The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-19 00:00:00

GUILD OF LITERATURE AND ART.

TLe approaching dissolution of the Guild of
Literature and Art will be a matter of re-
gret to all literary or artistic persons. The Guild
was established to " encourage life assurance and
other provident habits among authors and artists, to
render such . assistance to both as shall never com-
promise their independence, and to found a now
institution where honourable rest from arduous
labour shall still be associated with the
discharge of congenial duties." The failure
of the institution has been foreseen, very
little interest having been manifested in its
existence, save from its association with the founders
and the well-known partiality of Dickens for the
Guild. Perhaps the fundamental cause of failure was
that in proceeding "on the plan of providing decayed
literary men and artiste with residenbes erected for
the
.purpose," a very " proud and sensitive class" felt
that they had extended to them a sort of eleemosy-

nary assistance. The Legislature will be asked to
dissolve the institution, and to sanction the appro-
priation of the funds accruing from that and other
sources to the foundation of one or more scholarships
in literature and art.
THE PERMISSIVE BILL.

The criticism of the Times on the speech made by
Mr. Ayrton at the People's Hall, London, has in-
duced Mr. Dawson Burns, of the United Kingdom
Alliance, to address a letter to the leading journal.
The Times intimated that hon. members trifled with
the subject of the Permissive Bill, but Mr.
Burns objects to this supposition, the organization
which he represents being satisfied with their
assurances of support and their presence in the
division lobby with Sir Wilfrid Lawson. The
opponents of the cause espoused by the Alliance
must, he thinks, admit that such trifling with the
question assumes a really serious aspect when 115
members vote and pair for the Bill, and when the
majority against the measure is so far diminished
"that only 31 votes stand between the second read-
izg and its rejection." Mr. Burns denies the azsertion
that the total abstainers are the only persons who
support the Permissive Bill, Ile points out that
there is a considerable body other than the advocates
of temperance, who see iu the measure an honest
attempt to lay public sentiment, legally enforced,
alongside of a great national evil. Mr. Burns protests
emphatically against the charge that the Alliance
subordinates questions of foreign and domestic policy
to its favourite measure. The Alliance, he asserts,
consists of men of all classes and parties, who are
actively engaged in works of social advancement and
reform, and who are quite as jealous as their
neighbours of the honour and dignity of the realm.

INFECTED BEDDING.

At the Marlborough-street Police Court, a woman,
named Maddigan, was charged with a breach of the
Contagious Diseases Act. The case was of a very
serious nature, and Mr. Knox, disregarding any plea
of age or poverty on the part of the defendant,
inflicted a fine of £5 and costs, with the alternative
of one month's imprisonment. The woman
had acted as nurse to . a man and his child,
who were both suffering from small-pox. The child
died, but the parent recovered, and in consideration
of Maddigan's attention, gave her some bedding on
which they had been laid. She sold the articles to
a marine store dealer, and thus jeopardised the
health of a whole district. Dr. Whitmon stated
that washing would not disinfect such articles as
those spoken of, and, as an instance, he mentioned
that clean articles which had been placed with others
which had been infected and washed, had spread
scarlet fever. Two women, under a local Act, have
been fined at Leeds for introducing into a family
two mattresses on which fever patients had lain.
One of the patients died. One woman was fined
40s. and costs, and the other 10s. and costs—insig-
nificant amounts when compared with the enormity
of their offence.