The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-15 00:00:00

PROCTORIAL

AFFRAYS.-CIVIL

WAR.
We do lament with all our heart the nocturnal uproar
and very uncivil war to which this wretched proctorial
controversy has at length led. It is positively deplorable.
Night after night are we disturbed with sounds of riot,
shouting, mobbing, confusion, running to and fro, and
everything that indicates the existence of an actual
street war. And worst of all, what is the source of this
commotion ? Ask any respectable woman whom you
meet in the street, and you will get no answer. No, no,
—these are infandi dolores. Any belladonna of mode-
rate modesty would blush to explain the cause of these
belles horrida bella. Yet who are the parties on one side
of this conflict ? Are they bull-dogs ? are they mad
dogs ? Aro they waggoners ? or pig drivers ? or are
they even policemen ? No, not at all ; we shall not
name them, because from the respect we bear to them we
are really sorry to find them in such company. Noscitur
a socus. And who are the parties associated in this
hubbub ? The professional names of the two belligerent
parties began with the same two parties as the word
profession. Incredible ! Is this the 19th century, or do
we dream ? How is it that in our wild and disjointed
visions we form such ridiculous associations—such
strange, unnatural groupings ?
Humane capiti cervicem proctor equinam
Jungere si relit, &c.
But let us not be misunderstood. We utterly and
thoroughly condemn these riotings. The proctors, in
the meantime, are doing nothing snore than their duty.
They are fulfilling their office. Such game they are
bound to ferret out and to lead captive. They there-
fore ought not to be interfered with. To these gentle-
men it must be a very unpleasant duty—a duty alien
alike to their habits and to their likings—still, as proc-
tors, it is part of their duty. Why, therefore, break
the peace and interrupt the comfort of peaceable citizens
to annoy those whe are only agents and instruments in
the matter. If the law or the custom be wrong let it be
altered ; but let it be assailed by petition, by public and
peaceable demonstration—by sober and legitimate effort
—n.l4 by nocturnal brawls and ineffectual uproar. We
do think tho University would consult its own comfort,
credit, and respectability, by taking the initiative in
this matter, and flinging to the winds a prerogative
which is a disgrace, and a privilege which is a burden,
—Cambridge Advertiser.

DURATION OF THE LIVES 01"-----NOBLES AND SOVE-
REIGNS.—ExcIuding deaths by violence, the average
duration of life among the English aristocracy was at a
very low point in the fourteenth century ; it rose to a
maximum in the early part of the sixteenth century ;
and thenceforward it gradually declined till the close of
the eighteenth century. The average duration of life
(as inferred from the age at death) of sovereign princes
since the Christian era (excluding violent deaths), is, on
the contrary, gradually and steadily increased rom
about 52 years, in the first five centuries, to about 58
years in the last century. The most recent comparisons
give the whole expectation of life at 21 years of age in
the three classes of the sovereigns, the aristocracy, and
the gentry of this country, as 54, 65, and 67- years
respectively, and at the age of 51 the expectation is 64,
72, and 74 years. Thus kings are placed at the bottom
of the scale. _ _ .

FRENCH FRUITS.—A vessel arrived at the port of
Liverpool from Bordeaux, has brought an entire cargo
of plums and prunes, the production of France, in a dried
state, consisting of 220 barrels, 203 half barrels, and 130
quarter barrels of the latter description of fruit, and 57
cases and 122 boxes of the finer kind, known in the
trade and by the public as French or imperial plums. A
complete cargo, and to such an extent, of these articles
is most unusual, and, must be attributed to the produc-
tiveness of the past season for such fruits.