The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-22 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

The winter session of the Society of Arts was
opened yesterday evening at the society's house, Adelphi ;
Sir Thomas PHILLIPS, F.G.S. in the chair. There was a
very full attendance of the donncil, including Mr. H.
Cole, C. 8., Messrs. Harry Chester, K Wilson, F. R.S., D. R.
Mane, J. Bell, W. Haines, J. S. l'akingkm, P. Graham,
Colonel Scott, and Sir F. ]ford. About fifty new
names were proposed to be for, for admission into
the society.
The PRESIDENT, in commend his inaugural address,
noticed the lose the society had d by the death of
Captain Fowkes, upon whose r and ability he pro-
nounced an eloqueut eulogium. They had also lost Colonel
Phipps, keeper of her Majesty's Privy Purse, and a
most valued member. Mr. Barnet Blake and Mr. Charles
Wye Williams had died during the year. Mr. Williams,
who had reached the advanced age of eighty-seven, had
originated the City of DubliniStewn Packet Company, had
first applied water-tight bulkheads to steamers, anti had
written a valuable work on the combustion of coal. The
other losses the society had sustained by death during the
year were—Mr. R. Garret, the eminent agricultural imple-
ment maker ; Mr. R. Temple, Master of the Supreme
Court, Mauritius; Mr. W. Fisher Hobbs, the eminent
sheep breeder; Sir J. Knight Bruce, Sir C. Easthike, and
Dr. Whewell, late Master of Trinity, Cambridge. The
president next turned to the future, and described what
might be expected from the coming Paris Exhibition, in
whirls the society took a deep interest. He said : " The
exhibition building in the Champ de Mars is rapidly ap-
;vouching completion, and rises from the surrounding park
like a gigantic coliseum. The ground plan is that of a
large 'oblong figure, with straight sides and rounded ends,
something like, but not an ellipse. The longer axis forms
a line from the Pont de Jena to the Ecole Militaire, and is
533 yards long, and the smaller axis, which is at right
angles to it, is -115 yards in length. The building is of
one storey only, and covers a space of about 35 awes. In
addition to this building, the park itself is rendered
available for the display of articles in two of the ten
groups into which the exhibition in divided. Those two
groups will include articles for which the interior of the
building is not suited, such as agriculture] implements and
model buildings, and machines and apparatus for the exhi-
bition of which the direct application of fire is necessary.
The building itself has been specially arranged so as
to present a division or separation of the objects ex-
hibited, not only by countries, but also by
classes—an idea which is not new, for it was
actually proposed by this society for the Exhibition
of 1e62 ; but at that time, for reasons unneces-
sary to enter into here, that plan was not adopted. The
building presents a series of concentric passages, in juxta-
position with each of which one of the groups into which
the classification is divided will be shown' whilst each
country has a segment of the oval divided by passages
radiating from the centre : so that in passing round the
building by any one of the concentric passages, we shall
come upon each country in succession, and shall find in
each group objects of the same class." Havuig described
the system of classification which was to be adopted, the
president proceeded to suggest whether a collective visit of
the Society of Arts to Paris, and to the Exhibition, would
not be expedient. He confidently expected that the
French authorities would grant special facilities for such
a visit. The examinations instituted by the society con-
tinued to afford the most satisfactory results, the money
value of the prizes given in l sns being 2111. r, s. ,
and this year 2301. 55., including that of the late Prince
Consort. The winner of this last-named prize was denies
Rigby Smith, of the City of Loudon College, who in the
present and four pi ectiling years obtained seven first-chess
certificates. The society being anxious to foster the abili-
ties of amt workmen, bad applied to the City companies
for co-operation, and two—the Salters and Plasterers—int-
mediately responded to the appeal. The Coach and
Har-
ness-makers had also given prizes, anti he trusted soon to
have the co-operation of the City companies generally. A
quantity of valuable information had been collected from
various quarters on the subject of musical education, and
had recommended that the musical education of
the people should be promoted by parliamentary grants
aml public institutions. The president having de-
tailed the society's labours in the matters of copy-
right and trade marks, turned to the important
question of tile cattle plague, and 'dated that the total
number of cattle lost in the United Kingdom hail been—
died, 124,305 ; killed, 55.01.1 ; recover ecl, 33,413 ; unac-
counted for, 10,994. Ireland had enjoyed an almost total
immunity from the disease. That country, which at the
possessedallof w3,hti:4hl.4dhdeie,adi
or
commencement
had
li lyohf
atdh ewo li'eaae
had been killed. The ravages of the cholera were next
alluded to ; and, after a congratulation on the successful
attacked,completion of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, the chairman
concluded with an eloquent exhortation to the members
to continue their exertions in promotion of the arts and
sciences, and general industry of the country.
A vote of thanks, proposed by Mr. HARRY CHESTER, and
seconded by Mr. W. S. Ronan:, terminated the pro-
ceeding,s.

BELFAST ELECTION. DUBLIN, WEDNESDAY
NIGHT.—At the close of the poll at Belfast to-day, the
numbers were :—Lanyon, 1,268 ; 31`31ethau, 12 ; Mulhol-
land, 1.
STATUE TO THE: LATE Lon') HEREERT.—A pedestal
of polished stone has recently been erected in the courtyard
of the War-office in P4.11-mall, and upon it in the course of
a few days will be placed a statue of the late Lord Herbert
of Lea, better known as Mr. Sydney Herbert, who forsome
time had the direction of the War Department.
MR. BRIGHT'S SPEECH. AT MANCHESTER.—III
Mr. Bright's speech reported in yester.Lay's paper, in last
column of report, for' more than 1,000,000 have arranged
to walk," read " more than 200,000, .ke." ; and for " Mr.
Disraeli proposed to exclude seven or eight thousand,"
read " seventy or eighty thousand."
A CHANCE. FOR CANADA.—Supposing three points
to be worth consideration in this matter ; first, the good
lof the Canadian people, as most concerned ; secondly, the
good of the English people, as conscientious taxpayers ;
I thirdly, the thwarting of the American people, as am-
bitious individuals. The first point requires that Canada
should not be made a battle-field on which Sherman might
march long distances, and Butler exercise military sway.
The second point is one of expense. Why should we spend
money to do our Canadian friends a very questionable
service ? We had better pay something handsome by way
of quittance, arrange their bargain with the Hudson's Bay
Company, complete their Intemolonial Railroad, deepen
their canals, and wish them a pleasant journey. The
third point relates to Jonathan. Why should his ambi-
tion be fostered by a chance of whipping Mr. Bull on easy
terms? Why should he have the chance of fighting us
under circumstances which would render our success next
door to a miracle ? Rather let Canada become indepen-
dent. John will find it cheaper to pay down even ten
millions sterling as a farewell gift, and escape his annual
million of payment with possible contingencies. Jonathan
will be willing to agreo that Canada shall remain neutral
whatever may happen, and so noire himself complete
repose on his northern frontier.—Skinner's "After the
Storm."