The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-02 00:00:00

from it, "The truth of all this is so undeniable,
its moral effect is so irresistible that Mr. DISRAELI'S
opponents became alarmed, and consoled them-
selves by groundless statements to the effect that
the speech from which it is taken had given
offence to his party. Why, there is not a
single expression in it, from beginning to end,
that could give offence to a single Conservative.
This is the stuff and nonsense which is always re-
peated whenever Mr. DISRAELI inflicts a wound
on his opponents. The recurrence of these
assertions as surely indicate that his shaft
has gone home as the marker's signal at Wim-
bledon announcing a bull's-eye or a centre."
Against Earl RUSSELL, in particular, the critic
draws up a very heavy bill of indictment, in-
deed. "He bas bade Russia," he says "do this
and do that, and if the EMPEROR quietly refused,
'what then ? Why, then, we can only say, like
808 ACRES in the play, that—the EMPEROR is a
4‘ very ill-bred man," No less stingingly sarcastic
are his allusions when speaking "of Lord RUSSELL'S
performances in various other quarters of the
globe—of his silly invitation to the PorE—of his
pompons letters addressed to the Court of
Copenhagen, and the arrogance displayed to-
wards the Government of Brazil—of his
disastrous policy in China, and h
lous and unrighteous dealing with the isp
peopleer iof
Japan." As to his cession of the lonian Islands
to Greece, the New Beview (and as the organ
of the Conservatives it is significant that
it should hesitate not to speak out thus boldly
upon that matter) declares it to be nothing
less than " a soiled page in English History,
and one which, by itself, is sufficient to stamp Lord
RUSSELL'S tenure of the Foreign-office with eternal
shame. To a sheer propensity for meddling, com-
bined with an attempt to repair one blunder by
another, and to efface the effect of his Schleswig-
Holstein despatches by obsequious and officious
zeal in the affairs of Greece, we owe the loss of a
position which, some day or other, Great
Britain will bitterly regret." Without scru-
tinising yet further the articlemayupponronwouheicche
we have been commenting, we
it to be as highly flavoured, almost, we
might say, as hotly devilled a dish of political
sarcasms as any yet served up by Lord ROBERT in
the Quarterly.

One of the most interesting features of our English
scientific life is the gathering together of men dis-
tinguished in various branches of knowledge to
communicate the observations made and the fresh
steps gained in each several department. It is not
very long since our social reformers, philanthropists,
and philosophers banded themselves together for
the consideration of some of those evils, dangers, and
difficulties that clog the wheels of our social pro-
gress. The various questions that come to the sur-
face, as civilisation proceeds on her onward march,
are examined in their different aspects, and the
work that yet remains to be done in clearing the
way of justice, toleration, and knowledge is helped
forward in the most practicable manner. An older
and in some respects a more remarkable society has
just terminated its annual labours. The British
Association numbers among its members names
which are not only a boast of our time but of our
country—men who are not only remarkable in
their own island, but who bear a European reputa-
tion. Every assembly of such men leaves the world
richer than it found it. When each states the ex-
perience he has gathered, even in a few short
months, of the science to which he has devoted all
his powers, the result must be worthy of the most
respectful attention. In these gatherings, too,
each meets with associates worthy of him; the one
can readily comprehend the meaning of the other;
he can encounter him on his own ground, he can
appreciate his difficulties, ho Can raise objections,
he can perceive the great ends of science to whia,
the most trifling and casual discovery may tra.
It is encouraging for the thinker to :enfold
his conjectures, his perplexities, his suggestions
in such an atmosphere. He is secure from narrow
prejudice, from superficial criticism, from contemp-
tuous neglect. Sir RODERICK MURCHISON is not
likely to misapprehend Sir CHARLES LYELL, Pro-
fessor OWEN will not rashly contradict Sir DAVID
BREWSTER, Mr. GLAISHER will certainly give a
patient hearing to Sir WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. The
whole circle of the sciences is, as it were, brought
before us. We leern the point of development
which each has reached, we acquire the fruits of the
enterprise and exertion of the wise men of other
lands than our own, and the busy worlds of politics,
fashion, and commerce suspend for a while their

own interests, their own engrossing topics of
thought and discussion, to listen to the addresses
of great men as they discourse on those mighty and
immutable laws before which our earthly wisdom
owns itself bffiled and powerless. Nor is the atten-
tion of the meetings entirely confined to purely
speculative subjects. Those all-important questions
of physiological science which affect health %nd life
form part of their discussions, and each year the
added experience of the generation is brought for-
ward to ameliorate the sufferings inseparable from
humanity. Thus, in the present meeting, a matter
of vital importance to a large body of our country-
men wan the subject of thought and discussion.
The terrible amount of mortality existing among
our troops in India has lately been commented on
as a subject urgently pressing for inquiry. It
would ill become England to rest idle on
hearing of such loss of life—loss not from the
enemy, or the devastating pestilence,
but from
causes constantly and universally prevalent ; in-
sidious disease that leaves its fatal poison rankling
in the veins, or quietly adds unit after unit to the
long list of English soldiers' graves under, the Indian
sun. It is needful that we should at once inquire
into the possibility of ameliorating such a state of
things, and the open discussion of the question
among able, conscientious, and intelligent men will
go far to dispel that ignorance whichisso of
too,
na
fatal agent in the work of destruction. So, ,
the section of Geology brought its contribution to
useful and popular knowledge in its discourses on
coal mines, while the information, so laboriously and
dangerously acquired by Mr. GLAISHER, is pre-
sented to his scientific contemporaries in the most
copious and intelligible form. We may feel proud
that such a gathering should lose none of its inte-
rest as the years roll on, but that each successive
meeting should bring together so many men, die -
tingnishecl in such various branches of learning, to
do honour
to their country and to instruct their

generation.

Ou the

.e whole, the Frankfort Congress appears
to be very satisfactory. Still various objections
were made at different times to the project;
and this is not to be Wondered at, consider-
ing the importance of the points discussed and the
magnitude of the changes
proposed. Indeed, at one
time the august assembly separated, to allow the
Ministers to confer on the subjects under discus-
sion. These official advisers suggested several al-
terations; some of them were of a salutary nature.
They proposed to add a seventh voice
to the Directory. Austria, Prussia, and Bavaria
to have one representative each; two repre-
sentatives to be given to those kings and
princes who have two or three votes in