The Press.
London, England, 1858-10-16 00:00:00

THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

In dealing with this question the noble lord quoted
at some length the reports and calculations of the
Registrar-General in reference to the comparative
mortality of town and country populations, and
added .

But this is only a part, and not the strongest part, of
the case. Feebleness, chronic disease, want of energy,
mental and physical, reduce the tone, and, I may say,
deprave the moral character of our town population. The
excitement of drams, the stupor of intoxication, are sought
as a relief from the low spirits engendered in an unhealthy
atmosphere. Hence quarrelling, strife, assaults, poverty,
and neglect of education for the offspring of this degene•
rate race. Instead of healthy parents and robust children,
fitted to continue from generation to generation a mighty
governing people, we may see what Milton has so well
described :
All maladies
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms
Of heart•sick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, tierce catarrhs.
And we may end with his sublime words :

Despair
Tended the sick busiest from couch to couch,
And over them triumphant Death hie dart
shook, but delayed to strike, tho' oft invoked
With vows, as their chief god and final hope.
THE GENERAL OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Having touched on the subject of emigration, the
introduction of the Poor Law and of the Encumbered
Estates Act into Ireland, and expressed his opinion
" that in natural talents of all kinds, whether for
poetry, eloquence, and the arts of peace, or for the
eventful vicissitudes of war, no people exceed the
natives of Ireland," Lord John Russell thus adverted
to the general objects of the Association :

Our first meeting took place under the presidency of
Lord Brougham. I wish that we may be able to imitate
this spirit, if not attain to this ability. We are not like some
philosophers of the last century, enamoured of an age of
reason which will never come to pass. Nor do we share
in the dreams of the philanthropists who ten years ago
imagined that if property, and capital, and competition
were put down by authority, the human race might sit
down in happiness and cmitentment. Our task is more
humble, but, as we conceive, more in accordance with the
decrees of our Divine Creator. To mankind is allotted
labour as its portion and perpetual inheritance. If any
think that he has nothing to do but to eat, drink, and be
merry, in that very night as fearful a doom may fall upon
him as upon the tyrant of old. If any suppose, like the
masters of the Roman empire, that the sword has done its
work, and that nothing remains for them but luxurious en-
joyment, that very luxury may revenge the conquered
world. if any imagine that to them belongs dominion,
and that they may indulge in contempt of the unlettered
and ill.fed multitude, that very multitude may overwhelm
them in Woody and merciless retribution. It is for us to
work as truly as the man who forges the iron bar, or the
woman who works at the factory loom. It is for us to en-
deavour to improve the laws by which the community is
governed. It is for us to show how education may be ex-
tended and diffused. It is for us to examine and record
what has been done for the reformation and punishment of
offenders. It is for us to confirm and animate the efforts
which are being made to sustain the public health, and
thereby preserve for this country her eminence as the
home of a vigorous and independent race. It is for us to
investigate the conditions of the great problems of political
economy, which may often admit of exceptions, but never
of refutations. In so doing we shall but consult the welfare
of the present and future generations ; iu so doing we shall
follow the path traced out for us by Almighty Benevolence
and Almighty Wisdom.

A vote of thanks was then passed, on the motion
of the Earl of SHLFTESBURY, seconded by Sir JOHN
PAKINOTON, to Lord Brougham for his services as
founder and first president of the Association, for
which the noble and learned lord returned thanks.

A similar compliment was paid to Lord John
Russell, on the motion of the Earl of CARLISLE,
seconded by Sir JOHN KAY SHUTILEWORTH.

Lord JOHN, in responding, adverted to the benefit
which members of the Legislature might derive
from the study of such subjects as came within the
scope of the Association .

The fear was needless (said the noble lord) that so
much attention to social science would prevent attention
to politics. Much as we like these subjects, there is so
much excitement in a good parliamentary political debate
—a great deal of sarcasm and indignation and eloquence
is thrown from one side to the other,—and these matters
are so mncli more interesting and so notch more easy to
investigate—
Lord BROUGHAM : Besides, it is so much more pleasant
to be abused than be praised.
Lord J. RUSSELL: My noble friend adds that it is so
much more pleasant to be abused than to be praised, and
that reminds me of an observation of a man who certainly
was no excessive lover of his kind—Dean Swift,—who said
that panegyric had always a good deal of poppy in it.
That certainly is very apt to be the case. Therefore I
think we may rely upon it, whatever attention we may
pay to these subjects, that when the House of Commons