The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-30 00:00:00

depended. Professor MASSON, in returning thanks,
made an effective speech, and expressed his gratitude
to the many kind friends who surrounded him.
He entertained his audience by expatiating on the
novelty of the scene before them. According to
all history, he said, such a fact as that they now
witnessed was unprecedented. " From the be-
ginning of all time until now never had there been
a precedent for what was now about to occur in
his humble person—at last a Scotchman was going
' back to Scotland again !" This well-timed allusion
to an unusual occurrence created great amuse-
ment. The Professor went to say that, under
the peculiar circumstances in which he was
placed, two ideas engrossed his attention.
lie thought of the place he was leaving and the
place he was going back to. Many strange thoughts
present themselves to the mind of a man under such
circumstances, and it must be with very mixed feel-
ings that he departs from a place long endeared to
him by associations, even if he is going to one that
also possesses the attractions of memory, and where
he is to fulfil a noble mission for which he is spe-
cially qualified. As the Professor said, he was
leaving the great centre of human life, which con-
tained a population equal to the whole of that of
his native country. Those who constantly reside
in London, and take no particular note of landmarks,
would doubtless be struck if they were obliged to dwell
upon what had occurred since such a time, and d uring
a particular effort. It is only those who are com-
pelled to quit altogether the stirring scenes of the
metropolis who, can form a just estimate of the
spot they have sojourned in. Professor MASSON
took a brief but impressive retrospect of the chief
events that had taken place since ho last left Scot-
land. The last eighteen years, he truly said, have
been very extraordinary ones in recent history,
and many things have occurred which strongly
affected men's minds at the time. Louis PHILIPPE'S
abdication was, one of the striking events, and many
circumstances connected with our own history have
taken place. The many notable men who have
passed from the scene during this period were also
adverted to in' this speech, and it gives one a
good idea of the changes that occur in a compara-
tively short period, when Professor MASSON talks of
his first sight in London being a glimpse of the
old Duke's wan face. Besides that world-famous
man, Sir ROBERT PEEL has passed away from life,
and many others, down to the burial of the states-
man who was laid in Westminster Abbey only last
' Friday.
As the Professor stated, life in. London is a 1
" specific thing." It has a peculiar and beneficial
effect upon a man thus to live in a multitude, and
to be at the meeting " of so many conflicting tides
and eddies." Such an experience takes conceit and
provincialism out of any one in a brief period in a
surprising degree. At the same time as there are
drawbacks to all advantages there are qualifications
to be found in the benefits accruing from a town
residence, and the Professor stated them with great
accuracy. Intellectual men are apt to be-
come blase, and to lose enthusiasm ; and another
evil is the want of consolidation and orga-
nisation for high education in London.
With its lights and its shades, however, a
life in London is over for the Professor, as he ex-
pressively phrased it. He was going back to Scot-
land, to its metropolitan and main point, to the city
of his dwelling, to which he would belong on this
side of the grave. Doubtless it is with regret that he
parts from all that is associated with his London life,
but the picture has abright side as well as a dark one,
and he will find friends in Scotland who will rejoice
at his return to them with additional honours to fill
a proud position. Many of the time-honoured cele-
brities who rendered him good service in his early
years at the University of Edinburgh have passed
away, but still among his former companions he
will find many agreeable recollections. It will be
his high office to train, others in the path which
has led himself to success, and to work at the same
time for the increase of his reputation and the
service of his country, by sending forth a new
generation cultivated and refined, and trained by
polite literature for the highest and proudest attain-
ments.

There is an old saying, as trite as it is true, which
tells us that we cannot make men religious or moral
by Act of Parliament. Such, however, does not
appear to be the opinion of the enthusiastic gentle-
men who form the United Kingdom Alliance. Their
object is the legal prohibition of the liquor traffic,
and to carry this forlorn hope they are willing to
devote their time, energies, and money with very
little encouragement from their fellows, and with
very little hope of ultimate success. At least such
must be the conviction of every impartial observer,
although the members themselves view things dif-
ferently. To them the loss of seats in the election
is amply compensated by the accession of "several"
promised supporters among the new members ; in
fact, they see in this definite loss and indefinite
gain matter for rejoicing " in the indications of a
growing public sentiment against the liquor traffic."
Certainly hope and faith are two potent auxiliaries,
and it is generally the sanguine spirit that carries
the day in any difficulty or danger; and therefore
the United Kingdom Alliance possesses some quali-
fications for success, or would do so if their case
were a little less desperate. They are by no means
backward either in furnishing the sinews of war for
wishing to prove their sincerity and further their
cause by the establishment of a guarantee fund,
though what they are to guarantee is not very clear,
but they fixed upon the sum of £30,000, £29,000 of
which have been already subscribed. Finding that
this amount was so readily forthcoming, the General
Council have resolved to raise the guarantee fund
and to £50,000, a suggestion which was cordially
approved of by the 12th annual meeting, held last
week with all due ceremony. The report congratu-
lated the meeting on the passing of the Public-
houses Closing Act, and entered at some length into
an account of the proceedings of the Alliance
during the late election, proceedings which, as
we have observed, do not appear to ordinary
mortals to have produced very satisfactory re-
sults. Still in various signs of the times the
report formed matter for encouragement, and the
general feeling of the meeting was singularly una-
nimous and hearty. We cannot say that we ex-
pect the public generally will either attach much
faith to their prognostications or even wish them
success. As a body of men labouring for an object
which they conscientiously believe to be for the
public good they deserve respect, and certainly the
evils produced by excessive drinking in this country
are so great and so manifold that every social re-
former must at once admit their existence. The
statements of Dr. MUNROE, that in putting a
stop to drunkenness they would rob the gaol, the
workhouses, and the lunatic asylums of a large pro-
portion of their inmates is unquestionably a simple
fact. Poverty, disease, crime, and degradation
follow in its train surely and sadly. No one can
accurately calculate the evil, the misery, the wicked-
ness, which owe their origin to excessive drink. All
this is plain fact, not the ranting of enthusiasts,
or the speculations of theorists, but painful truth,
drawn from our daily life, and confirmed not by the
experience of clergymen and philanthropists alone,
•
but by judges ana masistrates, by doctors, by pri-