The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-19 00:00:00

THE QUARTERLIES.

Some of the most interesting topics treated of in Mr.
Lecky's able " History of European Morals" form the
subject of the first article in Illeliora. In some respects
the advance of time has shewn little improvement—as
witness infanticide ; but the effect of Christianity and
civilisation has been most decisively shewn in the promo-
tion of most virtues, and the repression of most vices—
especially suicide, slavery, and cruelty to animals.
In the days of Roman and Grecian philosophy,
suicide was at least not blamed if it were not deemed
positively meritorious. Cato, we all know, made a virtue
of it. The Roman Emperor Otho killed himself to avoid
being the eftlatic _
soldiers so admired the deed that they slaughtered them-
selves before his corpse. Others who were not present
likewise committed suicide when they heard the news.
Sometimes a Roman would announce his intention
of taking his own life, and would gather together
his friends for the purpose as if to a party. This
raising of suicide to a virtue was due chiefly to the teach-
ing of the Stoics, who regarded death as the end of sorrow,
and, without affirming there was no future life, looked
the notion as little more than a beautiful unceitainty.
Death, therefore, was the last hope of the Stoic, the only
solace to which he aspired, his refuge in trouble. Plato
condemned suicide, first, as a wrong to the State, then as
an injury to God ; but it required the Christian
revelation to fully expose the enormity of self-destruc•
tion. Though suicide is nowhere expressly condemned
in the Bible, it was one of the great good works of the
early Christian fathers to emphatically condemn this crime.
In the Koran suicide is expressly forbidden, and the
offence is, therefore, unknown to Mahommedans. The
downfall of slavery is another of the triumphs of civilisa-
tion. Slaveholding was first an improvement upon the
early practice of killing captives, and it was long recog-
nised by law in many parts of the world. It took many
centuries to fully overcome this flagrant breach of moral
law, and the victory is hardly yet complete. Cruelty to
animals is a branch of morality which, in modern
times, has made the greatest advances of all. After this
interesting review comes a paper on "The Liquor Traffic
in Relation to Capital and Labour." The facts are such
as cannot be too often put in print. Drunkenness is the
cause of both physical and intellectual loss to the commu-
pity. Whilst the drunkard is idle his labour ceases ; when
he resumes work it is with greatly diminished power, and
the longer he subjects himself to the influence of
intellectual
loss the weaker he becomes. The
loss to the community is not less serious. The
brutalisation well as the weakening of humanity
is one of the great evil effects of drink. It is likewise to
be noted that the labour engaged in the manufacture of
drink, as well as the labour lost through intoxication, is
equally
wasted ; and not only that, but the capital en-
gaged, producing no beneficial result,. is practically lost.
The loss to the nation from an economical point of view,
apart from the mere expenditure of money in drink, is
enormous. " Backward Glances—England in 1869" is an
article on a topic which well deserves more extended treat-
ment. Nothing is more difficult than to form a
correct idea of the state of our country in past times.
The facts we have ; but they are not symmetrically
arranged ; we have few complete tableaux of the social
condition of our land at any given time. Macaulay gave
us a splendid representation—vivid and comprehensive—
of England in 1688. 211tliora attempts the same for
1769. The paper is interesting, but the space is
not enough for the undertaking. An article on
" Somersetshire" is historical and descriptive, and it must
be confessed that the history is far more gratifying than
the description. Somersetshire has given birth to great
men ; its records abound with stirring incidents ; but "it
is by no means amongst the foremost counties in manufac-
tures or apiculture, in education or morals." The popu-
lation is too great ; it has risen from 280,000 to 460,000 in
the last half-century—a great increase for an agricultural
county. Education is backward, that is, the middle-class
schools, The primary instruction is, perhaps, up to the
average ; but the higherschools are woefully defective. The
rate of crime is high, and the happiness and prosperity of the
inhabitants are greatly hampered by unfavourable condi-
tions, of which the truck system is the chief. The custom
of receiving part of the weekly wages in cider instead of
money is ruinous to the health of the labourer and injurious
to the interests of his family.

The Cotirt Journal says, her Majesty will not again
visit Claremont, as was intended, but leave the Castle for
Osborne to-morrow (Tuesd y) with their Royal Highnesses
the Prince and Princess Christian, the Princesses Louise and
Beatrice, and Pii,:ce Leopold. The Queen intends to re-
n.ain at o,borne until the middle of August, and will then
proceed to Scotia: d.
A bill 11;18 been Irou;ht in by the Government to
amend the low relating to the office of Clerks of Assize, and
to cf:f:ftin i-deS fcr ryinent of witnesses in criminal pro-
ceed:tig9. The appointment of any person not duly qualified
shall he void, and persons appointed after the passing of
the Act shall not be entitled to compensation. Fees upon
order; titAdet 30 and 31 Victoria, are to be included in the
account of the (York of the Peace.
Some dissatisfaction has been caused in Liverpool
by the recent appointments to the borough magistracy. The
Est of new magistrates contains the names of some Conser-
vatives, while several Liberals have been passed over. The
Liverpool Mercury explains that the Chancellor of the Duchy
determined that when, as in the case of Liverpool, political
parties are about equally balanced on the bench, be will not
difr.turb thc4ll4atT;ll._ /114*MR to....E:jit.Pl4# Opatclow
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