The Sun. — London, England, 1864-09-24 00:00:00

THE CONFEDERATE STATES. (From the Times' . Special Correspondent.) RICHMOND, Aug. 23. I will not disguise the fact that, in common with many others, I have been surprised at the energy and ravival of Spirit which were evinced by Gen. Grant and a portion of his army in front of Peters , . burg two days ago. I hav e often in previous letters pointed out to your readers that Grant has never dared to elongate his line before Petersburg, and to stretak his left across the Weldon Railroad, for fear, if his lines were too long and too weak, of having his centre pierced, and (as I have before phrased it) of having Austerlitz repeated upon the banks of the James. For some weeks past you are aware ;that, instead of reaching as far as possible with his left, and thus interfering seriously with the cieculation of trains upon the Weldon Railroad, Grant has contracted his lines and drawn closer to City Point, so as to leave the Weldon Railroad as free from molestation as it was before the Federals crossed the James River. Previous to the spring ing of his mine on July 30 Grant's attention seemed more drawn to the north than to the south side of the James. And here it may be desirable to point out what cannot fail long ago to have struck mili tary students possessed of good maps—to wit, that the configuration of the ground and the geographi cal position of Richmond and Petersburg in refer ence to the Appomattox and James rivers, give to the Federal far greater advantages than to the Con. fee erate army. Gen. Grant is operating along the chord, Gen. Lea along the arc or circumference of a seriii _ s i r e e . By means of his pontoon bridge thrown across the James from Bermuda Hundereds to Deep Bottom, Grant can, at will, transfer his whole army from the south to the north of the river, and land hi s e ntire force any morning within 12 miles of Richmond. In order to get back from before Petersburg, with a view to interposing between Grant and Richmond, Lee has from 20 to 24 miles to traverse. Grant can, at will, throw out a powers ful feeler, amounting, if he likes, to his whole army at either end of a straight lire of from 12 to 15 miles. Lee, acting on the defensive, and having Peters• burg and the railroads as . well as Richmond to cover, is obliged to stretch over vastly more than 12 or 15 miles, and in reinforcing from one end of his line to the other has double that distance to traverse. Throughout the struggles of the Federals and. Confederates in Virginia your readers cannot have failed to perceive what advantages have been pOSWek:sed by the former, by reason of the navigable rivers: which make up towards the west from Chee sapeakes Bay. It would have been a bold man who at the LI ommencement of this struggle had dared to believe that, with the free navigation cf the Poto mac, the Eappahanock, the York, the James, the E:izabeth rivers, and also of the North Carolina Sounds, in possession of the Federals, the twelve hundred and thirtieth day since the first cannon shot at Fort Sumter would find Richmond still in Vle Confederate grasp. If the Federals fail in this mighty war (and few rational people doubt that they will fail) they may rest assured that it is in conceivable that they can ever again engage in a strife where the odds at the commencement will be so largely in their ',favour. Unhealthy as is the camping ground of his army, Grant has hitherto had the best of the Fosition in a military sense, in asmuch as, acting along a short and straight line, he threatens Richmond, Petersburg, and a network of railroads, without exposing to his enemy any thing vital. His gunboats, his entrenchments, and the shortness of his line have kept him safe, Lee has, as usual, the odds against him ; and yet at no moment has the confidence of Secessia is the secu rity of Richmond and Petersburg been more serene. I have said that previous to the 3uth of July Grant seemed inclined to operate upon the north rather than the south of the river ; or, in other words, to act with his right rather than with his left wing. His motive has long been obvious. He wished to force Lee to withdraw men to the north of the river, in order that when the mine was sprung on the Baxter road (that is to say, on the Confe rate right) most of the Confederates might be absent upon their extreme left. We all know the history of the bloody repulse which the Federals sustained after the explosion of their mine; and some of your readers may have observed the confirmation which the events of that day gave to the assertion which I hazarded, that it would be difficult to estimate the minimum of men requisite to hold Gen. Lee's lines before Petersburg or before Richmond. It is certain that a handful of Confederates drove out five or six times their number from the salient in which the :nines exploded. For some time subsequent to the 30th July Grant showed symptoms of being greatly staggered and stupified by the incidents which ac companied the unmasking of his great Napoleonic device. At the same time he gave no indications of slackening tenacity or infirmity of purpose. At a moment when Washington was in infinitely greater peril than Richmond Grant never relaxed for an instant his clutch upon the James River, which is the throat of Richmond. For pertinacity, unexam pled in any other prominent Federal General, it would be unjust to deny credit to Gen. Grant. But it is difficult, in presence of the admitted fact that Gen. Grant is an ame dainnee of President Lincoln's, to believe that the vigour and tenacity which he has displayed have reference so much to the success of the Union cause es to the re-election of President Lincoln. When Grant recovered from the languor and va cillation into which his fiasco of the 30th July had thrown him he again addressed his attention chiefly to the north side of the river. It was the general impression in Richmond that whereas Grant had deceived Lee before the 30th July, and induced him to throw men uselessly to the north of the James, there was verisimilitude in the notion that Grant meant real mischief against Richmond when for the second time ho threw a large force to the north of the river. Accordingly Lee met this second move of Grant's by covering Richmond effectually. Availing himself of the advantages which I have already pointed out, Grant during last week secretly massed moat of his army on his extreme left, while Lee was keeping an unnecessarily large force bee tween Richmond and the Federal right. Attention was first called to Grant's operations against the Weldon Railroad on Friday last, the 19 al inst. Lee attacked him with two brigades on Friday afternoon, and drove back his foremost lines and secured a haul of 2,700 prisoners; but Grants main entrenchments .—which stretched across the Weldon Railroad — were held firmly by the main body of the Federals, who were far too strong in number& and in position for the two Confederate brigades to interfere with. Finding his enemy strongly massed on the Confede rate right, Lee had the difficulty which I have already pointed out toencounter —I mean the length of line over which it was necessary for him to rein force. Saturday, the 20th inst., was passed by Lee in gathering together his troops, and (contrary to the usual traditions of the Confederate army) there was much talk and publicity in regard to the in. tended attack of the next day. Meantime, the Federals worked like beavers during the whole of Saturday and Saturday night, got several cannon into position, co vered their flanks and rear with massive intrenchments, and held their extreme left with fully 30,000 men. Lees attack at nine in the morning of Sunday the 21st was made with far too insufficient a force to prevail against such large odds. It was repulsed with a lais to the Confederates, ac• cording to general rumour (I have not yet seen the official report) of about 1000 ie killed, wounded, and prisoners. Such is the simple narrative of the • events of last Sunday, upon which (in the existing dearth of Federal successes) there is little doubt but the Northern journals, especially those which are desig ne d for Europe, will rear a fabric as towering as thou g h a victory like Austerlitz had been won. But, if year readers have followed me thus far, they will perceive that, by extend ing his left across the W e ld on the , : t iroed, ti rant has materially altered withaPriwltil entirely To h'gin—he has leavin v a u ll otil l y y f e r n oin •,11'.! north bank of the river, men to guard the northern end of hi s ; o u r D2ep Bottom. Eeconfily, by extending across "n the We h ldon Railroad to what is called the Vaughan-read, ciet has length ened h i s lines so far as to carry hisfrotarcemiteylpefotinitB miles, instead of 12 miles, aw a y It is known that he has tic Avec; no reinforcemen t s, and therefore, with an army which is believedne; much to exceed that of Gen, Lee, he is holding a line at least six miles longer than he has hitherto sues ceeded in holding. It follows that the long line of intrenchments which connect with City Point must over a considerable portion of their length, be very weakly manned, It is obvious that there is a great chance for Gen. Lee to cut Grant's line in two in the centre, and to bar him off from City Point and the James. Ido not say that this policy will actually be adopted by Gen. Lee, although before this letter reaches you you may have heard of its adoption. What will be attempted and what has already been taken in band is by throwing Confederate batteries upon the now unoccupied northern bank of the river to interfere with the passage of transports along the stream to City Point. In the meantime the accumulation of Gen. Lee's forces at the town of Petersburg suggests thoughts of his contemplating a rush through his opponent's centre. The tempta tions which urge the adoption of this step are many, but it is possible that prudence and desire to spare his men's lives may induce Lee to lie quiet, and to leave the Weldon Railroad in his ad versary's hands. It must be understood that the inconvenience to the Confederates of the extension of Grant's left is only an inconvenience. The rail road still runs from Weldon to Stony Creek, 20 miles south of Petersburg, and close to Stony Creek is encamped General Hampton in command of a large body of Confederate cavalry. Supplies for Lee's army flow without interference to Stony Creek, and are waggoned thence to Petersburg, while the waggons thus employed are pro. tented by Hampton. There is very little reason to fear that a Federal cavalry raid can be successfully sent out with a view to attacking the Danville Railroad, by which uninterrupted communication with Richmond from the South is kept up, The Confederate cavalry under Hampton is superior in numbers to that possessed by Grant, and is infi nitely better in morale and efficiency. It is safe to conclude that one of the two following alternatives will be witnessed. On the one hand, it is possible that Lee will cut Grant's centre and isolate half the Federal army from the other half; or, on the other hand, it is possible that Lee will lie quiet in front of Petersburg, while he keeps up his communication with Stony Creek. Nothing will in all probability be done until the effect of the Confederate batteries, about to be opened on the Federal transports from the north bank of the James, is ascertained. In the meantime, the Confederates possess the great advantage of knowing that lapse of time is working in their favour, and that Grant is no nearer the capture of Richmond than when he crossed the Rapidan. Oa the other hand, Grant has the dis advantage of being compelled by Mr Lincoln's poli tical necessities to hazard activity and to act more as an electioneering agent than as a General. There has never been a moment since the begin ning of the war when more confidence as to its Mae mate result was entertained throughout Secessia. It was anticipated, directly Grant threw himself across the James, two and a half months ago, that the railroad between Weldon and Petersburg could not be kept open by the Confederates ; but it was not until two days ago that Grant suspended come munication along this lice, and he has now only suc ceeded in interfering with 20 miles of its length. Whether Lee be tempted to make a dash through Grant's lines or not, it is felt that the Virginian campaign of 1861 in the neighbourhood of Riche mond is over. But lam still under the impression that the fine Confederate force in the Valley, soon to be under the command of Gen. Anderson (now at the head of Longstreet's old corps) will make itself felt gravely before long. The operations of the Federals and Confederates in the Valley for the last two months have resembled the set figures of a quadrille. Early has executed a forward chasse, to which Sheridan has responded by a retrograde movement. In his turn, Sheridan, after receiving reinforcements, has advanced, to find Early in re treat. How much longer this swaying of two powerful armies up and down the Valley is to last I cannot say, but I can only compare it to the " gong-fighting" of the Chinese. It is possible that Gen. Anderson, if he assume the command to which his rank entitles him, may alter the complexion of affairs ; but it is evident that nothing important will be achieved by Gen. Early. At this moment a forward glissade of the Confederates has carried them to the Potomac, while the corresponding back ward glissade of the Federals has been executed on the soil of Maryland. It is not impossible that while Grant makes desperate efforts to subtract wind from the sails of the Chicago Convention by a successful electioneering move on the betake of the James, which move will be credited to Mr Lincoln, the Confederates will hazard a counter move on the Potomac, which will greatly strengthen the hands of Vallandigham and his associates. Up to the pre sent time, neither Federals nor Confederates have gained any advantagas in the Valley which will be likely to have any effect on the issue of the war. But, as is usually the case, anguish and poverty have, as the wave of war rolled backwards and forwards, been brought home to many an unoffending woman and child. In the midst of the accounts of Sheridan's re• treat through burning barns and homesteads, with the wail of destitute women and starving houseless children wafted upon every breeze, it is impossible to read without stern satisfaction the narrative of an incident which has just happened in Clark county, Virginia. A party of from 12 to 13 Yankee soldiers were engaged in their customary avocation of burn ing a Virginian homestead. The women who had lately been its tenants gathered a short distance from the blazing rafters, and, lifting up their voices and weeping, prayed God that vengeance might overtake the oppressors of harmless and helpless women. The words were scarcely out of her mouth when a body of Mosby's Southerners burst upon the Yankee marauders, and caught them red-handed in flagrante delicto. Short shrift was given, and in Lew seconds some 12 or 15 bodies were swinging from the neighbouring trees. It is possible that, in reference to this occurence, we may hear some sickly wail from Federal sympathisers in England about the usages of civilised war. It is time that your readers should understand that this American strug gle (apart from the great armies on either side) has long ago ceased to be conducted according to the nominal code of civilised warfare. I have again and again endeavoured to call attention to acts of spe cial barbarity, and little heed as England now gives to the details of this war, I am in hopes that the recent infamous atrocities committed in Westmore land county by Federal Officers, who instigated the brutal African savages to enact deeds of lust and shame upon white women such as make the blood run cold with horror, will not have fallen upon en tirely unheeding ears. But if it is imagined that Southern men, and especially Virginians, will look quietly on at burning farms, and merely capture the Yankee perpetrators of these atrocities when they catch them red-handed, your readers can know very little of Southerners, or, indeed, of human nature. The position of the t wo armies before G P u e S t T e r s 3 b o u . r g is not materially altered since the date of my last letter, but what change there is is in favour of the Confederates. It will be remembered that on the 19th inst. Grant appeared upon the Weldon Rail road in force, that Lce attacked him there on the 19th and 21st, suffering upon the last of those days a decided repulse. Upon the evening of the 25th a body of Yankee cavalry, which was engaged in tearing up the line southwards, was gallantly at tacked by Gen. Wade Hampton's cavalry, and driven back into the infantry intrenchments. Dismounting from their horses, Hampton's squadrons threw themselves on foot upon the intrenchmente, and, being supported by A. P. Hill's infantry, sueeeded in carrying a considerable length of breastworks and in capturing nine pieces of artillery and some 2,000 prisoners. It was a gallant achievement and ape. cially creditable to the cavalry, which has daring pined such credit for striking hard kthniosecliaimstpltiaitgn the sneers at its expensewhich of w t e h re e quibble in 1862, and 1863 from the mouths infantry arc :10W con7rrtud into warm expressions of gratitude ar.d. admiration. It may be within the recollection of some of your readers that in a recent letter I estimated the mor tality on both sides consequent upon this war as being at the rate of 1,000 lives every 24 hours. There are many to whom this estimate will appear extravagant. I regret to say that increased thought and inquiry have only served to convince me that it is not far from the mark. I need hardly say that by far the largest portion of those who perish fall victims to disease. Think of the immensity of this war; of the numberless bodies of men scattered in unhealthy garrisons over the vast area of Secessia, and some conception of the waste of human life (sacrificed to the Moloch of this war no less than if cut short by the bullet) may be formed. As an item I may mention that the deaths among the Yankee prisoners now held in the South average 150 per diem. The deaths of Con federates held captive in the North must be on something of the same scale, though possibly rather less numerous, as the Northern climate is healthier in summer. Here we have 300 deaths (or there abouts) occurring every 24 hours among the prisoners alone. It is not much of a stretch to conceive that each day's fighting, when there are six large armies in the field (to wit, Lee's and Grant's, Hood's and Sherman's, Early's and Sheridan's), not to mention countless desultory bodies of combatants, adds 700 men to the list of perishing victims. The 'picture of this fair American continent, which four years ago any man to whom human happiness and pros perity are dear might have delighted to contemplate, is one from which an Apollyon would at this moment recoil with shuddering. What pen is there to write, what eye to witness the unnumbered ghastly deeds of horror which somewhere or other in the vast and voiceless solitudes of Dixie the sun daily looks down upon ? May it be granted to this continent, now wasted with misery, to learn the lessons which adversity teaches, both to nations and individuals, and of which tha choicest is humility ? Would that 1 could see indications that this war is teaching either section the lessons, or is likely to be produc tive of the qualities, without which, in the opinion of all impartial and not unfriendly spectators, it is impossible for an American community, whether composed of the Northern or of the Southern States, or of both together, ever to attain to the dignity of a great and honoured nation ! National Association for the Promotion of Social Science. YORK ; FRIDAY. The Association resumed its proceedings this morning, with an aggregate attendanc3 of between 900 and 1,000 memb e rs. The first business waa the delivery of an address by Sir J. P. Wilde, Judge of.the Probate and Divorce Court, and chairman a he Jurisprudence Department of the Congress, on the subject of law reform. This address, though ntended to be introductory to the sittings of the section on jurisprudence, was delivered at a general meeting of all the members, held in the Festival Concert-room. Lord Brougham presided, and was loudly cheered on entering the hall. O❑ the plat. form were the Archbishop of York, Sir J. P. Wilde, Sir J. Pakington, M.P., Sir S. Northcote, M,P., Lord R. Montagu, M.P,, Miss Parkes, Mr A, J Stephens, Q.C., Mr H. Roberts, F.S.A., Mr. Cf, _ _ _ H: Palmer, Mr Edwin Chadwick, the Rev. Canon Melville, Mr Godfrey Sandwith, the Hon. D. Campbell, Mr R. Baker (inspector of factories), Robert M. Ferguson, Ph.D., Dr Lankester, F.R.S., Dr Waddilove, Sir C. Hastings, the Lord Mayor of York, &c. Many ladies were also present, and _ _ listened to the discourse, dry and uninviting as its subject might seem to their sex, with much appa- rent interest. Mr. JAMES WILDE said—The 7th of February, 1828, was a memorable day in the annals of law reform. Then it was that thu greatest orator of his age delivered his celebrated oration in the House of Commons, and laid open the sweeping changes which our law required. From that moment an impulse was given which has not ceased to be felt. Interest was aroused, indignation excited for the errors of the past, and a basis laid on which to build fair hopes of the future. Since that time the pros gress of law reform has been unceasing, though gradual—and now, after 36 years, after the destrnc- tion of a host of anomalies and the removal of bar riers and obstructions, such as set justice at defiance, we find ourselves still engaged in the same work, and, singularly enough, under the guidance of the same hand. No one can rise from the perusal o that remarkable speech, and a contrast with the reforms actually since effected, without marvelling at the success with which the defects and weak points of our judicial system were hit upon and exposed. And it is not too much to say that nine tenths of thb precise evils there indicated have been successfully met by the precise remedies there pro posed. A glance at the subjects dealt with willterve to show us both the benefits that we have reaped and the evils from which we have escaped. It will farther serve to stimulate us to successful labour in the same field. Having glanced rapidly at the principal changes recently effected, Sir James pro ceeaed wish to draw attention to the fact that the whole of these changes have been confined to the procedure of the courts and the method of ap plying the law, not to the body of the law itself. It is the double function of procedure to precede and (ollow legal adjudication, first ascertaining the facts in dispute, and then carrying into execution the decrees of the law upon them. It is, therefore, properly the machinery of the law. Now in 1828 the avenues to justice were so choked with artificial obstacles that approach was pratically denied. Ex pense, delay, uncertainty—these three monster evils barred the access of the suitor, or terrified him into submission. The clearing of these obstacles, while it has opened the way to the speedy and certain administration of the law for the suitor, has brought the law reformer face to face with the body of the law itself. The question, then, forces itself upon us—ls the law itself free from defects of a similar character to those which have disfigured its procedure ? Can we boast of a judicature so logical, eo free from entanglement and inconsistency, so clear and uniform, so harmoni ous and well balanced, as to be worthy of our social progress and equal to the mixed and multiplied wants means i ealls justice ad m i n i stere d accord ingn this justi ce s h ou ld b e pare omfoouun to our age nag a ee n th d ? omd. Lawe And thod subordinate. Good laws will work occasional hardships, for they should be un bending; but if well administered, never injustice , for their principle should be unerring. Every legal system must impose some forms upon the business transactions of life, but they should be as few as possible, lest from guides and supports they pass into fetters and trammels. The law should also be clear ; because simple in its principle though diffuse in details, and compact in form because well collated, though compendious in grasp. How far can we conscientiously say that the common law of this country fulfils these ends ? To what extent can it lay claim to simplicity, certainty, clearness, and unerring justice ?..Above all, what can we say of its compactness whose principles wander at large through the pages of 300 volumes, and the leaves of whose oracles lie as they first fell, scattered and unsown ? When we reflect on the history and growth of our laws we have no need to be surprised or ashamed. The marvel is that they contain so much worthy of admiration and homage. If they do not meet all our modern wants, to how many of them have they been gradually and insensibly adapted? Is it to be wondered at if laws which sufficed in the time of the Plantagenets fall short in the present age ? Bear in mind that the laws of this country have suffered no general revision from time imme morial. As the middle classes forced their way, as the wealth of land found itself emulated, if not sur passed, by the wealth of trade, as civilisation bore its universal fruit of complicated relations in life, the laws regulating these relations ought to have felt an equal progress. Provision should have been made by the Legislature for new requirements, and the obsolete constantly thrust out. But was this ever done ? Did the change of our social condition at any period of our history carry with it a new system of laws framed by the Legislature for the new matter with which it had to deal ? Was a fresh chapter from time to time added to our code to keep pace with the fresh chapters of history ? Far from it. With the exception of the Statute of Frauds, the Statute of Limitations, and a few Acts directed to very limited objects, the Legislature has laid no hand on the body of the common law. What wonder, then, that after the lapse of centuries legal procedure should have been found incompetent to the swift movements and varied terms of a community whose time had become wealth. And, in like manner, who would reasonably expect that laws which, originally highly artifi cial, were adapted to the time when nearly preperty con sisted in land should be unfit to pursue the complications of personal property and the intricate folds of trade ? The gradual development which has turned a handful of mili tary adventurers and a population of serfs into the wealthiest commercial community of the world has surely called for the destruction of as much that was old and useless as the creation of what was new and requisite. What have been the means employed to this end ? With rare exceptions, nothing but the judicial power. It has been left to the tri bunals themselves so to mould old principles into new forms as to make them subserve modern uses. The law lying in no fixed code, but only in tradition and the records of its own application, was capable enough of being bent to now purposes and fashioned to new ends; and administered by powerful minds with great labour, and a body of men drawn from no particular or favoured class, the structure has been raised, chiefly within the last century and a half, of which we may well be proud. But this fabric, like the political con stitution of this country, has been a thing of very gradual growth. If any one doubts this, let him ask himself with what success he would be likely to search the year books or the pages of the old reporters for any authority in support of nine out of ten of the decisions to which a single term now gives birth. Let him ask himself with what probability of success he would search in the history of remote centuries for the incidents and combinationswhich now daily ask for judicial solution. Land, it is true, still exists, but how occupied and enjoyed ? under what relations and conditions ? to what ends and purposes, as contrasted witk feudal days ? Such reflections as these serve to show how great a change must have passed over our judicature. A few further reflections may tend to show with what in evitable defects. In saying this, lam far from the sugges tion or belief that this gradual progress of the law, built up on old foundations, resting step by step on precedents reaching far back into remote antiquity, and thus bringing up to the surface the experience and wisdom of past gene rations, was altogether faulty in system, or void of invalu able features. It had, however, this capital defect, that the powers of the courts of law were constructive only; under the name of adaptation they could practically create; under no name could they destroy. But it was not enough to create, power was needed to abolish ; it was not enough to build, unless timely clearance could be made of the ruins and rubbish of past structures. Here it is that in my opinion the system has broken down. This defect it was that choked the access of justice with empty forms and worn:out expedients, and induced those vices of procedure which the labours of the law reformers of the last 30 years have scarce sufficed to remove. And this it is which still affects the body of our laws themselves, binding our real property in the clogs and shackles of feudal rights, and tainting the laws of personalty with analogies largely drawn from the same extinct system. Yes ; the life, the body, and even the spirit of the feudal system has passed away, but the armoury of its weapons and defences is still cherished in:our halls of justice. Let us examine our English system of law-making a little closer and observe the inevitable process. Did a new position arise for which the jurist had no precedent, analogy was resorted to. If no near analogy was at hand, a more distant one was sought ; if none found in the region of similar rights, a more remote one taken from a different class or branch, was often brought forward and bent, perhaps distorted, till it served the end. It might perhaps have been better to deal with a new class of cases as avowedly demanding an appli cation of law, for which there was no precedent; and this has been sometimes, though more rarely, done. But it must be borne in mind that the courts at Westminster had, in strictness, no power to mike the law, but only to declare it. They had no alternative, therefore, between declaring the voice of the law to be absolutely silent, and adapting its recorded oracles, such as they were, to the case in hand as best they might. And thus the law has grown, professedly, indeed, drawing its decisions from its own inexhaustible stores, but in reality framing, adapting, creating as it went along. From this method both evils and benefits have flowed of a sufficiently remarkable character. It is no small benefit that, in a fresh application of legal principles to a new class of cases, there should be apparently mingled the element and the sanction of time. The decisions of the Courts being avowedly nothing more than enunciations of the pre-existing law, though in reality new determinations framed upon old principles, carry with them the veneration of tradition, while they embody the spirit of the time. It is another circumstance of value that the changes effected are gradual, and while they do not anticipate, yet keep pace with the necessities of the day. Further, when any new subject engages the attention of the Courts, it is the pecu liar feature of this system that each step is taken separately, never exceeding the particular circumstances of the case or aiming at generalities. Thus the law falls into shape as the subject becomes familiar; opportunity is given by the suc cession of each fresh example for contrast and reconsidera tion ; the direction first taken is followed out, modified, or even reversed; limitations and qualifications make their appearance, and something like a general rule at length emerges, well suited to the actual exigencies from the ex perience of which it is drawn, If this is legislation, it is legislation of the best kind, for it is framed by those who have no popular interests to support or collateral ends to attain, and who bring to the task carefully-trained in tellects familiar with the subject in hand. The evils of the system are, perhaps, equally apparent. Invested with a power larger than avowed, the tribunals may be said to have too much or too little confided to them. If they frame new applications of the law they arc obliged to do so on old models only, and administer them under old forms. Tied down by the last, they are too little set at large to work out entire justice. Working in the trammels of tradition, they are driven to the resort of legal fictions. Founding all de cisions on precedent, they are circumscribed and limited by the analogies on which their decisions are founded. The broad rile of:right is but too apt to suffer in such circum stances, and full justice must needs be at times shorn down to obtain a footing on precedent. But the worst feature attending a law purely traditional is its incapacity to obli terate. Tradition is the expression of permanence—and if it perpetuates - Utah it also embalms error. It renders what is really obsolete unquestioned because it is familiar, and fences it from attack by giving it the immunity of age. Thus it is that many of the positions of our law pass with out inquiry, though their justice might well be challenged. Now, let us compare this system of law -making with the more comprehensive system of a code adopted in most other countries. The attractions of the code are obvious, and its faults not so apparent. The object of both is alike to form a permanent frame for the action of justice. The chief point of contrast lies here—the framers of a code propound their principles in accord with justice, and casting about in their minds to imagine the possible cases falling within them, ad just them accordingly, giving them expression in elaborated rules. The English system frames no rule in advance, looks backwards in place Of forward, and substitutes the actual experiences of the past for the possibilities of the future. True, the future is not provided for in the latter, except so far as principles are gradually evolved, which make solution not difficult or unexpected when the case arises, whereas the former professes to make such provision. But is this provision ever made with success ? Does any cede really offer a text, which, when applied to the circumstances of an individual case, at once, and without reasonable doubt, de cide it P Let the innummerable decisions on some of the most celebrated codes answer the question. Take the Or dennance de la Marine of Louis XIV. How:simple and brief, and apparently plain the text. Yet who ever read the inge nious commentaries of Vella or Boulay-Paty on any and every article of it without owning that the text was only plain because the difficulties of particular cases were not present to view, and only simple because their complications were excluded ? The same thing is true of the codes of the French empire, and of all others which the world ever saw. The truth is that the intricacies and complexity of possible combinations of fact aro beyond the range of human con ception, and any attempt to foresee and provide for them all beforehand, and dispense a ready made justice with success, will give little reward to the labour it wastes. But a code resting on no detailed decisions or elaborated instances to expound it has an especial evil of its own. There is no more fruitful source of doubt and litigation than the meaning of language. The careless use of language does much, but the inadequacy of language as the vehicle of precise thought does perhaps even more. What treaty, or code, or statute was ever so framed that its moaning in all possible contin gencies was free from reasonable controversy ? Now the especial evil of all codes and statutes is that over and above the difficulty of framing adequate principles the ambiguities of construction are introduced. Expressed in certain defi nite language, its force depends on the interpretation which ingenuity may give or deny it. And here the system of case law contrasts favourably, for its principles, enforced in every variety of language, and under every turn of thought, shine out in their application rather than in their expres sion, and are further removed from the cavil of words. The most ardent lover of uniformity and symmetry would hardly be prepared then to surrender the treasures of our common law for the inevitable litigation of a code ; but does it follow that nothing can bo done to render our system more uniform, and our jurisprudence more compact and harmonious ? We have nothing in the English law between the succinctness of a maxim and the detail of an individual case. We have no declared body of rules, however general, and no set of political principles, however broad. There are no doubt to be found scattered up and down our reports e t i a r mutualffar the enunciations of general legal prin ci p les, but even they have dependencene ve r bee n collated shown by orbrought o r c ontrast. ter iand t ßut, h majority of cases decided,no ge neral principle is propounded. The principle is indeed there , g uiding and controlling the decision, a silent appeal is ma de to it in the mind of the geth tribunal, but such is the jealous caution of the judicial mind, and so great the obstacles cast in the way of generalities by a system which calls only for the decision of the indivi dual cases, that broad rules are seldom or never laid down. Hence it comes that cases containing the law on one par ticular brunch or subject are rarely appealed to in discussion of another branch or subject, though these may be cognate and though the law ought to be and probably is in harmony with respect to them. No subject can be treated philoso phically that is treated entirely in detail, and no ss stem can promise harmony that is based on separate trains of inde pendent thought. Is it nut possible to amend our legal system in this regard? If it be considered nut wise that the tribunal should do more than decide the individual case, and pledge itself as it wore to an area of law wider than that occupied by the matter in hand--and this to preclude the possibility of prejudging difficulties not foreseen ; still the law as already settled, and to the extent to which it has al ready been actually applied, might surely be bound together and epitomised for the practical use of mankind. Is not this what in fact and practice every well-read lawyer more or less does fur himself ? When a case presents itself to his mind for legal solution does he instantly recur to tome spe- cific case forming a precedent, or does he rather fall back upon the general legal principles with which his mind is embued ? Now, I hope lam not too sanguine in this, but I cannot resist the belief thatwithin the bounds of labour and time the general principles and broad bases on which our common law reposes, and which tacitly guide the decisions of our Courts, might be brought to the surface, grouped together, subordinated in their several relations, and con trasted in their differences. (Cheers.) An attempt of the kind, and not without great success, was made by the late Mr Smith in his Leading' Cases. And those who have studied the notes of that book will not fail to perceive how easily and with what success large groups of cases treated and handled together have been made to yield up short and suc- cinct propositions of law. What I desire to see is a similar attempt made with authority, and on a much larger scale, to be finally confirmed by Act of Parliament; but Ido not conceal from myself that the first judicial minds of the coun _ _ try are alone adequate to the task, at least in its ultimate stages, and that it is far beyond the rerch cf the unpaid ser vices of occupied men. If such a result could be obtained, the benefits are not doubtful—to the student and the general public the vast area covered by the law would present a district set out in order in place of a tangled thicket. The true bearing of each abstract proposition would stand out plainly, because side by side with others of a similar nature. Here, too, another great advantage would be reaped. As the decisions which have radiated from some central case came to be classed together, and their common principles with its qualifications and limitations extracted, all those of a questionablesoundness would come to be suppressed. That our books abound with such cannot be denied ; and their expurgation by authority is an end of great importance. For once entangled in them, tho Courts are either led astray or only escape to the doing of justice by some refined distinc tion, which in its turn becomes a snare for the future. It is thus that error once committed under our present system is perpetuated. And decisions whose soundness is doubted for years continue for years to be the rule of judgment and the source of endless distinctions and refinements, until at last they are either trampled out by the reiterated dicta of the tribunals, or reversed in regular form by the Courts of Appeal. Many, too, are the instances of disc2rdant deci sions on identically the same subject, and it is not an un common remark " That all the cases upon this subject cannot be reconciled." Any classification by authority mist decide between them, and thus remeve, pro Canto, one of the worst evils of the law—uncertainty. But the great gain that would accrue to the law would be the reduc tion of its bulk. 'We possess in our legal records accumu lated instances of exact justice, in individual cases, series - ------ - after series of social duties and relative rights, set forth in every variety and combination and pursued into the minutest details, and to all of which, each in their turn, the law has been applied and adjusted with a precision and laborious rectitude such as the legal annals of no other country can, believe, produce. The national attribute of exact labour on minute objects has stood us in good stead in the beating of our laws. And they bear the impress throughout of the national characteristics in the spirit of liberty, the spirit of equality, and the hatred of injustice and oppression. Bu they exist in a scattered, inconvenient, and unmanageable form. Instances in place of precepts, examples in place of rules, our recorded decisions stand thick together like a fair field of grain—full of wealth and worth, but waiting the hand that shall gather it into sheaves and store it to the use of man. (Cheers.) And here I would observe that the method I propose is properly a digest, and not a code; and a digest has this advantage, that it permits of gradual for mation. Unlike a code, which is the offspring of large and comprehensive views— and should deal with all subjects as a whole—a digest, with narrower aims, may properly be worked out piecemeal. In times past the "Bigot of Cornee" and the "Abridgment of Bacon" did much in this direction, though they owned no authority but that of their intrinsic merit. Aud in modern times the law would be almost unap proachable but for the text-books, some of them executed with admirable talent, with which the labours of the Bar have enriched us. If there be those who fear to handle a body of laws which, on the whole, work so well, I would ob. serve to them that I propose to displace nothing. I would not that the authority of the cases should necessarily bo ex tinguished by the authority of the digest. Unless expressly set aside, and inconsistent with decisions better approved, I would have all decisions remain of authority, content to await the time when the life shall have passed into their offspring, and they fall away of themselves, and pass into a sure decay. (Cheers.) If there be those who think that a system which has survived with success for five or six centuries can have no great inherent vice, I would recall the attention of such to the position in which we now find ourselves. Each year now calls into being a number of decided cases so long as to threaten the extinction of the law as a conscientious study. I do not stop to inquire into causes, but the fact is that the present century has added more decided cases to the law than aro to be found in the records of the five preceding centuries put together. (Cheers.) This vast agglomeration breeds not only confusion in those who aro to be bound by the law, but inconsistency in those who administer it. No power of assimilation can keep pace with that of such pro duction, and the tribunals, occupied to the full with the business befOre them, have little time to master the results of cotemporary decisions. This evil is aggravated by a com petitive system of reporting, and the records of useless de. visions; but the source of it lies deeper, and the time has now come when we may well ask whether the record of our law is always to lie in detailed instances, whether its prin ciples ate capable of no exposition, and whether the most laborious and wealthy community in the world will be con tent to pass on to posterity a 'shapeless mass of scattered laws as the legacy of its labours and its wealth. (Hear, hear.) But the cause is that of the present generation as well as of posterity. Is the nation well content with things as they are ? Aro the conclusions of the law any longer accepted without test, and received without inquiry ? Time was when the law had its priesthood, its mysteries, and its votaries. The science of the few was ever the mystery of the many; and while want of knowledge in the latter forbade the support of reason, possession of it in the former commanded the homage of reverence. Our people have ever loved justice and order, and revered the law as the guardian of both. Perhaps this reverence has been in past times carried too far. It concealed its errors and even gilded its faults, Did an estate pass to an unex pected hand by a flaw, the victim received his condolence, but the superior wisdom of the law had its worship. If strength has the element of the sublime, the inscrutable has not less so, and it was just because the ways of the law sometimes passed reason that they achieved admiration. A severe exactitude in the application of a system highly tech nical has ever been the foremost blemish of English juris prudence. It was not difficult to exalt this severity of preci sion into the inflexibility of justice, and mistake an iron rule for a golden precept. And such was the tendency of the national mind, hugging itself in the conceit that its laws were not as the laws of other countries, and well content to worship what seemed at least mysteriously wise. But our lot is cast in times of a far other character. Reason and veneration—the two great forces by which instituted rights are upheld—bid fair to change places, and while one has waxed, the other has waned, There is no subject so sacred, not even the sacred subject of all, which escapes inquiry, observation, and the hard scrutiny of distrust. Tho law is no exception, and the popular sense of justice may not be violated with impunity, though its violation may be backed by the sanction of forms or rules, however time-honoured or venerable. The time has surely come when those who really revere our noble laws should have it at heart to place them beyond cavil, and give them that hold on the good sense of the people which they have ever had on their affections, and it should not be difficult. For all reform is now possible, and the mere respect for what exists presents no longer any barrier to improvement. The slow formation of a general opinion, and the vis inertice which holds the present in its place—characteristics both of the national temperament —are the chief impediments to salutary change, Autho rity denies nothing now to the general desire, and the waters of discontent are no longer pent up till they over flow. But, for this very reason, the current of amendment flows torpid and slow. The active pressure of resistance, forcing men into concord towards their common aim, is with drawn, and freedom to think and act with independence brings with it freedom to differ. It is therefore in times such as these that the attainment of a general consent is most difficult. The most proper method to come at this purpose is general discussion. For interchange of ideas and comparison of mind begets both , ultimate agreement and moral force to carry it into action. We aro here met with this intention, and as the great honour haS fallen to my lot of presiding over your deliberations, I have thus made venture on your patience, affecting not to inform, but rather to remind, and for the greater part to confirm rather than convince. But it is from those like yourselves, who have the knowledge to conceive and the public spirit to ela borate, that the impulse of reform must come. The spring and root of all our law reforms have been laid in public opinion. They have been miulded into shape and carried into result by the unpaid services of lawyers. It is good to reflect on this, for the power and the machinery are still ours ; and it is no bad omen for future amendment that men have been found skilled in the mysteries of the law, and nurtured in its most cherished anomalies, ready to turn that skill to their amendment or removal. (Cheers.) I venture not on any enumeration of the numerous shortcomings and defects of our legal system, beyond that to which I have shortly drawn attention. They will be amply discussed, I trust, by others. But I may add a word on the spirit legal changes should be approached. The great evil which has ever beset out judicature is that which legal education engen ders—the prizing above their worth of refinement and preci sion. This it was that in legal procedure sacrificed the substantial rights of thousands at the altar of mere words. It culminated in the new rules of pleading of 1831, and begot its own downfall in the triumph of its complete adoption. But it, still lives in all branches of our law. The fear of going too far ever present ; the fear of not reaching justice faintly felt ; positive injustice worked in the present to avoid poesiblo injusl ice iu the future; rights so bound in safeguards, lest they become wrongs, that they cease to be worth asserting; a structure in which form ever overlays substance, and a contest in which justice is apt to sink under the weight of her own armour ; while precedent, casting its shadow both ways, binds the present by the errors of the past, and narrows it by the possibilities of the future—such are the fruits which a spirit, of over-jealous caution and exactitude is calculated to bear. Nur is it the spirit of the lawyer alone. It is not long since a great peer was accused of shooting at a fellow-subject iu a duel and acquitted, because it Was not made to appear beyond doubt THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY. EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1864 that his Christian name was Harvey Garnett Phipps, as charged, and not Harvey only, to which the proof extended. (Hear, hear.) Nor have many years passed since a great demagogue conspired, if he did not levy war, against the Queen, and went unpunished after conviction, because the highest tribunal in the land decided in accordance with the law that the proceedings were faulty in form, And yet our own generation looked on without outcry, and accepted these results without indignation. To all those who would earnestly lay their hand to the task of law reform, I would counsel the necessary boldness to grapple with this evil. I speak not of that boldness which is as sumed to challenge the admiration of the multitude,and play the part of superior wisdom in the eyes of the ignorant by sweeping denunciations of that to which others bow ; nor of that audacity which is the spurious offspring of venera tion, chafing under the reverence of others, and casting off its own in a spirit of defiance; nor of that begotten of idle. ness and shallowness, which feels the wrongs of a system whose true defects it takes not the pains to discover, and flies out into a general condemnation. But I mean that boldness which is born of the firm conviction that whatever is contrary to common sense and natural justice ought also to be contrary to law—.(cheers)—the boldness which fears not to depart from the past to render homage to the pre sent; which acknowledges that the law is made for man, and not man for the law—(cheers)--and which marches straight to its object, preferring simplicity with some de fects to the perfection at which complexity aims, but rarely reaches. (Loud cheers.) At the conclusion of the address, Lord BROUGHAM commended the sound and comprehen sive, the bold and yet temperate treatment which had been given to its subject, and warmly expressed the entire satis faction with which he had listened to its delivery. The business of the several sections was then commenced. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TlMES.—There must always be a certain family Likeness between inaugural addresses, and there is something more than a resemblance between the objects of the Social Science Congress and those professed by one department of the British Asso ciation. Yet how great is the contrast between the discourses of Sir C. Lyell at Birmingham and of Lord Brougham at York ! The one is a special and minute discussion of two limited subjects, the other a review of the advance made by civilisation in all its branches during the past year. While Sir C. Lyell strictly confines himself to the science of which he is at once an acknowledged master and a patient disciple, Lord Brougham ranges at large over the vast field of human interests, dispensing praise and blame in a tone of authority, and critic cising with parental confidence each effort at social improvement. The difference is striking, but it is not unnatural. It is partly due to the character of the two Associations, and partly to the character of the two Presidents. The Association for the Pro motion of Social Science purports to be a joint stock company, with unlimited liability, for making the world better than it is. It is but eight years old, and is still conscious of being on its trial. Visible progress is a condition of its existence, and unless some proofs of its practical success could be produced yearly, the loyalty of its members would be liable to flag. Science, properly so called, is a very different thing, It reposes on a foundation beyond cavil, it can appeal to victories achieved in far-off times, when social relations were comprised within the bosom of the family, and the intercourse of nations was an interchange of wrongs. It can point to a long and august succession of apostles and heroes and martyrs and confessors—a veritable Church in the catacombs—whose sublime devotion to the study of Nature in the evil days of tyrannical ignorance would have ennobled researches ever so barren of results. Physical science is not dependent on popular support ; it can afford to wait for the recognition of its services, and, though it never was more " fructiferous" than in the present age, it would be earnestly cultivated if these fruits should chance to fail for a season. No ono appreciates this better than Lord Brougham, but Lord Brougham as a savant is not identical with Lord Brougham as a social philosopher, He can recollect the invention of philanthropy, but he cannot recollect the invention of natural science, tend he is justified in patronising the one as he would not venture to patronise the other. Moreover, various as is the assortment of theories and movements upon which he touches, there is scarcely one in which he has not borne a part more or less active. If he sometimes lapses into Herodotean discursiveness, he has an Herodotean experience to excuse and enliven it. To attempt a digest of an address which is itself a digest of a year's history would be an idle task. Lord Brougham is a privileged man, but journalists aro not, and our readers would scarcely bear with us if we were to take the same liberties with them. Perhaps a short analysis of one column will give them an adequate impression of the work which the President has cut out for his colleagues. First, then, comes the question of extradition treaties, followed by some remarks on colonial policy, a few sentences of rebuke to the Americans, a notice of the plan for abridging the labours of Parliamentary Committees, a well deserved compliment to Mr. Gladstone's scheme of Government insurance, comments on the Lord Chancellor's County Courts Bill, a suggestion as to the compilation of judicial statistics, a recommen dation of the sewerage problem to the Sanitary Department, a good word for the security of railway passengers, and a discussion on the present position of the convict system. Multiplying this miscel laneous list by five, we get a tolerably fair idea of the world of reform opened out to the students of Social Science. It is like reading notices of motions for the Parliament of Man foreseen in vision by the poet. Still, it must be confessed that from this mass of projects most of us could select some that are really within our own power to promote, and are manifestly worth promoting. It is a little unfortu nate, though perhaps unavoidable, that these, upon which all can agree, should be jumbled, together with others which are still fiercely disputed, and remain unreatised, not for want of attention to them, but be cause their utility is not proved. An instance of the former is the establishment of cooking depots for the working classes—an experiment of which the advantage is obvious and unqualified, so long as the self-supporting principle is maintained. An instance of the latter is Mr Lawson's abortive Bill, miscalled Permissive,—since what it permits is an arbitrary control of beer drinkers by their teetotal neighbours—which happens to be the subject inns mediately preceding cooking depots in Lord Brougham's address. No one can deny that this is a proper question for such an Association to enter tain, but until a new code of social rights can be established, we do not anticipate much good from referring it to the " Jurisprudence Department." A still more questionable function, and one which Lord Brougham exercises with great freedom on these occasions, is that of dogmatising upon the policy of foreign Governments. This is no part of the legitimate duty of a quasi scientific body, and it must tend, if it become et general practice, to excite most unscientific dissensions. Perhaps there is no more useful province of its operations than the cor respondence with foreign reformers, and the accu mulation of facts which may correct and modify our national prejudices. The very opposite effect, how ever, would be produced if the laudation of our own institutions should become the order of the day, and foreign visitors should hear attacks on their own which they cannot answer, and which can serve no conceivable purpose. Tbere are a great many pas sages in this discourse which we cannot but regard as mischievous digressions. The conduct of Prussia towards Denmark has, indeed, been infamous, and neither the English Press nor the English Perlis• meat has failed to characterise it as it deserved, but the Concert-room at York at the opening of the Social Science Congress is no fit place for denounc ing it, The emancipation of the serfs in Russia comes within thescope of Social Science, if it has any scope, but the oppression of Poland does not. The develop ment of public instruction it; France, and the changes in the French code of bankruptcy, are steps in social progress, but the continuance of restrictions on liberty and the doctrines of Duke Persigny belong exclusively to politics. The same, we think, may be said of Lord Brougham's novel proposal that the show of hands should govern an election in this country unless it should be nega tived by the poll in a certain proportion ; but this, though a political, is at least a domestic affair, and connected with the prevention of bribery. Vhat really does harm and would ultimately prove fatal to the existence of the Association is the pretension to take cognisance of everything that passes in the world. If its centre is indefinite, there is the more reason that its elm= ference should be defined, and that it should not ramble into spheres where the moral enthusiasm of individuals must be wasted or crushed. There is, indeed, hardly any limit to the power of organised agitation where it can bo car ried on long enough to leaven the opinion of a whole generation. Duelling in this country yielded much more easily than could have been expected, and those who did so much to abolish slavery may be pardoned for indulging the hope of diminishing oppression and war. It is doubtless the recollecs tioa of the marvellous triumphs that have been thus won in his oan lifetime, and a sincere faith in the force of reason and unity of truth, that actuated Lord Brougham in uttering these protests. From his own point of view he may be right, and no one can refuse respect to the testimony which he some times delivers in the House of Lords against prin ciples which he has spent his life in combating, We honour, as a special gift, the sympathy with pro,. gross in every form which leaves hien no rest, even at the ago of 87, unless he speaks his mind in this way. Only we counsel his followers not to be mis led by his example, nor to suppose that arbitrary menarche or powerful democracies can be converted from the error of their ways by the machinery at their disposal. HERALD.—We have looked up and down the tall columns of Lord Brougham's address, and we hav e well nigh shaken in oar shoes to think how creation is being sectionised by these terrible philosopher!' There are lady philosophers who wear g alas mounted spectacles, and who look as though they were ready to go on 'Change and buy stocks, 01 ; prepared to show us the only correct method 0 1 laying out a kitchen garden. Then, there is the male philosopher, with voice preternaturally 0 51 ° 3 2 with a beard most scientifically arranged, and with facial muscles so perfectly composed that we f eel assured he must long ago have settled every mortal question to his complete satisfaction. It is in vain that we devote our attention to the most ordinary pursuits, and profess that we have no desire to be either scientific or philosophical. We want to d,°, ordinary things in an ordinary way, and to ca'" them by ordinary names ; but we find to our die; may that a powerful organisation has determined that we shall do nothing of the kind. The philosv phers are after us—hue and cry—and we find tha t w' can neither poke our fire nor eat our dinn er without being terrified with some awful lecture on the scientific principles which we are said to be recklessly attempting to set at defiance. Even PO Betsy is harassed almost to the point of giving Ile; tice, by being bored about " domestic economy' when she only wants to sweep the room or dust on! bookshelves. The " poor little ploughboy" is chased " across the lea" by a female illuminati, who appea r° to call out—" You little rascal, you have forgotten all you learnt at school ; I'll put you in Section C' that I will." We almost dread the sections as we do the stocks, and are inclined to look upon the whole process as something closely akin to vivise c ' tion itself. What with the National Association fa the Promotion of Social Science, and the British Association for the Advancement of Science Whi ch is not considered social, we are upon the horns °( a dilemma. Whether we are social or unsoc ial, whether we meddle with bodies organic, inorgani c ' or disorganised, we find the trap with its mouth open, and incontinently tumble in before we al e aware of it. There is a perfect mania in the present day for systematising, classifying, cataloguing, gni pigeon-holing. To those philosophers men aur women are like physic bottles or luggsge at a rail• way station, forthwith to be labelled. We go about with tickets on our backs, and are grouped accord.! ing to some particular system—we are looked et, through microscopes, and are put into algebraioa' formulae. We become " quantities," and ar e reckoned up as decimals ; our peculiarit ies are photographed, and we are " classed" ac i cording to peculiarities which have their found el tions somewhere in the origin of species, an which go up into the region of the fixed atoll' Every avenue of escape is closed, and for all pre!: tical purposes we are as surely ticketed, cabinete°' and microscoped, as if we were so many stag: beetles stuck upon pins, or fossilised relics of thw pre.Adamite earth: The spell is upon us, and the!: is no getting away. Learned ladies and pedantl, gentlemen have noted our peculiarities and 0 n: surroundings, and whether we consent or protest; they will write their "papers" about us and re a p us down at the very next meeting—or "congre ss —of their several tribes. But what did Lo re Brougham say on these various topics, and on 1 ",., hundred and one other subjects which his lord sb ' Y managed somehow or other to cram into his o rato ; rival carpet bag ? The noble president said a gre n , many very wise things, not a few very good thing and, upon the whole, said just what he liked an d what the people were pleased to bear. He triPP e himself up a little in his own net while wadi n g ~ through the depths of the German Ocean, tel lw .; his hearers, firstly, that " it is never honourabl e nay, hardly even safe—for a great nation to stun by and witness unmoved acts of inexcusable ogr e ! . sion, to the violation of all national rights •'' th e i; secondly, that although England left the Dane ° s their fate, " the outcry that she wes humbled i s ,7 0 grcundlees as it would be to say that any one Ne'd saw a murder committed by a gang of arm 0, 1 ruffi ins was humbled if he did not stay t° e , hands ;" and then, thirdly, that when we told De n „ mark she should not "stand alone," yet ,s p rou/Il f of help there was none given." Let us hope thol es ever Lord Brougham, in going down from Lortund to some Jericho in the provinces, should be so 11 01 fortunate as to fall among thieves, his lordship w be spared the misery of , being told that altbotlf, neither priest, Levite, nor policeman came to , 1 ! . '; help, yet they do not feel at all "humbled' 11, having left him to shift for himself, notwithsta udie 4 their previous intimation that he should not " BO P " alone," and despite their present confession that °' has been subjected to au act of " inexcusable agg l 7 os sion." Nevertheless, his lordship's harangue I, many excellent points, and is worthy of his decll L ° o ing years. " The old man eloquent " shines to tlld, last, though he dates from 1778; and vast, ind ee d are the mental stores—wonderful the protrac t i l e vigour—which at so advanced an age can fix t f $ attention and excite the admiration not only o f coterie at York but of the nation at large. COUNTRY MARKETS. ------..--_ LIVERPOOL—FRIDAY. to' There was a limited attendance of millers and dealerlo,s day, and we have to report a rather slow inquiry. P—er and flour may be quoted ld to 2d per cental, and 3d P t , barrel and sack lower. with a slow sale. Oats and °l'ot meal were dull, and prices in favour of buyers. 13arleiro a slight Acclino on the week. Beats dearer. Indian e ° is much pressed for sale. Peas must be quoted lower. STAMFORD—FRIDAY. 404 There was a fair supply of wheat at to-day's p and sales took place at less money than the previous / I „ e jl e e. —Whito wheat, 38s olOs ; red, 37e to 39s per 36 stvr, Barley, malting, 32s to 36s ; grinding, 33s to 36s P er Ter Oats, 22s to 26s per 21 stone. Beans, old, 40 s to -43.` qr. ; new, 42s to 455. WAKEFIEL—FRIDAY. og The demand for wheat was sow to-day, and the pr;e e° lo last week declined is for old and new. Barley ale" cheaper, Other articles unchanged. Averages for the week : Wheat 1,247 qrs., at 42s 4d Oat s — 8ar1ey..... 3O -- Peas Beans LINCOLN—FiIm/or. tf aclet Today there was an improved show of wheat, the ,--ere however, was not very brisk, and lest week's priceo d A l not maintained. Barley came freely to hand, and 0 0 ,, declining prices. Oats slow of sale. Beans in requ e t s 3 o White wheat new, 42s to 47s Barley, grinding.. 28 9 '' 0 Red do, 39s to 43s Oats, - old, .. 2lO t° .0 Old white 42s to 47s New,do 205 to - A ll Red do, 39s to 43s I Beans.. 38 3 to : 4 Barley, malting 32s to 35s 1 Beans, new --s to CORK—THURSDAY. Red The following were the quotations this morning wheat, 8s Od to 8s 6d; white, 8s 3d to 9s Od ; ld to Os Od ; oats, 5s 10d to 6s 3d ; black do., 5 13 v Gs Od ; here, Gs 10d. BRISTOL SUGAR—FRIDAY. ter ° The state of our market is most depressed. Ica -r •sg' do not press sales, and the trade hold off from ba l itl ei Refiners' produce meets with a moderate sale, but O are considerably lower. Rum was in fair demand, 8 t prices. COAL MARKET. Frfoes of Coal per Ton at the close of the market. e. d. k Walls End. ,00 West Hartley 20 0 ' 0 . 0 Cowpen Hartley 20 0 Kelloe.. . . ... .. ...... 0 o Holywell 18 6 South Kelloe ....... 01 A Ilaswell ........... •• . h t.' Walla End. Hetton ..... I'9 V t! , Braddyll's Hetton 20 3 Tunstall ........ . . .;`, O lieugh Hall 20 3 Hart1ep00r.........• . m Ships at market, Cr ; sold, 49, IP . ADVERTISEMENT.] Holloway's Ointment. A Brier trial is all that is asked to prove the sterling and st et a merits of this ointment, and to demonstrate how much - i su successful it is in curing old ulcers, inveterate sores' b 0 disfiguring eruptions than any other application. ; 9 0 properly used it lessens the inflammation which parts adjacent to the wound or ulcer, whereby mi n local pain is immediately assuaged, and in the course ;00 1 ' hour or two the most satisfactory results invariably i°Boo' which will steadily advance to a thorough and per,n 3 ,„ old cure. This treatment, so much at variance with th e so.; fashioned views of cauterising, blistering, leechintoet has, by common consent, been pronounced to be the blessing to persons thus afflicted. London : Printed and Pr Wished by WILIAM" -4NVI'o. of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tate SuN 0 1 " e Zot1 Strand, in the Precinct of the 3a l ,- ,y, a the Aturday, September 24, 1864. Births. W e° BLAKENEY.—On the 22d inst., at 25, Boltons , Brompton, the lion. Mrs. Blakeney, of a daughtifeo MEYNELL —On the 20th inst., at Durham, the Edgar Meynell, Esq., barrister-at-law, cf a son. lch ee RADCLIFFE.—On the 21st inst., at Camp Lodge, 88v ter, the wife of Brevet-Major Delrae Radcliffe, Connaught Rangers, of a son. Marriages. 1 01 APrLrrox—liunsox.—On the 22d inst., at St. I ‘' Stamford, Charles, youngest son of Henry APPle tl3 tie of Hazletnere, Surrey, to Emma Charlotte, eldest (It' ter of James Hudson, Esq., of Stamford. t he lIILL—PoLLocx.—On the 22d inst., at Bowdon, oil shire, William Thompson, eldest son of Thoreos„rfi° Esq., of Wood Hall, Lancashire, to Anna, only ffrlice ing daughter of the Rev. William Pollock, AL A '' of Bowdon. Deaths. ice ° CtrArstAN.—On the 21st inst., at Oakfield, Dartford, Henry Chapman, Esq., aged 73. a lcorg l GEORM—On the 21st inst., at Kensington, 11 1' Esq., aged 69. Jo be HIGOENS —On the 17th inst., at Bedford, CaPtil'— Higgens, F R.S.A. Leg LEGGATT.—On the 22d inst., at Enfield, Mr. Ile-- Batt, aged 47. at PLUMMER.—On the 21st inst.. John Plummer, Ju n g' ag o Pentonvillc-hill, late of 63, GreatTower-stre ot t cl tY , 48.