The Sun. — London, England, 1863-10-08 00:00:00

Social Science Congress at Edinburgh. The se 'smith annual meeting of the National Association for t'ne Promotion of Social Science opened 2 o'clock in St. Giles's opened at Edinburgh yest krday. A sermon was preached at Ch urch beforeta large audience by the Rev, Dr. Arnot, one of the incumbents, and in the evening the general meeting of members and associates took place in the Free Church Assembly-hall. The Right Hon. Lord Brougham , President of the. Association (who arrived on Tuesday evening, and is the guest of the Lord Provost), occupied the chair, and was ontb ats iastically received by the crowded assemblage. Lord BROUGHAM delivered the following opening ad drass :—" We now hold our seventh Congress in the ancient capital of Scotland, renowned for its services and its sacri fices to the independence of the country and the mainte mance of her religion ; but famous also for those whom she - reared as instructors of mankind. Here is planted the greatest of the Seoteh Universities, and here those illustrious teachers flourished whose discoveries laid the foundation of chemical science, whose writings and lectures made an era in political philosophy, whose toils assisted in restoring the ancient geometry, and in expounding that of modern times. They are gone from the scene which they once made famous, and have been followed by others whose enlightened labours . and brilliant fancy adorned a later age. Black, Smith, the Stewarts, Playfair, Robinson, Thomas Campbell, Jeffrey, are no longer spared to our admiration, but they have left their example to guide us, their success to cheer. Since our last Congress the association has sustained the irrepar able loss of Sir Benjamin Brodie; and none so great have we had to lament except that of the amiable and accom plished Sir James Stephen, who presided at our second meet ing over the department of which the great physiologist was the other:chairman. When our feelings, mine especially;,to are touched by th e bl an k which surrounds us, it is our d submit, but it i s a l so my consolation, at least to reflect led u an that d the period of sepa ra ti on from those we have loved lost is drawing fast to a close. I may well say with Cicero s when he was y ounger by a quarter o f a cons olabar, existimans, non longin qu e ll s/ ra ce. 23). In looking interceury— , Me nos digres sum et discessum fore.'— de (Cic ;e . what has been done, we back to th e past year, and have once moreito chide the impatience of well-meaning but unreflecting men who complain that our progress has not kept p ace w ith their wishes First of all they underrate what ha s b een done. TU as mind's eye is deceived by the desire of rapid progress the natural eye when, in driving quickly on the river's bank,e we suppose the vessel carried down the stream is standing still. Next, one great truth must ever be kept in in the minds of all who desire the goo d of society— a the science of Government an d o f human nature—that trut the people who hasten to imp rove their political lot faster than the safety of society permits are as sure of going wrong and coming to a b a d en d as the individual who makes haste to be rich, Anarchy and await the people as the gibbet await s th e man. W sla h ve e r n y wecast our eyes towards other countries and con e:4(ler the progress which social science has there made, we viewa state of things far from fulfilling th e h opes c h erished atUr last meeting. But let us begin with the gratifica tion of marking the great step taken by the Emperor of Russia in furtherance of the important work on which we have heretofore expressed our approval and our thanks— the emancipation of the serfs. Encountering as he did great difficulties from the selfishness of the landowners, but also from the ignorance of the serfs themselves, he has, by an act impossible to be too highly praised, given entire freedom to all the serfs on the domains of the Crowtl—thus converting 2,000,000 bondmen into unfettered proprietors, and their labourers into free workmen. It is hoped that this great measure may have a salutary influence upon the possessors of other estates, and that the Russians are full of confidence in the effects of emancipation. It is cer tain they have turned their attention to the co-operative system which has, so beneficially to one labouring classes, been established in this country. Men from St. Peters. burg and Moscow have visited our towns where co-operative institutions are established, that they might profit by our experience. There have indeed long exirtel in Russia a rude kind of co-operative unions (what is tortned .Steles); but the change in the condition of the peas sntry has enforced the expediency of introducing the ens Aplete system with all its improvements, Education has al 40 been greatly encouraged, a vast number of schools Laving been established for instructing the peasantry. While we justly commend the Czar's wise and liberal mea :sures in his own country—measures so worthy of his kind stud amiable nature, so well ktown in his visit to England 'when Czarowiteh—it is truly painful to find how the scenes exhibited in his Polish dominions make it but too likely that with his succession to the throne his character has undergone a change. That which mortals covet as the greatest blessing, but which is the greatest curse both to themselves and the rest of mankind—the possession of arbitrary power—has this, besides other evils, that its pos s'essor imparts his caprices to his subordinates. But the tyrant's appointed punishment is fear; and it is a comfort, though a poor one, to those whom he oppresses that he is snore terrified than they— " ' Qui terret plus ipso timet, sors ista tyrannis " ' Convenit.' Assuredly his fears are the chief of his qualities which ho Communicates to his instruments, and their terrors are only to be allayed by countless treacheries and merciless cruel ties. But whether by his own authority or by the zeal and the fears of his agents—for whose acts he roust be held re sponsible at the very least when they come-to his knowledge —it is on all hands allowed that the unhappy Poles have been visited with the most grievous inflictions, which almost unavoidably drove them into revolt. That which in the eyes of all nations is held the worst of those acts, uniting as it does the extremes of both treachery and cruelty, has been the conscription, as it preteuded to be, but which, in truth, was a proscription, the forcible seizure of the most eminent men in all c:asses, and transporting some to Siberia, some to the Russian army—a fate they almost as much dreaded as the penal servitude of the mines. But other atrocities have been committed in the barbarous treat ment of both sexes and all ranks, the clerical not excepted; wholesale confiscations of property have laid waste the land ; and the wretched country is plunged into a civil war, which is deplored as the measures that caused it are loudly blamed by the people of every European community, and by the Governments, too, excepting that of Prussia, the ac complice of Russia, and thus sharing in the universal repre bation of its own subjects as well as its neighbours. The friends of social science have viewed these painful scenes with the feelings they are so well fitted to raise for the sufferers, and with the alarm they unavoidably cause for the peace of the world, held as the first of bleasings by all well-wishers to the best interests of mankind. But deeply to be lamented as are the su ff er i ngs of Poland, andstrongly to be cen sured as is the conduct of her oppressors, let us cherish the hope that the universal opinion of Europ e may avail to obtain her redress, w ith out any such hostile interference as unreflecting men, under the influence of their feel ings, are prone to recommend. The agitation which per vades Germany occasi ons another danger, though far less, to the tranquillity of the Continent. But it is satis factory to find that the chief question has arisen respecting the Constitution proposed by Austria upon very liberal grounds, and that the only real doubt is to what extent the sound and long-tried principles of our own constitutional system shall be adopted. In no part of Germany except the Prussian States does the Government reject these prin ciples, and the people whom that Government at once op presses and betrays are heartily opposed to its views and its policy, both foreign and domestic. Our French neighbours have, since last Congress, passed through an electoral crisis without any change in the form of their Government or in the balance of parties, but with a manifest exhibition of the popular influence, notwithstanding the constant, indeed systematic, interference of the executive power with the elections, and the fetters still continued on the press. The s i n gularly injudicious conduct of one Minister (who has blundered into a formal eulogy of absolute power) turned the elections in some of the provincial towns, but still more in the capital, against the Government, or, it may be more t r uly said, in favour of the Opposition, men b e i ng chosen from no made their principles, but merely b ecause they oppose d the love de Government. Though a Very sma ll addition has been to the votes of the Opposition, y e t i n d e b ating f o rce it has largely gained. Nor can any doubt b e reason a that in the exercise of a sound and en ably entertalne lightened judgment the ruling power will protect itself by granting greater l atitude of free discussion, as well as b y imp rovem ents is the practical administration of the law. An important beginning has already been made by requiring the i mme di ate t r ial of perso ns in custody, with a view to their p rosecut i on . Nothing c an be more contrary to justice, Or, inde e d , to than the existing law and co mmon sense , p ract ice by whi c h a person may be kep t in, p rison for a conviction, The than that for which he could be sentenced on -v ' ;eti°ll " The code of criminal P rocedure great defects. The practice of subjecting the accused to an proc has many very inquisitori a l 'Process by the examination the judge is quite intolerable, and it as the fear of ita'ge ts to extend of tang into our procedure that f w repeated attempts rustrated my in o ur law to .criminat eaa , that great improvement f parties of evidence Whi ch - tes timony 0 - admits the in civil suits, hy cases the option e e gbivie;ug the de f en da n t d sub ject, of course in criminal to cross-examination. Th a e o examins , erurged aga inst this has been the apprehennisirsihYttrheasts°eneheevevei•todeclined to avail himself of the option do so from consciousness of guilt. But, 6E:t lett suppo l s l e c d ases of misde meanour in which a pri vate prosecatorin" all cases of misde ineanour in which a private versary should have ths prosetor is exa his ad versary should have the like power's As , , l a w now stands, one party is heard on oath and the oher u 'smouth is closed. The French law is framed to prevent the t p of the guilty, without a due regard to the safety ours is in some respec?s too favourableto the gullet oppressive to the innocent. Except, perhaps, theY' in others of ill esc in a n e ocen e t re ; appeal is cases of , reversing an acquittal on misdemeanour (deli t there is nothing more. censurable in the French crimin a l procedure than the uncertainty which is brought into th e l a w by the jury being allowed —nay, called upon —to con . eider what are termed extenuating circumst ances. As the law does not define them with sufficient precielon, and as the verdict does not specify them, the judge is left from his recollection of the case to award the mitigation of the p un _ h in ae m r an eco y ur cas se e t s n a ishment. There can benodou th b e t t l ha aw t por tion of the jury disapproving by refusing to join in the verdict exte nuating circumstances ~.., as in England the dissentient jury without this ad . dia men often require a on recommendation to mercy as a condition of their concurrenc e, but that does not operate impera tively, like extenuating circumstances iu the French verdict. A great and, but for its success, a very unpopular expedition has resulted in the occupation of Mexico by the French Government, and the foundation of a n onarchi cal regimen nearly upon the principles adopt .d in France both as regards the power of the Crown and the rights of the people. It is impossible to question the advantages derived from the change by the Mexicans, who for so many years had suffered all the evils of alternate anarchy and the violence and plunder of petty tyrants. Nor can any friend of humanity and of peace begrudge the influence acquired by France, or cavil at the use made of it in favour of Austria. The peace of the Con tinent is furthered by whatever brings these two great Powers into a friendly connection. It would be truly satis factory if we could regard the attitude of France towards Italy in the same light, but the determination seems to con tinue unabated of retaining her troops at Rome, ref using the Italian kingdom the means of completing thetheßomanincorpora tion of its southern provinces, and keeping from rpeesotprileettiohnatooffthwehricahpaltheLarpeeral naturally. mostteprevention desirous—the gi s ven to Italye power, the and n worst h ran criminals greatly ofof tNhaepslueps.port Norso escaanndthaelofusrileyndg wonder t ifthebelief r sh ea o t u ri l e d t d w ai i l t y htn gain a n st a r rr en o g w th lim th i a ts t t a h s er p e os. sib is adlet:gn formed to the power of her southern neighbour. But the estab lishment of Frencheling n in i flue t n h c e e innoMw,ex,uncohaisplpikiley, is likely dto-United a n uneasy feeling States of America, and may by no remote possibility lead to an amicable intercourse with the South, not, perhaps, against the North, but in formal recognition of the seces sion and in breach of the blockade. The friends of humanity would have goad cause for lamenting anything so mani festly tending to promote the continuance of the war and extend its mischiefs. The term "civil war" is now hardly applicable to this miserable contest. The people of the South are banded against those of the North exactly as any two European nations, differing in all respects save lan guage, have been banded against each other—the Austrians and Prussians for example. But give it what name we may, no one can doubt that it is a cruel calamity to the Ameri cans themselves, and, though in a much lees degree, to the rest of the world, which with one accord joins in reprobat ing their conduct while lamenting its effects. Each party, of course, seeks to cast on the other the heavy blame of breaking the peace. On one side is the wicked allegation of property in human beings ; on the other, the hollow pretext of making war to free America of slavery—her shame and her curse, as all except slaveowners admit it to be. Hollow we may well call it ; for those who proclaimed emancipation confess that it was a measure of hostility to the whites, and designed to produce slave insurrec tion, from which the much-enduring nature of the un happy negro saved the country. My esteemed friend the prelate who exalts by his eloquence and his virtues the name of Wilberforce, which he inherits, declared that the authors of the measure cared as little for the black's freedom as for the white's ; and now they eall for extermination of the one race to liberate the other. But, whatever may have been the proximate cause of the contest, its continuance is the result of a national vanity, without example and without bounds. Persons subject to this failing are despised, not hated ; and it is an ordinary expression respecting him who is without the weakness that he is too proud to be vain. But when a people are seized with it they change the name, and call it love of glory. Of the individual we often hear the remark that, despicable as the weakness is, it leads to no bad actions. Nothing can be more false; it leads to many crimes, and to that disregard of truth which is the root of all offences. Certainly it produces none of the worst crimes. The man who is a prey to vanity thirsts not for the blood of his neighbour. How fearfully otherwise is it when a nation is its slave I Magnifying itself beyond all measure, and despising the rest of mankind, blinded and intoxicated with self-satisfaction, persuaded that their very crimes are proofs of greatness, and believing that they are both admired and envied, the Americans have not only been content with the destruction of half a million, but vain of the slaughter. Their object being to retain a great name among nations for their extent of territory, they exulted in the wholesale bloodshed by which it must be accomplished, because others were unable to make such a sacrifice. The struggle of above two years, which loosened all the bands that held society together, and gave to millions the means of showing their capacity, has produced no genius, civil or military ; while the submission to every caprice of tyranny has been universal and habitual, and never interrupted by a single act of resistance to the most flagrant infractions of personal freedom. The mis chiefs of mob supremacy have been constantly felt, for the calamity of rational and respectable men keeping aloof from the management of affairs has resulted in the tyranny of the multitude. To this tyrant the nominal, rulers have never withheld their submission, and the press catering for the appetites of the populace, and pandering to their passions, has persisted in every misrepresentation which might most disguise the truth as to passing events, exaggerating each success, extenuating each defeat, often describing failure as victory; while the multitude, if the truth by chance reached them, were one day sunk in despair, another elated in an ecstasy, almost at the pleasure of their rulers and their guides. Nor were the falsehoods thus propagated confined to the events of the war, they extended to all things—to the measures of the Government and the acts of foreign na tions. The public feeling must not be thwarted; the peo ple desired to hear whatever gratified their vanity or raised their spirits, and in this delusion must they live as long as the war lasts and the rule is in the hands of the mob. The truth they will never hear, because they desire to hear what is pleasing, and not what is true. But it would be a great mistake to charge on their false guides the follies and the crimes which they chime in with and do their best to perpe tuate. The people are determined in their course. Far from feeling shame at the cruel scenes which modern ages—nay, which Christian times haveseen nothing to equal, a spectacle at which the whole world stands aghast—almost to incredu lity, they actually glory in it as a proof of their higher nature, believe themselves to be the envy as the flower of mankind, and fancy that their prowess;would triumph over the most powerful States of Europe. In such illusions their chiefs may not practically join, but the people are, beyond doubt, a prey to them, and will continue so to the end. "Hear the just law, the judgment of the skies, They that hate truth shall be the dupes of lies; And if they will be cheated to the last, Delusions strong as hell shall bind them fast " Cowper—Progress of Error. The feeling towards England which prevails among the American people, though arising from the excess of national vanity and its kindred envy, is certainly in part the remains of the old quarrel that led to the separation. We are hated and despised. Neither feeling is at all reciprocal, but among our kinsfolk it prevails in a deg a r r e c e a a u l a m t o e s d t f a a m r w ou it n h t a in u g t rate curring to mental alienation. ca t l e t n ca t g n r h u a d r g d e ly af be the , American war, and it ill us t ra testhesoundness of the view taken by those who have most considered the great s ubject of colonial policy, th a t we umin that sooner or later paeanpdaelnitcteaa. world Son e must on so fr g i o en ve d r ly n otirsettlements as to prepare for a separa tionl terms, alwaysliterary t ass as their that our colonies are only have lately maintained the opinion i well ngd ex pense they en t a il. Thi s is a great error, and it is not now a burden, an d th a t th e y give us no benefits worth the for the fi rs t t i me t h at I so d escr ibe it. Six ty yearsab while residing h ere, I pu bli s h e d a w ork in which the w hole subject was fully examined in all its branches, and a demon stration gives of the benefits, political, social, and commer cial, of colonial establishments, with detailed proofs that their cost falls far short of their benefits, and that the wars ascribed to them had another origin. The book was very soon out of print, and I have always refused to allow a second edition. It might new, however, be of some use, as the information contained respecting the colonies of all nations ought to be more generally diffused. The lapse of 60 years has no doubt made great changes, and the work ' is to be viewed as historical with regard to the facts, but the doctrines have been confirmed by all that has happened; they are entirely applicable to the present state of affairs, and are most worthy of attention from the promoters of social science. Sixty years I ay, indeed, great indeed have been the changes which in that time have visited our race—changes which all dominions, principalities, and powers have under gone. The destroying angel has stalked abroad in the Old World and in the New, snapping the ties that bound States and their provinces t ogether, extinguishing old monarchies and calling into existence new, hurling mighty sovereigns from their thrones and replacing them with the humble and unknown, making revolutions and changes of dynasty no longer events that startle by their rare cccurrence and ter• rific aspects, but to be expected in the ordinary course of affairs, and as things to which habit has reconciled us. Notwithstanding these mighty changes, all that relates to colonial policy must ever form in this country a n impor tantsubject and a p ract i cal as long as —to use th epictur esque language of L or d E rskine in his noblest oration— "the " the restless foot o f E nglish adventure is uncesrsting • I en English character is c onvert i ng them into flourishin g uo a o b f od th a e en croaching on so m any d eserts, and the tried vi of civilised life." So r a pid h as been our colonial p rogress that with our Australi an sett l ement commercial int e r course has increased tenfold i n as many y ear s; and our duty as well as our interest is so t o govern it that its inevitable in. dependee may become only a fresh grou n d of gratitude, of a lastin nc g and hearty friendship. The origin of a colon the similarity of character a n d h a bi ts, the identity of lan guage, will always make the connection natural if the separation was effected peaceably and amicably; and whatever in commercial dealings may be the changes from acc idental circumstances, the tendency of em i gration will always be steadily in this direction. We have more than once at our meetings encourage had toheecasrieomnetvoeolbeseirnveecueepsointotillae ex ertions made to the warnings gi ven by those per sons w ho were loca lly in this way, and to repeat well acquainted pith the subj ec t. T hese have been attende d with effect in most instances, espe c i a ll y by theromoters of female emigration, who have be en ma d e aware that the mere n ecessities of the parties are not a suffi cient ground without the possession of such qualificati ons for obtaining employmen t as are required in the now set tlement. This too, m ay be remarked, is the general , Con ; and it applies not merely canon up on promot.;ng -gr a I to clerks zr or workwoman, even was g i ven, but to the humble wo...kma last at the th e unskilled- The attention of our body and governesses, respecting whom the warning Con gresswas) and indeed ever since has been, mainly occupied found roil y —n unned by the inquiries to which it has given rise the opti o n 1861, with the Brest subject of convict treatment; and we have 11 formed at the Dublin Congrofh from a close examination of Sir W. Crofton's whole pro. i ceedings, ill-health has gret universally choice as his successor of felt at his retirement owing to u-sal beenmaterially lessened by the his friend Capt. Whitty, who had been under him for years, and who has amply justified the selection, The great opposition which the introduction of the system into Great Britain encountered, and the mani fest leaning against it of persons high in office, filled all the friends of social science with alarm. This has happily been dispelled by the inquiry, first, of the commission under Lord Grey, and again of the committee under Lord Carnes von in the House of Lords. Unfortunately, some of the most important witnesses were not examined —as Mr. Balme of Leeds, in neither inquiry, and Mr. Shepherd only in the Lords', and our distinguished colleague the Recorder of Birmingham in neither; but both reports, and especially that of the Lords' Committee, gave the most signal triumph to the principles which for years, both on the bench and in the National Association, he had been zealously, though temperately, inculcating. We are not, therefore, surprised that he should have heartily joined the Bristol Association (formed for obtaining an amendment of convict discipline) in petitioning the Sovereign to promote such measures, both executive and legislative, as may carry into effect without delay the great improvements so fully sanctioned by seven years' experience in Ireland, The principles are shortly these—every mitigation of a convict's sentence, whether in treatment, diet included, or in duration of the punishment, must be earned by himself, not only in abstaining from offences, but more especially in pursuing a course of indus try. On obtaining a ticket of leave he must be placed under constant superintendence, and the ticket revoked not only on his misconduct, but on his leading a vagrant life and not supporting himself by his industry. Convicts whose sentence has expired are photographed, so as to be recog nised in case of new offences, and this, which had beim originally suggested by Mr. Hill, and adopted by Sir W. Crofton, has been favourably mentioned in the Lords' re port, and confirmed by the governors of the Bristol, Wake field, and Leeds gaols, as well as by the experience of the Irish prisons. The convict is deterred from relapse into crime by the certainty of his being recognised wherever he is committed, the photographs being circulated to all gaols. The dissent of the Chief Justice from the majority of his brother Commissioners is to be lamented ; but he evidently had not fully weighed the evidence of prac tical men, accustomed to the management of prisons and the control of criminals—such men as Crofton, Whitty, Organ, and he appears never to have considered tho opinion so generally entertained of late years upon the deterring effects of punishment, and to have regarded these alone, putting them in contrast to reformatory treatment, as if the two were distinct and opposite; whereas, any reformatory treatment deserving the name must of necessity be attended with suf fering to the convict. Upon the subject of transportation the Chief Justice agrees with the majority of the Commis sioners, differing from Mr. Childers and from the great meet ing held at Burlington-house in February, where our secre tary, Mr. Hastings, contended, with great ability, a gainst the revival of that punishment. One recommendation of the Lords' committee deserves great attention—that mea sures should. be taken for making the treatment, including of course diet, the same in all gaols. The great diversity which at present exists in this important particular makes the same sentence entirely different according to the prison where a convict happens to be committed. The last session of Parliament presented few other measures for our consi deration. The consolidation of the statute law w a s, how ever, promoted by an act which gave an elaborate statement of all statutes and portions of statutes which have been di rectly or indirectly repealed. This was ably prepared by the same men—Messrs. Wood and Reilly —the latter re commended by our colleague Mr. Bellenden Kea w hen en gaged in digesting the criminal law some years ago, an d afterwards when upon the Statute Law Commission. Both Houses received the table rather from confidence in those who prepared it than from discussion of the details, w hich must necessarily have been impossible. It is much to be lamented that nothing has been done to extend the depart ment of Judicial Statistics to Ireland. Our colleague, Lord Clanricarde, when urging this more than once in the Souse of Lords, showed that the a ddi t i on of a sing l e clerk could supply the great def ec t w hi ch now exists. The subject of Reconcilement w as once more broug ht for ward on my presenting a bill prepared by an em inent local court judge, Mr. M. K err, and free from the m ain objection to the former pr o p osa l , making the recourse to the Court of Conciliation altog e th er voluntary, and no t com pulsory either on the parties or the judge. The late period of the Session at which it was introduced, there is every reason to think, alone p reven t e d the bill from pass i ng ; and then we should hav e h a d th e unspeakable benefit o f a stop being put to vexatious an d nee dl ess litigation, as i n Den. mark, where nine-tenth s o f the suits commence d are stopped by reconcilement. Th e Governor of S t . Kitt's, Sir Benjamin Pine, who f ramed the new co d e for the settlement, introduced reconcil ement from the ne ighbouring Danish settlements, where he found all classes, f ro m the Governor and the Chief J u d ge d ownwards, s trongly in favour of it. The close of th e S ession also s topped the important measure for extendi ng t h e great c h a nge in ittel law of evidence—the exami nat i on of parties —to crim n cases on the ground referr e d t o , an d , w i th t h e restriction . l mentioned, in stating the diff erence b etween t he criminal procedure of France and our own. It was intended that Scotland should be included in the bill, where, hawever, the accused has cert a i n a d van t ages not accor d e d to him in England. This would have been on every acceunt just, especially considering the great improvements which the English ° English law and pr ac ti ce h ave b orrowed from the Scotch. of Of this number a re th e t wo most i mportant measures of I late years—the establi s h ment o f county cour ts, which in propounded upon the ex p ress statement o f t h e ir success Scotland, and the granting execution on bills and bonds, unless the debtor takes proceedings for his relief. The benefits conferred by county courts are such as it would be impossible to exaggerate. Between 800,000 and 900,000 suits were brought in them last year for above two millions, and the year before the number and the amount were still greater. The actions brou ght in the superior courts o f common law were not one-e i g hth in num ber. : The reli e f t o th ese courts afforded by t h e local tribu nals is manifest ; b u t the great benefit is t o the suitors, who, in so many th ousand instances, have enjoyed the ines timable advant age o f h aving justice brought to their doors, and of havin g th e i r causes tried, which in very many in stances, but for these courts, would never have been tried at all. The other measure borrowed from Scotland has had thebeneficial effect of stopping many hundreds of causes which otherwise w ou ld h ave been broug ht to trial, vexati ously and n ee dl ess l y, and thus relieving th e courts of the trial of numbe r l ess un d efended causes. W e gr eatly erred in not adoptin g th e w h o l e Scotch procedure ; it was in the bill as sent down from the Lords, but the Commons altered it. The progress of jurisprudence, with the s tudy of it, since our last Cong ress , h as b een most essent i a lly aided by the completion of Mrs. A us ti n ' s task in ed i t i n g her deeply and justly-lament e d h us b an d' s great work, by him only in part published. It is now happily accessible, both in the whol e and in a portion of it, judiciously selected for separate pub lication, as containing the more popular views of the sub ject of jurisprudence. The friends of Social Science and of the improvement of our law, which forms so important a branch of that science, have not a more imperative duty cast on them than the study and the encouragement of this truly valuable wor k . In connection w ith o ur N a ti ona l Association, th e S oc i ety for Promoting the Employment essfully prosecuted of Women h ave di ligently and suae their benevolent vocation, an d h av e been most justly defended against the charge of interfering with the labour of men; whereas the object is to employ them as fellow-labourers in those lines which are open to both sexes, but peculiarly a d apted to women. The grea t es t b ene fi t h as been conferred b y t h is society in preparing an d c i rcu l at i ng works useful to women in obtaining employment. No less than eight of these have been published at so low a price that the whole eight coat only Is. I may mention here that the Dublin and Edinburgh societies for the same object are still active and successful. The paper of Mr. Chadwick at our Liverpool Congress, on the application of sanitary science to the protection of our Indian army, led to a Royal commission for examining the subject. The report has now appeared ; it shows that two-thirds of the deaths are pre ventible, and that this important advantage is capable of extension to the rest of the inhabitants by the adopt i on of the same means, th us effecting a reduction of 60 d eat h s or more in 1,000 persons to 20 or less. We may justly regard this report as due to the labours of the association. An im portant meeting of the Sanitary Section, held last Congress, led to a most able and useful statement by Dr. Greenhow on the expediency of legislative interference with the em ployment of workmen of certain descriptions in crowded rooms. The consequence was shown by him to be the pro duction of fatal pulmonary disease. Indeed, the average of deaths in other occupations being 3 in 1,000, it rises to 9, and even 10, in those employed as the doctor describes. The further discussion on this subject, as delicate as it is impor tant, will it is to be hoped engage our Sanitary Section of the present Congress. As long ago as at the Bradford Con gress, Mr. Rumsey ' of Cheltenham, in two valuable papers, pointed out defects in the system of registering deaths, and the want of a record of disease. The committee to whom the papers were referred framed a series of resolutions for a sys tem of sanitary registration, and the council more than once, with the co-operation of Dr. Farr, the eminent De puty-Registrar, brought them before the Government. During the last year, in further pursuance of a resolution at the Dublin Congress, the council, in conjunction with the Irish College of Surgeons and the Dublin Statistical Society, press e d the subject upon the Irish Government; and though they cannot b e sa id to b e entirely successful, inasmuch as the Act of l ast S ession has great defects, yet it is satisfac tory d i e rl e l p y ly b a e n fo d re justly the lamented Govern m r en ri t i : to thi n k that the statement of something more than neanAdlbetthtagtavtheishteexpteerntsicionn faeere registerin g o f d eaths being necessary has been brought e ntlyt the ee setxapteecotfeddo. domestic ti i c s s w e r e v l a l n k t : known that a eliv the ere a l a l rs yfi c nt d attentio n to d an able and i nstructive address to the Provident Society for their protection. The importance of this class is undeniable, and he represented them as the mgowstasnhu paper read whichong be hoped that rAegrmetetestdin held d erous body of the subjects this sti of trh, Queen . e which being unable to a Department. The there was a most instructive r c e u s n s u i o r n, Socialan d it Economyn o a may the subject iir.isßut n.tut the o subject will co m m ef e ul be d f i e s import ance of the subject may be estimated from this, that the number of domestic servants in England is calculated to be above a million, of whom 100,000 are in London, and 10 000 , ) out of place. The improvements, especially in sanitary re spects, in the English Local Government Act have been extended to Scotland through the able exertions of our col league, Provost Lindsay, of Leith, who showed, at our last congress the importance of such a measure, and the Council petitioned in favour of the bill. It was more than once urged in our last congress that the invaluable attendance in French hospitals of Scours de Charite made their estab lishment in this country not only expedient, but a kind of duty. There is great satisfaction in finding that steps have been taken with much success towards the attainment of this object. The most important by far is the foundation, Fbytlehreton(so well k sister of our colleague,non for her Lord excellentGranvil writings),le, I,ady Fullerton of a sisterhood under a Paris superior, in a spacious building, for which her coadjutor, Miss Easton, has nobly contributed £5,000. These ladies being Roman Catholics, their sisterhood is of the same persuasion, and this somewhat interferes with their attendance in hospitals. But Miss Brownlow Byron has established another body of the same kind—the All Saints' Home, in Margaret-street —and there are no other attendants than these sisters at the North London Hospital of University College. This is a great benefit gained ; and undoubtedly the exertions of this association, and of those ladies especially who are in co operation with us, have mainly effected it. It is plain that the duties of nurses offer a great and constant means of female employment, as our amiable and able colleague Miss Hope and her coadjutors in this town have shown, con firmed ley the excellent training schools for nurses under Mrs. Balfour. The Struts de Charite also ra I p l earrtefmocreammn Cannes, ehesre, thatstehre- vicesv when of e nn attendingurs i gt h N e L sick do r a o t c t h q e e , dwellin g s. i f n u g n s e . feeling most generally expressed by all present was thank fulness for the comfort which attended the last weeks of his life from the care of these excellent persons. Surely those w ho have introduced this sisterhood into this country are worthy of all acceptation. They well deserve to be the countrywomen of Florence Nightingale --and no higher panegyric can be pronounced. Lady G. Fullerton's fame as an author, great though it be, is eclipsed by her dis tinction as a philanthropist. The progress made in the department of education during the last year has been very solid, though less showy, than that recorded at our former meetings. The half -school system of train ing, physical and mental, has been adopted in the army by the Education Council. The Commission of Inquiry into the employment of children in various manufactories have reported in favour of the half-school plan. The attention of all engaged in the management of schools to the physical as well as mental training of children has uo Wilmot,up lately nas eas b don eudei education, i oaj,tfuti r ido e ocni c nch o . m eo miut tmhserlene.ynhc result e d ah axenldpd_owu expounded. i ef t dtk h rteand g rce. hast er full a efHv t u eelr oyeifnd power in a most able, though unpretendin g , t rac t b y a we ll -tr i e d teacher, M r. f is examined nh r a e t o a dn tsethmembv experi ence,ael r t a matter upon s of instruction pursued in various seminaries, and the result of his inquiries has been in many important particular& favourable to the schools and the teaching in Scotland. It is to be hoped that our education section may have the bene fit of his attendance. Th e Educational Instit u t e o f Scot land, at its last yearly meeting, received an address of its president, Mr. M‘M as t er, containing important sugge s ti ons on the training of candidates for examination, and the wil lingness of the institution to examine and grant certificates to teachers. But the objection to all superintendence of Boards or other bodies authorized by Government on the ground of expense that might be saved is more than doubt ful, and deserves full inquiry in our Education Department, as does the great controversy between the Privy Council and our worthy colleagues the Lord Advocate and Mr. Black upon some points, especially the support refused to Ragged Schools. It would be wrong to pass over the fact of the Scotch system having for more than a century anti cipated the import an t step of late ta k en i n E ngland, of granting substantial advantages to competitive examination. Reference is here made to the general course of advance ment by bursaries in th e sc h oo l s , an d by exhibitions in the Universities, of which there are only a few instances out of Scotland. The se b enefits exten d to a l l ranks. A dis ti▪ nguished professor in one University had in early years worked at his father's loom. A learned friend of mine, who became judge in the Supreme Court, owed his education at Oxford to an exhibition from Glasgow College. He was a baronet's son ; but the son of a peasant on his estate might have gained th e same place at Oxford, and t h en, instead of being called to the bar, would probably have gone into the Church. The mixture of ranks in schools, male and female, has important a d vantages, both social and political. It is impossible to avoid remarking the wholly erroneous in ference against education drawn by many who have ob served with horror the dreadful excesses of the multitude in what is believed to be the country in the world best educated, the American States. It must, however, be remarked, in the first pla ce , t h at Irish mobs at New York had the prin cipal part in the outrages, especially those on the unhappy negroes; and nex t , that the A mer i cans themselves complain of the defective kind of education afforded to the people. The report of the City Superintendent of Schools at New Y or k , made only three years ago, dwells upon the "large m asses of ignorance " (these aro his words) " com bi▪ ned with destitution and vagabondism which are to be found in all our cities and towns," and he calls for a com pulsory education of the multitude. The effect of education in this island have appeared most strikingly of late years in many respects ; but perhaps sufficient attention had not been given to the extraordinary diffusion of useful know ledge, as well as harmless amusement, in cheap publications. The subject was dwelt upon at our former meetings, parti cularly at Liverpool, and the progress has since been very great. In the retrospect of former years it would not be easy to enumerate all the benefits bestowed on our country men wherever the language is spoken, by the admirable publications of Messrs. Chambers. They have been fol lowed by others in the preparation of works inculcating the purest moral, political, and religi ous p r i nc ipl es , and ex plaining the truths of all sciences. The circulation of cheap works is:now enormous, and the low price marvellous. It may be sufficient to mention such as the half-crown volumes of Messrs. Houlton and Wright, sold to the extent of three quarters of a million; the British IPorkinau, by Mr. Smithies, at one penny, containing admirable prints. So do the various publications of our worthy colleague Mr. Cas sell. H e an d hi s par t ner s, M essrs. Petter an d G a l p i n , h ave invested a large capital in this most important and philan thropic business, and it is to be hoped that they may soon receive their just reward in the return of it. Their Educator, Band of Rope, Quiver, and Pilgrim's Progress have been well-nigh finished. Of their Bible 211 weekly numbers have appea re d ; the price is ld., an d f or this are given eight pages quarto of letterpress and five really beautiful prints. The number sold is 300,000, and thus when it is completed there will be circulated no less than 63,000,000 of the weekly numbers. The sacrifice made it is devoutly to be hoped may only be temporary; and in contemplating the circulation of this and the other works just mentioned, Mr. Cassell and his partners may well say that they have converted every poor man's house int o a school of moral and religious instruction. These are gr ea t thi n gs, on which the friends of social science may rejoice as having been done of late years for the advantage, moral as well as material, of the people, and especially of the middle and working classes. But the most important of all th e su bj ec t s connected with their welfare which can occupy th e p rom oters of soci▪ al science is one which was only briefly alluded to at our last congress, the progresseef the preceding year not being then sufficiently recorded. I need hardly say that I refer to the establishment by the working classes themselves of 00-ope ration upon sound and rational principles—in other words, to the securing of their own independence, and the improve ment of their habits and their ch arac t er with their circum stances. This great matter was broached at our Glasgow Congress three years ago, and enough was shown by our colleagues —among others r Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Watts, but especially that eminent phila n th rop i s t th e Recorder of Bir mingham, Mr. Hill—to prove th a t th e s uccess of the worthy and enlightened men who ma n y years before laid the foun dations of the system at Rochd a l e h a d been not only con tinued, but amply increased, an d th a t c o-operative societi▪ es had been formed in many parts of the country, more espe cially in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is truly gratifying to find that by the reports of the learned and able Registrar of Friendly Societies, Mr. Tid d Pratt, there were in Decemb er l ast 332 of t h ese co-operativeinsti tutions, with 90,458 mem b ers, hav i ng 351,613 shares, and holding a property i n value of £584,766. The sums paid i for goods bought in the year 1862 amounted to £2,067,867; the cash receiv e d for goodssold to £2,3 31 , 650 ; and the rea lised profit to £165 , 770. B u t this is not the whole as it at present stands, f or M r. T. P ra tt informs me by letter, dated the begin n i ng of August, th a t the number of co-ope rative societies r eg i stered b y him amounts to 521. The progress of coeoperation at present may be proved from this, that of the 90,458 members in December last, 24,308 entered during that y ear . But to perceive the progress from the beginning , w e h ave the remarkable origin of the movement recorded. It b egan by 40 working men at Roch dale raising among themselves £ 2B, and their stock was such that a jeal ous s h opkeeper told them ho could carry it off in a wheelbarrow. Their weekly sales three years ago amounted to £2,700. The business transacted by them amounted to £150,000 year ly. The profits are 20 per cent. on the capit a l, o f which par t is devoted to a library reading room, an d 5 per cen t. and distributed to the share holders. Similar results have attended the co-operatives at Leeds. Well, therefore, might I affirm at our London Con gress last year, on a view of this extra7druary progress, that co-operation was becoming a power in the State. The Co-operator, a monthly work, most ably conducted by Mr. Pitman, of Manche s t er , we ll deserves the attention of this association, There w ere hopes of his being able to attend the congress, but at all events he will send a paper on the subject, with which n o o ne is so well acquainted. It must be observed that co-operation, like all other improvements, . whether in phy s i ca l sc i e nce or art, or moral and social science, has been made by time. Above 60 ye ars ago Robert Owen and his partners i▪ n spinning the great s s t e ps and in a long course o f g mills of New Lanark made the work people partakers of th e i r profits by educating their children , and giving them su c h i ns truction as not only fitted them for the work at t h e m ills, but for any other employment. Ind ee d, h o was the founa7 of infant schools as f ar as this island is concerned, the only question being whether Oberlin, in Alsace, had not foundt'd them a few yea rs b etore. Th e manufacturers of Low e ll, i n America, adopted th e N ew Lanark plan in the whole ext en t of their gre a t concerns, and t h e good feelings which pre veiled between employers and werkpeopledistinguigled the inhabitants of Lowell almost as completely as those of New Lanark, while the education of all classes was as entirely successful. There wanted only the true co-operative principle to give the workman confidence in each other and in themselves by removing the super intendence of the employer. In truth this, though a very natural, is the great step of all, and which the work people themselves made. The communication to the work people at flew Lanark and at Lowell of a share in the profits of their labour was effected in the large provision made for their education and their health; but this necessarily de pended upon the employer, and on his change—by death or other causes—the successor might not have the same liberal and enlightened views. Tho communistic principles on which Owen, both in Scotland and at New Harmony, in America, established his villages were more nearly co-ope rative; but there existed this great difference from true co operation, that all shared in the produce of the common labour to a certain degree equally, for all were not only alike instructed and attended in sickness, but were fed alike; and though the clear profits, after deducting all expenses, were professedly divided among families with a reference to the services of each, there was none of that security to all that they should reap each the fruits of his labour, which is the essence of the co-operative plan. Co-operation gives all the rights and independence of individuals, with all the benefits of joint labour. The imperfect co-operative principle was not only the ground of R. 0 wen's villages in Scotland and in America—it was also the plan of the French emigrants under Cabet and others, who carried it to the full extent of dividing equally among all the produce and the profits of their joint work, like the bees in a hive, who are genuine co-operators of the imperfect kind. " ' Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus nnus.' —&'eorgios IV. Their toil is common, common is their sleep. If they acted from reason and not from instinct, each for itself, it is manifest that the work would not be done at all; and so such communities are certain to fail. The true co-operative principle affords a complete correction by counting the labour of all according to the interests of each. It is impos sible to overrate the advantages of this system to the work ing classes. Besides the great advantage of obtaining goods at the lowest price and free from all risk of adulteration or other fraud, the first, perhaps the most important advantage bestowed, is the strict economy which is not only incul cated but exacted. Each member must possess a certain number of shares, and a weekly contribution is required until their number is completed. Then all dealings are for ready money, the rule being absolute against giving credit. But a powerful incitement both to economy and exertion of industry is afforded by the hope of profit in those concerns which, not confined to the supply of goods, extend to branches of manufacture carried on by the labour of the members themselves. Furthermore, besides promoting eco nomy and industry, a manifest encouragement is afforded to temperance in each member, both by the frugal habits acquired, and by associating with others the bulk of whom abstain from all excess. It is also a most important consi deration that the members must acquire habits of business connected with the administration of the common concern. They are generally by rotation all in their turn parts of the managing and governing body. Now, it is not found in mechanics institutes or reading rooms that the individual in terest of each member in the welfare of the concern is direct and immediate, as it is in co-operative societies ; for here he is a partner and the business is his own, whereas in those other institutions he feels only such an interest as men have in the community to which they belong. It thus happens that in co-operative societies such a thing as a difference or dispute among the managers, or of these with the members, is hardly ever heard of. At the Rochdale Pioneers Society 16 years had elapsed before the last return without a single instance of recourse to the arbitrators under the provisions of the acts. The discussions among the members upon their affairs, on the state of trade, and the events of the day have had the happy effect of making them practically fami liar with the fundamental truths of economical science, espe cially the principles that regulate prices and wages, and have thus had a salutary influence on their conduct in times of distress. Indeed, the trams withdrawn during the late months, both from the stores and from the manufacturing concerns, afford striking proofs of the beneficial influence of co-operation. These sums were wanted to prevent the shareholders from receiving the aid of the charitable funds, because the feeling is universal among them to avoid by all means the lot of paupers. It is a most impor tant feature in these societies that provision is always made for the improvement of the members by setting apart a pro portion of the savings or gains for the purchase of books an d support of a reading-room. But this, though beneficial, is as it:were an accidental result or application of the funds, the main object and essential principle of the union being economy and profit. The extending of co-operation to the agricultural classes, the most important part of the commu nity, has already made some progress since the suggestion was thrown out at our last meeting but one. At Clipston, in Northamptonshire, Mr. Jarman introduced it above a year ago, with perfect success, and it has recently been adopted at Whitfield, in Northumberland. In both places the workmen inhabit villages the people of which are labourers on the adjoining farms. Many years ago, in Suffolk, Mr. Garden allowed 20 working men to occupy a smelt farm and lent them capital to cultivate it. They did so, and paid the rent fixed. But when the capital is not provided by the men themselves, not only is the gain all alike, being independent of the labour of each, but there is a great risk of abuse and of neglect; and to this cause is mainly due the failure of a great London co-operative so ciety, almost the only instance of such a mischance. The co-operative principle has been applied to the use of goods as well to their purchase ; and this especially in the article of cookery. The establishment of kitchens from which, at a cheap rate, wholesome food may be obtained, and of good dining-rooms wher3 it may be consumed, if not crrried home has been attended with great advantage at Glasgow and other towns, so that the working classes may be suppliedwith food at their own homes, or may resort for it to the rooms acoording to their circumstances or convenience. Miss Catherine Sinclair, of Edinburgh, has just added to her other acts of benevolence and judicious care for the working classes the establishment of kitchens and dining-rooms for them, the success of which in a few weeks was complete. The vast advantages of combination, without risk of its powers being abused, must be obvious upon the simple statement of the co-operative principle. No one can have any interest in perverting its powers, for, great as these are, their confine ment/a one object is strict and rigorous, and each individual is intlrested in their never being for one instant diverted to other purposes, even if such diversion were practicable. But though the advantage of combination is obtained, the indi vidual is not lost in the mass—his separate existence is fully preserved. Each gains exactly in proportion to his frugality, his industry, and his skill, and each benefits in proportion to his prudence in the use of his savings or his gains. The idle or the inexpert do not profit by the industry or skill of their brethren, though those who are in want are sure to bo helped by those whose circumstances are more fortunate. Perfect liberty is combined with the advantages resulting from concert and united action. One may be a co-operative as regards his expenditure, while he works for an employer of the ordinary kind ; another may belong to a manufac turing concern and not to a store ; while a third may belong to both, or may belong to some concern different from 'either. There is not in the system or the institutions under it that balance of good and evil which prevails in other in stitutions, that compromise which sometimes in their for mation, generally in their administration, is required to produce harmony— " When jarring interests themselves create The according music of a well mixed state." • —Essay on Han. All is here natural and necessary harmony, and good, greater or less, but always good, without drawback or de duction. The comfort for the workman in his home is pro vided, but the home itself is beyond the reach of co-opera tion (unless in so far as wealth, the result of saving or of speculation, may improve the dwelling), and it has, ac cordingly, been deemed expedient to encourage the estab lishment of club-rooms, where the industrious, whose homes are crowded with children, or in any other respect ill adapted for receiving friends, may be able, comfort • ably and socially, to pass the hours not devoted to work, er study, or rest. The institution for the pro motion of those places of social relaxation has only ex isted during the last year; but it has been attended with as I great success as could reasonably have been expected, and at the late general meeting in Burlington-house it was shown how the working classes benefited by these clubs, without deserting their homes. It was further clearly proved that the complaint to which Mechanics Institutes have from their commencement been exposed, of not descending to the humblest classes, but being more useful to the middle orders, can in no respect be made of the club-rooms, for, from the most remarkable instance—the several club-rooms founded at Southampton—not more than one-tenth of the 3,000 mem bers belonged to the class of shopkeepers and clerks, the whole of the other 2,700 being day labourers, either skilled or ordinary workmen, and a very large proportion, about one-third of the latter, the humblest class of all. The Car. lisle rule is, of course, almost universally adopted, of having the government and management exclusively in the hands of persons who subsist by wages. Nor is it possible to cite that rule without adverting to the admirable associations which have been formed under its influence. Our worthy and learned colleague, Dr. Elliott, has furnished us with the first numbers of a periodical work, a monthly journal (the Border City), conducted by the working classes, mem bers of a reading-room, and written entirely by working men. It is only just to add that, ire composition as well as reasoning, its pages might well stand comparison with the common run of our periodical publications, and it is greatly to be wished that other works of a like kind may be under taken by the same class in other places. The great increase of savings banks since last Congress is a most satisfactory thing, for they are at once an indication and a source of popular improvement. By the latest returns, the number of depositors exceeds 1,500,000, and the sums deposited nearly £38,000,000, of which above £2,000,000 are in sums not exceeding £lO, by above 700,000 depositors. The number of accounts of dividend not exceeding £lO at the Bank of England for the same period was little above 90,000, and the total about £250,000. A considerable progress has been made since our last congress in relieving the upper class of working men from too close and long-continued at tendance to their duties. The benevolent and judicious 'n who have devo t e d much of their time to promote the earl closing of shops in towns, Ilk especially in London, are aM / an d their exertions have happily been e praise, attended with increasing success. It is impossible for those who remember London only a few years ago not to be struck with the change in this important respect. Not only is Saturday now a half-holiday but most of the shops are closed at an hour early enough to let those employed in them have the precious benefit of reading or attending lectures in the evening. The health of the body as well as of the mind is incalculably benefited by the sacrifice which their employers in general have cheerfully made, but which might be very much lessened were their wealthy customers to join in the benevolent plan by making purchases at earlier hours. Nothing can be more selfish than their refusing this concurrence—unless, indeed, it be mere want of reflection on the evil they are doing, at least on the good they are preventing from being done. Let us hope that a due consideration of the important subject may have the effect of removing the cause of complaint. Important in deed we may well call it when as many as 700 are employed in one establishment.* All the plans that have been under taken, more especially those which the people themselves first began and then continued with a perseverance we can not too much commend, have had a most salutary effect in improving their condition every way, and their character as well as their condition ; or, at least, in bringing to light the improvement which they have of late years received. No thing can be more admirable than the manner in which they have struggled under the heavy pressure of distress during the last 12 months. It is truly touching to mark, not only their peaceful demeanour, by their firm resolution of only accepting when absolute necessity requires the assistance amply provided by the wealthier classes, and given with great delicacy—their determination to suffer the greatest privations before yielding to that necessity. A more con vincing proof could not be given of the blessed effects that havo flowed from their progress in education, and their habits thus acquired of sober reflection upon the state of affairs, on their own position in society, and in their real in terests as well as duties to the community, of which they form so important a part. Whoever recollects the very different conduct of the same classes half a century ago, when suffering under an incomparably less pressure from the same interruption of the American trade, will at once feel thansful for the change, and proud of his countrymen and his country. With such sentiments may be mingled a feeling of compassion for those who so long derided the efforts made by the friends of social science to teach the humbler orders generally, but especially to inculcate in them sound views of their social interests. These are the contemplations and the enjoyments of rational men in our times ; and they make us rise superior to the renowned nations of the classical ages, much as we may be their in feriors in merely ornamental arts. An association like ours would have been deemed vain, or puerile, or absurd, by the ancient sages. But so would they have had no belief in the merits and the services of the philanthropist—nay, been unable to comprehend them, or imagine how virtue " Saw her Howard traversing the globe. Onward he moves I disease and death retire I And murmuring demons hate him—and admire." —Darwin. Those ancients, indeed, have told us what was their idea of happiness in the Isles of the Blessed,t where they con ceived the lot of the wise to be that, freed from all cire, their whole existence would be passed in investigation and gaining a knowledge of nature. How they would have pitied if not despised us when told that without under valuing the pleasures of extended knowledge we yet re • garded it as the greatest happiness which Heaven could bestow, to be graciously allowed the solace of looking down upon the scene of our earthly labours, and seeing with eyes which age and sorrow can make dim no more, the great body of those for whom we had toiled and suffered, exalted by the possession and by the right use of the gifts we had helped to bestow. Some, unhappily, there be who will not permit us to indulge in such hopes ; who believe, at least maintain, that our death and our extinction happen together. Men, it seems, have been sent from the South to inculcate this dismal error, while those who will believe anything oppose to those who will believe nothing their visions of spiritualism and direct communications with the departed. The pro moters of social science regard such errors with contempt, only softened by pity. Theirs is the belief held, theirs the hope cherished by Hale, and Bacon, and Locke, and New ton—belief in the " King Eternal, immortal and invisible, the only wise God"—hope inspired by the study of His works and confirmed by his revealed Word. At the close of his address Lord Brougham was enthu siastically cheered. The LORD-ADVOCATE moved, and the Right Hon. JOSEPH NAPIER seconded, a vote of thanks. Mr. HASTINGS read the annual report of the Council. The Right Hon. Mr. ADDERLEY moved the approval, which was seconded by Lord ARDMILLAN, and carried. Mr. HASTINGS, Secretary, reported 2,500 tickets issued. Prince Alfred attended the evening meeting, and was re ceived with cheering. The sectional meetings begin to-day, and continue until Tuesday next. Great preparations have been made for the conversaziones of the University and Royal Scottish Aca demy, and for the working men's meeting to-morrow (Fri day) evening 34,000 applications have been made for the 3,600 tickets. The attendance at the Congress is unusually large. * This shop (Shoolbred and Co., Tottenham-court-road) closes at 7 or 8 o'clock, according to the season, and 4 or 6 on Saturday. The young men have a library of 3,500 volumes, with a reading-room, and 80 of them attend the drill of a Rifle Corps. -- - Ac veteres quidem philosophi in beatorum insulis fin gunt, quails natura sit vita sapientium quos cur& omni Jibe ratos, nihil aliud esse acturos putant, nisi ut mune tempus in cuwrendo ac discendo, in naturm cognltione consumant. —Gie. De. Fin., Lib. V. Earl Go-to-bed; Or, Rest and be Thankful. --o-- Our contemporary, the Saturday Review, thus comments upon the Foreign Secretary's late Finality sentiment that we should, all of us, in regard to that old matter of Politi cal Reform, rest and be thankful. Is was but natural that Earl Russell should feel this at the bottom of his mind at the Blairgowrie festival. After traversing all Europe and America, and dilating on all the political topics of the day, and surveying his own busy and restless career, he found that he was disinclined to do more. Thankful for the day's long work, he prepared himself for bed, smoothed his own pillow, and addressed himself to grateful sleep. We do not mean to say that he has not done enough to deserve his slumbers, but the difficulty is that he seems to suggest that it is bedtime for all his countrymen too. It does not follow that all cur eyes ache because Earl Russell cannot keep his open any longer ; and though he has been a roadmaker in his time, we are not prepared to admit that the race of Macadam is to die with him. We may be thankful for the road, but rest is another matter. The lassitude and desire of repose which attend the later afternoon of life,and the natural love of a peaceful euthanasia, however real, may arise from very different causes. There is not a more touching or beautiful moral spectacle than the ripeness and richness of a long and consistent life sinking, like the sun in his declining strength, "more lovely ere his "course be run." Bot in this sort of life there is not the violence and shock of contrast. Earl Russell's sunset may be golden and thankworthy, but his day has been chequered enough. No doubt the stormy petrel itself may have a home and may betake itself to die surrounded by the grateful attentions of many generations of young petrels, but it is a bird at whose death-nest few naturalists have assisted. Earl Russell, too, may talk in a very edifying way of his calm and grateful desire to repose in the quiet haven where the winds breathe soft and the tempests cease to roar ; but the taste is at least, for him, a new one. His life, at any rate, has been spent in disturbing other people's tranquillity, not perhaps altogether without a sacrifice of his own quiet. He has been a Reformer all his days ; and reforming, amend ing, improving, cannot be achieved without a certain amount of agitation, and flurry, and jar. His eulogist on this very occasion recalls his "strenuous fights," and his successful efforts to burst this and that " fetter" and " shackle." But fighting and hammering at hard obstruc tive chains are not easy work. Nor is the task of upsetting Ministries and managing successful intrigues quite con sistent with a love of personal ease. We do not mean to say that all these things may not be, under certain circumstances, a matter of duty, but one does not look for them in a very peace-loving man—in a man who pines for rest, who longs for the hour of sunset. Warwick the King-maker is not the man from whom one would expect to hear an aspiration to tired nature's sweet restorer. So, too, the author of the Durham letter is not one whom it is easy to picture ex changing the mustard-pot for the oil-flask. You do not look for e the assuager of tempests in the cloud-compelling king. The statesman who curtly and insolently dismissed Lord Palmerston from office may honestly--yet at the same time very oddly, and perhaps not altogether without a pang— parade himself as this very Lord Palmerston's eulogist and subordinate; and after performing such a feat he may feel disposed to close the curtains on his own political life. Again, if Earl Russell's engrossing feeling is for peace and quietness, it must be observed that the sentiment has come upon him very suddenly. Why the ink is hardly dry of his Denmark despatch, which, whatever may be said of its matter, hardly betokens the man who seeks peace and ensues it. So also with the tone and temper of all his recent foreign policy. As regards Russia it may be, and we believe that it is, our duty and our interest not to bite; but a very wise dog who has made up his mind not to bite usually saves himself the superfluous trouble of barking. As far as we can understand or characterise Lord Russell's diplomacy, it con sists of a uniform course of barking and snapping and snarl ing—of yelping perhaps in the presence of big dogs, but of growling ferociously over all the little ones. Witness Den mark and Brazil as specimens on one side, and Prince Gorts chakoff and Mr. Seward on the other. It is but a day or two ago that the French inspired organs talked significantly a b o ut the hollowness of English rodomontade, and f or t h is rodomontade Earl Russell is responsible; and though rodo montade may have its occasional functions and uses in the great economy of political things, it is not precisely the weapon which the rest-loving statesman would take up. We can quite understand that the late Lord Aberdeen might have spoken from the bottom of his heart if h e b reathed the prayer for peace. So with the gentle and melancholy Falkland; but Esrl Russell is not Aberdeen, n or Falk land, nor gentle, nor melancholy, nor dove-like. The birds of prey do not coo. Earl Russell's life has been spent, and on some occasions most profitably spent, in stirring the careless, in stimulating the idle, in lashing up Popular pas- Siena, in appealing to kindling memories, in invoking with London: Prir.. - ed and Pub.:lshod DY WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office No. 112; Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County o iiilttleour,—.Thursdah OCttber 81:1e63, nit SUN, LONDON, TITURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 8, 1863: burning words angry and bellicose memories. This has been his life's labour. He has been a successful leader of Opposition. He has held his own against all comers. Only last year, last month, last week, he was the Lord J. Russell of old—active, petulant, scornful, careless of other people's feelings, quick in quarrel, not nice in speech. We do not recall all this to find fault with it, but only to remark it. Nor are we forgetful of those cases of penitence which are most dear to heaven; chief of sinners aro always the most engaging of saints. But there are scoffers who think that lassitude has often as much to do with a new life as com punction, The coquette, French cynics say, deepens by a natural law into the devote; and inability often takes credit for unwillingness to sin. Th e ti ger , w hen his teeth are worn down and his claw s bl un t, i s a very i no ff ens i ve nni mal—and respectablity is rather the rule than otherwise with impotent sinners. There is no reason so powerful as 70 odd years for taking the devil out of a man; and sowing wild oats is often a matter of necessity rather than choice when the burden of age is conveniently pressing. The world gets sceptical about these death. bed aspirations of statesmen. It is a trick they all affect. The Man of December has his Life of Cesar on the anvil. How can a gentleman addicted to literary pursuits, and immersed in his studies, be thought guilty of treason against the liberties of his subjects and the intellect of his country ? The tyrant who in his old age taught a school con doned, at least in his own estimation, an iron rule by closing his career in an honourable pursuit. Even Mr. Abraham Lincoln finds it convenient to put forth a mild criticism on Hamlet, not without a political purpose, and to show that his inmost heart sighs for the luxury of repose. Perhaps Earl Russell is visited with the same amiable feel ings. Like the hunted stag, he would fain return to the quiet pastures of his youth. Perhaps he would recur to the amenities of his early days, and in works of history or fiction revive, or rather excel, those literary memories which the world has not unwillingly let die. The jaded epicure often sighs for the plain meats of his youth, especially when the terrors of gout and dyspepsia are upon him. Champagne and a chicken are but simple diet for the tired reveller ; and there is small merit in the choice if it is ordered by a phy sician. Some people will suspect that something of this sort is at the bottom of Earl Russell's newly developed love of peace and quietness. Many moral virtues depend on the state of the stomach, Indigestion makes some people irascible and querulous ; others it simply prostrates and takes the shine and go out of them. Can it be so with Earl Russell? Are we to attribute his new and languid look to loss of powers or impaired digestion ? Who knows but he may be suffering from a lack, as he sometimes perhaps has suffered from an excess, of the biliary secretions ? It is a terrible thing to reflect that upon a single dose of blue-pill may depend the peace of Europe, and that next Monday morning Earl Russell may rise a healthier, and therefore not so pacific a man, There is, however, one little matter on which,'perhaps,all the world is not at one with Earl Russell. It is said of the late Dr.Parr,that when on some occasion a young Cambridge man was pertly declaiming in the good man's presence on tho low estate of classical scholarship,and delivered himself of the observation--" We are not the Greek scholars that our fathers were, Dr. Parr"—the indignant and lisping Aristarchus re plied, " Mind your pronounths, young man I mind your pronounths I" So perhaps we should say to Earl Russell —Mind your pronouns, my Lord. The desire to reet and be thankful may be very natural to a veteran statesman who has passed so many measures, and provided for so ample a following of cousinry and Whiggery. But we are not all of the house of Russell. As we have not all so much to be thankful for, we are hardly yet fatigued with the triumphs and successes which we owe to the present Ministry. They have shown enormous powers of sleeping; Sir G. Grey, re cently touching on the same theme, announced that the whole Cabinet were fully resolved to do nothing as long and as drowsily as they could. What may be the earl's feelings is 'not necessarily "the feeling of the country." Ministers may willingly repose en beds of asphodel and moly, and sing a low croning song of the past miseries of strife. But we are not all of us these mild-eyed lotus-eaters. We are hardly content that our rulers should so openly proclaim that they are going to dwell in the Castle of Indolence, and to shut us all up in that pleasant land of Drowsihead. If we are all going to sleep, there are our neighbours who aro peculiarly wide awake. Even a giant may be caught nap ping, and, though Jack has called for his nightcap, it does not follow that all Europe will follow our example. Sleep, however, may be feigned. Like other politic persons, Earl Russell may say, Non omnibus dormio. He has talked about finality before, but nature was too strong for him; and he was always tinkering and hammering at some reform or other. He talks of napping, but he means to sleep with at least one eye open. He may find it convenient to talk about folding his minds, but, after all, his is not the sluggard's na ture ; or, if it is, it may be that a very rude reveille attends COUNTRY MARKETS. ,-1,,- - -- - NEWARK-WEDNESDAY. A fair supply of wheat at our market to-day, the samples were irregular, and the demand was quiet at the prices of last week. White wheat new, 41s to 45s Red do. 33s to 428 Old white .. .. 42s to 46s Red do. 40s to 44s Barley, malting 36s to 4C's 1 Barley, grinding 29s to 318 Oats, old, .. 23s to 31s New do.. 22s to 248 1 Beans. 38s to 418 1 Beans, new —s t 0..-6 HULL-TUESDAY. At to-day's corn market there was a moderate supply of English wheat, which sold readily at fully the prices of last week. Malting barley at a decline of is per qr from the last week's prices; grinding sorts also is down. Oats were slow, at rather lower rates. Beans and peas dull, and prices in favour of buyers. Wheat.... Old white....per qr 44s Od to 46s Od Old red New white .. ~ New red .... „ Barley.... English malting 3Bs Od to 40s Od Grinding 26s 6d to 28s Od Seal and Oderbruck . 32s Od to 35s Od Holstein and Danish 3os Od to 31s Od Grinding Oats Fnglish, old Archangel and Riga, per st oBl2id to 13d Friesland and Dutch osl3d to 08130 Swedish and Danish oBl2id to osl3d Beans ....English, old, per qr. 43s Od to 45s Od New pigeon 42s Od to 44s Od New tick. 4OB Od to 428 Od Egyptian Peas .. Foreign boilers ... 34s Od tc 35s Od Grinding , Tares ....Spring —s Od to —s Od Indian Corn Linseed, feeding s2s Od to 56s Od crus hi ng Linseed cakes (Hull) £lo 0 0 to £0 0 0 Foreign' Bl5 oto 9 0 0 Rape cakes 6 0 oto 0 0 0 Bones 5 5 oto 510 0 LYNN-TUESDAY. At this day's market the show of wheat was small, and sales were made at late rates for good samples ; : inferior sorts is lower. Barley was taken off at high rates, but the supply was not so libeml. Beans and oats firm. White .. 458 to 46s i Barley 34s to 38s iced ..: 40s to 42s I Grinding .. 28s to 32s Beans .3Bs to 40s Oats.. New —s to s I Peas --13 to —$ COAL MARKET. rams of Coal per Ton at the close of the market. s. d.l Byass's Bebside West Walls End. Hartley....l7 3 , Haswell .. .. 21 0 Hastings Hartley ....17 3 , Hetton Carway and Duffryn I Russell's lB 9 Malting , 21 OlRussers Raton ...... 20 0 Eden Main . .19 3 South Hetton ......... 21 0 Lambert's West Hart- Braddyll's Hetton 20 0 ley l7 0 Hough Hall 20 0 Holywell ..17 9 Tunstall . ..... l9 6 Walker Primrose 13 0 ' South Hart1ep001......20 0 Cowpen Hartley 17 3 South Kelloe 20 0 Tantield Moor 14 6 1Ridde11..... ......... 18 9 Tanfield Moor Butes 14 6 I Whitworth l6 9 West Hartley 17 3 ' Caradoo 2O 3 Wylam 17 3 KeiperGrange.. 19 6 Byron .. l9 6 Walls End. Harton 18 9 Pittington. lB 0 Wharneliffe 18 9 Hartlepool ..20 6 K e ll oe . ..20 0 Thorpe 19 0 East Hartlepool 21 0 Trimdon Llarstlhieppos at ol. mar ket, .. 20 6 3 GordonG l; •. . l7 3 sold, i 22. Births. BOMAwEisr,—On the Ist inst., a t L amorran, the lion. Mrs. BOSCAWen, of a daughter. F ort y.—On the 3d inst., at Brussels, the wife of Arthur Ford, Esq., R.H.A,, of a son. MILL.—On the sth inst., at The Cottage, Upper Sheen, Surrey, the wife of Major Macdonald Mill, of a daugh ter. WARD.—On the sth inst., at Lower Edmonton, the wife of Commander C. y, Ward, Indian Navy, of a son. Marriages. FIENNES—Yonx t.—On the 6th inst., at St. John's, Pad dington, the lion, and Rev. Wingfield S. T.W. Fienn es , M.A., F e ll ow of New Coll., Oxon, to Alice Susan, the seco nd daughter o f th e Hon. and Rev. Grantha m M. Yorke, M. A., rector of St. Philip's, Birmingham. STOP PORD—STOP FORD .—On the 7th inst., at Old Charl ton, Capt a i n Walter J. Stop f or d, l a t e 62d Li ght Inftry., to Annette J ane , third daughter of Vice-Ad mira l th e Hon, Sir Montagu Stopford, K.C.B. Deaths. liAcoN.—On the 7th inst , at 44, Mecklenburg•square W.C., Joshua Butters Bacon, Esq., formerly of Boston, U.S., aged 74. - • COODE:—On the 4thlinst., Charles Coode, Eeq,, solicitor, Bodmin, aged 84. GILBERT.—On the sth inst., at 23, Upper Phillimore.. place, Kensington, Henry Gilbert, Esq., M.R.C.S.E., aged 56. HANsann.—On the 4th inst , at Montacnte, F. A, Hansard, Esq., M.R.C.S. KEY.—On the 6th inst., at Fulford Hall, near York, the Rev. Samuel Key, aged 46. KIDDLE.—On the 6th inst., at 31, Hunter-street, Bruns wick-square, John Lambert Kiddie, Esq., aged 72. TuoLLoPE.—On the 6th inst., at Florence, Frances, relict of the late Thomas Anthony Trollope, Esq., barrister-at law, aged 84, B. d.