The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 29, 1869.

e .!SUIT.

LO NDON,IWEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29, 1869

A speech from Mr. DICKENS is the next pleasure
to a green number. And when it so happens that
he is particularly " in the vein"—as upon one
memorably humorous occasion when he presided at
the annual dinner of the London Newsvendors —the
speech, in its exhilarating influence,lis almost equal,
we won't say to being two sheets in the wind, but
we will say to the two sheets between the familiar
green leaves. Yesterday we gave a lengthened re-
port of the inaugural address delivered upon the
preceding evening by Mr. CHARLES DICKENS, in
his capacity as President of the Midland In-
stitute. It had been for some time looked
forward to with eager expectation, not only by the
people in the immediate locality, who were promis-
ing themselves the satisfaction of listening to it, but,
far and wide throughout the country, by all those who
were anticipating the satisfaction of reading a ver-
batim report of the speech itself afterwards. By
this time the address delivered by Mr. DICKENS, on
Monday evening, to an immense audience of three
thousand persons, collected together in the Town
Hall of Birmingham, has been read—every word of
it—by hundreds of thousands. Anyone possessing
the high and peculiar privilege, or we will rather
say the immense responsibility of commanding
the attention of so vast a concourse (of
hearers first and of readers afterwards) must per-
force address himself to the subject-matter of his dis-
course, whatever it may chance to be, in no frivolous
mood and with no merely idle regard to the character
of his harangue as a casual source of entertainment.
It was thus a month or two ago, in the instance of
Lord LvrroN, when he inaugurated, as President, the
annual labours of theArchasological Institution, in his
own ancestral county of Hertfordshire. It was thus
a year or two ago, in the instance of Mr. CARLYLE,
when he assumed his position as Chancellor of one
of the ancient collegiate seats of learning in Scot-
land. It was thus a night or two ago, in the in-
stance of Mr. DICKENS, when, in his capacity as
President, he opened the winter session of the Mid-
land Institute, in the presence and hearing of three
thousand of the inhabitants of Birmingham. His
speech, though frequently sparkling with humour,
was mainly remarkable, to our thinking, for its pro-
found impressiveness. Its salient point was its
earnest and indignant, its thoroughly logical and per-
fectly triumphant demonstration of the absurdity of
the common assumption—as he said, the much too
common assumption—that this age is a material age,
and that a material age [whatever that may mean] is
an unreligious age. And here, we conceive, it is
especially,worthnoting, as characteristic in a very re-
markable way, of the in many respects exceptional
genius of CHARLES DICKENS, that his own intense
appreciation of the ludicrous manifested itself—oddly,
but by no means incongruously—at the very moment
when be is bent upon being—what the instant after-
wards he most certainly became—the most impres-
sive. And it occurs, in the present instance, this wise
—" I have been pained," he says, "lately to see this
assumption [the assumption that this age is a material
age, and that a material age is an unreligious
age] repeated in certain influential quarters—[every-
body must have understood, here, that reference was
more particularly made to a late extraordinary ex-
hibition or exposition of these very opinions, of this
m Est astounding assumption, by the Dean of Carlisle]
—in certain influential quarters for which I have a high
respect;and desire to have a higher." Hereupon came
what one may certainly call the irresistibly humorous
exordium—" I am afraid," said Mr. DICKENS, " thit
by dint of constantly being reiterated, and reiterated
without protest, this assumption—which I take leave
altogether to deny—may be accepted by the more
unthinking part of the public as unquestionably
true; just as caricaturists and painters professed
making a portrait of some public man, OM
was not in the least like him to begin with,

have gone on repeating and repeating it until
the public came to believe that it must be ex-
actly like him, simply because it was like itself,
and really have at last, in the fulness of time,
grown almost disposed to resent upon him their
tardy discovery —that he was not like it. I con-
fess that I don't understand that much-used and
much-abused phrase, a material age.' I cannot
comprehend—if anybody can, which I very much
doubt—its logical signification. For instance, has
electricity become the more Material in the mind of
any sane, or moderately insane, man, woman, or
child, because of the discovery that in the good
providence of God it was made available for the
service and use of man to an immeasurably greater
extent than for his destruction ? " The Speaker ask.
in g cogently immediately afterwards—" Do I make a
more material journey to the bedside of my dying
parent or child when I travel thither at the rate of
sixty miles an hour than when I travel at the rate of
six? Rather, in the swift case, does not my ago-
nised heart become over-fraught with gratitude to
that Supreme Beneficence from which alone can
have proceeded the wonderful means of shortening
my suspense ? What is the materiality of the cable
or the wire compared to the immateriality of the
spark ? What is the materiality of certain chemi-
cal substances that we can weigh and measure,
imprison or release, compared with the imma-
teriality of their appointed affinities and repulsions
prescribed to them from the instant of their crea-
tion to the Day of Judgment? When did this so-
called material age begin ? With the use of cloth-
ing? With the discovery of the compass? With
the invention of printing? Surely it has been a
long time about. Which is the more material ob-
ject—the farthing tallow candle that will not give
me light, or the flaming gas which will? No;
do not let us be discouraged or deceived by vain,
vapid, empty words. The true material age is the
stupid Chinese age in which no new and grand re-
velations of nature are granted, because they are
ignorantly and insolently repelled, instead of being
diligently and humbly sought." Here it was that,
having logically discussed the matter thus far, Mr.
DicKENsrose to his verybest when—kindling with his
theme—he thus, most suggestively and impressively,
continued—" The difference between the anoient
fiction of the mad braggart defying the lightning
and the modern historical picture of FRANKLIN
drawing it towards his kite in order that he might
the more profoundly study that which was set before
him to be studied (or it would not have been there),
happily expresses to my mind the distinction be-
tween the much-maligned material sages—material
in one sense, I suppose, but in another very imma-
terial ages—of the Celestial Empire school ; and con-
sidering whether it is likely or unlikely, natural or un-
natural,:reasonable or unreasonable, thatl, a;heingcap-
able of thought, and finding myself surrounded by such
discovered wonders on every hand, I should sometimes
ask myself the question—l should put to myself the
solemn consideration—can these things be amongst
those which might have been disclosed by Divine lips
nigh upon 2,000 years ago, ,but that the people of that
time couldnot bear them? And whether this be so or no,
if I amso surrounded on every hand, is not my moral
responsibility tremendously increased thereby, and
with it my intelligence and submission as a child of
ADAM and of the dust, before the Shining Source ~

which equally of all that is granted and all that is
withheld holds in His mighty hands the unapproach-
able mysteries of life and death." In the enuncia-
tion of thoughts like these the author, the writer of
fiction, the novelist, the humorist, the genial, kindly
delineator of his fellow-men, gives place for a while
to the intensely poetic, religious and philosophic
thinker whose sympathies widen out from humanity
into the abysses of universe.

THE report of the Dartmoor committee is like most
reports upon rival mechanisms. There is a good deal to
be said on both sides. Neither is wholly right,
neither is wholly wrong. The question at issue was
whether the segment or the Shrapnel shell was the
better of the two. Now the segment consists
of a number of pieces of iron contained in a thin
case, and with a bursting charge in the centre which
is exploded by a percussion fuze ; and the Shrapnel
consists of an iron case nearly filled with bullets, but
the bursting charge, instead of being in the centre of
the shell is placed behind the bullets, so that when
it is exploded by the fuze the bullets are propelled
forwards. The competition was not confined to these
two shells. Combinations of fuzes were tried. Fuzes
may be divided into two classes : percussion fuzes, which
explode on striking ; time fuzes, which explode after
a given interval. On the whole the com-
mittee consider that the segment shell fitted
with a percussion faze is better than the Shrapnel
with time or percussion fuzes, or with both fuzes
combined. Nevertheless, as the bullets of the Shrap-
nel range farther and have more penetrative force
after the bursting of the shell than do the segments
of the other shell, it is desirable to retain the Shrap-
nel for rifled field guns. The Boxer fuze appears
to be all that can be desired ; but the percussion
fuzes are unsatisfactory, and better ones should be
invented. At the same time the committee attach
much value to the howitzer for field service, since it
can be made capable of throwing common shell with
a large bursting charge. In connection with this
subject they urge that more importance should be
attached to the proper laying and serving of field
guns. It is, of course, but natural that in the excite-
ment of an engagement, artillery even should think
more of rapid firing than of precision of aim. For
that reason they should be taught to think other-
wise.

WE really cannot see why Archdeacon PHILLPOTTS
should be so angry with Sir GEORGE BOWYER. The
ARCHDEACON, as is only natural with a man who has
had more than his share of the good things of
the Church, cannot bear to contemplate the possi-
bility of a condition of things in which future
sons of future bishops will be worse off. His
indignation against the "spoilers " of the Irish Church,
which broke forth so fiercely during his visitation
tour was, therefore, intelligible, though untimely.
But there is not the smallest reason why he should
resent Sir GEORGE BOWYER'S biographical anecdote.
The late BISHOP was very keen-sighted, and he was
therefore, likely enough to discern that the Irish
Church Establishment, however just and good and
desirable it might be in his opinion, would not be
allowed to stand ; and that if the English
Church linked her fortunes with those of
her sister, she would assuredly suffer. This
is all that Sir GEORGE says. lle does not
imply, as the ARCHDEACON says, that the BISHOP i
wished to abandon the Irish Church. He says I
simply that the BISHOP saw the danger that would
be incurred in defending it. The incident is
really of very little importance. The Irish
Church question is now settled, and what dead
men thought of it twenty years ago is a matter
of very little interest. Certainly it cannot justify the
ARCHDEACON in giving Sir GEORGE BOWYER the lie
direct. We suppose that a " Papist " may be a
gentleman, even though, next to a Dissenter, he is the
object of greatest aversion to the Chancellor-Arch-
deacon-Prebendary -- vicar of St. 0 luvias-with I
Budock.

LIFE INSURANCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir:,—ln the impression of the Times of the 24th

inst. appeared the following :—" The principles on
which life insurance is based are absolutely infal-
lible," and, again, in the Money Article of

the same journal of the 25th, it was re-
marked, The fact that persons could
be found willing to insure in the European
office, in the face of such published balance-sheets
as those inserted yesterday, proves that there are
no means that could be relied upon for preventing
the exercise of blind confidence." In the face of
this declaration, having had some experience in life
assurance, I venture to offer a few suggestions.
I propose that all life assurance companies
shall be placed under the inspection and control of
the Government. That at the end of every twelve
months it shall be Compulsory upon every com-
pany, the same as is done in all commercial esta-
blishments, to have the books balanced, the balance
sheet to be signed by at least three members of the
board specially appointed for the purpose, who,
after having scrutinized and gone through the items
in detail, shall certify as to the correctness of the
figures, the same to be further countersigned by the
manager and accountant.

I then propose that this balance-sheet, so
vouched, shall be placed, with a detailed list of all
policies and annuities granted, as well as every lia-
bility incurred during the previous twelve months,
in the hands of the actuaries, members of the in-
stitute, one to be named by the directors, the
other by the Board of Trade. The duties of
these gentlemen will be to report, officially,
to the Board of Trade whether the funds re-
presented sufficient assets to meet the present
and future engagements of the company ac-
cording to this actuarial valuation. These re-
turns so signed and verified should then be for-
warded to the Board of Trade, and become public
documents, while it should be the duty of every
company to forward a copy to every share and
policy-holder to the lastregistered place of address.
A satisfactory state of things will speak for itself
but, on the other hand, should there be a deficiency,
regardless of amount, power should be given, and
it should b• compulsory upon the directors, under
certain penalties, with as little delay as possible, to
make such a call upon the shareholders as would
place the establishment in a solvent and satisfactory
position.

It strikes me that some such procedure as I have
ventured to sketch would also be the means of be-
getting confidence between the policy and share-
holders, a further guarantee for successful opera-
tions, while the annual returns would be an effec-
tual bar to such announcements as the accumulated
losses of years.

In the event of any difference of opinion between
the actuaries, an independent umpire to be called
in—the expenses of the investigations to be
borne by the companies.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

THE FEMALE ART GALLERY.—In December
next a special bazaar and fancy sale will take place at 101,
Groat Russell-street, Bloomsbury-square, on which occa-
sion the entire of the works of art submitted for sale will
bo the production of ladies. The Messrs. E. Fuller have
long exerted themselves to place before the public the pro-
ductions of feinalo artists, and this bazaar, which has been
suggested by several ladies of influence, will, it is to be
hoped, prove entirely successful. A visit to the gallery at
this particular time will be found very interesting from the
variety of paintings, etchings, and drawings which now
crowd the rooms; but that which will more particularly
interest the person of taste is the crimson lake etchings
produced by the pupils of the Albert Press, which are
really beautiful. The taste and talent here exhibited
speaks highly for the proficiency of the artists, and such
is the extreme beauty of the etchings that they have but
to bo seen to call forth the highest praise. A specimen of
this beautiful art ought really to occupy a space in the
collection of every lover of the true and beautiful, and
none the less so because they are the production of women
EXCLUSIVE, VERY IMPORTANT, RARE, AND VALUABLE
are the properties of Lamplougu's Pyretic Saline, curing the
worst headaches, sickness, skin, or biliary affections. Pleasant,
Palatable, and invigeratia Bold by all Chemists.—[Advt.],

THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CO2 G4ESS,

BRISTOL, TVESDAY.
To-morrow, under the presidency of the Right Hon. Sir
Stafford Northcote, M.P., who succeeds the Earl of Car-
narvon, the National Association for the Promotion of
Social Science will commence its thirteenth annual Con-
gress in this city. The Council, who have provided an
attractive and important programme, are sanguine that the
number of members and associates attending it will be
considerable, and thus far the local arrangements look
healthy. The wealth and hospitality of Bristol are so pro-
verbial, the features of interest which it possesses in itself
and in its immediate vicinity are so many, and its capa-
bilities of accommodating with comfort a large influx of
strangers so complete and extensive, that the executive
would have been unwise to refuse the cordial invitation
given by its municipal authorities and other inhabitants
to make it the place -of meeting this year.
A convenient reception-room, which was thrown
open this morning, has been provided in the
Royal Promenade, Queen's-road, while the Victoria Rooms,
the Fine Arts Academy, the Colston Hall, and the Blind
Asylum, will be available for the purpose of President's
addresses, soirees, meetings, and the daily sittings of the
various Departments. By the permission of the Committee,
the Rifle Volunteer Club, situated at the top of Park-street,
may be made use of by members and associates during their
stay in the city, and here such of them as please, up to one
hunched, may dine at the table crlaite at six o'clock each
evening, at the moderate charge of 2s. 6d. each, exclusive of
wine and beer.
The Council will meet at one o'clock to-morrow, and the
Congress will be opened as usual by a special service.
This will take place at the Cathedral, at three o'clock, the
preacher being the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Glouces-
ter and Bristol. At eight o'clock in the evening the inau-
gural address will be delivered by the president in the
Victoria Room.
Four departments will be occupied from day to day
in hearing special and voluntary papers read, -and in dis-
cussing the subjects brought forward by the several
authors. The special papers are those which
deal with subjects which have been selected
by the Council as being, in their opinion,
most important to be brought under the consideration of
the Congress. The voluntary papers are those which are
sent in by members who desire to have an opportunity of
broaching their theories, or stating their views on matters
connected with social science. Each paper so sent in must
be approved by the Council before it can be read. The
special questions will be taken in their respective depart-
ments one on each day, on the Thursday, Friday, and
Monday of the meeting, and the voluntary papers on the
various subjects comprised within the departments
will be taken on the Saturday and Tuesday. The
addresses of the presidents of the several departments
are, fortunately, not delivered upon the same clay as is the
case at the meeting of the British Association, but are
extended over four days. Thus the difficulty of electing
which President to hear is obviated, because, if the mem-
bers be so inclined, they can hear each of them. This year
tho Department of Jurisprudence and Amendment of the
Law will be under the direction of Mr. George Woodyatt
Hastings. It will be divided into two sections, viz., the
International and Municipal Law Section and the Refor-
matory Section. In the former the following special ques-
tions will be discussed :-1. What ought to be the legal
and constitutional relations between England and
the Colonies ? 2. What is the most expedient
mode of introducing into England a system of
public prosecution ? 3. What limits ought to bo
placed by law to charitable endowments ? 4. Land
Question—What ought to be the principles regulating the
ownership and occupation of land ? With reference to
the first subject, it may be stated that in order that it may
be thoroughly ventilated, and the views of all parties be
represented, the Council have secured the attendance of
several persons who have had experience or are peculiarly
interested in colonial questions. Amongst these may be
mentioned Sir George Grey, Sir Charles Clifford, Sir
William Denison, Sir Christopher Rawlinson, Mr. Torrens,
M.P., Mr. Westgarth, Mr. Sewell, Mr. 11. W. Marsh, Mr.
Youl, Mr. Edward Wilson, Mr. Hen ty, Dr. Lecrnouth, Mr.
J. E. Gorst, Mr. T. P. Labilliere, Mr. John Noble, Mr.
Maefie, MP., and Mr. Thcmas Hare. In the second-named
section of the department the principal discussions will
turn. on the questions-1. Can infanticide be dimi-
nished by legislative enactment ? 2. What have
been the results of the Reformatory Schools and
Industrial Schools Acts ? The chairman of the section will I

be Sir J. Eardley Wilmot, Bart. The Rev. Canon Kingsley
will preside over the Education Department, which deals
. with the various questions relating to upper, middle, and
lower class education. The points to be considered will
be:-1. Is an unsectarian scheme of education inconsistent
with religious teaching? 2. How may the State Lest pro-
mote the education of the destitute and neglected portion
of the population ? 3. In what way can the Endowed
schools Bill be worked so as to Lring the educational

endowments within the reach of all? Dr. John A.
Symonds will be the President of the Health Departmc nt,
which deals with questions relating to the public health;
collects statistical evidence of the relative healthine3s
of different localities, cf different industrial occupations,
and generally of the influence cf external circumstancLa
in the production of health or disease ; discusses im-
provements in house construction (more especially as to
the dwellings of the labouring classes), in drainage, warm-
ing, ventilation ; public baths and washhouses ; adultera-
tion of food and its effects; recreation and amusement;
the functions of Government in relation to public health;
the legislative and administrative machinery expedient for
its preservation; sanitary police quarantine, &c.; poverty
in relation to disease ; and the effect of unhealthiness on
the prosperity of places and nations. The attention of the

members will be specially directed to the subjoined questions

-1. Can Government beneficially further interfere to limit

the spread of infectious diseases ? 2. What legislative mea.

sures might be proposed to deal with cases of uncontrollable
drunkenness ? 3. Should the Contagious Diseases Act be

extended to the civil population ? The Right Hon. Stephen
Cave, M.P., will assume the direction of the Economy and
Trade Department, where will be considered those ques-
tions which relat 3 to economics—social, political, and com-
mercial. The department also furnishes information
collected relating to production, manufacture, and trade.

Papers will be read on the following subjects :-1. In wliat
respects may the administration of the poor law be im-
proved ? 2. Is it desirable that State aid should be given
to emigration, avd if so, in what form ? 3. How may the
condition of the agricultural labourer be improved?
A new and interesting feature has been incorporated
with the programme of the Congress this year. This is a
ladies' conference, which will deal with such subjects as
Reformatory Industrial Schools, Employment of Women,
. _

Education of Girls, Infant Mortality, and the Management
of Workhouses. The Conference will be opened to ladies
only, and will meet at three o'clock each afternoon, so that
those attending it will not have to forego being present
during the proceedings of the other ordinary departments.
Of evening meetings there will be three. On Thursday,
at eight o'clock, the members and associates will be enter-
tained by the Mayor of the City at Colston Hall ; on
Friday addresses will be delivered to working men ; and
on Monday a soirée will be held at tho Victoria Rooms,
when Miss Mary Carpenter will discourse on Female Educa-
tion in India.

Excursions to Cheddon and to the Bristol training ship
at the mouth of the Avon have been hrranged for Satur-
day. The actual business of the Congress will be brought

to a close to-morrow week, when a general meeting ;ill

be held in the Fine Arts Academy.

As the programme

stands at present, an opportunity of visiting Chepstow
'Castle and Tintern Abbey will be afforded to such
of the members and associates as choose to avail

themselves of it on Thursday, the ith of October.

It is not unlikely, however, that this trip will take place
on the previous day, as there seems to be a difficulty in the
way of getting back to this place in time to make use of
. _ _

the tickets which the railway companies issue at the ordi-
nary return fares from to-day to Thursday week. The
place of meeting next year will probably be Newcastle
(last year it was Birmingham), though invitations have
also been received from Leeds, Brighton, and several other
towns.

The son of the Rev. G. S. Hamilton, chaplain of
the Chelmsford county gaol, was drowned in the river
adjoining that town, on Monday, whilst bathing.

The New York Tribune says :—" There is, we are
told, a coloured gentleman at Saratoga officiating with
credit as barber at one of the great hotels, who is an alder-
man of the Federal metropolis. When, 0 when, shall New
York have an alderman who makes his living thus hollow:-
ably and honestly ?''

On Tuesday afternoon a marble statue of Lord
Derby, voted by the corporation of Live Tool, was un-
veiled in St. George's Hall. The ceremony was performed
by the mayor, in the presence of a numerous assembly.
At the same time and place his worship uncovered a statue
of Mr. Joseph Mayer, one of the town's distinguished bene-
factors.

COMMITTAL OF TWO FARMERS FOR SHOOTING.—
At Doncaster, on Monday, Mr. Elwiss, of the Itedhouse Farm
near that town, was committed for trial for shooting a tailor
named Hall. The prosecutor and another man were gather.
ing mushrooms on the defendant's farm, when a dispute
arose with the farmer who became so incensed that he took
down his gun and fired, seriously injuring Hall.—
Another farmer named Dunnington, was on Monday
committed for trial by' the magistrates at York,
for shooting at 11_00m. 'yea,
monied.