The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-31 00:00:00

OCTOBER 31, 1848.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
CLIRONICLE.—The London and North-Western
Company have corrected, by the letter which we in-
serted yesterday, an erratum in their financial state-
ment, as originally published. According., to the
amended summary, there will be required, in order to
afford a dividend, upon their entire share capital, of
seven per cent., an advance of 7,5691., instead of
6,4241. per week beyond the average return of the
last half-year. It is well that the mistake has been
set right, and that the correction has emanated from
Euston- square; instead of affording a seeming triumph
to parties whoseingenuity must now be on the stretch
to pick holes in the company's etatement;ancl to vin-
dicate their unscrupulous aspersions on railway pro-
perty. As to the effect of the variance, it can
hardly be supposed to influence, in any appreciable
degree, the judgment which we pronounced on
Saturday with respect to the fundamental soundness
of this company's affairs. The views which we then
expressed we still deliberately adhere to. It would
be taking a dismal 'view, not of railway interests
merely, but of the commercial prospects and social
advanepinent of this country, to anticipate, in four
years from the present time, the traffic of that great
arterial communication,
,which will then connect the
metropolis with the most productive districts of the
north of England, with the Irish capital, and
,with
the central and northern parts of Scotland—which
will be strengthened by outworks that are now felt
only as burdens, and replenished froth channels which
for the present operate as drains--should fail to realiw
that moderate per centageiof ge'rease Which the esti-
mate of the directors has assumed. •We say nothing
of the causes which now operate
.a.gainst all
the material interests of the country, and which
every one who has faith in the vitality of our
trade and industry must regard as transient: We
are willing to take the average returns of the
past half-year not as an exceptional, but as a fair
standard of income, and upon this datum to rest our
judgment, that, if an increased traffic of goods and
passengers to the amount of 15 per cent. upon 500 of
the best miles of railway in the kingdom shall not be
realised by the year 1852, it will betoken a decline of
wealth, and a reflux of prosperity, which must at
least be equally fatal to all other enterprises of com-
merce and investments of capital. For it is quite
obvious, upon a moment's reflection, that it is in-
correct to regard the railways in the same light as
any substantive branch of trade or business, liable to
the changes and chances which may affect it indi-
vidually, and apart from others. The prosperity
of the railways, in a country like ours, is
bound up with every species of transactions ;
it must partake in every kind of enterprise
and movement, and is involved in every
application of capital. The receipts will always
afford a most accurate barometer of the activity and
progress of the nation. They will march par/ passu
with the public revenue ; between Downing-street
and Euston-square there will be a common sympathy;
between shareholder and fundhelder a correspondent
interest ; and therefore the dismal visions that have
been indulged in as to the total wreck and downfal
of railways, are consistent only in those who contem-
plate the subsidence, in the same "slough of despond,"
of our public credit and our commercial pre-eminence.
Whence, then, we may ask, has originated that cala-
mitous want of confidence to which the Manifesto
we are now considering has supplied so timely a
corrective ? What have been the grounds of that un-
governable panic which has lately exploded in the second
railway mania—the natural, and, by sober minds, the
not unexpected re-action of the furor of 1845 ? False
reports, erroneous calculations, and that most dan-
gerous of all instruments, misapplied statistics, have
proved, we fear, the ruin of great numbers, and have
aggravated, in no small degree, the other depressing
influences of the time. Upon two points especially
misapprehensions of the wildest nature have prevailed
—forming the basis of reasonings which have terrified
the public, and of calculations which have paralysed
the share market. It was but a week ago that the
conductor of one of the ablest publications of the day,
one which is professedly statistical, and devoted to
economical subjects, founded an elaborate and most
alarming argument upon that statement, assumed by
him to be correct, that a sum of one hundred and
thirty millions still remained to be called up to com-
plete the works sanctioned by Parliament. Yet a
summary has been prepared, and was published iss
our own columns a few days later, which showed
that, instead of one hundred and thirty millions,
the total amount remaining to be called up
on existing shares, including abandoned schemes,
was less than sixty-seven, while, deducting the de-
funct and discarded projects, all of which were speci-
fied by name, the amount was reduced to about forty
millions. We believe that this estimate, in fact,
rather exceeds the truth. The accounts of the North-
Western have shown, that if the total capital of that
company is called up, about seven millions more will
be required from the proprietors, which, however,
will pay off a large portion of the existing debentures,
and thus really take from the market only about 5i
millions more. And this, be it remembered, repre-
sents not only the capital authorised to be raised for
the North-Western line itself, but part of that of the
Buckinghamshire, the Caledonian, the Shropshire
Union, and several other subsidiary lines to which the
trunk line is a subscriber. Yet capital which stands
in this predicament has been reckoned, in the recent
calculations, twice over; once to the account of the
parent line, and once again to the subsidiary. In
like manner, the aggregate amount of share capital
and loan capital, authorised by Parliament, have
been lumped together, without regard to the fact that
as one is increased the other will be reduced. By
such processes millions have been multiplied and sta-
tistics rendered deceptive. Again,we have had,
within a recent period, an authorised publication of
the capital account of the Brighton Company. Now,
what proportion of the imaginary 130 millions does
the uncalled capital of this important
We find that the total amount of share capital which,
after the Ist of January, 1849, the directors will be
empowered to call, is less than 100,000/.—the rest
will have been all paid up. The completion of their
whole works is estimated to requireh;ol h
only 245,0001.
w
These two instances, then, ineaoymeeacwcouray ttoe
and verified accounts to refer to,
show what monstrous exaggerations of fact have been
conjured up to terrify the public mind upon one of the
two points to which we have referred, viz.,
the amount of uncalled capital required for lines
actually in progress or in present contemplation.
The other point upon which misrepresentation
has been equally rife relates to the liabilities
of the great companies in respect of their subscrip-
tions and guarantees. We will not disguise our
belief, that a detailed exposé of the affairs of all the
lines would disclose some improvident bargains, for
which the only apology is to be found in the eager-
ness of competition, or the sanguine spirit of the
time at which they were made. Let these sins be
visited on those to whom they belong. Let the come
panies that have incurred such embarrassing obliga-
tions bear their own burdens. But let not the
discredit of some isolated transactions of this kind
taint the whole atmosphere of the Share Market,
and endanger the stability of property to which
After the
no such drawbacks have ever attached.
declamations which have gone forth, the Schedule
of the North-Western Company, No. 3, must,
we think, have surprised as much as it ha&
satisfied the public. The contributions of capital
by the main trunk to other lines, with all of which
i
it had natural affinities, even if those lines should
yield from their own traffic no more than
he
modest estimate of 31 per cent., scarcely requires
excepted
to,nd
an apology. Neither can the rate of the guarantees,
generally speaking, be deemed above
be
ve
the
mark,
and
even if, in some cases, they should
let any man cast up the figures, and compute the
anus of the liability, as it affects the value of the
shares, to a company whose total capital will be re-
presented by 27,000,0001. In making these remarks,
we have been actuated by no desire to minister to
the advantage of any class or body of men, nor do
we wish to stimulate that reaction which will not be
permanent unless it is sober and moderate. But as
it is our deep conviction that the undue depreciation
of these investments, to which fraud and ignorance
have alike contributed, has pressed with cruel seve-
rity not upon mere speculators, for whom we should
care nothing, but upon the frugal, the industrious,
and the provident part of the community, and also
that it has affected, and is still affecting, with a cor-
responding depression, the commercial and financial
interests of the country, the evil assumes in our view,
the character of a public grievance, and we have felt
it our duty to do what in us lies to remove a perni-
cious delusion, and to bring back the public mind to
a just and rational estimate of the value and prospects
of railway property.
TIMES.—The question of the election to the Pre-
sidency of the French Republic already surpasses in
interest every other political topic in France, and the
approaching shadows of the candidates for this
supreme office have rapidly overtopped the Mountain
and the Plain. If, as may for the present be assumed,
the contest lies between Louis Napoleon and General
Cavaignac, never were two rivals more strongly con-
trasted ; the one confines his pretensions to the
visionary influence of a name, and seeks to revive in
a Republic an hereditary right o usurpation and
tyranny; the other rests his claims on practical ser-

vices, on personal integrity of the highest order,.and
on those qualities of prudence and resolution which
have procured a short breathing time of tranquillity
to France. These opposite qualifications may, how-
ever, be summed up in one consideration which pro-
bably outweighs them altogether. General Cavaignac
offers to the French people the best means of consoli-
dating, or at least prolonging the republican form of
government ; Louis Napoleon is in reality a transition
to something else. A patriotic confidence in the power
and duration of the Republic could hardly hesitate
to name Cavaignac ; an eager desire to exchange it
for some other form of personal sovereignty may
even tolerate a Louis Bonaparte. The election of '
the nephew of the Emperor is not so much a vote of
confidence in him as a popular vote of censure on
the men who have been acting for months :in the
name of the people ; and, as one of the French
journals has observed, a parody of the Consulate may
not unaptly follow a parody of the revolution. The
vote of Friday last, which fixed the 10th of De-
cember for the day of election, occasioned great
surprise not only in Paris but in the Assembly. It
was well known that the leading Parliamentary
Clubs had come to a resolution on the previous
evening to support the adjournment of the election,
under the impression that this delay would prolong
the power and strengthen the influence of Cavaignac,
whilst any accident might dissipate the preBtige
of his principal competitor. But, to the astonish-
ment of the House and of his own supporters,
General Cavaignac himself insisted with the
greatest resolution and authority on a more prompt
election. His ostensible motive was the danger of a
more protracted suspense to the interests of the
Republic ; but the real cause of this determination
is said to be a decided opinion, in which M. Dufaure,
the Minister of the Interior, also participates, that the
sooner the election takes place the better it will be for
General Cavaignac's prospect of success. He therefore
acted as if this delay were adverse, not favourable, to
him; and as the wish and intention of the majority
of the Assembly was to promote his election, they
naturally gave him credit for knowing his own inte-
rests better than the public did, and they accordingly
voted for the earlier day. According to the terms of
the Constitution, it is necessary that the President
should be elected by not less than two million votes—
failing this number, the choice devolves on the Na-
tional Assembly. The adversaries of Louis Napoleon
have little hope of placing any name above his on the
poll; but they flatter themselves that the votes may be
so divided that no one will have the required number
of votes, and that the election will consequently
be made by the Assembly. In :that case we should
have the singular spectacle of the Assembly chosen
by universal suffrage six months ago vigorously op-
posed to the prevailing choice of that same universal
constituency at the present moment. In the Assembly
Louis Bonaparte would probably not obtain thirty
votes for the Presidency; in the country he may have
millions. Amonst the principal organs of the Pari-
sian press the Bonapartes had hitherto met with no
support, but within the last few days an important
change has taken place in this respect. La Presse
has openly hoisted the colours of the Pretender of
Boulogne, and M. de Girardin's unsparing hostility
to Cavaignac assigns to him an appropriate place in
a cabal of malignant antipathies and disappointed
ambition. The course adopted by the organ of M.
Thiers is less explicit, for no open rupture has
taken place between that politician and the present
Ministry, and though the breach is daily widening
between him and those in power, he is not yet pre-
pared to p ace his abilities and influence at the ser-
vice of alioubtful speculation. The opposition of
the extreme Republicans to the Bonapartes is open
ind violent. Prince Louis has failed, if indeed he
has attempted, to conciliate them, and he is doubtless
aware that the first claim to the suffrages of the
French nation is a positive resistance to the doctrines
and designs of that party. If any portion of the re-
volutionary associations give him their votes, it will
be from the notion that his power over them will be
lass formidable than that of Cavaignac. So too, as a
matter of policy, the Royalists, having no candidate
of their own, may vote for Louis Bonaparte as a step
to the downfal of another impracticable Government.
It might to matter of endless speculation to trace
the innumerable motives by which these drops of
popular sovereignty are collected into larger rills and
channels until they are all united in what has some-
times been called the majestic stream of popular
power. But it may be said of them all that they origi-
nate in a delusion and end in a lie. These votes,
about to be distributed by the most frivolous miscon-
ceptions, or lavished on imaginary qualities, are all
parts of that great fiction which suddenly thrust on
Prance a form of government which few desired, and
fewer still believe in. Can it hereafter be related of
that keen and sagacious people, that after having
aspired to frame a commonwealth worthy to be
ranked with those of Pericles and Washington, the
French Republic fell to the level of Louis Bonaparte?
['hat to vest an undeserved power in those contempt-
ible hands France has been ruined, Europe dis-
tracted, and the barriers of civilization and peace
wellnigh broken up ? " These be thy gods, 0
Israel ;" and there is no idolatry so base and de-
grading that it may not obtain a superstitious
hold on a people which has abandoned its es-
tablished principles and lost its faith. We
still hope, however, for the honour of France,
and for the welfare of a Government which offers,
under the direction of its present Ministers, some
guarantees for the tranquillity of the world, that this
mania will turn out to be as shortlived as it is base-
less, and that a man of General Cavaignac's stamp
and eminence will not have lived only to become
another memorable example of the ignorance and in-
gratitude of Democratic States. From the enormous
magnitude of the constituency, it is impossible to form
any accurate prognostication of the result, and the
future condition of the French people aud a large
portion of Europe might as well depend on the dice-
box as the ballot-box, but the Government will em-
ploy all its influence to support Cavaignac, the reports
from the provinces are less unfavourable than they
were supposed to be, and the minor candidates who
are likely to appear will tend rather to diminish the
votes given to his own principal antagonist than to
subtract from his own.

DEPARTURES OF THE FOREIGN
MAILS FOR NOVEMBER.
The following notice was issued yesterday at the
datesr
rouehs
during
uic-onrhgifi :11
the cpteekSt
foreign
eet.
ensuing
luvaiirni
mailsti Martin's-le-Grand, '
esm -dl
oelun%-Ge,
tilhal
tabnbae, dn ,0
d madegiving
up the
in
wrend°tllhe
uthtialme pdtaotnes,
Liverpool, and Falmouth :
WEST INDIES, &c.—The mails for the British and
Foreign Colonies in the West Indies (except Honduras,
Nassau, Bermuda, and the Havana), Venezuela, and
Jactnel, on the mornings of the 2d and 17th. New
Orleans, Mexico, Honduras, and Havana, on the
morning of the 2d only. Madeira, San Juan de
Nicaragua, New Grenada, Chilli, and Peru, on the
morning of the 17th only. The mails of the morning
of the 2d will be conveyed by the Teviot steamer
from Southampton. Next packets due on the 7th and
22d at Southampton.
13nTresit NORTH AMERICA, &C.—The mails for
British North America and the United States will be
made up on the evening of the 3d, to be forwarded by
the Acadia steamer, via Liverpool, Halifax, and Bos-
ton; on the evening of the 10th by the Cambria
steamer to New York; on the evening of the 17th,
by the Britannia steamer to Boston; and on the
evening of the 24th from Liverpool to New York, by
the Niagara steamer. Next packets due—The Cam-
bria, on the Ist November (to-morrow) • on the 9th
by the Britannia; on the 17th by the Niagara ; and
on the 25th by the Europa steamer, at Liverpool
MADEIRA, &C.—The mails of the evening of the
4th, for Madeira, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres, by her,
Majesty's brig Peterel,from Falmouth.:Next packet
due, her Majesty's steamer Express, on the 24th at
Falmouth.
INDIA, &c.—The mails from the Mediterranean,
Malta, Egypt, Men, Ceylon, India, Hong-Kong,
and China on the evenings of the 7th and 24th, to be
forwarded by the fortnightly inland closed mails ',it/
Marseilles; due 24 and 22d. Gibraltar, Malta,
Greece, the lonian Islands, Egypt, India, &c., on the
morning of the 20th by steam-packet from Southamp-
ton • due the 28th.
PENINSULA, &c.—The mails for Vigo, Oporto, Lis-
ton, Madeira via Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, on
the mornings of the 7th, 17th, and 27th, by steam-
packets from Southampton. Next packets due on the
ith, 16th, and 25th, at Southampton.
The mails for Sydney, New South Wales, Aus-
tralia, Van Diemen 's Land, and New Zealand, will
lie made up this evening, the 31st instant, to be for-
-warded by the Columbus, via Gravesend. Mails for
:Madeira, St. Nicholas (Cape de Voids), Sierra
Leone, and the Island of Ascension, will also be made
up this evening, to be forwarded by her Majesty's
:sloop KingfiBher.

Tun UNION Baia.—The general business of the
:North and South Shield branches of the Union Bank was
!resumed on Monday last, and arrangements Are made
for carrying out a similar proceeding at the branch at
:Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Saturday, the 4th of Novem-
ber next. These measures have afforded much satisfac-
tion to the shareholders arid the public at large, and
already the result at North 'and South Shields has ex-
.ceeded the expectations of the directors.—Newcastle
Journal.

ASHFORD MECHANIC S' INSTI.
TETE.
(From the Kentish Observer.)
The introductory lecture for the season was de-
livered on Wednesday evening- by the Rev. J. Dufton,
rector of Warehnrne. The meeting was highly re-
spectable, and more numerous than could have been
expected from the state of the evening, the rain pour-
ing down in torrents. Among those in the room we
noticed the Revs. T. Alcock, J. Pugh, and T. Clark ;
H. Whitfield, Esq., T. Thurston, Esq., &c, &c.
From the deep solicitude, as we have shown on
various occasions, that the Rev. Gentleman takes in
the subject of educating the people, greater interest
than ordinary was felt at this meeting, and his dis-
course was listened to with eager attention. It is not
often that we can venture upon commendation of
lectures delivered before mechanics' institutes. But
of this, we think we may express a warm approval.
The bearings of such societies on the varied branches
of knowledge, were traced in a most clear and explicit
form ; and the tone of the lecture was that truly of
the enlightened liberal Christian, the fervid philan-
thropist, and eloquent, forcible, and captivating
public minister and teacher. The Rev. Lecturer
commenced with some remarks on the needfulness,
policy, and beneficial tendency of such an institution
as this, which provides facilities for intellectual re-
creation, self-improvement, and the diffusion of
scientific, literary and general knowledge—observing
that -
-. " The diffusion of useful knowledge generally, without
specification of any particular sort or system of informa-
tion, is of itself sufficiently important to justify a com-
bination of efforts for the sake of its more effective ac-
complishment. None seem more likely to admit the
truth of this observation than they who have most closely
observed the different degrees of civilization among dif-
ferent tribes of this world's population. In the intellec-
tual as well as in the civil history, of nations, it is
observable that there are periods of advancement and
retrogression. Ono nation, which in one age extorted
the undivided homage of the world for its superior posi-
tion in the scale of civilization and refinement, is found,
at a subsequent epoch, destitute of all claims to its for-
mer right of priority; whilst others whom, in its period
of intellectual glory, it designated and treated as bar-
barians, have gained in the world's eye every title to
that meed of intellectual homage which, in the course of
time and under the influence of circumstances, had been
altogether lost through a nation's degeneracy. So vast,
indeed, are the differences unequivocally resulting from
different degrees of mental culture, that on the negative
side of the question are to be found names of the very
first rank among philosophical thinkers. Without, how-
ever, embracing an opinion sanctioned by a name so il-
lustrious as Sir William Jones, who was justly styled by
the celebrated Dr. Johnson,' the most enlightened of
men,' we may feel on sure ground in advocating the vast
importance of educating, to the highest possible point,
all ranks of the human race."
The lecturer then descanted on the more specific
objects of the institution :in affording to those prac-
tising the mechanical arts facilities for acquiring a
knowledge of the principles on which their practical
operations were foundded, and by which they ought
always to be regulated :
" It is to provide adequate means, and to present suffi-
cient inducements, for leading them to an acquaintance
with science as well as well as with art. It is to furnish
them with opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of the
theory at the time they are busy with the every-day
practice of their various occupations.
"In stating the immediate object of the institution in
these terms, it will be seen that the superiority of theo-
retical knowledge over practical is implied. But as this
is an assumption which many well-meaning but ill-in-
formed minds may not be inclined, all at once, to allow,
it is of consequence to set the institution right, with a
portion of the public on this head.
" Nothing is more common.than to hear from the lips
of seemingly sensible men, the announcement that some
certain proposition ' may be right in theory, but is un-
doubtedly wrong in practice.' Theory can be opposed
to practice only by those whose interests are, somehow
or other, involved in the opposition, or by those who use
the term in ignorance of its appropriate meaning. The
relation which exists between theory and practice is not
that of opposition or contrast at all. It is a relation of
comparison. The term theory, applied to that which is
not altogether practical, is a misnomer: and they who
use the word otherwise than as meaning it to describe
the best possible practice, use it unphilosophically, and
in so using it aro chargeable with ignorance or inconsis-
tency. The material distinction between the meaning of
the terms theory and practice is, that practice describes
a set of operations or experiments not necessarily
methodised: theory is the name under which any class
of philosophically arranged experiments may be
comprehended. Practice indicates a certain method of
acting, in relation to which the corresponding theory
points out the most excellent way. And hence to work
theoretically is to act in obedience to a conception which
cannot be otherwise than correct—inasmuch as the very
conception is the true model of the work to be done.
The perfection of practice, it will be thus readily
allowed, is merely to do equally well what is held up as
having been done before. Beyond the degree of imita-
tion necessary to accomplish this, practice properly so
called cannot go. All beyond this is the result of
theory ; so that the
.practical man himself, if he har-
bour the slightest desire of improvement in the conduct
of any of his operations, must theorise, -however uncon-
scious ho may be of the process of thought implied.
The value of theoretical kuowledge may be thus consi-
dered as co-extensive with that of the desire of improve-
ment. The wish to be continually placed in circum-
stances which shall be, in some respect or other, more
favourable than those already experienced, is one of
those primary feelings which go to form the mental
constitution of man. It 4 grows with our growth, and
strengthens with our strength.' It comes with us from
the cradle, and leaves us not till we have sunk into the
grave. Now, to the gratification of this feeling in the
breast of the mechanic, the acquisition of theoretical
knowledge directly conduces. This is the immediate
and obvious advantage. He has only to court its ac-
quisition, and the magnitude of the advantage will be in
proportion to the variety, amount, and quality, of the
knowledge consequently acquired. He becomes distin-
guished for greater ability and skill than his fellow-
operatives, and, consequently, soon shoots ahead of
them in the career of comfort and independence. He
is strengthened in following up that sleepless prin-
ciple of his nature which is at the foundation of all
progress in social as well as individual enjoyment, and
is rendered a better and more dignified being than
before."
The Rev. Gentleman then showed most forcibly
that not the mechanics themselves but the community
at large are benefited by the spread of theoretical in
alliance with practical knowledge; and the great im-
portance of the workman, no less than the master,
being thoroughly imbued with the science of their
various occupations. Having illustrated the evils
arising from the reverse--the prejudice of ignorance
—the advance made in the past half century by the
breaking down of that prejudice, chiefly through the
operation of Mechanics' Institutes, and the value thus
given to the general cultivation of literature and of
taste in the arts, he said :--
"Most powerful is the sway exercised by those mighty
agents over the morals of the community. It has been
felt among England's merchants, her tradesmen, and her
mechanics. Theirs is the potent mastery :
' O'er the mind's sea in calm and storm,
O'er the heart's sunshine and its showers,
O'er passion's moments, bright and warm,
O'er reason's dark, cold hours.'
Whether or no you choose to belong to it, they will
form a public for themselves, and they will influence
and govern it. Of that public your friends and neigh-
bours, your wives and sisters, and children, -will be a
I part. This influence is everywhere. It pervades the
myriads of books which the prolific press pours forth—
the daily sheet, the light periodical, the popular exhi-
bition, the ornaments of our houses, the conversation of
our firesides.
Having shown how general knowledge makes man
more respectable, more useful, and more happy, and
that it cannot fail, unless in minds singularly ill-
constituted, to produce that national humility, so
finely called by Burke " the deep and broad founda-
tion of every virtue," the lecturer observed, as to the
effects of a sound and pure literature—
" Thus it is with a sound, an undefiled, and wholesome
literature. Of a literature thus guarded, thus directed,
and thus purified, how excellent, how elevating the in-
fluence. Not by barren precept, but by example—by
illustration, by constant association with the purest
sources of pleasure, it teaches the ' noblest morals of the
heart;' for in directing the mind to whatever is wise.
just, pure, or lovely, it exalts and unsensualises the
thoughts. It emancipates the soul from the bondage of
the world, lifting it above the desires, the cares, the
meanness, and the follies of the present, and teaching it
to reach after, and, in part, to know and feel the power
and the joy of its future and better being."
Next as to the acquisition of varied knowledge—
" The acquisition of varied, though it be not profound
knowledge, is precisely the most efficient mode of pre-
senting to the ardent and stirring mind of the artisan and
naechanic, the subject best. 6 teed to its powers and tastes.
There it is that natural talent, feels its strength. The
attention is roused, the curitg‘qvividlY excited, the fa-
culties sharpened: Tli;S"du'fies of life need not be ne-
glected, for that would be. unworthy a mind capable of
such energies. It tries its strength in solitude and si-
lence, but society, perhaps the civilized world, at last
gathers the fruits of its efforts "

He pointed out Franklin, Watt, Arkwright, Cart-
wright, Davy, Herschell, and Hunter, as having given
proof of this, remarking that there was scarcely a
single science among those to be explained by the lec-
turers who were.to succeed him that would not fur-
nishsome strikingexample of the fact.

The Rev. Gentleman then referred to the oppor-
tunities afforded in our own times, in all or most
branches of science, for the acquisition of knowledge,
by. those who wouli devote their spare hours to the
purpose. . , .

A.
'he asked) -ItVi*df,i/bo'."
.cial-;-nan s ;-4*sfe
s- • .
obtained a o
ii4en to your NI
ti
cielsviak.)*{N.l
The prophet d prayer, the glad diviner's theme,
The old man's vision and the young man's dream.'
Must not such knowledge give new interest to all
that we see about us ? Must it not fill the soul, with kindling, and ennobling thoughts? Must it not give
juster conceptions of the wisdom arid benevolence of the
Creator, of the powers, the duties,. the destinies of man?
Independently, however, of this most consoling in-
ference, the delight is inexpressible of being able to
follow, as it were, with our eyes, the marvellous works
of the great Architect of Nature—to trace the unbounded
power and exquisite skill which are exhibited in tho
most minute, as well as the mightiest parts of his system.
"If from natural and chemical wo turn to moral phi-
losophy, the same parallel holds good. Here he will be
directed to seek light from those who have kindled tha
torch of science at a consecrated flame ; writers who,
like Fenelon, and Addison, and Johnson, have given
ardour to firtue, and confidence to truth;' or who, like
Paschal, Paley, or Butler, have made logic and meta-
physics the handmaids of sober piety.
" Of history, literature, poetry, the belles lettres, the
elegant arts, of all that by example unfolds the mys-
teries of the heart, of all those fair illusions which spread
their charms over life, and soothe its pains or anguish,
how ample is the treasure contained in any well-selected
library of original and translated authors."
After enforcing the necessity of a well-selected li-
brary being at the disposal or use of the members—
containing nothing of an ephemeral or trashy nature—
and other matters, such as apparatus and models for the
illustration of lectures, the lecturer proceeded to re-
ply to the objections which have been urged against
Mechanics' Institutes, which he remarked might be
arranged under three designations—the religioui, the
political, and the exclusive.
The religious objection :
" The religious objection is taken by many pious and
well-meaning persons and applies not to the establish-
ment of Mechanics' Institutions alone, but the free pro-
secution of physical truth in general. The idea enter-
, tained by this class of objectors is, that somehow or other
the study of natural phenomena, involving the reference
of all observed appearances to certain established 'laws, .
tends to unfit the mind for placing confidence in the
administration of God, and leads •to doubt and
disbelief with regard to the solidity of the
foundation upon which the peculiar doctrini• s
of
revealed religion rests. Objections of this nature are
ill-calculated to render service to the cause which they
are meant to protect. The object of science is, by pa-
tiently watching the phenomena, and experimenting on
the processes of nature, to discover the fiiws which re-
gulate the system of created things. Scientific research
is a humble and admiring effort to discover some hitherto
unexplored department of the Almighty's workmanship;
and, in its . most perfect success, adds rational grounds
for raising in the reflecting mind a higher tone of ad-
miration of the wisdom and omnipotence of God. It
has been most' beautifully observed by a celebrated living
theologian, that, 'However little it may have been re-
flected upon, it is not the less true that there obtains a
very close affinity between a taste for science and a-taste
for sacredness. They are, both of them, refined abstrac-
tions from the grossness of the familiar and ordinary
world; and the mind which relishes either has achieved
a certain victory of the spiritual or intellectual over the
animal part of our nature. The two resemble in • this,
that they make a man a more reflective and a less sen-
sual being than before, and altogether impress a higher
cast of respectability on all his habits and on all his
ways."
Political inexpediency :
" When the people are led to turn their attentiop to
the acquisition of knowledge, it is said they become dis•
contented with • their condition in life, aspire after the
possession of higher political privileges than they are
entitled to, and, upon all occasions of political emer-
gency, are ripe for revolt, and ready to swell the ranks
of anarchy and rebellion. They get the notion that
they have as good a right as their superiors to the pos-
session of landed property and political influence, and
are, therefore, disposed to invade the right of property,
and sins at the subversion of legal and constitutional
authority. These are certainly very serious charges.
But what is that which constitutes order and constitu-
tional right, and law, and sanctity? Are all, or any of
these the offspring of low and vulgar feelings, or are they
based on ignorance? Is the order of well-regulated society
the establishment of chance, or is it not the result of
experience and knowledge? Has constitutional right
grown out of deep study and progressive acquaintance
with the multiform relations of society, or is it to be
found in its most perfect form, and is It held in the
highest estimation, in circumstances where no such study
has been applied, and where the relationships of society
are in their simplest and rudest state? Is law, in the
philosophical sense of the term, the product of thought,
and intelligence, and extensive knowledge, or does it
owe its perfection to inexperience, and are its benefits
best appreciated by the vulgar and uneducated? These
are questions which will be answered unhesitatingly by
all, and they tend to bring into view the fact that just in
proportion as mankind advance in knowledge, intelli-
gence, and virtue, will social order and constitutional
.right be respected, and law maintain its influence invio-
late, and the sanctions of religion be held sacred?"
The exclusive :
" The exclusive objectors to the wide dissemination of
knowledge among the working classes are, for the most
part, men of habit, but not of reflection. -Men of this
exclusive class, or cast of mind, rest their objections
against the enlightenment of the labouring classes on
the ground that the spread of knowledge, and the culti-
vation of taste among the people, have a direct tendency
to render them averse to the drudgery to which their
condition in life necessarily dooms them—that hence
labour, on their part, is performed grudgingly, the
proper deference due to rank and station is nut paid,
discontent and a disposition to change characterise the
conduct of the labouring population, and disorder and
disorganization are thus introduced' into the frame of
general society. In all such objections are contained
indications of fear, which has no foundation in reason
or fact. In the first place, as to the facts of the case.
Where do we find labour performed with the greatest
sedulousness, and the most intense devotion, bat in those
cases of intellectual endowments where the • pur-
suit of knowledge is a passion, and the culture
of the understanding the business of life? And where
do we find indolence and aversion to stand labour
most prevalent, but in the lowest ranks of society, under
circumstances where no higher aim influences the indi-
vidual than the gratification of the cravings and lower
appetites of our animal nature? And between these ex-
tremes, although exceptions are not wanting towards
either, the greater efficiency of labour may be getierally
judged of from the degree of progress made by the
labourer in the acquisition of knowledge, and the cul-
ture of the understanding. Everywhere does it meet
the eye, that mon of education far outstrip, in assiduity
and devotion to the performance of their appropriate
duties, the uneducated labourer, who plies with ordinary
diligence the every-day round of his stated occupation?
Indeed, the. fact of the superior assiduity and correct-
ness of the skilful over the unlearned labourer—not-
withstanding that individual cases to the contrary may
readily be specified—is tacitly admitted in the ordinary
intercourse of life. The man who seeks to employ
labourers in the accomplishment of any given work-
would be universally regarded as acting in opposition to
the dictates of common sense, were he, instead of in-
telligent and well-informed workmen, when such were
in his power, to make his selection among the ignorant
or unskilful."

The fears of a disposition to change, and of the
consequent disorganization to society, created by the
spread of knowledge, the lecturer urged to be chime-
rical and foolish, admitting that the spread of know-
ledge tends to quicken the exertions and rouse the
ambition of the people, but only to perform their
duties better; and that it should- only induce the
superior in abilities to make a better use of his own
advantages, by placing himself beyond the chance of
being overtaken ; and " thus would the whole range
of society be raised to a more elevated platform, each
class maintaining, as before, its appropriate
grade
of
distinction, whilst individuals, according totheir deserts, ascended or descended freely through the
varied degrees of the scale : yet society, as a whole,
occupying a higher range in the upward pathway of
intellectual being."

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DAVIS' STRAITS WHALERS.—SIR JAMES Ross.—
A correspondent in Stromness informs us that on Satur-
day evening the ships Lord Gambier, of Hull, with
sev, n fish, and the Pacific, of Aberdeen, with three fish,
anchored in Stromuess harbour, where they are still de-
tained by contrary wind.. 'We learn that the greater
number of whalers at Davis's Straits were for some
weeks icebound, end that the crews had little hope of
escaping shipwreck, or of spending a dreary and desolate
winter in the froz .n regions. Many of the seamen,
under this impression, left their ships, and crossed the
ice to the shore, and during three nights were subjected
to great privations, owing to a severe gale of wind which
arose, accompanied with snow, which swept their clothes
into the sea; but happily, while the storm deprived them
of tha greater part of their clothing, it broke up the ice,
and allowed the vessels to go free, which they were
enabled to reach with no loss of life. Mr. Hill, of the
Lord Gambier, saw Sir James Ross on the 25th July, at
the Thumb, Davis' Straits, where the Gallant Captain
and his crew were in health, and in good spirits, ardently
pursuing their benevolent enterprise to discover Sir John
Franklin. The whalers left the ice on the Ist of October.
Witness.
The latest accounts from Monte Video do ace
speak favourably of the state of business,