The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-20 00:00:00

- ,
the 28 candidates-from the institution at the recent -
examination of the' Society of Arts 10 succeeded
. and. 18 failed. Though failure ( • ild never be looked
upon as a pleasing-subject for cotiithent, he yet did
not think it to. be regretted that there should, par-
; ticularly at the outset of such examinations, be a .
certain proportion of failures. .They showed that
the work was done in earnest—that there was no
sham about it., He had frequently been present at
" show" ,meetings of institutions and educational
academies, when prizes were to be conferred. To -
see a certain number conferred at the beginning
was all very gratifying ; but he had found cases in
which the lists of prizes were not got through un-
til every boy in the school had been included.
(Laughter.) This might have been very gratifying
to parental feeling) but he was sure that all pre-
sent would agree that such a system took away all
the real value and honour of such distinctions.
These
young persons—he supposed they were mo it ly
se—upon wham wore to be conferred honours that
evening, he would cordially congratulate upon their;
success ; and he would earnestly exhort them to
pursue the honourable and laudable career upon
which they seemed to have entered. Upon you all .
continued his Lordship), both on those upon whom -
I am about to confer these well-earned marks of
honour and distinction, and those who have laud=
ably, although not in this instance successfully, en-
gaged in the struggle—l would endeavour to im-
press this :—That wherever 3-our after destinies
may carry you, the work of education; propnlv soconsidered, does not terminate with the clas roaux;
or the professor's lecture, or the institute. (Hear.)
Every succeeding day of your life may add to your
knowledge, and every passing moment of your
time, which is more important still, may- promqie
your personal: improvement.) (Applause.: Strive
by every means in your power, my young friends,
to attain to the highest degree of usefulness to the
generation in which you live. (Applause.) This is
an aim and an ambition which all men may laud-
ably and lawfully propose to themselves. But at
the same time, while you strain your utmost en-
deavours to attain the highest degrees of useful-
ness, be content with any opportunity you have of
being useful, even in the humblest way, for this is
what God. has to decide for you. (Hear, hear.) The
statues of Watt and Dalton adorn one of the noble
spacts. in this town, but it is not-every one of you
that can hope to be a. Watt or a Dalton, any more
than it is given to any set of men to become Shak-
speares or Miltons. " For not," as the poet says—
" For not to one, in this be lighted age,
Is that diviner inspira'-ion given
That glows in Milton's or in Shakspeare's page— -
'The pomp and prodigality of Heaven."
(Applause.) But because we cannot attain to the
very brightest and most immortal chaplets of lite-
rature, that is no reason why the common, smooth,
and current paths of literature and of knowledge
should be neglected. (Hear.) All cannot be at the
very summit of the mountain or at tin top of the
tree. The aristocracy of genius is still more limited
than all the other aristocracies, whether of
birth, or wealth, or personal strength, or beauty.
But the aristocracy of virtue, which may not, I fbar
to say, contain a really larger actual number of
persons, yet has this peculiarity in it, differing
from all other aristocracies—that it, may be co-ex-
tensive.with all mankind; and it is our own fault
if We do not each of us make one of that peerless
aristocracy. In one word, my young friends, Ido
not know how many of you, or if any of you, may
be destined to be great ; but I fed confident-that
every one of you, if he will only make a conscien- •
tious endeavour—if he will only, in so doing, rely
upon the Divine assistance, every one of you may
be good and happy. (Loud applause.)
The noble earl then proceeded to distribup the •
certificatek .The following is a list of the SneAssful
competitors, with their occupations, employers'
names,- &b.:— -

H. Varley, packer (J. Lomas and Son), arithme-
tic; J. Lowe, turner (Hetherington and Sons), will-
metic ; C. Chapman, engineer (J. Gilroy), mechani-
cal drawing; M. Bibby, warehouseman (Schunck,
Souchay, and Co ), French language ; S. Davies,
bo'okkeeping (Sharp, Stewart, and Co.), arithmetic,
bookkeeping, German language; E. Jacob, engineer
(Fairbairn), chymistrv, statics, dynamics, and hy-
drostatics ; T. Hamilton, engineer, algebra ; A.
Ashworth, engineer (W. Muir and Co.), mensura-
tion, geometry, mechanical drawing; A. Wads-
worth, engineer (W. Muir and Co.), mensuration
and mechanical drawing; J. Pogson, weaver, book-
keeping, geometry, mensuration, algebra.
The meeting terminated with votes of thanks to
the Earl of Carlisle and to the ,chairman of the
meeting,

THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

(From the Ileyietrar-General's lreekly Report.)

The deaths registered in London rose from 993
in the previous week to 1,149 in the week ending
Saturday, October 16. In the 10 years 1848-57
the average number of deaths in the weeks co:-res-
ponding with last week wts 1,020 ; but as tl e
deaths of last week occurried in an increased popu-
lation, the average should be raised in proport 01
to the increase for the purpose of comparison, and
in this ease it will become 1,122. The number
actually returned exceeds the calculated number by
27, and as the average is rather above that which
would result from ordinary causes (for the cholera
of two epidemic years had not entirely ceased in
the second week in October), it will be seen that
the mortality as shown in the present return is
decidedly high.
If the rate of mortality last week had not been
higher than that which has been ascertained to
prevail during the last quarter of the year in the
healthiest districts of England, the deaths would
have been only 770 ; but they were 1,149, and the
excess which they exhibit over the healthy stand-
ard maybe considered as that part of the mortality
which is due to acquired conditions of insalubrity
in London.

Pulmonary complaints become more frequent ;
the deaths from bronchitis and pneumonia, which
were respectively 32 and 21 in the prl,ding
week, were last week 71 and 64. Scaflatiisia
makes constant progress, and has now attained a
not doubtful pre-eminence among ("hex es of
the zymotic class. The weekly deaths frcm
scarlatina since September the 18th have been 125,
134, 145, and 160 ; 20 deaths are returned as
caused by it in Marylebone, 13 in St. Pancras, 10
in Lambeth (chiefly Kennington), 9 in Camberwell.
The present mortality from this complaint is double
the average, and it is much greater than that of any
corresponding week of the last 10 years, except
1848, when the deaths rose to 188.
A widow died on the 14th inst. at Eagle-place,
Mile-end; who is believed, on what appeared to the
registrar to be reaSonabldgrounds, to have lived to
the age of a hundred y€;Ars. Two women died on
the 12th inst. from want.

Last week the births of 912 boys and 855 girls,
in all 1,767 children, were registered in London.
In the 10 corresponding weeks of the years 1848-57
the average number was 1,497.

ANALYSIS OF METROPOLITAN WATERS.
The waters of the metropolis have been analysed
during the month of September by Dr. Robert
Thomson, F.R.S., of St. Thomas's Hospital, and
have been found to possess the composition stated
in the subjoined table. For the sake of comparison
the water about to be introduced for the use of the
inhabitants of Glasgow is prefixed, the composition
of which approaches that of distilled water. The
samples with the largest amount of organic matter
were taken after rain.

GpTregO.rt,aglal. Orregzagnaile
Impurity Impurity
per gal. re gal.
Grs., or°. Urs.,or.
Distilled water 0•0
Loch ICr,t rine, new supply to Glasgow 2'll OS
Thames Companies :—Chelsea
Southwark
Lambeth
18114 1102
Grand Junction
72
tilYeer" Companies;Middlesex: —East London . ... 1181°8
New River
Kent 2280 2'48
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 2i3.742 in.
The barometrical readings varied from 29.25 in.
to 30.09 in., which point the instrument attained
on Thursday. The mean temperature of the week
was 63.1 deg.; whiCh is 2.5 deg: above the average
of the same week in 43 years (as determined by Mr.'
Glaisher). The mean daily temperature was
below the average till Wednesday ' • and on the
last four days it was from 5 deg. to 7 deg. above it.
The lowest temperature was 39.7 deg. on Tues-
day ; the highest 69 deg. on Saturday. The entire
range. of the week was therefore 29.3 deg. The
mean daily range was 17.1 deg. The range of
Saturday 24'4 deg. ; that of Thursday only 10.5
deg. The mean temperature of the water of the
Thames was 56.7 deg. The difference between
the mean dew-point temperature and air tempera-
ture was 3.7 deg: The mean degree of humidity
of the air was 85. The rain-fall of the week was
0.13 in.

PRICE:OF GOLD.—The quotation of gold at Paris
is about at par, and the short exchange on London is 25-15
per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the Eng-
lish Mint price of £3 17s. 101-d per ounce for standard gold,
it appears that gold is 1-10th per cent. dearer in Paris than
in London. By advices from Hamburg the price of gold is
425 -4
1 per mark, and the short exchange on London is 13
per £1 sterling. Standard gold at the English Mint price
is therefore about 2-10ths per cent. dearer in London than
in Hamburg. The course of exchange at New York on
London for bills at 60 days sight is about HO per cent ,
which when compared with the Mint par betwecn the twO
countries, shows that the exchange is slightly in fat oit of
England ; and, after making allowance for charges of trans-
port and difference of interest, the present rate leaves a
small profit on the importation of gold from the United
States,