, has pro tracted these arrangements, and his worship will take no personal part in the proceedings. His duties, however, - will be discharged by his brother, Mr. S. Holme. The proceedings commenced to-day by a private meeting of the Council in the library of St. George's hall. At half-past 3 there was a special service in St. Nicholas Church—the most ancient ecclesiastical edifice in the town—when prayers were read by the rector, and an appropriate sermon was preached by the Bishop of Chester. The first general meeting was held at half-past 7 this evening. The noble hall, which is capable of accommodating 3,000 people, was crowded in every part, a good sprinkling of the audience consisting of ladies. All the distinguished visitors whose names we have given above were present, and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed. Lord J. RUSSELL presided, and delivered the fol lowing inaugural address :—The first meeting of this association, which took place last year at Bir mingham, gave ample room for hope and encou ragement. Lord Brougham, who presided, explained so fully and with so much ability the general pur poses and objects of the association that I shall not think it necessary to travel again over that ground. The departments into which our business is divided are-1. Jurisprudence and Amendment of the Law; 2. Education • 3. Punishment and Reformation ; 4. Public Health 5. Social Economy. I propose to lay before you some general observations on each of these topics, rather with a view to ascertain our present position, and fix the point from which we take a fresh departure, than with any expectation of being able to guide the vessel on her voyage. In so doing I shall take the first and third topies— namely, jurisprudence and amendment of the law, together with punishment and reformation, as subjects in a great degree connected, before I pro ceed to the other departments. At our meeting last year the question which excited the greatest interest in the department of jurisprudence was the amendment of the Bankruptcy Law. After some valuable papers had been read, and much practical discussion had taken place, the association agreed, upon my motion, to appoint a committee, consisting of three delegates from the National Association and delegates from each of the Chambers of Com merce and Trade Protection Societies in the king dom. This committee met on the 17th and 18th of November at Birmingham. They agreed to a series of resolutions, which were afterwards embodied in a bill, and laid before the committee in London. The provision of this measure has been ably ex plained-by Mr. Hastings, in an address delivered by- him on the 20th of May last. I will shortly advert to the main provisions of the bill. In the first place, the bill consolidates and amends all the statute law relating to bankruptcy and to insol vency. It is proposed that the Insolvent Court of London and the separate insolvent jurisdictions of the County - Courts should be abolished, and that the law ofbankruptcy and insolvency should hence forth be administered by one tribunal. It is not meant to contend by this proposal that there is no difference between bankruptcy and insolvency. The merchant whose expectations have been frus trated by a sudden fall in the price of silk, or a sudden rise in the price of tea, is evidently in a very different position from a man of little or no property, who has obtained easy credit, and become embarrassed by living at an extravagant rate. But there are many cases which border closely on bank ruptcy, and yet are ranged under insolvency, or which border on insolvency, and yet are ranged under bankruptcy. There can be no reason why one Court should not deal with both subjects, and decide for themselves the proper character of the transactions brought under their notice. There is no greater mischief in this country than the mul tiplicity of Courts, causing delay, expense, confu sion, and frequently injustice. In the same view of simplicity and equality, it is proposed to abolish the distinction between trader and non-trader. A landowner who is a shareholder in a company and a physician who sells his skill in the shape of prescriptions would be treated by the bill in the same way as a partner in a mercantile house or an apothecary who deals in drugs. Nor is it easy to justify the distinctions which are now made. In Scotland, where one Court administers law and equity to the satisfaction of that enlightened people, the distinction I speak of does not exist. I hope the association will approve this portion of the bill. Perhaps the most important portion of the proposed change is that which relates to private agreements among creditors. Agreements signed in the shape of deeds or memoranda by a majority in number and four-fifths in value will be lield obligatory on cre ditors who have not signed. Thus merchants will be enabled to do in the face of the law, and with the assistance of the law, that which they have hitherto done apart from the law and in despair of the law. Supposing, however, private arrangements to fail and adjudication to issue, it is proposed that an official assignee should instantly take possession of all the property of the bankrupt. Within 14 days after adjudication the creditors are to meet, and when they have proved their debts they are to proceed to the election of a creditors' assignee, who is to be the sole assignee of the bankruptcy. In Scotland the custom is to apply to the Court for the appointment of an interim factor, who keeps the property till the election of a trustee. It is thought, but not without doubt, that the maintenance of the official assignee of England is preferable to the adoption of the provisions of the Scotch law. It is in this way that the committee have endeavoured to keep distinct the mercantile and judicial elements in bankruptcy. While on the one hand they have left in the hands of mercantile men that that which mercantile men are as competent to perform as official men, and have a greater interest in perform ing speedily and well than official men can have, they have avoided the opposite error of vesting judicial f unct i ons i n t h e h an d s o f cre dit ors . With respect to the penal part of the bill, and the pro posed jurisdiction of the County Courts, I do not mean to trouble you. Neither will I enter into the differences which exist between the bill of the com mittee which I introduced into the House of Commons and one introduced some time after in the House of Lords by:the Lord Chancellor. In the department of law these provisions and these differences can be fully discussed, and the course to b e adopted next session can be determined. I shall be happy to give my aid, such as it is, to the great purpose of amend ing the law of bankruptcy and insolvency in such manner as may be thought most desirable. In duo of my proceeding with the bill, Mr. lleadlarn, w h o has taken great pains with this subject, will supply the knowledge in which I am so greatly wanting, I come now to a question of the greatest interest to the community, upon which I may have the mis fortune to differ from some of my most enlightened friends,—l mean the consolidation of our laws. No one can doubt that it would be a great public bene fit if our laws could be set forth in a clear style, and contained in two, three, or four volumes, of mo- derate compass. Nor will any one deny that the first' step to such a result should be the compilation of our existing statutes, subject by subject, with out material alteration. But what I maintain is, that the mere enactment of such a compilation, un less Parliament were determined to go urther,—to repeal what is obsolete, to supply wha is defective, to condense what is dispersed, and to place in lucid order what is obscure and confused—would be of little advantage. So far most men will agree with me. Then, to explain my meaning more fully, I will refer to what has been done almost in our own day in two foreign countries. At the beginning of this century the First Consul of France had attained the fame of a great military commander. In his wonderful Italian campaign he had defeated the most experienced Generals of Austria. He had recently seized the reins of power, which had fallen from the feeble hands of his predecessors. He had subdued and tamed the remnants of the Jacobin faction, which was still thirsting for blood. He had opened the ports of France to the partisans of the ancient monarchy, who were still panting for a re storation. It was his aim to restore peace to society, to give to; religion her altars, to replace justice in her sanctuary. In_the midst of these labours he deter mined to bestow on France a simple and enlightened code of laws. For this purpose he assembled a coun cil in which the learned civilians of the days of Louis XVI. sat by the side of the able lawyers of the regicide convention. There, after his morning's inspection of his troops, be would sit from 12 o'clock at noon till 5 in the afternoon, never inattentive, never weary, marking out clearly, without passion and without prejudice, the best foundations on which property, marriage, commerce—in short, all the complicated relations of life and the security of life itself were thereafter to repose. In discussion the opinion of the ablest civilian and not that of the military dictator generally prevailed. When the work had been for some time proceeded with it was sent to all the legal tribunals of France, with a request that any remarks which the judges might have to make should be transmitted to Paris. Thus debated, discussed, draughted, corrected, augmented, and revised, the Code Napoleon in its different por tions was published, at intervals extending over seven years, as the law of France. Andnow, what is the result ? The splendid victories of Napoleon, the rush of armies, the roar of cannon, the masterly decision, the instant obedience have passed away. The pride of empire, the kings waiting in the ante chamber, the sway of a mighty will from Rome to Hamburg, from the Manzawires to the Elbe, has vanished as the baseless fabric of a vision. But the transactions between man and man, the trial of the offender, the adjudication of property throughout the French empire, are still regulated, and probably will long be regulated, by the statutes of the im mortal legislator. Let us take a more recent 'ex ample. Not many years ago the State of New York determined to revise their laws. In 1827 the revisors, John Duer, B. F. Butler, and John C. Spencer, made their report to the Legislature. In a note to each section which they proposed for enactment they stated fully and clearly the then existing defects of the law, and the manner in which, in their opinion, the proposed section would remedy such defects. Thus the Legislature had. clearly before them-1. The existing law ;2. Its presumed defects ; 3. The proposed remedy. The result was so satisfactory that, in special sessions summoned for that purpose, the Legislature of the State of New York, adopt ing in most cases the opinions of the revisors, consolidated their code of laws. The laws of Loui siana have been revised in a similar manner, with the assistance of men of the highest reputation for knowledge and ability. If we now proceed to con sider what has been done in this country, we shall find from the days of Lord Chancellor Bacon to those of Lord Chancellor Chelmsford the revision and consolidation of the law has been a consumma tion devoutly to be wished. Five years ago the enactment of a code was held. out to our expecta tions ; each year we were said. to be at the beginning of the beginning ; three Administrations and four sessions of Parliament have promised, undertaken, and dropped the work. Is it not time that we should set about the task in earnest ? I will venture to say, that if four or five persons of competent quali fications were appointed as commissioners, they would, in a few months, make an actual commence ment, and in a few years present to Parliament a complete code, worthy of the country, simplifying and improving our laws, on principles fit to be adopted in an enlightened age, and founded on the solid masonry of our ancient legislation. Nor can I doubt that such a work would be sanctioned by Parliament ; not indeed without debate, but with out serious delay. lam now about to speak of two subjects, as examples of what I should wish to see ; one the amendment of the law of real property, the other the revision of the criminal law. Our law of real property is involved in a maze of technical difficulties. It has been truly said to be the most abstruse branch of English jurisprudence. Of the Code Napoleon, on the other hand, it has been said, " In the civil law the regulations concerning the enjoyment, alienation, and transmission of real estate, comparatively speaking, are neither nume rous nor difficult to be understood, and in the Code Napoleon they form a very small and perfectly in telligible portion of that immortal work. It is not extravagant to say that the French law of real estate may be sufficiently understood by a few days of diligent study."* The revisors of the State of New York have laboured to introduce simplicity into their amended law of real property. They have with this proposed that no disposition of real property should extend. beyond the lives of two persons living at the time of the creation of the estate, who should. live to attain their majority. This provision now forms part of the law of New York. j- lam not saying we should adopt this pro vision ; it may act harshly in some instances—it may sweep too widely in others. Lord St. Leonards, however, whose " Handy Book of Real Property" is a boon to the whole community, has expressed his opinion that a young society ought not to be entangled in the complications of our law of real property.t But if so, why should an old society not make an effort to be free from them ? I recommend this important subject to the special consideration of the department of jurisprudence. I proceed to our criminal law. Our judicial statistics, it is well known, are very incomplete. Indeed, we have hitherto had no information of any value giving the results of the proceedings of our civil courts. With regard to criminal trials and their results we have, indeed, valuable annual returns drawn up by a very intelligent officer attached to the Home Depart ment—l mean Mr. S. Redgrave. From the returns presented to Parliament I am about to quote the results of the trials which have taken place on se veral subjects of criminal jurisdiction. Those are the offences of-1, shooting at, stabbing, or wound ing ; 2, robbery ; 3, burglary ; 4, housebreaking ; 5, larceny in a dwelling-house; 6, forgery, and utter ing forged instruments. The returns show the num bers convicted, sentenced to death, and executed for these offences in one year in every 10 from 1817 to 1857, or in other words, the changes which have taken place in 40 years. I give you the results :- 1817, 911 convicted, 911 sentenced to death, and 78 executed ; 1827, 1,113 convicted, 1,113 sentenced to death, and 41 executed ; 1837, 1,061 convicted, 405 sentenced to death, and none executed; 1847, 1,498 18 sentenced to death, and none executed; 1857, 2,057 convicted, 21 sentenced to death, and none executed. The population of Great Britain has in creased, from 1811 to 1851,in round numbers, from 12,000,000 to 21,000,000 ; and in England and Wales from 10,000,000 to 18,000,000. You will per ceive that convictions have increased in a greater proportion. Upon examining these returns more in detail there is a .further result—namely, a great increase in the crimes accompanied with personal violence. Thus the number convicted of shooting at, stabbing, or wounding has increased between 1817 and 1857 from 26 to 238, and of robbery from 154 to 378 ; while larceny in a dwelling-house has only increased from 143 to 246. Burglary has in creased from 374 to 473 ; housebreaking from 152 to 568 ; forgery, &c., from 62 to 184. It would be very desirable to have more complete informa tion on these several heads. It is very important to ascertain whether the repeal of capital punish ment has led to greater readiness to prosecute on the part of the injured, and greater readiness to convict on the part of the juries, and, lastly, whe ther, and to what extent, crimehas reallyincreased. Some information on these heads is, no doubt, to be gathered from the criminal returns, but much more remains behind which is not ascertained. There is one conclusion, however, to which I think we must all come. If high treason and murder are to be the only offences for which capital execution is in ftiture to take place, those crimes alone should have capi tal punishment affixed to them by law. The sen tence of death ought no l onger to be a vain form, somewhat lightening the penalty actually inflicted * " Labois' Lau- of Real Property of the State of New York, p. 120." t Section 15. " The absolute power of alienation shall not be suspended by any limitation or condition whatevt • for a longer period than during the continuance of not more than two lives in being at the creation of the estate, except in the single case mentioned in the next section." Section 16. "A contingent remainder in fee may be created in a prior remainder in fee, to take effect in the event that the persons to whom the first remainder is limited, shall die under the age of 20 years, or upon any other contingency, by which the estate of such persons may be determined before they attain their full age."—Revised Statutes of the State of New York.—An Act Concerning the Acquisition, &c., of Property, real and personal, &c., tit. 11, art. 1, sections 15 and 16. "onth7Oce:Lion of an intimation that an edition of Sugdeu's Treatise on Powers' would be required in America, Lord St. Leonards writes, I regretted at the time that a new State should embarrass itself with our forms of conveyancing, springing out of the doctrine of uses. "—Let ters to J. Humphreys, p. 56. on the offences for which death is only the nominal punishment. Leaving this consideration, a question of the utmost consequence to society arises in the present state of the law. The punishment of death being nearly discontinued, and transportation to a colony virtually abolished, it has become a necessity for us to consume our own crime, and not to send it forth to contaminate other parts of the world. Hence it is a problem of the deepest interest to us to ascertain in what manner the thousands of crimi nals whom we used to send to Australia can be most effectually punished for the sake of example, and most effectually reformed for their own sakes and that of the community. Considering how re cently this problem has been submitted to us, and how difficult is its solution, we may, I think, be satisfied with the progress we have made. Under an Act passed at the suggestion of the Duke of Richmond more than 20 years ago inspectors of prisons were appointed, of whom Col. Jebb was the chief. Under a subsequent Act a Board of Directors of Convict Prisons in Ireland was established, of which Board Captain Crofton is the chairman, Col. Jebb has been for some years intrusted with the charge of all the Government prisons in England. He has made several very able reports on the system he has pursued. Mr. Hill, the recorder of Birmingham, read in the Town-hall at our meeting of last year a most instructive paper on the Irish system, in which he declared that the question, " What shall we do with our convicts ?" had been practically solved. There are, indeed, some differences of opinion as to the results ob tained between Col. Jebb and Capt. Crofton. Leav ing them aside for a moment, it is sufficient for our purpose to record the following net product of our experiments :-1. When a person charged with a criminal offence is sent to prison before - conviction for safe custody, it is essential that he should be kept separate, and not turned loose into a company of notorious offenders to corrupt and be corrupted. 2. That after conviction the criminal should be con fined separately for a limited time in such a manner that solitude, enforced sobriety, and the exercise of industry as his sole resource against weariness, may prepare him for a better course of life. It would be unwise to transfer him at once in his subdued state to a condition of freedom, when his very want of energy would probably lead him back to crime. 3. After separate imprisonment the convicts in England and Ireland have with the best effect been removed to prisons whore each has a separate cell for sleeping, but where the work is in common.. 4. The board of directors in Ireland have introduced a plan of intermediate prisons, where the best con ducted prisoners are relieved from military or police guards. The convicts have, however, their appointed work, their rations, and their gratuities. At this period they are allowed to obtain by inquiry pro mises of employment on their discharge. When these promises have been ascertained to be trust worthy the prisoner is set free, but for the unex pired period of his sentence he remains under the supervision of the police. 5. The passage from one class to another and the distribution of gratuities is regulated by the number of marks obtained for good behaviour. The principle of this plan was, I believe, originally suggested by Captain Maconochie. The general results of these sys tems of discipline are spoken of with much satisfaction by those who have put them in force. Col. Jebb thinks that 75 per cent. may be reformed. He says, " Almost the whole of the men go back to the parishes from which they came, and in a great proportion of instamas they obtain employment.: Capt. Crofton says—Wl am far from assuming that the 75 per cent. draughted into the intermediate prisons . . . . get their bread honestly, or are en deavouring to do so ; but I do know, and am pre pared at any moment to prove by police and per sonal reference, that the great majority are getting their bread honestly, and frequently under circum stances of some considerable hardship, and that included in this great majority are some of those known to the police formerly as the most reckless and daring burglars." This is a very encouraging result. Nor is its value much diminished by the knowledge that it has been obtained not merely by the adoption of a sound system, but by the in creasing active exertions of those engaged in carry ing it into effect. It is true the officers employed have not only been remarkably vigilant in watch ing the conduct of each man under confinement, but they have also been singularly zealous-in procuring employment from private persons for those who have been liberated. Withless care and intelligence it may be admitted the system would not have suc ceeded, but the same thing is true of the reformed administration of the poor laws,7and of every de partment of Government which is well conducted. We may surely presume that the country will al ways furnish men of ability and energy competent to such a task. It must be left to our responsible rulers to make their ability and energy a title for employment. We may now look to the other part of the system, the convicts who are to be the sub jects of this discipline. Among them will always be found-1. Young persons who have been brought up, or rather left to themselves, by vicious parents, and who, without wickedness of character, have adopted from habit a mode of life they saw preva lent around them. 2. The offspring of good parents who, having a strong propensity to vice, have been led astray, but who now, contrite and repentant, are ready to say with the prodigal son, " Father I have sinned before Heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." 3. Criminals who are actually weary of the vicious life they have led. Virtue appears monotonous to the young pro fligate, but vice is often far more monotonous to the old offender. Criminal indulgence is to him no longer a temptation, and nothing but want of effort and energy to escape from confirmed habits and begin anew keeps many a reprobate in the ruts of his old road. It is this energy which a well-con trived course of prison discipline should supply. Indeed, the treatment of a criminal is not very dif ferent from the treatment of a patient attacked by fever. The first object is to subdue the fever ; the next is, by strengthening the diet, to raise the sys tem again to a condition of sound health. There re mains, however, a further problem. Supposing with Col. Jebb that 75 per cent., or, with Capt. Crofton that a majority are induced to get their living ho nestly, what is to be done with the irreclaimable minority ? Admitting that this is a problem of great difficulty, that difficulty is much lessened when the , whole body has been so sifted that the portion of husk and refuse remaining is comparatively small. Would it be too much to say in reference to persons whom ,the law 50 years ago condemned to the loss of their lives, that those lives should be spent in public labour, and that no period should be assigned for the remission of their punishment ? This portion would, of course, consist of only the irreclaimable few, but while the punishment would reach few, the fear would extend to all. There is another portion of our convicts separated from the . whole body by their age. The maxim that militia supplet cetatem, though long admitted by our law, is not consistent with reason or humanity. It is ascertained that 3-4ths of the criminals under 17 years of age are the children of bad parents. It may be that the disposition of these children is, in a majority of cases, quite as good as that of those who are untainted with crime, and have never been brought before the court of justice. Yet it is of such as these that Miss Carpenter says, in 1856, " Within three years a little boy of eight years old was solemnly sentenced in open court to six years' penal servitude for housebreaking ! A diminutive girl of ten, and her brother, a couple of years older, were placed at the bar of their country to answer for the once capital crime of housebreak ing."* This subject has, however, for some time attracted the attention of the Government and of the public. In 1834 Mr. Goulburn, Home Secretary, designed the prison of Parkhurst as a place of de tention and reformation for boys, who were to be tmight, instructed in trade, or employed in agri culture, and sent to the colonies. Twenty years afterwards an act of Parliament was passed estab lishing the reformatories which the benevolence of individuals had founded as places of legal detention for children and young persons under 17 years of age, authorising that detention for a period not ex ceeding five years, and allowing a contribution of ss. a week in aid of the sums collected from private sources. It cannot be denied that the principle upon which this act is founded is sound, nor can it be said that success has not attended the efforts made by the benevolence of individuals thus aided by the State. Lord Stanley, whom I name with honour and regard, addressing the National Reformatory Union at Bristol in 1856, says, speaking of foreign as well as home reformatories : " At Mett.ray 85 per cent. by one account, 89 per cent. by another, of the inmates sent out into the world are doing well. These fats are taken from the reports of 1855, when 900 youths had passed through the institution. Of the 11 per cent. who had relapsed (vagrancy being reckoned as a relapse —without proof of actual crime), one-fourth or about 21 per cent. had recovered their lost position. At Redhill, where 720 boys have been discharged since the opening of the school in 1849, Mr. Turner states that 70 per cent. have been reclaimed, adding that of all who have left there, the emigrants have done best, and that the proportion of relapses among these is lower than among those who stay at home. In the. Glasgow House of Refuge, out of 400, 85 per cent. have been reclaimed." By the Acts of 1857, of which the first was passed through the House of Commons by Sir S. North cote and Mr. Adderley, and the second by Sir G. Grey, magistrates were empowered to commit vag rant children to industrial schools for a term of years, and counties and boroughs were enabled to grant pecuniary aid to reformatory schools. In the report of Mr. S. Turner, Inspector of Reformatories, * Ist Report National Reformatory Meeting, 1856, p. 115, I find it stated that the Reformatory Act has been more extensively applied in Liverpool than else where, and that juvenile delinquency has in this town been effectually diminished. This result is attributed in a great degree to the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Carter, Chaplain to the Borough Gaol of Liverpool, who has been successful in calling upon the parents of criminal children to contribute their quota. There can be no doubt that this is one of the best provisions of the act. In Scotland, by Mr. Dunlop's Act, vagrant children are removed by the magistrates to incluitrial schools, and it is stated that in the town of Aberdeen especially the ab sence from the streets and lanes of disorderly and neglected children is very striking. There are two observations on this subject which I wish to make before passing to a different field. The first is that those - who have charge of the reformatories ought to try various methods of awakening the moral sense, and applying the physical energies and buoyant animal spirits of the boys committed to their charge. Uniformity, regularity, silence may constrain permanently the minds of men ; these methods in the case of younc , boys may be only pressing down a spring which b will rebound with the more force when that pressure is removed. I remember upon a visit which I paid to Mr. Fellen berg, at Hofwyl, that he carried me some miles into the hills to see what he called his little Robinson Crusoes. This was a large field, in which 10 or 12 boys were digging and preparing the ground for seed; before this they had constructed for themselves a wooden hut, where they had their meals and their sleeping place. These boys, indeed, were not crimi nals, but the task set them was a good illustration of the importance, in the eyes of their benevolent and sagacious instructor, of some occupation that shall rouse the invention at the same time that it fatigues the body. I remember, also, at the juvenile prison at Parkhurst, Captain Woolcombe, the first governor of that establishment, showed me a boy upon whom he said all instruction and exhortation were thrown away until he perceived that the boy was moved by music. This faculty was cultivated and developed, and thence a way was found to soften and mould his obdurate disposition. These instances lead me to the other remark I have to make. Every one must have observed the new influence which is not being asserted or sought, but is falling to the lot of women in swaying the destinies of the world. It is not a share in directing the patronage of mi nisters, or guiding,the councils of kings, as in for mer times, but a portion in the formation and the moulding of public opinion. For a great part of our periodical literature, for much of that world of fiction in which many live and nearly all take de light, we are indebted to the ethereal fancy, the delicate perception, and the grace of expression possessed by woman. It seems to me, and I am confirmed in this opinion by the bright examples of heroic benevolence we have seen of late years, that if the young generation are to be an im provement upon their fathers—if sin is to have less dominion and religion more power—if vice is to be abashed and virtue to be honoured, it is to woman that we must look for such a regeneration. I pass to the subject of education. I will not waste your time in examining and refuting the objections which have been made to the general education of the people. It may suffice for me to say that it is edu cation which enables the Scotch labourer's son to compete with the most favoured of his contempora ries, to rise to the highest posts of dignity and power, and to scale the loftiest eminences of science. It is education which enables the United States of America to proceed in their wonderful career, up held by the most popular institutions, without serious disturbance of law and order. It is educa tion which in England has mainly prevented such tumults as 40 years ago broke the peace and alarmed the winds of this country. It is education which has bound the mass of the people to the Throne by the links of an enlightened loyalty. On the sub ject of education there appears to me to have been a change somewhat similar to that which took place many years ago on the subject of geology. At that period geologists were divided into Neptunians or Vulcanians, Wernerians or Hattonians, and hot was the dispute regarding the best theory of the formation of the crust of- the world. Some wise men said, however, " Let us first investigate the facts without troubling ourselves what theory they may confirm or invalidate." This has now been done for many years, and assuredly while contro versy has diminished, science has gained by the change. In like manner popular or national edu cation has been a matter of warm contention among sects and parties till the present year. Sir J. Pak ington, who presided in the Department of Educa tion last year, and who deserves the highest credit for his labours on this subject, proposed in the late session of Parliament, with the concurrence of the best friends of the cause, that an address should be presented to the Queen in favour of the appoint ment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the present state of the education of all classes in Eng land and Wales. The late Government acceded to this proposal, and the present has named commis sioners of high reputation and weight in the coun try, of whom the Duke of Newcastle is the presi dent. From this Commission we look for a fair and impartial display of facts, upon the bearing of which Parliament and the nation can decide. Opi nion is still in the gristle upon this subject. For my own part, I confess that, anxious as I am for the progress of education, I am quite willing to re nounce any desire to establish in this country the system of France, Austria, or Prussia. The free dom of choice in our modes of popular instruction, the noble fountains of literature, sacred and secular, which are open to the youth thirsting for know ledge, the power to range over the writings of Bacon and Shakspeare, and Milton and Addison, ' seem to me to make our national education, imperfect and incomplete as it is, still far su perior to those continental models. I must not omit to mention the great efforts which have been recently made to improve the education of the middle classes. The examinations instituted by the University of Oxford do honour to that vene rable body. Nor ought we to pronounce hastily on the result of the first of these examinations. It seems to me apparent that at a time when not only degrees and honours are attached to successful com petition, but the very entrance to the civil service and the scientific part of the military service in India is guarded by examiners, it is of the utmost importance to understand rightly what the nature of the prescribed inquiry is to be. I hope that while all honour is paid to attainments, - while quickness' and self-possession on the day of trial have their due reward, the qualities of diligence, and fidelity, and steadiness in a clerk, of a ready perception and a prompt judgment in a soldier, will not escape the judging eye of our chief exami ners. Even in awarding a degree much discrimina tion is required, and a failure in one branch of know ledge may be balanced by excellence in another. Some severity at the commencement of such a system is both to be expected and desired ; but I repeat, the system itself must be carefully watched, and the experiment must be often repeated before it can be said that the strength of our new machinery has been fully tested. On the question of public health I find this statement in the Registrar- General's report of the quarter ending the 30th of ' June, 1858 : " Upon dividing the population into two por tions/(1) the 8,247,117 people living in rather close proximity to each other, and (2) the 9,680,592 living much further apart, the result is that the mortality in the dense districts was at the rate of 24.73, nearly 25 in 1,000 ; while in the other dis tricts, over which small towns and villages are distributed, the mortality was at the rate of 19.68, nearly 20 in 1,000 of the population." Thus it appears that five persons more die every year in every 1,000 of the 8,000,00 people living in large towns than of the 9,500,000 people living in the country. In other words, the excess of deaths in the large towns is 40,000 a-year. When we add to this result the fact that tempta tions to intoxication and to vice of every kind are far more common in towns than 'in the country, that the means of education are likewise in large towns either less complete or less used, it is alarm ing to find by , another statement of the Registrar- General that in England and Wales the town popu lation is increasing much more rapidly than the population of the rest of the country. I suppose every one will agreee that the tide of population cannot be checked or diverted from its channel. Yet we cannot deny the importance or the urgency of the following questions :—Now in England and Wales the town population is increasing much fas ter than the population of the rest of the country ; and the question is, therefore, becoming every day graver, how is the health of the nation to be sustained in the midst of the new dangers which millions of its people are encounter ing ? This question doubtless does not . admit of a perfectly satisfactory answer. Yet it is encouraging to observe how on extraordinary occasions vigilance in science has been re warded. I will take as my first example the instance of Tynemouth during the visitation of cholera in 1853. During the epidemic of 1848-9 Tyne mouth had lost from cholera and diarrhoea no less than 463 persons ; but in the summer of . 1851, on the petition of the Town Council, the Public Health Act was put in force ; regulations for common lodg ing-houses and slaughter-houses were immediately , adopted; new streets and homes were built in con formity with prescribed rules. In the autumn of 1852, when the return of cholera was considered probable, an active inspection of the town was com menced by the Public Health Committee, the bye courts and lanes cleansed, the gully grates trapped, and local nuisances removed. On the report of the first death from cholera at Newcastle in 1853 all these measures were renewed and further precau tions adopted. 1,500 cartloads of manure were re moved in 14 days from the neighbourhood of human habitations.' The consequence was that while New castle and Gateshead lost 'nearly 2,000 of their peo ple, there occurred at Tynemouth, eight miles dis tant, only fatal indigenous cases. This result was accomplished at a cost of little more than £2OO. While such has b€en the benefit of extra vigilance and precaution, adopted for an emergency and stimulated by fear of sudden calamity, there are continually at work causes of pestilence destroying their thousands and their ten thousands, which a vigilant and intelligent local administration might remove in many cases and mitigate in all. I will now proceed to give another instance of the effect of sanitary measures :—A London water company distributed in 1848 very foul water. In the cholera epidemic of 1848-9 there died 1,925 of those who received their supplies of water from this company. Between 1848 and 1853 the company improved the quality of their water. In the cholera epidemic of 1853.4 the number of their customers who died .was reduced to 611, or less than one-third of the former mortality. In the meantime another water company supplied water still fouler than at the former period, and the mortality of those who used their water was increased from 2,880 in 1848 to 3,476 in 1853 ; so that while the proportions in 10,000 persons in 1848 were 118 and 125 respec tively, those proportions were changed in 1853, the former rose from 118 to 130, and the latter sunk from 125 to 37. Nor can it be doubted that while such are the consequences in cases of increased and unusual mortality, the evils which occur daily and yearly from the same causes are no less remarkable though less remarked. Let us fix our attention, therefore, a few moments on this permanent action upon our population. The inhabitants of the towns increase much faster than the inha bitants of the country, yet the mortality in towns is so much greater than the whole mortality of tie country, that while the deaths-rate in Eng land and Wales is 22.06 in 1,000, and the births rate is 34.82 in 1,000, the mortality in great towns would, if not compensated from other sources, speedily reduce the population of our most flourishing cities. In London, which is the healthiest of our large towns, the average rate of deaths in seven years, ending with 1857, was 24.07 in 1,000. In Birmingham it was 26.79 ; in Manchester, 31.48 ; in Liverpool, 32.73. In this town of Liverpool the population, if unsupplied from elsewhere, would in a single generation be considerably reduced. Yet the deaths-rates show some improvement ; in ten years, from 1841 to 1850, it was 36 per 1,000 ; it is stated for the last seven years to have been under 33 per 1,000. While this great mortality has been proceeding almost unchecked, it has been ascertained that there are means, simple in their nature, practicable in application, moderate in their cost, which would very Much lessen this frightful evil. By an Act of last session (the Local Government Bill) towns and corporations have it in their power to use these means. Undue prejudice and false economy have long delayed the adoption of the remedies pre scribed; these are—good supply of air and water, cleanliness, prohibition of over crowding., removal of noxious matter from the streets and houses. Pub lic taxes which interfered with these objects—the tax on windows, the taxes on coals, on candles, and on soap—have of late yearsbeen removed. Heavy in deed will be the responsibility of those who, having the power to procure for themselves and their chil dren the conditions of health and strength, in place of those of disease and death, refuse or hesitate to adopt the remedies within their reach. I have spoken of the different rates of mortality in town and country. But this is only a part, and not the strongest part of the case. Feebleness, chronic disease, want of energy, mental and physical, re duce the tone, and I may say deprave the moral character of our town population. The excitement of drams, the stupor of intoxication, are sought as a relief from the low spirits engendered in an unhealthy atmosphere. Hence quarrelling, strife, assaults, poverty, and neglect of education for the ffspring of this degenerate race. Instead of healthy parents and robust children fitted to continue from generation to generation a mighty governing people, we may see what Milton has so well described,— _ _ " All maladies Of ghastly . spasm, or racking torture s qualms Of heart-sick agony, all feverous kinds, Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs." And we may end with his sublime words— " Despair Tended the sick busiest from couch to couch And over them triumphant Death his dart Shook, but delayed to strike, tho' oft invoked With vows, as their chief god and final hope." There are some general considerations which may here find their place. We can never expect to raise Birmingham and. Manchester to the conditions of life attained by the healthy parts of Northumber land or Sussex. If we enable the population of the great towns to keep up their numbers, we shall have done much. The increase must be supplied by our healthy country villages. The higher wages of the towns will always attract young men as labourers and young women as servants or fac tory workers, to supply the demands of increasing trade and commerce. Emigration at the same time will drain off the more adventurous parts of our people. Nor are there wanting in the New World and at the Antipodes communities where industry finds its reward, where the hearty meal and the cordial welcome renew the hospitality, while a representative assembly and a free press reflect the liberty of the old country. Proceeding to the fifth and last department, that of Social Economy, I recommend to your consideration the important subject of emigration, The conditions upon which it can be successfully undertaken, the influence which it has on the present, and is likely to have on the future state of this nation, are topics which require and will obtain the earliest inquiry of my right hon. friend Sir J. Stephen, the able president of the department. There is another subject con nected with emigration and other parts of social economy which deserves the attention of this de partment. The conditions of industral success in nations appear to vary from time to time, and to be subject to periodical changes of great importance for good or for evil. Thus we find. in the " Utopia" of Sir Thomas More, and other works of his con temporaries, that the extension of trade and the demand for meat in England produced a change of cultivation which drove many families from their dwellings. A similar change seems to have taken place in the same century in Spain. In Scotland the cessation of the religious disturbances caused by the Stuarts, and the union with England, le i d to a complete revolution between the days of Fletcher of Saltoun, and those of Robertson, the historian. Lastly, in Ireland the social and political evils which afflicted that country for a century seem to have reached a crisis in 1848. The famine of 1847 was a dispensation of Providence which the care of Govern ment could not avert, and could. only partially miti gate. There have been, however, measures of social economy adopted by the Legislature, the effects of which deserve impartial inquiry. One of these measures was the introduction of a Poor Law, or, in other words, provision for the starving and punishment for the professional mendicant. An other measure was the Encumbered Estates Act introduced by the present Master of the Rolls. Both these measures naturally raised a good deal of opposition at the time of their introduction. My belief is, however, that, taken together, and accompanied as they ought to be, and no doubt will be, by a strict administration of justice, as great a change for the better will take place in Ireland as took place in Scotland between the accession of William 111. and the close of the following century. Of one thing we may be confident, that in natural talents of all kinds, whether for poetry, eloquence, and the arts of peace, or for the eventful vicissitudes of war, no people exceed the natives of Ireland. Happy would it be if that which has hitherto been the reproach of the empire should become her pride and her glory. A few words before I have done on the general objects of our association. Our first meeting took place under the presidency of Lord Brougham, who unites in a singular degree the largest views of political and social science with the most laborious practical attention to all its de tails. While he can survey the whole field of knowledge with the quick and pervading glance of a master, he can work at the task before him with the patient industry of an apprentice. I wish that we may be able to imitate the spirit, if not attain to this ability. We are not like some philosophers of the last century, enamoured of an age of reason which will never come to pass. Nor do we share in the dreams of the philanthropists who ten years ago imagined that if property, and. capital, and competition were put down by authority, the human race might sit down in happiness and contentment. Our task is more humble, but, as we conceive, more in accordance with tie decrees of our Divine Crea tor. To mankind is allotted labour as its portion and perpetual inheritance. If any think that he has nothing to do but to eat, drink, and be merry, in that very night as fearful a doom may fall upon upon him as upon the tyrant of old. If any sup pose, like the masters of the Roman empire, that the sword has done its work, and that nothing re mains for them but luxurious enjoyment, that very luxury may revenge the conquered world. If any imagine that to 9lem belongs dominion, and that they may indulge in contempt of the unlettered and ill-fed multitude,that very multitude may overwhelm them in bloody and. merciless retribution. It is for us to work as truly as the man who forges the iron bar, or the woman who works at the factory loom. It is for us to endeavour to improve the laws by which the community is governed. It is for us to show how education may be extended and diffused. It is for us to examine and record. what has been done for the reformation and punishment of offenders. It is for us to confirm and animatd the efforts which are being made to sustain the public health, and thereby preserve for this country her eminence as the home of a vigorous and inde pendent race. It is for us fo investigate the condi tions of the great problems of political economy, which may often admit of ei:ceptions, but never of refutations. In so doing we shall but consult the welfare of the present and. future generations; in so doing we shall follow the path traced out for us by . Almighty Benevolence and Almighty Wisdom. At the conclusion of this address, Lord J. Russell moved, and Sir J. Pakington seconded, a vote of thanks to Lord Brougham for his presidency dur ing the past year. MURDER NEAR ROTHERIIAM.-RX TRAORDINARY STATEMENT BY THE PRISONER. On Saturday the inquest on the body of Sally Hare, who had been murdered ET her sweetheart, John Taylor Whitworth, was held at St. John's, Laughton-en-le-Morthen, near Rotherham, before Thomas Badger, Esq., coroner. The first witness was the mother of the deceased, who said that her daughter " Sally would have been 18 years of age this very day." Mrs. Cuthbert, wife of George Cuthbert, farmer, St. John's, said the deceased was her servant. The prisoner (Whitworth) came to her house on the evening of the 30th of September to seethe deceased. At nine o'clock at night the prisoner and the de ceased were together in the brewhouse, and witness went and asked her if she had nearly done. In a short time the deceased came into the house, and witness asked her if the prisoner was going home. Deceased said she did not wish him to go home, it was so late, and then asked witness's permission to sit with him till he was ready to start for home. Witness said she did not like that, but she would allow it for once. The deceased and the prisoner sat by the kitchen fire and took their suppers together. Witness went to bed about half-past ten o'clock, and heard nothing more till about two o'clock on the following morning, when the de ceased came running and screaming upstairs, say ing, "Oh master, Will has cut my throat; I'm dying!" Witness got out of bed, and on getting near deceased found her covered with blood, which was streaming from her hands and a wound in the neck. Witness's husband went for a policeman, and the manservant was sent for a surgeon. The deceased said that the prisoner had cut her throat. She was without bonnet when she came in and her hair was in great disorder. Mr. George Cuthbert (husband to the last wit ness) corroborated the latter part of her evidence. He had gone to bed at eight o'clock on the night in question. He went, along with some of his neigh bours, to look for her bonnet, and found it and a cap and other articles on the common, about 240 yards from the house. He traced blood all the way, and near where the bonnet was found there were marks of struggling. Emanuel Turner corroborated Mr. Cuthbert's evidence. Henry Sargent, blacksmith, said he found a knife on Sunday morning last, in John 'Hibert's field, about five yards from the marks of blood and struggling. It was open, and had some marks of blood upon it. There was also some hair sticking to it. • Thomas Clarke, shepherd in the service of John Vesey . Machin, Esq., of Gateford (in whose service the prisoner was) said—On Friday the Ist instant, I met the prisoner in a field belonging to my master. I said to him, "Now, Jack, whre hast thou been to ?" He said, " I believe I don't know where I've been." I said, " What hast thou been doing ?" and he replied, " I don't know, Clarke, what I've been doing." I said, " What do these police want thee for ?" and he asked, "Do they want me ?" I said, " They were inquiring for thee. What hast thou been doing ? Thou has cut thy throat." He replied, " Yes, and the girl's too." Witness took him to the farm, and as they were going the prisoner asked him if he had seen the girl. I replied, " I have not ;" and he said, " Clarke, what am Itodo ?" When witness met with him he was without a cap, and his hair was hanging over his eyes r his clothes were very wet, and there was blood upon his breast, which appeared to have come from his own throat. His right jacket sleeve ap peared to have been washed up to the shoulder, and the left one up to the elbow. About eight or nine days before this the prisoner asked witness if sheep salve and the stuff with which they " dipped" the sheep were poison, and on being told that they were he asked how much it would take to poison anyone. On the morning of the 30th ult. the salve tin and some salve were missing, as was also some of the " dip." John Copley, coachman, and William Holmes, in the service of Mr. Machin, said the cap produced was very like the one the prisoner usually wore. Superintendent Cheadle received the prisoner in charge at the Worksop police station, on the Ist inst. He charged him with cutting and wounding, with intent to murder (at that time the deceased was alive), Sally Hare. He replied, "Ha ! I know there is such a girl." The next day witness asked him if the knife which was taken from him was his, and he replied, " Yes ; but that's not the knife. She got the knife away from me." Superintendent Gillett—l accompanied the Hon. and Rev. Wm. Howard, resident magistrate, on the Ist inst., from Rotherham to the house of George Cuthbert. We saw the deceased in bed in a room there. She appeared to be very ill. Mr. Howard spoke to her, told her that she was in great danger, and that she might die in a few hours. He desired her to tell the truth about her throat being cut, then swore her, and took down the deposition which. I hold in my hand. He took her statement down in writing, and attached her mark to the document, as she was unable to write in conse quence of the injuries on her fingers. Her statement contained the following facts :—" The prisimer and I have kept company for about three years. Last night, the 30th of September, he came to see me. My mistress went to bed, and left us up together in the kitchen. My master went to bed about eight o'clock. The prisoner and I sat quietly together till about one o'clock, and no angry words passed between us. About one o'clock he left the house to start for home, and asked me to accompany him a short distance. It was a beautiful starlight night, and I consented. We left the house to gether, and got as far as the little common. He then accused me of going with another young man, whose name h e did n ot mention. We had some words about it, and he asked me to take poison. He said, "If you will take some I will take some too, and we can die together." I said I would not. He said, "If you don't, I will kill you." I said, " Though you do kill me I won't take any." Im mediately on leaving the house, and before he ac cused me of infidelity, he had attempted to take improper liberties with me. I would not accede to his proposals, and he then accused me of going with another man. After I refused to take poison, he got hold of me, threw me on the ground, put his knee upon me, pulled out his knife, opened it, and cut my throat. Before he cut me I implored him not to kill me; but he put one hand on my mouth, and with the other cut my throat. I got the knife out of his hand, and managed to get up, but in the struggle I cut my hands and fingers very much. When I had got up he stabbed me in the throat with the knife, and I got hold of his hair, threw him backwards, and so managed to escape. When I was on the ground, and endeavouring to rise, he stamped upon my head with his foot two or three times. I ran home ,bleeding all the way, and went straight to my mistress's bedroom. I said that Whitworth had murdered me. My mistress got up, and endeavoured to stop the bleeding with some cloths ; and I was put to bed, where I have been ever since. This morning, continued the witness, I went to the prisoner in the cell, at Rotherham, and told him he must get washed, as he would have to go with me to Laughton to attend the inquest on Sally Hare, whose throat he was cha r g ed w i t h cutting. Hei made no reply ; but, on his way to Laughton, said he should like to see her. I tcek him, and he kissed her three times, and he wanted to be left with her. He seemed to be very much affected. Mr. Latimer, of South Anston, surgeon, said that he had attended the deceased. She had had her throat cut, a cut on the chin, cuts on the thumb and three fingers on the left hand, and also on the the h e attendedfoilolv following r day 11 forefinger of the right hand. The left side of her head and e f s a ci ce ay was las s t w , swollen. to on H (Thursday) she died. Her throat was cut through the windpipe, and also through the passage leading into the stomach. The instrument by which the injury had been inflicted had penetrated to the vertebrae. He had no doubt death had resulted from the wound in the throat. He thought that the wound was a stab wound. The prisoner, having been duly cautioned by the coroner, said—The girl went out with me from the house, and we went together as far as we had often gone before, and then we stopped for a short time. She asked me when I was going with her to the feast at Tattershall Thorpe, and I said I thought there was no good in my goin g th ere an d th a t s he did not want me. She said if I did not care for her she did not ,care for me. I said we have not beein long together, but I hope to be comfortable. We got to further words, and I told her I thought she went with another man. She said before she would tell me she would lose her life. I said. I did not wish her to go with any one else while she went with me. I then asked her if she would go any further, and she said she would not. She said, "We will part as we have always done before." She then told me to sit down, and she would sit on my knee. I sat down , with my feet in the hollow of the ground, an d §he sat on my knee. When she sat. down she said, " What have you got here ?" I said, " It's my knife." She asked me to let her look at it, and I asked her what for. She said she thought it was as much her knife as mine, and then she got the knife out of my hand, and opened it. I said she should not open it, and that I should shut it again. I tried to get it out of her hand to shut it, and she said before I should have it she would try for her life. I tried to get the knife again, and it came through her fingers. She said, " Bill you have cut my fingers ;" and I said, " I'll have my knife if it cuts your face off." She then said, " Then you shall try for it." So I tried to get it again, and she got hold of the hair of my head. I asked her what she meant, and she said if I would not let her go she would. let me know what she meant. I said we had better part good friends, and that I should have my • knife. She then got hold of my hair again, and pulled me down. I rolled her twice over her head, and her head caught my feet. I said I shou.ld not stand that, and she said she would not give in to me. I told her she had better be starting, and she struck at me with the knife in her hand. I fried to keep it off my face, and it went on my jacket sleeve. I tried to get the knife again, but she had fast hold of it, and she said she would not part with it. Rolling about together, the knife went in the side of her face, and I tried to get it out of her hand. She stuck to it fast, and threw me over again. She then said, " Oh, Bill, the knife has ran into my neck." I said, " I cannot help it ; you should let go of the knife, and let me go." She said, " Let's get up, and I will give you a kiss and let you go." So we got up, and I said, " Come then, my lass, put your arms round my neck and I'll give you a kiss." Then she came to me and said, " Oh, Bill." I said, " What, my lass." She said, "My throat's cut." I asked her what with, and she said, " This knife. here." She said, " I will give you a kiss for the last." I said, " Come, then," and while I put my arms round her neck, she struck the knife right at my throat, and said, " Go to - with you, Bill." I then fell on my back, and she ran a-way. When I got up I saw no one, and made the best of my way home. I was taken to the lock-up, and did not know what it was for till this morning, when they told me it was for cutting the throat of Sarah Hare. I was taken to see her, gavo her three kisses, and was then brought away. The jury returned a verdict of "Wilful murder" against Whitworth, who was accordtingly com mitted, on the coroner's warrant, to ti tke his trial at the ensuing York assizes. COUNTRY MARKETS. OXFORD—Ocr. 9, Wheat was again in very large supply, an d the chief of it was of good quality and in first-rate condition. Very prime samples were readily taken off at last week's prices, but inferior were a drug in the market. Good barley was in request, and rather higher prices were made. A gentle man from one of the pale ale breweries of the north pur chased most extensively. Oats and beans restricted. Wheat ...38s to 45s Oat 5.... White .45s to 50s Beans .....40s to 50s Barley .33s to 44s Peas .. 53s to 000 Flour, 32s per sack—Good hay, £4 per ton. CAMBRIDGE—OcT. 9. The supply of wheat was tolerable. Barley of superior quality made recent rates ; inferior lower. There was not much variation in the prices of other sorts of grain. White wheat, new, 46s to 508 Barley, grinding..2Bs to 32s Red do. 4OB to 44s Oats, old, 125 t....—s to —s Old white 46s to 50s New do 26s to 30s Red do. 40s to 44s Beans.. 46s to 50s Barley, malting.... 38s to 43s Malt —s to --s COLCHES' 'ER-OCT. 9. There has been a limited show of wheat, and the trade dull. The following prices were obtained : Wheat, white 42s to 44s I Beans, Mazagan..—s to --s red 38s to 42s I Middle & small 44s to 50e Barley 2Bs to 38s I White peas 42s to 48s Oats .l9s to 25s 1 Grey.. ..... 42s to 48s NORTHALLERTON—Ocr. 6, There was an average supply of grain to-day, and a slow business at the annexed prices :—White wheat, from 40 9d to 5s 6d per bushel; red, 4s 6d to 5s 6d; barley, 4s to 4s 3d per do. ; oats, 2s to 3s ; beans, 5s 3d to 6s. NORTHAMPTON-0 cr. 9 The following were the quotations this morning : —Red wheat,- 42s to 44s Od; white, 44s to —s Od ; barley 30s to 40s Od ; oats, 28s to 325. KIRK ALDY-0 CT. 9. Wheat (0). I Barley (0). First.... 38s Od I —s Od Second.. 465 Od I —s Od Third 50s Od —s Od Oats (0). —s Od —s Od —s Od Wheat (N). First.... 34s Od Second.. 42s Od Third .. 48s Od Barley (N). Oats (N). I 26s Od 22s Od 31s 7d 24s Od 338 Od 6s 6d COAL MARKET—OcT. 11. (Prices of Coal per Ton at the close of the market.) Burnhope, 12s 6d ; Nettleworth Primrose, 12s 09 Buddle's Wst Hartley, 15s. 9d. ; West Tanfield, -s. Od.; Hartlepool West Hartley, -s.od.• West Wylam, 13s. 6d.; Howard's West Hartley Netherton, -s. Od. ; Tanfield Moor, 13s. Od. ' • Tanfield Moor Butes, 13s Od.; 14s. 6d. ; Earsden Hartley, 15s. ; Byass's Bebside West Hartley, 15s. 9d.; Walker Primrose,-s.; Holywell,l4s 6d; Birchgrove Graigola, -s. ; Nixon's Merthyr, 21s. Od.; Gawber Hall Hartley, Od. ; Nixon's Duffryn, -s.od.; Davison's West Hartley, 15s. 9d. ; Haswell Gas, -s. Od.! Morpeth West Hartley, 15s. Od ; Tyne Main, 13s. Od. ; Whitridge's Hartley, 15s 6d ; Lambert's W. Hartley, 150 9d ; Powell's Duffryn Steam, 21s. Od. Walls End-Acorn Close, 17s. Od. •, Benson, 16s. 6d.; Hunwick, 14s. 9d. ; Whitworth, -s. Od.; Shincliffe, 16s. 9d.; Haswell, 18s. 9d. ; Hetton, 18s. 9d. ; Cassop, 17s. 3d; Northumberland, 15s. 3d; Lambton, 18s. 3d. ; Wharn cliffe, -s. Od. ; Kepier Grange, 17s 9d. ; Bell, 16s. 3d. ; Russell's Hetton, 17s. 6d. • Harton, 16s. 6d. ; Drybus' Grange, -s. Od ; Heugh 17s. d. • Riddell, 16s. Od. ; ' Gosforthrth, 165,; Kelloe, 17s. 6d. • Od. 18s. 6d; Thornley, 16s 3d.; South Hetton, 18s 6d. Ships at market, 123-sold, 115. LOCAL SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL.-OCT. 11. The market was very good all day, closing at the best, and 2 er cent. higher than on Saturday. Birkenheads , 671 B—Blackburns, 11 g Caledonians, 851 6—Chester and Holyhead, 371 82—Eastern Counties, 121 9-16- - East Lancashire, 93/ 4 —GreatWestern, 54 I—Lancashir e and Yorkshire, 96k I—London and North-Westerns, 91a Sheffield, 35 I—Midland, 98 I—North British, 571 1 --- Berwicks, 911 s—York and North Midland, 77 Leeds Northern, 481 9—Dovers, 22 1-16 A—Dutch Rhenish, 4 3 dis.—Grand Trunk of Canada, 91 f —Great Western of Canada, 181 1. MANCRESTER-0 CT. H. The transactions were active, especially for S.-Eastern stock, and prices were higher. Great Westerns, 55--Mid lands, 981—London and North-Westerns, 92k—Dover, 221 Sheffields, 351—Leeds, 96k. BIRMINGHAM-OCT.' 11. This market was dull to-day, but the prices were main tained. Local stocks in good demand, and prices had all upward tendency. . GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.--The Dean and Chapter of this cathedral, following the example of the capitular body at Rochester, Durham, and elsewhere, hair° determined on throwing open the cathedral gratuitously for two hours daily. [ADVERTISEMENT].--Holloway's Ointment and Pills' Sore Throat, Quinsey, Ulcerated Throat, and Diptherite.—: The sore throat with more or less hoarseness, prevailing el this season of the year, has for twenty years been treated with the above remedies, with a degree of success far sur passing that of any other mode of treatment. The mace have been so remarkable, speedy, and numerous, that it fts predicted that the new disease, diptherite, consisting ° small ash-coloured ulcers in the interior of the throat/ attended by fever, often fatal, might be arrested by the same means, and such has been the case. This disease, in its first stage, seems even more amenable to Holloway ointment and pills than the simpler forms of inflammotoll sore throat. BIRTHS. BALDWIN.—On the 11th inst., at Baines Villa, Lewisham' the wife of Mr. D. Baldwin, of a daughter. DASIIWOOD.—On the 9th inst., at Stone Lodge, Suffolk , the Hon. Mrs. George Dashwood, of a daughter. - LinnELL.—On the 9th inst., at RydQ, The Hon. Mrs. A' Liddell, of a daughter. REEVE.—On the 9th inst., at Bulby House, near Lincoln' shire, the wife of Lieut.-Colonel Reeve (late Grenadie r Guards), of a daughter. WHICIICOTE.—On the 9th inst., at 3, Tilney-street, Park' lane, Lady Whichcote, of a son. MARRIAGES. CoKAYNE—LITTLER.—On the 9th inst., at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Buckfastleigh, Devon, J. A. Cokayne , Esq., of Great Berkhampstead ' Herts, to Helen Oly' pia, widow of the lat e G enera l Sir John Littler, G. 0.8. WAMBEY — FIRMIN.—On the 7th inst., at St. Jamd ° Church, Hatcham, Cornelius C. AVambey, Esq., to Mad Brown, eldest daughter of the late Samuel Firmin, Esq., of Thorncroft, Dunham-green, and 153, Strand. DEATHS. BENNETT.—On the 7th inst., Mr. H. Bennett, of 1, Tatar ton-place, Park-road, Regent's-park. HonNE.—On the 1 0 th inst. , at Minster, near Ramsgate Fallon the firm o f H ome an d M or o' reet, aged 44. Il oL mn.—On the 9 th inst., at Clapham -park, Surrey, at the residence of her son-in-law, J o h n Pilki ng 't on, Esq. } Elizabeth Hill, wife of Jame s Holme, Esq ., Mayor 0 ' t F h a m l I N ° s e w e g , te Liverpool, aged 46. lON.—On the 9th inst ,at 2, Lower Eaton-street, Pimliet ), Mr. John A. lon, aged 69. JACKSON.—At Mount Nevill, Tunbridge Wells, Alic e Catharine, eldest child of Sir Charles Jackson, aged 1 3 . NECK.—On the 10th inst. , at Camberwell-grove, Willis' Neck, Esq., aged 74. WOLLASTON.—On the Bth inst., Wm. Ottley Wollast ool Esq., of Connaught -square, aged 38. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 1 12 i Strand, in the P rec i nc t o f th e S avoy , i n th e coun ty 14:ddlesex, Tuesday, October 12, 1858. expo Tea I Mad the . yard, 0 Soup for g Saucy B' gage( Park this Refe: Dair. Pal mine of int De Nth Tb popii avc Vrofe after] liana adult , eolon reous form diatb atta e l thus a btu( the light letter IT 'M Ew ode and I Corn] H. Cape exhib Naval `of mai Wore 1 IV ceinbe / didate E Royal is Ti to •rwei The e , N thaese vy , resp oi l' fu be dept for sup 10. tion pa Class IStatt Engl Pren Any list Naha toraN Of tl Inatics, Candid Th e obligat hall. E Vhich y befiesi After the Col those to the ON Pl INCA New ai by 1( Ifshe TR THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 1858. G &VD