The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-22 00:00:00

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the British Association, generally falls to the Presi-
dent. Ta him belongs the duty of recording the
advance of the national aims in social progress; and
so rapidly does the circle of our desires enlarge in
this direction that the PRESIDENT need never be
at a loss for new matter. Social reforms now-a-days
have not to be worn threadbare before fresh ideas
arise to take their place. We are so overcrowded
and borne down with great " questions " in these
times—education (which is only partly disposed of)
pauperism, drunkenness, crime, and the rest—that it
is a work of extreme difficulty to make a judicious
selection for precedence in treatment. It cannot be
doubted that there is amongst the British people an
earnest desire to atone for the indifference of former
days, a full conviction that political struggles ought
not; alone to engross the attention of the country ;
and it is only to be regretted that the Legislature is
not more prompt in recognising the desire of
the country to free itself from some of the social
disgraces which sheer indifference have brought upon
it. Even the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND, in the
not very inspiriting address which he delivered
yesterday, finds himself equal to recognising this
feeling. ' His Grace is not an ardent reformer. He
speaks in ponderous sentences, which accurately
depict the slow coach. He devotes some portion of
his address to expressing regret that political
power has been handid over to the class whose only
recommendation is its numerical superiority. BvJ
though the DUKE word like to keep " the residuum"
in their places, he has no objection to a little
fatherly care of that section of society which, in his
opinion, ought always to be duly subordinate
to wealth, knowledge, and property. He would like
education to be well spread, though he is afraid' of
evils resulting from the mind of the man who is
filled with knowledge and nothing more, and he
fights over again, in his address, the old re-
ligious and compulsory attendance difficulties,
which most people hoped were settled ere
this. Other. reforms present themselves to
the mind of his Grace. He insists upon
a change of the system by which offences against
property are punished so much more severely
than gross outrages upon the person ; better water
and ventilation are pronounced desirable ; the DUKE
is a friend to emigration, and has an eye to solving
the sewage problem. But on the whole the DUKE'S
address hardly rises to the level of the occasion. He
reverses BALAK in some respects, uttering a palpable
curse where a blessing might not unreasonably have
been expected. This year's address contains an
alarming amount of caution on such subjects
as competitive examination and improvement in the
administration of the law. Remembering what the
lawyers of the Upper House invariably do with
measures for improving legal administration, there is
surely little need for the non-professional world to
display any anxiety lest we should move too fast in
thisdirection. The legal peers willsee to that. Too much
Radicalism in social reform has not been the fault of
the pottering social legislation under which we have
groaned and suffered so long. And yet the Duke of
NORTHUMBERLAND is still apprehensive that the pace
is too fast.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

'1 RE SUS, LONDON, THURSDAYI, SEPTEMBEdit 22, 187 u.

the Alsatians woull shew as much attachment and
devotedness to Germany as they have towards
France. A French correspondent protests against
the proposition that Germany needs material guaran-
tees against future aggressions of France, because
he can find no moral guarantee in the spirit of her
people. It is true, he admits, that the war was
forced upon Prussia on a mere pretence, and that it
was unopposed by the public men of France. His
explanation is that a whole generation has been con-
demned by the Empire to complete political annihi-
lation. He urges Germany to moderate her de-
mands, as on her conduct depends in a degree the
future of France, and consequently, he adds, the
peace and welfare of all Europe.