The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 29, D. 69.

NEWSVENDORS' BENEVOLENT AND
PRO VIDENT ErSTITU7IO.Y,.

MISCELLANEOUS. NEWS,

The anniversary festival in aid of the funds of
this charity was held on Monday evening, at the
Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street. In the
abs,•nce of Mr. Charles Dickens, the president,
Alderman Sir Benjamin Phillips occupied the chair,
and amongst upwards of 200 ladies and gentlemen
present were Mr. J. R. M'Lean, M.P., Mr.
George Elliott, M.P., the Sheriffs of London and
Middlesex (Messrs. Aldermen Cotton and Hutton),
Mr. Charles Dickens, jun., Mr.:Edmund Yates, Mr.
C. L. Gruneisen, Mr. F. Clements, Mr. P. Clements,
Mr. Aird, &c.
The usual loyal and patriotic toasts having been
duly honoured,

Mr. Alderman CorroN, in responding to the
toast of " The Corporation of the City of London,"
proposed by Mr. Adams, referred to the value of
the charity, and expressed a hope that it would be
well supported.

The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of the evening,
" Prosperity to the Newsvendors' Benevolent and
Provident Institution." Before venturing to ex-
patiate upon the newsvendors he wished to say a
few words with reference to the newspapers them-
selves. He then referred to the early history of
newspapers, from their establishment in the 16th
century, pointing out how their legitimate influence
bore upon Kings, Lords, and Commons, and main-
tained the freedom of the people. But the ability
of the literary staff and the labours of the print-
, ing-otlice would go for nothing were it not for
that distributing class, the newsvendors. It was
for the decayed members of this great. class that
he had now to plead. The institution was deserv-
ing of the support of all classes, and he re-
gretted that its financial position was not better,
and that its operations were crippled for want
of funds. He drew attention to the small amount
of subscriptions on the present anniversary, and ex-
pressed a hope that that gathering would result in
an accession of at least £5OO to the funds of the
charity, which he hoped would be distributed
amongst the necessitous newsvendors of the day,
and not be put away for the benefit of the next
generation. In conclusion, he expressed regret at
the absence of ➢lr. Charles Dickens, the president,
and hoped that the society would, nevertheless,
find its funds greatly increased by the proceedings
of the evening.
The toast having been drunk with enthusiasm,
Mr. EDMUND YATES proposed in complimentary
terms "The Health of Mr. Charles Dickens."

FREE ADMISSIONS.

. Some of the theatrical folk are complaining of the
system which prevails of filling houses with persons
who have not paid for their places. It is said that
there is hardly a theatre in London which is paying
its expenses. The reason for this is said to be that most
theatre-goers know where to get free admissions.
They don't want to pay where they can see and hear
for nothing. The managers reply that they cannot
help themselves. The public will have full houses.
An empty house begets a still emptier one. Cer-
tainly the managers ought to know their own inte-
rest best. But it would be worth while, as the
present system does not pay. trying the new one.

A list of subscriptions, showing a satisfactory
addition to the funds of the charity, was then read
by the Secretary.
Mr. elms. DicKENs, jun., in proposing "The
Ladies," said that, although his father had been
seriously indisposed, there was no cause for alarm.
It was true that he would be prevented for smile
time from appearing i❑ the capacity of a public
" reader," but he would still be enabled to attend
to his literary duties, which would be continued as
heretofore.

The inquiry, too, amongst the slates and others whO
have come out of the Soun alj. country resultedin
THE RIGHTS OF "WOMEN. nothing. Noboci7 had heard Of the captives.
A correspondent of the Star writes on the subject THE VOLUNTEERS.
of women's property. lie declares that good and In these days of army reform and military reor7
just Englishmen cannot be aggrieved if their ganisation every little wind seems to turn public
own practice is made the binding law on opinion about. Ten years ago the volunteers were
all. Supremacy unsanctioned by Itw will in- the pets of society ; they are now the best-abused
variably degenerate into lawlessness. Supre-
macy, in the sense of a right, is slowly relaxing set of people in England. A military spectator
of the Portsmouth Peview writes to the
its hold upon society. Women have the more need of 1 elearaph protesting against both extremes. He
protection for any property of which they may be pos- I admits that there is much that is anomalous,_ a great
sessed, as:they are excluded bycustom and law from the deal that is absurd, in connection with the force.
rich pastures apportioned by men to themselves. He ; They have no commissariat; they are badly orga-
affirms that if the principle of subordination and nised in some respects; they committed blunders—
abnegation of self on one side are essential to social perhaps serious ones—at Dover; and they have done
harmony, it had better be understood that quite as bad elsewhere. But, notwithstanding, they
marriage settlements are illegal. The reformers are not therefore to be despised. They have
on this question are impelled by the guiding sliewn qualities of steadiness and solidity
principle of modern society, and the more woman f which, should occasion require, will be brought out.
gains in independence and dignity the more she They know nothing as yet of military experience.
gains value in her relation to man. In conclusion, But an enemy would hardly invade without notice;
the writer says that if a mother's property cannot be and there would be time to organise, and to raise a
ber own, regardless of her responsibility to her commissariat, &c., by the time the force would be
children, a father's property should come under the required. The military correspondent does not say
same strict restriction : but in a Philistine age we why—supposing, as he does, that the volunteers
must be content with Philistine progress. would be required in time of invasion—the organisa-
GOOD NEWS FOIL SCHOOLBOYS. tion and the raising of a commissariat, the teaching
in the art of arms and war, should not be carried out
A society has been started to effect a reform in our
rather in the calm days of peace than during a panic
spelling, and it has just held a meeting at Liver- caused by fear of invasion. Most probably he knows
pool. The society do not adopt the phonetic system, no reason,
which would alter 80 per cent. of the words
in the English language. They propose a
milder revolution, which would affect only
20 per cent. The changes consist for the most
part in omitting " unnecessary " letters, such as
the letters ugh in words ending in ough, and the
omission of the b in such words as debt and doubt.
The advocates of this change clearly attach no value
to philology. Of course, the word det would
convey no indication of its derivation from the
Latin dells` ; on the contrary, it would seem to be
derived from a verb which has exactly the opposite
meaning, which implies that something has been
given, instead of that something is owed. The
advocates of this change cited W. S. Lawlor
Fran' lin and Swift as being on their side. But
these would have been the last to sanction alterations
which destroyed the history of our language. There
is more to be said for another change which was
suggested at the meeting, namely, that all regular
plurals should be formed in one way ; that words
ending in y, for instance, should become plural
simply by the addition of an s, instead of, as at
present, by a change into ies.

THE DUKE OF HAMILTON.

A Glasgow paper announces that the Duke of
Hamilton is about to give up the turf, and will sell
his horses. We do not know if this intention is due
to disgust at being blackballed by the Jockey Club,
but we do know that it will be the wisest step which
his Grace ever took. His career has been only one
degree less of a " frighilul example" than that
of the Marquis of Hastings. The sums that the
owner of two dukedoms has lost on the turf are
something prodigious