The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-22 00:00:00

LIT BRAT ÜBE.

The Patent Laws of all Nations, and the Acts for
the Registration of Designs. By Mr. E. J.

Hughes.
Inventors and designers will find in this work
an admirable digest of the laws of all nations re-
lating to patents for invention and the registration
of designs, accompanied by remarks and explana-
tions which will enable them to secure the fruits
of their ingenuity and skill to the utmost possible
extent. Long engaged in promoting the reform of
our patent laws, and in point of fact the main
cause of the present amended state of these laws,
few men were so well qualified as Mr. Hughes to
prepare a work of this description ; and by the
manner in which he has performed his task he has
added to the great debt which inventors and the
country at large previously owed him. A more
valuable hand-book on the subject can hardly be
conceived. A concise history of the measures
adopted to obtain the present act regulating
patents is prefixed.

Davies' and Laurent's French. Mercantile Law.
By Henry Davies and Emile Laurent, Avoue.
Effingham Wilson.

A lucid exposition of the French mercantile law,
and well calculated to remove those unwarranted
apprehensions which have hitherto materially
limited the operations of our merchants and manu-
facturers with France. The principles and customs
which guide the French tribunals in the considera-
tion and decision of litigations arising between
English and French merchants are carefully laid
down, as also the position in which the bankruptcy
of a French merchant places his creditors.

Travels and Adventures in Assam. By Major
John Butler. Smith, Elder, and Co.
One of the most attractive and valuable books of
travel and adventure we have read for some time.
The author's residence in Assam extended over a
period of fourteen years, and having, in a previous
work, drawn attention to a large proportion of the
hill tribes, he confines himself, in the present, to the
remainder, whom he visited in the capacity of Princi-
pal Assistant Agent to the Governor-General, N.E.
frontier, Assam. These consist of the Angahmee
Nagahs, Kookies, Meekers, and Rengmah Nagahs,
tribes more than usually susceptible of cultivation,
and whose manners, customs, and habits are suffi-
ciently singular to warrant the elaborate descrip-
tion given of them. The work is accompanied by
a map and illustrations, valuable statistics, and
specimens of Assam music. Among the illustra-
tions is one of a ruined city.

British Mines, considered as a Means of Invest-
ment. By J. H. Murchison, Esq., F.G.S.

Mann Nephews.
The second edition of a trustworthy and useful
guide to parties desirous of investing money in
British mines. Considerable improvements have
been effected in this edition; a number of new mines
having been added, and fresh information given
up to the latest period, while the old particulars
have to some extent been rewritten. Two dividend
tables also materially enhance the value of the pre-
sent edition.

The Merchant Shipping Act and the Merchant
Shipping Repeal Act of 1854.. By W. Paterson,
Esq., Barrister-at-law. John Crichton.
To that large class more or less directly interested
in British shipping the present volume will prove
exceedingly useful. It is enriched by numerous
notes, and contains beside an index and a report of
a decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council on the law of blockade.

Burnam Longevity, and the Amount of Life upon
the Globe. By P. Flourens, translated by Charles
Martel.
• - -

A deeply interesting treatise ; the result of a pro-
longed investigation of the above subjects, by one
well qualified to enter on it. Among other things
the author, who is Professor of Comparative Physio-
logy at the Museum of Natural History at Paris,
sic., endeavours to show by analogy and facts that
the term of human life (under favourable circum-
stances) is 100 years.

The Angle's Song Book. Compiled and edited by
Robert Blakey. George Cox.
The song-loving public, as well as the members
of this gentle craft, are indebted to Mr. Blakey for
this capital collection of new and old songs, gathered
from a great variety of sources, and characterised
by almost an equal variety of sentiment, abe gay
and humorous, however, prevailing.

GREAT MEETING IN BIRMINGHAM
IN FIVUUR OF ADMINISTRATIVE
REFORM.

Yesterday a public meeting of the inhabitants of Bir•
mingbarn was held in Bingley-ball, to consider the pro-
priety of establishing an Administrative Reform Asso-
ciation. The Mayor occupied the chair, and the body of
the hall was occupied by several thousands of persons.
The MAYOR opened the proceedings' by reading the
requisition, signed by between 300 and 400 inhabitants
of all political opinions.
Mr. W. MATTHEWS, the extensive ironmacter, moved

the first resolution :
" That this meeting entertains a strong and earnest con-
viction that the disastrous and disgraceful condition in which
England has been placed in the conduct of the war with Rus-
sia is mainly attributable to the inefficiency of the Executive,
and the defective system of conducting the business of the
nation, and that this state of things is the natural result of
th• systematic postponement of merit to family and personal
influence in the selection of Ministers and other public scr-

vauts."
It had been said that this inquiry was unnecessary. It
was so said a few weeks ago when the inquiry into the
state of the army was declared to be unnecessary, and
when the House of Commons, to its disgrace, divided
upon the subject. He next alluded to the letters of
the Times' correspondent, of the Rev. G. Osborne,- and
the statements of Mr. Augustus Stafford, as evidences
in proof of the great mismanagement which had been dis-
played in the conduct of the affairs of the war. He knew
no parallel in the history of this or any other country.
He did not despise great names, but did despise the idea
of having the affairs of an immense country sacrificed by
men who merely possessed great names. They must
look out for the best talent they could get, and do pre-
cisely in public matters as they did in private affairs. If
they had any great interest in private life to promote
they did not send for any member of their family to
execute their plans, unless they were thoroughly satisfied
they were capable of doing what was required to be
done. No ; they never committed their great private
interests to family connexions, and the nation should
protest against having their public business mismanaged
by incompetent people. But how w?.re the evils they
all complained of to be remedied ! He knew there were
difficulties in the way, but they could be surmounted.
There were plenty of Layards in England. (Loud
cheering.) He rejoiced at that cheer, because at tha
present moment Mr. Layard was the exponent of the
pluck of England in the House of Cmmons. (Renewed
cheering.) Yes, that hon. gentleman had only to per-
severe, and he would find the nation would support him.
Mr. J. A. ATTWOOD seconded the resolution. He
said that for some years he bad not taken much interest
in politics, but devoted his time to other pursuits. He
confessed that for a time he was incredulous as to the
statements with regard to the sufferings of our troops in
the Crimea ; those statements had, however, been very
fully verified. Thank God, however, the people of Eng-
land were not responsible for the deaths which had oc-
curred in the Crimea. Their blood still cried up to
Heaven for vengeance. (Cheers.) All they had now
to do was to adopt determined means for the remedy of
these evils. They were all shareholders in a great com-
pany, and (which was not a solitary case) they had found
that the managers and directors were using their influ-
ence and funds to promote their own interests. They
bad therefore been obliged to call a meeting of the share •
holders and to take the business of the oompany into
their own hands.
Mr. LANGFORD supported the resolution, and said that
an attempt had been made by the aristocracy to separate
the working classes from the middle classes. A great
sin lay at the door of the middle classes. For 14 years
they had neglected one of the most important functions
which was conferred upon them by the Reit:sera Bill.
(Hear, hear.) He charged them with deserting the
working classes after the Reform Bill was carried.
The resolution was then carried unanimously, amid
cheers.
Mr. MUNTZ, M.P,, said every Englishman found that
his honoar had been interfered with and his country dis-
graced. (Cheers.) He would tell them that he consi-
dered the present one of the most momentous periods
this country ever went through. Perhaps there was a
period about 100 years ago when events were somewhat
similar. He alluded to the time just previous to the
advent of the first Lord Chatham. Then every spe-
cies of corruption and mismanagement characterised
the Government. To use the expression of his late
lamented friend Lord Dudley Stuart, " The round
men were put in the square boles and the square
men in the round holes." (" Hear," and laughter.)
Their fleets were dispersed, their armies defeated, and no
redress of those evils could be obtained until the King
took into his counsels that great man the Earl of Chat-
ham. (Cheers.) They were now much in the same
situation. He (Mr. Muntz) hailed the appointment of
Lord Palmerston to the office of First Lord of the
Treasury with great pleasure ; but he must confess that
he was much disappointed at the first step which he
took. To his great surprise the noble lord refused the
committee of inquiry, upon the appointment of which
the former ministers went out of office. (Hear, hear.)
With all his (Mr. Muntz s) wishes and hopes, it must
be admitted that it was only to hard words he conceded
that inquiry—an irituiry from which good had followed,
but not to the extent which would have resulted had it
been boldly adopted and fearlessly conducted. Still, it
had led to the exposure of had appointments, and gross
mismanagement. Now, with regard to the aristocracy
of this country, they were still, as they always had been,
a brave and high-spirited race. They could fight as
well as any men in the world, but he found fault with
their receiving appointments which they were not coin-