The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-08 00:00:00

Socia 1 Science Congress at Edinburgh.

The seventl i annual meeting of the National
Association
for tb.o Prom otion of Social Science opened 2
o'
clock in St. EdinburghGile's
s
yesterday. A sermon was preached at
Church ba':orela large audience by the Rev, Dr. Ar not,one
of the in, nixabents, and in the evening the general meeting
of mem' hers and associates took place in the Free Church
Assemt ty-hall. The Right Hon. Lord Brougham, President
of the. Association (who arrived on Tuesday evening, and is
the gv .eat of the Lord Provost), occupied the chair, and was
entry Lsiastically received by the crowded assemblage.
Let rd BROUGHAM delivered the following opening ad-
dre :—" We now hold our seventh Congress in the ancient
ca,Atal of Scotland, renowned for its services and its sacri-
fices to the independence of the country and the mainte-
nance of her religion; but famous also for those whom she
reared as instructors of mankind. Here is planted the
greatest of the Scoteh Universities, and here those illustrious
teachers flourished whose discoveries laid the foundation of
chemical science, whose writings and lectures made an era
in political philosophy, whose toils assisted in restoring the
ancient geometry, and in expounding that of modern times.
They are gone from the scene which they once made famous.
and have been followed by others whose enlightened labours
and brilliant fancy adorned a later age. Black, Smith, the
Stewarts, Playfair, Robinson, Thomas Campbell, Jeffrey,
are no longer spared to our admiration, but they have left
their example to guide us, their success to cheer. Since
our last Congress the association has sustained the irrepar-
able loss of Sir Benjamin Brodie; and none so great have
we had to lament except that of the amiable and accom-
plished Sir James Stephen, who presided at our second meet-
ing over the department of which the great physiolctgist was
the otherlchairman. When our feelings, mine especially,
areto
touched by the blank which surrounds us, it is our duty
submit, but it is also ray Consolation,
ao yfa tawl
century—`
nll sttautavt:yr
ye reflect
n 100 sv ed ranenas dt.
the period of separation from those we
lost is drawing fast to a close. wit,hmCeicipersoe
when he was younger by a quarterlm
consolahar, existimans, non longinqn,:nc.
sum et discessum fore.'—(Cie. de b e 23). In looking
w what has been done, we
back to the past year,
have once impatience of well-meaning
more:to chide the
but unrellecting men who complain sin that our progress has
First of all they underrate
not kept pace, with their wishes.
mind's eye is deceived by the
what has been done.
the natural eye when, in driving
desire of rapid progressTaausek,
we
.suppose the vessel carried
quickly on the river's b
down the stream is standing still. Next, one great truth
must ever be kept in the minds of all who desire the good
of society—a truth in the science of Government and of
human nature—that the people who hasten to improve
their political lot faster than the safety of society permits
are as sure of going wrong and coming to a bad end as
the individual who makes haste to be rich. Anarchy and
slavery the people as the gibbet awaits the man,
-W
h await,
eu
we cast our eyes towards other countries and con-
sider the progress which social science has there made, we
view a state of things far from fulfilling the hopes cherished
at our last meeting. But let us begin with the gratifies.
Lion of marking the great step taken by the Emperor of
itussia in furtherance of the important work on which we
have heretofore expressed our approval and our thanks—
the emancipation of the serfs. Encountering as he did
great difficulties from the selfishness of the landowners,
but also from the ignorance of the serfs themselves, he has,
by an act impossible to be too highly praised, given entire
freedom to all the serfs on the domains of the Crown—thus
converting 2,000,000 headmen into unfettered proprietors,
and their labourers into free workmen. It is hoped that
this great measure may have a salutary influence upon
the possessors of other estates, and that the Russians aro
full of confidence in the effects of emancipation. It is cer-
tain they have turned their attention to the co-operative
system which has, so beneficially to our labouring classes,
been established in this country. Men from St. Peters-
buog and Moscow have visited our towns where
co-operative institutions are established, that they
might profit by our experience. There have indeed long
existed in Russia a rude kind of co-operative unions (what
is termed "toles); but the change in the condition of the
peasantry has enforced the expediency of introducing the
complete system with all its improvements, Education has
also been greatly encouraged, a vast number of schools
having been established for instructing the peasantry.
While we justly commend the Czar's wise and liberal mea-
sures in his own country—measures so worthy of his kind
and amiable nature, so well known in his visit to England
when Crarowitch—it is truly painful to find how tho scenes
exhibited in his Polish dominions make it but too likely
that v nth Lis succession to the throne his character has
unde,:gon o a change. That which mortals covet as the
gma blessing, but which is the greatest curse both to
the.ineelves and the rest of mankind—the possession of
tr:bitrary power—has this, besides other evils, that its pos-
'eessor imparts his caprices to his subordinates. But the
-t-rant's appointed punishment is fear; and it is a comfort,
though a poor one, to those whom he oppresses that he is
more terrified than they—

" ' Qui ferret plus ipso timet, sore ista tyrannis
" ' convenit.'
Asanredly his fears are the chief of his qualities which he
communicates to his instruments, and their terrors are only
to be allayed by countless treacheries and merciless cruel-
ties. But whether by his own authority or by the zeal and
the fears of his agents—for whose acts he must be hold re-
sponsible at the very least when they come to his knowledge
—it is on all hands allowed that the unhappy Poles have
been visited with the most grievous inflictions, which almost
etitavoidably drove them into revolt. That which in the
eyes of all nations is held the worst of those acts, uniting
as it does the extremes of both treachery and cruelty,
has been the conscription, as it pretendel to be, but which,
in truth, was a proscription, the forcible seizure of the most
eminent men in all classes, and transporting some to
Siberia, some to the Russian army—a fate they almost as
2 much dreaded as the penal servitude of the mines. But
Q t h e r atrocities have been committed in the barbarous treat-
anent of both sexes and all ranks, the clerical not excepted;
wholesale confiscations of property have laid waste the
land ; and the wretched country is plunged into a civil war,
which is deplored as the measures that caused it are loudly
blamed by the people of every European community, and
by tem Governments, too, excepting that of Plussia, the ac-
correplice of Russia, and thus sharing in the universal repro-
bateon ()fits own subjects as well as its neighbours. The friends
o 1 social science have viewed these painful scenes with the
feelings they are so well fitted to raise for the sufferers, and
with the alarm they unavoidably cause for the peace of the
'world, held as the first of blessings by all well-wishers to
the best interests of mankind. But deeply to be lamented
as are the sufferings of Poland, and strongly to be cen-
sured as is the conduct of her oppressors, let us cherish the
hope that the universal opinion of Europe may avail to
obta'm her redress, without any such hostile interference
as 1 enreflecting men, under the influence of their feel-
buss, are prone to recommend. The agitation which per-
v odes Germany occasions another danger, though far
'less, to the tranquillity of the Continent. But it is satis-
factory to find that the chief question has arisen respecting
the Constitution proposed by Austria upon very liberal
grounds, and that the only real doubt is to what extent the
sound and long-tried principles of our own constitutional
system shall be adopted. In no part of Germany except
the Prussian States does the Government reject these prin-
eeples, and the people whom that Government at once op-
presses and betrays are heartily opposed to its views and its
policy, both foreign and domestic. Our French neighbours
have, since last Congress, passed through an electoral crisis
without any change in the form of their Government or in
the balance of parties, but with a manifest exhibition of the
popular influence, notwithstanding the constant, indeed
systematic, interference of the executive power with the
elections, and the fetters still continued on the press. The
injudicious conduct of one Minister (who has
singularly
blundered int.oa formal eulogy of absolute power) turned
I ho electionslurne of the provincial towns, but still more
Daagainst the Government, or, it may be more
in the cap-
id favour of the Opposition, men being chosen
truly -'-' in
from no love of their principles, but merely because they
opposed the Government. Though a very small addition
has been made to the votes of the Opposition, yet in debating
pee gained.
ably entertained that
force it has largely in the exercise of a sound and en-
lightened judgment the
e ruling power will protect itself by
granting greater latitude
of free discussion, as well as by
practical administration of the law.
imProvements in the _
Ihas already been made by requiring
"-4 important beginning in custody, with a view to
the immediate trial of persons
their prolation. Nothing CS n be
than more contrary to justice,
or, indeed
%e
, to common sense,
the existing law and
practice by Which a person may
be kept in prison for a -
period longer than that for which h eee could be sentenced on
conviction. T et has many very
The • • i proce.ure
e code of manna
great defects. The practice of subjecting the accused to an
inquisitorial process b y the examination of the judge is
quite intolerable, and it was the fear of its getting into our
extend
to
procedure that frnetrated repeated attempts
to criminal cases that my
in our law
treat improvement
of evidence which adn,;,- of parties
---", the testimony
in civil suits, by giving
in criminal
the defendant
cases the option of being examined, subject, of course
to cross-examination. The only r ever urged against
this has been the apprehension that ahoever declined to
avail himself of the option might be supposed to do so from
consciousness of guilt. But, at least • in all cases of misde-
meanour in which a et 4-
p..va... prosecutor is hi ad-
versary should have the like power. eriounzedia Snow
stands, one party is heard on oath and the other's owuth is
closed. The French law is framed to prevent the tumuli% of the
guilty, without a due regard to the safety of the into t •
is in some respects too favourable to the guilty,
ours
in otherseen
oppressive to the innocent. Except, perhaps, the reversing
an acquittal on appeal in cases of misdemeanour (delft)
there is nothing more censurable in the French criminal
procedure
than the uncertainty which is brought into the
jury being allowed—nay, called npon—to con
cider by the jury
l'•
what are termed extenuating circumstances, As the
Eider
fino them with sufficient precision, and as
Jaw does not de
not specify them, the judge is left from his
recollection of t
the verdict
does
he case to award the mitigation of the pun-
ishment. There can be no doubt that in many cases a por-
roving the law has recourse to exte-
tion of the jury disapp
nuating circumstances
by
refusing to join in the verdict
without this addition, ea in England the dissentient jury-
men often require a meosmmendation to mercy as a condition
of their concurrence, but
that does not operate impera-
tively,' like extenuating circumstances in the French

verdict. A great and, but for its success, a very unpopular
expedition has resulted in the occupation of Mexico by the
French Government, and the foundation of a n onarchi-
cal regimen nearly upon the principles adopt ad in France
both as regards the power of the Crown and the
rights of the people. It is impossible to question
the advantages derived from the change by the
Mexicans, who for so many years had suffered all the
evils of alternate anarchy and the violence and plunder of
petty tyrants. Nor can any friend of humanity and of peace
begrudge the influence acquired by France, or cavil at the
nee made of it in favour of Austria, The peace of the
Con-
tinent is furthered by whatever beings these two great.
Powers into a friendly connection. It would be trultyo
factory if we could regard the attitude of France
m
Italy
uinnathbeatseadmoeflrigethatini, but the
her dtert:orpmoinationnosmeee, s tow
con-
tinuerefsauasirisndgs
ttihoeri Italian liitaonsokinuthgedruompthr
provinces, and
oonf
dckomeopplieauttinfgrotrahetihnecolcrpoonaritan-
and preventioningostthdeeifi—the
restrictionpeo e thatofof t
hwhich
Papalth they are
temporalnaturally
power,
ofof tNhoepslueop.port
so
Nor scandalously
the ggives
Italyt' the
in F worst
an c
greatlycriminals
wonder if the belief should daily gain strength that there is
canfriends
a design formed to restrict within as narrow limits as pos-
sible the pewer of her southern neighbour. But the estab-
lishment of French influence in Mexico is likely to produce
an uneasy feeling in the now, unhappily, dis-United
States of America, and may by no remote possibility lead
to an amicable intercourse with the South, not, perhaps,
against the North, but in formal recognition of the seces-
sion and in breach of the blockade. The friends of humanity
would have good cause for lamenting anything so mani-
festly tending to promote the continuance of the war and
extend its mischiefs. The term "civil war" is now hardly
applicable to this miserable contest. The people of the
South are banded against those of the North exactly as any
two European nations, differing in all respects save lan-
guage, have been banded against each other—the Austrians
and Prussians for example. But give it what name we may,
no one can doubt that it is a cruel calamity to the Ameri-
cans themselves, and, though in a much less degree, to the
rest of the world, which with one accord joins in reprobat-
ing their conduct while lamenting its effects. Each party,
of course, seeks to cast on the other the heavy blame of
breaking the peace. On one side is the wicked allegation
of property in human beings ; on the other, the hollow
pretext of making war to free America of slavery—her
shame and her curse, as all except slaveowners admit it to
be. Hollow we may well call it; for those who proclaimed
emancipation confess that it was a measure of hostility
to the whites, and designed to produce slave insurrec-
tion, from which the much-enduring nature of the un-
happy negro saved the country. My esteemed friend the
prelate who exalts by his eloquence and his virtues the name
of Wilberforce, which he inherits, declared that the authors
of the measure cared as little for the black's freedom as for
the white's ; and now they eall for extermination of the one
race to liberate the other. But, whatever may have been
the proximate cause of the contest, its continuance is the
result of a national vanity, without example and without
bounds. Persons subject to this failing are despised, not
hated ; and it is an ordinary expression respecting him who
is without the weakness that he is too proud to be vain.
But when a people are seized with it they change the name,
and call it love of glory. Of the individual we often hear
the romask that, despicable as the weakness is, it leads to
no bad actions. Nothing can be more false; it leads to
many crimes, and to that disregard of truth which is the
root of all offences. Certainly it produces none of the worst
crimes. The man who is a prey to vanity thirsts not for
the blood of his neighbour. How fearfully otherwise is it
when a nation is its slave I Magnifying itself beyond all
measure, and despising the rest of mankind, blinded and
intoxicated with self-satisfaction, persuaded that their very
crimes are proofs of greatness, and believing that they are
both admired and envied, the Americans have not only
been content with the destruction of half a million, but vain
of the slaughter. Their object being to retain a great name
among nations for their extent of territory, they exulted in
the wholesale bloodshed by which it must be accomplished,
because others were unable to make such a sacrifice. The
struggle of above two years, which loosened all the bands
that held society together, and gave to millions the
means of showing their capacity, has produced no
genius, civil or military ; while the submission to every
caprice of tyranny has been universal and habitual,
and never interrupted by a single act of resistance to the
most flagrant infractions of personal freedom. The mis-
chiefs of mob supremacy have been constantly felt, for the
calamity of rational and respectable men keeping aloof from
the management of affairs has resulted in the tyranny of the
multitude. To this tyrant the nominal rulers have never
withheld their submission, and the press catering for the
appetites of the populace, and pandering to their passions,
has persisted in every misrepresentation which might most
disguise the truth as to passing events, exaggerating each
success, extenuating each defeat, often describing failure as
victory ; while the multitude, if the truth by chance reached
them, were one day sunk in despair, another elated in an
ecstasy, almost at the pleasure of their rulers and their
guides. Nor were the falsehoods thus propagated confined
to the events of the war, they extended to all things—to the
measures of the Government and the acts of foreign na-
tions, The public feeling must not be thwarted; the peo-
ple desired to hear whatever gratified their vanity or raised
their spirits, and in this delusion must they live as long as
the war lasts and the rule is in the hands of the mob. The
truth they will never hear, because they desire to hear what
is pleasing, and not what is true. But it would be a great
mistake to charge on their false guides the follies and the
crimes which they chime in with and do their best to perpe-
tuate. The people are determined in their course. Far from
feeling shame at the cruel scenes which modern ages—nay,
which Christian times haveseen nothing to equal, a spectacle
at which the whole world stands aghast—almost to incredu-
lity, they actually glory in it as a proof of their higher nature,
believe themselves to be the, envy as the flower of mankind,
and fancy that their prowess:y/0111d triumph over the most
powerful States of Europe. In such illusions their chiefs
may not practically join, but the people are, beyond doubt,
a prey to them, and will continue so to the end.

"Hear the just law, the judgment of the skies,
They that hate truth shall be the chipes of lies;
And if they will be cheated to the last,
1 Delusions strong as hell shall bind them fast "
Cowper—. Progress of Error.
The feeling towards England which prevails among the
American people, though arising from the excess of national
vanity and its kindred envy, is certainly in part the remains
of the old quarrel that led to the separation. We are hated
and despised. Neither feeling is at all reciprocal, but among
our kinsfolk it prevails in a degree almost amounting to
mental alienation. It can hardly be accounted for without re-
curring to the ancient grudge of the American war, and it
illustratesthesoundness of the view taken by those who have
most considered the great subject of colonial policy, that we
must so govern our settlements as to prepare for a separa-
tion on friendly terms, always assuming that sooner or later
their growth will bring about their independence. Soule
distinguished men in the literary as well as political world
have lately maintained the opinion that our colonies are only
a burden, and that they give us no benefits worth the ex-
-1 pense they entail. This is a great error, and it is not now
for the first time that Iso describe it. Sixty years ago,
while residing here, I published a work in which the whole
subject was fully examined in all its branches, and a demon-
stration given of the benefits, political, social, and commer-
cial, of colonial establishments, with detailed proofs that
their cost falls far short of their benefits, and that the wars
ascribed to them had another origin. The book was very
soon out of print, and I have always refused to allow a
second edition. It might now, however, be of some use, as
the information contained respecting the colonies of all
nations ought to be more generally diffused. The lapse of
60 years has no doubt made great changes, and the work
is to be viewed as historical with regard to the facts, but the
doctrines have been confirmed by all that has happened ;
they are entirely applicable to the present state of affairs,
saned are most worthy of attention from the promoters of social
h dominions
chiaeunc:. Sixty
. years I ay, indeed, great indeed have been the
The destroying angel
which
stwhich in that time have visited our race—changes
'Prineipalities and powers have under-
gone.
and their provinces logethere
has ;talked abroad in the Old
World and in the New, snapping
and calling into existence new, Inglialling
the ties that bound States
from their thrones and replacing
unknown, making revolutions agnd
themold monarchies
with the humble and
hurling mighty sovereigns
longer events that startle by their rare
rifle aspects, but to be expected in
ther onneurr
affairs, and as things to which habitharcisihreaencryocenCinurleddsetueorsil
all that relates to
this country
Notwithstanding these mighty changes
si-1-..t0 use the pictur-
ta colonialn t a
Il h j policyaat
and ma ustev
practicale r f oartina long in a
noblest oration—
unceasingly en-
croaching language of Lord Erskine in an impor-
" the restless foot of English adventure is
flourishing croaching on so many deserts, and the tried virtue of the
regress
g abodes.
English character is converting them into ft
of civilised life.' So rapid has been our coil
that with our Australian settlement commercialannial
has increased tenfold in as many years; and
d intercourse
well as our interest is so to govern it that its in.oeur duty as
in-
dependence may become only a fresh ground
of gratitude
of a lasting and hearty friendship. The origin
afgaractilttide,
the similarity of character and habits, the identity ofo oiany'
n-
, will always make the page,connection natural if the
separation was effected peaceably and amicably ; and
whatever in commercial dealings
dmay be the changes from
accidental eircumstances,thotencylvote' emigration will
always be steadily in this have more than
occasion direction.
once at our meetings had to observe upon the ex-
ertions made to encourage the removal of necessitous per-
sons in this way, and to repeat the warnings given by those
who were locally
well acquainted with the subject. These
have been attended with effect in most instances, especially
by the promoters of female emigration, who have been made
the parties are not a suffi-
aware that the mere necessities
Veut ground without the possession of such qualifications
or obtaining employment as are required in the new set-
tlement. This, too, it may be remarked, is the general
eato"n
1 .4°ll Promoting emigration; and it applies not merely
waseterius
e and governesses respecting whom the warning
given, but to the humblet workwoman, even
the unskilled.
The attention of body at the last Con-
with our
gross was, and deedoccupied
the great b. ever since has been, mainly
MI Jett of • and we have
found fully confirmed by
convict treatment; _
given rise the opinion f y all the inquiries to which it has
ormed at the Dgblin Congress, 18611
.